progressive involvement

Cry me a river

“People who don’t have money don’t understand the stress,” said Alan Dlugash, a partner at accounting firm Marks Paneth & Shron LLP in New York who specializes in financial planning for the wealthy. “Could you imagine what it’s like to say I got three kids in private school, I have to think about pulling them out? How do you do that?”

Frank Graham apologizes to President Obama

As he should have.  "I regret any comments I have ever made which may have cast any doubt on the personal faith of our president, Mr. Obama," said Franklin Graham in a statement yesterday.

Earlier, Graham had said that he didn't know if Obama was a Christian or not, but that he was probably Muslim.  The apology came after pressure from black religious leaders who said Graham's expressed views came very close to breaking the 8th commandment, i.e. bearing false witness.

Like many religionists, the Grahams have tended to gravitate toward those who, contrary to Matthew 6, engage in pious public display.  Franklin's father, Billy, fell for Richard Nixon for this reason and later regretted it.

Graham continued to say that he does not support President Obama for re-election because of abortion and same-sex marriage.  He neglected to mention that many millions of Christians see those two issues differently than he does. 

Jim Boeheim, Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, John Calipari

What do they all have in common?  These basketball coaches are some of the very best in the history of the sport--OK, except for Calipari--and they all have a lower winning percentage over the past ten years than Kansas Jayhawks' Head Coach Bill Self.  

Self's Jayhawks have won 83.3% of their games over the past decade.  This year, supposedly a "down year," sees the Jayhawks at 25-5 (83.3%), and ranked third in the country. 

When comments by idiotic nimrods strike home

President Obama was, of course, absolutely correct to apologize for American soldiers tossing Korans into a garbage dump and setting them on fire.  The US Commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John R. Allen, had already apologized.  Gen. Allen and President Obama both know that outraged and riled up Afghanis do not help the US mission in that country.  

Rick Santorum and Sarah Palin may think otherwise, but they are stupid.  Santorum, for some reason, said the apology was "unacceptable."  Palin articulated her nuanced foreign policy views through Twitter.

Put the shoe on the other foot.  Let's say some Afghanis were burning stacks of the Holy Bible.  Would you want the President of Afghanistan to apologize or not?

Sometimes these episodes have consequences which strike close to home.  Army Sgt. Joshua Born, who was killed in retaliation by outraged Afghanis, is the nephew of a member of my congregation.  Born was one of two U.S. military police officers killed Thursday by an Afghan soldier amid rising anti-American sentiment over the Koran burnings.

Photo of Born:  Fort Stewart press office

Join the Wyoming Navy!

The Wyoming legislature wants to be prepared when the US government collapses.  On Friday, the Wyoming House advanced a bill the Casper Star-Trib calls "the doomsday bill."  The bill would "create a state-run government continuity task force, which would study and prepare Wyoming for potential catastrophes, from disruptions in food and energy supplies to a complete meltdown of the federal government."

An amendment by GOP state rep. Kermit Brown calls on the task force to examine "Conditions under which the state of Wyoming should implement a draft, raise a standing army, marine corps, navy and air force and acquire strike aircraft and an aircraft carrier."

Lectionary blogging: Mark 8: 31-38

Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.³²He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ³³But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’

34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ³⁵For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. ³⁶For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?³⁷Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? ³⁸Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’

Translation:  And he began to teach them that it is necessary (for) the son of man to suffer much and to be rejected by the elders, and the chief priests, and the scribes, and to be killed, and after three days, to rise.  And he was speaking the word plainly.  And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.  But turning around and he seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter, and he said, "Go behind me, Satan, for you are not thinking the things of God, but that of human beings."

And summoning the crowd together with his disciples, he said to them, "If anyone wishes to follow after me, that person must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me, for whoever might desire to save their life will lose it, but whoever will lose their life on account of me and the good news will save it, for how does it help a person to gain the whole universe and to lose their life?  For what might a person give in exchange for their life?  For whoever might be ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the son of man will be ashamed of that one whenever he might come in the glory of his father with the holy angels."

 

Santorum suffers gastro-intestinal stigmata

Rick Santorum seems determined to keep reminding people of the things they least like about Christianity.  

In an election that was supposed to be "all economy all of the time," Santorum keeps insisting on fighting culture wars, sometimes giving one the impression that he's running not for president but for Bestest Altar Boy.

His latest is his gastro-intestinal reaction to reading President Kennedy's 1960 speech on the relationship of one's faith to their performance in public office.  Santorum said he "almost threw up" after reading it.  Elaborating, he said:

"The idea that the church can have no influence or no involvement in the operation of the state is absolutely antithetical to the objectives and vision of our country...to say that people of faith have no role in the public square? You bet that makes me want to throw up." 

Nobody ever said that the church "can have no influence" in the formation of public policy.  It can, and does--boy, does it ever!  

But no, former Senator Santorum, the church absolutely should not have any "involvement in the operation of the state."  Why should it?  Neither the church, nor any other institutional entity--neither even the GOP per se, nor the Democratic Party per se--should be involved in the operation of the state.  The state is governed only by elected individuals.

Is the church a person?  Corporations may be persons, and money may be speech--contrary to all reason and common sense--but the Supreme Court has not yet ruled that the church is a person.

Individuals, of course, are influenced by their faith in whatever direction they may choose, and that, in turn, may well influence how they view public policy.  That's as it should be.  Indeed, how could it be otherwise?

In any case, Santorum apparently does not know that President Kennedy gave that speech to a group of protestant ministers in Houston.  His purpose was to reassure them that he would indeed follow his own conscience as President and would not be influenced by the Vatican, which was exactly what those protestant ministers--then--wanted to hear.  How times have changed!

President Kennedy's speech is presented here.  After hearing, one might be reminded of another former Senator, Lloyd Bentsen.  In Bentsen's words, "Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy."  His opponent, Dan Quayle, responded by saying, "That was really uncalled for, Senator."  Bentsen responded, "You're the one that was making the comparison, Senator.

The whole speech is excellent--one can barely imagine a Rick Santorum occupying the office once held by this man--but for those who don't want to wait to the end, here's President Kennedy's closing argument:

“I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute, where no Catholic prelate would tell the president (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote; where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference; and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the president who might appoint him or the people who might elect him."

A wry note:  President Kennedy said he would not be influenced by the officialdom of his religion, and good for him, but that sure hasn't stopped that officialdom from trying to influence.

 

On Allen Fieldhouse as home court advantage

"It's so loud," said (Missouri guard Michael) Dixon, who scored 17 points for Missouri. "When they scored a basket, it felt like they scored 10 baskets."

Beware the Phog

The sound level at (Phog) Allen Fieldhouse hit 120.2 decibels today, roughly the sound of a 727 taking off.

Jayhawk surge nips Missouri in OT

Great players get it done at crunch-time.  Over the final eight minutes or so of regulation and overtime, Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor put the team on their back and KU gutted out a wrenching victory against Missouri.  The win gives the Jayhawks at least a tie for the Big 12 championship, their 8th straight.

MU went up 19 about four minutes into the second half, and I started thinking about playing with the cat, or maybe straightening out the sock drawer.  Then chipaway, chipaway, chipaway, and, before you know it, they're down only 3 with 3 minutes to play.  Robinson was a monster inside, and Tyshawn made the two biggest free throws of his life.