Female Fight Club: Why We Should Put Down Our Gloves

Great article over at The Well. And has challenged me to think about the groups of people/women I tend not to hang out with. (It's also written by a former roommate of mine). http://www.intervarsity.org/gfm/well/resource/female-fight-club

Media Monday: Does Jesus Have an Answer for Racism?

Saint Louis University from InterVarsity-twentyonehundred on Vimeo.
One of the videos Matt worked on this year was a documentary on how the InterVarsity chapter at St. Louis University has been responding to the acts of racism on their campus.

Having grown up in a white church, I know there the problem of racism is often ignored either out of ignorance or being uncomfortable with the issue. When I got to college and was confronted with the reality that racism still is a major problem, I realized I lacked the knowledge, tools and even faith to believe that racism can be overcome.

That's one reason whey I like this video so much. It asks a question that I think many of us deeply wonder: does Jesus have an answer for racism? And can Christians be a part of the healing that God wants to offer in this area?

Personally I think the only way racism will ever be overcome is through the mercy and help of God. And that's something I have hope in every time I see students and staff taking risks like the ones in this video.

"The Coming Conflict of Civilization"

Os Guinness is perhaps one of my more favorite modern day thinkers. Today I stumbled across this talk he gave in 1994 at the University of Michigan during a Veritas Form.

His talk gives a good perspective on where we are today as a global society, how different civilizations are attempting to survive in it and how we as Christians fit into it. He raises some interesting questions such as has knowledge replaced wisdom today? Have "words" lost their authority in our world? It's worth listening to if you have 3o minutes or so. (click here to listen)

Affirmative action over?

While Congress has been busy debating and rejecting immigration bills, the Supreme Court has been equally busy in a quieter but perhaps just as racially charged issue. Today a "bitterly divided U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday issued what is likely to be a landmark opinion -- ruling that race cannot be a factor in the assignment of children to public schools" (see full CNN article or see Parents involved in community schools v. Seattle School Dist. #1) .

The gist of the ruling basically comes down to the fact that schools can not use race as a factor in accepting or denying a student to a school.

"School boards may pursue the goal of bringing together students of diverse backgrounds and races through other means, including strategic site selection of new schools;drawing attendance zones with general recognition of the demographics of neighborhoods; allocating resources for special programs; recruiting students and faculty in a targeted fashion; and tracking enrollments, performance, and other statistics by race." (see full ruling).

So basically, you can target a racial group and encourage them to apply, however when making the final decisions on acceptance to a school, you can not use race as a determination factor. Does anyone else find this odd?

"Reading his concurring opinion from the bench, the 70-year-old justice said, "This nation has a moral and ethical obligation to fulfill its historic commitment to creating an integrated society that ensures equal opportunity for all its children'" (CNN article). (equal opportunity meaning race can not be used as a factor in school acceptance). I have to admit what is most frustrating about that statement and the opinion of the majority of the supreme court is that the nation is not fulfilling it's commitment to create an integrated society that gives equal opportunity for all of its children. In many ways one could argue that our nation is becoming more segregated than it was 50 years ago. This ruling in my opinion almost suggests that there is no commitment.

What will be interesting to watch is how this ruling gets applied in real life. The case was brought by parents of High Schoolers, but the decision will ultimately have some huge implications for even colleges and universities.


Other sites commenting on this case:
North Western
Cornell Law

"I repent"

It's far to easy to point out the blatant things in life worth repenting over. But then there are other sins, much more subtle, that we often fail to fall to our knees over. This is a powerful video pointing out just a handful of those subtle things that we often ignore or want to deny as being worth repenting of. I highly recommend checking this video out on faith visuals (click here)

Outsourcing charity

Every now and then I stumble across a quote that makes me stop and think. The following is one such quote from Dan's blog "On Journeying with those in Exile."

"Unfortunately, just as the outsourcing of blue-collar jobs devastated life in many North American inner-cities, so the outsourcing of charity work has had a similarly devastating impact upon the life of the Church. Generally what we find are Christians who provide others with the material resources that those others need in order to engage in charitable actions. So, for example, instead of feeding the hungry, they make a financial donation to a soup kitchen; instead of clothing the naked, they give some used clothes to the Salvation Army; instead of inviting the homeless poor into their homes, they donate some money to a homeless shelter. Consequently in these (and other) ways, charity is outsourced. Christians have learned how to share material resources with the poor, while also ensuring that their actual lives are well separated from the poor. Therefore, if we are to learn to share our lives together with the poor, we must move beyond this approach to charity." -Dan

This is a pretty powerful thought. I mean sit with it for a minute. Has the giving away of monetary charity become a hindrance to living out the calling in Isaiah 58: 6-10? This is not to say that we are not called by God to be good stewards of our money and to give away as much as we can to those in need...but I'm struck by how often tithing money can seem like enough or become an excuse.

Every month Matt and I write our checks out to various organizations, feel really good about the "good deeds" we just accomplished and then go about our lives grateful that someone else is doing the dirty work of working with the poor or evangelizing. And I think that is what has been so convicting about this quote. It's confronted me with the fact that in many ways I am grateful that there is someone else "dividing their bread with the hungry and bringing the homeless poor into their house; covering those who are naked." Deep down a part of me does believe that by supporting those people monetarily, I can excuse myself%2

Food Stamp Challenge

I was on a fellow staff worker's blog and noticed his reference to a challenge in Oregon that was reported on by NPR.org. I guess Oregon is issuing a challenge to spend only $21.00 a week on food which is the typical amount someone on food stamps has to spend. Even the governor has decided to try and survive only on $21.00 a week.

His grocery store shopping trip is detailed in this, The Register Guardian, article: Governor struggles on food stamp budget:

"Coffee and organic bananas weren't the only casualties: The governor pined wistfully for canned Progresso soups, but at $1.53 apiece, they were too dear. He settled instead for a collegiate staple, three packages of Cup O'Noodles for 33 cents apiece. Kulongoski also gave up his usual Adams natural, no-stir peanut butter in favor of a generic store brand, but drew the line at saving money by buying a 21st century innovation: peanut butter and jelly in the same jar. "

What's even worse is according the the challenge rules, you have to start with empty cupboards!

It's pretty sobering to think of what $21.00 a week on grocery's would look like. Matt and I try to survive on $60-$80 a week on groceries. Sometimes we succeed, sometimes not. We'd have to cut so much out to get down to $21.00 a week. No soda, no chips, no canned soups, no instant breakfast, no bagels, no stakes, no ice cream. It'd be an interesting challenge to try for a month.