Today the Olympic Games commenced. Hope you didn't miss the US women's soccer squad come back from a 2-0 deficit against France to win 4-2. If you thought that the games didn't start until Saturday, don't worry, I was confused too. But thankfully I'm excited enough about the games that I've been checking the official website every morning for any new stories, and voile, I saw that there were a bunch of women's soccer matches today.
Coinciding with my Olympic excitement, though, is a dread in knowing that events like the Olympics attract huge numbers of sex slaves. Now that "olympic" and "olympian" are synonyms for "grand" and "great," it's safe to say that the Olympics attract an olympic number of slaves. Or something.
Perhaps it's only because my sensibilities are more finely tuned to slavery in recent years, but it seems to me that the public has become more aware of how much sex slavery these large events attract. The 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and the Confederations Cup before that, brought with it news that hundreds and thousands of sex slaves would be transported in and around the soccer venues. The most recent Superbowl, which I can not really talk about yet (Patriots fan), brought with it news that around 100,000 sex slaves were expected in Indianapolis for the weekend. Not that the World Cup figures are not disconcerting, but the 100,000 for the Superbowl a few months ago should catch our eye: one weekend, one game, in the so-called civilized and freedom-loving United States of America, here in our country. And just think, Lucas Oil Stadium, where the game was played, can't even hold that many fans...
Now, I haven't been close attention to CNN or newspapers or even Polaris Project lately as I take a lot of time to myself, so maybe that's why I haven't heard a similar report about the anticipated number of sex slaves to "treat" the London Olympians and fans. But we all should be aware that thousands and thousands of sex slaves have been trafficked to the London area, and all other cities hosting any of the events (the Americans played in Glasgow, Scotland today), for the few weeks that we should be celebrating clean international competition, patriotism, and good sportsmanship.
Am I suggesting that we not enjoy the Olympic Games, knowing that the games are essentially sponsoring slavery? Absolutely not. I look forward to the Olympics like any other sport-lover. My point is merely this: just as with the Penn State scandal, we have to learn how to temper our love for sports, action, comraderie, and whatever the heck else we enjoy about sports, with an unwavering moral center that upholds the lives of all other human beings. After all, if the Olympics don't remind us Americans that we believe in everyone's right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, then this country has truly lost its way.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Book
Despite my leanings toward cockiness and obnoxious self-promotion, I do not think that I have told you, my committed reader, that I am currently in the process of writing a book about my bike trip. I already have 15,000 words written, which amounts to two chapters and an introduction, though none of it is finished.
If you hop over to my other blog, Writing to Live, at writinglive.blogspot.com, you'll see that I am trying to be a writer in life. That means that all of my time and effort is directed toward writing--other than, of course, all the time I put into video games. 15,000 words, then, will hopefully quickly turn into a finished product. My plan right now is to complete an unpolished product by September and then fill in with information from my blog posts and other details and facts that require any energy in finding. I don't like writing while also trying to find things.
What all of this means is that you have a limited amount of time to give me your input. If you have been a loyal reader of this blog, then let me know if you have a favorite post that you'd like to receive some ink-time in my book; or let me know if there's an idea that I've developed over time that you'd like me to focus on; or just give me support, or something. There are a number of ways that you can have input in this process and I hope that you won't hesitate to contact me and let me know.
And, of course, I hope that you start feeling pangs of anticipation for the arrival of the book. You better buy it.
If you hop over to my other blog, Writing to Live, at writinglive.blogspot.com, you'll see that I am trying to be a writer in life. That means that all of my time and effort is directed toward writing--other than, of course, all the time I put into video games. 15,000 words, then, will hopefully quickly turn into a finished product. My plan right now is to complete an unpolished product by September and then fill in with information from my blog posts and other details and facts that require any energy in finding. I don't like writing while also trying to find things.
What all of this means is that you have a limited amount of time to give me your input. If you have been a loyal reader of this blog, then let me know if you have a favorite post that you'd like to receive some ink-time in my book; or let me know if there's an idea that I've developed over time that you'd like me to focus on; or just give me support, or something. There are a number of ways that you can have input in this process and I hope that you won't hesitate to contact me and let me know.
And, of course, I hope that you start feeling pangs of anticipation for the arrival of the book. You better buy it.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Weekly Updates
This post, clearly, is short. It also doesn't have any reflections on anything. All I want to do is remind my readers that, if you haven't already, you should check out the website for Polaris Project and sign up for their weekly pulse e-mails. Honestly I haven't been reading them lately and I feel terrible about that. Still, I know that receiving and reading weekly updates about news and work that is being done on human trafficking not only increases one's knowledge but also greatly increases one's ability to be as aware as we should be. Being aware helps us look out for signs of trafficking around us, yes, but it also increases our chances at living a life that benefits trafficking less and less.
So, if you haven't already, sign up for the weekly pulse e-mails. Like Starsky, or Hutch?, from Ben Stiller's remake of Starsky and Hutch, I say, "Do it. Do it."
So, if you haven't already, sign up for the weekly pulse e-mails. Like Starsky, or Hutch?, from Ben Stiller's remake of Starsky and Hutch, I say, "Do it. Do it."
Friday, July 13, 2012
Joe Paterno
Until yesterday Joe Paterno, Penn State, and Jerry Sandusky were old news in a way. A verdict has been reached that will essentially put Sandusky behind bars for life, though various lawyer-stuff will continue for years to come certainly. Yesterday, however, former FBI-director Freeh released and commented on his report on the independent investigation into the handling of the situation by Penn State officials. Basically the report damns everyone: the President, Vice-President, athletic director, McQueary, and Joe Paterno.
Joe Paterno is more than famous, he's a legend. Now that there exists a 250ish page report detailing the failures of Paterno and the others all hope that Paterno's legend would escape mostly unscathed has been erased. Almost certainly now Penn State will need to begin the process of disassociation and perhaps take down the statue of Paterno on campus. At least, that's what most commentators are concluding and encouraging.
To me, there are two upsetting parts to this story that are relevant to the fight against human trafficking. First of all, the fact that someone can have desires involving children is horrifying. I can understand it in Greek culture where an older man tutored a young boy alone for hours with hardly any life apart from one another. We don't have anything like that today. We need to think long and hard about how in the world that type of desire blooms in today's world. More importantly, we have to acknowledge that there are more people with those types of desires than we might think. And even more importantly, the instinct to cover up is indeed strong in many places for many reasons. What that means is that we have to work harder at looking with our eyes and really seeing what's going on in the world around us, we cannot float through life thinking all is well simply because no one runs up to us yelling, "I'm a slave! Help!" If Joe Paterno is the great guy that many still want to think of him as, then we must realize that even the best and most well-intentioned people can suffer from the instinct to cover up, and perhaps be involved in, the worst of crimes. And, of course, this particular crime and desire are what fuel child sex slavery.
The first part of the story is more obvious. The second part of the story, however, doesn't seem to be acknowledged much: we should not stand in outrage that Paterno could have done what he did. I don't intend to defend Paterno's image or anything associated with him. All I know is that if we continue screaming or sighing, "How could he have not done more?" then we are avoiding the question that most tugs at us. Indeed, when we focus on Paterno and not realize that others are just as responsible, or when we realize that others are just as responsible but only talk about Paterno, we are purposely funneling our anger. Why would we want to funnel our anger onto one person? We are outraged with Joe Paterno so thoroughly because we like to take down people in the spotlight so that we can think we are better people, that we'd do something different in his position. We don't want to think about the communal nature of this crime or the communal nature of slavery, by which I mean that a whole lot of people participated and participate and not one does the dirty work of exposure, because then we might think about how human nature can be rather disgusting.
Fact is that we are all human. Again, I'm not defending or justifying Paterno's actions, but I'm asking us to really and actually question ourselves. Are we any different than Paterno at heart? If he is a good person as many people say, then what might lead him to do something we hope we don't repeat? That is, what might lead us, if we think of ourselves as good people, to participate in a crime like that? Indeed, outrage with Paterno and other figures who splash into the limelight through bad deeds often allows us to forget the unfortunate characteristics and activities that we already engage in.
News like we have from Freeh and Penn State should not lead to outrage, it should lead to self-reflection. No matter how angry we get, if we don't inspect ourselves closely then evils like child molestation, child slavery, child sex slavery, and slavery in general will all continue. We need to promote the act of self-reflection rather than public outrage, which unfortunately only shoves those in the dark deeper into the dark to avoid exposure and intensifies the underground torturous quality of slavery. Compassion might be worthwhile, but for now I'm not talking about compassion: I just encourage us to reflect on our own selves and, hopefully, by doing so we will bring about a better, healthier society one heart and soul at a time.
Joe Paterno is more than famous, he's a legend. Now that there exists a 250ish page report detailing the failures of Paterno and the others all hope that Paterno's legend would escape mostly unscathed has been erased. Almost certainly now Penn State will need to begin the process of disassociation and perhaps take down the statue of Paterno on campus. At least, that's what most commentators are concluding and encouraging.
To me, there are two upsetting parts to this story that are relevant to the fight against human trafficking. First of all, the fact that someone can have desires involving children is horrifying. I can understand it in Greek culture where an older man tutored a young boy alone for hours with hardly any life apart from one another. We don't have anything like that today. We need to think long and hard about how in the world that type of desire blooms in today's world. More importantly, we have to acknowledge that there are more people with those types of desires than we might think. And even more importantly, the instinct to cover up is indeed strong in many places for many reasons. What that means is that we have to work harder at looking with our eyes and really seeing what's going on in the world around us, we cannot float through life thinking all is well simply because no one runs up to us yelling, "I'm a slave! Help!" If Joe Paterno is the great guy that many still want to think of him as, then we must realize that even the best and most well-intentioned people can suffer from the instinct to cover up, and perhaps be involved in, the worst of crimes. And, of course, this particular crime and desire are what fuel child sex slavery.
The first part of the story is more obvious. The second part of the story, however, doesn't seem to be acknowledged much: we should not stand in outrage that Paterno could have done what he did. I don't intend to defend Paterno's image or anything associated with him. All I know is that if we continue screaming or sighing, "How could he have not done more?" then we are avoiding the question that most tugs at us. Indeed, when we focus on Paterno and not realize that others are just as responsible, or when we realize that others are just as responsible but only talk about Paterno, we are purposely funneling our anger. Why would we want to funnel our anger onto one person? We are outraged with Joe Paterno so thoroughly because we like to take down people in the spotlight so that we can think we are better people, that we'd do something different in his position. We don't want to think about the communal nature of this crime or the communal nature of slavery, by which I mean that a whole lot of people participated and participate and not one does the dirty work of exposure, because then we might think about how human nature can be rather disgusting.
Fact is that we are all human. Again, I'm not defending or justifying Paterno's actions, but I'm asking us to really and actually question ourselves. Are we any different than Paterno at heart? If he is a good person as many people say, then what might lead him to do something we hope we don't repeat? That is, what might lead us, if we think of ourselves as good people, to participate in a crime like that? Indeed, outrage with Paterno and other figures who splash into the limelight through bad deeds often allows us to forget the unfortunate characteristics and activities that we already engage in.
News like we have from Freeh and Penn State should not lead to outrage, it should lead to self-reflection. No matter how angry we get, if we don't inspect ourselves closely then evils like child molestation, child slavery, child sex slavery, and slavery in general will all continue. We need to promote the act of self-reflection rather than public outrage, which unfortunately only shoves those in the dark deeper into the dark to avoid exposure and intensifies the underground torturous quality of slavery. Compassion might be worthwhile, but for now I'm not talking about compassion: I just encourage us to reflect on our own selves and, hopefully, by doing so we will bring about a better, healthier society one heart and soul at a time.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Slavery Footprint
One of the more common questions that open-minded, liberal-minded, and/or social-justice-minded people first learn to ask is, "Where was this shirt made?" Chances are that if a piece of clothing that you are thinking of buying is made in China, you are about to buy an article of clothing produced by slave labor. Indeed, chances are that if you are about to buy anything made in China or India that you are about to buy a slave-labor item. Some of these open-minded folk search for non-slave-labor items until they find something made in the USA or Europe; others simply don't care at all that certain items like clothing are produced by slaves because, after all, clothing seems essential; still others look around for non-slave-labor items until they realize that doing so is very hard and oftentimes expensive. I won't bother to point out (though I guess I am now) that the first type of person might be misled by a "Made in USA" label: let's not forget that the United States and Europe, where we'd like to think that civilization reigns and slavery is no more, are still greatly tainted by the worst evil mankind has ever known.
Now, I don't want to depress anyone, because being thoughtful about where our clothes come from is a good first step toward thinking about our slavery footprint. And that's a good thing. Once we start thinking about our slavery footprint in the smallest of areas we are likely to see how much of an impact our lifestyle has on slave labor. Perhaps then we will begin to make changes to the way we live. All of that is positive and I want to encourage thoughtfulness and lifestyle changes... God knows I, too, could still use a lot of changes to the way that I live if I want to bring down my slavery footprint.
Much like our carbon footprint, our slavery footprint is wide-reaching and can be roughly calculated. When we do calculate it we might get depressed and greatly frustrated. To some extent, actually, I do want to depress you, because running around as if everything is jolly won't help you gain insight into the impact your life has on slavery. Unfortunately depression and frustration must often precede the most glorious transformations. With that in mind I invite you to calculate your slavery footprint. If you've done this already, I invite you to do it again and this time be as detailed as possible: take more than five minutes. As you go through the calculation you will hopefully learn a lot about slavery in the world today but, perhaps more importantly, you will start to see what kind of life changes you need to make if we want to put an end to slavery.
Slavery Footprint
Now, I don't want to depress anyone, because being thoughtful about where our clothes come from is a good first step toward thinking about our slavery footprint. And that's a good thing. Once we start thinking about our slavery footprint in the smallest of areas we are likely to see how much of an impact our lifestyle has on slave labor. Perhaps then we will begin to make changes to the way we live. All of that is positive and I want to encourage thoughtfulness and lifestyle changes... God knows I, too, could still use a lot of changes to the way that I live if I want to bring down my slavery footprint.
Much like our carbon footprint, our slavery footprint is wide-reaching and can be roughly calculated. When we do calculate it we might get depressed and greatly frustrated. To some extent, actually, I do want to depress you, because running around as if everything is jolly won't help you gain insight into the impact your life has on slavery. Unfortunately depression and frustration must often precede the most glorious transformations. With that in mind I invite you to calculate your slavery footprint. If you've done this already, I invite you to do it again and this time be as detailed as possible: take more than five minutes. As you go through the calculation you will hopefully learn a lot about slavery in the world today but, perhaps more importantly, you will start to see what kind of life changes you need to make if we want to put an end to slavery.
Slavery Footprint
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Courageous
While in Michigan visiting a couple of friends, we watched the controversial movie, Courageous. There probably aren't a whole lot of people who have even heard of this movie, but it is one of several movies produced by conservative Christians to advocate conservative Christian values. To be fair, some of the values espouses by the movies aren't only Christian but are conservative in general. Still, Courageous and the other films are controversial outside of the conservative Christian circles for so blatantly putting forth values that we supposedly shouldn't bother adhering to anymore. Indeed, the whole purpose of Courageous seems to be encouraging strong male leadership in the household, particularly in guiding the faith and lifestyle of the household.
Having watched the movie, I can't say that I am as strongly against Courageous as some people are, nor can I say that I am very strongly for the values espoused by the movie. What I do know, though, is that movies such as this shouldn't arouse as much controversy as it has. Again, you may not have heard about the movie and thus don't know of any controversy, but believe me, in Christian circles Courageous and the other films have caused plenty of talk. Now, I know that everyone, even many so-called atheists, take faith very seriously, and I know that I've been in a sort of seminary-bubble for the past three years, but the only controversy concerning movies that I've heard of in the past few years is about this film and how well or poorly the comic-book movies were made. There's something terribly wrong with that picture.
Last week my new soon-to-be niece asked me what musical artists I listen to. I answered with my list of Christian rock bands: Project 86, Flyleaf, Seventh Day Slumber, etc.; then I continued with bands that I think have good values: Green Day, Linkin Park, Rage Against the Machine, etc. To the first list she responded with a blank face; to the second list she responded with, "yeah, they're ok." Apparently what she wanted me to spout off was one of the many contemporary hip-hop artists that she listens to. That's typical kid behavior, but seeing as she is only eleven years old I couldn't help thinking how important watching movies such as Courageous can be, even if we think the whole tone of the movie is wrong.
I struggle with this, of course, because I do not believe that playing violent video games or watching violent movies creates a violent person. I started playing violent games and watching violent movies at an early age and I'm fine. But I also had peaceful parents amidst the violence that I had immersed myself in. At the end of the day, then, what I think should bother us is a lack of diversity in the things that our kids are playing, watching, and listening to. The fact that my soon-to-be niece only loved artists who are less than decent is troubling because she listens to nothing else to offset the bad morals she imbibes. Clearly a movie like Courageous could do some good.
On to another issue... Frankly, I think it's hilarious that we as a culture are more okay with allowing our children to watch violence than we are with allowing them to watch sex. Essentially what that does is teach our children to think of sex as totally taboo, making it harder for them to be honest with their parents regarding sex and shoving their sexual passions into the dark closet. Of course, in the instances in which sex is a part of the movies we watch, the film either objectifies women or objectifies the act of sex as a means of viewer entertainment only. If we allow our children to grow up thinking of sex as an objectified taboo that needs to always be a secret, should we really be surprised when clusters of brothels pop up in our cities and towns? By the way we rate and watch our movies we are engendering the attitudes that lead to use of prostitutes and sex slaves. Or, on the flip side, the way we listen to music and watch movies encourages our young women to expect certain behaviors, galvanize those behaviors, and then sit patiently as they become the victims of those behaviors now grown large and monstrous.
The bottom line is that, while Courageous may upset a lot of people, I recommend anyone concerned with sex slavery to watch the movie. Even if we are not ourselves parents, even if we will never be parents, we are still parental figures, and we need to think a lot more seriously about what effect media and our own actions are having on our young persons. If we want to put an end to slavery and sex slavery, then it starts with us and our families.
So: "Where are you men of courage? You were made for so much more" Let us have courage and fight against the prevailing forces in our culture so that our children will not allow slavery to continue.
Having watched the movie, I can't say that I am as strongly against Courageous as some people are, nor can I say that I am very strongly for the values espoused by the movie. What I do know, though, is that movies such as this shouldn't arouse as much controversy as it has. Again, you may not have heard about the movie and thus don't know of any controversy, but believe me, in Christian circles Courageous and the other films have caused plenty of talk. Now, I know that everyone, even many so-called atheists, take faith very seriously, and I know that I've been in a sort of seminary-bubble for the past three years, but the only controversy concerning movies that I've heard of in the past few years is about this film and how well or poorly the comic-book movies were made. There's something terribly wrong with that picture.
Last week my new soon-to-be niece asked me what musical artists I listen to. I answered with my list of Christian rock bands: Project 86, Flyleaf, Seventh Day Slumber, etc.; then I continued with bands that I think have good values: Green Day, Linkin Park, Rage Against the Machine, etc. To the first list she responded with a blank face; to the second list she responded with, "yeah, they're ok." Apparently what she wanted me to spout off was one of the many contemporary hip-hop artists that she listens to. That's typical kid behavior, but seeing as she is only eleven years old I couldn't help thinking how important watching movies such as Courageous can be, even if we think the whole tone of the movie is wrong.
I struggle with this, of course, because I do not believe that playing violent video games or watching violent movies creates a violent person. I started playing violent games and watching violent movies at an early age and I'm fine. But I also had peaceful parents amidst the violence that I had immersed myself in. At the end of the day, then, what I think should bother us is a lack of diversity in the things that our kids are playing, watching, and listening to. The fact that my soon-to-be niece only loved artists who are less than decent is troubling because she listens to nothing else to offset the bad morals she imbibes. Clearly a movie like Courageous could do some good.
On to another issue... Frankly, I think it's hilarious that we as a culture are more okay with allowing our children to watch violence than we are with allowing them to watch sex. Essentially what that does is teach our children to think of sex as totally taboo, making it harder for them to be honest with their parents regarding sex and shoving their sexual passions into the dark closet. Of course, in the instances in which sex is a part of the movies we watch, the film either objectifies women or objectifies the act of sex as a means of viewer entertainment only. If we allow our children to grow up thinking of sex as an objectified taboo that needs to always be a secret, should we really be surprised when clusters of brothels pop up in our cities and towns? By the way we rate and watch our movies we are engendering the attitudes that lead to use of prostitutes and sex slaves. Or, on the flip side, the way we listen to music and watch movies encourages our young women to expect certain behaviors, galvanize those behaviors, and then sit patiently as they become the victims of those behaviors now grown large and monstrous.
The bottom line is that, while Courageous may upset a lot of people, I recommend anyone concerned with sex slavery to watch the movie. Even if we are not ourselves parents, even if we will never be parents, we are still parental figures, and we need to think a lot more seriously about what effect media and our own actions are having on our young persons. If we want to put an end to slavery and sex slavery, then it starts with us and our families.
So: "Where are you men of courage? You were made for so much more" Let us have courage and fight against the prevailing forces in our culture so that our children will not allow slavery to continue.
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