Three scapegoats have been seen doing horrendous acts. The three goats are named Bentoo, JoeCool and DarkLord.
These are the tales of the mighty scapegoats…
We are Prisoners of Hope
“The former South African archbishop Desmond Tutu used to famously say, “We are prisoners of hope.” Such a statement might be taken as merely rhetorical or even eccentric if you hadn’t seen Bishop Tutu stare down the notorious South African Security Police when they broke into the Cathedral of St. George’s during his sermon at an ecumenical service. “- Jim Wallis, God’s Politics
I’ve just finished reading Jim Wallis’ book God’s Politics: Why the Right gets it wrong and the Left doesn’t get it. I’m not going to pretend like I understand politics, but I do want to mention some noteworthy insights I’ve received.
Four Themes in Mein Kampf
When I say I am an author who writes about taboo topics, I mean it. My newest book is about one of the most taboo topics–Hitler’s Mein Kampf. The reading and research I did to prepare for this was enlightening and well worth setting aside the taboo and going beyond Godwin’s law. In fact I sent a copy of my book to Mike Godwin and quote him in the book. Godwin did not write his law to stop all conversation about Hitler but to move us toward more thoughtful discussion, with the hope to prevent another holocaust.
in 2016, the 70 year German copyright expired, and so Hitler’s book is now available. When one of my Facebook theology/pastor friends, Tim Gilman, shared the article about the release of Mein Kampf, I joined the heated social media discussion. At one point I remarked, “I could right a book about this topic!” Tim replied, “You should!”. And since Tim is a designer and connected to the publishing world, his company published the book. Here are some thoughts from my new book, “Evil: Confronting Our Inner Hitler“, that I would like to share with you. I find them highly relevant to America 2016.
Defending Donald Drumpf
Recently, I read an article about JK Rowling defending Donald Drumpf’s freedom of speech. She was speaking at Pen America’s annual literary Gala in New York this past May.
She stated, “If you seek the removal of freedoms from an opponent simply on the grounds that they have offended you, you have crossed a line to stand alongside tyrants who imprison, torture and kill on exactly the same justifications.”
Rowling is a “fierce opponent of censorship.” She claims that curtailing Drumpf’s right to speak diminishes her own “freedom to call him a bigot.”
Parenting – you’re doing it wrong!
Recently I read an article titled “A Manifesto Against ‘Parenting’.” It starts by claiming:
“The idea that parents can learn special techniques that will make their children turn out better is ubiquitous in middle-class America—so ubiquitous that it might seem obvious. But this prescriptive picture is fundamentally misguided. It’s the wrong way to understand how parents and children actually think and act, and it’s equally wrong as a vision of how they should think and act.”
The article goes on to explain how we should just be parents and think about what being good parents mean, instead of trying to transform our children into what we believe they should look like in that process called “parenting”.
The Dangers of Testimony Sharing
This week, I reread search16’s testimony about UBF, and this bit in particular caught my attention: “While I lived in common life, I was always under a lot of pressure to conform to UBF standards, and I never felt good enough, so I honestly remember many nights of hopping into my car after testimony sharing and wanting (sometimes trying) to crash my car into a wall.” Yes, testimony sharing, [called “sogam” in the past or more recently “reflection writing”] — the weekly ritual of sitting through three or four hours of identical, pre-written reflections on the same message.
Spotlight
If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to abuse one.
Before the end of 2015 the film Spotlight was released but seemingly went unnoticed by the popular audience. This film recalls a play-by-play account of the uncovering of the pedophile ring in the Roman Catholic Church, specifically in the Boston area, but outreaching to the entire world. The importance of this film goes without question. I am not interested in providing a summary or review, because there are various media sources for such a purpose. Rather, it is important to raise the crisis of physical (including sexual) and spiritual abuse among religious communities. For the community on ubfriends we are familiar with these issues and we are not afraid to speak up. In fact, anyone who has participated in any New Religious Movement (NRM) is also familiar with the fact that outlets for exposure are limited and once inside even family is distanced or even removed and replaced altogether.