I was recently watching one of those late-night televangelist broadcasts, featuring an attractive older man standing in front of what looked to be thousands of people, all desperately waiting on his every word. After a short introduction, he brought out a guest, namely, Jordan S. Rubin, creator of “The Maker’s Diet” (www.makersdiet.com). As Mr. Rubin would go on to explain, there are certain foods that are Biblically mandated for a healthy lifestyle, and others that are specifically forbidden. Things such as shellfish and pork, clearly outlined as off-limits in Leviticus, are only harmful to the body. Other foods like figs, olive oil, and wine are mentioned positively, and are thus beneficial to the body. Now, I have no desire to debate the differences between Israel and the Church, argue the particular relevancy of the Old Covenant within the New, or follow any of the other numerous possible tangents. And to be quite honest, I don’t particularly care if the diet works or not.

What really upsets me is the fact that God is being used to market a product. Christian beliefs about the Bible are being manipulated to sell copies of a diet plan.

It’s not like this is a wholly unknown phenomenon. Who profited from the WWJD phenomenon? I’m willing to bet it wasn’t the local churches. Who makes the popular car attachments shaped like fish? I don’t know, but I’m willing to bet they make out alright. This, however, is something slightly different, and something far worse. In fact, I think this is really insidious. The Maker’s Diet says, in effect, that God has created some food to be eaten, and eaten properly, and it is Christian duty to abide by these rules. If a person truly believes in the Bible, and believes that what the Bible says is true, then he or she should be following The Maker’s Diet. This goes far beyond bumper-sticker faith proclamation. This deals with moral responsibility, with pleasing God, and with interpreting the sacred texts of our tradition. Perhaps the plan works, perhaps is doesn’t. That’s not the point. The point is that Christians are being manipulated and guilt-tripped into buying this book. I, for one, am sickened.

I wrote an article for Relevant Magazine, please read it and post comments on it.

I’ve always been enthralled by the elusive nature of beauty. It’s a title of highest honor, given to the plastically improved supermodel standing haughtily in a $10,000 Prada dress and stilettos or applied to the sublime kaleidoscope of sunrays that bounce off the Grand Canyon at dusk. Never the less, the characteristic of conceptual beauty that has always estranged me has been its nature of impersonality and distance. Such beauty isn’t something to engage in, it’s something to be admired from a distance. Thus, the love created for beauty is fabricated on partial truths into a flimsy romantic ideal.
Embarrassingly, I’ve found that many of my passions and desires are often founded on these partial truths, the aspect of reality that I have allowed myself to see. Since I was a little girl, I’ve had a love affair with the city of Paris. My childhood days spent speaking “pretend French” (aka gibberish) to my imaginary French friends gave way to years of diligent study of the French language and culminated in a spontaneous weekend getaway to Paris with a close friend just months ago. Though I claim a love for France and its culture, my infatuation extends only to the touristy fantasy that the media and my own bias have created to satisfy my romantic urges and neglect a necessity for holistic love.
I cannot understand true beauty lest I first grasp this holistic love. I am commanded to love God and love my neighbors and yet such a checklist of responsibilities often results in a quick, easy romantic love with a people group half way across the world that I can speak about but never to and that I can love without ever being hurt.
When I claim a culture to be beautiful or something for which I “have a heart,” what am I really saying? If that is my understanding of love, then my idea of the beauty of a different culture and missions is nothing more than my face on the glossy cover of Christianity Today bending down to lay a hand on an impoverish Nicaraguan child or a photograph of smiling dark faces that I hang above my mantel next to my sports trophies and family portrait.
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Thought this would be a great site to point out from a Wheaton Student:

http://www.bethanyveerman.com/body/