Author: toseealife

Proudly Unpopular–Part 2

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In my last post I began talking about popular ideas, and I still had more to say, so I thought I’d make it a two-parter.

I established already my problem with what’s popular nowadays in my post Popular Stupidity. There’s plenty more to say about that. But something else has been on my mind lately.

As you all know, I’m a Christian. And sometimes I get a little preachy on this blog, because I am passionate about what I believe. Some of you may forgive me for it, some of you may not. This is not an apology. Anyway, if you’ll permit me to go off on a personal tangent, I’d like to talk about some of the misconceptions about Christianity that I notice people have.

Just to be fair, I will admit here that I had misconceptions about things Muslims believe that were altered when I read more about them. So, any faith can be misrepresented.

My main concern about western Christianity is that it’s gotten lost in the mumbo jumbo of pluralism.

Pluralism: A theory that there is more than one basic substance or principle.

I was watching a YouTube video that other day, talking about belief among other things, and I was unpleasantly shocked when I read in the comment section below people talking about the beliefs expressed in the video (and the material it was discussing) being “Obviously Christian.” This is why I was shocked. The views in question were that the Universe wants us to do the right thing, that Life knows what it’s doing, that  there is no right and wrong answer, etc.

All stuff I’ve heard before, but, it’s not Christian.

I fully expect my beliefs to be misrepresented by people who don’t hold them, and I’m not going to throw a hissy fit ever time they are. The problem this time was that people were calling something that was nowhere near Christianity “obviously Christian.”

I’ve probably already turned you off by starting a religious rant, you might say “just get over it.” And, hey, I will. But this isn’t about me.

You see, just because someone expresses a belief in a higher power on the air, does not make them a Christian. Even remotely. But the even bigger problem I have with it is that people actually think Universalism is compatible with Christianity.

Universalism: The doctrine that emphasizes the universal fatherhood of God, and the final salvation of all souls.

Universalism bears a slight resemblance to Christianity, in that it has a deity that directs us, and wants to see us all saved. Saved in what way I don’t know. I don’t know very much about the specifics of the belief, if it can be specific.

Let me say this clearly, Christianity does not teach that God is the Universe, or that all souls will be saved.

A clear contradiction of Universalism. Don’t get mad at me yet, I haven’t said which is better, only that there’s a difference.

A big difference. For one thing, if God actually was the universe, we, as part of the universe, would be a part of God, just by being born. Christianity teaches that we are not a part of God until we receive his son as our savior and our reborn. And then it is spiritual, not physical, as being part of the universe is.

For another, if all souls are saved, there is not need to be good, or to do right, or to seek truth, you are simply born into it.

I can see why this would be a very appealing substitute for Christianity. People may still hate it, but a lot fewer will, because it’s very inclusive, and a lot of different religions can identify with it.

Now to finally get to the unpopular part of this post. If you’re still reading by now, you must truly be interested, so thank you.

My Faith is not meant to be popular. If anyone who reads my blog hates it, that doesn’t bother me. It doesn’t even surprise me, because in our Bible, we are told “Don’t be surprised if the world hates you.” The world is anyone who is not a Christian, by the way. I’m sure people don’t like that Christianity is exclusive. Either you are one or you aren’t, if you aren’t; you’re lumped into the category of being in the “world.” I don’t judge you if you dislike that, it’s not a pleasant feeling.

But that doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. What’s bad is when Christians ourselves lose sight of what it means to be not of the world but still in it. I don’t hate non-Christians, I don’t feel threatened by them.

Here’s the  thing, Hollywood and every other place movies and shows come from, I don’t care whether my faith is on the air or not. I care about the people watching. Millions of people, everyday, who won’t go to church because they can hear what it’s like from TV, and they know it’s not for them. Do you know why I’m angry? Because when people don’t know what they actually hate, and hate it anyway, that leads to the worst kind of prejudice. The kind that hurts the person who holds it more than the objects of it, often enough.

Hate me for what I actually stand for, if you like, but not for what I don’t. The real Christian Faith, it’s unpopular. That’s why it’s not depicted correctly. People know their ratings will go down. But the shows aren’t what bug me, they’re just shows, what bug me are the ideas they spread that aren’t accurate. That goes for any idea, not just ones about religion.

Call me old fashioned, but I still believe accuracy is a huge factor in measuring the quality of something.

There’s still more to say about unpopularity, but I’ll stop for now. Thanks for reading, until next time–Natasha.

Proudly Unpopular–Part 1

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So,  a little fun fact about the past century: Though popularity has existed as long as civilization, the adjective Popular really became itself in the last hundred years or so. I think we’ve all seen the movies of the last couple of decades that focused on the pros and cons of being popular or achieving popularity.

There’s nothing wrong with those movies per sec, but I’m beginning to think they’re  a little outdated. Although I’m sure popularity is still a big motivator for people,  what we’re hearing about now, and being held up to, is Self Expression.

Frank B. Gilbreth once lamented that because kids wanted to be popular so much, they didn’t care about being smart or kind, or anything else. (Cheaper By the Dozen.)

Well, we should be glad that our culture has embraced new values, right?

You all knew that was a trick question. So I’ll say upfront that I don’t at all wish for a return to the obsession with popularity. That always stuck me as shallow, and a lot of movies still clichely make the popular people not at all relatable, or even like real people. (What surprises me is really that only us younger generations seem to think that’s a bad representation of them.) But I wonder, have we really lost our obsession with popularity?

The thing about embracing it, was, that it was honest. One freely admitted that they considered the approval of others the most important factor of life. And whether that was applauded or disdained, we were all on the same page. Now, however, popular ideas, opinions, and styles are no longer seen as what they are.

Let me elucidate. What I mean is, a popular idea is one held by a large portion of your society, maybe the majority, or one of the majorities. It is not usually a political idea, because those are more official, it’s more the background for political ideas. Popular thinking is nearly always framed as being a new way. (Though it used to be the old way was more popular, but that’s another story.)

Okay, so here’s my main point. We, as a people, have not actually ceased to conform to popular ideas. We just call it something else.

If you only casually observed our culture, you might think that our newer generations think more for themselves than the previous ones did. After all, we’re always talking about what our personal beliefs are; making up our own minds; following our own heart, or path, or road. (Pocahontas or Moana anyone?) But I dare to say this is all parrot talk.

There are no new ideas, just new names for them. And we are not making our own way, we’re simply choosing which of the old ways to go. Unless you’ve taken a cue from  historical figures like Buddha or Mohammad, you haven’t actually founded your own personal religion. (I’m not disrespecting them or endorsing them, I’m just making a point.)

But that’s what we’re pushing for isn’t it? Everyone needs their own way. And every way is equal, every way is good and bad at the same time. Only it’s really good, or we wouldn’t be advocating it.

There could be a million religions out there, and only one of them would ever be the right one. That’s not because I’m a Christian, but because I think it’s simple logic, there is a Great Truth out there that every religion is searching for and claiming to identify with, one of them must be the closest to it, if they’re all different.

I think we’ve largely forgotten that the purpose of faith is to get closer and closer to the truth. And then to hold on to it.

Self Expression if good, as far as it goes. We need an interesting world. But let’s never forget that the reason we express ourselves is not to benefit ourselves.

We were each given a gift to that will make the world a better place. And it will point other people to the good and beautiful things in Life. If we aren’t doing that then we are misusing our gifts, and if it destroys us, that is why. Yes, Self Expression is good for you also. But only if you’re sharing it. Because otherwise, who will you express it to, and why?

I think that’s a lot to think about, (and this isn’t even a really long post for me,) so I’m going to end it here. Thanks for reading and until next time–Natasha.

A day in the life

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I spent yesterday at Disneyland.

Wahoo! Right?

Well, not so much. I didn’t exactly have a bad time, but I didn’t have a great time either. The reason I’m bringing it up is that I’m adding it to my list. I have an imaginary list of things I’ve done this year that were new and also scary or just hard. here’s a few:

  1. I went to another country.
  2.  I taught in Sunday School more than as just a one-time thing.
  3. I wrote a challenging saga about something I like, but found difficult to get onto paper.
  4.  I went to Disneyland with an almost total stranger.

Here’s how it went down. My aunt has a foreign exchange student living with her, and she wanted him to get the chance to see Disneyland. She thought I might like to go. And after some hesitation I agreed. It wasn’t a smooth ride, because then she wasn’t sure we’d actually do it, finally it was settled that we would. And yesterday she dropped us off there. Where I live it’s been almost unusually cold this month and it was freezing at Disneyland. (Were any of my readers there I wonder?) the place was packed. I’ve been four times before I think, and I don’t remember it ever being so packed, but I never went on a holiday. The line to get in and get tickets was over an hour’s wait of standing around. Then we finally got in, and started walking around. But we went on one ride total, and the lines were so long on the others that we both didn’t feel up to it. We were exhausted by then. We ended up leaving at around 5:00pm, though we were supposed to stay later than that. On top of this, I lost one of the two things I bought. And it was the thing I got for myself.

So, a total bust right?

But that’s not to say I totally regret it. I maybe did not have a good day, but that wasn’t the only point for me. I wanted to challenge myself.

I’m the type of girl who’s terrified of being around a guy, alone, for any length of time–let alone all day. Of course there were crowds, but that only makes you feel a little safer. But I did not spend the day feeling afraid. I felt bored, tired, sad, but not afraid. If you’ve read some of my previous posts about my life, you’ll know that’s a big thing for me.

I used to ruin every fun event I went to by being  a nervous wreck the entire time. I am by nature an introvert, but I used to have it on steroids. Until I was at home and safe, I wouldn’t relax. I literally felt ill every time I was in an unfamiliar situation. People knew I was shy, but they probably never guessed exactly how much agony I was in. Talk about painful.

But that’s a thing of the past. I almost can’t remember it anymore.  As bad as yesterday was, compared to how my life used to be, it was great. I went from hiding from new things to embracing them. As much as I could.

I still get nervous, but it doesn’t rule me anymore. That’s a day in my life, doing things I once was afraid to do, and doing them because I want to or need to. I don’t always look at it that way of course, but sometimes I just have to stop and look back to where I was and be glad I’m not there anymore.

You must have those moments too, I’d love to hear about them, until next time–Natasha

Good?

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100_1572So here’s a deep question: do you ever doubt if you’re a good person?

I know I do. Quite a bit. Because people who care what the answer is will ask the question.

There’s a couple different ways to answer it, depending on your world view. Some might say we’re all good, we’re all not good. No one’s different from another.

I’m not saying this show is vein of good morality, but it works for this example, Phineas and Ferb has one minor character who actually believes evil does  not exist. The villain’s ex-wife, ironically enough. She deliberately sees no evil, no evidence of it, to the frustration of her daughter.

Unfortunately the show is realistic on this one point: that kind of thinking will lead to exactly the kind of confusion the daughter experiences. Her dad owns being evil, and pushes her one way, and her mom’s view doesn’t exactly have the backbone to resist the pressure. The daughter, Vanessa, has a whole personage that reflects the confusion between the two points of view.

The sad thing is, like most of us, she is not naturally a mean or insensitive person. Like all of us, she is confused.

Aren’t we? Can you imagine a generation of more confused people than us? Gender confused, race confused, morally confused, and doesn’t it all come back to what’s acceptable, or what should be?

One group denies that there’s any real boundaries, that we should all be whatever we want. Another group just seems to want to corrupt all of us. (I’ll leave you to think of who this is, we all think there is one.) And sadly, a lot of people don’t know of any other options. Like Vanessa, we have only the two. And it’s hard to imagine anything different.

But I don’t live this way. I live with the same struggle as everybody, that is of choosing good things over bad things, and growing my character instead of destroying it. Let me share with you a metaphor that a father gave his son once:

A  Man’s character is like a house. He can build on it, adding boards; but every time he takes away from his character, it’s like tearing boards of the house, till eventually there’s nothing left.

I’m afraid I couldn’t quote exactly what he said, but you get the idea. (I recommend the book, Little Britches.)

I struggled everyday with whether I was evil or not for a long time. And the thing is, the struggle won’t end by simply coming to the conclusion you’re good; that only makes it a little less, for a few minutes; then you do something bad, and it’s back on. Harder than ever.

Man’s search for goodness is the realest part of his earthly journey. Trying to pretend it’s null and void doesn’t make it go away, it only robs people of the awareness they need to find the answer. Honestly, only silly people believe that evil doesn’t exist. But that doesn’t mean I think we should focus on it, no , I think you all know me better than that.

Who of us started out wanting to be the villian? Who of us thought evil was the way to go when we were young? Why are we teaching our own children that?Is it to spare themt he dissappointment of realizing what we realized, that we can’t keep it up. Did we accpet being at elast partly bad, becuase we found no way to avoid it.

I accept that I’ll make mistakes, but I don’t accept that I have to be that person. Not because I am stronger than anyone else, but because I have someone who  took the burden of goodness off my shoulders. That’s what Christianity is really, it’s getting the goodness of another applied to you. A human court would not allow an innocent person to take the punishment for the guilty. Even if it was willingly.

This is interesting, the first skepticism I ever ran into, as a little child, was skepticism that God could really give up His own son, to die, for us. Why would He do it? What good human parent would do that? Aren’t we christians crazy, if for no other reason, because we think a Good God would do that?

Hey, if you think that is crazy, that’s okay. I won’t judge you. I don’t even blame you. But I do have this to say, Love knows no bounds. Human love can, at it’s best, forgive people for doing horrible things, and even lay down it’s life for someone. Take Batman as an example, or Superman, the represent the epitome of human sacrafice. They are wiling to die, even to save the lives of their enemies, because they value  life. And real life pilcie officers, fire men, soldiers, and everyday citizens make those sacrafices too. More often than the news lets on I’m sure.

But if you read any of the minor prophets of the Bible, (or watch the news) you’ll know that God has a laundry list of things against us. Whether you beleive in Him or not, you’d agree that the stuff He accuses us of is pretty heavy. Sometimes so much that you think “what is wrong with us?” Why would God stop accusing us, and actually make His son, the only sinless person ever to walk the earth, take the punishment for us?

Because as beautiful as the Greatest of human loves is, God’s love is greater. He loves not just His friends but His enemies. More than we love our own family, He loves His enemies. And that is the hardest thing of all to beleive.Many people will believe He exists. But to beleive in His love, even his own children have a hard time with that. I speak from experience.

This is what keeps me free.This is what I can say when I start to wonder about my own goodness. That I might not be good on my own, but God made me good, and He paid for it.

To all the Vanessas out there who are confused about life, and themselves, you don’t have to be. If you look for truth, eventually you’ll find it. As long as you don’t settle for second best.

Signing off–Natasha.

Popular–Stupidity

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My obviously blunt title was chosen because this subject is pretty blunt.

I’m thinking about what is popular in the culture. Culture is a tricky word because it is different for every family, every community, every state, and every country. Culture means the food you eat, the language you speak, the clothes you wear, the ideas you have, the music you listen to, the art you admire, and so on.

What is popular varies with the culture and so making generalizations leads to stereotypes.  A homeschooler is in a different culture than a public schooler. Any religion has a different culture from another.

But in some people’s’ minds, there is a hierarchy of culture. That is why they might say of one person “They are uncultured.” See, culture  is also the word for the microbes in cheese and yogurt that make it healthy for you. Read the package of any of them, if it doesn’t say it had “active cultures” then you’re basically just eating pudding. No real nutritional value. (The more sour the better usually, but I can’t stand the really sour stuff myself. If it has chunks of fruit in it it’s also not so good, Google it.) To be uncultured usually is referring to anyone who has a small range of tastes, and especially if that person like only modern stuff, and is from the wrong neighborhood. you get the idea. We’ve all encountered it. Whether you’re on the giving or reciving end of Good Culture Pride, you know it exists.

I took the time to set this up so I’d have context for my point. Why is the word Stupidity attatched to Popular in my title? It is not, as one might expect, because I think popularity is stupid. That is a conversation for another post. No, my problem this time around is that Stupidity itslef seems tobe popular now. Again, this is a cultural thing. But whetheror not you think Stupidity should be popular, you canat least acknowledge that in areas like the movies and media and (worst of all) TV shows, Stupidity is certainly in. It’s the new way to connect with the audience. If they are all laguhing at how dumb someone else is, pretty soon everyone starts thinking “Hey this is pretty funny, I should watch it again.” Then they tell their friends “This is a great__” Movie, show, whatever. Or maybe if it’s a news byte you’ll get this “Hey, did you hear about that guy/lady who did so and so?” If this goes on ling enough we get a thing called culture. That word again.

Why, oh why, do we celebrate the stupidty of others? And better yet, why is it contagious? When the mood is high, and peer pressure kicks in, we actaully start imitating what others do just to show we are part of the group. I have an example, once these guys at a youth group got in trouble for climbing on the roof. It was a weak roof anyway, and the guy with the house next door called the church to complain that it wasn’t safe. You’d like to think that put a stop to it, but it happened again. It wasn’t a regular thing, but still. However that’s an example of teenage antics that will probably be grown out of. what about the more serious examples?

Let’s go back to some of the things I mentioned a the beginning. Language, food, music, etc.

Language: Is it just me or is English getting more abbreviated and slurred all the time? We speak in text acronyms, or shorten long words down to one or two syllables. Did you know that movies actually intentionally use two syllable words to keep it simple (i. e. dumb)? And what about rap? Some rap is good, and intelligent I’d even say, but it’s more well known for making slip shod words; using slang; or even cussing. Plenty of people are making fun of our English deterorating, but very few are doing anything about it. I use poor language too, and I’mnot proud of it, but I slip into it brcuase it’s wha tI hear most.unfortuantely I’m sur this is the case with lots of people who could speak better if challenged.

Food: At first, food doens’t seem like it would be popular, or smart or stupid. But think about it, what are we pushed to eat? What do those darn TV shows depict people preferring to eat? Junk. Always junk. And if there’s a health food person, it’s always portrayed as extreme and freaky. Maybe there are some exceptions, and it’s not the most common problem on TV shows, but more on the commercials between. A nice juicy hamburger, a lot of chocolate, or soda; that’s what we should all like eating right? And we all know it’s bad for us, but we’re such idiots we’ll eat it anyway. That’s what TV and posters tell us.

Music and Art: Why are bug-eyed freaks the new cute? Seriously, am I the only one who has screamed at the sight of some of the toys out there? Or gagged at the songs that get popular for two weeks or so. Remember “What does the fox say?” Or “I’mma gummi bear.”? They were so annoying but that was why they got stuck in your head. Enough said. Yet I heard them played at events that were supposed to be fun. And I’ve heard the freay plastic things called adorable. I still don’t know why.

Ideas: Last but not least. Daredevil stunts. Trends to be part of. Challenges to do. Taking foodies. Snap-chat. Who came up with these ideas? Not to say there aren’t reasons to do a challenge, or a stunt, and maybe if you have a medical condition, taking a picture of your food to send to your mom makes sense (If you’re a kid.) But it’s rare that there’s any valid reason at all to do this stuff. It’s just supposed to be funny.

There you are, it’s funny. And funny is popular. This is way too long already, so I’m going to end with this thought: Is this really what we want? Do we want to settle for the popular things, just because that’s what they are? Or are there more important things to consider?

Until next post–Natasha.

Sample: Gandhi and government.

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I don’t know if any of you have ever wondered what kind of schoolwork I do, but this is a sample of the kind of essays I write for the class I’m taking on Leadership. This week’s topic was a speech by Gandhi given when he was being tried for his actions of inciting civil disobedience.

“But I hold it a virtue to be disaffected towards a government which in its totality has done more harm to India than any previous system…I consider it to be a sin to have affection for the system. And it has been a precious privilege for me to be able to write what I have in the various articles tendered against me.”–Gandhi

Why would Gandhi make a plea of being guilty? Because he considered it a sin to obey the law of the land in this instance. He adhered to this basic idea: If a government ever tells you to do something it would be wrong fro you to do as a citizen, then it is wrong, therefore you should not obey it.

I’ve read this idea in books and it makes sense to me because it’s not hard to see that the government functions like a person, in a sense. Civilization starts with one man making an agreement or partnership with another person. Hence the idea of citizen government: The kind of government run by citizens, that must be held to the same standard as an individual.  As a citizen you should not steal from; invade the privacy of; kill; maim; or in any way injure your neighbor. You should act with justice and mercy in doling out punishment to your children, your employees, or anyone under you; and never punish them for something they did not do, or more than fits the crime. So if the government condones or commands the doing of any of these things, it is in the wrong, and good people should not follow it.

Yet this does not draw the line clear enough. People have different ideas about what is right and wrong, our own country is pretty divided over it. I believe there is only one Right System of Values, though the living out of it may vary, and clearly, if two sides have completely different values, someone has missed the mark.

How can we know who is right? This is where the need for religion comes in. Yes, I mean it is a need. Gandhi himself believed religion is a part of politics, unquestionably. He believed that anyone who does not think this does not understand what religion is. I think what he meant was that religion shapes your world view. Your world view will certainly shape your political views. Your world view is not what you profess but what you truly live by; and the problem with modern politics is that we listen only to what people profess and do not examine what they’ve actually done. Gandhi’s whole life was an example of his world view and that was why people listened to him; and why he was so unashamed to state that he was guilty of the crimes they accused him of. Because, by his religion, they were not really crimes.

When we have a religion to go by, knowing what way to direct our politics becomes simpler. We have a right practice and a wrong practice, (any religion that does not have these is not worth believing in, it requires no effort.) It is best when the majority can agree about the right thing, but when the majority is in the wrong and hurting the minority, or vice versa, it is the duty of the other to stand up for themselves and change things. (As Thomas Jefferson so eloquently put in the Declaration of Independence.) Whether they use violence or nonviolence to do this depends on the people and on the situation, the important thing is for them to know that they have the ability and the right to do it.