I want more stuff and get me out of here as soon as possible…

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Jan 31, 2005 in Church | 2 comments

Today I spoke with a local pastor for my column about the end times. It’s been said before but I always think this is a sad indictment on the North American church. I think it was five years ago, the two most popular books were The Prayer of Jabez and Left Behind. When you added it all up it became for most readers how can I get more stuff and when can I get out of here. I guess it make much sense in our consumeristic, missionless churches.

If you don’t take a job as a prostitute, we can stop your benefits

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Jan 30, 2005 in Culture | 1 comment

All I can say is, ?!

Under Germany’s welfare reforms, any woman under 55 who has been out of work for more than a year can be forced to take an available job ‚Äì including in the sex industry ‚Äì or lose her unemployment benefit. Last month German unemployment rose for the 11th consecutive month to 4.5 million, taking the number out of work to its highest since reunification in 1990.

The government had considered making brothels an exception on moral grounds, but decided that it would be too difficult to distinguish them from bars. As a result, job centres must treat employers looking for a prostitute in the same way as those looking for a dental nurse.

Full article >

Anti-Community at Starbucks

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Jan 29, 2005 in Culture | 2 comments

Today I went to Starbucks to read and write. Every once in a while I lifted my head from my book and peered around the room. In this living-room setting I think I was hoping for something more. Maybe I hoped it would gather people seeking something like-minded, a time to speak about things that are important. People could talk about the books they were reading, poetry they wrote, philosophy they were digesting. I felt let down. It was just a group of people keeping to themselves, doing homework, listening to music with their headphones and reading the paper. I guess it seemed contradictory as I sat in this strip-mall Starbucks. It actually made the lack of community greater as it created an appearance of something social. I’ve decided that on Tuesday nights I’m going to start going somewhere just to hang out, invite friends and talk. Too much of my life is around utility, meetings, appointments, duty. I hope this will be a time to live, learn and enjoy the company of others. If you are in San Diego and you want to meet up on Tuesday night. Drop me a post…

Adbusters “Are you Ready for the Revolution?”

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Jan 28, 2005 in Culture | 6 comments

A review of Adbusters Magazine by Duane Smets.

Adbusters magazine is unlike any other magazine because it has no ads. The magazine has become a key participating leader in a revolution brewed by people who call themselves “culture jammers.”

Culture jammers are a collective of “artists, activists, writers, pranksters, students, educators and entrepreneurs who want to advance the new social activist movement of the information age.” Their aim, “to topple existing power structures and forge a major shift in the way we will live in the 21st century.” Their name coincides with their mission, to try and jam up present ideologies and the forms that allow them to create a culture gone wild.

Full article (at Kaleo) >

A (weak but hopeful) case for evolution

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Jan 28, 2005 in Church | 2 comments

I was reading a book in our living room. My wife walked by carrying our 22 month-old son to bed. She had previously asked me to clean the room, which was filled with toys from Gideon and I playing. “You know, the room isn’t going to clean itself,” she commented as she walked by. Ah, but if evolution were only true, maybe with just enough time and chance, life could start from these toys and they just might organize themselves. After that fleeting thought, I put my book down and cleaned the room. All in all, it made me miss the greatest comic strip ever, Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson.