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Baptist Theology: A Critical Look
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Baptist Theology: A Critical Look
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| BET Promotes Slavery |
| 07.27.04 (8:00 pm) [edit] |
You would think that a company that is directed towards African-Americans would be a bit more sensitive. I’m talking about BET’s including videos that are degrading to both African-American men and women. The women of Spelman College protested against Nelly coming to their campus because of his “Tip Drill” video in which he slides a credit card through a black woman’s butt crack.
It’s amazing that BET would promote such crap that stereotypes black males as misogynists and criminals. Well, you know why they do it don’t you? It’s the all-mighty dollar! Who cares if it makes black men look like all they think of is sex? Who cares if so many of the videos depict black males as violent gangstas?
I have a black friend that really despises Martin Luther King Jr. The reason… my friend believes that King merely wanted blacks to be able to participate in the American economic system, not be viewed as persons worthy of respect. It seems that BET validates his view. It would seem that persons who had experienced life as economic commodities would be very sensitive to anything that might view persons in that manner. What’s the difference between owning someone so that they can produce for you and using women and degrading women so that you can make a buck?
ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!
Seems exploitation is not a problem with BET, but why isn’t it more of a problem with African-Americans? Are you so proud that you can reap the benefits of the American economy that you have become slaves to it again?
Why can't you see that the glorification of excess at any cost is wrong? Why can't you see how using others in a negative way in order to get what you want is wrong?
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| POOR PEOPLE ARE LAZY |
| 07.25.04 (3:07 pm) [edit] |
A few weeks ago, a friend of mine sent an email to me that was a parody of the grasshopper and the ant parable below:
When winter comes, the shivering Grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the Ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving. CBS, NBC and ABC show up and provide pictures of the shivering Grasshopper next to a film of the Ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.
America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can it be that, in a country of such wealth, this poor Grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
Bill and Hillary Clinton make a special guest appearance on the CBS Evening News and tell a concerned Dan Rather that they will do everything they can for the Grasshopper who has been denied the prosperity he deserves by those who benefited unfairly during the "Era of Greed." Richard Gephardt exclaims in an interview with Peter Jennings that the Ant has gotten rich off the "back of the Grasshopper," and calls for an immediate tax hike on the Ant to make him pay his "fair share."
The Ant sues, but loses the case.
The story ends as we see the Grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while he lives in a government house. The Ant has disappeared in the snow. And on the TV they are showing Bill Clinton standing before a wildly applauding audience announcing that a new era of "Fairness" has dawned in America.
The problem that I have with the parable is that it echoes an idea that I heard in Sunday School today. Some Christians seem to think that the answer to poverty is to work harder. I have ministered to folks who are poor and most of them worked very hard (sometimes two full-time jobs) to provide for their families. I had the privilege of attending private schools and colleges and I saw a lot more lazy folks who were rich. Yes, I’ve kept up with some and they are still rich and lazy.
Christians use this idea so that they can justify spending way too much money on things they don’t need and encountering persons who have too little.
Poor people ARE NOT any lazier than rich folks! Sure, sometimes it happens that way, but don’t condemn honest, hard-working folks just so you don’t want to share with those who are in need.
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| Biblical Manhood and Debra Messing's Boobs |
| 07.23.04 (5:24 pm) [edit] |
A friend of mine forwarded a Southern Baptist Home Mission Board (I know it has a new name but I refuse to use it because I can’t remember it.) advertisement for Biblical Manhood. At first glance I winced, but I looked at the Biblical Manhood website and thought, “You know, it would be great for Christian men to take their spirituality seriously and share it with their wives and kids.” Of course, that’s only part of the Biblical Manhood program. Gotta get those women to submit you know!
I read an article in their journal about the need for women to dress less provocatively. The focus of the article was on how dressing provocatively makes a woman appear to be less than holy and it also makes men sin because they tend to lust after women who show a lot of skin. As I read BillyV's blog http://billyv.tblog.com today about radio talk show hosts complaining that Debra Messing is pretty, but could really use a boob job—I realized that many evangelical Christians are well intentioned, but they just don’t get it.
The read problem with women who dress like prostitutes is that it “sends the wrong message” as the writer for Biblical Manhood suggests. But many evangelicals really don’t get what message it does send. It says that women are only important or of value when they are sexual objects for men to desire. Why isn’t being beautiful and a good comedic actress good enough for those radio talk show hosts? Because all they really want in a woman is a sexual turn-on.
I teach at an HBCU (look it up) and I am shocked that our female students (which constitute a majority of our students) are not outraged at how Hip Hop videos, by both men and women, objectify women as sexual objects. One student even argued that when women protest that the videos are misogynistic that they are just jealous of the hot women in the videos.
In the 60’s women wanted to be treated as equals and were willing to protest against sexism. Where were these women when Clinton was doing his thing with Monica?
You see, if evangelicals really do want to make a difference in the lives of men and women they should speak out against Janet Jackson’s SuperBowl incident as an example of the objectification of women that degrades all women. The problem with viewing a woman as a sex object is not that you are lusting after her, it’s that you fail to see her as a human being! She becomes a commodity, not a person.
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| GOP Hypocrisy |
| 07.09.04 (8:51 am) [edit] |
Headline from the GOP Website: Obscenity Laced Celebrity Hate Fest Reflects Kerry-Edwards Values
How dare you talk about obscenity! What about your friggin VP?
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| ROMIJN-STAMOS' MOTHER FIGHTS TO SIMPLIFY SPELLINGS |
| 07.07.04 (4:35 pm) [edit] |
The following is from:
http://www.platinum-celebs.com/hollywood/news/010854 .html" title="http://www.platinum-celebs.com/hollywood/news/010854 .html" target="_blank"http://www.platinum-celebs.co...
ROMIJN-STAMOS' MOTHER FIGHTS TO SIMPLIFY SPELLINGS
REBECCA ROMIJN-STAMOS' mother has embarked on a crusade to simplify the more complicated spellings in the English language.
The stunning X-MEN star's linguist mother ELIZABETH KUIZENGA has joined forces with a group of colleagues to push for a huge change in the way words are spelt.
Romijn-Stamos says, "They do this for fun, but it's also their quest.
They're part of a group called the SIMPLIFIED SPELLING SOCIETY and they're trying to update the spelling of the English language to make it easier for other people who are trying to learn how to spell or learn English.
"And also so kids don't have to learn all the stupid rules they have for spelling and all the exceptions to all the rules.
"So anyway, we have a great time talking about it and totally support her and agree with it, but we also make fun of her a lot of the time."
My suggestion: Ms. KUIZENGA, start with your own friggin name!
Suggestion two: Tell your daughter to do the same!
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| The F Word and Christians |
| 07.01.04 (11:09 am) [edit] |
Hypocrisy drives me nuts! I just received an email condemning Michael Moore for attacking President Bush. Of course the email used “Un-American” and “Anti-Patriotic” and said that we need to support our troops. Obviously the person had not seen F-9/11 or he would have understood that Moore was trying to be a patriot (among other things) by making the movie.
Why is it that these same folks who attacked Clinton (justifiably so in my opinion) now call us to be supportive of the president and “respect the office”? Why is it that the religious right has not spoken out against Cheney’s use of the F-Word? Where is their moral outrage?
Why can’t everybody be like me and say what Clinton did was wrong, what George W. has done is wrong, and Cheney’s attitude and vocabulary need an overhaul?
Makes too much sense I guess.
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