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.

That’s right. I’m going to say something about it…

So I have been extremely, yet quietly disturbed with a lot of the news coverage that I’m seeing. I guess part of the quietness is that I’m in Hong Kong and very few here would understand what I was thinking. But I have been very disturbed at the coverage. The analysis is horrendously shallow, full of euphemism and coded language to avoid the full truth that it is not just the “poor” who are stranded without food and water; not just the “underclass;” but a community defined by their race: black-Americans. Papers that have used the word “black” to describe the victims have done so gingerly, almost reluctantly.. Yet race (and the unequal system that long ago defined your available escape routes from Katrina) is the unmistakable faultline dividing those who had access to leave New Orleans and those who didn’t. Still, most papers, out of fear and/or ignorance, have resorted to speaking of the victims in more neutral, and frankly, more “acceptable” terms, such as class. Such language skirts what is perhaps the city’s deepest wound of injustice: individual and structural racism. To blacks in New Orleans it is no secret that a long history of racist laws and attitudes has been defining their “access”—where they can go, with whom, and when—for generations. Yet only in Katrina has the terrible truth of their “inaccess” been so literally and outrageously played out. The lingering injustice has been well hidden for decades by the government and even the media; yet in Katrina’s aftermath the racial faultlines now lie fully exposed, the covers pulled right off of them.

Except…no newspapers seem to see it! Rather than being openly exposed as a travesty that must finally meet its end, existing racial stereotypes are being staunchly upheld and chillingly re-inforced as truth. (more…)

So we all saw some sky rocketing gas prices this week. I have two thoughts on it.

One, I’m sort of happy. Our low priced gas has caused us to use and depend on cars far more then we should, and it’s destroying our planet. We choose to live and work and go to church and other places without regard to their proximity to one another (relatively speaking). We rarely carpool or consider other modes of transportation for our regular commutes. We drive gas guzzling vehicles without a second thought.
I think there is a chance these skyrocketing prices will at least help us start considering some ways to cut down on our use of gas. Maybe folks will start combining errands instead of taking a trip to the store everyday. Maybe we start asking co-workers about carpooling, or look into taking public transit. Maybe we at least start thinking about mpg as an important feature for a car. Maybe, just maybe these gas prices will get us to start thinking about how we harm the enviroment, mainly cause we are thinking about the hole it is burning in our pockets.

Second, and this is food for thought. If there really does become any sort of shortage on gas or something, will motorsports be willing to take a break? I mean gas guzzling liesure and entertainment activities seem like they’d be first on my list of things to go in a time of shortage. Anyone?