Jesus Socialism Meme

B-b-but if you feed everyone, Jesus, that would be <gasp> Socialism.

Thoughts? Do you agree or  disagree? Or do you simply think it's a meme and should not be taken too seriously?

10 Ways to Teach Your Child they are Beautiful.

This is inspired by a couple stories of parents with dark skinned children needing to teach their sons and daughters that they are precious just the way God made them.  However, with the rise of body image issues in young children, it certainly applies to many if not all children.

Source: forwardisapace.com via Felicia on Pinterest

1. Start a Pinterest board and include images that look like your child or a variety of children to teach about diversity.
2. Turn off the television.  Images on television only teach children to grow up too fast and to look a couple specific ways.
3. Protest or create awarenes.  You could create awareness using a site such as change.org to help give your child a sense of empowerment.
4. Create a poster.  Here is some inspiration
5. Find birthday cards, books, magazines with people who look like them.
6. If you cant find the items in number 4 use colored pencil to darken the skin color on some of the images.
7. Ask friends to do the same when giving books or cards. This is much more significant than one might first assume. I still remember getting my first card with someone who looked like me on the cover.  I kept it for years.
8. Introduce positive role models of the same race (or whatever aspect they may be struggling with). Please do not show your son any old gangster rap artist and “say you can be anything you want to be.” Athletes may be overused as well.  You may find some here.  I will try to come up with some more lists specifically for this purpose. (Don't worry they won't all be black)
9. Create a beauty blog. This example deals with recovering from eating disorders but you could create one based on any topic.
10. Talk to them.  Tell them they are beautiful and wonderful just the way they are.  Do this every day.

What are some strategies you have used to help your child gain confidence in their physical appearance, or in general?

Happy Birthday Black Jesus!

For Christmas I would like to share some of my recent artwork dealing with Jesus Christ.

Happy birthday Jesus!!!

I pray that you will be with the poor, the lonely, the humble, 

and the weak on this beautiful day.

I also pray that people will be willing to help those in need,

just a Jesus of the oppressed would (and did) do.

Amen!

A Black Jesus

This poster, with an image of a Black Jesus, is designed to represent James Cone's theology in my Make it Plain art exhibition.  James Cone was a theologian who made the idea of a black Jesus famous.  Cone was responding to the images of a white Jesus and a white God that supported the oppression, murder, enslavement, and oppression of blacks. James Cone responded with the idea that Jesus represents the oppressed peoples, and Jesus therefore was seen as black.

Cone combined the ideas of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King.  He took Malcolm's ideas of self love and a added them to Kings philosophy of loving others.  Cone  used MLK Jr's Black Christian theology.  James Cone is known as the founder of Black Liberation Theology (which still had some grit if you read his actual sermons).

The church responded to Cone with the idea "God is not black; God is race-less."  Keep in mind before Cone, God was seen as white often with blonde hair and blue eyes....sorry, God is not European (don't worry I know Jesus was not biologically African either).

For Christmas I would like to wish Jesus a happy birthday and thank him for teaching us to love those our society sees as bad, evil, poor and untouchable. 

European Jesus from Sodahead.com

People who have heard of James Cone in response to the anti Obama campaigns, have heard incredibly distorted views of what black Liberation Theology actually is saying.  These same people seem to forget the circumstances that men like James Cone and Malcolm X were responding to and living with on a daily basis.

Visit my art blog to see more art work from this Make it Plain

Click here to listen to James Cone on NPR.

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Update: I don't believe the BLT is 100% perfect, anything that is "Jesus +" is not the true Gospel. Nor do I believe that Jesus was actually black. This poster was a component of a larger art exhibition.

Critical Thought Tuesday: Ignorant vrs. Naïve

I would like to address the difference between naïveté and ignorance.  Though they have similar denotation, their connotations are different.  I think there is a difference and this is how I distinguish the two...

Naïve – Is the term I use to describe someone who may have never been exposed to something or never had the opportunity to learn about it. It is not their fault and no-one chooses to be naïve

Poster created by Felicia Follum in response to the described situation.  Read more.

For example when I moved to Wyoming and people found out I had a boyfriend about one person a day asked if he was white or black before asking about him or any other question. As I later learned when people don’t know how to place you into a schema, they sometimes ask what may weird or naïve questions (though I was not offended, many people would have been). These questions are so that they can understand something they have not been exposed to.

Ignorant – is a term I use to describe someone who is presented with an idea and chooses to blatantly ignore it. Oftentimes showing contempt or anger. This is typically more of a choice. Once someone is offered the chance to become aware or educated, but they reject it without showing any thought, remorse, or confusion in the response to cognitive dissonance.

The person above would be naïve, just trying to figure something that is new to them out where as the ignorant person may respond with “good, I am glad he is white” and yes this did happen.

Another difference is that between being respectful and blatantly rude, whether it is an un-acceptance to realize that people have different beliefs or using terms that everyone knows are offensive. The distinction become a bit cloudy, for example old people tend to be naïve rather than ignorant.  However, I do think that there is a distinction, that goes beyond someone disagrees so they are ignorant.  It has little to do with opinions, and more to do with how we express, form and process opinions.

I wanted to share how I use these terms and what I mean when I use them.  Are you intentional when you use these words?  How do you distinguish between the two?  Is there a difference at all?

Update: My grandma has since passed away. She never knew Jesus which breaks my heart. She was a wonderfully crazy and amazing women, even with some of her odd quicks.

Life in Haiti: Housing, Food, Electricity

What is Life in Haiti Like?

See some of my artwork in response to this trip on my art blog, Felicia Follum Art + Design.

One of my friends who I worked with a few summers ago asked me about things in Haiti. Some of the specifics that he wanted to know about included housing, food, electricity, water, and gas services. He basically wanted a better understanding of what it is really like in Haiti…

In the city
These first two images of a mountain side in Port-au-Prince really helped me to understand the amount of lives that were lost.  These houses were not earthquake proof to begin with and are crammed together so tightly that it is little surprise that so many tent cities appeared, where parks had once been, the night of the quakes.

 

One of the smallest tent cities.

We spent one afternoon driving around Port-au-Prince to see the destruction from the earthquake. The few traffic lights were ran by solar power. There were restaurants and business that had facilities (not sure if it was gas or solar, my guess is both).  There were power lines in the city (of 2 million people). With the exception of businesses, most of what we saw in Port-au-Prince was pretty sad. This was the part of the week that was the most shocking to me. Driving through Port-au-Prince was the one thing to me that set Haiti apart from other poverty stricken areas.

A house in a tent city.

Not much seems to have changed. The tent cities from the night of the quakes are still full and appear to be some of the best homes in the area.  The tent cities that have the red and blue tops were set up by foreign aide (I think this one was the Red Cross, though I am not sure) The government is still keeping foreign aide (supplies and money) for themselves and many people are living in rubble and trash. I saw several people just going to the bathroom up against walls along the street. I would assume that there are some bathrooms and I just never had an opportunity to see them.

See some of my artwork in response to this trip on my art blog, Felicia Follum Art + Design.

Images of city life

The ladders lead to ledges where people live/sleep

 An image of a tent city in one of the parks.

Trash is swept into piles and burned.  Families can pay to have trash picked up, but it is not a priority for many.

We were driving though the town and had to go to the bathroom. The restroom I used was in a house that was being used a store as well. It was pretty “normal.”

Our hotel in the city of Croix-des-Bouquets had electricity  (I didn't get any great photographs of our hotel). There were several large solar panels on the roof. We were pretty spoiled at Vila Mimica. We could even purchase AC for $30 a night.

Commute
Most of what we saw was driving from the town of Croix-des-Bouquets and going east to the village of Thomazeau. This drive was pretty rural. There were water pumps every three to six houses. I did not notice power lines. The majority of the houses were concrete and/or brick (picture) with a tarp for at least one wall.  Some roads were great some were not so great.  Once we got closer to the village the roads turned to dirt.

The road to Thomazazeau
See some of my artwork in response to this trip on my art blog, Felicia Follum Art + Design.

In the Country
I didn’t see many power lines in this area (though I think that most of the electricity is solar powered). There were about 100 families in the community and a few other buildings, mostly churches and temples. Thomazeau’s community center, currently the school, is solar powered. I did not see any other power lines, though I was not looking. The new school building does not have electricity yet but it does have a bathroom. I believe the water was controlled by gravity. The bathroom we used was a toilet placed over a hole in the ground. To flush you would carry a bucket of water from the pump and pour it in the bowl.

I am not sure if there were public bathrooms or where they were. The houses were small and I find it hard to believe there were working toilets in, though it is possible. This community bathed in the creek/spring water and drank from water pumps. The family that I was the closest to had a small fire one night to cook. Though I could not tell what they were burning.

The community center is cut off and the building farthest to the left.  The new school building is behind that with the blue roof. The rest are houses.

Kids swimming and bathing.  You would often see adults in these rivers soaped up and bathing as well.

Houses and animals.

Houses.  The blue structure may be a tomb.

The kids wanted me to take the picture of the water pump.

More artwork inspired by Haiti

Haiti Journal Entry 2 Scripture Memory

Isaiah 58:10-12
10 Feed the hungry,
and help those in trouble.
Then your light will shine out from the darkness,
and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.
11 The Lord will guide you continually,
giving you water when you are dry
and restoring your strength.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like an ever-flowing spring.
12 Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities.
Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls
and a restorer of homes.
Isaiah 58:10-12

This is the theme verse for the week in Haiti.  I think I will start trying to memorize it today.  I am not sure that I will have it perfect, but that's not the end of the world.

I do have some tricks to share about memorizing a bible verse.

1. Read the Verse Out Loud
Read the reference at the beginning and end.  It is typically the hardest part to memorize so you say it much more often.

2. Learn the Verse 1 Word at a Time
Read the refernce, then the first word, then the reference, then the first and second word.  This continues through the whole verese.

3. Be Picky
You do want to learn the verse word-for-word.  Don't beat yourself up over a wrong word but keep in mind that our long term memory will remember the verse better if we say the same way in a month or a year.  Another reason for this is best summed up with the quote "the best lie is disguised as truth." It is easy to not be completely confident in what scripture says when you a shaky on your memorization.  If you know what it says then you wont have to question and others will be more likely to believe you.

4. Use the Same Traslation
This one is difficult for me because I have switched translations over the years.  This being said it has shown me exactly why it is important to stick with one version (for memorization).  It is easier to recognize a verse you have memorized and therefore you will be reviewing it simply from reading your Bible.  When I switch Bible I have read right over verses I know and not even recognized them.  Memorizing is difficult for many, myself included, and switching versions just makes the process more difficult.  There is nothing wrong with switching Bibles.  I might even suggest it if you use a less common translation, though I think my next Bible will be NIV and I will be memorizing a variety of versions.  Its a pain but like I said, I learned this the hard way.

5. Note Cards
Make note cards and store them in a file.  You can keep one or two in you pocket everyday.  I think that it is easier to focus on one verse at a time.  When you have several down you can review several at a time.   One technique could be to memorize one verse every day Monday through Friday and review all five on Saturdays and Sundays.  Then take every 4 weeks and work on all 15 verses all week.  This is just one strategy and most people will need to return to the verses more than just at the end of the month.

6. Quiz Time
It is great to have a friend quiz you. 

7. Goals
A friend can also help encourage you to memorize.  Memorizing together is much more fun.  You could practice and go out for coffee.

8. Every-Other-Word
You recite the verse by saying every other word with a friend.  This helps A LOT.  If you mess up one word both of you will be lost.  This is a great and fun exercise to practice.  Take turns starting with the references.

9. Read the Passage
Reading the passage, chapter or book will help you remember the context for the verese.

10. Translation
Read the verse in a variety of translations.  This will help you gain a deeper meaning of the verse.

11. Journal
Journal about what each word means to you any what the significance of the verse is.

12. Use Topics
The Topical Memory System (TMS) is a great way to memorize.  This is a great list of verses to start with.  The TMS Kit is also a wonderful purchase.  It comes with a work book that includes illustrations for sharing the gospel with others, based on these important verses.  The pack also comes with four (I think) versions for each verse.

13. Review Review Review
This is another one that I have learned the hard way.  If you stop reviewing your old cards you will forget the verses.  You may recognize them, but not be able to site or find or recite them.  If you can keep scripture in you head all the time you can better recognize truth.

I hope these tips help.  I am off to completing these verses, but first, does anyone out there have any good strategies for scripture memory or memorization in general?

Bible vs. Koran??

 I found this cartoon the other day when I was looking for some design inspiration.

Being an art student, I am used to this attitude and see it nearly every day.  My husband is a PhD student in Electrical Engineering and topics like this really don’t come up. 

There was a ceramics project up in our fine arts building a couple weeks ago.  The project appeared to be from Beginning Ceramics and the project had to do with using slabs of clay to build something.  One of the projects was a Bible like book that said “JESUS: Today’s Modern Fairy Tale.”  My husband was appalled (not surprised) at the idea of people mocking Christianity.  He brought up the point that you would never see something like this referencing the Koran or a Holy Book from another religion.

When I found this image while searching for inspiration, I literally laughed out loud.  I guess I commend any artist who can humorously capture the sad realities of life.

Check out my poster project that was in response to a series of Christian-Bashing posters…

The Coininia Room

Jesus is relational.

Last Sunday in church our pastor was talking about how John was extremely focused on relationships (1 John 1 vrs. 3). Paul’s desire is to journey through life with God centered people.

Paul wanted fellowship. My pastor broke down the word fellowship into the original language. It came from Coninia, a word meaning to have in common, share life, and to be together. Having this understanding helped me to see why relationships are so important. Fellowship is also the reason that Jesus came to earth, so He could get to know us and we could get to know Him.

I grew up in a Lutheran church. The church had a lot to offer both the community and its members. Nothing could beat the community. Every Sunday between services people gathered together in the Coininia Room for coffee, donuts, and Cool-Aid. You were able to truly journey together. I would argue that there is no greater joy than this.

Dear God,

Please help us to experience true joy though you and with others.  

Help us to journey through life and experience true fellowship.

Amen!

Read through 1 John, 2 John and 3 John.  They are all really short.  I read most of 1 John in a day and the rest along with 2 John and 3 John the next day.

As you read think about relationships and joy.

Are there passages or verses that relate to fellowship?  Joy? Both?

What passage speaks to you the most?  What don't you understand?

What if?

I have a couple classes where people bash Christians on a daily basis.  It gets annoying because most of these people don't know much about Christianity.  It is also frustrating because our society no longer sees the many great projects that Christians do.  They associate Christian with bigot and ignorant, not graceful and loving.  

What if things were different? 

Check out my website to see some ways that we can make things differenet.

Grace is a Bit Queer

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Hey Fred, God Loves Gays

Read more about this poster and others at my site titles "Grace is a Bit Queer."

If Jesus loved the murderer on the cross next to him, I would be willing to bet that he loves gays as well.  God loves the glutton and the lustful (both of which are addressed in the Bible more than homosexuality.  There is not a person on this earth that has fallen short of the glory of God and there is not a person that God doesn't or can't love. 

It is hard to grasp but God even loves Fred Phelps.
Even though I do believe his hate makes God soooooo Sad.

It is easy to think "God doesn't like that person, or this person because...."  I would argue that God may not like someone's actions, but there is no way that I would argue or could be convinced that there is a person whom God doesn't love.

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Body Piercing

I went back into some of my writings from high school and found this quote on a scratch piece of paper from my creative writing class. It depicts the most amazing act of grace that anyone can imagine. Jesus' death was the ultimate example of grace.  Even though we were still sinners Jesus died for us.  We didn't need to change for Jesus (and God) to love us.  If we can understand this, we can better understand grace and how to share grace with others.

Another part of understanding grace is that we it can be easy for people to take grace too far. Grace is not salvation. Grace is also not Christianity, but rather an aspect of Christianity. We still need to remember the truth that Jesus is the "truth the way and the life." Grace does not mean that we are on the way to the father. It does explain how a perfect man would be willing to look past all of the garbage in our lives to see the beauty in all people.

See my website featuring this poster and more.

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Athestic Satanism and Satan

My previous question prompt:

Even though Satanism claims to not believe in the spirit world or Satan, from a Christian perspective I would argue that they are playing into Satan’s plan for the United States...

Our beliefs do not affect TRUTH.  There are various types of truth (scientific, personal etc.) but I also believe in an ultimate TRUTH (like Platonic TRUTH).  This ultimate truth is not affected by my beliefs or the beliefs of anyone else.  I believe that the fact that Satanists do not believe in Satan, does not mean that he doesn’t exist.  Not believing in him or his demons causes people to not be on guard (Ephesians 6)…

Satanism Documentary
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One of the ways that I believe Satan works in the United States includes the attempt to convince Americans that there is no such thing as morality and no such thing as a God. We are not as spiritual as other countries (Africa for example). Instead of using demons and possession to attack America, Satan is using an approach that we do not notice as easily. This approach still takes people away from God and I believe that Satan is more interested in keeping people from God than he is interested in being worshiped (although this happens too, and I would guess that he likes that as well). As a society we are beginning to support the John Hick idea of “many paths lead to God,” thus being drawn from the one Judeo Christian God.

I think that Satanism (one specific type of Satanism) in the United States plays into this belief. They do not believe in God, nor do they believe sin. Satan represents the philosophical ideas that they believe.  

Philosophical, Hedonistic, Atheistic, or Neo Satanism Defined  (for these posts I am simplifying the idea of Satanism; this girl complicates it.  She does define the terms well)



4:10 – Defines Philosophy
4:40 – Defines Atheistic and Modern Satism
(5:10 – 8:00 This is the type of Satanism I am talking about and seems to be the most common in the US.)

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Truth is Truth is Truth

My husband and I recently discussed the idea of judging others before we get to know them. More than just judging them but judging their beliefs.

The end of the conversation was interesting because my husband was able to put the conversation, and the point that I was trying to make, into perfect wording. “so, what you’re trying to say is that we should recognize the truth in all belief systems before we judge them.” Even though I believe that truth and wisdom come from God, I also believe that the same truth can be expressed through various terms, and wisdom can be possessed by non-Christians and Christians alike.

We can better ourselves through understanding others’ wisdom as well as learn more about our own. Another religion may not include Jesus being the one and only savior, but that does not give Christians the right to devalue the wisdom from the belief system. The same would be expected of a non-Christian in regards to the Christian faith.

We all should be able to respect and understand someone else’s belief without believing it. Unfortunately humans seem to have a hard time with that. The ignorance goes both ways. You hear Christians disrespect other beliefs all the time and I can promise that I have heard non-Christians mock and bash Christian beliefs on a regular basis.