Links: stuff I am reading

Check out these really great posts and stories:

- Poached eggs, the metaphysics of breakfast, and more at Garden Fresh Chefs

- Seth Thomas reads David Bentley Hart

- Faith and Tradition (not traditionalism) over at the Irish Times.

- Hidden and not so hidden racism.  A reflection over at Catholic Moral Theology.

- Krista Tippett on urban agriculture in Detroit.

- Stopping Teens from killing other Teens.

- Secular Cathedrals? 

Say it aint so Apple!: Truth takes a bite out of our fruity illusions

Apple, the image: The Apple brand produces sleek, high-functioning gadgets.  They are hip and usually more "with it" than other like companies.  Even their packaging is cool, not to mention the fact that the packaging is often considered more "green" than other examples.  So it often SEEMS that Apple is fairly socially aware; a fact that is evidenced by the multitudes of socially aware hipsters who use their products (hey, I am not throwing stones here...I have an i phone and have been wanting a mac book for some time, now).  But is it true?  Can we call this juggernaut "socially aware?"

Apple, the possible truth: Just like most big companies in the era of post-fordism, Apple products are made in a land far far away.  There is a veil between the consumer and the producer.  We do not regularly see who makes the stuff, nor in what conditions, nor how much the workers get paid.  Recently on NPR's This American Life radio program (follow link to the story) there was a story about a man who ventured to one of the production sites for the i phone.  Please give this a listen and do a litle research...what you hear may be suprising to you.

 I am indebted to my friend Dan Amolsch for sharing ths story with me, and am also reminded of something he always says "being the body of Christ means identifying with the poor, sick, the disenfranchised...it means identifying with the least of these!" 

Self-Reflection, Please: After you hear this story and do the necessary research to follow its claims, you will no doubt be a more knowledgable consumer concerning Apple products.  Now you are more able than before to make informed choices.  Chances are, however, especially if you love Apple (or other brands that have similar production methods) you will find some way to justify the product.  Is it not natural for us to relieve our guilt and to seek ways of having our cake and eat it to?  The challenge, here, is for self-reflection: how far are we willing to go in our aim to be good humanists; are we really attempting to create a good society or are we just accepting the one that has been given to us (because we are relatively happy, though others are not); and how much do we really believe in identifying with the least of these (is there a boundary to this....a line for our own self justification)? 

Challenge: Learning the odds and ins about the products, companies, foods consumed in your home can be daunting.  Indeed it is tempting to remain ignorant, for it is there we have bliss -- we get to have our cake and munch on it at the same time.  But in the society we have, if we are going to identify with "the least of these" then we are going to have to become more informed and ethically driven consumers.  Again, this is daunting, because there is an endless supply of junk that we own; going through it all and doing the research is akin to looking for your lost left sock...can it be done?  So the challenge is simple: take one product that your family uses a month and do some research on it.  Find out if it is fairly produced (does it harm people, societies, the environment), and then make the necessary decision on using or discontinuing the products use.  1 thing a month....and you will move in a better direction!



Mi Familia: On making the family an idol

Confession: I recieved an email the other day from an editor for the local newspaper.  I was signed up to write a small 450 pastoral piece for it, but had completely dropped the ball.  In haste I penned what follows calle "Mi Familia."

As I tried to come up with a good topic, the only thought that kept coming to mind was all the ferment over a struggling economy, advertisements for gold, advice to store up food, and stock-pile amunition that seems to be sweeping our airwaves and water cooler conversations.  In all of this doomsday talk I have witnessed a popular notion: that the family is most important.  Damn everyone else... and if "it" hits the fan, it seems like many families are poised to barricade themselves in tiny little bunkers (called homes) while they do everything they can to keep everyone else out no matter the cost.  "Family is the most important," some are saying.  So this is the occasion for this short, inadequate, and flawed piece, but I hope you enjoy it anyway:

Mi Familia

“A man can never be a real man unless he spends time with his family.”  Don Vito Corleone said these words, and in my opinion, they are true.  But is there ever a time when family becomes too important?  For many who are worried about our current economic and ecological problems, threats of destruction are often followed with proclamations such as “all I have to do is take care of me and my own!” 

But could there ever be anything more monstrous?  This sentiment, after all, is the rejection of all others for the sake of kin; in other words, it is the with-holding of charity from the world under the honorable banner of family.  Yet, this is just the rhetoric promoted in our times.  It is an ethic that must be rejected, for where does it ever say “love preferentially,” or “love only your family as yourself?”  Don’t most holy texts, including the Holy Bible call for loving all others?  Isn’t it true that they call for a fraternity amongst humans? 

And it’s not just ethics, either; the “family-only-ethic” does not measure up practically.  Plainly, it cannot help us forward in the cause of human life.  Consider this, what would happen if we did not care for others and merely reduced society down to family against family?  The answer: chaos, violence, suspicion, hoarding and a cadre of other harmful activities.  What if instead of competition, we saw others as brothers and sisters? If this were our ethic, then we could withstand the gravest societal upheaval!

If, indeed, we ever face such severe catastrophe that multitudes were homeless, hungry, nomadic, wouldn’t society do better to heed Jesus’ command from Mark 12:33, “love your neighbor as yourself?”  It seems to me that if we practice this ethic, then we would be poised to confront whatever crisis we face without mortgaging our families in the process.  Is this not a better strategy for a society that seems on the verge of so many different, but, interrelated crises? 

This ideal, built on Jesus’ command to love, is richer than all of the gold in with world.  It is beyond all acres of land, store rooms of seed, pantries of food, and safes filled with ammunition.  Jesus’ command is founded upon love beyond mere emotion.  It calls for us to treat others through charity and with compassion.  It is rich, because when obeyed we receive the world, rather than alienate it in the process of self-protection.  Frankly, is a world without charity worth living in?  Is a world of family against family really worth enduring?  Well, Jesus didn’t think so anyway, and neither should we.