tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60554773301868440902024-03-08T08:24:42.916-08:00Culture StuffCandy Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13385490293371199407noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055477330186844090.post-35003919944305781452008-03-14T21:55:00.000-07:002008-03-14T21:57:45.357-07:00Week 10 - Final Revision of PaperIt sounds like this outline will work based on your comments from last week. I'm not sure what other revisions to make to it. I suppose I could add more details but those might be best left to being read in the paper. Anyway, this outline is the same as last week. The paper will be on its way soon!<br /><br />I. Describe a particular aspect of culture - youth culture in Boulder, Colo.<br />A. Barker's insights<br />1. Nature of youth in Barker<br />2. Contrast with Chap Clark<br />3. Hurting kids<br />B. Boulder Colorado's youth culture climate<br />C. First Pres Boulder's youth culture climate<br />II. Use the "Countercultural" Model from Bevans<br />A. Why the model is good for this.<br />B. Possible dangers needed to avoid<br />C. How this model will aid in pointing toward the gospel in this culture<br />1. Relationships<br />2. Rich Young Ruler Example<br />III. Specific ways this will address the culture<br />A. Building Kingdom of God communities<br />1. For Families<br />2. Cultural difference<br />B. Partnering with Families<br />1. Resources<br />2. Deconstruction of wealth/achievement myth<br />C. For Kids<br />1. Expanding their worldviews<br />2. Teaching them to deconstruct on their ownCandy Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13385490293371199407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055477330186844090.post-143530573066275932008-03-14T21:47:00.000-07:002008-03-14T21:52:25.515-07:00Week 10 - Response to Joe E.Joe's blog wins the most entertaining of the quarter by far. I agree with most of what he said except for one thing. Joe calls to "embrace popular culture." I'd disagree with that one. I agree the church has its head in the sand (for the most part) and I'd agree that alternative cultures created by the church are often weak efforts to be cool. I don't think the answer is to "embrace popular culture." We should work WITHIN popular culture but not necessarily embrace it. As youth workers we should stop scouting out what kids will someday grow up to be our volunteer leaders and interns and start pouring into kids that will be the next generation of movie producers. We need to sow the message of Jesus withing pop culture without fully embracing it.Candy Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13385490293371199407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055477330186844090.post-33573632465571447322008-03-10T14:17:00.000-07:002008-03-10T14:22:19.923-07:00Week 10 - Monday Class Reflections<em>The Merchants of Cool</em> does a great job of illustrating the peril kids face from "producers." My fear is that we don't ask the question, "What makes them vulnerable?" I'd love to see a companion video that illustrates the way adults have "abandoned" kids and not invested in their lives. We, as parents and youth workers, should not see pop culture as the enemy and ignore the enemy within ourselves.Candy Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13385490293371199407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055477330186844090.post-11887334235004177662008-03-07T17:33:00.000-08:002008-03-07T17:40:04.159-08:00Week 9 - Revised OutlineI. Describe a particular aspect of culture - youth culture in Boulder, Colo.<br />A. Barker's insights<br />1. Nature of youth in Barker<br />2. Contrast with Chap Clark<br />3. Hurting kids<br />B. Boulder Colorado's youth culture climate<br />C. First Pres Boulder's youth culture climate<br />II. Use the "Countercultural" Model from Bevans<br />A. Why the model is good for this.<br />B. Possible dangers needed to avoid<br />C. How this model will aid in pointing toward the gospel in this culture<br />1. Relationships<br />2. Rich Young Ruler Example<br />III. Specific ways this will address the culture<br />A. Building Kingdom of God communities<br />1. For Families<br />2. Cultural difference<br />B. Partnering with Families<br />1. Resources<br />2. Deconstruction of wealth/achievement myth<br />C. For Kids<br />1. Expanding their worldviews<br />2. Teaching them to deconstruct on their ownCandy Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13385490293371199407noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055477330186844090.post-32715613707685840202008-03-05T13:06:00.000-08:002008-03-05T14:47:36.621-08:00Week 9 - Wednesday Class ReflectionI was struck by how the number of choices and technology means speed is a necessity for producers. If an identity isn't established within seconds, the remote control takes a consumer somewhere else. I hadn't thought about it in this way before - producers must literally craft every second of programming to be captivating or risk losing an audience (and advertising dollars). This "need for speed" means sensationalism will happen a lot. Interesting to me that choice and technology indirectly breeds sensationalism.Candy Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13385490293371199407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055477330186844090.post-74803979874746044792008-03-05T11:17:00.001-08:002008-03-05T11:22:57.026-08:00Week 9 - Comment on Ben's BlogBen's blog got me thinking about "genealogy" in churches and how that relates to our church. I've always wondered, "Why are people so against change - especially in cases where it clearly needs to happen?" Obviously, some people are just fearful of something different but I think there are other reasons too. Change indirectly can say, "You older people messed up." It can bring up feelings of anger, resentment and, perhaps, guilt. Some of these things are behind negative reactions to new ideas. I like the "genealogy" way of thinking - how can we tie "change" to an extension of the good work that the church has been doing for decades? In this way, we partner between generations instead of divide.Candy Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13385490293371199407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055477330186844090.post-44668510396002348432008-03-05T10:35:00.000-08:002008-03-05T11:08:29.478-08:00Week 9 - Bevans, Ch. 9 (Countercultural)Countercultural model takes people seriously but calls for a "u-turn" of the mind. Culture is not evil and does not need to be replaced. Encounter or engagement of the culture perhaps a better term. Gospel has primacy over culture because humans and culture are ambiguous. Dangers include becoming sectarian. Baxter led movement to identify Catholics as Catholics, over and above being American.Candy Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13385490293371199407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055477330186844090.post-42324716991074783792008-03-04T16:18:00.000-08:002008-03-05T10:34:42.785-08:00Week 9 - Cobb, Ch. 9 (Life Everlasting)Death is a fascination of the culture as evidence by movies and Disney myths. Apocolyptic stories pit good vs. evil for the culture. Film and art attempts to recapture Eden/utopia. Blue and green landscape imprinted on our consciousness by God? Popular culture full of "ghost stories" that attempt to bring meaning to death - but ghosts more prevalent in other cultures. Ghosts represent a rootedness to the past that Americans lack?Candy Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13385490293371199407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055477330186844090.post-39334000426942252362008-03-03T13:06:00.000-08:002008-03-03T13:54:40.191-08:00Week 9 - Monday Class ReflectionThe discussion of Foucault and "power" made me sad. It's amazing that power is such a negative word - akin to hegemony. What a testimony to the fallenness of humanity! The original since of power was <em>em</em>powering and creative - God hovering over the waters and bringing things into existence. Interesting that Foucault realized a more biblical, positive sense of what power is.Candy Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13385490293371199407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055477330186844090.post-20781251818818653742008-02-27T20:13:00.001-08:002008-02-27T20:19:15.622-08:00Week 8 - Response to Annie McLaren's BlogAnnie Mac's blog about Republicanism=Christianity got me thinking about other symbols we use. A church near my home in Lafayette, Colo. flies the most enormous American flag on its building I have ever seen. Some friends of mine go to church there and I have questioned them about it. Those friends question my salvation because I challenged their flag placement. WOW! The interesting thing is that many of these people really are wanting to follow Jesus. How is it that some have swallowed US patriotism in place of the Kingdom of God and refuse to even entertain any challenges to this notion? It would be interesting to think through how we could help deconstruct this notion for people.Candy Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13385490293371199407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055477330186844090.post-35062314487011461292008-02-27T20:07:00.001-08:002008-02-27T20:08:26.802-08:00Week 8 - Final Paper OutlineMiddle School Kids and Pop Culture in Boulder, Colo.<br />I. Examine an aspect of culture: Pop Culture in youth (Drawing from Barker) <br />A. Pop Culture amongst kids in Boulder<br /> B. Pop Culture amongst kids at First Pres Church<br /> C. Analysis of difference, insights from above<br />II. Use Bevans’ “synthetic approach” to engage the culture <br />III. How Can the Church Community Address This?<br /> A. Acknowledgment of no simple solutions<br /> 1. Problem of “hyper-realism”<br /> B. Parents and their role<br /> C. A holistic approach<br /> 1. Networks of Adults<br /> 2. Rites of Passage?<br />3. Deconstructing messages: don’t hide your head in the sand - work though media with kidsCandy Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13385490293371199407noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055477330186844090.post-64224405807311600102008-02-27T13:21:00.001-08:002008-02-27T14:01:46.976-08:00Week 8 - Wednesday Class Reflection"The Church is not the answer. The Church is the question." I do not find Caputo's quote threatening. I find this to be liberating and humble. It seems like this description of faith requires "control freaks" to check their controlling nature at the door. Of course, no one who is a control freak knows they are one - which brings the logical question, "Am I one?"Candy Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13385490293371199407noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055477330186844090.post-91760924190107946062008-02-26T20:27:00.000-08:002008-02-26T20:47:13.639-08:00Week 8 - Bevans, Ch. 8 (Transcendental)We can't do "transcendental theology" unless the theologian is an "authentic, coverted subject." Transcendental thoelogy starts by examining oneself and the biases within. God reveals Godself within human experience. Anyone can "do" theology. Experience of past and present "cut" a contextual theology. Criticisms include accusations of being too abstract and oriented toward Western male understandings of knowing. McFague and Gonzales both listed as good examples of transcendental theologians.Candy Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13385490293371199407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055477330186844090.post-46296965644778774032008-02-26T19:44:00.000-08:002008-02-26T20:27:51.673-08:00Week 8 - Cobb, Ch. 8 (Salvation)Redemptive violence is key salvation narrative in our culture. Seeking ecstatic experiences can become religion of self-absorption. Music offers a salvific quality of imagining "new ways of being." Love songs reach beyond human relationships to God. Chocolat shows salvation through consumerism and self-fulfillment. Penance rejected by Reformers but hard-work ethic has taken its place. Self-therapy and help offered as salvific in our culture. AA listed as an ideal model for using therapy that does not make the individual's cravings its idol - just the opposite is true.Candy Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13385490293371199407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055477330186844090.post-43992301443060612422008-02-26T13:05:00.000-08:002008-02-26T13:11:18.896-08:00Week 8 - Monday Class ReflectionThere's one toy I'll buy as much as my kids want. My kids fell in love with the movie <em>Cars</em> since the first time they saw Lightning McQueen "kachowing" around the track. They love it for the cars, characters and humor. I love it for the ending. Lightning McQueen <em>loses</em> the big race - because he sacrifices himself to honor another car. It is a deconstruction of the old redemptive violence or triumphalism narrative. It is more in line with the gospel - so I keep buying those little diecast cars.Candy Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13385490293371199407noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055477330186844090.post-14471753642281577382008-02-21T21:30:00.000-08:002008-02-21T22:05:11.660-08:00Week 7 - Cobb, Ch. 7 (Sin)Popular culture is in agreement that something is wrong with the human condition. Puritans attempted the utopian ideal but obviously failed. Belief that God punishes when we fall short of moral ideal is the "jeremiad" and is ingrained in American consciousness. We hunger for a different world because we feel it is always short of "Eden." This leads to conflict and sin. Humanity's abuse of technology is seen in some fiction as a "second fall" according to the Gothic genre. Four features of gothic stories very interesting. Gothic plots often have sin originate from "without."Candy Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13385490293371199407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055477330186844090.post-77104448325058358162008-02-21T21:05:00.000-08:002008-02-21T21:29:20.214-08:00Week 7 - Bevans, Ch. 7 (Synthetic Model)Synthetic model tries to balance all models and everything else. Synthetic does not mean artificial. Cultures are unique and similar to each other. Dialogue essential to human growth. Danger is that it could be too "wishy-washy." Koyama's <em>Waterbuffalo Theology</em> is described as an example. It is a "theology from below." Jose M. de Mesa is a theologian from the Phillipines whose writings outline the synthetic model well. Christology as "vindication" is the best way to speak to Filipinos about Jesus, according to de Mesa.Candy Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13385490293371199407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055477330186844090.post-71132839262876253932008-02-21T20:58:00.000-08:002008-02-21T21:04:23.233-08:00Week 7 - Response to Ben's BlogBen talks about being "Weary of Words." I liked his post and agree that our faith must have action with it. It is so interesting for me right now because I am in John Thompson's medieval/Reformation theology course discussing Martin Luther. Luther was so adament that 'action' was unneccessary for God to love us - I agree. But it seems like we're in our current mess because Christians distorted Luther by reducing the gospel to all "talk and head games." The Church's favorite book has been Galatians, but Ben's blog reminds me of James. It seems like that is where the Christian culture is now headed. I think a correction is needed, but can we not overcorrect and become only about social justice and forget about a deep and intimate relationship with Jesus? It seems like all of this should go hand-in-hand.Candy Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13385490293371199407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055477330186844090.post-64838338203827471822008-02-20T22:22:00.000-08:002008-02-20T22:25:42.754-08:00Week 7 - Wednesday Class ReflectionIt seems like the praxis model typically revolved around a marginalized people group. Liberation theology is the example given in Bevans about this. My question: How do you do praxis model in rich, white suburbs? Am I wrong in understanding it as tied to more marginalized groups? Maybe it is just the practice of listening, reflecting and doing - a practice that can be done with anyone. I ask this question because I like the praxis model and, like many, I know it's possible my ministry may end up being in suburbia.Candy Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13385490293371199407noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055477330186844090.post-83251902328656399402008-02-20T12:16:00.000-08:002008-02-21T20:53:22.549-08:00Week 7 - Barker, Ch. 14 (Politics and Policy)Cultural studies frequently centers on power, politics and social change. Gramsci saw an ideological struggle between working class and traditional intellectuals. Discourse "describes and regulates cultural identities and social action." Identifiers may be fiction but are necessary. The public sphere regards certain values as good. Bennett advocates for policy creation at the heart of cultural studies. Pragmatism says social change a combination of our language and how that affects policy.Candy Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13385490293371199407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055477330186844090.post-46768014583358393692008-02-20T11:18:00.000-08:002008-02-20T12:14:49.963-08:00Week 7 - Barker, Ch. 13 (Youth)Youth is not just defined by biology, but is a "cultural construct... under definitive conditions." Subcultures are binary opposites of mass produced mainstream culture - they arise from a "problem" in the culture. <em>Resistance Through Rituals</em> (Hall and Jefferson, 1976) sounds interesting. Bricolage transforms cultural signs into alternative meanings that help identify the subculture. Girls are relegated to certain roles and spaces in being ignored by researchers. Media is crucial to the formation of youth subcultures. Is youth culture resistance? High control industrialization culture has been transferred over to view of youth.Candy Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13385490293371199407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055477330186844090.post-49776754192471923942008-02-19T16:01:00.000-08:002008-02-19T16:07:19.285-08:00Week 7 - Monday Class ReflectionIt was fun to talk about Westerns and how they are constructed. I couldn't help but think that the main theme is "redemptive violence." In other words, redemption is achieved through the means of violently defeating the villain. (Actually, most our superhero movies follow this theme too). It's interesting to contrast that narrative to the Christian narrative. Jesus' story is also one of redemptive violence - of a completely different sort. This is forcing me to think about how our culture perceives these different, yet related, themes.Candy Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13385490293371199407noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055477330186844090.post-79338423405072143872008-02-17T15:33:00.000-08:002008-02-17T15:59:50.130-08:00Week 6 - Bevans, Ch. 6 (Praxis Model)Praxis akin to "liberation theology" through history and reflective action. Praxis model of theology is not just "right thinking" it is "right action." Theology must be acted upon with reflection. Revelation is understood as God in history. Theology must be wrestled with in particular situations. Hall and others look at theologies for different geographies (North America cited as an example). Asian woman theology fights Asian and ecclesial oppression of women.Candy Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13385490293371199407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055477330186844090.post-68034385665717864952008-02-17T14:51:00.001-08:002008-02-17T15:32:30.950-08:00Week 6 - Cobb, Ch. 6 (Human Nature)Cop shows demonstrate the culture's quest to understand human nature, morality and purpose. The "ordinary" has been elevated in the last 200 years of culture. What once was "kingly annointing" from God is now for all people. "Identities now constructed through consuming." Shopping MRI brain scans show increased activity in section of brain dedicated to self identity!!! Hyperreality creates endless dissatisfaction. Our memories are critical in defining our reality. Machinization (borging) is a blessing (medicine, technology) and a curse (less relationships).Candy Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13385490293371199407noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6055477330186844090.post-20950531587969323042008-02-16T20:37:00.000-08:002008-02-16T20:44:33.444-08:00Week 6 - Response to Emmet's blogEmmet's blog is perceptive on the "consumer" identification of individuals within our culture. My thought is: How sad!!! We have become <em>passive</em> in our self-identification. Passive in that we are allowing others' products to identify us. I agree with Emmet - this must negatively affect our creativity. Sure, there will always be outstanding, creative minds, but I wonder if the average person is not forced to be <em>active</em> in their self-identity because they are passively receiving identity from products and the marketeers behind them. I don't think there is a conscious choice to be identified by consumption, it happens without even thinking about it. However, I don't think advertisers are naive to this principle - far from it.Candy Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13385490293371199407noreply@blogger.com0