tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133123698368438199.comments2023-03-20T10:14:37.879-04:00One Step Closer: Religion & Popular CultureKurthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12359553690204479581noreply@blogger.comBlogger255125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133123698368438199.post-33539582038052956442020-08-16T09:19:12.416-04:002020-08-16T09:19:12.416-04:00Only took me two years to respond: sorry about th...Only took me two years to respond: sorry about that if you happen to read this. I disagree that my understanding of this is simply applying "current social attitudes" on yesterday's. Jesus grouped her with the dogs under their masters' table." I think that's pretty clear in any time that she is beneath. I think I take greatest issue with your statement that Jesus would not learn a lesson "from a woman whose only concern was getting result for her child." First off, Matthew has made it clear in his version that this Canaanite woman sees Jesus as the Jewish Messiah. She calls him "Lord" twice, and "Son of David". Yes, she is focused on getting her daughter healed, and her "persistent faith yields results." That is Matthew's other obvious point, but are you quite sure that Jesus isn't learning from these encounters? Sure, Matthew's Jesus always has things figured out, his actions usually "fulfilling scripture", (although not this time). But Mark's Jesus is constantly discerning his faithful path. His encounters drive is path of faithfulness. I think it's right to suggest he learns from others, especially considering the text before this story (what defiles). I think it's wrong to assume that this story would not have been troubling to first century audiences in some ways, and that is part of its brilliance. Kurt C. Wiesnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12712861217253786101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133123698368438199.post-25836781243036661082020-04-23T08:34:14.271-04:002020-04-23T08:34:14.271-04:00Thank you!
Yes, this movie, to me, is such a pictu...Thank you!<br />Yes, this movie, to me, is such a picture of how legalism kills creativity, kindness and love! Pretending! Sheryl Sparkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04226765631027011403noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133123698368438199.post-68572212816546897412020-03-26T13:47:53.028-04:002020-03-26T13:47:53.028-04:00Thanks for your wise words.
As we shelter, many ...Thanks for your wise words. <br />As we shelter, many like myself alone, words that sustain hope and faith are a great blessing.<br />God reaches us wherever we may be. Sometimes I forget and my energy flags. Then I remember, and find strength once more. Anne+Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17935126619323932906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133123698368438199.post-10890294797123877062019-11-04T17:03:17.940-05:002019-11-04T17:03:17.940-05:00Here are some more current articles and viewpoints...Here are some more current articles and viewpoints: I hope one of or more of them can spark some conversation.<br /><br />https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/17/magazine/white-men-privilege.html<br /><br />https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/fall-2018/what-is-white-privilege-really<br /><br />https://medium.com/@martiesirois/my-fellow-white-people-this-is-whats-meant-by-white-privilege-1b780e1328aa<br /><br />Additionally, "Showing up for racial justice" has numerous articles which may prove helpful.<br /><br />https://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/Kurthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12359553690204479581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133123698368438199.post-80884346397872022042019-11-04T16:04:42.836-05:002019-11-04T16:04:42.836-05:00Thanks. Please steer me to a site currently deali...Thanks. Please steer me to a site currently dealing with this issue.<br /><br />The problem I'm dealing withis that no "remedy" seems possible without an extremely divisive effect.billnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133123698368438199.post-70194417581997901372019-11-04T14:32:25.220-05:002019-11-04T14:32:25.220-05:00Hi Bill. Thanks for your comments. I wrote this ...Hi Bill. Thanks for your comments. I wrote this back in 2013, so while I wouldn't object to a conversation here, I think there are likely more current starting points to discuss this. Do I have something in mind? Only that too often it seems that the "straight white male" response is the self-defense trying to show that "I'm different" rather than the work to address and effectively change systems that are built on racial/gender/sexual identity and so on privilege. Kurthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12359553690204479581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133123698368438199.post-27746393605674030012019-11-04T12:26:41.373-05:002019-11-04T12:26:41.373-05:00Would you consent to having your site be used as a...Would you consent to having your site be used as a semi-official site for discussing this issue? If so how do we get the word out?billnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133123698368438199.post-29977679184819355782019-11-04T11:49:56.122-05:002019-11-04T11:49:56.122-05:00What exactly is the "common solution)to this ...What exactly is the "common solution)to this white privilege situation? You must have something in mind and I'd like to learn what it is.<br />Billnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133123698368438199.post-96514239232073272018-03-19T19:32:55.953-04:002018-03-19T19:32:55.953-04:00I think it's always dangerous when we try to i...I think it's always dangerous when we try to impose our current requirement to be PC and modern culture on the culture in Jesus time. This story was not misunderstood at the time or I am certain it would have been culled. If Jesus was operating in our current environment, you get the feeling the approach would have been slightly different. The ultimate lesson from this episode has not changed...bold,persistent faith yields results. Go, your faith "has done this" is a recurrent lesson. I don't see this as Jesus learning a lesson from a woman whose only concern was getting result for her child. There is a lot that can be said on this episode of scripture but we have to be extremely careful when we impose our current social attitudes on yesterday's. It smacks of a superiority complex that assumes it is superior to yesterday's.. and not simply building on it<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07732805491291727875noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133123698368438199.post-23269785835678935022015-06-24T07:31:32.846-04:002015-06-24T07:31:32.846-04:00Dear Kurt,
While I was never an active participant...Dear Kurt,<br />While I was never an active participant in services at one of your former churches, I greatly admired your kindness and wisdom and am so proud to see the leadership role you have taken in your own churches. Thank you for being an outspoken public voice against hatred and bigotry. We all should do as well as you have. Gandhi was right, "You need to be the change you want to see."<br /> Karen Grochau, Cleveland HeightsKaren Grochaunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133123698368438199.post-11444963878909573262015-06-15T08:46:36.862-04:002015-06-15T08:46:36.862-04:00I like it! I still miss your sermons. It's goo...I like it! I still miss your sermons. It's good to have a chance to read your thoughts here.toni p1https://www.blogger.com/profile/14888002688919296589noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133123698368438199.post-42397677420783692862015-06-04T12:08:57.547-04:002015-06-04T12:08:57.547-04:00Alleluia and AmenAlleluia and Amentoni p1https://www.blogger.com/profile/14888002688919296589noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133123698368438199.post-36630036312425433632015-06-03T16:00:50.814-04:002015-06-03T16:00:50.814-04:00I love the Tutu quote. You quoted Tutu last Sunday...I love the Tutu quote. You quoted Tutu last Sunday too. I love it. Someone said the God of the Bible couldn't possibly be the same as the God or Alla of the Koran. Why not? How does anyone know when God is bigger than we can know. Alice Hornbecknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133123698368438199.post-80481839501881252542015-06-02T23:34:10.029-04:002015-06-02T23:34:10.029-04:00I was counting on that, Sheelagh! :)I was counting on that, Sheelagh! :)Kurthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12359553690204479581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133123698368438199.post-76062528636366556082015-06-02T21:18:57.894-04:002015-06-02T21:18:57.894-04:00Paul Higginson says ALLELUIA! ��Paul Higginson says ALLELUIA! ��Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13383852128705125539noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133123698368438199.post-2446950798292428352015-01-05T14:12:49.407-05:002015-01-05T14:12:49.407-05:00Kurt,
how wonderful for you and Darlene. I pray th...Kurt,<br />how wonderful for you and Darlene. I pray that the new year and your new position will bring you much peace and joy. And congratulations on the baby!<br />Tonitoni p1https://www.blogger.com/profile/14888002688919296589noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133123698368438199.post-82512046116921875572014-12-08T11:32:17.457-05:002014-12-08T11:32:17.457-05:00Thank you Kurt for your insight. I have been findi...Thank you Kurt for your insight. I have been finding it difficult to talk because I am so choked by anger, fear and sadness. Thank you for being willing to listen without trying to tell us how to "fix" ourselves or trying to tell us that we are just imagining that it's about race. Here in Cleveland we had two funerals last week. A 12 year boy with a toy gun was shot and killed by a Cleveland Police officer. Within the same week a 36 year old mentally ill woman died while in police custody. In Michigan a man walking down the street in the cold with his hands in his pockets was stopped by a police officer because someone reported a "suspicious" person in the neighborhood. He was lucky the neighbor didn't take matters into his or her own hands and that the officer was willing to talk to him. I am so tired.toni p1https://www.blogger.com/profile/14888002688919296589noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133123698368438199.post-62399401703841024632014-12-07T20:54:22.593-05:002014-12-07T20:54:22.593-05:00Since Trayvon Martin's death, in an escalating...Since Trayvon Martin's death, in an escalating number of posts, former (black) students all over the country have been posting stories of black deaths at the hands of the police, stories not reported on mainstream media. We whites don't hear these stories other than from the black community - and I asked one FB friend who hesitated to keep posting the news to keep going, that we need this voice or we will stay ignorant. Yes, it's a black issue, and yes it's an issue for all of us, yes because justice and ... if any need a more immediate reason, because if we don't confront it now, we will all be facing the danger of a militarized and increasingly brutal police force, intent on cowing us into fearful submission<br />.Joyce Vining Morganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02004971540548153771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133123698368438199.post-8652618456367323032014-12-07T19:44:00.480-05:002014-12-07T19:44:00.480-05:00Thank you Kurt for your courage and leadership in ...Thank you Kurt for your courage and leadership in responding to this madness. As a white woman, I have not known how to enter in to this discussion, and how to respond in support of my black neighbors and with outrage at the madness and sadness of these violent and senseless acts. I appreciate your going bravely into the discussion.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133123698368438199.post-7092950243119258072014-11-14T09:29:27.111-05:002014-11-14T09:29:27.111-05:00Thanks for this post.
I love Wil Wheaton.Thanks for this post. <br /><br />I love Wil Wheaton.toni p1https://www.blogger.com/profile/14888002688919296589noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133123698368438199.post-69398990872938873722014-09-29T16:32:11.753-04:002014-09-29T16:32:11.753-04:00Awesome as always. I'm looking forward to the ...Awesome as always. I'm looking forward to the new songs.<br />Tonitoni p1https://www.blogger.com/profile/14888002688919296589noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133123698368438199.post-84529221732410673322014-08-25T10:41:13.778-04:002014-08-25T10:41:13.778-04:00Awesome Kurt! I will be trying to come up with tha...Awesome Kurt! I will be trying to come up with that sentence.toni p1https://www.blogger.com/profile/14888002688919296589noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133123698368438199.post-59249395126080647612014-08-24T14:55:03.916-04:002014-08-24T14:55:03.916-04:00Perhaps: your interpretation works better with Ma...Perhaps: your interpretation works better with Matthew's version of the story...the disciples do complain, and Jesus proclaims her faith. It remains a possibility even in Mark's version, and I certainly agree with your rejoicing over the Gentile inclusion, even if I still think a tired Jesus (as the text describes) lends to my interpretation. Thanks for your comment!<br /><br />Kurthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12359553690204479581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133123698368438199.post-88564027762178063632014-08-24T14:14:59.433-04:002014-08-24T14:14:59.433-04:00I think this is perhaps a lesson for the disciples...I think this is perhaps a lesson for the disciples, delivered with a bit of humor.<br /><br />The disciples were Jewish exclusivists uninterested in serving or sharing the good news with Gentiles. They would have turned the woman away.<br /><br />But Jesus, with a smile, engages the woman in a humorous way (expressing the disciples' perspective), and I can imagine the woman being in on the joke with a glint in her eye.<br /><br />The disciples learned a lesson that day that helped lead, eventually, to Gentile inclusion in the church. And am I ever happy for that!<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2133123698368438199.post-79844690035825695552014-08-22T19:10:24.348-04:002014-08-22T19:10:24.348-04:00True: and good for them for sticking to that, as ...True: and good for them for sticking to that, as I said above. I still don't find Hand's action of handing Ward the gun believable, but they sure produced a "No way!" Moment!Kurthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12359553690204479581noreply@blogger.com