Missions Conference - COLD FUSION

Hey guys!

This weekend is Missions Conference! Hope you guys can come out this Friday and Saturday!

Friday is a joint program. Basically speaker from 8pm-9:30pm (approx). I was hoping that after the program, we go bubble tea to just chill and catch up!

Saturday's program include 6pm-7:30pm dinner, and then at 8pm, there's a speaker. Please try to attend!!! It'll be amazing (We'll learn EVEN MORE about cold fusion!), so just come out even for the 2 hours for the message at 8pm. In other words, take a break from your studying, John! HAHA Oh, and if you're coming to dinner (I think there might be a few tickets left), come a bit earlier (i.e. 5:30pm). Peter needs help setting up stuff for the dinner.

Hope to see you guys soon!
Tim

An Interesting Conversation

Elizabeth	darnn, this is so hard pickign a topic for my research paper ><
Justin	whats it for
Elizabeth	http://killercoke.org/
Elizabeth	its for my equity class
Elizabeth	thats an interesting site
Elizabeth	these are what i had in mind:
Elizabeth	well topic wise -a campaign spearheaded by or endorsed by celebrities (org: keep a child alive) -an analyses of abercrombie and fitch and its relation to issues of equity -focus on a brand/corp and diss teh equity issues surrounding it (haven't chose one)
Justin	ah
Elizabeth	I dont know what to pick, I have to start b/c i need to hand in my proposal tmr! hahahaa its so hard!
Justin	equity eh
Elizabeth	yaa
Justin	in what context?
Elizabeth	like....ok, say I was doing the keep a child alive thing
Elizabeth	its an equity issue b/c of the negative picture we show of africa, which indeed what started these problems were globalization
Elizabeth	and then for A&F the equity issues would be ones around their employment discrimination and their target audience
Elizabeth	mann, if i do one on A&F it'll make me feel so bad to ever wear my clothign again ..and i have so much from them :S
Justin	haha
Elizabeth	I can pretty much toss away my jacket/bags/sweaters/shirts/tees/pants/and w/e else I might have bought from them LOL
Elizabeth	or i will keep them and feel like a hypocrite hahaha oh the predicaments
Justin	or u can rip out the logos and burn them
Justin	lol
Justin	I'm joking btw.
Elizabeth	LOL
Elizabeth	i think i've settled for this topic
Justin	I would pick something that has a lot of discussion/source material
Elizabeth	yaa, but I can't really think of anything atm
Elizabeth	I coudl talk abotu hurricane katrina and all the inequities it revealed
Justin	so your focus would be the US government?
Elizabeth	yes, and more
Justin	can you focus on more than one organization?
Elizabeth	depends what orgs they are
Justin	an interesting topic would be to examine the proportion of aid and economic support from north-american organizations that's going overseas, vs what's going to native indians within the country
Justin	as a spotlight on exactly how equity is viewed in our society
Justin	or rather whether our definition of equity has been hijacked by politics and business
Justin	and world opinion
Elizabeth	interesting, but that might be too broad
Justin	yeah maybe
Justin	thats probly more like a thesis paper :P
Elizabeth	lol well it is sorta a thesis paper lol
Justin	hehe well anyway, just a suggestion
Elizabeth	thanks maybe i can work around it lol
Justin	np
Elizabeth	yo ,i really do like your idea, its interesting
Justin	haha
Elizabeth	but then it'd be really hard to research on ur topic
Justin	yeah honestly I understand there's a certain degree of stubbornness from the first nations - they're not adapting to the changing world
Justin	but that said, neither the canadian nor US governments are doing nearly enough considering these are the people whose land was conquered in order that we have first world society
Justin	and I think it would be interesting to see the results of a comparitive study on foreign/domestic aid.... see if the governments are as deeply hypocritical as it seems
Justin	however informal that study is
Elizabeth	but you know what...the first nations people want to preserve their culture
Elizabeth	and after the years and years of broken treaties, oppression and exploitation, they're community is so broken down
Justin	so then there should be economic and social support programs - at least much more than there is right now
Elizabeth	ya
Justin	right now there's more work being done by organizations like katimavik for the first nations than there is by the government
Elizabeth	but you know those assistant programs can be really detrimental to
Justin	right but that's a political issue, not an equity issue
Elizabeth	no, its na equity issue too
Justin	really?
Elizabeth	ya, their economic assistance is impeding their economic growth
Elizabeth	like we're surpressing them making the world and those we're 'helping' think that they are dependent on us
Justin	well yeah, that's what I mean. what the government is offering isn't true support
Justin	you can't just throw welfare at a situation and assume its going to solve itself
Elizabeth	its an equity issue b/c it affects how others view them including themselves...theres a since of inferiority
Elizabeth	reinforcing eurocentrism
Justin	I don't think that's really an issue.... currently most of the world turns a blind eye to them anyway
Elizabeth	a lot of things go back to equity issues, its annoying sometimes critiquing everything
Elizabeth	well, we see it as an issue
Elizabeth	sometimes us 'first worlds' gotta realize that we might not be helping them by sticking our noses intothe situation...is. IMF and SAPs
Elizabeth	but ok, perhaps i'm diverting from the topic though
Justin	yeah but the problem is, our noses are in their situation whether we like it or not
Justin	we created their situation
Justin	and ignoring it is obviously not helping
Elizabeth	I'm thinking more like...programs to help africa ..we're really just placing them more in debt
Elizabeth	ya, thats true
Elizabeth	but we're going at it in the wrong way by implementing these programs on them
Elizabeth	but ok, the first nations people is different though
Elizabeth	i'm thinking more of other countries so i guess its different
Elizabeth	wait...I totally forgot about the topic we were talking about
Justin	yeah I just think politics and business has taken over everything we think is a moral cause
Elizabeth	sorry, that was the point, we're paying not enough attention to the aboriginals, instead we stick our noses elsewhere where we're not evne doing that much good as harm
Justin	what's to say africa is more important than the first nations, especially after the grievances they've suffered
Elizabeth	its the affects of globalization
Elizabeth	while we shouldnt stand idle watching the world suffer b/c of what we've inflicted on them the first place, we also shouldnt be implementing these harmful programs b/c we're not helping...so perhaps we should draw back a bit and look at our problems here in canada
Elizabeth	we've 'invested' (detrimentally) so much on world issues and yet neglected those who we've taken 'our' land from violently
Elizabeth	thats what you're arguing right?
Justin	yes, sort of
Justin	I think it's a broader issue than political motivation, because why do governments do anything? to garner political favour either domestic or international
Elizabeth	theres definately more behind it all
Justin	and when you talk about currying political favour within the country - so they can stay in power - they capitalize on popular opinion. what's trendy
Justin	right now, saving africa is trendy. just look at live 8
Elizabeth	yes the trendiness of 'helping' others!
Elizabeth	we were talking about this briefly and its interesting
Justin	I read an article saying there was a ridiculous amount of waste generated by the live 8 event, nevermind the pollution caused by the planes for all these participants flying in on private jets
Justin	if they really wanted to do something big, it wouldn't have been a massive, idiotic concert
Elizabeth	exactly
Justin	but yeah. back to what I was saying.... the first nations don't get more attention in north america because not enough people care
Justin	as a public, we are not doing anything, so the government feels almost no pressure to do anything
Justin	and so ultimately the equity issue rests on us
Elizabeth	i like how each year its a different trend of awareness :P
Justin	at least assuming our democracy works the way its supposed to
Justin	yeah it's really ridiculous.
Elizabeth	I think aids was last yrs trend
Justin	it even wouldn't be so bad if there wasn't so much merchandising with each "movement"
Elizabeth	the year before was environmental awareness I beleive?
Elizabeth	ya, the awareness plays on commercialism
Justin	like how much pollution was generated so that people could buy t-shirts saying "go green or go home?"
Justin	thats why I don't own anything like that
Justin	unless these companies permanently replace their regular products with so-called green products, its all just a masked effort to generate more money
Elizabeth	its good to get across the msg, but not to benefit big companies
Elizabeth	its hard to find
Justin	well yeah. and when's the last time a t-shirt caused a huge social movement
Elizabeth	oh ya the yr before was also make poverty history
Justin	probly never.
Justin	haha yeah I remember that
Elizabeth	haha no
Elizabeth	its sad these issues are just trend-setters..shows us how much globalization has affected us :P
Justin	its really interesting, I see a lot of parallels between these sorts of things and what we're taught in church
Justin	like... it's pointless and possibly even counter-productive in the end to preach the gospel if you don't practice it
Elizabeth	ya
Justin	and its the same thing with all these global causes
Elizabeth	but i'll admit, i'm a sucker for certain things that makes me a hypocrite...
Justin	environmentalism.... you can wear as many slogans as you want, but if you don't change your lifestyle at all, what good are you doing
Elizabeth	ya
Justin	well to a certain degree its unavoidable.... our economy is consumer-driven
Justin	but there's a lot more to it than slapping a twenty over the counter for a t-shirt, or going to an activist concert
Elizabeth	sometimes i feel so hopeless b/c its soo hard to not conform in our ways, being an environmentalist or an equity activist is so inconvenient due to how our world is set up around luxuries, convenience and etc
Justin	yeah it does require a level of introspection
Elizabeth	but if we dont start, things arent going to change itself
Justin	but IMO it often lines up with what we deal with spiritually, staying true to what we know is right
Justin	and so in that regard I feel I'm a lot better off than non-Christians because I have the tools to keep myself on such paths
Elizabeth	the idea of not dwelling/desiring/treasuring worldly things play a big role in all of this
Justin	yeah for sure
Justin	I think I've become a lot more socially conscious since accepting Christ
Justin	and I was a pretty opinionated on social justice before already
Elizabeth	and you know what, as much as my equity class bashes on Christianity, I find that the more i learn about my faith, the easier it is to be more enviromentally aware/ dealwith equity issues myself
Justin	yeah for sure
Justin	haha your class bashes christianity eh
Elizabeth	ya! a lot
Justin	u know I used to have issue when people bash christianity, but after a while I realized
Justin	especially after reading a particular passage in the bible (can't remember which)
Justin	but basically it said of those who hear the word, there will be those who don't follow, despite the appearance they put up
Justin	so there's going to be christians who perpetuate misunderstandings and negative stereotypes as long as the church is on earth
Elizabeth	ya, I realized that
Justin	and if we're going to do God's work, it's our task to correct these things, not blame people for their ignorance
Elizabeth	ya
Elizabeth	but then again its also impt to reveal to them these issues
Justin	yeah but action makes most of these things self-evident
Justin	hence the focus about being a witness
Justin	I actually thought about this a lot in regard to my music, as in what I should do with what I've been given
Elizabeth	yaa
Justin	cuz there's a lot of artists who personally hold christian beliefs, and most of them fall into one of two categories
Justin	worship artists, who lets be honest, really only affect those who already believe, or are searching
Elizabeth	ya
Justin	and mainstream artists, whose "worldly" music isn't connected to their faith
Elizabeth	ya, I see that a lot too
Justin	and what I'm coming to realize is it's not about the music.... the music is a tool
Elizabeth	and then sometimes you'll hear a random part where it'll show their faith butthen you listen to the other songs and its totally not apparent
Justin	you have to make the focus what you do and what your life is for
Elizabeth	ya...well i think switchfoot and lifehouse sorta falls between the two categories
Justin	yep exactly
Justin	and Mae
Justin	in between the two categories ultimately fails
Justin	because there's no watering down the truth
Justin	but anyway.... in context of the focus being your self and your life living for God, either way is useful for reaching out
Justin	if you make secular music, you're doing missions
Elizabeth	well those that dont know the gospel misinterprets their songs sometimes
Justin	because people who like your music get to know you, and through you they get a glimpse of God
Justin	and if you do worship music, then you are helping to strengthen the Church by showing what it means to live the word
Justin	it's actually nothing new right, but I think because music is so trapped in the entertainment industry, that separation of living and doing isn't easily made
Elizabeth	ya, its really hard, but then again living a Christian life isn't supposed to be easy :P
Justin	yeah but living a christian life has a context-specific element right
Justin	and if you're going to be a public figure, your witness and action must be public. I think that's what is lacking in the performing arts
Justin	when it comes to spreading the word
Justin	its no good if you're switchfoot and participate in all sorts of charity efforts but nobody outside of christians know what you're doing or care.
Elizabeth	yes but also you know that a lot of times its these artists that get surpressed because all of a sudden it makes it seem like you're forcing christianity on the population and that becomes a touchy subject
Justin	but that's the thing, you're not
Justin	because you're not trying to preach with your music
Justin	you're preaching with how you live
Elizabeth	I guess it would depend on yoru lyrics
Justin	well that's what's involved with being a musician right... your work is writing songs
Justin	ultimately the way I feel is, there's no getting away from detractors. but currently there are hardly any artists successfully bringing Christ to the masses because they either merge their music with their faith, or try to make it "acceptable" by distilling it, which is ineffective
Elizabeth	tis true
Justin	and IMO it's because the focus is too much on the music, and not on what it means to be Christian in an industry which is completely material
Justin	man, if I'd only managed to say that at the beginning. lol

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COLIN!

Hey guys...don't know if you guys check regularly, because I admit, I haven't checked the blog in a while!

Anyway, Colin, happy birthday! hhahaha

Hope you all are doing well! See you guys soon!

-Tim