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A La Carte (6/30)
- 06/30/10
- 17
Manute Bol’s Radical Christianity - It was interesting to see an article like this one in the Wall Street Journal. “Manute Bol, who died last week at the age of 47, is one player who never achieved redemption in the eyes of sports journalists. His life embodied an older, Christian conception of redemption that has been badly obscured by its current usage.”
The Yahoo Word List - Yahoo has a very helpful resource “terms related to communications, technology, branding, and other topics that our U.S. editors have encountered frequently.” It’s a great place to check for the spelling of terms, the proper way to do acronyms, and so on.
A Question for Liberty - Justin Taylor has just one question he’d like to have answered by the trustees of Liberty University. And if you’ve kept up with the Ergun Caner controversy, you can guess what the question is. “Was Dr. Caner raised in Turkey as a Muslim terrorist trained in jihad?”
Corporate Sin - I don’t know how I missed this article when it was first posted a couple of weeks ago. In it John Dyer talks about our responsibility in the BP disaster. “If we’ve ever complained about rising gas prices or the cost of air travel, we are participating in the world that drives companies like BP to cut costs. We want them to. We need them to. We don’t really want to know what BP is doing as long as it keeps our vehicles fueled and our computers powered. Not unlike Al Gore, who talks about the environment from the comfort of his personal jet, we love to talk about BP’s problems while consuming the product they provide at every opportunity.”
Shedding Some Light on Twilight - Mary Kassian interacts with the first two Twilight movies, suggesting what it is about them that has drawn in so many girls (and women). “It’s not surprising that young girls are falling for [Edward]. But sadly, their enthusiasm for being the leading lady in a heart-gripping romance lacks discernment. The movie grips them at such a deep emotional level that they shrug off the glaring warnings that indicate that this particular relationship is unhealthy. It’s a counterfeit version of a fairy-tale romance. It looks good and attractive on the surface, but the underlying darkness in Edward will most certainly lead to disaster for Bella. It may go well for a time, but in the end, it will kill her. She’s playing with fire, and she’s going to get burned.”
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I worship and serve as a pastor at 
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Comments (17)
While I agree in principle with the sins of BP being on all of us , I do not think the average person on the street is as guilty as BP . The oil companies have been raking in huge profits , and I mean huge profits . Plus as the story unfolds about BP’s conduct with this well it is clear that they have a huge responsibility . Yes we want cheap gas and oil , because as of right now we are dependent on it . In cold climates especially in winter months and if the price of fuel sky rocketed many would struggle to eat or pay their rent or mortgage. But cmon , companies like BP still have enough profitability to have been more diligent with safety and the government needs to become more aggressive in making sure safety standards are adhered to. Plus there is a big difference in some ordinary “joe” trying to make ends meet and the hypocrisy of an Al Gore.
I thought the “Corporate Sin” article was particularly unfair. While I would agree that our oil consumption on the whole needs to be addressed, I think it is wrong to lay the blame at the feet of American citizens for BP’s illegal actions. We ask for less expensive gas from ALL oil companies (who during the second worst economic crises in history have continued to increase earnings every year by more than +300% ). BP has the worst track record over the past few years in this country by continuously cutting corners and being cited for breaking OSHA safety regulations.
They alone are responsible for their decisions and actions, regardless of market pressures. And no, we should not blame the victims. (even though it ought to point toward our unhealthy dependency on oil and make us want to both conserve more and seek healthier alternatives.)
I don’t think we need to agree with all of the article to get some value out of it.
I’d compare it to WalMart. We all get outraged when we hear about WalMart hiring 4-year olds to work 27 hour days to manufacture our cheap clothing. Yet the reality is that WalMart is simply what we all really want—the answer to “How can I get tons of stuff for very little money.” And there’s a sense in which BP is the same.
So don’t necessarily take the article to its deepest conclusions. But still think about it…
I think the author of the Twilight article takes things a bit too far. If you choose not to let your daughter watch the movie or read the books, fine. Just decide that based on your own conscience and move on. (Although I might argue that reading it yourself would better permit you to explain your reasons to your daughter).
But to take this series to task, when they are so obviously written as modern versions of classic romance stories (like Romeo and Juliet - with the vampire twist, of course!) is to say that there is nothing redeeming about the entire genre. I would much rather allow my daughter to read the book and watch the movies WITH ME, and engage her as to the dangerous themes than to banish them as evil and thus alienate her affection and tempt her to read them behind my back. There are so many other genres of books and movies that are definitely off-limits, that I would rather use the popularity of these as a means to teach discernment.
In the Manute Bol article, Jon Shields writes,
“He was not blessed, however, with great athletic gifts.”
WHAT??????
The guy made it INTO THE NBA. Anyone in the NBA, by definition, has “great athletic gifts.”
Maybe he wasn’t as great as the best, or even the average, in the NBA (which is the point he was making), but how can you say that someone who plays basketball at the American professional level lacks “great athletic gifts?” SHEESH!!
Other than that bit of nonsense, it was a very good article. But talk about tunnel vision!
I think Dyer’s BP blog post is the height of theological idiocy and unbiblical self-abasement.
This is the kind of heavy-weight-on-the-shoulders Legalism that burdens so many Christians who are directly or inadvertently taught to focus on themselves and their sins, instead of on Jesus Christ, Who not only has forgiven their sins, but Whose Life is being lived through them to will and to do for His good pleasure.
Think: there are literally *billions* of sins going on at any given moment on Earth.
A false religionist in India, for example, may be persecuting Christians. In theory, if we had prayed yesterday specifically for a village in India and its persecution of Christians, or better yet had volunteered years ago as missionaries to that Indian village, we might have prevented that persecution.
Of course, then some Wal-Mart store may have abused an employee in Denver, while we were off wasting our time in India.
So we should ruminate on our corporate sin of Indian persecution?
This is Legalistic insanity!
“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” - Gal. 5:1
As both a former missionary to Sudan and a fan of Manute’s NBA career, this was an incredible article to read in a major American newspaper. I will be sharing this article with my young teenage son who is a basketball fan and, like me, always needs to hear how the Gospel can continuously impact lives, even in the NBA.
What may be even more refreshing than the message of the Manute Bol article was the fact that it was written by anyone from the Claremont College system.
With respect to the consumer indictment found in the BP article, it seems that the author has made an effort (although not a particulalry good one) at spiritualing the oil spill. To suggest that the simplest of ecomonic models (supply/demand) is implicitly sinful is kind of a stretch. To insist, as the author does, that when consumers ask for lower prices they share reponsibility for the decision making of the supplier that leads to the means by which they provide those lower prices, is absurd on its face. The supplier and the supplier alone is responsible, and accountable for the decisions he makes in the service of complying with his customers requests. A purchaser asking for or even insisting on lower prices does not rule out moral, ethical and legal means of achieving lower costs for the supplier, which would enable him to offer lower prices while still profiting. Nor does a purchaser asking for or even insisting on lower prices require that immoral, unethical or illegal means be pursued to achieve those lower cost and thereby lower prices.
The relative purchasing power for consumers to ask for, or even insist upon lower prices is wrapped up in simple economics. They either have the power to do so or they do not, based on supply and demand. On those occasions when they do have that power, it is an amoral persuasion to the supplier. The ball is in his court as to HOW or IF he chooses to comply with the customers’ request.
An excellent article on Manute Bol. I had to look twice to see what publication it was from (WSJ). Wow.
Tim,Your example of Walmart is exactly what I’m getting at.
Chuck, that’s a good point. It’s as though people with degenerative diseases are being sinful for wanting to be healthy, just because some *other* people take that desire as a mandate to experiment on embryos. There is a difference between saying (or thinking in your heart)”I would like gas to be cheap” and saying “I would like gas to be cheap at all ethical costs.” Unless you’re doing the second, you’re not corporately guilty for BP’s foolish actions in their desire to be competitive.
man…where was the spell checker when I needed it….”particularly”, “spiritualizing”, “economic”, “responsibility”
In defense of Dyer’s post: only mentioning one aspect of the guilt in a problem does not deny the presence of other aspects. It can be useful to zero in on one specific problem to highlight that problem and focus our attention on it temporarily, and heighten the effect of that by dealing with it alone. I think that the article would have been less effective at provoking thought on our role in the BP crisis if it would have been less focused and spent time on surrounding issues. There is a place for nuanced discussion of the contextual complexities of an issue, and there is a place for focused writing that temporarily sets them aside to hone in on a single point.
I am not John Dyer, nor am I telepathic, so I don’t know what all was going on in his head as he wrote this post. But if you are inclined to dismiss it as incomplete or misdirected, first re-think it and see if your criticism still stands. Aim for charitable judgement, and recognize that only mentioning one thing is not the same as stating that it is the only thing. And I quote from the article (emphasis mine): “The BP oil spill, then, is not just about the individual sins of a single, evil corporation bent on squeezing every last dollar out of the earth’s core. It is also about the corporate sin of humanity bent toward selfishness at every turn.” That doesn’t sound like placing all the blame at the feet of the average American citizen to me or like legalism to me. It sounds a lot more like a call to think about the crisis in a different light, to contemplate what role we may have to play in it.
Do we need to walk through every day burdening ourselves with unhelpful guilt over every crime we may have had a small, indirect part in fostering? No. Is it helpful to occasionally ponder the impact we have on the world and what we are financing? Absolutely. Our sin, both as individuals and as the human race, is greater than we can fully know this side of the grave. Reminders of that are not just appropriate, they are essential.
Michael,
You wrote, “Is it helpful to occasionally ponder the impact we have on the world and what we are financing? Absolutely.”
Sounds good, but…
1. I think it could be demonstrated that every dollar we spend on *anything* could blaze a trail, however distant, to some sin or other.
2. The logical conclusion of that is that we should immediately repent of ever purchasing *anything*, particularly at a good price.
We could, of course, give all our money to a Christian charity for the few hours we have left to live, since we will starve soon by avoiding Wal-Mart and Kroger (oh, the sins Kroger must be committing! not the least of which could be price-gouging).
The problem with that, however, is that the Christian charity purchases goods from who-knows-what sinful places.
Pure pharasaichal legalistic insanity! On the level with the Talmud-like question, “Should a woman put a pin in her dress on the Sabbath, since carrying that added burden would be “labor”?.
3. Of course you would then have to ponder your own statement in depth and ask yourself, “HOW ‘occasionally’ should I ‘ponder’ my impact on the world and what I’m financing? Once a week? Once a day? Once an hour? Instead of my Quiet Time with the Lord this morning?”
If you *don’t* ponder the “how occasionally” question, then you *ought* to occasionally ponder it. But how occasionally should you ponder it?
And so meandered the “pondering” of the Pharisees ad infinitum, ad nauseum.
4. Much closer to the Scriptures and the heart of Jesus is Augustine’s attributed line, “Love God, and do what you will.”
He will lead us individually by His Word and His Spirit.
Let’s not put a guilt trip on believers already tainted with Legalism, by going beyond the Scriptures and implying that buying our groceries is some kind of 15th-tier corporate sin.
I’m not sorry I demand more, cheaper oil. And I don’t think I contributed to any corporate sin by doing so.
To imply that a desire for more, cheaper oil forces companies to be deliberately lax with their safety is irresponsible.
My husband wants more, cheaper dinner but I never steal or torch the kitchen or serve tainted food, regardless. That would be my sin. Not his.
If anyone wants to feel some guilt, let it be those who through litigation and irrational screeds stopped responsible drilling on land and at the coastline, where it can be more easily cleaned up if there is an accident. They forced it to the deep sea, which is extremely remote and very difficult to deal with.
Add to the list of penitents BP, who bought with bribes the winks of inspectors. Also, the inspectors who looked away.
Finally, the Obama administration, who gleefully accepted the big donations and obviously exchanged some giant “get out of inspection free cards” in return. Once their chicken came home to roost, they refused international aid because they “owe” our unions; and denied Governors of affected states the right to build berms and dredge, I presume because the Governors are Republicans, so their states can go to pot.
It is not the consumers’ fault. I have plenty of sins to repent of. This is not one of them.
I think they missed the point with the Twilight article. A great place to go for this would be to listen to Mars Hill’s section on Film & Theology where there is a great talk on Twilight - how it points to spiritual realities, and points to a greater relationship with Christ which we long for, but which earthly relationships can never truly fulfill. Use Twilight to point others to Christ.
http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/cinemagogue/twilight
@ Tom re: Twilight
Exactly. While I haven’t read the books, and was mildly entertained by the first two movies, my 29 year old wife enjoyed them immensely, and gives the exact analysis as you did as for the reason why. It is mythology, and as C.S. Lewis taught, mythology is the embodiment of human longing for a deeper, more true reality. My wife is moved by the narrative because it draws on the longing and angst we all feel as sojourners and it points her to Christ- much in the way we both are moved by the narrative of Lewis’ Chronicles in a slightly different way. I think the mono-myth found in Twilight will provide vast evangelistic opportunity for decades to come, as Christians connect that story to the Gospel, by showing how the feelings it stirs are legitimate, and they are only fulfilled in Jesus, the “true Edward” (as Lewis would say, Jesus is more than Balder, not less) who puts to death the deeds of the body and raises one into new life.