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?
Welcome to the January 20, 2007 edition of the erase racism carnival. I’m extremely excited to have the honor of hosting the Carnival here at Trying to Follow. We have a great line up this month. As the carnival continues to grow and as the audience expands esremember to reflect and acknowledge the fact that we really are taking steps to Erase Racism.
Hakim Abdullah presents An Occidental-Muslim’s Criticism of Empires and Orthodoxies posted at Hakim Abdullah, saying, “This article compares the criticisms of orthodoxies to that of empires and as a result we discover that they are not dissimilar.” And if that description was too confusing for you, check out this brief quote:
That fact is that, the United States of America is by every stretch of the word, an empire. It has within its control a number of territories by which it influences either economically, socio-politically or by way of aesthetics.
Hakim also wrote a blurb about “Hard-Times” & the Human Soul. Kai Chang brings us the “The Unapologetic Mexican” in a series of excerpts entitled: The Colored Lens. It’s a great history lesson as well, so bring your thinking caps.
Karen Lynch reflects on the famous blue eyes/brown eyes experiment in Allowing Others and Practicing Non-judgement (the video of the experiment is below and here):
And the CARNIVAL Continues! Don’t lose interest yet, we’ve got a great series of posts to follow that your really going to enjoy. For your brief intermission here is a carnival joke: Why won’t cannibals eat clowns? Because they taste funny. (Stay tuned for one more at the end!)
Asking for conflict-free certificates is not enough. In April 2006 after a scathing report by Partnership Africa Canada about activities in Brazil, an internal review showed that 49 of 147 Kimberley Process certificates were fraudulent. Besides these fraudulent certificates, real certificates could still be issued if conflict diamonds were smuggled and mixed with legally traded ones before being certified.
Children in conflict zones are being used as soldiers. The images in Blood Diamond with child soldiers are very real. They are drugged and brainwashed to handle the manslaughter they are forced to do.
Jennifer Connelly says in the movie Blood Diamond, “People back home would not buy a diamond if they knew it cost someone their hand.” Now you know.
Be sure to read more of Amy’s telling post at nd just in case you need more convincing at Wisebread. And just in case you needed more convincing and proof.
It’s just marketing. The whole “A Diamond is Forever” and the idea of a diamond engagement ring is not an ancient tradition to be revered and followed. It is Sprite’s “Obey Your Thirst.” It is Nike’s “Just Do It.” It is Gary Dahl’s “Pet Rock.”
Therefore, how often does the southern Black vote truly count (obviously this goes for other minority groups as well and while race doesn’t always equal voting preference it obviously matters some)? It’s institutionalized racism at its best. I kind of digress; the real question is do I think America is open enough to elect a Black man to our highest office? Sadly, I kind of doubt it…
It is now the time for Black Men to become Fathers and role models for their children, the educated to become more selfless and greater mentors for those new to the game and our spiritual leaders (pastors, elders) to show more of an interest in their surrounding community than how much is in the collection plate.
And now, For White Folks: How To Be An Ally (Part 3), Changeseeker continues here popular series at Why Am I Not Surprised (If you missed the beginning here is part 1, 1b, and 2). This post is fairly long, but it has lot’s of practical examples and application. Well worth your time if your one of the White Folk wondering what to do:
Then, you can validate the truth you hear by accepting its legitimacy, no matter now difficult it is to face, no matter how sad it is to look at, no matter how formidable the wall it seems to illumine, no matter how deep the chasm it seems to produce. You can say, “Yes. I hear you. Yes. It must be painful. Yes. It is immoral. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.” And finally, you can sit beside the wounded. I saw a quote years ago by a woman back in the sixties, a SNCC-member, I think, who said something about, “What it all comes down to in the end is one person saying ‘I will sit next to you.'” A commitment so simple it can be made by anyone. Without training. Without education. Without planning. Without agenda. “I will sit next to you.” When the tempers blaze and the tears come. “I will sit next to you.” In the rain. In the sun. In the darkness of night. “I will sit next to you.” We can share a sandwich. We can pass the dipper down the row. We can breathe the air of a planet that has waited five hundred years for these words: “I will sit next to you.”
Origins of Prejudice posted by Sage, has an excellent personal story to discuss “why we develop prejudices and how to override this tendency”:
I passed him then, and he continued on his merry way right behind me. After a block, I began to feel wary of his intentions, so I spun around and asked, “Do you have the time?” As he politely answered, I memorized his face, his clothes, his watch, everything about him. I was preparing for the inevitable on this dark, deserted street. He gave me the time, then we continued walking, quickly, with him so close behind me I could feel his breath on my neck.
A disproportionate number of poor black people indeed don’t want to work, but their reasons for feeling that way aren’t unreasonable. Whatever the reasons were that older generations of young black people stopped wanting to work (Greatest Generation social policy, jobs moving away from the city, discrimination by employers, etc.), young black people today don’t think about their predecessors’ motivators & demotivators consciously. They just grow up observing it and imitating it, like all humans do. Dr. McWhorter’s example of this was a child born to Chinese parents in Brooklyn. That kid’s going to grow up speaking English because he/she observed it and that’s what humans do.
Yes, the n-word is “just a word”: a word that has historically led to scenes such as these. If you’re cool with such scenes, by all means continue supporting this word’s use by “edgy” white folks (you say “edgy”, I say “coward hiding in a mob”). You know why black folks “are allowed” to use the n-word (though it remains deeply controversial in the black community)? Here’s a hint: look at the pictures and see if you spot any black folks among the living. Okay I’ll fill you in: they’re the ones being murdered; white folks are the ones doing the murdering. Get it? In the context of the n-word’s countless unpunished crimes, black folks are not the accused. “Just a word”: what a moronic defense. I suppose “war” is “just a word” as well — unless you happen to be among those getting bombed and shot. “I intend to kill you and your family” are just words too, but if someone were to say those words to me, my response would be very unwordy.
Kai really lays it out in this post, spurred on by the disgusting display by Michael Richards, a hint of just the tip of the iceberg of underlying racism in our country.
Finally, Eric Stoller presents Goode isn’t good featuring the OPPRESSIONATOR 3000:
The primary theme surrounding Virgil Goode is that everyone who is on his oppression-list is a person of color. Latino’s, Muslim’s of Color, and “anchor babies” (apparently brown babies are also a threat to Goode “the Oppressionator 3000″.
Goode informed Fox news that he wants to limit legal immigration and put a stop to “diversity visas,” which he said let in people “not from European countries” and “some terrorist states.”
Note: I found several online newspapers that were
covering this story. None of them had anything in their story titles about racism or islamophobia. Goode’s comments were labeled as “criticism.” Newspapers dilute racism by labeling it as something less oppressive. It helps to maintain the dominant paradigm and marginalizes those who are oppressed.
Check out the rest of more of Stoller’s review of the Oppressionator 3000 at Stoller’s Blog.
UPDATE: I can’t believe I almost missed including Vegankid’s Great post about the NRA’s graphic Novel, Whitey Arm Yourself, you absolutely have to check this out:
it is unarguable that fear and race have been involved in a very happy marriage for quite some time. just look at some of the stereotypes to get a good idea of racialized fear: men of color are rapists, young Black and Latino men are gang members, Arabs are terrorists, etc. you can also look at how the media frames things: Affirmative Action is taking jobs from better qualified White workers, Latino immigrants are stealing jobs, Black people trying to get food after Hurricane Katrina were looters, and so forth.
The rest of the post reviews the character’s in the NRA’s Graphic Novel, you’ll find it absolutely shocking.
And as you so patiently waited here is your final Carnival joke: What is the gooey red stuff between an elephant’s toes?
Slow clowns.
That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of erase racism carnival using our carnival submission form.
Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.
I’m hoping to get a movie series going at our house that will encourage us and other’s onward toward action about important issues we might not currently know about.
I really hope the movie series will be endorsed by Mosaic where I attend on Sunday’s as well as getting the word out a few other places, but we’ll see what happens.
For now, I’m trying to pick some movies. Here’s a long list of ones I’m interested in showing. I’d like to just pick ten so I can do it on a every other week basis for about 20 weeks.
This was a discussion that started with some friends of mine at Wheaton College our senior year. If your interested in some of the history of the discussion here are some links: My first post on it, Nate’s follow up month’s later (including a lot of discussion in the comments), Another Nate post and discussion, finally here is a related post by me from March.
You can skip those and I’m going to write my thoughts on it below, hopefully touching on everything of importance from the previous discussion.
SOURCE:Federal Register, Vol. 71, No. 15, January 24,
2006, pp. 3848-3849
An important clarification needs to be made about what I’m about to suggest. This is not an attempt at sainthood, or some “holier than thou” type of living, rather it is meant to be very simple and practical. As a member of the human family, and more specifically as a Christian, I think there are certain guidelines by which we should try and live our lives. As a society we already have some standards in place through governmental force (speeding) and simple public consensus (think making noise during a movie, cutting in a line, etc). The idea of living a dollar above the poverty line is simply another attempt at putting before us some sort of standard to live by.
The choice of the national poverty line was a simple one. Though we didn’t all actually discuss the choice of the national poverty line, it is the guideline we as a society have accepted as the indicator of poverty. It is a simple line, if your annual income is below that amount you are considered “in poverty” and you are eligible for certain help. If you have one dollar above that amount in your annual income you are NOT poor and we as a society agree you have the financial resources you need.
As a Christian I think there is a good case for us to not take more then we need (maybe like the manna in the desert), and to use what we have been given to contribute to the needs of those around us. That being said, we should probably be thinking about a guideline for ourselves to determine how much meets our “needs.” In a society of more wealth and resources then we’ve ever imagined, it’s hard to even admit that there might be a line below “whatever you can afford” by which we should live. I believe we as a church should be having this discussion together. And I believe that the national poverty line is a good guideline to start with.
So, I believe strongly that effective immediately, we should begin to try and live by the standard of one dollar above the poverty line. For my wife and I that means $13,201 a year. A monthly budget of about $1000.
Mindy and I have made series efforts throughout our marriage to make lifestyle changes to live within that amount. We’ve had roommates for a number of reasons, but one of them being the financial necessity of staying within our budget. We thought through and planned out a budget we try to stay within to make that budget possible. In all our attempts though, we still fall far short.
First, if you include the cost of Mindy’s college tuition, we are no where near a $1000 a month budget. The reality is anyone living at our nation’s poverty line will have a difficult time moving past that if they can’t afford an education. We also couldn’t have simply purchased a decent car last fall when ours broke down. Though we’ve made an effort to adjust our budget to accommodate the cost of the car, and a couple plane tickets home for Christmas, the reality is that if we truly didn’t have more then a poverty line income, we couldn’t make those large purchases when we needed to.
Second, the recognition of our inability to “survive” at the poverty line puts us in a compelling position to take political action. What that probably means is that you need to give your senator a call and tell them you believe the minimum wage and the poverty line should be raised. You should let your congress person know that you tried living near the poverty line and it just wasn’t possible without some extra help. And I guess if your not political, you could at least set-up an appointment with your pastor and tell them about the gap between those trying to survive and the places they can go to meet their needs. Forget politics for a second and we’ll come to the real meat of this post, the ability the church could have for good if we started living by a guideline that meets our needs and then meets the needs of others (rather then our own wants).
Can you imagine for a minute a church that adopted that sort of expectation for it’s members? In the same way many churches spend their efforts convincing their congregation that they should outlaw gay marriage, it would be refreshing and amazing to see pastors encouraging their congregations to radically change their current lifestyle. Imagine a church with doctors and school teachers, CEO’s and janitors all choosing to live at a standard that meets their needs and giving their extra resources to meet the needs of others. Shouldn’t we as Christian’s dictate our cost of living more as a group within the churches we attend than by the income we make?
This is meant to be an ongoing conversation. I haven’t set in stone this dollar amount as a standard for myself or others, but I believe their should be one. So let’s have the discussion, and let’s decide how we should live.
I usually wait till after the holiday passes before I go into a critical assessment of the festivities. I figured this year would be a good chance to try and encourage folks to consider things before the holiday rolls around.
I’ll start by saying that I plan on driving home and spending time and eating a big meal with my family on Thursday. Whether that’s mainly because of the convenience of us all having that time off, or because of our devout acknowledgement of the historical events is up for debate.
I guess when I think about the historical implications of a holiday like Thanksgiving I’m much more disturbed then I am thankful for it. The idea of the pilgrims and native people of this land sitting down together in peace and sharing a meal is a beautiful and wonderful thing, I just worry it ignores so much more of the history.
You see if my history book is correct (they must have torn out this section in my middle school), the atrocities of that time far out weigh any peaceful meal together. Massacares, forced removal, slavery, genocide, stolen land; this is the overwhelming story of the “settling” of this land. Stolen land. Stolen land.
To this day we live on stolen land. Thanksgiving is a difficult holiday for me, because I think it’s celebration without regard for the terrible injustices, is one of the deep wounds of our society that has never healed. You live on stolen land.
I know for me sitting at my family’s table on Thursday, I won’t be able to solve the problem, or right the wrong of the land. I can however acknowledge, and I can be diligent in thinking of ways to return, to make amends, to right wrongs.
How do we truly love our neighbor? If I may contextualize a bit: Jesus says do as the homosexual prostitute did when he, not judging or condemning, had compassion and cared for the needs of the church-goer who had been left for dead in the alley outside of the ministry she worked at, even after a fellow church member and a pastor drove by. (LUKE 10:30-37).
Some in our community feel that loving your neighbor is best done by voting yes on Amendment 1, I’m fearful of that action. We must be very clear that Amendment 1 is NOT a stand against homosexuality as sin, but a political statement concerning the rights of those already practicing homosexuality. It is already illegal for same-sex couples to marry in Tennessee, the amendment merely attempts to change the wording to directly prohibit. This is not a definitive statement, only a few thoughts.
Jesus’ public condemnations where almost always directed to the Religious authorities within the religious community that he was a part of. In the early church we see most rebuking and moral standards being dealt with within the church, not to non-Christians. Paul even says, “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church?” (I Cor. 5:12)
The Support for Amendment 1 is coming primarily from churches. The loudest statements being made by churches in Tennessee are a statement to oppress homosexuals (it’s not to “support family,” just ask a homosexual what they think). If this is passed it will define in many minds a view of Christianity and Church in direct relation to this issue. Literally using a secular governments physical force and laws to mandate religious views.
How did Jesus address the idea of using physical punishment to uphold morality? He said, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone.” (Jn. 8:7) We are not to use the law as a means to force adherence to our moral standards. You want to love your neighbor who is a homosexual? Go hang out with them, be with them. Work with One-in-Teen, sit at the bedside of someone dying of AIDs whose family has disowned him or her. That is where you can share Christ love.
Before we try and take the speck out of others eyes (and I think by “brothers” Jesus meant other believers), have we made sure there is not a plank in our own? I’m not sure exactly how we go about doing that but I have some ideas of statements that we could make to the greater community that would at least be a step in that direction.
I have two suggestions for possible proposals and resolutions that I think we can as a Christian body collectively pass and send to every major organization that is fighting for gay rights. First as it relates to the support of marriage. I think we can be humble and admit that Christians have not been a very good example of the sanctity of marriage. We can let the world know that we know that we too are sinners and fail to live up to God’s ideals. We can explain to others that God is and will forever be the one who has defined marriage, and no matter what we the church or the rest of the world does we cannot change that. And we can commit to being an example in years to come of what true marriage is, as a union before God.
The second statement I think we can make, relates to the homosexual people who this impacts. We, the church, have been a horrible example of Christ love to the homosexual community for years. Christ would have sat by the bedside of dying homosexuals in the height of AIDs in this country, yet we stood outside with signs saying they would burn in hell (or we passively stood by while those statements were made). We can beg forgiveness from the homosexual community for the hurt and hatred that has been dealt to them by members of the Christian community. We can commit to spending much more time personally showing and spreading the love of Christ in genuine ways to people who practice homosexuality.
If you believe it is best and most loving to vote Yes on Amendment 1, then I pray you are doing equally as much to assure the that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons know the love of Christ. I fear the repercussions of living in this state if the Marriage Amendment is passed. How will I remain in this community? How will I tell my homosexual friend that I chose to remain a part of a community that voted in a way that to her shows so much hate? Lord help me.
It appears Habitat for Humanity in Nashville is right in the midst of a major building project. This week they are building ten homes in the Providence Park neighborhood, “the nation’s largest contiguous all-Habitat community.”
First of all, let me say that I think it is wonderful that these families are having homes provided for them. I think Habitat is doing some amazing things through out the country and for that they should be commended.
I’m also curious about the “all-Habitat community.” I wonder what sort of implications that type of development has. From my understanding Habitat primarily builds home for lower income families who wouldn’t otherwise be able to become home owners. That seems to translate into a low tax base for that community (i.e. a low income neighborhood). Once the Habitat spotlight leaves the neighborhood, will it be faced with all the extensive problems that typically face low income neighborhoods?
I really don’t mean this as a critique. Rather, I’m just curious about if those sorts of aspects have been thought about in regards to this project or others like it. In the past I’ve tried to research a little about gentrification, housing and location and I haven’t come up with many clear answers on any of it.
Tomorrow I’ll post about another Nashville area project that is going on and the troubling things it acknowledges about our geographic layout.
It took twenty four years of my life before a life changing piece of mail found it’s way into my mailbox. It’s wasn’t a bird, it wasn’t a plane, it was Skyangel!
I’ll be honest, I was a little skeptical at first, a Christian TV and Radio satellite service? But then I read the testimonies and I was won over. I kid you not, this is what one of the “viewers” wrote:
“If you want to become a better Christ-follower, more disciplined, if you want to be the best you can be for Christ, this [Skyangel] is what you should get for your family…”
After all how could you go wrong with Sky Angel’s programming? They offer, “programs that re-energize your faith and connect you with things that truly matter.” And according to Sky Angel there are a lot of things that truly matter: sports, HGTV, and Fox News to name just a few.
There is a lot of worthless stuff out there on the airwaves and I think it makes sense to be proactive in avoiding that stuff in your home. Sky Angel goes one step further (and many steps too far) and pitches it’s stations as the definitive answer on what “Christ-Centered” is. According to Sky Angel the most Christ-centered new is Fox News. According to Sky Angel HGTV and TV in general is an opportunity to “re-energize your faith.”
I started to call them and found my self getting terribly ill and the thought of talking to a sales person trying to sell me faith through television. They are selling Television in the name of Jesus! My guess is Jesus would be stomping through and smashing a few satellite dishes on his way these days.
I was watching the news on TV on Friday morning (the Today Show to be exact). I always come away with stuff to talk about after watching any TV, and yesterday was no exception. The clip that peeked my curiousity was about the President traveling around the country on Air Force One doing last minute campaign stops for close Republican senate races. This news bothered me a little bit (and this is not a rant against Bush, this goes for any president). Here are a couple of reasons:
I understand the President has some political party ties before he is actually elected as President. But once you are President, my understanding is that you represent ALL the people, not just those from your political party. It seems to me that if your going to be using your clout as President to endorse political candidates, then you should probably be doing it during your time off.
That being said, do President’s get time off? It does seem like one of those “always on” types of jobs.
For example, does the president have his own personal car or plane? If he does, I’d much rather he use his own plane, then Air Force One, which I helped pay for and all the fuel our tax dollars are going to go to, if he’s going to fly around the country promoting politicians. Personally, it sort of seems like stealing paper clips from the office or writing off a meal out as a “business meeting.” Using Air Force One as a backdrop for someone else’s campaign sort of seems like cheating.
Finally, and this is direct to our current president. The polls seem to indicate a lot of people don’t think President Bush is doing a very good job in office right now. That being said, you would think he might consider spending a little more time there, rather then flying around the country preparing campaign speeches to help ensure his Republican chums win their states.
Am I the only one who think’s it’s a little wrong, unfair, disappointing, waste of money, unethical and terribly misrepresentative for Bush to be wasting his time on this?
One of my favorite blogs to keep up on current issues is this one, from this magazine. Today they posted
an intriguing post about women’s issues.
At the Seattle Times, Alicia Mundy ponders a disappearing phrase in politics: “women’s rights.” Explaining why the phrase has only cropped up in a handful of public talks given by female senators and congresspeople, Mundy notes:
“…the battle to control the dictionary and define the paradigm is crucial to the partisan power struggle in D.C. Espousing women’s rights can get even the most mainstream female lawmaker marginalized as a radical feminist or even labeled a “feminazi” by radio talk-show hosts.”
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.
Finally, Eric Stoller presents 
UPDATE: I can’t believe I almost missed including Vegankid’s Great post about the NRA’s graphic Novel, 
It appears Habitat for Humanity in Nashville is right in the midst of a major building project. This week they are building ten homes in the Providence Park neighborhood, “the nation’s largest contiguous all-Habitat community.”