A Day For Celebration

So as some of you may or may not know, I have a little brother named Daniel.  Only he's not so little anymore, he's actually taller than me now.  Haha.  Anyway, he's a great guy with a big heart and lots of school spirit for Auburn University, where he is currently finishing up his freshmen year.  So it only makes sense that he would try out for cheerleading right?  Well last night the whole family went down to support him as they had call-outs and announced the squad.  We were all hoping he would making it but really were expecting anything.  He applied specifically for the "Microphone Man" (more commonly called the "Mic Man") position, which is really important.  Basically he goes out to the 50 yard line before the football games, with a microphone connected to the loudspeakers, and in front of 87,000 fans, leads the whole stadium in cheers and chants.  It's a pretty intimidating job, yet my brother was up for the challenge of auditioning for it and giving it a chance.  Well, last night 9:00 rolled around and they started the call-outs.  The first person they named was the Mic Man for the 2008/09 football season: Daniel Friday!  My brother made it, and next year he'll be center field for all the home games keeping the crowd alive and on fire! War Eagle!  We're so proud of him, and I just wanted to share here on my blog what a great guy my little brother is and how cool it will be to hear his voice leading the Tiger fans in a great big WAR EAGLE!!!  

New Blog for Film Reviews

Hey gang, I'm starting a new spin-off blog that will just be for movie reviews.  I've had enough of you tell me you think I'm half-decent at explaining film well, so I figured I'd launch a second blog where I do just that.  If you care to read up on the latest films in theaters that I've seen and what I think about them, please check out: http://fridaysfilmreviews.blogspot.com.  Thanks.  

Tradition vs. Modern Trends in Society, Culture, Church, Country, etc

So I found myself in a rather melancholy mood today.  More so than usual.  I found myself reflecting on the future, and not just my future, but the collective future of America, of the culture, of the church, of my friends, etc.  Big Picture kinda stuff.  I am troubled by what I see as a general attitude being accepted and fleshed out by the current culture, the country, and yes, even the church.  That trend I detect is a desire to flee from tradition and history and forge a new path of unexplored territory.  Now don't get me wrong... I know change is inevitable.  I know change is not always bad.  I read "Who Moved My Cheese" back in the day, I know you have to accept change as inevitable and role with the punches sometimes.  I know my history.  But I also think that all change is not always good, and change for the sheer sake of change itself is almost always dangerous to some extent.  Am I even making sense?  Let me break it down a bit more:  Our culture has forsaken our past and thrown 200 years of American History, 2000 years of church history and theology, and who knows how many years of truth, virtue, beauty, and dignity out the window.  We've thrown it out the window and decided to redefine everything based on the current moods of the times.  Well I think it's dangerous.  Ravi Zacharias makes a pleas for absolute truth in culture in his book Jesus Among Other Gods when he says "Judge the words of this book not by the mood of the times but by the truth of the scriptures.  Moods change.  Truth does not."  We've entered an age where everyone is right and everyone is wrong as they see fit in their own eyes.  I'm pretty sure the Bible warns against this when we read in the final closing statement of Judges 21:25: "In those days there was no king in Israel.  Everyone did what was right in his own eyes."  Is this not too far detached from where we are today folks?  Judges is a book that chronicles the downward spiral of the nation of Israel, indeed, parts of it read like they were torn right out of today's headlines.  I'm not trying to bash the country, I'm not all "fire and brimstone and hell for America!" or anything radical like that.  I have optimism and hope for the future to be sure, but I'm simply reporting now what I'm seeing folks.  I love my God, my family, and my country, though not always in that order and not always as I should.  I fully admit that.  I'm just concerned by the severe lack of standards I see today.  We have no objective reference point for truth in the modern age, because hey, truth is relative, right?  Wrong.  Truth, by it's very definition excludes.  If some things are true, then naturally some things must be false or wrong as well.  What is this reference point for truth you ask?  I would submit that it is Jesus Christ.  (Uh oh, I'm dropping the J-word.  Guess I'm ignorant, narrow minded, and you can tune me out now huh?  Listen to yourselves sometime people, then ask me if I'm crazy for believing what I do.  Be honest now.) 

Lets look at where the country is.  Better yet, let's look at what Edmund Burke had to say about the French Revolution.  Because it directly applies to where we are today.  The intellectual wellspring of modern political conservatism, Edmund Burke is also considered a significant figure in aesthetic theory and cultural studies.  As a member of the House of Commons during the late 18th century, Burke shook Parliment with his powerful defense of the American Revolution and the rights of persecuted Catholics in England and Ireland, his indictment of the English rape of the Indian subcontinent, and, most famously, his denunciation of the French Revolution.  Listen to what he said in reaction to the famous revolution in France:

When ancient opinions and rules of life are taken away, the loss cannot possibly be estimated.  From that moment we have no compass to govern us, nor can we know distinctly to what port we steer.  Europe, undoubtedly, taken in a mass, was in a flourishing condition the day on which your revolution was completed.  How much of that prosperous state was owing to the spirit of our old manners and opinions is not easy to say; but as such causes cannot be indifferent in their operation, we must presume, that, on the whole, their operation was beneficial.  

We are but too apt to consider things in the state in which we find them, without sufficiently adverting to the causes by which they have been produced, and possibly may be upheld.  Nothing is more certain than that our manners, our civilization, and all the good things which are connected with manners and with civilization, have, in this European world of ours, depended for ages upon two principles, and were, indeed, the result of both combined: I mean the spirit of a gentleman, and the spirit of religion.  The nobility and the clergy, the one by profession, and the other by patronage, kept learning in existence, even in the midst of arms and confusions, and whilst governments were rather in their causes than formed.  Learning paid back what it received to nobility and to priesthood, and paid it with usury, by enlarging their ideas, and by furnishing their minds.  Happy, if they had all continued to know their indissoluble union, and their proper place! Happy, if learning, not debauched by ambition, had been satisfied to continue the instructor, and not aspired to be the master!  Along with it's natural protectors and guardians, learning will be cast into the mire and trodden down under the hoofs of a swinish multitude. 

If, as I suspect, modern letters owe more than they are always willing to own to ancient matters, so do other interests which we value full as much as they are worth.  Even commerce, and trade, and manufacture, the gods of our economical politicians, are themselves perhaps but creatures, are themselves but effects, which, as first causes, we choose to worship.  They certainly grew under the same shade in which learning flourished.  They, too, may decay with their natural protecting principles.  With you, for the present at least, they all threaten to disappear together.  Where trade and manufacturers are wanting to a people, and the spirit of nobility and religion remains, sentiment supplies, and not always ill supplies, their place; but if commerce and the arts should be lost in an experiment to try how well a state may stand without these old fundamental principles, what sort of a thing must be a nation of gross, stupid, ferocious, and at the same time poor and sordid barbarians, destitute of religion, honor, or manly pride, possessing nothing at present, and hoping for nothing hereafter?

Wow.  OK, to break it down simply, Burke is saying the Revolution in France is doomed because they have thrown out the window the age-old compass of tradition and rules of life, and put nothing in their place to guide the hearts and minds of the people.  The spirit of a gentleman, and the spirit of religion, he claims, are two of the main pillars on which every clear thinking free and prosperous society was built on.  Look at America today my friends.  See much acceptance of these pillars of tradition?  In fact the opposite is probably true: gentlemen and religion have been declared a dead thing of a past, an old superstitious relic leaned on by those not ready to progress forward.  I would point out simply, to remove the pillars is to remove the foundation, and then what kind of country, society, culture, etc, are you going to be able to build?  The Church is doing it too, throwing out ages of doctrines and history to claim a new "emerging church" where we re-evaluate everything in today's cultural light.  Well guess what?  Where is it written that you can do that without possible dire consequences?  It's foolhardy, dangerous, and stupid to claim that we must wipe the slate clean and start over.  It's the height of arrogance really, and as George Santayana put it: "those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it".  We've fashioned ourselves to be smarter, faster, more capable, and more clear-minded than all our predecessors, and it's only led us to reject truth, standards, decency, virtues, and integrity as we seek to claim the ultimate revelation that escaped generations of others.  Well all I know is that the last time mankind got so full of themselves, they tried to build a tower to heaven and God struck them with mixed tongues and languages, thus giving the Tower of Babel it's name.  Look it up, in Genesis 11.  

I guess all I'm trying to say is we need more open table discussions on the matters of how we as a church, a culture, and a country are to enter the new century we're still standing at the front edge of.  To simply discredit and reject the lessons and work down in the past is  a bad idea that will reap dour consequences.  Don't be so hasty to thumb your nose at traditions, doctrines, ideas, and theories that have been around long before you have, and probably will exist a long time after you're gone too.  Take a lesson from Edmund Burke, and let's get back to the roots of the issue, using the past not as a punching bag, but as a tool for understanding the future.  It's a bright dawn ahead of us, yet we ought not forget the wisdom gleaned from many sunrises of the past as well, nor forget the source of such sunrises... with a little reflection, you may find that the 'ole "J" word may just be the man you're looking for to make sense of everything.  In fact, I have faith you will.  He's holding it all together folks, he's laid down the lessons and foundations from which we can decipher what is true and what is not.  Give Jesus a chance sometime, will ya?  

So thanks for reading, I'm curious to know what you guys think of all this.  Did I make sense?  I blog because I care... 

A Quote from "The Duke"

"Life is tough.  Life is tougher if you're stupid" - John Wayne

Move Recommendation: The Namesake

So the other day I was looking through my DVD collection (which is quite large to the point of embarrassment) and stumbled upon a film which I simply wanted to make sure my friends and readers were aware of.  Released in 2007, and based on the novel of the same name by Jhumpa Lahiri, "The Namesake" is a surprisingly endearing story of a young married Bengali couple from India who move to America in the 1970s and raise a family there.  As the story shifts between the older and younger generation, we see the cultures and traditions of old India and new America come face to face.  In some incidents they clash, in others, the find alarming harmony.  While the film was largely promoted around Kal Penn's portrayal of the son Gogol (named after his father's favorite author, Nikolai Gogol), the story is really one about the sacrifices parents make to guarantee their children a better future.  Indeed, I find the character of the father much more interesting and played with a very deep level of charm and sincerity by Irfan Khan.  Khan has been seen in other films in bit roles, such as in "The Darjeeling Limited" and also the British-Indian Bollywood import film "The Warrior".  Khan has been a star in Bollywood (The Indian Hollywood for those who don't know) for some time, and this film represents his first major English language debut.  He pulls it off exceptionally well, and I find it a little sad that the man was not noticed when the Oscar nominations were announced for Best Supporting Actor, but alas, the film was released in March so it was too early to be remembered by many voters when awards season rolled around.  Back to the point, the film is filled with many poignant moments of cross-cultural sensitivity and insensitivity alike, and as one watches this movie one begins to wonder about all the foreign born American citizens they know who live and work here, most of them taking jobs that we wouldn't dream of to make sure their family is provided for in their "new world" of America.   What did these people leave behind, what did they compromise and sacrifice to make it here? And ultimately, as they observe their children growing up in American society and slowly losing their Indian roots, was it indeed worth it?  The film ends with a title card that simply states "for our parents, who gave us everything".  How blessed are we who have parents and yet we continually take them for granted?  Anyway, all that aside, I whole-heartedly recommend "The Namesake" to anyone looking for a unique and touching movie.  It has laughs, tears, and love, but most importantly, it has an endearing message of family and what it means to be your fathers son or your mothers daughter.  Featuring brilliant colors and images, culturally rich music and style, this film is a beautifully woven tapestry of art for all who take the time to seek it out.  

Olympic Torch Relay Madness

 
So if you've been watching the news lately, you've no doubt seen the trouble China is having getting the Olympic torch around the world.  It seems that wherever they go, they run into about 5 hundred angry "Free Tibet" supporters.  I propose that we turn the Olympic Torch Relay into an actual olympic sport, because frankly it's much more interesting to watch than some of the other events that have during the games.  Besides, it's got everything: suspense, surprises, last second lunges for glory as some protester tries to fling his body in front of the torch bearer.  What more could you want in an Olympic games?  The simple truth of it is that I understand both sides.  I'm starting to sympathize with China a bit more for a few reasons.  First off, frankly the pro-Tibet people get on my nerves.  I have nothing against Tibet, (although I'll go on the record as believing the Dalai Lama to be a very sincere man... sincerely wrong that is), I have an issue with how they're presenting their struggle.  They paint themselves as victims and them stage demonstrations and protests which are not exactly non-violent.  Again, nothing against the good people of Tibet, but they lack a sense of class and honor that I clearly saw in the majority of non-violent protests led by MLK, Gandhi, and Nelson Mandela.  People are comparing China's 2008 Olympics to the 1936 Berlin Games where Adolph Hitler used the entire event as a propaganda piece for Nazism.  This is an unfair comparison.  China is not half as bad as Nazi Germany.  They have human rights issues, yes, but who doesn't?  Name me a country that doesn't have some issue on which their people are divided.  The 1936 Olympics were used to promote the Nazi image and message of anti-semitism, racial supremacy, and religious intolerance.  The 2008 Olympics don't strike me as a purposeful attempt on behalf of the Chinese regime to portray China as some sort of racial superior nation, they're simply overjoyed to get the games in their country for the first time ever.  Nazi Germany slaughtered millions of Jews, I don't think China has been mass exterminating the people of Tibet.  Before everyone starts objecting, I'll play the flip side:  I think what China is doing in Tibet is wrong.  I don't agree with China's human rights record, I believe they can and must do better.  But for all the fuss and frustration they're causing, I simply don't believe the Tibetans and their supporters are doing a ton of good right now.  I'm no expert, but I've traveled to China twice, and I can safely say that the people there are some of the friendliest I've ever encountered.  If you must protest, protest the current Chinese regime, don't protest the entire Olympics, it's like if the Iraq War Protesters tried to boycott the NCAA Basketball Tournament.  It's ridiculous. The Olympics should represent peace and freedom and equality, yes, but let's not make them more than they are folks.  Let's not deprive the good and kind everyday citizens of China who have been anxiously awaiting this summer for so long.  It's a sporting event and it shouldn't cause such a huge political uproar.  What about our athletes?  I feel sorry for the proud US Athletes who have trained hard to be here, and now are being told that we ought to boycott the games because of some issues not even related to them.  I'm beginning to ramble, but think about this: what good does it do the US to make enemies with China?  Not any, that's what.  They have the worlds #1 largest standing military (granted, they can't deploy them like we can and might not have the weapons and support we do, but still, a valid point to consider).  An even better point: forget a possible military threat, what about the economic ramifications?  We need them and they need us: we have to buy their products, they need our business.  You could say it's a marriage of conveniences, but like it or not, both countries stand to win nothing by being anything less than allies.  I'm all for pursuing options on the fate of the Tibet people.  I'm not particularly impressed with the way they're running their campaign for independence right now, but anyway, I've already said too much on that issue.  I simply am a sucker for the Olympic games and would hate to see them overshadowed to a point of insanity based on issues which rightly don't have as much justification as some supporters think they do.  I will continue to observe this torch relay however, as I do find it interesting to see how the world responds to all of this.  Of particular interest: June 19th - 21st.  That's the dates that the Olympic Torch Relay will pass through the region of Tibet itself... and things could get very interesting then.  Until then, keep on enjoying this new olympic sport of "pass the torch before the protesters try and snuff it out" game.  

And so it begins...

Well here we are, the 7th day of April in the year of our Lord 2008, and I finally gave in to the blog craze... I guess the whole rational behind it is that this might just be the best way to post my thoughts and musings and allow others to keep up with me, especially as I look to the future and being physically separated from most of my friends and family as I venture out to pursue my dreams.  Here is where I can post stories and updates for everyone to read and (assuming I have anything of interest to say) possibly comment on my entries.  So that being said, it's time to start by letting you know that this blog will have no set pattern or purpose... I will probably ramble about everything from theology to women to film, and all points in between.  So if you've read this far, it would seem you deem me a good enough friend to care what I have to say, and I appreciate your time and interest as I seek to shed a little light from time to time on what I'm up to these days.  For starters, my blog's name is Vivere Pericoloso, which is Italian for "Living Dangerously".  Besides being used in one of my favorite films (Peter Weir's "The Year of Living Dangerously") I just kinda dig the ideology behind it: living our lives dangerously, that is, to the point of maximum impact.  I don't desire to dance on the edge of the precipice known as life at all times, but occasionally I'm known to crave a little adventure and seek to make my days count for something while I'm here.  So buckle up my dear friends and readers, because whatever happens, I can promise you that it will contain a healthy dose of "vivere pericoloso".