Best For Last

What do you believe and why?

I believe a lot of things.

I believe that the Earth is round and not shaped like a banana, and that it is, in fact, the sun that is the center of our solar system. I believe that the grass is green, the sky is blue, the sun is yellow, and the clouds are white. I believe in a world full of different colors, and I don't just mean the scenery. I believe that everyone has a story to tell, and that some are just more willing to be read than others. I believe in optimism and keeping a positive outlook on life. I believe music is the second language that everyone speaks; the first is love and everything that comes with it: hate, pain, and joy. I believe in trivial things, too: that I'll someday get to meet my favorite movie star and travel the world to my heart's content.

I also believe in life after death. With God. And hopefully with the people I knew, know, and will get to know in the future.

Why?

For me, it's the only thing that makes sense. I've often questioned the point of mankind's existence. I mean, really, if there is nothing waiting for us after death, if this is the only life we have, why waste time being good and following the rules? I'd be the first one to say, "Hey everyone, since this is the only shot we get, let's make the most of it! Alcohol, sex, drugs! Once that loses it's fun, we can try some other lifestyle. And move on again and again, until someday we drop dead. Our parents, teachers, and church pastors will be disappointed with the choices we made, but it's not like it's going to matter, because once we're all dead, it's over. And sooner or later, the people that knew you will die, too, and no one will know that you ever existed. But if you really hate your existence and don't want to waste anther ounce of energy partying your life away, finish it now."

I know these are rather dangerous thoughts to harbor, but I've learned to live with them.

I remember during fourth grade thinking, 'Why do I try so hard in school? What if I just turned into one of those "bad kids?" When I die it won't matter.' Of course, this was when I had a lot of different theories as to what happened to a person after he/she died. I had some rather creative ideas back then.

I used to think reincarnation as a different person was possible. I also sometimes wondered whether mankind was just some big experiment conducted by aliens, and that the whole God thing was just a factor to see how we would react to different religions. I also sometimes thought that I was the only person who was actually alive and everyone else was fake, and aliens were testing me to see my different reactions when I was interacting with different "people."

Of course, I still have these thoughts every once in a while.

You may be wondering how a girl who believes she's this big experiment for aliens can believe in God.

Well, for me, it's all about purpose. I believe that without God, life doesn't have any meaning to it. And the fact that I'm existing leads me to believe that there has to be some reason why I'm here. What can that reason be? I have no idea, I'm still figuring that out for myself, but I'm sure that there has to be a purpose for living.

Because, seriously, if there's no purpose in living, why even bother?

And for those of you who know me, yes, all of these thoughts are where my "In twenty years it won't matter" philosophy comes from. I know it seems like an odd thing for a Christian to believe, but it's something that somehow came naturally from my own life musings and late-night talks with Lauren (click here for her blog). It's because I know that God won't shut me out of Heaven even if I bomb the SAT (which I will be taking for the first time in January and sincerely hope I don't bomb) or completely mess up in life. It's the comfort of knowing that, no matter how bad something seems at the moment, in the long run, and sometimes the really long run, it'll somehow manage to turn itself into an amusing cocktail party anecdote.

I have so much more to say, but my thoughts are all jumbled and I think I've stretched your attention span far enough, that is, if you even made it all the way to the end of this post. If you did, I commend you for not being intimidated by the lengthy look that this post had. Please don't think I'm crazy for thinking that we're some experiment conducted by aliens, but if you do, well, that's your opinion, think what you like.

But I really do hope you think about your life seriously and what you're doing with it.

- I. Lee -

It's A Technologically Advanced World After All

How would uncivilized cultures react upon receiving technology beyond their comprehension?

In all honesty, the uncivilized people would probably:
a) Approach carefully and give the "technology" (i.e. cellphone, laptop, etc.) a cautious poke
b) Destroy the "technology"
c) Run away in fear
d) All of the above

What would you do if one day you were given a new piece of technology that was so powerful and so different from what this world is used to that you didn't understand it? If you found out that that technology could be used for the benefit of someone or something, would you keep it? Probably so. Would you try to find out ways to further that technology? Of course.

This is how it would most likely be with "uncivilized people," as well. Let's use an example of a cell phone to further illustrate what it would be like for these people.

At first, they'd be extremely cautious around the phone. The first few times it rang, they would most likely run off in fear. Once they were assured that the phone would not harm them, it would take a long time to just train one of them to be able to use it. This is true not only for "uncivilized" people, but for people like us, as well. If you told an ordinary person to program a satellite to orbit the Earth, take pictures of space, and send these pictures back to a computer on Earth, the person most likely would not be able to do so. It's the same situation in trying to train a "barbaric" person to use a phone, although maybe it wouldn't be as difficult as teaching someone to program a satellite.

The next step would be to integrate the phone into their society. This, of course, would take a rather long time, because it would then be the job of the person who can use the phone to teach everyone else to use the phone. A rather arduous process, it might take weeks, months, or maybe even years to be able to fully integrate something so technologically advanced into an almost backwards society. Once the integration is done, though, everything speeds up from there.

It would be a whirlwind, really. They'd get swept up in the technology craze just like us, and soon, they'd be taking part in the race, too. The race to make the fastest, smallest, most ingenious piece of technology out there.

Unfortunately, that race will never end.

ect(Refl + Conn)

What reflections and connections can you make with this novel?

Although it may sound shallow, while reading Peace Child, the thought that was forefront in my mind was, 'I can't imagine living like the Sawi. I'm so glad I live here and not there.' I found myself suddenly grateful for the mountain loads of homework I had. Honestly, I'd rather taken on school than a horde of cannibalistic head-hunters any day. Who wouldn't?

Of course, I did have deeper thoughts, as well.

I always knew that everyone didn't live like us. It's always a shock, though, to see or hear or read about a group of people living a completely different lifestyle, like the Sawi. Their way of life seems almost chimerical, like something that could only happen in a story book, something that was only magnified as we were reading about the Sawi.

Everyone knows the cliche, "Deep down we're all the same."

Are we really?

I personally think that although this saying is meant to mean everyone, as in everyone in the world, we often interpret it as "Deep down we, from the same society, are all the same." Why do I think this? It's because we most often use this saying on children when teaching them that skin color should not be a barrier in making new acquaintances. We don't think about the far-reaching implications this saying has. Deep down, are we really the same as the Sawi?

I can't say.

Even if you go past the physical differences, their society was built upon something so radically different from what we know, it's hard to say that we're the same, even deep down. Now, they are much more civilized, but before, their entire society was founded on what we believe to be absolutely wrong. Are we the same? In some aspects, yes, we are. We're all humans, we're all equal, and we all have the same rights. Yet, our cores are, or were, extremely different, so it's hard to say that we're the same, even deep down.

Of course, this doesn't mean that we're above the Sawi. It just means that we're different. And anyways, if "deep down" we really all are the same, it'd be a rather mundane world in my opinion.

You've Got To Believe In...a) Yourself; b) God/Some Deity; c) The Tangible Things; or d) None Of The Above

What makes faith so important?

Lots of things.

Faith itself is the basis for the way people live their lives. People who believe in God reflect their faith through their struggles to emulate Jesus' example. Atheists, on the other hand, show their faith that their cannot be a god through the fact that they live their lives based on what they believe is true, which is their faith. Of course, this means that atheists have many different faiths; one atheist could still lead a "morally correct" life believing that it is the right thing to do, even though he/she doesn't know why, while another atheist could go completely down the corrupt path, believing that once he/she dies, everything is over and done for.

Faith is important because it determines how we live here on earth. It's also important because it touches beyond our life here. Many religions hold ideas as to what will happen to people when they die. Christianity says that a person who has accepted Jesus will go to Heaven, while someone who didn't will go to Hell. Buddhism says that a person will be continuously reincarnated until one reaches a state of nirvana (a place of no suffering or pain). Atheism says something along the lines of "There's nothing waiting for you after death."

It's more the fact that it touches on what will happen to a person after death that makes faith important. This is because what a person believes will happen to him/her after he/she dies is the factor the causes him/her to live the life he/she lives. So, in a sense, everyone is living according to their belief in death and life beyond death.

Which points to the logical conclusion that death controls our lives, which is a pretty morbid thought. Basically, faith is important because it reflects our beliefs of not only how to live this life, but of what will happen to us after death, which controls how we live our lives. So death and life have a correlating relationship.

It's cohesive.

Great Expectations

What does God expect us to do for other cultures and faiths?

He expects us to tell others from different cultures and faiths about Him. The fact that He expects, and does not merely want us, to tell others about Him means we have an obligation to do it. Of course, this doesn't mean we have to all be missionaries and go find never before contacted tribes, we can still tell others about God in our own way (and I know that sounds cliche, but it's still true).

When approaching those from different backgrounds, God does not want us to be rude or condescending in any way. Because these people have different standards and ways of life, we cannot judge them (God even tells us we can't). Instead, we should approach them kindly and with an open-mind. We have to remember that these people may have never heard about Christianity before and that maybe they have, and they've already rejected it.

In any case, we have to always show through our actions and words that there is a way to live life, in God, that is the True way. And, yes, I know people of different faiths probably think that their way of living life is the best too (that's why everyone has different faiths, right?), but we, as Christians, have to show that God is really the only way. I know non-Christians are probably thinking right now, 'What makes you so high and mighty that you can declare that God is the "only way?"' Let me just emphasize the phrase "we, as Christians." Of course I'm going to say that God is the only way. If I didn't believe that, why would I even include myself in the "we" and say that God is the Truth?

I know sometimes Christians get carried away and turn "preachy," but I think God just wants us to reflect Him in everything we do. And I don't mean going around and proclaiming, "I'm a Christian. I love God. I'm happy," but just in everything we do, do it so people can see that we're different, that there's something about us that makes us stand out.

It's hard living to up to expectations sometimes, though, don't you think?

Civilizing the Uncivilized

What should society do for “uncivilized cultures” like the Sawi?

I think my world history class is finally catching up to me. When I read this question, the first thing I thought of was "self-determination," one of Wilson's Fourteen Points that he tried to incorporate into the Treaty of Versailles. Self-determination is pretty self-explanatory: it's the right for a group of people to rule themselves. Of course, as those who have studied postwar Europe know, self-determination never became a total reality, since the members of the League of Nations still had a considerable amount of control of the "independent" colonies.

In the same way, I think these "uncivilized cultures" would probably survive if they were left alone. It's not like it's our right to judge what should happen to these cultures anyway, or is it? I don't know. Reading Jihyun's post (click here for link) on this subject made me wonder why we even think we have the right to "do anything" about these kinds of people. By saying that we, as society, should so something about these "uncivilized cultures" seems to be placing these "uncivilized cultures" beneath us. Even by labeling them as "uncivilized" is rather condescending. Who are we to say that we're civilized and they're not? What if that's how they view us? What if they think we're "uncivilized" and one day decide to come and teach us about cannibalism? By even talking about what we should do with "these people," almost seems like we're not even considering what they have to say. It could be that they want to be left alone; maybe that's why they never bothered to try and explore beyond their world. If that's the case, the best society could do for them is to do nothing at all.

Of course, that's society.

Now, Christians, on the other hand, have a different view. I thought Lauren's post (click here for link) about people never hearing God's Word getting a free ride to Heaven was really interesting, and it made me wonder, 'Maybe the best thing we as Christians could do is leave them alone, as well. Then, since they never learn about God and the fact that they have a choice, they'll get a free ticket to Heaven.' Of course, this is probably, most likely, definitely not the case, since Jesus Himself commanded His disciples to go and tell other people about Him.

I don't want people to get the wrong idea though. By portraying Christians and society as two different groups of people does not mean that I think Christians have a right to contact "uncivilized people" while non-Christians don't have this right. I'm saying that, from the Christian perspective, we see it as our duty to go to these people. But I'm not saying that non-Christians can't contact these tribal people. They can if they want to.

In the end, I guess it all has to do with what you believe and what you want to do. I know I kind of got side-tracked from the original question, but I really do think that no one has a "right" to "do something" about "uncivilized people." It's not like everyone agrees on the meanings of these terms, right? And the fact that someone out their is going to disagree with what I'm saying proves that we can never come to terms with what "we, as society, should do," because the only person who can agree with everything I'm saying in this blog is me. And possibly Lauren (click here to see her blog).

Mission Impossible

What do mission organisations do for these people?

This is a hard question to answer.

I guess there are different ways to look at it: missionaries say they're bringing the Gospel and helping the tribal people have a smoother transition into this constantly shrinking and technologically developing world; others say that the missionaries are butting into these people's lives and destroying their culture.

I say that it's somewhat of a hybrid between both. I do understand that when missionaries go to these remote places, they are risking their lives to bring the Truth to these people, and I really do respect them for doing this, because, to be totally honest, if someone asked me, "Would you like to share the Gospel with cannibals and head-hunters?" I'd say "Uh...let me think about that. Nope. I don't associate with people who see me as an Asian appetizer and literally want my head on a platter." At the same time, I think it's difficult for missionaries to introduce something so life-changing without altering a culture. I won't say destroy, because most times, even after a majority of a tribe has converted to Christianity, they keep many of their traditions and way of life. I say most because this hasn't always been the case, as some missionaries get carried away and think the best way to approach a different people group is by becoming tyrants, like the missionary in James Michener's novel Hawaii that Don Richardson mentioned in Do Missionaries Destroy Culture? Most of the time, though, it's not like this. Missionaries do truly care about bringing the Gospel to these people and changing their lives for the better.

On the other hand, though, some part of a tribe's culture are changed, but not obliterated. Obviously the religious aspect of the group's culture changes, but just because the people become Christians does not mean they can't eat the food they used to eat and celebrate their old holidays, so long as they're not pagan holidays anymore, I guess. For example, I'm a Korean that's a Christian, but that doesn't mean I can't celebrate 추석 (Chusok: a Korean type of Thanksgiving) and 설날 (Sulnal: the Chinese New Year).

In the end, it's all about the intention of the missionaries who make contact with the distant people and how they choose to approach them. If a missionary truly cares about the people and doesn't mean to totally change a tribe's way of living, it's all for the better, because, like Don Richardson said, it's not like these people are totally going to be isolated for long in this world of competitive entrepreneurs, who would most definitely destroy a group's culture by exploiting them and all that they have.

Forever Faithful

How does faith relate to the world in which we live?

Faith: believing in something or someone, even though you can give no reason for what you believe in at times; you just know it's true (for you, anyways).

The world we live in today is full of faithful people, just not in the sense that people usually think of the word. Everyone has faith, it's that people have faith in different ideals. Some people have faith in Jesus, others have faith in money, and still others have faith in nothing. Of course, it seems a bit odd to think that a person could have faith in "nothing," but even a faith in nothing is faith, because that person is believing in the fact that life is meaningless and you might as well live it however you like. Nihilism, anyone?

Faith is pretty powerful. It can get people to do things they wouldn't have done if they didn't believe whatever it is that they believe in. But faith can be dangerous, too. It makes people do things for the reasons they think is right, which may not necessarily be right for somebody else. For example, as Christians, we know that God wants us to tell other people about Jesus, and that it's "the right thing to do." Yet for non-Christians, they oftentimes see it as rude and degrading for a Christian to come up to them and say, "If you don't repent now, you're going to hell!" I know, because before I was a Christian, I would always look at them and say, "They act like Christians on Sundays and in Bible class, but then they turn around and start swearing and doing things that don't look very Christian." I'm not saying I'm the epitome of a perfect Christian, but I think it would help a lot if we Christians stopped acting like our faith is the only faith on the planet. We have to remember that other people have their own ideas about life, and we have to respect that. After all, who likes being told that what they believe in is one hundred percent fabrication?

Of course, no one can truly judge what the right faith is. Even as Christians, we never truly know for sure what will happen when we die. That's why we have faith, because we're trusting that God is the truth. In the same way, other people are trusting that their ideas are the truth.

That's why faith is such an integral part of our world today.

First Impressions

What factors of your native culture have informed your religious world view? Explain the impact of these factors.

As a Korean born and raised mostly in the US and now in Korea, I am neither here nor there. I don't consider myself totally Americanized, but I am not fully Korean, either (in my habits anyways). Because of my background, I don't really have a "native culture," per se. I have my own habits and way of life, and I don't think I can really give a label to them. For this reason, I think my religious world view was formed more on my own musings than on my background. Of course, I could be totally wrong on this take, or I might not.

One of the main reasons I feel like my "culture" doesn't have anything to do with my religious views is because I come from an atheist family. Because my parents do not dictate a particular religious view in the house, other than the one where a person doesn't believe in any particular deity, I was, still am, and will always be, left to find a belief of my own.

When I was younger, I used to wonder about the meaning of life, literally. I would think to myself, 'Why am I trying so hard at life? Does it even matter? Even if I get into drugs and alcohol and quit school, I'm going to end up dying anyways. No matter how good or how bad I live my life, the end will be the same, so why am I trying so hard to be so...good?' I would talk to my parents about this, but, being atheists, they couldn't give me any straight answers. Then I'd wonder, 'What happens when we die? Are we reincarnated as different people or do we "go on?" Are we punished for the wrongs we committed and rewarded for the rights that we did? Or is this the only life we have and do we become nothing when we die?'

So I searched, and I didn't even think about what the implications of me being a Korean-American would have on my search for truth.

Eventually, the path towards truth led me to Christianity. And I know that sounds cliche, but it's true. The main reason I ended up here is because nothing else gave me purpose, and what's the point of living life without purpose? Absolutely nothing.

I don't know why, but even after thinking about my "native culture" and how it impacted my search, I still believe that it was not a huge factor at all in my decision to become a Christian. Or maybe it was, but I still haven't realized it yet. Maybe it's because both of the cultures that I was exposed to, American and Korean, were not extremely different form Christianity as the Sawis, which is why I don't see the impact it had. I'm still walking, and I know I'll learn more as I go.

But for now, I'm content with knowing that I have a reason to live: God.