Ab heute weht hier ein anderer Wind; Lukas ist zu uns gestoßen. Der Blog an sich, bzw. der Inhalt, ändert sich nur insofern, dass wir den Kontrast zwischen Land- und Stadtleben ein wenig verdeutlichen wollen. Hoffentlich mit Leserinteresse.
Unter About ist vom Lukas ein Bild zu sehen und auch eine kleine Beschreibung und hoffentlich werden hier auch bald erste Artikel zu lesen sein, die er aus Bonn zu uns schickt. Vielleicht mindert das sein Heimweh. Oder auch nicht. Mit großer Wahrscheinlichkeit wird er gar keines bekommen.
Also begrüßen wir freundlich unseren neuen Autoren Lukas. Natürlich mit wärmendem Applaus.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130318457167

Le Centre Iris (ici et 238 rue Saint-Martin) et dont j’ai déjà parlé (ici) montrait jusqu’au 25 avril (je suis en retard une exposition intitulée “Le petit théâtre du corps”. Ceci dit il y a une autre exposition qui lui a succédé et dure jusqu’au 20 juin : vous pouvez donc toujours vous y rendre.

Andreas Mahl nous montre de petits démons en noir et blanc à 250 euros mais il n’a pas de site web. Zaida Kersten (son site ici) montre son “romanc blau” entre  200 et 600 euros. Emmanuelle Barbaras montre des couples dénudés et des sexes masculins pour 700 à 1100 euros.

Tout cela ne m’a que moyennement séduit et je garde donc le meilleur pour la fin : d’une part, Damien Guillaume (son site ici) et, d’autre part, Eve Morcrette (son site ici).

Eve Morcrette traite d’un thème souvent abordé, celui des anges et notamment des anges féminins mais cette fois, ces petits formats intimistes font mouche et c’est d’autant plus méritoire que l’auteur développe par ailleurs un travail de photographe de reportage sans rapport avec ce style d’approche. Les photos de cette série sont à 600 euros mais elle ne sont pas visibles sur son site web d’où cette illustration ci-dessous tirée d’une prise de vue lors de l’expo.

Damien Guillaume montre quant à lui ses “mythes décisifs” (de 450 à 750 euros) mélange de noir et blanc et de couleur avec un traitement de cette dernière très original : il y a un vrai talent de coloriste là-dedans. Les thèmes sont intimes, les contextes à peine suggérés, les miroirs et reflets nombreux, hommes et femmes s’y partagent la scène mais séparément. La série est habilement construite.

Ce photographe n’a que 31 ans et ses photos ne sont pas (encore trop) chères : c’est le moment de casser sa tirelire En attendant, je le mets dans mes signets…

our fellow PCPC member and ostensibly cynical deadpan has done it again: E. L Kersten, COO of Despair.com has rolled out a short film on teamwork

Part One

Part Two

laugh again

By Marcia Lynx Qualey, Engage Minnesota

The Minnesota Department of Education has issued a report clearing Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy of the major allegations leveled against it and requesting that the school address smaller areas of concern.

The May 19 report states that the school’s core business—curriculum—is nonreligious, in full compliance with all Minnesota statutes. The Department of Education’s areas of concern related to how the school structures its voluntary Friday prayers as well as the timing of after-school busing. In a statement, Tarek school officials said that they take these concerns “very seriously” and will be getting together with parents and Department of Education officials to quickly rectify any possible or perceived infractions.

But the small concerns detailed in the report are not what should worry us most.

What should worry us most is the atmosphere of hate that surrounds them.

Just minutes after Sarah Lemagie’s story about the Department of Education report was posted on the Star Tribune’s website, the inflammatory comments began.

One was titled by its poster “They should not be here,” and immediately painted all American Muslims with the same brush: “Think about this, This is one school in Minnesota how many are there in the united states. I don’t trust them any more than I can throw that school. Remember those that took flight lessons?”

Even more concerning was that, three hours after the article was posted, a feature on the website announced that “50 of 80 people (who registered an opinion) liked this comment.”

Another early comment, titled, “Terrorists in training,” stated, “Nice to see our tax money help these people teach kids to hate americans.” Although the comment was clearly unfounded, the website reported at 6:15 p.m. that “70 of 99 people liked this comment.”

Of the 74 comments posted by 6:15 p.m., many of them used the article as an opportunity for hate speech against all Muslims. The Star Tribune–unlike its cross-town rival, the Pioneer Press–has thus allowed its website to be used as a platform for hate.

State statutes may have been transgressed: This is a matter for state officials, legal experts, and educators to debate and correct. Those of us in the general public need to worry most about why this becomes an opportunity for hatred, and how we can work to change that.

More on this story:

• The Pioneer Press states on its website that it does not allow “racist, defamatory, or abusive” postings. For that reason (although the headline is incorrect, as the school is open to all, not just Muslims), I encourage you to read the story there. State dispels suspicions over charter school for Muslim kids
• The Minnesota Monitor reviews the landscape: Kersten, KSTP, and reality. Education Department findings on Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy contradict published reports
• The Minnesota Post goes through the report soberly, point by point. State’s Arabic-school ruling; did Kersten’s claims hold up?
• KARE-11 news reports on what happened after the report was issued, and states that “Inver Grove Heights Police Officer Steve Her confirmed to KARE 11 he told the KSTP crew not to come on the school property before the confrontation [with TiZA officials] happened.” State tells charter school to avoid perception of religious endorsement
• The Associated Press has a short, straightforward article. Minn. review: Charter school doesn’t teach Islam

Though probably not one of the top 10 most popular books on Reformed Dogmatics, G. H. Kersten (d. 1948; an influential leader early in the history of the Netherlands Reformed Church [the Gereformeerde Gemeenten]) wrote a helpful two volume work, Reformed Dogmatics: A Systematic Treatment of Reformed Doctrine trans. J. R. Beeke and J. C. Weststrate (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980).  This work was completed by Kersten in 1947.  Though I haven’t yet read both volumes (which are not too tedious or lengthy), I noticed that the section on the Covenant of Works sounds just like an earlier Dutchman, W. a Brakel (d. 1711) (and, of course, as I showed earlier, Bavinck and Kuyper).  This robust affirmation of the CoW is found throughout Dutch Reformed history:

“The right doctrine of the covenants is of very great significance for the church, both of the covenant of works and of the covenant of grace, as was very clearly evident recently when that covenant-enervating [weakening, debilitating] doctrine was again brought to the fore [perhaps Kersten is referring to Schilder here].  Both of these covenants of which Scripture speaks are in an unbreakable relationship to each other.  Who then will rightly understand the covenant of grace if he does not know the covenant of works?  Who can rightly speak of Christ that does not teach the truth about Adam?”

More: “From olden days all the Reformed have seen the great significance of the pure doctrine of the covenants, and stressed it with all their power.”

Both quotes taken from volume I, page 192. 

shane lems

sunnyside wa