God is not dead, according to research on fast-growing world religions and to believers everywhere.
"DONALD TRUMP IS AT WAR WITH GOD," read the news crawl on a TV screen in the skyway system Wednesday in downtown Minneapolis.
On closer inspection, I realized I'd seen it wrong (though such a war did seem like the candidate's logical next step). Trump is really only at war with the GOP, which we all knew. Still, the mistaken juxtaposition bolstered another thought that's been rattling in my head: Live long enough, and you'll see yourself become the villain.
The notion was first planted when I stumbled across a TV showing of "The Dark Knight," the 2008 movie in the "Batman" franchise during which something along those lines — pondering the staying power of a heroic image — is uttered, particularly with respect to the character of Harvey Dent/Two-Face, the district attorney turned embittered criminal.
So consider, then, Gene Simmons, the 66-year-old bassist of the glam-rock group KISS who's receiving what is surely his first and last reference on the opinion pages of the Star Tribune. I recall as a kid picking up a drugstore magazine that profiled Simmons during his late 1970s/early '80s phenom-demon prime, detailing his breakfast routine as if he were a god or something.
Anyway, Simmons got into a social-media war this week with the rapper and actor Ice Cube over what constitutes rock 'n' roll. It was occasioned by the induction of Ice Cube's group N.W.A. into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:
Rap isn't rock, Simmons protested. (I'm paraphrasing.)
Rock isn't a style of music but a spirit, Ice Cube responded — it's been going on since blues, jazz, bebop, soul.