Slate has a interesting article on whether or not George Bush is the right posterboy for evangelical Christians. A couple of key passages:
By most accounts, the president’s basic intellectual make-up was formed long before his faith conversion. If Bush is incurious, it’s not God’s fault.
That is, don’t excuse Bush’s ignorance (which he will tell you about) as a product of his faith in God.
Conservatives are right when they say that the faith-makes-you-irrational idea is a gross caricature. What Bush supporters are less willing to admit is that President Bush has helped to promote this caricature that liberals now exploit.
But in the consideration of reason and faith, we are left with an interesting question: Bush has actively cultivated the image of the simple man of God; how does that reflect on the rest of America’s born-again Christians? Is Bush a helpful spokesman, in the end?
I’d argue that he hasn’t really been a helpful spokesman, at least for reformed types. We’re not prone to over-simplification, and I think a lot of us are willing to put together our political views piecemeal, instead of just jumping on board with a party because of one or two platform planks. And I think Bush’s perspective on homosexual marriage, and the marriage amendment he has proposed, does nothing more than perpetuate the view of Christians are close-minded homophobes that don’t necessarily understand the Biblical concept of sin (as discussed in the space many months ago).
Posted on 27 October 2004
Salon suddenly has a new posterboy for their pro-Kerry campaign, Eminem. Thanks to an anti-Bush song and video, the rapper is suddenly a favorite son of the magazine, which has called him to task in the past for his misogynist, homophobic lyrics. But hey, all that’s forgiven now, because the man’s a democrat.
I’ve grown weary with Salon as the election season has progressed, mostly because they’re becoming less of a news source and more of a cheerleading squad for John Kerry. That’s their prerogative, of course, but that doesn’t mean that I need to treat them like a source of balanced news. I do, however, still read King Kaufman’s Sports Daily, because even though Kaufman is a liberal, he rarely lets that spill over into his sports commentary.
Posted on 26 October 2004
jen on the white eyebrow
robert on a white eyebrow variation
the variation again
oh, how the mighty have fallen! jen and i toproping(!) at the cirque.
Posted on 25 October 2004
We got back from our five day trip to the New River Gorge last night. It was good to be back there — the place where we’ve spent a good portion of lives from 1993-2002. We saw a lot of old friends, and made a few new ones, and made a pact to go there more often, especially since our friends Jason and Rachel offered to let us stay at their house (and let Seb play with their daughter).
The climbing was typical for the New — when we got there Wednesday, the boulders at Hawk’s Nest were soaking wet from a combination of rain and condensation. The weather cleared for the next few days, but we got more rain on Saturday night and Sunday morning. In the end, we had three climbing days out of 4.5 days, so it wasn’t so bad. Sport climbing wasn’t as horrible as we both thought it would (since we haven’t been on a rope since before Seb was born), though we were hardly in route shape. That didn’t stop me from trying hard routes though, and hanging and falling a lot. I did notice that I still haven’t kicked the fear brought on by a nasty fall a few years ago. I’m fine on familiar and overhanging ground, but as soon as I’m out of that comfort zone, the fear really holds me back. I’m not paralyzed, but it certainly prevents me from trying hard.
Photos should be up soon.
Update
I figured since I’m waiting for my workstation to get hooked to a new domain, I’d fill in some details on our trip…
Wednesday
Drove down. Very mellow drive, and Seb did well. We hiked out to Hawk’s Nest to try and get some bouldering in, but unfortunately everything was wet. I guess there had been some rain there, then higher temps, and nothing was drying. Oh well. We hiked back to the car and hooked up some friends at their house in Fayetteville and unpack and get settled.
Thursday
Hawk’s Nest take two. We first tried to visit some recently discovered boulders up the hill from Hawk’s Nest, but they were still wet, but….the boulders were amazing. Endless Wall quality stone, and big, big faces. Killer. I can’t wait to go back. We went back to Hawk’s Nest with some friends, and had a nice day. Nobody sent anything groundbreaking, but it was still good fun, and Seb had fun playing in all the puddles.
Friday
Very slow day. Seb decided to take a morning nap, and that held us back, despite the good weather. We finally got motivated and decided to try and find some of the new routes at Bubba City. My advice? Don’t go. We hiked for well over an hour, most of which was bushwhacking over loose scree. We finally found the wall, and most of the routes looked incredibly lame. Since it was getting late, and we figured it might be an adventure getting back to car, we just left. Woo!
Saturday
Went to Summersville Lake. The conditions were good, though it wasn’t sunny, and just about everything was dry. After some warm-ups, I headed over to the Coliseum to try Apollo Reed. Who cares if I’m not in shape? I can fall with the best of them. I hung once, which I figured isn’t bad since I did as many moves on that route as I do during one day at Coopers. I tried Mercy Seat as well, and got spanked. Good fun.
Sunday
Rain overnight and in the morning forced us to the Cirque. I got on Finders Keepers to warmup (5.12b to warmup? Sure!). I was still pretty psyched out by the fall I took a couple of years ago, and I lowered off at the crux. I was a bit disappointed, but it was still a fun day, and I toproped a line to left, just for kicks.
Posted on 25 October 2004
After a false start last week (thanks to Seb’s cold), we’re heading to the New River Gorge later today for five days of climbing and relaxing. The weather is looking much better than last weekend so maybe the change in plans isn’t all bad. We’re looking forward to seeing some friends we haven’t seen in awhile (since Seb was born, really), so it should be a very good time. I’m also looking forward to catching up some reading as well. There may be some random posting from the trip — we’re bringing the laptop so Jen can do some writing — but who knows if there’s a wireless hotspot down there.
One political note (and why I like Slate). Chris Suellentrop has a nice article on John Kerry’s own verbal curlicues and his inability to say things simply. What’s really good about Slate is that even though writers like Suellentrop and Will Saletan are Kerry-supporters, they aren’t afraid to criticize him.
Posted on 20 October 2004
Up until yesterday, riding to work has been a breeze. Outside of day here or there thanks to sickness or my cranky back, I’ve ridden to work nearly everyday since I started. But yesterday, I realized that things are about to get harder. The ride home included temps in the 40s and driving rain. Those conditions weren’t terrible on their own, but a couple of things made them rather unpleasant:
* Getting hit with the wave from a huge puddle on Smallman Street. Nothing like getting 10 gallons of sub 60 degree water dumped in your lap.
* Not having a good waterproof jacket. I’ve had one for about seven years, which seems to be greater than its usable lifespan.
Also, as much as I think they’ll make my bike look sorta dumb, I could use a set of decent, removable fenders for the wet days.
But now, the weather is throwing down the guantlet, daring me to ride in the worst fall weather it can throw at me.
Posted on 19 October 2004
After a fine discussion yesterday via email with a climbing friend, I’ve decided that my critique of Christopher Hitchens’ article about the Ten Commandments was a bit, well, over the top. After re-reading his piece and then my post, I realized that at the time, I just didn’t get the satire. So Hitchens can make his theological “mistakes” all he wants, and that’s fine with me.
I do, however, stand by my opinion that Hitchens is an intellectual bully and windbag. And, as I said, I do agree with assessment of Roy Moore.
Posted on 19 October 2004
Finally, something new to report besides Petter Solberg winning and Sebastien Loeb taking second. Markko Martin set a blistering pace all weekend in his Focus, and beat Loeb by over two minutes. Ford was set to sweep the top two places, but Francios Duval had engine trouble on day three and didn’t even make the finish ramp. Loeb and Citroen admitted post-rally that he didn’t push for the win, but you can’t deny that suddenly the Focus looks like the car to beat on sealed surfaces. But even with Martin’s dominance, Citroen was right there, with Loeb taking second and Carlos Sainz third, a result which guarantees Citroen the manufacturer’s title for the year. And, in more good news for Citroen, Loeb’s result gives him the driver’s title, regardless of the results of the final two rallies.
And now, the bad news. Solberg’s Subaru was well off the pace, even when the weather wasn’t agreeable. Solberg has to hope that he finds some speed in the next two weeks, because with another tarmac rally in Spain, Martin could catch Solberg in the points race. The only good news for Solberg was that he did manage to set a scratch time on Sunday. The rally was also bad news for Peugeot, with Marcus Gronholm also well off the pace, and the 307 of Cedric Robert retiring. It’s shocking to think that Peugeot was the top maker just two years ago.
Two weeks from now, the WRC travels to Spain. While it’s still a sealed surface rally, it’s decidedly different from Corsica. The roads flow a bit more, meaning more speed, and the open corners promote lots of cutting, so those further down the running order will have to deal with dirt and gravel. Gilles Panizzi owns the last two victories here, but with Mitsubishi’s sad state at the moment, Loeb and Martin should be fighting for victory.
Posted on 18 October 2004
As usual, the Rallye de France is providing some surprises, best of which is the fact that the top two positions aren’t held by drivers named Loeb or Solberg. In fact, Ford is finally showing some speed, with Francois Duval and Markko Martin holding the top positions going into day two. Sebastien Loeb has picked up the pace, and is in third place, just over 30 seconds behind Duval. Carlos Sainz is in fourth, another 20 seconds or so behind Loeb. Marcus Gronholm is fifth, another twenty seconds adrift. The biggest surprise is Petter Solberg, who is clinging to seventh. Solberg hasn’t had any pace today, and he blamed his poor start on a bad tyre choice. His championship defense could be on its last leg, unless things go all wrong for Loeb.
Posted on 15 October 2004
Thank you, Christopher Hitchens, for your brilliant deconstruction of the Ten Commandments. For all his intellectual gibberish, Hitchens should really take a moment and do a bit of research into theology before saying something like this:
One is presuming (is one not?) that this is the same god who actually created the audience he was addressing. This leaves us with the insoluble mystery of why he would have molded (“in his own image,” yet) a covetous, murderous, disrespectful, lying, and adulterous species. Create them sick, and then command them to be well? What a mad despot this is, and how fortunate we are that he exists only in the minds of his worshippers.
Even the most untheological Christian could probably explain the concept of “original sin” and it’s effect on humanity. But since Hitchens wraps his ignorance in $5 words, he is clearly the more intellectual person. And satire does not forgive ignorance.
A related side-note: I really don’t care what the Supreme Court decides about the Ten Commandments issue, and I’ve said this before. And I will agree with Hitchens in his critique of Judge Moore. And Dahlia Lithwick points out that should the Supreme Court decide that the display of the Ten Commandments is, in fact, unconstitutional, they will have to do a bit of house cleaning themselves.
Update
My father-in-law just sent me this email message, which I think adds a bit of theological weight to insignificance of the presence of a chunk of stone in a courthouse:
I just read your blog for today. I’m surprised at how little thought Judge Roy Moore and other defenders of the faith have given to the faith they seek to defend. When the 10 were first given, the people who heard that dread voice of God begged that He not speak to them again, so awful was the sound (cf Ex 20:18-19; Deut 5:23-25; Heb 12:19). Moore, etc., have lost the perspective of the original story. Even in the Old Covenant when the 10 were central in God’s relationship with his people they were never on public display. When God gave Moses the 10 written in stone, he also gave him the blue print for the Tabernacle in which the stone-etched Law was to be hidden in the Ark of the Covenant under the Mercy Seat, never to be seen by human eye (cf. Ex chs 25-31 and 31:18). Then later, when the Philistines returned the confiscated Ark of the Covenant to Beth-shemesh in Israel, a great many people were slaughtered by God because they looked into the Ark where the stone-carved 10 were (1 Sam 6:19). George Lucas understood the stone tablets better than Roy Moore.
Posted on 14 October 2004