theology | My Favorite Collect

For my non-Anglican friends: This is my favorite collect (collect - a brief formal prayer that is used in various Western liturgies before the epistle and that varies with the day), often called the collect for purity:

Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Happy Sunday.

blogging | My Little Anti-Amazon.com Crusade

So, yesterday, I posted my somewhat snarky rant about blog practices, namely the propensity for people to link to places like Amazon.com. I understand insofar as it is easy and many people use Amazon.com affiliation as a revenue source. I sketched (and sketched is the appropriate word as I could go into significantly more detail) why I've come to stop buying books at places like Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, or Borders. There was, of course, rumor this week that that Barnes & Noble was looking into acquiring Borders. Barnes & Noble and Borders would combine for roughly a third of the meandering book market. Its appropriate that we should have to pay for our convictions and I don't mind paying more for a book to support my local bookstore. I find doing so is better for the town in which I live -- keeps businesses open, allows money flows to circulate within the community, enriches the intellectual life of the town, etc., obviously better for the owners of my local bookstore and its employees, and holds out the possibility of resisting the homogenization in the book market, which is dominated by increasingly fewer publishers and booksellers. I'll gladly pay $5 more for what I consider a better way of life, both communally and as a lover of books.

Well, if I think that shopping at a place like Amazon.com is deeply problematic, I also think driving traffic to or getting paid by them is problematic as well. At least, in my opinion, it is something to think about. I linked to a bunch of bloggers who, probably with out much thought, do so. Wess (seen above with me in Paris last summer) over at GatheringInLight.com thought I was being a little harsh, a little unfair. He was right, but it spawned what I think was a worthwhile conversation. [Read the comments of the previous post.]

I generally link to Powells.com when I need to link a book title to information about the book. Powell's is a huge bookstore in Portland [though Powell's roots began in Chicago, where Michael Powell, as a University of Chicago graduate student, opened his first bookstore in 1970]. It may not be my beloved bookstore around the corner, but we shouldn't forgo the better waiting for the best. I've spent many hours wandering the aisles of new and used books at Powell's. My conversation with Wess made me dig around a bit. As it turns out, if you're worried about a loss of revenue by not directing traffic to Amazon.com, Powells.com has an affiliate program which looks just as lucrative as Amazon.com.

Well, so much for my little rudder trying to turn a big ship. I'm off to the Farmer's Market.

[America's Young Theologian][Amazon.com][Books][Blogging]

life | A Friday Morning Micellany

1. If McCain wins the presidency, it will be tempting to leave the U.S.A., not a responsible course of action, but tempting. It's strange I would say that though, given that I think grassroots political organizing is more significant than national electoral politics. Still...

2. With my economics background and Christian ethics training, I'm always thinking about companies. I don't like large companies (or large churches for that matter). Yes, that includes your precious Starbucks, even though they do deserve credit for their stances on health care. I don't like stockholders, since, in my opinion, there's not enough personal accountability. I'm sorry but a stockholder losing some money, or a CEO leaving with a $15 million severance package is not strong enough incentive to dissuade corruption. Passing thought, why do we look so lightly on Martha Stewart's criminal behavior? If you're going to put a kid in juvenile detention for shoplifting, put the diva behind bars, not under mansion arrest. I don't think a corporation's responsibility should be limited to its shareholders; if it is, then we need to avoid supporting publicly traded companies. When a college student kills herself because of the pressures of overwhelming credit card debt, banks have some responsibility for targeting 'profitable' populations, namely, those who are not likely to handle debt well. Profit can't be the only measuring stick.

3. More of the same, but this time on books. People, stop shopping at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and Borders! Not only are you not supporting your local businesses, but given the percent of the market that these three make up and how they inventory books, it is killing (not only independent book stores but) smaller presses as well. It's not only a social responsibility and quality issue, but an avenue of publication issue. Also, in the spirit of the above, it's not okay that bloggers link their book lists to Amazon.com. And, no, its not okay to make money by driving traffic to Amazon. Sorry. Need other options? Find a local bookstore that you've actually stepped inside of and link to their site if they have one, or link to AbeBooks search page for the book in question. No, I don't care about the $4 you'll save at Amazon.com. My budget is tighter than yours. If your budget is so tight that can't afford to support independent businesses in your community, you shouldn't be buying books. Find a library! End of rant. Do you have a favorite local bookstore?

[Please read the comment section on this
post, which relates to my rant.]

4. Read Amy Laura Hall's newest book, Conceiving Parenthood: American Protestantism and the Spirit of Reproduction. Even if you're not a parent or thinking about parenthood, this is important look at how we've come to see children and the role of procreation.

"Hall mines church publications and popular media to reveal several dynamics at work. Partly because of its attempts to market itself as part of the American dream, the mid-century church became infatuated with an image of the ideal family that inevitably, if unintentionally, encouraged middle-class Protestants to insulate their families from their troubled neighbors. At the same time, corporate and scientific messages undermined the confidence of parents — and particularly mothers — in natural or traditional ways of providing for their children without commercial products and expert advice. Aspiration and anxiety combined to create families that were more focused on themselves, less secure in their Christian identity and less engaged in mission to others."

5. Russians and the use of flying penises as a means of deriding dissent. Ha.

6. My sleep schedule has been crazy. Some friends have worried that it might cause a lack of productivity, others that it was caused by depression. Neither true. Just without other people around, what do I care if I sleep from 10pm to 6am or 6am to 2pm. Still, I'm trying to get back on a so-called normal schedule. Today, up at 7am, had breakfast with friends at 9am.

7. I'm curious about Soderbergh's movie about Che, see here. This, however, worries me:

"There is a lot, however, that the audience will not learn from this big movie, which has some big problems as well as major virtues. In between the two periods covered in “Che,” Guevara was an important player in the Castro government, but his brutal role in turning a revolutionary movement into a dictatorship goes virtually unmentioned. This, along with Benicio Del Toro’s soulful and charismatic performance, allows Mr. Soderbergh to preserve the romantic notion of Guevara as a martyr and an iconic figure, an idealistic champion of the poor and oppressed. By now, though, this image seems at best naïve and incomplete, at worst sentimental and dishonest. More to the point, perhaps, it is not very interesting."

8. Happy Friday, everyone; play it like a weekend.

film | I Bought You A Bouquet Of Movies

I don't normally watch as many films as I did over the last ten day, let's see: The Boondock Saints, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Red Without Blue, The Wind that Shakes the Barley, The People vs. Larry Flynt, Maxed Out, My Own Private Idaho, Iron Man, Cool Hand Luke and, last night at midnight, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. It's probably not a good thing when you're averaging a film a day. Perhaps that was my answer to my college town emptying out for the summer.

So here are 10 micro-reviews:

1. The Boondock Saints (1999) - Two Irish-American lads, get in a post-St. Patty's day fight, and after dispatching with the goons, feel that they have a vigilante calling to rid their Boston neighborhood of crime. Charismatic characters, bland moral dilemma, namely, what has the law to do with lawlessness? Not great.

2. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007) - Two brothers plan to rob their parents' jewelry store as an answer to their financial troubles; you'll never guess: it doesn't solve their financial troubles. Like Ebert's review, I don't want to say more. This movie was fantastic. Sidney Lumet (who was nominated four times for the best director Oscar and who gave us Dog Day Afternoon, Network, and 12 Angry Men) directs a film, which was superbly acted through a range of emotions by Ethan Hawke and Philip Seymour Hoffman. What was I doing last year that I missed this film? Hopefully, I was the only one.

3. Red Without Blue (2007) - I've mentioned this before. An award-winning documentary about twin brothers and their family as one of the twins transitions from male to female. It's good, not always gripping, but pleasantly tells its story, probably in the manner it should be told.

4. The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2006) - Winner of the highest award at Cannes in 2006, the film takes place in Ireland, 1920. Damien and Teddy are brothers. Damien, a medical graduate, joins Teddy in fighting the British for Irish independence. The two brothers fight side by side until they end up on opposites sides of a treaty. A compelling film, certainly. Well acted, well shot. To be honest, I wasn't in the mood for a film like this, but that's not the film's fault.

5. Maxed Out (2006) - Another award-winning documentary, Maxed Out shows viewers the vortex of the American style of debt, where things seem fine as long as the minimum monthly payment arrives on time. Like selling online poker to people with gambling problems, the film shows the cruel practices of predatory lending, which seeks out those who are most desperate and financially creates a class and culture of indentured servants. Hey, America, isn't freedom grand?

6. My Own Private Idaho (1991) - River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves in Gus Van Sant's (Drugstore Cowboy, Good Will Hunting, Elephant) film about two young street hustlers. The movie drifts along with its characters, through the streets of Portland to Idaho, in and out of male prostitution, in and out of sleep. There is the Shakespearian son of privilege (played by Reeves) who cavorts with undesirable company as a mode of rebellion, who has sexual encounters with men but is not gay, who can and does return his privilege. Then there is the narcoleptic drifter (Phoenix) who is looking for home, looking for his mother. I've spent time with homeless youth, many prostituting themselves as a means of subsistence, and this captures the transience of such lives. I thought it was visually beautiful and I appreciated the last two sex scenes in the film which are nothing more than a handful of erotic stills.

7. The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996) - I wouldn't assume that a movie with Woody Harrelson and Courtney Love could be considered well acted. I wouldn't assume I'd enjoy a biopic about Larry Flynt. It can; I did. Larry, who founded Hustler magazine and made millions never overestimating his readers taste, finds himself in a Supreme Court case after printing a parody ad about Jerry Falwell. The movie is as raunchy and raucous as Flynt, well probably not, but make a worthwhile point: if unpopular speech isn't protected, protecting speech doesn't do very much.

8. Iron Man (2008) - Aren't we tired of comic book movies? I am. This one is better than most. Probably helps to have actors who can act (Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, rather than Tobey Maguire) and a hero who is more of a flashy jerk than lovable.

9. Cool Hand Luke (1967) - I couldn't remember if I had seen this Paul Newman film. I like going back to actors before they became shelf-stable salad dressing. Newman plays the cavalier Luke, a cool prisoner in a rural jail, who refuses to care enough to bow to authority. Because of this, the respect of the fellow prisoners grows. Another film worth seeing, Luke is one of those characters who you can't take your eyes off, who you believe must know the secret to the world. You watch because he's beautiful, kind of like Paul Maclean in A River Runs Through It. You heart breaks when he is broken.

10. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) - I'll save you from the the plot details and you know who stars in and who directs these things. I experienced something about ten minutes into this film that I don't think I have before. It was 25% nostalgia (I was 12 and headed to summer camp with my friend Sean, when the last film came out), 75% just a childish being given over to play. I didn't care that physics didn't apply in this film, I wanted to play along. Without those two aspects, playing along and a dose of nostalgia, I don't think the film works, but, for me, it did. I won't say it was great. I won't say it wasn't over the top. In a way though, I wanted that, even if the end of the movie seemed like I was warped into a different Spielberg film.

[America's Young Theologian][Film][Indiana Jones]

books | Simple Spirituality

Over the next couple days, I'll be reading Christopher Heuertz's first book, Simple Spirituality : Learning to See God in a Broken World, available in July. Chris is the International Executive Director of Word Made Flesh, an organization that exists to serve Jesus among the poorest of the world's poor; I met him in the fall while he was on a learning sabbatical at Duke. I'll post a review when I finish.

[America's Young Theologian][Books][Word Made Flesh]