Blog Archives
A Christian Response to UCSD’s Growing Racial Tension
I’m not going to claim I know all the answers. Nor am I going to speak on behalf of any organization or particular group. Rather I want to speak right now as a follower of Jesus who is desperately seeking God’s heart on how to act in the midsts of a lot of pain and anger that’s escalating at UCSD.
Today as I joined hundreds of others on campus to say “no” against blatant acts racism, I watched person after person take the mic and share their hearts. Some shared impassioned pleas to actions, others shared words of solidarity, and still others shared their pain and fear. As I stood there for 3 hours listening, I began to ask two very disturbing questions. First of all, where was the Asian American presence? As a majority minority on this campus, do we not have the responsibility to at least say we stand is solidarity with those who are suffering? But I think what was more troubling was I kept asking where was the Christian presence? Of the 30 or so people who spoke this morning representing everyone from the LGBT to faculty and even an openly Communist representative, I did not witness one person represent Jesus in the midsts of all this. Read the rest of this entry
Sebastian’s Voodoo
I rarely watch a film (especially online) that both chills me and moves me at my core as much as this one (video and link at the bottom of the post). This short film by Joaquin Baldwin is about a voodoo doll that sacrifices itself for the sake of the other dolls in the basement. I don’t think this video in any way was intended to be Christian. In fact, even from the title and the dark sadistic tone it’s pretty obviously not your typical Vegetales CGI film. Despite all this it portrays a reality of Christ’s sacrifice and defeat of Satan (and sin) in a way better than most Christian portrayals I’ve seen. Makes you wonder why it seems like people who don’t even try to talk about Jesus in their films seem to do it better than those who actually try.
There are definitely many holes in how the film parallels the actual death of Jesus (for one Jesus didn’t kill Himself). So just get past that. What it does marvelously though is paint the absolute bleak and ugly reality of the evil that ensnares and ultimately kills us. It is a dark, sadistic, absolutely scary type of evil. It is an evil that is just set out to torture and destroy us. One that just sees us, the image bearers of God, as faceless dolls to abuse, to use, to defile, to kill. One that just leaves us with no hope, hanging on a sharp hook waiting for our disgraceful end. This is the true face of evil in this world. It is oppressive, deceitful, and ugly. It is absolutely terrifying and chilling. Read the rest of this entry
