JESUS CAMP follows a group of children to Pastor Becky Fischer's "Kid's on Fire Summer Camp" in Devil's Lake, North Dakota, where kids as young as six years-old are taught to become dedicated Christian soldiers in God's army. This film follows these children at camp as they hone their prophetic gifts and are schooled in how to take back America for Christ. Directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, "Jesus Camp" is a first-ever look into an intense training ground that recruits born-again Christian children to become an active part of America's political future.
During the 2004 Presidential election John Edwards's "Two Americas" speech seemed like a rather unoriginal way to describe the growing divide in this country. But now, after having spent almost a year shuttling back and forth between the religious heartland of Missouri, and home in New York City, the "two Americas" concept has taken on an entirely new meaning. Clearly there are two parallel Americas: and one is a conservative counterculture comprised of tens of millions of Evangelical Christians who feel engaged in a culture war with what they perceive as immorality and godless liberalism. They consume their own news and popular culture via Christian television, radio, and publications, and carefully expose their children both to a literal interpretation of the bible and a call to political activism.
I've heard rumblings about this movie for a while now, and after watching the trailer, I can tell it's one of those kind of movies that I will watch, but not necessarily enjoy.
I grew up going to church camps -- first as a camper, then as one of the counselors, then as a leader. For years I worked with or led youth groups. I've had my share of experiences of my "witnessing" to young minds in a church environment. While many of my memories are positive, I also have my share of things I've said/done in the past that make me really cringe today, reflecting back on the experience. Granted, I did most of these things with the best of intentions, but I still think it was wrong some of the things I said or did to persuade children to have a relationship with God.
I'll give you one example. When I was in Bible college (yep, there are two fairly conservative Bible colleges in my academic past), we set up a face painting booth at the South Carolina state fair. We were painting faces for free, using the colors of the wordless book to witness to the kids as we painted the pictures on their faces.
If you're not familiar with the wordless book, it basically summarizes the Gospel story by using colors -- black (sin), white (God, holy), red (Jesus's blood), green (growth), gold (heaven).
So here I am, a bright-eyed, earnest 18-year-old painting these little kids faces -- many of whom were African-American -- telling them that black is the color of sin, death, and separation from God ... while white is the holy color, representing God's forgiveness, and a clean heart.
I still cringe and shudder to think of the implications of what I was telling these young little ones.
Anyway, that experience was one of several I can look back on in my church experience with dread and regret -- and now that I'm on the verge of being a parent, I'm going to do whatever is necessary so that my kid isn't exposed to ideology such as that.
The movie opens nationwide on September 15th. If it makes its way to Saskatoon, I'll be one of the audience members -- consider it therapy.
[disclaimer: these are just some random thoughts I had after watching the last episode of 30 days. Read and respond with an open mind? I'm not sure where this rethinking of the issue is going to take me, but I'll post these thoughts anyway.]
This is the question I have after watching the latest installment of 30 Days. As I've mentioned before, this episode had a pro-choice activist go live in a crisis pregnancy center/maternity home for a month.*
The whole time I watched the episode, I wanted to see an articulate argument of a Pro-Lifer who didn't rely (explicitly or implicitly) on religion -- but I didn't see one. Come to think of it, whenever I have discussed this issue with people on the other side, God always seems to come into the equation, as well. Whether it's issues of a Creator/creation, the formation of a soul, or the threat of punishment from God, there seems to be elements of the supernatural surrounding this particular position. (which, according to your personal perspective, may not necessarily be a bad thing)
But my question remains -- is there a pro-life movement without God? Are there any secularists out there who support a pro-life position? I've never encountered any.
Can there be a pro-life position without some reference to religion, God, or the supernatural? If so, then what is the rational/practical/ethical foundations for such a movement? I've found only a few websites so far that present a secular version of the pro-life stance, but they're few and far between.
While personally I'm against abortion, pragmatically I know that women need to have the abilities to control when (or if) they become pregnant. This is not to say I advocate abortion as a means of contraception -- but I also know there are exceptions, and I think the procedure needs to remain safe and legally available. But as I've mentioned before, being pro-choice means more than just advocating for legal abortions. It means giving women control of when they become pregnant, by allowing them access to methods of contraception. I'm always flabbergasted when I read about people who are "morally" opposed to all forms of contraception (for a case in point -- read this article).
But back to the 30 days episode. The pro-choice activist on the show held her own for the month she was in the maternity home, and asked some interesting questions that were either unanswered or ignored by her hosts. The point that stuck with me is that many people who hold onto this position don't realize the practical implications of the ideology they want to enforce.
I understand if you believe life begins at conception, and that all forms of hormonal contraception and abortion need to be outlawed or eradicated (or at least, severely limited) -- but how many of those who hold this position are willing to pay money into the social services that will be required to take care of these unplanned, and possibily unwanted babies? What about the educational systems these children will be going into? Raising the incomes for the families to help feed their growing broods? I've said this before, but I'm stunned at how quickly a pro-life position can end (for some people) as soon as the baby exits the actual womb.
In the show, the Christian agency that governed the maternity home had a rule of making its residents watch a mandatory video that outlined the evils of abortion (complete with misconstrued information) -- but then did not offer any child care or maternity classes for the residents after they had the actual babies. That blew my mind.
But back to my original question, if being pro-life is linked in any way to a spiritual belief, then how can these beliefs be legislated by a government whose job it is to separate church from state? I'm still thinking about this, and how it plays out in the battle back home.
[*While I watched the show, it was interesting to witness the ever-present assumptions about the pro-choice movement rearing their ugly heads (again).
My personal favorite misconception about the pro-choice movement is the notion that if you are pro-choice, you automatically hate or dislike children or the process of pregnancy and its effects. In the show, the minister of the crisis pregnancy ends up remarking how amazed he was that the pro-choice activist could get along so well with the children -- and, gasp! the children actually liked her back.
The other assumption, of course, is that being pro-choice automatically means you are pro-abortions. Needless to say, as I watched the show, my blood pressure was raised for a lot of it.]
Cruise Weekend is the lamest "festival" our city has to offer. Nothing like watching a bunch of drunk, overcompensating guys trying to show off their rides -- well, that's what happens after dark on 8th Street, anyway.
So, cast off the shackles of yesterday! Shoulder to shoulder into the fray! Our daughters' daughters will adore us And they'll sing in grateful chorus "Well done! Well done! Well done Sister Suffragette!"
Happy Women's Equality Day! If I was around in the early 1900's, you know I'd be one of the suffragettes.
Joint Resolution of Congress, 1971 -- Designating August 26 of each year as Women’s Equality Day
WHEREAS, the women of the United States have been treated as second-class citizens and have not been entitled the full rights and privileges, public or private, legal or institutional, which are available to male citizens of the United States; and
WHEREAS, the women of the United States have united to assure that these rights and privileges are available to all citizens equally regardless of sex; and
WHEREAS, the women of the United States have designated August 26, the anniversary date of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, as symbol of the continued fight for equal rights: and
WHEREAS, the women of United States are to be commended and supported in their organizations and activities,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that August 26th of each year is designated as Women’s Equality Day, and the President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation annually in commemoration of that day in 1920, on which the women of America were first given the right to vote, and that day in 1970, on which a nationwide demonstration for women’s rights took place.
(not that I expect my President to acknowledge this day as any other day than a Saturday)
As a society, we may come a long way since 1920, but there's still quite some distance left to go in terms of reaching true equality for women -- in both the public and private spheres. The important thing is not to fall asleep while our hard-earned rights are taken away.
While there are several critics out there who like to think Feminism is a dead concept (or a taboo label), I'll proudly identify myself as one -- if only out of appreciation for the hard work of the women who have come before me, who worked hard to ensure the rights I have today.
Thanks to my mom, I know most of the lyrics/songs included on this video. I've got many memories of being a "dancing queen," lamenting my lack of "money money money."
Despite yesterday's good news of the FDA decision to allow over the counter access to Plan B medications, all's still not well in the fight for reproductive rights.
Ortho-McNeil, a major supplier of low-cost birth control pills, has hiked up the price of their products -- which means a number of public women's centers are going to have to cut their services and availability of contraceptives for low-income women. Of course, this isn't all that surprising, considering the funding for Title X (the federal family-planning initiative) has been seriously cut over the past few years, despite the rising need of women seeking its services.
By the way, this week's episode of 30 Days features a pro-choice woman living in a crisis-pregnancy center for a month. I'm really curious how this experience will turn out, especially after I've read so much about the manipulative/propagandistic appeals of these centers. I'll be back later on today with my impressions of the show.
We did it! At 9:20 a.m. today, the FDA approved over-the-counter access to the "morning-after" pill!
Dear Rebekah,
Thanks to the letters, petitions, and support from people like you, the FDA finally overcame the political pressure from the White House, Congress, and anti-choice lobbyists, and approved the morning-after pill for over-the-counter sales.
Medical experts and scientists at the FDA have asserted for years that the morning-after pill - which can prevent an unintended pregnancy if taken within 72 hours after sex - should be available without a prescription. It's safe, it's effective, and it's a commonsense way for women to prevent unintended pregnancy.
Thank you again for helping achieve this victory for women - your action does make a difference.
About stinkin' time, I say. It's only taken 2017+ days for this approval to get into place. Details of the FDA's decision are here.
And in other news from the unbelieveable (but about time) department -- President Bush recently came out in support of EC. This, coming from a man that took 5 years to vocalize his support for contraceptives in the first place. Wonders never cease.
I suppose I can get rid of my "Women are Waiting" counter, now.
... but it's hazardous for a man to marry a career woman! Well, according to this Forbes article, anyway.
Some of the dangers include higher rates of divorce:
Women’s work hours consistently increase divorce, whereas increases in men’s work hours often have no statistical effect. “I also find that the incidence in divorce is far higher in couples where both spouses are working than in couples where only one spouse is employed,” Johnson said.
You'll live in a dirty house:
In 2005, two University of Michigan scientists concluded that if your wife has a job earning more than $15 an hour (roughly $30,000 a year), she will do 1.9 hours less housework a week.
And the best consequence -- men are more likely to fall ill when their wives are working women:
A 2001 study found that having a wife who works less than 40 hours a week has no impact on your health, but having a wife who works more than 40 hours a week has “substantial, statistically significant, negative effects on changes in her husband’s health over that time span.” The author of another study summarizes that “wives working longer hours not do not have adequate time to monitor their husband’s health and healthy behavior, to manage their husband’s emotional well-being or buffer his workplace stress.”
I suppose the author of this Forbes article would have us working women follow The Good Wife's Guide (from May 1955), instead.
They are not the words one expects to hear from a politician or a Southerner, and Leonard Scarcella is both: "Our city has an excessive number of churches." Scarcella is mayor of this Houston-area community, which has 51 churches and other religious institutions packed into its 7 square miles.
With some 300 undeveloped, potentially revenue-producing acres left in Stafford, officials are scrambling to find a legal way to keep more tax-exempt churches from building here.
"With federal laws, you can't just say, 'We're not going to have any more churches,' " Scarcella said. "We respect the Constitution, but 51 of anything is too much."
Stafford, population 19,227, is the largest city in Texas without a property tax, and it depends on sales taxes and business fees for revenue. Nonprofits have been attracted by its rapid growth and minimal deed restrictions. "It's thrown everything out of balance, plus providing zero revenue. Somebody's got to pay for police, fire and schools," City Councilman Cecil Willis said.
... In his office is a large map of Stafford that is dotted with round yellow stickers, each dot denoting a church or religious facility. In some parts of town, the dots are so close together they nearly meld into a big yellow glob.
In one quarter-mile section near the city center, parishioners can choose among 17 churches. There are three small churches in the Quail Ridge Plaza shopping center, and three large brick churches on the street behind it. Down the road, the Evangelical Formosan Church is tucked behind a muffler shop.
"If you can't find religion in Stafford, Texas, you ain't looking hard enough," Bane said. [link]
What remains if you give up the great religions? Many people think: only Communism, Nazism, and immorality. But the morality of Socrates, Spinoza, and Hume compares favorably with Augustine's, Luther's, and Calvin's. And the evil deeds of Communism and Nazism are not due to their lack of belief but to their false beliefs, even as the evil deeds of the Crusaders, Inquisitors, and witch hunters, and Luther's exhortation to burn synagogues and Calvin's decision to burn Servetus, were due to their false beliefs.
Christianity, like Islam, has caused more wars than it has prevented; and the Middle Ages, when Europe was Christian, were not a period of peace and good will among men. Does it make sense that those who refuse to let their Yes be Yes and their No, No--those who refuse to reject false beliefs, those who would rather stretch them and equivocate--should have a monopoly on being moral?
Renouncing false beliefs will not usher in the millennium. Few things about the strategy of contemporary apologists are more repellent than their frequent recourse to spurious alternatives. The lesser lights inform us that the alternative to Christianity is materialism, thus showing how little they have read, while the greater fights talk as if the alternative were bound to be a shallow and inane optimism.
[...]
Diversity helps to prevent stagnation and smugness; and a teacher should acquaint his students with diversity and prize careful criticism far above agreement. His noblest duty is to lead others to think for themselves.
Adriana Bertini of Sao Paulo, Brazil, also was making a condom fashion statement. She had plastic mannequins sporting a dress made of orange condoms, a rose-colored mini, a blue harem outfit made of blue condoms, complete with a tight bodice and full-legged trousers.
"The idea is you will see it and think of AIDS," said Bertini, who says she has been making her condom fashions for 10 years.
It's part of an effort (The Condom Project) to destigmatize the use of condoms, by allowing people to make pins and brooches out of them to wear as jewelry.
"There's a great need to de-stigmatize condoms around the world, especially in Africa," said Franck DeRose, executive director of The Condom Project, which aims to get people comfortable about condoms, especially those living in countries where the little piece of latex is considered taboo.
To do that, the project has a program that gets people making their own condom art pin. It all starts with a craft table, packaged condoms, scraps of colored paper, candy and other double-sided tape.
... DeRose said that creating wearable art out of condoms attracts people who normally wouldn't wear the prophylactics, let alone touch them or even utter the word. "It opens the door," said DeRose. "We find that we're very, very successful."
Almost 400,000 condoms have been decorated and turned into brooches or pins around the world including India, Thailand, Senegal and Burkina Faso, he said.
Just this week alone, about 30,000 of the pins have been decorated at the conference, DeRose said. [link]
Yep, an actual line from Snakes on a Plane -- I caught a matinee of it this weekend.
Needless to say, think-piece of the year this movie ain't. That said, it's still a lot of fun, and considering my 18-week old baby inside of me can now hear noises outside the womb, I've now exposed it to a pop cultural phenomenon.
I don't know what was more fun -- guessing who the snakes would attack next, hearing the awful dialogue, or sitting next to Todd, who refused to put his feet on the floor after 15 minutes of watching the film. (snakes crawl on the ground, don'tcha know?)
It's an experience, all right. Samuel Jackson didn't disappoint -- and you won't believe the different places snakes will attack on the human body.
My "low coolant" light went off on dashboard. Yet AGAIN. (especially after last winter's mishap) Run to Canadian Tire (sorry Ang). Grab some new pre-mixed stuff. Refill, and start car. "Low coolant" light STILL on. Grrr. Call mechanic, tell him situation. He tells me to bang on coolant reservoir to loosen sensor. I follow his directions. No more light on dash, voila!
He could have charged me money to have me bring in my car to have it checked, but he did this for me -- for FREE. He even said I could bring it by and he'd have one of the guys do it for me, if I liked.
It's just another of the reasons why I love my car shop & mechanics so much -- they're friendly, fair, and always give me a good price. Oh, and they're rabid NASCAR fans too, so that helps.
Check 'em out sometime. Tell them that the girl from Georgia with the cantankerous Chevy Beretta sent you there. They'll know who you're talkin' about.
Today's my little brother's 25th birthday. He's living large in New York City, waiting for his big break.
In the mean time, he's become quite the guy -- I got to spend some time with him over the Christmas break, and I'm amazed at the man he's become. I still remember lugging him around the house as my favorite baby doll or dressing him up for tea parties! It's quite the change to see him living on his own, giving me advice on how to not get trampled on New York City streets. He does his big sister proud.
What's the definition of "decency?" Is it more indecent to protest your government's actions without a top on -- or to preemptively bomb a country under false pretenses?
Watch the video and decide for yourselves. [obviously, not safe for some working environments or for people who are uncomfortable with women who are comfortable with their own bodies]
That's my kind of protest song. [thanks, Patrick!]
Some of my most keen observations/thoughts come to me in the moments right before or after sleep. Here's one for today:
With all the crappy classic "rock" they play on Saskatoon radio stations (think of any forgettable big-hair band from the 1980's and you've got a playlist) -- I don't think I've EVER heard "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynard Skynard, once. Now that's a song I'd actually turn up.
Tomorrow Grandma is being moved to a nursing home -- this is a good thing, and she's excited about the transfer. To think for a while there last month, we weren't sure she was going to make it another night. She's really shown herself to be a fighter!
While I know that her time left is limited, I'm really thankful that I've had this chance to get to know her better. In the last month and a half, I've heard lots of family stories (both happy and sad), I've made her giggle, and will always remember how appreciative she is of our visits.
Selfishly, I'm hoping she'll still be around in 2 weeks -- I want to see her face when I show her the first ultrasound picture of my baby.
One of my guilty pleasures of the summer is watching the FX reality series 30 Days. I've blogged about this show before -- it's produced by Morgan Spurlock, aka the guy from Super Size Me. The gist of the show is that various people will be transplanted into a completely different environment, for 30 days, with the hopes that they'll emerge transformed by the experience -- simply by (literally) seeing what it's like to live the life of someone else.
So far this season, there have been three shows. The first show had a patriotic Minuteman border patrol guard go live with an illegal Mexican immigrant family for 30 days, and the second episode included an American working an outsourced job in India, while living with an Indian family.
The show from this past week interested me the most, from the moment I heard of its topic -- an atheist mother of four went and lived with an evangelical Christian family from Texas. From the start, I knew that this had the makings of some really good TV.
My title above -- "perspective by incongruity" -- is a term I've run across in my rhetorical studies, and I think it's what makes 30 Days such an engrossing show to watch and learn from. The term originates from Kenneth Burke, the modern-day "papa bear" to budding rhetoricians of the 20th/21st centuries. Here is how he defines it:
Imagine, then, setting out to study mankind, with whose system of speech you are largely familiar. Imagine beginning your course of study precisely by depriving yourself of this familiarity, attempting to understand motives and purposes by avoiding as much as possible the clues handed you ready-made in the texture of language itself. In this you will have deliberately discarded available data in the interests of a fresh point of view, the heuristic or perspective value of a planned incongruity.
Kenneth Burke from Permanence and Change: An Anatomy of Purpose
In other words, a perspective by incongruity allows you to see points of view from angles you've never thought of before -- literally, "thinking outside of the box." More and more, I realize that it is when you can open up your thinking to a different perspective, powerful lessons can take place.
When I started watching the episode of the atheist living with the Christian family, I was really worried. Part of me was worried for how the atheist would come across on mainstream TV -- I know how much disdain these people have in our religious-saturated culture, and was a bit anxious of how she'd be portrayed on the program. I didn't need to worry.
Brenda [her last name was withheld, for security reasons] is an articulate, kind, and open freethinker who made a lasting impact while staying with the Christian family. It was a little odd, actually, as most of the 30 Days episodes consist of the transplanted person being the one who radically changes over the course of the month -- in this case, I think she was the one who made more of a difference with her host family. I was glad to see this.
There were so many misconceptions about atheists that were addressed in the show -- many of which I've personally heard religious people espouse (or intimate to) as the truth. A few of these include the idea that atheists have no moral center or guidelines to rule their lives -- essentially, that their lives are meaningless, random, or without any hope. Another big misconception addressed in the show is that atheists are anti-God, and are virulently against all forms of faith. Either that, or atheists must have had a bad experience with faith that makes them disbelievers. All of these (and more) were touched on in this episode -- in ways that were respectful to both parties, while presenting an honest point of view. [for more on some of these common misconceptions about atheists, read this article]
It was almost a surreal experience watching this show. I can remember going to the same type of churchy services, complete with the same cliched sermons and repetitive worship songs -- only now that I've got a little distance from that experience, I view them so differently.
I can remember encountering similar people as the Christian husband of the show, who basically cannot handle any dissention when it comes to religious belief -- mainly, I think, for fear of it shaking his own faith too badly. [here's a clip from the show]
By the end of the 30 days, it was interesting to see the difference Brenda made in subtly dismantling some of the misconceptions of atheists held by religious people. The wife of the Christian family, Tracey, saw that ethics and morality aren't necessarily solely the result of a relationship with God -- while also learning that they could have commonalities with someone who doesn't believe in the same spiritual beliefs. The Bible study that Brenda attended during the 30 days changed the tone of their communication, and stopped grilling her for her stance, but instead tried to find ways to relate to her. These are some significant changes that could not have been accomplished unless Brenda was willing to be a part of offering a perspective by incongruity. (and she's a brave one to subject herself to it)
This is a show that anyone with or without spiritual beliefs should take the time to watch -- but, particularly, I think it's important for people of a religious background to take in. Rather than relying on some Christian apologist's extrapolation of an atheist's position, or on your own misunderstandings of disbelief, I think it's a lot more effective (and useful) to gain a truer perspective by going to the original source.
The good news? Samuel L. Jackson was on the Daily Show tonight, and man, was it funny.
This whole Snakes on a Plane buzz is crazy, and a little catching -- I'm not usually one for these types of movies, but I may just have to catch this one, if only to see Jackson kick snake ass. The only clip they showed on the Daily Show was Jackson saying, "That's it! I have had it with these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane!"
Priceless. When YouTube's got the clip, I'll leave a link.
[Can you believe they wanted to change the name to "Pacific Air Flight 121" or something like that? If it weren't for the cheesy title, I doubt it would be getting the blogosphere buzz it has. And here I am, helping the buzz even further. Yeah, so I blame it on my latent crush on Samuel L. Jackson. After I saw him in Pulp Fiction, I was hooked. "This is a tasty burger!"]
