Welcome, my name is Ron. But friends and family also know me as Butter, T-Bird, Tee, Getwizdom and lately, Prophetik Soul. These nicknames represent my past, present and future. You are not allowed to call me by the first three nicknames…unless you grew up with me. But it is important for you to know that I am a multi-dimensional agitator and each nickname reflects that. I am more complex than my impoverished upbringing, I am deeper than my skin color and I am serious about my Christian faith. Yet all of these things have shaped me in some way. I cannot deny my race consciousness, my love of the city and my anger at injustice. I am African American in a country that reminds me everyday of my outsider status yet I have the good fortune to have quality education under my belt.

I am a questioner but not a mystic. I ask questions to seek answers and I don’t assume that they will show up overnight. I am a discerner and look for insight. I believe God is in the details which means we must seek him.

Lastly, I am a firestarter. If God had not gotten to me, I would have been setting fires to relieve my anger. Instead, I have directed my energies toward asking the hard questions. As my professors figured out, for me, there is always a question behind my question.

Yet I work hard to understand others positions courtesy of my wife and kids. I am a thinker but I am compassionate but don’t mistake this for weakness. Whether it means something to you or not, I come from the school of hard knocks. I won’t hesitate to call you out.

My interests lie in communications, urban studies, media studies, anthropology, systems thinking, philosophy, visual culture, economic development and social change. I am presently considering a run for my Phd…just so you can call me doctor. How ‘bout that!

In doing so, know that I mean well. What you see on here from me is what you would encounter in person: a person who loves God, talks alot and wants to represent him to the oppressed and to protect them…from the corrupt and powerful. Jesus, my man, 50 grand, carried himself this way. I owe him my life.

Hello, and welcome one and all. :-) I may be ambitious in believing that there may be more than just us posters reading this, but I hope that eventually we can draw some interesting debaters out to our little corner of the cacophonous bloggosphere.

We're three guys with three sets of opinions (at least, probably more...), and have found discussion with each other to be interesting, invigorating, and at times challenging - but always illuminating. I look forward to comments and discussions on future meanderings we may take in this cooperative.

As Dan said, we're definitely wide-ranging and spread out. I have had the pleasure of knowing Dan for nearly a decade. Ron, I've known quite a bit less, and through this electronic medium only, but I have appreciated his comments and discussion nonetheless, and look forward to getting to know him better and letting him get to be annoyed by me.

I echo the sentiment that I am not a Republican, Democrat, Baptist, Methodist, GenericLabelX, GenericLabelY...I am simply a man trying to understand a bit more of the world around him, and learn to love and follow his God as best he can. I will often fall short of the mark, but I enjoy the continuous challenge that is life. If we had nothing new to strive for tomorrow, what point would there be in getting up to face it? I fiercely love both my "home" countries, U.S. and Mexico, and love them enough to see the promise and flaws in each. I am unapologetically proud to be as blessed as I am with my history and background, and feel no need to be ashamed of who I am, what I am, or from whence I come, flaws and all. :-)

If you want to get to know ME a little better than these philosophical musings, that will be more personally (and exhaustively verbosely) taken care of on my own blog rather than here.

I'm excited about the possibilities, and mulling topics over in my head as I write this.

“Continue to stir up trouble. I don't always agree with u but American Christians need it and it is in your blood.” – Ron Tinsley

In the past 27 years I have often found myself in the middle of contentious situations and discussions. Often times, the reasons were not worthwhile (i.e. going on strike because the Penguins are cold), and sometimes I was mildly more usefully active (like going face to face with the school president for unjustly expelling my brother). Fact is, my family has been cursed with the inability to keep our thoughts to ourselves, and I therefore get myself into trouble on a regular basis. Most recently, I have gotten fed up with the intersection of Christians and Politics, and how it has been so counter-productive to the actual showing of love to a hurting world. I am not a Repubblican, or a Democrat, I am an American that wants to see our country get back on its feet. I do not believe in political correctness because it seems to belittle us as mankind, but I do believe in respecting and loving my fellow man. I am not a Conservative Bible beating Christian, or a Liberal peace and love activist, I am a follower of Jesus Christ in the most biblical way I know how to be. I do not think of myself as a great conversationalist or debater, and don’t believe that my way is the only way, but I like to challenge others points of view to both understand them and help them see outside their own box.

Today, I am announcing the beginning of a blog…this blog: Unruly Wisdom. This is not meant to be a political, religious, philosophical, sociological, or scientific forum; even though, all those topics will most likely be covered. I am honored that two great friends of mine are joining me to make this a more interesting place. I have spent hours on end discussing everything with these guys, and it is an understatement to say that we do NOT agree on everything, but I still love them and look forward to hearing more from them.

Juan is a Mexican friend from college that often goes by Nacho (which in no way is a racial slur), and might actually be nerdier than I am. We spent far too much time in the Biomechanics lab exorcising demons from it, and arguing over music, alcohol, and what is wrong with Americans.

Ron is a black guy from Philly that was so unfortunate to have me join his Bible study and then ended up co-leading a youth group with me. I’m pretty sure he still thinks of me as a crazy white guy, but I always know that no conversation with him will end in under 3 hours.

On behalf of all three of us, welcome, we’d love to hear your point of view…on whatever!