Thursday, April 17, 2008

I have lost count...

Just when your heart gets over the shock of hearing one horribly disgusting act of evil in this world...fathers raping daughters, kids murdering parents, moms drowning kids - those types of stories these days are the norm.

We hardly bat an eye at them now. Stop for a few minutes and think about the first time you heard of a crime like that...compared to how you react to hearing them now. [YAWN]


Think about it.


After you've thought about that for a minute or two...read about this one, and brace yourself because it is so outwardly and unashamedly VILE it almost sounds like a joke perpetrated just for the shock value.

I have lost count of how many times I've asked the question (to myself and others...and in this blog)..."WHY should we be boldly witnessing with words the truth of the Gospel to as many people as we possibly can?"

Read about Yale art student Aliza Shvarts:
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Art major Aliza Shvarts ‘08 wants to make a statement.

Beginning next Tuesday, Shvarts will be displaying her senior art project, a documentation of a nine-month process during which she artificially inseminated herself “as often as possible” while periodically taking abortifacient drugs to induce miscarriages. Her exhibition will feature video recordings of these forced miscarriages as well as preserved collections of the blood from the process.

The goal in creating the art exhibition, Shvarts said, was to spark conversation and debate on the relationship between art and the human body. But her project has already provoked more than just debate, inciting, for instance, outcry at a forum for fellow senior art majors held last week. And when told about Shvarts’ project, students on both ends of the abortion debate have expressed shock . saying the project does everything from violate moral code to trivialize abortion.

But Shvarts insists her concept was not designed for “shock value.”

“I hope it inspires some sort of discourse,” Shvarts said. “Sure, some people will be upset with the message and will not agree with it, but it’s not the intention of the piece to scandalize anyone.”

The “fabricators,” or donors, of the sperm were not paid for their services, but Shvarts required them to periodically take tests for sexually transmitted diseases. She said she was not concerned about any medical effects the forced miscarriages may have had on her body. The abortifacient drugs she took were legal and herbal, she said, and she did not feel the need to consult a doctor about her repeated miscarriages.

Shvarts declined to specify the number of sperm donors she used, as well as the number of times she inseminated herself…

…”I believe strongly that art should be a medium for politics and ideologies, not just a commodity,” Shvarts said. “I think that I’m creating a project that lives up to the standard of what art is supposed to be.”

Shvarts emphasized that she is not ashamed of her exhibition, and she has become increasingly comfortable discussing her miscarriage experiences with her peers.

“It was a private and personal endeavor, but also a transparent one for the most part,” Shvarts said. “This isn’t something I’ve been hiding.”

The display of Schvarts’ project will feature a large cube suspended from the ceiling of a room in the gallery of Green Hall. Schvarts will wrap hundreds of feet of plastic sheeting around this cube; lined between layers of the sheeting will be the blood from Schvarts’ self-induced miscarriages mixed with Vaseline in order to prevent the blood from drying and to extend the blood throughout the plastic sheeting.

Schvarts will then project recorded videos onto the four sides of the cube. These videos, captured on a VHS camcorder, will show her experiencing miscarriages in her bathrooom tub, she said. Similar videos will be projected onto the walls of the room.
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Read it from the source...the Yale Daily News. No, unfortunately this is not a joke.

Can you imagine with a University putting up with this kind of thing a generation ago? Can you imagine the news media putting up with this kind of thing a generation ago? Can you imagine our society putting up with this kind of thing a generation ago?

How about merely ten years ago? Even five years ago?

Once a certain level of depravity becomes the norm, when we yawn at it...it takes greater acts of depravity to get a buzz out of anyone. It is and will continue to get worse every day.

"But what can I do about it?"

God never intended Christians or even the church to be "activists" involved in protest marches. He intended...no, strike that...he has COMMANDED us each to proclaim his Gospel to the whole world. That means you and me...one on one with whatever "them" you encounter - talking about the Glory of His Gospel.

Can you imagine the great turning of the tide if a stand was taken...not by some nebulous "church" in a great Hypocritical protest...

...but one by one...LOVINGLY, passionately, carefully and seriously taking the Gospel to the world!?

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

The Ad Council and Karma

Listening to the radio today...I hear a short commercial sketch sponsored by the Ad Council. And it says something about "Staying on the Universe's good side" and mentions a web site. Well...I had to check this out...

http://getgoodkarma.org/

Be sure to click "My Karma" and run through the "Karma Approximator" test.

How can any one of us not speak boldly for the truth of the Gospel at every possible opportunity when stuff like this is becoming more and more mainstream and accepted?