“Cultural Disconnect - Christian Post” plus 3 more |
- Cultural Disconnect - Christian Post
- Salt Lake City multi-cultural business expo to begin ... - Deseret News
- Cultural tensions hinder China quake relief - msnbc.com
- Nandita Singh: Cultural awareness and self-image - Dallas Morning News
| Cultural Disconnect - Christian Post Posted: 16 Apr 2010 06:12 PM PDT Peter Dans is a Johns Hopkins physician who loved going to the movies as a boy. He watched films like Going My Way and Boys' Town, which featured honorable priests. But after the start of his medical practice in 1961, Dans no longer had much time for films. Fast forward 30 years. Dans was asked to write a column about how Hollywood portrayed doctors for a medical journal. To write it, he had to start going to the movies again. He was struck not only by how badly doctors were portrayed, but also of the contemptuous treatment of Christians and the Church. In his new book, Christians in the Movies: A Century of Saints and Sinners, Dans writes that when he was young, celluloid clergymen "were tough-yet-good-hearted priests, often played by big stars like Spencer Tracy, Pat O'Brien, and Bing Crosby." But these days, he writes, virtually all priests, preachers, and believers are portrayed as "vicious predators or narrow-minded, mean-spirited Pharisees." What happened in those three decades? A huge shift in worldview. In the early days of film, movie-makers understood that religion was a source of comfort and stability for most Americans. But by the late 1940s, Dans writes, social changes were taking place "that would alter Hollywood's reverential approach" to religion. American-made films were required to follow the Motion Picture Production Code, which demanded that subjects like religion and sexuality be treated with sensitivity. But foreign films were not bound by these strictures, and when they began pouring into the U.S., American filmmakers began to rebel against the Code. Second, the tumultuous cultural events of the 1960s led to dramatic changes in our society-including, Dans writes, calls for "nonjudmentalism," disagreements over right and wrong, and "the rise in the affirmation of personal autonomy rights." As Americans became more affluent and secure, Dans says, "there seemed to be less of a need...[for] practicing a faith whose God demanded behaviors that restricted lifestyle choices." And third, polls reflected a huge gulf between the religious practices of the Hollywood crowd and ordinary Americans. This "cultural disconnect" and its reflection in films was accelerated by two important changes. First, after 1965, American Catholics were no longer obligated to avoid films condemned by the Catholic Legion of Decency rating system. Second was the demise of the Motion Picture Production Code in 1968. Today, with a few exceptions like Amazing Grace and The Blind Side, it's hard to find films that do not depict Christians as charlatans, dupes, and hypocrites. Many believers respond by simply refusing to see modern films. But we ought to care about how we are depicted on film, because films are immensely influential in shaping public perceptions of us. We should lobby filmmakers about how we are portrayed-just as other cultural groups do. And when anti-Christian films emerge, we ought to confront them head-on, helping believers, especially our kids, understand the worldview that is driving these films-a worldview that sees Christianity, not as a source of truth and goodness, but of backwardness and evil. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Salt Lake City multi-cultural business expo to begin ... - Deseret News Posted: 16 Apr 2010 07:38 PM PDT SALT LAKE CITY — The first-ever Utah Multi-Cultural Business Expo will take place Tuesday and Wednesday at the Salt Palace Convention Center. The event is presented by United 4 Economic Development and will feature a trade show, workshops, networking opportunities and a luncheon. Details are available at www.umcbe.org. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Cultural tensions hinder China quake relief - msnbc.com Posted: 16 Apr 2010 01:47 PM PDT JIEGU, China - Tibetan monks in crimson robes dug through earthquake rubble alongside government rescue workers Friday, a startling image for a Chinese region long strained by suspicion and unrest. The central government has poured in troops and equipment to this remote western region, but it is the influential Buddhist monks who residents trust with their lives — and with their dead. As the death toll climbed to 1,144, there was tension and some distrust over the government relief effort, with survivors scuffling over limited aid. "They have a relaxed attitude," said Genqiu, a 22-year-old monk at the Jiegu monastery, of the government-sent rescue workers. "If someone's taking their photo then they might dig once or twice." Since Wednesday's quakes, government relief efforts have been slowed by heavy traffic on the single main road from the Qinghai provincial capital, 12 hours away. On Friday, heavy equipment finally arrived. "The disaster you suffered is our disaster. Your suffering is our suffering," Premier Wen Jiabao said in remarks broadcast repeatedly on state TV. Deep divisions Cultural differences might have contributed to Friday's sharp rise in the death toll. In a telephone call with The Associated Press on Friday, rescue officials seemed surprised to hear that hundreds of bodies were at the Jiegu monastery, taken there by Buddhist families. The new official death toll was announced hours later. It wasn't clear whether tensions over the relief effort were driven by longtime suspicions of the government or by the stress of living outside for three days in the freezing air and digging for loved ones with bare hands. Many buildings in the town collapsed in the quakes; countless others are unsafe. Residents of the largely Tibetan town pointed out repeatedly that after the series of earthquakes Wednesday, the monks were the first to come to their aid — pulling people from the rubble and passing out their own limited supplies. Tibetans traditionally perform sky burials, which involve chopping a body into pieces and leaving it on a platform to be devoured by vultures. But Genqiu, who like many Tibetans goes by one name, said that would be impossible now. "The vultures can't eat them all," he said at Jiegu monastery, where bodies were carefully wrapped in colorful blankets and piled three or four deep on a platform. Taken away by taxi One monk estimated 1,000 bodies were brought to a hillside clearing in the shadow of the monastery. Gerlai Tenzing said a precise count was difficult because bodies continued to arrive and families had taken some away. Nearby, two men worked to fit two bodies into the back of a taxi. Yushu county, the area impacted by the quakes, is overwhelmingly Tibetan — 93 percent by official statistics, though that does not include Han migrants who have moved in temporarily to open restaurants, take construction jobs or work in mines. The area largely escaped the unrest that swept the Tibetan plateau in 2008. But authorities have periodically sealed off the area to foreign media and tourists. On Friday, some survivors competed for the limited aid. A line of police held back anxious sunburned residents as aid workers unloaded packets of noodles, tents and other supplies. "I saw trucks almost attacked by local people because of the lack of food and shelter," said Pierre Deve, program director at a community development organization, the Snowland Service Group. "It started yesterday, but you still see some things like this today. It's getting better. Chinese authorities are doing well." Still, he said his aid group was relocating outside town in case things got worse. 'Life is precious' State media said more equipment to check for signs of life was on the way, along with 40,000 tents — enough to accommodate all the survivors. Makeshift rescue teams of monks and fellow Tibetans said they would work until there was no one left to save. "We wanted to help people and save lives," said Dengzeng Luosang, a monk from neighboring Sichuan province, as his crew pushed at a section of wall with wooden beams and yanked away a chunk of concrete with ropes. Nearby, a dozen government rescue workers probed the debris with video cameras and heat sensors. Both teams, one Tibetan and one largely Han Chinese, were likely to spend another cold night sleeping on a bus or in a tent after yet another meal of instant noodles. "It doesn't matter if it is Han or Tibetan," Dengzeng said, wearing cotton work gloves and a simple face mask. "Life is precious." Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Nandita Singh: Cultural awareness and self-image - Dallas Morning News Posted: 16 Apr 2010 11:38 AM PDT "Gulgul!" my mom would call out. Her car window was rolled down, and she was beckoning me toward her. A few of my friends giggled as they heard her yell my awkward Hindi nickname. My face was burning with embarrassment. She knew that I went by only Nandita, my real name, at school. I quickly rushed over to the car and sat down in the back seat. I promptly reminded my mom that my silly nickname was weird and unknown to anyone at school. As soon as I was born, my parents had decided to come up with a nickname to use for me at home. The winning name, Gulgul, was immediately spread throughout our relatives and family friends. When I was younger, I would always try to keep the name Gulgul hidden from my friends at school. Anytime my friends came over and heard my mom or dad call me Gulgul, the response was always laughs and a long, drawn out explanation of my nickname's origins. When Google rose to prominence, the nickname became even harder to explain. "Your parents named you after a Web site?" As I look back on those moments of intense embarrassment now, I realize how childish my feelings were. I did everything I could to hide my culture at school. I never wanted people to know that I could speak Hindi fluently or that I watched Indian soap operas every night with my mom and grandmother. I pretended to know the lyrics to the latest Britney Spears songs, when really the only songs stuck in my head were from the latest Bollywood movies. Even when my friends talked about how much they enjoyed eating steaks and hamburgers, I would never tell them that I did not eat beef because I am a Hindu. As a young child, the idea of being different from everyone else was not only scary but also unimaginable. Over the years, my feelings have changed dramatically. I don't cringe every time I hear Gulgul called out by my parents at school, and my friends are all well aware that my iPod has more Hindi songs than English ones. However, my maturation is not the only factor that has contributed to my ability to talk about my culture more freely. Classes such as world history and geography allow students to take an in-depth look at the multitude of cultures that exist in this world. It is much easier to explain the religion of Hinduism when students have already covered its philosophies in school or have seen examples of it in movies such as Slumdog Millionaire. In that way, the rise of Google and other resources have helped my friends understand my culture a little more. More important, though, I believe the rise in global cultural awareness has significantly decreased the level of ignorance among students and adults alike. Nandita Singh is a sophomore at Hebron High School in Carrollton and a Student Voices volunteer columnist. To respond to this column, e-mail voices@dallasnews.com. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
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