So yesterday was Thanksgiving Day. It was pretty much AMAZING. I took a road trip with Nir and Itamar and their two section friends Josh and Natasha to the colonial sites in Jamestown Settlement and Colonial Williamsburg, and on to their mate Geoff's house in Virginia Beach for a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. Yeah man, AMAZING.
We left at about 8:00am and arrived in Jamestown Settlement at 10:30am. Jamestown Settlement was the first successful English settlement in America (as well as being Pocahontas' home, omgosh) so I was really excited about checking it out. We'd heard of this event called "Food and Feasts of Colonial Virginia" being held there, which we thought was a food festival where people could taste traditional Thanksgiving food at different stalls. It turned out to be just demonstrations of how the early settlers and native Indians would obtain and prepare their food, and how food played a big role in the two people's interaction and relationship. Volunteers were dressed up as native Indians and the colonial settlers to show us the food preparation and give us history lessons. It was a little disappointing in that we couldn't taste any food, but it was pretty interesting to learn about colonial life and to check out the various areas of the Settlement.
We went to the Powhatan Indian Village where we could walk inside individual tents and watch them cook deer on an open fire. It was pretty crazy, they had this big deer carcass just hanging on a tree, and two women were slicing off chunks of deer meat with sharp stones. Wow. The tents were real sturdy despite being made out of what seemed like dry flax, and there were all these animal skins hanging off the ceilings, as well as tools and hunting equipment. We then made our way to the ships moored at the port. We explored the biggest ship which was cool, we went down to where they kept the cannons and crew beds (it was really cramped, the sailors would not have been comfortable) and walked around all over the top. Nir and Josh had a Titanic moment at the head of the ship (the scene where Jack holds Rose at the edge of the Titanic and she has her arms outstretched), it was very cute. James Fort was interesting too. Two colonial settler volunteers were taking the meat off a huge pig that was hanging off a tree (maybe they learnt it off the native Indians) which was kind of gross. We tried on these uncomfortable metal helmets that the men presumably wore whenever they left the fort, checked out the various houses in the fort, and learnt about the types of settlers that would come over to America from England and how they lived from day to day. Good times.
On the way to Virginia Beach we stopped at Colonial Williamsburg to check out the historical part of town. There were heaps of people out and about, as well as more people dressed up in old colonial garb. The historical part of town was quite expansive, and the houses were all kept in really good condition. They were beautiful! It's amazing they've preserved everything so well. I really appreciated being able to take in all this awesome history. Virginia's a great place to be.
We got to Geoff's house in Virginia Beach at around 3:00pm. The house was really big, beautiful and cosy. His parents were really kind and welcoming, constantly offering us food and drinks. We met other family members and friends, drinking pomegranate martinis (heavenly) and eating appetisers (including this amazing buffalo chicken dip and olive and cheese dip) with the football playing in the background. They also had a beer keg in the garage. Wow. Dinner wasn't going to be ready for a few hours, so we hung out in the garage chatting and playing flip cup. It was fun. Josh wanted me to teach him the Kiwi accent, as well as some slang. He really got into the words "gutted" and "keen". I was happy to enlighten him.
Then it was time for the big event: the Thanksgiving meal. And omgosh you guys, you should've seen the spread! Geoff's mum had made a turducken, which is chicken inside a duck inside a turkey, with stuffing. Crazy awesome, right? And there was mash, salad, stuffing (my favourite part of the meal), ham, pasta, vegetables, cranberry sauce bread rolls... SO MUCH FOOD. Geoff's dad said a beautiful grace, and we dug right into the food. The table was pretty quiet for the first little while as everyone relished in the amazing meal. I felt gutted that I could only fit in one serving because everything was so delicious. At that moment I could empathise with the ancient Romans, who would make themselves throw up multiple times during a feast so they could eat loads. Disgusting and gluttonous, yes, but it didn't seem like such a bad idea after I finished eating. The dessert was fantastic too: pecan pie, pumpkin pie, cheesecake, cookies, waffle cone pieces etc. I was in food paradise. I didn't want to leave. But my stupid little stomach made me.
We hung out for a little bit after dessert, chatting and making merry over some good wine. Geoff's family and friends were all such great people! Funny, kind, welcoming, very hospitable, so awesome. They asked me whether we had any holidays in New Zealand comparable to Thanksgiving, where the point is for family and friends to get together and eat for the whole day. Apart from Christmas, I couldn't really think of anything. I reckon New Zealand should adopt Thanksgiving, or something like it. Isn't it an awesome idea? Getting together with your loved ones and enjoying each other's company over amazing food? Yeah, I think so.
We left at around 9:00pm, checked out the Virginia Beach boardwalk where they'd set up these fantastic Christmas lights (I particularly enjoyed the jetskiing Santa lights), and got back to Charlottesville at around 1:30am. Natasha drove the whole way! She was a legend man, totally grateful to her.
So that was my first American Thanksgiving. I had a total blast. Checking out colonial Virginia, and partaking in a magnificent Thanksgiving meal in an American home. Although we didn't go around the table to say what we were thankful for, in retrospect, I would have said that I was thankful for this exchange. This opportunity to experience all this amazing American culture and meeting a bunch of great people to share the good times with. And my evening at Geoff's house reminded me of the important things in life: a loving family, good friends, and blessing others with hospitality and wonderful food and drink. The Teacher in Ecclesiastes isn't totally wrong about that. When I grow up I want to pay everything forward, host feasts at my place for my family and friends, as well as my kids' friends, loving them all with a servant's heart. I actually felt a little homesick during the festivities, eh. I can't wait to see all my friends and family back home! Also, I want to try to celebrate Thanksgiving each year in some shape or form, I think it's a really great holiday. America is such good value.
Peace.
G.
Saturday, 27 November 2010
Friday, 19 November 2010
Justice ministry
The talk at tonight's LCF big group meeting was the best one yet. It was titled "Hope in Action: the New Mandate for Human Rights in the 21st Century". The speaker was Victor Boutros, an attorney with the Civil Rights division of the United States Department of Justice. His undergraduate major was in philosophy, he did his JD at the University of Chicago, and had worked with the International Justice Mission (an American Christian non-profit human rights organisation that operates internationally and utilises lawyers to rescue victims of human rights abuses, such as slavery, human trafficking, forced prostitution and illegal detention) in the past, and he incorporated his experiences with the organisation in his talk.
It was a thought-provoking, moving presentation. Victor was a brilliant, eloquent and intelligent speaker. He began by saying that there is a difference between the theory of evil and existential evil. Quite apart from abstract debates about the concept of good and evil, there are people out there in our world who cannot believe in a God that is good because of the terrible circumstances they live in. He told us stories about real victims of human rights abuses that IJM had met and helped: Shama, a slave child in India; Jyoti, a child prostitute in Mumbai; and Rosa, a child raped in the Philippines. Slavery isn't over just because America abolished it way back when. Millions of children get kidnapped and sold to brothels in developing countries every year. And in many developing countries, people commit crimes and get off scot free because they have powerful connections in the law enforcement system. For some people, this is reality, this is life.
Victor defined "injustice" as an abuse of power. It can and does deprive people of their basic rights and liberties. He said that the two components of injustice are coercion (the use of force and/or threats) and deception (falsities to cover up the fact of injustice). Violent liars are the primary perpetrators of injustice. Combatting justice is a twofold step: first, you have to fight deception with truth, and second, you have to bring that truth to a place of power (e.g. before people who can actually do something about the injustice you've identified, such as local magistrates that aren't corrupt) so it can quell coercion. Perpetrators of injustice insult and deride God by intentionally marring others who have been made in His image. While we know they'll face judgment in the end, that doesn't meant that we can leave them be to continue mistreating innocent people.
He also talked about the human rights movement over time, and how we're living in a new era of human rights engagement today. The first generation of human rights activists worked to establish and define international human rights norms. The second generation tried to get these norms adopted into the domestic legal systems of the various States that had agreed upon their definition at the international level. Our generation has the responsibility of working to have these international and domestic human rights laws actually enforced to help individual victims of human rights abuses. We can't feel alienated because we weren't a part of the generations that pioneered the birth and initial development of human rights, we shouldn't feel dejected because we don't have the opportunity to be Abraham Lincoln or William Wilberforce. The fight's not over, because human rights abuses are still rampant all over the world, and particularly in developing countries. Victor gave a great analogy to describe the disparity between the law on the books and the reality on the ground: people are dying from various forms of injustice, human rights laws are the vaccine, but this vaccine is locked up in warehouses and not getting into the bloodstreams of those who desperately need it. We need to unlock the warehouses and distribute the vaccine to the dying patients.
So often lawyers think that their skills are too specific to their own legal systems that they can't help bring change to the lives of the needy in developing countries, in contrast to people like doctors or engineers. But this simply isn't true. Lawyers can work across borders to bring about justice and change, they don't have to relegate themselves to providing financial support to people who are out there doing stuff. (I'm not saying that providing financial support is lame, I'm just saying that it's not the only option out there for lawyers who really want to be the ones out there in the field doing the work themselves.)
So what can we do about all this? As Christians, what can we do about all those who are suffering from existential evil and unable to believe that there is in fact a God that is good? As lawyers, what can we do about all the human rights abuses that go on in the world? God hates injustice, and God is good. But if God is good, and all-powerful, why doesn't He do something about all the injustice out there? It's an age-old question. I don't think I'll ever have a satisfactory answer to it. But what I can say is, God can do anything, and the fact that He doesn't just click His fingers to get rid of injustice in an instant really speaks to the notion that He has mandated His people to do His good work. Victor said that God is the vine, and we are His branches. The vine doesn't need the branches, whereas the branches need the vine. When the life force of the vine courses through the branches, it can bear real fruit. The point is, we are meant to be God's ambassadors to battle and triumph over injustice. We are meant to go out there and help the helpless, give hope to the hopeless, not for our own sake but for God's sake.
It wasn't all bleak and depressing, though. Victor told us about how IJM worked with local authorities in India and the Philippines to rescue the two Indian girls out of slavery and prostitution, and to bring the child rapist to justice. It was encouraging to see that they were able to make a tangible difference to real individuals' lives.
Victor's conclusion was that as Christian lawyers, we each have a calling to do justice. It may not necessarily be in the international human rights field. But we all have some sort of justice ministry vocation. Through our legal training, we are equipped with a very special set of skills that we can use to locate injustice, reduce the truth against its deception to the level of proof and creatively bring the truth to a place of power to dispel its coercion. It's not a bad thing to work in a "safe" law firm job, we can still glorify God in our daily work lives and still serve our clients and be a good influence to our colleagues. But God calls us to do something deeper and more meaningful. We can do His justice in our world, and man, we should. We have to. We're called to.
As I listened to Victor, I felt really moved. It was more than transient emotional response to the pictures of the girls and to the statistics he gave about international human abuse rates. I felt this real conviction, right in my gut. I have to do an IJM internship. I just have to. I'd heard of the organisation in my second year at law school, and I remember being interested in it at the time, but I never followed through with anything. I guess I got caught up in my studies and summer clerking and stuff. But man, I really feel that this is something that I should do in the near future, maybe at the end of next year. I know it's only going to be a few months overseas, probably working on a few random cases, potentially without any real results during the time I'm there. But that's not the point. The point is, given the overwhelming amount of injustice that's out there, every little bit counts. Even if I don't get to see the fruits of my labour while I'm there, the work I participate in will no doubt lead to positive results at some point in the future. The "random cases" represent real people who are being abused. I'm going to pray about it, continue giving it thought over the course of the year next year, and try to make it work if my heart's still at peace about it closer to the time. As to long-term goals, I'm not sure yet. But one thing I know is that justice ministry is something that's constantly going to be on my mind, and my hope is that God will open doors for me to do His work in some way, shape and form in the long run.
With that in mind, it's time to get back into exam study. Peace.
G.
It was a thought-provoking, moving presentation. Victor was a brilliant, eloquent and intelligent speaker. He began by saying that there is a difference between the theory of evil and existential evil. Quite apart from abstract debates about the concept of good and evil, there are people out there in our world who cannot believe in a God that is good because of the terrible circumstances they live in. He told us stories about real victims of human rights abuses that IJM had met and helped: Shama, a slave child in India; Jyoti, a child prostitute in Mumbai; and Rosa, a child raped in the Philippines. Slavery isn't over just because America abolished it way back when. Millions of children get kidnapped and sold to brothels in developing countries every year. And in many developing countries, people commit crimes and get off scot free because they have powerful connections in the law enforcement system. For some people, this is reality, this is life.
Victor defined "injustice" as an abuse of power. It can and does deprive people of their basic rights and liberties. He said that the two components of injustice are coercion (the use of force and/or threats) and deception (falsities to cover up the fact of injustice). Violent liars are the primary perpetrators of injustice. Combatting justice is a twofold step: first, you have to fight deception with truth, and second, you have to bring that truth to a place of power (e.g. before people who can actually do something about the injustice you've identified, such as local magistrates that aren't corrupt) so it can quell coercion. Perpetrators of injustice insult and deride God by intentionally marring others who have been made in His image. While we know they'll face judgment in the end, that doesn't meant that we can leave them be to continue mistreating innocent people.
He also talked about the human rights movement over time, and how we're living in a new era of human rights engagement today. The first generation of human rights activists worked to establish and define international human rights norms. The second generation tried to get these norms adopted into the domestic legal systems of the various States that had agreed upon their definition at the international level. Our generation has the responsibility of working to have these international and domestic human rights laws actually enforced to help individual victims of human rights abuses. We can't feel alienated because we weren't a part of the generations that pioneered the birth and initial development of human rights, we shouldn't feel dejected because we don't have the opportunity to be Abraham Lincoln or William Wilberforce. The fight's not over, because human rights abuses are still rampant all over the world, and particularly in developing countries. Victor gave a great analogy to describe the disparity between the law on the books and the reality on the ground: people are dying from various forms of injustice, human rights laws are the vaccine, but this vaccine is locked up in warehouses and not getting into the bloodstreams of those who desperately need it. We need to unlock the warehouses and distribute the vaccine to the dying patients.
So often lawyers think that their skills are too specific to their own legal systems that they can't help bring change to the lives of the needy in developing countries, in contrast to people like doctors or engineers. But this simply isn't true. Lawyers can work across borders to bring about justice and change, they don't have to relegate themselves to providing financial support to people who are out there doing stuff. (I'm not saying that providing financial support is lame, I'm just saying that it's not the only option out there for lawyers who really want to be the ones out there in the field doing the work themselves.)
So what can we do about all this? As Christians, what can we do about all those who are suffering from existential evil and unable to believe that there is in fact a God that is good? As lawyers, what can we do about all the human rights abuses that go on in the world? God hates injustice, and God is good. But if God is good, and all-powerful, why doesn't He do something about all the injustice out there? It's an age-old question. I don't think I'll ever have a satisfactory answer to it. But what I can say is, God can do anything, and the fact that He doesn't just click His fingers to get rid of injustice in an instant really speaks to the notion that He has mandated His people to do His good work. Victor said that God is the vine, and we are His branches. The vine doesn't need the branches, whereas the branches need the vine. When the life force of the vine courses through the branches, it can bear real fruit. The point is, we are meant to be God's ambassadors to battle and triumph over injustice. We are meant to go out there and help the helpless, give hope to the hopeless, not for our own sake but for God's sake.
It wasn't all bleak and depressing, though. Victor told us about how IJM worked with local authorities in India and the Philippines to rescue the two Indian girls out of slavery and prostitution, and to bring the child rapist to justice. It was encouraging to see that they were able to make a tangible difference to real individuals' lives.
Victor's conclusion was that as Christian lawyers, we each have a calling to do justice. It may not necessarily be in the international human rights field. But we all have some sort of justice ministry vocation. Through our legal training, we are equipped with a very special set of skills that we can use to locate injustice, reduce the truth against its deception to the level of proof and creatively bring the truth to a place of power to dispel its coercion. It's not a bad thing to work in a "safe" law firm job, we can still glorify God in our daily work lives and still serve our clients and be a good influence to our colleagues. But God calls us to do something deeper and more meaningful. We can do His justice in our world, and man, we should. We have to. We're called to.
As I listened to Victor, I felt really moved. It was more than transient emotional response to the pictures of the girls and to the statistics he gave about international human abuse rates. I felt this real conviction, right in my gut. I have to do an IJM internship. I just have to. I'd heard of the organisation in my second year at law school, and I remember being interested in it at the time, but I never followed through with anything. I guess I got caught up in my studies and summer clerking and stuff. But man, I really feel that this is something that I should do in the near future, maybe at the end of next year. I know it's only going to be a few months overseas, probably working on a few random cases, potentially without any real results during the time I'm there. But that's not the point. The point is, given the overwhelming amount of injustice that's out there, every little bit counts. Even if I don't get to see the fruits of my labour while I'm there, the work I participate in will no doubt lead to positive results at some point in the future. The "random cases" represent real people who are being abused. I'm going to pray about it, continue giving it thought over the course of the year next year, and try to make it work if my heart's still at peace about it closer to the time. As to long-term goals, I'm not sure yet. But one thing I know is that justice ministry is something that's constantly going to be on my mind, and my hope is that God will open doors for me to do His work in some way, shape and form in the long run.
With that in mind, it's time to get back into exam study. Peace.
G.
Monday, 15 November 2010
I found some pictures that I really like
I happened upon a website called explodingdog.com, which is full of pictures drawn by a guy named Sam Brown. I found heaps that I really liked, and I want to share them with you. The reason I really like them is because they contain thoughts and messages that often find themselves in my head, and thus they resonate with me.
This one is called "I can't control you but I can love you":
This one is called "I don't feel like I'm really here":
This one is called "I just don't want them to know how broken I am":
This one is called "You are not alone":
This one is called "You're my awesome":
And finally, this one's called "You are where I can be myself":
I want to meet this guy. I think we'd have some good conversations. But for now, I guess I'll have to be content with keeping up with his awesome drawings.
Have the best day.
G.
This one is called "I can't control you but I can love you":
 |
| I need to remember this. |
This one is called "I don't feel like I'm really here":
 |
| I've been feeling this way the whole time I've been in the States. True story. |
This one is called "I just don't want them to know how broken I am":
 |
| I think we all feel this way sometimes. |
This one is called "You are not alone":
 |
| This reminds me of God. He's the robot, I'm the blue guy. |
This one is called "You're my awesome":
 |
| A bunch of faces ran through my mind when I saw this. |
And finally, this one's called "You are where I can be myself":
 |
| Again, a bunch of faces ran through my mind when I saw this. |
I want to meet this guy. I think we'd have some good conversations. But for now, I guess I'll have to be content with keeping up with his awesome drawings.
Have the best day.
G.
Saturday, 13 November 2010
Trials of the century and 4 little girls
At UVA Law School I'm taking a seminar class called "Trials of the Century" with Professor Anne Coughlin. It's probably my favourite paper out of the four that I'm taking here. We read and watch law journal articles, novels, films and documentaries about or based on great criminal trials of the past. And we meet once a week to talk about these trials: about the prevailing narratives of each trial; the larger historical, socio-political and anthropological issues involved in each trial; and the various purposes that criminal trials serve. The connecting thread of our discussions is the question, "What makes a trial a trial of the century?" The conversations are intellectually stimulating, engaging and often humorous. The two hours of class fly by very quickly each week.
The trials have all been very different from each other. The most interesting trials in my recollection were the Lizzie Borden trial (where a seemingly benign New England spinster killed her father and stepmother by beating them viciously with an axe), the John Scopes trial (where a high school science teacher was prosecuted in Tennessee for teaching the theory of evolution to his students in violation of a state statute prohibiting it), the Leopold and Loeb trial (where two intelligent and wealthy young Chicago college students killed a 14-year-old boy for no real reason other than sport and experimentation) and the Scottsboro Boys trial (where a group of nine African-American men were wrongly accused of and incarcerated for raping two white women on a freight train in Alabama). Each of these trials received huge media attention at the time, and are indelibly etched into America's legal memory.
Yesterday I watched a Spike Lee documentary called "4 Little Girls" for next week's class. It's a film about the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing that was carried out by Ku Klux Klan members in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. The church had been a rallying point for Civil Rights Movement activities, and the bigots of Alabama wanted to punish the African-Americans for their political activism, as well as to intimidate them into giving up in the fight for their rights. Four little girls - Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley - were killed in the bombing. The documentary interviewed family members of the girls who talked about each child and her short life, gave an overview of segregated life in 1960s Alabama (for instance, separate white and coloured public facilities), traced the development of the Civil Rights movement in Alabama in 1963 and the backlash it received (the firehosing of peaceful protesters in the streets and imprisonment of children were particularly despicable), looked at the bombing itself, and briefly covered the trial of one of the Klansmen (Robert Chambliss) responsible for it. He was gross man, he was all proud of himself for being a part of the bombing, sneering like a devil. Sick.
It was a heart-wrenching film. The interviews with the mothers of the girls were the most gripping part. I could see the lingering grief in their shining eyes, 30 years on from the tragic event. And the girls' siblings and childhood friends testified to how kind, caring and lovable they had all been. Each of the girls had been so precious, and if they were alive today they would no doubt be valuable members of their community. The documentary showed pictures of each girl, smiling, eyes twinkling, innocent and harmless. And to think that such beautiful children were maliciously and arbitrarily murdered, all because of a completely twisted view of racial equality, because of an absolutely senseless hatred based on skin colour. I couldn't stop crying as I watched it.
Racism is an undeniable and significant part of this country's history. How could one group of people persecute another group of people in such terrible ways, just because they're of a different race? In the documentary, Denise McNair's father told a story of a family outing during Christmas, where he couldn't buy Denise a sandwich from a store because it was for white people only. She was confused, and later that night when he explained to her the concept of segregation, she remained baffled. She just couldn't understand why people were treated badly simply because of the colour of their skin. It really is absurd. Sadly, I've realised that race remains a key divisive factor in America today, despite the huge progress it has made over the last century. Racial disparities are evident in schools, in the workplace and in the legal system.
And we try to solve many of society's problems, like racism, through the law. Another Klansman (Bobby Frank Cherry) responsible for the bombing was prosecuted more than 30 years after the bombing. While the law gives a significant degree of vindication to the victims of such crimes, I don't know whether the law is necessarily the right forum to tackle issues that are far larger than the courtroom. Does the conviction of a murderer provide real closure to the victim's loved ones? Can legal rules that prohibit discrimination stop people from distrusting and hating each other? No, I don't think so. If not trials, then what can society do? It has to do something in response to happenings like the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. I don't know. Maybe a trial is a necessary but insufficient part of the resolution process. But I still don't know what society could do to fill the gaps.
I've learnt a lot about history, American culture and the nature of a trial from this course. But most of all, I've had the opportunity to think a lot about humanity. People can be such strange and inexplicable creatures. We can become caught up in incredible ideas that cause us to act destructively, inhumanely, nonsensically. Completely weird notions that cause us to hate and hurt one another in ways that future generations won't be able to comprehend. Entire societies can become engulfed in beliefs and captured by ridiculous fears and consequently make life hellish for its minority members. We can be so evil sometimes. It makes my heart feel so bad. We're so in need of God that it's not even funny.
While there's much to be said about our past and the traditions we hold dear to our hearts, there are some parts of our history that have to be buried deep into the ground and never unearthed. The only thing we should do with the blemishes of the past is to keep them in our collective conscience so that we don't repeat them, ever. Hopefully we as people will continue onwards and upwards in terms of social progress, learning from what has been and piloting prudently towards where we're headed.
Watch "4 Little Girls" if you get the chance. It's engaging, educational and moving.
G.
The trials have all been very different from each other. The most interesting trials in my recollection were the Lizzie Borden trial (where a seemingly benign New England spinster killed her father and stepmother by beating them viciously with an axe), the John Scopes trial (where a high school science teacher was prosecuted in Tennessee for teaching the theory of evolution to his students in violation of a state statute prohibiting it), the Leopold and Loeb trial (where two intelligent and wealthy young Chicago college students killed a 14-year-old boy for no real reason other than sport and experimentation) and the Scottsboro Boys trial (where a group of nine African-American men were wrongly accused of and incarcerated for raping two white women on a freight train in Alabama). Each of these trials received huge media attention at the time, and are indelibly etched into America's legal memory.
Yesterday I watched a Spike Lee documentary called "4 Little Girls" for next week's class. It's a film about the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing that was carried out by Ku Klux Klan members in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. The church had been a rallying point for Civil Rights Movement activities, and the bigots of Alabama wanted to punish the African-Americans for their political activism, as well as to intimidate them into giving up in the fight for their rights. Four little girls - Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley - were killed in the bombing. The documentary interviewed family members of the girls who talked about each child and her short life, gave an overview of segregated life in 1960s Alabama (for instance, separate white and coloured public facilities), traced the development of the Civil Rights movement in Alabama in 1963 and the backlash it received (the firehosing of peaceful protesters in the streets and imprisonment of children were particularly despicable), looked at the bombing itself, and briefly covered the trial of one of the Klansmen (Robert Chambliss) responsible for it. He was gross man, he was all proud of himself for being a part of the bombing, sneering like a devil. Sick.
It was a heart-wrenching film. The interviews with the mothers of the girls were the most gripping part. I could see the lingering grief in their shining eyes, 30 years on from the tragic event. And the girls' siblings and childhood friends testified to how kind, caring and lovable they had all been. Each of the girls had been so precious, and if they were alive today they would no doubt be valuable members of their community. The documentary showed pictures of each girl, smiling, eyes twinkling, innocent and harmless. And to think that such beautiful children were maliciously and arbitrarily murdered, all because of a completely twisted view of racial equality, because of an absolutely senseless hatred based on skin colour. I couldn't stop crying as I watched it.
Racism is an undeniable and significant part of this country's history. How could one group of people persecute another group of people in such terrible ways, just because they're of a different race? In the documentary, Denise McNair's father told a story of a family outing during Christmas, where he couldn't buy Denise a sandwich from a store because it was for white people only. She was confused, and later that night when he explained to her the concept of segregation, she remained baffled. She just couldn't understand why people were treated badly simply because of the colour of their skin. It really is absurd. Sadly, I've realised that race remains a key divisive factor in America today, despite the huge progress it has made over the last century. Racial disparities are evident in schools, in the workplace and in the legal system.
And we try to solve many of society's problems, like racism, through the law. Another Klansman (Bobby Frank Cherry) responsible for the bombing was prosecuted more than 30 years after the bombing. While the law gives a significant degree of vindication to the victims of such crimes, I don't know whether the law is necessarily the right forum to tackle issues that are far larger than the courtroom. Does the conviction of a murderer provide real closure to the victim's loved ones? Can legal rules that prohibit discrimination stop people from distrusting and hating each other? No, I don't think so. If not trials, then what can society do? It has to do something in response to happenings like the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. I don't know. Maybe a trial is a necessary but insufficient part of the resolution process. But I still don't know what society could do to fill the gaps.
I've learnt a lot about history, American culture and the nature of a trial from this course. But most of all, I've had the opportunity to think a lot about humanity. People can be such strange and inexplicable creatures. We can become caught up in incredible ideas that cause us to act destructively, inhumanely, nonsensically. Completely weird notions that cause us to hate and hurt one another in ways that future generations won't be able to comprehend. Entire societies can become engulfed in beliefs and captured by ridiculous fears and consequently make life hellish for its minority members. We can be so evil sometimes. It makes my heart feel so bad. We're so in need of God that it's not even funny.
While there's much to be said about our past and the traditions we hold dear to our hearts, there are some parts of our history that have to be buried deep into the ground and never unearthed. The only thing we should do with the blemishes of the past is to keep them in our collective conscience so that we don't repeat them, ever. Hopefully we as people will continue onwards and upwards in terms of social progress, learning from what has been and piloting prudently towards where we're headed.
Watch "4 Little Girls" if you get the chance. It's engaging, educational and moving.
G.
Friday, 12 November 2010
Geek optimism
Today at LCF the talk was about living gratefully. You know, being thankful each day for the little good things and big good things in one's life. It's not really hard. We just have to look for opportunities to be thankful in the mundane routines and activities we undertake daily. We're called to live gratefully, both to God and to other people. It's not really about how you feel, it's about taking control of your will and consciously adhering to an obligation to adopt an attitude of gratitude. It's a pretty sweet deal I reckon, since your life will become more enriched and you'll become a better person for it. It was a good talk.
I found this picture the other day, and I think it sums up today's talk quite well. Unfortunately I'm not sure where it's from or who drew it, but it's pretty cool. It's called "Geek Optimism".
There's always something and/or someone to be thankful for. Let's take some time each day to think about that something and/or someone, and be grateful. If it's a person, maybe write them an email or letter to say thanks, even if it was for something from ages ago. No doubt you'll make their day.
G.
Wednesday, 10 November 2010
it's a powerful image for the passage of time that ALSO doubles as a reminder of when Martin Luther King Jr's Birthday (Observed) is
Ever since I started using Google Reader I've really gotten into Dinosaur Comics. They're webcomics drawn by this Canadian guy named Ryan North, and they're HILARIOUS - totally my kind of humour. Each comic uses the same six artwork panels, and only the dialogue changes from comic to comic. The characters are called T-Rex (the green one), Dromiceiomimus (the little white one) and Utahraptor (the one with big claws). T-Rex is my favourite. The comics can be found at www.qwantz.com.
This one is called "it's a powerful image for the passage of time that ALSO doubles as a reminder of when Martin Luther King Jr's Birthday (Observed) is". It makes more sense after you've read the comic.
If the practical difficulties like custom print, cost and volume of paper utilised could be dealt with, I reckon I'd totally get one of these life calendars. As T-Rex says, it's a powerful image and a reminder of our finite lives. Much more so than regular one-year calendars, right? As well as making me chuckle, this comic reminded me of Psalms 90:12, "So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." We're only here for a brief time, and we have to make our lives count for something. Fulfil the purpose we were created for, you know? Stay grounded, be humble, live in wonder. Yeah.
Keep on keeping on.
G.
Tuesday, 9 November 2010
Poor things
Another thought-provoking Venn diagram from thisisindexed.com, titled "Poor things".
Let's live humbly, with perspective. Have a great week.
G.
Friday, 5 November 2010
Woods
My muso lawyer friend (and overall oozing-with-cool Maxim alumnus) Tristan Sage introduced me to Bon Iver during our summer internship, and I feel that I'm a better person for it. Their music is hauntingly beautiful. This song, "Woods", describes the way I'm feeling today on this cloudy autumn Charlottesville Thursday.
I'm up in the woods
I'm down on my mind
I'm building a still
To slow down the time
I think you can interpret this song in a lot of ways. To me, it's saying a bunch of different things. Enjoy the present but don't forget to reflect on your days so that you don't lose track of the course you're meant to be navigating as you sail forward in life. Take some time out every now and again to chill and think, to find and reorient yourself as you will inevitably need to. Have some alone time in the woods and explore what's in your mind, reconnect with God and your loved ones. Appreciate and revel in the fullness of life, of each day that's been given to you. Slow down the time and delight in it all. Peaceful, calm, pensive, thankful, content. All those things.
Check out Bon Iver's other stuff too, they're pretty amazing. I particularly like "Skinny Love". I'm actually listening to it right now. Gold.
Happy November, everyone.
G.
I'm up in the woods
I'm down on my mind
I'm building a still
To slow down the time
I think you can interpret this song in a lot of ways. To me, it's saying a bunch of different things. Enjoy the present but don't forget to reflect on your days so that you don't lose track of the course you're meant to be navigating as you sail forward in life. Take some time out every now and again to chill and think, to find and reorient yourself as you will inevitably need to. Have some alone time in the woods and explore what's in your mind, reconnect with God and your loved ones. Appreciate and revel in the fullness of life, of each day that's been given to you. Slow down the time and delight in it all. Peaceful, calm, pensive, thankful, content. All those things.
Check out Bon Iver's other stuff too, they're pretty amazing. I particularly like "Skinny Love". I'm actually listening to it right now. Gold.
Happy November, everyone.
G.
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