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EnderJazz
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Name: Micah
Country: United States
State: Ohio
Metro: Cedarville
Gender: Male
Interests: God... music... clouds... reading... frisbee... missions... hot chocolate... jazz... friends... learning... laughing... card games... C. S. Lewis... organizing things... performing musically... trying to figure out how girls think... military strategy... Risk... Casey's Pizza... drum corps... learning more about people... graphology.... tuba... music theory... trees... Cedarville... trumpet... 5-point pitch... Plowboy Smack... Settlers of Catan... practicing...living life to the fullest in Christ.
Expertise: Music. Reading. Board games. Falling only to be picked up again by my Savior.
Occupation: Artist
Industry: Entertainment
Message: message me
AIM:  EnderJazz
MSN: ender611@hotmail.com
Member Since:
10/9/2004
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| What sparks this note is stuff I hear on the radio every once in a while from a very conservative Christian radio station. Don't get me wrong, it's a good radio station and offers encouragement to many, but their Middle East "News Discussion" is sorely lacking.
It just bothers me. Ever since my Middle East trip, I have been practically inhaling books on Middle East politics, geography, history of Islam, etc. I am very new at the whole concept of Middle East politics, but man, these guys were pretty clueless. And this grieves me because of the large amount of people that listen to this radio station- these guys form the opinions of a lot of the Christians in conservative America regarding the Middle East.
Couple things that I had issue with:
1. About a week and half ago, when I accidentally came upon this program, they were discussing politics in the Middle East and naturally Israel came into the conversation. Now don't get me wrong, I believe that the Millenium Kingdom will literally rule in Israel. But at the same time, Israelites aren't all Christians, believe it or not. Israelites are humans. This means that not everything they do is right.
The guys on the radio were 100% pro-Israel and only spoke of the Palestinians as basically terrorist trash. They didn't say that exactly, but it was pretty clear what they thought of Palestinians. This makes me sad. If Christians overgeneralize like that, it is such a shame. I happen to actually know Palestinians after my trip that are some of the nicest people you have ever met...
Not 100% of the blame of the whole situation right now lies with the Palestinians. Yes they have faults. I won't argue for terrorism. But lately my thinking has been challenged to think from both sides. Before the seizure of Palestine from the Palestinians in 1947, the Palestinians had been living there for a little under 1900 years. The way the Israel reclaimed the land, in the grand strategic point of view, led a great deal to certain problems the Middle East has now.
At the same time, Arabs and Israeli's don't get along too well usually, and the error in reasoning from the past like that is that no one knows how negotiating for the land would have resulted. But my point is, that both sides have errors, and both sides have had injustices handed to them. Just because the nation of Israel fits into prophecy in the Bible does not mean that we should just let them have complete free reign. The Israeli government likes the evangelical Christians in America, because it gives them more leeway.
This is a huge topic and I honestly don't know enough to really get into it. But I am trying to learn.
2. The whole thing with oil bothered me. Today they were talking about oil and how finishing the war in Iraq would be necessary to keep that oil from Iran. It's probably true that if we pull out, Iran will pull in, perhaps with the help of the Syria military. Iran gives Syria money for terrorism, so Syria owes Iran at least a little help in something like that.
What bothered me was how their focus about finishing the war in Iraq was that Americans get oil. Nothing was said, that I remember, about the long-term affect of Americans pulling out on the Iraqi people and resulting power void. (The commentator guys could have talked about this, but I tuned in after it had been going for a little bit.) The concern was oil, not people. That is a problem...
One thing that the guys on the radio said was that 3 out of every 4 barrels of oil imported into the US is from a Muslim country. I couldn't see how that was possible so I went to the U.S. Energy Administration and looked up petrol imports and that statitistic was totally wrong. As of late 2006, less than 25% of the imported oil into the US comes from the Middle East, and somewhere around 3% of total imported oil into the US in 2006 came from Iraq. The biggest importers are actually Canada and Mexico, believe it or not.
So when these Christian radio talk show hosts talk about if we pull out of Iraq oil will go up to $7 a barrel, that just isn't true. I'm not saying we should pull out. I am saying that it's a shame that statistics are shared like that on prime-time Christian radio.
3. I have gone on long enough, so I won't really talk about this much, but they discussed at the end how the battle in Iraq is a religious war. It kind of is, but there are a lot of other things involved too. Middle Eastern religion conflicts are not black and white. They aren't simple, like sometimes people portray it. It really isn't just Christians vs. Muslims in Iraq. There are often conflicts between different sects of Sunni's and Shi'ites, and there can also be conflicts in a sect to win the control of a sect in order to take out another sect. There are sometimes the secret services of a Syria or Iran trying to disrupt the Americans in Iraq to motivate American popular opinion to want to pull out. There are also terrorist cells that can be Shi'ite or Sunni, and these guys might want both Americans and the other group dead.
One thing that I have learned from reading and experiencing it just a little bit is how incredibly complex the whole thing is. There are feuds going back hundreds and thousands of years. The feud between Palestinians and Israelis goes back practically to the beginning of time. There have been conflicts between sects in Islam for over a thousand years. It is not a simple conflict, and there is no simple solution. These guys suggested as their main suggestion to fix things as "seeking oil dependence out of the Middle East." Well, that really isn't going to solve much, really.
I don't have the answers, obviously, and there is the probability that there will never be peace in the Middle East until the Second Coming of Christ. But at the same time, that is NOT an excuse to just ignore it all.
Where is the compassion of Christians for millions dying without hope in these lands? Where is the concern for people, and not just oil? Many of these countries are in oppression, with people living in daily fear for their lives. Where are those who would go and put their lives in danger for the rewards that can never perish? I pray that if God calls, I would be one of them. | | |
|  | Currently Watching
Ratatouille
By Patton Oswalt, Adam Scott, Brian Dennehy, Lou Romano, Janeane Garofalo
see related |
It's high time I posted on here again. Over the past two or three weeks, I keep thinking of things that would be sweet to put on here, but I never really get around to doing them. So, here's some information, presented in a completely normal, average, nothing too special, way: Lately I have been studying and reading about the Middle East, reading "A History of the Arab Peoples" by Albert Hourani, and "From Beirut to Jerusalem" by Thomas Friedman, both known for being top-tier resources on the Middle East. It is really fascinating. When I was young, I was guilty of thinking "Man, why do we keep hearing about the Middle East all the time." I "knew" it was an important part of the world, but I didn't know, really. I can't really share places I have been in the Middle East on the web, so I have to keep saying Middle East, but walking around in some of these great cities has definitely changed my perspective. So, I have started learning a little Arabic. Who knows? It might come in handy sometime. It is the official language of 22 countries, or something close to that. Apart from Middle Eastern studies, I have gotten the opportunity to write a review for the journal "Asian Music" about some South Indian devotional songs. I am starting to study South Indian music more in depth so I can at least sound like I know what I'm talking about! My cough has almost gone away, so it is also time to really begin practicing in earnest again, both trumpet and tuba. Senior year is coming up, and gotta be sharp. All these up and coming youngsters out for blood. Gotta teach 'em a thing or two. haha And hopefully over the rest of the summer we can catch a drum corps show or two. I wanna go up and visit Ankeny/Des Moines/Indianola sometime before heading back to school. I need to begin preparing for the school year as an RA. I feel a lot better about that this upcoming year, now that I kind of know what it's like. In other news, I highly recommend the movie "Ratatouille." It was quite good. I fully intend to go again. If anyone out there in the nether-world needs someone to go with, I'll go. haha. It was quite enjoyable. | | |
| I got home from the Middle East last night around 12:30am. It was amazing. Wow. It's going to take me a little bit to get sleep-adjusted back to here though! haha | | |
| The past couple days have been fairly trying for me- the visa that I have to have to go on my Middle East trip on Monday still has not gotten here, and according to the tracking thing, it has not been sent yet. It is hard. I have called multiple times. Supposedly it was supposed to be sent out on Tuesday, then it was to be sent out today. I sent the visa in weeks early. For all intents and purposes, it should be here. There is a lot at stake on getting the visa very soon. If I don't get it, the primary plan of my summer is canceled, I will have to give all my supporters back their money, cancel plane tickets, etc. It has been wearing on my mind. But... There is a place at home that is my sanctuary of sorts. Most people have one somewhere, whether it be a beach, a tree in your backyard, or a comfortable chair in your room, with the sun coming in the window. My sanctuary is a fairly small cement slab with a basketball hoop. That place is where I have thought a lot about life, goals, girls, ideas, and God. It is where I go when I just need to think and shoot some hoops. I don't know how many hours have been spent out there, but they have got to be in the hundreds for sure. The beauty of this sanctuary really has nothing to do with the slab and everything to do with the sky. It is surrounded by so much sky, and when the clouds are full, the wind is cheerful, and the sun is bright, it is impossible to stay down. With such a big and huge Creator God, a thing like a guy putting a visa in the mail seems so infinitesimally small. How dare I worry about it. My God is sovereign. My God is good. My God is so much greater than anything I can hope or plan for. Who am I? My life is but a vapor. One of the great things of nature and solitude is that one's heart gets a reality check. My selfishness of getting the things that I want, even when they might be something as good as a missions trip, was taking precedence over God's plan. It was a hard thing to give up. But such a relief. I will still do what I can to get the visa here, but if it doesn't come, and my plans are changed, God is still good. His ways and thoughts are higher than mine... The Lord has given and the Lord has taken away. May the name of the Lord be praised! | | |
| Warning: to those of you who enjoy the Pirates of the Caribbean movies to no end, find your delight in them, and constantly look forward and talk about the NEVER-ENDING "episodes", this post is most definitely, NOT, for you... *Stretch* Okay here we go: I will say positive first. The visual effects were really good. Seriously. They get a 9 out of 10. Good job to the visual effects supervisor and his minions. Okay. Yeah... Walking away from that movie left me stunned. The basic elements of story telling were severely lacking: -The plot was so muddled, at least what you could hear of it. Like the second movie, it was difficult to understand things people were saying. I am usually pretty good at following plots and sub-plots in movies, but in the middle, I really had no idea what in the world was honking going on. -Character development practically was non-existent. One could argue that the characters had been developed from the previous two movies, but still. In a two and a half hour movie, there should be something. -The climax was too long, and I am not even really sure where the climax was. I mean, there was this massive sea-fight at the end that lasted for like 45 minutes, but was that the climax of all three movies? (It's mainly the cultural impact over the movie that bothered me. But the movie itself just wasn't good. I'm sorry. It wasn't.) There are basic fundamental elements to a story, which basically I believe a movie is. I felt like I just got a bunch of cheap action scenes shoved down my throat, as opposed to a story. While on that, I know just a little bit about ocean mythology/lore/whatever, and man, whew. Stuff was messed over hard core. Calypso loving Davey Jones, the Kracken getting killed by something(?), the end of the world actually being on a map owned by a Chinaman in English, etc., etc. I guess what made me feel sick to my stomach was how many people were watching this movie and liking it, especially the kids. If children grow up thinking this is the ultimate kind of movie... I don't know. It is such a telling sign of our culture... ...Our culture is obsessed with instant entertainment that requires no thought. (There are some points in which that is okay- This week I got my wisdom teeth out, and I really needed some entertainment that didn't require thinking- the drugs were messing me up a little. Everyone has times like that. But our culture has taken that exception and made it the norm.) After the movie I kind of felt like I was leaving an amusement park. All thrills. Zero, and I mean zero, depth. What lessons can be learned from the movie's main characters? Backstabbing is okay, killing is inconsequential to everyone, and love is easily won back and forth. And speaking of lessons, I was in complete shock before the final battle when Miss Swann gives her little speech thing. Basically, she said that they should fight for their freedom, etc... like a Braveheart-type speech. But does no one HONKING realize what pirates are and what they did? Sometimes freedom and bravery are not the ultimate character traits. Morals should be important, too, right? Goodness sake. I know it's a movie, but glorifying pirates "Steal what ya can, take what ya can get" motto with little kids riveted to the screen is just dumb. Pirates raped, pillaged, burned, tortured, and killed innocent people. I understand a little romancing the story is fun, but at least a movie like Muppet Treasure Island had a plot, character development, morals, etc. That's what I should have done in this post- give the top 20 reasons why Muppet Treasure Island is better than Pirates of the Caribbean 3! I am not going back to change it now though. haha I felt this overwhelming urge to go read a book, or go bake a cake, or go eat an apple, or go talk to someone, or ANYTHING productive at ALL. Think of all the combined millions of hours and money of people in our country and worldwide watching that movie in the next few weeks. Think what could actually happen. Think about what could be accomplished. Wow. It blows my mind. I don't know...this post really wasn't as good as I wanted it to be, but I really don't want to think about it any more. Au revoir. | | |
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