Originally Published: Tuesday, August 24, 2004
Written by: Kelly Brother
Straight Edge Evolution: From a Simple Song to a Global Lifestyle
It is no doubt that straight edge is a reaction to the excesses of the 70/80’s. It has sprung from a simple 45-second song into a lifestyle that stretches the globe. Yet in this quest to rid oneself of excess has straightedge become more of a puritanical religion than a movement?
Straight Edge and the Puritan Parallel: A Critical Examination
I find it hard not to compare some people who are straight edge to the puritans. They treat straight edge as if it were an iron clad doctrine of faith from God, and all those who do not follow are damned to hell. Take the issue of premarital sex. The hardest of the hard-liners will tell you that you should not have sex until you are married. Mark me if I’m wrong but were in that song does Ian Mackaye ever mention premarital sex? I’m not alluding that Ian Mackaye is the “god” of straight edge, just to the fact that it was his song that sparked the movement.
Debating Straight Edge Ideals: How Far Should the Boundaries Stretch?
Some try to put restrictions on straightedge. You can’t be straightedge if you’re homosexual, you can’t be straightedge if you’re not Christian, and you can’t be straightedge if you’re a skinhead and so on and so forth. Then they add all kinds of prerequisites like you can only be straight edge if you listen to hard-core music. Or if you are vegetarian or vegan. You can only be straightedge if so and so says you are and so on and so forth.
Straight Edge or Straightjacket? The Dilemma of Strict Lifestyle Rules
It seems as if some treat straightedge as a curse. It seems as if they think if you don’t drink, smoke, or do drugs that you cannot enjoy a party where others are drinking and etc. God forbid one who is straight edge hangs out with those who are not…. Though not the case all the time there are straightedge kids out there that refuse to do anything that involves any of the three big no no’s. They alienate themselves in an attempt to be pure.
Straight Edge Preachers: A Look at the Movement’s Zealous Advocates
Of course, you have the preachers of the group. The straightedgers that ostracize all those who do not follow his or her set of beliefs (and there are so many since every individual definition is different). These are the kids that cough obnoxiously when someone lights up a cigarette ten feet away. The kids that will take a cigarette out of someone’s mouth and stomp on it, or perhaps dump someone’s alcohol out when they’re not looking or when they are for that matter. These are the kids that run around telling you and everyone else who will listen (and those who don’t want to) why they should be straight edge. It’s these kids that give the rest of the movement a bad name. Some time’s it’s like being talked to by a telavangalist.
Straight Edge: A Belief System or a Flexible Idea?
I think straight edge is a great idea. I myself live a straightedge lifestyle. I do however think there are problems with straightedge. I think it makes a lousy belief system. When people have beliefs it’s as if they are set in stone and easily fought over. There is little or no room for change or evolution. But when you have an idea, you can change it, allow it to grow. Ideas are great everyone has different ideas. I have too many to list right now… I can’t knock it too much though.
The Younger Generation and Straight Edge: A Positive Influence
I see ten-year-old kids running around with X’s on their hands and I smile. They may not understand it too well but it is keeping them away from drugs and alcohol and that’s positive.
Straight Edge Extremism: Cult-like or Misunderstood?
So has straight edge become more of a cult-like puritan religion? It’s hard to answer that question. The reports of straight edge “gangs” in Utah and the overall general distaste for straightedgers seem to support that latter idea. The fact that people are willing to go to such extremes to promote their views is shocking.
A Call for Unity in Straight Edge: Remembering Respect and Tolerance
What happened to a call for unity? Remember that little word RESPECT? Or how about Tolerance? You don’t have to like what other people or saying but you owe it to them and yourself to hear them out.
| Comments |
| my religion Written by xAstrochicAx on 2005-05-15 14:05:01i think anyone can understand “SXE” the way he wants. the most important thing its like u say: tolerance, respect for the others that dont think the same way. that’s the essence of the movement. if u can’t stand others’ beliefs, u r a perfect asshole, yeah maybe a hardliner but an idiot one and people like u make other people consider all of the rest like stupid kids with V-vans on theirs shirts and X’s on theirs hands (although it’s pretty right around the new sxe (“d”) generation. |
| Written by xkellyx on 2005-01-15 11:42:34uh yeah that’s what i wrote, so i guess we agree |
| Written by angiefromtheblock on 2005-01-15 02:23:14straightedge has nothing to do with purity, and CERTAINLY not anything to do with Christianity. If you don’t use substances for those reasons, FINE, but you’re something else. . . |
| Written by tiger on 2004-12-17 12:45:04This is exactly what the thesis I’ve written is about. Although sxe technically was a reaction to the excesses of the seventies, not the eighties… |
