fyi: it's night time

In my April 15th blog I wrote about the stupidest fashion mistake I have ever seen. I honestly did not think I would see anything stupider until the other night while driving. It was night time probably around 10:00 pm. So, it was apparent to me that it was dark and that the sun had definitely set and that it was long gone until 5:30 am the next day.
As I am driving, in the dark, a man begins to walk across the street with sunglasses on. At first I just thought he had just trumped the sunglasses fashion inside as the worst fashion trend to ever become “cool”. He was also crossing the street in front of me and just enough for me to not have to slam on my brakes, but not enough for a person to cross the street when it is safe. It was concluded that he was blind (or very stupid).

Time for sunglasses
NOT time for sunglasses

midwest love: gateway to freedom

Many people see the United States as the gateway to freedom. Canada was freedom for many African Americans during pre-Civil war times, to which Detroit was a gateway. Today in Detroit along the Detroit River there is a statue to commemorate the people who gained freedom to Canada. (For more information on the sculpture’s history and meaning click here.)

It wasn’t enough for a runaway slave to be in a free state. The north was not a stopping point, but the first on a long journey to Canada where runaway slaves would not be bound by US law. The fugitive Slave Act (1850) passed by U.S. Congress basically enforced the southern law of slavery in the north, therefore making a runaway slave in free-soil anything but free.


It’s an amazing story of thousands of people who sought freedom. In Michigan many home are preserved in such cities as Kalamazoo, Jackson, Ann Arbor, and Saline, my hometown. Michigan routes vary (as seen on this map), but evidence shows that many routes were north of Jackson and Detroit. Historical writings and houses are along routes three and four of the map along Old Sauk Trail and Old Territory Road Trail. These same trails that brought slaves to freedom were first created by area Michigan tribes that were pushed out of the territory a generation earlier.


There is a lot of history about the underground railroad. I would encourage you to go beyond the typically reading of Harriet Tubman and check out your local library. There you can look into the history on the underground railroad such as journals of first-hand accounts of people who made the journey, or writings of people who had stations along the route.

conflicting freaking views

In a June 25th article in the NYT James Dobson, the famous evangelical Christian, smears Obama for his religious views comparing Obama to Al Sharpton as an example of religious leaders with conflicting views. The article later goes on to quote Dobson “They [Obama and McCain] don’t give a hoot about the family.” I’m not quite sure where to start with the disgust and hypocritical statements of Dobson.

Let’s start with Obama. Dobson smears Obama for supporting abortion rights. Dobson amidst all the positives has focused on the one negative. I don’t agree with the stance and am pro-life, but where does Dobson have any right to talk? Dobson has supported the war with Iraq calling it even a “noble war” and has even supported war and more killing in Iran. While Dobson slanders a presidential candidate for an unethical stance of murder he himself supports another unethical stance of murder.

Moreover, Obama who is a candidate for supporting the poor, fighting genocide, universal healthcare, and the environment - all issues that are at the core of Christian beliefs. Dobson has so carefully neglected to show that maybe indeed he does not care for the poor, the sick, and God’s creation. Maybe Dobson has been so blinded by one view that he has neglected some of the core beliefs in the Gospel of Matthew: “The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.”1


As for McCain, Dobson’s only hope for pro-life stances in government, he has also attacked. Dobson ridicules McCain as well because he did not speak out energetically enough against same-sex marriage in a proposal in Arizona legislature2.

A hoot for the family? Are gay people, whom are created by God, not allowed to have a family? Do the families who cannot afford health care not deserve it? Does the environment continue to be destroyed for the sake of humans? Obama and McCain are just two others excluded in Dobson’s church of saints. Are we not a people of sin rooted in love, grace, hope, and the truth of God?

Iraq by the numbers.
Civilians killed in the war against Iraq



1 Matthew 11:5
2 Larry Rother, “Evangelical Leader Attacks Obama on Religious Views,” New York Times, June 25, 2008.

the church of the dropouts

There have been many studies, books, reports, speeches, and sermons on why non-Christians do not go to church. On Sunday at church a minor point during the sermon was made about why non-Christians do not go to church. I don’t remember the person who was referenced for saying the quote, but the quote was along the lines of “non-Christians do not come to church not because of the worship style or the time, but because ‘church’ and ‘Christianity’ have become easy”. It’s an interesting idea. I don’t think the person is saying that its the only reason why people are not flocking into churches, but one of the main reasons.

I find it an interesting idea, because I have always thought that one of the main reasons people don’t come to church is in fact because it is too hard (and too time consuming). Sunday morning has become the time to sleep in and go to brunch. It is not the time to wake up early and go to church. In an all-consuming world where time is precious and more and more people are doing more and more, a Sunday morning on the weekend is the last thing people want to give up. In fact if it was as easy as just saying “Yeah there is a God” and be done with it, I think a lot more people would be Christian. It is not that easy however.

For the people who do have time though, maybe it is too easy. In the States churches have become the kick-back and relax, come here and be prosperous, have fun and stay kind of place. From rural to urban, and accentuated in the ‘burbs, church has just become fluffy, seeker-sensitive, watered-downed, happy-faced people on a Sunday morning that take in their one-hour a week at church and then go back to their lives.

There is no substance, no truth, and no life-changing difference that is God in church. I don’t think this is entirely true. There is a point to be made though. The church of the dropouts, the losers, the sinners, the failures, and the fools are not attending church on Sunday morning. Possibly too hard or too easy is an excuse like worship style and preaching style. Maybe church isn’t welcoming for the dropouts, the losers, the sinners, the failures, and the fools? Maybe too hard or too easy. We just don’t know.