Archive for the ‘politics’ Category

Click the following title to read the article by Shane Claiborne, "Why I Got Arrested on Good Friday. "

When I hung out a little with and observed Shane this summer at the Envision Conference at Princeton I found out that he likes to have fun. I remember distinctly when all sorts of intellectual-ish and rather serious-personalitied ecclesial leaders were lounging around a campus green space eating lunch together. I was sitting with a graduate assistant from Yale listening to him share about his Iranian reconciliation ministry and process a session on religious pluralism with Samir Selmanovic . I looked over his shoulder and there stood Shane dancing around with bowling pins and juggling with a friend. It was beautiful! I envision him laughing all the way to the police station all-the-while remaining internally crushed and authentically in touch with the suffering of Jesus.

My friend Matt Frye commented on my last post about parenting. I was simply going to reply in the comments but his thought were too funny and legit to leave there. Here is his comment followed by my response:

"dude, remember that scene in ‘the little memaid’ where flounder and that seagull and ariel (spelling?) are naming things. like they named that fork something strange. and then she started combing her hair like it was spaghetti. man, that was funny. i don’t know why ‘the littler mermaid’ came to mind, but it did. maybe because of that scene and because of flounder the fish. and because the dad in the movie is awesome. remember that beard? and his deep voice. and his trident. and also, i feel that one does not have to be a parent, or a good parent to offer good words about parenting. like i’ve never been deep sea diving before, but if i read a few books about it i am sure that i could offer some good words. especially if the book was written by sebastion the lobster. or was he a crab? and why did he have a sweet caribean accent and everyone else spoke plain english. ok i’m done. see you daddy."

MY RESPONSE :

I know why "The Little Mermaid" came to mind. It is Kyla’s favorite movie and Ariel is her favorite character. Well… I’m not sure… she also really likes "Annie" and "Monsters, Inc." I like her favorite movies because Ariel has a substantial identity crisis and subverts the imperial reign of her father the king (though I don’t hope that I’ll need to be subverted; nor do I plan on bearing a trident or running for political office). I really hope that Kyla realizes that her identity is "in Christ" rather than being defined by voices that represent the popular appeal to human goodness or self-hatred. The fork is called a "dinglehopper" and, yes, Kyla always tries to comb her hair with her fork (which she is now beginning to use quite well unless she is stabbing peas). Sebastian is a crab not a lobster. All crabs have Caribbean accents. Or… do they? Maybe crabs speak "normally" and we’re all just too arrogant to realize that we (whoever "we" is) are the ones with the accents.

On to other movies… Annie. Annie is an orphan and Kyla loves her. Enough said. Monsters, Inc. employees Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan are just plain funny and Kyla looks and acts like "Boo." The children in the movie are like the "untouchables" of 1c. Israel (except that children get scared by monsters in their closets and I don’t think that ever really happened). "Sully" ends up being the figure that redeems the monsters’ relationship with the children. Rather than scaring the "dangerous" children, Sully leads the energy-creating-and-capturing-monster-world-industry to not fear the children. Interestingly, those named "monsters" are the ones who must learn to not fear the "unclean" and "untouchable."

I found out that I made a grand television appearance last week. During the week of the election of the first African-American president of the United States I appeared on BookTV on C-SPAN2 . When I went to the Envision Conference this summer at Princeton my learning track was entitled "Beyond Consumption" and was led my Ronald Sider. We took a break from our dialogue on consumption in order for BookTV to record a lecture on Sider’s book, "The Scandal of Evangelical Politics." The lecture is worth watching and you can see the first portion of it below (check me out furiously typing my thoughts). I am in the video more at the end of the lecture during the question and answer time and you can check out the full length video at www.booktv.org . I didn’t ask a question on camera due to the impersonal nature of the filming but I asked Ron the first question when the cameras shut down. That question is posted below the video. Immediately following our session, Sider left for Chicago to meet personally with Barack Obama to discuss "religious issues."

There can exist a certain form of idolatry toward certain candidates or partisan ideologies.
How would you suggest that one goes about influencing public policy with the danger of appearing as if one is placing trust in a certain candidate or party as the ultimate hope and solution for a community or promoting the government as the responsible body rather than the church?

I have heard that there are a number of people who are unfortunately voting for John McCain because Barack Obama is an African-American. I am tempted to vote for Obama simply to counter a racist’s vote against him. Is that a valid reason to vote Obama?

"Do I feel bad about betraying Jim? Not at all. That was the game-convince him we’re in an ‘alliance’ together, use him for info, then toss him to the wolves… It’s called politics, baby. It’s about getting what you can out of people and then destroying them."

Dwight Schrute
Assistant TO the Regional Manager
Dunder Mifflin, Scranton Branch

Politics: It’s about getting what you can out of people and then destroying them. It seems as though the writers of The Office have been paying close attention to recent foreign policy decisions. Since the "church" by and large has dropped the proverbial ball on caring for people, the government has implemented tax funded initiatives such as Social Security and welfare. Could it be that under our current systems of political functionality that the church must operate in cooperation with the government to care for people? If "followers of Jesus" don’t take care of the poor then should one be in favor of higher taxes so that said provision may be allocated by legislators? How should a follower of Jesus actively engage the public square so that money taken from people may be used in a life-giving manner rather than for destruction of a "lower class" or "other nation" (emphasis on quotation marks to distinguish language that represents something that doesn’t really exist)?

I have been perusing some random blogs and reading all the different viewpoints on the U.S. presidential candidates and their running mates (when I say "their running mates" it seems as if they are possessions). There are people from all types of religious and socioeconomic backgrounds that adamantly support either Barack Obama or John McCain . I have several problems not necessarily with either candidate but rather with the election process itself. The first problem is that the candidates, those in the campaigning process, and supporters spend so much of their time bashing the "opposition." What is especially troubling is that a self-proclaimed follower of Jesus will point out everything that is suppossedly wrong and unchristian about Barack Obama and then another self-proclaimed follower of Jesus will point out everything that is suppossedly wrong and unchristian about John McCain. Is such language really reflective of the love of Jesus? Should so much time be spent degraging a human and attempting to unveil the wrongdoing of another? And for what? Power? Political gain? Kicks and giggles? Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy the fun that comes with a new political season. I laughed out loud for quite some time after watching Saturday Night Live’s skit featuring "A Nonpartisan Message from Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton. " We would go crazy if there was not some humor to distract us and interupt the bantering and battering that defines a U.S. election. But what does a follower of Jesus do when real hatred and degradation characterizes the core of each candidates’ campaign?

Should I vote?

Should I choose the lesser of the two evils, thereby still choosing evil?

Should I fill in John Ballenger as a write-in candidate ?

Does my vote even really matter?

What decision best reflects a life that exists for the kingdom of God?

© 2008 Clint Fisher.

8:27 P
06.08.08
Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall
Princeton University NJ

Richard Cicek

• Change is coming.
• Why?
• Throughout history, shifts in climate change and the use of alternative fuels has required adaptation.
• Those who change/adapt with continue
• Church:
• Must adapt for: Human Rights / Creation Care / Intolerance or Torture
• Many disagree and are not adaptable for a greater vision
• The Image of Jesus
• Matter + Spirit has not defined the church
• Social action has not defined the church
• Evangelicalism has focused on the “personal” only
• Movement toward a return to social justice
• The church should be a disturbance
• Those who react to the disturbing presence/action of the church do so out of fear
• Continuum: Disinterest ® Disturbance ® Doing ® Done
• Tactics
• 25 years of pummeling something into someone’s head
• Collaboration with groups upon which are frowned
• ACLU / gays and lesbians
• Movements happen because ¸ PEOPLE CHOOSE TO ACT
• Government works for those who are their friends:
• Lobbyists for oil industry who are bringing in billions of dollars
• Wilberforce was too young to know any better and to know what could he could accomplish

THE PRECEDING TEXT COPIED AND/OR ADAPTED FROM MY TYPED OR MOLESKIN RECORDED NOTES ON THE ENVISION CONFERENCE MAY OR MAY NOT BE MY OWN THOUGHTS AND MAY OR MAY NOT INCLUDE DIRECT CITATIONS OF ORATORS/FACILITATORS. THE ORATORS/FACILITATORS SHOULD NOT NECESSARILY BE CREDITED OR HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR SPECIFIC WORDS OR PHRASES THOUGH SOME WORDS ARE THEIR OWN.

Photography by Clint Fisher @ aenonfire.com.

My Learning Track for Envision ’08 is “Beyond Consumerism” with Ron Sider. Our second meeting was in lecture format compared to our usual interactive dialogue. Book TV was present filming the lecture to be shown on C-SPAN possibly this coming weekend. I’m not sure how I feel about being on C-SPAN. I used to make fun of my dad for watching it all the time but now I feel myself captivated by watching the “YES” and “NO” votes tally during a congressional vote (post on “voting” coming soon). Ron is not with us today so we are interacting with Bart Campolo and some other practitioners who have come from the Philadelphia / Eastern College area. Sider had to fly out to Chicago in order to meet with Barrack Obama concerning the very things about which we are engaging at the conference: social justice, human rights activisim, non-violence, and the politic of Jesus.

I had the pleasure of meeting with Dan Merchant briefly this evening at the ACSD conference. Dan is the writer/director/producer of the documentary, “LORD, save us from your followers.” I also attended the viewing of the film. I was entertained, confronted, and reaffirmed all at the same time. I am definitely going to be purchasing the film and hosting a screening as a part of the film forum of Oakwood Hall. I will also be meeting with Dan hoping that he may visit our community at Mount Vernon Nazarene University.

The following trailer is somewhat vague and does not come close to providing a full representation of the movie. Please visit the website to watch more video clips and read more information.

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=ihvf4ClxLLA]

I am somewhat frequently interviewed by students here at MVNU for Research Writing projects, Public Speaking presentations, or Christian Life and Ministry papers. Tonight I was interviewed by Daniel Coutz. It was one of the more thoughtful interviews that I have experienced and I appreciated the approach. The conversation went something like this:

Daniel: “Respond to this statement: The United States is a Christian Nation.”

Travis: “No earthly empire is distinctively in keeping with the way of Jesus. Those who claim the United States to be a Christian nation need to enroll in a post-reformation church history course that discusses the period of American colonization. Also helpful would be a study in theology and philosophy to explore the definitions of theism, deism, and idolatry.

Daniel: “Do you feel the American flag should be displayed in churches? Why or why not?”

Travis: “No. The church is laced with a history of symbol and icon for visual engagement in worship and when one considers what the American flag represents I would have to question what one is worshiping. I would have no problem with displaying a flag in a church if it was displayed beside every other flag of every other nation so long as the symbol is understood to represent equality and unity.

Daniel: “Respond to this statement: The loyalty of a person belongs first to his country.”

Travis: “Why would one view an earthly empire as something to which giving loyalty is necessary or a priority? My suggestion is that most would give said loyalty due to an enculturation that promotes a sense of loyalty as nessecary. I would also suggest it has something to do with the supposed ‘safety’ provided by the military branch of a certain country’s government. Fear would be that which fuels loyalty to an earthly empire.”

Daniel: “Respond to this statement. Christians living in the United States should be patriotic about the United States.”

Travis: “One’s definition of patriotism would be primary. I find it problematic for a follower of Jesus to pledge his allegiance to an earthly nation. So in the sense that the recitation of the ‘Pledge of Allegiance’ is patriotic, then patriotism may be considered contrary to ‘worshipping no other gods.’”