Crisis of Faith

I keep trying to answer SOF's question of why the religious right makes me question my own faith. I don't have a good answer yet, but this entire budget mess has pushed me closer to something. I think my problem is with trying to reconcile these budget cuts for the poor while helping the rich--I am trying to reconcile those actions with the faith of my youth--where I learned about the Bible and morality. And I can't do it.

So if those who most often talk about their relationship with God can support these kinds of policies, what does that say about God? What does that say about an entire way of understanding God?

Because if Christian morality is not offended by attacks on the poor, support for torture, and the almost mindless defense of the rich and powerful--is there even such a thing as Christian morality? And if not, then what is all of this about?

Where the Christian right have taken us

SOF and I had a conversation about the idea of fasting. And that very next day, the Monk posted the very verse she had mentioned, from Isaiah 58:

2 Yet day after day they seek me and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments, they delight to draw near to God.
3 "Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?" Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers.
4 Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist. Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high.
5 Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself? Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush, and to lie in sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?"

I honestly don't know what to make of these wisdom texts. I don't know that they come directly from God, only that they have stood some test of time. But I also know that many who wear that book on their sleeve and use it to attack my gay friends and stand firm on abortion--I have my doubts that they have actually read this. Or that it matters to them.

Today (or yesterday) our governor declared a day of oilfield prayer. Or something like that. I don't have a problem with that--as far as it goes, but she noted that there was no prayer for the 5000 + kids with severe developmental disabilities who wait for some kind of assistance. All, of course, in a state that wears that bible on its sleeve, of course. But our Governor brags about cutting taxes on the rich, and cutting services for the poor. She is a Republican. That is what they do.

But tell me that is not oppressing our workers and defending the rich and powerful. Show me, someone, how that represents the message of Christ. Seriously. Show me where we are called to help the comfortable and well-heeled?

Today, I found a challenging post from an unlikely source. Mark Bittman is one of my favorite food authors--and I use his cookbooks often. Today, he notes why he is fasting to protest the cuts in spending for the poor. To be very clear, I don't know that his use of the word fast is any better than others. But he notes the central outrage of our time:

This isn’t about skepticism, however; it’s about ironies and outrages. In 2010, corporate profits grew at their fastest rate since 1950, and we set records in the number of Americans on food stamps. The richest 400 Americans have more wealth than half of all American households combined, the effective tax rate on the nation’s richest people has fallen by about half in the last 20 years, and General Electric paid zero dollars in U.S. taxes on profits of more than $14 billion. Meanwhile, roughly 45 million Americans spend a third of their posttax income on food — and still run out monthly — and one in four kids goes to bed hungry at least some of the time.

And Republicans cut funding for child nutrition, immunization programs, and assistance for the disabled. All to accomplish exactly nothing for the deficit, actually, but much to punish the weak and vulnerable, while defending the rich and the powerful.

All of this does not make me look at evangelical Christianity with anything other than confusion. How people who read the Bible can look at all of this and still vote Republican is beyond me.

GOP Rep: I'm 'Struggling' On My $174K Salary

An interesting clip from a Wisconsin town hall meeting where a freshman Republican says that he is struggling with his 176k salary, while the bus driver in the audience is talking about his wife having to take a second job. But the Congressman still wants Wisconsin public employees to take more of a pay cut.

Reminds me of that line from last month. 3% increase in taxes on the rich is socialism, while asking the working class to take a 14% pay cut is called "doing your part."

This sucks.

The GOP's war on the middle class

I know this is from the Alternet, but still a pretty good look at how Republicans plan to improve the economy by lowering middle and working class wages more. This on top of the news that GE paid no corporate taxes and actually got a tax deduction (paid negative taxes) is just more evidence that Republicans only care about those with power and wealth. The worker and the middle class are just drones to sell stuff to, and to hire for minimum wage (until they can get rid of that too) jobs.

That entire GE thing is amazing, especially since we are told that corporations are not hiring because their taxes are so high. Turns out that during a year that GE paid negative taxes, they also laid off a bunch of American workers. Maybe that isn't the issue at all.

This hoser took my idea

But it is still a great idea. Tomasky and his crew suggest that we provide each tax payer an itemized receipt showing where their money goes.

The numbers show what you and I know but 97% of Americans don't. Their "Jane Q. Taxpayer" earned $50,000 and paid $6,883 in income and Social Security and Medicare taxes. Her bill breaks down like this (I'm not listing every category, just some interesting ones):
1. Defense $1,375.40
2. Social Security $1,334.78
3. Medicare $845.70
4. Low-income assistance $617.16
6. Interest payments $433.11
13. Environmental protection/natural resources $72.26
19. Foreign aid $42.81
30. Arts and culture $4.92

Imagine. Many of us pay less than the cost of a six pack or a very cheap lunch for arts and culture.

Streak update

Still not sure where we are with Streak. He isn't eating well, and the vet is still puzzled about that. We are going back on the Prednisone and hoping that might help him start to eat again.

Economics and numbers and math, oh my

I need a little help. A Fb commenter noted Hauser's law (without naming it) to suggest that taxing the rich does nothing except slow down the economy, and it certainly create more revenue. There is something clearly wrong with the argument, but I am struggling to understand it. Angry Bear attempts to explain part of it, but I still think there is more. More about how this kind of take masks the changing nature of who is taxed and who bears the cost of the taxes.

Anyway.

The Future of Evangelicalism

I have been puzzling with this post for sometime. There have been so many times during this last decade where I have felt close to calling it quits with my faith. If Christians want to defend attacks on gays and the poor, and defend torture, I want nothing to do with that version of Christianity.

But I can't walk away.

Ran across this very interesting blog post from Rachel Held Evans on the future of Evangelicalism. I saw a little of my own struggle in her post, especially when she wrote:

But the problem is that after ten years, I’m getting tired of trying to convince fellow Christians that I am, in fact, a Christian, even though I may vote a little differently than they vote, interpret the Bible differently than they interpret it, engage with science a little differently than they engage with it, and understand sovereignty and choice a little differently than they understand those things.

For me the difference is more than "slightly" or "little." I differ a great deal from my conservative counterparts on these issues. She reminds me, in her generous and compassionate tone, of our blog friend Natalie, who wrote a nice post on her own struggles to find a church home. Both seem more open to engage with the conservatives and able to clearly distinguish between their faith and their disagreements.

I struggle with both. I don't know quite how to disconnect from the evangelical faith that can suggest that in a "personal relationship with Christ," one can endorse or tolerate the worst of the worst. Perhaps it is because the language I grew up with is encoded in my discussion of faith. I remember Joseph Campbell once compared our religious upbringing to computer language. It is part of our coding, and as such, he was relatively skeptical of the ability to completely change religious faith traditions (I may be combining Campbell with discussions about Campbell...).

Either way, I find it hard to talk about faith in the language of the conservative church--because it no longer reflects my beliefs or experience--but also struggle to find a way to talk about faith in a way that reflects my beliefs and experience.

Why do Republicans associate with racists and bigots?

I am not surprised that Haley Barbour is spouting stupidity like reinstating DADT to stop the amorous thoughts during battle, because that is what right wingers do.

What puzzles me is that he, and Huckabee and even the supposedly sane one--Pawlenty--all go on Bryan Fischer's radio show. The same Bryan Fischer who blames gays for everything, says that Obama wants to give America back to the Indians, and who has said that Muslims don't actually qualify for first amendment rights. Yeah, this one.

The truth is there is no political penalty for right wingers for being bigoted and racist. Their base doesn't mind that, even if there are a few of them that struggle with it. They won't vote Democratic (because of the gay abortions) at all, so are more than willing to vote for torturers, bigots, and the dumbest idiots we can find.

Nice job, there, GOP.

Great video for Friday afternoon

From Science Friday, this great look at the different space suits considered for the Apollo program.

Wisconsin GOP goes after UW professor

I have met Bill Cronon a few times, and have read several of his books. Josh Marshall mentions his first book, Changes in the Land--and it is indeed impressive. But for me, his book on Chicago (Natures Metropolis) was not only the book that informed my dissertation, but struck me as one of the smartest books I had ever read. A book, I would add, that I read thinking, "there is no f-ing way that I could ever write this book."

Cronon wrote a great NYT op-ed this last week that placed the Wisconsin attack on unions in a historical context. On his blog, he had also started asking questions about who was pushing this attack on unions. He evidently struck a nerve, because the Wisconsin GOP has requested Cronon's university email under their open records act.

Here is Cronon's lengthy and thoughtful response. Worth the read. Abusing Open Records to Attack Academic Freedom | Scholar as Citizen

The legacy of bad history education

AZ Senate President Russell Pearce tells crowd: "you are not a citizen of the US, but a citizen of a sovereign state.

Clearly Mr. Pearce doesn't know his history and doesn't realize that the sovereignty lies in the people, not the states.

Legal question re: contracts

Lectured today on the early Supreme Court decisions that strengthened private property and the sanctity of contracts, and am wondering why state agreements with their employees over pensions or benefits are not considered contracts? Law peeps?

More stupid

As Sully notes, Republicans support the no-fly zone, but still disapprove of Obama's handling of Libya. Reminds me of when the American people approved of the Clinton healthcare plan, but not if Hilary's name was attached. Stupid. And inconsistent.

Streak update for the afternoon

I am still not sure where we are with Streak. But his blood work showed improvement on the anemia front, but still an explanation for why he is so damn weak and tired. Got him some anti-nausea drugs and hoping that will help his appetite. The good news from this afternoon's visit was the fact that his lymph nodes were ok and so we weren't terribly late on another chemo round.

Is the GOP actively seeking the stupid vote?

It sure seems that way. I know this guy has no shot at the nomination, but his explanation for why he is distrustful of Muslims could be on a GOP motto somewhere:

"His position was sound, he explained, because 'based upon the little knowledge that I have of the Muslim religion, you know, they have an objective to convert all infidels or kill them.'"

"Based on the little knowledge I have of ________" should be their motto. "Based on the little knowledge I have of evolution, I think it doesn't sound reasonable." Or, "Based on the little knowledge I have of climate change (and the fact that it was cold last night), I don't believe it exists."

There are two over-riding attributes I see in prominent GOPers right now. First is that unbelievable anti-intellectualism that seems to revel in the Palinesque stupidity of the right. And the second, unfortunately, is the clear fact that the GOP cares not a bit about the poor or the needy. Their only care is for the rich, and the fact that they are ready to cut childhood immunizations is a great example. After all, all the right kind of people can probably afford immunizations for their kids.

Not that the GOP hates the poor. Oh no.

Update on Streak

And the roller coaster continues. The last few days he has struggled. Not badly, but struggled. I am going to get him some anti-nausea medicine from the vet and see if that will make him more comfortable. As it is, he isn't eating that much and that is disheartening. But he still wants to be with us and shows interest in that.

We will see.

Affordable church streaming

And it is called God Streaming. I found it because this guy is following me on twitter.

Call me old fashioned. When I got to church (and that is rarely) I prefer a traditional setting. Streaming is for catching up on tv shows that I don't watch, not for church. But that is just me.

But I will say that the title is arrogant.

Is the no-fly zone a good idea?

Because I really don't know. On one hand, the rebels will most likely lose if we don't help. On the other hand, we have had a bad run of intervening like this in the last ten years.

Gaddafi orders storm of Benghazi; U.N. meets | TPM News Pages

_________


Oh, and just so you know, I am still waiting for a Republican to explain to me why the poor should pay the highest price for the recession, and the rich should be asked to sacrifice, well, nothing. Just in case you were wondering.

The individual mandate

Three years ago, it was a good thing in conservative circles. Now, it is a colossal mistake and in many circles proof that Obama is tyrannical.

Don't tell me the conservative opposition is principled. They aren't. They are simply opposed to whatever Obama and the Democrats are for. That isn't principle. It is a grade school mentality.