Saturday, July 19, 2008

Endorsement Essay

So, one of the things I have to do this summer is write my endorsement essay for the ELCA so I can go on internship next year. The only problem is Seminary students are supposed to find it on our own on the ELCA website, which is impossible to navigate, and really frustrating to navigate wrongly when using dial-up.
I spent 40 minutes to find the endorsement questions and all the information I'll need for the essay! And I'm not computer illiterate either (though my computer is currently REALLY slow)!
And on top of that I've got only 10 pages to write about 9 questions!
End of complaining.
Oh, and to make these things easier to find here they are:
The Essay
http://www.elca.org/Growing-In-Faith/Vocation/Become-a-Leader/Candidacy/Resources/Endorsement.aspx
Vision and Expectations
http://www.elca.org/What-We-Believe/Social-Issues/Social-Statements-in-Process/JTF-Human-Sexuality/Current-Policy/Vision-and-Expectations-Ordained.aspx
the Constitution etc.
http://www.elca.org/Who-We-Are/Our-Three-Expressions/Churchwide-Organization/Office-of-the-Secretary/ELCA-Governance/~/media/Files/Who%20We%20Are/Office%20of%20the%20Secretary/Constitutions/PDF/ConstitutionsBylawsandContinuingResolutionsApril2008.ashx
Also a hint, don't search through the ELCA website, instead go through Google and add ELCA to whatever you are searching for.

Friday, July 18, 2008

Batman: The Dark Night (spoiler-ish)

I went and saw the new Batman movie tonight. It was worth going to see; though I warn you it isn’t for the faint of heart. Why? Because it lives up to its name; its dark. It involves a lot of death, a gruesome disfigurement, and very prominent moral anarchy.
On the other hand this violent anarchy is portrayed wonderfully, especially in the character of the Joker. Heath Ledger is the Joker! He pulls off the sociopathic clown bit 100%. The Joker is hell-ish, yet slightly funny at the same time. It’s the small touches—he claps along with the cops when Gordon is made Commissioner, but seemingly not in an ironic way. He also takes the time to use hospital hand sanitizer after some violent nuttyness in a hospital room.
Finally there is a larger social commentary going on throughout the film about the thin veneer of civilization and how fear and the threat of random violence can inject the masses with hysteria and cause otherwise rational individuals to do horrible things—for example try to kill an innocent man in order to stop a hospital from being blown up. The film plays with this for a bit and ends up with a scene of collective redemption through the refusal of both criminals and citizens to blow the other up in order to save themselves.
That’s about it. And its good to be back.
Peace,
Chris

I'm back

I'm going to try and bend the blog to a little more personal/philosophical place, though I'm sure with November 2008 coming up politics is sure to follow.
Oh, and I intend to review the new Batman movie.