Has a Christian high school athlete ever come at his recruiters like this?

"I basically told them, 'This is me,'" said Te'o, from Laie, Hawaii. "I'm LDS. I'm thinking of serving a mission, and I want that to be available to me. If that's not in the cards for your university, I have to respect that, but I have to consider others."

Just when you thought that the video documentary "Jesus Camp" went too far, you encounter Nezareth Castillo, the now 13 year old boy from the province of Trujillo in Peru who has been for quite some time (the video posted is a few years old) a child-star preaching sensation in South American megachurch circles.

Some people call him an alien, or even a midget posing as a kid. Others, more attracted by him, call him the greatest preacher of the 21st century. When interviewed by TV Chile when he was 8 years old, he expressed his wish to continue to preach the Word of God as he grew older and later even become president of Peru.

In all the videos I've seen of him, interviews, articles, etc., not once do I see either of his parents in the picture. Not once do I see him in the company of an older, wiser man that can teach him and guide him in the hard path of ministry. Instead, I see a young boy, speaking words well beyond his age or school level, arguing evolution ala "answers in Genesis" style, mesmerizing crowds of stupified church folk that jump up and down as they witness yet another irresponsible act of sacrificing the life of a young Christian on the altar of "leaderhip" or "annointing".

I ask myself if this is not simply Evangelical Child Abuse.....or as Paul once put it...despising our youth....throwing them onto the stage without guidance, time, experience and parenting. He is now 13....and we all know what begins to happen around that time. Let's just hope that after missing out on childhood, his teenage years do not destroy his life and that the Lord may keep him from temptation, from danger and especially, from blood thirsty, money loving preachers ready to make a quick buck by parading as a circus act a young boy that is definitely gifted, but is still that, a young boy.

I'm on a mission to save teenagers from making abstinence pledges! Also, abstinence education in public schools is generally a waste time as well because it doesn't work and the US government spends $200 million a year on abstinence education programs.

I wrote this over at World Magazine on why programs having teens pledge abstinence till marriage are legalistic and generally unwise, ineffective, and nonsensical. Who comes up with this stuff? My thoughts:

A recent abstinence pledge study has produced competing interpretations of pledge effectiveness. What the media seems to miss is that the study--conducted by Janet Elise Rosenbaum, published in the journal Pediatrics, and titled "Patient Teenagers? A Comparison of the Sexual Behavior of Virginity Pledgers and Matched Nonpledgers"--is about sexual behavior in young people after high school. The latest findings reveal that five years after abstinence pledges are made, pledgers and non-pledgers alike are equally promiscuous. The sexual behavior of young adults five years after taking abstinence pledges should not surprise us, regardless of their constrained sexual activity during their high school years.

The study also demonstrates that teens from supportive religious communities are much less likely to engage in premarital sex in high school. But is being less bad necessarily good? Here's an idea: Let's stop teens from making pledges altogether. The problem in our divorce culture is that marriage has been devalued to the point that abstinence until marriage makes less and less sense to many people.

I have never been a fan of abstinence pledge programs and generally see them as pharisaical and utilitarian when churches adopt them. In general, these programs are designed for teens to get through high school without losing their virginity, as if losing one's virginity at 16-years-old is morally inferior to losing it at 21-years-old outside of marriage. Deep spirituality, however, should not be confused with participation in extra-biblical church programs. Many parents seem more concerned about their children's sexuality than their children's love for Jesus and dependence on the Holy Spirit. If teens are not in love with Jesus, what's an abstinence program on a Sunday night, with pledge cards, purity rings, workbooks, and an annual conference going to accomplish in the long run?

Read the rest here.

Sadly, we should expect to see more of this. Remember the brokenness of men often ties itself to work. This is so jacked-up. Why kill the wife and the kids?

From CNN:

With no job and 5 kids, 'better to end our lives,' man wrote

* Police believe man killed five children and their mother, then took own life
* Man left note detailing the his family's plight and blaming former employer
* Officials say man killed family after he and his wife were terminated from jobs
* Deaths related to economic woes "all-too-common story" lately, mayor says

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- It was described as one of the most grisly scenes Los Angeles police had ever encountered: the bodies of five small children and their parents, all shot to death, in two upstairs rooms of the family's home.

"The reaction on their faces was not a pretty sight," neighbor Jasmine Gomez told CNN. "There was an officer who came out of the house throwing up."

But even more incomprehensible to some was the story that emerged after the bodies were found Tuesday: A father who, after he and his wife were fired from their jobs, killed all six family members before turning the gun on himself.

In a letter faxed to Los Angeles television station KABC before his suicide, Ervin Antonio Lupoe blamed his former employer for the deaths, detailing his grievance against Kaiser Permanente's West Los Angeles Medical Center, where he and his wife Ana had worked as technicians.

Lupoe claimed the couple was being investigated for "misrepresentation of our employment to an outside agency for the benefit to ourselves's [sic], childcare." He said the initial interview was held on December 19, and when he reported for work on December 23, "I was told by my administrator ... that 'You should not even have bothered to come to work today. You should have blown your brains out.'"

Kaiser Permanente said in a statement Tuesday night that while the company is "saddened by the despair in Mr. Lupoe's letter faxed to the media ... we are confident that no one told him to take his own life or the lives of his family."

The Lupoes' employment was terminated over a week ago "after an internal investigation," the company said. Lupoe wrote in the fax, "after a horrendous ordeal my wife felt it better to end our lives and why leave our children in someone else's hands ... we have no job and 5 children under 8 years with no place to go. So here we are."

Crazy.

From CNN:

While CTE in an ex-NFL player's brain may have been expected, the beginnings of brain damage in an 18-year-old brain was a "shocking" finding, according to Dr. Ann McKee, a neuropathologist at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Bedford, Massachusetts, and co-director of the CSTE.

Maybe I'll steer my son towards basketball...

I posted this over a World last week. I see this as good news.

Last week, the ACLU won an injunction in Florida that officially removes prayer, God, and religious activity from the Santa Rosa County School District. U.S. District Court Judge Casey Rodgers made the ruling after school officials admitted to the religious activity. The ACLU, on behalf of two high school students, sued the district, Pace High School Principal Frank Lay, and former Superintendent John Rogers.

According to the Pensacola News Journal, the injunction states the Santa Rosa County School Board and its employees are prohibited from:

* Promoting, advancing, aiding, facilitating, endorsing, or causing religious prayers or devotionals during school-sponsored events.
* Planning, organizing, financing, promoting, or otherwise sponsoring religious baccalaureate services at all schools within the Santa Rosa School District, including at Pace High School.
* Holding school-sponsored events at religious venues when alternative venues are reasonably available.
* Permitting school officials to promote their personal religious beliefs and proselytize students in class or during school-sponsored events and activities.
* Otherwise unconstitutionally endorsing or coercing religion.

According to the Pensacola paper, the ACLU says the school district violated the First Amendment when it allowed elementary graduations and middle school Christmas concerts to be held at churches, when teachers and staff at Pace High School preached about "Judgment Day with the Lord," and when teachers and staff offered Bible readings and biblical interpretations during student meetings.

This ruling might actually be a blessing in disguise for all of us. Protestants tend to forget about the religious persecution endured by Roman Catholic families attempting to put their children in America's public schools in the 19th century. The parochial school movement was started, in part, to give the children of Catholic families a persecution-free place to learn. This was during an era where Catholics were seen as enemies of Protestants.

The type of Protestant today who might object to the Florida ruling would curiously also likely raise objections to the following: elementary schools holding graduations in Mosques; classroom instruction being interrupted to pray during Ramadan, the Muslim spiritual holiday; and teachers reading and interpreting passages from the Koran in student meetings.

Read the whole thing here.

Love it! More about the politically charged underground hip hop from in the New York Times. Very cool, stuff. This music cannot be contained by the government. Music continues to be an underrated vehicle for social change. The revolution continues...

Whew, MTV has outdone themselves this time. This cast is, well, see for yourselves. You can catch the episodes here. They're taking another year off from angry black dudes who whoop some tail at least once in the season.

I wonder if the many pro-life Christians who supported Obama had any idea how aggressive he would be at fulfilling his campaign promises to expand abortion in US and abroad so soon?

From Juan:

Hi! My name is Juan Callejas. I'm from Guatemala, Central America. I've been married for almost 6 years and have two beautiful daughters. I'm basically a violin playing, soccer fanatic, marketing guy that likes to rattle the cage of Latin American church folk with outrageous ideas like responsible freedom, cultural relevance and other such craziness. Glad to be part of this form and am looking forward to the discussions!!!

President Obama is a man of his word so far. Now, American taxpayers are helping to fund abortions all over the world and supporting abortion services. Change has come to Washington.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama struck down a rule Friday that prohibits U.S. money from funding international family-planning clinics that promote abortion or provide counseling or referrals about abortion services.

President Obama says he doesn't want family planning to be used as a "political wedge." Obama said in a statement that family planning aid has been used as a "political wedge issue," adding that he had "no desire to continue this stale and fruitless debate."

The policy says any organization receiving U.S. family-planning funds from the U.S. Agency for International Development cannot offer abortions or abortion counseling.

"It is time we end the politicization of this issue," Obama said. "In the coming weeks, my administration will initiate a fresh conversation on family planning, working to find areas of common ground to best meet the needs of women and families at home and around the world."

Obama's memorandum reversing the policy comes the day after the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. The landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision held that a woman's right to an abortion fell within the right to privacy protected by the 14th Amendment. The ruling gave a woman autonomy over her pregnancy during the first trimester.

The memorandum reverses the "Mexico City policy," initiated by President Reagan in 1984, canceled by President Clinton and reinstated by President George W. Bush in 2001.

Read the rest here.

Nashville voters reject English-only measure

* NEW: 57 percent vote against English-only measure in Nashville, Tennessee
* Proposal: "No person shall have a right" to government services not in English
* Measure would "exclude and marginalize" some residents, newspaper says

(CNN) -- Voters in Nashville, Tennessee -- a city that has seen a dramatic increase in its immigrant population -- rejected a measure Thursday that would have made English the only language used for government business in its metropolitan area.

With all 173 precincts reporting, 41,752 voters, or nearly 57 percent, voted against the proposed amendment, with 32,144 voters supporting it, according to unofficial results posted on the Nashville city government Web site.

"No person shall have a right to government services in any other language," the proposal read.

The measure would have included government meetings.

The Metropolitan Council, which submitted the measure, could have mandated exceptions to protect public health and safety.

Elise Shore, southeast director of the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said her regional office in Atlanta, Georgia, was monitoring the Nashville balloting.

"We just elected our first black president. There are the forces of globalization and conducting business around the world ... in the face of this, we see these measures?" Shore asked.

Destroying embryos so that paralyzed people can walk. This is how it was described on "CNN Morning" news today. I wonder if there'll be a market now to sell embryos for cash?

The Bush Administration fought against federal funding for this for years, now the battle's over. President Obama promised to reverse the Bush administration ban on using federal funds to destroy people's embryos for research. Change has come to Washington.

* Human stem cell research could begin as early as this summer
* Researchers will test whether the cells are safe to use in spinal injury patients
* Federal funds were blocked for embryonic stem-cell research until August 2001

(CNN) -- Federal regulators have cleared the way for the first human trials of human embryonic stem-cell research, authorizing researchers to test whether the cells are safe to use in spinal injury patients, the company behind the trials announced Friday.

The tests could begin by summer, said Dr. Thomas Okarma, president and CEO of the Geron Corporation. The Food and Drug Administration has approved the trials, which will use human stem cells authorized for research by then-President George W. Bush in 2001.

The patients will be those with the most severe spinal cord injuries, called complete spinal cord injuries.

"A complete spinal cord injury has no hope of recovery below the injury," Okarma told CNN. "This is significant because it's the first clinical trial of a human embryonic-based product."

Read the rest of the story here.

Grameen Shakti Also look at Grameen Bank spin off wins award

Solar Cells are too expensive is the mantra we normally here. This is true with western homes already connected to the power grid. Add the fact the power usage of western homes is so high you need many solar cells to even make a dent.

For the poor in the 3rd world solar cells are affordable. Currently many that have electricity have to use car batteries then haul them into the local town to get a charge. With the systems implemented by Grameen Shakti people that have no access to a grid or the money to connect to it can buy solar cells to provide their energy needs. All of this is cost effective. Not only that they are taught how to use fuel sources they have access to in a sustainable way.

Barua told me that about 70% of the 150 million people who live in Bangladesh have no electricity. They typically use polluting kerosene lamps to light their homes at night. "I tell them that for the cost of kerosene, you can buy a solar system," he said. The economics work like this: Total cost of a rooftop solar photovoltaic panel (imported from Japan), a battery and the required electronics is about $350 to $400. Customers typically put 10-15% down and pay the rest in monthly payments for three years. By then, they own a system that should last 20 years, without fuel costs. The panel makes enough electricity to power a few lights, a black-and-white TV and, most important, a cell phone. "Everyone wants a mobile phone," Barua says.

What Grameen has been able to accomplish is amazing. It is not a charity it is a business. I look forward to see more programs like this in the future.

Friends, I'm in Philly speaking Sunday at Christ Liberation Fellowship on "Black Liberation Theology" and them I'm off to DC to go to the inauguration of President-Elect Obama.

On Monday, enjoy the Martin Luther King, Jr. national holiday.

(I probably won't post again until the end of next week)

I wrote this over at World Magazine:

If you have personal blog, shut it down. Nobody cares what you are musing about and few people can find it. This is the advice of Paul Boutin, writing about the end of personal blogging for Wired Magazine. Twitter, Flickr, and Facebook have made personal blogging obsolete, he argues, adding that posting personal pictures and your "random thoughts" musings to be read by those surfing the blogosphere is a waste of time and bandwidth.

Blogging has now become professionalized and formalized into cheap ways to launch a website. Originally, weblogs provided a platform for the common person to journal online for any passerby to read, but now it has become a place to sell advertising, as magazines, newspapers, professional organizations, well-known public figures, and so on, have redefined the genre and taken it over. I started blogging back in 2003, but most of the folks who began when I did have terminated their blogs and moved on to Facebook and Twitter.

Boutin writes:

"Cut-rate journalists and underground marketing campaigns now drown out the authentic voices of amateur wordsmiths. It's almost impossible to get noticed, except by hecklers. And why bother? . . . Scroll down Technorati's list of the top 100 blogs and you'll find personal sites have been shoved aside by professional ones. Most are essentially online magazines: The Huffington Post. Engadget. TreeHugger. A stand-alone commentator can't keep up with a team of pro writers cranking out up to 30 posts a day."

Read the rest here.

News & Notes , January 12, 2009 · President George W. Bush today defended his presidency in his final scheduled press conference.

Our bloggers weigh in on the legacy of the 43rd President.

Joining Farai Chideya are Anthony Bradley of The Institute, Eisa Ulen, and Michael D. Cobb Bowen.

Here it here.

NPR is canceling "News and Notes" in March so this was probably my last one. It was a good run.

Tuesday I attended a meeting on a coal plant. Did I somehow step into a religious event? No, no this was about shutting down a coal plant. Even still, I was being sucked in, each and every word was better then the one before. Here lies the problem with sustainability. It has become the end, it has become a god. Humans are built to worship and so we worship. When does passion become worship?

A though came over me as I awoke Wednesday morning. Am I a follower of this new sustainable religion, a peddler of green, a preacher of green salvation? Chills ran down my back. These are not the thoughts I want waking up in the morning. Yet there they where, the first thing on my mind.

As my head cleared I thought no I am not part of this religion. I am part of Christ's church that is where my allegiance lies.

Maybe many of you believe "green" to be religious? You know what? It is. It is either a false religion or part of God's truth. For too long we have been told our beliefs are private and that they have no business in our daily lives. That is bunk. The holistic view of God is what brought me to sustainability.

I became interested in sustainability, creation care, environmentalism, etc because of my trust in the Lord. I see it as the next step on our journey. We are just being to understand the complex systems we inhabit.

Last, what ideas would you, as the reader, like addressed? I can go on and on for ages talking as those close to me know. Any topic, even vaguely, about green or sustainability is fair game. I will continue to write about what I am thinking and how my work is going in the Boulder area.

Men's Health Magazine has ranked the best and worst cities in America for men.

St. Louis is the second worst city in America for men. Maybe this is why my friends are moving away. It was intuitive.

The top five pathetic cities according to Men's Health:

(1) Charleston, WV
(2) St. Louis, MO (which is also the most dangerous city in America)
(3) Las Vegas, NV
(4) St. Petersburg, FL
(5) Birmingham, AL

From the AJC:

By GENE JOHNSON
Associated Press Writer

SEATTLE -- Washington state law does not bar teachers from having consensual sex with 18-year-old students, an appeals court ruled Tuesday in dismissing a case against a former high school choir teacher. The teacher, Matthew Hirschfelder, was charged with first-degree sexual misconduct with a minor for allegedly having sex with a Hoquiam High School senior in 2006. He challenged a judge's refusal to dismiss his case, arguing the student wasn't a minor because she was 18.

Hirschfelder, who was 33 at the time, also denies any sexual relationship occurred. A three-judge panel of the Washington Court of Appeals unanimously agreed that the case should be dismissed.

The rest is here.

Wow!! Anybody know why 17-years-old is the magic cut-off age for being an "adult?"

Mis amigos Colombianos!! Ja, ja, ja!!

The last time I heard this I was in a club in El Salvador with Rodrigo two central American trips ago. The place erupted, and rightly so. This song's so cool. Move your tables aside, play this loud and fake like your house is full of Latinos!! Pure, energy. Ahh, mi gente Latinos!

Friends, I'm in search of blogs/websites, etc. where I can read a Korean American perspective on life, culture, Christianity, etc. I'm particularly interested in someone who's GenX or younger who may have a more progressive and outspoken analysis but is still theologically orthodox. Someone who may be able to related to what it's like to be a part of subdominant culture within evangelicalism.

If anyone knows of anyone, or if you're a Korean American with your own blog and you've got stuff to say, feel post links or e-mail me their info abradley@acton.org. Thanks!!

HT: Marriage Tweets

From the New York Times:

January 4, 2009 A Rise in Efforts to Spot Abuse in Youth Dating By ELIZABETH OLSON

She was 17 when she met her boyfriend, and 20 when she died at his hands. In between, Heather Norris tried several times to leave the relationship, which was fraught with control and abuse, before she was killed -- stabbed, dismembered and discarded in trash bags.

Her death in 2007 in Indianapolis is one of several stemming from abuse in teenage dating relationships that have spurred states and communities to search for new ways to impress on adolescents -- and their parents and teachers -- the warning signs of dangerous dating behavior and what actions are not acceptable or healthy.

Texas recently adopted a law that requires school districts to define dating violence in school safety codes, after the 2003 stabbing death of Ortralla Mosley, 15, in a hallway of her Austin high school and the shooting death of Jennifer Ann Crecente, 18, two years ago. Rhode Island in 2007 adopted the Lindsay Ann Burke Act -- prompted by the murder of a young woman by a former boyfriend -- requiring school districts to teach students in grades 7 through 12 about dating abuse.

New York recently expanded its domestic violence law to allow victims, including teenagers in dating relationships, to obtain a restraining order against an abuser in family court rather than having to seek help from the criminal justice system. Legislators were moved to act after a survey by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene showed that dating violence had risen by more than 40 percent since 1999, when the department began asking students about the problem.

Read the rest here.

Ten percent of teens report having been in abusive relationships. It's so not worth it because the baggage lingers.

More and more states are offering dating instruction in high school courses!? Why are parents letting the state teach their kids about relationships? Is this government's job? Sad.

But wait, is that Anthony Bradley in the audience?? Whoa, why yes it is, right at 2:31-2:33 and 2:51 (I'm the dude in the middle of screen clapping and shaking the hand of a person behind me). So great to be in a church with amazing energy (kind'a like what's described in Psalms and Revelations).

These musicians were amazing, some of the best in Atlanta. It was good to be around black women as well. BTW, the best music I've heard in St. Louis is at Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church (amazing talent, simply gifted).

WARNING: This is the actual clip of the Oscar Grant shooting. There is profanity and graphic violence. This clip is not suitable for children. Grant later died.

From the San Fransisco Chronicle:

Otis Duckett stood outside the doors of the Baptist church in Hayward where friends and family had gathered to eulogize 22-year-old Oscar Grant and was overcome with emotion.

"When is this going to stop?" the 29-year-old shouted. "I'm sick of people acting like we deserve what we get, that because we are black, they can shoot us in the back and get away with it."

Grant was killed by a BART police officer early New Year's Day after he and several other young men had been detained in the Fruitvale Station after an altercation. Grant, unarmed, was face down on the ground when Officer Johannes Mehserle, who is white, fired a fatal shot into his back.

Who will protect young black men from the police? This is the question many are asking in response to this brutal act of police insanity.

I'm not nearly as concerned about the racial dynamic as the fact that yet, again, power has such a corrupting influence. However, I continue to be a fearful when I'm pulled over by a white cop. I know there are good cops out there but I remain cautious and fearful of white cops in general. "To protect and serve," maybe for some people.

Is this not like Alabama and Mississippi, for example, during and prior to the civil rights movement? Here's one likely truth: if Grant had been white, he probably would not have been shot (maybe just beat up) many are saying.

This reminds me of a rap song back in the day from NWA about the police and the movie Crash.

Sustainability, it seems to be the buzzword of the year second only to the infamous "Green". What does it really mean? The right thinks it is something environmentalists are pushing down their throats. The left believes it is the only thing that matters, as we must stop global warming at all costs ignoring hard science and solutions that work. Corporate America uses it to sell more products and say they care not actually changing their practices.

Over the coming months I will focus on what I know clean tech, clean energy, and sustainable design. I look forward to posting my thoughts and ideas on sustainability. That sustainability is not just some buzzword, but a way to bring redemption to the services we provide and the products we develop.

No longer is man able to pollute without thought. Our actions have global consequences. Our technology has the ability change the face of the earth. In this brings responsibility and a new way of thinking. Cause and effect no longer is just linear. It is a new problem. It is as computer scientists call a NP-complete problem. There is no optimal path, no optimal answer that we can find. Like evolution we will advance by trail and error to find solutions that work for each given stage in time. Through serendipity and intelligence we will find the solutions that are needed to advance God's creation.

This is the first time I have shared my views with the general public. Many things may not be well thought out or even correct. The dialog that will follow over the coming months excites me and I hope I can expand your view of the Christian call.

P.S. I am a graduate of the University of Oklahoma in MIS and IPE (basically environmental studies). I now live in Boulder, CO. I will be working with the Resource Conservation part time as well as meeting the movers and shakers in the clean tech arena.

This is why we need missional work in Europe to actually reach Europeans (and not just immigrants in the UK, not that there's anything wrong with that--calm down).

Posted this over at World Magazine:

Based on interviews with 16- to 25-year-olds conducted on behalf of The Prince's Trust, younger generations in the United Kingdom are becoming "increasingly vulnerable." Young people in the United Kingdom increasingly are describing life as meaningless and are struggling to understand why life matters. This type of confusion sets the stage for them to rely upon false systems--such as drug and alcohol abuse, gangs, and non-marital and risky sex behavior--to give life meaning.

Among the key finding from the survey that YouGuv conducted for The Prince's Trust were:

* 12 percent of young people in Wales claim life is meaningless.
* 26 percent say they are often, or always, down or depressed.
* 39 percent say they are less happy now than they were as a child.
* 21 percent feel like crying often or always.
* 44 percent say they are regularly stressed.
* Those not in work, training, or education are twice as likely to feel their life has little or no purpose.
* Across the United Kingdom, young people feel relationships with family (56 percent) are key to overall happiness.
* Friends (52 percent), emotional health (29 percent), money (16 percent), and work (14 percent) are also important.

Read the rest here.

Police: Angry Ohio boy, 4, shoots baby sitter

JACKSON, Ohio -- Police say an angry 4-year-old Ohio boy grabbed a gun from a closet and shot his baby sitter.

Eighteen-year-old Nathan Beavers was hospitalized Sunday with minor wounds to his arm and side after the shotgun attack. Police say another teen was also injured.

Witnesses told police the child was angry because Beavers accidentally stepped on his foot. Beavers was watching the child at a mobile home in Jackson with several other teenagers and several other children.

Jackson County Sheriff John Shashteen says authorities are investigating. The child has not been charged.

___

January 5, 2009 - 11:22 p.m. Copyright 2009, The Associated Press.

Wow, Ohio State's defensive coordinator did not sleep well last night.

I love the University of Utah!!

Friends, I'm in the New York City for a few days. Chillin' at my cousins house at the moment. It's not fair that New York has so many Puerto Ricans and other cities do not.