"The acceptance and perpetuation of corruption in organizations" extended to society

I know I tend to write a lot about ethics, but it is a very important subject that Business schools ineffectively teach. According to research, Business and Economics majors are more likely to cheat and participate in unethical business practices more than students in any other major. The reason why is still a mystery to scholars.

I see it as a problem in society more than just a line of behavior and reasoning exploited by Business students. From the Academy of Management Executive business research journal's essay, "Business as usual: The acceptance and perpetuation of corruption in organizations" (Anand, Ashforth, Joshi) I read some very interesting reasons for business corruption and how it infects an entire organization. I would like to share these reasons with you:

• Rationalization: describing actions in a way that makes them look inoffensive
• Denial of responsibility: belief that unethical behavior is out of your control and is caused by circumstances
• Denial of injury: belief that unethical behavior harms other people
• Denial of victim: belief that recipient of unethical behavior deserves it
• Social weighting: belief that others are worse than you, so your behavior isn't that bad and people don't have a right to criticize you
  
• Appeal to higher loyalties: belief that unethical behavior is justified by a greater cause
• Metaphor of the ledger: belief that unethical behavior is balanced out by more or larger "good" deeds
• Socialization: where people are believe that unethical practices are normal
• Cooptation: people are rewarded for unethical behavior
• Incrementalism: people are gradually introduced to unethical behavior and so become more accustomed to it
• Compromise: people are put in situations where they try to resolve dilemmas through unethical behavior because it seems like it's the only option

Did you get all that? Many times, the rationalization and socialization processes work together to encourage corrupt behavior. It's a very hard cycle to break.

I have a solution, though. Notice that these very reasons offered by the essay are the same reasons that people give to justify their "sinful" or wrong behaviors. I love that God doesn't take any of these excuses, just as the U.S. law shouldn't. (Why shouldn't the law make exemptions for law-breakers? Because that would create an uneven playing that would really undermine our free market and would leave room for even more substantial opportunities for bending the law.) Anyway, if people want to find a way to stop unethical behavior in organizations, I believe that it needs to start with our personal behavior in society, not just in the organizations. We hold a higher standard for accounting practices etc. but we don't hold personal morality to as a high a standard. This proves to me that the world's condition is pretty wretched, but that God provides hope in restoring us to what we were meant to be like.

So basically, His law is clear, His grace is clear, and we should behave accordingly: with humility in recognizing (not rationalizing) our fallibility, and striving to live up to the standard that God has created.

All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. Romans 2:12-13

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Romans 6:15

It's my last week of school!! I can hardly believe it!!

ENGAGED!!

I am extremely happy to report that I am engaged to Matt. He asked me last week!

Find out more at:
http://www.mywedding.com/kingsolomonwedding/

He is the love of my life and I am so happy that I will be Elise King-Solomon.... or just Solomon...

This is King Solomon.


The Future King-Solomons.

The Lord's Prayer

I have been meaning to write about this for a while, but I never seemed to find the time. Haha.

We studied this prayer in my small group Bible study a couple of weeks ago. I had memorized this prayer when I was younger because we used to recite it every time we went to Religion class at St. Mark's private school. I never realized what an amazingly powerful prayer it is.

1One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples."

2He said to them, "When you pray, say:
" 'Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
3Give us each day our daily bread.
4Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.' "

Luke 11:1-4

I love that the disciple asks Jesus to teach them how to pray. The disciple realizes that Jesus has some insight and that prayer is something that should be learned. I think I should ask Jesus the same question.

As we continued to look at each individual verse, I realized that this entire prayer flows very naturally. The prayer is also requires for the person to come to God humbly because through this prayer, we realize that God is the only one who can provide for us.

I love how it starts out with such a paradox: "Father" (a very personal title), and then recognizing the holiness of our Father (impersonal because it is set apart from we who are unholy). How unfathomable it is to me that we who do not deserve to be considered sons and daughters of a holy, awesome Lord are allowed to come into His presence and call Him, "Father."

If He condescends to allow us to call him, "Father," then I truly desire for this loving, gracious God to have His way come to the earth for all to enjoy. What does that look like in my life? That is what I ask and pray for.

I realize that I cannot do this on my own. I am tossed around by the sinfulness of my nature and the world. My life is not under my control, therefore I must ask God, my Father, to provide for my needs.

I am so unworthy of His generosity, so I ask for His forgiveness of my shortcomings. However, if I want His kingdom to come on earth, then I desire t0 pursue His righteousness. One way I can realize this desire is by forgiving others. I walk in mercy because He is merciful.

This lifestyle will be very difficult, so I pray that God will deliver me from situations where I will have to endure hardships and temptations to do the wrong thing. I cannot live this on my own.

I love this prayer. My prayers have had so much more meaning after studying this. I love the progression of recognizing the Father's control and desire to provide.


Well, anyway, I just got back from Thanksgiving break. It was so much fun! I got engaged, saw my fun family and friends, and had a nice break from schoolwork. There's only two more weeks left of the last semester. It's kinda hard to believe.

Awake the dawn

I really enjoy getting to school really early in the morning for many different reasons:

• Parking is abundant
• Nice, cool weather
• Pumpkin muffins and coffee on Thursdays
• Seeing the sunrise

The sunset is a very intense, passionate part of the day. The colors are dramatic; the sun goes out in flare.

The sunrise emits a different feeling to me. It's fresh, innocent... maybe even bashful at times. I love the feeling of the cool dew (even if it frizzes my hair) and how the earth seems to emerge from sleep as slowly as I do. When I walk around in the morning, I realize that every day is a unique creation-gift from God with new opportunities. I love the feeling of the early morning.

Anyway, I was also reflecting on my previous post. I don't know if anyone actually reads this blog except for Matt occasionally, but I realized that it might sound like I might be directing my frustration at certain people. It's truly intended for society and its peer pressure and fickleness. I saw myself being critical of other people's tastes today and definitely felt convicted. I'm a part of society, and to be "all things to all people" I think I need to recognize that a little conditioning is okay. I am God's, and that should be what defines me.

Well, Ringl and Cassie will be arriving in a couple of hours. I'm pretty excited--we're going to have a little dinner. I'm going home this weekend. Yay, it will be nice to hang out with people I don't get to see very often.

Awake, my soul!
Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.

Psalm 57:8

Personality and its Conditioning

In one of my classes, we had to take a social style personality test. I scored close to the middle of all the personality styles, but leaned more towards the "Expressive" style. The only thing that is relevant to this blog is that this test highlighted to me that I am a people person.

I was thinking about how I always feel that I need to have some sort of interaction with people everyday otherwise I go kinda crazy. I really don't understand this need. Some people can go without social interaction and be fine. I started wishing that I was like that, but then God convicted me about that thought process. He made me a people person for a reason. My desire for interaction is a strength for His glory. I need to have faith that God will satisfy my need and use it for His purposes.

This whole realization process led me to another thought: I derive a lot of my definition of self-worth from what society tells me is "cool." I feel a need to dress a certain way, talk about certain things, etc. etc. etc. And what makes me laugh is that while I am be conditioned by status quo, I'm striving to be individualistic. What a paradox! I want to fit in while maintaining uniqueness. When I think about it like that, I realize that I will never be satisfied! My self-worth must be defined by my status as a unique creation and child of God otherwise I will continue on a path that circles down into perpetual discontentment.

Furthermore, something else I find sickening is that while we are trying to maintain individuality while fitting in, we jump on bandwagons called "trends." But, the stipulation is that you must straddle the wagon because if you put both legs in, then you will be too late because everyone else is already getting off this bandwagon in order to board the next and you will be labeled as a fan (or even fanatic) of uncool things. Everyone will make fun of you because you like certain music, movies, books, magazines, clothes, philosophers, pastors, colors, instruments, etc. etc. etc. Well, you know what: I find some strange things very cool and good. I think we can get so caught up in being the most forward thinking or the most conservative that we miss some really good things in some really good stuff (that is okay to like for your entire life or at least more than a year). Accountability is necessary, but I also think that open mindedness can be good.

So there, I will close with a passage that is resounding in my soul as something that I need to meditate on:

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2: 5-11

Venting can create more anxiety

As I continue to ask God what keeps me from loving people without discrimination, He has confronted me with my "venting" about people or situations. When I teach Bible studies to youths, I always confront the issue of gossiping as wrong because it's like stealing the person's reputation. I have definitely been convicted about gossiping, and I was doing pretty well about avoiding that until recently. Venting is a way for me to get out frustration over people and situations. However, I am seeing that when I dwell in my frustration (sometimes just putting the frustrating ideas together is enough), my attitude towards people or situations becomes sour. I am noticing that I am picking out only bad things in people and situations when I should focus on good things.

Additionally, at large group for Intervarsity this week, we listened to testimonies about Sonburst, which is one of their semi-annual (I think) conferences. A resounding theme was freedom from sin. The staff person brought up an interesting point. We are oftentimes ruled by reacting to what other people do. We have the instinct of either fight or flight. When we let love rule our lives and attitudes, then we are no longer bound to the fight back or be a doormat responses. We can choose to love that person despite what he or she has done to us. I think this thought will certainly help me to understand what looking at other people through God's eyes means.

School is certainly dragging out. A little less than 2 months until graduation (I have a friend who keeps track every time we go to our really boring class). I got my graduation announcements in the mail yesterday. Every step brings the next stage of life a little bit closer. I am lucky graduate because God has given me a lot of direction for the next year. Nothing is finalized, and that can really discourage me sometimes, but that makes me rely on God more.

I found these verses so encouraging last night:

My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises!
Awake, my glory!
Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.
I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to You among the nations.

Psalm 57:7-9

Removing earth to create a foundation

I really enjoy going to Intervarsity Bible study. We are studying Jesus' teachings in Luke right now. We read the teachings about bearing good fruit and building the houses on weak/solid foundations. My Bible study leader, David, made a point that profoundly affected me: you have to remove the earth (digging deep) from the foundation for it to be solid. Basically, you have to remove things from your life that will weaken your spiritual growth.

To go along with this, God has been revealing things in my heart that keep me from loving people without discrimination. It's so easy for me to withhold my love from people who irritate me or who are strange. That's not how God loved people. I want to be like Jesus in that He was abundantly generous with His time and love. Slowly, God's been pointing out what areas I need to release bitterness or selfishness. It's going to be a tedious process, but I'm enjoying the results.


Life has been pretty busy so far. I'm enjoying my time exploring different ways to worship and getting to know people at Intervarsity. Senioritis is definitely kicking in. Graduation cannot come too soon.

Ethics and pre-nups

As a Business major, I am confronted with the issue of ethics in every class. Is it all right to bride lower-level officials if it is customary in that country? Is it all right to do anything for the sale if "pay roll" depends on it? There are so many choices, and I'm noticing that it comes from the conflict between morality and money. My Professional Selling professor told us that there is no "right" or "wrong," just what you can sleep with at night... but, to remember that everything has a consequence--good or bad. How interesting: you can have a good consequence right now or you can have long-term good consequences. It seems that integrity is being cheapened by the thought process of no absolutes. What a double standard: we demand integrity (particularly honesty) with our laws, yet we are teaching business students that it's always relative. More and more I see the importance of the commandments God gave the Israelites. Whoever said that the Bible is irrelevant because it's old obviously doesn't want to have to live up to its high standards.

Similarly, I heard a recurring theme from a couple of my professors about the importance of prenuptial agreements. The reverence of marriage is also being lost. I'm seeing more articles and things on TV about "starter marriages." I don't want that.


On a more positive note, the weather is changing, and it's feeling so wonderful outside. I'm excited for the fall!

Sunday school answers

I agreed to teach substitute for a 6th grade Sunday School class at TRBC this morning. I don't expect deepness... or even focus from 6th graders. What's even tougher is that the subject of today's lesson was about the Holy Spirit--a subject I didn't know or care about when I was in 6th grade. Since I was left bereft of any supplementary activity materials, I had them read passages out of the Bible. When we would "discuss" the meanings of the passages, I received the same, initial answer, "The Holy Spirit is always with us."

The significance of this observation stems from a blurb I heard on the local Christian radio station earlier that morning. It announcing a new ministry-connection point to help teens who are about to leave home remain faithful to the church. It has resources on various subjects about loneliness etc. that many teens struggle with once they are plucked from their comfortable church homes. I had to laugh. More programs. Speaking as one who is in the midst of the leaving-the-church-crisis, teens don't need to be taught more "Sunday school answers" to deal with emotional and spiritual problems. Some of these experiences are good. Imagine that. We should encourage teens to understand that their faith is something that is more than just what a Bible study or guest speaker can give you. Own your convictions. Repentance is more than just asking forgiveness. God wants obedience, not acrostics and pages of forgotten notes stuck in between Bible pages.

Well, anyway, I'll give an update about my life. God is so amazing. It seems that this past year, God has been making more sense out of life. Everything is coming together. I'm scared of change and commitment, but I know God will reward my obedience. This semester is going to be busy with new friends and classes. I'm starting to get more nervous about getting everything together for graduate school. I just gotta keep moving.

I'm pretty excited about seeing Matt at the end of the month. I miss him sooo much! So much to do, so little time!

So many options

I have decided to try new churches. I have faithfully attended Thomasville Road Baptist Church for almost the entire duration of my career at FSU. It's been a good church for me to plug into and try to make a difference, but sometimes, you just need to say, "good bye."

Why this sudden change? If you know me well, then you know that I have been struggling with this decision for several months now. I do not want to speak illy of TRBC. It's a good church with super awesome people. Change, however, is a good thing. If you never go out on faith, then you'll have a harder time trying to grow and hear God.

Shawna asked what I was looking for, and honestly, I hadn't really thought about it. So, I'm going to make a noninclusive, general list. What I'm looking for:

• Somewhere not strictly bound to protocol
• Praying is a very important part of everything
• Openness of the congregation

Moreover, you can reasonably assume that this leaves me with many options. Do not worry, I will have a different group in which I can serve, i.e. Intervarsity. Plus, I still have great roommates and great friends that encourage me daily.

I can feel the winds of change coming over me. Tallahassee has a refreshed appeal to me now, but I still feel somewhat out of place. God has a perfect plan for me, as Shawna reminded me. I just need to search it out and have faith in His guidance.

First Day of the Last Semester

I woke up this morning thinking that it was unnecessary to check the weather because I knew it was just going to be hot and humid. About ten minutes before I had to leave, rain started pouring down. So much for some of the errands I wanted to run. I did, however, stand out in the rain to get my football coupons.

This semester is promising. I am armed with new convictions and priorities. We'll see how well I live everything out. Despite mental and spiritual preparation, I have already managed to make a pretty silly mistake: I sent my parking permit to the wrong apartment number. Somehow it ended up shipping to apartment #29 instead of G. Go figure.

One class down and one more to go for today. I'm pretty excited.

Life has Unity

I was on my way to New Orleans on Saturday morning, and I was listening to NPR. An interesting segment came on that featured a scientist who unlocked a key to determining why there are different life spans in animals. He talked about how every animal has about a billion of heart beats in its lifetime, but the bigger the animal is, the slower the heart beats are, which drags out how long it will live. However, humans are the only exception because we understand how to heal ourselves better and preserve our bodies. The scientist went on to say that he's not a religious man, but findings like this, which show the unity of life, makes him think that there's some higher power that orchestrated life. God is so amazing! Here's the link to the story.

Anyway, I had an amazing time in New Orleans. Everytime I go, I feel that it's going to make a good home. I met some people who go to UNO, and they all had very positive things to say about it. Hmmm, I really hate being so far from Matt. I am excited about being closer. O God! What's the next step?

It's strange not to have to wake up early for work. I've really enjoyed the summer. Saturday, I'll be returning to Tallahassee. My last semester--it's gone by so fast!

Last Day

I am sitting at the empty cubicle on my last day at Navy Federal. It's been an amazing experience. I wasn't sure of what I would be agreeing to, but I'm so glad that I stepped out of my comfort zone so that I could have the best job ever (or at least tied with youth interning last summer). Navy Federal has been so generous to me. All of the employees have taken great care of me and have let me experience what being in an effective team is like. I have learned a lot about employment law, hiring processes, and customer service. More than that, I have learned how to accept and even love all sorts of people. I hope that I can maintain good contact with them!

This weekend I am going to New Orleans to visit Matt. I'm pretty excited to see him one last time before school separates us again. New Orleans is always a fun place to visit.

I have a lot to do before I head off to school. I need to clean out my room, pack up, write thank-you letters, and hang out with some friends. It's my last semester in Tallahassee--I've had a great time, and I've learned a lot. Graduation is at my front door. I do not want to waste time.

My morning

At the beginning of my employment with Navy Federal, I was given my "own space" at the Northview Training Center by K-mart because there was no available space at Heritage Oaks in Beulah. I was told, because I am always at work on time, that the alarm would go off if no one was there in the morning to turn it off. I was never given the code to the alarm because I figured it was a power--or "security"--issue, so I never pressed the matter.

I knew that the one lady who is always early to work at Northview Training Center was going to be out until Tuesday, but I still had hope that the one guy that's always there early too would be there instead. Alas, no one was there. I opened the door and heard the alarm's beeping echoing in the dark office. I immediately shut the door and started calling all the numbers that I could remember. Carol, one of my bosses, called the Security department and told them to disregard the alarm. Everything was taken care of, and I definitely generated a few laughs.


On a different subject: I got a new haircut last night. I really love it! My family said it is the best haircut I have ever had. The hairdresser made my hair so much lighter and tried to teach me how to care for it.

I feel that I am in a very awkward place right now. I'm bored at home, but I think I would be bored in Tallahassee too... I miss having Matt around. I've lost some contact with my old friends, but life's also changing for all of us. Most everyone has paired off with significant others. I am really happy to see everyone's making some progress in life. Life seems to slip away from our grasp before we know it. It's so strange, yet very exciting, to see how people are developing into adults. We're all at that weird stage of life where we don't necessarily want the responsibility of adulthood, yet we want don't want to be considered adolescents. I definitely suffer the weakness of the college-age mentality: distaste for committment. But, I know that I am slowly becoming less scared of it and more longing for something to be a little more established in my life. I don't want the shackles of routine, but I want something that's mine because I worked for it under God's guidance.

Yeah that Vegan...

I went to a vegan potluck thing with a girl I met in Art History like a year ago. It fascinated me... maybe it was the trippy old people who made the food, or maybe the crazy girl I went with, or maybe it was the surprisingly good food that I had the opportunity to taste. Whatever it was, my curiousity was set off.

This being said, I want you to know that I love beans. I mean, I really love beans. I have also been acquiring a taste for Mediterrean - Indian food. Now that my taste buds are ready, I'm going to start cooking.

Beans are a great, and amazingly cheap, alternative to meat. A good portion of my grocery budget goes to purchasing chicken breasts. This semester, I am determined to explore different menus. Matt showed me the wonders of buying frozen chicken breasts in bulk. I will certainly keep my meat like that from now on. My poor George Foreman is probably tired of me using it every evening. It's time for a little vacation for the grill. It's been a good companion, but frankly, it's time for a change.

However. I could be making up for the chicken breast cost with exotic foods and spices costs. We'll see.

There's an amazing amount of resources on the web that provides all sorts of help and recipes for vegan eaters. Not to say that I have given up on meat, but I have found a method of potentially reducing grocery costs while still consuming all of the necessary nutrients.


Well, back to staring at the computer screen at work. I guess I could start studying for the GRE again. I'm counting down the minutes until it's time to go and get my hair cut!

I really want to have a record of this article.

I ran across this article on MSNBC's website. I just about fell out of my chair! I had a feeling that there were more people who felt the same way as I do about art and Christianity. This article definitely describes a lot of my vision.

Evangelicals seek role as ‘creators of culture’
Once wary of pop culture and high art, faithful look to artistic renaissance

MILAN, Italy - There are no crosses in Makoto Fujimura’s paintings. No images of Jesus gazing into the distance, or serene scenes of churches in a snow-cloaked wood.
Fujimura’s abstract works speak to his evangelical Christian faith. But to find it takes some digging.
After the 2001 terrorist strikes on the World Trade Center, three blocks from Fujimura’s home, his work explored the power of fire to both destroy and purify, themes drawn from the Christian Gospels and Dante’s “The Divine Comedy.”

“I am a Christian,” says Fujimura, 46, who founded the nonprofit International Arts Movement to help bridge the gap between the religious and art communities. “I am also an artist and creative, and what I do is driven by my faith experience.
“But I am also a human being living in the 21st century, struggling with a lot of brokenness — my own, as well as the world’s. I don’t want to use the term ’Christian’ to shield me away from the suffering or evil that I see, or to escape in some nice ghetto where everyone thinks the same.”
By making a name for himself in the secular art world, Fujimura has become a role model for creatively wired evangelicals. They believe that their churches have forsaken the visual arts for too long — and that a renaissance has begun.
On the grass-roots and institutional level, evidence is mounting to support that view: Art galleries are opening in churches; prominent seminaries are investing in new centers exploring theology and the arts; and, graduates from evangelical film schools are making Hollywood movies.
These artistic evangelicals, though still relatively small in number, are striving to be creators of culture rather than imitators, said Dick Staub, a Seattle-based radio talk show host and author of “The Culturally Savvy Christian: A Manifesto for Deepening Faith and Enriching Popular Culture In an Age of Christianity-Lite.” There is a desire, he said, to avoid inventing a parallel arts universe with Christian knockoffs for Christian audiences.
“They want to make art that connects to everybody,” Staub said. “The call is first and foremost to make good art.”
‘The Bible is full of abstraction’That doesn’t necessarily mean overtly religious art, but rather art informed by faith. Fujimura, for example, shares more with abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock than with Thomas Kinkade, a self-described devout Christian whose brushwork of idyllic landscapes, crosses and churches are big sellers.
As a result, Fujimura — whose work has been displayed at museums in Tokyo and Washington, D.C. — gets questions from his fellow believers dubious about abstract and modern art.
“The Bible is full of abstraction,” said Fujimura, an elder at a Greenwich Village church he helped start. “Think about this God who created the universe, the heavens and the earth from nothing. In order to have faith you have to reach out to something, to a mystery.”

It isn’t always an easy sell.
Evangelical unease with the visual arts dates to the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. Andy Crouch, editorial director for Christianity Today’s Christian Vision Project, which examines how evangelicals intersect with the broader culture, notes that Protestantism traces its origins to an era when noses were snapped off sculptures in a rejection of Catholic visual tradition while the word of God was elevated.
Attitudes began to change in the 1960s and 1970s, when Christian theologian Francis Schaeffer and Dutch art historian Hans Rookmaaker challenged believers to emerge from their cocoons and engage the culture, including in the arts.

Now, Crouch said, those ideas are resonating with a younger generation of believers who live in an image-saturated culture. They sense a disconnect worshipping in churches bare of anything that’s visually arresting.
“The very parched nature of evangelical visual culture is making people who have grown up in this culture thirsty for beauty,” he said.
Increasingly, that ground is being explored on seminary campuses. One of the most ambitious examples is the Brehm Center for Worship, Theology, and the Arts at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif., founded in 2001 and bankrolled by a $15 million donation from a Virginia couple that earned a fortune in information technology.

The center aspires to be an evangelical arts think tank, with five stand-alone institutes focused upon worship and music, film and moving images, art and architecture, drama, journalism and creative writing, preaching and the study of the “emerging church,” which incorporates painting, dance and other fine arts into worship.
Craig Detweiler, co-director of the center’s Reel Spirituality Institute, said students are fascinated with finding the sacred in the mundane and exploring life’s mysteries. In other words, themes with far-reaching appeal.
“Maybe 20 years ago, young filmmakers wanted to tell stories for their own audience,” said Detweiler, a screenwriter. “Today’s young filmmakers ... find holy moments within mainstream movies and want to create more of the same.
“For too long, Christian art has implied pale imitation,” Detweiler said. “We’re trying to get back to the days of the Renaissance, where the church was the patron of the finest art.”
‘How can I be a Christian and an artist?’In another sign that institutional evangelicalism is taking the arts seriously, a Center for Theology and the Arts was founded last year at the flagship seminary of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination: Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. The center’s work begins modestly this summer with a workshop drawing parallels between the art of drawing and Bible study, arguing both are about seeing and observing.
“If we as Christians believe that creativity and imagination is a gift from God, why have we neglected it for so many years?” said center director Steve Halla, a former Dallas Theological Seminary professor and a woodcut artist.
Already, evangelicals are exerting greater influence in the film industry.
Even before the success of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ,” Southern California was home to a Christian screenwriting factory called Act One, an on-the-rise film school at the evangelical Biola University and a film studies center sponsored by the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities.

More recently, evangelicals have turned their attention to the contemporary art world. For the past two years, students primarily from Christian colleges and universities have studied and interned at galleries and graphic-design firms through the New York Center for Art and Media Studies, a satellite of Bethel University in St. Paul, Minn.
“We are not trying to recruit missionaries into New York City or anything like that,” said James Romaine, an art historian and the center’s director. “We’re helping young artists grow and become the best artists they can be.”
Echoing others, Romaine describes an evolution in evangelical thinking about the arts.
“For people of my parents’ generation, there was always a question of, ’Can you be a Christian and an artist?”’ he said. “When I was a student, the question was, ‘How can I be a Christian and an artist, in a philosophical sense?’ Now, there’s a sense of, ‘Let’s get to it. How can I be a part of this art world?”’

© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

First Post

I gave up on blogging a little over a year ago because I had more personal thoughts that I decided to keep in a personal journal. After living a little more of my life, I have decided that I have some public ideas that I would like to express.

If there is anything that I have learned this past year, it's that life is constantly developing into a wonderful story. God has amazed me with His faithfulness to His promises to me. Every step that I take in the progression of life, I realize it's a step towards destiny. I do not have to be confined to the expectations of my experiences, but I can trust God and live in a way that is deeply satisfying and adventurous.

The end of my undergraduate years is coming quickly. What's next? I hope that it's an adventure in New Orleans where I can study something about which I am extremely passionate. Thank You God for motivating me in ways I couldn't explain--everything is starting to make sense.