As I promised on facebook I have typed up the first recipe I made in response to watching Food Inc. I've been talking about this movie and accompanying book a lot. There are two important and pertinent issues to this recipe and the movie. One: The way the four major corporations have shaped animal farming and animal processing places tremendous risks to consumers. Two: The issue of immigration and undocumented workers is VERY complex, the U.S. agriculture CORPORATIONS depends upon unlimited cheap EXPLOITABLE labor (aka Illegal Workers); and the prices of food are distorted in part by this exploited labor force. Food is nourishment for the body and soul, information is noourishment for the mind and soul. Enjoy this recipe and read Food Inc.
Cheers!
Three Bean Vegetarian Chili
2 red bells peppers
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 cups organic vegetable broth
1-1/2 cups cubed peeled butternut squash
1 can no salt added tomatoes, undrained and chopped
1 (15oz) can pinto beans (I substitute black beans) drained and rinsed
1 (15oz) can cannellini beans drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz) can red kidney beans drained and rinsed
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
Doug’s recommendations:
I’m a ginger freak so I added 1/2 cup diced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon Garam Masla
1 MORE teaspoon of crushed red pepper
1 package of soy tempeh or 3 grain tempeh
Preheat Broiler
Cut bell peppers in half length wise. Remove and discard seeds and membranes. Place pepper halves, skin side up, on foil lined cookie sheet. Broil until blackened. Place pepper halves in a zip lock bag, let stand 15 minutes. Peel and chop pepper halves.
Heat Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add onion, cooking 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in cumin and next 4 ingredients (including garlic) (and ginger if added) cook 2 minutes or until spices bloom. Add bell peppers (and tempeh if added), let tempeh rest in spices for a minute or two. Then add broth, squash, and tomatoes; bring to a simmer/ Cook 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add beans; simmers 25 minutes longer or until thick. Sprinkle with green onions
Friday, July 9, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
Independence Day - Thoughts
A post from a friend: Annie Marie,
"Yes, we did produce a near-perfect republic. But will they keep it? Or will they, in the enjoyment of plenty, lose the memory of freedom? Material abundance without character is the path of destruction." ~Thomas Jefferson
All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.
Thomas Jefferson
"Yes, we did produce a near-perfect republic. But will they keep it? Or will they, in the enjoyment of plenty, lose the memory of freedom? Material abundance without character is the path of destruction." ~Thomas Jefferson
All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.
Thomas Jefferson
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Perspective
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Heart is found following the Path
I thought I needed to hike up to my spot above the house. I have always felt a special presence of spirit here. Today was phenomenal. A very short, concise hike up and some photography and now I return with wonderful gems.
This is just too good to resist
Apologizing now for any misconstruction of statements. I don't understand the logic behind the apology in the first place. How about an apology to the environment, or even an apology to future generations? Dick Barton, WOW!
Friday, June 18, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Barton = tragedy in the first proportion.
When BP CEO Tony Hayward testified before Congress this morning, many expected to hear him apologize for the disaster his company has caused. Instead, GOP Congressman Joe Barton was the one saying he was sorry -- to BP.
In his opening statement, Barton, the top Republican on the committee overseeing the oil spill and its aftermath, delivered a personal apology to the oil giant. He said the $20 billion fund that President Obama directed BP to establish to provide relief to the victims of the oil disaster was a "tragedy in the first proportion."
Other Republicans are echoing his call. Sen. John Cornyn said he "shares" Barton's concern. Rep. Michele Bachmann said that BP shouldn't agree to be "fleeced." Rush Limbaugh called it a "bailout." The Republican Study Committee, with its 114 members in the House, called it a "shakedown."
In his opening statement, Barton, the top Republican on the committee overseeing the oil spill and its aftermath, delivered a personal apology to the oil giant. He said the $20 billion fund that President Obama directed BP to establish to provide relief to the victims of the oil disaster was a "tragedy in the first proportion."
Other Republicans are echoing his call. Sen. John Cornyn said he "shares" Barton's concern. Rep. Michele Bachmann said that BP shouldn't agree to be "fleeced." Rush Limbaugh called it a "bailout." The Republican Study Committee, with its 114 members in the House, called it a "shakedown."
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
Orange stirrings
This morning I awoke at 4:00 a.m. in anticipation of my upcoming flight for my trip to Colorado. Too much time has passed since I was last in Colorado visiting Carmon and Don. It is of no surprise when I later learned that accounting for our time zone difference Carmon also awoke at 3:00. My dreams and mind started stirring at 3:00. Based on many years experience with Carmon I am certain Carmon and I share many unexplainable connections, in this case stirrings are collective rather than solitary. I struggled to stay in bed longer. Finally at 3:40 I succumbed to the stirrings and started to dress for the trip to the airport and ensuing flight to Denver, Co. Graciously Brian arose early to drive me to the airport. As we drove past the signs signaling our route to Terminal One I observed the sign indicating our nation’s current threat level. It displayed ORANGE. I rhetorically thought out loud the following questions, “Threat Level Orange, how can it be orange, isn’t it always orange?” Given that the last week or so I have been exploring my own anticipatory anxiousness over my upcoming trip I realize orange in this case is not what I think. It is an imposed perception or sense of fear to elicit cooperation for social perception and consciousness. Or perhaps I am wrong, I might even say my fear is elevated higher than orange, whatever color that may be. It is elevated because I fear the Gulf is in the throws of dying. The Gulf spill accident will be our nation’s Chernobyl. Once in one of many routine car conversations I had with Michael. We were debating some important topical issue and each of us were convinced the other was completely wrong. Truth is we both were always completely wrong. In frustration, Michael posed, “Exactly what color is the sky in your world?” Anticipating his strategy I refused to state a color which would land me squarely a casualty of his strategical question. Smirking broadly I replied, “Well the color of the sky in my world of course is called PERFECT.” Michael and I both instantly broke out in hysterical laughter. Once we caught our breathe Michael replied, “Very well played.” To which I smiled widely and said, “Thanks, I am quite pleased with myself.” Too which there was more laughter. Now returning to our car ride to the airport.
Brian asked, “What does orange even mean?” I have no idea. Orange is a color I love and has been a trend in my art for quite some time now. My orange is not the same as other individuals. My formula for mixing orange is my own secret process. It is part of my pallet of creative expression. Orange in my world is perfect, not an imposed state of fear.
I admit this is an old topic and not one I have pondered for some time. However I can all too clearly recall a day at work where I was convinced I would need to stop at the hardware store to buy plastic, tape, and batteries. Next I would need to stop by the grocery store to pick up a week’s worth of canned foods. Once arriving at home Michael and I would encase ourselves in the basement sealing ourselves off from the outside world with plastic, tape and fear. The source of this rational course of action? The threat of an immanent dirty bomb on our nation. Obviously this was before Michael’s passing.
Forward back to the present. I am sitting in Carmon and Don’s living room. I feel like writing. I snapped a picture on my phone and posted to my facebook page. I wrote as the text, I AM HOME. I am. The thought which spurred this urge to write was the realization HOME is a place and it also is a relationship. I AM HOME.
In August 2007, I made the remainder of Michael’s ashes into cast paper buddha blessings. Today I opened the notes I wrote during the drive out to Colorado that year.
Colorado travel notes from August 9 through August 19, 2007:
All roads lead home
Where is home?
Is home within me? It has to be within me.
Today while sitting in Carmon’s studio catching up on long overdue conversations and topics I observe the silk screen frames stored under Carmon’s studio table. I read names printed on the edge of each frame. I spot my name, doug, block lettered on the frame most likely a design or image Carmon and I collaborated on for the floor canvas and upholstered chairs I have. The conversation we are having and the conversations we will have this week are held in queue since 2007 waiting for me to arrive home.
Orange is the color of stirrings early in the morning calling me home, stirrings that I realize are collective and solitary. Carmon shares his poem and I experience home as relationship. I am deeply grateful for all my homes.
doug
Monday June 14, 2010
Carmon’s Poem follows:
In Some Ways However Small and Secret
In some ways, however small and secret
Each of us is a little bit mad.
Everyone is lonely at bottom
And cries to be understood.
But we can never entirely understand someone else.
And each of us remains part stranger.
Even to those who love us.
It is the weak who are cruel,
Gentleness can only be expected from the strong.
Those who do not know fear
Are not really brave,
For courage is the capacity to confront what can be imagined.
And you can understand people better if you look at them
No matter how old, or impressive they are
As if they were children.
For most of us never really mature,
We simply grow taller.
And happiness comes only when we push our hearts and brains
To the furtherest reaches of which we are capable.
For the purpose of life is to matter.
To count,
To stand for something,
To have it make a difference that you lived,
At all.
Author, Leo Ralston
Brian asked, “What does orange even mean?” I have no idea. Orange is a color I love and has been a trend in my art for quite some time now. My orange is not the same as other individuals. My formula for mixing orange is my own secret process. It is part of my pallet of creative expression. Orange in my world is perfect, not an imposed state of fear.
I admit this is an old topic and not one I have pondered for some time. However I can all too clearly recall a day at work where I was convinced I would need to stop at the hardware store to buy plastic, tape, and batteries. Next I would need to stop by the grocery store to pick up a week’s worth of canned foods. Once arriving at home Michael and I would encase ourselves in the basement sealing ourselves off from the outside world with plastic, tape and fear. The source of this rational course of action? The threat of an immanent dirty bomb on our nation. Obviously this was before Michael’s passing.
Forward back to the present. I am sitting in Carmon and Don’s living room. I feel like writing. I snapped a picture on my phone and posted to my facebook page. I wrote as the text, I AM HOME. I am. The thought which spurred this urge to write was the realization HOME is a place and it also is a relationship. I AM HOME.
In August 2007, I made the remainder of Michael’s ashes into cast paper buddha blessings. Today I opened the notes I wrote during the drive out to Colorado that year.
Colorado travel notes from August 9 through August 19, 2007:
All roads lead home
Where is home?
Is home within me? It has to be within me.
Today while sitting in Carmon’s studio catching up on long overdue conversations and topics I observe the silk screen frames stored under Carmon’s studio table. I read names printed on the edge of each frame. I spot my name, doug, block lettered on the frame most likely a design or image Carmon and I collaborated on for the floor canvas and upholstered chairs I have. The conversation we are having and the conversations we will have this week are held in queue since 2007 waiting for me to arrive home.
Orange is the color of stirrings early in the morning calling me home, stirrings that I realize are collective and solitary. Carmon shares his poem and I experience home as relationship. I am deeply grateful for all my homes.
doug
Monday June 14, 2010
Carmon’s Poem follows:
In Some Ways However Small and Secret
In some ways, however small and secret
Each of us is a little bit mad.
Everyone is lonely at bottom
And cries to be understood.
But we can never entirely understand someone else.
And each of us remains part stranger.
Even to those who love us.
It is the weak who are cruel,
Gentleness can only be expected from the strong.
Those who do not know fear
Are not really brave,
For courage is the capacity to confront what can be imagined.
And you can understand people better if you look at them
No matter how old, or impressive they are
As if they were children.
For most of us never really mature,
We simply grow taller.
And happiness comes only when we push our hearts and brains
To the furtherest reaches of which we are capable.
For the purpose of life is to matter.
To count,
To stand for something,
To have it make a difference that you lived,
At all.
Author, Leo Ralston
Dear Catherine, this poem has been on my mind
Pack nothing.
Bring only your determination to serve and your willingness to be free.
Don’t wait for the bread to rise.
Take nourishment for the journey, but eat standing.
Be ready to move at a moment’s notice.
Do not hesitate to leave your old ways behind – fear, silence, submission.
Only surrender to the need of the time – love justice and walk humbly with your God.
Do not take time to explain to the neighbours.
Tell only a few trusted friends and family members.
Then begin quickly, before you have had time
to sink back into old slavery.
Set out in the dark.
I will send fire to warm and encourage you.
I will be with you in the fire, and I will be with you in the cloud.
You will learn to eat new food
and find refuge in new places.
I will give you dreams in the desert
to guide you safely to that place you have not yet seen.
The stories you tell one another around the fires in the dark
will make you strong and wise.
Outsiders will attack you, and some follow you
and at times you will get weary and turn on each other from fear, fatigue and blind forgetfulness.
You have been preparing for this
for hundreds of years.
I am sending you into the wilderness to make a new way
and to learn my ways more deeply.
Some of you will be so changed by weathers and wanderings
that even your closest friends will have to learn your features
as though for the first time.
Some of you will not change at all.
Some will be abandoned by your dearest loves
and misunderstood by those who have known you since birth
who feel abandoned by you.
Some will find new friendships in unlikely faces,
and old true friends as faithful and true
as the pillar of God’s flame.
Sing songs as you go,
and hold close together.
You may at times grow confused
and lose your way.
Continue to call each other by the names I’ve given you
to help remember who you are.
Touch each other,
and keep telling the stories.
Make maps as you go,
remembering the way back from before you were born.
So you will be only the first of many waves of deliverance on the desert seas.
It is the first of many beginnings – your Paschaltide.
Remain true to the mystery.
Pass on the whole story.
Do not go back.
I am with you now and I am waiting for you.
Alla Bozarth-Campbell
Bring only your determination to serve and your willingness to be free.
Don’t wait for the bread to rise.
Take nourishment for the journey, but eat standing.
Be ready to move at a moment’s notice.
Do not hesitate to leave your old ways behind – fear, silence, submission.
Only surrender to the need of the time – love justice and walk humbly with your God.
Do not take time to explain to the neighbours.
Tell only a few trusted friends and family members.
Then begin quickly, before you have had time
to sink back into old slavery.
Set out in the dark.
I will send fire to warm and encourage you.
I will be with you in the fire, and I will be with you in the cloud.
You will learn to eat new food
and find refuge in new places.
I will give you dreams in the desert
to guide you safely to that place you have not yet seen.
The stories you tell one another around the fires in the dark
will make you strong and wise.
Outsiders will attack you, and some follow you
and at times you will get weary and turn on each other from fear, fatigue and blind forgetfulness.
You have been preparing for this
for hundreds of years.
I am sending you into the wilderness to make a new way
and to learn my ways more deeply.
Some of you will be so changed by weathers and wanderings
that even your closest friends will have to learn your features
as though for the first time.
Some of you will not change at all.
Some will be abandoned by your dearest loves
and misunderstood by those who have known you since birth
who feel abandoned by you.
Some will find new friendships in unlikely faces,
and old true friends as faithful and true
as the pillar of God’s flame.
Sing songs as you go,
and hold close together.
You may at times grow confused
and lose your way.
Continue to call each other by the names I’ve given you
to help remember who you are.
Touch each other,
and keep telling the stories.
Make maps as you go,
remembering the way back from before you were born.
So you will be only the first of many waves of deliverance on the desert seas.
It is the first of many beginnings – your Paschaltide.
Remain true to the mystery.
Pass on the whole story.
Do not go back.
I am with you now and I am waiting for you.
Alla Bozarth-Campbell
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Conversations this morning
This thought from the U.C.C. campaign occurred to me today while talking to Brian and Jan. Don't put a period where God places a comma.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Post food apocalypse converstaions
I am now struggling to re-learn which foods are most safe for me to eat. No nothing is wrong with me health wise like food allergies or celiac disease. I watched the Movie Food Inc. and now want to read the book. As a result of this film I decided to devote a substantial focus to this topic here in my blog. On facebook I started the conversation with some friends. What I am learning is shocking and upsetting. But then hey why not, education and being well informed are good things. My friend Marla Hanover has posted the following information. I will research this subject and report back here.
-Marla
The item I was telling you about, I didn't have the article in front of me, here is what it says "Manufacturers are protected by the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act, which allows them to keep vital information secret, even if the chemical in question is hazardous to your health."
The act was originally designed to protect trade secrets, but with so many chemicals being used in everything from household cleaners and furniture to baby bottles and the lining of some canned foods, the odds of you being exposed to toxicity in your own home are exponentially high.
There are some 84,000 commercial chemicals in use in the U.S. ... See Morealone, but according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 20% are actually kept secret.
I had my number wrong yesterday I said 112, actually 116 toxic chemicals are in the bodies of people of all ages, and some of those chemicals have been banned for more than two decades. So the question is what are we really feeding our bodies?
"We've only been able to regulate a handful of chemicals and we know very little about the rest." Lisa Jackson, EPA administrator...nice! -Marla
Here are links to the movies; Food Inc.
Movie Food Inc.
And a link to Fresh
Fresh the Movie
-Marla
The item I was telling you about, I didn't have the article in front of me, here is what it says "Manufacturers are protected by the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act, which allows them to keep vital information secret, even if the chemical in question is hazardous to your health."
The act was originally designed to protect trade secrets, but with so many chemicals being used in everything from household cleaners and furniture to baby bottles and the lining of some canned foods, the odds of you being exposed to toxicity in your own home are exponentially high.
There are some 84,000 commercial chemicals in use in the U.S. ... See Morealone, but according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 20% are actually kept secret.
I had my number wrong yesterday I said 112, actually 116 toxic chemicals are in the bodies of people of all ages, and some of those chemicals have been banned for more than two decades. So the question is what are we really feeding our bodies?
"We've only been able to regulate a handful of chemicals and we know very little about the rest." Lisa Jackson, EPA administrator...nice! -Marla
Here are links to the movies; Food Inc.
Movie Food Inc.
And a link to Fresh
Fresh the Movie
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Monday, June 7, 2010
Sigh of relief
The soy milk I have been buying by the case does Not use G.M.O.
Soybeans! Yeah Kirkland brands.
Soybeans! Yeah Kirkland brands.
Sent from my iPod
Friday, June 4, 2010
Rachel Maddow: Maddow talks with Obama Spill Commission co-chairs
Rachel Maddow: Maddow talks with Obama Spill Commission co-chairs
I really appreciated the coverage and commentary from the Rachel Maddow show. I would like to see the follow up tonight.
I really appreciated the coverage and commentary from the Rachel Maddow show. I would like to see the follow up tonight.
Creative Capital
Creative Capital
Web site referenced suggested by Kimber Olson, she mentioned this site. Springboard for the Arts.
Web site referenced suggested by Kimber Olson, she mentioned this site. Springboard for the Arts.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Georges Rouault; The Crucifixion
View Larger
I was discussing this painting earlier today. So I thought I would look it up again at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
I was discussing this painting earlier today. So I thought I would look it up again at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Ephphatha Poetry: "Imagine if the Tea Party Was Black" - Tim Wise
Ephphatha Poetry: "Imagine if the Tea Party Was Black" - Tim Wise
This is the link to the blog post "Imagine if the Tea Party was Black"
Imagine that hundreds of black protesters were to descend upon Washington DC and Northern Virginia, just a few miles from the Capitol and White House, armed with AK-47s, assorted handguns, and ammunition. And imagine that some of these protesters —the black protesters — spoke of the need for political revolution, and possibly even armed conflict in the event that laws they didn’t like were enforced by the government? Would these protester — these black protesters with guns — be seen as brave defenders of the Second Amendment, or would they be viewed by most whites as a danger to the republic? What if they were Arab-Americans? Because, after all, that’s what happened recently when white gun enthusiasts descended upon the nation’s capital, arms in hand, and verbally announced their readiness to make war on the country’s political leaders if the need arose.
Imagine that white members of Congress, while walking to work, were surrounded by thousands of angry black people, one of whom proceeded to spit on one of those congressmen for not voting the way the black demonstrators desired. Would the protesters be seen as merely patriotic Americans voicing their opinions, or as an angry, potentially violent, and even insurrectionary mob? After all, this is what white Tea Party protesters did recently in Washington.
This is the link to the blog post "Imagine if the Tea Party was Black"
Imagine that hundreds of black protesters were to descend upon Washington DC and Northern Virginia, just a few miles from the Capitol and White House, armed with AK-47s, assorted handguns, and ammunition. And imagine that some of these protesters —the black protesters — spoke of the need for political revolution, and possibly even armed conflict in the event that laws they didn’t like were enforced by the government? Would these protester — these black protesters with guns — be seen as brave defenders of the Second Amendment, or would they be viewed by most whites as a danger to the republic? What if they were Arab-Americans? Because, after all, that’s what happened recently when white gun enthusiasts descended upon the nation’s capital, arms in hand, and verbally announced their readiness to make war on the country’s political leaders if the need arose.
Imagine that white members of Congress, while walking to work, were surrounded by thousands of angry black people, one of whom proceeded to spit on one of those congressmen for not voting the way the black demonstrators desired. Would the protesters be seen as merely patriotic Americans voicing their opinions, or as an angry, potentially violent, and even insurrectionary mob? After all, this is what white Tea Party protesters did recently in Washington.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Craig Wright, lecture on worship
Temporary relief from the sensation of being.
When leaving worship we should feel the pressures and constraints from being so intensely we should run towards doing the right thing or relieving the discomfort of others...
Heidegger philosopher
His thinking has contributed to such diverse fields as phenomenology (Merleau-Ponty), existentialism (Sartre, Ortega y Gasset), hermeneutics (Gadamer, Ricoeur), political theory (Arendt, Marcuse, Habermas), psychology (Boss, Binswanger, Rollo May), and theology (Bultmann, Rahner, Tillich).
The lecture from Craig Wright is on the UTS web site.
http://www.unitedseminary.edu/SC10.asp
When leaving worship we should feel the pressures and constraints from being so intensely we should run towards doing the right thing or relieving the discomfort of others...
Heidegger philosopher
His thinking has contributed to such diverse fields as phenomenology (Merleau-Ponty), existentialism (Sartre, Ortega y Gasset), hermeneutics (Gadamer, Ricoeur), political theory (Arendt, Marcuse, Habermas), psychology (Boss, Binswanger, Rollo May), and theology (Bultmann, Rahner, Tillich).
The lecture from Craig Wright is on the UTS web site.
http://www.unitedseminary.edu/SC10.asp
Thursday, May 6, 2010
World Canvas Chapel Service Thursday, May 6th
I wrote my prayer on the canvas and then painted on top of the prayer. As Chuck Hoffman explained, the prayer becomes a lament and the paint color turns the lament into praise. Some of you may detect a signature symbol in the prayer I painted.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
NYC bomb attempt
Is it just me or does anyone think there is a risk in revealing the nature and components of the bomb, providing commentary on why it didn't work which in effect gives terrorists information they need to make the bomb work. I sort of see this as a field test to determine how certain materials can get past bomb detection technology used in Times Square. http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/05/05/times.square.investigation/index.html?hpt=T1
Douglas Abbott has shared: There Will Be Blood | Mother Jones
| Relaxed enforcement of regulations and safety measures by a government oversight agency, tying back to the "W" era. | |
| There Will Be Blood | Mother Jones Source: motherjones.com | |
| Douglas Abbott sent this using ShareThis. | |
Douglas Abbott has shared: The 7 Stupidest Statements Made About the BP Gulf Oil Spill : TreeHugger
| The ignorance of these statements is staggering. | |
| The 7 Stupidest Statements Made About the BP Gulf Oil Spill : TreeHugger Source: treehugger.com | |
| Douglas Abbott sent this using ShareThis. | |
New link posted under my links section
I added a link to the web site for the Journal of Religion and Film.
Douglas Abbott has shared: Columbia College Chicago : Sweet Tea
| This would have been awesome to attend! | |
| Columbia College Chicago : Sweet Tea Source: colum.edu | |
| Douglas Abbott sent this using ShareThis. | |
Monday, May 3, 2010
Films I have viewed so far
So far for my film class I have viewed 26 films, NOTE: not all of these were required. So far I have viewed 26 films, so averaging 95 mins per film I have spent so far 41 hours viewing films. This doesn't included the fact that many of the films I viewed at least 2-4 times. This by far has been an awesome class!
The Soloist
Skins
Daughters of the Dust
Black Money
City of Borders
Jihad for Love
Watermelon Woman
Brother to Brother
Tupac Shakur: Life of an Outlaw
Malcolm X
Hustle and Flow
Black is Black Ain’t
Milk
The Times of Harvey Milk
Broke Back Mountain
Tongues Untied
Paris is Burning
Trans America
Southern Comfort
The Hunger
Fire
Birth of a Nation
Baad Assss Cinema
A Darker Side of Black
Looking for Langston
Frantz Fanon; Black Skin, White Mask
Slumdog Millionaire
The Soloist
Skins
Daughters of the Dust
Black Money
City of Borders
Jihad for Love
Watermelon Woman
Brother to Brother
Tupac Shakur: Life of an Outlaw
Malcolm X
Hustle and Flow
Black is Black Ain’t
Milk
The Times of Harvey Milk
Broke Back Mountain
Tongues Untied
Paris is Burning
Trans America
Southern Comfort
The Hunger
Fire
Birth of a Nation
Baad Assss Cinema
A Darker Side of Black
Looking for Langston
Frantz Fanon; Black Skin, White Mask
Slumdog Millionaire
Monday, April 26, 2010
Douglas Abbott has shared: The Battle For Whiteclay
| A Documentary, the Battle for Whiteclay. | |
| The Battle For Whiteclay Source: battleforwhiteclay.org | |
| Douglas Abbott sent this using ShareThis. | |
Douglas Abbott has shared: A People's History of the United States
| A People's History of the United States, by Howard Zinn. | |
| A People's History of the United States Source: historyisaweapon.com | |
| Douglas Abbott sent this using ShareThis. | |
Wasichu
Wasi'chu is also a human condition based on inhumanity, racism, and exploitation. It is a sickness, a seemingly incurable and contagious disease which begot the ever advancing society of the West. If we do not control it, this disease will surely be the basis for what may be the last of the continuing wars against the Native American people.
SOURCE:Excerpt from Wasi'chu, The Continuing Indian Wars,
Bruce Johansen and Robert Maestas
with an introduction by John Redhouse
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Rain, beauty and work
I like the rain and am thankful for the rain. The downside is the rain brings everybody to IKEA, in all their impatient and demanding glory. Can you imagine a lovely tulip budding open and then stating,"HEY YOU, why aren't you looking at ME, I have been waiting here for 3 minutes and still NO ONE has looked at me and told me how beautifully awesome I AM. NOW where is my fertilizer, you know I need fertilizer if you want me to bloom next year." So maybe beauty is a weed I realize I don't need to pull. Just saying.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Tao verse 27
Verse 43
A good traveller has no fixed plans
and is not intent upon arriving.
A good artist lets his intuition
lead him wherever it wants.
A good scientist has freed herself of concepts
and keeps her mind open to what is.
Thus the Master is available to all people
and doesn’t reject anyone.
The great infinite is ready to use all situations
and doesn’t waster anything.
This is called embodying the light.
What is a good man but a bad man’s teacher?
What is a bad man but a good man’s job?
If you don’t understand this, you will get lost,
however intelligent you are.
It is the great secret!
A good traveller has no fixed plans
and is not intent upon arriving.
A good artist lets his intuition
lead him wherever it wants.
A good scientist has freed herself of concepts
and keeps her mind open to what is.
Thus the Master is available to all people
and doesn’t reject anyone.
The great infinite is ready to use all situations
and doesn’t waster anything.
This is called embodying the light.
What is a good man but a bad man’s teacher?
What is a bad man but a good man’s job?
If you don’t understand this, you will get lost,
however intelligent you are.
It is the great secret!
Douglas Abbott has shared: Facebook | Graduation Commencement EVENT
| Graduation Event; Sunday May 23, 2010 3:00 PM Plymouth Congregational Church 1900 Nicollet Avenue, Minneapolis, MN I think commencement will finish around 5:15 There will be a reception BASH at Brian's 6:00 to 9:30 PM | |
| Facebook | Graduation Commencement EVENT Source: facebook.com | |
| Douglas Abbott sent this using ShareThis. | |
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Absurd and logical conclusion - "Birdcage" style
I posted the paragraph below this one on my facebook status earlier today.
So, Larry King is getting his 8th divorce, and Elizabeth Taylor is possibly getting married for a 9th time. Jesse James and Tiger Woods are, well... you know... Even Newt Gingrich is on his 3rd marriage. Let's not forget about King Henry VIII. Yet the idea of same-sex marriage is what is going to ...destroy the institution of marriage? REALLY?!? Feel free to copy and paste if you agree
In the movie Birdcage, Val apologizes for his mother's obvious, but absurd logical conclusion (referencing the line, let the captain go down with the ship). This is MEANT TO BE very tongue in cheek. I am intentionally being SARCASTIC.
We all know what happens to discarded and blighted neighborhoods once artists and queers move in, the neighborhood is reborn, becoming vital and then the VALUE of property GOES UP. So applying this to the deterioration of marriage values the logical conclusion is to give marriage to us (LGBT), we will work to instill and model dignity, value, and respect. We can create new ways to elevate honor in those relationships. Then once the nation sees that it can be honored differently, possibly others may realize we can ALL honor marriage equally.
So, Larry King is getting his 8th divorce, and Elizabeth Taylor is possibly getting married for a 9th time. Jesse James and Tiger Woods are, well... you know... Even Newt Gingrich is on his 3rd marriage. Let's not forget about King Henry VIII. Yet the idea of same-sex marriage is what is going to ...destroy the institution of marriage? REALLY?!? Feel free to copy and paste if you agree
In the movie Birdcage, Val apologizes for his mother's obvious, but absurd logical conclusion (referencing the line, let the captain go down with the ship). This is MEANT TO BE very tongue in cheek. I am intentionally being SARCASTIC.
We all know what happens to discarded and blighted neighborhoods once artists and queers move in, the neighborhood is reborn, becoming vital and then the VALUE of property GOES UP. So applying this to the deterioration of marriage values the logical conclusion is to give marriage to us (LGBT), we will work to instill and model dignity, value, and respect. We can create new ways to elevate honor in those relationships. Then once the nation sees that it can be honored differently, possibly others may realize we can ALL honor marriage equally.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Douglas Abbott has shared: Daughters of the Dust
| Daughters of the Dust film guide | |
| Daughters of the Dust Source: dickinsg.intrasun.tcnj.edu | |
| Douglas Abbott sent this using ShareThis. | |
Saul Williams
"Whatever you are looking for in life is also looking for you."
Saul Williams, lollapalooza festival, Chicago 2008.
Saul Williams, lollapalooza festival, Chicago 2008.
Independent Study in course Film as Theological Text
FINAL PROJECT! Independent study Film as Theological Text; Race, Class, Gender, Sexualities
I am studying the impact privilege and whiteness has on decisions around "outness" and worship community for African American men who are also queer. I believe it is a foundational aspect of misunderstanding as well as judgment. The problem is the more I dig into this topic I only discover how little I know. The strongest thing I have so far is a working thesis or premise. So I am trying to articulate it here so I can hopefully refine it and come up with a strategy for completing my final project.
I posit that outness in the LGBT community has primarily been created and shaped by white dominant culture, partly due to the fact white queer men (WQM) as a target group retain more social power and privilege. Also, due to the white male hegemony queer white males are/were more likely to have the resources financially, economically, and socially in order to come out in-you-face-style and thereby risking connections to family, friends, and community. This is partly based on the U.S. concept of rugged individualism of white male culture. The subtle but critical aspect for this difference is the concept of self based on "I think, therefore I am" opposed to that statement "I am because We are."
I am studying the impact privilege and whiteness has on decisions around "outness" and worship community for African American men who are also queer. I believe it is a foundational aspect of misunderstanding as well as judgment. The problem is the more I dig into this topic I only discover how little I know. The strongest thing I have so far is a working thesis or premise. So I am trying to articulate it here so I can hopefully refine it and come up with a strategy for completing my final project.
I posit that outness in the LGBT community has primarily been created and shaped by white dominant culture, partly due to the fact white queer men (WQM) as a target group retain more social power and privilege. Also, due to the white male hegemony queer white males are/were more likely to have the resources financially, economically, and socially in order to come out in-you-face-style and thereby risking connections to family, friends, and community. This is partly based on the U.S. concept of rugged individualism of white male culture. The subtle but critical aspect for this difference is the concept of self based on "I think, therefore I am" opposed to that statement "I am because We are."
M.A.T.A. luncheon and discussion
Today was a great day. The panel of MATA artists (including myself) presented our artwork and had an open discussion regarding our work. Kimber Olson, Bundy Trinz, Amanda Hunter in absentia, and myself. It was an excellent discussion of art, spirituality, theology and religion. Congratulations to a job well done to my class mates and Cindi Beth Johnson.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Monday night at the Facing Race Ambassador Awards
8:13 pm live, The keynote speaker is Desmond Tutu's daughter!!!! "We have these conversations [on the topic of race] because we know we are made for togetherness and freedom" / Nontombi Naomi Tutu LIVE-Amazing!!!!! Amazing!!!!!
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Definitions
Dict. of Feminist Theologies.
In situations of oppression freedom is not a choice; nor is self-reliance. Frugality is enforced and sffering is present, but not chosen. Therefore, womanist ethics explores black ethical values, obligations, and duties from the conscious perspective of marginalization. p 91
The historical, social, and cultural situation of the past fifty years has pressed theology to undergo several large-scale or paradigm changes. In other words, the ways in which it arrives at metaphysical, logical, and existential judgments, about truth have changed. Theology articulates its new self-understandings practically and theoretically in several forms including, but not exhausting, the liberal, neo-orthodox, transcendental, process, metaphorical, political, liberation, contextual, and queer. p 284
In situations of oppression freedom is not a choice; nor is self-reliance. Frugality is enforced and sffering is present, but not chosen. Therefore, womanist ethics explores black ethical values, obligations, and duties from the conscious perspective of marginalization. p 91
The historical, social, and cultural situation of the past fifty years has pressed theology to undergo several large-scale or paradigm changes. In other words, the ways in which it arrives at metaphysical, logical, and existential judgments, about truth have changed. Theology articulates its new self-understandings practically and theoretically in several forms including, but not exhausting, the liberal, neo-orthodox, transcendental, process, metaphorical, political, liberation, contextual, and queer. p 284
Friday, April 16, 2010
Douglas Abbott has shared: Night Catches Us
| wed, the 24th | |
| Night Catches Us Source: mspfilmfest.org | |
| Douglas Abbott sent this using ShareThis. | |
A Jihad for Love
This film! WOW. I need to watch it several more times. There are powerful messages in this film. Last night I also viewed A City of Borders. In that film, a documentary filmed in Jerusalem, the gay community there faced enormous conflict and physical violence. One of the more disturbing aspects of the film is that the gay community in Jerusalem experienced the Christian, Orthodox-Jewish, and Muslim citizens unite in HATING them for being gay. Isn't that compelling? Divergent views can unite in HATE but uniting for peace still remains elusive. In both films it is the interpretation of the book of Lot which is the foundation for religious intolerance of homosexuality. In the case of the film A Jihad for Love, when scripture isn't sufficiently condemning the writings of scholars are used to reinforce intolerance and violence.
I would make these two movies must sees. Even if one's views of homosexuality are different from those advanced in the film, it is powerful to view these films simply through the lens of tolerance and peace. If all the cultures in the world could figure out peace within their community it seems it would be more likely we could find peace globally. In using the term peace I am using a very broad definition, as in the presence of Justice over the simple absence of conflict.
Click>> A Jihad for Love
I would make these two movies must sees. Even if one's views of homosexuality are different from those advanced in the film, it is powerful to view these films simply through the lens of tolerance and peace. If all the cultures in the world could figure out peace within their community it seems it would be more likely we could find peace globally. In using the term peace I am using a very broad definition, as in the presence of Justice over the simple absence of conflict.
Click>> A Jihad for Love
Douglas Abbott has shared: Eyes Wide Open
| I want to view this film! | |
| Eyes Wide Open Source: mspfilmfest.org | |
| Douglas Abbott sent this using ShareThis. | |
Douglas Abbott has shared: No More Smoke Signals
| No More Smoke Signals, looks like a good movie to view before my class views Smoke Signals. | |
| No More Smoke Signals Source: mspfilmfest.org | |
| Douglas Abbott sent this using ShareThis. | |
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Douglas Abbott has shared: http://mspfilmfest.org/MMX/content/sun-behind-clouds-tibets-struggle-freedom
| Tibet film | |
| http://mspfilmfest.org/MMX/content/sun-behind-clouds-tibets-struggle-freedom Source: mspfilmfest.org | |
| Douglas Abbott sent this using ShareThis. | |
Douglas Abbott has shared: Gay-rights backers reach out to Bleckley senior - Local & State - Macon.com
| This story caught my attention. This kid was kicked out of the house, he wants to take his boyfriend to prom. | |
| Gay-rights backers reach out to Bleckley senior - Local & State - Macon.com Source: macon.com | |
| Douglas Abbott sent this using ShareThis. | |
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Douglas Abbott has shared: http://www.cheryldunye.com/
| I just watched Watermelon Woman by Cheryl Dunye. Awesome! | |
| http://www.cheryldunye.com/ Source: cheryldunye.com | |
| Douglas Abbott sent this using ShareThis. | |
Douglas Abbott has shared: Call for a Barometer of Life | Mother Jones
| This is an amazing quote from this article. "We currently know of less than 2 million of an estimated 10 to 20 million species on Earth. Of these, only 48,000 have been scientifically assessed." | |
| Call for a Barometer of Life | Mother Jones Source: motherjones.com | |
| Douglas Abbott sent this using ShareThis. | |
Douglas Abbott has shared: Behind the Financial Reform Push, Worries of Warring Regulators - ProPublica
| Obstacles to reform, no surprise. | |
| Behind the Financial Reform Push, Worries of Warring Regulators - ProPublica Source: propublica.org | |
| Douglas Abbott sent this using ShareThis. | |
Douglas Abbott has shared: Eye on the Loan Modifications - ProPublica
| Seeking understanding hoping it will lead to something better. | |
| Eye on the Loan Modifications - ProPublica Source: propublica.org | |
| Douglas Abbott sent this using ShareThis. | |
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
This is awesome!
The broadway song!!! Magnetar should win a Tony!
Bet Against the American Dream from Alexander Hotz on Vimeo.
Bet Against the American Dream from Alexander Hotz on Vimeo.
Magnetar!
Magnetar, 1/3 to 1/2 of the C.D.O.s sponsored by Magnetar. Smart really smart, buying the riskiest layers (traunch) of the C.D.O.
Credit Default Swap, if the C.D.O. fails the swap pays out. So by generating the risk Magnetar stood to make exponential returns on the risky value of the C.D.O in the first place. Amazing!
Credit Default Swap, if the C.D.O. fails the swap pays out. So by generating the risk Magnetar stood to make exponential returns on the risky value of the C.D.O in the first place. Amazing!
Collateralized Debt Obligations = C.D.O.
No one saw it coming. Yes if we all say this enough times eventually every one will believe it.
This American Life, Inside Job.
This American Life, Inside Job.
Douglas Abbott has shared: Home | This American Life
| Bet Against the American Dream, the musical? | |
| Home | This American Life Source: thisamericanlife.org | |
| Douglas Abbott sent this using ShareThis. | |
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Verse 9
Verse 9
Fill your bowl to the brim
and it will spill.
Keep sharpening the knife and it will be blunt.
Chase after money and security
and your heart will never unclench.
Care about people’s approval
and you will be their prisoner.
Do your work, then step back.
The only path to serenity.4
Fill your bowl to the brim
and it will spill.
Keep sharpening the knife and it will be blunt.
Chase after money and security
and your heart will never unclench.
Care about people’s approval
and you will be their prisoner.
Do your work, then step back.
The only path to serenity.4
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
More Saul Williams
*CAUTION* strong/offensive language.
Looking past the language though, this piece speaks a great deal on social issues.
Looking past the language though, this piece speaks a great deal on social issues.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Earth 'Entering New Age of Geological Time' | CommonDreams.org
The new epoch, called the Anthropocene - meaning new man - would be the first period of geological time shaped by the action of a single species.
Earth 'Entering New Age of Geological Time' | CommonDreams.org
Posted using ShareThis
Earth 'Entering New Age of Geological Time' | CommonDreams.org
Posted using ShareThis
Dominion of Global Capitalism
JPMorgan Chase steeled itself early for the collapse of the subprime market and emerged from the rubble of the global financial meltdown with both its balance sheet and reputation intact. But the storied firm stands alone among its Wall Street rivals in another area, too. JPMorgan backstops one of the most destructive mining practices in the world: mountaintop removal coal mining.
"Chase is the single largest remaining player in this game," says Scott Edwards, advocacy director for the Waterkeeper Alliance, an environmental advocacy group comprised of lawyers, scientists, and activists, among others. "They just absolutely refuse to take responsibility for their role in this absolutely devastating industry."
Mountaintop removal (MTR) mining, focused in Appalachian states like West Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky, involves deforesting huge swaths of land and blasting the summits off of mountains to expose the black veins of coal underneath. The waste and rubble from the demolition is then dumped into nearby rivers and streams, burying local water sources in toxic byproducts, choking off tributaries that feed into larger rivers, and wiping out plants and wildlife, according to numerous scientific studies.
Read the full article
"Chase is the single largest remaining player in this game," says Scott Edwards, advocacy director for the Waterkeeper Alliance, an environmental advocacy group comprised of lawyers, scientists, and activists, among others. "They just absolutely refuse to take responsibility for their role in this absolutely devastating industry."
Mountaintop removal (MTR) mining, focused in Appalachian states like West Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky, involves deforesting huge swaths of land and blasting the summits off of mountains to expose the black veins of coal underneath. The waste and rubble from the demolition is then dumped into nearby rivers and streams, burying local water sources in toxic byproducts, choking off tributaries that feed into larger rivers, and wiping out plants and wildlife, according to numerous scientific studies.
Read the full article
Monday, March 29, 2010
Paris is Burning, Film as Theological Text
Yes this movie could be understood as a documentary that includes a narrative of celebration and empowerment within a queer black community in New York City. It also is a painful and revealing documentary of the convergence of ‘isms’ in U.S. society. These are heterosexism, racism, classism, genderism and ageism. In the background the song “Got to be Real” blasts an existential rhetorical question. What is real? “Your love is my love, my love is your love, our love is here to stay, yeah!” Willie Ninja opens his imaginary make-up compact to apply ‘paint’ to his face. Then he turns the compact towards an audience member indicating some other person is needing some paint. ‘Cuz miss thing you ain’t looking good *snap.* The existential question then turns to me, the viewer. Would I survive if I was painted by the same oppression and limits imposed on people of color? Would I wear the color well, or would I be angry as f***? Would I overcome the dominant message to self-destruct? Everyone in this community is crushed by what is real, what is fact. Summarizing the wisdom of Dorian, everyone knows a black person can’t be an executive. The drag balls become a stage to experience a reality not afforded to everyday lives of those in the film. A young man walks in the category, “Business executive” inside his briefcase a travel magazine reveals the the limits of his world. The contents of the briefcase represent all the opportunities denied to him based first on the color of his skin, then his social class adds another layer of limits, the third and fourth layer of oppression is his assumed gayness and perhaps his trans-gender identity. Now the existential statement, I want to be somebody becomes a theological question, Am I somebody? It depends who is looking into the mirror. I accept Willie’s invitation to look at myself through his worldview. I gaze into the mirror and am jarred by what I observe. I see the reflection of my face and I am covered in “paint” and it is not only caked on it is embedded. It’s not white, it’s an insidious, evil, suffocating color. The real name of this color is white-systemic-privilege. The true nature of this color is white hegemony. It’s a heavy color that crushes the lives of others. I ask myself the next existential question. In which of my life dreams or goals have I had to accept a “drag-expression” as the closest possibility for that particular reality? None. My answer is painful and it really hurts. The answer is none because I live in a system of guaranteed privileges. I reach for the mirror compact hoping I can change the reflection, what is more important I wish I could personally hand it back to Willie and express my sorrow and regret. I wish my real was also his. Now this film becomes about transformation and natural law. Our lives are all linked and everyone is part of our human community. Through the courage of artist’s of color like Willie, as long as I continue to confront the real reflection of my privilege I can have hope for change in the lives of all the Willies of the world. After God created the world as described in Genesis the trajectory for the world to become good can be viewed as a personal commitment to cultivating and nurturing good. It becomes a human virtue and a commitment to breaking down barriers so new liberating possibilities can grow forward, where everyone is somebody.1
Bibliography
Borgman, Erik. "Unfixing Nature." In Homosexualities, edited by Regina Ammicht Quinn Marcella Althaus-Reid, Erik Borgman and Norbert Reck. London: SCM Press, 2008.
1 Erik Borgman, "Unfixing Nature," in Homosexualities, ed. Regina Ammicht Quinn Marcella Althaus-Reid, Erik Borgman and Norbert Reck(London: SCM Press, 2008), 73-83.
Bibliography
Borgman, Erik. "Unfixing Nature." In Homosexualities, edited by Regina Ammicht Quinn Marcella Althaus-Reid, Erik Borgman and Norbert Reck. London: SCM Press, 2008.
1 Erik Borgman, "Unfixing Nature," in Homosexualities, ed. Regina Ammicht Quinn Marcella Althaus-Reid, Erik Borgman and Norbert Reck(London: SCM Press, 2008), 73-83.
Bloody Sunday - Social Justice Remix
This is how I am feeling today. I experience the mood of the music as empowering.
NOT in our NAMES - Another World is possible, We will make it real!
This post is in part response to the films I viewed this week for my class. Film as Theological Text; Race, Class, Gender, and Sexualities.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Have you hugged your artists today?
Give an artist a hug. Most of the time, though most people may not realize it, creating art requires courage.
Consequences of No-we-won't-work Senators
Chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, had his hearing shut down abruptly at 11:00 Wednesday morning, in the middle of a discussion on the effort to end veteran homelessness in the next five years. It is estimated that more than 100,000 veterans are homeless in the United States on any given night.
"The Senate should be a place for debate, but I cannot imagine how shutting down a hearing on helping homeless veterans has any part of the debate on the health insurance reform," said Akaka. "I am deeply disappointed that my colleagues chose to hinder our common work to help end veteran homelessness."
GOP Senators won't work
"The Senate should be a place for debate, but I cannot imagine how shutting down a hearing on helping homeless veterans has any part of the debate on the health insurance reform," said Akaka. "I am deeply disappointed that my colleagues chose to hinder our common work to help end veteran homelessness."
GOP Senators won't work
I am because we are
Ubuntuism shaped philosophy : The first maxim asserts that 'To be human is to affirm one's humanity by recognizing the humanity of others and, on that basis, establish respectful human relations with them.'
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Is Potentiality an Ontologically real.
Is The Adjacent Possible 'Real?' The Open Universe III - 13.7: Cosmos And Culture Blog : NPR
Stuart Kauffman argue below that on classical physics, this Adjacent Possible is epistemologically real. I further argue that on the basis of some interpretations of quantum mechanics, the Adjacent Possible is ontologically real.
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Stuart Kauffman argue below that on classical physics, this Adjacent Possible is epistemologically real. I further argue that on the basis of some interpretations of quantum mechanics, the Adjacent Possible is ontologically real.
Posted using ShareThis
John W. Whitehead: The Right Not To Be Offended: The Supreme Court And Religion
This article reports on a trend to trump freedom of speech based on freedom from being offended.
Posted using ShareThis
Posted using ShareThis
Douglas Abbott has shared: Chris Rodda: Congressman Wants Citizens of ALL Religions To Reflect On The Ten Commandments
| Good morning Carmon. Here's a interesting bill proposal. | |
| Chris Rodda: Congressman Wants Citizens of ALL Religions To Reflect On The Ten Commandments Source: huffingtonpost.com | |
| Douglas Abbott sent this using ShareThis. | |
Douglas Abbott has shared: Home - Conservation International
| Starbucks donates 5 cents to Conservation International every time I use my "green" card. | |
| Home - Conservation International Source: conservation.org | |
| Douglas Abbott sent this using ShareThis. | |
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Health care reform in light of a culture of perfection and the concept of interbeing.
Health care reform in light of a culture of perfection and the concept of interbeing.
Amongst my facebook community I have been sensing a great deal of tension regarding the recent passage of Health Care Reform. It has left me wondering what has happened to social discourse in our culture. Is our 2 party political system the source of dualistic thinking, or is it something more deeply embedded in our development as a nation? I don’t have the answers but the question seems worth exploring.
What I have been hearing is a great number of people are upset that this legislation is not perfect. I’ve been pondering perfection quite a lot lately. So I thought a theological perspective on perfection might help guide my inquiry.
Recently I wrote in my thesis, “I do not expect my work to come out perfect, perfect is a construct of my mind. If I waited until I could make perfect art I would still be waiting. I would wait until life passed. I make art in the fullness of the spirit that whatever I make is going to take shape the way it was intended, that is if I listen and attend to it appropriately.”
While pondering my understanding of the limits of our human nature in regard to perfection I ran across the following editorial in the New York Times.
To the Editor:
As a medical student from 1937 to 1941, I campaigned vigorously for what became the Murray-Wagner-Dingell bill, introduced in Congress in 1943 during Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency. The bill called for the establishment of a national health program.
In spite of strong public support, the bill failed to pass. I was disappointed again when other presidents, including, Truman, Nixon, and Clinton, attempted to have a national health program passed but met with failure.
I have had the good fortune to live beyond my 93rd birthday so that I can witness, finally, the passage of a national health program. I congratulate President Obama and all his colleagues for succeeding in bringing about this historic achievement.
Alfred M. Freedman
NY, March 22, 2010
Psychiatrist and past president of the Psychiatric Association.
New York Times, Tuesday March 23, 2010, P A26.
I know there are many features of the health care legislation that are imperfect. I admit I am a bit distrustful of most political discourse. I also am cynical of either party’s assertions of being guided purely by altruistic motivations. Being a student of change for more years than I care to count I have learned change comes with moments of ease, followed with moments of struggle and difficulty. I have also learned the future always arrives regardless of the ease or difficulty of my struggle. In times of change routine helps, it also helps to be open to new experience and new ideas. I admit I don’t believe the lobby industry in their claims. I think both political parties are wrong for trusting lobby groups. I also know the lobby groups have had the most air time and the loudest messages against this legislation. They have shaped what we know and don't know.
Thich Nhat Hanh uses the term “interbeing” in his book, for a Future to be Possible. It simply means that we are all interconnected in life. We depend on one another. Our well-being, joy, sadness, and even our planet rely on ALL of us. We simply “interare.”
Theologically, perfection is beyond our humanness. Our souls possess a nature placed there by the divine. We need community, dialogue, conversation and yes even struggle in order to arrive at more ideal solutions we face as a nation. However, perfection is an illusion it is a construction of the mind and ego.
If, as a nation, we waited for an ideal solution for a national health care program we would wait countless generations and lifetimes. I don’t expect the changes to be easy. I don’t expect to understand how everything will change. It may require sacrifice. I do know as a member of the human race I am willing to try something new in hope that it will lead to a better future.
We need all of us together in order to bring a more ideal future into existence. Our human history indicates we will likely not get it quite right the first, second, or fifth attempt. It is the process of trying to achieve something better that shapes the outcomes of our attempts for solutions to difficult challenges. All of us as a nation must take a first step together so we can enter into the process of creating a better future.
Amongst my facebook community I have been sensing a great deal of tension regarding the recent passage of Health Care Reform. It has left me wondering what has happened to social discourse in our culture. Is our 2 party political system the source of dualistic thinking, or is it something more deeply embedded in our development as a nation? I don’t have the answers but the question seems worth exploring.
What I have been hearing is a great number of people are upset that this legislation is not perfect. I’ve been pondering perfection quite a lot lately. So I thought a theological perspective on perfection might help guide my inquiry.
Recently I wrote in my thesis, “I do not expect my work to come out perfect, perfect is a construct of my mind. If I waited until I could make perfect art I would still be waiting. I would wait until life passed. I make art in the fullness of the spirit that whatever I make is going to take shape the way it was intended, that is if I listen and attend to it appropriately.”
While pondering my understanding of the limits of our human nature in regard to perfection I ran across the following editorial in the New York Times.
To the Editor:
As a medical student from 1937 to 1941, I campaigned vigorously for what became the Murray-Wagner-Dingell bill, introduced in Congress in 1943 during Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency. The bill called for the establishment of a national health program.
In spite of strong public support, the bill failed to pass. I was disappointed again when other presidents, including, Truman, Nixon, and Clinton, attempted to have a national health program passed but met with failure.
I have had the good fortune to live beyond my 93rd birthday so that I can witness, finally, the passage of a national health program. I congratulate President Obama and all his colleagues for succeeding in bringing about this historic achievement.
Alfred M. Freedman
NY, March 22, 2010
Psychiatrist and past president of the Psychiatric Association.
New York Times, Tuesday March 23, 2010, P A26.
I know there are many features of the health care legislation that are imperfect. I admit I am a bit distrustful of most political discourse. I also am cynical of either party’s assertions of being guided purely by altruistic motivations. Being a student of change for more years than I care to count I have learned change comes with moments of ease, followed with moments of struggle and difficulty. I have also learned the future always arrives regardless of the ease or difficulty of my struggle. In times of change routine helps, it also helps to be open to new experience and new ideas. I admit I don’t believe the lobby industry in their claims. I think both political parties are wrong for trusting lobby groups. I also know the lobby groups have had the most air time and the loudest messages against this legislation. They have shaped what we know and don't know.
Thich Nhat Hanh uses the term “interbeing” in his book, for a Future to be Possible. It simply means that we are all interconnected in life. We depend on one another. Our well-being, joy, sadness, and even our planet rely on ALL of us. We simply “interare.”
Theologically, perfection is beyond our humanness. Our souls possess a nature placed there by the divine. We need community, dialogue, conversation and yes even struggle in order to arrive at more ideal solutions we face as a nation. However, perfection is an illusion it is a construction of the mind and ego.
If, as a nation, we waited for an ideal solution for a national health care program we would wait countless generations and lifetimes. I don’t expect the changes to be easy. I don’t expect to understand how everything will change. It may require sacrifice. I do know as a member of the human race I am willing to try something new in hope that it will lead to a better future.
We need all of us together in order to bring a more ideal future into existence. Our human history indicates we will likely not get it quite right the first, second, or fifth attempt. It is the process of trying to achieve something better that shapes the outcomes of our attempts for solutions to difficult challenges. All of us as a nation must take a first step together so we can enter into the process of creating a better future.
Douglas Abbott has shared: The Stephen and Kathi Austin Mahle Endowed Fund for Progressive Christian Thought
| I'm going to this lecture! | |
| The Stephen and Kathi Austin Mahle Endowed Fund for Progressive Christian Thought Source: hamline.edu | |
| Douglas Abbott sent this using ShareThis. | |
Monday, March 22, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
Opening Reception comments
Send comments about my exhibit by:
email at > dabbott@unitedseminary.edu
twitter > abbott_UTS
email at > dabbott@unitedseminary.edu
twitter > abbott_UTS
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Ang Lee - Brokeback Mountain, Film as Theological Text
Cinematographically the footage in this film is stunning. Watching it I can smell the scent of the trees and wild lavender. Smell is such an extraordinary sense, and it is deeply connected to memories. I noticed how deeply Ennis missed Jack by the way he held Jack’s shirt, the way he held the shirt and embraced it also references back to the intimacy the two shared. I underestimated how moving this film is to experience, it’s powerful and speaks to so many levels of limits placed on the emotional lives of men. It was at great risk that Ennis left Jack’s parent’s home with the shirts from Jack’s closet. It may have been the first realization Ennis experienced of Jack’s unending love. The two are so tightly constrained by the expectations of social attitudes that their relationship can barely breathe life, ultimately the forces that constrain them takes the life of Jack. Fortunately for Ennis, Jack’s Mom quietly acknowledges the significance of Ennis’s feelings and assists him in retrieving the two shirts from Jack’s closet going undetected by Jack’s father. This gesture could also be seen to act metaphorically representing Ennis's "coming-out" to himself about his feelings and his sexuality. My favorite part of the film is that after Jack’s death, Ennis has switched the two shirts so as to convey now he is the one that will never be able to “quit” this love, a love for Jack. This is the only expression of Ennis’ love for Jack, and for the little words Ennis speaks throughout the movie the gesture reveals the deepness of his love and loss.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Seeds of Potentiality Video
Douglas Abbott
Masters, double concentration in: Theology and the Arts
Leadership Towards Racial Justice
Thesis paper: Art as the conduit between imagination and personal agency.
This art in this installation is my thesis exhibition which is a dialogue with my thesis paper. As an artist I am exploring the role art plays in bringing a new or imagined idea into existence.
The images in this work speak to the unknown within a moment. It may be clear, not clear or anything in between. As the moment grows forward; experience, clarity, understanding and meaning often are revealed.
Masters, double concentration in: Theology and the Arts
Leadership Towards Racial Justice
Thesis paper: Art as the conduit between imagination and personal agency.
This art in this installation is my thesis exhibition which is a dialogue with my thesis paper. As an artist I am exploring the role art plays in bringing a new or imagined idea into existence.
The images in this work speak to the unknown within a moment. It may be clear, not clear or anything in between. As the moment grows forward; experience, clarity, understanding and meaning often are revealed.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Birth of a Nation; Black is Black Ain't
So I just had to pull out my good good friend Maurice Merleau-Ponty. His essay on freedom is one of my favorites! To paraphrase in the most simple succinct way, freedom is not continually choosing what one is NOT. This book Phenomenology of Perception is one of my favorites! So think about Birth of a Nation, and then try to think about only being able to define yourself by only selecting what you ARE NOT out of the depictions of the stereotypes portrayed. It is mind boggling for me to understand the POWERLESSNESS of not even having a voice in selecting the stereotypes portrayed as the starting point for defining what I am not.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Sustenance
Arriving to me, entering into me, passing through me
Sustenance of light
Arriving, entering, passing
Sustenance from all things
Arriving entering passing
Sustenance for all beings
Arriving, entering, passing
The flow and rhythm of life.
For this I give thanks inside, outside, beyond.
I think I wrote this in 2007
Unpublished
Doug Abbott, 2007
Sustenance of light
Arriving, entering, passing
Sustenance from all things
Arriving entering passing
Sustenance for all beings
Arriving, entering, passing
The flow and rhythm of life.
For this I give thanks inside, outside, beyond.
I think I wrote this in 2007
Unpublished
Doug Abbott, 2007
Friday, February 12, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Stitched | What's this About?
Stitched | What's this About?
Missy loves a revolution and challenges the status quo. Her latest adventure is stitched. A movement, that starts with one and impacts many. Stitched is about remembering what matters. It’s simple, and makes a difference. Moments are all we have. stitched brings those moments together. It’s a picture of you and a gift for others. get stitched.
Posted using ShareThis
Missy loves a revolution and challenges the status quo. Her latest adventure is stitched. A movement, that starts with one and impacts many. Stitched is about remembering what matters. It’s simple, and makes a difference. Moments are all we have. stitched brings those moments together. It’s a picture of you and a gift for others. get stitched.
Posted using ShareThis
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
Thesis exhibition!!!!! Yip yip hooray!
My thesis art exhibition dates, stay tuned fans!!!! The dates are approximate at this time but looks like it will be, Feb 15th through March 5th. OH my gosh I am SO SO EXCITED! Prayers, mantras, chants, and general shouts of encouragement are deeply appreciated! If you want to subscribe to my Minnesota Artist's profile page follow this link and register for email updates. My exhibit will be installed in one of the window bays of the classroom gallery at United Theological Seminary.
MN Artist profile page
MN Artist profile page
Love ... For a Future to be Possible
True love includes a sense of responsibility, accepting the other person as they are, with all their strengths and weaknesses. Love is maitri, the capacity to bring joy and happiness, and karuna, the capacity to transform pain and suffering. It [love] is safe. It guarantees everything.
adapted from p 28 Thich Nhat Hanh, For a Future to be Possible.
adapted from p 28 Thich Nhat Hanh, For a Future to be Possible.
Supreme Court Rolls Back Campaign Finance Restrictions
Supreme Court Rolls Back Campaign Finance Restrictions
Corporations are not sentient, they market personal traits for the benefit of their profit margin and shareholders. People operate with norms of culture and society and when they go outside those bounds the are labeled deviants. Those who continue to commit violations often go on to become incarcerated. If corporations are indeed people then our statutes around corporate justice need revising.
Posted using ShareThis
Corporations are not sentient, they market personal traits for the benefit of their profit margin and shareholders. People operate with norms of culture and society and when they go outside those bounds the are labeled deviants. Those who continue to commit violations often go on to become incarcerated. If corporations are indeed people then our statutes around corporate justice need revising.
Posted using ShareThis
Thursday, January 21, 2010
The Choice | Mother Jones
The Choice | Mother Jones
by Kevin Drum
Read why the health care reform bill needs to NOW be passed as it stands.
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by Kevin Drum
Read why the health care reform bill needs to NOW be passed as it stands.
Posted using ShareThis
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
A Very American Coup | Mother Jones
A Very American Coup | Mother Jones
# 10. And, most important of all, remember that fear is the mind-killer that makes militarism possible. Ramping up "terror" is an amazingly effective way of shredding our Constitution. Putting our "safety" above all else is asking for trouble. The only way we'll be completely safe from the big bad terrorists, after all, is when we're all living in a maximum security state. Think of walking down the street while always being subject to a "full-body scan."
That's my top 10 things we need to do. It's a daunting list and I'm sure you have a few ideas of your own. But have faith. Ultimately, it all boils down to Franklin Delano Roosevelt's words to a nation suffering through the Great Depression: the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
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# 10. And, most important of all, remember that fear is the mind-killer that makes militarism possible. Ramping up "terror" is an amazingly effective way of shredding our Constitution. Putting our "safety" above all else is asking for trouble. The only way we'll be completely safe from the big bad terrorists, after all, is when we're all living in a maximum security state. Think of walking down the street while always being subject to a "full-body scan."
That's my top 10 things we need to do. It's a daunting list and I'm sure you have a few ideas of your own. But have faith. Ultimately, it all boils down to Franklin Delano Roosevelt's words to a nation suffering through the Great Depression: the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
Posted using ShareThis
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Playing For Change | Peace Through Music
Episode 24!!! Awesome! "Equal Rights" by Afro Fiesta
Playing For Change | Peace Through Music
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Playing For Change | Peace Through Music
Posted using ShareThis
War, No More Trouble! - lyrics
Until the philosophy which hold one race superior
And another
Inferior
Is finally
And permanently
Discredited
And abandoned -
Everywhere is war -
Me say war.
That until there no longer
First class and second class citizens of any nation
Until the colour of a man's skin
Is of no more significance than the colour of his eyes -
Me say war.
That until the basic human rights
Are equally guaranteed to all,
Without regard to race -
Dis a war.
That until that day
The dream of lasting peace,
World citizenship
Rule of international morality
Will remain in but a fleeting illusion to be pursued,
But never attained -
Now everywhere is war - war.
And until the ignoble and unhappy regimes
that hold our brothers in Angola,
In Mozambique,
South Africa
Sub-human bondage
Have been toppled,
Utterly destroyed -
Well, everywhere is war -
Me say war.
War in the east,
War in the west,
War up north,
War down south -
War - war -
Rumours of war.
And until that day,
The African continent
Will not know peace,
We Africans will fight - we find it necessary -
And we know we shall win
As we are confident
In the victory
Of good over evil -
Good over evil, yeah!
Good over evil -
Good over evil, yeah!
Good over evil -
Good over evil, yeah! [fadeout]
And another
Inferior
Is finally
And permanently
Discredited
And abandoned -
Everywhere is war -
Me say war.
That until there no longer
First class and second class citizens of any nation
Until the colour of a man's skin
Is of no more significance than the colour of his eyes -
Me say war.
That until the basic human rights
Are equally guaranteed to all,
Without regard to race -
Dis a war.
That until that day
The dream of lasting peace,
World citizenship
Rule of international morality
Will remain in but a fleeting illusion to be pursued,
But never attained -
Now everywhere is war - war.
And until the ignoble and unhappy regimes
that hold our brothers in Angola,
In Mozambique,
South Africa
Sub-human bondage
Have been toppled,
Utterly destroyed -
Well, everywhere is war -
Me say war.
War in the east,
War in the west,
War up north,
War down south -
War - war -
Rumours of war.
And until that day,
The African continent
Will not know peace,
We Africans will fight - we find it necessary -
And we know we shall win
As we are confident
In the victory
Of good over evil -
Good over evil, yeah!
Good over evil -
Good over evil, yeah!
Good over evil -
Good over evil, yeah! [fadeout]
Monday, January 18, 2010
Vengeance and the Devil; Pat Robertson
Just a quick thought on a statement I read Pat made about the people of Haiti. My question to Pat would be, given that the people of Haiti were enslaved by the French why is it not plausible that they would enlist the assistance of God to gain freedom from oppression?
This was on my mind because I am listening to Redemption Song, and War, No More Trouble - Bob Marley songs also on www.playingforchange.com
This was on my mind because I am listening to Redemption Song, and War, No More Trouble - Bob Marley songs also on www.playingforchange.com
Perspectives on Vengeance and Forgiveness
Michael E. McCullough, Ph.D., professor of Psychology and Religious Studies.
Beyond Revenge: The Evolution of the Forgiveness Instinct.
http://www.beyondrevengebook.com/
International Forgiveness Day
http://www.ceca.cc/global_forgiveness_day.html
Beyond Revenge: The Evolution of the Forgiveness Instinct.
http://www.beyondrevengebook.com/
International Forgiveness Day
http://www.ceca.cc/global_forgiveness_day.html
Mundus Imaginalis
The intriguing yet elusive territory between the physical and metaphysical worlds is ancient and universal. p 44 Spirituality and Health 2008.
http://www.hermetic.com/bey/mundus_imaginalis.htm
metis
mundus imaginalis
shamans night
thin space?
what other words describe this territory?
http://www.hermetic.com/bey/mundus_imaginalis.htm
metis
mundus imaginalis
shamans night
thin space?
what other words describe this territory?
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Generosity
The Second mindfulness training is a deep practice. We speak of time, energy, and material resources, but time is not only for energy and material resources. Time is for being with others—being with a dying person of with someone who is suffering. Being really present for even five minutes can be a very important gift. Time is not just to make money. It is to produce the gift of Dharma and the gift of non-fear. p 24 Thich Nhat Hanh, For a Future to be Possible.
This zen quote is for you
It is better to practice a little than talk a lot.
-Muso Kokushi
Zen Quote of the day, sent from my iPod
-Muso Kokushi
Zen Quote of the day, sent from my iPod
www.chrisjordan.com
“The nesting babies are fed bellies-full of plastic by their parents, who soar out over the vast polluted ocean collecting what looks to them like food to bring back to their young. On this diet of human trash, every year tens of thousands of albatross chicks die on Midway from starvation, toxicity, and choking.”
Visit Chris's web site>>Chris Jordan
Reposting on Banking/Mortgage Bailout
Read about what Chase Manhattan did to this home owner
Further evidence the financial and banking industry is determined to continue feeding their greed without remorse. Read this article, Chase Manhattan mistakenly foreclosed on this property and they also sold the house to themselves at auction for $100.
—doug abbott
Further evidence the financial and banking industry is determined to continue feeding their greed without remorse. Read this article, Chase Manhattan mistakenly foreclosed on this property and they also sold the house to themselves at auction for $100.
—doug abbott
interbeing
Thinking is at the base of everything. It is important for us to put an eye of awareness into each of our thoughts. Without a correct understanding of a situation or a person, our thoughts can be misleading and create confusion, despair, anger, or hatred. Our most important task is to develop correct insight. If we see deeply into the nature of interbeing, that all things interare, we will stop blaming, arguing, and killing, and we will become friends with everyone. To practice nonviolence, we must first of all learn ways to deal peacefully with ourselves. If we create true harmony within ourselves, we will know how to deal with family, friends, and associates. p 11 Thich Nhat Hanh, For a Future to be Possible.
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