Rant of the Exiles

Recently I talked with my parents about my character issues.  In the past year I decided my main flaws are pride and anger. I have a massive ego that follows me everywhere I go. And since I'm motivated by aggression and dominance, I also have a rage complex that seethes beneath the surface and sometimes explodes. So I told them my hypothesis: You guys helped screw me up by neglecting to discipline me for my negative attitude. You punished me for outward behavior but never called me out for being disrespectful to you and to others. Focusing on the outward kept me from experiencing the full consequences of how my temper and critical spirit would, in the future, alienate me from others and make me miserable. My parents agreed. My dad said that wasn't all they did to screw me up. My dad explained that they had no idea how to raise me so they focused on outward behavior without understanding the heart. He said their biggest mistake was not letting me have a chan...

People say authenticity is important until they are called to be authentic themselves. Donald Nwankwo  writes about barriers to authenticity but I think he really means vulnerability -  the courage to share weakness . Below are his reasons on why we don't want to be fully authentic with others about who we are and our struggles and weakness: 1) A misplaced sense of identity: Sometimes one might feel that their Christian identity is directly tied to their Christian reputation. So for this one, to risk authenticity when it does not portray a positive status is to risk their reputation, which in turn threatens that identity. In other words, unless they appear as authentic to model, they fear they won’t belong. Therefore, they will work hard to protect this identity. The remedy for this category is a renewed sense of identity that derives from Jesus Christ, His work, redemption and continuing grace and sustenance. One is in God’s family because of what Christ has done, of cou...

Asian Americans pretend to hate white supremacy but watch what they do not what they say. According to Christian Lander , liberal white people like camping, graduate school, marathons, sushi, diversity, facebook, and posting Yelp reviews. If you wrote a book about stuff Asians like, 99.9% would be exactly the same. The only unique entries might be pearl milk tea, stinky tofu, and animé. Outside of those things, Westernized Asians like precisely the same stuff white people do. This makes it difficult to determine exactly what Asian American culture is. African Americans, by contrast, have black culture. Their names are different. Their clothing is different. Their music is different. Black people have historically black colleges. Black people have black role models. Asians have Jeremy Lin and no colleges they would want to attend. Because in most areas of life, Asians imitate what white people do. Westernized Asians follow white standards of beauty. Asian guys want...