by

Tales from the Dark World

To politicize anything means to turn it into a weapon for your advantage.  Late in life I realize that anything can be politicized, which is to say: degraded, mocked or utterly corrupted.  It especially sad to see the whole gamut in one week in January.

First, the Taylor Swift fiasco is a mockery of her public image. She has become an “idol” in the religious sense and her followers endangered worshippers. Her involvement in voter registration and her support for former Gov. Phil Bredesen, who was running for the Senate against then-Representative Marsha Blackburn, and Jim Cooper (a House member who has since retired) incited insults from Newsmax host Greg Kelly who said, But I think what they call it is, they’re elevating her to an idol. Idolatry. This is a little bit what idolatry, I think, looks like. And you’re not supposed to do that. In fact, if you look it up in the Bible, it’s a sin! So, I don’t like that.”  [ https://www.huffpost.com/entry/greg-kelly-taylor-swift-fans-idolatry-sin_n_65b907bfe4b0102bd2d62292 ] It may make be spiritual to some, but to me it is mockery of things spiritual. 

The NFL has  been degraded for its politically incorrect pro-vaccine advocacy and its Rooney Rule (mandatory interview with Black candidates for head coaching).  “Cancelling” is not only the prerogative of the p0litical left.  Now the NFL is accused of fabricating the romance of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce for public relations and for a plan for Taylor to announce her support of Democrats during the Super Bowl.

Alison Steinberg, a host on the ultraconservative One America Network, claimed that Swift’s relationship is a “fake, carefully crafted show” meant to get children “obsessed with some grown man who gets paid millions of dollars every year to throw a ball around while promoting poison death shots. 

This allegation credits  the NFL with much more daring than you would expect, since it is run by owners that worry about attendance and image first. To plan this kind of political stunt goes far beyond their risk tolerance, so there is no credibility to that rumor.

Finally, the  complex bill on Israel, Ukraine, and southern border control came out of committee and was immediately savaged by supporters of Donald Trump. The Republican Senator who negotiated the present proposal with funds and executive power is James Lankford of Oklahoma. “There’s political pressure to say, ‘If we fix the border now, then Biden’s suddenly gonna get off the hook and it’ll help his presidential campaign,'” Lankford said. But Lankford, a respected Republican, crafted the compromise bill that would potentially resolve the stalemate over border security. The complaint that it would weaken the immigration case for former President Trump is sadly cynical. Is it possible a candidate for President of the United States would sabotage a bill that would save lives and preserve security just for the arming of his political campaign? Oh yes.  A democratic process could be utterly corrupted.

Apparently everything from passing vital immigration legislation to the idolization of rock stars can be politicized.   It is as if the mere contact with a polarizing issue turns institutions and people into agents of a conspiracy.

In an election year, probably everything can, and will be, politicized, but it doesn’t make it newsworthy. Let the boycotts of the NFL and Taylor Swift concerts begin, but try not to sling mud just to degrade the reputation of every person and institution in sight.

Above all, let important compromises and desperately needed legislation pass without Donald Trump’s blessing. Talk about idolatry, what would you call the Republican Party’s fealty to the former President?  The failure to bargain over legislation in good faith strikes at the heart or democracy. That is what happened at the end of January, when the Mitch McConnell offered that legislation crafted by a member of his own party could not pass without the former President’s blessing. That was a sad day for democracy, indeed.

 

 

by

Day Three, Montego Bay

We did not sign up for a shore excursion in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Trying to enjoy the food and services on the Ruby Princess. We will have a tour of Cartagena, Colombia in two days. That will be busy enough for these high-flying seniors.

Leaving the Ruby Princess, we entered a building shared by Customs and local street vendors selling Jamaican souvenirs. Tried on an “L” soccer shirt in national colors (black, yellow and green), but it was too small. (Already he gains weight?). Found the same shirt in an XXL at another vendor on the Montego Bay Street called “Hip Strip.” So now I own one.

We took a shuttle from the cruise ship to the beach in Montego Bay and explored the “strip.” Besidesthe shirt, not much to see except this exceptionally tall local. This outfit gives an idea of the colors of my new shirt, minus the red.

On the way back down the strip we saw a striking statue dedicated to Usain Bolt, the Olympic champion sprinter and national hero.  The Bolt statue was actually constructed of nuts and bolts welded together with a nod to the most famous Bolt, himself. Bolt is poised in his characteristic victory posture, one arm extended diagonally toward the heavens, shooting his bolt skyward, the other trailing behind.

 

 

You can almost make out the hardware in this photo of Bill studying the construction of the statue. Behind the statue is a sports bar with the most magnificent wide screen over the bar for the sole purpose of viewing soccer. We had the nationally favored  “Red Stripe” beer on the upstairs deck with a miniature version of the screen.

At the foot of the stairs leading to the second floor, where the sports bar reigns, is a poster that adds to the glamor that is U-Bolt. The “9.58,” is his record for the 100-meter dash , set at the 2009 “World Champs,” still unbroken after 14 years.

Best All-Time Adjusted 100-Meter Performances — Men - Track ...

This local color was really the highlight of our visit to the rather depressed “Hip Strip.” The streets are narrow, the cars bumper to bumper and honking impatiently. Uniformed men line the pavement asking “Need a cab?” with obvious oversupply over demand. The stores were primarily souvenir shops, selling almost identical wares. The sports bar was the best place to pass the time of day until the shuttle returned to pick us up.

Returning to the Ruby Princess it was sobering to consider that the wealthy tourists of North America were the primary source of income for Montego Bay.

 

 

 

by

Enablers of Tyranny

With all the blame for Donald Trump’s rise to power, the last culprits to be accused are his ardent followers. The limitless control of the people’s passion is usually blamed on the tyrant, not on his victims. Pundits see him as a manipulator of the minds of battered citizens, longing for a champion.
But what if the citizens are the enablers?
Enabler: a person who encourages or enables negative or self-destructive behavior in another.
What if the people have made Donald Trump what he is, by egging him on with delight of his disdain for the heartless bureaucrats of  Washington?  What if Trump was more the fulfillment of the people’s revenge, their “retribution,” than the ruthless tyrant grasping for control?
This is not to absolve the ex-President for his part in enraging the voter: In The Art of the Deal he confides, “The final key to the way I promote is bravado. I play to people’s fantasies.  People may not always think big themselves, but they can still get very excited by those who do.  That’s why a little hyperbole never hurts.  People want to believe that something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular.” [ https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/08/is-passion-meant-for-politics/402457/]. Clearly Trump knows what he is doing.
But as he labors under the weight of huge legal losses, most recently of $83.3 million dollars for defamation of E. Jean Carroll,  as he stammers at his rallies, confusing Nikki Haley with Nancy Pelosi, as he makes self-defeating threats (“Anybody that makes a ‘Contribution’ to Birdbrain, from this moment forth, will be permanently barred from the MAGA camp”), he loses stature and becomes the fabrication of the people.
Lately the former President’s public appearances have shown more frustration than unflappable leadership. Viewers are reminded of his age and the burdens he carries, as he exits the courtroom before the charge to the jury in the defamation suit against him. While the  subject of aging is usually applied to the current President, the former one, himself, is 77.
His fuel remains the public passion at his rallies. He comes from them energized and ready to face his enemies in the courtroom. So who is manipulating whom?  Are Trump’s loyal fans generating the zeal for his campaign or are they enabling a driven man, unable to control his ambition? Are they propping up a staggering figurehead, someone on a collision course with disaster?
Shakespeare had insight into the psychology of the tragic politician. In his critical study of Shakespeare’s tyrants,  Stephen Greenblatt speculates:

“How does a figure like Richard III or Macbeth ascend to the throne?

Such as disaster, Shakespeare suggested, could not happen without widespread complicity.  His plays probe the psychological mechanisms that lead a nation to abandon its ideals and even its self-interest. Why would anyone, he asked himself, be drawn to a leader manifestly unsuited to govern, someone dangerously impulsive or viciously  conniving or indifferent to the truth? . . . Why do otherwise proud and self-respecting people submit to the sheer effrontery of the tyrant, his sense that he can get away with saying and doing anything he likes, his spectacular indecency?” Tyrant, pp. 1-2

Greenblatt compared some of the great tyrants in Shakespeare’s repertoire, Richard III, Macbeth, King Lear and Coriolanus, in his study of famed tragic figures.  He found that they were not merely repulsive in their lust for power, but fascinating for their ability to magnetize people to follow them.

The identification with power is as strong as the loathing for it.  Every tyrant has his enablers, hoping to gain by his abuses.  Greeblatt suggests that even the audience to the drama, detached by their safe viewpoint, has a morbid fascination for tyrannical power. They fantasize, as Trump suggests in The Art of the Deal. Regarding Richard III, Shakespeare’s most ruthless and murderous  tyrant, Greeblatt says:

“We are charmed again and again by the villain’s outrageousness by his indifference to the ordinary norms of human decency, by lies that seem to be effective even though no one believes them.  Looking out from the stage. Richard invites us not only to share his gleeful contempt but also to experience for ourselves what it is to succumb to what we know to be loathsome. ” Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics,  pp. 81-82.
As the former President’s devotees play the spectator to an epic drama of a man hurling himself toward tragedy or triumph, they should consider: could we be enablers of a man unable to control himself? Are we using Donald Trump as our proxy for power? Are we testing his limits, because he has inflated ours?  What about the media? Are they complicit in this unraveling tragedy?   Are they enabling the goose that laid the golden egg?  When the goose is exhausted beyond rejuvenation, who gets the blame?
A perspective on the possible fate of the tragic politician.

 

by

Ruby Princess: Day One and Two

First Cruise: The western Caribbean

Striking Observations Day 1, 2

The length of the corridor outside our stateroom is about the length of a football field.

The length of an open dining room: about a city block.

The noise of polite conversation in an open-seating dining room: you raise your voice to converse

The sound of the ship motors when you hit the pillow at night: a soft hum below your pillow

The speed of the cruise ship at sea -download–Ocean Froth Passing

 

The tiny shower stall in our Stateroom : If you put your hands on your hips, you touch the walls.

The substantial closet space: A six-foot bar about the length of a suite closet at home.

The complications of cruise packages on Princess:

How do cruise packages they differ from “onboard credit”? How can you tell if you have a “benefits package”?  How do you squeeze 15 drinks/ day from a benefits package? Admittedly it covers more than alcoholic drinks. But how do you consume any combination of 15 drinks/ day?

The catch: You have no ability to look at your spending online; that remains a mystery. Although you can ask how your money gets spent: credit card, onboard credit or benefits package ? This mystery of how much you have spent  keeps you from deciding “I’ve spent too much.”

Generally you eat without additional charges, especially if you go to buffet meals. But they also have “Specialty Dining,” which adds to the cost of eating. You want to eat a couple of times in Specialty, because there you are in quiet dining room at a private table, with an upscale menu. We’re going to the Italian Specialty Dining: Sabatini’s. Italian, of course.

P.S. Sabatini’s was amazing– a four course dinner, new table settings for each course. An excellent bean soup, a cheesy, lobster tail salad, mouth-watering lasagna. Could not even muster an appetite for dessert without the  Quiet atmosphere in an intimate, circular dining room.

What happened to us today: we went to “Guest Services” to ask how our expenses were charged. We were blown away to find our travel agent had purchased “Princess Plus” for $208/ person, which is a $1000. per person discount! The travel agent told me the day we left that she had purchased no benefit packages. Turns out she did, for a travel agent’s discount.  Must have forgotten, but she got us better wifi coverage, 15 drinks per person per day, and all kinds of free exercise classes, other stuff we may not use. Moral: use a reliable travel agent to book a cruise.

It has been cloudy and windy all day, but we walked the Promenade Deck for three laps (equal 1.25 miles) and it was fun. Tonight we go to Sabatini’s, Specialty Dining.

Tomorrow we stop in Montego Bay, Jamaica. We’ll go ashore without a planned excursion. The adventure continues. . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

by

Really, Mitch McConnell?

Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan of Punchbowl News confirmed this evening that although MAGA Republicans have insisted the border is such a crisis that no aid to Ukraine can pass until it is addressed, Trump is preventing congressional action on the border because he wants to run on the issue of immigration. Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) told a closed meeting of Senate Republicans that “the nominee” wants to run his campaign on immigration, adding, “We don’t want to do anything to undermine him.” “We’re in a quandary,” McConnell said. https://substack.com/home/post/p-141025314?source=queue

Really, Mitch McConnell? You don’t know whether to support a bill that could save the lives of Ukrainians, Palestinians, and immigrants at the southern border, because the rogue, Donald Trump, wants immigration to be HIS campaign issue and supporting it would diminish the effectiveness of HIS campaign?

Do you, Senator McConnell, care about anything beside massaging the ego of a narcissist who calls you “disloyal” any chance he gets?

“Why do Republican Senators allow a broken down hack politician, Mitch McConnell, to openly disparage hard working Republican candidates for the United States Senate?” Trump wrote, following your thoughtful comment that Republicans would have a hard time flipping the Senate in 2022. https://thehill.com/homenews/house/3797518-trump-attacks-mcconnell-wife-over-gop-turmoil-after-mccarthy-fails-to-win-speakership/

He further insulted your wife, Elaine Chao, concerning her apparent conflict of interest over her father’s company, the Foremost Group. “This is such an affront to honor and to leadership. He should spend more time (and money!) helping them [Republican candidates] get elected, and less time helping his crazy wife and family get rich on China!”

So now you are willing to scuttle a bill that aids struggling refugees from Texas to Ukraine to Palestine, so that the ex-President has a better  edge on Democrats, who are extending their best compromise to get this aid bill passed. Can you hear yourself, supporting the giant ego of a candidate, who thinks the lives of innocent people are less important than his Presidential campaign?

Perhaps you think being a faithful Party member is more important than your unsinkable pride, but are you really supporting a Party that seeks the trust of the American people or deepening the moral Black Hole who can not fathom the humanity of anyone who stands in his way?  Surely there is a principle that would prevent you from sinking a worthy compromise with so much capacity to help those too weak to help themselves?

You have shown the depths you could plumb by blocking the nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court with ten months left till the end of an election year. That was a feat of diabolical strategy that should keep you up at night. Perhaps that is no different than placating a man who will continue to insult you anytime you comment on the obvious, if it is not in his interest to recognize you.

Yet you have shown integrity

  • in rejecting the Election deniers [ https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/06/politics/mitch-mcconnell-trump-electoral-vote/index.html ],
  • emphatically supporting aid to Ukraine, [https://apnews.com/article/mcconnell-ukraine-russia-senate-israel-bf8dc4899d1e99fd186028a387023b57] and
  • supporting moderate gun control [https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/mitch-mcconnells-support-tougher-gun-laws-reflects-changed-political-l-rcna33537].

Sometimes you look like the only clear-headed adult in your party.

But now you are tarnishing your legacy by putting Trump over democracy. You could be retiring with a resurgent conscience. You could lead the Republican Party when it is so desperate for heroes. You could stand up to a man who rules that Party for his own gratification.

Is it integrity or expedience that animates your political soul? Are you willing to follow the former President into the cesspool of self-interest? Or will you stand for something you believe in, such as compromise for the sake of the suffering people of the earth?  Whom do you serve, Mitch McConnell? God or Mammon?

 

 

 

by

Is Donald Trump a Cult Leader?

According to Webster’s New World College Dictionary, a “cult” is ” a devoted attachment to, or extravagant admiration for, a person, principle or lifestyle, especially when regarded as a fad.” The word comes from the Latin “cultus,” meaning “care” or “cultivation.” A cult requires a cultivation of passionate loyalty. Is a cult only a fad? Only time will tell.
Is Donald Trump heading up a cult? It depends on whether you are a member of that cult or a critical observer. Does the leader inspire “devoted attachment” or “exaggerated admiration.”?
First: the ability to convince the cult members that the  truth is a lie.
  • He said 250 million attended  his Inauguration
  • other observers estimated 250,000. The Park Service photos showed a  sparse crowd
  • Speaking to the President of Ukraine: He made the “perfect phone call,”
  •  The recording reveals: He made foreign aid  conditional to an investigation of Biden’s influence on energy companies in Ukraine
  • He made the “perfect”phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger,
  • In the recording of the call he says: “I just want to find, uh, 11,780 votes”
  • He won the Presidential election of 2020
  • The Electoral Count was Biden 306 – Trump 232, confirmed by 61 judicial cases

The ability to make millions of voters consistently believe the opposite of what is true is the power of a cult leader.

Next: the ability to command

  • the disregard of a string of two impeachments and 91 criminal indictments
  • the acceptance of anti-democratic goals: “retribution” on his enemies, threats to command unconstitutional power, and a refusal to accept an electoral defeat.
  •   the loyalty of people of faith in spite of his open contempt for his opponents, his encouragement of violence to support his cause, and his abuse of women in documented legal cases

Next: the conditions that enable a cult leader

“Verywell Mind” enumerates the traits of a cult leader at the site  https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-cult-5078234 .
  • Absolute authoritarianism 

“. . . you’re not going to be a dictator; are you? I said, no, no, no, other than Day 1.      [https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2023/12/06/trump-comments-dictator-campaign-president-2024/]

As Ruth Ghiat argues in her book Strongmen, dictators learn the authoritarian skills of governing from each other:

The leader’s displays of machismo and his kinship with other male leaders are not just bluster, but a way of exercising power at home and conducting foreign policy. Virility enables corruption, projecting the idea that the Strongman is above laws that weaker individuals must follow. It translates into state policies that target women and LGBTQ+ populations, who are as much the Strongman’s enemies as civil prosecutors or the press. (pp. 7-8)

Apparently this image of a man controlling other men and women appeals to cult members. They feel secure in the leadership of a virile, powerful figure. They believe the former President will exercise the same control of people he showed on “The Apprentice,” and that appeals to their sense of order.  “Democracy” almost seems like a weak form of government, where bureaucrats can control people by their secret maneuvers. The Strongman offers security that the enemies of the people will be defeated.

  • Without accountability  “When reporters asked Trump whether any governor agreed that he had total authority to countermand their orders, he answered: “If I happen to be president and I see somebody who’s doing well and beating me very badly, I say go down and indict them. Mostly, that would be – you know, they would be out of business.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/05/trump-revenge-second-term/

The former President has shown ruthless temperament, which he promises will be “your retribution.” In the quotation above he projects his power over governors who resist him, as they did during the pandemic in New York, California, Michigan, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Under a new Trump administration, the powers of governors could be nullified by the President’s “Emergency Powers.” This wielding of power against his opposition appeals to those who feel liberals and the “Deep State” are blocking reform. They don’t care how the President nullifies them; they just want their policies executed. The ends justify the means.

  • Lack of meaningful financial disclosure regarding budget. Regarding his business disclosures, “I have a clause in there [in real estate declarations] that says, ‘Don’t believe the statement. Go out and do your own work.’ This statement is ‘worthless.’ It means nothing,” Trump testified. Given the disclaimer, he said, “you’re supposed to pay no credence to what we say whatsoever.” http://apnews.com/article/trump-new-york-civil-lawsuit-fraud-88379aaf16849c255365ff871384ff7e

Trump’s supporters hold him blameless for profiting from the government, something that would be roundly condemned for previous presidents. He has profited richly from foreign states-men /-women staying at his hotels in Washington, New Jersey and Mara Largo. While this is defined as “corruption” in most cases, Trump’s supporters believe his refusal to draw a salary ($400.000) balances the fact that he has profited in billions while President.

 The Trump Hotel in DC defied all expectations to quickly turn a profit despite charging well above most other DC hotels. People who wished to influence the president—lobbyists, politicians, foreign and state governments—paid a premium to see and be seen at the Trump Hotel, rubbing elbows with the president and his closest advisers. https://www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-investigations/trump-reported-making-more-than-1-6-billion-while-president/

  • Unreasonable fears about the outside world that often involve evil conspiracies and persecutions.  Regarding immigrants: “We know they come from mental institutions and insane asylums. We know they’re terrorists. Nobody has ever seen anything like we’re witnessing right now. It is a very sad thing for our country. It’s poisoning the blood of our country. It’s so bad, and people are coming in with disease. People are coming in with every possible thing that you could have.” https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/05/us/politics/trump-immigration-rhetoric.html

The demonizing of immigrants has been the core of Donald Trump’s appeal. It is not merely the regulation of immigration that fuels political controversy, but the treatment of illegals and legals alike.  Many of the disciples of the former President approved of his confining immigrants in cages and separating them from their children, because immigrants were dehumanized during his administration. They were a threat to the American way of life.

The website www.verywellmind.com displays numerous characteristics of a cult, twelve in total, too many for mention here. They show a pattern of ruthless authority and emotional appeal enhancing the charismatic and uncompromising leader.

Finally, a reflection on the loyalty of people of faith

As a former Evangelical Christian, I understand how faith can make a follower tenaciously loyal. Faith may demand we persevere with our devotion despite the circumstances. It was faith that allowed the early Christians to remain loyal despite the torture and execution of the Roman Empire.

Devoted Christians may imagine that our democracy today is no better than the pagan ruthlessness of the Roman Empire. Their devotion does not pay attention to flaws or recognize the angry, vindictive nature of a despot. Looking for a champion, they have found one in Trump.  Just as persecuted Christians stood up to oppressive governments before, nothing will shake their faith in a man who promises defeat of all their enemies. The end justifies the means. Yet is that Christian morality?

Unshakable faith is sublime. It has revered many martyrs and religious figures who stand up to tyrants. It represents boundless dedication and yet . . .

Faith in God is one thing;  faith in a cult? That’s another.

 

 

 

by

Iowa Stubborn

And we’re so by God stubborn
We could stand touchin’ noses
For a week at a time
And never see eye-to-eye

(Meredith Wilson, “The Music Man”)

The  Music Man was an affectionate tribute to the state of Iowa, as well as the story of a con man turned straight. It turned the corrupt plan of a huckster into a conversion story of a man changed by good-hearted people.  Still, these good-hearted people had a stubborn streak, illustrated by the opening song, “Iowa Stubborn,” (see above) a self-deprecating, yet self-satisfied tribute to the state.

Iowa proved faithful to its reputation Monday, in that, with all of the ardent campaigning and lavish investment of funds, the candidates emerged pretty much as they started in the polls.  Donald Trump, the front-runner, came into Iowa for a couple of cups of coffee and spent most of his time defending himself against felony charges in New York.  How did that affect Iowa’s support? He was an overwhelming victor with 51% of the vote–about what he had coming into the state.

Ron Desantis spent $35 million, more than a third of his campaign bank account. He campaigned in every county in the state. He received the endorsement of Governor Kim Reynolds. He might have gained two percentage point with 21.5% of the vote in Iowa. What must the Governor think of her political credibility? Probably she’s thinking, Well, that’s Iowa Stubborn for you.

Nikki Haley reserved $4.6 million for the final two weeks of the Iowa campaign, twice as much as Desantis, yet she finished with 19.3% of the Iowa vote  [ https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/republicans-spend-100-million-iowa-ads-come-rcna130856]. She did rise in the national polls, but most observers credit her performance in the Primary debates for that improvement. Iowa was unimpressed.

Stubbornness can be detected by several symptoms, according to “Strong Opinions, Loosely Held” [https://www.solhapp.com/blog/how-to-identify-a-stubborn-person]. How do these match up to Iowa voters? Unfortunately no one has administered this test in Iowa. However we could take the informed opinion of composer of “The Music Man,” Meredith Wilson, a born-and-bred Iowan.

1. Refusal to Change – “We could stand touchin’ noses/ For a week at a time /And never see eye-to-eye”

2. Rigidity-  “We could stand touchin’ noses/” (see above)

3. Difficulty in Compromise:   “There’s an Iowa kind of special Chip-on-the-shoulder attitude”

4. Resistance to Authority – “You really ought to give Iowa a try/ Provided you are contrary”

.5. Defensive Behavior: “special Chip-on-the-shoulder attitude”

This musical profile of Iowans should be studied by every future campaigner in Iowa before they lay out one third of their campaign war chest and several months of retail campaigning in the Hawkeye State.  Learn from Ron Desantis.

The challenge of changing minds might be attributed to how the stubborn person changes vices into virtues. in another blog I imagined how a stubborn person would interpret the behaviors listed above.

 Why do we find it difficult to “compromise” in politics and religion? Because we know we’re right and compromising means “giving in.”  Why do (we) believe in “resistance to authority”? Because authority can not be trusted. Better to rely on yourself. What is wrong with “rigidity”? Isn’t it just another word for “courage of your convictions”? https://wtucker.edublogs.org/2023/12/26/the-power-of-stubbornness/

No argument will convince stubborn people, because, in their minds, stubbornness is an admirable trait.  Meredith Wilson captured it in his ensemble opening to the “Music Man,” but he redeemed Iowans as good-hearted and caring people in his immortal musical.  Unfortunately there is no room for “good-heartedness” at the Iowa Caucuses.  In the opening words of “Iowa Stubborn,” Wilson says.

Oh, there’s nothing halfway
About the Iowa way to treat you

When we greet you

Which we may not do at all

The Republican campaigners in Iowa can say to this a hearty “Amen.”  And the Republican Party may want to reconsider whether Iowa sends the right message to those who hope campaigning can change their status in the endless trial of winning the nomination for President.

 

by

For Savannah, Give Thanks

When you get up tomorrow, you say, “God, I thank you for Rosa. That she could sit down so I could stand up.” And only God can teach you to do two things that sound contradictory at the same time, that she sat down and stood up at the same time. We must make our history sacred. ( Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III)

Dear Lord,

Thank you for Dr. Moss, who cuts to the chase, “God, I thank you for Rosa. That she could sit down so I could stand up.”

Paradox is no reason to forget to praise God.

Mixed feelings does not mean God has not acted and saved us from disaster.

I often forget that while I am complaining, you are still gracious.

While I am doubting, you are still faithful.

Thank you.

 

Today, my heart is full, because we have visited Savannah twice and

You made it different, wonderful every time.

I love walking the streets, seeing history memorialized in each square

For the splendid brick homes, separate, but connected,  celebrating wrought iron stairs and balconies.

For luxuriant Spanish moss, azaelas blooming in January

For the Massie Heritage Center, honoring Colonial, Black, Jewish, Native American histories

 

For Temple Mickve, so Gothic, Jewish, Colonial, welcoming

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you, God, for Jame Oglethorpe, who planned this city for inclusion, tolerance, sanctuary.

For Six Pence, the British Pub with Half and Half beer and Shepherd’s Pie

For Jalapeno’s: spicy and savory Mexican cassaroles

For Clary’s, home cooking, home ambience, breakfast all day

 

 

For the Wurlitzer organ in the Lucas Palace Theater–jingle bells, drums, woodwinds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for Savannah, the same and different, every time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

by

Southern Lights

Spirit take us home

Take us home by another way

Take us long way ’round the tyrants

and their schemes

Give us strength to walk

Show us dreams of a better day

and we’ll pave the way with justice

Goin’ home by another way

(Christopher Grundy)    https://soundcloud.com/christopher-grundy/take-us-home-by-another-way-live-demo

We sang this refrain (plus three verses sung by Solveig Leithaug) at the “Southern Lights” conference this weekend  (January 12-14, 2024) at St. Simons Island. GA.  The song was an allusion to the current season of Epiphany, which celebrates the defiance of the tyrant Herod by the Magi, when they “went home by another way.”

As you may know, Herod intended to kill the infant Jesus, an apparent threat to his dominion, as prophesied by Micah.

Micah 5:2, “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will come forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His times of coming forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity”

The Gospel of Matthew (2:16) tells us,

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.

Thus Herod proved himself the most ruthless tyrant in the Christian Testament, and an archetype of all tyrants, as conveyed by the song lyrics. That’s a lot of unpacking of a few lines of music, but no one had to explain it to the participants at the conference; they were largely of retirement age or older and knew their way around the Bible. A shoutout to the younger generations attending. No disparagement intended.

If a summary of the weekend was needed, the lyrics of “Spirit Take Us Home” would do it. It was about dealing with injustice in an inhospitable world.

From Cole Arthur Riley [ https://colearthurriley.com/ ] we learned “How emotional truth talking  can be recognized in an oppressive world.” Cole helped us see that, by-passing the necessary lament, middle class “niceness” could discount the real emotional damage of racism.

From Simran Singh[ https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2470676/bio/ ] we learned to “Burn the practices that take you away from love,” as he recounted the hate he encountered as a Sikh growing up in San Antonio, TX.

From Elizabeth Schrader Polczer [ https://www.elizabethschrader.com/ ] we learned how Mary Magdalen was the second Mary in the story of the raising of Lazarus from the dead: “He [Lazarus] was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.” This was a false transcription of “Mary and her sister, Mary.”

Papyrus 66 recorded Martha as the sister of Mary of Bethany, but Elizabeth discovered that the scribe of this text had scratched out the name  of the second “Mary” and substituted “Martha” in several places:  Why would this matter to us? Because the “Martha” in this chapter was the only person in the Christian Testament, other than Peter, to declare “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” It indicates her prophetic understanding of who Jesus truly is.

Libby gave us a lesson in manuscript analysis by projecting the Greek text on a screen to show where the scribe had substituted “Martha” for “Mary.” She accomplished a very technical explanation of textual analysis in layperson’s terms to show us the significance of a tiny manuscript editing choice. Amazing job.

After these extraordinary speakers, we heard an equally stirring concert Saturday night from Brian McLaren, Solveig Leithaug, Ken Medema, and Libbie Schrader. Brian shared a whimsical take on terrible times on the guitar, Solveig sang of her ancestors’ entry to Ellis Island with electric guitar, Ken Medema wrote an imaginative ballad about the prophet Ananias and Apostle Paul and played it on keyboard, and Libbie Schrader sang the tribute to Mary Magdalene she wrote, which started her exhaustive research on Magdalen’s role in the Christian scriptures.

Most wondrous of all: the stupefying improvisation of Ken Medema, as he responded to each of the speakers with a jazz rendering of their major theme. The unique talent of synthesizing a response to complex expressions of faith extended our understanding of “gifts of the Spirit.”  Ken is a visually-impaired keyboardist who accompanied the singing of the entire weekend, blessing all of us with his creativity and love.

I apologize if this cataloging of an amazing weekend gives a shallow understanding of glory.  It’s pathetic to say, “You had to be there,” because it just stirs up regret or envy. I only give a superficial appreciation of how much blessing was shared by many eloquent and talented people. Perhaps also an invitation to join “Southern Lights” a year from now.

 

 

by

Bible Boy

Two characteristics explain most of my life: introversion and love of the Bible. Maybe they are related, since an introvert might become infatuated with Biblical stories and teachings, depending less on peer influence.  This took a turn in midlife, when peer opinions became more important and the teaching from the Bible more consequential than the Bible itself.

The Bible itself has controlled my self-image and guided my choices more than any person in my life. My father’s final word on every sermon and church we attended was “Is it biblical?” and I kind of agreed, although I didn’t always read the Bible the way he did. Some of my peers thought it was repetitive to read the same stories and messages every year, but to me the stories changed with every reading, and that was part of the magic of the Bible: it was an organic book that grew with you. There was no other book that grew on me that way.

Before I could read stories the Bible was real in Sunday School. My aunt taught little kids, and she used flannel graphs to illustrate the stories for the semi-literate. These were like artist easels covered with soft material, probably flannel, and with cut-out characters with flannel backing that would cling to the board, and allow the characters to take different positions on the board to tell the story.

When I could read, the same stories and excited my imagination. The Bible was like a series of stories with heroic characters and conflicts of faith. When you are in the K-5 range of reading, stories seemed real, and there was no difference between fiction and reality.

My father held that every page of the Bible was literally true, and when you started to question any part, say the story of Jonah, you were on a slippery slope that ended with apostasy.  So faith amounted to accepting the literal truth of the Bible. Remarkably, despite my bent toward literary study, I held that position with my father for most of my teenage years.

At some point I decided it didn’t matter what was real and what was figurative, because the message was the same and its application to your life was what mattered. Those who wanted to critic the Bible like any literary work did not ruffle my faith, because I  was intent on the message, whether it was the accepted interpretation or a changing sense of how the Bible spoke to me.

I am not sure when I took a more critical view of the Bible, but it could be in my first turn in graduate school. I was reading a lot of C. S. Lewis and how he saw mythology as the pre-figuring of the Bible, and I realized other literature was reflecting biblical themes. Literature became characterized as sacred and secular in my thinking, and I saw the Bible in the context of literature as a whole.

Sometime during my early teaching career I learned about genre study as a key to learning to write. When I actually taught genre study I was already teaching college. I was finally realizing that the Bible ws genre-driven, that it was never meant to be taught literally, but as a range of genres from myth to history to poetry to satire and the “good news” of the Gospels. This finally solved the problem of how to read the Bible, and the scriptures came alive to me again, as they had through the stages of my life.