Education I Haz It

I thought I would share a couple of gems floating around the internets. Although you might receive a slight headache afterwards, enjoy!

(Both via Unreasonable Faith, I love you guys!)

Chattanooga Mosque Now Open!

The Chattanooga mosque I was hoping would open soon has been opened since July 20th. The official opening date is August 25th and the Chattanooga Muslim community has welcomed churches and city officials to the event. It opened so quietly and without ANY controversy or resistance that I thought it was still under construction. I've been following the construction of this mosque for quite a while and I'm glad there was no grass roots opposition. The long embattled Murfreesboro mosque has also recently opened its doors after 2 years of construction and delays due to lawsuits (video below).  You can read the full story and video of the Chattanooga mosque here.



 I am hoping to visit both mosques one day and I sadly won't be able to attend the opening of the Chattanooga mosque. Even though there was no opposition in opening of the Chattanooga mosque I'm hoping others will also visit and at the very least learn something about their neighbors. Hopefully the more visible and the more we learn about our neighbors the less likely there will be another shooting because of religious intolerance and ignorance. For more information on the Chattanooga mosque and driving direction visit their website here.

 I am ecstatic and proud to call myself a Chattanoogan!

Tcha, You know what... Uhh-Uhh

This clip is insane. INSANE! I can't even begin to describe what just happened. I believe I actually got dumber after listening to this clip. On the Dana Show, hosted by Dana Loesch a conservative radio talk show host, Kay called in to voice her concerns about Chik-Fil-A-gate. Kay barely got a sentence in the entire time as Dana bombarded her with a series of accusations, literally shouting her down.Literally.



(HUGE h/t to On Knees for Jesus)

Let's run down a list of the statements/points made by Dana:

• You don't sound like any Christian that I know
• Doesn't understand how Kay can practice Christianity while claiming another Christian's viewpoint as hate
• What is hateful about Cathy's statement (true, nothing innately hateful but is missing the real topic behind the controversy. The issue is about the group he funds which wants to criminalize gay marriage.)
• You only subscribe to certain aspects of Christianity
• That's not how the gospels are presented.
• You sound like anything but a Christian
• Doesn't understand how certain aspects of the Christian faith is hateful
• You think God is hateful then?
• You're essentially calling Christ hateful.
• Is astonished over the statement that Christ doesn't directly address the gay community.
• (My favorite line) Give me the verse. Give me the verse. Give me the verse. No, no, no, no. Kay, give me the verse.
• The burden of proof is on you, you called my show.
• I want you to show me in the Bible where Christ preached hate?
• Stated that false Christians like Kay ran Dana from church. 
• and another favorite, Kay is the type of person that embarrasses the faith.

There is so much here that I can not begin to compute what I just heard. I literally jumped up, darted across the room to share this clip. It just boggles me how people can be so relentlessly unyielding to simply sit down and listen. Just listen. All Kay wanted was to be heard, even for a brief 5 minutes. Yes it is Dana's show and I'm sure she loves her job, (I once worked at a college radio station and absolutely loved it) but it is a talk show. If you invite listeners to call in at least give them the chance to make their statement. This spiraled out of control quickly, which is why people can't talk properly about gay marriage and the Chik-fil-A incident. Listening doesn't equate to losing ground in a debate, it means you care enough about the subject to pay attention to both sides of the issue. That and you don't come across like a total a$$hole.

I don't know much about Dana but she reminds me of someone else who likes to plug their ears.



Give me the verse. Give me the verse. Give me the verse. No, no, no, no. Kay, give me the verse.

La la la la la,
 la la la la la. 
Thank you for playing.

I'm on Cloud Atlas

I recently stumbled upon this incredible trailer of Cloud Altas to be released on October 26th.



I honestly never knew this novel existed until seeing this trailer. I know trailers are meant to hype up the film, and boy am I hyped for both the film and novel. Written by David Mitchell the 2004 novel consists of six stories spanning from the 19th century to a post-apocalyptic future. The stories are connected through the characters where, for example, the  main character of story #2 reads story #1 in the form of a diary found on a shelf. Each story is interrupted by the following story and after the closing of the 6th story the novel returns back to finish each one with the novel ending back where the reader started (Wikipedia). It is an interesting way to write a novel which I hope won't be too confusing to those watching the film. I'm just concerned if the audience will have enough time to appreciate the characters and different story lines in just under 3 hours.

What I really enjoyed was the theme of interconnectedness woven throughout the characters of the six different stories and time periods. The concept of how our lives are interconnected into the lives of others is...is...well I can't describe it. A part of what inspired my spiritual journey (and this blog) began when my wife and I found out we were having our first child. My mind exploded for weeks daydreaming about our new family and beyond (I recently turned 22 at the time). What followed were months of deep self reflection and mediation. How will I inspire my children? Will I be a good father? Will I repeat the actions of my father and his father? What if I screw it all up? Do I have anything worth passing on to the next generation? Will I have enough love for all of them? (I know this all may sound chessy and it'll get extra cheddary in a moment.) For the first time ever I felt truly connected to mankind (mmm...sharp cheddar). I felt as a link in a chain, a part of something bigger, grander than myself. Years earlier in high school I had designed a symbol and got it tattooed on my back. I had this idea to start a family tradition having my children (voluntarily) receive this symbol on their 18th birthday. I envisioned myself years in the future posing with my grandchildren also showing off their new tattoos. I felt this would be a way of passing on a part of myself and securing immortality.

I'm looking forward to reading the novel and watching the film. Has anyone read the book yet and if so feel free to comment below (try to keep it spoiler free though). For those who've read the book does the trailer appear to be faithful to the novel?

Why Christians are Upset about the Chik-Fil-A Controversy

I'm sure all of you know about the uproar with Chik-Fil-A so I won't go into detail. But I do want to touch on a related theme of the Christian God changing her mind. Christian Piatt wrote an excellent article about a Billy Graham letter and the moral decay of America. Graham wrote in his letter how his wife, Ruth, made a comment after reading the section on America's moral decay in a draft of a book Graham was writing. She stated that  “If God doesn’t punish America, He’ll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.” That got me thinking on two things: why can't God apologize for a past sin against Mankind, and if God can't or won't apologize/change his mind, what is preventing us from apologizing?

This also brought to mind the story of Abraham questioning God's morality found in Genesis 18.

²⁵ Far be it from you to do such a thing —to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” Genesis 18:25

Abraham's question will not the judge of all the earth do right is one of those timeless rare gems found within the archaic stories of the Bible. To stand up to a powerful force and question their authority and judgement is something we should reflect upon especially on the topic of basic human rights. Sure, Abraham was okay with the destruction of everyone else except the righteous, he still stood up to a supreme being with an ability to zap him. God DID change her mind, many times throughout the Bible. Of course this is explained away as all being part of a cosmic Divine Plan, if that plan changed before why can't it change again? Many (but not all) Christians believe that God is constant and she never changes. They hold this belief because life is chaotic and need a Rock to weather the storm of life. But if God went from complete genocide to sparring the city if ten righteous people were found, why can't we ask the question Abraham failed to ask? Will the Judge of all the earth spare the city if none were found righteous? Will the Lord forgive the city for its sins, forgive us for being human?

What if the story had ended with God never bending to Abraham's pleas? What does this say about how mankind viewed (and continues to view) the divine? And most importantly what about us? God can and does change throughout scripture so shouldn't we as a society change as well? In America we've changed our minds on slavery, genocide, and gender inequality (well, we're still working on that) so why stop there? Is allowing gay marriage worse than any of the past injustices we thought were just and righteously mandated by God? Will society actually crumble if we allow gay couples a piece of paper stating they are legally married? As I've said before divorce, spousal abuse, and infidelity are all real dangers to the institution of marriage. The God of the bible is okay with slavery, genocide, and gender inequality and since we as a nation have turned our backs on these America has not been wiped out like Sodom and Gomorrah. Are Christians actually asking us to turn back the clock? No I don't believe they are, well maybe a few of the more radical types. The reason why Christians are so upset about the Chik-Fil-A controversy is that it challenges their sense of security and safety found in God and the Bible. (Well that and they find homosexuality icky.) They know that another big civil rights change is no longer on the horizon, it is already here! Attention, attention!  Christianity is not going to disappear, there will be no massive Christian persecutions, no massive gay agenda brainwashing programs in school, society is not going to crumble, and most importantly for you Christians, God will NOT strike us down. Society will adjust and gay marriage will be the new norm like freed slaves and women in the workplace. So take a deep breath, have a delicious chicken sandwich at Chik-Fil-A and go home and watch a wholesome Christian film on Netflix. Everything will be okay.


Oh and I wanted to share this comical take on the controversy. Enjoy!