My new favorite definition of Christian evangelism:

"One beggar showing another beggar where the bread line is."

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This past Friday's episode of On Point featured Margaret Jones, discussing her book Love & Consequences in which she detailed what it was like growing up a white girl in a South Central L.A. gang.

While listening to the story, I could not help but think this woman was full of crap. Not so much because I disbelieved her story outright, but because her explanation of the realities of life in the hood were unconvincing. I can agree with her claims that gangs provide security and a sense family in an environment where broken homes are the norm. But she utterly rejected the notion that people entered into that way of life by any choice. She made them all out to be victims. She claimed that if they would just have more jobs and more money, the gangs would stop killing each other. What an oversimplified perspective, with no notion of taking responsibility for yourself.

I know that in inner cities and poor neighborhoods that institutional sin and the cycle of poverty and violence is a reality. I know that such people are dealt a crappy hand in life and so their choices are limited. But we all have limited choices in life. We all face temptations to take an easier way out. Their lives are not so bad as to make killing and violence excusable. Poverty is certainly part of the issue, no doubt. But I also know that having money does not make someone more morally upright - otherwise as soon as these gangbangers and drug-dealers made a few hundred thousand dollars, they would leave the hood and start being good, right? These were my reactions to Margaret's comments.

But then, as I kept listening, I did feel bad for some of these thoughts and reactions. I don't want to be prejudiced, elitist, unsympathetic and condescending. I realized that I haven't the slightest clue as to what it would be like to grow up in such a neighborhood, and I don't know what I would do if I had. My heart softened and admitted "while I may not understand or immediately agree with all she is saying, she must know better than I do."

Turns out, not so much. Margaret Jones - whose real name is Margaret Seltzer - made the whole memoirs up. She actually grew up in a wealthy section of Los Angeles and attended private school. This does not automatically mean that everything she said is bunk. Except, well, that it does. Too bad, if she really understood and cared about solving the gang problem, she could have done so honestly and with more conviction. Now she has just added another layer of lies and incredulity to the conversation.

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BAH! I have become the worst blogger. It's not for want of things to talk about either. It just seems like lately every evening I walk through my front door, stagger to the kitchen, stuff my face with dinner, and then collapse into bed. But on a personal note, this is hopefully a thing of the past, the nonprofit I work for just opened a new office only 12 minutes from my house (as opposed to the 45 minutes I have been driving for nearly a year). Wow, with a whole extra hour a day I may actually have time to exercise, to make crafty things, to bake, to THINK before tiredness overtakes me. Ok, maybe I am exaggerating a bit. But some days it sure doesn't feel like it.

Right at this moment I am sitting on my living room couch, bags packed, waiting for the hubby to get home so we can take off for the greater Chicago area. I am attending a conference on land trusts for my job. We are staying with a friend from college {Stinky Breath}. I am looking forward to watching LOST tonight on an actual TV instead of in that tiny box on my laptop, a la ABC.com.

Anyway, I know I already promised this a week or so ago, but more substantial blog posts coming, I promise! I even have a post-it note list of things I have been meaning to address. See!

p.s. apropos of nothing - my love affair with npr grows deeper every day. *swoon*

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So apparently today a spokesman for the Vatican announced {rather unofficially it seems to me} seven new deadly sins for our modern, globalized times.

{edit: turns out it was quite unofficial - the Monsignor was only referring to the most pressing current moral issues. It was the Times Online that first referred to them being seven new deadly sins.}

As a refresher, or for those who don't know, the traditional seven deadly sins are:

1. Lust
2. Greed
3. Anger
4. Envy
5. Sloth (i.e. Laziness)
6. Gluttony
7. Pride

These seven deadly sins do continue to be deadly to this day. Apparently, though, there are some new sins which we must be on guard against as well:

1. Polluting the Environment
2. Human Experimentation and Genetic Engineering
3. Dealing and Using Drugs
4. Abortion
5. Obscene Concentration of Wealth into a Few Hands
6. Pedophilia
7. Social Injustice

The astute will notice that these new sins are hardly parallel to the old ones. The old deadly sins are categories, while most of the "new" sins (except perhaps polluting and social injustice?) are pretty specific. Plus I think they can all be tied back to one of the original deadly sins. Also, they seem a little arbitrary in their specificity. Why pedophilia, but not pornography? Why abortion, but not torture? I guess I think the new list is sort of lame. But shame on me, I am being critical. These are all major sins which we corporately need to work on eradicating. And I am particularly happy to see the inclusion of polluting and the concentration of wealth included on the list.

edit: Read this too.

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Literally, rain is the current problem to top all my other problems. At this very moment our basement is covered in about a foot of water, with our christmas decorations, camping gear, old CDs and journals, and my wedding dress all floating about in boxes. Seriously, I thought that maybe, finally, at last, this week I would be able to get on top of things. I might be able to clean the house and keep it that way, to catch up on my reading, to catch up on my blogging, and maybe even to get a little extra work/crafty stuff underway.

Nope. Nice Try. Whammy.

I don't really even know what to do with myself. A few minutes ago I banged my elbow on my night-stand and I burst into tears. So I am going to go toss some wildflower seeds onto my backyard and then drive to the gym to kill a couple of hours with sweaty exertion.

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I missed last Funny Video Friday - hopefully this will make up for it. And don't give up to soon - part of the mystery of this video is how surprisingly long it is.



(tip: Roy)

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oh geez, i didn't write a single post in the last week. i'm fired. but if you knew what kind of week i had, correction, what kind of week i am having, you would understand.

and so, in honor of Easter:

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