I like it on the Rubbish Tip - Breast Cancer Awareness

We all need to become more aware about Breast Cancer. So lets use SEX as our marketing tool. It is sure to work. Women will have a chuckle as they update their facebook status:
* I like it on the staircase
* I like it on the kitchen table (supposedly refering to their handbags)

Is this good marketing or a pathetic use at using sex to sell an idea?

We very quickly become confused. Lets break it down. We use marketing technique 'A' to sell the idea 'B'. If 'A' is effective then 'B' will catch on as an idea. Now if 'B' is extremely important, and life altering, does it then matter what the substance of 'A' is? I mean if 'B' is so very important, surely it is irrelevant what the content of 'A' is? Or are they ethically mutually exclusive, and so if 'A' is wrong in and of itself, then it is irrelevant regarding the importance of 'B'.

I argue strongly here, that the Breast Cancer Awareness marketing techniques used (that is, 'A') is related to the sexualisation of women, and is moraly wrong. I am saying that this marketing technique is wrong in and of itself; and while the idea of breast cancer awareness is very important, using sex to drive home the idea is just the brain child of a lazy marketing department and it continues to pervade our culture with lustful sex and the sexualisation of women.

Please don't use the argument - "well there are more important things to worry about than this". Sure. But there always is. We could talk about a blog regarding someone with foot pain - but is this irrelevant because someone in Sri Lanka has elephantitis? We could talk about how to stop a migraine - but should we stop talking about this because there is someone who is on life-support needing brain surgery? The sexualisation of women is wrong, and this marketing technique taken on face value, is cheap and pathetic.

Ohh, I just thought of a new Prostate Cancer awareness idea - Every man drop their dacks, tack a picture of their private parts and upload it to facebook... Ohh, sorry, did I go too far that time? Or am I just creatively using sex to get my idea across?

Lessons learned on Kid's Camp

Big Kid's Camp in the NT taught me and reminded me of some things, that even the adults need to be reminded of. Here's some of them:
* God is a BIG God, and we have seen his creation
* God wants us to have a relationship with him through his son Jesus Christ.
* Sleeping in a Tent can be the most uncomfortable thing to do
* Cane Toads and Snakes increase your prayer life
* Leadership is about participation and influence around others, and an ability to help others move towards a common goal
* Sometimes you are called to clean disgusting toilets without asking for recognition... :)
* The Apostle Paul says everyone has seen God's creation (Romans 1), and therefore we are actually without excuse before God. The ultimate revelation of God in found in God's son, Jesus.

Thank you to the Children's Leaders present at the Kid's Camp in the Northern Territory - To Jennie Shrimpton and David Shrimption, Vaughn, Sarah, Sherrie, Chris, Emmanuel, Violet, Kaye, Emily and Chris. God bless you guys. God will reward you one day for the investment you make in the lives of these children.

Lets serve Jesus from the bottom of our hearts, and make God famous in the meantime... !

Book Review - Australian Soul - Gary Bouma

Australian Soul (Religion and Spirituality in the 21st Century) – Gary Bouma (2006)

As Bouma unpacks cultural particularities of varying Christian expressions (:86-95), his bias clearly shows towards following orthodox traditional churches (e.g. Catholic, Anglican, etc). While he refrains from overtly expressing his opinion, he has an element of sarcasm and distain to Pentecostalism and ‘mega-churches’ to which he frequently refers. While at one point he mentions the growth of churches such as Hillsong, and those of a charismatic/Pentecostal nature, he then mentions later (: 206), that Religion and spirituality, ‘will take forms that are quieter, less charismatic and more towards to the low-temperature end of the scale of religious intensity than elsewhere’. The quote and his mentioned statistics do not correlate. Maybe his bias against emotionally laden churches vs. rational based churches is being shown; the latter being his preferred religious context. When mentioning having a memorial service, possibly outside of an Anglican Cathedral and rather in a mega-church, Bouma sarcastically writes, ‘Of course their facilities hold more people than most cathedrals, they have better sound systems and, what is more, they are more likely to have parking’ (:117-118).

 The author expresses opinions that are controversial within Christian circles. He seemingly alludes to the idea that, issues like same-sex marriages and homosexuality only fail to be acceptable because of the fundamentalism of the Christian church, and that we should let diversity reign. Bouma’s thesis appears to be, ‘If Christians were just more open-minded, there would be more room for freedom of expression of spirituality’.  He believes in diversity and that spirituality should bring hope. He mentions, ‘Some see the spread of Pentecostal Christianity and the renewed energy of Islam as signs of hope’ (: 204). It is difficult to gauge whether the author is supportive of this statement or passionately opposed to it. Does a pendulum swing towards freedom of expression, diversity, and an encouragement towards a spiritual smorgasboard of whatever suits YOU, the right way to go?  

From a literary stance, Bouma presents sound statistics and a well studied exposition on spirituality in Australia, though at times he makes assumptions, for example, ‘Few protestant Clergy are respected for their ability to make real a sense of the presence of God’ (: 100).  

He describes the downward spiral of Christianity in Australia in relation to attendance, moral values, etc. Bouma’s thesis is seemingly one of embracing this decline for the sake of religious diversity and people’s freedom of expression. So at times you are left agreeing with Bouma and interested by statistical data and other times disappointed and frustrated by liberal approaches to religious diversity and spirituality. All that being said Gary Bouma's Australian Soul (Religion and Spirituality in the 21st Century), is worth a read and will get you engaged and thinking.