"Atheism turns out to be too simple. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning."
C.S. Lewis
"The fingers of your thoughts are molding your face ceaselessly."
Charles Reznikoff
"Art, like morality, consists in drawing the line somewhere."
G.K. Chesterton
"Humility enforces where neither virtue nor strength can prevail, nor reason."
Francis Quarles
"Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil."
C.S. Lewis
Resistance Thinking Culture
Culture is a term used to describe why humans act the way they do. The study of culture attempts to explain why certain behaviours have special significance for some humans, where as for others it is completely meaningless. Culture encompasses everything from watching television and surfing the web, to doing yoga and having pre-arranged marriages.
All of the human behaviours that make up a particular culture are founded on a certain set of ideas. For instance, Islamic women wear a hijab for modesty because of teahcings in the Hadith and many Christians wear a cross around their neck in rememberance of Christ. These are human behaviours that are founded on a very clear set of ideas. Ideas are expressed in human behaviours that make up a certain culture.
In this culture section you will find articles, news and reviews on an extrememly diverse range of topics that relate to culture: the media - TV, news, magazines, movies etc., other religions - Islam, Judaism, New Age, Buddhism, Hinduism etc., philosophy - postmodernism, existentialism, humanism, consumerism etc., popular culture, music, Christian culture - music, moviews etc., and a whole lot more!
The Wimbledon Gentlemen's Final was held last night and taken by an emphatic Novak Djokovic in four sets. While this win will not generate as much press in Australia as his win in our iconic Open earlier this year this is the indisputable holy grail of tennis. See the final moments of the match below:
Adobe Flash Player not installed or older than 9.0.115!
Djokovic has had a professional year on the circuits to rival the history books. He has won 47 of a total of 48 matches this year and brought home prestigious silverware like the Hopman Cup, the Australian Open, the Dubai Tennis Championships, the Sony Ericsson Open, the Serbian Open, the Madrid Open, the Rome Masters and now Wimbledon.
In doing so, he has broken the shackles held by tennis's two leading men Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. He may never match Nadal's or Federer's Grand Slam totals (ten and sixteen respectively) but, right now, he deserves the title as the best professional tennis player in the world.
Anyway, I am showing my hand as a sports fanatic. The real message that I contemplated as I watched Djokovic sink to the ground in elation was one that Paul touches on in his letter to the church in Corinth. Paul challenges his readers to:
Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
As Christians we have something great to hope for. It is something more worthy of elation than the Cup and large cheque which Djokovic won yesterday. It is everlasting and achievable no matter what our physical abilities. Sometimes I have to question my joy as a response to the prize that Jesus has won for us. Perhaps, it is because the nature of this prize is one which we cannot win alone (unlike Djokovic's individual performance, albeit he is backed by a superb coaching and support team).
Djokovic was ecstatic because he won the ultimate prize in tennis. Why can't we be as ecstatic about receiving the greatest prize we can receive in our paltry time on earth. Does your heart soar every time you think about the victory of the cross?
Some ideas are best left in television shows. The problem is that, most of the time; the impressions given by these shows are taken on board by young viewers. Take, for instance, the story today of a Facebook site that has been started allows people to post rumours about others. Usually pretty scandalous rumours too. Unfortunately shows like Gossip Girl are affecting teens in a very negative sense and are influencing the way they relate to each other.
'My underlying motive was the desire to help individuals who could not help themselves...such considerations should not be regarded as inhuman. Nor did I feel it in any way to be unethical or immoral...I am convinced that if Hippocrates were alive today he would change the wording of his oath...in which a doctor is forbidden to administer poison to an invalid even on demand...I have a perfectly clear conscience about the part I played in the affair. I am perfectly conscious that when I said yes to euthanasia I did so with the greatest conviction, just as it is my conviction today that it is right.'
An excellent article appeared on The Punch (and I don't generally say that) speaking about the sexualisation of children and the trends of Miley Cyrus.
"Beware of Miley Cyrus. She might look oh-so-sweet with those dewy kewpie doll eyes blinking as she tries to come off as just another all-American girl - but don’t be fooled. She might only be 18 years old, but Miley represents a threat.
In only a couple of years, Cyrus has gone from Disney star and global tween phenomenon to wannabe adult strumpet. It’s been an uncomfortable ride. She has clumsily whipped out every cliché in the starlet playbook: the muscle-bound boyfriend, a handful of tatts, the occasional bout of cage-dancing and the odd photo scandal, while much of the world politely averted its eyes.
She has crudely tried to shape a grown-up persona that involves barely-there pants, all the while mimicking the strutting and thrusting and occasional girl-pashing of the Britneys and Christinas of this world.
The problem with Cyrus is that she peddles to her fans the world over the garbled message that adulthood equals a black leather corset and the odd crotch grab. It’s a superficial rendering of adult sexuality that comes across as completely hollow and devoid of anything even bordering on the erotic (thank God).
In her blundering attempt to make herself over as an adult, Cyrus is a lesson writ large about the extent of the sexualisation of youth and the commercial machine that is inking greenbacks from the whole thing....."
It was released today, by the ACCC (Consumer Watchdog) that the Power Balance bracelet that is endorsed by many high-performance athletes to improve attributes actually has no scientific basis and provides no advantage to aspiring sports players. It is highly likely that the athletes who used these wristbands knew this but signed some sort of lucrative contract to parade around with them on. Just goes to show that a bit of free-thinking never goes amiss.
"A bracelet worn by high profile sports stars that claims to improve athletic performance has been exposed as a sham by the consumer watchdog.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has ordered Power Balance Australia to refund all customers who feel they were misled by the supposed benefits of Power Balance bracelets.
It took me two sittings to really gain an appreciation for Christopher Nolan’s masterpiece. Where The Dark Knight contained some logical fallacies that left the viewer bewildered even upon a second watch Inception has no such flaws. While the observer is asked to take in a reality that is somewhat confusing at no stage does it push through the limits that are created within the movie itself. Instead if one were to accept the original premise, namely that dreams can be invaded, then every step in the story thereafter is entirely plausible. It is with this complexity that Nolan weaves what I must deem the most complete film I have ever viewed.
