De Res Futuras

De res futuras mei scribere dercervi. In kalendis pacuis, iter per Academiam philosophiae perfecta erit. Entonces, illa mons -quae intras me atque alia destinanta mei stat- arrosa erit. Viam scolasticorum nollo premere. Enim, illi scolastici, qui cum me legent et relegent, deliciam premerentis ad illud habeant. Ego in re publica vera malo vivere.

In fact, one of the reasons why I want to get out of school so much -and why I emphatically decided not to stay another semester is the idea of funds and career. It seems like applying for a PhD philosophy program is a kind of cognitive dissonance and self deception that only really smart people are capable of. We all know that very, very, few people are getting accepted. We all know that the job market is a scarce, viciously competitive, zero-sum game. We all know that there are plenty of people who get their PhDs and then do nothing that has to do with the subjects and that they could've gotten with their BAs and less debt and more fun. I don't want to be in school anymore. I look foreward to teaching someday, but right now, the only research I care about is more like the arts and outright sophistry than philosophy.

Plato would kick me out of his academy. How could I ever hope to get into a PhD philosophy program? I can imagine writing that on admission essays, "Plato wouldn't want me. Can you give me funding to study at your lovely school?"

So what do I care about right now?

Over the summer, I look foreward to preparing for NaNoWriMo. Over the summer, I hope to purchase a few books on creative writing at the recommendation of an old instructor. Though it apparently follows some silly new-age stuff, I need to get a copy of Writing Down the Bones and read through it. Hopefully then, I will have some ideas of how to get into my characters heads better.

It is like method acting.

I also realize, that in order successfully complete a novel for NanNoWriMo, I need to spend some time planning ahead and finding ways to stay motivated. This probably means finding ways to spend time with other future NaNoWriMo people. That can be approached another time. I know that there are other people who are thinking the same kinds of things right now anyway.

Of course, I need to put together the actual outline for NaNoWriMo novel. I have to think of the subject matter. The most obvious is to work with the characters from my webcomic. I am thinking about their mutual lives a few years outside of graduation. Or, the novel could be a long brainstorming session of a complete re-imagining of the whole comic. I was even thinking about telling how Ian and Andy meet.

Ahh well. That's what's on my mind right now. Leaving LMU and pursuing other interests.

Thanks for reading.

surprising trip to the Rx

I just came from the pharmacy, picked up my BP prescription that costs me 106.00 for 90 pills. That's not as bad as some folks have to fork out with no insurance so I pay it without complaining. The woman behind the counter said she wanted to check a competitors sheet of meds. prices and for me to wait a second. She came back with the price list from Walmart and I said NO, my BP pills are not on their 4.00 list and they want 180.00 for the same pills I just purchased from her for 106.00. (stupid WallFart Market are rip-offs!). So I left with my little white bag.
A few minutes later she called my name over the loud speaker! Yikes! She said she wanted to give me a discount, I was being placed in a program and she will refund me 96.00 from the 106.00 I just gave her! I said "excuse me"! lol. She said she didn't know how long the program will last though.

So as I'm on my way home I said to thehusband, this is what it would be like to have medicare for all the US citizens. Other countries have similar, why can't we?? Does our government really care more about insurance companies making huge profits then it does it's own citizens?? Apparently, YES.

Candlemas Thankfulness

Well I hope you have taken down your tree and packed away the lights, cards and crib, for today finally and formally brings to end our celebrations of the birth of Jesus. Christmas, the annual time for people to coo and ahhh over the soft-focus story of the birth of a beautiful baby some 2000 years ago. But we should not be taken in by the tinsel and pretty lights: Christmas has been more serious than that. The question we are left with is: what really happened?

Candlemas is a festival that the Church of England tended not to make too much of up until the very recent past perhaps because of it’s Mediaeval focus on the purification of Mary and not the presentation of Jesus as the first born son dedicated to God. Latterly the Church realised how significant this major feast is in her the worshipping life, because, like a steep hill on a good walk, Candlemas provides us with a vantage point enabling us to look back to the Christmas celebration of the birth of God in our midst from where we have come, and forward to the destination of our journey - the cross and death PAUSE... and resurrection.

The Gospel story tells of the Holy Family’s trip up to Jerusalem, to visit the Temples. They went to carry out what was necessary under the Law. Firstly they went so that Mary could be made ritually pure 40 days after childbirth by the offering of the appropriate sacrifice.

The book of Leviticus outlines very clearly the correct sacrificial practice in various circumstances. If you suffer from insomnia I suggest it as a cure, but the book makes it clear that the poor, should sacrifice a pair of young pigeons or a a pair of turtle doves in various circumstances. Luke is making a very important point here. Throughout the Old Testament, God again and again identifies himself with the poor, downtrodden and the outcast. Luke’s point is clear - with the coming of the Messiah, God’s eternal attributes of love and justice have not changed. As the King of the Nations, the Prince of Peace, God’s Son comes to the Temple he comes not just identifying with the socially, spiritually, emotionally and financially poor, but as one of them.

Secondly, the family went to have Jesus dedicated to God. Again the Levitical Law is clear and Luke quotes it for us - every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord. Luke is making another very important point here. This child will be dedicated to the service of God, like every firstborn Jewish male, but the service he will undertake for God will transform the world.

The other key players in this drama set in the heart of Israel’s spiritual life, the Temple, are Simeon and Anna. Simeon clarifies what God has planned to achieve through this little baby, things that Luke’s readers already know about but now have confirmed through the mouth of a pious and faithful Jew. Simeon had been promised that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah. How Simeon knew that this firstborn male was what he had been waiting for all these years we will never know. But as he holds Jesus (whose name literally means ‘the Lord is my salvation’) in his arms he holds God’s salvation itself. As a result he may depart in peace - he can die happy , knowing that what had been promised to him had been fulfilled, and also knowing that shalom, God’s peace was about to break though in a new way to the whole of creation bringing reconciliation, forgiveness, healing, love and justice to reign on earth through this child. Simeon does here what neither Moses or Elijah or the other great prophets of God could do - as he looks lovingly at that newborn he sees the face of God Almighty the Creator - and lives.

Many of Israel, like Simeon and Anna - are pious and faithfully waiting the redemption of God through this child. Many are not and there will be those who will hate Jesus and in the end they will crucify him. Even here in the temple here is the shadow of the coming cross.

At Christmas we recall the greatest mystery - that God became human like us. The Incarnation, the birth of God amongst is surely about God identifying not only with humanity but with everything created, not to understand it so as to apprehend it, but to love it into eternal life. At Candlemas as Jesus God’s own Son is presented in the Temple and dedicated to God, Jesus offers back to God his humanity, our humanity, and reconciles everything that is created to it’s Creator for his use and his glory.

Today as Jesus is presented to God in the Temple, God presents creation with his peace, the Shalom that Simeon knew, in his Son, to which creation responds with thanksgiving knowing that soon pain, suffering, sin, and evil will be banished and all will be restored into the life of God. My friends it is this that marks us Christians out as distinct from the rest of humanity - our part in the great thanksgiving of all created things, a thanksgiving that knows that God will free the world from sin and it’s affects - sin that makes people lie, murder, cheat, abuse, and corrupt. As Christians, as children of God, our lives are a visible thanksgiving to God from the people of Leverstock Green for all that he gives us in Creation and all that he promises Creation in Christ - to be free from the power of sin. Secular humanity find it so hard to give thanks when they do not know whom they should be thanking, and very often can see nothing to be thankful for. My friends I believe our secular friends and neighbours need us. We must not let them down.

Just too hot to drop,.... .just too hot.....

One of my favorite moments of the day, this is the Loooooong question asked by Jeb Hensarling, President Obama answers it in the video. Look at his expression, at the 40 second mark, to me it looked like a mixture of anger, hurt and frustration. He handled himself perfectly!

CONGRESSMAN HENSARLING: Jeb, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: How are you?

CONGRESSMAN HENSARLING: I’m doing well. Mr. President, a year ago I had an opportunity to speak to you about the national debt. And something that you and I have in common is we both have small children.

THE PRESIDENT: Absolutely.

CONGRESSMAN HENSARLING: And I left that conversation really feeling your sincere commitment to ensuring that our children, our nation’s children, do not inherit an unconscionable debt. We know that under current law, that government — the cost of government is due to grow from 20 percent of our economy to 40 percent of our economy, right about the time our children are leaving college and getting that first job.

Mr. President, shortly after that conversation a year ago, the Republicans proposed a budget that ensured that government did not grow beyond the historical standard of 20 percent of GDP. It was a budget that actually froze immediately non-defense discretionary spending. It spent $5 trillion less than ultimately what was enacted into law, and unfortunately, I believe that budget was ignored. And since that budget was ignored, what were the old annual deficits under Republicans have now become the monthly deficits under Democrats. The national debt has increased 30 percent.

Now, Mr. President, I know you believe — and I understand the argument, and I respect the view that the spending is necessary due to the recession; many of us believe, frankly, it’s part of the problem, not part of the solution. But I understand and I respect your view. But this is what I don’t understand, Mr. President. After that discussion, your administration proposed a budget that would triple the national debt over the next 10 years — surely you don’t believe 10 years from now we will still be mired in this recession — and propose new entitlement spending and move the cost of government to almost 24.5 percent of the economy.

Now, very soon, Mr. President, you’re due to submit a new budget. And my question is —

THE PRESIDENT: Jeb, I know there’s a question in there somewhere, because you’re making a whole bunch of assertions, half of which I disagree with, and I’m having to sit here listening to them. At some point I know you’re going to let me answer. All right.

CONGRESSMAN HENSARLING: That’s the question. You are soon to submit a new budget, Mr. President. Will that new budget, like your old budget, triple the national debt and continue to take us down the path of increasing the cost of government to almost 25 percent of our economy? That’s the question, Mr. President.

Obama and the House Repubs square off!

Did you get a chance to watch President Obamas attendance at the House Republicans retreat today? He spoke for a bit then to my surprise the cameras stayed on and he took QUESTIONS from the repubs, are ya shocked?? I mean with the cameras? The White House asked if the cameras could stay on and the repubs agreed, BUT... afterwards, according to Luke Russert, GOP aides said it was a mistake to allow cameras into Obama's QA with GOP members. It allowed Obama to refute GOP talking points for 1.5 hours on TV. I think it was a great idea! I hope you will try and watch it on C-Span, it was a good showing of Obama and his defending his agenda while also letting the American people know he IS listening to the GOP even if they cry he isn't. He let them know just because they offer up suggestions does not mean they will be included in policy making if they don't work. The right and left have goals in common but also differ greatly on some policy. President Obama will not pander to the right when he feels their ideas are WRONG for the country.

Obama said a GOP-driven "politics of NO" was blocking action on bills that could help Americans obtain jobs and health care. He accused Republicans of portraying health care overhaul legislation as a "Bolshevik plot," saying that strategy, when they talk to their constituents, doesn't give them any room to negotiate. There were moans and groans from the repubs after that remark! But it's the truth, don't they remember last summer and the death panels discussions?? How quickly they forget!

During the sometimes-barbed exchange, he said some in the audience have attended ribbon-cutting ceremonies for projects funded by the stimulus package they voted against. Obama also questioned why Republicans have overwhelmingly opposed his tax-cut policies, which he said have benefited 95 percent of American families. One repub asked Obama if he would agree to an across the board tax cut. It's always about taxes for them isn't it! I don't get it! Anyway, Obama said he could not see giving a tax cut to those like Warren Buffet, the billionaires don't need tax cuts! (you will NEVER convince a repub of that though!)

Afterwards an Arizona republican spoke, he said last year President Obama promised to work in a bipartisan way but he has not kept his promise. Total bullshit again from the whiny repubs. Obama has tried and will continue to try to work with the GOP. It's time for them to realize they are the minority. It can't always be about them.

Great job Mr. President!!

California leading the way!

Published on Thursday, January 28, 2010 by CommonDreams.org

California Senate Passes Medicare for All Legislation

New Energy for Healthcare Reform After National Bills Stall

by California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee

SACRAMENTO - To ecstatic applause from healthcare advocates, the California Senate today breathed new life into national prospects for fundamental health reform by passing on a 22 to 14 vote a major bill to guarantee healthcare in the state through creating a Medicare for all system that would cover every Californian.

SB 810, The California Universal Healthcare Act, authored by Sen. Mark Leno and sponsored by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU), with broad support among many healthcare, community, and labor groups, will now proceed to a vote by the Assembly, which has passed similar legislation in the past. The bill would establish a single-payer system in California, modeled on the healthcare systems flourishing in virtually all other industrialized nations, where better patient outcomes are achieved at a fraction of the cost of the U.S. system.

“It is unclear what the prospects are for health reform at the national level,” said CNA co-president Geri Jenkins, RN, “but this vote offers California the chance to chart a new course for the nation. SB 810 will guarantee healthcare for every family through a humane system that controls costs and allows patients and their doctors--not insurance agents--to make decisions about healthcare,” said Jenkins. “People will pay less, and no longer be denied care based on their income, age, location, or pre-existing health conditions.”

Noting during the floor debate that, “consistently 59 per cent of California voters say yes” they want a Medicare for all system in the state, Sen. Leno added that single-payer is not just a bill for a humane health system, but also a jobs program for a state that desperately needs one: “We can’t compete in a global marketplace where all our competitors have had the government take the burden of healthcare off the shoulders of their employers….as we move towards single-payer in this state, and have better universal coverage, this will attract employers to California. We are already underwater in our healthcare system. We can’t keep up.”

Referring to opposition arguments about supposed ballooning costs under the bill, Sen. Leno pointed out that a single payer system would simply redirect current spending on healthcare, away from insurance overhead and towards a more direct and efficient way of providing care. Additionally the bill would not go into effect immediately; the current SB 810 creates a system to propose revenue streams that would then go back to the legislature for final review.

Medicare for all or “single-payer” healthcare reforms, such as SB 810, would help create the kind of quality jobs so urgently needed today, and do so while providing a huge economic stimulus. A CNA/NNU study last year documented that national single-payer reform would generate 2.6 million jobs and $317 billion in additional business and public revenues. Further, CNA/NNU research last year found that six of California’s largest insurance companies reject more than one-fifth of all claims, an experience many California patients know all too well.

Way to go California! This is how it's done. Mr. President and Democrats, are you listening??

Spamming for Jesus: A Christian Hipster Pleads for Sanity

When Gutenberg invented the printing press, it had an incredibly wonderful effect on Christianity. Whereas for centuries only a few people could a hold a Bible, after the invention the Bible was then manufactured and distributed at an alarmingly fast rate. It was the original information age. It sparked literacy across Europe. Thank God for the movable type!

Now, centuries later, we are in a new information age with not only the internet, but also with email, cell-phones, twitter, podcasts and everything else. Good? Sure, I'm a blogger. I love it. There is however, a bit of abuse; a dark side to this supra-information age. What happens when many Christians start compulsively sending information to other Christians? When does it reach overkill?

Can we stop the Christian spamming?

Yes Christian spamming comes in many ways. It might be a vaguely spiritual email message. They are forwarded again and again. The headline might read "How has God blessed you today?" or "Twelve Reasons why God loves you." They can also be cause oriented like "Protect Traditional Marriage" or "Pray for Christians in China." They are often accompanied with stirring images, such as a "Precious Moments" doll, Thomas Kincaide painting, or an image of Korean charismatics in prayer ecstasy.

Other types of Christian spamming might pop up in the cell phones or mobile devices. How about a Christian twitter? 144 characters of a reminder to pray or short devotion delivered throughout the day? Maybe a Bible verse from your pastor, small group leader, or such might be shared through iPhone contact list. Even facebook feeds, which are certain kind of spam, have applications reminding us "What God wants us to know" because no Christian, before facebook, was able to discern that. No sir!

Again, I have to say it: Please stop the Christian spamming!

For those you send the text messages, twitters, and emails, I think I can see where you might be coming from. God, through the Holy Spirit, will send you something that you find warm, enlightening, and otherwise insightful. When we find something insightful -especially when it comes to our faith- it is completely natural to want to share it with everyone that we care about. When it comes to the Christian causes, there is no doubt about the urgency of the issues at hand. Again, it is natural to want to share it with everyone.

But try to see it from the world of the people you are spamming. We all come from our own unique backgrounds. We are all already reading our own devotional material. We probably have a stack of Christian literature on our bookshelves. We even have our own lists of blog feeds, email lists, and news articles that we all subscribe to. Because of all this, what will be insightful, warm and fuzzy, to one Christian (the spammer) may not have the same affect on another Christian (the spammee).

It gets annoying sometimes. It can feel invasive, like someone saying, "this beer is so good! You gotta try it!" and then pouring a pint into my empty glass after I'm already full. Because of this, most Christian spam goes straight to the virtual trash-can.

Now I writing a blog here, so I am as much a fan of technology and sharing and communicating things about God through technology as anyone. Probably more so. My point though, is this: there can be "to much of a good thing." Good things need to be presented right way at the right time with the right sensitivity from the presenters. That sensitivity means not sending out spiritual insights as if it were mass-marketing junk mail.

Can we please stop the Christian spamming?

Some Progressives have Balls!!

First a comment from fivethirtyeight on last nights State of the Union speech:

great speech. I strongly support the President's agenda. Barack Obama never fails to amaze me as to how smart he is. He will go down in American history as a great President. He is a lot like having your high school history teacher as President. Not to mention being the basketball coach. Good things will happen to America under his leadership. The Republicans look like a herd of deer in the headlights. Now the only thing missing is that the Democrats need to grow some balls.
This sums up my feelings on the speech. My favorite parts have to be when the repubs sat there like the dickheads they are while the rest of the chamber was applauding the president. I believe the country is tired of the GOP's do-nothing attitude and I hope enough to punish them this November. Do we really need more of them in Washington??

This article was in my email yesterday....

HOUSE PROGRESSIVES PUSH REID TO PUT PUBLIC OPTION BACK ON THE TABLE Published on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 by The Huffington Post
by Ryan Grim

House progressives organizing to rescue health care reform are pressuring their Senate counterparts to go back to the provision that has most energized the party and a majority of Americans throughout the debate: The public option.

The effort was discussed during a closed-door meeting on Tuesday night, with a faction arguing that the best way to salvage reform is to persuade the Senate to pass the public health insurance option using the budget reconciliation process that needs only a majority vote.

They argued that the current bill before the House, which passed the Senate, lacks the votes needed to pass because pro-life Democrats don't believe the abortion restrictions go far enough and progressive Democrats don't like the lack of a public option, the weak affordability measures or the tax on private insurance. And nobody likes the Cornhusker Kickback, a provision won by Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson that would cover the state's Medicaid bills in perpetuity. Not even Nelson likes it anymore.

So, in order to move health care through the House, Democrats either need to pick up progressives or conservatives. And the budget reconciliation process does not lend itself to altering abortion language reform, because that wouldn't have a direct, substantial impact on the budget.

That leaves progressives as the bloc available to pick up. Their demands -- changes related to the tax on insurance, a Medicaid or Medicare expansion, and a public option -- would likely be allowable using reconciliation. (The Senate parliamentarian would have the final say.)

Two House freshmen, Reps. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) and Jared Polis (D-Colo.), circulated a letter, looking for signatures, that will be delivered to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Thursday on behalf of the plan, Polis told HuffPost.

Reid is not generally receptive to advice from the lower chamber, but health care reform has stumbled into territory where there is no map.

If Reid and President Obama decide that the House Democrats have a workable plan -- perhaps the only viable plan left, after the New York Times declared that the brakes had been slammed -- they may be able to accomplish it.

Pingree told HuffPost that the pair's proposal was met with excitement from some quarters and skepticism from others. "There are plenty of people who say there's no way we're going to bring it back, but there's nothing predictable about this political year," she said. "Never say never."

House and Senate negotiators were working out the final details of health care reform when the Massachusetts special election deprived the Democratic caucus of the 60 votes it needed to break a GOP filibuster and pass the final bill.

That could lead Democrats to use reconciliation, which requires only 50 votes. Once that decision has been made, deciding to go for the public option is less of a leap.

"It is very likely that the public option could have passed the Senate, if brought up under majority-vote 'budget reconciliation' rules," reads the letter. "While there were valid reasons stated for not using reconciliation before, especially given that some important provisions of health care reform wouldn't qualify under the reconciliation rules, those reasons no longer exist."

The major obstacle to reconciliation has always been the fear that popular insurance reforms would be carved out and ruled unrelated to the budget. But the Senate has already passed those particular reforms. The House could pass them and send them on to the president, then pass the package of reforms that moves through reconciliation.

It's a long-shot, but not impossible. And it's just the kind of aggressive action that voters showed they want in Massachusetts, said Pingree, and have long been supporting in surveys. It's a matter of political survival: "People will lose their seats because they want Congress to deliver what it promises," said Pingree.

Polis said that the response has been "very exciting."

"There's enthusiasm that if a majority of senators are on board with it, then we should go for it," he said. "I think the inclusion of the public option would make that route much more attractive to House Democrats."

Health care reform became less popular, Polis argued, when the public option was taken out but the requirement to buy private insurance or pay a fine remained.

"I think the fading of the public option from the Senate bill really hurt the Democrats' prospects in the Senate [race], because they were seen as following the typical pattern of tax and spend and caving to insurance companies," he said.

Pingree and Polis both noted that Obama's focus on fiscal discipline and cutting spending makes the public option -- which the Congressional Budget Office estimates could trim more than $100 billion from the deficit in ten years -- that much more appealing.

It would also give Democrats something else to run on in 2010.

The night of the Massachusetts election, three liberal groups -- Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Democracy for America and MoveOn.org -- paid for a poll of a thousand people who voted for Obama in 2008 and either switched to support Republican Scott Brown for Senate or didn't vote. It was conducted by Research 2000.

More than 80 percent of both groups favored a public option.

The poll also upended the conventional understanding of health care's role in the election. A plurality of people who switched to Brown -- 48 -- or didn't vote -- 43 -- said that they opposed the Senate health care bill. But the poll dug deeper and asked people why they opposed it. Among those Brown voters, 23 percent thought it went "too far" -- but 36 percent thought it didn't go far enough and 41 percent said they weren't sure why they opposed it.

Among voters who stayed home and opposed health care, a full 53 percent said they opposed the Senate bill because it didn't go far enough; 39 percent weren't sure and only eight percent thought it went too far.

"The public option," said Polis, "is not dead.

Another try and more of the same NO votes

Tuesdays vote for a bi-partisan commission on reducing the deficit failed, 53-46. The 23 Republican Senators listed below voted no. The party who claims to be the party of fiscal responsibility. This was their chance to work in a bi-partisan fashion to find solutions to reduce the deficit. Do they not think it's their problem too? This is purely political to further try and destroy President Obama. SIX rethug Senators co-sponsored the bill as recently as last month, but still voted NO! That my friends is truly rethug pressure, amazing.....


From Politico:
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of 16 Republicans to vote in favor of the commission, expressed despair over the Senate’s lack of progress on the deficit — or much of anything else.

“I’m willing to try anything because I’m desperate,” Graham said in an interview. “Immigration: hard, tried, it went nowhere. Social Security: hard, tried, it went nowhere. Health care: hard, tried, went nowhere. We’re running out of opportunities to try hard and go nowhere. Time is not on our side.”

The tepid support from Democratic leaders contributed to the loss, but more decisive was the number of Republicans switching under pressure from their party to block the measure.

Six Republicans who had co-sponsored the bill as recently as last month voted against it. A seventh co-sponsor, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), was absent for family reasons, but her office said she would have backed the amendment if she had been present.

Has anyone seen anything like this before? Pressure from a party to block a measure that would be of positive help for our country and her problems, problems which are the result of BOTH parties?

Look below at your shining examples of pure disgust. Do you think these Senators have your best interest in mind when they cast their NO votes time after time? And to think rethugs are on a roll, they are gonna "take back their country!!!" Take it back from who, and do what with it?
You GOP are worthless, absolutely worthless...

Barrasso (R-WY)
Bennett (R-UT)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Ensign (R-NV)
Grassley (R-IA)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Kyl (R-AZ)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Snowe (R-ME)
Thune (R-SD)

It's all up to you, Democrats

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Ed Schultz is interviewing Rep. Phil Hare of Illinois, he has a a plan some say will rival FDR's New Deal. This 180 billion dollar, 3 year jobs bill will be paid for out of TARP money, money that's being paid back from the banks. Rep. Hare says it will put 3 million people back to work. He has so far 75 co-sponsors in the House. How many Republicans have come forward to work with Hares committee you ask? ZERO, NOT ONE Republican. It's appalling. It is so representative of the NBC News/WSJ poll out tonight saying 48% of Americans blame the Republicans in Congress for not finding solutions to America's problems. 41% blame Democrats, and 71% say it's not President Obamas fault.

It does surprise me when you see polls like this, while Republicans lay claim to winning many House and Senate seats this November. Can the people, out of anger, fill these seats with the party who has no intentions of working with Democrats for solutions like HC reform and JOBS? What will it take for the light to come on in peoples brains?? Don't get me wrong, I do realize Dems have blown their 60 vote majority by being to passive, I get it. What I am hearing from the progressive members in the House, change is coming, we'll see.

Which leads me to introduce the next video. If progressive dems don't step up to the plate......

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Good job Ed Schultz, Adam Green, and Alan Grayson. These guys give me hope!

Tomorrow nights State of the Union speech has me anxious to hear President Obama's plans for the economy, jobs, healthcare reform, among other problems we face. I'm really looking forward to a great speech, I think he will deliver!

De Fabulas Fidorum

"Concerning the Stories of the Faithful"

If God wills it, I will be helping lead a "guided autobiography" at Mosaic in the near future.

If God wills it.

In any case I have been thinking about personal stories in Christian churches, or as they are commonly referred to as "testimonies." Everyone has one. The new converts have them and the older Christians have them. Whose do we hear more often?

I think, for better or for worse, churches tend to privilege a certain kind of personal story. The personal stories that get told through the projectors or in front of the mic are often the most dramatic. Usually, churches look for stories that follow the following narrative:

1. Before I knew Christ, I felt like a totally unfulfilled loser.
2. Then I met Christ.
3. Now I don't feel like a unfulfilled loser anymore.

Through design or habit the stories are often those who overcame the drug addiction, severe depression, hateful sin, or where the rock bottom losers before they knew Christ. They can be inspiring and hope filled for other people in the congregation. They serve as tangible reminders of God's work in people's lives.

I think there is a small downside though. In privileging personal stories like this, there is a tendency to ignore the personal stories of those who have been faithful their whole lives, or have been Christians for a very long time. The celebration of personal stories tend to be from new converts only, and it is seldom that you hear the stories of those who have not had such a rocky, emotionally shaky, journey to the Christian faith.

How do the long-time Christians see the personal stories of the new converts? Almost always in a positive way, for sure. Older Christians love to listen to these as much as the new converts love to share. Yet I remember something I read in an interview with Christian musician Steven Curtis Chapman years ago. He confessed that he always regretted just a little bit that he, as life-long Christian, did not have the a personal story as dramatic as those of the new converts. I think he speaks for a lot of people.

There are probably two ways to look at this. On one hand, this could be a strange kind of envy. Remember the parable of the prodigal son? Remember the other brother? It is that kind of envy. The other brother was clearly jealous of the prodigal's special treatment when he returned home. Life-long Christians and older Christians need to guard carefully against this. Envy, after all, steals our joy and gives us not even the most vaporous benefit in return.

On the other hand, I think Churches should be careful to listen to the stories of the life-long Christians as well. The personal stories of those who converted long ago or even when they were children may not follow the sought-after narrative, but are important testimonies of God's work as well. They help the church become more self-aware, as these stories might put to light unseen failures or uncelebrated successes. It also ensures that older Christians do not eventually feel marginalized as their struggles and victories do not go unacknowledged by the rest of their churches. Everyone, after all, wants to share their story.

Please understand, I am not saying that we need to cut back on the dramatic, new convert, stories and replace them. I think that there is plenty of room for both. There is no need to think of this as a competition of whose stories are more worthy for celebration.

What's your story?

Why do Conservatives Hate Hollywood??

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NEW YORK - Grim-faced celebrities and musicians with mournful tunes set the tone for the all-star, international "Hope for Haiti Now" telethon, which raised more than $57 million, preliminary figures showed.

The telethon featured two hours of desperate pleas for an even more-desperate nation, but it ended on a hopeful note, with a buoyant call for Haiti's revival by native son, Wyclef Jean.

"Enough of this moping man, let's rebuild Haiti, let's show 'em how we do it where we come from!" Jean shouted after singing the slow song "Rivers of Babylon," with a Haitian flag around his neck.

I don't get it, do you? No, not ALL conservatives hate Hollywood, but I have come across many bloggers who do. Why would they think native son Wyclef Jean or any of the celebrities would have an ulterior motive for volunteering to help Haitians in this disaster? Some people in this country use their celebrity status to actually do GOOD works. These Hollywood stars and the musicians, among many others, have huge hearts, they are caring and giving people. It's a shame those who ridicule and make fun of celebrities have nothing better to do with their time. Maybe they could volunteer, give of themselves to help the less fortunate.
I say, thank God we have Americans who give so freely, celebrity or non-celebrity. So, the next time you want to make fun of Hollywood, remember you are making fun of GOOD and CARING Americans!

McCain gives in...

McCain says campaign finance reform is dead

WASHINGTON – Sen. John McCain says the movement he led to reform how political campaigns are financed is dead.

McCain says the Supreme Court has spoken on the constitutionality of political contributions by corporations. The Arizona Republican had sought to regulate them with a landmark campaign finance law he wrote with Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis.

Last week the Supreme Court ruled that corporations may spend as freely as they like to support or oppose candidates for president and Congress.

McCain says there's not much that can be done about campaign financing now. Still, he predicts a backlash over time from voters once they see the amount of money that corporations and unions pour into political campaigns.

McCain spoke Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation."

This is what I said, I predict a backlash from the voters once the airwaves are saturated with negative ads. The corporations will have to add their names to the commercials so we will know who to boycott won't we! The people are tired of corporate America and this will only make them madder. As we saw in Massachusetts, the voters will exercise their rights, I believe this will backfire on the republicans, and I say republicans because it is their party who will benefit from this terrible ruling from the Supreme Court. IF that was not the case then explain the 5-4 vote!

I will be interested in hearing from Sen. Feingold on this ruling.

Edited: Linda said the ruling will make a level playing field for both sides, not according to Laura Chapin and this article from U.S. News and World Report,

Laura K. Chapin is a Democratic communications strategist based in Denver, Colorado, advocating for progressive causes and candidates in the Rocky Mountain West. She has previously worked for Gov. Bill Ritter and before escaping to God's Country, she spent 15 years (and way too many late nights Watching the Floor) in Washington, DC.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, business and corporate interests accounted 70.8 percent of the total U.S. political contributions in 2007-2008, while only 2.7 percent came from labor. Political Action Committees (PACs) show a similar disparity: 69.5 percent from business, 15.7 percent from labor. The center does issue this caveat: "CRP uses employer/occupation information to categorize donors, and because just about everyone works for a business, contributions from members of labor unions and ideological groups are often classified under business."

Still, the gap is big enough that it's clear corporations have both the will and the ability to vastly outspend unions. And yes, this includes "527s"--tax-exempt organizations that engage in political activities. Republican-leaning 527s spent almost $13 million in 2008, Democratic ones about $8.3 million.

If the GOP and its corporate allies have their way, you can kiss the will of Colorado voters goodbye. And no, the fact that the Supreme Court ruling would potentially lift the limits on union contributions doesn't make things equal. The checkbook for corporations dwarfs that of labor. It's not a level playing field in any sense of the phrase--corporations versus unions is like the Texas Longhorns going up against an NCAA Division III team.

And at least that contest would involve real persons.

Thanks and a little smalltalk

This is the picture I used on my first blog post back in August of '09! Here I am with over 12,000 views and over 200 posts! Thanks so much my fellow bloggers for your friendship and especially for my liberal friends, thank you and keep doing what you do, spreading our message of hope and change!


Addressing a town hall meeting in Elyria, Ohio today, President Obama was speaking to us, his base. His tone was different, he admits mistakes, he says he hears us, he IS on our side. He will be accused of being in campaign mode, but ya know what, let 'em talk!

What happened in Massachusetts was a wake up call, I believe we are going to see a new President Obama this year, the Obama we liberals voted for. While the right is crying he is TOO liberal, the truth is, he was too conservative. It's what the polls are saying and it's why dems lost the Senate seat in Massachusetts. President Obama HAS to move to left of center or he will continue to alienate his base. He is on a course correction, and that will prove to be a wise move.

Obama also mentioned in Ohio that a key part of his State of the Union address will be about pushing for major reform of the financial regulatory system. Last week, he proposed a tax on banks to recoup taxpayer bailout funds. He said, "I want to charge Wall Street a modest fee to repay taxpayers in full for saving their skin in a time of need. You can rest assured, we're going to get that money -- your money -- back, each and every dime." He said a fight is brewing but he is up for the fight, "I didn't run for president to turn away from these challenges. I didn't run for president to kick them down the road. I ran for president to confront them, once and for all", he said.

We even have some rightwingers giving the thumbs up for Obamas course correction, Mike Huckabee said “Let me go out on a limb and tell you, this is probably the beginning of the re-election of Barack Obama.”

Then we have Billo on his show tonight talking about the FALL of the Democratic Party!!! Oh yea, he's naming all the left leaning cable shows and newspapers, they are on the decline he says! You see what he's doing, when the right gets scared, they fearmonger. That's all they have! They TRY to make the left look bad and think that makes them look good. LMFAO!!!

So anyway, thanks again my loyal friends for visiting my humble little blog. I appreciate each and every one of you!

The Suffering of Haiti and the Silence of God

Recent events in the news have finally forced me to blog again about the problem of evil. In addition to the dementia and influence of Pat Robertson, there was a tragic earthquake in Haiti. While in either situation we ask, “how could God let this happen?” I prefer to focus on Haiti.

Yes, I am opening this blog a little tongue and cheek, but in all seriousness I do want to talk about the problem of evil once again. Specifically, I want to talk about theodicies. A “theodicy” is an attempt by Christians to explain why God allows evil. Theodicies come in many shapes and sizes, and are vigorously argued. When it comes to Haiti, I will present two common theodicies, which will in turn open up for a bigger problem of theodicy in general.*

One type of theodicy might be called the “sovereignty theodicy.” In the sovereignty theodicy, nothing happens without at least God’s consent. God is never surprised by any event. God, who sees the entire picture, works everything out for his own good justice in the end. Evil is part of this process. This will even extends to humans, as our suffering (and reaction to other people’s suffering) will make us more holy or Christ-like. This theodicy might be summed up as saying, “God works out everything for his own good, and our good in the end.” The bitter medicine of evil and suffering will not compare to glories that await us and the world to come.

Of all theodicies, I like an idea of theodicy in which evil is part of a cycle of growth for Christians and for a future glorious new creation. Nonetheless, I think this theodicy faces a big problem. It makes God a utilitarian: a certain amount of evil, for a greater amount of good. Why would God need to do this? I recognize that utilitarian is something that human beings need to do. Jack Bauer must occasionally (frequently) torture someone in order to save many lives. Though he (hopefully) knows what he is doing is wrong, he understands that there will be a great good that will come of it. Jack Bauer does this trade-off because his power is limited. If he could save lives without having to torture someone he would, but as it is plastic bags and bamboo shoots are the only. God’s power is not limited. So why is evil necessary?

There is another problem with this kind of theodicy: God must make some people victims in order to make other people better. Consider the following, there is a great amount of “good” that has come out of the horrendous tragedy of the Haiti earthquake. Among other things, Christians are getting together to express Christian love in a very tangible way. Undoubtably, many will come back with a fresh perspective on poverty, suffering, and Christian service. Of course, for this kind of Christian growth to happen, many people had to die or at least endure terrible suffering. Why must some people die in order to deepen the spiritual lives of the living? It seems like the Haitians are getting the short end of stick. Again, this is a kind of utilitarian trade-off that doesn’t make sense to if God is omnipotent.

There is another theodicy that can be called the free-will theodicy. This is one of the most common ones heard in everyday evangelicalism. All evil comes from sin, and sin comes from our free choices. God could override our free-will, but wants Christian to love him willingly and “not be robots.” There is something so supremely good about free will, that it justifies the side effect of evil.

Those who know me well know that free will is a pretty big deal for me, but I still don’t think this justifies evil and suffering, especially in relation to Haiti. First, the tragedy of Haiti is not totally the result of human sin. We may have misused our free-will to create the economic and social conditions of Haiti, but human sin did not bring the earthquake. Furthermore, this still faces the same problem as the sovereignty theodicy: a utilitarian tradeoff. Why would an omnipotent God need to have some people suffer in order that others might exercise their free will? Couldn’t an omnipotent God have set up a universe in which free-will of one person did not involve causing others to suffer?

Any Answer at all?

Now I get to the big problem. There is a possibility that I think all Christian need to face: that we might not have access to a theodicy at all. Why would God allow the earthquake in Haiti? We simply do not know. For some, I think that this may threaten the Christian faith. I do not think so, because although we cannot know the answer it does not mean that the answer is not there. God’s reasons may simply be hidden from us. God may simply be silent on this matter.

But is strange for God to be silent on this matter. For Christians, God has obviously spoken on a great many things. So presumably, God could simply tell us why evil exists in the world. Yet we do not quite something so clear and unambigious, and are left to coming up with theodicies on our own. The best answer we ever get from God is same answer that we see at the end of the Book of Job, “who are you to ask these kinds of questions?”

Honestly, that seems to be the world that we live in, but what does that mean for Haiti?

=======================================
*I credit Nicholas Wolterstorff for pretty much everything that I am saying in this blog. See his article, “Silence of the God who Speaks” for a more detailed discussion of what I am condensing here.

We The People!

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Will the average American citizen be able to cast their vote for a candidate and be assured it actually means something? Chuck Schumer says from now on the winners will be predetermined, they will not be Republican Or Democrat, they will be corporate America.

Do we as citizens have the willpower to exercise our rights and make this decision backfire on the corporations who will seek to control the electorate? The ads will be fast and furious this summer, but we must make it our job to investigate each candidate up for election. We must tell ourselves WE will decide who is best to represent our state in the Senate race, NOT who corporate America thinks will do the best job representing THEM.

Will we the people be bombarded with negative ads? Yes, and just like what happened to John Kerry and the swiftboat ads, we will see this ten-fold. Also, pay attention to who is praising this ruling and who is speaking out against it.

This is our America, we can roll over and let corporate America destroy our Democracy or we can fight them. We MUST fight back. Please listen to what Alan Grayson says at the end of the video. WE THE PEOPLE can collectively come together, we can say nobody will predetermine our elections. WE MUST, this is the United States of America!

WTF is going on????

Kucinich Denounces Supreme Court Decision in Citizens United Case

WASHINGTON - January 21 - Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today released the following statement following the 5-4 Supreme Court ruling in the case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission:

"Today's decision will allow corporations to spend unlimited funds in support of political candidates. It will increase the stranglehold corporations now have over politics. There is no more effective way to concentrate even more money and power in the hands of the wealthy.

"Already, Wall Street is thriving on government largesse while America struggles with rising unemployment and foreclosures; insurance companies are preventing meaningful health care reform; and fossil fuel companies are preventing meaningful climate change legislation. The foundations of our democracy are at serious risk.

"The five-man majority has overreached considerably. The five-man majority brought up this issue of its own volition and has now legislated from the bench. The Supreme Court's actions and decision violates 100 years of precedent as well as the Constitutional prerogative given to Congress to legislate," said Kucinich. "In his dissent, Justice Stevens somberly remarks, ‘The Court's ruling threatens to undermine the integrity of elected institutions across the Nation.' Congress can hardly ignore such a stark and foreboding comment.

"Now, it is incumbent upon Congress to act. We must reclaim the democratic process and protect the voice of American citizens. If we allow corporations, many of whom are owned by foreign interests, to exert the kind of influence allowed by today's ruling, we will have, finally and completely, abandoned Lincoln's government ‘of the people, by the people, and for the people,'" said Kucinich.

Alan Grayson said if we let a corporate coup take over our electorate, our country is doomed!!

Democracy is dead

This morning, I watched five Supreme Court Justices stab at the heart of democracy, our electoral system.

They overturned over 100 years of statute and precedent, and declared that corporations can spend all the money that they want to buy elections. In fact, these five men in robes declared that they have a constitutional right to do so.

I was there. I saw it. And one seat away was Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who could barely contain his glee.

If you signed our petition, you were there, too. Right in the courtroom. Because your petitions were with me, and I delivered them to the Supreme Court. If you signed our petition, you were one of almost 15,000 people who told these judges that "we cannot have a government that is bought and paid for by huge multinational corporations."

And now, we have to fight. We have introduced six bills to prevent the sale of our government to the highest bidder. The "Save Our Democracy" package must pass. As Lincoln said in his first inaugural address, the war is forced upon us. And if we fail, then as I said yesterday, "you can kiss your country goodbye."

Forward this message to your friends now. Tell them to sign the petition at SaveDemocracy.net to support the "Save Our Democracy" package now.

Regards,

Alan Grayson
Member of Congress

A comment from CommonDreams:

When are WE THE PEOPLE going to rise up and say no more will we allow corporations to CORRUPT OUR POLITICAL PROCESS? There has to be a grass roots movement and find a way to make our voices heard.

Every generation of Americans had their battles that they had to fight. Will we do the right thing and fight or will we do nothing( which is the same as surrender)? I say we fight the evil corruption that is overpowering our government because they are corrupting the political system. I say we find men and women who have the courage to fight and who have good character to run for office for a true Progressive party like the Green Party. We also need to roll up our sleeves and help those men and women who are willing to fight. Working as hard as we can to get them elected. Once elected we give them all the help and support they need to achieve what needs to be done to save this country.

The hour is late but I believe we still have time. Future generations of Americans deserve for this generation to fight and not just give up and allow the corporations to continue on the path they have been on. We must fight them and all who seek to destroy our Consitution.

I think of the statue of Liberty and see her torch falling. Will this generation of America pick up her torch and do the morally right thing and fight against those who by their actions and visions seek to destroy the America that was founded on the principles of truth, justice, freedom, equality and being a light of hope and good in the world? If all of us are willing to pick up that torch and fight than I believe we can win and the children today will have a brighter future than if we just do nothing and allow our government to be destroyed.

Epiphany Christingle Wordle

Sunday 24th sees us hold our annual Christingle service at 10am. It is a wonderful service of light and an opportunity to raise much needed money for the Children's Society.

Christingle and supporting the Children's Society is a great was of us answering the call for us to be an Epiphany people, to reveal Christ in the world in the way we live our lives, and to pray that God's light would shine in the dark places, transforming them by His light and our action.

The Wordle is of Matthew 2:1-11 - the reading we will use.

Rome wasn't built in one day...

Today in my small town Sunday paper is a letter to the editor. The author is a lifelong citizen of our small county in S. Jersey. She writes a good-bye letter to Gov. Corzine and a warning to democrats.

she says this.."One of the smartest, old-fashioned, honest politician's life, as a governor, has come to an end. You know I sometimes wonder what in the name of God did the smart, dumb or independent people of N.J. expect from a good and decent man like Gov. Corzine? We elected this man for his knowledge of finance and his ability to arrange and gather fellow workers to work together. He did so much of that. So, where did he fail you people? Did you expect this man to erase all of New Jersey's problems in four years when it took 15 to 20 or more years to create them?
The first three years the pieces of the puzzle were put on the table. The fourth year he started to put the pieces into place(Rome wasn't built in one day). So why would you expect New Jersey to be cleaned, prosperous and become a land of paradise in four years? Why didn't you people have sense enough to let this man finish what he started? Why didn't you give him four more years to finish what he promised? How sad, how sorry we are going to be."



How profound...

This letter could be written for President Obamas ex-supporters 3 years from now if they don't wake up and smell the coffee! A president who is elected to bring change to a country that was destroyed from a previous administration NEEDS more than 4 years to do the hard job at hand.

What is happening in the Massachusetts Senate race is another good example of dems weary after just one year. I'm shocked and disheartened democrats can not see the big picture. Have they forgotten in just one teeny, tiny short year why we elected Barack Obama? Why are they letting the repub run media scare tactics fog up their brains, distort their thinking, feed their fears and anxieties?

You democrats and independents who have already begun to jump ship may as well be watching Beck and Palin, because it will be you who put them in the White House in 2012. Is that what you want??

Be wise, be patient, be helpful, be organized.... be proud Democrats and show support for your president, and for all democrats in office. AND, always remember the alternative....

Haiti

I have been moved to the core by the desperate tragedy of the people of Haiti. The situation there opens up the chasm of a question for people of faith - where was God?

I am not going to try and explain it away or offer some patronising nonsense about God walking the streets of Port au Prince weeping like Jeremiah.

In a country crushed by poverty, a poverty embedded by debt that my Government and the Governments of other Western nations hold in their glove-lined fists, I am left bewildered that their suffering could be made worse. And yet it has.

Where were you God? Where were you for your people, for your sons and daughters? Where were you for the people of Haiti, made in your image? Where were you for the people of a nation for whom your Son came to live and to die? Was the faith of that nation worth nothing? Did the prayers of countless faithful Hatians count for nought?

Why did you abandon them, like your Son on the cross? His crucifixion ultimately brought you glory. That paradox, brought us nearer to your glory. And yet their crucifixion over years and nailed home in recent days is, for me, the ultimate theodicy...

And yet God, you were moved with compassion when you created us. You were moved with passion to draw people into a living relationship with you through the suffering of your son.

I feel moved with passion and with anger. Anger that this should have happened to such helpless a people (God that sounds patronising...) but with a passion; a passion for justice for them so please give as generously as you can to the DEC Appeal, a passion to understand your mind O God and for you to know my heart.

A friend of mine put it so well on her blog, '...all I know is that I was fully aware of suffering before I became aware of God, and so the two have to live alongside each other. I also know that prayer changes me and hopefully I become more compassionate and reach out to help alleviate or perhaps simply weep over some of the shit that happens...'

Prayer for Haiti

O God, our refuge and strength,
we hold before you the nation and people of Haiti,
and pray for healing in the midst of tragedy and devastation.
Give comfort to the homeless, the bereaved and the suffering,
courage to survivors,
wisdom to those who seek to help,
and light to all who live in the shadow of death.
This we ask in the name of Jesus Christ,
our rock and our salvation. Amen.

The hour is upon us

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Yes, there will be a bill, in just a matter of time..

I don't get it why this is hurting Democrats, this bill will save lives, save money, Americans will be healthier.

Republicans are experts at lying and deceiving Americans. They have put their blood, sweat, tears and lies into obstructing this HC bill. Why aren't they the ones suffering?

I wonder...after the bill is passed and America thanks the Democrats and sees this bill as a great piece of legislation long, long overdue, will Republicans agree, finally? If not even then, I must assume it's because a Dem president is responsible for HC Reform.

Why I Will Never Get Away from the Centrality of the Eucharist

In my previous blog, I listed problems when it comes to placing a minister’s sermon as the pinnacle of Sunday worship. I appropriately tagged that blog as an “iconoclasm” since I know that many who may come across this blog consider such a set up as something so fundamental that I might as well be questioning sanctity of scripture itself. Thing is, I think most people who read enough theology know that iconoclasms are necessary from time to time. Every once in a while you have to scratch at metaphorical icon if for no other reason to get people thinking about why it is there in the first place.

But I would be total cliché tool if that is all I did right? Yes, the average 20-something post-evangelical Christian who attended a private Christian college probably does this all the time. Those of who are (sadly) more well-read than many professional ministers have a lot to say about what’s wrong with churches we usually don’t even attend anymore. We’re so cool about bringing hope to the world, that we make sure we segregate ourselves from the rest of Christianity. If you have to ask why, you’ll never know.

So in order to avoid said cliché and in an effort to ensure that my blog is motivated by Christian charity, I have decided that I will always try to follow up an iconoclasm with something positive.

What do I think should take the place of a lengthy sermon? I don’t think I will ever get away from the worship of Christ though the Eucharist. It is difficult to explain why. Much of what Eucharistic worship means is done by doing, not by reading and not by listening. Nonetheless, here are a few reasons why.

Eucharistic worship, is a largely egalitarian “team effort” form of worship. It is ironic to me that a tradition that has some official sacerdotalism behind is still less sacerdotal than sermonizing in many ways. When a church body takes the Eucharist, the minister my still pronounce a few words, there are of necessity people who serve the wine and the bread, but nonetheless Eucharistic worship does not happen unless everyone in the service takes a role in what is happening.

For instance, many traditions precede the serving of the Eucharist with times of recited prayer in which the whole congregation is involved. Everyone is given a part to play, so to speak. In fact, a “script” analogy works great here. If preaching is central, only one person has a part. In the Eucharist, everyone has a role.

Consider the following liturgy taken from the Book of Common Prayer:

MinisterThe Lord be with you.
People And with thy spirit.
Minister Lift up your hearts.
People We lift them up unto the Lord.
Minister Let us give thanks unto our Lord God.
People It is meet and right so to do.
Then, facing the Holy Table, the Celebrant [minister] proceeds
It is very meet, right, and our bounden duty, that we should
at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto thee, O Lord,
holy Father, almighty, everlasting God.
Therefore with Angels and Archangels, and with all the
company of heaven, we laud and magnify thy glorious
Name; evermore praising thee, and saying,
Minster and People
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts:
Heaven and earth are full of thy glory.
Glory be to thee, O Lord Most High.

This is fairly representative of most “high church” liturgical settings. The minister is more like a guide, rather than authority to be obeyed, or a Prometheus who brings down the fire from heaven.
Furthermore, when the Eucharist is central everyone takes the Eucharist, the minister included. This is good for the minister, as it allows him to get off the pedestal for moment and join his flock in following the God that they all worship.

The Eucharist was instituted by Jesus himself on one of the most important holy days of the Israel’s calendar. Look through the Old Testament and you will find an elaborate list of rituals, customs, special days and other such details down to the tiniest of minutia of how to worship the God of Israel. As Christians, we know that we are no longer bound by such things and that God has given us great liberty in how we worship him (my Eastern Orthodox friends will disagree with that point). Jesus did, however, instruct us to “do this in remembrance of me” on an incredibly important holy day, and on the night just before he was betrayed and crucified.

If Jesus does not demand that we obey the innumerable laws of Old Testament worship propriety, but he does ask this one particular sacred meal. Furthermore, he asks his disciples on very sacred day in an incredibly intimate moment the synoptic Gospel writers sought to make sure we heard about. Does this not indicate a certain kind of gravity to this sacrament? Compared to ancient Israel, the modern day Israel (Christianity) is asked very little. I like to think on this one thing we can get it right.

Christ is physically present through the sacrament. This last point is a point I suspect that most people reading this blog will not share. I do not believe that that Eucharist is only remembrance of Christ’s death and Resurrection, but that Christ is physically present through the sacrament. In other words, I accept the doctrine of “real presence” and it is an important part of devotional life. Because of this, the centrality of the Eucharist has become fairly straight forward for me: if the Eucharist is the presence of God, why would anything other than the presence of God be central?

I realize that this point is clearly a point of contention. I do not have the space to expand on a defense of this point. I really do understand how weird it is to say “I eat the body of Christ on Sundays.” It took me a long time to really get it myself. I can leave my readers with this small thought: is there not a strange silence on John 6 in many evangelical circles? Very, very few times have I heard this passage even addressed –much less exegeted- by people who do not believe in the real presence. When they do, they usually explain what Jesus didn’t mean when he said “I am the bread of life,” but do not explain what they think he did mean and why.

No, I do not expect everyone reading this blog to be persuaded. I admit that scripture is ambiguous on this issue. Nonetheless, John 6 really tipped the scales for me.

In any case, the centrality of the Eucharist is something I will never get away from. Even as I attend Mosaic West LA I must frequently return to a local Lutheran Church or Mountainside Communion to really feel like I worship fully. The truly communal experience and physical, tangible, presence of God are things that can be found there, and is sadly missing in much of Evangelicalism.

Palin, what a dipshit

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Look, I know it's hard to watch, but damn people you are missing out on some terrific, eye-opening, mind-boggling CRAP! There are lessons to be learned from this woman, don't get on national TV without first READING about the history of your country. Will she be the republican nominee?? God I hope so!

Just incase you missed this...

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this is some scary shit, Beck and Palin

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With the Haiti earthquake on all our minds I feel guilty posting these disgusting videos, but I couldn't help myself. These 2(Beck and Palin) are so fuckin' insane I am stunned and sick to my stomach from watching them. Now realize, Beck says Palin is his CHOSEN ONE to get our country back on the road to recovery! SHE is the only person he knows who can do the JOB!! People listen if you can, I'm listening as I type, all I can do is shake my head and laugh, even though not a bit of it is funny.....The things they say about HC reform is stunning. WHY do you M F 'ers believe having health insurance is a privilege and not a right?? Why do you believe everything that is happening in the country is the fault of Obama and liberals?? YOU, Beck and Palin, are the INSANE ones! My God, I must be nuts. Sorry but sometimes we must watch just so we know who we are up against. This, my friends, is the right-wing party, get ready.....

There are many more segments of this program on youtube, watch if you can.

Closed-door event, except for Fox I'm sure

Teabagging Behind Closed Doors: Tea Party Plans Media Blackout at Its First Convention

Posted by Steve Benen, Washington Monthly at 8:43 AM on January 12, 2010.

TEABAGGING BEHIND CLOSED DOORS.... As a rule, when political activists organize large events, featuring high-profile speakers and guests, the goal is to generate as much media attention as possible. It's about getting the organizers' message out to an audience far beyond those literally in the room.

Next month, however, an outfit called "Tea Party Nation" is hosting a big gathering in Nashville, with the first ever Tea Party convention. Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann are among the notable right-wing speakers who will be paid handsomely to rally the troops. But don't expect to see too many reports from major media outlets -- they're not welcome.

It looks like the revolution will not be televised, after all. At least not the Tea Party's revolution. Word from Nashville on Monday was that the First National Tea Party Convention next month will be closed to the press, other than for a limited number of "selected" journalists. No word on who or how many.

This includes a media blackout of the Palin and Bachmann speeches.

Like Dave Weigel, I find this pretty surprising. I've covered all kinds of right-wing events over the years, and while there are occasionally closed-door strategy sessions held for select attendees, the notion of preventing reporters from major outlets from even stepping foot in this conference seems bizarre, and kind of paranoid.

It's worth noting that the public will probably get some sense of what transpired during the festivities. A few undercover reporters -- you know who you are -- may sneak in past the list-checkers desperate to keep out those who may disagree, and some hand-picked, right-wing media types will probably get some access that the rest of us will be able to read.

But for the most part, this will likely be the first ever national political convention held in secret. Given all of last week's bitter complaining about health care policy negotiators working out their differences in private, I suppose the obvious question is, "What do the Teabaggers have to hide?"

Could it be because the room will be filled with all whites? That would look kinda odd for a "grass-roots" organization. There really should be some minorities to represent middle-America. :-)

Maybe it has something to do with weird religious rituals going on. Maybe Palins' Pastor will be there to bless the women in their run for the White House, Palin/Bachmann 2012.... You Betcha!!

Would you pay 549.00 to listen to Palin??

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow and the Washington Independent's Dave Weigel have been covering the profiteering aspect of the conference, with Weigel reporting that Palin may be making as much as $100,000 for her speech to the Nashville Tea Party gathering. But it's not just progressives who find the situation a bit slimey. Check out Red State's Erick Erickson, one of the most Tea Partiest bloggers I can think of:

Let me be blunt: charging people $500.00 plus the costs of travel and lodging to go to a “National Tea Party Convention” run by a for profit group no one has ever heard of sounds as credible as an email from Nigeria promising me a million bucks if I fork over my bank account number.

Erickson also frets that the event will reflect poorly on Palin, writing, "I am afraid Sarah Palin is going to harm herself unintentionally over this tea party convention in Nashville."

Pity