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| THREE FOR THREE!!
aaaaaahhhhh....
someone who finally responds to this Dobson-Obama situation in an intelligible way :)>
i'm sure Jim Wallis has his own hang ups...but at least written here...he makes a lot of sense.
http://blog.beliefnet.com/godspolitics/2008/06/dobson-and-obama-who-is-delibe.html
:)
josh
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| wow...two in two days... :P ok this one is a bit more...umm....just a slight vent... i just got finished listening to a person I grew up highly respecting and admiring...in fact i'm on record telling Wheaton that I wanted to study psychology/bible because i wanted to be like this man... I just listened to James Dobson's radio broadcast about his views of both Barak Obama and John McCain... And i can't believe how unintelligent and unthoughtfully they responded to Barak's speech and also to McCain... It's a wonderful example to me of how specific agenda driven worldviews...in this case an almost fundamentalist Evangelical pro-life/family dispensational Republican take on reality...have a hard time hearing the other perspective. I went to listen to him because...ok...i know i'm a bit different politically than he is now...but hey...i still respect the guy as thoughful and engaging...and boom...i listen to him and i'm really sad. He takes excerpts of Barak's speech and 1. completely misunderstands Barack's words and rhetoric...2. responds with an unequally compelling and rather unthoughtful response twisting what he hears to then launch off on a tirade against not just Barack but Democrats and "those liberals"... He claims that Barack deliberately twists and misuses the Bible when he was just being rhetorical...he then claims that Barack is misreading the Constitution when all Barack is saying is that public discourse on morality is not just a Christian enterprise...finally that Barack is slamming all preachers when again...he's just being rhetorical (meaning slightly sarcastic)...AGGGGHHHH! I'd go through it bit by bit...but it would mean i'd have to listen to it again...and i'd rather not...(plus the cubs game is on :P) i'd be interested if those of you who do still listen to him and are Republicans...went to hear that broadcast and responded to it... it's really scary...cause like it or not...millions listen to this guy....they eat it up like it's from God's mouth... the most frustrating thing these days is a lack of forums where the right and left INTELLIGIBLY and THOUGHTFULLY talk to each other publically...everything we get...CNN, Fox News...Bill O'Reilley, talk shows...even NPR...is all slants from one side or the other...both sides lobbing rhetoric and seemingly misrepresenting their enemies...constructing strawmen arguments and then proudly and simplisitically knocking them down...see how stupid those on the right are? see how immoral the left is? you listen to the debates and people just talk past each other...it's so annoying...if this is what is happening in Washington DC...no wonder nothing is getting done... well we've managed to invade a few countries....sigh... oh...btw...i've been reading this site recently...(now you'll see how "liberal" josh has become...haha...) and i commend it to you...www.naomiklein.org....read her book...it's disturbing...if even half that stuff is real...Lord have mercy on us... sigh... josh | | |
| Hi everyone,
Ok it's been awhile... :P....and no...this is not the first "news worthy" item i've come across...it's actually rather random and potentially disturbing...
At work today....we received forms for summer school that ask people to list their occupation.
One person listed "female"....
Another person literally penned this.... "occupational the rapist"
there is a SPACE there in her handwriting....
i don't know whether to laugh or shudder.
josh
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| it is amazing when a real piece of news comes across my eyes while i stare at my computer screen....
an update from a Regent Alum (and friend of mine) in Kenya...you might have heard of all the unrest there...this might interest you.
please...read, pray, act...pray, read...
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Dear All,
I am sure, by now, that Kenya is no longer headline news and it is perhaps
now that the full impact of the crisis is being felt. For nearly 3 weeks
people have packed into police stations, churches and other so called '
safe' areas. Morale and supplies in some areas are running low and disease
is starting to spread. It goes without saying that it is the poor that are
most affected, with no resources to get themselves on their feet again and
no alternative but to survive the generosity of others. But it is not only
the displaced poor who are suffering. Part time workers and casual staff all
over the country in all kinds of businesses and industries are being sent
home. There is no work for them and now, their only source of income,
keeping them barely above the poverty line, has dried up.
In contrast to the many who are genuinely suffering, In Maai Mahui today i
heard of complaints in the camp we are helping support. We have provided 3
meals a day, blankets, mattresses, sanitary washing and toilet facilities
and even 2 teachers to help keep the 200 kids occupied and up to date with
their classes. We have taken anyone who is sick to the nearby hospital, paid
for treatment and medication for those who need it. Last night they were
complaining that they didn't like the maize and beans that was on offer for
dinner and refused to eat. They wanted chapatis or potatoes and were
threatening to riot.
The local pastors mediated and gave them potatoes to cook and eat- today
they seemed happier. The deceit, the complaints and grumbling of a few, mean
that the voice of those who really need help, does not get heard. We need to
send these people home, our generosity has been abused and we need to close
up camp.
It is these contradictions between the genuine and the false, that make
living and working in Kenya such a challenge. It also means we need to work
harder to establish genuine need- to not be discouraged by the deceit of a
few because the suffering of many is real.
In the political arena- the desire for power at any cost is becoming more
and more obvious.It seems that no politician is prepared to put ordinary
people ahead of their greed and pride. All the newly elected MP's are
gathered in Nairobi, not in their constituencies, putting in orders for
their new 4X$ vehicles- part of the generous ' payment' for holding office.
In has come to light that a payment of 400 kenya shillings ( $3) is all that
is needed to be paid to an unemployed youth, to create violence. MP's have
paid it, international business people have paid it, church leaders have
paid it- All in an attempt to create instability and tension. The opposition
leader, Raila Odinga, has been calling for 3 days of demonstrations in over
41 towns throughout Kenya. Today was 'day two'. Yesterday there was tear gas
and death in Mombasa and Eldoret.
Today i heard a story of how the ' mob' protected themselves against the
riot police by holding up a young child in front of them. I also heard of a
disabled man who was hacked to death in his home because he couldn't run
away when thugs came, another man running from thieves in one of the slums,
slipped and fell, only to be stoned to death after his shoes and cell phone
were stolen. Such acts of barbarism are not human. Individual stories get
lost in press releases and the politics.
The injustice, the contradictions, the suffering all seem too difficult to
contemplate. But we have a moral obligation to not sit by and allow Kenya to
deteriorate into another Somalia, Angola, or as some have predicted, Rwanda.
We all have a sphere of influence, church, media, business, politics,
education- whatever it is we need to create awareness, to pray, to act, to
give, to speak, to keep Kenya and the suffering that is going on here in our
minds and hearts and ultimately to say - ' enough' we will not sit by and
watch this happen.
Please look at the Comfort the Children Website ( www.ctcinternational.org),
send this email to those who you think may and can help, keep aware of what
is going on. The local newspaper in Kenya is called the Daily Nation and you
can read it online.
Blessings,
Alison
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| it's nice to share :Phi everyone...
if you'd like to see...jenny and i have photos from our wedding.
jkhstudio.com
lower right (client access) type in "koh"
that should bring you to our slideshow and larger set of pictures
the password is "jennyjosh"
thought the photos turned out well :)
hope all is well in your worlds.
josh
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