“Straight edge refers to a lifestyle that started within the hardcore punk subculture whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco and recreational drugs. Some adherents may also abstain from caffeine and casual sex. The term was coined by the 1980s hardcore punk band Minor Threat in the song “Straight Edge”. There is considerable debate over what constitutes a straight edge lifestyle. Adherents’ main objective is to not poison the body in any way. Some people in the straight edge movement embrace a vegetarian lifestyle and others abstain from all animal products, a philosophy known as veganism. These two choices are not essential aspects of the movement.” – Wikipedia

Being in the hardcore scene for about 6 to 7 years now, i’ve seen straight edge blow up. It has become huge in the past 4 years. Around 2004, hardcore music took a step back from the stylish “emo-core” that has so dominated the “hardcore” scene. But in the past 4 years hardcore has somewhat gone back to that 80’s style mentality. The music is more aggressive but that old school spirit has resurfaced. Straight edge has become more popular than ever. In my opinion it has become somewhat of an underground religion culture that is recruiting thousands of members everyday.

Your two sides of sXe is:

1. Positive or Posi

Posi sXe is a choice a person makes to be drug, alcohol, tobacco and promiscuous sex free. They do not force anyone to believe their way and they don’t care if others don’t agree. It’s their thing.

2. Militant

Militant sXe is your FSU (friends stand united) style guys who will beat you down if they see you smoking. More gang like than anything else, it’s just a bunch of meat heads who have taken somewhat of a cool concept and have turned it into criminal and gang activity . Violence just for the sake of violence. Douche bags.

Now the most important stuff… What does the bible say?

Straight Edge beliefs seem good on the surface, but what does the bible say about straight edge?

From what i have seen, straight edge has become just another self-righteous cultural religion. I’m not knocking Positive sXe. If you want to make that choice, cool. I have friends that are sXe. I’m asking what is the motive behind that choice. Is it to be better than others? Does it make you feel you have an advantage on people?

9What shall we conclude then? Are we any better^[a]? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. 10As it is written:
“There is no one righteous, not even one;
11there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God.
12All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.”
13“Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.”
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
14“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
15“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16ruin and misery mark their ways,
17and the way of peace they do not know.”
18“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Romans 3:9-18

It has become so steeped in religion.

Religion defined: a set of rules to live by that you work towards to make you worthy or better.

That’s my definition.

Just like in the Christian realm. People, pastors and churches make up ALL these rules to live by: don’t smoke, don’t drink, don’t get tattoos, don’t cuss, don’t, don’t, don’t… If you don’t do all these things your a good person. This leads to one of two things, pride or despair. Pride being: I did everything. I kept all these rules. I’m better than that dude. I’ve made it. I’m good enough.

Despair being: I don’t know if I was good enough. I don’t think I kept these rules like I could or should have.

No hope.

Why?

None of this is grounded in Jesus. SXE is cool and stuff, but if it’s not grounded in Jesus, it’s crap.

Isa. 64:6 says “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags;“

Rags in the the real translation is Menstrual rags.

It’s as good as nasty, bloody tampons in the sight of God.

Religion is gross and offensive to the gospel. It’s an enemy. Jesus fought so hard against it to the point of down right anger.

John 2:15 “And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables.”

Jesus got pissed. He hates religion cause it spits on the sacrifice He made.

Religion and Straight edge are a lot alike. They have set up rules to live by to make themselves ‘holy’ and ‘righteous’ and it doesn’t bring anything but Pride (which is the worst sin of all) and Despair with no hope.

BUT. Jesus is the answer. He became the sacrifice that was required to fulfill the law. So we don’t have to live by religious rules, and most of the laws of the Old Testament. He knew we couldn’t live them out. Thats why He died. He gave us those rules to show how crappy we are and how great His love is. That He would fulfill everything God required.

I say, screw sXe, screw religion, screw anything that takes away the message of Jesus and grace and mercy without which we would all perish. You can’t find hope in sXe. You wont find grace and love in religion.

Only Christ can give salvation, hope and love.

Total Depravity
Because of the fall, man is unable of himself to savingly believe the gospel. The sinner is dead, blind, and deaf to the things of God; his heart is deceitful and desperately corrupt. His will is not free, it is in bondage to his evil nature; therefore, he will not–indeed he cannot–choose good over evil in the spiritual realm. Consequently, it takes much more than the Spirit’s assistance to bring a sinner to Christ–it takes regeneration by which the Spirit makes the sinner alive and gives him a new nature. Faith is not something man contributes to salvation but is itself a part of God’s gift of salvation–it is God’s gift to the sinner, not the sinner’s gift to God.
(Genesis 2:15-17, Romans 5:12, Psalm 51:5, 1 Corinthians 2:14, Romans 3:10-18, Jeremiah 17:9, John 6:44, Ephesians 2:1-10)

Unconditional Election
God’s choice of certain individuals unto salvation before the foundation of the world rested solely in His own sovereign will. His choice of particular sinners was not based on any foreseen response or obedience on their part, such as faith, repentance, etc. On the contrary, God gives faith and repentance to each individual whom He selected. These acts are the result, not the cause of God’s choice. Election therefore was not determined by or conditioned upon any virtuous quality or act foreseen in man. Those whom God sovereignly elected He brings through the power of the Spirit to a willing acceptance of Christ. Thus God’s choice of the sinner, not the sinner’s choice of Christ, is the ultimate cause of salvation.
(Romans 9:10-21, Ephesians 1:4-11, Ephesians 2:4-10, Romans 8:29-30, Acts 11:18, Acts 13:48)

Limited Atonement
Christ’s redeeming work was intended to save the elect only and actually secured salvation for them. His death was a substitutionary endurance of the penalty of sin in the place of certain specified sinners. In addition to putting away the sins of His people, Christ’s redemption secured everything necessary for their salvation, including faith which united them to Him. The gift of faith is infallibly applied by the Spirit to all for whom Christ died, thereby guaranteeing their salvation.
(Matthew 1:21, Romans 5:12-21, Romans 3:21-26, Ephesians 2:8-10, Titus 3:5-6, Philippians 1:6, John 10:11-30, John 17:6-12, Romans 8:28-30, John 6:44, Acts 20:28)

Irresistible Grace
In addition to the outward general call to salvation which is made to everyone who hears the gospel, the Holy Spirit extends to the elect a special inward call that inevitably brings them to salvation. The external call (which is made to all without distinction) can be, and often is, rejected; whereas the internal call (which is made only to the elect) cannot be rejected, it always results in conversion. By means of this special call the Spirit irresistibly draws sinners to Christ. He is not limited in His work of applying salvation by man’s will, nor is He dependent upon man’s cooperation for success. The Spirit graciously causes the elect sinner to cooperate, to believe, to repent, to come freely and willingly to Christ. God’s grace, therefore, is invincible; it never fails to result in the salvation of those to whom it is extended.
(John 3:16, Matthew 22:14, Acts 17:29-31, Matthew 23:37-39, John 6:44, Romans 8:28-30, John 1:12-13, John 3:1-8, Ephesians 2:8-10)

Perseverance of the Saints
All who were chosen by God, redeemed by Christ, and given faith by the Spirit are eternally saved. They are kept in faith by the power of Almighty God and thus persevere to the end.
(John 3:16, John 6:35-40, John 6:44, Philippians 1:6, Philippians 2:12-13, Jude 24-25, Ephesians 1:13-14, Romans 8:28-30, Romans 8:35-39)

This is a follow up article on the 9mm gun that I mentioned in one of my previous articles. I wanted to go more in depth and provide details from a users point of view. I have used a beretta, a glock, a taurus, a ruger and none of them compare to the XD series. The Springfield Armory XD comes in:

1. XD45 ACP
2. XD Sub- Compact 3″
3. XD Compact
4. XD Service Model 4″
5. XD Tactical Model 5″
6. XD Custom

I choose the Service Model because you can still carry concealed and you don’t sacrifice barrel length. Barrel length is important for home protection in my opinion because if you fire it at night in your home, the flash off a 3″ barrel vs. a 4″ will be a lot brighter and will ruin your night sight temporarily. On a side note, consider using home defese shotguns if you do not have little ones running around the house.

With the purchase of an XD series handgun you will receive a solid carrying case which holds the weapon, barrel cleaner, dual magazine belt holster, auto-loader, concealed carry holster, and 2 16-round magazines. All of which comes standard with purchase.

The weapon systems most valuable features-

• Grip Safety
• Dove-tail trigger system
• Striker indicator
• Loaded Chamber indicator

How does it shoot? Excellent. This is a 9mm handgun that I would take to battle with me and not have to worry about jams or miss-feeds. Want to believe? Check out the “XD torture test” – The feel of the weapon when firing is comfortable. I have heard others say it is not but they take to the glock 40. It was obvious they were just stuck in their ways. It may not be for everyone but it’s pretty close. So when shopping for your next 9mm gun or handgun, check out the XD9. Also check back here at infoabouteverything.com for a in depth video of the XD9 in action.

Top Three Reasons to go with a 9mm

1. Accuracy - I have found that shooting a larger caliber gun will reduce the accuracy of my next shot due to the length of time it takes to sight in. On a 9mm gun the time can be reduced to re-sight in if you have a 9mm model with a decent length on the barrel.
2. Magazine Capacity – You will find that on most 9mm guns that you can purchase extended magazines that old over 15 rounds. In a life or death situation I would take more ammo than a larger caliber.
3. Ammo – Fairly inexpensive and fairly easy to find in different grains. If you are using a weapon for home defense you may want to consider a lower grain considering if you miss its going through sheet rock into the other room.

Yes people will argue and say the bigger the hole the less likely they will get up. I say to those people, “a bullet in the head ensures they are dead or two in the chest will put them to rest”. Ultimately you want to choose a weapon that you can handle. If you can test the gun out before buying it, even better. If you can not, I strongly recommend finding out from others who have that exact model their thoughts and opinions. This is how I found my XD9 and I couldn’t be happier with it. Want my advice on your first handgun? Buy an XD9!!! The best 9mm gun I have ever owned. Visit Springfield and Armoryand check out the specks.

-Sgt Farris USMC

Here is a good tip for today. Before you change your diet, get a pen and notebook. Make sure it’s convenient to carry around with you all day. If you have a cell phone that takes notes, this would probably be better. So here’s what you do. Anything that goes in your mouth write it down. Write down the following info from each item: Description, Carbs, Total Fat, Calories, Protein. If you do this, at the end of the day you can total everything up and see if you are getting the proper balance of these 4 things.  I did a 4/1 protein to carb ratio that extremely cut off some belly fat. The important thing is that you are aware of your intake. You can not make a change if you don’t understand what it is you are changing. I suggest ready books on proper nutrition. I have read a few and have drastically changed the way I eat. Besides, I can’t tell you how thrilled I am when everyone goes out for fast food and I gag at the thought. You want to lead a healthy life and you want to do it naturally. I hope this information reaches you and best of luck!