Tonight's Kid Nation

Just in case you haven't heard of it this season CBS introduced "Kid Nation" a controversial reality show where 40 children lived in Bonanza City, New Mexico for 40 days with no adults. Well there are adults around but they have limited contact with the children. The big question seems to surround child labour laws since they are running their own city and doing all the work.

Now I don't agree with children being forced to participate. But each episode they are provided with the opportunity to drop out and return home. So if it does become too much they always have the opportunity to walk away. To date 2 people have already dropped out and gone home.

From a psychological point of view I find it really interesting. On the whole they aren't as jaded as adults. It's a world that isn't ruled by consumerism and greed. It is based on relationships and loyalty. It's a functioning society but it really shows you something about motivations. They work and keep things running and it doesn't seem to be about the money since what I can tell the money is negligible.

Tonight's episode was really telling. There are 4 teams and each episode they compete to determine their place in the class structure. There is the upper class, then the merchant class, followed by the cooks and lastly, the labourers. The jobs are determined by the class and so are the wages. Now if all 4 teams complete the task within a certain amount of time they also get a reward. With the reward there are two choices. In this case they had to choose between a mini-golf course or a library of holy texts (i.e. the Bible, the Koran, etc.). Religion had been the theme of this week's show. The town council let the people vote and they chose the library. I must admit that I was a little surprised. I thought they would've chosen the mini-golf. Maybe that's bad of me but in a town where there's not a whole lot to do I'm not sure I wouldn't have been voting for the mini-golf myself if I was there.

Infinity

Last night while trying to sleep I was doing my usual nightly routine of thinking about random things until eventually I just fell asleep. It's no wonder I need medication to sleep since I can't shut my brain off. For whatever reason I was thinking about death and what it would be like when all brain activity stops. It went along with my thoughts on the afterlife and the thought that it continues of for infinity with no end. My brain just couldn't comprehend either of them. It was just too much. Everything here is finite. Part of me also wonders whether I would want something to last forever. I can't even think about it.... It just blows my mind.

Voodoo in Popular Culture

Without even trying I keep running into stories on voodoo in the media. Not only is Disney coming out with a movie surrounding New Orleans in which 2 characters practice voodoo but Nicolas Cage and his son have created a comic book called "Voodoo Child" which was unveiled at Comic Con. I so have to get me a copy of that. Something tells me that I won't be able to find it locally since it's being produced by Virgin. I'm still going to wander into Chapters to see. But if not there is always eBay. It will cost me around $6-$10 but well worth it I think.

Freedom of Religion

Eventually I'll get back to blogging about the normal mundane aspects of my life... well if my life ever becomes normal that is *lol* Maybe reading Adbusters was a bad thing. It got me questioning things again.... critical thinking is not a skill I had seen in myself since my university days.

Now anyone in Canada will tell you that one of the fundamental freedoms we have is the freedom of religion. But is that really the case? I guess the better question is, are all religions created equal? The answer would be an unequivocal no. Of the approximately 10,000 religions that exist in the world only about 60 are truly protected.

About 85% of Canadians identify themselves as Christian so they would have nothing to worry about. Let's say I practiced Scientology (it was the first one that came to mind... well second.... but the other one has a few more issues). I would have to tolerate your religion and could not discriminate against you for your beliefs but the reverse is not necessarily true.

Makes me wonder who decides which religions are protected and which ones don't make the grade. I've posted before about the truth behind voodoo and as you can probably already guess it is not amongst the 60. In the US it is a recognized religion.

I believe that as long as your religion does not break the law then you should be free to practice it without fear of discrimination and harassment. Just because it's not a mainstream religion does not negate your beliefs. So feel free to make those voodoo dolls.

And now I am back to wondering just what rights we have under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It seems that the freedom of religion is only true if you practice certain religions that the government approves of. Maybe freedom of any kind is nothing more than an illusion.

Death, Destruction & Mayhem

"Abandon hope all ye who enter here"
- Dante Alighieri

The more I watch the news and interact with people the more I relate to that statement. Interestingly enough, it comes from Dante's Inferno and is the inscription at the gates of hell. I look around me and wonder what is going on. It just seems like it is all about violence and destruction. It also seems to be a very godless society... Godless because so many people have built false altars and are focused on their false gods.

The recent shootings at Virginia Tech are just the tip of the iceberg. 33 dead in a situation that points to poor communication... chaos... and tragedy. The media was quick to point out that the gunman had spent time in a mental institution. But from what I could tell by the article he was suicidal at the time. It is sad and it raises the question of whether or not more gun control would be a good thing. Either that or in the States it just gets more publicity. I refused to watch CNN because I knew they would be showing round the clock coverage and we would all see the carnage. It's the publics morbid curiousity and to some it fosters the idea that if they do this then they will have their 15 minutes of fame. They will be notorious. So, is the publicity really such a good thing?

And speaking of the media... why is it so big when something happens in the states and no one cares when it happens elsewhere. It does.... every day. There is senseless violence all over the world but because it happens somewhere else it does not get the same news coverage. So while you're thinking about all the people who died in that senseless tragedy think also of the people that have lost their lives and no one notices.

But it's not just in these major acts that violence is rampant... It's in everyday life. I live in a small, conservative town. I think I should use the word conservative loosely however. There are many people here who go to church on Sunday and then are out dealing drugs, carrying weapons, and getting in fights the rest of the week. What kind of message does that send? There are certainly unsavoury elements here, and ties to organized crime. There is a rather large drug underworld just beneath the surface. I live in an apartment building and it's not uncommon to come home at night and find the cops here. A while back my neighbours door was removed with a police battering ram. I felt safer on the streets in London, Ontario then I do here. And considering it's a small town it shouldn't be like that.

And it leaves me with the question, Where is God in all this?

Liquified

Ever since I read Suzanne's post on Bumpersticker Theology I haven't been able to get it out of my mind. I can't even remember the last time I was in a church... I think I still lived in London. I live in a very conservative city, at least as far as churches go. The only thing I can think of is the gay pride parade and members of the church holding signs about going to hell. What happened to love? What happened to acceptance? If you look deep into the hearts of men everyone has secrets and things that they are ashamed of. As the musical "Rent" says "Let he who is without sin be the first to condemn." Who are we to judge? We are all sinners.

I used to show up to church in jeans and a t-shirt and it wasn't because I didn't have dress clothes. It was to make a point. God doesn't look at the clothes we wear but at our hearts. Who did Jesus hang out with? It wasn't with the Pharisees but rather with the outcasts.

Have we gotten so complacent that we only seek to fellowship with other people that believe the same thing we do? Are we so comfortable that we forget the command to go out into the world? It is our job to reach out to others, to be an ambassador for Christ... to be that light in the world.

As Suzanne said, "Can you look around the school that you go to; can you walk the neighborhood you live in; can you watch TV; can you listen to the radio and hear the needs? Can you hear and see the broken people? Their need may not be food as it was in this story, but they may need hope. You know you have a friend that needs God. You know people that could be nameless, but you’ve seen or heard their need. And Jesus is speaking so clearly “You go feed them!”

The church is solid... unchanging. Maybe it is time to shake things up. Maybe it is time to embrace the postmodern world. It's a changing world and the church needs to adapt to the changes. Meet them where they're at. It's not about religion, it's about a relationship. Get liquified.

God is Dead... And We Have Killed Him

The Madman. Have you ever heard of the madman who on a bright morning lighted a lantern and ran to the market-place calling out unceasingly: "I seek God! I seek God!" As there were many people standing about who did not believe in God, he caused a great deal of amusement. Why? is he lost? said one. Has he strayed away like a child? said another. Or does he keep himself hidden? Is he afraid of us? Has he taken a sea voyage? Has he emigrated? - the people cried out laughingly, all in a hubbub.

The insane man jumped into their midst and transfixed them with his glances. "Where is God gone?" he called out. "I mean to tell you! We have killed him, you and I! We are all his murderers! But how have we done it? How were we able to drink up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the whole horizon? What did we do when we loosened this earth from its sun? Whither does it now move? Whither do we move? Away from all suns? Do we not dash on unceasingly? Backwards, sideways, forwards, in all directions? Is there still an above and below? Do we not stray, as through infinite nothingness? Does not empty space breathe upon us? Has it not become colder? Does not night come on continually, darker and darker? Shall we not have to light lanterns in the morning? Do we not hear the noise of the grave-diggers who are burying God? Do we not smell the divine putrefaction? - for even Gods putrify! God is dead! God remains dead! And we have killed him!

How shall we console ourselves, the most murderous of all murderers? The holiest and the mightiest that the world has hitherto possessed, has bled to death under our knife - who will wipe the blood from us? With what water could we cleanse ourselves? What lustrums, what sacred games shall we have to devise? Is not the magnitude of this deed too great for us? Shall we not ourselves have to become Gods, merely to seem worthy of it? There never was a greater event - and on account of it, all who are born after us belong to a higher history than any history hitherto!" Here the madman was silent and looked again at his hearers; they also were silent and looked at him in surprise.

At last he threw his lantern on the ground, so that it broke in pieces and was extinguished. "I come too early," he then said. "I am not yet at the right time. This prodigious event is still on its way, and is traveling - it has not yet reached men's ears. Lightning and thunder need time, the light of the stars needs time, deeds need time, even after they are done, to be seen and heard. This deed is as yet further from them than the furthest star - and yet they have done it themselves!" It is further stated that the madman made his way into different churches on the same day, and there intoned his Requiem aeternam deo. When led out and called to account, he always gave the reply: "What are these churches now, if they are not the tombs and monuments of God?"

--Friedrich Nietzsche. The Gay Science (1882), section 125

Nietzsche did not mean that God was literally dead. For if that were true then it would've meant that God was alive in the first place. To Nietzsche the belief in God and the social underpinnings that stem from that belief had been replaced by science and rationalism. To Nietzsche we no longer needed a moral code based on religion. Taken one step further, if our morality is not based on religion then it is not based on absolutes. Therefore, morality is relative.

Now, whenever I read Nietzsche's quote I have this tendency to stop right after the statement "God is dead! God remains dead! And we have killed him!" Two things come to mind: morality & religion. I look around and see a world of moral decay. A world where self-interest rules and morality is all relative. It seems as though we are in a spiritual crisis. And when I look at the thought that we have killed God I look to the hearts of men.

How did we get here? The more we think we know the less we really know. We just think that we know everything. And the more knowledge we have, the less wisdom. Knowledge is power and instead of relying on faith we have learned to question everything. Challenge... Question... Rebel... Morality can now be found in shades of gray. There is no black and white, just shades of grey.

Then there is the church. Organized religion is based on traditions and has a tendency not to change with the times. As Marx said, "Religion is the opiate of the masses." How many churches are in a decline? Fewer people are choosing to attend church services. The Bible speaks of fellowship but does it have to be in church on a Sunday morning? Back in the day Jesus went out to the people. He met them where they were at. He even turned water into wine. Now I would like to have that kind of ability.

When I look around society all I see is blindness. I guess the real question is, if God is dead and we have killed him, will he be revived? Or have we turned our back forever?