Beaten to death for unbeatable prices

For the past six months, we've regularly heard how our nation's economic situation can be compared with the Great Depression. Just like the stock market crash of 1929 caused other sectors of the economy to crumble, so will the real estate crash we've experienced. In fact, we have seen higher unemployment, a credit crunch, several manufacturing and retail giants threaten bankruptcy, and a significant rise in consumer prices.

But then, yesterday, I read about a temporary employee who was trampled to death at a Wal-Mart on Long Island. Reports indicated that people had been on line since the previous morning. That's right - people skipped Thanksgiving in order to stand in line at a Wal-Mart. Then, at 4:55 AM on Black Friday, the crowd could wait no longer and broke down the door. Twenty-eight people were injured and one man was stomped to death.

Just to see what these great deals could possibly be, I checked out the Wal-Mart circular for Valley Stream, NY. On the front page, it says "Unbeatable prices." They should have clarified that it's just the deals that are unbeatable, not the Wal-Mart emloyees; they can be beaten - to death actually. Honestly, though, while a laptop for $448 is a good deal, I wouldn't miss Thanksgiving for it.

But I don't know who's to blame for the trampling. Certainly the people who broke down the door and knocked the man down are to blame, but I don't think they are the only ones. What about Wal-Mart? In hindsight, they should've had more security. But here's what I just don't understand. If Black Friday is so named because it puts companies "in the black" for the year, why not offer such great deals the whole month between Thanksgiving and Christmas? Clearly, the prices are still allowing these companies to make money. Why such a short window for lower prices?

I don't think it's just Wal-mart's fault, though. Though I myself have never participated in Black Friday, why do we give in so easily to the mob mentality? And I don't just mean the mentality that would crush someone to death; I mean, why do we collectively agree to do what corporations ask us to do? Is it really worth skipping Thanksgiving or dealing with insane crowds in order to save a few bucks? Maybe if we just didn't do Black Friday - just refused to go shopping on that one day, corporations would relent and lower their prices for a more convenient period of time. Right now, though, they say "jump" and America says, "how high?".

So, the Great Depression this is not. But could this be something far worse? Instead of realizing that the gods of consumerism and materialism are weak and idle, our allegiance to them seems to grow the less they provide for us.

Next week it will be December and the Christmas season will be in full-swing. My hope is that more people will realize how silly the greed and "the stuff" really is. While I myself like stuff just like everyone else, I would trade it in for something far better. I mean, when you think about what's really important, do you honestly think about the stuff?




Sources:

Robert D. McFadden and Angela Macropoulos, "Wal-Mart Employee Trampled to Death," New York Times, November 28, 2008. Available online here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/business/29walmart.html.

Advent Conspiracy Promotional Video. Available online here: http://www.adventconspiracy.org.

Music as good and as free as nature intended

I realized that it's been a whole fortnight since I last posted to this blog. Yes, I just used the word "fortnight" and I don't care if it's pretentious. One rarely gets the opportunity to use such words, and I could not forgo the rare and adventitious occasion to utilize such a choice word. (I'll admit that now I'm just being obnoxious.)

Still, I haven't posted because I've been busy and, frankly, not all that inspired by life. With the election behind us and the Winter X Games and Season 5 of LOST still two months away, I don't have much to share. So, I thought I would use this space to point you to some other sites currently giving away some great, free and legal music.

First off, Randall Goodgame is giving away a single from his new EP, Bluebird. It's called "All the Years." If you've never heard of Randall Goodgame, you may know his songs. He wrote "Hands of the Potter," "Share the Well" and "There's Only One" for Caedmon's Call and he recorded a childrens' CD, Slugs, Bugs & Lullabies, with Andrew Peterson a couple years back.

Randall Goodgame - "All the Years"
(right click to save)

Andrew Osenga, also affiliated with Caedmon's Call for the last several years, has released another free EP, Letters to the Editor, Vol. II. Just like the first EP, the ideas for these songs came from fans and friends and the whole thing's acoustic.

Andrew Osenga - Letters to the Editor, Vol. II
(right click to save)

Though they've been up on his site for a while, if you're not familiar with Jason Harrod, he's giving away a few great songs that will be new to you. When I was at Gordon College, Jason and Brian Funck were performing together as Harrod & Funck. They were the 1990's answer to Simon & Garfunkel, that is if Simon & Garfunkel had gone to Wheaton College and had remained virtually unknown for their entire career together.

Jason Harrod - "Siren Song"
(right click to save)

Jason Harrod - "Roll On, Buddy"
(right click to save)

Jason Harrod - "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen"
(right click to save)

There are a few other MP3s floating around Jason's site, so if you liked the above, check out http://www.blogger.com/www.jasonharrod.com.

Finally, Noisetrade.com has some good stuff posted from a bunch of great folks. My personal favorite at the moment is Waterdeep's Heart Attack Time Machine, but there are dozens of other great albums posted right now as well.

All of the MP3 links in the post come right from their original hosting site, so when something's gone, it's gone. I hope you find something you enjoy. Let me know what you think.

The Voice: A Review

It has been said that even the original manuscripts of biblical writings are themselves translations. What is meant is that the Word of God exists eternally in heaven. The Bible is just a terrestrial translation of that Word, put into the context of human history. I think that's true. And that may be why, despite the fact that it took over 1,000 years to write, that there are 66 books, and over 40 human authors, the Bible has one singular, unifying message.

Think about it: there's poetry and narrative, proverbs and parables, prophecy and correspondence, apocalyptic literature and genealogies. Different styles compose different voices. Yet, those voices do not drown out the common message of redemptive history.

That's where The Voice comes in. Normally, when a new translation of Scripture is undertaken, the task is begun by Bible-geeks, those Greek and Hebrew scholars that translate the best ancient texts into English. Then those translations are reviewed by committee after committee, revised, edited, reviewed some more and double-checked. Then those pages are given to professional writers whose job it is to smooth out the translation (linguists and Bible-dorks are not always the best writers). After the grammar-Nazis have had their say, the translation goes (yup, you guessed it) back to committee for more review. The goal is to make a translation that is faithful to the original writings, but understandable to the contemporary English-speaking world. Editors smooth out each book and decisions are made so that the style is consistent throughout the project. But, in that process, the end-result is usually a translation where the original voices have been lost.

Ecclesia Bible Society, the folks behind The Voice, started with the opposite approach. They began with professional writers, poets and artists - unique people chosen for a particular book or two. Bible scholars and ancient language experts reviewed the projects as they progressed, and several layers of review were put into place to maintain accuracy, but the result is a Bible project that maintains the different voices the original readers would have discerned.

Thomas Nelson Publishers sent me a copy of the New Testament that was released two weeks ago and I've been reading it. I must say I really like it.

Here's a comparison of John 3:16-17:

THE VOICE:
For God expressed His love for the world in this way: He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not face everlasting destruction, but will have everlasting life. Here’s the point. God didn’t send His Son into the world to judge it; instead, He is here to rescue a world headed toward certain destruction.

ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

The italics in The Voice indicate words that don't come directly from the original text. They may be implied, but the italics let the reader know that some liberty has been taken.

Another feature of The Voice is that it was written in screenplay format. This gets rid of all the "And Jesus said" and "And he answered them saying" statements that tend to get in the way of the story. Here's another comparison, this time of Matthew 4:1-4:

THE VOICE:
The Spirit then led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by the devil. Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. After this fast, He was, as you can imagine, hungry. But He was also curiously stronger because of His fast. And so He was able to withstand the devil, the tempter, when he came to Jesus.

The Devil: If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.
Jesus (quoting Deuteronomy): It is written,“Man does not live by bread alone. Rather, he lives on every word that comes from the mouth of the Eternal One.”

TODAY'S NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION: Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘People do not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

There's also commentary from the authors that adds to the story. These typically deal with details that the original readers would have understood without an explanation, but that we, who are separated from the stories by time and culture, need help to pick up.

All in all, I think The Voice is a great addition to the wealth of Bible translations we have been blessed with in the English-speaking world. I wouldn't recommend it as someone's primary New Testament for study, but it's a great reading/devotional Bible and I hope it will someday be used commonly in corporate worship. Last week, I brought my copy to the high school Bible class I teach, and the students unanimously loved The Voice (as compared to the NIV, which they use in class).

Here's a complete PDF copy of John's Gospel for you to check out.