A blog of curiosity from a guy who's a wandering tourist, an armchair traveler, a amateur photographer, a novice journalist, a student historian and so much more.
The Old North Point
Water Tower (2472 E North Ave, Milwaukee, WI)
This Victorian Gothic structure was constructed in 1871, completed in 1873, and stands 175 feet tall, with a 120 foot high wrought
iron standpipe built
within.
One of the most interesting features about this old water tower, is that it's in the middle of the road, so you have to be sure to watch for cars, and if you're lucky, you can simply park right next to it. Across the street is Columbia St. Mary's Hospital, and has some amazing architecture as well, both old and more modern.
The
cornerstone of St. Mary’s Hospital was laid on the 80-foot
bluff that overlooks Lake Michigan on May 15,
1857.
I have kept a distance watch on the whole GOP race for the 2012 election with mixed thoughts and dull curiosity, since none of the current candidates are truly worth rooting for - even though I'm all for Obama going on towards a second term in office. But, now that the GOP Primaries have begun, after a few hundred debates, I've started to gain some interest in who will win the Republican nomination, mostly due to the fact that Iowa was won by Rick Santorum, New Hampshire by Mitt Romney, and South Carolina by Newt Gingrich.
Here's the results so far from the GOP primaries:
Iowa Caucus Results (January 3, 2012)
Rick Santorum - 29,839 votes = 24.6%
Mitt Romney - 29,805 votes = 24.5%
Ron Paul - 26,036 votes = 21.4%
Newt Gingrich - 16,163 votes = 13.3%
Rick Perry - 12,557 votes = 10.3%
Michele Bachmann - 6,046 votes = 5%
Jon Huntsman - 739 votes = 0.6%
New Hampshire Republican Primary (January 10, 2012)
Mitt Romney - 97,532 votes = 39.3%
Ron Paul - 56,848 votes = 22.9%
Jon Huntsman - 41,945 votes = 16.9%
Newt Gingrich - 23,411 votes = 9.4%
Rick Santorum - 23,362 votes = 9.4%
Rick Perry - 1,766 votes = 0.7%
South Carolina Republican Primary (January 21, 2012)
Newt Gingrich - 243,153 votes = 40.4%
Mitt Romney - 167,279 votes = 27.8%
Rick Santorum - 102,055 votes = 17%
Ron Paul - 77,993 votes = 13%Herman Cain - 6,324 votes - 1.1%
Rick Perry - 2,494 votes = 0.4%
- Results from Politico.com
What has sparked my interest the most in the whole GOP primaries though, has been Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert and what he's been doing via his show, The Colbert Report. The whole joke behind Colbert is he play's a right-wing conservative talk show host, all the while, making fun of the Republicans. There are moments where I get bored with his show, but I soon realized how brilliant he is. Since the beginning of the GOP race, he has been making fun of the whole process. But, most importantly though, by mocking the whole process, Colbert has been able to show on his TV show, just how unethically legal it is for a potential presidential candidate to start up their own Political Action Committee (PAC) or even a Super PAC, and be able to receive donations from just about anybody, and with a Super PAC, be able to not publicly announce where that money is coming from, and be able to spend it any way the owner of a PAC wants to.
What Colbert was able to do, by showing on The Colbert Report, was just how easy it is to create a PAC, and by doing so, educate the general public and made them aware, more so than the reform community or via traditional media, of "just how dangerous and corrupt the current system of political campaign financing has become."(1) Both Federal Election Commission CommissionerEllen Weintraub and Fred Wertheimer, who is the president of the nonprofit, nonpartisan organization Democracy 21, are fans of what Colbert is doing. "I think Colbert has made a real contribution to educating a broader public about the dangers involved in our current campaign finance system," Wertheimer said.(2) Another person to comment on Colbert's influence through his Super PAC, is Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, who says that, “he is taking on a serious subject that many Americans find deadly dull and is educating the broader public on why it matters and what is at stake."(2)
I first started to realize Colbert's brilliant strategy right before the Ames Straw Poll. With the help of his newly formed PAC, Colbert put out ads in Iowa, telling voters to vote for Rick Perry, except, write-in Perry's name in with an A. The exact results of those write-in votes aren't at all known, but it would greatly be intriguing to see just how many people actually voted for Rick Parry. Stephen Colbert was at it again once the South Carolina Primary rolled around. This time, wanting to run for president himself. But, due to missing the deadline of getting his name on the ballot by a few months and no room for write-in candidates, Colbert instead decided on a very funny scheme - get people to vote for the now not running Herman Cain.
It's not at all surprising then, that due to Colbert's comical influence on the whole GOP primary, he's actually polling ahead of a few of the candidates. Before Jon Huntsman dropped out of the GOP race, according to a Public Policy Poll, Colbert was getting 5% from the voters, compared to Huntsman's 4%. Also, because the South Carolina Primary is open, Democrats are eligible to vote, and so, a recent poll found that, "34% of Democrats planning to vote in the Republican contest support him to 15% for Romney, 13% for Gingrich, and 10% for Santorum."(3)
I'm looking forward to writing more about this year's 2012 election, now that things have truly begun to heat up.
References:
1.) Johannesen, Richard L.,Kathleen S. Valde & Karen E. Whedbee. Ethics in Human Communication. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press. 2008. P, 26.
2.) Blumenthal, Paul & Dan Froomkin. Stephen Colbert's PAC Parody Explains Campaign Finance To America (Part 1). Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/16/stephen-colbert-pac-parody_n_1206439.html. (1/17/2012).
3.) Public Policy Polling. Colbert in South Carolina. http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2012/01/colbert-in-south-carolina.html. January 10, 2012.
The TV drama series LOST, which aired on the ABC network for six seasons, created by Jeffrey Lieber, J. J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof, was a polarizing cultural phenomenon that was on the air from 2004 to 2010. The series featured many Christian symbols and referenced many religious perspectives. Even though the show was more science fiction in nature and not exactly a Christian show, each episode followed the lives of people who had survived a plane crash and showed their struggles on a mysterious island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, all the while addressing the many deep spiritual issues that a lot of people face in today's world. The objective of this analysis paper is to look more closely and analyze some of these Christian references that were made throughout the show's airing.
In each episode of LOST, the show is seen through the perspective of one of several major characters, facing some sort of struggle, which plays as a major theme in the episode. The major Christian theme that can be found throughout the entire series of LOST, is that of Faith. Other Christian themes include; the existence of God, miracles, the nature of good and evil, the afterlife, secrets and lies, baptism, and prayer. "The Biblical narrative is a big part of the larger story," says pastor Chris Seay, of the Ecclesia Bible Society in Houston, Texas. Seay goes on to say that LOST points to the existence of a higher power that's good, as well as to the existence of a power that is also evil.[1] That can be seen with many of the show's characters, those who are good who play the heroes throughout the series, as well as there being many villains who threaten the heroes.
When it comes to character names in the series, peoples' names are very important to the entire plot of the show. Many of the characters have Christian names and those names hold special meaning in LOST in regards to the character. The leader and main hero in the series, was Dr. Jack Shephard, who did everything he could to save the lives of his fellow plane survivors. His name has a serious religious connotation, since his last name almost reads as shepherd. Another minor hero was airplane crash survivor Hugo Reyes,who ended up being the "Protector" of the island, found out in the series finale. James "Sawyer" Ford, Kate Austen, and Sayid Hassan Jarrah were three major redemptive characters on LOST. Before arriving on the island, Sawyer was a con-artist who stole from people and ended up in jail, only to get his sentence commuted by pulling a con on a fellow inmate. Kate killed her father and fled from the law for many years, as well as committed various crimes. Both Sawyer and Kate redeem themselves on the island by helping the rest of the heroes/innocents on the island, with Kate even mothering Claire's baby, once she is off the island. Sayid was an Iraqi Republican Guard who tortured people and killed people. He was a tortured redemptive character, because he sought to change his ways, despite being forced to use his skills, and in end, sacrifices himself to destroy the bad guys. Since there are heroes found throughout the LOST series, there's also villains. The ultimate villain found in the LOST series, would be the Smoke Monster, because it was a powerful force that could be heard from a distance, clanking and hissing, and seen in a smoky black form. Martin Keamy was another pure villain who appeared on LOST, who shot and killed a number of people, most notably, executing Ben Linu's adoptive daughter, Alex, without much thought, and triggering the explosion of the very freighter that he came on. Ben Linus was a villain who lied, cheated, conned and manipulated people and even killed his own father throughout the entire series.
A biblical narrative in LOST can be seen when one of the main characters, Mr. Eko, who makes a stick that's filled with biblical verses and chapter reminders.
The following biblical references can be found on the stick that Mr. Eko carved:
- Colossians: This chapter was written by the apostle Paul and one of the main themes throughout the letter, are reconciliation with Christ and rules for Christian living. Life and Death imagery can be found in Col 2:13 - "When you were dead in your sins... God made you alive with Christ..." There is also clear reference to the show's theme of parent issues, found in Col 3:21 - "Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged."
- Acts 4:12 ("Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.")
- Habakkuk 1:3 ("Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds.")
- Hateth
- John 3:5 ("Jesus answered, 'I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.'")
- Gen 13:14
- Luke - One of the main themes found in the Book of Luke is the re-orientation of Salvation from the future to the present. One does not need to wait in order to claim spiritual gifts or healing; it is available now. Luke focuses on the idea of Jesus and Salvation for everyone.
- Psalm 144 - Revelation 5:3 ("But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it.")
- Romans 6:12 ("Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you can obey its evil desires.")
- Titus 3
- Titus 4
- Galatians 3:16 ("The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The scipture does not say, 'and to seeds,' meaning many people, but 'and to your seed,' meaning one person, who is Christ.")[2], [3]
Each biblical reference that can be found on Mr. Eko's stick is deeply important not only to the character that made, it but also adds to the larger story of LOST, with reflecting some if the struggles and issues that many of the other characters face. The stick itself alludes to the symbolism of Christianity itself, because shepherds often used rods in order to guide their flocks of sheep and were seen in Israelite culture as a symbol of authority. There are many examples found in the Bible of the use of the rod. One example is when Moses was able to use his rod to part the Red Sea when God commanded him.
The image on the left side is a powerful image in regards to Christianity. The picture shows airplane survivor Claire and her newborn baby Aaron being baptized by Mr. Eko, who was a priest in the series. In the Christian religion, being baptized is a time honored ritual ceremony tied into being part of the Christian Church. Being baptized symbolizes purification, which for the LOST series, seems to make perfect sense, because all of the crashed plane survivors come from a world full of sin, and now they've come to an unknown island in the middle of the ocean.
When it comes to finding God in the world of LOST, He is only mentioned in passing dialog between characters, when someone asks if they believe in Him. For the many characters of the show, they show determination and have a strong sense of faith to believe in a higher power in order to get through the many struggles and obstacles that face them in order to survive, just like the world that we live in. Even though LOST is a work of fiction that relies heavily on the part of science fiction, reality also plays an important role in the show, showing the human side of people, people who struggle with their faith and are determined in believing in Him.
Bibliography
[1] Sheridan, Michael. "Lost & Religion: Christianity and faith played big role in ABC series." New York Daily News. http://articles.nydailynews.com/2010-05-24/entertainment/27065253_1_finale-faith-spiritual-show. May 24, 2010.
[2] Quest Study Bible. Zondervan: Grand Rapids, MI. 2003.
