Philosophical Fragments
Religious and secular news and commentary that one Christian found important or entertaining this morning:
1. SHACKING UP. I have been getting questions about The Shack, the publishing phenomenon that has been on the bestseller list for over 100 weeks. Thankfully, one of my favorite bloggers, Tim Challies, reviews Burning Down the Shack, a refutation of the errant theology in The Shack. Worth a read.
2. FYI ON SBC. If you’re interested in the Southern Baptist Convention, you will want to read Albert Mohler’s reflection on its future. (H/t Justin Taylor)
3. JESUS ONLY DEALS IN REALITY. Denise Spencer is the wife of Michael Spencer, the departed “Internet Monk.” She tells the story of his descent into poor health and death here. She tells the story in an unvarnished way. I am sure there are many who would like her to wrap it up with a bow, or tell touching stories of moments in the midst of the pain when their suffering together brought them to new depths of joy and peace.
Denise mentions stories of dying men and women who shared touching, revelatory moments with their loved ones just before passing away. Then: “These are beautiful stories, one and all. Tales of hope in the midst of tragedy. Memories that bring consolation to the bereaved. And I’m getting tired of hearing them. Can I say that out loud? “Why?!” you no doubt gasp in horror. ‘Cause Michael and me, we got nuthin’.”
We should all remember that death sometimes comes in an unremittingly painful and ugly way. Our hope is not in a graceful death. Our hope is that we should die reconciled to God and humankind, and after death shall be with God.
“As hard as his illness had been, I secretly harbored a hope that there would be some kind of tiny payback at the moment of his death. Perhaps he would see Jesus or an angel (or the Virgin Mary?). Maybe there would be some sign of his readiness, some indication of peace and joy as he passed into the next life.
But just as cancer had treated Michael harshly, death showed him no kindness. The disease had been relentless. No remission, no respite for either of us. Likewise, there was no beauty in his passing, even for a fleeting moment. Death was ugly and it claimed him unceremoniously. He struggled to breathe, and fought harder as the day wore on. After the hospice nurse administered morphine it seemed to take forever for him to grow calmer. The breaths still came in labored gasps, his jaw dropping at an odd angle. His eyes were half open but unseeing. At some point I noticed that his lips were blue and I dared to lift the sheet. His entire body was mottled as his circulatory system slowly gave out. I touched his face. I held his hand. The family gathered around. We watched as the raspy gulps of air became shallower…and slowed…and stopped.”
Go here to read the ending.
4. THE PURPOSE-DRIVEN SMALL GROUP. Nice interview at TheHighCalling.org with Reggie McNeal on the missional movement, and particularly the formation of “missional communities” or small groups that are harnessed toward particular social purposes.
5. TOUCHDOWN JESUS STATUE SPIKED IN LIGHTNING STRIKE. Quoth the article: ““God struck God, I like the irony. Jesus struck Jesus,” said Dawn Smith, 25, of Hamilton, who was among those standing outside the vehicles along Union Road. “I had to see it. What else are you going to do on a Monday night?”” (H/t Tim Challies.)
And later in the article: ““It sent goosebumps through my whole body because I am a believer,” said Levi Walsh, 29. “Of all the things that could have been struck, I just think that that would be protected. … It’s something that’s not supposed to happen, Jesus burning,” he said. “I had to see it with my own eyes.” “I can’t believe Jesus was struck,” said his brother, who noted the giant Hustler Hollywood sign for the adult store across the street was untouched. “It’s the last thing I expected to happen.””
6. JOHN WOODEN, OR, LOVE ENDURES. Rick Reilly tells some great stories and anecdotes about the sainted John Wooden. One of the most interesting, however, is that Wooden once, as a young man, grew so angry with his wife that he left home and started hitch-hiking far away, across many state lines, and even secured a job in Kansas, before he returned to his senses and to his wife. The reason I find this particularly interesting is because the love Wooden had for his wife has become the stuff of legend. After she died, he wrote her a love letter every month for the rest of his life (which was another 25 years).
Good to see that even relationships that seem on the verge of falling apart can not only be patched up, but become extraordinary stories of lifelong love and devotion.
7. THE ART OF ANALOGIES. Some are upset that Obama “compared” the gulf oil spill to 9/11. I am tired of these kind of complaints. Obama drew a parallel in that, just as 9/11 shaped our thinking on military and international affairs for years to come, so the oil spill could shape our thinking on environmental matters for years to come. This is not to liken the two events, much less put them on the same plane. It is to make a clearly limited comparison on one point.
Yet this seems to be a common tactic of faux outrage, on both sides of the political spectrum. Yet one side only objects, of course, when the other side uses it. Thus California Gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown compared Meg Whitman to the infamous Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels. Presumably Brown did not believe she was equal to Goebbels in the evil she was willing to commit, just that she was using propaganda tactics that Goebbels used.
The stupidity here is multi-faceted. First, Jerry Brown should know better; this was a magnificently idiotic thing to say. The Left, too, should be ashamed to accuse the random citizen Tea Partiers of throwing around Nazi analogies in much subtler ways, when they say nothing about an outright Nazi analogy from one of the would-be standard bearers of their party. Yet, third, the charade of faux outrage is tedious, and everyone knows it is only about pressing your advantage politically and trying to move the polls another 1 or 2 percentage points. So, Meg Whitman dutifully turns up the Faux Outrage Machine and out come indignant objections to Nazi analogies. And why not? That’s the way the game is played these days, alas.
John Podhoretz explores the issue a little further, not in terms of the aptness of the analogy of the oil spill to 9/11, but in terms of Obama’s potential tragedy-envy. Hmm.
8. CATFIGHT. This, however, is an awful thing to say. Why is it that conservative makes a woman less a woman, a black less a black, a Hispanic less a Hispanic?
9. MEDIA MADNESS. Brent Budowski at The Hill offers what is supposed to be a frank and tough-tempered take on why the Right has “such a media lead over the Left.” Budowski seems blind to two related points. First, Right-wing media grew so enormous popular amongst conservatives because the Left had controlled the media for so long. Conservatives turned on the radio and suddenly found a champion for their viewpoint, where they had grown resigned to hearing “the Big Three” drone on night after night from an unacknowledged liberal perspective.
The second point is a corollary of the first, but it undermines the very premise of his article. It is this: the Right does not have a media lead over the Left. It only has such a lead if you discount NBC, CBS and ABC, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, NPR, and hundreds of local news stations that lean leftward, as well as new media products like Huffington Post, MSNBC and various very-highly-trafficked blogs like Andrew Sullivan, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos and the like.
Some, of course, are inclined to view NBC, CBS and ABC as centrist. And they do make a stronger effort at objectivity than, say, MSNBC. But their partisanship is actually all the more powerful and effective because of its air of detachment. If you see them as centrist, I’m afraid that says more about your location on the spectrum than it does about theirs.
10. PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG GOVERNOR. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal seems to be coming through the oil spill crisis looking like gold, especially compared to Obama. Jindal has been more like Rudy Giuliani after 9/11 (I am not equating the two!): on the scene, hands on, cutting through the processes and procedures to do what needs to be done.
The comparison is interesting. Jindal is a born administrator. He relishes the details, identifies problems and moves swiftly toward solutions. He is a wonky governor who is passionately committed to serving his people. In many ways, Jindal is the ideal chief executive. All he lacks is the atmospherics: the ability to deliver soaring oratory, to perform the dramatic part. Jindal is all the Obama is not, and lacks what Obama has. But, honestly: I would rather than Jindal get that 3am call than Obama. I also wish that Obama had had some executive experience as a governor, or even a mayor, before he took his present gig.
If you need someone to play the part of the orator, call Obama. If you need someone to be a chief executive, call Jindal. This may sound unfair, but, in this case, I believe it is true: Obama looks for scapegoats while Jindal looks for solutions. Obama’s instincts are political; Jindal’s instincts are pragmatic.
Thomas Sowell writes of the Obama administration: “This government is not about governing. It is about creating an impression. That worked on the campaign trail in 2008, but it is a disaster in the White House, where rhetoric is no substitute for reality.”
I’m going to try to be more charitable. I want to see the positives in Obama’s response. But thus far I have to agree: it has been a hapless, flailing response, with little or nothing to show for itself, concerned more with with managing the politics of the situation than managing the processes toward a solution.
11. HOW HELPLESS IS HE? Anne Applebaum goes with the “nothing he can do response.” I’m not buying it, and the majority of Americans are not buying it, either. I wonder if Obama is again being trapped by the rhetoric of his extraordinary election campaign. He promised that he was such a powerful, inspiring, compelling person that he would lead the world to love us again (again?), that he would cause the oceans to recede and the earth to heal.
So I am going with the “Apollo 13 response.” There is no telling what we can accomplish when people of excellent intellect and character are led by true leaders to pour all their resources and all their talents into solving the problems at hand.
12. PLUGGING THE LEAKS. Jed Babbin, who would know, on the costs of all the post-9/11 leaks regarding our military and intelligence-gathering operations. Worth your sober consideration.
13. HILLARY’S REVENGE? Could Hillary Clinton leave her post as Secretary of State and challenge Obama to be the Democratic candidate in 2012? What once seemed unthinkable now seems, at least, remotely possible.
14. COLUMN OF THE DAY. I don’t agree with some of the details, but David Brooks has an interesting column today on the conflict between Democratic capitalism (with free enterprise companies) and state capitalism (with state-owned companies, like the many state-owned oil and energy companies that dominate the oil market internationally).
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