Spiritual Parasites

I've been hearing people recently, saying things along the lines of, "There's 2 kinds of people: people who are spiritual parasites, and people who are spiritual givers. In other words, you come to church to get fed (metaphorically) by God's word and by good music, and by "loading your troubles" on others, or you come to church to to be a blessing to the church.

I hate this concept. First off, wanting to "get fed" -to learn about God, what others understand about God, and to want to be filled with a peace that you have been having a hard time feeling all week, but know you can feel at church, that is NOT a negative thing! Many people spend all week stressing and exhausting themselves. It's not healthy, but they do. Sunday is what they live for. Going to church. No other obligations. Just getting there, and letting God do the rest. And no one comes to "load troubles." But they may come to seek help. After all, if you don't have anyone at church to share your troubles with; to ask for prayer from, then there may be no one.

The statement about spiritual parasites is judgemental. Everyone lives a different life. Everyone has different struggles and different ways of coping with struggles. Hypothetically speaking, if I spend six days a week giving to the world around me, solving peoples' problems, showing love, encouraging others, etc., then I should be able to rely on coming to church on Sunday, and focusing solely on listening to God. If I feel led by God to do so, I should be able to sit on a pew and read my Bible without feeling judged by laymen for not walking around and greeting newcomers. And I should know that the people in the church are there for me. There is nothing like feeling like absolutely no one in the world understands or wants to understand you- not even at church.

I should not feel obligated by people in the church, to help out with Sunday School or behind-the-scenes work. It's between myself and God. Personally, I LOVE helping the church. I work with the teens, and I'm learning how to walk around, talking to people I don't know. But I also know what it is to be emotionally zapped. I know what it's like to get to church- my only refuge, and feel like all I want to do is sit in the pew and pray or read my Bible. People don't come to be judged for not giving more. If they can't give, and only take, that should be recognized as a need.

It's like the story of Mary and Martha. One sister cleaned, the other sat and listened to Jesus. The one who was cleaning, complained that the other wasn't helping, but Jesus said that she was doing what she was supposed to be doing.

But I've heard people complain about people who come to church to be "fed" spiritually, and especially, about people who share their troubles. These people complain that it's distressing to always have to listen to other peoples' troubles. But if listening to them is depressing you because all they talk about is how hard life is, it's because they are overwhelmed. If it's hard for you to hear it, how hard must it be for them to live it? Come on! Don't judge them; Encourage them!

Eventually, if you give to them, they will be able to overcome their struggles, and perhaps then, they can "give" to others. Or perhaps what you learn through their depressing talk or through your own positive reaction tho them is something you need to learn, and is in effect, an important lesson from God, even a gift from God, through them, to you. NO ONE should be defined a "spiritual parasite." In truth, the concept is conceited. Honestly. And I'm sorry if that offends you, but I'm saying it anyway. We can learn or gain something from everyone. Stop judging, and encourage them. Encourage them through their trials, and encourage them to find strength in becoming more involved, if you feel so led. But encourage them!

Who Wants to Start a Summer Camp?

I am seeking a treasurer and/or secretary to work with me on running a non-profit organization for youth. I have no money yet, so this is a volunteer position for now. As we raise money, however, it will become a paid position. I am incorporating a non-profit organization that will serve youth and their families through day events, and as the funding comes in, through an after-school program and a summer camp that specializes in outdoor adventures and community service. This organization will reach out to all youth, but will have an emphasis on serving emotionally disturbed teens and pre-teens. A big part of this non-profits' belief system is that in the end, nothing is meaningful without God/Jesus... thus, the staff/leadership need to value Jesus' teachings, and be glad to live by Christ's example. At the same time, this organization will be open to all youth regardless of religion, and will not pressure/coerce/or force anyone to participate in any religious activities. If you are interested in working on this project, acknowledging that it will take dedication to make it work, please e-mail me.

Capitalist vs Social Capitalist

We say that we are a capitalistic society. This is not completely true. I once had a teacher who explained that a capitalistic society would have no welfare, no medicare, and no financial aid for college. I'll add, there would be no free lunch program, no animal shelters, no psychologists for people with low income, no group homes for the developmentally disabled. And Walmart would be allowed to take over the country. Basically, all those things that help our society survive would not be there. Our country is Social Capitalistic. We have services that aid people who need it. We also encourage big business, but with a limit. And we allow people to climb an economic ladder (ideally).
Some people, as well as an online survey that I took, say that I am a socialist. Given a choice between capitalist and socialist, I'd agree. But I do like the concept of social capitalism. If I ran the country, which I never will, I would be much more on the social side of the term, than we are. Who was the president who instituted a guaranteed work program, and improved the national parks system? That sounds like good leadership. But I wouldn't say that there has to be absolute economic equality. Some people do work harder than others. But some people get the poor side of everything no matter how hard they try. So everyone should have their basic needs met: socially, economically, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. But from there, that's when capitalism should be allowed to become part of the mix.
-My Opinion Only
update: keep in mind that this was pre-Obama... I doubt I'd be more social than what he's doing.

Darfur Genocide

This one will be updated, because there is so much information. A genocide is currently claiming the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Darfur, Sudan. I started hearing about this genocide about a year ago, after watching Hotel Rwanda with the church youth group that I volunteer with, and deciding to look up the term, "genocide" online. At first, I didn't believe the information I was finding because I hadn't heard anything about it in the news. I decided to research the information myself, thinking maybe the term, "genocide" was a rhetorical phrase used by one special interest group to get people's attention. After spending the day online, however, looking up news articles, special interest sites, and even official governmental sites, etc, I was convinced that it really is a genocide; a whole culture of people really are being killed, though not currently in the way Hitler did it- Darfur is instead using forced poverty and forced homelessness to lead the group down the trail towards death. Then again, Hitler didn't start off killing everyone directly either.
Our government (the U.S.) is involved, trying to end the genocide, but we are not doing much, certainly not enough. The UN is involved; they have agreed that it needs to stop. There have been peacemaking efforts, and some states are creating economic sanctions to force it to stop, but a whole culture of people are being forced into a death-trap lifestyle. I will give examples, but I want to give sources with those examples, and don't have them right now. I know that many people do not believe in involving themselves in the affairs of another country. But if my country forced me out of my home, into refugee camps full of desparate people, where I could not work to obtain food, but had to rely on sharing the minimal in rations, or quite possibly starve, and where I would be fighting a huge risk of being beaten, raped, etc, I would hope that someone somewhere would see me as an individual, and get me out of my situation. A country is like a parent; if it is not willing to provide for the basic needs of its' people, then someone needs to step in. If you want to look it up, for now, here's one path: type "Save Darfur" into your search engine (and press enter). ...update: I now have a site specifically dedicated to understanding the Darfur Genocide: http://understandingdarfurgenocide.blogspot.com

Thoughts on the Apartheid

A woman came here from South Africa to work for a summer. I was her supervisor. Within 3 weeks, she was one of my best friends. She is the one who got me interested in politics.
She told me about Apartheid, and how her family worked against it, but I didn't understand all that it was until a couple weeks ago, when I read a book titled, Kaffir Boy, by Mark Mathabane.
The Apartheid, in my opinion, bordered on genocide. The goal of the white minority at the time, was to force black people into the bottom rung of their hierarchy. They took control of the education system, teaching them how to submit through severe punishment, more than they taught anything else. They created Pass laws, that required every black person to carry a document that described employment status, where they could live, etc. No one could leave the reservations they were assigned to, except if they worked outside of these areas. They were paid so little, that most lived in absolute squalor. High numbers of young boys - 5, 6, and 7 year olds, prostituted themselves for food. The health clinic turned away children with TB, fainting spells, malnutrition, etc, multiple days in a row because the line was too long. A person was required to have his or her pass in order (which cost money to update) in order to get a job legally, but had to have a job in order to obtain a pass, and could be arrested for being unemployed. Raids by the government occurred night or day to ensure that everyone over 16 had their passes in order. Often, families were broken up because men had to move to obtain jobs, but their wives and children were not given permission to join them.
So many people died of starvation. The raids were severe; young children were beaten by police when they didn't tell where their parents were. It was not a crime to kill a black person, so the police could and did do so easily. It seems to me that it was as if the government wanted them dead- at least the ones who were not absolutely subordinate, but tried to organize it in a way in which they could blame the deaths on the victims. It wasn't the same as the Holocaust, in which the army came door to door taking every Jew to enslave or kill. Instead, they were more subtle.

What Political Party Would Jesus Join?

I don't think that Jesus would actually choose one of our political parties; he'd start his own. But what values would characterize that party?
When the disciples asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was, he gave two: to love God with everything that we are, and to love others in the same way that we love ourselves.
The most important aspect of Jesus' party would be to show love. It would not be a party that suggests every man for himself. Instead, I believe it would seek to help each of its' members to grow and to attain their purpose/goals.
As a camp counselor, we did group games that required a team to get from one point to another, through various obstacles. One game used a tire hanging from a branch, to represent a ring of fire. The teams that said, "okay, take turns. Everyone jump through the ring of fire" ended up with a minimum of one person stuck on the other side. But the groups who figured out how to work as a team, showing concern for each member, were able to get everyone across. If you climb up a swinging ladder, all the way to the top, how do you reach down and help the person below you. But if you take a step, then help pull the person below you up a step (to whatever degree they need it), and take another step, then you both can get to the top. Jesus' political party works to help each member through life, pushing even before they themselves are safe, and pulling from ahead, or even going back through the fire to help, when someone gets stuck. Jesus' party would not stop, though, at helping its' own members. It would help everyone who is willing to accept assistance. The Samaritan that Jesus spoke of and praised helped someone he did not know, a fellow member of the human race, but that was it. Jesus' party does not stop at helping only people in the church, or only people in one's own country. Jesus' party helps everyone it sees who needs or could benefit from help.

The Juvenile Hall System

The juvenile hall system works to a large degree, on the concept that the way to get a child/teen to cease participating in negative behavior is to punish them. It is assumed that the reason that an individual breaks the law is for the sole purpose of "being bad". This is not usually the case, however. There is usually a much greater problem that leads to the type of behavior that sends someone to Juvenile Hall.

The majority of youth who are placed in juvenile hall come from a background of poverty. They live in areas that often miss out on the positive effects of government funding. Less police are available, the parks, if they exist, are poorly kept, and no politicians feel encouraged to make neighborhood improvements, such as by fixing sidewalks or putting in ramps for wheelchairs and strollers. As a result of the absence of governmental support, societally negative behaviors are not discouraged, and are, in some cases, deemed necessary.

One example of such behavior arising out of one's living situation exists in the lack of safety in communities of poverty. In such neighborhoods, the response time of both the police and the paramedics is much longer than in areas of higher income. In an area where citizens cannot rely on the government providing safety, the neighborhood will often take it upon themselves to provide their own safety. They do this by imposing their own regulations and punishments through groups such as gangs. If an individual then breaks a regulation, violence will likely be used to punish the individual.

In my experience working with youth from such neighborhoods, fights often break out. When I ask them why their response is to hit back, rather than tell me, the response is very often something to the effect of, "My daddy told me I had to make sure no one hurt me. If they hurt me, he said I should hit back." Sometimes, they are even told that if they come crying rather than do something about it themselves, they will "get [their] ___ kicked" by the parent making the claim. It doesn't make sense to these kids, then, to rely on justice occuring for them. They are taught by society that they must make their own justice.

This is only one example of a reason for youth to choose to commit a crime. Other examples include seeing crime so often by family that it seems normal, feeling peer pressure to commit the crime or be ridiculed and harrassed by others, etc.

This does not give an excuse for youth to commit crimes. It does, however, say that we must respond differently to their crimes. Punishment alone usually does not work. The likelihood that a child/teen put in Juvenile Hall will be back within a year after leaving is over 60 percent (the overall recividism rate among juveniles is 90% in California and 10% in Missouri... Missouri is more rehabilitation-based). This is due, to a great extent, to the feeling that the risk of going back to Juvie is better than the risk of being punished by ridicule, harrassment, and physical attacks by family members and friends. If a youth chooses to go back to his or her community and "straighten up", he/she will likely be shunned by the groups in which he/she was formerly accepted. As social individuals, lacking friends and acceptance is often harder to handle than being locked up in a youth jail.

In my experiences working in a juvenile hall (I volunteered, directing the recreation program), I even found that some of the teens purposely broke probation in order to come back the very next day after getting out. In talking with some of these teens, they told me that Juvie was safe, unlike their homes or their neighborhoods, and that breaking probation was the only way to get away from these places (this was said even though they knew that one one of the girls ended up with a broken arm after struggling with a guard.) The negative behavior would have been decreased simply by finding a way to change their living situation so that they felt more safe.

Instead of focusing solely on punishment, then, the Juvenile Justice System should also provide better alternatives to keep kids and teens out of trouble, before and after the problems start. And when a teen does go to Juvenile Hall, then when they are released, an intense follow-up program should exist to help the individual to get out of the routine he/she was in before going to The Hall.
(brought over from my geocities blogs)