This I Believe 5 | ***Dave Does the Blog

Moving diagonally

Bishops in the Episcopal church are obliged to visit each of their parishes once every few years, and this past week was our church’s turn to get a Sunday morning of Bp. Rob O’Neill’s time — appropriate, as it is Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, it was the day for readings about the Good Shepherd, Psalm 23, etc.

Bp. Rob’s an interesting guy. He walked into the job here about five and a half years ago (I was privileged to be one of the voting delegates from our parish), just in time for the fall-out from the 2003 General Convention (where New Hampshire’s election of a bishop who happened to be openly gay was confirmed) to hit the ground, coupled with other brouhaha within the diocese, from the big brouhaha at our church to the whole Don Armstrong thang, as well as national and international turmoil.

But for someone who keep being portrayed by the conservatives in the Episcopal Church and splinters thereof as Teh Evil Running-Dog Liberal Lackey and Button Man of That Woman (our Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts-Schori), Rob doesn’t come off as some wild-eyed lunatic or cunning madman or disingenuous tearer down of all that is right and holy in favor of rudderless libertinism. Instead, he taught. He engaged the congregation both during his sermon and in an hour-long session afterward, talking about the challenges in our own lives to follow the path of service down which Christ … well, shepherds us.

It was a good Sunday experience, meaning it’s one that I can take out beyond Sunday. There have been times when I’ve wished for a more visible leader as bishop, someone actively confronting injustice and wrong, but whenever I get a chance to meet or listen to him, it’s a reminder that there’s more than one way to lead.

(His sermon’s not online, but some of Bp. Rob’s other writings are here.)

Ironically, it’s forty (!!!) years ago today that I received First Communion, at St Joseph’s Catholic Church in Pomona, CA. I remember the date because I got a St Christopher medallion as a gift, and the date was engraved on the back.

What a long, strange journey it’s been, faithwise.

So what have you been blogging about lately, Dave?

I admit that the actual blog posts of late have been a bit thin on the ground. There have been compilation of Tweets from Twitter, and gobs of “Unblogged Bits” via Google Reader, but not as much original writing as I would like.

It is, honestly, all Les’ fault, as I’ve been sucked into excessive commenting in a thread on his blog.

In “A Christian asks; ‘I’m the bad guy? How did that happen?’” I chimed in on the question of how, and whether, Christians should be considered intolerant and ignorant threats to society (or members thereof). I ended up in the oddly uncomfortable and unexpected position of defending my personal faith from identification with the ultra-Orthodox Right who have absconded with the Christian “brand.”

So if the topic floats your boat, and you want to dig into stuff I’ve been writing about the past few weeks, check it out.

Fat Tuesday, Ash Wednesday

So tomorrow starts Lent in the Christian calendar.

Growing up, the whole “giving up things for Lent” was pretty straightforward — it was just that time of year when one Gives Up Something. The reasoning was vague in my head. Was it some sort of “I’m giving this up because I’m a Bad Person” or “I’m giving this up because Jesus gave up his life” or “I’m giving this up because the Rules say I have to give something up.”

Ultimately, I came to realize that the “giving up” at Lent is more of a “Be aware of your weaknesses, and of areas where you can improve yourself” kind of a thing. Or at least that’s how it’s turned out for me. It’s a time of reflection and giving up of stuff, not so much because giving up is a Cool Thing, but because it’s an opportunity to be a better person, to be aware of where I’m letting myself be driven by passion or “vice” in ways that I’m not necessarily comfortable wth.

The easiest things are the “giving up” — giving up chocolate, giving up sweets, giving up X, Y, or Z. It’s not so much about “giving up something,” though, as becoming aware of how I may be obsessed with chocolate, or sweets in general, or something else, to the extent that I indulge in it beyond what is healthy or productive. Or, to give it that religious spin (since it is Lent, after all), how that devotion or indulgence in chocolate (etc.) is keeping me from being what God intends for me to be — e.g., healthy, of a decent weight, more focused on helping others than helping myself to a few more chocolates from the See’s Candy box that someone brought into the office, etc.

Lenten resolves can be a doing of something, too, rather than a not-doing. For example, that one thing that your spouse is always bugging you about that you never seem to get around to on a regular basis? Or that something you keep meaning to do but never actualy get “round to-it”? Lent is a great opportunity to consider the why’s and wherefore’s of how that thing never gets done, and focus on changing that in your life.

The other thing I’m into for Lent is … not talking about what I’m doing for Lent. It’s not a matter of coyness so much as if I say something about it, then I feel like I’m doing it more for the admiration of the person I tell (“Wow, you’re giving up eating for Lent? That’s totally devotional, man!”) rather than for the sake of doing it to better myself. Pissing and moaning over what you’re doing for Lent seems to defeat the purpose. It’s either bragging over how virtuous one is being, or denigrating the value of what you’re actually trying to do.

So when it comes time for Lent (i.e., as of tomorrow, and for the next 40 days, minus Sundays and Feast Days), I look at my life, consider areas where I can improve it (be more virtuous, spiritually and pragmatically) in a straightforward, concrete way (by doing or not-doing), and then try to follow through for the time frame … the intent being that it will inform my way of life post-Easter in a positive fashion (“Hey, I learned I don’t need to indulge my chocolate cravings by stopping at Starbucks every day for a venti cafe mocha — though doing so on rare occasions would be a nice treat”).

So … happy Mardi Gras … and time to knuckle down on Lenten things.

Happy Holidays

I’m not afraid to use the words, nor “Seasons Greetings” — courtesy, respect, and pleasant wishes for others doesn’t diminish my beliefs and personal enjoyment of my own religious occasion….

At any rate, I hope everyone’s end-of-year jollity is jolly, and that Santa was good to you. We had a very nice, and not-overly-hectic time — Christmas Eve dinner at the Ks with extended family, Christmas morning at the Ks (with my folks in attendance), Christmas afternoon and dinner at my folks’ (with brother and family there, too), Christmas Dessert down at the Dellis, etc. Somewhere in the middle there Jackie flew out from Denver, adding to the festivities.

Lots of fun swag, too, in particularly my much-longed-for Dr. Horrible DVD, plus clothes and decor and books and other goodies.

Thanks to those who shot me IMs, perhaps wondering where I was (it’s Faerie, dagnabbit, and days flow like water here). Happy Boxing Day (apologies to those of you who use gift bags instead), and may you continue to be happy and safe.

And belated Thanks

It occurs to me that Thanksgiving is passed without (on this blog) an acknowledgment to all the folks to whom I am thankful. Because, for all of my introverted…

It occurs to me that Thanksgiving is passed without (on this blog) an acknowledgment to all the folks to whom I am thankful. Because, for all of my introverted nature, I must fess up to being thankful to others in my life.

To my boss, who both challenges me and feeds me enough kudos to make the demn’d horrid grind worth it.

To my readers and commenters here, who provide the feedback to power the mental mills that grind out this blog (et al.). I might do it otherwise, but the egoboo (and the emotional connections, and intellectual challenge) of you, the folks reading this, make the effort here more than worthwhile.

To the friends in my geographical area, and those beyond. You keep me grounded in humanity in a way that I cannot express.

To my family, blood side and in-law side, who constantly renew my faith in the human race, and in something outside my immediate household.

To my daughter, who (for all she occasionally drives me batty) keeps me on my toes and eternally hopeful for the future.

To my wife, who makes life worth living, to a degree that most mental health professionals would consider pathological, but that I consider the test of what I am as a person. I love you, my dear.

Thanksgiving is traditionally intended to focus on giving thanks to the Deity that makes it all happen. Given the wealth in my life (most of it immaterial), if Someone Upstairs is making it happen, I owe You a beer or fifty.

Thanks, all.

Praying for electoral victory

So one would think that, if anyone could be prayed into office, it would be the McCain/Palin ticket. Prayer for John McCain and Sarah Palin Please pass this prayer on…

So one would think that, if anyone could be prayed into office, it would be the McCain/Palin ticket.

Prayer for John McCain and Sarah Palin
Please pass this prayer on right now on behalf of John McCain. Please start prayer chains immediately for the election.
This election can be turned around for the glory of God if we will stop worrying and get on our knees!!! How many people can you pass this on to? Let us pray.
Father, in the name of Jesus, we come to You right now asking for a miracle in this election. Lord, we lift up to You right now Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin. Lord, we ask that You would just wrap Your arms around them and their families at this critical time. Father, we ask for miracle upon miracle in this election. We know that only You can turn the tide of evil in this election. Father, as we await the final days of the election, we ask in complete faith that You would allow the truth to be known across this land Lord, we ask for forgiveness for putting You last. . . Father, please heal our land and homes, allow us to have another chance to love You the way you should be loved. Lord, we ask specifically for John and Sarah’s health, wisdom, words, actions and their campaign staff. Lord, we lift them all up to You now. Father, we also specifically ask for the voters in many states who are battleground states. Lord, please convict the hearts of voters in Florida, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, North Dakota, Virginia, Nevada and Colorado.
Father we beg for every electoral vote. Lord, we lift all of our needs up to You now. In the name of Jesus we claim victory in Your name. Lord, we pray for Your will to be done in a mighty way…we know that this election can and will glorify You! Father, place the man you would have to lead our country in a Christian way on November 4. We love You, Lord. We await Your holy miracles…
In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen
Send this on to as many people as you can think of. . . . .let it reach every corner of America. Get on your knees for this election. . . . Pray for God to send a REVIVAL across this land. Christians, it is time we get on our knees . . . . talk to people, speak up. . . . we’ve been silent too long.

Presumably a whole passel of folks joined in on that fervent prayer, given the rhetoric floating around about the Demon Socialist Commie Scary Atheist Pagan Muslim Obama.

And, yet … there the Scary Man is, elected and ready to destroy our Christian Nation.

Of course, there were a lot of people praying for Obama to win. But let’s discount them, for they are deluded and not Real Christians.

Or maybe …

… maybe praying to God to swing an election in favor of someone or another is arrogant presumption. Clearly intercessory prayer doesn’t work like some sort of magic spell — the out of “and sometimes God answers no” demonstrates that. That doesn’t seem to sway the “name it and claim it” crowd, but, well … I try to to not be too irrational in my religious delusions.

To my way of thinking, prayer is a way for the pray-er to actually consider and focus on what’s important to them — and what they can do about it beyond talking with God about it. So I don’t pray for God to make buckets of food appear to the starving people of the world — obviously, if God’s waiting for me to actually wish for that before He does it, there’s something seriously borked with the universe. Instead, I try to pray mostly for myself in that context — “Help me generous with what I have, to share with others who are in need” — or, if I’m feeling like being broader in prayer, I might pray for generosity in others, including myself.

Because, ultimately, if someone’s going to help feed the starving, it’s going to be people like me, not a sudden appearance of manna in the slums of the world.

When it comes to things like the election, I’m similarly dubious about praying to God for one candidate or the other. It’s like praying for a football game — or about a war. (I also tend to be leery of magic wishes — too many D&D games and rereadings of “The Monkey’s Paw.”)

There’s firstly the presumption that the candidate I like is, in fact, the “chosen of the Lord.” Jeez, I have enough of a difficult time trying to figure out how I’m not living up to my own moral code and beliefs; making that judgment about another person to the degree that I would ask a favor of God to personally intercede on his or her behalf? That’s just asking for trouble.

Second, there’s the presumption that I know what God’s will — assuming God had a particular intent for an election during one certain year in a small nation-state on a tiny planet orbiting an undistinguished sun in one of a million galaxies — actually is in this instance. Assuming there’s a Divine Plan, my prayer would seem unnecessary to sway God toward it, or futile to sway God against it. Further, there’s always the possibility that what I think of as God’s will — even assuming I really truly have a handle on God’s sense of right and wrong — is what God really wants to see happen right this moment. Maybe (if I may be Biblical) the rumors about Obama are correct, and this is the prelude to the End Times with Obama as the Anti-Christ, Eek! In that case, it would be both futile and kind of uppity for me to tell God not to fulfill the prophecies in Revelations simply because I prefer John McCain’s policy on off-shore drilling, or even on abortion. (Which I don’t, but work with me here.)

And what’s God supposed to do with such a prayer, anyway? Tweak the voting machines? Compel people to zombie-like vote for the candidate of my choosing? Fiery letters in the sky to vote for the right guy? Sneak angels into polling places to throw the election? Drop an anvil on the opposition’s head the day before the election?

The most I feel I can legitimately do is pray for wisdom and clarity for myself when I enter the voting booth, charity in dealing with wins and losses, and resolve to continue to do what I glean as right. And, if I want to spread that prayer out further, hope for the same for the electorate.

I might have, in any given election, my own expectations about which candidate that wisdom might lead people to choose — but I try not to assume my own omniscient righteousness too much such that it justifies fervent prayer. For all that I have an ego the size of Baltimore, some times, I really try to maintain humility about a few things at least.

So I was unimpressed, and unmoved, even before the election, by exhortations to pray for victory for McCain (I didn’t receive any similar missives re Obama), save that they motivated me to go out and actually do something for the candidate of my choice, and promoted prayers that both candidates (especially, ahem, the one I wanted to win) exercised good judgment and courage were they to win.

Faith is depressing but church-going isn’t?

An interesting study out on religion and depression: A study released by Temple University found that people who feel close to a higher power and pray often are more likely…

An interesting study out on religion and depression:

A study released by Temple University found that people who feel close to a higher power and pray often are more likely to be depressed, while people who attend religious services and feel that their lives have purpose are less likely to be depressed.

Lead researcher Joanna Maselko found that people who report being in a close relationship with a higher power are 1.5 times more likely to struggle with depression. She believes depressed people may use religion as a coping mechanism, and as a result, “they’re more closely relating to God and praying more.”
People who did not necessarily report being close to a higher power but did attend religious services regularly are 30 percent less likely to struggle with depression. Being involved in a faith-based community helps forge attachments to others, which prevents depression, the report said.
“People with high levels of existential well-being tend to have a good base, which makes them very centered emotionally,” Maselko said in a news release. “People who don’t have those things are at greater risk for depression, and those same people might also turn to religion to cope.”
The study suggests that people who have a hard time forming close relationships may turn to God for a “stable and secure attachment figure.”
“It’s hard to disentangle these elements when treating mental illness,” Maselko said. “You can’t just ask a patient if they go to church to gauge their spirituality or coping behaviors. There are other components to consider when treating patients, and it’s important information for doctors to have.”

What the study authors are trying to say is that the causality here is unclear — are people who are deeply faithful prone to depression, or are depressed people likely to turn to some sort of deep faith? Does going to church regularly lead to a healthier emotional life? Or are gregarious and emotionally balanced faithful more likely to go to church?

For myself, when I’m feeling depressed, I’m less likely to go off to church or do other social things — but, then, I’m an introvert. Conversely, I find a lot of communal happiness in a church-going setting, when I can get over that hump, and generally find the experience pleasant. (But, then, I’ve chosen a church/parish that’s a generally positive place to be.)

Potpourri on a Rainy (!) Monday Evening

I DON’T LIKE THIS Running Out The Clock: Ah, unitary executive power — is there any law you cannot simply ignore. See, also, We Have One Week to Save the…

I DON’T LIKE THIS

Running Out The Clock: Ah, unitary executive power — is there any law you cannot simply ignore. See, also, We Have One Week to Save the Grand Canyon. Freaking idjits. Expect more last-second-orgy-of-executive-self-indulgence over the next few months. You thought Clinton’s flurry of pardons was bad?
Bush administration okays religious discrimination…: See above. “Law, shmaw … who’s gonna prosecute us?”
Financial Crisis: Who is going to bail out the euro?: A very dark schadenfreude courses through me.
AFA Declares Victory Over McDonald’s: Great, another reason not to eat at McDonald’s.
Homosexuals should carry warning tattoos, says London…: Not My Anglican Church.
Best Buy’s New Tag: How … uninspiring.
David Sirota: Treasury Blacks Out Key Parts of Private…: Transparency through obscurity?
WalMart now says they’ll keep the DRM servers on forever: Or at least until there are fewer people to bitch about it.
Nonviolent Activists Are Now Terrorists: Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
TSA Agent Ripped Off Electronics, Sold Them On eBay: Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Now, where have I heard that before?
Artist Detained: Absolute power corrupts … hey …
NSA enjoys eavesdropping on US soldiers’ phone sex…: Absolute … oh, never mind.
EA boss on DRM protesters: Half are pirates and the…: Come watch the game industry self-destruct!
American Culture Derails Girl Math Whizzes, Study Finds: Actually it finds we don’t do well with Math Whizzes of either gender, but particularly with girls. Rrg.
Stupid QA tricks: Colossal testing oversights: Okay, no matter how smug I get, I always have to remember my own testing oversights.
The New Pepsi Challenge: Guess the Smile: Pepsi’s changing its logo and all its branding and labeling stuff so as to combat a loss of market share. As opposed to, um, improving their product?
GPS ‘Spoofing’ Could Threaten National Security : Yet another miracle technology ruined by black hats.
Firefox extension blocks dangerous Web attack: It also block all sorts of other useful things, like the Note in Reader linklette for Google Reader.
Airport security theater: I feel more secure, yes indeedy!
Grenades in your luggage? TSA says that’s A-OK!: Absolutely more secure than ever! You betcha!
Airport shoe-scanner device could prevent stupid shoe-removal…: Except we shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.
Won’t Somebody Please Think of the Children!: People terrified by the “bride and bride” license in California. Yumpin’ Yimminy, give me a break.
Christian Morality and Hell: I confess that I am a Universalist in this instance — which would label me, ironically, as heading straight to the Fiery Furnace in some folks’ account.
How’s that novel coming along?: *SIGH*

I DON’T CARE ABOUT THIS ONE WAY OR THE OTHER, BUT IT IS KIND OF INTERESTING

Fringe cancelled downunder after only 5 episodes: I’ve taken Fringe off my DVR rotation. I just wasn’t looking forward to the next episode.
ABC Develops New V: I was only a bit into the original. I suppose there’s room for improvement, though I suspect it will simply be grimmer and grittier.
Newly released British UFO files debunk some sightings,…: Of course, the real Torchwood kind of stuff wouldn’t be in files they’d release, would they?
Goodbye Little Penguin: Berke Breathed Retires Opus: Honestly, I haven’t cared much about Breathed or Opus since, oh, about two years into Bloom County.
‘Fingerprinting’ Method Tracks Mercury Emissions From…: … particular coal mines. Interesting.
Turbine to launch a LotRO-focused social networking…: I can see cases where this would be of value to some, though I am post-MMO-social-networking.
*HP classic calculator fans* might like the following…: Not that I’m an HP calculator fan, but I recognize a fellow geek tribe.

I DO LIKE THIS

RTD Sets New Ridership Record: That’s me! That’s me!
Full Terminator Season Ordered: Cool.
Watchmen Footage Sneaked: Sounds very cool, though Will America Watch Watchmen? makes one dubious about its success.
Associate Email Links With Gmail in Firefox (Natively): Excellent.
Gettyland: I so need to plan a trip to the “old” Getty Museum while out in SoCal over the holidays.
The Seven Habits of Highly Ineffective Terrorists: Look! Sane analysis of the terrorist threat! No wonder nobody’s listening to it.
The official name for Windows 7 will be: “Windows 7″…: Excellent. It’s about time.
Pirates, the Best Target Audience: Some very nice stuff here. I have at least one of these shirts on my wish list.
Star Wars A to Z: Way too cool.
Tim Burton could direct Johnny Depp in Pirates 4: Which might be the only thing that would make me go out of my way to see it.
Survival of the fittest Playboy Playmate: No, really, I read it for the scientific implications!
London tube map video: Haven’t watched the video yet, but I’ve read enough about the London Tube Map to know it’s a fascinating tale of design, informatics, and politics.
What are the Japanese up to right now?: It would be extremely cool to have something like this for the US.
Google Says Their Results Will Be RSS-Enabled: Everything is better in RSS.
Death by kisses, an unusual tombstone: And let that be a lesson to you!
Connecticut Supreme Court rules in favor of gay marriage: Huzzah!

Potpourri for a Monday evening

Security Maxims – I once oversaw the Security group in my company. All of these strike me as true. Talk to the TSA – Also known as “Line yourself up for…

Security Maxims – I once oversaw the Security group in my company. All of these strike me as true.
Talk to the TSA – Also known as “Line yourself up for a luggage and body cavity search by the TSA.”
How to land a 747 – I plan to study this before my trip to India.
Why Choose a Credit Union Over a Bank [Banking] – Really need to look into doing this.
Sherry Jones Reacts to UK Jewel of Medina Firebombing – “Religion of Peace” indeed. Not that ideologues of all stripes aren’t prone to firebombing.
Politeness Fail – This demonstrates so much of what’s so wrong with the world.
Sci Fi Channel Turns to the Dark Side with More Reality Shows… – *SIGH*
Height – This is extremely cool.
Vintage Poison Labels – This is also extremely cool.
Banned Book Week – kt literary – Read a book that someone doesn’t want you to today.

Kids and politics

“So who are you going to vote for between McCain and Obama?” Katherine asks us. I always try to be careful about dealing with ideology and my daughter. Yes,…

“So who are you going to vote for between McCain and Obama?” Katherine asks us.

I always try to be careful about dealing with ideology and my daughter. Yes, on the religious side of ideology, we all go to church and pray and all that — but whenever questions of other religions, denominations, faiths (or lack thereof) come up, I am always very careful not to say anything that assert without any more basis than my gut hunch that what I (or even “we”) believe is Obviously and Manifestly True, whilst those who think otherwise are Godless Heathen Destined to the Fiery Furnace Unless They Repent. “Some people,” I will say, “think X. Mommy and Daddy (or even just Daddy if it’s not something that the two of us agree on) believe Y. But what’s important is that you try to figure out the truth yourself.”

I labor under no illusions that Katherine is liable to set off on a bold course all her own, religiously or politically, at age 8. As I recall my own youth, my own political opinions were a direct reflection of what my parents believed (I could mimic their assertions as to the major presidential candidates to the letter, though I had no idea what I was talking about). Ditto for religion, which was even more of an unchallenged constant than politics. Listening to kids echoing political talking points to each other is both fascinating and sad, as it’s all right what they’ve been told, or heard, at home.

But that’s kids. Parents are all-wise (except where they aren’t in certain, oppressive ways), and so what they believe and articulate they do so as the Font of All Wisdom. Plus, parents are the only ones whose ideological beliefs, as adults, are actively and regularly to them, most often just as background dialog in the household.

So when Katherine asks us who we are voting for, the impulse to say, “Why, Barack Obama, of course, as any intelligent, compassionate, patriotic American would” is quickly forced down. I don’t want her taking my political opinions as some Absolute Received Truth. I’m not that egotistical … and she’s hardly a worthwhile rhetorical conquest. And if she were to just start echoing that statement, without comprehending and engaging with the reasons why, she’d be no more informed than too many of the electorate around us.

We were driving to karate when this came up, so Margie and I talked with her a bit about elections — and how you vote is actually a private thing, and not something you can insist on others telling you about (and why that’s a good thing). And, that said, we asked if she wanted to tell us how she would vote, and why. She opined she’d vote for Obama, because of the war and not wanting people to die. Which, as an eight-year-old, is at least as sophisticated a response as 85% of the populace (of either party).

So, since she’s told her choice, we told ours. We said (individually) we were both going to probably vote for Obama, but we wouldn’t know for certain until Election Day. But we could also respect people who disagreed with that choice, and that the important thing was not how Mommy and Daddy were going to vote, or who struck her as a nicer person or anything like that, but how she thought that a candidate would act as a leader, how he or she would make decisions and what sort of decisions they were likely to make, based on what they said and what they’d done in the past.

To be honest, it matters far less to me that Katherine grows up to believe exactly as I do, than that she believes based on her own reasoning and examination of the issues. She shouldn’t rely on us — or anyone else — to tell her where she should place her faith (political or otherwise), but on herself. Guided by my own sage counsel, perhaps, but ultimately taking responsibility to make a stand.

That would make me very happy about the job I’ve done as a parent.

With friends like thse …

Some conservative Christians are so enamored of Palin, they not only now want McCain to win, they want him to win and then quickly die. Antiabortion militant and all-round theocratic activist…

Some conservative Christians are so enamored of Palin, they not only now want McCain to win, they want him to win and then quickly die.

Antiabortion militant and all-round theocratic activist Jay Rogers of Florida, whose blog is called The Forerunner, writes:
Pray for John McCain’s salvation and speedy death. (Google The Forerunner’s articles on Imprecatory Prayer if you think this is harsh.)
And then there is this guy, a self-described Christian Reconstructionist whose blog handle is Ixion, and is apparently from Tennessee:
McCain’s VP choice, Sarah Palin, suddenly made me want to vote for him, as long as the LORD smites him while he’s in office. She’s consistently conservative on all the issues, and if she’s good enough for The Forerunner, she’s good enough for me. The Forerunner agrees with me that McCain must be smitten, as well, so I’m obviously not alone in my viewpoints.

And more similar, awful sentiments follow that.

Now, these folks are obviously (I hope obviously) on the lunatic fringe of Christianity (your opinion of the size of that fringe may vary). As someone who wears a Christian hat on his head, I find this reprehensible, irreconcilable with Christ’s teaching, and disgusting. I’ll even call it evil.

That said, and the “Power of Imprecatory Prayer” aside (is God going to listen to your Imprecatory Prayer more than he listens to the folks praying for or against any other candidate or candidate’s health this season? If so, why?), this calls up once again the specter of how important the VP selection is this year. That’s true for both candidates — between McCain’s age/health and the number of racist lunatics with guns who might come after Obama, the odds of either man fulfilling a four year term are lower than at any recent time I can think of.

So it’s not beyond the pale to consider what such a succession would mean, or even decide that if, God forbid, something were to happen, the successor is someone whom you’d like to see in the Oval Office even more than the guy on the presidential side of the ticket. I suspect most conservative Christians who are swooning over Palin have given that at least a little thought; it’s a bit morbid, but it’s human nature.

I’m not a huge Joe Biden fan, but I think he would do a decent job as President (at least given the last 8 years as a comparision). That said, even if I really thought Obama were a clod, I would never dream of hoping (let alone praying) he would die so that Biden could step in. That’s just plain wrong in my book.

I will say that if McCain/Palin wins, I’ll be praying for McCain’s good health for a looooong time. Though my hopes are I won’t have to (I won’t say my prayers because I think praying for a political outcome is not much better than praying for a sporting event — it doesn’t fit either of the Great Commandments in my book).

(via Les)

Giving for Gustav

Things keep looking worse and worse concerning Hurricane Gustav. If you want to help out, may I recommend: Donate to the American Red Cross Donate to the Episcopal Relief and…

Things keep looking worse and worse concerning Hurricane Gustav. If you want to help out, may I recommend:

Donate to the American Red Cross

Donate to the Episcopal Relief and Development Fund

or donate to some other relief organization of your choice.

“I had a dream … I met a Galilean …”

Well, no. Nothing so profound as that, believe me. I mentioned a post or so below about having an noteworthy dream on Friday night/Saturday morning. I’d been tossing and turning…

Well, no. Nothing so profound as that, believe me.

I mentioned a post or so below about having an noteworthy dream on Friday night/Saturday morning. I’d been tossing and turning most of the night, despite the a/c trying to catch up with the house having been closed up, and a fan in the room that was intermittently, not steadily, breezy. Some time after the last hour-long bout bout of spinning clockwise multiple times (in 90-degree increments), around 3:30a or so, I recall one dream …

It must have actually been pretty close to when I woke up about 7ish, since I rarely remember dreams except those sorts, and even then, body chemistry tends to foil remembering dreams (the brain stops manufacturing as much of the neurochemical that’s associated with short-term memory during much of the sleep cycle, which is why you can wake up with a dream right on your lips and … stutter and falter trying to tell it to someone within a few minutes; something like that).

I don’t even actually remember much about it (see above). There was a guy on a park bench, kind of disreputable-looking, wrinkled suit, kind of crazy gray hair. He was talking to people (sometimes me) as they walked up to him, mostly kind of wild and ranty, but also (it struck me) saying some profound things (don’t ask what they were, it was just an impression, like you have in dreams). And I was cranky and grouchy, and enough of the woes of the previous day (mostly job-email-related) were preying on my mind that they were seeping into the dreaming (making me again think it was shortly before I fully awoke).

And then the guy turned and looked at me and said, “It’s not about the challenges, or whether you overcome them. It’s about how you face them. So you might as well face them happy.”

So I woke up. And I was smiling, and not at all stressed. Which was suddenly unexpected and quite nice.

And I made a minor resolution (to go with this very minor epiphany) to try and smile more, and grouch less, not in some Pollyanna-like way, nor shirking off the myriad things I had to do (and still have to do), but because the things will get done (or not) whether I’m smiling and relaxed or frowning and tense, and the former sounds much more agreeable than the latter.

So — no big Road to Damascus moment or anything like that. No solicitation for funds to get a personal copy of the new book I’m not writing (Daveanetics). Nothing earth-changing or even likely lifechanging. Just a dream that hit me a bit more notably than most such, which makes it suitable grist for the blogging mill.

Now, of course, we’ll see how well that resolution lasts as the week progresses. But it made the flight home, and the day today, a bit nicer. 🙂

Tuesday morning Potpourri

A bit of this and that. Dave Johnson: The Spying Started Before September… – Even before 9/11 provided the justification, the Bush Administration was pushing telcos to allow warrentless wiretaps on…

A bit of this and that.

Dave Johnson: The Spying Started Before September… – Even before 9/11 provided the justification, the Bush Administration was pushing telcos to allow warrentless wiretaps on their say-so — and punishing ones that refused to do it.
ArsTechnica.com reports that the new FISA law is worse… – Everybody, myself included, focused on the telcomm immunity issue. But review of the law indicates it’s actually worse than folks thought, de facto legitimating any sort of surveillance the feds want to do through weak approvals, lengthy periods before which they have to seek approval, and fuzzy lines as to what the justification needs to be. Which raises the question of whether the Democratic leadership is stupid, compromised, blackmailed, concerned over looking weak on “terror,” or so confident that they will win in November that they don’t think it bears worrying about (see “stupid”).
Stuck for a story seed? – A random story seed generator. Noted for future reference.
Christine Wicker: Full-Quiver Theology – Everyone kind of pokes fun (or rages) at the Catholic Church for its anti-birth control rules. But here are some fine evangelical non-Catholics who are here to tell you that if you aren’t having as many babies as you can, as soon as you can, and raising them to do the same, you’re pretty much going straight to hell. And they aren’t just fringe lunatics playing to revival tents in Oklahoma, either.
ACR: Anglican Communion Redux: The Irish Primate on… – Anglicanism built an amazing “big tent” philosophy out of a number of internal debates in the past. Richard Hooker was a key player in emphasizing the role of reason, inclusiveness, and toleration (and was a major influence on John Locke, in turn an influence on our Founding Fathers), and his “via media” has served Anglicanism well in the centuries since his time. A shame so many seem so eager to toss it out now.
Obama Will Go Outdoors To Accept Nomination – And the fact that Mile High Stadium looks like a giant diaphragm will cause some folks to consider him anti-Christian and pro-baby-killing.
Giving Religious Pamphlets to Minors – Excuse me. I had better not catch you handing out religious literature to my kid, unless you’ve talked with me about it first. That’s a good way to get a bloody nose, it is. Think I’m not that kind of guy? Think again.
That’s no moon… oh, wait, yes it is. – Something to remember about eyewitness anything, let alone UFO reports.

James Dobson doesn’t speak for me

This is the most positive thing about religion — and religion and politics — I’ve seen in a long time: James Dobson Doesn’t Speak For Me Dr. James Dobson recently attacked…

This is the most positive thing about religion — and religion and politics — I’ve seen in a long time: James Dobson Doesn’t Speak For Me

Dr. James Dobson recently attacked Barack Obama for a 2006 speech that Obama gave on his Christian faith. Does he speak for you?
James Dobson doesn’t speak for me.
He doesn’t speak for me when he uses religion as a wedge to divide;
He doesn’t speak for me when he speaks as the final arbiter on the meaning of the Bible;
James Dobson doesn’t speak for me when he uses the beliefs of others as a line of attack;
He doesn’t speak for me when he denigrates his neighbor’s views when they don’t line up with his;
He doesn’t speak for me when he seeks to confine the values of my faith to two or three issues alone;
What does speak for me is David’s psalm celebrating how good and pleasant it is when we come together in unity;
Micah speaks for me in reminding us that the Lord requires us to act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with Him;
The prophet Isaiah speaks for me in his call for all to come and reason together and also to seek justice, encourage the oppressed and to defend the cause of the vulnerable;
The book of Nehemiah speaks for me in its example to work with our neighbors, not against them, to restore what was broken in our communities;
The book of Matthew speaks for me in saying to bless those that curse you and pray for those who persecute you;
The words of the apostle Paul speak for me in saying that words spoken and deeds done without love amount to nothing.
The apostle John speaks for me in reminding us of Jesus’ command to love one another. The world will know His disciples by that love.
These words speak for me. But when James Dobson attacks Barack Obama, James Dobson doesn’t speak for me.

Me, neither. If it needs to be said.

There’s also a great point-by-point debunking of Dobson’s attacks on Obama’s speech.

The site is put together by “a coalition of pastors and other Christians” (speaking for themselves, not for their congregations or denominations). You can electronically “sign” the statement, too.

Good stuff.

My new motto

“Manipulative, apostate, champion of spiritual bondage, revisionist, destructive and in error” since 1995! If you want to make enemies, try to change something. — Woodrow Wilson…

“Manipulative, apostate, champion of spiritual bondage, revisionist, destructive and in error” since 1995!

If you want to make enemies, try to change something. — Woodrow Wilson

Guess I’m not a True Christian

Or, at least, I wouldn’t make for a True Christian VP choice, in case Obama or McCain were to call me up and make an offer. What qualifications are embodied…

Or, at least, I wouldn’t make for a True Christian VP choice, in case Obama or McCain were to call me up and make an offer.

What qualifications are embodied in a truly Christian candidate for the Vice Presidency? Quite simply, the candidate will demonstrate actions and hold the beliefs personified by all of us who proclaim the name of Jesus Christ as Savior: …

Wow. Not many beliefs (or actions) that all Christians would agree upon. Which, of course, doesn’t mean that Christianity is a broad set of beliefs and traditions, but that there are a lot of “Christians” who aren’t True Christians®.

So what are the beliefs and actions of True Christians®? One might think that they encompass what someone — hmmm, was it actually Jesus himself — identified as the Greatest Commandments, i.e., to love God and to love our neighbors. One would, of course, be wrong.

… the need to be re-born in Christ and the affirmation of historic Christianity, having a demonstrable and proven record of support for traditional Christian morality.

As a side note, Anglicanism in general, and the Episcopal Church in particular, use the model of the “three-legged stool” in terms of discerning morality, the three legs being Scripture, Tradition, and Reason. I.e., what the church believes that God revealed in the Bible, what the believers of the past two thousand years have discerned from that and from the influence of the Holy Spirit, and what each individual today brings to the table via the Brains God Gave ‘Em.

Many evangelical and “conservative” churches ding Episcopalians for this, claiming that only Scripture is valid — but, when pressed, they’ll fall back instead on “tradition” and “historic” and so forth, seeming to claim that what people have thought God commands for thousands of years somehow intrinsically trumps what someone today might think God commands.

We’ll leave aside the whole demand on being “re-born” — though that excludes a substantial number of ostensible Christians whose faith tradition doesn’t do the whole “born again” thang.

So, okay, “historic” and “traditional” Christianity will be what we follow. Does that mean Catholicism? After all, Roman Catholics have the best claim to “historic” and “traditional” Christianity. No, I suspect not — to paraphrase Orwell, all Traditions are Equal, but Some are more Equal than Others. Which probably means their English cousins, the Anglicans, are right out, too. *Sigh*

A life of dedicated Christian service to the public is demonstrated by the following:

Interesting. The whole “faith” vs “works” thing is also a big debate with Christianity, which most evangelicals claiming (when it’s just a theological question) that faith trumps works — even though the New Testament makes clear that one without the other doesn’t hold a lot of water.

Still, let’s assume that these folks are enlightened enough to consider that particular works (“a life of dedicated Christian service to the public”) may very well reflect a presumptive faith that they’d consider Truly Christian®

Support for traditional marriage. As a Christian, the candidate for Vice President must affirm that marriage is an institution created by God and defined as a union between one man and one woman. …

Really? Now, I can see a particular faith tradition making an internal decision about what is, or is not, a true marriage. But surely different religious traditions have different opinions about what constitutes marriage. Even within Christianity there are different rules about and surrounding marriage — though I guess the implication is that True Christians® have a unitary marital policy.

I’m also, by that same token, intrigued by the whole concept of “traditional marriage.” Whose traditions? Going back how far? The traditions of 19th Century United States? 18th Century Japan? 12th Century France? 2nd Century Rome? Solomaic Israel? Heck, God certainly seems to bless (in the latter case) marriage between on man and multiple women. When did He change his mind?

But even if we arbitrarily consider things in the context of Modern (Yet Traditional) Christianity, are we talking marriage as my wife and I know it? As my parents understood it? My grandparents? Whose traditions are we talking about. Is any “union” between a man and a woman considered a marriage as created by God? Really? And is divorce allowed under God’s created institution, and on what basis would anyone actually say yes to that as a True Christian®?

For that matter, was marriage actually instituted by God? Certainly there have been a lot of marriages that were identified as such in regions and times when, presumably, Christianity (since that’s the God we’re probably talking about) was not yet known — or even where the Christian message was available, but not adhered to. Were those actual marriages? Is a Buddhist wedding an actual marriage? Are/were marriages between folks who aren’t True Christians® actually marriages, if they were not in alignment with what True Christians® believe God intended?

Support for the Right to Life, proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence, without exception.

I’m really interested in the implications of a Right to Life “without exception.” Presumably that means someone who would see abortion made illlegal. But how would a True Christian® think of capital punishment? Certainly it’s something seriously talked about in the Bible as an appropriate punishment for a variety of violations of the the Law. And what of war? Is killing others in wartime — a violation of their Right to Life — an exception to that right?

Does Christianity actually teach or support a Right to Life? Christ’s mandate to love your neighbor would certainly seem to say so — but I’ll be the first to admit that most societal implementations of Christianity have included multiple “exceptions” to that right.

Regardless of the more careful reading of all of this, it’s clear that the obvious statement being made by the representatives of True Christianity® is that a True Christian® can be recognized as being (a) against gay marriage and (b) against abortion rights. I don’t know that I know of where Christ actually identified True Christianity® that way, but I’m clearly not a Truly Christian®-enough person to make that judgment.

DAVE: I have bad news, dear. I’m not a True Christian®.
MARGIE: For so many reasons … [pauses a moment] Says who?
DAVE: True Christians®
MARGIE: Ah. Well, yeah, the fact that Les likes you probably rules you out right there.

So, sorry Barack, John … I guess I’m out of the running to be your running mate. Though I am available for any other Cabinet-level position you think I can handle, despite my spiritual shortcomings. Just say the word …

(via Right Wing Watch)

Ecumenism

So when ever I talk about the Episcopal Church, it seems like I’m dwelling on the divisions within it from controversies over gays and women and whatever. And that raises…

So when ever I talk about the Episcopal Church, it seems like I’m dwelling on the divisions within it from controversies over gays and women and whatever. And that raises the bigger issue of divisions between various Christian sects/denominations. While there may be some cynically pragmatic reasons why it’s maybe just as well that Christian unity is more of a distant goal and slogan than a reality, it is one of the directives that Christians — as informed by Jesus in the Bible — ought to be striving for.

Our rector now posts his sermons on a blog at our church, and a couple of weeks ago he included this quote:

The great labor of ecumenism has barely managed to dent the walls of separation that keep the divided Christian denominations from a genuinely common life… Protestant and Catholic, East and West, Christians remain divided –- and seem by and large content with their separation.

I started writing a response to the blog/sermon, but it got long enough in thought that I decided to post it here instead.

Why is it, in the face of calls by their founder to be “one” that Christians seem to be divided into so many sects and denominations and groups and subgroups. It’s such a recognized phenomenon that it’s made its way into the (ostensibly) world’s funniest religious joke:

I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump. I ran over and said: “Stop. Don’t do it.”
“Why shouldn’t I?” he asked.
“Well, there’s so much to live for!”
“Like what?”
“Are you religious?”
He said: “Yes.”
I said: “Me too. Are you Christian or Buddhist?”
“Christian.”
“Me too. Are you Catholic or Protestant?”
“Protestant.”
“Me too. Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?”
“Baptist.”
“Wow. Me too. Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?”
“Baptist Church of God.”
“Me too. Are you original Baptist Church of God, or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?”
“Reformed Baptist Church of God.”
“Me too. Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915?”
He said: “Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915.”
I said: “Die, heretic scum,” and pushed him off.

(Alternate versions here, here, here, and elsewhere around the Net.)

Part of it is, I think, tribalism. We like to herd together with birds of a feather. Even within a given parish (take my own), you end up with folks banding together by service time, by participation in different groups, by the choir folks vs the “contemporary music” people, by the women vs the men, etc.

But that’s only a part of it. When you look at the rhetoric that gets thrown about disagreeing between Christian groups — heck, just the things that are said (on both sides, though I have my preference) in the current Episcopal divisions — it’s not just herding, but downright hostility, even hatred. Which, for folks who’ve been told in no uncertain terms, to love one another, is pretty (as they used to say in the old days) scandalous.

It seems to me, watching these sorts of contentions, is that a lot of people aren’t interested in being One, they’re interested in being Right. Or, more importantly, in being the Winners, the ones whose beliefs are proven and vindicated by other folks agreeing with (or giving in to) them. They may want unity, but it’s a unity on their terms, by their rules. They want to win the debate, to be acknowledged as right in every jot and tittle of theological controversy, rather than in working together to further what they’re supposed to be doing in God’s name — feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, etc. They are more interested in asserting what the “Good News” is (“Now pay special attention under section three, paragraph twelve, clause 47/a, where it clearly states that …”) than in sharing it.

It’s a matter of pride, in other words. And, yeah, I can be that way sometimes, too. Though I try to hold it in check.

Too, I think ecumenism and a “common life” is misperceived. Too much emphasis is given on coming up with a fully agreed-upon theology and formal; recognition of each others’ flavors of priesthood and hierarchy and so forth. Too much emphasis is placed on uniformity vs unity. Arguments over ordaining women, or married priests, or bishops vs presbyters vs congregational control, which flavor of creed to adhere to or whether the eucharist is symbolic, transubstantiational, or consubstantiational, all miss the point; trying to settle them is like trying to convince everyone in a big crowd what restaurant go to — and what to order there. The goal in the latter is not that everyone eat mushu pork, but that everyone go out for a good time.

From my way of thinking (and, yes, I’m cognizant that I’m dancing around a bit of hypocrisy here, but bear with me), God didn’t make everyone the same, so why do we have to come up with a laundry list of identical and identically interpreted rules in order to work and live together? Wasn’t over-adherence to rules something that Christ himself is recorded as condemning? I’m willing to live with a little ambiguity, mystery, and disagreement over the specifics of God’s will — because I think the general guidelines are pretty clear. “In essentials unity, in non-essentials freedom, in all things love.” I’m less interested in folks’ theology than in what they do with it.

Or, looked at another way, I can be good neighbors, coworkers, even friends, with people with whom I disagree in one or more particulars (religious, political, recreational, aesthetic, etc.). Heck, Margie and I don’t agree on everything, but we seem to get along together pretty well.

The “non-essentials” aren’t unimportant — but they aren’t (by definition) essential to be in agreement about. The trick, of course, is that what is “essential.” My own opinion is that the “essentials” in Christianity need to boil down to the actual dictates by Christ as to what the most important commandments are, to wit, loving God and loving our neighbors. Most of the creedal and theological differences between Christian denominations — let alone the organizational and ritual differences — have only tangential importance to those commandments.

But, of course, they aren’t something you can win at, play power games with, easily condemn people for, or otherwise use as a club for being holier-than-Them. Perhaps that’s why they have such a hard time catching on.

But until they do, or until people act more on them than in hurling vitriol over which direction to cross themselves, or what sort of paraphernalia to have up on the altar, or what version of the song book is being used, or who’s married to whom — it seems unlikely we’ll ever have much in the way of unity within Christianity.

Sex and Religion

Doyce points to an article on a broad survey of how different religions (in the case of Christianity, some of the larger denominations) feel about various sexual/conjugal issues. It’s interesting…

Doyce points to an article on a broad survey of how different religions (in the case of Christianity, some of the larger denominations) feel about various sexual/conjugal issues.

It’s interesting reading, though the caveats at the top need to be seriously taken into account (almost to the point of making the comparison useless). Few religions/denominations are ideological monoliths as organizations, let alone as bodies of believers. That’s as true for Catholicism as Wicca. Then, too, some of the categories are multiple-choice-question broad — “abortion” and “divorce” and so forth can entail a wide array of activities and situations that would be judged by some quite differently.

With the exception of masturbation, each of the factors received a 1 rating (“condemned”) by at least one faith group.
With two exceptions (teen and extra-marital sex) each of the factors received at least a 4 rating (“morally acceptable in most cases”) by at least one faith group.
The only factor over which most faith groups agreed was their near universal condemnation of extra-marital sex.
With such massive differences of opinion, conflicts between faith groups over sexual matters will probably continue long into the future.

Well, as long as sex remains such an item of interest for most people.

That all said, if I were religion-shopping just based on the comparison, not surprisingly I’d probably end up in the Universalist-Unitarian camp.

Blogging categories

Unlike all the Cool Kids, I’ve never gotten down with using Tags for my blog entries. I don’t trust myself enough to tag things consistently, frankly. So I use categories…

Unlike all the Cool Kids, I’ve never gotten down with using Tags for my blog entries. I don’t trust myself enough to tag things consistently, frankly. So I use categories to group things together for those times I want to review a subject (vs. searching for individual posts).

I’ve added a bunch of new subcategories today for several categories that had grown unwieldingly large. In most cases, these were categories I’d been pondering for a while, but which I finally got around to building. I’ve done them as subcategories of the parent categories I’m trying to break up.

Now, in theory, I should go back through those parent categories and reassign things appropriately. Alas, with over 12,000 entries, that’s a herculean job that I’m saving for when I have a week with nothing else to do. Perhaps when retire …

So for the most part these categories are starting off as stubs that will build from this point, with possible backfilling if I reference back to an earlier post. Let’s see how that works for now; in another 12,000 posts, nobody will remember the difference.

Sub-categories being added:

Blogging – Technical (to track posts about MT and technical issues with my blog, vs. other general Blogging subjects)
Family (broken out from Personal)
Health – Science (to distinguish from “I am down with the grippe” Health posts)
Media – Art (to make various reference to the Tate Modern, etc.)
Media – Sports (for the occasional obligatory sports post)
My Mobile / PDA (for stuff having to do with cell phones and PDAs and combos thereof)
Religion – Episcopal Church (broken out from the general Religion category)
Religion – My Parish (my local church activities)
Religion – Me (my own musings on the subject)

And I’m doing this post as much to note these changes as “starter” posts for those new subcategories than as anything I figure anyone would be interested in actually reading. We now resume my regular blather, normally scheduled for this time.