Tag: injustice

Islam

Another visit during my stay in Detroit was to a mosque in Dearborn and a visit to an American Arab museum. The fact that not all Arabs are Muslims and not all Muslims are Arabs is obvious but very often forgotten. The website www.discoverislam.com offers some helpful information about the faith. In the context of the US, a fatwa from July 2005 is very important:

Islam strictly condemns religious extremism and the use of violence against innocent lives. There is no justification in Islam for extremism or terrorism. Targeting civilians’ life and property through suicide bombings or any other method of attack is haram – or forbidden – and those who commit these barbaric acts are criminals, not “martyrs.”
The Qur’an, Islam’s revealed text, states: “Whoever kills a person [unjustly]…it is as though he has killed all mankind. And whoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved all mankind.” (Qur’an, 5:32)

Prophet Muhammad said there is no excuse for committing unjust acts: “Do not be people without minds of your own, saying that if others treat you well you will treat them well, and that if they do wrong you will do wrong to them. Instead, accustom yourselves to do good if people do good and not to do wrong (even) if they do evil.” (Al-Tirmidhi)

via Fatwa against Terror (PDF).

Christian Evangelicals Plot to Remake America In Their Own Image

“What they don’t know — what even most conservative Christians who voted for Bush don’t know — is that ‘Christian nation’ means something else entirely to these Dominionist leaders. This movement is no more about following the example of Christ than Bush’s Clean Water Act is about clean water.”

via Christian Evangelicals Plot to Remake America In Their Own Image.

Triangle Foundation

When I attended a course in Detroit in 2008, we meet with representatives from various groups that are trying to change the life of individuals and communities for the better. An example of that:

It is the mission of Triangle Foundation to promote equality and to secure freedom from violence, intimidation and discrimination for LGBT persons throughout Michigan.

We visited a community center in Detroit that had no markings on the outside do to intimidation towards LGBTQ. We heard about Ruth Ellis Center and their work with homeless LGBTQ teenagers and young adults.

There we were introduced to the “Heterosexual Questionnaire” that is a very helpful tool to address issues about sexuality. The questionnaire is found in various forms. Examples are 1, 2, 3 and 4.

More about Triangle Foundation can be found at www.tri.org.

COTS (Coalition on Temporary Shelter)

When I attended a course in Detroit in 2008, we meet with representatives from various groups that are trying to change the life of individuals and communities for the better. An example of that:

COTS exists to alleviate homelessness by providing an array of services that enable people to achieve self-sufficiency and obtain quality affordable housing. COTS also exists to advocate for long-term solutions to the problems of homelessness.

More about COTS in Detroit can be found at www.cotsdetroit.org.

Gamaliel Foundation

When I attended a course in Detroit in 2008, we meet with representatives from various groups that are trying to change the life of individuals and communities for the better. An example of that:

The mission of Gamaliel Foundation is to assist local community leaders to create, maintain and expand independent, grassroots, and powerful faith-based community organizations so that ordinary people can impact the political, social, economic, and environmental decisions that affect their lives; to provide these organizations with leadership training programs, consultation, research and analysis on social justice issues;  to be a network for mutual learning environments and working coalitions.

More about Gamaliel can be found at www.gamaliel.org.

Nigerian Oil

Every day at Bonny Island, oceangoing tankers line up in Cawthorne Channel like massive parade floats. Theyre each waiting to fill up with close to a million barrels of the coveted Bonny Light, drawing the oil from a nearby export terminal. Ships have been gathering at this 15-mile-long 24 kilometers barrier island since the mid-1500s, when slave trading between West Africa and the New World began.

via Nigerian Oil – National Geographic Magazine.

A few Random Thoughts about Priests, Leadership, and Church

When we use the father concept about a priest. What kind of a parent is that? Is it the one that makes his children independent but still invites them to a steak on Sundays?
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The creeds that we confess are priestly, focused on sacrifice, structure, and systematic worldview, no room for spirit, peace, or justice (innri samþykktir þjóðkirkjunnar, anyone).
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LeBron James does not run Clevaland Cavaliers. However, that does not mean that basketball is secondary on the clubs agenda (or does it?).
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Decision making through dialogue, in the presence of a strong charismatic leader has a strong bend towards monarchy.

Missional Economics: From Charity to Justice « A Living Alternative Our Missional Pilgrimage

Third, while charity speaks to the condition of the recipient of the giving, justice speaks to the hearts and lives of everyone involved.  To live justly requires that we look at why there are those who “have” and those who “have not”.  It is this commitment that is at the heart of the Anabaptist commitment to simplicity and contentment.  While justice might be somewhat “popular” in Christian circles these days, I believe it will be this dynamic that will most clearly distinguish the true willingness of our commitment.

via Missional Economics: From Charity to Justice « A Living Alternative Our Missional Pilgrimage.

The Change

Status of Þjóðkirkjan is changing from being “protector of peace (pax Romana)” to “sustainer of inequality”. It seems clear that the thousand y-old idea of “one sidur” is becoming impossible to enforce, and it is inevitable that new rituals and new ways of gathering will come to being. However, the society still has to find alternative ways to ritualize their moments of significance (with or without Þjóðkirkjan).

Kröfur í þrotabú íslensku bankanna

12.053 kröfum var lýst í bú gamla Landsbankans upp á 6.459 milljarða króna. Heildarforgangskröfur námu 2.857 milljörðum króna. Búist er við að um 90 prósent fáist upp í forgangskröfur, sem að mestu eru vegna Icesave-innlánsreikninganna í Bretlandi og Hollandi. Ekkert fæst upp í almennar kröfur.

Þá var 8.685 kröfum lýst í þrotabú Glitnis upp á 3.436 milljarða króna. Áætlað er að kröfuhafar fái á bilinu 20 til 23 prósent upp í kröfur, eða á milli 690 til 860 milljarða króna.

Heildarfjárhæð lýstra krafna í Kaupþing nam 7.316 milljörðum króna miðað við gengi Seðlabanka Íslands þann 22. apríl 2009. Heildarfjárhæð lýstra krafna er hærri en skuldir samkvæmt efnahagsreikningi miðað við 30. júní sl. Skýringar á að heildarfjárhæð lýstra krafna er hærri en skuldir má rekja til oflýstra krafna vegna innstæðna sem Kaupþing hefur þegar greitt, tví- og þrílýsinga vegna ýmissa innstæðna og skuldabréfaútgáfu bankans og krafna sem falla utan efnahaggsreiknings, s.s. skaðabótakrafna og ábyrgðarkrafna. Auk þess væri ítrustu kröfum jafnan lýst. Samanlögð fjárhæð vegna framangreindra atriða næmi a.m.k. 2.900 milljörðum króna.

Err on the side of love

Matt Kruse shows his brilliance:

“I have to be willing, as a leader, to let God hold the differences that people bring when they come to worship,” said Kruse, whose home congregation is Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Jackson. “I guess I’m going to err on the side of love and welcoming also, and that’s also loving those I disagree with.”He said he was disappointed to see his church defined by the issue of homosexuality.

“From a Lutheran perspective, the only thing necessary for a church to happen is that the word of God be preached and that the sacraments be administered, and we’re free to disagree on lots of other things,” he said. “Ultimately I know there are plenty of people who were hurt by the decision in August, and the way we can respond to people’s hurt isn’t to leave but is to love.”

via A church divided: Area ELCA members weigh in on sexuality statement | Worthington Daily Globe | Worthington, Minnesota.

ELCA is not the church, by Luther’s definition

Also, for Martin Luther, the real church consisted of people who hear the Gospel and proclaim it, Croghan said. The institutional church arose to aid that mission, “but institutions are not the church.” And, when to ensure their continued existence, such institutions compromise Gospel truth, they can be readily shed, Croghan said.

“The ELCA is not the church, by Luther's definition,” Croghan said.

In an article about congregations in South Dakota leaving ELCA, I came across this quote about ecclesiology. The rest of the article is good too.

via Gay clergy vote splits South Dakota Lutheran churches | argusleader.com | Argus Leader.

Experience in Haiti

I have made almost 8 minutes video with pictures and sounds to describe my experience and feelings in Haiti. In it I use pictures from my travel partners, music and sounds. It is no longer  accessible on the web. If you like to help there are many great organizations doing wonderful work in Haiti. One of them is Haiti Timoun Foundation.

Did Christianity Cause the Crash?

Your Best Life Now, which has fueled a TV show that Osteen claims is now seen in 200 million homes worldwide, opens with a story of a man on vacation in Hawaii. He was “a good man who had achieved a modest measure of success, but he was coasting along, thinking that he’d already reached his limits.” While sightseeing, he and his wife admired a gorgeous house on a hill. “I can’t even imagine living in a place like that,” he said. For this bit of self-deprecation and modesty, Osteen pities the man: “His own thoughts and attitudes,” he writes, “were condemning him to mediocrity,” or what is known in the gospel as the “defeated life.”

via Did Christianity Cause the Crash? – The Atlantic (December 2009).