The Battle In Seattle (3/5)
If they had made the drama more compelling we would have complained that it was over-the-top fictionalized fluff, if they hadn't (and they didn't), people like myself would write indifferent reviews like this and not recommend the film.
Don’t get any big ideas.
Just finished my final paper for graduate school and the moment wasn't met with quite the pomp & circumstance I had envisioned. Fortunately, this is the last year they're letting students walk and then take summer courses as I just did. You walk, you leave, don't let the door hit yer ass on the way out. Much better system. That isn't to say my last classes were poorly taught or boring, I just didn't have the same will to scrap around for ...
Do Christians hate justice?
Whenever I encounter personal or systemic injustice my least favorite response is of the ilk: 'we are depraved', 'we are all hypocrites', or 'we live by grace'. As the language suggests, this self-effacing and perverse hamartiology comes from within the Christian community and it makes me ill (just imagine city council excusing unjust behavior by calling all humanity screw-ups). It is the same platitude that many clergy/theologians used to ...
George Bailey Syndrome.
You imagine an adult life of consequence and meaning, marked by tangible results that bear your name and provide you status and permanence... or in the word's of George Bailey: to build skyscrapers a hundred stories high and bridges a mile long. But then you wake up, pre-midlife, working in the humanities, teaching, writing, software, at the church, doing music; the sorta stuff that can't be touched or quantified and whose impact is definitively ...
One of the reasons why I’m still single.
My parents have occasionally suggested I sign up for one of the many online matchmaking services, but I can't seem to get the gumption; something about consumer-dating just doesn't jive. Of course, I know several fine couples who met online and it is certainly wise to start with someone whom you share interests and beliefs. I am finding though, that my access to nearly infinite information coupled with a belief in the perfect choice has debili...
Singular They and the balls of God.
Creating gender neutral pronouns in the English language has a long and inconsequential history; it is expectedly difficult to swap out the most commonly used words (shemself, hetself, sie, eir, cos never quite made it to market). Of the solutions that have begun to catch on though, there is one I particularly fancy that does not require the cumbersome 'he or she' game--the singular they form. When the gender is unknown you simply use the 'they' ...
God the idealist.
Finally saw Ridley Scott's 'Kingdom of Heaven' last night; an interesting story/concept that projected blandly on the screen. I hear the Director's Cut is a far better film and I may just carve out 3 hours for it someday. And I've concluded that Orlando Bloom is not a leading man--neither Scott, Peterson nor Crowe could suck enough gravitas out of him. The most profound moment in the film was as the Christians were burying their dead during ...
They will know we are Christians by our clever use of synonyms.
It is an odd trend I've noticed for us Christians to call ourselves "Christ-followers". It seems rather cheeky, counterproductive, and if I daresay prideful; a cool-guy attempt at sidestepping the tragedies of our heritage and the crap of our present. In my research (I had an edifying peek at the Passion website where it is the vernacular), I didn't uncover any legitimate schism in the faith to merit this new title, but I may be misinformed. ...
Always take the express baby, always.
My housemate and I shared a bus ride to work this morning. We chatted up the idea that a decline in our economic power, the bankruptcy of Social Security, and high housing and energy costs among other things would actually improve our standard of living, for such circumstances require us to live close to one another, consume less, carpool, walk to the market and church, know the first names of those who share the mailbox post. These are all ...