Friday, July 29, 2011

Danger of the New, Far, Far, Far "Religious" Right

Al Jazeera English has a somewhat lengthy opinion piece with a somewhat sensationalist title (America's own Taliban), but it's really good. It examines the involvement of major political figures right now and their involvement in extreme dominionist groups. Other than just talking about people and their involvement it explains what they're doing and who they are. It's far more academic than opinion pieces in the States I'm used to reading, and it sure as hell beats the "journalism" of FauxNews. The piece really asks for the mainstream media to talk more about this - and not just making fun of some of the looniness (Oprah being a harbinger of the antichrist).

Highlight quotations (from very early in the piece):
The ultimate goal is to replace secular democracy, both in America and around the world, with a Christian theocracy, an ideology known as "dominionism". The supposed purpose is to "purify" the world for Christ's return - again, strikingly similar to what the Taliban believe, but also significantly at odds with more common, long-standing Christian beliefs about the "end times", as well as the nature and purpose of prayer, and the roles of human and divine power...

Debt Ceiling Quotation

Joe Klein:
If she were less scrupulous, Pelosi could have used a debt ceiling vote to force President Bush to defund the war in Iraq.

Forget Opinion and Remember Facts

Michael Grunwald has this:

If the debt-limit debate had anything to do with reality, every story about it would include a few basic facts. Starting with: President Obama inherited a $1.2 trillion budget deficit. And: Republican leaders supported the tax cuts and wars that (along with the recession, another pre-Obama phenomenon) created that deficit. Also: Republicans engineered this crisis by attaching unprecedented ideological demands to a routine measure allowing the U.S. to pay its bills.Finally, Obama and the Democrats keep meeting those demands—for spending cuts, then for more spending cuts, and even for nothing but spending cuts—but Republicans keep holding out for more.

Joe Walsh's Fiscal Responsibility

My vision of fiscal responsibility (that I try to live personally) involve paying what I owe and living within my means (so really trying to not owe anything, student loans for seminary aside). I pay fines when I get speeding tickets. I pay off my credit card each month. I think these are best practices, but I don't really talk about them. I certainly don't lecture people about what I think are reckless purchases or poor priorities. Sometimes I'm too concerned with not running out of money that I don't let myself live. But other times the sacrifice of not spending pays off in big ways. That's what I think about fiscal responsibility on the personal level.

So I was surprised when I saw this on ThinkProgress:

Michele Won't Answer the Questions...

After completely ignoring news stations that want to do things like report news, Michele Bachman gives an "explanation." Queerty offers this analysis:

Summer Weather Report

The summer weather report is available from Linda Sundry here.

More on Medicine: Snake Oil

Click to enlarge. via Joe.My.God

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Christian Nation

Done With Living Like a Christian?

Over on The Pangea Blog Kurt Willems has the following as a conclusion to a nice post on no longer living like a Christian.
So, yes, I’m done with living like a Christian. I’m trading that in for living in a deeper relationship with Christ. I want to know Jesus. I want to hear Jesus. I want to be empowered by Jesus. Not simply in theory as I do the good things that he calls us to do, but as the natural outflow of intimacy with God. The former way “gets the job done.” The latter way changes the world.

Bible Quotes for Seminarians Volume 1

So, my statcounter stuff tells me that I'm the top hit for "Bible quotes for seminarians" and I checked it out. I am. But it's a link to Insane (Inspired?) Bible Verses. I've decided (since more than one person has come to my site by Googling that) to actually compile a few of my favorite Bible verses for seminarians. Here are five, and let's see what others suggest for adding. It's a big collection of books, so there may be lots of volumes!

"You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger..." - James 1.19, NRSV

"And all of you must clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. Discipline yourselves; keep alert." - 1 Peter 5.5b-8a, NRSV

"Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity." - 1 Timothy 4.12, NIV (which I prefer to the NRSV for this verse)

"As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." - Colossians 3.12-17, NRSV

"Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?" - Matthew 16.24-26

100 Things [My] Kids [and I] May Never Know About

Nathan Berry from Wired.com has compiled a list of 100 Things Your Kids May Never Know About. But as I read through the list I'm more certain that my kids definitely won't. I'm not sure to what age group this is written. I definitely dialed up AOL using a modem but have no idea how a slide rule works. I've never seen a betamax tape.

What are things on there that you have fond memories of? What about things you have no idea what they are?

‪Morning Humor



I wonder if I'd had this technique I wouldn't have kicked Jasper in the shins with my steel-toed boots, body slammed Mathew that one time, or earned the nick name (inspired by Toy Story) Mr. Angry Eyes.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

How to be a Writer, ctd.

[I'm getting caught up on things, but I'm trying to not do more than ten entries a day. This is an exception.]

I don't really think of myself as a "writer", although that's an unfair self-assessment. When asked if I'm a musician (and this has happened a few times this summer, usually when I'm with the director of music or members of the choir) I tend to answer that I'm not professionally but think we all are if we're empowered to be. I think that everyone is a writer if they're empowered to be. Like all of us being musicians, that doesn't mean we'll all be professionals or that it'll all be good. But I don't think of myself as a writer the way I think of two friends from high school or my mom as writers.

m. molly backes: How to Be a Writer

m. molly backes, about whom I'd never heard before I read this, has wonderful things for parents whose children want to be writers. I think it's good for enabling children to write whether they want to or not. She offers the following advice for parents (particularly a parent who had a daughter and asked lots of questions about how to help the daughter be a writer):

Let her be bored.
Let her be lonely.
Let her have secrets.
Let her get a job.

The Political Lessons Of ‘Harry Potter’

Over on ThinkProgress Alyssa Rosenberg offers 8 Political Lessons from Harry Potter in some detail.

1. Torture is wrong.
2. Universal healthcare is pretty much a necessity.

Stay Away from Lions

Especially after a full moon. Weird Wide Web has this gem:

A new study that looked at lion predatory behavior over the lunar cycle found that lions were more likely to attack and eat humans successfully in the ten days after a full moon, in the evening, when it's darkest and when humans are most likely to be out and about, and when lions are at their hungriest, according to Science.
Read it all: How to avoid becoming a lion's evening meal

‪Dance! Dance! Dance!



I'm not sure why Jesus is walking around in a red stole at the beginning, but this music is stunning. It makes me think about my CH1 final junior year and the Lambda service this summer.

Barack Obama: The Democrats’ Richard Nixon?

Bruce Bartlett has a great presidential history spanning over sixty years as he asks about Obama's actual fiscal conservatism. Here's just some of what he offers.
Liberals hoped that Obama would overturn conservative policies and launch a new era of government activism. Although Republicans routinely accuse him of being a socialist, an honest examination of his presidency must conclude that he has in fact been moderately conservative to exactly the same degree that Nixon was moderately liberal.

The Flea Market

Saturday, like Sunday, was a wonderful day. I got up and ran my first double-digit distance. My time was a little slower than planned, but hey. I also went a tenth of a mile less than I'd planned because of a wrong turn. That works since last week a few wrong turns gave me an extra mile and a half...this week was supposed to be 11. Anyway, I got back from it and decompressed a little. Zach and I then went to the market.

Apparently Zach doesn't go to the market frequently enough. I love going to the market and getting my groceries for Saturday-Tuesday. There's another on Wednesday, so I get what I can when I need it. I try not to stock up on too much. So we got the stuff I needed and then went back to the cathedral. We set a time to meet up to go on an adventure to the Marché aux Puces: the flea market.

‪Sen. Franken Keeps Witness Honest

I posted this video last week on Facebook not long after the full hearing. It's pretty awesome. I giggle with the gallery every time Sen. Franken says, "It doesn't..." and then proceeds to ask the witness why the committee should believe his oral testimony when his written isn't factual.

Obama’s and Bush’s effects on the deficit in one graph - Ezra Klein - The Washington Post

Ezra Klein analyzes
What’s also important, but not evident, on this chart is that Obama’s major expenses were temporary — the stimulus is over now — while Bush’s were, effectively, recurring. The Bush tax cuts didn’t just lower revenue for 10 years. It’s clear now that they lowered it indefinitely, which means this chart is understating their true cost.

Breivik: A Living Definition Of Christianism

Andrew Sullivan writes about the term "Christianist," one that I've taken to using.
One of the core messages of Christianity is a rejection of worldly power. The core message of Christianism is, in stark contrast, the desperate need to control all the levers of political power to control or guide the lives of others. And so the notion that Breivik is a 'Christian fundamentalist' seems unfair to those genuine Christian fundamentalists who seek no power over others (except proselytizing), but merely seek to live their own lives in accord with a literal belief in the words of the Bible. [snip]

‪The MP3 Experiment Makes me #furiouslyhappy



I wish I could've participated again this year.

Monday, July 25, 2011

"Cyclists!"

The detour yesterday on the way to Notre Dame was just a little thing called the Tour de France. I mean, it's a bike race or something? It ends in Paris and yesterday was the last phase. The very end is actually very close to the American Cathedral, but no one I'm friends with felt like camping out in time to get a spot on the Champs-Elysées. Neither Mark nor I particularly follows cycling, so we weren't that invested in it.

As we walked along the river we got to Pont Royal and saw the closing caravan of the tour. These were cars with bicycles on top. I said, "Cyclists!" and up we went from along the river to the road. We missed that bit of the caravan, but police officers were adjusting the barricades to change the course into a turn. When they got the road bit changed the moved the pedestrian blocks and we surged forward.

We were the third or fourth people back from the barricade and watched them make a lap. I got a lot of great pictures of the barricades but not of cyclists, so I asked Mark if we could stay another. He said that was fine. We did. In the interim I remembered that my camera has a setting for when you're holding it above your head so that you can still see what you're taking pictures of. I switched that on and we waited. And around they came again!

This time I got pictures. And after that we were ready to go. During the first round through there were children on their dad's shoulders. It was adorable. He had one on each side. It was a nice Australian family. As the pack came through he shouted the "Aussie"s and I (and a few others) shouted the "Oye"s which was a lot of fun. I haven't done that since my last IC. Later in the day we saw more Australians, but they were wearing flags and inflatable kangaroos.

So this summer, in twenty minutes' time, I saw one of the world's major sporting events. I didn't spend hours staking out a spot, but rather stumbled upon it while headed somewhere else at a leisurely pace. :)

Matthew 13.1-9,18-23 Sermon (Audio)

MP3 file available for download here. Be sure to listen to the organ improv at the beginning. It's got some seeds and soil in it.

‘Republicanity’—The GOP Transformation is Nearly Complete

Gary Laderman asks
What is the operative creed for Republicanity?

Is Norway’s Suspected Murderer Anders Breivik a Christian Terrorist?

Mark Juergensmeyer asks:
Is this a religious vision, and am I right in calling Breivik a Christian terrorist? It is true that Breivik—and McVeigh, for that matter—were much more concerned about politics, race and history than about scripture and religious belief, with Breivik even going so far as to write that “It is enough that you are a Christian-agnostic or a Christian atheist (an atheist who wants to preserve at least the basics of the European Christian cultural legacy (Christian holidays, Christmas and Easter)).”

Raise Your Glass‬‏ Furiously Happy Cover

‪Ignite Evo - Jenny Lawson‬‏ - YouTube



I saw this video last week and have watched it three or four times. It's pretty amazing and I'm trying to be furiously happy and be ridiculous when I feel like it. I also look for things to make me furiously happy. For example when I finish the scarf I'm working on I'm going to knit a crazy long Doctor Who scarf. I might wear it as part of a costume. Or just wear it when it's cold. We'll see, I think! Note: video has strong language (but is amazing).

My Take: Why evangelicals should stop evangelizing – CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs

My Take: Why evangelicals should stop evangelizing
This us-versus-them thinking is odd, given that Jesus was constantly breaking down walls between Jews and Gentiles, rich and poor, men and women, sinners and saints...Funny thing is, Jesus never said, “Go into the world and convert people to Christianity.” What he said was, “Go and make disciples of all nations.”

Encouraging anyone and everyone to become an apprentice of Jesus, without manipulation, is a more open, dynamic and relational way of helping people who want to become more like Jesus — regardless of their religious identity.

Hyperbole and a Half

So no one introduced me to this page until last night. This was an entry they said was good, and I loved it. Favorite quotation is, "If I come across a person who seems to completely ignore the existence of apostrophes and capital letters and types things like "im an eagle and im typing with my talons, so dont make fun of me cuz this is hard," I like to imagine that they actually are an eagle typing with their talons." I may or may not write like that in Instant Messages.

Dissent Magazine It's Not Just a Scandal, It's a Syndrome

Dissent Magazine - Arguing The World - It's Not Just a Scandal, It's a Syndrome
No large news organization in the world, in fact—at least none that’s as large as or larger than those influenced by Vladimir Putin in Russia or Silvio Berlusconi in Italy or the Communist Party in China—tries as brazenly as Murdoch’s globe-straddling News Corporation to generate and even fabricate news or to subvert good reporting of news so cynically and powerfully—and hurtfully, to both its subjects and its audiences.

Vespers at Notre Dame

I've had some amazing adventures the last few weeks. I'm going to try to catalogue about them over the next few days just so that I get them written down here. There are plenty of photos of things as they've been happening, too. I know that there are people who want to read what's going on. I'm writing it all in my journal, but that's for my reading.

Yesterday evening my friend Mark and I went to Vespers at Notre Dame. Mark has been at Taizé the last three weeks. I know him through Sacred Harp stuff. He got in yesterday after church, and we went to lunch. Café du Marché might need its own series of entries. After lunch we came back to my apartment and planned our afternoon. One of the things on his list was going to Notre Dame, so we looked at their schedule.

We realized that they had a Vespers service we could easily make it to walking along the Seine at a leisurely pace. We walked, had an interruption (entry later), and went to Notre Dame. The line was absurdly long to get in to visit, but I told a guard that we were there for the service and he told us to cut the line. And wow. It was wonderful. Easily one of the most prayerful evening prayer services I've ever been to, but I'm sure that is partially to do with my not having to lead it. But more on that in a few.

I've never been to Popish evening prayer before, so the order was different, but not too different. There was a lot of singing: something like the Phos Hilaron, an invitatory, a hymn, psalms, a canticle, and the Magnificat. I think there was a reading from 1 Corinthians, but I'm not really sure. There was some reflection time between all the sung parts with an organ improv. I really appreciated that there weren't huge chunks of Bible reading. I also really appreciated how accessible I found it.

I'm not good at singing in French. Letters that don't make sounds and accents on weird syllables don't fit with my understanding of the musical notation, but I was able to really sing along. The psalter was simple chant settings, almost plainsong-esque. I loved how unafraid of incense they were; there was a lot of it in a giant pot at the beginning of the service. During the Mag the officiating priest smoked the place up as he censed the altar. The canticle (from Revelation 19) was amazing. The alleluias were so joyful! The cantors and organ helped with that feel, but those singing the song of the resurrection really seemed happy about resurrection!

My favorite part was the Magnificat, though. It alternated between cantors and people. I really liked the man in his late fifties or early sixties on the row in front of me who had folded his bulletin by this point and was singing both parts. It was in Latin, but he just sang along. It made me think about classmates who can do that with our Evensongs. I get too frustrated with Evensong at general and how much more work than prayer it is for me, so I don't really know most settings.

Vespers was great. I'll probably go back with more friends. I might try to get to something on a Sunday evening at Sacre Coeur. Maybe benediction. More adventures later today.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Matthew 13.1-9,18-23 Sermon (Text)

Joseph P. Mathews
10 juillet 2011
Matthew 13.1-9, 18-23
Proper 11, Pentecost +5, A

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In Alabama, where I’m from, the corn is usually towering by this time of year. Fresh produce is everywhere here in this City of Light.

Growing up, my family – often my brothers and I at my mother’s direction - kept a garden. I can assure you that we never planted seeds the way the sower in today’s parable does, casting them about willy nilly. No, we had to do very intentional planning if we wanted things to grow.

Each year, we had to prepare our garden space before planting. The first step annually was looking for rocks. In the course of a year they always managed to move into the same area of land that we’d cleared the year before. We’d look for rocks, big ones the size of a fist. Next, after they were gone we had to turn the soil over. Some years we did this with spades over the course of a week or more, other years my step-father rented a tiller and it was done in less than an hour. But we still weren’t ready to plant, necessarily.

Different crops required further preparation still. Tomatoes had to go in cages so the vines could climb. Corn went in rows marked with string and pipe. Mounds had to be made for watermelons. Finally, we planted and let things grow. We did some weeding to keep things alive, but Mom did most of that.
Through the course of the summer we ate what was ready as it became ready: boiled squash with too much pepper, grilled corn on the cobb, and peas fresh from the vine.

How strongly our system of planting and harvesting differs from the sower in today’s gospel text! This person going out to sow is careless, reckless, casting seeds with abandon.

He throws seeds into the rocks, he throws them in the road, he throws them in the weeds, and some of them wind up in soil where they’ll grow. At the close of the parable Jesus tells those with ears to hear to listen. What are we supposed to learn?

In all the work that went into making our garden, we were pretty careful about what we did. We wanted what we planted to produce a harvest. The sower in the parable seems more concerned with sowing than reaping. In this parable Jesus is telling people who follow him in every generation that God the sower scatters Good News to all places with abundance and extravagance and without discrimination.

There are different reactions to God’s reaching out, certainly, but that’s not what Jesus wants us to listen for in this text. Jesus isn’t giving us a standard by which to judge ourselves and try to be good soil as hard as we can.

Rather than setting up a system of what is good and what is bad, he offers us a vision of what-might-be, a larger vision of God’s extravagance. The good soil – people who not only hear but stay in relationship with God – have an abundance of life. The fruit is one hundred fold – more bountiful than can actually be measured. Jesus offers life beyond measure for those in relationship with him. An easy temptation is to make the story about our working to be good soil rather than about God and God’s continual calling us and loving us.

To avoid that temptation, we should remember that Jesus had to explain the parable to the disciples because they didn’t get it. They want to understand what Jesus is talking about when he says “the kingdom of God has come near”, but they don’t.

Try as they might they don’t.

Jesus’ words are falling on minds packed down, like the soil in the road, from years of hurt and disappointed expectation. They have expectations about what God does and doesn’t do, how the world should run. What Jesus keeps telling them – love their enemies, pray for their persecutors, give to anyone who asks, not to store treasures on earth – flies in the face of their desires.

Jesus doesn’t give up on them, though. Jesus the Word continues to be among them - and us - recklessly, loving and teaching without giving up. Over and over again he says, “You who have ears, listen!” Unlike the seeds on the road, disciples aren't snatched up by the enemy; they follow Jesus until the end. And then they keep following him, talking about him, and making new disciples as he continues to live with them after the resurrection. They stick to it, even when it doesn’t make sense to them. They hope that one day they will understand Jesus’ messages. Jesus doesn’t abandon his disciples in any age, and they – we - are given lives of abundance.

Last week we heard Jesus invite us to take up his yoke, a yoke of easiness, of being bound to him in discipleship, not oppressively burdened down to do hard labor. This week Jesus invites us to lives of abundance: life in an abundant God who knows no scarcity of love, which he showed us when he cast Jesus the Word to live and dwell among us.

He did this not after getting rid of the rocks, loosening the soil, or getting rid of the weeds. God didn’t scatter the Word, his love in human form, after elaborate preparation like my family’s garden in Alabama. No, God loves us, meet us where we are, and doesn’t give up on us. Amen.

Driscoll’s Bullying

Driscoll’s Bullying:
But this made me sick all over, simultaneously nauseous and desperate to apologize to everyone who will inevitably hear about it. I will assume I don’t need to explain why I had that reaction to a “star” Christian pastor, who enjoys the respect and friendship of numerous influential evangelical leaders, publicly inviting his followers to shame and bully people about their physical appearance or manner. I suppose I don’t need to remind anyone that kids try to kill themselves over this type of treatment. (emphasis added)

Sunday, July 10, 2011

The Brain on Trial

The Brain on Trial - Magazine - The Atlantic:
The lesson from all these stories is the same: human behavior cannot be separated from human biology. If we like to believe that people make free choices about their behavior (as in, “I don’t gamble, because I’m strong-willed”), cases like Alex the pedophile, the frontotemporal shoplifters, and the gambling Parkinson’s patients may encourage us to examine our views more carefully. Perhaps not everyone is equally “free” to make socially appropriate choices.

Very cool article.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Presbyterian Church Will Start Ordaining Gay Clergy

Presbyterian Church Will Start Ordaining Gay Clergy:
The new rules, which also apply to elders and deacons, do not require churches to ordain gay candidates, but they remove barriers to their ordination that were written into the church's constitution. The old text of the church’s Book of Order banned non-celibate clergy who did not live 'within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman.' That prohibition was added in 1997.

The new Book of Order does not mention gay clergy, but it removes a requirement of chastity for non-married clergy. It places more emphasis on character traits such as a “candidate’s calling, gifts, preparation, and suitability” and presbyteries' powers in picking ministers.

Dear Mr. Driscoll (a guest post)

Dear Mr. Driscoll (a guest post) | Jesus Needs New PR:
Now, Mark, I’m going to be upfront about this: I don’t like a lot of what you stand for. I think you have taken culturally defined roles, put the force of God behind them, and have hurt a lot of people in the process. But I know that I have a duty to put things in context – and I really, really try. But honestly, Mark, buddy, pal…you make it really, really hard.

Gay marriage, bishops and the crisis of leadership | National Catholic Reporter

Gay marriage, bishops and the crisis of leadership
That attitude does not spring so much from a stance of defiance, as some bishops would assert, but more from the experience of gays and lesbians themselves and their parents and siblings, extended family and friends who increasingly understand gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons as far more than the sum of their sexual orientation while also understanding that sexuality is at the core of a person’s identity.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Greg Carey: What Does the Bible Actually Say About Marriage?

Greg Carey: What Does the Bible Actually Say About Marriage?:
The point is, Christian weddings rarely feature passages that directly relate to marriage. Only one passage, Genesis 2:24, seems especially relevant, while other passages require us to bend their content to our desire to hear a good word about marriage.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Facebook Friends and the Cloud of Witnesses

Rev. Amy Ziettlow: Facebook Friends and the Cloud of Witnesses:
As I opened each letter, each one a relic of friendships past, I relished the handwriting, the goofy drawings, and the snapshot of adolescent drama captured in each missive. I thought of each friend, patiently collecting his or her thoughts, finding paper and pen and envelope and stamp, and intentionally reaching out to me in conversation. Much of what was contained in those letters could easily be contained in email nowadays, but I feel no affection for email. I do for these letters.

This is why I like sending and receiving real mail: it has a touch and a feel. Sometimes it has a smell: cologne sprayed in it, aged paper, new ink, plasticky. It has color that doesn't hurt my eyes or make me questions if it's black or navy.

A grand old cult - The Washington Post

A grand old cult - The Washington Post:
But the net effect is to establish an intellectual barrier for admittance to the presidential race: Independent thinkers, stop right here! If you believe in global warming, revenue enhancement, stimulus programs, the occasional need for abortion or even the fabulist theories of the late Charles Darwin, then either stay home — or lie.

When Did We Become Han China? - The Dish | By Andrew Sullivan - The Daily Beast

When Did We Become Han China? - The Dish | By Andrew Sullivan - The Daily Beast

Maybe Archbishop Dolan can incorporate this info into his next LOUD RANT: about economic justice and care for the least of these. He likes comparing the US to Far Eastern countries, and all.

A BLOG POST: The aftermath of ‘not guilty’ (questions I’ve been thinking about)

A BLOG POST: The aftermath of ‘not guilty’ (questions I’ve been thinking about) | Jesus Needs New PR:
What if “justice” wasn’t simply a spectacle that we watched unfold on news programs and court room TV, but rather, was something that required us to be involved? Would we be as passionate? Would we cry? Would we get angry? What if the kid wasn’t cute and lived in Bangladesh?

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Unfinished Business - The Defense of Marriage Act

Unfinished Business - The Defense of Marriage Act - NYTimes.com:
Any Congress with a real respect for personal freedom would repeal it. That, of course, does not describe the current Congress, where many members talk a great deal about freedom but apply it mainly to businesses and gun owners.