After hours of sunshine and volleyball yesterday, Renea and I headed back to the chalet to relax and do our Sunday ritual, during which I knit while she reads to me from the second of the Ender books. (I know, I am spoiled) We had the door flung open in my living room to allow in a breeze, when suddenly our noses detected rain in the air, the skies 
And then we ate crepes. MmmmmCrepes.
The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has recently released a new report on religion in America, and the results are really interesting. The article says that Americans are 'non-dogmatic', which seems almost to be an understatement! We talk a lot about postmodernity here at l'abri, and while I wouldn't want to equate postmodernity and relativism, our culture certainly seems to produce a certain murkiness or uncertainty about how strongly we are able/allowed to hold our beliefs. This survey seems to bear that out - 66% percent of Protestants and 79% of Catholics believe that many religions can lead to eternal life. And it's not just Christians who hold their faith in such a 'true for me' way - over 80% of Jewish, Hindu, and Buddhist respondents believe the same, as well as 56% of Muslims.
Most of you know that I am a giant Joss Whedon fan. He's a brilliant, brilliant man. Well, he's working on a new web project, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, which will be a three part musical starring Nathan Fillion (that's Captain Tightpants, for you Firefly/Serenity fans), Felicia Day, and Neil Patrick Harris. They've just released the trailer and it looks legen (wait for it) dary. (If you've not seen How I Met Your Mother that last sentence probably makes no sense. Sorry)
It seems that fear and love are inextricably bound together. If we love nothing, we have nothing to fear losing. So fear itself is not the problem, but only an excessive fear or a lack completely thereof.
So what should we fear? Scripturally it seems that fear of the Lord is in order, and is both spiritual gift and wisdom. However, we ought not fear the Lord as a threatening or coercive power. But, argues Ellen Davis, simple reverence is perhaps not the best interpretation either. She says, "The writers are speaking first and foremost of our proper gut response to God. Fear is the unmistakable feeling in our bodies, in our stomach and our scalp, when we run up hard against the power of God. From a biblical perspective, there is nothing neurotic about fearing God. The neurotic thing is not to be afraid, or to be afraid of the wrong thing... Fear of the Lord is the deeply sane recognition that we are not God." (44)
Knitting freak that I am, I have already finished four sweaters this term, and wanted to challenge myself to learn a new skill: Knitting two socks at the same time on two circular needles. You use two balls of yarn, and just pray that it doesn't end up a tangled mess. After spending nearly three hours casting on, joining, and knitting a few rows of ribbing, I am now the proud owner of, you guessed it, a tangled mess. Sigh.
Currently looks like this:
Hopefully I can update soon with good news from the knitting front...
Barack Obama has declined to use public funding for his general election campaign despite earlier clues that he would use it, and some people seem none too happy about it. I don't know a ton about it, but it all seems to be a mixed bag. I think spending limits are good (public funding would place a ceiling at 85 million dollars), but does it really limit spending if you've got lobbyists and special interest groups that can still spend a virtually unlimited amount? Is there any way to actually limit spending? Do private donations encourage political favors - even in relatively small amounts? (A great site to check for up-to-date numbers is OpenSecrets - find out where the money is coming from and where it's going to)
I don't know... does it matter as an campaign ethics thing or will campaign spending pretty much just stay out of control no matter which way you spin it? Anyone have an opinion on the topic?
You can watch the video announcement below:
One of the questions I get asked most often is why I am a vegetarian. I think people often assume one chooses to go that route because they are sentimental about God's furry little creatures. Well, I have to admit, I'm not really that sentimental. I mean, I love animals and don't relish the idea of their pain, but I also don't have any fundamental issues with eating them. I don't think that it is theologically problematic at all. That said, I would definitely call into question the factory farming practices that are widely used.
To answer this question, he asserts that we must first ask whether we can even speak of fear as a moral issue at all. After all, we're not accustomed to ascribing anything more to our emotions than neutrality. Bader-Saye calls our attention to theologian Simon Harak on the issue to show that our emotions can indeed have a moral dimension: "It is somehow wrong not to feel revulsion at rape, or to stay forever angry with imperfect parents. It is somehow right to rejoice at a friend's success, or to be moved by the plight of an abused child. So it seems upon reflection that our passions can be morally praise-or blameworthy." (25)
Celebrating parents makes me feel like a kid, so here's a Father's Day acrostic for you:
Doggedly determined, daring to do what is right
Amply adventurous, always ready for fun
Dashingly debonnaire, dripping with charm
Dad, I love you and wish I could be with you today!
The Washington Post has an interesting essay by C.Welton Gaddy offering his take on the South Carolina decision to offer license plates with an image of the cross on them.
This paragraph pretty much sums up my view, as well:
Does not the government have other work to do that is more important and appropriate to its functions? Given the mortgage crisis, an economy teetering on the edge of inflation, joblessness, the status of public education, it boggles the mind that any legislature would debate crosses on a license plate.
What do y'all think: would you get one of these? Do you think they should be offered? What would you think if it was an Islamic motif? Or are you Switzerland on the subject?
Barack Obama is fighting back. He's launched a new website, FightTheSmears.com, to combat the rumors spreading like wildfire on the internet accusing him of everything from being a Muslim to refusing to say the pledge of allegiance. Videos and photos offer solid evidence.
So I'll start with, appropriately, the first chapter. Titled Fear for Profit, it sets up the book by outlining how fear is in many ways the air we breathe. (One caveat - Bader-Saye is from North America and is drawing on North American culture. It may not generalize globally, but I suspect that most points would ring true) Our cultural identity is sometimes built around being consumers, and since fear often drives consumption, we have become masters at manipulating it. He points to a couple of major areas that this takes place:
For those of you who don't know yet, this is to be my final term at L'Abri. I'll be leaving to head back to the Lone Star State, Houston to be precise, and start working towards grad school. I'm planning to pursue a degree in social work, despite the horror stories I've heard from friends in the field. I'll (hopefully) be attending University of Houston, so that I can remain in the geographical vicinity of my family, which is growing* (my brother Josh recently wed the gorgeous and wonderful Anna), and I don't want to miss any (more) of it.
It will be more than difficult to leave this place that has changed my life so much, but I think, at least for the time being, it's time to bid adieu.
Just wanted to post a brief update about this major development in my life.
*Mom - I don't know anything you don't. No grandkids from any of your children are insinuated here... ;)
A post on the God's Politics blog Friday talks about seven senators (the "Coburn Seven") who are hard at work blocking the reauthorization of the Global AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis bill, which helps fund the fight against these diseases which account for more than 90% of infectious disease death. It's a post worth reading, and Sojourners has a form online that you can use to send a letter to your senators encouraging them support getting the bill passed.
A few days ago there was an article by David Brooks in the International Herald Tribune talking about what it means to mature, starting with the example of Lincoln and the model during his time that to be mature was to exercise self-control. A sin-centric model that changed over time to a model that emphasized our inner goodness, placing self-discovery as the goal of growing up. Now, according to Brooks, we are moving into a maturity defined by service - maturity as moving from being served to serving others.
I read this article to a group of students at my formal meal, and it was a really fascinating conversation. People described maturity as being accountable and responsible, cultivating virtues. We also talked about maturing requiring an end goal, and that goal must be virtuous, even if not explicitly Christian. We also talked about the external cultural markers of maturity (rituals or rites of passage), and some of the ramifications of having few if any of them in modern Western culture. Very cool stuff - we spend so much time talking about identity, but it seems as though very rarely we talk about maturity.
I'd be curious to hear anyone else's thoughts on it...
Pleased that finally it was gone, I then went to block my new projects. For the non-knitterly folks, that simply means soaking the project and pinning it out to dry into shape. I put it in its first bath, and it bled. And continued to bleed through the nearly 15 subsequent washes. I never could get the water to run clear. I laughed a lot, I cried a little, and I supposed that ultimately the story of this little ball of wool (Colinette Jitterbug, hence the title) had completed itself in the only way it could have.
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