Evangelical Orthodoxy

2011-07-02T19:51:00.000-05:00

Lehmam Brothers Article

"Do I think it's unfair the government hasn't rescued us as they did Bear Stearns and Freddie Mac and Fanny Mae? No, not at all," said Alan Miles, a Lehman employee. "About 70 percent of us in there are liberal Democrats, but we believe in capitalist markets and therefore I do not blame the government," he said.
Another employee — who identified himseld only as "Eli" — said the crisis is "much larger than just the U.S. economy."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,422784,00.html#ixzz1R00UEKtz

2011-06-19T18:07:00.000-05:00

Dallas ISD spent millions on extras, analysis of check register shows

By TAWNELL D. HOBBS and MATTHEW HAAG Staff Writers
Published 18 June 2011 11:39 PM

Restaurant food and catered meals: $2.2 million.
Hotel stays and room rentals: $2.3 million.
Registration fees and travel costs: $3.8 million.
Consultants and other outside help: $44 million.
And there’s more.
The Dallas Independent School District spent at least $57 million over four years — or one year’s average base pay for 1,086 teachers — on purchases such as pricey meals, costly trips, lucrative consulting contracts and overnight stays at hotels in the Dallas area and beyond.
The Dallas Morning News analyzed the check register from the district’s main fund starting with purchases from August 2006, the month after DISD ended an oft-abused employee credit card program, to December 2010.
The review of more than 775,000 lines of purchases, receipts and documents provides a look at funds that are loosely tracked and spent with little oversight.
As DISD braces for an expected $100 million state funding loss over the next two years, finding the fat in the annual budget of more than $1 billion will be crucial. While salaries made up the lion’s share of the district’s spending, millions were spent on everything from hotel stays to inspirational trinkets to rib-eye steaks.
District officials acknowledged last week that staffers have purchased some extra items, but said tighter controls will be put in place. Some changes — such as limiting room rentals for staff meetings — were put into motion after administrators became aware of some of the newspaper’s findings.
District officials said a system as large as DISD is hard to turn around.
“You see the volume, and it’s difficult,” said Steve Korby, the district’s executive director of financial services. “We’re generally looking at it after the fact.”
The News’ tallies of check purchases are conservative at best, as the newspaper mostly used key words — such as “food,” “airfare,” “retreat,” and the names of popular vendors — to search the district’s voluminous electronic check register. Misspelled words or entries with vague or no descriptions probably didn’t turn up in the search.
Expenditures that appeared to directly involve campus operations and student learning were excluded. Most of the checks were for items under $50,000, meaning they did not require school board approval.
Urton Anderson, accounting department chairman at the University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business, questioned the wisdom of purchases that seemingly have no connection to education.
“They may not be illegal or fraudulent spending, but you would wonder about the wisdom,” he said. “It’s waste. Why do it?”
Some of the district’s purchases include:
More than $300,000 spent at Atlanta Bread Co. and about $86,000 at Chick-fil-A.
Promotional items, such as mugs, wristbands, T-shirts and hats, that cost at least $1.7 million.
Renting meeting space and catering meals from Aramark Events and Catering at Infomart, costing at least $488,000.
The number of district-issued checks increased from about 25,000 in 2005-06 to 36,000 in 2006-07, the school year after outgoing Superintendent Michael Hinojosa scrapped the district’s credit card program. He made the decision after an investigation by The News found that more than $6 million in credit card purchases by district employees violated state procurement laws or district policy.
DISD officials said last week that using checks became a common payment method when the credit card program went away. Generally, check requests and purchase orders require a supervisor’s approval.
Alan King, the district’s finance chief and interim superintendent, said supervisors should be scrutinizing expenditures before they are approved. He also has asked clerks who approve purchase orders and check requests to inspect any invoice that “looks funny” and alert him. King, who has been with the district since January, said no such concerns have been brought to his attention.
King said that a 20 percent reduction in department budgets next school year should help reduce unnecessary purchases. He also said the district needs a policy on what is an acceptable expenditure and what is not, and possibly a policy to limit food purchases.
Korby said food purchases are less common than they were when he arrived in 2008.
“It seemed like every time we turned around, there was food,” he said.
‘Scrub every inch’
The district is probably going to cut about $63 million from its 2011-12 budget, and about $38 million more the following year. Texas school districts are slicing budgets as state legislators seek to trim $4 billion from education.
Dallas trustees are expected to approve next year’s budget on Thursday.
Dallas school officials have spent months looking for ways to cut costs. They have already trimmed 1,679 positions through noncampus layoffs, resignation incentives, reassignments and the elimination of vacant positions. Other cuts may bring larger class sizes and fewer elementary school counselors and librarians.
Some Dallas school trustees have spoken against cuts at campuses and have questioned whether administrators have looked hard enough elsewhere.
“I don’t think we’re getting to the real waste of the district,” trustee Bruce Parrott said during an interview in May.
Trustee Mike Morath has voiced similar concerns.
“Every million is 17 or 18 teachers,” he said during a briefing last month. “We have got to figure out how to scrub every inch from our operating budget.”
Duplication of services?
A huge area of spending involves a host of consultants the district hires for various jobs and expertise.
One consultant contract — about $400,000 a month — is with Houston ISD.
DISD has hired Houston ISD for benefit management services it sells in tandem with an HISD contractor, Mercer (US) Inc. Mercer does the work and gets most of the money.
The firm manages employee benefits, such as leaves of absence and health insurance benefits, and provides consulting services and on-site support for day-to-day operations. The agreement, which began in 2002, costs DISD about $4.8 million a year. The current five-year contract ends in 2014.
But despite the help, DISD has maintained a full staff in its benefits department, which used to mostly handle such matters. The department now mainly focuses on employee retirement plans. A staff of nine in 2001 still had seven people as of last year, with salaries totaling about $468,000. Two were laid off in April.
Korby said he didn’t know if DISD is saving money with Mercer because a full-blown study has not been conducted. King said officials are focusing on the contract to see if DISD is “getting the biggest bang for the buck.”
Carlos Tapia was DISD’s compensation director until he was fired in November following a rocky relationship with his supervisor. He worked closely with Mercer consultants.
Tapia said he believes there is some duplication of services.
“There’s a full benefits department, and on top of that, they have to keep on paying Mercer $5 million a year,” Tapia said. “It’s a lot of money that Mercer milks out of the district.”
Mercer spokesman Bruce Lee said he could not comment on a specific client.
DISD spokesman Jon Dahlander said employees can look at some personnel data using both internal methods and Mercer. But Mercer handles larger functions, such as managing benefits.
Rentals, food, stays
The News’ analysis also found large amounts spent on food, hotel stays, and a practice of renting rooms locally.
Many district meetings and events are held in rented meeting spots in town, sometimes during the summer, when DISD buildings sit empty and available.
For example: About twice a year, Hinojosa has held retreats at Dallas-area hotels, where his executive team, typically seven to 10 administrators, gathered to discuss district business.
In all, the eight overnight retreats held since August 2006 have cost the district more than $36,000 combined, according to district records. All have taken place within the Dallas school district boundaries, and most during the summer.
Just in mid-January, when Dallas ISD began discussing possible budget cuts, Hinojosa, his six executive team members and three other officials checked into the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Addison. During the two-day stay, the district paid for meals and $90 per night for each executive.
Chief administrative officer Donna Micheaux and chief academic officer Ivonne Durant reside within a mile of the hotel, public records show. Hinojosa’s North Dallas house is about 6 miles away.
They dined on rib-eye steaks, tilapia and shrimp cocktail in five meals during the stay. They discussed the district’s looming funding loss, imposing hiring freezes, and laying off some teachers, according to their itinerary.
Their bill was $3,791, with room costs totaling $1,637.
Hinojosa, who is leaving DISD on June 30 to lead a suburban Atlanta school district, planned another retreat for his executive team in mid-August, according to his calendar.
He said the retreats gave his staff time to plan without interruption.
“When you’re in the office, you get interrupted all the time,” he said. “It gives us an opportunity to be away from the phone.”
He said that it’s not unusual for an organization to hold an overnight retreat, and that he and his staff didn’t abuse it. “We went to the Crowne Plaza; we didn’t go to an expensive hotel,” he said.
Board president Lew Blackburn said he supports overnight retreats.
“It helps to build camaraderie,” he said. “In the long run, you end up having a better team because you spend one or two nights at a retreat.”
But Blackburn expressed concern about renting rooms for meetings.
“We’ve got to set a guideline on how we do things,” he said.
King recently canceled the August retreat, saying team building is important, but so is saving money.
Hours before he met Monday with Dallas Morning News reporters to discuss the district’s spending, he also directed a deputy to draft a letter to employees about new limits on when they could rent rooms for meetings and gatherings.
The directive also came after an unannounced Morning News photographer was asked to leave a DISD human resources meeting June 7 at the Hilton Anatole, which charged the district $2,406 to rent the space and equipment.
“We’re not going to pay to rent a facility in town unless we absolutely have no other alternative,” King said.
Campus employees have also logged large expenses. During the summer of 2008, 15 staffers at Jimmie Tyler Brashear Elementary stayed overnight and ate meals at the White Bluff Resort & Spa, overlooking Lake Whitney. They were joined the following day by 25 more employees for lunch, training and dinner. The bill was $6,308.
Congratulatory meals and parties also have been expensive.
An appreciation dinner for DISD trustees before a January board meeting catered by Perry’s Restaurant in Uptown cost $85 per person for 15 people. The dinner featured displays of white lilies and daisies, which cost $229.50 from McShan Florist.
School board members and Hinojosa dined on steak, whipped potatoes, cheesecake and apple pie, for a total of $1,275.
When asked about the cost of the meal, Board President Blackburn said, “I don’t know how much it cost.”
One of the largest shindigs in the review was held at the Hilton Anatole in spring 2007, to celebrate after more schools received higher state accountability ratings.
The district ordered 575 chicken dinners, at $36.50 a person; a pizza buffet for 70, at $27 a person; and 30 gallons of punch, at $62 a gallon. When the party ended, DISD owed $33,459. The number of attendees was not included on the receipt.
Upon learning of the spending practices, a member of the district’s new budget commission said the district should have reined in spending practices years ago.
“If it was their money, they wouldn’t spend it willy-nilly,” said Michael MacNaughton. “Frankly, it’s not their money, and they are given a checking account with a billion dollars every year.”
thobbs@dallasnews.com; mhaag@dallasnews.com
———————————————————————————————
EDITOR’S NOTE
The Dallas Morning News spent more than three months analyzing the check register of the Dallas school district. Look for more analysis of spending in other area school districts in the coming months.
ANALYSIS METHODS
The News assessed more than 775,000 entries in Dallas ISD’s check register from August 2006 to December 2010. Expenditures similar in nature, such as food costs and legal fees, were grouped together for tallies. For dozens of purchases, the newspaper filed Freedom of Information Act requests to receive additional information, such as receipts and documentation. Purchases that appeared to involve campus operations and student learning were excluded from tallies.

2011-06-03T20:10:00.003-05:00

Longhorns 17, Badgers 1

2011-04-28T22:45:00.002-05:00

Goldman Sachs and Commodity Prices

Is it any wonder throughout history people have hated and persecuted bankers?

Foreign Policy

2011-01-22T14:05:00.002-06:00

JFK: More Media Hypocrisy

Media Ignores JFK Censorship

2010-10-09T06:14:00.002-05:00

Three articles from U.K. on the benefits of liberalism:

Woman uses welfare to enhance breasts

Katharine Birbalsingh speaks out on education

Katharine Birbalsingh attacks fake standards

Katharine Birbalsingh disciplined but returning?

2010-09-12T08:29:00.002-05:00

How Obama Thinks

Interesting article in Forbes about President Obama and what drives his philosophy. The last paragraph:

"But instead of readying us for the challenge, our President is trapped in his father's time machine. Incredibly, the U.S. is being ruled according to the dreams of a Luo tribesman of the 1950s. This philandering, inebriated African socialist, who raged against the world for denying him the realization of his anticolonial ambitions, is now setting the nation's agenda through the reincarnation of his dreams in his son. The son makes it happen, but he candidly admits he is only living out his father's dream. The invisible father provides the inspiration, and the son dutifully gets the job done. America today is governed by a ghost."

2010-09-01T21:20:00.001-05:00

More Media Bias

Below is an article from the L.A. times about people in Louisiana's feelings about the respective responses to Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil disaster. Notice the part in bold type - I do not recall a pro-Obama poll attempting to explain away its results.

Poll: Bush handled Katrina better than Obama dealt with oil spill
August 27, 2010|By Michael Muskal, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

Former President George W. Bush showed more leadership in dealing with the disaster caused by Hurricane Katrina than President Obama has shown in handling the oil calamity in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a poll of Louisianans released Friday.

Obama, who will make his 10th trip to the gulf when he travels to New Orleans on Sunday, will seek to reassure residents that he remains committed to rebuilding a region still feeling the effects from Katrina's deadly landfall and flooding. Obama will also reassert his administration's commitment to the cleanup from the BP oil well leak, the nation's worst oil environmental disaster.
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But a poll of Louisianans by Public Policy Polling shows those reassurances may have a hard time. Just 32% give Obama good marks for his actions in the aftermath of the spill, while 61% disapprove.

By contrast, those polled said that Bush's leadership on Katrina was better than Obama's on the spill. A majority, 54%, said that Bush did the better job of helping Louisiana through the hurricane crisis compared to the 33% who chose Obama, PPP said on Friday.

That 21-point spread was more than when PPP asked the same question in June and found Bush ahead by 15 points.

Some of the results reflect Louisiana's conservative Republican tilt. PPP also notes that many of those hurt the worst during the Katrina period have yet to return to their homes, so their opinions aren't included in the poll.

Five years ago, Katrina struck the gulf and the levees protecting New Orleans failed. More than 1,600 people died and images of poor residents clinging to floating rooftops while desperately calling for aid haunted the Bush administration. Bush's praise of his administration's rescue and rebuilding efforts became a national punchline as the disaster unwound.

Obama is scheduled to speak at Xavier University, a university flooded during Katrina. At a briefing this week, the White House said Obama would "recommit the nation to the gulf region and to all those still working to rebuild lives and communities."

Obama will also discuss the BP spill, which pushed more than 200 million gallons of crude oil into the gulf waters and on to environmentally sensitive shores. Eleven workers died when a deep-water rig caught fire and exploded on April 20, causing the spill, which was recently stopped.

Sunday will be Obama's sixth visit to the region since the rig sank.

2010-08-29T18:21:00.001-05:00

The Race Card
Charles Krauthammer writes in the Washington Post about using the race card to shut down one's opponents.

Liberalism under siege is an ugly sight indeed. Just yesterday it was all hope and change and returning power to the people. But the people have proved so disappointing. Their recalcitrance has, in only 19 months, turned the predicted 40-year liberal ascendancy (James Carville) into a full retreat. Ah, the people, the little people, the small-town people, the "bitter" people, as Barack Obama in an unguarded moment once memorably called them, clinging "to guns or religion or" -- this part is less remembered -- "antipathy toward people who aren't like them."
This Story

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Worst Week in Washington
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The last refuge of a liberal
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Worst Week in Washington: Live Q & A

That's a polite way of saying: clinging to bigotry. And promiscuous charges of bigotry are precisely how our current rulers and their vast media auxiliary react to an obstreperous citizenry that insists on incorrect thinking.

-- Resistance to the vast expansion of government power, intrusiveness and debt, as represented by the Tea Party movement? Why, racist resentment toward a black president.

-- Disgust and alarm with the federal government's unwillingness to curb illegal immigration, as crystallized in the Arizona law? Nativism.

-- Opposition to the most radical redefinition of marriage in human history, as expressed in Proposition 8 in California? Homophobia.

-- Opposition to a 15-story Islamic center and mosque near Ground Zero? Islamophobia.

Now we know why the country has become "ungovernable," last year's excuse for the Democrats' failure of governance: Who can possibly govern a nation of racist, nativist, homophobic Islamophobes?
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Note what connects these issues. In every one, liberals have lost the argument in the court of public opinion. Majorities -- often lopsided majorities -- oppose President Obama's social-democratic agenda (e.g., the stimulus, Obamacare), support the Arizona law, oppose gay marriage and reject a mosque near Ground Zero.

What's a liberal to do? Pull out the bigotry charge, the trump that preempts debate and gives no credit to the seriousness and substance of the contrary argument. The most venerable of these trumps is, of course, the race card. When the Tea Party arose, a spontaneous, leaderless and perfectly natural (and traditionally American) reaction to the vast expansion of government intrinsic to the president's proudly proclaimed transformational agenda, the liberal commentariat cast it as a mob of angry white yahoos disguising their antipathy to a black president by cleverly speaking in economic terms.

Then came Arizona and S.B. 1070. It seems impossible for the left to believe that people of good will could hold that: (a) illegal immigration should be illegal, (b) the federal government should not hold border enforcement hostage to comprehensive reform, i.e., amnesty, (c) every country has the right to determine the composition of its immigrant population.

As for Proposition 8, is it so hard to see why people might believe that a single judge overturning the will of 7 million voters is an affront to democracy? And that seeing merit in retaining the structure of the most ancient and fundamental of all social institutions is something other than an alleged hatred of gays -- particularly since the opposite-gender requirement has characterized virtually every society in all the millennia until just a few years ago?

And now the mosque near Ground Zero. The intelligentsia is near unanimous that the only possible grounds for opposition is bigotry toward Muslims. This smug attribution of bigotry to two-thirds of the population hinges on the insistence on a complete lack of connection between Islam and radical Islam, a proposition that dovetails perfectly with the Obama administration's pretense that we are at war with nothing more than "violent extremists" of inscrutable motive and indiscernible belief. Those who reject this as both ridiculous and politically correct (an admitted redundancy) are declared Islamophobes, the ad hominem du jour.

It is a measure of the corruption of liberal thought and the collapse of its self-confidence that, finding itself so widely repudiated, it resorts reflexively to the cheapest race-baiting (in a colorful variety of forms). Indeed, how can one reason with a nation of pitchfork-wielding mobs brimming with "antipathy toward people who aren't like them" -- blacks, Hispanics, gays and Muslims -- a nation that is, as Michelle Obama once put it succinctly, "just downright mean"?

The Democrats are going to get beaten badly in November. Not just because the economy is ailing. And not just because Obama over-read his mandate in governing too far left. But because a comeuppance is due the arrogant elites whose undisguised contempt for the great unwashed prevents them from conceding a modicum of serious thought to those who dare oppose them.

2010-08-29T18:15:00.000-05:00

Media Bias 2010
Here is a look at recent political contributions by major media players.

2010-07-18T12:49:00.002-05:00

Media Bias in Obituaries

Media bias is a topic that interests me greatly because how the media frames issues is one of the things that drives public opinion and politics. For example, is there any question a junior senator from Illinois with virtually no experience or qualifications could be elected president without the mainstream media serving virtually as his de facto campaign? A recent, clear demonstration of the media's preference for the Democratic Party is observable in the comparative obituaries presented for Strom Thurmond and Robert Byrd.

In the obituary for Strom Thurmond, a Republican senator from South Caroline, the New York Times seeks to frame the man's life in terms of his 1948 presidential bid, which the newspaper characterizes as driven by segregation rather than state's rights (arguably, probably both motives). For the Democrat Byrd, a senator from West Virginia, the New York Times buries the fact that he was a former Klansman and seems to offer an embarrassed apology - the implication being that as long as one is a Democrat, any many of personal malfeasance is acceptable.

Both men filibustered a civil rights bill. Mr. Thurmond did so in 1957, well before the country become enlightened after the efforts of Dr. Martin Luther King and others. The paper puts this in the fifth graf of Thurmond's obituary. Mr. Byrd filibustered the Civil Rights Act of 1964 - thank landmark legislation passed seven years after Mr. Thurmond's actions. The same paper buried this fact in graf 16.

Two men. One arguably a racist the other clearly so. Yet despite that fact, their respective party affiliations cause the New York Times to treat each remarkably differently.

2009-10-02T22:12:00.002-05:00

Professor Questions Authorship of President Obama's Book

Who Wrote Dreams And Why It Matters

2009-02-04T07:43:00.001-06:00

A Couple Good Articles about the Economic Stimulus Proposed by President Obama and Congress

GOP: Waste

Ruben Navarette

2009-01-25T09:59:00.003-06:00

More Tolerance from the Left
Gay activists using technology to attack those who opposed Proposition 8 in California. A Mormon friend of mine said these wingnuts showed up at the home of her church president in Dallas to protest his contribution. So much for tolerance.

2008-11-11T21:05:00.001-06:00

Ralph Nadar on Barack Obama

In the Public Interest
Between Hope and Reality by Ralph Nader

Dear Senator Obama:
In your nearly two-year presidential campaign, the words "hope and change," "change and hope" have been your trademark declarations. Yet there is an asymmetry between those objectives and your political character that succumbs to contrary centers of power that want not "hope and change" but the continuation of the power-entrenched status quo.

Far more than Senator McCain, you have received enormous, unprecedented contributions from corporate interests, Wall Street interests and, most interestingly, big corporate law firm attorneys. Never before has a Democratic nominee for President achieved this supremacy over his Republican counterpart. Why, apart from your unconditional vote for the $700 billion Wall Street bailout, are these large corporate interests investing so much in Senator Obama? Could it be that in your state Senate record, your U.S. Senate record and your presidential campaign record (favoring nuclear power, coal plants, offshore oil drilling, corporate subsidies including the 1872 Mining Act and avoiding any comprehensive program to crack down on the corporate crime wave and the bloated, wasteful military budget, for example) you have shown that you are their man?

To advance change and hope, the presidential persona requires character, courage, integrity—not expediency, accommodation and short-range opportunism. Take, for example, your transformation from an articulate defender of Palestinian rights in Chicago before your run for the U.S. Senate to an acolyte, a dittoman for the hard-line AIPAC lobby, which bolsters the militaristic oppression, occupation, blockage, colonization and land-water seizures over the years of the Palestinian peoples and their shrunken erritories in the West Bank and Gaza. Eric Alterman summarized numerous polls in a December 2007 issue of The Nation magazine showing that AIPAC policies are opposed by a majority of Jewish-Americans.

You know quite well that only when the U.S. Government supports the Israeli and Palestinian peace movements, that years ago worked out a detailed two-state solution (which is supported by a majority of Israelis and Palestinians), will there be a chance for a peaceful resolution of this 60-year plus conflict. Yet you align yourself with the hard-liners, so much so that in your infamous, demeaning speech to the AIPAC convention right after you gained the nomination of the Democratic Party, you supported an "undivided Jerusalem," and opposed negotiations with Hamas—the elected government in Gaza. Once again, you ignored the will of the Israeli people who, in a March 1, 2008 poll by the respected newspaper Haaretz, showed that 64% of Israelis favored "direct negotiations with Hamas." Siding with the AIPAC
hard-liners is what one of the many leading Palestinians advocating dialogue and peace with the Israeli people was describing when he wrote "Anti-semitism today is the persecution of Palestinian society by the Israeli state."

During your visit to Israel this summer, you scheduled a mere 45 minutes of your time for Palestinians with no news conference, and no visit to Palestinian refugee camps that would have focused the media on the brutalization of the Palestinians. Your trip supported the illegal, cruel blockade of Gaza in defiance
of international law and the United Nations charter. You focused on southern Israeli casualties which during the past year have totaled one civilian casualty to every 400 Palestinian casualties on the Gaza side. Instead of a statesmanship that decried all violence and its replacement with acceptance of the
Arab League’s 2002 proposal to permit a viable Palestinian state within the 1967 borders in return for full economic and diplomatic relations between Arab countries and Israel, you
played the role of a cheap politician, leaving the area and Palestinians with the feeling of much shock and little awe.

David Levy, a former Israeli peace negotiator, described your trip succinctly: "There was almost a willful display of indifference to the fact that there are two narratives here. This could serve him well as a candidate, but not as a President."

Palestinian American commentator, Ali Abunimah, noted that Obama did not utter a single criticism of Israel, "of its relentless settlement and wall construction, of the closures that make life unlivable for millions of Palestinians. …Even the Bush administration recently criticized Israeli’s use of cluster bombs against Lebanese civilians [see www.atfl.org for elaboration]. But Obama defended Israeli’s assault on Lebanon as an exercise of its `legitimate right to defend itself.’"

In numerous columns Gideon Levy, writing in Haaretz, strongly criticized the Israeli government’s assault n civilians in Gaza, including attacks on "the heart of a crowded refugee camp… with horrible bloodshed" in early 2008.

Israeli writer and peace advocate—Uri Avnery—described Obama’s appearance before AIPAC as one that "broke all records for obsequiousness and fawning, adding that Obama "is prepared to sacrifice the most basic American interests. After all, the US has a vital interest in achieving an Israeli-Palestinian peace that will allow it to find ways to the hearts of the Arab masses from Iraq to Morocco. Obama has harmed his image in the Muslim world and mortgaged his future—if and when he is elected president.," he said, adding, "Of one thing I am certain: Obama’s declarations at the AIPAC conference are very, very bad for peace. And what is bad for peace is bad for Israel, bad for the world and bad for the Palestinian people."

A further illustration of your deficiency of character is the way you turned your back on the Muslim-Americans in this country. You refused to send surrogates to speak to voters at their events. Having visited numerous churches and synagogues, you refused to visit a single Mosque in America. Even George W. Bush visited the Grand Mosque in Washington D.C. after 9/11 to express proper sentiments of tolerance before a frightened major religious group of innocents.

Although the New York Times published a major article on June 24, 2008 titled "Muslim Voters Detect a Snub from Obama" (by Andrea Elliott), citing examples of your aversion to these Americans who come from all walks of life, who serve in the armed forces and who work to live the American dream. Three days earlier the International Herald Tribune published an article by Roger Cohen titled "Why Obama Should Visit a Mosque." None of these comments and reports change your political bigotry against Muslim-Americans—even though your father was a Muslim from Kenya.

Perhaps nothing illustrated your utter lack of political courage or even the mildest version of this trait than your surrendering to demands of the hard-liners to prohibit former president Jimmy Carter from speaking at the Democratic National Convention. This is a tradition for former presidents and one accorded in prime time to Bill Clinton this year.

Here was a President who negotiated peace between Israel and Egypt, but his recent book pressing the dominant Israeli superpower to avoid Apartheid of the Palestinians and make peace was all that it took to sideline him. Instead of an important address to the nation by Jimmy Carter on this critical international problem, he was relegated to a stroll across the stage to "tumultuous applause," following a showing of a film about the Carter Center’s post-Katrina work. Shame on you, Barack Obama!

But then your shameful behavior has extended to many other areas of American life. (See the factual analysis by my running mate, Matt Gonzalez, on www.votenader.org). You have turned your back on the 100-million poor Americans composed of poor whites, African-Americans, and Latinos. You always mention helping the "middle class" but you omit, repeatedly, mention of the "poor" in America.

Should you be elected President, it must be more than an unprecedented upward career move following a brilliantly unprincipled campaign that spoke "change" yet demonstrated actual obeisance to the concentration power of the "corporate supremacists." It must be about shifting the power from the few to the many. It must be a White House presided over by a black man who does not turn his back on the downtrodden here and abroad but challenges the forces of greed, dictatorial control of labor, consumers and taxpayers, and the militarization of foreign policy. It must be a White House that is transforming of
American politics—opening it up to the public funding of elections (through voluntary approaches)—and allowing smaller candidates to have a chance to be heard on debates and in the fullness of their now restricted civil liberties. Call it a competitive democracy.

Your presidential campaign again and again has demonstrated cowardly stands. "Hope" some say "springs eternal." But not when "reality" consumes it daily.

Sincerely,
Ralph Nader

2008-11-09T13:06:00.002-06:00

Quotations about Iraq and Saddam Hussein

I hope the new president will get us out of Iraq a.s.a.p. In the interim, here are some good old quotations about the invasion.

"One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line."
-President Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998
This was a quote from President Clinton during a presentation at the Pentagon defending a decision to conduct military strikes against Iraq.

"If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program." -President Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998
Bill Clinton went to the Pentagon on this occasion to be briefed by top military officials about Iraq and weapons of mass destruction.His remarks followed that briefing.

"We urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S.Constitution and Laws, to take necessary actions, (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs."
Letter to President Clinton, signed by Sens. Carl Levin, Tom Daschle, John Kerry, and others Oct. 9, 1998
According to the U.S. Senate website, the text of this letter was signed by several Senators, both Democrat and Republican, including Senator John McCain and Joseph Lieberman.

"Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process."
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Dec. 16, 1998
The text of this statement by Nancy Pelosi is posted on her congressional website.

"Hussein has … chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass destruction and palaces for his cronies." Madeline Albright, Clinton Secretary of State, Nov. 10, 1999. This was from an appearance Albright made in Chicago.
She was addressing the embargo of Iraq that was in effect at the time and criticism that it may have prevented needed medical supplies from getting into the country. Albright said, "There has never been an embargo against food and medicine. It's just that Hussein has just not chosen to spend his money on that. Instead, he has chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass destruction, and palaces for his cronies."

"There is no doubt that ... Saddam Hussein has invigorated his weapons programs. Reports indicate that biological, chemical and nuclear programs continue a pace and may be back to pre-Gulf War status. In addition, Saddam continues to redefine delivery systems and is doubtless using the cover of a licit missile program to develop longer-range missiles that will threaten the United States and our allies."
Letter to President Bush, Signed by Sen. Joe Lieberman and others, December 5, 2001
It urged President Bush to take quicker action against Iraq.

"We begin with the common belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a threat to the peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandated of the United Nations and is building weapons of mass destruction and the means of delivering them."
Sen. Carl Levin (D, MI), Sept. 19, 2002
These were remarks from Senator Levin to a Senate committee on that date.

"We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country."
Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002
This and the quote below was part of prepared remarks for a speech in San Francisco to The Commonwealth Club.

"Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power."
Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002
"We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction."

"The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October of 1998. We are confident that Saddam Hussein retains some stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, and that he has since embarked on a crash course to build up his chemical and biological warfare capabilities. Intelligence reports indicate that he is seeking nuclear weapons..."
Sen. Robert Byrd (D, WV), Oct. 3, 2002
On the floor of the Senate during debate over the resolution that would authorize using force against Iraq. He was urging caution about going to war and commented that even though there was confidence about the weapons in Iraq, there had not been the need to take military action for a number of years and he asked why there would be the need at that point.

"I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority to use force-- if necessary-- to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security."
Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Oct. 9, 2002
Senator Kerry's comments were made to the Senate as part of the same debate over the resolution to use force against Saddam Hussein.

"There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the next five years ... We also should remember we have always underestimated the progress Saddam has made in development of weapons of mass destruction."
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D, WV), Oct 10, 2002
Senator Rockefeller's statements were a part of the debate over using force against Saddam Hussein.

"He has systematically violated, over the course of the past 11 years, every significant UN resolution that has demanded that he disarm and destroy his chemical and biological weapons, and any nuclear capacity. This he has refused to do"
Rep. Henry Waxman (D, CA), Oct. 10, 2002
Senator Waxman's contribution to the Senate debate over going to war.

"In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al Qaeda members. It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons." Sen. Hillary Clinton (D, NY), Oct 10, 2002
Senator Clinton acknowledged the threat of Saddam Hussein but said she did not feel that using force at that time was a good option.

"Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation ... And now he is miscalculating America's response to his continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction
So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real ..."
Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Jan.23.2003
In a speech to Georgetown University.

2008-11-08T10:06:00.000-06:00

Washington Post Notes Its Pro-Obama Bias

2008-10-23T21:17:00.001-05:00

Patio Man

I think I am a patio man.

2008-10-19T10:19:00.002-05:00

Cynical

This sounds awfully cynical, but I'm just not sure humans can handle democracy. I in know way advocate totalitarianism, but lately I have become more convinced that humans are just too selfish to think about the greater good. Our political system is boiled down to this as its most austere - most Americans sending a portion of their income to Washington, and a group of elected representatives and non-elected bureaucrats determines what groups will get some of their money back while Washington keeps 70% of it. That's why I hate the term federal "grant." It is not a grant but a refund.

Our system would be served by getting back to basics. Whether roads or schools, we should focus on roads and education not social experimentation and pork-barrel projects. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if we can. So the election boils down to this: two candidates representing distinct special interest groups. So whoever wins in November simply will decide what groups of big-monied special interests gets most of your money.

2008-10-17T20:22:00.002-05:00

More Mean-spirited Obamaniacs

Suppressing free speech.
Intelligent political debate.
Attacking the opposition.

2008-10-09T22:25:00.002-05:00

Debate

I did not have the energy to watch the presidential debate. I can summarize it for you. "blah blah blah." John McCain just does not seem very sharp. He misses lots of opportunities to question Barack Obama's policies. For example, I heard Obama stated he would invade any country that practiced genocide. Saddam Hussein practiced genocide. Therefore, Obama would have invaded Iraq. Interesting.

2008-10-06T23:33:00.002-05:00

Election
It is about a month out, and I still am undecided. I probably will vote Libertarian. I do not like McCain's foreign policy, and I think Obama is unqualified. Philosophically, I am closer to the McCain middle than the extreme left of Obama. I fear both offer just more of the same. At least McCain warned of the impending crisis of Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae while Obama counts former Freddie/Fannie execuitves as economic advisers.

I really have become a single-issue voter: BALANCE THE BUDGET! I am convinced, neither will. McCain will pour more money down the Iraq black hole while Obama wants to double our payout to third-world dictators. I really do want change, but Washington does not. It wants just more of the same.

Blasphemy, but I think Sarah Palin offers the only fresh voice or potential change among the four. Unfortunately, the media began ruthlessly crucifying her the second she was announced, so I am confident she did not get a fair shake - at least fair in the sense of the same standard applied to the other guys.

Alas ...

2008-09-29T20:38:00.000-05:00

Article about the cause of this mess ... or at least part of the cause.

2008-09-28T11:28:00.002-05:00

Economic Crisis

The U.S. currently faces on of its largest economic crises in its history. While there is some Big Media exaggeration, no doubt times are dire. It demonstrates at least the very worse in human nature and our political system. It shows what happens when political meddling trumps sound economic policy and greed permeates all.

This is a cruel world. Believe it or not, economic reality dictates many things in our lives, such as the availability of credit. If you have substantial assets and a good payment record, you are more likely to get a loan than someone who has neither. This may shock many people, but lenders like to lend money to those who they think can pay it back. Simply shocking.

It just so happened that throughout the pages of history, there are haves and have nots, the rich and the poor, the credit worthy and un-credit worthy. Some people - the rich, the middle class, the upper-class poor, could get loans while the poor could not. Like my parents and grandparents did, people saved up 20% down payment and sought a home loan. If approved, they got a mortgage and life in a home began.

During the 1970s, Washington politicians decided that since some people could not get loans, that was unfair. So Congress passed the Community Reinvestment Act to mandate banks give loans to those who otherwise would not be able to get them using conventional standards. In 1995, the Clinton Administration loosened standards further and demanded banks, if they were going to qualify for federal banking programs, make loans to those who otherwise would not qualify. Since many of those denied were black, the all-powerful race card was introduced into the discussion, and we developed sort of a subprime affirmative action. Now banks were told to make loans to certain groups in order to meet racial quotas. This is probably a lot of what Barack Obama was doing when he was organizing because is group ACORN was largely the benefactor of the government's largesse.

So now we have Washington politicans, particular Democrat Barney Frank, dictating to banks to whom they must lend. Politicans buying votes and trumping sound economics. Add to that the Republican-led banking deregulation and the all-powerful greed, Wall Street's favorite elixir, and one has an entire new ponzy scheme. More mortgates, more fees, more money.

What Obama, Frank and others never considered was what if these poor borrowers cannot pay back their loans? Shockingly, many could not. Shockingly, Wall Street's greed moved up the food chain and started offering similarly products to middle- and upper-class folks now buying half-a-million-dollar homes they could no more afford that the poor man in the $50K house. Worse yet, the wizards of Wall Street, bundled, sliced and resold these mortgages as CDOs ... more fees, more money. And 15 years later we have the biggest economic crises in 70 years.

2008-09-20T08:35:00.001-05:00

I keep saying I want to start posting again, but like much I have resolutions in my head that never make it out to daily practice. Here is to hoping the election provides needed inspiration.

2008-05-29T20:36:00.000-05:00

Another Birthday

A lot has changed since my last one, but that seems like the way it is. I'm feeling quite pensive and somewhat sad this year - for many reasons I guess. I shant bore you with them here. I hope this finds everyone doing well.

2008-01-01T11:48:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and will have a Happy New Year. This 2008 may be one of the more pivotal years in recent memory. November's presidential election will shape the future of the country for the next decade. As the economy teeters on recession, we could see some severe economic effects. Congress and states must figure out how to resolve the illegal alien crisis. Terrorism looms as Iran and Pakistan become more unstable. And there is China.

I hope yours is fantastic!

2007-12-10T12:04:00.000-06:00

An Inconvenient Truth

Is Al Gore Jr. an environmental evangelist or a savvy businessman? Will Baptists across the U.S. pick up the $175,000 tab for Gore Jr. to speak at the Atlanta meeting? If so, would this money not better be spent on feeding the poor or spreading the Gospel?

The former Vice President has had quite the financial windfall since leaving office in 2000. He turned his invention of the Internet into multi-million-dollar stock options at Google and Apple, and he makes even more speaking - for $175,000 a pop. It is ironic that the global warming guru flies around the country burning loads of fossil fuels to earn six-figure one-night stands. Already a millionaire many times over, if Gore Jr. cares so much about the environment, why not do it for free?

I do not begrudge the former veep for turning his fame, or infamy, into cash; but let's realize that next time he tells us how much he is concerned about the environment. Clearly he's green one way or the other.

2007-12-04T23:28:00.000-06:00

New Baptist Covenant Celebration

This is one of those times where I wish someone actually read this blog because I really would like to have a meaningful conversation about the New Baptist Covenant next month in Atlanta.

This political-theological meeting - also known as the event of the year among trendy Baptist liberals - gives me pause. For three years in seminary I was taught the evils of mixing politics and religion - Civil Religion. Professors winced at the sight of President Bush or Sec. of State Condolezza Rice speaking at the SBC. Now those same professors cannot get to Atlanta quick enough to be exploited by a group of insidious left-wing politicians.

Now I know that is a little hard for my sensitive liberal friends, but let's call spade a spade. We can talk all we want about peace, love and justice, but this meeting is nothing if not the foundation of an organized Evangelical Left. And I am okay with that.

My concern is more with the seeming hypocrisy. I'll admit, I am no fan of most of the politicians invited. While decrying fair trade bananas or what not, Jimmy Carter wants people to forget that he made a fortune as a peanut broker and benefited from those agricultural subsidies that deny fair trade. Bill Clinton, well, need anyone say anything? And then poor Al Gore who wants a world where the poor suffer while the wealthy buy their way out of their responsibilities. And Bill Moyers, the Democratic operative who disguises himself as a journalist.

Now before anyone gets all riled up, I'm no Republican or Democrat. This is not a political position but a theological one. Must we really tie ourselves so closely with the political leaders
of this earth? Should we not proclaim the Gospel and leave the politicking to the politicians?

2007-10-19T07:53:00.003-05:00

I'm still alive. Not that I am so arrogant as to think anyone still reads this thing, but I thought I at least should post something to keep my membership active.

2007-07-26T15:34:00.002-05:00

Posting for Posting's Sake

I just felt the need to post. I think we're finding out that one only can blog for so long without growing tired. Only a minority of people are so in need of catharsis or attention to bloviate daily. I am mulling what to do - make it more personal, close down, or continue status quo. A few folks read, but it is not like I'm the Washington Post.

2007-06-27T20:48:00.000-05:00

Christian Fourth of July

One must love this church's civil religion.

2007-06-26T22:11:00.000-05:00

Sad Tonight

I do not know if I am actually sad or sentimental. Whenever I log into Facebook it seems like I step into another person's experience. Couple with my friend's JoAnn's CD playing, I feel like I am lost in another world. It is a fond world that I miss but to which I can never return.

2007-06-26T12:25:00.000-05:00

Example of Church

I really am struggling with my inability to find a good church home. Let me give you an example. We have been visiting this church in the neighborhood pretty regularly, but it is just not really for. For one, the worship is too unintentional; and I neither of us fine the preaching particularly insightful. However, being selfish, we visit there because it is close. Sunday - being the last week of the quarter and good Baptists - the church apparently celebrated The Lord's Supper; I say that because no a word was mentioned until the very end of the sermon, and it almost was used as a sermon prop. There was no reverence, explanation of its significance or intention. I was embarrassed and felt unholy even participating in such a remembrance. I think it is a function of too many "how to do" church books and seminars have gotten so far away from Christian authenticity to be unrecognizable.

I am frustrated because I am in a real pickle. The church were we feel most comfortable is an Anglican church in a nearby town. I feel, however, to leave "the Baptist church" I will be sacrificing any future career opportunities in ministry or denominational affairs. We're struggling with what to do.

2007-06-24T08:44:00.000-05:00

Finding a Church

It has been more than a year since we left our church home; but we still struggle to find a church where we fit. It is very frustrating. I still have a lot of Baptist sensibilities - particularly immersion - so it is a struggle to leave the tradition. All the Baptists here are the same, however: worshiptainment. Every church is in a dark room with a 45-minute concert followed by a usually poor sermon about some practical aspect of life. Rarely do messages challenge me or worship make me feel in the presence of God. Just a vent really ...

2007-06-22T11:54:00.000-05:00

The Battle of Special Interest Groups

The saga of Grey's Anatomy actors Isaiah Washington offers a new opportunity to consider the battles of being offended when two special interest groups collide. Washington called gay co-star T.R. Knight a "fag," and the resulting firestorm got Washington fired. This would not be a story except that Washington is black.

Normally, as Don Imus demonstrated, if a white, straight guy offends a special interest group, he's toast; but who wins in special interest group versus special interest group? Frankly, I am shocked - I thought Washington's blackness would save him. Somewhere "fag" got elevated to the same status as "nigger," which is the most egregious ethnic slur. I did not get the memo ... I thought nothing was on that level ... and rightfully so.

Tensions between gay and black special interest groups is not new. The latter resents the former attempting to piggy back on the civil rights bandwagon and to equate the experiences of gays with those of blacks - a poor comparison at best. Regardless, in a new world where free speech rarely reigns, we should see more similar incidents.

2007-06-18T10:24:00.000-05:00

Fun with Race

The only thing more fun than making light of political correctness is making light of all the phony P.C. nature of fabricated racial outrage.

Lewis Hamilton, recently won his first Formula One race and American media widely reported he was the first African-American to win a Formula One race. The only problem - Mr. Hamilton is British. The media, however, as it often does, is so concerned with being P.C. that it will obscure the truth. I just find it funny.

On a side note, I do not understand the definition of "black." I guess if you have any black immediate ancestors, you are considered de facto black. I just think it is unfair that, for example, our Asian friends are denied the racial glory of Tiger Woods, who is half Asian. Isn't Mr. Woods the best Asian golfer in history? Incidentally, Mr. Hamilton, like Barack Obama, Hale Berry, Beyonce, etc., is only half African-American.

Oh, for the day when we're no longer obsessed with race and labels ...

2007-06-14T08:22:00.000-05:00

Flushing the Outhouse

Marty Duren, host of the SBC Outpost, decided to shut down his omnipresent news-blog site. He is going back to school to get his education and wants to spend more time with his children. Frankly, I am happy to see that. Although I do not know Marty, he seems like a decent guy. Many of the famous SBC bloggers are in it for themselves. Some are political animals and always have been more into politics than pastoring. They saw an opportunity to gain some power and jumped on the chance to get their names in the press. Others were sycophants to Paige Patterson and others and later turned on their mentors when they did not get a key appointment.

It is my opinion that politics - particularly in church and in the SBC - poisons the sole. All the fundamentalist leaders sold their souls to the devil for power, prestige and wealth. I am glad to see Marty not take this road. So much of our energy as a denomination is spend fighting and fussing it is just a shame. I am glad to see more pastors focused on pastoring and less on politics.

2007-06-12T08:58:00.000-05:00

Criswell and Abortion Part 2

Before time gets away from me, I wanted to conclude the post below about fundamentalist pope W.A. Criswell, former pastor of FBC-Dallas, and abortion. Criswell reportedly told a group of doctors he would favor abortion only in the case where a white woman was raped by a black man.

Criswell's view really does not flummox me. It is inline with his generally attitudes about these things. What intrigues me is that it is another example where theology and politics collide for the fundamentalist - and politics always win. I have always been intrigued how people who purport to believe so much in the Bible in many cases fail to live like it. I think in Criswell's view we find the answer.

When fundamentalists say they are conservative and believe the Bible, that really is a cultural-political statement more than a theological one. Conservative means not that they hold a particularly high view of Scripture but hold a very high view of American - and usually Southern - culture. They seek to conserve and preserve a particular way of life. And Criswell shows it. For all the pomp and circumstance about theology and abortion, all that goes out the window when it collides with one's own views of race and place. Again, politics trump theology.

As I close this post, I hope to close any thoughts about fundamentalists, who have generally been rendered completely irrelevant. As the Southern Baptist Convention opens this week in San Antonio, one must ask: "what if there was a big church meeting and no one cared?" I think we are seeing the last gasps of the SBC as we know it - as the political/cultural/denominational force it once was. There may be a resolution to encourage churches to report truthful membership numbers. That will never happen because leaders know they would lose the "largest Protestant denomination" title.

Oh well ... the beat goes on but not for much longer.

2007-06-11T09:41:00.000-05:00

Don and Patty

I know I am like five years too late, but I have never been trendy and always a late adopter; but I just started Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz, the evangelical pop spirituality du juor. So far, it has not disappointed. I suspect everyone who might happen across the blog has read it, so I'll spare the review. I am about half way through. Although I have read better writers, I enjoy Miller's content as he describes his coming to terms with his faith and eschewing Christianity for Christian spirituality.

He convicted me as he talked about the churches he dislikes. While he outlined the features of the churches that literally have made him sick, he noted that God loves them too and not to be a smarmy, judgmental church snob ... as I have tended to be.

For example, yesterday the family tried a new church. Lo and behold, it was most of the other churches in the neighborhood we had tried: Thirty minute pop concert, thirty minute non-biblical, practical sermon all in a dark, dank concert hall. This church was slightly different in the personable nature of the pastor and the staff. The pastor greeted everyone as they walked in and seemed genuine. His kind nature made it easier to forgive him for turning the Shema into a parenting guide ... no wonder we make our Jewish brothers nervous. We deconstruct possibly the most holiest of Hebrew Scriptures and turn it into three steps for raising an child to have an A+ Life.

But like Don says, I am not going to be a jerk but just respect the fact that other churches are different. Speaking of, I did not realize from Patty to pipes how many guys from seminary were Donald Miller starter kits. I laughed out loud as he talked about listening to Patty and smoking a pipe on his porch talking about things ... I smiled thinking of some of my buddies from seminary. I wondered why Patty and pipes are popular among the theological crowd - I am a little sad to see the man behind the curtain.

Speaking of Part II ... got to see my first Patty show last night. She seems like such a fun, sweet person. The show was great despite a very short set list that featured few old standards. She is just so darn pleasant you want to hang out with her. Maybe more on that later.

a strange bit of coincidence

2007-06-06T08:35:00.000-05:00

A Snapshot of a Fundamentalist's Heart

First, some background ... a colleague is getting Lasik eye surgery from a local physician. She is the kind of woman who can get anyone to open up to her, and as a devoted Christian often gets folks to discuss their faith. So she was having a consultation with a the local Lasik physician, who to this point she had called "the Robot" due to his clinics manufacturing-style operations and his typical doctor's demeanor (Patch Adams he ain't). But yesterday they began to talk about many things - the Christian physicians' organization, abortion, euthanasia, and the doctor's own experience with his mother's long road to eternal rest. He admitted that being a physician he kept her alive via medical procedures long after she wanted to live and she spent her final years in pain and suffering.

Anyway, they discussed abortion. He told a story about a meeting of a group of urologists he had attended years ago ... my colleague shares a last name with an apparently famous urologist. A speaker at this meeting was none other than W.A. Criswell, famous fundamentalist pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas.

W.A. said two shocking things:
1. He was for abortion in one case
2. That case was if a black man raped a white woman

I'll let you digest that for a bit before further commenting.

2007-06-05T13:24:00.000-05:00

Stop Down for a Pet Peeve

Okay, I'm going to get in trouble with my one female fan ... two things converge in this post that irritate me - the butchering of the English language (and social decorum in general) and the wussification/feminization of American.

My wife and I are expecting a baby; but, we are not pregnant. Despite the sizable gut that hangs over my shoes, it is all fat no baby. We are not pregnant. She is pregnant. This "we're pregnant" irritates me. One, it simply is factually incorrect. Pregnancy is a medical term describing a state of zygote/fetal gestation. Only women and Arnold Schwartzenegger can become pregnant. So in not case are "we pregnant" when speaking of couples, yes even lesbians (unless each is pregnant simultaneously). "We are expecting a baby" however. I certainly am expecting a baby to arrive in August and not Chinese food or pizza.

I think this is the continual wussification of men whereby they get sucked into all this feminine mystique ... I do not know if this is correct, but I know we're not pregnant.

2007-06-03T11:50:00.000-05:00

JPR Says Sayonara

The Waco and Baylor ecclesiastical world had a bomb dropped on it - the inevitable departure of Julie Pennington-Russell from Calvary Baptist Church. Under Julie's tenure, Calvary became the church du jour of Truett faculty and students. We visited a few times, but it was just too trendy for us.

This will be an interesting case study to see whether Calvary can hang on to its momentum without the kitsch of a female pastor. There are lots of great people there, but 99% of them leave in the suburbs and commute in for church. There are so many good churches in Waco, it will be tough to compete. As we were leaving, it seemed like Dayspring was growing in trendiness among Baylor religion/philosophy majors and Truett students.

I do not begrudge Julie at all for leaving - I would have done the same thing; but it is always sad to see the ladder-climbing phenomenon. There really is no good, alternative system. I guess people on both sides of the spectrum are not so different after all.

2007-06-01T15:23:00.000-05:00

The folks over at the Outhouse are really working themselves up into a tizzy as the SBC Convention looms. I wonder what all these pastors did before they blogged all day. Few of them pastor large churches, so maybe there is not a lot to do ... but sure more sermon preparation time is valuable (I have read some of the exegeses over there, trust me).

It is easy to throw stones. I acknowledge that. I am just fascinated by the perpetual state of political chaos that seems to surround the SBC. I just wonder how much more for the Kingdom could be done if more time were spent visiting the sick and the lost or feeding the poor. Clearly, many of these once-unknown pastors haver turned blogging into celebrity status. Good for them. It is nice at least to see a little egalitarianism break into the good-ole boys network. One can see lots of jockeying on both sides - fundamentalist and really fundamentalist - for positions of future power plays.

2007-05-30T15:25:00.000-05:00

33

Today, I reach the mystical age of Christ. I never had thought much about it until my friend, my twin, reminded me of such an auspicious occasion. That is a lot of pressure and a lot of expectations. This age seems to capture the imaginations of a good many folks.

Five for Fighting, in 100 Years sings:
"I'm 33 for a moment. Still the man, but you see I'm a they. A kid on the way. A family on my mind"

David Wilcox, in Glory sings:
"In the big boring middle of my long book of life after the twist has been told. If you don't die in glory at the age of Christ then your story is just getting old ...
Through the big boring middle of His long book of life after He passed thirty-two. If you don't die in glory at the age of Christ then your story is still coming true. Still coming true, still coming true."

So far, 33 has been uneventful. When you're working, the birthday loses much of the elementary significance ... I do not advertise the day, and I have had no well wishes from colleagues. Just another day. But one cannot help but find reflection on these days that seem to come more often than before. I can say with relative confidence that the next 365 days will determine the rest of my life. When I again broach the subject of turning the calendar of my life, such a life will have been placed on the path that will guide it until the end.

Until then, goodnight and God bless.

2007-05-29T09:12:00.001-05:00

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

The candidacy of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for the GOP presidential nomination brings the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints - or Mormonism - into the spotlight like it has not been in a while. I would like to hear what other folks think regarding this popular faith. It seems several years ago many fundamentalist Baptists went on a "convert Mormons" crusade in conjunction with the SBC's Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City.

I am no expert in LDS theology. I have a book of Mormon somewhere in the garage, and I have been looking for it and hoping to read it. Mormons have a strange relationship with Christianity - Mormonism:Christianity::Christianity:Judaism. Clearly, Mormons are not Christians in the orthodox sense although they purport to worship Jesus and Elohim, the name the E source uses for God in the Pentateuch. My professors indicated - and it makes sense - that Mormonism is a latter-day expression of Christian Gnosticism. All of its theology points to that ancient sect.

While Mormons' orthodoxy needs much to be desired, I admire their orthopraxy. Most Mormons are disciplined, faithful practitioners of their faith. They demonstrate remarkable control abstaining from caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, etc. Mainline Christianity could learn a great deal from the LDS regarding ecclessiology and evangelism. How many Christians in our pop-star megachurches would spend two years doing mission work? How many would tithe? How many would abstain from Starbucks?

I have had the pleasure to have three Mormon friends. All were nice, faithful people even if misguided in their religious beliefs. I worked for a Mormon gentleman a few years ago ... he was nuts. I do have three, strange unscientific anecdotes from my experience! All the Mormons I know are 1. wealthy and 2. attractive. Interesting.

The Romney candidacy is an interesting one. By all accounts, he is the perfect Religious Right candidate; but his religion is keeping many fundamentalist Christians from supporting him. Based on the little I know about all the candidates, he seems like the best.

2007-05-29T09:12:00.000-05:00

2007-05-27T10:39:00.000-05:00

Interesting Article on Tradition

The de facto Dallas Morning News religion columnist wrote an interesting article on the reinstatement of the Latin Mass by Pope Benny as well as the growing (albeit small %) of traditional, high church in the face of worshitainment. While I appreciate high church, I fear this is one of those cyclical things. High church will be trendy for awhile among the religious cognoscenti, but most folks with prefer the feel good cheap grace of American evangelicalism.

It is challenging to find a good mix between dead orthodoxy and pump-em-up pietism. Orthodoxy without orthopraxy is meaningless, and feel-good Jesus talk without transformation is worthless. Why cannot there be a church community with evangelical sensibility and Christian Tradition?

2007-05-24T18:21:00.001-05:00

I have just not had the energy to blog, but I have to type ...

Is Rosie O'Donnell just one of the worst people on television? There is nothing worse than a loud, close-minded bully whose lacking intellect.

2007-05-02T04:37:00.001-05:00

Back

China was great. I will post when I get reorganized and re-assimilated.

2007-04-19T16:01:00.000-05:00

Off to China

I'm off the China for the next few days. Please keep Ashleigh and Kristina in your prayers as I am gone. While it probably will be a much-needed opportunity for peace and relaxation for them, please pray they will be safe.

Grace and peace to you all.

2007-04-14T15:08:00.000-05:00

Rich Preachers

The folks over in the Outhouse got to discussing rich preachers. Not surprisingly considering most of the guys there are preachers, most felt like preachers should make all they can and viewed Mercedes and million-dollar houses as "God's blessing."

I must admit this surprised me ... but not really. The fact the many fundamentalist evangelicals favor rich, celebrity preachers flummoxes me. But I think I may have an answer.

It is my simple opinion that much of evangelical life - culture, etiquette, practice, institutions, organization, etc. - has more to do with American culture than the Gospel. Fundamentalist evangelicals love American civil religion - and folk religion. I think therein lies the answer.

Fundamentalist evangelicals are so enamored with Americana that they tend to support all things baseball and apple pie - even consumption and materialism. Why shouldn't preachers get rich from the Gospel - that is the American way.

2007-04-12T14:50:00.000-05:00

Interesting Video

Paul Washer

While I may not agree with everything the guys says, I cannot say the guy does not make some great points. I've always felt uncomfortable with the "ask Jesus into your heart" bit. I am kind of liking this guy.

2007-04-11T13:42:00.000-05:00

Racial Politics

Racial politics in America continue to confound and disappoint. As a amateur media critic, I find two recent stories interesting as demonstrations of how the Big Media fans the flames of Big Racism. The first is the Don Imus story. The New York shock jock made disparaging, racist comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team. The statements only were "racist" because a white guy made them - the same sentiments are found in Spike Lee movies, rap music and (presumably) black talk radio. While Imus is a jerk and cannot be defended, it is interesting how Big Racism jumps on any opportunity to line its pockets and how the Big Media facilities. Make no mistake, Big Racism is big business. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have made millions buying and selling commodities known as racism. They're all over Imus, and it has led the news the last few days. One might think with all going on in the world, some idiot's comments are barely worth noting.

Conversely, the Raleigh D.A. finally dropped all charges against three white Duke University lacrosse players wrongly accused of raping a black stripper. When this story broke last year, race was all over it. Each time the media ran a story, it played up the racial angle. Jesse and Al came, people marched, and those terrible honky Klansmen raped the poor, hard-working black stripper. Racism caused it all. Now that it comes to light that she made it all up - an equally dubious racial situation - race is absent from the media reports. In none of the reports I have heard has the victim's or perpetrator's race been mentioned. I am not concluding just noticing how interesting that seems.

Clearly, there are serious racial issues our society should continue to deal with, but we've made a lot of progress. Unfortunately, Big Racism is big business and has a lot to lose if the problem is solved. I just wish we could work to solve the real problems and not get distracted by the phony ones.

2007-04-10T13:08:00.000-05:00

Interesting W.A. Criswell Article

The Dallas Morning News has an interesting article on W.A. Criswell, the long-time pastor of First Baptist Church Dallas and the leader of the fundamentalist takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention. As anyone who has read Joel Gregory's book, it is easy to glean to amount of energy Criswell put into accruing wealth. The article confirms the Criswells died with more than five million dollars.

2007-04-09T19:57:00.000-05:00

Prayers

It is not often that I publicly ask for prayers, but I do so now. There is an opportunity for which I am very excited. My chances are slim, but I am hopeful. I would be grateful for all of your thoughts and prayers.

2007-04-08T22:53:00.000-05:00

He is Risen Indeed!

Happy Easter everyone.

2007-03-28T09:24:00.001-05:00

Although I have never heard anything from the last church with whom I interviewed, I noticed on its Web site apparently the church is calling another pastor. Once again, a church treated me poorly.

I have not blogged in a while, and it is largely do to my spiritual malaise that continues to plague me. Every organized church relationship lets me down. Churches, leaders, mentors. Not only do I deal with my own challenges but also a general feeling that no one cares.

I visit churches where pastors cannot preach their way out of a box. I see pastors who abuse their positions. I see pastors who are in it for the money and power. Yet, they find pulpits.

Forgive this particularly whiny post. I suspect it is a symptom of the disappointment of being rejected again. I struggle to make sense of my so-called calling as well as my entire seminary experience. Right now, it seems like a mistake. I am struggling hard to keep the faith.

2007-02-21T23:47:00.000-06:00

Posted at the Outhouse

I posted the following over at the outhouse. Them boys are all worked up into a tizzy about something some fundamentalist from Missouri said. I post it here I guess because I need a post, but it relates to today, Ash Wednesday.

Much of the controversial, "emerging church" movement is not emerging at all. I simply is Christian Tradition marketed as trendy.

My post:

Conservatives do not like the "emerging church" because intrinsically conservatives favor the status quo. Ironically, much of the "emerging church" is status quo. I know it is out of date know, but if you read "The Emerging Church" by Dan Kimball, one gets the impression that he and McLaren one day walked into a Catholic or Orthodox church and said, "wow, this is neat." The emerging church movement is less about non-traditional (to fundamentalists and conservatives) ministry (although that is on the surface what gets the press) that recapturing the essence of what it means to be part of the Kingdom of God. Americans, Southerners in particular, Baptists in particular, conservatives in particular, tend to think that there way is the only / right way and that they have a monopoly on truth (worship, hermeneutics, etc.) What the Emerging church figured out and marketed was that much of what passes for fundamentalist / conservative evangelical orthodoxy is American folk and civil religion as well as the revivals of the 19th Century. McLaren, et al, woke up one day and realized there was this entire stream of Christian Tradition outside of American and outside of fundamentalism / conservatism, and they wrote books and became rich by telling fundamentalist Protestants that it was okay to tap into the rich Christian tapestry beyond the Southern sensibility. There is nothing radical about the emerging movement particularly when one realizes what is radical is the expression of the southern fundamentalist faith when juxtaposed with the greater Christian Tradition.

It is my humble opinion that Moran and others simple is the Fundamentalist Takeover of the SBC coming home to roost. Christ never commanded us to have a particular view of Scripture but rather to live in a certain way ... we so focus on the former we pretty much ignore the latter. The Takeover was as much about preserving God's, guns and the American flag as it was about anything theological. Moran is the same ... scared of what he does not understand. This is tragedy, because his view is so small.

2007-02-18T13:59:00.000-06:00

Good to Be in Ministry

Who knew one could make it so big as a ministry. Jack Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church, has hit the big time. Here one can see the latest appraisal of his home. It will be interesting how he might explain his need for an $800,000 home while people in the community barely have enough food to eat.

I guess I wonder why so man fundamentalists, who claim to believe the Bible more than anyone, tend to ignore its teachings on money. So much for servant leadership.

2007-02-08T19:58:00.000-06:00

I read this quotation in an article on the SBC news service:

"All denominations are active creatures, but dustups between feuding factions resemble modern political conventions so much that observers rightly dismiss denominations as simply playgrounds for wannabe politicians who eschew the field of politics as "too dirty," finding denominational life a more suitable theater for their brand of political hardball."

I thought it really was interesting. I think the fact that I have noticed what the author describes is one reason church life does not always sit well with me. So many pastors seem one step away from politicians or salesmen. I know that is a broad-painting indictment, but I thought the quote had some merit.

I would recommend the article. If you can get past all the Piper-inspired "glory" lines, he makes some good points.

2007-01-21T23:32:00.000-06:00

The Tolerance Car

I was driving behind on of those "tolerance cars" this afternoon. You know, the kind with all the cutesy bumper-stickers about peace, love, and relativism, war, puppies and abortion. It actually had a interesting bumper sticker that had "Coexist," but each letter was a religious symbol. Something like this.

But then, I noticed the car also had one of those Icthus-mocking "Darwin" symbols. And I thought, how very tolerant. How very Left and tolerant to bastardize a benign religious symbol. I am sure that if one took a Muslim symbol and perverted it to make a silly point, Ms. Tolerance would be in an uproar. I guess I never realized how offensive I think those symbols are. It is not that I have problem with someone having faith in Darwin, I just do not like them being so intolerant and mocking of my symbol. Oh, hypocrisy. Got to love it.

2007-01-19T20:11:00.000-06:00

Chicks with Bibles

The good-ole-boys over at SBC Outpost are a dithers and aghast that Paige Patterson would fire a female seminary professor simply because of biology. One constantly wonders where these guys have been the last 30 years. Maybe they do not realize the relationship between confession and praxis.

2007-01-16T18:07:00.001-06:00

There are no Words

Are we so hard up for relevance we have to resort to this?

2007-01-15T21:12:00.000-06:00

MLK Day

Today, we celebrate the memory of Martin Luther King Jr. While King certainly had his warts and ethical failings, he will be remembered as one of the great leaders of our nation. His "Letter from Birmingham Jail" and his "I Have a Dream Speech" are among their respective medium's paragons. Without King's leadership, the 20th Century would have suffered a grave ending, I fear.

Today was King's actual birthday - he would have been 78. I am fascinated by the contemplation of what would history been like had famous or influential people who died young lived instead. I think it is the case with King, the Kennedy's, etc., that nothing cements a legacy like an early grave. Not that King would not have remained a great leader, but he would not be the untouchable, semi-divine figure of today's mythology. Certainly that applies even more so to John F. Kennedy, whose legacy would have been as a poor president had he not been killed in Dallas.

In light of the Duke rape case, I also take this time to ponder the poor state of the Black Rights movement since King's passing. The so-called "black leadership" is often left in the hands of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, two opportunistic, greedy, racist, reverends-without-churches who are in it for the cameras and the money. I suspect King would roll over in his grave if he knew Jackson used black people's plights to secure lucrative contracts for his friends and family or if he knew about Sharpton being a pitch-man for red-lining banks. The good news is that other influential black pundits are starting to realize the conservative criticism of the last 15 years was spot on. From Bill Cosby to Juan Williams, people are starting to see the emperor has no clothes.

Despite the ugly realities of today, we should use this holiday to reflect on our faith. A faith of peace, love, hope, joy and equality.

2007-01-15T12:24:00.000-06:00

Arctic Blast

Today, we're getting another "Arctic Blast," which means it is freezing. One must love Texas in the winter.

2007-01-10T08:42:00.000-06:00

Church Review

We visited a new church Sunday - Preston Ridge. I was pleasantly surprised. It is one of those contemporary, P&W churches, but I enjoyed it (I prefer a more liturgical worship). One thing nice was the church architecture. So many of these P&W churches built large, impersonal, dank auditoriums designed for musical performance. I often feel like I am locked in a really large closet with no lights forced to listen to a really loud band. Preston Ridge - only the second church I have attended to be this way - has large windows (not stained glass) running along the full lengths of two side walls and on the second story. It may for an open, light worship, which was nice. It was refreshing that the pastor actually read from and referenced Scripture. While he did not do much hard-core exegesis, he actually read and used the text.

One thing I have noted that is an interesting cultural/theological phenomenon. Conventional wisdom holds that Baptists are "people of the book" and take the Bible very seriously. Yet, in most SBC churches I have attended, the pastors seem to rush through Scripture reading seemingly more out of obligation than contemplation. Yet at an Episcopal church - those folks who do not even believe the Bible according to CW - Scripture reading is taken very seriously. People stand, and one cannot enter or leave the sanctuary when the Bible is open.

2007-01-09T08:43:00.000-06:00

God's Work in Texas

I got this note from another blog ... you can view some of God's work in Texas:
Christmas Ministry
There is nothing like material excess to remember the humble birth of our Lord and Savior. I think Jesus might vomit if he watched this video. At least tithes and offering are going to good causes.

Not to worry, being good stewards of God's money, the home has been expanded and renovated.

In both cases, you will have to wait until the end of the video or the article to understand the full biblical ramifications.

2006-12-30T23:36:00.000-06:00

What a Strange Trifecta

Has there ever been a more strange Trifecta that James Brown, Gerald Ford, and Saddam Hussein? One man struggled with personal demons while touching the world. One man did what he thought was right despite public opinion. And one man was insane.

Like much of the Iraq debacle, the United States made another strategic blunder in executing Hussein. Once a paria, he is now a martyr. History books are filled with good men who are considered great simply because they were executed. John F. Kennedy probably is the most glaring example, but an untimely death always tends to cause historians to forget one's faults.

No matter how bad Hussein was, let us take a moment to condemn capital punishment. Death is not an answer for death. As our savior taught us, one should not match an eye for an eye. We cannot as Christians protest the killing of the unborn while celebrating the killing of the born. A better - morally and politically - fate for Hussein would have been to rot in on of his own Iraqi jails.

Let us also celebrate Gerald Ford. A man - like President Bush - lambasted for being an imbecile despite an extraordinary academic record. He was an unusual man who did not seek power or fame and when it found him, he responded with dignity, grace and vision. We need a man like Ford in the White House today.

And the Godfather of Soul. Rest in Peace. You defined a generation of black Americans and gave the rest of the country a window into the black experience and soul.

2006-12-24T14:35:00.000-06:00

More Sex Scandal, Circling the Wagons Around a Deceased Kingmaker

Since the weather's dreary, I thought I would peruse Ben Cole's for a little rainy-day humor. Ben's always good for a laugh. Instead, I stumbled across the big sex scandal that is going on at Bellvue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tenn. Bellvue is where famous fundy Adrienne Rodgers pastored for many years. Rodgers may be best described as the Senator Palpatine of the Fundamentalist Takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention. He was the public face of Emperor Patterson's phantom menace.

One can only imagine the machinations that have gone on behind the scenes since the new guy took over. For some reason, anytime a pastor quits, the church must undermine the new guy. This particular the case with someone like Rodgers, who is all but worshipped in fundy circles. But it really exploded when it came out that a long-time staff member admitted to being a child molester, and the new pastor kept silent for more than six months.

The new guy, Steve Gaines, already seems to be unpopular. There is a whole web site dedicated to his destruction. He's pretty funny too, as one reads his resume it comes off like a used car salesman ... he's the top Jesus salesman in Alabama! But I digress. And we wonder why churches are dying. Gaines should call Joel Gregory and learn about stepping into a hornet's nest. Rodgers I guess in many ways was W.A. Criswell's fundy successor - big-money, big-time mega-church leader, cult of personality. Seems like a lot of the little fundies look up to Rodgers like the older fundies looked up to Criswell.

What is funny now, is the full-scale PR effort/legacy salvation/spin control/revisionist history that is being launched to make sure everyone knows that Rodgers never knew his longtime staff member, Paul Williams, was not a child molester. Our buddy Ben makes Rodger's widow, Joyce, seem almost divine as she comes out to defend her husband's honor. Yet, she offers no words of prayer or consolation for the victim, for Williams, for the church ... she just wants to make sure everyone knows that Adrienne didn't know. Here we have a family friend, someone the Rodgers know for more than 30 years, has lost his ministry, his reputation, and all Joyce can think about is protecting her late husband's legacy.

I think I see a parallel between Joyce and Betty C. If anyone read's Gregory's book or knows much about FBCD, it was Betty as much as Willie that ruled San Jacinto Street. One cannot rise to political power in the SBC - or any institution for that matter - without burying some bodies and a wife willing to hold the shovel.

Now I was not born yesterday. Is Joyce and the rest of the Rodgers apologists asking us to believe that Paul Williams, a long-time friend and employee of Rodgers who appears on his memorial video, never once confessed to his mentor but confesses to this new pastor within six months of his ascension to the throne? Gaines told the church a "retired staff member" knew about the incident ... who else would it be? Did Williams confess to the youth minister? The A/V guy? The janitor? Either something fishy is going on or Rodgers was such a terrible pastor that his own friends and collegues did not trust him or his ministry.

What is lost in all of this tragedy is that a young person was sexually molested by his relative, and that it provides another example of Christian hypocrisy. What is even more telling is that for all the PR/BS about Rodgers, just like when he was alive, the focus is more about power and legacy than healing and redemption.

2006-12-24T10:37:00.000-06:00

The History of Christmas

Last night, the History Channel ran a great piece on the history of Christmas. Contemporary Americans tend to take a very short view of history, and it was interesting in light of all of the annual controversies surrounding Christmas.

Most know that the Church co-opted pagan celebrations around the Winter Solstice to create a Christian holiday. Most do not know that the pagan revelry continued throughout Western Europe and the United States until the mid-1800s. Throughout European history, Christmas was a bachannalian celebration more akin to Halloween or New Year's Eve. It included a trick-or-treat-type ritual as well as drunkenness and debauchery.

The Puritans hated Christmas and forbid its practice in Massachusetts ... but some still reveled that day. It was not until the young government realized it needed some cultural cohesion that holidays - which were not recognized the first 60 or so years of the republic - began to be incorporated into the calendar. One of those was Christmas. Much of the 18th Century view of Christmas came from Washington Irving. Not until Christmas has been accepted as a popular secular holiday did Protestant churches begin to recognize the holiday. It was not until Dickens' - a nominal Christian if not anti-Christian - A Christmas Carol in that people begin to formulate "a Christmas spirit."

Just like today, it was not the Church but commercialism that drove the adoption of Christmas. Retailers soon capitalized on gift-giving and the newly popular "Santa Claus" to promote winter sales. Even today, much of our Christmas traditions are not Christian but commercial. So next time one hears, "put Christ back in Christmas," one has to wonder if he ever was in it.

2006-12-22T13:42:00.001-06:00

Who is more annoying: Rosie O'Donnell or Oprah Winfrey?

2006-12-19T08:00:00.000-06:00

Sexual Abuse

The Dallas Morning News reported last week on two Baptist ministers in the Dallas area accused of sexual abuse. Larry Reynolds, pastor of Southmont Baptist Church in Denton, confessed to molesting a 15-year-old girl. He still pastors the church. Read more about it as well as the BGCT's secret file from Ethics Daily.

Next, the paper reported on Dale Amyx, pasotor of Bolivar Baptist Church near Denton. Here is the story on WFAA. Apparently, Amyx has not admitted his alleged wrongdoings.

I really do not know what to say. There are few more crimes that do as much damage to young people, to faith, to the spirit and to the body/Body as sexual molestation. The Roman Catholic Church has suffered for decades, and I wonder how many active pastors are in the BGCT's secret file. I know there are issues of legality, but there is also the issue of faith and being faithful, countercultural, and right.

2006-12-18T10:38:00.000-06:00

Crash

Last night, I finally got around to viewing the movie Crash, the 2005 Best Picture. Despite the controversy that it beat out the big gay cowboy movie, I cannot imagine a better movie that Crash. It is one of those few movies that I think every American should watch.

Crash basically uses the automobile accident as a metaphor for human interaction particularly in Los Angeles. The plots interweave a group of individuals whose lives interact. And there are no good people. Every character either is a racist or commits a horrible act. And of course I use the word "racist" loosely - is there a word more misused and misdefined in American pop culture than "racist?" Only a few characters probably would qualify as genuine racists; most just frame the world in racial stereotypes that make up every person's world view.

The real beauty of Crash is its attempted honesty and authenticity. Most Hollywood movies fall into the simple, formula; but Crash turns the mirror on many people explores how their stereotypes, biases and prejudices affect the way they see the world. The movie turns itself on its head. In the end, the character setup to be the big racist turns out to be not one at all; the character setup to be the idealist committs the most violence act stemming from his own prejudices; and most everyone in between let their own self-interests drive them.

If the other two people who read this blog have seen the movie, I would love to hear your thoughts.

2006-12-12T12:58:00.000-06:00

Taking Baptist Up a Notch

The joke used to be that anytime a Baptist got mad, he started a new church. Well, it seems like we've upped the ante a bit, and everyone is starting new denominations. Why would you want to be a church planter when you can be a bureacracy planter?

It seems everyone in their dog is driving around Texas and other places holding "meetings" to build some type of coalition. There was a group last summer of "young" pastors who were "fundies but not as fundie as you" who met in Memphis and had the self-righteousness to issue their own declaration. Now a few of those leaders still travel around and play politics.

Now, another group wants to meet in Dallas soon for more of the same. The leader is a seemingly nice and integrous guy who blogs here. I'm sure these guys will travel around Texas after the meeting and play politics (I do not mean that pejoritively).

I admire these attempts at reform, but there does seem to be a lot of Gen X instant gratification underpinnings. These guys want reform yesterday. Say what you will about Paige Patterson - I need hits from SWBTS - but the guy at least plotted his takeover for decades. It was what, about 30 years from the time he started planning his coup to when he final got its target - Pecan Manor?

It just seems like pastors spend an inordinate amout of times on internal bickering and politicking than ministry. Something tells me that if pastors worked on their individual spiritual lives as hard as they work on politicing, everything else would fall into place. All of the conflict and discord springs from sinful hearts and selfish wills. If every Christian leader worked on himself or herself more and the other stuff left, our internal problems would subside.

Dang, I'm naive.

2006-12-10T14:17:00.000-06:00

GodMen

The GodMen post below got quite a reaction from my dear friend Meg ... I cannot say that I blame her. GodMen is one of those popular phenomena whereby we try to place a "Jesus face" on our popular lifestyles. My favorite example of this are the Christian trophy hunters: "Let's kill a bear for Jesus." These are part of that same megachurch movement that preachers prosperity and Starbucks. I think it all rolls under that fundamental question - will you be transformed by the Gospel or will you transform the Gospel? For Americans, who love cheap grace more than $4 coffee, I think it in most cases will be the latter. We want to live our lives and find way to incorporate Jesus. Hence, we have the cussing Jesus of GodMen.

2006-12-07T13:16:00.000-06:00

GodMen

My friend Chris asked me to blog about GodMen, which I will do as soon as I finishe skinning this bear.

2006-12-03T12:50:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year

I want to wish my fellow Christian brothers and sisters a Happy New Year! The new year should be a time of (in good ole fashioned alliterative three-point Baptist sermon form):

reflection
repentance
renewal

First, reflect on the past year but primarily reflect on Bethlehem. Reflect on Immanuel. What does it mean, "God with us?" What does it mean that our faith does not promise a way to reach God but that God reached us?

Second, repent. We've all sinned the past year, and now is the time to repent. Consider Calvary. Do we not owe Christ our full allegiance and obedience? In light of the cross, can we not do a better job of following?

Third, renew. The new year is all about resolutions. Allow this time of new year to provide a sense of spiritual and emotional and physical renewal. Put into practice those resolutions that await. Resolve to live more authentically for Christ.

The new year is a time of hope, joy, peace and love. Let us offer each this new year!

2006-11-30T16:30:00.000-06:00

Big Money

David Montoya obtained a copy of the 2007 BGCT budget. I requested and he sent me a copy. Needless to say, being a high-level BGCT staffer provides big bucks. I do not begrudge many of these men making tons of money - it is a large, complex organization with lots of assets. However, one must wonder what it says about our mission when our leaders make such American-business-style salaries. There is this great myth out there that ministry does not pay well. While salaries are pretty diverse, there are lots of guys in ministry - particularly pastors - making a mint.

2006-11-26T01:09:00.000-06:00

Valleygate

It has been a tough year for the BGCT. Valleygate pretty much blew up in its face during its annual meeting this month in Dallas. For those two blog readers who may be unfamiliar with Valleygate, check out David Montoya's blog. I do not know Rev. Montoya, but he gets a lot of cred from me. He once was a shining young star among fundamentalists. Once, he saw their anti-Christian and unethical behavior, he basically ratted them out and became a pariah. He seems like a man whose eye is on the prize; unlike apparently some BGCT leaders.

Valleygate essentially involves $1.3 million laundered from church-planting funds by a couple of guys starting Mexican churches in the Texas Rio Grande Valley. This did not come as a big surprise to me. A dear friend of mine - who is Mexican - relayed to me years ago about how it is not uncommon for Mexican pastors in the U.S. to rake in tons of dough overseeing "churches." Like in the Valley, many of these churches are made up of extended family members and really would not pass muster as a fundable church - but anyone who has been to a church meeting in the last three years knows that you can get just about anything if you put "Hispanic Initiative" in front of it. One meeting even caused one very liberal pastor to exclaim, "enough about the Hispanics already."

But that is not really the issue. I guess it is part of it. The BGCT clearly turned its head and put it in the sand regarding this matter all in the name of cultural sensitivity or political correctness. The FBI told the BGCT in 2000 there were problems in the Valley, but the BGCT ignored it. Now, the BGCT is doing what all institutions do - running, blaming and CYAing. Montoya and others' claims for accountability have fallen on deaf ears.

As hard as it may be, Charles Wade must fall on his sword for being on watch while $1.3 million of church gifts were stolen for nice houses, Range Rovers and Jaguars. Wade probably is innocent of any fraud - but you know what they say about ships and captains. Clearly, like it probably has for 100 years, the good-ole-boy network is out protecting its own. I think the sad part is that it shows there really may not be that much difference between the SBC and the BGCT - just the labels. On the inside, a people who may be doing what they think is right but life has turned the gospel into an institution.

In Dallas, the BGCT had a special opportunity. An opportunity to be countercultural. It failed.

2006-11-19T17:44:00.000-06:00

A Response to ChrisE

Okay my friend. You were right to call me on the carpet. So today, positive reviews about church. We visited St. Phillips Episcopal again. What a refreshing change. The sanctuary - yes sanctuary - if warmly filled with natural light due to windows around the top - where a second story would be. With the symbols and language, I felt like I actually was at church worshiping God and not just at a Jesus concert. There really is something to be said about participating in rituals that date back to the time of Christ. While Christ may have made Andrew play drums in a cage, I kind of doubt it. I can see it now, Jesus on vocals, Peter playing lead guitar, John on Bass, James on rhythm guitar ... The Messiahs. Okay, enough.

There is something about this conservative, Episcopal worship that is fulfilling. I like the fact that communion is weekly - as Christ commanded - and that we drink from a common cup. I like the mix of ancient hymns - was sang one of St. Francis of Assisi's famous ones - and new songs - from Word or Maranatha. I like the liturgy and communal aspect of worship. I like the fact that there is more focus on the gospel than the persoality of the preacher.

I still am too conservative to actually become an Episcopal, but I enjoy the worship.

2006-11-12T13:58:00.000-06:00

The Bible as a Prop

It is time for another round of church visitation reviews. This morning, the family and I visited First Baptist Church in Frisco. This church was remarkably like the church we visited a few weeks ago, Fellowship Frisco. But more on that later ...

On thing that struck me about the pastor at FBC Frisco was how he used the Bible as a prop. He carried it around and even thumbed through it all during the sermon, but he never read from it. He would pick in up, wander from side to side, put it down, and repeat the process. What was interesting is that he would read the Scripture passages off a tele-prompter on the back wall of the "worship center"(I always get nervous in churches that have "worship centers") while holding his Bible in his hand. There was a moment of a little humor when he was looking longingly to the back wall and the powerpoint guy was a little late.

Look, the printed book is not inherently holy. The words are inspired. I have not problem with the pastor reading Scripture passages off the PowerPoint (I also get nervous in churches with PowerPoints); but why bring the Bible to the stage? To me it cheapened it and reduced it to a prop. He did not read from his Bible but wanted everyone to know he was a Bible-believing preacher. Too bad little of the sermon actually came from it.

FBC Frisco was one of the stranger churches architecturally I had been in. It was a wide rectangle. From the front of the stage to the back door was probably 15 rows of seats, but the church was probably five times its depth in width. Other than that, it was exactly like Fellowship Frisco. Kind of reminds you of all those little Baptist churches in the country that have similar architecture, signs and Sunday School rooms.

These churches have worship centers that are auditoriums. They're built specifically for concerts. The walls have no windows but acoustic panels. The stages have room for a full band, and both churches had a drummer in a box. That slayed me ... the drummer was in a little transparent cage at the back of the stage. I wish there had been a "please do not feed the drummer" sign. Each church had its requisite candles from the Willow Creek catalog and - I kid you not - the exact same dominating A/V production area with about 5-10 "ministers of media" running cameras, power points, video, etc. Believe it or not, both churches had the exact same red-lettered digital clock to let the performers know how long they had. FBC Frisco has cameras, and it showed either the pastor preacher or crowd shots on three screens above the stage. What was funny is the church is not very big - maybe seats 500. Each church had the same chairs, the same flat-screen TVs broadcasting the show in the lobby of the "worship center." And, these two and the church of the plagiarizing preacher all had the same Community Coffee center (I love Community Coffee).

I am interested in how architecture defines our worship. These churches are built not really for worship or prayer or contemplation or repentance or awe but for entertainment. The question that went through my mind more than once - where do people get married these days? I could not imagine getting married in one of these dark, souless auditoriums.

2006-11-08T20:25:00.000-06:00

Bad Day for the Religious Right

In the span of one week, the Religious Right lost not only one of its (apparently) key leaders but also lost its power base. Yesterday, Democrats slaughtered the GOP and took control of Congress.

In many ways, both of these events are related and related to Lord Acton: absolute power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Both Haggard and the GOP were seduced by the power of power. While swept into power twelve years ago and reformers pledged to cleanse the Congress of corruption and bloat ... now it has become the party of corruption and bloat. And it was justly punished.

While I do not talk politics too often here, it fascinates me. On the grand scale, I tend to be more conservative than liberal - I believe in personal responsibility, limited government control, and local control. However, the GOP lost its focus on limited government. Additionally, the party of "family values" and conservative politics seems to have abandoned both with Jack Abramoff and briges to nowhere.

2006-11-06T09:24:00.000-06:00

Last Note on Haggard

I have beaten the Ted Haggard story to death, so this is the last think I'll say about it. I think this and other stories of minister indiscretions points to a greater problem that affect our churches and our church leadership. Take this quotation from an AP article that appeared in today's paper from Mr. Haggard's wife. In a letter to the church, she said that "church members no longer had to worry about her marriage being so perfect she couldn't relate to them." Understandibly, this quote that is both full of arrogance and denial prompted laughter from the congregation. It evoked pity from me.

But Gayle Haggard underscores a point plaguing churches: pressure to be perfect. How many ministerial families go through life pretending to be perfect? How many church members pretend at church to be perfect? How much anger, dysfunction and even violence bubbles just beneath the surface of ministers, their families and church members in general.

Wouldn't it have been wonderful if Mr. Haggard could have gone to some of his pastor buddies - James Dobson for example - and confessed and sought help? But what would have happened? I suspect he may have found not support but castigation. It seems there is this Christian act that so many Christian leaders perform that it becomes too much to bear and ministers either fall or burnout. I do not advocate miniters wear their sins on their sleeves, but they ought to be able to discuss their sins and help one another.

I do not know about you, but I never feel more fake or phony than in a group of pastors. Not only is there a constant competition and one-upmanship about who has the biggest church and best pulpit, but there is this "I am holier than you" attitude. I think it would do us all well if ministers would allow their brokenness to be a little more available for healing.

2006-11-04T09:46:00.000-06:00

More Haggard Talk

I think this episope with Mr. Haggard reflects a growing trend among churches and fundamentalist Christian leaders to be more concerned with power and politics than with changing lives and spreading the gospel. It seems like the way of the pastoral power ladder has been according to who is the most politically saavy not who is the best shepherd. It seems much of what passes for evangelical life these days is sound and fury signifying nothing - lots of buzz words and pop talk but little theological depth. I guess it goes with our culture.

2006-11-03T15:44:00.000-06:00

Ted "Bill Clinton" Haggard

It looks like Mr. Haggard is busted. Unfortunately, he turned in a Clinton-like effort and claims "I didn't inhale." While this very well may be true, most critical reasoning makes his case look pretty weak. Haggard claims to have bought meth and gotten a massage but never took the meth and never had sex. Sounds like a legalist making a legalist defense. I pity the man and feel terribly sorry for his church and his family; however, I would think his soul in better shape if he would just come to terms with his sin, acknowledge, seek repentance and forgiveness. The "I did not inhale" argument suits no one.

2006-11-03T10:24:00.000-06:00

Ted Haggard

The sad story of Ted Haggard made national news this week. The president of the National Association of Evangelicals has been accussed of having sex with a man as well as having a drug problem. In another example of fundamental (pun intended) irony, a crusader against gay privileges and rights may be a homosexual. This case and others demonstrate how much easier it is to have an opinion or belief than to live it. I was speaking with a collegue yesteday - a good liberal - who was bemoaning how few white kids were in his child's school. While the facts about Mr. Haggard have not been compiled completely, I cannot help but wonder how his fate might have been different if he had focused more on being a pastor and less on being a politico.

2006-10-24T23:44:00.000-05:00

Scattershooting ...

Scattershooting while wondering why we drape our own desires in the will of God ...

... why God never calls unattractive girls to be that guy's wife ... I have friends who have gone to little Baptist colleges, and they often get the sudden (from guys they barely know): "God spoke to me and said He created you to be my wife." This is before the first date; funny, it only happens to my really cute friends ...

... why God never calls a preacher to a smaller church. One might think that it was the little, struggling churches that need the best preachers and that the big, rich churches could survive with less than best ...

... why God never calls a preacher to plant a church in the declining part of town. When I hear about "God called me to plant this church," the church always seems to be in the fastest-growing, richest and most-overserved-by-churches area ... I guess the poor people do not need the Gospel ...

... why God always tells search committees to call the guy whose preaching they like the best ... because I served a small church without great recording equipment, I do not have a plethora of tapes (and no CDs), but churches always ask for a "newer sermon" ... I guess God did not hear the old ones ...

The point of my little exercise is how often we do things in our own self interest but feel the need to "spiritualize" those actions. Why can't we just say "I like petite, cute blondes" ... or I want to start a ministry and make sure there are plenty of potential church members with plenty of money to support my goals .... or I want to make more money and have a "more successful" ministry ... or "we want a pastor who preaches a certain way and fits a certain profile" ...

I just wish we would be more authentic and honest and not try to wrap our own failings inside the will of God.

2006-10-21T12:25:00.000-05:00

Halloween versus Christmas

It is fall - finally! That means Halloween. This morning on the way to the USPO I drove by that church - the one with the plagiarizing preacher - and they have a big banner out front announcing its "Fall Festival." This really bugs me. Can a reasonably serious Christian celebrate Halloween? My wife and I have a big disagreement on this. She wants costumes and candy; I just have a hard time with celebrating a pagan holiday.

There is a great juxtoposition between Halloween and Christmas:

Halloween is a secular holiday that many Christians "relabel" and celebrate
Christmas is a Christian holiday that many pagans "relabel" and celebrate

Can we not just keep our respective holidays to ourselves? If pagans will get out of the Christmas-celebrating business, I will get out of the Halloween business. Quit making me celebrate "the holidays," and I'll quit celebrating a "fall festival."

I just have a real problem with churches baptizing the culture - again - and celebrating Halloween. I am not saying if you or your kids dress up that you're necessesarily sinning; but I think it is wrong for church to celebrate Halloween - calling a pagan event a "fall festival" changes nothing. Heck, "Halloween" is (I think) a Christian appellation.

Think of what Halloween represents. It once represented the pagan ideals of spirits and witchcraft. Now it represents the pagan ideals of sexuality and immorality. Have you seen the Halloween costumes? My mailbox if full of flyers with costumes - which primarily contains sexualized immorality. Take Red Riding hood and add a bustier and some red thigh-high stockings and you have a trendy Halloween costume.

The call of the church is to be counter-cultural. To stand for the Truth of Christ. I see too many - particularly fundamentalist evangelical - churches just bringing the culture into the faith. After all, it is less about Gospel and more about marketing.

2006-10-16T22:04:00.000-05:00

Cold Turkey

Okay, I admit. I could not go cold turkey. In a moment of weakness I instinctively went over the the Outhouse and read a post. Of course, it was on women in ministry so I got suckered into reading some posts - no posts just perusing others' comments. The responses were typical.

There were a surprising amount of people who were open to and accepting of women in ministry and at least could acknowledge there is not a clear, biblical witness
There were those who dogmatically claimed that "they believed the Bible," which states women cannot be pastors, have authority over a man, etc.

And as always, my position is the correct one ... that is a joke. But seriously, one cannot reasonably make an argument either way without acknowledging that there is tension in the biblical witness. You have women leaders in theOT and the NT, and Jesus' liberal attitude - if not flat-out rebellion - against the social convention of the day makes it hard to believe he would support the paternalistic attitudes of first century Jews and 21st century Southern Baptists. I thought one person madea novel argument I had never heard: the Great Commission commands all to go out and and make disciples and to baptize - I guess our fundamentalist friends do not care to take that passage so literally.

I think that is my beef with the fundamentalist position - the absurdity of its inconsistency. Fundamentalists pick and choose passages to taker literally while ignoring other passages. I am a traditional Baptist, so I respect a fundamentalist's privilege to not support women ministers; but if they want to keep me from doing so, reciprocate with a little consistency: do not let women speak in church, forbid jewelry and makeup, and make them cover their heads; but no, they pick and choose their literal passages.

The fundamentalist argument largely hinges on the 1 Timothy passage; and theological arguments are exhaustive on both sides. However, I am more apt to believe that the writer of this letters intendes his direction to be situational as it is written to a specific person at a specific time. Paul's letters by contrast largely were intended to be circulated. Paul not only permits women to preach but considers them in equality with men (Gal).

When I started this post, my intention was not to dwell on preaching women. I also read an article in a magazine about the family feud going on in Episcopal life over the ordination of gay bishops. I think many Fundamentalists (in addition to other reasons) fear that letting women vote and leave the kitchen opens the doors for gays next (all this started when they let the blacks in).

How do we as hold on to orthodoxy while allowing for teneble positions that legitimately evolve? While there is tension over women, one really has to get out the mental gymnastics to support the ordination of homosexuals (IMHO). Yet so many in church leadership and the academy tend to have political and cultural agendas disguished as theology: my favorite is the "Mother God" movement ... there is a reason God chose masculine language more than a matter of grammar.

My concern is allowing liberty in places where one finds legitimate theological tension while preventing the slippery slope into accomodaton. I guess one has to define "legitimate."

2006-10-16T18:11:00.000-05:00

Sunday Preaching

Sunday I had the opportunity to preach at a wonderful church. The people were nice and gracious. The couple of people who read my blog regularly know that my recent experiences with churches have not always been positive, so it was great to have such a good time.

2006-10-12T15:54:00.000-05:00

Lost

Lost is one of my guilty pleasures; but it is starting to give me tiredhead. Each week new mysteries unfold with little resolution of previous curiosities. The most annoying thing about Lost is its tendency to launch major plot points and then tend to ignore them. In Season One, much was made about the "island monster." It was absent in Season Two altogether.

One of my former favorite shows was Alias, also written and created by Lost's J.J. Abrams. jumped the shark - I think - during the (I think it was) season 2 finale where Vaughn was trapped behind a door after a big, red, liquid-filled ball exploded. From that point on, Alias abandoned much of the character-driven, emotional plot lines in favor of conspiracies of conspiracies. It ultimatley collapsed under its own mysterious weight.

I fear Lost may be going down the same road. Gone from Season One is the intense interaction among the "losties" as they seek to build a society on this new, strange place. Gone is the tension - sexual, political, emotional, etc. Now it is secret after secret - a little revealed each week. Lost threatens to collapse under the weight of a gigantic metanarrative that the show cannot support.

I am still on board, but my patience is thinning.

2006-10-08T09:52:00.000-05:00

No More Baptist Political Blogs

For the past year or so, I have been entertained by the world of the Southern Baptist blogosphere. It seems like blogs touting all sorts of Southern Baptist movements are popping up. Much of my interest was environmental - I was intrigued by the growing discord among the fundamentalists. Now that the evil liberals were vanquished, they had no one to fight. And as predicted, they began to fight among themselves. Much of my interest was personal - what better combines my backgrounds in journalism, theology and political science like a good Baptist brawl.

On one side, you had the fundamentalist establishment. This group included loyal lieutenants of the Fudamentalist Takeover as well as those who "worshipped" Paige Patterson and Adrian Rogers. On the other side, you had the disgruntled fundamentalists. This group is more high profile in the blogosphere and the hardest to nail down. Some of its leaders include:

Their pope is Wade Burleson, a pastor in Oklahoma and IMB trustee whose loyalty and like of IMB President Jerry Rankin thrust him into this role. Burleson has good fundamentalist credentials - he led the Oklahoma takeover, and now that victory is one, wants to be seen as an irenic fundamentalist. Admittedly, I have not verified with him, but a professor told me during one of the early CBF/moderate meetings in Oklahoma, Burleson traveled to it and nailed "95 [Fundamentalist] Thesis" to the meeting room door. Burleson may be legitimately reformed (little r), more loyal to Rankin than Patterson, or is a la Mohler sniffing a new breeze in the air and wants to be in front of it.
Their Cardinal Ratzinger is Ben Cole, by far the most entertaining of the neo-fundamentalists. Cole is a small-church pastor in the Dallas area and a former stoog of Paige Patterson. When he did not get the plum assignment he wanted, Cole turned sychophant to serpent and began casting his venom and Patterson and airing their dirtly laundry. Cole fancies himself as the intellectual leader of the movement although I am not sure anyone follows him ... he tends to be myopic and venomous, which makes him so entertaining.
And "The Others." Like those who live on the other side of SBC Life, these guys are "small-time" preachers who never captured to love and patronage of the Fundamentalist Establishment. Some of them are sharp guys starting to realize the emperor has no clothes, and others fall into different sorts ...

Against this backdrop you have a strong group of folks who seem to worship Paige Patterson and Adrian Rogers more than Jesus. These are the hard-wired fundamentalist kids who actually believe most of the stuff spewed out of Fort Worth, Louisville, etc. By far the most interesting of these guys is Jeremy Green, purportedly a pastor in Waco. Until I meet him, I will not believe he is real ... nobody is actually like that. And another good one is Les Puryear. This guy lived in the real world for years and still thinks this way. Granted, I have not met any of these folks, this is just my myopic and self-absorbed observations.

While I hope you can tell from the little above why this has been so much fun, I have to quit. It is as addicting as nicotine; but I must stop. It is extinguishing my spirit. I can see why the Southern Baptist Convention is halfing in size (although they'll never admit it and voted down a real count last summer, there is no way the SBC is anywhere near its advertised 16 million members; 10 million would be generous). These people are power hungry, toxic spirits. It do not think it is their fault - this is the culture that reared them. They do not know how to be Baptist without building political coalitions and fighting.

Burleson and Cole advertised how they drove around Texas building support for their cause. My question: WHO IS PASTORING YOUR CHURCH WHILE YOU'RE OUT PLAYING POLITICS? For people who claim to have so much faith and belive the Bible so much, few act like it. To me, all this politicing seems to deny much power for the Holy Spirit. But that seems to be Baptist life - lots of talk about faith, but just in case the Lord does not agree with us, we better do all we can to make our agenda happen.

Cole posted a note about a meeting he had with Joel Gregory, who advised him to focus on the local church. I think everyone in the SBC should take that advice. I am going to and hope to leave the Southern Baptist Blogosphere. What is important is not what Paige Patterson or Al Mohler think or what some other yahoos think but what is the call of Christ on our lives.

2006-10-03T18:18:00.000-05:00

Brian McLaren

I have never really known what to make of Brian McLaren besides his status as uber-trendy man du jour. The trendy seminary kids love him; the fundamentalists hate him. Is he just another foil complicit in the turning of the American Church into a big youth camp, or is he truly an intellectual trying to return the Church toward its roots. Is he seeking reformation or just another trend to push book sales? Regardless, I love this quotation from this week's Baptist Standard.

"When we present Jesus as a pro-war, anti-poor, anti-homosexual, anti-environment, pro-nuclear weapons authority figure draped in an American flag, I think we are making a travesty of the portrait of Jesus we find in the gospels."

2006-10-02T12:02:00.000-05:00

"You’re Not a Real Mexican"

A Jeff Foxworthy doppelganger said: “If you have insurance or a drivers license, you might not be a real Mexican.” At least that is what the illegal alien that hit my wife’s car told my mother-in-law, who is an American of Mexican heritage. The man – the third illegal alien to hit my wife’s car in the past year – told her that real Mexicans don’t have papers or carry insurance.

So I thought: why should they? Illegal Mexican aliens come to the United States daily with reckless abandon and no regard for the laws of the country – and they’re treated like royalty: free education, free health care, free social services and they’re catered to by advertisers and businesses. If the news is any indication, we as a country soon are coming to a point where something must be done … and I have been pondering the proper Christian response to this issue.

This situation is like many that face us: there is a collision between the concept of political subdivisions and the kingdom of God, which recognizes no nationalities are borders. But does that mean anarchy? What is the proper response in face on no biblical mandate (I know there are alien passages in the Pentateuch, but since we ignore the other laws we cannot exactly enforce this one).

From a practical standpoint, the United States cannot continue to support the poor of a another nation. Hospitals, schools and agencies are overcrowded and under-funded largely because of illegal aliens. Law-abiding citizens are having to pay higher insurance premiums and other fees to compensate for the influx of drivers with no insurance. And crime is skyrocketing – 21-percent of federal inmates are illegal aliens, and a majority of crimes committed in the city Dallas are by illegal aliens. This group is not unique in any of these problems, but they exacerbate the overall problem.

Politicians and special interest groups have promulgates solutions from walls and deportation to immunity and full citizenship. I am not sure if either satisfies. There is something between giving people opportunities and expecting certain gratitude and respect for receiving said opportunities. Although pro-illegal special interests try to distract the issue by playing the race card, it really is a simple issue of: can the United States continue to support Mexico?

I think Mexico really is the culprit in this situation. Mexico exploits its poorest citizens by encouraging them to make the dangerous trek to the United States. Mexico exploits the generosity of the United States by expected Americans to accept, employ and support its poorest. As an aside, Mexico treats its illegal aliens harshly and deports or imprisons them.

And America seems impotent. Business interests do not want to lose cheap labor. Democrats do not want to lose voters, and Republicans are scared of the race card – so nothing gets done.

I do not know what the proper Christian response is. It seems like Jesus provided charity but expected responsibility. These issues where practicality and the gospel may intersect are the most difficult for me to contemplate. I do know, however, that something must be done.

2006-09-30T22:19:00.000-05:00

Baptists and Baptist Theology

The folks over on over on SBC Outpost are providing a glimpse into Baptist life and the development of Baptist theology. The owner of the blog posted a passage from Scripture. Everybody commented on what he thinks it means and debated the other guys about whose definition was right.

2006-09-28T17:45:00.000-05:00

Ruth Ann Foster

Dr. Ruth Ann Foster passed away today around 2 p.m. after a long battle with cancer.

I was in her neighborhood several weeks ago. I wrote her a note but did not leave it in her mailbox as intended. I wrote:

"Dr. Foster -
I was visiting a friend in teh neighborhood. i just want you to know hat you and your mom are in our prayers. I hope that you can take a modicum of comfort in the fact that your memory and your legacy will live for decades through the hundreds of students that you influenced. My first semester with you shaped me as much as anything I encountered at Truett. Your pedagogy plus your pastoral care of new students like me made me a better pastor, student and person. I wish there as something I coudl do or say, but I can leave you only with a pathetic expression of my love an appreciation that is neither worthy or your legacy nor sufficient to express your impact on my life; but I hope at least it may bring a smile. Thinking of you now and forever. May God's peace comfort you and His love surround you."

Dr. Foster helped students with little or no biblical studies backgrounds catch up to the theological know-it-alls from small Baptist colleges.
Dr. Foster helped studens whose exposure to the Bible had been only through Sunday School or fundamentalist Bible colleges cope with the reality of academic biblical interpretation.
Dr. Foster married within biblical studies the integrity to the Academy with the reality that ultimately Scripture is a canon for and tool of faith.

God Bless You Mother Mater.

2006-09-27T19:27:00.000-05:00

Denominations

In an email to a colleague a few days ago, I made the off-hand remark: "denominations sprung from one charismatic person's theological pet peeve." While I was being hyperbolic, I am not sure how far off I am. From Henry VIII and the Reformers through John Wesley and William Miller, did not people begin to follow a person who had a particular take and emphasis on Scripture? For Luther and Calvin it was soteriology. For Smyth and Helwys more ecclessiology. For Miller, eschatology. There are some gems in each of their movements, but it seems each one loses a little bit of the Great Tradition, so we're left with bits and pieces of Christianity.

I may be off base, but if anyone actually cares to post, I would love to read others' thoughts.

2006-09-26T08:31:00.000-05:00

Missing Clinton

Former President Bill Clinton's meltdown on Fox News Sunday made me sentimental for the old guy. Clinton was elected during the halcyon days, and he was always good for entertainment value. Only Clinton could look a camera in the eye with a straight face and compare his eight years to fight terrorism with Bush's eight months and to claim a vast right-wing conspiracy in the media (this famously coined by his wife who blamed the conspiracy for making up the Lewinsky story). And I think he may actually believe it. Regardless of how one feels about Clinton's politics - I am not sure he actually believes anything - one has to admire his style and political acumen. He take your last dollar and have you thanking him for doing it.

What I also remember about Clinton were all the conspiracy kooks he created. There were all kinds of people writing all kinds of books about him: good, bad but never indifferent. I thought the crazy right-wingers were bad ... but they cannot carry the pants of the crazy left kooks that have been out in force since Bush took office. With blogs and the Internet, there are sites dedicated to proving Bush kills children and hates puppies.

It is sad how discourse has become so hyperbolic and mean during the Clinton and Bush years. People pick a side and then form their opinions based on their side ... folks, it is supposed to be the opposite: form your opinions based on facts and then pick the side that best fits you. The pendulum will swing back, but right now we must deal with the extreme, closed-minded, fact-fearing discourse from both sides of the aisle.

2006-09-25T13:21:00.000-05:00

A Real Paige Patterson Post

The folks over on SBC Outpost have dedicated today's discussion to this enigmatic leader of the Fundamentalist Takeover of the SBC. I have never met nor seen Paige Patterson - I know of him only by reputation and anecdote. To the fundamentalists in the SBC, he is the hero of the revolution. To the conservatives and moderates, he is an agent of the devil that divided a denomination. Regardless of one's stand, usually he will illicit a strong reaction.

I thought it was an interesting testament to his power, James Hunt posts on SBC Outpost that he had Patterson sign his Bible. I am not sure if it is heretical, but there is something creepy about having someone "sign" your Bible like its Barry Bonds or something. (I do not mean a gift Bible's dedication, but this was like post-sermon autograph session)

This post made me bemoan the tremendous amount of time, energy and resources spent in Baptist life playing politics. Think about all the mission dollars spent on non-biblical initiatives - like monitoring blogs and political power plays. While we claim not to use the episkopos, I think Baptists might have more bishops and rely more on the network of episkopos than other hierarchical traditions. Try getting a job with out the blessing of the episkopos. He might not have a title and a "funny" hat, but he is as or more influential than the Catholic, Anglican or Methodist bishops. How many placements has Patterson made?

I feel naive, but it seems like Baptist life is less concerned with evangelism and mission than with star power and politics. We anoint the youngest "preaching superstars" and then the good-ole-boy network makes sure he gets in the right places. This is done with little regard to theology, morality or ethics.