With the ever-evolving entities of social media and culture, the entertainment landscape has seen interesting changes when pertaining to an artist and their actions outside of the field. We have seen a variety of musicians, actors, and writers’ careers take drastic turns with the ever-looming threat of social media and the media analyzing every decision made and every word they’ve ever said. In this article, I will be dissecting the dichotomy of the artist and the art that they produce. I hope to provide insight on the dilemma of seeing an artist as a conglomerate of their character and music, or just receiving their music as is and disregarding any controversy behind them.

There is a never-ending dispute on whether or not we as consumers can morally participate in receiving the music, movies, or writings of a person who has crossed a line. Many even argue that there is no line and that actions are black and white, and when a bad choice is made they are fully prepared to completely separate themselves from the art form. Constance Grady, writer for Vox.com, reflected on her love for the movie Edward Scissorhands and her disdain for the main actor, Johnny Depp. “I can’t unfeel my teenage love for Edward Scissorhands, and I can’t unfeel my disgust for the current Johnny Depp. And for me, right now, my emotional reaction to the photographs of Amber Heard’s bruised face is stronger than my emotional reaction to one good performance from nearly 30 years ago. This is not a philosophical or ethical decision on my part; it is an emotional one” (Grady, 2018).

I see this as an appropriate take on the issue. In my opinion, there is no black and white when it comes to a topic like this. It seems that the middle ground of this spectrum is to enjoy the work of these controversial figures without advertising it because there is a public penalty in doing so. However, some see things differently. Heidi Stevens, writer for the Chicago Tribune, says, “I do know, for me, I can’t listen to music that, in the case of both [Michael] Jackson and R. Kelly, lured alleged victims into a life of trauma…I don’t see it as a slippery slope toward cutting myself off from the world’s great art. I see it as refusing to ingest poison” (Stevens, 2019).

With all of that being said, it is apparent that there are such cases where the actions executed by certain people are so heinous that it cannot be separated from them; thus, accountability actions must be taken. As aforementioned, R. Kelly partook in despicable acts involving child molestation, and many feel that any participation in his music is enabling such behavior. While I agree with that stance, I have found it hard to hold that same standard for everyone, especially if there are artists that I really enjoy such as Michael Jackson, who is held in high regard by most of the general public. However, in Jackson’s case, there was much psychological trauma from his childhood that festered into his actions as an adult. This is most definitely not an excuse for his behavior, but from human to human, it makes it much easier to reconcile with it all. Ultimately, one must dissect each individual and their circumstance to decide for themselves if they should personally support the artists. It is important to have discernment in cases such as this and to also develop your own opinions when it comes to rejecting or reconciling these artists and their art.

As a Christ follower, the lens with which we should view this debate is one with grace. The Bible says, “For judgement is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgement” (James 2:13, ESV). We must love artists the same no matter what and leave the judgement to God. Their fame does not supersede His word. With this mindset it provides a little bit more moral clarity, but still doesn’t fully answer the question. To be honest, I don’t think there is an answer. It ultimately falls to the receiver’s personal convictions. As for me, I see the art as not necessarily belonging solely to the artists, but instead to my own experience with it. When I listen to Michael Jackson I don’t think about his controversy, rather I feel the memories I have attached with his tracks. Even though the songs were made by the artist, the art is ultimately mine to decide what I do with it. To me, that is what makes art truly beautiful and unique. It is a culmination of our nostalgia and experiences that decide how we interpret it.

This debate will go on forever, but I hope this article has helped you all to form your own opinions and stances. I am so interested to keep this discussion going on and hear your insights, feel free to contact me!

Sources

https://theoutline.com/post/7070/separating-the-art-from-the-artist-isnt-so-hard
https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/10/11/17933686/me-too-separating-artist-art-johnny- https://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/heidi-stevens/ct-life-stevens-wednesday-when-artists-use-art-to-prey-0306-story.html

 

Written by: Alex Quan

Alex is a Junior Business Communications Major and enjoys writing for the blog because of the opportunity to express his thoughts and interests through the medium of a blog! It’s a healthy way to share his opinions with others and hopefully start a dialogue with them.

 

Typically, when Valentine’s Day comes up, people think of a super romantic date with the stereotypical package of roses, chocolates, and expensive restaurants. On the flip side, people may think of an absolutely awful date experience they’ve had. While romantic dates have their great stories, people’s worst date stories are far more interesting to talk about, and that is exactly the direction we are taking here.

Starting off we have Kaitlyn, a dear friend and fellow coworker with a date story that not many people encounter:

“It was the summer before my junior year of high school when I had a very interesting date. Leading up to this “date” I thought we were just friends grabbing dinner, but I soon realized that his intention was a little different than mine. The telltale sign was him picking me up from my front door while also persisting to meet my parents. I had told my parents I was going out with the youth group because I did not want them to think I was going on a date, but they obviously realized that wasn’t the case once he got to my front door. After he proceeded to meet my parents, I got really nervous because I realized we did not have the same intentions. We had a plan to go get a casual dinner and I was more than ready to eat because I hadn’t eaten all day. Once we got in the car, he completely switched the plan and decided to go mini golfing. My grumbling stomach had another thought in mind, but I decided to let it slide and go with the flow. As soon as we arrived at mini golfing, the clear, blue skies quickly subsided and were replaced with stormy, cloudy ones. Our plan to go mini golfing was squashed with the unrelenting rain. So, we decided to plan yet another idea. Our second-best idea was to go bowling and I was excited because I am kind of stellar at bowling. After two games of ruthlessly beating him, I decided I needed to probably let him win at least one game. During the “date”, I was texting my two best friends giving them short updates with what we were doing so I could keep their curiosity peaked.

After bowling, we quickly grabbed ice cream from McDonalds (so romantic) and then he drove me home. My best friends were constantly texting me pawning for details, but at one point they just stopped. When he dropped me off, he walked me up to my front door to say goodnight to me. As we got to my front steps, I heard what I thought was an animal in my bushes wrestling around but I ignored it. As he hugged me goodnight, I then thought I heard whispering from the same bushes, but again ignored it. Immediately after I got into my house, I got a text from my friends asking how the date was which came to a shock because they were spot-on with the timing. As I texted them back with the details of the date, they sent another text saying that we needed to go out to coffee the next morning because they had something important to tell me, which instantly made me nervous.

The next morning, I got coffee with them and they proceeded to tell me that they were hiding in the bushes waiting for me to get home on my date. In addition to that, they were driving around town trying to figure out what bowling alley and McDonalds we were at. At first, I was appalled and then I couldn’t stop laughing. The guy who I went on a date with that night still has no idea. Overall, the date wasn’t awful, but the story behind it makes me want to cringe and laugh at the same time. The moral of the story is: get yourself friends that will hide in bushes to spy on your first date with a guy.”

Our next worst date story comes from another great comrade of mine, Alex Quan:

“I will be sharing a personal worst date story that I experienced back in high school. Unfortunately, what makes this date story bad was my own actions. It was my junior year of high school and there was this girl that I was starting to talk to. We had finally agreed to go on a date and the plan was for me to pick her up so we could go out to Sonic for milkshakes then head to watch a movie together. I had gotten all ready and even threw on an extra spray of cologne before my car decided to not start. I was so embarrassed, but ended up finding the courage to ask her if she could drive instead.

Soon enough, she picked me up and we made our way to Sonic. If I wasn’t already embarrassed enough, I came to the awful realization that I had forgotten my wallet. While I fumbled to find the words to explain my foolery to her and the Sonic worker, she intervened and paid for both of our shakes. If you thought this couldn’t get any worse, you are wrong. As the worker handed me the milkshakes, I let them slip out of my hands and the milkshakes took a tragic fall and spilled all over the inside of the car. Needless to say, the vibes were completely dead, and the date ended at that point as she dropped me back off to my sad car. Yup…rough times.”

Yikes, Alex! Our final date story is one that some of you may relate to from another friend of mine, Madelyn Mauck:

“It was my freshman year of college when I decided to go home for Thanksgiving. My family was asking the usual annoying questions about whether I’m talking to someone at school and whatnot. Then, the third day of Thanksgiving break, my dad decided to share that he set up a blind date for me. I assured my entire family that I did not want to go, but my parents said I had to. When the day rolled around, I was feeling nervous and uncomfortable, but I decided to be open to it. The person my dad set me up with turned out to be a childhood friend’s brother, which was a little awkward, but I was happy to see a familiar face. He took me to Panera for dinner, and things were going pretty well. I ordered my usual broccoli cheese soup in a bread bowl, and we began to talk about college and our plans for the future. I was just thoughtfully listening to his stories while scooping some bread from the side of my bowl, when the plastic spoon snapped into several pieces and soup splattered in my hair and all over my face. I want to know who told them it was okay to give out plastic spoons??? Anyway, we had a good laugh about it and he ran to grab a new spoon and napkins for me.

Later on, during the dinner, he was telling me a very personal story. I went to take a bite of soup, and then I realized I had just scooped a piece of the plastic spoon into my mouth. At this point, I didn’t want to interrupt his story because I felt really awkward, so I kept the piece of plastic in my mouth. I was awkwardly responding to his stories, with this giant piece of plastic in the side of my cheek, which made my voice sound weird and uncomfortable. Finally, I ended up taking it out really quickly while he wasn’t looking, and the rest of the date went pretty smoothly. I never went out with him again, mainly because I couldn’t get past the awkwardness of everything, but it was a good experience.”

So, if you end up getting that dream Valentine’s date, be sure to be thankful that it didn’t go as poorly as the ones just mentioned. On the flip side, if you do end up on the worst date ever, stay positive because it can only go up from there.

Happy Valentine’s Day from Student Activities!

A common question that is asked here at Liberty is to tell somebody your “story” or “testimony”. One of the most crucial aspects of a life story is the people that influence you through it. Although everybody has a different story and has been impacted significantly by multiple people, I would love to shape your perception of “Pastor’s Kids” and show how growing up with fathers as pastors has influenced our lives and our walks with the Lord.

Pastor’s kids, often referred to at Liberty as “PK’s”, have a much different experience growing up than anybody else, and I can personally attest to this. As a PK, the same person that we live with, who takes care of us, who we see the good and bad sides of; that person is also our pastor and the leader that we seek to learn from at church. It can be a really interesting dynamic. I have many friends in which some of their greatest role models are their pastors, but in the life of a PK, that same role model is also the parent who disciplined them the night before.

A Liberty student and fellow PK Caleb Romberger said, “My dad inspired me to walk daily with Jesus and not only did he teach me and train me as a father, he did so as my pastor too.” This is a beautiful visual of the special dynamic that pastors get to spend with their children and how they are able to teach them in two crucial settings. According to another PK, Hope Wright, “You see the highlights and the lowlights of their normal life and their spiritual life and it kind of sets the tone for what’s “expected” in a way.” Nobody is perfect, and that is made visibly clear in the life of a PK. Pastors are held in such a high standard, which is good, but in reality, they are humans like everybody else. It just so happens that their job is to teach the Word of the Lord to others. I would argue that far too often kids see their parents, especially those in the ministry, as perfect and without flaw. Kids are then left to deal with the shock when they find out that their “perfect parent” isn’t perfect anymore. Another PK, Haley Henson, said, “I think it influenced me in that I got to see that my dad wasn’t perfect from a really young age even as a pastor, which kind of made his role one that was teaching me while also trying to learn himself.” This is helpful to realize the younger you are, because from then on you get to live your life realizing your dad/pastor is learning and, quite literally, practicing what he preaches.

One of the hardest parts of being a pastor’s kid is the way that everybody treats you. Growing up, you are a normal kid until everybody finds out that your dad is the pastor and then everything changes. You are known only as the “pastor’s son” and everybody starts treating you differently than they did beforehand. Donny Betts, a pastor’s kid himself, said this about his situation, “It’s not my dad who can be the problem, it’s other people who like to make me look like a perfect kid.” This notion that pastor’s children need to be perfect and spotless is unhealthy and can have many negative effects on the kids as they grow up. There are so many weighty expectations placed over the children of pastors, and when they don’t achieve them, it can bring forth many emotional issues because the kids think that they let their dad down. Of course, that is not the case, but it is still unfair to think of pastor’s kids in such high esteem. They are just that… kids, and they should be treated as such. They should be free to live and make mistakes while still being able to be corrected.

A unique aspect of being a pastor’s kid is the day when we transition into our own relationship with the Lord. Alivia Chenoweth, a student and PK at LU, says it best, “We grew up with God in our lives and in a way, our faith was our parents’ faith.” This is a struggle for every Christian that grew up in the church, but even more so with those that are pastor’s kids. For me, having grown up in the church, it can be easy to look up at the stage and see only my dad instead of my pastor. Growing up with this, I learned to just accept the Christian life and that was all that I knew. It wasn’t until my sophomore year of high school and then again early in college that my faith grew apart from my parents and into my own. I will always be thankful to have an avenue where I can call one person and it fills the void for the pastor and father. Both roles should operate as spiritual leaders, but both work under different scenarios and situations.

I hope that this is insightful information for you. Be on the lookout in the future for PKs and watch their dynamic with their father. The next time you see your friend that is a PK, be sure to ask them what it was like growing up with their dad as a pastor. Treat them normally and don’t hold any unhealthy expectations over them. Their answer will give major insight to how they arrived where they are currently at. Odds are, their dad had a lot to do with it.

 

Written by: Josiah Frisbie

Josiah enjoys writing for the blog because he believes in the power of discussing relevant topics. He wants to be challenged in his writing and research style while still growing and striving for knowledge.

Recently on the blog, we shared an opinion piece about the NBA All-Star rankings. In the post, one of our staff writers, Swain, passionately denotes statistics and historical data to support his thesis, which is that putting the power into the hands of fans to make decisions about who the best in the league is can be detrimental. He goes on to say fans often look at popularity and name recognition in lieu of looking at what should matter most, which in the case of the NBA is how great of a player they’re voting for. If you want to read more about this theory, hop on over to the blog post “Seeing Spotlights, Not Stars” part one. This blog post is part two, and it will focus more on the upcoming Oscar nominees. This year, just like every year, the Oscar nominees are never unanimously praised. In recent years, many issues like race for nominees overall, gender of director nominees, and snubs for Best Picture have come to light, raising the question each year of “who is this Academy made up of anyway?”. And should they be making decisions year after year for the greatest award a film or individual could win?

Here’s a little background information for you – the Academy Awards (aka, the Oscars) are decided upon by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. There are approximately 8,000+ men and women who “recognize and uphold excellence in the motion picture arts and sciences”, according to Oscars.org. There are many different branches in the Academy, ranging from Actors to Costume Directors to Production Design and so much more. Requirements for even just being eligible to be considered a part of the Academy is to have “achieved unique distinction, earned special merit, been nominated for an Academy Award”, etc. They don’t just let anybody in!

You may be thinking what I’m thinking – how do we know anything about the 8,000+ people who are involved in the Academy decisions? Unfortunately, there isn’t a list of every person in the Academy, but from this article published on January 22, 2018, the average Academy voter in 2014 was “on average 63 years old, with 76% of the members being male and 94% of the members being white”. Of course, that was six years ago, making it difficult to know if those numbers have changed much at all.

With this in mind, let’s take a look at the most nominated films for the 2020 Oscars. The top spot is taken with 11 nominations by Joker, followed closely by Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, The Irishman and 1917 with 10 nominations. Here are some snubs everyone has been talking about:

• Greta Gerwig (Little Women) for Best Director
• Uncut Gems as a whole
• The Farewell as a whole
• Jennifer Lopez (Hustlers) for Best Supporting Actress
• Lupita Nyong’o (Us) for Best Actress
• Dolemite Is My Name as a whole
• Frozen 2 for Best Animated Feature Film
• “Spirit” (from The Lion King) as Best Original Song

There are more snubs, of course, but these are the ones that are being discussed the most. Many commentaries have been released after the Oscars nominations came out on January 13, and many of them have caused movie fans to question – should the Academy have this much power? Are they making the right decisions when it comes to awarding the people who deserve it? Or are they looking through biased lens, especially when the top four movies that are nominated are, in my opinion, a bit more interesting to males? I mean come on – Joker is about a criminal mastermind, 1917 is a war movie, The Irishman is a post-war movie about organized crime, making Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood the most “sentimental” of the top four movies (and it still includes action and violence). Sure, films that may seem to appeal to women more such as Little Women and Marriage Story each have six nominations, but the odds for a Best Picture win aren’t necessarily in their favor. To me, this is because the Academy is a group of people that are dominantly male and, as aforementioned, in the age range of the 60s.

This is the question that can be posed: does the Academy just see spotlights, not true stars? This isn’t to say that anyone nominated shouldn’t have been; instead, there are many people and films that should have been. But what does the Academy make this all about – true talent, or their own bias and subjectivity? And finally, is it even possible to choose films that should win categories without a little bit of bias?

Don’t get me wrong, there has to be a group of educated, qualified people who make the decisions for the Academy Awards. Can you imagine if fans were the voters? That sounds like an absolute disaster, and I can say pretty positively most people would agree with me on that one. Therefore, my best suggestion (which is idyllic and will come off quite naïve, but oh well) is one I believe many people would suggest themselves – to push the Academy towards including more diverse members when it comes to race, gender and age. This is something that seems to be actively happening, but with any change in a group of 8,000+, the steps we will take to get there will expectantly be slow.

At the end of the day, we’re silly to think we don’t see spotlights instead of stars. Our celebrity-obsessed culture makes it difficult to recognize true talent, whether it manifests itself in NBA stars or Oscar nominees. And when you’re not one of the people who make the big decisions, it can feel like your opinion doesn’t matter anyway. But there are ways we can show support to the true stars we care about. Purchase tickets to the movie you want to win Best Picture – go see it multiple times! Support starts from us, and we can show it in small ways effectively.

What do you think about the Oscar nominees? What is your favorite Best Picture nominee?

Sources

https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-features/oscars-2020-biggest-snubs-936702/

https://oscar.go.com/news/nominations/oscar-nominations-2020-list-nominees-by-category

https://www.motionpictures.org/2018/01/meet-7258-members-academy-choose-oscar-winners-okay-not/

https://www.oscars.org

Many people are unsure of what adoption and foster care is and what the difference is between them. Legally, adoption is “the process by which a legal and permanent parent-child relationship is created through a court process” (Adoption Network), while foster care is “a temporary arrangement in which adults provide for the care of a child or children whose birthparent is unable to care for them” (Adoption Center). One is considered long-term and the other short-term respectively, however, both are very important. As Christians, we should be more educated on what adoption and foster care are because we are all adopted children of our heavenly Father.

According to IFoster, in 2019 alone there are “approximately 440,000 foster youth nationwide”, which means that the epidemic is not only growing, but it is growing at an all-time high. The four largest football stadiums in the United States could be filled to capacity and still not hold all the children who are currently in the system. The concerning part is that the system used to be so much worse, so these numbers are a sign of substantial growth.

Starting in the early 1700s, we had the earliest forms of orphanages. Even though orphanages were more helpful than doing nothing, they were ultimately only putting a Band-Aid on a bigger problem. There were lots of horror stories from orphanages back in the day, and my personal experience working in one this past summer in Romania confirmed that there are still many lingering issues. Orphanages were often overcrowded, understaffed, and lacked proper resources for the children, which resulted in unsustainable care for these children. In the 1900s, the United States started to figure out these issues and made a switch to the earliest form of the child welfare system. Foster care started booming in America: “By the 1950s, more children lived in foster homes than in orphanages in the United States, and by the 1960s, foster care had become a government-funded program” (Spence, 2018). This was such a positive sign, but we knew we still had a long way to go.

According to Adoption Network, “135,000 children are adopted in the United States each year.” This statistic is encouraging to look at, but if you do the math, you will find that roughly 305,000 children are still in foster care at the end of the year instead of in a permanent home. The Abba Fund surmises, “If one family in every three churches in the US adopted a waiting child, every waiting child in the US would have a forever family.” Imagine a society where every child has a home to call their own and a place to grow in love. Even though one-third of Americans have considered adoption, no more than two percent of those people have actually adopted children (Adoption Network). As I look at the growing abortion rate, which is already at 3.2 million abortions worldwide for 2020 (Worldometer), I can only help but think if that baby would have been born it could have been adopted into a loving family. The key within that is that we have to be able and ready to adopt or else this epidemic will never end. We are a part of the problem and we are a part of the solution.

Ephesians 1:4-5 says, “For he chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will.” This verse shows us that adoption was not an afterthought in God’s mind, but rather His plan. We are called His sons and daughters because God adopted us into His heavenly family. John Piper states, “You were adopted for the praise of the glory of his grace. God’s action in adopting us is radically God-centered and God-exalting.” We are not adopted because we are perfect, but rather because we are imperfect and broken and we need someone to take care of us.

As Christians, we are given the opportunity to be more like our Savior when we decide to adopt children who do not already have a home. We do not deserve the gift of eternal life with God and the label of being His precious child, but He freely gives it to us anyways. I strongly believe we should learn how to give the gift of a home or family to a child in need, especially because it was given to us first even though we did not deserve it.

Sources

https://adoptionnetwork.com/adoption-definitions

https://www.ifoster.org/6-quick-statistics-on-the-current-state-of-foster-care/

https://www.adopt.org/what-foster-care/

https://adoption.com/do-orphanages-still-exist/

https://www.worldometers.info/abortions/

https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/predestined-for-adoption-to-the-praise-of-his-glory

“With great power comes great responsibility” is the life quote of Uncle Ben from Marvel’s Spiderman, and its reigning truth is evident in fans of all genres. Fans hold the power to support artists, taking someone from being a nobody to a headlining star in virtually no time at all. Fans have the power to get into the head of an opposing visiting player and cause him or her to lose concentration as they try to make a key free throw. Fans have the power to encourage or discourage the success of a project by way of reviews and attendance. The amount of power fans have is, in my opinion, honestly astonishing.

My argument is that fans oftentimes abuse their multi-faceted power – the NBA All-Star voting being a prime example of the abuse of power, lack of wisdom, and fullness of immaturity of fans. The All-Star game carries no mid-season significance, but its effects can be lasting in terms of endorsement deals, contracts, confidence, incentives, momentum, and even Hall of Fame voting. It’s not just playing time in a glorified pick-up game on the line here; there are some long term implications. With 50 percent of the vote for All-Stars belonging to fans and 25 percent going to the media (with the last 25 percent belonging to the players themselves), fans carry a tremendous amount of power in determining who gets to play on February 16^th in Chicago.

In their ignorance, fans have voted more for name recognition than for recognition of how players have actually played this season individually. They love what is popular, but is popularity always good or productive during the season? For example, Steph Curry, a multi-time MVP and champion who revolutionized how people play basketball by bringing about renaissance of the 3-point shot, is sixth in the West for guards as of January 16, 2020. The trouble is that Curry has only played in four games this season after injuring his wrist against the Suns early on. Based off of how Curry has performed in the past, it is safe to say he would likely end up in the All-Star game based off his production levels. Yet, this year, due to his injury, he has not been able to produce. Because Curry is taking up a spot in the fan-voted guards category, players like DeMar DeRozan of the Spurs and Jrue Holiday of the Pelicans are not currently in the Top 10, both of whom have been very productive for their teams this year. They do not carry the same name recognition as Curry – yet is that reason enough for them to not be in the Top 10?

Alex Caruso of the popular Lakers squad is averaging less than six points with only 2.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, but is fourth in the guard voting for the West. This is all because the LA Lakers have a vast fanbase and Caruso has become a bit of a league meme. Caruso’s level of production is nowhere close to DeRozan, who is averaging 22.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game. Another Lakers star, Dwight Howard, is tenth in the West’s frontcourt voting with 670,643 votes, yet is only averaging 7.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, and less than one assist per game. The only reason he is in the All-Star fan vote Top 10 is due to past popularity, the team he is on, and fan ignorance regarding which players actually deserve to be in the Top 10.

This is not to say that popular players are not producing or deserving of All-Star votes altogether, as many of them became popular by playing well and earning their spots. Reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo is averaging 30.1 points, 12.9 rebounds, and 5.5 assists and he leads the East in votes. This is also not to say that popularity should play absolutely no role in the voting process. Rookie sensation Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies is not putting up as impressive of numbers as some other guards, but he is competing at stellar levels as a rookie. For this reason, it is understandable why he would be in the running for an All-Star spot. The problem becomes when popularity causes fans to blindly vote for players and hard work is inevitably neglected.

Many advocate for the dismantling of the fan vote, which I am for if fans continue to make extremely biased decisions when determining who to vote for. We the fans should recognize good game instead of just names, and we should applaud hard work and productivity – not just popularity. We should help the underappreciated become recognized through the powers we possess. To conclude as this piece began, we as fans have a great amount of power in our hands that we have to take responsibility for, just like Uncle Ben says. And if we don’t take responsibility to make educated decisions, the question of our freedom to make decisions is the only one that remains.

(All stats are taken from the NBA All-Star voting bios on NBA.com or from ESPN.com)

Sources

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/28497105/lakers-lebron-james-maintains-lead-fans-vote-all-stars

 

Written by: Landen Swain

Landen believes the human experience longs to be expressed; through our art, our labor, our songs, our storytelling. As a published playwright, author, and poet, he enjoys expressing his little chapter of the human experience through his writings and is thankful that the SA blog allows him to do that. He is published in numerous magazines, literary journals, and has several plays published by Off the Wall Plays, an online play publishing house.

Traveling is always a huge part of the holiday season, whether it’s to visit family, go on vacation, or become a tourist in an unfamiliar city. My family usually stays in my hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, for the holiday season, but this year we decided to shake it up a bit. With Christmas right around the corner, I’m going to share a little bit about my family’s upcoming trip to New York City.

We plan to fly out of Atlanta on Christmas morning around 5 AM, which will put us in New York City at approximately 8 AM. Our first stop on the itinerary is tea time at The Plaza Hotel. Located inside The Plaza is The Palm Court, which offers a variety of gourmet sandwiches and hot teas. I ordered ahead and chose the Eloise Holiday Tea, with an English Cucumber Sandwich. After we finish tea time at The Plaza, we plan to take a trip to the Empire State Building. I’ve been to New York several times in the last few years, however, I have yet to visit the Empire State Building. In the evening, we plan to go ice skating at The Rink at Rockefeller Center around 8:30 PM. We will likely be exhausted after walking around the city all day, so naturally, we plan to grab a New York slice from Marinara Pizza Place—supposedly the “best pie in New York City”.

On the second day, our first stop on the list is window shopping at Fifth Avenue. There’s something about being in New York City during Christmas time that will make shopping with my family so special. After shopping, we plan to do something more relaxed, which means we will be heading to the American Museum of Natural History to see the iconic skeleton of the Tyrannosaurus rex. Next, we will make our journey to The Boat House in Central Park. We plan to conclude the second day with frozen hot chocolate from Serendipity’s.

The last day is not planned, which means we will have a bit of freedom to fit in anything that we missed. I am extremely excited to experience New York City during the holiday season, and I can’t wait to eat some of the best food in New York. I hope to make new memories with my family, and just enjoy the time we have in the city together. I wish to everyone traveling during the Christmas season; safety, blessings, and a Merry Christmas!

Sources

https://www.opentable.com/the-palm-court-at-the-plaza-hotel

https://therinkatrockcenter.com

https://www.amnh.org

https://www.marinarapizza.com

https://www.thecentralparkboathouse.com/

https://serendipity3.com/menu/

“Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God.” The opening of Psalm 100 cannot be clearer to believers that worship is a command from the Lord. But what is worship and is there a correct way to do it? Does the Lord prefer one way to all others? If you are like me, I have been exposed to many different “worship traditions” in my life. Worship traditions can include a myriad of things, but the two that are most differing in style is the choice of raising hands or not during worship, and for the sake of this article I will be focusing solely on these. Personally, I do not raise hands when I worship and unfortunately have dealt with uncomfortable situations where I have been called out in my worship style because according to that person it was “not the right way.” I hope that this article will encourage all believers that worship is not how you do it, but Who you are doing it for, regardless of personal choice of style.

The idea of raising hands during worship has been reflected in both in Scripture and through the lives of Christian writers. In Psalm 134:2 it says, “Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the Lord.” Multiple other passages affirm this form of worship throughout Scripture. Additionally, John Piper wrote an article on this very idea of raising hands during worship. Piper states, “Either it comes from the heart and is valuable as an expression of the heart, or it is a performance and has no worship value at all.” Authenticity is the core of hand-raising worship because without having the intent to worship God through it, all the person is doing is simply raising hands for attention. The focus should never be on yourself, or what people’s opinions are on your worship style, but Who you are worshipping. God created worship to bring praise and thanksgiving for the wonderful things He does in everyone’s lives. It is not a time to show off yourself, but to show off God. Raising hands in worship is an awesome way to express praise and worship to the Lord, but Christians should make sure that their heart intent is right.

What if you worship without raising hands? Worshipping involves joy. If you’re not worshipping with joy, you’re not worshipping at all. In Psalm 84 it says, “Happy are those who live in your house, ever singing your praise. Happy are those whose strength is in you.” God commands us to be happy when coming before Him to worship. The problem that arises with people who do not raise hands is that they can come across as not joyful. That since there is no physical expression, that they are simply just singing the words but not meaning it. According to Christian journalist Chuck Abernathy, “We are encouraged in Galatians 5:25 that if we live in the Spirit that we should also walk in the Spirit… To keep step with Him is to be inconsistent fellowship with Him, and there is no better way to accomplish this than through daily personal worship, whereby we experience the beauty of His holiness and presence.” Personal worship is key in the life of a believer. When one does not show physical expression in worship, the focus should be on personal and internal praise with of course being joyful through and through.

No matter if you worship with arms lifted high, or by your sides, the focus should always be on God. Christians can become used to a certain way to worship, but I would like the key takeaway to be blind to how people worship and just enjoy the presence of God. You are not the focus, and neither are the people around you. Utilizing this idea will be freeing in the sense that you can worship with believers around you in harmony and show the true admiration that God deserves.

Sources

ESV Bible

https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/should-we-raise-our-hands-in-worship

https://www.savedhealed.com/Worship_Fresh_Look.htm

In just a few short weeks I will be going back to, in my opinion, the best city in the United States. Chicago is home to some of the most famous American landmarks, amazing food, talented sports teams, unbeatable entertainment stars, bargain shopping, and one of the most beautiful skylines. I could go on and on about how amazing I think Chicago is, but I think I should just prove it to you. Here is the ultimate guide to the Windy City.

The beautiful sights of Chicago are one of a kind and rich in history. The Chicago Fire in 1871 devastated the city, but it also is the main reason Chicago is as beautiful as it is today. Because of the fire, the city coordinators were able to plan out the city unlike almost all other cities around the world. The fire caused a universal building scheme that allows the city to appear as cohesive. One of the only buildings to survive the Chicago Fire is the Water Tower, which is still standing today. Chicago is known as a business hub, especially after the fire, “After the 1874 fire, the slow and expensive process of rebuilding with fireproof materials began. Big banks and businesses, which handled millions of dollars in revenue every year, dominated Chicago’s new business district” (Schons, 2011). In addition to all the business buildings and banks, we have the Willis Tower, the John Hancock Center, the Trump Tower & Hotel, and the Water Tower Place. The Willis Tower is the tallest building in Chicago and has a beautiful view of the city from the 103rd floor. The best view of the skyline is by the Adler Planetarium and no matter the time of year, it is always breathtaking.

Deep dish pizza, Portillos, Garrett’s popcorn, Chicago style hot dogs, and Chicago Italian beef are only a few examples of the amazing variety of food that the Windy City has to offer. In Chicago, you will lose money and gain calories because of how good the food is. No one can master deep dish pizza like Giordano’s (and I guess Lou Malnati’s depending on who you talk to). For those of you who do not know what deep dish pizza is, it is pizza that is inches deep and has sauce on the top instead of cheese. It is one of a kind and Chicago is known as THE place to get it. You will never go with a grumble in your stomach when you are in the city because of the countless, delicious options.

Chicago houses some of the best music artists, sports teams, and movies of our generation. Our generation’s most recently talked about artist was raised in Chicago. Can you guess who it is? None other but Kanye West! Kanye’s song “Homecoming” is all about Chicago and all of the things he loves about it. In addition to Kanye, some other artists that are from Chicago are: Chance the Rapper, Chicago, Earth, Wind, & Fire, Fall Out Boy, and Jennifer Hudson. In the 1990s to early 2000s a lot of classic movies were filmed here in Chicago. A few of the movies include Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, My Best Friend’s Wedding, Sixteen Candles, Home Alone, The Dark Knight, Transformers, Divergent, The Fugitive, and Spider-Man 2. Chicago sports teams have won numerous Stanley Cup, World Series, NBA Championship, and Superbowl titles over many years. The most recent win for Chicago was when the 2016 Cubs won the World Series title after 108 years without it. “Officials estimate that 5 million people showed up to the Chicago Cubs parade and rally Friday, making it the 7th largest gathering in human history” (Fox32, 2016). Chicagoans are filled with pride for their city, especially when it comes to sports.

It is so easy to shop till you drop in a city with thousands of cute and trendy shopping options. Magnificent Mile is the epicenter of shopping in the city, “The Magnificent Mile boasts more than 460 retailers, including popular brands; major department stores; international luxury labels and designers; and three vertical shopping centers, each with incentives and premier savings”. Another hidden hotspot for shopping is Nordstrom Last Chance, which is a little bit outside the city. There are only two of those stores in the entire United States and it is a “final-clearance store for returned and overstocked merchandise from Nordstrom stores, Nordstrom Rack, and Nordstrom.com”. They have designer brand clothing at thrift store prices. Shopping never gets old in this city and neither does my wallet because of the countless great deals!

Chicago is an amazing city filled with beautiful sights and people. I encourage everyone to go and experience all this city has to offer at least once in your lifetime! I hope you can use this as your guide to explore the Windy City!

Sources:

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/chicago-fire-1871-and-great-rebuilding/

https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/cubs-world-series-celebration-ranks-as-7th-largest-gathering-in-human-history

https://www.themagnificentmile.com/shopping/

https://shop.nordstrom.com/store-details/last-chance-clearance-store

The increasing epidemic of human trafficking (child labor, underpaid labor, sex trafficking, debt bondage) is one hard pill to swallow; it can be easy to think it is too large an issue for one person to tackle alone. I think where a lot of people struggle in helping in social justice issues is they personally feel that they are not “big enough” or “important enough.” This could not be further from the truth.

I read a story recently of two women from the article “Understanding Human Trafficking in The United States.” These authors are two women who were someone’s daughters, someone’s friends. Their names are Samriah and Enung, and they were “recruited” from Indonesia to live with a kind, American family. This family would provide them work and a way to make their dream happen here in America. These women were promised much by this American family. Once arrived, these women were excessively beaten, abused, starved, and tortured by the family. There was no explanation as to why these women were treated so poorly; the family was twisted and selfish. This is human trafficking and it is happening in America. These women were seen by various witnesses within the home. A witness even saw one of the women crawling up from the basement, her forehead bleeding. They were seen by outsiders, and yet were not rescued from their terrible reality until one of them ran away to the police after five horrible years. Why did no one ask two clearly abused women what was happening?

Recognize signs, friends. Report suspicious behavior. Ask neglected-looking individuals about their lives. Medical professionals have so much opportunity to recognize trafficking victims, like when children or a “family member” do not resemble the rest of their family, or when sickly patients come in with excessive dental decay, HIV, or pelvic pain. The list goes on. Maybe you aren’t a medical professional so these signs feel irrelevant – don’t feel irrelevant. I have seen human trafficking and not known until further learning the signs of it. I could have done something, but I didn’t do anything, and it genuinely hurts me knowing that I could have done more. I don’t want you to look back and realize you could have helped, but didn’t.

There was one night I was driving back to my hometown, somewhere where prostitution is active and known about. I noticed three BMW’s all sitting, turned off, lined up along the curb of an empty street. Seeing this at 1:00 AM as an 18-year-old-girl didn’t make me feel the safest, so the last thing I thought to do was stop and investigate. Although, looking back, I know for a fact that those three well-dressed men, all sitting in their cars, late at night were there with the same intentions. I learned just a bit later that prostitutes will generally wait outside of sight, while pimps roam the streets searching for waiting cars. As the cars wait, pimps select a victim, put them in the car, and they begin their “work”. It is as disgusting and repulsive as it sounds, and I actually saw this all happen. I 100% did not do the right thing in this. Obviously, everyone, stay safe. Make wise decisions and know your boundaries. BUT, if you see this occur, please by all means call the police and report what you have seen. You can do so anonymously (which is what I would recommend), and leave the situation knowing you did all that you could. Even seeing children out and about with adults who seem crude, aggressive, and genuinely disrespectful to the child can be a sign. Asking children you meet about their life is not a bad idea; in fact, be a little nosey if you believe something more may be happening in their current living situation.

Donation to organizations who are actively training medical professionals, counselors, law enforcement, or providing safe homes helps so greatly. Engaging in challenges such as Dressember makes an impact. People ask questions because they don’t understand, but you can help them understand. Ask questions when you don’t understand. It is okay to not know, but push yourself to learn and educate yourself so you may be the positive change the world needs. This world needs more fighters in Jesus’ name. In knowing Christ, we know then that the same Holy Spirit who lived in Moses, John the Baptist, or Paul lives in each of us. The Holy Spirit is not limited to whether or not you believe you are enough; the Holy Spirit is entirely outside of our own comprehension and will use you if you allow Him to.

There is so much I wish I could say in this little post. One blog won’t shake the world; I know that full well, but I hope if anything it is able to give you a glimpse into the life of a human trafficking victim. I think understanding victims starts with allowing ourselves to become uncomfortable for a minute or two. Jesus was fiercely uncomfortable in His most important work, so we should be able to be uncomfortable too if it means bringing forth change. We all have a voice to be used. My greatest hope is that followers of Christ would use their voice, in love, to impact those around them; this is me trying to do that. Please, everyone, know that your voice does 100% matter; YOU matter. Anything you say is heard by those around you, whether you believe they are listening or not.

Human Trafficking Hotline:

Call: 1(888) 373-7888

Text: BeFree to 233733

Human Trafficking Organizations (Donate! It is good for everyone involved!):

Dressember: https://www.dressember.org

International Rescue Committee: https://www.rescue.org

Free the Girls Bras: https://freethegirls.org

Polaris Project: https://polarisproject.org

Shared Hope International: https://sharedhope.org

Sources

https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?v=2.1&it=r&sw=w&id=GALE%7CA330005276&prodId=HRCA&sid=googleScholarFullText&userGroupName=vic_liberty_sp&u=vic_liberty_sp

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1524838008327262