Rowan Williams and Sharia law

Check out the article I’ve linked to.
I’m not sure what to make of this from the article. From my experience in England I know the Sun is, well, the Sun, it is populist demagoguery at its best, so that they are now calling Archbishop Williams “arch enemy” doesn’t surprise me.
Here is the Sun’s perspective (http://www.thesun.co.uk/discussions/posts/list/Rowan_Williams_says__Islamic_Sharia_law_in_the_UK__~34~unavoidable~34~~46~_-54548.page)/ (http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article782629.ece)
Here is Archbishop Williams’ (http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/1581)
Not surprisingly Williams was taking about the whole phenomena in much more complex terms than the Sun wants its readers to believe. None the less the way in which the media can influence the Church, particularly in England, is interesting, as most folk in England are “Anglicans” and most actually equate being English with being Anglican. I guess what I’m trying to say is that state churches wear more than one hat, which I think hurts them.
Well, that was a rambling and round about post, but there you have it.
Peace,
Chris

And the Winner of tonights Obama/Clinton debate.....

The Democratic Party. They were nice to one another (as opposed to last night's gorefest in the Reagan library), they had differences, but they didn't go after one another on a personal level! Good for them!
Obama did well framing the argument as his judgement trumping her experience. He's running a much more post-partisan campaign than she is. His pro-government transparency views impressed at least one person I was watching with. Everyone was impressed by his "I don't want yes-men/women working for me, but people who will tell me when I'm wrong" answer.
They both had some good one-liners, Clinton, judging by the applause she received, may have got the best one in saying that it took a Clinton to clean up after Bush one it will take a Clinton to clean up after Bush two.
Peace,
Chris

Fundamentalist Unitarian Universalism

This last Sunday I attended a Unitarian Universalist church. The church building itself was rather large; it had a lot of stain glass windows, including one with Jesus and Mary at the front, as well as a cross over the window engraved in the stonework. It had the feel of an old school Congregationalist church. The liturgy was rather “normal” some songs then a reading (the reading was of Ralph Waldo Emerson, this was the first really big tipoff that the church was not simply some bland form of Christianity). The children’s message was about a panther than learned to walk in the sun like apes. Again nothing overly out of the ordinary. The basic thrust of the liturgy was that all faiths have beautiful aspects to them, that faith is important and strengthening, and if one scrapes off the nasty metaphors found in religious texts you end up with a vision of the transcendent, and it is the same transcendent no matter the faith.
Then the speaker came up to give his homily “Where the Giants Lead.” His basic point was that the founders of Unitarian Universalism were pretty radical, and they moved from denying the divinity of Christ to a belief that all faiths, properly understood, contain God. THEN he talked about going to a funeral at a predominantly African American church and feeling uncomfortable about singing about Jesus dying on the cross, but after a while he thought about how it was just a metaphor about how all people suffer, then he was able to sing it with gusto. Then he decided the thing that most Unitarian Universalists had lost since the Holocaust was a belief in salvation. He proclaimed that the world, all caught up in a war between Islam and Christianity, can only be saved by Unitarian Universalism. He believed the current “war on terror” is like the 30 years war between Protestants and Catholics, the result of which was religious tolerance between the two groups. Likewise he feels that after a long struggle between people of different faiths, along with the unstoppable jugernaught known as globalization, we will all look beyond our silly myths to the great transcendant truth, come to our senses, and worship together as Unitarian Universalists.
Wheew. So, the two main things that hit me were the difference between the rhetoric of liturgy and the rhetoric of word, and the utter Enlightenment era mentality of the whole thing. The liturgy was all about affirming the diversity of faith options, but the sermon was all about tearing down the silly myths by the violent other, that is people of specific faiths. Also the arrogant idea that everyone, if they really understood what they were talking about, is saying the same as “the enlightened few,” the Unitarian Universalists, smacks of ultra-uniformity, giving power over the other to “experts.” In essence I think if the speaker was very entrenched in a modernist viewpoint and a healthy dose of either pre-modern mythopoetics, or probably more helpfully post-modern philosophy, would have made him realize how he was pulling a total “Will to Power” trip.

A crowd in South Carolina shouting "Race doesn't matter!"

Its an interesting phenomina, that's all I'm saying. I think Obama might be trying to sell more than he can deliver, for example the idea that an Obama presidency would cleanse politics forever (my paraphrase) is a little audacious. Still, I think he's got something, and something more than just a charismatic glint in his eyes!
Peace,
Chris
PS I'll be posting on the Unitarian Universalist church I attended this morning today or tomorrow.

My first Youtube video!

Remember this script? Well here it is played out with a little help from my friends.

Peace,
Chris

I don't know what to make of these recent events in Gaza

Odd stuff.

Help Richardson get out of debt

Not quite as worthy as Free rice, but you know.

Freerice.com!

Check it out, a cool site, on the one hand you learn vocab, on the other you're helping people!
Peace,
Chris

And the Winner of tonights Obama/Clinton debate.....

Was Edwards.
Seriously as the other two candidates pounded one another he just chilled out, talked about his policy, smiled some, showed off his hair. You know.
Peace,
Chris

Back from DC/Obama preaches

Well I spent the MLK weekend in DC with a few friends. We wandered around the Mall. I was impressed, being able to see all the sites that are so familiar and ingrained in the mind of America is awe inspiring. At the same time when I looked over at the Capital building and peeked at the White House I did think, "Man, people are spending millions of dollars and careers are centered around getting people here!" (Perhaps that is what Judah was trying to say with Psalm 146)
We also went to the Native American Museum, that was rather somber. The Zoo was fun, though a little cold.
We went to two churches on Sunday. Augustana ELCA, a really pretty building, fairly full, a traditional service, and packed with choir-people. Then we went to Shilo Baptist. It was very upscale (the ushers wore white gloves and seated you) and the pastor sang (whooped) his sermon. The pastor is also president of Palmer Seminary.

The link to the top is to Barack Obama's sermon for MLK day.
Peace,
Chris

Obama's response about Darfur

Dear Friend,

Thank you for contacting me about the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. This ongoing tragedy must be halted, and I have worked hard in pursuit of this goal. Since joining the Senate, I have pushed for a robust international force with a strong U.N. mandate and worked to gain more funding for the beleaguered African Union peacekeepers. I have also lobbied diplomats and top U.S. and foreign government officials, including President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, to treat this humanitarian crisis with the urgency it demands.

The President's actions have not matched his passionate words on this issue. Sporadic U.S. diplomatic engagement will only reinforce the Khartoum government's perception that the U.S. is unwilling to take tough action to halt the genocide, and delay the arrival of U.N. forces. Tough sanctions and holding perpetrators of genocide accountable for their actions are essential to stopping the genocide.

It is time for the Administration and the international community to take long-overdue steps to ensure the immediate and unconditional deployment of a robust international force with a clear mandate to protect civilians and stop the slaughter. I will continue to work toward this goal and to speak out on this issue.

Thank you again for contacting me.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama

Helicopters for Darfur

So please sign this petition, at this point peacekeepers are being attacked, if they had helicopters this would be less likely to happen, as they would know what is coming at them.
Peace,
Chris

Hu, Anselm... I was kinda hoping for Luther or Augustine or Schweitzer

Which theologian are you? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Anselm Anselm is the outstanding theologian of the medieval period.He sees man's primary problem as having failed to render unto God what we owe him, so God becomes man in Christ and gives God what he is due. You should read 'Cur Deus Homo?' Anselm 73% John Calvin 60% Jürgen Moltmann 60% Martin Luther 53% Karl Barth 53% Paul Tillich 40% Augustine 40% Friedrich Schleiermacher 33% Charles Finney 27% Jonathan Edwards 13%

Clinton continues to bring up the Coke

Modern Republicans summed up!