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Well, this certainly won't calm any of the waters so far -- judging by the nasty goings on in the shoutbox at the moment. But I do have a couple of things to add here. I watched the video the other day and I must say that my take on it is far different from most of what has been posted. The main point that I got from Mr. Zacharias' answer is that the artist is undeniably free to create as he is moved to create; however, our response to that act of creation is what he is talking about in terms of moral worldview. I am a Catholic -- the AMDG is a giveaway -- and that causes me to go down a certain path in life. It gives me the foundation on which I can base my judgments about things. And that includes artistic expression. And I will say right now that this is my choice. Certainly others have made different choices about their own beliefs. We are creatures of Free Will, and we accept or reject religion as our consciences inform us. Me, I have chosen to accept Catholicism. This belief leads me to understand the nature of Man in a very specific way that has to do with the inherent goodness of his soul while at the same time acknowledging the concupiscence which accompanied the fall from grace through Adam. Ok, you're either with me at this point, or you're going "Phew!!!" Getting back to the video, Mr. Zacharias seems to be saying not that you have to have a moral worldview to create art, but for Christians our response to the created work relies on our ability to make prudential judgments based on what we hold creation to be -- good and beautiful. It's probably easier to make these about literature, movies, and art, rather than music, but there are sometimes when we can do this. Why was Wagner's music not played in Israel until only recently? Why, for that matter, do some people associate Wagner's music with Naziism? I can't remember the tenor off hand -- Jon Vickers, I think -- who refused to sing the role of Tannhauser because he thought it to be immoral. Do all these things have to do with the artist's spark of creation or are they the judgments of others on whether or not to accept the art as good. I would suggest the latter, certainly. And again, this I think is the point of the video. Don't confuse the exercise of one's Free Will to create something with the response of others to the work. This I think is probably the greatest sin of our age -- Pride. The notion that because I created this thing, it is therefore good -- not merely technically or aesthetically good, but good in a metaphysical or trancendant sense. Ok, let's wrap this up now. You all have probably had enough by now. Feel free to start turning the guns in my direction. Sincerely, Brian Sagraves

Let me explain: this was, in essence, the second piece I ever made. So, I had no idea at the time I was using a staple style :lol: The piece is very much "me", because I didn't get it from anywhere else, really. It's like this: I've seen people "come up" with the term "I'm roadkill on the information superhighway!" Or however that saying goes exactly, I can't quite remember. These people thought of the idea themselves, but it's a fairly obvious idea, so many other people had already thought of it anyway. Thanks for commenting :)

HAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA...... That is soooo going in my sig!!!