Redhead in Rapid

Romans 14: Living Like a Christian

2012-02-08T06:02:00.003-07:00

In the last post I noted that the defining characteristic between Christians (and their neighbors) ought to be love. This is the posture we need to take to one another. When we talk about this very important idea, we usually end the discussion with love. We don’t want to get into the gritty details, because, well, the details are gritty and messy and someone may get offended so let’s just keep it all nice and abstract and talk about God’s love and leave it at that. Whew.

Paul doesn’t take that approach. He says, “love another,” and this is what that means. It means, don’t judge each other because God is judge. Some Christians are weak and can’t understand the grace of God, but “God has welcomed them.” Paul’s vision is that each Christian lives in honor of Jesus and in that honor seeks to lift up her brother or sister. If what I do, though not a sin, causes my fellow Christian to stumble, than I shouldn’t do it. Our goal as Christians is to live in love, which means according to Paul to, “pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.” That means we will need to deny ourselves at times, because it ain’t about me. It’s about Jesus. Sometimes we use God’s grace as a hammer to those who are still learning. Paul reminds us that is a selfish way to live in faith. We are to live in God’s Kingdom, which “is not food or drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 13: Love your Neighbor

2012-02-06T07:22:00.004-07:00

“Love your neighbor as yourself,” says Paul in Romans 13, echoing the words of Jesus Christ. Why? Because, “love is the fulfilling of the law.” You will not murder, you will not steal, nor shall you covet or commit adultery if you love one another. Paul is laying down a marker for the Christian life. It is a life based on love, from which flows all the blessings of the law.

Now this is commonly received wisdom in the church. Really no matter your denomination or whether you’d classify yourself as a liberal or conservative, mainstream or evangelical, you’ve heard a sermon about loving your neighbor. It is a common trope in any church. And because it is so common we forget how astounding it is to hear the statement, “love your neighbor.”

Paul writes this after spending chapters talking about division between Jews and Gentiles. He has seen firsthand the pain that comes from divisions in the church. He understands how living hard it can be to break old habits of division and attitudes of disdain. He wants the Jews and Gentiles to be a church, living in relationship with God and with each other.

But loving your neighbor is even more radical than that. The Roman world was intensely socially stratified. First you had Roman citizens and then everybody else. You had freemen and slaves with no rights but what their master gave them. You had the super-rich with hundreds of slaves. Women where the under the firm hand of their father or husband. Loving your neighbor wasn’t socially responsible in the Roman world, because you neighbor could be some lowly scum. And as Jesus makes clear in the story of the Good Samaritan, your neighbor is your enemy—he is the lowly scum. So “love your neighbor as yourself,” says Paul. Show her respect. Treat her as a friend. Understand that she is part of God’s story. Be a follower of Christ.

Romans 12: Bridging the Divide

2012-02-03T05:39:00.003-07:00

Paul has spent the last eleven chapters explaining why and how both Jews and Gentiles are part of God’s family. He wanted the church in Rome to understand that both belonged and neither could claim superiority over the other. The Jews could not say they have God’s special favor and the Gentiles could not say that God has rejected the Jews. Paul wanted them to get along and understand that they were a family. But this isn’t your, “you guys are brothers, so stop fighting” type of family. Paul lays out clearly what is a desired, a family based on God’s love.

First, remember it’s not about you or what you have done, it’s about what God has done and is doing. Second, we all have different gifts, but we are all one body. Third, love each other and hate evil. Fourth, love your neighbor, even if he hates you. Feed him, clothe him, bless him.

Paul is saying what Jesus said, you gotta die to self. It ain’t about you, but about God. Fortunately, God love you and sent his son to rescue you. By dying to self you find your true self in God. Paul wants the church to live in harmony and peace (shalom) with themselves and with others. God leads, you follow.

Romans 11: Branches and Trees, What?

2012-02-01T05:23:00.001-07:00

The Bible is full of metaphors and analogies and similes. Many of them are agricultural in nature—chaff and wheat, shepherds and sheep, branches and vines. If you grow up in the church this really isn’t a problem, because you are taught the meaning at such a young age. But if you didn’t grow up in the church (or weren’t paying attention) and weren’t a farmer and shepherd from the Mediterranean Sea than much of what the analogies will go right over your head.

We see this in Romans 11 where Paul is finalizing his “God is for Jews and Gentiles” argument. The first twelve verses reiterate the point that Jews, Paul’s people, still belong to God by his Grace. Then Paul launches into metaphor of branches and olive trees. He compares the Gentiles to wild olive branches that are grafted onto the olive tree. He reminds the Gentiles not to boast or lord it over Jews who do not follow Jesus, because it is only in faith that they are grafted on. And heck, he says, God may graft them back on before the end.

This is a relatively common metaphor in the Bible and in the modern church. Even though so few of us know what grafting a branch on really entails, we employ the metaphor all the time, because, well, it’s in the Bible. I think a different (not necessarily better) way is to imagine a prestigious university. Let’s pretend that this university is in South Dakota and you are from India. Growing up you had no connection to that university, because you lived so far away (physically and culturally). You may have heard about it because it really is the best university in the world, but you didn’t know anything. Then out of the blue one day you get an invitation to attend this school in South Dakota. Your wildest dreams, which you didn’t even you were your dreams, are being fulfilled. You go to that university and the first day you step on campus you are now part of a great history. Even though you just joined and knew nothing about the school, now you can take pride in what happened 50 years ago or in the Nobel Prizes won 10 years ago. The university’s history is now part of your history, even though you had nothing to do with it. You are still Indian, but you also are part of this university.

So it is with Paul and Gentiles the branches and the olive tree.

Romans 10: All are Welcome

2012-01-30T19:15:00.002-07:00

As we’ve seen in the last nine chapters, Paul has a problem. He is a Jew and as such believes in the covenant (read unique, special, one of a kind) relationship that God established with Israel. However, Jesus has come, died, and was resurrected, fulfilling long standing messianic prophecies and bringing salvation to the Jews. Thing is Jesus didn’t fulfill the expectations of the Jews. The Romans still had the upper hand. Israel, the nation, was just a pipe dream. The Kingdom of God had come, but the oppressor still lord it over the Temple. To further complicate matters, through the movement of the Holy Spirit, the early church soon understands that Jesus didn’t come just for the Jews, but also for the Gentiles. To a dedicated Jew all this makes no sense. How can God have a covenant relationship with Jews, yet say that all can belong in His Kingdom? And if Gentiles are part of the family do they need to follow the law? And if they don’t need to follow the law, then are these Christians saying the law (and therefore God’s word) is worthless?

These are difficult questions that to the modern ear seem irrelevant. Yet the answers to these questions are central in understanding our relationship to God. Paul wants us to understand two things:

Everyone and anyone can now be part of God’s story. Even if you are a Greek from Attica, your story and identity includes what God did with Abraham and Moses and David. Gentiles are grafted to the tree.
The central character in that story is Jesus, who has come for the Jew and the Gentile.

Paul continues to address these questions in following chapters, but he makes clear in chapter ten that it is Jesus who brings us hope and that with Jesus comes our salvation. As Paul says in verse twelve, “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him.”

Amen.

Romans 9: No Satisfaction

2012-01-27T05:51:00.003-07:00

I like to think that I’m now a more nuanced reader of the Bible. I understand that it’s historical roots and the different genres. I know that it isn’t a guidebook, but 66 separate books, united in Spirit, yet separated by time, place, audience, and author. I recognize that it’s not an answer book for my problems and questions.

Nevertheless, I like it when the Bible makes sense. Often it doesn’t. I don’t know why the characters act the way they do. I’m baffled by God’s response and the actions of His people. Usually that’s fine, because all this confusion happens in the Old Testaments, really really long ago. Sure, I’m going to understand the reasoning of a pastoral people surrounded by enemies. Yes, Elisha is a bit odd, but he’s a prophet and prophets don’t need to make sense. Plus it happened before the Romulus and Remus built Rome, so just read it and move on. This befuddlement, however, does not stay in the Old Testament. In Romans, chapter 9, I’m frustrated by Paul.

In this chapter Paul is answering a charge against his understanding of faith in Jesus. Namely, what do you do about God’s covenant relationship with Israel? Do the Israelites still belong to God?

Paul’s answer is, in a nutshell, God is God and God can do what God wants. This does not satisfy. I appreciate Paul’s insistence on faith for salvation, rather than work for salvation, and his emphasis that Gentiles can belong to God. Still, even though I don’t know what response I want, this definitely was not it. Yes, God is God and I cannot fathom his ways, but that cannot be a go to answer.

Romans 8: God's Children

2012-01-25T05:29:00.002-07:00

Paul is building an argument in Romans. Up to chapter 8 he wants the people of Rome to understand two points; first, we are all caught in the web of sin; second, that it doesn’t matter if we are Jewish or Gentile but we are all saved by faith. And, as Paul notes in chapter 8, it is faith in Jesus Christ that sets us free from the “law of sin and death.”

Paul wants his readers to understand this freedom. This letter comes later in his life. He has ministered all over the eastern Mediterranean and has seen people caught in the web and mindset of sin. Folks have faith, but forget that they live in this new reality of freedom in Christ. And this freedom means that we are children of God and His heirs. It is easy to skate over this idea because saying someone is a child of God has become a cliché. But it has deep meaning. As children of God we belong to God’s house. And in his house we have access to all that God provides and we share in his blessings. This does not mean we won’t suffer here, but it means that we cannot be separated from Jesus and the love of God.

Romans 7: Will vs Reality

2012-01-23T05:39:00.002-07:00

The problem, Paul says, is that you forget you are free. The law exists, which is good because it shows us our sin. Paul is explicit that the law does not cause sin, but the sin in us reveals itself through the law. The law shows us what is right, but we cannot do right.

This distinction between knowing what is right, but doing wrong is an essential reality for Paul. Knowledge is not enough. We know, but we sin. As Paul now famously says in verse 15:

I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.

This understanding of sin and will resonates with our modern sensibility. In our minds we know what is right, but we fail to act. As I kid in middle school one of my classmates of was being made fun of. I knew this was wrong, but I did not say a thing. To my shame I kept quiet and my nose clean. I was a slave to sin. The will is not enough. I see this in the mundane, finishing off those brownies even though my mind says, you’re full. You see this in the paternalistic projects of today, if only people know that “smoking is bad for them,” “that junk food isn’t healthy,” “that bullying is mean.” We equate knowledge with action, even though knowledge often does not lead to action.

Paul’s solution, not surprisingly is Jesus Christ. We’ll talk about that in chapter 8.

Romans 6: Living in God's Reality

2012-01-20T13:18:00.000-07:00

Programming Note: since this has become a series I'm actually adding titles to the posts. The plan is to do three to four of these a week, though I'm not sure what I should do after Romans. Suggestions welcomed.
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Much of the Bible is about defining God’s reality (or universe as it really is). In a fallen and broken world we say up is down and yellow is brown. When you read the prophets of the Old Testament you see them disgusted with Israel’s behavior. Israel, the chosen nation to be God’s people on earth, ignores its duty and behaves poorly. The funny thing about this behavior isn’t that God isn’t being worshipped (though that happens at times) but that God’s order for the world is not being followed. Israel breaks God’s heart by oppressing the poor, forgetting the widow, and showing injustice to the alien. God’s reality as found in creation, the law, and history is ignored and the people of Israel play by the world’s rules, not God’s.

The reality that you see in the Old Testament gets radically reworked and fulfilled in the New Testament through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus broke all expectations: forgiving sins when sins weren’t supposed to be forgiven; inaugurating a kingdom not based on power. The reality of God now includes the resurrection of the dead and the salvation of humanity.

In chapter 6 of Romans, Paul is trying to make the same point. He is telling the Romans that the world isn’t as it seems. That because of our faith in a resurrected Jesus we are no longer in bondage to sin. God’s reality has broken through in our lives and we are now alive with true, eternal life.

Some Thoughts on Romans 5

2012-01-20T05:20:00.003-07:00

I like to think that Romans is popular among the theological minded because it full of therefore’s. Paul is attempting to lay out a logical argument, with different sections building on each other, and at times circling back. Unlike his other letters, Paul isn’t dealing with problems in that specific church or addressing specific needs. He addresses the problem facing all churches—that is what to do about the Jew and Gentile divide. Instead this letter is telling the Romans what he believes and what is central to the Christian faith. Chapter 5 hits a home run with three “therefore’s.”

But let me only highlight the first therefore, which is in the first verse, “We are justified by faith (what Paul has been talking about in chapters 3 and 4), THERFORE, we have peace with God through Jesus Christ.” It is easy to skip over this line and focus on the thought provoking stuff right after it. But this idea that we have peace with God because of Jesus Christ is absolutely central to the story of Christianity. When the Apostle Peter is shown by God that Jesus is also for the Gentiles he goes and tells a Roman Centurion and his family that God sent to Israel “peace by Jesus Christ” (Acts 10.36). The world, ourselves, and our relationship with God is not right. It is broken and un-whole. Jesus Christ makes us whole and gives us peace with God. We can be in right relationship with God, the world, and others because we have shalom/peace.

Some Thoughts on Romans 4

2012-01-18T08:11:00.001-07:00

Much of Paul’s ministry was about extending the family of God. In his youth, only Jews could belong to God. They were God’s covenant people, burdened and blessed by this special relationship. The family was small and tight knitted. Paul wants his fellow Jews and Gentile neighbors to understand that through Jesus God is expanding this family. His covenant is not just for the Jews, but for anyone who believes in Jesus. Time and time again Paul fights against this natural division in the church, reminding them that they all belong in God’s family.

Central to that reality of unity is faith. Faith is more than just assenting to propositions about the nature of reality. Faith is more than believing what you are told to believe. Faith is accepting God’s reality. Faith is attempting to live in that reality of a Kingdom come, where Jesus was raised from the dead and made us right with God.

Paul tells the people of Rome (and us) that we are like the great patriarch Abraham. Abraham was made righteous because of his faith, not because he was circumcised or because he was a good person (go read Genesis 12 and following and you’ll see what mean). For Paul, and for us, this is wonderful news. Essentially it means that it doesn’t matter who you are. If you have faith, but are a Goth from the north, you are saved. If you have faith, but are a slave in a senator’s house, you are saved. If you are a Jew from Alexandria and have faith, you are saved because of that faith.

Paul wants us to know that God is not limiting his blessing anymore. We, the Gentiles, the forgotten, the broken, are now part of God’s story. Because of Jesus we have the joy that David spoke about 3000 years ago:

Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight.
Yes, what joy for those whose record the LORD has cleared of sin.

Some Thoughts on Romans 3

2012-01-17T05:47:00.002-07:00

In Romans, chapter 3, Paul continues walking a fine line. He wants to establish that all have sinned and that no one is saved because of he was circumcised or goes to the Temple. Yet, he doesn’t want to say that God’s covenant with Israel was and is worthless. Paul recognizes the law exists, but it brings only knowledge of sin, for no one can follow the law be saved. Adding another wrinkle Paul wants to extend God’s covenant to the Gentiles while still maintaining God’s special relationship with the Jews. This line of reasoning can make for difficult reading, but is essential for Paul.

At the end of the chapter (still in the beginning of the letter) Paul dances this little two-step. He wants the Jews and Gentiles living in Rome to understand that faith is the basis of their relationship with God and each other. The Jew, though aware of the law, is incapable of following the law. And so she must turn to faith. The Gentile, through foreign to the law, is condemned by the law. And so she must turn to faith. We come from different places, Paul says, but we must come to the same point of faith. No barrier is too great, for God is one and He is the God of us all who sent his only son to bring redemption to you and me alike.

Some Thoughts on Romans 2

2012-01-12T05:35:00.004-07:00

In the second chapter of Romans Paul lays out the simple fact that we’ll be judged by God. His judgment is righteous and just, and nothing can supposedly save you from that judgment. Being circumcised won’t save you. Even pleading ignorance won’t save you, for you will be judged by your own conscience. Paul understands human nature and is trying to make sure the Romans know that they don’t have a “get of jail free” card. Even those who know the law and teach the law do not follow the law.

Oddly, perhaps, this reminds me of a common complaint of God and His judgment. People will say, “yeah, God’s fine, but what do you about those people who don’t hear about Jesus. Do they go to hell? Are they saved?” The legitimate question is not an easy one to answer. We really don’t know and can only throw ourselves on the mercy of Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, this question is usually asked to deflect the real question, “Do you believe and follow Jesus?” You may be troubled by the fate others, but your fate is here and now.

Some Thoughts on Romans 1

2012-01-11T05:30:00.000-07:00

Crudely put, the book of Romans is about proving that God’s grace and salvation is free to all who believe. For Paul, the author, no special group membership exists that gets you into the club. If you knock, you will enter. In chapters one and two, Paul lays out the judgment against humanity. We have known God, but in our evil, denied God and thus subject to the wrath of God.

Not surprisingly, Paul holds back no punches. He doesn’t just say that folks were bad or evil or not nice to each other. Nope, that’s too abstract for Paul. Rather, he states that they (meaning you and me and everyone else) are full of: wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice, envy, murder, strife, deceit, and craftiness. Additionally, they are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, and ruthless.

This specificity bothers are modern ears and makes our cheeks flush. “We aren’t that bad,” we want to say. “Sure, some folks might be like this. You know, people like Hitler or Stalin.” We are uncomfortable with these accusations. Doesn’t Paul know that folks are nice and trying their hardest? Doesn’t Paul know that it isn’t their fault? Doesn’t Paul know that I don’t gossip, I just like talking? In our modern world we like to think that evil and malice have been expunged by the rule of law and modern psychology. In the capitalistic system, we just turn these negatives into positives, making a tidy sum along the way. Evil is a deficiency that can be fixed or at least mitigated.

I don't think Paul would agree with that sentiment...

Gideon and Failure

2012-01-10T05:32:00.002-07:00

When reading the bible it is easy to get caught up with the idea of "super" people. All these folks--talking to God, trusting God, doing what God wants them to do--seem extra special. "They have it easy," I think. "They here directly from God. Angels come visit them. Of course it's easy to follow Yahweh when Angels knock on your door." And we say to ourselves, "if only." If only I heard from God like that, all would be well. If only angels came to my tent then would I really follow God and serve the poor. If only the fleece stayed dry then I would quick the job I hate and start trusting God.

The thing is, if only, doesn't really work out too well for the people of God. Take Gideon, for instance. This guy is perhaps the most famous of the minor characters in the Bible. His people are oppressed and as a member of the weakest clan in the tribe, he can do nothing about it. But God sends an angel to speak directly to him to tell him to first cut down the alter to Bael and then kick out the Midianites. Over the next few chapters we see God speaking directly (God said) to Gideon three or four times. Gideon speaks back and even tests God on numerous occasions (the famous fleece test). With the power of God, Gideon kills a whole bunch of Midianites, becomes fabulously wealthy, and is hailed by all the northern tribes.

And yet, Gideon fails. Gideon has heard from GOD. Gideon has done wonders because of the strength of GOD. But the idols are too strong. Gideon makes an idol for God and Israel falls away. The people had once again experience the might of God, but they forget their story. Gideon forgot too and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.

A Reflection on Joshua 6 & 7

2012-01-09T17:00:00.000-07:00

At times Israel can seem like a sullen teenager. In Joshua 7 the Israelites are defeated by the city of Ai because the Israelites have sinned against God. Joshua, not knowing about the sin, rips his clothes, throws dust on his head, and prostrates himself before God. He then complains bitterly and says we should’ve just stayed on the other side of the Jordan (and I read the tone, ‘because this trip sucks!’).

God calls him out, “Stand up! Why have you fallen upon your face?” “Joshua,” God says, “you are a ding bat. Do you think I have given up so easily? That I, the Lord of Lords, will let you be destroyed for no reason. No, someone has sinned.”

You see, Joshua assumes that God has left the people to be destroyed. He jumps to the worst possible conclusion and lets fear overtake him. It is easy to mock, but Joshua’s reaction is so natural. When things don’t go our way, we assume God is against us. And that it is God’s fault we are here in the first place (if I didn’t follow God, I wouldn’t be here). Fortunately, the Lord is bigger than our temper tantrums.

Favorite Lines of the Bible

2012-01-09T05:36:00.002-07:00

"for I am certain that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this was not done in a corner." Paul, spoken to King Agrippa, Acts 26.26.

I'm not a bible basher, and, in fact have been known to skirt around the issue once or twice (sorry Grandpa Fred). I'm not good at talking about the need for Jesus and our hope in Him. I want to keep it quiet and out of the way. Like the middle-schooler I once was, I want to fit in. And in America we are pushed to make religion private and inward. In polite society religion ought not to impinge on one's public performance. Don't be the awkward uncle at Thanksgiving and tell people about Jesus. Keep your mouth shut and be cool about the whole thing and everyone will be happy. But, as Paul points out, this was not done in a corner. The acts of Jesus were not hidden away. The prophets declared from the mountaintop. The glory of the Lord was revealed in a risen man.

God of the Hills

2012-01-06T05:04:00.003-07:00

Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone. So begins the famous the Shema found in Deuteronomy 6:4. It is the definition of the Jew’s relationship with God 3000 year ago and today. Throughout the Bible you find this theme: that God is one and he rules the whole world, that all powers are beneath Him, that nothing can separate us from Him. Moses knew this. Paul knew this.

Yet, for the people of Israel it is a difficult commandment to fully comply with. Throughout most of their history the Israelites live in the hill country of Judea. Their neighbors control the lush plain and the coast. The hills are too often barren, good only for sheep and goats. The Israelites see the ease of their neighbors and wonder about their gods. See, in this ancient world the gods are particular to space in time. Too many, Yahweh is just a god of the hills—one of many. His way is hard and difficult. His way depends upon the fickle rain. The gods of the valley give abundant grain to the cities.

The Israelites see their neighbors and in their jealously cannot resist their neighbors’ gods. It is not so much that Yahweh stinks, but that He isn’t enough. So they hedge, setting up sacred poles, buying a few idols in the market. Maybe, they think, if this god works for the Amorites then it will work for me. And so the Israelites fall in their weakness and envy. They, like us, cannot trust enough in God. They, like us, hedge their bets.

A Reflection on Luke 23

2012-01-05T06:04:00.000-07:00

In many stories of the Bible I’m drawn to periphery characters. I wonder what it was like for them to witness the event—to stand still and watch. Here in the chapter on the crucifixion I wonder about Simon of Cyrene. Here was a Jew from a land hundreds of miles away. He had come for the Passover or perhaps on business. He may have heard of Jesus as one hears the town gossip. But he did not follow Jesus. He did not give up all he knew for this man. Jesus limps along to Golgotha, trying to carry a cross. The crowd gathers in for a crucifixion, which is always good spectacle. So Simon watches like everyone else. Taller than most he has a good view as Jesus moves from the fortress to the hill. I wonder what he thought at that moment. Did he feel pity? Did he know that Jesus was an innocent man? Did he care? It was a rough world, with rough justice, and he was keeping his nose clean. Then Jesus passes by. He collapses under the weight of the cross and the world. No Roman would carry a cross and this Jesus guy is too weak, so the soldiers scan the crowd and see a large, tall man. “You!” they yell, “come here!” And Simon knows it is not worth protesting soldiers with whips. So he comes and lifts the wooden beam and is surprised at how light it is. And as the soldiers whip Jesus, Simon follows, carrying the cross.

Some Thoughts on Acts 13

2012-01-04T06:40:00.002-07:00

It is easy to forget the amazing fact that Paul went and preached to the gentiles. The Jewish faith was a covenant with God. You couldn’t just open those doors wide open. That is unseemly. Instead, let the interested crawl on their knees to God in the hope that someday they may become Jewish and join God’s blessings.

Yet Paul took that and said, “Bah, the Lord has commanded me to tell the Good News to the Gentiles too.” He understood, like no one else at the time, how drastic the change was that Jesus instituted on the cross. Paul knew that salvation had really come and that it was absolutely nothing like anyone thought. It wasn’t about making Israel a nation again. It wasn’t about just Jews following Jesus. All of humanity had been saved with the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul knew this. He was obsessed by this.

Paul often is criticized for his hard line—that he isn’t soft around the edges. And he isn’t. But it took a man like Paul to bring the Good News to all. He wasn’t concerned what the others were thinking. Even Peter was swayed by the “Judizers.” Paul would have none of it. The man, the Pharisee, knew he had been saved. And he knew that that salvation was not just for him. And with the Holy Spirit, Paul would let no power stop the word of the Lord.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T07:31:00.001-07:00

If you want to know about the Christmas spirit, read this by Rod Dreher. An excerpt:

For some years now, it has been a Christmas Eve tradition in my family for my mother and my sister Ruthie to go to the Starhill Cemetery, the country graveyard near our family home, and light a candle on each grave. A time-consuming task, but a labor of love and communal memory (because they lit a candle on each and every grave, not just the graves of family members) by Mama and Ruthie. I’ve never seen this with my own eyes, because it has been many years since I’ve been here on Christmas Eve, but I could easily imagine how beautiful it was, given the deep night blanketing the graves so far from the lights of town.

This year, Ruthie lies in the graveyard, having died from cancer in September. My mother was too sad to honor the dead this Christmas Eve, given that her own daughter was now among them. The tradition was to end.

Dying as you Live

2011-11-07T06:54:00.001-07:00

In his excellent blog, The Bloggers of the Round Table, Simon Parke writes about the dying of Philip Gould. Unknown to us Americans, Philip Gould was a pollster of much renown who found fame in his use of focus groups. Tony Blair cited him as central to the rise of New Labour. Yesterday he died of cancer and Mr. Parke pulls out this quote, "he'd not have wanted to die the person he was before the cancer."

What wonderful and chilling words. Wonderful, because he had the time and space to realize who he was. Chilling, because as he lived he was not ready to die. The statement invariably turns to a question for me. Would be satisfied to die as the man I am? Do I really live how I want to live? Or do I play the game and say, tomorrow I'll do what I should today. Clean my room, love my neighbor, all that can wait until tomorrow. I have dollars to win and accomplishments to accomplish. Small things like love and sacrifice and simple kindness can wait until tomorrow.

May I be a man who can die today.

Western Civ and Christianity

2011-10-06T08:02:00.000-06:00

In a comment to the last post CZF (owner of the excellent blog The Relative Comment) asks in response to DT's post:

Earlier in that post DT says that one of the issues is that Christianity is now a minority position in western world. Would you agree with this statement? I think i understand the sentiment, but can think of nothing that could possibly have replaced Christianity as the majority position in the west, and certainly not in the US? Maybe it is leading in a plurality of options a la Bill Clinton, but I struggle to see it as a minority position.

To which I replied:

I think you are right. It is one of many. And perhaps the biggest of any distinct ideology/point of view/worldview. At the same time the thrust of the western world is strongly anti-christian. I don't mean this in a political sense or moral sense. Rather, the values of the western world--money, power, easy living--are much more in line with Greek and Roman thought than Christian thought. The church, in its weakness, falls prey to the idols of the west. In that sense Christianity is a definite minority...often among Christians.

I do this not to just highlight the excellent comment, but to expand upon my point of an inherent tension in the Western World.

Christianity has a unique place and role in the creation of Western Civilization. Unlike the other great civilizations of the world, Western Civ's primary religion (Christianity) has always stood in tension with it's primary cultural roots (Roman/Greek/and a bit of German). Christianity's ideals and way of life are antithetical to the Greek and Roman understanding of the world. Though Christianity became dominant the Roman and Greek way did not disappear, but became subsumed into the culture. Compare this to India, where Hinduism was part an parcel of the growth Indian civilization. Christianity was (and is) foreign to the Greeks, whereas Hinduism was native to India. (Please note, I understand that this is gross oversimplification.)

This "foreignness" has caused problems for the Church. Too often in an effort to be relevant, the Church has given up its Kingdom building mission and done what it could for power and money and easy living. Even today the Church too often let's itself be and succumbs to easy answers and a narrowing mission. In America this means the church focuses on things it feels confident about, usually some sort of moral issue. But it does not ask the difficult questions that may tip apple cart, such as question our economic system, justice, etc...

Feeling Awkward

2011-10-05T05:03:00.001-06:00

Ms. Redhead in Rapid and I like different television shows. We can agree on mysteries and some law procedurals and a few comedies. But she enjoys watching shows with a more human interest element. Anything from the "Super Nanny" to tv specials detailing the interesting life of someone. Me, not so much. Instead, I just feel awkward. I get uncomfortable and have trouble being in the same room. I feel bad for the people.

I bring this up in relation to Daniel Taylor's recent post, A Word on Hell. He discusses why HELL has become such a hot topic. I won't give a recap (well worth the read) but I'm struck by the last lines:

Now [people] often worry about saving God’s image. People want God to be all love, mercy, and fairness. The traditional doctrine of hell violates their own sense of love, mercy, and fairness, and so they feel pressured to explain hell in a way that gets God off the hook. I know there’s a lot more to it, but that’s going on too and it is a significant shift. I tend to think God can handle himself. [emphasis mine]

In other words people feel awkward for God. We feel bad that He has been misunderstood. We feel bad that He really didn't know what he wanted when he talked about hell. It's like its 7th grade again and I tell my friend that she didn't REALLY mean that... you're cool... who cares what some stupid girl thinks anyway. If only God could handle social situations better a lot more people would like Him.

The Vikings are Dead

2011-10-03T05:38:00.002-06:00

It's October 3 and alas, it has already been a tough year for the Vikings and their fans. 0 and 4. Three losses when we were leading at halftime. And then losing to one of the worst teams in football. At least I don't live in Vikings territory, so I'm not tempted to watch. My Sunday afternoons are free from the pain.

The Death of Mr. Davis

2011-09-23T05:40:00.002-06:00

Two days ago Troy Davis was executed by the state of Georgia for the killing of a Savannah police officer. No murder weapon was ever found, seven of nine witnesses had recanted, yet despite concerns of the verdict the sentence proceeded. Outside the jail, people protested hoping that the inevitable would be delayed. The police officer's family stated that they were grimly satisfied--justice had been done.

I'm opposed to the death plenty on moral and legal grounds (though here is the best defense of the death penalty I've seen in a while). But this case strikes at something deeper than the death of a potentially innocent man.

Our judicial system is broken. Judges are over-taxed and underpaid, defense attorneys have too many clients, and prosecutors want to a guilty verdict no matter what. The incentives are wrong. If you are poor and unlucky you'll probably be stuck with a poor defense. And once you are guilty you'll be sent to the hell of prison, where we'll turn you into a real criminal.

Our system gets worse the farther along you go. Too often prisons are run for the prison guards. Violence and rape and all sorts of horrors are endemic. We send people to hell, hoping that they'll be angels when they get out. And once they are out we leave them on the street, hoping that they won't steal or commit a crime, but not providing any opportunity for success.

Justice is not being served.

Waiting for Godot, if Godot was an HR Manager

2011-09-19T05:41:00.002-06:00

As I've mentioned before I'm currently one of the millions of underemployed Americans. This situation has its pluses--more soccer watching, hanging out with the kid--but I do need a full-time job. So I'm going through the job hunting process. I network, search for jobs online, send in very wonderful cover letters and a fine resume, wait, get a phone interview, and wait some, and if it doesn't work out, REPEAT.

It's a very frustrating process because I get no real feedback. I have no idea if I'm getting closer to a job until I get the job. Godot is not here until he is here. I work and I wait. The work I do may be the steps to a job, but I don't know until I have the job. If you think too much about it, then it starts messing with your mind. So I try not to think about it, but I do, so...

Interview Today

2011-09-15T05:06:00.002-06:00

Sorry for the light posting. Lots of work and getting ready for an interview.

9/11

2011-09-11T06:41:00.002-06:00

I have little to say. Nothing substantial or momentous. It was a day that changed the course of American and Iraqi and Afghanistan history. For better and worse we are a different nation 10 years on. Our understanding of the world and ourselves has changed. We've gone to war and many soldiers have sacrificed their lives and livelihoods. Let us remember.

Minnesota American History

2011-09-08T19:00:00.000-06:00

Since we are on this Civil War theme, let us remember sacrifice of the Minnesota Volunteers. Nearly half the eligible male population in Minnesota fought in the Civil War. It was the first state to send volunteers. All regiments performed heroically at times, but one should never forget on the 1st Minnesota Volunteers.

During the second day of fighting at Gettysburg the 1st Minnesota Regiment was ordered to charge the the advancing Confederates in order to provide more time for reinforcements to arrive. If the Confederates were successful, the Union line would be broken and the battle won. Greatly outnumbered the 262 men charged. As it says on the memorial at Gettysburg:

The order was instantly repeated by Col Wm Colvill. And the charge as instantly made down the slope at full speed through the concentrated fire of the two brigades breaking with the bayonet the enemy's front line as it was crossing the small brook in the low ground there the remnant of the eight companies, nearly surrounded by the enemy held its entire force at bay for a considerable time & till it retired on the approach of the reserve the charge successfully accomplished its object. It saved this position & probably the battlefield. The loss of the eight companies in the charge was 215 killed & wounded. More than 83% percent. 47 men were still in line & no man missing. In self sacrificing desperate valor this charge has no parallel in any war.

The 83% casualty rate is the largest loss by any surviving unit in American History.

American History Continued

2011-09-08T05:37:00.000-06:00

The Civil War was not a tragedy, anymore than the Revolutionary War was tragedy. Rather it was a necessary completion of that first war of rebellion. We as a people had proclaimed freedom in 1776 and that freedom could not be denied in 1861 or 1961. Yet we remember the Civil War as this sad tale of woe, as if it could've been avoided if only people were more reasonable. Let's thank the Lord that they were not more reasonable. Because reasonable people maintained the legal selling of children. Reasonable people thought it necessary (if unsatisfactory) to take a man who had gained his freedom and sell him south. Reasonable people wanted everyone to get along, no matter the number of lashes given.

President Lincoln did not want war. But to his great credit he did not shirk from war.

American History

2011-09-07T06:04:00.000-06:00

Once again Ta-Nehisi Coates is bringing the knowledge to the intertubes. In these years of remembering the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, Coates has done an admirable job of reminding his readers about the true cause of the Civil War (slavery), and the horrors of this peculiar institution. In one of his latest posts he helps define the slave society in the Antebellum South. In the first half of the 19th Century everything in the south was defined and shaped by slavery--the economy, people's sense of self, politics, the Mexican-American War, and much else.

It is cliche to state that Americans don't know their history. This is true. But this problem goes much deeper when it comes to remember the Civil War. We don't so much forget as we mis-remember. We mention slavery, but do not try to understand what that actually meant to the nation. We create stories of southern bravery and lost causes and skate over what that "cause" was for.

On some level, I'm hoping to stimulate an intellectual conversation about American History. But on another level, I am hoping to make this portion of our history more concrete, and less abstract. I believe the discussion should be respectful. I do not believe it should be antiseptic or dispassionate.

When we talk about the Confederacy, we should always be clear that we are talking about a rebellion incited for the purpose of purchasing and selling children. When we talk about Pickett's Charge, Robert E. Lee, or whatever, we should always remember that it was valor in the service of trafficking. Perhaps that sounds too harsh. I don't know. I don't really want to be emotionally distant from this.

Psalm 136

2011-09-06T05:29:00.001-06:00

It is common to talk about the vengeance and wrath of the Old Testament God. The God of Israel is often portrayed as a smiter and rule giver, waiting, oh so happily waiting for someone to cross the line so HE can do some smiting. This obvious caricature has some truth in it. There are many difficult passages in the Old Testament where God supposedly acts so unseemingly. Yet, this is only a partisan picture of YHWH. And it is not the way He is seen by the Israelites (in fact, they often want more smiting).

In Psalm 136 the psalmist reminds us of God's wonders. He is the one who made the heavens, spread the water, and set the sun on its path, and gave us light by the moon. It is God who saved Israel and divided the Red Sea and led His people through the wilderness. God, the psalmist declares, remembered Israel in its low estate, protecting them from their foes. Why? God's Love.

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures for ever.

O give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures for ever.

O give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures for ever;

Learning and Voice Control

2011-08-31T05:29:00.001-06:00

I have daughter. She is about 6 months and every day she is learning. And when she discovers something new she likes to repeat it. Again and again. For example, about a two weeks ago she learned that she has wrists that can move in all sorts of ways. So when she grabs things--her toy, a piece of a paper, three pieces of grass--she holds it up and moves her wrist up and down, left and right, in a circle to great satisfaction. She then proceeds to put the object in her mouth.

About a week ago she learned how to 'happy' scream. It first happened in Target. Mrs. Redhead in Rapid was about 3 aisles over with the little one when I heard, "YEEE!!!" breath "YEEEE!!!!" She had found her voice. And she keeps finding it. Yesterday, Mrs. RiR had a scream off with the little one. I scream, you scream. Again.

A Question of Fairness

2011-08-25T05:08:00.000-06:00

In my last post I bemoaned the lack of honesty within the GOP establishment when it comes to taxes. I noted that though many complain that half of the populace do not pay income tax, everyone pays some tax. We've always debated taxes in this country and we are gong to keep debating taxes until the end. The unspoken issue in all the debates is this slippery word--FAIRNESS.

People and pundits like to talk about the economic reasons for certain tax rates and types. They argue that this tax is the best policy because of its economic and social benefits. But I believe, deep down in the heart of the pundit, the question they ask, is it far?

Now it is true that taxes have broad economic and social consequences and that some types of taxes and tax rates are better than others. Nevertheless, when people are debating taxes they are debating fairness. For example, conservatives like to point to the total dollar amounts that taxpayers pay. They say, we can't increase taxes, because the (super) rich already pay the lions share. Liberals, on the other hand, note that as a percentage of income the rich pay much less than the poor. Sure the (super) rich pay a massive dollar amount, but that is because they make a more massive amount from the US economy.

Of course, both are right. The highest 1% of taxpayers pay more than their share of income tax. And yes, the (middle class) poor, on average, pay the highest percentage of their income on taxes. It is just not usually income tax, but sales tax, property tax, excise, gas, and numerous other taxes.

What ruffles my feathers is that lack of honesty in the debate and the recognition that that the real question being debated is fairness.

Broadening the Tax Base

2011-08-23T05:30:00.000-06:00

I feel that I'm a charitable fellow. I'm willing to give folks the benefit of the doubt. I even try to understand politicians and am sympathetic to the competing interests they must serve. Alas, my sympathies cannot extend to complete idiocy.

In the latest round of foolishness parts of the Republican Party are attempting to make the case that we need to broaden the tax base. They are upset that only 53% pay income tax. To quote Bachmann:

Part of the problem is today, only 53 percent pay any federal income tax at all; 47 percent pay nothing. We need to broaden the base so that everybody pays something.

I'm all about broadening the tax base. I believe that all citizens of any republic need to have skin in the game. The problem with this line is that the poor already pay a lot in taxes. They may not pay income tax, but they pay sales tax, payroll tax (what a crappy tax), gas tax, and a whole slew of other taxes.

It is this sloppiness of thinking that bothers me. The Republicans are obsessing over one part of the tax code and missing all the rest. We need tax reform in this country. Our tax code is inefficient, out of date, and harmful to our economy. But to do that we need to have an honest look at the whole tax pie. We can't just fight over marginal income tax rates or look at capital gains taxes, while ignoring payroll tax (oh how I loathe it), sales tax, and state taxes.

Better Said

2011-08-21T18:04:00.000-06:00

On this blog I ramble and write and tell myself I should edit that before I post it, but never do. Fortunately the internets is pretty big, so folks more eloquent than me will say what I'm trying to say in a much better fashion. Today in the Wall Street Journal, John Wilson (of Books and Culture) writes:

But an alarm should sound whenever the word "literal" is used in this context, whether as a badge of pride ("I just believe in reading the Bible literally") or as a hint that low-browed fundamentalists are lurking nearby. No one—no one—reads the Bible literally. But some readers are more attentive, more faithful, more imaginative and more persuasive than others.

Go read it.

Finding a Job

2011-08-18T05:14:00.000-06:00

With my recent move to Indiana I have the pleasure of finding a new job. I'm in this position by choice, but that doesn't mean I'm enjoying the process. It is a strange roller coaster in the sense that all can seemingly be going well--networking meetings, setting up interview, finding a job to apply for--but it doesn't matter unless I get a job. The sense of movement is great, but if it only means I'm taking the scenic route, then not much good is coming from it.

For me, so far, so good. I do have a sense of movement and I've applied and gotten positive feedback from some jobs. I just don't have a job yet.

Psalms 105 and 106

2011-08-14T12:16:00.000-06:00

Asking, what is your story, is a way of asking, who are you? How did you get here? And therefore, where are you going?

Humans, as it has been often pointed out, are obsessed with story and narrative. We watch baseball and over a season a story starts taking shape. It may be a team overcoming adversary or falling to that common vice of pride or reaching beyond themselves. The stat geeks fight against the story, talking about fip and ops and regression to the mean and the role of chance over any seven game series. We may nod in agreement, but despite our knowledge of chance we still find the story in the smallest things.

Now those smarter than us will state that we are evolutionary inclined to story and meaning. That we need to face facts and deal with the randomness of it all; to recognize that our lives do not have an arc or much of a purpose. Our stories are only self told, meant to delude us into action.

Perhaps this is true. Perhaps we tell lives so that we live as we ought too. If so, I wonder what we should make of Psalms 105 and 106. These psalms, probably written in the late Kingdom or during exile tell Israel's story. They remind the Israelites of their story--how they were slaves in Egypt and brought out by their God's might and power. The Psalms specify what happened to Israel, their ups and downs, their sins and glory. The Psalms remind the current Israelites who they are and that they have a purpose and that they are connected to a God greater than their suffering. This story, as told in Psalms 105 and 106, remind Israel that they are a people called by God, who need Yahweh to find their way.

China is Coming! China is Coming!

2011-08-13T19:10:00.000-06:00

We in the United States are living in the time of the great China scare. Politicians and Generals and Pundits use China as the great bogeyman of our age. Politicians fear its economy and bemoan its currency. Generals fear its potential military might and interference with the way things are. And pundits just like to talk.

Some food for thought:

Whereas goods labeled “Made in China” make up 2.7% of U.S. consumer spending, only 1.2% actually reflects the cost of the imported goods. Thus, on average, of every dollar spent on an item labeled “Made in China,” 55 cents go for services produced in the United States. In other words, the U.S. content of “Made in China” is about 55%.

HT: Marginal Revolution

For those not math inclined, 1% isn’t that big.

From a military standpoint you may have heard that China has just put to sea trials its first aircraft carrier. Parts of the military establishment are in a tizzy and use this as a sign for more military expenditures and the end of American dominance. To put things in perspective:

Number of aircraft carriers in China—1. Age—25 years.
Number of aircraft carriers in Thailand—1. Age—15 years.

For a good read on the situation check out Information Dissemination.

Psalm 103

2011-08-10T10:20:00.000-06:00

He does not deal with us according to our sins,
   nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
   so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
   so far he removes our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion for his children,
   so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.
For he knows how we were made;
   he remembers that we are dust.

Good news for us today. The Lord knows who and what we are. He knows that we are weak and tired. He knows that we sin. He knows that we are dust.

True Literalism

2011-08-10T05:18:00.000-06:00

Words get bandied about with no care for shades of meaning. In the Evangelical Christian subculture folks seek to defend their interpretation of the Bible by saying that it is the "literal" reading of the Bible. What they want you to hear is, "I'm just telling you what the Bible says and nothing more, like following directions, it says turn right, so I say, turn right." To say you are "literally" reading the Bible is to convey that you are honest with what the text means.

The problem with this degraded literalism is that context and language gets stripped away. In this literalism we start making connections or points that were not intended by the author (or miss the connections that were intended). We forget the poetry and nuance in language and try to read it all in our post-enlightenment mindset. So the story of Adam and Eve becomes simply a story of "what happened in the beginning" losing the sense of God's purpose in our world. Or we see Jesus' words in Mark 13 applying to only the end times when Jesus was referencing the ancient fall of Babylon and the future fall of Jesus.

Bad literalism gets us into awkward places, contorting our theology and thought. True literalism helps us experience the Bible in all it's glory and craziness.

More on Trees and a Forest OR Straining the Simile

2011-08-10T05:04:00.000-06:00

What I was trying to say in my last post is not just that we miss the forest for the trees, but that we build our Christianity on one particular type of tree. We go into the forest and find the tree most to our liking and then say, "this is the tree of the forest. All trees will be compared to this." We focus on that particular tree and ignore anything else.

Alright. I'm done with that.

Trees and a Forest or "Follow Me"

2011-08-09T05:37:00.000-06:00

The forest and the trees. Let me tell you something about them. Sometime you see one, but not the other. And other times you see the other, but not the one. Well, you know how that goes, just pick one or the other.

I thought of the forest and the trees as I was reading Matthew, chapters 18 and 19. Like much of the Bible these chapters are full of "wait a minutes" and "uh-ohs" and "yeps" and "ehhs." In a couple of verses (particular when Jesus is about) the Bible has a tendency to have you nodding, "Jesus goes after the one lost sheep, awesome" and awkwardly swallowing "wait a minute, I'm suppose to point out a sin in my fellow church member?".

If you hang around church long enough you'll hear sermons on these different trees. Often the awkward ones will be avoided, but they will be mentioned. Slowly, as you understand more and more trees you think that you understand the forest. Christianity becomes about the sum of the smaller parts.

That, however, is a distorted view. Christianity is much more than the sum of the parts (though the trees matter). We, or should I say, I focus on the trees. I argue with others over the different trees, disagreeing on the shade of brown or the bent of the limb. I stay at the level of the trees because I want to avoid the forest. The trees are interesting, but are small enough to fit into my point of view. I can survey a tree and handle it.

The forest is wild. It is unwieldy. We don't like talking about the forest, because we can't grasp the forest. We can't fit the forest into our horizon. It goes beyond.

Jesus says, "follow me." Pick up your cross, sell your possessions, and follow me. Worry not about the world or the thoughts of your neighbor, but follow me. Do not be afraid, he says, follow me.

Indiana

2011-08-07T18:48:00.000-06:00

I now live in Indiana. I'm still at heart a redhead in Rapid City, but the good Lord has put me in Indiana. I really can't believe it. I'm more surprised than if I was living in St. Petersburg. But it should be fun.

Finding a Church

2011-08-07T18:44:00.000-06:00

On July 31 my family and I headed east from Rapid City back to the country of my kin... Indiana. Now I don't know if I have any family left in Indiana, but the story goes that my dad's grandfather was from Indiana. I'm not sure how long they stayed, but somewhere back when a Taylor I'm related to lived and perhaps died in Indiana.

We are here so that my wife can attend Purdue University. As part of that move we need to find a church to call home. Once again, we are participating in that vulgar American tradition: church shopping. We don't belong to any denomination in particular, except that we are Protestant. We've done this before, but it is a distasteful adventure, because you start finding faults. You focus on how you the "consumer" weren't properly served and satisfied. You focus on what you see and experience in a few visits. And what you experience in a few visits is inherently insubstantial.

What defines a church, the soul so to speak, cannot be ascertained by a few visits or a perusal of a website or a proper list of beliefs. Church is where people (warts and all) gather to worship and follow Jesus. In church you find the Holy Spirit working and moving in unexpected ways. Attending church is not just about assenting to right doctrine (though doctrine does matter) or finding people just like you. It is about participating together with God and his people in his Kingdom. A good church challenges and encourages in unexpected ways. Church should surprise you not serve you.

I need to keep these things in mind as we seek to find a church.

Quote of the Day

2011-06-10T12:48:00.000-06:00

"Right now, in your mouth, in your gut, on your skin, you are carrying about 10 times more bacteria cells than human cells."
-Robert Krulwich

Wading Into That Which I Don't Know or Really Care

2011-06-10T09:36:00.000-06:00

This last Tuesday I saw X-Men: First Class. It was a well acted, though slow movie, with a few too many characters. Matthew Yglesias has pointed out that Magneto was Right and really right. He says, "if you restrict your attention to what’s actually in the text Magneto is clearly in the right and Xavier’s X-Men are a bunch of dupes." And goes on to say:

Magneto’s mutant pride attitude is in every way more admirable than Xavier’s preference for the closet, and Xavier’s political view that mutants and humans can coexist peacefully if mutants avoid provocations is directly contradicted by the events at the end of the film. When Xavier is trying to convince Magneto (and the audience) that Magneto’s more militant methods will cost innocent life he literally says—to a Holocaust survivor!—that “they were only following orders” and therefore their sins are forgivable.

The mutant pride message is a radical one. It’s too radical for those whose WASP male privilege in their non-mutant lives makes them instinctively want to identify with existing power structures. But a mutant who’s also a Jew, or a woman, or a racial minority, or has had blue or red skin all of his or her life doesn’t suffer from that kind of false consciousness and gets ahead of the curve.

Not surprisingly I don't really agree with this analysis. I see the point he is trying to make and it is an allowable reading of the movie, but it misses out on the methods that Magneto wants to use to meet his end of Mutant Pride and his mistaken view of what it means to be human.

The problem is that for Magneto, mutant is a separate species and category than human. He's not addressing the issue as a minority normally would be, "I am part of society and am fully human." Instead Magneto argues that mutants are beyond super human, are a new species, and thus should dominate the world. Sure Xavier is naive, but he wants to see the humanness in mutants and wants humans to see mutants as humans. I don't know why that's a bad thing.

Preaching Day...

2011-06-05T12:22:00.001-06:00

Today I had the opportunity to preach at Hope Christian Reformed. For the scripture I selected 1 Peter 3:13-18, focusing on the line, "if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it.” The funny thing about Christian Hope is that it is such a back/forward expectation. It's like how light behaves as understood by quantum physics--it is both a wave and a particle. Measure it one way and you get a nice wave of light, but measured another, you get little packets of information.

With Christian Hope the resurrection of Jesus and our future resurrection happens at the same time. You can't separate them without breaking the thing itself. We look back to the Jesus' resurrection and look forward to our resurrection because of what Jesus has done. A funny little hopeful thing.

All Ain't Bad...

2011-05-30T19:23:00.000-06:00

Cause Parks and Recreation is the best show on television.

Gotta love Tom.

Bad Economic News of the Day

2011-05-30T17:30:00.000-06:00

Well we know that the economy is not improving nearly as well as we hoped, particularly 3 years on. Unfortunately, it's getting worse, or is worse then they say. From Henry Blodget:

The way the government calculates real GDP is to start with nominal GDP--the actual change in the output of the economy as measured by adding up all the actual sales prices ("nominal")--and then "deflating" this number by subtracting an estimated inflation rate. Thus, the government backs into the real GDP growth number, starting with nominal prices and then adjusting for inflation.

Well, the "GDP deflater" the government is using right now--the estimated rate of inflation--is only 1.9%. As anyone who has been to a supermarket of gas station recently can attest, this assumption is preposterously low. But the effect on "GDP growth" of using a very low inflation estimate is helpful, in that it makes real GDP growth look bigger.

So what would Q1 GDP have looked like if the government had used the government's own estimate of inflation for Q1 (5.7%), instead of 1.9%?

Q1 GDP would have been -1.82%.

Not good.

Where is your hope?

2011-05-30T17:25:00.002-06:00

Hey folks, I get to preach this Sunday and will be talking about our Christian Hope (1 Peter 3:14-17). I'm wondering, where is your hope? Christian or otherwise?

Back at it... Barely

2011-05-30T17:24:00.000-06:00

The kid has come and is getting bigger every day. I should be back blogging, so I am. I'm hoping to get two posts completed each week. I think the best way to celebrate is a double rainbow.

I read me some "Retribution"

2011-01-30T13:24:00.000-07:00

I read me some Retribution: The Battle for Japan by Max Hastings. Retribution, similar to its counterpart Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, traces the last year of WWII in the Pacific. With the United States ascendent the conclusion of the war in the Pacific was a foregone conclusion to all save the Japanese and their leaders. Unfortunately, the last year brought untold pain and agony to millions throughout Asia and the Pacific. Millions perished as the Japanese clung to their empire and decided that what they couldn't hold they would kill.

The military battles in the Pacific have been well rehearsed by Spector and others, but few have attempted to encompass in one volume the full sweep of the Asian Theater, from the islands of the Pacific to SE Asia to the British slog through Burma to the Japanese victories in China to the last frenzied two week of the Russian invasion of Manchuria. Hastings does this and more, giving full weight to the horrors of the war.

And horror is what one comes away with after reading about the disasters in the Pacific. The Nazis are rightfully remembered for their inhumanity, but we forget the disdain for life that the Japanese demonstrated year after year, country after country. They raped, starved, and pillaged their way across Asia. They showed disdain for POWs (one statistic of note, 2.7% of POWs perished in German hands, while 37% of POWs died in Japanese hands) and for the life of their fellow countryman.

Hastings does an excellent job of helping the reader understand why the atomic was dropped. It is easy 66 years later to assume that there was another way, but as Hastings notes the Japanese leadership was in complete denial and would only agree to peace on their terms. Even after the a-bombs were dropped, significant number of Japanese officers wanted to fight until the bitter end.

This is a horrific book, but one all should read.

Cash Transfers, Poverty, and Paternalism

2010-12-19T20:32:00.000-07:00

Many monetary transfers* from the wealthy/middle class to the poor involve distinct policy bias and outcomes. For a variety of reasons most countries have decided to target assistance to the poor through specific programs rather than cash transfers. For example, in the United States we recognize that an advanced society shouldn't have "hungry" citizens so we provide foot stamps (SNAP) to qualifying families. Likewise, we understand that we want to limit the number of people on the streets so we subsidize rent (e.g., Section 8) and heating bills (LIHEAP). We do this because we want to make sure our "money" is being spent on the intended policy outcome. This policy of targeted assistance leads to significant costs for our government and the people receiving the assistance (deadweight loss).

If we wanted to be much more economically efficient we would institute a policy of strict cash transfers. Thus, rather than giving $100 in vouchers the government would give $100 in greenbacks (and save on government overhead). As Matthew Yglesias states:

It sounds banal when you say it, but one of the main obstacles to people being less poor is that they don’t have enough money. If you give them money, they’ll have more of it. Will this be optimal in all cases? Of course not. But in the vast majority of cases, you’ll do some good.

I agree with Yglesias that cash transfers are better and think that individuals are better at making decisions than the government, however, he and others have failed to highlight the one significant problem with cash transfers--living with the consequences.

Could we actually live with the consequences of program that though more efficient leads to "some" people make really bad choices and publicly suffering the consequences? Would we be able to say, "Well, he had his money, but decided to spend it on something else?" I don't think so (and to be fair I don't think Yglesias thinks so either). We want to talk tough, but like many things in the policy world, decisions are hard and all have consequences--foreseen or otherwise.

My Lack of Education

2010-12-14T19:40:00.000-07:00

I'm a nerd, plain and simple. I like facts of all sorts and kinds. Facts about maps, facts about the distance between stars, facts about Peruvian llamas, facts about farm policy. As a child I read fact books before I drifted off to sleep. I might not have been the fastest kid or the cutest, but I did know lots of things about lots of stuff.

Unfortunately, as I've aged I've come to see a lacking in my education. I could talk to you for hours about the formation of mountains and the water cycle and the dominance of ferns during the age of dinosaurs. However, during a walk in the woods I wouldn't be able to tell an elm from an ash. The difference between a hydrangea from and a rhodendrum is greek to me. Socrates was done in by hemlock, but I couldn't tell you if I was eating a hemlock leaf right now.

This new awareness comes from my reading of Roger Deakin's Wildwood. In this fantastic book he traces his journey through his local (and far off) wood. And with me he is leading a blind man.

I Read Me Some "Battle Cry of Freedom"

2010-12-13T20:30:00.000-07:00

On work trip to Sioux Falls a month ago I had joyful the opportunity to peruse a local used bookshop. Unfortunately, I have inherited from my father the need/compulsion to leave any bookstore with a new book. So I left the store with McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom, a one volume history of the United States Civil War.

Over 800 pages McPherson covers the social and military history of the Civil War. He explains not only the hows and whats, but also the whys. And as we approach the 150th anniversary of the Civil War more and more talk has been had about the causes for the Civil War. Some talk, alas, has veered into complete silliness with slogans that the War was about "State Rights" and "Protecting Liberty" and "Fighting for the Homeland."

Of course, that's bunk. "State's Rights"only works in the sense that the state's seceded for the right to own slaves. To quote from Mississippi's "Causes of Secession" of 1861:

In the momentous step, which our State has taken of dissolving its connection with the government of which we so long formed a part, it is but just that we should declare the prominent reasons which have induced our course.

Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery - the greatest material interest of the world.

Or from South Carolina:

The General Government, as the common agent, passed laws to carry into effect these stipulations of the States. For many years these laws were executed. But an increasing hostility on the part of the non-slaveholding States to the institution of slavery, has led to a disregard of their obligations, and the laws of the General Government have ceased to effect the objects of the Constitution.

The Civil War was a horror for all involved. But it is important to remember why the states seceded.

Advent

2010-11-29T21:08:00.000-07:00

Rowan Williams:

We turn our minds to the universal longing for God that is given voice in the Jewish scripture, the yearning towards the 'desire of all nations' ... For the people of God in Jewish scripture, loyalty to the covenant meant above all the forsaking of idols: the task is not to make sense of the world, beginning from unaided human resource, but to let ourselves be given sense purely by the summons of God. This was Israel's own story: being led out of slavery and given shape and solidity by the unexpected presence and pressure of God ... And in Advent, in that day, we all become - as it has been said - Jews once more ... We are perpetually looking to and giving thanks for an uncovenanted event, a transforming newness, the history of Israel and Jesus; we are perpetually 'on the eve' of God's coming, knowing and not knowing what it will be ... Advent, we have said, sets out before us the richness of religious eros; it is a season of beautiful, elegiac hymns, voicing our longing to be spoken to, judged and absolved. But in its deeper aspect, its pushing of us back into the experience of Israel and Israel's unconsoled rejection of idols, it also shows us also the danger of religious eros, its capacity to become another vehicle for human self-reflection. The Christian, in the Advent season above all, must learn something of God's own simultaneous 'yes' and 'no' to all religious aspiration and expectation.

HT: More than a via media

A Christmas Song by Sufjan

2010-11-29T20:53:00.004-07:00

A Real Business Sense

2010-11-22T20:43:00.000-07:00

From the Comments of the previous post that should be brought to our attention:

Egg Farmer needs to clarify... It is section 179 depreciate, not accelerated depreciation that is a problem. Section 179 allows businesses to completely write off a new piece of equipment. The state of minnesota does not allow the deduction or only a portion of the total amount the federal section 179 allows. If a business person cannot take it both on the federal and state, what is the point... In our case we don't take the full amount of section 179 tax deduction, because it doesn't help on the state tax return. Of course, my good friend across the state line can take the section 179 both on the state and federal tax. All these different tax deductions and/or incentives that are given to businesses I understand (we take advantage of as many as we can). The problem is that the playing field becomes uneven. I am not arguing that the government should some how make it "even" or "fair" for all, because innovation and technology will always disrupt the playing field. What I think the role of government can or should play is to use its limited resources in shaping a better playing field (better infrastructure, simplifying the tax code and security), which would benefit all.

A few thoughts. First, it is easy for the folks who don't run a company to see the day to day effects of our taxation policy. How we tax matters. Second, if I ever want to run a small business, boy I need an education. Third, I'd be interested in Egg Farmer's take, do you think that services you get in MN (better infrastructure, better schools, etc) and the closer proximity to large population centers outweigh the higher taxes? Life is full of trade offs (no matter what Congress says), so is this a worthwhile trade off?

The BET!

2010-11-21T09:48:00.000-07:00

I was talking to Egg Farmer in Cokato the other day about the topics of the day: taxes, federal budgets, and egg prices. As a businessman Egg Farmer in Cokato had lots of insight into taxes, particularly how a lack of harmonization between federal and state taxes create different incentives (e.g., the feds allow a business to accelerate the depreciation of an asset--say new packing equipment--encouraging the business to purchase expensive items and then deduct the cost from it's taxes. Minnesota does not allow a business to do that).

Anyway, EFIC is much more pessimistic than me. I said that the USA will hit a significant budgetary crisis because of every rising deficits, while he says it will happen within in 10 years. Thus, a bet is born. For a six pack of beer we decided to bet on the timing of a significant budgetary crisis. The definition of the crisis will be a point of time in which the US Congress will need to balance the budget (for the fiscal year) because of significant financial pressures. If this crisis happens before Dec 31, 2019, Egg Farmer in Cokato wins. If after, Redhead in Rapid wins. The bet is a bit wooly, but we think we can agree when we see the crisis unfold before our eyes.

Good News of the Day

2010-11-08T21:48:00.000-07:00

It is easy to see man a hard scrabbled creature willing to cut any throat to seize the day. So here is my good news to consider, from The Best Defense:

With Colombia now moving toward peace, there are hardly any wars underway in the western hemisphere, notes Fettweis, a political scientist who used to teach at the Naval War College and now slings international relations at Tulane University. Europe is at peace -- and barely has any militaries anyway. The Pacific Rim has two billion people and no fighting, quite an achievement. Asia's only conflict last year was the nasty little Sri Lankan civil war, which is over. The wars that are occurring are long-term affairs on low boil, such as the Israeli-Palestinian standoff, the Yemeni fighting, and, of course, the United States' messes in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Me in 5 Years

2010-11-08T21:42:00.000-07:00

My Congressional To Do List

2010-11-07T13:38:00.000-07:00

It's easy to complain about Congress and Politics. Bitching and moaning make up much of cable news and facebook status updates. I'm as guilty as the next guy, so to make amends here is my congressional to-do list.

Repair the Tax Code: We are living under an onerous and cancerous tax code with too many favors for special groups (e.g., homeowners, certain businesses, etc). Much too much time and money is spent on trying to comply with the tax code and work within the tax code to save money. We need to remember the spirit of the Tax Code Reform Act of 1986 and make real reforms. Some things to be done--get rid of nearly all deductions, especially the home interest deduction, and specific industry credits and deductions; get rid of the corporate income tax and raise the rate of dividend and capital gains taxes; get rid of AMT, it is a fantasy that takes up way too much time; and on and on.
Talk Seriously About our Debt and Deficit Problem: Notice that I'm not even asking Congress to solve the problem, but just to be realistic about the problem. To that end we need Congress to recognize that (a) our biggest cost driver is Medicare and something much be done about it; (b) we don't actually have a Social Security Trust Fund and that soon we'll need to use general fund money to cover Social Security payments; and, (c) that Defense Spending is the largest piece of the discretionary pie and has increased the most in the last year and therefore can't be ignored.
Deal with America's Infrastructure: It's a well known fact Johnny that America has an aging and decrepit infrastructure. From cracking roads, to an overworked freight rail system, to bursting pipes, to poor transportation systems, the US of A needs some work. We need to raise real revenue (increase gas tax and other stuff) and reform our construction bidding process and start laying the foundation for our next economic boom.

That's it. There is plenty more that I would like Congress to do, such as ending farm subsidies and getting serious about our engagement with the world and a host of other issues. But here are at least 3 things they could do and can do.

The ELECTION

2010-11-06T18:07:00.000-06:00

Since last Tuesday we've been inundated (if you've been paying attention) with analysis about the ELECTION. Folks, pundits, and politicians have been pontificating upon the meaning of the election... MANDATE for Republicans...Victory for the Tea Party...Demonstrated the limits of the Tea Party...Smaller Government...No Government...The Dems still control 2/3 of the legislative process...

Each narrative has some truth and has elections and opinion polls to back it up, nevertheless, I think the takeaway from this election is that the American People WANT RESULTS. Their expectations may be unrealistic, but the first party to be "in power" when the economy turns will become the victors. If it happens over the next two years it will be Mr. Obama who benefits. But if we are stuck with 9% unemployment and a stuttering economy, the President is in trouble. Better than that and we got an (new) election on our hands.

Personally, I'm disappointed with the parties in power. We have significant issues--health care, the economy, the deficit and national debt, two wars--but neither party wants to tackle them. The GOP claims to be serious about the deficit, but that's absolute BS. They have not listed any serious changes to significant budget expenses (i.e., Social Security, Medicare, and Defense). It's big plus is that they won't go crazy with spending. Now the Democrats, well, they ain't doing much either. They won't touch the same budget items, but feel free to spend at will.

This isn't going to be a pretty two years.

The Best Kind of Theater

2010-11-01T21:43:00.000-06:00

Back in the 1960s and 70s my grandfather would find himself at the Santa Barbara Airport parking lot fifteen minutes before takeoff. He would stroll to the counter and quickly pick up his ticker. Security was an invention waiting to happen (and it did happen sometime during web 1.0) and so he would just take his ticket and hop on the plane. The airlines were happy, the airline workers were happy, and my grandfather was happy (particularly because he wasn't the most timely man).

Now, of course, those days are consigned to the dustbin of history. Ancient, forgotten days before the advent of anything worth doing.

Instead of quick strolls through the airport we are left with long lines (vulnerable to terrorist attacks), grouchy works, and too much information about strangers' sock choices. Fortunately, the TSA has decided to up the ante and introduce body scanners which reveal all your parts while not doing much to add to security. And if you don't want your parts revealed, well, you get a special treat from government employees. This brings us to the great blog post by Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic Monthly:

He felt me up good, but not great. It was not in any way the best pat-down I've ever received. The most thorough search I've ever experienced was in the Bekaa Valley, by Hezbollah security officers. That took quite awhile, and the Resistance really manhandled my Resistance. There was no cavity search, of course -- no magazine story, even one about Hezbollah terrorism -- is worth that. But it was the fairly full Monty.

I draw three lessons from this week's experience: The pat-down, while more effective than previous pat-downs, will not stop dedicated and clever terrorists from smuggling on board small weapons or explosives. When I served as a military policeman in an Israeli army prison, many of the prisoners "bangled" contraband up their asses. I know this not because I checked, but because eventually they told me this when I asked.

The second lesson is that the effectiveness of pat-downs does not matter very much, because the obvious goal of the TSA is to make the pat-down embarrassing enough for the average passenger that the vast majority of people will choose high-tech humiliation over the low-tech ball check.

The third lesson remains constant: By the time terrorist plotters make it to the airport, it is, generally speaking, too late to stop them. Plots must be broken up long before the plotters reach the target. If they are smart enough to make it to the airport without arrest, it is almost axiomatically true that they will be smart enough to figure out a way to bring weapons aboard a plane.

My Eyes Hurt

2010-11-01T21:20:00.001-06:00

Cause I got them dilated. Ms. Red Head in Rapid was duly impressed with my wrap-around polarized glasses. She thought I couldn't walk straight. Bleh. I was just admiring the pretty leaves on the tree. What are you going to do when the haters start hating?

Wind Cave...

2010-10-18T20:21:00.000-06:00

This last weekend my Mrs. Redhead in Rapid and I headed to Wind Cave National Park. It was awesome. I got to learn lots and lots of new facts. Let me tell you some:

Wind Cave is the fourth longest cave in the world.
However, though 135 miles have been discovered the 'experts' think that they've only found 5% of the cave. If true, this would make it the largest cave in the world.
So far, all 135 miles are crammed into 1 square mile (with a depth of 1/3 mile). That's like cramming 134 inches of a string into 1 square inch.

Wait, you don't want more facts? Well, too bad:

The cave was "discovered" by the settlers in the 1880s.
This cave has very little water, so you don't see stalagmites or stalactites. Instead...
95% of the world's box-work is found in Wind Cave.

This is only a few of the facts I gleaned from my 3 hour trip. Boy, what fun!

The RACE...

2010-10-18T19:58:00.000-06:00

Here in the Heartland (aka South Dakota... eat it Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, Nebraska, etc...) we are having an intense US Representative race between Kristi Noem and Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin. Both gots lots of money so we get to experience plenty of attack ads. And because ad time is cheap we get to see lots and lots and lots of ads. And because I watch old folks T.V. (e.g., Wheel of Fortune) they pile them on.

Anyway, the ads are getting a little ridiculous. Kristi attacks Stephanie as a Pelosi stooge, conflating procedural votes with real votes, to say that Stephanie votes with Pelosi 90% of the time. Even though Stephanie voted against the Health Care Bill, etc... On the other hand Stephanie's best attack is that Kristi has had 20 speeding tickets over 20 years... Umm... not that impressive.

I'm a bit stuck in this race. Generally speaking I'd prefer a conservative Democrat over a really conservative Republican. Both candidates say that they take the deficit and national debt seriously, but neither of them will tackle the elephant in the room... entitlement and deficit spending. And to make matters worse they both are for increasing farm subsidies. Sheesh. I got 2 weeks to decide and it ain't going to be easy.

Quote of the Day

2010-08-23T20:16:00.000-06:00

From Mr. Dunleavy of the London School of Economics, via Foreign Policy's Passport:

For the first time in history, the Australian outcome means that every key ‘Westminster model’ country in the world now has a hung Parliament. These are the former British empire countries that according to decades of political science orthodoxy are supposed to produce strong, single party government.

The countries include India, New Zealand, Great Britain, and Canada.

The Night Sky

2010-08-15T08:03:00.000-06:00

We are but motes whirling through the universe:

APOD

A Slow Walk to Involency: Air Force Edition

2010-07-15T10:39:00.000-06:00

This ain't good for anyone:

Every time the Air Force sends a B-1B bomber on a mission over Afghanistan, it spends costs $720,000 in fuel, repair, and other costs. And when the plane comes back, it has to spend 48 hours being repaired for every hour it was in the air. All of which is double-crazy, because the bomber doesn’t really drop bombs over Afghanistan any more, thanks to the military’s airstrike restrictions. The B-1B just lingers over the country with a camera: a big Predator drone, at many, many times the price. “If the B-1 is not dropping its load of ordnance, we should withdraw it, and use unmanned systems instead,” Michael Wynne, former secretary of the Air Force, tells me. “They’re much cheaper.”

HT: Danger Room

A Slow Walk to Insolvency

2010-07-14T20:54:00.001-06:00

The passage of Health Care Reform was only one point in the long debate about how to provide health care in the United States. As a red head I've long advocated for a change to our health care system. We spend far too much money for too little results. It's really a disgrace having a system that combines the worst of the private sector with the worst of the public sector.

Now comes word that the Obama Administration will require health care plans to provide certain tests/screenings at no cost. As the NY Times editorializes in its article:

The new requirements promise significant benefits for consumers — if they take advantage of the services that should now be more readily available and affordable.

Unfortunately, I'm not so optimistic, because health care ain't free in this world. And though the preventative tests claim long term health cost savings, I'm doubtful. The article goes on to say:

The administration said the requirements could increase premiums by 1.5 percent, on average.

1.5%! I know it doesn't sound like much, but here's the thing. First off, the 1.5% won't be spread evenly and more likely than not, individual plans will get hammered, while large plans won't be hit too hard. Second, 1.5% is still real money. For my individual plan for two people that 1.5% equals $92. Real money.

Alas, I understand the Administration's desire to help the average American see that health care is changing. This piecemeal change, however, does not address the root problem of out of control costs and a bloated, bureaucratic system.

Mr. Eliot's Verse on a Sunday Morning

2010-06-27T08:05:00.000-06:00

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown, unremembered gate
When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning;
At the source of the longest river
The voice of the hidden waterfall
And the children in the apple-tree
Not known, because not looked for
But heard, half-heard, in the stillness
Between two waves of the sea.
Quick now, here, now, always—
A condition of complete simplicity
(Costing not less than everything)
And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well
When the tongues of flame are in-folded
Into the crowned knot of fire
And the fire and the rose are one.

In Honor of Today's England v. Germany Match

2010-06-27T07:57:00.000-06:00

God Save the Queen:

God save our gracious Queen,

Long live our noble Queen,

God save the Queen:

Send her victorious,

Happy and glorious,

Long to reign over us:

God save the Queen.

O Lord, our God, arise,

Scatter her enemies,

And make them fall.

Confound their politics,

Frustrate their knavish tricks,

On Thee our hopes we fix,

God save us all.

Thy choicest gifts in store,

On her be pleased to pour;

Long may she reign:

May she defend our laws,

And ever give us cause

To sing with heart and voice

God save the Queen

Shalom

2010-06-16T20:00:00.000-06:00

On May 22, my father spoke at Bethel University's commencement. Along with being hilarious he made some good points:

You are going to die. Remember that and live your life understanding that death awaits.
You are never unemployed (particularly relevant to college grads) because your job--your primary job--is to build shalom in this world. You are called to bring justice and mercy and love and peace to those around you.

It's some good stuff to think about when your job or life ain't going to well. Or you are wondering what the heck to do with your life.

Quote of the Day

2010-06-09T18:55:00.000-06:00

I never expected to quote the heir to the throne of the United Kingdom in this blog or anywhere, but he has said some really interesting things:

When we hear talk of an “environmental crisis” or even of a “financial crisis,” I would suggest that this is actually describing the outward consequences of a deep, inner crisis of the soul. It is a crisis in our relationship with – and our perception of – Nature, and it is born of Western culture being dominated for at least two hundred years by a mechanistic and reductionist approach to our scientific understanding of the world around us.

So I would like you to consider very seriously today whether a big part of the solution to all of our worldwide “crises” does not lie simply in more and better technology, but in the recovery of the soul to the mainstream of our thinking. Our science and technology cannot do this. Only sacred traditions have the capacity to help this happen.

In general, we live within a culture that does not believe very much in the soul anymore – or if it does, won’t admit to it publicly for fear of being thought old fashioned, out of step with “modern imperatives” or “anti-scientific.” The empirical view of the world, which measures it and tests it, has become the only view to believe. A purely mechanistic approach to problems has somehow assumed a position of great authority and this has encouraged the widespread secularisation of society that we see today. This is despite the fact that those men of science who founded institutions like the Royal Society were also men of deep faith. It is also despite the fact that a great many of our scientists today profess a faith in God. I am aware of one recent survey that suggests over seventy per cent of scientists do so ...

As the English writer G.K. Chesterton put it, “real development is not leaving things behind, as on a road, but drawing life from them as a root.” I would also remind you of the words of Oxford’s very own C.S. Lewis, who pointed out that “sometimes you do have to turn the clock back if it is telling the wrong time” – that there is nothing “progressive” about being stubborn and refusing to acknowledge that we have taken the wrong road. If we realize that we are travelling in the wrong direction, the only sensible thing to do is to admit it and retrace our steps back to where we first went wrong. As Lewis put it, “going back can sometimes be the quickest way forward.” It is the most progressive thing we could do.

HT: Burke's Corner

Israel, Gaza, the Sea, and the Pic of the Day

2010-06-01T20:31:00.002-06:00

A lot of smarter people than me are saying smarter things about the incident in the Med. Needless to say, Israel has made both a tactical and strategic blunder with their handling of these ships trying to break the blockade. From a tactical point see pic:

HT: Info Dissemination

You'd think they would be able to do much better than this. Do they not train? As Fred Kaplan from Slate asks:

The questions here are fairly obvious: Why shouldn't the Israeli commandos have expected resistance, at least as an operational premise? Why weren't they equipped with nonlethal weapons? Why didn't they fire a few canisters of tear gas as they boarded or once the first brickbats flew?

Strategically, it gets even worse. At the end of day, Israel leaders have created sympathy for Hamas (who vows to destroy Israel...not good) and antipathy to the blockade and any reasonable manner to contain Hamas in Gaza. This is going to get worst before it gets better.

Fact of the Day

2010-05-30T21:29:00.002-06:00

85% of upstate New York residents live within 25 miles of the Erie Canal.

Quote of the Day

2010-05-29T15:59:00.000-06:00

Plantiga's definition of a fundamentalist:

A stupid ass whose theological beliefs are to the right of me and my enlightened friends.

The Indictment of President George W. Bush

2010-05-26T18:52:00.000-06:00

I'm not, nor ever have been a Bush hater. I didn't vote for him, but I don't think he was some loon running amok. The Iraq War wasn't a net positive, but I understand the impetus and the seemingly necessity of taking care of rogue nations. Nevertheless, from a more fundamental point of view President Bush was a disaster. At a time when our nation needed (and could afford) fiscal/domestic leadership, he flushed it down the toilet.

As the Mr. Douthat points out in a response to Mr. Mead's excellent post:

In hindsight, I suspect, the most damning judgment on the politics of the 2000s will be that our leaders (well, many of them, at least) misjudged how long they had before the fiscal crunch arrived. It was understood, throughout the decade, that once the baby boomers retired there would have to be an era of belt-tightening and fiscal retrenchment — but that moment still seemed a long (or at least a medium) way off, and the problem of the entitlement system’s sustainability seemed like it could wait for the late 2010s or early 2020s.

He goes on to say:

Looking backward, though, it’s very bad news for the legacy of George W. Bush, whose fiscal record looks much more irresponsible in the cold light of hindsight than it did while he was in the White House. For a time, Bush’s hope for rehabilitation seemed to rest on the possibility of a decent outcome in Iraq, but now I suspect that even that won’t be enough to rescue his reputation: Both right and left bear responsibility for letting the 2000s slip away, but Bush was the decider, and his budgetary decisions look worse and worse with every passing day.

Alas.

Funding Your State

2010-05-25T21:04:00.000-06:00

The Great Recession may be officially over, but states throughout the land are still facing difficult budget decisions. They need to decide what to fund and how to raise the money. Too often in discussions of taxation we focus on income tax or just federal taxes when in fact we have a whole slew of taxes. Instead we need to talk about the tax burden citizens face rather than particular tax rates (e.g., the rich may face the highest income tax rate, however, if their income is from dividends their tax burden is significantly less).

You particularity see this tax reality with separate states. For example, in my lovely state of South Dakota we have no income tax, yet one of the higher property tax rates. As far as sales tax we are on the lower end, however, many more items are tax (e.g., groceries and clothes, while high tax MN exempts those items). Needless to say, tax policy is super fun. Check out these state graphics:

A 5 year old Girl's Prayer OR Semper Fi, Moon

2010-05-19T18:04:00.001-06:00

From the Sandbox, via Best Defense:

   God bless all our friends and daycare,
   and all our teachers at daycare ...

   God bless soldiers and sailors,
   polar bears and penguins ...

God bless astronauts and Space Shuttles.
God bless marines and ballerinas.

Amen

A Picture

2010-05-19T17:55:00.000-06:00

From: APOD

Screwed...again

2010-05-18T18:53:00.000-06:00

The NBA draft lottery was held today. The Timberwolves, once again, were in position to receive a great pick with odds on to receive the second pick. But, of course, it didn't happen. Take it away Star Trib:

Minnesota was awarded the fourth pick in next month’s NBA draft during Tuesday’s lottery, extending its history of never moving up via the league’s talent raffle. The Wolves’ 15-67 record was the second-worst in the NBA, but for the seventh time in 12 lottery appearances, they were moved down in the draft-selection order when two other teams, this time Washington and Philadelphia, were randomly drawn ahead of them.

Sweet... sure this is a deep draft, but sheesh...

Diversity and the Supreme Court

2010-05-12T21:07:00.000-06:00

As widely reported President Obama has nominated Elena Kagan to replace Justice Stevens on the Supreme Court of the United States (or SCOTUS). Much ink has been spilled on your qualifications, her point of view (Democrat, but too much or too little?), her gender, and her religious affiliation (with her on the court we'd have 3 Jews and 6 Catholics).

However, one point that has been little discussed is the lack of geographical diversity on the court. With Ms. Kagan's appointment we have 4 justices from NYC, 1 from New Jersey, 2 from California. 1 from Georgia, and one from Indiana. That's 8 justices growing up within 50 miles of the ocean. This isn't necessarily bad, but it does highlight a true diversity "issue." Nine justices can't represent the whole country, but it's a worrying trend when justices aren't familiar with rural areas, don't really know what a starry night looks like, and have no experience with life in the middle of the country.

........................
For some interesting analysis read David Brooks, who highlights the problem of our nominating incentives. I'm also with Matthew Yglesias who argues that we should change the lifetime appointment to 15 years.

An Excellent Political Ad

2010-05-12T20:38:00.002-06:00

We are soon coming to political ad season across America, but some states get an early taste with primary season. Here is an excellent political ad from Pennsylvania by Sestak attacking Spector for switching parties. You may not agree with the sentiment, but it's a good one.

For some short analysis, check out this post by The Atlantic's Joshua Green.

El Sol

2010-05-11T22:15:00.003-06:00

I've always wanted to be an astronaut.

HT: APOD

Awesomeness

2010-05-11T22:08:00.000-06:00

Here's what you should be doing instead of watching television.

Check out the rest of the story at the Madshobbithole's Blog.

Don't Believe the News

2010-05-11T21:17:00.000-06:00

Every few years or decades out trots the alluring "high-speed rail." Pundits crow about the transformation of transportation, politicians promise big bucks, and journalists write puff pieces. Don't believe it unless the money is over $100 Billion, cause anything else is chump change.

It's a pretty map, but that is way too many corridors to get anything. Just knock out the Northeast and go from there.

Los Suns

2010-05-09T22:04:00.002-06:00

Much to the dismay of b-ball experts everywhere, the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association swept the San Antonio Spurs. I'm happy, cause the Suns are lots of fun to watch and have fun basketball players like Dudley, Amundson, Dragic (who went lights out in the 4th quarter of the 3rd game), and the one and only Steve Nash. Much better writers will say much more profound things about Mr. Nash's game and his place in NBA history. As a fan, let me just say that Nash is fun to watch as he weaves and bobs and passes and throws 'Y' ball shots high off the glass. Go Suns. And Go Mr. Nash.

UPDATE: From an old post by Matthew Yglesias. First, this table from ESPN's Hollinger:

And then Yglesias' commentary:

Look at the best offense ever. Then look at the second best. Then look at the fourth best. And look at the fifth best. Now look back at the third best. Then consider that Steve Nash was the starting point guard on all five of these teams! After being seemingly overrated for a while, is it possible that Nash has slipped into underrated status. Floor general for all five of the top-rated offenses of the past 35 years is a pretty gobsmacking achievement.

Why the Greek Debt Problem Ain't Going Away...

2010-05-06T19:44:00.000-06:00

...a structural deficit of 9%. In other words, year after year, not including interest payments, Greece spends 9% more than it takes in in income.

This graph is structural deficit as % of GDP in 2010. Ain't looking good for many countries.

Quote of the Day

2010-05-04T22:15:00.000-06:00

From a letter by Douglas Harrison, an English professor at Florida Gulf Coast University, to Kevin Drum of Mother Jones on why no one knows about the Shack, even though it has sold 7 million copies:

You haven’t heard about it for the same you reason you probably didn’t hear about Rick Warren’sPurpose Driven Life series of books until Warren become a lightning rod figure in the news or about the Gaither Homecoming Friends Gospel Music Series, which outsold Elton John, Fleetwood Mac and Rod Stewart for worldwide ticket sales not too long ago. MSM and mainstream American culture just doesn’t know where to look and/or how to talk about or take seriously evangelical culture if it’s not through the culture war or political polarization lens. I study and write about evangelical culture for a living and it used to be astonishing to me how many otherwise very bright and engaged, informed and curious intellectuals and scholars of American culture and literature I’d meet who simply had NO CLUE about vast swaths of contemporary American (religious) culture that isn’t exactly hiding. After a decade or so of this work, I’ve come to expect it, and indeed, to capitalize on it (I’m writing a book right now about the cultural function of white gospel music — yes there is such a thing ... gospel doesn’t only mean BLACK gospel). But in general, you aren’t alone in having no clue about this stuff.

Unintended Consequences

2010-05-03T20:56:00.000-06:00

Back in my previous life I worked on some agriculture issues. Though no longer paying daily attention to issues facing the farmers of America, I do check into them from day to day. One great advancement in farming over the last 20 years is the rise of Roundup Ready GM crops. With Roundup Ready corn or soybeans or cotton farmers could plant the crop, spray with Roundup, and not worry about weeds. This saved the farmers time and was better for the environment. Of course, the weeds aren't just dying, but growing, and now we have the rise of "superweeds."

Just as the heavy use of antibiotics contributed to the rise of drug-resistant supergerms, American farmers’ near-ubiquitous use of the weedkiller Roundup has led to the rapid growth of tenacious new superweeds.

To fight them, Mr. Anderson and farmers throughout the East, Midwest and South are being forced to spray fields with more toxic herbicides, pull weeds by hand and return to more labor-intensive methods like regular plowing.

“We’re back to where we were 20 years ago,” said Mr. Anderson, who will plow about one-third of his 3,000 acres of soybean fields this spring, more than he has in years. “We’re trying to find out what works.”

Not good.

Me NBA Playoff Picks

2010-05-03T17:36:00.002-06:00

I'm a wee bit late to this party, but let me throw out my picks. Having missed the first round, I'm able to smartly not choose the Mavs or the Nuggets and understood that the Celtics are proverbially bringing it. Also, I was able to see that Mr. Yglesias was right, the best predictor is point differential,* not win/loss record. Look at the first round, to a series the team with the better point differential won the series.

For the 2nd round that would mean the Jazz, Spurs, Cavs, and Magic will win and the Magic coming out Final victors. I don't think that will happen, because not every team plays the same schedule, so here we go:

Lakers over the Jazz
Suns over the Spurs
Cavs over the Celtics
Magic over the Hawks

Conference Finals:

Lakers over the Suns
Cavs over the Magic

Finals

Cavs over the Lakers

Boring, yes.

* Please note that the team with the worst point differential is the one and only Minnesota Timberwolves. Sheesh...

A Really Bad Day

2010-04-30T07:28:00.002-06:00

Imagine working years and years on a project. You get no results as you work on it, nothing but blood sweat and toil. Then imagine that for the project to work you need a balloon to travel 122,000 feet into the air. And then imagine the wind is off and some latches not strong enough...

Not good.

Liberal England is Dead

2010-04-27T21:27:00.000-06:00

The UK is in the midst of election season for the first time in 5 years. The hot topic is the rise of Nick Clegg and Liberal Dems who are outpolling Labour (though they won't win half the seats of Labour or the Tories because of Britain's first past the post voting system). But, as Burke's Corner points out, Liberal England is dead.

Therein lies the explanation for the inevitable bursting of the Clegg bubble. Liberal England died as those heady years of Edwardian progress ended in constitutional crisis, class conflict and Ypres. Now the Liberals are merely those in the north of England who dislike Labour and those in the south who dislike the Conservatives. At local government level, they are merely like Joseph Chamberlain - urban and urbane conservatives.

The Lib Dems are, in other words, ironically defined by the two great British political traditions - Labour and Conservatism. Apart from those traditions, the Lib Dems have no meaning, no identity. Almost a century on from the events of which he spoke, Dangerfield's words continue to echo and describe our politics. Nick Clegg and his party are not the great Liberal tradition reborn. Liberal England is indeed dead. [emphasis mine]

Something You Should be Aware of...

2010-04-27T21:19:00.000-06:00

...cause if things aren't handled right, bad things could happen and the USA could be drawn into another war. In short, a month or so ago a South Korean ship was sunk by an explosion at the loss of 42 lives. The explosion was a mystery though North Korea was an immediate suspect. Now it appears that NK is behind the attack, but the SK are playing dumb because they don't want get into a tit for tat war. Pay attention, bad things could happen. For more info, check out Information Dissemination.

Source: The Guardian

A Sign I am Lazy and Late

2010-04-27T07:19:00.000-06:00

Here is a comic from the great Richard Thompson about Earth Day. Mr. Thompson is the cartoonist of the best cartoon since Calvin and Hobbes, Cul de Sac. If you don't believe me, just know that I've been reading the comics page since I was 8 years. My palate has been honed by the glories of Far Side and the drudgery of Beatle Bailey, BC, and those old lame ones.

A Video for the Evening

2010-04-26T21:35:00.001-06:00

Mostly funny.