Day: October 16, 2004

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why do people hate america? – tony campolo’s “church of fools” sermon

why many people in the world hate america.

first, let me say that i love tony campolo. next, let me add that i also love the ship-of-fools website. so it is obvious that i was thrilled when i found out that tony campolo “preached” a message at the “church of fools” that is put on by ship-of-fools.com. campolo preached the following message “why many people in the world hate america.”

in the message campolo suggests that the main reasons that many non-americans hate america is because we have not lived up to our potential. we once were the country that set the standard and every other nation wanted to be like. we stood for freedom and justice. now, we come across as a big bully who is only concern is cheap products and oil.

makes you wonder about being the “city on a hill” doesn’t it?

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the diner table

i’ve read several places that the only common factor that rhodes scholars have is that they typically have been raised eating with their families at a common table – some have said four times a week. i can’t find research on this so i can’t prove it is true and i’m not sure that being a rhodes scholar is the “end all” of life but i do think this common factor points out how important eating together is. you’ve probably noticed similar statements in other media that you have encountered. if you have watched “super size me” or read the book “fast food nation” then you have read and watched similar comments. the family table is beginning to be recognized as an important part of a healthy lifestyle. here are some of the reasons why:

  • the common table encourages us to eat home made food rather than processed food – home made non-processed food is better for you.
  • the common table encourages social interaction – we live in a society that encourages “get and go” eating that has very little social interaction because it is done so fast.
  • the common table strengthens the family – it’s hard (but not impossible) to separate yourself from your family when you are sitting 18 to 24″ away from them.
  • the common table forces us to look at each other – rather than focusing on a t.v and merely being in the same room with each other.
  • the common table slows down life – an incredibly difficult thing to do in our face paced world.
  • the common table encourages eating less fattening and sugary food.

now i know that basically this blog is read by my parents and the only person they have at home is shirley the demonic cat, but i want to encourage anybody else who might read this thing to commit to eating at a family table – if you’re a teen – ask your parent(s) to do this or decided that you will do this for your kids when you have them, if you’re a college student – maybe you should form a “family group” around you and eat together as much as possible, if you’re a young married person – start regularly eating at a common table now so that it will be a habit for the rest of your life, and finally if you’re my parents – then invite that stupid cat to the diner table and maybe she’ll become somewhat less satanic (this would be a true miracle). in this day and time eating at a common table as a family is not an easy thing. of course, i believe the benefits are worth the effort.

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how different are we?

i so often hear people say that men are rational and women are emotional. i firmly believe that there are differences between men and women – physical, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual differences. i would agree that the sexes respond to the same events in different ways. yet i really don’t believe that we are all that different and i definitely don’t believe that men are rational. most of the men i know are anything but logical. men are typically every bit as emotional as women – it’s just that those emotions show themselves in manner that are different from women.

why do guys pick the cars that they do? it’s not for rational reasons. just think about it for a second. look at the suv’s, trucks, and sports cars that we men buy and tell me how they are chosen for logical reasons. consider our politics. most of our political decisions are made based on emotional reasons rather than rational. when’s the last time you saw a guy make a rational decision about dating or marrying someone? logic has very little to do with those decisions. no men are just as emotional as women.

now please don’t get me wrong i do believe there are differences in the way that men and women react to things. it’s just that i believe those differences are differences within the same category – emotion – rather than differences in kind – rational versus emotional.

i wonder why we do this? i am beginning to think that it is done to make the decisions of women look worse than the decisions of men. i guess some think that rational decisions must be better than emotional decisions. nope! not in my opinion. i wonder if the whole thing isn’t just an unconscious ploy to belittle the role of a woman in our society.

thank GOD we are not the same. i am very thankful that pam, my wife, calls on me to open jars because i am physically stronger than her, i love the fact that i under spatial aspects better than her, and i appreciate the fact that in some ways she has a better sense of beauty than i do. still when you get down to the center of the matter i’m not so sure we are all that different.