City Life

On 30 Dec, 2005 By mpm

I spent a wonderful day in the city (San Francisco) yesterday. I hung out with a new friend, we had brunch (which is, apparently, a city thing,) went shopping for leather jackets in very interesting places, and just wandered around.

I remembered how I'd been talking with friends back home (Western Massachusetts) about how I didn't like the city aspect of the Bay Area - that was my one complaint. I've gotten very used to the semi-rural life of Western Mass. Watching the corn grow, week after week, driving by cows, parking a block or two away from a destination when things are very busy, running into people I knew everywhere, "rush minute" on the bridge. It all seems so mild now.

I've been stuck in traffic for 30 minutes plus at least twice (and I don't drive much,) parking is a pain (like Cambridge.) I haven't seen a corn field at all, and the last time I saw a cow, I was in Marin county. I have to lock everything, all the time. Almost everywhere is crowded. It's a city.

But, yesterday I realized that I am in the [Bay Area]{style="font-weight: bold;"}. I have three years to enjoy the mecca that this area is. I get to experience the plethora of good places to eat, tons of theatres that show independent movies, eclectic lesbian culture, fascinating people, and lots of interesting events.

And I'm also remembering how different urban culture is, particularly queer urban culture. I got a taste of that yesterday, and I'm not sure exactly what I think of it, but I feel like exploring it is a good thing. We'll see how much I like it after a while.

So I'm setting aside my urban dislike for a while, and try to just enjoy being here.

Tidbits

On 28 Dec, 2005 By mpm

I'm back from finals craziness, and traveling east. I'm back in California, with some time on my hands, which is very nice. I've got a bunch of things to blog, both here, and on my ministry blog in the next few days. I'll start with some interesting science tidbits:

2005 - it's been a year

On 23 Dec, 2005 By mpm

As we come to the close of 2005, and reflect on what has been, at least in terms of world events, a pretty horrific year, Arianna Huffington has done us the great service of coming up with a long list of things she'd like to forget.

I'd agree completely.

Personally, it's been an amazing year for me, and sometimes it's hard to hold both the personal and the larger picture at the same time.

Intelligent Design 0, Reason 1

On 20 Dec, 2005 By mpm

As you probably heard, teaching Intelligent Design in the science classroom as an alternative to evolution has been deemed unconstitutional by a US district court. The emmenently rational judge said:

Jones condemned the "breathtaking inanity" of the policy of the board, all but one of whom have now been ousted by local voters. "Any asserted secular purposes by the Board are a sham and are merely secondary to a religious objective," he said.

I hope this is going to be the end of this, but somehow, I don't think it will be; there is something brewing in Michigan.

Living in a different state

On 13 Dec, 2005 By mpm

Until yesterday, I'd been quite taken with my newly adopted state of California. The Bay Area seems to be a fun place to live. On my trip down to Santa Barbara for Thanksgiving, I had a real appreciation for the beauty and landscape of California.

But I was surprised to learn how different it is to live in a state that executes people. When you live in Massachusetts, that's always happening elsewhere (like Texas, for instance.) You can feel superior, talk about how your state is more enlightened. You can be engaged in the national dialogue about it, go to protests, be involved in activism, but there's still a distance, it still happens somewhere else, not here.

Living in California is different. Tookie Willams was executed 15 miles from where I live now.

There were all sorts of things that were complex in this case, but the truth is, I don't care. I don't care whether he was innocent or guilty, I don't care whether or not he has been redeemed. I think we use those arguments to try and convince people that a particular person should be given clemency. I think we let those things get in the way of the real truth: we don't have the right to kill someone, no matter what they have done, or how they have behaved. That's what abolition means. Whether its the severely unequal way the death penalty is given, whether it's that sometimes innocent people will die, whether it's the hope of rehabilitation, whatever it is, those are important arguments, I guess, but they are, in some ways, beside the point. What matters is that the death penalty is wrong, period. Even if it could be guaranteed that no innocent person was ever executed. Even if we could be completely sure it was fairly given out by race and class. Even if we would make sure not to execute people who had become model prisoners. It still would be wrong. We used to know that, a while back, but we lost our way. It's time to find our way back.

Tidbits

On 09 Dec, 2005 By mpm

Finals

First, you might have noticed the blog entries have gotten a bit less frequent lately. That's because I'm in the throes of finals. Next week is the last week of classes, and I'm completely swamped. Don't be surprised not to see a blog entry until break.

Speaking of finals, my final project for the Art & Religion course, which has continued to be, er, a challenge for me, is up on the web. Enjoy.

Mysticism

I took a rare break last night, and went to an event at a place called Chochmat HaLev. It was a really interesting talk by a Sufi Imam and a Rabbi, about mysticism, and mystical traditions in Judaism and Islam. There was lots of food for thought, especially for me, given that I consider myself a mystic. One of the most interesting things was that they both said that mystics never stop asking the big questions.

They also talked about exoteric vs. esoteric experience, and how mystics not only must ground themselves in the exoteric experiences of their traditions (religious practice) but also find unity across traditions linking the esoteric experiences. This need to unify based on the esoteric is because we will never agree on the exoteric, which makes sense.

An interesting twist was that the Imam was a white American guy, and not born into Islamic tradition, whereas the Rabbi had been born Jewish. I wondered how that made a difference in their experience. I was reminded of Thomas Merton, who, apparently, when he was in Asia (where he died,) he wrote a letter to someone indicating that he had never really needed to leave. As someone who has chosen to return to the tradition of my birth, rather than stay in an adopted tradition, it was something I would have liked to ask. I've found that in some ways, I'm in the same exact place, asking lots of questions, and focusing on waking up. But in other ways, I'm in a very different place, because the exoteric has had profound influence on my esoteric experience.

Biting off the nose to spite the face

On 07 Dec, 2005 By mpm

I've talked about the idiotic antics of record companies before. There is the Sony DRM fiasco, the censoring of mashup albums, and now, they are stifling innovation by scaring software developers. The latest case is PearLyrics, that would do a web search for the currently running song in iTunes, then search the web for the lyrics, and then save the lyrics to the mp3 file. Warner music, for some really odd reason, thinks that this is a violation of copyright, and shut them down. I mean really! This is a tool that fans would use. That's right fans. The people who buy the music in the first place.

This is all completely silly. This is a great way to get people to 1) stop buying music, and 2) make artists realize that the record companies really don't care about them, and then start new enterprises on their own, to distribute music. In fact, some famous artists are making their own music stores, others are directly connecting with Apple to get their music on the iTunes music store, and independent online music distributors are popping up all over the place.

If record companies want to actually make it into the next decade, they'd better stop this nonsense.

My counterpart

On 02 Dec, 2005 By mpm

During the first session of what everyone here calls "the Bible class" - the large class that does history and archeology of the times of the Old and New Testaments, and during many other sessions after, I have wondered what it is my counterpart in a fundamentalist seminary, like, for instance Southern Seminary is learning. I like to think of this imaginary counterpart, someone who is conservative, born-again, and, of course, straight. What is she hearing? When we talk about the different kinds of ways people have thought about the canon, and how it got that way, what is she learning about that? While we discuss the lack of archeological evidence for the Exodus, what does she learn? While we learn that the book of Joshua is most likely entirely fictional, what does she learn? While we learn that much of the Old Testament was written during the Babylonian Exile, and thus had a very specific point of view, what does she learn? While we are learning about the rise of monotheism from polytheistic belief and practice, and the world view that created, for instance, the need for savior and messiah figures, what is she learning? When we talk about the fact that the gospels have conflicting accounts of Jesus' birth, what is she learning in order to deal with that (since, of course, she, and everyone around her, thinks the bible is inerrant?)

Today we had a rather, um, interesting discussion of the "Secret Gospel of Mark" which seemed, potentially, to question the celibacy of Jesus, in a particularly interesting manner. Hmmmm..... I doubt my counterpart even knows about the Secret Gospel of Mark.

I'm getting some clues by reading Feminary's blog - she's at Fuller Seminary.

Anyway, I keep thinking of my counterpart at Southern Seminary. I wonder if she thinks about me. I kinda doubt it.

Living in a science fiction novel

On 30 Nov, 2005 By mpm

Lately, I feel like I'm beginning to live in the science fiction I've been reading over my lifetime. First,  scientists have found large pockets of frozen water underneath the surface of Mars. If any of you read the excellent trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson, Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars, you'll understand that lots of frozen water on Mars is necessary for terraforming it.

The next story is about global climate change. Some scientists have been measuring the ocean currents that keep Europe warmer than it would be otherwise, and have found a 30% drop in the amount of warm water in that current. A failure in this current, which, in fact, has been predicted, would send Europe into another ice age. How fun. In the Kim Stanely Robinson series, what propels people to terraform Mars is that they screw up the earth so much, that it's kinda necessary.

And if any of you have read Mother of Storms, a book that was basically very good, although it had a completely unnecessary, and kinda disturbing subplot. Anyway, it feels like this year was taken right out of that book. The premise is that global climate change makes hurricanes so bad, that we get a huge, huge mega storm, that destroys quite a lot. Not that I think that we'll really get there, but here's an interesting little tidbit from the New York Times today:

"This hurricane season shattered records that have stood for decades-most named storms, most hurricanes and most Category 5 storms," the undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere, retired Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher Jr., said in a statement issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "Arguably, it was the most devastating hurricane season the country has experienced in modern times."

But NOAA, which operates the National Weather Service, also warned that the busy season was part of "a trend likely to continue for years to come," extending an active hurricane cycle that began in 1995. The increase in the number and intensity of tropical storms and hurricanes can span multiple decades, NOAA said, stimulated by low wind shear and warmer-than-average surface temperatures in the Atlantic Basin, among other factors.

Hold on to your hats. Or, if you are a science fiction reader, DON'T go back and read The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner (originally published back in the 70s). It will just completely depress you. Thankfully I gave away my copy.

Soulforce

On 29 Nov, 2005 By mpm

I was about to write yet another scathing post about the intolerance and persecution complex of the religious right, when I came across this really good post on Street Prophets. It's worth a read. It's about Soulforce, Inc. which is a group working whose mission statement starts with "The purpose of Soulforce is freedom for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people from religious and political oppression through the practice of relentless nonviolent resistance."

What struck me was this, which is the Soulforce Credo:

  1. I believe that my adversary is also a child of the Creator, that we are both members of the same human family, that we are sisters and brothers in need of reconciliation.

  2. I believe that my adversary is not my enemy, but a victim of misinformation as I have been.

  3. I believe that my only task is to bring my adversary truth in love (nonviolence) relentlessly.

  4. I believe that my adversary's motives are as pure as mine and of no relevance to our discussion.

  5. I believe that even my worst adversary has an amazing potential for positive change.

  6. I believe that my adversary may have an insight into truth that I do not have.

  7. I believe that one day my adversary and I will understand each other and that if we conduct our search for truth guided by the principles of love, we will find a new position to satisfy us both.\

Ouch. So much for scathing posts for today. I think thoughtfulness is going to win out.

Coming out in a new way

On 28 Nov, 2005 By mpm

As those of you that have been reading this blog know, it's been a very changing few months for me. There are changes that have happened in ways, and into directions that have surprised me, and that I have least expected. I know that going to seminary is generally a life-changing sort of thing for people, it certainly has proved to be that for me.

A couple of weeks ago, a peice I'd written for Logos, which is our PSR student newsletter, was printed, about my journey back to Christianity. I decided it was time to post the longer version that piece came from. Comments are more than welcome.

The trouble with mercenaries

On 28 Nov, 2005 By mpm

I've been thinking about the issue of soldiers-for-hire, or "military contractors" or, just plain mercenaries, which is what they are, and what I will call them from now on. One of the things that has made the Iraq war unique has been the way the US has depended upon mercenaries to do a wide range of tasks in Iraq. From being bodyguards, to interrogation, to security details, these soldiers-for-hire are an essential part of the war, and, I imagine, it would be difficult for our military to pull off the war without them (there is a nice review of this at the website for the PBS show, Frontline, they did a episode called "Private Warriors")

You might have heard about the newest troubling news about mercenaries. There is a video making its way across the net, which seems to show some of them randomly shooting at Iraqi civilians as if they were doing target practice. (This video, although it is not in any way gory, since everything is at a distance, is nonetheless extremely disturbing, between what it portrays, and that someone actually felt it appropriate to release this video with an upbeat soundtrack.)

Indeed, there have been problems between the US military and mercenaries for a while in Iraq. Although it's not altogether clear what the problems are. It even seems that one military officer might have taken his own life, in part because ethics issues with mercenaries.

The major problem of free market capitalism from my perspective is that the markets, when dealing with life and death issues, really don't do the job well, and in a way that is of positive benefit to people. This is because, in the end, the most important thing is money, not people. So when push comes to shove, whether it be in who gets hired, or what happens, the bottom line is the bottom line, not things like ethics, or the greater good for humans or the planet.

The Iraq war from the get go was unjust and unethical. But if you leave that aside for a moment, it is my argument that even in a just war (I'm not sure that one of those exists, but that's a subject for another post,) the use of mercenaries will always be unethical, because their goal is simply to turn a profit. Ethics will always lose an argument with the bottom line, and that is something, whether it be in war, health care, or agriculture, is a big problem.

Women in SF Meme

On 27 Nov, 2005 By mpm

OK, we have a new meme running now, a list of Science Fiction books by women. Yay!

Bold the ones you read and liked, strike out the ones you didn't like, and italicize the ones you haven't read yet but want to.

1. Parable of the Sower/Parable of the Talents -- Octavia Butler\ 2. Lathe of Heaven -- Ursula K. LeGuin\ 3. The Visitor -- Sherri Tepper\ 4. Vorkosigan Series -- Lois McMaster Bujold\ 5. Cyteen -- C.J. Cherryh\ 6. Pilgrimage: The Book of the People -- Zenna Henderson\ 7. Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang -- Kate Wilhelm\ 8. The Left Hand of Darkness -- Ursula K. Leguin\ 9. The Snow Queen -- Joan Vinge\ 10. Extra(ordinary) People -- Joanna Russ\ 11. Doomsday Book -- Connie Willis\ 12. Downbelow Station -- C.J. Cherryh\ 13. Freedom's Landing -- Anne McCaffrey\ 14. Forerunner Foray -- Andre Norton\ 15. Don't Bite The Sun -- Tanith Lee\ 16. Up The Walls of The World -- James Tiptree, Jr.\ 17. Star Songs -- James Tiptree, Jr./Raccoona Sheldon\ 18. Fire Watch -- Connie Willis\ 19. Holding Wonder -- Zenna Henderson\ 20. Dreamsnake -- Vonda McIntyre

My emerging radicalism

On 25 Nov, 2005 By mpm

After having read some blog entries, my father made a comment about how radical I was. It kinda made me think a little, about my political and social views, and whether or how they have changed over my life. It is certainly partially because of my parents that I started with a baseline understanding of social justice. And I've been an environmentalist since I read "Silent Spring" in junior high school.\

As some of you know, I spent 4 years as a fundamentalist way back when (1976-1980 - luckily before the real rise of the religious right.) Because of the ways in which Christian churches are both percieved and operate in the world now, and that background, I have generally thought of Christianity (at least organized Christianity) as being to the right of where I am (sometimes, to the far right.) So in my journey back toward Christianity, as I've been thinking a lot about my spiritual beliefs and points of view, I've been thinking some about my political and social views as well, and I've realized that I've been paying attention to the points of view of those around me.

Living at "Progressive Christian Central," as I am now nicknaming PSR (somehow, I don't think they'll mind,) I'm pretty well ensconced among people who think a fair bit (or a lot) like me, at the same time as I am around a lot of Christians. That's been pretty interesting.

One of the things I've realized is that if anything, my spiritual development over the past year, and my continuing and increasing exploration of who this Jesus guy was, is making me more politically and socially radical. More adamant about nonviolence and justice for all people, more focused in stopping and really thinking about the life I am leading, and the lifestyle of America.

I had a wonderful conversation with a friend of mine while we were walking on the beach yesterday. It was about living a life of "being" more than "doing." Of being more present with the world, and each other, and less interested in what we can accomplish, or what we can get done, or what our status is in the world. In doing good work because we want to, and love it, not because of what we can get paid for it. In being positive change in the world, by doing what we love, and what seems to need doing (in my case, it's working with people, in hers, animals,) without much of a care to the "normal" ways we are supposed to live in the world (material goods, status, etc.)

So what does this have to do with changing the world?

There is the part about doing work that needs doing that is positive in the world. By not buying (figuratively and literally) into the ways in which we're "supposed" to live our lives, we can begin to heal the planet, and to perhaps create a reality where everyone can get what they need, instead of some getting what they want, and others having less than they need. And we need to remember our limited, and unlimited power in the world. We have limited power as individuals in the extent to which we can change the ways things are. But, I have unlimited power every decision I make, and in how I interact with every single person I come into contact with, each moment of the day.

I think it's this unlimited power of decisions and interactions that we tend to pay the least attention to. But, it might be the most important power. More important than the power of our single votes, the power of our donations, more than the hours we spend working for change. Because, after all, the world is made up of an infinite number of connections and decisions, and each one has unexpected effect.

I have a friend who had a housemate, who I'd met a few times briefly. One day this summer, I ran into this housemate in the laundromat, and she told me that she was leaving Western Mass, and moving to Bellingham, WA. I asked why she was moving. She said that she'd always wanted to move to Washington, and decided that it was finally time to go and follow her dream of living there. I said something like following dreams are a good idea, and she explained that it was learning about my decision to go to seminary that had inspired her to follow her heart to Washington. I was completely stunned. I'd hardly spent 10 minutes total talking with her, so it wasn't knowing about the details of what I'd decided to do - it was just that I'd made a decision to follow my heart that helped her to do the same. And who knows who'll she'll touch and connect with in WA that she wouldn't have otherwise. And I know that my decision to go to seminary wasn't just out of thin air, it was my accumulated experience and connection with others and others' life decisions.

So can we make the world a better place by living a life of being, rather than doing, connecting in positive authentic ways with each person we meet, and making decisions from our hearts? I think maybe we can.

Happy Buy Nothing Day!!

On 25 Nov, 2005 By mpm

Today is Buy Nothing Day. It was started years ago, by Adbusters Magazine, to challenge us about rampant consumerism, which is a good part of the problem in the post about global warming I just made.

Some folks have started the idea of a Buy Nothing Christmas. It was started by Canadian Mennonites. Here is part of the statement about the why of Buy Nothing Christmas:

My longer answer involves thoughts on faithfulness, authenticity, empowerment, and experimentation. In terms of faithfulness, I have this profound sense that somehow everyone is connected. This is what my intuition tells me. I also hear it from people talking about globalization. The new physicists, and weather watchers talk about it too. In my studies of Buddhism I learned the fundamental principle of inter-dependent co-origination. In my Christian development, I have come to see God everywhere and in all things. So, when it comes to Christmas consumer spending, my faith in God compels me to think of all my brothers and sisters all over the globe, although I'm quick to get caught up in my immediate cares and tend to forget about this. Or, I get overwhelmed and do the bare minimum. So, my participation in Buy Nothing Christmas, directs me to a larger, spiritual perspective on the season.

Read the rest. It's good. Makes lots of sense to me. You don't have to go all the way, and buy absolutely nothing. But you can start small:

Can I be a part of Buy Nothing Christmas even if I buy a few things? Definitely. We are all going to have to buy some things. When you do buy things, we encourage you to remember principles like buying locally, fairly-traded, environmentally friendly packaging, recycling or re-using, buying things that last, and so on. The main aim of this campaign is not to save money (although that can be a side benefit), it's not to slow down the pace of Christmas (although that can be a side benefit), it is to challenge our over-consumptive lifestyle and how it affects global disparities and the earth. So, even though you might buy a few things at Christmas, it's important to think in these global economic terms.

It's been a whole month ...

On 25 Nov, 2005 By mpm

Since I've posted anything on the environment, so now seems like a good time.

Three pieces of interesting and alarming news in the past week:

Scientists studying ice cores in Antartica have found that there is more Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere than at any time in the last 650,000 years. "The levels of carbon dioxide have climbed from 280 parts per million two centuries ago to 380 p.p.m. today." That is a 36% rise in just 200 years.

Today's still rising level of carbon dioxide already is 27% higher than its peak during all those millennia, said lead researcher Thomas Stocker of the University of Bern in Switzerland."We are out of that natural range today," he said.\ Moreover, that rise is occurring at a speed that "is over a factor of a hundred faster than anything we are seeing in the natural cycles," Stocker added. "It puts the present changes in context."\ The team found similar results for methane, another greenhouse gas.

Second piece of news is that the glaciers in Greenland are retreating faster and faster:

The latest surveys of large glaciers in Greenland have exposed an alarming step-up in melting that threatens to raise global sea levels far faster than the best climate models have predicted.

The third piece of news comes from the Himalayan region. Glaciers are melting rapidly, leading to floods, when the lakes fed by the glaciers over fill, and break through their banks. A study in Nature suggests that at first, there will be problems with floods and the like, as these lakes get filled with water. But then, as the glaciers melt, there will be a severe lack of water, leading to little water in the rivers fed by these lakes, and over all drought.

I think that's enough for now. I need to find something positive to blog about soon...

Science Fiction Book Meme

On 24 Nov, 2005 By mpm

Given my status as a long time science fiction fan, I couldn't resist this. It's a meme going around in the Linuxchix Live community. Bold what you've read, strike out what you don't like, italicize what you'd like to read but haven't yet...

1. The HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy -- Douglas Adams\ 2. Nineteen Eighty-Four -- George Orwell\ 3. Brave New World -- Aldous Huxley\ 4. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? -- Philip K. Dick\ 5. Neuromancer -- William Gibson\ 6. Dune -- Frank Herbert\ 7. I, Robot -- Isaac Asimov\ 8. Foundation -- Isaac Asimov\ 9. The Colour of Magic -- Terry Pratchett\ 10. Microserfs -- Douglas Coupland -- is this science fiction?\ 11. Snow Crash -- Neal Stephenson\ 12. Watchmen -- Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons\ 13. Cryptonomicon -- Neal Stephenson\ 14. Consider Phlebas -- Iain M Banks\ 15. Stranger in a Strange Land -- Robert Heinlein\ 16. The Man in the High Castle -- Philip K Dick\ 17. ~~American Gods~~ -- Neil Gaiman\ 18. The Diamond Age -- Neal Stephenson\ 19. The Illuminatus! Trilogy -- Robert Shea & Robert Anton Wilson\ 20. Trouble with Lichen - John Wyndham

There's one [big]{.underline} problem with this meme: the above list doesn't have any books by women. So I've added some:

21. Parable of the Sower/Parable of the Talents -- Octavia Butler\ 22. Lathe of Heaven -- Ursala LeGuin\ 23. The Visitor -- Sherri Tepper\ 24. Vorkosigan Series -- Lois McMaster Bujold\ 25. Cyteen -- C.J. Cherryh

Guy Adams, wingnut

On 24 Nov, 2005 By mpm

I've been remiss in giving out this (the People Who Are Out of Their Minds) award - I think it's been a couple of weeks. Partially, there are just so many candidates, I can't keep track. But this week, thanks, as usual, to Jesus Politics, I have a wonderful award winner - Guy Adams.

Read his full screed, if you wish, although I think it's a waste of your good time. I'll give you some salient pieces. He takes on the role of "chastising the church" because he thinks the "choir is asleep."

... hate speech laws will eventually outlaw the church, bit by bit --- long before the state might otherwise deem that it need be so. It'll come --- maybe next year, maybe this year, or maybe in ten years, but it will arrive.

I imagine this must be after the religious right packs the supreme court and federal courts with right wing appointments...

Mark my words: though we are called to love and forgive them, in their minds [we are their mortal enemy]{.underline}. What they cannot obtain by vote, they seek to procure by federal judicial activism. Time is so short. To me, it's as clear as anything I've ever seen. (emphasis in original)

The only reason for us to be enemies is this attitude of all or nothing. They either get to have a theocracy, which obligates everyone to follow their own idea of morality, behavior and daily life, or they are an oppressed and persecuted people, who we are trying hard to eliminate. I have a hard time getting my mind wrapped around this attitude.\

I may be wrong, but I can't help but think that somehow, to some degree, God is more or less still behind America.

Sounds a lot like Guy worships a god that condones the killing of innocent people for no good reason, torture, the death penalty, incredibly economic inequities and lying politicians. I often think that they do, in fact, worship a different god than I do.

One reader said that occasionally I sound angry --- Yes, over these issues I am, but some of YOU are not angry enough! God is angry over these perverted deportations from His plan for America once enjoined, but now departing.

Hmmmm. What chapter and verse is "God's plan for America?" I must have missed that one. For a group of people who think that God's revelation stopped with the book of Revelations, they take all sorts of liberties, don't they?

The Religious Right get Christmas wrong

On 22 Nov, 2005 By mpm

Not that this is a suprise, since, in my not so humble opinion, they get Christianity wrong.

Many right-wing Christian organizations are engaged this year, like many past years, in an effort to combat what they say is a "war" on Christmas. The American Family Association is boycotting Target - if you're a good Christian, you won't shop for presents there. Jerry Falwell has a new campaign, called the "Friend or Foe" Christmas campaign, which promises to sue anyone that they think is spreading misinformation about public displays of Christmas symbols. Any anyone who doesn't agree entirely with them, is, of course, a foe.\

What I find fascinating about all of this is that they are fighting for something that really isn't the holiday it should be, if you are actually reading the book they seem to take so seriously. First off, the date, as everyone knows, is wrong. People don't even really know what year Jesus was born in, let alone what month. Christmas was the appropriation of the pagan holiday of Yule by the Christian church.

And there is no question that Christmas should be a happy holiday - the religious significance of the birth of Jesus, as well as the character of the pagan holiday (the return of the light) would make it so. But I do think that Jesus would look askance at the holiday that we have today. The holiday buying season is one of the most important economic parts of the year (it's what allows many companies to make a profit), and helps to keep the economic system of the United States afloat. An economic system that is, in its fundamentals, injust. If you recall, what got Jesus most angry was injustice, economic injustice was one of those at the top of his list.

I have a suggestion for those Christians (not, of course, that any of them read this blog, but whatever) who think that there is a "war" on Christmas, and want a "real" Christmas (one Jesus would be proud of):  boycott every store. Spread cheer not by telling everyone to have a "Merry Christmas" but by listening to what this time is for them, and wishing them the best. Give lots of presents to the poor. Go visit some folks in prison who don't have any family to visit them. Send poinsettas to the hospital to people you don't know. Go to church during Advent, and think really hard about the message Jesus came to bring. And no, it's not "if you're not with us, you're against us." Really. Go read the book.

Speaking of ...

On 21 Nov, 2005 By mpm

... the Christian Right, I finished my final project for the Art and Religion class. It's a video about their hypocrisy. My good friend Cindy is going to post about it, so I figured I'd beat her to the punch. :-)

Note: if you have dial up, don't even think about trying to download it. It's way too big. Sorry. If you are really interested, I'll send you a DVD.

Talk to Action

On 21 Nov, 2005 By mpm

I'm not sure how I managed to make my way into this stellar group, but I'm part of the crew launching the new blog, called Talk to Action. This site is focused on the theocratic Christian Right, and how to counter it. Fred Clarkson, one of the founders, has a great post on Kos, which explains the why and wherefore of the site. Team members include the bloggers I've been reading and posting on for a while, like Pastordan of Street Prophets, Carlos Stouffer of Jesus Politics,  Bruce Prescott of Mainstream Baptist, Scott Isebrand of Religious Right Watch, and Lorie Johnson of Dark Christianity. There are other great writers on the team as well.

Check it out, sign up for an account, and add it to your newsfeed. It's good stuff. Like Kos and Street Prophets, it's collaborative, so you can write diaries related to the topics we cover.

Bad Sony, no Biscuit

On 17 Nov, 2005 By mpm

I imagine by now, you've heard about the Sony Music CD brou-ha-ha. In the interest of laying it all out for those who might not have heard details, and explain why you should care, try my hand at providing an explanation. In addition, this serves my not-so-noble purpose of procrastinating from reading the Gospel of Mark for tomorrow.

As you probably already know, record companies have been in somewhat of a battle over the course of the last few years against what they see as the danger of illegal music copying. They think that people ripping CDs, and then providing those tracks on networks is why CD sales are dropping. (CD sales are really dropping because people don't want to pay \$14+ for an album with 2 or 3 good songs on it.)

So in their very, very finite wisdom, some record companies have taken to installing varied kinds of copy protection schemes (called Digital Rights Management, or DRM) on their CDs to control your ability to rip tracks from a CD (EFF has, as usual, a fabulous summary.) These have been, uniformly, failures for one reason or another. Some can be defeated with a simple magic marker. Some by other techniques. The latest fiasco is Sony's software. This is, by far the worst scheme, and, luckily, it has fallen the furthest.

If you played one of these discs, Sony's DRM is software would install, without your knowledge, what is called a 'rootkit' (if you were running Windows. Macs, however, aren't completely safe.) A rootkit is a nasty beast, because it basically allows for complete control of your computer. Rootkits are things that are the bane of systems administrators - they are used by hackers to gain control of computers. Futher, Sony's rootkit would phone home about what music you were playing.

People have found that this rootkit opens up security holes, and a trojan horse (a nasty piece of software that masquerades as something benign) has been found that takes advantage of this hole. And, the uninstaller, apparently, opens up security holes. By the way, there are supposedly more than 1/2 million of these rootkits installed, with virus writers salivating (no, they are already working on them) to make viruses that take advantage of the rootkit. It's apparently very easy.

Bad, bad Sony. The good news is that it seems that the music industry can't seem to get DRM right (in fact, there are people who think, and I think rightly, that DRM will never work.) Sony has not only stopped making discs with this software, but they have recalled them. You can get yours replaced.

But it gets worse. It turns out, that people have found open source code in the DRM software. So, Sony (or, more accurately, First4Internet, the company that wrote the code) used open source code, without attribution, or without making available their code (a requirement if you use open source code) to create software whose purpose is diametrically opposed to the ethos of open source. They cheated. They used someone else's intellectual property, in ways that violate the license of that software. Yes, they violated copyright so that they could try to force you not to violate copyright.

First off, I think this will make any record company much more careful about what they try to put on their CDs. I also hope this will make people much more careful about what CDs they stick in their computer. And I hope this will cause a consumer backlash against DRM that will sink it forever into the pit of failed attempts at controlling people.

The hubris of this is amazing to me. They basically allow us to pay them for the priviledge of infecting our computers, and controlling how, when, and on what device we play our music. This doesn't help the artists, no matter what they say. My hope is that more and more artists will go to places like Magnatune, or distribute their music themselves - which you can do a lot easier now a days than you used to be able to. Sony, I think, is showing us that it's time for a new paradigm.

Taking a huge leap

On 14 Nov, 2005 By mpm

Yesterday, I made a huge step. At least it feels huge, and, I think, to many of you reading this blog, it might sound huge. I joined a new church. Now, one would think that this would not be a big deal. I am a seminarian, preparing for ministry, after all. I should have a home religous community now that I am a few thousand miles away from where I started. In fact, if you know me, it would be kinda odd for me not to, at least eventually, settle into one faith community during most of my stay here in Berkeley. Perhaps not quite this soon, but likely in the first year sometime. That was certainly the plan, anyway.

But the big step part is that the church I joined is not a Unitarian Universalist church. It's called New Spirit Community Church, and I've blogged about it before. I couldn't help it, it was one of those things I couldn't not do (kinda like going to seminary). Actually, the associate pastor joked to me after the service, "resistance is futile." I smiled. He was right.

New Spirit is an amazing community. It is, at the same time, both fully committed to facilitating the deepening of spiritual practice among it's congregation, as well as working on social justice issues. (And it accomplishes both admirably.) Sunday services are enthusiastic, interesting, embracing, inclusive, and sometimes suprising (oh, and a lot of fun - they give out percussion instruments for the congregation to use during singing, for example.) It's Wednesday Taizé services are contemplative and heart-opening. The consciously use inclusive language of reverence, so it's standard to hear "Holy One," or "God/Goddess," or "Mother/Father God." They have an open communion each Sunday.

It is fully affiliated with the United Church of Christ and the Metropolitan Community Churches, and is "In Care" with the Disciples of Christ. (It is, by the way, the only church with this multiple affiliation. It was planted by MCC San Francisco.)\

Here's part of their mission statement:

  • We are a welcoming and affirming community creating a spiritual home.
  • We value sustenance through embodied worship that is deeply spiritual, prayerful and God-centered.
  • We value the continuing creation of healing spiritual practices from ecstatic to contemplative.
  • We courageously seek and celebrate diversity and justice.
  • As a Christian-based community, we seek to live out God's unconditional love through acts of compassion and social justice.

I feel at completely at home there. It's a bit of a surprise, but then, not so much. There's way more to write about what all this means for me, but I think this is enough for today.

Science, God and Intelligent Design

On 14 Nov, 2005 By mpm

First, a short preface note. For those of you that might not know, I was trained, and worked as, a biologist for almost 20 years (if you count graduate school.) I know evolutionary theory, and I know science.

E.O. Wilson says, in an introduction to a new compilation of the work of Charles Darwin:

So, will science and religion find common ground, or at least agree to divide the fundamentals into mutually exclusive domains? A great many well-meaning scholars believe that such rapprochement is both possible and desirable. A few disagree, and I am one of them. I think Darwin would have held to the same position. The battle line is, as it has ever been, in biology. The inexorable growth of this science continues to widen, not to close, the tectonic gap between science and faith-based religion.

This "tectonic gap" between science and faith-based religion is in his imagination, and, unfortunately, in the imagination of many scientists, and religious leaders. It is unfortunate that most people in the United States don't "believe" in the theory of evolution, and think, for some reason, that one can't "believe" in the theory of evolution and be a Christian, or believe in God at the same time. Nothing could be further than the truth.

He states, and I completely agree, that evolution is a fact. It's as real as the theory of gravity. Just because people don't believe it, doesn't make it not so. I could believe I could defy the theory of gravity all I wanted, but I would still die if I fell off a 20 story building.

Western Science is based on things that observe the laws of nature, things that are observable and repeatable. Futher, the results of scientific inquiry are dependent on the social location, world view, and assumptions of those doing the science. But there is no question that the current life present on this planet was a result of a very long, and very interesting process, taking millions of years.

He, and many scientists like him (for example, Richard Dawkins) think that science can tell you more than it really can. He says:

... all biological processes arose through evolution of these physicochemical systems through natural selection. The first principle is concerned with the how of biology. The second is concerned with the ways the systems adapted to the environment over periods of time long enough for evolution to occur --- in other words the why of biology.

No, that is not the why of biology, that's just more how. The why of biology, why is it that this process started in the first place, cannot be answered by science, as much as he'd like to think it can.

Fully half of this brou-ha-ha about evolution and intelligent design I blame on scientists like him. The theory of evolution does not suggest that there is no God. It has nothing to say on the matter, no matter how much they would like it to.  And the other half of the brou-ha-ha goes to people who want to put God in a box, and decide how exactly it was she went about putting this whole universe together. And, further, to impose that belief system on everyone else, in the guise of being science.

Neither camp is talking about science, and I wipe my hands of both of them. Athiests are completely free to believe what ever they'd like, and I am not one to impose my faith on them or anyone else, thus my adamant stance that intelligent design should not be taught in science classrooms. But athiests do have to, at some point, agree that theirs is as much a faith statement as mine is. There is no scientific evidence either way, and there likely will never be, given the nature of science.

God is huge, mysterious, ineffable, and extraordinarily interesting. Whenever we think we know what or who God is, we are wrong, because we, as humans, can't know, we can only see small parts of what God is. Christians would never think of denegrating the wonder of God's creation. Well, I have news for you: evolution is part of it. Get used to it.

Fun thing to do...

On 12 Nov, 2005 By mpm

Dylan, one of my favorite bloggers (I've told you to read her blogs, right?) has a fun thing, apparently making it's way across the net. Google your name, add the word 'needs' and list the top 10 things you find. Here's mine:

1. Michelle needs your help.\ 2. Michelle needs her own reality TV show.\ 3. Michelle needs a home that can accept her limitations.\ 4. Michelle needs money so she can travel to Canada.\ 5. Michelle needs a good man to care for her.\ 6. Michelle needs to do everything better than everyone else.\ 7. Michelle needs a family that will be patient, consistent, kind, loving.\ 8. Michelle needs to extend her arm parallel to the ground.\ 9. Michelle needs to spend some of her newly acquired wealth on attending a USGA rules seminar or two.\ 10. Michelle needs to run reports where Org 23450 is not the Project (Responsible).

I couldn't help adding a few others I found:

11. Michelle needs to visit one of those awful liberal indoctrination camps\ 12. Michelle needs another job so I can clear my conscience for possibly messing up her career.\ 13. Michelle needs to expand her empire\ 14. Michelle needs resources who are 'more orthodox than the Pope' but not 'more Catholic than the Pope'\ 15. Michelle needs to get with the program.

How far will they go? How long will we allow it?

On 10 Nov, 2005 By mpm

A post on what's going on around torture, and the amazing extent to which this administration will go to not only defend its use, but to promote it, has been brewing in my brain for weeks, now, and it doesn't seem to be gelling. Just around the time it began gelling, it got ungelled by the newer stuff around the possible use of Napalm and White phosphorus by our troops in Iraq.

That link above (from Kos) has lots of good info that I won't repeat here. There was also an Italian documentary (video) that has more claims, some disputed, apparently.

Not that any of this is new, of course. We have a long history of using nasty weapons against people, both military and civilian. And we have an entire infrastructure (DARPA, which also gave us the internet) designed to find new and interesting ways to kill people.

Luckily, much of the congress, at least, understands the issues of torture, and is working to stop its use by the administration. Many communities of faith have made statements condemming the use of torture. 

Let's get real here. We are the world's only superpower, and there isn't much anyone can do to really, honestly hurt us as a country. China, the only country a reasonable person might suggest is close militarily, would be committing suicide to attack us, given the fact that their economy largely depends on us. Yes, 9/11 was horrible, but likely at least an order of magnitude more innocents have now died in our "war on terror". I think enough is enough. We don't need torture, nor chemical weapons, nor invasions to solve the war on terror. If anything, that all makes it so much worse.

How long are we going to let this go on? I know I'm pretty much preaching to the converted, and I'm realizing this feels much like stuff I've said in 20 zillion ways before, but I'm getting pretty tired of reading new and nasty things each day about what we're doing to other people in the name of our "war on terror." I think it's time for a "peace on terror." Responding to terror with peace is the only thing that will stop it. More violence whether it be conventional, or unconventional (torture and chemical weapons) is, as we see vividly every single day (like today's attack in Jordan) only perpetuates the problem, it doesn't ever solve it.

Ponderings about church and state

On 09 Nov, 2005 By mpm

A press release by the organization called Americans United for Separation of Church and State made me ponder. The background is the recent news that a church in Pasadena, CA (All Saints Episcopal Church) is being investigated by the IRS because of an anti-war sermon. Here is their concluding paragraph:

"In conclusion, let me say this: Religious leaders have every right to speak out on the issues of the day. However, Americans do not need and do not want their houses of worship to become partisan. Electioneering in our pulpits violates federal tax law and threatens our nation with the kind of bitter religious and political divisiveness that has harmed societies around the world."

I have always been, as long as I've understood the concept, completely committed to the ideal of the separation of church and state. I do believe that all people in this country have a right not only to worship in any way they wish, but to be free from religion if they wish. I think that religion has no place in public schools, I don't agree with Bush's faith-based initiatives, and I don't think that the government should be spending a penny that goes towards any faith-based group.

Further, tax-exempt status is a privileged position, and allows churches to have buildings free of property taxes, have parishioners give to their churches with a tax deduction, and allows a church to buy things it needs without paying sales tax. And, thus, I think it is completely appropriate that organizations with tax exempt status be limited in the kinds of things they can say about politicians and issues facing voters in an election, and the kinds of lobbying they can do.

But as someone who, perhaps, will someday become a religious leader, it makes me uneasy that the kind of speech in a church, and the kinds of actions a church can take, is controlled by tax-exempt status. First, it means that when there is a candidate or ballot issue, for whatever reason, that has values that are diametrically opposed to our faith community, that we may, in some ways, be unable to talk about that directly. Second, it makes it possible for communities of faith to be harassed, depending upon who is in power. Right now, it means more progressive faith communities might be challenged more than conservative ones.

No, we don't want our communities of faith to become partisan - that's one of the big issues we're dealing with now, with the "unholy" alliance between conservative Christians and the Republicans. But given the divisions in this country, and what is at stake, I have to wonder about what it is that is so important about tax-exempt status. Could communities of faith survive without it? I believe, in the next 10-50 years, the actions (or lack of actions) we in this country take, in all of our everyday lives, as well as larger political decisions, are going to decide basically whether or not the human race continues with a semblance of civilization into the next century. It's that important. Is tax-exempt status worth it?

I know, hairbrained. I welcome any thoughts. Thanks, as usual to Jesus Politics for the heads up on the press release.

Officially a Californian, and other trivia

On 08 Nov, 2005 By mpm

Things do change. I think that although sometimes change can be jarring, and difficult, change is, utimately, I think a good thing.

I voted in California today. First time I've voted outside of Massachusetts in 16 years. It mostly was easy, a bunch of ballot initiatives foisted on the electorate by the other Republican Governor (or, shall we say, Governator) of a blue state. Yesterday, I got California plates for my car, and a California license is coming in the mail. I also got a new cell phone, with a local number (I was getting incredibly tired of the completely lousy reception that Sprint has in Berkeley. I have 5 bars in my room now, in comparison with the usual 1, or at best 2.)

I'm also continuing to shed stuff. (BTW, shedding stuff is good for you.) I sold off the big iMac I'd bought much earlier this year. I realized that I use my computer like 20% of the time I used to, and reading email, surfing the web, writing papers, and terminal sessions just don't require the big screen and power I had, and that I could use the money more. I am also shedding my palm. Yes, you read it here first. That little piece of equipment that you've all seen attached to my body for the last, er, 10 years, I think, is gone. My schedule is so unchanging, and I have so few things outside of classes, that I pretty much know it by heart. I print out a paper schedule maybe once every other week, and that's it.

But, life is still good, even when things change a lot. More on change, you can be sure, to follow.

One line

On 04 Nov, 2005 By mpm

Scream{width="250" height="237"} In a harrowing story about the Israeli army using high speed planes to create sonic booms (28 in one week, many in the middle of the night) over the Gaza strip, the one of the last lines of the news story is this:

"The military was forced to apologize after one of the sonic booms was unintentionally heard hundreds of kilometers inside Israel last week."

So it's really OK if they cause stress, miscarriages and anxiety in innocent Palestinians, who have experienced probably hundreds of sonic booms by now, but it's not OK if people inside Israel are scared by one.

There's lots more info on this on BoingBoing, but I'm using this to inagurate a new topic, called "Inhumanity". Think of this topic as the worst examples of how we, everyday, break, or condone in some way the breaking of the "Love thy neighbor as thyself" commandment.

In lieu of Friday Cat Blogging...

On 04 Nov, 2005 By mpm

This makes some sense. I'm a little perplexed that I'm almost deranged, and dissapointed that I'm not enough of a love machine. Oh well... 

You scored as Nerd Cat. Holy crap, poindexter. Try buying some
new specs instead of taping them together. Yeah, Bill Gates made a
lot of money, but he's also the devil. You've got a long way to
go. Nerd Cat 58%
Derranged Cat 42%
Couch Potato Cat 33%
Drunk Cat 17% Ninja Cat 17%
Love Machine Cat 8% Pissed at the World Cat 0% Which Absurd Cat are you?\
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QuizFarm.com]{style="font-size: 0.6em;"}

One heck of a credit card bill!

On 03 Nov, 2005 By mpm

This is staggering. Bush has borrowed more money than all 42 other presidents before him combined. Presidents one through 42 borrowed \$1.01 Trillion dollars total from foreign banks and governments. #43 has borrowed \$1.05 trillion. Guess who is going to be paying that bill? Not the wealthy, you can bet.

Avian Flu: Are we in danger?

On 03 Nov, 2005 By mpm

I haven't yet blogged on the Avian Flu issue because I've been pretty unsure about it, even with my scientific training. On one hand, there definitely seems to be some evidence, and reasonable suggestions that avian flu is a possible real danger to the world. On the other hand, it's not a danger yet, and it is very hard to tell whether or not it will become one.

Here's what I know so far:

  • As of November 1, Avian Flu (H5N1) has killed approximately 62 people, and infected 122 people in the world, all in Asia (WHO data).
  • The virus H5N1 has been found in birds throughout Asia, and recently in Europe.
  • Flu Viruses commonly mutate and change
  • The 1918 flu pandemic, which killed 25 to 50 million people over the world was indeed an avian flu virus strain that had mutated to be easily transmitted from person to person
  • There is, at this point, no vaccine for a potential human form of avian flu
  • There is a flu treatment, called Tamiflu, made by Roche, which has been getting a lot of media attention, and people are stockpiling it (although there is no evidence it works agains H5N1 in humans, only mice, and H5N1 may be getting resistant to it already.)

Some people think there is a conspiracy to use avian flu for profit. Some think there is a conspiracy to use avian flu as a fear tactic (so that some can profit). The CDC and WHO, however, are taking avian flu quite seriously, which gives me pause. They are very reasonable organizations, run by scientists, who know their stuff. There is no question, however, that the US is not ready for a flu pandemic. As we are well aware, the US is basically not ready for anything.

So, should we worry about it? On one hand, we know that the administration has, and will continue, to use fear (in this specific case, fear of a pandemic) to their own ends, whether they be political, geopolitical or economic. They use fear to prevent us from asking the right questions and digging deeper. They use fear to make it imaginable for us to give up our rights, and to keep us reaching for the easy answers (or easy products) to help us cope. This is what allows them to do horrible things in our name, and keeps money flowing into particular kinds of pockets.

On the other hand, there is a danger of pandemic, and as we see in the case of Katrina and Wilma, the US can't seem to cope with large scale disasters. If there were in fact a global flu pandemic, I'd be hard pressed to imagine the US being able to deal with it effectively. I can imagine that we'd have a lot of people affected, and, well, we all know who they would be.

We are in the worst case scenario: a constant state of fear about mostly unrealistic dangers, an incredible infrastructure to protect against extremely unlikely events (another 9/11) and supreme neglect of the rest of the infrastructure to deal with much more likely events (natural disasters like hurricanes and pandemics,) largely because we are fighting a war they got us into because we were scared.

The only way to deal with this is to deal with the root problem: fear. Fear has been dripping into us by intravenous injection for a while now, in the form of nightly news, fictional movies and TV, and government reports and press conferences. Unless we stop eating the fear we are being fed, we won't be able to make any reasonable decisions that will protect everyone, not just protect some, and line a lot of pockets.

I leave you with this:

"So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself---nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." -- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Diá de los Muertos

On 01 Nov, 2005 By mpm

Being from the East coast, I didn't realize that in this part of the country, Diá de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a holiday that is celebrated by lots of people on November 1 and 2nd, in conjunction with Halloween, All Saints day (today) and All Souls Day (tomorrow). It is a pleasant celebration and rememberance. People bake bread and make sweets in the shapes of skulls and bones. Here at PSR, some students put together a Diá de los Muertos altar, where they encouraged people to place rememberances, and the like on the altar. I placed a rememberance for my aunt who I still acutely miss, even though she died almost 20 years ago, and others who I have lost.

I like this holiday, and it's one that no matter where I live, I will pay attention to. We can celebrate the lives of those that have died before us, and we remember that we will die as well, and will be celebrated and remembered each year.\ Dscn0964{width="250" height="333"}

Conservation of Compassion, part II

On 31 Oct, 2005 By mpm

I've known for a long time that people on the religious right Have Issues. But this, I have to admit, takes the cake. Well, it's at least part of the cake.

You may, or may not know, that there is a new vaccine against cervical cancer, which appears to be close to 100% effective in preventing HPV infection (that's the virus that causes cervical cancer.) There are about 10,000 new cases of cervical cancer each year, and about 3,500 women die from it each year. Cervical cancer affects African American and Latina women disproportionately.

Some conservatives think that it's not a good idea to include a cervical cancer vaccine in the mandatory vaccines kids (in this case, girls) get because "it could send a subtle message condoning sexual activity before marriage." Of course these are the people who suggest abstinence-only sex-ed programs that don't work.

I'm really trying to be nice here. There are all sorts of nasty names I'd like to call these people, but I will refrain myself, and reflect my better nature. The vaccine is still at least a year away, and these conservative groups are already starting to work on this. Don't they have anything better to do with their time than help kill women? Oh, that's right, they pray for justices on the Supreme Court to die or get sick, suggest that Katrina was sent by God because of the evil in New Orleans, and suggest we assassinate people. This is right up their alley, I'm sure they can squeeze some time in for it.\

Ai! Sc-alito!

On 31 Oct, 2005 By mpm

So, it's official. Bush has nominated someone who is in the mold of Scalia and Thomas. The blogosphere is buzzing. Some juicy tidbits:

This is going to be very, very interesting. I'm not entirely convinced that this is going to fly. Time to start making lots of phone calls to senators suggesting filibuster.\

So what is Progressive Christianity anyway?

On 30 Oct, 2005 By mpm

There's been a lot of interesting blogging and talking about what progressive Christianity is, and means, right now. We are in interesting times,  a time when the corruption of the neoconservatives is becoming fully known and understood, as well as the corrupt marriage between them and the religious right is breaking down in such a way that we hope cannot be repaired.\

There are two interesting "manifestos" for want of a better word, floating about for progressive Christians. One was created a while ago by The Center For Progressive Christianity, called The 8 Points. Another organization, called CrossWalk has what they are calling the Phoenix Affirmations (full version.) CrossLeft, yet another progressive Christian organization has adopted those affirmations. Boy in the Bands has blogged about this, and Chuck Currie has blogged about these affirmations, and the walk CrossWalk are organizing: a walk from Phoenix, Arizona to Washington DC, in spring-summer 2006.

In their words:

The purpose of The Walk is not to convert the country to our way of understanding Christianity. Rather, it is to rally and organize those who already resonate with the spirit of The Phoenix Affirmations, strengthening the emerging progressive Christian movement. Walk leaders will be meeting with media, and holding rallies and worship opportunities clear across the country. Simultaneously, CWA will be coordinating a massive email and web campaign to raise awareness and support. Our goal is to raise a minimum of \$1,000 per mile to both finance the Walk and enable CWA to provide support for the progressive Christian movement long after The Walk ends.

The 8 points of TCPC and the Phoenix Affirmations of CrossWalk are, really, remarkably similar in intent and spirit, although they differ quite a bit in form. I look forward to following developments of these two documents further. Organizing around a shared set of principles can be powerful, and I think there is a lot to like about both of these documents.

Thanks to Jesus Politics, as usual, for tipping me off to CrossLeft and CrossWalk.

Update: Philocrites let me know about the Jacksonville Declaration, authored by the Christian Alliance for Progress. So here is a third document, different in form than the other two, and, I'd say, a bit different in tone (more directly confrontational than a statement of values, but I think that's quite useful.) They all have good stuff to say.

Very neat blog

On 30 Oct, 2005 By mpm

Every once in a while I come across a new blog that is worth telling others about. This one is called "Once Upon a Time..." and it's a fascinating blog about the power of narrative, and how the way we tell the stories we tell have an important effect. There is a great post on New Orleans. It's long, but worth the read.

Hat tip to Crooks and Liars.

The more things change ...

On 29 Oct, 2005 By mpm

Last week, there was a silly article in Forbes magazine, which I didn't blog about because it was so silly. The title of the article "Attack of the Blogs" and the first line, "Web logs are the prized platform of an online lynch mob spouting liberty but spewing lies, libel and invective. Their potent allies in this pursuit include Google and Yahoo" pretty much tells you everything you need to know about it. Basically, it's why business should worry about bloggers.

The reason I'm blogging about it now is that Kurt Opsahl from EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) has written a brilliant response. A snippet:

"Printing presses are the prized platform of a public lynch mob spouting liberty but spewing lies, libel and invective. Their potent allies in this pursuit include Ben Franklin and John Hancock.

...

Printing presses started being used a few years ago as a simple way for people to publish bibles. Suddenly they are the ultimate vehicle for insulting His Majesty, personal attacks, political extremism and smear campaigns. It's not easy to fight back: Often a bashing victim can't even figure out who his attacker is. No target is too mighty, or too obscure, for this new and virulent strain of oratory. King George has been hammered by pamphleteers; ..."

Worth a read. But scan the silly Forbes article first for full effect.

An object lesson

On 28 Oct, 2005 By mpm

I was driving with a friend tonight into San Francisco. We were talking about this and that, and approaching the Bay Bridge toll lanes. Right in front of me was one of those really big Hummers. You know the kind. Big, obnoxious SUV that really is supposed to be a combat vehicle, gets 15 miles to the gallon, and you can never see around? I said to my friend, "everytime I see one of those things, I want to flip them the finger." It was a very un-Buddhist/Christian/charitable/whatever thought. I had a very clear idea of what kind of people drive Hummers. Self-centered, don't care about anyone except themselves, want to impress people. I imagine most Hummer drivers are men.

So you might imagine that we go through the toll lane, pay our toll and that's the end of the story. Well, then I wouldn't be telling it, would I? What happened when I got to the toll lane was that the toll woman said "Go ahead on through, she paid the toll for you," pointing at the White Hummer moving away into the bridge traffic. Both my friend and I were, well, frankly, flabbergasted. Mind you, the toll is \$3. Not a minor chunk of change. Why would someone who drives a Hummer pay my toll? Was it a random act of kindness? Did she hear my comment, and respond quite charitably, instead of irritably? Was she trying to pick me up (haha)? I would love to know, although I imagine I never will.

But it was, I think, an object lesson. My friend said "hmmmm, message from God?" I dunno, but it was certainly interesting, and will make me think twice before I make disparaging comments about anyone based on what kind of car they drive.

Ed Rogers is out of his mind

On 28 Oct, 2005 By mpm

Who is Ed Rogers? I don't really know (he does seem to show up making excuses for Republicans), except he was on a talk show, and was out of his mind enough to suggest that Clinton's perjury was worse than Libby's perjury. Hmmm. Yup, prize of the week. Digby had a post about it yesterday.

Libby, Libby, Libby

On 28 Oct, 2005 By mpm

OK, so it's clear - Libby was indicted. There is nothing but speculation and more speculation on what it all means. I read one speculation, though, on News Blog, that's pretty interesting, and worth a read.

Should be an interesting few weeks...

Are we surprised?

On 27 Oct, 2005 By mpm

George Takei, better known as Sulu, is gay. I could have told you that years ago. But I guess now it's official.

Second big coming out story of the day. The first one was Cheryl Swoopes, of the Houston Comets WNBA team.

Plamegate countdown...

On 27 Oct, 2005 By mpm

I have been extremely reserved in my posting on the Plamegate brou-haha, even though I have been completely immersed in the news and blogosphere talk about it over the past couple of weeks. Part of it is I don't want to show my news addiction quite so blatantly. Part of it is that I don't want to bore people who are bored by it. Part of it is it seems silly to talk about what people can easily read on Kos, Wonkette, AmericaBlog and Crooks and Liars if they want to. (\<fake pout>Those bloggers have sources, and get to go on CNN, while I stay in my room reading them, and Ezra and Isaiah \</fake pout>.)

But here are a few tidbits worth reading on this (hopefully really, really) Fitzmas eve. It does look like sump'in is gonna go down tomorrow.\

FishbowlNY has a fun piece about Plamegate, and it's relationship to Phil Collins (really.) Arianna Huffington thinks it's bigger than Watergate. RAWSTORY says Libby and Rove are toast. Maureen Dowd slaps Judith Miller upside the head. Many people wonder about Novak. ThinkProgress has an amazing post on the entire cast of characters.\  

Polls say the people are fed up.

Bush is so frazzled he calls his wife "Barbara"!

Bring it on.

Meiers Gone

On 27 Oct, 2005 By mpm

I know, I'm a little behind the 8 ball on this. But I spent the day in the woods and on the beach. At least I've gotten some enjoyment out of reading week...

Anyway, Meiers is gone, not because she's not qualified, but, probably primarily this speech did her in. It's a speech she gave in 1993, and sounds pretty darned pro-choice to me. So she's not a wing-nut, or at least certainly wasn't back then. It has been interesting to watch the right on this one, and watch Bush and Harriet twist in the wind.

There's some good analysis out there. Daily Kos has a good one on the speech itself, and John of America Blog has a nice analysis of the whole mess. He's a happy camper. And, of course, what would it be without Harriet herself weighing in?

Some people (including John and Wonkette) think this puts Alberto Gonzales back in play. We shall see.

Fast for Justice

On 26 Oct, 2005 By mpm

The Center for Constitutional Rights and other organizations are organizing a fast for November 1st, in solidarity for prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, who have not had fair hearings, have been treated badly, and many have been on a hunger strike since summertime. I'll be fasting that day.

With the White House condoning, and, recently, beginning to promote, torture, the prisoners at Guantanamo need to know that there are those that don't condone the treatment they've gotten, and that we want them to get a fair hearing, as soon as possible - something we take for granted.

A Sad Day

On 24 Oct, 2005 By mpm

Rosa Parks died today. She will serve as an inspiration for generations to come.

Boing-Boing had a great photo:\ Rosa_parks_4{width="250" height="323"}

Yay! My Blog is worth nothing!

On 24 Oct, 2005 By mpm

There is a little API at Technorati, which uses Some guy's research, to calculate the financial worth of your blog. So here's the results of mine...

\ [My blog is worth \$0.00.]{style="font-size: 11px;"}\ [How much is your blog worth?]{style="font-size: 10px;"}

Yes!

Hopefully, people find it worth something else besides money.

Another quiz: "What's your model of the church?"

On 23 Oct, 2005 By mpm

This was an interesting quiz to take, given my progressive theology. And I imagine it was a bit skewed in the results because of that. But it's still kinda interesting, and in the end, just about right - serving others first, followed by Mystical Communion (what a nice phrase). And institutional way, way at the bottom.

You scored as Servant Model. Your model of the church is Servant. The mission of the church is to serve others, to challenge unjust structures, and to live the preferential option for the poor. This model could be complemented by other models that focus more on the unique person of Jesus Christ.

Servant Model [95%] Mystical Communion Model [67%] Sacrament model [61%] Herald Model [39%] Institutional Model [11%]

[What is your model of the church? Dulles [created with QuizFarm.com]

So what, exactly, is it?

On 22 Oct, 2005 By mpm

Everytime this issue comes back in the news (which, over the past couple of years, it has happened quite regularly), I keep having to wonder exactly why it's happening. Today, there is an article in the New York Times about the Methodist church, and divisions that are brewing between those who feel that gays and lesbians should be able to be full participants, and those who do not. Unlike the UCC, the UMC does not allow "practicing" gays and lesbians into ordained ministry. Apparently, they will come out with some sort of statement in October. Around here, which is, of course, Progressive Christian Central, the Methodists I know have been pretty vocal in their uncomfortableness with their denomination's stand on this issue - they'd like the UMC to be completely open to all, both pulpit and pew.\

Some say it's about scriptural authority. But there are so many other things that people are quite happy to completely ignore. People get all up in arms about this, but then they won't get up in arms about, for example, economic justice, which is one of the most important themes in the New Testament. And when they quote Leviticus, just ask them whether they eat shellfish. So it's really not just that. Some say that homosexuality is part of our American decadent culture. But it seems to me that "practicing" heterosexual Christians are pretty well able to do that without our help.\

So what is the big deal? It will continue to remain a mystery to me.\

Wilma, Alpha, Rain Forest, and Artic Methane

On 22 Oct, 2005 By mpm

It's beautiful here. The fog is just burning off, the temperature is a very comfortable 60 degrees, and it looks like the sun is going to shine for most of the day (although they say it might rain.)

So it seems a bit odd to talk about hurricanes and such. But the news warrants it, I think.

Wilma, which right now is a category 3 storm, was, for a time, the strongest storm on record. Tropical Depression Alpha is forming right now over Puerto Rico, and when that happens, it will make this season (which, by the way still has [one whole month]{style="font-style: italic;"} to go) the most active on record, with 22 named storms so far. The Weather Channel, which is a very conservative, staid sort of channel, has a full time climate change reporter, and is talking a fair amount about these issues. Good thing.

So what else is brewing in climate change land? Two big ones. First, a new report out is about the Amazon rainforest which is one of the most important parts of our ecosystem, because it has, in the past, help to sequester carbon, and also provides the planet with an incredible amount of oxygen (we breathe that, remember?) As well, it is the location of many, many species of plants and animals, and is considered one of the most important sites of biodiversity. People have been following Amazon destruction for years, but it turns out, that because of selective logging of wood such as Mahogany, the Amazon is being destroyed at [twice]{style="font-style: italic;"} the rate as previously thought.

"The total volume of carbon released into the atmosphere as a result of selective logging between 1999 and 2002 is between about 10 and 15 million tons, the scientists estimated. This represents a 25 per cent increase in the overall flow of carbon from the Amazonian forests into the atmosphere."

And, then, there is the Siberian methane. A study came out, with little press fanfare, in early August, which suggested that the rapid warming of Siberia (part of that Arctic Tundra I've talked about) may cause the release of methane into the atmosphere. This Methane has been frozen for a long time. Methane is a gas that is 20 times more effective at warming the atmosphere than Carbon Dioxide. Alternet has a pretty dire article about it. I don't know if it's really that bad, but let's hope not.\

Their Just Desserts

On 19 Oct, 2005 By mpm

On a break from intense midterm studying and writing ...

The Republicans are melting ... melting ...

Fitzmas is coming! The Daily Kos had a wonderful post yesterday on Fitzmas, which is the results of the "Plamegate" investigation. Rumors are flying, people in the Whitehouse are clamming up, but it looks to be a happy day.

Bush knew about the Plame affair.\

The Senate isn't happy with what they are learning about Harriet Meiers.

Tom Delay is a wanted man.

All of those nasty tactics the Republicans have been using over the past few years are coming back to bite them in the rear.

The question of the day is ...

On 18 Oct, 2005 By mpm

I woke up this morning to hear about Wilma, the 21st named storm, and now a hurricane in the Carribean. My first thought was "What do they do if they run out of names?" Ah, Google is your friend. They start with the Greek alphabet, Alpha, Beta, ... This then lead me to a second question, what if one of the Greek names is a terrible storm. Will they retire it?

Google is really your friend. Here's the answer:

What's more, a storm name is retired if it causes widespread damage and deaths. So if there is a deadly Hurricane Alpha, what is it replaced with when it's retired?

"It will go to the Swahili alphabet or something else," joked Jim Lushine, severe weather expert at the National Weather Service in Miami.

But more importantly, the subtext of all of the articles I found when I was doing these searches was this:

"If we get up into that league, we'll have issues larger than naming these storms," said Frank Lepore, spokesman for the National Hurricane Center in Miami. "The new phrase will be hurricane fatigue. Let's coin that right now."

The good news about Wilma is apparently it will spare the western Gulf coast, which has had, I think, more than enough to deal with this year. The bad news is that it may well hit Florida. The really bad news is what happens next year, and the year after? How much can people and communities on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts take? And how long will it take us as a country to wake up?

Update: Wilma is now a category 5 hurricane, and has the record of strongest Atlantic storm ever. This makes 3 category 5 storms in one year. Unheard of.

Studying for a midterm exam ...

On 17 Oct, 2005 By mpm

... is giving me a headache. I am realizing how completely and utterly I forgot how to study for exams. I think the last exam I took was grad school some 20+ years ago. I never gave exams, so the exam mentality is completely gone from my brain. Spinning in my head is Sumer and Akkad, Joshua and Judges, where Meggido is on a map, what the settlement models are for Israel, etc., etc. The hope is, by Thursday morning, it will all be organized so I can answer questions!

We'll see.

Bloggers as prophets, prophets as bloggers

On 14 Oct, 2005 By mpm

A funny thing happened in Bible class today. This is the discussion section for this huge first year class that I'm totally stressing out about (I have a mid-term next Thursday.) We were talking about the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Interesting dudes. (Actually, Isaiah was probably written by at least 3 different people.) Anyway, our wonderful TA put up a sentence on the board, for us to huddle in small groups and discuss. It was: "A prophet is __________." Fill in the blank.

We had all sorts of interesting answers to that question. Then, we talked about Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, and how they had different explanations for why the exile happened (this was the exile after the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians.) And then, she asked us to re-visit the question. When we discussed it, without thinking, I blurted out "A prophet is a blogger!" It was funny. But I meant it - I was thinking about how you'll find so many different explanations to what's going on right now.

So what is a prophet, anyway? Dictionary definition:

  1. A person who speaks by divine inspiration or as the interpreter through whom the will of a god is expressed.
  2. A person gifted with profound moral insight and exceptional powers of expression.
  3. A predictor; a soothsayer.
  4. The chief spokesperson of a movement or cause.
  5. Prophets (used with a sing. or pl. verb) The second of the three divisions of the Hebrew Scriptures, comprising the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve. Used with the.
  6. Prophet One of the prophets mentioned in the Bible, especially one believed to be the author of one of these books. Used with the.
  7. Prophet Islam. Muhammad. Used with the.

I think in many ways, certainly among progressive bible readers, definition 3 is kinda out the door, and definition 2 is primary in terms of modern prophetic voice. I think definition 1 is certainly valid, depending on how you define "divine inspiration." But in a more general sense, prophetic voice is expressing moral insight. Prophetic voice is also uncomfortable sometimes. Isaiah, Ezekiel and especially Jeremiah could get pretty darned uncomfortable.\

You all might know about the new blog community, called Street Prophets - it is a blog that focuses on religion and politics, and, I think, provides a new age of prophetic voice, one we sorely need.

Conservation of Compassion

On 14 Oct, 2005 By mpm

A number of things are on my mind this morning, about conservatives. It's a nice thing that we can watch them melt down, between infighting about Harriet Myers, the indictment of Tom Delay, and the immanent indictment of someone in the White House close to the prez.\

But what caught my interest this morning was an op-ed by one of my faves, Molly Ivins. She's talking about pensions, describing the current situation in the work world, and the governments complicity in it:

"In fact, every one of us comes into this world naked and helpless, and most leave it in the same condition -- and we are dependent on one another every single day in between. The 'stand on your own feet and take care of yourself' attitude the right wing keeps pushing is not only cruel, but stupid, too."

If there is one hallmark of the conservative movement, it is conservation of compassion. It's OK for companies to not pay workers a living wage, to decrease regulation so that they don't have to worry so much about safety, to eliminate pensions and health benefits, to make people work longer hours, to eliminate welfare benefits, etc.

Next week is the deadline to file bankrupcy under the old rules. The new rules are thought, by some, to initiate a practice of debt slavery. There are stories now of people lined up around the block to file before the deadline. The only people who will benefit from the new law are people who don't need the benefit.

We have to bring compassion back into the equation - we have to be clear that treating workers, and those in need with compassion is for the benefit of everyone.

Magnatune

On 12 Oct, 2005 By mpm

I came across this website pretty much by accident. As I mentioned a while ago, in one of my old blog posts on intellectual property, there is a nascent movement of musicians and the like, trying to create an alternative to the recording industry. I found another website that is part of this, but unlike the other sites, this site has a broad range of genres.

It's called Magnatune, and if you care about the future of music, and your ability to listen to music however, and wherever you like buy something there. Here's why:

  • You can listen to the full songs or albums on the site for free
  • You can download an album, in a variety of formats (MP3, AAC, Ogg Vorbis, etc.) completely free of DRM (Digital Rights Management) - that means, you can put it on your iPod, or Zen Micro, or whatever, you can make as many copies as you like, burn as many CDs as you like, without restriction or control.
  • The artists get 50% of the price of the album
  • You can choose how much to pay for the album (really, no kidding!)
  • You can send a link for the download of the album to 3 friends, for free.

I love their motto "we're not evil." It's true, they are not, they are exactly the kind of record company that we (and the musicians) need. If we let the present record companies continue, we'll be spending \$20 per album, and will have very limited ability to listen to it however, wherever, and whenever we want - they will have the control.

There is some very nice music on this site. I haven't explored the range of genres, and it's true, there isn't anyone famous on it yet - but there is no risk - you can listen to the whole album for free, and decide for yourself whether you want to buy it. So go, listen, and buy (if you can.)

A nice article on Beth Stroud

On 12 Oct, 2005 By mpm

There is a great article by Chuck Currie, one of my favorite-ist bloggers, about Beth Stroud, who, some of you might know, is the United Methodist minister in Philadelphia that was stripped of her credentials by the church, and she is in an appeals process.

I'm blogging this because 1) yesterday was National Coming Out Day, 2) As someone who is among progressive Methodists (there are a lot of Methodists at PSR, students, staff and faculty - I've learned more about Methodism in the past month or so than I'd ever expected.) this whole thing has become fascinating to me, and 3) The sermon excerpted in Chuck's article is pretty powerful.\

High Ground

On 09 Oct, 2005 By mpm

I generally let Jesus Politics, and others, spend their time reading those radical right types, and then I'll read the ones they point out that seem particularly, well, significant in some way. If I didn't do that, I'd be spending my time frothing at the mouth, instead of blogging, or doing my school work.

Well, Carlos (of Jesus Politics) pointed one out yesterday that really got my goat. It's this guy, who I'd never read before, Tony Beam, who I might as well give my "People who are out of their minds" prize this week. It basically is an understandable lament that "President Bush promised to nominate someone cut from the mold of Antonin Scalia or Clarence Thomas and we get Harriet Miers"

I feel his pain (OK, well, I don't) but there are a few little tidbits in this post that I want to highlight. First, he says: "Right now at this moment in history, conservatives occupy the high ground in the culture war." High ground? How is that? Oh, right, they fine a broadcaster when Janet shows her breast for a nanosecond, but, hey, it's really OK if we torture people. We need to prevent women from having abortions, even if they were raped or sexually molested, but putting juveniles or the developmentally disabled to death is really OK. And for the FBI, going after adult porn seems more of a priority than terrorism.\

Then it gets worse. He uses the stories in the book of Joshua to emphasize his point: "When God told the Israelites to cross the Jordan river and take the Promised Land He told them not to make treaties with the people they found there.  They were to win victories, not find ways to compromise with those whose way of life was diametrically opposed to God's ways." No, in the book of Joshua, they don't make treaties, they simply slaughtered every man, woman and child.

And the guy keeps going: "Joshua was successful in his conquest but those who come behind him were willing to compromise for the sake of peace.  It was a decision that ultimately brought God's judgment because the people succumbed to the influence of the remnant, gradually moving completely away from God and toward the pagan practices of the inhabitants of the land."

Great. Equating the present time, to pre-monarchical Israel. Why don't I go further? What he's not telling you is that part of the problem was that at the time, many of the Israelites themselves were practicing pagans. In fact, it wasn't at all those who compromised who brought God's judgement. It was the practicing pagans within the Israelites (he's ignoring that little point, while he's busy ignoring the porn within his church.) (Wow, studying biblical history is useful!)

Our mission, should we choose to accept it, is to show how conservatives, in fact, do not hold the moral high ground. It is feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, healing the sick, and visiting the imprisoned that is the moral high ground.

It always gives me pause ...

On 05 Oct, 2005 By mpm

... when I agree with anything George Will says. But here is part of what he has to say about Harriet "who?" ...

"First, it is not important that she be confirmed. Second, it might be very important that she not be. Third, the presumption -- perhaps rebuttable but certainly in need of rebutting -- should be that her nomination is not a defensible exercise of presidential discretion to which senatorial deference is due.

It is not important that she be confirmed because there is no evidence that she is among the leading lights of American jurisprudence, or that she possesses talents commensurate with the Supreme Court's tasks. The president's "argument" for her amounts to: Trust me. There is no reason to, for several reasons.

He has neither the inclination nor the ability to make sophisticated judgments about competing approaches to construing the Constitution. Few presidents acquire such abilities in the course of their pre-presidential careers, and this president particularly is not disposed to such reflections.

Furthermore, there is no reason to believe that Miers's nomination resulted from the president's careful consultation with people capable of such judgments. If 100 such people had been asked to list 100 individuals who have given evidence of the reflectiveness and excellence requisite in a justice, Miers's name probably would not have appeared in any of the 10,000 places on those lists."

Etc...

Some of what he says I don't agree with, like his argument against Bush because he signed McCain-Feingold. But otherwise...

It's in the Washington Post.

Good analysis of Harriet who

On 04 Oct, 2005 By mpm

Digby has a good analysis of the nomination of Harriet Miers to the SCOTUS. It makes tons of sense.

Exerpt:

The modern Republican party, at its core, is not about ideology or values or anything else that high minded mediocre intellectuals and religious zealots pretend motivates their "movement" It's about money and power. Same as it ever was. Ask Grover.

The Left Coaster is working on a complete detailed page on Miers. Worth a look.

Another quiz

On 04 Oct, 2005 By mpm

As I said, I'm an online quiz fiend, and virtually never share the results. Well, I made another exception because this quiz is in honor of the new movie, Serenity, which I went to see on Sunday night, and loved. It's based on the cancelled TV series, Firefly, which was fabulous.

This isn't too much of a surprise, I guess, for those of you that know the series. I kinda was hoping I'd end up as Shepherd Book, but I think I talk too much about my past for that.

You scored as Simon Tam. The Doctor.  You have a gift for healing that goes beyond education.  You took an oath to do no harm, even when your patients have tried to kill you.  You are out of place where you are, being used to refined society.  However, if you take that stick out of your arse you should be fine.

Emerging Church

On 03 Oct, 2005 By mpm

One of the useful things about requirements is that it gets you to do things you might not have done if not required. Things that might actually be good for you. PSR has this thing called "Contextual Education." You have to find an event, or something that stretches you in directions you would not go in normally.

For me, their regular roster of possible events (anti-racism workshops, going to serve meals, varied social justice activities) wasn't going to stretch me. I figured I should go in the other direction. That would be a stretch.

I found this flyer for a talk by people in the "Emerging Church" or "Emergent" movement. I'd seen references to it in the blogosphere, and had been intrigued, sort of, but it was my impression that it was fairly evangelical, so I pretty much didn't follow up. But I thought this would be a good excuse to learn more about it.

It was a talk, more like an informal conversation, with four people who are involved (one of whom is Tony Jones, who is the National coordinator for Emergent.) It was interesting and intriguing. Part of my requirement (my advisor didn't think that the talk itself was enough) will be to actually go to a service in an emergent church. I'm going to a church in San Jose. Should be interesting.

I think I'll keep watching them. They kinda are evangelical (although they kinda aren't too.) They are another manifestation (like the Mega church, although they seem almost it's opposite) of what I think is coming to be a post-denominational future (and, I'm including UUs in this - I know that it stopped calling itself a protestant denomination a long time ago, but in form and function, it still really is.)

October Surprise

On 03 Oct, 2005 By mpm

This week is a pretty special week, for those of many faiths. It was World Communion Sunday yesterday, which is supposed to be a unifying celebration for Christians everywhere. Tonight is the start of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Tomorrow is the beginning of Ramadan, the holy month of Islam. It was Gandhi's birthday yesterday, and the next week or so are part of both Hindu and Buddhist holy seasons.

Some people are suggesting, and I agree, that this is a good time for interfaith dialogue, not only for "people of the book," but for people of all faiths. Some, however, see this as a time to unify "those who believe in the existence and oneness of God," and against others who are "the deniers," which is hardly helpful.

Interfaith dialogue is interfaith dialogue. It must include everyone of faith, and, in reality, those who have none. Thich Nhat Hahn once said, in his book Living Buddha, Living Christ, 

"In a true dialogue, both sides are willing to change. We have to appreciate that truth can be recieved from outside of -- not only within -- our own group. If we do not believe that, entering into a dialogue would be a waste of time. If we think we monopolize the truth and we still organize a dialogue, it is not authentic."

Interesting...

On 03 Oct, 2005 By mpm

I have gotten into the habit of looking at what searches people have used to get my blog. Here's a good one:

"Wealthy buisness men have no time for families"

Amazing. My blog came up second in the MSN search!!

A cool thing is that if people look up (David) Runnion-Bareford (a one-time winner of my "People who are out of their minds" award) on Google, they get this page, on the top!!

Harriet who?

On 03 Oct, 2005 By mpm

One would think, that after the fiasco of having appointed a director for FEMA whose only qualification was that he was a close buddy of a close buddy, that Bush would learn that his rank cronyism stinks. But no, he hasn't learned. He has nominated Harriet Miers, who was Bush's personal attorney in Texas, and a White House counsel. She's never served as a judge.

It also shows that, at this point, every one around Bush must have benefitted so much from this cronyism, that they are no longer able to have any sway in his decisions.

The question is, will the senate go along with this? At this point, I really don't care about ideology. At least Scalia was qualified to sit on the highest court. (That's an exaggeration, I do care, but it's kinda moot anyway, since she's never been a judge, it's hard to know what she'd rule on anything.) If the senate goes along with this, which I suspect it will, I think we're done. I think that if this isn't proof that we've lost our democracy, I'm not sure what else we'll need.

I know that cronyism isn't new. There are umpteen legions of associate undersecretaries for trade and commerce, and ambassadors to Fiji and Luxembourg. But when it came to the most important posts, cabinet secretaries, directors of large agencies, like FEMA or CDC, or NIH, and Federal and Supreme Court judges, qualifications and, generally secondarily, political affiliations were more important than whether or not POTUS had a nickname for you. And, the good thing about associate undersecretaries, and even cabinet heads, is that they go away when a president leaves. Federal and Supreme court justices don't. Why is it that the Senators (and the media) can't just tell us that the Emperor (sadly, it's getting to the point where he's closer to that, than president) has no clothes?

I'm tired, very, very tired. Maybe absorbing myself in I and II Samuel will help. On second thought ...

It's October and ...

On 01 Oct, 2005 By mpm

I can't tell. The leaves are still green, it's what is considered "summertime" by Bay Area residents - warm, dry and sunny. I'm getting what I guess is an extended summer. I'm not complaining, although I definitely feel like something's wrong. I've lived with Fall my entire life - even in Colorado, the air changed, what few leaves there were showed their color, and, well, you knew when October rolled around. It still feels like, say August to me here - at least the weather is pretty much the same (or a little warmer) than it was when I arrived.

All, in all, I'm still having a good time. I'm beginning to have to think about what I'm doing next summer, which is strange, since it still feels like this summer. :-) But I'm likely going to not be doing my CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education - required for everyone who is going into chaplaincy, and required or recommended for everyone else) this summer, but rather waiting until next summer. Perhaps I'll take some courses, or work, or ... who knows.

In general, I feel like I'm getting into the swing of things, and learning an incredible amount. The mix of courses is good, and I'm even getting better at Art and Religion - even though it still is hard. Now, onto reading the writing of Teresa of Avila ...

Overheard comments

On 29 Sep, 2005 By mpm

I keep wishing my brain had a tape recorder. I've overheard some amazing and funny things over the lunch and dinner tables over the past month. I can't remember 99%, but here are some of the 1% that stuck. (These quotes are probably not exact.)

In response to the question "where do you want to live?" "I don't care, I just need a church that will hire me." ... "They said they'd reconstruct our faith once they were finished desconstructing it! (in a plaintive voice)" ... "He said: you need to flog the flock." ... "I mean, I think it's a really great thing to know that my congregation can fire me!" ... Question: "There must be Cliff Notes for the Bible? Right?" Response "There is the Bible for Dummies - really!" ...  "I think we need t-shirts printed. PSR: gayest seminary ever"

We are screwed, reason #456

On 27 Sep, 2005 By mpm

Sorry, but I really don't want to be depressed alone. There's a new study out, showing something that has been predicted, but not proven before: the Gulf Stream, that wonderful warming ocean current that keeps Britain, Northern Europe and Northeastern North America relatively warm and comfy, is slowing down. A cessation of that current could be disastrous.

Thanks, Fazia

Really good article

On 26 Sep, 2005 By mpm

It's a long one, but it's worth it. Got it from Street Prophets. A snippet:

"And therein is the paradox. America is simultaneously the most professedly Christian of the developed nations and the least Christian in its behavior. That paradox---more important, perhaps, than the much touted ability of French women to stay thin on a diet of chocolate and cheese---illuminates the hollow at the core of our boastful, careening culture."

We are screwed, reason #455

On 25 Sep, 2005 By mpm

Lucascategoryfive{width="250" height="168"}Need I say more? If you want to read more, check out this entry on the Weather Channel's blog.

We are screwed, reason #454

On 25 Sep, 2005 By mpm

Remember the recent post about polar ice? Well, how about this:

The slow expansion of the tundra's snow-free season by about 2.5 days per decade since the 1960s explains 95 percent of the recent rise in [arctic] summer temperatures, and is far more influential than changes in vegetation, sea ice, atmospheric circulation or clouds, according to a report published this week in Science Express.

...

"We argue that recent changes in the length of the snow-free season have triggered a set of interlinked feedbacks that will amplify future rates of summer warming," the authors wrote.

(Reminder - arctic temperatures are critical to global climate because the tundra.) Read the whole article. Positive feedback loops are exactly what you don't want in this situation - you'd hope that there might be some ways that would lessen the impact of human-produced global warming on the environment, but it looks like we're getting all sorts of positive feedback loops, which makes what we are doing much worse.

Steve Jobs said ...

On 25 Sep, 2005 By mpm

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life," he said.

"Because almost everything --- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure --- these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."

This was in an article about Apple.

New Orleans, now

On 25 Sep, 2005 By mpm

This is an amazing story, from a new blog that is quickly becoming my favorite, called Street Prophets. Street Prophets is a Daily Kos community, that is focused around religion and politics. This story is a report from someone who has been spending time in New Orleans for the past few weeks. Worth a read.

There is nothing quite as humbling ...

On 23 Sep, 2005 By mpm

... to a Ph.D. in neuroscience than a B- in a paper for Art and Religion. The major criticism of the TA, which I imagine is completely valid, is "you need to work on drawing conclusions and interacting with the existing scholarship." You might imagine that that comment made me kinda chuckle.

My next paper is going to be on a work (Number 207 - Red over Dark Blue on Dark Grey) by basically my favorite artist of all time, Mark Rothko. I think this might be a good thing. The good news is that the scholarship this time is not specific to Rothko, which is helpful. So I might do better this time - I can draw on my own knowledge and experience of Rothko's work, and not have it affected by other people's notions of what the work means.

I think that although I may learn about art criticism in this class, I do think I'm learning a fair bit about myself in the process. I find my very deep aversion to intellectualizing art kinda fascinating, because what's generally true in my life is that I've had a tendency to over-intellectualize things. In my bible class, we're doing a lot of archeology, as well as history. It's so much fun to think about, for instance, the evidence present for estimating the population of an area of settlement, and how you make decisions about population density, etc. from the remains of settlements that are 4000 years old. Drawing conclusions, and interacting with scholarship was my bread and butter for years, and yet when it comes to art, I just can't seem to go there.

I just want to sit, experience the art, perhaps, if I'm in the mood, say a few words to a friend who has shared the experience, then move on. But I guess part of the seminary experience is pushing myself to do things I've not done before. That part was expected, but I didn't expect this particular boundary to be pushed.

Bill Frist

On 21 Sep, 2005 By mpm

Or maybe he's just dumb. He gets my "people who are out of their minds" award for the week. There are all sorts of reasons to give him this award, but for this week, it is that he sold all of the stock in a hospital company that his family owned 2 weeks before a disappointing earnings report caused the stock to drop 15%. And this guy actually thinks he has a chance at the presidency?

Martha Stewart is probably having fun watching him squirm.

One cool thing - I discovered this new feature of the Washington Post website - it has a list of all the blogs talking about a particular article. I think this suggests that the Post knows people read blogs, and their influence, which is pretty cool.

Very Interesting Blog post

On 21 Sep, 2005 By mpm

Of the many perspectives on the issue of gays and lesbians in the modern Christian church, this one is one of the more interesting ones. His perspective is that it's a lot about biblical authority:

"the weight of textual evidence said nothing about how those texts should be received - that just because Paul or his disciples had condemned homosexual acts, we were under no obligation to do so."

The issue of biblical inerrancy has been intriguing to me. Even as a fundamentalist, I never completely bought the biblical inerrancy thing. For a while, I ignored the bible entirely. Now, I think the bible is a book, like most old scriptures of varied religious traditions, that was written by many authors, with many perspectives, with some really great stories and wonderful wisdom, some of it is worth paying attention to, and some of it is completely irrelevant to our present condition. The more I learn about the bible, the more I think that the strength with which those who are theologically conservative hold the bible in reverence is scary. It's almost as if they worship the bible, and not God.

Anyway, his blog, Guanilo's Island, is pretty interesting, too.

Thanks to Jesus Politics for this one, as usual.

Uh oh ...

On 21 Sep, 2005 By mpm

... here comes Rita. Rita was a tropical storm when I last looked, but now, upon entering the Gulf of Mexico, it's become a category 4 hurricane, heading for Texas. I can't wait to find out what those conservative preachers who were so quick to blame Katrina on the "decadence" of New Orleans are going to say when Rita hits Galveston. And, of course, Bush has to look like he's doing something.

And how many more hurricanes do we need this year to teach us the lesson that we're screwing with the environment in ways that are going to have really bad effects on us? It reminds me of Mother of Storms - a science fiction novel I read a while ago. It's a good novel, mostly (with a really bad subplot that I hated, though.) The basic premise of the novel is that global warming causes hurricanes to increase in intensity, until there is one, really big, really devastating storm. I hope that one never comes.

Update: Rita is now a ~~category 5 hurricane. The strongest there are~~ category 3 (thankfully).

Taizé

On 20 Sep, 2005 By mpm

As I was travelling across country, I had heard about Brother Roger, who was stabbed at an evening service in the Taizé community in France. I didn't know much about the community, or the form of worship, but I'm learning more. Since I've arrived in Berkeley, I have had the wonderful gift of attending four Taizé worship services, that are done by the New Spirit Community Church. I'm making it a regular part of my life.\  

Taizé worship is deeply contemplative, and was designed to be open, and ecumenical. The basics of worship that they developed in Taizé has found its way on this side of the Atlantic. The services that I've experienced are a combination of slow, chanting songs that are short, repeated a few times, candles, silent meditation, and prayers. It's a profoundly quieting and heart-opening experience.

If you are in the Boston area, Harvard-Epworth United Methodist Church is doing a Taizé service on October 5th in memory of Brother Roger. If you ever get a chance to go to a Taizé service, it's really worth it.

Hitting my stride

On 20 Sep, 2005 By mpm

Well, I'm into week 3, and I don't feel quite so at sea as I did last week, or the week before. I've finished 3 papers (yes, I've had 3 papers to write so far, fairly minor) and am working on the 4th. My major computer is in the shop, which is annoying, to say the least (no movies, probably a good thing given the amount of reading and writing I have to do: 6+ more papers in the next 3 weeks!) It should be back in my hands by the end of the week.

The courses are just fascinating, and I'm really digging them. Here are some highlights:

Bible class: I'm digging learning some amazing stuff about the Hebrew Bible - in terms of what archeological evidence there is for what. We've learned that the accounts in Exodus, Joshua and Judges really don't have any archeology to back them up, and have enough internal inconsistencies that it's pretty likely that they are fairly fictional. And, it was interesting to read, and think about, some of the truly horrific things that it is said that the Israelites did, supposedly in God's name - like slaughter everyone in Jericho. So my question is, if you are going to make it up, why make it up that way?

Spiritual Disciplines for Leadership: John Wesley and Martin Luther don't float my boat. But, we did learn a really interesting form of Lectio Divina, which came from Luther, which I really like. Take a particular passage, like, for instance a Psalm, and read it 4 times, slowly. And then contemplate varied things (for instruction, thankfulness, confession and just listening) while they are being read. It's really interesting what comes to mind, and what your mind does with it - and just watching that.\

Christian Contemplation and Action: I'm working on a post in my ministry blog on Ignatius of Loyola, so you'll hear more about that - hopefully tomorrow or Thursday.\

Art and Religion: This course is the hardest. I know, I hear you laughing now. I love art, really, I do, but to be completely honest, I have never wanted to either read much criticism about a particular piece of art, or write any art criticism, and I have to. For me, art has always been about the experience. Writing about it is like pulling teeth. I love that we have to spend an hour with each peice of art we choose. But I hate having to read about it, and generate a paper on it. I know I'll be better for the effort, but the class that everyone else is feeling like is a breeze, is giving me ulcers. But the prof is great, and he provides wine, cheese, bread and chocolate at the break (the class is 3 hours) for 45 people!! I kid you not! Too bad I can't drink the wine.

And, I've rediscovered the joy of libraries. Not that I've forgotten - it's just that in the last few years, I've had little reason to visit them. But parking myself at a carrel, with my books scattered about me, hearing almost nothing, or small library sounds - brings me back to college and grad school days. Plus the GTU library is really nice.

So, I guess one could say I'm having a blast again.

A confession

On 20 Sep, 2005 By mpm

You'd never know it, but I'm an online quiz junkie. One blogroll I generally read everyday (and am on) is the linuxchix blogroll. Several people regularly post quizzes they've taken, and the results. I take the quizzes, but never post the results... until now.

So here is the completely unsurprising result to a quiz about political philosopy:

You are a
[Social Liberal]
[(78% permissive)]

and an...

[Economic Liberal] [(5% permissive)]
| You are best described as a:\

Socialist

Link: The Politics Test  on
Ok Cupid

Great Site

On 19 Sep, 2005 By mpm

This is fun, and interesting. Someone printed up a bunch of speech bubble stickers (see below) and put them on posters all over NY - then took pictures of the results. There is humor, political commentary, etc. Here's one example:

08irobotjpg{width="250" height="200"}

Via Boing Boing

Donna Brazile

On 17 Sep, 2005 By mpm

This is a hard one. I hate giving these prizes to liberals. Donna Brazile, who was the African-American lesbian manager of Al Gore's 2000 campaign, wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post today. I can't quite believe it. America Blog's Rob thinks she suffers from Stockholm Syndrome. Whatever. I understand the sentiment - let's all band together to rebuild New Orleans. But band together behind the person who is responsible for hundreds of unnecessary deaths, and who is well on his way to using Katrina to line the pockets of his cronies? Not hardly.

Sigh

On 16 Sep, 2005 By mpm

This is bad, really bad.

Quick summary: Last summer, the more Artic sea ice melted than has ever melted before. It has gotten past the point of no return - we likely can never put things back the way we found them.

The Artic is an especially critical area for two reasons. One - polar sea ice reflects the suns energy - the more ice, the more reflection, the less ice, the less reflection, thus more warming. It is a positive feedback loop - ice melting will accelerate - leading to even more warming.

The second thing is that the Artic Tundra ecosystem is a net carbon sink for our planet (one of the most important ones - one third of the soil-bound carbon on the planet is found here.) because of the permafrost. Plants that accumulate carbon (in the form of growth) don't decompose when they die because of the frozen ground - they just accumulate. But as the permafrost melts, this ecosystem ceases to serve as the carbon sink that it is, and becomes a net carbon source, as the plants decompose.

Non-scientific summary: we're screwed.

Big Pharma

On 14 Sep, 2005 By mpm

I've become a fan of Alternet - it's a alternative news source that has some interesting articles (sometimes a bit over the top, but mostly useful.)

Today they have an review of a book, called "Selling Sickness: How the Worlds Biggest Pharmaceutical Companies are Turning us All Into Patients." It seems to cover really important ground - stuff I've been thinking about for a while.

I think it's really important to separate the good that has come from research done into a variety of illnesses, and the drugs that have been helpful in treating them, from the process of expanding definitions of illnesses so that more people are diagnosed with them (thus needing drugs) or dealing with non-medical issues medically (so people need drugs.)

Anyway, it looks like a book worth reading. I, at the present moment, have too many other books on my list (Introduction to the Hebrew Bible, Ignatius of Loyola, Protestant Spiritual Exercises ... you get the picture.)

A wonderful quote

On 13 Sep, 2005 By mpm

I'm happily reading my assignment for the course everyone here is calling "the bible class" - a big 4.5 credit whopper of a course with tons of readings and assignments. I'm reading chapter 3 of a book called "Introduction to the Hebrew Bible." (Collins) It's quite a good book, so far. At various points, he is throwing in zingers for anyone who has any idea that the bible might be inerrant. Here's a great one about the story of Adam and Eve, the serpent, and the apple:

"The appearance of a talking snake should alert even the most unsophisticated reader to the fictional nature of the story."

I couldn't help but laugh uproriously for a few minutes.

Intelligent Design not so intelligent

On 13 Sep, 2005 By mpm

I've not, up until this point, weighed in on the evolution vs. creation debate on this blog. Partially, because, well, everyone knows where I stand, and it would be a bit redundant and useless to carp about the people in Kansas who are out of their minds.

However, today I came across a good excuse to blog. The Christian Alliance for Progress (I've mentioned them before, scary name, but really right-on organization) is organizing a Clergy Letter Project.  The idea is to get signatures on a letter from 10,000 clergy members. The idea is to stop letting those who would try to redefine what science is about, and define the supposed conflict between science and religion (of which there truly is none) affect the way our children are taught science. The letter is so good, I'm going to paste it here in it's entirety:

"Within the community of Christian believers there are areas of dispute and disagreement, including the proper way to interpret Holy Scripture. While virtually all Christians take the Bible seriously and hold it to be authoritative in matters of faith and practice, the overwhelming majority do not read the Bible literally, as they would a science textbook. Many of the beloved stories found in the Bible -- the Creation, Adam and Eve, Noah and the ark -- convey timeless truths about God, human beings, and the proper relationship between Creator and creation expressed in the only form capable of transmitting these truths from generation to generation. Religious truth is of a different order from scientific truth. Its purpose is not to convey scientific information but to transform hearts.

We the undersigned, Christian clergy from many different traditions, believe that the timeless truths of the Bible and the discoveries of modern science may comfortably coexist. We believe that the theory of evolution is a foundational scientific truth, one that has stood up to rigorous scrutiny and upon which much of human knowledge and achievement rests. To reject this truth or to treat it as 'one theory among others' is to deliberately embrace scientific ignorance and transmit such ignorance to our children. We believe that among God's good gifts are human minds capable of critical thought and that the failure to fully employ this gift is a rejection of the will of our Creator. To argue that God's loving plan of salvation for humanity precludes the full employment of the God-given faculty of reason is to attempt to limit God, an act of hubris. We urge school board members to preserve the integrity of the science curriculum by affirming the teaching of the theory of evolution as a core component of human knowledge. We ask that science remain science and that religion remain religion, two very different, but complementary, forms of truth."

I wish people w/o the "Rev." in front of their name could sign. Sigh. Next time. But I understand.

In all my years as a scientist, I never felt that there had to be, or should be, a conflict between science and religion or spirituality. And lately, I've come to realize this: like rejecting our faculty of reason, to reject the amazingly complex, rather beautiful, stunning, and frankly astonishing process of evolution as not being part of God's creation is hubris as well. We humans are good at hubris.

On the other hand, part of the process of this long-standing argument are some people who rather loudly profess that evolution precludes the existence of a creator. I think we need to understand that the belief in the existence, or lack of existence of a creator is a religous belief - that science truly, because of its limitations, and limits to natural law, has nothing to say about this.

It is true, I think, that most people who feel strongly about taking the bible literally, will continue to find ways to short-circuit the teaching of evolution in science classrooms. And, I think that scientists and science teachers combating this is important. But I think, like the Christian Alliance for Progress, that getting the clergy, and people of faith more broadly, involved in this discussion is critical.

Flood waters release sewage

On 09 Sep, 2005 By mpm

I won't say this is going to be my last post on the Katrina aftermath. But I am going to take a break from reading and writing about it for a while. It's just too difficult.

You might read the title to mean that I'm going to talk something about what's actually happening in the flood mess of New Orleans. The waters of New Orleans are now a toxic sludge of human waste, dead bodies, chemicals, oil, and who knows what else. But I'm really talking metaphorically.

This disaster has exposed some of the worst parts of our society - from the clear effect that global warming can have on weather, to the way we build our cities, to the racism and classism that continues to plague our society, to the rank cronyism and clear incompetence of our present government, to the complete lack of empathy of the president and those around him (his mother saying that "this is working out well for them" his wife can't even get the name of the hurrican right, he stays on vacation while the hurricane hits, his vice president goes shopping for a mansion while this is happening, his secretary of state shops for shoes, and watches plays, etc.) I don't know exactly how this is going to play out in the next few months and years, as the people of New Orleans find their way through.

One last bit of raw sewage: there is quite the media and blog storm about FEMA director Mike Brown. If you read the incredible expose in the New Republic (reg required, excerpt here) you'll see that I'm more qualified to run FEMA than he is. In fact, I can bet that almost every single one of you reading this blog are at least as, if not more qualified to run FEMA than he is.

The most amazing thing, actually is not that he was nominated. I mean, yeah, that's one of the most astonishingly incompetent and careless things this president has done so far. But the most astonishing thing is that he was confirmed by the senate. It is unconscionable that these people put someone with so little (in fact, none) experience in disaster management in a position of that importance.

It tells me a few things. It tells me that in the end, there are a whole lot of people in power in this country who really, truly don't care about anyone else except themselves and the people they know. They are willing to spend their time and energy passing bills to make corporations and wealthy people richer. They are willing to send young men and women to kill and be killed, basically, so that corporations can keep the money flowing. And people in Iraq and New Orleans have lost their lives because of it. And countless more are suffering.

I never had much faith in this administration, and I think that in some ways, the last couple of months has been a process of those of us who didn't vote for Bush saying to those who did "we told you so." And maybe they'll get it, and think twice (or three times?) next time in the ballot box. But there is more failure than just at the top. Where on earth are our legislators? I think that a lot of them are so beholden to those with money, that they are just as much to blame.

Just when you think it can't get worse...

On 09 Sep, 2005 By mpm

Bush has apparently just  eliminated the ~~minimum~~ prevailing wage for government contracts in certain areas of Louisiana. Here's a post on America Blog about it.

But the kicker, of course, is that there are desperate people who have lost their homes, their jobs, and perhaps some family members, are going to be struggling to get back on their feet, and so what will be offered them for work is jobs that pay less than the prevailing wage? This is, of course, so those tax dollars that aren't going to them will go to 1) pad the profits of the corporations that are given these contracts (like Halliburton) 2) pad the profits of corporations doing buisness with the government in Iraq (like Halliburton) or 3) go to wealthy people as part of the tax cuts.

Any sense of compassion and empathy is clearly absent in his mother, so I guess it shouldn't surprise me that it's absent in the son. The way this administration is continuing to show that they don't care about anyone except people just like them is stunning. But, perhaps, people are beginning to get it, but maybe not enough.

Blog Notes

On 07 Sep, 2005 By mpm

There are some changes afoot. First off, I killed off my 3rd (most short lived, but, surprisingly, most visited) blog, Pearlbear's Technology Desk (the posts will remain up, but I won't be adding to them.) My brain just isn't in technology right now. Believe it or not, I stopped reading Slashdot, and can barely make it through my Engaget RSS feed before closing the window. I know, what happened?

Second, I have promised myself (or, a different term, from my Spiritual Disciplines class, covenanted with myself) that I would write at least once a week in my Ministry Blog. I just posted something that reflects my current state of mind. I hope it's helpful to others.

Big Shot of Antidote

On 07 Sep, 2005 By mpm

I was talking with a friend this morning, and I came up with that phrase in my head, and I thought it was a good thing to blog about.

I have realized, over the course of the years of my life, that my perception of Christianity has been twisted by two separate factors in my life: 1) My fundamentalist years (16-20) where I learned, first hand and personal, what being a "Christian" meant. 2) Years and years of, for want of a better word, propoganda, from the religious right about how a very particular kind of "Christian" (the evangelical or fundamentalist type) was the only kind of Christian there was.\

And, even in my personal process of re-discovering Christianity in the last year or so, I still had that poisoned sense of it, of what it meant to be one, of what one was supposed to believe, etc.

I think I've finally found the antidote. I've spent the last 3 weeks among people who are genuinely nice, genuinely open and honest, genuinely caring about the suffering of everyone everywhere, genuinely interested in peace and social justice, equality of all people no matter their race, class, sexual orientation, faith tradition, or abilities. They are willing and able to act on those concerns, and, further, they are genuinely Christian.

I had a great conversation with a fellow seminarian (who is a Methodist) about a variety of things. I mentioned that when I was a fundamentalist, I had felt called to be a missionary. We talked some more about being called, etc. At one point, she said to me, "maybe you are called to be a missionary." I was totally taken aback. I explained, patiently (and, probably, somewhat patronizingly), that I believed that all faiths are equally valid, and I wasn't about to tell anyone else how to find God or salvation. She said "no, no, not that. I mean the mission. The mission is serving people, helping people who are suffering, helping them to find hope."

I thought that was something I could sign up for.

Barbara Bush

On 05 Sep, 2005 By mpm

Barbara Bush gets my "People who are out of their minds" award for the week (it was so difficult this week - lots of competition)

From Editor and Publisher:

"Then she added: "What I'm hearing is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality.

And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this--this (she chuckles slightly) is working very well for them."

'nuff said. Here's the full article.

Thanks to America Blog for this one.

Update: Here is the audio of what she said. The tone sounds even worse than just the words. Hat tip to Crooks and Liars for this one.\

Anne Rice on New Orleans

On 05 Sep, 2005 By mpm

Anne Rice had an op ed in yesterday's times. I've seen this posted in a few blogs, and read it. It's worth reading. It's in the NYT (reg required).

Here's a snippet:

"But to my country I want to say this: During this crisis you failed us. You looked down on us; you dismissed our victims; you dismissed us. You want our Jazz Fest, you want our Mardi Gras, you want our cooking and our music. Then when you saw us in real trouble, when you saw a tiny minority preying on the weak among us, you called us "Sin City," and turned your backs.

Well, we are a lot more than all that. And though we may seem the most exotic, the most atmospheric and, at times, the most downtrodden part of this land, we are still part of it. We are Americans. We are you."

Rehnquist Died

On 03 Sep, 2005 By mpm

Well, this isn't the big news it would be, given the situation. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist died today. There isn't a substantial story yet, but there's a headline in the New York Times website.

I heard it on a streaming news source out of New Orleans, and also the Scotus nomination blog

Updated: Here's the story from CNN

The time of my life

On 02 Sep, 2005 By mpm

A friend of mine (Cindy, actually) is jealous. I didn't get it. I said "you've already been to seminary, how can you be jealous?"

I just spent 4 intensive days with some of the nicest, most open, and sweetest people I've ever met. We're all stewing in our own juices of anxiety, confusion, worry, anticipation, worry (oh, I said that one already) excitement, etc. The wonderful finish to all of this (remember, this is orientation at a seminary) was a big group of us dancing away at a gay bar in Oakland. It was a good chunk of the incoming class (it was an organized part of orientation), plus a number of returning students. Gay, bi, and straight, and everyone from the grandparents to the newly minted B.A.s. We had a blast.

I was telling another friend that I've met people I want to know, and keep knowing for years, even though I've only known them for a few days. I said in my last post that I felt surprisingly at home here, and that continues to be the case. And now I get Cindy's jealousy. I mean, I'm so happy, I'm almost jealous of myself!

I am, however, overwhelmed at the pile of books I just got from the bookstore. Luckily, now I know I don't have to read all of them all (thanks to Cindy, and a very useful seminar that was part of orientation). But I'm psyched about the first days of class, and being in the classroom with many of these amazing bunch of folks.

Orientation, Day 2

On 30 Aug, 2005 By mpm

It's the end of Day 2 of orientation. The sun has set, I'm sitting outside, because I can get wireless that way (DSL tomorrow!) I feel a little less disoriented, but way more overwhelmed by the sheer amount of things I have to do. I have to deal with financial aid, pay my bill (or part of it,) see my advisor, register for classes, get a parking permit, etc., etc. That doesn't even include the other, sorta unrelated stuff I have to do - like the clock is ticking on getting my car registered in CA, register to vote, etc.

But there is more. There is a whole layer of other stuff to deal with. A friend asked me today whether I felt culture shock. On one hand, no, not in the least. This is a community that is, in many respects, very much what I'm used to being around - politically progressive, open, queer and queer-friendly, the class is a lot more diverse than I'm used to, which is fabulous. Not only is there a significant presence of domestic people of color, but there are a lot of international students of all stripes. But it is, very decidely Christian, which is something I'm not at all used to. I'm actually enjoying it. I do have my moments of "what on earth..." but they have only been moments. And I think the "what on earth" is more a reaction to my comfortableness with it all than anything else.\

The people I've met have been fabulous - friendly, inquisitive, interesting. Hearing their stories and their perspectives has been really enriching, and I can't quite believe I get at least 3 years of this. It's an amazing gift.

I've decided on my courses. Part of it was easy - I have three required courses, and I only get one elective. I'm taking The Bible in the Near East - a huge, 4.5 credit course. Spiritual Disciplines for Leadership, a mini-course, 1.5 credits. Art and Religion - sounds like it's going to be very interesting. I'm going to sign up (as long as my advisor agrees) for 2 courses, and pick one. My first choice is Christian Contemplation and Action - it's a study of some of the primary Christian mystics such as Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, and Ignatuis, and others. My second (by a hair) choice is Buddhist-Christian Dialogue. You can take it either as a 3.0 or a 1.5 credit course - so I might stick with it as an extra 1.5 credit course, if I think I can handle it.

So, two more very intense days of this (Friday doesn't have much going on, thankfully.) I do feel a bit like I'm drowning. But I do get Labor Day weekend to rest, relax, explore the Bay Area a bit, and regroup before classes start next Tuesday.\

Where we get our food from, part II

On 28 Aug, 2005 By mpm

Remember my post about my drive from Berkeley down to Santa Barbara? Well, the drive up from Idyllwild back to Berkeley was even more instructive in the 'where we get food' department.

First, my image of the San Fernando Valley, as this lush, garden of eden like place where all our vegetables come from has been utterly shattered. I don't know where I got that image, but I guess I must have figured if all this great stuff comes from there, then it must be like a garden of eden.

I was travelling through during probably what is the driest part of the year, but there is no doubt in my mind that at least the landscape that route 5 goes through is naturally very dry. Brown scrub grass and little desert plants were on both sides of the highway, and on the west side were often these hills that were totally brown. On the east side, were large swaths of green fields, clearly irrigated, surrounded by brown. Where there were trees (citrus, I think), the ground was mostly brown (some green grass) in between. There were large patches of burned grass next to the highway (I suspect the result of someone's flicked cigarette.)  Where there were brown fields, they were growing hay, which seemed like a very natural crop for the climate.

As I drove further north, these huge aquaducts came into view. Miles and miles and miles of aqueduct - concrete rivers bringing water to the valley.

Now I fully, completely understand the price we pay to have grapes and lemons and lettuce and strawberries and tomatoes in November and January. It was actually kinda scary - understanding how much these fields depended on that water, and how much we depend on that food.

The second part was that like my drive down to Santa Barbara, in my drive up the valley, it was really clear who was working the fields. And, in my scanning of the radio stations, the majority of the stations I found were actually spanish language stations, which surprised the heck out of me.

I feel like the drive peeled away another layer of understanding of the way we've chosen to construct our society, and both the precariousness of it, as well as the way we hide from ourselves it's true nature.

Change

On 28 Aug, 2005 By mpm

Sitting in my room (pictures soon, I promise - my DSL will be installed on Wed.) and looking about at my stuff (the stuff I have left, that is,) I'm struck by how big a change I made in my life. I've gone from being a "householder" - living a regular life, in a regular house, with a (relatively) regular job, to being a student again, living in a single room, sharing a bathroom, kitchen, laundry, etc., entering into a different relationship with the people around me. My days will be utterly different - in a different geographic location, a different time zone, with (mostly) different people and different contacts each day.

On the other hand, I'm struck by how little has changed. I'm still Michelle, still carrying about my varied idiosyncrasies and baggage, living in the same body I've always inhabited, with it's set of issues, and my complicated relationship with it. I still have the same habits of mind, the same strange and wonderful thought processes, the same ways of thinking. No matter how radical the change in my everyday life (and this change is on the radical end, although I guess I could have been a little more radical,) I'm still the same person, and I'm dragging around the same virtual stuff along with me, wherever I go. I still look at the same person in the mirror in the morning (yes, I still have a mirror.)

Tomorrow, I will enter into a new process, with a bunch of other people who've made similar changes in their lives, to come to this place. We all have had, I expect, a lot of different reasons to follow the paths we are following, and I imagine that this is less of a change for some than for others.

I don't know exactly what lessons I will eventually learn from this process (I suspect there are many,) but one thing I've learned already is that we are who we are, no matter where we are. We can change everything, and nothing will change. And, at the same time, change can force us to see that elemental us - those things that we have to drag along with us, no matter what.\

Ack!! Part II

On 27 Aug, 2005 By mpm

I was sitting having dinner this evening with a group of folks in my dorm. Very nice group, nice conversation. One of them, someone who'd been around a while, said "when I was in your position I was panicked." I said "I'm close, but not there yet."

Well, just a few minutes later, thinking about the whole conversation (we went everywhere from what courses everyone is taking, to someone's upcoming ordination, to internships, to what one of the D.Min students is doing for a thesis....), I'm getting panicked. Seriously.

I'm beginning to realize just how much I don't know. I'm pretty used to understanding how much I don't know- that's a hallmark of a good academic. But to not know things in an academic sense is very different than not knowing things in a practical sense.

And, further, I haven't finished reading the packet of readings I am supposed to have done by Monday for orientation. Considering I've had them in hand for 2 months, I hardly have much excuse.

So maybe I should go do that now, while my laundry is going....

Anti-Christians

On 24 Aug, 2005 By mpm

While I was driving down the road in California, I heard the snippet of Pat Robertson's comment about the democratically elected Venezuelan president. As you might imagine, there is both a media and blog storm about this.

Pat Robertson gets my "People who are out of their minds" award for the week. But I have more to say.

The more I re-learn, and re-connect with my Christian roots, and the more I understand what Jesus really had to say, the more I think that it's time we stopped calling these people Christians. How is it that one of the primary spokespersons for the "religious" right is advocating the assasination of a democratically elected head of state? Hugo Chavez is doing exactly what Jesus was really talking about, caring about the poor in his country. And Pat Robertson wants him dead? And further, they have actually prayed for more openings on the Supreme Court! How are there openings? The justices (or their spouses) die or get very sick. So they are praying to God for people to get sick and die.

Bruce Bawer, in Stealing Jesus, said it quite eloquently. The book is in a box somewhere, so I can't quote it. But the gist of what he said is that the God that these people worship, and the Jesus they proclaim to follow, is evil. From my perspective, their religion is an evil corruption of the theology and philosophy of the book they claim to follow literally (hmmm, is that part of the problem?) Anyway, it's time we stopped calling them Christians.* *

The National Council of Churches has a good statement. I don't have time to go through the various blogs that have responded to this right now, but Technorati is a good place to start - and lots of the blogs on my blogroll have responded.

Ack!!

On 23 Aug, 2005 By mpm

I have several words of advice for those of you out there who decide, like me, to abandon your householder life, to live in a single dorm room.

1) Don't have the room on the second floor of a building that is built on a hill, thus forcing you to drag all of your stuff up two flights of stairs.

2) Don't expect to actually fit anything in a 12x14 room. Remember how much stuff you had as a college student. Bring that, and ONLY that. It is astonishing the fraction of the room that a bottle of shampoo takes.

3) You do get a great deal on phone service - \$5/month! (yes, that means I'm getting an actual real phone number. I didn't have a choice if I wanted DSL.)

4) The closets are smaller than you think.

5) The bed is smaller than you think.

6) Bring bubbles with you for a calmness interlude between the stress.

OK, you get the picture. I have arrived, after wonderful visits with friends, and a long, long drive (more on the drive in anonther post.) Some of my stuff is in my room, some still in my car, and the 16 boxes that were shipped are still sitting in storage room of the basement of the dorm.

One of the things that was on my agenda was how best to set up an exercise program once I moved. First week, CHECK.

But the truth of the matter, is that even though I'm a bit overwhelmed by how much stuff to do and deal with, I'm completely ecstatic.

A Blog Policy

On 22 Aug, 2005 By mpm

Someone had asked me why I have said in my blog, on many occasions, "a friend of mine," without identifying them. This made me realize that some people reading this blog might not realize that this is completely deliberate. Since I rarely ask for permission to post things about people, and I am almost always posting about events and experiences from my point of view, it is my policy never to identify people, even by first name, unless there is a specific reason to identify them (basically because they have a blog/website/other public thing of their own I am referencing.) And I choose not to directly blog about my family, because it's pretty obvious/easy to find out who they are.

This is a public blog. Many people in my life are private, and don't have their own blogs/websites, etc. I'd rather not drag them into my own public sphere, unless they want me to.

Mountain Beauty

On 22 Aug, 2005 By mpm

I'm now at the house of my friends who live in Idyllwild, CA. Idyllwild is a small town in the mountains of Southern California - southeast of LA, and northeast of San Diego. It's incredibly beautiful - although very dry. I hadn't known about how dry it is in the summer, as I've only been up here in February, my prior traditional visit month. That's the rainy season.\

I had a short mini-sesshin at Zen Mountain Center - I arrived mid-day on Saturday, the second to last day of their 7 day sesshin. It was really nice - nice to have that short time to stop and sit. Nice to be in a wonderful community of practitioners. It was a little daunting, though, since Zen is so formal - lots of chants I didn't know, and bows to take at moments I wasn't used to, etc. I had my first (and, I expect last) experience with Oryoki, the formal way of dining. But I was still glad to be there.

Later in the day, a group of us were at my friends' house for dinner, and we had really interesting discussions about different Buddhist traditions, how IMS and ZMC were different, and veering into conversations about Buddhism and Christianity. I heard lots of stories about the summer training period at ZMC, and life as a head trainee (one of the dinner group had served that role for the past 3 months.)

It was a great discussion, and made me so excited about what's happening for me next. Tomorrow morning, early, I drive up to Berkeley, to settle in to my dorm room, and I have a few days to get stuff arranged, etc., before orientation starts on Monday.

Blogging Tips

On 18 Aug, 2005 By mpm

I'm catching up on my backlogged blog reading and came across an interesting page - 31 days to Building a Better Blog. It's focused toward people who are trying to actually make money at blogging, something I can't quite get my mind around, but in any event, it's got some nice tips for bloggers, worth a read.

Thanks Art!

Where we get our food from

On 16 Aug, 2005 By mpm

One of the things that I often do before a meal (at least when I'm being conscious) is think about where the food came from. When I was driving down to Santa Barbara from Berkeley yesterday, I passed fields and fields of food crops, some of which were being picked. At one field, there was a semi, with a flat bed with lots and lots of boxes of cabbage. I recognized the boxes as ones I'd seen in the supermarket - when the folks were stocking the vegetable tables with varied kinds of vegetables.

I also passed two semis with big buckets full of just picked carrots. I wondered if those were going to be processed into "baby carrots" (sorry, no, they don't pick them small, they take regular carrots, and process them into baby carrots.)

I've always known that much of the veggies and fruits I buy, especially between November and June, are from California.  It was amazing and revelatory to spend several hours passing through the farmlands that are the source of my food.

Also, especially having had the experience and conversation about slow food, as well as the experience of knowing how expensive fuel is getting, it really made me stop and think a bit about the whole thing.

But, I guess, now that I'm living here, I get the advantage of the abundance of relatively local food grown year round.

Summerland, CA

On 16 Aug, 2005 By mpm

I'm in Summerland, CA, which is two towns south of Santa Barbara (after Montecito). It's a nice little town, and I'm relaxing with an old friend of mine. She's fostering many kittens (5 are in the house) which is a lot of fun. I miss my cats, and this is a way to get my fill of cat energy. There is a totally sweet kitten, called "Buffy" (of "Vampire Slayer" fame) sitting next to me purring her heart out. Friday Cat Blogging will be fun this week.

I've got another week of betwixt and between-ness, before I move back up to Berkeley, and start my new life. Staying here is always a nice place to be mellow, and just take life in. I also look forward to my time in Idyllwild, with other friends, and a short sitting retreat at the Zen Mountain Center.\

And, of course, there is wifi - so my IV of internet access has gone from the trickles I had during my trip, to a steady flow, at least until the end of the week. Nice. I don't know exactly how and when I'll get my access going when I move in, but there is a great cafe down the block with free wifi.

Bolinas, CA and thoughts on journeys

On 14 Aug, 2005 By mpm

I'm cold. YAY! I'm sitting in Bolinas, CA, at the cousin's of the friend who traveled with me, and, it's COOL OUT. I can't even begin to tell you how happy this makes me. After weeks and weeks of heat waves in Massachusetts, and 90+ temperatures (we hit 100 in Nebraska,) I am ecstatic to feel the need to put on a sweatshirt.

We're in Bolinas, CA. It's a tiny, tiny little town on the coast of Marin County, and it takes forever to get here. But it's worth it. It's a quiet little town, full of really nice people. I'm enjoying the day so far.

So, having arrived in California, the cross country trip is done. We had a great time - we got along famously, had only a few heated arguments (about politics and religion, of course.) I'll be on my own heading to southern California tomorrow.

One of the things we both commented on, at our first major stop in California that we'd arrived "home". It was a strange feeling for me - and I can't really describe it. Mostly it was about the people we saw. I saw the first other African American I'd seen since Boulder. We saw people sipping coffee, anti-war/anti-Bush bumper stickers. We haven't had any problems finding my friend (who is basically a vegan) something to eat, which has been an issue in many parts of the country. Part of it was the landscape - it was much more familiar than the desert we'd come through. Part of it was knowledge that this was the state that will be my home for at least a while.

It made me think a lot about what home is. To some extent, I have two homes on the east coast - the Valley, which was my home for longer than any community I've ever lived. It will always be my home, I think. And then NY, where most of my family resides, and where I grew up. That will also, in some ways be home, too.

Now I have a third home, a new home, and I am very much looking forward to exploring and getting to know it. When we drove through the Sierra Nevada Mountains, both of us said that we'd want to go back.

California at last!!

On 13 Aug, 2005 By mpm

As I'm writing this, we're speeding down the Sierra Nevada mountains,\ from Lake Tahoe to Sacramento - we just passed over the South Yuba\ River. It's nice to finally be here - the state that will be my home for\ a while, at least. These mountains are reminiscent of the White\ Mountains in New Hampshire, but they are themselves, too.

The desert of Utah and Nevada was interesting, but it feels like a\ relief to be in the mountains. We'll see the ocean today!

Next steps, 2 days in Marin county, then off to Santa Barbara for a few\ days. More to come - this trip, like travelling in general has provided\ lots of food for thought.

Salt Lake City

On 12 Aug, 2005 By mpm

I'd never been to Salt Lake City - and I have been pleasantly surprised. We're just passing through, getting dinner at a busy Thai restaurant before getting back on the road to Wells,NV. The mountains are lovely, and I expect the lake to be quite a sight.

Fort Collins, then Nevada

On 11 Aug, 2005 By mpm

Today, I'm driving from Boulder up to Fort Collins, where I used to live, to visit some old friends. I am very much looking forward to it - it wasn't an original part of the plan, but it's a nice side effect of staying in Boulder for an extra day.

Boulder has been nice, but I'm ready to leave. We have two more long driving days, first to Wells, Nevada, then to Marin County, where we're staying with the cousin of my friend for the weekend, before I head down to southern California for a week.

I'm not so much restless, like I was when I was in Massachusetts the last week I was there - I'm getting just plain old tired. Like a friend of mine said, I'm not 30 anymore. I'll be ready to settle down in my dorm room, and get ready for school.

Bubbles...

On 10 Aug, 2005 By mpm

As I was in the process of selling my condo, I thought a lot about housing prices, and whether there was a housing bubble. As I learned lately, I sold my condo just as the housing market in my area was softening.

Anyway, one of my favorite columnists, Paul Krugman, has an interesting column on the housing bubble that's worth a read. A bit scary.

Boulder, Colorado

On 09 Aug, 2005 By mpm

I'm sitting at a cafe called Trident. It's on Pearl Street, just a block from the Pearl Street mall. It's been 11 years or so since I was last in Boulder, and it's hard to believe - it feels like it was just a few weeks ago, somehow. It hasn't changed a lot, from what I can see. Denver has gotten a lot bigger - that was pretty obvious from driving into the area.

I might take a drive up to Fort Collins in the next couple of days - I'm not sure yet. It seems a shame being only an hour away, and having a fair bit of spare time, not to go, and see the place I lived for 2 years. 2 years is such a short period of time, in some regards, but it was a very important 2 years - a lot more influential than the mere time frame.

It was a relatively short driving day - only about 7 hours on the road from Grand Island, Nebraska. But it was our fourth day in a row driving, and I'm pretty worn out at this point. And I can really feel the altitude. We'll be here for at least 2 nights, possibly three. I intend to get a lot of resting, reading, and relaxing done. Maybe even some blogging, too.

Cell Phones

On 09 Aug, 2005 By mpm

We're off again this morning, and I was reminded of something I meant to add to last night's post. I've done a trip through this part of the country (from, say, Ohio through Colorado) about 10 times in my life. The last time I did it was about 11 years ago - a trip an ex and I took to Colorado to go to a wedding of a friend of mine. I realized today that what has made this trip very different is that both of us in the car have our cell phones. So that each day our trip is punctuated by either incoming calls, or calls we're making. It actually makes it feel a lot less remote, and far away - knowing that anyone can call at any moment, and we can talk. I've heard about things happening, little and big crises,  the regular everyday lives of people I know and love, going on while we're going down the road. I still feel a part of it.

I guess this is a double-edged sword - like almost all technology, it has both good and bad associated with it. The good is I can keep in touch more easily. The bad is that it means that in some ways, the places we pass along the way are more like moving scenery - we're not exactly right there in the midst of it.

Feel free to give me a call.

Grand Island, Nebraska

On 08 Aug, 2005 By mpm

I'm very sure that people who live here don't much appreciate hearing that they live in the middle of nowhere. I do imagine they hear it a lot. We are in the middle of nowhere. About 150 miles west of Omaha, NE, Grand Island is a small city (4th largest in Nebraska with a whole 44,000 people!)

It was an uneventful 6 hour drive from Iowa City - I think we saw more corn and soybeans than I've seen in a long time. For future reference - Iowa rest stops have Wifi! After checking into our Holiday Inn Express, we went for a swim at Mormon Island State Recreation area - I'd been there before: camped there on a trip to Colorado about 11 years ago. Nothing especially scenic, but it's a nice swim, and it was 99 degrees outside today in Nebraska. Yuck.

Tomorrow we'll leave early, and arrive in Boulder. The plan is to stay in Boulder for two nights, which will allow us a full day in Boulder to do stuff (Well, my friend will do stuff - yoga, and lots of it. I'll probably just be a couch potato.)

I've started a new photo album (pretty boring so far) of the trip. We keep forgetting to take pictures at critical places. We'll try to do better.

Iowa City

On 08 Aug, 2005 By mpm

Here I am, sitting in a restaurant in Iowa City, my friend is in search of bagels, and I'm doing OK. Iowa City has been fabulous. The restaurant I'm sitting in right now is an amazing restaurant called Devotay. It's owned by Kurt Friese, who is the brother of a good, old friend of mine. He and his wife treated us to a fabulous meal of tapas, and we had a great conversation about slow food, and what's been happening with it, so much of which I didn't know. Next step is to become a member! I'm convinced. Kurt is now writing a book about slow food, out next year. I'll keep you posted.

We stayed in a nice B&B, and I even got a good nights sleep. It seems I've been sleeping better on the road than I was the last week or so before I left!

Next stop, Grand Island Nebraska, with a nice swimming hole at Mormon Island State park - somewhere I've stopped before on my way to Colorado. Boulder is next, then Salt Lake City after that, although how we are going to get from Boulder to Salt Lake is still up in the air.

Kent, OH

On 06 Aug, 2005 By mpm

We've arrived in Kent, OH, a small college town outside of Cleveland, OH. Kent is the home of Kent State university, the site of that infamous incident with the National Guard killing students. Were staying in the home of a wonderful Quaker - a free night's stay! Very nice hospitality. We got to swim in Lake Erie this afternoon. Yay. Tomorrow, it's Iowa City IA, a UU B&B and dinner at Devotay, a restaurant owned by the brother of a good friend of mine. The road winds on.... (sorry for the lack of the usual links - I'm sending this from my cell phone...)

The last night...

On 05 Aug, 2005 By mpm

So, this is it. the last night I spend in the Valley, my home of 16 years. It's still hasn't completely sunk in yet - I imagine as I'm driving west it will begin to. I'm leaving on my journey at what I like to call "the crack of dawn" tomorrow (actually, 7:30am). Our first stop is a UU bed and breakfast in Cleveland, OH. The car is packed to the gills (pictures later) and ready for the trip. I'm not exactly sure I'm ready for the trip, but I guess I'll have to be by tomorrow morning.

I've never felt such a mixture of emotions - sadness about leaving, excitement about the new endeavor (which has always felt exactly right), fear about who knows what, and restlessness. They come and go, and mix, and create quite the interesting mind state for me. I'm getting used to it, and I imagine it will subside, but it's definitely something I've not felt before in my life in quite the same way, even at big transition points.

I'm going to do both video and still pictures along the way - I imagine it will take months to finally get around to editing and putting up the video, so don't hold your breath. But I'll try to get the photos of my journey up as soon as possible.

I've been reminded of a poem by the Greek poet, Cavafy, that a good friend of mine introduced me to eons ago. It's called Ithaca. Here's a snippet:

Always keep Ithaca in your mind.\ To arrive there is your ultimate goal.\ But do not hurry the voyage at all.\ It is better to let it last for many years;\ and to anchor at the island when you are old,\ rich with all you have gained on the way,\ not expecting that Ithaca will offer you riches.

The journey as important as the destination. Off I go...

Back from retreat, off to California, almost]

On 03 Aug, 2005 By mpm

Well, I just got back from my retreat (more on that another time - I think it will take me time to process everything that happened. One quick thing, we got a really nice treat in having Sharon Salzberg lead Metta Meditation each day!)

I'm moving into very intense preparation mode - I'm leaving on Saturday! It's amazing what little details arise that need to be dealt with. I'm shipping my stuff off to PSR tomorrow, which will be one major detail taken care of.  I'm feeling mostly scattered, restless, and ready to go. But there's an undercurrent there, which is interesting, and I think I won't fully understand until later.

A quick blog-ish note: the postings here for the next while (probably until late August) are likely to be very personal in tone, primarily about my journey across the country. I expect to get back to more substantive stuff after I settle in. It also won't be especially regular, since I don't always know exactly when I'll have net access.

On Retreat, Blog Break

On 29 Jul, 2005 By mpm

Another major blog break, from today through this coming Wednesday. I'll be at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA, for a 5 day retreat, with Joseph Goldstien, Gina Sharpe, Rachel Bagby, and Russell Brown. I am very much looking forward to it. I'm still pretty restless and impatient. And there are all sorts of other kinds of emotional issues raising their heads. So it's going to be a very interesting retreat, for sure.

Also, once I get back, I'll be spending a lot more time blogging about where I am, and what I'm doing on the final legs of my journey to California, than on broader issues. I imagine that it's likely that there won't be much blogging on either my ministry or technology blogs. I do have a ministry blog entry brewing in my head, though, about control (or, really the lack of) of the things that happen in our lives.

Anyway, my life is pretty full, right now, and what's primarily on my mind these days is the path I'm taking.

Another PWIOOTM: David Runnion-Bareford

On 28 Jul, 2005 By mpm

I LOVE this topic: People Who are Out of their Minds. Today, it's David Runnion-Bareford, of the organization Biblical Witness Fellowship. According to a story in Agape Press:

Runnion-Bareford contends that, compared to all the other Protestant denominations, the UCC stands alone in authorizing all the homosexual alternative lifestyles in a general resolution from its rule-making body and calling them compatible with Christianity. "This is not just simply a very liberal kind of denomination that just doesn't get it about God," he says. "They really are attempting to create a counterfeit that is saleable."

Yup, out of his mind. Thank you Chuck Currie!

Harry Potter

On 28 Jul, 2005 By mpm

OK, my very quick, and spoiler free, review of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. It was great. It was the best yet. The last one (Order of the Phoenix) had way, way too much teenage angst. This one was largely free of it (although there was plenty of "snogging" - I'll let you read to figure out what that means.)

It set up the next (and last) book really well. There are some surprises, one very unpleasant. But it's really worth a read. If you read the last one, and were worried about a downhill slide, not to worry. You'll enjoy this one totally. And I can't wait for the next one.

Not convinced? Here are some other reviews:\ \ New York Times\ Kirkus Reviews\ AP

Responding to Blogs

On 28 Jul, 2005 By mpm

I like reading blogs. I like commenting on blogs. I like writing blogs. I like the back-and-forth that comes from people reacting off of what others say. One of the things I've realized in the past couple of months of doing fairly intensive blogging is that I notice when:

- I can't post a comment without signing up to something\ - I can't trackback

I don't mind so much when I can do one or the other (comment or trackback). I really mind when I can't do either.

I understand not wanting to accept anonymous comments (although I've been pretty happy with the comments I've gotten, and have yet to delete one. I've not been a victim of comment spam yet - if I was, perhaps I'd be less sanguine. I also never leave anonymous comments.) But I don't want to sign up for yet another website in order to comment on a blog. That's just too high a barrier to jump for me.

Trackback is a really neat technology, that I know is not yet a standard. But I like knowing when my blog has been commented on, and I like reacting to other's posts in my blog. Technorati does provide a way to do trackback, but not everyone's blog is on Technorati. Haloscan does provide a way to do commenting and trackback even if your software/service doesn't have those features.

I'm psyched that the blogging tools and blogging aggregation tools are getting more sophisticated - and more interesting. I'm looking forward to the time when we can easily see and trace the threads that blogs take when interacting. It's a fun time to be a blogger.

North, not South

On 26 Jul, 2005 By mpm

In planning the drive across country, the heat wave has convinced us (a friend of mine is driving out with me) to go for the route that's more northern, instead of going south. It would have been nice to go through New Mexico and Arizona, but it would also be nice to be comfortable.

One of my jobs this week was to go to AAA to get tour books and maps and the like. This is starting to feel very real...

Restless and inundated

On 25 Jul, 2005 By mpm

I've been feeling a bit restless, over the past week or so. Chomping at the bit, as it were, ready to head in my car, and head out west. It's a strange mix, restlessness, some anxiety about this new venture, and real sadness about leaving friends, and this place that has been home for a long time, behind me. It is making things a bit surreal, but my life has felt like a Dali painting for about 6 months now.

Today I got two emails from PSR. One about health insurance (YAY!) Most of the time, health insurance makes me unhappy. But decent health insurance that isn't too expensive makes me happy, and they've got a good plan.

The second email was about registering for classes. This is what made me feel inundated. Inundated with new information that I wasn't sure I was going to be able to navigate exactly. I mean, I will be able to navigate it, but it feels like I have to dust off some old brain cells. Registration? Classes? Advisor? Books?

And then I'm anxious because I haven't yet gotten my housing packet, promised a couple of months ago. There is a lot to navigate, and most of it isn't going to be done for me. I do look forward to being with other people who are in the same boat, so I can get good reality checks on my reactions.

Eric Alterman

On 20 Jul, 2005 By mpm

I know he's written some good books (they fall into the category of 'depressing political books' which I no longer read). But his latest blog entry about the Roberts nomination is nuts.

He says:

"Anyway, the Roberts nomination seems to mean we should plan on saying goodbye to thirty-two years of life under "Roe," which is not entirely a bad thing, even for pro-choice advocates.  After all, Bush did terrific with unmarried women without college educations.  It would be helpful, politically (and democratically) for them to learn just what it was they were voting for.  There's a much longer argument to be made here, about how judicially-created and enforced liberalism has weakened its cause and alienated its potential supporters while not gaining terribly much in real world terms.  (I'm told much the same can be said for "Brown v. Board---at least the "with all deliberate speed" part of it too, but I've not yet read up on that argument, and it's not nearly so germane.) "

Roe as "judicially-created and enforced liberalism"? And "not gaining terribly much in real world terms?"  I think only a man could make that argument. I hardly think that argument would be touched with a 10 foot pole by older women who knew what it was like to have an unwanted pregnancy before Roe! And to say the same about Brown v. Board? I wonder what other judicial decisions he thinks fall into that category. What on earth does he think courts are for?

He gets my "people who are out of their minds" prize for the week. It usually goes to right leaning wingnuts. This week, it goes to a left-leaning wingnut.

Another organization to watch

On 18 Jul, 2005 By mpm

I am not one of those, like Jesus Politics, that reads religious right blogs/websites regularly. I just get annoyed and upset. But I do depend on others to point me to sites I should take a look at, and watch.

Chuck Currie, my current favorite UCC blogger, alterted us to an organization to watch, called the Institute on Religion and Democracy. Sounds pretty harmless, but here is a snippet of their mission statement:

"Not all of these causes are entirely unjust.  But they have gone awry and inflicted serious damage upon the church and society.  In pursuit of radical political agendas, church leaders have alienated members, undermined church structures of openness and accountability, and rendered their own ministries ineffective.  They have exacerbated the social trends that they ought to have been resisting.  U.S. churches must turn away from this disastrous diversion -- for the sake of their Lord, for the sake of those inside the church doors, and for the sake of the world outside."

They see it, as part of their mission, to push the "reform" (read: retrenchment into orthodoxy) of churches that have chosen to be progressive. They have committees on "Episcopal Action" ("Episcopal Action seeks to promote orthodox teaching and practice within the Episcopal Church.") and similarly, Presbyterian Action.

So not only do we have to deal with the increasing power and influence of the religious right in political life, we now also have to keep track of people wanting to move progressive denominations backward into orthodoxy. Chuck outlines in more detail the political affiliations of this organization. Worth a read.

I imagine they think that a committee on the UUA would be hopeless. Thankfully.

The big book on my table

On 16 Jul, 2005 By mpm

I went out and got the book today. I wasn't about to sit waiting for it last night, I figured today was soon enough. What book is it? Yes, of course, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. As if you haven't heard enough about it yet. I've read about 10 pages so far, and am looking forward to a quiet evening with it.

I've been surprised, in my blog perusal today, how many UUs mention Harry Potter. Philocrites seems to think we love Harry. I'd agree. Chalice Chick has dedicated quite a number of blog posts to individual chapters (I think there might be spoilers, I can't tell). I won't go so far, I promise. Scott Jones hasn't gotten his copy yet (thumbs down for Amazon pre-ordering.) Daniel Harper runs into an interesting crowd waiting for Harry Potter books.

The annual halloween party at my UU has had a Hogwarts theme for a couple of years now. Woo Hoo!

But of course, there are dissenting voices about Harry. Our "friends" at Chick have the real scoop on Harry!

Left Behind, the video game

On 10 Jul, 2005 By mpm

You've likely heard of it - the completely whacked Left Behind series, best selling books supposedly based on scripture. Ha! Anyway, it turns out there is going to be a video game! My my. I love video games, but I'll take a pass on this one. Anyway, I'm doing my part to increase slactivist's google page rank on his take on the Left Behind series and video game. Read all his posts on Left Behind. 

It's done

On 08 Jul, 2005 By mpm

I just finished signing the deed for the condo over to the new owners at the closing this afternoon. It's done. Completely, totally done. I have now rejoined the masses of non-homeowners again. I'm actually fine with it - I don't have to think about what I need to fix, or what next project to do, what thingy to buy for the living room.

There was sadness to it, and I think that will be reverberating for a while. But now, I can basically relax, and get myself ready for my transition to student-hood. My brain is still working at 95 miles an hour, and I think it will take me some time to slow down.

I'm ready for the next phase. California, here I come.

Today's mantra

On 08 Jul, 2005 By mpm

My mantra for today: We will never stop terrorism until we understand and address the suffering of terrorists. Yup. You read it here. Call me a wuss. Call me un-American. Call me unsympatetic to the victims of terrorism. Call me an ally of terrorists. Call me a stupid bleeding heart liberal. Call me a coward. Call me whatever names you want. Use this as an example post for all the silly liberals you like to excoriate. I don't care. I will say this until I am blue in the face, and until the end of my days. We will never stop terrorism until we understand and address the suffering of terrorists.

London, etc.

On 08 Jul, 2005 By mpm

The bombing in London is also keeping me awake tonight (that's a link to the page on Wikipedia about the bombing - one of the amazing applications of wikis.) Brewing in my head is a ministry blog post on evil - should be out of my brain in a few days. But at the moment, I'm caught thinking about the ways in which this might affect our lives.

For me personally, having recently been to London (and the King's cross tube station) it's jarring, and a real reminder of my own vulnerability. I imagine, like 9/11, it's a reminder to a lot of people of vulnerability. That's what worries me, partially - that we'll be more willing (like we were after 9/11) to think about giving up liberties so we can feel safer (as we all should know, it won't really make us any safer.)

And I also think a lot about the responses to this by the Bush administration, and also how the Democrats will respond (I hope it's by saying something like "while we should have been looking for Al-Quaeda, we've been busy with an unrelated war," and not something silly.)

I dunno, I'm feeling like, between the London bombing, the retirement of Sandra Day O'Connor, the rumored retirement of Renquist, the Karl Rove thingy, we're in for a sh*t storm.

Not my job...

On 07 Jul, 2005 By mpm

Many UU bloggers are talking about the racial incidents at GA. Philocrites, RadicalHapa and others link to the letter from the UUA board. ChaliceChick wonders if we are being too sensitive (here's my take on that issue.) First off, I was 2000+ miles away, so I am not even going to begin to comment on what happened. But as I was reading the varied blog entries about this issue, I noticed this real feeling of aversion. And thinking about it kept me awake (in case you are wondering, it's 2:00 in the morning.) For Buddhists, aversion is an important thing to observe and understand, because aversion is a cause of suffering.

So I decided to examine my aversion to talking about racism, and talk about it here. I have to admit, in my life, I've pretty much done what I can to avoid being involved in talking about racism (not always sucessfully.) And here's why:

1) It's boring. Really, really boring. It's such a normal, regular, and predictable part of life. All of our responses to it are canned, and ready to come out when the need arises. And, just like the energizer bunny, just keeps on going and going...

2) It's not my job. Making it the job of people of color to identify and deal with issues of racism is, bluntly, racist. Racist incidents happen. People of color bring it to light. Consternation and self-analysis ensue. Meetings happen, reports are written. People feel better. Things quiet down. People forget. Racist incidents happen. Rinse, lather, repeat: the cycle continues in this fashion. There is no question that there are some white individuals who are aware, responsive and on the ball, and pushing an anti-racist agenda. It's just that far too often it's up to us to raise the issue, and that's just not fair. I don't know whether the incidents that occurred at GA would have made it to the UUA board if it hadn't been raised by the youth of color. Perhaps, but I'm not sure. (The reference in the letter from the board to these incidents as a "wake up call" was, frankly, alarming to me. Isn't the UUA, as the anti-racist organization it proports to be, already awake to racism?)

And here's the hardest one, the real source of the aversion:

3) It messes with my sense of self. I hate being reminded that sometimes people's perceptions of me are affected by the fact that I'm African-American. I just want to be Michelle (or Pearlbear depending on my mood.) That pretty complicated, multi-faceted person.  Yes, being African-American is an essential core part of my being, but I don't like to be reminded that for some people, that's all of who I am.

This is scary

On 06 Jul, 2005 By mpm

Please tell me this can't be right. The logic is fairly compelling, though. (summary: combine the possible loss of Roe with the recent precident set in the Raich case (medical marijuana) and come up with a national abortion ban.) Sigh.

Anyway, thanks to Atrios for this one.

Yay for the UCC!

On 06 Jul, 2005 By mpm

For some of you, this is old news. The Synod of the  UCC (United Church of Christ) has overwhelmingly voted in favor of gay marriage. This makes them the first mainline protestant denomination to do so. (The UUs did it a while back.) They also have come out in favor of a broad and interesting array of very progressive causes.

There's lots of blogging going on about this. It's pretty interesting to watch.

Just About Done

On 06 Jul, 2005 By mpm

Well, I cleaned out the last of the stuff in my house. After a week of crazed packing, hauling, tag sale-ing, moving stuff in my car to the house I'm staying in, to the storage bin, to the dump, etc. etc. I am completely, totally, utterly wiped out. I have never in my life been this tired, or this sore.

The good thing is that for the most part, I made it through unscathed. No big disasters, no major breakage, no major glitches. It all went pretty much as planned, except that it took me longer than I thought it would (not much longer, happily.)

The "Chaos" album has the last of it - tag sale, empty house. I'm sad, but ready to leave it behind, ready to move on (my body isn't though - it's simply ready for rest.) The last thing is the closing, on Friday - get my little check (tuition, yay!) and be done, finally.

Nice pic

On 05 Jul, 2005 By mpm

I've been reading about the whole Karl Rove outing Valerie Plame thingy in the blogosphere (not a lot of actual news coverage that I've heard - this search on google shows that few major news outlets seem to be covering this story so far.) Anyway, I'm not going to pontificate about it - there is plenty of that going on. I'm just going to post this picture, that I got from Liberal Avenger, who got it from someone else, of course. :-)

Rovefongmarch20050704105527

Insomnia, Blog Break

On 28 Jun, 2005 By mpm

Why I am awake at 2:30 AM when I'm this tired is a question - but in any event, here I am. I don't often get real insomnia - when I'm wide awake, with no hope of sleep. I guess it's that there is so much going on, and so much that seems to need to be done, that my brain can't slow down.

Recap: condo closing a week from Friday. Big moving sale this weekend. Utter chaos for at least a week. And, a blog break. I won't have time to blog between now, and the middle of next week, so I'll be on hiatus from writing in any of the blogs. I hope that you'll be patient wating for part III of the Intellectual Property series.

Anyway, there will be plenty to read in the blogosphere while I'm on hiatus.

A nice theological discussion of abortion issues

On 28 Jun, 2005 By mpm

I'd not read this clearly laid out before - this post on the Christian Alliance for Progress' blog outlines a theological approach to abortion rights. In a nutshell, as usual, the right focuses on specific passages in the bible (which are fairly nebulous,) and neglects to mention others (which, in fact, are fairly clear.)

So if you are ever in a debate with anti-choice people, ask them about Exodus 21, where, in the authors paraphrasing, "And the answer that God gives Israel in its law is that [the fetus] is not a person. If the fetus dies, Dad gets a check. If Mom dies, however, the perpetrator gets the death penalty, because Mom is a full person, while the fetus is not, and because Mom's death represents an assault on the sanctity of the community which cannot be tolerated, while the death of the fetus is simply understood to be an economic loss for which the father must be compensated."

Yeah, I know, the patriarchial nature (as well as the invocation of the death penalty) of that passage makes me cringe too, but the point is, if you want to argue with anti-choice people on their own terms, pull this one out of your hat.

Something we're unprepared for

On 28 Jun, 2005 By mpm

A report released Friday suggests that as many as a half-million people could die of a bird flu pandemic in the US. The article is a sobering read. While we're busy pouring money into the Iraq and homeland security money pit, we're letting our health care system languish, and are completely unprepared for something like this.

Thanks to AmericaBlog for this one.

Gary Bauer

On 27 Jun, 2005 By mpm

I know, putting Gary Bauer in my list of "People who are out of their minds" is not at all a surprise. Here's a new one. The UCC has three resoultions on the table at their Synod, geared toward issues of peace in the Middle East. Gary wants people (I assume his constituents) to sign a petition urging the UCC to vote against these resolutions.

And, further, they are saying that divestment from Israel is racism. Yup. Out of their minds.

Grokster

On 27 Jun, 2005 By mpm

The supreme court handed down a unanimous ruling in Grokster v. MGM. I'll be talking more about it later, once I read and digest everything (I'll make it part of the IP Part III post I've been promising.) But beforehand, here's BoingBoing's post on varied coverage.

The Empathy Squeeze

On 25 Jun, 2005 By mpm

This is an amazing article, by Arlie Hochschild, who is a professor of sociology at University of California, Berkeley. Everyone should read it. It's a well reasoned article, about why, specifically lower- and middle-income men will support current economic policies of Bush, like the tax cut. It is along the lines of (but much more incredibly well done than) my post on class a couple of weeks ago.

Thanks again to Jesuspolitics.

Karl Rove must go??

On 23 Jun, 2005 By mpm

I am getting upset by the whole Karl Rove brou-ha-ha and subsequent storm in the blogosphere. For those of you who are wisely not watching the news, Karl Rove said some things in a conservative forum last night, and is being raked across the coals by democrats. He said, among other things,

"Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers,"

Dems, and lots of bloggers (Kos, Liberal Avenger, AmericaBlog, Wonkette, Atrios, TalkLeft,  Crooks and Liars, and whole hosts of others) are talking about it, some calling for his resignation. Of course, the White House is defending him.

Primarily, what's getting people's goats is that he is using 9/11 to try and prop up the president, who is not doing so well popularly speaking right now. Even Families of September 11 are annoyed. This is, for sure, reason for his dismissal, although I can't imagine it happening.

But there is something else here, in the democrats comments. From the LA Times:

"In seeking further to refute Rove's charge, Democrats also noted that just three days after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the Senate voted 98-0, and the House voted 420-1, for a resolution authorizing Bush to "use all necessary and appropriate force" against those behind the attacks. They also pointed to the president's statement after the vote, in which he praised Congress for being "united so powerfully" while sending a clear message to America's enemies."

So Democrats didn't want to appear like cowards, and were angry that Karl Rove said that liberals wanted to "prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers".

Guess what? That is, in fact, the compassionate, progressive response to an attack like 9/11. I'm not at all ashamed that I thought that we should approach 9/11 with criminal investigations to bring those responsible for the attacks to justice, help and support for those who were victims, and a careful look at why it happened in the first place, to make sure it doesn't happen again. I don't think that barreling into a country with guns drawn and bombs flying, killing hundreds or thousands of innocent civilians (some estimates suggest as many or more innocent civilians were killed in Afghanistan than were killed in the World Trade Center,) is going to make sure it doesn't happen again. Let alone going into a country that had nothing to do with it.

Why is it that we have two parties that try to one-up each other on how brutal and violent to be? It makes me sick.

UCC and Jesus

On 23 Jun, 2005 By mpm

I'd heard, many times, the joke that the UCC (United Church of Christ) should be called "Unitarians Considering Christ." I even thought it was kinda funny. Over the past few months, I've been intrigued by the UCC, first because I'm attending PSR, a UCC seminary. Second, because of their welcoming stance toward gays and lesbians, and third is their general reputation as a progressive protestant denomination. I'm learning that they are quite a diverse crowd. I've even met UCC ministers who are fairly similar to me theologically - which was quite the surprise.\

Apparently, there is some controversy in the UCC about the "Lordship and divinity of Jesus." There's a lot of blogging about this going on, mostly among conservatives. (Search for United Church of Christ or UCC at Technorati.) At some point, I'll post about my own christology (it's pretty, er, low? small? nonexistent? whatever.)

Chuck Currie has a good discussion of the issue. One blogger (no wonder his blog is called "The Narrow") finds this controversy in the UCC difficult to take. I for one will be following closely the varied results of the UCC synod this summer. It sounds fascinating.

Remember when 1 MB was a lot?

On 23 Jun, 2005 By mpm

OK, so I'm feeling old today. I just came across a post on slashdot, talking about a 1.5 petabyte system. A petabyte is 1,000 terabytes. What's a terabyte, you ask? That is 1,000 Gigabytes. I have about .5 Terabytes worth of storage attached to my computer (500 Gigabytes), and that's a lot. Most people are happy with 40 Gigabyte hard drives.

I remember, somewhat fondly, the old PDP-11 70 that I worked with in graduate school, back in the early '80s. It had a 10 MB hard drive, that required two people to lift and put into the drive bay. I have no idea how expensive it was, but I imagine it cost thousands of dollars. Now, a flash drive with 10+ times that will sit lightly on your neck, and lighten your wallet by a mere \$20.

And there are 1 TB hard drives (that's 100,000 times that old 10 MB drive) that you can now take away for a mere \$900, and will sit on your desk.

No wonder people keep talking about how people will stop deleting things. With tools like spotlight, or google desktop search, you can find anything, at any time. I have files that I've carried from my first computer in 1987, that are on my hard drive now. I won't be surprised if I still have those files on my new computer with a 1 PB hard drive that I buy in 20 years time.

Sigh

On 22 Jun, 2005 By mpm

Senator Richard Durbin apologized for the comments that I had mentioned in a previous post. Many in the blogosphere are pissed off. Me included.

Why is it that the democrats are such, well, wusses??? Torture is unacceptable, and is a completely non-partisan issue. You can make all sorts of good arguments against it, besides the obvious, that it's inhumane. It doesn't work and it puts our soldiers more at risk for being tortured themselves. Even some conservatives have their doubts.

Durban was talking about a report written by an FBI agent! He backed down simply because some republicans made noises at him? Because Richard Daley asked him to? What's his problem? Why can't we just stand up to them and tell them that no matter what they say, what they spin, what lies they tell, that we stand up for what is right?

The republicans seem to be completely controlling the game, and writing the rules, and the democrats seem to be just thrilled to be on the field at all. This is just painful.

I was going to be ...

On 22 Jun, 2005 By mpm

packing my clothes to leave at the crack of dawn for GA tomorrow. But I'm not. At the last minute (yesterday) I decided that I had bit off way, way more than I could chew, given the fact that I'm closing on my condo in 2 weeks. Something had to give, and it was either my sanity, or GA. I chose GA.

I'm disappointed, but I'll be going sometime soon, hopefully next year. I'm sorry I won't get to meet folks that I had hoped to meet, and have the experience I'd hoped to. But it's the right thing for me at the moment, and pretty much all I feel is relief. So I'll sleep late tomorrow, and go back to sorting and cleaning and packing. And not worry so much.

Rep. Hostettler

On 20 Jun, 2005 By mpm

This guy is completely out there. He thinks that there is a "mythical wall separation (sic) between church and state that's been erected by the courts" and that "Democrats can't help denigrating and demonizing Christians." Ick.

Via Atrios. And Fred Clarkson names him Theocrat of the Week.

I keep thinking that for these people, it's everything, or nothing. Either we have a theocracy, or they feel persecuted. There is no winning against an attitude like that. How do we get them to consider the ideas that other faiths are just as valid as Christianity, and need to coexist in this country, and that they benefit from freedom of religion as much as everyone else?

It's like talking to a stone, although I think stones listen better.

Bush is getting unpopular

On 20 Jun, 2005 By mpm

I've been reading about polls lately. Bush is in deep doodoo, and getting worse, popularity-wise. It's too bad these numbers didn't come out a year ago, but oh, well.

Annie Lamott, over at TPMCafe (a blog you should read, really, you should) has a interesting, and really nice essay about the whole thing. She says, "I heard Bush's radio address out of the corner of my ear today, and he said once again that we are in Iraq because we were attacked: this always has the effect of causing me to grip my stomach, rock back and forth, and moan, like the Rainman. But both Jesus and my Buddhist friend Jack Kornfield would say that these are such dreadful times, how can we not respond with ever greater acts of compassion?"

I think perhaps people are beginning to see the truth about Iraq, and the incredibly bad leadership Bush has provided over the past 4+ years. It's too bad he got re-elected, but maybe, we can impeach him.

Not in my name

On 17 Jun, 2005 By mpm

Ever since the Abu-Graib incident, I've been watching how our government is handling the whole issue of how we treat prisoners in this "war on terror." And I am starting to get very, very angry.

The last few days has seen a lot of activity about issues relating to Guantanimo. The Daily Kos, as usual, has some very nice coverage of it, particularly of the remarks by Senator Durbin, where he denounces the governments treatment of prisoners there. It's an important read.

The picture is getting clearer. Basically, as far as our government is concerned, in order to win this "war on terror," anything goes. We can justify any behavior (or dismiss it as the work of misguided individuals).

What makes this all the more infuriating is the 'pro-life' retoric of the administration. Abortion is wrong, and they can't even think about using embryos for stem cell research. Yet it is beginning to appear that killing adults (or, in some cases, children, as well as those who are not mentally capable of understanding their situations) is just fine, because they only kill people they think deserve it. And further, treating people in cruel and inhumane ways who have never officially been accused of a crime is OK, simply because they think they are guilty of terrorism.

I'm sorry. There is NOTHING that can excuse or explain this absolutely immoral position of our administration. This is my moral value: all humans deserve compassionate and humane treatment, no matter what they have done, or what we think they have done. Anything less is a grievous assault on the principles of democracy. And we all know what compassionate and humane treatment is - this is not rocket science. And just because we (supposedly) serve the Guantanimo prisoners two kinds of fruit, does not make their treatment humane.

This is not done in my name.

Pre and Post test?

On 15 Jun, 2005 By mpm

I came across this quiz (Which Theologian are you?) from Progressive Protestant. First, I had to look up 'eschatology.' Anyway, I guessed and fuzzed my way through, it scores me as 80% in line with Paul Tillich: "Paul Tillich sought to express Christian truth in an existentialist way. Our primary problem is alienation from the ground of our being, so that our life is meaningless. Great for psychotherapy, but no longer very influential." I haven't heard of 1/2 of the others, but the ones I'd heard of (like John Calvin and Augustine) I was very unlike. Gee, what a surprise!

Anyway, I think I need to take this quiz in 3 years, and see what's different.

Clarence Thomas Dissents

On 14 Jun, 2005 By mpm

Clarence Thomas intrigues me. There are a variety of reasons he intrigues me, and I'm sure that there are all sorts of reasons I should just dislike him intensely (which, actually, I do.)

He (along with his buddy Scalia, as per usual) dissented from the majority opinion in Miller-El vs Dretke, which was the appeal of Thomas Miller-El, who was sentenced to death for murder. I actually read the dissent, because I was so curious about how he could dissent from an opinion that seems pretty darned clear to me.

And I found something really interesting. He was unwilling to make the (to many, obvious) assumption that the fact that the state used so many peremptory challenges to eliminate black jurors meant that the state was systematically trying to eliminate blacks from the jury: "The majority simply assumes that all Dallas County prosecutors were racist and remained that way through the mid-1980's." In addition, he says that much of the evidence that the majority used to come to their conclusion was not dealt with by the state courts (and, I guess, thus shouldn't come into play? I'm a bit fuzzy on that.)

But anyway, the upshot is that for Thomas, there just isn't enough evidence of discrimination for him. And I found this amazingly fascinating, in terms of the guy's psychology. Here is someone who, one expects, has experienced active discrimination in his life because he is black, yet he needs more evidence for discrimination in this case than 7 white justices!

But then I had to ultimately admit that he and I have something in common besides being African-American. I don't have much trouble seeing racism and discrimination that happens to other people, in the broader community or country (especially the south.) I have no problem assuming that "Dallas County prosecutors were racist and remained that way through the mid-1980s." But in my personal life, and my interactions with people and organizations, I  tend to assume that something that happens is not due to discrimination, but some other reason. I need more evidence. I have had conversations with (white) friends of mine who'll say stuff like "didn't you see the clerk following you?" and I'll say something like "nah, they just were checking on what was stocked."

I'm glad Miller-El is getting a new trial, and I hope, at some point, we will realize as a culture that putting someone to death, no matter what the crime, is cruel and unusual punishment. I hope we continue to realize that it will take a long, long time for racism to be eliminated as a factor in our criminal justice system. And I'll still be intrigued by Clarence Thomas, even as I revile just about every opinion or dissent he writes. And I'll still assume, however wrongly, that the clerk who is following me likes my earrings.

I found out today ...

On 13 Jun, 2005 By mpm

... a friend of mine died, three years ago. Her name was Sara Huestis, and she was someone I was fairly close to back in the late 80s when I lived in Fort Collins, Colorado. We'd lost touch around 1993 or so, although I thought of her now and again, and wondered how she was doing.

One of the things that happens when you unearth old things in your life when you move, is that you find snippets about people you care about, but have somehow lost. One of the things I sometimes do is Google people, and see if I can find out where they are, or what they are doing. I've gotten in touch (and others have gotten in touch with me) that way, and it's really nice to reconnect with people.

A few months ago, I'd been going through an old pile of photographs, and putting them in albums, and I'd come across pictures of a trip that she, a friend of hers, and I had taken to the Michigan Women's Music Festival back in 1989. I was just relaying the adventures of this trip to a friend a few days ago, which brought Sara back to the front of my mind. As I was pawing through a big bin of papers that has been sitting in a closet for 5 years or so, I came across one of those postcards announcing a change of address and new house for Sara, and I thought "wow, I can google her, and see what comes up. Maybe she still lives in the same house." What I got instead, was her obituary. She'd died at a young age (47) of cancer. I was glad to hear she'd found the love of her life, and that she died surrounded by her friends. I was sad to know that I'd not known she was sick at all, and sad to know that her laugh and vibrant energy was no longer present on this earth. Somehow, even though we'd not been in touch for 12 years, I miss her more knowing that she's not here anymore, and that I'll never get to see her again.

It is, I guess, yet another lesson in the major reality of life: impermanence.

Previous lives, future integration

On 13 Jun, 2005 By mpm

I imagine some of you reading this blog know me well, and know all about my previous lives. I also imagine some of you who read this blog have absolutely no idea (or not much) since I haven't talked really at all about them.

I've realized that, for good or ill, once I've gone through the (usually long) process of making a life decision, I tend not to look back much. Sometimes, this is a good thing. It means that I have real focus on the new direction and real presence in it. Sometimes, it's not such a good thing. It means that I've left behind skills (that will diminish), connections to others in the field, and knowledge (that will fade.)

I started out my adult life as a scientist. I went to grad school, and got my Ph.D. in Neuroscience, where I studied the ways that neurons in little critters (I hear the "go ahead, tell them" yelled in the background - I studied cockroaches and snails) connected with each other to create specific behaviors (escaping from predators) and could grow to connect with other neurons.\

What I liked about this field was the idea that I was contributing to the understanding of how nervous systems developed and worked to create complex behavior. The hope was that it would eventually lead to better understanding our brain.

My life as a scientist had some mini-lives: life as a grad student, life as a post-doc, life as a professor of a small college and life as an AIDS epidemiologist (I switched fields about 2 years after starting to teach).

The next big life transition I made was to leave science and academia, to finally fully embrace my inner geek, and become a technology consultant/software developer. I decided that it would be a good thing to combine my interest in the work of nonprofit organizations with my inner geek.

This was, in many ways, more rewarding a life than science and teaching. Part of that reward was that I was working hard for people and organizations that had devoted their working lives (and often, whole lives) to the betterment of society. I got to create applications that worked (mostly) and help organizations use technology better and more efficiently. I got to work hard on promoting things like Open Source software and open standards for a sector that both can, in my opinion benefit more from them than others, and also is further behind in implementation than other sectors.

So, now, the third major life transition - to seminary. One thing I realized during my trip to visit seminaries, and give interviews was that I was sort of surprised that I think I have to leave behind a lot less of my previous lives than I might have thought. I had a great conversation with a faculty member at PSR when I was visiting about gay brains, I heard a lecture on theology and the environment when I was there, and I have been privy to the trials and tribulations of the use of my congregation's new member management system. Wow. I like this.

"Hearts and Minds"

On 13 Jun, 2005 By mpm

I was awakened this morning to a story on NPR about military contractors. You might have heard the brou-ha-ha about the contractors that were captured by the military. There has been quite a bit of blogging about it - see the Daily Kos for a good one.

The follow-up story talked about rules involved in the work of contractors. One comment in that story used that phrase "winning hearts and minds" - the idea that the role of the military in Iraq is to win the "hearts and minds" of the Iraqi people.

Interestingly enough, before this, the use of that phrase seemed to me to be simply misguided, since it is thrown about so casually and uncritically. But then I thought a little bit about it, and realized that it's yet another form of our governments doublespeak. How could anyone think that after "shock and awe" and the deaths of 20,000+ civilians, that it would even be possible to think about "winning hearts and minds"? You don't win hearts and minds by killing and bombing people, and torturing them in prisons, and characterizing the war as a crusade!

The other thing that I heard relating to this story was an earlier NPR story about it, which I can't find right now, where this military guy, in talking about what had happened to the contractors, said "procedures were followed." This is supposed to suggest, I guess, that procedures couldn't possibly have included things that were inappropriate. However, we know, for example, from the memos of our now Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, that practices that are tantimount to torture are considered appropriate "procedures".

I know that I said in an earlier post that I was bored with the lies of Bush. I guess I'm realizing that between the outright lies that Bush tells, and this incredible (and, to my mind) incredibly dangerous mis-use of language, that it's getting increasingly easy to lull the populace (that is already way too busy working, or way too occupied watching American Idol) to sleep.

I think it's time for us to wake up.

This is excruciating

On 13 Jun, 2005 By mpm

Excuse the self-indulgent (as my ex described blogging in general) whining and complaining. A more substantial post is to follow.

I HATE MOVING. Not only is it an incredible amount of physical work, just to move stuff around, organize, pack, etc., but I am incredibly allergic to dust! And since I am kicking up loads and loads of dust (especially in the basement,) I am constantly sneezing, and my eyes are dripping and ... (never mind the rest.)

I am giving up and selling the vast majority of my possesions, which feels exactly right. And I know this process would be probably as difficult if I were just packing stuff up and moving it. But organizing it (what I bring, what I sell, what I store, etc.) is a pain.

Arrg! Remind me never to do this again (you mean I can't live at PSR for the rest of my life? Oh.)

Chaos ensues

On 10 Jun, 2005 By mpm

I've been doing lots of sorting, cleaning, and packing lately. It's been very hard to do (maybe that's why I've been spending so much time blogging.) Anyway, if you want to share my misery, check out my photo album, called "Chaos". I'll be updating it regularly with more photos of my presently completely chaotic life.

The purposes of blogs

On 10 Jun, 2005 By mpm

I've been having all sorts of fun the past month, getting re-acquainted with blogs and blogging. I've been gathering lots of blog feeds to read, working hard on my own blogs, and thinking about blogging, and what it means.

Some colleagues from my previous life as a nonprofit technology consultant (more on that in a later post) have been talking a lot about blogging in their blogs. Their focus has been primarily around why nonprofit organizations might want to blog, and how might their blogs be useful in serving their mission. My buddy (and fellow Benningtonian) Beth Kanter has a great "bloggerview" with Marnie Webb, of Compumentor, about blogging for nonprofits. It's a good take on the subject.

As you might imagine, I've been thinking a lot about what it means when ministers blog. My favorite example so far is Real Live Preacher, who is amazingly honest and forthright about his personal life in his blog (as well as being a darned good writer). There are some UU ministers blogging as well. I'm enjoying Peacebang these days.\

I have had a few interesting conversations with friends about blogging. I once said something like "it surprises me when people who don't know me read my blogs." What a silly statement. I read blogs of people I don't personally know all of the time.

I started my blog almost 3 years ago (it was on another platform, so the old posts are not here, yet. I'll be archiving them at some point soon, and linking to them) as a response to the buildup to the war in Iraq. For me, at the time, my blog was an outlet to express how angry and frustrated I was about what was going on. It evolved from there into a personal travelogue, and occasional interesting tidbits I'd come across. I didn't post very often.

In the past few months, for a variety of reasons, I've gotten a lot more interested in blogging and the blogosphere, and have, thus, been posting a lot, lot more than I used to. I'm enjoying it. And it feels nice both to write for people I know, as well as people I don't know.

I have two blogs, this main one, and a blog I'm calling my "ministry blog" - longer pieces dedicated to a specific spiritual or theological topic. I guess you could call it fodder for future sermons. :-) I've got at least two more in the brewing stage. I'll keep you posted. One is going to be much more specifically technical, and another will have so little technology you'll wonder where the geek went.

One thing that has been most important to me in the last while, in terms of keeping track of peoples blogs, and keeping up to the minute, so to speak, has been using RSS feeds. I've talked about this before. I recently discovered Bloglines, which is a website (one of many) that lets you follow RSS feeds. I've tried a few, and like this one the best. Coolest thing: a Mac OS X dashboard widget that notifies you of how many unread articles you have from your feeds. Second coolest thing: sharing your feeds with others (see the link under "My Stuff" at right.)

More people who are out of their minds

On 09 Jun, 2005 By mpm

As some of you might know, Apple announced last week that they are switching from using IBM Power PC chips to using Intel chips (primarily because of issues of power consumption). I'm all for it, and I have yet to hear one Mac fan that has problems with it.

In fact, I've been reading all sorts of stories of doom and gloom from both the Windows world and the Linux world.

But here comes a dude who suggests that the perfect thing might be for people to start installing windows on the new Intel-based Macs. What is he smoking? Use amazingly designed sleek, cool, and probably slightly more expensive hardware to run a buggy, insecure, and not nearly as cool and advanced operating system? Puleeze.

I think Cringley is probably smoking something too. But he's often right on, so I'm still watching this.

The Myth of the American Dream

On 08 Jun, 2005 By mpm

As some of you who've heard me talk about this know, I am of the opinion that one of the most significant reasons why we don't have things like a single-payer health care system, a truly compassionate safety net, and a livable minimum wage is because of the myth of the American Dream. It goes this way: America is the land of promise. Anyone who works hard can bring themselves up, and become middle class, and many  become rich. The icons of this dream, like Oprah Winfrey, Tiger Woods, and Bill Gates, are trotted out for all to see. The corollary, of course, is that if you are struggling to make ends meet, or can't find work, or are on welfare, it's your fault for not working hard enough. And, it's this notion "I'm working hard to make the American Dream, why should my tax dollars go to help those who aren't?" that keeps things in place. Imagine how our collective psyche would change, and how our voting habits would change, if the truth of this myth were fully grokked by everyone?

The real truth, which has been true probably for about 20+ years now, is that upward mobility is a myth. The examples of those who have 'made it' in fact are exceptions that prove the rule. The New York Times has had a very good series on class over the past couple of weeks. There is a good op-ed piece from Monday which is worth a look. In fact, looking at this graphic (look at Income Mobility tab) downward mobility is as significant as upward mobility!\

Here's a salient quote:\ "Consider, for example, two separate eras in the lifetime of the baby-boom generation. For every additional dollar earned by the bottom 90 percent of the population between 1950 and 1970, those in the top 0.01 percent earned an additional \$162. That gap has since skyrocketed. For every additional dollar earned by the bottom 90 percent between 1990 and 2002, Mr. Johnston wrote, each taxpayer in that top bracket brought in an extra \$18,000.

It's like chasing a speedboat with a rowboat."

(He's quoting this piece from the series on class.)

I'm actually not suggesting that the American Dream should become a reality. As you might imagine, I question the basic premise of upward mobility - that being rich will make you happy and secure. I think Buddhism (and, actually, most religious traditions) has all sorts of good lessons and wisdom about what happiness and security really is.

I think it's time for Americans live in the real world, which is a world of dwindling resources. We are all dependent on each other, and the good of the poorest one, is, ultimately, the good of all.\

I'm officially bored...

On 07 Jun, 2005 By mpm

The Daily Kos, and the Liberal Avenger both have entries today (spurred on by Think Progress'  post on it) on the Downing Street memo, which from what I've so far read, proves that Bush lied to us. Yawn. We've known Bush is a liar for years now, and continuing to talk about it seems fairly pointless. Congress hasn't seemed especially interested in lies that have lead to countless deaths, although you know, that lie about a blow job certainly was so gosh-darned important.

Anyway, let's just get off of this already. People who think that Bush was justified in invading Iraq are not going to care about this, and those of us against the war from the beginning are just going to get re-lathered up about it. Let's talk about figuring out ways to put a movement together that can get us out, and take back Congress in 2006, and the White House in 2008. I'm bored with Bush's lies.

Gay Marriage, more

On 07 Jun, 2005 By mpm

Two good new blog entries about gay marriage, specifically as it relates to Christianity. Philocrites has an interview by the folks who wrote What God has Joined Together? A Christian Case for Gay Marriage. Joe Perez has a response, as to why he won't read the book. I have to agree, I think I'm with Joe, although I'm glad Philocrites is giving it 'blogtime'.

The Power of Retreat

On 07 Jun, 2005 By mpm

I just got back from a 4 day self-retreat. My standard has been Buddhist (Insight) meditation retreats (like at IMS). This was different. I went to a place called the East Mountain Retreat Center which is a sweet little ecumenical retreat center in the southern Berkshires. The director, who is a retired UCC minister, met with me once a day, and taught me some interesting, more Christian based, practices (like centering prayer, and a brief introduction to the Ignatian exercises) which I had been curious about, and wanted to compare with the Buddhist practices I'd been exposed to.

Just getting away, of course, is incredibly useful. For me, it was the demarcation from my life as a technology consultant/programmer, etc. to my life as a seminarian. I was quiet, meditated, did a little yoga, I read a fair bit, drew and painted, wrote, just sat with myself for hours. It was such a treat. The food was good, and simple, and everything was uncomplicated. It was nice to be in the woods of New England (I was realizing how much I will miss them.)

Amazingly, I feel ready to start this packing, selling, moving, etc. process - much more ready than I felt on Friday.

Faith/Religion as an excuse for hatred

On 03 Jun, 2005 By mpm

I heard a chilling story today about the video tapes that have been shown of the Massacre in Bosnia, back in 1995. The video shows an Orthodox priest blessing the men that are going out to kill the Bosnians.

We have examples all over the world of people who decide that their faith gives them license to hate, and kill. That their god, their belief and reality is the right one, and any others are the wrong ones, and so those lives are, in some senses, forfeit.

It is so striking to me that at the same time as many people find in their faith strength to love, to have deep compassion, to show how all life on this planet has meaning, others are using their faith to divide and to hate. Is it simply just human nature? We can be incredibly nasty creatures, and we can be amazingly loving and gentle ones as well.

One of my favorite writers (of science fiction) is Sherri Tepper. One of her gifts is to describe unique and strange faiths and points of view in very believable ways. One of my favorite things about her is that those that have faiths that are intolerant, violent and hateful always seem to get their just desserts (quite creatively, I might add.)  Maybe I need to examine that pleasure ...

The Bruderhof Communities

On 02 Jun, 2005 By mpm

I've always respected the Bruderhof Communities. I first ran into them years ago, when I was doing prison activist work. At every rally I went to (primarily against the death penalty) there they were, women wearing their dresses and scarves, and marching along with us, next to the anarchists, dreadlocked sistahs and crunchy granola dykes. I found out that they are both pro-life and anti-death penalty, and it always surprised me that I heard a lot from them about the death penalty stuff, but not much about abortion.

I rediscovered their website today, and read a fair bit about them and what they believe, and I have even more respect. [One thing I can say, is it seems like they are orthodox Christians that are allies, instead of enemies. What a thought!\ \ And, they have a daily email that they send out, called the "Daily Dig". They send out snippets from writers like D.H. Lawrence, Emily Dickinson, Simone Weil, Dorothy Day, Rienhold Niebhur and Teresa of Ávila. Nice range.\ ]

Gay Marriage and all that

On 31 May, 2005 By mpm

I live (for the time being) in Massachusetts, the first, and only state to have legalized gay marriage. I'm moving (in August) to California, possibly the next state to legalize gay marriage. This is pure coincidence.

I didn't think much about gay marriage between the time it became the primary goal of the lesbian/gay movement, and the time it became legal last year in Massachusetts. I have to admit, maybe because I wasn't partnered, maybe because I didn't have kids, or maybe because I cut my teeth in the lesbian feminist movement when marriage was, well, outré, at best, aping the patriarchy and being a traitor to the movement at worst.

And, of course, now, I think gay marriage is simply a civil right, a right that we just should have, that the government needs to provide. It's pretty straightforward, really. And the vehemence with which the demand for that right has been fought has surprised the heck out of me (I know, I know, you're not surprised. I'm not exactly sure why I am.)

What keeps surprising me too is that it appears that gay marriage, and the inclusion of gays and lesbians in Christian churches in general looks like it's gonna cause schisms. I do think that religous institutions do get to decide for themselves whether they will bless gay marriages. Right now, just about every single mainline protestant denomination is fighting over this issue, and gay and lesbian inclusion in general, along with the Catholics, too. I was amazed, last week to read in Fred Clarkson's blog, about the UCC fight over gay marriage. Now I just figured that since the UCC was on this big inclusion kick (the "God is still speaking" campaign), that they'd be right behind gay marriage. Boy was I wrong. The Anglican Communion is threatening to kick out the American Episcopalians over this issue. The Methodists are throwing out ministers... it goes on.

I'm pleased as punch to be affiliated with a denomination (or whatever) that doesn't seem to have any problems with it. Whew. And, I can't wait to marry my first gay or lesbian couple.

Moblogging

On 28 May, 2005 By mpm

It's a beautiful day, for once (we've had many rainy cold days in a row - unusual for May.) I'm sitting at an outside table, at one of my more favorite haunts in Amherst (I'll miss it,) Rao's Coffee, waiting for a friend to arrive. I decided I'd try my hand at Moblogging (blogging from my cell phone).

Life is getting strange. I'm beginning to deal with moving details, think about people I need to see before I leave, and that sort of thing. The excitement is getting dampened by the sheer weight of the tasks ahead - it's starting to completely preoccupy me. It will be nice to be out of a surreal state - but I guess I have a few months before that happens.

Sundries

On 27 May, 2005 By mpm

I've been catching up a bit on my blog reading, and caught a few interesting tidbits I thought I'd pass along. First, in my never-ending quest for nice places to hang out, sip, and surf, I found a very cool site, called the Delocator. Type in a zip code, and get a list of Cafes with WiFi. Very helpful. You can also add a cafe that you know about.

I discovered an interesting blog today, care of, again, RLP. It's called the Velveteen Rabbi (very cool name). She has a great post about sabbaths and jubilees that's worth reading.

I also re-discovered Technorati -  which is an interesting blog aggregator/search tool. I'm not sure I'm completely clear about how it will be useful to me, but it's been a good way of finding info, and following blogs. What is cool is you can take a search term, and make it into an RSS feed!

And yesterday, I signed the Purchase and Sale for my condo. Yow! The countdown starts: I have 41 days until the closing. 41 days to organize, sell, throw out, and clean out a domicile of 13 years. AND, I sent in my housing deposit to PSR - looks like I'm comitted!

Just so you know, percolating in my brain for blog entries in the next few days:\ - copyright/intellectual property/open source software\ - the relationship between my spiritual life and my politics\ - Podcasting\ - Gay marriage\ - Jesus and Buddha (I'm on a kick these days)

Professional Bloggers?!

On 26 May, 2005 By mpm

I happened across this site, called "View from the Isle" which landed in my RSS feed from iPodder.org. At some point, I'll post about Podcasting, since I know a lot of folks don't know a lot about it. But back to "View from the Isle" - it is a blog by a professional blogger, who does things like blog consulting. He is a founder and board member of the Pro-Bloggers Association. I had been hearing inklings of this, in various places, and I find it both fascinating, worrysome, but also maybe not so bad. I'm not sure.

In surfing through Tris Hussey's site (that's the guy who does View from the Isle), I'm intrigued, and a bit startled. One thing that comes clear, is that some of the idea of this is that if a blogger, seen, I guess, as an independent sort, mentions a company or product on their blog, they should get paid for it. Also, in looking at his blog, it's chock full of advertising. Now maybe I'm getting it - advertisers realize that they are losing eyeballs from TV, because people are surfing the web reading blogs - so let's advertise on the blogs! Yick. OK, y'all know I'd make a terrible capitalist.

That said, I did come across an interesting blog some of you might be interested in, one by Amy Garhan, called Contentious. Interesting to read. She has one post which is a  very nice definition of what a blog is, and what it can do. (The geeky coder in me, however, bristles at the notion that only non-technical users use Typepad.) It is very focused on the professionalization of blogging, but it's got some good ideas.

In general, as you might imagine, I think blogging is a very cool thing. I think given the state of the media empire, and the lack of decent news, and real investigative reporting, that bloggers are filling an important gap. Also, it's just really nice to be able to read what other people are thinking and saying on the same topics that you are.

The technology (primarily blogging software and RSS/Atom - the syndication system) has made blogging possible, and until the next new kind of technology that brings things even more together, this is pretty amazing stuff, compared to what we were doing, say, 10 years ago. And, just like banner ads made their way onto websites a fraction of a second after the web became broadly read, blogs with ads is, I guess a reasonable next step. I'm not against making money, we all need it, and I think it's great if blogging becomes a venue for writers to be able to get their stuff out there, and make a living at it. I'm just not going to be especially interested in reading blogs whose main purpose is to try and sell me stuff, or those with a whole lot of ads. Never fear, you won't see any here.

Progressive Religious Movement Stuff

On 23 May, 2005 By mpm

It's taken me a while, and I'm clearly behind the eight ball, but there are some very interesting things happening in the realm of the "progressive religious movement" or whatever one might call it. I'm beginning to gather bookmarks on it, and will share them when they reach a critical mass. But one group to look at are the Christian Alliance for Progress. I know, sounds dangerous, but read their stuff.

There are lots and lots of blogs on this topic, some UU, some definitively Christian, some others, I don't know that I can possibly keep up. But some of the best are in the list of links in the right hand column, and I'll keep adding to them as time goes on, and I get to read more of them.

The "Nuclear Option"

On 23 May, 2005 By mpm

I don't know how many of you are following this whole thing about filibusters. Daniel Harper (Another Unitarian Universalist Blog) has an entry on it today, quoting our fearless leader, Bill Sinkford, on the whole issue. (That last link, by the way, is not only Sinkford's quotes about the issue, but a whole host of very helpful links.)\

I'm torn about this. I mean, I'm not torn about the filibuster, I think that it's an important preservation of minority rights, and I'm not happy about the prospect of a raft of new far-right judges. I'm torn about what this is all about. On one hand, it's clearly an effort to get extreme judges into place. I do think that Bill Frist is mostly being an opportunist, given that he's running for president. The pandering of some politicians to the religious right seems more opportunistic than genuine to me, but that's just my opinion.

I think, when it comes down to it, it's a lot more about power than it is about faith, or God. I think that the politicians who are in place thinking about using the "nuclear option" (where the hell did that moniker come from???) are thinking a lot more about finding ways of preserving their own power, as long as they can, then they are about those "people of faith" they are so glad to go on and on about, and co-opt.

And, of course, it continues to bug me that they are trying their best to portray those of us that are not fundamentalist Christian, and disagree with their agenda as against "people of faith". See the book by Bruce Bawer, called "Stealing Jesus" - it's a really good one.

Reality Sinks in

On 19 May, 2005 By mpm

It's really beginning to sink in. Today, two things happened. One, I had to go to my lawyer's office, to check out the purchase and sale agreement on the condo. The closing is set for July 8th. Basically, the next steps are for me to sign it, for the buyer to sign it, and then, unless for some reason they can't get a mortgage, it's done.  Well, no, it's not done. The sheer amount of things I have to do in order to get it done is rather overwhelming right now. But I'm trying not to think about it.

The second thing that happened is that I got word that I was accepted for student housing at PSR! So once I send in my fee, I'm good to go. I think it's those little (er, no, big) things like signing papers that make things so real-seeming. It feels a bit  schizophrenic, though - on one hand, I'm still pretty much doing what I've been doing. Working, living my life. The real upheaval hasn't started quite yet. But come the first week in June...

I feel completely petrified, at the same time as I'm totally excited. I guess that's pretty understandable. If only I could totally get my health issues in order, I'd be in much better shape (sometime, I'll write about my ongoing saga with pancreatitis, and other things. Not today.)

RLP had a really great post today. I couldn't have said it better.

So things keep moving forward. Sometimes it feels like breakneck pace, sometimes it seems like a snails pace.

People who are out of their minds

On 19 May, 2005 By mpm

There is a new book out, called "The Bottomless Well: The  Twilight of Fuel, the Virtue of Waste, and why we will Never Run Out of Energy". There's a blurb on the book (which has a nice little propoganda film). It was written by folks who are part of the Manhattan Institute, which is a conservative think tank.

I'm speechless.

Newsweek Brou-haha

On 18 May, 2005 By mpm

I'm amazed. Truly, completely amazed. The mainstream press (with a few exceptions, mostly outside of the US) is reporting this Newsweek debacle as if Newsweek made a huge mistake in printing information from a looney anonymous source, and thus, for no reason, caused riots to erupt in the Arab world. Yikes.

The truth is far more interesting. One of The Nation's bloggers has some good detail about it. It's clear that there has been evidence for months (years?)  from various sources that US soldiers and interrogators at Gitmo use the faith of the Islamic prisoners they hold as something that can be used to try and break them, and get as much information out of them as possible. One of the ways they do this is to desecrate the Qu'ran.

Of course, the Bush administration has a vested interest in making sure that this looks like a press problem, and not a problem with the way we treat Islamic prisoners. By why is the press taking this lying down? It seems clearer and clearer to me that, intended or no, good chunks of the mainstream US press are acting like they are owned and controlled by the Bush administration. Pravda, anyone?

Addendum:  I found a clip from MSNBC, which is quite interesting, and is definitely not taking this lying down. I found it on CommonBits.

Here's the page.\

Women from Barnard, Men from West Point

On 17 May, 2005 By mpm

I woke up this morning (after a very groggy, unpleasant night trying to sleep with a back spasm), to a Morning Edition story about 3 graduating women from Barnard, who had been freshman during September of 2001. It was very interesting, given the recent story on 60 minutes about the graduating seniors at West Point, who had been freshman during September of 2001.

The women talked about how the September 11 attacks helped them think more broadly about the world, and shaped their careers to think more about peace, and how to make peace. The West Point graduates (not all men, there was one woman in the group), talked about how it made them think about how the world was different, and more dangerous, and how they would have to fight war differently. They talked about how proud they would be to have to serve their country in Iraq when they graduated.

It was a striking juxtaposition, and one I have been pondering today. Yes, of course they started out differently, those who chose to enter West Point, vs. those who chose to go to Barnard. It is fascinating to me how the same exact event can effect people in many different ways, and bring them to completely different (possibly even oppposite) conclusions about the world and their role in it.

Unitarian Jihad

On 16 May, 2005 By mpm

This is old news.

In the realm of humor and religion...

Several weeks ago, a funny editorial by John Carroll of the SF Examiner, called Unitarian Jihad was printed. For those of you that haven't read it, it is hilarious. For those of you that want your own Unitarian Jihad name, there's at least two name generators out there. (mine, in case you are interested, is Sister Rail Gun of Love and Mercy. Seems appropirate, somehow.

Today, because of RLP (Real Live Preacher), I learned about the Wittenberg Door, which is a Christian satire magazine, now online. (They have a great article about televangelists.). I'm also a member of the "HDS Denominational Slur Handbook" which is a great mailing list where people send in jokes that skewer all denominations equally.

Space Weather

On 16 May, 2005 By mpm

OK, this is cool. Did you realize that NOAA published space weather reports? Apparently, there was a big solar flare on Friday (May 13th), and that's leading to a big geomagnetic storm (9 on the K scale. 9 is the highest.) The storm, apparently, can lead to "Possible impacts from such a geomagnetic storm include widespread power system voltage control problems; some grid systems may experience complete collapse or blackouts. Transformers may experience damage. Spacecraft operations may experience extensive surface charging; problems with orientation; uplink/downlink and tracking satellites. Satellite navigation may be degraded for days, and low-frequency radio navigation can be out for hours."\ \ I think it's amazing what we don't know about the universe, and our friendly sun, and what it can do to us. It adds, to my mind, about the unpredictability of life.\ \ Anyway, here's a really nice photo...\

New Blog!

On 15 May, 2005 By mpm

I've gone and done it

This is a new blog - I decided that I wanted to try out one of those real blogging services/software. (Given my change in status to be a seminary student, continuing to work on my software to make the blogging stuff work the way I really wanted to just wasn't in the offing. So I'm bailing on that one.)

Comments on this are welcome - let me know what you think of this. I am thinking that perhaps, I'm finally going to enter the blogosphere. But in order to do that, I have to actually write stuff. This is my new challenge. I'll be starting a second blog - just for religion/theology/UU type issues. I'll keep ya posted.

You don't appreciate it until you have to

As many of you know, I've been dealing with pancreatitis, which I'd rather not be dealing with. This isn't the best time to be doing that. I can't eat much, which has it's hazards (losing weight isn't too bad, but this isn't the preferred method.) I'm trying to be patient with how long it's taking to heal, and how long it's taking me to get better.

Real Live Preacher

I have become a fan of Real Live Preacher. It's this Baptist minister (yeah, really). He's got some very interesting things to talk about. Very down to earth, honest guy. I can only hope that when I become a "real live preacher" I can blog as well as he can.