Who Is My Neighbor?

AS Huston Smith pointed out, every religion has some version of the golden rule. The Christian equivalent of the Golden Rule is Christ's ethical imperative to 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'

This begs the question: who is my neighbor? Are my neighbors just those who live around my house? Are my neighbors only the people who share my faith? What about people I have never met, or people who live on the other side of the world? Who is my neighbor?

Join us, Thursday night 7pm at Short's Brewing for a conversation about priorities and ethics.

Moral Dilemmas

This week we will be discussing ethics and the way we come to a moral (or immoral) decision in our lives. Socrates once said of discussing ethics, “We are discussing no small matter, but how we ought to live.”

This Thursday, we will be asking a series of questions and presenting a few scenarios and getting your opinion about how people should respond to the hypotheticals. We are looking for everyone's moral compass. How do we determine what is right and good? Does your faith play a part in this?

There is a popular television program on ABC that presents ethical dilemma in a rather heavy-handed way, but it may be a decent primer for our conversation. Check it out on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRX31HOikws

We look forward to seeing you this Thursday, 7pm at Short's Brewing Company for a discussion of ethics and morality.

unTapped Topic: Violence As Means

Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars... Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that

- Martin Luther King Jr.

This past week, many Americans watched the news in horror as a gunman fired into a crowd of people at an Arizona political rally. A congresswoman was shot in the head, a federal judge was among six killed, a dozen other people, including the congresswoman remain hospitalized. Saddest of all, an innocent nine year old girl, Christina Taylor Green, was caught by the shooter's fire.

While this incident is most likely the result of a deranged mind's skewed way of dealing with his misperceived world, it still brings up important questions:

• What does this mean for our society? Are we too violent?
• What reaction is prompted in terms of our spirituality and our ethics?
• Is political violence ever justified? Is there an ethical difference between a government-sanctioned killing and an assassination committed by an extremist or terrorist?

These are challenging questions for our society. Faith may be a place to look for answers. The bishop in Tuscon, Gerald Kicanas, offered this in his homily at little Christina's memorial service:

God wills that we resist evil. That we live with integrity. That we speak and act with civility and respect

But, how are we supposed to 'resist evil'? Commenting about the tragedy, theologian J.R. Daniel Kirk writes that the Church has not been what it is supposed to be. From political and ecclesial power grabs to parenting our children, the church has been less than a beacon of peace and non-violence:

The church has not created within itself the counter-culture of peace that should serve as a witness against the ultimate futility of violence employed by the world around us.

We can and should react to such horrific events as we saw this past weekend with all due revulsion. But until we as followers of Jesus have managed to form communities of the cross rather than communities of the crucifiers we have no place either for self-righteousness nor, in the end, for surprise.

What do you think? Should Christian churches do a better job of resisting violence and modeling non-violence? What about other faiths? According to your faith, when is violence ever justified?

Join us at Short's Brewing this Thursday, 7pm, for a discussion of violence and spirituality.

unTapped Topic: Intentions 2011

We're back from a holiday vacation! This week we have a great topic to kick off the New Year. So, please plan on joining the discussion this Thursday, 7pm, at Short's Brewing Company in downtown Bellaire!

It is that time of year again. It is the time of year where people can start over, and maybe even start fresh. We can forget about the past and move on to the future. It is the time of year for resolutions.

So, what are your resolutions this year? How did you do with the 2010 resolutions?

This Thursday, we are going to discuss resolutions, good intentions, and what the difference is. So, bring your list of resolutions or bring your reasons against making resolutions. Kick off 2010 with unTapped.

unTapped Topic: Toward a Theology of Food

Does God care what we had for dinner last night?

Every major religion in the world has dietary restrictions. Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, and even some Christians have restrictions on food and drink. But does God really care?

How much of a role does your spirituality play in your dietary choices? Do you make ethical decisions about food - where it comes from, who it affects, what scripture(s) says about it?

Join us at Shorts this Thursday night for a conversation about food and faith. We meet at 7pm. Pull up a chair, grab some food and a drink (if you're allowed!), and join our discussion.



OPtional Cheat Video:
Our topic this week comes from Rev. Andrew Pomerville's sermon series on food within the context of church. You can get an interesting Christian perspective here:

10-10-10 Rev. Andrew Pomerville from Church in the Hills Bellaire,Mi. on Vimeo.

unTapped Topic: Have You a Herd?

Of late, the novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand has resurfaced as a major influence on politics and ethics in the United States. Ayn Rand was an effective apologists for Individualism (or Libertarianism), wherein the individual is seen as more important than a group. According to Rand, collective groups had to trample on the liberties of an individual to survive, and were thus immoral. Rand said that individual happiness was life's 'moral objective.'

Much of Ms. Rand's philosophy resonates with Americans , who typically value personal liberty and personal property, while distrusting governments. Americans are suspicious of collective politcal philosophies like Communism and tend toward a libertarian perspective. But, some of the recent economic hardship has been blamed on Ayn Rand's economic philosophy.

Collectivism is the philosophical antithesis to Ayn Rand's individualism. Collectivism considers an interconnected group as the highest ethical priority. Sometimes, according to collectivism, we as individuals have to make sacrifices for the good of the group.

What do you think?

A few years ago, a tourist's YouTube video of an African Safari went viral on the internet. The video (below) has now been seen over 55 million times and has received news coverage from major networks all over the world.

The video depicts a pride of lions attacking a few water buffalo and carrying away a calf to feast on. But, the powerful lions are interrupted, not once but twice. The first interruption comes from a hungry crocodile, looking to steal the lions' prey. Soon after that distraction is dealt with, the lions are then interrupted by ... water buffalo! A whole huge herd returns to rescue their calf from the predators. It is an amazing display of the strength of numbers, and the power of courageous loyalty.

Morally/ethically, who do you root for or identify with in this video?

This video brings up several interesting questions:

• how does this video illustrate the power of individualism, collectivism?
• who was the victim in this video?
• how were the hungry lions overpowered by the lowly water buffalo?

Join us at Short's Brewing this Thursday for a conversation about Individualism and Water Buffaloes!

Faith and Orientation

Our conversation this week will take place at MOKA coffee in downtown Bellaire. Join us at 7pm!




This week, a federal judge struck down California's Proposition 8 ballot initiative, which banned same sex marriage in California. You can read the full story here. Some people of faith have greeted the decision with celebration while others have bemoaned the decision as an example moral failure and as a violation of their faith ethics.

What is your perspective and your faith's perspective on homosexuality and the legality thereof?

Join us for what promises to be an interesting conversation about a difficult topic.

unTapped Topic: Redemptive Violence

Can good come from violence?

There is a common, well worn theme in American literature and cinema: a person (usually a lone man) is failed by the corrupt, injustice system and is forced to take matters into his own, violent hands. Here are a few examples:

In the film "Edge of Darkness," Mel Gibson's character (Tom Craven) says "You better decide if you're hanging on the cross or bangin' in the nails." To solve the injustice of his daughter's murder, he brings violence to the powerful perpetrators.

The ultimate American example of the belief in the Redemptive uses of violence is the American Western. Here is Gary Cooper in High Noon. The Sherrif forsakes even his pacifist wife to violently solve the problems of the terrorized town.

All this leads to our topic: in real life, does violence solve anything? Pacifists tend to think that violence only causes more problems. Is this true? Are there times when violence and killing are necessary? What role should violence in media (television, film, video games, literature) play in developing our understanding of violence?

Here are a few more links to check out:

• LINK - The effects (or lack thereof) of violent video games on our ethics and spirituality
• LINK - "I'm a pacifist because I'm a violent son of a bitch" Theologian Stanley Hauerwas on being in a Christian pacifist minority
• LINK - Dr. David Martin on how a pacifist religion becomes a violent power

REMEMBER: Tonight's conversation will take place at Moka. Join us at 7pm for the conversation!

unTapped Topic: I Pledge Allegiance?

As American citizens, we give our allegiance to the flag and to our country. Some people of faith, however, feel that giving allegiance to anything but God is a sin. There is some legitimate textual evidence behind this. The Torah forbids oath taking in Deut 23:23. In the Christian New Testament, Jesus speaks sternly about pledges and oaths (Matt. 5:33-37). What do you think? Can people give their allegiance to both God and country?

Join us for the conversation, 7pm this Thursday at Shorts Brewing, downtown Bellaire.

Topic: Naughty By Nature?

What's the problem here?

We trample eachother, kill eachother, hate eachother, kidnap eachother, overpower eachother, etc.

Something is wrong. There seems to be a problem with people. What is it? Some think that we have a sin nature, which gives us our urges to do wrong. They believe that we are an evil mess at our core level. Others, believe that we are forgetful or ignorant of what is right and good, but we are intrinsically good.

What do you think? What is the source of sin and human evil?

We meet at Shorts Brewing, in downtown Bellaire, every Thursday at 7pm! See you there!

Topic: Fame and Privacy

Andrew and Drew put our topic together this week.



Is there a difference between the privacy we expect and the privacy we give others?

On Tuesday, Rochette Joannie, a Canadian figure skater, had the performance of her lifetime. It was a national story because two days prior her mother passed away from a heart attack after arriving in Vancouver to watch her daughter skate. The Canadians have taken great length to protect Rochette from the media and the Canadian Olympic organization has taken some criticism for not allowing reporters to talk to this young skater.

On the radio a reporter said, "It is moments like this, these are Olympic moments!" speaking about the situation surrounding this Canadian skater and expressing his disappointment that the Canadian Olympic organization hasn't allowed interviews.

On the less heroic side of things, another sports figure - Tiger Woods - is under intense media surveillance since admitting to several affairs. Is this really our business?

Finally, do we overemphasize our own private lives on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter? Where should a person draw the line in reading and publishing information about themselves? Is there a perverseness to this obsession?

Here are a few more links to check out:

• Empathy and Voyeurism (NPR)
• Social Media killed privacy (CNN)
• Tiger Woods apologizes to his daughter's pre-school because of paparazzi (Candadian Press)
  

Does our news media ever move from simple reporting to voyeurism?
Is there something in human nature that makes us want to hear in detail about the tragedies and triumphant in other people's live without actually knowing them?
How differently do we invade someone’s privacy and how much do we let them?
Does your faith/spiritually speak these situations?

Topic: Ethical Preaching

what to do when people behave badly

Most people believe that it is wrong to judge another human being for their actions. However, certain occasions in life need a response. What is our ethical responsibility when we notice our neighbors and fellow humans behaving unethically? We'll examine this topic from three different perspectives - individual, familial, and political.

Here are a few things to consider:

• A Georgia Man was convicted of child abuse. He observed a crying child, walked up to her mother and said “If you don’t shut that baby up, I will shut her up for you.” He then slapped the child four times. Did he overstep his bounds? What is our responsibility when someone else's child is misbehaving?
  
• Howard Zinn passed away last week. The thinker is famouse for saying that "dissent is the highest for of patriotism." He felt that we owed it to our fellow human being to check people in power.
• Good Samaritan high speed chase. Is it our responsibility to help police our neighborhoods? would the Good Samaritan have chased down the criminals in Jesus parable, or is it enough to simply care for the victim?

We'll discuss this and more this Thursday night at Short's Brewing Company in downtown Bellaire!

Madmen and Babies!

A vile, wretched and dastardly villain who dresses all in black complete with a moustache that twitches with evil has kidnapped your child and placed him or her on one train track. On a different train track the mustached madman has has tied twenty total strangers to the rails. When you come upon the scene there is a speeding locomotive barreling toward the two tracks, and you don’t have enough time to get to either your child or the twenty strangers. But, you do have enough time to get to the switch that changes the path of the locomotive. essentially you are forced to choose between your child or the twenty strangers. How do you choose?

Join us for a conversation about ethics and choice!

Religous Rudeness

This story drove me crazy (click here).

i don't really want to get into the idea of Lord's Day in Christianity or Sabbath in Judaism. Instead, I want to focus on why so many religious people use their faith to be rude, inconsiderate, and nasty. It seems to me that our faith ought to lead us to be more loving, better customers, and down right nicer people.

What do you think? Have you heard about this kind of behavior?

Dalai Lama on the Economy

I found this story over at Bloomberg's site (link).

Jan. 13 (Bloomberg) -- The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, blamed a lack of spirituality among people today for the global financial crisis.

The Buddhist monk, speaking during a weeklong religious seminar in the Indian holy city of Varanasi, told followers that “rampant corruption in the world” is due to a decline in culture and spirituality.

“People have become selfish and materialistic, which has led to the economic slowdown,” the 73-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner said in an address at the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies yesterday, Indian state-run broadcaster Doordarshan reported.

What do you think? Is there some sort of spiritual conection between spirituality and the economic crisis? It seems to me that there is an undeniable connection between the crisis and ethics (or lack thereof).