Howie Luvzus

Recently, Michael Homan, a friend of mine, blogged about a young man who had returned to New Orleans from his Katrina exile and lived just four hours here before he was killed. Robert Dawson, the 17-year-old, got an a fight with Clarence Johnson, another 17-year-old. Clarence Johnson went home, told his mother about the fight. His mother, Vanessa Johnson, reportedly gave him a handgun and told him to go outside and “kill them all.” He did.

Michael’s post then received a hate-filled response. Here are his suggestions for “solving the problem: (Caution—Bad language ahead):

Okay you liberal pussy, you say you want to help, I’ll tell you.

1) Keep your EDITED mouth shut when you and all of your little budies get together and defend this trash and fight to keep the projects standing and repopulated.

2) You keep your EDITED mouth shut and stop whining about that these people deserve to come home and are owed some sort of reparations for their plight. They bring this EDITED on themselves.

3) While it is tragic that this child was killed, you don’t let your children wear baseball caps backwards and gang colors. If your black, oh no, African American, and not a criminal, then don’t dress like one. If you dress the part, you will be treated as one. While the Homan School of Liberalism will tell you this defeats “individuality” it keeps your EDITED kids alive! Be a EDITED parent and give your kids some direction.

4) Call the police everytime you see a banger like this walking down the street.EDITED the ACLU and all of you liberal types that think this type of profiling is illegal. Ask Harry Lee for help.

5) Arm yourself heavily and learn to shoot back.

Do you get my point yet? I could go on?

Take it from one of the rich that you speak of that gets richer everyday. Liberal worms like yourself are as much the problem as the bangers. Get a EDITED clue!!!

THIS SECTION HAS BEEN EDITED DUE TO GRAPHIC CONTENT. SORRY IF I OFFENDED ANYONE. I WAS JUST SHOWING HOW OFFENSIVE ANONYMOUS” COMMENTS WERE.

I hate to give this jerk a forum, but he makes my point. We live in a culture of violence. Not just those who kill each other, but also those who wield power. What’s the rich (supposedly) person’s response to this violence? More violence of course!

When I read Michael’s post, which ends with “But how can we make a society where nobody has to go through that?” I responded with—“We can’t.”

Pretty depressing answer huh? Well, unfortunately It’s true. As a naïve young Christian, I used to believe that the only hope for this country was for it to become more “Christian.” But when I see Evangelicals in bed with politicians who believe the best strategy to ensure peace is to launch a pre-emptive strike, I lose hope.

When our goal and the goal of our children is to grow up and get more stuff (and protect our stuff from losers), we will not stop the violence.

Saw this image at PostSecret:

I joined the Christian Peace Bloggers blog-ring recently and one of the requirements is to post about peace (go figure) at least once a week. Michael Westmoreland-White is a great guy with a very good blog. I hope I can do him proud!

The Kite Story is a great way to teach your kids about tolerance and peace. It even has directions on how to build a Peace Kite. It’s on UNESCO.org it has a very good section on Peace and Human Rights take a look!

He meant no harm. Heck, he thought he would draw folks in so they could get saved! It sounded like a great idea. It really did. Here’s the story:

The title of a sermon given over the weekend by a Baptist minister in South Portland has outraged the community.

The First Baptist Church placed an ad promoting the sermon “The Only Way to Destroy the Jewish Race” in Saturday’s Portland Press Herald.

While he refused to go on camera, the church’s pastor, Rev. Phil Andrukaitis, told WMTW-TV in Portland on Monday that he meant no ill will with the title.

He also released a statement in which he apologized and explained that the title was meant to target those who oppose Jews and Israel. He wanted those people to attend Sunday’s service so that he could offer them another viewpoint, Andrukaitis said.

Next weeks sermon: “Let’s Let Women Folk Be Pastors Too!”

OK. So you guessed I really haven’t had a Christian friend who has really been honest about my weaknesses. Guess there aren’t any. Or is it that I can’t get close enough to someone for them to feel comfortable critiquing me. Or maybe I’m just so intimidating… 

Anyway. Christian fellowship in the form of Sunday School or Bible Study has been profitable for me in the past. Issues can be raised and challenges can be made without being to in-your-face. I’ve never found a Sunday School class that I can be totally honest in, but I think that’s overrated anyway. However, much of my Christian growth can be attributed to the lessons learned in these groups. 

Just make sure that you avoid two types of classes. The worst—every week the leader finds some way to condemn homosexuals or complain about God being taken out of the public schools. Unfortunately, these classes may also condemn alcohol consumption or Mardi Gras parades! 

The other type of class is the one where no one wants to offend anyone. The purpose of this type of group is to either gather to discuss football or eat King Cake or some other non-spiritual topic. Discussing or identifying sin is really too disturbing. 

The best groups can be challenging and supportive. They can help persons to grow in their faith and become involved in ministry. We live in such an individualistic society that we often forget that we were created to encourage and support each other. I’m currently trying to find one of these groups because I know I can be enriched by the fellowship.

Chris Rose is a columnist from the New Orleans newspaper The Times-Picayune. I love his columns. He’s honest, funny, and not afraid to “step on toes” when need be. His article today was also very thought-provoking. He was reflecting on the response to his role as King of Krewe du Vieux, a satirical and racy French Quarter Mardi Gras parade.

Some Catholics, including Archdiocese director of pastoral services, Joseph Palermo have objected to the anti-Catholic tone of some of the floats and Krewes. Rose rightly acknowledged that some Catholics might find offence at some of the signs, floats and costumes. He also rightly defended free speech and artistic expression. He, as usual, did a remarkable job.

Here’s my take on the parade (for those of you who care). While at this years parade, I spoke with a friend regarding how the Krewe is an “invitation only” Krewe and he said that he wants to be a part of the group and probably will get an invitation in a few years. I struggled withy whether or not I would join. I struggle for several reasons. As one who embraces the Anabaptist tradition, I have a hard time with groups that aren’t open to all persons. As a Westbanker, I know that I am looked down upon by some Mid-City folks or Uptown folks. I can deal with that. But I don’t want to be associated with a group that looks down on anyone as not being worthy to be in the group based on race, social class, or political bent.

Secondly, I appreciate satire and art. A great example is an image of a Krewe du Vieux float described at B’s blog that depicts a woman representing New Orleans being violated by the State Capital building. That’s graphic, but it makes an important statement that illumines the frustration felt by New Orleanians. To me, the float is an important commentary that is both funny and allows those who see it to feel in some way that we all share in the anger and pain that our Governor has contributed to. BUT, the guy that was walking around shaking a four foot paper-mache penis with a liquid coming out of it was just an immature jerk who wanted to act like a fourth-grader.

However, Krewe du Vieux reminded me of the Christian community. While many are truly trying to connect with others and wanting to help them to have a better life, others are merely jerks joining the parade in order to tick off a few folks and act like idiots.

OK. I admit it. There’s something to that “slippery slope” argument that Fundamentalists warn everybody about. I guess I’ve officially slipped. However, as a friend of mine pointed out, “Once you see, you can’t unsee.”

I can never go back to the Pharisaical judgmental life I lived pre-slope slip, but I do want to get my Jesus groove back. I’ll be sharing the lessons I learn along the way and hopefully will get where I need to be. 

Lesson One: Cultivate Friends Who Will Offer Honest Feedback

I’ve had many friends along the way that have been able and willing to look me in the face and say, “Howie, you’re being a _____________. You need to ____________.”

This has been most helpful in my spiritual growth. These jerks have sometimes ticked me off, but they have enlightened me about my weaknesses and character faults. Yeah, I miss them sometimes, and they usually say the same things as my other former friends have said, but at least I know areas in which I need improvement.

Not all of these relationships have been the same. Some have been more like mentors until I found faults with them that disqualified them from being role-models or mentors. Others were more like employers. However, their advice is usually so biased against me and they try to use their position to control me so I end up having to “move on.” Some have been true friends whose smirks, eye-rolling, and confrontations became too much for my Christian patience to bear. Also some people can dish dish dish, but THEY can’t take any constructive criticism!

Thus, my advice is to seek Godly persons whom you respect to help you become more Christ-like. It’s not really worked that well for me, but I’m sure it can help transform you into a humble, God-fearing Christian.

Katrina has forced my family and me to focus on ways we can save money. I’ve been struggling with how to live the Christian life in a very rich country. I found some helpful tips at Livesimply.org.

The livesimply message:
God calls us to look hard at our lifestyles and to choose to live simply, sustainably and in solidarity with the poor.In this way we can help create a world in which human dignity is respected and everyone can reach their full potential.

This would be true progress, worth more than economic growth alone.

Also, check out SimpleLiving.org.

I saw this cool way to create free access to those who are held hostage by airport WiFi at Boing Boing. I had to rely on the free New Orleans WiFi (that you can’t get in areas that need it most) this week because someone ran over the cable box next door to my house.

It’s kind of strange how so many are beginning to see free WiFi as a right, but that free TV (which is supported by advertisers) is not really an option any more. When my cable was out, we could only get one channel.

Kind of ironic I guess.

You have to watch this.

HT: Contemplative Activist

Richard Land, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, presented the John Leland Religious Liberty Award to President Bush.  He was given the award for for “courageously defending the right of all people to exercise freely their religious faith,” according to the framed citation.

The three reasons given by Land are:

• “A staunch advocate for the right of people throughout the world to live out their faith without fear;
• “An effective opponent of anti-Semitism and all forms of racism and ethnic prejudice;
• “A faithful witness to his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to both his countrymen and the world’s leaders.”

Let’s look at #3…Does being a faithful witness to Jesus mean that one promotes religious liberty?

I think so, but unfortunately some Christians believe that it’s ok to demonize other religious traditions. A while back Bush took heat from Pat Robertson because he called Islam a religion of peace.

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