Ok…so huge title and I don’t think I’ll do much commentating on this topic, but here is an example of something that seems like it’s more from the Jackie Robinson era in baseball than it does from 2009 in Italian football.

BBC News – Racist abuse against Balotelli feared at Inter-Juve tie

The truth is that Europe is the first place in the world that is making (has made) the transition to being truly multi-cultural…or maybe synchronistic is a better word. Sure, there can be a case that the United States was first many hundred years ago, but even then it didn’t have the mix of religious, deep cultural, and ethnic synchronism that is at the core of how Europe’s modern culture is being formed. Europeans that may want to keep their countries or regions truly mono-cultural have already lost the fight. There is no end in sight for the shifting landscape of Europe as east, west, north, and south merge together here.

The ugly attitude (and words) of the fans in the article above is representative of this dying breed of people who hold onto the idea that Italians, Spanish, or French could maintain a historic hold on their image. This idea is no longer. People are going to have to live with the reality that a black man is as Italian as they are. And as time goes on all Europeans will have to live with the fact that what makes someone European or not will have nothing to do with their family history.

aka: Take that Cru Jones and Christian Hollings

I recently read a book called ‘Leadership and Self Deception’ and in the book it told the story a man who truly believed that as a child he was in a concentration camp. He believed it to the extent that he wrote a book about it and won awards for his writing. But it wasn’t true.

Here is a story of another man who might be suffering from the same level of deception:

BBC NEWS | Europe | US veteran’s D-Day lies exposed

It would be sad if this man were just be a deceiver like some boys (in contrast to men intentionally) on the Bachelorette named Wes. But his stories and ability to continue with them make me think that this guy has just created some memories and really believes them. (Unlike creating the idea that you’re going to be a successful public figure when everyone now knows how cruel of a person you are.)

But if you’re interested in learning more about self-deception and false memories you should really read the book…it’s very very interesting!

I watched this documentary on Hulu last night:

The Future of Food

To be honest when it was over, I was pretty fired up. The thought that kept going through my head was

The love of money is the root of all evil.

I am not shocked, but I am saddened at how many in our government are creating and ruling on laws that benefit themselves while the American people are kept in the dark.

On top of the political side of the documentary, I was saddened by the ecological side as well! The diversity of foods are being controlled by corporations who make a ‘super seed’ that they can sell to farmers that will grow and with stand ‘Roundup’ because of its DNA manipulation…this just isn’t natural.

On top of the political and ecological issues, I was saddened by the ethical practices of corporations who have patented seeds, that even when scattered accidentally on a farmers property (like from a passing truck) give the corporation right to sue the farmer for ‘patent infringement’. Patent infringement? On a seed? Well, it makes money, a lot of money…just watch the video.

After watching things like this, it makes me glad that we are moving to Europe. When people in Europe fight for their rights, people hear about it because they aren’t inoculated by garbage news stories that take the American attention away from the real issues of life. And beside…When Europeans outraged against genetically altered food, their governments listened, because they didn’t have personal profit at stake!

Here’s the point though…we can speak out against things and get information out. That’s part of why I why I write on here. So watch the movie, be mad, and then start changing things…for the future.

I went to bed last night and panic hit me. I realized I was out of coffee. That meant one thing for me. I had to get up early and go get some! While I was out I decided to sit and read my bible for a while at the coffee shop. I’ve been reading through the New Testament for a bit, so the other day I decided to read through I Samuel…and I’m glad that I have as I felt God teaching me through this portion of scripture.

So fast forward to this morning. I’m reading the Bible and a guy sidles up to me.

“What are you reading?”, he says.

I said, “the Bible.”

He says, “What part?”

I say, “I Samuel…the part about David and Goliath.”

This is when he said, “I’m Miguel by the way.” Then he had me turn to Romans chapter 1 and proceeded to tell me about Martin Luther. He asked how long I had been studying the Bible.

I told him, “A while.”

He then told me that I needed to ‘forget about stuff like Samuel.’ And that I need to focus solely on the Gospel. That is where the power of God is at.

Then as I started talking, he excused himself from the conversation.

Let me go over a few reasons why I beg you not to be like Miguel:

a.) Don’t ever criticize how or what someone is reading in scripture. Especially, if you don’t know them at all!

b.) Don’t ever tell somebody that they should ‘forget about’ parts of Scripture. C’mon Miguel.

c.) Don’t ever preach a sermon to a stranger and then walk away as they start to respond.

d.) Don’t ever forget that the Gospel is God’s story of redemption through Jesus and we find that all over scripture.

e.) Don’t let your head knowledge of the Good News become more important than living the Good News. Jesus said that loving God with our all our heart, mind, soul, and strength was the most important thing. And the second thing was ‘like it’, love your neighbor as yourself. Our surrender to God releases us to be surrendered to others. Our love for and from God inspires us to love others. If our relationship with God gets boiled down to doctrine and intellectual enlightenment then we are missing the boat. (not necessarily saying that about Miguel, probably preaching a sermonette to myself.)

As he walked out the door I tried not to feel judged, or to judge. I prayed that he would step into the fullness of the Good News and that his life would become ‘the workmanship’ that it was created to be. I prayed that his heart would align with his head. But in the meantime…be like Jesus…not like Miguel. No offense Miguel.