I annually re-post this as reminder to fix my eyes on the prize:
Ten Things To Do Before I Die:
1. End genocide.
2. Stabilize the Middle East.
3. Master a foreign language.
4. Eradicate one disease, pathogen or virus.
5. Alleviate unnecessary human suffering.
6. Write one well-written and scholarly book.
7. Promote racial unity, diversity and reconciliation
8. Experiment with micro-loans
9. Provide clean water for those who don’t have it.
10. Finish school dang it.
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Soong-Chan Rah: Another Angry Asian Man?
Reading “Prof Rah’s” The Next Evangelicalism is like gargling with salt. It stings in the throat but at the same time clears the sinuses of the stuffiness and congestion of poorly thought-out racial dialogue. Sure, we like to talk about color-blindness, and melting pots, and model minorities, but do we know what we’re really saying when we talk about these things? Surely the Church – that glorious multicultural reality – is exempt from these faux-pas assumptions… Or is she? Perhaps a little deconstruction is in order – and maybe that aint such a bad thing.
Read more…
While I thought some of the acting was kinda kitschy and predictable, (yo holmes, I’m from the South Side, I represent) I found this movie pregnant with so many important themes. Faith, Place, & Race are three of them (and also happen to be the title of this blog) but it wrestles deeply with issues of urbanization, neighborhood, culture, and so many things. David Swanson gives a more complete review, titling it “urban exile” and I think that captures the essence of Gran Torino; being stuck in a place with people you don’t like and making the most of it. Staying put. And this is faith. What’d u think of the movie?
Listen to this rhetoric coming from the Republican party re: Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor:
“White man racist nominee would be forced to withdraw. Latina woman racist should also withdraw.” – Newt Gingrich
“a reverse racist” (comparable to KKK leader David Duke) – Rush Limbaugh
“picked because she’s a woman and Hispanic, not because she was the best qualified.” – Curt Levey
“a Latino KKK without the hoods or nooses.” (on National Council of La Raza, the nation’s largest Hispanic advocacy group) – Tom Tancredo(Colo.)
These were in response to Sotomayor’s comment: Read more…
I’m gonna be honest here as the past several posts have been on racial issues. While it’s important for me, I should say it’s not the only thing I think about. But I’m sure a little book that’s making BIG waves has something to do with it (see previous post). Rah’s book is influential; and people are talking about it everywhere and it’s lighting up the blogosphere. So naturally there’s a lot more chatter about race issues. But a small detail has gone unnoticed – anyone recognize that’s it’s “Asian / Pacific-American Heritage Month”? Holla. Read more…
As per a past post I re-raise this issue where angels fear to tread; well, thank goodness no one reads my blog anyway. Professor of New Testament, Rikk Watts, here @ Regent College has given a chapel lecture titled: “Up Zion’s Hill: Imagining a New Jerusalem” – and I walk away feeling like I missed the punchline – kinda half-full / half-empty – but here’s the synopsis: Read more…
Will be preaching this Sunday @RCC about vocation and the theology of work. It’s also a great topic to gripe – err.. blog about. Sure people have a love / hate relationship with their work – where do u stand? I’d love to hear from you as I put my sermon together based on Ecclesiastes 2:11 – 24; perhaps your story will even find its way into the message. But tell me – do you love / hate what you do, and why?
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Maybe last night’s sermon @ NCC that Christmas is “jihad” went too far. Read more…
The recent trampling of a Long Island, NY Wal Mart worker on the morning of Black Friday has elicited a lot of commentary about our economic mess, consumerism, and why we ought to Buy Nothing (Day). While I’m deeply saddened, probably the only fresh perspective I can offer would be as a former Long Islander looking in and my misgivings about the whole “Buy Nothing Day” idea. Read more…
Today I participated in the systemic oppression of the balloon people.
It was thru a little exercise w/my cohort @ Leadership Whatcom – and it was quite an experience to be the most-privileged, richest, elitist class of society in the room – albeit through roleplay. It awakened me to my own privilege, in terms of class, economically, socially. And while I’ve taken the victims’ stance many times a past, and complained of the oppressiveness under the privileged, it was surreal to have the tables turned – and I realized that I was complicit as well. America is complicit today when it comes to privilege in a global sense. Not to say we ought to be ashamed, but to face the reality that when our market crashes, so does the rest of the world. How can anyone say anymore that we don’t hold economic power over others? At any rate,
what are your thoughts on privilege, beit economic, gender, sexual orientation, race?
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