commercialization of the church

Greg posted his interview with a British paper on mega churches, and I think he explains some particular problems with the modern church very well.

the parish: Interview, Part One:

"A megachurch worship event is a very sterile thing. Worship is supposed to shape us into a particular kind of people. If I go to receive a blessing or an event that is tailored to my felt needs and I'm never required to minister to my fellow parishioners, what kind of person am I being shaped to be? A narcissist? A consumer?"

and from part 2

"I would hazard a guess that no megachurch in the U.S. has ever critiqued capitalism through the lens of the Hebrew prophets. No mega has asked where the ridiculous trinkets we buy in so-called Christian bookstores come from. No thought is given to global policies that might cast us in a negative light. Oppression of developing nations? Environmental concerns? These aren’t issues in megas because the focus isn’t really on helping God with the redemption of the world; the focus is on a truncated soteriology and then allowing me to believe that I’m okay just the way I am, even if just the way I am relies on oppression, exploitation, or political expediency."

State of the what now?

My friend CIL has a funny quirk. (Well, more than one.) He is such a diehard Cowboy fan and 49er hater that he denies that Dwight Clark ever existed and certainly that he made some "catch" in an NFC championship. As a Notre Dame alum, he knows that Joe Montana was a good Irish qb, but is still amazed that he had such a short pro career in Kansas City....

I am thinking of trying this denial bit myslf. It seems to work for CIL (assuming by "work" I don't mean "sane") :) So, back to the state of the union. My schedule is a bit rough this semester, but man am I glad that I am busy Tuesday evening. So glad. I am not sure I can stand more references to 9-11, terrorism, awkward defenses of evesdropping (because he is the Prez) and those weird nods to people standing that later the President will respond, "Chalabi? Who?"

Walking into class, I put on a playlist of stuff I am putting together for my 18 yr old neice. It works for me. We shall see what she thinks. I am planning three cds: one on old stuff (80s old that she may not have heard)--Neil Young, REM, Pete Townshend and Peter Gabriel (she is a big Springsteen fan and I think also aware of U2's work); one on alt-country (Ryan Adams, Steve Earle, Patty Griffin, etc); and then this one I call "new" for lack of a better word:

Arcade Fire: Rebellion and Wake Up
Gemma Hayes: My God and Happy Sad
Kathleen Edwards: Copied Keys
Sufjan Stevens: John Wayne Gacy Jr.
Spoon: Sister Jack and I summon You
Shins: New Slang
Wilco: Heavy Metal Drummer and Shot in the Arm
Josh Rouse: Its the Nighttime

Music is our only hope

Tivoed Austin City Limits last night, and watched it tonight. It was a real joy to watch Ryan Adams and Tift Merritt. Those who don't like Ryan Adams--well I get it. The guy is an ass. But as my guitar teacher put it--trust the art, not the artist.

And there he was. Hair looked like shit. But that voice. And those songs.

The second half was Tift, and we have seen her a couple times at the ACL festival. Her live show (the first one) was electric. Her second festival show was ok, but it was one of the early ones--12:30 or so on a Saturday. Hard to have great energy then. We have one of her albums. But her studio stuff is just kind of sterile. Boring. Just doesn't capture it.

Her ACL show really captured why we liked her first show. Great stuff.

And both really reminded us why we love music and especially why we love music that no one plays in Oklahoma City.

A nice way to spend Friday night.

White evangelicals and Bush

ChristianityToday reports that some of the Evangelical support for Bush is softening a bit. They also suggest that they care only about the war and the courts.

Then this:

"In the end, Bush may regain rock-solid footing among evangelicals courtesy of his political enemies. When politicians and pundits attack Bush, many evangelical supporters reflexively back the man they put into the White House. Pollster Green says, 'In their current mood, evangelicals think: I like Bush, until his enemies attack him, then I really like him.'

David Frum, a former Bush speechwriter, wrote recently in the National Review that the President 'has been politically protected by the faith of millions of .... religious conservatives that he is 'a good Christian man.' '"

This is where I part company. It is one thing to look to Bush for your political goals. Politics makes for strange bedfellows. We end up supporting people that we find annoying (or worse) because they can give us something politically.

But evangelicals think that Bush is a good Christian man. Evesdropping--wmd-oops--outing a CIA agent and promising to fire anyone responsible--Katrina and playing the guitar while New Orleans drowned--all of that seems to not matter. "Good Christian man?"

How low can that bar get?

More.....

Well, isn't this just a kick in the butt?

Very interesting.

We are spreading democracy to fight terrorism. Yet we have a population democratically choosing to elect what a group we see as a terrorist organization.


*********

Having a discussion with a friend about Ben Roethlisberger. Can't doubt that the man can play football, but he is also one of those athletes who likes to connect his athletic success to his religious faith. Paraphrasing here, but he once said that only God could have transformed him from a bench player to a starter.

I am suggesting to my friend that this is just one of the many examples where we see the trivializing of faith.

He says it is just Ben being grateful to God for his talent. I say that it is, not only trivializing, but also false humility. "Look at me. I am so good that only God could have given me this talent."

Well, I found my ire

Yeah, it is never far off. All I have to do is read the news. Well, this edition of Streak's ire is for those who still think Bush is a Christian--with all the assumed morality and character that accompanies that. Over at the Talking Points Memo, Josh is discussing how a Bush-Cheney supporter who runs the company that does the pictures for White House appearances has pulled pictures featuring Bush and Abramoff. They are also deleted from their cds.

See, my little voice tells me that cagey politicos like Karl Rove could have spun the Abramoff thing and just turned things on him. They could have said, "this is a damn shame, a damn shame. Yes we know Jack Abramoff and expected far better from him. Of course we know him, but he never got special treatment from us. He was just a good fundraiser." Except that probably isn't true. I bet he did get special treatment. Hence the Orwellian attempt to delete reality.

******

Speaking of the rat. Karl Rove has said some very unkind things about Democrats lately.

Media Matters -
Media uncritically reported Rove's false claim that Democrats don't want to eavesdrop on Al Qaeda: "Let me be as clear as I can: President Bush believes if Al Qaeda is calling somebody in America, it is in our national security interest to know who they're calling and why. Some important Democrats clearly disagree."

This is actually more than unkind. It is a blatant and slanderous lie. Democrats don't want terrorists attacking any more than Republicans, and the scenario Rat Boy just outlined is absolutely no problem for me or most Democrats. If you get a warrant. See, we just believe that we need some form of checks and balances to make sure that our President is not abusing his office and his power. I wonder why Karl wants no such check.

*******

Third item. Recent documents have revealed that even Michael Brown's inept FEMA actually warned the White House that a leve 4 hurricane or higher would breach the levees, and that flooding and mass damage would ensue. Before, the hurricane. So, when our Christian President said afterwards that no one could have predicted the levees failing, he was, how do you put it, lying.

Now, his administration is stonewalling congressional efforts to investigate the response to Katrina--withholding documents and witnesses. Any guesses on how quick they would be to cooperate if those documents showed the President acting with competence?

It is bad enough these people are incompetent. But they are also untruthful and perfectly willing to slander their opponents. I think Samuel Johnson said that "Patriotism is the last refuge of Scoundrels." He surely was thinking of people like this.

Jon Swift reviews history book

This is just too funny. The author doesn't appreciate Mr Swift's critique.

New cooking triumph

Chicken parmesan. Not bad at all. Used organic and free-range chicken. Mix of cheeses.

Got to use the meat hammer again.

Bush and Abramoff

TIME.com has a new article on the photos. To be very clear, the initial evidence is of the kind of photo-ops that politicians do very often, and Bush could have done these and not known Abramoff from, well, me.

But I don't think so. Abramoff enjoyed a tremendous amount of access for one big reason. He was a rainmaker--he brought in money. And lots of it.

Anyway, we shall see.

Cooking

I have become a bit of a foody. Or at least, that is what some people call me.

I like to cook. It relaxes me. Part of why I get annoyed at simplistic gender stereotypes. Speaking of that, I played golf with two other guys last week. Or the week before, I forget.

Anyway, we are on the 5th or 6th tee and my two playing partners are trying to figure out who has the biggest driver. I wondered if we were going to have a juvenile conversation about breasts and such. My friends laughed and asked what was wrong with that?

Well, it was just a big tease. There was to be no juvenile discussion--certainly about breasts. Two holes later, the same trio was caught up discussing the proper cooking methods for home-made pizza.

There go your gender stereotypes. Three guys playing golf--talking about cooking rather than girls or cars.

So, back to cooking. SOF gave me a mixer last year, and this year a food processor. I have been experiementing with making my own pizza crust. So far, so good. My latest creation was to recreate what a local pizzeria called a calzone, but others might call a filled pizza. Two crusts and plenty of traditional toppings in the middle. I like sausage and chopped pepperoni.

Anyway, this is starting to be one of my favorites. The last time, I used kalamata olives and I think those were a little salty--but other than that great.

One other thing I am considering is to use a pizza screen. My thought is that the screen might allow for a crispier crust, and might really help with the filled crust. Any one have experience with these?

*****

My next experimentation is making pork braciole--rolled pork cutlets with a bread crumb, parmesan and parseley filling. I read about it online and gave it a try. It has been a good dish, but I think I have a ways to go. The filling is good, and after the rolls are browned, they braise for a couple of hours in a red sauce.

First, this is my first time for really flattening cuts of meat. When I went to buy the tenderizer, I was going to be funny and ask for a "meat hammer." As it turns out, that is exactly what it is called! But I am not sure I am using it right. I think I might need to cue up a Bush speech while I am hammering away so I can really get it thin. But I am a bit afraid of really hammering on our counter tops. Am thinking that next time i will move my process to the floor on chopping boards so I can really swing away.

Anyway, I am open to any and all suggestions.

Pro-war Evangelicals

CIL suggested that the angry and jaded Streak had never left. Well, I hope to post some on my latest cooking efforts, but need to address a couple of things that make me angry. This one is really a common refraint by the angry Streak, Evangelicals who seem to think that Jesus was pro-war and anti-peace. Zalm points us to a great NY Times column, where we hear that some 68% of white evangelicals supported the war. The author, Charles Marsh, makes several great points, but this sentence summed up (for me) the essential problem for evangelicals:

"The single common theme among the war sermons appeared to be this: our president is a real brother in Christ, and because he has discerned that God's will is for our nation to be at war against Iraq, we shall gloriously comply."

Just chilling. That kind of mindless following is what leads to monumental disasters.

******

Speaking of Republican problems. I read yesterday that Karl Rove has come out saying that the GOP will use terrorism in the 2006 election. Well, sure. We should expect that people willing to politicize 9-11 will do whatever it takes. Rove went on to say that Democrats (though he was careful to say we weren't unpatriotic) are stuck in a pre-911 world, while Republicans are beyond that.

I think he is right. I think Democrats live in a world where our constitution still matters--where warrantless searches are still a bad thing.

I am considering a new possible bumper sticker or email signature. "Would you support unwarranted searches from President Hilary Clinton?"

******

The Abramoff scandal is still percolating. Republicans keep trying to paint this as a bi-partisan scandal even though the only politicians under investigation are Republican. One of the more interesting tidbits is the potential connection to Bush himself. At the very beginning, McClellan said that Bush didn't know him. Of course, Bush also said he didn't know Chalabi, remember that?

Well, we shall see. One Washington mag is reporting having seen pictures with Bush and Abramoff together--and also saying that Abramoff will testify that Bush new him well enough to ask about his kids and wife by name.

This might really cause Bush problems. Of course, given the first note in this post, those who believe that God elected Bush won't care. Evidently if God is behind your candidate, they can even break the law.

Sheesh.

Yeah, now I am pissed

The jaded and angry Streak is back. For now.

I turn on the MSNBC tonight and see some blonde woman hosting the Abram report. Or something like that. I have two major annoyances after watching this show.

She had two lawyers on arguing about evesdropping. The pro-Bush guy just kept saying that the President was the Constitutionally appointed and elected official to determine Constitutionally issues. And especially during wartime. Hey, the country gets to kill people during wartime too, so (as the gov lawyer said) it was hardly a stretch that the Prez could authorize evesdropping.

At least the opposition guy was decent. He said that the President couldn't both pitch and call balls and strikes. I thought that was apt. If only I had a smidgeon of faith that the people defending Bush would have tolerated Clinton saying "Hey, we're at war. I get to do whatever I want while we are at war?" If a conservative defender can tell me that he/she wouldn't mind a President Hillary saying that, I will believe them. Otherwise, I have to call bullshit on that.

Now about the second annoyance. Blondie (and I had never seen her) ended each segment by saying "there is right on each side." How wonderful for us all? A lawyer can say that the President has unfettered powers and all the host can say is that each side is equally right. That is the worst legacy of the Bush administration (besides the destruction to the evangelical credibility)--that we have the constant argument that every critic of Bush has a completely credible counter-argument. Good god.

Isn't it amazing? Shouldn't we be arguing that saying it is up is just a counter argument to saying it is down. Night? Day is just as credible.

No wonder intelligent design has a foothold.

Jaded Streak returns

I will have more fun posts. But this morning, just a little cynical and jaded.

this is how conservative christian approach to public policy looks to me:

on voting for christians: "of course christians should make better politicians. reading the bible and listening to god has to make them better." Presented with evidence that not only has Bush not acted Christ like, but the biggest participants in corrupt policies happen to be the loudest thumpers. "Hmm. That shouldn't be. I will still vote for them." Other Christians, they are asked? "No, the same ones. Tom Delay says that God is directing his path. Who am I to question that?"

Tax policy: "Ronny and George have assured me that cutting taxes will reduce the deficit and be better for everyone." The deficit grows as does poverty and the uninsured. "Hmm. That shouldn't be. We should make the tax cuts permanent." Even though most of that money goes to the rich? "God loves rich people, and it is more important that I be comfortable than we address poverty."

speaking of the poor, policy on poverty: "well, god obviously doesn't want high taxes or welfare. I am not poor because I work hard. Therefore no one has to be poor. There just shouldn't be poor people. We will feed some of those who are hungry, but that is it. For the rest, they are on their own."

death penalty: "It is in the bible--an eye for an eye." confronted with evidence that the system not only is flawed with regards to guilt or innocence, but clearly on the basis of class and race. "Hmm. It is in the bible. And we are certainly executing guilty people too. We should just keep going."

pregnancy: "abstinence is the best policy. It shall be our only policy. " Confronted with evidence that abstinence only programs not only don't help, they actually endanger kids who have sex because they have no clue how to protect themselves. "Hmm. Abstinence is the best policy. We will continue that policy."

evolution: "God created the world in 7 days. Period." Evolutionary evidence grows. Flu virus jumps cross species every year, and the documentation for cross-species evolution just continues to mount. "Nope. It says right here that God created the world in 7 days. No mention of monkeys. This shall be our policy."

gays. "God said it is an abomination, and everyone agrees that it is a choice. our policy on gays is that they shouldn't be gay. Period."

blogging doldrums

The semester has begun, so my energy level is a bit stretched. I have this tendency to blog the negatives--like a recent discussion with someone (on another blog) over the Pledge of Allegiance. As if God really cares if barely awake school children utter a mindless "under God" or not. My God doesn't care. I don't know about your's.

______


Back to more interesting and fun music. SOF and I rented the DVD of Steve Earle's ACL performance from the 80s (1986, I think). What fun! Hilarious to see one of my favorite artists in completely different form. Thin, long-flowing hair, and a very twangy voice. After watching it, we pulled out the DVD for Transcendental Blues. Very different and older Steve Earle. Both very good and both worth watching.

______


Guilty pleasure confession. One of my Colorado friends has an entire playlist she calls "guilty pleasures." Recently, while scanning my Itunes, she noted that I didn't seem to have any. Well, as SOF took great glee in noticing, I recently was caught playing Kelly Clarkson's "Since u been gone." Yeah, it is true. American Idol is ridiculous and annoying, but Kelly can sing "her ass off," and that song, while poppy and light, is a good one.

Bucky the Badger bailed me out by pointing me to a cover by Ted Leo (of Ted Leo and the Pharmacists) that is not only a good cover, but also kind of funny. It may not be as great of a cover as the Gourds doing Snoop Dog's "Gin and Juice" (which is amazing and hilarious all at once), but it is a good one.

Hah. I am sure I am not the only one with some guilty pleasures in my list. To paraphrase an annoying commercial, "So what's in your Itunes?"

Some new music

Tired of putting together syllabi and lectures, I am concentrating on music for a break. I am trying to expand my music collection a little at a time. Listening some samplers and other sources (friends like Bucky, for example) and have started listening to some people like Josh Rouse ("It's the nighttime" from Nashville), Badly Drawn Boy, The Doves, and Spoon. During SNL last week, SOF and I thought Death Cab for Cutie sounded like a Keen knock-off. Of course, I thought Keen sounded like a Coldplay knock-off, but oddly enough Death Cab does not sound at all like Coldplay at all (to me). :)

Anyone heard Maria Taylor? I have only the one song "song beneath the song" but am impressed. Likewise with Rocky Votolato (almost for his name alone). Sia is another one that Six Feet Under fans may recognize. I am quite impressed with the song I have from The New Pornographers. I had heard about them and heard some of Neko Case's solo stuff, but this was my first of theirs. And finally, I may be coming around to Iron and Wine's collaboration with Calexico. Listening to "history of lovers" has made me reconsider my first reaction. Likewise with the Decemberists. I have only one song from these last groups or people, so am open to any suggestsions whether their entire album is worth buying.

Updating my links

This has only taken me six months or so to do, but I finally updated my link list of favorite blogs. I added (belatedly) a few really good bloggers and all around insightful people like Kevin, Nicole, Adam, and Zalm. All are bloggers who pop in on occasion and add some nice insight to Streak's little world.

And, I recently found a new blog while surfing over at Carlos's Jesus Politics. Part Steven Colbert and part something else, Jon Swift challenged me to post a link to his blog, even though he fears the left-leaning nature of this blog might do further harm to America. Anyway, take a look. Although this take on the NY Times story on body armor is good, ("Of course, no one could have predicted that the war would last more than a few weeks so the idea that the Pentagon should pay for a lot of expensive armor and humvees that might never be needed is absurd.") my favorite right now is his list of Bush accomplishments for 2005.

February 2 – Bush gives a State of the Union message completely devoid of false information based on bad intelligence. The speech is interrupted by applause 66 times, and he gets 44 standing ovations.

March 20 – President Bush cuts off his vacation and rushes from Crawford, Texas, to Washington to save the life of Terry Schiavo, proving that defending life is even more important to him than personal leisure activities. Despite the President’s efforts and Dr. Bill Frist’s upbeat diagnosis, Schiavo dies 11 days later.

What about them Broncos?

Last night SOF and I watched the Denver Broncos stumble through a victory over the defending Superbowl champs. We have been Bronco fans for years. SOF used to go to games with her dad. We remember the dark years--the blowout Superbowl losses. But we also remember the magic. The diving first down in the SB against Green Bay. The playoff comeback against Cleveland (of course), but also a dramatic drive against Houston (the Oilers). We were living in Houston at the time, and I remember taking off my Denver sweatshirt when I made a pizza run.

Speaking of Houston, I remember SOF and I scoring tickets to see Denver play the Oilers. This was during the Run n' Shoot days and Houston was pretty good in the regular season. We sat in the upper levels and watched as the Oilers jumped out on top and the game was essentially over. Our row included another couple--him a little on the drunk side. I kept an eye on him and tried to keep our team loyalties quiet. No need to push it. But SOF was harder to control. :) Toward the end of the game, Elway tossed a long (meaningless) TD pass and she jumped up yelling. Drunk guy glared at her, then at me. Heh.

Well, Elway is selling cars (or whatever) now. So it has been a little lean. As we heard (ad nauseum) the Broncos had not won a playoff game without Elway--until last night. SOF actually got into the game as well--something she has avoided during the Brian Griese years, and she has not been sold on Jake Plummer--beard and all. But last night she was into the game. It was fun. My mom called when Champ Bailey nearly returned that INT 103 yards. That was fun too. CIL and I chatted during the game--mocking the idiotic Dodge hemi and Burger King commercials. All fun.

On with the playoffs.

This just in: Republicans are corrupt and even Republicans admit

Some anyway. Now if the voters will either demand good government or vote for it, we might have a chance.

JC Watts, my former representative, had this to say last fall:

KnoxNews | No Silence Here: "I was part of that wild and crazy Class of '94 that shook the political landscape by taking over the House after more than 50 years of unfettered Democrat control. We came to Washington full of ideals and conviction. But sadly, what they say about absolute power is coming to reality in the 2005 GOP Washington. Republicans in just 10 years have developed the arrogance it took the Democrats 30 years to develop.'"

Now this one is admitting the same thing:

USATODAY.com - In Congress, 'we simply have too much power': "We simply have too much power,' says Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., speaking of lawmakers' ability to target tax dollars for particular projects, contractors or campaign donors. 'We Republicans have abused that power badly over the past several years.'"

and from George Will:

For the House GOP, A Belated Evolution: "Until the Bush administration, with its incontinent spending, unleashed an especially conscienceless Republican control of both political branches, conservatives pretended to believe in limited government. The past five years, during which the number of registered lobbyists more than doubled, have proved that, for some Republicans, conservative virtue was merely the absence of opportunity for vice."

Update on Robertson: Israel tells him to shove it

Chicago Tribune | Israel: We won't talk to Robertson: "JERUSALEM --

Israel said Wednesday that it was breaking off negotiations on a tourism project with evangelical leader Pat Robertson in response to his remarks suggesting that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke was divine retribution. 'We cannot accept these statements and we will not sign any contracts with Mr. Robertson,' said Ido Hartuv, a spokesman for the Tourism Ministry."

I can't figure this guy out

I have written of my frustration with Warren and his ilk before. Though I may have his "ilk" confused. Here he addresses the linking of politics and religion:

"Warren is a friend of President Bush and a repeat visitor to the White House. But he also met for several hours at Saddleback last month with Sen. John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, to discuss issues such as poverty and the environment.

'I'm worried that evangelicals be identified too much with one party or the other. When that happens, you lose your prophetic role of speaking truth to power,' Warren said. 'And you have to defend stupid things that leaders do.'"

And that is exactly where most evangelicals are. Defending stupid, immoral or even illegal actions by Delay, Bush, Rove et. al. Not only is it a problem, but it robs evangelicals of any credibility. After all, anyone who defended Delay can hardly be trusted to really address Christ-like behavior, can they? Unless Christ was nicknamed "the Hammer" and took pleasure in destroying his critics.

Warren is clearly a little taken with himself. He likes being a celebrity and power broker. Yet he intrigues me.