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It’s a big deal.\";s:64:\"Current or New WordPress Login Name (We\'ll send you a password.)\";s:9:\"molinhitt\";}'),(68078,9426,'_jd_post_meta_fixed','true'),(68077,9426,'_jd_wp_twitter',''),(68076,9426,'_wp_jd_target',''),(68075,9426,'_wp_jd_url',''),(68074,9426,'_wp_jd_yourls',''),(68073,9426,'_wp_jd_wp',''),(68072,9426,'_wp_jd_bitly',''),(68071,9426,'_wp_jd_clig',''),(68070,9426,'_jd_twitter',''),(68069,9426,'_jd_tweet_this','yes'),(68168,9430,'_feedback_email','a:4:{s:2:\"to\";a:1:{i:0;s:19:\"jb@civitaspress.com\";}s:7:\"subject\";s:44:\"Provoketive Magazine Writing For Provoketive\";s:7:\"message\";s:358:\"Name: Putri Kinanti\nEmail: putri280295@gmail.com\nList the topic you are interested writing about: - Life \r\n- Culture\nCurrent or New WordPress Login Name (We\'ll send you a password.): puceeeh\n\nTime: May 29, 2014 at 11:40 pm\nIP Address: 111.68.123.33\nContact Form URL: http://provoketive.com/writing-for-provoketive/\nSent by an unverified visitor to your site.\";s:7:\"headers\";s:139:\"From: Putri Kinanti <wordpress@provoketive.com>\r\nReply-To: Putri Kinanti <putri280295@gmail.com>\r\nContent-Type: text/plain; charset=\"UTF-8\"\";}'),(68083,9426,'_feedback_ip','39.36.252.75'),(68084,9426,'_feedback_contact_form_url','http://provoketive.com/contact-us/'),(68085,9426,'_feedback_all_fields','a:3:{s:4:\"Name\";s:9:\"lorenjett\";s:5:\"Email\";s:22:\"lorenjett786@gmail.com\";s:7:\"Comment\";s:469:\"Ads for http://provoketive.com/\r\n\r\nHi!\r\n\r\nI found your website http://provoketive.com/ through search engine. 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I want to place some of my “Blogpost Links” on your website in case you show an approval. I guarantee that my links are non spammy and contains no adult material. A handsome amount will be paid to you in case you agree to place my links on your website. The proposal will be sent after your approval of this message.\r\n\r\nWaiting for your reply,\r\n\r\nRegards,\n\nTime: May 19, 2014 at 11:56 pm\nIP Address: 39.36.252.75\nContact Form URL: http://provoketive.com/contact-us/\nSent by an unverified visitor to your site.\";s:7:\"headers\";s:132:\"From: lorenjett <wordpress@provoketive.com>\r\nReply-To: lorenjett <lorenjett786@gmail.com>\r\nContent-Type: text/plain; charset=\"UTF-8\"\";}'),(68126,9428,'_feedback_extra_fields','a:1:{s:64:\"Current or New WordPress Login Name (We\'ll send you a password.)\";s:8:\"malleraj\";}'),(68127,9428,'_feedback_akismet_values','a:56:{s:14:\"comment_author\";s:18:\"Rabbi Allen Maller\";s:20:\"comment_author_email\";s:26:\"maller.allen1948@gmail.com\";s:18:\"comment_author_url\";s:22:\"http://rabbimaller.com\";s:20:\"contact_form_subject\";s:44:\"Provoketive Magazine Writing For Provoketive\";s:17:\"comment_author_IP\";s:13:\"99.60.176.208\";s:15:\"comment_content\";s:8421:\"Pharaoh\'s Wife or Pharaoh\'s Daughter\r\n\r\n                                                 Rabbi Allen S. Maller\r\n\r\nWhat does one do when two Sacred Scriptures have some verses that are in direct opposition to each other? \r\n\r\nThe easy answer is to claim that \'my\' Holy Book is true and the other person\'s Holy Book is false or corrupted. After all, if there is only one God, then there can only be one true revelation. \r\n\r\nThe problem with this easy answer is that every Sacred Scripture contains some verses that even true believers in that Holy Book think contradict other verses in the same Holy Book. \r\n\r\nSometimes believers maintain that such conflicting verses are not contradictions between two eternal truths but simply an indication of one verse abrogating another. \r\n\r\nMost often the commentaries maintain that the two verses\' differences are only apparent, and can be easily harmonized in various ways. \r\n\r\nAlthough I am a Rabbi, I follow the words of the Qur\'an that direct Muslims to say, \"We have believed in Allah and in what was revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and in what was given to Moses and Jesus and to the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and we are Muslims [submitting] to Him.\" (3:84) \r\n\r\nThus I believe we should always try to harmonize differences between the Sacred Scriptures of Moses, David, Jesus and Muhammad, and avoid claiming that only one Holy Book (ours) can be true. \r\n\r\nBut some people might object that the very next ayah contradicts the previous ayah when it states:“And whoever desires other than Islam as religion - never will it be accepted from him, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers.” (3:85)  \r\n\r\nThere is no abrogation here. The word Muslim in the Qur\'an sometimes refers to a member of the Muslim religious community, and sometimes refers to all those who believe in one God; and strive to live faithfully according to teachings of their prophet and their Scripture. \r\n\r\nThus, the Qur\'an states that: “Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was one inclining toward truth, a Muslim [a person who submits to Allah ]. He was not of the polytheists.” (3:67) Only polytheists are excluded from the truth of monotheism.\r\n\r\nThis is why I think of myself as a Reform Rabbi and a Muslim Jew. Actually I am a Muslim Jew i.e. a faithful Jew submitting to the will of God, because I am a Reform Rabbi. As a Rabbi I am faithful to the covenant that God made with Abraham – the first Muslim Jew, and I submit to the commandments that God made with the people of Israel at Mount Sinai. \r\n\r\nI think the Qur\'an refers to people like me when it states: \"They are not all alike. Some of the People of the Book are (also) firmly committed to the truth. They recite the Verses of Allah during the hours of night, and remain in the state of [prayer] prostration before their Lord.\" (3:113 – Qadri)\r\n\r\nBut what about a Hadith narrated by AbuNamlah al-Ansari that once when he was sitting with the Apostle of Allah, and a Jew was also with him, when a funeral passed by him. He (the Jew) asked (Him): Muhammad, “Does this funeral speak? The Prophet said: “Allah has more knowledge (only Allah knows)”. The Jew said: “It speaks.”\r\n\r\nThe Apostle of Allah said: “Whatever the people of the Book (Jews and Christians) tell you, do not verify them, nor falsify them, but say: We believe in Allah and His Apostle. If it is false, do not confirm it, and if it is right, do not falsify it.” (Sunan Abu-Dawud, Book 25, Number 3637) \r\n\r\nDoesn\'t this mean Muslims are not to look to the earlier Holy Books of Moses, David and Jesus for knowledge about their own religion?\r\n\r\nIt seems to me that the general principle is that all of us need to “make no distinction between any of them,\" (3:84) provided they (the other religions\' believers) show equal respect for our prophet and Holy Book. \r\n\r\nIn the Hadith narrated by AbuNamlah al-Ansari, this Jewish man sitting with Muhammad claims he knows more about the dead or the afterlife than Prophet Muhammad, so with people like him: “Whatever the people of the Book (Jews and Christians) tell you, do not verify (believe) them, nor falsify (disbelieve) them,”\r\n\r\nThis is made clear in another Hadith narrated by Ubaidullah: \"Ibn \'Abbas who said, \'Why do you ask the people of the scripture about anything while your Book (Quran) which has been revealed to Allah\'s Apostle is newer and the latest? You read it pure, undistorted and unchanged, and Allah has told you that the people of the scripture (Jews and Christians) changed their scripture and distorted it, and wrote the scripture with their own hands and said, \'It is from Allah,\' to sell it for a little gain. \r\n\r\n“Does not the knowledge which has come to you prevent you from asking them about anything? No, by Allah, (you are not prevented from asking but) we have never seen any man from them asking you regarding what has been revealed to you!\' ( Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 92, Number 461)\"\r\n\r\nHere it is clear that until Jews and Christians respect the Qur\'an as much as they respect their own Sacred Scripture, and seek guidance from the Qur\'an, Muslims should not seek guidance and knowledge from them. But from “any man from them asking you regarding what has been revealed to you!\' you may ask of him and learn. \r\n\r\nMutual respect is the key. There are people in all three Abrahamic religions who distort the meaning of some verses in order to denigrate and abuse other \'enemy\' religions. \r\n\r\nThis intolerance come about through the influence of Greek philosophy, with its requirement that truth must be unchanging and universal. This influenced many teachers of sacred scripture during Medieval times to believe that religion was a zero sum game; the more truth I find in your scripture the less truth there is in mine. \r\n\r\nInstead of understanding differing texts as complementary, they made them contradictory and declared the other religion\'s sacred text to be false.\r\n\r\nIf religion is to promote peace in our pluralistic world we must reject the zero sum game ideology and develop the pluralistic teachings that already exist within our sacred scriptures. After all “all prophets are brothers. They have the same father (God) but different mothers (mother tongues, motherlands and unique historical circumstances that account for all the differences in their scriptures).  \r\n\r\nWe should not believe in the two other religions, but we should not disbelieve and denigrate God\'s other Prophets and Sacred Scriptures. As Abu Huraira narrated: \r\n\r\n\"The people of the Book used to read the Torah in Hebrew and then explain it in Arabic to the Muslims. Allah\'s Apostle said (to the Muslims). \'Do not believe the people of the Book, nor disbelieve them, but say, \'We believe in Allah and whatever is revealed to us, and whatever is revealed to you.\' “(Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 92, Number 460)\r\n\r\nLet me share a simple example of anti zero sum thinking. The Torah says that Moses was rescued by Pharaoh\'s daughter. The Qur\'an says Musa was rescued by Pharaoh\'s wife. \r\n\r\nFor almost fourteen centuries religious scholars have argued over wife vs. daughter; and therefore who “changed their scripture and distorted it, and wrote the scripture with their own hands and said, \'It is from Allah,\' to sell it for a little gain.” \r\n\r\nToday we know that both the Torah and the Qur\'an are right because Pharaoh\'s Wife was Pharaoh\'s Daughter. \r\n\r\nThe Pharaoh of the Exodus was Ramses II (1303 BCE-1213 BCE). He reigned from 1279 BCE to 1213 BCE (66 years). Ramses married three of his daughters, who eventually became principal wives along with Nefertari his first principal wife. \r\n\r\nDebating about which Sacred Scripture is the most accurate or true is pointless because only God knows the ultimate answers and we will only find out what they are  at final judgement time. The real test is how well each religious community lives up to its religious commitments to do good deeds. \r\n\r\nAs the Qur’an teaches: “For every one of you did We appoint a law and a way. If God had pleased He would have made you one people, but [He didn’t] that He might test you in what He gave you. 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Maller\r\n\r\nWhat does one do when two Sacred Scriptures have some verses that are in direct opposition to each other? \r\n\r\nThe easy answer is to claim that \'my\' Holy Book is true and the other person\'s Holy Book is false or corrupted. After all, if there is only one God, then there can only be one true revelation. \r\n\r\nThe problem with this easy answer is that every Sacred Scripture contains some verses that even true believers in that Holy Book think contradict other verses in the same Holy Book. \r\n\r\nSometimes believers maintain that such conflicting verses are not contradictions between two eternal truths but simply an indication of one verse abrogating another. \r\n\r\nMost often the commentaries maintain that the two verses\' differences are only apparent, and can be easily harmonized in various ways. \r\n\r\nAlthough I am a Rabbi, I follow the words of the Qur\'an that direct Muslims to say, \"We have believed in Allah and in what was revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and in what was given to Moses and Jesus and to the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and we are Muslims [submitting] to Him.\" (3:84) \r\n\r\nThus I believe we should always try to harmonize differences between the Sacred Scriptures of Moses, David, Jesus and Muhammad, and avoid claiming that only one Holy Book (ours) can be true. \r\n\r\nBut some people might object that the very next ayah contradicts the previous ayah when it states:“And whoever desires other than Islam as religion - never will it be accepted from him, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers.” (3:85)  \r\n\r\nThere is no abrogation here. The word Muslim in the Qur\'an sometimes refers to a member of the Muslim religious community, and sometimes refers to all those who believe in one God; and strive to live faithfully according to teachings of their prophet and their Scripture. \r\n\r\nThus, the Qur\'an states that: “Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was one inclining toward truth, a Muslim [a person who submits to Allah ]. He was not of the polytheists.” (3:67) Only polytheists are excluded from the truth of monotheism.\r\n\r\nThis is why I think of myself as a Reform Rabbi and a Muslim Jew. Actually I am a Muslim Jew i.e. a faithful Jew submitting to the will of God, because I am a Reform Rabbi. As a Rabbi I am faithful to the covenant that God made with Abraham – the first Muslim Jew, and I submit to the commandments that God made with the people of Israel at Mount Sinai. \r\n\r\nI think the Qur\'an refers to people like me when it states: \"They are not all alike. Some of the People of the Book are (also) firmly committed to the truth. They recite the Verses of Allah during the hours of night, and remain in the state of [prayer] prostration before their Lord.\" (3:113 – Qadri)\r\n\r\nBut what about a Hadith narrated by AbuNamlah al-Ansari that once when he was sitting with the Apostle of Allah, and a Jew was also with him, when a funeral passed by him. He (the Jew) asked (Him): Muhammad, “Does this funeral speak? The Prophet said: “Allah has more knowledge (only Allah knows)”. The Jew said: “It speaks.”\r\n\r\nThe Apostle of Allah said: “Whatever the people of the Book (Jews and Christians) tell you, do not verify them, nor falsify them, but say: We believe in Allah and His Apostle. If it is false, do not confirm it, and if it is right, do not falsify it.” (Sunan Abu-Dawud, Book 25, Number 3637) \r\n\r\nDoesn\'t this mean Muslims are not to look to the earlier Holy Books of Moses, David and Jesus for knowledge about their own religion?\r\n\r\nIt seems to me that the general principle is that all of us need to “make no distinction between any of them,\" (3:84) provided they (the other religions\' believers) show equal respect for our prophet and Holy Book. \r\n\r\nIn the Hadith narrated by AbuNamlah al-Ansari, this Jewish man sitting with Muhammad claims he knows more about the dead or the afterlife than Prophet Muhammad, so with people like him: “Whatever the people of the Book (Jews and Christians) tell you, do not verify (believe) them, nor falsify (disbelieve) them,”\r\n\r\nThis is made clear in another Hadith narrated by Ubaidullah: \"Ibn \'Abbas who said, \'Why do you ask the people of the scripture about anything while your Book (Quran) which has been revealed to Allah\'s Apostle is newer and the latest? You read it pure, undistorted and unchanged, and Allah has told you that the people of the scripture (Jews and Christians) changed their scripture and distorted it, and wrote the scripture with their own hands and said, \'It is from Allah,\' to sell it for a little gain. \r\n\r\n“Does not the knowledge which has come to you prevent you from asking them about anything? No, by Allah, (you are not prevented from asking but) we have never seen any man from them asking you regarding what has been revealed to you!\' ( Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 92, Number 461)\"\r\n\r\nHere it is clear that until Jews and Christians respect the Qur\'an as much as they respect their own Sacred Scripture, and seek guidance from the Qur\'an, Muslims should not seek guidance and knowledge from them. But from “any man from them asking you regarding what has been revealed to you!\' you may ask of him and learn. \r\n\r\nMutual respect is the key. There are people in all three Abrahamic religions who distort the meaning of some verses in order to denigrate and abuse other \'enemy\' religions. \r\n\r\nThis intolerance come about through the influence of Greek philosophy, with its requirement that truth must be unchanging and universal. This influenced many teachers of sacred scripture during Medieval times to believe that religion was a zero sum game; the more truth I find in your scripture the less truth there is in mine. \r\n\r\nInstead of understanding differing texts as complementary, they made them contradictory and declared the other religion\'s sacred text to be false.\r\n\r\nIf religion is to promote peace in our pluralistic world we must reject the zero sum game ideology and develop the pluralistic teachings that already exist within our sacred scriptures. After all “all prophets are brothers. They have the same father (God) but different mothers (mother tongues, motherlands and unique historical circumstances that account for all the differences in their scriptures).  \r\n\r\nWe should not believe in the two other religions, but we should not disbelieve and denigrate God\'s other Prophets and Sacred Scriptures. As Abu Huraira narrated: \r\n\r\n\"The people of the Book used to read the Torah in Hebrew and then explain it in Arabic to the Muslims. Allah\'s Apostle said (to the Muslims). \'Do not believe the people of the Book, nor disbelieve them, but say, \'We believe in Allah and whatever is revealed to us, and whatever is revealed to you.\' “(Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 92, Number 460)\r\n\r\nLet me share a simple example of anti zero sum thinking. The Torah says that Moses was rescued by Pharaoh\'s daughter. The Qur\'an says Musa was rescued by Pharaoh\'s wife. \r\n\r\nFor almost fourteen centuries religious scholars have argued over wife vs. daughter; and therefore who “changed their scripture and distorted it, and wrote the scripture with their own hands and said, \'It is from Allah,\' to sell it for a little gain.” \r\n\r\nToday we know that both the Torah and the Qur\'an are right because Pharaoh\'s Wife was Pharaoh\'s Daughter. \r\n\r\nThe Pharaoh of the Exodus was Ramses II (1303 BCE-1213 BCE). He reigned from 1279 BCE to 1213 BCE (66 years). Ramses married three of his daughters, who eventually became principal wives along with Nefertari his first principal wife. \r\n\r\nDebating about which Sacred Scripture is the most accurate or true is pointless because only God knows the ultimate answers and we will only find out what they are  at final judgement time. The real test is how well each religious community lives up to its religious commitments to do good deeds. \r\n\r\nAs the Qur’an teaches: “For every one of you did We appoint a law and a way. If God had pleased He would have made you one people, but [He didn’t] that He might test you in what He gave you. Therefore compete with one another to hasten to virtuous deeds; for all return to God, so He will let you know [at Judgment Day] that in which you differed.” (5:48)\nCurrent or New WordPress Login Name (We\'ll send you a password.): malleraj\n\nTime: May 25, 2014 at 9:31 am\nIP Address: 99.60.176.208\nContact Form URL: http://provoketive.com/writing-for-provoketive/\nSent by an unverified visitor to your site.\";s:7:\"headers\";s:154:\"From: Rabbi Allen Maller <wordpress@provoketive.com>\r\nReply-To: Rabbi Allen Maller <maller.allen1948@gmail.com>\r\nContent-Type: text/plain; charset=\"UTF-8\"\";}'),(68390,9443,'_jd_tweet_this','yes'),(68391,9443,'_jd_twitter',''),(68392,9443,'_wp_jd_clig',''),(68393,9443,'_wp_jd_bitly',''),(68394,9443,'_wp_jd_wp',''),(68395,9443,'_wp_jd_yourls',''),(68396,9443,'_wp_jd_url',''),(68397,9443,'_wp_jd_target',''),(68398,9443,'_jd_wp_twitter',''),(68399,9443,'_jd_post_meta_fixed','true'),(68400,9443,'_feedback_author','Darian G. Burns'),(68401,9443,'_feedback_author_email','darian@tobesalt.com'),(68402,9443,'_feedback_author_url','http://www.darianburns.com'),(68403,9443,'_feedback_subject','Provoketive Magazine Writing For Provoketive'),(68404,9443,'_feedback_ip','71.237.94.22'),(68405,9443,'_feedback_contact_form_url','http://provoketive.com/writing-for-provoketive/'),(68406,9443,'_feedback_all_fields','a:5:{s:4:\"Name\";s:15:\"Darian G. Burns\";s:5:\"Email\";s:19:\"darian@tobesalt.com\";s:24:\"Existing Blog or Website\";s:19:\"www.darianburns.com\";s:47:\"List the topic you are interested writing about\";s:5082:\"Can We Be Friends? \r\nby Darian G. Burns\r\nTo my progressive brothers and sisters in Christ.  I’m not your enemy.  I promise.  In fact, I am just trying to find my way and figure this thing called life out as best I can.  Just like you.  I may be a little more conservative than you are and not have as much confidence in government solutions as you sometimes do.  We may sometimes disagree, but I am not your enemy.  I am your brother, and I would like it if we could be friends.\r\n\r\nTo begin with, relax.  I am not out to change your mind about politics, social issues, progressivism or evangelicalism.   I have lived long enough that I am not sure enough about anything that I would try and change another’s mind.  What I do want to ask is, can we talk about our souls and spirits and God’s heart for us as his family?\r\n\r\nIn the 1980’s I was a young college student at a fundamentalist school, and I drank the religious right’s kool-aid.  I uncritically took my marching orders from its leaders.  I marched, wrote letters, and even became a Republican party delegate.   Don’t worry, I became disillusioned with the whole movement long ago.  But many of the destructive things that the right did to you and to Christ’s body I was a part of and I am sorry.  I truly am.  \r\n\r\nSince I was in the thick of things, I can tell you that many of your judgements of the religious right during that time are dead on.  Did we trade humility for power, the spirit for politics, servant hood for being served?  Yeah, we did.  We did that and a lot more.  From outward appearances, what we were doing seemed to work for a while.  We won a lot of elections, passed a lot of laws, raised up a number of powerful and vocal leaders.  We became the Moral Majority and established the Christian Coalition.  We got our own television networks and had radio stations filling the world’s airwaves.  We had power and influence.  Things were looking good if you were a conservative Christian.  Or so we thought.\r\n\r\nBut something happened on the way to our modern Canaan; we traded grace for law, spirit for influence, prayer for persuasion.  We changed laws but not hearts.  We lost the soul of a generation while we pursued amendments to constitutions.  We alienated a lot of people we should have loved.  We chose power over mercy and decided to wage battles over values rather than see people as individuals.  I am very sorry that I was a part of something so foolish.\r\n\r\nWhen I spend time with my progressive friends, there are things I recognize in their eagerness to right the religious right’s wrongs.  They want change the world, create a world and country where the poor are fed and clothed; the homeless housed; the sick healed and accomplish so many other things.  I see the fire in your eyes and hear the conviction in your voice. It is familiar.  It is me not so long ago.  The issues are different, and the politics have changed but the passion is the same.\r\n\r\nLooking back, are there issues the religious right got wrong, and I would not longer support?  Of course.  There are many.  But ultimately what caused the most damage to the cause of Christ was how the religious right did what they did.  They abused power and were judgmental. They were heavy handed when dealing with those of you who disagreed with them.  They even went so far as to proclaim you were not part of Christ’s body.\r\n\r\nHere is my fear - are you going about things in the same way?  \r\n\r\nI am in process.  Ideologically I do not fit anywhere anymore.  I escaped the religious right years ago, but I have not found a home.  Recently, I have dipped my toe into the progressive’s water, and it has not always gone as well as I would have hoped.  I’ve seen how ugly things can get if you are not progressively pure enough.  I’ve been called ignorant, uneducated, hateful, mean-spirited, homophobic, un-Christ-like, and, yes, unchristian.  If I have asked questions, I have been labeled, placed on the fundamentalist shelf and ignored.  I have been seen as an enemy by those that I have sought out as friends.  It has been assumed that I do not care for the poor because I have not agreed with one political party’s approach to helping them.  \r\n\r\nI have seen pictures of your leaders with the president, Democratic big wigs and powerful leaders of the left.  It reminded me of the night I shook Ronald Reagan\'s hand and had my picture taken with him.\r\n\r\nYou can pass laws as we did.  You can gain access to power as we did.  You can win elections as we did.  Your influence can reach throughout the world as ours did.  You can do all these things but miss the mark and lose a generation.  Power corrupts.  Be careful.  Guard your hearts because, you see - it is so easy to become that which you despise.\r\n\r\nI am not your enemy.  I want to be your friend.\r\n\r\n\r\nDarian Burns is a writer, poet, minster and speaker who lives in Greeley, Colorado.  He blogs regularly on the intersection of faith and culture at www.darianburns.com.  Darian hopes that his memoir \"Micah\'s Touch\" will soon be published.\";s:64:\"Current or New WordPress Login Name (We\'ll send you a password.)\";s:5:\"grace\";}'),(68407,9443,'_feedback_extra_fields','a:1:{s:64:\"Current or New WordPress Login Name (We\'ll send you a password.)\";s:5:\"grace\";}'),(68408,9443,'_feedback_akismet_values','a:55:{s:14:\"comment_author\";s:15:\"Darian G. Burns\";s:20:\"comment_author_email\";s:19:\"darian@tobesalt.com\";s:18:\"comment_author_url\";s:26:\"http://www.darianburns.com\";s:20:\"contact_form_subject\";s:44:\"Provoketive Magazine Writing For Provoketive\";s:17:\"comment_author_IP\";s:12:\"71.237.94.22\";s:15:\"comment_content\";s:5082:\"Can We Be Friends? \r\nby Darian G. Burns\r\nTo my progressive brothers and sisters in Christ.  I’m not your enemy.  I promise.  In fact, I am just trying to find my way and figure this thing called life out as best I can.  Just like you.  I may be a little more conservative than you are and not have as much confidence in government solutions as you sometimes do.  We may sometimes disagree, but I am not your enemy.  I am your brother, and I would like it if we could be friends.\r\n\r\nTo begin with, relax.  I am not out to change your mind about politics, social issues, progressivism or evangelicalism.   I have lived long enough that I am not sure enough about anything that I would try and change another’s mind.  What I do want to ask is, can we talk about our souls and spirits and God’s heart for us as his family?\r\n\r\nIn the 1980’s I was a young college student at a fundamentalist school, and I drank the religious right’s kool-aid.  I uncritically took my marching orders from its leaders.  I marched, wrote letters, and even became a Republican party delegate.   Don’t worry, I became disillusioned with the whole movement long ago.  But many of the destructive things that the right did to you and to Christ’s body I was a part of and I am sorry.  I truly am.  \r\n\r\nSince I was in the thick of things, I can tell you that many of your judgements of the religious right during that time are dead on.  Did we trade humility for power, the spirit for politics, servant hood for being served?  Yeah, we did.  We did that and a lot more.  From outward appearances, what we were doing seemed to work for a while.  We won a lot of elections, passed a lot of laws, raised up a number of powerful and vocal leaders.  We became the Moral Majority and established the Christian Coalition.  We got our own television networks and had radio stations filling the world’s airwaves.  We had power and influence.  Things were looking good if you were a conservative Christian.  Or so we thought.\r\n\r\nBut something happened on the way to our modern Canaan; we traded grace for law, spirit for influence, prayer for persuasion.  We changed laws but not hearts.  We lost the soul of a generation while we pursued amendments to constitutions.  We alienated a lot of people we should have loved.  We chose power over mercy and decided to wage battles over values rather than see people as individuals.  I am very sorry that I was a part of something so foolish.\r\n\r\nWhen I spend time with my progressive friends, there are things I recognize in their eagerness to right the religious right’s wrongs.  They want change the world, create a world and country where the poor are fed and clothed; the homeless housed; the sick healed and accomplish so many other things.  I see the fire in your eyes and hear the conviction in your voice. It is familiar.  It is me not so long ago.  The issues are different, and the politics have changed but the passion is the same.\r\n\r\nLooking back, are there issues the religious right got wrong, and I would not longer support?  Of course.  There are many.  But ultimately what caused the most damage to the cause of Christ was how the religious right did what they did.  They abused power and were judgmental. They were heavy handed when dealing with those of you who disagreed with them.  They even went so far as to proclaim you were not part of Christ’s body.\r\n\r\nHere is my fear - are you going about things in the same way?  \r\n\r\nI am in process.  Ideologically I do not fit anywhere anymore.  I escaped the religious right years ago, but I have not found a home.  Recently, I have dipped my toe into the progressive’s water, and it has not always gone as well as I would have hoped.  I’ve seen how ugly things can get if you are not progressively pure enough.  I’ve been called ignorant, uneducated, hateful, mean-spirited, homophobic, un-Christ-like, and, yes, unchristian.  If I have asked questions, I have been labeled, placed on the fundamentalist shelf and ignored.  I have been seen as an enemy by those that I have sought out as friends.  It has been assumed that I do not care for the poor because I have not agreed with one political party’s approach to helping them.  \r\n\r\nI have seen pictures of your leaders with the president, Democratic big wigs and powerful leaders of the left.  It reminded me of the night I shook Ronald Reagan\'s hand and had my picture taken with him.\r\n\r\nYou can pass laws as we did.  You can gain access to power as we did.  You can win elections as we did.  Your influence can reach throughout the world as ours did.  You can do all these things but miss the mark and lose a generation.  Power corrupts.  Be careful.  Guard your hearts because, you see - it is so easy to become that which you despise.\r\n\r\nI am not your enemy.  I want to be your friend.\r\n\r\n\r\nDarian Burns is a writer, poet, minster and speaker who lives in Greeley, Colorado.  He blogs regularly on the intersection of faith and culture at www.darianburns.com.  Darian hopes that his memoir \"Micah\'s Touch\" will soon be published.\";s:12:\"comment_type\";s:12:\"contact_form\";s:7:\"user_ip\";s:12:\"71.237.94.22\";s:10:\"user_agent\";s:119:\"Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_7_5) AppleWebKit/537.75.14 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.1.3 Safari/537.75.14\";s:8:\"referrer\";s:47:\"http://provoketive.com/writing-for-provoketive/\";s:4:\"blog\";s:22:\"http://provoketive.com\";s:15:\"SERVER_SOFTWARE\";s:6:\"Apache\";s:11:\"REQUEST_URI\";s:25:\"/writing-for-provoketive/\";s:14:\"CONTENT_LENGTH\";s:4:\"5713\";s:12:\"CONTENT_TYPE\";s:33:\"application/x-www-form-urlencoded\";s:13:\"DOCUMENT_ROOT\";s:38:\"/home/content/j/o/n/jonathanbrink/html\";s:17:\"GATEWAY_INTERFACE\";s:7:\"CGI/1.1\";s:11:\"HTTP_ACCEPT\";s:63:\"text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,*/*;q=0.8\";s:20:\"HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING\";s:13:\"gzip, deflate\";s:20:\"HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE\";s:5:\"en-us\";s:15:\"HTTP_CONNECTION\";s:10:\"keep-alive\";s:9:\"HTTP_HOST\";s:15:\"provoketive.com\";s:11:\"HTTP_ORIGIN\";s:22:\"http://provoketive.com\";s:12:\"HTTP_REFERER\";s:47:\"http://provoketive.com/writing-for-provoketive/\";s:15:\"HTTP_USER_AGENT\";s:119:\"Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_7_5) AppleWebKit/537.75.14 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.1.3 Safari/537.75.14\";s:4:\"PATH\";s:28:\"/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin\";s:5:\"PHPRC\";s:38:\"/home/content/j/o/n/jonathanbrink/html\";s:12:\"QUERY_STRING\";s:0:\"\";s:9:\"RAILS_ENV\";s:10:\"production\";s:18:\"REDIRECT_RAILS_ENV\";s:10:\"production\";s:19:\"REDIRECT_SCRIPT_URI\";s:47:\"http://provoketive.com/writing-for-provoketive/\";s:19:\"REDIRECT_SCRIPT_URL\";s:25:\"/writing-for-provoketive/\";s:15:\"REDIRECT_STATUS\";s:3:\"200\";s:32:\"REDIRECT_SUBDOMAIN_DOCUMENT_ROOT\";s:50:\"/home/content/j/o/n/jonathanbrink/html/provoketive\";s:18:\"REDIRECT_UNIQUE_ID\";s:24:\"U8--TWFK17oAAEHiKvYAAAG7\";s:12:\"REDIRECT_URL\";s:25:\"/writing-for-provoketive/\";s:11:\"REMOTE_ADDR\";s:12:\"71.237.94.22\";s:11:\"REMOTE_PORT\";s:5:\"40000\";s:14:\"REQUEST_METHOD\";s:4:\"POST\";s:15:\"SCRIPT_FILENAME\";s:60:\"/home/content/j/o/n/jonathanbrink/html/provoketive/index.php\";s:11:\"SCRIPT_NAME\";s:10:\"/index.php\";s:10:\"SCRIPT_URI\";s:47:\"http://provoketive.com/writing-for-provoketive/\";s:10:\"SCRIPT_URL\";s:25:\"/writing-for-provoketive/\";s:11:\"SERVER_ADDR\";s:13:\"97.74.215.186\";s:12:\"SERVER_ADMIN\";s:26:\"support@supportwebsite.com\";s:11:\"SERVER_NAME\";s:15:\"provoketive.com\";s:11:\"SERVER_PORT\";s:2:\"80\";s:15:\"SERVER_PROTOCOL\";s:8:\"HTTP/1.1\";s:16:\"SERVER_SIGNATURE\";s:41:\"Apache Server at provoketive.com Port 80\n\";s:3:\"SPI\";s:4:\"TRUE\";s:23:\"SUBDOMAIN_DOCUMENT_ROOT\";s:50:\"/home/content/j/o/n/jonathanbrink/html/provoketive\";s:9:\"UNIQUE_ID\";s:24:\"U8--TWFK17oAAEHiKvYAAAG7\";s:8:\"PHP_SELF\";s:10:\"/index.php\";s:12:\"REQUEST_TIME\";s:10:\"1406140237\";s:4:\"argc\";s:1:\"0\";}'),(68409,9443,'_feedback_email','a:4:{s:2:\"to\";a:1:{i:0;s:19:\"jb@civitaspress.com\";}s:7:\"subject\";s:44:\"Provoketive Magazine Writing For Provoketive\";s:7:\"message\";s:5473:\"Name: Darian G. Burns\nEmail: darian@tobesalt.com\nExisting Blog or Website: http://www.darianburns.com\nList the topic you are interested writing about: Can We Be Friends? \r\nby Darian G. Burns\r\nTo my progressive brothers and sisters in Christ.  I’m not your enemy.  I promise.  In fact, I am just trying to find my way and figure this thing called life out as best I can.  Just like you.  I may be a little more conservative than you are and not have as much confidence in government solutions as you sometimes do.  We may sometimes disagree, but I am not your enemy.  I am your brother, and I would like it if we could be friends.\r\n\r\nTo begin with, relax.  I am not out to change your mind about politics, social issues, progressivism or evangelicalism.   I have lived long enough that I am not sure enough about anything that I would try and change another’s mind.  What I do want to ask is, can we talk about our souls and spirits and God’s heart for us as his family?\r\n\r\nIn the 1980’s I was a young college student at a fundamentalist school, and I drank the religious right’s kool-aid.  I uncritically took my marching orders from its leaders.  I marched, wrote letters, and even became a Republican party delegate.   Don’t worry, I became disillusioned with the whole movement long ago.  But many of the destructive things that the right did to you and to Christ’s body I was a part of and I am sorry.  I truly am.  \r\n\r\nSince I was in the thick of things, I can tell you that many of your judgements of the religious right during that time are dead on.  Did we trade humility for power, the spirit for politics, servant hood for being served?  Yeah, we did.  We did that and a lot more.  From outward appearances, what we were doing seemed to work for a while.  We won a lot of elections, passed a lot of laws, raised up a number of powerful and vocal leaders.  We became the Moral Majority and established the Christian Coalition.  We got our own television networks and had radio stations filling the world’s airwaves.  We had power and influence.  Things were looking good if you were a conservative Christian.  Or so we thought.\r\n\r\nBut something happened on the way to our modern Canaan; we traded grace for law, spirit for influence, prayer for persuasion.  We changed laws but not hearts.  We lost the soul of a generation while we pursued amendments to constitutions.  We alienated a lot of people we should have loved.  We chose power over mercy and decided to wage battles over values rather than see people as individuals.  I am very sorry that I was a part of something so foolish.\r\n\r\nWhen I spend time with my progressive friends, there are things I recognize in their eagerness to right the religious right’s wrongs.  They want change the world, create a world and country where the poor are fed and clothed; the homeless housed; the sick healed and accomplish so many other things.  I see the fire in your eyes and hear the conviction in your voice. It is familiar.  It is me not so long ago.  The issues are different, and the politics have changed but the passion is the same.\r\n\r\nLooking back, are there issues the religious right got wrong, and I would not longer support?  Of course.  There are many.  But ultimately what caused the most damage to the cause of Christ was how the religious right did what they did.  They abused power and were judgmental. They were heavy handed when dealing with those of you who disagreed with them.  They even went so far as to proclaim you were not part of Christ’s body.\r\n\r\nHere is my fear - are you going about things in the same way?  \r\n\r\nI am in process.  Ideologically I do not fit anywhere anymore.  I escaped the religious right years ago, but I have not found a home.  Recently, I have dipped my toe into the progressive’s water, and it has not always gone as well as I would have hoped.  I’ve seen how ugly things can get if you are not progressively pure enough.  I’ve been called ignorant, uneducated, hateful, mean-spirited, homophobic, un-Christ-like, and, yes, unchristian.  If I have asked questions, I have been labeled, placed on the fundamentalist shelf and ignored.  I have been seen as an enemy by those that I have sought out as friends.  It has been assumed that I do not care for the poor because I have not agreed with one political party’s approach to helping them.  \r\n\r\nI have seen pictures of your leaders with the president, Democratic big wigs and powerful leaders of the left.  It reminded me of the night I shook Ronald Reagan\'s hand and had my picture taken with him.\r\n\r\nYou can pass laws as we did.  You can gain access to power as we did.  You can win elections as we did.  Your influence can reach throughout the world as ours did.  You can do all these things but miss the mark and lose a generation.  Power corrupts.  Be careful.  Guard your hearts because, you see - it is so easy to become that which you despise.\r\n\r\nI am not your enemy.  I want to be your friend.\r\n\r\n\r\nDarian Burns is a writer, poet, minster and speaker who lives in Greeley, Colorado.  He blogs regularly on the intersection of faith and culture at www.darianburns.com.  Darian hopes that his memoir \"Micah\'s Touch\" will soon be published.\nCurrent or New WordPress Login Name (We\'ll send you a password.): grace\n\nTime: July 23, 2014 at 11:30 am\nIP Address: 71.237.94.22\nContact Form URL: http://provoketive.com/writing-for-provoketive/\nSent by an unverified visitor to your site.\";s:7:\"headers\";s:141:\"From: Darian G. Burns <wordpress@provoketive.com>\r\nReply-To: Darian G. Burns <darian@tobesalt.com>\r\nContent-Type: text/plain; charset=\"UTF-8\"\";}'),(71830,9617,'_jd_tweet_this','yes'),(71831,9617,'_jd_twitter',''),(71832,9617,'_wp_jd_clig',''),(71833,9617,'_wp_jd_bitly',''),(71834,9617,'_wp_jd_wp',''),(71835,9617,'_wp_jd_yourls',''),(71836,9617,'_wp_jd_url',''),(71837,9617,'_wp_jd_target',''),(71838,9617,'_jd_wp_twitter',''),(71839,9617,'_jd_post_meta_fixed','true'),(71840,9617,'_feedback_author','Donna'),(71841,9617,'_feedback_author_email','dvhacbe@yahoo.fr'),(71842,9617,'_feedback_author_url','http://anders.ga/-fn4j'),(71843,9617,'_feedback_subject','Nominating A Writer For Provoketive'),(71844,9617,'_feedback_ip','104.168.45.42'),(71845,9617,'_feedback_contact_form_url','http://provoketive.com/nominate-a-writer/'),(71846,9617,'_feedback_all_fields','a:6:{s:9:\"Your Name\";s:5:\"Donna\";s:10:\"Your Email\";s:16:\"dvhacbe@yahoo.fr\";s:17:\"The Writer\'s Name\";s:5:\"Donna\";s:28:\"The Writer\'s Website or Post\";s:22:\"http://anders.ga/-fn4j\";s:18:\"The Writer\'s Email\";s:5:\"Donna\";s:48:\"Why You Think They Should Write For Provoketive?\";s:548:\"This is a message to the webmaster. I came to your page via Google but it was hard to find as you were not on the front page of search results. I know you could have more traffic to your site. I have found a website which offers to dramatically increase your website rankings and traffic to your site: http://garye.co/8k I managed to get close to 1000 visitors/day using their services, you could also get a lot more targeted traffic from Google than you have now. Their services brought significantly more traffic to my website. 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I came to your page via Google but it was hard to find as you were not on the front page of search results. I know you could have more traffic to your site. I have found a website which offers to dramatically increase your website rankings and traffic to your site: http://garye.co/8k I managed to get close to 1000 visitors/day using their services, you could also get a lot more targeted traffic from Google than you have now. Their services brought significantly more traffic to my website. I hope this helps!\nThe Writer\'s Name: Donna\nThe Writer\'s Email: Donna\n\nTime: June 16, 2015 at 5:12 pm\nIP Address: 104.168.45.42\nContact Form URL: http://provoketive.com/nominate-a-writer/\nSent by an unverified visitor to your site.\";s:7:\"headers\";s:118:\"From: Donna <wordpress@provoketive.com>\r\nReply-To: Donna <dvhacbe@yahoo.fr>\r\nContent-Type: text/plain; charset=\"UTF-8\"\";}'),(71257,9587,'_feedback_extra_fields','a:1:{s:64:\"Current or New WordPress Login Name (We\'ll send you a password.)\";s:9:\"kellbell2\";}'),(71258,9587,'_feedback_akismet_values','a:56:{s:14:\"comment_author\";s:11:\"Kelly Beane\";s:20:\"comment_author_email\";s:21:\"Kelly_beane@yahoo.com\";s:18:\"comment_author_url\";s:44:\"http://kellbell-justmythoughts.blogspot.com/\";s:20:\"contact_form_subject\";s:44:\"Provoketive Magazine Writing For Provoketive\";s:17:\"comment_author_IP\";s:14:\"174.61.143.137\";s:15:\"comment_content\";s:22:\"Leaving 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Australia’s Magazine “INDUS AGE”.\r\n2. USA’s magazine, “BIBI’s website\r\n\r\n3. USA’s Magazine “LAW OF ATTRACTION”\r\n4. USA’s Magazine “ËLEGANT”\r\n\r\n5. England’s Magazine “LIFESTYLE MONTHLY.’\r\n6. England’s Magazine “HAT TRICK\r\n\r\n7. England’s Magazine, “H EDITION”’\r\n8. USA & Australia’s Magazine, “Retreat”’s website\r\n\r\n9. Indian magazine “What’s On”\r\n10. USA magazine, “’Desi Express””\r\n11. South African’s Magazine, “’SA India””\r\n12. USA’s magazine, “”CURLS, TWISTS, COILS & KINKS “”\r\n13. USA’s magazine, “ASIA TREND””\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nHoping a favourable response from you..\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nRegards\r\n\r\nManish Kumar Arora\r\n106, Bhera Enclave,\r\nPaschim Vihar, New Delhi – 87\r\nIndia\r\nPh ; 91-9871062000\n\nTime: September 23, 2015 at 3:52 am\nIP Address: 122.161.186.52\nContact Form URL: http://provoketive.com/contact-us/\nSent by an unverified visitor to your site.\";s:7:\"headers\";s:155:\"From: Manish Kumar Arora <wordpress@provoketive.com>\r\nReply-To: Manish Kumar Arora <manish@manishastrologer.com>\r\nContent-Type: text/plain; charset=\"UTF-8\"\";}'),(80030,10027,'_jd_tweet_this','yes'),(80031,10027,'_jd_twitter',''),(80032,10027,'_wp_jd_clig',''),(80033,10027,'_wp_jd_bitly',''),(80034,10027,'_wp_jd_wp',''),(80035,10027,'_wp_jd_yourls',''),(80036,10027,'_wp_jd_url',''),(80037,10027,'_wp_jd_target',''),(80038,10027,'_jd_wp_twitter',''),(80039,10027,'_jd_post_meta_fixed','true'),(80040,10027,'_feedback_author','Manish Kumar Arora'),(80041,10027,'_feedback_author_email','manish@manishastrologer.com'),(80042,10027,'_feedback_author_url',''),(80043,10027,'_feedback_subject','[Provoketive Magazine] Contact Us'),(80044,10027,'_feedback_ip','122.161.186.52'),(80045,10027,'_feedback_contact_form_url','http://provoketive.com/contact-us/'),(80046,10027,'_feedback_all_fields','a:3:{s:4:\"Name\";s:18:\"Manish Kumar Arora\";s:5:\"Email\";s:27:\"manish@manishastrologer.com\";s:7:\"Comment\";s:1214:\"Dear Sir / Madam\r\n\r\nI am Manish Kumar Arora, KP Astrologer, Numerologist, Tarot Card Reader & Vastu Consultant.\r\n\r\nI would like to associate with your publication and submit  monthly predictions of zodiac signs \r\nin it.\r\n\r\nFurther, I can answer individual queries of readers related to astrology if they submit time, place \r\nand \r\ndate of birth.\r\n\r\nMy zodiac sign predictions are published in following magazines & newspapers :\r\n\r\n\r\n1. 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USA’s magazine, “ASIA TREND””\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nHoping a favourable response from you..\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nRegards\r\n\r\nManish Kumar Arora\r\n106, Bhera Enclave,\r\nPaschim Vihar, New Delhi – 87\r\nIndia\r\nPh ; 91-9871062000\r\n\";}'),(80047,10027,'_feedback_extra_fields','a:0:{}'),(80048,10027,'_feedback_akismet_values','a:57:{s:14:\"comment_author\";s:18:\"Manish Kumar Arora\";s:20:\"comment_author_email\";s:27:\"manish@manishastrologer.com\";s:18:\"comment_author_url\";s:0:\"\";s:20:\"contact_form_subject\";s:33:\"[Provoketive Magazine] Contact Us\";s:17:\"comment_author_IP\";s:14:\"122.161.186.52\";s:15:\"comment_content\";s:1212:\"Dear Sir / Madam\r\n\r\nI am Manish Kumar Arora, KP Astrologer, Numerologist, Tarot Card Reader & Vastu Consultant.\r\n\r\nI would like to associate with your publication and submit  monthly predictions of zodiac signs \r\nin it.\r\n\r\nFurther, I can answer individual queries of readers related to astrology if they submit time, place \r\nand \r\ndate of birth.\r\n\r\nMy zodiac sign predictions are published in following magazines & newspapers :\r\n\r\n\r\n1. Australia’s Magazine “INDUS AGE”.\r\n2. USA’s magazine, “BIBI’s website\r\n\r\n3. USA’s Magazine “LAW OF ATTRACTION”\r\n4. USA’s Magazine “ËLEGANT”\r\n\r\n5. England’s Magazine “LIFESTYLE MONTHLY.’\r\n6. England’s Magazine “HAT TRICK\r\n\r\n7. England’s Magazine, “H EDITION”’\r\n8. USA & Australia’s Magazine, “Retreat”’s website\r\n\r\n9. Indian magazine “What’s On”\r\n10. USA magazine, “’Desi Express””\r\n11. South African’s Magazine, “’SA India””\r\n12. USA’s magazine, “”CURLS, TWISTS, COILS & KINKS “”\r\n13. 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Australia’s Magazine “INDUS AGE”.\r\n2. USA’s magazine, “BIBI’s website\r\n\r\n3. USA’s Magazine “LAW OF ATTRACTION”\r\n4. USA’s Magazine “ËLEGANT”\r\n\r\n5. England’s Magazine “LIFESTYLE MONTHLY.’\r\n6. England’s Magazine “HAT TRICK\r\n\r\n7. England’s Magazine, “H EDITION”’\r\n8. USA & Australia’s Magazine, “Retreat”’s website\r\n\r\n9. Indian magazine “What’s On”\r\n10. USA magazine, “’Desi Express””\r\n11. South African’s Magazine, “’SA India””\r\n12. USA’s magazine, “”CURLS, TWISTS, COILS & KINKS “”\r\n13. USA’s magazine, “ASIA TREND””\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nHoping a favourable response from you..\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nRegards\r\n\r\nManish Kumar Arora\r\n106, Bhera Enclave,\r\nPaschim Vihar, New Delhi – 87\r\nIndia\r\nPh ; 91-9871062000\n\nTime: September 23, 2015 at 3:52 am\nIP Address: 122.161.186.52\nContact Form URL: http://provoketive.com/contact-us/\nSent by an unverified visitor to your site.\";s:7:\"headers\";s:155:\"From: Manish Kumar Arora <wordpress@provoketive.com>\r\nReply-To: Manish Kumar Arora <manish@manishastrologer.com>\r\nContent-Type: text/plain; charset=\"UTF-8\"\";}'),(80060,10029,'_jd_tweet_this','yes'),(80061,10029,'_jd_twitter',''),(80062,10029,'_wp_jd_clig',''),(80063,10029,'_wp_jd_bitly',''),(80064,10029,'_wp_jd_wp',''),(80065,10029,'_wp_jd_yourls',''),(80066,10029,'_wp_jd_url',''),(80067,10029,'_wp_jd_target',''),(80068,10029,'_jd_wp_twitter',''),(80069,10029,'_jd_post_meta_fixed','true'),(80070,10029,'_feedback_author','Angela'),(80071,10029,'_feedback_author_email','angelaabram629@gmail.com'),(80072,10029,'_feedback_author_url',''),(80073,10029,'_feedback_subject','[Provoketive Magazine] Contact Us'),(80074,10029,'_feedback_ip','180.92.150.46'),(80075,10029,'_feedback_contact_form_url','http://provoketive.com/contact-us/'),(80076,10029,'_feedback_all_fields','a:3:{s:4:\"Name\";s:6:\"Angela\";s:5:\"Email\";s:24:\"angelaabram629@gmail.com\";s:7:\"Comment\";s:867:\"Hello,\r\n\r\nI am a big fan of your blog and have been a reader for quite a while. Are you currently accepting guest posts? If so, I would be happy to write one for you want - The choice is yours! (The only thing I ask for in return is just one or two do-follow links back to my website). I am professional writer with a lot of blogging experience, so you can count on me to produce quality content. As soon as you reply with a topic, I will get started right away.\r\n\r\nI saw that you featured some guest posts in the past and I thought the piece was an excellent fit for your site and your readers. Let me know if you’d be interested in reading and possibly hosting and article, I’m excited about the possibility of working with you.\r\n\r\nI look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.\r\n\r\nBest wishes,\r\n\r\nSincerely, \r\n\r\nAngela\r\n\r\nWebsite: olwomen.com\";}'),(80077,10029,'_feedback_extra_fields','a:0:{}'),(80078,10029,'_feedback_akismet_values','a:57:{s:14:\"comment_author\";s:6:\"Angela\";s:20:\"comment_author_email\";s:24:\"angelaabram629@gmail.com\";s:18:\"comment_author_url\";s:0:\"\";s:20:\"contact_form_subject\";s:33:\"[Provoketive Magazine] Contact Us\";s:17:\"comment_author_IP\";s:13:\"180.92.150.46\";s:15:\"comment_content\";s:867:\"Hello,\r\n\r\nI am a big fan of your blog and have been a reader for quite a while. Are you currently accepting guest posts? If so, I would be happy to write one for you want - The choice is yours! (The only thing I ask for in return is just one or two do-follow links back to my website). I am professional writer with a lot of blogging experience, so you can count on me to produce quality content. As soon as you reply with a topic, I will get started right away.\r\n\r\nI saw that you featured some guest posts in the past and I thought the piece was an excellent fit for your site and your readers. Let me know if you’d be interested in reading and possibly hosting and article, I’m excited about the possibility of working with you.\r\n\r\nI look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.\r\n\r\nBest wishes,\r\n\r\nSincerely, \r\n\r\nAngela\r\n\r\nWebsite: olwomen.com\";s:12:\"comment_type\";s:12:\"contact_form\";s:7:\"user_ip\";s:13:\"180.92.150.46\";s:10:\"user_agent\";s:101:\"Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/45.0.2454.99 Safari/537.36\";s:8:\"referrer\";s:34:\"http://provoketive.com/contact-us/\";s:4:\"blog\";s:22:\"http://provoketive.com\";s:15:\"SERVER_SOFTWARE\";s:6:\"Apache\";s:11:\"REQUEST_URI\";s:12:\"/contact-us/\";s:14:\"CONTENT_LENGTH\";s:4:\"1125\";s:12:\"CONTENT_TYPE\";s:33:\"application/x-www-form-urlencoded\";s:13:\"DOCUMENT_ROOT\";s:38:\"/home/content/j/o/n/jonathanbrink/html\";s:17:\"GATEWAY_INTERFACE\";s:7:\"CGI/1.1\";s:11:\"HTTP_ACCEPT\";s:74:\"text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,image/webp,*/*;q=0.8\";s:20:\"HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING\";s:13:\"gzip, deflate\";s:20:\"HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE\";s:14:\"en-US,en;q=0.8\";s:18:\"HTTP_CACHE_CONTROL\";s:9:\"max-age=0\";s:15:\"HTTP_CONNECTION\";s:10:\"keep-alive\";s:9:\"HTTP_HOST\";s:15:\"provoketive.com\";s:11:\"HTTP_ORIGIN\";s:22:\"http://provoketive.com\";s:12:\"HTTP_REFERER\";s:34:\"http://provoketive.com/contact-us/\";s:30:\"HTTP_UPGRADE_INSECURE_REQUESTS\";s:1:\"1\";s:15:\"HTTP_USER_AGENT\";s:101:\"Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/45.0.2454.99 Safari/537.36\";s:4:\"PATH\";s:28:\"/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin\";s:5:\"PHPRC\";s:38:\"/home/content/j/o/n/jonathanbrink/html\";s:12:\"QUERY_STRING\";s:0:\"\";s:9:\"RAILS_ENV\";s:10:\"production\";s:18:\"REDIRECT_RAILS_ENV\";s:10:\"production\";s:19:\"REDIRECT_SCRIPT_URI\";s:34:\"http://provoketive.com/contact-us/\";s:19:\"REDIRECT_SCRIPT_URL\";s:12:\"/contact-us/\";s:15:\"REDIRECT_STATUS\";s:3:\"200\";s:32:\"REDIRECT_SUBDOMAIN_DOCUMENT_ROOT\";s:50:\"/home/content/j/o/n/jonathanbrink/html/provoketive\";s:18:\"REDIRECT_UNIQUE_ID\";s:24:\"VgL3eWFK17oAAEVIghQAAAE2\";s:12:\"REDIRECT_URL\";s:12:\"/contact-us/\";s:11:\"REMOTE_ADDR\";s:13:\"180.92.150.46\";s:11:\"REMOTE_PORT\";s:4:\"3397\";s:14:\"REQUEST_METHOD\";s:4:\"POST\";s:15:\"SCRIPT_FILENAME\";s:60:\"/home/content/j/o/n/jonathanbrink/html/provoketive/index.php\";s:11:\"SCRIPT_NAME\";s:10:\"/index.php\";s:10:\"SCRIPT_URI\";s:34:\"http://provoketive.com/contact-us/\";s:10:\"SCRIPT_URL\";s:12:\"/contact-us/\";s:11:\"SERVER_ADDR\";s:13:\"97.74.215.186\";s:12:\"SERVER_ADMIN\";s:26:\"support@supportwebsite.com\";s:11:\"SERVER_NAME\";s:15:\"provoketive.com\";s:11:\"SERVER_PORT\";s:2:\"80\";s:15:\"SERVER_PROTOCOL\";s:8:\"HTTP/1.1\";s:16:\"SERVER_SIGNATURE\";s:41:\"Apache Server at provoketive.com Port 80\n\";s:3:\"SPI\";s:4:\"TRUE\";s:23:\"SUBDOMAIN_DOCUMENT_ROOT\";s:50:\"/home/content/j/o/n/jonathanbrink/html/provoketive\";s:9:\"UNIQUE_ID\";s:24:\"VgL3eWFK17oAAEVIghQAAAE2\";s:8:\"PHP_SELF\";s:10:\"/index.php\";s:12:\"REQUEST_TIME\";s:10:\"1443035003\";s:4:\"argc\";s:1:\"0\";}'),(80079,10029,'_feedback_email','a:4:{s:2:\"to\";a:1:{i:0;s:14:\"jb@thriven.org\";}s:7:\"subject\";s:33:\"[Provoketive Magazine] Contact Us\";s:7:\"message\";s:1082:\"Name: Angela\nEmail: angelaabram629@gmail.com\nComment: Hello,\r\n\r\nI am a big fan of your blog and have been a reader for quite a while. Are you currently accepting guest posts? If so, I would be happy to write one for you want - The choice is yours! (The only thing I ask for in return is just one or two do-follow links back to my website). I am professional writer with a lot of blogging experience, so you can count on me to produce quality content. As soon as you reply with a topic, I will get started right away.\r\n\r\nI saw that you featured some guest posts in the past and I thought the piece was an excellent fit for your site and your readers. Let me know if you’d be interested in reading and possibly hosting and article, I’m excited about the possibility of working with you.\r\n\r\nI look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.\r\n\r\nBest wishes,\r\n\r\nSincerely, \r\n\r\nAngela\r\n\r\nWebsite: olwomen.com\n\nTime: September 23, 2015 at 12:03 pm\nIP Address: 180.92.150.46\nContact Form URL: http://provoketive.com/contact-us/\nSent by an unverified visitor to your site.\";s:7:\"headers\";s:128:\"From: Angela <wordpress@provoketive.com>\r\nReply-To: Angela <angelaabram629@gmail.com>\r\nContent-Type: text/plain; charset=\"UTF-8\"\";}');

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INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (1128,1,'2011-10-24 18:43:30','2011-10-25 01:43:30','Several months ago Netflix released an announcement they were dividing the company into two divisions: Netflix, which would handle the streaming division, and Qwikster, which would handle the traditional and ultimately dying business of hard DVD shipments.  I remember thinking, \"That is a stupid idea.\"\n\nThe New York Times just posted <a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/technology/netflix-lost-800000-members-with-price-rise-and-split-plan.html\" target=\"_blank\">a rather ironic and telling story</a> of the ego that often defaults companies.\n<blockquote>Reed Hastings was soaking in a hot tub with a friend last month when he shared a secret: his company, <a title=\"More information about Netflix Inc\" href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/netflix-inc/index.html?inline=nyt-org\">Netflix</a>, was about to announce a plan to divide its movie rental service into two — one offering streaming movies over the Internet, the other offering old-fashioned DVDs in the mail.\n\n“That is awful,” the friend, who was also a Netflix subscriber, told him under a starry sky in the Bay Area, according to Mr. Hastings. “I don’t want to deal with two accounts.”\n\nMr. Hastings ignored the warning, believing that chief executives should generally discount what their friends say.</blockquote>\nI wonder how many companies would still be around if the owner/President would have just listened to a good friend.','Netflix Gone Bad','','inherit','open','open','','1126-revision','','','2011-10-24 18:43:30','2011-10-25 01:43:30','',1126,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/24/1126-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(1129,1,'2011-10-24 18:44:59','2011-10-25 01:44:59','Several months ago Netflix released an announcement they were dividing the company into two divisions: Netflix, which would handle the streaming division, and Qwikster, which would handle the traditional and ultimately dying business of hard DVD shipments.  I remember thinking, \"That is a stupid idea.\"  And I didn\'t like the price increase that would come with such a change.\n\nThe New York Times just posted <a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/technology/netflix-lost-800000-members-with-price-rise-and-split-plan.html\" target=\"_blank\">a rather ironic and telling story</a> of the ego that often defaults companies.\n<blockquote>Reed Hastings was soaking in a hot tub with a friend last month when he shared a secret: his company, <a title=\"More information about Netflix Inc\" href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/netflix-inc/index.html?inline=nyt-org\">Netflix</a>, was about to announce a plan to divide its movie rental service into two — one offering streaming movies over the Internet, the other offering old-fashioned DVDs in the mail.\n\n“That is awful,” the friend, who was also a Netflix subscriber, told him under a starry sky in the Bay Area, according to Mr. Hastings. “I don’t want to deal with two accounts.”\n\nMr. Hastings ignored the warning, believing that chief executives should generally discount what their friends say.</blockquote>\nThe rest they say is history.  The press and the public crucified Netflix on every major bulletin board and turns out they left in\n\nI wonder how many companies would still be around if the owner/President would have just listened to a good friend.','Netflix Gone Bad','','inherit','open','open','','1126-revision-2','','','2011-10-24 18:44:59','2011-10-25 01:44:59','',1126,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/24/1126-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(1130,1,'2011-10-24 20:49:51','2011-10-25 03:49:51','\"Though I know the going to the gym is a good thing to do, I just can\'t make myself go as often as I would like.\"\r\n\r\nSuch was the sentiment of a conversation I shared recently with a member of my congregation\'s leadership council. And, I agreed with him. I too have the \"I can\'t make myself go to the gym syndrome.\" For as much as I know in my head that the health benefits of regular exercise long out weigh the inconvenience of finding time to schedule it in, I just can\'t seem to make myself go there as often as I know I should. Excuses are easy to come by, as they may be for several of you too.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/HomeGym21.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/HomeGym21-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"173\" height=\"173\" /></a>Welcome to the internal struggle within my pastoral life: a hospital visit must be made, so I can\'t go this afternoon. We might want milk for our cereal tomorrow so the grocery store might just be a more essential stop over after work other than meeting with a trainer. Catching up with tv on the couch with my husband sounds more exciting than the treadmill tonight. Or, the always appropriate and best excuse of all time: I am just tired and need sleep more. I exclaim, \"There is no way that I can go to the gym this morning.\" While even I see the gym membership fee debited out of my account month after month, not even the financial strain is enough to make this investment worth the bang for my buck.\r\n\r\nYet, as this church leader continued to talk and bonded over our lack of enough exercise, we also made a connection together that grew in me compassion for those who frequently tell me as a pastor, \"I want to come to church . . . I\'m coming this Sunday\" but then never show up.  As much as I hear these empty promises in a given month, it wears on me and frustrates my hopes for what I know a faith community can be if people simply attend.\r\n\r\nI am a pastor of a congregation that uniquely welcomes in those in whom regular church participation is new. Many of those who sit among the pews each Sunday are coming back to church again after decades and decades away for a variety of reasons but mostly because a  local church along the line hurt them by conveying the message that who they were was somehow not good enough for God.  So, when someone attends first time, likes the welcome they experience and then decides to stick around for a while, they are coming because they\'ve come to believe being a part of a faith community is good for their soul. They get that church is as good for the soul as the gym is for the body. Contrary to those for whom church attendance is part of the life and cultural rhythm in a week (with the percentages of these types decreasing all the time), those who come to <a href=\"http://www.washingtonplazachurch.com\">Washington Plaza</a> come because they have made a conscious decision to be here. But, even with this true, many only come on a every six weeks rotation basis. Out of town trips, football games, and Sunday brunch are things that come up.  And so it is hard to build a community of people who truly know and love each other well, when not everyone is here which is what I believe makes the sacrifice of  Sunday church worth it in the end.\r\n\r\nI have to think this unique pastoral challenge of mine-- getting butts in the pews as the old saying goes-- is not so unique to my context.<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/ChurchPew0018.jpg\"><img class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-1115\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/ChurchPew0018-300x264.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"264\" /></a> In our over simulated, over scheduled world especially among urban dwellers, attending to our soul through church involvement is often valued by the spiritual as important, but not important enough when sleeping in on Sunday morning seems all the better for life/ work balance.\r\n\r\nOne of my favorite authors, Pearl S. Buck is known for saying, \"I don\'t wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to work.\" Yet, without intentional committment to anything, it is our moods that drive us all day long.\r\n\r\nMaybe one day soon, I will stop depending on my mood to get me to gym more often. And maybe, person by person, from some personal intention deep within, my congregants will make an appearance in worship more often.\r\n\r\nUntil then, I\'ll keep plugging away-- pastoring with all the energy I can muster up those who <em>are</em> around. And, as I do, continuing to see coffee meeting dates at Starbucks all across my neighborhood to those for whom church community is just too much to ask them yet as an important part of my calling as a faith leader.','I Can\'t Get to Either: the Church or the Gym','','inherit','open','open','','1103-autosave','','','2011-10-24 20:49:51','2011-10-25 03:49:51','',1103,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/24/1103-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(1132,1,'2011-10-24 12:39:51','2011-10-24 19:39:51','<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/HomeGym21.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-1114\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/HomeGym21-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"173\" height=\"173\" /></a>\"Though I know the going to the gym is a good thing to do, I just can\'t make myself go as often as I would like.\"\r\n\r\nSuch was the sentiment of a conversation I shared recently with a member of my congregation\'s leadership council. And, I agreed with him. I too have the \"I can\'t make myself go to the gym syndrome.\" For as much as I know in my head that the health benefits of regular exercise long out weigh the inconvenience of finding time to schedule it in, I just can\'t seem to make myself go there as often as I know I should. Excuses are easy to come by, as they may be for several of you too.\r\n\r\nWelcome to the internal struggle within my pastoral life: a hospital visit must be made, so I can\'t go this afternoon. We might want milk for our cereal tomorrow so the grocery store might just be a more essential stop over after work other than meeting with a trainer. Catching up with tv on the couch with my husband sounds more exciting than the treadmill tonight. Or, the always appropriate and best excuse of all time: I am just tired and need sleep more. I exclaim, \"There is no way that I can go to the gym this morning.\" While even I see the gym membership fee debited out of my account month after month, not even the financial strain is enough to make this investment worth the bang for my buck.\r\n\r\nYet, as this church leader continued to talk and bonded over our lack of enough exercise, we also made a connection together that grew in me compassion for those who frequently tell me as a pastor, \"I want to come to church . . . I\'m coming this Sunday\" but then never show up.  As much as I hear these empty promises in a given month, it wears on me and frustrates my hopes for what I know a faith community can be if people simply attend.\r\n\r\nI am a pastor of a congregation that uniquely welcomes in those in whom regular church participation is new. Many of those who sit among the pews each Sunday are coming back to church again after decades and decades away for a variety of reasons but mostly because a  local church along the line hurt them by conveying the message that who they were was somehow not good enough for God.  So, when someone attends first time, likes the welcome they experience and then decides to stick around for a while, they are coming because they\'ve come to believe being a part of a faith community is good for their soul. They get that church is as good for the soul as the gym is for the body. Contrary to those for whom church attendance is part of the life and cultural rhythm in a week (with the percentages of these types decreasing all the time), those who come to <a href=\"http://www.washingtonplazachurch.com\">Washington Plaza</a> come because they have made a conscious decision to be here. But, even with this true, many only come on a every six weeks rotation basis. Out of town trips, football games, and Sunday brunch are things that come up.  And so it is hard to build a community of people who truly know and love each other well, when not everyone is here which is what I believe makes the sacrifice of  Sunday church worth it in the end.\r\n\r\nI have to think this unique pastoral challenge of mine-- getting butts in the pews as the old saying goes-- is not so unique to my context.<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/ChurchPew0018.jpg\"><img class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-1115\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/ChurchPew0018-300x264.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"264\" /></a> In our over simulated, over scheduled world especially among urban dwellers, attending to our soul through church involvement is often valued by the spiritual as important, but not important enough when sleeping in on Sunday morning seems all the better for life/ work balance.\r\n\r\nOne of my favorite authors, Pearl S. Buck is known for saying, \"I don\'t wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to work.\" Yet, without intentional committment to anything, it is our moods that drive us all day long.\r\n\r\nMaybe one day soon, I will stop depending on my mood to get me to gym more often. And maybe, person by person, from some personal intention deep within, my congregants will make an appearance in worship more often.\r\n\r\nUntil then, I\'ll keep plugging away-- pastoring with all the energy I can muster up those who <em>are</em> around. And, as I do, continuing to see coffee meeting dates at Starbucks all across my neighborhood to those for whom church community is just too much to ask them yet as an important part of my calling as a faith leader.','I Can\'t Get to Either: the Church or the Gym','','inherit','open','open','','1103-revision-4','','','2011-10-24 12:39:51','2011-10-24 19:39:51','',1103,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/24/1103-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(1131,1,'2011-10-24 20:48:34','2011-10-25 03:48:34','','Exercise_class','','inherit','open','open','','exercise_class','','','2011-10-24 20:48:34','2011-10-25 03:48:34','',1103,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Exercise_class.png',0,'attachment','image/png',0),(1543,1,'2011-10-30 20:21:28','2011-10-31 03:21:28','<strong>About Provoketive Magazine</strong>: In a world saturated with people shouting at each other, it\'s rare to find a place where people can engage in conversation with each other.  Provoketive Magazine hopes to change that.  We\'re creating a space of rich conversation about life, faith, justice and culture without judgment.  Our desire is to provoke the reader\'s imagination through conversation and open up spaces of dialogue, learning, and hope.\r\n\r\n<strong>Current Categories</strong>:\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>Life: Business, Family, Growth, Humorous, Health, Sports, Technology, Work and World</li>\r\n	<li>Faith: Spirituality, Theology, Interfaith Dialogue, Spiritual Practices, and Questions</li>\r\n	<li>Justice: Social Justice, Gender Equality, Politics and Economics</li>\r\n	<li>Culture: Movies, Books, Music, Art, Poetry and Interviews</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nIf you are a writer and want to participate with us in creating this rich space of conversation, we invite you to sign up today.  Use the form below to provide the following information.  We will respond to you in 1-3 days with instructions for participation.\r\n\r\n[contact-form subject=\"Provoketive Magazine Writing For Provoketive\" to=\"jb@civitaspress.com\"] [contact-field label=\"Name\" type=\"name\" required=\"true\" /] [contact-field label=\"Email\" type=\"email\" required=\"true\" /] [contact-field label=\"Existing Blog or Website\" type=\"url\" /] [contact-field label=\"List the topic you are interested writing about\" type=\"textarea\" required=\"true\" /] [contact-field label=\"Current or New Wordpress Login Name (We\\\'ll send you a password.)\" type=\"text\" required=\"true\" /] [/contact-form]','Writing For Provoketive','','inherit','open','open','','358-revision-26','','','2011-10-30 20:21:28','2011-10-31 03:21:28','',358,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/30/358-revision-26/',0,'revision','',0),(1134,1,'2011-10-25 07:34:19','2011-10-25 14:34:19','<object width=\"500\" height=\"328\" classid=\"clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000\" codebase=\"http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0\"><param name=\"flashvars\" value=\"width=500&amp;height=328&amp;video=2074770753&amp;player=viral&amp;end=0&amp;lr_admap=in:pbs:0\" /><param name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\" /><param name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\" /><param name=\"wmode\" value=\"transparent\" /><param name=\"src\" value=\"http://www-tc.pbs.org/video/media/swf/PBSPlayer.swf\" /><param name=\"allowfullscreen\" value=\"true\" /><embed width=\"500\" height=\"328\" type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" src=\"http://www-tc.pbs.org/video/media/swf/PBSPlayer.swf\" flashvars=\"width=500&amp;height=328&amp;video=2074770753&amp;player=viral&amp;end=0&amp;lr_admap=in:pbs:0\" allowFullScreen=\"true\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" wmode=\"transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" /></object>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.pbs.org/wnet/women-war-and-peace/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Women, War &amp; Peace</em></a>, a five-part PBS special, premieres Oct. 11, 2011. The series continues on Tuesday nights at 10:00 p.m. through Nov. 8.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"font-size: 11px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #808080; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 500px;\">Watch <a style=\"text-decoration: none !important; font-weight: normal !important; height: 13px; color: #4eb2fe !important;\" href=\"http://video.pbs.org/video/2074770753\" target=\"_blank\">Women, War &amp; Peace Trailer</a> on PBS. See more from <a style=\"text-decoration: none !important; font-weight: normal !important; height: 13px; color: #4eb2fe !important;\" href=\"http://www.pbs.org/wnet/women-war-and-peace/\" target=\"_blank\">Women War and Peace.</a></p>','Women, War & Peace','','publish','open','open','','women-war-peace','','','2011-10-25 07:34:19','2011-10-25 14:34:19','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=1134',0,'post','',0),(1135,1,'2011-10-25 07:33:19','2011-10-25 14:33:19','','Women_War_Peace','','inherit','open','open','','women_war_peace','','','2011-10-25 07:33:19','2011-10-25 14:33:19','',1134,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Women_War_Peace.png',0,'attachment','image/png',0),(1136,1,'2011-10-25 07:29:59','2011-10-25 14:29:59','<object width=\"500\" height=\"328\" classid=\"clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000\" codebase=\"http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0\"><param name=\"flashvars\" value=\"width=500&amp;height=328&amp;video=2074770753&amp;player=viral&amp;end=0&amp;lr_admap=in:pbs:0\" /><param name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\" /><param name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\" /><param name=\"wmode\" value=\"transparent\" /><param name=\"src\" value=\"http://www-tc.pbs.org/video/media/swf/PBSPlayer.swf\" /><param name=\"allowfullscreen\" value=\"true\" /><embed width=\"500\" height=\"328\" type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" src=\"http://www-tc.pbs.org/video/media/swf/PBSPlayer.swf\" flashvars=\"width=500&amp;height=328&amp;video=2074770753&amp;player=viral&amp;end=0&amp;lr_admap=in:pbs:0\" allowFullScreen=\"true\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" wmode=\"transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" /></object>\n\n<a href=\"http://www.pbs.org/wnet/women-war-and-peace/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Women, War &amp; Peace</em></a>, a five-part PBS special, premieres Oct. 11, 2011. The series continues on Tuesday nights at 10:00 p.m. through Nov. 8.\n\n&nbsp;\n<p style=\"font-size: 11px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #808080; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 500px;\">Watch <a style=\"text-decoration: none !important; font-weight: normal !important; height: 13px; color: #4eb2fe !important;\" href=\"http://video.pbs.org/video/2074770753\" target=\"_blank\">Women, War &amp; Peace Trailer</a> on PBS. See more from <a style=\"text-decoration: none !important; font-weight: normal !important; height: 13px; color: #4eb2fe !important;\" href=\"http://www.pbs.org/wnet/women-war-and-peace/\" target=\"_blank\">Women War and Peace.</a></p>','Women, War & Peace','','inherit','open','open','','1134-revision','','','2011-10-25 07:29:59','2011-10-25 14:29:59','',1134,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1134-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(1137,1,'2011-10-25 07:33:39','2011-10-25 14:33:39','<object width=\"500\" height=\"328\" classid=\"clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000\" codebase=\"http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0\"><param name=\"flashvars\" value=\"width=500&amp;height=328&amp;video=2074770753&amp;player=viral&amp;end=0&amp;lr_admap=in:pbs:0\" /><param name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\" /><param name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\" /><param name=\"wmode\" value=\"transparent\" /><param name=\"src\" value=\"http://www-tc.pbs.org/video/media/swf/PBSPlayer.swf\" /><param name=\"allowfullscreen\" value=\"true\" /><embed width=\"500\" height=\"328\" type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" src=\"http://www-tc.pbs.org/video/media/swf/PBSPlayer.swf\" flashvars=\"width=500&amp;height=328&amp;video=2074770753&amp;player=viral&amp;end=0&amp;lr_admap=in:pbs:0\" allowFullScreen=\"true\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" wmode=\"transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" /></object>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.pbs.org/wnet/women-war-and-peace/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Women, War &amp; Peace</em></a>, a five-part PBS special, premieres Oct. 11, 2011. The series continues on Tuesday nights at 10:00 p.m. through Nov. 8.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"font-size: 11px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #808080; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 500px;\">Watch <a style=\"text-decoration: none !important; font-weight: normal !important; height: 13px; color: #4eb2fe !important;\" href=\"http://video.pbs.org/video/2074770753\" target=\"_blank\">Women, War &amp; Peace Trailer</a> on PBS. See more from <a style=\"text-decoration: none !important; font-weight: normal !important; height: 13px; color: #4eb2fe !important;\" href=\"http://www.pbs.org/wnet/women-war-and-peace/\" target=\"_blank\">Women War and Peace.</a></p>','Women, War & Peace','','inherit','open','open','','1134-revision-2','','','2011-10-25 07:33:39','2011-10-25 14:33:39','',1134,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1134-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(1138,1,'2011-10-25 07:33:44','2011-10-25 14:33:44','<object width=\"500\" height=\"328\" classid=\"clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000\" codebase=\"http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0\"><param name=\"flashvars\" value=\"width=500&amp;height=328&amp;video=2074770753&amp;player=viral&amp;end=0&amp;lr_admap=in:pbs:0\" /><param name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\" /><param name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\" /><param name=\"wmode\" value=\"transparent\" /><param name=\"src\" value=\"http://www-tc.pbs.org/video/media/swf/PBSPlayer.swf\" /><param name=\"allowfullscreen\" value=\"true\" /><embed width=\"500\" height=\"328\" type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" src=\"http://www-tc.pbs.org/video/media/swf/PBSPlayer.swf\" flashvars=\"width=500&amp;height=328&amp;video=2074770753&amp;player=viral&amp;end=0&amp;lr_admap=in:pbs:0\" allowFullScreen=\"true\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" wmode=\"transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" /></object>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.pbs.org/wnet/women-war-and-peace/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Women, War &amp; Peace</em></a>, a five-part PBS special, premieres Oct. 11, 2011. The series continues on Tuesday nights at 10:00 p.m. through Nov. 8.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"font-size: 11px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #808080; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 500px;\">Watch <a style=\"text-decoration: none !important; font-weight: normal !important; height: 13px; color: #4eb2fe !important;\" href=\"http://video.pbs.org/video/2074770753\" target=\"_blank\">Women, War &amp; Peace Trailer</a> on PBS. See more from <a style=\"text-decoration: none !important; font-weight: normal !important; height: 13px; color: #4eb2fe !important;\" href=\"http://www.pbs.org/wnet/women-war-and-peace/\" target=\"_blank\">Women War and Peace.</a></p>','Women, War & Peace','','inherit','open','open','','1134-revision-3','','','2011-10-25 07:33:44','2011-10-25 14:33:44','',1134,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1134-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(1139,1,'2011-10-25 08:03:55','2011-10-25 15:03:55','<object width=\"500\" height=\"328\" classid=\"clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000\" codebase=\"http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0\"><param name=\"flashvars\" value=\"width=500&amp;height=328&amp;video=2074770753&amp;player=viral&amp;end=0&amp;lr_admap=in:pbs:0\" /><param name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\" /><param name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\" /><param name=\"wmode\" value=\"transparent\" /><param name=\"src\" value=\"http://www-tc.pbs.org/video/media/swf/PBSPlayer.swf\" /><param name=\"allowfullscreen\" value=\"true\" /><embed width=\"500\" height=\"328\" type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" src=\"http://www-tc.pbs.org/video/media/swf/PBSPlayer.swf\" flashvars=\"width=500&amp;height=328&amp;video=2074770753&amp;player=viral&amp;end=0&amp;lr_admap=in:pbs:0\" allowFullScreen=\"true\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" wmode=\"transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" /></object>\n\n<a href=\"http://www.pbs.org/wnet/women-war-and-peace/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Women, War &amp; Peace</em></a>, a five-part PBS special, premieres Oct. 11, 2011. The series continues on Tuesday nights at 10:00 p.m. through Nov. 8.\n\n&nbsp;\n<p style=\"font-size: 11px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #808080; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 500px;\">Watch <a style=\"text-decoration: none !important; font-weight: normal !important; height: 13px; color: #4eb2fe !important;\" href=\"http://video.pbs.org/video/2074770753\" target=\"_blank\">Women, War &amp; Peace Trailer</a> on PBS. See more from <a style=\"text-decoration: none !important; font-weight: normal !important; height: 13px; color: #4eb2fe !important;\" href=\"http://www.pbs.org/wnet/women-war-and-peace/\" target=\"_blank\">Women War and Peace.</a></p>','Women, War & Peace','','inherit','open','open','','1134-autosave','','','2011-10-25 08:03:55','2011-10-25 15:03:55','',1134,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1134-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(1140,0,'2011-10-25 08:56:24','2011-10-25 15:56:24','Forgiveness and loving our enemies.\n<!--more-->\nAUTHOR: Joel Rieves\nAUTHOR EMAIL: jrieves@butnotyet.com\nAUTHOR URL: http://www.butnotyet.com\nSUBJECT: Provoketive Magazine Writing For Provoketive\nIP: 24.148.132.165\nArray\n(\n    [Name] =&gt; Joel Rieves\n    [Email] =&gt; jrieves@butnotyet.com\n    [Existing Blog or Website] =&gt; www.butnotyet.com\n    [List the topic you are interested writing about] =&gt; Forgiveness and loving our enemies.\n    [Current or New WordPress Login Name (We\'ll send you a password.)] =&gt; joerie1\n)\n','Joel Rieves - 2011-10-25 08:56:24','','publish','open','open','','e3de1a8f676b5bd6c268fea43b8d90c8','','','2011-10-25 08:56:24','2011-10-25 15:56:24','',358,'http://provoketive.com/?post_type=feedback&p=1140',0,'feedback','',0),(1959,1,'2011-11-08 14:42:14','2011-11-08 22:42:14','','The NBA Locket Mess Roundup','','inherit','open','open','','1957-revision','','','2011-11-08 14:42:14','2011-11-08 22:42:14','',1957,'http://provoketive.com/2011/11/08/1957-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(2595,20,'2011-11-23 09:36:50','2011-11-23 17:36:50','It seems pretty clear that the most determining fact of our existence is <em>when</em> and <em>where </em>we are born, and into what family or social class.  This makes all the difference. Obviously there are exceptions and stories of social mobility that are part and parcel of the American identity, but the vast majority of the possibilities for our lives on average are nonetheless limited or expanded by these conditions.  And almost every story you hear that defies this has a back-story that illustrates how all these divergent pieces had to come together at just the right time for that person’s “rags to riches” dream to come true.  The most significant thing about our birth though is that we have absolutely nothing to do with it.  Contemplating this truth alone can bring even the most pretentious of us to our knees before God.  Yet we take so much pride in our accomplishments and are very quick to think that what we have is earned and achieved… is somehow ours to claim – despite that the very basis of those accomplishments is grounded in something utterly contingent and beyond our control.\r\n\r\nAt the same time, it’s also common to hear people in the church admit that everything is God’s and that we are just stewards of our money, but there can be a strong dose of superficiality even in this seemingly humble statement.  In fact, this idea can very easily serve to justify doing exactly what we want with 90% of our possessions, rather than to encourage us to take our God-given <em>collective</em> responsibility seriously and to make legitimate sacrifices.  Why?  Because this statement is almost always followed by a disclaimer like, “it’s not a crime to be ‘successful’ . . . as long what I’m doing doesn’t harm anyone, or as long as I give a tithe to my church, etc.\" etc.  But is this view not oblivious to why some “have” and others “have not”?  What are the social conditions that permit us to live in relative peace and to have the chance to accumulate wealth?  What is the history that gave us access to prosperity?\r\n\r\nWith all things held constant, with “perfect competition” as economists like to say, if all of us begin with relatively equal access to opportunity, and all basic resources are available in relative plenitude, than it might just be true that to accumulate excessively is not a crime.  The complication is, no such constants exist.  The point – which is definitely not a new one – is that in today’s world, it is <em>never</em> enough to just give money away and avoid “doing harm.”  We must work to transform the societal structures that perpetuate poverty and disability in the first place.  If our standard of living is at a level such that everyone in the world could feasibly live at that same level, then our wealth might justified – as long as we are doing our part to create that kind of world.  If most or all of our charitable donations go to a church, for instance, then additionally we’d better ask what our churches are doing to build such a world.\r\n\r\nSo yes, I submit that if there are those who are oppressed and dying by no fault of their own <em>at the same time</em> that there are Christians living in the world abundantly, then this situation itself is a crime.  But here is the key: our culpability for the death and destruction going on around the world is not primarily individual in nature.  Individuals ought not be exonerated, but I am not pointing to any one prosperous person and accusing them of ill intent.  Rather, there are structural and systemic forces at work that have long histories that have led us to this particular moment.  These forces amount to more than the mere sum of their parts and take on a self-preserving life of their own at the expense of the interest of society as a whole.  Great transfers of wealth occurred during the slave trade and various European (and more recently American!) colonial conquests whose consequences are still being felt today.  Generational sins are passed down, and we come into this world already conditioned by a past with which we are not very familiar and constantly take for granted.  This shortsightedness is kind of like what the philosopher Martin Heidegger liked to call “the forgetfulness of being.”  Christians everywhere, in the U.S. especially, are suffering from a fatal case of this forgetfulness.  The lesson to be learned is this: the essence of human life is one of thorough interdependency.  The second we fail to remember this, a foolish sense of entitlement creeps in, which, I suggest, produces the single greatest blind spot in American political and economic ideology.  Consequently, the most counter-cultural imagination available to Christians in the 21st Century is one that runs directly against the current of individualism - individualism being understood here as the values of liberty and independence gone awry.\r\n\r\nNow, it should go without saying that individual responsibility and the potential weight of the choices we make can still be affirmed.  Choices matter – just not nearly as much as a lot of people think they do.  Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the choices and the options with which we are presented are all-too-often already narrowed down before they get to us.  Our horizons are anything about limitless.\r\n\r\nWe <em>are</em> our sisters’ and brothers’ keepers, and we don’t get to ask, “oh but what did you do to end up in this situation?  Did you work hard like me?”  The arrogance of this sort of question is equal to the ignorance of the sinner who says to Jesus, “but when did we see you hungry?”  Admittedly, Jesus did not seem terribly concerned about necessarily changing the power structures of his day, but he was very intent on subverting and exposing them for what they were – especially when it came to social hierarchies.  He did this every time he healed or forgave people who were unclean and who, in the eyes of society, had brought certain misfortunes upon themselves.  What we’ve learned since Jesus, however, is that human beings are capable of being transformative agents in history working toward either a more just social order or a more disparate gap between classes.  The Bible doesn’t answer all of our contemporary questions when it comes to matters of faith and practice.  It does, however, give us the foundational principles, not the least of which is to plead the case of the afflicted and needy (Jeremiah 22:16).\r\n\r\nIn sum, individualism is not just one worldview to choose from among others with neutral value.  Individualism is an inherently illusory, naïve and pernicious perspective.  We must diagnose ourselves by taking off the rose-colored glasses handed to us by unmerited privilege - with their lenses that would otherwise give the status quo the benefit of the doubt.\r\n\r\n<em>Photo Credit: Oddsock</em>','The Myth of Individualism','','inherit','open','open','','2484-revision-6','','','2011-11-23 09:36:50','2011-11-23 17:36:50','',2484,'http://provoketive.com/2011/11/23/2484-revision-6/',0,'revision','',0),(1144,80,'2011-10-25 14:29:48','2011-10-25 21:29:48','I think it’s safe to say that I’m on the left side of things when it comes most issues, both social and religious.  I’ve certainly made no bones about that on this blog, most of the articles point to that in one way or another.  I spend a lot of time “fighting the good fight” against the forces of judgmentalism, ignorance and fear that I believe permeate fundamentalism that characterizes the religious right in America.  Because of that, I should love an article on Addicting Info posted the other day called “<a href=\"http://www.addictinginfo.org/2011/10/20/the-values-of-the-christian-left/\" target=\"_blank\">The Values Of The Christian Left</a>“.  But, I didn’t.  In truth, it made me distinctly uncomfortable.  Partly because it was as judgmental and accusatory as anything I’ve read from the right and partly because I feel the author took it upon himself to speak for all of us on the left.  I’ve done the same thing myself on several occasions and thought nothing of it.  Until I saw it from someone else, I didn’t realize how it came off.  It’s not good.\r\n\r\nI don’t have a problem with the characterization of the values that are enumerated here; it’s the way they’re laid out.  Take this quote, for example: “The Christian Left follows the true teachings of Jesus as written in the Bible and believe the Christian Right has their priorities wrong. Jesus consistently advocated for the poor and the helpless over the wealthy, the powerful, and the religious. If the Christian Right actually read the Bible, they would find that it contains over 300 verses on social justice, the poor, and God’s concern for both.”  Saying that the Christian Left follows <em>what</em> <em>we believe to be </em>the true teachings of Jesus is one thing, but the way this statement is written it arbitrarily discounts what a lot of good people might believe as false.  I know a lot of people who disagree with me on how to handle the problems of the poor and the needy and I can promise you they are nowhere near as callous as this article makes them sound.\r\n\r\nThat’s not to say that there aren’t big problems with the way Americans (not just the religious right) deals with issues of social and economic justice.  We live in a nation that was founded on the principle that everyone is created equal and that everyone has the God-given rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”.  The reality of the situation is that too many people are deprived of those rights due the color of the skin, the circumstance of their birth or who they choose to love.  Over the years, the United States has been transformed from a place where even the poorest of the poor could improve their station and live a good life to one where the accumulation of “stuff” reigns supreme.  And, yes, there are churches and people of faith who, knowingly and unknowingly, contribute to this situation and that needs to change.  Demonizing them doesn’t help.\r\n\r\nWe on the left are great ones for talking about loving our enemies.  We do a pretty good job of it…, as long as that enemy is a radical muslim or someone of that ilk.  Let the enemy be someone like Rick Santorum or Michelle Bachman, both avowed, fundamental Christians and things turn nasty.  Santorum’s name has been used for a rather disgusting sexual innuendo and Bachman sanity is constantly questioned.  You may believe that there is reason for both of these ideas, the fact is there’s damn little grace involved in either.  If we on the Left are going to bring about a change in the way Christianity is viewed, both here and in the rest of the world, we’re going to have change our tactics and love <em>all</em> our enemies, not just the trendy ones.','Loving All Our Enemies','','publish','open','open','','loving-all-our-enemies','','\nhttp://www.addictinginfo.org/2011/10/20/the-values-of-the-christian-left/','2011-10-25 14:29:48','2011-10-25 21:29:48','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=1144',0,'post','',0),(1145,80,'2011-10-25 09:47:51','2011-10-25 16:47:51','','jesus-wept','','inherit','open','open','','jesus-wept','','','2011-10-25 09:47:51','2011-10-25 16:47:51','',1144,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/jesus-wept.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(1146,80,'2011-10-25 09:55:47','2011-10-25 16:55:47','','6060130185_8540989dde','','inherit','open','open','','6060130185_8540989dde','','','2011-10-25 09:55:47','2011-10-25 16:55:47','',1144,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/6060130185_8540989dde.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(1147,80,'2011-10-25 09:37:29','2011-10-25 16:37:29','I think it’s safe to say that I’m on the left side of things when it comes most issues, both social and religious.  I’ve certainly made no bones about that on this blog, most of the articles point to that in one way or another.  I spend a lot of time “fighting the good fight” against the forces of judgmentalism, ignorance and fear that I believe permeate fundamentalism that characterizes the religious right in America.  Because of that, I should love an article on Addicting Info posted the other day called “<a href=\"http://www.addictinginfo.org/2011/10/20/the-values-of-the-christian-left/\" target=\"_blank\">The Values Of The Christian Left</a>“.  But, I didn’t.  In truth, it made me distinctly uncomfortable.  Partly because it was as judgmental and accusatory as anything I’ve read from the right and partly because I feel the author took it upon himself to speak for all of us on the left.  I’ve done the same thing myself on several occasions and thought nothing of it.  Until I saw it from someone else, I didn’t realize how it came off.  It’s not good.\n\nI don’t have a problem with the characterization of the values that are enumerated here; it’s the way they’re laid out.  Take this quote, for example: “The Christian Left follows the true teachings of Jesus as written in the Bible and believe the Christian Right has their priorities wrong. Jesus consistently advocated for the poor and the helpless over the wealthy, the powerful, and the religious. If the Christian Right actually read the Bible, they would find that it contains over 300 verses on social justice, the poor, and God’s concern for both.”  Saying that the Christian Left follows <em>what</em> <em>we believe to be </em>the true teachings of Jesus is one thing, but the way this statement is written it arbitrarily discounts what a lot of good people might believe as false.  I know a lot of people who disagree with me on how to handle the problems of the poor and the needy and I can promise you they are nowhere near as callous as this article makes them sound.\n\nThat’s not to say that there aren’t big problems with the way Americans (not just the religious right) deals with issues of social and economic justice.  We live in a nation that was founded on the principle that everyone is created equal and that everyone has the God-given rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”.  The reality of the situation is that too many people are deprived of those rights due the color of the skin, the circumstance of their birth or who they choose to love.  Over the years, the United States has been transformed from a place where even the poorest of the poor could improve their station and live a good life to one where the accumulation of “stuff” reigns supreme.  And, yes, there are churches and people of faith who, knowingly and unknowingly, contribute to this situation and that needs to change.  Demonizing them doesn’t help.\n\nWe on the left are great ones for talking about loving our enemies.  We do a pretty good job of it…, as long as that enemy is a radical muslim or someone of that ilk.  Let the enemy be someone like Rick Santorum or Michelle Bachman, both avowed, fundamental Christians and things turn nasty.  Santorum’s name has been used for a rather disgusting sexual innuendo and Bachman sanity is constantly questioned.  You may believe that there is reason for both of these ideas, the fact is there’s damn little grace involved in either.  If we on the Left are going to bring about a change in the way Christianity is viewed, both here and in the rest of the world, we’re going to have change our tactics and love <em>all</em> our enemies, not just the trendy ones.','Loving All Our Enemies','','inherit','open','open','','1144-revision','','','2011-10-25 09:37:29','2011-10-25 16:37:29','',1144,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1144-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(1276,20,'2011-10-26 15:53:08','2011-10-26 22:53:08','I’m usually pretty good about being conscious of what I buy and what I eat – taking an interest in where things are made, by who, for how much, and so on.  And yet, I’m still a consumer.  Sometimes it just feels like the air we breathe.  I might purchase fair trade coffee and chocolate, but I’m still addicted to coffee and chocolate.  My wife tries to shop only for clothes made in the U.S., but she still really likes to shop.   So I started wondering how much of this is just human, and how much of it is culturally constructed.\n\nDespite the fact that many Christians themselves get caught up in this pattern of behavior, there seems to at least be some level of awareness in the church about the problem.  This is a good thing.  Less understood though is the extent to which societal messages are able to increasingly produce in us an insatiable desire for consumption in the first place.  In their genuine intent to encourage counter-culturalism, we might hear pastors talk about innate human drive to always want more.  But how much of this is rooted in a common anthropology vs. just a modern Western phenomenon now going viral?  The issue is also called materialism, but this could be a misnomer.  Material-ism implies the absolutization of the material, when in fact the lie we are fed is that the material will bring much more - happiness, fulfillment, an \"experience.\"\n\nChristians confess that there is an inherent hunger in human beings that cannot be satisfied by what the material world offers.  The human condition is such that we live with a kind of openness directed toward possibility in the world, always becoming.  This does not have to be a bad thing.  Some have called it the \"God-shaped hole.\"  But there is another level of desire that is perhaps more artificial or at least less natural - namely, the desire that is harnessed by the power of globalizing market forces in such a way as to induce complacency in our individualism and trivialize any concern about our unsustainable standard of living.\n\nThe most troubling fact is that this desire is very difficult to control.  Theologian and seminary professor <a title=\"Joerg Rieger homepage\" href=\"http://www.joergrieger.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Joerg Rieger</a> argues that the drive to consume is sustained by economic mechanisms and reinforced by the advertising industry.  Moreover, Rieger contends that economic and religious desires often parallel each other.  This is illustrated by the way we often project our desires and ideals from the material world onto the divine and thus replace the transcendent God with an idol.  If desire is shaped by the production of wealth in a given society, this process can have a subconscious effect on people’s deepest convictions and ultimate values.  This means that the way culture teaches us to view wealth has a tremendous impact on the kind of people we become.\n\nAs communities that are supposed to be convicting, healing and nurturing us on the path to holiness, churches have a vital part to play in resisting co-optation by the marketplace.  Sadly it’s not uncommon though for Christian congregations to become complicit in the cycle of consumption as well, even if only in very subtle ways.  To a degree this might be unavoidable - but it’s imperative for us to be sensitized and attentive to how we succumb to addictive desires.  I’m interested in how the church can be a place that enables Christians to subvert the status quo in this regard.  I know there are many tangible ways to do this, but I’m curious as to what others have seen and discovered about how our local practice can transcend systems that resist and suppress change.\n<div>\n\n<hr align=\"left\" size=\"1\" width=\"33%\" />\n\n<div>\n\n&nbsp;\n\n</div>\n</div>','That to Which Your Heart Clings, Part I: Diagnosing Consumerism   ','','inherit','open','open','','1148-revision-11','','','2011-10-26 15:53:08','2011-10-26 22:53:08','',1148,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/26/1148-revision-11/',0,'revision','',0),(1149,20,'2011-10-25 11:02:57','2011-10-25 18:02:57','I’m usually pretty good about being conscious of what I buy and what I eat – taking an interest in where things are made, by who and for how much, etc.  And yet, I’m still a consumer.  In our environment it’s basically the air we breathe.  I might purchase fair trade coffee and chocolate, but I’m still addicted to coffee and chocolate.  My wife tries to shop only for clothes made in the U.S., but she still really likes to shop.  I started wondering how much of this is just human, and how much of it is culturally constructed.\n\nDespite the fact that many Christians themselves get caught up in this perpetual cycle, there seems to at least be some level of awareness in the church about the problem.  This is a good thing.  What seems to be less understood though is the extent to which our society is able to increasingly produce in us the insatiable desire for consumption in the first place.  In their genuine intent to encourage counter-culturalism, we might hear pastors talk about innate human drive to always want more.  But how much of this is a common anthropology vs. just a modern Western phenomenon?\n\nOf course Christians confess that there is an inherent hunger in people which cannot be satisfied by what the material world offers.  The human condition is such that we live with a kind of openness directed toward possibility in the world, always becoming.<a title=\"\" href=\"#_edn1\">[i]</a>  This does have to be a bad thing.  Peter Rollins has called it the God-shaped hole.  But there is another level of desire that is artificial or at least less natural.  It’s the desire that is harnessed by the power of globalizing market forces in such a way as to induce complacency in our individualism and trivialize any concern about our unsustainable standard of living.  It’s akin to what Marx called fetishism and Freud later described as the surrogate object of desire.\n\nThe most troubling fact is that this desire is very difficult to control. In his book <em>No Rising Tide</em>, Perkins School of Theology professor Joerg Rieger discusses this very question.  The drive to consume is sustained by economic mechanisms and reinforced by the advertising industry.  Moreover, Rieger contends that economic and religious desires parallel each other.  This is illustrated by the way we often project our desires and ideals from the material world onto the divine and thus replace the transcendent God with an idol.  The German philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach made a similar argument in the 19<sup>th</sup> Century.\n\nAs Rieger further explains, desire is shaped by the production of wealth in a given society.  This process can have a subconscious effect on people’s deepest convictions and ultimate values.  This means that the way culture teaches us to view wealth has a tremendous impact on the kind of people we become.\n\nAs communities that are supposed to be convicting, healing and nurturing us on the path to holiness, churches have a vital part to play in resisting co-optation.  Sadly it’s not uncommon for churches to be complicit in this game – albeit sometimes in very subtle ways.  To a degree this might be unavoidable, but it’s imperative for us to be sensitized and attentive to how it happens.  I’m interested in how the church can be a place that enables Christians can subvert the status quo in this regard.  I know there are many tangible ways to do this, but I’m curious as to what others have seen and discovered about how our local practice can transcend systems that resist and suppress change.\n<div><br />\n\n<hr align=\"left\" size=\"1\" width=\"33%\" />\n\n<div>\n\n<a title=\"\" href=\"#_ednref1\">[i]</a> Wolfhart Pannenberg and Duane A. Priebe, <em>What Is Man? Contemporary Anthropology in Theological Perspective.</em> (Fortress Press, 1970), 8.\n\n</div>\n</div>','That to Which Your Heart Clings, Part I: Diagnosing Consumerism   ','','inherit','open','open','','1148-revision','','','2011-10-25 11:02:57','2011-10-25 18:02:57','',1148,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1148-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(1150,20,'2011-10-25 11:07:46','2011-10-25 18:07:46','I’m usually pretty good about being conscious of what I buy and what I eat – taking an interest in where things are made, by who and for how much, etc.  And yet, I’m still a consumer.  In our environment it’s basically the air we breathe.  I might purchase fair trade coffee and chocolate, but I’m still addicted to coffee and chocolate.  My wife tries to shop only for clothes made in the U.S., but she still really likes to shop.  I started wondering how much of this is just human, and how much of it is culturally constructed.\n\nDespite the fact that many Christians themselves get caught up in this perpetual cycle, there seems to at least be some level of awareness in the church about the problem.  This is a good thing.  What seems to be less understood though is the extent to which our society is able to increasingly produce in us the insatiable desire for consumption in the first place.  In their genuine intent to encourage counter-culturalism, we might hear pastors talk about innate human drive to always want more.  But how much of this is a common anthropology vs. just a modern Western phenomenon?\n\nOf course Christians confess that there is an inherent hunger in people which cannot be satisfied by what the material world offers.  The human condition is such that we live with a kind of openness directed toward possibility in the world, always becoming.<a title=\"\" href=\"#_edn1\">[i]</a>  This does have to be a bad thing.  Some people have called it the God-shaped hole.  But there is another level of desire that is more artificial or at least less natural.  It’s the desire that is harnessed by the power of globalizing market forces in such a way as to induce complacency in our individualism and trivialize any concern about our unsustainable standard of living.  It’s akin to what Marx called fetishism and Freud later described as the surrogate object of desire.\n\nThe most troubling fact is that this desire is very difficult to control. In his book <em>No Rising Tide</em>, Perkins School of Theology professor Joerg Rieger discusses this very question.  The drive to consume is sustained by economic mechanisms and reinforced by the advertising industry.  Moreover, Rieger contends that economic and religious desires parallel each other.  This is illustrated by the way we often project our desires and ideals from the material world onto the divine and thus replace the transcendent God with an idol.  The German philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach made a similar argument in the 19<sup>th</sup> Century.\n\nAs Rieger further explains, desire is shaped by the production of wealth in a given society.  This process can have a subconscious effect on people’s deepest convictions and ultimate values.  This means that the way culture teaches us to view wealth has a tremendous impact on the kind of people we become.\n\nAs communities that are supposed to be convicting, healing and nurturing us on the path to holiness, churches have a vital part to play in resisting co-optation.  Sadly it’s not uncommon for churches to be complicit in this game – albeit sometimes in very subtle ways.  To a degree this might be unavoidable, but it’s imperative for us to be sensitized and attentive to how it happens.  I’m interested in how the church can be a place that enables Christians can subvert the status quo in this regard.  I know there are many tangible ways to do this, but I’m curious as to what others have seen and discovered about how our local practice can transcend systems that resist and suppress change.\n<div>\n\n<hr align=\"left\" size=\"1\" width=\"33%\" />\n\n<div>\n\n<a title=\"\" href=\"#_ednref1\">[i]</a> Wolfhart Pannenberg and Duane A. Priebe, <em>What Is Man? Contemporary Anthropology in Theological Perspective.</em> (Fortress Press, 1970), 8.\n\n</div>\n</div>','That to Which Your Heart Clings, Part I: Diagnosing Consumerism   ','','inherit','open','open','','1148-revision-2','','','2011-10-25 11:07:46','2011-10-25 18:07:46','',1148,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1148-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(1685,47,'2011-11-06 08:00:15','2011-11-06 16:00:15','<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">My wife and I were married in March 2007.  In the months and years leading up to the wedding, one subject was discussed more frequently than money, personality quirks, or food preferences.  Parenting.  We knew that if we weren’t on the same page when it came to parenting a blended family, our relationship both as parents and spouses would suffer.</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">At the time we were married, my daughters were 11 and 8, and her son was 5.  During the time we were dating, our relationship with the kids was, outside of normal parenting issues, relatively stress free.  However, once we were married, my daughters turned on Charlotte.  All of a sudden she and Jake were permanent members of the family and the girls realized that they would not have Dad all to themselves anymore.</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This change in their behavior caught us completely off-guard.  We thought we had prepared them well for this change and included all three children as part of the wedding service to emphasize that this wedding wasn’t just about us, but them as well.</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Fortunately, Charlotte and I had spent many months talking about parenting styles, expectations, and even discipline standards, which lessened the chaos that ensued following the wedding.  Over the last 4+ years people have asked us for advice about parenting stepchildren and we’ve managed to distill it down into a few simple rules:</p>\r\n1. Get On The Same Page\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Nothing will create stress in a marriage than two parents who are not on the same page.  Disagreements over parenting styles, discipline standards, etc., will eventually become full-blown arguments when mixed with the stress of parenting.  Be sure the two of you work out any differences before you decide to get married and become a family.</p>\r\n2. Stay United\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Children love to play one parent off the other.  This is often taken to a whole other level when either the parents are divorced or in blended families.  It is vitally important to stay united in the face of the inevitable cries of “You’re not my <em>real</em> Mom/Dad”.</p>\r\n3. Respect Is Non-Negotiable\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">When parents remarry, children will automatically assume that the new adult is attempting to take the place of the other parent.  This generates a natural level of animosity between stepparent and stepchild(ren).  In our house, I’ve explained this to my girls, telling them that they don’t have to love Charlotte, they don’t even have to like her, but as the other adult in the house, they do have to respect her.</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"> 4. Avoid Even The Appearance Of Favoritism</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"> It is only natural that, at times, the stepparent will favor their natural child, even unintentionally.  When these situations arise, be sure to communicate your observations in a non‑confrontational manner.  Whatever you do, <strong>do not discuss this in front of the other child(ren).</strong>  Find a time to discuss the issue later or, if this is impractical, ask the other parent to speak to you behind closed doors.  Just the appearance of favoritism can lead to resentment, not only between the stepchild(ren) and the stepparent, but between husband and wife as well.</p>\r\n5. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Above all else, keep the lines of communication open.  Give the stepchild(ren) a safe place to come and talk, respectfully, about their feelings about the stepparent.  Talk with your spouse often and ask if there’s anything that you need to discuss with your natural children.  But most of all, keep talking to each other and to the children.</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Parenting in a blended family presents its own unique set of challenges.  These five simple rules are not intended to be all-inclusive, and each blended family is unique.  They are simply intended to provide a simple, stable, consistent foundation for developing healthy parent-child and parent-parent relationships.</p>','5 Simple Rules For Parenting Blended Families','','publish','open','open','','5-simple-rules-for-parenting-blended-families','','','2011-11-03 08:41:46','2011-11-03 15:41:46','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=1685',0,'post','',0),(1152,64,'2011-10-27 08:00:02','2011-10-27 15:00:02','<strong>I\'ve never really </strong><strong>felt a need to </strong><strong><em>prove</em></strong><strong> that God exists</strong><strong>.  B</strong><strong>efore today</strong><strong> that is, when my tawny-headed, freckle-faced</strong><strong> son looked </strong><strong>up </strong><strong>at me with his </strong><strong>enormous</strong><strong> blue eyes</strong><strong> and cried </strong><strong><em>If God is real, </em></strong><strong><em>Mom, </em></strong><strong><em>why doesn\'t he stop all the bad stuff?  Why Mom, why?</em></strong>\r\n\r\nFeeling like I\'d been slapped hard across my face by the earnestness and veracity of his question I realized I don’t want to even touch that question.\r\n\r\nHonestly I try not to dwell on that now as I sit here with all my advantages – I enjoy my life, drinking my expensive coffee, in my warm house, sitting in my comfortable chair, at my computer that is connected 24/7 to the world.   I try not to think about my fortunate life or those that have so much less.\r\n\r\nNo I don’t want to touch those questions.  But sometimes that awareness aches inside me and makes my comfortable life <em>not -- so – comfortable.  </em>I cannot escape the world when I turn on the radio or television or get online.  <em>It is there</em> that I find out about people being <a href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7iDZnkn1xo\" target=\"_blank\">beheaded</a>.  Women who had <a href=\"http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011101352120/National-news/scars-that-never-heal.html\" target=\"_blank\">acid</a> poured on their face.  That going for firewood in some places in the world will get you <a href=\"http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/east/Somali-Women-Face-Rape-Sexual-Assault-as-They-Flee-Famine----126598458.html\" target=\"_blank\">raped</a> or assaulted.  Or that being born a girl is still something <a href=\"http://www.gendercide.org/case_infanticide.html\" target=\"_blank\">unwanted </a>in many places in the world.   Much less and more importantly why God put me here.  Why I am so seemingly blessed?  And others appear less so?\r\n\r\nAt other times I try not to <em>feel</em> the hardship, injustice, suffering and pain of others.  I try to not <em>be</em> in that moment because it hurts.  And it makes me angry.\r\n\r\nIt makes me angry when repeatedly I have to tell my kids to “Eat their dinner and <em>be grateful</em>!”  Reminding them how very lucky they are to have something to eat and a glass of milk to wash it down.  And when they complain that there is no desert, I won\'t remind them, again, of how much we have.\r\n\r\nI feel indignant when my extremely bright, but bored children bring home reports of below average work, and then they complain about homework.  I will not scream at them about their lost opportunities.  Should I remind them of the children in many parts of the world that will never have an opportunity to even go to school?  Probably.  Or tell them that there are kids they know at school who didn’t have dinner last night.   And when they complain about walking less than half a mile to school, should I mention the many children in our country that cannot safely walk home from school?\r\n\r\nI try not to scream inside, I really do but when I let myself see and feel the pain that leads me back to my son -- proving God exists to my son who has so much, for the question remains <strong><em>why would a good God make life so easy for us and so unbearably horrendous for so many others in the world?   </em></strong>And is it random stupid luck that my kid is healthy, smart and born into a well to do home?\r\n\r\nI have -- no-- answer for my son when he asks me to prove God exists, because what <em>kind of God would set things up like that?</em>\r\n\r\nMy son, my children, were fortunate enough to be born into a white, upper-middle class home, with a life chock full of privilege and opportunity; a life thus far lacking the violence and cruelty that so many children around the world face.  My children, for no reason of their own, have power and wealth before they have even begun their lives.  They have been given <strong><em>opportunity and responsibility.</em></strong>  I believe God intends that they do something with this power and privilege, for others.\r\n<div>\r\n\r\nGod is gentle, good and powerful.  God gave us moral freedom, the power to choose and if we like we may choose to reject him, the creator.  (Isaiah 40:11, 12)  His intent is to rescue and redeem the world by giving his son.\r\n\r\n</div>\r\nThat is the tension.  We have the freedom to choose.  To see.  To hear.  To know.  We prove<em> God exists and that he cares about the suffering in the world by <strong>seeing and speaking out about injustice and prejudice, by a knowing awareness</strong> of those that have much less and by working against poverty and hunger and need in the world.  </em>\r\n\r\n<em>By hearing the cries of those born with less we prove God actually loves</em> the world.\r\n\r\n<em>We</em> are his love.  <em>We</em> are his hands and feet. We are a part of his answer to the evil and injustice in the world.  That is the paradox.  We who have been given much ... and no, not only me, my sons and daughters, but each of us reading my words and wondering about this today – <em><strong>We are God\'s love.</strong></em>  We prove God exists by our actions, choices, by our love.\r\n\r\nAnd something beautiful arises.','Needing To Prove God Exists','','publish','open','open','','needing-to-prove-god-exists','','','2011-10-26 04:51:45','2011-10-26 11:51:45','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=1152',0,'post','',1),(1153,0,'2011-10-25 12:38:28','2011-10-25 19:38:28','Thanks for the tweeted offer to write for Provoketive Magazine. Was there something specific that you were considering I contribute?\n<!--more-->\nAUTHOR: Jennifer Vaughn\nAUTHOR EMAIL: delesmuses@gmail.com\nAUTHOR URL: \nSUBJECT: [Provoketive Magazine] Contact Us\nIP: 76.194.230.226\nArray\n(\n    [Name] =&gt; Jennifer Vaughn\n    [Email] =&gt; delesmuses@gmail.com\n    [Comment] =&gt; Thanks for the tweeted offer to write for Provoketive Magazine. Was there something specific that you were considering I contribute?\n)\n','Jennifer Vaughn - 2011-10-25 12:38:28','','publish','open','open','','5a336eb9cf25c6ccf555c86b3b8ef067','','','2011-10-25 12:38:28','2011-10-25 19:38:28','',16,'http://provoketive.com/?post_type=feedback&p=1153',0,'feedback','',0),(1154,64,'2011-10-25 12:45:50','2011-10-25 19:45:50','','dylan','','inherit','open','open','','dylan','','','2011-10-25 12:45:50','2011-10-25 19:45:50','',1152,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/dylan.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(1155,64,'2011-10-25 12:48:44','2011-10-25 19:48:44','','dylan','','inherit','open','open','','dylan-2','','','2011-10-25 12:48:44','2011-10-25 19:48:44','',1152,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/dylan1.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(1156,64,'2011-10-25 12:49:33','2011-10-25 19:49:33','<strong><a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/dylan1.jpg\"><img class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1155\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/dylan1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"428\" /></a></strong>\n\n<strong>I\'ve never really </strong><strong>felt a need to </strong><strong><em>prove</em></strong><strong> that God exists</strong><strong>.  B</strong><strong>efore today</strong><strong> that is, when my tawny-headed, freckle-faced</strong><strong> son looked </strong><strong>up </strong><strong>at me with his </strong><strong>enormous</strong><strong> blue eyes</strong><strong> and cried </strong><strong><em>If God is real, </em></strong><strong><em>Mom, </em></strong><strong><em>why doesn\'t he stop all the bad stuff?  Why Mom, why?</em></strong>\n\n&nbsp;\n\nFeeling like I\'d been slapped hard across my face by the earnestness and veracity of his question I realized I don’t want to even touch that question.\n\nHonestly I try not to dwell on that now as I sit here with all my advantages – I enjoy my life, drinking my expensive coffee, in my warm house, sitting in my comfortable chair, at my computer that is connected 24/7 to the world.   I try not to think about my fortunate life or those that have so much less.\n\nNo I don’t want to touch those questions.  But sometimes that awareness aches inside me and makes my comfortable life <em>not -- so – comfortable.  </em>I cannot escape with world when I turn on the radio or television or get online.  <em>It is there</em> that I find out about people being <a href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7iDZnkn1xo\" target=\"_blank\">beheaded</a>.  Women who had <a href=\"http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011101352120/National-news/scars-that-never-heal.html\" target=\"_blank\">acid</a> poured on their face.  That going for firewood in some places in the world will get you <a href=\"http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/east/Somali-Women-Face-Rape-Sexual-Assault-as-They-Flee-Famine----126598458.html\" target=\"_blank\">raped</a> or assaulted.  Or that being born a girl is still something <a href=\"http://www.gendercide.org/case_infanticide.html\" target=\"_blank\">unwanted </a>in many places in the world.   much less and more importantly why God put me here.  Why I am so seemingly blessed?  And others appear less so?\n\nAt other times I try not to <em>feel</em> the hardship, injustice, suffering and painof others.  I try to not <em>be</em> in that moment because it hurts.  And it makes me angry.\n\nIt makes me angry when repeatedly I have to tell my kids to “Eat their dinner and <em>be grateful</em>!”  Reminding them how very lucky they are to have something to eat and a glass of milk to wash it down.  And when they complain that there is no desert, I won\'t remind them, again, of how much we have.\n\nI feel indignant when my extremely bright, but bored children bring home reports of below average work, and then they complain about homework.  I will not scream at them about their lost opportunities.  Should I remind them of the children in many parts of the world that will never have an opportunity to even go to school?  Probably.  Or tell them that there are kids they know at school who didn’t have dinner last night.   And when they complain about walking less than half a mile to school, should I mention the many children in our country that cannot safely walk home from school?\n\nI try not to scream inside, I really do but when I let myself see and feel the pain that leads me back to my son -- proving God exists to my son who has so much, for the question remains <strong><em>why would a good God make life so easy for us and so unbearably horrendous for so many others in the world?   </em></strong>And is it random stupid luck that my kids healthy, smart and born into a well to do home?\n\nI have -- no-- answer for my son when he asks me to prove God exists, because what <em>kind of God would set things up like that?</em>\n\nMy son, my children, were fortunate enough to be born into a white, upper-middle class home, with a life chock full of privilege and opportunity; a life thus far lacking the violence and cruelty that so many children around the world face.  My children, for no reason of their own, have power and wealth before they have even begun their lives.  They have been given <strong><em>opportunity and responsibility.</em></strong>  I believe God intends that they do something with this power and privilege, for others.\n<div>\n\nGod is gentle, good and powerful.  God gave us moral freedom, the power to choose and if we like we may choose to reject him, the creator.  (Isaiah 40:11, 12)  His intent is to rescue and redeem the world by giving his son.\n\n</div>\nThat is the tension.  We have the freedom to choose.  To see.  To hear.  To know.  We prove<em> God exists and that he cares about the suffering in the world by <strong>seeing and speaking out about injustice, by a knowing awareness</strong> of those that have much less and by working against poverty and hunger and need in the world.  </em>\n\n<em>By hearing the cries of those born with less we prove God actually loves</em> the world.\n\n<em>We</em> are his love.  <em>We</em> are his hands and feet. We are a part of his answer to the evil and injustice in the world.  That is the paradox.  We who have been given much ... and no, not only me, my sons and daughters, but each of us reading my words and wondering about this today – <em><strong>We are God\'s love.</strong></em>  We prove God exists by our actions, choices, by our love.\n\nAnd something beautiful arises.',' ??? needs title','','inherit','open','open','','1152-revision','','','2011-10-25 12:49:33','2011-10-25 19:49:33','',1152,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1152-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(1157,64,'2011-10-25 12:49:46','2011-10-25 19:49:46','<strong><a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/dylan1.jpg\"><img class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1155\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/dylan1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"428\" /></a></strong>\r\n\r\n<strong>I\'ve never really </strong><strong>felt a need to </strong><strong><em>prove</em></strong><strong> that God exists</strong><strong>.  B</strong><strong>efore today</strong><strong> that is, when my tawny-headed, freckle-faced</strong><strong> son looked </strong><strong>up </strong><strong>at me with his </strong><strong>enormous</strong><strong> blue eyes</strong><strong> and cried </strong><strong><em>If God is real, </em></strong><strong><em>Mom, </em></strong><strong><em>why doesn\'t he stop all the bad stuff?  Why Mom, why?</em></strong>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nFeeling like I\'d been slapped hard across my face by the earnestness and veracity of his question I realized I don’t want to even touch that question.\r\n\r\nHonestly I try not to dwell on that now as I sit here with all my advantages – I enjoy my life, drinking my expensive coffee, in my warm house, sitting in my comfortable chair, at my computer that is connected 24/7 to the world.   I try not to think about my fortunate life or those that have so much less.\r\n\r\nNo I don’t want to touch those questions.  But sometimes that awareness aches inside me and makes my comfortable life <em>not -- so – comfortable.  </em>I cannot escape with world when I turn on the radio or television or get online.  <em>It is there</em> that I find out about people being <a href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7iDZnkn1xo\" target=\"_blank\">beheaded</a>.  Women who had <a href=\"http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011101352120/National-news/scars-that-never-heal.html\" target=\"_blank\">acid</a> poured on their face.  That going for firewood in some places in the world will get you <a href=\"http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/east/Somali-Women-Face-Rape-Sexual-Assault-as-They-Flee-Famine----126598458.html\" target=\"_blank\">raped</a> or assaulted.  Or that being born a girl is still something <a href=\"http://www.gendercide.org/case_infanticide.html\" target=\"_blank\">unwanted </a>in many places in the world.   much less and more importantly why God put me here.  Why I am so seemingly blessed?  And others appear less so?\r\n\r\nAt other times I try not to <em>feel</em> the hardship, injustice, suffering and painof others.  I try to not <em>be</em> in that moment because it hurts.  And it makes me angry.\r\n\r\nIt makes me angry when repeatedly I have to tell my kids to “Eat their dinner and <em>be grateful</em>!”  Reminding them how very lucky they are to have something to eat and a glass of milk to wash it down.  And when they complain that there is no desert, I won\'t remind them, again, of how much we have.\r\n\r\nI feel indignant when my extremely bright, but bored children bring home reports of below average work, and then they complain about homework.  I will not scream at them about their lost opportunities.  Should I remind them of the children in many parts of the world that will never have an opportunity to even go to school?  Probably.  Or tell them that there are kids they know at school who didn’t have dinner last night.   And when they complain about walking less than half a mile to school, should I mention the many children in our country that cannot safely walk home from school?\r\n\r\nI try not to scream inside, I really do but when I let myself see and feel the pain that leads me back to my son -- proving God exists to my son who has so much, for the question remains <strong><em>why would a good God make life so easy for us and so unbearably horrendous for so many others in the world?   </em></strong>And is it random stupid luck that my kids healthy, smart and born into a well to do home?\r\n\r\nI have -- no-- answer for my son when he asks me to prove God exists, because what <em>kind of God would set things up like that?</em>\r\n\r\nMy son, my children, were fortunate enough to be born into a white, upper-middle class home, with a life chock full of privilege and opportunity; a life thus far lacking the violence and cruelty that so many children around the world face.  My children, for no reason of their own, have power and wealth before they have even begun their lives.  They have been given <strong><em>opportunity and responsibility.</em></strong>  I believe God intends that they do something with this power and privilege, for others.\r\n<div>\r\n\r\nGod is gentle, good and powerful.  God gave us moral freedom, the power to choose and if we like we may choose to reject him, the creator.  (Isaiah 40:11, 12)  His intent is to rescue and redeem the world by giving his son.\r\n\r\n</div>\r\nThat is the tension.  We have the freedom to choose.  To see.  To hear.  To know.  We prove<em> God exists and that he cares about the suffering in the world by <strong>seeing and speaking out about injustice, by a knowing awareness</strong> of those that have much less and by working against poverty and hunger and need in the world.  </em>\r\n\r\n<em>By hearing the cries of those born with less we prove God actually loves</em> the world.\r\n\r\n<em>We</em> are his love.  <em>We</em> are his hands and feet. We are a part of his answer to the evil and injustice in the world.  That is the paradox.  We who have been given much ... and no, not only me, my sons and daughters, but each of us reading my words and wondering about this today – <em><strong>We are God\'s love.</strong></em>  We prove God exists by our actions, choices, by our love.\r\n\r\nAnd something beautiful arises.',' ??? needs title','','inherit','open','open','','1152-revision-2','','','2011-10-25 12:49:46','2011-10-25 19:49:46','',1152,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1152-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(1158,1,'2011-10-25 09:59:35','2011-10-25 16:59:35','I think it’s safe to say that I’m on the left side of things when it comes most issues, both social and religious.  I’ve certainly made no bones about that on this blog, most of the articles point to that in one way or another.  I spend a lot of time “fighting the good fight” against the forces of judgmentalism, ignorance and fear that I believe permeate fundamentalism that characterizes the religious right in America.  Because of that, I should love an article on Addicting Info posted the other day called “<a href=\"http://www.addictinginfo.org/2011/10/20/the-values-of-the-christian-left/\" target=\"_blank\">The Values Of The Christian Left</a>“.  But, I didn’t.  In truth, it made me distinctly uncomfortable.  Partly because it was as judgmental and accusatory as anything I’ve read from the right and partly because I feel the author took it upon himself to speak for all of us on the left.  I’ve done the same thing myself on several occasions and thought nothing of it.  Until I saw it from someone else, I didn’t realize how it came off.  It’s not good.\r\n\r\nI don’t have a problem with the characterization of the values that are enumerated here; it’s the way they’re laid out.  Take this quote, for example: “The Christian Left follows the true teachings of Jesus as written in the Bible and believe the Christian Right has their priorities wrong. Jesus consistently advocated for the poor and the helpless over the wealthy, the powerful, and the religious. If the Christian Right actually read the Bible, they would find that it contains over 300 verses on social justice, the poor, and God’s concern for both.”  Saying that the Christian Left follows <em>what</em> <em>we believe to be </em>the true teachings of Jesus is one thing, but the way this statement is written it arbitrarily discounts what a lot of good people might believe as false.  I know a lot of people who disagree with me on how to handle the problems of the poor and the needy and I can promise you they are nowhere near as callous as this article makes them sound.\r\n\r\nThat’s not to say that there aren’t big problems with the way Americans (not just the religious right) deals with issues of social and economic justice.  We live in a nation that was founded on the principle that everyone is created equal and that everyone has the God-given rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”.  The reality of the situation is that too many people are deprived of those rights due the color of the skin, the circumstance of their birth or who they choose to love.  Over the years, the United States has been transformed from a place where even the poorest of the poor could improve their station and live a good life to one where the accumulation of “stuff” reigns supreme.  And, yes, there are churches and people of faith who, knowingly and unknowingly, contribute to this situation and that needs to change.  Demonizing them doesn’t help.\r\n\r\nWe on the left are great ones for talking about loving our enemies.  We do a pretty good job of it…, as long as that enemy is a radical muslim or someone of that ilk.  Let the enemy be someone like Rick Santorum or Michelle Bachman, both avowed, fundamental Christians and things turn nasty.  Santorum’s name has been used for a rather disgusting sexual innuendo and Bachman sanity is constantly questioned.  You may believe that there is reason for both of these ideas, the fact is there’s damn little grace involved in either.  If we on the Left are going to bring about a change in the way Christianity is viewed, both here and in the rest of the world, we’re going to have change our tactics and love <em>all</em> our enemies, not just the trendy ones.','Loving All Our Enemies','','inherit','open','open','','1144-revision-2','','','2011-10-25 09:59:35','2011-10-25 16:59:35','',1144,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1144-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(1159,1,'2011-10-25 14:30:54','2011-10-25 21:30:54','I think it’s safe to say that I’m on the left side of things when it comes most issues, both social and religious.  I’ve certainly made no bones about that on this blog, most of the articles point to that in one way or another.  I spend a lot of time “fighting the good fight” against the forces of judgmentalism, ignorance and fear that I believe permeate fundamentalism that characterizes the religious right in America.  Because of that, I should love an article on Addicting Info posted the other day called “<a href=\"http://www.addictinginfo.org/2011/10/20/the-values-of-the-christian-left/\" target=\"_blank\">The Values Of The Christian Left</a>“.  But, I didn’t.  In truth, it made me distinctly uncomfortable.  Partly because it was as judgmental and accusatory as anything I’ve read from the right and partly because I feel the author took it upon himself to speak for all of us on the left.  I’ve done the same thing myself on several occasions and thought nothing of it.  Until I saw it from someone else, I didn’t realize how it came off.  It’s not good.\n\nI don’t have a problem with the characterization of the values that are enumerated here; it’s the way they’re laid out.  Take this quote, for example: “The Christian Left follows the true teachings of Jesus as written in the Bible and believe the Christian Right has their priorities wrong. Jesus consistently advocated for the poor and the helpless over the wealthy, the powerful, and the religious. If the Christian Right actually read the Bible, they would find that it contains over 300 verses on social justice, the poor, and God’s concern for both.”  Saying that the Christian Left follows <em>what</em> <em>we believe to be </em>the true teachings of Jesus is one thing, but the way this statement is written it arbitrarily discounts what a lot of good people might believe as false.  I know a lot of people who disagree with me on how to handle the problems of the poor and the needy and I can promise you they are nowhere near as callous as this article makes them sound.\n\nThat’s not to say that there aren’t big problems with the way Americans (not just the religious right) deals with issues of social and economic justice.  We live in a nation that was founded on the principle that everyone is created equal and that everyone has the God-given rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”.  The reality of the situation is that too many people are deprived of those rights due the color of the skin, the circumstance of their birth or who they choose to love.  Over the years, the United States has been transformed from a place where even the poorest of the poor could improve their station and live a good life to one where the accumulation of “stuff” reigns supreme.  And, yes, there are churches and people of faith who, knowingly and unknowingly, contribute to this situation and that needs to change.  Demonizing them doesn’t help.\n\nWe on the left are great ones for talking about loving our enemies.  We do a pretty good job of it…, as long as that enemy is a radical muslim or someone of that ilk.  Let the enemy be someone like Rick Santorum or Michelle Bachman, both avowed, fundamental Christians and things turn nasty.  Santorum’s name has been used for a rather disgusting sexual innuendo and Bachman sanity is constantly questioned.  You may believe that there is reason for both of these ideas, the fact is there’s damn little grace involved in either.  If we on the Left are going to bring about a change in the way Christianity is viewed, both here and in the rest of the world, we’re going to have change our tactics and love <em>all</em> our enemies, not just the trendy ones.','Loving All Our Enemies','','inherit','open','open','','1144-autosave','','','2011-10-25 14:30:54','2011-10-25 21:30:54','',1144,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1144-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(1160,64,'2011-10-25 12:50:11','2011-10-25 19:50:11','<strong><a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/dylan1.jpg\"><img class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1155\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/dylan1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"428\" /></a></strong>\r\n\r\n<strong>I\'ve never really </strong><strong>felt a need to </strong><strong><em>prove</em></strong><strong> that God exists</strong><strong>.  B</strong><strong>efore today</strong><strong> that is, when my tawny-headed, freckle-faced</strong><strong> son looked </strong><strong>up </strong><strong>at me with his </strong><strong>enormous</strong><strong> blue eyes</strong><strong> and cried </strong><strong><em>If God is real, </em></strong><strong><em>Mom, </em></strong><strong><em>why doesn\'t he stop all the bad stuff?  Why Mom, why?</em></strong>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nFeeling like I\'d been slapped hard across my face by the earnestness and veracity of his question I realized I don’t want to even touch that question.\r\n\r\nHonestly I try not to dwell on that now as I sit here with all my advantages – I enjoy my life, drinking my expensive coffee, in my warm house, sitting in my comfortable chair, at my computer that is connected 24/7 to the world.   I try not to think about my fortunate life or those that have so much less.\r\n\r\nNo I don’t want to touch those questions.  But sometimes that awareness aches inside me and makes my comfortable life <em>not -- so – comfortable.  </em>I cannot escape with world when I turn on the radio or television or get online.  <em>It is there</em> that I find out about people being <a href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7iDZnkn1xo\" target=\"_blank\">beheaded</a>.  Women who had <a href=\"http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011101352120/National-news/scars-that-never-heal.html\" target=\"_blank\">acid</a> poured on their face.  That going for firewood in some places in the world will get you <a href=\"http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/east/Somali-Women-Face-Rape-Sexual-Assault-as-They-Flee-Famine----126598458.html\" target=\"_blank\">raped</a> or assaulted.  Or that being born a girl is still something <a href=\"http://www.gendercide.org/case_infanticide.html\" target=\"_blank\">unwanted </a>in many places in the world.   much less and more importantly why God put me here.  Why I am so seemingly blessed?  And others appear less so?\r\n\r\nAt other times I try not to <em>feel</em> the hardship, injustice, suffering and painof others.  I try to not <em>be</em> in that moment because it hurts.  And it makes me angry.\r\n\r\nIt makes me angry when repeatedly I have to tell my kids to “Eat their dinner and <em>be grateful</em>!”  Reminding them how very lucky they are to have something to eat and a glass of milk to wash it down.  And when they complain that there is no desert, I won\'t remind them, again, of how much we have.\r\n\r\nI feel indignant when my extremely bright, but bored children bring home reports of below average work, and then they complain about homework.  I will not scream at them about their lost opportunities.  Should I remind them of the children in many parts of the world that will never have an opportunity to even go to school?  Probably.  Or tell them that there are kids they know at school who didn’t have dinner last night.   And when they complain about walking less than half a mile to school, should I mention the many children in our country that cannot safely walk home from school?\r\n\r\nI try not to scream inside, I really do but when I let myself see and feel the pain that leads me back to my son -- proving God exists to my son who has so much, for the question remains <strong><em>why would a good God make life so easy for us and so unbearably horrendous for so many others in the world?   </em></strong>And is it random stupid luck that my kids healthy, smart and born into a well to do home?\r\n\r\nI have -- no-- answer for my son when he asks me to prove God exists, because what <em>kind of God would set things up like that?</em>\r\n\r\nMy son, my children, were fortunate enough to be born into a white, upper-middle class home, with a life chock full of privilege and opportunity; a life thus far lacking the violence and cruelty that so many children around the world face.  My children, for no reason of their own, have power and wealth before they have even begun their lives.  They have been given <strong><em>opportunity and responsibility.</em></strong>  I believe God intends that they do something with this power and privilege, for others.\r\n<div>\r\n\r\nGod is gentle, good and powerful.  God gave us moral freedom, the power to choose and if we like we may choose to reject him, the creator.  (Isaiah 40:11, 12)  His intent is to rescue and redeem the world by giving his son.\r\n\r\n</div>\r\nThat is the tension.  We have the freedom to choose.  To see.  To hear.  To know.  We prove<em> God exists and that he cares about the suffering in the world by <strong>seeing and speaking out about injustice, by a knowing awareness</strong> of those that have much less and by working against poverty and hunger and need in the world.  </em>\r\n\r\n<em>By hearing the cries of those born with less we prove God actually loves</em> the world.\r\n\r\n<em>We</em> are his love.  <em>We</em> are his hands and feet. We are a part of his answer to the evil and injustice in the world.  That is the paradox.  We who have been given much ... and no, not only me, my sons and daughters, but each of us reading my words and wondering about this today – <em><strong>We are God\'s love.</strong></em>  We prove God exists by our actions, choices, by our love.\r\n\r\nAnd something beautiful arises.',' ??? needs title','','inherit','open','open','','1152-revision-3','','','2011-10-25 12:50:11','2011-10-25 19:50:11','',1152,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1152-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(1163,1,'2011-10-25 16:45:22','2011-10-25 23:45:22','<strong>I\'ve never really </strong><strong>felt a need to </strong><strong><em>prove</em></strong><strong> that God exists</strong><strong>.  B</strong><strong>efore today</strong><strong> that is, when my tawny-headed, freckle-faced</strong><strong> son looked </strong><strong>up </strong><strong>at me with his </strong><strong>enormous</strong><strong> blue eyes</strong><strong> and cried </strong><strong><em>If God is real, </em></strong><strong><em>Mom, </em></strong><strong><em>why doesn\'t he stop all the bad stuff?  Why Mom, why?</em></strong>\r\n\r\nFeeling like I\'d been slapped hard across my face by the earnestness and veracity of his question I realized I don’t want to even touch that question.\r\n\r\nHonestly I try not to dwell on that now as I sit here with all my advantages – I enjoy my life, drinking my expensive coffee, in my warm house, sitting in my comfortable chair, at my computer that is connected 24/7 to the world.   I try not to think about my fortunate life or those that have so much less.\r\n\r\nNo I don’t want to touch those questions.  But sometimes that awareness aches inside me and makes my comfortable life <em>not -- so – comfortable.  </em>I cannot escape the world when I turn on the radio or television or get online.  <em>It is there</em> that I find out about people being <a href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7iDZnkn1xo\" target=\"_blank\">beheaded</a>.  Women who had <a href=\"http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011101352120/National-news/scars-that-never-heal.html\" target=\"_blank\">acid</a> poured on their face.  That going for firewood in some places in the world will get you <a href=\"http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/east/Somali-Women-Face-Rape-Sexual-Assault-as-They-Flee-Famine----126598458.html\" target=\"_blank\">raped</a> or assaulted.  Or that being born a girl is still something <a href=\"http://www.gendercide.org/case_infanticide.html\" target=\"_blank\">unwanted </a>in many places in the world.   much less and more importantly why God put me here.  Why I am so seemingly blessed?  And others appear less so?\r\n\r\nAt other times I try not to <em>feel</em> the hardship, injustice, suffering and pain of others.  I try to not <em>be</em> in that moment because it hurts.  And it makes me angry.\r\n\r\nIt makes me angry when repeatedly I have to tell my kids to “Eat their dinner and <em>be grateful</em>!”  Reminding them how very lucky they are to have something to eat and a glass of milk to wash it down.  And when they complain that there is no desert, I won\'t remind them, again, of how much we have.\r\n\r\nI feel indignant when my extremely bright, but bored children bring home reports of below average work, and then they complain about homework.  I will not scream at them about their lost opportunities.  Should I remind them of the children in many parts of the world that will never have an opportunity to even go to school?  Probably.  Or tell them that there are kids they know at school who didn’t have dinner last night.   And when they complain about walking less than half a mile to school, should I mention the many children in our country that cannot safely walk home from school?\r\n\r\nI try not to scream inside, I really do but when I let myself see and feel the pain that leads me back to my son -- proving God exists to my son who has so much, for the question remains <strong><em>why would a good God make life so easy for us and so unbearably horrendous for so many others in the world?   </em></strong>And is it random stupid luck that my kids healthy, smart and born into a well to do home?\r\n\r\nI have -- no-- answer for my son when he asks me to prove God exists, because what <em>kind of God would set things up like that?</em>\r\n\r\nMy son, my children, were fortunate enough to be born into a white, upper-middle class home, with a life chock full of privilege and opportunity; a life thus far lacking the violence and cruelty that so many children around the world face.  My children, for no reason of their own, have power and wealth before they have even begun their lives.  They have been given <strong><em>opportunity and responsibility.</em></strong>  I believe God intends that they do something with this power and privilege, for others.\r\n<div>\r\n\r\nGod is gentle, good and powerful.  God gave us moral freedom, the power to choose and if we like we may choose to reject him, the creator.  (Isaiah 40:11, 12)  His intent is to rescue and redeem the world by giving his son.\r\n\r\n</div>\r\nThat is the tension.  We have the freedom to choose.  To see.  To hear.  To know.  We prove<em> God exists and that he cares about the suffering in the world by <strong>seeing and speaking out about injustice and prejudice, by a knowing awareness</strong> of those that have much less and by working against poverty and hunger and need in the world.  </em>\r\n\r\n<em>By hearing the cries of those born with less we prove God actually loves</em> the world.\r\n\r\n<em>We</em> are his love.  <em>We</em> are his hands and feet. We are a part of his answer to the evil and injustice in the world.  That is the paradox.  We who have been given much ... and no, not only me, my sons and daughters, but each of us reading my words and wondering about this today – <em><strong>We are God\'s love.</strong></em>  We prove God exists by our actions, choices, by our love.\r\n\r\nAnd something beautiful arises.','Needing To Prove God Exists','','inherit','open','open','','1152-revision-5','','','2011-10-25 16:45:22','2011-10-25 23:45:22','',1152,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1152-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(1161,64,'2011-10-26 04:52:49','2011-10-26 11:52:49','<strong>I\'ve never really </strong><strong>felt a need to </strong><strong><em>prove</em></strong><strong> that God exists</strong><strong>.  B</strong><strong>efore today</strong><strong> that is, when my tawny-headed, freckle-faced</strong><strong> son looked </strong><strong>up </strong><strong>at me with his </strong><strong>enormous</strong><strong> blue eyes</strong><strong> and cried </strong><strong><em>If God is real, </em></strong><strong><em>Mom, </em></strong><strong><em>why doesn\'t he stop all the bad stuff?  Why Mom, why?</em></strong>\n\nFeeling like I\'d been slapped hard across my face by the earnestness and veracity of his question I realized I don’t want to even touch that question.\n\nHonestly I try not to dwell on that now as I sit here with all my advantages – I enjoy my life, drinking my expensive coffee, in my warm house, sitting in my comfortable chair, at my computer that is connected 24/7 to the world.   I try not to think about my fortunate life or those that have so much less.\n\nNo I don’t want to touch those questions.  But sometimes that awareness aches inside me and makes my comfortable life <em>not -- so – comfortable.  </em>I cannot escape the world when I turn on the radio or television or get online.  <em>It is there</em> that I find out about people being <a href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7iDZnkn1xo\" target=\"_blank\">beheaded</a>.  Women who had <a href=\"http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011101352120/National-news/scars-that-never-heal.html\" target=\"_blank\">acid</a> poured on their face.  That going for firewood in some places in the world will get you <a href=\"http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/east/Somali-Women-Face-Rape-Sexual-Assault-as-They-Flee-Famine----126598458.html\" target=\"_blank\">raped</a> or assaulted.  Or that being born a girl is still something <a href=\"http://www.gendercide.org/case_infanticide.html\" target=\"_blank\">unwanted </a>in many places in the world.   Much less and more importantly why God put me here.  Why I am so seemingly blessed?  And others appear less so?\n\nAt other times I try not to <em>feel</em> the hardship, injustice, suffering and pain of others.  I try to not <em>be</em> in that moment because it hurts.  And it makes me angry.\n\nIt makes me angry when repeatedly I have to tell my kids to “Eat their dinner and <em>be grateful</em>!”  Reminding them how very lucky they are to have something to eat and a glass of milk to wash it down.  And when they complain that there is no desert, I won\'t remind them, again, of how much we have.\n\nI feel indignant when my extremely bright, but bored children bring home reports of below average work, and then they complain about homework.  I will not scream at them about their lost opportunities.  Should I remind them of the children in many parts of the world that will never have an opportunity to even go to school?  Probably.  Or tell them that there are kids they know at school who didn’t have dinner last night.   And when they complain about walking less than half a mile to school, should I mention the many children in our country that cannot safely walk home from school?\n\nI try not to scream inside, I really do but when I let myself see and feel the pain that leads me back to my son -- proving God exists to my son who has so much, for the question remains <strong><em>why would a good God make life so easy for us and so unbearably horrendous for so many others in the world?   </em></strong>And is it random stupid luck that my kid is healthy, smart and born into a well to do home?\n\nI have -- no-- answer for my son when he asks me to prove God exists, because what <em>kind of God would set things up like that?</em>\n\nMy son, my children, were fortunate enough to be born into a white, upper-middle class home, with a life chock full of privilege and opportunity; a life thus far lacking the violence and cruelty that so many children around the world face.  My children, for no reason of their own, have power and wealth before they have even begun their lives.  They have been given <strong><em>opportunity and responsibility.</em></strong>  I believe God intends that they do something with this power and privilege, for others.\n<div>\n\nGod is gentle, good and powerful.  God gave us moral freedom, the power to choose and if we like we may choose to reject him, the creator.  (Isaiah 40:11, 12)  His intent is to rescue and redeem the world by giving his son.\n\n</div>\nThat is the tension.  We have the freedom to choose.  To see.  To hear.  To know.  We prove<em> God exists and that he cares about the suffering in the world by <strong>seeing and speaking out about injustice and prejudice, by a knowing awareness</strong> of those that have much less and by working against poverty and hunger and need in the world.  </em>\n\n<em>By hearing the cries of those born with less we prove God actually loves</em> the world.\n\n<em>We</em> are his love.  <em>We</em> are his hands and feet. We are a part of his answer to the evil and injustice in the world.  That is the paradox.  We who have been given much ... and no, not only me, my sons and daughters, but each of us reading my words and wondering about this today – <em><strong>We are God\'s love.</strong></em>  We prove God exists by our actions, choices, by our love.\n\nAnd something beautiful arises.','Needing To Prove God Exists','','inherit','open','open','','1152-autosave','','','2011-10-26 04:52:49','2011-10-26 11:52:49','',1152,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1152-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(1162,1,'2011-10-25 14:56:32','2011-10-25 21:56:32','<strong><a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/dylan1.jpg\"><img class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1155\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/dylan1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"428\" /></a></strong>\r\n\r\n<strong>I\'ve never really </strong><strong>felt a need to </strong><strong><em>prove</em></strong><strong> that God exists</strong><strong>.  B</strong><strong>efore today</strong><strong> that is, when my tawny-headed, freckle-faced</strong><strong> son looked </strong><strong>up </strong><strong>at me with his </strong><strong>enormous</strong><strong> blue eyes</strong><strong> and cried </strong><strong><em>If God is real, </em></strong><strong><em>Mom, </em></strong><strong><em>why doesn\'t he stop all the bad stuff?  Why Mom, why?</em></strong>\r\n\r\nFeeling like I\'d been slapped hard across my face by the earnestness and veracity of his question I realized I don’t want to even touch that question.\r\n\r\nHonestly I try not to dwell on that now as I sit here with all my advantages – I enjoy my life, drinking my expensive coffee, in my warm house, sitting in my comfortable chair, at my computer that is connected 24/7 to the world.   I try not to think about my fortunate life or those that have so much less.\r\n\r\nNo I don’t want to touch those questions.  But sometimes that awareness aches inside me and makes my comfortable life <em>not -- so – comfortable.  </em>I cannot escape the world when I turn on the radio or television or get online.  <em>It is there</em> that I find out about people being <a href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7iDZnkn1xo\" target=\"_blank\">beheaded</a>.  Women who had <a href=\"http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011101352120/National-news/scars-that-never-heal.html\" target=\"_blank\">acid</a> poured on their face.  That going for firewood in some places in the world will get you <a href=\"http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/east/Somali-Women-Face-Rape-Sexual-Assault-as-They-Flee-Famine----126598458.html\" target=\"_blank\">raped</a> or assaulted.  Or that being born a girl is still something <a href=\"http://www.gendercide.org/case_infanticide.html\" target=\"_blank\">unwanted </a>in many places in the world.   much less and more importantly why God put me here.  Why I am so seemingly blessed?  And others appear less so?\r\n\r\nAt other times I try not to <em>feel</em> the hardship, injustice, suffering and painof others.  I try to not <em>be</em> in that moment because it hurts.  And it makes me angry.\r\n\r\nIt makes me angry when repeatedly I have to tell my kids to “Eat their dinner and <em>be grateful</em>!”  Reminding them how very lucky they are to have something to eat and a glass of milk to wash it down.  And when they complain that there is no desert, I won\'t remind them, again, of how much we have.\r\n\r\nI feel indignant when my extremely bright, but bored children bring home reports of below average work, and then they complain about homework.  I will not scream at them about their lost opportunities.  Should I remind them of the children in many parts of the world that will never have an opportunity to even go to school?  Probably.  Or tell them that there are kids they know at school who didn’t have dinner last night.   And when they complain about walking less than half a mile to school, should I mention the many children in our country that cannot safely walk home from school?\r\n\r\nI try not to scream inside, I really do but when I let myself see and feel the pain that leads me back to my son -- proving God exists to my son who has so much, for the question remains <strong><em>why would a good God make life so easy for us and so unbearably horrendous for so many others in the world?   </em></strong>And is it random stupid luck that my kids healthy, smart and born into a well to do home?\r\n\r\nI have -- no-- answer for my son when he asks me to prove God exists, because what <em>kind of God would set things up like that?</em>\r\n\r\nMy son, my children, were fortunate enough to be born into a white, upper-middle class home, with a life chock full of privilege and opportunity; a life thus far lacking the violence and cruelty that so many children around the world face.  My children, for no reason of their own, have power and wealth before they have even begun their lives.  They have been given <strong><em>opportunity and responsibility.</em></strong>  I believe God intends that they do something with this power and privilege, for others.\r\n<div>\r\n\r\nGod is gentle, good and powerful.  God gave us moral freedom, the power to choose and if we like we may choose to reject him, the creator.  (Isaiah 40:11, 12)  His intent is to rescue and redeem the world by giving his son.\r\n\r\n</div>\r\nThat is the tension.  We have the freedom to choose.  To see.  To hear.  To know.  We prove<em> God exists and that he cares about the suffering in the world by <strong>seeing and speaking out about injustice and prejudice, by a knowing awareness</strong> of those that have much less and by working against poverty and hunger and need in the world.  </em>\r\n\r\n<em>By hearing the cries of those born with less we prove God actually loves</em> the world.\r\n\r\n<em>We</em> are his love.  <em>We</em> are his hands and feet. We are a part of his answer to the evil and injustice in the world.  That is the paradox.  We who have been given much ... and no, not only me, my sons and daughters, but each of us reading my words and wondering about this today – <em><strong>We are God\'s love.</strong></em>  We prove God exists by our actions, choices, by our love.\r\n\r\nAnd something beautiful arises.',' ??? needs title','','inherit','open','open','','1152-revision-4','','','2011-10-25 14:56:32','2011-10-25 21:56:32','',1152,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1152-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(1164,24,'2011-10-25 17:50:28','2011-10-26 00:50:28','Pain invited my ear, \"Listen to me, for I have knowledge of Truth hidden in what you fear.\"\n\nFear roared, \"Do not look or listen to pain, it will only lead you to more discomfort!\"\n\nLove whispered, \"Go into this pain, it is safe. You will only discover more to love.\"\n\nShame whimpered, \"Remember everything that has happened to you, everyone despises you. This will not work.\"\n\nCourage invoked, \"All fear is an illusion, walk straight ahead!\"\n\nPride demanded, \"You have everything you need already, this is a waste of time.\"\n\nEver notice how throughout a day what you are  feeling will interpret reality for you. As you follow these feelings they usually lead you to thoughts. These thought are ideas about your self, others and how life is playing out. Few questions these thoughts, few face the idea\'s of being separate, alone and unwanted. We tend to settle for a hope of one day getting what we want so we can be happy.\n\nWhat would life be like if we embraced all of it? What would like be like if we stopped avoiding pain and ran into what we have been taught to fear.\n\nWhy do we stop going to the gym? Because we no longer engage with the benefits the pain brings us. This benefit is strength.\nWhy do we fear the dentist? His cleaning, shots and drilling give our teeth longevity.\nWhy do we fear conflict or confrontation with people? Will it not expose the lies and assumptions we hide behind\n\nWHY BADSTUFF HAPPENS\n<em>by Elsa Joy Bailey</em>\n\nIf it weren\'t for my beautiful sad mother\ndrinking a beaker of cold cyanide when I was three,\nI wouldn\'t have learned\nshe could both love and abandon me\nin one hot severe breath.\nNor would I have grown flowers in my heart\nfor people who urgently want to die.\n\nIf I had not broken my leg in a wild fall,\nI wouldn\'t have learned that stark physical pain\nis, to my great surprise, not permanent.\n\nIf I hadn\'t fallen in love with someone\nwho didn\'t love me,\nI would never have realized that unrequited love\nis still an ecstatic dance of the heart.\n\nIf I hadn\'t encountered praise and blame,\nsuccess and failure, heat and cold, darkness and light,\nblows and kisses, pain and bliss,\nnever would I have found out that through it all\nthere is a Spirit within me\nwhich remains unceasingly alive and loving.\n\nIf I hadn\'t received the gift of knowing you,\nI would not have come to realise\nthat our stories are different in details,\nbut never in essence.\n\nIf I hadn\'t lived through an era of hurting\nI would never have met the miracle\nof being fed with kindness by a friend.\n\nIf I hadn\'t discovered that you and I\nare two threads in the same vast cloth,\nI would have remained forever lost and imprisoned\nin my separate universe.\n\nIf I hadn\'t seen both good and evil\noccupying space in the same event,\nI would never have met the hand of humour\npainting over these polarities\nwith new clarity and light.\n\nIf I hadn\'t wept a thousand tears\nover the loss of a beloved,\nI would never have been driven inward\nto find the eternal companion,\nmy Soul.\n\nIf I had not witnessed cruelty\nand man\'s inhumanity to man,\nI would not have been forced to look\nbeneath the ugliness of fear,\nand encounter the common Heart\nthat lies beneath it.\n\nIf I hadn\'t encountered our myriad differences,\nI would never have discovered that you and I\nare not two,\nbut infinite sparks of love ever arising\nfrom one indestructible Flame.\n\nAnd if I hadn\'t felt abandoned and heartsick,\nI would never have heard the wordless whisper\nof an abiding, unseeable Friend,\nwho translated the feeling of alone\ninto All One.','Pain A Wonderful Teacher','','inherit','open','open','','843-revision-7','','','2011-10-25 17:50:28','2011-10-26 00:50:28','',843,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/843-revision-7/',0,'revision','',0),(1165,24,'2011-10-25 17:52:21','2011-10-26 00:52:21','Pain invited my ear, \"Listen to me, for I have knowledge of Truth hidden in what you fear.\"\n\nFear roared, \"Do not look or listen to pain, it will only lead you to more discomfort!\"\n\nLove whispered, \"Go into this pain, it is safe. You will only discover more to love.\"\n\nShame whimpered, \"Remember everything that has happened to you, everyone despises you. This will not work.\"\n\nCourage invoked, \"All fear is an illusion, walk straight ahead!\"\n\nPride demanded, \"You have everything you need already, this is a waste of time.\"\n\nEver notice how throughout a day what you are  feeling will interpret reality for you. As you follow these feelings they usually lead you to thoughts. These thought are ideas about your self, others and how life is playing out. Few questions these thoughts, few face the idea\'s of being separate, alone and unwanted. We tend to settle for a hope of one day getting what we want so we can be happy.\n\n<strong>What would life be like if we embraced all of it? What would like be like if we stopped avoiding pain and ran into what we have been taught to fear.</strong>\n\nWhy do we stop going to the gym? Because we no longer engage with the benefits the pain brings us. This benefit is strength.\nWhy do we fear the dentist? His cleaning, shots and drilling give our teeth longevity.\nWhy do we fear conflict or confrontation with people? Will it not expose the lies and assumptions we hide behind.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<strong>WHY BADSTUFF HAPPENS</strong>\n<em>by Elsa Joy Bailey</em>\n\nIf it weren\'t for my beautiful sad mother\ndrinking a beaker of cold cyanide when I was three,\nI wouldn\'t have learned\nshe could both love and abandon me\nin one hot severe breath.\nNor would I have grown flowers in my heart\nfor people who urgently want to die.\n\nIf I had not broken my leg in a wild fall,\nI wouldn\'t have learned that stark physical pain\nis, to my great surprise, not permanent.\n\nIf I hadn\'t fallen in love with someone\nwho didn\'t love me,\nI would never have realized that unrequited love\nis still an ecstatic dance of the heart.\n\nIf I hadn\'t encountered praise and blame,\nsuccess and failure, heat and cold, darkness and light,\nblows and kisses, pain and bliss,\nnever would I have found out that through it all\nthere is a Spirit within me\nwhich remains unceasingly alive and loving.\n\nIf I hadn\'t received the gift of knowing you,\nI would not have come to realise\nthat our stories are different in details,\nbut never in essence.\n\nIf I hadn\'t lived through an era of hurting\nI would never have met the miracle\nof being fed with kindness by a friend.\n\nIf I hadn\'t discovered that you and I\nare two threads in the same vast cloth,\nI would have remained forever lost and imprisoned\nin my separate universe.\n\nIf I hadn\'t seen both good and evil\noccupying space in the same event,\nI would never have met the hand of humour\npainting over these polarities\nwith new clarity and light.\n\nIf I hadn\'t wept a thousand tears\nover the loss of a beloved,\nI would never have been driven inward\nto find the eternal companion,\nmy Soul.\n\nIf I had not witnessed cruelty\nand man\'s inhumanity to man,\nI would not have been forced to look\nbeneath the ugliness of fear,\nand encounter the common Heart\nthat lies beneath it.\n\nIf I hadn\'t encountered our myriad differences,\nI would never have discovered that you and I\nare not two,\nbut infinite sparks of love ever arising\nfrom one indestructible Flame.\n\nAnd if I hadn\'t felt abandoned and heartsick,\nI would never have heard the wordless whisper\nof an abiding, unseeable Friend,\nwho translated the feeling of alone\ninto All One.','Pain ','','inherit','open','open','','843-revision-8','','','2011-10-25 17:52:21','2011-10-26 00:52:21','',843,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/843-revision-8/',0,'revision','',0),(1166,24,'2011-10-25 18:00:16','2011-10-26 01:00:16','Pain invited my ear, \"Listen to me, for I have knowledge of Truth hidden in what you fear.\"\n\nFear roared, \"Do not look or listen to pain, it will only lead you to more discomfort!\"\n\nLove whispered, \"Go into this pain, it is safe. You will only discover more to love.\"\n\nShame whimpered, \"Remember everything that has happened to you, everyone despises you. This will not work.\"\n\nCourage invoked, \"All fear is an illusion, walk straight ahead!\"\n\nPride demanded, \"You have everything you need already, this is a waste of time.\"\n\nEver notice how throughout a day what you are  feeling will interpret reality for you. As you follow these feelings they usually lead you to thoughts. These thought are ideas about your self, others and how life is playing out. Few questions these thoughts, few face the idea\'s of being separate, alone and unwanted. We tend to settle for a hope of one day getting what we want so we can be happy.\n\n<strong>What would life be like if we embraced all of it? What would like be like if we stopped avoiding pain and ran into what we have been taught to fear.</strong>\n\nWhy do we stop going to the gym? Because we no longer engage with the benefits the pain brings us. This benefit is strength.\nWhy do we fear the dentist? His cleaning, shots and drilling give our teeth longevity.\nWhy do we fear conflict or confrontation with people? Will it not expose the lies and assumptions we hide behind.\n\n<strong>SEARCHING IN THE WRONG PLACE</strong>\n\nA neighbour found Jon on hands and knees.\n“What are you searching for Jon?” “My key.”\nBoth men got on their knees to search.\nAfter a while the neighbor says, “Where did you lose it?”\n“At home.”\n“Good Lord! Then why are you searching here?”\n“Because it’s brighter here.”\n\nSearch for Love where you lost it.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<strong>WHY BADSTUFF HAPPENS</strong>\n<em>by Elsa Joy Bailey</em>\n\nIf it weren\'t for my beautiful sad mother\ndrinking a beaker of cold cyanide when I was three,\nI wouldn\'t have learned\nshe could both love and abandon me\nin one hot severe breath.\nNor would I have grown flowers in my heart\nfor people who urgently want to die.\n\nIf I had not broken my leg in a wild fall,\nI wouldn\'t have learned that stark physical pain\nis, to my great surprise, not permanent.\n\nIf I hadn\'t fallen in love with someone\nwho didn\'t love me,\nI would never have realized that unrequited love\nis still an ecstatic dance of the heart.\n\nIf I hadn\'t encountered praise and blame,\nsuccess and failure, heat and cold, darkness and light,\nblows and kisses, pain and bliss,\nnever would I have found out that through it all\nthere is a Spirit within me\nwhich remains unceasingly alive and loving.\n\nIf I hadn\'t received the gift of knowing you,\nI would not have come to realise\nthat our stories are different in details,\nbut never in essence.\n\nIf I hadn\'t lived through an era of hurting\nI would never have met the miracle\nof being fed with kindness by a friend.\n\nIf I hadn\'t discovered that you and I\nare two threads in the same vast cloth,\nI would have remained forever lost and imprisoned\nin my separate universe.\n\nIf I hadn\'t seen both good and evil\noccupying space in the same event,\nI would never have met the hand of humour\npainting over these polarities\nwith new clarity and light.\n\nIf I hadn\'t wept a thousand tears\nover the loss of a beloved,\nI would never have been driven inward\nto find the eternal companion,\nmy Soul.\n\nIf I had not witnessed cruelty\nand man\'s inhumanity to man,\nI would not have been forced to look\nbeneath the ugliness of fear,\nand encounter the common Heart\nthat lies beneath it.\n\nIf I hadn\'t encountered our myriad differences,\nI would never have discovered that you and I\nare not two,\nbut infinite sparks of love ever arising\nfrom one indestructible Flame.\n\nAnd if I hadn\'t felt abandoned and heartsick,\nI would never have heard the wordless whisper\nof an abiding, unseeable Friend,\nwho translated the feeling of alone\ninto All One.','Pain demands an answer','','inherit','open','open','','843-revision-9','','','2011-10-25 18:00:16','2011-10-26 01:00:16','',843,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/843-revision-9/',0,'revision','',0),(1169,24,'2011-10-25 18:05:35','2011-10-26 01:05:35','Pain invited my ear, \"Listen to me, for I have knowledge of Truth hidden in what you fear.\"\n\nFear roared, \"Do not look or listen to pain, it will only lead you to more discomfort!\"\n\nLove whispered, \"Go into this pain, it is safe. You will only discover more to love.\"\n\nShame whimpered, \"Remember everything that has happened to you, everyone despises you. This will not work.\"\n\nCourage invoked, \"All fear is an illusion, walk straight ahead!\"\n\nPride demanded, \"You have everything you need already, this is a waste of time.\"\n\nEver notice how throughout a day what you are  feeling will interpret reality for you. As you follow these feelings they usually lead you to thoughts. These thought are ideas about your self, others and how life is playing out. Few questions these thoughts, few face the idea\'s of being separate, alone and unwanted. We tend to settle for a hope of one day getting what we want so we can be happy.\n\n<strong>What would life be like if we embraced all of it? What would like be like if we stopped avoiding pain and ran into what we have been taught to fear.</strong>\n\nWhy do we stop going to the gym? Because we no longer engage with the benefits the pain brings us. This benefit is strength.\nWhy do we fear the dentist? His cleaning, shots and drilling give our teeth longevity.\nWhy do we fear conflict or confrontation with people? Will it not expose the lies and assumptions we hide behind.\n\n<strong>SEARCHING IN THE WRONG PLACE</strong>\n\nA neighbour found Jon on hands and knees.\n“What are you searching for Jon?” “My key.”\nBoth men got on their knees to search.\nAfter a while the neighbor says, “Where did you lose it?”\n“At home.”\n“Good Lord! Then why are you searching here?”\n“Because it’s brighter here.”\n\nSearch for Love where you lost it. Where did you learn to stop loving yourself? Where did you learn that what you did was not good enough? Who told you that you were worthless, meaningless and annoying? Let anger come up, let grief stay for a while, let all the dires to get love from someoene out there smack you in the face with the reality that it has not worked.\n\nThe key to Love is where you left it. Until you have the courage and the company of people around you who are willing to let you fall apart, breakdown and give up on all of it, you will never experience the Life Jesus spoke from.\n\nThe next time you find yourself in a painful situation, instead of looking for a way out, face this pain, welcome it and allow yourself to feel it deeply. Perhaps it will lead you to a dark place where what you have forgotten about what is you are is hidden.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n<strong>WHY BADSTUFF HAPPENS</strong>\n<em>by Elsa Joy Bailey</em>\n\nIf it weren\'t for my beautiful sad mother\ndrinking a beaker of cold cyanide when I was three,\nI wouldn\'t have learned\nshe could both love and abandon me\nin one hot severe breath.\nNor would I have grown flowers in my heart\nfor people who urgently want to die.\n\nIf I had not broken my leg in a wild fall,\nI wouldn\'t have learned that stark physical pain\nis, to my great surprise, not permanent.\n\nIf I hadn\'t fallen in love with someone\nwho didn\'t love me,\nI would never have realized that unrequited love\nis still an ecstatic dance of the heart.\n\nIf I hadn\'t encountered praise and blame,\nsuccess and failure, heat and cold, darkness and light,\nblows and kisses, pain and bliss,\nnever would I have found out that through it all\nthere is a Spirit within me\nwhich remains unceasingly alive and loving.\n\nIf I hadn\'t received the gift of knowing you,\nI would not have come to realise\nthat our stories are different in details,\nbut never in essence.\n\nIf I hadn\'t lived through an era of hurting\nI would never have met the miracle\nof being fed with kindness by a friend.\n\nIf I hadn\'t discovered that you and I\nare two threads in the same vast cloth,\nI would have remained forever lost and imprisoned\nin my separate universe.\n\nIf I hadn\'t seen both good and evil\noccupying space in the same event,\nI would never have met the hand of humour\npainting over these polarities\nwith new clarity and light.\n\nIf I hadn\'t wept a thousand tears\nover the loss of a beloved,\nI would never have been driven inward\nto find the eternal companion,\nmy Soul.\n\nIf I had not witnessed cruelty\nand man\'s inhumanity to man,\nI would not have been forced to look\nbeneath the ugliness of fear,\nand encounter the common Heart\nthat lies beneath it.\n\nIf I hadn\'t encountered our myriad differences,\nI would never have discovered that you and I\nare not two,\nbut infinite sparks of love ever arising\nfrom one indestructible Flame.\n\nAnd if I hadn\'t felt abandoned and heartsick,\nI would never have heard the wordless whisper\nof an abiding, unseeable Friend,\nwho translated the feeling of alone\ninto All One.','Pain demands an answer','','inherit','open','open','','843-revision-10','','','2011-10-25 18:05:35','2011-10-26 01:05:35','',843,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/843-revision-10/',0,'revision','',0),(1170,24,'2011-10-25 18:10:27','2011-10-26 01:10:27','Pain invited my ear, \"Listen to me, for I have knowledge of Truth hidden in what you fear.\"\n\nFear roared, \"Do not look or listen to pain, it will only lead you to more discomfort!\"\n\nLove whispered, \"Go into this pain, it is safe. You will only discover more to love.\"\n\nShame whimpered, \"Remember everything that has happened to you, everyone despises you. This will not work.\"\n\nCourage invoked, \"All fear is an illusion, walk straight ahead!\"\n\nPride demanded, \"You have everything you need already, this is a waste of time.\"\n\nEver notice how throughout a day what you are  feeling will interpret reality for you. As you follow these feelings they usually lead you to thoughts. These thought are ideas about your self, others and how life is playing out. Few questions these thoughts, few face the idea\'s of being separate, alone and unwanted. We tend to settle for a hope of one day getting what we want so we can be happy.\n\n<strong>What would life be like if we embraced all of it? What would we be like if we stopped avoiding pain and ran into what we have been taught to fear.</strong>\n\nWhy do we stop going to the gym? Because we no longer engage with the benefits the pain brings us. This benefit is strength.\nWhy do we fear the dentist? His cleaning, shots and drilling give our teeth longevity.\nWhy do we fear conflict or confrontation with people? Will it not expose the lies and assumptions we hide behind.\n\n<strong>SEARCHING IN THE WRONG PLACE</strong>\n\nA neighbour found Jon on hands and knees.\n“What are you searching for Jon?” “My key.”\nBoth men got on their knees to search.\nAfter a while the neighbor says, “Where did you lose it?”\n“At home.”\n“Good Lord! Then why are you searching here?”\n“Because it’s brighter here.”\n\nSearch for Love where you lost it. Where did you learn to stop loving yourself? Where did you learn that what you did was not good enough? Who told you that you were worthless, meaningless and annoying? Let anger come up, let grief stay for a while, let all the dires to get love from someoene out there smack you in the face with the reality that it has not worked.\n\nThe key to Love is where you left it. Until you have the courage and the company of people around you who are willing to let you fall apart, breakdown and give up on all of it, you will never experience the Life Jesus spoke from.\n\nThe next time you find yourself in a painful situation, instead of looking for a way out, face this pain, welcome it and allow yourself to feel it deeply. Perhaps it will lead you to a dark place where what you have forgotten about what is you are is hidden.\n\n<strong>WHY BADSTUFF HAPPENS\n</strong><em>by Elsa Joy Bailey</em>\n\nIf it weren\'t for my beautiful sad mother\ndrinking a beaker of cold cyanide when I was three,\nI wouldn\'t have learned\nshe could both love and abandon me\nin one hot severe breath.\nNor would I have grown flowers in my heart\nfor people who urgently want to die.\n\nIf I had not broken my leg in a wild fall,\nI wouldn\'t have learned that stark physical pain\nis, to my great surprise, not permanent.\n\nIf I hadn\'t fallen in love with someone\nwho didn\'t love me,\nI would never have realized that unrequited love\nis still an ecstatic dance of the heart.\n\nIf I hadn\'t encountered praise and blame,\nsuccess and failure, heat and cold, darkness and light,\nblows and kisses, pain and bliss,\nnever would I have found out that through it all\nthere is a Spirit within me\nwhich remains unceasingly alive and loving.\n\nIf I hadn\'t received the gift of knowing you,\nI would not have come to realise\nthat our stories are different in details,\nbut never in essence.\n\nIf I hadn\'t lived through an era of hurting\nI would never have met the miracle\nof being fed with kindness by a friend.\n\nIf I hadn\'t discovered that you and I\nare two threads in the same vast cloth,\nI would have remained forever lost and imprisoned\nin my separate universe.\n\nIf I hadn\'t seen both good and evil\noccupying space in the same event,\nI would never have met the hand of humour\npainting over these polarities\nwith new clarity and light.\n\nIf I hadn\'t wept a thousand tears\nover the loss of a beloved,\nI would never have been driven inward\nto find the eternal companion,\nmy Soul.\n\nIf I had not witnessed cruelty\nand man\'s inhumanity to man,\nI would not have been forced to look\nbeneath the ugliness of fear,\nand encounter the common Heart\nthat lies beneath it.\n\nIf I hadn\'t encountered our myriad differences,\nI would never have discovered that you and I\nare not two,\nbut infinite sparks of love ever arising\nfrom one indestructible Flame.\n\nAnd if I hadn\'t felt abandoned and heartsick,\nI would never have heard the wordless whisper\nof an abiding, unseeable Friend,\nwho translated the feeling of alone\ninto All One.','Pain demands an answer','','inherit','open','open','','843-revision-11','','','2011-10-25 18:10:27','2011-10-26 01:10:27','',843,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/843-revision-11/',0,'revision','',0),(1171,24,'2011-10-25 18:18:08','2011-10-26 01:18:08','','pain1','','inherit','open','open','','pain1','','','2011-10-25 18:18:08','2011-10-26 01:18:08','',843,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/pain1.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(1173,24,'2011-10-25 18:19:27','2011-10-26 01:19:27','Pain invited my ear, \"Listen to me, for I have knowledge of Truth hidden in what you fear.\"\n\nFear roared, \"Do not look or listen to pain, it will only lead you to more discomfort!\"\n\nLove whispered, \"Go into this pain, it is safe. You will only discover more to love.\"\n\nShame whimpered, \"Remember everything that has happened to you, everyone despises you. This will not work.\"\n\nCourage invoked, \"All fear is an illusion, walk straight ahead!\"\n\nPride demanded, \"You have everything you need already, this is a waste of time.\"\n\nEver notice how throughout a day what you are  feeling will interpret reality for you. As you follow these feelings they usually lead you to thoughts. These thought are ideas about your self, others and how life is playing out. Few questions these thoughts, few face the idea\'s of being separate, alone and unwanted. We tend to settle for a hope of one day getting what we want so we can be happy.\n\n<strong>What would life be like if we embraced all of it? What would we be like if we stopped avoiding pain and ran into what we have been taught to fear.</strong>\n\nWhy do we stop going to the gym? Because we no longer engage with the benefits the pain brings us. This benefit is strength.\nWhy do we fear the dentist? His cleaning, shots and drilling give our teeth longevity.\nWhy do we fear conflict or confrontation with people? Will it not expose the lies and assumptions we hide behind.\n\n<strong><a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/pain1.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-1171\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/pain1-300x226.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"226\" /></a>SEARCHING IN THE WRONG PLACE</strong>\n\nA neighbour found Jon on hands and knees.\n“What are you searching for Jon?” “My key.”\nBoth men got on their knees to search.\nAfter a while the neighbor says, “Where did you lose it?”\n“At home.”\n“Good Lord! Then why are you searching here?”\n“Because it’s brighter here.”\n\nSearch for Love where you lost it. Where did you learn to stop loving yourself? Where did you learn that what you did was not good enough? Who told you that you were worthless, meaningless and annoying? Let anger come up, let grief stay for a while, let all the dires to get love from someoene out there smack you in the face with the reality that it has not worked.\n\nThe key to Love is where you left it. Until you have the courage and the company of people around you who are willing to let you fall apart, breakdown and give up on all of it, you will never experience the Life Jesus spoke from.\n\nThe next time you find yourself in a painful situation, instead of looking for a way out, face this pain, welcome it and allow yourself to feel it deeply. Perhaps it will lead you to a dark place where what you have forgotten about what is you are is hidden.\n\n<strong>WHY BADSTUFF HAPPENS\n</strong><em>by Elsa Joy Bailey</em>\n\nIf it weren\'t for my beautiful sad mother\ndrinking a beaker of cold cyanide when I was three,\nI wouldn\'t have learned\nshe could both love and abandon me\nin one hot severe breath.\nNor would I have grown flowers in my heart\nfor people who urgently want to die.\n\nIf I had not broken my leg in a wild fall,\nI wouldn\'t have learned that stark physical pain\nis, to my great surprise, not permanent.\n\nIf I hadn\'t fallen in love with someone\nwho didn\'t love me,\nI would never have realized that unrequited love\nis still an ecstatic dance of the heart.\n\nIf I hadn\'t encountered praise and blame,\nsuccess and failure, heat and cold, darkness and light,\nblows and kisses, pain and bliss,\nnever would I have found out that through it all\nthere is a Spirit within me\nwhich remains unceasingly alive and loving.\n\nIf I hadn\'t received the gift of knowing you,\nI would not have come to realise\nthat our stories are different in details,\nbut never in essence.\n\nIf I hadn\'t lived through an era of hurting\nI would never have met the miracle\nof being fed with kindness by a friend.\n\nIf I hadn\'t discovered that you and I\nare two threads in the same vast cloth,\nI would have remained forever lost and imprisoned\nin my separate universe.\n\nIf I hadn\'t seen both good and evil\noccupying space in the same event,\nI would never have met the hand of humour\npainting over these polarities\nwith new clarity and light.\n\nIf I hadn\'t wept a thousand tears\nover the loss of a beloved,\nI would never have been driven inward\nto find the eternal companion,\nmy Soul.\n\nIf I had not witnessed cruelty\nand man\'s inhumanity to man,\nI would not have been forced to look\nbeneath the ugliness of fear,\nand encounter the common Heart\nthat lies beneath it.\n\nIf I hadn\'t encountered our myriad differences,\nI would never have discovered that you and I\nare not two,\nbut infinite sparks of love ever arising\nfrom one indestructible Flame.\n\nAnd if I hadn\'t felt abandoned and heartsick,\nI would never have heard the wordless whisper\nof an abiding, unseeable Friend,\nwho translated the feeling of alone\ninto All One.','Pain demands an answer','','inherit','open','open','','843-revision-13','','','2011-10-25 18:19:27','2011-10-26 01:19:27','',843,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/843-revision-13/',0,'revision','',0),(1172,24,'2011-10-25 18:11:40','2011-10-26 01:11:40','Pain invited my ear, \"Listen to me, for I have knowledge of Truth hidden in what you fear.\"\n\nFear roared, \"Do not look or listen to pain, it will only lead you to more discomfort!\"\n\nLove whispered, \"Go into this pain, it is safe. You will only discover more to love.\"\n\nShame whimpered, \"Remember everything that has happened to you, everyone despises you. This will not work.\"\n\nCourage invoked, \"All fear is an illusion, walk straight ahead!\"\n\nPride demanded, \"You have everything you need already, this is a waste of time.\"\n\nEver notice how throughout a day what you are  feeling will interpret reality for you. As you follow these feelings they usually lead you to thoughts. These thought are ideas about your self, others and how life is playing out. Few questions these thoughts, few face the idea\'s of being separate, alone and unwanted. We tend to settle for a hope of one day getting what we want so we can be happy.\n\n<strong>What would life be like if we embraced all of it? What would we be like if we stopped avoiding pain and ran into what we have been taught to fear.</strong>\n\nWhy do we stop going to the gym? Because we no longer engage with the benefits the pain brings us. This benefit is strength.\nWhy do we fear the dentist? His cleaning, shots and drilling give our teeth longevity.\nWhy do we fear conflict or confrontation with people? Will it not expose the lies and assumptions we hide behind.\n\n<strong>SEARCHING IN THE WRONG PLACE</strong>\n\nA neighbour found Jon on hands and knees.\n“What are you searching for Jon?” “My key.”\nBoth men got on their knees to search.\nAfter a while the neighbor says, “Where did you lose it?”\n“At home.”\n“Good Lord! Then why are you searching here?”\n“Because it’s brighter here.”\n\nSearch for Love where you lost it. Where did you learn to stop loving yourself? Where did you learn that what you did was not good enough? Who told you that you were worthless, meaningless and annoying? Let anger come up, let grief stay for a while, let all the dires to get love from someoene out there smack you in the face with the reality that it has not worked.\n\nThe key to Love is where you left it. Until you have the courage and the company of people around you who are willing to let you fall apart, breakdown and give up on all of it, you will never experience the Life Jesus spoke from.\n\nThe next time you find yourself in a painful situation, instead of looking for a way out, face this pain, welcome it and allow yourself to feel it deeply. Perhaps it will lead you to a dark place where what you have forgotten about what is you are is hidden.\n\n<strong>WHY BADSTUFF HAPPENS\n</strong><em>by Elsa Joy Bailey</em>\n\nIf it weren\'t for my beautiful sad mother\ndrinking a beaker of cold cyanide when I was three,\nI wouldn\'t have learned\nshe could both love and abandon me\nin one hot severe breath.\nNor would I have grown flowers in my heart\nfor people who urgently want to die.\n\nIf I had not broken my leg in a wild fall,\nI wouldn\'t have learned that stark physical pain\nis, to my great surprise, not permanent.\n\nIf I hadn\'t fallen in love with someone\nwho didn\'t love me,\nI would never have realized that unrequited love\nis still an ecstatic dance of the heart.\n\nIf I hadn\'t encountered praise and blame,\nsuccess and failure, heat and cold, darkness and light,\nblows and kisses, pain and bliss,\nnever would I have found out that through it all\nthere is a Spirit within me\nwhich remains unceasingly alive and loving.\n\nIf I hadn\'t received the gift of knowing you,\nI would not have come to realise\nthat our stories are different in details,\nbut never in essence.\n\nIf I hadn\'t lived through an era of hurting\nI would never have met the miracle\nof being fed with kindness by a friend.\n\nIf I hadn\'t discovered that you and I\nare two threads in the same vast cloth,\nI would have remained forever lost and imprisoned\nin my separate universe.\n\nIf I hadn\'t seen both good and evil\noccupying space in the same event,\nI would never have met the hand of humour\npainting over these polarities\nwith new clarity and light.\n\nIf I hadn\'t wept a thousand tears\nover the loss of a beloved,\nI would never have been driven inward\nto find the eternal companion,\nmy Soul.\n\nIf I had not witnessed cruelty\nand man\'s inhumanity to man,\nI would not have been forced to look\nbeneath the ugliness of fear,\nand encounter the common Heart\nthat lies beneath it.\n\nIf I hadn\'t encountered our myriad differences,\nI would never have discovered that you and I\nare not two,\nbut infinite sparks of love ever arising\nfrom one indestructible Flame.\n\nAnd if I hadn\'t felt abandoned and heartsick,\nI would never have heard the wordless whisper\nof an abiding, unseeable Friend,\nwho translated the feeling of alone\ninto All One.','Pain demands an answer','','inherit','open','open','','843-revision-12','','','2011-10-25 18:11:40','2011-10-26 01:11:40','',843,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/843-revision-12/',0,'revision','',0),(1249,24,'2011-10-26 09:56:47','2011-10-26 16:56:47','','Rick2','','inherit','open','open','','rick2','','','2011-10-26 09:56:47','2011-10-26 16:56:47','',843,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Rick2.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(2642,20,'2012-03-24 13:46:21','2012-03-24 20:46:21','People like to emphasize different aspects of Jesus\'s life and teachings.  He taught that the pure in heart would be blessed, for example, seemingly indicating that the inward life is what truly matters.  Yet the miracles, warnings about judgment, and commands to care of the distressed and outcast are equally stressed.  A few weeks ago we discussed this passage at church from <a href=\"http://www.markscandrette.com/writing/practicing-the-way-of-jesus-coming-soon/\">Mark Scandrette\'s newest book, <em>Practicing the Way of Jesus</em></a>:<a href=\"http://www.markscandrette.com/writing/practicing-the-way-of-jesus-coming-soon/\" target=\"_blank\">\n</a>\n<blockquote>The baptism of Jesus provides a compelling picture of the kind of intimate union with God we were created for.  As he stepped out from the water, he heard a voice saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:16-17).  The Spirit then led Jesus into the wilderness where his identity as the beloved was tested.  He emerged after forty days a resolute son prepared to do “his father’s business.”  Subsequently, Jesus often withdrew to gardens and other lonely places.  In the most difficult hours leading up to his arrest, torture and crucifixion, he went into a garden one last time, kneeling to pray, “Abba, not my will but yours be done.”  A hidden life of solitude fueled his courageous public acts of love and service (p. 105).</blockquote>\nMaybe it could be said then that the Christian life is meant to be lived out on the razor’s edge between prophetic action and contemplative reflection.  And it is not so much that one of the steps in this dialectical process must come before the other.  Nor do they necessarily coalesce, really, but remain in tension and are mutually reinforcing.  They form the two pillars that buttress discipleship.  Politically speaking, for instance, we can therefore work for justice and even invest ourselves in certain legislative reforms, electoral changes and grassroots movements.  The role of the contemplative in this case, however, will be to keep our expectations and emotional attachment in check and somewhat disinterested.  The contemplative reminds us that at the end of the day, a Christ-follower still must ultimately find rest in her Sustainer rather than in the outcome of political proposals.<a title=\"\" href=\"#_edn1\">[i]</a>  Duke theologian <a href=\"http://divinity.duke.edu/academics/faculty/paul-griffiths\" target=\"_blank\">Paul J. Griffiths</a> calls this approach “political quietism.”<a title=\"\" href=\"#_edn2\">[ii]</a>\n\nOn the other hand, the contemplative gives inspiration, energy and vision to our prophetic and “courageous public acts of love and service” (see above).  It enables one to meditate on the “agonistic weight of the world.\"<a title=\"\" href=\"#_edn1\">[iii]</a>  At the same time, it also serves to critique and safeguard the extent to which our identities can become too closely aligned with nationalism or any other parochial allegiance.  It is the corrective to all our idolatries.  Accordingly, a Christian citizenship then is understood to be a revoked and “crucified” vocation – that is, it is self-emptied.  We act, but we act with a knowledge that the problems we face in this world can at best only be imperfectly resolved.  As she surveys the bloodshed in our world, it’s not easy for the Christian citizen to really expect the proposal she advocates to substantially curtail all the violence and oppression.  Occupy Wall Street might be a good example of this - a movement with so much positive potential but the lasting effect of which is still to be seen.  Thus, Griffiths also talks about three other  “notes” of Christian political agency: skepticism, hope and lament – skepticism with regard to over-realized eschatological promises, hope for the coming Kingdom, and lament over the real and terrible suffering in the meantime.\n\nActivism remains, and indeed we must act - especially in solidarity with those on the underside of history - but it is only the spiritually and prayerfully formed person whose heart is prepared for the trials of a cross-bearing lifestyle.  Too often we are content with the contemplative or running dry in the prophetic.  May we remind and spur each other along to traverse the path between the two.\n\nHow does this tangibly play out in the rhythms of congregational and communal life?\n<div>\n\n<hr align=\"left\" size=\"1\" width=\"33%\" />\n\n<div>\n\n<a title=\"\" href=\"#_ednref\">[i]</a> I’m using the term <em>political</em> here in the broadest possible sense to include practically all corporate civil activity – not just official or formal participation.\n\n</div>\n<div>\n\n<a title=\"\" href=\"#_ednref\">[ii]</a> Douglas Harink, <em>Paul, Philosophy, and the Theopolitical Vision: Critical Engagements with Agamben, Badiou, Zizek and Others</em> (Cascade Books, 2010), 190.\n\n<a title=\"\" href=\"#_ednref\">[iii]</a> Mark L Taylor, <em>The Theological and the Political: On the Weight of the World</em> (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2011).\n\n</div>\n</div>','The Prophetic and the Contemplative','','inherit','open','open','','2622-autosave','','','2012-03-24 13:46:21','2012-03-24 20:46:21','',2622,'http://provoketive.com/2011/11/28/2622-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(1182,43,'2011-10-25 19:23:38','2011-10-26 02:23:38','<p align=\"left\">In today\'s political climate, it can be tough to make sense of the cacophony of voices using \"social justice\" as their rallying cry.  Everyone with a stake in our nation\'s well-being (which, in theory, ought to be one hundred percent of the population) views the concept through his or her own lens.  It can be difficult to make sense of what it means when we have a person on one side demanding an end to poverty and a person on the other side lobbying for marriage equality, while the people in front and in back of us clamor for us to care about education and healthcare reform.  So what exactly is social justice?</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">A quick Google search for the term \"social justice\" yields over 8 million results.  On just the first two pages are entries from sources as diverse as Wikipedia, Dictionary.com, Fox News, and several personal web pages.  It seems everyone has an opinion on the matter.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">While digging for some specifics, I came across an article from <a href=\"http://www.crosswalk.com/\">Crosswalk.com</a>, in the news and commentary section.  Dr. Paul Kengor, of Grove City College, has this to say on the matter:</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">I had several reactions to Dr. Kengor\'s statements.  First, I was annoyed.  How dare he presume to know what people mean when they use the term \"social justice\"?  Then I decided that I must have misunderstood.  He wasn\'t <em>really</em> saying that economic justice isn\'t social justice, was he?  Finally, I simply shelved the comments as one more example of someone conflating economic reform with communism.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">It\'s absolutely true that economic justice is not the same as social justice, although it is a subset.  The problem is not that Dr. Kengor seems to think that\'s the only problem we social justice Christians emphasize.  He\'s right, it gets a lot of press.  The heart of the matter is that Dr. Kengor has equated the political problem of wealth redistribution with the social problem of the income gap and its associated issues.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">Social justice isn\'t about politics.  It may involve government, laws, and structural reforms.  But it isn\'t about what the guys at the top decide to do to \"even the score.\"  It\'s about what we, the people, do to create a social climate that values all people and helps everyone reach his or her potential, and working together for the good of all.</p>','Defining Social Justice','','inherit','open','open','','1168-revision-6','','','2011-10-25 19:23:38','2011-10-26 02:23:38','',1168,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1168-revision-6/',0,'revision','',0),(1175,43,'2011-10-25 19:21:08','2011-10-26 02:21:08','','socialjustice','','inherit','open','open','','socialjustice','','','2011-10-25 19:21:08','2011-10-26 02:21:08','',1168,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/socialjustice.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(1176,43,'2011-10-25 19:18:58','2011-10-26 02:18:58','<p align=\"left\">In today\'s political climate, it can be tough to make sense of the cacophony of voices using \"social justice\" as their rallying cry.  Everyone with a stake in our nation\'s well-being (which, in theory, ought to be one hundred percent of the population) views the concept through his or her own lens.  It can be difficult to make sense of what it means when we have a person on one side demanding an end to poverty and a person on the other side lobbying for marriage equality, while the people in front and in back of us clamor for us to care about education and healthcare reform.  So what exactly is social justice?</p>\n<p align=\"left\">A quick Google search for the term \"social justice\" yields over 8 million results.  On just the first two pages are entries from sources as diverse as Wikipedia, Dictionary.com, Fox News, and several personal web pages.  It seems everyone has an opinion on the matter.</p>\n<p align=\"left\">While digging for some specifics, I came across an article from <a href=\"http://www.crosswalk.com/\">Crosswalk.com</a>, in the news and commentary section.  Dr. Paul Kengor, of Grove City College, has this to say on the matter:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n<p align=\"left\">Most exasperating is that many who speak the language of social justice really mean \"economic justice.\" Unlike traditional practitioners of social justice, whose occasional noble interests ranged from prison reform to child-labor laws, many modern practitioners seek wealth redistribution, \"living wages,\" progressive income taxes, and an eternally-widening net of federal government power and central planning; they are inclined to class interests rather than human rights. And, by their estimate, achieving <em>economic justice</em> requires collectivism. They invoke <em>social</em> justice not to try to resolve conventional <em>social</em> differences as much as class/income differences.</p>\n<p align=\"left\">This is why, in many modern eyes, including those of the much-maligned Glenn Beck, mention of \"social justice\" seems a red flag for socialism. [The rest of the article is located <a href=\"http://www.crosswalk.com/news/economic-justice-as-social-justice-11635548.html\">here</a>.]</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p align=\"left\">I had several reactions to Dr. Kengor\'s statements.  First, I was annoyed.  How dare he presume to know what people mean when they use the term \"social justice\"?  Then I decided that I must have misunderstood.  He wasn\'t <em>really</em> saying that economic justice isn\'t social justice, was he?  Finally, I simply shelved the comments as one more example of someone conflating economic reform with communism.</p>\n<p align=\"left\">It\'s absolutely true that economic justice is not the same as social justice, although it is a subset.  The problem is not that Dr. Kengor seems to think that\'s the only problem we social justice Christians emphasize.  He\'s right, it gets a lot of press.  The heart of the matter is that Dr. Kengor has equated the political problem of wealth redistribution with the social problem of the income gap and its associated issues.</p>\n<p align=\"left\">Social justice isn\'t about politics.  It may involve government, laws, and structural reforms.  But it isn\'t about what the guys at the top decide to do to \"even the score.\"  It\'s about what we, the people, do to create a social climate that values all people and helps everyone reach his or her potential, and working together for the good of all.</p>','Defining Social Justice','','inherit','open','open','','1168-revision','','','2011-10-25 19:18:58','2011-10-26 02:18:58','',1168,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1168-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(1177,43,'2011-10-25 19:21:57','2011-10-26 02:21:57','<p align=\"left\">In today\'s political climate, it can be tough to make sense of the cacophony of voices using \"social justice\" as their rallying cry.  Everyone with a stake in our nation\'s well-being (which, in theory, ought to be one hundred percent of the population) views the concept through his or her own lens.  It can be difficult to make sense of what it means when we have a person on one side demanding an end to poverty and a person on the other side lobbying for marriage equality, while the people in front and in back of us clamor for us to care about education and healthcare reform.  So what exactly is social justice?</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">A quick Google search for the term \"social justice\" yields over 8 million results.  On just the first two pages are entries from sources as diverse as Wikipedia, Dictionary.com, Fox News, and several personal web pages.  It seems everyone has an opinion on the matter.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">While digging for some specifics, I came across an article from <a href=\"http://www.crosswalk.com/\">Crosswalk.com</a>, in the news and commentary section.  Dr. Paul Kengor, of Grove City College, has this to say on the matter:</p>\r\n\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p align=\"left\">Most exasperating is that many who speak the language of social justice really mean \"economic justice.\" Unlike traditional practitioners of social justice, whose occasional noble interests ranged from prison reform to child-labor laws, many modern practitioners seek wealth redistribution, \"living wages,\" progressive income taxes, and an eternally-widening net of federal government power and central planning; they are inclined to class interests rather than human rights. And, by their estimate, achieving <em>economic justice</em> requires collectivism. They invoke <em>social</em> justice not to try to resolve conventional <em>social</em> differences as much as class/income differences.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">This is why, in many modern eyes, including those of the much-maligned Glenn Beck, mention of \"social justice\" seems a red flag for socialism. [The rest of the article is located <a href=\"http://www.crosswalk.com/news/economic-justice-as-social-justice-11635548.html\">here</a>.]</p>\r\n</blockquote>\r\n<p align=\"left\">I had several reactions to Dr. Kengor\'s statements.  First, I was annoyed.  How dare he presume to know what people mean when they use the term \"social justice\"?  Then I decided that I must have misunderstood.  He wasn\'t <em>really</em> saying that economic justice isn\'t social justice, was he?  Finally, I simply shelved the comments as one more example of someone conflating economic reform with communism.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">It\'s absolutely true that economic justice is not the same as social justice, although it is a subset.  The problem is not that Dr. Kengor seems to think that\'s the only problem we social justice Christians emphasize.  He\'s right, it gets a lot of press.  The heart of the matter is that Dr. Kengor has equated the political problem of wealth redistribution with the social problem of the income gap and its associated issues.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">Social justice isn\'t about politics.  It may involve government, laws, and structural reforms.  But it isn\'t about what the guys at the top decide to do to \"even the score.\"  It\'s about what we, the people, do to create a social climate that values all people and helps everyone reach his or her potential, and working together for the good of all.</p>','Defining Social Justice','','inherit','open','open','','1168-revision-2','','','2011-10-25 19:21:57','2011-10-26 02:21:57','',1168,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1168-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(2649,1,'2011-11-28 06:49:10','2011-11-28 14:49:10','','thanksgiving_dinner','','inherit','open','open','','thanksgiving_dinner','','','2011-11-28 06:49:10','2011-11-28 14:49:10','',2598,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/thanksgiving_dinner.png',0,'attachment','image/png',0),(2650,1,'2011-11-25 19:45:04','2011-11-26 03:45:04','<div style=\"clear: both;text-align: center\"><a title=\"license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ - click to view more info about \'easy-turkey-thanksgiving\' or find free \'turkey meal\' pictures via Wylio\" href=\"http://www.wylio.com/credits/flickr/5176608082\"><img style=\"float: none;margin: 10px auto\" src=\"http://lh3.ggpht.com/-eFTdM9dASjc/TtBLGhccjoI/AAAAAAAAA3E/7YKGnQtXwdI/Flickr-5176608082.jpg\" alt=\"\'easy-turkey-thanksgiving\' photo (c) 2010, Steve Johnson - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/\" width=\"500\" height=\"334\" /></a></div>\r\nThanksgiving is now behind us, a day that for many is filled with one delicious food after another. Turkey. Mashed potatoes. Corn casserole. Jello molds. Pies, pies, and more pies. We fill our plates, we eat, we dive back in for more. We wear our stretchy pants and leave the belts in the closet for another day.\r\n\r\nEating turkey and mashed potatoes isn\'t something that is unique to Thanksgiving. Particularly here in America, we can have a large meal nearly any day of the year. So despite the fact that we tend to focus on the food, there must be more to this holiday than simply an opportunity to eat a large meal.\r\n\r\nI believe what makes Thanksgiving special is the opportunity that we have not only to feed our physical appetites, but to feed our spiritual and emotional appetites as well. To feed not only our bodies, but our souls.\r\n\r\nWe fix meals that are more complicated than we might normally make. We play games that usually gather dust on the shelves. We enjoy one another\'s company without feeling the need to rush to the next thing. After the hustle and bustle of preparing the meal, it\'s a day for slowing down and for spending time together with those whom you love.\r\n\r\nBut what might happen if we took the time to seek out this soul food more often? What might that look like?\r\n\r\nPerhaps it would be to sit and really listen to a piece of music for a few minutes. Allow each note to penetrate the deep, hidden places of our minds and hearts.\r\n\r\nPerhaps it would be to take a moment and read some poetry, not just in our minds, but aloud. Let the words dance across our tongues and spill out over our lips.\r\n\r\nPerhaps it would be to bake a loaf of bread. Put our hands in the dough and experience the sensual delights of turning it over and creating something that will nourish someone else.\r\n\r\nKnit a pair of socks. Take a walk in the woods. Attend a concert. Drink coffee with a friend.\r\n\r\nWhether you have time to for a gourmet meal, or just feed it a snack, make time to feed your soul. It will thank you.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<em>What have you done to feed your soul recently? </em>','Soul Food','','inherit','open','open','','2598-revision-11','','','2011-11-25 19:45:04','2011-11-26 03:45:04','',2598,'http://provoketive.com/2011/11/25/2598-revision-11/',0,'revision','',0),(1179,43,'2011-10-25 19:22:23','2011-10-26 02:22:23','<p align=\"left\">In today\'s political climate, it can be tough to make sense of the cacophony of voices using \"social justice\" as their rallying cry.  Everyone with a stake in our nation\'s well-being (which, in theory, ought to be one hundred percent of the population) views the concept through his or her own lens.  It can be difficult to make sense of what it means when we have a person on one side demanding an end to poverty and a person on the other side lobbying for marriage equality, while the people in front and in back of us clamor for us to care about education and healthcare reform.  So what exactly is social justice?</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">A quick Google search for the term \"social justice\" yields over 8 million results.  On just the first two pages are entries from sources as diverse as Wikipedia, Dictionary.com, Fox News, and several personal web pages.  It seems everyone has an opinion on the matter.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">While digging for some specifics, I came across an article from <a href=\"http://www.crosswalk.com/\">Crosswalk.com</a>, in the news and commentary section.  Dr. Paul Kengor, of Grove City College, has this to say on the matter:</p>\r\n\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p align=\"left\">Most exasperating is that many who speak the language of social justice really mean \"economic justice.\" Unlike traditional practitioners of social justice, whose occasional noble interests ranged from prison reform to child-labor laws, many modern practitioners seek wealth redistribution, \"living wages,\" progressive income taxes, and an eternally-widening net of federal government power and central planning; they are inclined to class interests rather than human rights. And, by their estimate, achieving <em>economic justice</em> requires collectivism. They invoke <em>social</em> justice not to try to resolve conventional <em>social</em> differences as much as class/income differences.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">This is why, in many modern eyes, including those of the much-maligned Glenn Beck, mention of \"social justice\" seems a red flag for socialism. [The rest of the article is located <a href=\"http://www.crosswalk.com/news/economic-justice-as-social-justice-11635548.html\">here</a>.]</p>\r\n</blockquote>\r\n<p align=\"left\">I had several reactions to Dr. Kengor\'s statements.  First, I was annoyed.  How dare he presume to know what people mean when they use the term \"social justice\"?  Then I decided that I must have misunderstood.  He wasn\'t <em>really</em> saying that economic justice isn\'t social justice, was he?  Finally, I simply shelved the comments as one more example of someone conflating economic reform with communism.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">It\'s absolutely true that economic justice is not the same as social justice, although it is a subset.  The problem is not that Dr. Kengor seems to think that\'s the only problem we social justice Christians emphasize.  He\'s right, it gets a lot of press.  The heart of the matter is that Dr. Kengor has equated the political problem of wealth redistribution with the social problem of the income gap and its associated issues.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">Social justice isn\'t about politics.  It may involve government, laws, and structural reforms.  But it isn\'t about what the guys at the top decide to do to \"even the score.\"  It\'s about what we, the people, do to create a social climate that values all people and helps everyone reach his or her potential, and working together for the good of all.</p>','Defining Social Justice','','inherit','open','open','','1168-revision-3','','','2011-10-25 19:22:23','2011-10-26 02:22:23','',1168,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1168-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(1180,43,'2011-10-25 19:22:54','2011-10-26 02:22:54','<p align=\"left\">In today\'s political climate, it can be tough to make sense of the cacophony of voices using \"social justice\" as their rallying cry.  Everyone with a stake in our nation\'s well-being (which, in theory, ought to be one hundred percent of the population) views the concept through his or her own lens.  It can be difficult to make sense of what it means when we have a person on one side demanding an end to poverty and a person on the other side lobbying for marriage equality, while the people in front and in back of us clamor for us to care about education and healthcare reform.  So what exactly is social justice?</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">A quick Google search for the term \"social justice\" yields over 8 million results.  On just the first two pages are entries from sources as diverse as Wikipedia, Dictionary.com, Fox News, and several personal web pages.  It seems everyone has an opinion on the matter.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">While digging for some specifics, I came across an article from <a href=\"http://www.crosswalk.com/\">Crosswalk.com</a>, in the news and commentary section.  Dr. Paul Kengor, of Grove City College, has this to say on the matter:</p>\r\n\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p align=\"left\">Most exasperating is that many who speak the language of social justice really mean \"economic justice.\" Unlike traditional practitioners of social justice, whose occasional noble interests ranged from prison reform to child-labor laws, many modern practitioners seek wealth redistribution, \"living wages,\" progressive income taxes, and an eternally-widening net of federal government power and central planning; they are inclined to class interests rather than human rights. And, by their estimate, achieving <em>economic justice</em> requires collectivism. They invoke <em>social</em> justice not to try to resolve conventional <em>social</em> differences as much as class/income differences.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">This is why, in many modern eyes, including those of the much-maligned Glenn Beck, mention of \"social justice\" seems a red flag for socialism. [The rest of the article is located <a href=\"http://www.crosswalk.com/news/economic-justice-as-social-justice-11635548.html\">here</a>.]</p>\r\n</blockquote>\r\n<p align=\"left\">I had several reactions to Dr. Kengor\'s statements.  First, I was annoyed.  How dare he presume to know what people mean when they use the term \"social justice\"?  Then I decided that I must have misunderstood.  He wasn\'t <em>really</em> saying that economic justice isn\'t social justice, was he?  Finally, I simply shelved the comments as one more example of someone conflating economic reform with communism.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">It\'s absolutely true that economic justice is not the same as social justice, although it is a subset.  The problem is not that Dr. Kengor seems to think that\'s the only problem we social justice Christians emphasize.  He\'s right, it gets a lot of press.  The heart of the matter is that Dr. Kengor has equated the political problem of wealth redistribution with the social problem of the income gap and its associated issues.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">Social justice isn\'t about politics.  It may involve government, laws, and structural reforms.  But it isn\'t about what the guys at the top decide to do to \"even the score.\"  It\'s about what we, the people, do to create a social climate that values all people and helps everyone reach his or her potential, and working together for the good of all.</p>','Defining Social Justice','','inherit','open','open','','1168-revision-4','','','2011-10-25 19:22:54','2011-10-26 02:22:54','',1168,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1168-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(1181,43,'2011-10-25 19:23:00','2011-10-26 02:23:00','<p align=\"left\">In today\'s political climate, it can be tough to make sense of the cacophony of voices using \"social justice\" as their rallying cry.  Everyone with a stake in our nation\'s well-being (which, in theory, ought to be one hundred percent of the population) views the concept through his or her own lens.  It can be difficult to make sense of what it means when we have a person on one side demanding an end to poverty and a person on the other side lobbying for marriage equality, while the people in front and in back of us clamor for us to care about education and healthcare reform.  So what exactly is social justice?</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">A quick Google search for the term \"social justice\" yields over 8 million results.  On just the first two pages are entries from sources as diverse as Wikipedia, Dictionary.com, Fox News, and several personal web pages.  It seems everyone has an opinion on the matter.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">While digging for some specifics, I came across an article from <a href=\"http://www.crosswalk.com/\">Crosswalk.com</a>, in the news and commentary section.  Dr. Paul Kengor, of Grove City College, has this to say on the matter:</p>\r\n\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p align=\"left\">Most exasperating is that many who speak the language of social justice really mean \"economic justice.\" Unlike traditional practitioners of social justice, whose occasional noble interests ranged from prison reform to child-labor laws, many modern practitioners seek wealth redistribution, \"living wages,\" progressive income taxes, and an eternally-widening net of federal government power and central planning; they are inclined to class interests rather than human rights. And, by their estimate, achieving <em>economic justice</em> requires collectivism. They invoke <em>social</em> justice not to try to resolve conventional <em>social</em> differences as much as class/income differences.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">This is why, in many modern eyes, including those of the much-maligned Glenn Beck, mention of \"social justice\" seems a red flag for socialism. [The rest of the article is located <a href=\"http://www.crosswalk.com/news/economic-justice-as-social-justice-11635548.html\">here</a>.]</p>\r\n</blockquote>\r\n<p align=\"left\">I had several reactions to Dr. Kengor\'s statements.  First, I was annoyed.  How dare he presume to know what people mean when they use the term \"social justice\"?  Then I decided that I must have misunderstood.  He wasn\'t <em>really</em> saying that economic justice isn\'t social justice, was he?  Finally, I simply shelved the comments as one more example of someone conflating economic reform with communism.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">It\'s absolutely true that economic justice is not the same as social justice, although it is a subset.  The problem is not that Dr. Kengor seems to think that\'s the only problem we social justice Christians emphasize.  He\'s right, it gets a lot of press.  The heart of the matter is that Dr. Kengor has equated the political problem of wealth redistribution with the social problem of the income gap and its associated issues.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">Social justice isn\'t about politics.  It may involve government, laws, and structural reforms.  But it isn\'t about what the guys at the top decide to do to \"even the score.\"  It\'s about what we, the people, do to create a social climate that values all people and helps everyone reach his or her potential, and working together for the good of all.</p>','Defining Social Justice','','inherit','open','open','','1168-revision-5','','','2011-10-25 19:23:00','2011-10-26 02:23:00','',1168,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1168-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(1187,43,'2011-10-25 19:26:08','2011-10-26 02:26:08','<p align=\"left\">In today\'s political climate, it can be tough to make sense of the cacophony of voices using \"social justice\" as their rallying cry.  Everyone with a stake in our nation\'s well-being (which, in theory, ought to be one hundred percent of the population) views the concept through his or her own lens.  It can be difficult to make sense of what it means when we have a person on one side demanding an end to poverty and a person on the other side lobbying for marriage equality, while the people in front and in back of us clamor for us to care about education and healthcare reform.  So what exactly is social justice?</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">A quick Google search for the term \"social justice\" yields over 8 million results.  On just the first two pages are entries from sources as diverse as Wikipedia, Dictionary.com, Fox News, and several personal web pages.  It seems everyone has an opinion on the matter.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">While digging for some specifics, I came across an article from <a href=\"http://www.crosswalk.com/\">Crosswalk.com</a>, in the news and commentary section.  Dr. Paul Kengor, of Grove City College, has this to say on the matter:</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">\"Most exasperating is that many who speak the language of social justice really mean \"economic justice.\" Unlike traditional practitioners of social justice, whose occasional noble interests ranged from prison reform to child-labor laws, many modern practitioners seek wealth redistribution, \"living wages,\" progressive income taxes, and an eternally-widening net of federal government power and central planning; they are inclined to class interests rather than human rights. And, by their estimate, achieving <em>economic justice</em> requires collectivism. They invoke <em>social</em> justice not to try to resolve conventional <em>social</em> differences as much as class/income differences.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">\"This is why, in many modern eyes, including those of the much-maligned Glenn Beck, mention of \"social justice\" seems a red flag for socialism.\"  [The rest of the article is located]</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">I had several reactions to Dr. Kengor\'s statements.  First, I was annoyed.  How dare he presume to know what people mean when they use the term \"social justice\"?  Then I decided that I must have misunderstood.  He wasn\'t <em>really</em> saying that economic justice isn\'t social justice, was he?  Finally, I simply shelved the comments as one more example of someone conflating economic reform with communism.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">It\'s absolutely true that economic justice is not the same as social justice, although it is a subset.  The problem is not that Dr. Kengor seems to think that\'s the only problem we social justice Christians emphasize.  He\'s right, it gets a lot of press.  The heart of the matter is that Dr. Kengor has equated the political problem of wealth redistribution with the social problem of the income gap and its associated issues.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">Social justice isn\'t about politics.  It may involve government, laws, and structural reforms.  But it isn\'t about what the guys at the top decide to do to \"even the score.\"  It\'s about what we, the people, do to create a social climate that values all people and helps everyone reach his or her potential, and working together for the good of all.</p>','Defining Social Justice','','inherit','open','open','','1168-revision-11','','','2011-10-25 19:26:08','2011-10-26 02:26:08','',1168,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1168-revision-11/',0,'revision','',0),(1183,43,'2011-10-25 19:24:05','2011-10-26 02:24:05','<p align=\"left\">In today\'s political climate, it can be tough to make sense of the cacophony of voices using \"social justice\" as their rallying cry.  Everyone with a stake in our nation\'s well-being (which, in theory, ought to be one hundred percent of the population) views the concept through his or her own lens.  It can be difficult to make sense of what it means when we have a person on one side demanding an end to poverty and a person on the other side lobbying for marriage equality, while the people in front and in back of us clamor for us to care about education and healthcare reform.  So what exactly is social justice?</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">A quick Google search for the term \"social justice\" yields over 8 million results.  On just the first two pages are entries from sources as diverse as Wikipedia, Dictionary.com, Fox News, and several personal web pages.  It seems everyone has an opinion on the matter.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">While digging for some specifics, I came across an article from <a href=\"http://www.crosswalk.com/\">Crosswalk.com</a>, in the news and commentary section.  Dr. Paul Kengor, of Grove City College, has this to say on the matter:</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">I had several reactions to Dr. Kengor\'s statements.  First, I was annoyed.  How dare he presume to know what people mean when they use the term \"social justice\"?  Then I decided that I must have misunderstood.  He wasn\'t <em>really</em> saying that economic justice isn\'t social justice, was he?  Finally, I simply shelved the comments as one more example of someone conflating economic reform with communism.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">It\'s absolutely true that economic justice is not the same as social justice, although it is a subset.  The problem is not that Dr. Kengor seems to think that\'s the only problem we social justice Christians emphasize.  He\'s right, it gets a lot of press.  The heart of the matter is that Dr. Kengor has equated the political problem of wealth redistribution with the social problem of the income gap and its associated issues.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">Social justice isn\'t about politics.  It may involve government, laws, and structural reforms.  But it isn\'t about what the guys at the top decide to do to \"even the score.\"  It\'s about what we, the people, do to create a social climate that values all people and helps everyone reach his or her potential, and working together for the good of all.</p>\r\n\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p align=\"left\">Most exasperating is that many who speak the language of social justice really mean \"economic justice.\" Unlike traditional practitioners of social justice, whose occasional noble interests ranged from prison reform to child-labor laws, many modern practitioners seek wealth redistribution, \"living wages,\" progressive income taxes, and an eternally-widening net of federal government power and central planning; they are inclined to class interests rather than human rights. And, by their estimate, achieving <em>economic justice</em> requires collectivism. They invoke <em>social</em> justice not to try to resolve conventional <em>social</em> differences as much as class/income differences.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">This is why, in many modern eyes, including those of the much-maligned Glenn Beck, mention of \"social justice\" seems a red flag for socialism. [The rest of the article is located <a href=\"http://www.crosswalk.com/news/economic-justice-as-social-justice-11635548.html\">here</a>.]</p>\r\n</blockquote>','Defining Social Justice','','inherit','open','open','','1168-revision-7','','','2011-10-25 19:24:05','2011-10-26 02:24:05','',1168,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1168-revision-7/',0,'revision','',0),(1184,43,'2011-10-25 19:24:37','2011-10-26 02:24:37','<p align=\"left\">In today\'s political climate, it can be tough to make sense of the cacophony of voices using \"social justice\" as their rallying cry.  Everyone with a stake in our nation\'s well-being (which, in theory, ought to be one hundred percent of the population) views the concept through his or her own lens.  It can be difficult to make sense of what it means when we have a person on one side demanding an end to poverty and a person on the other side lobbying for marriage equality, while the people in front and in back of us clamor for us to care about education and healthcare reform.  So what exactly is social justice?</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">A quick Google search for the term \"social justice\" yields over 8 million results.  On just the first two pages are entries from sources as diverse as Wikipedia, Dictionary.com, Fox News, and several personal web pages.  It seems everyone has an opinion on the matter.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">While digging for some specifics, I came across an article from <a href=\"http://www.crosswalk.com/\">Crosswalk.com</a>, in the news and commentary section.  Dr. Paul Kengor, of Grove City College, has this to say on the matter:</p>\r\n\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p align=\"left\">Most exasperating is that many who speak the language of social justice really mean \"economic justice.\" Unlike traditional practitioners of social justice, whose occasional noble interests ranged from prison reform to child-labor laws, many modern practitioners seek wealth redistribution, \"living wages,\" progressive income taxes, and an eternally-widening net of federal government power and central planning; they are inclined to class interests rather than human rights. And, by their estimate, achieving <em>economic justice</em> requires collectivism. They invoke <em>social</em> justice not to try to resolve conventional <em>social</em> differences as much as class/income differences.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">This is why, in many modern eyes, including those of the much-maligned Glenn Beck, mention of \"social justice\" seems a red flag for socialism. [The rest of the article is located <a href=\"http://www.crosswalk.com/news/economic-justice-as-social-justice-11635548.html\">here</a>.]</p>\r\n</blockquote>\r\n<p align=\"left\">I had several reactions to Dr. Kengor\'s statements.  First, I was annoyed.  How dare he presume to know what people mean when they use the term \"social justice\"?  Then I decided that I must have misunderstood.  He wasn\'t <em>really</em> saying that economic justice isn\'t social justice, was he?  Finally, I simply shelved the comments as one more example of someone conflating economic reform with communism.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">It\'s absolutely true that economic justice is not the same as social justice, although it is a subset.  The problem is not that Dr. Kengor seems to think that\'s the only problem we social justice Christians emphasize.  He\'s right, it gets a lot of press.  The heart of the matter is that Dr. Kengor has equated the political problem of wealth redistribution with the social problem of the income gap and its associated issues.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">Social justice isn\'t about politics.  It may involve government, laws, and structural reforms.  But it isn\'t about what the guys at the top decide to do to \"even the score.\"  It\'s about what we, the people, do to create a social climate that values all people and helps everyone reach his or her potential, and working together for the good of all.</p>','Defining Social Justice','','inherit','open','open','','1168-revision-8','','','2011-10-25 19:24:37','2011-10-26 02:24:37','',1168,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1168-revision-8/',0,'revision','',0),(1185,43,'2011-10-25 19:25:26','2011-10-26 02:25:26','<p align=\"left\">In today\'s political climate, it can be tough to make sense of the cacophony of voices using \"social justice\" as their rallying cry.  Everyone with a stake in our nation\'s well-being (which, in theory, ought to be one hundred percent of the population) views the concept through his or her own lens.  It can be difficult to make sense of what it means when we have a person on one side demanding an end to poverty and a person on the other side lobbying for marriage equality, while the people in front and in back of us clamor for us to care about education and healthcare reform.  So what exactly is social justice?</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">A quick Google search for the term \"social justice\" yields over 8 million results.  On just the first two pages are entries from sources as diverse as Wikipedia, Dictionary.com, Fox News, and several personal web pages.  It seems everyone has an opinion on the matter.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">While digging for some specifics, I came across an article from <a href=\"http://www.crosswalk.com/\">Crosswalk.com</a>, in the news and commentary section.  Dr. Paul Kengor, of Grove City College, has this to say on the matter:</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">\"Most exasperating is that many who speak the language of social justice really mean \"economic justice.\" Unlike traditional practitioners of social justice, whose occasional noble interests ranged from prison reform to child-labor laws, many modern practitioners seek wealth redistribution, \"living wages,\" progressive income taxes, and an eternally-widening net of federal government power and central planning; they are inclined to class interests rather than human rights. And, by their estimate, achieving <em>economic justice</em> requires collectivism. They invoke <em>social</em> justice not to try to resolve conventional <em>social</em> differences as much as class/income differences.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">\"This is why, in many modern eyes, including those of the much-maligned Glenn Beck, mention of \"social justice\" seems a red flag for socialism.\"  [The rest of the article is located <a href=\"http://www.crosswalk.com/news/economic-justice-as-social-justice-11635548.html\">here</a>.]</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">I had several reactions to Dr. Kengor\'s statements.  First, I was annoyed.  How dare he presume to know what people mean when they use the term \"social justice\"?  Then I decided that I must have misunderstood.  He wasn\'t <em>really</em> saying that economic justice isn\'t social justice, was he?  Finally, I simply shelved the comments as one more example of someone conflating economic reform with communism.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">It\'s absolutely true that economic justice is not the same as social justice, although it is a subset.  The problem is not that Dr. Kengor seems to think that\'s the only problem we social justice Christians emphasize.  He\'s right, it gets a lot of press.  The heart of the matter is that Dr. Kengor has equated the political problem of wealth redistribution with the social problem of the income gap and its associated issues.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">Social justice isn\'t about politics.  It may involve government, laws, and structural reforms.  But it isn\'t about what the guys at the top decide to do to \"even the score.\"  It\'s about what we, the people, do to create a social climate that values all people and helps everyone reach his or her potential, and working together for the good of all.</p>','Defining Social Justice','','inherit','open','open','','1168-revision-9','','','2011-10-25 19:25:26','2011-10-26 02:25:26','',1168,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1168-revision-9/',0,'revision','',0),(1186,43,'2011-10-25 19:25:42','2011-10-26 02:25:42','<p align=\"left\">In today\'s political climate, it can be tough to make sense of the cacophony of voices using \"social justice\" as their rallying cry.  Everyone with a stake in our nation\'s well-being (which, in theory, ought to be one hundred percent of the population) views the concept through his or her own lens.  It can be difficult to make sense of what it means when we have a person on one side demanding an end to poverty and a person on the other side lobbying for marriage equality, while the people in front and in back of us clamor for us to care about education and healthcare reform.  So what exactly is social justice?</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">A quick Google search for the term \"social justice\" yields over 8 million results.  On just the first two pages are entries from sources as diverse as Wikipedia, Dictionary.com, Fox News, and several personal web pages.  It seems everyone has an opinion on the matter.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">While digging for some specifics, I came across an article from <a href=\"http://www.crosswalk.com/\">Crosswalk.com</a>, in the news and commentary section.  Dr. Paul Kengor, of Grove City College, has this to say on the matter:</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">\"Most exasperating is that many who speak the language of social justice really mean \"economic justice.\" Unlike traditional practitioners of social justice, whose occasional noble interests ranged from prison reform to child-labor laws, many modern practitioners seek wealth redistribution, \"living wages,\" progressive income taxes, and an eternally-widening net of federal government power and central planning; they are inclined to class interests rather than human rights. And, by their estimate, achieving <em>economic justice</em> requires collectivism. They invoke <em>social</em> justice not to try to resolve conventional <em>social</em> differences as much as class/income differences.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">\"This is why, in many modern eyes, including those of the much-maligned Glenn Beck, mention of \"social justice\" seems a red flag for socialism.\"  [The rest of the article is located <a href=\"http://www.crosswalk.com/news/economic-justice-as-social-justice-11635548.html\">here</a>.]</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">I had several reactions to Dr. Kengor\'s statements.  First, I was annoyed.  How dare he presume to know what people mean when they use the term \"social justice\"?  Then I decided that I must have misunderstood.  He wasn\'t <em>really</em> saying that economic justice isn\'t social justice, was he?  Finally, I simply shelved the comments as one more example of someone conflating economic reform with communism.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">It\'s absolutely true that economic justice is not the same as social justice, although it is a subset.  The problem is not that Dr. Kengor seems to think that\'s the only problem we social justice Christians emphasize.  He\'s right, it gets a lot of press.  The heart of the matter is that Dr. Kengor has equated the political problem of wealth redistribution with the social problem of the income gap and its associated issues.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">Social justice isn\'t about politics.  It may involve government, laws, and structural reforms.  But it isn\'t about what the guys at the top decide to do to \"even the score.\"  It\'s about what we, the people, do to create a social climate that values all people and helps everyone reach his or her potential, and working together for the good of all.</p>','Defining Social Justice','','inherit','open','open','','1168-revision-10','','','2011-10-25 19:25:42','2011-10-26 02:25:42','',1168,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1168-revision-10/',0,'revision','',0),(1188,43,'2011-10-25 19:26:15','2011-10-26 02:26:15','<p align=\"left\">In today\'s political climate, it can be tough to make sense of the cacophony of voices using \"social justice\" as their rallying cry.  Everyone with a stake in our nation\'s well-being (which, in theory, ought to be one hundred percent of the population) views the concept through his or her own lens.  It can be difficult to make sense of what it means when we have a person on one side demanding an end to poverty and a person on the other side lobbying for marriage equality, while the people in front and in back of us clamor for us to care about education and healthcare reform.  So what exactly is social justice?</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">A quick Google search for the term \"social justice\" yields over 8 million results.  On just the first two pages are entries from sources as diverse as Wikipedia, Dictionary.com, Fox News, and several personal web pages.  It seems everyone has an opinion on the matter.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">While digging for some specifics, I came across an article from <a href=\"http://www.crosswalk.com/\">Crosswalk.com</a>, in the news and commentary section.  Dr. Paul Kengor, of Grove City College, has this to say on the matter:</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">\"Most exasperating is that many who speak the language of social justice really mean \"economic justice.\" Unlike traditional practitioners of social justice, whose occasional noble interests ranged from prison reform to child-labor laws, many modern practitioners seek wealth redistribution, \"living wages,\" progressive income taxes, and an eternally-widening net of federal government power and central planning; they are inclined to class interests rather than human rights. And, by their estimate, achieving <em>economic justice</em> requires collectivism. They invoke <em>social</em> justice not to try to resolve conventional <em>social</em> differences as much as class/income differences.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">\"This is why, in many modern eyes, including those of the much-maligned Glenn Beck, mention of \"social justice\" seems a red flag for socialism.\"  [The rest of the article is located]</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">I had several reactions to Dr. Kengor\'s statements.  First, I was annoyed.  How dare he presume to know what people mean when they use the term \"social justice\"?  Then I decided that I must have misunderstood.  He wasn\'t <em>really</em> saying that economic justice isn\'t social justice, was he?  Finally, I simply shelved the comments as one more example of someone conflating economic reform with communism.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">It\'s absolutely true that economic justice is not the same as social justice, although it is a subset.  The problem is not that Dr. Kengor seems to think that\'s the only problem we social justice Christians emphasize.  He\'s right, it gets a lot of press.  The heart of the matter is that Dr. Kengor has equated the political problem of wealth redistribution with the social problem of the income gap and its associated issues.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">Social justice isn\'t about politics.  It may involve government, laws, and structural reforms.  But it isn\'t about what the guys at the top decide to do to \"even the score.\"  It\'s about what we, the people, do to create a social climate that values all people and helps everyone reach his or her potential, and working together for the good of all.</p>','Defining Social Justice','','inherit','open','open','','1168-revision-12','','','2011-10-25 19:26:15','2011-10-26 02:26:15','',1168,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1168-revision-12/',0,'revision','',0),(1190,43,'2011-10-25 19:27:52','2011-10-26 02:27:52','<p align=\"left\">In today\'s political climate, it can be tough to make sense of the cacophony of voices using \"social justice\" as their rallying cry.  Everyone with a stake in our nation\'s well-being (which, in theory, ought to be one hundred percent of the population) views the concept through his or her own lens.  It can be difficult to make sense of what it means when we have a person on one side demanding an end to poverty and a person on the other side lobbying for marriage equality, while the people in front and in back of us clamor for us to care about education and healthcare reform.  So what exactly is social justice?</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">A quick Google search for the term \"social justice\" yields over 8 million results.  On just the first two pages are entries from sources as diverse as Wikipedia, Dictionary.com, Fox News, and several personal web pages.  It seems everyone has an opinion on the matter.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">While digging for some specifics, I came across an article from <a href=\"http://www.crosswalk.com/\">Crosswalk.com</a>, in the news and commentary section.  Dr. Paul Kengor, of Grove City College, has this to say on the matter:</p>\r\n\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p align=\"left\">\"Most exasperating is that many who speak the language of social justice really mean \"economic justice.\" Unlike traditional practitioners of social justice, whose occasional noble interests ranged from prison reform to child-labor laws, many modern practitioners seek wealth redistribution, \"living wages,\" progressive income taxes, and an eternally-widening net of federal government power and central planning; they are inclined to class interests rather than human rights. And, by their estimate, achieving <em>economic justice</em> requires collectivism. They invoke <em>social</em> justice not to try to resolve conventional <em>social</em> differences as much as class/income differences.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">\"This is why, in many modern eyes, including those of the much-maligned Glenn Beck, mention of \"social justice\" seems a red flag for socialism.\"</p>\r\n</blockquote>\r\n<p align=\"left\">I had several reactions to Dr. Kengor\'s statements.  First, I was annoyed.  How dare he presume to know what people mean when they use the term \"social justice\"?  Then I decided that I must have misunderstood.  He wasn\'t <em>really</em> saying that economic justice isn\'t social justice, was he?  Finally, I simply shelved the comments as one more example of someone conflating economic reform with communism.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">It\'s absolutely true that economic justice is not the same as social justice, although it is a subset.  The problem is not that Dr. Kengor seems to think that\'s the only problem we social justice Christians emphasize.  He\'s right, it gets a lot of press.  The heart of the matter is that Dr. Kengor has equated the political problem of wealth redistribution with the social problem of the income gap and its associated issues.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">Social justice isn\'t about politics.  It may involve government, laws, and structural reforms.  But it isn\'t about what the guys at the top decide to do to \"even the score.\"  It\'s about what we, the people, do to create a social climate that values all people and helps everyone reach his or her potential, and working together for the good of all.</p>','Defining Social Justice','','inherit','open','open','','1168-revision-14','','','2011-10-25 19:27:52','2011-10-26 02:27:52','',1168,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1168-revision-14/',0,'revision','',0),(1189,43,'2011-10-25 19:27:05','2011-10-26 02:27:05','<p align=\"left\">In today\'s political climate, it can be tough to make sense of the cacophony of voices using \"social justice\" as their rallying cry.  Everyone with a stake in our nation\'s well-being (which, in theory, ought to be one hundred percent of the population) views the concept through his or her own lens.  It can be difficult to make sense of what it means when we have a person on one side demanding an end to poverty and a person on the other side lobbying for marriage equality, while the people in front and in back of us clamor for us to care about education and healthcare reform.  So what exactly is social justice?</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">A quick Google search for the term \"social justice\" yields over 8 million results.  On just the first two pages are entries from sources as diverse as Wikipedia, Dictionary.com, Fox News, and several personal web pages.  It seems everyone has an opinion on the matter.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">While digging for some specifics, I came across an article from <a href=\"http://www.crosswalk.com/\">Crosswalk.com</a>, in the news and commentary section.  Dr. Paul Kengor, of Grove City College, has this to say on the matter:</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">\"Most exasperating is that many who speak the language of social justice really mean \"economic justice.\" Unlike traditional practitioners of social justice, whose occasional noble interests ranged from prison reform to child-labor laws, many modern practitioners seek wealth redistribution, \"living wages,\" progressive income taxes, and an eternally-widening net of federal government power and central planning; they are inclined to class interests rather than human rights. And, by their estimate, achieving <em>economic justice</em> requires collectivism. They invoke <em>social</em> justice not to try to resolve conventional <em>social</em> differences as much as class/income differences.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">\"This is why, in many modern eyes, including those of the much-maligned Glenn Beck, mention of \"social justice\" seems a red flag for socialism.\"  [The rest of the article is located <a href=\"http://www.crosswalk.com/news/economic-justice-as-social-justice-11635548.html\">here</a>.]</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">I had several reactions to Dr. Kengor\'s statements.  First, I was annoyed.  How dare he presume to know what people mean when they use the term \"social justice\"?  Then I decided that I must have misunderstood.  He wasn\'t <em>really</em> saying that economic justice isn\'t social justice, was he?  Finally, I simply shelved the comments as one more example of someone conflating economic reform with communism.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">It\'s absolutely true that economic justice is not the same as social justice, although it is a subset.  The problem is not that Dr. Kengor seems to think that\'s the only problem we social justice Christians emphasize.  He\'s right, it gets a lot of press.  The heart of the matter is that Dr. Kengor has equated the political problem of wealth redistribution with the social problem of the income gap and its associated issues.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">Social justice isn\'t about politics.  It may involve government, laws, and structural reforms.  But it isn\'t about what the guys at the top decide to do to \"even the score.\"  It\'s about what we, the people, do to create a social climate that values all people and helps everyone reach his or her potential, and working together for the good of all.</p>','Defining Social Justice','','inherit','open','open','','1168-revision-13','','','2011-10-25 19:27:05','2011-10-26 02:27:05','',1168,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1168-revision-13/',0,'revision','',0),(1191,43,'2011-10-25 19:28:37','2011-10-26 02:28:37','<p align=\"left\">In today\'s political climate, it can be tough to make sense of the cacophony of voices using \"social justice\" as their rallying cry.  Everyone with a stake in our nation\'s well-being (which, in theory, ought to be one hundred percent of the population) views the concept through his or her own lens.  It can be difficult to make sense of what it means when we have a person on one side demanding an end to poverty and a person on the other side lobbying for marriage equality, while the people in front and in back of us clamor for us to care about education and healthcare reform.  So what exactly is social justice?</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">A quick Google search for the term \"social justice\" yields over 8 million results.  On just the first two pages are entries from sources as diverse as Wikipedia, Dictionary.com, Fox News, and several personal web pages.  It seems everyone has an opinion on the matter.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">While digging for some specifics, I came across an article from <a href=\"http://www.crosswalk.com/\">Crosswalk.com</a>, in the news and commentary section.  Dr. Paul Kengor, of Grove City College, has <a href=\"http://www.crosswalk.com/news/economic-justice-as-social-justice-11635548.html\">this</a> to say on the matter:</p>\r\n\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p align=\"left\">\"Most exasperating is that many who speak the language of social justice really mean \"economic justice.\" Unlike traditional practitioners of social justice, whose occasional noble interests ranged from prison reform to child-labor laws, many modern practitioners seek wealth redistribution, \"living wages,\" progressive income taxes, and an eternally-widening net of federal government power and central planning; they are inclined to class interests rather than human rights. And, by their estimate, achieving <em>economic justice</em> requires collectivism. They invoke <em>social</em> justice not to try to resolve conventional <em>social</em> differences as much as class/income differences.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">\"This is why, in many modern eyes, including those of the much-maligned Glenn Beck, mention of \"social justice\" seems a red flag for socialism.\"</p>\r\n</blockquote>\r\n<p align=\"left\">I had several reactions to Dr. Kengor\'s statements.  First, I was annoyed.  How dare he presume to know what people mean when they use the term \"social justice\"?  Then I decided that I must have misunderstood.  He wasn\'t <em>really</em> saying that economic justice isn\'t social justice, was he?  Finally, I simply shelved the comments as one more example of someone conflating economic reform with communism.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">It\'s absolutely true that economic justice is not the same as social justice, although it is a subset.  The problem is not that Dr. Kengor seems to think that\'s the only problem we social justice Christians emphasize.  He\'s right, it gets a lot of press.  The heart of the matter is that Dr. Kengor has equated the political problem of wealth redistribution with the social problem of the income gap and its associated issues.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">Social justice isn\'t about politics.  It may involve government, laws, and structural reforms.  But it isn\'t about what the guys at the top decide to do to \"even the score.\"  It\'s about what we, the people, do to create a social climate that values all people and helps everyone reach his or her potential, and working together for the good of all.</p>','Defining Social Justice','','inherit','open','open','','1168-revision-15','','','2011-10-25 19:28:37','2011-10-26 02:28:37','',1168,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1168-revision-15/',0,'revision','',0),(1192,12,'2011-10-25 19:29:45','2011-10-26 02:29:45','Businessman speaking before inattentive colleagues at meeting','200165803-002','','inherit','open','open','','200165803-002','','','2011-10-25 19:29:45','2011-10-26 02:29:45','',0,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/sks.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(1193,12,'2011-10-25 19:30:21','2011-10-26 02:30:21','','pres','','inherit','open','open','','pres','','','2011-10-25 19:30:21','2011-10-26 02:30:21','',0,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/pres.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(1194,12,'2011-10-25 19:31:54','2011-10-26 02:31:54','','paul','','inherit','open','open','','paul','','','2011-10-25 19:31:54','2011-10-26 02:31:54','',0,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/paul.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(2955,35,'2012-01-31 10:35:47','2012-01-31 18:35:47','Prepare to hear a blasphemous, un-American confession:  I don’t care about Christmas anymore.  God knows I used to, and I have the ornaments, lights, and Christmas cookie recipes to prove it.\n\nSo what happened to me?  Did someone I love die, and I’m still in grief?  Yeah, something died, alright.  The celebration in Christmas.  All the rah-rah, happy-happy, be of good cheer.  I’m not jaded because of  commercialism these days, though I hate it.  I am seriously pissed that stores are putting up Christmas things two weeks before Halloween.  What’s next?  Santa on the shelf before Labor Day?\n\nOver the last few years, I’ve tried to be a “good” Christian, and focus on the “Christ” in Christmas.  See the baby Jesus in the manger as significant.  I mean, really – I wouldn’t be a Christian today if Jesus hadn’t come to earth, right?  So what the hell is wrong with me?  What is wrong for me?\n\nDo I have to have a reason except that Christmas depresses me now?   I’m not going to lie to you and make one up.  Didn’t it always piss you off when you were a child and you asked your parents why you had to do such-and-such and they said, “Because I said so”?\n\nWhy don’t I care about Christmas anymore?  Because I don’t.  I’m not trying to be a kill-joy, but Christmas is a kill-Joy.  It kills me to pretend that everything is lovely, while Christmas only depresses me.  I know so many people who tell me they just LOVE Christmas and it’s their favorite time of year.  Do you know when that was true for me?  When I was a kid and when my kids were little.  If I had really looked closely when my children were pre-schoolers and in elementary school, I might have noticed that I cared about Christmas for them, not because it was important for me.\n\nSo what do I do at this time of year?  Pretend.  Tell people what they expect to hear.  But here’s what is real, what does matter:  that my adult children get what they want, and I’m NOT talking about their list for Santa.  I can’t afford that any more.  So what do they want from me?  What do I really want for Christmas?  Read on\n<h4>Giving What I Need</h4>\n<em>I don’t care about Christmas anymore.\nIt seems so sad and empty,\nsomething to do and be done with.\nI refuse to just “buy something” for the people I love.\nThere is a special satisfaction in finding a gift\nperfect for a precious someone,\nand I would be lynched if I didn’t fill\nmy tall kids’ stockings with silly dollar store toys and kiddy candy\nappropriate only for six-year-olds.\nI really like that part,\nbut the carols, trees and seasonal scenes\nhave lost me, left me out to lunch.</em>\n\n<em>To all the people glowing with delight,\nasking if my shopping is complete\nthen interrupting with their answer\nbefore hearing mine,\nI just smile and give the expected response:\n“Yes.  Merry Christmas.”\nWhat else is there to say that’s socially acceptable?</em>\n\n<em>I just buried my dog with stomach cancer,\nwhich doesn’t help, but that’s not what’s wrong.\nThe lights at night are pretty but pointless,\npoinsettias, packages,\npain my hurting heart can’t celebrate,\nand I don’t even miss it,\nbut I don’t have to explain this to you.</em>\n\n<em>When you rode into Jerusalem\nand the crowds welcomed you with joy,\nI doubt that happiness filled your heart.\nGrief and dread were primary\nbecause you knew what was coming,\nbut I bet you smiled and waved anyway\nbecause you loved them.\nIt was more important\nto give them what they wanted\ninstead of what you did.</em>\n\n<em>Is that the perfect gift I can give this year\nto the people I care about?\nWhat they want from me isn’t my depression.\nHelp me give the gift you gave,\npocketing your needs to feed the hearts of others,\ncelebrating their joy.\nSo my candle isn’t lit;\nI can still light up their faces\nwith traditions that matter to them.</em>\n\n<em>But I’m sick of faking it;\ncontinuing will only make things worse.\nI can’t do this by myself.\nGrant me the gumption\nto feel for real what they need\nand act on it with faith\nthat you will meet my needs, too.</em>','Giving What I Need','','inherit','open','open','','2804-autosave','','','2012-01-31 10:35:47','2012-01-31 18:35:47','',2804,'http://provoketive.com/2011/12/05/2804-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(2656,1,'2011-11-28 07:05:13','2011-11-28 15:05:13','','Buddha_Statue','','inherit','open','open','','buddha_statue','','','2011-11-28 07:05:13','2011-11-28 15:05:13','',2624,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Buddha_Statue.png',0,'attachment','image/png',0),(2657,1,'2011-11-27 11:15:15','2011-11-27 19:15:15','While recently visiting a (Won) Buddhist temple, I heard one practitioner refer to Jesus as a Buddha. I was struck by the generosity of calling the leader of another faith one’s most cherished, revered term. In Won Buddhism, as I understand it, there is an effort for each person to embrace their Buddhahood and see the Buddha in another, so the statement was not at all unusual in that context. However it did lead me to a place of introspection about my own faith path. Could I, raised a Christian, return the favor? Could I say “Buddha is a Savior, Redeemer”?\r\n\r\nI have been frustrated and turned off by the churches I have visited that seem to place their God high above any other God. If there truly is one God, isn’t that one God as high as any God can be?\r\n\r\nI recently attended a conference at a megachurch in the Midwest. And I was disturbed by two of the things I experienced there. One of those things was the lead pastor (who I have followed and respected for many years) saying that “Christianity was the only Religion about Love”. Really? Really? Have you explored any other religions? My personal experience with other, non-Christian religions is they really are about love. They are about getting out negativity so the love can flow in. The second thing that disturbed me during my megachurch experience was surprisingly, the music. Although the music was inspiring and energetic, the lyrics were anything but. One song in particular featured the message: “Our God is stronger than your God, Our God is greater than Your God, etc.” Really? Are we in seventh grade or something? Are we really that competitive?\r\n\r\nTo me it seems when you have to tell someone your God is better, stronger, greater, more loving…than perhaps deep down you have some doubts on this topic?\r\n\r\nWhat if there is only one God, and this one God is manifested in many beautiful names? Those names could include Jesus Christ, Wonderful, Counselor Allah, Buddha, and scores of other names.\r\n\r\nIf we believe in one God, let’s start living and talking like it, and stop being so competitive. Start accepting that that one God is so brilliant that he made many ways to show himself before us all.\r\n\r\nThere are passages in the Bible that really resonate with me around this issue, for instance, this one from John (10:16) As Jesus said, \"And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd\".\r\n\r\nPerhaps the variety in religion is part of God’s big plan, and we should start showing some respect. Why wouldn’t God show up differently in the varied landscape of world culture. In this quote by theologian Emanuel Swedenborg (Divine Providence 254) he seems to call this idea out quite clearly. \"When a religion has been implanted in a nation, the Lord leads that nation according to the precepts and dogmas of its own religion. He has provided that there shall be in every religion precepts like those in the Ten Commandments....The nation that regards these precepts as Divine and lives according to them from a religious motive is saved.\".','Jesus is a Buddha, God\'s Plan for Variety in Religion','','inherit','open','open','','2624-revision-5','','','2011-11-27 11:15:15','2011-11-27 19:15:15','',2624,'http://provoketive.com/2011/11/27/2624-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(1198,12,'2011-10-25 19:45:32','2011-10-26 02:45:32','','mutiny','','inherit','open','open','','mutiny','','','2011-10-25 19:45:32','2011-10-26 02:45:32','',0,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/mutiny.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(2648,1,'2011-11-28 06:49:40','2011-11-28 14:49:40','Thanksgiving is now behind us, a day that for many is filled with one delicious food after another. Turkey. Mashed potatoes. Corn casserole. Jello molds. Pies, pies, and more pies. We fill our plates, we eat, we dive back in for more. We wear our stretchy pants and leave the belts in the closet for another day.\n\nEating turkey and mashed potatoes isn\'t something that is unique to Thanksgiving. Particularly here in America, we can have a large meal nearly any day of the year. So despite the fact that we tend to focus on the food, there must be more to this holiday than simply an opportunity to eat a large meal.\n\nI believe what makes Thanksgiving special is the opportunity that we have not only to feed our physical appetites, but to feed our spiritual and emotional appetites as well. To feed not only our bodies, but our souls.\n\nWe fix meals that are more complicated than we might normally make. We play games that usually gather dust on the shelves. We enjoy one another\'s company without feeling the need to rush to the next thing. After the hustle and bustle of preparing the meal, it\'s a day for slowing down and for spending time together with those whom you love.\n\nBut what might happen if we took the time to seek out this soul food more often? What might that look like?\n\nPerhaps it would be to sit and really listen to a piece of music for a few minutes. Allow each note to penetrate the deep, hidden places of our minds and hearts.\n\nPerhaps it would be to take a moment and read some poetry, not just in our minds, but aloud. Let the words dance across our tongues and spill out over our lips.\n\nPerhaps it would be to bake a loaf of bread. Put our hands in the dough and experience the sensual delights of turning it over and creating something that will nourish someone else.\n\nKnit a pair of socks. Take a walk in the woods. Attend a concert. Drink coffee with a friend.\n\nWhether you have time to for a gourmet meal, or just feed it a snack, make time to feed your soul. It will thank you.\n\n<em>What have you done to feed your soul recently? </em>','Soul Food','','inherit','open','open','','2598-autosave','','','2011-11-28 06:49:40','2011-11-28 14:49:40','',2598,'http://provoketive.com/2011/11/28/2598-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(2646,1,'2011-11-28 06:37:58','2011-11-28 14:37:58','2011 continues to be a year of protest on an international level and as we see protests in nations with very different GDPs and reputations I think we are learning some interesting things. Clearly there are gigantic differences between the events in Tahrir Square now and in January/February and the Occupy protests across many \'western\' countries, from the tactics of both the demonstrators and authorities to the stated aims of the protestors to the issues that have prompted them. One thing that is similar across the world is the use of cameras and phones by the protestors and spectators to document and publicise what is happening. Earlier this week, Slashdot commented on the \'perception wars\' that now occur concurrently with the conflict between protestors and authorities in an article titled  <a href=\"http://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/11/22/2129238/the-future-of-protest-in-panopticon-nation\">The Future of Protest In Panopticon Nation</a>.\n\nFirst a little background for those who might find the term \'panopticon\' unfamiliar. A little understanding of the way the Greek language has contributed to our language may help you to detect that it refers to \'all-seeing\' or total observation, but its history is interesting. It is attributed to an 18th Century Englishman, Jeremy Bentham, who imagined prisons (and other institutions) built as a circular building around a central observation tower, so that a minimal staff could observe and control the inmates or workers effectively. Critically, the observation was to be one-way, so the inmates would never know when they were or were not being observed and would have to always behave as if they were being closely observed.\n\nBentham\'s panopticon prison was never constructed as he designed it, though it has inspired the way prisons have developed since the late eighteenth century. The technology to make it feasible was not available then - and once it was available it negated the architectural design he suggested. The use of CCTV in the UK (England and Wales has by far the highest concentration of CCTV cameras of anywhere in the world) has made the panopticon something not just for inmates, but of all members of society. The obsession with testing and measuring performance means it is a day-to-day part of life for many workers - they do not know when precisely their speed or accuracy will be checked, but it will, so they must always do the best possible, whether on a factory production line or in a call centre or an office. This level of observation perhaps even goes beyond the surveillance of police states behind the Iron Curtain, while inspiring less fear as the penalties do not match the terror inspired by the Stazi or KGB.\n\nI first came across the term \'panopticon\' in the writing of the French thinker Michel Foucault. He devotes an entire chapter of <em>Discipline and Punish</em> to the idea of \'panopticism\', describing its power as \'visible and unverifiable\'. Visible, because the inmate can always see the central tower \'from which he is spied upon\'; unverifiable, because though he might be seen at any or all moments, he cannot be sure when he is or is not. Foucault links the ideal of the panopticon with the growth of a police system with local stations which could look out for disturbance and respond as necessary - exactly as today we call for more police \'on the beat\' to make us feel safer. Foucault\'s aim is to unmask and name the power at play here, to show how we have become a \'carceral culture\' and discipline is used to control us, his analysis continues to resonate more than 35 years later.\n\nBut this discipline is fragile and the illusion of control can shatter quickly. The violence and destruction in several cities in England in August this year was an illustration of what happens when the illusion that the police have total control breaks down. Looting spread around London and to several other cities as it seemed the police could not respond to or contain the people smashing windows and taking big-ticket items from shops or attacking individuals and burning property. It took several days for the message that the police would arrest and the courts would punish those involved to become believable and discipline to be restored.\n\nPart of the success of the UK police was based on their use of social media and other electronic communication tools, as well as still photos and video from CCTV and FITs. The Metropolitan Police \'Forward Intelligence Teams\' photograph and video suspects, especially at protests. But they\'re not the only ones recording everything: people on the other side of the police line are too.\n\n[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjnR7xET7Uo[/youtube]\n\nA powerful example of this is the (now infamous) video of a police officer using pepper spray on seated protesters on the UC Davis campus. You can\'t help but notice that so many of the students are recording the whole thing on their phones or camcorders. The result of this is that two police officers have been suspended - and it\'s not beyond the realm of possibility that there will prosecutions for assault.\n\nIt\'s been alleged that the light-handed response of the Metropolitan Police in August was because of the criticism of their rather heavier tactics with the student protests in 2010 and March 2011. That\'s a direct result of the videos available of the \'kettles\' they employed as well as the legal action and press responses. The death of Ian Tomlinson resulted in a police officer being tried using video footage of the beating he dished out. The classic question \'Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?\' has an answer - everyone is watching (and recording) all that the watchmen are doing.\n\nI don\'t believe it will take many incidents like UC Davis and the clearance of OWS to make US cops rethink their response to peaceful protests. The US and other western countries cannot afford to give governments from Iran to Myanmar the excuse that they have seen what has happened in New York or California and have just done the same. The Egyptian military government should not be able to compare Tahrir Square with Zuccotti Park (and their use of US made tear gas is a whole other issue.)\n\nThis \'sousveillance\', an inversion of state surveillance, by people desperate to keep their government and police accountable is changing the nature of protest. And the change is not complete - the tactics of stormtrooper costumes and chemical weapons is not a viable one in this world of panopticism, so police tactics are shifting - covering up names and numbers on uniforms, more plainclothes FITs, police \'agent provocateurs\', who knows what. All we can be certain of is that the panopticon is inverted, the inmates of this institutionalised society are looking in at the centre and doing their best to keep it accountable.','The Inverted Panopticon','','inherit','open','open','','2587-autosave','','','2011-11-28 06:37:58','2011-11-28 14:37:58','',2587,'http://provoketive.com/2011/11/28/2587-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(2645,1,'2011-11-28 06:35:36','2011-11-28 14:35:36','<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This coming Sunday marks the beginning of the Advent season.  The church is four weeks away from celebrating the birth of Christ and the welcoming of the Prince of Peace into the world.  It is a time of anticipation, of expectation, and of longing.</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It is fitting that the first week of Advent symbolizes hope.</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Advent season brings hope in a more just world.  Hope that peace will overcome war.  Hope in reconciling with our fellow man.  Hope that suffering will soon be no more.</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Looking at the world today, Advent has never seemed more real.  Tens of thousands of people are in the streets crying out for truth, for righteousness, for justice.  While it cannot be said that the Occupy movement is a religious movement, there is <em>something</em> universal, something spiritual about it.</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Critics say that the movement is too varied, leaderless, and directionless to be effective.  While there is some truth that there isn’t a short list of 30-second sound bytes to define what Occupy is about, that is sort of the point.</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The people are the message.</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">If the Occupy movement was about a singular policy position, as another recent political movement has been, it would have collapsed at the first sign of opposition from the status quo.  Two and a half months later, the voices have only grown stronger.</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">People from all across the demographic spectra are coming together for something more powerful than the critics realize.</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Hope.</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Hope is the unifying force that binds this diverse group of people, professional and student, young and old, black and white, together in the face of stiff and sometimes violent opposition.</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The kind of hope that is birthed from the understanding that we, as a society, are not only responsible to each other but for each other as well.</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Hope in the promise of ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”.</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Hope that people see that the Kingdom truly is “at hand”.</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Hope that justice will be restored.</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Hope in a better world yet to come.</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>Photo Credit:  © 2009   DieselDemon , Flickr</em></p>','An Unruly Advent Season','','inherit','open','open','','2560-revision-3','','','2011-11-28 06:35:36','2011-11-28 14:35:36','',2560,'http://provoketive.com/2011/11/28/2560-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(2647,1,'2011-11-24 09:21:02','2011-11-24 17:21:02','2011 continues to be a year of protest on an international level and as we see protests in nations with very different GDPs and reputations I think we are learning some interesting things. Clearly there are gigantic differences between the events in Tahrir Square now and in January/February and the Occupy protests across many \'western\' countries, from the tactics of both the demonstrators and authorities to the stated aims of the protestors to the issues that have prompted them. One thing that is similar across the world is the use of cameras and phones by the protestors and spectators to document and publicise what is happening. Earlier this week, Slashdot commented on the \'perception wars\' that now occur concurrently with the conflict between protestors and authorities in an article titled  <a href=\"http://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/11/22/2129238/the-future-of-protest-in-panopticon-nation\">The Future of Protest In Panopticon Nation</a>.\r\n\r\nFirst a little background for those who might find the term \'panopticon\' unfamiliar. A little understanding of the way the Greek language has contributed to our language may help you to detect that it refers to \'all-seeing\' or total observation, but its history is interesting. It is attributed to an 18th Century Englishman, Jeremy Bentham, who imagined prisons (and other institutions) built as a circular building around a central observation tower, so that a minimal staff could observe and control the inmates or workers effectively. Critically, the observation was to be one-way, so the inmates would never know when they were or were not being observed and would have to always behave as if they were being closely observed.\r\n\r\nBentham\'s panopticon prison was never constructed as he designed it, though it has inspired the way prisons have developed since the late eighteenth century. The technology to make it feasible was not available then - and once it was available it negated the architectural design he suggested. The use of CCTV in the UK (England and Wales has by far the highest concentration of CCTV cameras of anywhere in the world) has made the panopticon something not just for inmates, but of all members of society. The obsession with testing and measuring performance means it is a day-to-day part of life for many workers - they do not know when precisely their speed or accuracy will be checked, but it will, so they must always do the best possible, whether on a factory production line or in a call centre or an office. This level of observation perhaps even goes beyond the surveillance of police states behind the Iron Curtain, while inspiring less fear as the penalties do not match the terror inspired by the Stazi or KGB.\r\n\r\nI first came across the term \'panopticon\' in the writing of the French thinker Michel Foucault. He devotes an entire chapter of <em>Discipline and Punish</em> to the idea of \'panopticism\', describing its power as \'visible and unverifiable\'. Visible, because the inmate can always see the central tower \'from which he is spied upon\'; unverifiable, because though he might be seen at any or all moments, he cannot be sure when he is or is not. Foucault links the ideal of the panopticon with the growth of a police system with local stations which could look out for disturbance and respond as necessary - exactly as today we call for more police \'on the beat\' to make us feel safer. Foucault\'s aim is to unmask and name the power at play here, to show how we have become a \'carceral culture\' and discipline is used to control us, his analysis continues to resonate more than 35 years later.\r\n\r\nBut this discipline is fragile and the illusion of control can shatter quickly. The violence and destruction in several cities in England in August this year was an illustration of what happens when the illusion that the police have total control breaks down. Looting spread around London and to several other cities as it seemed the police could not respond to or contain the people smashing windows and taking big-ticket items from shops or attacking individuals and burning property. It took several days for the message that the police would arrest and the courts would punish those involved to become believable and discipline to be restored.\r\n\r\nPart of the success of the UK police was based on their use of social media and other electronic communication tools, as well as still photos and video from CCTV and FITs. The Metropolitan Police \'Forward Intelligence Teams\' photograph and video suspects, especially at protests. But they\'re not the only ones recording everything: people on the other side of the police line are too.\r\n\r\n[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjnR7xET7Uo[/youtube]\r\n\r\nA powerful example of this is the (now infamous) video of a police officer using pepper spray on seated protesters on the UC Davis campus. You can\'t help but notice that so many of the students are recording the whole thing on their phones or camcorders. The result of this is that two police officers have been suspended - and it\'s not beyond the realm of possibility that there will prosecutions for assault.\r\n\r\nIt\'s been alleged that the light-handed response of the Metropolitan Police in August was because of the criticism of their rather heavier tactics with the student protests in 2010 and March 2011. That\'s a direct result of the videos available of the \'kettles\' they employed as well as the legal action and press responses. The death of Ian Tomlinson resulted in a police officer being tried using video footage of the beating he dished out. The classic question \'Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?\' has an answer - everyone is watching (and recording) all that the watchmen are doing.\r\n\r\nI don\'t believe it will take many incidents like UC Davis and the clearance of OWS to make US cops rethink their response to peaceful protests. The US and other western countries cannot afford to give governments from Iran to Myanmar the excuse that they have seen what has happened in New York or California and have just done the same. The Egyptian military government should not be able to compare Tahrir Square with Zuccotti Park (and their use of US made tear gas is a whole other issue.)\r\n\r\nThis \'sousveillance\', an inversion of state surveillance, by people desperate to keep their government and police accountable is changing the nature of protest. And the change is not complete - the tactics of stormtrooper costumes and chemical weapons is not a viable one in this world of panopticism, so police tactics are shifting - covering up names and numbers on uniforms, more plainclothes FITs, police \'agent provocateurs\', who knows what. All we can be certain of is that the panopticon is inverted, the inmates of this institutionalised society are looking in at the centre and doing their best to keep it accountable.','The Inverted Panopticon','','inherit','open','open','','2587-revision-5','','','2011-11-24 09:21:02','2011-11-24 17:21:02','',2587,'http://provoketive.com/2011/11/24/2587-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(2634,100,'2011-11-29 07:06:32','2011-11-29 15:06:32','[caption id=\"attachment_2635\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"225\" caption=\"Lucas Land\"]<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/lucas-land.jpg\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-2635\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/lucas-land-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nNow that we’re all stuffed from a big Thanksgiving meal — we talk food and food ethics with farmer and all around ag-guy, Lucas Land.\r\n\r\nLucas and his family have been involved in farming and agriculture for several years, including a post-graduate internship at World Hunger Relief in Waco, Texas. He’s also just returned from a brief stay in Bolivia where he focused on water issues.\r\n\r\nHe’s actively involved in finding and sharing the intersection between our faith, ethics and the food we eat.\r\n\r\n[audio=\"http://somethingbeautifulpodcast.com/podcast/112511.mp3\"]','Something Beautiful - Lucas Land','','publish','open','open','','something-beautiful-lucas-land','','','2011-11-28 07:06:57','2011-11-28 15:06:57','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=2634',0,'post','',0),(2635,100,'2011-11-27 19:39:01','2011-11-28 03:39:01','','lucas-land','Lucas Land','inherit','open','open','','lucas-land','','','2011-11-27 19:39:01','2011-11-28 03:39:01','',2634,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/lucas-land.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(2636,100,'2011-11-27 19:41:03','2011-11-28 03:41:03','[caption id=\"attachment_2635\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"225\" caption=\"Lucas Land\"]<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/lucas-land.jpg\"><img src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/lucas-land-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2635\" /></a>[/caption]\nNow that we’re all stuffed from a big Thanksgiving meal — we talk food and food ethics with farmer and all around ag-guy, Lucas Land.\n\nLucas and his family have been involved in farming and agriculture for several years, including a post-graduate internship at World Hunger Relief in Waco, Texas. He’s also just returned from a brief stay in Bolivia where he focused on water issues.\n\nHe’s actively involved in finding and sharing the intersection between our faith, ethics and the food we eat.\n\n[audio=\"http://somethingbeautifulpodcast.com/podcast/112511.mp3\"]','Something Beautiful - Lucas Land','','inherit','open','open','','2634-revision','','','2011-11-27 19:41:03','2011-11-28 03:41:03','',2634,'http://provoketive.com/2011/11/27/2634-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(2637,100,'2011-11-27 19:41:11','2011-11-28 03:41:11','[caption id=\"attachment_2635\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"225\" caption=\"Lucas Land\"]<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/lucas-land.jpg\"><img src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/lucas-land-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2635\" /></a>[/caption]\r\nNow that we’re all stuffed from a big Thanksgiving meal — we talk food and food ethics with farmer and all around ag-guy, Lucas Land.\r\n\r\nLucas and his family have been involved in farming and agriculture for several years, including a post-graduate internship at World Hunger Relief in Waco, Texas. He’s also just returned from a brief stay in Bolivia where he focused on water issues.\r\n\r\nHe’s actively involved in finding and sharing the intersection between our faith, ethics and the food we eat.\r\n\r\n[audio=\"http://somethingbeautifulpodcast.com/podcast/112511.mp3\"]','Something Beautiful - Lucas Land','','inherit','open','open','','2634-revision-2','','','2011-11-27 19:41:11','2011-11-28 03:41:11','',2634,'http://provoketive.com/2011/11/27/2634-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(2638,100,'2011-11-27 19:41:17','2011-11-28 03:41:17','[caption id=\"attachment_2635\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"225\" caption=\"Lucas Land\"]<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/lucas-land.jpg\"><img src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/lucas-land-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2635\" /></a>[/caption]\r\nNow that we’re all stuffed from a big Thanksgiving meal — we talk food and food ethics with farmer and all around ag-guy, Lucas Land.\r\n\r\nLucas and his family have been involved in farming and agriculture for several years, including a post-graduate internship at World Hunger Relief in Waco, Texas. He’s also just returned from a brief stay in Bolivia where he focused on water issues.\r\n\r\nHe’s actively involved in finding and sharing the intersection between our faith, ethics and the food we eat.\r\n\r\n[audio=\"http://somethingbeautifulpodcast.com/podcast/112511.mp3\"]','Something Beautiful - Lucas Land','','inherit','open','open','','2634-revision-3','','','2011-11-27 19:41:17','2011-11-28 03:41:17','',2634,'http://provoketive.com/2011/11/27/2634-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(2639,100,'2011-11-27 19:41:51','2011-11-28 03:41:51','[caption id=\"attachment_2635\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"225\" caption=\"Lucas Land\"]<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/lucas-land.jpg\"><img src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/lucas-land-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2635\" /></a>[/caption]\r\nNow that we’re all stuffed from a big Thanksgiving meal — we talk food and food ethics with farmer and all around ag-guy, Lucas Land.\r\n\r\nLucas and his family have been involved in farming and agriculture for several years, including a post-graduate internship at World Hunger Relief in Waco, Texas. He’s also just returned from a brief stay in Bolivia where he focused on water issues.\r\n\r\nHe’s actively involved in finding and sharing the intersection between our faith, ethics and the food we eat.\r\n\r\n[audio=\"http://somethingbeautifulpodcast.com/podcast/112511.mp3\"]','Something Beautiful - Lucas Land','','inherit','open','open','','2634-revision-4','','','2011-11-27 19:41:51','2011-11-28 03:41:51','',2634,'http://provoketive.com/2011/11/27/2634-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(2640,100,'2011-11-27 19:41:55','2011-11-28 03:41:55','[caption id=\"attachment_2635\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"225\" caption=\"Lucas Land\"]<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/lucas-land.jpg\"><img src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/lucas-land-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2635\" /></a>[/caption]\r\nNow that we’re all stuffed from a big Thanksgiving meal — we talk food and food ethics with farmer and all around ag-guy, Lucas Land.\r\n\r\nLucas and his family have been involved in farming and agriculture for several years, including a post-graduate internship at World Hunger Relief in Waco, Texas. He’s also just returned from a brief stay in Bolivia where he focused on water issues.\r\n\r\nHe’s actively involved in finding and sharing the intersection between our faith, ethics and the food we eat.\r\n\r\n[audio=\"http://somethingbeautifulpodcast.com/podcast/112511.mp3\"]','Something Beautiful - Lucas Land','','inherit','open','open','','2634-revision-5','','','2011-11-27 19:41:55','2011-11-28 03:41:55','',2634,'http://provoketive.com/2011/11/27/2634-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(2641,20,'2011-11-28 01:04:45','2011-11-28 09:04:45','<a href=\"http://www.markscandrette.com/writing/practicing-the-way-of-jesus-coming-soon/\" target=\"_blank\">Mark Scandrette, <em>Practicing the Way of Jesus</em></a>:\n<blockquote>The baptism of Jesus provides a compelling picture of the kind of intimate union with God we were created for.  As he stepped out from the water, he heard a voice saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:16-17).  The Spirit then led Jesus into the wilderness where his identity as the beloved was tested.  He emerged after forty days a resolute son prepared to do “his father’s business.”  Subsequently, Jesus often withdrew to gardens and other lonely places.  In the most difficult hours leading up to his arrest, torture and crucifixion, he went into a garden one last time, kneeling to pray, “Abba, not my will but yours be done.”  A hidden life of solitude fueled his courageous public acts of love and service (p. 105).</blockquote>\nThe Christian life is meant to be lived out on the razor’s edge between prophetic action and contemplative reflection.  And it is not so much that one of the steps in this dialectical process must come before the other.  Nor do they necessarily coalesce, really, but remain in tension and are mutually reinforcing.  They form the two pillars that buttress discipleship.  Politically speaking, for instance, we can therefore work for justice and even invest ourselves in certain legislative reforms, electoral changes and grassroots movements.  The role of the contemplative in this case, however, will be to keep our expectations and emotional attachment in check and somewhat disinterested.  The contemplative reminds us that at the end of the day, a Christ-follower still must ultimately find rest in the arms of Jesus rather than in the outcome of political proposals.<a title=\"\" href=\"#_edn1\">[i]</a>  Duke theologian <a href=\"http://divinity.duke.edu/academics/faculty/paul-griffiths\" target=\"_blank\">Paul J. Griffiths</a> calls this approach “political quietism.”<a title=\"\" href=\"#_edn2\">[ii]</a>\n\nOn the other hand, it is the contemplative that gives inspiration, energy and vision to our impending and “courageous public acts of love and service” (see above).  It enables one to meditate on the “agonistic weight of the world.\"<a title=\"\" href=\"#_edn1\">[iii]</a>  At the same time, it also serves to critique and safeguard the extent to which our identities can become too closely aligned with nationalism or any other parochial allegiance.  It is the corrective to all our idolatries.  Accordingly, a Christian citizenship then is understood to be a revoked and “crucified” vocation – that is, it is self-emptied.  We act, but we act with a knowledge that the problems we face in this world can at best only be imperfectly resolved.  As she surveys the bloodshed in our world, it’s not easy for the Christian citizen to really expect the proposal she advocates to substantially curtail all the violence and oppression.  Occupy Wall Street might be a good example of this - a movement with so much positive potential but the lasting effect of which is still to be seen.  Thus, Griffiths also talks about three other  “notes” of Christian political agency: skepticism, hope and lament – skepticism with regard to over-realized eschatological promises, hope for the coming Kingdom, and lament over the real and terrible suffering in the meantime.\n\nActivism remains, and indeed we must act - especially in solidarity with those on the underside of history - but it is only the spiritually and prayerfully formed person whose heart is prepared for the trials of a cross-bearing lifestyle.  Too often we are content with the contemplative or running dry in the prophetic.  May we remind and spur each other along to traverse the path between the two.\n\nHow does this tangibly play out in the rhythms of congregational and communal life?\n<div>\n\n<hr align=\"left\" size=\"1\" width=\"33%\" />\n\n<div>\n\n<a title=\"\" href=\"#_ednref\">[i]</a> I’m using the term <em>political</em> here in the broadest possible sense to include practically all corporate civil activity – not just official or formal participation.\n\n</div>\n<div>\n\n<a title=\"\" href=\"#_ednref\">[ii]</a> Douglas Harink, <em>Paul, Philosophy, and the Theopolitical Vision: Critical Engagements with Agamben, Badiou, Zizek and Others</em> (Cascade Books, 2010), 190.\n\n<a title=\"\" href=\"#_ednref\">[iii]</a> Mark L Taylor, <em>The Theological and the Political: On the Weight of the World</em> (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2011).\n\n</div>\n</div>','The Prophetic and the Contemplative','','inherit','open','open','','2622-revision-3','','','2011-11-28 01:04:45','2011-11-28 09:04:45','',2622,'http://provoketive.com/2011/11/28/2622-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(2630,1,'2011-11-28 07:05:27','2011-11-28 15:05:27','While recently visiting a (Won) Buddhist temple, I heard one practitioner refer to Jesus as a Buddha. I was struck by the generosity of calling the leader of another faith one’s most cherished, revered term. In Won Buddhism, as I understand it, there is an effort for each person to embrace their Buddhahood and see the Buddha in another, so the statement was not at all unusual in that context. However it did lead me to a place of introspection about my own faith path. Could I, raised a Christian, return the favor? Could I say “Buddha is a Savior, Redeemer”?\n\nI have been frustrated and turned off by the churches I have visited that seem to place their God high above any other God. If there truly is one God, isn’t that one God as high as any God can be?\n\nI recently attended a conference at a megachurch in the Midwest. And I was disturbed by two of the things I experienced there. One of those things was the lead pastor (who I have followed and respected for many years) saying that “Christianity was the only Religion about Love”. Really? Really? Have you explored any other religions? My personal experience with other, non-Christian religions is they really are about love. They are about getting out negativity so the love can flow in. The second thing that disturbed me during my megachurch experience was surprisingly, the music. Although the music was inspiring and energetic, the lyrics were anything but. One song in particular featured the message: “Our God is stronger than your God, Our God is greater than Your God, etc.” Really? Are we in seventh grade or something? Are we really that competitive?\n\nTo me it seems when you have to tell someone your God is better, stronger, greater, more loving…than perhaps deep down you have some doubts on this topic?\n\nWhat if there is only one God, and this one God is manifested in many beautiful names? Those names could include Jesus Christ, Wonderful, Counselor Allah, Buddha, and scores of other names.\n\nIf we believe in one God, let’s start living and talking like it, and stop being so competitive. Start accepting that that one God is so brilliant that he made many ways to show himself before us all.\n\nThere are passages in the Bible that really resonate with me around this issue, for instance, this one from John (10:16) As Jesus said, \"And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd\".\n\nPerhaps the variety in religion is part of God’s big plan, and we should start showing some respect. Why wouldn’t God show up differently in the varied landscape of world culture. In this quote by theologian Emanuel Swedenborg (Divine Providence 254) he seems to call this idea out quite clearly. \"When a religion has been implanted in a nation, the Lord leads that nation according to the precepts and dogmas of its own religion. He has provided that there shall be in every religion precepts like those in the Ten Commandments....The nation that regards these precepts as Divine and lives according to them from a religious motive is saved.\".','Jesus is a Buddha','','inherit','open','open','','2624-autosave','','','2011-11-28 07:05:27','2011-11-28 15:05:27','',2624,'http://provoketive.com/2011/11/27/2624-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(2631,0,'2011-11-27 12:24:35','2011-11-27 20:24:35','Faith\n<!--more-->\nAUTHOR: Chloe\nAUTHOR EMAIL: theartofsteering@gmail.com\nAUTHOR URL: http://theartofsteering.wordpress.com\nSUBJECT: Provoketive Magazine Writing For Provoketive\nIP: 94.193.36.193\nArray\n(\n    [Name] =&gt; Chloe\n    [Email] =&gt; theartofsteering@gmail.com\n    [Existing Blog or Website] =&gt; theartofsteering.wordpress.com\n    [List the topic you are interested writing about] =&gt; Faith\n    [Current or New WordPress Login Name (We\'ll send you a password.)] =&gt; theartofsteering\n)\n','Chloe - 2011-11-27 12:24:35','','publish','open','open','','5a978d69063dbf7ac2a627960aec92d2','','','2011-11-27 12:24:35','2011-11-27 20:24:35','',358,'http://provoketive.com/?post_type=feedback&p=2631',0,'feedback','',0),(2632,20,'2011-11-27 14:38:30','2011-11-27 22:38:30','<blockquote>The baptism of Jesus provides a compelling picture of the kind of intimate union with God we were created for.  As he stepped out from the water, he heard a voice saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:16-17).  The Spirit then led Jesus into the wilderness where his identity as the beloved was tested.  He emerged after forty days a resolute son prepared to do “his father’s business.”  Subsequently, Jesus often withdrew to gardens and other lonely places.  In the most difficult hours leading up to his arrest, torture and crucifixion, he went into a garden one last time, kneeling to pray, “Abba, not my will but yours be done.”  A hidden life of solitude fueled his courageous public acts of love and service (<a href=\"http://www.markscandrette.com/writing/practicing-the-way-of-jesus-coming-soon/\" target=\"_blank\">Scandrette, <em>Practicing the Way of Jesus</em></a>, p. 105).</blockquote>\nThe Christian life is meant to be lived out on the razor’s edge between prophetic action and contemplative reflection.  And it is not so much that one of the steps in this dialectical process must come before the other.  Nor do they necessarily coalesce, really, but remain in tension and are mutually reinforcing.  They form the two pillars that buttress discipleship.  Politically speaking, for instance, we can therefore work for justice and even invest ourselves in certain legislative reforms, electoral changes and grassroots movements.  The role of the contemplative in this instance, however, will be to keep our expectations and emotional attachment in check and somewhat disinterested.  The contemplative reminds us that at the end of the day, a Christ-follower still must ultimately find rest in the arms of Jesus rather than in the outcome of political proposals.<a title=\"\" href=\"#_edn1\">[i]</a>  Duke theologian <a href=\"http://divinity.duke.edu/academics/faculty/paul-griffiths\" target=\"_blank\">Paul J. Griffiths</a> calls this  “political quietism.”<a title=\"\" href=\"#_edn2\">[ii]</a>\n\nOn the other hand, it is the contemplative that gives inspiration, energy and vision to our impending and “courageous public acts of love and service” (see above).  It enables one to meditate on the “agonistic weight of the world.\"<a title=\"\" href=\"#_edn1\">[i]</a>\n<div><br />\n\n<hr align=\"left\" size=\"1\" width=\"33%\" />\n\n<div>\n\n<a title=\"\" href=\"#_ednref\"><br /></a>\n\n</div>\n</div>\nAt the same time, it also serves to critique and safeguard the extent to which our identities can become too closely aligned with nationalism or any other parochial allegiance.  It is the corrective to all our idolatries.  Accordingly, a Christian citizenship then is understood to be a revoked and “crucified” vocation – that is, it is self-emptied.  We act, but we act with a knowledge that the problems we face in this world can at best be imperfectly resolved.  As she surveys the bloodshed in our world, it’s not easy for the Christian citizen to really expect the proposal she advocates to substantially curtail all the violence and oppression.  Thus, Griffiths also talks about three other  “notes” of Christian political agency: skepticism, hope and lament – skepticism with regard to over-realized eschatological promises, hope for the coming Kingdom, and lament over the real and terrible suffering in the meantime.\n\nActivism remains, and indeed we must act, but it is only the spiritually and prayerfully formed person whose heart is prepared for the trials of a cross-bearing lifestyle.  May we remind and spur each other on in this way.\n\n&nbsp;\n<div>\n\n<hr align=\"left\" size=\"1\" width=\"33%\" />\n\n<div>\n\n<a title=\"\" href=\"#_ednref\">[i]</a> I’m using the term <em>political</em> here in the broadest possible sense to include practically all corporate civil activity – not just official or formal participation.\n\n</div>\n<div>\n\n<a title=\"\" href=\"#_ednref\">[ii]</a> Douglas Harink, <em>Paul, Philosophy, and the Theopolitical Vision: Critical Engagements with Agamben, Badiou, Zizek and Others</em> (Cascade Books, 2010), 190.\n\n</div>\n</div>','The Prophetic and the Contemplative','','inherit','open','open','','2622-revision-2','','','2011-11-27 14:38:30','2011-11-27 22:38:30','',2622,'http://provoketive.com/2011/11/27/2622-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(1205,33,'2011-10-25 22:07:48','2011-10-26 05:07:48','','3013865271_7fa24b0b2b','','inherit','open','open','','3013865271_7fa24b0b2b','','','2011-10-25 22:07:48','2011-10-26 05:07:48','',0,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/3013865271_7fa24b0b2b.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(1207,1,'2011-10-25 22:20:33','2011-10-26 05:20:33','Very creative!','Party Rock Halloween House','','publish','open','open','','party-rock-halloween-house','','','2011-10-25 22:20:33','2011-10-26 05:20:33','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=1207',0,'post','',0),(1208,1,'2011-10-25 22:19:40','2011-10-26 05:19:40','','party_rock_halloween','','inherit','open','open','','party_rock_halloween','','','2011-10-25 22:19:40','2011-10-26 05:19:40','',1207,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/party_rock_halloween.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(1209,1,'2011-10-25 22:19:16','2011-10-26 05:19:16','','Party Rock Halloween House','','inherit','open','open','','1207-revision','','','2011-10-25 22:19:16','2011-10-26 05:19:16','',1207,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1207-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(1210,1,'2011-10-24 11:42:12','2011-10-24 18:42:12','<em>This is part three in my series about the six reasons why I left the church based off of the article \"<a href=\"http://www.barna.org/teens-next-gen-articles/528-six-reasons-young-christians-leave-church\" target=\"_blank\">Six Reasons Why Young Christians Leave Church</a>\" by the Barna Group. Now, I realize that there are vast differences between when and how guys and girls first experience sexuality, so this by no means is to be a blanket generalization for anyone.</em>\r\n\r\n<em>Miss the first two parts of this series? Read <a href=\"http://provoketive.com/2011/10/23/where-the-church-lost-me-i/\" target=\"_blank\">part one</a> and <a href=\"http://provoketive.com/2011/10/23/where-the-church-lost-me-ii/\" target=\"_blank\">part two</a>.</em>\r\n\r\n<strong>Reason #4: “Young Christians’ church experiences related to sexuality are often simplistic, judgmental.”</strong>\r\n\r\nOne of my favorite bloggers, Christian Piatt, wrote about this recently on <a href=\"http://www.patheos.com/blogs/christianpiatt/2011/10/sex-is-dirty-save-it-for-marriage/\" target=\"_blank\">his blog</a>:\r\n<blockquote>\"Amy and I speak to youth and young adults pretty often about something we call embodied spirituality. The idea is that, contrary to what you may have learned in the past, you do not have to de-sexualize yourself to be a good person – even at church. We’re told in some ways that sex is a dirty thing, and that our bodies are something to be ashamed of. But then we also get the message that sex is something special to save for marriage. Something about these two values doesn’t match up.\"</blockquote>\r\n<a href=\"http://behappyhealthywhole.wordpress.com/\" target=\"_blank\">My sister</a> and I were talking about this recently and she said:\r\n<blockquote>“There’s a difference between protecting and isolating.”</blockquote>\r\nUp until I was about 18 I was almost unaware that I was not simply a brain walking around. I don’t mean that literally, but things like lust and sexual thoughts were just theoretical issues. While my ex-boyfriend and I were in our long-distance relationship, he sent me a picture of him wearing a new outfit. I don’t remember what it was exactly, but I think it was a new suit coat or something. I said he looked “snazzy”. He was immediately offended because he was looking for a word with a little bit more heat. He asked me one night why it wasn’t natural for me to use words like “sexy” and “hot”. I explained that I had essentially turned all that off because growing up in church I was always told that anything to do with the body was sinful.\r\n\r\nOnce a year, there was a three week long purity series where the Sunday school class was split up by guys and girls. (Funnily enough, nothing made me want the guys back together with us more than this annual series. <em>Just make it stop!</em>) This Sunday school course was the most awkward thing in church since clapping. (What is this \"rhythm\" you speak of?)\r\n\r\nFirstly, the female leaders who ran the series couldn’t say the word “sex”. For a while they said “ex” and then eventually avoided it all together by referring to it as “it”. This does not setup a good precedence for an honest conversation. I get it: it’s awkward to talk about that post-movie hotness you had with your spouse the other night with teenage girls that seem like little bright-eyed deer that shouldn\'t have to deal with this messy, acutely intimate thing called sex. And while church may not be the place to teach about sex, the youth sponsors talked as if they were not just taking on the role of our mentor in the church place but also in the rest of our lives. So, unfortunately, sex questions fall under that category. Aside from my parents, you are the set of adults I see the most. Lead with honesty and frankness.\r\n\r\nNext was the “modest clothing demonstration”. The girl they used to model the outfit was built just like me (six feet tall, thin frame). They bought a full outfit for her that was a size small. It fit her well; the outfit wasn’t too tight and it fit her frame nicely. But explained then the leaders demonstrated how this outfit was indecent because if you reach your shoulders and arms as high as you can with zero regard to your shirt it <em>may</em> show a tiny bit of skin. Or how if you bend in half with your legs straight (which no girl I know does this anyway) you<em>might</em> see a bit of her back. So then the model left the room and changed into the same outfit but with all the items one size up. This time the outfit clearly didn’t work. You could tell neither piece was the right size because it didn’t lay correctly or fit in the right places, but this outfit was praised as modest, beautiful, and how all good young women should dress.\r\n\r\nThe message was clear: the second, less fitting, one size too large outfit was much godlier. God doesn’t want your clothes to fit. Loose clothing, like cleanliness, is next to godliness! If you look and feel good in your own clothing you’re making the boys stumble. Cut it out.\r\n\r\nNot only were there messages of de-sexualization (women, your bodies are the manifestation of temptation so to be really godly you need to wear parkas), but there were very blatant mistakes in the material of the lessons. There was The List. The List detailed all the physical steps through to actual intercourse. It was a list of eight items starting at “hand holding”. It was designed to show that if you get to step number four with guy A, you are going to want to jump to step four with guy B. That makes sense. What didn’t make sense was that “heavy petting” was number six and the last physical step that two people commit before inserting tab A into slot B was “hugging”. HUGGING. (I wish I was joking.) If hugging is the last step before sexin’, then I have definitely been around (<a href=\"http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljj7z5fHsr1qdf6w8o1_250.gif\">if you know what I mean</a>).\r\n\r\nOutside of the purity series, this fear of anything sexual showed up in places like our non-dancing prom (because dancing requires you use your hips, and hips are sinful): Senior Banquet. We were endlessly told we were not allowed to wear strapless dresses. Reason being? “The boys will wonder where your bra is.” I told this to my friend <a href=\"http://theawesomeproject.net/\" target=\"_blank\">Drew</a> and he responded, “Well yeah, but that’s purely academic!” Plunging necklines? Fine. Dresses so tight they may as well have been air brushed? Fine. But don\'t you <em>dare</em> let those boys think that there are such things as strapless bras in this country or have a modest neckline by not showing cleavage!\r\n\r\nThe message was reinforced in literature as well. I specifically remember reading several sob stories about sex in the Christian girl’s magazine Brio (by Focus on the Family). The stories always included the following:\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>The phrase “all the way.” Example: “I never thought that I would go all the way with a guy.”</li>\r\n	<li>The <em>girl</em> must be uncomfortable or unsure and the <em>guy</em> must be pressuring her. Example: “I knew it was wrong, but he kept unbuttoning my shirt and told me to relax.”</li>\r\n	<li>The phrase “it just happened”. They are sure to insinuate that if you kiss someone, even just a little, your body will go into a frenzied auto-pilot and you will have manic sex against your will. Example: “I never thought I would get pregnant and I never thought I would have premarital sex, but it just happened…” Cue mournful voice. Like <a href=\"http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0425210/\" target=\"_blank\">Slevin</a> said after his girlfriend claimed that her infidelity was an accident: “What like… He tripped, you fell?” (Maybe he Kansas City Shuffled his way into her pants. You never know with that movie.)</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nIf these had all be isolated incidents it might not have been so bad, but altogether these things told me that my body was something to be ashamed of. Anything that made me feel confident or beautiful was me bringing my brother down. The only thing I knew to do was be afraid and suppress anything corporeal.\r\n\r\nNow, for all intents and purposes, this works to the leaders’ advantage. It did keep me from promiscuity through high school (and I am trying to learn to be thankful for that) but it did for all the wrong reasons. It wasn’t because I had been informed and was making smart decisions; it was because I was operating solely out of fear and ignorance. It’s fine when you’re 15 and you don\'t instinctively describe something as \"steamy\". What’s not okay is when you’re not far from getting married and you have to suddenly have to turn all of those signals back on that you spent the first 18-20 years of your life ignoring. After being told that your body is sinful over and over, how do you transition to wild, mind-blowing sex? Talk about major signal confusion. Through age 18: sex is sinful, God hates sex! By the time you get married: sex is great, have lots of it! This is a common problem for newlywed Christians. They have no healthy respect or understanding of their bodies and suddenly they are supposed to know what they like in bed and how to fulfill their partner’s desires too? (Some friends of mine started <a href=\"http://couplingforcouples.blogspot.com/?zx=3bbe204db1a81e96\" target=\"_blank\">a blog</a> about this very subject to help unprepared people work through this.)\r\n\r\nIf you have a kid in your life that’s approaching the age where you need to start talking about stuff like this, consider finding ways to express to them the following:\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>The body is an amazing thing. There are reasons why people create nude statues out of marble. It’s not because they love porn. It’s because the human body is an incredibly beautiful, intricate, glorious thing. Don’t be afraid of it.</li>\r\n	<li>Sex is biological. Like hunger and thirst, the need to be sexual and to have sexual encounters with another person is part of what you are made to do. This is absolutely normal.</li>\r\n	<li>Just because sex is biological doesn’t mean you need to exploit it or doing anything before you are ready to handle the consequences and how your life will be changed by it.</li>\r\n	<li>You are not just a body. While sexual thoughts and impulses are completely normal, you have the ability to control what you choose to do with them. Despite popular belief, the opposite sex can control all those things too.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nThis is just for starters, and I have no idea how I’ll handle this conversation with my kids, but I know I’ll start there because I don’t want them to get on the other side of this issue and feel unprepared. I want them to have healthy attitudes towards their own bodies and other peoples’.\r\n\r\n<em>Next I\'ll be talking about how the church is unfriendly towards those who doubt.</em>','Where the Church Lost Me: Part III','','inherit','open','open','','1052-revision-6','','','2011-10-24 11:42:12','2011-10-24 18:42:12','',1052,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/24/1052-revision-6/',0,'revision','',0),(2623,20,'2011-11-26 23:57:23','2011-11-27 07:57:23','<blockquote>The baptism of Jesus provides a compelling picture of the kind of intimate union with God we were created for.  As he stepped out from the water, he heard a voice saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:16-17).  The Spirit then led Jesus into the wilderness where his identity as the beloved was tested.  He emerged after forty days a resolute son prepared to do “his father’s business.”  Subsequently, Jesus often withdrew to gardens and other lonely places.  In the most difficult hours leading up to his arrest, torture and crucifixion, he went into a garden one last time, kneeling to pray, “Abba, not my will but yours be done.”  A hidden life of solitude fueled his courageous public acts of love and service (<a href=\"http://www.markscandrette.com/writing/practicing-the-way-of-jesus-coming-soon/\" target=\"_blank\">Scandrette, <em>Practicing the Way of Jesus</em></a>, p. 105).</blockquote>\nThe Christian life is meant to be lived out on the razor’s edge between prophetic action and contemplative reflection.  And it is not so much that one of the steps in this dialectical process must come before the other.  Nor do they necessarily coalesce, really, but remain in tension and are mutually reinforcing.  They form the two pillars that buttress discipleship.  Politically speaking, for instance, we can therefore work for justice and even invest ourselves in certain legislative reforms, electoral changes and grassroots movements.  The role of the contemplative in this instance, however, will be to keep our expectations and emotional attachment in check and somewhat disinterested.  The contemplative reminds us that at the end of the day, a Christ-follower still must ultimately find rest in the arms of Jesus rather than in the outcome of political proposals.<a title=\"\" href=\"#_edn1\">[i]</a>  Duke theologian <a href=\"http://divinity.duke.edu/academics/faculty/paul-griffiths\" target=\"_blank\">Paul J. Griffiths</a> calls this  “political quietism.”<a title=\"\" href=\"#_edn2\">[ii]</a>\n\nOn the other hand, it is the contemplative that gives inspiration, energy and vision to our impending and “courageous public acts of love and service” (see above).  It enables one to adequately reflect on the true “agonistic weight of the world.”  At the same time, it also serves to critique and safeguard the extent to which our identities can become too closely aligned with nationalism or any other parochial allegiance.  It is the corrective to all our idolatries.  Accordingly, a Christian citizenship then is understood to be a revoked and “crucified” vocation – that is, it is self-emptied.  We act, but we act with a knowledge that the problems we face in this world can at best be imperfectly resolved.  As she surveys the bloodshed in our world, it’s not easy for the Christian citizen to really expect the proposal she advocates to substantially curtail all the violence and oppression.  Thus, Griffiths also talks about three other  “notes” of Christian political agency: skepticism, hope and lament – skepticism with regard to over-realized eschatological promises, hope for the coming Kingdom, and lament over the real and terrible suffering in the meantime.\n\nActivism remains, and indeed we must act, but it is only the spiritually and prayerfully formed person whose heart is prepared for the trials of a cross-bearing lifestyle.  May we remind and spur each other on in this way.\n\n&nbsp;\n<div>\n\n<hr align=\"left\" size=\"1\" width=\"33%\" />\n\n<div>\n\n<a title=\"\" href=\"#_ednref\">[i]</a> I’m using the term <em>political</em> here in the broadest possible sense to include practically all corporate civil activity – not just official or formal participation.\n\n</div>\n<div>\n\n<a title=\"\" href=\"#_ednref\">[ii]</a> Douglas Harink, <em>Paul, Philosophy, and the Theopolitical Vision: Critical Engagements with Agamben, Badiou, Zizek and Others</em> (Cascade Books, 2010), 190.\n\n</div>\n</div>','The Prophetic and the Contemplative','','inherit','open','open','','2622-revision','','','2011-11-26 23:57:23','2011-11-27 07:57:23','',2622,'http://provoketive.com/2011/11/26/2622-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(1211,1,'2011-10-25 22:28:34','2011-10-26 05:28:34','<p align=\"left\">In today\'s political climate, it can be tough to make sense of the cacophony of voices using \"social justice\" as their rallying cry.  Everyone with a stake in our nation\'s well-being (which, in theory, ought to be one hundred percent of the population) views the concept through his or her own lens.  It can be difficult to make sense of what it means when we have a person on one side demanding an end to poverty and a person on the other side lobbying for marriage equality, while the people in front and in back of us clamor for us to care about education and healthcare reform.  So what exactly is social justice?</p>\n<p align=\"left\">A quick Google search for the term \"social justice\" yields over 8 million results.  On just the first two pages are entries from sources as diverse as Wikipedia, Dictionary.com, Fox News, and several personal web pages.  It seems everyone has an opinion on the matter.</p>\n<p align=\"left\">While digging for some specifics, I came across an article from <a href=\"http://www.crosswalk.com/\">Crosswalk.com</a>, in the news and commentary section.  Dr. Paul Kengor, of Grove City College, has <a href=\"http://www.crosswalk.com/news/economic-justice-as-social-justice-11635548.html\">this</a> to say on the matter:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n<p align=\"left\">\"Most exasperating is that many who speak the language of social justice really mean \"economic justice.\" Unlike traditional practitioners of social justice, whose occasional noble interests ranged from prison reform to child-labor laws, many modern practitioners seek wealth redistribution, \"living wages,\" progressive income taxes, and an eternally-widening net of federal government power and central planning; they are inclined to class interests rather than human rights. And, by their estimate, achieving <em>economic justice</em> requires collectivism. They invoke <em>social</em> justice not to try to resolve conventional <em>social</em> differences as much as class/income differences.</p>\n<p align=\"left\">\"This is why, in many modern eyes, including those of the much-maligned Glenn Beck, mention of \"social justice\" seems a red flag for socialism.\"</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p align=\"left\">I had several reactions to Dr. Kengor\'s statements.  First, I was annoyed.  How dare he presume to know what people mean when they use the term \"social justice\"?  Then I decided that I must have misunderstood.  He wasn\'t <em>really</em> saying that economic justice isn\'t social justice, was he?  Finally, I simply shelved the comments as one more example of someone conflating economic reform with communism.</p>\n<p align=\"left\">It\'s absolutely true that economic justice is not the same as social justice, although it is a subset.  The problem is not that Dr. Kengor seems to think that\'s the only problem we social justice Christians emphasize.  He\'s right, it gets a lot of press.  The heart of the matter is that Dr. Kengor has equated the political problem of wealth redistribution with the social problem of the income gap and its associated issues.</p>\n<p align=\"left\">Social justice isn\'t about politics.  It may involve government, laws, and structural reforms.  But it isn\'t about what the guys at the top decide to do to \"even the score.\"  It\'s about what we, the people, do to create a social climate that values all people and helps everyone reach his or her potential, and working together for the good of all.</p>','Defining Social Justice','','inherit','open','open','','1168-autosave','','','2011-10-25 22:28:34','2011-10-26 05:28:34','',1168,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1168-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(1212,1,'2011-10-25 19:29:00','2011-10-26 02:29:00','<p align=\"left\">In today\'s political climate, it can be tough to make sense of the cacophony of voices using \"social justice\" as their rallying cry.  Everyone with a stake in our nation\'s well-being (which, in theory, ought to be one hundred percent of the population) views the concept through his or her own lens.  It can be difficult to make sense of what it means when we have a person on one side demanding an end to poverty and a person on the other side lobbying for marriage equality, while the people in front and in back of us clamor for us to care about education and healthcare reform.  So what exactly is social justice?</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">A quick Google search for the term \"social justice\" yields over 8 million results.  On just the first two pages are entries from sources as diverse as Wikipedia, Dictionary.com, Fox News, and several personal web pages.  It seems everyone has an opinion on the matter.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">While digging for some specifics, I came across an article from <a href=\"http://www.crosswalk.com/\">Crosswalk.com</a>, in the news and commentary section.  Dr. Paul Kengor, of Grove City College, has <a href=\"http://www.crosswalk.com/news/economic-justice-as-social-justice-11635548.html\">this</a> to say on the matter:</p>\r\n\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p align=\"left\">\"Most exasperating is that many who speak the language of social justice really mean \"economic justice.\" Unlike traditional practitioners of social justice, whose occasional noble interests ranged from prison reform to child-labor laws, many modern practitioners seek wealth redistribution, \"living wages,\" progressive income taxes, and an eternally-widening net of federal government power and central planning; they are inclined to class interests rather than human rights. And, by their estimate, achieving <em>economic justice</em> requires collectivism. They invoke <em>social</em> justice not to try to resolve conventional <em>social</em> differences as much as class/income differences.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">\"This is why, in many modern eyes, including those of the much-maligned Glenn Beck, mention of \"social justice\" seems a red flag for socialism.\"</p>\r\n</blockquote>\r\n<p align=\"left\">I had several reactions to Dr. Kengor\'s statements.  First, I was annoyed.  How dare he presume to know what people mean when they use the term \"social justice\"?  Then I decided that I must have misunderstood.  He wasn\'t <em>really</em> saying that economic justice isn\'t social justice, was he?  Finally, I simply shelved the comments as one more example of someone conflating economic reform with communism.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">It\'s absolutely true that economic justice is not the same as social justice, although it is a subset.  The problem is not that Dr. Kengor seems to think that\'s the only problem we social justice Christians emphasize.  He\'s right, it gets a lot of press.  The heart of the matter is that Dr. Kengor has equated the political problem of wealth redistribution with the social problem of the income gap and its associated issues.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">Social justice isn\'t about politics.  It may involve government, laws, and structural reforms.  But it isn\'t about what the guys at the top decide to do to \"even the score.\"  It\'s about what we, the people, do to create a social climate that values all people and helps everyone reach his or her potential, and working together for the good of all.</p>','Defining Social Justice','','inherit','open','open','','1168-revision-16','','','2011-10-25 19:29:00','2011-10-26 02:29:00','',1168,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1168-revision-16/',0,'revision','',0),(1213,1,'2011-10-25 22:27:02','2011-10-26 05:27:02','<p align=\"left\">In today\'s political climate, it can be tough to make sense of the cacophony of voices using \"social justice\" as their rallying cry.  Everyone with a stake in our nation\'s well-being (which, in theory, ought to be one hundred percent of the population) views the concept through his or her own lens.  It can be difficult to make sense of what it means when we have a person on one side demanding an end to poverty and a person on the other side lobbying for marriage equality, while the people in front and in back of us clamor for us to care about education and healthcare reform.  So what exactly is social justice?</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">A quick Google search for the term \"social justice\" yields over 8 million results.  On just the first two pages are entries from sources as diverse as Wikipedia, Dictionary.com, Fox News, and several personal web pages.  It seems everyone has an opinion on the matter.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">While digging for some specifics, I came across an article from <a href=\"http://www.crosswalk.com/\">Crosswalk.com</a>, in the news and commentary section.  Dr. Paul Kengor, of Grove City College, has <a href=\"http://www.crosswalk.com/news/economic-justice-as-social-justice-11635548.html\">this</a> to say on the matter:</p>\r\n\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p align=\"left\">\"Most exasperating is that many who speak the language of social justice really mean \"economic justice.\" Unlike traditional practitioners of social justice, whose occasional noble interests ranged from prison reform to child-labor laws, many modern practitioners seek wealth redistribution, \"living wages,\" progressive income taxes, and an eternally-widening net of federal government power and central planning; they are inclined to class interests rather than human rights. And, by their estimate, achieving <em>economic justice</em> requires collectivism. They invoke <em>social</em> justice not to try to resolve conventional <em>social</em> differences as much as class/income differences.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">\"This is why, in many modern eyes, including those of the much-maligned Glenn Beck, mention of \"social justice\" seems a red flag for socialism.\"</p>\r\n</blockquote>\r\n<p align=\"left\">I had several reactions to Dr. Kengor\'s statements.  First, I was annoyed.  How dare he presume to know what people mean when they use the term \"social justice\"?  Then I decided that I must have misunderstood.  He wasn\'t <em>really</em> saying that economic justice isn\'t social justice, was he?  Finally, I simply shelved the comments as one more example of someone conflating economic reform with communism.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">It\'s absolutely true that economic justice is not the same as social justice, although it is a subset.  The problem is not that Dr. Kengor seems to think that\'s the only problem we social justice Christians emphasize.  He\'s right, it gets a lot of press.  The heart of the matter is that Dr. Kengor has equated the political problem of wealth redistribution with the social problem of the income gap and its associated issues.</p>\r\n<p align=\"left\">Social justice isn\'t about politics.  It may involve government, laws, and structural reforms.  But it isn\'t about what the guys at the top decide to do to \"even the score.\"  It\'s about what we, the people, do to create a social climate that values all people and helps everyone reach his or her potential, and working together for the good of all.</p>','Defining Social Justice','','inherit','open','open','','1168-revision-17','','','2011-10-25 22:27:02','2011-10-26 05:27:02','',1168,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1168-revision-17/',0,'revision','',0),(1214,12,'2011-10-25 22:27:44','2011-10-26 05:27:44','','adopt','','inherit','open','open','','adopt','','','2011-10-25 22:27:44','2011-10-26 05:27:44','',0,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/adopt.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(1216,33,'2011-10-27 08:00:47','2011-10-27 15:00:47','We learn at an early age all about trades.  In our lunchrooms and playgrounds we eagerly trade away tuna for peanut butter and we willingly give up half a dozen second-string players for a long-coveted rookie card.\r\n\r\nAs we grow, the stakes involved in our trades get bigger.  We trade our hard-earned fast food paycheque for a car that is held together with duct tape and prayer, we trade time with our friends for time with our textbooks, and more often than not, we trade our dignity and self-respect for the chance that the pretty girl in class might pay us some attention.\r\n\r\nAnd in perhaps the biggest trade we ever make, we start careers and jobs that encourage us to trade our time and talents for a salary.  And it is staring to seem that the bigger the salary, the more demanding the trade.  The more we receive from our employers, the more they expect in return.  And what I’m learning is that sometimes the trade is mutually beneficial to everyone involved – the company gets the best I have to offer in exchange for a semblance of financial security.\r\n\r\nOver the last several months, I have been reevaluating the terms and conditions of the deal I made with my employer.  I agreed to offer my best.  I committed to work as hard, as creatively, and as innovatively as my skills and talents allowed.  In exchange I agreed to a compensation rate, dental coverage, and a great pension plan.\r\n\r\nBut based on recent conversations with others in my small group of friends and colleagues, it seems like there is a quiet undercurrent of dissatisfaction starting to emerge between the demands of employers and those who work for them.  More and more of my colleagues are reevaluating the details of their lives and deciding that they are no longer prepared to trade away their dreams and passions for cash.  And as scary as it is to admit to myself, I think I am becoming one of them.\r\n\r\nAccording to an <a href=\"http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/mar2009/ca20090313_334411.htm\">article</a> in the March 19, 2009 edition of <em>Business Week</em>, the number of employees who are disengaged in their workplaces rose by 45% over the previous year with a corresponding 53% decrease in the discretionary effort these employees are willing to offer their employers.  Clearly the ‘effort-for-pay’ trade is no longer working for lots of other people as well.\r\n\r\nI wonder if the crisis of dissatisfaction with work and the movement to rethink whether the amount of ourselves we give up in exchange for ‘job security’ is connected to an inadequate understanding of calling. I wonder what would happen if our business schools started including mandatory classes in self-reflection, self-awareness, and conducting an honest assessment of how our lives have shaped us into the people we are.  And only after we have spent time in the wilderness of self-discovery would we be allowed to join the workforce…confident of who we are, what we can offer - and as Frederick Buechner describes – “where our deepest gladness meets the world’s deep need.”\r\n\r\nI think there’s a good chance we would be happier, more engaged, and that the world would be more reflective of the One who created it – awash in mercy, grace and compassion rather than  controlled by those who won the race to the top but lost themselves in the process.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','The Trade','','publish','open','open','','the-trade','','','2011-10-26 08:40:12','2011-10-26 15:40:12','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=1216',0,'post','',4),(1217,12,'2011-10-25 22:44:08','2011-10-26 05:44:08','','myb','','inherit','open','open','','myb','','','2011-10-25 22:44:08','2011-10-26 05:44:08','',0,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/myb.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(2629,106,'2011-11-27 11:15:00','2011-11-27 19:15:00','While recently visiting a (Won) Buddhist temple, I heard one practitioner refer to Jesus as a Buddha. I was struck by the generosity of calling the leader of another faith one’s most cherished, revered term. In Won Buddhism, as I understand it, there is an effort for each person to embrace their Buddhahood and see the Buddha in another, so the statement was not at all unusual in that context. However it did lead me to a place of introspection about my own faith path. Could I, raised a Christian, return the favor? Could I say “Buddha is a Savior, Redeemer”?\r\n\r\nI have been frustrated and turned off by the churches I have visited that seem to place their God high above any other God. If there truly is one God, isn’t that one God as high as any God can be?\r\n\r\nI recently attended a conference at a megachurch in the Midwest. And I was disturbed by two of the things I experienced there. One of those things was the lead pastor (who I have followed and respected for many years) saying that “Christianity was the only Religion about Love”. Really? Really? Have you explored any other religions? My personal experience with other, non-Christian religions is they really are about love. They are about getting out negativity so the love can flow in. The second thing that disturbed me during my megachurch experience was surprisingly, the music. Although the music was inspiring and energetic, the lyrics were anything but. One song in particular featured the message: “Our God is stronger than your God, Our God is greater than Your God, etc.” Really? Are we in seventh grade or something? Are we really that competitive?\r\n\r\nTo me it seems when you have to tell someone your God is better, stronger, greater, more loving…than perhaps deep down you have some doubts on this topic?\r\n\r\nWhat if there is only one God, and this one God is manifested in many beautiful names? Those names could include Jesus Christ, Wonderful, Counselor Allah, Buddha, and scores of other names.\r\n\r\nIf we believe in one God, let’s start living and talking like it, and stop being so competitive. Start accepting that that one God is so brilliant that he made many ways to show himself before us all.\r\n\r\nThere are passages in the Bible that really resonate with me around this issue, for instance, this one from John (10:16) As Jesus said, \"And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd\".\r\n\r\nPerhaps the variety in religion is part of God’s big plan, and we should start showing some respect. Why wouldn’t God show up differently in the varied landscape of world culture. In this quote by theologian Emanuel Swedenborg (Divine Providence 254) he seems to call this idea out quite clearly. \"When a religion has been implanted in a nation, the Lord leads that nation according to the precepts and dogmas of its own religion. He has provided that there shall be in every religion precepts like those in the Ten Commandments....The nation that regards these precepts as Divine and lives according to them from a religious motive is saved.\".','Jesus is a Buddha, God\'s Plan for Variety in Religion','','inherit','open','open','','2624-revision-4','','','2011-11-27 11:15:00','2011-11-27 19:15:00','',2624,'http://provoketive.com/2011/11/27/2624-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(1220,33,'2011-10-25 23:00:54','2011-10-26 06:00:54','','distorted face','','inherit','open','open','','distorted-face','','','2011-10-25 23:00:54','2011-10-26 06:00:54','',1216,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/distorted-face.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(1221,33,'2011-10-25 22:43:28','2011-10-26 05:43:28','We learn at an early age all about trades.  In our lunchrooms and playgrounds we eagerly trade away tuna for peanut butter and we willingly give up half a dozen second-string players for a long-coveted rookie card.\n\nAs we grow, the stakes involved in our trades get bigger.  We trade our hard-earned fast food paycheque for a car that is held together with duct tape and prayer, we trade time with our friends for time with our textbooks, and more often than not, we trade our dignity and self-respect for the chance that the pretty girl in class might pay us some attention.\n\nAnd in perhaps the biggest trade we ever make, we start careers and jobs that encourage us to trade our time and talents for a salary.  And it is staring to seem that the bigger the salary, the more demanding the trade.  The more we receive from our employers, the more they expect in return.  And what I’m learning is that sometimes the trade is mutually beneficial to everyone involved – the company gets the best I have to offer in exchange for a semblance of financial security.\n\nOver the last several months, I have been reevaluating the terms and conditions of the deal I made with my employer.  I agreed to offer my best.  I committed to work as hard, as creatively, and as innovatively as my skills and talents allowed.  In exchange I agreed to a compensation rate, dental coverage, and a great pension plan.\n\nBut based on recent conversations with others in my small group of friends and colleagues, it seems like there is a quiet undercurrent of dissatisfaction starting to emerge between the demands of employers and those who work for them.  More and more of my colleagues are reevaluating the details of their lives and deciding that they are no longer prepared to trade away their dreams and passions for cash.  And as scary as it is to admit to myself, I think I am becoming one of them.\n\nAccording to an <a href=\"http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/mar2009/ca20090313_334411.htm\">article</a> in the March 19, 2009 edition of <em>Business Week</em>, the number of employees who are disengaged in their workplaces rose by 45% over the previous year with a corresponding 53% decrease in the discretionary effort these employees are willing to offer their employers.  Clearly the ‘effort-for-pay’ trade is no longer working for lots of other people as well.\n\nI wonder if the crisis of dissatisfaction with work and the movement to rethink whether the amount of ourselves we give up in exchange for ‘job security’ is connected to an inadequate understanding of calling. I wonder what would happen if our business schools started including mandatory classes in self-reflection, self-awareness, and conducting an honest assessment of how our lives have shaped us into the people we are.  And only after we have spent time in the wilderness of self-discovery would we be allowed to join the workforce…confident of who we are, what we can offer - and as Frederick Buechner describes – “where our deepest gladness meets the world’s deep need.”\n\nI think there’s a good chance we would be happier, more engaged, and that the world would be more reflective of the One who created it – awash in mercy, grace and compassion rather than  controlled by those who won the race to the top but lost themselves in the process.\n\n&nbsp;','The Trade','','inherit','open','open','','1216-revision','','','2011-10-25 22:43:28','2011-10-26 05:43:28','',1216,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1216-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(1222,33,'2011-10-25 23:01:35','2011-10-26 06:01:35','We learn at an early age all about trades.  In our lunchrooms and playgrounds we eagerly trade away tuna for peanut butter and we willingly give up half a dozen second-string players for a long-coveted rookie card.\r\n\r\nAs we grow, the stakes involved in our trades get bigger.  We trade our hard-earned fast food paycheque for a car that is held together with duct tape and prayer, we trade time with our friends for time with our textbooks, and more often than not, we trade our dignity and self-respect for the chance that the pretty girl in class might pay us some attention.\r\n\r\nAnd in perhaps the biggest trade we ever make, we start careers and jobs that encourage us to trade our time and talents for a salary.  And it is staring to seem that the bigger the salary, the more demanding the trade.  The more we receive from our employers, the more they expect in return.  And what I’m learning is that sometimes the trade is mutually beneficial to everyone involved – the company gets the best I have to offer in exchange for a semblance of financial security.\r\n\r\nOver the last several months, I have been reevaluating the terms and conditions of the deal I made with my employer.  I agreed to offer my best.  I committed to work as hard, as creatively, and as innovatively as my skills and talents allowed.  In exchange I agreed to a compensation rate, dental coverage, and a great pension plan.\r\n\r\nBut based on recent conversations with others in my small group of friends and colleagues, it seems like there is a quiet undercurrent of dissatisfaction starting to emerge between the demands of employers and those who work for them.  More and more of my colleagues are reevaluating the details of their lives and deciding that they are no longer prepared to trade away their dreams and passions for cash.  And as scary as it is to admit to myself, I think I am becoming one of them.\r\n\r\nAccording to an <a href=\"http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/mar2009/ca20090313_334411.htm\">article</a> in the March 19, 2009 edition of <em>Business Week</em>, the number of employees who are disengaged in their workplaces rose by 45% over the previous year with a corresponding 53% decrease in the discretionary effort these employees are willing to offer their employers.  Clearly the ‘effort-for-pay’ trade is no longer working for lots of other people as well.\r\n\r\nI wonder if the crisis of dissatisfaction with work and the movement to rethink whether the amount of ourselves we give up in exchange for ‘job security’ is connected to an inadequate understanding of calling. I wonder what would happen if our business schools started including mandatory classes in self-reflection, self-awareness, and conducting an honest assessment of how our lives have shaped us into the people we are.  And only after we have spent time in the wilderness of self-discovery would we be allowed to join the workforce…confident of who we are, what we can offer - and as Frederick Buechner describes – “where our deepest gladness meets the world’s deep need.”\r\n\r\nI think there’s a good chance we would be happier, more engaged, and that the world would be more reflective of the One who created it – awash in mercy, grace and compassion rather than  controlled by those who won the race to the top but lost themselves in the process.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','The Trade','','inherit','open','open','','1216-revision-2','','','2011-10-25 23:01:35','2011-10-26 06:01:35','',1216,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1216-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(1223,0,'2011-10-25 23:03:11','2011-10-26 06:03:11','Faith\r\nJustice\r\nCulture\n<!--more-->\nAUTHOR: Coenraad Fick\nAUTHOR EMAIL: coenraad@unsafechallenge.com\nAUTHOR URL: http://www.unsafechallenge.com\nSUBJECT: Provoketive Magazine Writing For Provoketive\nIP: 41.30.80.236\nArray\n(\n    [Name] =&gt; Coenraad Fick\n    [Email] =&gt; coenraad@unsafechallenge.com\n    [Existing Blog or Website] =&gt; http://www.unsafechallenge.com\n    [List the topic you are interested writing about] =&gt; Faith\r\nJustice\r\nCulture\n    [Current or New WordPress Login Name (We\'ll send you a password.)] =&gt; coenraadf\n)\n','Coenraad Fick - 2011-10-25 23:03:11','','publish','open','open','','8d4b1922aab57d365aecdc05f7af6bbb','','','2011-10-25 23:03:11','2011-10-26 06:03:11','',358,'http://provoketive.com/?post_type=feedback&p=1223',0,'feedback','',0),(1224,1,'2011-10-26 08:00:13','2011-10-26 15:00:13','This is one of the coolest things I\'ve seen this year. The people at <a href=\"http://www.openbible.info\">OpenBible</a> charted the emotional content of the Bible from beginning to end and created an infographic.\r\n<blockquote>\"Things start off well with creation, turn negative with Job and the patriarchs, improve again with Moses, dip with the period of the judges, recover with David, and have a mixed record (especially negative when Samaria is around) during the monarchy. The exilic period isn’t as negative as you might expect, nor the return period as positive. In the New Testament, things start off fine with Jesus, then quickly turn negative as opposition to his message grows. The story of the early church, especially in the epistles, is largely positive.\"</blockquote>\r\nYou can see the detailed version <a href=\"http://a.openbible.info/blog/2011-10-sentiment-full.png\">here</a>.','The Emotions Of The Bible','','publish','open','open','','the-emotions-of-the-bible','','','2011-10-25 23:10:46','2011-10-26 06:10:46','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=1224',0,'post','',0),(1225,1,'2011-10-25 23:06:59','2011-10-26 06:06:59','','sentiment_analysis','','inherit','open','open','','sentiment_analysis','','','2011-10-25 23:06:59','2011-10-26 06:06:59','',1224,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/sentiment_analysis.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(1226,1,'2011-10-25 23:10:16','2011-10-26 06:10:16','This is one of the coolest things I\'ve seen this year. The people at OpenBible charted the emotional content of the Bible from beginning to end and created an infographic.\n<blockquote>\"Things start off well with creation, turn negative with Job and the patriarchs, improve again with Moses, dip with the period of the judges, recover with David, and have a mixed record (especially negative when Samaria is around) during the monarchy. The exilic period isn’t as negative as you might expect, nor the return period as positive. In the New Testament, things start off fine with Jesus, then quickly turn negative as opposition to his message grows. The story of the early church, especially in the epistles, is largely positive.\"</blockquote>\nYou can see the detailed version <a href=\"http://a.openbible.info/blog/2011-10-sentiment-full.png\">here</a>.','The Emotions Of The Bible','','inherit','open','open','','1224-revision','','','2011-10-25 23:10:16','2011-10-26 06:10:16','',1224,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1224-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(1227,1,'2011-10-26 12:00:30','2011-10-26 19:00:30','Photo Credit: Luke Summer','And','','publish','open','open','','and','','','2011-10-25 23:27:23','2011-10-26 06:27:23','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=1227',0,'post','',0),(1228,1,'2011-10-25 23:26:54','2011-10-26 06:26:54','','&','','inherit','open','open','','1228','','','2011-10-25 23:26:54','2011-10-26 06:26:54','',1227,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(1229,1,'2011-10-25 23:26:41','2011-10-26 06:26:41','','And','','inherit','open','open','','1227-revision','','','2011-10-25 23:26:41','2011-10-26 06:26:41','',1227,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1227-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(2660,1,'2011-11-28 07:15:51','2011-11-28 15:15:51','','Bill Walker','','publish','open','open','','bill-walker','','','2012-12-18 12:55:08','2012-12-18 20:55:08','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=2660',62,'nav_menu_item','',0),(1231,1,'2011-10-25 23:36:23','2011-10-26 06:36:23',' ','','','publish','open','open','','1231','','','2012-01-19 11:08:29','2012-01-19 19:08:29','',9,'http://provoketive.com/?p=1231',16,'nav_menu_item','',0),(1232,1,'2011-10-25 23:01:47','2011-10-26 06:01:47','We learn at an early age all about trades.  In our lunchrooms and playgrounds we eagerly trade away tuna for peanut butter and we willingly give up half a dozen second-string players for a long-coveted rookie card.\r\n\r\nAs we grow, the stakes involved in our trades get bigger.  We trade our hard-earned fast food paycheque for a car that is held together with duct tape and prayer, we trade time with our friends for time with our textbooks, and more often than not, we trade our dignity and self-respect for the chance that the pretty girl in class might pay us some attention.\r\n\r\nAnd in perhaps the biggest trade we ever make, we start careers and jobs that encourage us to trade our time and talents for a salary.  And it is staring to seem that the bigger the salary, the more demanding the trade.  The more we receive from our employers, the more they expect in return.  And what I’m learning is that sometimes the trade is mutually beneficial to everyone involved – the company gets the best I have to offer in exchange for a semblance of financial security.\r\n\r\nOver the last several months, I have been reevaluating the terms and conditions of the deal I made with my employer.  I agreed to offer my best.  I committed to work as hard, as creatively, and as innovatively as my skills and talents allowed.  In exchange I agreed to a compensation rate, dental coverage, and a great pension plan.\r\n\r\nBut based on recent conversations with others in my small group of friends and colleagues, it seems like there is a quiet undercurrent of dissatisfaction starting to emerge between the demands of employers and those who work for them.  More and more of my colleagues are reevaluating the details of their lives and deciding that they are no longer prepared to trade away their dreams and passions for cash.  And as scary as it is to admit to myself, I think I am becoming one of them.\r\n\r\nAccording to an <a href=\"http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/mar2009/ca20090313_334411.htm\">article</a> in the March 19, 2009 edition of <em>Business Week</em>, the number of employees who are disengaged in their workplaces rose by 45% over the previous year with a corresponding 53% decrease in the discretionary effort these employees are willing to offer their employers.  Clearly the ‘effort-for-pay’ trade is no longer working for lots of other people as well.\r\n\r\nI wonder if the crisis of dissatisfaction with work and the movement to rethink whether the amount of ourselves we give up in exchange for ‘job security’ is connected to an inadequate understanding of calling. I wonder what would happen if our business schools started including mandatory classes in self-reflection, self-awareness, and conducting an honest assessment of how our lives have shaped us into the people we are.  And only after we have spent time in the wilderness of self-discovery would we be allowed to join the workforce…confident of who we are, what we can offer - and as Frederick Buechner describes – “where our deepest gladness meets the world’s deep need.”\r\n\r\nI think there’s a good chance we would be happier, more engaged, and that the world would be more reflective of the One who created it – awash in mercy, grace and compassion rather than  controlled by those who won the race to the top but lost themselves in the process.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','The Trade','','inherit','open','open','','1216-revision-3','','','2011-10-25 23:01:47','2011-10-26 06:01:47','',1216,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1216-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(2602,30,'2011-11-25 18:03:06','2011-11-26 02:03:06','Thanksgiving is now behind us, a day that for many of us is filled with one delicious food after another. Turkey. Mashed potatoes. Corn casserole. Jello molds. Pies, pies, and more pies. We fill our plates, we eat, we dive back in for more. We wear our stretchy pants and leave the belts in the closet for another day.\n\nEating turkey and mashed potatoes isn\'t something that is unique to Thanksgiving. Particularly here in America, we can have a large meal nearly any day of the year. So despite the fact that we tend to focus on the food, there must be more to this holiday than simply an opportunity to eat','Soul Food','','inherit','open','open','','2598-revision','','','2011-11-25 18:03:06','2011-11-26 02:03:06','',2598,'http://provoketive.com/2011/11/25/2598-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(1237,64,'2011-10-25 16:45:41','2011-10-25 23:45:41','<strong>I\'ve never really </strong><strong>felt a need to </strong><strong><em>prove</em></strong><strong> that God exists</strong><strong>.  B</strong><strong>efore today</strong><strong> that is, when my tawny-headed, freckle-faced</strong><strong> son looked </strong><strong>up </strong><strong>at me with his </strong><strong>enormous</strong><strong> blue eyes</strong><strong> and cried </strong><strong><em>If God is real, </em></strong><strong><em>Mom, </em></strong><strong><em>why doesn\'t he stop all the bad stuff?  Why Mom, why?</em></strong>\r\n\r\nFeeling like I\'d been slapped hard across my face by the earnestness and veracity of his question I realized I don’t want to even touch that question.\r\n\r\nHonestly I try not to dwell on that now as I sit here with all my advantages – I enjoy my life, drinking my expensive coffee, in my warm house, sitting in my comfortable chair, at my computer that is connected 24/7 to the world.   I try not to think about my fortunate life or those that have so much less.\r\n\r\nNo I don’t want to touch those questions.  But sometimes that awareness aches inside me and makes my comfortable life <em>not -- so – comfortable.  </em>I cannot escape the world when I turn on the radio or television or get online.  <em>It is there</em> that I find out about people being <a href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7iDZnkn1xo\" target=\"_blank\">beheaded</a>.  Women who had <a href=\"http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011101352120/National-news/scars-that-never-heal.html\" target=\"_blank\">acid</a> poured on their face.  That going for firewood in some places in the world will get you <a href=\"http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/east/Somali-Women-Face-Rape-Sexual-Assault-as-They-Flee-Famine----126598458.html\" target=\"_blank\">raped</a> or assaulted.  Or that being born a girl is still something <a href=\"http://www.gendercide.org/case_infanticide.html\" target=\"_blank\">unwanted </a>in many places in the world.   much less and more importantly why God put me here.  Why I am so seemingly blessed?  And others appear less so?\r\n\r\nAt other times I try not to <em>feel</em> the hardship, injustice, suffering and pain of others.  I try to not <em>be</em> in that moment because it hurts.  And it makes me angry.\r\n\r\nIt makes me angry when repeatedly I have to tell my kids to “Eat their dinner and <em>be grateful</em>!”  Reminding them how very lucky they are to have something to eat and a glass of milk to wash it down.  And when they complain that there is no desert, I won\'t remind them, again, of how much we have.\r\n\r\nI feel indignant when my extremely bright, but bored children bring home reports of below average work, and then they complain about homework.  I will not scream at them about their lost opportunities.  Should I remind them of the children in many parts of the world that will never have an opportunity to even go to school?  Probably.  Or tell them that there are kids they know at school who didn’t have dinner last night.   And when they complain about walking less than half a mile to school, should I mention the many children in our country that cannot safely walk home from school?\r\n\r\nI try not to scream inside, I really do but when I let myself see and feel the pain that leads me back to my son -- proving God exists to my son who has so much, for the question remains <strong><em>why would a good God make life so easy for us and so unbearably horrendous for so many others in the world?   </em></strong>And is it random stupid luck that my kids healthy, smart and born into a well to do home?\r\n\r\nI have -- no-- answer for my son when he asks me to prove God exists, because what <em>kind of God would set things up like that?</em>\r\n\r\nMy son, my children, were fortunate enough to be born into a white, upper-middle class home, with a life chock full of privilege and opportunity; a life thus far lacking the violence and cruelty that so many children around the world face.  My children, for no reason of their own, have power and wealth before they have even begun their lives.  They have been given <strong><em>opportunity and responsibility.</em></strong>  I believe God intends that they do something with this power and privilege, for others.\r\n<div>\r\n\r\nGod is gentle, good and powerful.  God gave us moral freedom, the power to choose and if we like we may choose to reject him, the creator.  (Isaiah 40:11, 12)  His intent is to rescue and redeem the world by giving his son.\r\n\r\n</div>\r\nThat is the tension.  We have the freedom to choose.  To see.  To hear.  To know.  We prove<em> God exists and that he cares about the suffering in the world by <strong>seeing and speaking out about injustice and prejudice, by a knowing awareness</strong> of those that have much less and by working against poverty and hunger and need in the world.  </em>\r\n\r\n<em>By hearing the cries of those born with less we prove God actually loves</em> the world.\r\n\r\n<em>We</em> are his love.  <em>We</em> are his hands and feet. We are a part of his answer to the evil and injustice in the world.  That is the paradox.  We who have been given much ... and no, not only me, my sons and daughters, but each of us reading my words and wondering about this today – <em><strong>We are God\'s love.</strong></em>  We prove God exists by our actions, choices, by our love.\r\n\r\nAnd something beautiful arises.','Needing To Prove God Exists','','inherit','open','open','','1152-revision-6','','','2011-10-25 16:45:41','2011-10-25 23:45:41','',1152,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1152-revision-6/',0,'revision','',0),(1238,1,'2011-10-25 23:37:44','2011-10-26 06:37:44','We learn at an early age all about trades.  In our lunchrooms and playgrounds we eagerly trade away tuna for peanut butter and we willingly give up half a dozen second-string players for a long-coveted rookie card.\r\n\r\nAs we grow, the stakes involved in our trades get bigger.  We trade our hard-earned fast food paycheque for a car that is held together with duct tape and prayer, we trade time with our friends for time with our textbooks, and more often than not, we trade our dignity and self-respect for the chance that the pretty girl in class might pay us some attention.\r\n\r\nAnd in perhaps the biggest trade we ever make, we start careers and jobs that encourage us to trade our time and talents for a salary.  And it is staring to seem that the bigger the salary, the more demanding the trade.  The more we receive from our employers, the more they expect in return.  And what I’m learning is that sometimes the trade is mutually beneficial to everyone involved – the company gets the best I have to offer in exchange for a semblance of financial security.\r\n\r\nOver the last several months, I have been reevaluating the terms and conditions of the deal I made with my employer.  I agreed to offer my best.  I committed to work as hard, as creatively, and as innovatively as my skills and talents allowed.  In exchange I agreed to a compensation rate, dental coverage, and a great pension plan.\r\n\r\nBut based on recent conversations with others in my small group of friends and colleagues, it seems like there is a quiet undercurrent of dissatisfaction starting to emerge between the demands of employers and those who work for them.  More and more of my colleagues are reevaluating the details of their lives and deciding that they are no longer prepared to trade away their dreams and passions for cash.  And as scary as it is to admit to myself, I think I am becoming one of them.\r\n\r\nAccording to an <a href=\"http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/mar2009/ca20090313_334411.htm\">article</a> in the March 19, 2009 edition of <em>Business Week</em>, the number of employees who are disengaged in their workplaces rose by 45% over the previous year with a corresponding 53% decrease in the discretionary effort these employees are willing to offer their employers.  Clearly the ‘effort-for-pay’ trade is no longer working for lots of other people as well.\r\n\r\nI wonder if the crisis of dissatisfaction with work and the movement to rethink whether the amount of ourselves we give up in exchange for ‘job security’ is connected to an inadequate understanding of calling. I wonder what would happen if our business schools started including mandatory classes in self-reflection, self-awareness, and conducting an honest assessment of how our lives have shaped us into the people we are.  And only after we have spent time in the wilderness of self-discovery would we be allowed to join the workforce…confident of who we are, what we can offer - and as Frederick Buechner describes – “where our deepest gladness meets the world’s deep need.”\r\n\r\nI think there’s a good chance we would be happier, more engaged, and that the world would be more reflective of the One who created it – awash in mercy, grace and compassion rather than  controlled by those who won the race to the top but lost themselves in the process.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','The Trade','','inherit','open','open','','1216-revision-4','','','2011-10-25 23:37:44','2011-10-26 06:37:44','',1216,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/25/1216-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(2606,30,'2011-11-25 18:55:47','2011-11-26 02:55:47','<div style=\"clear: both;text-align: center\"><a title=\"license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ - click to view more info about \'easy-turkey-thanksgiving\' or find free \'turkey meal\' pictures via Wylio\" href=\"http://www.wylio.com/credits/flickr/5176608082\"><img style=\"float: none;margin: 10px auto\" src=\"http://lh3.ggpht.com/-eFTdM9dASjc/TtBLGhccjoI/AAAAAAAAA3E/7YKGnQtXwdI/Flickr-5176608082.jpg\" alt=\"\'easy-turkey-thanksgiving\' photo (c) 2010, Steve Johnson - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/\" width=\"500\" height=\"334\" /></a></div>\nThanksgiving is now behind us, a day that for many is filled with one delicious food after another. Turkey. Mashed potatoes. Corn casserole. Jello molds. Pies, pies, and more pies. We fill our plates, we eat, we dive back in for more. We wear our stretchy pants and leave the belts in the closet for another day.\n\nEating turkey and mashed potatoes isn\'t something that is unique to Thanksgiving. Particularly here in America, we can have a large meal nearly any day of the year. So despite the fact that we tend to focus on the food, there must be more to this holiday than simply an opportunity to eat a large meal.\n\nI believe what makes Thanksgiving special is the opportunity that we have not only to feed our physical appetites, but to feed our spiritual and emotional appetites as well. To feed not only our bodies, but our souls.\n\nWe fix meals that are more complicated than we might normally make. We play games that usually gather dust on the shelves. We enjoy one another\'s company without feeling the need to rush to the next thing. After the hustle and bustle of preparing the meal, it\'s a day for slowing down and for spending time together with those whom you love.\n\nBut what might happen if we took the time to seek out this soul food more often? What would that look like?\n\nPerhaps we could take time to sit and really listen to a piece of music for a few minutes. Allow each note to penetrate the deep parts of our minds and hearts.\n\nPerhaps we need to','Soul Food','','inherit','open','open','','2598-revision-5','','','2011-11-25 18:55:47','2011-11-26 02:55:47','',2598,'http://provoketive.com/2011/11/25/2598-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(1732,64,'2011-10-30 19:07:48','2011-10-31 02:07:48','A popular post at<a title=\"Sharon Hodde Miller\" href=\"http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/7ya3xT/blog.christianitytoday.com/women/2011/10/why_its_your_job_to_break_the.html\" target=\"_blank\"> Her.meneutics</a>, <em>Why it’s Your Job to Break the Women’s Ministry Stereotype</em> by Sharon Hodde Miller, reminded me of something I wrote earlier this year.  You must read her blog <a title=\"She Worships\" href=\"http://sheworships.com\" target=\"_blank\">She Worships</a>.  She is one of the more wise and intelligent female voices of my generation.\r\n<h2>I just want to know what you think.</h2>\r\nFor seven years I attended Women’s Bible studies offered at my church.  I learned a lot and my love for scripture grew deeper.   Over the years, as I refined my ability to study scripture for myself I began to notice an odd trend.  These women who taught with clear outward self-assurance were basically parroting the commentary and words of other (usually male) authors.   I found myself counting the times in a lecture they would say “So and so says ... in such and such commentary.”  <strong><em>I longed to hear what these wise women thought and more importantly what God was saying to them as they studied scripture.</em>   </strong>I believe these women were essentially shuffled to the side of the church “to teach women.”  Noticeably they had not received coaching comparable to the “teaching team” (of men) who taught Sunday mornings.  <em>Subsequently these women lacked the confidence and training to speak with authority. </em>\r\n\r\n<strong>By writing this essay I am not saying that there is no place for women’s ministry in the church, but after all these years <em>I know it is not for me.  Here\'s why.</em></strong>\r\n<h2>My life is incredibly diverse and I\'ll do everything I can to keep it that way.</h2>\r\nI guess the saying is true, “People of a feather flock together.”\r\n\r\nA good friend who is a leader at church told me that <em>people ask for groupings</em> when they come to church.  They <em>want</em> to be with those that are <em>like them</em> – whether it is women or men, youth or college-aged, young marrieds with or without kids, or singles gathering together.  I understand that this is what we are used and more comfortable with but does that mean it is <em>good</em>?\r\n\r\n<strong><em>I have deep concerns with that when it comes to separating men and women.</em></strong><strong> </strong>\r\n\r\nFirst of all, fundamentally it comes out of this notion that men and women are <em>so very different.  </em> We certainly have our differences, but that sort of thinking is divisive and unproductive. It hurts us more than helps as we try to work out our faith together.  Separation of men and women in the church might have begun when women were for the most part at-home and looking for things to do.  That is no longer the case, as people today divide up their lives and work and time very differently.  And today the church is full of the divorced, single parents,  men at home and women working in the marketplace, as well as more and more single men and women who are choosing to remain so longer, not to mention the younger retired boomers who make up the church.\r\n\r\n<em><strong>Scripture isn’t \"for women\" or \"for men.” </strong></em>\r\n\r\nWe don’t need to separate to study the Word.  When we split up it only perpetuates gender stereotypes.  Ah, the stereotypes, women want to be treated like princesses and men are all tough guys.  Women love to talk and are more emotional.  Men are stone and are afraid of being vulnerable and all have pornography problems.  Next thing you know, when women get together we are all making crafts and men are playing basketball.\r\n\r\nI think we benefit as we<strong> </strong>mix generations and genders, hipsters and bikers and soccer moms, boomers, silent gen, teens, single and married with those with higher education or not.  We need to cross all those cultural barriers and learn together.  We are strengthened as people and as a community when we do.  We lose out when we don’t.  There is so much that we don\'t learn when we divide into groups by our comfortable similarities.\r\n<h2>What about Tribes?</h2>\r\nOne of my husband tribes is <strong>Musical Geeks</strong> and they cross many apparent differences, women and men, young and old, it matters not at all, as long as you want to \"geek out\" about all sorts of really boring musical minutia. (That is not my tribe, clearly.)  Not my <em>need, </em>but <em>he needs and loves to be with those people because they have like interests</em>!\r\n\r\nThis is important.  We feel connection, solidarity and even strength when we connect from time to time with our tribe.  One must find a balance.\r\n\r\n<span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-size: 20px;font-weight: bold\">What about in the Church?</span>\r\n\r\n<strong><em>It feels like there are a million obstacles to women experiencing true equity within the Christian evangelical church and separating ourselves by gender simply perpetuates the stereotypes and encourages a lack of creativity when it comes to the gifts and talents that people have.</em></strong>\r\n\r\nI know that I am not your typical evangelical Christian woman nor married to the typical man.  We divide our household chores by talents and interests, as well as what brings us joy.  For example, you will not find my husband outside on the weekend mowing the lawn or in the yard at all.  I do it because I love being outside, love the physical effort and I care about our yard.  He can typically be found inside either cleaning or down in his studio working on music.   When we got married, rather than fall into the typical gender stereotypes we just thought about it pragmatically.  Why can’t we do that in the Church?\r\n\r\nI believe that men and women should be using their skills and abilities and spiritual gifts in the whole Church.  They were given to us by Yahweh.  I believe he chose my skills, abilities and spiritual gifts.  God is the one that <em>made me this way. I should be serving.  I should be using the abilities and talents that He gave me. It would be wrong for me to sit back and not use them. </em>\r\n\r\n<strong>This is complicated when you haven\'t had your abilities affirmed in the church.  But some day, women will come to know themselves capable.  I think it is time for us to begin again, to rethink women and men’s ministry and know that we are the body of Christ, at is says in 1 Corinthians 12</strong>.\r\n<blockquote> <strong><sup>4</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. <strong><sup>5</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of service, but the same Lord. <strong><sup>6</sup></strong> There are <em>different kinds</em> of working, but in all of them and <strong><em>in everyone</em></strong> it is the same God at work.\r\n\r\n<strong><sup>7</sup></strong> Now <em>to each one</em> the manifestation of the Spirit is given <strong><em>for the common good.</em></strong> <strong><sup>8</sup></strong> To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, <strong><sup>9</sup></strong> to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, <strong><sup>10</sup></strong> to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,<strong><sup>[<a title=\"See footnote a\" href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&amp;version=NIV#fen-NIV-28645a\">a</a>]</sup></strong> and to still another the interpretation of tongues.<strong><sup>[<a title=\"See footnote b\" href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12&amp;version=NIV#fen-NIV-28645b\">b</a>]</sup></strong> <strong><sup>11</sup></strong> All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them <strong><em>to each one</em></strong>, just as he determines. (NIV, <strong><em>emphasis mine</em></strong>.)</blockquote>\r\nI am so encouraged reading those verses, which were written to us, yes each one, yes <em>to everyone,</em> in the Church.\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Mimi Haddad\" href=\"http://www.cbeinternational.org/?q=content/leadership#dr-mimi-haddad\" target=\"_blank\">Mimi Haddad</a> puts it so well:\r\n<blockquote>“<strong>…</strong> Women need to learn the power and validity of their voices. Women have been given voices as instruments that God intends for them to use—not in anger, but with the grace and dignity with which Jesus spoke. When I look through the pages of Scripture, I see that the words of women and men throughout history have been beautiful gifts from God. It is time we remember that our voices carry weight, that we hold truth from God on our tongues. The world needs to hear from us.”</blockquote>\r\n<strong><em>I believe God is calling women to come forth and speak to the Church not just to women.</em></strong>\r\n\r\n<em>Photo Credit: Alesa Dam</em>','Why Ministry \"For Women\" is Not \"For Me\"','','inherit','open','open','','1411-revision-16','','','2011-10-30 19:07:48','2011-10-31 02:07:48','',1411,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/30/1411-revision-16/',0,'revision','',0),(1241,38,'2011-10-26 09:06:48','2011-10-26 16:06:48','A five-part series exploring the tensions of church life, by <a href=\"../author/deannaogle/\">Deanna Ogle</a>.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://wp.me/p1CKLQ-gJ\">Where the Church Lost Me: Part 1: Shallow and Antagonistic</a>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"../2011/10/26/where-the-church-lost-me-part-ii/\">Where the Church Lost Me: Part 2: Exclusivity</a>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/2011/10/28/where-the-church-lost-me-part-iii/\">Where the Church Lost Me: Part 3: Simplistic Sexuality</a>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/where-the-church-lost-me-part-iv/\">Where the Church Lost Me: Part 4: Unfriendly to Doubt</a>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/2011/11/02/where-the-church-lost-me-part-v-over-protective/\">Where the Church Lost Me: Part 5: Over-protective</a>','Where The Church Lost Me','','publish','open','open','','where-the-church-lost-me','','http://provoketive.com/2011/10/28/where-the-church-lost-me-part-iii/\nhttp://provoketive.com/2011/10/29/where-the-church-lost-me-part-iv/','2011-11-02 08:35:04','2011-11-02 15:35:04','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=1241',0,'post','',0),(1242,1,'2011-10-26 09:04:38','2011-10-26 16:04:38','','Why The Church Lost Me by Deanna Ogle','','inherit','open','open','','1241-revision','','','2011-10-26 09:04:38','2011-10-26 16:04:38','',1241,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/26/1241-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(1243,1,'2011-10-26 09:06:02','2011-10-26 16:06:02','A five part series exploring the tensions of church life, by <a href=\"../author/deannaogle/\">Deanna Ogle</a>.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://wp.me/p1CKLQ-gJ\">Where the Church Lost Me: Part 1: Shallow and Antagonistic</a>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"../2011/10/26/where-the-church-lost-me-part-ii/\">Where the Church Lost Me: Part 2: Exclusivity</a>\r\n\r\nWhere the Church Lost Me: Part 3: Simplistic Sexuality\r\n\r\nWhere the Church Lost Me: Part 4:\r\n\r\nWhere the Church Lost Me: Part 5:','Where The Church Lost Me','','inherit','open','open','','1241-revision-2','','','2011-10-26 09:06:02','2011-10-26 16:06:02','',1241,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/26/1241-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(1244,1,'2011-10-26 09:06:48','2011-10-26 16:06:48','A five part series exploring the tensions of church life, by <a href=\"../author/deannaogle/\">Deanna Ogle</a>.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://wp.me/p1CKLQ-gJ\">Where the Church Lost Me: Part 1: Shallow and Antagonistic</a>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"../2011/10/26/where-the-church-lost-me-part-ii/\">Where the Church Lost Me: Part 2: Exclusivity</a>\r\n\r\nWhere the Church Lost Me: Part 3: Simplistic Sexuality\r\n\r\nWhere the Church Lost Me: Part 4:\r\n\r\nWhere the Church Lost Me: Part 5:','Where The Church Lost Me','','inherit','open','open','','1241-revision-3','','','2011-10-26 09:06:48','2011-10-26 16:06:48','',1241,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/26/1241-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(1245,1,'2011-10-26 09:09:06','2011-10-26 16:09:06',' ','','','publish','open','open','','1245','','','2012-01-19 11:08:28','2012-01-19 19:08:28','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=1245',3,'nav_menu_item','',0),(1248,24,'2011-10-26 09:55:04','2011-10-26 16:55:04','','Rick4','','inherit','open','open','','rick4','','','2011-10-26 09:55:04','2011-10-26 16:55:04','',843,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Rick4.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(1250,24,'2011-10-26 09:56:19','2011-10-26 16:56:19','Pain invited my ear, \"Listen to me, for I have knowledge of Truth hidden in what you fear.\"\n\nFear roared, \"Do not look or listen to pain, it will only lead you to more discomfort!\"\n\nLove whispered, \"Go into this pain, it is safe. You will only discover more to love.\"\n\nShame whimpered, \"Remember everything that has happened to you, everyone despises you. This will not work.\"\n\nCourage invoked, \"All fear is an illusion, walk straight ahead!\"\n\nPride demanded, \"You have everything you need already, this is a waste of time.\"\n\nEver notice how throughout a day what you are  feeling will interpret reality for you. As you follow these feelings they usually lead you to thoughts. These thought are ideas about your self, others and how life is playing out. Few questions these thoughts, few face the idea\'s of being separate, alone and unwanted. We tend to settle for a hope of one day getting what we want so we can be happy.\n\n<strong>What would life be like if we embraced all of it? What would we be like if we stopped avoiding pain and ran into what we have been taught to fear.</strong>\n\nWhy do we stop going to the gym? Because we no longer engage with the benefits the pain brings us. This benefit is strength.\nWhy do we fear the dentist? His cleaning, shots and drilling give our teeth longevity.\nWhy do we fear conflict or confrontation with people? Will it not expose the lies and assumptions we hide behind.\n\n<strong><a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/pain1.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-1171\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/pain1-300x226.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"226\" /></a>SEARCHING IN THE WRONG PLACE</strong>\n\nA neighbour found Jon on hands and knees.\n“What are you searching for Jon?” “My key.”\nBoth men got on their knees to search.\nAfter a while the neighbor says, “Where did you lose it?”\n“At home.”\n“Good Lord! Then why are you searching here?”\n“Because it’s brighter here.”\n\nSearch for Love where you lost it. Where did you learn to stop loving yourself? Where did you learn that what you did was not good enough? Who told you that you were worthless, meaningless and annoying? Let anger come up, let grief stay for a while, let all the dires to get love from someoene out there smack you in the face with the reality that it has not worked.\n\nThe key to Love is where you left it. Until you have the courage and the company of people around you who are willing to let you fall apart, breakdown and give up on all of it, you will never experience the Life Jesus spoke from.\n\nThe next time you find yourself in a painful situation, instead of looking for a way out, face this pain, welcome it and allow yourself to feel it deeply. Perhaps it will lead you to a dark place where what you have forgotten about what is you are is hidden.\n\n<strong>WHY BADSTUFF HAPPENS\n</strong><em>by Elsa Joy Bailey</em>\n\nIf it weren\'t for my beautiful sad mother\ndrinking a beaker of cold cyanide when I was three,\nI wouldn\'t have learned\nshe could both love and abandon me\nin one hot severe breath.\nNor would I have grown flowers in my heart\nfor people who urgently want to die.\n\nIf I had not broken my leg in a wild fall,\nI wouldn\'t have learned that stark physical pain\nis, to my great surprise, not permanent.\n\nIf I hadn\'t fallen in love with someone\nwho didn\'t love me,\nI would never have realized that unrequited love\nis still an ecstatic dance of the heart.\n\nIf I hadn\'t encountered praise and blame,\nsuccess and failure, heat and cold, darkness and light,\nblows and kisses, pain and bliss,\nnever would I have found out that through it all\nthere is a Spirit within me\nwhich remains unceasingly alive and loving.\n\nIf I hadn\'t received the gift of knowing you,\nI would not have come to realise\nthat our stories are different in details,\nbut never in essence.\n\nIf I hadn\'t lived through an era of hurting\nI would never have met the miracle\nof being fed with kindness by a friend.\n\nIf I hadn\'t discovered that you and I\nare two threads in the same vast cloth,\nI would have remained forever lost and imprisoned\nin my separate universe.\n\nIf I hadn\'t seen both good and evil\noccupying space in the same event,\nI would never have met the hand of humour\npainting over these polarities\nwith new clarity and light.\n\nIf I hadn\'t wept a thousand tears\nover the loss of a beloved,\nI would never have been driven inward\nto find the eternal companion,\nmy Soul.\n\nIf I had not witnessed cruelty\nand man\'s inhumanity to man,\nI would not have been forced to look\nbeneath the ugliness of fear,\nand encounter the common Heart\nthat lies beneath it.\n\nIf I hadn\'t encountered our myriad differences,\nI would never have discovered that you and I\nare not two,\nbut infinite sparks of love ever arising\nfrom one indestructible Flame.\n\nAnd if I hadn\'t felt abandoned and heartsick,\nI would never have heard the wordless whisper\nof an abiding, unseeable Friend,\nwho translated the feeling of alone\ninto All One.','Pain Demands an Answer','','inherit','open','open','','843-revision-14','','','2011-10-26 09:56:19','2011-10-26 16:56:19','',843,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/26/843-revision-14/',0,'revision','',0),(1251,0,'2011-10-26 12:13:21','2011-10-26 19:13:21','Hello Jonathan!\r\n\r\nPer your invitation, and after much thought and prayer, I have decided I would like to write for Provoketive.\r\n\r\nI intertwine a lot of topics that go between Life, Faith and Culture - primarily in how our walk with Christ is reflected in life and in our culture (and also how life and our culture affects our walk with Christ).\r\n\r\nA lot of the topics I write on do with family, parenting, spiritual growth, spirituality, theology, &amp; spiritual practices - and I sometimes will even bring in a movie, music, book, or any art of some kind to reveal a spiritual truth discovered in scripture to help prompt a Christian\'s growth and maturity in their own lives.\r\n\r\nI look forward to further correspondence with you.\r\n\r\nSincerely,\r\nMarni\n<!--more-->\nAUTHOR: Marni Arnold\nAUTHOR EMAIL: marni@relevantbrokenness.com\nAUTHOR URL: http://RelevantBrokenness.com\nSUBJECT: Provoketive Magazine Writing For Provoketive\nIP: 71.68.99.224\nArray\n(\n    [Name] =&gt; Marni Arnold\n    [Email] =&gt; marni@relevantbrokenness.com\n    [Existing Blog or Website] =&gt; RelevantBrokenness.com\n    [List the topic you are interested writing about] =&gt; Hello Jonathan!\r\n\r\nPer your invitation, and after much thought and prayer, I have decided I would like to write for Provoketive.\r\n\r\nI intertwine a lot of topics that go between Life, Faith and Culture - primarily in how our walk with Christ is reflected in life and in our culture (and also how life and our culture affects our walk with Christ).\r\n\r\nA lot of the topics I write on do with family, parenting, spiritual growth, spirituality, theology, &amp; spiritual practices - and I sometimes will even bring in a movie, music, book, or any art of some kind to reveal a spiritual truth discovered in scripture to help prompt a Christian\'s growth and maturity in their own lives.\r\n\r\nI look forward to further correspondence with you.\r\n\r\nSincerely,\r\nMarni\n    [Current or New WordPress Login Name (We\'ll send you a password.)] =&gt; marniarnold\n)\n','Marni Arnold - 2011-10-26 12:13:21','','publish','open','open','','938fbe900cbf59c183165e6d9204e31c','','','2011-10-26 12:13:21','2011-10-26 19:13:21','',358,'http://provoketive.com/?post_type=feedback&p=1251',0,'feedback','',0),(1253,1,'2011-10-26 12:59:36','2011-10-26 19:59:36','','banksy','','inherit','open','open','','banksy','','','2011-10-26 12:59:36','2011-10-26 19:59:36','',1252,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/banksy.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(1254,1,'2011-10-26 12:59:22','2011-10-26 19:59:22','','Banksy On Violence','','inherit','open','open','','1252-revision','','','2011-10-26 12:59:22','2011-10-26 19:59:22','',1252,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/26/1252-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(1255,1,'2011-10-26 15:46:52','2011-10-26 22:46:52','<a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksy\" target=\"_blank\">Banksy</a> has such a beautiful way of saying the obscene.','Banksy On Violence','','inherit','open','open','','1252-autosave','','','2011-10-26 15:46:52','2011-10-26 22:46:52','',1252,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/26/1252-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(2626,106,'2011-11-27 11:13:17','2011-11-27 19:13:17','','buddha','','inherit','open','open','','buddha','','','2011-11-27 11:13:17','2011-11-27 19:13:17','',2624,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/buddha.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(2627,106,'2011-11-27 11:14:36','2011-11-27 19:14:36','While recently visiting a (Won) Buddhist temple, I heard one practitioner refer to Jesus as a Buddha. I was struck by the generosity of calling the leader of another faith one’s most cherished, revered term. In Won Buddhism, as I understand it, there is an effort for each person to embrace their Buddhahood and see the Buddha in another, so the statement was not at all unusual in that context. However it did lead me to a place of introspection about my own faith path. Could I, raised a Christian, return the favor? Could I say “Buddha is a Savior, Redeemer”?\n\nI have been frustrated and turned off by the churches I have visited that seem to place their God high above any other God. If there truly is one God, isn’t that one God as high as any God can be?\n\nI recently attended a conference at a megachurch in the Midwest. And I was disturbed by two of the things I experienced there. One of those things was the lead pastor (who I have followed and respected for many years) saying that “Christianity was the only Religion about Love”. Really? Really? Have you explored any other religions? My personal experience with other, non-Christian religions is they really are about love. They are about getting out negativity so the love can flow in. The second thing that disturbed me during my megachurch experience was surprisingly, the music. Although the music was inspiring and energetic, the lyrics were anything but. One song in particular featured the message: “Our God is stronger than your God, Our God is greater than Your God, etc.” Really? Are we in seventh grade or something? Are we really that competitive?\n\nTo me it seems when you have to tell someone your God is better, stronger, greater, more loving…than perhaps deep down you have some doubts on this topic?\n\nWhat if there is only one God, and this one God is manifested in many beautiful names? Those names could include Jesus Christ, Wonderful, Counselor Allah, Buddha, and scores of other names.\n\nIf we believe in one God, let’s start living and talking like it, and stop being so competitive. Start accepting that that one God is so brilliant that he made many ways to show himself before us all.\n\nThere are passages in the Bible that really resonate with me around this issue, for instance, this one from John (10:16) As Jesus said, \"And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd\".\n\nPerhaps the variety in religion is part of God’s big plan, and we should start showing some respect. Why wouldn’t God show up differently in the varied landscape of world culture. In this quote by theologian Emanuel Swedenborg (Divine Providence 254) he seems to call this idea out quite clearly. \"When a religion has been implanted in a nation, the Lord leads that nation according to the precepts and dogmas of its own religion. He has provided that there shall be in every religion precepts like those in the Ten Commandments....The nation that regards these precepts as Divine and lives according to them from a religious motive is saved.\".','Jesus is a Buddha, God\'s Plan for Variety in Religion','','inherit','open','open','','2624-revision-2','','','2011-11-27 11:14:36','2011-11-27 19:14:36','',2624,'http://provoketive.com/2011/11/27/2624-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(2628,106,'2011-11-27 11:14:40','2011-11-27 19:14:40','While recently visiting a (Won) Buddhist temple, I heard one practitioner refer to Jesus as a Buddha. I was struck by the generosity of calling the leader of another faith one’s most cherished, revered term. In Won Buddhism, as I understand it, there is an effort for each person to embrace their Buddhahood and see the Buddha in another, so the statement was not at all unusual in that context. However it did lead me to a place of introspection about my own faith path. Could I, raised a Christian, return the favor? Could I say “Buddha is a Savior, Redeemer”?\r\n\r\nI have been frustrated and turned off by the churches I have visited that seem to place their God high above any other God. If there truly is one God, isn’t that one God as high as any God can be?\r\n\r\nI recently attended a conference at a megachurch in the Midwest. And I was disturbed by two of the things I experienced there. One of those things was the lead pastor (who I have followed and respected for many years) saying that “Christianity was the only Religion about Love”. Really? Really? Have you explored any other religions? My personal experience with other, non-Christian religions is they really are about love. They are about getting out negativity so the love can flow in. The second thing that disturbed me during my megachurch experience was surprisingly, the music. Although the music was inspiring and energetic, the lyrics were anything but. One song in particular featured the message: “Our God is stronger than your God, Our God is greater than Your God, etc.” Really? Are we in seventh grade or something? Are we really that competitive?\r\n\r\nTo me it seems when you have to tell someone your God is better, stronger, greater, more loving…than perhaps deep down you have some doubts on this topic?\r\n\r\nWhat if there is only one God, and this one God is manifested in many beautiful names? Those names could include Jesus Christ, Wonderful, Counselor Allah, Buddha, and scores of other names.\r\n\r\nIf we believe in one God, let’s start living and talking like it, and stop being so competitive. Start accepting that that one God is so brilliant that he made many ways to show himself before us all.\r\n\r\nThere are passages in the Bible that really resonate with me around this issue, for instance, this one from John (10:16) As Jesus said, \"And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd\".\r\n\r\nPerhaps the variety in religion is part of God’s big plan, and we should start showing some respect. Why wouldn’t God show up differently in the varied landscape of world culture. In this quote by theologian Emanuel Swedenborg (Divine Providence 254) he seems to call this idea out quite clearly. \"When a religion has been implanted in a nation, the Lord leads that nation according to the precepts and dogmas of its own religion. He has provided that there shall be in every religion precepts like those in the Ten Commandments....The nation that regards these precepts as Divine and lives according to them from a religious motive is saved.\".','Jesus is a Buddha, God\'s Plan for Variety in Religion','','inherit','open','open','','2624-revision-3','','','2011-11-27 11:14:40','2011-11-27 19:14:40','',2624,'http://provoketive.com/2011/11/27/2624-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(1260,64,'2011-10-26 14:37:08','2011-10-26 21:37:08','<div>\n<blockquote>Feminism to me is the crazy belief that women and men are both created in God’s image and that each of us deserves a life of freedom and opportunity inside or outside the Church.</blockquote>\n</div>\n<strong>It began like any other day by l</strong><strong>ogging on to the internet, as I gratefully sipped my coffee and slowly woke up.</strong>\n\nScouring various sources, I saw a new book on women was out titled <a href=\"http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F1414337302%2Fref%3Das_li_ss_tl%3Fie%3DUTF8%26tag%3Dhansresodevei-20%26linkCode%3Das2%26camp%3D217145%26creative%3D399373%26creativeASIN%3D1414337302&amp;h=cAQF09IvWAQHLC8jkQwJq03PMm3_t4ngP4ePDIj1gc6-nYg\" target=\"_blank\">The Resignation of Eve: What If Adam\'s Rib Is No Longer Willing to Be the Church\'s Backbone?</a> (I have to admit that is a clever title.)  It contains women’s stories of their experiences in the Church written <em>by a man</em>?  Giving it very little further thought, I wrote this comment on Facebook:\n<blockquote>“While I find it highly ironic that it requires a man to tell these women\'s stories to in order for them to be heard, and though I have not obviously read this book since it is not yet out, still there must be something important here if he does as he alleges and has <em>listened to women</em> talk about their experience in the Church.   It seems sketchy to me though ...”</blockquote>\nI copied a few friends and that began the banter, then discussion about women and access, why women don’t trust their own voices, why takes a man’s voice for women’s stories to be \"heard\", how men (may) self-promote more than women, and why the only thing women are invited to write and speak on are soft topics, and even our theological grounding for our perspectives.  It was <em>much</em> more civil than many internet discussions, as several of my friends across the globe, and locally, began to discuss!\n\n<strong>But I have to go back, even further.</strong>\n\nThis story really began a few weeks ago as I sat perched on the edge of my chair, once again at the computer.  I was trying to gather my thoughts.  Sighing deeply and knowing that being on the computer was the last thing I needed.  I needed time alone.\n\n<strong>And the<em> </em><em>lack of it</em><em> </em>was weighing heavily on my spirit. </strong> I knew that what I really needed was to turn it all off, especially the technological barrage, and find – time – to – think.  And <em>not</em> time while doing last night\'s dishes, or throwing another load in, or while picking up the endless socks, books and dog toys.  <em>Not</em> time driving my son to the doctor or waiting.  Time spent on the responsibilities of home life can be a meditation of sorts, but <em>not</em> what I needed.\n\n<strong>I needed noiseless, exclusive solitary time with Yahweh.  </strong>\n\n<strong></strong>How often do we really find this kind of time? I cannot underscore how important solitary thinking time is for me spiritually and creatively.  It helps me be less impulsive.  It centers me.  It makes the anxiety, anger, and disappointments of life fade away, lacking the importance I might have given them.  My priorities sift and sort and I am more circumspect.  In that place, I find my quavering voice.\n\n<strong>Here’s what I had been thinking about.  </strong>When it all first occurred I definitely tried to ignore it.  I kept thinking how <em>obsessive</em> I was being.  I kept telling myself I was being ridiculous, absurd, unreasonable, and even disagreeable.  Doubting my own inner voice is a frequent problem that I have.  I had been trying to ignore the nagging voice inside me until finally I accepted that this was not going away!\n\n<strong>I\'ve been thinking about</strong> <strong>the lack of </strong><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">presence and example</span></strong><strong> of</strong> <strong>women in <em>the Church</em>.</strong><strong>  That Sunday at my church in particular, women were </strong><strong><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">simply spectators</span></em></strong><strong>, the audience, the bystanders, the recipients and beneficiaries.  </strong>\n\nAnd the more I thought I could not remember the last time one of the teaching pastors suggested a book they were reading written by a woman.  Women are never quoted in my church.  Female theologians or scholars are never referenced or even mentioned, probably because the pastors don’t read them.  I can\'t remember the last time, if ever, a pastor in my church has suggested or referred to or quoted a female theologian, religious author, or historian.  <em>Am I the only one that notices these things?</em>\n\n<strong><em>T</em><em>he entire thing</em><em> </em></strong><em><strong>makes me very sad</strong></em><strong>.  And so tired. <strong> I am tired of the male dominated culture on the platform, as authors, as experts, as theologians, as speakers at conferences and in the Church at large. </strong></strong>Considering women are half the church (some would say more) I do not buy the argument that there aren\'t capable women to select from, though I\'ve been told that very thing.  \"The women haven\'t risen up who have the gift of teaching.\"\n\n<strong><em>Risen up</em><em>?</em></strong>   To be honest, one would think in a service-by-gifts based church there must not<em> be</em> any qualified gifted female teachers.   I attend an EFCA church of 5,000. You do the math.\n\nI would guess that many people, but especially women, will not put themselves forward (i.e. rise up) because of self-doubt, true humility or a combination of motivations.\n\nI think it is very likely that <em>there are</em> gifted, wise articulate women who may not be comfortable yet with their own voice, but have natural instincts for leadership or teaching that could be taught, mentored, helped to find their voice.  Who knows?\n\n<strong><em>Will we ever know if they are not given the opportunity? And what a loss not to hear from them!  </em></strong>\n\nI believe it harms us to rarely hear the spiritual voices of women and for me personally, it hampers my faith and my journey with Christ.  Thank God that we have the example of Jesus who took risks for women, ministered with, received from and listened to women.  He was our example of reconciliation and grace in the lives of women.  If only the church modeled their behavior toward women after Jesus. Sadly the Church is ignoring the stories of women in the Bible, and of women historically and in the Church worldwide today.  Women have been actively participating in the work of the church since its inception.  Women are missionaries, teaching in seminaries, running nonprofits and leading in higher education.  Women are writing and want to write on more than “soft or women’s issues.”  But in the Church women are still finding their voice.\n\n<strong>I have to confess that I do not want my feminist radar (that\'s what my daughter calls it) to always go off in church.</strong>  It is distracting, sometimes painful and it is utterly exhausting.  It steals some of the joy out of my spiritual life, like recently when we attended a one man show at church.  The actor introduced us to eight characters (both in the Bible and fictional) who had met Jesus.  It was powerful.  <a title=\"Curt Cloninger\" href=\"http://curtcloninger.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Curt Cloninger</a> is supremely talented.  Sadly, in the entire two and a half hour show, women were invisible – utterly missing – other than being mentioned as briefly as whores and spinsters.  I tried hard, I really did.  I used all kind of energy that night trying to forget that I was <em>the invisible woman</em> and simply experience the show.  And it worked -- almost.\n\nYes, I tire of voicing what I believe.  And I have considered asking God to take it away – this feminist awareness – to either shut it up or get me out – but for now I stay.  And I continue to work to find my own voice and listen, getting those times alone so that I can have something solid to say with a circumspect and healthy heart.  I hold on tight to Jesus in those moments when I want to quit the Church.  And I consider that as long as I can think out loud on my <strong><a title=\"Logic and Imagination\" href=\"http://logicandimagination.wordpress.com/\" target=\"_blank\">blog</a></strong> and places like <strong>Provokotive</strong> and as long as I have a few people in my life that I can express my pain and rancor to, I\'ll survive, for now.','?? title ','','inherit','open','open','','1258-revision','','','2011-10-26 14:37:08','2011-10-26 21:37:08','',1258,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/26/1258-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(1261,20,'2011-10-26 14:34:27','2011-10-26 21:34:27','I’m usually pretty good about being conscious of what I buy and what I eat – taking an interest in where things are made, by who and for how much, etc.  And yet, I’m still a consumer.  In our environment it’s basically the air we breathe.  I might purchase fair trade coffee and chocolate, but I’m still addicted to coffee and chocolate.  My wife tries to shop only for clothes made in the U.S., but she still really likes to shop.  I started wondering how much of this is just human, and how much of it is culturally constructed.\n\nDespite the fact that many Christians themselves get caught up in this perpetual cycle, there seems to at least be some level of awareness in the church about the problem.  This is a good thing.  Less understood though is the extent to which societal messages are able to increasingly produce in us the insatiable desire for consumption in the first place.  In their genuine intent to encourage counter-culturalism, we might hear pastors talk about innate human drive to always want more.  But how much of this is a common anthropology vs. just a modern Western phenomenon?\n\nOf course Christians confess that there is an inherent hunger in people which cannot be satisfied by what the material world offers.  The human condition is such that we live with a kind of openness directed toward possibility in the world, always becoming.<a title=\"\" href=\"#_edn1\">[i]</a>  This does have to be a bad thing.  Some people have called it the God-shaped hole.  But there is another level of desire that is more artificial or at least less natural.  It’s the desire that is harnessed by the power of globalizing market forces in such a way as to induce complacency in our individualism and trivialize any concern about our unsustainable standard of living.  It’s akin to what Marx called fetishism and Freud later described as the surrogate object of desire.\n\nThe most troubling fact is that this desire is very difficult to control. In his book <em>No Rising Tide</em>, Perkins School of Theology professor Joerg Rieger discusses this very question.  The drive to consume is sustained by economic mechanisms and reinforced by the advertising industry.  Moreover, Rieger contends that economic and religious desires parallel each other.  This is illustrated by the way we often project our desires and ideals from the material world onto the divine and thus replace the transcendent God with an idol.  The German philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach made a similar argument in the 19<sup>th</sup> Century.\n\nAs Rieger further explains, desire is shaped by the production of wealth in a given society.  This process can have a subconscious effect on people’s deepest convictions and ultimate values.  This means that the way culture teaches us to view wealth has a tremendous impact on the kind of people we become.\n\nAs communities that are supposed to be convicting, healing and nurturing us on the path to holiness, churches have a vital part to play in resisting co-optation.  Sadly it’s not uncommon for churches to be complicit in this game – albeit sometimes in very subtle ways.  To a degree this might be unavoidable, but it’s imperative for us to be sensitized and attentive to how it happens.  I’m interested in how the church can be a place that enables Christians to subvert the status quo in this regard.  I know there are many tangible ways to do this, but I’m curious as to what others have seen and discovered about how our local practice can transcend systems that resist and suppress change.\n<div>\n\n<hr align=\"left\" size=\"1\" width=\"33%\" />\n\n<div>\n\n<a title=\"\" href=\"#_ednref1\">[i]</a> Wolfhart Pannenberg and Duane A. Priebe, <em>What Is Man? Contemporary Anthropology in Theological Perspective.</em> (Fortress Press, 1970), 8.\n\n</div>\n</div>','That to Which Your Heart Clings, Part I: Diagnosing Consumerism   ','','inherit','open','open','','1148-revision-3','','','2011-10-26 14:34:27','2011-10-26 21:34:27','',1148,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/26/1148-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(1262,64,'2011-10-26 14:41:20','2011-10-26 21:41:20','<div>\n<blockquote>Feminism to me is the crazy belief that women and men are both created in God’s image and that each of us deserves a life of freedom and opportunity inside or outside the Church.</blockquote>\n</div>\n<strong>It began like any other day by </strong><strong>logging on to the internet, as I gratefully sipped my coffee and slowly woke up.</strong>\n\nScouring various sources, I saw a new book on women was out titled <a href=\"http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F1414337302%2Fref%3Das_li_ss_tl%3Fie%3DUTF8%26tag%3Dhansresodevei-20%26linkCode%3Das2%26camp%3D217145%26creative%3D399373%26creativeASIN%3D1414337302&amp;h=cAQF09IvWAQHLC8jkQwJq03PMm3_t4ngP4ePDIj1gc6-nYg\" target=\"_blank\">The Resignation of Eve: What If Adam\'s Rib Is No Longer Willing to Be the Church\'s Backbone?</a> (I have to admit that is a clever title.)  It has women’s stories of their experiences in the Church written <em>by a man</em>?  Giving it very little further thought, I wrote this comment on Facebook:\n<blockquote>“While I find it highly ironic that it requires a man to tell these women\'s stories to in order for them to be heard, and though I have not obviously read this book since it is not yet out, still there must be something important here if he does as he alleges and has <em>listened to women</em> talk about their experience in the Church.   It seems sketchy to me though ...”</blockquote>\nI copied a few friends and that began the banter, then a lively discussion about women and access, why women don’t trust their own voices, why it takes a man for women’s stories to be \"heard\", how men (may) self-promote more than women, and why the only thing women are invited to write and speak on are soft topics, and we even discussed our theological grounding for our perspectives.  It was <em>much</em> more civil than many internet discussions, as several of my friends across the globe, and locally, began to discuss!\n\n<strong>But I have to go back, even further.</strong>\n\nThis story really began a few weeks ago as I sat perched on the edge of my chair, once again at the computer.  I was trying to gather my thoughts.  Sighing deeply and knowing that being on the computer was the last thing I needed.  I needed time alone.\n\n<strong>And the<em> </em><em>lack of it</em><em> </em>was weighing heavily on my spirit. </strong> I knew that what I really needed was to turn it all off, especially the technological barrage, and find – time – to – think.  And <em>not</em> time while doing last night\'s dishes, or throwing another load in, or while picking up the endless socks, books and dog toys.  <em>Not</em> time driving my son to the doctor or waiting.  Time spent on the responsibilities of home life can be a meditation, but <em>not</em> what I needed.\n\n<strong>I needed noiseless, exclusive solitary time with Yahweh.  </strong>\n\n<strong></strong>How often do we really find this kind of time? I cannot underscore how important solitary thinking time is for me spiritually and creatively.  It helps me be less impulsive.  It centers me.  It makes the anxiety, anger, and disappointments of life fade away, lacking the importance I might have given them.  My priorities sift and sort and I am more circumspect.  In that place, I find my quavering voice.\n\n<strong>Here’s what I had been thinking about.  </strong>When it all first occurred I definitely tried to ignore it.  I kept thinking how <em>obsessive</em> I was being.  I kept telling myself I was being ridiculous, absurd, unreasonable, and even disagreeable.  Doubting my own inner voice is a frequent problem that I have.  I had tried to ignore the nagging voice inside me until finally I accepted that this was not going away!\n\n<strong>I\'ve been thinking about</strong> <strong>the lack of </strong><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">presence and example</span></strong><strong> of</strong> <strong>women in <em>the Church</em>.</strong><strong>  That Sunday at my church in particular, women were </strong><strong><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">simply spectators</span></em></strong><strong>, the audience, the bystanders, the recipients and beneficiaries.  </strong>\n\nAnd the more I thought I could not remember the last time one of the teaching pastors suggested a book they were reading written by a woman.  Women are never quoted in my church.  Female theologians or scholars are never referenced or even mentioned, probably because the pastors don’t read them.  I can\'t remember the last time, if ever, a pastor in my church has suggested or referred to or quoted a female theologian, religious author, or historian.  <em>Am I the only one that notices these things?</em>\n\n<strong><em>T</em><em>he entire thing</em><em> </em></strong><em><strong>makes me very sad</strong></em><strong>.  And so tired. <strong> I am tired of the male dominated culture on the platform, as authors, as experts, as theologians, as speakers at conferences and in the Church at large. </strong></strong>Considering women are half the church (some would say more) I do not buy the argument that there aren\'t capable women to select from, though I\'ve been told that very thing.  \"The women haven\'t risen up who have the gift of teaching.\"\n\n<strong><em>Risen up</em><em>?</em></strong>   To be honest, one would think in a service-by-gifts based church there must not<em> be</em> any qualified gifted female teachers.   I attend an EFCA church of 5,000. You do the math.\n\nI would guess that many people, but especially women, will not put themselves forward (i.e. rise up) because of self-doubt, true humility or a combination of motivations.\n\nI think it is very likely that <em>there are</em> gifted, wise articulate women who are not yet comfortable with their own voice, but have natural instincts for leadership or teaching that could be taught, mentored, helped to find their voice.  Who knows?\n\n<strong><em>Will we ever know if they are not given the opportunity? And what a loss not to hear from them!  </em></strong>\n\nI believe it harms us to rarely hear the spiritual voices of women and for me personally, it hampers my faith and my journey with Christ.  Thank God that we have the example of Jesus who took risks for women, ministered with, received from and listened to women.  He was our example of reconciliation and grace in the lives of women.  If only the church modeled their behavior toward women after Jesus. Sadly the Church is ignoring the stories of women in the Bible, and of women historically and in the Church worldwide today.  Women have been actively participating in the work of the church since its inception.  Women are missionaries, teaching in seminaries, running nonprofits and leading in higher education.  Women are writing and want to write on more than “soft or women’s issues.”  But in the Church women are still finding their voice.\n\n<strong>I have to confess that I do not want my feminist radar (that\'s what my daughter calls it) to always go off in church.</strong>  It is distracting, sometimes painful and it is utterly exhausting.  It steals some of the joy out of my spiritual life, like recently when we attended a one man show at church.  The actor introduced us to eight characters (both in the Bible and fictional) who had met Jesus.  It was powerful.  <a title=\"Curt Cloninger\" href=\"http://curtcloninger.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Curt Cloninger</a> is supremely talented.  Sadly, in the entire two and a half hour show, women were invisible – utterly missing – other than being mentioned as briefly as whores and spinsters.  I tried hard, I really did.  I used all kind of energy that night trying to forget that I was <em>the invisible woman</em> and simply experience the show.  And it worked -- almost.\n\nYes, I tire of voicing what I believe.  And I have considered asking God to take it away – this feminist awareness – to either shut it up or get me out – but for now I stay.  And I continue to work to find my own voice and listen, getting those times alone so that I can have something solid to say with a circumspect and healthy heart.  I hold on tight to Jesus in those moments when I want to quit the Church.  And I consider that as long as I can think out loud on my <strong><a title=\"Logic and Imagination\" href=\"http://logicandimagination.wordpress.com/\" target=\"_blank\">blog</a></strong> and places like <strong>Provokotive</strong> and as long as I have a few people in my life that I can express my pain and rancor to, I\'ll survive, for now.','?? title ??','','inherit','open','open','','1258-revision-2','','','2011-10-26 14:41:20','2011-10-26 21:41:20','',1258,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/26/1258-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(1263,1,'2011-10-28 11:28:19','2011-10-28 18:28:19','<div>\r\n\r\nFeminism to me is the crazy belief that women and men are both created in God’s image and that each of us deserves a life of freedom and opportunity inside or outside the Church.\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n<strong>It began like any other day by </strong><strong>logging on to the internet, as I gratefully sipped my coffee and slowly woke up.</strong>\r\n\r\nScouring various sources, I saw a new book on women was out titled <a href=\"http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F1414337302%2Fref%3Das_li_ss_tl%3Fie%3DUTF8%26tag%3Dhansresodevei-20%26linkCode%3Das2%26camp%3D217145%26creative%3D399373%26creativeASIN%3D1414337302&amp;h=cAQF09IvWAQHLC8jkQwJq03PMm3_t4ngP4ePDIj1gc6-nYg\" target=\"_blank\">The Resignation of Eve: What If Adam\'s Rib Is No Longer Willing to Be the Church\'s Backbone?</a> (I have to admit that is a clever title.)  It has women’s stories of their experiences in the Church written <em>by a man</em>?  Giving it very little further thought, I wrote this comment on Facebook:\r\n<blockquote>“While I find it highly ironic that it requires a man to tell these women\'s stories to in order for them to be heard, and though I have not obviously read this book since it is not yet out, still there must be something important here if he does as he alleges and has <em>listened to women</em> talk about their experience in the Church.   It seems sketchy to me though ...”</blockquote>\r\nI copied a few friends and that began the banter, then a lively discussion about women and access, why women don’t trust their own voices, why it takes a man for women’s stories to be \"heard\", how men (may) self-promote more than women, and why the only thing women are invited to write and speak on are soft topics, and we even discussed our theological grounding for our perspectives.  It was <em>much</em> more civil than many internet discussions, as several of my friends across the globe, and locally, began to discuss!\r\n\r\n<strong>But I have to go back, even further.</strong>\r\n\r\nThis story really began a few weeks ago as I sat perched on the edge of my chair, once again at the computer.  I was trying to gather my thoughts.  Sighing deeply and knowing that being on the computer was the last thing I needed.  I needed time alone.\r\n\r\n<strong>And the<em> </em><em>lack of it</em><em> </em>was weighing heavily on my spirit. </strong> I knew that what I really needed was to turn it all off, especially the technological barrage, and find – time – to – think.  And <em>not</em> time while doing last night\'s dishes, or throwing another load in, or while picking up the endless socks, books and dog toys.  <em>Not</em> time driving my son to the doctor or waiting.  Time spent on the responsibilities of home life can be a meditation, but <em>not</em> what I needed.\r\n\r\n<strong>I needed noiseless, exclusive solitary time with Yahweh.  </strong>\r\n\r\n<strong></strong>How often do we really find this kind of time? I cannot underscore how important solitary thinking time is for me spiritually and creatively.  It helps me be less impulsive.  It centers me.  It makes the anxiety, anger, and disappointments of life fade away, lacking the importance I might have given them.  My priorities sift and sort and I am more circumspect.  In that place, I find my quavering voice.\r\n\r\n<strong>Here’s what I had been thinking about.  </strong>When it all first occurred I definitely tried to ignore it.  I kept thinking how <em>obsessive</em> I was being.  I kept telling myself I was being ridiculous, absurd, unreasonable, and even disagreeable.  Doubting my own inner voice is a frequent problem that I have.  I had tried to ignore the nagging voice inside me until finally I accepted that this was not going away!\r\n\r\n<strong>I\'ve been thinking about</strong> <strong>the lack of </strong><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">presence and example</span></strong><strong> of</strong> <strong>women in <em>the Church</em>.</strong><strong>  That Sunday at my church in particular, women were </strong><strong><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">simply spectators</span></em></strong><strong>, the audience, the bystanders, the recipients and beneficiaries.  </strong>\r\n\r\nAnd the more I thought I could not remember the last time one of the teaching pastors suggested a book they were reading written by a woman.  Women are never quoted in my church.  Female theologians or scholars are never referenced or even mentioned, probably because the pastors don’t read them.  I can\'t remember the last time, if ever, a pastor in my church has suggested or referred to or quoted a female theologian, religious author, or historian.  <em>Am I the only one that notices these things?</em>\r\n\r\n<strong><em>T</em><em>he entire thing</em><em> </em></strong><em><strong>makes me very sad</strong></em><strong>.  And so tired. <strong> I am tired of the male dominated culture on the platform, as authors, as experts, as theologians, as speakers at conferences and in the Church at large. </strong></strong>Considering women are half the church (some would say more) I do not buy the argument that there aren\'t capable women to select from, though I\'ve been told that very thing.  \"The women haven\'t risen up who have the gift of teaching.\"\r\n\r\n<strong><em>Risen up</em><em>?</em></strong>   To be honest, one would think in a service-by-gifts based church there must not<em> be</em> any qualified gifted female teachers.   I attend an EFCA church of 5,000. You do the math.\r\n\r\nI would guess that many people, but especially women, will not put themselves forward (i.e. rise up) because of self-doubt, true humility or a combination of motivations.\r\n\r\nI think it is very likely that <em>there are</em> gifted, wise articulate women who are not yet comfortable with their own voice, but have natural instincts for leadership or teaching that could be taught, mentored, helped to find their voice.  Who knows?\r\n\r\n<strong><em>Will we ever know if they are not given the opportunity? And what a loss not to hear from them!  </em></strong>\r\n\r\nI believe it harms us to rarely hear the spiritual voices of women and for me personally, it hampers my faith and my journey with Christ.  Thank God that we have the example of Jesus who took risks for women, ministered with, received from and listened to women.  He was our example of reconciliation and grace in the lives of women.  If only the church modeled their behavior toward women after Jesus. Sadly the Church is ignoring the stories of women in the Bible, and of women historically and in the Church worldwide today.  Women have been actively participating in the work of the church since its inception.  Women are missionaries, teaching in seminaries, running nonprofits and leading in higher education.  Women are writing and want to write on more than “soft or women’s issues.”  But in the Church women are still finding their voice.\r\n\r\n<strong>I have to confess that I do not want my feminist radar (that\'s what my daughter calls it) to always go off in church.</strong>  It is distracting, sometimes painful and it is utterly exhausting.  It steals some of the joy out of my spiritual life, like recently when we attended a one man show at church.  The actor introduced us to eight characters (both in the Bible and fictional) who had met Jesus.  It was powerful.  <a title=\"Curt Cloninger\" href=\"http://curtcloninger.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Curt Cloninger</a> is supremely talented.  Sadly, in the entire two and a half hour show, women were invisible – utterly missing – other than being mentioned as briefly as whores and spinsters.  I tried hard, I really did.  I used all kind of energy that night trying to forget that I was <em>the invisible woman</em> and simply experience the show.  And it worked -- almost.\r\n\r\nYes, I tire of voicing what I believe.  And I have considered asking God to take it away – this feminist awareness – to either shut it up or get me out – but for now I stay.  And I continue to work to find my voice and listen, getting those times alone so that I can have something solid to say with a circumspect and healthy heart.  I hold on tight to Jesus in those moments when I want to quit the Church.  And I consider that as long as I can think out loud on my <strong><a title=\"Logic and Imagination\" href=\"http://logicandimagination.wordpress.com/\" target=\"_blank\">blog</a></strong> and places like <strong>Provoketive</strong> and as long as I have a few people in my life that I can express my pain and rancor to, I\'ll survive, for now.\r\n\r\n<em>Photo Credit: <a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/llimaorosa/1351327769/\" target=\"_blank\">Llima Orosa</a></em>','The Voice Of The Feminine','','inherit','open','open','','1258-autosave','','','2011-10-28 11:28:19','2011-10-28 18:28:19','',1258,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/26/1258-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(1268,20,'2011-10-26 14:52:42','2011-10-26 21:52:42','I’m usually pretty good about being conscious of what I buy and what I eat – taking an interest in where things are made, by who, for how much, and so on.  And yet, I’m still a consumer.  Sometimes it just feels like the air we breathe.  I might purchase fair trade coffee and chocolate, but I’m still addicted to coffee and chocolate.  My wife tries to shop only for clothes made in the U.S., but she still really likes to shop.   So I started wondering how much of this is just human, and how much of it is culturally constructed.\r\n\r\nDespite the fact that many Christians themselves get caught up in this pattern of behavior, there seems to at least be some level of awareness in the church about the problem.  This is a good thing.  Less understood though is the extent to which societal messages are able to increasingly produce in us an insatiable desire for consumption in the first place.  In their genuine intent to encourage counter-culturalism, we might hear pastors talk about innate human drive to always want more.  But how much of this is rooted in a common anthropology vs. just a modern Western phenomenon?\r\n\r\nChristians confess that there is an inherent hunger in human beings that cannot be satisfied by what the material world offers.  The human condition is such that we live with a kind of openness directed toward possibility in the world, always becoming.<a title=\"\" href=\"#_edn1\">[i]</a>  This does have to be a bad thing.  Some have called it the \"God-shaped hole.\"  But there is another level of desire that is perhaps more artificial or at least less natural - namely, the desire that is harnessed by the power of globalizing market forces in such a way as to induce complacency in our individualism and trivialize any concern about our unsustainable standard of living.  It’s akin to what Marx called fetishism and Freud later described as the surrogate object of desire.\r\n\r\nThe most troubling fact is that this desire is very difficult to control. In his book <em>No Rising Tide</em>, Perkins School of Theology professor Joerg Rieger discusses this very question and argues that  the drive to consume is sustained by economic mechanisms and reinforced by the advertising industry.  Moreover, Rieger contends that economic and religious desires parallel each other.  This is illustrated by the way we often project our desires and ideals from the material world onto the divine and thus replace the transcendent God with an idol.  The German philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach made a similar argument in the 19<sup>th</sup> Century.\r\n\r\nAs Rieger further explains, desire is shaped by the production of wealth in a given society.  This process can have a subconscious effect on people’s deepest convictions and ultimate values.  This means that the way culture teaches us to view wealth has a tremendous impact on the kind of people we become.\r\n\r\nAs communities that are supposed to be convicting, healing and nurturing us on the path to holiness, churches have a vital part to play in resisting co-optation by the marketplace.  Sadly it’s not uncommon though for Christian congregations to become complicit in the cycle of consumption as well, even if only in very subtle ways.  To a degree this might be unavoidable - but it’s imperative for us to be sensitized and attentive to how we succumb to addictive desires.  I’m interested in how the church can be a place that enables Christians to subvert the status quo in this regard.  I know there are many tangible ways to do this, but I’m curious as to what others have seen and discovered about how our local practice can transcend systems that resist and suppress change.\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<hr align=\"left\" size=\"1\" width=\"33%\" />\r\n\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a title=\"\" href=\"#_ednref1\">[i]</a> Wolfhart Pannenberg and Duane A. Priebe, <em>What Is Man? Contemporary Anthropology in Theological Perspective.</em> (Fortress Press, 1970), 8.\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n</div>','That to Which Your Heart Clings, Part I: Diagnosing Consumerism   ','','inherit','open','open','','1148-revision-7','','','2011-10-26 14:52:42','2011-10-26 21:52:42','',1148,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/26/1148-revision-7/',0,'revision','',0),(1264,20,'2011-10-26 14:50:37','2011-10-26 21:50:37','I’m usually pretty good about being conscious of what I buy and what I eat – taking an interest in where things are made, by who, for how much, and so on.  And yet, I’m still a consumer.  Sometimes it just feels like the air we breathe.  I might purchase fair trade coffee and chocolate, but I’m still addicted to coffee and chocolate.  My wife tries to shop only for clothes made in the U.S., but she still really likes to shop.   So I started wondering how much of this is just human, and how much of it is culturally constructed.\n\nDespite the fact that many Christians themselves get caught up in this pattern of behavior, there seems to at least be some level of awareness in the church about the problem.  This is a good thing.  Less understood though is the extent to which societal messages are able to increasingly produce in us an insatiable desire for consumption in the first place.  In their genuine intent to encourage counter-culturalism, we might hear pastors talk about innate human drive to always want more.  But how much of this is rooted in a common anthropology vs. just a modern Western phenomenon?\n\nChristians confess that there is an inherent hunger in human beings that cannot be satisfied by what the material world offers.  The human condition is such that we live with a kind of openness directed toward possibility in the world, always becoming.<a title=\"\" href=\"#_edn1\">[i]</a>  This does have to be a bad thing.  Some have called it the \"God-shaped hole.\"  But there is another level of desire that is perhaps more artificial or at least less natural - namely, the desire that is harnessed by the power of globalizing market forces in such a way as to induce complacency in our individualism and trivialize any concern about our unsustainable standard of living.  It’s akin to what Marx called fetishism and Freud later described as the surrogate object of desire.\n\nThe most troubling fact is that this desire is very difficult to control. In his book <em>No Rising Tide</em>, Perkins School of Theology professor Joerg Rieger discusses this very question and argues that  the drive to consume is sustained by economic mechanisms and reinforced by the advertising industry.  Moreover, Rieger contends that economic and religious desires parallel each other.  This is illustrated by the way we often project our desires and ideals from the material world onto the divine and thus replace the transcendent God with an idol.  The German philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach made a similar argument in the 19<sup>th</sup> Century.\n\nAs Rieger further explains, desire is shaped by the production of wealth in a given society.  This process can have a subconscious effect on people’s deepest convictions and ultimate values.  This means that the way culture teaches us to view wealth has a tremendous impact on the kind of people we become.\n\nAs communities that are supposed to be convicting, healing and nurturing us on the path to holiness, churches have a vital part to play in resisting co-optation by the marketplace.  Sadly it’s not uncommon though for Christian congregations to become complicit in the cycle of consumption as well, even if only in very subtle ways.  To a degree this might be unavoidable - but it’s imperative for us to be sensitized and attentive to how we succumb to addictive desires.  I’m interested in how the church can be a place that enables Christians to subvert the status quo in this regard.  I know there are many tangible ways to do this, but I’m curious as to what others have seen and discovered about how our local practice can transcend systems that resist and suppress change.\n<div>\n\n<hr align=\"left\" size=\"1\" width=\"33%\" />\n\n<div>\n\n<a title=\"\" href=\"#_ednref1\">[i]</a> Wolfhart Pannenberg and Duane A. Priebe, <em>What Is Man? Contemporary Anthropology in Theological Perspective.</em> (Fortress Press, 1970), 8.\n\n</div>\n</div>','That to Which Your Heart Clings, Part I: Diagnosing Consumerism   ','','inherit','open','open','','1148-revision-4','','','2011-10-26 14:50:37','2011-10-26 21:50:37','',1148,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/26/1148-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(1265,20,'2011-10-26 14:51:14','2011-10-26 21:51:14','I’m usually pretty good about being conscious of what I buy and what I eat – taking an interest in where things are made, by who, for how much, and so on.  And yet, I’m still a consumer.  Sometimes it just feels like the air we breathe.  I might purchase fair trade coffee and chocolate, but I’m still addicted to coffee and chocolate.  My wife tries to shop only for clothes made in the U.S., but she still really likes to shop.   So I started wondering how much of this is just human, and how much of it is culturally constructed.\r\n\r\nDespite the fact that many Christians themselves get caught up in this pattern of behavior, there seems to at least be some level of awareness in the church about the problem.  This is a good thing.  Less understood though is the extent to which societal messages are able to increasingly produce in us an insatiable desire for consumption in the first place.  In their genuine intent to encourage counter-culturalism, we might hear pastors talk about innate human drive to always want more.  But how much of this is rooted in a common anthropology vs. just a modern Western phenomenon?\r\n\r\nChristians confess that there is an inherent hunger in human beings that cannot be satisfied by what the material world offers.  The human condition is such that we live with a kind of openness directed toward possibility in the world, always becoming.<a title=\"\" href=\"#_edn1\">[i]</a>  This does have to be a bad thing.  Some have called it the \"God-shaped hole.\"  But there is another level of desire that is perhaps more artificial or at least less natural - namely, the desire that is harnessed by the power of globalizing market forces in such a way as to induce complacency in our individualism and trivialize any concern about our unsustainable standard of living.  It’s akin to what Marx called fetishism and Freud later described as the surrogate object of desire.\r\n\r\nThe most troubling fact is that this desire is very difficult to control. In his book <em>No Rising Tide</em>, Perkins School of Theology professor Joerg Rieger discusses this very question and argues that  the drive to consume is sustained by economic mechanisms and reinforced by the advertising industry.  Moreover, Rieger contends that economic and religious desires parallel each other.  This is illustrated by the way we often project our desires and ideals from the material world onto the divine and thus replace the transcendent God with an idol.  The German philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach made a similar argument in the 19<sup>th</sup> Century.\r\n\r\nAs Rieger further explains, desire is shaped by the production of wealth in a given society.  This process can have a subconscious effect on people’s deepest convictions and ultimate values.  This means that the way culture teaches us to view wealth has a tremendous impact on the kind of people we become.\r\n\r\nAs communities that are supposed to be convicting, healing and nurturing us on the path to holiness, churches have a vital part to play in resisting co-optation by the marketplace.  Sadly it’s not uncommon though for Christian congregations to become complicit in the cycle of consumption as well, even if only in very subtle ways.  To a degree this might be unavoidable - but it’s imperative for us to be sensitized and attentive to how we succumb to addictive desires.  I’m interested in how the church can be a place that enables Christians to subvert the status quo in this regard.  I know there are many tangible ways to do this, but I’m curious as to what others have seen and discovered about how our local practice can transcend systems that resist and suppress change.\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<hr align=\"left\" size=\"1\" width=\"33%\" />\r\n\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a title=\"\" href=\"#_ednref1\">[i]</a> Wolfhart Pannenberg and Duane A. Priebe, <em>What Is Man? Contemporary Anthropology in Theological Perspective.</em> (Fortress Press, 1970), 8.\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n</div>','That to Which Your Heart Clings, Part I: Diagnosing Consumerism   ','','inherit','open','open','','1148-revision-5','','','2011-10-26 14:51:14','2011-10-26 21:51:14','',1148,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/26/1148-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(1266,20,'2011-10-26 14:51:58','2011-10-26 21:51:58','I’m usually pretty good about being conscious of what I buy and what I eat – taking an interest in where things are made, by who, for how much, and so on.  And yet, I’m still a consumer.  Sometimes it just feels like the air we breathe.  I might purchase fair trade coffee and chocolate, but I’m still addicted to coffee and chocolate.  My wife tries to shop only for clothes made in the U.S., but she still really likes to shop.   So I started wondering how much of this is just human, and how much of it is culturally constructed.\r\n\r\nDespite the fact that many Christians themselves get caught up in this pattern of behavior, there seems to at least be some level of awareness in the church about the problem.  This is a good thing.  Less understood though is the extent to which societal messages are able to increasingly produce in us an insatiable desire for consumption in the first place.  In their genuine intent to encourage counter-culturalism, we might hear pastors talk about innate human drive to always want more.  But how much of this is rooted in a common anthropology vs. just a modern Western phenomenon?\r\n\r\nChristians confess that there is an inherent hunger in human beings that cannot be satisfied by what the material world offers.  The human condition is such that we live with a kind of openness directed toward possibility in the world, always becoming.<a title=\"\" href=\"#_edn1\">[i]</a>  This does have to be a bad thing.  Some have called it the \"God-shaped hole.\"  But there is another level of desire that is perhaps more artificial or at least less natural - namely, the desire that is harnessed by the power of globalizing market forces in such a way as to induce complacency in our individualism and trivialize any concern about our unsustainable standard of living.  It’s akin to what Marx called fetishism and Freud later described as the surrogate object of desire.\r\n\r\nThe most troubling fact is that this desire is very difficult to control. In his book <em>No Rising Tide</em>, Perkins School of Theology professor Joerg Rieger discusses this very question and argues that  the drive to consume is sustained by economic mechanisms and reinforced by the advertising industry.  Moreover, Rieger contends that economic and religious desires parallel each other.  This is illustrated by the way we often project our desires and ideals from the material world onto the divine and thus replace the transcendent God with an idol.  The German philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach made a similar argument in the 19<sup>th</sup> Century.\r\n\r\nAs Rieger further explains, desire is shaped by the production of wealth in a given society.  This process can have a subconscious effect on people’s deepest convictions and ultimate values.  This means that the way culture teaches us to view wealth has a tremendous impact on the kind of people we become.\r\n\r\nAs communities that are supposed to be convicting, healing and nurturing us on the path to holiness, churches have a vital part to play in resisting co-optation by the marketplace.  Sadly it’s not uncommon though for Christian congregations to become complicit in the cycle of consumption as well, even if only in very subtle ways.  To a degree this might be unavoidable - but it’s imperative for us to be sensitized and attentive to how we succumb to addictive desires.  I’m interested in how the church can be a place that enables Christians to subvert the status quo in this regard.  I know there are many tangible ways to do this, but I’m curious as to what others have seen and discovered about how our local practice can transcend systems that resist and suppress change.\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<hr align=\"left\" size=\"1\" width=\"33%\" />\r\n\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<a title=\"\" href=\"#_ednref1\">[i]</a> Wolfhart Pannenberg and Duane A. Priebe, <em>What Is Man? Contemporary Anthropology in Theological Perspective.</em> (Fortress Press, 1970), 8.\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n</div>','That to Which Your Heart Clings, Part I: Diagnosing Consumerism   ','','inherit','open','open','','1148-revision-6','','','2011-10-26 14:51:58','2011-10-26 21:51:58','',1148,'http://provoketive.com/2011/10/26/1148-revision-6/',0,'revision','',0),