Marc's Messages

Passion over ability

"Passion is more important than ability. You can lean skills, but you can't learn passion." According to Tom Peters, the world's most expensive management guru, who blogs here. The world is desperate for original out-of-the-box thinkers who don't fit the box, but color outside the lines. His presentation slides (free download) prove the point, there's no uniformity.

Saint Nicholas in Afghanistan

Saint Nicholas rocks! As a true apostle he even made his way to the desert of Afghanistan, to bring presents to the Dutch peace forces. Horses are no good there, so he took a camel. I guess the Taliban guys were so surprised, that they forgot to fire at such an easy target.

The outspoken elections

The political landscape is shifting again. The most remarkable thing is that most established and/or middle-of-the-road parties lost seats, while the outspoken parties (SP, Wilders/Party for Freedom, CU and the Animal Farm Party) won. Looks like this time is asking for clear convictions. Of course with more outspokenness on the both the left and right, it's not easy to form a workable coalition. The most likely (but still difficult) option at this moment is CDA-PvdA (centre right and centre left) with the Christian Union, which would be historical because it gives the Evangelicals (who doubled their seats) a first-time leverage influence in the coalition talks.

Election Day

Election Day. I'm on my way to Copenhagen, but Karolien will vote for me. Over the past five years every election in Holland has been quite uncommon, so I'm curious to see how things will turn out today. To get in the mood, check out this funny movie on YouTube.

Time for passion mail

Willemijn, who joined us in the SHIFT training, is one of the mail women of passiepost.nl ('passion mail'), a mobile mail service for creative, personal snail mail. Don't you dare to type a Word-letter in Times Roman on your PC, print it and put it in an envelope. Real passion is expressed in a different way, it should be a surprise for the person who receives it. An interesting website where even the menu is different on every page.

Flooding traps Dutch horses

In Frisia, the most northern province of the Netherlands, a rescue operation is going on to save a herd of about 100 horses that stranded a few days ago on a tiny patch of ground when a fierce storm flooded the area outside the dikes. Many of the animals have spent two nights knee-deep in water, and 18 have drowned in the area outside Marrum. The owner of the horses will likely be persecuted for negligence, as animals have to be brought to the safe areas by October 15.

Blackbook the movie

Karolien and I went to see Paul Verhoeven's new thriller war movie 'Blackbook'. It's about a young Jewish woman, Rachel Stein (Carice van Houten), who tries to survive in Nazi-occupied Holland. As part of her work for the Dutch resistance she starts a relationship with German SD officer Ludwig Müntze (Sebastian Koch, who also played Albert Speer), to spy out and bug the Nazi headquarters in The Hague, but then really falls in love with him. The movie is less black and white then 'Soldier of Orange', Verhoeven's first war movie that brought him international recognition. The good guys can be bad, and the bad guys good. Interesting detail: the 'Christians' in the movie all have quite distorted personalities. It's an intriguing, fast moving, high quality movie that keeps you glued to the screen from beginning to end.

Our great leader

In the run-up to the elections, GeenStijl weblog published a photoshopped picture of our Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende as a Mao-style 'great leader', while youthful Christian-Democrats printed T-shirts with their hero Che Balkenende. Does this express a latent longing for revolutionaries?

As it is in Heaven

Bram Flippo invited me and a few other guys for a viewing of his favorite movie 'As it is in Heaven'. Set in rural northern Sweden, this moving story is about a famous musician who suffers a heart attack, and - because he needs rest - decides to return to the village of his youth. There he starts directing the local choir, helping everyone to discover their own sound, and bringing this in harmony with others. When this happens, people start to blossom and emotions that have been suppressed for decades surface. This leads to a head-on encounter with the local church pastor who wants to keep people in the system. It's a touching movie of people who discover their god-given potential and fly out.

National giving compared

Intermediair always has interesting statistics. They report that worldwide American individuals give most generously to charity and missions. However, collectively the USA is at the bottom of the list, as the country gives only 0.13% of it's gross national product to aid and social-economic development of nations (and this includes so-called 'economic aid' to Iraq which is not without political interest). In the Netherlands individual giving to charity and missions is on average, but collectively the Dutch give at least 0.7% of their gnp to social-economic development in Africa, South America and Asia. This difference in giving also explains why American missionaries are often doing much better financially than European colleagues, because individual giving is higher, while missions organisations in Europe normally don't get much out of the government's collective purse.

The last adventure

Steve Irwin, Australia's energetic outdoor adventurer, crocodile hunter, environmentalist, and Discovery and Animal Planet TV personality, died today in the line of duty. Not eaten by a croc or bitten by a snake, but stung right in his heart by a stingray at Batt Reef (near Cairns), while making a documentary, so the police report goes. His wife hasn't heard the news yet, as she's on a hiking expedition in the outback of Tasmania. Never boring to live on the edge, if you don't mind dying there as well. Wikipedia already updated Irwin's records, and I found some interesting information there. Did you know he was terriby scared of parrots? And that his 176-year old turtoise Harriet, that was thought to have belonged to Charles Darwin, recently also died of heart failure?

Raining go(o)d ideas

Is it possible to combine a solid business concept with keen social and ecological development of a region? Yes, says Kerstin Hack from Berlin, who pointed me to Futuro Forestal, a reforestry investment project in Panama. I checked out their website and must say I'm impressed with how they set it up. Watching the various project movies, I also learnt a lot about all the elements and conditions that have to come together to make a tropical tree grow. I asked Kerstin half-jokingly: "How come non-Christians have all the great ideas? One would assume that Christians, because they understand God's principles, have a greater redemptive capacity."

Kerstin replied: "Because there is a God who lets good ideas rain on the just and on the unjust... and maybe at times the ones we call 'unjust' are more just than us. Once after a non-Christian friend gave me very good advice, God said: 'You know, some people know me indirectly. They know my principles, my love, my justice, etc. They do not know me directly, but as they know me indirectly and follow me in this, they are blessed. Other people know me directly and follow me, and are blessed too, while there are also people who know me directly ('are saved'), but never deeply understand me, nor really follow me and just want a cheap way out.'"

Prophets in the fog of war

To what extent can you trust what the media report about the war between the Israeli military and the Hizbollah? We know that these conflicts are not just fought in real-life, but also in the media, and that both parties have interests in how certain facts are being presented or manipulated. Even Christian ministries do that. Some pro-Israel organisations send out 'prayer letters' that look more like political pamphlets. When I replied to one of these with the simple question "do you happen to know anybody who prays for Lebanon?" I received an immediate hatemail back.

In the midst of emotion, are there still clear godly minds who help us discern what's going on and what we can do about it? How should Christians for instance respond to this war? One article that I came across and that I really like is written by Salim Munayer, Executive Director of Muslaha Ministries, which seeks to bring reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians through camps and retreats. He raises the foundational question "what is a Christian attitude towards war", discerns three areas of influence, and calls the Church to take on a prophetic and priestly role.

Oh Zidane!

Lucky me - I watched the final on high-quality widescreen, albeit with Danish commentary. Probably the final was the best match of the whole tournament. I think the French played excellent and should have won instead of the Italians. What a pity that indicent with Zidane, and what a dramatic moment to see him pass the cup in tears. The morale: if you want to reach something in life, stay disciplined until the end! Big question is of course: what caused his emotional response? The British tabloids are speculating in all directions. According to lip readers Materazzi offended Zidane's mother or sister, and called him a terrorist.

So the Germans are out

The Italians did it again - two goals in the last two minutes of the prolongation. Compliments, they deserved the victory, though my sympathy (after the Orangemen had to leave) goes to Germany. It reminded me of Monty Python's comedy scetch 'The Philosophers' Football Match', that even made it into Wiki. It's hilarious, check out part one and two in the Google video section. Here it is the Greek who go for the victory, like two years ago in Portugal.

A manic nation

Our government fell over the Hirsi Ali affair, just before the Summer holidays. What a bad timing, and quite embarrassing to see the various political cards being played out now. In my view Verdonk, the Minster of Immigration and Integration, should have stepped down already over the issue of the Iranian Christians, but certainly after her miscalculations in the Hirsi Ali affair. The Liberal Conservatives didn't want to let go of their 'Iron Rita', and so the Liberal Democrats blew up the coalition, while our Christian Democratic PM didn't show leadership when he needed to. Meanwhile the parties on the Left are calling for elections, taking full advantage of the situation.

This week Intermediair ran an article calling the Netherlands a 'manic nation', because we're in some sort of corporate identity crisis that's causing emotional ups and downs, often out of proportion. I'm afraid they might be right.

My excavating anointing

I think I might have a special excavating anointing. One and half year ago, just one week after I visited Wittenberg, German archaeologists discovered Martin Luther's toilet seat (yes, that's where the Reformation started). This week, just after I visited the catacombes in Rome, Italian archaeologists discovered more than 1,000 first-century skeletons dressed in elegant togas, probably the first 'mass burial' of its kind. What do you think: should I pay a visit to Mount Ararat?

The game is over

So the game is over for the Dutchies, who lost with 0-1 from the Portuguese. I can live with it, as the Orange lions were not in topform anyway. But with a historic 16 yellow cards and 4 red cards the match looked more like a battle field than real soccer, and it makes one wonder where this degeneration started. Gabi calls it 'footboxing' in her latest post.

The art of Googlism

Googlism.com will find out what Google thinks of you. This is a small selection of what came up when I typed in my name:

marc is boring
marc is a new york city based professional magician
marc is baptised
marc is not a mainstream format
marc is set to make millions all over again and he’s still just 28
marc is entirely cognizant of how the laws of the universe and those of human nature are unrelentingly intertwined
marc is a coach and leader of those committed to making a significant difference
marc is a fussy retentive who researches history and religion for relaxation
marc is the publisher of cannabis culture magazine
marc is the largest provider of community and center

Full list here.

Trends in blogoland (2)

In a second article for Technorati on the state of the blogosphere Dave Sifry reports that most blog postings (37%) are in Japanese, followed by English (31%) and Chinese (25%). The rest of the languages is 3% or lower (Dutch and German each have a 1% market share). I hadn't expected the high percentage of Japanese and Chinese, it might mean we better learn these languages if we want to impact the blogosphere. According to Sifry Japanese bloggers write shorter posts more often, which could be a result of blogging from mobile phones. Also something to take note of is that half of the weblogs use tags or categories, which makes it easier to be found in search engines.

Trends in blogoland

Dave Sifry wrote an interesting article for Technorati about the state of the blogosphere. He points out that there are currently 35.3 million weblogs. The whole blogosphere doubles every six months; it's now over 60 times bigger than it was three years ago. So when I started blogging on February 9, 2002 (4.3 years ago), apparently I was an early adopter. Now the blogosphere gets really crowded, every second a new weblog is being 'birthed'.

Of these new weblogs 45% dies straight after birth, so there's a massive 'digital child starvation' going on, and what's worse - the parents of these babies just leave their 'bodies' on the web for everyone to see. That's quite rude. Realising that many of these are teenagers, I would say: "hey, don't have sex if you're not ready to raise a child."

Then there's also a substantial group that birthes a blog, without giving it proper attention. That creates its own set of problems; it means that several years from now we will see many psychologists specializing in 'weblog abandonment', and 'lack of parental attention for weblogs'.

This brings the real active (weekly) bloggers down to 3.9 million. And according to Sifry this group often rides the wave of world events (see the graph).

The Hirsi Ali affair

A new affair in the Netherlands, this time around Dutch MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali, one of the most outspoken proponents of free speech in the wake of increasing Islam intimidation, and under permanent government protection because of that. Last year she featured on TIME's 2005 list of the '100 most influential leaders and revolutionaries in the world', but a few days ago Dutch TV program Zembla tracked her record and confirmed that she intentionally lied when she applied for her refugee status in the Netherlands.

This is quite embarrassing in the ligth of her liberal party's harsh anti-immigration policy, so Rita Verdonk, our Minister of Immigration and Integration (yes, the same one that wants to send Christians back to 'safe' Iran) decided that she was not entitled to Dutch citizenship. As a result, Hirsi Ali stepped back from her position as MP and announced that she will move to America for her new job with the American Enterprise Institute, a thinktank that advices George W.

The affair is embarrassing on many fronts. First of all, Hirsi Ali intentionally lied about her story and was not entitled to Dutch citizenship. The current Dutch immigration policy is such that other people in the same situation as her would have been sent back. Interestingly, Hirsi Ali has always been open about the fact that she gave incorrect information at the immigration office. No-one bothered to care, until now. The leaders of her political party knew about it, but put her up for the parliamentary elections, because it was good for their results. Now their own minister is kicking the ball because she thinks it's good for her reputation in the run-up for party leadership (she's wrong on this one, and yesterday the Parliament strongly criticised her).

In the meantime Hirsi Ali's international audience doesn't understand the Dutch anymore; how can they withdraw citizenship from someone who displayed so much political courage, and is an international champion of freedom that the Dutch should be proud of? How will this end? It's a complicated mix of personal ambition, lack of integrity, administrative mistakes, political correctness, and pragmatism. Is there a healthy way out?

Integrity and image

Last weekend I watched the excellent German documentary 'Speer und Er' about the life of Albert Speer, Hitler's Third Reich architect and minister of ammunition, and his relationship with 'der Führer'. He spent 20 years in prison in Spandau for his role in the nazi regime. Because he cooperated with the Allies, and acknowledged that he could have known about Auschwitz if only he had pushed for it, he developed the image of 'the only honest nazi'. But the documentary uncovers that Speer played a key role in the persecution of the Jews, and that in fact he was as guilty as the others. What drove him was his ambition to 'make history' and become the architect of the 'new Berlin'. Because of this ambition he decided to ignore certain information, construct and believe in his own view of the truth, and compromised himself morally. Nevertheless his memoirs made big money and he ended his life in the spotlights.

The gift of self-parody

Kudos to George W. Bush who displayed a good sense of humor by inviting impersonator Steve Bridges to the 2006 White House Correspondents Dinner, and join in a parody on himself. Most people in his position would probably not have done that, but it shows his ability to relativate. Btw, comedian Stephen Colbert also had a funny contribution.

Dreamtime with the Aboriginals

This year it's 400 years ago that the Dutch 'discovered' Australia. Realising that at that time Australia was already inhabited for thousands of years by the Aboriginals, this is of course a very relative (European) perception of history. Today, while visiting the Aboriginal Art Museum in my hometown Utrecht, I realised what my Finnish friend Niina already learnt in her contacts with the Saami: in the area of holistic thinking and community these native peoples have a lot to teach us. Aboriginal art is an expression of spiritual connectedness. It links the people with the Dreamtime, the Aboriginal understanding of the world, of it's creation, and it's great stories, and with the land.

For some background on the Aboriginals, check out wiki's entries on Indigenous Australians, Australian Aboriginal art and Dreamtime (mythology). The exhibition in the museum showed artwork created in the desert community of Yuendumu. I compiled a small photo album with snapshots of some of the paintings, and you can check out the film loop.

Leaders on wooden shoes

In the Dutch edition of Joel News I published an interesting article by Gea Gort on what characterizes the Dutch in terms of leadership. It's based on material of coach and trainer Paul Donders (xpand), who helps leaders to recognize, understand and embrace their own (national) culture. Donders drew his inspiration from sociologist Geert Hofstede who developed a theoretical framework that identifies five primary dimensions that differentiate cultures: power distance, individualism/ collectivism, masculinity/femininity, uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation. If you're interested in understanding your own culture in the family of nations, then also check out this article on Hofstede in The CPA Journal, Wiki's entry, and this website with worldmaps of Hofstede's dimensions.

Now where do the Dutch fit in all this? Like Scandinavia the Netherlands has a feminine culture, which means that more than other nations we value communication, social care, sustainable relationships and cooperation based on equality. The Dutch are internationally flexible and easily adapt to other cultures. We cherish our freedom and need space for individual development.

The flight that fought back

Universal Studios released the trailer of the first movie on 911, titled 'United 93'. It's about United Airlines flight 93, one of the four airplanes that was hijacked as part of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attack on America. While the other three airplanes hit target, this one crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers attempted to subdue the hijackers. The movie tells the story of the passengers and crew, their families on the ground, and the flight controllers who watched in dawning horror.

Professor Van der Woude

"Dear Professor Van der Woude, I'm currently writing my master thesis on 'The judicial protection after the modernization regulation'. During the course of my research I came across your article on 'The modernization paradox: controlled decentralization' that would be highly useful for my work." Cool, an e-mail from a student in Warsaw calling me Professor. How flattering. Unfortunately it's for another Marc van der Woude, who is an expert on European competition law. I'm only a simple soul who happens to pop up on place 1 and 2 in Google...

The most intelligent Europeans

Sorry, I couldn't resist this new European league of IQ scores that ranks the Dutch with an average IQ of 107 as the most intelligent Europeans. Fair enough, we share this first place with the Germans. The research was performed by professor Richard Lynn of the University of Ulster, and published in The Times. The differences in IQ can be explained by the fact that North and Central Europeans have slightly bigger brains than South and East Europeans, because we eat more meat. Also intelligence is higher in economic urban areas.

The Brits can be relieved that although they can't compete with the Dutch and Germans, at least they're still more intelligent than the French. Professor Lynn ascribes the differences between British and French intelligence levels to the results of military conflict. He described it as “a hitherto unrecognised law of history” that “the side with the higher IQ normally wins, unless they are hugely outnumbered, as Germany was after 1942”.

Rich dad, poor dad

It's already a few weeks ago that I read Robert Kiyosaki's book 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad. What the rich teach their kids about money, that the poor and middle class do not'. A title that almost guarantees to boost one's book sales, and Kiyosaki knows it, but hey - like with any book: if you apply the lessons, it's worth the bucks.

Kiyosaki shares that he had two dads: his own dad who was a head teacher, and his friend's dad who was a business man. The first one was poor, the second one rich. The key is that these two dads thought and acted quite differently when it came to money. Poor dad played safe and never took risks, while rich dad learned his boys to launch out in life and manage risks.

The book teaches six basic financial lessons:

1. The rich don't work for money, but let money work for them.
2. They teach their kids financial literacy (which you normally don't learn at school).
3. They mind their own business, instead of working for someone else.
4. They use corporations to avoid paying too much tax.
5. They invent money, which means they use their creativity and financial IQ to optimally make use of market opportunities.
6. They work to learn, they don't work for money.

The basic idea of lesson no. 6 is to be a life-time learner and to pursue the things we're really passionate about (calling/vision), while at the same time handling money in such a way that it optimally works for us (or for the Kingdom), rather than keeps us dependent.

More beer and health news

More news from the beer front. Belgian 'beer therapists' advise schools in their nation to serve kids light alcoholic table beer instead of softdrinks, according to an interview with Ann Frankie of the Beer Therapists Society in Leuven in Flemish newspaper 'The Latest News'. "Table beer is much healthier," she says, "because it contains less sugar than softdrinks." She suggests to offer school kids a choice between chocolate milk and table beer.

The Belgians also launched Beerandhealth.com, a unique website that brings together all the available scientific information about the effects of beer on health.

Enjoying a beer spa

I was already convinced that beer, and especially Czech beer, is good for your health. But today I read in the newspaper that the world's first beer health centre has opened in the cellar of a family brewery in the Czech Republic. Beer baths, beer massages and beer cosmetics are on offer at the spa at the Chodovar Family brewery in Chodova Plana. The converted cellars include seven huge Victorian style baths where guests can swim in beer while enjoying a pint poured at a bathside bar.

Guests can indulge in a range of health treatments including beer wraps, starting at 17 euro per session. Owner Jiri Plevka said: "Beer can treat a range of conditions, particularly skin conditions, and the health centre should appeal to men who are put off by 'posh' traditional spas. I have heard of some places in other countries where people can swim in beer but it's just a gimmick. We believe in the healing properties of beer and we offer the full range of treatments. We are a fully-fledged beer spa."

Cool. This is my kinda thing. Should check it out when I travel to the Czech Republic next month.

Freedom rallies in Belarus

Doug Landro, who blogs (with a little delay) at The Big Orange, mailed me two reports on Belarus, where people are protesting against the last dictatorial regime in Europe. The government is also putting pressure on Christians. MNN reports that churches in Belarus are not allowed to evangelize, plant other churches and/or provide humanitarian help. The big question is: will Belarus follow Georgia and Ukraine? Is an Orange Revolution possible here? Observers say NO, but I pray YES. Injustice and manipulation cannot stand, unless - as Burke said - good men do nothing.

Download big_orange_060317_belarus.doc
Download big_orange_060321_belarus.doc 

Christian Union in local coalition

Utrecht is the first major city in the Netherlands where the Christian Union (a relatively small Evangelical party) will join the local coalition. The new college will be made up of the social-democratic party, the environmentalist party, the christian-democrats and the Christian Union. Wim Rietkerk (leader of the European work of l'Abri), who led the Christian Union over the past two years, and won a second seat in the council with a difference of just 27 votes, mailed a personal reaction (in Dutch).

Woman upsets Muslim world

Kudos to Dr. Wafa Sultan, an American-Syrian psychologist who said in a recent interview for Arabic TV station Al-Jazeera what few Muslims dare to say even in private. Speaking about the Holocaust, she commented:

“The Jews have come from the tragedy and forced the world to respect them, with their knowledge, not with their terror; with their work, not with their crying and yelling. We have not seen a single Jew blow himself up in a German restaurant. We have not seen a single Jew destroy a church. Only the Muslims defend their beliefs by burning down churches, killing people and destroying embassies. This path will not yield any results. The Muslims must ask themselves what they can do for humankind, before they demand that humankind respect them.”

Of course as a response clerics throughout the Muslim world have condemned her, and she received numerous death threats by phone and e-mail. In the meanwhile, the online clip (and transcript) of her February appearance has been viewed more than a million times, stirring much debate.

In an interview for the New York Times Sultan said that she is “working on a book that - if it is published - is going to turn the Islamic world upside down. I have reached the point that doesn't allow any U-turn. I have no choice. I am questioning every single teaching of our holy book. I have no fear. I believe in my message. It is like a million-mile journey, and I believe I have walked the first and hardest 10 miles.”

Is Iran safe for Christians?

Our liberal Minister of Immigration and Integration wants to send Christian refugees back to Iran, because "if they keep quiet and don't share their faith Iran is a safe place to live." Yeah, this might be true if you think being a Christian is just some inner commodity or tradition that is irrelevant for the way you live, but every true Christian knows that it's impossible to follow Jesus without actively proclaiming Him and bringing a Kingdom that is directly opposed to a sharia-ruled society. On the picture two homosexuals, executed in Iran last year. It's easier for Iranian homosexuals to get a refugee status in the Netherlands than for Iranian Christians.

A colleague journalist just mailed me the story of a 6-month old baby in Dronten that was sent back to Eritrea. The baby's mother, a refugee, died in a fatal accident. There was no family left back in Eritrea, and the Dutch family that took care of the baby was willing to adopt it. Nevertheless the baby was put on an airplane to north-east Africa because he/she didn't fit the criteria of "being integrated in Dutch society", which includes speaking Dutch. Sometimes I think we live in an insane country.

The traffic light of democracy

As expected the social-democrats and socialists gained a majority of votes in yesterday's city council elections. The current liberal-christian-democratic government's policy of dismantling the social security system caused the power balance to shift to the left again. It's like a traffic light turning from green to red. Four years ago it turned from red to green, and probably four years from now it will turn colours again. Question is whether it really matters which parties make up the coalition. They're all Dutch and 'polder' their way along the road of consensus politics. Not very inspiring, and quite predictable - like traffic lights - but perhaps that's normal for safety systems.

Humor in the muslim world

The publication of a few Muh*ad cartoons by Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten caused a disproportiate reaction among fundamentalist muslims. Touch Muh*ad and you run the risk of having your property destroyed and a price being put on your head. Although it's never right to intentionally hurt people, I find the politically correct appeasement policy expressed by some leading political and religious leaders more startling than any of those cartoons. By principle I believe that the freedom of press and speech is more important than any religion's sacred cows, including Christianity's.

Now an Iranian newspaper, ready to pour oil on the fire, threatened to publish cartoons that mock the Jews and the holocaust. That's nothing new, really, and it has nothing to do with freedom of press, because there is no freedom of press in sharia-ruled Iran. Arabic, Palestinian and Iranian newspapers have been very intentional and structural in their anti-jewish propaganda over the past few years. Check out this article by Honest Reporting. Besides, in most islamic nations Christians are being discriminated and persecuted, while in Denmark and other EU nations muslims enjoy the same rights and liberties as other citizens. This whole controversy is becoming quite pathetic, and raises the question: what's under the surface?

Of course it's a clash of cultures. The values of Western democracy are incompatible with the more or less medieval mindset of fundamentalist muslims. But we also have to see the spiritual dynamics. Intercessors picked up on the developments and discern a 'spirit of ji*ad'. However you name it, when studying the life of Muh*ad it becomes quite obvious that he not only received 'revelation' from a demonic being, but also had a slightly distorted personality. He commited genocide on the jews in town, and the persistant focus of some of his followers on ji*ad, certainly indicates that there is a spirit of war and violence in the roots of this religion. The way the cartoon controversy is currently being exploited by muslim fundamentalist organisations is manipulative and intended to intimidate. They seem to be quite successful with that.

The challenge for Jesus-followers is to love and honor muslims and share Christ with them, while discerning the spirits of war and intimidation at work behind islam as a whole, and clearly confronting that in prayer.

Now how about humor - are cartoons beneficial at all from a Christian point of view? Yes, says Dutch ethics professor G.C. den Hertog in the Reformed Daily. And how about muslims - is there any sense of humor in the muslim world? Warner Independent Pictures just released a movie titled 'Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World' (broadband trailer here), that made it to the official selection of the Dubai International Film Festival. So yes, praise God, there are muslims with a sense of humor.

The edge of reason

"I truly believe that happiness is possible even when you're thirty three and have a bottom the size of two bowling balls." Renée Zellweger in 'Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason', a British-style romantic movie with a high dose of irony, and a playful reference to the succesful BBC series 'Pride and Prejudice', with -again- Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. It was so funny that we watched it twice and didn't hit the bed before one o'clock.

The Motorcycle Diaries

Tonight we watched 'The Motorcycle Diaries', a road movie about young Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, before he became a revolutionary. In his last year of medicine, in 1952, he embarked on a motorcycle trip with his buddy Alberto Granado through the heart of South America. This journey, and the injustice he encountered, opened him up to the things to come later, although it's hard to imagine from this movie that he would later side with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. The breathtaking music by Gustavo Santaolalla is a perfect match for the monumental landscapes of Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela.

Jonah from Spain already blogged about the most moving scene, when Ernesto swims across the Amazon to spend his birthday with the lepers, so I will just refer to his blog.

Babylon in Utrecht

The AD reports about plans to erect a 262 meter high apartment and office building in Leidsche Rijn, called 'Belle van Zuijlen', which would give Utrecht the dubious reputation of having the highest building in the Netherlands (2.5 times the Dom tower). It is inspired by the concept of the 'vertical city', aka Babylon I would say, because many of these projects symbolize the connection (fertilisation) between heaven and earth. Not something to be proud of, really. And big, prestigious buildings are an open invitation to Al-Qaeda.

Un long dimanche de fiancailles

Watched the French movie 'Un long dimanche de fiancailles' (A very long engagement) by director Jean-Pierre Jeunet. It tells the story of a young woman's relentless search for her fiancée, who has disappeared from the trenches of the Somme during World War One.

An impressing movie, because of the beautiful scenery, the special light and photographic effects that give the movie the feel of the early 20th century, and the many historic details and anecdotes of the (almost forgotten) battle field of 1914-1918. And of course this movie has the inescapable touch of existentialism that marks many French movies. If you get the DVD, make sure you also see the director's cut, in which Jeunet explains many details you might otherwise overlook.

Visited countries

I'm behind on schedule, because I visited only 13% of the countries in the world, according to an application by World66. But at least I travelled 60% of Europe. More projects here.

Hotel Rwanda

Another impacting movie is 'Hotel Rwanda'. "When a country descended into madness, and the world closed its eyes, he opened his arms and created a place where hope could survive," says the trailer. It's the true story of Paul Rusesabagina, manager of the five-star hotel 'Milles Collines' in Kigali, Rwanda, who in the midst of the genocide of April 1994, when in a few weeks time one million people were brutally massacred, opened his hotel as a place of refuge.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Watched the highly challenging movie 'Mother Teresa of Calcutta'. The impressive story of an Albanian nun who is following her calling to help the poorest of the poor in India. It brings endless struggles, and she has to challenge many authorities, including her own church. Undaunted, she pursues her mission tirelessly and obtains international recognition for her work in 1979, when she is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

How rich are you?

Every year we gaze enviously at the lists of the richest people in world. Wondering what it would be like to have that sort of cash. But where would you sit on one of those lists? Here’s your chance to find out.

Bloggy new year!

While 2004 was the year of blogging, and 2005 the year of podcasting, 2006 will be the year of Web 2.0 with its array of social networking services, says Tallskinnykiwi Andrew. He predicts that tagging will be more important than blogging, and videoblogs will rule over podcasts.

For those interested to use blogs in countries where the mainstream media is censored or under pressure, check out the 'Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents' published by Reporters Without Borders.

Guess what - Tim Berners-Lee, creator of the Web, finally got a weblog. Apparently the innovators of yesterday can be late majority today.

Is one of your good intentions for 2006 to read the Bible daily? Then check out the One Year Bible Blog that helps you read through the book of books in just one year.

The Chronicles of Narnia

Karolien and I went to see 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' in the Cinestar theatre. Great movie, wonderful scenery (filmed in New Zealand and the Elbe Sandstone Region of the Czech Republic), an epic Lord-of-the-Ring-type battle with all kinds of mythological creatures and special effects, and a highly impacting scene where Aslan (voiced by Liam Neeson) sacrifices himself and rises to victory, breaking the rule of the ice queen.

Living dangerously: Sophie Scholl

Had pizza with a friend and we watched the German movie 'Sophie Scholl. The Last Days'. Summary: In February 1943, three students from the White Rose, a resistance group in Munich, were arrested, sentenced to death and summarily beheaded. One of them was 21-year-old Sophie Scholl. Sophie and her brother Hans courageously stood up against the lies and brutality of nazism, and were ready to sow their own lives for justice and freedom. This quote marks their spirit:

"The real damage is done by those millions who want to 'survive.' The honest men who just want to be left in peace. Those who don’t want their little lives disturbed by anything bigger than themselves. Those with no sides and no causes. Those who won’t take measure of their own strength, for fear of antagonizing their own weakness. Those who don’t like to make waves - or enemies. Those for whom freedom, honor, truth, and principles are only literature. Those who live small, mate small, die small. It’s the reductionist approach to life: if you keep it small, you’ll keep it under control. If you don’t make any noise, the bogeyman won’t find you. But it’s all an illusion, because they die too, those people who roll up their spirits into tiny little balls so as to be safe. Safe?! From what? Life is always on the edge of death; narrow streets lead to the same place as wide avenues, and a little candle burns itself out just like a flaming torch does. I choose my own way to burn."

Reformation of Islam?

Dutch politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali (originally from Somalia) is convinced there will be a reformation of islam, "that can only take place in a context of freedom of speech, when people can publicly say they don't take the Koran literally, without being decapitated on the spot.” Wishful thinking or reality? Fact is that while fundamentalism is on the increase, there are also clear signs of democratic change in the Arab world. Dutch broadcasting company VPRO came with a series of fascinating documentaries about women in leadership in countries like Morocco and Saoudi-Arabia.

But there's also an underground and fastly growing movement of Jesus followers in- and outside islam. In countries like Iraq and Iran, and some countries in North-Africa evangelical churches and house churches are growing at an unprecedented rate. It wouldn't surprise me when a 'reformation of islam' would actually be catalysed by the prayers of the saints and an organic grassroots movement of muslims who found Isa.