Adán's blog

Rest, freedom from activity or labor, is a welcome prospect at the end of this horrendous year, annus horrribilis. SE Asia's struggle with the devastation by tsunami, over 2,000 US soldiers and countless Iraq civilians dead, Crawford ranch now more fortified against peace demonstrations, Katrina, Rita...and so on.

I go back to Glory Dharmaraj's echoing phrase, "church happens," and things look brighter.
I wish you happy days and will return to blog in early January, hoping for an annus mirabilis. In the meantime,Our Lady Peace sings of longing and of our solidarity in "Innocent."

For an uplifting moment, here's a listen to "De Colores," by Brave Combo, one of my favorite bands. They composed a touching Christmas carol,"Corrido Navideño" that I'll listen to over and over again during this Christmas season....... I guess I'm really longing for that "face to face" joyous, peaceful experience.
AM

Posted by at 6:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

That´s the title of a new video by Los Padrinos.
Take a look. ¨No Todo Es Malo¨ melds popular culture with religion intentionally. nice.
adan

Posted by at 11:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dr. Fausto Neto presented an all-too-brief picture of today's complex religious market, describing it as "a battle of symbols." He outlined these four aspects of media as a way to understand, in a practical way, the complex functions of the media marketplace.

1. Constitutional: media legislation that advances political agendas
2. Market: media provide the entertainment, leisure functions within a society
3. Societal: daily-life mediations within a context of symbolic choices
4. Educational: media as the context for the emancipation of subjects

He re-stated the transition that we've gone through in our media analysis, from a "system" understanding to a "process" understanding.

System understanding includes:
a) the enunciative power of an author
b) strategy and tactics
c) seduction and induction
d) notion of the receiver as object

Process understanding includes:
a) co-authorship
b) relationship through acknowledgement and evocation
c) negotiation
d) notion of the receiver as subject

This was at the annual seminar of "Creators of Christian Images" held at the Unisinos University, Sao Leopoldo, Brazil.

I found it really helpful.
am

Posted by at 9:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Just heard Representative John Conyers speaking live at the funeral of Rosa Parks. In his closing he said that Rosa Parks taught him:
"You can't maintain a democracy and an empire simultaneously."

As Frist and Bush try to speak well of her, I cringe. Frist: "Rosa Parks' bold and principled refusal to give up her seat was not an intentional attempt to change a nation, but a singular act aimed at restoring the dignity of the individual." I think Frist clearly sees that Rosa Parks demarcated empire from democracy and began a series of actions that fight against empire. And so, he must conjure words to hide that demarcation.

There is a creative, forceful co-generative relationship of our words with our actions. Although words can try to hide injustice, actions reveal it. Thankfully, Conyers Conyers continues in the Rosa Parks' tradition of speaking and acting in consonance, truthfully.

am

Posted by at 12:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)