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Valerie's father David is drawing his final breaths right now. Please pray for him and Val's family. Thanks. |
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Just about every story and headline today and yesterday has been linking Obama's inauguration today to the dream of Martin Luther King. I understand the link, but it is a mistake to think that in any way Obama becoming president is a realization of what King stood and fought for. That's because, seemingly forgotten by the pundits and civil rights leaders of today, King's fight was not primiarly about racial equality. It was not primarily about race at all.
Yes, King fought racism and fought for civil rights. But at the center of the theology and actions behind his fighting was always a commitment to non-violence and loving our enemies. He was very explicit about this, linking his struggle to that of Jesus and Ghandi. He often told his fellow activists that if they could not love those they marched against, nothing would change.
Yes, in about an hour we inaugurate our first black president. That is a wonderful thing. But this gets us no closer to King's dream of non-violent enemy-love. In fact, Obama has been very clear about his intentions to meet violent force with violent force whenever necessary, including scaling up the war in Afghanistan. So while I think King would be glad to see this racial barrier being crossed, he would be sad to see that the lessons of Jesus', Ghandi's and his own legacies - that violence never accomplishes any kind of real, eternal change - remain almost completely unlearned.
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If I were a sociologist, this is a question I'd research. My wife and I are both a bit hot tempered, so arguments escalate quickly. We like 'em loud and intense. But both of us were raised to be very polite people, which means we don't use any but the mildest curse words and rude phrases with each other or anyone else. We don't tell each other to 'go to hell' or other much stronger directives not necessarily because we love each other, but just because we were raised not to say such things. You just don't say that.
Words mean things and have an impact, even when they are spoken in the heat of battle and without true sentiment behind them. One cannot just say incredibly hurtful things for the sake of hurting someone and then an hour later take it all back. Language and psychology just don't work that way.
So here is what I wonder: how different would my marriage be if my wife and I were not raised to be so polite? Does being raised without the f-word and its variants in your common vocabulary correlate with a longer, happier marriage? I suspect it does, but of course only scientific research can tell. Feel free to become a grad student and do this as your thesis. Just thank me in your acknowledgments page. |
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We might like to think of certain species like bees or ants as epitomizing cooperation and harmony (that’s why we call them ‘social’ insects). We might even think humans should imitate them a bit more in trying to work together. But according to E. O. Wilson, this is a mistake of judgment: The spectacle of the weaver ants, their colonies locked in chronic border skirmishes like so many Italian city-states, exemplifies a condition found throughout the social insects. Ants in particular are arguably the most aggressive and warlike of all animals. They far exceed human beings in organized nastiness; our species is by comparison gentle and sweet-tempered. The foreign policy aim of ants can be summed up as follows: restless aggression, territorial conquest, and genocidal annihilation of neighboring colonies whenever possible. If ants had nuclear weapons, they would probably end the world in a week. Holldobler and Wilson (1994): Journey to the ants: a story of scientific exploration. |
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This came across the CT wire (via Mark Galli). Though I sometimes think I've seen it all and American Christianism can no longer surprise me or make me more cynical, I find I still have much to learn.
I give you, Church Check.
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| » Correcting Ben Folds |
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For some reason (apparently by mistake), he changed it from 'Effingham' to "Effington", but everyone who had drive up I-57 knows what he's talking about. Funny stuff.
Effington could be a wonderful f'ing place
I can see it from the highway
And I'm wondering
Are they f'ing in their yards
f'ing in their cars
f'ing in the trailers and the backroads and the parking lots of Effington
Making my way to Normal, Illinois.
Maybe I should ditch this little white rental on the interstate
And start a new f'ing life...in effington
I could change my name, grow a beard, start a family
Or I could just keep moving on, moving on, moving on, moving on
Not stop 'til I get to Normal.
If there's a god,
he's laughing at us
And our football team.
And then the people who live in Normal
Can buy the movies that I'll make in Effinghton
That's what normal people do
I want to live in Effington
I want to die there to.
Please bury me in Effington
In Effington
In Effington
Apparently Mayor Lange of Effingham was pretty congenial about the whole thing, though he did respond "We do have a city cemetery, so we can bury him here," the Mayor kindly offered.
Dec. 9th, 2008 @ 01:07 pm
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| » Recovering |
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On Friday I had surgery to repair two bilateral hernias. Getting general anesthesia is a strange experience. You disappear - no dreaming, no nothing. You are just gone for however long they like. Then they resurrect you at will and you think no time at all has passed when in fact it has been two hours and in that time men have cut open your body, removed some things and inserted others, and stitched you up like a torn pillowcase. They have also shaved parts of you that have never before seen a razor and used a purple marker to demarcate, one assumes, the area below which they did not wish to cut. All of this is pretty unsettling on a number of levels (physically, emotionally, theologically[if people have souls that survive death, why don't these souls survive anesthesia?]). But at least I have both my legs still.
So, now I am at home feeling like I've been pummeled below the waist by Tyson for three rounds, or that I've just had a C-section, take your pick. Hopefully after a week or so I'll be back on my feet and feeling close to normal.
This was all a pretty big deal for me. I admit I was terrified going into it, not generally liking confronting my mortality. But in the surgery prep room I overheard lots of stuff that made me realize what I friggin' baby was I being. The girl one curtain over from me explained to her nurse this was her fourth I.V. in two days. She's younger than me, a student here at UF. She's already a cancer survivor, but now the cancer may be back and they were doing this surgery on her to confirm it. Both she and the nurse and her family members that were present were extremely light-hearted about the whole thing most of the time, when they weren't sobbing and embracing. I couldn't believe the way this girl easily flitted between laughter and tears. Clearly she knew both fear and joy and held them both tightly. I stopped feeling sorry for myself and starting praying for her.
Thanks to all of you who have been praying for me about this.
Dec. 7th, 2008 @ 01:27 pm
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| » Support the Troops |
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Got a marketing email yesterday
"Send Bibles to Our Troops!"
I thought, 'That's a great idea!
But wait,
How are we going to support the troops
When they read these Bibles
And all go AWOL?"
Dec. 4th, 2008 @ 01:55 pm
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| » Human Sacrifice |
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Who was Jdimytai Damour?
He was a person, made in the image of God. He was made for great things, to love and be loved.
But he was offered up as a human sacrifice to the gods of our age. He was killed so someone could get a better deal on a laptop.
His death cannot be dismissed. This wasn't just a freak accident. When hundreds of people form a frenzied mob at 5am on a cold November morning, that is no accident. That requires intent. That requires planning. That requires real values and real commitment.
I don't generally like getting polemic, but it is time to recognize the day after Thanksgiving for what it is: the most holy day of the god mammon. Christians do not generally celebrate holidays of other religions. We shouldn't celebrate this one either.
Perhaps instead we should do what Christianity has often done (albeit often unsuccessfully) with other pagan holidays - try to reclaim it. I plan to lobby my church to have a Black Friday event next year that encourages us to buy nothing on that day and instead spend it in prayer and service. Some churches do this already. I hope it catches on.
Dec. 1st, 2008 @ 12:58 pm
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