Photos of Philly

It's interesting to me to see how different people like my different blogs postings.  Some like the book reviews, others like postings drawn from my personal life and still others simply enjoy looking at photos.  Because I have decided not to limit the purpose of this blog I have  finally decided on a method to my madness.  I am going to rotate book reviews with personal stories and photo sequences. 

Last week was a book review and the week before a guest blogger, so this week will be a "photo story".  These photos were taken while I was visiting Philiadelphia this past summer.  As you may have noticed from my last posting, I'm a huge fan of American history.  It was wonderful to go where so much of our history as a nacent nation happened. 

                               The above photo was taken while riding a transit train into the city.

This lovely mural was underground in the subway station.

Also at the train station.

An old quaker house.

Actors portraying colonialists at the Independence Visitor's Center

Independence Hall

Needless to say, the Liberty Bell

At the tomb of the unknown soldier.  I don't know who the children were but I thought it made a great picture.

Benjamin Franklin's grave  By the way, his autobiography is worth reading.  A fascinating account of his business ventures, travels and philosophies of life.

Many famous Americans and founding fathers were buried in the same cemetary as Ben Franklin in Christ's Church burial ground.

We rode a trolley car back to the subway. We were so tired we could barely walk, but it was worth it.
I didn't show me eating a pretzel with mustard but I did, for the first time in my life.  Pretty good.

Books about Christian Martyrs and Missionaries

                                                       I had a rather acrimonious dialogue on a Amazon.com review post with another poster. In a nutshell he declared that all Christians were evil. They did more to persecute Jews than Muslims, The crusades, Hitler and Stalin were Christian et cetera, et cetera et cetera... Needless to say I countered every argument he made. We went back and forth for quite a while until I finally asked him why he was so angry at Christians. Was he Jewish? I have the greatest respect and love for Jews. Was he Muslim? I feel the same way towards Muslims. I finally asked him, “Where in the world are Christians persecuting Jews today?” That seems to have effectively ended our conversation because so far he hasn't answered back. (For the actual postings look for Pedric@aol.com's review of the book “The Dhimmi: Jews and Christians Under Islam”. I comment on the initial review and then P. Bojsen and I start getting into it under “replies to post”. I post under the name Sharsharbear.)


                                                 

                                         


Today there are an increasing number of people in this country as well as other western countries who insist that Christians are persecuting non Christians everywhere and especially in America. I listened to a Canadian talk show host on you tube who was attacking, uh, I mean, “interviewing” Ayaan Hirsi Ali about her book “Infidel”. He was claiming that Christians had wormed their way up into the American government in order to persecute anyone who didn't believe as they did.



These kind of accusations have inspired me to review some books that tell a different story. The first:



                                                                 

Foxe Voices of the Martyrs 33 AD to Today.      



This is an updated version of the 16th century book by John Foxe. In the forward of this book the editor writes:



John Foxe wanted the church to know the stories of those who had gone before- those who stood firmly for their Savior even to the painful point of death. Foxe wanted the church to be encouraged by their testimonies, that even in the lowest moments of torture and tribulation, they had found Christ worthy of their devotion and love. He wanted Christians to be blessed and encouraged by the testimonies of those who had gone before, who now formed part of the “great cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1,2) in the stadium of history.




The book starts with the stoning of St. Stephen, which is recorded in the Bible. It then recounts the fates of all the disciples, according to church tradition, and then works its way up to the Middle Ages, the Spanish Inquisition, the martyrdom of Protestants at the hands of Catholic rulers, as well as the martyrdom of Catholics at the hands of despots. It gives an eye-opening and informative account of how both Catholics and Protestants bravely traveled to unknown lands to witness to cultures and peoples steeped in paganism. Though many died for this cause we see the fruits today as Christians in Asia and Africa put us western Christians to shame with their zeal, devotion and willingness to be martyred in their turn. The book ends with accounts of what is happening to Christians in different countries around the world today. It gives a record of what the official policy is of individual countries, mainly in third world nations, and how Christians (natives and missionaries) are treated there. It also gives horrifying but inspiring accounts of those willing to become a part of “that great cloud of witnesses.” To coin a phrase, this book is a must read for every Christian on the planet.





This leads me to another conversation I had with a friend years ago. She professed to embrace all religions and then immediately proceeded to explain to me why it was immoral of Christians to send missionaries to the Indian tribes in South America because embracing the Christian faith corrupted their “original” and therefore “pure and natural” culture.


I recommend the book, End of the Spear and documentary, Beyond the Gates of Splendor to her and others who agree with her. These are a thought-provoking account of Jim Elliot and other missionaries who tried to “proselytize” (some people think that's a bad word, but it's what Jesus told his followers to do) the Auca Indians. They were killed by the Indians for it. The most powerful event in this account for me was when the murderers of the missionaries later became Christians and then baptized the children of the missionaries in the same river that they had killed the fathers. As for a pure and natural religion, one of the Aucas puts it best himself when he says that if it were not for the interference of the missionaries bringing them to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ they probably wouldn't even exist anymore because they would have killed themselves off with all their inter tribal fighting.

















                                                 


                                            
                                                   
                                                                  
Another lesser known but just as powerful book is Bruchko. This is the story of a nineteen year old boy who, completely on his own and with the curses of his own family, flew to south America, wandered through the rain forests of Venezuela until he found the dreaded Motilone Indians who were so fierce and murderous that the other Indian tribes lived in fear of them. This remarkable story recounts how, in spite of no money, no foreign language skills, developing malaria, almost starving if the wounds from spears didn't get him first, plus being held captive for ten months by terrorist revolutionary groups, Bruce Olson (named Bruchko by the Motilones) lead a group of dangerous, primitive tribes to come to know about the love of Jesus Christ and salvation. Not only that, but after the Motilones became Christians, they became sophisticated. In present day Venezuela they have legal representatives who were educated at Universities founded by the Motilones, educating Motilones, including training Motilones to be lawyers. To me this is living evidence how faith in Christ is responsible for the sophistication of societies and the turn to atheism and paganism causes a society to devolve downward to primitivism. For more information go to Bruce Olsen's web site: http://www.bruceolson.com/
 

An evil spirit called, "Self focus"

Once again I am handing my “blogging reins” over to someone who has guest blogged for me before, the mysterious “T”. I was suffering from some stress and anxiety, something that happens in spells. My doctor has suggested medication but so far I have chosen to pray myself through these dark periods. It's not easy but by praying, reading the Psalms through and, as it turns out, telling others I have victory over thoughts of defeat and depression. My friend wrote me the following e mail after a long conversation on the phone. I hope you all benefit from her Godly wisdom as I have.



Hi Sharon,



I was glad to see you last night, and glad you worked things out in your heart and mind so that you could be there to be used as God sees fit.  That is a blessing.  This morning, I woke up with a thought for both of us, as I also struggle with being hard on myself and mincing over every little wrong thing I perceive I may have done….



First, the scripture says…draw near to God and he will draw near to you….this is the way to resist the devil so that he will flee from you.  The next time you begin to hear the accusing voice in your head, stop and tell God you want to draw near to him right in that moment.  Maybe you could find a verse of comfort to memorize that assures you of drawing near to God in just such a moment.  Tell God you are feeling negative and being accused.  Draw near to God the best you can…he will draw near to you.



Next, the cure for worry and self-focus is to be grateful for what God has provided.  I learned to appreciate doing the dishes at my house by keeping in mind that many in the universe have no dishes, and I learned to thank God for my dishes, even when they are dirty and need cleaning (seems a constant chore at my house for some reason).  The next time you go home from Leader’s meeting with accusing thoughts about yourself or others…make a list of things to be thankful for.  Think about everything God did that morning to provide, protect, defend, prepare, and give to you, and ignore the voice that says you did something wrong.  Gratefulness is the cure for grumbling, even when we grumble at ourselves.  Break it down to even the simplest things, like thanking God we sit on chairs instead of on the ground, that we have lights and heat, that we can read and know his Word for ourselves, that God chose you to be there, and on and on and on.  Do it for as long as it takes to make the voices of doubt go away.  All day if need be…we have many things to be grateful for, and this is something I know you can do as I have seen you be grateful on this level many times already.  It is the key to changing your focus.



I am learning this same habit, and it really helps.  I was so glad for the principles of last week’s lesson…because exalting God is the way to navigate these kinds of nasty waters, and it is important to learn to do that as a daily, moment by moment habit.



I hope this helps you, and I will be thrilled to hear how you are doing with it over this year.  We can catch each other up on our progress in this area when we go to Joe Muggs for coffee!



Any thoughts you can add?  I’d love to know how you feel about this idea.

Love,

T

Books on Sign Language

When I taught in public school I had a number of deaf children in my classes. This piqued my interest in sign language and I began to teach myself how to sign. I found a free online site http://lifeprint.com/ which had lessons and I bought books that showed through photos and illustrations the signs for various words. After awhile, though never fluent, I was able to sign basic sentences to my deaf students. To me sign language is fascinating and like any other language offers insight into my own native language. Here's a couple of books that I recommend.

Webster's American Sign Language Dictionary by Elaine Costello, Ph.D

 Signing Everyday Phrases by Mickey Flodin













If you just want a basic dictionary with illustrations, these two books offer a good resource for vocabulary.


Talking With Your Hands, Listening With Your Eyes: A Complete Photographic Guide to American Sign Language by Gabriel Grayson


This next book was made by a man who is an interpreter for the deaf in the New York City Circuit courts. Although hearing himself, both of Grayson's parents were deaf. His book contains photographs of different signers that, with the exception of him, are all deaf. Each person is introduced at the beginning of the book, with a brief but interesting biography.


Also included throughout the book are little vignettes of trivia about famous deaf people, the origin of sign language and other interesting tidbits of information about sign language.

All three books and the online course are worth buying and having more than one book is necessary because none of them have complete vocabularies.

Putting Faith in a Man Made Ideal: The Whisperers by Orlando Figes

What we overheard the adults say in a whisper...we knew we could not repeat to anyone.






We went through life afraid to talk. Mama used to say that every other person was an informer. We were afraid of our neighbors, and especially of the police....Even today, if I see a policeman, I begin to shake with fear....

(In the introduction of The Whisperers)



The Whisperers is a fascinating account of Stalin's rise to power and the devastating impact his oppressive regime had on the people of the Soviet Union. Instead of giving a dry account concerning how the communists were able to come into control of Russia and the purges under Stalin that were to rid the Soviet Union of “enemies of the people”, Figes focuses on individuals and their families. This up close sampling of specific persons brings to life how Soviet people were affected by the “reign of terror” that sent millions of Soviet Citizens (especially those even remotely related to the old Russian aristocracy) into slave labor camps during the thirties as Stalin, with almost schizophrenic paranoia, sought out anyone who might be a threat to his rule.

One can't solely blame Stalin, however. Countless people took advantage of the situation by turning in their neighbors and even their own family members. Everyone's word was believed. No proof was required. One simply accused another of being an “enemy of the people” and they were never seen again. People did this to co workers they had a grievance against. They did it to neighbors whose rooms in the same house (nobody could have an entire house to themselves) they coveted. They did it to a spouse they wanted to conveniently divorce.

If that is not appalling enough, what is even more so-if not simply confounding- is the passivity with which people accepted intimate friends and loved ones being taken away and sent to camps to pay for “their crimes”. A typical response was, “I didn't know they were an enemy of the people but since they are being taken away it must be so.” Many of the people who were arrested wouldn't fight their sentence, especially the hard line communists. Their belief in the socialist ideal was so great that a number of them would shout, “Long live Stalin!” as they were being executed by a firing squad.

Figes takes you inside the households of different families who lived during Stalin's time. He interviewed thousands of people who were still alive in the eighties and nineties to give a first hand account of what happened to them and their families personally. Because of this, one is drawn into a vicarious experience of what these people endured so many years ago. It was often with relief I quit reading a chapter and reminded myself that I do not live under that kind of regime (not yet, anyway-it seems that there are certain ideologues in this country and in our government who are working hard to take away as much of our individual liberties as possible.)

Still, The Whisperers leaves me with some questions. Is it possible for an entire population to be so completely deceived by an individual leader? Figes doesn't record any dissidents. At least they weren't dissidents during Stalin's regime. In retrospect, many (but not all) saw that Stalin was a despot. At the time, however, according to Figes, the Soviet Citizens firmly believed in the Communist ideal and justified any oppression, even genocide, as a necessary means to an end. A common saying was “you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet.”

Another question: where was the church? Was it rendered so ineffectual that it offered no solace, no amnesty? Had absolutely everyone become an atheist? Was Russia truly devoid of Christians back then? I'd like to investigate more into this matter.

In conclusion, The Whisperers is a captivating book filled with the whole colorful spectrum of different people's lives, their emotions, how they survived wondering if they or another family member was going to disappear, how they coped with parents in prison-leaving them as orphans; how spouses endured forced separations and how they themselves survived being a prisoner in a slave labor camp. It's a book that not only will hold you spellbound but one that will leave you seriously thinking about the fragility of democracy when people put their faith in a man made state rather than in moral foundations grounded in Christian principals.

Review of Books by Modern Christian Philosophers: Technology and Justice; In American Babylon: Notes of a Christian Exile; How Should We Then Live

Every person who wants to objectively analyze why our culture and society is shaped the way it is should read three very impressive books.:  Technology and Justice by George Grant; American Babylon: Notes of a Christian Exile by Richard John Neuhaus; and How Should We Then Live? by Francis Schaeffer.

It is hard to review all the depth and detail these books provide on a subject that is so relevant for today. So in a nut shell: all three provide an outline of the progression from Western Society's ability to think from a Christian base to thinking from a secular base. Each author in his own words detail how the “Enlightenment Thinkers” from the Renaissance turned the tide from using a belief system that was grounded in the fact that there is a God, that He created the universe for a purpose and He is reasonable to our modern mode of thinking that asserts there is no God, there is no purpose and it is impossible to reason.





George Grant (1918-1988), the author of Technology and Justice, taught religion and philosophy at McMaster University and Dalhousie University in Canada (according to the back of the book he was considered one of Canada's leading political philosophers). His book focuses on how the above mentioned evolution of western society's beliefs produced modern technology and how this technology influenced society's values. His last two chapters, dealing with abortion and euthanasia, are especially worth reading.








Richard John Neuhaus (1936-2009) was president of the Institute on Religion and Public Life and a Catholic Priest of the Archdiocese of New York.  In American Babylon: Notes of a Christian Exile, he follows along the same line of thought as Grant's book but centers his book on the modern day Christian and how he has to live swimming upstream in order to maintain Biblical beliefs in a society that is now blatantly predjudiced against those beliefs.





                                        Finally, Francis Schaeffer (1912-1984) is considered one of the greatest
 Christian thinkers of this century. In his wonderful book, How Should We Then Live? he follows along the same lines as the other books but with an emphasis on the impact the Reformation had on the sophistication of society and contrasts it with the secular humanists attempt to create “progress".  He vividly describes the impact  the aetheist viewpoint has had on our society (producing leaders and thinkers like Nietszche, Hitler, Stalin et al). Schaeffer also works more from the viewpoint of how our value systems are reflected in fine art. (i.e. When man believed in a reasonable God, his art reflected rational, understandable paintings and music. When man turned away from God he concluded that it is impossible to reason or understand anything-hence art without form or structure).




All three of these reviews are bare bones because there is so much meat in each book that I don't feel that I can adequately describe them in a blog. All I can do is highly recommend that you read all of them. Each book, though written by different men at different times, support each other's premise and if you read all three you will find yourself familiar with names such as Voltaire, Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Nietszche, as well as many other philosophers and scientists that have impacted our modern society. These books are also valuable to the Christian because they articulate so clearly why it is far more reasonable to believe in the Chrisitan God than to reject Him.

One final thought: after reading these books, especially Schaeffer's, I realized that our public school system, in order to teach from a secular outlook on history, science and  socio-political events must give an inaccurate view of those subjects. In other words, in order to leave out God, educators have to cut out huge chunks of historical events-such as the Medieval Church and the Reformation's impact- very positive impact, I might add, on our society. To me this renders education sterile. How can one come to a correct conclusion about our life, where we came from, and why we think the way we do if a major component (Christian thought) is excluded?

Review of The Imam's Daughter My Desperate Fight to Freedom by Hannah Shah

As promised, here is another book written by a woman who was raised Moslem. Hannah Shah (she's changed her name for security reasons) was born in Pakistan but raised in northern England. Hannah begins her story with the memories of growing up on a street mostly populated by Pakistani immigrants who left the grinding poverty of their homeland to make a better life for themselves and their families.


     Hannah starts off her tale with some good memories: walking by herself as a young child down the street going into whatever neighbor's house she chose where she'd be welcomed with some “Pakistani tea- water boiled with tea leaves, hot milk, heaps of sugar,and sometimes cardamon- and something to eat...curry or chapattis.”

     Unlike the other Pakistani fathers who worked hard at trades or professions, Hannah's dad was the Imam- the leader of the local Mosque for the community. According to Hannah, he used this as an excuse to live off the dole and the neighborhood's donations. He lived off English tax payer dollars but he hated white people. Hannah, other than at school, was not allowed to associate with anyone who was not Pakstani. Those people were goray-white people, nonbelievers. In his mind it was permissible to cheat and lie to them.

In fact, Hannah observes in her community and culture that it is actually acceptable to do anything wrong or sinful as long as one doesn't get caught. It wasn't the act that was wrong but rather getting publicly exposed. That would cause shame and dishonor to your family. Every action was determined by whether it would cause the family dishonor. There was no sense of mercy, either. If you did something that caused your family to look bad, not only you but every relative of yours would be ostracized. As Hannah develops her story, she exposes the horrible reality of her own living situation where it doesn't matter how many laws, bodies or spirits are broken, everything is tolerated and ignored as long as what's happening is not made public.

What starts out as a seemingly innocent story about Pakistanis living in England turns quickly into a nightmarish tale of a little girl's physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her father. Her family knows what he's doing but ignores it. The entire community reveres her father because he's the Imam. She points out that the neighbors have to hear what's going on inside her house but for the sake of the Imam's honor pretend they don't.

As a teenager, Hannah turns to a teacher for help. This teacher, meaning well, calls social services who send a Pakistani social worker to help her. Hannah decides to trust this man but he only reports everything to her father. His reason? “It's not right to betray our community...” Dishonor, shame etc..

For Omer, the honor of the community was always more important than the rights of any individual, even when that individual was a child being raped by the Imam.

Finally, Hannah reaches a breaking point. It comes when she finds out her father is planning to send her back to Pakistan to an arranged marriage. According to Shah this is a typical fate of Pakistani girls in England. They grow up in a westernized society and then, without warning or preparation, are plunged into a primitive, poverty-stricken one forced to live with an uneducated, often abusive man who is much older than they are. These girls are helpless.

When Hannah realizes her fate, she runs away. Another teacher, who is a Christian, allows her to stay at her house. This teacher helps her get the legal help she needs to stay safely away from her father. Receiving the unconditional love and acceptance from her teacher, teacher's family and church eventually led Hannah to Jesus Christ. For the first time she felt worth. In her own words:

I had expected God to rant and rave about how bad we humans were, not emphasize the love Bob (the pastor) kept talking about. God's love made him come to earth as a man to communicate with us and care for us... Love. Love. God's love. I felt my heart racing as Bob spoke, and I wanted to know Jesus. I wanted to be a Christian.

Disgustingly, her mother and father, first through tears and wails, try to get her to return to their community. They complain to her how they have all been shamed through her behavior. This same mother who never defended her, who ignored the beatings and the rapes is now distraught over how she would stand in the community. Her father, when tears didn't work, took to organizing mobs to threaten and harass her. For a long time Hannah had to move every few months.

Hannah Shah wrote this book to create public awareness about the harsh realities that are going on inside Moslem communities throughout England. In school, she describes how everyone studies all the religions, but no negative attribute is mentioned in order to create “tolerance for diversity”.

At school our politically safe lessons had avoided that dark and misogynistic side of forced marriages. It was presented as a cultural and religious practice that, while seeming strange to most British people, should be treated with respect and understanding. The reality- that this was often a shocking and brutal abuse of women- was left unreported.

According to Hannah, this is perpetuating the abuse of Moslem girls. It makes me angry to think about the Bishop of the Church of England who is advocating allowing Moslems to live according to Shariah law when such a law enables young girls to be abused and even murdered at times.

It is interesting to note that in this book, though I've merely recorded the stark events, actually is more even in its description of Moslems than the other books I've reviewed. Hannah is quick to point out that not every Moslem home is as hers was. She also says some very interesting things about the Koran and its mention of Jesus. Nevetheless, Hannah makes it clear that Islam is religion that motivates through fear. She found freedom through Jesus Christ when she found that He is motivated by His unconditional love for each of us.

For more information about Hannah Shah and her work you can go to http://www.hannahshah.com/  On this website she has book reviews of other books on the same subject she has written about. It also has links for women who want confidential help and advice.