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P.S. I still might post occasionally…
All posts by ariah
This is Racist
I think this is Racist.
Flashback: The False Charity of Clothing Drives
Originally Posted in February 2006
The story goes something like this:
A typical church in a well-to-do neighborhood is inspired by the stories shared by a visiting missionary. In an effort to contribute to the needs that the missionary has shared the church has a clothing drive and encourages members to donate their winter coats for those who don’t have a coat to keep warm. The drive is a wonderful success and the missionary sends word of how the coats have benefited the people she works with. This is a wonderful thing.
The following year, the church again encourages it’s members to donate their coats and clothing and again they fill boxes with used clothing and coats. Now we have a problem.
Why is this a problem? The needs of the community are being met, with coats and clothing coming their way. And to the degree that those needs are met it is hard to critique without being looked at poorly. Yet I will still address my concern about the church.
Let me entertain you with some questions:
1. Have you ever participated in a clothing drive?
Having heard about a need in the world, you recognized that you had more then enough for yourself, and you where compelled to share your possessions with those in need.
2. Look at your closet now. Does it reflect those same convictions that moved you to donate your clothes in the first place?
3. More specifically, if I looked at your closet now, would I be able to see your convictions reflected, or would I say you are a prime candidate for our next clothing drive?
See, the problem with clothing drives is that often they result in a “hand me down” sort of charity. We donate our old, out of fashion, and undesirable clothes and make room in our closets for the new wardrobe we’ve been eager to purchase. Not only do we physically clean out our closet, but do it in the name of “charity” as if these actions are a noble act of giving. (If I am not describing you, please don’t feel judged or feel the need to defend your actions). This is a “false charity.”
What am I suggesting instead? I would like to see convictions drive our actions, not events like a clothing drive. If you have two coats and you only need one, then you should give the other away. The next time there is a coat drive your only option should be to buy a new coat and donate that one to the coat drive, because the one you currently have you need. If you have more shoes then you need you should give them away, and if you have more clothes then you need you should give those away too.
A church full of people living out their convictions would have no use for a clothing drive (unless it was to collect new items), because every member would have already given away their excess.
“The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.”*
Trading Schools: Still Savage Inequalities
I recently brought up the topic of schools and Kozol’s documenting of the inequality in the public schools in the USA. I understand that if you don’t read the stories or see the pictures and the facts yourself it can be hard to believe at times. So, with the help of Oprah, I bring you some insight into the public schools:
What are your thoughts? Does this disparity make a difference in the type and quality of education one receives? Is it fair?
(ht: racialicious)
Alexa Redirect done.
I just made my first WordPress Plugin: Alexa Redirect
A Collection of Links
Another collection of links from other blogs that I think are worth your time and effort to read.
- On being a woman, Richard (not a woman), shares a quote from another blogger and an very interesting discussion begins in the comment section.
- Just Living: Fair Trade Clothing , Lisa Samson, begins a search for Capris. She should really check out CRM.
- Pangs of Consumption, ouch.
Josh Experiments: Challenging Excess, Eating on $1 a Day
Experiments in living that step us out of our normal life experience can be invaluable tools. I think they are the sorts of things that begin to help us question our current lifestyle. One Josh writes:
It’s a shame that as a culture we are so used to excess that we don’t even recognize it anymore.
And it’s a shame that I’ll probably wrestle with this decision for another month. The entire time talking about ethics and Jesus and taking the moral high road. Feel good about myself. And then break down and buy it.
I’m a hypocrite.
It’s an honest struggle and these words connect with a lot of us, as they are things we rarely even dare to think out loud or acknowledge. For Josh, it’s this sort of pondering that led him to give up this. I am so happy to see Josh make a decision like this because I really believe it will free him up to focus on and be willing to challenge other areas of his life and choices. I am excited about were this new freedom and balance will take him.
Another Josh, contemplated this:
I remember reading somewhere a few years ago about someone who tried to eat off of a dollar a day in order to gain some type of understanding of what (I’ll say a majority again) of the world’s population goes through in regards to that key element of survival, eating. I don’t remember much about the article, but I began wondering if I could do that. Wondering led to doing some calculating and strategic thinking, which led to this post. Day 1 of $1 a day. I have four weeks of training left. My goal right now, is to make it through the next four weeks on $1 a day for food, (Monday through Friday, I go home on the weekends, and will try to keep it up, but won’t make my wife and kids go through it too). That doesn’t mean I won’t eat food that has been provided for me without cost to myself, (for example, we have a snack table everyday at our training session that is free, but more on that in another post), and I still have a few leftover groceries from last week that will help me for a few days.
In his first entry a few days later he chronicles what he’s been eating thus far, including a excessive snack table at his training, and concludes:
I make light of this, mostly because of the ridiculousness of excess. I am grateful for my friends and their willingness to share. (I’d like to add here that I have not yet solicited any food.) I have been truly blown away at how much more we eat than we really need to. I also realize that hanging out with others who are not trying to live off of $1 a day, has benefited me. I am well aware that living amongst others in a similar predicament would have different results. I have other observations and other thoughts that I will continue to process and post later.
I really appreciate both of these guys and the way they are willing to challenge their current lifestyles. I don’t have any notion that by eating on $1 a day Josh knows the experience of those in the rest of the world, but one can appreciate his attempt to try and connect on some level, most of us rarely even go there. As always, I assure you Josh will have some valuable insights from his experience and I do believe his eating habits and lifestyle choices will be better for it.
Update: The Jena Six Need Your Voice!
UPDATE (7/28/09): Two years later, here is the results of the Jena Six trial. Mostly a victory.
I mentioned the Jena Six when they first appeared in the news and that post has had more hits this summer then any other. A lot of people are interested in what’s going on, and I felt the need to update you, by way mostly of quotes from other blogs and news outlets. First, if you know nothing about the Jena Six, this short news clip should catch you up.
Watch Part Two here.Here’s the most recent news, via While Seated:
Mychal Bell, the first of the Jena Six to face trial, was found guilty of aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy to commit the same on June 28th. A comprehensive look at the case, the trial and the verdict was published on July 2nd at friendsofjustice. Plus, Democracy Now did a full story.
Jack and Jill Politics also gave a comprehensive look at the situation, including interviews with the parents of the victim in the case.
There are a lot of ways to get involved. The Daily Kos has a list of representatives to call and the link below has multiple Actions for you to partake in.
Flashback: Why the Sermon?
A while ago I wrote a series called considering church, and discussed the Sermon:
I’ll be honest I like listening to a good sermon every now and then. I could list a few of my favorites for you; at some point maybe I’ll even provide links to mp3’s of sermon’s that really moved me. There is also a good bit of Biblical support for sermons. Jesus seemed to like to sermonize it up every so often; my personal favorite is the “Sermon on the Mount.” Paul had quite a few lengthy sermons, and the first thing Peter does once he has the Holy Spirit is give a sermon. The word “Preach” shows up in the NIV 123 times (according to Biblegateway). Paul even goes off about the Rights of an Apostle in I Corinthians 9 (which is probably where we get our justification for having a paid pastor). The idea of a weekly meeting for a sermon probably comes from one of my favorite passages Acts 2:42-47.
So by now your probably thinking my goal was to answer the question presented in the title: Why the Sermon? Your maybe even a little bit convinced, or you’ve at least added some Bible verses to support it. So if that’s all you wanted, stop now and read no further.
I still wonder “Why the sermon?” If we are going to follow the Acts passage we should be meeting together daily, and also going to each others homes and eating together; we should be selling our possessions and sharing everything in common. And maybe our pastors should even be doing miraculous signs.
If we are going to hear out Paul’s words to the Corinthians then maybe we should also be advocating for more circuit preachers. Maybe we should stop the calls for money and just be giving it.
What if We (the USA) Left Everyone Else Alone?
Note: Remember, this is just an out loud brainstorm. I’m eager to engage in discussion, but please don’t come on too strong as this isn’t a statement of beliefs I hold strongly, just a “What if?” to make me think a little more.
With approval rates low and mumbles of impeachment here and there, there’s few people in support of the current President and maybe even fewer in support of the war. The main face of the USA that people around the globe see is either Bush on a TV somewhere or a military person stationed in their country. We have more military around the globe then many other countries combined.
On top of that, our benevolence in foreign aid mostly goes to buying military weapons for our allies, and the little that goes to actual humanitarian work doesn’t outweigh the illegitimate debt we require back from the same countries we are giving aid to.
So, I wonder, what if we just quit? In economics class I once heard the term “lifeboat” economics to describe the idea of us not helping other countries, that if we did help them our lifeboat would sink, so instead we just need to look out for our own, and keep our lifeboat to ourselves. I wonder sometimes, if that would be so bad.
What if all of our military worldwide, packed up and moved back to the states? What if any Multinational Corporation that did business in the USA had to move it’s factories (sweatshops) back into the borders? What if we gave up on holding illegitimate debt over the heads of third world countries? What if we stopped our environmental hazards and dumping on the rest of the world? What if we stopped giving aid and sending PeaceCorps volunteers?
Would the rest of the world survive without us? Would it all go up in flames and anarchy? I’ve wondered about it recently, and I’m currently leaning toward ‘the world is going to be okay.’ I’m starting to think we do more harm then good with our superpower and privilege. We definitely do some good, and for those out there doing good in the world on behalf of the USA, I don’t mean to take away from your work.
What do you think? Would the rest of the world survive without Washington’s watchful eye and strong hand to hold things together? Do they need us?