Benazir Bhutto, Presidential Politics, and the End of the World

***(Let me preface this note by saying I'm not an expert in politics, nor am I an expert in International relations, nor am I a seasoned theologian. But I do care about the world. Oh, and I'm also not predicting the end of the world or citing that the "End is Near." So don't freak out by the title.)


I'm not sure if you all know this, but two days ago, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated in Rawalpindi after speaking at Political Rally for the Pakistan People's Party (PPP). I won't go much into it because you can just read about it here:


Pakistan | An Assassin Strikes | Economist.com

However, I did want to say this. I was very disheartened when I watched the news yesterday. I was watching CNN and they were talking with Rudy Giuliani as he was responding to the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Apparently no one really knows who did it. Some suggest that the President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, and his followers were behind it. Others suggest it was the Taliban or Al Qaeda. People are arguing about who how she died exactly. There's video of a man who fired three shots directly at her and then proceeded to detonate the explosives that were to strapped to himself. Despite this, officials in Pakistan say that she wasn't killed by any shrapnel or bullets or anything from the explosives. I haven't quite figured out what they're suggesting she died of, but I've only figured what they're suggesting she didn't die of.

So who knows who did it? I don't, that's for sure.

Anyways, this is my problem. They were talking to Giuliani about this, and he just starts going on and on about how terrorism is alive in the world and how we need to put an end to this, and how this is what he's been talking about all along. "Terrorism is our #1 priority," he said. I know this may be hard for some of you to understand, but it made me very angry that he said that. For this reason: he really didn't seem all that sad that Benazir Bhutto was dead. What it felt like was that Giuliani was capitalizing off of Benazir Bhutto's death. And while I recognize these are just my feelings, at the same time I wouldn't put it past a politician to do such a thing.

And you know, I'm not just bashing on Rudy. I would suggest that all of us pay close attention in the coming months as to how many times Benazir Bhutto's death is referred to with terrorism. Already they're having specials on the news, "Is Pakistan the new face of Global terrorism and instability in the world?" This kills me. I wonder how much people really care about Pakistanis? I wonder how much they're interested in the fact that people lost their hope of a step towards a more free Pakistan when Benazir Bhutto was assassinated two days ago? In my opinion, I don't really feel like these people are that concerned with the plight of the Pakistan people who are truly hurting because of her death. Instead, I'm sure they've got their campaign strategy managers all coming up w th ways to fit Bhutto's death into furthering the credentials of their campaign. "Look at Bhutto," they'll say. "Isn't this reason enough that terrorism is alive in this world and that we need to attack this. People, this is what I've been trying to say all along and now, because we have not given enough attention to this, people around the world are suffering."

Listen for that. I'm sure in some way, form, or fashion, you'll hear this. And I say be weary of it. Too, be aware of politicians who mud sling. Mitt Romney is becoming notorious for this. It's terrible. if you were really the best candidate for position, why would you feel the need to mud sling about other candidates. If you were the best candidate available, wouldn't you be good enough that your integrity would stand out against those who are supposedly trying to decieve of other people? Romney has been slinging Mudd at McCain and Huckabee and it's disgusting.

"But Matt, don't you know that? That's how life is. You can't avoid that. People are selfish." I'm sure this is running through some people's minds right now.

I couldn't agree more. But I say that this is a tragedy. And we shouldn't just concede to this. Instead, we need to be speaking against this manipulation of an international tragedy. I don't know how to do that. Obviously none of us have an international platform to say these kinds of things. But I do remember something that Mother Theresa said about feeding the poor and I think it applies here, "If you can't feed one hundred poor people, then just feed one poor person." Essentially, don't concede to being void of action just because you can't make an impact on a global level. If you don't have a platform, then make a commitment to be aware of these things yourself.

The other thing is that we should mourn the loss of the Pakistanis ourselves. I know that we're in America and that most of those reading this may not have any Pakistani blood in you, but this is indeed becoming a smaller world. Independence and separation are no longer an option anymore. Nor is dependence. Instead, interdependence. The idea of global brotherhood and sisterhood, this is the idea I'm getting at. If we can't learn to mourn for our brothers and sisters who live in other countries, we will surely destroy ourselves eventually. Now, I'm not one who believes that when the end of the world happens that it God will come down from the clouds and start destroying things. Instead I believe that the end of the world will come when we become, as nations, so self-consumed with our own survival that we fail to learn what it means to be a global family. Our world is growing at a rapid rate. In Jesus' time, the world population was 230 million people. At the end of the first millennium it was 270 million people. In 1820, it was roughly 900 million people. in 1950, it grew to around 2.8 billion people. Today it's around 6.8, almost 7 billion people. Also today, there are 2.8 billion people who live on less than $2 a day. Essentially, the entire world population of 1950 lives on less than $2 a day. In the next 25-50 years, the world's population is expected to double. Can you imagine if in 25-50 years, that 6.8 billion people live in poverty? It's not unlikely to me if we continue to view ourselves as independent and not interdependent.

What we need to do, whether we're polticians or artists or economists or teachers or bus drives or the people at the corner store, is we need to look at our world as a body. Our physical bodies are made up of many parts that are not parasitic to one another, nor are they independent of one another, but they are interdependent. They work to make us walk, to make us run, to make us hug someone that we love. Without all of our parts working together, the body would not function. they could not separate themselves from one another.

Tying this all back up, when people get assassinated, we really need to spend some time mourning and in silence with our brothers and sisters. We need to ask ourselves how they are hurting. We don't need to speedily respond to the circumstance by citing our political agendas, suggesting that if people would just vote for us, that these kinds of things would not happen. We're human beings, we can't fix it all. Surely not alone. We need to learn what it means to be interdependent.

When I read the Bible, I feel that what God is not saying is, "You've gotta learn to get it right or I'm gonna come down there and destroy all of you with supernatural disasters." I don't see him as a cosmic policeman waiting to implement his wrath. He is not a cosmic sadist. Instead what I see him saying to people is, "You've gotta get it right, or you're going to destroy yourselves. And this is what it'll look like, (insert some prophetic image)."

I think we should pay attention to the suffering around the world. I think we need to learn to love those who are suffering around the world, and try to understand their pain. I do not think that pain and suffering is a commodity for America to capitalize on. If we don't learn to understand this, we will surely ruin not only our own country, but we will, without a doubt, ruin our world.

***(It's also a kind of ramble, but if I told you that in the beginning, there's a greater chance you wouldn't have given me the time of day.)

The Third Verse

In sharing some stories tonight, I came across this poem I wrote some time back. Brent said he liked it, and I respect Brent as a writer (in light of the fact that we're all amateurs-though I am the chief of them no doubt). So here, a poem I wrote a long time ago...

The Third Verse...

I know not if yet you stroll by the waters,
By chance you do, open your eyes for ripples.
I’ve tried so hard not to, but I still sail boats.

If ever you still search my verse,
Worry less. Wake your eyes and look on the trees.
I’ve tried so hard not to, but I still scribble these silly poems.

If you’re cold and shivering in a night,
Take your jacket off. Your embers have not burned out.
I’ve tried so hard not to, but I still warm your story by fires.

I know not if you think I’ve long said goodbye,
By chance you do, search in a distant memory on your desk.
I’d bet I’m not too far away.

Greg's Advice for my Sermon

So I was telling my brother about how I've been telling people that if they wanted tips on Valentine's Day, that they should come hear me preach at Highland on Wednesday. Greg immediately interrupted with this,

"Oh dude, I'm telling you man. From what I've seen on chick flicks, girls like to be spontaneously kissed. You can't tell them, you just do it. That's what you should tell them on Wednesday in your sermon."

Ha! My brother... Best preaching advice ever... all from the school of chick flicks.

Highland, Preaching, & Hip Hop

Well I found out that I'm speaking at Highland Church of Christ in Abilene, TX on Valentine's Day (February 14th for those who are feeling clueless.) I hope you'll come check it out, as I will have very depressing things to say since that day is entirely too happy. I'm just kidding, but there's a chance I may not be.

I'm not gonna lie though, I'm pretty excited about it. Not just cause I get to be in front of people. If that were the case, I would have gladly stuck to the stage. There's a great difference between acting and preaching... yes, that's right, preaching. I guess for me, and this is not to discredit the actor, I have to be in front of people with a purpose and a message. The actor, of course, has a message and a purpose, but it is one authored for him by someone other than himself. When you preach, you get to have a message and purpose that is completely unique to the design that God has formed you. That's why I like it. It gives me the opportunity to tell where I've been and how God has been there with me through all of those places, no matter how dark or dim lit they may have been.

p.s. I was trying to think of another word besides preaching, but I guess that's what it is. I feel weird now. Oh well.

In other news,

Divine Madness

Plato once said that the nature of a poet is some sort of Divine Madness. That when the poet does what he does, he's possessed by a muse who inspires him to create with its Divine Madness. That's one of the things that stood out to me when I took Lit Crit, and I really like it. As creepy as it sounds, I like it.

Watching Homer Hiccolm is like a religious experience for me. Those guys really love what they do, and because of that, watching them make music is incredible.

Thank God for the artist.

The Chapel Speech From Last Thursday

[*Note: I've refrained from posting this for a while, because I fear that some people will bring their own meanings to my text and pervert it's original intention which I think is clearly stated in the last paragraph. It was a legitimate concern for me after some of my encounters (though not all). After hearing Steven Moore in Chapel today, and talking with him after Chapel, I thought it might benefit some people who were really interested in re-reading what I said last thursday. I hope that this is a blessing to some of you. Peace!]


       Now some of you may not know this, but I’m kinda famous. You see, when I graduated High School, my brother Greg and I (He attends University of Texas at San Antonio) were sitting around discussing how Great Texas was, and how Texas was so independent. Listing all sorts of accomplishments and proud medals that we could boast to other Nations. And building off of each other, we came up with this idea that Texas should Conquer the United States and Name Them Texas #2-50. When Facebook came out…. Of course, I mean, Who isn’t Going to Make that a Facebook Group? So we did. And now, we boast 100s of members…until Facebook went Global and people were having groups with hundreds of thousands and all of a sudden… 750 people wasn’t that big of a deal. The bottom line is that, a lot of people liked the idea that Texas would become independent and sort of… well not sort of…. We would become Independent and Conquer everyone else and then give them our name.
       And I think to myself that as foolish and fun as this facebook group is… This idea is more familiar than I’d like to admit because I am, after all, a son of Independence; a child of America. And many of you are also children of America, who is renown for being the Ultimate Model of Independence. I recall reading in the Economist Last year issues of Developing Nations and throughout the article they spoke how America always serves as the “Cowboy”, the Lone Ranger, who walks into uncharted territories and immediately has the solution to fix the problem, and that solution requires America… and America only, and not anyone else.
       At Urbana, Oscar Muriu contextualized 1 Corinthians 12 and spoke to us of the importance of the Global Church and how if we, as Christians, were to function properly as a body, then we would recognize the need we have for each other. That we would recognize that we should not be independent, but interdependent. Amidst his speech, he questioned whether America should be an exemplary model for the 2/3 world when we are ranked, according to Leonard Sweet’s “Soul Tsunami”, as the third largest Pagan Nation in the world only after India and China. That because we are unable to engage our own culture and break down walls of racial segregation, that perhaps to follow the Western Model of Christianity is to drink from a poisoned chalice. I think that Ronald J. Sider best sums it up in his book “The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience”, that

“To say there is a crisis of Disobedience in the evangelical world today is to dangerously understate the problem. Born Again Christians divorce at about the same rate as everyone else. Self Centered Materialism is seducing evangelicals and rapidly destroying our earlier, slightly more generous giving. Only 6% of born-again Christians tithe. Born-Agains Christians justify and engage in sexual promiscuity (both premarital sex and adultery) at astonishing rates. Racism and perhaps physical abuse of wives seem to be worse in Evangelical circles than elsewhere. This is scandalous behaviour for people who claim to be born-again by the Holy Spirit and to enjoy the very presence of the Risen Lord in their lives.”

       And this led to me thinking, how in America, we as states, as cities, as neighborhoods, as churches, as ethnic groups, and even as individuals…. We have adopted the same mindset as our nation. How we truly are children of our Father, America. As ethnic groups, even on campus, we have fooled ourselves into believing that we do not need one another. We have seen groups like the KKK, and the Black Panthers, and though we do not adopt their hate and anger… we do adopt their separatist behavior, that says, “As long as I am comfortably surrounded by my caucasian friends, or my black friends, my latino friends, or my Asian friends… That I am not in need of my other ethnic brothers and sisters.” How, as denominations, we say, “As long as I am surrounded my Church of Christ friends, my Baptist friends, my Anglican friends, my Catholic friends… That I am not in need of my brothers and sisters who worship any differently than I do.” And that as socio-economic groups, we say, “As long as I am surrounded by my upper white collar friends, my hard working blue collar friends, or by my lower income minimum wage friends… That I do not need anyone else.”
       For people who behave as dangerously as Ronald Sider has pointed out, we would be very foolish to believe these lies. And as someone who is Multiethnic, like Carla, and myself, who is half latino/half anglo, I certainly know that I need all of my parts in order to function properly. Otherwise I might go crazy. For indeed, the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the Caucasian should say, "Because I am not black, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the Latino should say, "Because I am not Asian, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were Caucasian, where would the sense of soul and rhythm be? If the whole body were Latino, where would the sense of silence and a healthy diet be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
       The Baptist Church cannot say to the Catholic Church, "I don't need you!" And Church of Christ cannot say to the Anglican Church, "I don't need you!" On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
       Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

Go In Peace!

An Apology...

       Yesterday morning, I spoke in chapel addressing issues of racial reconciliation. I talked about how we all needed one another. Immediately after it was over, I was addressed by not one, but several of my peers concerning a comment I made during my speech yesterday. The comment went something like this,

“We have seen groups like the KKK, and the Black Panthers, and though we do not adopt their hate and anger… we do adopt their separatist behavior, that says, “As long as I am comfortably surrounded by my caucasian friends, or my black friends, my latino friends, or my Asian friends… That I am not in need of my other ethnic brothers and sisters.”

       The fear from many students was that I was purposely communicating that the KKK and the Black Panthers were equal but opposite organizations. In other words, that the KKK and the Black Panthers were pretty much the same thing, just with different colored people in each group. As well, the fear was that I was placing those two organizations on the same plane. To the fear and legitimate concern of many of my peers, whom I deeply respect, I extend my greatest apologies for poorly communicating my message of reconciliation.
    Historically, it is understood that the KKK was renown for its hate crimes that were born out of arrogance, pride, and a superficial sense of superiority. And on the other hand, the Black Panthers were a reactionary movement to hate crimes fleshed out by organizations like the KKK. The idea that I was trying to convey yesterday was that within ethnic groups, even within Ethnic Organizations who have good intentions (of course, I’m speaking of the Black Panthers… and not the KKK), there are those who often take things beyond restoring their own cultural identity, and find themselves in an angry place where they completely separate themselves from anyone else. Even within my own peoples, the Latinos, the Xicanos… there is an organizations called Mecha, which pulls for the advancement of all Latinos and Xicanos because of much socio-economic oppression and social injustices that have been had in recent years, as well as throughout history. They’re a good organization with a lot of good goals. My own brother has been involved with the San Antonio Chapter, and many of the others involved are really good people… However, across the country there have been cases of those who have lost sight of Mecha’s true aims and these type of people within Mecha have begun walking down paths of potentially harmful activism. They are the ones who carry the Machismo attitude that says, “I do not need anyone other than my Xicano" And not Chicano with a Ch, but with an X… because for many, there is a great difference.
       To all those offended by my comment from yesterday, please know that this was not my intention at all and I am deeply sorry for poorly communicating. The KKK and the Black Panthers are two remarkably different entities within history. The KKK dealt a great deal of hate crimes and racial oppression, while the Panthers strove to justly respond to this type of oppression.
       I hope, that as a result, many of you will learn my heart for racial reconciliation. It is not my aim to solve anyone else’s problems, only my own. However, I feel that as a brother to all of you, whether you are Latino, Black, White, Native America, or Asian… I should invest my time in creating opportunities for us to dialogue about all of these issues.
       For me, yesterday was a prime example of how I needed those who are different from me. Though I had not intended to, I poorly communicated my message, and with the help of many people (Black, Lebanese, White, Asian, and Latino), I heard the legitimate concerns and fears of many people in this auditorium. Fears and concerns that hurt me because I feared that I had created yet another barrier for all of us... but with the help of my brothers and sisters who were both alike, and different than I am… communication was had and feelings were honestly expressed. For this, I thank you. For without all of you, I would have been ignorant of your needs. Let us continue in the quest for Racial Reconciliation for the sake of the Gospel. God Bless You.

You want to be Significant?

This is probably my favourite moment in all of Dr. King's speeches. He is addressing the story in the Gospels when James and John secretly go to Jesus and ask him if they can sit on the right and left of Jesus when his Kingdom is established...


"...I want you to see what Jesus was really saying. What was the answer that Jesus gave these men? It's very interesting. One would have thought that Jesus would have condemned them. One would have thought that Jesus would have said, 'You are out of your place. You are selfish. Why would you raise such a question?'

But that isn't what Jesus did; he did something altogether different. He said in substance, 'Oh, I see, you want to be first. You want to be great. You want to be important. You want to be significant. Well, you ought to be. If you're going to be my disciple, you must be.' But he reordered priorities. And he said, 'Yes, don't give up this instinct. It's a good instinct if you use it right. It's a good instinct if you don't distort it and pervert it. Don't give it up. Keep feeling the need for being important. Keep feeling the need for being first. But I want you to be first in love. I want you to be first in moral excellence. I want you to be first in generosity. That is what I want you to do'...

And so Jesus gave us a new norm of greatness. If you want to be important—wonderful. If you want to be recognized—wonderful. If you want to be great—wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That's a new definition of greatness.

And this morning, the thing that I like about it: by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve. You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love. And you can be that servant."

Incredible

I watched Pan's Labyrinth tonight with my friend Jamal and some fellow ACU Students...



Perhaps the best thing about my trip to Austin.

Heartbeat Roughdraft...

So I came up with a really amateur design for the logo for my non-profit called "Heartbeat"... Feedback would be much appreciated, cause this is definitely not the final product.

Also, if you're interested in using your talents to help me lay some ground work for this project, let me know because I would really appreciate some help...

"Come to the Dark Side..."

So I went to the movies last night with my mom, my brother, Jennifer, Derran, Peter, and Danny... Yep, a big group. However, the funniest part was when my mom, my brother, and I went to buy the tickets... cause my ghetto side came out and worked out some free tickets.

Here's the Story:

I walk up to the register and there's this asian girl who has just walked up at the same time, and, of course, I let her go first. "I'll take one for 'The Good Shepherd' at 10:45", she says. To which the lady replies, "I'm sorry, but we've decided to cancel that showing so just choose another one and it'll be on the house."

Immediately, I'm thinking, "Free Movies?"

So the girl chooses her movie, and moves out of the way. At this time, my mom and brother walk up behind me (as they were dragging a little behind), unbeknownst to anything other than the fact that we are going to see 'Night at the Museum'.

"Oh man, you are guys are out of 'The Good Shepherd'?" I say. "Yes Sir, sorry about that. Just go ahead and choose another movie and it'll be on the house. In fact, just go ahead and walk in."

"What's going on?" My brother asked.

So I say, "They're out of 'The Good Shepherd', so we're just gonna go and see 'Night at the Museum'."

It's bad, I know...

Things I'd Like to Do This Year

1.) Write a one-man stage play.

2.) Lay the ground work for a non-profit organization called "Heartbeat" and an Urban Development Fund.

3.) Live in a slum community for seven weeks.

4.) Make the Hip Hop Community even stronger.

5.) Make A's

6.) Get something published.

7.) Last, but not least... Have lots of fun with my Family and Friends.


p.s. I got a new cell phone. It provides treatment for 100 pregnant women to prevent the transmission of HIV from the mothers to the children. It also provides anti-retroviral treatment for one month to a person living with HIV. I am a proud supporter of The Red Campaign.