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TresSugar Picture It: The Festival of Enlightenment May 25, 2010 11:40 AM Lanterns hang outside a Sri Lankan shop to sell for Vesak, the Buddhist festival that celebrates Buddha attaining enlightenment in his lifetime. Though Buddha's birthday is May 21, the festival begins each year on the full moon, which this year falls on Thursday, May 27.
hypnoticmix Re: The Soul May 3, 2010 2:08 PM I listened to this very insightful sermon regarding the unfoldment of the spirit and bringing forth one's gifts. I thought twice about sharing it here but then thought well why not. We all have different faith backgrounds but there's no denying universal understanding either. I tried to post the video directly but it kept automatically starting so you'll have to click on the page link below. Once it's open go to the bar underneath the video and move the little white box to the 1hr. 3min. mark. That's where the sermon starts. Everything before that is choir music, announcements and readings. The sermon runs 35-40min so probably a good idea to listen when you can get into it enough to be hooked or not. http://www.indigoplatforms.tv/recorded/video/218
TresSugar Iran and France Both Want to Control a Woman's Dress Apr 28, 2010 1:45 PM An Iranian cleric made headlines and set off a boobquake when he recently claimed immodest dress causes earthquakes. Now, Tehran's police chief is taking on this "threat" by arresting "suntanned" women. The chief explained : "The public expects us to act firmly and swiftly if we see any social misbehaviour by women, and men, who defy our Islamic values. In some areas of north Tehran we can see many suntanned women and young girls who look like walking mannequins." Hm. A national crackdown on a type of female appearance sounds familiar. Which brings us to France. Just like in Iran, French leaders worry that a certain type of dress — namely the Islamic burqa and niqab — threatens the country's "values." Despite warnings that a ban would violate France's constitution, President Sarkozy is moving forward with a law that would prohibit women from wearing these Islamic veils in public . Those in favor of it, such as the country's immigration ministers, say face-covering veils " run counter to national values ." Supporters say the law would help prevent the subjugation of women, something France cannot stand for, although opponents say it would further isolate some Islamic women . The two laws certainly have their differences, but wouldn't a law telling women what they can and cannot wear bring France's national values closers to the values of Iran?
UnDave35 A postmodern Christian perspective on social justice: Part 4 - Why should it matter to me? Mar 27, 2010 8:34 PM I recently spoke with a very conservative friend to get his thoughts on the idea of the government being involved in social justice issues. He, like many traditional, conservative Christians, believes the federal government should have extremely limited, if any, involvement in such issues. When I asked him why, his answers echoed that which I have heard many times before: 1) Why should we go into deeper debt to help other countries when our own country and people are struggling so much now? 2) Why should the government be allowed to tell me what and how I am to spend my money? I make my money, so I should be in charge of how and where I spend it. 3) America wasn’t always the great nation it is today; it had the same struggles and hardships that other poor countries today face. But over many years, with hard work and determination, we have emerged victorious and other poor countries should be able to do the same. Especially considering today’s economy, it’s easy for people to feel that America needs to tighten up its belt, so to speak, and worry about ourselves first. And to be honest, it’s understandable, to a degree, why people would feel that way. However, it’s important to remember something: regardless of how bad things are here, for most people in the U.S., it’s still a lot better than the majority of the world, and as long as we have anything to share, in faith, we should do so. Deuteronomy 15:7 says, “If there is a poor man among you, one of your brothers, in any of the towns of the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand to your poor brother; but you shall freely open your hand to him, and generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks.” Additionally, God commanded tithes from His followers to help the poor, widow and orphan. He also commanded, among other things of the same nature, for the corners of the fields not to be harvested or the crops to be gleaned so that it would be left for the needy and the stranger. There will always be lean times, and I’m not about “guilting” people into giving. But in hard times, giving can become an act of faithfulness. And “giving” doesn’t have to necessarily equal “money.” Perhaps during those lean times, it might be easier to give of your time by serving a meal to the homeless or even cleaning out the closets to donate items. But my guess is, and this is a harsh judgment on my part I’ll admit, that for most of those people who are complaining about how, in such hard times, we should take care of “our own,” they are, in actuality, doing very little in the way of helping “our own” anyway. It has always amazed me how that some of the people who have the strongest opinions about how social justice should look (or rather not look) have not once stepped out of their house in any kind of service to the poor. A much more difficult question to tackle is why should the government be allowed to spend “my” money on social justice issues? My conservative friend that I mentioned above put it this way, “If a single person makes the decision to put $10,000 on a credit card and go into debt to give it to the poor, well then, that’s their decision. But when the government gives money to foreign aid, furthering the U.S.’s debt, it’s no longer one person’s decision, but someone making a decision for all of us.” His logic is understandable to be sure, but with the huge sums of money the government spends on ridiculous things, I’m sure not about to argue about money they spend of social justice concerns. For Pete’s sake, I just read today that at a recent conference NASA spent $66 per person per day for “light refreshments” of soda, coffee, fruit, bagels and cookies. When confronted with spending $62,611 on snacks for 317 people for three days, NASA’s response was that they hadn’t “price shopped.” No kidding! If people are going to complain about how the government spends taxpayer money, they should start with a long list of other things before getting to aid for the poor. Which brings us to the last point – the “if-people-just-worked-hard-enough-they-could-make-something-of-themselves-one-day-too” argument. In my opinion, this is such a narrow, (perhaps unknowingly) narcissistic worldview. Another conservative friend of mine recently reasoned another often heard argument (to paraphrase) that although God commanded His people to care for the poor He never said the government should do it, and additionally, people need to work for self worth and have a job and not just rely on federal funding. So, let’s tackle the government comment first. Originally, in the very beginning, God never intended for His people (the Jews specifically) to have a government, for the Church was to be their “government” and God, their King. However, because the Jews wanted an earthly king, God made provisions for them. In the book of Romans, we’re told that God has appointed all authority, and if the government is an extension of its people, then the government should also, in concern for the global community, make responsible decisions and policies to fight against injustices in the world. As I pointed out in the last article , this is not a call for Socialism, Communism, Name-your-ism. But rather it is a call for justice: people receiving what is due to them, what is right and proper, in the context of their own community and people. I'll admit that I have a harder time politely discussing the “they-should-just-get-a-job” argument. I’ll start by making the assumption that people who say this aren’t talking about people who are starving to death and dying of treatable diseases in impoverished, developing countries. Although, if you recall my first friend that I mentioned really sees no difference in the ability of America (and thus Americans) to make herself great with hard work, values, morals, and good work ethic and any other developing country to do so, given enough time. I’ll only briefly pause here to mention that this logic only works with all things being equal – like availability of natural resources, a non-corrupt, non-oppressive government, security from warfare, readily available water, food, and shelter, etc. Suffice it to say that, in my opinion, all things considered are  not equal, and it is unjust to say that these countries should simply be able to dig themselves out from the vice-like grips of generations of poverty with some good work ethic, morals and values. Now certainly, in America, there are people who battle addictions and have made other poor choices that have directly or indirectly resulted in their poverty. And although I would argue that those people are just as much made in the image of God as you or I and therefore deserving of our love and service, it is somewhat comprehensible, I guess, that the general public would have little empathy for such individuals. But let me tell you this brief story: last Tuesday I had the remarkable opportunity to serve the homeless of Indianapolis at the Indy Homeless Connect event at the Convention Center (more on this experience in a later article.) About 1,000 of our homeless neighbors were served that day and of every volunteer I talked to who had spent the day talking with these people, the one thing we heard over and over again from everyone was this: “If I could just find a job, things would be better. I just wish I had a job.” Yes, there are people who abuse the welfare system, and I, like most people in the U.S. I would guess, believe it needs a serious reform overhaul. But should we really shut our eyes, and worse our hearts, to the poor simply because we believe that some people are abusing the system? Everyone has heard of Sodom and Gomorrah. It has gone down in history as a “shining” example of God’s wrath upon ungodly people, and the conservative folks have clasped onto it as proof of God’s disgust and punishment of homosexuality. And while it is true that there were many sins being committed by the people there, listen to what Ezekiel says about their sinfulness, “'Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy” (Ezekiel 16:49). So many conservative Christians today are wholly (and many times only) concerned with the decline of morals and sexual immorality in our country. While those are certainly disheartening and troubling, the sexual impurity the Bible speaks against is mostly our own. A far more serious concern should be what will happen to us, our churches, our country, and our world if we don’t fulfill the sacred mandate that has been faithfully entrusted to us by God to care for the least of these.   
UnDave35 A postmodern Christian perspective on social justice: Part 3 - Making just that which is unjust Mar 27, 2010 8:21 PM At this point there should be little argument to the fact that social justice is a biblical mandate given to us by a God, who has a special heart and concern for our brothers and sisters who are lowest on the social ladder, so to speak. Even Glenn Beck, in his most recent interviews attempting to clarify his position against social justice, has stated that he does believe that God calls us to care for the poor. But any agreement between the conservative Christians Beck represents and the “progressive” Christians he rails against stops at doctrine. Conservatives and progressives may agree that God calls His followers to care for the poor, but what that care should be and how it should look is a different story entirely. Most traditional Christians believe that care for the poor should reside solely in the hands of the Church and other non-governmental private, not-for-profit agencies, which, given the government’s bureaucratic inefficiencies, would seem to be an ideal way to care for the poor on a national or local level. And there are probably some extremely liberal Christians, who believe that the government should be, if not solely, then largely responsible for doling out funds to aid the poor (although, I would argue, these people would in fact represent the Socialist ideals that Beck is so wary of). But why does it have to be this “all-or-nothing” mentality…why can’t there be some sort of middle ground? It would be imprudent, and unbiblical I would argue, to place the entire burden of caring for the poor on the shoulders of any government. Followers of Christ have been given a special mandate by God to care for the poor, having been entrusted with the holy calling to care for “the least of these.” It would be negligent and sinful for Christians to shirk the sacred responsibility of caring for our brothers and sisters by passing the buck to the government. As Dave Rodriguez, senior pastor of Grace Community Church in Noblesville, puts it, “We [God’s people] are God’s Plan A in caring for the poor. There is no Plan B.” God would not have included passage after passage, verse after verse in the Bible regarding His plans for His followers to care for the poor, if it was something to be taken lightly. And certainly there are many things the Church (big “C” church as in the entire body of believers) does a wonderful job at. The Church has always been at the forefront of social justice issues, speaking out against slavery, violence against women, and the disregard for basic human rights. And although some would argue that the Church has done more harm than good, I would resolutely disagree. Yes, there have been horrible and unfortunate instances in the Church’s history where the people of God have failed miserably, but it was the people who failed, not God. The Church has championed the cause of the poor, and its charitable generosity is unmatched. Right here in Indianapolis, Christian organizations like Wheeler Mission , Shepard Community , and Third Phase Food Pantry (just to name a few) are serving the poor in our communities on a daily basis and succeeding in the fight against poverty. However – and here’s where the big hullabaloo will ensue – there are certain aspects of the fight for social justice that many believe could better be championed by a large and powerful institution, such as a government. While the Church is wonderful at feeding, clothing and loving the poor, how much influence and power does it have over changing the global economic trade policies that work to the benefit of the richest countries, often to the detriment of the poorest countries? How much power does the Church have to send immediate, large amounts of monies and quantities of disaster relief supplies and military personnel to a poor country that has just been devastated by a natural disaster? How much power does the Church have in preventing powerful countries from imposing detrimental stipulations on impoverished countries in order for them to receive aid and debt relief? My point is simply that there are instances in which the government could and should be a useful ally in our fight against global poverty. I, by no stretch of the imagination am claiming to have all of the answers to ending world poverty; I don’t think anyone does. What I am asking though is this: how many people are dying daily from poverty while Conservatives and Progressives argue about who should take care of them? If we as Christians take our command to care for the poor seriously, does it matter more that one group happens to be more capable of handling a specific social justice situation or that it simply gets done well? If our government is an extension of its people, then I don’t have a problem with electing officials who, I believe, will best promote the social justice agenda. (And no, contrary to what some people may believe that does not mean Socialism.) Do I think the government is the best equipped to handle all social justice issues? No. Do I think that the Church is God's Plan A in fighting poverty? Yes. Do I think that in today’s global community and economy my government should be making responsible decisions and policies to fight against the injustice of global poverty? Absolutely. We are no longer a detached world of individual, non-connected countries. Technology and communications have made us a globally, interconnected community. We are now acutely aware of atrocities and injustices going on in other parts of the world, and with that knowledge comes responsibility. And when we turn a blind eye to the injustices of the world, we are just as culpable as those who are perpetrating the injustices.

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Pictures of Vesak Preparations Pictures of Vesak Preparations
Re: The Soul
Iran to Arrest Suntanned Women Iran to Arrest Suntanned Women
A postmodern Christian perspective on social justice: Part 4 - Why should it matter to me?

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