#culture

The Upside Down World ~ The Blog

Jan 14, 2013
4 min

The Christian’s Role in Society

Perhaps it’s inevitable, but the older I get, the more radical I seem to be becoming. It all comes from thinking that Jesus really meant all those crazy things he said and, you know, actually wants us to do them. I mean a lot of effort has gone into trying to put the Jesus stamp of approval on the comfortable American dream and a lot of people are happy with the result. But the red letters are still there in the bible. And all it takes is to try to follow a few of them for a

Jan 8, 2013
6 min

About Those Tickled Ears

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.” – 1 Timothy 4:3-4 As a general rule I do my best to adhere to the policy that one ought to promote what one loves rather than bashing what one opposes. But today, I feel the need to warn y’all about the ear ticklers.

Jan 3, 2013
4 min

Is Christianity the One True Religion?

I believe is that Jesus is THE way, THE truth and THE life and that no one comes to the father but by him. However, most Christians basically change that text to read that “no one comes to the father but by believing in” Christ. Now, I do believe that there are benefits and rewards for those who affirm Christ knowingly and by name. Scriptures promise us that. I also believe that it is desirous that every man would know and serve Jesus in that way. However, it is also true tha

Dec 20, 2012
6 min

For the Woman at the Post Office Who is Reporting Me for Child Abuse

I gave her my name, so I’m kind of hoping she googles me. Cuz that’s how cool I am – if you google my name, it brings ya here. As long as the cops never figure that out, I’m good. ;p Anyhow, the reason I hope she googles me and finds this is because like her, I care very much about the proper treatment of children. In fact, I care so much about it that I even care about the damage which is done by those who see something very good – caring about how kids are treated – as an o

Dec 13, 2012
4 min

The Power of Good vs Evil

The other day, two very different news stories caught my attention. The first was the news of a young man shooting people at a mall in Oregon, killing two shoppers and himself. The other was news that the mother of football player Jerry Brown extended forgiveness to the teammate whose drunk driving caused her son’s death. I was struck by the contrast the stories presented. But also by the likelihood that the way we think about these two very different events reveals how littl

Oct 24, 2012
7 min

“What is truth?”

So, are you sick of the arguments yet? You know the arguments – Romney vs Obama. “Job Creators” vs Inequality. Creationism vs Evolution. Pro-Choice vs Pro-Life. Old Fashioned vs New Fangled. Text Speak vs Grammar Nazi’s. Toilet Seat Up vs Toilet Seat Down. Whatever it is, if we can figure out two ways of looking at an issue to divide ourselves into, we do it. And then we argue and argue and argue. We refine our arguments and wonder what the hell is wrong with the people who d

Oct 23, 2012
8 min

Tebowing ™ – Harmless, Faithful or Whore of Babylon Stuff?

So, just this morning, I was explaining to my husband that I feel pretty strongly that my blog is not the place for me to engage in criticism or debate. Rarely, if ever, will you hear me weighing in directly on the latest debate or controversy. And I engage in direct criticism of others next to never. I’d rather make a positive case for what I think and allow it to stand or fall on its own rather than use other view points as a foil. Yup. That’s what I was saying just this mo

Oct 10, 2012
6 min

The American Race and Race

Gather ’round, folks. Auntie Becky is going to tell you a story. A metaphor really, about race in America. And about the American Dream. Imagine for a moment, a long relay race where for generations it has been considered acceptable and in some cases even required to break the limbs of a one group of people trying to run the race. The people thought this was OK. After all, it wasn’t long ago that this group of people had been used as horses to pull everyone else’s carts aroun

Oct 5, 2012
7 min

Most Christian’s Opinions Aren’t Worth Two Dead Flies – But That Can Change

I like to say that I grew up in the “Easy Listening” phase of American Roman Catholicism. We sang “On Eagle’s Wings” with a guitar accompanist and hung felt banners around the sanctuary. My cousins attended a church that had alter girls and interpretive dancers. An opera singer who attended our church was sometimes allowed to lead songs and children regularly got smacked in the back of the head for giggling when she stretched to hit really high, screechy notes. Which was bett

Sep 14, 2012
4 min

Virtuous Vanilla Lip Balm, Jesus and a Prostitute

Once upon a time, a Christian entrepreneur got carried away and created a line of Jesus themed personal care products. The idea was to present “to-cool-for-school” unchurched types with an image of Jesus as irreverent, hip and ironic, and thus more acceptable. The result was this: Of course, it’s possible that you’re not much of a flavored lip balm sort of guy or gal. Perhaps a “Looking good for Jesus” shopping bag is more your thing. Or bubble bath, hand cream, coin purse co

Sep 2, 2012
4 min

Let’s All Be Fundamentalists!

Statement of (The Upside Down World’s) Fundamentalist Faith: There is great disagreement within the church regarding whether the bible should be taken literally and if so, which parts must be taken literally. Unfortunately, this ongoing disagreement has often kept us from paying enough to those verses which we can all agree ought to be taken literally. So, although there is freedom in Christ which allows for a variety of ideas and understandings to be held by those who follow

Aug 30, 2012
6 min

Judging Christians

What would happen if we all stopped judging each other tomorrow? Would everyone start sassing the boss, not realizing they could be fired? Would families start roasting each other for dinner, knowing no one would judge them for it? Is judging properly the only thing that’s standing between us and a world of complete chaos (as opposed to the one we currently inhabit!)? Or to put the question another way – what effect do we think we are having when we observe for others what is

Aug 29, 2012
1 min

We’re in the Last Days

Forget the re-settlement of Israel or all the weird astronomical alignments happening this December, if you want real proof that we’re in the last days, look no further than the spread of Prince Harry’s nudie shots around the globe. Can you imagine telling people in colonial India or America that the day would come that people everywhere would see the Prince of England in the buff? They’d have thought you were crazy. Yet here we are. 😉 “There is nothing concealed that will

Aug 12, 2012
5 min

Bloggy Linky Goodness

Well, it’s been a slow week around here as you might have noticed. Next week will be different, but you’ll have to head down to the bottom of this week’s Bloggy Linky Goodness to find out more about that. In other news, I shaved my legs and pits for the first time in months. Most exciting thing to happen around here in a while, I tell ya! But I do have some good writing/reading for this week’s Bloggy Linky Goodness to share with y’all: Radical Practice Needs Deep Roots in Doc

Aug 3, 2012
4 min

“High Priests of Caesar’s Court”

I came across a post by Greg Boyd today which I think makes a great follow-up to my post earlier this week – Our Faithless Culture Wars – that I hope you will go read. The choice excerpts for me: We sadly assume our highest calling is to be the high priests of Caesar’s court, telling it how God allegedly wants it to spend its money. Of course, being the high priests of Caesar’s court means you’ve got to get into the messy complexity of this court. How do we know that fighting

Jul 31, 2012
3 min

Our Faithless Culture Wars

A while ago, I finally realized that I needed to take Jesus’ teachings much more literally. He said, “don’t judge” and I said, “I’m not judging, but clearly some things are wrong. It’s not judging to say that.” He said, “love, pray for and serve your enemies” and I heard, “love the sinner, hate the sin.” He said, “do not resist the evil man” and I signed petitions against groups and politicians in order to protect Jesus’ values. Jesus said, “so do not worry, saying, ‘What sha

Jul 22, 2012
5 min

Bloggy Linky Goodness – My 500th Post

Second, this is my 500th blog post. And I want you all to be properly impressed by this feat because it was done with children climbing all over me. I’m not even kidding – last fall, Olivia was channelling the spirit of a cat and kept sitting on my head and neck while I typed. Be impressed, damnit. According a guesstimation based on the usual length of my blog posts, this means I have written approximately as many words here at The Upside Down World as are in the Lord of the

Jul 8, 2012
4 min

Bloggy Linky Goodness

Ages ago, I briefly tried putting up a weekly list of links to interesting things I was reading. But consistency isn’t really my thing. My week had 8 days in it and all it take for me to forget what I’m doing is walking through a doorway. But, part of the whole blogging/social media experience is building connections with others and promoting eachother’s work. Even for us introverts. So, I’ve decided to go ahead and try the weekly linky thing again. ‘Cuz I always enjoy other

Jul 4, 2012
2 min

God Bless America?

In early fall of 2008 I was listening to the radio on the morning that Lehman Brothers failed and there was great concern that this was the beginning of the end of our financial system. It was all a bit scary and I began to pray, “Lord, please protect us.” The response? “Why should I? I have blessed America beyond anything the world has ever known before. Should I step in now to protect her snowmobiles and McMansions and Supergulp sodas and plastic surgery and $200 Nikes? I h

Jul 1, 2012
5 min

Top 4 Things I Learned in Juvi ~ Part 4 Most People Are Doing the Best They Can

When I was volunteering in juvi, the kids I spent time with ranged from dumb kids who got picked up carrying drugs for a gang to a few who had committed really heinous acts of violence. But we were never told what crimes the kids we worked with had been convicted of and we never came out and asked. I was warned going in that everyone in prison is innocent (because everyone claims to have been wrongly convicted). However, this wasn’t my experience at all. Maybe because I’m non