Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates and police Sergeant James Crowley had a memorable meeting and are now probably going to the White House for a beer. The original 911 call did not mention race so any racial overtones that might have been raised took place at the scene with a lot of shouting. In the midst of all the shouting, I strongly suspect that we have a story of two incredibly good men with great reputations having about the worst possible meeting imaginable. I would venture a guess and say that neither of them wanted things to turn out the way they did. I also suspect that they will come together and teach the world a lesson about what took place as they are both fine individuals. They teach us a lesson that even the best of us have bad days and meltdowns.
President Obama, I think, might have also learned a lesson about speculating in front of an open microphone. When he began his comments with not really knowing all the details, he should have stopped right there. Once the word ‘stupidly’ came out of his mouth, that was going to be the center of the story.
The Octo-Mom signed a television deal for ‘reality television’ starring her children. Why do I fear that her children, much like the Gosselin children, are going to end up being ‘stars’ in a horror show that will be their lives. I am long passed believing that either of the Gosselins have their children’s best interests at heart. Kate may have an inkling in that direction, but only an inkling. Jon is too busy going on dates with crazy girls to worry about much else. Of course, there is some major money involved...
I have been a lifelong New York Mets fan and the Mets are terrible. Willie Randolph took it in the neck last year and it was ‘his’ fault that the Mets were not playing well. He is gone and they are far worse. They need to fire EVERYONE in their front office and start over.
I watched some of the confirmation hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayor and they were incredibly uninformative. Her responses were not much different from Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito though, one suspects, they will vote contrary to each other. No one in their right mind is going to ever really answer a question on these confirmation hearings but they have them anyway. Ugh. I think that if I lived in Alabama, however, and my Senator was Jeff Sessions I would like to crawl under a pregnant ant and hide. It is rather sad that we have such a collection of intellectually challenged folks in Congress. Ugh.
Erin Andrews has reminded us that there are still major gender problems in the nation. She is a very attractive woman who is a sports reporter for ESPN. She was filmed, through peepholes, at multiple hotels walking around naked in her hotel room. It is most interesting to see responses.
First, one person was saying that she ‘deserved’ this because she was walking around naked in her hotel room. We shouldn’t even know what she wears or doesn’t wear in the privacy of her hotel room let alone judge her for it.
Secondly, the only places that I saw ‘blurred’ photos of her was on Newscorp, most notably Fox News and the New York Post. It was disgraceful. This woman’s privacy was completely violated.
Sadly, the taping of her is not illegal in many states. Despite the fact that her privacy was completely violated and she is subjected to humiliation around the country, it is dubious that criminal charges will ever come forward. I do hope that I am wrong. Erin Andrews is a competent sports reporter and she deserves far better than she has received.
I am doing some research and teaching a class on the New Calvinism on Sunday. I will, hopefully, write something about this.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
Jimmy Carter Leaves His Church
Jimmy Carter left his church after many years because he cannot abide by the rampant sexism in the Southern Baptist Convention.
For those who discriminate against women and blame it on God, his words are a firm rebuke which, interestingly enough, has barely been reported.
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/losing-my-religion-for-equality-20090714-dk0v.html?page=-1
For those who discriminate against women and blame it on God, his words are a firm rebuke which, interestingly enough, has barely been reported.
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/losing-my-religion-for-equality-20090714-dk0v.html?page=-1
This Day, 40 Years Ago
This day, 40 years ago, July 20, 1969 the first people set foot on the moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin departed "The Eagle" and walked around on the moon.
I was 14 years old and watched in live on television.
Many years later I met Neil Armstrong at the funeral of a dear friend of his parents. He came back to his hometown of Wapakoneta, Ohio to attend the funeral of this very fine woman. I was officiating at the funeral and was quite honored to meet him. He grew up at St. Paul United Church of Christ in Wapakoneta and, years later, I spent 11 years as the Pastor of that congregation, so I heard a good deal about his 'growing up' years from people who knew him in his youth.
Neil Armstrong was, and is, a very quiet, very private, very decent, very intelligent, very courageous person. He was the first person on the moon and he set the pace for all the others. He could have gone off the deep end and we could be using all sorts of products he chose to endorse and listened to him on all sorts of subjects or been to a "First Man on the Moon" theme park or some other foolishness. Except Neil Armstrong did not exploit what he did. He was an astronaut who was doing his job, and one of many who was responsible for landing on the moon. His quiet dignity is something that ought to always be treasured.
In the news footage remembering Walter Cronkite, two images stand out. One was the sheer pain of announcing the death of President Kennedy and the other was the smiling delight and exhilartion speaking about the moon landing. It really WAS that exciting!!!
Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Mike Collins were literally strapped to their seats in a small capsule on top of a large guided missile----a huge bomb, if you will. They were catapulted into the sky and travelled at 66,000 mph to the moon. The calculations to get there were done by hand (they hadn't yet invented the calculator) and an error of 1 degree would mean that they would have been lost in space forever. The moon, which is about a quarter of a million miles away from the earth, is a target that, with that distance in mind, would have been difficult to hit.
The astronauts were incredibly brave and brilliant minds led them to their destination. They were able to photograph the earth from a distance and an angle and a view never seen before----reminding us how small our world is in comparison to the universe.
It was a great a momentous day in the history of the United States and a day that, I think, is worth remembering.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Mike Lupica's Column
I find myself very much agreeing with Lupica on this column. I know a lot of people will focus on Lupica's comments about the gun. That's a political statement that you can agree with or disagree with. To me, the crux of what Lupica is saying comes in these words:
That this pillar of his community and the pride of Mount Olive, Miss., was another guy in sports who thought women are supposed to be perks of the job.
How often have we seen this? Men abuse girls and women in sports and think there are no consequences? Star athletes who have never been accountable for any of their misdeeds end up tragically facing something far worse than they anticipated?
Lupica's column says it well:
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/2009/07/11/2009-07-11_lupica_mcnairs_life.html#ixzz0LGRcwdQb&D
That this pillar of his community and the pride of Mount Olive, Miss., was another guy in sports who thought women are supposed to be perks of the job.
How often have we seen this? Men abuse girls and women in sports and think there are no consequences? Star athletes who have never been accountable for any of their misdeeds end up tragically facing something far worse than they anticipated?
Lupica's column says it well:
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/2009/07/11/2009-07-11_lupica_mcnairs_life.html#ixzz0LGRcwdQb&D
Friday, July 03, 2009
Top Ten Reasons Sarah Palin Resigned!
Top Ten Reasons Sarah Palin Resigned
10. She was jealous of all the attention Governor Mark Sanford was receiving.
9. She was so excited about beating Rod Blagojevich for the Sitting Duck Award she figured this was a great time to cash in on her status.
8. She was jealous of all the attention Carrie Prejean was getting so she wants to run for Miss California in the Miss USA pageant next year.
7. She wants to host her own late night talk show opposite Letterman and tell jokes about him too.
6. She couldn’t think of any other way to get on the news tonight.
5. She got confused with her dates and got April Fool’s Day and the 4th of July mixed up.
4. The midnight sun made her a little goofy.
3. She wants more free time to go flying with Putin.
2. She was jealous of all the attention Michael Jackson was receiving.
1. They told her that as the Governor of Alaska she was not allowed to live in Hawaii.
10. She was jealous of all the attention Governor Mark Sanford was receiving.
9. She was so excited about beating Rod Blagojevich for the Sitting Duck Award she figured this was a great time to cash in on her status.
8. She was jealous of all the attention Carrie Prejean was getting so she wants to run for Miss California in the Miss USA pageant next year.
7. She wants to host her own late night talk show opposite Letterman and tell jokes about him too.
6. She couldn’t think of any other way to get on the news tonight.
5. She got confused with her dates and got April Fool’s Day and the 4th of July mixed up.
4. The midnight sun made her a little goofy.
3. She wants more free time to go flying with Putin.
2. She was jealous of all the attention Michael Jackson was receiving.
1. They told her that as the Governor of Alaska she was not allowed to live in Hawaii.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Monday Musings
Today Bernie Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison. My hope for him is that he has a very long life to fully enjoy the accommodations provided for him so that he can reflect on the ahem, ‘joy’ that he brought into so many people’s lives.
His assets have been completely seized with his wife being given ONLY 2.5 million dollars. If she didn’t know about this scheme I’d be surprised and, being the generous soul I am, I’d be happy for her to enjoy similar accommodations to her husband. As for as I am concerned, the 2.5 million dollars she received is about 2.5 million more than she ought to.
One person you have to admire is Jenny Sanford. She is (rightly) mad as hell and she is perfectly capable of letting people know that she’s angry. She has been, in my opinion, up front and delightfully blunt as to her feelings and thoughts. I do believe she’d like to save her marriage, but she will not allow herself to be victimized by this. She is a really strong, brilliant woman.
The Mets have been devastated by injuries. I think if Marv Throneberry was still alive they might sign him... Yes, it’s that bad. And if you don’t know who Marvelous Marv was, you aren’t a true baseball fan.
Iran decreed that the recount proved that the Presidential election was valid. The Ayatollah Katherine Harris has assured everyone that the election was properly held and all the votes were properly counted.
An autopsy of Michael Jackson showed that he weighed 112 pounds, had excessive scarring from badly done plastic surgeries, and he had lost mostly all of his hair. I have no words....
Pet peeve term: “Reverse racism.” Racism is racism no matter which direction it comes from. There is no such thing as reverse racism; there is only racism. If you hate another race, you are a racist. Period.
Pet peeve term: Decimate used as if it means devastate or totally destroy. To decimate a people is to kill 10% of them or to destroy 10% of a place. This word is so misused that people do not know what it means any longer.
Pet peeve term: Disinterested when a person means uninterested. A person who is disinterested is a person who is impartial and neutral. A judge is disinterested. The judge has to make judgments based upon law and fairness and now on how the judge feels or thinks about a situation. Uninterested is having no interest in something.
I truly do not understand Justice Clarence Thomas. In the recent strip search case on a school strip searching a 13 year old girl in Arizona searching for Advil, the court ruled 8-1 that this was an improper search. It is a convergence of law and common decency. At least it was for 8 of the justices; Clarence Thomas ruled that it was okay that they did the strip search. His opinion, in my mind, makes no sense whatsoever. None. Zip. I do not understand how he came to the decision he came to. I even read when he wrote and his logic defies my imagination. If for no other reason, common decency and common sense can tell us that this was wrong. Wrong!!!!
Pope Benedict decreed that bones in the Basilica of St. Paul in Rome are definitely the bones of St. Paul. He said scientific data helps prove discovered bones belonged to apostle St. Paul. "Tiny fragments of bone" in the sarcophagus were subjected to carbon dating, showing they "belong to someone who lived in the first or second century," the pope said in a homily carried on Italian television. "This seems to confirm the unanimous and undisputed tradition that these are the mortal remains of the Apostle St. Paul," Benedict said in Sunday's announcement.
Maybe they are and I am just being cynical, but I am hard pressed to embrace that dating bones and making a declaration as to who the person was is credible evidence. If Paul was living on a deserted island and they found the bones, I’m all ears. But Rome?
I am guess that the dental records weren’t available.
This kind of stuff annoys me. I am a huge fan of St. Paul and think his letters and his witness are peerless. Trying to ‘prove’ his bones appears to be a trite and potentially comical endeavor in our approach to this great man. It is moments like this that often make Christians look silly.
Authorities arrested former Gainesville Mark Musselwhite and charged him with public indecency last weekend after state Department of Natural Resources officers found him sitting nude at his Rabun County campsite.
Officers had received a complaint about a naked man walking along a nearby road earlier in the day, but the 43-year-old Musselwhite said he was not the same man.
Musselwhite, a Republican, was elected to the Gainesville City Council in 2000, where he served for six years, including a stint as mayor. He lost a bid for a state Senate seat in 2006.
At least there were no concealed weapons charges....
Elliot Spitzer was on television this morning giving his input on financial decisions, regulations, etc. There is a really evil joke in here somewhere concerning a very aggressive guy who went after ‘escort’ agencies with vigor and became a client----and from what they said, a nasty client. And now he’s on television as an expert. Wow.
His assets have been completely seized with his wife being given ONLY 2.5 million dollars. If she didn’t know about this scheme I’d be surprised and, being the generous soul I am, I’d be happy for her to enjoy similar accommodations to her husband. As for as I am concerned, the 2.5 million dollars she received is about 2.5 million more than she ought to.
One person you have to admire is Jenny Sanford. She is (rightly) mad as hell and she is perfectly capable of letting people know that she’s angry. She has been, in my opinion, up front and delightfully blunt as to her feelings and thoughts. I do believe she’d like to save her marriage, but she will not allow herself to be victimized by this. She is a really strong, brilliant woman.
The Mets have been devastated by injuries. I think if Marv Throneberry was still alive they might sign him... Yes, it’s that bad. And if you don’t know who Marvelous Marv was, you aren’t a true baseball fan.
Iran decreed that the recount proved that the Presidential election was valid. The Ayatollah Katherine Harris has assured everyone that the election was properly held and all the votes were properly counted.
An autopsy of Michael Jackson showed that he weighed 112 pounds, had excessive scarring from badly done plastic surgeries, and he had lost mostly all of his hair. I have no words....
Pet peeve term: “Reverse racism.” Racism is racism no matter which direction it comes from. There is no such thing as reverse racism; there is only racism. If you hate another race, you are a racist. Period.
Pet peeve term: Decimate used as if it means devastate or totally destroy. To decimate a people is to kill 10% of them or to destroy 10% of a place. This word is so misused that people do not know what it means any longer.
Pet peeve term: Disinterested when a person means uninterested. A person who is disinterested is a person who is impartial and neutral. A judge is disinterested. The judge has to make judgments based upon law and fairness and now on how the judge feels or thinks about a situation. Uninterested is having no interest in something.
I truly do not understand Justice Clarence Thomas. In the recent strip search case on a school strip searching a 13 year old girl in Arizona searching for Advil, the court ruled 8-1 that this was an improper search. It is a convergence of law and common decency. At least it was for 8 of the justices; Clarence Thomas ruled that it was okay that they did the strip search. His opinion, in my mind, makes no sense whatsoever. None. Zip. I do not understand how he came to the decision he came to. I even read when he wrote and his logic defies my imagination. If for no other reason, common decency and common sense can tell us that this was wrong. Wrong!!!!
Pope Benedict decreed that bones in the Basilica of St. Paul in Rome are definitely the bones of St. Paul. He said scientific data helps prove discovered bones belonged to apostle St. Paul. "Tiny fragments of bone" in the sarcophagus were subjected to carbon dating, showing they "belong to someone who lived in the first or second century," the pope said in a homily carried on Italian television. "This seems to confirm the unanimous and undisputed tradition that these are the mortal remains of the Apostle St. Paul," Benedict said in Sunday's announcement.
Maybe they are and I am just being cynical, but I am hard pressed to embrace that dating bones and making a declaration as to who the person was is credible evidence. If Paul was living on a deserted island and they found the bones, I’m all ears. But Rome?
I am guess that the dental records weren’t available.
This kind of stuff annoys me. I am a huge fan of St. Paul and think his letters and his witness are peerless. Trying to ‘prove’ his bones appears to be a trite and potentially comical endeavor in our approach to this great man. It is moments like this that often make Christians look silly.
Authorities arrested former Gainesville Mark Musselwhite and charged him with public indecency last weekend after state Department of Natural Resources officers found him sitting nude at his Rabun County campsite.
Officers had received a complaint about a naked man walking along a nearby road earlier in the day, but the 43-year-old Musselwhite said he was not the same man.
Musselwhite, a Republican, was elected to the Gainesville City Council in 2000, where he served for six years, including a stint as mayor. He lost a bid for a state Senate seat in 2006.
At least there were no concealed weapons charges....
Elliot Spitzer was on television this morning giving his input on financial decisions, regulations, etc. There is a really evil joke in here somewhere concerning a very aggressive guy who went after ‘escort’ agencies with vigor and became a client----and from what they said, a nasty client. And now he’s on television as an expert. Wow.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Random Musings
I am not going to mention ‘he who should not be named.’ I’m tired of all’ he who shall not be named’ on the news.
I have no idea on what we should do (or not do) concerning Iran. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a nutcase, a lunatic, and a liar. Other than that, he’s probably fine. I suspect that they never even counted the votes; he was the choice of the ‘Supreme Leader” and that’s about all that one needs to know. The good news is that there is great unrest in the country. I am not sure we can be helpful. Our credibility in Iran, long term, is bad. I suspect there are some issues nations need to work out for themselves.
I have a creeping sense that nothing significant is going to change concerning health care. It won’t be until price controls are in place and malpractice limits are given, than any progress can be made. I don’t really think anyone has the testicular fortitude to actually make the difficult choices on this.
The ‘family values’ crowd is not doing very well these days. Unless I have misconstrued, however, and forgotten what families they ‘value.’ Of late, it’s looking like the Hefners, the Flynts, and the Gucciones...
I watched Mark Sanford the other day and actually did feel for him. Seriously. In listening to him and his wife, it is obvious that there is a deep and painful chasm in their lives. I also suspect that these people are, at heart, good people. This saga does not have a happy ending. I strongly suspect that by summer’s end he will not be the Governor of South Carolina and that the Sanford marriage is over. It is painfully obvious that his heart is elsewhere. It is painful to watch.
Speaking of painful to watch: Jon and Kate. Let’s see, Jon has hired a shark for an attorney and is looking at $3000.00 a month apartments in New York City. Why do I get the impression that he is no longer going to be on the show and that his desire to be with the children is all talk? I suspect that he is going to vanish from the lives of his children----and this is horrible. Dreadful. Despicable. I hope I’m wrong about him-----but I doubt I am.
Sarah Palin has been engaging in a battle of wits with virtually everyone these days. I feel badly for her going into all of these battles unarmed...
Bernie Madoff has to forfeit EVERYTHING. So, raise your hand if you feel badly for him? .....I don’t either.
NBC showed President Obama going to a 5 Guys for burgers. It was filmed like this was spontaneous. Sure.
The Mets gained ground on the Phillies while playing very badly. That means that the Phillies played worse. The NL East is stinking up baseball.
The best all time political ‘excuse’ for misconduct still belongs to Senator Larry Craig and his ‘wide stance.’ Before that it was Bill Clinton’s parsing of ‘is,’ but Craig’s line belongs in the annals of great political bogusness.
I have no idea on what we should do (or not do) concerning Iran. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a nutcase, a lunatic, and a liar. Other than that, he’s probably fine. I suspect that they never even counted the votes; he was the choice of the ‘Supreme Leader” and that’s about all that one needs to know. The good news is that there is great unrest in the country. I am not sure we can be helpful. Our credibility in Iran, long term, is bad. I suspect there are some issues nations need to work out for themselves.
I have a creeping sense that nothing significant is going to change concerning health care. It won’t be until price controls are in place and malpractice limits are given, than any progress can be made. I don’t really think anyone has the testicular fortitude to actually make the difficult choices on this.
The ‘family values’ crowd is not doing very well these days. Unless I have misconstrued, however, and forgotten what families they ‘value.’ Of late, it’s looking like the Hefners, the Flynts, and the Gucciones...
I watched Mark Sanford the other day and actually did feel for him. Seriously. In listening to him and his wife, it is obvious that there is a deep and painful chasm in their lives. I also suspect that these people are, at heart, good people. This saga does not have a happy ending. I strongly suspect that by summer’s end he will not be the Governor of South Carolina and that the Sanford marriage is over. It is painfully obvious that his heart is elsewhere. It is painful to watch.
Speaking of painful to watch: Jon and Kate. Let’s see, Jon has hired a shark for an attorney and is looking at $3000.00 a month apartments in New York City. Why do I get the impression that he is no longer going to be on the show and that his desire to be with the children is all talk? I suspect that he is going to vanish from the lives of his children----and this is horrible. Dreadful. Despicable. I hope I’m wrong about him-----but I doubt I am.
Sarah Palin has been engaging in a battle of wits with virtually everyone these days. I feel badly for her going into all of these battles unarmed...
Bernie Madoff has to forfeit EVERYTHING. So, raise your hand if you feel badly for him? .....I don’t either.
NBC showed President Obama going to a 5 Guys for burgers. It was filmed like this was spontaneous. Sure.
The Mets gained ground on the Phillies while playing very badly. That means that the Phillies played worse. The NL East is stinking up baseball.
The best all time political ‘excuse’ for misconduct still belongs to Senator Larry Craig and his ‘wide stance.’ Before that it was Bill Clinton’s parsing of ‘is,’ but Craig’s line belongs in the annals of great political bogusness.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The Problem with Anecdotal Evidence and Labels
There is a problem with anecdotal evidence and labels. It seems that people who love labels seem to love anecdotal evidence. Using anecdotal evidence is like this. One makes a statement and gives examples of how that statement is played out. An example, "There is a war on Christmas in America!," and you give three examples of events that are, or appear to be anti-Christmas. What did this prove? It proved that there were three events that were, or at least appeared to be anti-Christmas, no more and no less.
Often people make judgments based on these statements and the anecdotal evidence that goes with them. What people often fail to grasp, however, is that most of these statements are hypotheses and a hypothesis, no matter how well argued, is not a fact until it has been proven. Anecdotal evidence, no matter how compelling, is not really proof.
Of late the usage of the label 'socialist' is on the rise. There are lots of anecdotal statements to this effect. Interesting thing, however, Atlantic did some research and discovered that this might be overstated. As the chart indicates, .21% of business assets have been nationalized leaving 99.79% of business assets in the hands of the free market.
I do not know if we are moving in the right direction or not. I do know this, however. Having one group of people yelling "Socialist!!!" all the time and offering no viable alternative plan is not going to help the discussion. For one, it's a use of a cheap label (sigh!) and, additionally, it is untrue.
My great rant on all of this does not come down to debating direction; I think that debating direction is important. What my rant really is comes down to the incessant need for people to place labels on ideas and thoughts with little thought as to what is actually being discussed.
I am linking the article from Atlantic.
http://correspondents.theatlantic.com/conor_clarke/2009/06/what_socialism_looks_like.php
Monday, June 15, 2009
David Letterman Apologizes
David Letterman apologized. He gave a real live apology----a good one and a real one.
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2009/06/15/2009-06-15_david_letterman_apologizes_for_palin_joke.html
Sarah Palin professes herself to be a devout Christian. A significant part of Christianity is the issue of reconciliation and forgiveness. Letterman owed her a sincere apology----he went way over the top in his comments. He gave a half-hearted apologia more than an apology last week, but today issued a real live apology and took the entire blame. He came around and did the right thing.
This is an interesting moment for Sarah Palin. Her faith is now being put to the test. The right thing to do, spiritually, is accept the apology in the way it was given, sincerely, and move on. We shall see if her faith commitment is real or political rhetoric by her response.
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2009/06/15/2009-06-15_david_letterman_apologizes_for_palin_joke.html
Sarah Palin professes herself to be a devout Christian. A significant part of Christianity is the issue of reconciliation and forgiveness. Letterman owed her a sincere apology----he went way over the top in his comments. He gave a half-hearted apologia more than an apology last week, but today issued a real live apology and took the entire blame. He came around and did the right thing.
This is an interesting moment for Sarah Palin. Her faith is now being put to the test. The right thing to do, spiritually, is accept the apology in the way it was given, sincerely, and move on. We shall see if her faith commitment is real or political rhetoric by her response.
Friday, June 12, 2009
David Letterman Versus Sarah Palin
David Letterman and Sarah Palin are feuding.
It started with Letterman when David Letterman crossed the lines of common decency. And he did cross the line in a big way.
What has not gotten enough ‘press’ so to speak is the usage of the word ‘slutty’ in reference to Sarah Palin’s makeup. He inferred that she was using comparably slutty makeup to flight attendants. This is insulting to both flight attendants and to the Governor.
A larger picture is at play here, however. Sarah Palin uses makeup as do many women. Actually, women who do not use makeup are held up for scrutiny as well as those who do. I would say that using makeup for professional women, even more so as they get older, is the norm. If one were comparing professional men to women, men do shave every day and often dress in a professional or business casual kind of way. Much in the way men shave each day, many professional women apply makeup. It is certainly out of bounds to refer to any professional woman as slutty. What Letterman did was sexist and totally inappropriate. Sarah Palin has every right to take offense at this.
But Letterman is a comedian who has always pushed the envelope and finds great humor in saying mean things. It is part of his routine. He went way over the top when he used overtly sexual humor in referring to Sarah Palin’s daughter.
In watching Letterman, I think that he and his staff made a huge mistake. Bristol and her younger sister Willow look a great deal alike. When they are not with each other, I cannot tell them apart. I suspect that Letterman was making jokes about Bristol who is 18, whereas the daughter who was actually with Sarah Palin was Willow who is 14. In knowing Letterman’s humor, he was mocking Bristol’s so-called abstinence tour while blindly missing that fact that it was not Bristol at Palin’s side, but Willow.
In reality Letterman was not funny at all. His semi-apology was an effective apologia to the premise that he was referring to Bristol and not Willow, which is very believable, but the painful reality of this is that he should not have been joking about either daughter. I do not buy that Bristol Palin is on ‘tour’ for her abstinence only education and that makes her fair game. Whether one agrees with Bristol or not, or whether it is wise for her to do this or not, does not make her fair game for comedians most especially with sexually charged comments like Letterman made.
Letterman was majorly offensive and the Palin family was a victim of his bad taste.
I am not a fan of Sarah Palin and I am not a fan for a variety of reasons. There are three, however, that are paramount.
First, Sarah Palin seems to have an only passing acquaintance with truth. This happened over and over again where things that she would say would not be grounded in reality. Her little ‘bridge to nowhere’ narrative turned out to be rather brutally dishonest but she would not relent in using it until it became painfully obvious that everyone knew her words were bogus. I found a person who said she was grounded in her faith who was so obviously shading the truth with falsehoods to be rather unseemly.
Secondly, Palin did not know what she was talking about much of the time and she blamed her ignorance on others. She reminded me of a high school student who would whine that tests were unfair because she did not know the material. The material the students did not know was out there the entire time----other students knew it. If Sarah Palin wants to be taken seriously by more than a few, then she needs to get over blaming the world for her ignorance, and actually study.
Thirdly, she plays a very cynical game of trying to demonstrate that there is a ‘real’ American and a ‘not real’ America. This kind of overt cynicism and divisiveness is crass and wrong.
I say this because her response to David Letterman and his truly offensive comments have been, in kind, offensive.
First, she is repeating that he was speaking about Willow. He obviously was not. Everyone, except perhaps a poorly trained chimpanzee in the Bronx Zoo knows this by now. His words about Bristol were and remain truly offensive, but he was not referring to a 14-year old, under-aged minor. Her repeating of this, over and over again is part of why I do not appreciate her. At least allow your outrage to be honest. His comments about Bristol, and they were about Bristol, are offensive in their own right. He was not making an inference to statutory rape and Sarah Palin knows this and will not even acknowledge this.
Secondly, her usage of the East Coast/West Coast versus ‘real’ America is blatantly offensive, most especially in light of her insistence that Letterman was referring to the sexual behavior of adults with minors. She was inferring that people on the two coasts would not be as offended by this kind of behavior as people would be in the middle of the country. I personally found this to be offensive----very offensive. People all across the nation are offended by this kind of talk and behavior. Do not use the offensive remarks of a comedian to conclude and to state that this is representative of how people are divided in the nation.
Thirdly, she is blaming the universe on there not being the same outrage for her children as there would be on the children of President Obama. The Obamas have been different in how their children have been seen in public than the Palins have been. I have no criticism of either approach in the least. I was offended by the early treatment of the press of the Bush daughters, I was offended by how Rush Limbaugh referred to Chelsea Clinton. I am offended by Letterman’s comments. The children are not fair game. Period. I think most people, even in the news media, will respect this.
This should end soon. I think that two things need to transpire.
The first thing is that David Letterman owes the Palin family a sincere apology. His explanation about which daughter he was referring to is helpful, but he needs to apologize sans further explanation. I am sorry. I was offensive to you and your family and I deeply regret this. No excuses, no further explanation, just a simple and sincere apology is in order.
And the Palin family, for their part, ought to accept the apology and move on. She appears to be attempting to make political hay out of this and this is the wrong thing to be doing right now. Accept the apology and move on.
It started with Letterman when David Letterman crossed the lines of common decency. And he did cross the line in a big way.
What has not gotten enough ‘press’ so to speak is the usage of the word ‘slutty’ in reference to Sarah Palin’s makeup. He inferred that she was using comparably slutty makeup to flight attendants. This is insulting to both flight attendants and to the Governor.
A larger picture is at play here, however. Sarah Palin uses makeup as do many women. Actually, women who do not use makeup are held up for scrutiny as well as those who do. I would say that using makeup for professional women, even more so as they get older, is the norm. If one were comparing professional men to women, men do shave every day and often dress in a professional or business casual kind of way. Much in the way men shave each day, many professional women apply makeup. It is certainly out of bounds to refer to any professional woman as slutty. What Letterman did was sexist and totally inappropriate. Sarah Palin has every right to take offense at this.
But Letterman is a comedian who has always pushed the envelope and finds great humor in saying mean things. It is part of his routine. He went way over the top when he used overtly sexual humor in referring to Sarah Palin’s daughter.
In watching Letterman, I think that he and his staff made a huge mistake. Bristol and her younger sister Willow look a great deal alike. When they are not with each other, I cannot tell them apart. I suspect that Letterman was making jokes about Bristol who is 18, whereas the daughter who was actually with Sarah Palin was Willow who is 14. In knowing Letterman’s humor, he was mocking Bristol’s so-called abstinence tour while blindly missing that fact that it was not Bristol at Palin’s side, but Willow.
In reality Letterman was not funny at all. His semi-apology was an effective apologia to the premise that he was referring to Bristol and not Willow, which is very believable, but the painful reality of this is that he should not have been joking about either daughter. I do not buy that Bristol Palin is on ‘tour’ for her abstinence only education and that makes her fair game. Whether one agrees with Bristol or not, or whether it is wise for her to do this or not, does not make her fair game for comedians most especially with sexually charged comments like Letterman made.
Letterman was majorly offensive and the Palin family was a victim of his bad taste.
I am not a fan of Sarah Palin and I am not a fan for a variety of reasons. There are three, however, that are paramount.
First, Sarah Palin seems to have an only passing acquaintance with truth. This happened over and over again where things that she would say would not be grounded in reality. Her little ‘bridge to nowhere’ narrative turned out to be rather brutally dishonest but she would not relent in using it until it became painfully obvious that everyone knew her words were bogus. I found a person who said she was grounded in her faith who was so obviously shading the truth with falsehoods to be rather unseemly.
Secondly, Palin did not know what she was talking about much of the time and she blamed her ignorance on others. She reminded me of a high school student who would whine that tests were unfair because she did not know the material. The material the students did not know was out there the entire time----other students knew it. If Sarah Palin wants to be taken seriously by more than a few, then she needs to get over blaming the world for her ignorance, and actually study.
Thirdly, she plays a very cynical game of trying to demonstrate that there is a ‘real’ American and a ‘not real’ America. This kind of overt cynicism and divisiveness is crass and wrong.
I say this because her response to David Letterman and his truly offensive comments have been, in kind, offensive.
First, she is repeating that he was speaking about Willow. He obviously was not. Everyone, except perhaps a poorly trained chimpanzee in the Bronx Zoo knows this by now. His words about Bristol were and remain truly offensive, but he was not referring to a 14-year old, under-aged minor. Her repeating of this, over and over again is part of why I do not appreciate her. At least allow your outrage to be honest. His comments about Bristol, and they were about Bristol, are offensive in their own right. He was not making an inference to statutory rape and Sarah Palin knows this and will not even acknowledge this.
Secondly, her usage of the East Coast/West Coast versus ‘real’ America is blatantly offensive, most especially in light of her insistence that Letterman was referring to the sexual behavior of adults with minors. She was inferring that people on the two coasts would not be as offended by this kind of behavior as people would be in the middle of the country. I personally found this to be offensive----very offensive. People all across the nation are offended by this kind of talk and behavior. Do not use the offensive remarks of a comedian to conclude and to state that this is representative of how people are divided in the nation.
Thirdly, she is blaming the universe on there not being the same outrage for her children as there would be on the children of President Obama. The Obamas have been different in how their children have been seen in public than the Palins have been. I have no criticism of either approach in the least. I was offended by the early treatment of the press of the Bush daughters, I was offended by how Rush Limbaugh referred to Chelsea Clinton. I am offended by Letterman’s comments. The children are not fair game. Period. I think most people, even in the news media, will respect this.
This should end soon. I think that two things need to transpire.
The first thing is that David Letterman owes the Palin family a sincere apology. His explanation about which daughter he was referring to is helpful, but he needs to apologize sans further explanation. I am sorry. I was offensive to you and your family and I deeply regret this. No excuses, no further explanation, just a simple and sincere apology is in order.
And the Palin family, for their part, ought to accept the apology and move on. She appears to be attempting to make political hay out of this and this is the wrong thing to be doing right now. Accept the apology and move on.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Evil Came Our Way
James Von Brunn was a disaster waiting to happen. He was a man of hate and he got his wish. He was able to murder an African American man in the Holocaust Museum. He killed a black man and he hated black men. He killed in a precious place to people within Judaism because this museum forces people to remember a dreadful and evil event that James Von Brunn did not believe happened.
Steven Johns, a guard, opened the door for an old man and was shot in the chest for his kindness. Johns, a guard, was on the front line; totally vulnerable. Thankfully for so many, other guards were able to shoot Von Brunn before he could kill some more.
On this day, Jeremiah Wright was quoted as saying “Them Jews” won’t let President Obama talk to him.
The Holocaust Museum is the place in our nation’s capital that receives the most threats of violence and threats of vandalism. To say that this is shameful is beyond comprehension. To question the very existence of the Holocaust is to have the ability to suspend belief in reality. The extermination of Jews, by the Nazis, was an event the Nazis maintained careful and detailed records of. They were PROUD of what they were doing.
Dwight Eisenhower made the American troops take a great deal of photographs, preserve the records, and film what they saw. Eisenhower believed that there would come a day when people would deny the atrocities of the era. Little did people realize how wise Eisenhower was.
Von Brunn was a right-winged extremist, not to be confused with a person who considers himself or herself conservative. Von Brunn hated pretty much everyone. He took conservative positions on things and perverted them to make them all aspects of hate----and he was a man who hated. He was not a man of ideologies; he was a man of name-calling and hatred till the point of becoming a lone gunman in a one manned vendetta against the world.
People ought not be trying to make political hay about this. It would take a person of despicably low character in order to do so. Thus far the only person I have heard was, of course, Rush Limbaugh he argued that Von Brunn was actually a leftist, a point so bizarre that it is laugh out loud funny. But Limbaugh tried to make political hay out of it which, of course, seeing his level of character, is no surprise. Of course, Wright’s words coming out today, though somewhat unrelated, are equally bizarre and despicable. As a person who once greatly admired Jeremiah Wright for the good work he once did, I grieve about what he seems to have become.
It strikes me that anti-Semitism is not confined to political ideologies. People seem to find their own unique reasons to hate our Jewish brothers and sisters. I do not understand it and frankly, I do not want to understand it.
My hopes and prayers for this world are that the Von Brunn’s of this world are kept away from everyone else, and that the families of those who have died are consoled in their grief, and that the rest of us truly learn how totally evil hating others is.
Steven Johns, a guard, opened the door for an old man and was shot in the chest for his kindness. Johns, a guard, was on the front line; totally vulnerable. Thankfully for so many, other guards were able to shoot Von Brunn before he could kill some more.
On this day, Jeremiah Wright was quoted as saying “Them Jews” won’t let President Obama talk to him.
The Holocaust Museum is the place in our nation’s capital that receives the most threats of violence and threats of vandalism. To say that this is shameful is beyond comprehension. To question the very existence of the Holocaust is to have the ability to suspend belief in reality. The extermination of Jews, by the Nazis, was an event the Nazis maintained careful and detailed records of. They were PROUD of what they were doing.
Dwight Eisenhower made the American troops take a great deal of photographs, preserve the records, and film what they saw. Eisenhower believed that there would come a day when people would deny the atrocities of the era. Little did people realize how wise Eisenhower was.
Von Brunn was a right-winged extremist, not to be confused with a person who considers himself or herself conservative. Von Brunn hated pretty much everyone. He took conservative positions on things and perverted them to make them all aspects of hate----and he was a man who hated. He was not a man of ideologies; he was a man of name-calling and hatred till the point of becoming a lone gunman in a one manned vendetta against the world.
People ought not be trying to make political hay about this. It would take a person of despicably low character in order to do so. Thus far the only person I have heard was, of course, Rush Limbaugh he argued that Von Brunn was actually a leftist, a point so bizarre that it is laugh out loud funny. But Limbaugh tried to make political hay out of it which, of course, seeing his level of character, is no surprise. Of course, Wright’s words coming out today, though somewhat unrelated, are equally bizarre and despicable. As a person who once greatly admired Jeremiah Wright for the good work he once did, I grieve about what he seems to have become.
It strikes me that anti-Semitism is not confined to political ideologies. People seem to find their own unique reasons to hate our Jewish brothers and sisters. I do not understand it and frankly, I do not want to understand it.
My hopes and prayers for this world are that the Von Brunn’s of this world are kept away from everyone else, and that the families of those who have died are consoled in their grief, and that the rest of us truly learn how totally evil hating others is.
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Sermon for Sunday June 7th
Here I Is!
Text: Isaiah 6:1-8
Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo
June 7, 2009
When I was a child when of my favorite things to watch on television were the old Little Rascals shows. I grew up watching Spanky, Alfafa, Buckwheat, Darla, and their dog Petey. In one episode they were playing Romeo and Juliet and the response to “Romeo, oh Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo,” turned out to be “Here I is.”
For a while I didn’t get that this was funny. I hadn’t realized that “Here I is,” was an improper use of the infinitive ‘to be’ and that the correct response would have been, ‘Here I am.”
All of which makes you wonder what this has to do with these lines from Isaiah speaking of the call of Isaiah in the year King Uzziah died. King Uzziah, one of the kings of Judah, died about 750 years before the birth of Jesus and the first of three prophets named Isaiah speaks of his call.
The call of Isaiah is fascinating, dramatic, and very atypical of most call narratives in the Bible. It’s a ‘here I is’ narrative in terms of the fact that Isaiah does something no one else does. He says, “Here I am, send me.”
Most call narratives, be it Moses, Peter, second Isaiah, or Jeremiah, generally have the person called not wanting to be called. Jeremiah’s call was, ‘I am too young; get someone else. Moses proclaimed that he was too inarticulate----get someone else.
But here is Isaiah, ‘Send me!!!’
This issue of saying, “Here I am,” accepting God’s call is a big deal. There are things that go along with this.
First, God calls everyone to something. We often make a mistake in church in relegating God’s call only to clergy. Everyone is called to serve God in some way.
In St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians , Chapter 12, he writes that there are a variety of gifts that are given by the Holy Spirit to people within the church. Different people have different gifts but no one is exempt from God’s gifts.
Last Sunday was Pentecost Sunday, a day we celebrated the coming of God’s Holy Spirit into the Christian Church. With the coming of the Holy Spirit, however, there comes gifts that people have. And everyone has them.
In my second church we had a man, the Sexton or custodian or building engineer of the church, whatever you wanted to call him. He was more than any of these things; he was the resident miracle worker. There was more than one Sunday we had Worship not because I was there, or because the choir was there, or the organist was there, but because he got the furnace going or the lights on or something with the plumbing fixed.
One Sunday he performed a particular miracle getting the furnace going. He was the one and only reason we were able to have Worship that Sunday.
I recall looking out at the congregation that morning and he was sitting next to his wife and his children and grandchildren were around him and he was quietly praying with his eyes closed and his head down. It struck me that he was just a quiet, humble man who served God by caring for the building.
I was still young and cocky enough to take myself very seriously, but he struck a chord that day. Everyone is called and everyone has gifts.
Secondly, people ought to listen to God’s call with great humility.
The author, Phillip Yancey once visited an Amish home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and had dinner with them. He learned how it is the Amish call a pastor.
Now this is a different universe than the one we live in. The Amish, customarily only attend school until the 8th grade and so one who pastors in an Amish community has more than an 8th grade education, and has no college and no formal theological training.
They also do not seek outside of their own community or circle. It is always going to be someone from their own congregation----and it’s literally a congregation of people because they Worship in each other’s home. They do not have church buildings.
The Amish gather and each person votes for a man, in their tradition it is only men, and then all the men who get at least three votes are invited to sit at a table.
Hymn books are passed out randomly to the men and inside one of those hymn books is a card telling that person that he is now the pastor.
Yancey asked, “What if the person selected doesn’t feel qualified?”
The Amish man simply said, “If he did feel qualified, we would not want him.”
There is a marvelous theological premise that says that God does not call the qualified; but qualifies the called. God does not choose people to serve because they earned that right; God calls people and challenges people to live up to that calling.
Moses, when he stood in God’s presence, was told to remove his sandals because he was on holy ground. Indeed. We all need to serve God with that kind of humility.
Lastly, we serve not knowing what life brings us.
Yesterday was the 65th Anniversary of D-Day when the Allies invaded France to liberate Western Europe from the Nazis.
I watched a program, recently, where two men were interviewed. They were elderly men and both survived that day. One was an American soldier who came ashore, and one was a German machine gunner.
They both had a lot in common. They were both loyal to their countries and were fighting for their countries and felt called to do so. They were both devout Christians. And they were both terrified.
Both men recounted the horror of the day and both men said that they did two things while firing their weapons. They prayed constantly and could not stop crying.
Two men. Faithful Christians and loyal to their country and both terrified for where they found themselves.
Being called is not unlike this. When we put our lives in God’s hands, when we listen to a call and try to live it out, we never know where we are going to end up and what situations we will find ourselves in.
God calls and we are invited, like Isaiah, to say, “Here I am.” But remember, it might even be better to be a little incorrect and say, ‘Here I is,” because we never quite know where it is we are going to go.
Text: Isaiah 6:1-8
Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo
June 7, 2009
When I was a child when of my favorite things to watch on television were the old Little Rascals shows. I grew up watching Spanky, Alfafa, Buckwheat, Darla, and their dog Petey. In one episode they were playing Romeo and Juliet and the response to “Romeo, oh Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo,” turned out to be “Here I is.”
For a while I didn’t get that this was funny. I hadn’t realized that “Here I is,” was an improper use of the infinitive ‘to be’ and that the correct response would have been, ‘Here I am.”
All of which makes you wonder what this has to do with these lines from Isaiah speaking of the call of Isaiah in the year King Uzziah died. King Uzziah, one of the kings of Judah, died about 750 years before the birth of Jesus and the first of three prophets named Isaiah speaks of his call.
The call of Isaiah is fascinating, dramatic, and very atypical of most call narratives in the Bible. It’s a ‘here I is’ narrative in terms of the fact that Isaiah does something no one else does. He says, “Here I am, send me.”
Most call narratives, be it Moses, Peter, second Isaiah, or Jeremiah, generally have the person called not wanting to be called. Jeremiah’s call was, ‘I am too young; get someone else. Moses proclaimed that he was too inarticulate----get someone else.
But here is Isaiah, ‘Send me!!!’
This issue of saying, “Here I am,” accepting God’s call is a big deal. There are things that go along with this.
First, God calls everyone to something. We often make a mistake in church in relegating God’s call only to clergy. Everyone is called to serve God in some way.
In St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians , Chapter 12, he writes that there are a variety of gifts that are given by the Holy Spirit to people within the church. Different people have different gifts but no one is exempt from God’s gifts.
Last Sunday was Pentecost Sunday, a day we celebrated the coming of God’s Holy Spirit into the Christian Church. With the coming of the Holy Spirit, however, there comes gifts that people have. And everyone has them.
In my second church we had a man, the Sexton or custodian or building engineer of the church, whatever you wanted to call him. He was more than any of these things; he was the resident miracle worker. There was more than one Sunday we had Worship not because I was there, or because the choir was there, or the organist was there, but because he got the furnace going or the lights on or something with the plumbing fixed.
One Sunday he performed a particular miracle getting the furnace going. He was the one and only reason we were able to have Worship that Sunday.
I recall looking out at the congregation that morning and he was sitting next to his wife and his children and grandchildren were around him and he was quietly praying with his eyes closed and his head down. It struck me that he was just a quiet, humble man who served God by caring for the building.
I was still young and cocky enough to take myself very seriously, but he struck a chord that day. Everyone is called and everyone has gifts.
Secondly, people ought to listen to God’s call with great humility.
The author, Phillip Yancey once visited an Amish home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and had dinner with them. He learned how it is the Amish call a pastor.
Now this is a different universe than the one we live in. The Amish, customarily only attend school until the 8th grade and so one who pastors in an Amish community has more than an 8th grade education, and has no college and no formal theological training.
They also do not seek outside of their own community or circle. It is always going to be someone from their own congregation----and it’s literally a congregation of people because they Worship in each other’s home. They do not have church buildings.
The Amish gather and each person votes for a man, in their tradition it is only men, and then all the men who get at least three votes are invited to sit at a table.
Hymn books are passed out randomly to the men and inside one of those hymn books is a card telling that person that he is now the pastor.
Yancey asked, “What if the person selected doesn’t feel qualified?”
The Amish man simply said, “If he did feel qualified, we would not want him.”
There is a marvelous theological premise that says that God does not call the qualified; but qualifies the called. God does not choose people to serve because they earned that right; God calls people and challenges people to live up to that calling.
Moses, when he stood in God’s presence, was told to remove his sandals because he was on holy ground. Indeed. We all need to serve God with that kind of humility.
Lastly, we serve not knowing what life brings us.
Yesterday was the 65th Anniversary of D-Day when the Allies invaded France to liberate Western Europe from the Nazis.
I watched a program, recently, where two men were interviewed. They were elderly men and both survived that day. One was an American soldier who came ashore, and one was a German machine gunner.
They both had a lot in common. They were both loyal to their countries and were fighting for their countries and felt called to do so. They were both devout Christians. And they were both terrified.
Both men recounted the horror of the day and both men said that they did two things while firing their weapons. They prayed constantly and could not stop crying.
Two men. Faithful Christians and loyal to their country and both terrified for where they found themselves.
Being called is not unlike this. When we put our lives in God’s hands, when we listen to a call and try to live it out, we never know where we are going to end up and what situations we will find ourselves in.
God calls and we are invited, like Isaiah, to say, “Here I am.” But remember, it might even be better to be a little incorrect and say, ‘Here I is,” because we never quite know where it is we are going to go.
Monday, June 08, 2009
Confessions of an Elitist
I have learned that I am an elitist.
I have read, numerous times, that I am part of the ‘educated elite.’ I ended up being an elitist because I have advanced degrees, both a Master’s degree and a Doctorate.
I have read that I am part of the ‘northeastern elite’ because I was born and raised in the northeast. My New Jersey roots have come back to haunt me.
I think it might be time for the word ‘elite’ to find its way into the hopper. It is being way over-used and it’s being over-used in some majorly unhealthy ways.
First, speaking about the ‘educated elite.’
This makes education sound like a bad thing and woe to us when education is seen as a bad thing. Woe to us big time.
In diminishing education as the domain of the ‘elite’ we are saying to science that scientific thought is less important than it used to be. It is saying that when science discovers things we do not like or wish that science hadn’t discovered these things, then we are moving down a dangerous path. When we say that we do not like history as it reads, so we are going to make some ‘adjustments’ to the story, then we are not acknowledging reality.
I have grown weary of scientific thought rejected because it does not match people’s interpretation of the Bible. Often the science is correct and it’s the Biblical interpretation that is off. If education helps people come to a more correct answer than a desired answer, so be it. Simply calling people ‘elite’ because they bothered to actually read founding documents in their totality instead of picking and choosing lines; or people who have studied the Bible in its totality and its context and dismissing them a liberal elitists because they did hard work is bogus.
Education is not elitism. Most people who have earned doctorate degrees will make the same confession that I am going to make. A doctorate degree does not make you elite and it does not necessarily signify that you are smarter than everyone else. (Though you may be more educated which is different from smarter!)
It does demonstrate, however, determination to do the work that was required. Doctorate degrees are not sprints----they are marathons. It is a difficult and grueling process that is achieved not be being elite or even smarter than anyone else. It’s achieved by determination more than anything else.
The fact that I did this does not make me a elite. I am not part of the educated elite; I am part of those who are educated and that is all.
Then there is the northeast. The northeast is largely Democratic these days and people make some really interesting presumptions about the northeast. Elitists. Hah!
My Dad repaired televisions for most of his career. He graduated from a vocational high school and went to radio school and learned to repair televisions in the days of tubes. Later in his career he became a field supervisor at General Electric product services where he oversaw other repair people. It was his only white collar job and he was so incredibly proud of that achievement.
My Mom was a stay at home Mom for a long time and then worked in offices as a typist. Her secretarial skills were limited to typing----on typewriters.
I grew up with my brother and sister in a modest home. We delivered newspapers and got other jobs. I worked for two years unloading grocery trucks and pushing shopping carts at a grocery store. My parents, neither of whom had education beyond high school demanded we all go to college. And we did. On all sides of the family, my generation was the first generation to attend college.
We were a blue collar family in a world that had white collar people and blue collar people. Many people belonged to unions and many people did not.
In that world it was interesting. The blue collar world was largely Roman Catholic; the white collar world was largely mainline Protestant. It was the mainline Protestant congregations that were more educated and were mostly Republican. The people raised Roman Catholic were mostly Democrats. If you called most of the blue collared, Roman Catholic Democrats liberal, they’d laugh in your face and you’d deserve it.
As the Republican Party grew more and more in the Evangelical movement, the mainline Protestant people moved over to the Democrats. The largely blue collared, Roman Catholic Democrats look at people from the Religious Right like they are from another planet.
The northeast has a diverse, highly concentrated population. Because people all live on top of each other, and because the region has always been ethnically incredibly diverse, it is a region that is, out of necessity, highly tolerant.
What is often perceived of as ‘liberal elitism’ is really just a natural tolerance for diversity and largely Democratic. It has never really been as ‘liberal’ as people like to believe it is and if you called people who grew up in the many blue collared regions that permeate most of the northeast ‘elite’ it would be the funniest thing they have ever heard.
My elitism confession is this. I have never been an elitist. The only people who have presumed this so are too willingly ignorant to recognize this.
My thought, more and more is that the word ‘elite’ is a word that needs to find a nice place to rest until people learn what it actually means.
I have read, numerous times, that I am part of the ‘educated elite.’ I ended up being an elitist because I have advanced degrees, both a Master’s degree and a Doctorate.
I have read that I am part of the ‘northeastern elite’ because I was born and raised in the northeast. My New Jersey roots have come back to haunt me.
I think it might be time for the word ‘elite’ to find its way into the hopper. It is being way over-used and it’s being over-used in some majorly unhealthy ways.
First, speaking about the ‘educated elite.’
This makes education sound like a bad thing and woe to us when education is seen as a bad thing. Woe to us big time.
In diminishing education as the domain of the ‘elite’ we are saying to science that scientific thought is less important than it used to be. It is saying that when science discovers things we do not like or wish that science hadn’t discovered these things, then we are moving down a dangerous path. When we say that we do not like history as it reads, so we are going to make some ‘adjustments’ to the story, then we are not acknowledging reality.
I have grown weary of scientific thought rejected because it does not match people’s interpretation of the Bible. Often the science is correct and it’s the Biblical interpretation that is off. If education helps people come to a more correct answer than a desired answer, so be it. Simply calling people ‘elite’ because they bothered to actually read founding documents in their totality instead of picking and choosing lines; or people who have studied the Bible in its totality and its context and dismissing them a liberal elitists because they did hard work is bogus.
Education is not elitism. Most people who have earned doctorate degrees will make the same confession that I am going to make. A doctorate degree does not make you elite and it does not necessarily signify that you are smarter than everyone else. (Though you may be more educated which is different from smarter!)
It does demonstrate, however, determination to do the work that was required. Doctorate degrees are not sprints----they are marathons. It is a difficult and grueling process that is achieved not be being elite or even smarter than anyone else. It’s achieved by determination more than anything else.
The fact that I did this does not make me a elite. I am not part of the educated elite; I am part of those who are educated and that is all.
Then there is the northeast. The northeast is largely Democratic these days and people make some really interesting presumptions about the northeast. Elitists. Hah!
My Dad repaired televisions for most of his career. He graduated from a vocational high school and went to radio school and learned to repair televisions in the days of tubes. Later in his career he became a field supervisor at General Electric product services where he oversaw other repair people. It was his only white collar job and he was so incredibly proud of that achievement.
My Mom was a stay at home Mom for a long time and then worked in offices as a typist. Her secretarial skills were limited to typing----on typewriters.
I grew up with my brother and sister in a modest home. We delivered newspapers and got other jobs. I worked for two years unloading grocery trucks and pushing shopping carts at a grocery store. My parents, neither of whom had education beyond high school demanded we all go to college. And we did. On all sides of the family, my generation was the first generation to attend college.
We were a blue collar family in a world that had white collar people and blue collar people. Many people belonged to unions and many people did not.
In that world it was interesting. The blue collar world was largely Roman Catholic; the white collar world was largely mainline Protestant. It was the mainline Protestant congregations that were more educated and were mostly Republican. The people raised Roman Catholic were mostly Democrats. If you called most of the blue collared, Roman Catholic Democrats liberal, they’d laugh in your face and you’d deserve it.
As the Republican Party grew more and more in the Evangelical movement, the mainline Protestant people moved over to the Democrats. The largely blue collared, Roman Catholic Democrats look at people from the Religious Right like they are from another planet.
The northeast has a diverse, highly concentrated population. Because people all live on top of each other, and because the region has always been ethnically incredibly diverse, it is a region that is, out of necessity, highly tolerant.
What is often perceived of as ‘liberal elitism’ is really just a natural tolerance for diversity and largely Democratic. It has never really been as ‘liberal’ as people like to believe it is and if you called people who grew up in the many blue collared regions that permeate most of the northeast ‘elite’ it would be the funniest thing they have ever heard.
My elitism confession is this. I have never been an elitist. The only people who have presumed this so are too willingly ignorant to recognize this.
My thought, more and more is that the word ‘elite’ is a word that needs to find a nice place to rest until people learn what it actually means.
Friday, June 05, 2009
Horror and Hope
President Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel all visited Buchenwald together. In quoting from a news source, it was written:
The president called the camp where an estimated 56,000 people died the "ultimate rebuke" to Holocaust deniers and skeptics. And he bluntly challenged one of them, Iranian President Ahmadinejad, to visit Buchenwald.
"These sites have not lost their horror with the passage of time," Obama said after seeing crematory ovens, barbed-wire fences, guard towers and the clock set at 3:15, marking the camp's liberation in the afternoon of April 11, 1945. "More than half a century later, our grief and our outrage over what happened have not diminished."
It speaks well of our world that a sitting American President, and a sitting German Chancellor can visit this place with a Holocaust survivor like Wiesel.
It is a stunning reminder of horror. It is the horror of human hatred. Buchenwald, like so many other former Nazi Concentration Camps remind us that there is human evil and human horror. The freezing of the clock at the hour of liberation, however, reminds us that goodness still also prevails and lives in the hearts of people.
In a way, this place is a living reminder of horror and hope.
Tomorrow, June 6, 2009 is the 65th Anniversary of another day of horror and hope. It is the day when American, British, Canadian, and French soldiers stormed the beaches at Normandy France to begin the liberation of western Europe from Nazi occupation. Omaha Beach was a place of bloody and brutal horror; yet out of that horror sprang hope for the people who were liberated.
These places remind us of horror and hope and challenge us to always face, confront, and challenge evil which brings about horror----and invite the world to have hope.
The president called the camp where an estimated 56,000 people died the "ultimate rebuke" to Holocaust deniers and skeptics. And he bluntly challenged one of them, Iranian President Ahmadinejad, to visit Buchenwald.
"These sites have not lost their horror with the passage of time," Obama said after seeing crematory ovens, barbed-wire fences, guard towers and the clock set at 3:15, marking the camp's liberation in the afternoon of April 11, 1945. "More than half a century later, our grief and our outrage over what happened have not diminished."
It speaks well of our world that a sitting American President, and a sitting German Chancellor can visit this place with a Holocaust survivor like Wiesel.
It is a stunning reminder of horror. It is the horror of human hatred. Buchenwald, like so many other former Nazi Concentration Camps remind us that there is human evil and human horror. The freezing of the clock at the hour of liberation, however, reminds us that goodness still also prevails and lives in the hearts of people.
In a way, this place is a living reminder of horror and hope.
Tomorrow, June 6, 2009 is the 65th Anniversary of another day of horror and hope. It is the day when American, British, Canadian, and French soldiers stormed the beaches at Normandy France to begin the liberation of western Europe from Nazi occupation. Omaha Beach was a place of bloody and brutal horror; yet out of that horror sprang hope for the people who were liberated.
These places remind us of horror and hope and challenge us to always face, confront, and challenge evil which brings about horror----and invite the world to have hope.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Random Monday Musings on Tuesday
I have been thinking that Judge Sonia Sotomayor before too long is going to wonder why she ever wanted to be on the Supreme Court. It doesn’t seem to matter who you are or what you believe, the other party is going to turn you into a caricature of what they want people to believe about you. People who choose to be in public service, no matter which party, get skewered by those who oppose them and the news media that delights in reporting every lurid thing. I am finding that I no longer have the stomach to watch any of this.
I wish I had a sense of what to do with North Korea. I do believe that they are a real threat and I am not sure that there is much we can do about it right now. An air strike on them would mean an invasion of South Korea and I am not sure we have the resources to stop that let alone the political will.
Adam Lambert looks, to me, like Eddie Munster all grown up.
Wow. I watched Jon and Kate Plus 8 last night. It’s my oldest daughter’s fault. Had it not been for her I would have never known about them. I am trying to determine if they are having real problems or if this is to increase ratings. Of course, living your life on television, having your home life revealed to the world isn’t necessarily healthy for a marriage.
I do have to say that I find Kate’s anger at the paparazzi to be a little ‘out there.’ I mean, she chose to be a public figure and chose to air her life out there and she hasn’t exactly avoided interviews. What did she expect from all of this public exposure? Privacy?
Strict Roman Catholic Mel Gibson, who thinks that Roman Catholics should ignore Vatican II got his girlfriend pregnant. I guess he did follow teachings about contraception, but decided there was one rule he could overlook...
I am wondering how California can ban gay marriage but still recognize the marriages performed there as legal. Here’s an interesting question. We have several states that recognize gay marriage whereas the vast majority do not. What happens when people move or laws change in their own state, ie, California? Can a state not recognize something as legal from another state? If not, can states refuse to recognize driver’s licenses or license plates on out of state cars?
Rush Limbaugh thinks that Colin Powell should leave the Republican Party.
Let’s see. Colin Powell is a highly decorated retired General, retired Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is highly respected at home and abroad, a former Secretary of State who knows world leaders in numerous countries and has good relationships with them and is one of the finest military minds in the nation.
Rush Limbaugh is a thrice married, thrice divorced, recovering drug addict whose out of country junkets include Viagra when visiting nations with large numbers of prostitutes.
Let’s see, who would I trust?
I think that the debate is based upon ideological purity. I tend to find that leaders who have integrity are better all the way around than people who are ideologically pure. Of course, I don’t consider myself to be an ideologue all that much. Frankly, I don’t trust ideology a whole lot. I tend to put my trust in good people.
Finally Terrell Owens is bad mouth his old teammates and coaches in Dallas. He did this in Philadelphia and in San Francisco. If the coach and players on the Buffalo Bills believe that he won’t do so there as well, there is this bridge in Brooklyn that might be of interest to you...
I wish I had a sense of what to do with North Korea. I do believe that they are a real threat and I am not sure that there is much we can do about it right now. An air strike on them would mean an invasion of South Korea and I am not sure we have the resources to stop that let alone the political will.
Adam Lambert looks, to me, like Eddie Munster all grown up.
Wow. I watched Jon and Kate Plus 8 last night. It’s my oldest daughter’s fault. Had it not been for her I would have never known about them. I am trying to determine if they are having real problems or if this is to increase ratings. Of course, living your life on television, having your home life revealed to the world isn’t necessarily healthy for a marriage.
I do have to say that I find Kate’s anger at the paparazzi to be a little ‘out there.’ I mean, she chose to be a public figure and chose to air her life out there and she hasn’t exactly avoided interviews. What did she expect from all of this public exposure? Privacy?
Strict Roman Catholic Mel Gibson, who thinks that Roman Catholics should ignore Vatican II got his girlfriend pregnant. I guess he did follow teachings about contraception, but decided there was one rule he could overlook...
I am wondering how California can ban gay marriage but still recognize the marriages performed there as legal. Here’s an interesting question. We have several states that recognize gay marriage whereas the vast majority do not. What happens when people move or laws change in their own state, ie, California? Can a state not recognize something as legal from another state? If not, can states refuse to recognize driver’s licenses or license plates on out of state cars?
Rush Limbaugh thinks that Colin Powell should leave the Republican Party.
Let’s see. Colin Powell is a highly decorated retired General, retired Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is highly respected at home and abroad, a former Secretary of State who knows world leaders in numerous countries and has good relationships with them and is one of the finest military minds in the nation.
Rush Limbaugh is a thrice married, thrice divorced, recovering drug addict whose out of country junkets include Viagra when visiting nations with large numbers of prostitutes.
Let’s see, who would I trust?
I think that the debate is based upon ideological purity. I tend to find that leaders who have integrity are better all the way around than people who are ideologically pure. Of course, I don’t consider myself to be an ideologue all that much. Frankly, I don’t trust ideology a whole lot. I tend to put my trust in good people.
Finally Terrell Owens is bad mouth his old teammates and coaches in Dallas. He did this in Philadelphia and in San Francisco. If the coach and players on the Buffalo Bills believe that he won’t do so there as well, there is this bridge in Brooklyn that might be of interest to you...
Monday, May 25, 2009
Little Chef----Closed?
The Little Chef in New Albany has a sign on the door, "Closed until further notice."
This might be big news. New Albany without the Little Chef is like pancakes without syrup; hot dogs without mustard; burgers without ketchup. It's unthinkable: Like the Cubs winning the World Series or Sarah Palin having a thought!
This might be big news. New Albany without the Little Chef is like pancakes without syrup; hot dogs without mustard; burgers without ketchup. It's unthinkable: Like the Cubs winning the World Series or Sarah Palin having a thought!
Friday, May 22, 2009
Random Musings
Random Musings
It was a very interesting ‘war of speeches’ yesterday between President Obama and former Vice President Cheney. Whatever one’s opinion is on the subject, they both made very coherent arguments for their positions. I don’t know how appropriate or inappropriate it is for a former Vice President to be so ‘in the face’ especially so soon, after leaving office, but Cheney has definitely been a unique type of Vice President from the start. My greatest regret on this is that I wish this debate had taken place before the fact as opposed to after the fact. The debate itself is great, however.
Let’s see. Newt Gingrich had an affair with this second wife while his first wife was battling cancer. He dumped wife number one for wife number two. Then he had another affair (during the Bill Clinton sexual escapades) with wife number three for whom he dumped wife number two. I remember when Gingrich was assailing Clinton on character issues back then and my daughter asked me if Gingrich would succeed. I told her that to assault another person’s character one must actually have character—--an attribute Newt lacked and lacks. I question Nancy Pelosi a great deal, but Newt Gingrich is not a person I’d want speaking for him. His honesty and integrity can be ascertained by interviewing either of his ex-wives.
I never watched the television show ‘24' before this year and I really like it. I can’t imagine why I haven’t seen it before this year.
Michael Vick has been moved to home incarceration. Thus goes my fantasy of Vick hooking up with Burress in the Penal League.
Regretfully, Keith Olbermann is turning into a left winged Rush Limbaugh. His show is becoming increasingly about personal attacks and is increasingly offensive. His new WTF moment as the last segment of the show is, frankly, tasteless. Offensive is offensive, from the left or the right and my TV tuner is not heading to MSNBC at 8pm for a while.
A big headline today was that summer is here and people are being told not to pee in the pool. I
On that note, I have nothing else to add.
It was a very interesting ‘war of speeches’ yesterday between President Obama and former Vice President Cheney. Whatever one’s opinion is on the subject, they both made very coherent arguments for their positions. I don’t know how appropriate or inappropriate it is for a former Vice President to be so ‘in the face’ especially so soon, after leaving office, but Cheney has definitely been a unique type of Vice President from the start. My greatest regret on this is that I wish this debate had taken place before the fact as opposed to after the fact. The debate itself is great, however.
Let’s see. Newt Gingrich had an affair with this second wife while his first wife was battling cancer. He dumped wife number one for wife number two. Then he had another affair (during the Bill Clinton sexual escapades) with wife number three for whom he dumped wife number two. I remember when Gingrich was assailing Clinton on character issues back then and my daughter asked me if Gingrich would succeed. I told her that to assault another person’s character one must actually have character—--an attribute Newt lacked and lacks. I question Nancy Pelosi a great deal, but Newt Gingrich is not a person I’d want speaking for him. His honesty and integrity can be ascertained by interviewing either of his ex-wives.
I never watched the television show ‘24' before this year and I really like it. I can’t imagine why I haven’t seen it before this year.
Michael Vick has been moved to home incarceration. Thus goes my fantasy of Vick hooking up with Burress in the Penal League.
Regretfully, Keith Olbermann is turning into a left winged Rush Limbaugh. His show is becoming increasingly about personal attacks and is increasingly offensive. His new WTF moment as the last segment of the show is, frankly, tasteless. Offensive is offensive, from the left or the right and my TV tuner is not heading to MSNBC at 8pm for a while.
A big headline today was that summer is here and people are being told not to pee in the pool. I
On that note, I have nothing else to add.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Michael Steele's Large Victory
RNC Chairman Michael Steele managed some successful party leadership when he convinced his fellow Republicans that it was a poor idea to try and rename the Democratic Party the Democrat Socialist Party. It was an idea that most people who had an IQ over that of a kangaroo knew was a bad idea, but one never knows these days. Instead they will condemn a Democratic march towards Socialism.
What made this effort so incredibly foolish becomes evident on several levels.
The philosopher/theologian Dallas Willard has a classic and wise statement. "The system we have now is perfectly designed to produce the results we are now getting." His statement, in its totality, is very simple. If you want different results, you must change the system. Most failures are systemic as are most successes. But when a successful system fails, it fails and it must be changed.
The move to change the name of the Democratic Party failed to pass and would have been an embarrassing effort for these reasons.
The first is systemic. The system the party has been using, of late, is a tried and proven failure. It is the relentless use of cheap labels in an attempt to define others. Rush does it all the time. The McCain campaign did it. The RNC does it. Congressional elections did it and the result has been a huge failure. When people are paying high prices at the gas pumps, are worried about their jobs, their houses have fallen in value (or they have lost them), and their 401 K's are now 201 K's, labels mean nothing. Nothing. Steele, I think, actually sees this and he's trying to move a party that has placed its faith in labels, into having faith in ideas.
The second reason is definitional. The word 'Socialist' has little meaning for younger generations. For people who grew up during the Cold War, the word Socialist has clearly defined meaning. A generation of young adults has little regard or little concern for this word. The phrase' Socialized Medicine' is thrown around like it's this monster, but the reality is that people who have no health insurance do not care what anyone calls something that will get them health care is named. The term Socialism is not a word that the average American can really define any longer. It is difficult to get lathered up over a label you cannot define.
The third reason is personal. People do not vote for ideologies, they vote for people. Here is the news flash. Many people did not vote for Barack Obama because of his ideology. They voted for HIM. They liked him and had confidence in HIM. And, the same was true for Ronald Reagan. Most people who voted for Reagan didn't vote for his ideology, they voted for HIM. They had confidence in HIM. There are political junkies who vote for positions and ideology, but a significant number of people vote the person they like better. Voting is personal.
Michael Steele gets mocked a great deal and even vilified. He saved his party from a group of people who had IQ's lower than kangaroos. This was a large victory for Michael Steele.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Random Thoughts
I am beginning to be more and more convinced that the epicenter of international problems is and will be Pakistan. They built nuclear weapons because they perceived a threat from India----and it does not appear that India is a threat as much as it will come from terrorists.
Much of the world crisis that is perceived comes from radical Islam. This is better stated as Fundamentalist Islam. It is even better said as Fundamentalism. Fundamentalism, no matter what its form or what religion it espouses, is dangerous. It is a literal declaration of rules----rules that are right under all circumstances. It is not about faith, it is about certainty. People who claim certainty about the ways of God are, whether they are willing to admit it or not, claiming equality with God. They are intrinsically dangerous to the hearts and minds of people.
The interesting thing about the ‘persecuted’ Miss California is that I don’t even know who won Miss USA. She has a right to say what she thinks and believes and whether I agree or disagree with her is of no consequence. Persecution is being fed to the lions, burned at the stake, or imprisoned. Persecution is not coming in second place.
John Demjanjuk was deported from Cleveland back to Germany. He was a suspected Nazi guard at a death camp and is at least perceived as a war criminal. There is a part of me that feels badly that an 89 year old man, now sick, is being deported for this. But then I recently watched a portion of Schindler’s List again and the crimes of the Nazis can never be forgotten or overlooked...
Jon and Kate Gosselin of “Jon and Kate Plus Eight,” a television program about their lives with eight small children, are both accused of having affairs. Jon was seen out with a young woman with whom he says is merely a friend, and Kate is suspected of having an affair with a bodyguard. I am not much of a reality show watcher but I have found their show to be rather fascinating. Jon and Kate legitimately and honestly struggle with being the parents of eight small children and very much struggle with each other. I hope that the affairs are merely rumors. I really do. I also think that despite the fact that they have been well payed for being on exhibit (by their choice) to the whole world, they might want to consider their future as a television family. At some point, privacy, and a dignified privacy, is priceless.
All the predictions are that the New York Giants won’t make the playoffs this year. Last year it was predicted that they wouldn’t make the playoffs. The previous year all the ‘experts’ said that they would be, at best, 6-10. They went 10-6 and are well remembered for giving the Patriots the number ‘1' after ‘18' instead of ‘0' after ‘19.’
Allow me to smile for a moment and bask in the memories of this.
Okay, I’m back. Maybe they won’t make the playoffs but I’m always amazed that no one ever comes them a chance or the time of day as a good time.
Speaking of football, my daughter and I were wondering of Jessica Simpson forced John Madden into retirement because Madden always spoke so lovingly about Tony Romo. He would speak of Romo so often that we were convinced he was madly in love with Romo. I’m thinking that Jessica put a stop to this and Madden, heart-broken, chose to retire...
There will be a major plague of bugs this summer. Microsoft is planning to release a new version of Windows that I am sure will have more bugs than we can possibly imagine. My laptop (which I am not on at the moment) has Vista and it is not really bad, but does remind me of the ‘good old days’ of Windows when programs did crash on a fairly regular basis.
All the controversy that is coming out concerning the movie, “Angels and Demons” reminds me of the controversies surround “The DaVinci Code.” Both were Dan Brown novels and both were FICTION.
I have been watching Nancy Pelosi. The Bush Administration demonstrated, over the years, an incredible ease with lying even about big things. I might be naive, but I have a difficult time believing that the CIA would have been as completely dishonest to Speaker Pelosi as she is suggesting. She is the Speaker of the House and they would be held accountable to Congress for actions and for money. In short, her story, at least to me, does not make sense. It looks like she tried to make political hay on torture and she’s been caught. The old line that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely is, sadly, ringing true.
Much of the world crisis that is perceived comes from radical Islam. This is better stated as Fundamentalist Islam. It is even better said as Fundamentalism. Fundamentalism, no matter what its form or what religion it espouses, is dangerous. It is a literal declaration of rules----rules that are right under all circumstances. It is not about faith, it is about certainty. People who claim certainty about the ways of God are, whether they are willing to admit it or not, claiming equality with God. They are intrinsically dangerous to the hearts and minds of people.
The interesting thing about the ‘persecuted’ Miss California is that I don’t even know who won Miss USA. She has a right to say what she thinks and believes and whether I agree or disagree with her is of no consequence. Persecution is being fed to the lions, burned at the stake, or imprisoned. Persecution is not coming in second place.
John Demjanjuk was deported from Cleveland back to Germany. He was a suspected Nazi guard at a death camp and is at least perceived as a war criminal. There is a part of me that feels badly that an 89 year old man, now sick, is being deported for this. But then I recently watched a portion of Schindler’s List again and the crimes of the Nazis can never be forgotten or overlooked...
Jon and Kate Gosselin of “Jon and Kate Plus Eight,” a television program about their lives with eight small children, are both accused of having affairs. Jon was seen out with a young woman with whom he says is merely a friend, and Kate is suspected of having an affair with a bodyguard. I am not much of a reality show watcher but I have found their show to be rather fascinating. Jon and Kate legitimately and honestly struggle with being the parents of eight small children and very much struggle with each other. I hope that the affairs are merely rumors. I really do. I also think that despite the fact that they have been well payed for being on exhibit (by their choice) to the whole world, they might want to consider their future as a television family. At some point, privacy, and a dignified privacy, is priceless.
All the predictions are that the New York Giants won’t make the playoffs this year. Last year it was predicted that they wouldn’t make the playoffs. The previous year all the ‘experts’ said that they would be, at best, 6-10. They went 10-6 and are well remembered for giving the Patriots the number ‘1' after ‘18' instead of ‘0' after ‘19.’
Allow me to smile for a moment and bask in the memories of this.
Okay, I’m back. Maybe they won’t make the playoffs but I’m always amazed that no one ever comes them a chance or the time of day as a good time.
Speaking of football, my daughter and I were wondering of Jessica Simpson forced John Madden into retirement because Madden always spoke so lovingly about Tony Romo. He would speak of Romo so often that we were convinced he was madly in love with Romo. I’m thinking that Jessica put a stop to this and Madden, heart-broken, chose to retire...
There will be a major plague of bugs this summer. Microsoft is planning to release a new version of Windows that I am sure will have more bugs than we can possibly imagine. My laptop (which I am not on at the moment) has Vista and it is not really bad, but does remind me of the ‘good old days’ of Windows when programs did crash on a fairly regular basis.
All the controversy that is coming out concerning the movie, “Angels and Demons” reminds me of the controversies surround “The DaVinci Code.” Both were Dan Brown novels and both were FICTION.
I have been watching Nancy Pelosi. The Bush Administration demonstrated, over the years, an incredible ease with lying even about big things. I might be naive, but I have a difficult time believing that the CIA would have been as completely dishonest to Speaker Pelosi as she is suggesting. She is the Speaker of the House and they would be held accountable to Congress for actions and for money. In short, her story, at least to me, does not make sense. It looks like she tried to make political hay on torture and she’s been caught. The old line that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely is, sadly, ringing true.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Beauty and Love
I am not always a big fan of paraphrasing The Bible but every so often I read passages from “The Message” which is a paraphrase, that strike my fancy.
Take how the 23rd Psalm is rendered just before it ends.
Your beauty and love chase after me
every day of my life.
This is most often rendered like this:
Surely goodness and mercy will follow me
all the days of my life,
I certainly love the words ‘goodness’ and ‘mercy’ and they are meaningful. As I look at the words ‘your beauty and your love,’ I am struck in different ways.
We don’t often use the word ‘beautiful’ in reference to God. There is a famous and beloved hymn entitled, “Beautiful Savior,” but we rarely refer to God as beautiful. We talk about beautiful people and the beauty of creation, but rarely do we speak of a beautiful God.
Every year “People” has a survey of the most beautiful people of the year. They are making reference to people who are incredibly attractive, very good looking, etc. One thing we never learn, however, is what the hearts of these people are like. They are very attractive, but do they have beautiful hearts-----hearts that are open to loving others and being loved by others.
Outward beauty is great but it doesn’t always tell us what is happening inside a person.
I often think that real beauty can be seen in a person’s eyes. It is said that the eyes are the pathway to the soul and often you can look into a person’s eyes and be captured by immense beauty that captures one’s soul.
I somehow think God is like this. There are times I look into the eyes of people and come face to face with the heart of God and there is such beauty. It is the beauty of great kindness and tenderness.
And then there is love. God’s love is beyond our ability to even comprehend. One need only read and embrace the story of Christ and one begins to comprehend, even in a small way, God’s love.
And God’s beauty and love CHASE us. Imagine that. This, for me, is something to truly ponder.
Take how the 23rd Psalm is rendered just before it ends.
Your beauty and love chase after me
every day of my life.
This is most often rendered like this:
Surely goodness and mercy will follow me
all the days of my life,
I certainly love the words ‘goodness’ and ‘mercy’ and they are meaningful. As I look at the words ‘your beauty and your love,’ I am struck in different ways.
We don’t often use the word ‘beautiful’ in reference to God. There is a famous and beloved hymn entitled, “Beautiful Savior,” but we rarely refer to God as beautiful. We talk about beautiful people and the beauty of creation, but rarely do we speak of a beautiful God.
Every year “People” has a survey of the most beautiful people of the year. They are making reference to people who are incredibly attractive, very good looking, etc. One thing we never learn, however, is what the hearts of these people are like. They are very attractive, but do they have beautiful hearts-----hearts that are open to loving others and being loved by others.
Outward beauty is great but it doesn’t always tell us what is happening inside a person.
I often think that real beauty can be seen in a person’s eyes. It is said that the eyes are the pathway to the soul and often you can look into a person’s eyes and be captured by immense beauty that captures one’s soul.
I somehow think God is like this. There are times I look into the eyes of people and come face to face with the heart of God and there is such beauty. It is the beauty of great kindness and tenderness.
And then there is love. God’s love is beyond our ability to even comprehend. One need only read and embrace the story of Christ and one begins to comprehend, even in a small way, God’s love.
And God’s beauty and love CHASE us. Imagine that. This, for me, is something to truly ponder.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Wanda Sykes Comments
At the corespondents dinner the other night Wanda Sykes took on Rush Limbaugh in her comedy routine. She said, facing President Obama, “You know, you might want to look into this, [President Obama], because I think maybe Rush Limbaugh was the 20th hijacker, but he was just so strung out on OxyContin he missed his flight. ...”
The President gave a polite smile and did not laugh. Half the room laughed and half the room groaned. It was a low, cheap joke and people knew it. Rush will rant about it today because he’s pretty thin skinned about people making fun of him.
Anyone who knows me, even in the least, knows that I do not like Rush Limbaugh. I find him petty, mean, and dishonest. Much of what he shares as ‘fact’ is very much opinion and he has found that if you repeat a lie over and over again, people believe it. His level of cruelty towards others is often limitless and the kind of joke Wanda Sykes leveled at him is one he is very capable of leveling at someone else.
This, to me, is the very reason her joke was offensive.
His hope that Barack Obama fails is well documented. For a person to publically pronounce that they hope that the President of the United States fails when the nation is in such a difficult climate is repulsive. He said that many people hoped that George W. Bush would fail in Iraq. My sense was that many people believed that he would fail (which is different from hoping) but I never really heard someone say that they hoped he would fail. I can’t imagine people wanting to see our soldiers killed to see a President fail. Limbaugh’s comments, stand by themselves, and they were repulsive.
The biggest problem with Rush Limbaugh is not anything specific he has said. The list of offensive things he has said towards people who differ from him is rather extensive. These specifics are specifically offensive to lots of people, but in their accumulation they speak to something greater. He has helped lower the level of discourse in this nation.
Instead of people having civil discourse in discussing differences of opinion, they now have found it right to just verbally abuse each other. Rush Limbaugh has the highest rated radio show and he does it. If he does it and has made millions doing it, than everyone should do it.
Frankly, I’ve done it towards Rush Limbaugh. I figure if he can dish it out, people can dish it right back. Sarcasm is, to me, often funny and when there is a target like Limbaugh, my sarcasm tend to run wild. I'm finding something wrong in how I have approached this, however. I have become that which I do not admire.
When I first read what Wanda Sykes said, I laughed. The more I have thought about it, however, the more troubled I am by it. We have allowed ourselves to be pulled into the mud pit as a society. Difference is a dish best served with cruelty and derision. Or so it would seem. Rush has taught us this and has made a great deal of money doing so. Others are now following his lead.
But the more I reflect on this, the more I am coming to the conclusion that we, as a society, need to extract ourselves from the mud pit and learn civility.
Wanda Sykes is a funny person but I think she went to far. It’s not that Rush, personally, didn’t deserve it, but as a society we need to deserve better, we need to expect better. We cannot allow ourselves to continue to wallow in the mud of cruelty and derision. We need to learn that difference is a dish best served with dignity and respect.
The President gave a polite smile and did not laugh. Half the room laughed and half the room groaned. It was a low, cheap joke and people knew it. Rush will rant about it today because he’s pretty thin skinned about people making fun of him.
Anyone who knows me, even in the least, knows that I do not like Rush Limbaugh. I find him petty, mean, and dishonest. Much of what he shares as ‘fact’ is very much opinion and he has found that if you repeat a lie over and over again, people believe it. His level of cruelty towards others is often limitless and the kind of joke Wanda Sykes leveled at him is one he is very capable of leveling at someone else.
This, to me, is the very reason her joke was offensive.
His hope that Barack Obama fails is well documented. For a person to publically pronounce that they hope that the President of the United States fails when the nation is in such a difficult climate is repulsive. He said that many people hoped that George W. Bush would fail in Iraq. My sense was that many people believed that he would fail (which is different from hoping) but I never really heard someone say that they hoped he would fail. I can’t imagine people wanting to see our soldiers killed to see a President fail. Limbaugh’s comments, stand by themselves, and they were repulsive.
The biggest problem with Rush Limbaugh is not anything specific he has said. The list of offensive things he has said towards people who differ from him is rather extensive. These specifics are specifically offensive to lots of people, but in their accumulation they speak to something greater. He has helped lower the level of discourse in this nation.
Instead of people having civil discourse in discussing differences of opinion, they now have found it right to just verbally abuse each other. Rush Limbaugh has the highest rated radio show and he does it. If he does it and has made millions doing it, than everyone should do it.
Frankly, I’ve done it towards Rush Limbaugh. I figure if he can dish it out, people can dish it right back. Sarcasm is, to me, often funny and when there is a target like Limbaugh, my sarcasm tend to run wild. I'm finding something wrong in how I have approached this, however. I have become that which I do not admire.
When I first read what Wanda Sykes said, I laughed. The more I have thought about it, however, the more troubled I am by it. We have allowed ourselves to be pulled into the mud pit as a society. Difference is a dish best served with cruelty and derision. Or so it would seem. Rush has taught us this and has made a great deal of money doing so. Others are now following his lead.
But the more I reflect on this, the more I am coming to the conclusion that we, as a society, need to extract ourselves from the mud pit and learn civility.
Wanda Sykes is a funny person but I think she went to far. It’s not that Rush, personally, didn’t deserve it, but as a society we need to deserve better, we need to expect better. We cannot allow ourselves to continue to wallow in the mud of cruelty and derision. We need to learn that difference is a dish best served with dignity and respect.
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Random Thoughts
The hopes of Chrysler seem to all rest on Fiat. I’ve known people who have owned Fiats over the years. I have owned cars made by the Chrysler corporation and have sworn, never again because of their incredible lack of reliability. People who have owned Fiats generally swore at their Fiats because they did EARN the nickname, “Fix It All the Time.” Sounds like a match made in Heaven...
I’m still trying to figure out the tea bag day. They were protesting taxation and my taxes went down. So, this was a protest that their taxes went down? I’m still mystified by the whole thing. One Englishman said that he was highly insulted as King George was a much better oppressor than Barack Obama. The original tea party was about taxation without representation; this one was about lower taxes and our people lost the election. I'm still trying to figure this one out.
There is rampant speculation as to the love life and virginity of Miley Cyrus. I mean, this is a news story? This ranks even lower than tea bag rallies.
The two New York baseball teams play a massive amount of money to a bunch of players who are great at losing. The high priced players don’t always produce great teams. Speaking of New York teams, the New York Jets who last one a big game was in 1969 have gotten most of the New York news media these days. We Giants fans like it this way.
Prediction: Brett Favre will sign with the Vikings.
Prediction #2: The Vikings will sell a lot of tickets and regret this. He is 40 years old with a sore arm...
Elizabeth Edwards is breaking her silence and pretty much telling us what we already knew. She is married to a skunk. I used to like John Edwards a great deal. I have long since gotten over it. For her part, she's dealing with a terminal illness and children and she comes to realize that she's married to a guy who not only cheated by has the significant chance to be the father of another child.
I do appreciate that Arlen Specter was at least honest that he became a Democrat for selfish reasons. Actually, he started out as a Democrat and became a Republican for selfish reasons. The ideological purists in the Republican Party were happy to see him go and have invited others to leave as well. This kind of strategic thinking served Custer well too.
I somehow wish that judges were not Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative. The concept of the blind justice holding the scales and political ideology, at least to me, to be mutually exclusive. I understand that I am being naive about this but this bothers me a great deal.
Stephen Baldwin has been repeatedly saying, "I believe that my not being able to express my traditional Christian values and views regarding marriage is a hate crime against me.” He decries this as religious persecution. He’s been on virtually every television channel decreeing the fact that he’s being silenced and persecuted for his beliefs and expressing his views on traditional Christian marriage, which, of course, is a husband owns his wife and has complete control over every thought and action she does. In Biblical times, the time he wants us to go back to, marriage was a legal contract of a man owning a woman. She had no rights. He could abuse her, beat her up, and even kill her with no legal ramifications. Of course, he’s been on television repeatedly telling us about his traditional Christian values and such, so I’m wondering where the hate crime stuff is. I wonder what his view of tea bag day was.
It’s funny that after Barack Obama’s first 100 days people who like him thought he was the greatest thing since slice bread and the people who don’t like him thought he was the worst thing since someone determined that brussels sprouts were edible. The fact of life, however, is that 100 days into a Presidency gives us very little to base judgments, good or bad.
Ann Coulter was speaking the other day about Bristol Palin and her baby, etc. Bristol Palin's baby is not Ann Coulter's business nor anyone else's.
I'm thinking that betting on the penal league team that has Vick throwing to Burress may be a good bet.
I'm realizing that I am aging. When I was a child I saw a football game between the New York Jets and the Buffalo Bills led by their start quarterback, Jack Kemp. Kemp, of course, went into politics and eventually ran as Bob Dole's running mate. Jack Kemp was one of those guys who was in the mold of Hubert Humphrey, a happy warrior. Kemp was a person who you might have disagreed with politically, I certainly did, but he was also a person who cared for those less fortunate than he was. He truly did seek to help others. Whether one agreed or disagreed with, Kemp was truly a fine person.
I’m still trying to figure out the tea bag day. They were protesting taxation and my taxes went down. So, this was a protest that their taxes went down? I’m still mystified by the whole thing. One Englishman said that he was highly insulted as King George was a much better oppressor than Barack Obama. The original tea party was about taxation without representation; this one was about lower taxes and our people lost the election. I'm still trying to figure this one out.
There is rampant speculation as to the love life and virginity of Miley Cyrus. I mean, this is a news story? This ranks even lower than tea bag rallies.
The two New York baseball teams play a massive amount of money to a bunch of players who are great at losing. The high priced players don’t always produce great teams. Speaking of New York teams, the New York Jets who last one a big game was in 1969 have gotten most of the New York news media these days. We Giants fans like it this way.
Prediction: Brett Favre will sign with the Vikings.
Prediction #2: The Vikings will sell a lot of tickets and regret this. He is 40 years old with a sore arm...
Elizabeth Edwards is breaking her silence and pretty much telling us what we already knew. She is married to a skunk. I used to like John Edwards a great deal. I have long since gotten over it. For her part, she's dealing with a terminal illness and children and she comes to realize that she's married to a guy who not only cheated by has the significant chance to be the father of another child.
I do appreciate that Arlen Specter was at least honest that he became a Democrat for selfish reasons. Actually, he started out as a Democrat and became a Republican for selfish reasons. The ideological purists in the Republican Party were happy to see him go and have invited others to leave as well. This kind of strategic thinking served Custer well too.
I somehow wish that judges were not Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative. The concept of the blind justice holding the scales and political ideology, at least to me, to be mutually exclusive. I understand that I am being naive about this but this bothers me a great deal.
Stephen Baldwin has been repeatedly saying, "I believe that my not being able to express my traditional Christian values and views regarding marriage is a hate crime against me.” He decries this as religious persecution. He’s been on virtually every television channel decreeing the fact that he’s being silenced and persecuted for his beliefs and expressing his views on traditional Christian marriage, which, of course, is a husband owns his wife and has complete control over every thought and action she does. In Biblical times, the time he wants us to go back to, marriage was a legal contract of a man owning a woman. She had no rights. He could abuse her, beat her up, and even kill her with no legal ramifications. Of course, he’s been on television repeatedly telling us about his traditional Christian values and such, so I’m wondering where the hate crime stuff is. I wonder what his view of tea bag day was.
It’s funny that after Barack Obama’s first 100 days people who like him thought he was the greatest thing since slice bread and the people who don’t like him thought he was the worst thing since someone determined that brussels sprouts were edible. The fact of life, however, is that 100 days into a Presidency gives us very little to base judgments, good or bad.
Ann Coulter was speaking the other day about Bristol Palin and her baby, etc. Bristol Palin's baby is not Ann Coulter's business nor anyone else's.
I'm thinking that betting on the penal league team that has Vick throwing to Burress may be a good bet.
I'm realizing that I am aging. When I was a child I saw a football game between the New York Jets and the Buffalo Bills led by their start quarterback, Jack Kemp. Kemp, of course, went into politics and eventually ran as Bob Dole's running mate. Jack Kemp was one of those guys who was in the mold of Hubert Humphrey, a happy warrior. Kemp was a person who you might have disagreed with politically, I certainly did, but he was also a person who cared for those less fortunate than he was. He truly did seek to help others. Whether one agreed or disagreed with, Kemp was truly a fine person.
Monday, May 04, 2009
Trying Kindness
In the 1970's when I was in the seminary in New Jersey a New York news anchor spoke at our seminary. News anchors from New York City reported it all. Actually, to be honest, New York City in the 1970's was not a very nice place to be. The city has been cleaned up a great deal since that time; the ‘70's were a real low point.
In a question and answer session after his talk (that I do not remember) people asked a variety of questions. One student asked a fairly mundane question: “What do you see as the biggest problem people face now?” Most of us figured this was mundane and boring, and the speaker would give some standard answer. His answer, however, was unforgettable. He said simply, “People don’t love each other enough.”
I have often remembered those words. “People don’t love each other enough.”
We live in a culture plagued by a lack of kindness.
I have come to loathe election years. Watching television commercials from so many candidates is often painful. Many of the ads are cruel and often not even remotely accurate.
I simply do not turn on the radio. Talk radio has become a breeding place for hatred.
Most of the evening cable news shows are pretty much the same. Sadly, I often watch these shows and delight in seeing people I do not like very much skewered. It really is not right and I find myself wondering if watching these shows is actually wrong. When I find myself delighting in unkindness directed at people with whom I do not agree or who I feel are unkind, I lower myself into the muck.
Most people who know me would say that I am a pretty nice person. People who know me well know, however, that I have a ragingly sarcastic sense of humor. I sometimes direct my sarcasm at myself, but I also aim sarcasm at others. It is not me at my best. I may be funny when I do this, but unkindness probably ought not be laughed at.
Every so often, however, I run into people who are incredibly kind and good and I greatly appreciate their goodness. I think I’m going to work on having that kindness rub off on me.
At least a little.
In a question and answer session after his talk (that I do not remember) people asked a variety of questions. One student asked a fairly mundane question: “What do you see as the biggest problem people face now?” Most of us figured this was mundane and boring, and the speaker would give some standard answer. His answer, however, was unforgettable. He said simply, “People don’t love each other enough.”
I have often remembered those words. “People don’t love each other enough.”
We live in a culture plagued by a lack of kindness.
I have come to loathe election years. Watching television commercials from so many candidates is often painful. Many of the ads are cruel and often not even remotely accurate.
I simply do not turn on the radio. Talk radio has become a breeding place for hatred.
Most of the evening cable news shows are pretty much the same. Sadly, I often watch these shows and delight in seeing people I do not like very much skewered. It really is not right and I find myself wondering if watching these shows is actually wrong. When I find myself delighting in unkindness directed at people with whom I do not agree or who I feel are unkind, I lower myself into the muck.
Most people who know me would say that I am a pretty nice person. People who know me well know, however, that I have a ragingly sarcastic sense of humor. I sometimes direct my sarcasm at myself, but I also aim sarcasm at others. It is not me at my best. I may be funny when I do this, but unkindness probably ought not be laughed at.
Every so often, however, I run into people who are incredibly kind and good and I greatly appreciate their goodness. I think I’m going to work on having that kindness rub off on me.
At least a little.
Friday, May 01, 2009
Learning to Apologize
I was struck yesterday by Virginia Foxx's lack of apology, apology. Her words were to the effect of, "I apologize IF."
There are two words that never belong in apology.
The first word is 'if.'
When we hurt another person, we hurt the person. A proper apology is this: "I apologize that I hurt you." When you say like this, "I apologize IF I hurt you," now the emphasis is on the response of the person who was hurt. It is their responsibility now to take ownership of the issue. If a person is hurt, they are hurt. Just say "I am sorry," and be done with it. I think it's often helpful to add that 'it wasn't my intention to hurt you' because most often when we hurt others, we really don't intend to do so. Often we say or do things in the heat of the moment or in the heat of a response that gets carried away. What made Virginia Foxx's comments so incredibly awful was that they were prepared remarks and untrue. It makes you wonder if her parents taught her manners. Her words sounded like she was raised by Tarzan and seven of his apes.
The other lethal word in an apology is the word 'but.' And it is usually a very big but in the middle of a sentence. (Pun intended!)
When we say, "I am sorry, but....," this is no longer an apology but a justification pretending to be an apology. "I am sorry for wrecking your car when I was driving drunk, BUT you did ask me to drive your car home from downtown."
"I am sorry for punching you in the mouth, BUT it was your mouth in the way of my flying fist."
"I am sorry I humiliated you BUT I am a Christian and it's all God's fault." (This one shows up in a lot of various forms----misbehaving and blaming our cruel remarks on God.) "God told my heart to tell you that you are a terrible human being. Don't blame me. God told me to tell you that!!!" Grr.
Virginia Foxx is not the first person in need of apologizing properly and will not be the last. As a society, however, we need lessons in learning to apologize and in learning to say, "I am sorry," and ending the sentence before we mess it up.
There are two words that never belong in apology.
The first word is 'if.'
When we hurt another person, we hurt the person. A proper apology is this: "I apologize that I hurt you." When you say like this, "I apologize IF I hurt you," now the emphasis is on the response of the person who was hurt. It is their responsibility now to take ownership of the issue. If a person is hurt, they are hurt. Just say "I am sorry," and be done with it. I think it's often helpful to add that 'it wasn't my intention to hurt you' because most often when we hurt others, we really don't intend to do so. Often we say or do things in the heat of the moment or in the heat of a response that gets carried away. What made Virginia Foxx's comments so incredibly awful was that they were prepared remarks and untrue. It makes you wonder if her parents taught her manners. Her words sounded like she was raised by Tarzan and seven of his apes.
The other lethal word in an apology is the word 'but.' And it is usually a very big but in the middle of a sentence. (Pun intended!)
When we say, "I am sorry, but....," this is no longer an apology but a justification pretending to be an apology. "I am sorry for wrecking your car when I was driving drunk, BUT you did ask me to drive your car home from downtown."
"I am sorry for punching you in the mouth, BUT it was your mouth in the way of my flying fist."
"I am sorry I humiliated you BUT I am a Christian and it's all God's fault." (This one shows up in a lot of various forms----misbehaving and blaming our cruel remarks on God.) "God told my heart to tell you that you are a terrible human being. Don't blame me. God told me to tell you that!!!" Grr.
Virginia Foxx is not the first person in need of apologizing properly and will not be the last. As a society, however, we need lessons in learning to apologize and in learning to say, "I am sorry," and ending the sentence before we mess it up.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Amazing...
This video clip is amazing. Whatever one's thoughts on the subject, Virginia Foxx has her facts WAY wrong. Ignorance and cruelty are a dreadful mixture, as she demonstrates:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLxbQmlOT1I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLxbQmlOT1I
Churchgoers more likely to back torture, survey finds...
WASHINGTON (CNN) — The more often Americans go to church, the more likely they are to support the torture of suspected terrorists, according to a new analysis.
More than half of people who attend services at least once a week — 54 percent — said the use of torture against suspected terrorists is “often” or “sometimes” justified. Only 42 percent of people who “seldom or never” go to services agreed, according the analysis released Wednesday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.
White evangelical Protestants were the religious group most likely to say torture is often or sometimes justified — more than 6 in 10 supported it. People unaffiliated with any religious organization were least likely to back it. Only 4 in 10 of them did.
The analysis is based on a Pew Research Center survey of 742 American adults conducted April 14-21. It did not include analysis of groups other than white evangelicals, white non-Hispanic Catholics, white mainline Protestants, and the religiously unaffiliated, because the sample size was too small.
I hope and pray this is untrue. I cannot fathom how a person who believes in Jesus Christ can justify torture. There is an argument that the ‘end justifies the means.
First, it is very much unproven as to whether, in this instance, the end justified the means. Torture has historically been unreliable.
An interesting side note to President Obama’s speech the other night and his reference to Winston Churchill was this. The British, during World War II, were the absolute masters of intelligence and deception. They had broken “Ultra” the German code and were intercepting and translating German correspondence through much of the war. In a series of clever moves, the British were able to keep updating as the Germans changed codes-----codes the Germans believed to be unbreakable. The British did not torture.
Neither did the United States. Our intelligence services broke the Japanese codes early in the war. This information greatly assisted in the victory at Midway and led to the shooting down of Admiral Yamamoto’s plane----we knew where he was going and the route he was using. We didn’t torture.
The Japanese did and learned nothing.
The Germans did extensively and were constantly being deceived. Torture does not have a good track record as to reliability.
It is difficult to make any sort of argument about the end justifying the means when the means is notoriously unreliable.
There is something greater at stake, however. There are times when the end does not justify the means. Torture, at least from a faith perspective, is one of those things. This, to me, is not a political issue, but very much a core ethical issue.
Torture is about dehumanizing another person. It is stripping the humanity from another human being, layer by layer. It dehumanizes both the tortured AND the torturer. In the war crimes trials after World War II most of the torturers were found to be completely dehumanized themselves. They had lost all sensitivity towards other human beings. Their indifference to suffering was incredible. One cannot even say they were sadistic. They had lost all feeling, both good and bad.
I find it tragic that, as a nation, we even ventured down this path. The United States has been and is the greatest country in the world. I greatly believe that. It is, however, easy to lose greatness; greatness is contingent on first being a good people. When we lose that sense of being a good people, we will cease being a great nation.
I fear our use of torture, and our repeated use of torture on some of these people was not about getting information. The repeated water boarding of the same people, over and over again, day after day, cannot have been about getting information. Increasingly it sounds like it had become torture for the sake of torture. Perhaps it was torture that sought retribution or revenge. It is obvious, however, that it had long passed the point of seeking information.
I am mortified that people of faith felt, in any way, that any of this was morally justified. If any document in the history of humanity speaks of loving neighbor and caring for one another, it is the Bible. If any document in the history of humanity speaks against dehumanizing other human beings, it is the Bible. How people can read the Bible, pray, attend Worship, and listen to sermons about God’s love, and come to the conclusion that torture is ‘sometimes’ or ‘often’ justified, eludes me.
Recently polling data has been demonstrating that faith is having less and less an impact in people’s lives and in determining ethics. If people of faith are at the forefront of justifying torture this is, sadly, understandable. It demonstrates, at least to me, that people’s political beliefs are impacting their faith more than their faith is impacting their political beliefs. I do have hope, however, that we will see our way out of this and be the good people we always hope to be.
More than half of people who attend services at least once a week — 54 percent — said the use of torture against suspected terrorists is “often” or “sometimes” justified. Only 42 percent of people who “seldom or never” go to services agreed, according the analysis released Wednesday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.
White evangelical Protestants were the religious group most likely to say torture is often or sometimes justified — more than 6 in 10 supported it. People unaffiliated with any religious organization were least likely to back it. Only 4 in 10 of them did.
The analysis is based on a Pew Research Center survey of 742 American adults conducted April 14-21. It did not include analysis of groups other than white evangelicals, white non-Hispanic Catholics, white mainline Protestants, and the religiously unaffiliated, because the sample size was too small.
I hope and pray this is untrue. I cannot fathom how a person who believes in Jesus Christ can justify torture. There is an argument that the ‘end justifies the means.
First, it is very much unproven as to whether, in this instance, the end justified the means. Torture has historically been unreliable.
An interesting side note to President Obama’s speech the other night and his reference to Winston Churchill was this. The British, during World War II, were the absolute masters of intelligence and deception. They had broken “Ultra” the German code and were intercepting and translating German correspondence through much of the war. In a series of clever moves, the British were able to keep updating as the Germans changed codes-----codes the Germans believed to be unbreakable. The British did not torture.
Neither did the United States. Our intelligence services broke the Japanese codes early in the war. This information greatly assisted in the victory at Midway and led to the shooting down of Admiral Yamamoto’s plane----we knew where he was going and the route he was using. We didn’t torture.
The Japanese did and learned nothing.
The Germans did extensively and were constantly being deceived. Torture does not have a good track record as to reliability.
It is difficult to make any sort of argument about the end justifying the means when the means is notoriously unreliable.
There is something greater at stake, however. There are times when the end does not justify the means. Torture, at least from a faith perspective, is one of those things. This, to me, is not a political issue, but very much a core ethical issue.
Torture is about dehumanizing another person. It is stripping the humanity from another human being, layer by layer. It dehumanizes both the tortured AND the torturer. In the war crimes trials after World War II most of the torturers were found to be completely dehumanized themselves. They had lost all sensitivity towards other human beings. Their indifference to suffering was incredible. One cannot even say they were sadistic. They had lost all feeling, both good and bad.
I find it tragic that, as a nation, we even ventured down this path. The United States has been and is the greatest country in the world. I greatly believe that. It is, however, easy to lose greatness; greatness is contingent on first being a good people. When we lose that sense of being a good people, we will cease being a great nation.
I fear our use of torture, and our repeated use of torture on some of these people was not about getting information. The repeated water boarding of the same people, over and over again, day after day, cannot have been about getting information. Increasingly it sounds like it had become torture for the sake of torture. Perhaps it was torture that sought retribution or revenge. It is obvious, however, that it had long passed the point of seeking information.
I am mortified that people of faith felt, in any way, that any of this was morally justified. If any document in the history of humanity speaks of loving neighbor and caring for one another, it is the Bible. If any document in the history of humanity speaks against dehumanizing other human beings, it is the Bible. How people can read the Bible, pray, attend Worship, and listen to sermons about God’s love, and come to the conclusion that torture is ‘sometimes’ or ‘often’ justified, eludes me.
Recently polling data has been demonstrating that faith is having less and less an impact in people’s lives and in determining ethics. If people of faith are at the forefront of justifying torture this is, sadly, understandable. It demonstrates, at least to me, that people’s political beliefs are impacting their faith more than their faith is impacting their political beliefs. I do have hope, however, that we will see our way out of this and be the good people we always hope to be.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
God in People
Facebook seems to have started for college students but it has evolved into something much more than that. We now had students beginning in high school all the way through adults on Facebook. I never thought I’d like it----it was for kids.
It is great to be wrong on occasion.
I have reconnected with some people from high school.
I have reconnected with people I went to college with. Like my college friends, we have all gotten a bit older. I graduated from college 32 years ago and so I guess this has to be taken into account.
What has been great is that I have reconnected with people I taught in high school in the early 1980's. I was a young adult and they were kids and we are all middle aged now. (No offense to them!!!!) I am struck my how accomplished they are and what incredibly fine human beings they are. They were great kids and even greater adults.
I have reconnected with people, mostly who were kids in my other churches and who are mostly grown and adults. My previous church to here and a church I served in Pennsylvania. Amazing people.
I also have lot of friends, church members, youth, college students, and colleagues on my Facebook ‘Friends’ Page.’
And, of course, my wife and daughters.
I realize, in a very profound way, that I have been a person truly blessed with wonderful people in my life.
One thing has become apparent to me. I studied theology for a lot of years and have read a lot of books about God. I am, what most would consider, theologically literate and, on occasion, astute. But I also know that I have learned more about the presence and goodness of God in life less from books and more in the people I have known. It makes me realize just how fortunate a person I am to have been so blessed.
It is great to be wrong on occasion.
I have reconnected with some people from high school.
I have reconnected with people I went to college with. Like my college friends, we have all gotten a bit older. I graduated from college 32 years ago and so I guess this has to be taken into account.
What has been great is that I have reconnected with people I taught in high school in the early 1980's. I was a young adult and they were kids and we are all middle aged now. (No offense to them!!!!) I am struck my how accomplished they are and what incredibly fine human beings they are. They were great kids and even greater adults.
I have reconnected with people, mostly who were kids in my other churches and who are mostly grown and adults. My previous church to here and a church I served in Pennsylvania. Amazing people.
I also have lot of friends, church members, youth, college students, and colleagues on my Facebook ‘Friends’ Page.’
And, of course, my wife and daughters.
I realize, in a very profound way, that I have been a person truly blessed with wonderful people in my life.
One thing has become apparent to me. I studied theology for a lot of years and have read a lot of books about God. I am, what most would consider, theologically literate and, on occasion, astute. But I also know that I have learned more about the presence and goodness of God in life less from books and more in the people I have known. It makes me realize just how fortunate a person I am to have been so blessed.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Can You Blame the Guy?
Arlen Specter as at least honest with why he was bailing out of the Republican Party. He had no chance of winning the Republican Primary in Pennsylvania. By joining the Democrats he'll most probably easily win the general election. Specter has always been a centrist and his party is one that seems to be demanding ideological purity with an allegiance to the Christian Right that this centrist Jewish Senator could no long abide with.
Of course, this ideological purity can be found in such people as Rep. Michelle Bachmann of Minnesota. She had a brilliant insight into the swine flu epidemic:
"I find it interesting that it was back in the 1970s that the swine flu broke out then under another Democrat president Jimmy Carter. And I'm not blaming this on President Obama, I just think it's an interesting coincidence."
Of course this took place in 1976 when Gerald Ford was the President. Carter was elected in November of 1976 and became President in 1977.
Oops.
The good part about Michelle Bachmann is that she maintains the ideological purity that the party now seeks.
Arlen Specter sees the Michelle Bachmann's as the leading lights of his party and decides that it might be a good time for a change of scenery. Why can blame the guy?
Of course, this ideological purity can be found in such people as Rep. Michelle Bachmann of Minnesota. She had a brilliant insight into the swine flu epidemic:
"I find it interesting that it was back in the 1970s that the swine flu broke out then under another Democrat president Jimmy Carter. And I'm not blaming this on President Obama, I just think it's an interesting coincidence."
Of course this took place in 1976 when Gerald Ford was the President. Carter was elected in November of 1976 and became President in 1977.
Oops.
The good part about Michelle Bachmann is that she maintains the ideological purity that the party now seeks.
Arlen Specter sees the Michelle Bachmann's as the leading lights of his party and decides that it might be a good time for a change of scenery. Why can blame the guy?
Monday, April 27, 2009
Editing Can Change Things
Editing can change things.
Ponder a movie review.
"This movie is an extraordinarily incredible film if you're idea of a good time is to be trapped in a hot, crowded room with a pile of rotten cabbage. I stinks that bad."
The next day the movie advertises that the critic said :
"This movie is an extraordinarily incredible film." Did the critic say those words? Yes. Did the advertisement take the critic's words out of context? Yes. Big time.
Shame on Fox News. Or Faux News. In a recent report Faux reporter Wendell Goler showed a video of President Obama stating support for a European health care system. The clip comes from a town hall meeting. This video clip from Faux News shows this.
http://www.dailykostv.com/w/001231/
Unfortunately, it was edited. Obama is actually reading a question when he says the words of support for a European system. He is not saying he supports this particular system, but the clip makes him appear to be doing so. They edited his remarks in order to attack his position----a position he actually doesn't even have.
If we are going to have serious debates in this country on health care, we need to demand our news media at least be honest and allow us to see what our leaders actually ARE saying. Grr.
Ponder a movie review.
"This movie is an extraordinarily incredible film if you're idea of a good time is to be trapped in a hot, crowded room with a pile of rotten cabbage. I stinks that bad."
The next day the movie advertises that the critic said :
"This movie is an extraordinarily incredible film." Did the critic say those words? Yes. Did the advertisement take the critic's words out of context? Yes. Big time.
Shame on Fox News. Or Faux News. In a recent report Faux reporter Wendell Goler showed a video of President Obama stating support for a European health care system. The clip comes from a town hall meeting. This video clip from Faux News shows this.
http://www.dailykostv.com/w/001231/
Unfortunately, it was edited. Obama is actually reading a question when he says the words of support for a European system. He is not saying he supports this particular system, but the clip makes him appear to be doing so. They edited his remarks in order to attack his position----a position he actually doesn't even have.
If we are going to have serious debates in this country on health care, we need to demand our news media at least be honest and allow us to see what our leaders actually ARE saying. Grr.
Monday, April 20, 2009
She Made Something of Herself
Susan Boyle was an unemployed 47 year old woman from a small town on Scotland. She had cared for her parents until their deaths and lived a very quiet life. She is the youngest of nine children whose life in the world was difficult as she progressed through school. She was somewhat eccentric, didn’t do much for glamour, and seemed to be having an ongoing bad hair day. Her mother wanted Susan to do something with her life. After her mom died, Susan mourned for two years and then entered into a contest. She won a spot on an English talent show.
She shuffled out onto the stage in front of an amused audience. One of the judges for the event was the infamous Simon Cowell who is either mean to bluntly honest. Your choice.
People were amused. Susan Boyle was not the attractive young thing one would often expect to see. Her hair....well, she was having a bad hair day. She was clean, and wore clean clothing, and dressed the way she always dressed, very plainly. She was honest. She had never been on a date and had never been kissed.
This very shy woman lived a quiet life, attended Worship on a regular basis, and sang in her church choir. I suspect that while the audience was giggling at Susan Boyle’s appearance, the people in her choir had a smile. They knew something no one else did. They knew about Susan Boyle’s ability to sing.
When Susan Boyle began to sing, so did the world. People sat back in shock----and awe. She sang the song, “I Dreamed a Dreamed,” and brought the world to tears.
Her video on You Tube is the most watched video these days. Everyone is talking about this woman and are in awe of her talent.
Simon Cowell, for his part, loved her. His facial expression during the song was gentle, kind, and incredibly happy.
Her promise to her mother was very much fulfilled. She had made something of herself.
She shuffled out onto the stage in front of an amused audience. One of the judges for the event was the infamous Simon Cowell who is either mean to bluntly honest. Your choice.
People were amused. Susan Boyle was not the attractive young thing one would often expect to see. Her hair....well, she was having a bad hair day. She was clean, and wore clean clothing, and dressed the way she always dressed, very plainly. She was honest. She had never been on a date and had never been kissed.
This very shy woman lived a quiet life, attended Worship on a regular basis, and sang in her church choir. I suspect that while the audience was giggling at Susan Boyle’s appearance, the people in her choir had a smile. They knew something no one else did. They knew about Susan Boyle’s ability to sing.
When Susan Boyle began to sing, so did the world. People sat back in shock----and awe. She sang the song, “I Dreamed a Dreamed,” and brought the world to tears.
Her video on You Tube is the most watched video these days. Everyone is talking about this woman and are in awe of her talent.
Simon Cowell, for his part, loved her. His facial expression during the song was gentle, kind, and incredibly happy.
Her promise to her mother was very much fulfilled. She had made something of herself.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Next Time We Whine About Our Lives....
The next time we are inclined to whine about our lives, we ought to watch this video again.
http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/1081/Chicken-a-la-Carte
http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/1081/Chicken-a-la-Carte
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Musings
As I write this the news reports are coming in that the French have nailed a pirate ‘mother ship’ and have detained eleven pirates. Good. I’m hoping more navies of the world continue to get involved.
Maybe this is a foolish idea, but have nations thought about using the World War II strategy if doing some traveling by convoys with naval ships of various nations providing an escort service to them? It would take coordination and cooperation, but it might destroy the pirate trade.
I am officially tired of ‘the dog.’ That’s is all I’m going to say and the way this story is going, I’ve already said too much.
Somewhere along the line Newt Gingrich, Dick Armey, and Fox News seem to have dreamed up this tea time day to protest taxes. I guess that this is to protest that I now have more take home pay than I did a month ago...
Rush Limbaugh is criticizing conservative commentators who said that Obama did the right thing in authorizing the rescue of the captain. It’s not that Limbaugh is opposed to this tact, it’s just that....Oh, wait, this is Rush Limbaugh and I’m trying to find a coherent thought. Ugh.
I wonder if Rush knows about the dog yet...
It is looking like Al Franken has won the election for Minnesota’s Senate seat. Coleman seems to be running out of options other than to delay Franken’s seating.
Mel Gibson and his wife will probably end up splitting close to $1,000,000,000.00. We can only hope that they can survive on this pittance. Maybe one of them can purchase GM.
Chrysler is pinning its hopes on Fiat. Fiat engineers are seeking to do something that I thought was impossible. They are seeking to make Chrysler products even less reliable than they are now. I thought this was impossible but Fiat just might be able to do it.
Sarah Palin is going to speak at some Right to Life Gathering in Evansville, Indiana. Her own party is angry with her because she will be in Indiana during a critical legislative session in Alaska where they have had a major economic downturn that is leading to problems. It’s difficult to imagine that a right to life gathering thinks having a person who is so incredibly pro-death penalty gives them any credibility on life issues. Than again, most of these groups are merely anti-abortion but not really pro-life. They just like to pretend that they are.
I think that “Morning Joe,” on early on MSNBC is one of the best news commentary shows on television. They have very fair and balanced discussions on issues and they do so very respectfully and carefully listen. Joe Scarborough, a former Republican Congressman from Florida is the host of the show and he keeps a very even disposition through things. Just for the record, he’s tired of the dog stories as well.
I finally, the Giants cut Plaxico Burress. To his complete chagrin and surprise, no one else has signed him as of yet. Considering that he’s probably going to spend some time in jail, a fact that seems to be eluding him, might be part of this.
Speaking of football players in jail, I can’t help but wondering what Michael Vick thinks about ‘the dog.’
Maybe this is a foolish idea, but have nations thought about using the World War II strategy if doing some traveling by convoys with naval ships of various nations providing an escort service to them? It would take coordination and cooperation, but it might destroy the pirate trade.
I am officially tired of ‘the dog.’ That’s is all I’m going to say and the way this story is going, I’ve already said too much.
Somewhere along the line Newt Gingrich, Dick Armey, and Fox News seem to have dreamed up this tea time day to protest taxes. I guess that this is to protest that I now have more take home pay than I did a month ago...
Rush Limbaugh is criticizing conservative commentators who said that Obama did the right thing in authorizing the rescue of the captain. It’s not that Limbaugh is opposed to this tact, it’s just that....Oh, wait, this is Rush Limbaugh and I’m trying to find a coherent thought. Ugh.
I wonder if Rush knows about the dog yet...
It is looking like Al Franken has won the election for Minnesota’s Senate seat. Coleman seems to be running out of options other than to delay Franken’s seating.
Mel Gibson and his wife will probably end up splitting close to $1,000,000,000.00. We can only hope that they can survive on this pittance. Maybe one of them can purchase GM.
Chrysler is pinning its hopes on Fiat. Fiat engineers are seeking to do something that I thought was impossible. They are seeking to make Chrysler products even less reliable than they are now. I thought this was impossible but Fiat just might be able to do it.
Sarah Palin is going to speak at some Right to Life Gathering in Evansville, Indiana. Her own party is angry with her because she will be in Indiana during a critical legislative session in Alaska where they have had a major economic downturn that is leading to problems. It’s difficult to imagine that a right to life gathering thinks having a person who is so incredibly pro-death penalty gives them any credibility on life issues. Than again, most of these groups are merely anti-abortion but not really pro-life. They just like to pretend that they are.
I think that “Morning Joe,” on early on MSNBC is one of the best news commentary shows on television. They have very fair and balanced discussions on issues and they do so very respectfully and carefully listen. Joe Scarborough, a former Republican Congressman from Florida is the host of the show and he keeps a very even disposition through things. Just for the record, he’s tired of the dog stories as well.
I finally, the Giants cut Plaxico Burress. To his complete chagrin and surprise, no one else has signed him as of yet. Considering that he’s probably going to spend some time in jail, a fact that seems to be eluding him, might be part of this.
Speaking of football players in jail, I can’t help but wondering what Michael Vick thinks about ‘the dog.’
Monday, April 13, 2009
Being Nude with Others
Okay, that was a dirty trick. I just used that title to get your attention. I really wanted to write about hope. I guess you can hope about nudity and being nude with others, but that’s not the point of what I’m writing today.
Easter season is a time of hope. The story of Easter is the story of Jesus being raised from the dead, and in the process of the resurrection, brings hope to the world.
People hope for lots of things. Whenever there is an election people all hope that their candidate gets elected. After the election people who ‘won’ hope that their candidate does well and the people who ‘lost’ hope that the candidate they did not vote for does not mess things up as badly as they think that person will. People will debate, to varying degrees, on how well each person does. But this isn’t a source of what would be ‘great’ hope.
Some people hope that the world will be a better place. Often people find hope in that some people do not get what they want. Gun control advocates hope that people can’t purchase certain types of weapons. They have a sense that people don’t need AK-47's with armor piercing bullets to go duck hunting. Gun rights people hope that the gun control people don’t get their way. People find hope in hoping that some folks don’t get what they want.
William Willimon, a United Methodist Bishop and prolific author and great preacher used to be the Dean of the Chapel at Duke University. Willimon suggested that he didn’t believe that preachers always preach what people want to hear or that they should give people everything they want as, he generally was preaching to young people who he hoped DIDN’T get what they always wanted.
Hope comes in all sorts of varieties, but great hope has to come from something else, something more. Hope comes in the miracle of Easter.
Often when people are facing the end of their lives they search for hope, and search for a miracle.
On occasion there are ‘healing’ miracles where a person gets cured of their disease. But there are also ‘healing’ miracles that take place when people come to peace with the end of their lives and find their hope and miracle in life after death.
When we have faith there is always that hope for that miracle. The really great miracle comes because Jesus came forth from the tomb teaching us that truly was life after death.
And in that there truly is great hope.
Clothed or not.
Easter season is a time of hope. The story of Easter is the story of Jesus being raised from the dead, and in the process of the resurrection, brings hope to the world.
People hope for lots of things. Whenever there is an election people all hope that their candidate gets elected. After the election people who ‘won’ hope that their candidate does well and the people who ‘lost’ hope that the candidate they did not vote for does not mess things up as badly as they think that person will. People will debate, to varying degrees, on how well each person does. But this isn’t a source of what would be ‘great’ hope.
Some people hope that the world will be a better place. Often people find hope in that some people do not get what they want. Gun control advocates hope that people can’t purchase certain types of weapons. They have a sense that people don’t need AK-47's with armor piercing bullets to go duck hunting. Gun rights people hope that the gun control people don’t get their way. People find hope in hoping that some folks don’t get what they want.
William Willimon, a United Methodist Bishop and prolific author and great preacher used to be the Dean of the Chapel at Duke University. Willimon suggested that he didn’t believe that preachers always preach what people want to hear or that they should give people everything they want as, he generally was preaching to young people who he hoped DIDN’T get what they always wanted.
Hope comes in all sorts of varieties, but great hope has to come from something else, something more. Hope comes in the miracle of Easter.
Often when people are facing the end of their lives they search for hope, and search for a miracle.
On occasion there are ‘healing’ miracles where a person gets cured of their disease. But there are also ‘healing’ miracles that take place when people come to peace with the end of their lives and find their hope and miracle in life after death.
When we have faith there is always that hope for that miracle. The really great miracle comes because Jesus came forth from the tomb teaching us that truly was life after death.
And in that there truly is great hope.
Clothed or not.
The Senseless Crime of being a Pirate
Pirates.
We sometimes get the image of Captain Jack Sparrow and the great ‘Pirate Code’ and how the pirates were opposing the evil British. Pirates have always held a special place in the imagination of people----in fiction.
In real life, pirates rank near the bottom of the criminal charts. They will hijack ships, hold people hostage for long periods of time, murder at will, and do so with little regard for others.
The recent hijacking of an American ship was a ship carrying food and medical supplies to famine stricken areas. These pirates were willing to hijack food and supplies headed to needy people for money. Nothing more than money. The Maersk Alabama was attacked by a group of four Somali pirates for little more than cash.
What happened is something I hope begins to happen to more of these pirates.
Most crews pretty passively have not put up a fight. The crew of the Maersk Alabama was not interested in being captured. The pirates never really got control of the ship. All they ended up with was the captain and a lifeboat. The crew and the pirates negotiated a prisoner exchange; one pirate for the captain. The three pirates got their partner back, but the pirates reneged on the deal. So much for the ‘Pirate Code.’
President Obama gave an order to take them out and three Navy Seals each fired one shot and killed the three pirates on the lifeboat and thus having a chance to rescue the captain.
Needless to say, things will be more tense now. Other nations have been warned that the hostages will be treated as the nation treats the pirates. American crews, one would imagine, can expect not to survive. Sadly, the only language (beside money) that these pirates understand is force. There will be, I am sorry to say, a lot of death that takes place in the Indian Ocean in the coming months. I suspect that the United States Navy is going to be on full alert. A team of French commandos recently rescued a family killing the pirates and with the loss of the owner of the boat. The blood of both the innocent and the guilty will, sadly, be shed.
The family of the crew of the Maersk Alabama is rightfully rejoicing and we, as a nation, are glad because the bravery of the crew and their captain, and the great work of the United States Navy was in evidence. There are families, however, in Somalia grieving the deaths of three young men and a fourth pirate will probably spend the rest of his life in an American prison. I keep thinking that a Somali mom, someplace, is weeping today, and many more will join her in the coming months until this piracy ceases. As it happened many years ago, the navies of the world will band together and destroy these pirates.
And more mothers around the world will weep the loss of their children until this senseless criminal behavior and the violence which ensues, will come to an end.
We sometimes get the image of Captain Jack Sparrow and the great ‘Pirate Code’ and how the pirates were opposing the evil British. Pirates have always held a special place in the imagination of people----in fiction.
In real life, pirates rank near the bottom of the criminal charts. They will hijack ships, hold people hostage for long periods of time, murder at will, and do so with little regard for others.
The recent hijacking of an American ship was a ship carrying food and medical supplies to famine stricken areas. These pirates were willing to hijack food and supplies headed to needy people for money. Nothing more than money. The Maersk Alabama was attacked by a group of four Somali pirates for little more than cash.
What happened is something I hope begins to happen to more of these pirates.
Most crews pretty passively have not put up a fight. The crew of the Maersk Alabama was not interested in being captured. The pirates never really got control of the ship. All they ended up with was the captain and a lifeboat. The crew and the pirates negotiated a prisoner exchange; one pirate for the captain. The three pirates got their partner back, but the pirates reneged on the deal. So much for the ‘Pirate Code.’
President Obama gave an order to take them out and three Navy Seals each fired one shot and killed the three pirates on the lifeboat and thus having a chance to rescue the captain.
Needless to say, things will be more tense now. Other nations have been warned that the hostages will be treated as the nation treats the pirates. American crews, one would imagine, can expect not to survive. Sadly, the only language (beside money) that these pirates understand is force. There will be, I am sorry to say, a lot of death that takes place in the Indian Ocean in the coming months. I suspect that the United States Navy is going to be on full alert. A team of French commandos recently rescued a family killing the pirates and with the loss of the owner of the boat. The blood of both the innocent and the guilty will, sadly, be shed.
The family of the crew of the Maersk Alabama is rightfully rejoicing and we, as a nation, are glad because the bravery of the crew and their captain, and the great work of the United States Navy was in evidence. There are families, however, in Somalia grieving the deaths of three young men and a fourth pirate will probably spend the rest of his life in an American prison. I keep thinking that a Somali mom, someplace, is weeping today, and many more will join her in the coming months until this piracy ceases. As it happened many years ago, the navies of the world will band together and destroy these pirates.
And more mothers around the world will weep the loss of their children until this senseless criminal behavior and the violence which ensues, will come to an end.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Easter Sermon
Now What?
Text: Mark 16:1-8
Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo
Easter Sunday, 2009
The Call to Worship had just been pronounced, starting the Easter Sunday service in an East Texas church. The choir started its processional, singing "Up from the Grave He Arose" as they marched in perfect step down the center aisle to the front of the church.
The last lady was wearing shoes with very slender heels. Without a thought for her fancy heels, she marched toward the grating that covered that hot air register in the middle of the aisle. Suddenly the heel of one shoe sank into the hole in the register grate. In a flash, she realized her predicament. Not wishing to hold up the whole processional, without missing a step, she slipped her foot out of her shoe and continued marching down the aisle.
There wasn't a hitch. The processional moved with clock-like precision. The first man after her spotted the situation and, without losing a step, reached down and pulled up her shoe; but the entire grate came with it! Surprised, but still singing, the man kept on going down the aisle, holding in his hand the grate with the shoe attached. Everything still moved like clockwork.
Still in tune and still in step, the next man in line stepped into the open register and disappeared from sight. The service took on a special meaning that Sunday, for just as the choir ended with "Alleluia! Christ arose!" a voice was heard under the church shouting, "I hope all of you are out of the way 'cause I'm coming out now!"
The little girl closest to the aisle shouted down the register, "Come on, Jesus! We'll stay out of the way." (Bob Hager, SermonCentral.com)
We’ll stay our of the way.
Interesting words and in lots of ways very fitting for Easter.
We read today from the Gospel of Mark. Mark is the oldest of the four Gospels and his is the first narrative of the resurrection that was written. The other Gospel writers add a great deal more detail and the others speak of the young man as an angel. Mark, however, has a character who runs away naked from the garden on Thursday night, and scholars believe that this is the young man who follows behind ans actually is the first person at the tomb. It is he who makes the pronouncement to the women that Jesus had been raised.
The women, Mark tells is, flee in terror and excitement.
The resurrection of Jesus was truly a ‘now what’ kind of scenario.
We often like to think of the joy of Easter and the joy the disciples had that Jesus had been raised. There was, however, more to the story than just ‘joy.’
Jesus’ arrest, crucifixion, and death, did not mark a high point in the lives of the apostles in terms of their response. John stayed and was with Jesus until the end. Judas killed himself. Peter had denied Jesus three times and along with the nine other apostles, fled and hid in fear. It appeared that when Jesus needed his friends the most, his friends fled.
It’s amazing how this happens. Years ago I had graduated from seminary and a group of us, mostly clergy, were playing baseball in the back of my friend’s church in Newark, New Jersey. Someone hit the baseball and it broke a neighbor’s window.
When we were children and we hit a ball and it broke a window, we’d all run and hide. We did not have the courage to encounter the person whose window we had broken. As adults, well, we ran and hid and let our friend deal with the angry neighbor----while all of his friends hid behind the church.
Jesus’ resurrection was great news, but it also meant that the ones who fled had to come face to face, again, with Jesus, the one who they had abandoned.
Now what?
There were two things that they had to deal with that are the same things we have to deal with concerning the Easter story.
The first is this. For the apostles, following Jesus was about the joy of discipleship. They were popular and famous.
When Jesus died on the cross there was no joy. They saw only the cost of discipleship.
Upon Jesus’ resurrection the apostles and the disciples and all of us come to grips with the cost and joy of discipleship. It is not just about joy and delight; but it is also about paying a price; but it is more than paying a price; it is a sense of joy and enthusiasm.
Discipleship is easy when it’s only about joy. Discipleship is easy about things all going our way. Discipleship is much more challenging when we have to contemplate ‘cost.’ Jesus’ death taught the disciples that there was a real cost to discipleship; his resurrection taught that there is a real joy to discipleship. Embracing it all reminds us that there is a cost and joy of discipleship.
The second thing is dealing with God and things beyond human understanding.
I knew a person who said that there was something she liked about church and something she didn’t like about church.
When she came to church and we talked about Jesus’ teachings, and such, that was great. When it came to miracles, and stories of Christmas of the angel appearing to Mary and Easter when Jesus comes forth from the tomb, she was uncomfortable. For her, it was all great until the, as she said it, “God thing” showed up.
She was okay with a concept of God philosophically, but didn’t want to come face to face with the divine, things beyond human comprehension.
Sometimes I wish Easter was not in the Spring. We often draw parallels to the blossoms of Spring and the resurrection of Jesus. We point the flowers, the green grass, and the sunshine and relate it to the resurrection. If we’re really clever we can talk about all sorts of great stuff and never get around to talking about Jesus being raised.
It helps us because it makes us not feel that we have to totally buy into the power beyond our comprehension, the “God thing.” It helps us not engage that which is beyond our understanding.
But Easter is about embracing something beyond our understand. Easter is about coming to grips with the ‘God-thing’ and realizing that there are things we cannot fully know and understand.
For those who witnessed the Risen Christ there was something of a ‘now what’ kind of experience. Encountering the resurrected Lord forced them to confront the true cost and joy of discipleship, and to encounter the power of God as God is.
That challenge exists for us this very day as we too encounter the Risen Savior and ask, ‘now what?’
Text: Mark 16:1-8
Rev. Dr. John E. Manzo
Easter Sunday, 2009
The Call to Worship had just been pronounced, starting the Easter Sunday service in an East Texas church. The choir started its processional, singing "Up from the Grave He Arose" as they marched in perfect step down the center aisle to the front of the church.
The last lady was wearing shoes with very slender heels. Without a thought for her fancy heels, she marched toward the grating that covered that hot air register in the middle of the aisle. Suddenly the heel of one shoe sank into the hole in the register grate. In a flash, she realized her predicament. Not wishing to hold up the whole processional, without missing a step, she slipped her foot out of her shoe and continued marching down the aisle.
There wasn't a hitch. The processional moved with clock-like precision. The first man after her spotted the situation and, without losing a step, reached down and pulled up her shoe; but the entire grate came with it! Surprised, but still singing, the man kept on going down the aisle, holding in his hand the grate with the shoe attached. Everything still moved like clockwork.
Still in tune and still in step, the next man in line stepped into the open register and disappeared from sight. The service took on a special meaning that Sunday, for just as the choir ended with "Alleluia! Christ arose!" a voice was heard under the church shouting, "I hope all of you are out of the way 'cause I'm coming out now!"
The little girl closest to the aisle shouted down the register, "Come on, Jesus! We'll stay out of the way." (Bob Hager, SermonCentral.com)
We’ll stay our of the way.
Interesting words and in lots of ways very fitting for Easter.
We read today from the Gospel of Mark. Mark is the oldest of the four Gospels and his is the first narrative of the resurrection that was written. The other Gospel writers add a great deal more detail and the others speak of the young man as an angel. Mark, however, has a character who runs away naked from the garden on Thursday night, and scholars believe that this is the young man who follows behind ans actually is the first person at the tomb. It is he who makes the pronouncement to the women that Jesus had been raised.
The women, Mark tells is, flee in terror and excitement.
The resurrection of Jesus was truly a ‘now what’ kind of scenario.
We often like to think of the joy of Easter and the joy the disciples had that Jesus had been raised. There was, however, more to the story than just ‘joy.’
Jesus’ arrest, crucifixion, and death, did not mark a high point in the lives of the apostles in terms of their response. John stayed and was with Jesus until the end. Judas killed himself. Peter had denied Jesus three times and along with the nine other apostles, fled and hid in fear. It appeared that when Jesus needed his friends the most, his friends fled.
It’s amazing how this happens. Years ago I had graduated from seminary and a group of us, mostly clergy, were playing baseball in the back of my friend’s church in Newark, New Jersey. Someone hit the baseball and it broke a neighbor’s window.
When we were children and we hit a ball and it broke a window, we’d all run and hide. We did not have the courage to encounter the person whose window we had broken. As adults, well, we ran and hid and let our friend deal with the angry neighbor----while all of his friends hid behind the church.
Jesus’ resurrection was great news, but it also meant that the ones who fled had to come face to face, again, with Jesus, the one who they had abandoned.
Now what?
There were two things that they had to deal with that are the same things we have to deal with concerning the Easter story.
The first is this. For the apostles, following Jesus was about the joy of discipleship. They were popular and famous.
When Jesus died on the cross there was no joy. They saw only the cost of discipleship.
Upon Jesus’ resurrection the apostles and the disciples and all of us come to grips with the cost and joy of discipleship. It is not just about joy and delight; but it is also about paying a price; but it is more than paying a price; it is a sense of joy and enthusiasm.
Discipleship is easy when it’s only about joy. Discipleship is easy about things all going our way. Discipleship is much more challenging when we have to contemplate ‘cost.’ Jesus’ death taught the disciples that there was a real cost to discipleship; his resurrection taught that there is a real joy to discipleship. Embracing it all reminds us that there is a cost and joy of discipleship.
The second thing is dealing with God and things beyond human understanding.
I knew a person who said that there was something she liked about church and something she didn’t like about church.
When she came to church and we talked about Jesus’ teachings, and such, that was great. When it came to miracles, and stories of Christmas of the angel appearing to Mary and Easter when Jesus comes forth from the tomb, she was uncomfortable. For her, it was all great until the, as she said it, “God thing” showed up.
She was okay with a concept of God philosophically, but didn’t want to come face to face with the divine, things beyond human comprehension.
Sometimes I wish Easter was not in the Spring. We often draw parallels to the blossoms of Spring and the resurrection of Jesus. We point the flowers, the green grass, and the sunshine and relate it to the resurrection. If we’re really clever we can talk about all sorts of great stuff and never get around to talking about Jesus being raised.
It helps us because it makes us not feel that we have to totally buy into the power beyond our comprehension, the “God thing.” It helps us not engage that which is beyond our understanding.
But Easter is about embracing something beyond our understand. Easter is about coming to grips with the ‘God-thing’ and realizing that there are things we cannot fully know and understand.
For those who witnessed the Risen Christ there was something of a ‘now what’ kind of experience. Encountering the resurrected Lord forced them to confront the true cost and joy of discipleship, and to encounter the power of God as God is.
That challenge exists for us this very day as we too encounter the Risen Savior and ask, ‘now what?’
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