Category / Culture

by adam anderson

Cleveland boy killed by police shot once, death declared homicide

I’ll be curious to see what happens here, because you almost have all of the issues that have caused concerns in other cases answered – there is video showing exactly what happened, the child had an airsoft pellet gun and wasn’t breaking the law, and an autopsy that notes homicide.

http://ift.tt/1xasGcm

by adam anderson

6 Reasons Millennials Aren’t at Your Church

After reading this article, it helps me make sense as to why we’re starting to see more folks my age in our church – I think we’re a church that demonstrates real community in an honest, unscripted kind of way. But, that being said, you want to know from my perspective the #1 reason why Millenials aren’t in your church? Because this generation is scrutinized and treated like a foreign object in a way that is unnecessarily. How about love God and serve people? That attracts me to church. That will attract everyone. Millennials are not a prize to be won; they’re broken people that need to hear the Gospel. And last I knew, that’s a description indicative of everyone.
http://ift.tt/1jXO8uz

by adam anderson

A Long Obedience

A wonderful essay by David Brooks, and I think is a great reminder that “freedom” as a concept is not the ultimate end for humanity, but that freedom is bound by the commandments (in the OT) and the Holy Spirit (in the NT, Gal 5).

That willing binding (as much as an oxymoron as it is) is what gives me a sense of richness, and a reassurance that I am not the be-all-end-all navigator of my own existence.
http://ift.tt/1gCEbzT

by adam anderson

The Money Behind the Shutdown Crisis

“…Brian Walsh, a longtime Republican operative, recently noted in U.S. News and World Report that the right is now spending more money attacking Republicans than the Democrats are. ‘Money begets TV ads, which begets even more money for these groups’ personal coffers,’ he wrote. ‘Pointing fingers and attacking Republicans is apparently a very profitable fund-raising business.'”

So two things:

1. I thought we all thought of cannibalism as something that is not ideal, and;
2. Did the GOP not realize what this did in ’08 and ’12?
via Facebook http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/18/opinion/the-money-behind-the-shutdown-crisis.html?smid=fb-share

by adam anderson

These Songs Could Have Changed Your Life: The Best Rejected Songs of the Millennium

For anyone who have some degree of sentience between 2000-2010 (Not included: anyone that has posted #yolo or #swag to twitter un-ironically), enjoy this great set list of songs that didn’t make the songs of the millennium list. The shit is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S.
via Facebook http://www.grantland.com/blog/hollywood-prospectus/post/_/id/84949/these-songs-could-have-changed-your-life-the-best-rejected-songs-of-the-millennium

by adam anderson

What a TV Show Can Teach Us About Capitalism

After some of the conversation yesterday regarding capitalism, I thought this would be a good follow-up article. And I love “Orange Is The New Black”, anyway.

Especially read page two if you get a chance. Very interesting thoughts.
via Facebook http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/25/magazine/what-a-tv-show-can-teach-us-about-capitalism.html?smid=fb-share

by adam anderson

make lent easy in five simple steps

“Pomegranate looks like any island of upscale consumerism, but deep down it is based on a countercultural understanding of how life should work.”

Maybe I’m just an old man, but I find myself disagreeing here for the same reason I get tired of the: OMG LENT IS SO HARD THANK GOD I HAVE (fill in the blank) TO MAKE IT SO EASY. Pomegranate in Brooks’ article is responding to our consumer-driven needs; adherence to rules is secondary.

Our need to be medicated by convenience is embarrassing at times. When did things like Orthodoxy and Lent become about the minimum amount of effort? I’m not saying we should flagellate ourselves in the name of piety, but I’m not really impressed that you’re making it through your Friday fast because you found some kick-ass recipe for barbeque sauce that now doesn’t make the “I’m showing how Godly I am by swallowing down vegan food I wouldn’t do normally” fast feel so difficult.

At that point it’s just the law, and it’s not the Spirit. Pretty sure Jesus wasn’t a fan of that.

And lest any of you get prickly because you’re guilty of it – I can stand right in that line, too.

Link to NYT Article

by adam anderson

garbage and whimper (sopa and pipa)

In case you’ve tried in the last few hours to check something out on Wikipedia, you’ll note that there’s a big, blacked out screen taking you to information regarding SOPA and PIPA.  In case you’ve not heard much about it, here’s a good article from Al-Jazeera in regards to the ban.

There are plenty of folks that are way wiser than me who are making thoughtful arguments about why SOPA and PIPA are bad, and I tend to agree.  If one is spending so much time being worried about whether something on their site is pirated, it will allocate precious energy away from creativity and innovation.  I’d rather not have Wikipedia wasting time on that – we see Jimmy Wales’ face more often than we’d like to now, imagine if he had to hire a bunch more staff just to check links?

I’m a person who came into his internet maturity just as Napster was in its heyday.  As such, my definitions of moral piracy are probably further down the continuum than a lot of folks, but that doesn’t mean I don’t see a value in correcting a distribution system that also stifles creativity – at least the way it’s done now.  Open sourcing, pay-what-you-want music distribution, and fee-based services like Netflix and Spotify have taken steps to move with culture and the shift in technology.  It is, in fact, possible to curtail piracy, but I think we need to recognize that it is as much a part of our lives as dubbing cassettes was 20 years ago.

As it’s been with the Occupy movement and other groans of “the-world-is-not-how-it-should-be” right now, I think that the business leaders who are trying to make decisions in the interest of their shareholders need to see what kind of economic value judgements have changed in the last generation.  If someone doesn’t want to wait the 56 days required for a new DVD, it’s easier to download it from elsewhere.  It’s too easy now.  The alternative for Warner Bros and other is either to bend to the will of the consumer, or lose money.  I believe that as time goes along, this will become a greater reality.

In the end, I think about my grandfather with his laptop at home.  I’ve taught him at least a half a dozen times to check his email, to learn how to type a letter, and to conduct simple web searches.  I would not expect him to provide thoughtful guidance on technological policy in the US.  And yet, we have individuals who are not too far off my grandfather’s age and their bedfellows determining how the internet should be policed.  It doesn’t make sense.  We do need a change, it’s true; we need the experts in the field to provide us with a thoughtful alternative.

SOPA and PIPA are garbage and whimper in Sweedish, respectively.

by adam anderson

head, heart, hands: american slavery

27,000,000 people right now as we speak are slaves in the world.

27,000,000. That’s a lot. Texas has somewhere around 23,000,000 people. That means that the entirety of Texas plus Kentucky are enslaved somewhere around the world. They’re enslaved in the sex trade, they’re enslaved in the fields, and they’re enslaved in restaurants all over, and in fact right in front of us.

This is something that shocks me. To live in 2008 and to have all of the gifts and benefits that we have, and there’s people right next to me that very well might be unable to be free. That’s wild.

It begins to make me wonder about my freedom. I think that I’m free. I woke up this morning, got breakfast, wrote this article, went to lunch, did some more work, met with some people, and later I’ll do more work and go to bed. This is my decision; I could do nothing today if I wanted to, and it’s my choice.

And I suppose it’s become my choice to sell myself, too. This morning, when I had coffee, it was Starbucks coffee. I went to lunch at Bob Evans. I’m wearing an Old Navy Sweater and Jeans. I’m addicted to selling myself to things that I want and I like.

This is not to minimize the current amount of slavery, but I really wonder if, ultimately, any of us are really free. How many of us aren’t bonded by something else.

I graduated from Grove City College with a degree with Marketing, and if there’s something I remember most in our discussions there about being a good marketer, it was that if we kept going, we’d be given a lot of power. We’d have a power of influence in people’s lives. An influence in a part of people’s lives that’s particularly important – your money and what you want. The average American is bombarded by 3,000 advertisements a day, or roughly one every 20 waking seconds. My job, as a marketer, is to make my 20 seconds stand out in your mind the most. If you want my product, you’ll buy it, and I’ll make money, find products I want and buy them from another marketer.

What enslaves us to this system, I think, is that we really don’t need half of the stuff we have, we just think we do. I know this to be true on a personal level, as my emergency food supply also known as my love handles are testament to. Marketers, as part of the equation, make me believe my wants are absolute needs, and I, like lamb to the slaughter, gladly put my money down to take what they’re selling. I even know they’re doing this, yet if it’s sexy and sleek and makes me feel better, I’ll take it.

This last week I just got back from New York City, and Times Square. Over and over again, the people with me commented on how what a den of consumerism it is. So many towering, luminous lights telling me I need WaMu, CNN, and Avenue Q. Meanwhile, there’s 27,000,000 people enslaved. I wonder if one of those pre-teen girls enslaved right now in Indonesia in the sex trade were brought to Times Square if she’d be so impressed with Washington Mutual, or if she’d just be happy that she was standing on 46th and Broadway free.

In my mind, the saddest state of slavery are those who are enslaved and don’t even know it.

by adam anderson

i hate ipods, vol ii

So last week, for what it probably the first time, I kind of got mean. Well, maybe not mean, I suppose. More like I just say as many sweet, inspirational things as I usually try to. When you open up to page 5 or 6, I want you to feel like every week there’s a guy there who is going to help you see things a little more brightly, a little more healthy, and maybe you become a little better as a result.

Last week, however, sparked something in me that I want to talk about for one more week, and then I’ll probably get back to more appealing topics, like finishing what I was going to talk about regarding grad schools.

We live in one of the most connected societies ever. If I had to get a hold of you for whatever reason, I have all sorts of options: I could write you here in the Knight, I could Facebook you, I could blog you, I could text you, I could email you, I could even send you a letter (but who does that any more).

Ironically, none of these require any sort of physical contact, which then makes me think that while we’re the most connected societies ever, we’re also one of the least connected. Which then makes me think about the iPod problem.

When I see more ears plugged with iPod than not, I can’t help but feel we’re destroying the last real places where we can contact each other: when we’re literally face to face. Again, this is not to say that I don’t love what any MP3 player can offer its owner. In an ironic twist of fate, I thought I had lost my iPod coming home from Philadelphia, but it turned out that it was just in my luggage. But still, I was a little sad. After all, I spent almost $200 on that device, and I have a hard time running without it.

It’s just at times I wonder if the one thing we want is the one thing we run away from. When I talk to my residents, my friends, and some of you folks out there, I sense the one thing you’re looking for is someone to listen to you. A friend. Someone to play racquetball with on Sunday afternoons, and maybe grab a beer and talk about life with. If I had a dollar for each person who has confided in my they’d like to get married sooner rather than later in order to share special moments and intimacy with I could retire now. That’s not even a joke.

People want to feel valued. Special. Last I knew, however, that meant actually talking to people. Not Facebooking them. Not blogging with them. It means face-to-face conversation beyond last weekend’s party.

These people are walking past you every day. Real connections are slipping by our hands because we’d rather draw into ourselves, disappearing from the world, when deep down, if we were honest, we rather talk to someone about how our day is going.

So I’ll make you all a deal. Next Tuesday, December 11th, I’ll be sitting in Waldron at noon. Talk to me. I will ask you how your day is. I will find out something I don’t know about you. And I’ll connect with you. After all, I asked you to connect with someone instead of your iPod this Christmas. I’m making it easy on you.