Name:
Location: Irvine, California, United States

E-mail Me

My Blog Profile

Technorati search

    WWW
    ...in the outer...

My Amazon Wish List

    Search Now:

Subscribe

Help fuel my writing dream...

My Bloglines Subs & Stuff

    Listed by category are subscriptions to blogs I monitor and read. Check them out!

    Note: Sites listed by this blog does not imply endorsement of anything except when they promote this site.

Other Cool Sites I Visit

Recommended for your Library


    Ethics: The Heart of Leadership

    Edited by Joanne Ciulla. An important collection of essays by philosophers, leadership and management thinkers considering the role of ethics in leadership


    Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness

    By Robert K. Greenleaf, Larry C. Spears, Stephen R. Covey. Servant and leader--can these two roles be fused in one real person in all levels of status and calling?


    Warranted Christian Belief

    By Alvin Plantinga. Third in a trilogy of works on the issue of warrant - the basis of the rationality of Christian beliefs written by arguably the most important philosopher of religion alive today


    Renovation of the Heart

    By Dallas Willard. A philosopher and quintessential Christian teacher relates and reflects on what it means to put on the character of Christ.


    Foreign Bodies

    By Hwee Hwee Tan. An impressive first novel by young new author from Singapore acclaimed as an up and coming Pulitzer Prize winner


    Mammon Inc.

    By Hwee-Hwee Tan. Second novel by this very important young new author from Singapore applauded the world over, including The Times in London and the New York Times


    Three Philosophies of Life

    By Peter Kreeft. Three life philosophies presented through the works of three of Scriptures most beautiful poetry books, Job, Ecclesiastes and Songs of Solomon


    Horrendous Evil and the Goodness of God

    By Marilyn McCord-Adams. A seminal response to the age-old problem of evil which attempts to take seriously the theological ramifications of the character of God


    Blink

    By Malcolm Gladwell. Blink is about the first two seconds of looking--the decisive glance that knows in an instant.


    Smart Mobs

    By Howard Rheingold. A social commentary about how "sophisticated mobile Internet access is allowing people who don't know each other to act in concert".


    Linked

    By Albert-Laszlo Barabasi. An engaging treatise about the fundamentals of interconnectedness and complexity that underlies neurology, epidemiology, Internet traffic, and many other fields.


    The Peaceable Kingdom

    By Stanley Hauerwas. A clear explication of a Christian ethic based upon the meaning of the gospel, highlighting virtues and character, and narrative as a mode of ethical reflection.


    The Goldsworthy Trilogy: Gospel & Kingdom, Gospel & Wisdom, Gospel & Revelation

    By Graeme Goldsworthy. A collection of masterful works expositing on the centrality of the Scriptures: the gospel of Jesus Christ.


    Grace and Law: St. Paul, Kant, and the Hebrew Prophets

    By Heinz Cassirer. A Kantian scholar looks at the Old Testament Law, and Paul's understanding of it, concluding that Kant's delimma is answered by the gospel of grace.

The Un-Right Christians

Progressive Christian Blogger Network

Church Directory of Evangelical Blogs

Friday, January 07, 2005

Why are they all still going on about it?

I can't believe it! Why are some sections of media (and around blogosphere) still bothered about the question whether or not America (or Americans) is (are) stingy. The comments were never in the first place directed at America. If any fingers were pointed, they were more like imaginary fingers pointed by the press, or other overly sensitive Americans whining, "Look what they are calling me, Mom!"

And, that is the point. Has America become overly sensitive? On the one hand, we feel the obligation as a member of the global community of nations to participate in global affairs to help eradicate this world of evils (either natural, political or otherwise. Yet, in doing so, the US has not always been seen to be helping - sometimes they are seen as the enemy. So, we are caught in a dilemma.

While a lot of the problems that the US get itself into are from its decidedly political and the execution of its foreign policies, the situation we have here is a natural disaster of global dimensions. We should just give the political talk a rest, put our heads down and get focused on helping. The US government seems to be slowly getting this message and are responding admirably, including playing ball with their erstwhile thorn-in-the-side UN. But, around blogosphere and the media, we still have hypersensitive, opinionated journalists and bloggers who are still dancing to a tune long after the music has stopped.

I say we give this thing a rest, and go about our business of helping, caring and working to rebuild, reconstruct and heal. There is so much to be done, and in some parts of the affected areas, no aid has arrived almost two weeks after the devastation.

As I
have said before, let me once again remind everyone that... "when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing" (Matthew 6:3). As Frederick Barton, an economist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, quoted in the Money Central article above, says, "Not to belittle what we are doing, we shouldn't get too self-congratulatory."

Rather than rest on our laurels and think we have now done our bit, we ought to continue to find ways to give and to support. The death toll continue to rise, even before we start factoring in deaths from diseases and the repercussions from the loss of livelihood and homes of millions. Already news about profiteers and other undesirables are coming in. Rather than whine and complain, let us support the work that is going on right now to help and repair. Let us pray, and when we have done so, let us give, and give more! Perhaps we can learn from the example of
this man who shut down his company's operations for two weeks in order to go with his wife and team to a remote area in India to help the orphans. In the meantime, he converted his company's office to be the mission control central to coordinate donations and aid to this remote part of India that is currently missed by the world media and aid agencies because it is so remote. Why can you do to help? If you need suggestions, here are some, and I am sure you can think of some more.