Blogaround

1. TANF: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) (March 13) "The wild thing here is, our current system was created under the assumption that poor families simply couldn't be trusted to collect welfare honestly. But the past couple of decades have proven that it's actually politicians and government officials who've been relentlessly abusing this system."

2. Asexual Advocacy in India: An Interview with Dr. Pragati Singh (March 27) [content note: mention of rape] "And there were so many such things being shared by people that I realized in my country, for my people, asexuality is not just about a flag, right? Or microidentities, or a label, it's not about that. It's about people literally making life and death decisions. People going through severe depression because they're being raped, or because they're being forced into a marriage. And you know in my country, unfortunately, marital rape is not even recognized as rape. It's legally not recognized as rape."

3. What If All the Men Around You Have Lust Problems? (March 24) "I have never, ever heard any of these pastors or authors talk about how women are whole people and we shouldn't objectify them." Wow, very good post. Sheila Gregoire says that it's NOT true that all men "struggle" with "lust", and if a man has lust problems, that man should not be allowed near young girls, until he gets himself under control. This is completely different than what I've always heard in Christian culture, which is that it's normal for men to "struggle with lust" and so women have to dress modestly to help them out.

She says if you're in a church like that, LEAVE THAT CHURCH. Wow. I'm really surprised to see her saying that, since as far as I know, she is evangelical.

Also this was a good line from her post: "It’s terrible to say, but non-Christian families have far less problems with lust than Christian ones. Even if porn use is just as high, objectification of women is more often seen as anathema, rather than as normal."

But, also, I think we need a better definition of lust, otherwise people will think that simply being attracted to people is a serious issue that means that church should bar you from interacting with people, etc... Gregoire is aware of this problem, and does provide a better definition- she says noticing is not lust; it's when someone dwells on those thoughts, that's lust. Or when you see someone as a sex object rather than as a person. I personally don't want to define it in terms of policing thoughts, because I'm ex-evangelical (lol there is a lot more that could be said about that). How about this: What if we say "lust" means you're being a creep/ aren't treating someone with respect/ aren't viewing them as a whole person. And so, to not lust, it's not about "don't think about sex, don't think about sex!" because we all know that if you say "don't think about [something]" then everyone will naturally think about it- what if we define "not lusting" in a more positive way, where you make sure to respect them and treat them as a whole human being, not a sex object, regardless of what sexy thoughts you may or may not have about them.

But what do I know, I'm asexual.

4. Cops Sue Afroman For Sharing Video Of Their Unfounded Raid Of His House (March 24) "Above and beyond that, alleging a privacy right over the conduct of a raid ostensibly on behalf of the public amounts to a face-melting level of stupidity. This is basic constitutional law. There’s no undercover work here, these are cops taking actions that they would have gladly blasted to the whole world if they had found any evidence."

5. Kansas City Cop Blows Whistle On Department's Jim Crow Policing (March 28) "Williams's suit further claims that officers were told to meet their ticket quotas in minority neighborhoods because it would be 'easier to write multiple citations on every stop.' Noting that minority residents might feel cranky about all the over-policing, the command staff allegedly advised to 'approach every car with the mindset to be ready to kill everybody in the car.'"

And another one from Wonkette: Sixty-Three Years Later, White Mom Finally Gets 'Ruby Bridges' Banned From Elementary School (March 27) "Every teacher but Barbara Henry, who had been hired specifically for her previous experience teaching in integrated schools, refused to teach her. But she went back and sat alone in that classroom as Henry's only student. Every day. For a year. At the age of six."

6. Tamping alone (March 29) "I try not to use phrases like 'America’s declining social capital' when talking to customers who are buying things like tampers, but I do ask whether they might just want to  borrow one from a neighbor or from their brother-in-law or somebody. That’s usually a better solution for them, for their budget, for neighborliness and social capital, for America, and for democracy in general."

7. It’s Time to Change My Pseudonym (March 15) This is a post from "Jackson Wu", a blogger at the Patheos Evangelical channel, about why he's not going to use the pseudonym "Jackson Wu" any more. Long story short, he's a white guy (but he worked as a missionary in China for 15 years, and he speaks Mandarin Chinese), and he's gotten a lot of backlash recently for using a Chinese-sounding name on his blog. (Especially after he published a post that strongly criticized a book by an African writer about the problems in Western missions.) And then, someone posted his real name on Twitter, so he has decided to use his real name (Brad Vaughn) on his blog now.

I live in China, so I have some thoughts on this.

First of all, I've followed his blog for a while. I like it. (If I had to guess, I would have guessed that he's a Chinese American who moved to China and lived there over 10 years.) He's evangelical, so I don't agree with a lot of his beliefs, but I appreciate him discussing Christian concepts from a more Chinese perspective. And, giving up your own culture to go live as an immigrant on the other side of the world, well, I admire that. To have that lived experience is a very significant thing. 

About having a Chinese name: Well, yes, I think if you come live in China, you should choose a Chinese name. I have a Chinese name. Mostly I use it for things like signing up for food delivery apps. It's not "cultural appropriation," it's "making life easier for the delivery drivers who don't know how to read English." And Vaughn says that Chinese people in China think it's great that he uses a Chinese name- and yes, I can confirm that. It communicates that he really wants to learn their culture and be like them.

It's, uh, a bit weird that he's responding to his critics by talking about how useful/good/etc it is to have a Chinese name in China. I don't think anyone was criticizing him for using a Chinese name in China. The issue was that he writes a blog, in English, so that means it's for a mostly-western audience, where he uses a Chinese-sounding pseudonym, and one of the main topics he blogs about is discussing evangelical Christian beliefs from a Chinese perspective. (And then he criticized a book by an African writer talking about her experiences as an immigrant in the US- to make that criticism as a white person is a different thing than making that criticism as an Asian person.) I mean, it's fine that he wants to discuss Christianity from a Chinese perspective- but to do so as an ethnically Chinese person is a different thing than to do it as a white person who has a lot of experience in China. So yes, I do think it was a problem that he was misrepresenting himself.

As for the part about the Chinese government persecuting Christians- yes, I believe him there, but I think American readers will get a skewed picture of the actual situation. Vaughn is specifically talking about house churches in China. There are also churches in church buildings in China. You can search on any map app and find a church near you. You can walk up to the building and there will be a sign posted that says what time the service is on Sunday. I've done that. American Christians have this impression that Christianity isn't allowed at all in China, but that's just not true. The thing is, these churches in church buildings are monitored by the government, and there are restrictions on what they can say. (Though I've been to services at Chinese government-approved churches and they seemed like pretty normal Christian churches to me- whatever restrictions there are, they are not obvious to the average churchgoer.) The house churches are a totally different story. House churches do what they want, but then they have to worry about persecution.

8. Getting to ‘No’: How I Negotiated My Bride Price Away (March 24) "But she remained unconvinced. 'If a man doesn’t pay a financial price to marry you, he won’t value you as much in the marriage,' she replied."

Like I said before, I married a Chinese man and nobody gave me any money. (We got some cash as a wedding gift, but nothing like this asymmetrical "bride price" thing.) This is more of a tradition in the countryside rather than in big cities.

9. Donald Trump indicted by Manhattan grand jury on more than 30 counts related to business fraud (March 31) "Donald Trump faces more than 30 counts related to business fraud in an indictment from a Manhattan grand jury, according to two sources familiar with the case – the first time in American history that a current or former president has faced criminal charges."