Random thought.

Been reading a lot about religious rituals. I’ve changed my view. They’re not meaningless as many Christians like to say they are. But more importantly, a ‘pagan’ ritual that means something, even if it’s pointless, is better than us saying that it is wrong, and not praying/worshipping ourselves. That’s more meaningless. I fall short too.

To expound on it just a little… I’ve been reading several good books that influenced this thought. One is “The Limits of Meaning” by Matt Engelke and Matt Tomlinson; another is “Material Religion” by E. Frances King (There are others, but these two are the notables). And I’ve come to realize that church power structures can potentially be as pointless as a non-church environment (I’m speaking from a Christian perspective here). I know it sounds like a really ‘duh’ thing, but it’s much more interesting than that.

Let me pop some question:

1. We often talk about how the love of the world will lead to an empty life. That’s fine. But have we thought about whether we can live an empty life within the context of church? Must it be a “here or there” scenario?

2. As a follow-up question, I look at standards that are commonly mentioned in Christian environments. I’ll try to lay them out here, then link it together. We often hear that if we over-expose ourselves to certain stuff that is “of the world”, we would eventually be influenced and bla bla bla, not so good stuff happens. We also frequently hear internal chastisement of church members who are pew-warmers, often times regarded as people who have been coming to church forever, yet the faith is meaningless to them.

So here’s the question: If we so readily accept that people can be in church and live their whole lives being unimpacted by God and Christian-ish stuff, is it possible to accept that there is a possibility that Christians can be “out there in the world” and be unimpacted by worldly stuff? Food for thought.

I’m not looking for ways to problematize the church. To be honest, I find that I’m finding my faith more exciting than ever as I uncover layers of meaning that I’ve never considered before.

Back to the earlier quote. Reading Material Religion, I realize that some faiths, as much as I disagree with the premise of their worship, or the stuff I do, have so much built-in faith and discipline that I actually admire them. It does spur me to consider my own personal and church rituals; and I find that I am truly lacking in my daily expression of Christ in me. I suppose it was timely that Pastor Ray Castro, who spoke at my church last Sunday said that being a worshipper “is not what you do… but what you are.”

Striving on, then.

For your entertainment.

AN 18-year-old girl ran half-naked for 1km to escape 10 men who tried to rape her in an oil palm estate in Gerik, Perak, reported Harian Metro

The girl and her boyfriend had earlier gone on a date and had entered the estate to have sex.

While they were resting after their tryst, 10 men approached the couple and tried to rape the girl, said a source.

The source said the victim managed to put on her pants and grab her handphone before fleeing. After running for about 1km, she called the police.

The police showed up and rescued her from the men. She later lodged a police report before being taken to Hospital Gerik.

*

Big question. What  happened to the boyfriend?

1. Was he part of the plot?
2. Did he run?
3. Was he not rescued (tied up somewhere)?
4. Was he raped instead?

Hm.

‘Give Me That Online Religion’ by Brenda E. Brasher.

Interesting quote about the internet on the first page itself.

“… the qualities of the internet that enabled more voices than ever before to speak in public space also opened up public and private space as never before to pornographers, terrorists, and pedophiles. The electronic terrain of cyberspace quickly became overrun by those who wrote the fastest and most provocatively in dominant languages, not necessarily those who thought most deeply, or who possessed great insight or experience…” (Brasher 2004: 1)

Never quite considered how the internet could be a private space. But now am thinking through it. Very often we talk about the internet at as public space. But I suppose it could be a very private space as well. Like having the corner cubicle in a room of ten people. Thinking.

It raises an interesting thought toward the first chapter: What does the internet render obsolete?

In not so many words, does the internet render religion obsolete?

I’m back.

I’m officially enrolled into  Monash University as a PhD student now. Crossing the bridge, I can say that it’s not exactly wow-ness. I can’t help but notice that intelligence has almost nothing to do with the program, even though the common stereotype is that you’ve got to be pretty smart to even attempt to permanently damage your head.

Really, it’s just a lot of work. It’s the same as a creative person in an advertising line coming up with the best ideas; same as junior footballers training and playing hard to make the senior team; same as a woman taking on a new job – motherhood.

It’s something new, and it’s something that requires a fair bit of dedication and time.

It’s really just research.

*

Ok, I’m going to blog about my research over the next three years. I sense that this space is gonna be a good punching bag, venting space, toiletbowl, or even just a fun forum for discussion and ideas. I don’t mind making some ideas an open source development. Like hello, it’ll be more interesting that writing up stuff on how Samy’s idea of protecting the party is basically to sack whoever disagrees with him, right? (I once told a friend I don’t really blog about M’sian politics anymore because there are enough good writers out there who say all that needs to be said already.)

A lot of what I’m thinking about now is premature. I haven’t even really started reading up on the massive pile of books that my supervisor has lined up for me. I don’t even know what’s the life gonna be like there (I only move in to my space in the campus two weeks from today).

Who knows, it could be a breeze? (I highly doubt so) In any case, I pray for the grace of God to be in my life through this season.

To start off, here’s the working title for my research:
The Digital Church: Urban Malaysian Church Experiences in Cyberspace

Yawn.

There’s gonna be a little change.

I think it’s not really a secret that I’m changing jobs already, so I might as well just say it. I’m changing jobs. I’m heading out of this wonderful little college and heading to Monash (perhaps ‘returning’ would be the better word for it) to pursue a permanent head damage. Why anyone would do that, I didn’t use to understand, but I suppose my wanting to remain relevant in the education industry has led me to realize that all good educationists of higher institution have some form of positive head damage. So I’m joining the club. It’s a three year journey. But what the heck.

I imagine myself blogging more. I considered starting another blog just to journal my three year journey through post-graduate research hell. But I think I’ll just keep it here. In a lot of ways, this blog is home. Not my old blog, for those who remember it.

I have to confess. I miss sharing my thoughts. Not that my thoughts are higher than anybody’s thoughts, but I like reading and hearing opinions, and still do, but I think somewhere along the way in the past 2 – 3 years, I’ve lost that voice. I realize I missed out on the discussion on so many things.

Perhaps I should start again!

Ding ding.

I think I told someone some time ago about my life. I said, “one of the best aspects of my life so far would be my time at the Sunway-Monash Christian Fellowship”. I can’t seem to find horrible moments from there. It wasn’t perfect, but close.

Updates updates. More updates soon.

Decided to start blogging again mainly because I need to vent. Too much has happened politically in Malaysia – Not too keen about some of the issues. Allah, pig head, cow head, etc – I don’t really need to give an opinion because many opinions have been voiced. My personal interest in American politics, while not unwavering, also does not require my public rant – after all, President Obama is slowly self-destructing; A republican won a MA senate seat; I have nothing to really complain about, nor do I have anything very intelligent to say at the moment.

But I will think of things to talk about.

p/s between the last post and this post – Igotmarriedamfinishingabook(thoughi’vebeenfinishingitforthelast2year)
sappliedtonerdifymylifefortherestofmylifesoonandsoforthsoyoucanimaginei’vebeenalittlebusy

Good for us to sing it out loud

“Uprising – Muse”

The paranoia is in bloom, the PR
The transmissions will resume
They’ll try to push drugs
Keep us all dumbed down and hope that
We will never see the truth around

Another promise, another scene, another
A package not to keep us trapped in greed
With all the green belts wrapped around our minds
And endless red tape to keep the truth confined

They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They will not control us
We will be victorious

Interchanging mind control
Come let the revolution take it’s toll if you could
Flick the switch and open your third eye, you’d see that
We should never be afraid to die

Rise up and take the power back, it’s time that
The fat cats had a heart attack, you know that
Their time is coming to an end
We have to unify and watch our flag ascend

They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They will not control us
We will be victorious

They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They will not control us
We will be victorious