Taking Revenge....

As we all know, recently Osama Bin Laden was finally found and captured. For many Americans, this has been a source of jubilation as we have now captured the man "responsible" for the deaths of thousands during 9/11. However, Dr. Gerloff in her article, The Psychology of Revenge: Why we Should Stop Celebrating Osama Bin Laden's Death, argues that this jubilation of death should be stopped.

For many Americans, this has been a touchy subject, particularly those that have been directly effected by the actions of Osama Bin Laden. Gerloff argues that celebrating the death of an individual, no matter who the individual is, is a violation of the sanctity of life. She argues that by celebrating Osama Bin Laden's death we are becomng a nation that honors death, instead of life. And in doing so, we continue a back and forth revenge cycle of killing between America and terroist.

Overall, I do think that she brings up a good point in regards to analyzing all of the celebration occuring because of Osama Bin Laden's death. Sometimes I question whether it is a bit too much (i.e. chanting in front of the White House). However, I think her view is a bit naive of the true nature and threat of Radical Islam. She assumes that by changing the nature of how Americans act we can end the cycle of terroism. But this does not take into account the strong ideology that has formed those beliefs.

Grilled Cheesus...

During my research regarding healing and prayer, I noticed in a lot of medical journals that there is a lot of openness towards spirituality and religion. Many of the medical journals were trying to bring a holistic approach to health care, in which religious belief and ideals is brought into the process of health care. However, this move towards spirituality and religious influence into modern culture is nothing new, but something that being demonstrated throughout music, art, literature, television. For example, recently Lady Gaga came out with a new song, in which she sings about her opinions of Judas.

Continuing this view of pop culture, an episode of Glee just came out called "Grilled Cheesus." This episode revolves around religious belief, as one of the characters finds a picture of Jesus burnt into the crust of his grilled cheese. He spends the episode praying to this grill "Cheesus," in which his prayers are answered by this piece of bread. In addition, an openly gay character, Kurt, has to deal with his connection of faith and reality when his father goes to the hospital from a heart attack. In particular, he deals with accepting prayer from individuals who truly care about his dad even though he is an atheist. In doing so, a conversation between theism and atheism is presented in the show.

Overall, this show presented an interesting view of how culture is openly debating and looking at spiritual issues. In this secular show--on public television nonetheless--these religious thoughts on God are discussed. This makes me realize how hungry our culture is for truth. Our culture is not one that has completely silenced religion, but has demonstrated an openness and willingness to discuss it. I think as Christian we should take this oppurtunity to demonstrate truth through all mediums, including counseling.

Catching some zzzzzz's.....

So, during the very last test that we turned in, we looked at the book The Anxiety Cure by Dr. Archibald D. Hart analyzing some of the factors that can lower stress and anxiety. Hart claims that one of the largest reducers of stress is sleep, which gives the brain a chance to "reset." Ironically, as I was working on my test at 3am in the morning, I learned that sleep deprivation causes a lot of stress in an individual.

That being said, I've found an article discussing the dreaded all-nighter that many a college students have performed. This was once seen as an uncanny ability to steal time from the night, in order to finish uncompleted projects, such as an annotated bibliography or two. But, as this article argues, all-nighters have the same effect on the brain as consecutive nights of sleep deprivation.

Taking several rats that willingly sacrificed their lives to the cause of science, the researchers tested the effects of acute and chronic sleep deprivation on these scientific martyrs. In doing so, they acknowledged that the effects of acute and chronic sleep deprivation were equivalent. As such, much of the cognitive functions of the rats were

drastically reduced through this sleep deprivation.

This study made me consider and think about the long term damage that pulling a all-nighter can do on the body. Not only, does it have the effect of reducing an individuals ability to deal with everyday task, but it also reduces an individuals ability to deal with emotional problems as well.

Listen To Your Heart....

In class we talked about a lot of the aspects of the Heart, such as it's intellectual, emotional, volitional, or spiritual life. In reviewing the notes regarding this topic, I think of a lot of the secular world's wisdom regarding the heart. Some, such as Roxette's song Listen to Your Heart, would advise you to follow the desires and leading of your "Heart." Roxette advises you to "listen to your heart" and to follow what it entails, particular in the realm of love. I am sure that she is not referring to the organ, as that would require a stethoscope, a rather pricey piece of medical equipment that simply would not make a flattering song. Instead, she uses the metaphorical sense of heart to refer to emotions.

And in doing this, I think Roxette captures a lot of the error of secular thinking in regards to this issue. As Jeremiah 17:9 suggest, the heart (or feelings in this case) can be deceitful. How often have individuals made decisions based upon how they felt in the moment? Perhaps, Roxette's feelings towards "him" as he says goodbye, are not really bad, but a result of terrible double-fried burrito she had for lunch. As Dr. Corsini once discussed, how often do Christians base their relationship with God on how they feel? Once again, probably a result of that double-fired burrito. Which I do not say to belittle feelings, but to acknowledge the fact that they must be challenged against rationality and truth.

Brain Waives, Cursors, and Microchips...

In the article, BrainGate Neural Interface System Reaches 1,000 Day Performance milestone, observes the effectiveness and longevity of the BrainGate implant that was placed inside of a paralyzed woman. This implant gave the woman the ability to move a cursor through the thoughts of her mind. She was able to guide the cursor, as well as to click small targets. Of particular note, was the fact that it is continuing to work after 1,000 days after being implanted. However, it was also noted that the chip was not performing with the same accuracy as it was once before.

What is interesting about this article to me is the fact that scientist are beginning to accurately capture and record the material aspect of the mind. This leads to me wonder how far can mankind go in progressing in this field. Particularly, what lines can be drawn in our understanding of immaterial and material, if thoughts, feelings, and actions are reduced to a neuron-pattern that can be systematically mapped. However, what I am more curious about is whether or not further studies of the brain will demonstrate a pattern in the waves or thought of the depraved mind (Rom. 1:28). Or will mature Christians demonstrate a change of thinking that is not only demonstrated in their lifestyle but also in a physical way (neuron-patterns)? These are interesting questions to me that I hope are answered in the near future.

"Two-may-toe or Two-ma-toe"

During our discussion of demons in class the other day, I thought of a Disney song that I remembered from a show called the “House of Mouse.” In this show, many of the famous Disney characters ran a dinner theater in which they would work to entertain the guest, while showing classic Disney clips throughout the show. The song that I was reminded of was a duet between Mickey Mouse and Daisy Duck called “Me the Mouse and I’m the Duck.” Throughout this song, the two characters playfully argue about the different pronunciations of different words, such as lever (Leave-er versus Le-ver), caramel (car-mull versus care-uh-mell), or Caribbean (care-uh-be-in versus Cur-rib-be-in). Of course, we all know the correct pronunciations of these words; nevertheless this song light-heartedly demonstrated the argument over language that many people get into.

This reminded me of our discussion in class regarding whether Christian’s can be “possessed” or not. All sorts of questions stem from that word, such as the ability, length and targets of demon possession. Some argue that Christian’s can’t be “possessed” but “oppressed.” Whereas others argue that there really is no difference, as the Greek would be better translated into the word “Demonized.” Some would even go further to make a distinction of the ability of a demon to actually own someone’s soul or body, in the sense that God does.

Ultimately, I think many of these distinctions and arguments are quite fruitless. Many of these arguments are language arguments, in the same way that we argue whether it is “tu’mey-tow or tu’maa-tow” (http://www.wordwebonline.com/en/TOMATO). Regardless of whether we call it possession, oppression, demonization, tidily-winks, or whatever, it is clear that demons have a present-day activity influencing the lives of unbelievers and believers. That is why in Ephesians 6:11-12, we are commanded to put on the armor of God to resist the devil, for our Christians lives are a spiritual battle, not an earthly one. Therefore put on your armor and be prepared, instead of arguing whether it is “Care-uh-mell” or “Car-mull.” Especially, because we all know its “Car-Mull”. :P

An Electric Cross...

Recently, a man placed a 24-foot lighted cross in his yard, in order to demonstrate his Christian faith, however he was ordered by the local city to remove the cross as it was against city building codes. In addition, the neighbors across the street complained about the lights on the cross, as they were penetrating into their house at night. This stirred up quite the controversy, as the Pennsylvanian man refused to remove the cross believing it to be a demonstration of his constitutional rights. In the end, he removed the crosses from his yard.

While this whole article brings about some further questions, such as the motives of the man, it reminds me of the issue in class regarding natural and special revelation. These two types of revelation demonstrate the different ways that God reveals Himself to us. Natural revelation allows us to glean general principles about God through things observed in the universe, such as His presence, His Creativity, etc. Whereas special revelation refers to the specific, intimate attributes of God and God’s plan for humanity which is revealed through Scripture, the Holy Spirit, etc.

This article made me think of these two types of revelations because I wondered if the man was being incorporated into the special revelation process. God often imparts special revelation through the movement upon human hands, such as the the Holy Spirit influencing the writers of Scripture. In the same way, could God take this man’s “electric cross” and use it as a testament to what was done on the true cross. Furthermore, could this man’s “electric cross” help point towards the God of the Bible?

Considering the whole situation, I do believe that their were some misguided motives for this man’s display of the “electric cross”. However, I do believe that God can and does use man’s actions to still demonstrate who He is and what He is about. This in turn is a humbling thought, particular as a Christian, because it makes you realize the weight of every action. For every action has an eternal significance, therefore it should be questioned if what you are doing points to God and His redemptive plan for humanity.