Free Hugs Video

I posted the other day about Free Hugs. Here is a video that has become very popular about a guy on a Free Hugs campaign.

Working for "The Man"

One of my favorite movies of the last couple years was School of Rock. I should post on that sometime. Jack Black's character in said film has a great rant about "working for the man". Which leads me to the topic of the internet and blogging and free commerce and socialism. I am of the opinion that it is far better to "be the man" then to work for him. So, as part of my blogoshphere experiment I am going to try out Google's AdSense. Who knows. I might even make 5 bucks before the end of the world as we know it. Or I might just get lucky and somehow turn this thing into some sort of avocation. If nothing else it will be funny to see exactly what AdSense does with my content.

Perhaps you are wondering how AdSense works... well, basically Google takes content and tries to deliver ads that are somehow related contextually. So if I were to blog about, say, Jack Black and the School of Rock, it would perhaps show an ad for Jack's latest film. If I were to blog about my creaky back then maybe there would be an ad from some chiropractor, or maybe healing herbs or something. So then the idea is that you, dear reader, feel compelled to check out that herbal remedy for every known human ailment, and click on the ad. If and when that happens I suppose Google pays me a half a cent or something for facilitating your healing.

So the question is this... am I "working for the man" by agreeing to include AdSense on my site? Or am I sticking it to the man? Or am I sticking it to you... the poor reader... and therefore I am the man? Maybe all of the above. But as long as no one gets hurt and I am one half-cent richer is it really so terrible? And what about poor blogger.com? How do they ever make any money providing me this space on the web and nifty tool to share my thoughts and feelings? I suppose they get some piece of the Google action. Somebody has to pay for all this bandwidth, right? Ultimately every body has to eat, and I have no problem with commerce. Google's motto is "do no harm". Well, we will see about that I guess.

Some parting thoughts....

1) Hyperlinks in my content are just there for the readers pleasure and my amusement. They have nothing to do with AdSense and I don't make any money off those links (I'll have to look into that though - heh).

2) The ads that are at the top of my blog are placed there by Google and I have no control over them. Google did make me sign an agreement which included a promise that I would not place pornographic material on my site, so I hopefully can assume that Google has certain standards and the ads won't be terribly offensive. If they are offensive to you, sorry.

3) This is an experiment. So your comments are welcome.

Free Hugs

One of my featured blogger links is Sunburned and she has a recent post that is really interesting. She relates a story about how on a recent Sunday in church her Pastor instructed the congregation to "hug the person next to you". I've been in church services where we shook hands, told the person next to us, "Jesus loves you", or something like that, but hugs? Never. But Miss "Sunburned" wasn't sitting next to anyone she knew, and felt awkward and pressured and slipped out of church only to come across a guy on the streets of New York city holding a sign, "Free Hugs".

Her take on this is certainly worth a read, but it also brings me to a little theory I have held for some time. In short, my theory is that "random acts of kindness" don't need any other goal than the act of kindness itself and that sometimes the less focused we are on a "spiritual outcome" the more God is able to use it for spiritual good. I have certainly done my share of acts of callousness and flat out rudeness in public, but I have also had some moments of charity as well. I don't pass out bills to every person on the streets of Philadelphia bumming for change but I have had some interesting experiences when the spirit seemed to move me to an act of kindness. They have ranged from giving rides to a semi-psychopath, buying breakfast for a homeless person, chasing down a neighbor's lost dog, and rescuing the victim of a hit and run. These moments usually bless me more than the receiver and they are fascinating experiences.

When I share these stories with others I get all sorts of reactions. Some people seem to think I am bragging. Sadly they have missed the point that these acts blessed me the most, and it is not any more of a "brag" than if I had related how someone had helped me out instead. Some people find it inspiring and come back to me later with their own inspiring stories. But what is very common, and disturbing, is that a lot of Bible-believing Christians will almost always ask me the same question.... "So did you... [insert a spiritual action here] when you helped them?" The "spiritual action" question could be everything from inviting them to church, to giving them spiritual literature, to praying with them, to an invitation to accept Jesus. Now please understand. I am definitely not saying that inviting someone to church or preaching the Good News is wrong. To everything there is a season... the proverb goes (no, it wasn't just a song... it was in Ecclesiastes first). There have been times when I have given someone change and told them "Jesus loves you" and really meant it. I also think street witnessing is a lost art that is entirely valid. But in most of these cases I have found that I can trust God's spirit to use the simple act to which He seems to have compelled me without me saying much of anything. Sometimes people "just need a hug".

I look at it this way... let's say that I look behind me in the grocery line and I see a mom with a pair of cranky children. I don't have a lot of groceries and she doesn't have too much, and she looks like she's had a really bad day. So I insist she trade spots with me in line. Generally I HATE lines, and would rip the arm off of someone who tried to take my spot, so I know that God is moving here. Do I tell her, "Jesus loves you", or suggest she attend my church? Do I give her a Gospel of John? Nope. I just give her my spot in line and smile. "What possible good could this do?", some may ask (and believe me, some have asked me). Well, maybe she is just an average Mom just having a bad day. But maybe her husband just left her, for the second time, and her Father is dying of cancer. And maybe one of her best friends just did something really terrible to her. Maybe her best friend is the "other woman". And maybe this woman behind me in line has decided she is going to take home her groceries, and cook herself her favorite meal, and drop her kids off at Grandmom's house and drive into a tree on her way to her night-shift at the nursing home, and kill herself. Because maybe she has decided that there is just no good in the world, and she has lost all hope of God's compassion. Maybe, just maybe, my small act of kindness might give her reason to hope, and make it through another day. What God does with this woman from there I don't know. All we can do is be obedient and not squelch God's Spirit when we are compelled. God can take it from there.

To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted; A time to kill, And a time to heal; time to break down, And a time to build up; A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing; A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away; A time to tear, And a time to sew; A time to keep silence, And a time to speak; A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace.

Bling Rings

While our democracy was hurtling toward the apocalypse (unless you are a Democrat) I was playing around with ringtones for my new cell phone. My business switched to Verizon - and thus the new phone. One of my first discoveries was that the standard ringtone options were a joke (I actually have been in mourning for years over the loss of the ascending Nokia default tone but that is another story). To say my default options were meager and wanting is an understatement. They were "cynically meager and wanting" is more like it. This is the dark side of Customer Relationship Management... give your customer so crappy of a default option that they are compelled to make an additional purchase.

Obviously Verizon wants me to buy some Bling Rings as they are taking a piece of that action. Well Verizon, and evil Dogbert marketing so and so's, I have an answer for you. If you can't beat em, join em! I found a very cool service at http://www.myxer.com/ that allows you to create your own Bling Rings, or download freebies from other Ringmeister Rachmaninoffs. They also have some rings for purchase - usually at much better prices than the $3.00 for 30 seconds you pay for major artist tunes (and why does it cost more for a 30 second ring-tone sample of a song then if I downloaded the whole mp3??). You can even create AND sell your own tones. The best thing for me was that the service is compatible with Verizon, although it appears that the developer's of this service had some special hoops to jump thru to make it work.

There may be better services than www.Myxer.com, and if anyone knows of better services please comment. I did play around with another service at www.musicane.com but it is more artist than consumer oriented and buying ringtones requires a credit card. Myxer allows PayPal and the whole purchase experience just seems more user-friendly to me.

Now if I can just figure out how to sample that old Nokia ringtone and put it on my new cell. Take that Verizon, Samsung, and all you evil marketing geniuses out there.

Should we forgive Ted Haggard?

So should we forgive Haggard or not? First things first... let's hear from the Pastor who was removed for accusations that he was involved in an illicit affair with a gay prostitute. Here is a portion of Haggard's apology that was read this past Sunday at his church...

I asked that this note be read to you this morning so I could clarify my heart's condition to you. The last four days have been so difficult for me, my family and all of you, and I have further confused the situation with some of the things I've said during interviews with reporters who would catch me coming or going from my home. But I alone am responsible for the confusion caused by my inconsistent statements. The fact is, I am guilty of sexual immorality, and I take responsibility for the entire problem.

I am a deceiver and a liar. There is a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that I’ve been warring against it all of my adult life. For extended periods of time, I would enjoy victory and rejoice in freedom. Then, from time to time, the dirt that I thought was gone would resurface, and I would find myself thinking thoughts and experiencing desires that were contrary to everything I believe and teach.

Through the years, I’ve sought assistance in a variety of ways, with none of them proving to be effective in me. Then, because of pride, I began deceiving those I love the most because I didn’t want to hurt or disappoint them. The public person I was wasn’t a lie; it was just incomplete. When I stopped communicating about my problems, the darkness increased and finally dominated me. As a result, I did things that were contrary to everything I believe. The accusations that have been leveled against me are not all true, but enough of them are true that I have been appropriately and lovingly removed from ministry. Our church's overseers have required me to submit to the oversight of Dr. James Dobson, Pastor Jack Hayford, and Pastor Tommy Barnett. Those men will perform a thorough analysis of my mental, spiritual, emotional, and physical life. They will guide me through a program with the goal of healing and restoration for my life, my marriage, and my family.

I created this entire situation. The things that I did opened the door for additional allegations. But I am responsible; I alone need to be disciplined and corrected. An example must be set.

I will admit it. I caught a sound-bite about Haggard's apology and was extremely skeptical. After all, Haggard may have given some of the most pathetic and embarassing series of interviews over the last several days that I can recall in some time. First Haggard said he bought the drugs, but didn't use them. Then he used the drugs and received a massage but had never had a gay relationship. It was very sad to watch. So I was prepared to say that Haggard can't just suddenly turn around and ask for forgiveness less than 24 hours after making ridiculous denials. Then again, God's grace is like that. Dirty sinners caught red-handed get declared "innocent" in God's eyes. Even when they are preachers rallying against gays that get outed for frequenting a gay prostitute. Of course the true test of the sincerity of Haggard's apology will be determined by what happens next. Will Haggard repent from his hypocrisy and put his life, and family, back together? I don't know. It will take a miracle. A miracle of grace.

Suicide Bombers, Hitler, and Penn University

So the big news in Philly that has gone national is that the Prez of Penn University, Amy Gutmann, posed for a picture with a student who was dressed in an offensive Halloween costume. Of course, the "devil" in this Halloween story is in the details, and in this case the student showed up dressed as a suicide bomber, and he happens to be named Saad Saadi, and the Penn Prez hosted the party at her house. Oh, and some bloggers of apparent fame picked up on the story and expressed considerable outrage (and impressive click-thrus, no doubt). While I consider myself a strong supporter of Israel, and extremely sensitive to anti-Smithson, I think the moral outrage being expressed is a bit over the top.

Maybe that is because I don't really know much about Amy Gutmann and don't have any particular agenda here. But I'm going to guess that Amy is probably Jewish, and being the Prez of Penn, she's probably considered a "liberal" and this seems to be a part of this story. Gutmann didn't help her cause much when she issued a public statement that explained that she didn't realize at first that the student was dressed as a "suicide bomber" and after she did realize she refused to pose for additional pictures, BUT she also made the scholarly observation that the student did have the "right" to dress offensively. Ironically, Gutmann is somewhat of an expert on such matters... I found a sample chapter from her book, "Identity in Democracy" that is titled, "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly of Identity Politics". Note to Amy - this is why you hire a press agent who can excise scholarly commentary from your press releases. But Amy being president of Penn U and a person of some expertise in this field couldn't resist an apology with qualifying statements that no one is interested in hearing.

But I digress... let's get back to Hitler costumes and anti-Smithson and Jihad. I mentioned that I think Amy Gutmann is probably Jewish, because a blogger who is Jewish took some strong exceptions to Amy's mea (NOT) culpa. Here is a portion of the commentary from Campus Watch...

Had Mr. Saadi, or anyone else, shown up dressed in as Hitler, Pol Pot, David Duke wearing his Klan garb, Bull Conner, Sirhan Sirhan, John Wilkes Booth, a slave trader with a whip, a rapist, or any such person, he would have been identified immediately as representing someone, and perhaps some force, that is evil. Neither Ms. Gutmann nor anyone else would have objected to having him barred from her home and party; indeed, to have failed to act in such a way would have invited opprobrium.

But in the modern university, especially in anything relating to Middle East studies, the guardrails are down. After years of scholarship that consistently fails to investigate thoroughly, much less condemn, terrorism or jihadism, or which misrepresents both these historical actors and the consequences of their actions, can we be surprised at President Gutmann's lack of shock? With moral equivalency between bombers and the bombed, especially regarding suicide bombers, a mainstay of modern scholarship and pedagogy in Middle East studies, why wouldn't a young man presenting himself as a killer of innocents be laughed at rather than set straight by his intellectual and moral superiors--i.e., women like Amy Gutmann?

While I share the bloggers disdain for suicide bombers the comments about Gutmann just don't seem fair. The blogger states, "...can we be surprised at President Gutmann's lack of shock?", but both Gutmann and the student with poor Halloween costume taste agree that Gutmann refused to take additional pictures with the student after realizing he had a toy gun. I also take exception to his assertion that a student dressed as "Pol Pot" would have been refused entrance to her party. Maybe the blogger would recognize a Halloween-er dressed as Pol Pot, but 99.99 percent of the rest of the world certainly wouldn't. Not even at Penn. It is an interesting list of offensive people though. Kind of a Rainbow Coalition of bad guys. The problem is that even someone as despicable and recognizable as Hitler does get some "Halloween Love" (note the pic at the top of the gang from South Park where one of the characters is, indeed, dressed as Hitler for Halloween). One of my favorite movies growing up was "The Producers"with the unintentionally successful play, "Springtime for Hitler". Is The Producers anti-Semitic? Hardly. Is there anything really very funny about the actual Hitler? Certainly not. It is, however, part of our nation's long tradition to lampoon the objects of our distaste. It seems to me that this student's intentions were exactly that.

I have observed some similar behavior from student's in my son's high school. I saw a video by some students for a history assignment where they dressed up as "ninjas" but it was pretty clearly implied that they were terrorists. At first I was offended, but then I came to realize that these were kids that as children watched the Power Rangers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles but in their adolescence have had to face the horrific nightmare of 9-11 and Jihadist beheadings on YouTube. Maybe the real story here, that everyone is missing, is the psychological toll that 9-11 and the war on terror has had on this generation.

Ted Haggard Scandal

So Ted Haggard, the president of the Evangelical Association of America, has resigned his position and stepped down from his pulpit at a huge church in Denver because a gay prostitute claims he had an affair with Haggard. CNN will have a heyday with this one as Haggard is not only a religious leader but also politically plugged in - speaking with President Bush on a regular basis. There is also a Gay Marriage referendum in Colorado (to be voted on next week) that Haggard strongly opposed. Could this "outing" be politically motivated? Will Haggard be declared guilty until proven innocent? Yes, and yes. But I'm more interested in the personal aspects of today's "news" than the political implications. What so often gets passed over in these daily servings of scandal are the very personal human tragedies they represent. Haggard has a wife and five children. Five kids. I wonder how they feel right now? What about this man's poor wife? While liberals and gay rights activists may be gleeful have they really thought about the implications? I'm not sure it does a lot for the "gay cause" if the accusations turn out to be true and Haggard has destroyed his marriage and five loving children in a way that is almost too difficult to imagine. Would it be any better or worse if Haggard was sleeping with a female prostitute? No, it wouldn't. Some may claim that homosexual monogamy would be better than heterosexual infedelity. I can't agree though. Sorry. Just about every study you can find will support the fact that homosexuals are, on the average, far more promiscuous than married or single heterosexuals. But whatever your views are I hope we can at least agree to this... celebrating unproven accusations that threaten to devestate the lives of innocent children is just plain rotten.

Mister Contrary

I have spent most of my life as an "unofficial contrarian" so I've decided to take the blogosphere baptismal plunge and make it official. I have no plan. No particular agenda. I just happen to have a knack for being on the "wrong side" of the left AND the right in so many ways that it is bound to amuse someone. Well, maybe not, but it usually amuses me. But be forewarned, I do have a very solid "world view" that serves as the foundation for my "what if?" musings. What is my world view you ask? I will confess to the following...

I'm a big fan of C.S. Lewis, Bono, Charlie Brown, Spurgeon, and Dilbert. Some of my favorite movies are Raising Arizona, Monty Python's Search for the Holy Grail, It's A Wonderful Life, Signs, and Dumb and Dumber. I also read the Bible a lot but I didn't care all that much for The Passion. I love Seinfeld and The Office and boring documentaries. I'm not gay but my wife hates shopping with me because I can take an hour to pick out a sweater. On Sundays you will usually find me in church and then I like to go home and scream at the TV for a few hours watching sports (while watching cooking shows during the commercial breaks). I voted for Reagan and Bush (both of them) but I'm really not very "political" and often the Christian right annoys me as much as the most flagrant Liberal. I have been employed as a Pastor, a roofer, a teacher, a salesman, a (really bad) forklift operator and a musician. I own a software company but geeks annoy me. I prefer to think of myself as an "unemployed rock star".

Ok, so back to the contrarian thing... as a young pup I found great sport in infuriating my Father at the dinner table by saying outrageously controversial stuff. Not on purpose. Honest. It is just what I do, I guess. Sometimes my Dad would get so enraged that he would throw his fork across our family's tiny little table in my general direction. So ladies and gents... grab your forks. Mister Contrary is coming to dinner.