stop the fame for the infamous

before michael moore had the "audacity" to question and challenge bush's motives for waging war on iraq, thus incurring severe wrath from...well not above, but somewhere (moore, not bush), he was fairly widely celebrated for Bowling for Columbine. in it, he examines the violent culture of america - especially america's youth - and the myriad factors that might contribute to disasters like those experienced at columbine high, virginia tech, and now northern illinois university.

particularly piercing in his work is the difference between our media and that in other countries. most, if not all, mainstream media religiously follows the maxim "if it bleeds, it leads." but i'm starting to wonder if the immense attention and fame (or perhaps infamy) heaped on the perpetrators of these acts isn't becoming a massive incentive. we can blame the increase on the severity and regularity of these acts on many factors, but certainly it seems that the more coverage these acts have received, the more they have occurred.

most of the people who commit these acts are suicidal. but rather than simply kill themselves, they want to make as big a bang as possible. so they kill many others. and then, we give them just what they wanted to begin with: massive attention. in essence, we grant their final wish - and we honor them with attention far above their poor, innocent victims.

criminals, especially of this caliber, should not be made celebrities. we should completely deny them this awful fame. don't mention their names or anything about them. don't show any photos of them posing with weapons of death. withhold from them all glory, and declare once and for all that those who commit these atrocities will receive no attention. i find it deplorable that during sporting events cameras will cut away from people running on baseball fields or across tennis courts because "we don't want to encourage that kind of behavior" - but apparently we shouldn't question whether or not we are encouraging mass murder. just once it would be encouraging to see ANY news outlet that wanted to try and be part of the solution rather than contributing to the problem.

think i'm exaggerating about this? i'll bet you know the names of the murderers at niu, va tech, and columbine - or could at least describe them. now try describing or naming any of their victims.

nothin

well it's been a few weeks since i posted. so you might be wondering what have i been doing? well, nothin. i don't really have a good reason for not writing - just nothing much has come to me lately. i don't really have that much to write about now, but i feel like i need to - and emily told me to. so i guess here are a couple things that have been consuming my time.

planet earth - i finally got a library card to the auburn public library (on a side note - boo to the university library. you may be big and have a cool name that is almost "dragon" but i'm not paying for a library card. you're a public university, and my taxes keep you alive. you should be saying "thank you" not "gimme more of your money." also, you started as a methodist school and i'm methodist clergy - so where's the love?) and i checked out the first two dvds of this series. it truly is unbelievable. i deeply love nature and find so much of it fascinating. this is the greatest presentation of nature documentary i've ever seen. it's entrancing. it really has brought out a deeper appreciation for animals. i mean, i've always loved animals and been amazed by them. but until lately i don't think i've respected them as much as i should. what they have to go through just to survive is incredible. when i want food, i go to kroger or any number of other food vendors, and i get exactly what i want. when animals want food, they have to take it somehow, and in many cases they have to endure ridiculous hardships to come by it. seeing some of the hunt scenes in planet earth truly humbles me. and it saddens me so much more that we are making the existence of so many animals that much harder - it not impossible all together. if we cause the extinction of polar bears, i'm pretty much done with the human race.

unChristian - at the aub pub lib (as i call it) i also got a little book i'd seen a few times before called unChristian. the full title is unChristian: What a new generation really thinks about Christianity...and why it matters. the book features the extensive work of the barna group which has research perceptions of Christians and the Church, and in this case most of the data concerns 16-29 year olds who are considered "outsiders" to the Christian faith (atheists, agnostics, or adherents to another religion or no religion). well, the findings are staggering but not surprsing, enlightening as well as troubling. i'm not finished with the book yet, but i've been a bit surprised by how much it has resonated with me. i find myself sharing many of the frustrations that the "outsiders" express. overall, i certainly agree with the feeling expressed by many that "outsiders" are seen by many within the church as targets. they only really matter insofar as they could be another check on our church logs, and that's generally how we treat them. we may try once or twice to convert them or something, but a meaningful, long-lasting relationship where they are deeply honored and equal partners in the discussion - no, we aren't really that interested in that. the book doesn't pull any punches, and i like it's honesty and willingness to turn the microscope in on itself. the people who did this research and produced the book are deeply committed Christians willing to say "we are a large part of the problem." furthermore, they offer real suggestions for helping with the problem. i can only hope they will find ears willing to listen in our churches. if not, they may be describing the beginning of the end of Christianity as we know it...which come to think of it, may not be a bad thing at all.