Culture
« Previous Entries Saturday, May 10th, 2008Mother’s Day
I think a yearly reminder of the original intent of Mother’s Day is always a good thing. A reminder that as women and mothers we can work together for peace, justice, and equality.
Mother’s Day Proclamation - 1870
by Julia Ward Howe
Arise then…women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts!
Whether your baptism be of […]
Frat Boys in Haiti
My mom recently pointed out to me a piece (True Gentlemen Go Global) from my brother’s fraternity alumni magazine. It dealt with a group of SAE frat guys going down to work on a school and hospital in Haiti - very similar to the work our church has done with New Life for Haiti. […]
Monday, April 14th, 2008Meaningful Tradition
I was thinking yesterday about traditions we keep or observe but don’t bother to understand. Holiday celebrations are ripe with such instances. How many of us can really explain why we put out stockings at Christmas, carve pumpkins at Halloween, send cards on Valentine’s, or eat black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day (if […]
Thursday, March 27th, 2008Across the Universe
To continue in the theme of recent posts…
I recently got around to watching Across the Universe. I know the movie was all the buzz last Fall, but I don’t get to see many movies these days so I waited until it finally arrived through Netflixs. I loved the whole concept of a musical […]
America, Race, and the Church
This past week in America we have witnessed a rather disturbing portrayal of the the church. The reactions across the blogosphere and in newspaper editorials to the Rev. Wright’s comments and Obama’s response have helped demonstrate the underlying attitudes of priorities of the American church. First I should say, although I don’t agree with […]
Monday, March 10th, 2008Cultural Values
Things I find sad…
We met with the Realtors today for the “wow we have a lot of crap to do to get our house ready to sell” talk. After deciding that the crosses in our dining room are decorative and not religious (and therefore didn’t need to be removed), they started debating if we […]
The Roots of Social Change
So I had an interesting conversation last night on the nature of social change. We were lamenting how so much of the injustices in the world are perpetrated and sustained by untouchable major corporations - systems that control our society so subtly that most of us aren’t even aware of their influence on our lives. […]
Sunday, February 17th, 2008Tragedy, Guns, and Questions
I can’t help but follow the news these past few days regarding the NIU shootings. The campus is a mere half hour from my house and we have friends who attended there. Although we personally don’t know anyone hurt in the shootings, it has touched this community. At church today we shared […]
Monday, February 11th, 2008Adapting Our Stereotypes
The world runs on stereotypes. We expect people to fit into certain boxes and shape our society around those boxes. Those that don’t fit, well, we just let them fall through the cracks. They don’t count, they aren’t normal, if they want to make it they should start acting just like everyone […]
Sunday, February 10th, 2008Defining and Defending the Blog
This past week fellow Daily Scribe blogger Nick Norelli asked the following questions on his blog - “Is a blog a blog if it doesn’t allow comments? And if it is then is it a blog worth reading?” My initial response was to answer “no” to both questions. Something may perhaps fit the technical […]
Saturday, February 9th, 2008Thoughts on Lost
So I feel like I should give some sort of commentary on the new season on Lost. I’m just happy to jump back into the story. I like following a mystery over a multi-year period as it just gets more and more complex. And this season has thrown in twists that question any assumptions we […]
Thursday, February 7th, 2008Children, Violence, and Veggie Tales
This series of rambling questions is posted in the “why yes, I do have a toddler” category.
I am not a fan of violence and I try to prevent exposing my child to situations that model violence. That said, I have to wonder at some of the strategies to avoid exposing kids to violence and/or […]