Thursday, April 30, 2009
The A-train, revisited
I love the Ellington tune, "Take the A Train." I would have loved to be on this memorial subway car yesterday, with the Ellington orchestra. Happy 110th, Duke!
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Not the yellow submarine
Apparently Colombian drug cartels are now shipping drugs into the USA via homemade semi-submarines. Manufactured in the jungle and packed with cocaine, they navigate via GPS and are very hard to detect. I know this isn't a good thing for the US, but you have to admire that kind of ingenuity....wow.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
U.S. Christians take a long hard look in the mirror
It seems like the Republican defeats in the last election have led to some soul searching, not just among politicians, but among evangelical organizers who helped elect them.
Two links today: the first a transcript of the grand poo-bah of evangelical orthodoxy, James Dobson. He admits the religious right has lost the major moral battles of our time, and foresees a growing secularism in American society, much like Britain.
The second is an article from the Christian Science Monitor, where an evangelical minister from Kentucky theorizes that American Evangelical Christianity will be under major financial, logistical and theological pressure in the coming years. From the horse's mouth, so to speak.
Organized Christianity is a major force in the USA and many Canadian Christians follow the lead of what goes on 'down south'. Furthermore, Prime Minister Harper has well-documented ties to Canadian evangelical groups which coordinate with their American counterparts.
But beyond politics, these articles capture the conflict between the priorities of political and religious leaders (the elite, some might say) and regular Christians who hear one thing coming from the pulpit or the stump speech, only to see their neighbour starving.
Dobson demanded unflinching acquiescence from his followers, longing for a return to a time when everybody believed and obeyed, no questions asked. The trouble with this view is that I'm not convinced that even when churches were full every Sunday morning everyone necessarily believed everything and felt hunky-dory. Karen Armstrong has a lot to say about this. The point is not always belief, it's that religion should allow a space for us to have a conversation about what we believe and our moral obligations to one another.
Religious faith is a mode of understanding the world, and religious (and political) organizations that emphasize compliance over compassion are bound to burn out sooner or later. People need to have genuine connections with their fellow humans. It's in our nature, more than following orders.
The Canadian situation is slightly different, gay marriage having been legalized by the Supreme Court and most Canadians being generally less religious and more politically moderate. But organized Christianity will face major challenges here as the older generation passes on.
I often wonder what this post-Christian era might look like. Although organized religion certainly has many pitfalls (and boy, it's easy to generate a list), it remains one of the few institutions that helps people because it's the right thing to do, and that connects people of all ages and backgrounds in a given community.
Two links today: the first a transcript of the grand poo-bah of evangelical orthodoxy, James Dobson. He admits the religious right has lost the major moral battles of our time, and foresees a growing secularism in American society, much like Britain.
The second is an article from the Christian Science Monitor, where an evangelical minister from Kentucky theorizes that American Evangelical Christianity will be under major financial, logistical and theological pressure in the coming years. From the horse's mouth, so to speak.
Organized Christianity is a major force in the USA and many Canadian Christians follow the lead of what goes on 'down south'. Furthermore, Prime Minister Harper has well-documented ties to Canadian evangelical groups which coordinate with their American counterparts.
But beyond politics, these articles capture the conflict between the priorities of political and religious leaders (the elite, some might say) and regular Christians who hear one thing coming from the pulpit or the stump speech, only to see their neighbour starving.
Dobson demanded unflinching acquiescence from his followers, longing for a return to a time when everybody believed and obeyed, no questions asked. The trouble with this view is that I'm not convinced that even when churches were full every Sunday morning everyone necessarily believed everything and felt hunky-dory. Karen Armstrong has a lot to say about this. The point is not always belief, it's that religion should allow a space for us to have a conversation about what we believe and our moral obligations to one another.
Religious faith is a mode of understanding the world, and religious (and political) organizations that emphasize compliance over compassion are bound to burn out sooner or later. People need to have genuine connections with their fellow humans. It's in our nature, more than following orders.
The Canadian situation is slightly different, gay marriage having been legalized by the Supreme Court and most Canadians being generally less religious and more politically moderate. But organized Christianity will face major challenges here as the older generation passes on.
I often wonder what this post-Christian era might look like. Although organized religion certainly has many pitfalls (and boy, it's easy to generate a list), it remains one of the few institutions that helps people because it's the right thing to do, and that connects people of all ages and backgrounds in a given community.
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Newspapers: beautifully informative
Polish newspaper designer Jacek Utko says re-designing newspapers to marry function and form can increase circulation up 100%.
And he says it's not about budgets or location, it's about high standards and getting designers involved from day 1. Good news for those of us in "the provinces."
And he says it's not about budgets or location, it's about high standards and getting designers involved from day 1. Good news for those of us in "the provinces."
Thursday, April 02, 2009
More on the kids in jail story
A couple of months ago, I posted a story about the 500% increase in kids being thrown in jail. Well, it turns out two of the judges sending the kids to for-profit jails have been convicted of taking kickbacks to send them away. The good news just keeps rolling in...
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