The Nativity Story
This is the weekend that the next big Bible film opens in theaters. The Nativity Story stars sixteen-year-old Australian actress Keisha Castle-Hughes as Mary. Castle-Hughes starred as a Maori girl-who-would-be-tribal-chief in the wonderful Whale Rider a few years ago. And fans of 24 will recognize the actress who plays Elizabeth - Iranian-born Shohreh Aghdashloo, who played the awesomely wicked Mom-next-door/terrorist in season four.
David Neff at Christianity Today Movies gives the film a positive review for its realistic rendering of first-century peasant life and for developing the idea, only briefly mentioned in Scripture, that Joseph was a just and compassionate man.
I’m glad to say that, unlike The Passion, this film hasn’t been aggressively marketed to churches as “the greatest evangelistic opportunity since the feeding of the 5,000!” It’s just a movie, after all. Hopefully it’s a good one. I look forward to seeing it.
Better (Red) than dead
I first became aware of the (Red) campaign on Thanksgiving night when I saw a long commercial about it (narrated by Bono). Some of my younger friends tell me that (Red) has been operating in Europe for some time, but it seems the U. S. push is just beginning.
Here’s how it works: Companies like Apple, American Express and others brand certain products with the (Red) logo. (The products themselves may or may not be red in color). When consumers purchase (Red) products, part of the profits go to AIDS relief. The (Red) Ipod Nano, for example, which is actually red as well as (Red) costs the same as comparable Ipods, but $10 goes to AIDS relief with every purchase.
The (Red) manifesto stresses that (Red) isn’t a charity but rather a business model, that once consumers understand the choice, they will choose (Red) products and increase their market share enough to offset the contribution. The relative success of products labeled “green” and “organic” may indicate that (Red) will succeed.
I think (Red) is a great idea and I hope it works. What concerns me is that it taps our questionable impulse of materialism and suggests that we can use it for good (kind of like the 2001 idea that we had to shop, or the terrorists had won). Sure, if I’m going to buy a Nano anyway, I might as well get the (Red) one. But what if instead I decided to forgo the purchase altogether and give $200 to AIDS relief?
The truth is, most of us aren’t going to do that. And this is the problem. The (Red) option gives me an alternative that keeps me from feeling guilty about it.
Socially-responsible economics are complicated. For example, a (Red) T-shirt from GAP costs $28, and GAP says they donate half the profits to charity. My initial reaction is: “How selfish do you have to be to buy a $28 T-shirt? And how much better can it be than a $7 T-shirt from Wal-Mart?”
But look closer and you’ll see that GAP also claims to be committed to improving conditions and pay in garment factories in China. Maybe that $7 shirt is subsidized by child-labor at slave wages. Maybe it really does cost closer to $28 to get it made fairly and get it shipped here.
Which brings me back to wishing this whole project well. As Chrsitians, however, shopping responsibly can be only the beginning. Loving our neighbor like we love ourselves requires real sacrifice.
P. S. Growing up in the late-cold-war 70s, I never thought being red would be such a desirable thing!
Balancing grace and truth like Jesus
Balancing Grace and Truth Like Jesus - Dennis Mullen - 11.26.06
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Comments welcome (see link below)
The Ground Truth
My wife and I recently watched The Ground Truth, a great documentary on the Iraq war, particularly its effect on the women and men who fight it. This 78-minute gem, directed by Patricia Foulkrod is pro-troops, anti-war and non-political in the sense that (as far as I remember) no politicians or political parties are named. Instead, the focus is on how these young people are drawn into the military with sanitized sales-pitches, trained to become killers, unleashed into an impossible situation, then dumped back into society. The Ground Truth looks unflinchingly at the horrors of civilian casualties, and anyone who remembers the horrendous moral dilemmas faced by the troops in Vietnam will find this all very familiar.
Bad taste and worse
What’s worse than O. J. Simpson’s now-canceled TV interview and book deal? Actually these would be hard to beat. The idea was for an interview and book, both titled If I Did It, in which O. J. would describe how he WOULD have killed Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman in 1994 - IF he had in fact done it. Simpson apparently maintains his innocence, but Judith Regan (who wrote the book) said that she considers it his confession. Due to widespread anger at this concept (even Geraldo Rivera found it disgusting), the book and the interview are both trashed. However, the book was completed and printed and so (I believe) was the interview so I’m sure they’ll “leak out”. Only The Onion can adequately cover this story. 
But worse than the Simpson story is the camera-phone video of “Kramer” (Michael Richards) screaming obscenities and racial insults at hecklers in a recent “comedy” act. (The video contains bleeped obscenities and the unbleeped n-word). Kosmo, what were you thinking?
Moving from grumbling to Thanksgiving
Moving From Grumbling to Thanksgiving - Dennis Mullen - 11.19.06
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My Grandpa and Thanksgiving
My Grandpa Mullen died last Saturday morning, after 91 great, positive, optimistic years. He was a Christian and he was also blessed with good health up until the last two years, and even these last two were fairly good considering his age. Cindy and I went to Ohio in the early part of this week where I had the honor of doing his funeral.
I was close to my Grandpa and I feel like I knew him pretty well, but I found out this week that I didn’t know him outside the circle of our immediate family. But I found out that Grandpa had a wide-ranging and positive influence on a large group of people that I had either never met or didn’t know very well. Both at the funeral service and in the newspaper’s online guest book, people wrote moving tributes about my Grandpa and his optimism, positive spirit, and the encouragement he gave them. These tributes came from his nieces and nephews, people who lived next door to Grandma and Grandpa, people he worked with, people he worked ON (as a masseur) and other friends he met through the course of his long life.
In my own tribute to Grandpa, I said that he was absolutely the most positive person I had ever met, prone to excessive bragging on his grandkids and kids. Whenever I would see him, even during the last couple of years, a typical exchange would be: “Grandpa, how are you doing?” “Man, I’m doing so well, I don’t know how to handle it!” Or: “I am more blessed than anyone has a right to be.”
The Thanksgiving season seemed like the perfect time of year to pay tribute to a guy like my Grandpa. After all, Christians ought to be much more like him than we are. I should be much more like him than I am. So with all our blessings and faith, why is it easier sometimes to see the negative things about life? Why do optimism and thanksgiving come so hard, at least for some folks like me?
This will be my topic for Sunday, so your comments are welcome (and they MAY appear in the sermon!)
Read my Dad’s tribute here.
The power of doing good
The Power of Doing Good - Dennis Mullen - 11.12.06
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Series: Living Beyond Myself (part 4 of 4)
Two good articles at Christianity Today
Gordon McDonald has posted the best article I have read on the sad Ted Haggard situation. McDonald, who went through a similar experience in the 80s, writes with truth and compassion about Haggard, his family and his church. The thing that is missing, though, is any real idea about how things could have been different, how someone in Haggard’s shoes could have found someone to pull him back when this stuff was in the temptation stage - a very important point, I think.
Also, Arthur E. Farnsley has an unusual article on (and this is difficult to describe) Bible literalists who work flea markets instead of going to church, who don’t actually READ the Bible, and who aren’t part of the religious right! The article sheds light on how influential the evangelical subculture is to those who are part of it. Not only that, but I KNOW people like this, folks who are loosely associated with our church, who aren’t flea-marketers but have other concerns.
Just jump in
Just Jump In - Dennis Mullen - 11.05.06
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Series: Living Beyond Myself (part 3 of 4)
