things to make you think and get angry

There are some good things I would like to share today, in case you have not seen them. All of these are slightly controversial and have something to bother or piss off everyone, at least a little.

1. Here is an interesting article in Sojourners on Starbucks and why they may not be as stellar as we want them to be (my mantra for too long). Link

2. Why both sides are wrong about America as a Christian or Secular nation. Link

3. Christianity Today on The Gospel and The Gosselins. The gist of this article is how Christians prop up anything that looks "Christian" in the media and quickly tear it down, if it screws up, never looking in the mirror at how an immature Evangelical faith is part of the problem (see Mel Gibson, Miss California, etc.). Link

4. And something to piss off most people. Will Saletan of Slate magazine, America's foremost writer and journalist on abortion (one with conflicted feelings- pro-choice but abhors abortion) asks if it is wrong to murder an Abortionist, declaring the similarities between George Tiller and his probable murderer, both of whom are men that believed in something so strongly that they would do things that no one else would for that cause. Link

I like risky writing, especially in a mainstream publication.

advice to Pastors and Churches

as any casual reader of this blog knows, my family is looking for a church. As we have visited churches, sometimes returning to a church a second time, it has occurred to me that some of my observations can be of use to the pastor of a church, especially an attractional church which wants to "grow" numerically through its Sunday morning service. As a former pastor, I may notice some things that are not working in your congregation, things you may want to consider if you like people and want them to come to your church.* This is not seeker sensitive stuff, this is common sense.

This advice is for pastors and churches. I make it out to pastors, but it does not matter who sees it. I may continue this series as I gain more "insight." However, as of today, here are some nuggets for your chewing pleasure. By the way, I have been guilty of many of these on occasion. It is okay if you are guilty today, just know how it looks to others and think about it.

1. You are not that cool. So, don't try to be. Just be yourself. As Ben Folds says, there is Always Someone Cooler Than You (read the song, embrace it). Sure, you might be cooler than Pastor Fred from First Antioch Baptist Church of God in your graphic t-shirt, but don't try to impress me with your love of Coldplay, 24 or twitter. I would think you were edgier if you told me you were into Sacred Harp singing, cultural anthropology and folk dancing.
2. Don't try to impress me with your technology. Keep it simple and straightforward. You will always be behind the world, so don't try to keep up with Google or U2. It is distracting.
3. Wear shirts that fit. Don't raid Ed Young, Jr.'s wardrobe. Please. Heck, put on a freakin' suit if you need to. And, if you like those tight shirts, lose weight.
4. Don't make judgments regarding the Christian faith of celebrities, unless they are personal friends of yours. We don't care if you think Bono, Kanye or Jessica Simpson is a Christian. In fact, keep your mouth shut about celebs. It usually gets the best of us in trouble.
5. Speaking of clothes... don't dress like an absolute bum. But, conversely, don't look like you spend too much time, money and product on your clothing, shoes, tight t-shirt, hair or glasses. People notice. And they are not as impressed as you think they are. They are looking for a pastor they can connect with, not take to the club. At the same time, you are a role model... Act like it.
6. Don't try to do everything. If you are leading worship, preaching, making announcements, praying, telling everyone what to do and leading multiple small groups, then you are doing too much. It tells us you have a huge ego, are not a good leader or you don't trust your people. Spread it around, even if does not go as well as it does when you do it.
7. Make people feel welcome, but don't make them walk a gauntlet to get into church.
8. Make sure people notice the new people. Don't scare them, but let them know you notice and care.
9. Make sure the nursery, child care area is manned by competent, FRIENDLY, helpful volunteers. Don't ignore new kids in favor of favorite kid. Make sure family of new kid feels comfortable leaving kids there... like you have it together. If not, don't offer anything. And for goodness sake, be honest about what you have (or don't have) for kids on your website!
10. When people come one time, don't just add them to an email or snail mail list. This is nothing more than spam and it pisses people off. I now have an inbox clogged with crap from churches I will never attend (that is why I always give churches the same email I give marketers).
11. When you contact first time visitors (and yes... You Should), make sure it is personal. Make sure it does not sound like a form letter (once we got a letter from the pastor of a medium sized church- it was typed with our names handwritten and the pastor's signature copied). Don't just add them to that list (ask permission!!).
12. If a visitor repeats, make sure they feel at home. Notice them. Tell them you are glad they came back, even if (like me) they try to sneak out. Let them sneak out visit one. Catch them on visit two. If they came back 2nd time, you did not offend them the 1st. They put you in the "maybe" category instead of the "no" file. In fact, the 2nd visit is more important than the 1st. If you blow it, it is usually you, not them.
13. If a visitor shows interest, don't blow them off. Don't forget about them. Stay on top of the contact and don't play hard to get. You are not the hot chick from 8th grade when they are in 7th. You are the pastor. Pursue, but be respectful.
14. Smoke machines and rambling guitar/ drum solos... NO.
15. Do not try to sound like the latest hit band. You are probably not as good. Put some effort into your lyrics. Please! If you are not theologically minded, find someone that is. Just cause it sounds good and makes you FEEL close to God, does not mean it sustains or has any spiritual depth.
16. Unless you want a bunch of brain dead consumers, the preaching and lyrics of the music must be challenging, but not guilt inducing. Think about the entire service. You have a liturgy. Embrace it and make it better. Don't just sing, preach, take money, tell people stuff. When serving communion, take it seriously. Do it less and do it right! Explain it. Heck.. explain everything. Teach us stuff. Don't assume anything!
17. Offer some snacks and coffee, but don't brag about it. Wow! You have Starbucks. I will now come to your church. I mean, you just saved me $2.00 per week. What a bargain. Conversely, if you have fair trade (and you should!), let us know. And, don't just offer fattening donuts. You are a church and gluttony is a sin.
18. Be green. Be careful with paper, trash, etc. Recycle and let us know.
19. If you cannot preach, get someone who can. Take a class. Don't experiment on me.
20. Your church should not try to do everything. You cannot do it all well. And, don't brag about stuff you should be doing anyway. Don't brag about stuff you really are not doing (especially on the website. It should be an honest account of who you are, not who you want to be). Just let us know what you have going on and how to get involved.
21. If you actually value the place of women in your church, give them something to do besides greeter, nursery or back up singer. Your words betray you.
22. Don't just talk to people you know and like. Talk to new people, but don't pressure them and don't act desperate (apologies for how things are never help).
23. Value the feedback of visitors. Don't ignore their ideas. They may teach you something that will help you in your journey.
24. Value your people and visitors as much as you value your own voice, insight and vision. If you do not, you may seem like an arrogant -----.
25. Borrow from other preachers and churches. However, site sources. Don't steal without giving credit. Someone you stole from may show up and notice. If you borrow from the world (Starbucks, television, etc.), acknowledge it. We already noticed.

And last... stop trying to make your church seem so cool. It is not. It is church. Church does not equal cool. Your marketing should be honest, not an attempt to show how cool and "with it" you are. The more you try, the worse you look. Just tell us who you are and invite us along for the ride. I have seen too many churches trying to be cool and being inauthentic. If you are a suburb church, don't act like a city church. If you are all suburbanites, we will notice when you move your church into the city to be edgy and then drive home to suburbia. If you don't like poor people, justice and art do not fake it just to make us come to your church. You have turned important things into marketing points and propaganda. We notice when you are faking it, probably before you do.

* this comes from multiple visits to numerous churches. Many of the insights surround a church we long ago for a month or so, to never venture back into. If you think this is about you, it is probably your ego. But, then again, it might be because of you. But, it is probably about that other church down the street. But, if this sounds like you, think about it and consider changing.

Understand, this is not a bitter or mean post. This is me wanting to let churches know some of their best laid plans and attempts are not working. They look goofy and fake to many, but people are not honest with you (us). We are the naked Emperor and people are not letting us know we are naked. They are just ignoring us, tolerating it because they don't think the church is capable of doing it beter, putting up with us because they like us or never setting foot back in our churches again.

a gift for he that has everything/ wants nothing

in the past I felt bad about asking for nothing for Christmas from friends and family. It never seemed to work out. They would buy something anyway. When I asked for donations to a charity or part of a cow for Africa, I would get strange looks and inevitably end up with a sweater from Old Navy. When I tell people at work what I want, they think I am some kind of weird ascetic that thinks I am better than them, so I ask for a gift card to iTunes, so they do not feel bad.

However, now that we have entered a world in which giving people a choice for their own gift (the gift card) has become kosher, I found what I will now ask my friends and family to buy for me in the future (sure it is not perfect. However, unlike those that point out the problems with Make Something Day and every other attempt to counter mass consumption, I am not a purist). They can order a gift and I can get nothing... perfect.

Read about the TisBest card, a great start. Check out their website here.

the disease of Consumerism threatening our lives- come see an event and feel happy

One of my favorite authors for a number of years has been Rodney Clapp, the editor of Brazos Press, a division of Baker and consistently among the best houses in the industry. This weekend Kristi and I hope to attend an event at St John's Church in Tampa that he is speaking at.

The title, which intrigues me greatly is Between Two God's: Christianity and the Challenges of Consumerism. Rodney, like myself and a growing number of individuals, sees Consumerism as a religion, competing with Christianity for the souls of church goers. I have grown to believe that Consumer Capitalism is the greatest threat to historic Christianity in America, followed closely by Nationalism. While the church focuses on the "threat of gay marriage," liberalism and the Emergent boogyman, it ignores Nationalism and consumerism at its own peril.

Heck, even within the Emerging church with its focus on technology, I have seen this insidious cult grow ever more present, with its tentacles wrapping around the very church that preaches against consumption and nationalism. I was going to joke that maybe we can record this event on high def so we can watch it on our iPhones and HDTVs, but I won't do that.

For too long the church has sat idly by and ignored or baptized this extreme consumption (for a number of years I have been obsessed with this, blogging on it periodically). I remember attending a local church in Tampa that justified consumerism and even embraced and blessed it. My wife and I never sat foot in that church again after a pastor talked glowingly about Prada, hoping to reach those cool rich-folk and not offend their delicate sensibilities (small groups conversations revolved around boats, Pottery Barn and getting rich). In the past few years I have been in close proximity to too many pastors and christian leaders  blind to the ravages of this disease, completely caught up in the spiral of stuff, justifying their crap with circular logic that would shame a political campaign director or lobbyist.

What I can applaud is the higher profile this is getting with people like Rodney, Shane, the Sines and most of the New Monastics, along with a number of bloggers. However, we must clean our houses and minds holding each other to a higher standard and speaking directly into the lives of one another to make sure we are not falling prey to this same religion we easily name in the established, seeker, modern and contemporary churches.* We must follow the advice of bloggers like Jonathan Brink and the band Toad the Wet Sprocket, which continues to convict me daily in their song Throw it All Away (lyrics here).**

read this blog post entitled Happiness Does Not Come from a Shopping Mall about a new book called Consumed. 

*since the credit card companies are about to collapse, according to some economists, this idea of rampant consumerism will not be as prevalent. I just wish the church had been speaking out on this issue in the past, before the issue was upon us. We may have kept it from happening.

** yes, I am a consumer- like all people. However, I try to see myself as a recovering consumer, falling off the wagon occasionally and hoping to continue to get this addiction under control. It is why I listen to that song so often, read the works of Berry, Gandhi, the Monastics, Theresa, Francis, Sine, etc. and talk about it so often. I think it is that insidious and Christian leaders must take on the responsibility of leading in this area (especially those claiming the title Emergent).

Wall-E Irony

Like anyone that is not a agenda driven nincompoop we thoroughly loved Wall-E when we saw it last week. After an initial bout of rebellion from our daughter due to the intensive preview (Eve blows something up loudly), it was all systems go and no one left disappointed, least of all the parents (of course, we think all Pixar movies are made for mom and dad).

However, isn't the thought of buying any of this authorized merchandise just a little too ironic in face of the film's premise? Of course, tell that to a 5 year old.

Peter Rollins adventure in mising the point (He don't know Bruce)

may know how (not) to speak of





but he does not know how to speak of










I know he is soooo much smarter than me (and probably you), but the Irish theologian Peter Rollins is no expert on crime fighting American superheroes. In an attempt to critique American Capitalism and our fascination with heroes, he stretches an analogy past the breaking point. There are some truisms in his essay, but he overstates his case in many ways.

On its exterior his essay seems correct. However, Rollins does not understand that Bruce Wayne and his industrialism are a facade. They are not real. Sure, he must operate in such a manner to keep funding his crime fighting ways and their are conseguences. But, they matter not to him. Batman is real, while Bruce Wayne is a cover. This psychlogical reality changes everything. I think his essay would work better with Tony Clark/ Iron Man as the central figure.

Rollins missteps may because he is Irish and Batman is quintessentially American (hey, I don't really get James Joyce). It may because he is too smart for pop culture. It may be because he did not grow up reading Batman and is really critiquing a film adaptation (which is fine, but shallow- you must look at the entire mythology and many important pieces of the canon to make such broad assumptions) and it could even be that he feels a need to evaluate everything according to his worldview and makes some assumptions on the worldviews of others. This can be dangerous (but is not here).

This reminds me of my least favorite thing about my blog and the blogosphere in general. We think we know more than we know! I know politics. I know music. I know movies. I even know comic books, history, social justice and church life (pretty well). I know a bit about sports and art. I like books. I like theology. I like economics. I even like gardening, cooking, architecture and city planning (but know very little). I know little to nothing about Lost, technology, reality television, science, women, flora and fauna, business, real estate or money management (besides my adage- don't spend any). Remember that if I comment on those things.

So, when commenting on film, music or politics, I may actually have something compelling to say. When talking about sports, it is somewhere in the middle. When talking about theology, it may be insightful... but may not be. When speaking on books, I can tell you what I like. But, don't listen to me if I try to assess the subtleties of Vonnegut's prose or Volf's views of the Trinity. I may be able to tell you it is "real good." You can trust that. But, not much else. So, don't listen to Rollins on Batman.*

* I could tell you who to listen to about sports, books, film, musics, etc. But I wouldn't I don't want to hurt any feelings. I may also blog about this phenomena at a later time. It has become an obsession of mine.

read how he misses the point here.

Christian Consumerism

There is a new book out that I am sure you will be interested in. Rapture Ready: Adventures in the Parallel Universe of Christian Pop Culture sounds much like the great Body Piercing Saved My Life: Inside the Phenomena of Christian Rock in which an outsider enters the Christian culture to document and critique but not mock. It will be must reading for anyone wanting to see what "they" say about "us."

This article on the book (from Slate) has some gems (some from the article. some from the book). Here are a few:

Show a kid a Christian comedian, and soon he's likely to discover that the guy is a pale imitation of this much funnier guy—Jon Stewart—who's not a Christian at all, and doesn't even like Christians. Which might then lead to a whole new set of anxieties, such as: Why are Christians so constitutionally unfunny? And, what is the point of Christian culture, anyway?

Reading Radosh's book is like coming across another planet hidden somewhere on Earth where everything is just exactly like it is here except blue or made out of plastic. Every American pop phenomenon has its Christian equivalent, no matter how improbable.

At some point, Radosh asks the obvious question: Didn't Jesus chase the money changers out of the temple? In other words, isn't there something wrong with so thoroughly commercializing all aspects of faith? For this, the Christian pop-culture industry has a ready answer. Evangelizing and commercializing have much in common. In the "spiritual marketplace" (as it's called), Christianity is a brand that seeks to dominate. Like Coke, it wants to hold onto its followers and also win over new converts. As with advertisers, the most important audience is young people and teenagers, who are generally brand loyalists. Hence, Bibleman and Christian rock are the spiritual equivalent of New Coke. Christian trinkets—a WWJD bracelet, a "God is my DJ" T-shirt—function more like Coca-Cola T-shirts or those cute stuffed polar bears. They telegraph to the community that the wearer is a proud Christian and that this is a cool thing to be—which should, in theory, invite eager curiosity.

What does commercializing do to the substance of belief, and what does an infusion of belief do to the product? When you make loving Christ sound just like loving your boyfriend, you can do damage to both your faith and your ballad. That's true when you create a sanitized version of bands like Nirvana or artists like Jay-Z, too: You shoehorn a message that's essentially about obeying authority into a genre that's rebellious and nihilistic, and the result can be ugly, fake, or just limp.

For faith, the results can be dangerous. A young Christian can get the idea that her religion is a tinny, desperate thing that can't compete with the secular culture. A Christian friend who'd grown up totally sheltered once wrote to me that the first time he heard a Top 40 station he was horrified, and not because of the racy lyrics: "Suddenly, my lifelong suspicions became crystal clear," he wrote. "Christian subculture was nothing but a commercialized rip-off of the mainstream, done with wretched quality and an apocryphal insistence on the sanitization of reality."

The most narcissistic things online, according to ME

While checking myself in the mirror I was not thinking about narcissism. As I started a blog posting and updated my facebook status I was not thinking about narcissism. When I looked at the number of hits this site gets, I was not thinking about narcissism. When looking at hair color to cover the mound of gray on my head and face, I was not thinking about narcissism. But, when I saw too many twitter updates on someone blogs, I became obsessed with narcissism. In fact, I see no area of our culture untainted by it (especially my Emerging Church world).

Some people have done some interesting studies lately on the subject of why we have become so darn focused upon ourselves. In fact, Dr. Drew, the TV doctor has done a Narcissistic Personality Inventory and theorizes the rise of narcissism in the past 50 or so years.

Here is what he said in Rolling Stone on January 24, 2008.

“I believe something has shifted,” Pinsky says. “Frankly, something substantial happened when we developed antibiotics and hormonal contraceptives. Before 1950, almost half of American families could expect a child to die. Way more women could expect to die during childbirth. Living past fifty was sort of extraordinary. Now death and dying don’t really exist to us. We don’t need to deal with it. And then with birth control, sexuality became unhinged from a biological reality. Throughout human history, sex carried with it heavy consequences. It could kill you. Suddenly we were unhinged from that, and I think our culture has been rattling ever since. In 500 years, people will say the biological circumstances of human life changed profoundly, and it took them 150 years to figure it out. They’ll say everyone became narcissistic, obsessed with instant pleasure, they stopped taking care of their children, and all hell broke loose.” A meditative pause. “Listen, in the days of Freud, narcissism was a footnote in psychological journals. Now it’s the standard personality of our culture. Nothing but grandiose narcissistic thinking everywhere!”

To be simplistic as the media/blog/ news world demands, it seems we have a convergence of human selfishness and self-centeredness with the advancement of medicine along with the ability to share all of our thoughts through the technological advancement of the Internet and web 2.0 (of course we can add Reality TV to the mix).

As we know Time named all of us as the Person of the Year in 2006 and good (and not so good) articles and books have been written on the subject and many have decried web 2.0 for a few years.. So, I know there has been lots of talk about it, but I have apparently hit my wall (2 days ago).

A friend had asked me to sign up for twitter a while back. I did and promptly forgot about it. Then a bunch of other friends signed up and my wife read to me some of their twitter postings. It hit me. This has to be the most narcissistic thing I have seen on the internet as of yet.

I understand how this technology can be useful- for families and businesses. However, I do not need to know what someone is doing every moment of the day.

So, I need your help. What are the most narcissistic technological advancements of the previous few years? Here is a list (in order) that I have compiled so far. However, I am a Luddite and may be missing a lot.

1. Twitter
2. Facebook status updates*
3. Myspace
4. Facebook applications*
5. Personal Blogs*
6. gmail status updates*
7. Self Promotion on YouTube
8. personal podcasts
9. googling myself (or something like that)
10. self personality inventories online*

I am not judging these, but thinking about how bad this is going to be by time my kids are older. I am also thinking about the church's and parent's role in teaching our families how to navigate this new narcissism.

*I have been implicated in these

an Easter Conundrum

As a former pastor and church planter, there has been very little choice in where to spend Easter Sunday. On very few occasions has the decision not been made for me.

While in seminary I remember a group of friends gathering at the botanical gardens in Fort Worth for a day long picnic. We decided to let our seats be taken by some C&E Christians and spend a beautiful day outside. It was one of the best Easters I had experienced.

While on staff at a church in Richmond, the decision was usually made by necessity, until my wife became a school teacher. With no children and only 1 week in which we could vacation (spring break-the week after Easter), I took the unprecedented Day Off on Easter Sunday my final 2 years. I had reminded the staff that we canceled Sunday School on Easter Sunday for the extra worship service. Plus, all youth events were canceled and I played no part in the traditional worship service (besides an invocation).

It was fun to be out of church on Easter. The first year we attended a friend's service in Miami on our way to Key West. The second year of rebellion was spent in San Juan, PR. We thought about attending mass, but knew no Spanish and liked the excuse. We spent the day roaming Old San Juan.

After leaving our last position, we attended Easter services in the megachurch Buckhead campus of Northpoint in Atlanta with some friends. The next year is fuzzy. We had not yet found a congregation we liked. I think we attended the service of this incredibly shallow "church" that has been in the news lately for its commitment to sex. Hopefully they spoke about the resurrection, but only if they could make it sound "cool."

We are now in that conundrum I spoke of in the title. We now longer attend the congregation we attended the past few Easter Sundays and I am no longer in an interim staff position. So, without a congregation we regularly attend, what do we do?

Do we skip the most important celebration of the church year, at a time when our kids are learning important lessons regarding Jesus, God and church? Do we pull up a random church out of the phone book and attend in our neighborhood? Do we attend the church I used to work at on a day when C&E Christians make the parking lot and nursery unnavigable? Do we attend the church a friend invited us to, with its special service for children, a church that swells to 3X its regular size on Easter?

The problem with both of these churches is their extremely traditional and wealthy environments, where children and parents are decked out in brand new outfits, each showing off their bonnets and handbags. This type of culture is one of those things that led us to church planting in the first place. To turn a day in which we celebrate the resurrection of our Saviour into a fashion show accentuates everything I stand against. Plus, I do not feel like spending money we do not have to spare on outfits so our children do not feel like outcasts.

Hopefully we will have a decision by tomorrow morning.

A Sustainable Faith Recap

As the only member of the Sustainable Faith leadership team that is also an active blogger I have been assigned the task of reporting on the conference. Luckily Josh Brown has done a good job of providing pictures, reporting and controversy. See here for his recap. See here for his controversial statements on one of the speakers.

As one involved deeply in the planning and execution of the event, I am unable to provide an unbiased look at what happened. There are things I feel went very well, but I am too close. Similarly, there are things that I have negative impressions of, but that could be due to proximity.

So here is a rundown of the highlights. It is up to you to decide if you missed something special.

• pre-event involving shuffleboard in the cold evening with the team, some Atlantans (including Mr. Brown) and my kids. By the way, my 6 year old daughter out shuffled many of the adults (on a regulation ?board?).
  
• A typically thorough and brilliant (yet simple and basic) talk by Tim Keel on the church as an ecosystem (it is so funny that many new church planters think that the "holistic missional community" is some new thing. As if they are the first to go this route)
  
• Chris Haw causing trouble and making anyone with an open mind think (Chris wrote a great new book with Shane Claiborne). Some found Chris abrasive during the panel, but I asked him to push the limits.
• While a bit hot, the weather was still very nice.
• Shane Claiborne is among the nicest, most humble people you will ever meet. We have kinda known each other since 2000 and he has changed very little (and for the better). Some want to find clinks in his armor so they can feel less convicted by his lifestyle (this bored me). But face it. He is more right than most of us. Plus, what he does is out of conviction to Scripture and following Jesus. It is not done out of anger or with a sense of superiority. Other advocates and prophets could learn from that.
  
• The panel was too short and not as spirited enough, but some good things were said (too many of the panelists were quiet, so it was accidentally dominated by a few).
• A great Dinner with speakers, leaders and my best friend (roommate for 3 years of grad school) at Chadaway's, the best burger joint in the Southeast.
• I reminisced with old friends Danielle, Troy, Chris and Spencer. I gained new friends like Josh Brown.
• People responded to the ministries and social agencies represented, including Small Steps, which passed out 150 bags for donations, Created (a ministry to those in the sex industry) and many others.
• a lively discussion around he subject of the Sabbath led by Danielle.
  
• The emcee did not suck as bad as he could have, only making 4-5 remarks that only those above 30 could understand.

I may come back later for a more extensive evaluation, but probably not (I will note it if this happens). Stay tuned to this site and www.asustainablefaith.com for mp3s and podcasts of many of the talks (we may try to get a few on the EV podcast).

take a small step (away from plastic)

My favorite 2 Christmas presents were not really Christmas presents, just things I wanted or needed and the holiday coincided with the purchase of something.

First of all, I got a couple of new water bottles (the metal canteen kind that do not leach). Kristi bought them at the local Organic Food store.

Secondly, due to simple attrition and use elsewhere we were down to 3 canvas bags for use at the grocery store (instead of using those forbidden plastic bags). Since they are too expensive at farmer's markets and stores, we were going to buy them online. However, we had not gotten around to it.

Imagine my surprise when our friend Jen had as her facebook status that she was checking out www.smallsteps.in. I headed over to the site and found a great nonprofit that is making and selling bags to use instead of paper or plastic (and providing much needed jobs in India). The bags are free (you pay shipping), but they need donations to survive.

So, make a resolution to give up plastic and paper (which you should have done eons ago). Then take the simple action of going to this site and making a small donation. Then ask for some bags. Then use those bags and spread the word.

Doing the right thing has never been so easy. Plus, the bags come in cool colors, fold into a tiny carrying case with lanyard and come in different designs.

a confession and What Would Jesus Buy, the movie

As you may know, I have been an advocate of Buy Nothing Day, Buy Nothing Christmas and other anti-consumption campaigns over the years. However, I sinned on Black Friday this year. While my wife was with her family on Black Friday at a mall (I am not my wife's keeper), I chose to take our kids to D.C. for the day.

Thinking it was a good way to spend a day having fun and rebelling against the powers that be, I had not taken into consideration the fact that I cannot take my children to the Smithsonian Museums while spending no money on useless crap.

So, in the practice of full disclosure, I will offer these confessions: We spent $30 for parking. I bought 2 small Panda stuffed animals for Aedan and Gillian after seeing the real live Pandas at the National Zoo (we also bought giraffe slipper for Rhys, so no one would think I was playing favorites). At the Air and Space Museum we spent nothing (it was also a bust for the kids- no robots).

Our last stop of the day was the Museum of Natural History. there was no way I could get out of there without spending money in the gift shop, especially with the large selection of dinosaur paraphernalia (my son is quite the Triceratops fan). We bought 2 small giraffes for Gillian and a cool dinosaur poster for Aedan to put over his bed. I also bought pizza.

So, there we have it. I bought things on Buy Nothing Day.

As penance I will see the movie What Would Jesus Buy, a documentary starring Rev. Billy and produced by Morgan Spurlock. As you may know, Rev. Billy and his church of stop shopping believes we are in the middle of the Shopocalypse and must be saved from its dreaded tentacles before it is too late.

Watch the trailer here and look around his website.

Deadly Sins for Kids

I felt as if I was reading a diary of my own personal jihad against mainstream child-based consumerism and media when reading this article from our local Independent Weekly entitled, The Seven Deadly Sins of Kid Culture.

His 7 are:

1. Insipidness (i.e. Teletubbies and most children's tv- the reason we call it the boobtube. this prepares kids to become American Idol and Age of Love watching adults)
2. Brattiness (i.e. letting kids watch Simpsons and many "kid movies" that elevate smarting off to adults)
3. Princess-ness (no explanation needed- this is evil and taints a girls view of femininity, gender roles, fairy tale weddings, etc. This is a constant battle in my house)
4. Stereo-typing (not as bad as it used to be, but you still have to be careful- think Jar Jar Binks and old Disney movies, like the cats in Lady in the Tramp)
5. Violence (my kids have a violent steak although they own no toy guns, etc. It is innate, so we must be vigilant. Even some kid movies are Revenge fantasies with that Myth of Redemptive Violence all over them. Needless to say, we have not yet introduced the wonders of the Looney Tunes- maybe soon)
6. Vulgarity (Potty humor is all the rage these days, especially in Hollywood films. Shrek is infamous to bodily functions masked as thoughtful humor. It is tired and shoots for the lowest common denominator, making kids think such outbursts are okay in public- which our son takes advantage of)
7. Sluttiness (yes, the Bratz, which our daughters classmates regularly bring to school and have as themes of parties- our daughter wants this stuff and it is difficult to explain that we don't want our 5 year old dressing like Lindsay Lohan's little sister)

His pet names for these adversaries for each parent (liberal and conservative alike) are Blandy, Bratty, Dippy, Bleedy, Gassy, Trampy and Jar Jar. Interestingly, parenting and child culture is one of those things that can bring people together across the political and religious divides. I find strong agreement on these issues with my ultra liberal hippy friends and my fundamentalist friends. Both groups see the dangers in excessive consumerism and childhood (sadly, the rest of the middle ground seems to miss this).

Who would Jesus Shoot?

I am moralizing today (sorry if you do not like that, but remember I have no job or pulpit presently from which to expound). So, you, dear readers, are subject to such whims of fancy from a particularly bothered DJ Word..

From Cynthia Tucker comes this wonderful quote on America's misguided love affair with firearms:

"This folly will continue, fueled by a perplexing cultural ethos that worships individual gun ownership. A century from now, anthropologists will look back and wonder what in the world this was all about. They'll sift through the ruins of the historical record, in much the same way anthropologists today puzzle over cannibalism and the sacrifice of virgins in long-dead civilizations. they'll wonder how a highly advanced and sophisticated culture allowed unchecked personal gun ownership, despite the carnage."

This article points out the increase in violent crime the past few years, especially gun related violence. The NRA has let us know that we would be foolish to think guns have anything to do with gun violence.

Of course, I am sure the increase since 2005 has nothing to do with daily images of Americans at war, dehumanization of our enemies, the approval of the destruction of those we disagree with and violent rhetoric from pundits and politicians (especially Cowboy Presidents)....

....coupled with entertainment bent on culturally conditioning us to accept any amount of blood and gore with no questions to our own sense of humanity loss. With television and film violence unparallelled in human history, whether it is the torture fantasies of 24 and The Sopranos or the gory spectacles of dismembered teenagers with large breasts and bulging biceps of sickening "entertainment" like Saw I, II and III and the films of talent waster supreme Quentin Tarantino or the bloody genius Mel Gibson, we are on the precipice inches from acceptance of snuff films and public death. Of course, I am sure first person shooter video games have had no affect upon millions of young adults and their love affair with violence.

Sure, I am sure I am just a prudish Nanny stater foolish enough to think these things are connected (well, besides the video games- I know the right wing hates those, as long as they are not War games or Left Behind killfests).

Sadly, just like divorce, dealing with poverty, plastic surgery and materialism Christian beliefs and behavior related to violence are no different from that of our non-Christian neighbors. How can we talk of a Prince of Peace when fighting for a Gun Culture, supporting the destruction of an entire race of people (Arabs) and justifying the embrace of extreme violence in entertainment because we are "'merican Christians?"

What will it take for Christians to embrace the teachings of Jesus and take our history seriously. Will it take violence against our own kind for us to see that violent culture is more damaging to a true "Culture of Life" -our Cowboy President's words- than those issues used by Dobson, The SBC and radio pundits to increase their coffers and attendance; knowing that speaking the truth on these issues would affect their bottom line and challenge their followers in a manner that would get less Amens and more people walking out because their toes are uncomfortable.

* I am sure many of us can try to justify the violence in anything we watch by stating something about the deeper meaning or that it really shows the impact of violence. While I believe this is true in many war films or westerns such as The Proposition and The Unforgiven, we cannot have it both ways with a shows like The Sopranos and 24 which no longer give viewers a lesson in morality concerning the consequences of the actions of the main characters, as they lose their humanity due to their actions (see Crimes and Misdemeanors or Matchpoint, both by Woody Allen, for such moral fables- or V for Vendetta, a violent film with a point).

When Jack Bauer kills innocent persons for the "greater good" he has lapsed into a new territory, like that of Tony Soprano when he strangles an enemy because of the opportunity in Season 1. At this point we can no longer say it is really about workplace politics. It is insulting to say such a thing.

BTW, I am not rooting for Tony Soprano to be murdered this year. I am hoping the creators have the guts to have him pay the consequences for his actions and rot in prison for the rest of his stinking life.

Ugh

Why I hate the market/consumer driven church. link

(we got a piece of marketing for this in the mail last week, just in time for Easter)

btw- look at the name of the church if you are not local.

I could go on for hours, but choose not to.

for your perusal if you are bored or jobless

• Why Passover and Easter are not the competitors that Christmas and Hanukkah are. link
• How far does $1 per day go in the places people live on that amount. link
• Instead of buying a new iPod every year when your battery begins to fail, maybe you should buy something durable with that $300, like Apple stock. Check out this Mother Jones article on the planned obsolescence of our consumer products and the introduction of new products in this article entitled iWaste. link
• David Plotz of Blogging the Bible tells us why God needs Satan. link
• Time Magazine gives us 51 ways to save the earth. link
• How suburbs are destroying the American Dream (schlock and awe). link
• The 25 best rumors in rock history (#1- Paul's dead, of course). link
• Unlike me, you may actually think the Democrats will win the Presidency in 2008. If you believe that, read this article from Rolling Stone on the Democrats greatest enemy to winning elections , its own consultants. link
• Music to keep you hip. link
• A Gay and Lesbian pro gun group. link
  

Lastly, you must see this:

• Worst Album list from people that should know better. This is the R&RHOF's list of albums. It is insulting and too ridiculous to comment on. Who paid for this list? Just check out #s 13, 2-freaking-1, 27, 33, 36 (which is the same album as 21), 37 (John Travolta???), 44, 76, 84, 94 and 95 (my hands are shaking just looking at this list and acknowledging its existence- it has taken me weeks to be able to calm down enough to mention it publicly without breaking down and needing counseling). link
  

The limits on making more money, being happy and other ideas from Capitalism

This is a new article from Mother Jones getting some play in a number of places. I feel it is very timely and important for anyone in the ministry or following economic theories, especially those that bow down to the god of the free market.

The contention of the article is that making money will only make us so happy, as individuals and as a society. He believes that we must have other measures for a successful economy due to the fact that we have taken free market capitalism as far as we can. It is and has been a good thing, but could only take us so far.

the writer believes we must realize that more money will not make a society or individuals happy, beyond meeting our needs. We must focus upon social networks for our happiness and the happiness of our nations.

Interesting... reminds me of a certain passage in Proverbs, and another in the Gospels... oh, and another in Ecclesiastes.

While you may agree and think this is obvious, it is not, especially in economist circles.

Link to Article

Buy (Less) Crap- Give (More)

From Mother Jones comes this tidbit on the Red campaign led by my favorite Saint, Rock Star, Activist Bono...

Bad news for Red, the Bono-inspired, star-studded ad campaign to sell Gap t-shirts, and—oh, yes—raise some money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Despite all the hype, its total contribution to the Fund so far has
been a paltry 18 million. A Global Fund spokesman explains to Ad Age that this was to be expected: "Red has done as much as we could have hoped for in the short time it has been up and running.... The launch cost of this kind of campaign is going to
be hugely frontloaded."

Translation: Most of the money raised has been blown on ad budgets by Gap,
Motorola, Armani, Apple, and other companies that are taking a cut from selling
Red stuff. To give you a sense of just how big the corporate cut is, for every
special edition Red iPod nano sold, Apple donates just $10.

This isn't the first time an altruistic corporate campaign has been
revealed to be too good to be true—we collected some other examples in our November issue. But there's an easy way to not get snooke(red)—cut out the middleman and give directly to the GlobalCFund. Visit buylesscrap.org to
find out how.

Click on the links above. they are each worth following, especially Buy (Less) Crap which reminds us that shopping is not a solution for human suffering (while I believe the market is wonderful way to promote ethical behavior and change things- it is probably not by buying useless things we do not need which give very little money to important charities).

some op eds to peruse

I am not sure if you checked these op-eds during the past few weeks.

1. Jackson Diehl thinks we are in this Iraq thing for the long haul. The rest of our time will need to be measured in years (as in 6-12) instead of months, as most Americans want. As I have stated, we have created such a mess there, that sudden withdrawal will create a humanitarian crisis on par with Darfur or Bosnia/ Serbia. I am also in agreement with his assessment that by taking out Saddam, of course there would be a Civil War and ethnic strife/ cleansing. To think otherwise is naive. History has shown that the removal of a central oppressive figure brings fracturing. that the Bush Administration did not see this is among the most incompetent of its many fold mistakes in this war. According to the adage, the definition of insanity to try the same actions over and over again, expecting a different outcome. Therefore, by dismissing the lessons of Soviet Russia, Rwanda, Bosnia, Serbia, The Congo and Lebanon, they are acting clinically insane. Read the article for yourself (it is much more diplomatic than me).
2. Hannah Lupien wants us to make healthy food available to poor families. As one that works in direct services to poor and homeless families, I believe this must become a priority for all. It is my desire to help create an environment where the poor can eat as well as my family. I wish I had the conviction to not eat healthier food until it is available to all. Read here.
3. While we tend to look at all who disagree with us as "enemies," hoping justice will come to them, but mercy will come to those on our side of the political or religious divide, sometimes friendship must outweigh the importance of political or theological arguments (I guess this brands me as emergent and liberal). Nick Bromwell, self pronounced Liberal English Professor and Scooter Libby's former roommate and oldest friend offers this wonderful essay on how his friendship with Libby colors his desire for "justice." It is a must read for all sides. Read here

get your sustainable treehugger on

Here are some links to help you recycle time (can't be waste, that would be irresponsible) as you embrace your inner treehugger, learning about sustainable communities, cool products (for the capitalists) a bit more responsible and other assorted goodies. For rampant American consumers, at least they can buy products with less junk in them (stolen from Simple).

In the American free market economy we understand that we are dependent upon buyers and sellers. I am happy that some people are attempting to sell good things instead of bad.

1. Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen by Anna Lappe and Bryant Terry (good recipe book)
2. Treehugger- web magazine that attempts to be very cool and environmentally conscious
3. Grist magazine- environmental news and commentary
4. cool environmentally conscious shoes from Simple (called greentoes and very hip hippy)
5. Ideal Bite- ideas for a sustainable future (some good stuff)
6. Plenty magazine- we get this each month. It is pretty good and its motto is "its easy being green." I do agree with this motto. A greener lifestyle is not terribly difficult.
7. I want to build a house. I want my house to be green. If I ever start another church and it builds a building, that building will be green. Here are some green building materials (anything you can think of).
8. I cannot think of a reason to take off work and attend, but I want to go to this conference on sustainable building (green building) next week. There are some cool seminars for green geeks.
9. A group of people dedicated to building green homes in Florida. Their links page.
10. New Urbanism stuff, which, when coupled with sustainable building techniques is a wonderful thing (I have links on the right regarding this also). I know, you are sick of me preaching on new urbanism.
11. More on Sustainablility and business

If you must buy, at least buy green, even if you do not believe in global warming (due to too much Fox News and shady science) it is still better for the world. I promise.