05.24.07

Sermon on the Plain

Posted in Uncategorized at 12:01 pm by Administrator

I’ve attended a discussion group in recent months at the home of a co-worker that revolves around the Christian viewpoint and how truth is defined. The DVD series used as a basis for the discussion is produced by the conservative Focus on the Family organization. Much is made in the DVD series about the cosmic battle between truth and lies. The battleground is the culture war in the U.S., Most of the people in the group are Christian, professional, high-income (doctors, finance professions), and mostly conservative on the issues (evolution is a flawed theory not fact, gay rights, sex roles, etc.). There’s some disagreement, but everyone’s pretty much in the same ballpark. Nice people on a personal level, as I’ve found most conservatives to be.

Framing a dicussion of truth as a cosmic battle, I think is a distraction from what truly ails us (economic inequality and environmental degradation) and encourages some Christians of modest means to sit idle in self-delusion. (The book “What’s the Matter with Kansas, by Thomas Frank, examines why people vote in a way that goes against their economic self-interest).

Christianity like most young religions was revolutionary at its inception with Jesus leading the charge. The Gospels detail story after story of Jesus serving the poor, weak, sick and disenfranchised. But in today’s culture, as Time magazine wrote about a few months back, many Christians believe God wants them to be rich. Charity is something you do, once you’re a made-man, as a mafia-don might say, it seems, not as you go along.

This seems to counteract the message in Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain:

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.
Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.
But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry.
Woe to you who are laughing now,
for you will mourn and weep.
Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

Here’s the real revolutionary part of the message, the part that many of us give lip service to, but find harder to practice.

But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

Doesn’t this open you up to exploitation, a critic might ask? This is crazy, even stupid. The last line people mention often. But in a competitive society such as ours that creates winners and losers, the merit lies in adherence to the previous lines.

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Do not judge, and you will not be judged;; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”

In light of the gay rights debate, I think most conservative Christians make a distinction between condemnation of gays and condemnation of gay behavior, although it took years for an anti-discrimination bill to pass in Washington state so maybe what people do in the polling booth is different than what they say. Most people don’t care what gays do as long as they don’t bother them. Gay marriage is a hot potato for even some liberals. Whatever the case the consequences of the closet are great.

Then it continues with a parable.
“Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye, when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.”

This implies you should take care of your own business first before giving advice or helping others. But sometimes the act of helping others infuses an individual with purpose in a teamwork situation. There’s a difference between saying “we ought to do this” and “you ought to do this.” We implies a shared responsibility while you is accusatory. Then again, we can also be disingenous if the person saying “we,” isn’t carrying their own weight.

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Working class hero

Posted in culture at 11:31 am by Administrator

It’s been kind of rough week in a lot of ways, but I saw something on television last night that made me pause. (This is long post, so if you read to the end, you are a patient soul).
I don’t watch reality TV and had never watched an episode of American Idol. Most of what I know from the show is from the parodys on Saturday Night Live. Last night, I figured out what the heck. Blake Lewis, the white dude who graduated from Bothell’s Inglemoor High, lost to Jordin Sparks, the 17-year old from Glendale, Ariz. who is the daughter of a black ex-NFL football player father and white mother. The hype borders on obsession and it takes away news time from what’s going on in the world (OK they did something Darfur-related), but maybe people need the diversion. Then again all we have going for us these days are diversions. Apply the cliche, “it is what it is,” here. Now Sanjaya is the latest Asian male minstrel show from Idol, replacing William Hung. I suppose that’s a step up. Thank you Jesus.
Or course, the drama aside, Idol is about making a buck for FOX and the record companies. It’s definitely a tried and true forumla.

What made me pause, though was the irony of the performance of John Lennon’s “Working Class Hero” by Green Day.

To some degree I had written Green Day off as a punk band who went pop, and they probably are, but I give them credit for performing that song.

Here are the lyrics:

As soon as your born they make you feel small,
By giving you no time instead of it all,
Till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
They hurt you at home and they hit you at school,
They hate you if you’re clever and they despise a fool,
Till you’re so fucking crazy you can’t follow their rules,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
When they’ve tortured and scared you for twenty odd years,
Then they expect you to pick a career,
When you can’t really function you’re so full of fear,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV,
And you think you’re so clever and classless and free,
But you’re still fucking peasants as far as I can see,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
There’s room at the top they are telling you still,
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,
If you want to be like the folks on the hill,
A working class hero is something to be.
A working class hero is something to be.
If you want to be a hero well just follow me,
If you want to be a hero well just follow me.

This was only a few minutes out of two hours in a ratings extravaganza but, hey maybe it caught some teenager’s attention.

The irony is everyone no one on American Idol wants to be a working class hero. They want to be the Idol. They want fame and fortune. It’s all about getting on TV and getting a record deal even if you lose. Fox executives are quite good at keeping people doped up on a steady diet of conservative politics, sex and TV.

The concept, that some unknown will rise up to be a singing superstar, is mythical. Everyone’s got to have a dream. The ballot-box stuffing process by which the Idol is picked let’s the audience participate and creates a frenzy, with fan sites, the whole shebang. Truth is, few will rise up and be an American Idol. And the truth is, in today’s world, a lot of people will struggle to land a decent paying job. A head of household has to be pulling down at least $60,000 and realistically much more afford to own a home and raise a family in the city of Seattle. I am from a generation that is generally headed for a lower standard of living than its’ parents generation.

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05.18.07

Why reading ain’t for sissies

Posted in Uncategorized at 3:19 am by Administrator

A sixth-grader in a class I tutor in told me last Friday that “reading was for sissies.”
A few minutes before that, the student, who happens to be black, saw a picture of Ku Klux Klan members in a magazine and became incensed.
For the past six months I’ve volunteered each week as a reading and writing tutor in a sixth-grade class at Cedar Valley Community School in Lynnwood.
In that time, I’ve worked with some great youths who have the potential to be great students, regardless of what perceptions might be. But for teachers, administrators and staff at Cedar Valley, having a student going through some sort of crisis is a daily occurrence. Within the Edmonds School District, many of the students at Cedar Valley are have-nots in a sea of mostly haves. Poverty, gangs, having to take care of siblings, having a parent who has done jail time, is reality for some students not something that exists only on T.V. and in the newspaper.
Cedar Valley is the most diverse and poorest school in the Edmonds School District.
As of May 1, 86.1 percent of the students at Cedar Valley qualified for free or reduced-price lunches, according to school figures.
The school is 38.8 percent Hispanic, 34.4 percent white, 13.8 percent Asian, 11.5 percent black and 1.5 percent Native American, according Oct. 2005 figures.
The challenges are immense, but failure is not an option. As Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said: “Reading is the gateway skill that makes all other learning possible…” Being able to read and apply what you’ve read has never been more important in the history of the planet as now.
Some students take to reading naturally, especially if reading material is available at home and they encouraged. Some are not as fortunate, or are less inclined.
As fifth-graders, 63 percent of the Cedar Valley sixth-graders passed the reading portion of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, 10.9 percent below the district average and 13.3 percent below the state average.
As a teacher at Cedar Valley told me, most boys learn to read at a different pace than girls and most start off behind girls when it comes to verbal skills. Sometimes as a coping mechanism, students say stuff like “reading is for sissies.”
The teacher told me she’s experimented with having some of the boys read in boys-only groups.
“They weren’t as off task as when they had a female audience,” she said.
Experiments like that are vital to improving education in schools like Cedar Valley. It goes beyond the WASL.
The sixth-graders recently went on a hike near Granite Falls and wrote about their experiences. Being able to draw on that experiences changes how their able to write and express themselves, teacher Lindsay Wilson said.
Last Friday, several students quickly thumbed through copies of National Geographic and Smithsonian. But a Sports Illustrated grabbed their attention and sparked some lively discussion.
The same student who said reading was for sissies articulately made a case for what would constitute the best NBA team of all time. Most of the players he named from Larry Bird to LeBron James were from the 1980s to the present, but his list was comprehensive. He could write a good essay on that topic.
In the end, much of what determines student success or failure is rooted in socio-economics and sometimes there’s only so much blame or credit educators deserve for that.
But it is possible to turn things around.
Cedar Valley teacher Aaron Gaines, 47, who integrated a white school in Mississippi as a second-grader, is looking forward to attending several high school graduations next month to see his first group of students walk across the stage. One of those former Cedar Valley students who will graduate is Lynnwood High School student body president Liam Ennis.
Gaines said he tries to preach and teach to his students about their responsibility to not only themselves, but their families and their community to try to succeed in light of the sacrifices that people of all colors made during the civil rights movement.
“They haven’t made that decision yet, they haven’t dug in,” Gaines said. “I can sway them to think a little deeper about their next stop before they make that gigantic step to high school.”
Finally, as Obama said in his 2004 Democratic convention speech, “folks will tell you that government alone can’t teach kids to learn. They know that parents have to parent, that children can’t achieve unless we raise their expectations and turn off the television sets and eradicate the slander that says a black youth with a book is acting white.” Or like a sissy.

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