(Ir)religiosity

I’m really looking forward to this movie.

[Ht]

[Ht]

“What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?” -Gandhi (Source)

I hope we vote tomorrow with no illusions.  While all signs are pointing to an Obama victory — which is good to a point — I hope that our collective enthusiasm is tempered with the reality that when our new President is inaugurated in two months most things will stay the same.  The United States will more than likely continue behave imperially, preserving its hegemony across the world in “the holy name of liberty and democracy.”

An Obama victory will be good, or, put another way, an Obama victory will be less bad.  Be that as it may, I hope more than anything that concerned citizens, “patriots,” and dissidents will not allow their political activism and their creative imagination to be colonized and limited to the most ineffective political action of them all — casting a vote in our system.

A United Nations report reveals that economic disparity in the United States is exploding, especially in major cities.

From Democracy Now!:

A new United Nations report has revealed major US cities, including New York, Washington, Atlanta and New Orleans, have levels of economic inequality that rival cities in Africa.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

The United States has the highest inequality and poverty rates in the OECD after Mexico and Turkey, and the gap has increased rapidly since 2000.

In the United States, the richest 10 percent earn an average of $93,000 — the highest level in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development avergages. The poorest 10 percent earn an average of $5,800 — about 20 percent lower than the OECD average.

Oh, and last year we spent $628 billion in defense and $315 billion in private military contracts.  Good to know that my tax dollars are being put to good use.

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All the more reason for me to like Apple:

Apple is publicly opposing Proposition 8 and making a donation of $100,000 to the No on 8 campaign. Apple was among the first California companies to offer equal rights and benefits to our employees’ same-sex partners, and we strongly believe that a person’s fundamental rights — including the right to marry — should not be affected by their sexual orientation. Apple views this as a civil rights issue, rather than just a political issue, and is therefore speaking out publicly against Proposition 8.

[Ht. Dave]

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Interesting.

[Ht. Nick Fiedler]

Hat tip to Hacking Christianity for this video portraying the text of the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights set to music.

I thought I’d go ahead and post it today rather than later since today is the so-called “Columbus Day” in which Americans of all political stripes and social studies teachers across the country glorify a mass murderer and credit him with having “discovered a New World” when in fact he systematically exterminated and enslaved native peoples in the name — in American hindsight at least — of a dubious metanarrative of progress and enlightenment. Read the rest of this entry »

The tagline of my blog says, “theology, politics, and other musings.”  The ordering was intentional.  My own interests — to grossly understate — have to do with theology first and politics second, more specifically with the intersection of politics and theology/religion and how one effects (or dictates, however you choose to view it) the other.  When you get down to I believe that everything is inherently theological including our politics.

So I try to blog about one or the other — or both when I find a similarity or correlation.

The other day I was going through some old posts and I realized that back in the spring during primary season I blogged almost exclusively on politics and the primaries, which in itself isn’t too much of a bad thing, they were (and are) a big deal.  Most of my posts revealed my biases which aren’t necessarily bad either, we all have them.  But — and here’s the big thing — almost all of the posts revealed my political biases to the point of making me look very partisan. Read the rest of this entry »

This is something that crosses my mind every now and again.  I’ve watched many an episode of South Park and I’ve seen my fair share of risque comedians, movies, and television shows.  And, I’ll be honest.  I laughed at the jokes.  We all have at some point.

But I wonder where — in our post-9/11 world, as the cliche goes — the line should be drawn.  How, if at all, do we distinguish between humor and the perpetuation of hurtful and racist stereotypes?  For what its worth, in drawing out this line of thinking, I’m not so much interested in political correctness as much as I am interested in the implicit promotion of fear mentality, xenophobia, and cultural jingoism.

I bring this up because I was disturbed — and, a little angered — when I read this article about Adam Sandler‘s new cult comedy, You Don’t Mess with the Zohan (ironically, the article is titled, “You Don’t Mess with the Racism”).  Now, to be honest I haven’t seen the movie (I guess I’m being that guy, who critizes something without having watched or read it) so I’m giving the author the benefit of a doubt. Read the rest of this entry »

On this day last year, I wrote a post expressing my regret and distaste for the Fourth of July also known as Independence Day in the United States.  The celebration of any empire is, to me, to undermine the better qualities of human nature not mention to the rejection of the teachings of Jesus.

To be clear, I still hold those convictions, perhaps even more today than last year given the state of affairs in the US and the climate of the global economy, but that is another matter altogether. However, to associate those convictions with Independence Day is somewhat of misnomer because July 4, 1776 isn’t so much a commemoration of the United States and the celebration of American empire itself as much as it is a commemoration and celebration of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the document on which the United States was founded and the document — along with what is left of the Constitution — from which it dubiously justifies its imperial existence.

So, I will celebrate the fourth of July not because I’m an American nationalist who will rally around the flag, praise the prospects of empire, eat grilled meat, and blow stuff up.  No, I will celebrate the fourth because I want to commemorate the Declaration of Independence and because I want to actually take it seriously. Read the rest of this entry »