I suppose this is old news to all of you...

Comment

Comment by bpansky25 on March 12, 2012 at 12:48pm

"There are good things about instant information / instant publicity, but I am still learning how to deal with this paradigm shift."

A bit off topic here but I agree, I can get a bit disoriented when these things that come out of no-where.  I don't see an end in sight, either.  People are constantly trying to come up with new ways of using internet communication.  With so much change, we don't get a chance to learn what that world or that language is exactly like, and what it means when someone does a particular action.

I wonder if increasingly ambiguous interaction may become normal in future generations, or if it will finally become a larger more versatile language.

Comment by Sentient Biped on March 12, 2012 at 12:20pm

Ruth, thanks for that info.  Now you got me reading Alternet :-)  Very concerning.  This is a danger of the facebook and instant-flashy-stuff youtube age.  In depth information and real analysis is difficult to find, and even scorned.  Fads out of no-where.  Then backtrack, then what?  There are good things about instant information / instant publicity, but I am still learning how to deal with this paradigm shift. 

Comment by Ruth Anthony-Gardner on March 12, 2012 at 12:02pm

Behind a secular facade...

Invisible Children Funded By Antigay, Creationist Christian Right

...IC’s extensive financial ties to far-right fundamentalism, including major funders of the mounting global war on gay rights...

Comment by matthew greenberg on March 12, 2012 at 8:54am

thanks for this information.  i saw the video, and like pretty much anyone who watched it, i was moved.  while this may still be a worthwhile cause (debatable) i'm glad that i didn't share it with any friends or family. 

Comment by bpansky25 on March 12, 2012 at 1:04am

The IC people have posted response to some of the criticisms here:   http://www.invisiblechildren.com.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com...

Perhaps I can look at other people's links in the morning.  Thank you very much for sharing.

Comment by Sentient Biped on March 11, 2012 at 11:53pm

Ruth, thank you for that link too, I found it useful.  It becomes especially troubling in light of the USA fundamentalist christian missionary influence on the Uganda's govt in promoting their "death penalty for gays" bill and Scott Lively's malignant christian colonialism in Uganda.  Not that I'm suggesting a connection to this, but if Invisible Children is an attempt to funnel more money into christianist imperialism there, it would be bad.

Comment by Ben on March 11, 2012 at 11:24pm

Yeah, all the supposed misrepresentations I've seen in all the criticisms of the IC organization have been generated by simply not paying attention to what the film says and chooses to focus on.  No where did the film say, "This is all you need to know.  Don't go looking to learn more."  I didn't read anything about it, watched the movie, and was baffled by all the "misinformation" I hadn't been misinformed about.  I got the impression that Kony was a really bad guy who had done a bunch of bad stuff in Uganda and was currently in the Congo area on the run and was perpetrating "lesser" crimes because of the pressure being put on him.  Also, I got the impression that Uganda was in need of that whole reconstruction thing.  Obviously there'd be more to everything as there always is, but the main point was bringing Kony to justice and how keeping him in the spotlight could help do that.  Then I spent the day reading all the other links that come up on google when you search for Kony2012.  It is really upsetting to see so many cynics jump on the appeal to emotion as though it is something inherently evil and must be stamped out.  Every single article I've read could be easily recast as "Seen the Kony2012 film?  Here's more information about the situation in Uganda..."   But instead it's all pointlessly adversarial as though no one in the history of social change knows how to properly capture young naive passions.  

Comment by Ruth Anthony-Gardner on March 11, 2012 at 11:13pm

Not so hard to know what to think, Sentient Biped, when you read this.

Invisible Children "Kony 2012" Leader Suggests It's About Jesus and...

So far few have noticed the decidedly evangelical ties of Invisible Children.

Invisible Children co-founder Jason Russell... coached Liberty University students on what could be characterized as extremely low-key, or stealth, evangelism. [emphasis mine]

Comment by Sentient Biped on March 11, 2012 at 9:31pm

I just read your second link too.  It's insightful, and brings some points that I saw elsewhere.  The "white savior" aspect, endangering local people, fraudulent fund raising, shallow do-nothing facebook activism.  In the end, I'm also concerned this could also create additional apathy, by getting people fired up then let down.  Frustrating.

Comment by Sentient Biped on March 11, 2012 at 9:20pm

I agree with you.  I looked at the video, and was taken aback by the minimal informational content, along with a great deal of flashy hype.  Then I saw other reports, and was left feeling like the original video was taking advantage of the situation.  It's hard to know what to think.