Kierkegaard on Christian scholarship

The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the Church's prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament.

- Soren Kierkegaard

Reprint - "Filibustering people of faith?"

Filibustering people of faith?

by Jim Wallis

During the 2004 election campaign, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson virtually said Christians could only vote for George W. Bush. Many of you, along with other Christians and people of faith, responded with letters to the editor, newspaper ads, and even bumper stickers reminding America that "God is not a Republican...or a Democrat." Then the Republican National Committee circulated lists of "duties" to local churches, which included turning over their congregational membership lists. The RNC also sent postcards to voters in some states with images of a Bible being banned and a man putting a wedding ring on another man - warning that this was what "liberal" politicians planned
to do.

Now the Religious Right is saying that supporting the president's judicial nominations is a test of orthodoxy. This is a dramatic new and serious breach in the relationship between faith and politics.

James Dobson of Focus on the Family, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, Prison Fellowship's Chuck Colson, and Southern Baptist leader Albert Mohler are hosting "Justice Sunday," a telecast this weekend from a mega-church in Louisville, Kentucky. Their message is that those who don't support President Bush's judicial nominees are hostile to "people of faith."

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist plans to join them by video to get political support for his effort to end the Senate practice known as the filibuster, which is designed to delay a vote on controversial issues in order to protect strong minorities from being overrun by majorities. The Republican leader's appearance at this event endorses the Religious Right's claim that the Democratic filibuster of a small number of veryconservative judges is "a filibuster against people of faith."

Despite the fact that Democrats oppose these judges for their views on a variety of subjects, conservative leaders have singled out abortion and gay marriage as their chief concerns and only want judges who support their agenda. Despite the fact that many Democrats who oppose some of President Bush's nominees are themselves people of faith, Republicans and their religioussupporters are questioning the faith and religious integrity of their opponents.

That is an escalation of the religious/political war. And the two together sound like assertions of a Republican theocracy. Behind these activities lies a fundamental assumption by Republican operatives and their conservative religious allies that they own religion in America. They demand that religious people vote only their way. They claim that "values voters" in America belong to them, and they disrespect the faith of those who disagree with their agenda. There are better words for this than just "politically divisive" or "morally irresponsible." For these are not merely political offenses, they are religious ones. And for offenses such as these, theological terms arebetter - terms such as idolatry and blasphemy.

We should bring our religious convictions about all moral issues to the public square - such as the uplifting of the poor, the protection of the environment, the ethics of war, or the tragic number of abortions in America - without attacking the sincerity of other people's faith, or demanding that we should win because we are religious. We must make moral arguments and mobilize effective movements for social change that can powerfully persuade our fellow citizens, religious or not, on what is best for the common good.

What I hear, from one end of this country to the other, is how tired we are of ideological religion and how hungry we are for prophetic faith. Join me in sending a message to Senator Frist that we are people of faith, and these Religious Rightleaders do not speak for us.

+ Take action: Tell Bill Frist to stop playing the faith card!

TV-B-Gone - Silence for $15

Enter the TV-B-Gone, a small television remote that hangs on your keychain and turns off virtually any television with the press of button. 'Now, what would be the purpose of such a device?' you may be asking yourself. Well, without revealing too much of our devious nature we can think of a few things. Imagine sports bars or annoying talking head shows that appear on monitors at the airport. Add to that your own creativity and we're pretty sure you'll come up with some ideas. All you need to do is press the button and keep pointing it at the TV until it turns off (which may take up to 69 seconds). The next 69 seconds will be spent quietly, or not so quietly, enjoying the perplexed expressions of the TV automatons.

From the Southwest Minnesota State University webcam...

While talking on the phone last night, Jeff directed me to this web page. Lo and behold, there he was, in all his grainy, voguing glory...

NYT: "Psst...Justice Scalia...You Know, You're an Activist Judge, Too"

The Times brings up a point that is often overlooked: that conservative judges are just as willing to flex their "activist" muscles as liberal ones, yet for some reason this fails to raise the ire of the Republicans now attacking the judiciary. There is a fundamental hypocrisy in the conservative furor over "activist judges" - namely because the term is only applied to judges whose rulings conservatives dislike.

When conservatives complain about activist judges, they talk about gay marriage and defendants' rights. But they do not mention the 11th Amendment, which has been twisted beyond its own plain words into a states' rights weapon to throw minorities, women and the disabled out of federal court.

The 11th Amendment says federal courts cannot hear lawsuits against a state brought by 'Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.' But it's been interpreted to block suits by a state's own citizens - something it clearly does not say. How to get around the Constitution's express words? In a 1991 decision, Justice Scalia wrote that 'despite the narrowness of its terms,' the 11th Amendment has been understood by the court 'to stand not so much for what it says, but for the presupposition of our constitutional structure which it confirms.' If another judge used that rationale to find rights in the Constitution - in this case, rights for states - Justice Scalia's reaction would be withering...

When it comes to judicial activism, conservative judges are no better than liberal ones - and, it must be said, no worse. If conservatives are going to continue their war on the judiciary, though, they should be honest. They do not want to get rid of judicial activists, a standard that would bring down even Justice Scalia. They want to rid the courts of judges who disagree with them.

Ministry by Sand Sculpture

Thanks to Jason for the link.

Abston Church of Christ

Wowowowowowowowowowow! This totally rocks! Imagine spending a year and a half constructing your own church... out of LEGOs. The Abston Church of Christ contains approximately 75,000 pieces, including almost 4000 windows, seats 1372 minifigs and is about 7 feet long by 5 1/2 feet wide. But, as my friend David notes:

Definitely not Lutheran... The first row is full, the last pew empty

MeritCare's "Faithfully Fit Forever" program

I took a workshop on this program today at the Eastern North Dakota Synod Assembly, and was quite enthused. Training for a leader is only $25 or so, and it's a fun, low-impact exercise routine that incorporates scripture study and nutritional tips for participants. I enjoyed doing the exercises, and am very seriously considering taking the course so I can start a class here in Litchville.

Minneapolis Institute of Arts: "Illuminating the Word" Exhibition

Wow... I've been in awe of the St. John's Bible for a number of years, as the painstaking process of creating this hand-written, hand-illuminated Bible has unfolded. Now the MIA is exhibiting 100 pages from the book. I'll definitely have to try to get there to see it.

Yahoo! News - "Pope Reborn as Superhero in Comic"

Ummmmmm...

The first episode of the 'Incredible Popeman' is about to go on sale in Colombia and shows the late Polish pontiff meeting comic book legends such as Batman and Superman to learn how to use superpowers to battle Satan.

'The pope was a real-life superhero, of flesh and blood,' said Colombian artist Rodolfo Leon, a non-practicing Catholic who has been working on the comic book for about a year.

The Lutheran Handbook

New from Augsburg Fortress - "The Lutheran Handbook"! Jonathan Rundman, a favorite musician of mine, contributed several entries to the Handbook, and describes it in his newsletter as "a comedy/theology manual written in the droll, retro style of the Worst-Case Scenario Survival Guide."

According to Augsburg Fortress:

The essential field guide for all things Lutheran. Confirmands — or anyone hiking the trails of life's adventures and challenges — will want to pack this handy illustrated field guide to Lutheran theology and culture. This enjoyable, easy-to-read, reliable, all-in-one collection helps you understand the essential information about our theology, culture and Lutheran way of life. Organized by Church Stuff, Everyday Stuff and Bible Stuff with how-to's like 'How to Forgive Someone' and lists like 'The Top-10 Bible Villains.' Encapsulates essential principles of the Christian life, making many of the complexities of our religious tradition accessible for contemporary seekers.

You can order your own copy for just $14.99 at the linked site. You know you want to! ;)

Mystery of the Exploding Dog

The plot thickens. I seem to have found a clue to Ellie's gastronomic explosiveness last night. When we came downstairs this morning, there was a perfectly clean butter wrapper on the dining room floor.

As far as I can tell, this is the same butter wrapper that previously contained half a stick of butter subsequent to my popping corn last night. What I can't explain is how it got into doofus' hands... paws, actually.

The butter never left the kitchen counter - I have no idea how Ellie could have gotten into it. But it's no longer on the counter, and I have a licked-clean wrapper where there once was none. It seems pretty obvious that in some mysterious way, my pooch got her mitts on a good hunk of butter right around bedtime, scarfed it down, and was almost immediately sorry for it when her stomach began growling. By the time I would discover the remains of her feast, it would all be over, with nothing but the stench lingering in the air.

Has my dog learned the secrets of levitation?

SOOOOOOOO gross...

I woke up twenty minutes ago to a handful of cold puke. *gag* Ellie, who'd had a gurgly stomach right about the time we went to bed a few hours earlier, had emptied whatever was left in that stomach onto the upper right corner of the bedspread.

With the light on now and looking for something with which to wipe my hand, a new odor hit me. Cleverly tucked away in a remote corner was a revolting blob of poo. *GAG* I'm going to very proud of myself if there isn't a 5" wide brown stain by the armoire in the morning.

I'm hoping that by the time I finish writing this, the stench from the now-removed bodily expulsions will have lessened somewhat in the bedroom, since I'm by no means excited to begin my day yet. Unfortunately, it's only 33 degrees out - pretty nippy to need to let in the breeze.

Ellie seems to feel alright, and is just as active as normal, although she looked plenty ashamed when she realized I'd discovered the stinking pile she'd left. She's not in trouble - she clearly was ill - but I'm wondering what she got into or what got into her that led up to such a wonderful Daylight Savings Time surprise for yours truly... *RETCH*

Time to see how the chamber of horrors is doing. Wish me luck.

Other deaths in the news

Another sad loss to report today - Minnesota Twins PA announcer Bob Casey died Sunday. Casey was the one and only voice of the Minnesota Twins, missing only a few games in the entire history of the club.

Casey started announcing Twins games when the franchise moved to Minnesota from Washington, D.C., in 1961. He was inducted into the Twins' Hall of Fame in 2003.

Casey was known for his nasally voice and distinctive delivery. He would introduce star Kirby Puckett as 'Kir-BEEEEEEEEE PUCK-it!' and remind fans there was 'Nooooooooooooo smoking' at the Metrodome.

Or, as my brother and dad liked to add, "Nooooooooooooo plutonium! No plutonium at the Metrodome."

The Twins have dedicated this season to Bob Casey. Whoever his successor behind the mic is, he'll have a tough act to follow. RIP, Bob.

Yahoo! News: "Pope Close to Death, Receives Communion -Vatican"

John Paul is in my prayers. God bless him for his faithfulness in living out his vocation to the very end, setting an example for God's children of how to live and how to die. God grant John Paul a quiet night, and peace at the last, when his long service comes finally to a close.