Two nights ago, I was riding a bicycle past a midtown St. Louis landmark, Saint Francis Xavier Church, better known as "College Church," due to its location on the Jesuit campus of St. Louis University. I know this campus well, in that I am a graduate of the SLU School of Law. I've often enjoyed this architecture--I decided to stop to take this photo.
Today I am celebrating the inauguration of Barack Obama as President of the United States. I know that most of you already think of Obama's inauguration as old news, even though it only happened a few short hours ago. Nonetheless, I am still celebrating and I'm proudly linking to a…
I’m not claiming that non-believers and believers always get along, but I do know that they can get along. I know this for many reasons. Here’s my newest evidence: Last night I spoke about my lack of religious beliefs from the front of a packed church, during the religious service.
How this could possibly be true? Here’s a bit of background. I previously wrote about a church in my neighborhood called The Journey. (here’s the website of The Journey).
After I wrote that post, Darrin Patrick, Pastor of The Journey, posted a comment at DI inviting me join him for lunch. We’ve had two lunches now, and we’ve traded quite a few e-mails and phone calls. I now considered Darrin to be a friend. We have many interests in common. He’s also an intelligent, curious, sensitive church leader who is an exquisite reader of people and who has an undying commitment to funnel the energy of his congregation toward improving his community. Like most friends, Darrin and I have differences of opinion on topics we consider to be important. Like all friends of mine, however, we both realize that we have far more in common than those things on which we disagree.
About two months ago, Darrin asked whether he could interview me on videotape and then play portions of my interview for his congregation. I agreed and I sat for an interview of almost an hour, talking about Dangerous Intersection, my family, my concerns about my community, …
Here is the simple goal for those participating in Naked Bike Ride: Protest our dependency on oil and celebrate the power and individuality of our bodies. In America, most people tend to have a warped attitude toward bicycles. They see bicycles as toys and amusements, not as incredibly efficient and serious modes of transportation. More than anything else, Naked Bike Ride is an attempt to change this attitude and to get people to choose bicycles rather than gas guzzling motor vehicles, whenever possible.
This combination was pure marketing genius. If 1,000 people had assembled in the middle of St. Louis to promote alternative sustainable methods of transportation, the media wouldn’t have given a rat’s ass. Because these organizers promised to wrap this serious message about bicycle riding in a package of nudity, however, the media was there in droves. Here’s an video interview of two of the organizers.
Now, what kind of nudity did those curious media types actually see when they got to the assembly prior to the bicycle ride? Well, they saw some of this:
As well as some of this:
The evening could also have been accurately called Slogans Painted on Partially Naked People on Bikes Night, but that would have been unwieldy.
This use of nakedness to promote the message that we desperately need to start using sustainable transportation methods has been successfully executed in numerous other cities. Tonight, the event came to my home town. 
I decided to both participate in a minimally naked way …
This is a favorite spot of mine. It's called the Grand Basin and it's located in the middle Forest Park in the City of St. Louis, Missouri. I enjoyed this image of the area because it contains views of some rather large objects (like the St. Louis Art Museum and…