The following percentages of young adults ages 18-25 claimed to be “very worried” about the issues listed below:

35% – Getting a sexually transmitted disease.
26% – Grades at school.
23% – Finding a job after school.
19% – Maintaining good relationships with friends.
18% – Getting along with parents.
18% – Relationship with God.
15% – Deciding who to vote for.
11% – Making sure you are contributing to your community.
7% – Finding a spouse.
4% – Finding a boyfriend or girlfriend.
(Reboot poll, link via CT’s weblog)

Since I’m on the tail end of that age bracket (for another two months) it seems fitting that my worries hardly line up. It’s amazing that sexually transmitted diseases are the top worry. Equally amazing that finding a spouse or even a boyfriend/girlfriend are so low on the list (they obviously didn’t interview many Christian college students).

But spirituality is still important for young adults, though it increasingly becomes a mish-mash of beliefs. Elizabeth Koke mixes Catholicism, Wicca, feminism and a strong belief in gay rights, which has allowed her to return to the church. Her bottom line? “I wanted to believe in God.”

The Boston Globe offers profiles of the spiritual lives of several young adults.

Michael Lynn of Cornell University studied the practice of tipping and found that it’s an odd economic system with little connection between the quality of service delivered and the size of the tip. It’s especially difficult because tipping is an after-the-fact deal. A lousy tip won’t improve your lousy service.

Lynn offers a free PDF booklet about tipping (if you find the book helpful, he asks for a tip) which includes the following advice:

• Wear something unusual.
• Introduce yourself by name.
• Crouch next to the table.
• Repeat customers’ orders.
• Smile at customers.
• Get customers to order more.
• Touch customers. (Good touches only, please)
• Entertain customers.
• Forecast good weather.
• Write “thank you” or draw pictures on checks.
• Use tip trays with a credit card logo.
• Give customers candy. (Mmm… minty)
• Call customers by name.

I usually tip 15% at restaurants (rounded to some extent because I don’t like math, not because I don’t have change–I usually pay with a check card) and I almost always vary it based on service, though I tend to punish bad service more than I reward good service.

Frankly, I think not being a jerk is the best route to getting a good tip. We ate at Denny’s for breakfast on our way to San Diego and after being seated went a good 5-10 minutes without being served (which is a long time in a casual restaurant like that). We were beginning to get annoyed when the waitress finally came up, apologized for taking so long, and took our orders. Her simple apology, a mere acknowledgement of the fact that we had to wait, took care of all my annoyances. A poor tip was avoided.

Though I will say I hate tipping in other situations: Taxis, haircuts, the baggage guy at the airport. Aren’t those people getting paid a standard wage? Do they really rely on my tip (should they be)? At least waiters/waitresses actually rely on my tip–they’re paid less than minimum wage because tips are meant to make up the difference. I grudgingly tip in those situations, usually a minimum dollar amount that won’t make feel sheepish ($1-3).

And you thought your donation to the Goodwill actually went to the Goodwill. Turns out a percentage of used clothes are sold at Goodwill, but the rejects are shipped off to Africa where second-hand clothing is bringing down the textile industry.

Missionary Tim Hutchinson commented on the phenomena after seeing it in Africa and reading about it in the LA Times.

Fatima was just 15 when she was gang-raped in front of her mother. Seven months later, and by then heavily pregnant, the schoolgirl was arrested by the Sudanese police and charged with fornication. (Telegraph, March 13, 2005)

Fatima and hundreds of others like her, after bearing the shame of rape and subsequent pregnancy, now face extortion from Sudanese police. Fatima spent three days in jail with no food before her father could come up with half the 20,000-dinar fine to get her released (a fine which amounts to a quarter of Sudan’s average annual income)–all because she was raped.

This sort of thing should not be happening. Take action against it.

Steve Knight makes a great point over at Knightopia, asking what would happen if all the religious fervor poured into the Terry Schiavo case were directed towards stopping genocide in Sudan.

Apparently we only focus on the families in the U.S. Too busy keeping an eye on SpongeBob.

Reuters’ AlertNet has released a list of the top 10 “forgotten” emergencies in the world. 4 out of 8 are emergencies happening in Africa, and the only two world-wide emergencies are especially ravaging Africa. That’s 6 out of 10 related to Africa, and all of the top 5.

Africa needs some help.

On March 2 the Darfur Accountability Act was introduced in the Senate by Senators Jon Corzine (D) of New Jersey and Sam Brownback (R) of Kansas. The bill calls for sanctions on Sudan, a continued arms embargo, and support for the meager African Union forces in the region (read an account from a military advisor to the African Union forces [subscription required]).

The act seems like a good move in the right direction, and I hope it will be supported. Take a minute or two to find the contact info of your Senators and drop them an e-mail.

Bloggers often gloat over their victories over Trent Lott, Dan Rather and mainstream media in general, but I hope bloggers can get behind a truly important story like Darfur.

Tonight I cried in a movie theater. Tears streamed down my face as my lip and entire jaw quivered as I tried to control the sobs. When the credits finally rolled the dam burst and I sobbed and sobbed. My heart was broken by man’s inhumanity to man. Our capacity for extreme evil on one hand, and intentional ignorance on the other.

My wife and I went to see Hotel Rwanda tonight, the true story of one man saving 1,200 refugees from the 1994 Rwandan genocide. In 1994 I was a freshman in high school, busy yo-yoing in the hallways and trying to survive Advanced Geometry. Around the world one million people were slaughtered.

It breaks my heart that the world did nothing. It breaks my heart that my country did nothing. It breaks my heart that the church–or at least my corner of the church–did nothing. It breaks my heart that I did nothing–I can only repeat the words I didn’t know, I didn’t know, I didn’t know.

I’m still at a loss, but I’d echo Steve Knight’s comments. He has a great reactionary post, encouraging people to get involved to stop the genocide happening in Sudan. Check out his entry and the resources he links to. I’m still working my through them and trying to figure out how I should respond.

In general, I so far have three main thoughts:

Continue reading Broken for Rwanda →

I saw this graphic of the “African Cliff” a few weeks ago and have been meaning to blog about it. The graph shows the life expectancy of various countries in Africa over the past 50 years. The mid-90s nosedive is thanks primarily to AIDS.

This should be heart-breaking. Anyone who thinks AIDS is still a disease to blame on sexual deviants is missing the boat. Yes, we can thank inappropriate sexual behavior for helping spread AIDS. But so many AIDS victims became infected thanks to tainted blood, thanks to a lying spouse, or thanks to simply being born. Painting AIDS with the broad brush of sexual sinners is just wrong, and I can’t believe I even have to say that. That kind of thinking reminds me of the holocaust.

Speaking of reminders, the African Cliff graph reminds me of another graph about the Black Plague. This graph shows the population of Europe over time with a huge hit thanks to the plague–a third of the population died. I tried to find a similar graph for AIDS deaths, but I couldn’t find one. Though I have heard–as recently as Sunday’s sermon at church–that AIDS has killed 10% of Africa’s population. Or maybe it was 10% of the population are infected. At any rate, the similarities are striking.

But the major difference is Europeans knew next to nothing about the Black Plague. They didn’t know how to stop it and most people just fled any outbreak, with one exception–Christians. Many Christians stayed behind to care for the sick and dying, often risking their own lives. AIDS is a different story. We don’t know how to cure it yet, but we do know how to stop its spread, how to slow its effects. So why aren’t we? Great strides have been made in recent years against AIDS, often led by Christians, and I only hope we can continue.

Update: Josh asked what he can do to help the cause, so I’ve added a list of four things you can do to fight AIDS after the jump. It’s something I wrote a few years ago for a magazine, so hopefully the links are still good.

Josh asked if money was really the best way to help, and I’m not sure. I do know I’ve heard Bono and lots of others talk about the importance of debt relief since many African countries spend more on their debts than they do on medical care. Bono and the DATA organization are big on relieving debt and establishing fair trade so the African nations will eventually be able to take care of themselves. So advocacy is huge–tell your friends and tell your elected officials.

Continue reading The African Cliff →

The United Nations Mine Action Service has a public service announcement no one will air. According to AdAge, the ad has been rejected by CNN, Lifetime, and several ABC affiliates. After watching it I can understand why, but it’s sad that we would choose to ignore such an important issue. Each year 20,000 people are killed or seriously injured by landmines.

Watch the PSA and learn more.