So, I want to apologize. I know that I have been a slacker. Truth be told, there has been a lot going on with school that has preempted any attempt in the last week to update here. If you follow my twitter feed you will know that I have been silent there as well.
I figure the best that I can do for you at this point to tease about some stuff that I am working on.
First, in just a bit I will post the last blog post that I have in reserve from the posting for my Christian Theology class.
Second, I am working on a piece that ties in with the Table Talk project that we have going on at Wake Forest Divinity School of Theology. Let this also serve as a call to all of you to participate in this project in some way. If you live in the area, come to our in person meetings. The first one will be tomorrow at 8pm at Foothills in downtown Winston. If you are further away, please participate in the conversation online.
Third, I have been working on a paper for my Christian Theology class that, while too long to go up as one post, I hope to be able to split up into several smaller posts. I cover a lot of ground in the paper and some of the thoughts in paper might be of interests to folks if I just pull them out and post them on their own.
Fourth, I am currently doing a lot of reading (for a class) in the area of Queer studies and Queer theology. My intention is to engage some of that material here in some way.
Fifth, and finally, I have applied to be a part of the latest public theology blog project that Tripp over at Homebrewed Christianity is working on as part of the upcoming session on public theology at the American Academy of Religion. This would mean that I get a free book and some exposure. My "payment" for this would be to blog about the book, plug the blog tour, and post some video from AAR. Even if I don't get the free book this time around, I will still be posting about this project. If you are interested in participating in the project visit this post at Homebrewed Christianity and see what it is all about.
For those of you who read this and know me in real life, you know that I love sending out links to articles that I find interesting.
I have had multiple people complain about how I can clog up their Facebook feed with links. Thus, it is a battle not to post a whole bunch of links here at Rambling Rambles. However, I feel that social media has come to the point that there is no need to post lots of links on blogs. From now on I will be reserving posts for things that I write myself, either original posts, things that I write for class that I feel might interest people who would read this (although I have to ask, why are you wasting your time reading me anyway? :-) ) and finally post that I write that are a response to something that I read else where.
If you are interested in reading things that I simply find interesting, please either follow me on Twitter or friend me on Facebook. Just to the right you will see where I have posted my Twitter feed to this site. Also, for those of you who would like to follow the Twitter feed but don't want to create their own Twitter account, if you go to my profile page (link above) you can add my feed to your RSS reader (I recommend Google Reader).
I hope to have a post up about the endings of Mark by in the morning. I am also working on a post in regards fundamentalism, but it is taking more time and careful thought than I originally anticipated.
Over the last few days, as I have gotten more active in posting and in promoting posts through Twitter and Facebook, traffic has increased here. I appreciate all of you who are reading this. Please, please, please post comments and start conversation. I am under no illusions that I am any kind of expert. I engage in all of these different forms of social media to participate in and create conversation and collaboration. (for some of my thoughts about this, see some of my earlier posts about the Open Source movement)
Thanks again for reading, and I hope to hear from all of you soon.
This is another post that was originally written for my Christian Theology class. After the post I will include the bibliographical information for the books that I cite.
I know that this one has the potential for being a little more controversial than the previous one. Let me state that I am intentionally being provocative, however, that does not mean that I am not serious in my assessment. Let me know what you think.
----------
As most of us recognize, and has been mentioned in the readings this week, there is a always a greater context in which theological work exists and transpires. Part of Ellen Charry's goal in By the Renewing of Your Minds is to reclaim the pre-modern context of the theologians that she presents. One of the main principles of contemporary Biblical textual study is to ensure that the context in which the the text was written and presented to the community of faith is not forgotten or ignored. This premise is no less true for the theological reflection in which we are currently engaged in this course and with these blog entries. We are all writing in a certain time and place and out of certain cultures. Even within our class these contexts are different: we are a (relatively) diverse group of different ages, gender identities, denominational backgrounds, ethnicities, and socio-economic class.
However, our recognition of differing contexts should not be limited to these outward forms. Indeed, since Theological reflection can, and does, start in such an interior as the human mind, there is a personal intellectual and ideological (meaning here relating to or concerned with ideas) context that each of us carries into the discussion. This context may change on a daily (or even hourly!) basis as we read texts for other classes, engage in conversations, watch a movie, or read the news. No Theological reflection, or any intellectual pursuit, can exist in a vacuum; our thoughts and responses always arise out of the context of our culture and identity, both external and internal.
All of this simply to say that I am aware that my response this week has been largely shaped and informed by this larger context, by ideas that have been at the forefront of my thinking this week that may have given me a different emphasis when I was reading the texts.
What I found my self coming back to, again and again, was the theme running through both Charry and Migliore that the Christian faith should call us to a life transformed and that this transformation should and must have real implications on the life that we live and in the way that we treat our fellow human beings. This new way of being, acting, and interacting should be one, both Charry and Migliore assert, based on love, reconciliation, inclusion, justice, and righteousness. This stands apart from the conservative evangelical teachings that I received in the churches that I grew up in that stated that coming to G-d through the lens of Jesus was more about assent and “belief” in a certain right doctrine. But as Migliore states, “Surely faith is more than thinking correctly (a notion that might be called the heresy of orthodoxy). Faith is a matter of transformation --- personal, social, and world transformation.” (Migliore, 9)
In her extended analogy comparing theology and medicine, Charry points out that “Drugs are trusted and prescribed based on their demonstrated effects, not their theoretical cogency.” (Charry, 13) Thus, “you will know them by their fruits.” (Matt 7:20) Charry continues the analogy by pointing out how medical malpractice is no reason to turn to non-empirical healing methods and thus spiritual malpractice is no reason to dismantle the tradition. However, Charry misses here an important point. Just as a “doctor” guilty of medical malpractice must be stopped for the health of the community, practitioners of spiritual and theological malpractice must likewise be rooted out for the health of the community. “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Matt 7:19)
For far too long “moderate,” “liberal,” and “progressive” (do these words have have any real meaning?) have shied away from calling out the false prophets in our midsts, all in the name of a misguided pseudo-pluralism that fails to recognize the negative consequences to the Christian community that arise from the toleration of false prophets. A “gospel” the fruits of which are greed, anger, hatred, murder, war, and fear, just to name a few, is not the Good News of Jesus.
I recognize that this argument can be read as a potential attack on other faith traditions, however, I am hear only referencing my own tradition. I am a member of the Christian community and no other, making me wholly inadequate to critique any tradition other than my own.
Bill Maher's anti-religious polemic Religulous concludes with these words:
And those who consider themselves only moderately religious really need to look in the mirror and realize that the solace and comfort that religion brings you actually comes at a terrible price. If you belonged to a political party or social club that was tied to as much bigotry, misogyny, homophobia, violence and sheer ignorance as religion is, you would resign in protest. To do otherwise is to be an enabler, a mafia wife, for the true devils of extremism that draw their legitimacy from the billions of their fellow travelers.
By allowing these false prophets to continue to use the language of the Gospel to promote their heresies of hatred, fear, ignorance, and death, we do allow them the legitimacy of our faith tradition. I truly believe that it is time to stand in the light and love that is the Gospel of Jesus and name these people for what they are. For, as Migliore points out, “What the church needs at all times and especially in times of crisis is clarity of conviction and purpose.” (Migliore, xi emphasis added)
--------
Books cited:
Charry, Ellen. By the Renewing of Your Minds: The Pastoral Function of Christian Doctrine. Oxford Univ. Press, 1999.
This was written for my theology class. The question that we were responding to was “What I am anticipating in a course on Christian theology” or “What I am anxious about in a course on Christian theology.”
---
As several have mentioned, it is interesting to read through this first set of entries, or to at least skim them. The one thing that many seem to have in common is a general trepidation that seems to center on a fear of “not being able to do it” (I am of course paraphrasing and generalizing here, but you get my point). I have no fear that all the students in the class will be able to bring their considerable and differing experiences together and be able to “do” G-d-talk.
Now, if I am giving the impression that I don't have trepidation and anxiety about this course and its subject matter, I'm sorry, because I certainly do have deep seated “fear and trembling” about being in this course. But not for many of the reasons cited. I did take quite a few philosophy courses in undergrad and my degree is essentially in political philosophy and history. I know that I can “do” this kind of work, but that ability is what scares me. My previous classes have taught me how to tear something apart, to look at it, examine it, name it, own it, and I am not sure if I know how to engage with ideas in a meaningful way with out doing that, and that scares the crap out of me.
All through my academic career I managed to avoid taking a class in/on theology. Now sure, I've read on my own, but that kind of self-work is not the same as rigorous academic study. And it certainly doesn't help that I have a deep seated suspicion of theology as an attempt to quantify, qualify, name, know, and own the very mystery of G-d, a mystery that we are told many times in Scripture, both Hebrew and Greek, that we can not know and certainly not name, own and control.
A friend of mine who is a Wake Div grad told me something over the summer that I think Dr. Tupper told her when she was a student: Div school is hard and scary and brutal because it forces you to rip out you still beating heart and examine it.
I am going to go out on a limb here and guess that for many (most?) of us our faith, our theology, our G-d-talk, is at the very center of who we are, that it forms a (the?) core of our existence. Knowing that, I can't help but fear that we are playing with fire. The Wild Land Firefighter in me is screaming to be careful, to not play with the fire, while at the same time the rebel/anarchist/wild-man/12-year old pyro in me can't help but to take a leap of faith, screaming, “Lets burn it all to the ground and see what new rises from the ashes of the old!”
So, another school year has started, and that means that it is time, yet again, for me to pretend that I am going to start to regularly update this space. Truth be told, I am not sure how many people, if any, read this thing, so I am not sure that it matters.
One of the things that I have been thinking about is an idea that I had last year. I am doing a LOT of writing for class and such. I think that I am going to try and place some of the work that I am doing for class up here. Maybe some of you would be interested. In particular, for Christian Theology I have to write a bog entry once a week for class anyway, so I may as well post those here. If and when there are things that I think I need to explain, I will endeavor to do so.
Since I already have a back log of posts, I will place a couple over the next few days, starting here in just a minute.
So there we go. Another promise from me to do better and actually put some content up here. We will see if there effort is more successful than the others have been.
So here I am. I should totally be in bed, sleeping. Preparing myself mentally for a Greek test that I have tomorrow. But I am still up. Watching old episodes of The Alaska Experiment on Discovery Channel and I just saw this ad:
After all these years of right-wing astro-turfing efforts, I am pretty good at spotting an attempt, particularly one this ham-handed, almost immediately.
After a quick Google search of the name of the group claiming responsibility for the ad, "Patients United Now," I had my suspicions confirmed. This group is the ultimate example of astro-turfing. It is a project of the group "Americans for Prosperity." If this group sound familiar, it should. This is the group that was one of the main leaders behind the "Tea Party" movement that has become a vocal point for the radical right (if you have questions about this Google it. You will see multiple videos, from multiple rallies, of people calling for essentially armed rebellion and secession from the United States. As I believe that information never hurt anyone, feel free to visit the website for AFP.
But who/what exactly is "Americans for Prosperity"? Again, just a few minutes of quick Google search gave me the answers that I was looking for. The Center for Media and Democracy's Source Watch gives us an entry on AFP. Some interesting stuff there, including the fact that AFP advocates for the tobacco industry, has been a strong proponent of anti-Climate Change pseudo science, and the fact that much of the money for its operation comes from Art Pope (a name that any here in North Carolina will recognize) as well as David Koch.
The good folks over at the Center for American Progress have done some more great work on informing us about AFP. In a Press Release from 2008 the Center for American Progress Action Fund lays out some of the greater Right-wing connections of Koch, and thus AFP. The Koch machine has been instrumental in the founding of many of the most extreme members of the "vast right-wing conspiracy" including: The John Birch Society, the CATO Institute, The Federalist Society, The Heritage Society, and North Carolina's John Locke Foundation (there is that Art Pope connection again). These are groups that range from the mainstream of the conservative movement to the farthest reaches of its fringe.
Here is an assortment of Think Progress and Wonk Room posts concerning AFP and the Koch machine:
Many laughed at Hilary Clinton in 1998 when she claimed that the attacks on her husband and his administration were part of a "vast right-wing conspiracy." While Bill Clinton did little to help himself, and certainly was no true progressive, the fact that his administration was the target of a concerted effort by a hyper-organized right-wing apparatus to discredit it, both on the personal level as well as the policy level, must be accepted by all but the most dense.
Now in the early days of an administration that might actually deliver on some true progressive change, this machine is ramping up again. And in principle I don't disagree with their ability to advocate their point of view, I do have a serious issue with dishonesty. And at its most basic, that is what the astro-turfing efforts of right-wing groups, ones connected with the Koch machine and those that aren't, are. They are dishonest lies, based in appealing to the most base of human instincts: fear and anger, leading to hatred.
How many people, if they knew the true connections of "Patients United Now," would even give a second thought to these ads? Polls tell us that the vast majority of people in this country want sweeping health-care reform. Yet how many people, in the absence of true and good information, will be swayed by the lies of such organizations like the Koch machine and its tools the AFP and Patients United Now?
BTW, Media Matters has a good rebuttal of the "facts" that are in the ad. While I am not normally a big fan of Media Matters, they have done a good job here. I will continue to check FactCheck.org to see if they put up a good fact check of the ad. If they do, I will be sure to post it here.
EDIT: I promised an update from FactCheck.org if one was posted. Well apparently it had been posted already and I just missed it. Here it is.
At least it is crazy to come back with this, but I'm in the middle of a great experiment. Mainly seeing (a) how long I can go without sleep and (b) how it affects me. Follow on twitter @cm1165
And also, as I am able and get back to the computer, I will be posting here too.
