Skimpy skirts and eternal life

On the eve of the biggest holiday in Chantara's year, Black Friday, I was reminded of a shopping mystery. I recently did some holiday shopping of my own (and by "holiday", I mean shopping for myself, but doing around the holidays) and purchased a few items at Forever 21.

For those of you who don't know, Forever 21 is a miracle on earth. Its a store that is jam packed with so much merchandise that you cannot go in without 1) spending at least an hour combing through the merchandise and 2) buying at least 4 things (which will cost you around $30.) The clothes are super trendy and not well made, but even a girl of my advancing age and preppy tastes can find something there. So can club kids, budding fashionistas, pre-teen Carrie Bradshaw wannabes, and many, many more.

Today, as I was folding up the bag to reuse on another occasion (big ups to recycling!), I was reminded of a mystery that I never have solved. On the bottom of the signature Forever 21 plastic shopping bag, there is a little bit of text that if you didn't know any better is an imprint of the color of the ink used, or the batch number for the printing of the bag. But, no...for most they will recognize the ink on the bottom of that trendy, sometimes slutty clothing store bag to be - a Bible verse. And not just any Bible verse, John 3:16, the "Gospel in a nutshell":

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever
shall believe in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

I didn't even need to look it up, because I recited it dozens and dozens of time at Sunday School growing up. So the question I'm sure you're asking yourself right now is the same as I had. "Why is that there?"

Is Forever 21 owned by an evangelical Christian, much like Jessica Simpson's dad, who just wants to bring small clothing to the world? Logically, it seems that if someone was devoted enough to print that on millions of bags that little teeny-boppers (and some budding professionals) will be carrying around, that that same person probably wouldn't approve of half of the clothes that his own store is selling.

Well, thanks to the internet, we have an answer, from the New York Sun's article entitled "Evangelism in Fashion." Like usual, their author addressed the issue first and with much more literary flair than I.

P.S. In-n-Out Burger does it too...

Obama: Heaven Sent?

Its hard to discuss something these days that does not involve the election of Barack Obama as the next President of the United States. One of the first questions I thought of after last week's historic election was - was Obama a gift from God? Its not out of the realm of normalcy to ask that question. After all, many conservative Christians believed that George W. was selected by God. In fact, W himself thought so.

I had a debate with someone several months back about how the Obama campaign was trying to portray Obama as the Messiah (a.k.a. Jesus). My argument was that I highly doubt the campaign was intentionally doing it. If any comparisons to Jesus were made, they were only because Jesus himself is an amalgam of common themes of revolution, change, and redemption.

Call me crazy, but I can see how some people believe Obama is ordained by God to lead our country. I can't believe I'm saying that, because when people said that about W, I thought they were nutso. After all, what else could explain the financial meltdown that so greatly contributed to his landslide victory, if not God's intervention? ***Editors note: (Iif you really want to know what caused the U.S./world financial crisis, This American Life did a great episode entitled "The Giant Pool of Money" that explains it.)***

A look at what Obama's targeting for his first few weeks in office certainly seem divine. He's already planning on closing Guantanamo Bay, where many have been wrongfully imprisoned for years without any sort of Constitutional (and arguably any civil) rights, and giving those detainees fair trials within the U.S. It's also speculated that he will immediately reverse some of W's executive orders that allow oil drilling in the national parks.

I think rather than him being sent from God, its probably more likely that he's just a good follower of God. Someone who knows how to truly mesh his faith with his job. Not just someone who *says* he does.

God wants you to vote

So few things in life am I as passionate about as voting. So I am going to use this arena to stump for a second... but not for any particular candidate (although I am very HOPEful for some change...).

I want everyone reading this to go out and vote.

If you believe in religion or science... if you believe in community or money... if you believe in elephants or donkeys or green things (i have no idea what their mascot is.... a leaf?)... if you believe in the future or the past... if you simply believe... YOU MUST GET OUT TODAY AND VOTE!

And to put this into religious terms... it is a moral duty to vote. Take pride in what God has given us and take responsibility for it.

VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! (got it? now stop reading and go vote!)