Benevolent Dictatorship

I now have a new favorite episode of South Park. Season 10 Episode 7 "Tsst".

Like Jon Stewart on politics, sometimes only through comedy can truth be told well. This episode gets at the core problem with much of American parenting.

I have been teaching for 20 years, and I have seen it all. There are a few exceptions here and there, but most kids are a direct product of their parenting .... and many American parents don't parent.

When Kathryn was on the way, I became particularly interested in the practices of successful parents. I remember during parent teacher conferences, I would often ask particular parents what was the key to their success. The responses always followed a theme that was summed up by one mom:

"Our home is not a democracy... it is a benevolent dictatorship."

That was one of two pieces of advice that became the rudder by which my wife and I directed our parenting.

But back to the episode.....

In this episode, various super nannies try to get the incorrigible Cartman under control. All fail.... mostly because they keep trying to reason with Cartman or appeal to his better nature.... HA!

Finally, they bring in a world famous dog trainer... and Cartman becomes a new boy. However, it doesn't last because his mother simply cannot follow through.

I think every parent with a little one on the way should watch this episode.

I remember years ago we had some friends over. They had children who could be most generously described as "a handful". As it got late, it was time for my kids to get ready for bed. I called them into the family room to say goodnight to our guests, then to go upstairs, brush teeth, and head to bed. My kids gave hugs all around, said goodnight, then went upstairs.

I saw nothing abnormal about this, but our guests' eyes were as wide as saucers. Once my children had gone upstairs, the husband stammered out, "How??.... How did you do that???"

Some of the credit goes back to Mrs. Schweighoffer - Our home is a benevolent dictatorship. :)

A great scene from the episode.... "I am not being aggressive, I am being dominant."

As with all South Park, this scene is crass; watch at your discretion. For the full effect, I suggest the whole episode which is linked at the end of the clip.

Chuck Colson Vacillates on Rule of Law

This is a very interesting video. Chuck Colson is one of those loud, legal, by-the-book constitutionalists. He references the Founding Fathers of America as if they were wearing his team's jersey. So it is fascinating to watch him switch tactics mid-stream when something is not going to his liking. In this video, he encourages Christians to make a loud cry in the public square so that the Supreme Court will not go against his view of gay marriage when this issue finally makes it to the high court.

Suddenly legal justice applied equally under the law is secondary to whatever rights and privileges the perceived majority wishes to grant or take away from a minority population. The reality is, he knows there is no more legal standing to prevent gays from marriage than there was to prevent inter-racial marriage; so he is going step up to the bully pulpit and see if we can't get this done the old fashioned way - INTIMIDATION!

Chuck, your bigotry is the remnant of a bygone era. The voice of your kind in the public square is weakening... and will soon fade away. Future generations will lump your rants in with the same folks who sought to withhold the vote from women or wanted blacks at the back of the bus.

No one will mourn the passing of your worldview.



HT:Bruce

Big Tent Christianity and The Sneetches

I was invited to write a blog entry as part of a synchroblog event leading up to the Big Tent Christianity conference being held in NC in September. Some of my favorite speakers and authors will be there, but it is nearly a continent away, so I won't be able to make it. The focus of the conference seems to be - how to get Christians together in some semblance of unity, despite coming to Christ from radically different worldviews. The questions for the blog are:

What does “big tent Christianity” mean to you? What does it look like in your context? What are your hopes and dreams for the Church?

From my view, the church has always had one fundamental Achilles' heel. Its members cannot help but see themselves as "in" while others are "out". Typical solutions to this situation have been to be more stern, or more relevant, or more entertaining, or more... whatever... so that we can get a growing number of folks "in" with us. The goal is to get people in.

This foundational attitude creates the dichotomy which Dr. Seuss so brilliantly gave example to in his book "The Sneetches". There were Sneetches with stars on their bellies... and those who lacked "stars upon thars". Like the Pharisee and the tax collector praying before the temple, the star-bellied sneetches were grateful for their stars and thought less of those without.

So what is my hope for the church?

At the conclusion of the Sneetches story, the various Sneetches are running through a machine - either trying to get stars added to their bellies or stars removed. The star-bellied Sneetches are desperately trying to remain distinguished so that the lines drawn between the inner and outer groups can remain. In the end, they all run out of money to go through the machine and are hopelessly mixed... unable to distinguish the "in" and "out" groups any longer. In that moment, they discover that it was not the stars that were important... but that they were all Sneetches.

My hope for the church is that somehow our dividing lines would become hopelessly mixed up; that, like the Sneetches:

"until neither the Plain nor the Star-Bellies knew
whether this one was that one... 
or that one was this one
or which one was what one... 
or what one was who."

Amen

Stuff Fundies Like #2

Ya gotta laugh at Fundies in any religion; otherwise it is just too easy to loathe them. This is observation #2. My first listed observation involved John Piper.

This morning, Ojo Taylor, posted a great quote and picture by Carl Sagan on Facebook. Carl Sagan was a respected scientist whose awe of the cosmos was often expressed in poetic and philosophical language. Here is the text to the picture in the above right:

"Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam."

Immense and wonderful words that should cause us to think and reflect deeply. Regardless of nationality, politics, philosophy, or religion ... these are words that should cause us to contemplate.

Not the Fundie though! Such words are lost on him. Below the post, a Fundie wrote:

"A very intelligent but also a very lost man."

The Fundie is not moved by Sagan's words. On the contrary, the Fundie feels a little threatened. The Fundie does not like this feeling, so the Fundie feels a need to give themselves a superior position. The Fundie condescendingly admits to Sagan's intelligence... but then asserts his ultimate superiority.

Sagan is lost, the Fundie is not.

Gotta laugh, or I'll loathe. :)

Prop 8 and Christian Persecution

It has been interesting to listen to Christians over the past 24 hours. Many (not all) are feeling persecuted, picked-on, and pushed aside. It seems rather funny to me that there is all of this drama over the loss of the ability to use majority rule to discriminate at will.

But I think I understand where it is coming from.

As I read over various blogs and Facebook pages, and I watch the more "fundamental" Christians make their case, it is easy to see where the source of frustration lies.

Confusion.

They are confused about how they got to this place.

The arguments they have developed against homosexuality make perfect and absolute sense in the boxes of their churches and sub-culture. As they sit listening to themselves in their echo chambers, their positions clearly ring true.

But then they take their arguments outside of the box.... and the public at large is not as easily convinced. The public wants justification. The public wants reason.

There was a time in American history, when Christianity clearly held the trump cards over society. The only reason it needed was "the bible says so" and the conversation ended.

Now society talks back. It wants a well-rounded, articulated position.

Christianity now needs to justify itself. It has to give cause. Christian voices must engage the public. The ability to coerce has given way to the need to convince.

This is such a downgrade of public authority that it is being misinterpreted by many as persecution.

It's not.... it's leveling the playing field.

A substantial portion of the Christian community is having to learn new speech patterns. The booming voice of authority doesn't work anymore; it has become hollow.

President Obama explained well how religious dialog needs to occur in the public square:

"Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific, values. It requires that their proposals be subject to argument, and amenable to reason. I may be opposed to abortion for religious reasons, but if I seek to pass a law banning the practice, I cannot simply point to the teachings of my church or evoke God's will. I have to explain why abortion violates some principle that is accessible to people of all faiths, including those with no faith at all."

Christians are not being persecuted, many are simply having to learn to play with others in a game in which they no longer get to set the rules.

Here is Pat Robertson's take on yesterday's events. He thinks life is pretty unfair at the moment.

Looking Ahead

Sometimes it looks like President Obama might be in for the fight of his life come next election season. At other times, it looks like he will breeze in.

It all depends on who the Republicans run.

If they run a social liberal but fiscal conservative, it could get interesting.

However, when I see republican politicians playing to tea-party folk; when I hear right-wingers singing the praises of Glen Beck and Sarah Palin; I realize that is not going to happen.

The last few elections came down to which way those rascally independents swing. Hard core left and right are not budging..... but where will those middle of the roaders go?

Independents: The attitude of the Pastor in this video may seem scary to you. I hope it does. However, thanks to the god-talk of Beck/Palin.... this is becoming not only acceptable in right wing politics... but preferred. This stuff is getting Yippee-ki-yays and guns shootin in the air.

William F. Buckley would have experienced nausea over a talk like this. But in much of today's right wing, this is a crowd stirrer.

This is what we can look forward to.....

A Peek at Eternity

I stopped in at a new burger joint called Buster Burger for lunch today. The restaurant is also a TCBY, which takes up a side third of the store. However, from the outside, there appears to be two different stores each with its own entrance. A large fireplace stands between the two doors.

As I sat there eating my lunch, I spotted a young couple with two children approaching the entrances. I couldn't hear their dialog, but they seemed to be in disagreement as to which door to take. Tension appeared to build as they each headed to opposite doors with a child in tow. He seemed to say something a little sharp to her and she flipped her hair and rolled her eyes.

They both stepped into the restaurant and froze.... eyes wide, they surveyed the room as it opened out into a much wider space than either of them had anticipated. Simultaneously they turned and saw each other... standing in the same room.

They both turned a little red, laughed, and closed the distance between them. They kissed and walked together from that point on.

Heh!

Welcome to Eternity!

SJCT's A Midsummer's Night Dream

Our show opens August 6! If you are in the SLC Valley area, come see the show! Tickets available at www.sjtheatre.org

I am Oberon! King of the Woodland Faeries! Jacob is part of my train, and Kathryn is part of Titania's.

Why I Am A Universalist

At a blog I was commenting on recently, one person compared Universalism to that of an enabling Father. I responded to that, and I think my reply succinctly addresses why I am a Universalist.

I would resist the image of God in a universalistic perspective being an enabling father. The father of the prodigal was not enabling… he simply never gave up. In Universalism, God simply does not give up. He is always patient, always kind, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres… and never fails.

It is not enabling to simply not have a point at which you eternally cut someone off. What Father would not always seek after and desire a restored relationship with his son or daughter… anyone that has a cut off point cannot call themselves Father.

Creating Our Image of God

Commander Willard Decker: "Of course!  ... we all create God in our own image."
______________________

I remember when I was younger, I thought this quote was rather blasphemous. God created us in His image after all. However, as I have gotten older, I have discovered Decker's quote to be very true.

If you don't recognize the quote, it is from Star Trek the Motion Picture. In the movie, a giant living machine named V'ger has come to Earth to find it's Creator. After a series of events, the crew of the Enterprise realizes that V'ger assumes that it's Creator is a machine; at which point Commander Decker utters the above quote.

As I said, rather than blasphemous, I now see the quote as merely describing true practice. Conservatives tend to picture God as an organized CEO, encouraging Free Markets, saying the pledge, and blessing the troops. Liberals tend to see God as a community organizer, fighting against an oppressive system, and resisting discrimination.

Break out of those two stereotypes and you begin to see God being displayed in every flavor, color, attitude, and variety.

Of course..... everyone thinks their take is the right one. Theirs is the one faithful to scripture, or creed, or tradition, or revelation.

Convenient.

We all make God in our own image.

I often get the accusation levied at me in Christian circles (after they have heard some of my theology), "So, you are just making up your own god then?"

There are over 30,000 different versions of Christianity alone....

The truth is, we all create our image of God. I am not so much concerned that I am doing it, but rather the question I ask:

Is my image of God becoming an image worthy of God?