At college, I took a course called Social Problems and Change, and it was by far one of the most beloved courses during my college career. It was not, however, an uplifting experience for my soul; quite the opposite actually, it crushed me in the way that only knowledge can wound. Every Tuesday morning and Friday afternoon I would walk into classroom 5, knowing full well that I was about to sit through 75 minutes of brutally looking out at the world around me. A world full of vast problems like globalization, environmental degradation, wars, famine, slavery and injustice. A world with problems so immense that often I found them hard enough of comprehend, let alone rectify.
It was the weight of this knowledge that almost defeated me. For with it I found a hopeless feeling creeping in. I mean really, who I am in the eye of the beast that is globalization? How can I even begin to bring about the systemic change that I so desperately craved? And yet I knew that I was responsible for the knowledge that I held. As much as I wanted to walk away from that knowledge, back to the comfort and safety found in ignorance, I simply could not. And around every corner knowledge haunted me, calling me to some sort of action. Finally I came to the conclusion that no matter how small and seemingly insignificant my action was to those around me, I still had to act. For to not act was to allow a deep part of my being to die.
This past week I went down to Wilmington, DE to meet with Terry and Ben and interview them for The Ordinary Radicals Documentary. Ben and Terry do not get much more ordinary as people. They are both married, go to church, and hold big business jobs. They were living their suburban lives as usual when knowledge hit them like a bus out of nowhere. Forcing them, as it did me, out into the world to do small, seemingly insignificant things. Things like taking the homeless and hungry out to share a meal with them. It was this small action that birthed a close friendship with many that our society shuns. One of these beautiful friendships is with a guy named Herman, who I also had the chance to meet.
Herman has struggled through his life to do right and get straight. He is a gentle man who doesn’t like too much attention. He is an amazing chess player and has taught me a lot about the joy of life in the few short hours we spent together.
Ben and Terry are raising money for Herman to try and give him the boost he needs to get his life back on track. They are trying to get him an apartment, a mattress, a radio and some fruit. Doing so by asking for a single dollar from folks.
I must admit that at first I was rather skeptical towards their whole movement. I mean really, how is helping one homeless person going to do anything… right? But through talking with Herman, Ben and Terry, I discovered a piece of myself in them. That piece which must act in any small way just to stay alive. And although helping Herman may seem insignificant to some, to Herman the change Ben and Terry and enacting in his life… well, to say the least, it is changing the world for him. Small things, great love… perhpas it really is the answer. Perhaps within those four small words lie the secret to standing up to the powers that be, to rectifying the injustice… in short, maybe that is how we change the world… or more importantly, maybe that is the secret to how we keep the world from changing us…
Yesterday a Senate Judiciary Committee brought Big Oil execs in to help answer questions about why the price of oil is so high. Their answer to the question outrages me:
The executives pushed the idea that large parts of the U.S. that are currently closed to drilling - like sections of Alaska, the Rocky Mountains and the continental shelf - should be opened.
“The place to start the free market is in our own country,” said one executive. [The drilling ban] sets the stage for OPEC to do what we are doing in our own country, and that is effectively limiting supplies.”
John Lowe, executive vice president of ConocoPhillips, said Congress should enact a balanced energy policy. In addition to lifting the drilling ban, such a policy could include measures to encourage alternative energy sources, remove the ethanol tariff, promote energy conservation, cut regulations around refining. “We must work together to find a real solution,” said Lowe. “U.S. oil companies should be viewed not as scapegoats, but as assets.”
The executives also named several things that Congress should not do, first among them being a hike in taxes or an undoing of the mergers of the late 1990s.
“Americans need companies that can effectively compete for access to new resources,” said Peter Robertson, vice chairman of Chevron. “Punitive measures that weakened us in the face of international competition are the wrong measures.”
The executives also frowned on a recently passed House bill giving the Justice Department the power to sue OPEC, saying it would have little effect in boosting production.
You should read the whole CNN article if you have time. My understanding of the Big Oil’s response though is that they should not be blamed for the higher gas prices. Rather, the fact that we are not drilling in Alaska and the Rocky Mountains is the real cause of the ‘pain at the pump’. Their main solution then: rape and pillage the land. Sucking it dry in the name of saving a buck or two. I mean really why pay any attention to environment stewardship and future generations when the solution to cheaper gas is so simple, right?
I don’t know about you, but I am tired of big business running my life. It bothers me that the rich and powerful have more of a say. Yes, I do not like the high prices of gas. But I am not willing to sacrifice the earth for cheaper prices. Not to mention that drilling is not the only solution to the problem. There are many other solutions that completely take Big Oil out of the equation. For instance run your car on used vegetable oil. It may not be as convenient, but I love the fact that it totally subverts power.
If you want some more information on converting your car, check out the video below of Aaron Weiss explaining how they did just that to their tour bus.
Normally Jamie Moffett is the man asking the questions, however last week the tables were turned on him, as he became the interviewee rather than the interviewer. Mainly, what I am saying is that Jamie appeared on MikeyPod Podcast last week to talk about The Ordinary Radicals. You all should check it out here.
All week long I try to keep up on national and world events. I do this because I am interested in being educated about what is going on in the world, however, I would be lying if I didn’t say writing for the blog was also a good motivator. Over the past little while though, I found myself becoming very disinterested in what was going on in the world. Most of the news stories I read had to do in some fashion with the War in Iraq, or the battle drums being sounded for Iran. I felt as though I had already written about war, and didn’t want to again. It was only today that it dawned on me: our country is in a war. Right now actually. If we are not careful we might end up in another one. Of course I should be writing about it.
Often I think that we as a nation (myself in particular) try to hide away from the horror being inflicted on those around the world (in our name too might I add). I don’t know about you all, but I often feel that there is nothing I can do to stop this seemingly futile and endless blood fest. I feel small and insignificant in the realm of world politics. And doing something to make a difference, to allow my voice to be heard… well I don’t exactly get the vibe that our government is listening; thus, leaving me rather disheartened. So, instead of keeping an ear to the ground on the violent events of my day, I keep my head buried in it; too annoyed to look up at the world around me.
I wish that I could go on from here to say that I had found a new way to make my voice heard on a nation level. That I had a renewed hope that we, as a people, could make our government listen to us. But none of this has happened. I have however, come to the realization that regardless I must continue to read and write. For to stop, to turn a blind eye, well it is to condone the war and to surrender to the powers that be. And I can tell you that I am not willing to do that. So, I will continue to read and blog about what I find.
That being said, we have all heard that the War in Iraq is going to cost 3 Trillion dollars. That is a lot of money. But if you want to put that into perspective, check out www.3trillion.org. Or at the very least watch their video below:
So as I am sure most of you know we are following the Jesus for President Book Tour this summer. Right now we are in the process of looking for a Hybrid SUV to rent, but we haven’t had any luck yet…. So we though we would put a post out seeing if anyone knew where we could get our hands on one….
Over the past few months of filming and interviewing for the documentary, I have heard time and time again people make the comment that this new movement in Christianity has reached a ‘critical mass’. Essentially meaning that there are enough people who have bought into to this revolutionary theology, that it is time to stop talking and start enacting. Lest the talking and imagining be wasted as the movement filters away into nothing.
What exactly the next move is on this journey towards a better world though seems to be uncertain for many. Most, it seems are moving on the current trajectory that smaller is not only beautiful, but the only efficient and secure way for change to come. However, not all are on this path, and Zach Exley has written some rather interesting and revolutionary blog posts over the past little while. In one of them remarking that:
“I grew up an atheist, but recently I have fallen in love with a movement that seems to be the most dynamic element of Christianity in American today. It’s a movement based on radical idealism, a faith that ‘all of creation will be redeemed.’ These people are working toward a world with no poverty, no violence, no hatred or racism. And they believe they can do it. Even some of the most conservative evangelical churches are beginning shift away from the narrow, exclusive theology of ‘personal salvation’ to a holistic gospel that calls Christians to build the ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ right here on Earth. My whole life, I’ve been searching for a movement that has the guts to try to truly save the world. The progressive movement in which I grew up has been in a downward spiral of lowered expectations. Meanwhile, Christians are charging forward with revolutionary zeal—and are even calling themselves ‘revolutionaries’!
“There is one big problem, though: These revolutionary Christians have adopted a theory of social change that is just as narrow and unimaginative as the old theology they just left behind.”
At college, I took a course called Social Problems and Change, and it was by far one of the most beloved courses during my college career. It was not, however, an uplifting experience for my soul; quite the opposite actually, it crushed me in the way that only knowledge can wound. Every Tuesday morning and Friday afternoon I would walk into classroom 5, knowing full well that I was about to sit through 75 minutes of brutally looking out at the world around me. A world full of vast problems like globalization, environmental degradation, wars, famine, slavery and injustice. A world with problems so immense that often I found them hard enough of comprehend, let alone rectify.
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