On my way

Rejoice and be glad!

I successfully defended my thesis proposal and it was approved! Now comes the hard part: applying for grants.

Nevertheless, life is peachy again...

- ACL

Brain teaser

Yesterday my friend sent me a great brain teaser. She's pretty notorious for picking my brain with stuff.

Anyway, I had fun with this puzzle. So much so, that I decided to post it; but not before I figured it out myself. Now that I have, I'm sharing it with the rest of you. Enjoy!

OK. The puzzle involves the following characters: A police officer (with the blue suit and handcuffs), a criminal (with the striped uniform), a father, a mother, two sons and two daughters. Included in the puzzle is a 2-man raft. The object of the game is to successfully move all of the characters from one side of the river to the other using the raft.

Oh, if it was that simple. Here are some rules:

• Only two people can be on the raft at a time


• Only the police officer, the father, and the mother know how to steer the raft


• The father can't be alone with the daughters; without the mother being there (imagine if parents were the same way with Michael Jackson, but I digress...)


• The mother can't be alone with the sons; without the father being there.


• The criminal can't be with anybody without the police officer.

To access the puzzle, click here. To start, click on the circle in the lower right corner. Don't freak out over the Japanese language. I suspect that it's just the instructions. To place characters on and off of the raft, click on them. To move the raft back and forth, click on the poles by the river.

If you'd like the solution, feel free to drop me an email. If nobody comes up with a solution, I'll post the one I came up with.

Have fun!

- ACL

Why I'm starting to dislike Black churches...

Enough said.

- ACL

A slap in the face

Anybody who knows me is already well aware of my disdain for rappers nowadays. I'm not against them in the same way that most overly religious zealots are; but I stand as an antithesis of the agenda that they set nonetheless. Their actions are irresponsible, ruthless, and laced with ignorance; all things that go against the progress that blacks need to strive for in these days.

My friend Agent J just sent me this disturbing mini-video of famed hip hop mogul Jay Z getting physical with a young lady; apparently in response to her taking an unauthorized photo of him. I don't know the full story behind what went down (I haven't been able to find much on the 'net about it. Goes to show how $$$ can make things go away). So I'm not in a position to do a lot of heavy commentary on this. The news that I have heard is pretty conflicting. One source said that everyone was playing around and it was all light-hearted. Another source indicated that Jay Z was seriously angry and was actually assaulting her (if this is true, I think he should be arrested and sued; along with all those brothas sitting around watching it). But I can't tell for sure what went down. Again, my knowledge about this situation is limited to the brief clip that you see. But based on what I see here; coupled with the lack of respect toward woman for which rappers are notorious, this reaffirms the self-destructing nature of this new-aged hip hop culture.

On the one hand, I'm not entirely casting blame on the entertainers themselves. Women choose to parade around like objects and prostitute themselves to get stuff (i.e. Flavor of Love, BET, etc.). Likewise, consumers eat this stuff up; evidenced by the high ratings and profit margins that are off the scale. But entertainers also bear the burden for providing the outlet for people to get exploited. I wonder how they'd respond if it was their mother, sister, daughter, girlfriend, or wife getting pimped, exploited and -- as in this video -- smacked up? What if this was old Mrs. Jay Z? What if this was Beyonce (his girlfriend)?

It's scary to see this type of stuff promoted; largely because its audience (made up primarily of young people) are not educated and conscious enough to discern this from reality. For many young people in our society, this becomes their reality. For them, success becomes a product of how many cars you own, how much jewelry you own, how much money you have, and how many women you can get to serve you. The end result is that incidents like the one portrayed in this clip become the norm; not the exception.

Welcome to the frightening world of ignorance.

- ACL

Love is in the air

Mmmmm...

Corinne.





- ACL

Blank, empty, and devoid

Hey all. It's been a week since my last post; and a little longer since my last meaningful post. I've just been incredibly swamped lately. But fortunately, I was able to do a little unwinding for the Thanksgiving break. I gave myself some "me time" and spent a couple of days in DC (sorry to invade your turf with calling first Mari). I had been there once before; but the visit was pretty brief. This time around however, I had the opportuntity to do a little bit more while I was there. Hooking up with an old college friend, seeing the monuments, going to a couple of museums, visiting the federal buildings, touring the downtown area. Overall, I'd say that I had a good time; odd for a person who hates politics. Eh, Greeny?

At any rate, the semester is winding down and I'm at the home stretch. My thesis proposal is due in two weeks and will likely steal most of my time. But if I have any random and spontaneous thoughts to share -- rest assured -- I'll let you in on them. Until then, stay blessed and stay safe!

- ACL

History repeats itself. Again.

Michigan - 39
Ohio State – 42

There is no justice left in the world.

- ACL

100 things to know about Andre

I was over on Diane's page the other day. I noticed a post with "1oo things..." about her. Since I'm in the habit of stealing her ideas, why stop now?

I had been working on this one for quite some time; adding tidbits as they came to me. I would've never guessed that talking about myself could be so exhausting.

At any rate, here are 100 Things to Know about me:

1. I’m the fourth of five children; the oldest boy.
2. I’m stubborn as a mule. No. Worse...
3. I worry about stuff too much.
4. Opposite of the previous point, I can also be annoyingly apathetic about many things (so I'm told). “Whatever” is probably the most frequently used word in my vocabulary.
5. I’m the only person in my immediate family with green eyes.
6. In high school, I got the sixth highest ACT score in my entire graduating class, despite sleeping through large chunks of it.
7. I'm a perfectionist.
8. I hate long distance driving.
9. I’m lazy.
10. I’m not very sociable.
11. I don’t care that I’m not very sociable (refer back to point #4)
12. I’m cheap.
13. Likewise, I hate spending money.
14. As much as I talk about how I don’t like them, I get along well with young children. For some reason, they seem to be fascinated with me.
15. I hate un-straightened rugs.
16. I’m a neat freak at home.
17. Inversely, I’m an unorganized slouch in my office.
18. I hate making up my bed.
19. I’m very impatient.
20. I can draw just about any cartoon character around.
21. My favorite food is pizza with feta cheese and black olives.
22. I hate reality shows.
23. One of my eyes is smaller than the other.
24. I'm an 80's brat. I've seen every episode of Jem, Transformers, Thundercats, and He-Man.
25. I don’t like politicians.
26. I’m very argumentative. Sometimes I play Devil’s Advocate just to find something to argue about.
27. I talk in my sleep.
28. I can’t swim.
29. I stutter. When I’m presenting at large forums (conferences, workshops, etc.), I don’t stutter as much. Odd, huh?
30. I’m a nice guy. A really nice guy. A really, really, nice guy. Sometimes to my detriment.
31. I hate ironing clothes.
32. If you look closely, I’ve got small freckles on my cheeks.
33. I don’t like holidays.
34. When it comes to “courting” with women, I’m incredibly shy.
35. I hate admitting when I’m wrong.
36. My favorite beverage is Apple Juice. A close second is my Kool-Aid. Third is my sister’s Kool-Aid. Fourth is my nephew’s mother’s Kool-Aid. Rounding out the group is A&W Cream Soda.
37. I try to avoid confrontation. Both a good thing and a bad thing, it seems…
38. I gripe too much.
39. I hate feet and toes. Unless I’m just getting out of the shower, you probably won’t catch me without socks on.
40. My favorite TV show is the Twilight Zone. Others include House M.D., Alias, Spongebob Squarepants, Law & Order: SVU, Nip/Tuck (before the Carver nonsense at the end of season 3, anyway), and Married w/ Children (*wink @ Greeny).
41. I’m the only male employee in my department (we’ve contracted a guy from Ann Arbor, but he’s only here once a week).
42. I hate losing to other people in Jeopardy.
43. I’m a procrastinator.
44. My favorite book in the Bible is Proverbs. It’s the only book I’ve read in its entirety.
45. I tend to provide unsolicited advice (though I’m really getting better at this one.)
46. I can’t dance. My running joke is that I’m the only black person on the planet without rhythm. But I’m starting to think it’s true.
47. My favorite song is “In the Still of the Night”
48. I correct people’s grammar (but only when it’s just horrid).
49. I often say stupid things at the wrong time.
50. Fall is my favorite season.
51. I find value in what people say and think; even if I disagree with it.
52. I can’t parallel park.
53. I’m very moody.
54. I don’t like flowers.
55. I’ve got small moles that stick out on my neck and under my left arm.
56. My favorite musicians are Earl Klugh, Norman Brown, Tony Roster, Jr., and Miles Davis.
57. I don’t know how to sew.
58. I get irritable when I don’t get enough sleep.
59. On a related note, I sleep too much.
60. As an undergrad, I had a crush on a professor on our campus. Too bad she's married.
61. I’m a self-taught drummer.
62. My favorite colors are earth tones; especially green.
63. Sometimes I act first and think second.
64. It’s always been my dream to play in a band.
65. I don’t take compliments very well.
66. I love working outdoors.
67. Ironically, my favorite quality in a woman is sociability (odd for someone who isn't sociable himself).
68. My ultimate career goal is to become a Chancellor or President at a major college or university (The University of Michigan, perhaps?)
69. I get defensive easily.
70. I think that good can be evil and vice versa; depending on whose version you hear and why they say/believe it.
71. I once had a crush on Babs Bunny, from the Animanics cartoon.
72. I look too much into some things.
73. I have a bad habit of getting people angry, even if it’s not my intention.
74. I can cook pretty well.
75. I’m not very good at making small talk.
76. I have a fervent dislike for most celebrities
77. I try to find shortcuts too often.
78. I was accepted into six out of seven colleges I applied to as a high school senior (Arizona State, U of M – Ann Arbor, U of M- Flint, Depaul University, Morehouse College, and the Ohio State University; denied by Kettering University)
79. I was only accepted into three of the five grad schools I applied to (U of M-Flint, U of M-Ann Arbor and Indiana University; rejected by Arizona State and the University of Chicago; my two top choices).
80. I was a vegetarian for four weeks. Then I had a hamburger.
81. As a child and an early teen, I habitually suffered from nose bleeds.
82. I don’t have a hard time making friends. The challenge comes in keeping them.
83. I want to write at least three books before I die.
84. When I first started understanding politics in high school, I wanted to register as a Republican. Pretty ironic, huh Hippie?
85. My siblings jokingly nicknamed me “The Captain” because I’m selfless and always “saving” others, even when they don’t reciprocate it. But lately, this is starting to change a bit for me. I’m starting to get more self-centered; but not in a bad way.
86. I’m allergic to cats. Interestingly, I just found this out with my neighbor’s feline.
87. I get comfortable/complacent too easily.
88. I’m pretty submissive to others. Very seldomly do things happen “the way I want them to.”
89. I’m horribly ticklish on my neck, especially around my mole.
90. My political views are slanted toward being socialist.
91. I’m highly opinionated…about everything (I mean, you’ve read my blog, haven’t you?!)
92. I don’t drink alcohol, do drugs, or smoke.
93. I can move my left ear.
94. I don't like waiting at traffic lights (if no one's around, I'll run them). Goes back to being impatient.
95. I don't always speak my mind when I should. Oppositely, sometimes I do speak my mind when I shouldn't.
96. I’m ignorant when it comes to cars.
97. I love watching lightning storms.
98. My favorite game is Monopoly.
99. If I could between being rich or being in love, I’d choose being rich.
100. Above everything, I'm a sinner redeemed by the Cross.

Well, that was fun. Now it's back to work I go. Lots to do before this weekend. Have a blessed rest of the week!

- ACL

Patience + Faith =

For all of those out there who growing impatient with God:

Honestly, have you felt like the things in your life were too confusing and hurtful to even bother dealing with? It's like you're stuck in some sort of perpetual conundrum with virtually no solution in sight. Occasionally, the answers will show up right in your face, while other times they're way out of view. What happens when you get to the point where you feel like you've lost purpose to the things in your life? How do we deal with these feelings?

I think I'm starting to finally realize that we should tackle these feelings with expectancy for the future. What I mean by this is that we should allow God to have control over our lives today, while expecting great things to materialize tomorrow. God is bigger than anything that we could ever imagine. He has the ability to make the impossible things in our life possible. Why then, do we consistently gripe and complain about our present conditions?

Man, I got hit with this lesson pretty hard.

From my experience, I think that we spend too much time looking at our lives through the fog of the past. That fog not only distorts our present view, but it completely blinds us to what the future can hold. What happens as a result is that we respond to the present and the future with negativity and cynicism. We say things like "I can't do this" or "I can't see myself being able to do that" or "I don't think that I can get from here to there". But little do we realize; each time we limit what we can do or -- more importantly -- what God can do, our vision of God's power becomes blurry and jaded.

The prophet Isaiah reminds us that those who wait on God will have renewed strength (40:31). What does this mean? Frankly, it's as simple as it sounds. I don't think that there's some sort of deep and hidden meaning to the word "wait"; except for maybe one caveat: that we "wait" with our minds in a state of expectancy. At this point, we're are putting our trust -- our complete trust -- in God to do whatever needs to be done. It's expecting God's plans for our life to materialize, according to His will...no matter what the past situations looked like.

I think that the more expectancy we have, the less difficult it is to deal with uncertainty, confusion, troubles, and hardships. Since God has promised to constantly renew our strength, the very least we can do for Him is to be patient with Him. The word reminds us that we'll be able to soar like eagles, run our race without without getting tired, and walk confidently without passing out. If we put our faith in God, He pay us huge dividends by pouring His strength and blessings on us.

Just wait.

Thank you (you know who you are) for helping me to see that.

- ACL

The election and other news...

Hello all. Sorry that I haven't really been around that much. Life hasn't been able to stand still for even a quick second. But a lot has been going on in the news lately. So I thought I'd take some time out to share my thoughts a bit:

Mid-term elections:
For starters, I'm sorry about my previous post. Looking at it in hindsight, I'd say that I sounded like a real defeatist; not a usual characteristic for me. I guess I was just suffering from election PMS.

Now that that's out of the way, let's get on with it:

- In a shocking upset (at least it was for me), the Democrats have seized control of the both the House and the Senate. While it's good to see the crooks in the GOP finally get theirs, I'm not all too thrilled about Dems being in control either. I'm curious to see how changes in the power structure will or won't lead to systematic changes in our nation's policy once Congress convenes in January.

- It was interesting to see how uncontested the Dems were in this election, especially given the high number of voting irregularities reported.

- These election results don't really prove much to me. As history suggests, power shifts may be temporary.

- The elections have paved the way for several significant shifts; which are always refreshing to see.

(1) Deval Patrick (D-MA) became Massachusetts' first black Govenor, and only the second black to be elected Govenor in the nation's history.

(2) Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) becomes the first woman to ever become Speaker of the House. But ever since I found out she gave Neocons a "get out jail free" card (despite their blunders in Iraq and all the scandals that have brewed), her stock is plummeting with me.

(3) Four Black representatives in the House will head powerful committees;

• Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) is the first black to control the Ways and Means Committee (for those of you unfamiliar with the H&M Committee, it's responsible for overseeing Social Security, taxes, trade, Medicare, and other fiscal matters)
• My main man John Conyers (D-MI) will be in charge of the House Judiciary Committee (responsible for overseeing the administration of judiciary courts and law enforcement agencies)
• Bennie Thompson (D-MS) will be in charge of the Commitee of Homeland Security (charged to oversee any actions involving national security like investigations, subpeonas, etc.)
• Henry Waxman (D-CA) is the new chair of the Committee on Government Reform (which has the power to investigate any federal programs and policies).

- I'm happy to hear that I'm not the only Black person in the country who didn't support Harold Ford Jr. (D-TN). I mean, he's apart of the Blue Dog Coalition (Democrats who are nothing by wannabe Conservatives) for Pete's sake! While many people (myself included) believe that the ads against him were loaded with racist undertones, he still didn't garner much support from the Black community. Even the Congressional Black Causus gave him a low grade (of course, anyone who gives Barack Obama a "C" and gives loud-mouth Cynthia McKinney an "A" loses some credibility with me).

- Here in Michigan, the only thing on the ballot that had any real signficance for me (No! It wasn't our election for Govenor...) was the passing of a so-called Michigan Civil Rights Initiative; a proposal to ban Affirmative Action in public institutions.

My heart is filled with both a deep hurt and fear. I feel bad about it largely because I put in a lot of effort into challenging this proposal. I, along with several people from my campus and One United Michigan (a progressive group defending the principles of Affirmative Action), went out into the streets to try and educate people on Affirmative Action. But the election results only proved how unsuccessful we were. The literature in the proposal (which, interestingly was allowed to be on the ballot even after it was deemed to be deceptive by the Michigan Supreme Court) was more influencial than our efforts to enlighten others. I'm fearful for underrepresented people (minorities, women, etc.) because of the damage that will likely ensue now that Affirmative Action will be banned. Programs, scholarship, and outreach efforts that were in place for underrepresented people (combatting the ills of racism, classism, sexism, etc.) will be eliminated. College admissions for minorities will likely be reduced. Gender inequality will likely increase.

I guess that what bothers me most is the absence of the churches and community leaders during this important election. Where were they? Where was their voice? Their immobility is further evidence to me that its easier for people to be reactive than proactive.

OK. Enough about the mid-term elections. On to other misc. news:

Rums-failed
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has finally resigned from his position. After completely dropping the ball on any strategic planning during this nonsensical war in Iraq, this idiot finally called it quits. He insists that he offered his resignation twice, but Bush wouldn't allow it. Either way, at least he's gone now. It'll be interesting to see if the Dems go after him now that blood is in the water. Even more interesting will be how well (or how bad) Robert Gates, former CIA director, will do in Rummy's place; especially seeing how he was apart of George H.W.'s initial campaign in Iraq.

Washington D.C. Undercover?
According to this article, the Feds are looking to go undercover in the Congress. Admist all the corruption going on lately, the FBI has finally started looking into the reports. Perhaps a shift in Congressional power will curtail some of the corruption that has happened lately (of course, not if William Jefferson has anything to do with it. LOL!). But the Dems have their work cut out for them. The GOP has single-handedly destroy any stability in Congress.

China = Next Superpower?
I had an interesting conversation with the Hippie Conservative not too along. He made mention of China's recent moves to gain strong influence with Africa. This could easily help the Chinese emerge as a one of the world's new superpowers. Africa is laced with resources (economical, political, and geographical) that have been ignored by the U.S.; especially given our obsession with the Middle East. If that's not convinicing enough for you, last week the leaders of forty African nations were slated to attended the Beijing summit. The Chinese have come to play.

Saddam on the 10 o'clock "noose"
Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has been found guilty of "crimes against humanity" for his role in the execution of thousands of people; and has been sentenced to death by hanging. Interesting.

Don't get me wrong: Saddam is a major loser for what he's done. But is he any different from any other “killers” in the world? Some people have speculated that Saddam's death sentence has more to do with the fact that he is an important witness to what's been going on in Iraq and that tracks are being covered. Can anybody really dismiss those thoughts?

U.S. solider suicide?
I just read an interesting article suggesting that Army specialist Alyssa Peterson killed herself after objecting to interrogation techniques used on insurgent detainees, described by the military as "non-hostile weapon discharge".

The facts of this case don't really add up. Did she really silence herself or did some else do the silencing?

Have you heard the one about...?
Let’s all do John Kerry a favor. If he ever feels the need to tell a joke, let’s put a muzzle on him.

If the GOP didn’t shoot themselves to death from their scandals and immoral behavior, John Kerry’s bad humor about President Bush, Iraq, and Education could have lost Dems the election. During a speech to a crowd to Pasadena City College, Kerry said: "You know education, if you make the most of it, and you study hard, and you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

I get where Kerry was coming from. His joke was intended to say “If you're not educated, you get [us] stuck in Iraq (which would have been more aimed at President Bush), but he completely “botched” it. Since then, the GOP have been all over him suggesting that he was insulting the educational level of the people serving in Iraq. Truthfully, I don’t blame them for going after Kerry. Maybe next time he’ll just shut up and stop trying to joke about Iraq. Didn’t we learn not to do that after Dubya’s infamous WMD joke?

Terrorists: get on board!
Am I the only person outraged over the website that allows people to create fake boarding passes? While the feds are putting up a hissy fit about liquids, oils, and shoes, there is an actual site out there for printing phony passes to board airplanes. How’s that for security?

Uh…is this thing on?
After reading this next article, I think I'm recanting some of my previous posts:

Apparently, a teenage girl posted some pretty intense stuff on her myspace.com page. In response to her anger about the war, she made some pretty audacious comments about the President; so bold – in fact – that she was investigated by the Secret Service. I’m not saying what she posted, because I’m not tryin’ to get in trouble (you really never know who's reading). But you can read more about it in the article.

I’ll be the first to admit that she shouldn’t said what she said; especially in this new age of surveillance and monitoring. But this is also serves as a reminder that there are MANY people out there (irrespective of race, sex, ethnicity, etc.) who are pissed about this war.

Practice what you preach
Reverend Ted Haggard was recently given the boot from his church after buying crystal meth and receiving “only” a massage from a gay prostitute. I wish I was making this one up. Seriously, I wish I was…

On the one hand, I can’t fault him for his wrongdoing. As I always maintain, there isn’t a single one of us who is completely sinless in God’s eyes. But on the other hand, stories like this have me completely convinced that the Religious Right is nothing by a sham. Haggard was the leader of the highly influential National Association of Evangelicals. He fervently condemned gay rights, homosexuality, and immoral sexual behavior; in all the while engaging in the very acts against which he spoke out (*cough, cough: Mark Foley*)

Comedian ignites Halloween controversy
Recently, controversial comedian Bill Maher drew even more heat for attending a Halloween costume dressed as the recently deceased "Crocadile Hunter" Steve Irwin. He was wearing a uniform similar to Irwin's with a stingray sticking out his chest; similar to how Irwin was killed.

Now, I'm a huge fan of Maher's. I love his commentary, his humor, his wit, and his insight. But even I think that this move was done in bad taste. Instead of finding humor in someone's death, why not use that energy in memorial?

Speaking of "memorials":
Truth be told; I really don't like celebrities that much. But my heart was hurt to learn about the deaths of CBS Correspondent Ed Bradley and singer Gerald Levert this week. I was especially hurt to hear about Bradley, who was recognized as one of the most prominent blacks in all of the media and who frequently used his position to speak to many issues facing minorities today (unlike many affluent celebs I know). I hope they're enjoying God's company right now.

I think that about does it for now. This post wound up being longer than I expected. I really need to get back to work. I'm happy to announce that my thesis committee approved my proposal. I can get started on my work. Now all I have to do is get my study approved for Human Subjects Protection. Good times are ahead, I hope...

- ACL

Mid-term elections. Who cares?!

Man. I’ll be so frickin’ glad when all of this election nonsense is over. I don't think I'll ever again really have a sense of excitement and appreciation for the political process until the two-party system is abolished. As it currently stands, the Democratic agenda is really no different than the Republican agenda. Both groups place the highest value on gaining and maintaining political power, as opposed to solving any of the nation’s problems; especially for minorities. Frankly, I don’t care who gains control tomorrow. Both parties are evil (Democrats, however, will at least pretend to be concerned about minorities). Ideologically, neither side has really impressed me during my short stint with the political world. All I know is that Democrats seem to love higher taxes and Republicans love to beat up on anybody who is different from the status quo.

I hate to sound like a fatalist right now, but I hardly doubt that – regardless of the election outcome tomorrow – we would have done much to combat the heavily concentrated political divide in this country. It’s not secret that we’ve become as polarized as Earth is to planet Zoltron. Instead, what seems to be the big secret is how we bridge that gap.

One thing’s for sure: November 7th won’t give us the answer we’re looking for…

- ACL

Christian apathy

Every so often, I’m face with a situation that leaves me speechless. This happens to be one of those times…

Yesterday, I went to see my grandmother in the hospital (for the record, she’s doing well. But, please keep us in your prayers). While I was there, I ran into my ex-girlfriend’s mother; who apparently is an employee at that particular hospital.

From dating this girl, I sorta picked up on small hints that her parents were crazy. Between people warning me and me finding some things out on my own, I was quick to discover that many of their ideals, though Biblically inspired (I guess), were waaay “out there” but; at the same time; disturbingly traditional. That said, it was pretty reasonable to assume that – by the end of our conversation – she would say something stupid. But I wasn’t at all prepared for what I was about to hear.

The conversation started off well enough. She gave me an update on her daughter (my ex) who recently moved out of state. She mentioned that my ex would be in town for the holidays and invited me to join them for dinner. I politely declined; informing her that my sister and I will be in New Orleans to volunteer in the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. After she heard the news about our New Orleans plans, her mood quickly changed. After scoffing at me for a second, she angrily replied (get ready for this…): “I don’t know what you’re doing going down there. They (the people of New Orleans) got what they deserved.”

I was floored.

Did I hear her correctly?

She went on to explain to me that God had unleashed His anger on the city because of their sinfulness. For me to “get involved” was to stand in the way of God’s punishment of the city. For that, she argued, He would not be pleased.

After picking my jaw up from the floor (I’ve still got the bruise on my jaw to prove how hard it hit), my initial response to her comments was to ask if she was serious. But with the conviction in her tone, I already knew the answer. Instead, the only thing I was able to push out was:

“Uh…you do know that every city in world lives in sin, right?”

“Well yeah. But that’s not the point.”

“Uh…you do know that there are many saved people in New Orleans, right?”

“Well yeah. But that’s not the point either.”

The fact is: I didn’t know what her point was. All I heard from her initial comments and her subsequent explanation was that New Orleans was sinful (with Mardi Gras, gambling, and…as she puts it… “voodoo”), God was punishing them for it, and for me to get involved by helping others is a sin in and of itself. Any other “points” she made were lost in those statements.

Interestingly, this isn’t the first time that someone has made this argument. As I pointed out before, Pat Robertson also made a bold and audacious accusation that God allowed the destruction of New Orleans to commence because of the city’s wrongdoing. But Pat Robertson is an idiot. I would expect that from him. But to hear cruel statements like that being uttered from her mouth was unnerving; even for someone as notoriously surreal as she is.

Hundreds of people were killed. Tens of thousands more lost everything they had. Hundreds of thousands were displaced. To say that they “deserved” this is a clear indication of ignorance to God’s word. (1) If you want to use the Sodom and Gomorrah juxtaposition, let me remind you that (a) there were none found righteous in those cities and (b) the vengeful curse of sin was lifted when a certain Savior of ours said “It is finished, and (c) if she’s correct, then Hollywood, Las Vegas, Miami, and Washington D.C. would have been destroyed long before New Orleans was. Need I remind you that my hometown of Flint, MI has one of the highest crime rates in the country? Geez. Are we next?

It bothers me to see that not only are some people completely non-responsive to the suffering of others, but that they also feel Biblically justified for having those thoughts. Nevermind the fact that, as the prophet Isaiah reminds us, we will never be able to fully understand God’s ways. Nevermind the fact that not everyone in New Orleans participated in the “evil” activity that was apparently worthy of mass destruction (don't give me the "raining on the just as well as the unjust" line. It wouldn't be used in the correct context here). To watch people like Robertson and this lady point fingers and vilify “the least of these” as they suffer makes my blood boil. A disaster could happen to any one of us. There isn't a single person I know who does not 'deserve' God's punishment. But it's through His grace that we are sustained. We continue to be blessed in spite of who we are. Yet sadly, many so-called Christians lose sight of that.

Forget the Devil. It’s starting to become abundantly clear to me that dangerous religious folks are – by far – the biggest enemy out there to Christ.

- ACL

Lessons drawn from the well

Yesterday, as a part of my morning "church service", I was listening to a sermon from Bishop Eddie Long. For the record, I don't respond well to tele-evangelicals and mega church type ministers. But, I found his sermon pretty interesting nontheless. The subject of his sermon involved the well-known story of Jesus and His encounter with the woman at the well; found in John, chapter 4.

After referring back to that story, I realized a couple of important things:

(1) The importance of tearing down the barriers: What was fascinating about this story was the initial establishment of contact that Jesus made with the woman and all the barriers that had to be tore down first. To understand how this is significant, we need to consider the history behind the times. During Jesus' initial interaction with the woman, He tore down three specific barriers; moral, social, and racial. Morally speaking, the woman was a harlot (in today's vernacular, she was a slut) while He was the Son of God. Socially speaking, men did not speak to women in public; nor was it ritualisitic for women to be out drawing water during that time of the day. Racially speaking, He was a Jew while she was a Samiritan (even more interesting because Jesus went through Samaria on His way to Galilee. According to Jewish tradition, He was supposed to go around it). After tearing down these traditional barriers, Jesus reached out to the woman by establishing commonality. In this case, they were both seeking water.

This aspect of the story is important to me because it ties in perfectly to the gripes that I've had lately about how we've failed out youth (here and here and here). But the same priniciple applies to non-believers as well. Similarly to Jesus, it's time for us to tear down the barriers that we've created against people and reach out to them by identifing a common bond between us.

(2) The importance of identifying the real thirst quencher: When Jesus asks the woman for a drink, she responds by saying (in so many words), "Why the hell would you, some Jew, ask me for water?" His response was simple: "If you knew who I was, you'd be asking Me for water." Though she compares Him to Jacob; one of the most significant patriachs in the Bible, she had no idea who she was talking to. The Living Water is sitting right in front of her, and she couldn't even recognize Him.

Even when I wanted to call her out on her blind ignorance, I couldn't help but to wonder how often many of us are that woman. How many of us go to well everyday to draw water, without looking to The Living Water, who is sitting right across from us?

It's pretty unfortunate that we rely on the wells so much that they become our livlihood. We rely on water from the well of material, the well of our jobs, the well of success, the well of education, and even the wells of religion. But when Jesus offers us water from His well, we sneer at Him while flashing our degrees, money, marriages, children, cars, and homes in His face. We remind Him that we've already got everything that we need. In fact, like the Samaritan women, we assume that we have what He needs. We think that we're doing Him a favor by giving of ourselves.

The fact is: Jesus doesn't need us. We need Him.

We often find ourselves in a position where we need to keep going back to the wells of our life each and every day. Believe me when I say that the water that we collect can only sustain us for a short while before we either run out of water or before we get thirsty again. At that point, we find ourselves searching for more and more wells from which we can draw; though none of them will ever leave us completely satisfied. We’ll always want more.

What's comforting about this story -- however -- is that despite our ignorance of Him, Jesus is still sitting there waiting for us and offering His water. Unlike all the other things we drink, one little taste of Jesus will leave us completely replinished. We'll be like the writer who affirmed that he "shall not want." Through Jesus, we can find comfort and restoration even if certain things in our life don't materialize the way we want (getting the perfect job, finding the perfect "love", having the perfect family, etc.). As I always maintain, Jesus is inexhaustable and His well is bottomless. He can offer us things that even we don't know about.

Let's see Avian top that.

On an unrelated note, happy belated birthdays to my oldest sis Kim and one of my fellow bloggers Diane...

- ACL

U of M and 9/11

A little while ago, one of my esteemed colleagues the Hippie Conservative (who has an INCREDIBLE blog; very thought provoking) made a pretty legitimate gripe about how our school didn't do its job of commemerating the tragic events of 9/11.
After hearing his argument, I thought that he was on to something. Why isn’t the University of Michigan, one of the most recognized colleges in the country, taking time out to observe the 5th anniversary of the September 11th? Of all the institutions recognizing the history of the day, shouldn’t we – as an academic institution be leading the way?

After thinking about it some, my answer is simple.

No.

Don't get me wrong: 9/11 definitely ranks up there as one of the most significant events I’ve ever witnessed. For our generation, this event signifies one of those shocking times in our lives where we’ll all “remember what we were doing when…” (other notable events include the assassination of JFK/MLK, the beginning of Operation: Desert Storm, and the reading of the OJ Simpson verdict). The significance of the event need not be questioned. And certainly, the horrific events of that day must never be forgotten; neither should those who suffered and perished. The day represents a dark time in history that we must always remember and a time from which we must take valuable lessons. But is the death of 3,000 people and the destruction of a few pretty nice buildings any worse than, let’s say, a death toll of 100,000 + from the Indonesian tsunami or the Pakistani earthquake? If 9/11 has more significance than those events, then – yes – the University should have taken time out to observe 9/11. But, as much as the die-hard, "America-is-the-greatest-place-ever" people don’t want to admit it, 9/11 isn’t any more as significant as any other tragedy in history; hell…even recent history.

The events of 9/11; while indeed sad and tragic; have turned Americans into grief-mongers and opportunists. Don’t’ believe me? How often have you heard politicians use 9/11 and terrorism for their own political maneuvering? How often have you heard “emotional” stories being plastered all over the media (as much as I despise the woman, Ann Coulter was on the money when she called out 9/11 widows for profiting off their husband’s deaths. Coulter's message was lost because of how mean, harsh, and heartless she is. But she DOES have a point. Before you argue with me, let’s see how many of the profits from Marian Fontana's new book will go directly into her own pocket.). How many of you have witnessed the hoard of money being made from movies, TV, and merchandise; reminding us to “Never Forget”, as if the daily reminders of 9/11 don’t do the job of reminding us (Not too long ago, I saw a commercial for a commemorative 9/11 coin; allegedly made from silver stolen…I mean “recovered” from ground zero. I wish I was making this up.).

Simply put: 9/11 has become a cliché used to incite people, to sell shit, to keep people scared, and to subvert the average American into political submission. This is especially unnerving in light of the fact that many far more disastrous things have taken place since 9/11; some of them happening right here on our own soil (Honestly, when’s the last time you saw a “Katrina: Lest we forget” t-shirt?). All that being said, I’m glad that the University didn’t join in the political, emotional, and consumer cesspool otherwise nicknamed 9/11 remembrance. Frankly, it’s refreshing to see that U of M didn’t get caught up in inane sensationalism of the day.

Perhaps I’m being a bit heretical when I say it, but this 9/11 was pretty ordinary for me. I called my old man to wish him a happy birthday (9/11 was his long before it became the property of American corporations and politicians), went to work, did some homework after work, goofed around a bit, and went to bed. I didn’t watch any specials on TV, listen to any news (well, nothing out of the ordinary anway), and I certainly didn’t buy any 9/11 crap out of remembrance. I celebrated 9/11 the best way I knew how: by living normally.

September 11th is an ordinary day. At least, it needs to be. The time is long past where we need to take special time out to recognize the day, shed tears, buy crap, and then go back to being fearful, GOP-pardoning, SUV-driving, gun toting, reality show watching, so-scared-I’ll-let-Bush-trample-my-freedoms, God-bless-America-and-no-place-else citizens that we are for the rest of the year.

There. I said it.

- ACL

The state of our youth, part 3

For my last installment on how our society has massively failed our youth, it’s time to put the church on blast. They’re about as big of a culprit as I can think of:

A huge problem that I’ve noticed, being a product of the church myself, is that we spend too much of our time trying to teach and instruct our youth about what’s wrong in our society and not enough time nurturing them with all the right things. There is a huge difference between the two. All we do all day is try to teach them about being sex, temptation and peer pressure, the pitfalls of rap music, drugs, or whatever issues that are current day by vilifying those things. Believe me when I say that all this does is make Christianity seem stringent, uppity, harsh, and boring. Rather than injecting them with all the joy and positivity that comes with following God; and by teaching them about the fruits of the Spirit (especially by seeing those fruits work through us), we focus on the negative elements in the world.

Art curators learn how to spot counterfeit paintings by being exposed to the “right” ones often enough. Bank employees can spot fake bills by seeing and touching the “right” ones. Youth are the same way. They learn about the fake illusions used by the devil by coming in contact with the real Spirit. It’s our job to help them confront their thoughts, questions, and confusions about God by using the Word; as opposed to using our old, traditional, “I-do-it-because-my-grandmother-did-it” practices.

We need to be able and willing to deprogram them and then reprogram them (trust me when I say that this won’t be easy. I’m still trying to break apart from the “traditional” ways of the church myself). If we’re able to tear down their former way of thinking and rebuild them on the true principles of Christ (love, tolerance, forgiveness, acceptance, etc.) we have accomplished our job. From there, we can start teaching our youth basic doctrine about God, the Trinity, sin, salvation, Heaven/Hell, daily living, etc.).

If we expose them to enough of the “real” God, – I believe that they’ll develop a desire to walk closer to God and further away from the stuff “out there”. They’ll be a little more mighty in the Spirit, a little more confident in their daily walk and little stronger in their faith (who knows? Maybe even more so than us adults) Most importantly, their behavior (you know, the one that we always try to demonize?) will start to match their outlook on Jesus, salvation, and their duties as followers. Knowing that God loves them will do waaaay more for our youths’ psyche than us telling them how much God hates the 'evil' that they’re doing. Accentuating the benefits of being apart of God’s family have much greater results than focusing on the consequences of not being in it. Showing youngsters the peace and love that comes with following Christ is more captivating -- to me -- than zeroing in on the idea of eternal torment if they don't follow God or if they don't do everything 'by the book', like we claim to.

Again, I apologize for going off on the deep end with this. But, I’m sick of seeing our youth fall behind, do nothing with their lives, and die in the streets, while we (the older folks) sit around complaining about it. As I maintain, the time for complaining and finger-pointing is over. It's time to take action. Never before has this call been more important.

As the Bible reminds us “the harvest is abundant”.

But, why are there so few laborers?

- ACL

The state of our youth, part 2

Earlier this week I started my pontification on how we as a society have failed our youth. This is where I pick up:

Parents often stress to their children the importance of doing their homework. Well, I’m making that apply to adults as well. Adults, IT'S TIME TO DO YOUR OWN HOMEWORK!

The fact is: many adults are downright ignorant when it comes to understanding today’s culture. As a result, what ensues is a significant gap between their world and the world of young people. Adults are quick to come down on kids because of the way they dress, the types of music they enjoy, how they speak, and how they act. But, what adults don’t usually think about is that – at some point – they were once children also. Chances are, they probably heard some of the same things when they were younger. Even if adults (both now and then) were hard on children so that youth could improve, my question is simple: why be so mean, uncompromising, negative, and disrespectful in doing so?

I think that we adults today are so rude and brusque toward young people because we want to separate ourselves from today’s culture as much as possible. We’d rather lock ourselves in our basements -- only coming out for food, water, and church – and only embrace our traditional ways of life; even if they aren’t relevant to today’s world. But as I contend, the only way for us to effectively reach young people is to reach them at their level. I can’t work with youth like I would with a 65 year old who has a Ph.D. I have to engage with them as one of them. But, if we refuse to make that type of engagement, we’ll never truly know them. If we continue to look down on their sense of music, style, language and entertainment, refuse to examine their technology (Myspace.com especially. You’d be surprised at some of the stuff you’ll find there), and fail to analytically study their culture, we’ll never address the real problems at hand.

Interestingly, many adults shy away from today’s culture out of fear that being involved may damage our “testimony”. To avoid the “corruption” of the world, we stay away from their music, their television show, their clothes, their languages. But we don't seem to understand that just because we do examine their culture doesn't mean that we have to enjoy it. We take part in it to learn about it. For instance, just about everybody who knows me is well aware of how I much completely loathe Black Entertainment Television. But, I watch the station nevertheless, just to get a feel for what’s out there. More adults need to do the same. If a parent saw his/her child fall into a sewer, I highly doubt that the parent would say “Yuck. I’m not going in there.” Instead, they would jump in head first – without even thinking -- to save their child. Why, then, can’t we jump in headfirst to the things that are damaging our youth’s physical, mental, emotional, and spirtual well beings?

Even the Bible reminds us that we can’t help others without an adequate sense of knowledge of where they are in their lives and what they’re going through. Just as God said through His prophet Hosea, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." (4:6) Youth today are involved in a deep and complicated struggle, which we can’t reasonably help without digging deep to uncover the problems that need to be addressed. Sadly, if we don’t do our job at helping our children, they’ll find a way to “help” with their struggles by going somewhere else; usually at their own detriment.

Even if we don’t want to accept it, the enemy is out there and is constantly growing. But there is no way for us to sufficiently battle that enemy unless we truly know about it. Sports teams don’t play their opponents without first watching game tapes and performing scouting reports. Militaries don’t go rushing into war unless adequate intelligence has been collected (or, in the case with Iraq, unless intelligence has been created/manipulated. That’s another story…). So why do we feel like we can help our children without study anything about their culture?!

With all we know and all that our society has faced, simply throwing up our hands and saying “Oh well. I don’t know. That’s just how things are.” is not acceptable. Young people want to be exposed to the truth. But, like Jack Nicholson famously said in the movie A Few Good Men, we can’t handle the truth. As an alternative to providing answers, we find it easier to just tell them “Don’t to this”, “Don’t do that”, “That’s not right”, “That’s not how I was raised”, “Because I said so”, etc. Instead of relying on that mindless and useless ways of combating today’s problems, it’s time for us get off our asses and get our feet moving and our hands dirty. We need to stop shaking our heads at the wild and out of control youth or relying on Dr. "So and so" to handle the problem. We need to stop saying “I don’t know what’s wrong with these young people today”. That’s a lie. We know exactly what’s wrong. Whether we attack it or not is a different story.

I remember talking to one of my former coworkers (ultra conservative, die-hard evangelical Republican type). She told a interesting story about how she overhead two of her friends' children -- no older than 14 -- talking about their sexual experiences. She gave pretty vivid descriptions on what they discussed. Though the conversation itself didn't really suprise me (knowing how active youth are these days), I was pretty upset by what I heard. I was more upset, however, that this coworker didn't say anything to the teens and decided not to get involved. Uh..why not?! I guess that -- on the one hand, I can understand her not wanting to jump in and intefere with other people's children. But, on the other hand, for her to do nothing was similar to her stamping her approval of their actions. She allowed a great chance for intervention and ministry to fly by.

We must make it a point to get involved in the lives of our young people without holding dear to the concept of blissful ignorance. To use the Matrix Philosophy as a reference, we need to take the red pill. Passive ignorance does more than just keep our hands free from contamination; it kills our youth. Ignorance is not bliss.

I'm sorry for getting so long-winded again. But, I had to get this off my chest. For my next installment, I'm putting the church on blast for its failures. But in the meantime, I'll leave you with this:

Plz make teh efrt 2 hlp da yung ppl. Mmk. Thx. :)

If you adults need help translating this young people computer slang, go here.

- ACL

The state of our youth, part 1

Before I start, let me warn you that this is will be one of my longer pieces. I've got sooooo much to talk about. In fact, I think I'm going to do this in installments just to stop myself from going on and on. But, this is an issue that is deeply concerning me; more than politics, more than scandals, and even more than my own issues.

This weekend, I decided to spend my away-from-institutional-church time volunteering with Big Brothers/Big Sisters. One of my classmates serves as a program coordinator for the organization and impressed upon me the importance of getting involved in the lives of young people. Since I’ve been making the claim that it’s time for me to put more action behind my words (as opposed to hiding behind the walls of the church from 11-12:30 pm and claiming to do good), I embraced this as the perfect opportunity. As I’ve always maintained, it is long past the time for us, as the body of Christ to start taking action to rescue our young people from the ills of post-modernism, and the destructive influence of this new-aged popular culture. It’s pretty frightening to me to see how the minds of our youth are being infected by the empty, vacuous, and disparaging world of television, music, technology, and entertainment. But what are we doing about it? My classmate best described the situation by painting the following picture:

Imagine that, as Hurricane Katrina ravaged through the Gulf Coast Region, the levees break; allowing flood waters to sweep through cities. You helplessly watch as the waters swallow up your child. In your anger, you demand to know who is responsible for this tragedy. Who’s to blame for this? You spend all of your effort casting blame on federal, state, and local agents. But interestingly, they turn around and blame you. They ask one simple question of you: “How well did you teach them to swim?”

As I was leaving the center, I couldn’t help but to ask myself who is really to blame for the state of our young people; black kids especially. Upon further investigation, I think it would be well within the rights of the “agents” mentioned above (the media, music “artists”, television executives, etc.) to deflect the ‘blame’ back on us. The best question that we can ask ourselves is pretty obvious: “How have we failed our young people?” Why haven’t we done our jobs? Why haven’t we taught them how to live in a world full of the secular things that we vilify the most? How well have we taught our children to swim?

Whether our young people choose the secular life or not (though I suspect that most youth actually DO make the choice themselves), the fact is: we’ve failed them. We’re the ones who send young people out there in the social world without equipping them with the knowledge and wisdom to avoid those ills. Similarly to sending soldiers off to war without adequate equipment, we’ve sent our youth out there with a poor sense of understanding about the world and wonder why they turn out the way they do. For instance, when asked about her child’s irresponsible sexual behavior, one of my cousins said “As long as she uses protection, I don’t care what she does.” Is this what we've come to? We’re sending our children out there to battle again a powerful, high-tech army with nothing but dirt rocks and spitwads to protect themselves with. Scary.

The best diagnosis of our problem came at me pretty sharply. As much as we try to pass the blame on to others, the dilemma we face with our young people is really our fault. The body of Christ has failed miserably at reaching our youth. While the world has been successful at luring and drawing our youth, we’ve done an equally good job of turning them further away from Christ. The problem is: we’ve provided our youth with little, if any, real theology. So, what they turn to instead are the “-ologies” of BET, NBA, Playstation, cell phones, TV, Ipods, Internet, and name brand clothing. When they don’t have Biblical and theological foundations, it makes sense that youth are captivated by the hypnosis of materialism. I liken our situation to the story of the three little pigs. Too often we build houses with cheap material and a weak foundation (as opposed to the strong bricks of God’s word) and wonder why the big bad wolf of the world can so easily blow them down.

After talking to some of the kids at the center, I’m convinced that young people are desperately seeking our help. Instead of sharing aspirations of being rappers, professional athletes, or being in gangs, many of the kids talked about how they wanted to go to college, have purposeful careers, raise families, and – interestingly – grow closer to God. The sad thing is: they’re speaking directly to us and we have our fingers in our ears. Many young people are slowly being torn up inside, but won’t come to us because of how we respond to them. We judge them and tear them down before we even have a chance to listen to them. How are we supposed to reach them if we can’t even hear them? It’s like trying to play Marco Polo wearing headphones.

Another problem that we have (especially in the church) is that we spend too much of our time being phony and caught up with the external when young people need people who are real. Perhaps one of the most redeeming feelings for me was that when I met these kids, I wasn’t Andre the graduate student. I wasn't Andre the honors student. I wasn’t Andre the University of Michigan employee. My credentials were left at the door. What they saw was ME; and I think they were OK with that.

Interestingly, one of the reasons why celebrities, especially Black celebrities, captivate so many young people is because there is an impression that celebs is not only rich and famous; but they haven’t abandoned the ‘real’ element to them. If these kids knew how spoiled, pampered, uptight, arrogant, and out of touch most celebrities are (i.e. not performing a sold out concert unless they make “x” amount of dollars, or expecting a hotel to kick someone out of their room so that you and dog can have separate rooms *cough* Oprah *cough*), their credibility with these youth would be evaporated. These kids simply want someone in their lives to whom they can relate and who understands their struggles. What they find instead are pompous, arrogant, and sanctimonious adults who punish, chastise, and look down on them. We're failing our youth and we don't even know it. Worse yet, we don't even care.

I'm not going to strain your eyes too much so I'll call it quits here. Plus, I really need to get some work done. But, I've got lots more to talk about with this issue. Truth be told, I'm not sure how many more posts I'll have regarding this topic. But what I DO know is that -- right now -- my heart is full. But it's also greatly disturbed. Stay tuned...

- ACL

Two sides to Christ?

On the one hand, thank you "Pastor" Becky Fischer, for showing us the scary and vile side of Christianity.

On the other hand, thank you, Pastor Gregory Boyd for showing us the Christ side in Christianity.

- ACL

Foley's Follies

I haven’t stopped laughing, moaning, and shaking my head for past week. By now, I’m sure that you’ve heard about the sex scandal involving former Representative Mark Foley of Florida. But just in case you’ve been living under a rock or have been more concerned about Paris Hilton’s new CD, let me give you the scoop:

Former Rep. Foley abruptly resigned from his position last week immediately after ABC News grilled him with evidence that he was engaged in sexually explicit conversations with teenage congressional pages. Making the controversy more interesting is the fact that Foley served as a co-chair of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children, the fact that senior GOP members, including Speaker Dennis Hastert actually knew about his engagements and didn’t say anything (and still allowed Foley to serve in his capacity), the thought of Foley going to rehab for alcoholism (instead of that going to prison for being a statutory rapist), and the sob story he’s now using about being molested as a child. This story is priceless!

I have no idea where to begin with this one. Most of the blog world has already been set ablaze with commentary about this nonsense, so I don’t think that I can add much more to it. But, here are the interesting bits that I've gathered from this story:

1. This story unequivocally confirms that the GOP is not -- I repeat NOT the party of morals and family values that they claim to be. Granted, Democrats aren’t exactly the paradigm for virtue either, but Republicans certainly aren’t. For any people who would say that I shouldn't judge an entire party by the actions of one man, I say let’s examine Rep. Alexander, R-LA. The page who Foley hit on (*snicker*) was from Alexander's district. Though the incident was reported earlier in the year, Alexander failed to act on it. If ABC News hadn’t outed Foley, he’d still be in his position and would likely be running for re-election. What about Rep. Reynolds from NY? He received a report from Alexander which described the incident. What about Rep. Hastert, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives?! He received the same report from Reynolds. Of course that was after he claimed that he didn’t remember getting it and then – all of a sudden – remembered getting it. The ever-so-virtuous GOP knew about this debacle and still looked the other way. Pretty moral, don’t you think?

It's funny. I didn’t think that the GOP could get any worse than when they ignored when Tom Delay and Bill Frist broke ethics laws or when Bush ate the Constitution for breakfast by going above the law. But this story amazes even me. Was Foley’s position so important that the GOP was willing to look the other way? Or is the GOP actually just morally deficient? I’ll let that one marinate.

2. What annoys me (but is still pretty entertaining nonetheless) is the commentary from many of the GOP faithful. They deflect this scandal back to Clinton (who committed his act almost a decade ago and with a grown woman. Funny how the GOP isn’t as critical for Bush and his costly, violent “mistake” in Iraq. But I digress…). They blame the media (especially ABC), they try to use a gay-bashing spin to justify the cover up. But few of them actually blame Foley. Even less of them go after the senior officials who allowed this mess to go on for as long as it has.

I’m just waiting for the GOP to start blaming the pages for being too young and too sexy.

3. It’s also pretty funny to me that those faithful to Foley supported him as long as he stayed in the closet. But the minute he came out (more like the minute that ABC pulled him out) the party cashed in their chips on him and turned him into a (insert homophobic slur here). This bothers me because many of those dangerous religious folks out there are the ones creating an America where people are so afraid of revealing their sexual identities that they cover it up, to the detriment of themselves and others. For instance, while I think that the Men on the Down Low phenomenon is highly sensationalized, it DOES exist. It exists because men are afraid to come out and – as a result – live heterosexual lives; passing on diseases on to unsuspecting women. Simply put: The GOP has created and is perpetuating this ongoing problem. Instead of allowing homosexuals the same rights we heterosexuals enjoy everyday, the GOP commits itself to denying equal rights to all people.

4. I think it’s really funny that White House press secretary Tony Snow downplayed the scandal indicating that this is all simply the product of “naughty” emails. Oh yeah? Well, I invite you all to read the conversation and tell me how “naughty” you think it is. “Naughty” is the innocent cyber-flirting that I do with my green-eyed friend. Down right and explicit inappropriateness is what these conversations were. I need to warn you in advance: the content is pretty graphic.

5. Apparently, past molestation from his priest is now being used as a justification for Foley’s behavior. The priest, who interestingly remains unnamed, allegedly engaged in inappropriate acts with Foley when he was child, which somehow triggered his interest in young boys. How convenient! The fact is: I know people who have been abused and molested who have never done so themselves. To suggest that this is why Foley is a pervert is unacceptable. To allow him exemption using this claim is not only irresponsible, but is a slap in the face to the children that we allegedly try to “protect”. Nonsensical stories like this will allow for any rapist, murderer, or criminal to beat the system as long as they can prove that some deep dark demons from their past made them do it.

As much as I’d like to think that this brewing scandal will affect the election outcomes next month, I’m almost certain that it won’t. People (both Democrats and Republicans) stick to their guns and support their parties for good or for bad. Iraq was sliding downhill, the economy sucked, social programs were drastically cut, and health care was unbearably expensive but Bush still won reelection, while Congress grew stronger for Republicans. I highly doubt that scandals; as evidence supported as they are, will do much to swing the pendulum. The GOP are masters at making noise, creating distractions, and luring their base. Democrats aren’t.

That said, thanks for nothing, Foley.

- ACL

Church service

I had a pretty interesting email discussion with a friend of mine, with whom I just started getting reacquainted. It was pretty interesting to discover that – although we hadn’t talked in about six years –stories about our lives weren’t all that dissimilar. We’re both at the point where we’re growing pretty dissatisfied with organized religion. An excerpt from one of the friend’s emails tells an interesting story:

"I hope you don’t think that I’m sacrilegious or anything, but lately my idea of going to ‘church’ has been less about going to some building with a steeple and pews and more about having a nice social outing with my friends to talk about life, work, relationships and our faith. Nowadays, I get more satisfaction out of volunteering at homeless shelters, being a Big sister to my 11-year-old ‘sister’, and socializing with my friends than I do for sitting in a church watching a preacher yell, scream, sweat, and ask for money. I guess that I’m starting to believe that our devotion to God is measured more by the relationships we build with others and less on how much time we spend in a building.

From past experiences, I’ve always thought it was funny (in an ironic way) that the people at church are usually the ones who destroy relationships with each other while the people outside of the church are the ones who can sustain relationships the best. Don’t go around disagreeing with somebody in the church. All Hell will break loose. Don’t get pregnant; you’ll be an outcast and a heathen. Don’t question anything that’s being taught or try to look at God from another angle; you’ll be labeled Public Enemy #1. Didn’t Jesus tell us that the world would know who belongs to Him by how we love others? Maybe there really is something to what Jesus says.”

Hmm…

Good questions.

Maybe I'm becoming more aware of it because my family is scattered all over the country, but – like this person – I really enjoy being around those who I call my friends. I’m not even sure if I fully describe the sense of togetherness and connection I have when I’m around people I love (which explains why I get pissy if I feel excluded. But that’s another story…). Although it’s not a word that is common in most people’s vocabulary, I really enjoy the fellowship I have with others. When I think about “fellowship”, to me it goes deeper than shaking hands with a bunch of people whom you barely know. It’s more than just having people, who would otherwise forget that I’m even around, say “hello” to me and then walk away. Rather, I see fellowship as having a shared connection with people together with whom you have a vested interest and a common affiliation. To me, the most profound and deepest sort of friendship occurs when each person has shared similar experiences and are willing to be apart of one another. With that in mind, I'd like to think that the "Church" (Capital "C") is the same way. I'd like to think that the Church is made up of the type of togetherness that Jesus described when He said to His disciples in John 15:11-15:

"These things I have spoken unto you, that my joy may be in you and [that] your joy may be made full. This is my commandment: that ye love one another even as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if you do the things which I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servent knoweth not what his lord doeth; but I have called you friends for all things that I heard from my father, I have made known unto you."

Friendships were apparently a big deal to Jesus. Just the thought of Him letting His disciples in on everything" indicates that He has placed a high premium on His friends. It only gets more profound to know that He places more value on their lives than He does His own. From there, the Church was established.

Man, that's some pretty deep stuff.

Anyway...

Forgive my long digression. The real point of this post was to tell you about my first Sunday without an "institutional" church home.

I started my day at around 10:30-ish, after my friend called to make sure that I was going to church. Though I told her that I’d make a “game day decision” about seeking a new church, I was really saying “After I get off the phone with you, I'm going back to bed.”

From there, I got up and took a walk. What started off as a lap around my apartment complex quickly turned into a walk that covered a few miles. Maybe it was the Sunday morning quietness that allured me, but I enjoyed every minute of my walk. The weather was perfect. The environment was ideal. I was alone with God and my thoughts and I seemingly had all the time in the world to contemplate and reflect on God’s goodness, and my undeserved favor. I also had a great conversation with God where I was able to get a lot off of my chest. Unlike most people, He sat there and listened to every gripe I had.

From there, I went to my office to get a little work done, went by the University's Rec. Center to shoot some hoops (good to see that my jumpshot is still there), went to lunch with a friend where we shared terrific discussions, spoke to my sister on the phone briefly, and watched some football.

For me, it was the best church I've had in a while. And I didn’t even have to put on a suit…

- ACL