Archive for the 'culture' Category

Unwelcome! Please don’t come in.

Published by Daniel on 10/25/2006 in culture and life. 7 Comments

Trick or treat? I say trick.

We have neighbors. Some are close by, and we hang with them. Others we can’t even see, and it takes over five minutes to walk to their house. Recently the sign to the left appeared across from our house. Many of the pictures that are on this site came from walks that I took on the other side of that sign. I am not exactly sure what I did (ok, maybe I do), but it has landed me in the “bad list” with our far-away neighbor. I will call him The Old Man. I think that if I had just been intimidated like he wanted, I would still be on the “ignore list”. Unfortunately, I asked him why he was being a bad neighbor, and I guess you don’t ask a bad neighbor that kind of thing. The land that is now off limits is an island that has been turned into a peninsula, and an upscale subdivision. There are deed restrictions, and it was sold as a future gated community. The Old Man is making sure that the gates are indeed put up. In order to build there your house must be huge, your garage must fit 3 cars, etc. etc. The houses that are out there sold for over 500K in an area where 250K is high. There are only 2 houses, but they are lake front properties. Unfortunately the lake front is full of stumps from the way the lake was made a hundred years ago. This little city is a blue collar hunting and manufacturing town, so there is not much in the way of upscale development. Real estate in general is doing badly, especially here in Michigan. So the end result is that we have neighbors who bought a nice house in a lousy place, and there is little they can do to change that, except control every little detail they can. Oh, and he can.

As frustrating as it is to be living near someone who treats the neighborhood as filth, I can’t help but pity him. He’s stuck, probably in debt, and since he can’t change where he lives, he will just do everything in his power to make sure we know he is better than us, and that he thinks he has something we wish we had. He would not believe the truth.

It probably does not help that this is what he sees when he pulls out of his private-no-trespassing-no-parking-tow-away-at-owners-expense drive every day:

What, isn't it a pretty boat?

I guess I am not that motivated to find another place to keep the boat.

Christianist Dominionism

Published by Daniel on 10/20/2006 in church, culture and life. 6 Comments

Lately I have stumbled across a term or two that, although strange at first, seemed to put bones in some of the thoughts and feelings I have had for years. I grew up rather politically unaware. I am not sure if it was intentional on my parents part to not get involved, or if I was just so oblivious to those areas of life that they just passed me by. I would guess the latter. As I matured (at an admittedly rather slow pace), I started to hear political noises, but did not make much sense of them, and we eventually moved overseas, where any American noises were drowned out by local coups, kidnappings, and general strife in that country. Upon returning, my social group was Republican, but I was not sure what that meant. I somehow figured out that it meant “values”, which would assume that the Democrats did not have such things. Then I started to become aware of social causes, and realized that they were mostly pioneered by Democrats. There seemed to be some conflict with the abstract idea of values that the Republicans held, and values Democrats routinely put into practice. Now, this was still in my early adulthood. I still saw nothing wrong with despoiling the Earth, after all, it was all going to burn soon. Over the years I found myself coming back to the connection between Christian values and Republican values. Only in recent years has it occurred to me that there really is not a connection at all. Or, I should say, there should not be.

The principles taught by the Christ have nothing to do with small government, low taxes, and business autonomy. Just as he had no statement about Caesar’s rule of Israel, he makes no statement about the direction of America. So here is where the title of the post comes in. The evangelical church wants to change the world. That sounds good. They want to change it for the better. That is good too. They want to change it through the use of power, “in the name of Jesus Christ!” Hmm… That sounds a little strange. Like it or not, Evangelicalism is involved in a movement, and it’s goal is to bring the world under the dominion of the Christ. Actually, dominionism is a view held by a larger group that includes Evangelicals, Pentecostals, Charismatics, and several other Protestant and Catholic branches. What is interesting to me is the way that, inside the church, we are told that we are in the minority, and we are fighting to keep America wholesome against the hordes of unclean unchurched pagan sin worshipers, and it is a loosing battle. But when you look at the last two elections, the reality is obvious: it is working, and it is not a minority. The other word in the title? Christianist, as in Islamist. This movement toward power by Christians is not itself Christian. If you pay attention to the media, you will hear about the effects of power, no matter the spiritual label. There are historic bad times that were brought on by Christians in power who claimed to be led by God.

Apart from the political aspects, what are the implications of dominionism? What does “under the dominion of Christ” actually mean in everyday life? Does it mean that I dedicate my life to the following of his teachings, and example? Does it mean I surrender all my desires, to be fulfilled through relationship with God? Does it mean giving away all I have to follow this way of life? So far, dominionism does not seem to mean any of those things. It does seem to mean spending more money on things/stuff/junk that is either sold at church, sponsored by a church, written by a pastor or the current favorite conservative pundit. It does mean making sure the world around me knows that I disapprove of their falleness, without admitting to it myself. It does mean accepting every word from a pulpit, assuming that God has put that person there, not politics, charisma, selfish ambition or pride. It does mean family values is a political issue, not something to live out, in real life. It does mean equating democracy and free market economics with Christianity and integrating them with evangelistic outreach.

I agree that our culture is corrupt, but I also think that the church is corrupt and misguided in it’s attempts to force change. The real reason that the whole thing is corrupt is not because there are so many people fighting against Christianity or Christian values in our culture, but because we Christians on the whole aren’t very good Christians. All this talk and political ragging about marriage, and family, but why should anyone believe us? Have we been a good example? What is a good example anyway? Successful, nice house, friendly, good neighborhood? Is that the Christian ideal? That is the American Dream, not God’s desire for us. I am pretty sure he does not care if we have it, but he does care how we think about it, crave it, worship it, and protect it. Why do we think this way? Why do we fret about our crap, manicure our lawns, expand our borders, pray for material blessings, and bless wars? Why do we still have broken families, greedy pastors, and bitter and broken churches?

It could partly be because we believe what we are told. Are we willing to turn off our TVs and radios, and listen to God? Not just for a day or a week, but for a year? Can we stop watching movies, stop reading the newspaper, turn off the music, and turn off the Internet? Can we take a sabbatical from “church” on Sundays? Are we afraid to be alone with our thoughts, and alone with God for that long? All those inputs tell us what to think, what to believe; how can we know which thoughts are our own? Are we just picking up what someone else tossed at us? Can we trust their intent? Maybe true Christian living begins with questioning everything, even our faith. Is it really mine if I have not questioned it? Think of the questions the Christ asked of those around him and those who were following him. Am I willing to let him ask me questions?

Christianist Dominionism? It is dominion over everything but self, in the name of the Christ, who told us to love God, and love our neighbors. Oh, and to pay taxes.

Provocation #11

Published by Daniel on 8/7/2006 in culture, life and provocations. 3 Comments

What I really lack is to be clear in my mind what I am to do, not what I am to know, except in so far as a certain understanding must precede every action. The thing is to understand myself, to see what God really wants me to do. The thing is to find a truth that is true for me, to find the idea for which I can live and die. What would be the use of discovering so-called objective truth, of working through all the systems of philosophy and of being able, if required, to review them all and show up the inconsistencies within each system; what good would it do me to be able to develop a theory of the state and combine all the details into a single whole, and so construct a world in which I did not live, but only held up to the view of others; what good would it do me to be able to explain the meaning of Christianity if it had no deeper significance for me and for my life; what good would it do me if truth stood before me, cold and naked, not caring whether I recognized her or not, and producing in me a shudder of fear rather than trusting devotion? I certainly do not deny that there is an imperative of understanding, but it must be taken up into my life, and that is what I now recognize as the most important thing. That is what I lack, and that is why I am left standing like a man who has a rented house and gathered all the furniture and household things together, but has not yet found the beloved with whom to share the joys and sorrows of his life.

Provocations are taken from Provocations: The Spiritual Writings of Kierkegaard

How geek?

Published by Daniel on 7/26/2006 in culture, geeky, life and plugged-in. 5 Comments

See, it is like a geek button pin.

I can only think of a few events that would be any geekier. StarTrek convention being at the top of the list.

la la la

Published by Daniel on 6/13/2006 in culture, life and plugged-in. 5 Comments

If you have not received a invitation to lala.com music trading site, I still have 3 left. If you want to know more details… it is a site that connects people and their CD collections, to other people and their CD collections for the purposes of $1 trading. I must say, so far, so good. I finally got rid of some of those BMG mishaps of my youth in exchange for music that I actually like listening to. I hope that is what those I traded with have experienced as well.

If you are interested, comment, and I will send you an invite. If you join and trade I will get a shirt! Oh, and my username there is Samaritan.

Provocation #9 & 10

Published by Daniel on 6/1/2006 in church, life and provocations. 1 Comment

This puts fire in my belly, and encourages me to pick up my walking stick. The passion to live what I believe feels stifled, the will to act is strong, the fear of the unknown, and the desire to protect my family keeps me in check. But that is where I feel pulled. Is my faith really strong enough to just follow? Just act? I am Peter, sinking in the sea. I have stepped out, and lived a miracle, and now I look down in doubt and call out. I can hear the response.

Christ says: Do according to what I say � then you shall know. Consequently, decisive action first of all. By acting, your life will come into collision with existence, and then you will know the reality of grace. Nowadays we have turned the whole thing around. Christianity has become a world view. Thus, before I get involved I must first justify it. Good night to Christianity! Now doubt has surely conquered. And this doubt can never be halted by reasons, which only nourish doubt. No, doubt can only be halted by imitation. The objections to Christianity may be dismissed with one single comment: Do these objections come from someone who has carried out the commands of Christ? If not, all his objections are nonsense. Christ continually declares that we must do what he says � and then we will know that it is truth.

A conviction is not firmly fixed when everyone presses upon it equally and holds it firm. No, its true stability is revealed when everything is in question.

Provocations are taken from Provocations: The Spiritual Writings of Kierkegaard

Routine change

Published by Daniel on 5/11/2006 in church, culture and life. 10 Comments

During our hike on Sunday A asked if we could do this every Sunday. Our kids really like going to church, and that is the main reason that we continue to do so regularly. If we ask them who is in their classes, they only really know the kids that they also go to school with. They do not remember much from the Sunday school, except for the silly songs that they heard sung in a Barney voice. What they really get out of it is the routine, and the chance to see Grandparents. So when A asked if we could make it a routine to go hiking on Sundays, my initial thought was “Sure, that would be great!” Now, several days later, I am still not sure about the place of church attendance in our family. If we continue to go, and we feel that it is not actually a spiritual experience, but our kids are led to believe that this is what it means to be Christian, there will come a time when we will have to explain to them why we don’t mind if they keep going, but we are just going to go for a walk. If we decide not to go, and instead decide to do something else, we will be spending more casual-active time with our kids and have good conversations, but they will not get the standard Sunday school education. I know the bias is obvious. So I guess the debate in my head is more about which is more valuable for my kids to have as a basis for their ideas about living out faith.

It might be pretty clear that we do not have tons of strong relationships at church, otherwise there would be a greater pull. We are actually feeling rather displaced (out of place?) and are realizing that we are still the most “at home” when we are not, or when we are with others who are not “at home”. So in this city, where most every one has lived their entire lives within 50 miles of here, we often feel like strangers in a strange land. When we meet folks who are not from here, especially if they are not from the US, we feel comfortable. In the end it gives us an itch. An itch to keep moving, and to feel at home in the change of scenery. We fight it, but there is still something in us that does not want to fight, but just go.

weak attempts

Published by Daniel on 4/30/2006 in culture and life. 4 Comments

Areas of action (not yet fully implemented). I will admit that I do not do a very good job at these things, but I have adopted the Japanese concept of Kaizen (continuous improvement) or, maybe more aptly the Chinese Gai Shan (improvements that benefit others). I feel the burden of our choices, and want to change everything, now. It is a weight that seems impossible to handle. So I make small continuous changes toward a life that benefits others. Well, I try to.

  1. Personal:
    I am trying to take those things that I say I believe, and making my actions agree. This means, that if I believe that mass produced food is generally bad for me, I will not buy it, or eat it. It also means that if I think that large corporations have too much power, I do what I can to avoid buying from them. If I believe that creation is something God values, and wants us to take care of, my use of resources should reflect that. Every day. I should be aware of how my lifestyle reflects my values.
  2. Social:
    I have to keep asking myself if my interactions with others help them to become better people. Do they help me as well? It means that I should strive to speak only good of others. This does not mean that nothing is ever bad, it just means that I should find ways to respond constructively, and directly. I should not just ask what response would seem loving, but put on a attitude of love, and respond accordingly. Love is a choice, and I should choose it more often.
  3. Global:
    I should remain aware of my position globally, and in time. I am blessed, and I should not take that for granted. I should respond to this knowledge by being content with what I have, and using what I don’t need to help those who have less. I should be aware of how my lifestyle effects others, and how my choices contribute to suffering elsewhere in the world.
  4. Spiritual:
    My first priority should be to please God, but it is sometimes difficult to determine how to do that. So I strive to listen to God, and trust his promptings. I question what I do, and see if my activities make me more or less aware of those promptings, or more or less aware of the influence of God. I try to act accordingly, giving preference to the activities that make me more aware.
  5. Integration:
    All these things are the same. They are all spiritual, social, global, and personal. For me there really is no difference. My purchase decisions have spiritual and social implications, and my desire to please God will inform all other areas of my life. The real goal is to make my life pleasing to God, and in order to do that I need to try and see the world the way he sees it, and respond to it in a way that reflects positively on him. In every way. Parenting, shopping, sleeping, eating, driving, walking, working, playing, writing, helping, living.

Resources:

Buy foods locally:

Local Harvest - Find a local farmer’s market, or CSA

Slow Food

Eat Well Guide - Another site to locate farms, stores, and restaurants that provide local, sustainable, and oganic food.

Stewardship/Activism:

Ex-Consumer Project - choose not to buy.

New American Dream - times change, and so should the dreams.

Everyday Activist - a good start for small changes.

Mennonite Central Committee

Help others:

Kiva - micro lending for entrepreneurs in developing societies

Modest Needs - national needs assistance.

Volunteer:

Get a Mission - find short or long term ministries.

Volunteer Match - volunteer locally.

A note about Kiva: After living in a developing country, and seeing how aid programs can be abused, and the way that donations do not always produce responsibility, I am encouraged to see a program that provides micro loans and accountability. I don’t have any illusions that this is a perfect system, but I can see how it has potential to help develop communities and families in a way that normal aid programs do not.

Turn off Internet week

Published by Daniel on 4/23/2006 in InOurHouse, life and plugged-in. 4 Comments

This is turn off TV week, but since we don’t own one, we will turn off our real time waster: The Internet. Well, not the whole Internet, just the bit that connects to our house. Personally, I think one week is not enough. It takes closer to 4 weeks to form and break habits, and one might just give you a hankerin’. Yes, the Internet is a bad habit in our house, and we need to take it down many notches.

I will still be somewhat connected at work, since that is sort of my job, but it will be greatly reduced. At home we might allow checking of email, but even that is on the chopping block. Perusing blogs is definitely out, so the best bet for connecting with us is a phone call.

I will leave you with a challenge to shut off whatever is the greatest distraction from thought in your house, whether TV, radio, magazines, newspaper, netflix, or Internet. Step back, see what fills the void. Enjoy the silence and space.

Provocation #8

Published by Daniel on 4/21/2006 in culture, life and provocations. 1 Comment

It is a proud thing to dive into danger, and it is a proud thing to battle with untold horrors, but it is also wretched to have an abundance of intentions and a poverty of action, to be rich in truths and poor in virtues.

This is something I feel every day, as I drive my 30 miles to work and back 5 times a week, and rarely am out in the world doing what needs to be done. Stay tuned for some ways that we can act and live virtuously.

Provocations are taken from Provocations: The Spiritual Writings of Kierkegaard