So I’ll put up a short post in my continuing series of rants on crummy church signs. Once again the local Baptist church has caught my attention with their sign. On one side it displays the evangelical pseudojoke – “And you think it’s hot here!” Cheezy, but I’ve heard it before. Then the other side reads – “Free trip to Heaven. Inquire inside.” Does anyone else find that just a tad creepy? Doesn’t exactly inspire confidence to make me want to go anywhere near that building. It’s a bit like a scuba place advertising “We’ll help you swim with the fishies.” True from a certain perspective, but creepy nonetheless.
Category: Culture
Responsibility
I get rather annoyed when I hear people talking about how irresponsible youth are these days. Oh, I admit that there are teenagers who are self-centered and flaky, but so are many adults. It’s just that teenagers can be blamed and have rules and laws imposed on them to make them shape up (or at least allow the adults to pretend the problem’s solved). A few kids get drunk and have an accident, all teens then have to have a curfew. A few kids wear gang symbols, then all kids have clothing restrictions imposed on them. Not that rules don’t exist for adults, we at least have the opportunity to complain about their stupidity without being grounded or suspended.
Why does it annoy me? Because in my experience working with youth they are exceedingly more responsible than adults. I can hire a neighbor kid to cut my grass and I can be sure he will show up to do the job. The cable guy, the plumber, or the phone company are never that reliable. Similarly when I was a Children’s Pastor, I do not recall a single year of VBS when there were any adult volunteers who showed up every night. Every single one of them managed to come up with some last minute excuse to skip an evening or two (as well as the entire training period). The teenage helpers on the other hand made it to the training, showed up on time, and were consistently there every night for the kids.
And it’s not just that teens are often more responsible than adults, but that I have seen parents forcing their kids to bail on their responsibilities if it cramps their (the parents) style. One year when I was on vacation, I left the weekly Children’s Club to the responsibility of one of my teenage helpers. He knew the lesson, knew what set-up involved, and was a committed helper that all the kids knew. Well, he talked back to his mom that week and she grounded him from all activities he enjoyed – including helping with the kids club. (and yes his mom was a committed church member involved in other children’s ministry activities herself). Since when was a good punishment (if that exists) to teach your kid that failing one’s responsibilities is a good thing? Similarly when we would train teams of teens for mission trips we got to the point where we had to have the parents as well as the teens sign commitment forms. We had discovered that the parents saw a teen’s commitment as nonbinding if the parent wished. So last minute family trips, or chores, or babysitting siblings came before training sessions the teens had signed a commitment saying they would attend. But then nothing changed even after the parents signed the commitment forms as well. Apparently giving one’s word and signing a commitment held less value for the parents than personal convenience and pleasure.
What really got me though was that the same parents who forced their kids to avoid responsibility then complained to us (as youth and children’s pastors) that their kids were irresponsible and could we please teach them something about responsibility. Somedays I just wanted to shake those parents and tell them to open their eyes. But I didn’t. That wouldn’t have been the nice and responsible “Christian” thing to do. So I just rant about it now.
Things that Make You Wonder…
So I’ve been out and about all day today attempting to avoid actually being outside during the crazy storms and tornados. It’s been one of those days. Just thought I share some of the moments today that just made me have to wonder.
First – in the “you know environmentalism is a fad when…” category.
Target is selling this “Green is Good t-shirt” –
What gets me is that the claim to caring for the environment is printed using conventional toxic dyes on a shirt made of conventional cotton. Tons of environmentally unfriendly chemicals and pesticides were dumped into the environment to create the opportunity for trendy teens to expresses (boldly across their breasts) their deep commitment to caring for the environment. Did they ever stop to think?
Then in further environmental news – I was at Trader Joe’s and of course had forgotten my nice reusable canvas bags yet once again. At the check out I asked the guy to not waste bags since I would just be transferring the food to the cooler in my car. He got really confused and didn’t know what to do with my food. I asked him to just put it all back in the cart. At that point he said, “how about I just put it all in plastic bags.” Because it is so common to not want to waste paper bags so that you can use plastic ones instead! I gave up and he packed it all in paper bags.
And finally in the “does this disturb you as much as it did me?” category, I saw this bumper sticker –
No wonder the world hates us. How can we continue to pretend that we are a “Christian” nation if this is our foreign policy? Forget loving your enemies, forget “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,” who needs crap like that when we have a license to kill?
Anyway, can you tell I’m having a “what is this world smoking?” sort of day?
Action Movies and Gender Roles
So I actually got the chance to get out and see The Bourne Ultimatum. Fun movie, this one speaks to issues of our day but with a lot of crazy camera angles. One element that stood out to me was the implicit gender role assumptions present in the movies. In the Bourne universe, the guys are always the kick-butt action figures. They are the ones with the skills, the ability to fight, and the driving urge to win. The women, although generally intelligent, are weak and in need of protection. In this latest installment the weakness of even the intelligent women in positions of power is preyed upon by the men’s need to win. Granted in the end the “emotional weakness” of the women proved beneficial for they were the ones who demonstrated a conscience and chose to do what was right (as opposed to what gave them power). Although full of assumptions and stereotypes, I found it a telling commentary on the need for a balanced perspective that men in violent positions of power often lack.
But I was also reminded in contrast of the typical role women play in action movies. Rarely are women recurring intelligent characters. Instead women are often portrayed as the kick-butt hero who is exceeding sexy. The appeal is the sex factor and the novelty of a woman doing what is assumed to be a man’s job. Far more common though are women as helpless, disposable, love interests sex objects. They add some emotional content to the plot, stretch the story a bit, but mostly serve as eye-candy. And there is a new pretty face of the moment by the time the sequel comes out. I remember as a kid wondering what happened to the female characters in movie sequels. Why did Indiana Jones have a “new girl” in each movie? Are women really that worthless that they can be discarded at will?
I do see some changes beginning to occur (not that I watch all that many movies). Sometimes the love interest is drawn out over multiple movies (Spiderman or Pirates) – but this may be more the result of studies signing multiple movie deals upfront than a step towards equality. And I’ve heard a rumor that the new Indiana Jones movie is bringing back the woman from Raiders of the Lost Ark (not that I even remember her name). We shall see. I know one really shouldn’t expect much from action movies, but I get sick of constantly seeing negative stereotypes being reinforced in the name of entertainment. Of course there are “intelligent” movies out there that do a much better job at demonstrating women as more than sex objects, but are those who could benefit from more respectful portrayals of women really watching those movies?
The Bra Issue
It has been an interesting experience the past few days to read the reactions to the “My Search for a Justice Bra” article (posted here and here at the God’s Politics Blog). There are a couple of things that I want to respond to here, but first the part that caused the most controversy – why did I write about bras for the whole world to see?
Most simply because it was true. It was a true story based on the fact that I really needed a new bra, but it became amusing because of the oddity of writing about a bra. I expected people to smile at the situation and move on. But that proved too difficult for some. Apparently there are a lot of men out there who have the maturity level of a junior high boy when the subject of women and their bodies is brought up (no offense to jr. high boys intended…). Bras are for breasts and the only purpose of those is for sex – or so some seem to believe.
I think I should clarify before I go much further. I have issues with the way the secular media and the Christian church have oversexualized the female body. Of course the body has sexual aspects, but that is a limited and not holistic view. Our bodies are wonderful creations that should be appreciated and cared for. Too often we see them only as shells to be starved and carved into cultural definitions of sexual attractiveness. If the natural functionings of the body don’t aid our sexiness, we hide (or seek to eliminate) them. As discussed recently over at Emerging Women, our menstrual cycles have become a thing to be feared and despised rather than celebrated and accepted. Same thing with breasts. They have become so associated with being a sex object that their natural function for breastfeeding has become taboo for many. Hence the issue with bras. For me a bra is just a part of everyday life. Oh, yes, they can serve a sexually charged function, but as one of the basic everyday parts of life I found it appropriate to see if I could bring environmental stewardship and ethical consumption into that area of my life.
But as a few of the reactions to the story demonstrate, there are some who do not think such a thing is possible. Oh there were those who resorted to cleavage and support jokes – lighthearted attempts to deal with the uncomfortable, but there were others who assumed that I could not possibly be serious about justice issues because I was talking about a bra. Some went so far as to claim that I was a right-wing critic who must be making fun of people who care about justice since I dared to talk about bras. Apparently anything remotely sexual cannot be taken seriously. (which is kinda the whole problem with women only been seen as sex objects and therefore not being taken seriously…).
The point of my search for a justice bra was to see if I could live holistically. To see if I could care for the environment, care for the poor and the oppressed, and be a conscientious consumer. Doing such things requires one to be aware – to consider where and how plants are grown, to think about the long term impact of dyes on the environment and our health, to care for the people who had to work with those chemicals or make my clothes. Our food and clothing does not magically appear in the stores – it all has a story, often a tragic and painful story. Being aware of that story and seeking to improve it is just part of what it means for me to let Christian values influence all areas of my life. But I also see living holistically to include accepting and being comfortable with my body. To care for its needs and not to fear the parts that men have defined in ways that divorce them from their natural function. I do not want to clothe myself with harmful chemicals or dump unnatural hormones into my system. I also don’t want my body to be commoditized by men who think it is only useful as a sex object. So I will not shy away from discussing natural and normal aspects of life. And that includes bras.
Motivation or Ridicule?
So the blog buzz over the weekend were the anti-emergent motivational posters and then Emerging Grace’s beautiful response. She took what was an attempt to tear down others, and focused on the true message of the gospel. I found the anti-emergent set to be disturbing and cruel and not just because I disagree with the sentiments they express. Some of them just completely miss the point of the emerging conversation which I hope is the result of ignorance and not malicious misrepresentation (one can always hope right?), but others demonstrate seriously harmful attitudes of prejudice and intolerance. While of course many who like these posters are the types that uphold intolerance as a Christian virtue (its all about the hate man), they so miss the point of the Christian message it’s not even funny.
For example the following two posters were created to ridicule emergent and anyone who is not a middle aged white middle class yuppie –
The unspoken assumption that those people are crazy, they are wrong, and that they need to change is heartbreaking. It made me recall a few years ago on The Ooze when I got into an argument with one of the many men who post there in order to tell the rest of us why we are wrong. He was going off about how dress codes in schools are good things because khaki pants and polo shirts really are the most appropriate clothing for everyone. As he saw it, yuppie middle class white America males are the majority in the world and therefore make the most godly choices (flawless logic of course) . All people (of any culture or ethnic group) should emulate him in how they dress if they are to be good Christians. He was serious. And he got really pissed when I mentioned that his ideas were racist, classist, ageist, and sexist among other things. It’s great if he personally wants to dress a certain way and worship a certain way, but to assume that we all have to become like him in order to be real Christians is not only absurd but it is hurtful to the millions of people who don’t fit inside his myopic view of Christianity. To say that the people in these posters cannot really have an authentic relationship with Jesus until they change their appearance and taste in music is one of the most sad warpings of the Gospel I have ever heard.
I love the poster Emerging Grace created in response –
If the Gospel is truly good news, then it is good news for this person right now. Not after he gets his life straight and comes to church looking like he just came from the golf course, but right where he is at. And the gospel is good news for people no matter the length of their hair, the number of piercings or tattoos the have, or if their clothing is made from hemp or stain-resistant wrinkle free cotton/polyester blend. The gospel is relevant to all people. That is the message of Jesus Christ, so its really no big surprise if it happens to be the message of some in the emerging church (or anyone in the entire history of Christianity for that matter).
So Pyromaniacs and Ken Silva can use the emerging church as the butt of their jokes if making fun of people is what entertains them, but I want to go on record here in asking them to stop making fun of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
This Blog Has Been Rated…
I came across this blog quiz and thought it looked fun. So apparently my blog is rated –
Mingle2
The most amusing part about this is that the assessment was determined based on the presence of the following words on my blog: * hurt (3x) * pain (2x) * steal (1x). Really bad stuff there. It reminded me of those parental movie review sites (like Screenit) that list for concerned parents every curse word, innuendo, short skirt, disrespectful attitude, or “liberal value” (like environmentalism) present in a given movie (so that they don’t have to profane their minds by actually engaging with it or something like that). It’s the type thing that gives great movies that deal with deep spiritual themes negative ratings because some woman in it has a low-cut top on. Stuff like this gets classified under my heading of further adventures in missing the point (with apologies to McLaren and Campolo).
Where does this (generally Christian) tendency to focus on the trivial instead of the meaningful come from? Why do we care so much about silly thinks like language (omg she uses the word “pain”) and how people dress and completely ignore the extreme injustices in the world? Like how Christians got behind efforts to boycott Abercrombie and Fitch because good looking guys in their catalogue weren’t wearing shirts but who could care less that the clothes were made in sweatshops. Apparently American Protestant immaturity and inability to have a healthy acceptance of our God given bodies takes precedence over the lives of underpaid, overworked, and exploited laborers (who often have to deal with real sexual exploitation). I just don’t get it. How did our priorities get so messed up and far away from the kind of lifestyle Jesus called us to? When will we care more about rating exploitation, sex slavery, and starvation as not suitable for anyone instead of freaking out if the new Disney movie has a character that might be gay?
So here’s to doing what I can to deal with the real crap in the world and to laughing at the labeling of such as being inappropriate for certain audiences (and to wondering what random words I need to include to bump my rating up to ‘R’).
Harry Potter Speculations
I went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix today (my one movie of the season). While it didn’t follow the book exactly, I thought it was a good version nonetheless. We got to see Professor Umbridge in her full make you squirm in your seat portrayal of evil. She is to me the most loathsome and scary “bad guy” in the whole series because unlike fantastical dark lords, she is utterly real. Even with all her tacky pink clothing, decorative plates with cat pictures, and sugary teas she represents to me the worst sorts of evil present in educational philosophies, child development theories, and unthinking “the government is always right” patriotism. Her character makes me seriously physically uncomfortable. I think its because I know too many people that resemble her…
But we are just about a week away from the long awaited conclusion to the series – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Now some idiots planned a thing called the Midwest Emergent Gathering that same weekend, so I can’t dress up in my Professor Trelawney costume and join the crowds celebrating its release nor start reading it at 12:01AM Saturday the 21st and not stop until I am done. No, I will patiently have to wait a full day before I can start reading it (and yes Mike I get it first!!!). But in the meantime, I have my own speculations as to what will occur.
The two big questions swirling around the book are – Can Snape be trusted? and Will Harry die? I personally have to go with Dumbledore and say that Snape can be trusted. I think in the end he will prove himself to be on the side of good. My thought is that Snape will end up sacrificing himself to save Harry. But as for Harry’s fate, that a harder one to call. It would wrap things up nicely to have Harry die (and stop the call for sequels) and allow Harry to reunite in some form of the afterlife with his parents and Sirius Black. But it would require killing one of the most beloved characters in children’s literature. So unless Rowling can pull off a better “heaven” than C.S Lewis did at the end of The Last Battle, she will have some really disturbed kids to deal with. (and would she really want to be telling children that death is a good way to get back together with your parents who have died?) I also think that perhaps we will see in the end that Harry isn’t really all that important. He has been a celebrity in the wizarding community his whole life and everyone places so much faith in his ability to destroy Voldemort, so it would be nice in a way to have him discover that he is just an “ordinary” boy. I personally think that the “prophecy” (either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives) actually refers to Neville Longbottom (as has been hinted at) and not Harry. So I think Neville will be the one to eventually defeat Voldemort (and possibly be killed in the process). That is unless Rowling works in some possible means of redeeming Voldemort. Anything could happen then. (although I do think there will be some redemption for the Dursley’s, for Petunia at least).
Of course I could be way off base. But it’s fun to speculate. And to point you to a much more thoughtful set of predictions, I’ll send you to Alan Jacob’s thoughts over at Books and Culture. It was Dr. Jacobs who first introduced me to Harry Potter by assigning Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (just beginning to gain popularity in the USA at the time) as required reading in my literature Senior Seminar class. Harry Potter was our selection for studying the pleasures of reading. And what a pleasant adventure it has been.
Cycles of Violence
I’ve been following the story the past couple of days of the kidnapping of Margaret Hill in Nigeria. A three year old girl was kidnapped on her way to school and is being held for ransom. Officials are decrying the act as evil and calling for the immediate return of the girl. And while I fully agree that this is an atrocious act, I wish the full history behind this kidnapping would be part of the typical news story. This isn’t just about a random kidnapping for money. This was done by what is assumed to be a disposed tribal group demanding reparations for ruined land and stolen resources. The child is the daughter of a UK citizen who has profited from the oil business in Nigeria.
Brief history here. Very, very brief. The British Empire colonized what is now Nigeria and often used force to do so. They eventually formed Nigeria from pieces of four independent kingdoms. After Nigeria gained independence, the remains of those ancient tribes vied for power and survival. Series of dictators made themselves rich by selling land belonging to other tribes but with new found oil reserves to large multinational companies. These companies (Shall, Chevron) were known to support the military regimes of these dictators and are implicated in the deaths of activists who opposed the path being taken by their country. These oil companies devastated natural environments and often (with government help) imposed forced relocations of native peoples off of oil rich lands. In the 1990’s protest groups formed to speak out against the rape of the land by the oil companies. The native tribes wanted to continue in their way of life, but their fishing economy was ruined by pollution or they were forced to move to land with poor soil. They also received no wealth from the oil taken from their native lands. Early protest was peaceful and focused on diplomacy and discussion. Much of it was led by women as well. It was generally met with violence. Then more militant groups formed that used violence to end the control of the land by the oil companies. Kidnappings of oil executives involved ransom demands – so that the people of Nigeria could share in the wealth taken from their lands. Then there were bombs to destroy pipelines and cripple the multinational companies. This is the story that this kidnapping is situated in. I don’t condone the violence of that act just like I don’t condone the violence perpetrated by the oil companies or the dictators or the British Empire – I just want the full story told. Everything is connected as the saying goes. This event must be understood as part of a long chain of events. Perhaps then the cycles of violence can end and a better world be formed.
We are discussing this issue in church today as we examine the Parable of the Tenants and the life of Samson. In those stories we see the ugly cycles of unbroken violence. One offense is met with violence which leads to more violence and so forth. Excuses are given and revenge is demanded. It is an ingrained concept in our culture. We cheer in movies like Braveheart or The Patriot when revenge is consummated. We care less about the defeat of evil than we do about extracting punishment on someone who has hurt or offended us. And we care even less about trying to resolve differences without resorting to violence. Our imaginations are so limited and our hatred so strong that to hurt others far too often is the first and only response. Cycles are hard to break. And often those who seek a better way are silenced with violence. Christ warned his followers that they could expect as much, but still urged them to pursue the way of peace. Perhaps if his followers had listened to his words a couple hundred years ago as colonization of Nigeria began or fifty years ago when oil was discovered there, a little three year old girl would not be in such dire circumstances right now.
Update – Margaret has been released
New Seven Wonders of the World
7-7-7
The day has arrived. Apparently the rapture is supposed to happen today. More weddings are planned for today than any other day in history (Mike’s doing one tonight). And since I’ve been blogging on the process of this for the past couple of years – two millennia after the Greeks created their list, the New Seven Wonder of the World have finally been announced. After the casting of millions of worldwide votes and much controversy, a new list for promoting tourism is in. Of course Egypt insisted that the Pyramids be removed from the voting list since it is an absurd insult to have one of the ancients wonders being voted on. So they were removed and are considered an honorary wonder, whatever. The Vatican is bitching that the list has an anti-Christian bias because the Sistine Chapel wasn’t included. Oh and India was insisting that the reason the Taj Mahal wouldn’t make the top seven is because most rich Westerners (who hate other countries) voted with their expensive internet accounts and poor Indians couldn’t vote or be educated that such a beautiful structure even exists (guess it wasn’t an issue after all). If the whole thing is a marketing and tourism scheme to get people more aware of history and to go visit these places (and provide funds to help maintain these sites), does it really matter if the perception is that most of the votes came from the West? That’s strange because part of the point of this was to raise awareness of worldwide wonders (as opposed to the Greek’s list that were all in the Mediterranean). And the truth is that most of the West didn’t really care. Other countries had huge mobilization campaigns to get out and vote – promoting their country’s wonder (like setting up voting terminals and waving phone fees for votes). Since when do American’s care about anything but ourselves anyway (and it was obvious that the only American structure on the list, the Statue of Liberty, had no chance of winning ever).
Anyway enough talk, the results are more interesting. After an Olympic style ceremony celebrating all of this with a lot of international celebrities I’ve never heard of (I so don’t keep up with Bollywood or European soccer), the official New Seven Wonders of the World are –
The Pyramid of Chichen Itza
The Great Wall of China
Christ the Redeemer Statue
Machu Picchu
Petra
Roman Colosseum
Taj Mahal
Read more about it here.