My MacBook Makes Me Rich

When I saw a video documenting a radical sharing of wealth outside of the New York Stock Exchange, I began to think and investigate wealth and income in America and the world.

A BBC article and study by the World Institute for Development Economics Research report that the wealthiest 2% of the world control over half of global wealth; in contrast, the poor half of the world has barely 1% of the world's wealth. In a discussion over at OmniNerd, one commenter said,

So if the top 2% own 50% of all household wealth and the poorer bottom half owe 1%, that only leaves 49% for teacher and government employees.

Another noticed,

That's actually an interesting way of looking at the numbers in this study. If 2% own 50%, and 50% own 1%, then it follows that the remaining 48% of the population owns 49% of the world's wealth. So, wealth distribution is actually pretty equitable for around 3.1 billion people, and that's not too bad, right?

Pointing out that numbers can often be spun for an agenda, this commenter is right in remarking that for just under half the population--the upper half of the population, excluding the elite rich--wealth distribution is "even." I got to wondering though, is this 48% of the world really "teachers and government employees" as the first commenter suggested?

Cue Global Rich List, a service developed by a company in the UK to assess your personal income in comparison to the rest of the world. I plugged in my entry-level salary (in television, granted) and found that I am in the richest 0.98% of the world. Some sleuthing found the calculations use data from 2003 & 1999 ... but still.

Am I an anomaly? According to the US Census Bureau, the median household income was $44,344... that would place you in the upper 1.98% of the world's wealthiest. The "average American" is, it seems, a part of the world's elite rich. AFT found that the average teacher salary was $47,602 in the 2004-05 school year. Teachers are among the world's uber-rich, not among the 48% of the world's population which has it's fair share of wealth. We are a part of the small group that controls 50% of the world's wealth. Wow.

When asked, "Why are you doing this?" the folks over at Global Rich List responded,

We are obsessed with wealth. But we gauge how rich we are by looking upwards at those who have more than us. This makes us feel poor.

We wanted to do something which would help people understand, in real terms, where they stand globally. And make us realise that in fact most of us (who are able to view this web page) are in the privileged minority.

We want people to feel rich. And give some of their extra money to a worthwhile charity.

MSN Money looks at the question of wealth a different way, assessing household wealth rather than income. Got $2,200? The computer you're reading this on is probably worth about that much. You're in the wealthiest half of the world. $61,000 worth of assets (cars, houses, possessions, savings, investments, etc) places you in the top 10% of the world. Phew.

What does this mean for me? I'm not really sure, but I know that I'm thankful.

We must change, for everything must change

It seems I'm on a video on a video kick these past few days. I picked up this vid over at Brian McLaren's blog. It was created from photos taken on the Everything Must Change tour. If there's one thing I took away most from this video it is that if everything must change, we must start changing. Take a look.

Mercy. Beauty. Truth.

I'm honored to have met Jaradoa Theater co-founder April Nickell a few months ago. The theater company is founded to promote mercy, beauty, and truth through service and performance. Award winning writers, directors, designers, and actors have come together to create art and through their art create change. They work with elementary school students and 16-year-old inmates at Rikers. They put up professional shows, network with the community, and create opportunities for service and performance.

Look what they've been up to recently!

Finding the Impossible

In her statement for this year's Equality Ride, Haven Herrin says,

I wish everyone could experience the feeling of going where everyone told you it was not possible and finding nothing but hope and potential once you get there.

As she often does, Haven takes the words right out of my mouth. My time on the Equality Ride was one filled with tremendous hope and change. In the year since, I'm finding hope and potential all the time.

My parents, who in 2006 told me they weren't sure if they would come to my wedding are interested, ask, and even offer advice about who I'm dating (or not dating). Someone close to me who went to Trinity International for undergrad is finally able to love himself and come out to those around him. California takes its place in US history as the second state to open marriage to all individuals, regardless of gender or sexual orientation. My home state Maryland moves closer to marriage equality and my home county has put in place non-discrimination legislation that protects gender identity. And there's a gay couple on daytime soaps! We are blossoming.

I've been blessed with the friendship of another young man from my church who despite being homeless is always joyful and is working towards a full-time job and hopefully soon an apartment of his own.

I have seen my own faith--once starved by legalistic evangelicalism which held out daily Bible readings, church attendance, and alcohol consumption as the barometer of faith--flourish as I continue to discover what it means to follow Christ.

My friends have modeled how to have hope for themselves and to be hope for others. The news predicts doom, the nations plot war, the elders tell us we are naive but I've never been more certain of the power of good, of God, to rise in this world. And as I read and search, explore and discover, I find that I'm not alone in this feeling. The Simple Way and the Potter Street Community in Philadelphia, PA also journey to where others will not and also finding hope and possibility there. Take a look:



To support the Equality Ride, go here. To support The Simple Way, go here.

Want to do more than just give money? Email info@sfnyc.org to get involved with Soulforce locally here in New York (or to get connected with Soulforce in your area). Check out the "Practical Section" of the Simple Way site for things you can start doing yourself or visit Relational Tithe.

And then hurry back here to share your stories of where you're finding hope and possibility in unlikely places and what you're doing to foster that. I'm in serious fact-finding mode right now and am drinking up any stories you've got to share!

What's with the 'tude, dude?

Surfing around YouTube, I found this video with Chuck Colson, Greg Boyd, and Shane Claiborne. What strikes me is that though Shane does not come out and say "It's OK to be gay" his approach to the issue is strikingly different than Chuck Colson's, who immediately associates being gay with AIDS and then dismisses the observation that Christians are described as anti-gay above all else.



I feel drawn to hear more of Shane's thoughts, my stomach turned as Chuck carried on at the end of the video.

More Voices From the Right

“[Amendment 2] could set us back...unnecessarily or could set us on the road to progress and equality because, although some proponents would like to phrase this debate as a gay versus straight issue, it is not that at all. We're talking about basic, fundamental rights that could be in jeopardy.” -- Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), on her opposition to amend Florida's constitution

Equality Wins

"The night I took the vote in June, I was told I would never be elected again. I'm running unopposed." -- New York Republican Assemblywoman, Teresa Sayward, on her vote for marriage equality

Looking for an ethic of life

When young people die in war, it's only a soldier.

When civilians are killed in the crossfire, it's a cost of war.

When doctors kill unborn babies, it's only a fetus.

When governments execute adults, it's only a criminal.

When thousands of children die of hunger abroad, it's not a cost our taxpayers should shoulder.

When foreigners perish in genocide, it's not our place to intervene.


When humans are dying, when is it not our place to take a stand? Do we really value life?

What is your Cardboard Testimony?

My friend Sam shared with my yesterday about how his church recently did "Cardboard Testimonies" and today my friend Kelly from Summer Staff witih YoungLife updated her status with a link to the following YouTube video



What would my cardboard testimonies look like?

Ashamed of my love | Loved by the One

Trapped in secrecy | Freed in Christ

Treading water with my faith | Reignited with passion to follow the Lord

Disorienting darkness | Illuminating light

Ability to have meaningful relationships crippled by fear of being gay | God showed me that I am created by God and it is good

Filled my life with parties in college | Filling my life with God today

Always look for ways to make and store up money | Giving away more than ever and finding different sorts of treasures

What do yours look like?

Today, I did not smoke 59 cigarettes

At the Northeastern LGBT Conference, workshop leader Jessica Pettitt, while speaking about advocacy, made an analogy to her efforts to quit smoking. "At my peak, I was smoking sixty cigarettes. Sometimes I would quit for an hour, sometimes for a day. Ultimately what worked was when I found a buddy and when I started thinking from a place of power." Instead of viewing each cigarette as failure which would lead to a downward spiral only fueling further addiction, Pettitt learned to take stock of the positives in her life. "If I smoked a cigarette at noon, that was 29 cigarettes I didn't smoke. That is much more encouraging to help me get through the rest of the day. At the end of the day, I could say, look what I accomplished, Today, I did not smoke 59 cigarettes. That's something to be proud of.'"

Jessica's example is applicable in different areas in my life. Recently, I've been thinking a lot about the effects of my behavior, specifically my consumption. What does it really cost for me to run the water, to buy new tshirts, to throw out plastic bags, to let food spoil, to run the air-conditioning, to eat meat, to consume non-local food. It sounds overwhelming. But rather than focus on the catastrophe of overconsumption, Jessica Pettitt's approach to quitting cigarettes provides a helpful way to view life: as a series of accomplishments.

I shared recently how, though I've adopted a vegetarian diet, recently, I've been eating meat. I also run the air-conditioner, buy snacks that I don't need, and search Uncrate for things to get myself. Without erasing the effects meat consumption, non-renewable energy, and selfish consumption, I am able to recognize the flip side of my actions. Every time I turn on the AC at night, I've gone all day leaving it off. For every indulgence, there are countless more acts of restraint.

So yes, I eat meat. But I also go stretches without eating meat. I run the after work some days, but I leave it off all day and usually all night. I'm probably going to buy an iPhone in December but I rarely drive. I'm finding simple victories every day and counting them all as cigarettes I did not smoke.

An Unassuming Milestone

A month late reporting, but better late than never! With no fanfare, actors Jake Silberman and Van Hassis--who play the daytime "super couple" Noah and Luke on CBS's As The World Turns--present Ellen DeGenres with a Daytime Emmy. Luke and Noah are daytime's first gay male relationship and on-screen kiss. Actors portraying a holistic gay couple on daytime television presented an openly gay female daytime talk show host with an Emmy.



Look, there we are!

Coming In September: Seven Straight Nights

It's been a hectic few days as I've been working with Mayra David, a straight young woman who will be coordinating this year's Seven Straight Nights for Equal Rights events in New York City. She's been a supporter of Soulforce for years so she's been able to jump right in which makes my job even easier.

Mayra is cooking up some exciting ideas and if you would like to take a stand for LGBT equality during the Seven Straight Nights campaign, contact her by sending an email to 7SN@sfnyc.org!

I Still Look Up

Tourists are the ones looking up. There's an adage which says you can identify the New Yorkers as the ones unconcerned with their surroundings; tourists are distracted by the lights, the smells, the sights, the sounds of New York City. For residents, this glamorous city is really rather ordinary. Or, perhaps, we are really rather fabulous.

I'm not sold. As I wandered through midtown tonight, making my way to the Times Square subway stop to catch the 7 train into Queens, I caught myself equally as mesmerized by the flashing lights as the tourists I pretend to begrudge. For as much as I consider myself at home in this city, I still find myself caught in awe every now and then. When tourists are posing for pictures, I offer to help take their pictures. It's my part to dispel the image of angry New Yorkers but it's also an opportunity to share in a carefree moment of happiness. Growing up in DC, going to school in Los Angeles, and now working in New York, I've bounced from one American metropolis to another. City life should be old hat but the lights still dazzle. I take for granted that I'm one or two degrees of separation from almost everyone in the entertainment industry, yet I still get excited when I walk past a Law & Order crew... even though I'm friends with the VP in charge!

Perhaps this is the case with everyone, a life that is simultaneously extravagant and ordinary. I still remember the first time I saw myself on the news. Equality Ride training was wrapping up in Austin, TX and we went out dancing after a fundraiser when news coverage of our event appeared on the television screens. It was surreal.

I was asked to pose for picture at almost every stop during the Equality Ride. I remember walking to the grocery store in Rexburg, ID when a young lady ran from her job at a fast food restaurant jumping and waving, calling our attention. I was often told "I'm so impressed with the work you do," "I could never do this," "What you do so important." I've been asked to speak at Carnegie Mellon University and Marble Church and even still I get messages on social networking sites wanting to say hello, to talk with an Equality Rider.

And yet I can't escape the feeling of ordinariness. Only a month before Equality Ride I was sitting in my apartment eating Papa John's pizza and singing along to Comcast karaoke with my roommate Ryan and our friend Carolyn. I didn't do much, I just showed up. Of course, I don't intend to discount the incredible work the Equality Ride does. It is an exhausting, time consuming, agonizing, taxing, rewarding, and surreal experience. It took a great deal of training and preparation and an equal amount of debriefing. But at the same time, at the end of the day, I'm a young man who saw an opportunity to make a difference and took it.

And that's where I find myself today. A rather ordinary person doing rather extraordinary things. Serving the young adults community at my church, steering Soulforce NYC, working at a national television network, and traveling all over the country to do so; but living every day guided by small and simple decisions. Practicing non-violence, choosing to love, searching for faith, taking small steps towards justice, find beauty and value in the smallest of opportunities.

I'm a New Yorker now, the buzz of the Big Apple has become routine, but I still look up.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell Roundup

What to make of yesterday's Congressional hearings on Don't Ask, Don't Tell?

Last year, the Army gave moral waivers to 106 applicants convicted of burglary, 15 of felonious break-ins, 11 of grand-theft-auto, and 8 of arson. It also admitted five rape/sexual-assault convicts, two felony child molesters, two manslaughter convicts, and two felons condemned for "terrorist threats including bomb threats."

"The Army seems to be lowering standards in training to accommodate lower-quality recruits," RAND Corporation researcher Beth Asch observed at a May 12 Heritage Foundation defense-policy seminar in Colorado Springs.

Conversely, expelled military personnel include Arabic linguists and intelligence specialists who help crush America's foes in the War on Terror. "Don't Ask" has ousted at least 58 soldiers who speak Arabic, 50 Korean, 42 Russian, 20 Chinese, nine Farsi, and eight Serbo-Croatian—all trained at the prestigious Defense Language Institute. Al-Qaeda intercepts need translation, and Uncle Sam may need people who can walk around Tehran with open ears. Yet these dedicated gay citizens now are ex-GIs.

Read the full article

Also, check out Dana Milbank's take on the hearings in The Washington Post

Things That Make Me Happy: Teen Movies

I may no longer be a teen, but I'm not even going to pretend that I'm not supremely excited about the upcoming third installment in the High School Musical franchise.



So. excited.
Thanks, Molly.

I Eat Meat

Once, I posted the trailer to my movie AFTER I posted the completed video. I'm doing things in a round-about way again. I wrote this post a few days ago but kept it in the Drafts folder because I wasn't sure if I really wanted to post it. It seems now that I've already answered my own question. Still, I learned something about myself in the process of writing this and so I imagine there is value in it, even as I've begun to answer the questions.

-Brian

--

I eat meat. I understand meat production in America as not only violent to those directly involved in the process but as selfishly deflecting resources away from the country's and the world's hungry. I understand all of that and yet tonight I ate a chicken sandwich from Quizno's.

Were the occasional, self-satisfying meat consumption my only shortcoming. As I work to model the life of Jesus, I become painfully aware of how short I've come.

My first time attending The Haven, we remarked that non-Christians and Christians have no noticeable differences when it comes to “being good people.” I serve a holy, strong, merciful, bold, just, courageous, loving, and sacrificing God and yet my atheist friends embody these characteristics just as much as I. When others look at me, do they see a self-obsessed, self-righteous, arrogant young man who views himself and the world through the lens of his own piety? In the tension between freedom and works, do I prefer the latter, have I lost sight of faith? Do I remember Paul's words to the Galatians? “How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?” Is faith-guided activism simply an attempt at self-justification, through not only action but through profession of faith?

Perhaps worse still, do I use freedom as a Get Out Of Jail Free card? Have I allowed Paul's reminder that “Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you don't get tied up again in slavery to the law,” to excuse my own shortcomings? For as much as I talk about creating change in my own life, I see an awful lot of the status quo.

In the end, tofu will not be enough. I count on the One who did more than I will accomplish and now it is time, as Jay put it, to Put Up or Shut Up.

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue, but with action and in truth. - 1 John 3:18

What will my love look like?

A Starfish Called Enoch

Filmmaker and missionary Seth Chase created a video to be used at fundraisers and awareness building events in London for the Pilgrim program, it's been adapted to challenge people all over the world. Take a look at A Starfish Called Enoch



Whether it's microlending, participating with the ONE campaign, supporting reconciliation work in Africa or something else entirely, please share in the comments what you'll do to help change the world?

Past Points: Equality Ride Training

When I began this blog, I imagined that it would follow me as I navigated my way through life. I came up with the name of All Points In Between. This blog is about not only the major events in my life, but all points in between. When I started the blog, I was about about to embark on the 2007 Equality Ride. That was my current point. Since then I've gone through graduation, Right to Marry, a move across the country, and now life in The Big Apple. It feels like I'm on about to breakthrough to another point in my life's journey. I've decided to look back to where I've come.

Training for the 2008 Equality Ride concluded in Minneapolis only four days ago. As I look back on my own training experience, it is unbelievable to imagine a time without my fellow Riders in my life.

On our first day, we rolled a piece of paper on the hotel floor for an ice-breaker. You can see me pictured below, among a sea of young adults who were at the time strangers. I'm across from Vince Cervantes and Vince Pancucci, who I met up with in Southern California after the ride at the Ex-Gay Survivor Conference. I grabbed breakfast in NYC with Cervantes and his mom when he was in town for an appearance on a TV show.

Next to the Vinces is Jillian Nye. I would grow to love Jillian as we worked to plan a stop at Pepperdine University. After the ride, she introduced me to La Verne Church of the Brethern, a church I still call home every time I'm back in So Cal.

Aaron is drawing next to her, I stayed with him in Nebraska during the Epic Journey Into Adulthood. I also went to visit him at his seminary in Minneapolis recently. He is a constant source of stimulation in my spiritual journey and I think over 50% of my reading list comes from his shelves or recommendations.

At the left side of the photo you'll see Brandy Daniels. She's a student at Duke Divinity now and one of the inspiring contributors to (Not So) Straight From Seminary.

Next to her sits Dan Seda, a fellow West Buser who lives in New York City where I've since moved. He just bought a dog and I recently caught up with him over yoga and Mexican food.

Bram Wispelwey serves on the SFNYC Board of Directors and works closely with me to continue the work of Soulforce here in New York.

Not in this picture are Micah Matthias--who lived on my couch for close to three months and has become a brother to me--and Casey Chandler-Alexander--another wonderful Equality Rider. Josh Polycarpe rounds out the No Photo Available crowd as fixtures in my life now.

That's not to mention the staff of Soulforce Q, whom I talk to weekly for fun and for advice. Matt Comer whom I blog with over at InterstateQ, the talented Adam Britt who's about to go on tour with Of Montreal, Philly-based Jess Kalup with whom I talk (and plan) almost every day, Angel Collie who's visited me at least three times in the past two months, or the many other Equality Riders who are infused with my life daily.

Before training started, these people were strangers; after our first training they became co-workers; and now they are more like family. In my post at the end of Austin training, I wrote:

We spent our last evening together sharing where we were before Austin, where we are now, and where we're going. There was LOTS of sharing and it took us a solid 3 hours to wrap everything up but doing so really gave us a sense of who we were as a group. These people are some of the most amazing people I have ever met. They come from all around the country and they bring them open minds and loving hearts. I cannot wait to share them with the world and grow to know them even better.

Today, I am sharing the world with them and it is a beautiful world. I thought, at the time, that Equality Ride was simply the first point I would chronicle in this blog, it seems that in many ways it was the starting point for an exciting new direction in my life. In my mind the ride would be two months--I would check in and check out. Little did I know the bonds and lasting relationships I'd be creating. The 2008 Equality Ride begins in October and I'm sure it will inspire some more reflections. Feel free to check out other other Equality Ride posts in the meantime.

For those interesting, Soulforce Q is a grass-roots organization and operates through the continuing support of concerned individuals, you can support the Equality Ride financially here.

Meet Patricia Amalia Lopez Ugalde

Patricia has been divorced from her husband for some time. She receives a pension, but, like many mothers in this country, she wants to give a better life to her 4 small ones. She believes that, if she is a strong and hard-working woman, her children will follow her example.

She started her business 2 years ago. First she helped another woman work, but, since a year ago, she has had her own business selling clothing and novelties.

I invested $25 in Patricia's business and 16 other investors contributed similar amounts. Together, we've invested $500 dollars so that Patricia can buy more display racks and lighting for her store. Over the next 6 months, she'll repay the loan and I can either get my money back or invest in someone else. Stay tuned for updates on Patricia's expanding business!

If you're inspired by Patricia's story and would like to help other business owners of the world's working poor, visit Kiva.org today.

Real Life Examples of Tension Between Works and Grace

Yesterday I wrote about the tension between freedom in Christ and the presence of (and even need for?) works in life. This isn't going to be a long post as I'm rushing off for yet another birthday dinner (gotta love Birth Week) but I think it hits at the heart of the tension.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God - not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. - Ephesians 2:8

We were created for good works and thankfully have the grace to perform them. I don't work toward righteousness for the sake of my salvation or even self-purification. I've come short too many times for that. Rather, someone else has already done the heavy lifting, I just have to show up and do what I can. And if I can't make the world a better place, that's OK, but that doesn't mean I can't try.