What are your thoughts? Is it a bandwagon worth jumping aboard? How are we (as Christians) supposed to interact with movements like this? Specifically, those of us who profess to be "pacifist" and see nonviolence as a large portion of the Christian call. What are your thoughts on supporting military missions such as this?
Personally, I continue to be torn. Invisible Children is an organization I have supported in the past. I think their goals are noble and worth supporting, but the means they sometimes use to reach their goals I question. So I pose the question (feel free to challenge the binary I set up): what is worse? To use means I do not fully support to accomplish a good goal OR to sit and do nothing (because I am currently not doing anything or coming up with any "third way" options).
I encourage you to watch the video, if you have not done so already. As for me, I am going to write a few e-mails tonight, and pray that they do a little bit of good.
Are we losing something important as more and more of our lives become contained in digital media rather than in real physical concrete objects? I realize that a blogs is an ironic place to address this question. However, it is precisely this blog and Facebook into which I invest significant "virtual" time... And as I do I occasionally become concerned regarding the value of that time and the intangibility of my achievement... Primarily, what I mean by that is that I invest a significant amount of creative energy into particularly this blog and entrust it to Google. I know I should back it up... but I haven't. And realistically Google is probably more reliable that my computer. So in one sense these words are more secure and certainly more visible but are they more or less real?
In the hypothetical abstract, which the internet is perhaps merely an extension of, we all happily affirm that yes these words are just as "real" as any other words... BUT we also all know that there is something special about getting a hand written letter or a note... There is something very different about physically painting letters onto paper with ink so as to form words and sentences and having people physically move it to its recipient in comparison to the buttons and technology required to send an email. Communication occurs both ways, and one way is much much faster, and yet there is perhaps a closer connection made between the two people in the physical act of writing and sending a letter. The same way I felt connected to people who have for thousands of years have worshipped in the Holy Sepulchre, touched those stones, walked those stairs... There is something about knowing that your friend or lover held that piece of paper, smeared the ink, ingrained their style and personality into their writing as they formed each letter, misspelled a word and crossed it out, folded the paper, licked the envelope... In comparison to the messy and enfleshed difficulty of writing a letter, email offers a near perfectly sterile and virtually telepathic meeting of minds and sharing of information. All my words have been spell checked and all my letters are perfectly uniform in Times New Roman. The problem, of course, as we all know, both from general life experience and even in conversation on this blog, is that humanity depends on tone, body language and context to infer meaning and it is actually far more difficult to communicate through the disembodied word than one might at first think.
I like to refer to Polaroid pictures as the closest thing there is to time travel... When you look at an analog Polaroid picture you are staring a chemical reaction from the actual light waves of that very moment... In all other forms of photography both analog and digital there is a 2 or 3 step process of interpretation and representation that occurs... However, they don't always come out very well, and you certainly don't get to find out right away. In contrast digital gives you even more instant in your photography experience, which will help you to capture that moment and memory just as you remember it... And yet after its been cropped and photoshopped, no matter how beautiful it is, no matter how much it looks like what we think we remember or want to remember... there is a deep skepticism in me regarding images... A skepticism that is overwhelmed by the reality of a Polaroid...
I prefer the visceral act of painting on canvas to a digital painting on a tablet. I prefer writing to typing. I prefer dipping pens in ink to ball point Bics. I prefer Polaroids to digital. I prefer Hookah to cigarettes. I prefer organic food. I prefer buildings at least 100 years old. I prefer old cars. I prefer seeing you in person than talking on the phone.
BUT I prefer Facebook to not seeing you at all. I prefer blogging to not writing. I prefer a digital audience to no audience. I am seduced by the promise of ease and security. I am seduced by instant gratification and eternal life... After all, Google is forever...
Would Jesus be impressed by the miracle of multiplication that digital reality affords us?
Technology is supposed to make our life better, easier, happier etc... Is it?
Whats your favourite analog experience?
Imagine a world without digital reality... Share your thoughts here on the intertubes...
Is this just nostalgia or has our reality actually been negatively impacted? Cost/Benefit?
Photographic recreations of famous paintings - more here
If anyone was uncertain what the actual orthodox view on Genesis 1 was here is Orthodox Archbishop of Canada Lazar Puhalo to clear things up (Thanks Dan):
Tim Minchin on Palestine (Thanks Matty):
And on Christmas (but be sure to check out his song "Predjudice" as well):
There is a project to build an ark http://arkencounter.com/ in Kentucky they are trying to raise 24 million. I would be more excited if it was a statement about global warming... (Thanks Nate)
I would like to let you all in on a discussion that is ongoing behind the surface of this blog. Duncan touched on it here. Right now I am keenly aware that I am being watched. I had no idea how powerful this notion of being watched would be over my willingness to be transparent and live up to the goal we set for this blog, an uncensored place of free thought. I have to admit that I have begun to think in blogs, everything I think I shape into a blog with no restraints, yet it is incredible how many of these I am censoring. I find myself censoring because it is incredibly unnerving knowing that about 150 people a day, at the moment, will be reading what I write, I feel like a little bit of a spectacle, or as Duncan so adequately put it when we last met, "we are pastoring a small un-church" (or something like that). I feel a little bit like Miley Cyrus and Lady Gaga. This is a new experience for me as I enter into what feels like a one-sided relationship. I permit all of the internet a window into my existence every few days and there is surprisingly little feed back. Beside the few comments, a conversation, or a "like" on facebook, I have absolutely no idea who is "watching". Now to toss this back on you, because if I am using the concept of voyeurism to best explain how I am perceiving this blogging thing...that makes you the peeping tom :0 which is ok as long as we are all aware of the roles we are playing in this one-sided relationship :)
Having no idea who is reading this blog is trilling and disconcerting all at the same time. It is because of this that we as a group of bloggers are running into the constraints of censorship. How much is too much. How much honesty can the internet really handle? Censorship is not my expertise, I am usually overly blunt, I'll say what I think and ask for forgiveness later. Because of this I have a few requests. First, if we offend...Respond, post in the comment section. We are all more than willing to open a two or more way dialogue, and then I at least know who to ask forgiveness from. Second, if you are a regular reader follow us, it is really nice to know who is reading.
Censorship is complicated. It is nearly impossible to determine what people find offensive, as Duncan puts it "I always think its funny what people find offensive or a "big deal" its like swear words... which ones are really bad? I think my mom is probably more offended by cigarettes than by "losing faith". I say "damn" all the time without thinking. Other people love the word "fuck" but think "damn" is crossing the line... some people think "crap" is ok but not "shit," other people the reverse. Some of this is cultural both locally and globally but to me it is a reminder of the ambiguity of language and the inherent risks one takes when speaking. It is not surprising that public speaking is something that many people fear more than death - speech acts both spoken and written take enormous courage." (from our private ongoing conversation). I find that we are in a particularly interesting spot when dealing with censorship. We all have Christian educations which was four years of tip toeing around censorship issues, how much could one say, what would be too far, "if I say what I actually think will i be considered a heretic?" Sometimes all three of us through caution to the wind and said as we pleased, but i think for the majority of the time we played the censorship game quite well. The thing is the game is not over. As we pursue higher education and jobs it is likely people will find this blog. The thought then becomes will I loose job opportunities because of what I post here? Or maybe more significantly, will something I say here offend a person to such an extent that they stop being in relationship with me in the real world, outside of the intertubes? As our virtual and internet lives mesh I find things become more hazy, more uncertain. Hopefully as we pursue academia and careers we will land ourselves in positions that value freedom of thought, freedom to think without fear. Hopefully when perfect love casts out fear the absence of fear is presence in the intellectual realm as well, so we do not slip into divisive tribalism of fundamentalism.
I often find it helpful to communicate my ideas through other mediums people have already created and published. I ran across a music video this spring (one that did not get as much play as I think it deserved) which had some interesting thoughts about censorship tied in. I found it extremely enlightening when the same music video came out with a directors cut it was much more disturbing. Specifically enlightening is the contrast between the two videos. Many people will find the first offensive, but the message I believe is more apparent in the second. The song is Natalia Kills -Wonderland and here is the directors cut. I hope you enjoy the difference in the movies. For now I think I will be treading/blogging towards the official version, my posts at least will attempt to convey what I mean without becoming too over the top. But if you think I am not being fully transparent call me out in the comments section if you would prefer the directors cut on a certain post.
The wonders of the intertubes is there is a plethora of wonderful content out there, more than one life time can adequately enjoy. The trouble is finding the stuff worth watching. Thanks to social media I have a few friends who often post the best of the internet which helps me to gather from more breadth than I would personally be able to scan for quality content. I ran across this one today thanks to my brother Josh, to whom others had past this gem. After the seventeen minute video, I knew I needed to pass it on as well. So enjoy, I have not unpacked it all myself so I will not further comment on it right now, other than to say it was a serious intellectual reality check for me. Without further ado:
Does anyone remember myspace? I think a few bands still use it right? or xanga? my first blog was on xanga here. I wrote this: "Look at us flaunting our lives, our problems and triumphs. Displaying our lives and thoughts for all to see. Things that were once sacred and kept in a diary under lock and key are now published worldwide for everyone to read. And we look and we read in glib fascination of total strangers daily lives. We watch reality tv and read random blogs. Watching, reading.....the unknown listener. Is it that we long for community but can't quite commit? Is some how the internet deemed safer than our neighbourhoods where we pass those who live around us without a word. Is it that its convenient?... I can have friends and interact with them when I want to, and disappear without explanation or trace when I don't. I don't have to worry about schedules, or time zones, or distance. I can scream profanities and blasphemy and complain about everything at all while still remaining in the beautiful safety of anonymity - free from responsibility or consequences from the things I say, free from being confronted by real people and their emotions, which I might hurt. Instead, everything and everyone is kept that beautiful arms length away on the flickery screen. We are all exhibitionists and voyeurs." - 2006
Do you remeber MSN? When we used to actually talk to each other instead of just creep pictures and profiles. Do you remember ICQ? and the question a/s/l? asked often as you talked to strangers?
I think back to 2006 and its difficult if not impossible to measure progress in my life beyond the diploma. I don't think I am smarter or nicer. Maybe I am a little bit more mellow... or maybe not. I am married, which is complicated. I am closer to death but seem no closer to a career. I somehow have stalled and am stuck in ambiguity and so like in 2006 (clearly I haven't changed much) I am trying to process out loud on a blog. Is progress a myth? and how do we measure it? I may be older, more knowledgeable, more experienced, more mellow and more married, but I am still working for free. I wouldn't mind working for free if grocery bills and rent and tuition didn't exist... How do I escape money? Why is my existence worth nothing? I can't even be a surrogate mother! and you have to be over 6 feet to donate sperm! F*#&%!
