So it’s been a while for me. I guess one thing that’s on my mind right now is about the connection I made between a reading I did in my English class and the movie Babel. So I don’t know if you’ve seen the movie but it is pretty damn good, so see it and make your own interpretations out of it. What I got out of the movie was that even with this huge rise in efforts to push globalization we are as isolated as we can be. Especially in the western world, we claim that we have an idea about other people of different parts of the world and we claim ourselves to be the least ignorant and most advanced. Advanced in technology, advanced in economics maybe, but we still have the same level of empathy and understanding of the non-western world as we did two or three centuries ago. Our understanding of cultrual representation and social structure hasn’t changed one bit. Like Michael says there is still a “white” part of town, “black” part of town, etc. In fact I believe the way globalization is being approached is what’s making distinct barriers between people socially just as geographically. In order to save time and money we must make assumptions about each other and decide quickly who to do business with and who not to do it with. One mistake or one bad judgment by one person sticks with an entire nation or race. We are judged by our history, and there is no way to undo that. As unfair as that might sound, that is a result of a long process of human labeling according to race, gender, nationality, religion, etc.

So the movie is about four different locations in which each have different social and historical contexts. I guess the theme is that each location is unable to hear or see the actual context to why something might have occurred because it is blinded or deafened by its own assumptions about the other locations. For example, there was shooting involved in a Muslim country so the U.S. automatically assumed there to be terrorist activity although there wasn’t. So the reading I did in my English class was called “Notes on the Politics of Location” by Adrienne Rich. It’s a good text, although confusing at times. Anyways, she talks about how it is important to at least think about and attempt to understand the politics of different locations before assuming things or imposing what’s “right” or “wrong.” One example she uses is how the Western white feminists went around the world to unite women around the world for this cause to fight the patriarchal system of hierarchy. The problem with that was that everything they did was structured around what white women living in higher parts of the social structure were thinking. So these women would go around the world and tell women in the middle east to do certain things that went against the latter’s beliefs. So white women basically defined for women of other locations what is “right.” This connects to the movie in that because history and past social dynamics have led us to be separated clearly distinct lines, we have to realize that one country or one specific group of the social structure does not possess the all that is right for the entire globe.

I guess the moral of what I am trying to say is listen. We have got to try to understand one another before making any assumptions. We all talk too much. How is this relevant to New Orleans? Yeah we have been put into very fortunate places and yes it is great that we are going to help the less fortunate. But we are not the almighty and the nicest of the nicest bearing gifts bringing joy to those living through the adversity. We are going there to find the good in all the destruction and all the hardship. Or as Michael would say, we are there to find Jesus ourselves not bring Jesus to them. We are there to learn from them. Because they went through way more crap than we probably ever will. It is OUR privelege to go down there to be allowed to connect with such amazing people as Miss Doris, Camille, Beatrice, and Shirley. We are going to get better understanding about the truth and how to act on that truth. We are also going to remind ourselves and in turn remind others about the different parts of this world that exist outside of our own very very little worlds. We are going to challenge all the labels and assumtions history has placed on us to separate us in an effort to actually connect and eventually take those labels off. I just hope people think about this aspect too. Although we are rich in money and kindness we lack understanding and we haven’t quite cured ourselves of deafness yet. There are millions of people out there deserving of not only attention but the deserving of our understanding about the truth. I hope this makes sense, if it doesn’t please say something and I will respond.

—Danny

So, this is basically a response to Lori’s comment about my post, but I realized about halfway through that it should be it’s own blog.

Lori, you’re totally right, there is so little forgiveness in the world today. Especially considering that this is one of the main beliefs of the christian religion, that anyone can be saved, no matter what they’ve done, and that the best way we can practice christianity is to forgive other people and give them second chances.

This brings up a really big issue for me: the way that many american christians act, and how inconsistent it is with what they claim to believe. For instance, the man who is currently our president ran in no small part on the fact that he is a born again christian with fundamentalist values. But he has started a war that is directly repsonsible for the deaths of tens of thousands. Where exactly is “Thou shalt not kill.”

And it goes beyond that. Last year Pat Robertson, the founder of an all christian tv network and one of the main leaders of the fundamentalist movement in America, called for the government assassination of the president of venezuela. Basically, he called a fatwah on this guy. So many people in the bible belt are rabidly anti-abortion. They decry it as murder, but most of the same people favor the death penalty, which apparently doesn’t count.

The worst thing is that these movements give all christians a bad name. Secular America tends to see christians as a bunch of bible-beating, gay-bashing maniacs. When I tell people that I go to church regularly, I get weird looks. That’s what I like about our youth group, we are a christian group, but not because we sit around talking about the bible and trying to convert people, but because we do our best to act like christians. Anyway, this is my rant about the religous right. Thanks for listening.

-Ben

So today’s the day. 5 years ago today the Iraq War began. I remember going to a protest maybe a month before at my middle school. I made a sign that said “let exxon send it’s own soldiers” and walked around the school neighborhood. I knew then that the Iraq War was bad, but I had no idea why. Everyone else around me though so, so I thought so too.

Earlier this week, there was an article in the times that talked about how government strategists are predicting that today may be only the midpoint of the war. According to them, we could spend another five years in Iraq, and because these guys work for the government, it’s possible they’re just spinning the facts, and we could be in Iraq even longer.

My friend applied to Westpoint this year and he got in. In 4 years he’ll graduate from Westpoint, and he’ll be a soldier.

Today I know why the Iraq War is bad. It is bad because my friend, who saw the war start in middle school could be sent to fight it, and be put himself in harms way after he graduates from college.

-Ben

Have you ever noticed how when things are bad, they seem like they could not possibly be worse. When people are miserable, they seem to almost go out of their way to avoid acknowledging that anyone has ever suffered worse than them. At the end of last year, when I didn’t become an editor of my school paper, I felt completely ripped off, like I had been cheated, and as though people were conspiring against me. Honestly I still feel that way sometimes. But I guess that thinking like that is kind of silly, I mean, I’m still going to a good school, my family is pretty well off, and life for me is pretty much going good. I am so lucky to have been born who I am. I could have been born in New Orleans, and probably not even be going to school right now, or in Africa and have a 30% chance of getting AIDS. If you think about that kind of stuff when you’re depressed it really puts stuff in perspective.

Anyway, that’s about all I’ve got to say.

-Ben

Realization of the World….
Wow… What a messed up world we live in….I was thinking about it and this is what I came to realize….

It’s good to know we can change it if we want to… we do not have to accept the precedent’s which society has created for us to follow. The world is growing and changing, and its time we step up and change our society to match the times. Now more than ever we need people to help others, to care for others, to be compassionate. With nearly half… yes half of the world living on less than two dollars a day… and nearly 26,500-30,000 CHILDREN dying each day because of poverty… and families getting kicked out of houses because they cannot afford housing… we need to do something…. Thing’s cannot get better if someone doesn’t change it.

Small things CAN change the world if practiced regularly…. so do it….You’ve got nothing to lose… when at our worst…. things can only get better…. I really do believe that our generation can change the world for the better…

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Did you know…. the money it takes to make one bomb…. could feed a school of 5,000 children for a year?!

“Change starts when someone sees the next step.”

Ok, so I know this may be corny… but please trust me…. its true…. I know it is… and if not than I guess this is just me ranting on my realization of the world….

Lately I’ve been watching these web blogs by a group called Brotherhood 2.0. It was basically two brothers deciding last year to make videos of them talking to each other every day for a year, and to have that be their only form of communication. They did it, and today I was watching some of their last videos. In the last one that one of the brothers made he was talking about the community of “nerdfighters” that grew up around these brothers, and how even after they were done with their daily blogs, the nerdfighters would still exist. He said something which really spoke to me:

“In a contemporary world, where things fall apart and the center will not hold, you have to imagine a community in which there is no center.”

It made me think about our youth group. Right now, we are in many ways, a traditional youth group. We meet physically every Sunday, and usually have little to do with each other on the other days. We are occasionally pulled together to accomplish something by a few of our members, like we did yesterday (which was, by the way, incredible). But what if those members weren’t here? What if Chelsea or Lori or Danny stopped coming because they moved away? What will happen when Michael retires? Will our youth group dissolve? Will we ever do anything beyond our Sunday meetings?  Right now, we are a community that is intensely reliant on our center.

This ties in another concept. So far we’ve worked towards ending St. Stephens traditional concept of a youth group. We’ve crossed religious, social, and personal boundaries, and we’ve done so by expanding ourselves, by growing and constantly trying to involve new people. What if we keep growing. What if next year there are 50 people going to New Orleans, and then 100, what if we fill regularly fill the entire parish hall at our meetings? What if we expand so much that it’s no longer possible to even have regular meetings where everyone attends? What will our youth group become? Michael keeps telling us that what we have with our group is an unprecedented opportunity to do something that no one else has ever done. At that beginning of last year, these brotherhood 2.0 guys were basically just themselves. At the beginning of this year, there website has over 20,000 subscribing nerdfighters.

What we will be a year from now? 5 years from now? I feel like, if we want it to, our youth group could become something that isn’t limited to people who are connected to St. Stephens, whether through family or friends, or even people who live in Seattle. What if our blog grew and became an interactive thing that everyone posted or commented on every day, and that people from all around the world took time to look at? Maybe we won’t expand online, maybe whatever we become will happen completely differently, but I feel like it might be time to start believing Michael, and finding out exactly what we as a group are capable of becoming. What if we become a youth group unlike any that has ever existed before? What if we throw off the traditional youth group mantle, and become a truly contemporary youth group, a youth group for the modern world, a youth group that has such a strong community, that activities or events would no longer be planned by just a few people, but what come about as a result of collective action taken by the entire group? I don’t know what this youth group would look like, but I can’t wait to find out.

-Ben

Sorry, I totally forgot yesterday after the soup supper!

Which some people didn’t show up to!

Anyways, I’m kind of excited for the Carnival of Dreams.  It’s going to be good and I hope lots of people show up tomorrow and we earn lots of money, too.

So, I’ve really got nothing to say, so I’m going to be like Ben and say a whole bunch of random stuff.

Oh, tomorrow I will be late, but I’ll still be there.  And I’ll be wet, just a head’s up if my hair starts to drip and so you won’t ask tomorrow.

I have a math test tomorrow and I think I’m gonna fail, but that’s ok because well, I don’t quite know yet, but it’s going to be ok.  And only two  more weeks of driver’s ed! yay, no more boring driving videos!

Tuesday, I was watching American Idol and they were singing songs from the Lennon/McCartney  songbook and so all the contestants were singing Beatles songs, then I was listening to Beatles song all night long.  It was great, yeah….well, I gotta go, so Hope to see all tomorrow!

*sorry about this randomness blog…I’m just having a brain fart right now, so….

I guess i’m blogging tonight. Don’t really have a lot to say. Late start is pretty tight. Glad i dont have to wake up early tomorrow. Anyway, if anyone else wants to blog, just jump in, like i said before, i’m trying to have a blog every day from now until a week after the mission trip (i’m thinking that we can devote that week to reflections of the mission trip) and the more that everyone else blogs, the less blogs there will be like this, that don’t really say anything.  Just something to think about. You don’t have to have something poetic or profound to say for every blog, in fact, if we required profound blogs, our site would be empty, except for a bunch of blogs trying too hard to be profound. That goes for any St. Stephens adults who may want to blog. I, for one, would love to get an outside opinion every once in a while. If you’d like to, just talk to Michael or a member of the youth group and they can show you how.

Guess that’s all for now.

-Ben