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The Kingdom of NIMBY and the Kingdom of God

 "One day we will have to stand before the God of history and we will talk in terms of things we have done ... It seems that I can hear the God of history saying, 'That was not enough! But I was hungry, and ye fed me not. I was naked, and ye clothed me not. I was devoid of a decent sanitary house to live in, and ye provided no shelter for me. And consequently, you cannot enter the kingdom of greatness. If ye do it unto the least of these, my brethren, ye do it unto me.' That is  the question facing America today."

--"Remaining Awake through a Great Revolution"

Martin Luther King, Jr.  April 9, 1968

(His last Sunday sermon, delivered at Washington National Cathedral)

 I used this portion of MLK's sermon at our National Cathedral in one of my sermons a few weeks ago.  MLK delivered this sermon to the very heart of White Protestant power, and challenged "People of Good Will" to actually do something for the poor rather than just talk about it and wring their hands. 

Last night,  I attended yet another Waukesha City Plan Commission Meeting.  A well-regarded Minnesota developer was presenting a plan to create 60 units of affordable workforce housing within the City of Waukesha.  They were really nice plans - these would be apartments for people in the 20k-50K income range.  There would be Federal help in the ways of tax breaks to build the units, but there would be no subsidy for the residents.  The proposed housing density was much lower than the surrounding subdivisions and it had a surprising amount of green space.  It would have appealed to starting professionals such as teachers, police, nurses, etc. who have been made homeless by the recession or are not ready yet for home ownership.  It was in a non-zoned parcel surrounded on two sides by commercial land and on the other two sides by single-family residential.  On the city's master plan, it was marked for residential.  An obvious win-win, right?   It might be, outside the Kingdom of NIMBY.

For those of you unaware of the Kingdom of NIMBY, it is an overriding dominion that we are all a part of.  It is always a temptation to value our own individual or small group good over the good of the wider community.  Sometimes, this can be good - a protection of minority rights.  NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) is when a majority acknowledges a need, but those around the project decide that their individual good is more important.  In my experience with NIMBY, it's almost always couched in the form of, "This is a really worthy thing, but I don't want it anywhere near me."

Last night was a typical expression of the power of NIMBY.  People thought the developer had done a good job, and everybody thought that affordable housing was a great thing, but they all wanted it somewhere else, preferably not near them.  Then began the predictable deflections of guilt always present in when NIMBY is in overdrive, "Have them come back with Senior Housing.  We'd be OK with that." In other words, "We'd be OK with Grannies, but we don't want 'poor' people."   Of course, this made no rational sense, as a senior housing project would require HIGHER density population, causing larger traffic problems, etc.  I can't say I'm surprised that the board made the predictable political decision to decline the request rather than evaluate the project using rational means.

But where it turned really wrong, and I saw the Kingdom of NIMBY in direct conflict with the Kingdom of God was an exchange after the meeting.  I was standing with the Director of a a local Non-Profit (let's call her Laurie.)   She had responded passionately at the meeting to the implications that renters were irresponsible, being a renter herself.  One of the residents, who had used the standard NIMBY lines I have heard from everyone at countless meetings at this point, came up to her and tried to take her aside.  Laurie refused, so the resident said, "You know, we've been praying for you."  "What?" replied Laurie, "What do you mean by that?." "We know you've been having health problems."  "Well," said Laurie, "I've been praying that someone will allow us to build affordable housing for the working poor that I have in my shelter, but so far, that hasn't happened.  Maybe you should start praying for them."

This exchange floored me.  Obviously, I was proud of Laurie.  But the bigger question is, what DID the other woman mean?  What was the possible purpose of her statement?  I think it was something like this, "You know, my actions might make you THINK I'm not a Christian, but I do pray, so.."  So what? so ... "I'm a good person" or "don't judge me" or "say something nice so I won't feel so bad?"  I'm proud that Laurie didn't affirm any of this.  Sometimes, guilt over real wrongs done can be a catalyst for change.

Christ taught us that if we do not take care of the least of these, all of our prayers are like so much noise in the ears of God.  St. Lawrence taught us that the poor are the treasure of the church.  I am weary of hearing "Good Christian People"  starting sentences with, "I don't want to sound Unchristian, but.."  while watching people of other faiths or none at all stand up for the poor.  I would like to hear people who claim to follow our Lord start to sound Christian instead of making excuses.  I would love to see Christians start to act out of faith and hope in Jesus' words rather than out of irrational fear.  42 Years after Martin Luther King Jr. articulated the truth that rang in our National Cathedral, the challenge still rings all the way to Wisconsin.  Who do you serve when the chips are down?  Which Kingdom are you a subject of, God's or NIMBY?  The question that faced America in 1968 still faces us today.

David+

Crossing the Gaming Rubicon

 Last week the gaming group I GM crossed over from Wizards of the Coast's Dungeons and Dragons to Paizo's Pathfinder system.  My guys are real rule lawyers, and D&D 3.5E had become an exercise in doubling encounter ratings to keep them challenged due to the huge loopholes in the system.  I bought and read the new fourth edition rules from Wizards, but I tend to agree with many that their new rules make D&D much more World of Warcraft-like.  I like World of Warcraft, but not for a tabletop game.  I loved the adventure paths Paizo had done back when they published Dungeon magazine, so I was really interested to see how they would re-tool D&D 3.5.  Many of the revisions, such as making the cleric much more usable at low level and simplifying special combat maneuvers address obvious problems with 3.5.  We have only started down this path, but so far, I really like how Paizo is developing the system.  Not looking back so far....

Chess is not geeky enough....

You gaming geeks will understand.  From Foxtrot.

 

Missionary Imposition: Idaho Baptists Charged With Kidnapping

Had the inexperienced Idaho missionaries read so much as Haiti’s wikipedia page they would have learned that the nation has a history of slavery, colonialism and missions that warns against attempts to remove Haitian children from their home. 

via www.religiondispatches.org

It still astounds me that people attempt to do mission work without first understanding the local culture and history.  While I applaud the motivation of the SBC missionaries, if you really want to do mission, you go and live WITH the people you wish to serve, not take them home as what amounts to an evangelical trophy.  

Butler's critique is right on target when she speaks of the problem in Evangelical Christianity between "Me" and "We."  All too often in Evangelical rhetoric, it is up to "Me" to convert this person, up to "Me" to save the world. And if "I' don't do it, this person will not be saved.  It is a symptom of the sin of hubris, where God's kingdom revolves around my actions, rather than the action of Christ on the cross. Of course, this comes more from American individualism than the Gospel.  Paul tells us that we are all different parts of the same body, each with different gifts and tasks.   SOME are evangelists, SOME are teachers.  Some, I would submit, are missionaries and some are not.  Those who are called by the Holy Spirit to be missionaries are the people with the gift of discerning what is Christ-like in another culture and finding a way to proclaim the Gospel within it, transforming it from the inside rather than acting out of  a neo-colonialist agenda.  The rest of us who are members of the body of Christ should support those who are called to this task as we best can according to the gifts we have been given.

I hope that the missionaries can be released after due process, as they obviously did not understand on some level that they were kidnapping children, but that is for the Haitian government to decide.  Considering Haiti's history, I would not be surprised to see them treated with very little leniency.  Consider - if this group had decided to work WITHIN Haiti, how much further the resources of their church would have gone.  They could have affected the lives of far more than 33 children.  But they wanted the "safe" option, the option that did not require them to give up their jobs or home or church in Idaho, the option that would allow them to impose their cultural values on the Haitian children rather than bring their values into conversation with them.  It would allow them to be in control rather than the Holy Spirit.  And that, friends, is why these people are being treated as kidnappers rather than missionaries.

David+ 

Thinking Anglicans: ACNA and the Episcopal Church

via www.thinkinganglicans.org.uk

Readers may recall this General Synod motion, which is being debated next Wednesday. And there is this amendment.A paper rebutting the claims made about the Episcopal Church, compiled by me, has been issued to General Synod members.That paper can now be read in full here. 

This is an excellent summary of the inaccuracies in the General Synod motion, much of which relies on information from the American Anglican Council.  The AAC 's publications have all the journalistic integrity of the National Enquirer, and usually do about as good a job documenting sources.

David+

Is anyone really surprised?

Mac or PC? Score: 100% (10 out of 10)

XKCD - Eternal Life, UNIX style

via xkcd.com

So, Will I get an iPad?

 A question I've been asked several times in the last few days.  I'm very impressed with the tech, and the design is breathtaking (no doubt why Jonathan Ive did most of the talking).  Many people seem confused, decrying missing features they expect on a phone (i.e. Camera) or on a laptop (i.e. DVD Drive.)  As Apple has explained, this is a NEW category of device that doesn't fit in with either existing paradigm.  I think the iPhone OS is the right choice, assuming it's beefed up some (which it appears to be.)  The addition of iWork is genius.  I have no use for Numbers, but Pages and Keynote are part of my everyday work.  The idea of being able to run presentations from the iPad instead of lugging around a laptop is VERY appealing.  (See Nick Knisely's post)  The keyboard dock looks amazing.  Several questions remain for me:

1. Flash Flash Flash.   Apple is touting this as the ultimate web-browsing device, but without Flash, A LOT of the internet is unavailable.  While I love Safari on my iPhone, the lack of flash has me running to my laptop all the time.  What's the point of a web browser if I can't watch Hulu or Homestar Runner?  And many sites, including the NYT which Apple demoed the other day, rely on Flash animation to deliver part of their content.  An "ultimate web device" that can't deliver one of the primary formats of the web is not ultimate, and could be a deal breaker for me.
2. I have a lot of Kindle books.  I assume the iPhone Kindle reader will work on the iPad, but will Amazon add the code to make it a native iPad app at full resolution?  It would seem to make sense since Amazon's revenue stream is mainly from books.  Also, the Kindle is really not in the same category, being half the price and using Digital Ink technology rather than LCD.
3. World of Warcraft.  OK That WOULD be cool, but a more general question - how much more powerful will native iPad apps be?  How much capability does the new A4 processor have and how big an application can an iPad run?  Where will the breaking point be between what can be done on the iPad and what still needs to be done on a computer?
4. iPad?  Really?  As a blog post from Bust magazine notes, did they have any women involved in this process?  If they had, I'm guessing iPad would have been off the table as a name immediately.

So the question is still up in the air for me.  I drank the Apple kool-aid a long time ago, so most likely, I will be trying to acquire one.  But the lack of Flash is a very serious drawback in what otherwise looks like a very useful and interesting product.

David+

Finally! "Nu-Clee-Er!"

 I watched the State of the Union address last night, as I have every state of the union since I was sixteen.  I see it as a patriotic responsibility.  I'm not sure whether President Obama can deliver on what he promises, especially considering that the congress seems unable to move despite the overwhelming Democratic majority, but it was refreshing to hear him speak.  For the first time in nine years, the SOTU did not contain a mispronunciation of the word "Nuclear," sounded like an oration rather than a junior-high composition project, and was not delivered in a condescending, sarcastic tone when referring to those in the opposition (although he did use appropriate humor to rib them.)  Whether or not Obama will be a great president remains to be seen, but it is good to have someone in the White House who can communicate clearly with both his own nation and others.

The Frakkin Toasters are Back!

 So I finally got around to watching the pilot of Caprica last night.  Those of you in the geek circles will say, "About time!" while others will say "Capri-what?"  Caprica is the second series in what appears to be the new Battlestar Galactica (BSG) franchise on SyFy on Friday nights.  Whereas the remake of BSG had to deal at least passingly with the legacy of the original 70s space opera, Caprica is largely free of any burden, other than occasional references. (The first Cylon still says, "By your command!")  One of the strengths of the BSG revival has been its great character development and exploration of current societal issues, which is a hallmark of really good Science Fiction (Think Heinlein, Asimov, parts of the Star Trek franchise, and Babylon 5.)  Caprica moves almost completely away from BSG's Space Opera background, using technology as a storytelling tool rather than just for the "WOW" factor.  

The most pressing issue addressed in the pilot is the ongoing question of what is the essence of being human, especially in a time of increasing artificial intelligence.  This was the point of the famous Turing Test developed by Alan Turing in the 1950s.  If a machine becomes indistinguishable from a human being to another human, is it human?  Do we have souls and if so, what do they consist of?  Star Trek TNG used this as a recurring theme around the character of Lt. Data and this was a constant meme in Cyberpunk literature in the 1980s.  The BSG remake addressed this question and Caprica appears to be on track to deliver much more philosophical exploration of the subject.  Other issues raised in the pilot include concerns about virtual reality, the link between religion and violence, terrorism, racism, and organized crime.

I was very impressed.  For those who don't generally like Science Fiction, I would encourage giving this series a try, as it breaks many of the conventions of SciFi and delivers really gritty, thoughtful reflections on many of the facets of our society.