Filed under: culture, just news, justice, politics, sexuality | Tags: Referendum 71
It’s interesting to me that in a place as “progressive” and “free-thinking” as Seattle, there is still a considerable amount of controversy and indecision over Washington State’s Referendum 71, which would re-confirm the expansion of domestic partnership rights to equal those of marriage.
You know you’ve caught the nation’s attention when Colbert Nation starts making fun of Washington state. Though predictable in his sarcasm, Colbert is hilarious, and in the spirit of the Daily Show, his observations are both comedic and cutting. This is news satire at its best. (more…)
Filed under: global, just news, justice, life and death, media | Tags: One Day's Wages
Sometimes I regret my habitual tendency to check the news at the beginning of my day. I suppose it’s an entirely normal routine, given the information saturation of our society, but in many ways, browsing stories like this one just reinforces my desensitization to violence and global disparities.
While it’s good to be reminded of the ordinary people caught up in these terrible circumstances, doesn’t it also seem at least somewhat unfortunate that part of our “normal” existence in the West is to compartmentalize and insulate ourselves from the harsh realities of our global neighbors? We may want to care, but we’ve been socially conditioned into a million justifications that free us from accountability. And we certainly don’t see ourselves as complicit, so why bother? (more…)
As I wrote about the urban context in my dissertation this week, the irony in the process struck me as I was explaining the significance of the street corner through the lyrics of Common’s “The Corner,” a tribute to the corner’s place in urban life. Translating into academic terms (for Christians, no less) what most any kid in the ghetto innately understands seems silly, but there it is. Meanwhile, I also came across this classic Black Star track, “Respiration,” which continues the urban poetry.
Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann has said on numerous occasions that one of the primary roles of the prophets was that of the public poet. If poetry does indeed have the capacity to convey prophetic language, then these urban lyricists are street prophets in the truest sense. (more…)
Starting tomorrow evening at Seattle First Presbyterian Church, the annual Film, Faith & Justice event begins their fourth series of films, lectures, and panel discussions as they seek to “grow awareness, foster critical dialogue, and catalyze change toward a more just world.”
This will be my fourth time at FFJ, but first time as a panelist and moderator, so I’m looking forward to a different experience this time around. Naturally, I’m aware of the irony and “hipster-activist” cliché involved with this type of event (which predictably attracts mostly educated, white, privileged people), but I do still think it can be a useful forum for starting conversations that might actually go somewhere. (more…)
In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue… the colonizer came with the cross and the sword. Today is Columbus Day, a “holi-day” you should hardly consider “holy.”
Discoro Téofilo's "First Landing of Columbus on the Shores of the New World"
Granted, there is certainly some historical significance to Columbus’ pseudo-”discovery” of the New World, but given what we now know about the horrific legacy of colonization as it was forced upon the indigenous peoples of the Americas, I find it “difficult” (an understatement) to celebrate Columbus as merely an ambitious explorer who stumbled upon the land that “civilized” Europeans so conveniently stole from a population that was systematically exploited and exterminated as if they were livestock. (more…)
It’s probably fair to say that Obama’s surprise Nobel Peace Prize this morning is as much a reflection of the world’s disdain for the former President Bush as it is an affirmation of the Obama administration’s diplomatic aspirations.
This expression is Obama's best "Are you serious?!" look.
Has Obama significantly shifted the international political rhetoric of the White House and in doing so garnered admiration on the global stage? Absolutely. But does this make him a reasonable selection for the lauded Nobel Peace Prize? Not so much. (more…)
School has started, the infamous Seattle rain has arrived, and the summer is now officially a fading memory. So here are some random shots from our summer, mostly about Jonas toddling around, of course.
Apparently, we’ve become those parents at the mall who subject their innocent children to cliched poses and photo props. Yes, that’s a fake rose, and no, Jonas is not taking piano lessons yet. Just for the record, Chris went because she found some coupon and I wasn’t even actually there. Genuine candids after the jump. (more…)
