progressive involvement

When seminary professors rant

"In its August assembly in Minneapolis, going by the definition set down in Augustana VII, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America effectively declared that it is no longer a church," so begins the rant of James Nestingen, retired seminary professor at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN.

For those uninitiated in the arcane world of Lutheran symbolics, "Augustana VII" refers to the seventh article of the Augsburg Confession, which states, "The Church is the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered."  (For a critique of Nestingen's interpretation of Augustana VII, see remarks here.)

Somehow, by allowing homosexual pastors in monogamous relationships to be pastors, the ELCA "has redefined the Word of God," says Nestingen.  (That is, they have taken a position with which he disagrees.)  This was brought on by the alleged "elitists"--generally, the leaders of the ELCA and the theologians--who are "superior, either intellectually or politically" and have used their intellectual wiles to hijack the Bible.  Here he goes:

Lectionary blogging: Mark 10: 2-16

Some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?’ ³He answered them, ‘What did Moses command you?’ ⁴They said, ‘Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.’ ⁵But Jesus said to them, ‘Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. ⁶But from the beginning of creation, “God made them male and female.” ⁷“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, ⁸and the two shall become one flesh.” So they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.’

Economics and politics of the public option, in a nutshell

Ezra Klein:  Liberals...think the market will, well, work: The public option will provide better service at better prices and people will choose it. Or, conversely, that the competition will better the private insurance industry and that people won't need to choose it.

But that confidence rests on a very simple premise: The public sector does a better job providing health-care coverage than the private sector. If that proves untrue -- and I would imagine most every conservative would confidently assume that that's untrue -- the plan will fail. The public option will not provide better coverage at better prices, and so it will not be chosen, and it will languish. Indeed, if it languishes, it will lack customers and thus lack bargaining power and economies of scale, and get worse even as the private insurers get better. In that scenario, the public option not only fails, but it discredits single-payer entirely.

The liberals are willing to bet that they're right. It's not a sneaky strategy: It's an up-front wager. The conservatives are not, however, willing to bet that they're wrong. They're willing to say the public option will fail, but not give consumers the chance to decide that for themselves.

15.1%

The number of children living in poverty in Colorado, up from 11.3% in 2000.

Policies have consequences.  During the previous administration, any policy which benefited the already wealthy received support.  Policies that didn't, did not.

What is the result?  The greatest gap between the wealthy and the poor since the "gilded age" over 100 years ago.  The top 10% have more economic power than the other 90% combined.

Operate from the premise that the rich don't have enough money, and the poor have too much, and more children living in poverty is the inevitable result.

Strike while the iron is hot

Sarah Palin spent most of the month of August in San Diego working with Lynn Vincent, her ghost-writer, to write the book which will appear on shelves in November.  Vincent is connected with the evangelical magazine, World, and has ghost-written several other books.

The publication date has been moved up, partly, one suspects, in an effort to trade on Palin's current notoriety.  By spring, she would have been out of office for a year and her book less marketable. 

The title of the book, Going Rogue, is a reference to a remark made by a McCain staffer, during the campaign, that Palin had "gone rogue," meaning that she was doing whatever seemed to come into her head and took no direction from the McCain presidential campaign.  It wasn't a compliment.

The book comes in at 400 pages.  It undoubtedly will cover her whole life to this point.  You might possibly be able to discuss two years as Governor and one vice-presidential campaign in 400 pages, but the result would not be very readable.

The book will no doubt make a fair-sized chunk of change.  The right has a solid market of book-buyers, and they are quite good at manipulating best-seller lists.  The national media will look at the sales and take the book seriously, which will generate more reviews and help raise Palin's stature--and lecture fees.

Unless they happen to be gay

Rev. Paull Spring is the chairperson of Lutheran CORE (Coalition for Renewal), which is the lead group protesting the ELCA's decision allow homosexuals in monogamous relationships to be on the clergy roster.  Says he, "Lutheran CORE will be a free-standing synod for all faithful Lutherans."

Lame metaphor watch

"But our nation will continue to limp until we remove the bee stinger of expensive foreign wars from the paw of our nation. "  Rep. Jared Polis

Move over Milwaukee

Our home state brewers took the most medals in the Great American Beer Festival held this weekend in Denver.  Colorado breweries took home 45 medals, besting California's 39.  Oregon was third with 22.  Aurora's own Dry Dock won the prize for top mid-size brewing company.  It's good to see that Glenwood Canyon's excellent Cardiff won in the "other strong beer" category.

Jayhawks rumble

In recent days, the University of Kansas has been rocked with a couple of brawls between the football team and the basketball team.  Brady McCullough of the Kansas City Star says the rivalry has been on-going for years, but has not erupted into a full-fledged melee until Tuesday and Wednesday.  

McCullough called it a "turf war."  It was also, apparently, about machismo.  As one player said, “It’s about who’s more popular on campus with the girls and stuff like that."  In other words, it's over the two oldest reasons in the books. 

Jason Whitlock attributes part of it to the influence of gangsta rap.  Stephen Montemayor, writing in the Daily Kansan, says the brawls are a "stain that will not soon fade."  Kansas became a "punch line," a "laughing stock," and "something is seriously wrong."  Kansas athletic director, Lew Perkins, is "embarrassed and very hurt."

All of that may be true.  But I'm guessing that until very recent years, the Kansas football team wouldn't have had the chops to challenge the basketball team.  The football team was a perennial Big Twelve tail-ender while the basketball team contended for national titles.

Now, however, the Kansas football team (4-0) is feeling its oats.  They think they have equal stature.  They can contend with the basketball team without looking like fools.  As a theological pacifist myself, I'm against all brawls.  That said, I just hope nobody got hurt in a way that affects their game. 

Historic treasure found

Some guy with a metal detector has found one of the greatest treasures ever uncovered--a trove of treasure from the 7th century with over 1500 pieces of gold and silver.  The find in an English farmer's field appears not to be connected with any ceremonial burial.  No building remains were found in the area, and the find appears not to contain any womens' jewelry.  All this indicates that the treasure is likely war booty.  NY Times article is here.  A slideshow presentation is here.

The treasure will undoubtedly shed new light on the so-called "dark ages."  Conventional wisdom has it that the downfall of Rome was such an utter catastrophe for northern Europe that society there descended into a long economic and cultural depression. 

It is true that no monumental Roman-style architecture was built in this period, but that could have been because, being practical people, the northern Europeans felt no need for it.  On the other hand, other finds have shown that trade continued during the "dark ages."  A statue of Buddha has been found in Denmark!  Even at a glance, the trove uncovered in England shows some fine and intricate metalwork.