colorado | film industry

I have recently been seeing some arguments back and forth about the shootings in Colorado and the role the new Batman movie had in it. Many think that Christopher Nolan, the director of the film, is guilty and at fault for making this person react how he did, indicating it is acceptable to kill people because they do it in the movies without much retribution. Others think that he is completely innocent and it's the fault of the person for doing the shooting, indicating that the movie played no role in the mass homicides at all.
It is my contention that this film, along with the thousands of other films in our society all play a role in how our world functions. It is clear that the film, TV, and advertising industry choose specific material to put in front of its' viewers for a reason, entertainment. In advertising it is placed in front of its' viewers to sell a product. Look how much sex is portrayed on TV. There are so many movies that have sex scenes in it that are not needed. One of the first things I think about is the Axe commercials and how if you use their product, skinny, young, attractive women will want to sleep with you. However, in the new Batman movie, along with all the others, there are mass killings throughout the movie, with little to no regard for human life. When we see this attitude portrayed on the screen, with the filter that TV and movies give us, how can we take it as serious as it really is. When compared to the movie, this tragedy in Colorado seems like nothing, yet, this has made widespread news across the world.
I do not believe that Nolan is solely responsible for actions like what happened in Colorado, but I do think the film industry has some responsibility in the matter. Clearly the murderer is and will be help responsible for his actions, that is no question. When we portray violence in a way that has no regard for humanity, there are people out there who will react similarly and it doesn't make it acceptable, but at the same time, this is what entertains our culture and we flock to sold out theaters at midnight to watch this, myself included.
I do not have a solution, but this is something that I've been thinking about since hearing of the tragedy in Colorado. I don't know anyone who doesn't feel for the family's of those injured, killed, or the family of victim, but what does films like this do. I understand that the film is also based upon a hero trying to stop the violence, but in the process, hundreds and thousands of people uninvolved and in Batman's "saving" process are killed. The killings don't feel real and we rarely if ever think about the reality of people dying in a movie when it's not the main plot line. But we do care when it happens in real life. How should we watch movies like this? Do we rid ourselves of movies like these to help the violent nature to creep up less often in our minds, or would it even matter? It easy for us to say, I saw it and I'm fine, I didn't go out and kill people, but remember, you are not the same as everyone else. You think differently than other people. You can't compare yourself to others.
There is so much to be said about this. Ultimately it is really sad for everyone involved, there are no words in the end. Prayers and thoughts go out to all involved. 

life as a chaplain | 1

A chaplain is an Intimate Stranger! Brought into the worst of situations with people we have never met and someone we are supposed to provide care and support. In my opinion one of the worst places for anyone to be is in a hospital. Not only is it a hospital, it displaces you from the things you love. Watching people lose loved ones that less than a month ago were fine, has shaken me to my core. I have been traumatized by having to look people in the eyes as they are actively dying, watching someone see a loved one die, or choosing to take their loved one off life support. These families have simply been displaced from their home, family, and normalcy of life. How do I not let this affect me?
One thing is for sure, my understanding of how shitty of a world this is has been dramatically increased through spending time with people suffering from such deeply life altering diseases. I have grown a great level of empathy, which I was hoping for, until it actually happened. It is paralyzing seeing someone in a patient bed and thinking of Sara being the patient. There are not words to describe the fear I feel of losing the closest person in my life, the one person I would spend eternity with and wouldn't care if all others ceased existing, THAT person. Sara.. Yet, this is happening to these families I encounter every day, and this is just in my hospital. From a global perspective it is heart wrenching. There is an image that has come to mind that depicts how I often see God in relation to these patients at the hospital. Too often I think or hear people say they know God is present in their situation, but is it good enough to just be a witness to crime.
And yet....somehow we're told, press on...tomorrow brings a new day...go to God and it will be better...and still, it's not...

effectiveness of prayer | believers or non alike | divine intervention

when we pray, how do we know our prayer matters? Or is prayer just a means to be in communication and relationship with God? Either way, this question seems very important, because everyday people pray. If you're asked, "do my prayers matter" by either a christian or non christian, how do you answer them?

Depending on what you believe about God, prayer is an interesting concept and idea.

If I believe that God is pre-ordaining everything in the world, it seems that my prayer does not matter, because God has already planned the outcome of the event I am praying about anyways.

If I am an open theist (God knows all options but does not know which action will be chosen until it has happened) and I pray for something or someone and God intervenes and answers my prayer (ie...a friend is dying of cancer, I pray, along with many other people, they were going to die from cancer, but our prayers worked and God saved the friend from dying) then that isn't true freedom is it? Is not total freedom, those places in which God does not intervene? If God does intervene, that then relinquishes my freedom, but maybe we are never meant to have total freedom, only freedom in the moments God chooses not to act. But that seems messed up too, because with all the evil in the world, wars, disease, natural disasters, etc...God is just willing to allow those events to happen and millions of innocent people are murdered over the course of human history. You can say, we live in a ______(fallen, shitty) world, but our response is not to just throw up our hands, God is still present, right? So....what does that mean?

Now, what about the idea of "middle knowledge" which says God knows all possibilities of different scenarios AND knows which actions will be taken in those moments. This still does not make sense with those moments that God chooses to intervene.

So does God intervene? If so, why? We can never fully know, can we? How do you know when your prayer is actually effective or is it just coincidence. You can then choose to assume it was God who answered a prayer, but then what about all the prayers of the people who have no food and die because they can't get basic necessities to survive? If you believe that it is the "sin" in their life that has had God reject them, then we should all be rejected and that is not really consistent with who God appears to be in the Bible.

I don't know, just some thoughts. Maybe C.S. Lewis is right, maybe prayer is more for the person praying than for any other purpose. I'd be curious to know your thoughts. 

creation - not perfect | sin - a vandalism of shalom

I have been reading a lot on Sin and creation. Here are a few of those thoughts. 


Sin
With entering of sin into the world, I would tend to lean to explaining this as a "vandalism of shalom." Cornelius Plantinga in his book Not The Way It's Supposed To Be, he explains sin as a vandalism of shalom. I love this! I think God's intent in creating this world is shalom. God left humans, creatures, and nature responsible and even empowered each entity to keep alive shalom. Somewhere along the line, this was disrupted, ending up with shalom being vandalized. I believe we as Christians are to help in the restoration of bring God's kingdom on earth back to shalom. I do not think we can bring it to a full sense of shalom, as thought we've been given power on earth, we are still limited. Either way I don't think that means we can use that as an excuse to do nothing about this restoration process. 

So why does this sin exist? I am not sure we can ever truly know, but this is how I have come to grasp the idea. 


Creation | not perfect
A summary of Creation Untamed begins with Terrence Fretheim’s identification of creation as a “good” result from God, that is, not perfect. In this sense, God created the world not perfect intentionally. By God creating the world good, God left space for humanity, nature and creatures to exist in the world and continue the process of Gods creation. This project was left into the hands of imperfect beings, humanity, along with the other creatures of creation and eventually, sin, as we know it entered the world. Thus, the existence of the world is a continual process of creation working with God to restore the world back to Gods original intent, shalom.
God created the world good, not perfect.” It is a common belief in evangelicalism that when God created the world as we have in the Genesis story, that created order was perfectness and exactly how God intended humans to live. Nevertheless, the creation story includes God saying that the subjects created were “good.” Fretheim also says, which I agree with, “Genesis does not present the creation as a finished product…for creation to stay just as God originally created it would constitute failure of the divine design…God continues to create and uses creation in a vocation that involves the becoming of creation” (p. 15).


This is not a perfect explanation, but I think it helps in understanding sin. It is not good enough to me to say God is sovereign. I've talked to enough people to feel that that explanation does not do the amount of evil and suffering justice. I think it gets God off the hook to easily for the evil in the world. Does it mean that God is to blame for some evil that exists? Maybe. But that doesn't remove the love of God or the presence of God in those times of suffering. At least that is my belief. 

king david is highly over-touted

I find it incredible that King David gets the reputation he does within our churches. This is the first time I have read the whole story of David and I found a plethora of examples that if it were anyone else, they would have been overlooked, if not only the areas of injustice David inflicted (1 Sam. 1:13-16; 25:39-44; 27:8-28:2; 30:1-21, 2 Sam 17), but the amount of attention he gets for reigning for a minimal amount of time, forty years. I think we need to re-evaluate the lofty level of importance we put on David. All throughout 1 and 2 Samuel we have this picture of someone who raided villages and killed men and women, stole all the possessions and kept them for himself or his people. I would need to do a further in depth study on this, but it doesn't add up. He begins with marrying 2 women right off the bat. This is quite alarming to those who want to take the Bible as literal. (You can't say this is different because it was a different culture and time without saying that about women's roles, Paul's letters, Jesus commands, etc...) The obvious Bathsheba in 1 Sam 17. I mean if you read both Samuels, it's scattered all over the place that David is causing unjust actions and creating a pretty screwed up form of leadership.
I just think it's interesting the level of claim and fame this guy gets for being a pretty awful man.