My favourite Advent song. This rendition is particularly beatiful.

I’ll see you lovelies after Christmas.

Labels: christmas, hymn, latin, multimedia

Although I think he was an atheist, Carl Sagan is amazing. Just watch, you’ll thank yourself for it

Wow.

Labels: atheism, multimedia

John Lewis’ Christmas adverts are back on telly. They just keep getting better and better. In fact I think I’m starting to like them as much as certain red trucks…

Check out last years if you’re ever at YouTube with nothing to do.

Labels: christmas, media, multimedia

Remember before when I blogged about the Catholic Church not advertising? Well, it seems a Catholic organisation out there called “Catholics Come Home” agrees and has started producing some very nice videos. The following is amazing, it really makes me proud to be a Catholic.

I particularly love the line “For centuries we have prayed for you, and our world, every hour of every day” – I’ve never thought about it but as a collective body the Catholic Church is locked in prayer with God. There are so many of us that at any one point we (as an institution) are praying, which is a really lovely thought.

Labels: media, multimedia, techology

Another thoughtful video by YouTube user stevesilvia.

Labels: movie, multimedia

Perez Hilton is, in my opinion, a waste of space. His life is essentially the gossip column in a tabloid newspaper. It’s no secret that celebrity culture is not my thing; yes, there are public figures who I admire, but I have no interest in knowing what’s in their rubbish bins and I believe that we all have a right to a little privacy.

Because of my disinterest, I don’t really know what’s going on in the world of celebrity gossip, however I have been unable to escape this story. Recently Perez has made claims about an attack by someone associated with the ‘Black Eyed Peas’. Here’s a summary from Wikipedia, where you’ll also find references to back up any claims made:

In June 2009 Hilton alleged in a video blog that he was assaulted by the Black Eye Peas' operation manager Polo Molina. Hilton claims the incident occured outside the Ultra club at a 2009 MuchMusic Video Awards after-party where the Black Eyed Peas' frontman will.i.am was DJing. Hilton reported in his video that he was "clocked" in the eye by Molina. Will.i.am also released a video statement in which he claimed he had approached Hilton regarding derogatory comments made by the blogger concerning bandmate Fergie and the group's latest release The E.N.D.. At this point Hilton was allegedly approached from behind and punched in the eye. Will.i.am claimed the attacking party was a fan, although Molina has been detained and will appear in court in Toronto concerning the incident.

This ‘incident’ led him to post a video blog in which he makes teary statements about his treatment as a human being; how nobody deserves to be hit and how violence isn’t the answer. It’s almost as if he’s trying to assert that his human rights were infringed or something. I have some advice: grow some. You were hit, that’s it. I’m not saying it’s right, but people get into fights all of the time. They get over it. Look at the treatment of other people around the world; the violence in places like Afghanistan, the suppression of freedom in China, the exploitation of child workers in India . That’s a true violation of human rights.

In that video, which is worth a watch if you need a laugh, he himself asserts that

I’m a big boy. I dish it. I can take it. I know that I say things that really upset people. That’s never a reason to hit someone.

Actually, I think it is a reason to hit someone. Whilst I don’t support violence, he’s essentially saying there “this attack was provoked”. If you defame someone, then you can expect repercussions. Again, I’m not supporting violence but if you “dish it” don’t expect to not to get anything back. In an ideal world violence wouldn’t be the answer, yet in the real world people do act violently.

His comeuppance?

As a Christian, I know I am compelled not to be vengeful, and I do feel terrible for admitting this, but a part of me can’t help but think that he deserved it. Some of his actions are, in my opinion, despicable. On his blog, Perez is open about his homosexuality and has in the past attempted to ‘out’ celebrities who he claims are ‘in the closet’. Human sexuality isn’t some media spectacle, it is a gift from God to an individual with the intrinsic end of love. It is private in nature and a very sensitive issue. The Catechism states that

2358 The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfil God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.

What he does is, arguably, unjust discrimination. He is not being sensitive or compassionate, he’s attempting to reveal a very personal part of a person in a very public way. If people don’t feel comfortable enough to ‘come out’ of their own accord then there is no way he can justify ‘outing’ them. It’s not his place to say. Moreover, he’s making claims not truth statements – there is a chance he could be wrong. Spreading rumours is never right, just as violence is never right.

 
Just a few celebrities who Perez claims are ‘closeted’.

Final thoughts

Returning to my opening statement “Perez Hilton is a waste of space”, it probably seems that it’s a bit unfair. I don’t mean that we should just go ahead of lock him away from public view because he serves no purpose at all for society, I mean that his life seems to lack direction. He spends all of his time blogging about other people, but has he spent any time thinking about what God wants for him? At the moment, he’s a man who would rather tweet that he’s being attacked than phone the police to sort out that attack – this is not a life with meaning. It’s clear that he needs to do some serious discernment in order to discover his vocation.

Labels: celebrity, commentary, homosexuality, multimedia

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Okay, well perhaps not like that! Watching the clip above in The Simpsons the other day made me question why the Catholic Church doesn’t advertise. Things have changed, attending a Catholic Church is no longer just part of everyday life for many people. Indeed, people can walk past a Catholic Church just like a product on a shelf in a supermarket – unless Catholicism tells people why they should pop in, they’re gonna keep walking past. Companies advertise, perhaps Catholicism should.

What are we selling?

Afterlife insurance. Essentially, we’re marketing your ticket out of here and into heaven.

The problem? So is everyone else in our market. We need to work out what it is that makes Catholicism so special, what makes us different from the Muslims or Hindus… why people should be one of us and not one of them.

Not only that, we face increasing competition from within Christianity itself. The monopoly on Christ has passed and the church needs to deal with it. If people settle on a Christian way of life, what reason is there for them becoming a Catholic? Other denominations offer salvation through Christ at less of a cost. Catholic moral teaching is a lot more restrictive than that of some other Christian groups, for example the Church of England teaches that sex within marriage is an expression of physical love whereas Catholic teaching is that sex is only for procreation. Why should people give up sex for pleasure in order to achieve salvation, when our competitors are offering salvation with sex for pleasure?

The Catholic Church needs to work out why we’re the best and broadcast that to the world.

Atheism

Imagine if someone came along and started running adverts saying, “Actually, you don’t need washing powder… it’s all a sham”. The washing powder companies would be all over it, running adverts telling the public why they do need washing powder. It’s the same with religion, which is coming under fire from the atheists. Indeed, recently they started advertising…

A tarnished reputation

When a product or brand is in trouble, what do they do? They advertise, advertise, advertise. They try to restore people’s confidence in their product. Look at McDonald’s, a few years ago they were facing allegations of making kids obese and causing environmental damage. Even today, their ad campaigns are focused on the ‘healthy’ carrot sticks and responsibly-sourced ingredients that they use. I have to say, I think it’s working – personally, I feel better about eating at McDonald’s now.

Recently, Catholicism has come into disrepute over physical, sexual and emotional abuse claims by the clergy on children. We absolutely should be using advertising to make this right – addressing the issues and answering people’s questions in order to regain trust (and therefore ‘customers’).

Is it right to advertise Catholicism?

For all of the reasons above, I think so. Moreover, other Christian denominations advertise – why shouldn’t we? I’ve always found His Holiness Benedict XVI’s speeches inspiring, but I only know about them because I’m Catholic. If we could get his message to the world through advertising, there’s endless possibilities.

Labels: atheism, multi-faith, multimedia, techology

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Update: The video should be working now. Sorry for the delay.

What’s the best way to introduce more people to the Christian faith; stand on a street corner shouting about eternal damnation and how Jesus loves us all, or living a life like Christ, letting people see your Christianity through your actions? Is there a point in locking yourself away from the world in order to contemplate God? Does religion out of its setting make us uncomfortable? Why is there a link between religious belief and mental illness? Can people heal the sick and speak in tongues?

All these questions and more were dealt with in a BBC TV series aired about one year ago called “Am I normal?” in an episode called ‘spirituality’. Dr Tanya Byron explored what some consider the fine line between religious devotion and psychiatric disorder. She saw what happens when rational scientists try to analyse religious phenomena like speaking in tongues and hearing voices. And she considered the beliefs of faith healers who claim miracles happen, and those who believe they can cast out the malevolent spirits of the dead from within the living.

Unfortunately, the programme isn’t available on iPlayer and hasn’t been broadcast on telly since. Luckily, I have a copy I recorded last year. I’d love to make it all available online, but I don’t want to anger the copyright police.

Carmelite Monastery visit

There was plenty of interesting stuff in there about other faiths and other manifestations of faith, however it’s the Catholic stuff that we’re concerned about. The doctor visits a Carmelite monastery and ends up chatting to an older and a younger nun. It’s interesting hearing their experiences, have a watch:

It may take a while to load, please be patient... it's worth the wait! It's a high-quality clip, that's all. For some reason I couldn’t get an Adobe Flash player clip to work, so you’ll need Microsoft Silverlight instead. It’s a free download that brings desktop experiences to the web. More and more sites are using Silverlight, so install it now to be ahead of the crowd!

There’s one thing I must dispute with the younger nun in the clip, faith is an intellectual thing. Saint Anselm’s most famous dictum is “fides quaerens intellectum”; faith seeks understanding. It’s not enough to believe in God blindly, we must always be trying to reason his existence because it’s in our nature to do so.

I’m not too sure about her comments about the power of prayer either, she said that the power of prayer can make impossible things happen. However, prayer without action is toothless. There’s no point praying for exam success if you’re not going to study.

I’m not going to make any other comments about this clip, I’ll leave it up to you to draw your own conclusions from it. I wish I could upload the rest!

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Labels: britain, commentary, multimedia, religious life

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Music can be a great tool for getting you in the right frame of mind for prayer. In no particular order, here are four songs that I like. I’ve only used a small section of each song so as not to infringe on anyone’s copyright. If you’d like to buy from iTunes or Amazon there are links to do so.

Bread of Life - Boyce & Stanley

Buy from iTunes

Da pacem cordium - Taizé

Download for free from their site | Buy from iTunes | Buy from Amazon

Pie Jesu - All Angels

Buy from iTunes | Buy from Amazon

Ce matin-là - Air

Buy from iTunes | Buy from Amazon

My favourite of this bunch has to be the All Angels song. Either that or Air. Do you use music for prayer and reflection? If so, what are your favourite songs?

Labels: multimedia, prayer, techology