I don't like Bob Dylan's music

There I said it. It has been brewing up for sometime now and I have decided it is time to stand up and declare that despite the fact that he is a so-called "genius", despite the fact that he is an "icon" in American music, despite his intriguing life and lyrics, I just plain don't care for Bob Dylan's music. I could get into why. I could tell you all about how his voice drives me nutty, or how fans of his music always want to sing along in an impersonated Dylan voice, but my reasons aren't the point. The point is this: I don't like Bob Dylan's music.

I bring this up because in my specific circle of friends, like many of your friends, there are some realities that will distance you from the pack if made public. The music of Bob Dylan is my social leprosy; casting me out to the far reaches of the acceptable circle where only those along the watchtower can keep an eye on my movements. Knowing this, I keep my mouth shut for the umpteenth time and I grin and bear it. But no more! I am standing up before cyberspace, and whoever else may read this and declare I vote NAY on yet another spin of Blonde on Blonde. Popularity be damned.

Real dissension isn't usually centered around Bob Dylan. Real dissension, the kind for which your standing up might produce fractures and upsets along relational, social, and institutional lines, is the 3rd rail of living in community. Touch it and die. Resist the status quo by standing up for what you believe, what you feel your faith, your love, your sense of right and wrong dictates and you quickly become "that person" who "crashes" city council meetings, and can't leave well enough alone. How many voices have been silenced because we prefer the status quo? How many times have we settled on preservation of the institution rather than listen to voices of dissent?

The 3rd rail might kill you but it is only because that is where all the real power is. Stand up and let your voice be heard.