Torture and Christians

Sometimes I feel like I'm beating a dead horse (thanks, Axl), but I am so appalled that this is going on. We need more people standing up and voicing their opinion on this. We do not want torture in America, performed by Americans, authorized by Americans, or condoned by Americans. A great article in Christianity Today explains why it is always wrong.

As to the exact kinds of acts that constitute torture, there is no single definition, but this does not mean that the term is infinitely elastic. Almost everyone condemns the examples above. And international agreements have repeatedly sought to define torture as they have denounced it. The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that "no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment." Article 17 of the Third Geneva Convention (1949) asserts that "no physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion, may be inflicted on prisoners of war," but, instead, "persons taking no active part in the hostilities … shall in all circumstances be treated humanely." The 1985 U.N. Convention Against Torture defines it as "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person." The United States is a signatory to all of these international declarations and has historically incorporated their principles into military doctrine. For example, the 1992 (current, though under revision) U.S. Army Field Manual tells soldiers that "[Geneva] and U.S. policy expressly prohibit acts of violence or intimidation, including physical or mental torture, threats [or] insults, … as a means of or aid to interrogation."
...
Among the sometimes approved measures have been prolonged standing, removal of detainees' clothing, sensory deprivation, hooding (often with smelly hoods), prolonged interrogations, use of dogs, forced shaving of beards, grabbing, poking, pushing, sleep manipulation and deprivation, and waterboarding (which refers to a variety of techniques designed to make a victim feel as if he were drowning).

Among the unapproved but practiced measures have been punching, slapping, and kicking detainees, religious and sexual humiliation, prolonged shackling, exposure to severe heat or cold, food or toilet deprivation, mock or threatened executions, and letting dogs threaten or in some cases bite and severely injure detainees.

Read the whole thing. Get angry. Do something about it.

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Religion Fact of the Day

The final book in the Christian Bible, The Revelation to John, more commonly called simply Revelation, was probably written in the early 90s CE. Most scholars do not believe that this John is the same John who was an apostle of Jesus. Revelation fits into the apocalyptic genre of writing which had been flourishing amongst the Middle East since about 250 BCE.

Revelation Was Written When?

Well, according to Bill O'Reilly, it was 5,000 years ago.

On the November 13 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, while discussing the "secularists" and their refusal to acknowledge the "holy war going on," Bill O'Reilly cited the Book of Revelation, the final scripture in the New Testament, saying, "This was written -- what? Five thousand years ago?"

That's right. Even though, Jesus lived 2,000 years ago and the New Testament (of which Revelation is a part of) was written after Jesus was around, the book of Revelation was somehow written thousands of years before that.

Why is it that people who scream loudest about any topic seem to know the least about it?

Happy Birthday

Happy birthday to my oldest daughter, Erica. She turns eleven today. I can't believe she is that age already. No longer can I see a young girl in her; she is becoming a young woman. It is scary and thrilling at the same time.

I hoped to talk to her today, but, unfortunately I did not. I called her house a couple of times, but, unsurprisingly there was no answer. I will see her and her sister on Friday, though. We're going to go rollerskating and then have cake and ice cream. I can't wait.

Waterboarding

If Mississipi could figure this out in 1926, why are we having so much trouble today calling a spade a spade. Waterboarding is torture. I'm not typically a black and white kind of guy, but in this instance, there is certainly no gray. It is abhorrent and everyone who has done it, authorized it, or stood by and let it happen should be held accountable.

Religion Fact of the Day

Sennacherib, king of Assyria, destroyed much of Judah in the late 8th century BCE in response to Hezekiah allying with Egypt against Assyria. Jerusalem was spared but Hezekiah had to pay Sennacherib large amounts of gold and silver, cede some of his territory, and return to a vassal state. The account in Isaiah and 2 Kings credit the saving of Jerusalem to an angel of God which slew 185,000 Assyrian troops in one night. Sennacherib's non-Biblical records mention no defeat of any kind.

Spirit of Men

The hospital I work at sponsors an organization called Spirit of Women. As you would expect, it is all about celebrating femininity and so on. They have all sorts of meetings and events. It seems to me a little sexist to not have a counterpart group, so I have taken it upon myself to create a recruiting poster for when they realize the error of their ways. I used a SoW poster as a template and came up with this:



What red-blooded male wouldn't want to be a part of this?

Wordsmiths at the Onion

Where else are you going to read such awesome sentences as this:

On this occasion, Baumer removed the tea bag from the dainty brew and added one dollop of honey made by his friends the honeybees and a splash of milk straight from his mama's precious teat.

Read the whole article here.

Multiple Sclerosis - Year One

It's been one year now since I found out I have MS. It's the strangest thing in the world hearing your doctor tell you that you have an incurable disease. As I've said before, I wasn't really surprised. My symptoms were strong and I knew there was something wrong. I expected the worse. Still, when he said, "Shane, you have multiple sclerosis," I sat in shock for a moment, unsure what to say.

My first thought was, this changes everything. My next was, no, it doesn't. I could have let this disease change my life, but I was determined to not let it get the best of me. I've been blessed in that I was diagnosed very early. Many people go years before their doctor figures out what it wrong. Being that it is so early, the MS has not progressed enough to give me any noticeable signs. In fact, other than fatigue and susceptibility to cold, I don't feel any different.

I have also been very lucky in that there just happens to be a study going on right now for MS drugs. I met the qualifications and so I signed up. The study is testing whether Copaxone and Avonex work better together rather than individually. Both drugs are already tested and proven. There are three groups in the study, two get one drug and a placebo, and the third group gets both drugs. Obviously, I have no idea which group I am in, but no matter which I am getting something. Because I am in the study the drugs are free. If they weren't, I'm not sure I would be able to take either. At my last appointment, the study coordinator told me she had just checked the market price for the drugs and they were both $1800 for a one-month supply. $1800! I have great insurance through the hospital, but I don't think I'd be able to afford either of these.

The shot I take weekly, Avonex (or placebo), is not much fun. For the first month or so, I would have flu-like symptoms for up to 24 hours after I took the shot. I felt horrible. My body has adapted to it, though, and it is not as bad now. I take the shot on Saturday night and typically until around dinner time on Sunday, I fell a general malaise. Some days are better than others, but I don't usually feel really good on Sundays. The daily injection, Copaxone (or placebo), is much nicer in this regard in that the only side-effects I get are occasional redness and itching at the injection site.

I struggled with how to tell people at first. I debated keeping it to myself and not telling anyone. I didn't want anyone's pity, nor did I want anybody's first thought of me to be "He has MS." In the end, I decided I didn't care what people thought and just told friends and family and work. My Mom knew something was wrong because she had seen me stumbling during my flare-up last summer and so I probably couldn't have kept it from her anyway. Reactions were, of course, mixed with lots of tears and disbelief. Overall, though, everyone was very supportive.

Overall, though, it has been a strange experience. Other than my initial flare-up last July and August and a minor flare-up in February, I have no major signs of the disease. I still feel like the same person I was before I was diagnosed. Not that I would be different if the disease was progressing more rapidly, but it would have more of an impact on my life. As it is, I can still run around and do everything I could before. I am very lucky in that regard. I know that the disease is going to progress and I will eventually become limited physically. I don't sit around praying for a cure. If one comes, great. If not, I know I will manage just fine. That's how I roll.

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Obama and Iran, Part III

My discussion with Jeromy continues from here.

You know I had to respond to this one. :)

I would have been disappointed if you hadn't.

1. Diplomacy is not like going out to dinner with a buddy. Every action, every word, every small iota has serious insinuations. Just sitting down at a public table with another country speaks volumes about the relationship with that country.

Hmmm...I don't think the mere fact of opening a dialog with a nation says anything other than "we are willing to talk." It doesn't mean we agree with them on anything. It doesn't mean we like or condone their actions. It just means we're not above talking to anyone, nor should we be.

Reward them with positive changes in behavior? That's no different than not sitting at a public forum with them because of previously bad behavior. Same attitude, different tact.

I disagree. Not talking with them gives us an arrogant, "better than you" posture. That's not going to make matters any better. Rewarding good behavior is also a better tactic than punishing bad behavior.

3. Regarding Obama personally- Although I probably would pay attention to a 500- page dissertation on American-Iranian relations, I would settle for a two-page document with just a couple of specifics. Just three years ago Obama was singing a different tune , talking about missile strikes, sanctions, and the unpredicability of the Iranian government. Three years ago it was popular to take a "tough stand" against Iran, now its popular to play the diplomatic card.

I don't think Obama was really "singing a different tune" then. In the link you gave, Obama talked about using missile strikes as a last resort if Iran was on the verge of getting nukes. He talked about going through the UN and using economic sanctions first. In the story I originally linked to, Obama talks about using "carrots and sticks" in working with Iran. Sounds like the same kind of thing to me.

And you're right, the argument I made could be said about most politicians because that's the nature of the game. And yet you said in your post after the quote that you support Obama exactly because of the kind of this kind of statement. If statements like this ARE generic and meant to gain favor, is it wise to base your support for him on such rhetoric?

If I said I wasn't going to support any politician who played the game of politics, well then I'd never support any politician. I try to look at their track record and listen to them. From what I have seen, Obama does not seem to be the same kind of pandering pol as we usually see. I don't think he's perfect by any means. I definitely have my disagreements with him on issues. However, I think he is by far the best candidate in either party running right now.

Do we "take our ball and go home" because Iran's not playing by the rules? Absolutely not. But do we formally sit down at the world trade and commerce table with them without recognizing the oppression, torture, and hatred that flows from the hands and mouths of the Iranian government? How is it that the same people who are ready to throw Bush out for water boarding (I count myself in this group) are also willing to legitimize a man and government who openly admits, even glorifies, decades of atrocities and torture?

Cold shouldering is not the answer, but a koom-bay-a session, as Obama seems to suggest, is not the answer either.

Obama is not talking about legitimizing the Iranian regime. He is talking about "changes in behavior." He is also talking about using "carrots and sticks." That doesn't sound like Kum Bah Yah to me, but like realpolitik.

As for Obama- I hope he gets the Democratic nomination, because I still think he's the lesser of the many mistakes that we could make. But I am absolutely not convinced of his true intent and goals. His speeches are simply pages ripped out of the JFK and MLK, Jr. playbooks, which sound great....but are they backed by conviction or merely a ploy to win an election? Time will tell...

I thought I was supposed to be the cynic. As I said, I don't think Obama is the Second Coming or anything like that. However, there is absolutely no way to be sure of any candidate until they are in office. We have to make our best judgment and pray it is correct. I've been trying to pay attention to all of the candidates as best I can and right now, I am convinced Obama is the best one. Time will tell, eh?

Religion Fact of the Day

Early Israeli culture was not monotheistic, but henotheistic (belief in multiple gods with one being supreme). There are many mentions of other gods besides Yahweh such as in Psalm 95:3, "For Yahweh is a great God, a greater King than all other gods" or in the Ten Commandents, one being "You shall have no other gods before me." It's also not likely that so many Israelites kept reverting to worship of Baal if they did not believe he was a real god.

I've Got Wheels!

After nearly a month of being without one, I finally have a vehicle. My sister had a Toyota 4-Runner that she was not driving as she had bought another vehicle. She wanted to dump it, so I got it for the cost of getting it fixed ($2600) which is probably a better deal then I would have been able to get from any snake-oil salesman at a car dealership.

It's funny how we take things for granted. Certainly I did with having a car. Going a few weeks without one will remind you how nice it is to have one. I'm not holding my breath for this vehicle to last long, but it works now and I am grateful to have one again.

Thanks, Shawna.

Facts About the Amish

A.J. Jacobs, mental_floss writer and the man who attempted to live Biblically for one year, has written a post with some interesting tidbits about the Amish.

Amish have beards in accordance with Leviticus, which forbids the shaving of the corners of your beard. But they do shave their moustaches. The moustache was thought to have military associations by the early Amish, who came over from Switzerland in the 18th century.

There's more including an amusing story about baseball.

Distracted

I haven't posted much in the last few days because my life has been rather hectic. I'm not sure how regular I will be over the next few months, either. The holidays are coming up. I just started another class, God and World, that is going to keep me very busy with lots of reading and writing. I need to be looking for a roommate for the house so my Mom and I can keep it.

I'll try my best to be regular, but no guarantees.

But, But, They Do It, Too!

I didn't think this was a proper defense for anything, but to see it applied to torture as Cal Thomas has is appalling.

There is a double standard when it comes to this subject. We in the West are supposed to adhere to certain rules so we "won't be like them." But if the other side adheres to no rules and sees our standards as a form of weakness, such things are counter-productive to our objectives.

Yes, it is a double-standard. That's because we're America and we're supposed to be better than that. I can't believe that our great nation has descended to this. How can a terrorist attack, even one as brutal as 9/11, bring us to this, to saying torture is okay.

Fear.

We let our leaders and the media whip us up into a panic over the "Islamofascist threat" and subsequently we resort to our most primal instincts. Do anything to survive. Don't think. React.

Unfortunately, this puts on the same level as animals. We need to take a step back and really examine ourselves, our morals, our principles. We need to think about what kind of nation we want. Do we want a country in which we suspend individual liberties and support policies such as torture? I don't. What makes it even worse is that it is a well documented fact that torture does not work. People being tortured will say anything - truth or not - to make it stop. We're degrading ourselves with a horrifying act that doesn't even work.

Just because our enemies use a tactic does not mean we have to do the same. We're supposed to be better than that.

Religion Fact of the Day

Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are known as Abrahamic faiths because all three religions trace their roots back to Abraham. For Jews, he is the one Yahweh made a covenant with to grant them the land of Israel and the father of Jacob later named Israel and the prodigal father of the Jews. For Christians, Abraham is the father of the Davidic line that culminates with the birth of their savior, Jesus. In the Muslim tradition, Abraham's first born son, Ishmael, cast out by Abraham's jealous wife, Sarah, becomes the father of the Arabs.

More on Obama and Iran

My friend Jeromy had some comments in response to my post about Obama and Iran.

How much do we legitimize actions like the one cited here (and the hundreds that have been reported like it) when we sit down to the table with a guy like Ahmadinejad?

See, I've heard this argument before and I just don't get it. We live in a world with people who see things much differently than we do here in America. We live in a world where not everyone likes us. We need to learn to live with that and effectively deal with it. If we take the stand that you have to do what we want before we will even talk to you, then we are only going to make more enemies. Ahmadinejad is not popular in his country as can be seen by recent protests. If we tell Iran we won't talk to them unless they do what we want and constantly beat the war drum, we are only going to whip up a national fervor there. Those people protesting Ahmadinejad will rally behind him against the arrogant American threat.

Dialoging does not mean condoning. We should never be afraid to talk to anyone. In fact, we will accomplish much more through meaningful discourse backed by incentives and the threat of a stick than we will through arrogant posturing.

On Obama himself, Jeromy said:

I think Obama's intentions are decent, but realistically he's positioning himself for an election, which means the rhetoric about foreign policy, while it sounds good, is not nearly as simplistic or practical as he makes it sound.

You can make that argument about any politician running for any office ever. Of course they are going to say things that may sound simplistic. No one would pay attention to Obama's 500-page Dissertation on American-Iranian Relations. Especially in our sound-bite era, politicians break things down as small as possible. That's the way our system works.

The reason I like Obama is because (with the exception of Ron Paul), he is the only candidate that really comes off as genuine and different than most every other politician. He's not afraid to tell people things they aren't going to like (e.g. his speech to Detroit automakers). He's not talking about sticking it to the Republicans or doubling Gitmo or torture being cool or giving free money to everyone. No, he's talking about coming together and making a better America.

Yeah, yeah, he's saying that to get elected (like every other person who runs for office). Well, it sounds good; he sounds like he genuinely means it; and it sounds better than what the other candidates are saying. That's why I support Obama.

Hitch on Islamic Radicals

Christopher Hitchens has harsh words for people who think that the only reason there are terrorists in Iraq is because we are there.

After all, if the usual peacenik logic were to be pursued, and it was to be assumed that "we" are chiefly responsible for magnetizing "them," then it would follow that if we were to leave, they would either give up or go elsewhere. Is there anybody who can be brought to believe anything so fatuous? Well, then, if this logic is self-evidently false in the case of Afghanistan, why should it be any more persuasive in the case of Iraq?

Unfortunately, Hitchens does what he accuses "liberals" of doing and simplifies the issue to much. First, it is true that al-Qaeda did not exist in Iraq under Saddam. Our failed attempt to bring stability and order after overthrowing Saddam did create an opening in which al-Qaeda elements could move in and start a splinter faction we now call al-Qaeda-in-Iraq (AQI). However, it is also true - and Hitch gives several examples - that America is not responsible for creating all of the Islamic terror cells in the world. Terrorists are not going to go away if America suddenly withdraws all its military forces from foreign soil and brings them home.

It is true, though, that even if our presence does not automatically create terrorists out of thin air, the actions of this administration have driven more people to become terrorists and have violently inflamed emotions to the point that many Muslims, even if not terrorists themselves, silently condone violence against Americans. It's more than the fact that we have botched the Iraq war. It's the horrible rhetoric, calling the war a "crusade," and saying things like "dead or alive." It's the lip service paid to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. It's the beating of the war drum with Iran. It's the botch we made with Afghanistan by declaring victory too early and allowing the Taliban to regroup.

In short, Hitchens is correct to say that America doesn't magic up terrorists out of thin air. He is wrong to imply that our actions have no effect on terrorists or those who choose that lifestyle.

Music Sampling

For someone who had a huge hit, "I'll Be Missing You," heavily based on "Every Breath You Take" by the Police, you'd think Puff Daddy, P Diddy, Diddy would be doing more to protect artists who sample music.

Foreign Policy Sanity

From Obama regarding Iran:

Take notice: on Iran, at least, Obama is speaking a new kind of language for mainstream American politics. For nearly 30 years since the Iranian revolution kicked out a shah who had been installed by the CIA, American leaders have been too timid to engage in a constructive dialogue with Iran. That includes Hillary's husband, whose curiosity was aroused by the moderate Khatami but failed to rise to the challenge of how to achieve a diplomatic opening for the good of both countries. Now Obama says he's willing to go to Iran to talk without preconditions, reward Iran with positive changes in behavior and demonstrate that the U.S. is not hellbent on regime change.

It's exactly for reasons like this that I have become an Obama supporter. He's not spouting the same tired rhetoric that other pols are. We need a desperate change in our foreign policy tactics after the current administration has destroyed our standing worldwide. I don't see any other candidate (save maybe Paul) being able or willing to make the necessary changes.

God Doesn't Like Cell Phones

Well, at least his representatives here on Earth aren't big fans.



Obviously the lady was being very rude by letting her phone ring in church and even answering it. However, I'm not sure that this guy took the right tack in breaking her phone. I think I would have made a crack about rude people being sent straight to the brand new tenth circle of hell, but that's just me.

No Rift in the Evangelical Fold?

David Sessions writes over at Slate that there is no breakup of Evangelicals because of the Bush Presidency.

This is a highly significant trend within evangelicalism—arguably the evangelical story of the moment. But it doesn't quite have the political implications that the media suggest, namely new stirrings of affection for the Democratic Party. Young Christians are interested in more than "two or three issues," as left-leaning pastor Bill Hybels contends in the Times piece, but they are smart, educated, and usually swing conservative for reasons much deeper than the Big Two (abortion and gay rights). In my time as a student at Patrick Henry College, I have witnessed countless students moderate from "Republican politics is next to godliness" to "we shouldn't be blindly following a specific party or leader." Despite that transformation, not one of them has ever campaigned or voted for a Democrat. They are disenchanted with the GOP for its abandonment of fiscal conservatism and limited government, but they'd consider voting for Democrats an even bigger step back. If there is a political trend to be reported here, it's the fact that increasingly progressive young Christians will almost certainly balance the Republican Party, insisting on a broader focus than clichéd morality battles.

I'm glad that Evangelicals seem to be branching out beyond their primary focus and looking at the bigger picture. That seems to be more than can be said for many other groups.

Still, it concerns me that there is a spirit of "GOP or Bust!" within the Evangelical fold. I don't think it is healthy politically for anyone to stick with a party whether or not it has drifted from its roots. Work toward fixing it, yes, but if it doesn't get fixed, why not vote for a moderate from the other party? That may send the message to the pols that they need to get their act together if they want votes. I also think the Republicans would be much more successful if they did get back to their core issues of small government and fiscal responsibility. They need to renounce torture and empire-building.

Religion Fact of the Day

Early Israelites were no different from many other cultures in that they practiced human sacrifice. When Joshua led his armies into Canaan, enemy cities were put under herem or "ban." Every man, woman, and child was killed in the name of Yahweh. This was done because Yahweh said the Canaanites practiced child sacrifice and would act as tempters leading the Israelites away from proper worship to worshiping Baal. Whatever the reason behind it, killing humans in the name of a supernatural figure is human sacrifice (cf. Aztecs, Celts, Chinese, Scandinavians, etc.).

Obama on the Attack

Barack Obama has certainly been more forceful lately about the difference between himself and Hillary Clinton. Here he is in a Newsweek interview:

Look, watch the videotape. She said that she was for the [New York Gov. Eliot] Spitzer plan and in the span of two minutes said she wasn't for the Spitzer plan. That wasn't something that was prompted by me or anybody else but it was characteristic of her answers on Social Security and her answers on the papers from the Clinton years. Look, I actually recognize that this sort of straddling is oftentimes considered politically savvy in Washington … It's been rewarded. Her ability to finesse her vote to authorize the war during the course of this campaign is something that she has been complimented for on the front page of The New York Times as being politically deft. So I understand where it arises from. The perception is that if you don't allow yourself to be pinned down, then you're making yourself a smaller target in the general election. That's the conventional wisdom. I think it is the wrong way to govern. I think it is not what we need right now.

Is it enough though? He has been taking a lot of flak in the press for not attacking her enough and he is lagging in national polls. Personally, I have found it very refreshing that he is not running a campaign of demonizing her or any of his other opponents. Is that what the country wants? Sure the media says Obama needs to be "getting tough," but I'm not sure whether or not the typical voter wants that. I don't know enough people who are even paying attention to the race, yet, to get a feel for how they are feeling. I don't know.

I do know that putting Clinton in office is a vote for keeping the same divisive politics we have had for awhile now. It would be nice to see something different.

Secrets Are Things We Give to Others to Keep For Us

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MS Fatigue

Since I have been feeling very good lately and my last MRI showed "dramatic improvement" I've been trying to go without my pills for staying awake. I was taking a 200mg tablet of Provigil every day and I did need it. Without it, I was a zombie by dinner time. Lately, though, I've felt pretty good even when I haven't taken it. Some days I still take half a pill, but for the last couple of weeks I've been getting by without it for the most part. It's saving me money and I feel a little less like a walking pharmacy. We'll see how long this lasts.

Pakistan and the Neocons

Joe Klein wonders why the neocons aren't concerned with recent events in Pakistan. Joe suspects it may be Israli influence. He may be correct, but what amazes me more is how the neoconservative movement seems to revolve around war. It's the first option they put on the table for any sort of international problem as if America should be an empire throwing its weight around militarily wherever we feel like. I guess they don't realize that this is one of the reasons we are much less respected in the world these days and why our soft power has seen a sharp decline.

But, back to Pakistan. I think we should be much more worried about events there than in Iran. After all, we know Pakistan has nukes.

Jesus Doll

Some people will stir up controversy over anything. A Jesus doll now available at Wal-Mart can recite Bible verses and tell the story of feeding the multitudes. This has some people fired up. No, not atheists, but Christians who fear that this will "trivialize" Jesus.

That's right parents. Don't buy your kids toys that will teach them about Jesus. Get them Barbie dolls so they learn how to objectify females and GI Joes to instill in them a love of violence. That's what Jesus would do.

Okay, slight hyperbole, but I can't believe the things some people get worked up over. I can't imagine the reaction these people would give to this Jesus toy (with the best commercial ever).

America Divided

Andrew Sullivan has an insightful article over at the Atlantic. He examines the source of the growing divide in America.

Given this quiet, evolving consensus on policy, how do we account for the bitter, brutal tone of American politics? The answer lies mainly with the biggest and most influential generation in America: the Baby Boomers. The divide is still—amazingly—between those who fought in Vietnam and those who didn’t, and between those who fought and dissented and those who fought but never dissented at all. By defining the contours of the Boomer generation, it lasted decades. And with time came a strange intensity.

The professionalization of the battle, and the emergence of an array of well-funded interest groups dedicated to continuing it, can be traced most proximately to the bitter confirmation fights over Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas, in 1987 and 1991 respectively. The presidency of Bill Clinton, who was elected with only 43 percent of the vote in 1992, crystallized the new reality. As soon as the Baby Boomers hit the commanding heights, the Vietnam power struggle rebooted. The facts mattered little in the face of such a divide. While Clinton was substantively a moderate conservative in policy, his countercultural origins led to the drama, ultimately, of religious warfare and even impeachment. Clinton clearly tried to bridge the Boomer split. But he was trapped on one side of it—and his personal foibles only reignited his generation’s agonies over sex and love and marriage. Even the failed impeachment didn’t bring the two sides to their senses, and the election of 2000 only made matters worse: Gore and Bush were almost designed to reflect the Boomers’ and the country’s divide, which deepened further.

He then talks about the only '08 candidate he thinks can bridge the divide and bring people together - Barack Obama.

But if you sense, as I do, that greater danger lies ahead, and that our divisions and recent history have combined to make the American polity and constitutional order increasingly vulnerable, then the calculus of risk changes. Sometimes, when the world is changing rapidly, the greater risk is caution. Close-up in this election campaign, Obama is unlikely. From a distance, he is necessary. At a time when America’s estrangement from the world risks tipping into dangerous imbalance, when a country at war with lethal enemies is also increasingly at war with itself, when humankind’s spiritual yearnings veer between an excess of certainty and an inability to believe anything at all, and when sectarian and racial divides seem as intractable as ever, a man who is a bridge between these worlds may be indispensable.

We may in fact have finally found that bridge to the 21st century that Bill Clinton told us about. Its name is Obama.

Sullivan has made it clear that he disagrees with many of Obama's more liberal positions, but supports him because of his character. Matt Yglesias notes that Sullivan's analysis is "more personality-driven than is wise," but that it also seems to be the way many voters are. I find myself agreeing with Sullivan on this in that I find my support for Obama more to be because he seems a genuine person willing to say tough things and wanting to unite people more than for any of his policy positions.

Religion Fact of the Day

The Fourth Crusade in the early 13th century to retake the Holy Land actually took a detour. The crusaders hearing of riches in Constantinople stormed the city in 1204 and sacked it. They took their newfound riches and returned home ending the crusade. Most of the crusaders never even made it to the Holy Land. This tragic event sealed the division between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church and remains a point of contention even to this day.

School Voucher

Megan McArdle has been arguing vociferously on her blog in favor of school vouchers. She is confident enough in the free market to solve the problems public schools have not been able to fix.

I find myself very ambivalent on the issue. It sounds good in theory to give parents the ability to get a voucher and pull their kid out of a struggling school. I haven't seen any plan, though, that addresses all of the problems that arise from this. One, in a free market system, schools may find it prudent to not accept troubled kids or mentally retarded kids because they will cost more to educate. Two, kids who don't move will be stuck in a school that is getting less money and thus less able to pay for necessary supplies. Three, a free market system opens itself up to corporate influence and I'm not sure that is a good idea. Four, such a system is going to need a lot of oversight and if it is going to be so heavily regulated what is the point of contracting it out anyway? Five, many issues in public schools stem not so much from problems with the schools, but with socio-economic factors beyond the schools control. It won't matter where kids go to school, these issues are not going to just disappear.

I believe that society benefits from mandatory public education. I think we have problems in our current education system, but I'm not sure that vouchers are the solution.

Senate on the Verge of Caving In

Mukasey has picked up the support of key Democratic Senators. Does no one have integrity anymore?

Help is on the Way

I got a call yesterday that the aid I requested for my mother was approved and the check was being mailed out. I am very grateful to the St. Vincent Healthcare Foundation for this. This means a lot to me, but more importantly it will help my mom keep her house.

The AG on Torture

Mukasey won't say whether or not waterboarding is torture. Andrew Sullivan comes down hard on Mukasey and Congress if they go ahead and confirm him.

Alas, the president almost certainly will never be prosecuted for the war crimes he has committed. He has already seen to that and so, shamefully, has the Congress by passing a law that retroactively granted him immunity. Surely that is bad enough. To compound that by allowing an attorney general to take office by refusing to say whether he will uphold the law in the face of the Cheney-style Protector-Presidency is inexcusable. This is history in the making. Who will defend the rule of law?

Write your Congress and tell them that you don't support torture. This is America. Let your voice be heard.

Religion Fact of the Day

The Albigensian Crusade was one of the darker periods in the history of the Catholic Church. The Cathars were a group of Christians in France who came to believe a heretical doctrine with roots in Gnosticism. They believed the God of the Old Testament was evil and actually Satan. In the early part of the 13th century, Pope Innocent III initiated the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathars. Over a 20 year period, up to 200,000 people were killed during this crusade. The heresy was for the most part crushed, although small pockets of it remained for the next one-hundred years.

Holding Out For a Hero

Jeromy writes about being tested or finding your "Goliath moment" on his blog.

I think at some level we all seek a “goliath” moment. The untried person carries a nagging question about how he will respond in a moment of clear conviction. To be placed in an insurmountable situation, have the courage to face it, and by grace, overcome, is the heart's desire. In my own life, I inwardly long for just such a challenge- not for the challenge itself, but for the transformation that results, as in David’s life.

I know that ever since I was little I have had this desire, although mine has been in the framework of reading Lord of the Rings, watching Star Trek and Star Wars. I have always had a burning desire to be a hero, to find myself suddenly faced with a situation of insurmountable odds, of desperate times, where everything hangs on a knife's edge. I want to face that situation and rise above it to become a hero.

Unfortunately, things like that really only happen in stories. Most heroes only get their status after a lifetime of serving people and doing small things that add up to something big. It's very noble and admirable. It's also not the romantic story-book stuff I have always wanted to be a part of. Ah, well. You can't always get what you want.

Losing Faith

William Lobdell, a reporter for the LA Times, wrote a very moving article this summer on his loss of faith. He was the religion reporter for the paper and fiercely devoted to his Christian beliefs. In the course of his reporting, though, he saw so many horrible things - the Catholic abuse scandal, people desperate for healing from televangelists who never did, priests becoming fathers and getting out of child support - he lost his faith.

My problem was that none of that surprised me anymore.

As I walked into the long twilight of a Portland summer evening, I felt used up and numb.

My soul, for lack of a better term, had lost faith long ago — probably around the time I stopped going to church. My brain, which had been in denial, had finally caught up.

Clearly, I saw now that belief in God, no matter how grounded, requires at some point a leap of faith. Either you have the gift of faith or you don't. It's not a choice. It can't be willed into existence. And there's no faking it if you're honest about the state of your soul.

William mentions the theodicy problem. It is a hard, perhaps the hardest, question for any believer who attempts a serious examination of their faith. There are many answers, but no one that seems to satisfy a majority of people. In my own mind it comes down to a combination of having free will (and the baggage that comes with it) and being given tests in order to learn and grow. We learn nothing if we are not challenged and I think one of our purposes in this earthly existence is growing.

Read the whole article. It is a moving look at a person's journey to faith and then away from it.

Do We Need An Air Force?

Robert Farley doesn't think so.

But it's time to revisit the 1947 decision to separate the Air Force from the Army. While everyone agrees that the United States military requires air capability, it's less obvious that we need a bureaucratic entity called the United States Air Force. The independent Air Force privileges airpower to a degree unsupported by the historical record. This bureaucratic structure has proven to be a continual problem in war fighting, in procurement, and in estimates of the costs of armed conflict. Indeed, it would be wrong to say that the USAF is an idea whose time has passed. Rather, it's a mistake that never should have been made.

He makes a good argument while conceding it won't happen anytime soon.

Mental Health Break

The last few weeks at work have been rather crazy. We upgraded our access control software and it has been nothing but trouble since. I think we got all the bugs worked out yesterday finally. My boss said she thought it would be a good idea if I took a few days off and I wasn't going to disagree. So, I am taking today and tomorrow off for a four-day weekend. It feels great already. I slept in until 9:45 today. I have plenty of homework and chores around the house to take care of, but I don't have to go to work so it's all good.

Religion Fact of the Day

More people are familiar with the sweeping reforms made by the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II) in the early 1960s, but the First Vatican Council also made some important changes to the church. It was called by Pope Pius IX and begun in 1869. The most notable change was to officially declare the doctrine of papal infallibility. It had been an unwritten rule up to that point, but in a controversial move, the church made it official. Papal infallibility means that in matters of the church and faith, the Pope can not be in error.

Funeral Music

I don't deny that I have a somewhat morbid mindset. It's just how I am. Even though I know I am going to live for a very long time, I have been thinking about my funeral and what I want it to be like. Yeah, I may not physically be there, but it's my funeral, damn it, and I want it conducted how I want it.

On that note, I've been thinking about the music to be played. This is the playlist I have come up with so far. I've got another hundred years of life, though, so it's bound to be tweaked a bit.

1. Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen
2. Hallelujah – Jeff Buckley
3. White Shadows – Coldplay
4. Hero of the Day – Metallica (S&M)
5. The Likes of You Again – Flogging Molly
6. Come Sail Away – Styx
7. Dead Boy’s Poem – Nightwish
8. “Moonlight” Sonata – Beethoven
9. Fur Elise – Beethoven
10. Into the West – Annie Lennox (Return of the King soundtrack)
11. On Earth As It Is In Heaven – Ennio Morricone (The Mission soundtrack)
12. Amazing Grace – Dropkick Murphys (Live on St. Patrick’s Day)
13. God U Tekem Blong – Hans Zimmer (The Thin Red Line soundtrack)
14. Hallelujah – Handel (Messiah)
15. We Are the Champions – Queen
16. Somewhere Over the Rainbow – Israel Kamakawiwo
17. Book of Days – Enya
18. Angels Fall First – Nightwish
19. Also Sprach Zarathustra – Richard Strauss
20. A Final Dream – Trans-Siberian Orchestra
21. Son of Pain – Rhapsody of Fire
22. Cry to Heaven – Meat Loaf
23. The Breaking of the Fellowship – Howard Shore (The Fellowship of the Ring soundtrack)

It's not in order or anything, yet. I've got time to decide things like that. Some of the songs are here because I really like them, others because they're amusing, others because they move me. They all mean something to me, though, and that is why they are on the list.

Are there other 28-year-olds out there who are planning their funeral?

Now We're Not Moving

First we were. Then we weren't. Then we were. Well, now we are definitely not moving.

Shawn still wants to get out of the house. This has been tearing Mom up and I've been racking my brain for a solution. I'm not really sure I have one, but I have decided that we are not going to sell the house. Shawn has said that as long as he can walk away free and clear, he won't worry about his share of the equity at this point. Mom and I were sure we couldn't make the house payment on our own, though, so we thought we were going to have to sell. Well, I have been really looking at my finances and some options and I think I can make it work.

I'm going to defer one of my student loans that I have been paying. I'm going to talk to a friend about moving in. I've applied for some assistance from a program through the hospital I work at. It's going to be tough and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous. What it boils down to for me, though, is that my mom's dream is being crushed. I would feel like a shitty son if I didn't do everything in my power to prevent that. This may be a failed venture, but at least I won't be able to say I didn't try.

Fear

Some Halloween thoughts from Bill Maher.

And finally, New Rule: This Halloween, every time you see something that's supposed to scare you, like a skeleton or a severed head or a gay wizard--take a moment and think about fear. What are you afraid of? What should you be afraid of? What's really scary this Halloween is that the same group of idea-free losers who won the last presidential election could win the next one, by making us afraid of the wrong things. Which is why this year for Halloween, I'm going as something truly horrifying: a melting polar icecap. And I have the costume right here. [he puts "Melting polar icecap" on his head] What do think about it? Hmm? That's going to be my Halloween costume.

All right. Now, this week, as every week, all the Republican candidates talked about was who was the toughest in the war on terror. While the country's most populace state literally burned. The Democrats, as usual, said nothing, because they didn't want to offend fire.

The Republicans, including the "Scaremonger in Chief," sell themselves as our protectors. But it's always from fears they made up, like Iran. [with mock horror] "And their leader in Iran, who is pure evil. Ahmadinejad! Terror has a new name...and it's nearly unpronounceable."

At the Republican debate this week, Mike Huckabee said, "Islamofascism is the greatest threat we ever faced." Really? More than the Nazis, and the Russians and the Redcoats? In his latest ad, Mitt Romney warns eerily that Muslim jihadists want to establish an Islamic caliphate covering the whole world, including America. Yes, and I want to be adopted by Angelina Jolie.

And you thought the people who were scared of gays and Mexicans were paranoid. Islamic terrorists taking over America? They can barely get across the monkey bars. Our defense budget is $600 billion a year. They're using guns they took off a dead Soviet in 1981. I think we can hold Charleston.

We are the most powerful nation on earth, with the largest economy and the best military. And we're made to act the fool by a few thousand cave dwellers who still put out their video on VHS!

And that's the problem. Because of the incompetence that goes by the name George Bush--we have become the most insecure, paranoid superpower ever. We don't think we can get anything right anymore. We can't take care of our own citizens after a hurricane, or plan for our wars, or maintain our infrastructure. And our celebrity rehab facilities obviously aren't working at all.

As a species, we are failing at survival trick number one: prioritize the threats. Environmental catastrophe is going to visit all of us in the coming decades in one way or another, and when it does, I hope people like - oh, I don't know, Lou Dobbs - says to himself, "Huh, maybe if I was going to spend my whole career obsessing about one issue, it should have been global warming. My skin just fell off my face, and it turns out that really wasn't the fault of a Mexican."

Poetry Time

"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed---and gazed---but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

For Cat Lovers

Time has an interview with Tracie Hotchner, a feline expert who has a show on Sirius called Cat Chat. Here is something I was not aware of:

My big campaign is to get people off of dry food. The message of Cat Chat is: Think outside the bag. Dry food is kitty crack. It's addictive, and incredibly harmful to your cat. Of course, that goes counter to everything your vet tells you, and everything that advertising tells you. But when you start to feed cats wet food, their personalities will change, anywhere from 10% to 100%, toward affectionate and relaxed.

I've checked a few other cat sites and they are all saying the canned stuff is better. I guess Tiberius is getting a change of diet.

It's Not My Fault!

I'm glad to see that blame-shifting is not just the province of us lowly peons. Hillary Clinton is blaming her poor debate performance...on Tim Russert. I think she's feeling a bit nervous with the the fact that the Iowa caucus is rapidly approaching and she is not pulling ahead of the pack.

New Blog on the Block

My good friend, Jeromy, has finally started his own blog, Seeking Goliath. He's always got something thought provoking to say, so check it out.

Spam Humor

Everybody who has passed within shouting distance of the internets knows about spam. It's a fact of life, unfortunately, but we always find a way to cope such as turning it into poetry.

Me? I just try to laugh. For example, the headline of one spam email I got today was:

My friends ask what my secret is and I say it's in my pants!

This gave me the image of some skinny dork (not resembling me), call him Steve, going through life and no matter the question, his answer was, "It's in my pants!"

"Hey, Steve, how's it going?"
"It's in my pants!"

"Steve, how do I fix my computer?"
"It's in my pants!"

"What are you doing tonight, Steve?"
"It's in my pants!"

"Steve, have you seen stapler?"
"It's in my pants!"

As much as I hate spam, a part of me would be a little sad to see it all go.

Strange Associations

There is a cool music website, Pandora, that lets you build your own stations. You put in an artist and it will play a song from that artist and then play music from similar artists. Most of the time it seems to work well; the artists make sense. I put in Metallica and I got Maiden, Priest, etc. Flogging Molly gave me a bunch of Celtic punk music.

Today, though, I got a rather odd selection. I put in Jim Steinman, he of Bat Out of Hell fame (the first two). First up, it played a song from his solo album, Bad for Good. Okay, good. Next, though, it chose a song from Dragonforce.

WTF?

I happen to like Dragonforce. They are an awesome European power metal band with some crazy fast guitar work. But they really are in a different category from Steinman's Wagnerian rock. Both are good and both are over the top, but that's really where the similarities end.

Religion Fact of the Day

Satan was not always the cosmic force of evil he is usually portrayed as now. In the Old Testament, Satan makes very few appearances and he is a member of God's court, as in the Book of Job. There it is clear that he is one of God's functionaries, tasked with roaming the Earth and testing human morality and faith. The tempting serpent in Genesis is just a snake. It was only much later that people linked Satan with the serpent. Not until the Intertestamental Period (200 BCE - 200 CE) does Satan become the eternal opponent of God.

Happy Birthday

Happy 29th birthday to my dear friend, Jeromy. I believe that this is the 20th birthday of his that I have known him. I certainly could not ask for a finer friend. Actually, I don't even think of Jeromy as a friend any more. He is a brother. I feel lucky, blessed in fact, to have someone like him in my life. We should all be so lucky. I know that if I ever need anything I can count on him to help me out no matter what. I also know Jeromy will accomplish great things in his life and I am excited to see where his path lies. So, Jeromy, I hope you had the best of days.


Jeromy having some quality time with his son, Elijah.

By the way, Jeromy, your present is in the mail, though it will probably be a few weeks before you get it. Sorry.

Magic is Real

At least that's what my daughters tell me. I had another talk with them this weekend about why they don't want to read any more fantasy books. I asked them where they got the idea that magic (even the fictional kind)is bad. They told me they had never heard anything about it at church; only their mother and grandmother had ever said anything about it. I asked them if they were told why it was bad. "Because it opens a door for demons to come in."

Sigh.

I asked them if they had ever seen me doing anything evil (aside from reading evil books). They had not. Whew. I then grabbed my copy of the Bible and set it in front of them. I asked them to find a passage in there that said magic is evil. Amazingly enough, Erica was able to find a couple that she said supported her. Both of them were in the book of Acts. First up:

Acts 13:7-12

7He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God. 8But the magician Elymas (for that is the translation of his name) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 9But Saul, also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10and said, ‘You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? 11And now listen—the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind for a while, unable to see the sun.’ Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he went about groping for someone to lead him by the hand. 12When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord.

Erica was adamant that Elymas was bad because he was a "magician." I asked her if the problem was that he was a magician or that he was opposing Paul and trying to "turn the proconsul away from the faith." She said both, but I said that magician is just his job description. It could say "the blacksmith Elymas." The problem isn't that he is a magician. It is that he is trying to lead people from the faith. She grudgingly agreed.

Her next example was Acts 19:13-19

13Then some itinerant Jewish exorcists tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, ‘I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.’ 14Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15But the evil spirit said to them in reply, ‘Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?’ 16Then the man with the evil spirit leapt on them, mastered them all, and so overpowered them that they fled out of the house naked and wounded. 17When this became known to all residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, everyone was awestruck; and the name of the Lord Jesus was praised. 18Also many of those who became believers confessed and disclosed their practices. 19A number of those who practised magic collected their books and burned them publicly; when the value of these books* was calculated, it was found to come to fifty thousand silver coins.

I told her that the problem here seemed to be that these people were claiming to have powers that they didn't have. I also said that many of these people who claimed to be magicians deceived people and conned money out of them. I said magic wasn't any more real then than it is now, but that people would make fraudulent claims about magic (or anything else) to deceive people. Erica and Shaena both agreed that the problem was deceiving people and taking their money. However, Erica hit me with this:

"I believe magic is real."

What? She didn't know anyone who had done "real" magic. She didn't know anyone who knew someone who had done "real" magic. She didn't know any stories of "real" magic being done. But, she "knows" magic is real. I told her that aside from one or two crazy people in the world, no one believes magic is real (yeah, yeah, I know that there is a lot more than one or two. I wasn't going to get into that with her).

I also tried to explain to her the difference between faith and reason. She tried to tell me that it is "obvious" God exists. When I told her that there is no proof for God's existence, she just reiterated her point that it is obvious because "how could everything be alive" if it were not for God. I tried to say that you can't prove God exists and that if there was solid proof there would be a lot fewer atheists in the world. I told her you have to take it on faith that God exists, but that faith is not a bad thing. I told her that my friend, Jeromy, has said he has grown more through faith than reason. She nodded and seemed to think about that.

I left it at that. The whole talk probably lasted a little over an hour. These conversations always seem to leave me mentally drained. Erica was crying a little bit by the time we were done, but she doesn't seem to have hard feelings over these talks. Two minutes later, she gave me a big hug and said, "I love you."

I love you, too, Erica. That's why I won't give up on you and your sister.

One Hip Daddy-O

I mentioned a few months ago that I went to a 1950s theme party for our summer student volunteers at the hospital. I believe I posted a picture as well. Well, one of the adult volunteers, Doug, who was there took a bunch more pictures.

Here I am with my boss, Linda.



And here I am with Linda again and Doug.



This is my co-worker, Jamie.



It was a lot of fun. Many of the kids dressed up and they had some great costumes. I think next year I'll suggest a Star Trek theme, though...

Learning HTML

I am not an HTML expert by any means. I've picked up a few bits here and there, just enough to get me by. I've been wanting to figure out how to add a background color to blockquotes to better set them apart and today I finally learned how. I think it looks much better. Let me know what you think about it.

What To Do About Islamic Terrorism

In a comment to my post about Islamofascism Awareness Week, Muslims Against Sharia said:

And a better way would be?

This was in response to my remark that IAW was not an effective tool for teaching anyone about this serious situation.

I went to their website and it seems like they have a noble purpose namely wanting to reform the current state of Islam. Here are their goals.

* to educate Muslims about dangers presented by Islamic religious texts and why Islam must be reformed
* to educate non-Muslims about the differences between moderate Muslims and Islamists (a.k.a. Islamic Religious Fanatics, Radical Muslims, Muslim Fundamentalists, Islamic Extremists or Islamofascists)
* to educate both Muslims and non-Muslims alike that Moderate Muslims are also targets of Islamic Terror

I agree that Islam is in a bad state today. Many Muslims have failed to adapt to modernity and are lost in our world. There also seems to be a lack of leadership amongst Muslims to carry them forward and lead them boldly into a new state of existence with the rest of the world.

I applaud the Muslims Against Sharia for trying to change this. I disagree with them, however, that Islamofascism Awareness Week is going to help matters. Despite their intentions, events like this only serve to create more division and anger. I know too many people who would hear something about this and it would only serve to increase their notion that "all Muslims are terrorists." They wouldn't look any deeper. I think also that many Muslims would see this and, without looking any deeper, chalk it up as one more reason the West is the enemy of Islam.

Words are important. I'm not saying we have to be cuddly and call Islamic terrorists some p.c. term like, oh, "disgruntled and misunderstood persons who just happen to follow Islam." I think we should have conferences on this subject, but call them something more bland, "Muslims in the Modern Age" or something. Save the harsher words for the actual speeches at the conference where the speaker can give context to his words.

I also think that terms like Islamofascism do the disservice of blending all Islamic terrorist groups together. There are huge difference between al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, the PLO, and all of the other terrorist groups. While they may use similar tactics, they often do not have similar goals. We can't conflate them into one big bunch and expect to be able to deal with them. Each group has to be understood as a separate entity so that we can more properly evaluate their motives and power structure and goals.

To close, I think Muslims Against Sharia have a good purpose. I just don't think they are going about it in the right way.

BoRhap Humor

This video is great. Comedian Rick Miller sings "Bohemian Rhapsody" in 25 different famous voices. He nails not just the voices, but the mannerisms of the singers from Neil Young to AC/DC.

A Secret A Week...

PostSecret

The Theodicy Question

Perhaps the most troubling aspect of Christianity is the theodicy question. Why is there evil in the world? Steve over at An Evangelical Dialogue on Evolution writes about it and includes some good links for some various explanations.

This is the problem of theodicy, and it still perplexes modern Christians today. It perplexes me. Over the centuries, Christians have provided many lines of reasoning to address the theodicy issue. However, no single argument has captured Christian minds, probably because none comes without its flaws.

Those who wish to expose Christianity as a sham delight in highlighting the problem of evil. For atheists it is a good strategy since, in my opinion, it is their best (and maybe only good) argument. The other arguments frequently put forward (eg. “I can’t see any evidence for God, therefore he doesn’t exist.”, “There are lots of errors in the bible, therefore Christianity must be wrong”, and “The scientific evidence supports evolution, so God didn’t create the world”) pale in comparison. But theodicy is very difficult, and I suspect that a debate limited only to theodicy would prove very uncomfortable for any Christian.

UPDATE: Fixed spelling error.

Congress Isn't Popular, But Then It Never Is

A new poll shows that 75% of Americans are not satisfied with Congress right now.

"The ratings for Congress overall have been mired in the mid- to low 20s for several months, but for most of the year, Americans have had a positive view of the Democrats in Congress," said CNN polling director Keating Holland. "That's not true any longer -- this poll is the first time we have found majority disapproval for the Democratic leaders' track record since they took control of Congress."

"I think it is important to remember that when Congress performs well, when it actually addresses the big issues of the day, it tends to be rewarded in the public's view of Congress," Binder said. "If today's approval ratings are down in the dumps, we probably shouldn't be surprised. On the big issues of the day, Congress doesn't seem to be doing very much."

The Congress almost never gets very high approval ratings. They don't have the luxury the President gets of being judged on their own since they have to be judged with everyone in Congress including such paramounts of service as Max Baucus. Interestingly (or aggravatingly), though, individual Senators or Representatives tend to rank fairly high with their constituents. "It's the other people in Congress who are screwing up, not the hard-working, selfless person I voted for."

We need to move past that mentality. If Congress isn't doing enough, stop blaming it all on the other States' representatives. Hold your own representatives accountable. If they can't get the job done, vote for someone else. Besides, shaking up Congress more often would probably be good for us all. It's too easy for people who have been in Congress for 20 or 30 years to get complacent and sucked into the mire of the money in Washington.

Religion Fact of the Day

The Five Pillars of Islam are the foundation of the faith. They are:

1) Shahadah - This is reciting the basic creed of Islam. "There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet."

2) Salah - Prayer five times a day at fixed times. The Muslim must face Mecca as he or she prays.

3) Sawm - This is fasting which is most commonly ritual fasting as during the month of Ramadan but can also be done as penance or for ascetic reasons.

4) Zakah - Giving charity to the poor.

5) Hajj - At least once in their lifetime, all Muslims of able body must make a pilgrimage to Mecca.

How Not to Inspire Confidence

So FEMA staff now pose as reporters to ask other FEMA staff "tough" questions. You'd think they would have been a little less obvious about something like this.

Silence is Golden

Someone doesn't understand that freedom of religion does not mean freedom from religion (or moments of silence).

Poetry Time

How about another poem? This is one of my favorites.

Annabel Lee by Edgar Allen Poe

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea;
But we loved with a love that was more than love-
I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and me-
Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we-
Of many far wiser than we-
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

Finally

Genarlow Wilson, the young man imprisoned for having consensual oral sex with a 15 year-old girl when he was 17, has been freed from prison. The Georgia Supreme Court ruled his punishment was cruel and unusual. That's good news and I am very happy for him. Still, he lost two years of his life because of this. I'd like to think that this whole incident would be a wake up call for people and make us rethink our laws pertaining to issues of teen sexuality, but I'm not holding my breath.

Thank You

A big thanks to the people giving me rides these last two weeks while I have been without a vehicle. My sisters, Sharie and Shawna, have made sure I got to work every day. My father loaned me his car for a day so I could go to a couple of appointments. Jeromy picked me up and gave me a ride to his place so I could join the radio group. Last, but certainly not least, my co-worker, Brenda, has given a ride home everday. It's even been nice enough to put the convertible top down on her Mustang a couple of times.

So, thank you very much to all of you who have been helping me out.

Religious Fact of the Day

The speech Pope Urban II gave to the Council of Piacenza in November 1095 was the spark that lit the fire of the crusades to recapture the Holy land from the Muslims. Though his remark "God wills it!" became very famous and the rallying cry of the crusaders, it is not known if Urban actually said it during that speech or if it was invented later.

The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Condoleezza Rice sounds skeptical that a two-state solution can be reached. Of course, it may have been easier if the Bush administration had made this a priority from the start. As it is, it seems too little, too late.

The Monetary Cost of War

Iraq will end up costing $6,666 per American, all 300,000,000 of us.

A Disaster

That's what we would get if we elected Guiliani. He's not sure if waterboarding is torture. It's "liberal newspapers" that are making this a big deal, because Bush and the torturers are just trying to keep America safe. I wonder what Guiliani thinks of Benjamin Franklin's statement.

They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security

I think the right to not be tortured is an essential liberty even if you are not an American citizen and may be a terrorist.

Homosexuals and Evangelicals

An Evangelical reader of Andrew Sullivan's blog emails him about his thoughts on homosexuality and his experience with a friend who came out.

What made the exchange more poignant is the fact that I’m an evangelical Christian who believes homosexuality is wrong. He knew I was an evangelical Christian, and for some reason, chose to test the waters of tolerance with me. Later, I was on the phone with my sister—a Christianist if ever there was one—I told her the story, and she immediately asked if I’d told him homosexuality was wrong

“Of course not,” I answered, “Do you think, at one of the most difficult moments in his life, I was going to turn it into a nightmare?” I stood squarely for my friend and against my sister.

And yet, my conscience neither condemned nor condoned me for not speaking out.

This is the dilemma for many evangelical Christians. We are passionate about Biblical inerrancy and strongly believe Revelation when it says that those who practice homosexual behavior will not be allowed into heaven. And yet we are also (some of us, anyway) passionate about “speaking the truth in love.” For us, the Bible is the Truth and from that standard everything flows.

Read the whole thing. It is an insightful look at a respectful Evangelical and how they feel about gays.

I have no problem with somebody believing that homosexual acts are a sin. What I do have a problem with is people who take it a step farther and don't treat gays with respect. They are still human beings. Homosexuality is not a choice; people are born that way. Of course you can argue that they have a choice whether or not to act on their feelings, but that is a different matter. Demonizing them isn't going to make them any more likely to come around to your thinking. It will lead, though, to people like Larry Craig and Ted Haggard desperately trying to pretend to be something they are not and acting out on their inner turmoil by oppressing the very people like them.

I also feel that ultimately, if you feel that homosexuality is a sin, it is between the gay person and God. What two consenting adults do is between them and not the business of anyone else. No one is being hurt, so there is no need for anyone else to step in. I guarantee that there is not a gay person in the country who doesn't know what many Christians think about the fate of their souls, so preaching to them about it probably isn't going to make a difference.

What do I know, though? I don't even believe in Hell.

Ron Paul

He may be crazy, but he is a principled crazy.

Indifferent or Overwhelmed

Catherine Martin counters Thomas Friedman's claim that the current generation of 20-somethings is complacent and passive.

We are not apathetic. What we are, and perhaps this is what Friedman was picking up on, is totally and completely overwhelmed. One of the most critical questions of our time is one of attention. In a 24-7 news climate, it is all but impossible to emotionally engage all of the stories and issues you are taking in, and then act on them in some pragmatic way. So instead, young people become paralyzed. (It seems that all of us are a bit paralyzed. After all, what are Friedman's peers really doing? And aren't his peers the ones with the most straightforward kind of power?)

My generation tries to create lives that seem to match our values, but beyond that it's hard to locate a place to put our outrage. We aren't satisfied with point-and-click activism, as Friedman suggests, but we don't see other options. Many of us have protested, but we -- by and large -- felt like we were imitating an earlier generation, playing dress-up in our parents' old hippie clothes. I marched against the war and my president called it a focus group. The worst part was that I did feel inert while doing it. In the 21st century, a bunch of people marching down the street, complimenting one another on their original slogans and pretty protest signs, feels like self-flagellation, not real and true social change.

I do see some of this amongst my own peers. I wonder if the feeling of being overwhelmed couldn't be partially overcome by banding together with like-minded people. A group of friends can come together to discuss things that are important to them. Perhaps one or two who are really into international affairs can focus on the goings on of the world. Another person who is a law junkie can keep up on legal affairs in our country. Someone who has some knowledge of agricultural practices in America can keep everyone updated on the latest in that sector. Monthly meetings can be held for everyone to come together and talk about issues with ideas for how people in the group can help or effect change. Maybe I'm being a bit idealistic, but I think that with the "overwhelming" number of issues we have to face, it only seems logical that a group can better do something about them than an individual.

Knights Templar

I have always been intrigued by medieval knightly orders, including the Knights Templar. I did a paper on them for a class a few years ago (before The Da Vinci Code made them a pop culture icon). Now the Vatican is about to release a document, a papal report, on the Templars that had been misplaced. While it isn't likely to confirm any conspiracy theorist's ideas, it should be very interesting nonetheless.

And while on the topic, I should mention that for those who want a good conspiracy novel involving the Templars, you should check out Foucault's Pendulum.

Religious Fact of the Day

Martin Luther may have begun the Protestant Reformation in 1546 with his 95 Theses, but it was not his intention to break away from the Catholic Church. Luther wanted to reform the Church in many ways, but primarily by ending the sale of indulgences and returning to the idea of justification by faith alone.

Daily Laugh

An excerpt from a conversation I had yesterday at work.

Me: Non-physician staff members are only allowed to have one ID badge.
Employee: What's a non-physician?
Me (trying not to say 'What?!'): Anyone who isn't a doctor - nurses, office workers, engineers...
Employee: Oh.

I had a hard time not laughing. It's a good thing this was over the phone or the look on my face would have given me away.

Islamofascism Awareness Week. Wait...Huh?

This looks like a great way to deal with the problems we are facing.

The purpose of this protest is as simple as it is crucial: to confront the two Big Lies of the political left: that George Bush created the war on terror and that Global Warming is a greater danger to Americans than the terrorist threat. Nothing could be more politically incorrect than to point this out. But nothing could be more important for American students to hear. In the face of the greatest danger Americans have ever confronted, the academic left has mobilized to create sympathy for the enemy and to fight anyone who rallies Americans to defend themselves. According to the academic left, anyone who links Islamic radicalism to the war on terror is an "Islamophobe." According to the academic left, the Islamo-fascists hate us not because we are tolerant and free, but because we are "oppressors."

The "greatest danger Americans have ever confronted?" I guess the Axis Powers were just a bunch of sissies. Well, okay Italy was, but you get the point.

Seriously, the two problems with things like this are that it a)conflates the terrorists into a bigger threat then they actually are thereby giving them more credibility than they deserve and b)it increases the division in our own nation by playing partisan games thereby making the terrorists' jobs easier because we are not standing together as a nation. Terrorism from Islamic radicals is an issue our country needs to face, but that doesn't mean we need to panic about it and have events like "Islamofascism Awareness Week." We raise the terrorists up to our level when we do things like this because we are presenting them as a credible, serious threat. They are not. Yes, they are making plans to kill our citizens and damage our interests around the globe. They are not a nation-state with the money, people, and industry to stage any sort of sustained or serious threat to us.

The three things we need to combat terrorism are solid police work, credible diplomatic efforts, and standing united as Americans. These will eliminate 99% of the problems we face in Islamic terrorists.

The Absurdity of College Rankings

Being inefficient can increase your ranking.

Church Politics

The competition is heating up.

Jesus: Wrong for America

Bill Maher's thoughts on "value voters".

And I know that if you can look at the war in Iraq, the melting environments and the descent of America into "idiocracy," and still think our biggest problems are boobies during the Super Bowl and the "war on Christmas," then you don't have values, you have issues.

If you had "values," you'd draw the line at torture. But a startling number of people who call themselves Christians don't. And I'm pretty sure if you asked, "What would Jesus veto," it wouldn't be health care for sick kids.

Why, it's almost like "values voters" don't really believe Jesus was right about anything. [in mock attack ad voice] "Jesus Christ: wrong on gays, wrong on taxes, wrong on torture, and wrong for America."

I wonder if Beliefnet would let Bill Maher join their blog discussion of Evangelicals. Yeah, probably not. I'm not sure I would want him too, either. He's more amusing when he can wear his comedian hat.

American Evangelicals

Beliefnet has a great roundtable blog discussion about Evangelicals in America. It's not one-sided, either. Jerry Jenkins, a famous evangelical and co-author of the Left Behind series, is one of the bloggers. Also taking part are Hanna Rosin, author of God's Harvard; former Bush aide, David Kuo; sociologist Michael Lindsey; and reporter Jeff Sharlet.

Some excerpts:

Hanna Rosin says:

I disagree with evangelicals on most political issues, so it's hard for me to welcome this development. But what makes me uneasy is not so much the issues as the effect on the political culture. Political disagreements are great - healthy for a democracy, fun for a journalist. But not when those disagreements are loaded with the weight of sin and evil. This generation grew up thinking of Republicans and Christians as twins, and in my experience it's hard for them to separate between those two. Supply side economics is a staple of the Republican party platform, not something dictated by the Bible. Ditto on tort reform, and even gay rights. I would bet that some part of Bush's brain confuses his commitment to the war with his commitment to God.

Jeff Sharlet says:

[Evangelicals are] not "just" anything -- they're the mutant strand of DNA that makes American politics so different from those of other developed nations, the genes that tilt American democracy toward messianic empire. And yet to say that they're "bad" for America is to suggest that there's an America to be neatly distinguished from evangelicalism. I don't think so, and neither do the conservative evangelical leaders -- elite and populist -- I've spoken with over the years. The smartest among them recognize that it's not evangelicals who are becoming more like secular America, but secular America that's becoming more like evangelicals. The example with which Hanna closes -– Hillary's penchant for theological talk -– goes right to the heart of elite evangelicalism's success. Not in the trenches of culture war, but behind the lines.

Jerry Jenkins says:

Before I speak to Hanna's cogent comments re Hollywood, let me say that I have long been uneasy about Evangelicals in positions of political power, largely because I see this as antithetical to the very teachings of Jesus. He was a preacher of paradoxical truth. If you want to be rich, give your money away. Respond to anger with kindness. Love your enemies. Do good to those who spitefully use you. Want to be exalted? Humble yourself? Want to be a leader? Become a servant of all.

The whole discussion is very fascinating especially for someone like me who is very intrigued by the growth of the Evangelical movement. Check it out.

Torture Is Wrong

And it doesn't work. Stuart Herrington, a retired Army colonel and interrogator, writes about torture.

Forty-plus years ago, as fall winds coursed across the Bluff, ethics professor Dr. Arthur Schrynemakers, in a voice of Dutch-accented English that still rings in my memory, declared to my freshman class that ethical principles were absolute. Right was right; wrong was wrong. When he pointed his finger at those of us in the front row and thundered that it was ethically impermissible to commit an evil act and attempt to justify it because that evil act might lead to some future good, we listened -- and some of us remembered.

Coming from this background, it has been disappointing to observe the ongoing debate about torture in interrogation, usually carried out be people who have never interrogated a soul. Nor is it easy to accept that the current debate is framed pragmatically by the question, "Does torture work or not?"

...

One can almost hear the late Dr. Schrynemakers expound on this question. Wagging his finger, he would note that government sanctioning of mistreatment of prisoners by its intelligence officers is an essentially evil act committed in the name of self-defense, which has propelled our great country down a slippery moral slope and imperiled us further.

We need more voices such as Col. Harrington's telling our government we do not want torture to be a part of the American way even if it is terrorists.

In Memoriam

Patrick Roy Kramer: May 6, 1977 - October 22, 2006









In Memoriam A.H.H.

by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Strong Son of God, immortal Love,
Whom we, that have not seen thy face,
By faith, and faith alone, embrace,
Believing where we cannot prove;

Thine are these orbs of light and shade;
Thou madest Life in man and brute;
Thou madest Death; and lo, thy foot
Is on the skull which thou hast made.

Thou wilt not leave us in the dust:
Thou madest man, he knows not why,
He thinks he was not made to die;
And thou hast made him: thou art just.

Thou seemest human and divine,
The highest, holiest manhood, thou:
Our wills are ours, we know not how;
Our wills are ours, to make them thine.

Our little systems have their day;
They have their day and cease to be:
They are but broken lights of thee,
And thou, O Lord, art more than they.

We have but faith: we cannot know;
For knowledge is of things we see;
And yet we trust it comes from thee,
A beam in darkness: let it grow.

Let knowledge grow from more to more,
But more of reverence in us dwell;
That mind and soul, according well,
May make one music as before,

But vaster. We are fools and slight;
We mock thee when we do not fear:
But help thy foolish ones to bear;
Help thy vain worlds to bear thy light.

Forgive what seem’d my sin in me;
What seem’d my worth since I began;
For merit lives from man to man,
And not from man, O Lord, to thee.

Forgive my grief for one removed,
Thy creature, whom I found so fair.
I trust he lives in thee, and there
I find him worthier to be loved.

Forgive these wild and wandering cries,
Confusions of a wasted youth;
Forgive them where they fail in truth,
And in thy wisdom make me wise.

1849.

Another Stupid Lawsuit

A guy who bought a used truck is suing every previous owner of the truck after an axle broke and caused a serious accident. One previous owner tried to have the case thrown out, but the judge said "no way." Wow. The guy owned the truck for a year before this. How ridiculous.

What's next? You sell a copy of The Catcher in the Rye at a garage sale to a guy who goes on to kill someone. Does that mean the person's family can sue you for selling the book? The outrageous nature of lawsuits in the county is getting out of hand.

Unhappy Conservatives

Andrew Sullivan has blogged a lot about his dissatisfaction with the direction of the current party. Many of his readers feel the same way and one has written about what conservatism should be in his opinion.

Which is a roundabout way of saying that the coalition I'd like to see now would have two or three main pillars.

One piillar would be rooted in the idea that less is better than more when it comes to government -- that less regulation is better than more regulation, that decisions ought to be made by people close to problems, that markets ought to sort things out when possible.

Another pillar would be rooted in the traditional processes of our constitutional system, It would be based on an appreciation of the wisdom built into our system -- the value of checks and balances, the necessity of spreading power around, the importance of oversight, and even a real commitment to collegiality and a rejection of smears and ad hominem attacks in political discourse.

The third leg of the tripod, though, is the interesting one, because it's something that comes out of the far left. In fact, it's so far to the left that it wouldn't fit into today's Democratic party. I'd like to see an acknowledgment and rejection of some of the brutality of American foreign policy. I'd like us to explicitly own and reject what we did in places like Iran before the Shah, and in Guatemala.

That sounds good to me, though I would be happy with a lot less partisianship and demonizing of anyone who disagrees with you whether it is on the left or right. We will never accomplish anything great as a nation if we are constantly playing these games of right and wrong. Disagreeing with someone is fine; in fact it is healthy. Calling your opponents traitors or fascists is only going to lead to division and bickering.