"White as Snow" by Haste the Day, Tuesday, March 2, 2021

March can take a rainy day and turn it into a snowy night. Waking up to a wet and white world on the first day of school, the day was filled with uncertainties. The first day of school is always a game of catch up, trying to figure out what is going on from others who may or may not know what is going on. As the mild winter took a turn for the cold, the mystery of the weather reminded me that anything could happen in the classroom. Whenever skies look clear and blue, a thunderstorm can be lurking in the principal's office. Just like snow storms, headaches can come out of nowhere. Particularly when the stifling heat of the office meets contentions with unfavorable schedules to be sorted. And while today there were no classes, the doppler radar looks like an active storm season begins tomorrow.

IT'S NOT LIKE YOU WOULD KNOW, WOULD YOU? Christian metal core band Haste the Day has had their hits and misses for me. My first exposure to them was their Pressure the Hinges album, which had a few bangers. Later I discovered their first album's cover of Goo Goo Dolls' "Long Way Down." The follow up to PtH slipped by me and then this single hit me. The album cover added layers to this song. The title of the album is Attack of the Wolf King, and if you take this song as part of the album's concept, you start to feel very cold. The lyrics that draw on the crucifixion of Christ, but there also seems to be something medieval or maybe post-apocalyptic suggested in the lyrics and music. The song seems simple enough with the theme of Christ's atonement, but the album title left me wondering. Who is the wolf king?

I'VE WALKED WITH THE KINGS. Biblical context tells us to beware of wolves in sheep's clothing (Matt 7:15), or false teachers who lead followers astray. So to most people who are aware of this metaphor would interpret it through the teachings of Jesus that wolves are wise and destructive to the kingdom of heaven. HOWEVER, when I watched the Netflix limited series The Family, the story tells how Doug Coe's teaching influenced evangelicals to embrace THE WOLF KING, a leader who uses brute force to push his will. Coe taught that it was the the Christian's job to flirt with the Wolf King in order to establish a relationship to accomplish two goals. The first of which is to keep Christianity safe from the Wolf King, avoiding pre-Constantine Roman-like persecution. But Phase II is insidious. Use the Wolf King to persecute non-Christians, making it uncomfortable for anyone who doesn't subscribe to this form of Christianity. Whether or not Doug Coe's tactics will work in an evermore secular world is yet to be seen. However, we've seen five years of Evangelicals embracing the Wolf King rather than the lamb, white as snow.