Openness
This story causes me to ask, can we have a free and democratic society when you can not see the face of your fellow citizen? The implications in this story are more than individual freedom of expression or religion.
A numbers game
I found this story in the New York Times to be telling of the mental state of America. A former facility of Bethlehem Steel has been converted to a $743 million Sands casino and enjoying a lucrative opening. We have come to believe that the main component of success is luck. Instead of work, thrift, community support, access to opportunity and perserverance, it all comes down to a cosmic numbers game. No wonder we’re depressed and can’t invision a hopeful future.
Forward to the past
In these times of economic dread this essay by Peggy Noonan at the Wall Street Journal made me happy. The upside to this mess is a more human society and possibly the come back of some form of authentic religion instead of the mass produced variety we have been plagued by. No more more mega-church? This is part of what she says:
“People will be allowed to grow old again. There will be a certain liberation in this. There will be fewer facelifts and browlifts, less Botox, less dyed hair among both men and women. They will look more like people used to look, before perfection came in. Middle-aged bodies will be thicker and softer, with more maternal and paternal give. There will be fewer gyms and fewer trainers, but more walking. Gym machines produced the pumped and cut look. They won’t be so affordable now.”
Read the whole thing. It’s really good.
Paradox of thrift
In the last few years we have been hearing about our need to consume less, save resources, recycle, drive less, or not drive at all. Well, we are finally doing it and what happens, our neighbor looses his job. Now we read reports that we are saving our way right into an economic depression. I am not an economist, but I think less consumption, fewer cars, and more savings is the way to go accompanied by increased productivity. Maybe other countries will want what we produce and we can pay off the debt we have accumulated. Yes, the adjustment will be difficult but long term we may be better off in terms of energy independence, community building, and more durable products. Instead of a throw away society maybe we can build one on the more permanent things. Small is beautiful.
The last song
With so much music available on line for free or cheap one wonders if there will be a place for musicians to thrive. The ubiquity of recorded and airbrushed music I believe will make live music more valuable and available beyond large stadiums. Here is an article in the New York Times about one group seeking to make live music accessible. The demise of big music labels doesn’t have to mean the death of musicians. It just might be what we need for a truly close to the people renaissance.
Rearranging marriage
The American tradition of dating is giving way to the hookup. Here is an essay in the New York Times describing the demise of dating. The free and open hook up depends on an atomistic view of the individual at the mercy of the fates. Uncertainty and unrelenting angst may lead some people return to older and more orderly versions of courtship, or maybe arranged marriages. The sensitive independent film Arranged manages to explore both Jewish-Muslim relations and give us insight into the practice. It doesn’t ignore the issues, particularly for women, in traditional ways of marriage. Yet, neither does it categorically dismiss the practice. The contrast between the essay and the film provides fodder for the discussion on how we marry and how we stay married. I highly recommend both.
Give me shelter
This story reports that the NYC Department of Homeless Services is telling churches not to shelter the homeless during the coming deep freeze. Instead, the city wants the homeless to go to the municipal shelters. The story is brief so it seems there must be more to the story. If the report is accurate, in my opinion, the city’s decree violates the civil rights of homeless people to sleep in a church, if it is available to them. It also violates the right of people of faith to practice hospitality as instructed by their tradition. The reason I bring this up is that I believe churches have abdicated much of the social witness of the past, including providing homes for abandoned children and old people. We have left many social problems for the government to deal with. Churches willing to shelter homeless people seems to be one of the last visible sign of an active social witness.Otherwise, our church buildings are often empty.
The importance of girls
My friend Jennifer Goodson alerted me to this site. I think it’s a powerful illustration of the interdependence of all people and why 600 million girls matter.
The ethics of consumption
I am currently reading Being Consumed:Economics and Christian Desire by William T. Cavanaugh. The author provides a theological and cultural analysis of our consumer society. He presents consumerism not as materialism, but as spirituality gone wrong. Consumerism has many of the elements associated with spirituality: the search for transcendence, detachment, community, and human solidarity. Cavanaugh provides an economic ethic based on the Eucharist in which the ultimate consumption of the body of Christ relativizes all other consumption. The economic belief in scarcity, because human desire is unquenchable, is met with the abundance of life in Christ. I believe this book provides important insights on how people of faith are to live in a world dominated by stuff. This might be a very good group discussion topic.
What money still doesn’t buy
Here is an article from the New York Times about how money doesn’t equal an abundance of friends. Whether it’s in the central city, or the suburbs, rich or poor, America is suffering from relational fragmentation. These are the times when the need isn’t for more information about God, or even a better church to attend on Sunday morning, but an incarnational,”God with us” theology. What does that look like for us in the 21st century city?