Pardon my being random; this one goes back to January 2006, based on an idea I had long before that

"THE FALSE FORGIVENESS OF THE FAITHLESS"

Back in the '60's, Bob Dylan could do no wrong in the
eyes of the popular culture. He was allegedly a giant
of creativity, the conscience of the Western Hempisphere
(that was a typo when I first wrote this, but in view
of what many of Dylan's fans were smoking I decided to
retain it).

All this changed the very instant (in 1979) that he
claimed to have become a believer in Jesus Christ. Now,
suddenly, former Dylanites decided that he was arrogant
and self-righteous. In fact--much the way the Soviet
Union used to call dissident writers not only treasonous
but also untalented--they decided he was not a giant
of creativity after all. "Saturday Night Live" did a
supposedly clever sketch which depicted Dylan as having
stolen his major song ideas from Woody Guthrie--an
accusation they would never have aimed at him as long
as he was politically correct.

Like the seed dropped in shallow soil, Dylan could not
take the persecution. So he "repented" of the "offense"
of taking an interest in Jesus. In an interview with
SPY Magazine, he said that it didn't matter if Jesus
was the Son of God or not. Of course, he was smart
enough to realize that NO ONE would EVER say this
unless he was convinced that Jesus was NOT the Son
of God; thus, his saying that it didn't matter was
an absolute capitulation--a clear declaration to the
leftwing establishment that he was abandoning all that
Jesus-freak foolishness, so wouldn't they please let
him be a giant of creativity again?

It worked. The leftwing establishment, in its secular-
humanist grace, "forgave" Dylan and gave him permission
to be admired again. If a rooster crowed three times
around then, Dylan wasn't listening--probably too busy
counting his thirty pieces of silver.

That reminds me: someone once wrote a little poem
that warrants reflection--

"Strange to think how man
By man himself is priced;
For thirty silver pieces,
Judas sold himself, not Christ."