Dark Light: Blind artists and their faith.

Pete Eckert became blind at the age of 27 due to a medical condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa, which slowly takes a person's sight little by little. When this horrible things happened to him he did something very interesting...he became a photographer.
One day while he was cleaning out his mother-in-law's drawers he came across an old 1950's Kodak camera. He fooled around with it and decided he to use the infra-red setting, thinking it would be humorous if a blind man was doing photography in a non-visible wavelength.
Eckert sees himself more as a conceptual artist than just a photographer. He only uses touch, sounds and memory to create a picture that he sees in his head.
Some of his most interesting works have been done inside a church. These photographs are very different from anything I have ever seen before, and it is truly inspiring that someone who probably feels like he has lost everything is able to create such beautiful and interesting works of art involving faith and religion.

Are the Simpsons Catholic?

A few days ago, the Vatican's official newspaper the L'Osservatore Romano, reported that the characters of the Simpsons are indeed Catholic. However, with further inspection, some question whether or not this is the case.

Rev. Francesco Occhetta commented to the AFP news agency, "I wouldn't say they're Catholic, I would say they're people of faith. I would say that the Simpsons are open on the question of God."
I find this to be very humorous that the Catholic Church is actually discussing issues of popular culture, and whether or not certain cartoons are in fact religious.
In the show, the Simpsons are long time members of the First Church of Springfield. It is interesting to see that the creators of the Simpsons did in fact include religion in a small aspect of the show. This goes to show that religion is literally EVERYWHERE, even in the silly and sometimes stupid tv shows such as the Simpsons.

Rev, Occhetta commented, "The authors (of 'The Simpsons') are fiercely critical of some religious people but they respect faith, openness to God, prayer and going every Sunday to listen to their pastor, even if they sleep or eat popcorn when they go."

Is there a link between the Christian faith and being American?

While browsing the internet, I came across an article written by Adelle Banks, the Relgion News Service of the Huffington Post. The article discussed the ever growing link between the Christian faith and being "American."
Purdue University did research and found that between the year of 1996 through 2004, Americans who saw Christian identity as an important attribute to being "American" rose from 38 percent to 49 percent!
Banks suspects that the terrorist attacks of 9/11 could have something to do with it. With the ever growing uneasiness with Islam, I feel that many Americans have reinforced their Christian values and linked it with with being "truly American."

I find this to be interesting considering there are so many different religions that are prevalent in the United States. However, like I stated before, I think that its due to the fact that many people are uneasy about other religions such as Islam due to recent events. It seems that people link being American with Christianity, because they link being anti-American with Islam and the Middle East.

Trapped Chile Miner: "God Wanted Me to Stay Here"

Jimmy Sanchez, a 19-year-old Chile miner wrote a letter to one of his relatives while he was trapped underground.

The letter:
"Hi Roxana, I'm very good. I'm not nervous yet. I believe that when my turn comes (to get up on the capsule) nerves will attack me badly. But now I'm happy and calm. I have been always this way. And yes, it's been since August the 4th that I have not see you. That was 2 months and some days ago.

But for me it's like it was yesterday that we got caught here. God wanted me to stay here, I don't know, maybe so I change from now on. I have thought and I'll change a lot. I have suffered too much and don't want to suffer any more. In the hard moments I was thankful of God because I got a daugther. I expect than when my turn arrives everything will be ok. Hugs for everyone."

I found this to be a very intriguing story. It is far different than any story I have read in the news about the Chile miners. This particular man took this situation as a sign from God that he needed to change his ways, and become a better person. It showed him how much he has to be thankful for. There was many positive feedback to this article, and a few negative ones as well. Most positive comments quoted the Bible about hardships, and some were comments of encouragement. There was some negative feedback with comments such as questioning the difference between spirituality and religion.

I found the story to be encouraging, and imagine that an event like this would really put things in your life in perspective.

Architecture: Famous Churches Around the World

St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City
Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
St. Basil's Cathedral, Moscow
Notre Dame de Paris, France
Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence, Italy

New PBS special: God in America

Huffington Post writer Steve McSwain recently interviewed Dr. Stephen Prothero, who is the chief editorial consultant to this new PBS special.
God in America focuses on the fine line between religion and politics, and answers the question of why America is such a religious country. It will show the role God has played in American history.

Interesting/fun parts of the article:
What i found to be very interesting in the Huffington Post article was about a recent survey conducted about religion. It revealed that Atheists outperformed Protestants on their knowledge of all the major world religions.
Dr. Prothero uses an interesting analysis to explain religion in America: "In the supermarket of religion, America has a bigger store. It's the Walmart of religion."

youtube preview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GoGaLrXv7o

one side to the story...

Ground Zero Mosque Controversy

I was browsing my internet news sources the other day and I came across many articles discussing the controversial mosque that is set to be built at ground zero. I guess that is to be expected. However, it saddens me to think that are country is set on one view of Muslims. The article I came across was titled: "Wife of Imam Rauf says her family has received many death threats"
It surprised me to think that some people are completely unable to accept a mosque built at ground zero when we live in a country where we are free to practice any religion.

This raises an ultimate question...Should Americans fear Islam?
Should we base all our knowledge of Islam off of a small group of certain radical fundamentalist's actions? Or should we be upset by the idea of putting a mosque at ground zero to support the same beliefs that fueled the killing of thousands of American citizens?
This is an ongoing issue that should be interesting to follow as time progresses.

Tim Tebow

Bronco Quarterback Tim Tebow's father spoke at Castle Rock Church earlier this month, and spoke about the important role that religion plays in his son's football career. An interesting fact-Bob is a full-time missionary.
One thing I found very interesting in a CBS article, which I hadn't heard about Tebow before was a recent advertising that ran during the superbowl. The advertisement featured Tim and his mother, and tells the story of how his mother had considered having an abortion when she found out she was pregnant. However, due to her strong Christian beliefs she decided to keep the baby.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sUkuO3GSxY&feature=related

I think its interesting that Tim Tebow is SO open about his religious views, almost to a point where it becomes annoying. I feel that people who are uneasy about their religious beliefs might find it awkward to have his religion thrown in their face, such as seeing it on TV while watching him play football.
However, I think its great that Tim Tebow is so passionate about his beliefs. Because he is a professional football player who is also Christian, he is able to spread his beliefs to others easier because he is in the media.