Church in American Culture @ FTS - Recently Updated Pages

Day 10

malucas — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 12:22:58 CST

Myth #4: The Millennial Nation

Premillennial, Postmillennial

Premillennial: Jesus comes and reigns for a 1000 years
Why then should be worry about justice and the social Gospel
We are in a lifeboat, and we need to get others in the boat with us, “saving souls”
based on Finney’s approach, but Moudy was the major preacher that was pushing for people to make a “decision”
Postmillennial
Liberal ideology that we can bring about the 1000 years
Decline of Zeal in New England
in the face of the decline of zealousness of Puritan society, second and third generations
Great Awakening 1720-1740s
The new heaven and the new earth talked about in the Bible, was America
Jonathan Edwards
One Dollar Bill
novus ordo seclorum: new order of the ages
annuit coeptis: God has favored our undertakings
complete blaspheme  
Chosen + Natural + Christian + millennial = A Manifest Destiny

Chosen: God chose us because we have chosen liberty and freedom, to spread liberty to the world
Natural: liberty is our natural state, so other people are unnatural
Christian: America discovered a pure Christianity that will spread, a crime against civilization if we did not spread Christianity to the world
Millennial: duty to export our way of life to other people
Manifest Destiny: we need to take it by force 
Myth #5: The Innocent Nation (20th century)

Rest of the world is evil, and US is good
American Innocence
WWI - going in a helping with a war that was not our fault, we are completely free from blame
WWII - victimized and invited into the war, not our fault
Vietnam - there just as a police action
911 - victimized, we are faultless, we are innocent
Who we where is in the “now” not according to our past

Day 9

malucas — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 12:22:29 CST

Myth #2: Nature’s Nation (Revolutionary Period)

-- If nature was to create a government, then the United States would be that government
-- Straight of the Enlightenment, the “self-evident” way in which things should work.
-- Thomas Jefferson’s concept of “self evidence” is a socially constructed construct.

Enlightenment Background
Religious wars for the first time after the Protestant Reformation
People started to wonder does “it have to be like this”
Look at the traditions in which everyone it willing to die for?
Descartes, searching for a new basis; Toulmin
Lord Herbert of Cherbury, De Veritate
It all stems from the fact that the Bible was translated
What can we rely on? The Book of Nature
So what does nature teach?
Give the core reality of things
God exists
Moral Order
Laws on Heart: “we know the moral order”
Humans must acknowledge wrongs
Humans rewarded for right and wrong
This be Deism (the religious form of the Enlightenment)
Deism
We know God through Reason, expressed in nature
Remove the supernatural from Faith
Jesus is just a man
Closest to Unitarianism
Thomas Jefferson
One Perfect God
Future Reward
Love God with all your hear and your Neighbor as yourself
What he thought was ridiculous, disagreed with Calvin by saying that Calvin said:
Three Gods
Good works are nothing
Faith is everything
Reason in religion is worthless
Election of saved and damed
“There would never have been an infidel, if there had never been a priest.”s  
First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
Written against the state church  
Critiquing Nature’s Nations
Every other governmental form is inferior  
David Walker
“Walker’s Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World,” 1827.
Against Jefferson’s notion that Black were inferior, as nature taught 
Nature teaches
Democracy is natural
The removal of Native Americans is natural
Capitalism is natural
Slavery is natural   
Myth #3: Christian Nation
-- Attempts to Christianize the Republic
-- Move against the Deist, thought was that Jefferson would lead this country into immoral and heretical lands
-- John Adams and the Treaty of Tripoli, established a secular nation-state
-- Impulse was to return to being a Christian nation

The states thought the they would separate established state churches
But that was undermined by the first amendment
Lead to the preaching of the Second Great Awakening
Preaching about that we are loosing our sense of religiosity
Western expansion was lawless
Evangelistic revival preaching in order to get this country back on track
Stress of Calvinistic themes with a strong emphasis on response
Emphasis on conversion
Developments in the Second Great Awakening
Social Justice and Evangelism went hand-in-hand
Second Challenge to the Myth
fighting for this Christian Nation
it was not “we used to be a Christian Nation,” we where never a Christian Nation
In the founders mind it was a rejection of a State-sponsored religion 

Day 8

malucas — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 12:22:02 CST

Declaration of Independence: Core Creed of America

“We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

Truth claim to the God of Nature
not based on tradition
based on reason
Claims of equality and rights
apposed the idea of the “divine right” of Kings
political statement attacking the monarchy
rights language is individualistic (keep the government away from the individual)
No sense of responsibility 
Myth #1: The Chosen Nation (Colonial Period) Hughes: Myths America Lives By, 2003.
Puritan belief that God has chosen us, made us different, so we have certain privileges because , claiming Deut 7:6-8 as there justification
Where does this come from?
English Reformation
Middle class begins to read for themselves because of the printing press
Tindale, translates the Bible
goes to Germany to translate the Bible in English, influenced by Luther
goes to Switzerland, and become influenced by covenants,
blessings: Deut 28:3-6
curses: Deut 16ff
must obey God’s laws to have in order not to be cursed by God
Covenant theology became widely read, and resulting in the creation of a new protestant church thinking anything Catholic was evil
left during the time of Queen Mary, and return under Elizabeth, once returned they became known as the Puritans
nothing happened after 30 years of working within the system, so they became Separatists, which resulted in harassment and pressure from the governing monarchy
Up unto Charles I, who started to kill and persecute the Puritans
So they fled to America, with the understanding that if they create a primitive church then they will experiencing the blessings of God
However, the understanding was that the entire system of life, politics, economics and such is under God’s plan
Thought was that if they could create a society that followed God they could change England
Over time covenant became associated with “close-ness”
Few reasons for this happening
the restoration of the ancient church (if Jesus was to create a church this is what he would of created)
isolated from all other Christians in the world, speaking in, result was them standing alone with God against the world
Roger Williams -- voice of challenge, banned from Massachusetts
Chosen Nation Legacy
called to organize the earth
the message of John Winthrop gets forgotten
becomes an appeal for power and control

Covenant, based on responsibilities that God has placed on us, if not then it becomes privilege and power...

Day 7

malucas — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 12:21:39 CST

I don't have any notes form this session, does anyone??

Day 6

malucas — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 12:21:14 CST

Spectacle:
“a way of making an argument. Not through appeals to reason, rationality, and self evident truth, but instead through story and myth, fears and desires, imagination and fantasy. It realizes what reality cannot represent. It is the animation of abstraction, a transformation from ideal to expression. Spectacle is a dream on display.”

A “spectacle” for dissent
-- such as “I have a dream…”
 Appealing to Desire
-- Vegas: Participate in the spectacle
-- Video Games: Character identification signals empathy
-- Advertising: Unified stories that appeal dreams and transformation
-- Celebrity: To be recognized and make known what we know

Day 5

malucas — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 12:20:48 CST

Must Read: “Body of Politics” by Yoder

ask about praying for the kids

Everything we do, as the church, has a sociology to it.
Holistic approach to Christian thought 
Practice #1, Binding and Loosening
returning a lost person to the community
reconciliation
practice of the community to forgive and restore one another
creation of community
skill of conflict resolution; needs to be a make of Christian community
bringing peace
in the world, Christians can stay who they are and help the world reconcile and conflict resolution
Christianity as the presence of peace 
Practice #2: Breaking Bread: “Communion”
Real food for hungry people
The demonstration of the banquet table
Everyone had enough within the church, within the common community
Economic Sharing as part of our identity, the way we are suppose to be
Forgiveness of debts
Part of the Church is the sharing of economic means 
Practice #3: Baptism and the New Humanity
All sort of people, from all walks of life, become one people
The concept of equality is of no concern to Yoder, as it raises alarms if it is used in the Enlightenment connotation as with Hauerwas
A church full of division, racial or otherwise, then the Gospel is not there
Not just a concept of having an open door where “all are open,” but diversity is needed
Most church in the US 95% are mono-cultural
Segregation as anti-Gospel
Rooted in the idea of non-violence: Non-violence as a means of creating a relationship with the “enemy”
Freedom to convert and reconcile individuals to the community through baptism
Not coerced to be something your not, “Liberty”    
Practice #4: Fullness of Christ
Gifting of all members of the body
Everyone has a role to fill, we all have gifts to give
No laity verse clergy demarcation
No push for the “Shaman”
Even though some are paid does not give them special status
One of the only one’s that don’t really happen, very radical
Team driven assembly
Any space where the members fit together as a team, and create a push against the powerful leader
Every institution falls into this: marriage, government, business… etc. 
Practice #5: Rule of Paul
Everyone gets a voice in the meeting, “the Church”
A move to a consensus
God might move through any of the persons present in the community, so we need to give everyone a voice

Day 4

malucas — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 12:20:24 CST

Powers: the social norms and mythos that direct out movements and give direction within society and culture 
Yoder: the powers are fallen and need to be challenged in order to bring them back to God, redeemed to the life-given mission they originally had in God
non-conformed within culture: all cultures have some concept of the Gospel, driven by their reading of the Gospel
Gospel is translated within cultures, not against cultures, so we have to start where the culture is
Is a church of all KKK members still a church?
Transformation of cultures come from insiders, from outside all we can do is dialogue; “When ever missionaries make rules for the people they are reaching out to, they make the wrong rules?”
Wink: NT “powers” all powers have
Wink: powers are one the macro-level
Archai -- people in powerful rolls, but also the position are powers
NO MAVERICKS
thronos -- the seat of power, the ability and skills to “do” this power
kyriotos - the structure that give raise to the power
exousia -- the rules people submit to the power, the way that power is legitimized
when a system oppresses, and starts to rule in the place of God, then they become demonic
kosmos -- is domination system, a systemt hat has the potential to dominate, a sociological world prone to “fallen” nature
Redemption is the “throwing off the shackles” of domination, new creation through Christ
through Christ there is a chance for transformation against the curse
God’s curse is not a dominate system, but leaves space for transformation 
Politics and Social Change
Taking on the System --> DailyKos blogger
Web 2.0, the web as a conversation space 
New Insurgents
Goal: Shape Public Opinion
How
Bypass the Gatekeepers
Crush the Gatekeepers
Influence the Gatekeepers
In a democracy change happens with a change in information
Change must be partnered with the Media, (i.e., Gandhi)
The goal of protest is to change conventional wisdom, the “common sense ideas” and everything starts to shift
blogging circumvents the “Gatekeepers” to change “common sense”
To get at the common sense of people
Locating unrest
Picking battles
Bypassing: ignoring media, political establishment (self publish media) “we don’t need you”, media comes running
Jesus did this
Crush: creates a powerful ethos that destroys the establishment
direct action and challenge to power
Influence: threaten to bypass, but then change them 
Christian Blogging
Jesus placed pressure on the political powers
Jesus is changing conventional ideas of what is “common sense”
Blogging as Culture creation
as a voice beyond the Gatekeepers

Day 2

malucas — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 12:19:43 CST

I'm not sure where to make this comment - but since we were discussing Obama's thoughts regarding his intention of killing Bin Laden, it occurred to me that Bonhoeffer was part of the group whose intent was to kill Hitler. I don't know the entire situation with Bonhoeffer - nor do I endorse killing, but the issue of evil is a big part of the situation. So - just a thought about that point.

Question: What if we where to take Jesus’ mission as our politic? 
Jesus was apart of his culture
He walked, talked, dressed, and acted along with his culture (99% of the time)
But, he was none conformed by his culture
Culturally, he came in the role of a prophet, which was recognized by culture, this role was not unusual, but the things he was saying was unusual
Parables were nothing new, but he flipped the ending: he used the cultural norm but then he flipped them around, to depict the Kingdom of God
he hung with the 95%, the outcasts, and was saying that they were the heroes of this new reality, causing for a different way of living within this culture
he did not invent the Kingdom of God, it was an ongoing discussion, Jesus brings through a new understanding of the Kingdom though it is vaguely defined
There is no division of Church and State, and Mind and Body, these are unfamiliar to the text 
Context, 1st century Palestine -> agrarian society controlled by a foreign ruler 
Types of rebellion -- the poor and oppressed do have power
Tricking the powers by spreading a persuasive discourse within society -- Ellict, “change the story change the culture” -- Some other guy -- “change art change culture”
A powerful rebellious event, explosive act
Jesus carried along the lines of “spreading a discourse” through his parables, and ultimately culminated in a climax within the cleansing of the Temple
by Jesus forgiving sins, he was undermining the power structure of the day, but cause the Religious rulers and the Temple controlled “forgiveness” 

Blogging Rubric

bashope — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:16:11 CDT

A note on accessing the blog: Ryan mentioned during week 2 that if the blog won't count hits by its own members. This is true, but only if you're logged on at wordpress. If you just visit the site from WetPaint, your facebook account, etc., and you don't see your account options in the gray bar at the top of the page, you're not logged in. Just a thought...

Posting (DEADLINE: Monday at 6pm)

Be sure to include an analysis that includes the readings, the current political atmosphere and the narratives of the US that anchor said atmosphere, and a Kingdom reflection/response or integration within our society
Try not to wait until Tuesday night or Wednesday morning to post; there are 17 people who will need to read and respond to the different posts of the week

It’s In the Details

be sure to proofread your posts and comments before you publish them. It’s easy to write and respond in our fervor of engagement, and leave things a bit untidy

There’s a spell check button on the menu bar of the Write Post Page
Also, be sure to separate your paragraphs with a hard return; it increases readability
Remember to Categorize your post, using one of the existing categories or adding a new one. Think of the category as a "file" where you put a document for further access
Applying a tag is most beneficial as well, as tags are the manner with which others may read your blog. Names of authors, concepts, or broad things like "politics" show up when folks are searching the web for material that may connect them to our blog.

Word limit

as we talked about in class, the closer you keep it to 500 words, the better. This will both increase readability for you and those outside of class, and decreases my time to read them!

There’s a word counter near the “Save” and “Publish” buttons on the Publish status bar on the right of the Write Post page

Comments (DEADLINE: Wed. at 3pm)

Be sure to engage with your peer bloggers during the week; only about half responded for week 1. They’ve got good things to say, it’s worth your while to read what they’ve got going on.
Also, feel free to comment on as many as you’d like, but we’d like you to have a more in-depth response of 100 words with someone’s post. This increases the likelihood of conversation and content for dialogue between folk.

Grading

At the end of the quarter, we'll be requesting a copy of your 10 posts and any and all comments, threads and interaction you've had with others on our blog or visitors blogs for final grading.
With the five texts we're reading, we'll expect at least one interaction with each one in a post and it's connection to politics/culture and the interaction with the kingdom
The first half of the quarter leading up to the election, 5 posts spanning weeks 1-5, we'll be posting on politics and the narratives inherent within that we need to be aware of as followers of Jesus (see above "Posting" category for more details)
The last half of the quarter, 5 posts from weeks 6-10, can be broader in scope, of culture and church and narratives, etc. (see above "Posting" category for more details)

Course Home

bashope — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 13:13:59 CDT

Welcome to the Church in American culture class wiki!

This is the homepage where you can find important updates and easy access links to things you will need for this class.

Quick Links Class News Page Assignments Lecture Notes Evangelical Political Analysis Blog	Class Announcements Remember to get your first 500 words in by Wednesday, Oct. 8, 3pm... First day of class is Sept. Oct. 1, 3-6, in Psych 314.	Recent Discussions
What's New	Bookmarks Data on Election http://www.realclearpolitics.com/ http://www.dailykos.com/

Weekly Classtime, Schedule
October 1, 2008 - Dec. 12, 2008

October 1, 2008
Walk through the Syllabus
American Culture, Introduction, Day 1

October 8, 2008
Jesus and Politics Day 2

October 15, 2008
Political Blogging -- What is it?
Introduction to Ideology
Ethnicity and Immigration,
Liberalism
The African-American Experience, Day 3
Conservatism

October 22, 2008
Religion, Day 4
Fundamentalism

October 29, 2008
Regionalism, Day 5
Nationalism

November 5, 2008
The American City, Day 6
Socialism

November 12, 2008
Gender, Sexuality, Day 7
Anarchism

November 19, 2008
Youth, Day 8
Fascism

November 26, 2008
Freedom, Day 9
Feminism

December 3, 2008
American Culture and the World, Day 10
Ecologism

December 12, 2008, 5pm all work due in SIS academic advising office.

About the Professor
RYAN K. BOLGER, associate professor of Church in Contemporary Culture in Fuller’s School of Intercultural Studies, teaches courses in postmodern, postcolonial, political, and new media cultures; emerging churches, church growth, and missional churches; and Jesus and mission. He is coauthor with Eddie Gibbs of Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Communities in Postmodern Cultures (Baker, 2005). He is the recipient of an award from Duke Divinity School for research work on pastoral leadership in the emerging church, and an award stipend from Yale for his teaching work on American culture and the gospel. Ryan blogs at http://thebolgblog.com.

About the Teaching Assistants
Brian Shope is about halfway through his MA Intercultural Studies program at Fuller Theological Seminary, where he is concentrating on the re-connection of western culture and the community of Jesus. Of particular interest are cultural expressions of church and the caring for the marginalized of society as our part of the Kingdom of God as ekklesia; following graduation Brian hopes that this will provide vocation in some capacity. This is his first foray into the teaching assistance-ship, and enjoys the a-ha moments that learning brings. He is the proud and joyful daddy of Owen Benjamin, wunderkind, and exuberant husband of Megan.
C. Wess Daniels, PhD student in the School of Intercultural Studies focusing mission in the West, contemporary culture and the Quaker tradition. Wess has been a teacher's aid for Ryan Bolger since the fall of 2005 and hopes to one day teach classes on the church and culture. He is married and has a daughter and blogs at gatheringinlight.com.

Day 3

malucas — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:06:41 CDT

Theo-political Imagination: Mapping the religious in the political
William T. Cavanaugh --> Political theology, social ethics, ecclesiology with a particular interest in Politics and Radical Orthodoxy
a basic thesis: Modern politics and religion: Both have a history, and were invented. These ‘inventions’ act as a counter-theology for what we call the nation-state.

Theo-political Methods
Genealogy - everything has a (counter) history
Look for the religious in the political
There is no presupposition free space
The church can resist being domesticated

Genealogy
Genealogy is a counter-history, the other side of the story, most times a critic of the “pop” understanding, e.g., Wizard of Oz vs. Wicked
Critic to the concept of universal truths, that political or social understanding have a history within themselves…
Looks to uncover the (contradictory) origins and formation of values, ethics and feelings as it relates to our understanding of good and bad. For Nietzsche, ethics were a product of historical and societal processes.
Michel Foucault takes this further by utilizing this method to offer counter-histories of institutions, the subject and societies. 
Politics require us to partake in a game, a language game, built upon the foundation of imagination 
imaginative society
the state does not exist
the nation-state is an imagined community
Secular institutions and secular politics are really theology in disguise
The nation-state is created around a “soteriology of rescue from violence”: basic function of the state is protection
Civil society is not presupposition free 
The Savior State
humanity created for communion, but divided anywhere
results in the church and the state having separate “creation-mythologies”
States offers salvation (safety) from each other
 
Counter-soteriologies: ecclesia
humanity and creation finds it unity in participation in God
the harmony of creation is disrupted due to Adam
Redemption for humanity comes through participating in the Body of Christ
reaction too: “The right of nature, whereby God reigneth over men and punisheth those that break his law, is to be derived, not form his creating them, as if he required obedience as of gratitude for his benefits, but from his irresistible power.” Hobbes
shift from participation to volunteerism  
Counter-Soteriologies: the state
An original state of freedom from the individual
The birth of the social contract
Mine and thine inscribed into society
Leviathan is the new Adam 
Re(Inventing Religio
An evolution
Religio and monasticism
Religio as embedded virtues, communal practice
Religio as individual and private, transfers into a private or pietistic conviction
based on universals
private beliefs are saved from manipulation, domesticated
Body handed over to the state, becomes a soul thing as spirit thing 
Civil Society and Public Discourse
Civil-Society as Free Space
Public vs. Private
Public vs. Sectarian
‘Public’ as upheld by civil institutions
Public as civil discourse
Public and common goods
the idea of a division of spaces is a ‘smoke screen’
Public Theology Approach (modern approach to Church in society)
the drive to translate theology into meaningful mediums in the public space
works off the distinction between imperium/ecclesia
Constitution limits the state
Protects the Church from the state
based on consensus -- discourse, all enter into the public space
strict separation of public and private space
Grassroots Approach
“democratic potential of civil society itself”
Appreciates the power of everyday people
alternative sources of power against state
Appreciates discourse voluntary community setting as uncoerced
intermixing of public and private spaces 
Problems?
Civil space Isn’t Free
Public isn’t Private
Increasing Singularity of the State/Civil Space
Problem with flows from civil society
Translations becomes a difficulty 
Church as Free-Space
Is a res publica, imperium forfeits its right
A new order, interested in all things
Challenges false order of the state
Overcomes social contract through gift
Transcends borders because the Eucharist is a Spatial Story 
“The task of the church is to domesticate the world… Christians perform stories which transfer the way space is configured,” (93).

Day 1

michaelmills — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 21:02:14 CDT

this class is...

Walking through the syllabus...

We are going to debate...

The Intros
Since class is small we introduced ourselves... (so put down your personal stuff you shared with the class, for future reference)

Matt Lucas
3rd Year MDiv, concerned with hermeneutics and theological interpretation... in other words, how are we as Christians to think theologically and politically, while holding true to the biblical narrative.
Married and have a 6 month old daughter.

Andrea Huffman
2nd year SIS student, double-majored in college, way interested in the tension between American politics and American Christianity...and I'm married to the guy who sits next to me. No kids, but we have a dog if that counts.

Ashleigh Greene
1st year MAT-Biblical Studies student; UNC '08, majored in Political Science with an African-American Studies minor.

Kelly Dagley
MDiv-ish student working on Hebrew exegesis in preparation for doctoral work in OT. I also teach Bible to undergraduates at Hope International University in Fullerton. I'm excited to explore and think theologically about our culture and current events in this class.

Carla Brewington
DMs student, researching radicalized women through the lens of crucible with a focus on exile. Loves politics, advocacy and passionate about justice issues in Asia and Africa. Director of Harvest Emergent Relief, a small mission for women called to high-risk areas.

Michael Mills

2nd year MAT General Format student from Texas. Interested in American culture and what it means for the church to interact and be a part of that, while remaining distinct and potent.

The Notes

What is America?
--Nationalism took raise after the Civil War, before this citizens saw themselves as members of the region or territory
--With the raise of immigration, the need to set boundaries and define the “nation” became a need
-- Strive to establish an “American” culture
-- Exceptionalism -- the idea that America occupies a unique in world history
all the normal rules don’t apply to us, we are unique
no land and aristocracy
no monarchy
and no classes, due to the ability to re-create/re-invite ourselves, social mobilization
no socialism, “we hate marxism”
assimilation, the “melting point” gives us our unique perspective
“land of opportunity” -- “endless frontier”
“American Adam” -- boot straps, “I can do anything…”
Myth
--A powerful formative narrative
--Used to explain the way things are…
--They become developed into reality into social and individual identity, due to the fact that they go largely unchallenged
--May be supported with evidence…
--Never named, only detected, become completely intertwined within the cultural understanding of the day, how things work, e.g., Pharisees cultural understanding presented in the Gospels 
Hegemony: “a contested and shifting set of ideas by means of which dominant groups strive to secure the consent of subordinate groups to their leadership,” Dominic Strinati (1995:170)
--Marx was thinking that the oppressed working class would over-through the upper class, would come to an understanding of their oppression, however, it never really materialized: question was asked “Why did not people do something about their oppressive states?”
--The thought was that (Western) mass-media was numbing the people to the reality of their oppression, lashed out at anything that was thought to control the people 
Discourse constitutes reality.
--If you listen to the myth long enough, you start to believe it.
--They are the formative forces that constitute cultural and individual identity
--The gatekeepers of right and wrong within a societal/cultural context
--Authoritative, sets up the authority one it do follow
--Power is in the conversation in which we partake, it is not held by higher-structures
--Post-Structuralism, “Foucault” 
National Identity is:
--Not a fixed essence lying outside history and culture;
cannot be recovered or returned to, as if to find our authentic being, but is
constructed through memory, fantasy, narrative, myth, within culture, within history; (Stuart Hall 1990:226)
--“marks the conjuncture of our past with the social, cultural and economic relations we live within,” (Rutherford (1990:19)

Online Help and Tutorials

cwdaniels — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 12:32:09 CDT

Need help setting up a blog, a delicious account, twitter, etc? Look on this page for help. If you don't see it here and you think it would be helpful for the rest of the class please add it.

Blogs

Set up a wordpress blog: Wordpress is a free online blogging service that is fully featured, easy to use, and has a great support community. They also haveHelps on how to get started blogging.Finally, you may want to know howto fix your time settings on your WordPress blog

There are many other blogging services available if wordpress doesn't suite you. Check outTumblr,Xangaand here are steps onsetting Up Blogger account.

Social Bookmarks

Deliciousand Diigo are two popular ways to do online bookmarking, which basically just means instead of bookmaring a page in your web-browser you do it online so you can share that info with others, and find those bookmarks regardless of what computer you're on. Here’s aHow to VideoforDeliciousandhere is a videoon how to useDiigo.

Online Tools

Google Docs- Free online wordprocessor
Delicious - social bookmarking systemHere’s aHow to Video.
30Boxes- A Great Online Calendar
Stikkit- A List Manager
Google reader for RSS
Last.fm - music player and music community
Flickr - picture host and manager
Firefox Campus Edition - a must use with blogger(both PC and Mac).
Box.net - 1gb free online storage

Other Help

Tips, Tricks and other Advicefor First Year Seminary Students

There are a number of places to buy new and usedbooks: You can purchse your books atFuller’s Online Bookstore.Archives bookstore in Pasadena has a number of used titles. Abebooks is an online store that sells tons of new and used books, it's one of my favorites. Powell's is a wonderful independant bookstore in Portland that has a huge selection of books and good prices.

Lists

TheUltimate Resource List for Studentsfrom Life Hacker and101+ Web Resources for Researchfrom student hacks.

Assignments

rbolger — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 14:21:55 CDT

1. Students will write weekly reflections (500 words a week) on the class political blog based on the in-class material and the reading (150 pages a week) (70%).
2. Students will interact (100 words a week) with other student’s writings on the class blog (10%).
3. Students will participate in class. (10%). Students may also contribute to the class notes page, editing the lecture notes pages. Students may miss up to two classes during the quarter. For each missed class, they must read an additional 150 pages from the required reading and create one additional (500 word) post to the blog.
4. Students will write a 1000 word reflection paper on what they learned in the class and how a political blog might be useful for churches doing mission in an American context (10%). This is due Dec. 12, 2008, 5pm, SIS Academic Advising office.
5. Extra credit -- student(s) may choose to create a youtube video describing what happened in the class. If interested, talk to the instructor.

PREREQUISITES: None
RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: SOT/MA Cultural literacy. MDiv Elective. SIS Elective.
FINAL EXAM: None
Last updated September 23, 2008

Lecture Notes

rbolger — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:49:32 CDT

These are working copies of each lecture as recorded by the students. Students are encouraged to add to these notes as they see fit.

Course Description

rbolger — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:22:44 CDT

MP550 American Culture: Social Location and the Gospel
Ryan K. Bolger, Associate Professor of Church in Contemporary Culture
Fall 2008 Pasadena

DESCRIPTION:
Students will examine the founding narratives and myths in American history and explore how these discourses manifest today. In addition, students will take a close look at American culture and identify the various structures and practices within America society. For fall 2008, students will culturally exegete the fall national election, most specifically political speeches and how those connect to the other themes of the course. Finally, students will learn to think theologically about American culture as well as formulate ideas regarding missional engagement for local congregations.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:
• analyze American culture through the lenses of cultural studies, American studies, political theology, ecclesiology, and missiology.
• gain individual and corporate skills in reflective interpretive work regarding texts and contexts, specifically political activities surrounding the 2008 national election.
• acquire vision for and commitment to theological reflection on cultural contexts
• create plans as to how churches might interact within American Culture with imagination and faithfulness.

COURSE FORMAT:
This course will meet for 3 hrs/wk for 10 weeks, utilizing reading, lectures, discussions, interaction, visual media, small group work, and web-based research and interaction.

REQUIRED READING:
Campbell, Neil and Alasdair Kean. American Cultural Studies (2nd ed.). Routledge, 2006, 314 pp.

Claiborne, Shane. Jesus for President. Zondervan, 2008, 348 pp.

Dark, David. The Gospel According To America. Westminster John Knox Press, 2005, 173 pp.

Jewett, Robert. Mission and Menace. Fortress Press, 2008, 272 pp.

Wuthnow, Robert. American Mythos. Princeton Univ., 2006, 298 pp.