Random Rantings and Ravings

2007-04-28T10:51:00.000-07:00

Ok, so, I'm a relatively new comer to the "social justice" scene, so maybe I'm not the most appropriate person to discuss this.

While it annoys me when people pretend they're more important than they really are by buying things that nobody actually NEEDS like monstrous houses, luxury cars, the latest fashions, etc., I understand that for most people, there are significant ego/personal worth issues which accompany this type of behavior.

For "christians," however, this sort of self-indulgence is beyond reprehensible. It is not only derogatory to all others on the planet to imagine yourself important because of the contents of your wallet, but extraordinarily demeaning to Christ.

The pursuit of wealth and all its accoutrements is like slapping Christ in the face...over and over and over. Every time a person who claims to be a follower of Christ pursues monetary gain (whether or not there is direct oppression of the socially marginalized), (s)he says through actions that Christ is less powerful (not mention less desirable) than money and stuff.

I'm ranting about this becasue a friend of mine and her husband are leasing a BMW. They're my age, and definitely on the upwardly-mobile track. Am I surprised? No. Disappointed that yet another "Christian" has chosen the American Dream instead of God's dream? Absolutely.

She actually said to me, "Well, we're just leasing, so that's at least a little better."

Better because...?

Better, perhaps, in her own mind since they aren't paying for the whole car, just the first three years of depreciation, which is the biggest reason why it DOESN'T MAKE SENSE TO BUY A LUXURY CAR!!! As a past "Sales and Leasing Consultant," I know that luxury cars depreciate the fastest, since, well... how to say this...no one needs them -- that's why they're called a "luxury." A large part of the expense of luxury cars is their novelty, and all of the neat, new conveniences which were designed into this year's model. Sure, they're great to drive, have a lot of power, and are, generally speaking, safer.

However, as soon as this year's model becomes last year's model, the price plummets...by up to 25%. Seriously.

And to think -- the 20,000 children in the third world who will die of hunger TODAY will never even get to see such a finely-tuned driving machine.

If you have to buy a BMW, Lexus, or Mercedes to feel good about yourself, there's something wrong -- and don't take it out on people who can't help themselves. What's wrong with buying one used, anyway? If you're really set on a Beamer, go to the used lot and save yourself 15 grand. They still drive well, and that's what cars are REALLY good for -- getting you from point A to point B.

Also, as a post script, I honestly don't care if you CAN afford it. That's not the point. "Live within your means" is advice for those with credit problems, not those with a ton of extra money floating around. Just because you have it, doesn't mean you need to spend it [on yourself].

2007-04-06T17:58:00.000-07:00

Okay, can we discuss inconsiderate drivers for a moment?

This will be the closest I've come to an actual "rant" thus far, but I really have got to say something. I really can't stand it when people drive like they're the only person on the road. Or, worse even than that, like they're the only IMPORTANT person on the road.

I was out today (Good Friday -- the day our Savior died for our sins, incidentally) and it was like it was "Crazy Driver Day", and I missed the memo. People were running red lights, going 45 in 25 zones, not a blinker to be seen, and it wasn't only SUVs or Benzes, as it is sometimes. Across the board, everyone was just rude and completely inconsiderate of everyone else around them.

It then occurred to me that this is, like many phenomena in our world, a self-perpetuating cycle. If someone treats me badly on the road (cuts me off, ignores my right-of-way, you name it) it causes me to be more agressive in the future, right? It makes me want to assert MY worth to the other divers by engaging in the same type of boorish behavior while behind the wheel, which in turn, encourages others to follow suit.

While having this realization, I was deeply saddened, because it followed on the heels of the internal question, "Will this ever get better? Will people eventually realize that this is not the way to behave?" The answer, of course, is "No."

This isn't some pathetic plea for motorists to try to change the world through "Random Acts of Kindness," though I'll never dissuade you from practicing those. It's merely a commentary on the further denegration of the fabric of our society and sense of personal responsibility.

See -- blogging IS cathartic! I started this post angry, and now I'm just depressed!

2007-03-13T07:24:00.000-07:00

It really is quite odd being a BIC music minister at a catholic school.

I was reminded of that again today, as we had Mass for the month of March. In addition to several really bad examples of poor planning and disorganization, I looked at the order of service during the homily and realized that I had no idea what one of the Eucharistic pieces was.

It turns out (after almost peeing my pants, running to the file cabinet, picking up a book, and then subsequently walking over to the campus minister -- all during the homily), that it was the same Memorial Acclamation which we sing every Mass. It was just listed as Eucharistic Acclamation instead. Add it to the list of things that went wrong this morning.

The rest of the problems were due to my lack of pre-planning and scheduling constraints, and so I'm not going to deal with those here. That's another blog, devoted to self-deprecation.

The really big deal of my BIC-ness at Trinity was in November when I was asked to plan a prayer service for Veteran's Day. THAT was new and different. We had two members of the armed services come and speak, and the choir and strings played/sang Eternal Father, Strong to Save. Wierd with a capital "W". Wierd, and also VERY uncomfortable.

Anyway, just needed to decompress a bit.

2007-03-05T04:03:00.000-08:00

So, yesterday (I'm not sure why), I dusted off Utopia and pulled it off the shelf. Though I think perhaps I've read this before, I don't really remember any of it, so I'm inclined to doubt it. I have pretty bad reading retention, so maybe not, but usually books are at least familiar to me if I've read them before.

At any rate, More says a few things (through his character "Nonsenso" which popped out at me. The first, I think is exceptionally appropriate for our situation as a country right now, with a president who seems to style himself rather royally:

"To start with, most kings are more interested in the science of war -- which I don't know anything about, and don't want to -- than in useful peacetime techniques. They're more anxious, by hook or by crook, to acquire new kingdoms than to govern their existing ones properly."

That pretty much sums it up, for me, though I wish that More had used the word "rulers" rather than kings, since I think that modern/post-modern politics is very similar to kingship in a lot of ways, especially at the top.

Obviously, in our cultural context, it is rare that a country will use military power in the ways we've seen it used, to abuse our fellow globe-mates, though every day, the real kings of the world, multi-national corporations, subjugate the Third World in virtual slavery. Lucky for us, we live in a society with both.

Later in the book, he goes on to observe the following:

"If we're never to say anything that might be thought unconventional, for fear of its sounding ridiculous, we'll have to hush up, even in a Christian country, practically everything that Christ taught. But that was the very
last thing He wanted. Didn't He tell His disciples that everything He had whispered in their ears should be proclaimed on the housetops? And most of His teaching is far more at variance with modern conventions than anything I have suggested, except in so far as His doctrines have been modified by ingenious preachers..."

I would say without questions that this is the same situation today. I wish more "Christians" would recognize the fact that Christ called us to counter-cultural lives, and not merely to go to church and talk with our friends, as if church was the Elk's club with a sermon.

Following Christ calls for sacrifice, and sacrifice for real. Who knows what we will be called to give up? Power, prestige, friendships, wealth? What is clear in Jesus's teaching is that we are called to let go of all that binds us to Earth and follow Him only, taking His direction and not our own.

I'll discuss more More tomorrow.

2007-03-04T08:02:00.000-08:00

It occurred to me this morning, as I was accosted by the pop-up ad for Wild Hogs, that African Americans (for the most part) still have to beg the white majority for credible roles in film.

Nearly 200 years after the first African Americans were employed in mass entertainment, you still have situations like we find in the aforementioned movie teaser ads:

John Travolta -- "The Rich Guy"
William H. Macy -- "The Geek"
Tim Allen -- "The Family Man"

and finally, most importantly,

Martin Lawrence -- "The Plumber"

This really is quite disgraceful. Martin Lawrence, like his minstrel show forbearers (of the 1840s) is playing rude stereotypes in the movie. These stereotypes were created in the 1820s and were successful entertainment until the middle of the twentieth century. Well, actually, I guess successful even today.

This, for all of those of you who say that African Americans don't need whites to "level the playing field", is a perfect example that they do. There are deep-seated, systemic patterns of racism and predjudice that we don't even realize we subscribe to, yet subscribe we do, and we think it's really funny that Martin Lawrence says the things he says and acts so "black".

It is these types of predjudice which encouraged Sen. Joe Biden to call Barak Obama "literate", as if that was the crowning acheivement of his lifetime -- to actually be an educated African American, almost as if it wasn't even possible. Shameful.

At the same time, though, I know that I do it too, maybe I just don't open my mouth. It's almost worse that way, though, because I don't have the whole world to correct me when I fail to respect others.

In any event, I was disappointed to see that tag. I'm boycotting the movie.

2007-03-03T21:50:00.000-08:00

I think that Leviticus gets a bad rap.

Is it the most scintillating reading ever? No. Not really even a little bit. However, it’s in the Bible for a reason, and forgetting about it doesn’t help us in our relationship with God.

I’m not saying that I’m going to read all Leviticus, all the time, but I really think it’s important to know what goes on there in order to clarify the depths of gratitude we owe our Savior for his sacrifice on the cross.

Leviticus details the specifics of the sacrifices which needed to be made to God in order for the Israelites to maintain their holiness before Him as His people. EVERY time a person thought they had sinned, they were responsible to make a “sin” offering to God to absolve them of their guilt.

In reduction, this sin offering was to be a perfect male specimen without any sort of physical blemish or fault, the kind of animal you want to sire next year’s offspring. This animal represents not only your very best now, but your very best next year, and the year after, etc. Those who could afford it were to bring a bull, and if you couldn’t afford that, a goat or sheep, and finally a bird if you were really poor.

You were to take this animal to the priests, who would follow very specific instructions (which Moses has preserved for us numerous times throughout the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) given by God as to how the animal was to be sacrificed.

This was to be done EVERY TIME you or one of your family members sinned.

There were other offerings, too, but the point of the discussion is that God’s holiness is a serious thing. I know that I often forget that, and I suspect most persons of the “modern” era are guilty of the same offense. We are self-sufficient, and our worship services are not really sacrificial in nearly the same way as the Hebrews in the first millennium B.C. We know that Jesus died for us, and even if we celebrate the Eucharist at every service and we have that reminder, it is not nearly so REAL as it was to the Jews.

If this sort of sacrifice was necessary simply in order to be one of God’s people, Jesus took that obligation away from us on the cross. He paid all of those sin offerings for us all, for the rest of time. That’s HUGE.

But how many of us go about our daily lives, not really thinking in the least about that sacrifice, and sin innumerable times, innumerable ways without even thinking of Jesus’ love?

The fact of the matter is that we are able, as a result of Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice, to completely forget that it’s even necessary. While I’m sure that the repercussions of that are not lost on the Divine persons, I would imagine that all of us would do well to remember that sacrifice has meaning, and it used to be a lot more. How much do I sacrifice as a general rule to worship God? What do I give up in order to show God that I love Him and appreciate what he did for me?