{"id":413,"date":"2009-08-06T10:50:50","date_gmt":"2009-08-06T14:50:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/evangelicalgateway.wordpress.com\/?p=413"},"modified":"2009-08-06T10:50:50","modified_gmt":"2009-08-06T14:50:50","slug":"morning-report-august-6th-psychological-barriers-prisoner-rape-homecoming-homeowning-astroturf-and-swastikas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/2009\/08\/06\/morning-report-august-6th-psychological-barriers-prisoner-rape-homecoming-homeowning-astroturf-and-swastikas\/","title":{"rendered":"Morning Report, August 6th: Psychological Barriers, Prisoner Rape, Homecoming, Homeowning, Astroturf and Swastikas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

1.\u00a0 A task force<\/a> of the American Psychological Association spent a substantial amount of money and effort in order to conclude\u2013are you ready for it?\u2013that \u201cpsychological barriers\u201d such as uncertainty, mistrust and denial prevent Americans from taking action to combat climate change.\u00a0 Did they ask whether some (note that I say \u201csome\u201d) of that uncertainty and mistrust might be justified?\u00a0 Apparently not.\u00a0 This is another example of what happens when one becomes so immersed in one\u2019s own point of view that one cannot enter into the rationality of the opposing side.\u00a0 If they don\u2019t see things your way\u2013they must be psychologically impaired.<\/p>\n

One question I\u2019ve often asked myself: do some Christians (note again that I say \u201csome\u201d) feel less urgency to act against climate change because of their trust in Providence?\u00a0 I think the answer is yes.\u00a0 Bad theology?\u00a0 Perhaps.\u00a0 But the sense that God would not allow environmental catastrophe, or that God would not create a world without adequate self-correcting mechanisms, may play a subtle role in inoculating Christians against the most alarmist of environmental activists.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0 A panel of judges issues a stinging condemnation<\/a> of California\u2019s prisons and orders the state to reduce the rolls of the imprisoned by nearly a quarter.\u00a0 Even law-and-order Christians should insist that conditions in the prisons be humane.\u00a0 \u201cI was in prison, and you visited me,\u201d Jesus said.\u00a0 Note he did not say that he was innocently <\/em>in prison; even those who are justly condemned for their crimes, and even those who failed to treat others humanely, should be treated humanely by godly men and women.\u00a0 Nothing on television disturbs me more than the jokes about prisoner rape.\u00a0 If the California prisons are so overcrowded that they cannot treat their prisoners humanely, that needs to change.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0 Obama\u2019s job approval<\/a> is at 50%.\u00a0 Obama partisans have to be frustrated, as Bush partisans were before, at the way in which polls have become news in themselves, and tend to drive public perception.\u00a0 A high percent have concluded<\/a> that the Obama administration thus far is a \u201cfailure.\u201d\u00a0 But surely the long-term consequences are what matters?\u00a0 Since Obama and the Democrats have control of the executive and the legislature, we have a sort of political laboratory right in front of us.\u00a0 This is not the sort of split government where one side can blame the other for limiting what they could do.\u00a0 In other words, the Democrats will have to show results for all their efforts.\u00a0 If they can convincingly show results, then they will reap the benefits.\u00a0 If they cannot, liberalism could be harmed for a generation, in much the same way that it was after Carter.<\/p>\n

Conservative analyses<\/a> of the Obama administration have already begun to appear.\u00a0 And it\u2019s not too early to call the Obama administration to account for broken promises and hypocrisy (as the Anchoress, one of the most respected bloggers on the internet, does here<\/a>) I\u2019m willing to wait longer and judge the administration on its longer-term effects.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0 Again, thank God that Euna Lee and Laura Ling are home safely.\u00a0 Both of the Clintons are being lauded<\/a> for their roles.\u00a0 Steve Bing, who bankrolled the flight to North Korea, and a Hollywood PR firm, coordinated<\/a> the \u201chomecoming show\u201d where the amateur reporters were reunited with their families inside one of Bing\u2019s environmentally friendly aircraft hangers.\u00a0 If I understand correctly, Lee and Ling meant to sneak into North Korea with their cameras in order to escape later with an inside look at life in North Korea.\u00a0 If this is true\u2013if\u2013then who will be held accountable?\u00a0 Lee and Ling have already suffered enough, presumably.\u00a0 But the superiors (they worked for Al Gore\u2019s television company) who approved their mission should be held accountable for a foolish and reckless venture that created a very costly international incident.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0 Grim figures<\/a>: \u201cThe percentage of U.S. homeowners who owe more than their house is worth will nearly double to 48 percent in 2011 from 26 percent at the end of March, portending another blow to the housing market, Deutsche Bank<\/span> said on Wednesday.\u201d<\/p>\n

6.\u00a0 Many liberals are claiming that the opposition Congressmen are facing at their town halls during the August recess are \u201castroturf,\u201d or a coordinated effort from special-interest groups to create the impression of widespread opposition.\u00a0 This is too simplistic.\u00a0 There are certainly many, many moderates and conservatives who are upset at recent government actions, and upset about the impending health-care transformation.\u00a0 If political actions groups (the equivalent on the right of a MoveOn.org or etc) are coordinating opposition, and if blogs are sharing<\/a> specific questions that should be asked, that does not mean they are creating<\/em> the opposition.\u00a0 Was MoveOn.org \u201castroturfing\u201d when they coordinated protests to the Iraq war?\u00a0 One conservative explains<\/a>.\u00a0 And, of course, the Obama administration has its own organizations that rally \u2018grass roots\u2019 action with emails<\/a> from the President and etc.\u00a0 However, what\u2019s especially surprising is the number of neo-Nazis coming to these town halls.\u00a0 Don\u2019t believe it?\u00a0 Nancy Pelosi has the scoop<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1.\u00a0 A task force of the American Psychological Association spent a substantial amount of money and effort in order to conclude\u2013are you ready for it?\u2013that \u201cpsychological barriers\u201d such as uncertainty, mistrust and denial prevent Americans from taking action to combat climate change.\u00a0 Did they ask whether some (note that I say \u201csome\u201d) of that uncertainty […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[502,534,427,566,599,640,300,310,695,699],"class_list":["post-413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-astroturf","tag-clinton","tag-environment-2","tag-euna-lee","tag-homeownership","tag-laura-ling","tag-nancy-pelosi","tag-obama","tag-prison","tag-providence"],"yoast_head":"\nMorning Report, August 6th: Psychological Barriers, Prisoner Rape, Homecoming, Homeowning, Astroturf and Swastikas - 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