(Ir)religiosity

In case you missed it, former Sec. of State Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama this morning on Meet the Press.  The whole interview if worth watching, but a particular quote caught my attention.

I’m also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members of the party say. And it is permitted to be said such things as, “Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim.” Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he’s a Christian.  He’s always been a Christian.  But the really right answer is, what if he is?  Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer’s no, that’s not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president?  Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, “He’s a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists.” This is not the way we should be doing it in America.

Here’s the video with more context.

Read the entire transcript of the interview here.

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I’ve been meaning to get this up for a few days, but some stuff happened. Like my blog crashing my losing all my customizations; hence the new design.

Anywho, earlier this week Josh posted a final update on the Indian Taxi Fund, which, as I mentioned a while back, could, and now has, become the Indian Grocery Store Fund.

The cluster ending up raising less than our goal of $7500. But we did raise $3000 in about a month’s time. I think that’s pretty awesome. Actually I think that’s really awesome. It exceeded my expectations and just goes to prove what the power of scale-free networks and decentralized communities can do and what they can accomplish.

So, we will be lending the $3000 to Amit so he can get to work with the store front. The funds will help him pay for the rent, buy supplies, and stock the store. Not to mention providing for his pregnant wife. Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s the scoop.

Josh posted an update and a final call a few days ago. Over the course of month we’ve raised around $3000 which is amazing. Great job.

Because of the time sensitive nature of this project (the fact the Amit needs these funds yesterday) we as a cluster have decided to continue for another 2 weeks and raise as much as we can–getting as close a possible to our $7500 goal–at which point we will stop raising money and loan Amit however much we have.

This is the contingency plan: in the event that we don’t reach our initial goal we will loan whatever we have raised and Amit. He’s wife is in desperate need of medical treatment for her pregnancy so instead of investing in the taxi business as originally planned, Amit will use the funds we have raised and run and operate a store front. He will continue to run it through his wife’s pregnancy and continue to pastor and plant churches following it.

So here’s the deal–we need a surge of the next few weeks. If you have been thinking of getting in involved in the cluster but haven’t yet there couldn’t be a better time than now. If you are involved in the cluster and have been thinking of contributing more, now is the time to do so.

For more information email me or click here.

DONATE VIA PAYPAL.

DONATE VIA REVOLUTION MONEY EXCHANGE.

Thanks so much for all the help.

Things are plugging away with the Indian Taxi Fund. Josh has posted a touching letter from Amit here. Thanks to everyone that is helping out.

Also, if you’re unaware, a new lending feature has been added: The Revolution Money Exchange. It is basically a PayPal spin-off with some different options. The main perk is that you get a $25 advance just for signing up. I’ll say it again—you get $25 free dollars just for signing up. No joke. It is for real. Then, if you refer a friend you get another $10 automatically. I usually have a natural aversion to these type of pyramid schemes, but it is a great way to raise money.

That being said, here’s what I’m going to do. Below is a button. Click on it and I will be “referring” you to the Revolution Money Exchange. You will get $25 and I will get $10. Plain and simple. Now, until it reaches its limit I will commit to donate 100% of my profits from the RME to the Indian Taxi fund under the condition that I have your scout’s honor that you will give a percentage of your profits to it as well.

Deal?

Click away.

Josh has posted an updated on the Indian Taxi Fund progress here. If you don’t know what this is click on the link in my sidebar or follow the links at Josh’s blog. If you haven’t donated please do. Donate here.

So my friend Josh is experimenting with a new type of micro-lending scheme via blog clusters and hubs. Sort of in the style of Kiva or Relational Tithe, but much smaller, more contextual, and most importantly friendship-driven, galvanized by local narratives. Awesome.

The first project is the “Indian Taxi Fund.” Josh’s friend Amit is a church planter in India working to keep his feet on the ground via a local taxi business so he can continue to teach people the way of Jesus. Josh tells Amit’s story HERE. So, please stop now and read it. It’s really moving. Seriously, go read it right now. You can come back when you’re done. I’ll still be here.

I mean it. Click the link.

Ok, so you’re back. Here’s the deal. Through the wonderful tools of social networking and web2.0, Josh is collecting funds to loan to Amit so he support himself and his family and continue to participate in God’s kingdom and process of creativity and restoration. The goal is $7500. There’s not really a strict time frame though I’ve heard Josh say a month would be cool.

So, if you’re willing can contribute please do. You can donate via PayPal here. Later on today I’ll throw up a sidebar for all this so if you want to give over the course of a period of time you won’t have to look around for this post. If you’re a blogger and are willing, you can also promote it on your site. Josh has more about that here and I’m sure he’d be more than happy to answer any questions you might have.

Also, Josh runs a sweet design company, Red Cowboy Designs. So if you need anything done in that area, scoot on over there. He does really great work. And if you hurry, you can get a 20% discount with some of the profits going directly to the Indian Taxi Fund. See more about that here.

Ok last thing. I know this seems like a lot, but this is for a really good cause. Josh and another fellow blogger and friend, Nick, have a really nice podcast. Seriously, it’s one my favorites. Good stuff. Check it out here. Well worth a listen.

That’s all.

Thanks in advance for the support!