Nudist Christmas Cookies!

Yes, I hand-sculpted breasts and penises and stuck them on cookies. I was wanting to make sugar cookies because that's what we have always done in my house in the past, but wanted to put my own spin on it now that I am moved out into my apartment. This idea struck me at Meijer while looking at cookie cutters and I thought it was grand. It's celebrating Christmas AND body love at the same time! Two birds, meet one stone. I used the recipe from Sugarbelle (click here to see it).

They are really easy to make, and I have to say a lot of fun. Sculpting bodies makes you feel like you're creating; instant god complex. I experimented a bit with frosting above, but I had a terrible time trying to control the stream. Next year I may work to further than technique, but I was getting too irritated tonight. I probably redid one nipple like 10 times! It just wasn't worth it.

Is Jesus the Man of Steel?

I've seen a few articles commenting on how Warner Bros paid a theologian to market the new Man of Steel to Christians by comparing it to the story of Jesus. It's a great marketing idea, it seems pastors are always looking for some kind of new media to demonstrate the gospels through. But is this polluting the gospel to compare the sacred stories of Jesus in the gospels to this modern Hollywood blockbuster?

I would say no. It's not wrong or polluting. In fact, I think we can see Christ's symbolic presence in almost any captivating story that contains good vs evil. Of course the story is going to be different and have its own spins on theological symbols within it, but that is to be expected of symbolism in general. I just saw Man of Steel this past weekend with one of my friends, so I thought I would look into some of the symbolism here. Is Jesus the Man of Steel? This post will contain spoilers.

At a first glance it is easy to see the Christian symbolism. Clark is living among humans, yet he is so much more than that. He is constantly hiding who he is because his "time has not yet come" to show his true identity to the world. When Zod, a Kryptonian general, comes to earth, he seeks Clark by threatening the whole world to give him up. Clark, after reflection at a church, decides that he will not submit himself to Zod, but rather submits himself to the human race. He willingly lets the military bind him and takes him in for questioning, despite the fact that he could escape at any time. The military reluctantly hands him over to Zod to appease him. Aboard Zod's ship, which has been designed to replicate Krypton's harsher environment, we see Clark weak for the first time. He spits up blood, and passes out. After a psychic conversation with Zod, Clark confirms that Zod is trying to replicate Krypton's environment on the earth, which would wipe out humanity.

Clark, with the help of his Kryptonian father's electronic consciousness, Jor-El, escapes, and after quite a bit of planning and battling he sends Zod's companions back into the Phantom Zone and goes head to head with Zod himself, where Clark emerges victorious, being forced to kill Zod when he was trying to fry some humans with his heat vision. The end shows Clark, now established as Superman, throw down a military drone in front of a sergeant, who was trying to use the drone to find out where Superman dwells. Superman makes it clear that he is on humanity's side, but also that he can never be controlled by the government.

Christ metaphors abound. The human child who is "not of this earth." The choice to submit to human rulers when he could have easily resisted. The fall of a hero, only to rise up and reveal his identity to the world and to save it simultaneously. That much is easy to see. But what really intrigued me the most in this allegory was Zod. If Superman was Christ, who was Zod in all of this?

The easy answer would be Satan. It would just make sense, right? Well, not really. Zod had good intentions: he wanted to restore his home. Does Satan have any remnant of good intentions? In the final battle between Superman and Zod, Zod emerges from the ashes of a ravaged city, and tells Superman that he destroyed Zod's purpose and the future of his people. He tells Superman, "My soul... that is what you have taken from me!" and then proceeds to attack him.

Zod seems too human to me to be Satan. I think that he is the Jews of the gospels. Now bear with me, this movie was not antisemitic. In the gospels the Jews thought they were God's chosen people. They wanted a political Messiah who would come to return Israel to its former glory. They demanded Jesus death despite the reluctance of Pilate. They sound like Zod to me.

As with all allegory, we must look past the metaphors and fictitious elements to see the point that is being portrayed. The point of the movie was not to demonize 1st century Jews. Instead, allegories work to inspire ideas with modern implications. So what can we infer from investigating the heavy Christ allegory in Man of Steel?

That's easy. We want to be like Superman, and therefore like Christ. We want to protect humanity despite any alienation we experience from it. We want to have the willpower he has to always do what we know is right, despite any power we possess. But more importantly, we don't want to be like Zod. We don't want to let our power get the best of us when it comes to getting what we want. We don't want to perpetuate a culture that brings violence to other worlds, coldly restricts personal rights and liberties, and is oblivious to the realty around it, such as an imploding planet core. We don't want to be the Jews as described in the gospels.

Christians today, however, seem to confuse Jesus' identity like the Jews of the gospels did. They say they love Jesus because they want to fit under the "right" faction in their religious worldview, but they really tend to like the Jews as portrayed in the gospels more than Jesus. They say that Christ is a personal savior, but really think he is mighty king to come at the end times to judge with an iron rod, separating the worthy from the unworthy. Does this sound like Superman or Zod? Jesus' nature, or the nature of the Messiah the Jews of the Bible wanted?

In the same way Christians often try to establish Jesus as a political ruler, which is contrary to his nature (John 18.36). They want America to be ruled by a religious code enforced through the government, like a ban on homosexual marriage. They say we have kicked God out of our country, which may be true, but is forcing our own religious culture onto an entire country Christ-like? Could perhaps this be symbolized by Zod's terraforming machine? Many would argue that culture and values are always being forced by the government, which I am not arguing against. But since when were Christians supposed to be part of the ways of this world? Jesus changed the world through inspiring others through wisdom and selfless love, not control. It seems like most Christians want Christ to be what he was not: a controlling Messiah. They are putting new wine into old wineskins. They are dressing Zod up as Superman.

I think the allegory in Man of Steel does a fantastic job of showing the flaw of typical fundamentalist theology today: it's caught in the middle between Superman and Zod. It wants to show God's selfless love to others, but often wants to do so through control and forcing one culture onto another. Does that sound like something Superman would do? Or, more importantly, is this something Jesus did? Nope.

Is Jesus the Man of Steel? I don't know, but he sure as hell isn't Zod.

Eat Your Vegetables Day: Homemade Guacamole

So I know what you're thinking. Is there vegetables in guacamole? Yes, yes there is. I've wanted to make some guacamole for some time now and I was under the impression that avocados were vegetables, which apparently they are not. But I did use a tomato, red onion, a Serrano pepper, and garlic, which all fall under the vegetable family. I'm actually not 100% sure if garlic is a vegetable, but I don't care, I made guacamole in celebration of Eat Your Vegetables Day and there is nothing we can do about it now. So let's move on.

I used:
2 avocados
1/4 red onion
1/2 Roma tomato
1 Serrano pepper
1 lime wedge (for the juice)
2 cloves of garlic
2 pinches of coarse salt
1 pinch of pepper
4 pinches of cut cilantro


These are just rough estimates about the exact amount, I added until I thought it tasted right. I probably could have used more cilantro, but other than that I loved it. The Serrano pepper gave it a little spice, but I only used one so it wasn't over-powering. I also should have been more careful when cutting the garlic cloves, since I had one chunk in the guac that was too big. I got a bite of that and I am still tasting it. With that lesson learned, this will definitely be a dish I will make in my near future.

My First Nudist Experience AND My First 5K

The medal I won and the free shirt that I got for running the naked 5K at a nudist resort. Oh, sweet irony.

As you should know if you read some of these blog posts, body acceptance is something I strongly value. I am really drawn to the nudist philosophy regarding the human body; that is to say that the human body is natural and not merely an object to be seen in a sexual lens. If I like being naked, why is that "offensive" or "indecent" if I'm in sight of others? I have for quite a few years now enjoyed "at home nudity", like when hanging out by myself, doing yoga, or sleeping, but never before have I shared this experience with others. This summer I have been training for a 10 mile race with one of my friends in August and so I wanted to do some 5K races (3 miles) to help me prepare. In my quest for finding 5K races in Michigan, I stumbled across one held at Turtle Lake Resort: a naked 5K. I like being naked. I like running. I like trying new things. This seemed like too much fun to pass up.

I was a little nervous when I arrived, but the staff were really cool. They took me on a tour of the facility in a golf cart (still fully clothed) with other first-timers, a man and a woman. The guide explained general etiquette and showed us where the buildings were. After the tour, I parked and just went with the flow. I stripped, grabbed my backpack and towel, and found a locker. It was a little weird at first, only because I have never walked around in public naked before, nor have I prepared for a race. There was still a mental red flag telling me I was out of my comfort zone. That feeling, however, went away right as the race began. I think it was just doing something normal for me that made it feel right. I run all the time, whereas I do not go to new places, do public races, and get naked in front of strangers all the time. Once I got past the initial "new experience" feeling I was very comfortable. After the run I talked to a few people while waiting for the award ceremony, all of whom were really friendly. I reconnected with the people I took the tour with. The man liked to do different nudist events throughout the country, and the woman was just like me: she was passing through this part of Michigan and was looking for a race, and saw a normal 5K and a naked 5K and just figured the naked one would be more fun.

I really liked the atmosphere as well. People were very friendly, but weren't overbearing. In other words, I didn't feel like I needed to join a group of people to fit in. I am a heavy introvert, and after all the socialness that took place after the race waiting for the award ceremony I just wanted to walk around, lie on the beach, and take a quick swim. It was very relaxing.

As a point of interest to some viewers, as a few of my friends asked about this, I will note that uncomfortable genital bobbing was not an issue. When men exercise blood is pumping to parts of your body that need it, causing less blood flow to the genitals. This combined with the coolness that comes from the wind hitting your sweaty body makes men experience shrinkage. While running for 3 miles with your genitals looking smaller than usual may be concerning to some (in which case, I wouldn't be going to a nudist event), it makes running naked more practical. As far as breasts bouncing, I can't really comment on that from my own experience. Most of the women were topless when running, but a few did opt for a sports bra.

I also enjoyed the race aspect as well. I did pretty decent. I came in 19th place overall (there were a little over a hundred participants) and won second place for my division (20-29 year-old males). My time was 24:21. Not too shabby for my first 5K.

My overall experience was great. I would like to make this naked 5K a regular thing for my summers, and may find myself returning this summer for a day trip to work on my tan some more. If social nakedness intrigues you, I would definitely recommend Turtle Lake Resort to give it a try. As far as racing goes, I think I will feel disappointed when I have to run future races with my clothes on.

Reality of our Faiths: Objective vs Subjective Truth

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”

I was having an interesting discussion with a Jehovah's Witness buddy of mine at work about the nature of faith. He asked me what I have faith in, and I had to pause. It's not that I never thought about it before, but it can be very difficult communicating with fundamentalist Christians. This is not a jab at them, it's not because they are all really thick and irritating to talk to. It's because we use the same terms to mean different things. I could say Jesus. But the Jesus I believe in is not the Jehovah he believes in. I can say "God", but if we have radically different interpretations of the bible, our perceptions of God will be quite different. After thinking about it through my break, I answered with this: I have faith in an idea.

Vague, right? I'll explain later. For many Christians, they need to put faith in objective realities. They need to believe that Jesus walked the earth 2000 years ago. They need to believe that the bible is inerrant. Otherwise how could they believe in the gospel? They hold history as their authority, yet look to the bible and pastors to provide them their history over historians. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It's kind of like going to a pilot to learn about advanced theory of aerodynamics instead of a physicist. They both work with the same laws of aerodynamics, but one will understand it a lot better than the other. The physicist is trained in understanding physics, the pilot in manipulating physics. But despite their methods, they place their faith in a perceived objective reality: something cemented in space and time.

Objective truth holds a number of disciplines, like science and history. To be clear, I am aware that objective truth may be unknowable, but that is not the point. The point is the methods of objective studies treat their subject like it is a cold hard fact by critiquing it and testing its environment, and not assuming things without reasonable probability. There is, however, such a thing as subjective truth. We see subjective truth in things like ethics and philosophy. We cannot through testing affirm that the Holocaust was wrong, but I still believe it was! We can say that it was inconsiderate of human life, but how can we show that being considerate of human life is right? We can't. That's a subjective truth. We believe it is right, and it is generally accepted as right, but it is not objective truth. It is not a physical occurrence, but rather a reaction to an occurrence which reflects our values.

So we have our two types of truths: objective and subjective. The former holding physical and temporal reality, the latter an idea concerning the former. What I was trying to explain to my coworker was that I have faith in the subjective truths found in Jesus' teachings. I don't have faith that the earth is only thousands of years old. I don't have faith that Jesus literally resurrected. But these are relatively unimportant. We cannot test these claims, or show them to somehow be likely. However, through studying the bible I have learned to put faith in the truth that God loves humanity. And that to truly live fulfilled I must love all people as myself. And that my mistakes don't define my existence, but rather my mindset about them do. These things cannot be shown to be wrong or unlikely by others. How could they? It's personal experience and reflection that I put authority in, guided of course by the teachings from the bible. It is these subjective truths that change how we live, how we think. We are transformed not by faith in an objective reality, but by subjective truths in response to reality around us.

Religion gives us all a unique framework to think about life. They reflect our culture, our values, and our desires. My faith is who I am. But it cannot be shaken through history or science, nor must I insist on my own version of history or science to keep it alive. Personal transformation is a powerful experience, but you won't find it through cold hard facts. It's how the facts are arranged and valued. It's the mythic element behind our sacred stories, it the passion that inspires our movies and music. It's like being in love: it inspires us to be better people for something greater than ourselves. My faith is not stuck in reality, and it's something so much more powerful than fact.

Lailat al Miraj: The Importance of Daily Prayer

I haven't talked about a whole lot of other religions besides Christianity, so I thought today would be a great day to talk a little about Islam! Today is Lailat al Miraj, the Islamic holiday celebrating the Prophet Muhammad's Night Journey from Mecca to Jerusalem where he met with the former Prophets while ascending the Seven Heavens, referenced in the 17th sura of the Qur'an.¹ The angel Gabriel comes to Muhammad with the Buraq, a mythical winged horse who is known for carrying other Prophets. Muhammad rides to Jerusalem, where he ascends into the Seven Heavens with Gabriel guiding him. In the First Heaven he sees Adam looking at the good and bad souls of his descendants. In the Second Heaven he sees Jesus and John the Baptist.² In the Third Heaven he sees Joseph son of Jacob (the man from Genesis with the colorful coat, not Jesus' earthly father). In the Fourth Heaven he sees Enoch.³ In the Fifth Heaven he sees Moses' brother, Aaron. In the Sixth Heaven he sees Moses. In the Seventh Heaven he sees Abraham. Gabriel then takes him into Paradise, where he talks with Allah about the great importance of daily prayer.

On his way back to Mecca, Moses asks Muhammad how many times a day are the people to pray. Muhammad answers with 50. Moses tells Muhammad to go back to Allah to ask for that number to be reduced.⁴ Muhammad agrees, and after going again to Allah he returns, telling Moses the number has been reduced to 10 times a day. Moses again said that this number was too high, and so again Muhammad returned to Allah. When he returns he tells Moses that the number has been reduced to 5 times a day. Moses again says that this is too many, but Muhammad says that he would be to embarrassed to go back again.

This myth (I'm using the term to mean a sacred story, not implying falsity) works to explain the Islamic practice of salat, or daily prayer, which is supposed to be done five times a day. Before each prayer, one should clean his hands, face, mouth, nose, teeth, and feet. Prayer should be done by positioning oneself facing Mecca and bowing on one's knees all the way to the ground. Of course, this rule is only applicable to those who are physically capable.

While I am not a Muslim, I think this practice is pretty cool. It's a way of frequently reminding themselves that following God means submitting to God and his will, a reminder that many of us need all too often. Praying five times a day may be more than I practice, but I can appreciate the commitment and humility that comes with practicing the salat.

1. Islam's Seven Heavens
The Seven Heavens in the Islamic worldview are not levels of the paradise most Westerners think about when they hear "heaven". Instead, they are realms in which Prophets and angels dwell. The paradise where people go to dwell for eternity with Allah is called "Paradise", and its gates are located in the Seventh Heaven.

2. Jesus as a Prophet
In the Islamic tradition, Jesus is regarded as a holy Prophet, but not as God himself, unlike what is taught in the Gospel of John. He is found in the Seven Heavens along with many other Prophets.

3. Enoch
Enoch is mentioned in Genesis as a descendant of Adam through Seth and a great-grandfather of Noah. While he is vaguely described as a righteous man in Genesis and briefly referenced in Hebrews, he is the leading character in the ancient Jewish work titled The Book of Enoch, which is accepted as canon by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

4. Moses Challenging God
While this may be surprising to some readers that Moses disagrees with Allah's commandment regarding the amount of times to pray each day and changes Allah's mind, it seems to be part of their relationship. We see this in the Torah as well in Exodus 32.9-14:

The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation.” Then Moses entreated the Lord his God, and said, “O Lord, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” So the Lord changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people.

Faith: Trust Despite Uncertainty

I was talking with some awesome LDS Sisters last week and one of them told me that she was "100% certain" that her faith in God, Jesus, the Bible, and the Book of Mormon was true. That really got me thinking: can we ever be certain in our faith?

Now, for clarity, I want to define my terms. She used the phrase "100% certain", which is redundant. We have this terrible habit of saying redundant things, like "PIN number" and "co-mingle", and this falls into that category. Because we can never be less than 100% certain of anything. We say things like "99% certain", but that's not really certain. You are either certain of something, or you are uncertain. So basically she was telling me that she was sure that her faith is true. 

With that grammatical mini-rant finished, let's get back to me thinking "how can you be certain of these things?" If our religious faith lies in the unknown, i.e., things we cannot sense and test around us, on what grounds can we find certainty? I suppose many will say that they have SO MUCH faith that they just know, but religious interpretation is by no means black and white, so what they are really saying is that they have SO MUCH faith in their own understanding of doctrine and interpretation of scripture that they are "certain". But isn't that "leaning on our own understanding"?¹ It seems to me that in order to truly have faith, we must be uncertain. This does not mean that we cannot trust our faith or believe what we have faith in is likely to be true. It just means we cannot be certain.

While this may seem like just a silly philosophical topic, I believe it is quite important to reflect on. After all, I think 99% of Christians would agree that the founding block of Christianity is faith in Jesus. So it's incredibly important for us to understand what faith is. And if we can assume that faith in Jesus is for our benefit, then we need to reflect on why it is we need to BELIEVE who Jesus is and not KNOW who Jesus is.²

I think the best place to start this reflection is to look at the setting where Jesus jumped into some flesh: Palestine under Roman control. The Jews were expecting a legendary king to rise out of the line of David and kick the Roman's asses out of their Promised Land and restore the Kingdom of God. In the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) Jesus is constantly trying to hide his identity, and for good reason. Jesus' teachings were attracting large crowds, and the people were itching to revolt, especially if they thought Jesus was the political ass-kicking Messiah they were eagerly expecting.³ In this situation it makes a lot of sense for Jesus to preach that his followers must BELIEVE in his identity. Because KNOWLEDGE of his identity allows misconceptions of who he is to become cemented in our minds. It was by having faith in who Jesus was, i.e. allowing themselves to be uncertain, that his followers' perception of a political Messiah could be transformed into understanding his role as a spiritually liberating Messiah. Without that kernel of uncertainty, i.e. faith, they could never escape their faulty misconceptions of who Jesus truly was.

Now let's fast-forward 2000 years and look at our faith today. How do we know that we are perceiving God correctly? If we think we know who God is with absolute certainty (now I am being redundant; it's for dramatic effect), then we are sealing a force far beyond our own cognitive capacity into our very limited mental mold. We aren't giving any room for further understanding God, or giving ourselves a chance to be corrected if we have actually been perceiving God in a foolish way. By being "certain" of who God is, we are merely leaving ourselves vulnerable to wallow in our own ignorance, and therefore limiting God's transforming power in our own lives.

Now for my "clean up" speech: I am not saying that Christians should just live any way they feel like living with the excuse that we just don't know if our faith is true. That is also "leaning on our own understanding". The term "faith" also has a strong implication of trust despite its implication of uncertainty. But if we want our faith to grow like a mustard seed, we need to give it room to grow by acknowledging that God can work in ways beyond our understanding of him and that we, as humans, are very capable of being misguided.

1. Proverbs 3.5
This is a reference to Proverbs where we are warned to fear God and not let our own "wisdom" fool us. While this is often used to crush ideas about God that challenge traditional acceptances, if we read further into the chapter we see that we are not to "loathe His reproof". But if we are only willing to be "certain" in our understanding of faith, then how can we welcome God to reproof us if we misunderstand?

2. Believing
To "believe", as used in the bible such as the popular John 3.16 passage, is πιστεύω. It can mean to "trust, put faith in, or rely on". 

3. The Political Tension of 1st Century Palestine
Sparking political revolt was a very valid concern. In fact, in 66 CE the Jews did violently rebel against the Romans, only to have Jerusalem sacked and their beloved temple destroyed in 70 CE.