I am a big fan of the Harry Potter series.  It may not have much depth, but man what a story.  Maybe it is that part of me that always wanted to be conspiring for freedom and something good against the powers that be... and to fly at the same time.  And if you have read the series there is a point towards the end that the maliciousness and deceit of the magical authorities is obvious, but there power is so pervasive and absolute that there is not much anyone can do about it.  Blatant lies are being told, violence is silencing anyone who dares to speak out... There is violence that makes you wander if there is any humanity left in the ones perpetrating it.  All the while in this book you are asking yourself why doesn't anyone do anything about it.  And then comes Harry Potter and his ragamuffin magical troop who rise from the dust and win the day.  But it is just a novel.  It would be nearly impossible for three kids to overturn the violent oppression of their 'government'.  You are glad there really isn't a group of people who will blatantly lie, burn women and children, beat and torture countless masses, and crush anyone who opposes them...

Over 80 people have been killed by the ruling party since the March 29th elections.  Family members of the opposing party have been kidnapped, mutilated, and burned alive.  Thousands of people have fled from their homes in fear of their lives.  Hundreds of thousands have been subject to the 're-education' camps that consist of political brainwashing, beating, rape, and sometimes death.  In the meantime the ruling president blames it on his opposition.  Everyone knows its a lie, and everyone is desperate for help and change.  Meanwhile a regime is losing its humanity with every stick that breaks across a woman's back and every child who loses its father to their violence.

But where is the hero?  This isn't a book, there isn't a magical teenager that will save the day.  How long will the UN and the SADC turn a blind eye?  How long will people sleep in their  meaningless when innocent people are dying?  How long will headlines like, "Sports bra saves hiker," "High Court to Hear Whale Case," and "Couple May Be Illegally Married" be more popular than "Genocide is possible in Zimbabwe?"  We must be praying and raising awareness. 

The youngest son of the couple we stayed with in Harare always had hope for his country, but his hope rested in God.  "When Zimbabwe rises back up to be something in Africa people will be able to look and say, 'Look at what God did,' because only he will be able to pull Zimbabwe up from where it is." 

We had a prayer meeting last night for Zimbabwe and this verse was offered by someone whose fiance lives in Zimbabwe:

Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. - Romans 12:12 

Let that be our prayer for the church in Zimbabwe. 

Posted In: zimbabwe social-issues

Bookmark This Article: Del.icio.us, Digg, Reddit, Facebook, Stumbledupon

I crossed the line today.  The line between Maryville and Alcoa that is.  Some people try to ignore this line and pretend it doesn't exist.  Some just don't care.  But there is a line.  It is a line that separates communities.  Segregates communities we could say.  On one side you find mostly affluent white folks, on the other - lower income families, white and black.  I am not sure why this line exists or how it got there, but I can't deny that it divides.  I crossed the line today and walked with those in Blount Co. that don't want the line there.  As we walked we talked about the line and how we can erase it.  We had to admit, to our shame, that the line is even in our churches.  And the line begins to end first in the body of Christ.  

We must keep on crossing the line until it is covered in the dust of the shoes of the faithful.  And we must find the brush and paint that drew the line and use it to paint the brokenness of neighborhoods that was bred in the shadow of the line.   

Churches must begin to work together to put brushes and paint into the hands of the young and teach them they don't have to keep on painting lines.  Lines that divide, and lines that box them in and imprison them.  They can paint the future of their own lives and of their communities.  Churches must work together to give the parents a bucket of water and a brillo pad and teach them to erase the lines that they painted in and around their families.  

And lest we seek to change the world without changing ourselves we must wake up and see the lines in our own lives and cross them.

Posted In: social-issues culture

Bookmark This Article: Del.icio.us, Digg, Reddit, Facebook, Stumbledupon

I had one of those 'doh' moments today.  I receive the ONE campaign weekly emails.  This weeks email was highlighting the Farm Bill and the possibility of changing it to help our nation and the world in a number of ways.  The Farm Bill actually impacts our communities and the developing world more than the name lets on.  The bill determines how much the government can subsidize farming in the US and which crops it will subsidize.  While this was helpful in its inauguration, it has since become very cumbersome and morally questionable.  The bill now encourages over-production of corn and soy and in turn penalizes farmers who specialize in what we normally think of as healthy crops (carrots, fruit, broccoli, asparagus, etc.).  This is why you can by a box of twinkies for less than a bag of carrots.  Michael Pollan has a great article about this in the NY Times.  This has a profound impact on the health of our nation.  Since most sugary substances on the market today use sugar made from corn they get the lions share of the benefits from the government subsidies.  Thus leaving poor people little alternative but to eat less healthy with fewer fresh vegetables which could be cheaper if they were subsidized.  The governments intentional price control also damages the world economy and keeps farmers in developing countries from ever getting ahead. OK so enough of Farm Bill politics...

This email from ONE encouraged people to call their senator, which I was willing to do.  But I wanted to go one step farther and write my senators!  I didn't get around to writing them until the next day and I had two nice formal letters addressed to my two senators in the envelopes ready to stamp and go.  However, while I was addressing the envelopes I began to wander if one of my senators already supported the amendments I was encouraging them to.  So I googled Lamar Alexandar and Bob Corker and found that not only did they not agree with the amendment to the bill they had already voted - 'doh!'

 Unfortunatelly the amendment was denied by both my senators ultimately it failed.

Posted In: social-issues agriculture

Bookmark This Article: Del.icio.us, Digg, Reddit, Facebook, Stumbledupon

Sunday night was surreal.  The fog was so thick in downtown Knoxville that you could hardly see 15-20 feet in front of you.  This is not a good situation to be in if you don't know where you are going.  Such was our predicament on Sunday evening.  Before our Moravian Love Feast on Sunday night a young lady showed up at our church.  She was homeless, escaping from a bad family situation, and looking for some assistance.  It is an odd situation (calling it awkward seems to blur the moral urgency of it though) to have a homeless person show up at the steps of a fairly affluent church and not have a home for them to stay in.  Her situation came into clearer focus when we found that the local safe houses had no vacancy.  She had no family or anyone to turn to in Blount Co.  Her only other family was in Texas.  

Faced with the decision to either put her up in a local motel for the night and essentially prolong her current situation by one more night seemed vain or get her on a bus to Texas we opted for the latter and thus began our excursion into Knoxville late Sunday evening.  Our plan was to have her stay at the Knox Area Rescue Mission and get up early enough to catch her 6:40am bus to Texas.  It seemed like a good plan to me.  Luckily Roger was able to come with me and knew the downtown area well enough to get us to where we needed to be.  The fog that night was thicker than I have seen it, especially in a city.  Things always look much different in the absence of light and the denseness of fog.  Even in familiar places you lose your way and in foreign places you are simply trapped in your lostness.

Upon arriving at the Knox Area Rescue Mission we were greeted by some homeless people wandering the street and a gentleman passed out and mumbling something to us as we requested admission to the building.  When we got to the check in desk, it was evident that the folks staying the night had lived hard lives.  The fear and anxiety written in the face of the twenty-two year old girl we had in our charge was apparent.  It is in these situations that the quandary of our current church social structure is undeniably painful.  We have places for people without means, and they are not in our homes.

At this point our only other option was to leave her at the bus station overnight.  They have 24 hour security, well lit facilities and she would be less likely to miss her bus.  Roger, who had worked as an inner-city basketball coach in Knoxville for 3 years, guided us to the greyhound station on Magnolia Ave being careful to make sure we didn't park in certain areas.  The reason he told me after we were on our way home is that the area of Knoxville we were in was where 90% of the rapes, murders, and robberies took place.  Most of these are never reported on the evening news.  The few blocks around the station are known by the Better Business Bureau as the 'gun-zone'.  Unbeknownst to me, a young girl walking alone in the dark early morning hours from the rescue mission to the bus station would have a good probability of getting robbed, raped, or worse.  So, while I felt pretty spineless leaving a young girl in a bus station in downtown Knoxville overnight, in hindsight it was probably the safest solution for her we had at the time.    

As we left we had to navigate around downtown to find our way back to 129.  We took a wrong turn and ended up in Old Town.  I have only been to Old Town twice in the past.  Both times during the day when it was busy with commerce and tourism.  It the light of day it is a very eccentric part of Knoxville with whimsical shops and venues.  However, as we passed through I was struck by the numerous homeless men wandering, drinking, or sleeping on the streets normally traveled by folks who go home to a warm bed and plenty of food.  I guess the biggest shock was that I had forgotten that ghettos are in my own backyard.   

Posted In: social-issues life

Bookmark This Article: Del.icio.us, Digg, Reddit, Facebook, Stumbledupon

I just watched one of the most disturbing and saddening videos.  The documentary, The Devil Came on Horseback, gets its title from the word 'janjaweed' meaning 'Devil on a horse', and is also the name of the mercenary group sponsored by the Sudanese government to conduct their genocide in Darfur.  The video follows the life of Brian Steidle as he joins a ceasefire monitoring group that goes into Darfur to document the attacks of the janjaweed on villages and determine whether or not they are backed by the government.  What he documented was hell.  

The video's most compelling aspect is the large amount of photos Brian took while in Darfur.  These photos depict the aftermath of the janjaweed attacks on villiages (some with populations as large as 20,000) that are laid waste by this Arab group in their (mostly successful) attempt to rid the land of black Sudanese.  As they go into a village they chant, "kill the slaves, kill the slaves".  Something should be happening.  But it isn't.  People should care.  But most don't even know.  

One of the most sobering facts about this documentary, aside from the hundreds of photos of men, women, and children brutally murdered, is that all this took place 3 years ago - and nothing has happened to stop it.

There is much debate about how to stop the genocide.  One of the most practical is by divesting in the genocide.  This is an attempt to put pressure on major firms that fund the genocide by investing in the Sudanese government.  You can find out more here.  

Posted In: social-issues movies

Bookmark This Article: Del.icio.us, Digg, Reddit, Facebook, Stumbledupon

I knew the peaceful Thanksgiving holiday was over when we pulled up to leaves that an hour and a half later would be raked into a 3ft deep 3ft wide and 20 ft long pile, and Morgan was running naked through the house after having removed a diaper full of poo in the bathroom screaming, "POO POO, POO POO!"  To which mommy and daddy replied with thesauratical accuracy. 

The last few days were a time for Sarah and I to catch our breath a little.  She was able to go about 3 days without puking (in part due to the generous donation of 12 Zofran pills from a gracious friend).  And I was able to get started on Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum.  I have been wanting to read this book for a while now.  So far it has proven fairly cumbersome vis-a-vis vocabulary.  There are often large words that have Russian origins or common words that are capitalized leaving me wandering whether or not I am missing something already.  I am only about a sixth of the way through it, so the mystery is still unraveling a bit.  However, I have heard that it supposed to make The Da'Vinci Code look like a child's book. 

Now that we are back in Maryville I have a feeling that the book will remain face down on page 101 for a while.  But with life getting back to the usual pace it was nice to have a few days to just do nothing.  Including shop.  I have always wanted to observe 'Buy Nothing Day', but we have always wound up buying something in years past.  However this year we successfully denied Madison Ave of its hold on our wallets and lives.  Looking back on it, it would have been fun to participate in a protest such as 'whirl-mart' or 'zombie-walking', but right now I am content to protest merely with my absence from the frenzied aisles of Target and Toys-R-Us.

At this time of the year in the past I begin to feel the pressure to try to divvy up the budget for parents and nieces and nephews and brothers and sisters and friends.  However this year we are making a major cut in our Christmas spending for two reasons:  #1 (the more noble of the two) - I believe Christmas has become something nauseating to God; rather than save a starving child we buy an inflatable Santa or a singing rabbit.  And #2 - Sarah and I have already fallen for the lure of the 'Buy Now - Pay Later' hype and we are trying to pay now for what we bought back then.  

In conclusion, I couldn't rightly call this a Thanksgiving blog with out giving two big thumbs up to everyone that did the cooking at the LaDuke's and the Morgan's.  My doctor thanks you.   

 

Posted In: life social-issues

Bookmark This Article: Del.icio.us, Digg, Reddit, Facebook, Stumbledupon

There is this passage from the Bible that has haunted me for some time now.  It isn't one of those passages that is confusing and you have to wrestle with it academically to find the correct interpretation like Psalmists exultation of smashing the babies of his enemies on rocks (Psalm 137).  No this is a passage that is so plain that you can't get around it - and that is the hard part.  It so blatantly calls us to something difficult that we often read it and simply ignore it.  

We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.  How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?  Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.

-1 John 3:16-18 

This is one of those passages that could just be a sermon in and of itself and nothing really needs to be said.  So I won't at this time.  But I do want to announce a new section of my blog that is dedicated to love in action.  Here you will find links to other sites.  Some are sources for news that you won't hear on CNN or Fox that are relevant to this dualistic age of hunger and affluence.  Some are sites that are dedicated to the eradication of poverty, slavery, or war.  On most of the sites you will find links to other similar sites.

One thing I learned from our trip to Catalyst is that people are willing to do good.  However, we have lived in the bubble of affluent America so long that we are not aware of the needs of the world or the practical ways we can help.  So this addition to the site is primarily for education.  If you are a follower of Christ and ignorant of the needs of the world, be cautioned before learning of them because you will be judged for how you respond.  So here it is.  Do something.  Love = Truth and Action.  

Posted In: social-issues theology

Bookmark This Article: Del.icio.us, Digg, Reddit, Facebook, Stumbledupon

Last but not least in my top three messages from Catalyst 2007 is Shane Claiborne. If you have kept up with my blog you can tell that Shane is one of my favorite thinkers because he is just so dang radical.  At Catalyst, a conference birthed by very conservative baptist men and which hasn't ever had a woman on the ticket to speak at the main event, he wears a t-shirt that reads, "God loves women preachers"!  I love it.  That along with the following liturgy puts him in my top three for catalyst 2007.

This responsive reading was read by Shane (the One) and the 11,000 of us (the All).  But I have a feeling that some people probably remained silent on some of these.  

One:  Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world
All:  Have mercy on us
One:  Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world
All:  Free us from bondage to sin and death
One:  Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world
All:  Hear our prayers prince of peace
One:  For the victims of war
All: Have mercy
One:  Women, men, and children
All: Have mercy
One:  The maimed and the crippled
All: Have mercy
One:  The abandoned and the homeless
All: Have mercy
One:  The imprisoned and the tortured
All: Have mercy
One:  The widowed and the orphaned
All: Have mercy
One:  The bleeding and the dying
All: Have mercy
One:  The weary and the desperate
All: Have mercy
One:  The lost and the forsaken
All: Have mercy
One:  Oh God have mercy on us sinners
All:  Forgive us for we know not we do
One:  For our scorched and blackened earth
All: Forgive us
One:  For the scandal of billions wasted in war
All: Forgive us
One:  For our arms makers and our arms dealers
All: Forgive us
One:  For our Caesars and our Herods
All: Forgive us
One:  For the violence that is rooted in our own hearts
All: Forgive us
One:  For the times that we turn others into enemies
All: Forgive us
One:  Deliver us oh God
All:  Turn our feet to the way of peace
One and All:  Hear our prayer, grant us peace
One: From the arrogance of power
All:  Deliver us
One:  From the myth of redemptive violence
All:  Deliver us
One:  From the tyranny of greed
All:  Deliver us
One:  From the ugliness of racism
All:  Deliver us
One:  From the cancer of hatred
All:  Deliver us
One:  From the seduction of wealth
All:  Deliver us
One:  From the addiction of control
All:  Deliver us
One:  From the idolatry of nationalism
All:  Deliver us
One:  From the paralysis of cynicism
All:  Deliver us
One:  From the violence of apathy
All:  Deliver us
One:  From the ghettos of poverty
All:  Deliver us
One:  From the ghettos of wealth
All:  Deliver us
One:  From the lack of imagination
All:  Deliver us
One:  Deliver us oh God
All:  Turn our feet to the way of peace
One:  We will not conform to the patterns of this world
All:  Let us be transformed by the renewing of our minds
One:  With the help of God’s grace
All:  Let us resist evil wherever we find it
One:  With the waging of war
All:  We will not comply
One:  With the legalization of murder
All:  We will not comply
One:  With the slaughter of innocents
All:  We will not comply
One:  With laws that betray human life
All:  We will not comply
One:  With the destruction of community
All:  We will not comply
One:  With the pointing finger and malicious talk
All:  We will not comply
One:  With the idea that happiness must be purchased
All:  We will not comply
One:  With the ravaging of the earth
All:  We will not comply
One:  With principalities and powers that oppress
All:  We will not comply
One:  With the destructions of peoples
All:  We will not comply
One:  With the raping of women
All:  We will not comply
One:  With governments that kill
All:  We will not comply
One:  With the theology of empire
All:  We will not comply
One:  With the business of militarism
All:  We will not comply
One:  With the hording of riches
All:  We will not comply
One:  With the dissemination of fear
All:  We will not comply
One:  But today we pledge our ultimate allegiance to the Kingdom of God
All:  We pledge allegiance
One:  To the peace that is not like Rome’s
All:  We pledge allegiance
One:  To the gospel of enemy love
All:  We pledge allegiance
One:  To the kingdom of the poor and the broken
All:  We pledge allegiance
One:  To the King who loves His enemies so much he died for them
All:  We pledge allegiance
One:  To the least of these with whom Christ dwells
All:  We pledge allegiance
One:  To the transnational church that transcends artificial borders of nations
All:  We pledge allegiance
One:  To the refugee of Nazareth
All:  We pledge allegiance
One:  To the homeless rabbi who had no place to lay his head
All:  We pledge allegiance
One:  To the cross rather than the sword
All:  We pledge allegiance
One:  To the banner of love above any flag
All:  We pledge allegiance
One:  To the one who rules with a towel rather than an iron fist
All:  We pledge allegiance
One:  To the one who rides a donkey rather than a war horse
All:  We pledge allegiance
One:  To the revolution that sets both oppressed and oppressors free
All:  We pledge allegiance
One:  To the way that leads to life
All:  We pledge allegiance
One:  To the slaughtered lamb
All:  We pledge allegiance
One:  And we together proclaim His praises from the margins of the empire to the centers of wealth and power:  Long live the Slaughtered Lamb!





 

Posted In: catalyst social-issues

Bookmark This Article: Del.icio.us, Digg, Reddit, Facebook, Stumbledupon

There was an air of anticipation tonight as about 40 people from 17 different Blount Co. churches turned out to here the invitation to join a new movement in Blount County called Family Promise.  Formally known as Interfaith Hospitality Network (IFHN), Family Promise seeks to alleviate homelessness amongst families by setting up local networks of churches that work together to provide shelter, compassion, food, and company to homeless families.  

According to Jeanna Stewart, the Director of Good Neighbors in Maryville, there are at least 8-10 cases of family homelessness a month that are reported through Good Neighbors.  However, this is definitely not the end of family homeslessness.  There are constant reports from the area schools and social workers of students without homes.   

Claas Ehlers, Director of development for the national IHN, explained the history and mission of Family Promise.  IHN began as a simple initiative of a community of churches trying to stop the rapid growth in foster-care cases due to homelessness.  Karen Olson discovered that the reason for the rising number of children being placed in the foster care system was due to the fact that their parents did not have a home.  Olson felt that this further traumatizing of the family while already in a state of crisis was not the answer and it is the church's obligation to step up and help the homeless and the would-be orphans in such cases.  So in 1986 the first network was born in Union County New Jersey.  

Claas reminded us that while there are huge problems in the world, and we can only do so much, our small acts of kindness and love done faithfully allow God to transform the world.  Or as Desmond Tutu said it, "Do your little bit of good where you are; its those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world."  And while there are church buildings with many empty rooms that lay uninhabited throughout the week, we have no excuse to dismiss this problem any longer.  

Posted In: social-issues life

Bookmark This Article: Del.icio.us, Digg, Reddit, Facebook, Stumbledupon

So often we are all talk and no action. Here is a list that I looted from The Simple Way of things you can do by yourself or with a group of friends to help incarnate justice and mercy in the world.  Enjoy!

• Go out to eat with someone who is homeless, or invite them to your home or cafeteria to eat with you.
• Leave a random tip in the college bathrooms for the folks who clean them.
• Find out who makes the clothes for the athletic department and if those companies reflect the values of Christ.
• Learn to sew and begin making your own clothes.
• Start tithing 10% of all income directly to the poor (relationaltithe.com).
• Connect with a group of farmworkers who grow food for your cafeteria or favorite restaurant (such as Taco Bells Immokalee workers ciw-online.org).
• Give your winter coat away to someone who is colder than you are.
• Ask to see the budget of your school. What do the workers get paid compared to the administrators? Make sure folks know -- if you are proud of this, affirm the folks who make those decisions... If not, begin a conversation with both workers and administrators of how this could be better.
• Ask where the campus gets its energy. Is it renewable? If not begin a plan for moving toward renewable energy (talk to folks at Eastern University about how they have done it by an optional ecological tax that is tacked onto tuition -- it's only a few dollars per student).
• Write one CEO a month -- affirm or critique the ethics of their company (you may need to do a little research).
• Write only paper letters for a month (go computer free)
• Try sitting in silence for 15 minutes a day.
• Kill your TV -- or go TV free for a year.
• Go down a line of parked cars and pay for the meters that are about to expire... Leave a little anonymous note of niceness.
• Beat a war machine into a plow, without hurting anyone of course (Isaiah 2:4) -- NOTE: you might want to plan on a little sabbatical after this one, a little reading and writing retreat -- in jail.
• Write to one social justice organizer or leader each month, just to encourage them in their work.
• Experiment with a post-oil era by going fuel free for a week -- ride a bike everywhere, carpool, walk or hitchhike.
• Gut your TV and turn it into a pot for a plant.
• Try reading only female writers for a year (since many of our problems seem to be stemming from men).
• Go to a retirement home and ask to visit a few old folks who don't get any visitors.
• Spend some time with someone who cleans the campus, get to know each other, share your stories.
• Invite one of the college cafeteria staff to your home for dinner or go to their home.
• Try jack-hammering the church parking lot to make space for potato plants.
• Track to its source one item you eat regularly
• Give your car away to a stranger
• Convert a diesel car to run off veggie oil.
• Try flushing your toilets off dirty sink water (for a little guide, check here).
• Buy only used (thrift) clothes for a year.
• Cover up all brand names, or at least the ones that do not reflect the upside down economics of God's Kingdom.

Posted In: life social-issues

Bookmark This Article: Del.icio.us, Digg, Reddit, Facebook, Stumbledupon