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

Deeper problems

Lately, I’ve started to become a crazed fan of the TV show House M.D. On each episode, Dr. House and his team of surgeons treat patients who are inflicted with some disease or ailment (rest assured, I won’t be able to pronounce it).

Each case follows the same premise: the surgeons start off by identifying each of the symptoms that the patient exhibits. From there, they toss around possible diagnoses about the patient's condition. Eventually, they run tests, analyze their findings, and narrow their diagnoses down to just one. Incidentally, it never seems to be the real issue. There always seems to be something deeper that was missed; something that hasn't been accounted for.

So the doctors are forced to delve a little further to get at the source of the problem. They run even more tests, they probe even deeper, perform medical inquiries on the patient's parents, siblings, environments, homes, etc. They investigate everything they can to make sure that they get it right.

I think that this show's premise can easily juxtapose our lives and how we respond to sin. If you think about it, the biggest reason why folks can't seem to be "cured" from their sins is because we don't deal with the deep issues. We only focus on the things that are right in our face; the things on the surface. Sure that guy is mean. But have you ever asked why he's like that? Sure that woman is an alchoholic. But have you ever asked why she's like that? Sure that young person is disrespectful, full of attitude, and sexually promiscuous. But have you ever asked why (s)he was like that?

The sad truth is: We respond to sins (both ours and others) like House and the other doctors deal with their patients. We examine the problems that a person has, lists the possible diagnoses, and then we give them the type of treatment that we think they need. What we don't seem to understand is that we're not fixing the problem; we're only warding it off. The sin is not defeated. The person is not cured.

I suspect that most people are only willing to confront the things that appear on the outside; while being completely unwilling to attack the issues that are buried deep inside. We look at the symptoms that are external; the actions, the words, the expressions. But how often do we search deeply to discover the internal symptoms? How often to we examine the deeply internal, indelible existent of sin?

Given all the "sick" people of the world, I suspect not very often.

I think that we don't dig as deeply as we should becuase we're scared. We're scared of what we'll find. We're scared of being exposed as being sick ourselves. We're scared of releasing whatever it is that causes us to sin in the first place. We're scared of change. To be honest, I really can't tell for sure why we don't explore the deeper recesses of ourselves. But I do know that we don't.

But, the fact remains: if we expect to be cured, we must be willing to go into the deep, dark abyss that is our soul and to fight whatever monsters we find there. Otherwise we really haven't built up an immune system strong enough to fight our sicknesses. The same sins will keep manifesting themselves in us. We'll never find healing.

I don't know about you, but I don't wanna be a frequent guest star on House for more than one episode...

- ACL

Choose your own adventure

I was watching an interesting sermon from Joyce Meyers the other day talking about how Jesus made all the right choices while He was here on Earth. I wanted to blog about that earlier but, as some of you can tell, my mind has been directed elsewhere lately. But now that the family incident in question is behind me, I'd like to get back on track (Thanks endlessly to EACH OF YOU for your comments and prayers. They mean a lot!)

Getting back to the point at hand, for this particular post I thought that I'd take some of the more difficult choices that Jesus had to make and put them into a choose your adventure book. Here's how I imagine it would look...

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Page 1:

Imagine your life. You weren't born into the wealthiest family. Your friends aren't exactly the most the highly renowned people in the society. Your job doesn't pay you six figures and gives you a car, a laptop, and an expense account. You've got people out there who hate you for no vaild reason; other than their own insecurities. Nevertheless, God has given you a specific job to do. Do you accept it? If yes, continue to page 2. If no no, go to page 8.

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Page 2:

Now that you've accepted the terms and conditions of God's job for you:

• Imagine being left alone in the middle of the dark, while your friends went to sleep on you.
• Imagine the feeling of being kissed by the very person who is betraying you.
• Imagine hearing the piercing calls of a rooster; a sound that you didn’t want to hear because it symbolizes that fact that your closest companion just denied knowing you THREE times; even when he promised to NEVER do it once.
• Imagine the feeling of knowing that you’re about to receive a punishment that doesn’t, by any stretch, fit the crime.

Are you ready to call it quits and give up on God? If yes, go to page 8. If no continue to page 3.

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Page 3:

Since you've chosen not to give up on God, here comes the real test:

• Imagine the excruciating feeling of bone chips, sharp pebbles, and punishing leather whipping across your back and tearing your flesh.
• Imagine the metallic taste of blood in your mouth.
• Imagine an undersized crown made of prickly thorns being crammed on your head.

Do you give up yet? If yes, go to page 8. If no continue to page 4.

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Page 4:

So, the disgusting taste of your own blood didn't convince you to give it a rest, huh? Well, here comes the good stuff. Don't say you weren't warned:

• Imagine the burden of carrying a heavy, splintered cross through an entire town; all while still being beaten.
• Imagine how hot the dirty, stoned streets are under your feet.
• Imagine the feeling of the sun beaming down on your mutilated body.

Still not willing to tell God to kick rocks? If yes, go to page 8. If no continue to page 5.

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Page 5:

If you've gotten this far, I suspect you still haven't learned your lesson yet. Sigh! Oh well...

• Imagine the numbing pain of sharp nails penetrating your flesh.
• Imagine the sounds of people mocking you, cheering against you, or challenging you to save yourself.
• Imagine watching your mother cry out for you.
• Imagine the crushing blows that your heart takes for each painful breath you draw.
• Imagine the horrid and pungent taste of vinegar as a thirst quencher.
• Imagine the sharp pain of being stabbed in your side.

So, at this point you still haven’t thrown in the towel, but you’re getting close. Death is getting closer and closer by the second. But you still have the chance to get out of this before it's too late. Do you? If yes, go to page 8. If no continue to page 6.

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Page 6:

After everything that you've been through, you finally give in, let out one last cry, and breathe your last breath. Your friends, family, and even your enemies know that this is the end. But is it? Go to page 7

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Page 7:

Though you're offiically dead, a few strange things will happen:

• Someday, the stone that seals your death will be rolled away.
• God will raise you from the darkest, loneliest, and most painful parts of your life.
• You will resurrect from the world’s evil and appear to the world unscathed.
• You will one day have a seat next to God on His throne.
• All of those whom you love and adore will have finally have the chance to be freed from the eternal punishment that comes with sin.

CONCLUSION

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Page 8:

At some point in this story, you decided to turn away from God's will and avoid the pain and suffering that He required of you. As a result, no blood has been shed for the remission of sin. The curse of sin and death has not been removed. Millions of lamb will have to be slaughtered for man's atonement. Yet the people whom you love will forever remain prisoners of sin. But, it's not as bad as it sounds, right? At least Satan's happy!

CONCLUSION

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© Inside Andre's Head, Publishing. All rights reserved.

- ACL

Inside Andre's Family

Something funny just occured to me. My blog is officially one year old this week (Happy Birthday "Inside Andre's head" !!!). All this time I've ranted, commented, and pontificated on everything from war, to stupid presidents, to how much I love and hate my (former) church, to institutional racism, to my on again, off again relationships with friends (also here, and here, and here...). But, oddly, I really didn't throw in any plugs for the family. That being said, I'd to introduce you all the Fam. Since most of them have own webpages, anonymity is not all that big for them...

(1) Robin:

Brief description: If I had to pick out my absolute best friend on the planet, Robin would be it. Although Robin is the youngest of the girls in my family, she's still a year and a half my senior. Incidentally, we didn't really start to become close until high school. Being one of the popular kids, she was able to use her influence to assimilate me into our school's culture. I think that it was largely because of that, I was able to build some of the sociability that I have today (which still isn't much, but it was a lot more than what I once had!)

As we matured in age (being 27 = really mature!), so too did our relationship. So much so that -- even as we dealt with difficult times and sour relationships in our lives, we could always rely on each other for support (without judgment), unbiased feedback, good intentions, and love.

I think that what's most interesting about Robin is her multiple dimension. Don't be fooled by the pretty-girl appearance (at least I think she's super model material). She's one of the most brilliant minds around (she's got two degrees and a few different certifications) and is one of the funniest people on the planet. Just to add to her resume, Robin is also one of the most daring and adventureous people I know. She's been living on her own, in various parts of country; since high school, can get a new job at the drop of hat (so much for a "bad economy") and has traveled all over the place.

Favorite past times with Robin: Watching Cops, making fun of D. West, his strange "motivational" techniques, and his tight ass sweater vests, laughing at our disfunctional extended family, hearing her insane and off the wall stories (usually about how some nutcase is trying to hit on her) and ranting about stupid people.

Favorite memory of Robin: Hmmm. I'd have to say just recently when I visited her new spot in Miami. All I can say is: Day-yum! Must be nice...

(2) Tamika:

Brief description: As I've always maintained, Tamika is my role model. Anything that I've ever strived for or accomplished was motivated by something that Tamika had already done. Even as long ago as elementary school, Tamika has always made strides toward excellence.

What's interesting about her is she spent a large portion of her life as a student athlete. Prior to watching her grow and develop, I always thought the term "student athlete" was an oxymoron (sort of like Hippie Conservative. But I digress...). But, as she excelled in sports, while graduating with high distinction from high school, college, and graduate school, she quickly dispelled that stereotype.

I think that Tamika often gets a bad rap as being rebellious and indifferent toward many things. Perhaps some of that has rubbed off on me (Talk about stating the obvious). But, that reputation aside, when it comes to things for which she has a passion, nobody is as energetic and determined as Tamika. Her disposition quickly turns that rebellion and indifference into independence and strong will. She's a fighter, spunky as all outdoors, and willing to take on just about any challenges that pop up in her life...and ours. Like Robin, Tamika is adventurous and always willing to take risks. Living in and traveling to multiple places is further evidence that Tamika is always on the go and always keeping active. Strange behavior for a narcoleptic (inside joke...)

Favorite past times with Tamika: Text messaging each other. We probably spend more time typing messages to each other with our phones than we do physically speaking to one another; complaining about Momma, hearing about how much she hates her job, and watching her coach basketball teams.

Favorite memory of Tamika: I'd have to say that watching her march during her commencement as she received her Master's degree. That memory sustains me every time I get flustered with being in grad school myself.

(3) Kim:
Brief description: Ah! Kimberly, Kimberly, Kimberly. As the oldest sibling, Kim has always assumed a sort of authoritative role; matched with a pretty level head, a positive disposition, and a voice of reason. Similarly to my other sisters, Kim was the active, always-on-the-go type. She lived a pretty fast paced life in Atlanta at a time when progressive shifts in the south were first starting to peak for African-Americans. The South was starting to rise again (I mean that in an anti-Confederate, non-racist sort of way), and she was right in the middle of it all. But, as she grew older and a little more conservative, she accepted a different role as a family women. In so doing, she slowed herself down to meet those demands. Changing and adjusting lifestyles -- to me -- is one of the strongest indications of her character.

Also, Kim is probably one of the more spiritual people in our family. She has a pretty insatiable hunger for learning God's word and for applying it to all aspects of her life. She's a pretty emotionally charged person (sometimes to her detriment), but can pretty reasonably balance that out with logic and common sense.

Favorite past times with Kim: Exchanging recipes (I gotta give it up. Kim is one of the best cooks around. She introduced to the better side of asparagus), listening to her try to convince me about how great Cincinnati is, and having our Biblical/spiritual discussions (if you recall reading comments from Kim aka "Big Sis", she's one in the same).

Favorite memory of Kim: Helping her move into her first college dorm. Watching Kim be the first one in my immediate family (and one of the first in my extended family) to go to college, I was injected with desire to be a college man myself. The rest, as they say, is history...

(4) Donte:
Brief description: Let me just say that this is the first and only time that I will ever use the name "Donte". From here on out, the correct name is "Toe Joe".

Toe Joe is the "baby" in the family which, by rule, gives him a sort of entitlement. He got his nickname from being a fat baby with narrow and slanted eyes (similar to a sumo wrestler with the same name). Though he grew out that and transformed into a pretty boy, cassanova-type, the name sorta stuck.

Toe Joe is not particularly emotional or expressive (at least not in public view). But, he is pretty personable and incredibly socialable. He was always been popular (especially with the girls) and never really had an enemy to speak of. I suspect that it has more to do with his laid back demeanor, his humor, and his wit than anything else. Toe Joe is one of the types of people that you can get pretty upset with, but never really hate. Truth be told, Toe Joe and I really couldn't stand each other when we were both living together at home. But once we both moved out on our own, we started to get pretty close.

Maybe it was a bit of a foreshadow, but Toe Joe; being the baby of the family; was the first (and so far, the only) child in our family to produce a baby himself. You remember him, right? Ever since Landon ventured over to this side, Toe Joe's outlook has changed. He's a lot more open and expressive (especially when it comes to Landon), and a lot more responsible. But, even with everything going on, Toe Joe is still Toe Joe.

Favorite past times with Toe Joe: Blasting him for flaking me when I visited (I was in Florida for four days and saw him for about three hours. To this day, he claims that he was "busy"), Feuding between his San Francisco 49ers and my Dallas Cowboys, counting the number of shoes he has, having three-way conversations with Robin where we talk about our dysfunction extended family.

Favorite memory of Toe-Joe: Hating him for being so spoiled as child. Momma and Daddy used to let him get away with murder...the little brat. One time, he went crying to my dad telling him that our cousin threw him out the window. Just to appease him, my dad yelled at the poor cousin! Sigh! That was the story growing up...

(5) The parents:

Dad:

Brief discussion: It's no accident that I don't have a picture of my old man. That just goes to show that I really don't have a whole lot to share about my dad. I assure you: It's not from a lack of knowing him. He's just not very dimensional. He doesn't really have much of a personality, he keeps mainly to himself, and he's one of the most introverted people I know (with us, anyway). I suspect that I get that from him. This isn't to say that my dad is completely indifferent to everything that goes on around him. In his life, he's dealt with a divorce, the loss of three brothers, his father, and his stepmother. While he was obviously pretty emotional about those things, he's emerged from those events unscathed.

To make up for not being very open and parentally affectionate, my old man compensated by being a strong provider for the family. He'd make sure that we were taken really good care of; along with other people in our family, our friends, or whoever just happened to be in the room at the time. Even to this day, he still tries to pass out money like Jehovah's Witnesses pass out Watch Towers. So, if anybody needs some money let me know.

Interestingly, though, ever since he and my mother divorced, he has a different outlook on things. He's been more open with us, jokes more, and doesn't shield his emotions as much. Growing up as a kid, we'd be luck to get him to crack a smile, much less to be completely open about things. But I guess that having some changes occur in his life and dealing with the self actualization that comes with getting older, has caused him to reevaluate certain things in his life. Who knows for sure?

Favorite past times with my dad: Going to wrestling events as kids, coming up with schemes (with Toe Joe) to secretly throw away the hideously disgusting egg omelettes he used to make for breakfast, personally delivering our lunch (and sometimes lunch for our friends) at school. Teaching each of us to drive at least one year before driver's education.

Favorite memory of my dad: The first time he looked me in the eye and apologized for the wrong he caused in our family. To this day, that stands as the most significant thing he's every said to me.

Momma:
Brief description: Similar to the soap operas that she loves to watch, my mom is an emotional roller coaster. One day I love her to death; the next day I want to strangle her; and then I go back to loving her the day after that.

For starters, my mom is the perfect family figure. She has an unmatched love for kids (you can imagine that she's been on cloud nine with Landon), was a loving and devoted wife for years (I still say that she got the short end of the stick with her former marriage), and took pride in doing the laborous domestic work. Affectionately nicknamed "Cookie", her cooking skills, for example, set her apart from the pack.

Being a housewife never really lended Momma to developing herself outside of the home. She never really had what you call a career, only had a brief stint with college, and never really did much socializing and traveling outside of church (in her defense, though, some of that had to do with my old man being so introverted). I think that's always hung heavy on her; especially since some of her older sisters were just the opposite (had careers, traveled, and were more sociable). But after her divorce, she became a lot more active, social, and outgoing; sometimes to her detriment.

My mom makes questionable and costly decisions most of the time, which usually are a product of her naivety. And even though we usually wind up fixing her problems for her, it's hard to stay upset with her. The fact remains that she has a heart of pure gold, a deep spiritual connection to God, a love for her family and friends, and is probably one of the nicest people you'll ever know.

Favorite past times with my mom: getting scared to death by her ghost stories (to this day, I believe that a ghost named "Miss Mary" lives in the house), throwing down on her dressing (Sorry Diane, but I think my mom's dressing can beat anybody's), and watching her sing in the choir.

Favorite memory of my mom: Taking her to her first Detroit Pistons game. Though the Pistons were on the losing end of that game, we had a blast together.

There you have it. That's my family. Is there any wonder why I'm so crazy?! Just kidding!

Seriously, though we're all separated by hundreds of miles, my family is...and always will be...the closest thing to my heart. I love you guys!

- ACL

My chosen path

Not too long ago, I was in deep contemplation about a crossroad that I’ve been facing. Do I leave my church or do I stay?

Well, I think I’ve made my decision. Or, to put it another way: I think my decision was made for me.

Without getting in the explicit details, my pastor pulled a REALLY FOUL number yesterday; in the middle of worship service no less. He blatantly lied against someone and blasted him in front of the entire congregation. Interestingly, he did so immediately after he “apologized” to the guy for a previous scuff. Don’t get me wrong: I don't necessarily feel bad for the man whom my pastor attacked. He’ll be fine. He’s a big boy and is more than able to spiritually handle his affairs. What bothered me most was what this situation represented: an insecure pastor who has to validate and protect himself at other people’s expense. That, to me, is not a healthy body.
That’s why my decision has been made for me.

That’s why I’m leaving.

**Digression**

The truth is: if I hadn't grown up in my church (my whole family went there so it was a given that I’d be there too), I would've probably left a long time ago. While we're at it: I probably would not have ever chosen a place like this as my church home to begin with. I never put much thought into being there. I was really there because everybody else was. Simply put: being there seemed like the easy and appropriate thing to do.

Sadly, after being with this particular church for over 20 years, I can only remember a handful of important sermons, a few worship experiences, and a tiny morsel of cases where I can recall actually being “fed”. Perhaps the saving grace of it all; the thing that makes sense out of my time at this church; are the relationships that I’ve built over the years. I was talking to one of my best friends the other night and we spent a couple of hours reminiscing about our childhood experiences at the church and all the fun we had. Although many of my relationships have dematerialized over the years; almost to the point where I’m now just another face in the crowd, they have always been the most important and significant part of my time at this church. I think that I put up with all the church’s nonsense (past and present) because of the J.D.’s, the A.D.’s, the R.R.’s, and the J McQ’s, in the congregation whom I know and love (I used initials here to ensure anonymity. They know who they are…). Above everything else, these people help to make up my spiritual lifestyle.

In some ways, I would argue that my only legitimate reason for being at church (lowercase “C”) was to create, build, sustain and edify relationships with other believers who have accepted God. From those relationships, you can then form the Church (capital “C”). I don’t think that I’d have as much of issue with the instituion of church (lowercase “C”) if it didn’t try to be the end all for spiritual growth and development. All of the attributes of the Church (capital “C”), like love, forgiveness, tolerance, patience, humility, compassion, selflessness, etc., have been replaced and substituted by the programming and routine of church (lowercase “C”). Yesterday morning, for instance, to make up for the fact that we were finished with morning service before the end of our radio broadcast, we filled in the remaining time by doing some fake, half-assed attempt at worshipping. D’oh! Was that a worship experience or was it another example of service being dictated by program?

Things only get worse when my pastor pulls the foul numbers that he did yesterday.

** End of digression **

Don’t get me wrong: I think that we should always remain in prayer for our leaders. We should always love and support them, even when they screw up. But, I refuse to believe that we have to tolerate their antics when they’re done so blatantly and disrespectfully as to tear down another person. As the Bible reminds us, we all sin and fall short of God’s glory. But do we all intentionally fall short while using the power of the pulpit; the very place where you should be sharing God’s word?! If this is the behavior I’m to expect from my leader, I need to go elsewhere.

All things being equal, I plan to let him know that I’m leaving and exactly why I’m leaving. To just get up and leave is not only irresponsible on my behalf, but I believe that God would hold me accountable if I did that.

Make no mistake abou it: I'll always keep the church and its pastor in my prayers and I'll always consider it home. But I'm done with that place.

- ACL

Controversy strikes again

I have a friend who; unbeknownst to me until recently; reads my blog a lot. She told me that, while some of my posts are pretty interesting, none of them are profound enough to generate too much discussion. Ten, fifteen or (on a good day) twenty responses will be all the discussion generated from one of my posts.

"Some of your posts are a little controversial. But, you need some truly hard hitting stuff," she told me.

Alright then. Fine…

Pat Robertson is a great evangelist. Benny Hinn is a true healer. Rev. Run really is a hip hop prophet. Slave labor isn’t all that bad. All gays are going to Hell. Jesus actually WAS a Republican. Paris Hilton deserves all the attention she receives. We really should post the Ten Commandments everywhere. Global warming is a lie. The Middle Passage was fictional. Bush really did win both of presidential elections fairly. Brokeback Mountain should have won the Academy Award for Best Movie. Myspace.com is a great place to socially interact and exchange intellectual thought. Democrats aren’t stupid after all. Season three of Nip Tuck didn’t suck. OJ is innocent. Jerry Falwell would make a terrific Secretary of Defense. Britney Spears is a terrific mother. Male “fashion experts” aren’t gay. Nice guys actually finish first. Mega churches are FAR better than smaller, more need-meeting churches. Bush's lack of intelligence is overstated. Criss Angel actually can walk on water. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes make a great couple. Allowing gay marriage will lead to people marrying animals; which is good since people should be able to marry animals anyway if they truly love them. Baptists are the only people going to Heaven. 50 cent is a true role model. I love being a white man.

Controversial enough for you? :)

- ACL

Here one minute, gone the next...

My Inbox is getting pretty full. My phone hasn't stopped ringing (well, except for that brief moment because I didn't pay my bill. *Digression* Don't ever add a person, especially an unreliable person to your cellular contract. *End of digression*). At one point, I even got a few visitors at home.

Wow.

There really is something to this whole "being missing-in-action" thing.

Apparently, taking a brief hiatus to battle influenza, to get caught up in class, and to manage a pretty heavy workload in the office was just the impetus I needed to get a hoard of people to try and track me down. On the one hand, I think it's pretty refreshing and comforting to know that people out there actually are concerned about a brotha. They seem to have a vested interest in my welfare and appear to take notice when I'm not around.

But why is it that when I am around, I'm like vapor?

Am I living in one of those strange worlds where I need to be missing in order to be noticed? Is my existence so routinized that I could be standing right there in a person's face and not be seen?

Maybe.

I guess, in a way, we're all like that.

We never know what we're missing until it's gone...

- ACL

Thoughts on 9/11

Hi all!

I'm really sorry for being MIA lately. I've been unbearably swamped lately. Classes are killing me, work just won't seem to stop piling up on me, and I've been battling a pretty bad case of the flu. But, thanks to you all for your concern, your emails, phone calls, and prayers. It's more appreciated that you realize.

As it stands, I'm still not feeling all that great today, but I really needed to shift my mind away from all of that. So, in keeping up with my nature, I thought I'd share my thoughts on the significant happenings around the world.

It just so happens that the day is September 11th.

On this day, half a decade ago, the world as we know it was completely thrown off its axis. To anyone who has lived on the apparently non-existent planet called Pluto, today marks the fifth anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks. Amidst all the remembrance and reflection of this tragedy, the country has been injected with a new wave of patriotism. Incidentally, though; for many people patriotism and religion have dangerously gone hand-in-hand. Event like 9/11 provide the impetus for such a dangerous blend.

What the incidents surrounding and proceeding 9/11 have taught me is that too many “Christian” Americans find it difficult to separate their politically lives and their beliefs. This is particularly disturbing to me because many Evangelical Christians – especially those on the right – shape their politics using Old Testament Judaism rather than New Testament Christianity. The way I see it, the political and Christian arenas don’t blend well because true Christianity is based on love, serving others, tolerance, forgiveness and selflessness; concepts that are often steamrolled by the industry of politics. Religiosity and politics, on the other hand, are perfect compliments to one another; especially since there is an inherent need to compromise religion for the purpose of gaining political power. That – to me – explains why the “perversity” of homosexuality or abortion can weigh heavier on people’s minds than a dismal economy, inadequate health care, and terrorism. Because of these truths, people like Pat Robertson, John Ashcroft, and George Bush are in the very positions where they need to be. They are right where they belong…in power. Like so many others who use religion and patriotism interchangeably, people like this seek to usurp God’s authority by trying to act on His behalf; falsely spreading their hatred, intolerance, and unacceptance in the name of God. Does this seem like the way that the Jesus who ate and drank with sinners would respond?

I didn’t think so either.

Nevertheless, I still love my country. As much junk as I talk about America and its leaders, there isn’t another place on the planet where I’d rather live. I love that I don’t have to choose between eating and medicine. I love that I can blast the President without repercussion (One second guys. I think I hear somebody knocking on my door…). I still get moved seeing patriotic pictures and messages. I still give it up for the men and women our there fighting so that I don’t have to.

Even though some people have dubbed me militant, I’m very much in love with America.

Don’t get me wrong. Unlike many “God Bless Americans”, I don’t think that God has given our country more favor than all the other places in the world. Likewise, I’ll never believe that the way things are done here need to be the way things are done around the world. Furthermore, I don’t believe that America can truly be defined by the bigoted, intolerant, and delusional leaders in D.C. (though over half the country voted for them. But, I digress…) or by what is voted on by a bunch of old, white men inside of older, not-so-white buildings.

I don’t really know where I’m going with this particular post. But, all I can say is – for good or for bad – God has really blessed this country. But, He hasn’t blessed us so much that we should feel qualified to take His job.

God Bless America, indeed.

All of it.

- ACL