tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79973535958282096552024-03-04T20:01:41.840-08:00Cultural Ponderings in a Gray MomentCultural Pondererhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211635496023342985noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7997353595828209655.post-45778134236252812252011-09-05T13:26:00.000-07:002011-09-05T13:36:43.408-07:00Labor Day thoughts... a devotional for today<style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --></style><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />Some people say that Labor Day is a Marxist holiday. </span><span style="font-family:arial;">Indeed, it was first celebrated in the U.S. by the Central Labor Union (the predecessor of the AFL-CIO) in New York in 1882, and a version of it became quite the national holiday in the former Communist Bloc nations, celebrated with Red Army military parades, etc.</span><br /><br /><p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">To that I say, Marxism emerged and became successful bec there was a need--workers were overlooked and undermined by society and people were fed up. Was it a good system? No, but it existed for a reason: deplorable social structures. (Considering that Communism took hold in many otherwise Christian nations, perhaps the Church is partly to blame for not providing a better solution. Oh, the quandaries of the age-old "How much should the Church become involved in politics/secular society?" question.... but I don't want us to get sidetracked by that during this devotional thought.)</p><p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">I don't think our primary problem in the U.S. today (thanks be to God) is the reprehensible condition of our working class; even w/this bad economy, working conditions, etc. are still significantly better than they were for most in the urban industrial sector during the late 1800s. But, in relation to Labor Day, two thoughts do stick out to me; the first, a reflection on what I believe is a major social problem that relates to this holiday; the second, a simple responsive action to that issue:</p><p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">1.) We, as a nation (in the sense here of a people group), are a people who, by and large, have forgotten to stop and remember. Many Christians get upset with the over-commercialization and secularization of holidays like Christmas and Easter. I am one of them. As we know, the light and fun and innocuous elements of these holidays have increasingly begun to overshadow their deep spiritual significance more and more as our overly-P.C. society adds "religiophobic" to its social ethos. Even now, having largely been stripped down to their lowest common symbolic denominators (Santa Claus, Christmas trees, the Easter bunny, etc.), a further societal backlash ensued as people felt increasingly uneasy about these holiday's religious aspects, with public schools being barred from such ostentatious displays of religious proselytization as the brainwashing ritual of singing the ancient, culturally popular classic "Silent Night." Such carols have broadly been declared verboten from school choir performances, lest the minds of our fragile, impressionable, and pluralistic youth are corrupted by things like virgins and farm animals and babies in mangers and twinkling stars and such. Even in the private, commercial sector, business workers are increasingly instructed to offer the generic and utterly impotent festal greeting "Happy Holidays" during the month of December.<br /></p><p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">Perhaps the good side of that is one can simply choose which holiday they want to be happy about when someone says that. "Happy Holidays," declares the half-engaged department store worker as they already glance ahead to the next customer who is trying to balance her pile of clothing and ceramic mixing bowls and decorative "infused" olive oil bottles that will soon be collecting dust on her uncle's stovetop. But in your mind you can think, "Happy Holidays? I know it's Christmas, but man, that's a bit played out by now. I've been looking at Christmas trees and twinkle lights since October. Hmmmm... sparklers, yes! Happy 4th of July--that's it! I had to work that weekend, so I never got to light those sparklers I smuggled in from Tijuana last June. 'A happy Independence Day to you, too, ma'am!' you declare to the puzzled minimum wage employ, 'Damn those British!!' "</p><p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">What I realized today is our... and I would be Conservatively P.C. here and say "Judeo-Christian holidays," but let's be honest, Jewish people don't celebrate Christian holidays, at least not in their religious aspects, and vice a versa; also, most Jewish holidays, since Jews are a minority in the U.S., have been able to retain their religious nature, even as they find occasional expressions in the public sphere. So, what I realized today is that it isn't just our religiously-rooted Christian holidays here in America that have lost much of their salt, so to speak--though there does seem to be an intentional attack upon them for their aforementioned religious nature, but perhaps the organized atheists and virulent secularists are really wasting their hot air and pay checks on more legal bills... Their strategies to further separate Church and State (with "State" in their practical definition effectually meaning "American culture," not just its governmental institutions) are pretty much unnecessary--not because the average American has become godless (which survey and poll and study and research paper after survey and poll and study and research paper have repeatedly shown just isn't the case), but rather because most Americans simply just don't stop and remember. Anything.<br /></p><p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">Who has time to contemplate the challenging profundity of the Creator of the Universe lying vulnerable as a human baby in a smelly animal shelter when there are more sales to attack and "this year's hot toys" to fight strangers over at the mall? Who has time to cook a holiday feast for family and friends when traffic is so bad? Why would I go to the Veteran's cemetery to stop and remember and be utterly grateful for the young men and women who died so I can safely watch football on tv when there are so many football games on tv that I can watch? Don't worry, Richard Dawkins, Chris Hitchens, and Madalyn Murray O'Hair, traditional Christian holidays have become poor vehicles for converting people. We are much too busy buying crap to think about the subliminal messages seasonally being pumped into our brains by the Musak at the Westfield Shopping Plaza, infused with that oppressive medieval delusion called "religion."<br /></p><p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">Sorry, however, it's not due to our collective enlightenment of the naturalistic doctrines you so desperately cling to, it's simply because we just have too much stuff to do, too many "important" things to think about, and too many hamburgers to grill. Uncle Sam and Patrick the Leprechaun are feeling the crunch, too.<br /></p><p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">2.) OK, so now what? Yeah, we are busy and ungrateful people who have lost any real sense of annual rhythm, especially a rhythm of memory. What to do about it? I can't change corporate America or effectively tell the raging secularists to pull their victimization sticks out of their bums and stuff their mouths with them instead so the rest of us can just enjoy life and celebrate our stupid little holidays without too much f I put lights on my house will I offend my Buddhist neighbor?" self-analysis. (The answer, btw, is "no." Lights are pretty and Buddhists generally don't get uptight about such things.)</p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">Well... today is Labor Day. Perhaps in your own little, possibly self-gratifying, white guilt-reducing manner you can put your subversive skills to work in a small way. (As Americans, we like big trucks but small actions, let's be honest...) But this is the kind of small change, that added to a bunch of other, similar, small changes, will begin to change the way you think, bec it will begin to change the way you see your world. And once you begin to see your world differently, you will understand it differently. And when you understand it differently, you will respond to it differently, and will end up making some different choices, and relating to other people differently. Enough people begin to do this, and you have your own grassroots social revolutionary movement! Now, aren't WE cool! We might even get American Apparel t-shirts made for our cause, and then the hipsters will love us. Sorry, I was dreaming out loud.</p><p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">OK, ready? Here's the 1st revolutionary step you can take, one that will even make the card-carrying grad school Marxists proud--stop and remember. Yep. That's it: stop and remember. "Remember what?" you ask. Well, it's Labor Day. Stop and remember--think about and be thankful for all of the people, around the world, who made today possible. All of the people who labor, who serve you, directly and indirectly. People like:</p><p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">your postal worker</p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">your cell phone carrier workers</p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">the farmers and day laborers who grew and raised and picked and slaughtered the food you are eating</p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">the truckers and mariners who transported your food to Ralphs and your light bulbs to Wal Mart</p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">your auto repairman</p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">your teachers, past and present</p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">your pastors and church staff</p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">your garbage man (I mean... sanitary engineer)</p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">the people who designed, marketed, assembled, shipped, inspected, repaired and sold the computer that you are using right now</p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">the people who made the table and the chair you are at</p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">the police and firemen who keep you safe</p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">government workers and politicians</p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">waitstaff and buss people where you eat</p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">salespeople in the stores where you shop, business owners</p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">the actors and producers and directors and gaffers and editors and costume workers of the tv shows and movies you watch and enjoy</p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">the athletes and coaches and peanut salesmen for your favorite sports teams</p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">doctors, nurses, researchers, pharmacists, chiropractors, etc who keep you healthy</p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">etc., etc., etc.<br /></p><p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">The list can go on and on. But realize how dependent you are on the labor of others. Be thankful for them. Say a prayer for them, regardless of how removed and anonymous they may feel; God knows who they are, and he cherishes a heart full of gratitude.<br /></p><p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">Be thankful for your own job, if you have have. Be thankful for the jobs you have had in the past if you don't, and pray for a new one, so you, too, may serve others in that way.</p><p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">Use this Labor Day as one step in walking towards a lifestyle where you, counter-culturally, take sabbath and stop and remember, realize your interconnectedness, and are grateful. Do this enough, and your world will be different, because you will see it differently, and will respond to it differently, and in so doing, you will bring the good news of shabbat to it, a ceasing of our labors so that we can enjoy the fruits of them, and give thanks for the fruits that other laborers and our good Creator have graciously given to us.</p><p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">The peace and rest of Christ to you this Labor Day. Amen.</p>Cultural Pondererhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211635496023342985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7997353595828209655.post-39407984307515655482009-08-17T15:28:00.000-07:002009-08-17T15:58:31.749-07:00Time to Walk the Talk, Christian Folks<span style="font-style: italic;">The American Spectator</span>, an excellent paleo-conservative publication, posted this revealing article on their website today: <a href="http://spectator.org/archives/2009/08/17/plus-eight-is-enough#comment_109748">Plus Eight is Enough</a>. The brief article (which I recommend reading) highlights recent tabloid stories of Christian politicians and reality-show celebs, and broader statistics which show that Evangelical and other conservative Christians in the U.S. aren't doing too good of a job "walking the talk" when it comes to our divorce, unwed pregnancy, and abortion rates (especially in the so-called "red states" where Christians often predominate). These rates are usually equal to, and in some cases <span style="font-style: italic;">are</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">higher than</span>, those of non-Christians in the region. This is both ironic and tragic, since these are of course very hot-button issues which we so often seem to talk the loudest about in the public sphere and in frequently lobbied-for governmental legislation.<br /><br />As a response to Mr. Allott's article, I wrote the following thoughts:<br /><br />Thank you, Mr. Allott, for this thoughtful and balanced corrective for the church of Jesus Christ in America. It is a sad, but accurate, summary of how too many of us who call ourselves Christian have separated our ideals from our actual, lived-out values. Social scientists have documented how groups often become more vocal and "enthusiastic" about their unique positions and practices when they are experiencing a downfall, to reactively strengthen what makes them unique. Unfortunately, too many American Christians have done so with the issues of abortion, sexual behavior, and the defense of traditional marriage. I understand and identify with the frustrations felt with the eroding of these values on a larger social scale (and in so many Christians’ practice as these sobering statistics reveal), but in the midst of shifting social currents, we must be careful to not lose our heads and switch to some type of ideological reactionary state where we battle loudly over "protecting" the family through legislation while we ignore our own; complain about schools giving out condoms while our sons and daughters, whom we've lost meaningful relationships with and respect from due to our overly “busy” lives, are having unprotected sex; tell people to keep their babies when we do little to help out the ones that do once the children are born--we place almost all of the responsibility on the mother, with little required of deadbeat dads, there are sagging job opportunities, and social mindsets in many areas have the #1 goal for young people as: get a no-brain job, get pregnant, and have kids--no vision, no joy, no creativity, no entrepreneurship, no bettering your community or even taking care of your physical health (look at the absurd obesity rates in the U.S.), and we frequently over-spiritualize relational and even mental issues that concurrently need to be dealt with on a "natural" level (via counseling, support, recovery groups, etc.), often to the detriment of our families, marriages, and other relationships.<br /><br />Aaron wrote a telling comment (on the article, on the website): “The fact is that for Conservative Christians, living the good life is all that matters. We are not on a crusade, we are not trying to take over the world, don't try and fix us too.” From my understanding of Scripture, that is part of the problem. Our focus as Christians isn’t to be on “living the good life,” in some type of “us four and no more” way. God’s heart is poured outward unto us; as disciples, ours is to mimic His--poured out unto Him, but also to our “neighbor.” When Christians prioritize their own benefit and become insular, they abandon the Great Commission, which is to spread the “good news” of Christ and His Kingdom to all the nations, teaching them to follow Him as well. No, we are not trying to take over the world (although there are Christians who incorrectly adopt that mindset, too), but we are to tangibly influence it for the Kingdom, here and abroad, with authentic, generous, life-giving lives. According to Jesus’ great paradox of “he who loses his life for My sake will find it,” that is where “the good life” is found, and my personal experience verifies that. Small-minded, fearful, appearance-oriented, and insular “Christianity” has got to go; people need a vision that extends beyond themselves, one that they actually begin to live out in the power of the transforming Holy Spirit.<br /><br />Too many factions of the church in America have become too afraid to get "messy" so that the real issues (and yes, accountability) become taboo and aren't dealt with—well, until someone crosses the line and gets sent to the religious firing squad. Churches with truly healthy congregations are usually places where people feel loved enough AND where the people are "real" enough to be honest about their own "stuff" that actual healing/discipleship can take place. Otherwise, we too quickly become self-righteous ideologues who raise the standard higher than we ourselves ever intend to reach, and feel some sort of almost ethnic privilege because of our "correct" doctrine, and not our correct, stumbling-towards-Christ actions. The lived-out Gospel is what transforms people, communities, and nations for God's kingdom. But until the Church (Protestant, Catholic, etc.) gets real and gains discernment into the social situations and cultures that they live in, we will often stop short our analysis of these important issues at the "church level," ignorant of our own blind spots and familial/cultural issues that contribute to these problems. God doesn't live in a box, let's stop trying to put Him in one, and de-segregate Him from the rest of our lives, working together with our brothers and sisters in Christ across denominational, ethnic, and class lines toward real solutions.Cultural Pondererhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211635496023342985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7997353595828209655.post-48613398978235238922009-06-04T01:32:00.000-07:002009-06-04T02:14:53.165-07:00Pistis, Ethnos, & Mestizaje: A Case StudyIn my Congregation as Learning Community class the other week, we had an exercise in which we were asked to self-identify our ethnic culture and then consider the practices and values our cultures generally hold and how some of those either affirm or go against the Gospel. As a “culturally self-aware” American studies grad, that task wasn’t too difficult for me, but only because I spent almost 3 years asking such questions. I then wondered how some of the high schoolers I work with at church would respond to similar questions.<br /><br />So, tonight before our youth group started, I was able to talk with 6 young men and 3 young ladies, asking them how they would define their ethnicity/culture/race, and how some aspects of their culture (secular & Christian) either support or go against living the Christian lifestyle. (My second question was very difficult to convey in non-jargony terms! I had to rephrase it several times, and even then, I don’t think everyone got it.)<br /><br />Only one student was white alone; she called herself “Irish” and shared how she goes “all out” on St. Patrick’s Day, but is more generically “white” the rest of the year—her “Irishness” didn’t define her that much. Another student was “German/Italian/Irish/Salvadorian” and says he has a particular fondness for Korean girls. He goes to Burroughs High School in Burbank, where he said he was in the minority as a “white person” (differentiating himself from Armenians), and contrasted that to Burbank High, where his step-brother goes, which he said was predominately white. He said it felt weird to him when he visited it once for that very reason. Don was “white” and a “little Mexican”; Justin was “Mexican and white” and as a skater kid, said he “feels like crap” when other Mexicans (mainly cholos) call him “white,” but says he himself often “forgets” that he’s Mexican because he sees his crowd and friends as white. Author Robert W. Pazmiño, in his book <span style="font-style: italic;">Latin American Journey</span>, describes this tension: “…new-breed or new-generation Hispanics are looked down on both by Latin Americans for their cultural impurity and by whites for their ethnic ties.” (107)<br /><br />That tension of living in two cultural worlds was echoed by two biracial (Black and white) females, one who felt segregated against by Black students, and the other (who looks stereotypically white) who said she sometimes feels like she “has to chose sides.” Trey is very light skinned, but said he was “99.9999% Black.” When the students were asked how important their ethnicity was in forming their self-identity, almost all of them said it wasn’t, that they primarily saw themselves as just “people, like everyone else,” though these questions reveal that ethnic-based tensions do arise from time-to-time. Ethnic identification was least important to the predominately white students, who usually had the most difficulty answering my questions, but that wasn’t surprising, since “majority culture” people in almost any society often lack the same type of ethnic self-awareness that minorities do. (<span style="font-style: italic;">Please see my "comment" below</span>)<br /><br />When I asked the students to try to compare their culture with the Gospel, 80% of the students had a real hard time figuring that out. Kyle, who sees himself as “Mexican and European” pointed out that most Latinos are Catholic, and therefore “religious,” and kind of “reserved,” and that family was very important to them. Sam, who said he is “Black, obviously” (he has very dark skin) gave the strongest voice in support of having a more conscious cultural identity, saying that as a Black man he felt it was important to “step up” by example, instead of “being lazy,” to help “eliminate stereotypes.” He said he sometimes receives criticism from other Blacks who say he is “whitewashed.” In relation to the church, he felt the “Black church” is strong in its Pentecostal-type worship, and that they have that as a gift to offer to the “white church.” He said a cultural problem is that many Blacks “will go and praise the Lord at church and then go and smoke pot with their hommies that same afternoon”; that people often compartmentalize their faith.<br /><br />A great thing about our youth group is its ethnic diversity and how the students, by-and-large, build friendships across racial and ethnic lines, finding more commonality in their humanity and faith than their culture of origin. Nevertheless, these conversations show there is still work to be done among them in building understanding about these issues, which seem to lie beneath the surface, to help better understand the cultural strengths, weaknesses, and biases we bring to our faith journeys. From a cultural analysis perspective, these students in many ways reflect new types of <span style="font-style: italic;">mestizaje</span>, “mixed” people--the product of multiple cultures, creators of new ethnic identities--and even more so when you add a religion that is life-transforming to the mix.Cultural Pondererhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211635496023342985noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7997353595828209655.post-7778096469494760192009-06-03T13:24:00.000-07:002009-06-03T14:02:43.705-07:00Californians! Say NO to 220 Proposed State Park Closures!<div><br />[The following is a minimally revised reprint of a Facebook "note" I wrote the other day]<br /><br /></div><div class="photo photo_center"><div style="text-align: center;" class="photo_img"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=32690582&op=1&view=all&subj=93173641516&aid=-1&oid=93173641516&id=19908132"><img src="http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2611/125/19/19908132/a19908132_32690582_5863967.jpg" alt="" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;" class="caption">A pic I took in March of the pier at Hearst San Simeon SP by Cambria, CA, one of the sites the Governator proposes to close.</div></div><br /><br />Due to the indiscretions of state and nation and business and individual, we are in a huge economic slump. News flash, right? :-0 The state of California, estimated by many to be the world's 10th largest economy, has been hit hard and out of necessity, is looking for ways to cut corners in its state budget. This is right and understandable. One of Gov. Schwarzenegger's proposals for this trimming is to indefinitely close 220 out of 279 state-run parks across CA. (Which equals roughly 80% of them) As I consider this proposal, I am increasingly becoming irate and am befuddled as to why this would be a wise thing to do, after <span style="font-weight: bold;">considering the likely cost-benefit analysis</span> of such a move.<br /><br />Let's switch the order of those two terms of that foundational economic principle for a minute:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The BENEFIT:</span><br /></div><br />If this proposal goes through and 220 state-run parks are closed (= no legal access, no rangers, no security, no trash collection, no first aid, no educational programs, no maintenance, no income generated...), the state of CA will have skimmed off a whopping 0.01% of its budget deficit. Yes, that's right, a whole 1%.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The COST:</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Political cost</span>: First of all, there is the unjust political concept that the public will be denied access to public lands, which just goes against logic, considering we live in a democracy.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cost for the sites themselves:</span> the potential increased vandalism, fires, injuries, poaching, etc. that could happen in these places w/out supervision. During my internship up at the Great Smoky Mountains NP a few summers ago, I was constantly amazed at how foolish people can act out "in the wild," from leaving trash around to getting too close to bears. Most "city folk" don't know naturally how to respect the wilderness, and the same could be said for respecting our cultural sites from painted Indian caves to historic buildings. The solution is to show people how to safely enjoy the wilderness, but you can't do that without rangers.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cost for the residents and tourists who enjoy these sites:</span> remove educational programs which connect people to the land and their history; take away camping opportunities which make for great, healthy, fun, family- and friend-building, and cheap<span style="font-style: italic;">(!)</span> vacations in our tough economy and it's like, "Schwartz--what are you thinking?!" Many popular surfing beaches will be closed, meaning no place to park, no camping, no restroom facilities or trash collection, and NO LIFEGUARDS.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cost for the local economies:</span> consider the damage to the local, oftentimes rural economies around state parks which rely on tourist dollars and then add the fact that closing all of these state parks will include "laying off" approx. 1,500 employees, increasing our state's unemployment level, further reducing business income in small communities.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cost for the State's economy:</span> A UC Berkley study concluded that for every $1 CA spends on its state parks, the state <span style="font-style: italic;">receives</span> $2.35 in taxes and local business revenue. Again, using a basic cost/benefit analysis, it makes economic sense to keep these parks open.<br /><br />And then there is <span style="font-weight: bold;">the "priceless" factor</span> that no one can easily quantify. You can't place a $ value amount on the experience of standing below a towering Redwood tree up in the Henry Cowell Redwoods in Santa Cruz. You can't reproduce the silence and the night sky you find in the Anza-Borrego Desert, east of San Diego, back in the city. Who would think of closing Ellis Island, and yet we are proposing to close Angel Island up in the San Francisco Bay, which was the Ellis Island of the West. No more access to fields of endless golden poppies (our state flower) out in Lancaster; no visits to Bodie, one of the best-preserved ghost towns anywhere; no more camping trips to Carpenteria; no hikes up at Malibu Creek or even the Verdugo Mtns, just a shot above Burbank and Glendale; and no safe surfing seshes down at C-Bad or Refugio.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">To summarize:</span> I'm afraid for the integrity of these sites w/out any security, and I'm pissed I may not have legal access to them! :-0 Remove all of these awesome opportunities and you begin to ask yourself, "Wait, why do I live in California again?"<br /><br />****<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Data Sources:</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">CA State Parks Foundation:</span> <a href="http://ga3.org/campaign/budget_may09" onmousedown="'UntrustedLink.bootstrap($(this)," target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span>http://ga3.org/campaign/bu</span><wbr>dget_may09</a><br />(You can take action here by signing a letter which will be sent to the Governor and your appropriate state representatives. And believe it or not, this matters! A similar, but much smaller proposal [for closing 48 parks] was brought up last year by the Governor, but was quickly shut down after an overwhelming public response through petitions, letters and the like. Let's remind Sacramento again where our priorities lie!)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Surfline.com:</span><br /><a href="http://www.surfline.com/surf-news/governor-announces-plan-to-halt-state-funding-to-state-parks-fate-of-many-surf-beaches-in-question_27199/" onmousedown="'UntrustedLink.bootstrap($(this)," target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span>http://www.surfline.com/su</span><wbr><span class="word_break"></span><span>rf-news/governor-announces</span><wbr><span class="word_break"></span><span>-plan-to-halt-state-fundin</span><wbr><span class="word_break"></span><span>g-to-state-parks-fate-of-m</span><wbr><span class="word_break"></span><span>any-surf-beaches-in-questi</span><wbr><span class="word_break"></span>on_27199/</a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Silicon Valley Mercury News:</span> <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_12481195?source=most_viewed" onmousedown="'UntrustedLink.bootstrap($(this)," target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span>http://www.mercurynews.com</span><wbr><span>/ci_12481195?source=most_v</span><wbr>iewed</a>Cultural Pondererhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211635496023342985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7997353595828209655.post-63715410685677756352009-05-27T01:33:00.000-07:002009-05-27T01:37:04.416-07:00It’s Greek to MeThis Monday I visited the annual Valley Greek Festival, held at St. Nicholas’ Greek Orthodox Church in Northridge. Even though I’ve lived in the area for most of my life, I’ve never been to this fair, and since I didn’t have plans until the evening, I dropped by to grab some lunch and to hear their church choir. The festival lasted for all 3 days of Memorial Day weekend, but there were still hundreds of people on Monday afternoon. I started with the church tour, and listened to the young priest describe not only the church’s art and architecture, but also Orthodox worship.<br /><br />Outside, tents were all around selling Greek food, pastries, alcohol, and crafts. The food and live music were great, but the thing that stood out to me, haunted me in fact, was the dance. Being a dancer myself, I was delighted that the dance floor was the geographic center of the outside activities. I’ve seen all kinds of dances, but the Greeks are unique in that they seem to always dance in lines, everyone holding hands, weaving in and out of serpentine swirls with certain set patterns of footwork. There was a group of adolescents in the center, dancing around a flagpole, who were particularly fun to watch. It was refreshing to watch young men who were unafraid to dance, adding their own athletic touches and improvisations, dancing in these lines with their friends, guys and girls alike. Around them were chains of people of different ages, Greeks and others who have either studied the dances or just decided to jump in and pick them up as they went along. Among them all, the haunting, kinetic refrain of the dances themselves were saying, “Life is not to be lived alone, but together.”<br /><br />This church’s openness to others, their comfort with their cultural self-identity, their celebration of faith, food, and drink, family, music, and dance in an intergenerational expression follows Craig Van Gelder’s model of the missional church (and Norma Cook Everist’s work, The Church As Learning Community), and this impresses me. But as I reflected on the event, and certain expressions I saw of how things “are supposed to be,” I also found myself asking painful, personal, “Why, God?” questions when I compared what I experienced there with my own cultural environment, one that I never seemed to fully fit in growing up. I asked God why He chose to make me a dancer and yet place me in a culture where guys supposedly don’t do that. I ask Him why I wasn’t raised in a family that went to church, where a whole support network of people could have embraced me—the family of God. I told Him I sometimes wonder if it’s too late for me to find some of the connections and experiences I truly long for, and that I’m angry that He sometimes seems to be so slow and forgetful towards me. I wasn’t expecting any of this to come from attending this event, but visible expressions of the Kingdom can do that to you.<br /><br />Theologian Walter Brueggemann described the Church as being in exile. If the Church’s desire is to be one-and-the-same with the mainstream culture, I guess you could describe our current status like that. But after reflecting on this congregation’s festival and my interactions with it, I believe that in our American context, it is primarily individuals who are exiled from one another.Cultural Pondererhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211635496023342985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7997353595828209655.post-884256760874443542009-05-06T23:07:00.000-07:002009-06-04T02:40:38.020-07:00Wandering With Saint JulianThis last weekend, as part of an annual urban ministry event with the young adults of my church, I co-led a team that served at a mission on LA's "Skid Row," a district where thousands of homeless people congregate at different times of the day. It's home to several missions, flop houses, drug dealers, cops, and do-gooders. We were in the last category. Though part of our day was spent at a well-run rehab and service center, helping serve lunch and dinner, during the first part of our morning we split up into groups of three. Ours walked the blocks from around 5th St. and San Julian to Los Angeles Ave. and back, seeking people to engage with conversation and offers of prayer.<br /><br />At first, we were all a bit reluctant to engage these strangers, much like we would avoid any other fellow Angelino, but as we returned towards the mission we felt the burden strongly enough to finally take some initiative and crack the ice. We approached one female sitting on a blanket, basically saying hello and asking her if she wanted prayer for anything, to which she simply nodded her head "no." A cop car pulled up and told her she had to get up and move on, to which she quite lucidly said, "OK; I'll move." We realized that the cops there don't like people loitering around the areas with businesses, but would also later discover that they didn't do much to crack down on the frequent drug sales along San Julian. We spoke with William, who was selling scented oils, who told us he was a Christian who served at a nearby church and is now 3 years sober and recently married. We prayed with him that God would continue to do what He's been doing in his life, and asked William to pray for us. After his prayer, we seemed to have no problem engaging with the folks along San Julian.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinPWyHo_nF6QK5F8NpZ5wC-lEP0EsjMTyfSs-eSCcBfebDIjfS4-0P7f7zoXzjOYZNO8-bbvV1RaHMwPou104uF-raOFJpLBJXEaTmcIsX5UPW3LW_99tJWyZSlBWpmLdh_OEjx4S9-Udv/s1600-h/sanjulianpark.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332977488237758258" style="width: 400px; cursor: pointer; height: 301px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinPWyHo_nF6QK5F8NpZ5wC-lEP0EsjMTyfSs-eSCcBfebDIjfS4-0P7f7zoXzjOYZNO8-bbvV1RaHMwPou104uF-raOFJpLBJXEaTmcIsX5UPW3LW_99tJWyZSlBWpmLdh_OEjx4S9-Udv/s400/sanjulianpark.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />William was sitting in front of a mini park, surrounded by high bars so people couldn't sleep there at night, where CoCo was waiting for the workers to finish hosing off the benches beneath the two gazebos trimmed with icicle lights that are ironically and teasingly barred off during the hours when they are turned on. A rather morbidly-painted angel was posing in the back corner, one of those strewn about Los Angeles, painted by different artists for the "A Community of Angels Sculptural Project." This ugly one seemed to be the leftover they couldn't find a better place for. The rather nice micro-park seemed to me to be almost a piece of art itself, a theater for city council members to display to visiting dignitaries to prove they are "revitalizing" Skid Row rather than something that actually revitalizes the residents of Skid Row, though it does offer a bit of respite during daylight hours.<br /><br />As we continued to walk along the narrow street we met Cecil, a sweet man from Georgia with a bump above his left eye from when he fell two nights before while drunk driving his wheelchair; Jay, a buff dude who is currently taking classes in Santa Monica to be a personal trainer; Chocolate, who told us the factor keeping her on the streets is her drug addiction, as she sat 15 feet away from a crack sale and across the street from a recovery center; William, who, after asking us to look away while he shot himself up, quoted to us more Bible verses about the promise of salvation than most seminarians are able to, and with whom we had a lively conversation about poetry.<br /><br />At another street corner there is a Set Free church, with a wall mural of a gate with part of Matthew 16:18 written on it: "And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." These brothers and sisters are indeed sitting at the city gates, a traditional gathering place. They are at the surreal fulcrum point where the gates of hell abut the gates of heaven. Most of these residents are cohabiting in-between both, gambling to see which angel will take them in further: an angel of light, or one posing as such. Addiction and Freedom. Light and Darkness. Love and Murder. Community and Fear. Poison and Pleasure. Life and Death. Simulacrum and Safety.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.jmichaelwalker.com/3fdabfc0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; width: 171px; cursor: pointer; height: 252px;" alt="" src="http://www.jmichaelwalker.com/3fdabfc0.jpg" border="0" /></a>According to artist J. Michael Walker (who has explored the juxtaposition of saints and their namesake streets in his "All the Saints of the City of Angels" show), San Julian is the patron saint of wanderers. Skid Row sees multitudes of wanderers, most of whom don't last long; some are afflicted, some return to help those still stuck in its grasp. It is a distressing journey to fellowship with Saint Julian, knowing that "the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it." (Matt. 7:13) At the same time, I know that our Lord Himself was a wanderer, without a home to call His own. (Matt. 8:20)<br /><br />I was left to wonder: ultimately, which gate will our Saturday friends enter? Which gate will <span style="font-style: italic;">we</span> enter? The residents of Skid Row live our lives, just writ much larger, where the pixels of our struggles--visceral and metaphysical--are enlarged beyond any crafty concealment, confronting us face-to-face. Perhaps this painful revelation itself is the blessing of St. Julian.Cultural Pondererhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211635496023342985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7997353595828209655.post-36662864038888499092009-04-27T12:22:00.000-07:002009-04-27T12:52:42.491-07:00What Lies BeneathYesterday morning, while yet half-awake, my mind started wandering to a hypothetical conversation with a friend about the trustworthiness of Scripture, whether we can really trust it as a reliable (let alone infallible) revelation of God and His will for us. He was emphasizing the humanity of its authors, their personal biases and cultural issues, and man’s imperfection. Recently, I have been reading a book for a seminary class called <span style="font-style: italic;">The Ministry of the Missional Church</span>, by Craig Van Gelder. In it, he posits that the Holy Spirit is continually at work building the Kingdom of God and that it is the Church’s task to join in on that work (although the Church itself is the primary vehicle a sovereign God has chosen to use to accomplish that lofty goal).<br /><br /> It seems to me that one’s theological presumptions in this matter weigh heavily in how one deals with, say, certain elements of Biblical criticism; for example, if single books are really the products of several editors, using multiple sources, etc. If these understandings are true <span style="font-style: italic;">and </span>if the story ended there, then I would share my friend’s concern about the reliability of Scripture and its possible pollution by human authors. But what I realized during my quasi-dream state is that such a view extends beyond the issues of Scriptural trustworthiness, and presumes certain things about the very nature of God.<br /><br /> If the books and letters of the Bible are essentially just human documents with ideas <span style="font-style: italic;">about</span> God, no more holy or Spirit-breathed than any other essay or treatise on the subject, then underneath that assumption lies a rather Deistic view of God, where He is rather distant and unloving, not concerned to be known on any authentically personal level, leaving us to struggle even harder than we already do understand or obey Him. If, however, Van Gelder is right, and God has been and <span style="font-style: italic;">is</span> actively involved in His Church, building up His kingdom, then it follows that God would leave an accurate record, love letter, and instruction manual to His children, mysteriously but successfully working with (and often in spite of) human personalities and flaws to attain this goal. It makes sense to me then that such a God would also have guided the church councils who defined the canon just as much as He did the authors themselves, especially considering the importance of the work. It also follows that the same Holy Spirit has continued to work in and through the Church to this very day, guarding this sacred revelation, and enabling His body to live out this humanly-impossible <span style="font-style: italic;">missio dei</span> on earth.<br /><br /> Reflecting on the continued work of the Holy Spirit in the world has not only reaffirmed my hope in the work of the Church, but in the very trustworthiness of the God-breathed Scriptures themselves.Cultural Pondererhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211635496023342985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7997353595828209655.post-81290932054502114642009-04-16T00:45:00.000-07:002009-06-04T02:55:42.935-07:00The Perils and Paralysis of Political ParadigmsA good friend and I were eating lunch last week and, as we often do, got to talking about various political, social, and spiritual issues. Building off of pervious conversations, it has been determined that I am something of a Tree-Hugger, and he falls more in the vein of what I shall call a Neocon. Like him, I oppose abortion and share his conviction on many other “conservative” issues, but when it comes to being intentional about being green, our paths divide. To me, my environmental convictions are perfectly congruent with my theology, believing that part of following Christ is the realignment of one’s materialistic ambitions to seek the greater good, and being a good steward of one of God’s greatest blessings to us, planet earth. My friend notes that many environmentalist types, if not most, are also pro-choice. He challenges me by asking how I can support abortion. I told him I don’t, but he said that environmentalists are for abortion because they want to keep the population down. He said he felt like we really don’t need to worry too much about the earth, that it is quite capable of repairing itself (we can cut down the trees for clogged housing developments, but eventually the trees will grow back). Although I disagreed with his last point, I tried to explain to him that A≠B in every case, and that just because I support one of “their” ideas, this doesn’t mean that I share all their other conclusions. This made perfect sense to me, but such a “misalignment” didn’t fit within my friend’s rather dichotomistic political paradigm.<br /><br />Michael Budde in <span style="font-style: italic;">The (Magic) Kingdom of God</span> (Westview, 1997) criticizes the Church’s frequent accommodation to the ideas and paradigms of mass culture, one that stands in opposition to so many of the Church’s values and its vision for life. Liberal and Conservative alike frequently criticize “the media” for its undesired influence on our lives and values; I believe a large part of that critique should be focused on the political arena—and not just the realm of law and policy, but the political pop culture and media exploitation of politics and party. Popular media seems to reinforce if not create these types of “obvious” political alliances and paradigms, where an “if A=B, then B=C” logic rules. Such a logic may make sense mathematically, but doesn’t work out as well in the realm of politics, where political alliances vary across nation, era, even election season, and where people thankfully <span style="font-style: italic;">don’t</span> have to think like everyone else they might be grouped with, as politically disadvantageous or perplexing as that may sometimes be.Cultural Pondererhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211635496023342985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7997353595828209655.post-1780667728700929672008-11-12T16:16:00.001-08:002009-06-04T02:57:16.177-07:00"In Praise of the Altar Call," or, "There's No Such Thing As A Private Christian"A book I am reading for seminary, "Life on the Vine: Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit in Christian Community" by Philip D. Kenneson (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999), highlights a troubling trend within some congregations of contemporary Evangelicaldom, the culturally-approved bent toward "private religion." Apart from vague appeals to God or even Christianity from both political parties during this recent election season, most Americans, though they tend to claim belief in God on some level (and many claim to be a Christian of one brand or another), most in practice seem to prefer to keep their faith to themselves, feeling it is a "private matter" better left discussed at their own places of worship, their home, or--for many—only between themselves and God.<br /><br />Kenneson feels this stems from a popularly held dualism that separates the “spiritual” aspects of life and reality from the “material” and mundane. Religion, being exclusively “spiritual” many believe, is therefore something to be kept private, for oneself and those (somehow) already like-minded alone. Kenneson notes that “Most Christians at other times and places believed that disciples of Christ needed to make a public profession of faith.” (93) But today, with the “privatization” of the faith of many, altar calls and other forms of one’s public conversion have been replaced with simply praying “a silent prayer to themselves (and presumably to God) in order to welcome Jesus into their hearts.” (Ibid)<br /><br />Traditionally, baptism has been the time in which a convert publicly confesses Christ to the congregation and receives the initiatory rite into the faith. In the Evangelical church since the 19th century, the altar call, in which the repentant are asked to come down to the front of the church to pray with elders to receive Christ or to begin that process has been quite popular as another public expression of entering faith. Either way, the Church has long viewed conversion as a public experience, one in which a person joins the body of Christ, of which she or he is only a part. The private prayer version encourages “Lone Ranger Christianity,” where it’s just “me and Jesus.” Churches need to set the tone by providing opportunities for those who wish to come to Christ to be embraced by the body of believers, as initially awkward as that might be. Like the old saying about marriage, you aren’t just receiving a spouse; you’re joining a family!Cultural Pondererhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211635496023342985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7997353595828209655.post-59810509081727014042008-10-28T00:13:00.001-07:002008-10-28T00:29:07.123-07:00The Next U.S. President and the Abortion DebateA Facebook group forum discussion for members of the Christian denomination I belong to asks this question: "Can Christians, in good conscience, support Barack Obama for President? Yes or No? Please explain.” To this, I wrote in response:<br /><br />"Personally, I am throwing my vote in for McCain, but yes, I believe a Christian can vote for Obama. I know people at my Foursquare church (a fairly diverse one) who will be voting for Obama. They highlight his strengths (and I do think he has some) just like I highlight McCain's (and he does have some weaknesses). I agree that abortion is a horrible evil, and I grieve that it is so "acceptable" in our nation right now. In fact, one thing that really turns me off about Obama is his (at least historical) support for partial-birth abortion, a barbaric practice that isn't even legal in "Liberal" and "Post-Christian" Europe. I wonder what kind of man could support such an act. That being said, NO President will make abortion illegal, in fact a co-worker of mine went to R. Reagan's church and said that he said privately that he could openly be pro-life bec in the end he couldn't do anything about it, so it was basically lip service, so sometimes I think it's said just to get Christian votes. A change in abortion legislature will have to be decided by the courts--BUT the next Pres will be appointing more Supreme Court positions, so that makes a difference there. However, having abortion legal doesn't cause abortions--the question is what are we as a society doing to discourage them and help pregnant mothers in bad situations, legal or not? And the better question is how are WE living as Christians and as the Church? Are WE living missional, just and holy lives in the midst of a corrupt generation? Whether the current administration supports the mission of Christ's kingdom or not? Sure, I want our nation to reflect Biblical values and we have a great framework for that, and we could do more in that arena and I will do my little part to work towards that--but I won't depend on the gov to do the job for me. Obama or McCain or whoever--I am serving the Lord, and may His kingdom come, His will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Amen!"Cultural Pondererhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211635496023342985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7997353595828209655.post-80814465471788099532008-08-18T15:57:00.000-07:002008-08-18T16:00:17.503-07:00Cowboy Church ArticleIn regards to the article "<a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/religion/chi-cowboy-church-04-aug04,0,1328205.story">Where Prayers Come With a Twang</a>"<br /><br />I wrote:<br /><br />I read a reprint of this article in the Los Angeles Times, and was glad that cowboy churches were getting the exposure.(I don't attend a cowboy church myself, but I am familiar with them, having attended a few before.)<br /><br />Initially I was frustrated, though, with the repetitive use of both Christian and "cowboy" cliches in the article, at the best, naive towards both cultures, at the worst almost disrespectful. I re-read the article here online, and then realized that the Times had edited it some for length, unfortunately weakening the article and leaving some rather broad statements unexplained.(Which, of course, you have no control over!) I asked my father, a well-known religious news journalist, if it was common for papers to do that, and he said yes, but was surprised that they did so considering that it was placed in the front section!<br /><br />As for the original article by Torriero printed here, I realize that a journalist wants to be interesting and clever and readable, but I did roll my eyes at the statement "Hamson strikes the fear of God in his parishioners..." That is a strong statement, which is not the impression that I get from the description of Hamson in the article--that he's some fire-and-brimstone type of preacher. This, and other Christian cliches inappropriately used in the article (perhaps unintentionally) paint pastors and lay evangelical Christians as hokey, insincere, stupid, and/or subversive (all too common images in the press), and tend to spin what is a serious commitment for these people as a novelty. As a Christian I guess I just get tired of hearing these types of phrases coming from professional news agencies, who are usually careful and successful at treating other religious groups with respect--this protocol should include refraining from worn-out puns.<br /><br />I work for the Autry National Center's Museum of the American West (so you know where I'm coming from with all of this) and I also get tired of so many ancient Western cliches. I can understand a few, but it seems like they fill this article, reinforcing the Hollywood version of the West over the real one. One point I don't understand is the section about religion in the "Wild West" (not exactly a technical term, but we get the point!). What was said is true, but then Torriero (or the article's editor) then jumps to the claim that contemporary cowboy churches embrace more of "entertainment's" version of the (mythic) West than "cowboy lore." What I don't understand here is not in inclusion of the historic change in the religious landscape of the West, but the lack of acknowledgement that cowboying is a job that, though at its greatest prominence in the 1880s, is still being done--it is a LIVING tradition, and Hollywood and Nashville don't own the trademark. Sure, the "cowboy" image extends far beyond wage-laborers on cattle ranches (and the broadening of that image into popular culture goes back to the 1880s! So, really, was it EVER possible to completely separate the two...), and it serves today as a broad icon for the Westerner, but my point is many of the people in this article ARE Westerners and/or are horsemen, farmers, etc. They ARE cowboys in the broad sense of the word, so how is this LIVING tradition defined or qualified by its earliest years or by Hollywood? In other words, why are modern-day cowboys (ranchers, horse people, rodeo performers, etc.) treated as second-rate, drugstore versions of the "real" thing? The cowboy isn't dead and what these people do IS cowboy culture--today. I'm just saying...<br /><br />Thanks, again, for your article!Cultural Pondererhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211635496023342985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7997353595828209655.post-83340282802635722872008-07-06T14:45:00.000-07:002008-08-18T16:02:16.176-07:00So. Baptists Encouraging Creation CareAn "independent coalition of Southern Baptists who are passionate about caring for God's creation" have penned "A Southern Baptist Declaration on the Environment and Climate Change," available for viewing at Southern Baptist Environment & Climate Initiative website at: <a href="http://baptistcreationcare.org/">http://baptistcreationcare.org/</a><br /><br />This declaration initiates a HUGE potential for increasing awareness and hopefully action by a large population of Evangelical Christians. Although an independently-produced statement and not a convention-wide one, this is a major step for members of the nation's largest Protestant body, one that has become increasingly <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">doctrinaire</span> on issues of Biblical interpretation, doctrine, ethics, etc. over the past decade (it's amazing to me how many times this Statement references their commitment to pro-life and traditional marriage issues, like that has anything to do w/the topic at hand), but one must understand that its target audience includes many who dwell in the "global warming is a myth" camp and the "wow, I don't know about us entering this <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">hippy</span>/feminist/'Liberal' group of tree-hugging environmentalists" camp.<br /><br />What the Statement does well is lay down a theological basis for caring, as Christians, about how we act and legislate and produce/consume in relation to the natural world around us. Its two main points are: one of God's revelations of Himself to <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">mankind</span> is through the created, "natural" order, so for us to mar His creation is to mar His witness as well as to deface what is essentially His property, not ours; the other is that the potential negative effects of global warming would hurt the poor the most. <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Therefore</span>, subversively, this document also reinforces the Christian commandment to care for the poor and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">oppressed</span>, another important Biblical <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">injunctive</span>, sometimes unfortunately downplayed by Conservatives due to the rhetoric of the political Left.<br /><br />As I mentioned earlier, the Declaration spends what would seem to be an inordinate amount of time defending the group's commitment to other, extremely <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">peripheral</span>, issues like Biblical <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">inerrancy</span> and the right to life, and it spends several paragraphs in carefully-worded affirmations on the limitations of science, the fact that "anthropogenic" global warming isn't proven and that there is a significant minority of scientists who disagree w/the theory, etc. But again, given the audience, this is hardly unnecessary. I love what the statement <em>does</em> do, where it comes up weak is that it ends at theory and intention and the recognition that there is an issue. Granted, this is a huge beginning for many in the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">SBC</span>, but it falls short of giving any guidance for WHAT we should do to begin to <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">address</span> these issues. It's like sharing the Gospel with a person, they convert and accept Christ, and when they ask "How now shall we (I) live?", you fall silent. There is no framework, no <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">guidelines</span>, no points for further action in the Declaration.<br /><br />The most the website offers in this area is a list of "Resources": several books on creation care and a few links to groups like Christian environmental organizations and some "safe" secular ones like <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">EnergyStar</span>. These are vaguely helpful, but a few, simple, non-political action steps that everyday individuals and families could take to begin to live a "greener" lifestyle would have been wonderful and even more pro-active help from a group that deeply cares about this issue and sees the God-connection with it all.<br /><br />Another thing that confounded me is its focus on the global warming debate. Why, if global warming is so controversial, does the Declaration spend so much time focusing on it? Let's suggest for a moment that global warming doesn't exist, would a Christian's responsibility for thoughtful environmental stewardship cease? Why does it take such "huge" issues like this to get us to start doing what we should have been doing all along? Think of the parallels in our personal lives. So often, God needs to hit us up on the side of our head to get us to pay attention to an important area that we have been neglecting for so long, be it a relationship, our finances, our health, our spiritual growth, etc. It's sad that it has had to come to this--potential ecological disaster--before we get serious about everyday issues like pollution, rapid deforestation, energy sources and usage, refuse disposal, unsustainable agricultural practices, unchecked consumerism, etc. Shouldn't these have been "Christian" issues all along? Loving your neighbor as yourself is a pretty huge aspect of serving Christ Himself, and when we look at these issues and how many of our <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">lifestyle</span>, government and business practices have gone awry due to flesh-issues like selfishness/greed, the love of money, and the rejection of wisdom and long-term thinking, the spiritual connections to these issues become <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">apparent</span>.<br /><br />Natural causes aside, and even potential global warming-related issues aside, the immediate, contemporary problems of smog, acid rain, species extinction, etc. are reasons enough to get us to think both theologically and practically about these issues, and to actually care enough about them to be willing to alter our lifestyles enough to reflect Biblical, neighbor-loving principles.<br /><br />Kudos to this group of Southern Baptists for taking an important initial stand on this critical area of life, and may more <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">SBC</span> folks join them, as well as those from across the broader Christian community! The group rightly points out that our historic neglect and even dismissal of these issues has caused us to seem uncaring to non-Christians, so kudos to us rightfully improving the church's P.R., and more importantly, that of Christ.Cultural Pondererhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211635496023342985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7997353595828209655.post-82993792490098973312008-07-01T15:58:00.000-07:002008-07-01T16:01:09.937-07:00Life or Traditional Marriage: Which is the Most Critical at this Gray Moment?In response to a Huck PAC poll about which issue his PAC should tackle first, I wrote the following response:<br /><br />The right of the unborn to life is a huge issue, but there are already wonderful groups that work to lobby and educate on that front. The acceptance of gay marraige is a HUGE cultural shift that is surfacing, but is one that we can still prevent before it becomes entrenched in our society and lawbooks. I live in California, so I know we are on the verge of something huge that is really unprecedented in history, ours or anyone else's. This isn't just an evangelical Christian issue, there are very few societies historically of any religious or cultural persuasion that have had same-sex marriages on an equal status w/heterosexual ones. I am not really big on legislating every private moral issue, but for the government to officially endorse such a union is a whole 'nother issue. This isn't just about civil liberties for gay couples, this (at least in CA) is about how we teach about family/sexuality/gender in the public schools from the earliest ages on up; it is about restricting free speech regarding what we can and cannot say about this moral issue; it is about how popular culture w/reinforce these values; it is about a dramatic, socially-engineered shift in the very fabric of society. THAT is why I think we need to speak up on this critical issue before it is too late. I am not a fear-monger or conspiracy theorist, I am being realistic.<br /><br />The best thing we can do for the life issue is to help prevent people from having unwanted pregnancies in the first place, and then providing viable options for when people do get pregnant and don't want to raise the child, to reduce abortions. As Huck has mentioned before, we also need to improve the chances for these children to grow up in healthy homes and have equal opportunities to live fulfilling lives and become productive citizens, rather than simply products of a flawed foster care system.<br /><br />Whether it be abortion or the gay marriage issue, lets face it, laws alone won't stop people from having sex! But they can affect how we teach about family and marriage in the public schools and what type of relationship we sanction as a legitimate marraige and it isn't too late to start off on the right foot on this one!<br /><br />-----<br /><br /><br />Comments, reflections?Cultural Pondererhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211635496023342985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7997353595828209655.post-46426180869742149502008-06-04T13:27:00.000-07:002008-06-04T14:08:26.840-07:00Rebel Flag ControversyIn response to an iReport.com story done by a guy in FL about a large Confederate battle flag being flown close to a major freeway at the site of a Sons of Confederate Veterans memorial park that is being built (visit online video article <a href="http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-30889#postComment">here</a>), I wrote this response (aimed more at some others who commented on the video than the video itself):<br /><br /><table class="ir-comments-results" id="ir_c_m80025" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;" class="ir-comment-moderator"><b><a href="http://www.ireport.com/people/Cldart" id="jive-oT3gP44JRW5Fo4Xw" class="jive-username-link" title="Click to view Cldart's profile">Cldart</a></b> // 31 minutes ago </td><td class="ir-comment-flag"> <br /></td></tr> <tr align="center"><td colspan="2"> <div class="ir-comment-string"> <label style="display: none;" id="choppedmessage80025">I'll try to keep my thoughts organized:<br /><br />A. As horrible as slavery was, the South wasn't trying to be anti-American, because unfortunately slavery built America into a viable economic power and wasn't illegal. Future President & Union General U. S. Grant kept his own slaves until Emancipation--after the War--unlike Gen. Robert E. Lee, who freed his before the War. Lee only reluctantly fought for the Confederacy. The last straw for...</label> <label id="fullmessage80025" style="display: inline;">I'll try to keep my thoughts organized:<br /><br />A. As horrible as slavery was, the South wasn't trying to be anti-American, because unfortunately slavery built America into a viable economic power and wasn't illegal. Future President & Union General U. S. Grant kept his own slaves until Emancipation--after the War--unlike Gen. Robert E. Lee, who freed his before the War. Lee only reluctantly fought for the Confederacy. The last straw for him was when Federal troops invaded Virginia. Before you claim the "re-writing" of history, go and actually read some history books written for an audience above the 8th grade! You'll learn a lot--life (esp. war) isn't so black-and-white.<br /><br />B. As far as the North=good / South=evil paradigm, the worst race riots took place in the North, after the Civil War as recent "white" immigrants fought for the same jobs as Blacks moving North, and many abolitionists (including Lincoln) were racists who wanted the freed slaves to go back to Africa. Post-War Southerners fell into 3 main camps, the only reason the highly racist and reactionary "radicals" gained power was because of the radically oppressive policies of Reconstruction, put in place by Pres. Johnson, who hated the South. (Lincoln would have done things differently, more like South Africa after apartheid.)<br /><br />C. Free speech is protected in the U.S., and flying a historical flag is included, though I agree the Stars and Bars would have been a wiser (& more accurate) choice.<br /><br />D. As far as "America" won, or the "North" won so give up already attitude--do you guys hold the same feelings for "conquered" Native American tribes? No sovereignty or "rights" or cultural identity left for them? Just "give up already" and "assimilate!" How "Liberal" do you sound now? What about recent immigrants who are still proud of their own ethnic identity and wave the flags of their homeland, even though they are also proud Americans. Should that also be outlawed? Examine your own prejudices, people... </label></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Now, I am a Californian and the proud "son" of a Union veteran, but having studied some about the bloodiest conflict in U.S. history, I have learned that the issues are complex, and it gets me upset when people automatically associate the South with racism. I stand for the right of Southern Americans to respectfully display symbols of their heritage, and exercise the same freedom of speech as other Americans enjoy.<br /><br />I feel that more than actually caring about history or racism or other "real" issues, most people simply want to not have to think or feel or care about anything, and would rather be "comfortable" and not have to deal with controversy or ideas or the complexities of pluralism or perhaps their own racism. Life isn't supposed to be "easy," just good.Cultural Pondererhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211635496023342985noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7997353595828209655.post-23537449693695808872008-03-09T10:50:00.000-07:002008-11-12T23:38:19.425-08:00The Association of White Male Oppressors (AWMO)Ladies and... no, sorry... Gentlemen! Come one, come all to the greatest... oh, wait... OK, if you're White (and preferably Protestant) ... and <span style="font-style: italic;">ideally</span> from a predominately Northern and/or Western European background ... Then come and join our EXCITING fellowship of... fellows! The Association of White Male Oppressors! (AWMO for short...)<br /><br />What do we do? Well, let me tell ya! It's quite a hootenanny, all right! Well, on a typical evening we hang out at my trailer, play Bud Light beer pong, listen to classic country music, and dine on Beenie Weenies and Saltines (we don't like the word "Cracker") and Cheez-Whiz! (Heck, if it's your birthday we'll even deep fry some Twinkies for ya! Hoo wee!)<br /><br />But then the REAL FUN begins... once we're all sauced up we have a "pow-wow" of sorts... folks, we spend hours upon endless hours plotting and scheming and fanangling how to oppress all of those BELOW us, <span style="font-style: italic;">YOU KNOW</span>... the usual suspects: women, Blacks, Mexicans, Chinese, the disabled, poor folks (those who aren't White, obviously), entire Third World nations, American Indians, etc. (I'm using "PC" language here gentlemen since this is a "family" website...) Then we scratch ourselves a bit, trade stocks, fart and think of novel ways to stay on Top of the World! Boy, it's a good day to be <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Man</span>!!!<br /><br />We try to come up with new ways to put down Jews and Catholics and them Hin-doos. And <span style="font-style: italic;">Democrats</span>!!! Boys, it's a hoot! We figure out ways to raise the cost of health care and keep them colored folks in the ghetto ignorant and hopefully killin' each other! Boy, you'd be amazed at what we have planned for next week! We haven't finalized plans just yet, but it's either going to be an old-fashioned "Dress Up Like Your Favorite Vigilante Leader" party OR we are FINALLY going to start circulating those petitions to get Hee-Haw back on the air! For exercise (Men, you gotta stay strong to be effective during your volunteer Border Patrol duties), we'll probably play an inspiring round of "Smear the Queer!" I LOVE that game! And for musical entertainment, we'll be rehearsing for our annual Blackface Minstrel Show fundraiser in order to ensure our precious White children can ALL afford quality copies of <em>Mein Kampf for Little Folk</em> and the entire <em>Dick and Jane Learn to Colonize</em> series for their Pinko-free homeschools.<br /><br />Sounds like fun? Visit us online at: <a href="http://www.thisiswhatliberalextremistsmustactuallythink.org/">http://thisiswhatliberalextremistsmustactuallythinkaboutwhiteguys.org/</a> and be SURE to have your Illuminati membership # handy.Cultural Pondererhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211635496023342985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7997353595828209655.post-23552135246020049212008-02-24T11:56:00.000-08:002008-02-24T15:08:57.095-08:00Welcome!<p class="MsoNormal">Welcome to my butt-spankin' new blog: Cultural Ponderings in a Gray Moment. Here I will, well.... ponder the varied significant and inconsequential ponderings of my rather labyrinthine mind. To try to keep myself moving in some discernable gear, (many of) my topics will have something to do with culture, especially American culture (aesthetics, politics, religion, philosophy, Krispy Kremes), trying (like a good grad student of American Studies should) to make sense of the very idea, and trying, with idealistic vision, to project a more perfect version of what we could be. Because I believe that the personal is political, I am not necessarily trying to build some ideal framework for our entire nation-state (at least not on Wednesdays or Fridays), but am rather trying to find a cultural direction for my own person and those who might be fellow travellers in one form or another.<br /><br />My personal starting point/bias: I am a 33 year old male of mixed northern European ancestry (though my family line has been here roughly since the mid 1600s on both sides) who was born and raised in a suburban area of north <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Los Angeles</st1:city>, <st1:state st="on">CA</st1:state></st1:place>. I am a Christian and I take my relationship with God seriously. Politically, I tend to sit just a little to the right of "center," though some of my views waiver from this fulcrum point, sometimes in atypical ways. I am passionate about music and the arts, value sincere thought, and like to have fun, too, believe it or not. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">I am really here just to think out loud, sort of, and try to explore--ponder--and develop my own worldview. So, please, keep in mind that a lot of what I will write here is just that--pondering--and not necessarily indicative of any firm or entrenched viewpoint of mine (though there are exceptions to every rule, and the things that <span style="font-style: italic;">are</span> entrenched in my mind I am most likely to be the least self-aware of), and this rule does not apply at all on Tuesdays or Sundays.<br /><br />Now, without any further ponderings on pondering...</p>Cultural Pondererhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211635496023342985noreply@blogger.com0