Comments on: Anabaptist radicalism and the life of contemplation http://young.anabaptistradicals.org/2007/05/13/anabaptist-radicalism-and-the-life-of-contemplation/ let's activate something Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:38:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 By: jdaniel http://young.anabaptistradicals.org/2007/05/13/anabaptist-radicalism-and-the-life-of-contemplation/#comment-1556 jdaniel Wed, 16 May 2007 16:50:02 +0000 http://young.anabaptistradicals.org/2007/05/13/anabaptist-radicalism-and-the-life-of-contemplation/#comment-1556 <em>"I’m also supposed to be studying for the first round of medical boards right now..."</em> <em>"I still feel the call to work for social justice in my life (that’s a struggle right now, as the value system at the medical school I’m at now is centered on intellectual prestige as the only acceptable guide to a career)..."</em> I don't have a brilliant response to the actual question you pose; I simply want to say (re: above quotes), "I feel your pain!!" Welcome to YAR Luke! “I’m also supposed to be studying for the first round of medical boards right now…”

“I still feel the call to work for social justice in my life (that’s a struggle right now, as the value system at the medical school I’m at now is centered on intellectual prestige as the only acceptable guide to a career)…”

I don’t have a brilliant response to the actual question you pose; I simply want to say (re: above quotes), “I feel your pain!!”

Welcome to YAR Luke!

]]> By: Skylark http://young.anabaptistradicals.org/2007/05/13/anabaptist-radicalism-and-the-life-of-contemplation/#comment-1519 Skylark Mon, 14 May 2007 21:15:24 +0000 http://young.anabaptistradicals.org/2007/05/13/anabaptist-radicalism-and-the-life-of-contemplation/#comment-1519 Michelle, oh absolutely. In some ways, reporters are participants by emphasizing some things and not others, as well as the rest of the issues you cited. However, we have to be careful not to cross ethical lines and become participants when that could compromise our credibility. If my sister were in court for allegedly poisoning someone with a wedding cake she made, I shouldn't report on that. It doesn't matter if she did or didn't do it—I'm still too close to the story. Another reporter who could have more emotional distance from the accused should write about it. But you're right that I have more power than I initially implied to affect needy people through my current occupation. :-) Michelle, oh absolutely. In some ways, reporters are participants by emphasizing some things and not others, as well as the rest of the issues you cited. However, we have to be careful not to cross ethical lines and become participants when that could compromise our credibility. If my sister were in court for allegedly poisoning someone with a wedding cake she made, I shouldn’t report on that. It doesn’t matter if she did or didn’t do it—I’m still too close to the story. Another reporter who could have more emotional distance from the accused should write about it.

But you’re right that I have more power than I initially implied to affect needy people through my current occupation. :-)

]]> By: michelle http://young.anabaptistradicals.org/2007/05/13/anabaptist-radicalism-and-the-life-of-contemplation/#comment-1516 michelle Mon, 14 May 2007 18:04:06 +0000 http://young.anabaptistradicals.org/2007/05/13/anabaptist-radicalism-and-the-life-of-contemplation/#comment-1516 Skylark wrote: "Reporters are inevitably observers rather than participants." I disagree. Yes, journalists observe, and report on what they observe. But journalists are definitely participants in the ways they make their decisions: What topics do they cover? Who do they choose to talk to, and then quote? Which research do they utilize? How do they frame that research? What facts do they include, and which ones do they leave out? What photos/images do they share with the public? And as editors, what appears on the front page, back page, or buried in the middle? Journalists have a tremendous power (and responsibility, in my opinion), as they make decisions about what information we receive, and in what form. Skylark wrote: “Reporters are inevitably observers rather than participants.”

I disagree. Yes, journalists observe, and report on what they observe. But journalists are definitely participants in the ways they make their decisions: What topics do they cover? Who do they choose to talk to, and then quote? Which research do they utilize? How do they frame that research? What facts do they include, and which ones do they leave out? What photos/images do they share with the public? And as editors, what appears on the front page, back page, or buried in the middle?

Journalists have a tremendous power (and responsibility, in my opinion), as they make decisions about what information we receive, and in what form.

]]> By: Skylark http://young.anabaptistradicals.org/2007/05/13/anabaptist-radicalism-and-the-life-of-contemplation/#comment-1514 Skylark Mon, 14 May 2007 16:04:26 +0000 http://young.anabaptistradicals.org/2007/05/13/anabaptist-radicalism-and-the-life-of-contemplation/#comment-1514 Hi Luke! It's good to have you here on YAR. I appreciated a lot of what you had to say—I can't relate to the medical school struggle, but the "simplification-->deconstruction-->reconstruction" model resonates with me. I can't honestly say where I am between deconstruction and reconstruction. Maybe on some things I'm still in deconstruction, while other issues have been reconstructed. I do know the process is real, and I see it happening in others around me. It frustrates me to no end to see adults staying happily in the "simplication" stage, having never deconstructed anything. But then, maybe their deconstruction is coming a little later, and I shouldn't judge. If/when it happens for them, they'll need people to lean on who have been through it and aren't jumping to criticize them. I also feel a call to social justice work that can't be completely fulfilled by my current occupation. As much as I love news reporting, I also want to get my hands involved with needy people and tough situations. (Reporters are inevitably observers rather than participants.) I'm tentatively planning to take a few months whenever I get done at this particular job and go work in an orphanage in Bolivia. That should give me a better idea where I'm skilled and useful, in addition to what ideas I happen to like right now. I wish you the best in figuring it out! If Anabaptism isn't big enough to include contemplatives, then perhaps we need to expand the definition of "Anabaptist." :-) Hi Luke! It’s good to have you here on YAR. I appreciated a lot of what you had to say—I can’t relate to the medical school struggle, but the “simplification–>deconstruction–>reconstruction” model resonates with me. I can’t honestly say where I am between deconstruction and reconstruction. Maybe on some things I’m still in deconstruction, while other issues have been reconstructed. I do know the process is real, and I see it happening in others around me. It frustrates me to no end to see adults staying happily in the “simplication” stage, having never deconstructed anything. But then, maybe their deconstruction is coming a little later, and I shouldn’t judge. If/when it happens for them, they’ll need people to lean on who have been through it and aren’t jumping to criticize them.

I also feel a call to social justice work that can’t be completely fulfilled by my current occupation. As much as I love news reporting, I also want to get my hands involved with needy people and tough situations. (Reporters are inevitably observers rather than participants.) I’m tentatively planning to take a few months whenever I get done at this particular job and go work in an orphanage in Bolivia. That should give me a better idea where I’m skilled and useful, in addition to what ideas I happen to like right now.

I wish you the best in figuring it out! If Anabaptism isn’t big enough to include contemplatives, then perhaps we need to expand the definition of “Anabaptist.” :-)

]]> By: TimN http://young.anabaptistradicals.org/2007/05/13/anabaptist-radicalism-and-the-life-of-contemplation/#comment-1503 TimN Mon, 14 May 2007 05:54:28 +0000 http://young.anabaptistradicals.org/2007/05/13/anabaptist-radicalism-and-the-life-of-contemplation/#comment-1503 Hey Luke, welcome to YAR! Glad you feel at home here and thanks for sharing about a different way of getting back to our roots. Glad to see you added a new category to go along with it as well. I hope there will be more posts in that category to follow. Good luck with the boards. I know there's at least one other YAR poster (j.daniel) in the middle of medical school. It'd be interesting to hear you reflect more on how you deal with the value system based on intellectual prestige that you describe. Hey Luke, welcome to YAR! Glad you feel at home here and thanks for sharing about a different way of getting back to our roots. Glad to see you added a new category to go along with it as well. I hope there will be more posts in that category to follow.

Good luck with the boards. I know there’s at least one other YAR poster (j.daniel) in the middle of medical school. It’d be interesting to hear you reflect more on how you deal with the value system based on intellectual prestige that you describe.

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