tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82111832024-03-14T00:14:40.993-04:00Carolyn's ThoughtsMusings on life, faith, politics, music, books, and whatever happens to cross my mind.Carolyn C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03832991797804800178noreply@blogger.comBlogger548125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211183.post-52929598473083597432011-11-19T18:57:00.001-05:002011-11-19T19:06:27.355-05:00Post-Grad Reading: Books #21-30<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>This post is quite long overdue, since I am now well past book #30. So before I hit Book #40, I'd better post an updated list of mini-reviews of my reading...<br /></i></span><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">21. Murder on Embassy Row (Margaret Truman)</span></b><br />
<ul>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another
excellent Margaret Truman mystery, this time focused around DC's
international delegations on Embassy Row, and most especially the
elite caviar-centered worlds that some of them inhabited. Though I
missed the central characters from the other Margaret Truman
mysteries I've read, I enjoyed following this story and found it a
very gripping and quick read.</span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">22. Walking the Bible (Bruce Feiler)</span></b><br />
<ul>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As
much as I did enjoy this book and agreed with its premise-- the
connection of land to spiritual feelings, with an eye for historical
accuracy but not an obsession with it-- it was pretty one-sided. One
might expect that, though with a subtitle like “A Journey By Land
Through the Five Books of Moses.” Feiler is Jewish, though not
strongly religious as the book begins, and the book focuses on the
events of the Torah. As such, you find him focusing on the powerful
spiritual connection that the Jewish people have to the land. In
some ways it's a good companion to <i>The
Lemon Tree</i>,
which while a reasonably balanced account sometimes skewed toward
the Palestinians. There were moments when I became upset with Feiler
for being so distraught over the feelings that the Muslims he met
also experienced toward the land. All in all, though, it was a good
read and a good spiritual narrative.</span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">23. Theodore Rex (Edmund Morris)</span></b><br />
<ul>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
have been trying to get through this behemoth of presidential
history for some five to seven years now-- ever since my last
Theodore Roosevelt obsession-- and now I finally did it. This is
volume 2 of Edmund Morris's trilogy, and it focuses exclusively on
Roosevelt's presidential years. It does so in minute detail, looking
at policy, politics, and personal life in the White House. Though it
obviously can't cover everything, <i>Theodore
Rex </i>is
nothing if not a thorough sweet of Rooseveltian presidential
history.</span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">24. Spade & Archer (Joe Gores)</span></b><br />
<ul>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This
book was written as a prequel to <i>The
Maltese Falcon </i>by
Dashiell Hammett, one of the greatest noir novels of all time, many
years after the fact. Needless to say, Joe Gores is not Dashiell
Hammett. That being said, <i>Spade
& Archer </i>was
a fun read depicting the cases of the years leading up to <i>Falcon</i>.
It also did not feature Miles Archer nearly as much as I expected.
Basically a fun but not “good” read.</span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">25. The Thin Man (Dashiell Hammett)</span></b><br />
<ul>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A
classic detective story. Nick and Nora Charles are two of Dashiell
Hammett's most famous characters, and this novel makes it clear why
this is so. I actually saw the movie (the first one) before I read
the book, and I was pleased to discover how close they are.
Apparently some adaptations were better back in the day. Anyway,
great writing, snappy dialogue, fun and fascinating characters-- all
of these traits make <i>The
Thin Man </i>a
great read.</span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">26. Thirteen Moons (Charles Frazier)</span></b><br />
<ul>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
picked up this book when I was in Cherokee, NC, for an alt break
trip, and I have to say, reading it took me back there again.
<i>Thirteen
Moons </i>is
a historical fiction novel, centered around the “white chief”
Will, who as a boy is sent off as an indentured servant to run a
store in the mountains of western North Carolina, and is adopted
there by Cherokee. It tells the story of his life from that point,
to his ascent as a lawyer and lobbyist for the Cherokee, through the
Removal to Oklahoma and how he gets his band of Cherokee to be able
to stay, through the Civil War. It's a fantastic story with
beautifully crafted prose. Highly recommend.</span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">27. Naked Spirituality (Brian McLaren)</span></b><br />
<ul>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This
is McLaren's most recent book. I bought my copy after attending a
talk he gave about it, and I'm glad I did. We've all heard people
say, “I'm spiritual, but I'm not religious.” This book does a
beautiful job of taking that idea and translating spiritual feelings
into a series of semi-religious practices that do a wonderful job of
exploring the depths of spiritual sensations. Never judgmental or
overly condescending, McLaren's writing is personal and yet
applicable to all who might wish to deepen their relationship with
God, or who wish for a church that put the need for love above the
need for any number of types of traditions. An excellent read,
especially as I struggle through finding a new church for myself in
a new location.</span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">28. A Confederacy of Dunces (John Kennedy Toole)</span></b><br />
<ul>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A
genuinely ridiculous book. I alternated between laughing at the
idiosyncrasies of the main character, Ignatius J. Reilly, and being
thoroughly disgusted and repulsed by him as a character. At any
rate, it was extremely well written, and Reilly is an undeniably
unique character in American literature. Deserving of its Pulitzer
Prize, and worth reading...once, anyway.</span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">29. The War Lovers (Evan Thomas)</span></b><br />
<ul>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yet
another in my string of reading books about the life of Theodore
Roosevelt, although this one is not exclusively about him. Rather,
Thomas examines all the people involved in the time leading up to
and including the Spanish-American War. On the pro-war side, this
cast of characters included Roosevelt, his good friend Henry Cabot
Lodge, and newspaperman William Randolph Hurst. On the other side,
with a more intellectual and “civilized” bent, was Speaker of
the House Thomas Reed and philosopher/professor William James. An
excellent book that takes an honest look at the motivations behind
the chronic human love of war. Plenty of shades of the conflicts of
the 21<sup>st</sup>
century in here, too.</span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">30. The Shallows (Nicholas Carr)</span></b><br />
<ul>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
Internet: now so ubiquitous a part of modern life that it staggers
the imagination to think of going without it for even a day or two.
We are a constantly connected people-- a trait which, Nicholas Carr
argues, is rewiring our brains for an age of Google. The ability of
humans to remember is diminishing in the face of a world where
everything can be looked up. Carr does an excellent job with this
book, making a case for how the Internet is changing us without
passing a harsh judgment either for or against this reality. Superb
book.</span></div>
</li>
</ul>Carolyn C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03832991797804800178noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211183.post-22348521988580260802011-10-09T13:42:00.000-04:002011-10-09T13:44:24.046-04:00“A Work of Bare Utility”: The Quiet Splendor of the Brooklyn Bridge<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“<i>It
so happens that the work which is likely to be our most durable
monument, and to convey some knowledge of us to the most remote
posterity, is a work of bare utility; not a shrine, not a fortress,
not a palace, but a bridge.” -Montgomery Schuyler (quoted in David
McCullough's </i><i><u>The
Great Bridge</u></i><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">)</span></i></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">~~*
~~</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
enduring power of architectural landmarks stems from the stories they
recall, as well as the emotions they evoke in the viewer. From the
Brooklyn Promenade in New York, the casual observer can see such
icons as the Statue of Liberty, as well as the still-noted absence of
the World Trade Center towers, whose monuments are even now starting
to rise from the dust. These structures are clear examples of places
with stories and with emotions, but they are not alone in this
category on the Lower Manhattan skyline. They are joined by the
equally impressive and perhaps even more unique Brooklyn Bridge.
</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before
the bridge became a design and then a reality, the East River was an
obstacle inhibiting passage between the two separate, growing cities
of Brooklyn and Manhattan. Then as now, residents were wont to live
in Brooklyn and work in Manhattan, but the only way to cross between
the two cities was by slow, crowded, and unsafe ferries. Ice in the
winter could halt all passage, and high winds could send the boats
aground. These circumstances made the so-called “Great Bridge” a
much-needed project.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The
problem lay in the river itself, and in the capacity of contemporary
engineering to conquer it. Historian David McCullough writes in his
book </span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">The
Great Bridge </span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">that,
“the East River...is no river at all technically speaking, but a
tidal strait and, in that day, especially, one of the busiest
stretches of navigable salt water anywhere on earth” (24). There
was no hope of supporting the bridge in the center of the river; it
required a single arc stretching between Brooklyn and Manhattan.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Enter
the engineers. John Roebling had pioneered construction of suspension
bridges in Pittsburgh, Niagara Falls, and Cincinnati; his son,
Colonel Washington Roebling, worked with his father on these
projects, serving as both confidant and co-engineer. These bridges
separately formed the core of the Great Bridge in Brooklyn, an
efficient design that allowed for the crossing of a near-impassable
body of water.
</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">The
design principle of the suspension bridge worked better for the
Brooklyn Bridge than any other design could have. Suspension bridges
are capable of spanning up to 7,000 feet through the use of
</span></span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">compression
</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">and
</span></span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">tension</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">.
Two towers are embedded in the earth to support the majority of the
deck's weight; cables are strung to hold tension as they are
stretched taut between two anchorages. The cables are able to
transfer the pressure (compression) of the deck to the towers and
then directly into the earth. (For more on suspension bridges, check
out </span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><u><a href="http://static.howstuffworks.com/pdf/ups-suspension-bridge.pdf">http://static.howstuffworks.com/pdf/ups-suspension-bridge.pdf</a></u></span></span>
)<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">
</span></span>
</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
bridge would cost the Roeblings dearly-- indeed, it turned out that
John Roebling's legacy would be as the bridge's designer; an accident
at the work site and its subsequent surgery went bad and killed him.
Washington Roebling served as the bridge's chief engineer until its
completion, though it impacted his health negatively too.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
Great Bridge also made use of the most recent technology in its
construction. This was particularly true of the caissons that were to
support the towers, which had to be sunk in the river and work be
conducted inside to permanently embed them in the stone at the bottom
of the river. Weight on top, compressed air inside, and excavation of
the riverbed would all help to push these great structures to a
stable position at the bedrock, where they would be filled with
concrete.
</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This
simple concept, however, became a more complicated reality when they
had to adapt the workers to such starkly different levels of air
pressure. This situation lead to the ailment that we now know as “the
bends,” sharp pain in the joints that appeared among workers coming
out of the caissons, and was first identified during the work on the
Eads Bridge in St. Louis. In some cases, both in St. Louis and in
Brooklyn, the disease would cause paralysis or even death. Among
these statistics was Washington Roebling himself, who was paralyzed
by an attack of “the bends” in 1872, and ultimately had to
oversee the final construction of the bridge from his house near what
is now the Brooklyn Promenade.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
bridge's tall granite towers and proud arches dominated views of
Lower Manhattan when it opened in 1883. Though it no longer claims
that distinction today, it still represents the stories of the men
who designed it and the men who built it, as well as the use of
modern science to overcome the adversity of nature to human progress.
By linking two previously separate cities together, the Brooklyn
Bridge represents the most practical of monuments, one that provides
a spectacle for the eye, an experience for the tourist, and a
functional transportation option for all who would pass over it.</span></div>
Carolyn C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03832991797804800178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211183.post-87995153489928414332011-09-15T13:00:00.000-04:002011-09-15T13:00:04.389-04:00Writing by Hand, or, Why I Love the Mail<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The same day that I began my latest writing project, I heard a story on NPR about the many financial woes of the United States Postal Service.<br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This struck me as ironic because my project was to send one postcard, by mail, per day for at least a month, to all of the friends and family who had given me their addresses.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It also struck me as sad, because the financial problems experienced by the postal service sharply demonstrate the apparent reality that 'snail mail' (a telling nickname) is going out of style and out of use.This isn't exactly a breaking news update, but people don't write letters much anymore. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, understand, I am not someone who hates technology. Long before web communications was actually my job, I used it like it was. I've tried nearly every social media website at some point in my life, and I think that it can make great things and the sharing of great ideas possible. I check my email borderline obsessively (sometimes too much), and probably send upwards of 50-100 text messages each day. It's a big part of my life, as it is for so many other people.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So with access to and love of all this wonderful technology in front of me, why do I go home from work at night and deliberately write a postcard to drop in the mailbox the next morning? Why did I write the first draft of this article with the humble pen and paper, eschewing the computer that sat right in front of me?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I still believe that the handwritten letter has value for us as human beings. I believe that writing with pen and paper is good for the soul. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The proof of this idea is the joyful smile that appeared on my face when I checked the mail yesterday and found a letter from one of my regular pen pals. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way when a letter that is not a bill arrives just for me.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So why is this? Why is the hand-written word still so powerful in an age of almost overwhelming technological capability?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've read articles suggesting that writing down plants ideas more deeply in our memories-- in fact, some research has apparently suggested that writing might help in preventing the onset of Alzheimers disease. I don't really know anything about that, but I do know that (at least for me) putting words on a page in my own handwriting connects me in some deeper way to those words. I wrote those words; they are in my penmanship; they belong to me.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think that it is good for writers to have that kind of stake in their words, that kind of ownership. Others have discussed the disconnect that technology has created between people, who can become insulated and isolated in the glow of a computer screen. The TV show "Big Bang Theory" has turned this into a consistent comedic moment when the characters reference all the friends they have on Facebook, and continue to only hang out with basically the same four other people in person. But writers must ask the same question: how do we avoid hiding behind the font we choose to type in? Fonts are impersonal, and have been since the advent of the book. We rely on our 'writing voice' to speak for us, and while many writers have mastered that ability in light of our inability to easily publish the handwritten word.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On a related note, sending 'snail mail' is a much more intimate form of communication. You can pour your heart out in an email, but I think that words have even more power when they appear in someone's unique handwriting. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Additionally, the process of exchanging letters forces us to temporarily slow down the busy pace of our lives. You cannot receive an instant response to a letter, even if the person receives it and immediately writes a response. You still won't get it until at least two days after it is written and dropped in the mailbox. So you practice patience. You lower expectations and go about your other daily routines, manically checking emails and text messages and social media. At the same time, though, you anticipate the arrival of a response to your letter-- and thus the rush of pleasure appears when you open the mailbox to find a personal letter there.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In some esoteric way, we own the words we write down. They become a part of us. Writing letters is a way to connect more deeply with family and friends, a way to take time out of a hectic world and engaging in an activity that requires patience and deliberate activity. We avoid the awkward silences of phone calls and the passivity of Facebook connections, along with the instant-reply expectation of email or the aptly named Instant Messenger. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With these words, I may be marking myself as one among the last letter-writers. I'm okay with that. I'll be the one single-handedly trying to keep the US Postal Service in business. And as long as there is a way to send mail, I'll be writing the handwritten letters that bring me so much joy to send and receive.</span>Carolyn C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03832991797804800178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211183.post-74159962995520652642011-09-11T17:18:00.000-04:002011-09-11T17:18:09.610-04:00This Is (Still) My Song: 9/11, Ten Years On<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“<i>The
difficulty for a writer... is that it seems to be a law of language
that happiness, like goodness, is almost impossible to describe,
while conflict, like evil, is all too easy to depict.” </i></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>-W.H. Auden</i></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today
is, of course, the ten-year anniversary of the September 11 attacks
that killed nearly 3000 people in New York City, Washington, and
Pennsylvania. And like so many other writers, I turn to words as I
try to remember and process what happened.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was
12 years old, and just beginning my seventh grade year at Dover
Middle School. And I didn't find out about the attacks until the end
of the school day. I can only assume that our principal had decided
that it was better for the general student population that we
continue functioning normally until the school day ended and we were
on our way back to our parents. I can only assume that there may have
been kids at my school whose relatives were on one of those planes
leaving Boston, and that those kids were called out of class and told
sooner. But none of it touched me during that bright sunny day of
learning and growth and new friends.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Art
class was the end of my Tuesday at Dover Middle School. I remember
distinctly that the period was winding down and we were beginning to
gather our things for dismissal when the principal came on the
intercom and asked teachers to settle their classes, that there would
be a special important announcement in two minutes' time.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Settling
middle schoolers down is never an easy prospect, but by the time the
principal's voice came over the loudspeaker, announcing the attacks
that had taken place earlier that day, we were all attentive. I don't
remember exactly what he said, but I believe he laid out the events
of the morning in simple terms: two planes hit the two World Trade
Center towers in New York City, and one had crashed into the
Pentagon, and one had crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. I believe
that he urged us to go home to our parents, and not to watch TV. (Or
was it that my parents kept us away from the TV news? Ten years makes
the memory hazy sometimes.)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At any
rate, when the announcement was over, I do remember clearly that the
usual buzz of activity resumed in the classroom. Most people seemed
to just write it off in favor of the normal social and academic
concerns of seventh graders. I also remember one unusual event-- the
girl who sat next to me breaking down in tears because she was afraid
that her mom had been on one of the planes or in one of the WTC
towers. Since I never heard about it again, I can only assume that
her mom was okay.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As for
me, I remember just sitting quietly and listening to the
announcement, listening to the buzz, trying to absorb the news. I
knew little of the complexities of world affairs, had not yet heard
of al-Qaeda or the Taliban, knew little of Saddam Hussein beyond the
simple facts I had learned for geography bees in elementary school.
But something within me understood that forces greater than my
understanding had undertaken to hurt us, and that the world of
politics and foreign affairs that I was barely aware of, would be
changed.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is
not just the hubris of a writer and memoirist that leads me to say
that I understood the significance of what was going on. My art
teacher saw the look on my face and told me after class that she
could tell that I knew what was happening. I don't think I could
possibly have understood fully what was happening-- as I said, my
knowledge of the world was limited, and I hardly had any information
about the day's events.
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But
what I do know is that what I felt that day when I heard the
announcement is a feeling that has continued through to today: a deep
quiet inside me, a space where I must retreat to reflect on the chaos
and sometimes evil of the world, a space where I can mourn and wish
for the peace of the world. I felt it again the night that bin Laden
was killed. On 9/11/01, many felt anger; on May 1, 2011, many of
those same people felt great joy and release. I understand their
anger and joy on the respective nights, for the attacks struck home
for millions of people-- both those who directly lost loved ones and
those who lost their basic sense of safety. The death of bin Laden
was a necessary catharsis for many, and I cannot deny that the world
is almost certainly a better place without him.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But I
felt the same sense of deep quiet on May 1 of this year that I did on
September 11, 2001. I found it neither a catharsis nor a crime,
neither justice nor vengeance.
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's
just what is. Not what should be, but what is, right now. The world
has a way of changing at unexpected, often inopportune, moments, and
we have to be aware of what happens as it goes, and keep living our
lives. Our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world live in
societies much more dangerous than ours, and yet life goes on there
too. People are born, people die of natural causes and not, people go
to school and get married and have more kids and go to jobs and to
the grocery stores.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
guess what I'm trying to say is that maybe what I realized that day
and carry through until now is this: that we don't live in a peaceful
world, but that the world we live in has plenty of places where peace
and normalcy reign. Especially here in the United States we have that
to be thankful for. And when violence happens, the best we can do is
just keep going. I choose to mourn violence in all its forms, but I
give thanks for the peaceful moments in my life and in the lives of
those I love-- like the one right now where I resort to words of
reflection to absorb my feelings about this national day of
remembering.</span></div>
Carolyn C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03832991797804800178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211183.post-17229224468865875432011-08-28T16:13:00.004-04:002011-08-28T16:19:00.932-04:00Men's Underwear: A Tale of Public Transportation<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; " >The bus was full for so late on a Tuesday, Cassie thought as she slowly made her way to the open seats at the back. Glancing at the seats to the left and the right, she made an odd discovery.</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal"><span><span style="font-size: 11pt" >A pair of old gray men's briefs was resting on one of the spots.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span><span style="font-size: 11pt"><span style="font-style: normal">Shoes and socks, she'd heard of. Hats and sunglasses, she understood. But...underwear? That was both unusual and, well, disgusting. Settling on the seat opposite, Cassie giggled silently at the thought of where the underwear might have come from, how it might have wound up on a bus seat, very much without an owner. Teenagers having a muffled assignation on a quiet part of the ride, perhaps. </span></span></span><span><span style="font-size: 11pt"><i>Scandalous</i></span></span><span><span style="font-size: 11pt"><span style="font-style: normal">.</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal"><span><span style="font-size: 11pt" >Or maybe-- Cassie had heard about people in New York City who took off all their clothes on the subway, as a way of getting comfortable and beating the heat. It had been another boiler of a July day-- someone could be trying to reenact that classic Seinfeld episode. The image was uncomfortable and hilarious as she imagined sitting across from a naked guy on the bus, calmly reading the paper as those around him squirmed.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal"><span><span style="font-size: 11pt" >The bus lurched to a stop, and saved her from descending into uncontrollable laughter at the thoughts in her mind. The front door opened and a petite Hispanic woman got on and walked to the back, carrying a large bag and looking exhausted. Setting the bag on her lap, the woman leaned her head against the bus window and closed her eyes. She smelled vaguely of Lysol-- possibly a cleaning lady.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal"><span><span style="font-size: 11pt" >As the bus swerved up the busy rush hour streets, its frequent ungraceful stops and starts caused the woman's bag to tip over onto the floor of the bus. Some of the contents toppled out-- a t-shirt, a few different colors of socks, a fancy bra.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal"><span><span style="font-size: 11pt" >As the woman quietly regathered the contents of her bag, Cassie watched from the back of the bus and stopped giggling. Women like that one rode the bus every day. Normally Cassie didn't give them a second thought, but as she watched the woman settle back into her seat, she began to spin a story in her head. Though she had no way of knowing for sure, it appeared likely that the workday was far from over for that hard-working woman. The work she took home was surely the laundry of the family she worked for-- perhaps belonging to the children she had chased around all day, or the mother and father whose breakfast dishes she had watched. Or, alternatively, it may have belonged to her own family-- that she had to take her family's laundry to her job in order to get it done spoke volumes about the hours she worked.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal"><span><span style="font-size: 11pt" >The bus lurched to a stop again. The wealthy-looking passengers at the front shifted uncomfortably as a man dressed in ragged clothes and an army cap stepped on, clutching a couple of trash bags as he paid his fare in coins. The other passengers continued to display signs of disgust as he walked by-- some subtly holding their hands to cover their noses, some outright moving over so that the man wouldn't sit down next to them. Pretending not to notice his rejection by fellow passengers, the man slunk to the back of the bus, assaulting the senses of all that he passed.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal"><span><span style="font-size: 11pt" >As the man settled into the seat at the very back corner of the bus, he held his bags tightly in his arms, resting them on his lap. A dirty white t-shirt poked out of the top of one bag as he did so.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal"><span><span style="font-size: 11pt" >As Cassie sat at the back of the bus, she found these fellow passengers raising troubling ideas. Accidentally or not, the people most often seated at the back of the bus seemed to be minorities and poor people-- a fact that shouldn't be the case, but nonetheless was there. That article of clothing could easily have belonged to someone like the housekeeper or the homeless man. It needn't come from something as ridiculous as a careless tryst or a public transportation strip-down. It could belong to someone for whom that clothing was a livelihood, or even all that they owned...</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span><span style="font-size: 11pt"><span style="font-style: normal">These thoughts would have to wait-- she had a dinner party to get to. </span></span></span><span><span style="font-size: 11pt"><span style="font-style: normal"><span>*Ding!* “STOP REQUESTED.” </span></span></span></span></span> </p>Carolyn C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03832991797804800178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211183.post-2176263775570567032011-08-25T18:10:00.002-04:002011-08-26T00:22:15.270-04:0010 Sermons That Rocked My World<p style="margin-bottom: 0.16in; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 0in; font-style: normal; line-height: 150%; widows: 2; orphans: 2; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><a name="more-29"></a> <span>I have grown up in and around churches, and have heard dozens upon dozens of sermons. Good, mediocre, boring– on all theological topics under the sun. Two pastors in particular, however, stand out in my recollection, and of each of those pastors I have found a handful of sermons that irrevocably have stuck out in my memory– ones which helped to define my faith and rocked my world in doing so. Here are the links and brief summaries.</span></span></p> <ol> <li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in; line-height: 0.19in; widows: 2; orphans: 2"> <span class="Apple-style-span"><span>“</span><span><span lang="zxx"><u><a href="http://www.stjohnsdover.org/00easter.html"><span style="font-style: normal"><span>The Living Christ</span></span></a></u></span></span><span><span style="font-style: normal"><span>” by Rev. Anne Robertson. Growing up, Sunday School for kids occurred during the first worship service, so usually one of the only sermons I ever heard happened at Easter when Sunday School was cancelled. This one is probably the best stuck in my memory, because it tied Easter to, of all things, Charles Dickens’ </span></span></span><em><span><span style="font-style: normal"><span>A Christmas Carol…</span></span></span></em><span><span style="font-style: normal"><span>and helped to form my belief that God cannot be contained to our human imagination. God is bigger.</span></span></span></span></p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in; line-height: 0.19in; widows: 2; orphans: 2"> <span class="Apple-style-span"><span>“</span><span><span lang="zxx"><u><a href="http://www.stjohnsdover.org/99adv4.html"><span style="font-style: normal"><span>Transformation in Whoville</span></span></a></u></span></span><span><span style="font-style: normal"><span>” by Rev. Anne Robertson. I also inevitably always heard the sermon preached at church on Christmas Eve. This is my favorite Christmas sermon of all time because it was framed around Dr. Seuss’s “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” A reminder that Christmas is bigger than our busy-ness and greed and materialism– Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more. It’s up to us to choose whether we are the Whos or the Grinch each year.</span></span></span></span></p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in; line-height: 0.19in; widows: 2; orphans: 2"> <span class="Apple-style-span"><span>“</span><span><span lang="zxx"><u><a href="http://www.stjohnsdover.org/010916.html"><span style="font-style: normal"><span>Tower of Love</span></span></a></u></span></span><span><span style="font-style: normal"><span>” by Rev. Anne Robertson. Preached the Sunday after Tuesday September 11, 2001. Where was God in the midst of those terrorist attacks? Everywhere you looked, if you looked with the right eyes. “As the World Trade towers fell, the tower of love grew strong.”</span></span></span></span></p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in; line-height: 0.19in; widows: 2; orphans: 2"> <span class="Apple-style-span"><span>“</span><span><span lang="zxx"><u><a href="http://www.stjohnsdover.org/ziegler.html"><span style="font-style: normal"><span>What’s It All About</span></span></a></u></span></span><span><span style="font-style: normal"><span>” by Rev. Anne Robertson. This sermon won preaching awards and it’s not hard to see why. God is love. “Square one in the Christian faith and in all of life is love. If you’ve missed it, you’ve got to go back.”</span></span></span></span></p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in; line-height: 0.19in; widows: 2; orphans: 2"> <span class="Apple-style-span"><span>“</span><span><span lang="zxx"><u><span style="font-style: normal"><span><a href="http://www.aumethodists.org/worship/sermons/2007-fall/everything-you-need-to-know/">Everything You Need to Know</a></span></span></u></span></span><span><span style="font-style: normal"><span>” by Rev. Mark Schaefer. The first sermon I heard preached by my college campus minister. It has wound up being effectively a preview of my faith career for the next four years of my life and spiritual development. Can’t find a word in it that’s not true.</span></span></span></span></p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in; line-height: 0.19in; widows: 2; orphans: 2"> <span class="Apple-style-span"><span>“</span><span><span lang="zxx"><u><span style="font-style: normal"><span><a href="http://www.aumethodists.org/worship/sermons/2007-fall/why-the-atheists-are-right-and-wrong/">Why the Atheists Are Right (And Wrong)</a></span></span></u></span></span><span><span style="font-style: normal"><span>” by Rev. Mark Schaefer. The second sermon of my college career– quite a powerhouse combo, those first two Sundays. After four years of evangelical Christian school, it rocked my world to hear a Christian minister admit that people who were skeptical of faith might possibly have a point.</span></span></span></span></p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in; line-height: 0.19in; widows: 2; orphans: 2"> <span class="Apple-style-span"><span>“</span><span><span lang="zxx"><u><span style="font-style: normal"><span><a href="http://www.aumethodists.org/worship/sermons/2010-spring/faith-questions-2010/">Faith Questions</a></span></span></u></span></span><span><span style="font-style: normal"><span>” by Rev. Mark Schaefer. This is actually an annual occurrence at my campus church, where students anonymously submit questions online and the pastor answers them during the service, sight unseen. I cannot really recollect any one question that had an answer that rocked my world– rather, it was the whole existence of this kind of sermon. To put it in Mark’s words, </span></span></span><em><span><span style="font-style: normal"><span>“As I am fond of saying every year, “Faith Questions” is not simply a description of what it is we are answering. “Faith questions” is itself a sentence, a statement. Faith questions. A lively meaningful faith is not afraid to ask difficult questions and to wrestle with complex issues as they relate to our understandings of God and what we believe.” </span></span></span></em><span><span style="font-style: normal"><span>That realization alone– that asking questions was an acceptable part of faith– completely changed my faith life.</span></span></span></span></p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in; line-height: 0.19in; widows: 2; orphans: 2"> <span class="Apple-style-span"><span>“</span><span><span lang="zxx"><u><span style="font-style: normal"><span><a href="http://www.aumethodists.org/worship/sermons/2009-spring/jesus-added-you-as-a-friend/">Jesus Added You As A Friend</a></span></span></u></span></span><span><span style="font-style: normal"><span>” by Rev. Mark Schaefer. Facebook is indeed a technological and communications marvel. It’s a wonderful tool. But how has it diminished our sense of real relationship? “Christ reminds us that our friends are not means, they are ends in and of themselves. Our friendships are not social networking tools. They are real relationships. And in that reality, they are meant to reflect the relationship we have with our greatest Friend of all.”</span></span></span></span></p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in; line-height: 0.19in; widows: 2; orphans: 2"> <span class="Apple-style-span"><span>“</span><span><span lang="zxx"><u><span style="font-style: normal"><span><a href="http://www.aumethodists.org/worship/sermons/2009-spring/update-your-status-what-are-you-doing-right-now/">Update Your Status: What Are You Doing Right Now?</a></span></span></u></span></span><span><span style="font-style: normal"><span>” by Rev. Mark Schaefer. A reminder that God doesn’t base his love for us on our accomplishments. He loves us because he loves us. Isn’t being a child of God enough of a status for us? “In reality, what </span></span></span><em><span><span style="font-style: normal"><span>could</span></span></span></em><span><span style="font-style: normal"><span> you or I do that would</span></span></span><em><span><span style="font-style: normal"><span> impress</span></span></span></em><span><span style="font-style: normal"><span> God?”</span></span></span></span></p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in; line-height: 0.19in; widows: 2; orphans: 2"> <span class="Apple-style-span"><span>“</span><span><span lang="zxx"><u><span style="font-style: normal"><span><a href="http://www.aumethodists.org/worship/sermons/2010-spring/wiping-away-every-tear/">Wiping Away Every Tear</a></span></span></u></span></span><span><span style="font-style: normal"><span>” by Rev. Mark Schaefer. A thorough rebuke of Rapture theology, showing why it is a tempting but all things told rather harmful idea. I keep coming back to this one, all the time, as I think about my faith. “God does not abandon the creation. We are not rescued from it and taken to some other plane of existence. We are raised to new life </span></span></span><em><span><span style="font-style: normal"><span>in the creation. </span></span></span></em><span><span style="font-style: normal; ">God redeems and restores the world.”</span></span></span></p> </li></ol> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">
<br /></p>Carolyn C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03832991797804800178noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211183.post-71777215742302390162011-08-15T00:01:00.003-04:002011-08-15T00:05:25.883-04:00Book Lust Ain't Just for Nancy Pearl<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; "> <span ><span style="font-size: 11pt">Some people have disposable income. These people can afford to be defined, not necessarily by their money, but by what they do with it.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; "> <span ><span style="font-size: 11pt">Some people spend their disposable income on alcohol, on bars and clubs and always-flowing libations. These people are called partiers, socialites, or (alternately) 'alcoholics.'</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; "> <span ><span style="font-size: 11pt">Some people spend their disposable income on clothes and shoes-- more than any one individual could possibly need. These people are called 'shopaholics.'</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; "> <span ><span style="font-size: 11pt">Some people spend their money on fine food and fine wine. These people are called 'gourmets.'</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; "> <span ><span style="font-size: 11pt">Some people spend their money on toys, slides, water guns, stuffed animals, and amusement parks. These people are called 'parents.'</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; "> <span ><span style="font-size: 11pt">I'm mostly kidding about the latter, but it's true that there are as many ways to spend money on your interests as there <i>are</i> interests. Which brings me to an admission:</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; "> <span ><span style="font-size: 11pt">I am a book-aholic. A bibliophile. A bookworm. A first-degree book lover. I'm <a href="http://amyisthinking.blogspot.com/2011/07/date-girl-who-reads.html">a girl who reads</a>.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; "> <span ><span style="font-size: 11pt">This condition has been exacerbated by a lifelong proximity to books-- a tantalizingly close one. I grew up inhabiting libraries and bookstores; at any given point my own house vaguely resembled both of the above.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; "> <span ><span style="font-size: 11pt">Bibliophilia is a genetic condition in my family, but my mom and I both got a particularly severe and fast-moving strain. We're the two who have to be dragged out of bookstores. We have both found our excuses for buying books at different points.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; "> <span ><span style="font-size: 11pt">She is a school librarian for a Pre-K through 12 academy. She built the high school library from scratch. Bringing in appropriate and useful new books is her job.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; "> <span ><span style="font-size: 11pt">I, on the other hand, found my excuse in the school holidays that I spent working at Barnes & Noble. While I worked there, I could tell myself that by spending part of my paycheck on books, I was both learning how to do my job better and keeping myself employed. I helped other customers to find books that were right for them, and was also one of my own best customers.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; "> <span ><span style="font-size: 11pt">Now I find myself an underemployed college graduate with plentiful free time. I've worked my way through more than twenty books in the three months since graduation. And I am painfully aware of the fact that I live ten minutes down the street from one of the best bookstores in DC, <a href="http://politics-prose.com">Politics & Prose</a>.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; "> <span ><span style="font-size: 11pt">That information haunts my book-loving soul. Every day that I wake up with minimal commitments (which is most days), that literary devil on my left shoulder suggests that it's a nice day for a walk. Why don't we just stroll up Connecticut Avenue and see where we wind up?... And, right on cue, up pops the angel on my right shoulder to remind me that there's a bookstore up there, and we're trying to save money. Avoid temptation, Carolyn, avoid temptation...</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; "> <span ><span style="font-size: 11pt">It's a daily struggle. Most days, I succeed. Most days I can prevent myself from strolling up the street and perusing the bookstore. Inertia is a powerful ally in that battle. But it doesn't stop the visions of much-desired books dancing in my head...evidence of things hoped for.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; "> <span ><span style="font-size: 11pt">Some days, when I don't succeed in staying out of the store, I can still refrain from buying books by just enjoying the ambiance of being around them. When this happens, my friends and boyfriend find considerable amusement in watching me persuade myself not to buy books, and (when I give in) when I decide which books to pick up. They enjoy my anguish, the fiends.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; "> <span ><span style="font-size: 11pt">My boyfriend and I once looked in the window of a bookstore after it had closed for the night. He laughed as he watched my face. Said it looked like a little kid's on Christmas morning. I said that was appropriate, since my usual Christmas morning also involves rejoicing over newly acquired books. He understands-- he is a fellow book-lover, but he has better self-control in bookstores than I do. I usually make him hold my wallet if I don't want to splurge on new books.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; "> <span ><span style="font-size: 11pt">The fact is that no matter how much I value the ideal of simple living-- and I do-- my books are my greatest obstacle. The best I can do is to give some of them away when I am done with them, and not be too obsessed with getting them back. I remind myself that they are best enjoyed by all. Literacy is not supposed to be an elite activity. Everyone should be able to read. I know this, I believe this.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-style: normal; "> <span ><span style="font-size: 11pt">...But I love my books. Can I have more, please?</span></span></p>Carolyn C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03832991797804800178noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211183.post-52042261669190334132011-08-08T14:07:00.003-04:002011-08-08T14:22:33.694-04:00Bibliophilia, Books #11-20<span class="Apple-style-span" ><i>Ah, the overly sophisticated way of saying that I'm addicted to books. I enjoy it, too-- I love being able to sit down and read for pleasure so much that I've hardly been writing. Will return to that soon, I'm sure... Anyway, for your enjoyment, here's the list of books #11-20 that I've finished this summer. This list marks the completion of my summer reading goal, but I'm sure I will continue on and possibly hit 25 by the time Labor Day rolls around.</i></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b>
<br /></b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b>11. The Language of God - Francis Collins</b></span></div><div><ul> <li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span >A decent book all things told, written by the head of the Human Genome Project. Found the science excellent, the theology subpar, and the fusion of the two agreeable. Too much C.S. Lewis. Called the Gospels 'eyewitness accounts' of Jesus's life. Worth reading, but disappointing for someone who was hoping for a little more solid theology. For a more in-depth review, see <a href="http://thedivinescience.wordpress.com/2011/07/13/the-believer-scientist-part-1/">my Divine Science review</a>.</span></p></li></ul></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b>12. Murder at the Watergate - Margaret Truman</b></span></div><div><ul> <li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span >I love Margaret Truman mysteries because, well, they're murder mysteries set in DC. I've read three so far, all with the same basic central characters and a revolving plot of supporting characters, and all have been excellent. This one, centered around Mexican corruption and murders that result from it, turn domestic politics into foreign affairs seamlessly. An excellent, and very fast, read.</span></p></li></ul></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b>13. The Bible: A Biography - Karen Armstrong</b></span></div><div><ul> <li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span >A biography of the world's most printed book, from ancient Israel's Torah to modernity. I love the way Armstrong writes about religion, with a historically-minded accuracy and fairness, and a believer's reverence. Though this book moves quickly and doesn't dwell on events that you might expect, this is actually a strength. It makes its point very effectively: if you thought you knew how to read the Bible, you are probably both wrong and right; but either way, half of the significance of the Bible is how it is read and interpreted.</span></p></li></ul></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b>14. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle</b></span></div><div><ul> <li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span>The tales of the greatest detective in the world never fail to entertain. I'm deeply ashamed that I never made it all the way through all of Doyle's famous Sherlock Holmes tales until now, but my favorite remains “A Scandal in Bohemia.” </span> </span></p></li></ul></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b>15. The Magicians - Lev Grossman</b></span></div><div><ul> <li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span >Billed accurately as Harry Potter and Narnia for grown-ups, this darker fantasy novel follows the discontented young Quentin Coldwater as he makes his way into the world of magic through his admission to Brakebills College (think Hogwarts, if it were a college instead of a boarding school) and his search for the magical kingdom of Fillory (think Narnia, but more violent). A phenomenal read, especially for people mourning the loss of their childhood via the end of the Harry Potter movies.</span></p></li></ul></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b>16. Peace Like a River - Leif Enger</b></span></div><div><ul> <li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span>This book, recommended and loaned to me by my boyfriend's mother, took me a while to get into. Maybe partly because of my time constraints for reading, maybe because I found </span><span><i>The Magicians </i></span><span><span style="font-style: normal; ">shortly after starting it and got hopelessly distracted by my longtime love of fantasy, maybe because it didn't get really interesting until about halfway through. But I wound up reading the first half of the book over two weeks, and the second half in a day. It wound up being a good story. I suspect it will mean more to Midwesterners (like my boyfriend and his family), but I enjoyed the intertwining of faith, adventure, family, and a touch of romance that made up this story. </span></span> </span></p></li></ul></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b>17. Pulitzer: A Life in Politics, Power, and Print - James McGrath Morris</b></span></div><div><ul> <li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span >Continuing my apparently ongoing recent fascination with the great figures of the early twentieth century, this biography of publisher Joseph Pulitzer draws on recently uncovered sources, the likes of which most historians can only dream. Morris paints a picture of Joseph Pulitzer as an immigrant with brilliant political and journalistic instincts whose rise to power was only eclipsed by the onset of blindness. He did not hesitate to show Pulitzer in all of his many, many flaws, making this a fair portrait of a character who is not easily liked, but not unsympathetic either. An excellent biography.</span></p></li></ul></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b>18. Measure for Measure - William Shakespeare</b></span></div><div><ul> <li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span>One of Shakespeare's best plays, in my opinion-- </span><span><i>Measure </i></span><span><span style="font-style: normal">is entertaining but thought-provoking, raising timeless issues of justice, sexuality, and morality. It helps that I've seen this play performed, so I was able to picture things in my head as I read the play, but even without that, I think I would have loved reading it. It's a comedy, to be sure, but definitely one of Shakespeare's darker comedies.</span></span></span></p></li></ul></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b>19. Gods and Generals - Jeff Shaara</b></span></div><div><ul> <li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span>Written after </span><span><i>The Killer Angels </i></span><span><span style="font-style: normal">but set in the years preceding it, this sequel by the son of Michael Shaara carries the story forward well, but does not quite live up to the storytelling ability of the father. That being said, it was still a lot of fun to read, and the comparatively few inadequacies can be chalked up to the fact that where </span></span><span><i>The Killer Angels </i></span><span><span style="font-style: normal">takes place over three or four days, </span></span><span><i>Gods and Generals </i></span><span><span style="font-style: normal">tells the story of five or six years-- a few years before the war began, and then the first two and a half years of the war, including Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. An excellent work of historical fiction.</span></span></span></p></li></ul></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b>20. The Luxury of Daydreams - Amy McVay Abbott</b></span></div><div><ul> <li><p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span><span style="font-style: normal">It's hard to know exactly how to review a book written by someone you know without letting your bias creep in, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading </span></span><span><i><a href="http://theluxuryofdaydreams.blogspot.com/">The Luxury of Daydreams</a></i></span><span><span style="font-style: normal; ">. Amy's writing style is humorous and sincere, beautifully phrased and entertaining. It will certainly be most enjoyed by people more familiar with the Midwest and mid-life situations than I, but all the same, Amy tells many wonderful stories that can be appreciated by people in most any location or stage of life. As someone who is not too far away from that age, I especially appreciated her “Letter to My Seventeen-Year-Old Self.” </span></span></span></p></li></ul></div>Carolyn C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03832991797804800178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211183.post-20182547914775565752011-07-11T09:22:00.003-04:002011-07-11T09:34:17.131-04:00The Return of Reading<span class="Apple-style-span" >Let all the bookworms rejoice! I graduated from college, which means I finally have had time to read for pleasure again (in between hunting for jobs and doing odd jobs to make money, that is). Here is a list of all the books I've read so far, with brief reviews.</span><div><ol><li><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b><i>The Geography of Bliss </i>(Weiner)</b> - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; ">A travel memoir centered around a grumpy NPR reporter's attempt to find the happiest places in the world. Not my favorite travel book, but a lot of fun nonetheless as Weiner takes the reader to places both expected and unexpected in the quest for locational happiness. Begs the question: is it really the place that matters?</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b><i>The Greatest Show on Earth </i>(Dawkins) </b>- <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; ">A love letter to evolutionary biology. This book can hardly be described in any other way. It is not nearly as vitriolic as many of his other works, particularly as it refers to religion in general-- though he is unsparing in his attacks on those who discount evolution. Sometimes difficult to get through and fully comprehend, this is nevertheless an excellent piece for anybody curious to read an argument for the scientific basis of the theory of evolution. (<a href="http://thedivinescience.wordpress.com/2011/05/25/book-review-1/">Read a longer review here</a>)</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b><i>True Compass </i>(Kennedy)</b> - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; ">Superb memoir by one of the greatest senators of the twentieth century. No matter your feelings about the Kennedy clan's politics, you cannot deny that they lead interesting lives. Ted Kennedy wrote this book very shortly before he died, and at least part of it with the knowledge that he had cancer. Its focus on sticking to your beliefs and pushing through tragedies rings true, but it doesn't shy away from the harder events of Kennedy's life.</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b><i>A New Kind of Christianity </i>(McLaren)</b> - Brian <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; ">McLaren is a leading voice in progressive Christianity, specifically in the “emergent” church. I loved this book most for its format-- questions and responses (not answers). He raises issues that have long been considered foundational to Christianity, and points out that there may be more ways of looking at the issues than have previously been raised. It offers more questions than it answers, but that's a good thing in this case. Needs to happen more often in the church.</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b><i>The Killer Angels </i>(Shaara)</b> - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; ">A classic historical fiction novel about the Battle of Gettysburg. Depicts the battle from the perspective of a variety of different commanders on each side. I couldn't put it down.</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b><i>The Lemon Tree </i>(Tolan) </b>- <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; ">One of the best books on the Israel-Palestine conflict that I have ever encountered. It treats fairly with both sides, giving voice to each side by telling the crisscrossing stories of two families who, at different points in time, lived in the same house. Don't mistake this for only a biography, though-- it's much more of a history of the conflict, just with a very unique lens. Well worth the read.</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b><i>The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt </i>(Morris)</b> - <span style="font-size: 11pt">The first in Edmund Morris's trilogy of works on the 26</span><sup><span style="font-size: 11pt">th</span></sup><span style="font-size: 11pt"> president, this volume traces Roosevelt's entire life before he became president. And what a life it was: crusading assemblyman, author, soldier, media hog, police commissioner, Civil Service Commissioner, Assistant Secretary of the Navy... a diverse career, depicted here by Morris in a fact-filled but highly readable and entertaining way. How could you not be entertained by a life like that?</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b><i>Outliers </i>(Gladwell)</b> - <span style="font-size: 11pt">I'm almost ashamed to say that this is the first Malcolm Gladwell book that I've picked up. However, for this recent grad, I think </span><span style="font-size: 11pt"><i>Outliers </i></span><span style="font-size: 11pt"><span style="font-style: normal">was a good place to start, though it was his third book. The focus was on rethinking success-- or more accurately, the most successful people. It manages to simultaneously reenforce and reevaluate ideas that you may have already had about success-- and more importantly, about how your environment affects it.</span></span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b><i>Foundation </i>(Asimov) </b>- <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; ">An Asimov sci-fi classic. He wrote it when he was 21 years old, which does rather make this 22-year-old feel unaccomplished. That being said, it's an excellent start to a series that is effectively about the rise and fall of empires. Excellent read, and certainly not a high level of complexity in terms of writing style. </span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b><i>Mort </i>(Pratchett)</b> - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; ">A fantastically wacky novel about what happens when Death decides to take an apprentice. I'm not overly familiar with Pratchett's DiscWorld, but this book didn't really demand it. Funny, yet raised some interesting ideas about death, justice, and shifting realities. Not that the latter was the primary point of the novel, necessarily...</span></span></li></ol></div>Carolyn C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03832991797804800178noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211183.post-68823949248432277832011-05-21T13:06:00.002-04:002011-05-21T13:19:56.170-04:00#TheWalkingGallery: A New Kind of ArtOn June 7, 2011, I will be participating in a unique event. Part art show, part advocacy, part storytelling show-- The Walking Gallery encompasses all of these things. It is the brainchild of <a href="http://reginaholliday.blogspot.com">Regina Holliday</a>, a remarkable health care advocate whose experiences stemmed from the loss of her husband (my professor) to cancer nearly two years ago. I've written about them before in "<a href="http://thoughtdujour.blogspot.com/2009/08/health-and-hollidays.html">Health and the Hollidays</a>." Regina has continued to be a tremendous inspiration to me, as she speaks out with her voice, her story, and her art.<div><br /></div><div>At The Walking Gallery, people from a variety of careers and backgrounds will converge on the Kaiser Permanente offices in downtown DC, all of us wearing jackets (business suit jackets or lab coats) with paintings on the back. Each painting tells a story relevant to the person wearing it, and each is related to health care advocacy. We will wear our jackets that night, and whenever we speak at or attend advocacy events.</div><div><br /></div><div>Regina just finished painting my jacket-- you can see <a href="http://reginaholliday.blogspot.com/2011/05/media-matters-carolyns-jacket.html?spref=fb">pictures and Regina's write-up on her blog</a>. The concept is based around the lessons I learned in Prof. Holliday's class-- the power of the media in telling stories. The class I took, American Society on Stage and Screen, analyzed the way the society in which we live is portrayed by the art we produce. In the case of that class, we looked at the mediums of theater and cinema. Prof. Holliday taught the class well, leading us in discussions of how race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and more had been depicted on the big and small screen through the years.</div><div><br /></div><div>We did not have the chance to discuss this in his class, but since Prof. Holliday's death I have been thinking about how media tells health stories. Sometimes they do it well, and deal honestly with tough issues-- Regina's painting on my jacket shows examples of this. Other times, the challenges faced by real people are, at one extreme, glossed over, and at the other, overdramatized. The story of health care reform has not been told well-- when we realize this, it is no great surprise that people don't think we need a more complete reform. That reform has to happen not only in the legislative process but in the way we look at our system, and changing that starts with the way we tell our stories. I will be proud to wear my jacket in The Walking Gallery and elsewhere, and to use it to talk about the need to tell our stories well.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></div>Carolyn C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03832991797804800178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211183.post-7865366843640058702011-03-04T14:43:00.003-05:002011-03-04T15:03:21.013-05:00If I could save time in a bottle...Every morning I take the bus from my home to my college campus. It's not a long ride-- about fifteen minutes or so, depending on traffic. However, no matter what the printed schedules or the NextBus app say, the buses frequently run late. Sometimes this may be due to traffic, but in some cases I think it's just because some of the drivers have a rather creative relationship with time. Needless to say, on the days when I just want to get to campus, or just want to get home, this can require more than a little patience.<div><br /></div><div>In this regard, I think, I am a quintessential northeasterner. I schedule my life well and often, and I habitually leave early to arrive early. I plan nearly everything. I've been this way for about as long as I can remember, and in many regards these tendencies have served me well, especially given that I live in a place where time and schedules are valued (WMATA not withstanding). </div><div><br /></div><div>Recently, though, I've had some cause to consider my relationship with the clock. I'm leaving tomorrow on a trip to the Cherokee reservation in North Carolina, and one of the things I learned from talking to people who have gone on the trip before is that the Cherokee view time in a much more lenient way. Things happen when they happen, so why worry? Why rush? Not at all the mindset I grew up around.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yet I think there is something to be said for this style. I think it probably has to be adopted as a culture-wide phenomenon in order to be accepted-- if I adopted it for my life in DC, it would probably be viewed as sloppy-- but there are benefits to slowing down and being less Type-A about time. There's value in the idea of freeing yourself from the tyranny of the clock.</div><div><br /></div><div>This obsession with time is something that seems to be built into the DNA of the people-- even the students-- that I spend my time with nearly every day. Part of it, I think, stems from our massive generational entitlement complex. Millennials are accustomed to the Internet age, in which we can get so many things instantaneously. This reality online translates into an expectation that everything should happen at the point we want it to appear-- which is generally NOW. We want the bus to arrive the second we pull up to the stop. We want the grades or papers to be announced practically as soon as we take the test (or at least within a week). We want our friends, family, or coworkers to respond to texts or calls or emails within minutes. We want, we want, we want...</div><div><br /></div><div>The problem is that we forget that there are people, real people with their own concerns or flaws, behind what we want. Behind every bus is a driver, behind every grade is a professor... they are all individuals, often with similar desires or concerns. These tend to get in the way of our desires, but that's the way life goes. Technology will keep getting better and time will keep being something that we in the west value, but as long as there are people behind messages and vehicles and things like that, we will never achieve that level of instant reply that we wish for.</div><div><br /></div><div>I suspect I will be reflecting more on these ideas over the week in Cherokee. I'm going to be disconnected from the Internet, probably almost totally, which will be quite a break for me, but I will get my reflections down on paper while I am there and write more on here when I get back (hopefully). </div><div><br /></div><div>As Garrison Keillor says, be well, do good work, and keep in touch.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> </div>Carolyn C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03832991797804800178noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211183.post-22476655767652468262011-02-14T02:32:00.003-05:002011-02-14T02:40:53.576-05:00On Jesus<div>The question stares me down.</div><div><br /></div><div>"What meaning does Jesus Christ have in your life?"</div><div><br /></div><div>I do not know how to answer.</div><div><br /></div><div>I used to know. When I lived my school life in evangelical Christian circles, the answer was nearly always supposed to be something about the state of your personal relationship with Christ. Usually it wound up sounding like he was going with you to the mall later today, or that he had just sent you the funniest text message. Ideas that did not ring true.</div><div><br /></div><div>Oh, I don't intend to belittle that some people can and do feel a close relationship, an emotional relationship with their God. In some ways I envy that. I have never felt it; or if I have, it has been one that faded with the descent from the proverbial mountaintop. How can one talk about Jesus in that way? You can't call him on the phone, sit up at night having a conversation that ranges from the profound to the hilarious, or be pen pals, or talk to him on Facebook chat. Sure, you can try, but you'll find things a trifle one-sided. Or maybe you won't. But I always have.</div><div><br /></div><div>Not to say, you understand, that I don't believe God is there. I believe, on the contrary, that he (or she) is here with me as I type; and moreover, I believe that he (or she) cares. The personal God is a bedrock of Christianity-- the God who cared enough to become incarnate in us.</div><div><br /></div><div>There it is, maybe. The elusive answer I've been struggling for. I'm never sure what to tell a Methodist about the state of my relationship with God-- certain but questioning may be most accurate. As certain as a questioner can be at least. If the Jesus who is the Son of God, a Messiah for humanity, which I do believe as a Christian-- then even as I grapple with exactly how personal I feel that God to be, then it entails certain implications. </div><div><br /></div><div>And even if, as I am beginning to consider, Jesus-- the historical Jesus, mind you-- may not have been from the divine in the way recorded in the Bible (see Bruce Chilton's <i>Rabbi Jesus</i>), there is still the chance that maybe either way, Jesus was OF the divine. </div><div><br /></div><div>This too carries implications:</div><div><br /></div><div>To live a life that honors God.</div><div>To love God and love people-- to love God BY loving people.</div><div>To serve the poor and work for justice.</div><div>To not be satisfied by the status quo.</div><div>To stare power in the face and not lose moral ground.</div><div>To turn the other cheek and go the extra mile.</div><div>To look toward the future, a better future, but one that takes place here on earth, the Kingdom of Heaven incarnate. </div><div><br /></div><div>My doubts stand. My questions remain. I am comforted by that, and comfortable with it. Faith pleads for the engagement of reason, not necessarily even by people who start from a place of non-belief and try to reason their way into faith. No, I would argue that it is perhaps even more important for people who stand from a position of faith to try to reason themselves out of it, and find a place where they are uncomfortable with the Scripture or church theology or any of these things, and stand up and say, I am not comfortable with this verse, this interpretation, and that is okay. "Come, let us reason together," and let us act and fight for justice together.</div>Carolyn C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03832991797804800178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211183.post-32375284145227842462011-01-22T00:23:00.004-05:002011-01-22T00:45:40.584-05:00#sojuca2<div style="text-align: left;">I've referenced the amazing <a href="http://twitter.com/ReginaHolliday">Regina Holliday</a> before on this blog. She's the <a href="http://thoughtdujour.blogspot.com/2009/08/health-and-hollidays.html">widow of my former film professor</a> and someone that I admire tremendously. So when she asked me to come speak at a Social Justice Camp event that she was organizing in DC, I couldn't say no. The event, which took place on January 21 at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, was a spectacular evening of inspiring Ignite speeches. I talked about one of my favorite topics, the <a href="http://aumethodists.org/">AU United Methodist Student Association</a> and met some amazing people whose work for social justice (especially in the health care arena) is enough to get anyone fired up. The (rough, not exact as delivered) text of my speech is below. Blogspot isn't cooperating in letting me post the pictures from my slideshow, so just use your imagination.</div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span style="background: transparent"><i>I'm sure at least some of you have seen the TV show "How I Met Your Mother." There's an episode in the first season where two characters, Ted and Marshall, are arguing about who gets the apartment when Marshall gets married, and the fight comes down to an old-fashioned duel. Yes, with swords.</i></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span style="background: transparent"><i>During the duel, the episode flashes back to another time when Ted and Marshall sat down to discuss the apartment problem-- but they decided that it was a problem for Future Ted and Future Marshall. Watch the episode to find out the results-- suffice to say, someone got the point of it a little too well.</i></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span style="background: transparent"><i>Even though students can be an energized bunch, sometimes we fall into the habit of thinking social justice problems are things for “Future Me” to deal with. It can be hard to make us believe that these are real concerns that will impact our lives.</i></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span style="background: transparent"><i>I will say that I have been fortunate in my time at <a href="http://www.american.edu">American University</a> to come into contact with a lot of people who care about working for social justice, few more so than the <a href="http://aumethodists.org">United Methodist Student Association</a>. We emphasize hospitality, community, and social justice-- three things we consider interconnected topics.</i></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span style="background: transparent"><i>It's that unified view that, in my opinion, makes us unique. I think that that is a very important way to look at the nature of social justice. If we have that sense that we are all part of a community, whether it be a university, a city, or a country, then why wouldn't we want to be hospitable in the broadest sense of the term? Why wouldn't we work for justice for all?</i></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span style="background: transparent"><i>In the UMSA, our social justice program is called The Other Six Days-- as in, we know what you're doing on Sunday, but what are you doing the other six days? We focus on education, though we often combine service as well. Because there are so many issues to be concerned about, we discuss a different topic each month of the school year. These have included the gender gap, LGBT rights, disaster relief, disability rights, and more.</i></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span style="background: transparent"><i>We as students all find our own ways of getting involved in social justice work. One common way to do so is via unpaid internships, often at NGOs. For instance, I spent a semester working at a <a href="http://www.columban.org">Catholic social justice advocacy group</a>, whose slogan (meaningfully) was Challenging Structures, Changing Lives.</i></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span style="background: transparent"><i>Other times, opportunities for students to engage drop into our laps and demand that we seize the moment-- most recently, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=7404527&aid=2243808">when Westboro Baptist Church protested at American University</a>. Campus groups organized a large counter-protest to express our commitment to tolerance and acceptance. I suspect the university administration may have preferred that we ignore WBC and avoid attention, but that was not going to happen-- <a href="http://www.aumethodists.org/wbc/">we were way too fired up</a>, and we pulled the administration on board.</i></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in"><span style="background: transparent"><i>There are great reasons for students to engage in advocacy work. For one, we're all so addicted to technology that we're shocked when there's something that we can't do online. For another, as Regina says, we're all patients in the end-- and a good many of us are patients throughout our lives too. Just as important, though, social justice problems shouldn't be left for "Future Me" to handle. We're here now too, after all.</i></span></p></div>Carolyn C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03832991797804800178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211183.post-9800591807518382222011-01-09T09:41:00.004-05:002011-01-09T10:32:01.399-05:00On Hatred and ViolenceIt's been a long time since I last wrote here. I plead the usual excuses of a senior in college (academia and job applications), but I am truly sorry that it took a tragedy to drive me back here to comment on the latest in politics and life. <div><br /></div><div>The tenor of the political debate in the United States has been the subject of much commentary over the last couple of years, but it's been a growing problem since much longer than that. Before the birthers and the Tea Party, there were anti-war protesters who compared Bush to Hitler. Disagreement can become dangerous territory when it turns into extremism. This is true of politics as well as of religion and many other important facets of life.</div><div><br /></div><div>I do think, though, that no matter how long this has been going on (and I would argue that in the US, you can date it back to the days of the Articles of Confederation), the rhetoric has sharply deteriorated in the last several years. At <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2011/01/08/democratic-rep-gabrielle-giffords-shot-at-event-in-arizona/">the end of this article</a>, ThinkProgress.org offers a (partial) list of articles analyzing recent instances of violent action and even more violent rhetoric. The Republican party has been especially guilty of this; the Tea Party elements even more so. </div><div><br /></div><div>Rhetoric does not inherently lead to action; sometimes it's just talking. I follow the tweets of the (fictional) <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/Pres_Bartlet">President Bartlet on Twitter</a>, and yesterday he commented,</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 30px; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><i><blockquote></blockquote></i></span></span></div><span><span><blockquote><i>No motive released. Far as I can tell, it was an act of a mad man. Trying to explain it through normal terms is an exercise in futility.</i></blockquote></span></span><div><span><span>Perhaps he is right. Time and evidence will ultimately tell-- and all we have right now are the shooter's MySpace page and YouTube videos. But I think that rhetoric does have power, and the level of debate and discussion in this country is appallingly low. Rep. Giffords was disliked in some measure by people on both sides of the aisle; <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/us/politics/09bai.html?partner=rss&emc=rss">according to a <i>New York Times</i> article</a>, both the conservative SarahPAC and the liberal Daily Kos were compelled to scrub their websites after yesterday's tragic shooting. Indeed, the shooter listed both <i>The Communist Manifesto </i>and <i>Mein Kampf </i>among <a href="http://www.solidprinciples.com/blog/jared-lee-loughners-profile/">his favorite books</a>. Blame is not always easy to assign.</span></span></div><div><span><span><br /></span></span></div><div>Life is strange in how events run together sometimes. A couple of days ago I learned that the Westboro Baptist Church plans to protest my university on Friday. I hesitate even to link to the press release on their website; the flyer is so full of bile that it hardly merits reading (I also hate to drive up traffic to them; go read it if you wish). Though they are a small and insular religious group, they are tremendous agents of intolerance. I disagree with and indeed despise everything they stand for, and so I will join the members of my university community in their counter-protest. But I will do so in the spirit of <a href="http://www.aumethodists.org/faith-in-action/why-love-must-win-out/#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter">what my university chaplain wrote</a> a few days ago-- </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><i><blockquote>Often overlooked in our religious conversation is the fact that love is not an emotion. Love is a behavior. It is a way of living. That’s a good thing—meaning that it is not outside the realm of our choosing. We can, in spite of how we might <span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; ">feel</span>, choose to love. Somewhere deep down in my animal nature, I am not happy about that. But my higher nature calls me to something else. That much tarnished image of God with which I was made still has enough luster now and then to remind me of what I am called to do.</blockquote></i></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">The Westboro Baptist Church brand of hatred is the kind that leads them to protest a university. It is not clear yet what was in the mind of the man who shot <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/us/politics/09giffords.html?partner=rss&emc=rss">Rep. Gabrielle Giffords'</a> and those who died in the gunfire (including <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/us/09judge.html?partner=rss&emc=rss">a federal judge</a>), but I suspect it was also motivated by hatred. What else could it be? </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">Responding to hatred with hatred is counterproductive. As <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/us/politics/09scene.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss">Giffords campaign volunteer Ilene Thompson said</a>, there are real consequences to hatred, and we saw them yesterday. Love must prevail. Love, as an action, means that on Friday I won't yell obscenities at the Westboro Baptist Church. It means I'll join the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=190935437586489">God Loves Poetry movement</a> in trying to turn their discourse on its head. Words matter-- we can and should use them well.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">Love, as an action, also means ending a political discourse that involves using the language of violence to talk about the other side of the aisle. Humans have historically been very good at turning people with whom we have differences into the "other"; when we think of another person as the "other" we have an easier time justifying violence against them. This must stop. Love, as Rev. Schaefer wrote, must win out. The tenor of debate must be raised. As President Bartlet of <i>The West Wing </i>would remind us, that starts with us, right now. An article in the <i>New York Times </i>speculated that this shooting could mean "<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/us/politics/09bai.html?partner=rss&emc=rss">the end of an era of intolerance, or just the beginning</a>." What's next?</span></span></div>Carolyn C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03832991797804800178noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211183.post-47896963068681920252010-10-09T17:58:00.003-04:002010-10-09T18:04:36.178-04:00Why We Can't Give Up the GovernmentStuart Symington, a presidential candidate in the legendary election of 1960, said this to Theodore H. White, who reported on the campaign in his classic work of political science <i>The Making of the President 1960. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">I think it is still relevant today.</span></i><div><blockquote>This Republican talk of pulling the federal government out of business is not only stupid...it's dangerous. Look, you get up in a plane, you want to make sure it lands safely-- we can't give up the FAA. You buy stock in a mine, you want to be sure that the mine is really there-- we can't give up the SEC. You buy a bottle of medicine in a store, you want to be sure that what the label says is really in that bottle-- we can't give up the Food and Drug Administration. You tune in your radio, you don't want to find five stations on the same channel-- we can't give up the FCC... This silly Republican prattle of pulling government out of business! This country's become strong because government <i>is </i>a partner of everybody, and we have to recognize that kind of strength is our only hope... a new road is strength, a new bridge is strength, a good school is strength, above all, a good teacher is strength, she's playing with the greatest national resource we have.</blockquote></div>Carolyn C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03832991797804800178noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211183.post-31515737466377008082010-07-30T15:27:00.003-04:002010-07-30T16:47:43.401-04:00Summer Reading 2010: Books #1-10It is perhaps indicative of my bibliophilic nature that I consider it a travesty that I have only finished reading ten books so far this summer. <a href="http://thoughtdujour.blogspot.com/2009/05/book-1-schulz-and-peanuts.html">After</a> <a href="http://thoughtdujour.blogspot.com/2009/05/book-2-joyous-gard.html">all</a>, <a href="http://thoughtdujour.blogspot.com/2009/05/book-3-watchmen.html">last</a> <a href="http://thoughtdujour.blogspot.com/2009/05/recent-reading-books-4-6.html">summer I</a> <a href="http://thoughtdujour.blogspot.com/2009/06/recent-reading-books-7-12.html">completed</a> <a href="http://thoughtdujour.blogspot.com/2009/07/recent-reading-books-13-25.html">32</a> <a href="http://thoughtdujour.blogspot.com/2009/08/summer-reading-books-26-32.html">books</a>! But this is a different year and I have been working a standard 9-to-5 job every day, plus a handful of other things, and instead of lying on my back recovering from knee surgery I have been out and about in the great city of Washington, DC. With that being said, I am now done with my internship/job and will have some more time to spend on my beloved books. By way of a literary update, here's what I've managed to read through so far this summer.<br /><ol><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">United Methodism in America (McEllenney)</span>- The first book of many I will be perusing in the name of my senior history thesis, which will likely be about Methodism in the early United States. This was a well-done overview of the history of the United Methodist Church. Not particularly in-depth, but I got my feet wet and picked up a few ideas that I will be pursuing.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Notes from a Small Island (Bryson)</span>- Bill Bryson is one of my favorite authors. This is the book he wrote about traveling around England, Scotland, and Wales. He has a very funny tone and style, and is clearly enamored with his subject. An all-around great read that made me want to buy a ticket on the next plane to London or Edinburgh.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Unlikely Disciple (Roose)</span>- An agnostic college student from Brown University decides, after realizing how little he knows about this particular subculture of American life, to go 'undercover' for a semester at Liberty University, founded by the late Jerry Falwell. I appreciated Kevin Roose's ability to critique his subject without unfairly bashing the people he encountered there. A funny yet profound book, along the lines of AJ Jacobs' <span style="font-style: italic;">The Year of Living Biblically</span>. Note that this is not a coincidence; as Roose spells out early on, his project grew out of his time spent as Jacobs' assistant while Jacobs was living his year.<br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">A Million Miles in a Thousand Years (Miller)</span>- Donald Miller is another author of whom I am a huge fan. He first gained (some degree of) fame with <span style="font-style: italic;">Blue Like Jazz</span>, and has gone on to write other wonderful spiritual (but not overly religious) books. This is his latest, a quest for understanding and finding one's personal Story-- and learning how to tell a good one. Brilliant-- my copy is well underlined.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Guinea Pig Diaries (Jacobs)</span>- AJ Jacobs, of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Know-It-All </span>and <span style="font-style: italic;">The Year of Living Biblically</span>, takes on a year of doing different 'experiments' every month. Each chapter of the book focuses on a different one. From living George Washington's Rules of Civility to trying to eradicate all his cognitive biases to becoming 'the perfect husband,' Jacobs' always laugh-out-loud (yet thoughtful) style makes him one of my consistent favorite authors.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Rediscovering Values (Wallis)</span>- I really liked Jim Wallis' first book, <span style="font-style: italic;">God's Politics</span>, and have also been interested by his subsequent books. This is the latest. From his (mainly) progressive Christian point of view, Wallis discusses the Great Recession and critiques the mindset that got us into it...but also offers hopeful ideas as to how we can change in the future.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">American Lion (Meacham)</span>- A well-written book about a deeply flawed man. This Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of Andrew Jackson, authored by Jon Meacham (the editor of Newsweek) reexamines the presidency of the seventh man to hold the highest office in this country. Most fascinating to think of how relevant the events of Jackon's presidency are in this world today. He dealt with sex scandals, war, racial discord, banking issues, and economic challenges...and for better or worse, consolidated more power in the hands of the Chief Executive than had ever been presumed possible before.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace (Nerburn)</span>- A thought-provoking little meditation on the Prayer of St. Francis. Very well written, and I am still mulling over some of the ideas in it (which I think is the sign of a good book).<br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Eat Pray Love (Gilbert)</span>- A bestselling memoir of a woman who went through a nasty divorce before pursuing a year of traveling and finding herself. Perhaps only appeals to a certain demographic (I was told that I was too young to appreciate it) but I still enjoyed it.<br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Up in the Air (Kirn)</span>- The recent movie with George Clooney was based on this book, but they are quite different. This one is darker and, admittedly, somewhat stranger. Jason Reitman, the writer/director of the movie, pulled a number of direct quotes from the book, but the plot is a VERY loose adaptation. Still, it is a well-written and interesting book, a portrait of the road warrior. My favorite part of the book was the narrative style-- the main character, Ryan Bingham, just talks to the reader, and you feel like you are really in a conversation and he's just telling you a story. (However, I have to admit that I actually prefer the movie in this particular case. Minus ten book-lovers' points, I know.)<br /></li></ol>Carolyn C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03832991797804800178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211183.post-15244634414357711082010-05-28T10:34:00.004-04:002010-05-28T10:41:35.469-04:00Thoughtful ReadsI like thoughtful writing-- the kind where a true intellectual looks at current events through the lens of more than just politically or policy-motivated mumbo-jumbo. This is the main reason why David Brooks of the <span style="font-style: italic;">New York Times</span> has become one of my favorite columnists, whether or not I agree with his opinions. His columns are reliably rational, moderate arguments-- despite the fact that his opinions do on occasion draw some fire for their unique brand of idealism. But really, what is a column for but to express the writer's opinion on the way they see the world and the way they think it ought to be?<br /><br />Today Mr. Brooks had an especially thoughtful <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/28/opinion/28brooks.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss">column about the real ramifications of the oil spill</a>-- namely, how it reflects the way we think about technology. We put a great deal of trust in very risky devices, and create overly complex governance systems to manage them, he argues. Mr. Brooks also cited an <a href="http://www.gladwell.com/1996/1996_01_22_a_blowup.htm">excellent 1996 piece by bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell</a> (of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Tipping Point</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Blink</span>, and <span style="font-style: italic;">Outliers</span>), written around the tenth anniversary of the Challenger explosion. Whether or not you agree, the pieces are well-written and bear some contemplation as we consider how to move forward with recovery from this massive environmental disaster.Carolyn C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03832991797804800178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211183.post-73048237346743513052010-05-24T09:14:00.003-04:002010-05-26T13:39:26.766-04:00Faith and the Democrats, 2010 EditionThe 2008 Democrats realized something that they hadn't seemed to grasp in previous election cycles: faith matters to a whole lot of people. It matters so much, in fact, that it often influences their voting patterns. One could argue quite effectively that then-candidate Obama's ability to define his political views in light of his religious beliefs played a major role in making him the most successful Democratic candidate in years in terms of winning the votes of the faith-based community. And for a while, when the Democrats came to power, they maintained their faith-based outreach programs-- President Obama even expanded former President Bush's faith-based initiative offices in the White House.<br /><br />Since then, though, little other than disappointment has ensued from the progressive faith community. The Democrats have been woefully unresponsive to many religious concerns, and even the president's religious advisers feel that they are not being heard. Moral language is really nowhere to be found in speeches by most Democratic politicians, and the "Faith in Action" page on the DNC's website is almost painfully out of date and unused. All of these issues-- and more-- were addressed in an excellent article by Michelle Boorstein of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Washington Post</span>, asking, "<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/23/AR2010052303747.html?wprss=rss_politics">Are Democrats pulling back on faith outreach?</a>"<br /><br />The answer, from my perspective, is a resounding "yes," and that upsets me more than I can say. I have long felt that the Democrats were woefully incompetent when it came to connecting to faith groups, and that the Republican lock on religion can only be unhealthy for the faith community. The problem is not the lack of opportunity for Democrats to phrase their ideas in a way that speaks to moral and faith-based perspectives, it is simply their lack of action. The problem is not that there is no value in framing political issues as a moral imperative (health care is a great example), it is that that value is seldom recognized and even more infrequently utilized to benefit the Democratic agenda.<br /><br />The Democrats seemed to be getting back on the faith-based track a little more during the 2008 election. Obama spoke about his faith openly and framed his issues as a question of values, and many people-- including and especially people of faith-- responded to that. However, the recent backpedaling hasn't done them any favors, and if they fail to get back to that moral language, especially during the upcoming Congressional campaigns, the Democrats will once again risk losing control of the moral ground in the conversations to Republicans-- and that monopoly would be a huge loss to the country and to constructive dialogue.Carolyn C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03832991797804800178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211183.post-41417643703417101082010-05-20T15:52:00.002-04:002010-05-20T17:00:42.166-04:00Beck's Call: The Conversation About Social Justice ChristianityI am admittedly long overdue in writing about the controversy that Glenn Beck launched when he called on Christians to leave churches that preached social justice. It seems, however, that I am not as belated as I thought, because the conversation is still going on. More on that later.<br /><br />A little context: In his show on March 3, 2010, conservative talk show host Glenn Beck made the following proclamation to his religiously inclined viewers:<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">"I'm begging you, your right to religion and freedom to exercise religion and read all of the passages of the Bible as you want to read them and as your church wants to preach them...are going to come under the ropes in the next year. If it lasts that long it will be the next year. I beg you, look for the words 'social justice' or 'economic justice' on your church web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words. Now, am I advising people to leave their church? Yes!"</span></blockquote>And it continued. Understandably, many churches were incensed and the progressive evangelical Christian magazine <span style="font-style: italic;">Sojourners</span> launched a campaign telling their readers to "turn themselves in" to Beck, proclaiming, "I am a social justice Christian." They got several thousand signatures the first night...and the next day on his show, Beck went even further:<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">Where I go to church, there are members that preach social justice as members–my faith doesn’t–but the members preach social justice all the time. It is <span style="font-weight: bold;">a perversion of the gospel</span>. … You want to help out? </span><em style="font-style: italic;">You</em><span style="font-style: italic;"> help out. It changes </span><em style="font-style: italic;">you</em><span style="font-style: italic;">. That’s what the gospel is all about: You.</span></blockquote>"A perversion of the gospel." Right. That phrase, combined with Beck's equating social justice Christianity to communism, Marxism, Nazism, and totalitarian government sparked articles and conversations across the faith spectrum. Sojourners founder Jim Wallis invited Beck to a conversation about the relationship between social justice and Christian faith-- an invitation to which Beck has still not replied. After early April, the topic largely disappeared-- but now it is back with the FOX host's latest claim that the government was forcing churches to preach a "religion of environmental and social justice."<br /><br />I don't pretend to understand Beck's motivation for launching on this particular tirade any more than I understand why people bother putting vegetables on pizza (I'm just saying, you lose a lot of health value when you load veggies up with grease. You want vegetables, eat a salad). For all I know, he could be sincere in this criticism or he could be just trying to stir things up. But as long as there are those who take people like Beck seriously, I take him seriously. Most of the time I can shrug it off when Beck goes off on a tirade, but this time he is criticizing something that forms the essence of what I believe.<br /><br />Let me be very clear: I believe the passage in Ephesians that says salvation is by grace, through faith. However, I do not believe that this is an excuse to shrug off the problems of the world around us. My chaplain pointed out in <a href="http://www.aumethodists.org/sermons/2009-2010/sermon100425.html">a sermon a few weeks ago</a> that God does not promise to raise us to a new creation in another dimension or something, but to "make all things new" in this world-- which means that we have to care about the world we live in now (side note: I highly recommend reading that sermon, not only for the spiritual and intellectual content but for the excellent references to Star Trek, Star Wars, and Indiana Jones). I believe in the profession made in the Epistle of James: "Faith without works is dead."<br /><br />Perhaps this is where my own more liberal inclinations come into play. I suspect even someone like Beck might agree with me on the need to pair faith with good works. However, I believe that Christians are responsible to work on a larger scale to make a difference in the problems of poverty, environmental degradation, and more. It's not enough to change your lightbulbs to be more energy efficient, or put a $5 bill in a homeless man's cup. I believe that the government has the responsibility to "ensure domestic tranquility" and "promote the general welfare," as the Preamble to the constitution says. Poverty reduction, environmental justice, health care-- these are all concepts that directly relate to "the general welfare."<br /><br />Jim Wallis articulated the problem with Beck's claim about social justice Christianity very well in an <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-wallis/what-glenn-beck-doesnt-un_b_511362.html">opinion piece for the Huffington Post</a>.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">Private charity, which Beck and I are both for, wasn't enough to end the slave trade in Great Britain, end legal racial segregation in America, or end apartheid in South Africa. That took vital movements of faith which understood the connection between personal compassion and social justice. Those are the movements that have inspired me and shaped my life -- not BIG GOVERNMENT. And my allies in faith-based social justice movements have wonderfully different views on the role of government -- some bigger than mine and some smaller than mine -- but we all believe social justice requires changing both personal choices and unjust structures. Apparently Beck thinks social justice ends with private charity, but very few churches in the nation would agree with him.</span></blockquote>Now, I personally admittedly go a bit farther than Wallis in my views (if you read through his whole article, you'll see), but I agree with his notion that it is important to work from the bottom up-- changing yourself first and moving to a smaller local level, and then beyond. Personal first, policies later. But the unjust structures of government have to be changed if a real difference is going to be made in this country and especially around the world. I worked for a small Catholic social justice lobby last spring, and part of the appeal of their organization for me is that they took both a top-down and bottom-up approach to helping the global poor. They had missionaries in the field helping with day to day needs of the people, and also people like myself in Washington, advocating for change in the structures that contributed to that level of poverty. It was a remarkable experience because of the power of that context (I expect I will write more on my experiences with that organization soon).<br /><br />For now, though, let me just say this: by what he said about social justice Christianity, Glenn Beck challenged me to defend why I believe that this kind of activism is an integral part of my faith, and for that I am of course grateful. But he is wrong in encouraging Christians to leave churches that preach social justice-- and if people listened, he would be forcing a mass exodus from a majority of mainline Protestant, evangelical Protestant, and Catholic churches around the United States. Social justice Christians have made a real difference in creating a better world. Don't believe me? Take a look at William Wilberforce and the abolition of the slave trade in England, or Martin Luther King in America's civil rights movement. <br /><br />Read More:<br />-<a href="http://blog.hackingchristianity.net/2010/03/glenn-beck-declares-war-on-united.html">Glenn Beck Declares War on United Methodists</a><br />-<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-wallis/what-glenn-beck-doesnt-un_b_511362.html">Jim Wallis: What Glenn Beck Doesn't Understand About Biblical Social Justice</a><br />-<a href="http://go.sojo.net/campaign/glennbeck_socialjustice">Take Action: Tell Glenn Beck: I'm a Social Justice Christian</a><br />-<a href="http://blog.sojo.net/2010/03/11/glenn-beck-responds-social-justice-is-a-perversion-of-the-gospel/">Glenn Beck Responds: Social Justice is a 'Perversion of the Gospel'</a><br />-<a href="http://blog.sojo.net/2010/05/20/glenn-beck-attacks-churches-on-climate-change/#disqus_thread">Glenn Beck Attacks Churches on Climate Change</a><br />-<a href="http://www.aumethodists.org/sermons/2009-2010/sermon100425.html">Mark Schaefer: Wiping Away Every Tear</a>Carolyn C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03832991797804800178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211183.post-57457993535133791862010-05-19T12:45:00.003-04:002010-05-19T12:59:59.469-04:00My Relay for Life Experience<span style="font-style: italic;">Note: This post was originally written on 18 April 2010 at 3:11am.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Bender Arena, American University, Washington, DC<br /><br /></span></span>It has been a long, long time since I have done anything remotely like this-- Midnight Madness with Youth-to-Youth in middle school and Word of Life in early high school are the closest equivalents that come to mind. Why? Put briefly, all-nighters do not agree with me. I surprised even myself when I seriously entertained the thought of coming to this event. However, it seemed appropriate to do something after losing three friends to cancer in the course of a year, so here I am. I relay in memory of Gail Parady, Fred Holliday, Jean Moore, and Paulette Hilchie, and I relay in honor of the ongoing fights against cancer by Jinny Scott [<span style="font-style: italic;">update: and Ann Kippley]</span>.<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /></span></span>This is a truly unique event: part memorial, part fundraiser, part celebration. Each participant donated at least $10 as an entrance fee; many donated or fundraised more than that from family or friends. Most of us are walking with a friend or family member in mind-- a victim, a survivor, a caregiver. There are even survivors among our number here...they are some of the leaders of the event, and they walked the first lap as we all cheered them on.<br /><br />The luminaria ceremony was probably the most touching part of Relay. People purchased these bags and dedicated them in memory of those who have died; we all walked around the track in silence for about 10 minutes after they were illuminated. One of my friends was a major organizer of Relay; he celebrated his birthday today and lost his dad to cancer about five years ago. It was heart-wrenching to watch him and the others during the luminaria ceremony-- it was a poignant reminder of why we are all really here.<br /><br />Despite all this, the core theme of the event is "Celebrations." Accordingly, my team chose a "Happy Retirement" theme for ourselves and we dressed up as various ages and stages of retirees. We also made a sign for our "campsite" that says, "Our team is RE-TIRED of cancer."<br /><br />It has been a mostly high-energy evening full of entertainment. As I write, there is a "Miss American" drag contest going on. Five guys got dressed up in fancy gowns and did a little catwalk. There has been a lot of music, ranging from an ongoing DJ dance party, to two a cappella groups, to to two rather bad bands, to a bagpiper. The music is keeping us all going at this late hour-- it is now 03:40. There has also been a lot of donated food and drink-- Chipotle, crepes, sodas, and more. The stuff that really keeps most people going is the Red Bull, I suppose, which makes a good deal of sense.<br /><br />Other activities that have been going on include board games at different campsites, volleyball, frisbee, soccer, and the eternally popular bounce house.<br /><br />I don't know that I am going to have the energy to make it all the way through the event. I have certainly done my best, and my knee has held up remarkably well, in spite of all the stress I've put it through. Regardless, this has already been a remarkable experience. We collectively raised over $40,000 for cancer research, heard some remarkable stories, and partied like it was 1995. I guess all I can say is-- Relay on!<br /><br />____<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Update: I made it through until about 5:30 in the morning before returning to my dorm and crashing. The final fundraising count was nearly $45k. I firmly believe that Relay for Life is an important way for a community to rally around cancer survivors and caretakers, and to remember those who died, while fighting back against the worst six-letter word in the dictionary. I plan to participate again next year, and urge others to do the same. </span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span>Carolyn C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03832991797804800178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211183.post-37910468149467939922010-04-06T22:42:00.004-04:002010-04-06T23:41:55.554-04:00The Tea Party ChallengeOne of my Facebook friends posted a variation of this challenge to members of the Tea Party movement on her wall, and I thought it made a good point. <div><br /></div><div><b>The Tea Party Challenge</b></div><div>Hey, members of the Tea Party! You think it's so bad that the government is involved in your life? Try this out for a week: Don't use ANYTHING funded by the government. This includes but is not limited to:</div><div><ul><li>public transportation, including Amtrak</li><li>public radio</li><li>public schools</li><li>libraries</li><li>Medicare or Medicaid</li><li>Social Security or unemployment benefits</li><li>police or fire departments</li><li>all roads, bridges, etc.</li></ul><div>Good luck!</div><div><br /></div><div>Oh, don't think this would be hard? Consider the following:</div><div><br /></div><div>This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock, powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly, regulated by the US Department of Energy.</div><div><br /></div><div>I then took a shower in the clean water provided by the municipal water utility.</div><div><br /></div><div>After that, I turned the TV to one of the FCC-regulated channels to see what the National Weather Service of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration determined the weather was going to be like using satellites designed, built, and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.</div><div><br /></div><div>I watched this while eating my breakfast, inspected by the US Department of Agriculture and approved as safe by the Food and Drug Administration.</div><div><br /></div><div>At the appropriate time-- as kept accurate by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the US Naval Observatory, I get into my National Highway Traffic Safety Administration-approved car and set out to work on the roads built by the local, state, and federal departments of transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency, using legal tender issued by the Federal Reserve.</div><div><br /></div><div>On the way out the door, I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the US Postal Service and drop the kids off at their public school.</div><div><br /></div><div>After spending another day not being maimed or killed at work thanks to the workplace regulations imposed by the Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, I drive back to my house, which has not been burned down thanks to the state and local building codes and the fire marshal's inspection, and it has not been plundered of all its valuables thanks to the local police department.</div><div><br /></div><div>I then log onto the Internet, which was developed by the US Department of Defense, and post on Free Republic about how socialism in medicine is bad because the government can't do anything right.</div><div><br /></div><div>MAKE SENSE??</div></div>Carolyn C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03832991797804800178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211183.post-62958371851029849092010-04-01T00:45:00.002-04:002010-04-01T00:52:52.162-04:00The Worst Remake EverSo one of my friends thought it would be REALLY funny to play an April Fool's Day prank on me and try to convince me that they're going to do a remake of <i>Casablanca, </i>my favorite movie of all time. Yeah, I know, not funny at all. But once I got over the joke-- haha to you, <a href="http://warriorcritic.blogspot.com">Bryan</a>-- we had some fun coming up with the cast and crew of the worst possible modern remake of that most beloved classic film. Results below:<div>____________________________</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Rick Blaine</i>- Bradley Cooper</div><div><i>Ilsa Lund</i>- Megan Fox</div><div><i>Victor Laszlo</i>- Keanu Reeves</div><div><i>Captain Renault</i>- Nicholas Cage</div><div><i>Major Strasser</i>- Mel Gibson</div><div><i>Sam-</i> Tracy Morgan</div><div><i>Ugarte</i>- Shia LaBeouf</div><div><br /></div><div>Directed by Michael Bay and Uwe Boll</div><div>Screenplay by Jeph Loeb</div><div>Soundtrack by Kanye West</div><div>_____________________________</div><div><br /></div><div>*DISCLAIMER TO ANY HOLLYWOOD EXECUTIVE WHO MIGHT COME ACROSS THIS* DOING THIS WOULD BE A REALLY REALLY BAD IDEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</div><div><br /></div><div>Let the nightmares commence. </div>Carolyn C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03832991797804800178noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211183.post-56560159636450780922010-03-29T21:47:00.007-04:002010-03-29T22:32:55.234-04:00Wrestling with Free SpeechI confess it: sometimes I wrestle with the issue of free speech. More specifically, I wrestle with the idea of free speech when I read about things that are so blatantly offensive and arguably hateful that I almost can't justify them being said or written. Two events recently have gotten me thinking about it-- one piece in the international news, and one from my own college campus.<div><br /></div><div>The news piece that first got me thinking was an article published in the <i>Ottawa Citizen</i> about how <a href="http://www.ottawacitizen.com/technology/speech+cancelled/2718883/story.html">Ann Coulter's speech at the University of Ottawa was cancelled</a>. The conservative commentator has been on a speaking tour around Canada, and has encountered considerable resistance from liberally-minded Canadians who opposed her message and the manner in which she delivered it. Although there were protests at a majority of her speaking locations, the protests at the University of Ottawa were so vehement that security urged Coulter to cancel the event, sparking criticism and debates from Coulter and others about how friendly Canada is to freedom of expression.</div><div><br /></div><div>The other instance happened just today. Our student newspaper, the <i>Eagle</i>, published a piece by one of its more incendiary columnists, Alex Knepper, entitled, "<a href="http://www.theeagleonline.com/opinion/story/dealing-with-aus-anti-sex-brigade/">Dealing with AU's anti-sex brigade</a>." Read the column, then look at the comments. Words really can't adequately describe the controversial nature of the contents, but suffice it to say that Knepper managed to get virtually every female on campus up in arms when he stated that there is no such thing as date rape, and criticized the feminist movement for its views on sex. Just an excerpt:</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Palatino, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; "><blockquote><i>“Date rape” is an incoherent concept. There’s rape and there’s not-rape, and we need a line of demarcation. It’s not clear enough to merely speak of consent, because the lines of consent in sex — especially anonymous sex — can become very blurry. If that bothers you, then stick with Pat Robertson and his brigade of anti-sex cavemen! Don’t jump into the sexual arena if you can’t handle the volatility of its practice!</i></blockquote></span></div><div>To put it mildly, the AU campus community freaked out. I would be willing to bet that the <i>Eagle</i> hasn't gotten this many comments on a single article in years. There has been a range of (in my opinion, fairly low-key) vandalism and threats, and attacks on Knepper in general. There have also been an outpouring of comments and letters to the editor flowing into the newspaper, many of them criticizing the editors for having the nerve to put the piece into print.</div><div><br /></div><div>So here's where my personal dilemma comes in. I hate just about everything Ann Coulter stands for, and I disagree with virtually everything Alex Knepper wrote in that column. I don't believe that hate speech of any variety has a place in a civilized society, and I am offended by the notion that someone would put such a stark line between "rape and not-rape," which vastly oversimplifies relational and sexual dilemmas AND devalues the pain felt by women who HAVE been raped, date or otherwise.</div><div><br /></div><div>But here's the thing. I also hate censorship. I recognize the fact that if I am to be able to hold and express my opinions in this society, others should be able to hold and express theirs. I don't envy the Supreme Court their duty to identify where First Amendment rights to free speech end and where public safety or whatever is at stake. As much as I hate to admit it, Fox News has the same right to air Glenn Beck that MSNBC has to air Keith Olbermann. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you ask me, there are more questions in this arena than answers. Yes, I think Knepper went WAY over any line of civility. Yes, I think that Ann Coulter's anti-Muslim comments in her speeches were distinctly inappropriate and downright hateful. I really don't think that "shock jocks" belong in real journalism. But those are my opinions. What about you?</div><div><br /></div><div>Who gets to decide what is appropriate for publication and what is not?</div><div>What are liberals going to do if the tables get turned and people start getting really offended by what they say?</div><div>How do we reconcile the need for free speech that has been valued for so long, and the need to respect people and carry on CIVIL conversation?</div><div><br /></div><div>I don't know. But it's food for thought.</div>Carolyn C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03832991797804800178noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211183.post-91120946453753690142010-03-08T19:48:00.004-05:002010-03-08T21:31:02.396-05:00Grouching About the OscarsAnyone who follows my blog knows that I love movies. I <a href="http://thoughtdujour.blogspot.com/search/label/Movies">write about them</a> regularly, and view and talk about them even more regularly. So naturally I was excited for the Academy Awards this year, with a wider Best Picture field than usual, and a pending face-off between director James Cameron (<i>Avatar)</i> and his ex-wife, director Kathryn Bigelow (<i>The Hurt Locker</i>). So last night I settled down in front of ABC for their Oscar broadcast.<div><br /></div><div><b>Part 1: The Red Carpet</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Hands down, this is my least favorite part of the Academy Awards. I think the whole "red carpet" rigamarole is overrated and puts a focus on the star persona (and even more on what they wear) that is totally unnecessary. Why do we deify these actors to the point where a walk up a red carpet into a theater is one of the defining hallmarks of entertainment? Gabourey Sidibe (of <i>Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire</i>) was right when she described it as "Prom Night for Hollywood."</div><div><br /></div><div>OK, that rant aside, naturally I watched the red carpet broadcast. Obnoxious interviewers and philosophical issues aside, some of the information was interesting. For example, did you know that the last time there were ten movies in the running for the Best Picture award was in 1943, the year <i>Casablanca</i> won? No pressure or anything, though.</div><div><br /></div><div>Shallow moment: </div><div>Favorite male heartthrob sightings: <a href="http://static2.elespectador.com/files/images/febmar2010/992a15bb253f4b670502387951acd0bd.jpg">George Clooney</a> and Matt Damon</div><div>Favorite dresses: <a href="http://www.celebrity-gossip.net/events_gallery2/image_full/248105/">Kate Winslet</a> (nobody classes up an event like her) and <a href="http://www.americansuperstarmag.com/sites/default/files/images/sandra-bullock-030710.preview.jpg">Sandra Bullock</a> (a girl after my own heart-- when asked by an interviewer what she wanted to eat after the ceremony, she said a burger, fries, and a milkshake.)</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Part 2: The 82nd Annual Academy Awards Ceremony</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>OK, on to the part that actually matters in my opinion: the ceremony itself. Neil Patrick Harris's over-the-top musical number intro was hilarious and awesome-- "No One Wants to Do It Alone." I really enjoyed Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin as hosts. They had a great (if sometimes awkward) back-and-forth insulting each other and the audience, both at the beginning during their roast of the nominees and during the rest of the show. </div><div><br /></div><div>So- the awards themselves. Here are the winners in each category, for those who missed it:</div><div>_________</div><div><br /></div><div><div><i>OVERALL:</i></div><div>BEST PICTURE: "The Hurt Locker"</div><div>BEST DIRECTOR: Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker"</div><div>BEST ANIMATED PICTURE: "Up"</div><div>BEST DOCUMENTARY: "The Cove"</div><div>BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: The Secret in Their Eyes (Argentina)</div><div>BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM: "Logorama"</div><div>BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM: "Music by Prudence"</div><div>BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM: "The New Tenants"</div><div><br /></div><div><i>ACTING:</i></div><div>BEST LEADING ACTOR: Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart"</div><div>BEST LEADING ACTRESS: Sandra Bullock, "The Blind Side"</div><div>BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christoph Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds"</div><div>BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Mo'Nique, "Precious"</div><div><br /></div><div><i>TECHNICAL:</i></div><div>BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: "Avatar"</div><div>BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: "Avatar"</div><div>BEST FILM EDITING: "The Hurt Locker"</div><div>BEST SOUND EDITING: "The Hurt Locker"</div><div>BEST SOUND MIXING: "The Hurt Locker"</div><div><br /></div><div><i>ARTISTIC:</i></div><div>BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: Michael Giacchino, "Up"</div><div>BEST ART DIRECTION: "Avatar"</div><div>BEST ORIGINAL SONG: "The Weary Kind" from "Crazy Heart"</div><div>BEST MAKE-UP: "Star Trek"</div><div>BEST COSTUMES: "The Young Victoria"</div><div><br /></div><div><i>WRITING:</i></div><div>BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: "The Hurt Locker"</div><div>BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Sapphire' by Push"</div><div>________</div><div><br /></div><div>Full disclosure: I was rooting for <i>Up in the Air </i>to win in every category it was nominated for (Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Picture). I can't say that I actually believed that it <i>would</i> win all of those categories, but I wanted it to. I thought it deserved the awards most for its timely and unique portrayal of the human impact of the economic recession in the US, for its superb acting (by George Clooney, Anna Kendrick, and Vera Farmiga) and directing (by Jason Reitman), and for its clever script. Needless to say, I am quite upset that it didn't walk away with any of the above awards.</div><div><br /></div><div>I was also rooting for <i>Sherlock Holmes </i>to win the Best Original Score award. I thought Hans Zimmer did a superb job creating a musical atmosphere for that movie, and the soundtrack is one of my new favorite albums to listen to-- atonal and unusual, but still somehow hauntingly beautiful. Still, the eventual winner (Michael Giacchino for <i>Up!)</i> was also an excellent choice-- although I actually preferred his music for <i>Star Trek. </i></div><div><br /></div><div>Despite my choices not winning, I am happy with most of the results. <i>Avatar</i> walked away with a handful of much-deserved technical awards but NOT any acting or overall "best" awards. Say what you will about the visual splendor of the movie, and I'll even give you the fact that the music was wonderful (James Horner composed the soundtrack, how do you go wrong?), but it did not have an original plot or good enough script to warrant anything else.</div><div><br /></div><div>I was very impressed by <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0887912/">The Hurt Locker</a></i>, and am certainly inclined to support its Best Picture win, if <i>Up in the Air</i> couldn't win it. It was a unique brand of film with almost an indie film feel to it, and a relevance for its military content, even as the US pulls out of Iraq and starts to forget about what's happening over there in light of domestic concerns. </div><div><br /></div><div>What I had not realized about the movie was that the screenwriter had been a journalist in Iraq, and had written the story based on his experiences with the troops there-- although I can't say I'm surprised, given how close the movie strikes to the reality on the ground (as I understand it). I was touched by the very sincere tribute and dedication that the writer, Mark Boal, gave to the troops when he accepted his award for Best Original Screenplay. </div><div><br /></div><div>The film had a superb cast (especially Jeremy Renner), and a solid director in Kathryn Bigelow, who broke the proverbial glass ceiling last night by becoming the first woman ever to win the Academy Award for Best Director. </div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Hurt Locker </i>cleaned up in many awards categories, so the ceremony perhaps wasn't as well distributed as it could have been in that regard. And <i>Up in the Air</i> didn't win anything, which I have an issue with. But I guess I still have to "thank the Academy," as they say, because they fulfilled my hopes and did not give <i>Avatar</i> awards that it simply (in my opinion) did not deserve, just because it is the highest-grossing and possibly most visually stunning movie ever made. Being a Best Picture winner is about more than great visuals. It has to be about the quality and relevance of the story, the articulateness of the script, and the incredible acting-- not the money it rakes in or how pretty the film is. </div></div>Carolyn C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03832991797804800178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8211183.post-65060085410959904012010-03-06T21:28:00.000-05:002010-03-06T21:47:03.512-05:00Climate Change 2.0Communication matters. Politicians have known this for years, but it often seems as though scientists and activists missed that memo. These groups know why a topic matters to them, but they cannot convey the significance to the public in a way that gets through the daily onslaught of information. Scientists are especially guilty when they limit their distribution of information to academic journals and conferences. These venues are hardly perused by the general public, and so useful information gets lost in the labyrinth of academia. Activists similarly struggle to communicate, although not for lack of effort. In a world where new causes seem to materialize every day, how can a climate activist stay relevant? In the past the strategy has involved some groups lobbying for environmental legislation, and others trying to get people interested in preserving nature, from polar bears to wetlands.<div><br /><div>Without minimizing the importance of conservation and legislation, it seems as though the message of the climate change movement often gets muddled. It often fails to use communication strategies that are clear and reach large numbers of people. In particular, the climate movement should be making a special effort to reach out to the millennial generation, who will be most affected by the effects of climate change during their lifetimes. The distinguishing communication venue for millennials is the Internet-- specifically, social networks. As the millennial generation becomes more and more politically active, the climate movement will benefit greatly from finding ways to engage them with their most-utilized communication methods.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><i>Climate Change 2.0: Recent Uses of New Media</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Activists have long attempted to determine effective ways to reach a broader public with their message about global warming. Indeed, an organization called <a href="https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1794/2302/Climate_Change_6_3_2005.pdf?sequence=1">Resource Innovations</a> “initiated a project designed to identify the most effective means to communicate with local populations about climate change.” This study yielded a number of recommendations about how best to communicate climate change, including the types of messengers that should be used to convey the information-- those with a range of expertise on a variety of subject areas from religious to environmental to business. Focus groups indicated that a broader range of experts educating the public on climate change would improve the credibility of the movement. In light of this study, it is reasonable to assume that among younger audiences, the credibility of the climate change movement would also be improved by increased activity on social media outlets.</div><div><br /></div><div>Some organizations and individuals have already begun to increase their use of social media regarding climate change issues. The Copenhagen conference in particular drove groups to take up an active place on social networks, although some Web 2.0 aficionados found the website of the conference itself to be <a href="http://www.netfornonprofits.org/2009/12/08/lukewarm-for-social-media-at-the-un-climate-change-conference-in-copenhagen/">deficient in its use of new media</a>. One of the most prominent to do so was not an environmental group, but the <a href="http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlny/new_media/the_ap_gets_into_social_media_with_climate_change_conference_coverage_144704.asp">Associated Press and its affiliates</a> covering the conference. Due to the conference's significance, the AP created a Facebook page and Twitter account to “provide a unique outlet for Internet users to discuss climate change with some of the world's most experienced journalists covering the conference,” according to a press release put out by the company. Other prominent individuals also started using social media in advance of the conference, such as <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/6088369/John-Prescott-uses-Twitter-and-Facebook-to-raise-climate-change-profile.html">John Prescott</a>, the former British Transport Secretary and current Rapporteur on Climate Change to the Council of Europe who used Twitter and his blog to gauge and try to sway public opinion in England about climate change in advance of the summit.</div><div><br /></div><div>The movement <a href="http://www.350.org/media/bloggers">350.org rallied the blogosphere</a> and Web 2.0 aficionados around the climate summit in Copenhagen, publicizing the use of their own videos and other sources on individual Twitter feeds and blogs, effectively spreading the word about their organization. 350.org and its partners joined together in a Blog Action Day before Copenhagen, <a href="http://www.350.org/mission">calling for the preservation of the Earth's atmosphere</a> at no higher than 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide. Before the Blog Action Day, 350.org also featured <a href="http://site.blogactionday.org/general/using-social-media-to/">six of the “hottest” videos</a> on climate change, highlighting the roles that social media can play in raising awareness and calling for action.</div><div><br /></div><div>Beyond the climate conference, some businesses have also been actively commenting on climate change issues. One of the most noteworthy is Shell Oil, which allowed its climate change adviser, <a href="http://blogs.shell.com/climatechange/">David Hone</a>, to start and maintain a blog, on which he records his thoughts and experiences looking into climate change-related issues. The <a href="http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/81462">idea behind the blog</a> was to provide a “serious venue for conversation about an issue that is very important to all of us” and to do so in a way that is accessible to people beyond environmentalists and policy makers.</div><div><br /></div><div>Perhaps one of the biggest benefits that social media has already provided is in areas that are indirectly related to climate change-- namely, in providing information after natural disasters. The earthquake in Haiti is perhaps the best current example of how Twitter can be useful, although in this particular instance the quake is not related to climate change. After the earthquake, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/13/haiti.internet/index.html">news outlets such as CNN reported people going to Twitter</a> for information in record numbers, as disaster agencies posted updates and celebrities used their feeds to call for donations to charities. Similar situations have occurred in the past and will likely occur again in the future in instances where climate change is more directly tied to a disaster. A prime example is the <a href="http://dharmafly.com/climate-change-in-social-media">cyclone that occurred in Bangladesh</a> in December 2007. BBC World Service had spent several years building up a site showcasing the effects that climate change had already had on that area, and when the cyclone arrived, Twitter and blog updates provided personal accounts from the ground, even when the mainstream media switched its focus.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Reaching the Millennials: Why Social Media Matters</i></div><div><br /></div><div>The millennials are the generation that is most likely to be heavily impacted by climate change. Right now, social media venues are the main outlet for young people looking to share their opinions with a broader audience, and with or without the support of the mainstream climate movement, they are speaking out on the issue. Jesse Strauss, a student and blogger on TalkingScience.org, <a href="http://www.talkingscience.org/2010/01/climate-change-and-the-new-decade/">wrote about the urgency</a> with which we need to address climate change:</div><div><blockquote>Every once in a while, a generation gets a necessary call to act and sacrifice. The last time this happened, a nation mobilized to defeat the armies of fascism. The most powerful force on Earth is a mobilized democracy calling for action, and that is what we need to be. Right now, we have been granted a very small and rare window to change our ways to save this planet for our children. A new decade means a clean slate. [...] When 2020 rolls around, let’s be able to say truthfully we left the decade with the Earth better than we found it. </blockquote></div><div>The Pew Research Center announced in its New Media Index just before the Copenhagen conference that <a href="http://www.journalism.org/index_report/global_warming_debate_rages_social_media">global warming had been the primary hot topic discussed on blogs</a> and other social media networks, with more than half of the news links in blogs relating to the issue. Often the blogs have been posted by those who doubt the reality of global warming, but during the weeks before Copenhagen, the debate was not one-sided. Rather, “much of the added fuel [to the debate] came from climate change believers who engaged in the debate that had been dominated by skeptics.”</div><div><br /></div><div>Bloggers like Jesse Strauss and the data from the New Media Index are together reflections of the evolving reality: that connecting teens to movements like the fight against climate change will increasingly require engagement with online social media as much as (or more than) traditional media. The Pew Research Institute has been active in recent years studying the interaction between the millennial generation and the Internet, and the results have been striking. <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/Reports/2007/PIP_Teens_Social_Media_Final.pdf.pdf">A study published in December 2007 learned</a> that about 93% of teens use the Internet, and that 64% of these online teens have either contributed to or written a blog, maintained a personal website, shared their own artistic creations online, and included content that they found online in their own work-- and this did not even include those who were active on Facebook or another social networking site.</div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div>Beyond the teenagers, however, are the older members of the millennial generation (those born between 1980 and 2000). These are mostly no longer teenagers, but they are equally “plugged in” to the technology that many consider to be a hallmark of the generation. <a href="http://pewsocialtrends.org/assets/pdf/millennials-confident-connected-open-to-change.pdf">According to a Pew Research Center study</a> published in February 2010, approximately 75% of millennials have at least one social networking profile (compared with 50% of Gen-Xers and 30% of baby boomers). These are numbers that have jumped significantly within the last ten years for all adults, but most strikingly for the millennials. Between 2005 and 2006, the percentage of young people using social networking sites jumped from 7% to 51%, a number that subsequently increased and stabilized at 75% in 2008.</div><div><br /></div><div>In addition to the data about the technological engagement of millennials, the Pew data indicated a trend toward more liberal political opinions. More than half of the millennials surveyed said that they thought the government should do more to help people, compared to 42% who thought that the government is doing too many things better left to businesses and individuals. However, the study notes that like other generations when they were younger, millennials do not typically have high levels of political engagement. They did make a substantial difference in the election of Barack Obama (a campaign that stood out for its use of social media) in 2008, but the number of millennials voting sank significantly in the gubernatorial elections of 2009 in New Jersey and Virginia.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Pew Center report says, “Even though Millennials made extensive use of social media in the 2008 campaign, it is too early to judge the long-term impact of these technologies on their level of engagement.” This is undoubtedly true. However, it is not unreasonable to hypothesize that the ability of the Obama campaign to connect with younger voters using familiar technology (social networking) might be correlated to their ability to get out the youth vote. Not only did the Obama campaign convey a message that millennials could relate to, they used a relevant medium to millennials.</div><div><br /></div><div>Climate change movements that seek to stay relevant with today's technology-savvy generation can learn from the lessons of the Obama campaign in 2008, as well as from organizations that mobilized around the Copenhagen conference. Social media-- from blogs to videos to Twitter-- can be an effective tool for spreading information and especially engaging with younger potential activists. Many millennials know that global climate change will be manifesting its consequences during their lifetimes, and they are eager to step up and take action to reduce the impact. They are simply waiting for leadership that meets them on familiar ground and connects with them.</div></div></div>Carolyn C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03832991797804800178noreply@blogger.com0