Ascension to Pentecost Artwork

But you will have power, when the Holy Spirit has come on you; and you will be my witnesses
in Jerusalem and all Judaea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8

I just love this photo. It was our homepage artwork for the 10 days from the Feast of the Ascension of our Lord to the Feast of Pentecost. The woman is actor Heather Graham. It must be from some film promo. I think it exemplifies the themes of God's power in us gained by way of the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth as it is sustained for us by the Holy Spirit. That's what I think!

One More Reason to Cheer Against the Gators

This is incredible (pun intended.) The Florida legislature has begun to consider production of a vanity plate that would look like this.

I'm pretty sure this is another wolf in sheep's clothing move by some "conservative" legislator. Pandering to people's wanting choices like that's what freedom is and using it to back door conservative christianistic power mongering into the mainstream. Want to test the freedom of choice claim? Try to imagine the state painting the symbol for an atheist vanity tag. Think also about how strained a thing it is for the legislature to "just be making this available" without crossing the no state support of religion line.

The Bill of Rights says:
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
It doesn't say "a religion" it says "religion" That seems to me to be very clearly prohibiting the State of Florida providing a service that paints a cross and stained glass window with the words "I believe" on a state required auto license.
Even worse is the argument equating belief in a religion with "belief" in a team (one assumes some of the teams are of the several athletically active institutions of "higher learning" in the state). It once again proves the point that on the spectrum of religious expression that extends from vacuous to enlightened (and you can pretty much put the religious among the founding fathers on the enlightened end) conservative is often at best one notch from vaccous. Who elects these people?

Do the Math and VOTE!

Salary in the highest tax bracket is taxed at 35 percent, but profits from stocks held long enough to be called “long-term capital gains” are taxed at 15 percent. A hedge fund manager making $100 million in a year would pay $15 million to the government if he is able to take his income as capital gains, not the $35 million he would have to pay if the income was considered salary.

Secular Sabbaths

A pet interest of mine has been the need for a cultural recovery of the "sabbath."  Not "blue laws" but a generally held and working "expectation" that would precede any civil statute and inform our definitions of things like: fair wage, fair tax, benefits, poverty, earned income, income from interest and dividends, estate income, etc.  It's important to avoid a repeat of the past and confuse this cultural sabbath keeping with the blue laws of the past.    Blue laws were forced on minority populations to support the personal - lifestyle - religious choices of the majority.  I remember when the theaters were not allowed to operate on Sunday.  I remember as a child asking my mom when the Jewish kids got to go to the movies.  We still have vestiges of that era with the fairly widely practiced bans on the Sunday sale of alcohol.  

Mind you, my interests have always been governed by a moderate libertarianism.  I don't like the "gubment" telling me what to do when those actions would impinge in no way on the rights of others.   Vestigial blue laws are not the only intrusion of the government into the free market (goods and ideas).  Our "current occupant" and his regime have so supported the upper class in this society and protected the portion of what cannot honestly be called the free market in which are vested their interests less than 10% of the population can afford to "take a day off."  

To develop a sabbath expectation in culture just start with thinking exploitation of the lower class, of minorities, of immigrants, of the environment, of the economy, then back up one step and you still have a strong case. Why do bank computers run "realtime" 24/7 but customer access to those same computers does not?  Why do public schools charge fees for required materials?  Why is access to public lands and waterways so often limited to commercial/corporate interests seeking a profit?    These are "sabbath" questions. 

Sabbath standards wouldn't allow the wealthy/powerful to force a pace onto the economic lives of lower income persons.  Heck, even the banks could afford to turn off the computers one day a week.  Once civil authorities undertake education and make attendance compulsory, required fees limit  only the access of the poor by forcing them to choose between necessities and not between options.  Sabbath standards would protect land, sea and air for all, including nature itself.

Blue laws are inadequate but stripped of their religiosity and directed toward the benefit of the poor or -- even better -- the middle class they would be a start toward the sabbath our culture craves.

Little in Common with their Cause

I was poking around the news of John David Schofield's just desserts and I came across the web pages for Common Cause Patnership.  I saw a couple of things that saddened me:  college pal and fellow house church brother Norman Beale is listed among clergy members, and in their foundational documents they - I hope inadvertently - redefine Christian Communion to a new level of understanding.  Item 10.4 in their Articles of Incorporation (Confederation would be more honest) states "Communicant members of any Partner shall be received b y a congregation of another Partner on presentation of a letter of transfer."  I hope that this was only meant to establish a consistent method for movement of lay members from parish to parish.  It could just as easily be read "a letter of transfer is sufficient to establish membership in another parish." How are members of non-partner congregations to be received by a Partner parish: exam? testimony? first born?  And what role does the rector play in making a determination?  

Later I was still surfing my regular stops and remembered this wonderful recounting of Sara Miles and her introduction to Episcopal Worship a la St. Gregory of Nyssa.  I don't believe a CCP parish would accept her letter of transfer. As a rector I would. 

Chicken Doves and Waterboarding for God

I have some questions thanks to the wake-up call I received in reading Ray McGovern of Common Dreams and Matt Taibi of Rollingstone.  

Why have none of the moderated debates for either party questioned the candidates about:

• reversing Bush's unitary executive office?
  
• impeachment of Bush, Cheney, Gonzales, et al
  
• reversal of No Child Left Behind
  
• ending to corporate welfare
  
• the false piety of the Republican Elite
  
• the hypocrisy of the Evangelistic Leadership as non-questioning supporters of Bush
  
• etc., etc., etc
  

Why wait for a debate?  Why haven't any of the candidates asked these questions of each other? By not making known what they believe on these matters and countless others that don't make the manufactured news, each of the candidates -- regardless of party --  leaves us ready to assume that come January 2009 nothing will change but the White House letterhead. 

Republicans and Biblical Justice for the Middle Class

Even Huck the Bible Thumping Bee can't pull it off with his (not so) Fair Tax but given the chance so far NONE of the Republicans have mentioned any long term direct help to the middle class in their economic plans.  And we all know the current "stimulus package" will not come so enough for most -- read April the 15th -- and be roughly equal to a "Title Pawn" as a boost to the economy.  With too many Democrats joining them they sing,  "Let's spend our way out of this recession."  

Here's what Jeremiah said,

"For wicked men are found among my people; they lurk like fowlers lying in wait. They set a trap; they catch men. Like a basket full of birds, their houses are full of treachery; therefore they have become great and rich, they have grown fat and sleek. They know no bounds in deeds of wickedness; they judge not with justice the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper, and they do not defend the rights of the needy. Shall I not punish them for these things? says the LORD, and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?"" Jeremiah 5:26-29, RSV. 

and before you think I'm out of line check this info from PBS' Frontline:

10 Reasons America's Two-Income Families Aren't What You Think
(According to Harvard Law professor and bankruptcy expert Elizabeth Warren)

1. Two-income families today make 75% more in inflation-adjusted dollars, but have less money to spend than one-income families did 30 years ago. 
2. Two-income families today spend: 21% less on clothing, 22% less on food, and 44% less on appliances compared to one-income families a generation ago. 
3. Every 15 seconds an American family files for bankruptcy. 
4. This year, more kids will live through their parents' bankruptcy, than through their parents' divorce. 
5. 1.6 million families will file for bankruptcy this year, 9 million more are already in credit counseling. 
6. Home mortgage foreclosures are up more than three-fold over the last generation and car foreclosures have hit record levels. 
7. More than 62% of families say that they worry about making ends meet. 
8. The average family spends 69% more in inflation-adjusted dollars on their home mortgage than their parents spent a generation ago. 
9. The average family spends 61% more on health insurance, than their parents spent a generation ago. 
10. Credit card default rates are at a record high.