I'll give Bush one thing

His wife's new dog is kind of cute.

D+D questions from last night

The Questions
1. Does Deism make sense? Does religion need to make sense?
2. How does God connect with humanity?
3. Some people are claiming that America is becoming a “post-secular” nation, how can established religious authorities help with this transition from a private sacred sphere to a reintegrated public sphere of worship? Do you buy the premise? Or are we still secular or even pre-secular?
4. Can and should there be attempts to reconcile divergent faith traditions?
5. What is the reason for suffering? Is it “redemptive”?
6. How/can we reconcile Hebrew scripture with the Greek New Testament?
7. If God is good can God be God? If God is God can God be good?

We Lost

We lost. I’m not going to speculate how or why. We fought hard, we registered lots of voters, we did everything we could for Senator Kerry; it was, to quote President Bush, "hard work." For all our efforts Bush still won the Presidency, with the popular vote. The Republicans now control pretty much all branches of government with a mandate. We can expect the extinguishing stench of war, both on foreign countries and on the poor and middle class. We can expect the smoke and spew of environmental degradation and further dependence on foreign oil. We can expect the shadow of alienation from allies, and fiscal irresponsibility.
In short, this is a dark hour. Still, the flame of America is here; it still flickers within each of us as tiny beacons of hope in this cheerless sea that surrounds us. That’s right, it shines within each of us. Each time we stand up and speak our mind, each time we talk politics to a friend, each time we open a newspaper to become informed about issues, the light is there.
Look deep within yourself and find your core beliefs, and live them out each day of your life; become a democracy of one. For too long it has been the Republicans that have had a stranglehold on the idea of "local control" and "States rights." Well, we can do them one better, let us find self-control, and individual rights. If you have a heart for the homeless, work at a shelter, if you want to protect the environment find your State or national parks and volunteer there. If you are worried about Bush’s attack on the school system, take time out to read to a child. Start biking to keep carbon monoxide out of the air, and for the love of God if the Republicans want to attack Cuba, Syria, North Korea, or Iran and you are not so sure that’s a good idea get out in the streets and protest!
The light is not out friends; it is just a little dim. There is so much we can do between now and the next election cycle, that, if we intentionally and incessantly work for change, the cycles don’t matter, we do. Parties may make policy, but people make a nation, a signal fire of democracy lit from the individual torches of the hearts of many.

We LOST

We lost. I’m not going to speculate how or why. We fought hard, we registered lots of voters, we did everything we could for Senator Kerry; it was, to quote President Bush, "hard work." For all our efforts Bush still won the Presidency, with the popular vote. The Republicans now control pretty much all branches of government with a mandate. We can expect the extinguishing stench of war, both on foreign countries and on the poor and middle class. We can expect the smoke and spew of environmental degradation and further dependence on foreign oil. We can expect the shadow of alienation from allies, and fiscal irresponsibility.
In short, this is a dark hour. Still, the flame of America is here; it still flickers within each of us as tiny beacons of hope in this cheerless sea that surrounds us. That’s right, it shines within each of us. Each time we stand up and speak our mind, each time we talk politics to a friend, each time we open a newspaper to become informed about issues, the light is there.
Look deep within yourself and find your core beliefs, and live them out each day of your life; become a democracy of one. For too long it has been the Republicans that have had a
stranglehold on the idea of "local control" and "States rights." Well, we can do them one better, let us find self-control, and individual rights. If you have a heart for the homeless, work at a shelter, if you want to protect the environment find your State or national parks and volunteer there. If you are worried about Bush’s attack on the school system, take time out to read to a child. Start biking to keep carbon monoxide out of the air, and for the love of God if the Republicans want to attack Cuba, Syria, North Korea, or Iran and you are not so sure that’s a good idea get out in the streets and protest!
The light is not out friends; it is just a little dim. There is so much we can do between now and the next election cycle, that, if we intentionally and incessantly work for change, the cycles don’t matter, we do. Parties may make policy, but people make a nation, a signal fire of democracy lit from the individual torches of the hearts of many.

Arg

I'm confused. We turned out so many new voters who voted for Kerry. We united all the factional pieces of the Democratic Party behind the Johns. We spent so much money. We worked so hard. Yet it's the same junk from 2000, except Bush has the popular vote this time. We won Oregon, I did my part, but jeeze, if we don't win Ohio, I don't know what will happen, 4 more years I guess.
Kenya is looking very tempting. I'm going to be filling out my papers.
Peace, Good night, Pray for our country.
Chris

VOTE

One final Kerry Video before the election

Don't forget to VOTE!!!

Analasis of M+M video

Analasis of M+M video

Campaign of Fear

1 finger victory salute by Bush

BIG NEWS: Bush's team plans to cheat in election

"A secret document obtained from inside Bush campaign headquarters in Florida suggests a plan - possibly in violation of US law - to disrupt voting in the state's African-American voting districts, a BBC Newsnight investigation reveals."
Read it!

D+D Questions

The Questions
1. How important should Paul be to Christianity?
2. Outside of scripture what can we know about God? How?
3. How important is the environment in God’s eyes?
4. Does God select specific people out to do his will? If so are these people different from the rest of the populace?
5. What would you like the afterlife to be like (both heaven and hell)? What do you think they are actually like?
6. Is Pascal right, do all men seek happiness? If so what does that imply about man’s relation to God?

M+M goes anti-bush

It's an interesting video. Mind you KRS-One and the like have been doing it for years, but still, better late than never. Check it out.
Peace,
Chris

Last night

I hung out playing risk with Matt, Hatch, Daniel, and the Falks (Prof. and his wife) until 1 AM. It was good times. This morning I get to Cultural History of the Enlightenment, and we talk about the Sexual History of the Enlightenment. Interesting stuff. Various social contract theorists (all of them pretty much German) kept looking for the base connectedness of humans, ends up being sex, and therefor the thing that could tear appart society was Masterbation. That was because they figured semen was basicly excess brain/spinal fluid, and people that masterbated were more or less draining their reason out of themselves, thus threatening the very reasoned structure of society. Odd class, odd time period.
This leads into another thought. I think I know the real reason the Misouri synod exists, because germans are too patriarchal, and Scandinavians are too matriarchal for the two groups to mix. The ethos of Scandinavia is one of acceptance of everyone (that's why ELCA has open communion) and a motherly kind of love. The Misouri Synod is steeped in German patriachy, ridged. I don't know, I'll perhaps come back to the argument sometime.
Peace,
Chris