Aristotle, Plato, Communion and the Internet

A few posts ago there was a mention of our time’s preference to the Aristotelian ideal over the Platonic ideal. That is a fancy way of saying that we put the emphasis on the material (what we can see and measure) over the transcendent. Recently the UMC is engaged in a conversation about the viability of online communion. Online communion is the idea that an elder can invite someone at their home who is participating in worship via online/television to grab some bread and juice and take communion at their home.  

Needless to say people weighing in on the validity of the sacrament via the internet. I wonder if our resistance to online communion is rooted in the idea that what is real is what is material. "Real" community is those who are in the same physical space breathing the same physical air. "Real" community is that gathering of people that can be touched, counted, measured and seen. Could it be that our understanding of community is influenced more by Aristotle's teaching of what is "real"?

In a conversation with my friend Kyle he mentioned that the online communion conversation sounds something like reverse Gnosticism. Whereas Gnosticism elevated the Spirit over the material today we elevate the material over the Spirit. 

Elevating the Material or the Spirit over the other is neither helpful nor loving. 

If the Body of Christ is mystical, if we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, if we are all tied together in the single garment of destiny, then can we really say the sacraments are only valid in the material or the Spirit? 

Where is the outrage for the Halftime show?

I loved the show. However, I wonder where the outrage is about the show? 

Ten years ago, the no infamous "nipplegate" happened. In which for a fraction of a second Janet Jackson's breast was exposed after Justin Timberlake ripped off part of her black leather costume. In 2013 Beyonce gave this sexually charged performance which some people were shocked by the outfit (which also was black leather). 

Then in 2014 we have the very talented Bruno Mars performance in which the only outrage I saw was related to the shirtless Anthony Kiedis and Flea. 

But did anyone listen to what was being sung during the show by Mars? It opened with a chorus of children holding hands and singing a song that talks about how desperately the song writer desires to be a Billionaire. This was then followed up with a song that talks about how having having sex. 

I am not a puritanical prude that believes that all the hip gyrating is leading these United States toward the path of destruction. Again, Mars is very talented and would enjoy having 1/4 of his musical talent. But when we are okay with kids singing about the desire for being super wealthy and a band singing about how not having sex would be like being locked out of heaven, but not okay when there is a "wardrobe malfunction" I have to wonder if there is a disconnect. 

I am not even going to talk about the male/female difference here. I am not saying that we are all okay with men preforming hetro-sexualized material but not okay with women doing it. I want to point out that this is an example of just how influenced we are by Plato.

Aristotle argues that what is real is that which we can see, touch and sense. The scientific community is built on this idea that what is measurable is reality and what is not measurable is theory at best. Because of the emphasis on the measurable (i.e. the material) it may be argued that science is the religion of the material. It is what can be seen and measured that really matters.

So when someone shows off some skin or dances provocatively then we "know" that the performer is moving in a specific direction. But when the performer uses the less measurable ethereal objects such as words to invoke something we are much better with it because we cannot measure words like we can an exposed nipple.

I don't know, maybe it was the upbeat tempo, maybe it was because the dancer dressed in a way to make physical connections to a more "pure" time in american music, maybe it is because Mars is male, maybe it is our connection to ancient Greece and a philosophy that places truth in the material rather than the "ideal", or some combination but I just wonder where is the outrage for the halftime show?