Anything less than open and honest ...

Some days, I can't decide if terrorism is a coward's cheap shot or a way for the little guy to level the playing field. We talk of just wars. Are there just terrorists too? Should we consider their demands? Or should we simply dismiss them outrightly?

Terrorism of a less violent, but not inconsequential, form made an appearance at the Consumer Electronics Show last week (January 7-10, 2008). The backgrounder to the story is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur named Mitch Altman. Altman is the inventor of the TV-B-Gone, a fob device that can turn off any TV in its aim. Altman allegedly invented the device to reduce the time he wasted watching TV at home. However, he quickly expanded his mission to include waging a covert war against TV's in restaurants, sports lounges, laundromats, etc. One click and the TV's go down.

The Consumer Electronics Show is rife with televisions: huge, flat-panel TV's, mounted by the hundreds to form video walls and video pyramids displaying corporate logos and product demos to passers by. During this year's show (January 7-10, 2008), all the TV's began shutting off. The misadventure was masterminded by the staff of Gizmodo, which is one of the best electronics blog sites out there. It's also pretty much run by teenagers, which might explain why they not only hatched the idea of sabotaging the CES with a TV-B-Gone, but also broadcast their dastardly deed on YouTube.

The Gizmodo "terrorist" who pulled the prank was barred from the rest of CES 2008 and barred for life from any future CES Events. Legal action against Gizmodo may also be forthcoming, but some have defended Gizmodo's stunt. They argue that the Consumer Electronics Show has increasingly focused on consumerism at the expense of innovation in design, productivity, etc. For these people, the Gizmodo stunt was a breath of fresh air -- a reminder that show should be more about great products and less about glitzy presentations.

This month, the GodTalk Radio Show endured its own bout of "teenager terrorism" at the hands of prank callers. Like the Gizmodo crew, the pranksters are some of the brightest minds out there, but instead of lending their gifts to the show, they come off as juvenille ... even a little demented! At the GodTalk Radio Show, we give listeners an opportunity to join an open and honest conversation about God. It has to be both open and honest to be worthwhile. Terrorism is ultimately neither, which is why it never adds anything enduring to the human experience.

Last week, I downloaded We Will Not Be Silent on iTunes. The album is a multi-artist collection of songs created for worship at St. Benedict's Table, a postmodern congregation in Winnipeg. Renowned artist, Gord Johnson, offers a typically solid contribution to the project, but the real standout is Jenny Moore. (Moore is no longer worshipping at St. Benedict's Table as she is currently attending art school in London, England.) I Am Coming for You might just be the most evocative communion aria ever written. Jenny says her guitar has been mostly packed up on a shelf since she moved to England. Get that guitar off the shelf, Jenny: "do not neglect the gift that is in you"! Let's hope we see Jenny Moore back in Canada soon.