David Kuo: June 2007 Archives

ok, this is actually really cool. I have had it for a few hours but haven't had much time to fiddle -now i am fiddling and it is better than I thought it would be. To call it a phone is a bit of a disservice. It is really an amazing little computer/ipod/tv/phone and thank you to the people at apple because they have managed to create something truly gorgeous and fun that really does eliminate all those horrid things we experience with cell phones - all those ridiculous menus, the "web browsing" that is silly, etc. etc. It is great and I'm so glad I went and did it. It was joyous - it made me smile and everyone else was smiling too...a nice afternoon. An amazing "phone". I typed this blog entry on it.

Ok, so we are here in line waiting outside an Apple store in a mall. It occurs to me that my piece on Apple as a religion may actually be true. ;-) Apple employees are bringing people bottles of water. They are thanking people for waiting in line. So, my thoughts on the 10 things churches could learn from Apple (Note: there may not actually be 10...I am just freestyling here)

1. Be innovatve - This was actually once true of the church. The early church changed the world by being totally original - caring for widows and orphans, caring for the graves of the dead, caring for discarded babies. Churches need to be original again - not just reflecting popular culture but driving it in compelling ways.

2. Be excited - Apple is unabashedly excited about being Apple. Churches need to be more excited about being loving, caring, original, important representatives of God.

3. Excel in marketing - Jesus was the greatest marketing genius to ever live. He played to peoples' curiosity. He answered questions with questions. He was mysterious. Apple gets this. I went into the store a few minutes ago and not one of the people have touched an iPhone yet...Apple excels at mystery.

4. Ok, I'm done with 3 for now. :-)

...the line grows and grows but I'm in pretty good shape...I am, however, looking at the very definition of despair. There is a young man staffing a "Mobile Solution" kiosk displaying lots of different cell phones...that aren't iphones. He keeps looking at the line and the lack of people at his kiosk and he looks very, very sad. I feel very, very bad for him. I hope he is getting combat pay or something.

I need to make something VERY clear here. I DO NOT endorse what anyone writes in the comments section.

Everyone should think of that section as a separate discussion room where people gather to talk. It is, mostly, an unmoderated room because I believe - and Beliefnet believes- in the conversation about things of faith (or things of Apple or whatever).

There are those who post incendiary remarks. Please feel free to ignore them and please know and understand that they do not represent my views...my views will always carry my name.

My blog is one dedicated to a journey - a journey with Jesus that is, for me, tortuous and beautiful, peaceful and disturbing, joyful and sorrowful, challenging and comforting (and so many more things). How people care to comment on that journey is up to them. But please know that there is no obligation to read the comments section.

Now, for those who post with much anger and hate - please stop and be kind. You do, after all, call yourselves Christians and I'm guessing you don't want to sully the name of Jesus.

Yesterday I have an email forwarded to me from someone who says they want to take up my "challenge" about Christians and Ann Coulter. The "someone" is Darrell Bock. For those who might now know him:

Darrell Bock is Research Professor of New Testament Studies and Professor of Spiritual Development and Culture at Dallas Theological Seminary. The author of over 20 books, including a New York Times Best seller, his specialties includes study of the historical Jesus, as he was a Humboldt scholar at the University of Tübingen in Germany and is editor at large for Christianity Today. He has made numerous appearances on national television about issues related to Christianity.

Here are his thoughts on Coulter and Christians:

Godless Author Needs to Think Again–And So Do We

As a theologian I have been watching with interest for some time the tone of some of our political discourse. In sum, it often resembles what one might expect to hear on an elementary school playground. So maybe some straight talk to five year olds is in order. The only problem is that it is not just the two families that are being invoked but the entire community of our body politic. There is a genuine need for a respectful engagement on the real issues of our time, not a polemicizing, self-promoting, mocking handling of opponents. Nothing has made that more apparent than the “work” and approach of Ann Coulter.

She needs to be called out for hiding behind an argument that “they do it, too.” This sounds exactly like something a five year old would say. It actually reflects very poorly on the cause she attempts to defend. More than that, she needs to be rebuked for arguing about how godless others are when the moral level of her own discourse relies on making fun of others using not so veiled personal attacks. Listeners clearly see such remarks as what they are–tasteless–while she attempts to say she really was not addressing the person directly. In my business, that is called a lie. It is a godless thing to do. If conservatives are going to try to argue for the high ground, they need to see that her type of argument cuts the ground from underneath them, as it smells of being hypocritical. Yes, it stinks to high heaven.

The connection some make between conservative causes and the Christian faith is also clouded by such tactics. Although Jesus could and did confront starkly (see his remarks about Pharisees), he also hung out with them (as well as others) and did regularly engage them in substantive issues and respectful dialogue. Interestingly, Jesus was often hardly on those supposedly on the “inside” versus those he actively sought who were often perceived as being on the other side of righteousness. Moreover, his call to love one’s enemies, even to the point of praying for his executioners as he hung on the cross, sets a decidedly different standard for those of faith in how they engage opponents. When Christians embrace godless tactics in the name of God and country (or the other way around), they deny the pedigree they so passionate seek to affirm.

Making fun of the tragic death of a child, teasing about sexual orientation, or joking about wanting to see a terrorist at work against someone is wrong, whether it comes from the left or the right.

Her attacks on John Edwards and her dismissal of his wife Elizabeth’s attempts to politely ask in a very Southern way for her to stop was not an attempt to get her to stop talking as she claimed. Her suggestion that John should have made the call was a ruse to avoid facing up to the issue she has helped to sustain and, even worse, promote. Her claim that the real goal was to keep her from talking at all was the type of exaggeration that showed no sensitivity to the very real point being made to her. Conservatives who care should say enough and not support her in anyway as long as she insists on traveling this road. Yes, disavow such tactics. They do not help anyone on either side of our debates.

Now let me defend Ann at one point. Her claim is that the other side does it too. She is right on this one. Anyone who has watched political satire knows that both sides are guilty here. But how does it advance the moral standard of our debates to say that the standard is if they do it, then we can do it too? If a teacher were on the playground during such a spat, she would simply say to both children, “Stop it.”

The godless author needs to clean up her act, or, as my Mom used to say, take some soup to your mouth, because if you cannot say it well or nicely, it may indicate that in fact your position is shallower than you let on. Humor, at least the type we are seeing her (and others) use, may actually suggest weakness rather than strength. “If I can’t make a case, then I will put my opponent down and belittle them.”

Democracy deserves better, the serious issues of our body politic require more.

Most importantly, for those who wish for a high moral standard to our country’s community life, someone who claims the high moral ground on issues need not and cannot stoop so low and truly advance the causes they advocate. In fact no matter which side of the left-right fence you are on (or even if you are straddling it), no one can or should condone five year old behavior in what should be a very mature discussion. When it comes to the tone of our political discourse, we all may need to grow up. So let’s pick our models carefully.

...has blown through the damn...I'm running off to a store to stand in line for an iphone. I can't help myself. Maybe it will be like an AA meeting, "Hello, my name is David and I am an Apple addict."...

Several readers point out that Ms. Coulter's words about Sen. Edwards were taken out of context. She did not say that she was actively wishing he would be killed but that, to avoid problems in the future, she should say...

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