Boys of Baraka

I'm a little behind the boat on this movie...but now that I've finally seen it, all I can say is "Yep." It's an outstanding movie, but is nothing new to me. In each of the boys followed in the movie, I saw one of my boys. Boys of Baraka is the story of several inner-city boys chosen from Baltimore to go to school in Kenya, the transformation that takes place while they're there, and the struggles of coming home to the projects.

Here's a video clip of the first 5-6 minutes of the movie...a nice teaser for you!

all is not good in the hood

My last two posts have been about deaths, and I'm afraid that death is exactly what this one may end in. A shooting occurred today at 3:20pm (broad daylight!) outside a convenience store in Glenwood. Fox 8 News was a little dramatic tonight, calling Glenwood "one of the most dangerous communities in the Piedmont" (with their best dramatic voice...), however they had the most complete story of any of the other news stations, for the time being at least.

The young man was only 20 years old. I wonder if he was involved in some shady activity, or if he was just the unlucky one to stop by Andy's Pantry today. Neither is a reason for someone to get shot in the head. He is in critical condition, so your prayers for the Lord's will would be appreciated. We can rest assured that God is present -- we can prayerfully hope that the young man and his family would recognize that.

---------------------------------------------------------

In light of this post and the previous two, it seems that there are a lot of things being shaken up right now. There seems to be a lot of unrest in the neighborhood, even beyond the mourning felt by several families. Lord, I pray that your peace would be restored to this state, to this city, and to this neighborhood.

Another loss...

This young lady is a member of one of the largest families in my neighborhood. While I don't know her personally, I know at least 10 of her cousins, as well as many other family members. Your prayers for her family are greatly appreciated, as they try to grapple with the reality of the death of their 8-year old baby.

A Beacon in the Neighborhood

Wednesday night a few folks in Glenwood had a meeting with Grace's mission pastor, Will Dungee, to do a "status check" of sorts. It was nice to sit with him and just talk about how the neighborhood is doing, how we're feeling, what our vision is, etc. Diane shared that one of her missionary friends came to visit recently and made the comment that our house (and other believers' in the neighborhood) was truly a beacon in the neighborhood. I have definitely seen this to be true on a variety of levels, the most important one being that people always know where to come when they need something -- be it food or a friendly face. This rang true for me this week.

I saw a good friend Thursday night while on my way to UNCG for an InterVarsity Christian Fellowship meeting I was speaking at. My topic for the night was Dependence on God (more on this later), and I was definitely reminded of that during my conversation with my friend. While driving, my friend flagged me down. We made small talk for a few moments, then he turned to leave. As I started to pull off, he came back. He asked if I had heard about the woman who got shot in the head at the hat shop recently. I told him that I hadn't, and he informed me that it was his sister, the last one he had left. I asked him how he was doing, and he immediately responded, "Oh, uh, yeah. I'm fine. Don't worry about it." Then switched gears to how he wanted to tune up my car. It breaks my heart that he lost his sister, but even moreso to know that he's not depending on God to help him through it. The "I'm okay, no worries" response is one I know all to well, one that basically means "I'm just going to pretend that it didn't happen because it's easier that way." So, instead of depending on the one who can truly love and support him through a time like this, Jesus, my guess is that he'll turn to alcohol.

Lord, I pray that you would bless my friend. You know him, and you know the pain he's in. Help him to mourn, and to turn to you when it seems unbarable. Help me know how to support him, and place some men in his life who can speak love and life into him.

Urban Youth Worker's Institute 2008, Baby!

Let me just tell you...I'm already super psyched about this!

Injustice in the form of a Youth Choir

I recently met a new student at UNCG and was excited to hear that she had hooked up with a church in Glenwood that was starting a youth choir that would be open to neighborhood kids. Shortly after our initial discussion, she recruited volunteers to hand out flyers at InterVarsity. After IV, she asked me if I thought it was safe to go door to door. I assured her that it would be fine, and gave her a few pointers (i.e. avoid stray dogs, etc.). I asked her if they would provide transportation, as many of the parents either don't have cars or work various shifts, so might not always be able to drop off/pick up their kids.

That's when she shared something that broke my heart. The pastor had instructed the group of volunteers to go to the "nicer looking" houses in the neighborhood. He went on to justify this by saying that the church doesn't currently have the resources to help the members of the community that, prompted by their invitation to the kids, would flock to their door in need of assistance. While I understand their concern, I think it's a poor excuse that is ultimately cheating the kids who need extracurricular activities the most. The church can always refer people to organizations in the community who require referrals, or even just offer a friendly face to hear someone's story. I can't judge too harshly -- I'm sure the comment emerged from some underlying fear.

It just breaks my heart that a youth choir, with a mission of reaching the kids in the neighborhood, has plans to discriminate against those whose houses don't look "nice." I could get off on a whole other discussion about absentee landlords that leave tenants with nasty looking houses, adding yet another layer of injustice to both the families and the kids, but we'll save that for another day. For now, we'll just pray that God's heart for the Glenwood kids will be revealed to this church body in a completely unadulterated fashion.

Holistic Ministry for Kids (A Case for the 40 Developmental Assets)

One of the sessions I attended at the Urban Youth Worker’s Institute in May was “Whole Ministry for the Whole Kid and the Whole Church,” led by Kara Powell, Executive Director of Fuller’s Center for Youth and Family Studies and Curt Gibson, Pastor of Neighborhood Student Mentoring at Lake Avenue Church. This was an excellent seminar, based predominantly on the 40 Developmental Assets, which were researched and compiled by the Search Institute, an independent nonprofit organization with a mission of providing research to help promote healthier children, families, and communities. I’d encourage you to take a look at the Assets – there are separate lists for adolescents (ages 12-18), early childhood (ages 3-5), and middle childhood (ages4-6). The following is an overview of the session – it’s helpful for both urban and non-urban kids.

Take a look at the assets real quick, so the rest of the post makes sense.

What problems do kids have today?

What possibilities do these same kids have?

Do you see your kids as half full or half empty?

Kids are not problems to be managed.
They are resources to be developed.

Assets are the developmental building blocks that enable kids to thrive!

External assets
= ecological assets
= resources embedded in surrounding environment or community

Internal assets
= individual assets
= personal resources
= qualities or attitudes of a person

Assets are about people not programs.

31 assets seem to be an important benchmark. The average kid has 19. The average urban kid has 17.

Faith communities increase assets. The assets can help us have holistic ministry that touches kids spiritually, emotionally, psychologically, intellectually, and socially.

The 3 asset factors in which urban kids score higher on average than non-urban kids are social conscience, personal values, and connection to family.

Research has consistently shown that females have more assets than males. Older kids consistently have fewer assets. The gap between urban and non-urban was greatest in middle school.

What assets does your ministry already build?

What would it mean for each adult to view themselves as an asset builder?

What else can our ministry do to build assets?

Question #1: What assets do my kids have?
Question #2: What assets do my kids lack?
Question #3: Of the assets they lack, which would make the most difference?
Question #4: Of the assets they lack, which would be the most do-able to provide?
Question #5: Given my answers to questions 1-4, what 3 assets could and should I focus on?
Question #6: What can I do to develop those 3 assets?

Glenwood Summer Camp!!!

Well, camp is less than a month away -- so your prayers would be greatly appreciated. The plans are coming along quite well, and the kids are very excited. I have been pleasantly surprised at how responsible they have been regarding all of their requirements.

If you'd like to give some money to help us close the gap in our fundraising goal, you can do so online by visiting this link. Donations are tax-deductible through a partnership with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship; you'll receive a statement at the end of the year as you would for any other donations.

For more information about camp, you can visit the camp website.

More on camp later, I'm sure, but now it's time for church!

From the mouth of babes...

I took two of our neighborhood girls to see the movie Are We Done Yet at the $2 theater last weekend. The movie was surprisingly clean, although kind of cheesy; however, that's not the point of this post.

On the ride to the theater, the girls were goofing off and making up titles of what the sequels to this movie would be (this one was a sequel to Are We There Yet). Here's the progression of what they came up with:

1. Are we married yet?
2. Are we pregnant yet?
3. Are we divorced yet?

WHAT?!?! I mean, I was glad that they got married and pregnant in the right order, but was deeply saddened that divorced would just be par for the course in a relationship.

What makes me sadder is that I know that this is not just a ghetto issue.

In California!!!

Well, Kat and I finally made it to California 12 hours after our scheduled arrival time -- but the important thing is that we are here. We are attending the Urban Youth Workers' Institute 2007 Conference. Today was our first workshop and general session, and both proved exciting and challenging. I have a lot that I want to post, but I'm about to fall over right now -- it's almost 2am Greensboro time!

Oh, as a super-exciting side note, it looks like Kat and I are going to go see The Hip Hop Project in LA on Saturday night -- it's only been released in a few cities, and we just happen to be in LA at the same time -- WooHoo! Take a look at the site. I hope the movie proves to be as wonderful as it looks!!

I picked up an interesting book at Barnes & Noble a few days ago. My initial hope was that it would be helpful for camp, but so far it’s been more intellectual than hands on and practical. Either way, there’s lots of food for thought in this one, so I figured I’d share some quotes and ideas that I’ve encountered so far.

You always hear women rant about how they are objectified, and I suppose that I have agreed with that to some extent in the past…I really haven’t paid it too much attention, though, to be honest. After reading the sections of the book that I have so far, it’s startling just how far hip hop has taken that when you really look at it. As sad as it is, it’s not even surprising to see exposed flesh in the media anymore…it’s not controversial any more (esp. if it’s a woman). We truly are a desensitized nation…or perhaps over-sexualized. I suppose for people who don’t care to see nudity, it’s desensitization…I mean, it’s in there for a reason – sexual gratification.

“Women are the weaker sex. …women’s bodies are made to attract and to please men. …now that women are equal, they should be able to accept being told that they aren’t, quite.” --Harvey Mansfield, Manliness

Regarding a Q&A session Russell Simmons held at Hamilton College…he tried to “keep it real,” and it went all wrong.

“Riled by … the rapper Nelly’s sexually provocative video "Tip Drill" female students swapped volleys with Simmons. … He [suggested] that students just “turn off their television sets,” an increasingly used line by corporate representatives when directly confronted by critics of such programming. Simmons’ argument had the effects of identifying him more with his lucrative financial interests than with his audience. The students, of course, could have easily turned off their television sets. But they were more concerned about the millions of other television sets (79,999,998 to be exact, given BET’s recent market penetration) that were left on, and the unpleasant gender politics and sexual provocations that continually flowed from them.”

And if Russell hadn’t burned himself enough yet…

“He suggested that after acquiring the requisite material trappings of success – cars, houses, jewelry, and “all the p****” they wanted – many rappers still quite unfulfilled. … Audible gasps could be heard in the auditorium, almost filled to capacity. Simmons [had] exemplified for many the role that hip hop has carved out for young women. They were either “hot p**** for sale” – and hence Nelly swipes a credit card through a young woman’s buttocks in the now infamous “Tip Drill” video – or they were “p**** for the taking,” as Louisiana rapper Mystikal explains in “P**** Crook.”

Thoughts from the author:

“The list of social ills and sexual contradictions confronting the hip hop and millennium generations boggles the mind. The hip hop generation in particular is attempting to explore and affirm its sexuality in an era rife with pornography, the mainstreaming of strip clubs, and the sexualization of everything from blue jeans ads to prime-time television. They are also simultaneously running up against chronic unemployment, mind-numbing poverty, affirmative action backlash, police brutality, the growth of the prison-industrial complex, the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the continued war on drugs, and increasing suicide rates, violence, and despair. It is no wonder that irreverence, that old standby of youth, and “girls (and boys) gone (sexually) wild” appear to be the hallmarks of hip hop."

And a last thought, because I know this is a lot.

Regarding hip hop groupies:

“Of the many roles young black women play in hip hop, one of the most rapped about is the groupie. … Mass media and the mainstreaming of hip hop culture have teamed up to expose young black women’s willing participation in sex escapades. Lying prostrate or on bended knees, black groupies are an essential cog in the “playa-pimp-ho-bitch” gearshift of hip hop culture. Like wet wipes, they are convenient and disposable. Indeed, our generation has witnessed the steady emergence of a hip hop groupie culture as a crucial part of the larger hip hop culture. Unfortunately, many of these young black women see their versions of “girls gone wild” as the fruit of women’s sexual liberation.”

The sad reality is, I know that a lot of my girls would kill to be one of the video-ho “wet wipes” Sharpley-Whiting describes.

The prodigal blogger...

I've always been bad about starting blogs then abandoning them, only to come back 6 months later. And here I am again. :) I have more time on my hands now that summer has rolled around, and intend to use some of it to upload my thoughts for you all to peruse. Hopefully I'll be a little more diligent this time around!

Oh, and I'm in the process of going back and tagging posts...so keep an eye out!

Hear Ye, Hear Ye...

Christian pop culture has hit an all-time low...

7 Deadly Social Sins

7 Deadly Social Sins
- Gandhi

Politics without principle
Wealth without work
Commerce without morality
Pleasure without conscience
Education without character
Science without humanity
Worship without sacrifice

Come Boldly?

This weekend at Party of Prayer, Pastor Will Dungee (Grace Community Church) spoke about the true fatherhood of God. Calling God our "Father" is not just symbolic, not simply a tool to help us understand him better, or even to help us feel comfortable around such a "huge" God. He is not like a father, he is our (F)father. Will coupled this with an illustration of his family.

As he was in his office preparing for his talk, his daughter came bursting into the room, and climbed in his lap. Anytime she goes to her brother or mother's room, she knocks. But when it's daddy in the room, she just goes in (boldly). If it had been anyone else to burst in and jump in his lap, we would have flipped out, but it was his daughter. His pride and joy, his beloved. BUT, the story doesn't stop there. It didn't take long for her to announce that she didn't want to listen to the slow song that Will had playing; she wanted a fast song. And half-way through the fast song, she wanted a different one. So, let's recap. Will is prayerfully preparing for a talk at InterVarsity. His daughter bursts in, sits in the middle of his work, and demands to hear the music she wants (which changes every few minutes). And you know what? He attends to her. He is glad that she is there. He delights in her.

And God is the same way. We can crawl into his lap and simply say, Daddy, I love you. Daddy, I want to spend time with you. Now, this is not to take away from the vastness, the mystery, and the overall awesomeness (and I don't mean cool-awesome...although he is pretty cool) of God...He absolutely is all-powerful, in charge, and to be feared. But not in a cowering, lowly fear. A fear out of respect. Christ tells us to "Come boldly to the throne of Grace," which is exactly what Will's daughter did with him. She came boldly in and knew she would be accepted.

Why is it that we always think God will reject us? I suppose one item to consider is the fact that we live in a culture of achievement. It's all about what you can accomplish, preferably on your own, to prove your worth. But the truth is, Jesus has us covered. When he died, his blood covered us ALL. Believers and skeptics alike. When we come before the Lord, he sees the coverage of blood, and accepts us, regardless of all the mess that lies underneath.

Now, let's add to the mix the idea of spagkhnozomai that John Freeman talked about in service this morning. The literal gut-wrenching compassion that God has for us. He desires community with us so much that his stomach is in knots. He has a gut-wrenching desire for us to COME BOLDLY to him.

How amazing is that? How humbling?? God desires community, not from me, which implies my control, but with me, and I continually run away. I give myself away to so many inconsequential things, meanwhile the One who truly desires me I turn away from.

I pray (slightly bolder than before) that God would be patient with me as I learn to trust him more, learning not only how to trust Him as a father, but discovering what a father really is.

Hannahfest 2006

Hannahfest 2006
A "Friend-Raising" Event

Sunday, October 22, 2006
2:00pm to 7:00pm
5432 Yanceyville Road
Brown Summit, NC

Food! Entertainment! Hot-Air Balloon Ride! Silent Auction!

Suggested Ticket Price: $10.00

Please email Denine for information and/or to purchase tickets.

Prostitution 101

So, I'm finally rolling around to reading this book
that I bought this summer - Prostitution: On
Whores, Hustlers, and Johns. I've only read a
little bit so far, but it's quite interesting. It's
basically a series of essays regarding all aspects of
prostitution.

I just read the introduction by Dr. Joycelyn Elders, the former Surgeon General who became infamous for her liberal views on sexuality. While I don't agree with all of what she says, I think a lot of truth rang through this essay. A lot of it is controversial, and like I said, I might not agree with all of it, but I think it's worth a read. Here are a few of the highlights of the essay...definitely food for thought. (On a side note, this book was published in 1998, so I'm sure some of the statistics are different now).

The real issues [regarding unsafe sex] occur
because of poor education - because of the things
we've often been taught. You know where it all
started. It started at church. We have our
ministers up there in the pulpit, preaching to the
choir and the congregation when they really need to
be out in the streets dealing with the real problems
that our society faces.

---

The other thing that I think we need to ask is Why do
people go into prostitution? Most of the men and
women who become sex workers do so because they're
having trouble with money. They're really doing it
to stay out of poverty or because they're poor. So
poverty is often the cause of prostitution and I
think we need to deal with that. I'm not saying that
eliminating poverty is the only cure, but I think it
is very significant. Some of the studies show that
as the economy goes down, prostitution of both men
and women goes up. When we start cutting Aid to
Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), we find more
AFDC moms being arrested for prostitution. We've
known for many years that many women marry just for
money. To me, that's one more form of prostitution.

---

Nobody should be forced into prostitution or into
having sex . Let me tell you a fact. Eighty-four
percent of the girls fourteen and under who become
pregnant were abused by somebody in their own home.
Eighty-four percent! Sixty-six and two-thirds
percent of all teenagers who become pregnant have
been abused at some time during their life. We spend
billions of dollars in this country trying to
prosecute prostitution, which is sex between
consenting adults, and we do nothing about the abuse
of children. Many children in this country and
around the world are exploited for profit and
unhealthy criminal desires. I feel that we need to
begin to spend those funds not on trying to prosecute
sex between consenting adults, but on making sure
that all children will have the opportunity to grow
up healthy, educatied, motivated, and with hope for
the future.

---

We [the United States] control 25 percent of the
world's wealth and have only 5 percent of the world's
population; yet we can't feed and house our own
people. We have children in America who will only be
members of what I call the "5H Club": children who
are Hungry - every night we have 5 million children
who go to bed hungry - then Home-less; Health-less;
Hug-less; and Hope-less. That's a real problem.

---

I read the report that San Francisco did on its sex
workers. I thought the most awful thing that I read
in that report was the idea of taking condoms away
from sex workers. Can you believe that? Our country
does many stupid things. When we start criminalizing
disease or medical problems, we start making
mistakes. Just think, we don't furnish clean needles
because we say, "Well, if we furnish clean needles
that says we support legalization of durgs."
Furnishing clean needles doesn't mean you support
drug legalization, it means that you want to prevent
death and disease.

It's very important to recognize that every time you
have sex with somebody, you're not really having sex
with one person; you're having sex with all the
people in their history. Sometimes you're having sex
with up to 537 different people. You really can't
tell by looking if someone has HIV. So I bemoan the
fact that we are not out there promoting safe sex.
We're not educating people to be safe because we're
not making condoms available. They should be
available everywhere. Condoms cost health
departments five to ten cents a piece or less. I had
a woman call me one time and she said, "Dr. Elders, I
just can't possibly consider using my tax dollars to
pay for condoms. I said, "Ma'am, I buy condoms for a
nickel a dozen." They were almost giving them to us
at the health department. I said, "We spend more
than 100 million dollars a year on AFDC, or food
stamps and Medicaid for teenagers who give birth to
children." I said, "How many condoms, at a nickel a
dozen, do you think $100 million will buy?" She
said, "Thank you, Dr. Elders."

Submission

James 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

In July, Will preached a sermon about submitting ourselves to God. Something I thought I had always done well. Sure, I depend on God, I know he'll take care of me, I know I "need" him. But the truth is, I didn't know that. In fact, what I did "know" is that I could handle it all on my own, and that if it did happen to fall through, that God had my back.

Needless to say, the Lord really checked me that Sunday. So, I went home, laid on the couch, and offered a simple prayer: Lord, I submit myself. I don't really know what that looks like, but I know that I can trust you. I can't promise that I'm going to do a very good job at this, but you have grace for that. I promise to try. Lord, just take me - I submit my life to you. And then I fell asleep.

Prior to this decision, I had chosen to live in a spiritual desert for over a year. I really struggle with complacency. I love feeling close to the Lord, but more often than not I choose the path of least resistance (but greatest consequence).

A few days later, my Glenwood family returned home from the Dominican Republic. And on their first day home, Denine & Suzanne each dropped a bombshell on me. I won't go in to details to respect their privacy, but let's just say my whole world was kicked off it's axis. And I immediately remembered my decision to submit. Dang it Lord! Arrrggghhhhh....but I guess you know what you're doing...I still submit. I'm angry, I'm sad, I want to break something, but I'm willing to see where you're going with this.

And I still don't know where he's going...but I trust him.

This submission to the Lord has yielded good things as well. I am always stressed out about lots of things - work, school, money, you know...all the normal things. Not even a month after I decided to just let the Lord handle it, rather than trying to fix it all myself (and screwing it or myself up, as always) I found out that my tuition is now being covered. And, starting this month, I have health insurance for the first time in over a year and a half.

Beyond all the material relief that has come my way, I have been refreshed spiritually/emotionally as well. I've found myself able to enjoy worship more, and being excited to spend time with the Lord. That doesn't mean that I'm terribly diligent, but I'm working on it :) One step at a time...

I still struggle with being in control (and have the muscle tension to show for it...), but I'm working on giving it over to God. As difficult as it is, I know I can trust him. I remember hearing someone say once, that when we can't take that leap of faith, we should rest in knowing that we can simply fall at the feet of our Father; He will always catch us.

So now, to just let go and fall. I know where I'll land.

How America Was Discovered

This is a text we read in my early American authors course...very interesting. This is an oral tradition, originally from Handsome Lake of the Seneca. This translation was recorded by A.C. Parker; he is Seneca as well, so the integrity of the text has been preserved.

According to Chief Cornplanter, Handsome Lake taught that America was discovered in the manner here related.
A great queen had among her servants a young minister. Upon a certain occasion she requested him to dust some books that she had hidden in an old chest. Now when the young man reached the bottom of the chest he found a wonderful book which he opened and read. It told that the white me had killed the son of the Creator and it said, moreover, that he had promised to return in three days and then again in forty but that he never did. All his followers then began to despair but some said, "He surely will come again some time." When the young preacher read this book he was worried because he had discovered that he had been deceived adn that his Lord was not on earth and had not returned when he promised. So he went to some of the chief preachers and asked them about the matter and they answered that he had better seek the Lord himself and find if he were not on the earth now. So he prepared to find the Lord and the next day when he looked out into the river he saw a beautiful island and marveled that he had never noticed it before. As he continued to look he saw a castle built of gold in the midst of the island and he marveled that he had not seen the castle before. Then he thought that so beautiful a palace on so beautiful an isle must surely be the abode of the son of the Creator. Immediately he went to the wise men adn told them what he had seen and they wondered greatly and answered that it must indeed be the house of the Lord. So together they went to the river and when they came to it they found that it was spanned by a bridge of gold. Then one of the preachers fell down and prayed a long time and arising to cross the bridge turned back because he was afraid to meet his Lord. Then the other crossed the bridge and knelt down upon the grass and prayed but he became afraid to go near the house. So the young man went boldly over to attend to the business at hand and walking up to the door knocked. A handsome man welcomed him into a room and bade him be of ease. "I wanted you," he said. "You are bright young man; those old fools will not suit me for they would be afraid to listen to me. Listen to me, young man, and you will be rich. Across the ocean there is a great country of which you have never heard. The people there are virtuous, they have no evil habits or appetites but are honest and single-minded. A great reward is yours if you enter into my plans and carry them out. Here are five things. Carry them over to the people across the ocean and never shall you want for wealth, position or power. Take these cards, this money, this fiddle, this whiskey and this blood corruption and give them all to the people across the water. The cards will make them gamble away their goods and idle away their time, the money will make them dishonest and covetous, the fiddle will make them dance with women and their lower nature will command them, the whiskey will excite their minds to evil doing and turn their minds, and the blood corruption will eat their strength and rot their bones."
The young man thought this a good bargain and promised to do as the man had commanded him. He left the palace and when he had stepped over the bridge it was gone, likewise the golden palace and also the island. Now he wondered if he had seen the Lord but he did not tell the great ministers of his bargain because they might try to forstall him. So he looked about and at length found Columbus to whom he told the whole story. So Columbus fitted out some boats and sailed out into the ocean to find the land on the other side. When he had sailed for many days on the water the sailors said that unless Columbus turned about and went home they would behead him but he asked for another day and on that day land was seen and that land was America. Then they turned around and going back reported what they had discovered. Soon a great flock of ships came over the ocean and white men came swarming into the country bringing with them cards, money, fiddles, whiskey, and blood corruption.
Now the man who had appeared in the gold palace was the devil and when afterward he saw what his words had done he said that he had made a great mistake and even he lamented that his evil had been so enormous.

Social welfare beliefs

In my Intro to Social Work course we talked about three of the main Value Belief Systems of the social welfare institution. Apparently most social workers fall under the Judeo-Christian model, regardless of their religious persuasion. Makes for an interesting read.

Capitalist-Puritan
Thought to be the most powerful belief system in our society. Often thought of as common sense, or even as American (part of our American heritage).

Basic Assumptions:

1. Human beings are responsible for their own success or failure.
2. Human nature is basically evil, but it can be overcome by an act of will.
3. The primary purpose of people is to achieve material prosperity through hard work.
4. The primary purpose of society is to maintain law and order which makes material prosperity possible.
5. Unsuccessful or deviant persons are not deserving of help.
6. Primary incentives to change are found in economic or physical rewards and punishments.

Humanist-Positive-Utopian
Value-belief system held by most social scientists and many liberals. There is some conflict between this system and religion.

Basic Assumptions:

1. Primary purpose of society is to fulfill man's material and emotional needs.
2. If man's needs are fulfilled, maturity, well adjustment, productivity would follow and society's problems would be solved.
3. What hampers man from attaining this state is external circumstances that are generally not under his individual control.
4. Man and society are ultimately perfectible.

Judeo-Christian
There are values which are acceptable to the other systems. Assumptions are made which underlie much activity of individuals who are concerned with helping others.

Basic Assumptions:

1. Sense of man's common vulnerability.
2. Looking at problems from the point of view of the helped person rather than from the outside (this makes you more sensitive to the needs of others).
3. Emphasis is on relationship as the principal means of helping others.