Glocal Christianity

Killer Robot has "Software Glitch". Ooops!

Most people don't realize it yet, but right now the future of war is crashing into the present. Right now, this year, the world of conflict is undergoing a profound shift. Does it have social and ethical implications? You betcha. Just listen to this guy.

Related Articles:

Reuters: Killer Robots and a Revolution in Warfare - "You need to be an optimist to think that political leaders will opt for negotiation over war once combat casualties come home not in flag-decked coffins but in packing crates destined for the robot repair shop."

Wired for War - The Robotics Revolution - A video containing reports that children have been killed by unmanned US drones ... and a whole bunch of other stuff that will blow your mind. 

Carnegie Network - Robot's, the Battlefield and Ethics - "Can intelligent robot soldiers be designed to be more ethical in battle than human soldiers? Would you prefer a robot or a human deciding about the possibility of civilian casualties?"

Illah Nourbakhsh Lecture: Ethics in Robotics - "Are there types of robots that shouldn't be created? Should we use robots in military combat? Or is there actually nothing to worry about?"

It's for your own protection

"If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

The Man with the Golden Gun

When the people saw that the holy fool was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around the respectable pastor and said, "Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this holy fool who brought us up out of slavery, we don't know what has happened to him."

The respectable pastor answered them, "Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me." So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to the respectable pastor. He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a gun, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, "These are your gods, O America, who brought you up out of slavery.

When the respectable pastor saw this, he built an altar in front of the gun and announced, "Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD." So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.

Technology not causing social isolation: Pew study

This morning the Sydney Morning Herald was reporting that, "Contrary to popular belief, technology is not leading to social isolation and Americans who use the Internet and mobile phones have larger and more diverse social networks, according to a new study." I can't see any differentiation between quanitity of contacts and quality of contacts though.

Gift wikinomics

I was researching some more into gift economics and low and behold, I actually found the Wikipedia entry quite thought provoking. Some examples of gift economics:

• The blood bank system
• Amish barn raising
• Wikipedia itself, as information gift economy
• Give away shops

Even more interesting, it gave me words for some things I already practice.

New Christian Art

Art lovers will be interested in some of my latest Christian art finds. I've been updating quite a few of my galleries.

Above is an image which tells the story of the Prodigal Son, from the Larry and Mary Gerbens collection. But you'll find many more new images in the Christian art galleries on my sidebar.

Resurrection?

What is resurrection? What did the apostles mean when they spoke of resurrection? Were they simply referring to life after death? Or by using the word resurrection were they referring to something beyond even that?

I raise this question because there still seems to be a lot of confusion out in the blogosphere, and elsewhere, as to what resurrection actually means. Here is what N T Wright had to say about the resurrection of the dead in "What St Paul Really Said":

"Resurrection is not simply resuscitation; it is transformation, the changing of the present mode of physicality into a new mode, of which Jesus in his risen body is the only prototype, but for which the transformation of a seed into a plant can function as a general analogy. This is the Creator's plan for the future of his human creation." (Wright, 1997, 140)

So, not simply resuscitation, but not simply dematerialization either. Resurrection is far more holistic. Whatever else it involves, it involves leaving an empty tomb behind. 

As such, resurrection is discernably different from Homeric Paganism with its myths of dying and rising gods who, generally speaking, died again and again in endless cycles. It is also discernably different from Platonic Paganism with its notion of soul survival. For the apostles, disembodiment was at most a transitional state prior to resurrection, it was not resurrection in and of itself. This raises some interesting questions about the importance of the body in ancient Christian teaching in comparison to ancient Pagan teaching, particularly in terms of Platonic and Gnostic style afterlife. Which path valued the body more?

The ethics of blogging and tweeting

As a blogger who blogs on ethics from time to time, it has occured to me, hey, maybe I do some blogging on the ethics of blogging.

Then I thought, hey, I can't recall many Christians saying much on the ethics of blogging, or tweeting or facebooking. I wonder why that is? Maybe I should look deeper? So I went for a search, of Christian and nonChristian sites, and here are a few links I found of interest:

• Do bloggers have ethics?
• Note on Christian ethics of blogging
• Right or Wrong? The ethics of blogging
• The Present and Future of Social Networking

Note, I found NOTHING on ethics related to facebook or twitter by Christians.

Another gap? What do you think are some important ethical issues?

Bridging the digital divide

"Former IBM employee Bruce Buckelew has made it his mission to eliminate the digital divide in Oakland, Calif. By refurbishing donated computers and giving low-income families access to technology, the Oakland Technology Exchange (OTX) is providing access to the educational, health care, and employment resources available on the Internet that so many people take for granted." See audio slideshow.

Google Social Search to go live Monday

I was reading that Google Social Search is going live Monday. Still pondering the implications for Christian bloggers. But with greater integration of Facebook and Google I am suspecting some of the SEO rules will be shifting.

Film and Faith in Africa

I was just reading about the booming Nigerian film industry known as Nollywood. Not only has Nollywood recently surpassed Hollywood in film production, most Nigerian films are spiritual in nature and over 20% are Christian, making Nigeria the Christian Movie Capital of the World.

Caste Discrimination and Missional Tribalism

I was reading in the news that, "As the United Nations has made a small but significant step forward towards declaring caste-based discrimination a human rights violation, Indian Christian leaders have called on the churches to confess that the caste system is still being practised also within them."

Now, before we tut, tut the continuance of caste discrimination within the Indian church, have you ever considered just how much missional ecclesiology is drawn from the experience of Indian missionaries? The experience that growth is faster Christians contextualize into the subcultures (aka castes) rather than challenge subcultural boundaries? Have you considered that the homogenous unity principle was hashed out in a caste situation?

Now understand, I am not saying contextualization is of no value, I think it has much value. But part of the contextualizing process should surely be contextually challenging cultural boundaries?

How (not) to Christianize Zen

Not so long ago I wrote some articles on Christian yoga. Firstly, in How (not) to Christianize Yoga, I outlined a basic methodology. Secondly, in Yoga Body Yoga Spirit, I outlined some specific challenges, namely, how we understand Spirit (pneumatology) and how we understand union with God (soteriology).

So, having stirred the pot on Yoga and Hinduism, I now what to turn my attention to Zen and Buddhism. To what extent can we Christianize Zen? Again, there are good ways to Christianize a non-Christian practice ... and there are not so good ways. Again we can find a multitude of less than inspiring examples. But before we begin, I have a confession to make, I am actually a former Zen Christian … of the distinctly syncretistic, mix-n-match kind. So when I say there are some "not so good ways", I cite my own inital practice as a prime example.

You see, when I converted to Christianity out of the New Age Movement some 16 or so years ago now, there was not much guidance available in those days. So I had to figure things out for myself, and I made many mistakes getting to that point. It took me some time to realize that any Zen, any dhyāna, any meditation, that can be authentically called Christian, will be grounded in Christ and Christ alone, before anything and everything.

Following this, in exploring Zen as Christians there is a sense in which we need to develop our own Christian Buddhology. In the same way Buddhists see the need to articulate a Buddhist understanding of Christ, Christians need to articulate a Christian understanding of Buddha. And here is the crux of it: if we seek to practice meditation in an authentically Christian way, the Buddha can never be granted the same authority as Christ. His perspectives may prove useful, but we cannot never hail him co-master, so long as we wish to remain Christ-centered that is.

That's enough for now, I'll return to this topic soon.

Is the New Testament pro-war?

Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it - Adolph Hitler

Understanding Tradition

Following my comments on Sydney Anglicanism and the diversity within the tradition I have drawn this diagram to illustrate that tradition is not as one-dimensional as it is sometimes made out to be.