graffiti

We talked on “evil” last night at our local church junior high ministry. I used the example of “evil” being “live” spelled backward. Something that is evil is something that sucks the life and joy right out of you. Then I mentioned something too familiar with us in LA. Graffiti and tagging.

I asked kids what they thought of when they see graffiti.

“Sad”
“Depressed”
“Ugly”

I am not talking about a public mural. I am talking about the scribbles and chicken scratching that proclaim why you are the best or why someone else isn’t. Graffiti is ugly and it sucks out life a tiny bit at a time of those who view it.

Is graffiti evil? I don’t think it is meant to be by those who graffiti. I don’t think they do it to cause you to lose a little bit of your joy. I don’t think they care about you at all. So, in a way, it might not be intended as evil, but it may end up being murder.

If you graffiti in an urban area and thousands of people drive by it every day and it acts as a vampire, sucking out even a bit of a person’s soul where art and love and joy find a hold, well then, you have just killed a little bit of soul of everyone who has seen it. Add it up and you could be charged with multiple soul murder.

Knowing God is a God of beauty I would be absolutely terrified to be an unrepentant serial tagger.