There are few people whom I enjoy listening to more than Sir Ken Robinson. Especially for those who have a keen interest in education, but also for people who enjoy a good speaker, I recommend him often. Aside from his terrific Liverpool accent, he is terrifically adept communicator. He seems to balance his intellectual acumen with a tremendous vulnerability and humility.

If he were to speak within driving distance of my current location, I would make the necessary accommodations to watch him speak.

With my own background as a minister and someone who seems to be perpetually interested in matters of religion, I was pleasantly surprised to find that SKR had recently shared some anecdotes from his own time in a church. The occasion for this talk was a visit to an organization in London known as The School of Life.

While not within driving distance of my home, I was very intrigued to have one of my favorite speakers giving a talk at an organization known for being “concerned with how to live wisely and well” and working to “address such questions as why work is often unfulfilling, why relationships can be so challenging, why it’s ever harder to stay calm and what one could do to try to change the world for the better.”

FYI, this talk is about 50 minutes long, which is more than twice as long as any other video of SKR that I have shared here. So, take yourself in your mind to some sort of conference on _____________ (insert human endeavor of your choice here) in ________________ (insert exotic conference location here), and enjoy the man’s thoughts on potential, passion, and finding your element in life.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I can’t help but be amused by SKR’s own struggles with the church on the subject of hell. In light of the “Love Wins” controversy, the timing is especially appropriate.

Cheers!

If you are really interested in the story behind the “birthers” claim that Barack Obama is secret immigrant hell-bent on destroying America, Wikipedia’s page on the controversy is impressively full and well documented.

Jon Stewart of the Daily Show led off with this topic last night. He handled it all pretty much exactly how you would have expected him to. The five-minute clip below includes clips from the President’s press conference and the ensuing press conference from the Donald.

So, the real question in all of this is: What will the birthers do now?

It is very possible that those that would call themselves “birthers” may still not be convinced of the President’s place of birth. Well, at least they still support the President in his policies and decision making.

What’s that?

They aren’t Obama aficionados?

Well color me embarrassed. It’s shocking to think that there could be a correlation between disliking the President and believing this birthed hokum!

Are you sure about this?

A friend of mine recently shared a great article on why it is hard for people to change their mind in regards to deeply held convictions. At the very beginning, the author quotes the great psychologist Leon Festinger:

“A man with a conviction is a hard man to change. Tell him you disagree and he turns away. Show him facts or figures and he questions your sources. Appeal to logic and he fails to see your point.”

The rest of the article revolves around the science behind climate change, but touches on a lot of the reasons for why people still do not change their minds, even with what seems to be overwhelmingly convincing information to some. It is well worth reading.

Well, it turns out that our emotions have a whole heck of lot to do with how we perceive things. We aren’t just perceiving “facts”, we are perceiving our version of the facts, and they are colored with all sorts of aspects of our emotional history.

When a new piece of information is processed in our brains, we automatically, subconsciously compare that new information to what we already believe to be true and/or understand about the world. If the information doesn’t fit, our mind starts to find ways to make sense of why it doesn’t fit. This process is on the conscious level, and we call it rationalization.

Maybe it’s the source of the information. Maybe it’s the amount of change and restructuring that we would have to do to assimilate the information. Maybe it’s something else.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that many birthers might have a deep down resentment of this President. Shocking, I know.

The birth debate isn’t the cause of people resenting the President, it’s the result of that resentment.

I’m not sure what the birthers will do next. I’m pretty sure that they won’t be voting for Obama in 2012, even with plans to unearth Obama’s placenta.

I’m sure that you are a big fan of TED Talks, because I am too. I just caught Mr. Brooks’ talk this morning. If you have an extra 18 minutes, you can check it out below. If not, just keep on reading…

Click here to view the embedded video.

It’s a good talk, but you can tell that the podium kind of glues Brooks to the same spot and allows some of his attention-grabbing lecture to lose it’s hook. A much better medium to get a taste of David Brooks is his radio interview by Robert Siegel on All Things Considered. This eight-minute clip is where I first heard the aforementioned quote de jour. It’s definitely worth your time. A full transcript of the interview is on NPR’s site.

The book is the story of the births, lives, love, and deaths of a man and woman in America. It takes place in the constant present tense (2010-ish), and uses each stage of life to explore what can be gleaned from the experience of these individuals that might tap into more abstract human behavior. From scientific studies on toddler-mother attachment to the number of neurological events that are occurring in our minds at any one time, Brooks mixes actual research within the story of Harold and Erica.

It’s perfect for the ADD personality who likes to distract himself or herself with Facebook, Twitter, CNN, and whatever else whilst working on the laptop. The book doesn’t go into the type of depth that would satisfy the most serious of social psychology students, but that’s part of it’s beauty. It scratches so many surfaces with enough depth that one could dive in for more research on a number of different topics, if one so desired. In my opinion, it’s a great balance and gives the book a lot of it’s unique vibe.

I haven’t reached the “people learn from people they love” quote yet, but I’m definitely starting to love this David Brooks guy.

I’ll come back to share my final thoughts once I finish the book. Until then, please let me know if you end up grabbing a copy for yourself…

Here is Sarah Palin’s video released via her Vimeo account:

Click here to view the embedded video.

President Obama visited Tucson personally in order to remember and recognize the victims of the shooting in a community memorial service. You can see the full video of the President’s remarks here (courtesy of PBS and YouTube):

Click here to view the embedded video.

Will this day be remembered as the day that the trajectories of two polarizing political figures were unquestionably altered? Maybe…

In the past couple of weeks, I’ve come across two news articles, with very different examples of interaction between Christians and atheists.

The first one was written by Tom Krattenmaker of USA Today. The title of the article is How to sell Christianity? Ask an Atheist. The gist of the story is all about the new approach to evangelism being espoused by Jim Henderson. Henderson is a Seattle Christian who has embraced atheism as key to understanding why old argumentative approaches have become increasingly “more likely to repel than persuade”.

Buying a soul on eBay

Henderson famously purchased the soul of atheist Hemant Mehta on eBay, in order to get his perspective on the Christian church. Mehta wrote a book about what that experience did for him, while Henderson hired another atheist to travel with him to Christian churches around the country, and wrote a book about all of it. From what I have gathered from the reviews on Amazon, it sounds like both books are positive and even-handed, not looking to prove one side right, but seeking truth in our religious mire.

For what I understand about Jesus, and from the experiences that I have had with Christians, Henderson’s behavior is in line with what I would expect Jesus to do if he were alive today in those circumstances. The whole “What Would Jesus Do?” discussion would look favorably on this guy, in my opinion.

One Nation, Indivisible

In North Carolina, an atheist group displayed the words “One Nation, Indivisible” on a billboard next to the Billy Graham Parkway in Charlotte. The phrase is a part of the Pledge of Allegiance and intentionally leaves out the words “Under God”. These words were added to the pledge in 1954, and have been debated in different ways by different people ever since.

The new controversy is due to graffiti sprayed on the sign a couple of weeks ago, with the words “Under God” added back into the phrase. The debate at hand is whether or not it is appropriate for God followers to deface property, in the name of their god.

The North Carolina Secular Association (the group responsible for the original sign) wants to display their view that the Pledge of Allegiance should not include any language that respects a particular religion. They would rather have the pledge be neutral about any gods, and therefore be silent about the mention of any deities.

In a general sense, Christians are a majority in America, and a large part of democracy is majority rule. There are many Christians who believe that their majority views should be legislated or mandated upon the entire nation. They do not see loyalty to God and loyalty to the United States to be in conflict. To be a good American is to acknowledge God as the protector of it, according to some.

I would have to say that such behavior is not in accordance with the descriptions and understandings of the biblical Jesus. Jesus would not be a political “tagger”. As one quote from the article suggests, perhaps Christians should develop a new bracelet, saying: “What Would Jesus Spray Paint?”

Believe it, or not

Christians of the Arminianist tradition believe that belief in God is a matter of choice, and that such choices are personal to each individual. If Christians want to perpetuate a culture of being able to believe in God, and believe in him in a manner of their choosing, then they need to support those who believe differently. Without the possibility of dissent, there would be no point to discuss or deliberate the merits of Christianity, as a choice.

Many will remember Voltaire’s famous quote:

“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

Do Christians feel so strongly to defend the rights of atheists?

To offer an answer to the title question, I believe that everybody needs an atheist in their life. No man can see everything around him, and if everyone you know is shining their light in the same place, how will you be able to see the rest of the world around you?

Survivor of Auschwitz

As a child, Eva Kor was detained in Auschwitz, the most deadly of the prison and death camps in the Nazi conquest of Europe.  Perhaps even more significantly, Eva was an identical twin, and this made her and her sister extremely interesting in the eyes of the Nazi scientist, Joseph Mengele.  In order to assist the Nazi army, Mengele was tasked with doing experimentation and research on the limits of the human body.

Using pressure chambers, ice water tanks, and various poisons, this mad scientist tried to mimic battle conditions to discover the precise point in which a body would fail.  As soon as the tested twin died, the other twin would have an autopsy performed on them, often while still alive, to compare the differences between the two.

While Mrs. Kor obviously survived, she was starved, tortured, stripped naked, and injected with more chemicals than she can even remember.  All of this was due to the fact that she was Jewish, and that she was an identical twin.  Even though the experiments were extremely painful and inhumane, her life was probably saved because of her status as a twin.

Her genes led her to the face of death (because she was Jewish), and still, her genes also saved her life (because she was an identical twin).

Studying History, Then Touching History

All of our high school history courses ended up studying World War II at the same time this year.  One of the teachers discovered this opportunity to meet Mrs. Kor, which he then shared with the rest of the staff, and eventually to the entire high school.  So as we concluded our studies of World War II and the Holocaust, we loaded up a couple of charter busses to meet Eva Kor and hear her story first hand.

This is where the wondering out the window comes in.  What do you ask somebody who has been tortured as a child, watched her sister be tortured, and watched as her parents, aunts, and uncles were taken away from her, never to be seen again?  I didn’t know what to say.

Actually, I really knew what I wanted to ask her, but I just couldn’t figure out if it was appropriate or not.  I like to talk about forgiveness and healing, but I don’t know anyone who has gone through quite as much as this woman.  Ultimately, I decided not to ask her anything.  I just wanted to sit at her feet, and listen.

And that’s exactly what I did.

We gathered into the main room of the museum she recently founded in Terre Haute, IN.  This spunky, curly haired, colorful scarf wearing, 76 year old woman was ready for us.  She asked us to sit, and instead of sitting in chairs with the rest of the adults, I sat cross-legged on the floor with our students.

When she began speaking, the room went silent.  We hung on her every word.  When she pointed to the picture of the boxcar that she stood in for 3 straight days on her way to Auschwitz, we all understood that we had no right to complain of discomfort for sitting on a floor for two hours.  When she described the train platform where her mother was separated from her and her sister, never to see each other again, we wondered how we could complain about any frustrations with our own parents.  And when she described the piles of dead bodies that acted as a constant reminder of what was threatened with every day, we felt shame for much of the self pity we had allowed ourselves to swim in within our middle-class American lives.

As she spoke, it was clear that this was a woman who spirit was not broken by the Nazis.  This was a woman who held a real power.  The power to command a room is valuable.  The power to expose injustice is greater.  But, at the end of her story, Eva Kor revealed a specific power that she had only discovered in the last 20 years.  It was the answer to the question that I had wondered the entire time.  Eva Kor discovered the power that comes from forgiveness.

Forgiveness, Eva Kor style

Unbeknownst to us, Eva Kor is one of the world’s leading proponents of the power of forgiveness.  While many people have found strength in hating and despising those who have grievously wronged them, she has found the opposite.  Her incredible belief in the power of the human spirit to survive under torture only took her so far.  Over 40 years after she had left Auschwitz, she still felt it’s claws grasping hold of her.  It was only after she chose to forgive Mengele, that she felt truly free.

While Mengele showed some of the depths of human depravity and evil, Eva recognized an opportunity to show the very best in human potential for goodness and grace.

In fact, a documentary film about her forgiveness of Mengele has been made.  You can view the short trailer here:

Click here to view the embedded video.

As you can see, her forgiveness is not without controversy.  Many do not understand the meaning or usefulness of forgiving someone who is dead, and who never asked for forgiveness.  I invite you to learn more about Eva Kor and her story of forgiveness at her website.

As we filed out of the room on our way back to the busses, I shook her hand and thanked her for inspiring us.  Believing I was a student, she smiled and thanked me for coming.

As I was rounding up the last students from the building, I noticed Mrs. Kor emerging from a room with a brochure and bookmark to hand to this last group of students from our group.  As she put the brochure in the girl’s hand, Mrs. Kor said: “Give this to your teacher, he will know what to do.”  The student immediately looked at me and said: “Here you go Mr. Parsons.”

On the cover of the brochure was an acrostic of the word FORGIVENESS.  Freedom Over Revenge Glad In Victory Everlasting Nurture Enjoyable & Surprising Serenity.

This woman is the answer to my question.  Not only is is possible to forgive heinous crimes, it may be the key to ultimate healing from them.

Justice can also be looked at as a way to bring things to an equilibrium, or get an unbalanced situation “back to normal”.

Back in August of 2009, I wrote a little bit about my perspective on justice, particularly how a parent might respond after his or her child has been murdered.  As I re-read my own words, I’m struck by how cavalier I sound.  I am not anywhere close to an expert on grieving a loss or knowing how to respond to a heinous act committed against one’s own children.

To say that my position has softened would be misleading.  I’m not sure if I should even have a “position” on something like this.  Some of this probably comes from the natural maturity of life, but I would say that a lot of it has come from an event much closer to home.

This week, a gruesome crime committed against two young children has rocked our community here in Evansville, IN.  Early Saturday morning, a man named Jeffrey Weisheit tied up his girlfriend’s children, duct taped their mouths shut, and burned them to death with gasoline and road flares.  He then fled to Kentucky in his 2010 Bumblebee Camaro, where he was quickly spotted, arrested, and extradited back to Indiana.

I’ve been wrestling internally with this episode and the role that justice will play as things progress.  Many people around here are having similar struggles.  My mother-in-law was well acquainted with the mother of the children, who is currently pregnant with Weisheit’s child.  How do you explain that situation to a child?  It’s been difficult for my mother-in-law to find the right words of comfort for this situation.  It is incalculably more difficult for that families involved to try to put the pieces back together and find a life that is once again “normal”.

On the local newspaper’s website, the biological father of the children takes part in the comments section of the article.  He vacillates between anger, forgiveness, and regret.  Reading his lines breaks your heart in a whole new way.  How do you wake up one day with children, and go to bed the same night with none?

He also posted some links to pictures and videos of the children, alive and happy in that life.

Click here to view the embedded video.

After watching, it’s even more sobering to imagine their pain and suffering.  The fact that the crime was committed by the trusting hands of one of their caregivers beyond words.  For those of us who have children, and even those that don’t, it’s hard to stomach that such acts are possible.  It shakes our faith in mankind, and perhaps in God as well.

Now, the question on many of our minds is:

“How do we make this right?”

Does justice call for Weisheit’s death in order to balance things out and make it right?  Does he need to be tortured in kind?  Will justice prevail if he is given a life sentence?  Does his family deserve to suffer like the family of the victims?

I don’t know, and I don’t even want to offer a prescription.  I don’t know what to do.  And it doesn’t really matter.  May justice prevail.

Click here to view the embedded video.

March 3, 2010 marked the official day to “Spread the Word to End the Word”.  The word that we are looking to end is the r-word, which can stand for both “retard” and “retarded”.  Really, we just want it’s derogatory use to stop.  When someone uses that word to describe or color something as “stupid” or “less than” in some way, it’s more than just being insensitive; it’s bullying.

Even though I do not have any close family members who deal with a cognitive disability or who are differently abled in some way, I knew that many of my students do.  Inspired by r-word.org, We got together this past week to shoot a quick video and make our own PSA.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It’s been a fantastic experience.  I’ve already had a high school student approach me to say that she has been convinced to forever change her language because of this.

I’d say that is a pretty good start.