Rich Rosendahl

Lebanon and the Balance of Love

November 9, 2017 by Rich Rosendahl in Current Events

My wife and I just spent a week in Lebanon. What follows are our first impressions of this remarkable place. Although we would have loved to spend months exploring the beautiful country, we split our short time between the urban sprawl of Beirut and the agriculturally pristine Bekaa Valley. It was in the Valley where we met with Syrian refugees, the main purpose for our trip.

We first arrived in Beirut and were immediately met with a long lost friend called—traffic. Our loosely planned 25-minute cab ride to our hotel turned into an hour and a half of stop and go exploring. Our driver was friendly, helpful, and spoke excellent English, which we needed, considering our broken, less-than-kindergarten level Arabic.

Our drive was long and it gave us a chance to see much of the city. We were surprised to see so many signs in English and so little writing in Arabic. We were more surprised to see how a beautiful, newly constructed building can sit on one corner of a street, contrasted by a bombed and bullet ridden building, the remnant of the war, sitting kitty-corner.

This was our first insight into what is our first impression of this beautiful country and culture—Lebanon seems to hang in the delicate but powerful balance of Love.

While in Beirut we explored the famous Hamra district, which has great food and great shopping. If you can find it, there is a restaurant (sans sign) tucked behind a Starbucks called Ta Maburta—I highly recommend the Kibbe.

Mike Ditka, Eminem and Islamophobia

October 24, 2017 by Rich Rosendahl in Christian Issues

In the midst of the massively controversial NFL National Anthem kneeling debate, ex-NFL coach Mike Ditka ignorantly said, “But all of a sudden it’s become a big deal now, about oppression. There has been no oppression in the last 100 years that I know of.”

Just days later, Eminem freestyled on the BET Hip Hop Awards, praising Colin Kaepernick for the act of kneeling that Ditka had been critiquing.

So why is it that two white guys, who have spent tremendous amounts of time around black men, have such contrasting views on this issue? And what can this teach us, not only about racism in America, but also about Islamophobia?

There are, of course, many variables that could help explain why these men have such differing perspectives. They’re from different generations, they had different upbringings, and their encounters with black men are in two very different roles in two very different professions. But it’s the latter that I think is intriguing and worth exploring a little more deeply.

For example, much of Mike Ditka’s interactions with black men has been as an NFL coach, twenty years, in fact. In order to achieve success (win football games) in this position, it requires the obedience of the players. I learned this at an early age, having been raised by a high school football coach as well as playing for many other coaches along the way.

A football coach is a position that holds power, and, often, the players become more like a means to an end for them. That’s… [Read more…] about Mike Ditka, Eminem and Islamophobia

The Ideology of Jesus

July 5, 2017 by Rich A. Rosendahl in Christian Issues

We all submit to social norms — some are helpful, some are unhelpful and even hateful. Often, the social norms we adhere to are rooted in ideologies that have developed over time and are connected to an affinity group that we may be part of. In other words, we are following them because people like us follow them.

For example, I am a white guy who grew up in a small town in the Midwest with a culturally Christian and conservative background. These are just a couple of examples of potential attributes from my formative years that could affect the affinity group and subsequent social norms that I adhere to for the balance of my life.

Jesus, on the other hand, seemed to have zero concern for social norms or ideologies of those who he was supposed to be like — his affinity group. When he went against these norms he was often challenged or ridiculed and eventually even killed for his approach and ideology. But none of that stopped him from having what sometimes seemed like a big F*** You attitude when people tried to pressure him to conform to their social norms.

So what was this ideology of his? It was the ideology of Love.

To this day, we fight the concept of Loving others, often to the death. Our affinity groups lead toward division, mistrust, and misunderstanding. While we are busy trying to conform to the social norms that make us part of our group, even if unintentionally, others are doing the same. This creates gaps between us and others that sometimes seem… [Read more…] about The Ideology of Jesus

An Underlying Issue with the Letter Signed by Evangelical Leaders

February 14, 2017 by Rich Rosendahl in Christian Issues

Recently, over 500 Evangelical Christian leaders signed a letter that was sent to the current president and vice president expressing their opposition to the Executive Order effectively banning travel to the United States by many Muslims and refugees. This is great, it really is. Seeing Evangelical leaders rise up and speak out is awesome, necessary, and helpful. Thanks to all who participated in this initiative!

But before we celebrate and move forward, I want to ask you to pause and reflect with me about some of the things that led us to this point. Remember, Evangelical Christians are an incredibly powerful group in America and played a significant role in electing the administration that promised, and then enacted this Muslim ban …

Over the years, my involvement with Muslim refugees through my organization, The Nations, has led to many interactions with Evangelical Christians and pastors. These experiences have taught me a lot, like how much I love our Evangelical Christian neighbors and how I admire their remarkable impact on American culture.

But I have also noticed a common thread that I believe, in part, is why we saw such overwhelming support by Evangelicals for a candidate that consistently campaigned on the promise of implementing a Muslim ban that some now (rightly) reject.

The simplest way I can describe it is this: much of Evangelical Christianity has (often unknowingly) dehumanized Muslims by treating them as a project rather than neighbors. This is… [Read more…] about An Underlying Issue with the Letter Signed by Evangelical Leaders