Resurrection Life

God helps those who canNOT help themselves

I occasionally like to remind folks that the phrase, "God helps those who help themselves," is nowhere to be found within Scripture. That phrase was coined by Benjamin Franklin in Poor Richard's Almanack and unfortunately is the one thing NOT to be found in Scripture that has permeated itself into the essence of American Christianity. God helps those who canNOT help themselves. Lucky you and me first of all but as God's hands in the world we best re-examine our perspectives on the poor (in spirit, in treasure, in love, etc. etc.) from God's viewpoint and not Ben Franklin's. Why is it that this supposedly Christian nation has such a hard-time welcoming the alien among us? Illegal or not? Jesus couldn't even get into this country with the rules and regulations we have in place. Why is it that we have such a hard time giving up something in order to get all of our neighbors into some kind of health insurance coverage ensuring that they have access to the same quality of care as we do? And why are seniors so angry about anyone even daring to change social security or medicare when what they have right now is going to bankrupt their children and grandchildren very soon? Why?

Thrift

Whatever comes of the "current economic crisis", my hope and wonder is that it might return us as Americans to the idea of thrift vs. consumption as the baseline of our well-being as a people.

Niebuhr

If man does not acknowledge his status as creator, his freedom over the historical flux, his right and duty to challenge the inherited traditions of the community, his obligation to exercise discriminate judgment in rearranging or reconstructing any scheme of togetherness which has been faulty in providing justice, he will merely become the victim of the past which accentuates its vices when it is studiedly preserved into the present.

–Reinhold Niebuhr, The Self and the Dramas of History (1955)

Satire vs. Irony

Alot of hay and many ads were sold this past week regarding the cover of The New Yorker depicting Barack Obama in his traditional African robe and Michelle Obama dressed in military fatigues, etc. etc.

The primary question seems to be, "Is this appropriate satire?" Which is cover language for, "will the rednecks get it?"

I have two points to make:
1. The title of the cartoon is "The Politics of Fear", I have heard NO one report that.
2. This is NOT satire, it is *irony*. Look it up. :)

I'm off to build a home in Mexico for the week. Please keep our youth and leaders in your prayers as Juarez has been much in the news for the fighting between the drug cartels and the military.

And don't forget to register for Minnekon in August!

Technorati Tags: New Yorker, Obama, irony, puppy

My Way News - Obama dismisses Dobson criticism about Bible

My Way News - Obama dismisses Dobson criticism about Bible:

Technorati Tags: Obama, politics, Dobson

Buzzword: Staycation: Consumer Reports Home & Garden Blog

Buzzword: Staycation: Consumer Reports Home & Garden Blog:

Politeness and Authority at a Hilltop College in Minnesota - New York Times

Politeness and Authority at a Hilltop College in Minnesota - New York Times:

Technorati Tags: Gustavus Adolphus College, Lutheran

Free Tibet: Or, How I Came To Wonder About The Dalai Lama

Technorati Tags: Lutheran, politics, dalai lama, religion

Do the Evangelicals have their own version of the papacy?

Newt Gingrich confessing to having an affair during the whole Bill Clinton impeachment saga was not only extraordinary theatre, but it was an interesting take on the state of religious culture in the United States.

It was interesting in that the confession was truly that... a confession to James Dobson, head of Focus on the Family, on his nationally syndicated radio show. One is to assume from the transcript that Dobson knew this tidbit ahead of time and that Gingrich wanted to air that dirty laundry now. One must also assume that Dobson put this confession on the air as a way for Gingrich to do penance with the American public... presumably clearing the way for a presidential run.

In 1960, John F. Kennedy gave a speech to Southern Baptist leaders in which he, more or less, tried to assure them that he would not answer to the Pope ahead of the constitution. But I wonder if the religious right has not created a papacy of its own when I see more and more politicians paying fealty to people like Pat Robertson and James Dobson... religious leaders who make pronouncements on who is in and who is out.

What do you think? Has the religous right built its own version of the papacy? Are the Baptist and Catholic Churches more alike then they seem on the surface?

Technorati Tags: Gingrich, papacy

The Libby Trial and the Death of the Free Press, or, Why Dick Cheney's loss is really his gain

Technorati Tags: Libby, Cheney