Interesting Quotes

Brian McLaren on Christian Nationalism:

When people tell me that we are or have been a Christian nation, I want to ask, "When?" Was it in the colonial era or during westward expansion, when we began stealing the lands of the Native Americans, making and breaking treaties, killing wantonly, and justifying our actions by the Bible? Was it in the era of slavery or segregation, when again, we used the Bible to justify the unjustifiable? Was it in more recent history, when we dropped the first nuclear bomb and killed hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians, when we overthrew democratically elected governments in the Cold War era, when we plundered the environment without concern for the birds of the air or flowers of the field, or when we sanctioned or turned a blind eye to torture earlier this decade? Was it earlier this week, when I turned on the TV or radio and heard people scapegoating immigrants and gay people and Muslims?

---thanks to Mainstream Baptist: Brian McLaren on Christian Nationalism.


Oscar Romero On Pluralism In The Church:

A healthy pluralism is needed. We don't want to force everything into the same mold. Uniformity is different from unity. Unity means pluralism, with everyone respecting how others think, and among all of us, creating a unity that is greater than just my way of thinking.---May 29, 1977.

You, with your charismatic movement; you, with your Cursillo movement of Christianity; you, with your community studying catechism; you, with your traditional thoughts; you, with your progressive thoughts, why do you do this? Do you defend what you do because it is comfortable? Then you are going the wrong way. This is not the right thing to do. Do you do it to serve God sincerely? Well do it this way and try to understand others who are doing what they are doing for God. This is true pluralism in the church.---September 17, 1978.

---pgs. 3 and 68 of Through The Year With Oscar Romero: Daily Meditations .

See also: “A bishop will die,…”.

Postmodernism And You Can't Do That On Television

It was silly and absurd, it was irreverent and slap-sticky, it was otherwise known as 'that slime show'---for me, You Can't Do That on Television (YCDTOTV) brings back memories of childhood summers spent at the beach. Before we got cable at home in Laurinburg, in the mid to late 80's---the beach house was the only place to watch Nickelodeon and boy did my sister, brother and I enjoy watching Nickelodeon at the beach, while eating our Kid's Cuisine meals.



Anyways, Justin Cammy, who was a cast member from 1983–1985 and who is now a professor of Middle Eastern and Jewish Studies at Smith College had this to say about the show:

[edit] Cast comments
Cast member Justin Cammy, now a professor at Smith College, described the show like this:

“ You Can't Do That on Television was the first post-modern children's program of my generation. It subverted all recognizable forms and deconstructed the pre-teen's understanding of such important institutions as the family, the school and the video arcade. When the schoolteacher did not know any better than to call Milton's masterpiece "Pair of Dice Lost", the program functioned as an ideological clarion call to future college students like you who would go on to demand the displacement of an ossified Western canon with more relevant investigations of low culture.

Continued from original source:

A.M. FitzGerald: How would you describe the show?
Cammy: "You Can't Do That on Television" was the first post-modern children's program of my generation. It subverted all recognizable forms and deconstructed the pre-teen's understanding of such important institutions as the family, the school and the video arcade. When the school teacher did not know any better than to call Milton's masterpiece "Pair of Dice Lost," the program functioned as an ideological clarion call to future college students like you who would go on to demand the displacement of an ossified Western canon with more relevant investigations of low culture. Several years ago a student who will remain nameless--her name was Jen--handed in a pictoral interpretation of the essay question in place of a ten-page paper. I instantly knew that she had gleaned her air of entitlement and complete disrespect for all forms of academic propriety from being a nightly fan of "You Can't Do That On Television." Although I failed her, it was the proudest moment of my life.

Here are some videos of the show for you to decide how postmodern the show is or not:

---YouCantDoThatOnTelevision - PovertyAndUnemployment1985Part1

---YouCantDoThatOnTelevision - PovertyAndUnemployment1985Part2

---YouCantDoThatOnTelevision - PovertyAndUnemployment1985Part3

And here's an episode with Justin Cammy in it for good measure:

---You Can't Do That On Television - Divorce 1 (of 3)

---You Can't Do That On Television - Divorce 2 (of 3)

---You Can't Do That On Television - Divorce 3 (of 3)

So what are your thoughts?

Wikipedia Article Of The Day: 09-18-08

So this seems interesting:

Anekantavada is one of the most important and basic doctrines of Jainism. It refers to the principles of pluralism and multiplicity of viewpoints, the notion that truth and reality are perceived differently from diverse points of view, and that no single point of view is the complete truth. Jains contrast all attempts to proclaim absolute truth with adhgajanyāyah, which can be illustrated through the maxim of the "Blind Men and an Elephant". In this story, one blind man felt the trunk of an elephant, another the tusks, another the ears, another the tail. All the men claimed to explain the true appearance of the elephant, but could only partly succeed, due to their limited perspectives. According to the Jains, only the Kevalins—the omniscient beings—can comprehend objects in all aspects and manifestations; others are only capable of partial knowledge. Consequently, no single, specific, human view can claim to represent absolute truth. Anekāntavāda encourages its adherents to consider the views and beliefs of their rivals and opposing parties. Proponents of anekāntavāda apply this principle to religion and philosophy, reminding themselves that any religion or philosophy, even Jainism, that clings too dogmatically to its own tenets, is committing an error based on its limited point of view. (more...)

What are your thoughts about it and how it may relate to the Christian view of postmodernism and Emerging/Emergent Christian ideals?