The Underground Railroad

NoKo One Large Trafficked Culture?

When you take a good long look at a picture of one man, one woman, one child, one person, it is hard to believe that a solitary figure could embody the seed of so much destruction, poverty, damnation, and evil. (I'm not going to use the Hitler analogy, as others have done, since the guy has become the stereotypical basis of comparison of our age). Kim Jong Il was his own form of dictator.

After reading the comments and persecptives of people in the 'free world', reeling from the shock of Kim's death, I was struck by the massive comparison of North Koreans and trafficked people, with Kim Jong Il being the most powerful pimp of the Asian world.

What do I mean?

I mean, North Koreans were subject to a life of fear, deprivation, punishment, and absolute forced loyalty to the political state. Without this, people were hauled off to concentration camps, families divided, citizens killed outright.

"If you do not do what I say right now, I will hurt you and your loved ones."

Classic pimp manouver. Classic power tactics. Yet these tactics have been used for so long, and used so well that many North Koreans feel a deep sense of commitment still to their deceased leader. Comments from the West: "Why?! They're free now! What's wrong with them??"

In the West, we have been so trained to believe that when freedom is offered, oppressed people will automatically jump at our offers, race towards freedom, and be thankful for the end of the nightmare.

Not so.

People... we must be patient. First of all, the world is watching and waiting to see if the totalitarian regime will continue under Kim's 3rd son or if there will be an uprising. Or... will some altogether different happen? No matter the course, believers of the kingdom must continue to support those voices in NoKo who are daring to speak out for freedom, for the malnourishment of their people, for the beauty of their culture, and for singing those songs rising from the underground. They do so at their peril, at the risk of their lives, and at the risk of their families.

When a person or people group is oppressed for a long period of time, or when the oppression is so pervasive that you cannot stand or sit without the blessing or permission of the 'benevolent' leader, people's minds demand a reconciliation of this collision of worlds -- good and evil, freedom and slavery. Often this can look like oppressed people's loving and being devoted towards the almighty pimp - god, in their worlds. To do anything otherwise is to betray the only being who truly cares for them.

Sound familiar?

I cringe to think on it.

Instead of being angry or frustrated with North Koreans who may exhibit these tendencies at this time, we ought to be supporting the 'dissidents' who are valiantly working as change agents in their home country, and praying for all North Koreans and their beloved status before Jesus Christ... not a human dictator seeking undiluted power. This will take time... patience... and also a broadening of our own minds. When the freedom seeds that have been planted in NoKo sprout, they might bear fruit -- true fruit -- to which we are unaccustomed to seeing. Here, too, we must be patient as we learn from our brothers and sisters as they use their voices for the kingdom.

In the meantime, as much as we desire human rights, dignity, and the love of Christ to rise up within NoKo, we must never, ever forget the indignities and the affronts to people in our 'modern' countries. Democracy has shown itself to have its own form of terror and degradation. It is easy to point fingers at violent expressions of human abuses (North Korean concentration camps), but we justify our funny little Arab jokes, spits towards aboriginal people, or even to brothers and sisters in our Body. We even get more than a little pissed off when these seeds of malice are pointed out to us. Undercurrents such as these are the makings of a dictatorship, as well as poison to ourselves as persons. Yet... we're still 'better off' and better people than 'them'. Are we?

It is at times I am thankful we are not accountable to any form of political regime, leader or movement. Our allegiance is to the Creator... our Sustainer... our Saviour... our Eternal... our Messiah -- Jesus the Christ, Son of the Living God. His reign is that of love for all peoples and this world, for all peoples and the world the Word created. And His reign will know no end.

Now if that sounds like brainwashed, unrelenting loyalty to you...

... ask audacious questions of this Christ.

See what happens.

Okay Lac La Biche: Is The Bold Centre for Kids or for Strippers?

So our town has this brand spankin' new community centre called the Bold Centre. Its construction drew a lot of controversy througout the community, but that's moot. It's built. It's here. And it's open for business, like it or not. The Stuart MacPherson Library is housed there, gym/walking track, hockey arenas and curling rinks.

The plan in the works is to move the local high school to the Bold Centre, thus making various support systems more accessible to families all in one stop. Rhyme Time is already operating out of there, and other kid-friendly, family-happy programs. Good. Great!

Does anyone else find The Oilmen's Bonspiel being allowed to invite strippers to their event somehow despicable? It's disgusting! Never mind the huge issue of having liquor being bought and sold where public schools and public kids' programming is taking place, the reality of flaunting the lust and commerce for sex in said family-friendly building needs to cease and desist immediately.

If you want to discuss why it's your right to hire people to strip naked for your pleasure, let's talk. I might able to provide alternate perspectives for you. The issue at hand here is: if we're all going to be using and paying for this all-purpose centre, the kids come first. Period. I don't know about you, but I don't want my youth getting out of class for the day or showing up to evening hockey practice and manuevering around 'exotic dancer poles' being set up, or drunken adults hollering obscenities.

Bring out the foresight here, and put the rest back in your pants. 

Slavery - Risk Factors We Work Hard to Ignore

I saw this poster on my newsfeed this morning. Kudos to the student who has 'made it'. It would be great to be debt-free... to work and go to school at the same time... to have the choice to choose to live below his/her means... ahhhh... there's that word: choice.

Not knocking hard work or living below one's means (I, myself, live below the poverty line by current Canadian standards), or in any way poo-pooing a strong work ethic, I want to address the myth this person appears to be perpetuating whether consciously or unconsciously.

Many Canadians (and Americans) live under the notion that we are all equal under the law, with equal access to all resources (in this case, school acceptance, scholarships, and a job), and equal opportunities for all. Unfortunately, this is not the reality we live in. The white Euro-centric work ethic of "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" has so permeated our churches, schools, and popular thought that to even think that someone could not live debt-free or not be able choose to live below their means is ridiculous... and lazy.

And there's that word again: choice. You know, for those people who have the supports and resources to have "made it", we sometimes take for granted that we have the choice to choose. Many -- a vast many, at that -- do not have that choice. They cannot choose to live below their means. That choice is made for them. They cannot apply for scholarships because they do not qualify for them or (which is so common, sadly) the options to apply are simply not presented to them because the poor really won't make the most of them... their GPA's just aren't... well... you know... they just are not quite there. If they graduate high school, THAT'S a victory! Soooo... maybe a trades school? Even the expectation of success changes when youth are seen as poor or of colour or of a different sexual orientation. But you see, we've convinced ourselves that 'those people' are just plain lazy. And we wipe our hands of it of all. How far from the truth have we come?

Example?

Living in a neighborhood without a grocery store, living as a single parent, 2 young kids (one in daycare and one in kindergarten), 2 jobs and night school. I mean... it's ALL about education right?... so without the parent trying to 'better' themselves, it all looks like laziness or bad choices. Any word to the contrary is made to sound like 'they' are blaming the government again. But on a typical day when said parent is exhausted, has no car, but picks up both kids faithfully, and has to take 3 buses to get to a market that is actually stocked with healthy, affordable food, back home again in time to make supper, put the kids to bed, pay the sitter, and whisk out the door to school, will he or she 'make it'? Well... what is your definition of 'making it'? The popular cultural thought is being debt-free, not living off the support of government welfare, and looking out for your own. According to this definition, said parent already has NOT made it. He or she might in the future... maybe. The kids? Well as long as they work hard enough... and around comes the cycle.

You know, it's great when a student learns early to manage limited funds. But post-secondary education does not come cheap at all, and the gap is growing monthly... yearly. Debt is almost inevitable. And when Christians come down hard on those who choose to enter into debt for that education, the guilt and stigma creates unnecesary schisms. If people only took the time to understand the risk factors that plague a broken world, a broken system, and broken people. It's not all about personal choice, and it's not all about a bad governing body. It IS about understanding the smaller and larger pictures... and choosing compassion overall.

So!

Some risk factors stemming out of this picture that can place any youth at risk for slavery (or any form of exploitation), and vulnerable to current/future poverty:

- low expectations (you expect certain classes or races - if we're going to use those terms - to do poorly, why should they measure up to you?)

- no access (many schools have guidance counselors and scholarship programs, but not all; friends have testified to counselors telling they wouldn't qualify for scholarships because of various silly reasons and the opportunity goes to someone else; lack of well paying jobs that do not create month-to-month choices between paying off loans or food; neighborhoods with community supports)

- no opportunity (in neighborhoods neglected and marginalized, it's hard to find places that will support a kid in their quest to make it out)... middle to upper class folks find this incredulous because hey! If we made it, then they can too. The schism widens.

- bad theology (the white Euro-centric ethic of making it on your own without anyone to blame is a distorted language of the Gospel... when a kid has 1 parent who works 2-3 jobs and still needs government support, lives in a neighborhood that is largely low income, teaches that skin colour DOES make a difference, sees oppressive elements everyday from drugs to prostitution to abuse, learns from a young age that law enforcement is not an institution to trust, and attends a school where the teachers checked out long ago -- you tell me... just how hard does this kid have to pull on hisor her bootstraps before he or she makes it?). When this is perpetuated in churches, attaching God's name tag to what is 'right' only further dominates so many people who are aching for freedom and relationship. But because one way worked for us, the privileged hard-working few (the definition of hard working is an entirely different discussion altogether), we are adamant that it must and WILL work for others. Anything else is laziness, excuses, and blame-gaming.

That's it for now. There are many more. Just 4 for now.
Low expectations
No access to supports
No opportunities for a future
Bad theology

Mull these over for a bit. Dig deeper. But don't stop here at the tough reality. How do we move forward?

Conflict Minerals and Rape Mines

 
This is coltan. If you have a cell phone, laptop, mP3 player or other such gadget, welcome to the slave trade. Our sophisticated electronics cannot run without it (or gold, or wolframite, or... or... or...), and sadly we cannot seem to run without our electronics. Our demand for the newest and fastest toy is no less than gluttonous. Yet we do not see where these minerals come from.

One of the only places in the world that mines coltan is the Democratic Republic of Congo in West Africa. To keep up with demand, contracted companies use slave labour -- adult and child -- to mine the precious minerals needed to make our world go round.

But it gets worse.

Women exploited in the labour trade are often used as sex trade victims in the mines as well. The Guardian explores this reality, and the devastating effects it has on the local women. Often forcibly removed from families and villages, these women are used up and tortured to the point of death. Regional militias make gathering food from gardens and fields dangerous, and rebels are everywhere ready to rape on sight, or kidnap for the mines. It's a booming business. When East Congo is described as "the worst place on earth... for a woman", we need to put down our phones, sit up and take notice.

We can offer all of the reasons we want about how technology has made our lives richer, better, and more efficient. Heck, I couldn't be getting my Masters degree without it! Nor could I be blogging to you to day. Consumerism is a heavy chain that needs to be broken into a multitude of un-fixable pieces, as much as the chains these women bear. If I'm going to take advantage of all these marvelous wonders technology has for me at my fingertips, perhaps I had better start taking responsibility for it too

That includes production.

No phone, no laptop, no online education, or social networking is worth the destruction of men, women and children forced to the brink of extinction through torture and violence.

We do not need our iPhones that badly. If we do, we have more problems that we care to admit to.

If You're Going to Dance On A Grave, Leave God Alone

May 01, 2011... Osama bin Laden is killed by a US military operation and his body dumped at sea.

I've not bothered to hide my pacifism. I believe in non-violence over war, and bringing people together rather than tearing them apart.

I have to say, it has been more difficult to love and understand fellow believers abusing Scripture and making derogatory remarks about a man's death, than it has been to love and understand 'the enemy'. Even children have wondered why adults are so happy because someone has been shot.

Believer claim that because God told David to kill Goliath (the bin Laden of the day), it justifies what we did.

No.

Since when has the US, Canada, the UK pledged love and allegiance to YAWEH?

They haven't.

Other passages out of Proverbs, Ezekiel, Romans and Revelation have come out, but the fact of the matter is: we killed a man. Whether you agree with pacifism or not, the man was assassinated in cold blood and mysteriously dropped into the sea. And the killing has not ceased, nor has the war. Even those who stand for Just War cannot look at what has happened and be happy. Justice was not served.

God loves Osama bin Laden. Enough to die for him. I am in no way in a position to judge where he is now, since the Bible is clear who judges eternal destiny: Christ. And Jesus I am not. I know what he did and I understand the anger. I think of Josef Kony and what he's done to hundreds of thousands of small children... of Mubarek... of Obama... of Harper. If we are going to claim God divinely places governments into power (as some have based on Romans 13:1-5), then all leaders are on an equal playing field. Ouch.

If you are a believer, I implore you to seek the love we claim we believe in. This super-nationalism disguised as spiritual "God is on our side" attitude is showing only a sad testament to believers around the world. 

War Is Not A "Humanitarian Effort"

 
(picture from UK The Mirror, 2011)

Canada has gone to war. Again.

To make war more palatable to us, we call it a "humanitarian effort" -- we are saving people's lives.

For the believer, this is repulsive. Calling ourselves peacemakers does little to shine the thin veneer on our forces allying with the West yet again, engaging in battle where too many die needlessly.

Oh sure, our armed troops do good things too.

What I don't understand is why these troops do not simply add themselves to the number of peace activists around the world who are stopping bloodshed without bloodshed? Why the guns? Why the bombs? Have we no trust at all in the power of peace that passes all understanding? Are we that afraid of men like Gaddaffi that we must retaliate not just 'in-kind', but above and beyond with a storm of violence that has shown itself repeatedly to be unjust, immoral, blood-thirsty, and wrong?

Saying such things makes one "anti-patriotic" or "ungrateful" or "offensive" to those brave men and women who make the ultimate sacrifice. Yes, our troops do more than just engage war. Truly, they do. Yet they are trained and armed for a purpose -- war. Last time I checked, the Ultimate Sacrfice has already been paid, so especially for the believer, losing one's life is not the ultimate sacrifice because Jesus Christ made that once for all. Not only that, but losing one's life for a country rather than his/her First Love is a reversal of priorities. We are not defending helpless people... we are defending national self-interest, and we make the other side act as the sacrifice.

For an insightful perspective of the precision of new war and smart bombs, check out:
Smart Bomb Hype and the Christian Conscience, by Derrick Crowe.

Then there's Darfur...

Congo...

Canada...

Injustices that overwhelm the spirit occur here in these places (and many more) every day, but little is reported. Our "humanitarian efforts" appear to be focused on countries where our political and financial interests lie.

And we call this humane?

We are not fighting for freedom or democracy. We are assisting massacre. What would happen if our military efforts were truly focused on endeavours of true justice and freedom in these forgotten places of the world without a gun being raised?

We would not know. All we know is the gun.

Guns win wars.

Wars are justified.

Mad men must be stopped.

People... we are the mad men. And we must be stopped.

Unprepared

 (image from: The Telegraph)

There are many well-intentioned people who hear about the reality of the global slave trade, are ripped apart by it, and take great strides to help stop it. That is... until they are confronted with hang-ups in their own lives. Many folks are simply unprepared for the ugliness they will need to face within themselves in order to effectively end the buying and selling of people.

Why?

Well, as I've written before, slavery does not dwell in a vacuum. Nothing does. We are all interconnected. I've used the analogy of the Grecian Hydra -- the monster with nine heads. When you engage the monster of slavery, you will engage its fellow heads: poverty, greed, racism, prejudice, immigration debates, housing concerns, crime, violence, STI's, and the list can go on and on.

What to do?

We all need to engage slavery together as a united people in Christ for us to see it's demise. It will not happen any other way. For that to happen, we need to examine our own lives and be honest about our values, our views, and our reactions to certain issues we wouldn't normally connect with slavery.

For example... immigration. The very word divides entire rooms -- nay, countries! -- these days.

Wherever you place yourself on the spectrum of the immigration debate, understand that your viewpoint will affect how you address slavery. Immigration, undocumented workers, old/new policy-making all are tightly inter-woven with the visible head of slavery. If you are one that is angry over the number of immigrants, legal and illegal (for slavery uses both), in your country, I would respectfully ask that you take the time to see the other side of things... look deeper other than simply: "They're taking our jobs", or "We were here first".

Likewise, if you are one to see an entire overhaul of immigration reform in your country to make it easer for immigrants to enter, be also patient and willing to see different viewpoints that carry merit.

In other words: listen to the other.

In a fight to the death such as slavery, emotions run high. If we do not accept each other, or become willing to change who we are when confronted with our own misconceptions or bad attitudes, slavery will flourish. Play the blame game all you want. I tell you now that by so doing so, you have contributed nothing to abolition.

We may not all agree on everything. In fact, we WILL not agree on everything. But I encourage everyone invested in the fight against slavery to take a good look inside themselves and ask those serious and tough questions: "How do I really see other people?", "What do I really think will end poverty?", "Who is my neighbour?"

This will not end all conflicts between people, but at least we will be more prepared, and know a little more of what to expect from this monster before us. The better we know God and ourselves, the better chance we will have of taking down the beast.

Good Bye Rob Bell

Chris Latondresse, founder and CEO, of Recovering Evangelical, discusses a "twitter-storm" this past weekend begun by John Piper denouncing Rob Bell. Check out the link:

Farewell Rob Bell (or John Piper's Inferno) 

I like John Piper. I do.

I respect his teaching, his leadership... his poetry.

I confess, I haven't read too much of Rob Bell. You know those never-ending reading lists students have? He's in there somewhere... I think. Yet I have heard little but controversy about him, either people trying explain his teaching or people denouncing his teaching. If you like labels, here you go: fundamentalists would say that they are part of a Remnant clinging to the Truth, and Rob Bell's controversial storms only show he is a heretic. Progressive believers claim he is being slammed because he is speaking the Truth and no one wants to hear it.

I've spoken my share of slams too. There are certain teachers and preachers who expound on doctrine, but when I look into Scripture, my stomach goes queasy. "Jesus didn't say that, so how can the teachers explain this is what He stood for...?"

Chris' blog brought out questions for me.

Finally.

I'm not the only one with these kinds of questions!

I will admit it straight out: sometimes I am afraid of asking the tough questions in life because I know I'll get torched. Either someone already has the answers altogether and throws Scripture at me, or someone tries to encourage me to stay true to the faith (aka, "you're walking into dangerous territory").

So we're all just supposed to shut up and take whatever is spoon-fed us?

No... we take what we're taught, use the teachers' own tools to prove their points, and miraculously come to their conclusions. Interesting how that goes...

Yes, there are gifts of teaching and there are many teachers. But golly... if Jesus is The Truth, how the heck can an elite group of any denomination or label claim to perfectly know all doctrine we'll ever need?

I am true.

I am faithful.

But I'd like to think that God makes room for questions... and that He won't hurt me for asking them. I'd like to think that when I disagree with certain teachings, perhaps there can be open dialogue. When public figures like this call down more attention on a pithy evangelical argument than worthwhile support for the Egyptian people in crisis, I stare at our priorities in shame...

Chris makes a good point: a hope is not a doctrine.

Will everyone go to heaven? I hope so. I know what Scripture says, I know what various monopolizers on the Truth have said, and my time in prayer and the Spirit says "no". But I can hold to the hope that God knows all things perfectly, and I can be encouraged to share Christ enough that everyone will be saved.

I have so many questions... and you know what? I'm not a heretic for it.

What about slavery?

God makes it clear about His heart for the oppressed (Isaiah 58), but also outlines the way slaves ought to act (Philemon). Some believers are adamant that sex slavery is wrong, but labour slavery is perfectly Biblical.

What about homosexuality?

What about violence?

What about peacemaking?

Before you start reaching for your Bibles, know that I'm not looking for answers. I'm just saying that I wrestle with God. I am working out my salvation with fear and trembling. I have total faith in Him that He is producing a worthy woman of character in me. Can't we all simply talk about these questions and still love each at the end of the day?

John and Rob can work out their own issues. They're big boys.

I look at some of the Scriptures in the Bible about slavery, study them, pray over them... and yet am still compelled to end the buying and selling of people in our world.

Will God hate me for that?

I don't think so.

I don't think so at all.

But there are days people like me ache only for an open, safe place to ask those though God-questions without being burned at the stake.

God is Not a Conservative

Can you keep a secret? God is not a Liberal, either. 

With a wry smile, I know some people will be aghast at the very title of the blog post. God NOT a conservative? 

Oh it gets better...

God's not a fundamentalist either.

While some of you care for your racing heartbeats, let me explain. In light of what is happening in the world, civility in politics and religion have become tense and in some cases evil. Schisms wrench brother from sister, all in the name of claiming God as their figurehead.

God was around long before the Wigs and the Grits... long before. He was around long before the Pharisees and the Sadducees. He was around long before bin Laden, and long before Hitler. He was around before Harper and yes... even Obama.

When confronting issues of slavery, you will come up against homelessness, poverty, illiteracy, STI's, LGBT issues, guns/arms issues, drugs, violence and more. Peel back the surface even further and you'll come up against exactly how you approach these issues... and we place ourselves on manmade spectrums of political and religious stands that we use not only to define who we are, but who the "wrong people" are.

God is the God of the just and the unjust. Before you liberal believers start thinking of the unjust as gun-toting rednecks, and you fundamentalists start pointing fingers at hippies... everyone take a breath. If we're honest, many of us have become our own unjust examples of what Christ was warning us about. 

If we don't work with who is in power, we won't work at all. If we do not learn to express some civility towards one another, we dishonour God. Period. Yes, there's accountability, but not in mud-slinging or screeching. I speak from experience, having had my share of outrages and the backlash the comes with them. Some things I've said I've had to take back, eat and dwell on the bitter aftertaste. Other things were rightfully said, but came with a price. I had to stand alone.

I've been called too liberal for my own good, and as one wandering away from good doctrine. Of course, people warn me "in love" (is there any other way to criticize?). Strangely enough, I've been told I'm far too fundamental to be able to love the unloveable (suggesting all fundamentalists don't love the marginalized?). I'm not tolerant enough. I've been called many things, mostly by Christians trying to peg me in a place where they feel good about accepting me or not.

Here's the word, folks: I'm not anything humanity calls me. I am called by Christ and I am His child.

Conservative fundamentalists, open your ears to listen that liberal socialists might just be likewise called by God too... as beloved children.

Liberal believers, you too open your ears to honest dialogue to hear out the more conservative people who may have a wealth of knowledge built on real experience.

The way I see it, we've been doing a whole of yelling and finger-pointing (literally a curse upon someone according to Isaiah 58), and not nearly enough listening and agreeing to come together. We cannot stand against slavery when we refuse to see the other in love, compassion and the Spirit, even if we disagree. It will never end because our stubbornness will keep us from one another.

Transformation will not come through evangelical circles nor liturgical circles. It will not come through a particular party in power. Transformation will come through the Spirit of the Almighty God who, incidentally, created each and every one of us. He calls us to His side, not we ourselves.

God is above our own pride. Let's join Him, shall we?

Shock Investigation: Planned Parenthood Advises on Underage Sex Trafficking, Secret Abortions for Minors

<span style="color: red">Shock Investigation: Planned Parenthood Advises &#8216;Pimp&#8217; on Underage Sex Trafficking, Secret Abortions for Minors</span>.

Planned Parenthood, one the largest family planning organizations in the North America, has been accused of many things: racial bias, murder, lies. The article above claims a pro-life investigative organization exposes Planned Parenthood staff as supporting and facilitating methods for pimps and prostitutes to continue their work in sex trafficking.

I've never hidden my pro-life stance. The rights of the mother are valid, but so are the rights of the child.

My concern grew in reading many of the comments the article had posted beneath the original piece. Commentators were turning the issue into one of republican v. democrat, conservative v. liberal, life v. choice.

Whether or not this video is true in its entirety, edited correctly without bias, and shows precisely what took place is the responsibility of Life Dynamics. Assuming their integrity is intact, and this is not simply finger pointing, this could potentially expose one of the more heinous outcomes of the modern slave trade: legal and social counsel and services providing support for the slave trade to continue.

Let me be clear too: What the staff member said in the clips shown was wrong, deceitful and immoral in any capacity. This was not full disclosure or wise counsel, regardless of her abortion stance. The woman was in the wrong. I say this because it is all too easy for pro-lifers to let things slide as well in order to get the argument out -- the end justifies the means, so to speak.

If Planned Parenthood is creating ways for organized crime members to service trafficked children, it needs to be held accountable not only for the lives of enslaved children, but also the lives of the unborn children within their bodies. 

For those reading this post, I would advise a counter-movement of love and radical intervention. Is there cause for anger here? Most certainly! Does Planned Parenthood need to be held accountable? Indeed! But I would implore everyone not to forget the lives of the young mothers in the middle of this quagmire or their children. They need love, support, healing and compassion. This isn't a "conservative versus liberal" riot house. This is an opportunity to choose to love no matter where you fall on the religious or political spectrum.

We stand for justice and compassion, as Jesus did (and does). The two must never be mutually exclusive.