On Conservatives and Liberals

Our professor of Theology here at LTS gave a great theological discussion on both candidate's platforms. He states that Obama is a social gospel theology of help the poor, orphan and widow. McCain is a mix of Purtian and Augustine theology meaning the U.S. is the New Jerusalem and every human needs to live for a higher power. He was very fair, balanced, and one could not tell who he was voting for.

I immediately pegged McCain's theology as false because Augustine of course meant God and Catholic Church as the higher power, but there is where McCain's idolatry enters into the pic. Cody on McCain's Nationalism as Idolatry

It's gotten to the point that when i see a McCain/Palin signs i immediately judge them as "not smart" and dellusional. this not helpful as it counters my idea of inclusion, "we-need-everyone" egalitarianism. Why am i thinking like this?

This video helps, watch and learn! Yay for social science! Thanks to Joel and Angela for the find!



I can't wait until this election is over! I like politics and I'm with Obama 100% but I don't like the division that it creates. Thank God BUSH is out of office now let's all work together and start cleaning this place up! A better American now makes a great America tomorrow!

I'm all about the change within parameters. We'll need our conservative brothers and sisters along to help bring those other three channels into play (just as they'll need us liberals to keep from stagnation). So now when I hear someone is voting for McCain, I'm not at a murderous rage, just mildly annoyed. And that's fine, i own that. It's the first step to trying to be in communion with my fellow republican or libertarian or martian sectarian.

Kate brought to my attention this article in the Washington Post about how 33 Pastors endorsing a candidate FROM THE PULPIT! I think this is awful. As UCC's Rev. Eric Williams put it "The role of the church -- of congregation, synagogue, temple and mosque -- and of its religious leaders is to stand apart from government, to prophetically speak truth to power, and to encourage a national dialogue that transcends the divisiveness of electoral politics and preserves for every citizen our 'first liberty.' "

Where do you stand on this issue? Should churches endorse candidates corporately?

Is McCain Another Bush?

Thanks to the wife for the find and for the rallying cry of "Can I get a President that is smarter than me?!"

Read the FULL ARTICLE here, but for those of you who won't click it, here's a highlight:

John McCain graduated 894th in a class of 899 at the Naval Academy at Annapolis. His father and grandfather were four star admirals in the Navy. Some have suggested that might have played a role in McCain being admitted. His academic record was awful. And it shows over and over again whenever McCain is called upon to think on his feet.

After listening to Obama twice live, once at the engineering school here in Lancaster and once at the train station for the whistle stop, he's my man. It's not even a comparasion! Barack thinks on his feet and doesn't use teleprompters because he's speaking what he believes, not some ideological crap written by Karl Rove. America deserves better and the fact that McCain is even close to Obama in the polls is disturbing.

People say they're not voting for Obama because he's too popular or isn't ready to lead. The same thing was said of Lincoln and Kennedy by their older opponents. Age-ism works both ways. Older doesn't mean better as this NY Times article proves the sad state of McCain's leadership. Obama is not the Messiah, but he may cast out some demons in November.

The Real Obama

There are many things people do not know about BARACK OBAMA. It is every American's duty to read this message and pass it along to all of their friends and loved ones.

Barack Obama wears a FLAG PIN at all times. Even in the shower.

Barack Obama says the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE every time he sees an American flag. He also ends every sentence by saying, "WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL." Click here for video of Obama quietly mouthing the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE in his sleep.

A tape exists of Michelle Obama saying the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE at a conference on PATRIOTISM.

Every weekend, Barack and Michelle take their daughters HUNTING.

Barack Obama is a PATRIOTIC AMERICAN. He has one HAND over his HEART at all times. He occasionally switches when one arm gets tired, which is almost never because he is STRONG.

Barack Obama has the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE tattooed on his stomach. It's upside-down, so he can read it while doing sit-ups.

There's only one artist on Barack Obama's iPod: FRANCIS SCOTT KEY.

Barack Obama is a DEVOUT CHRISTIAN. His favorite book is the BIBLE, which he has memorized. His name means HE WHO LOVES JESUS in the ancient language of Aramaic. He is PROUD that Jesus was an American.

Barack Obama goes to church every morning. He goes to church every afternoon. He goes to church every evening. He is IN CHURCH RIGHT NOW.

Barack Obama's new airplane includes a conference room, a kitchen, and a MEGACHURCH.

Barack Obama's skin is the color of AMERICAN SOIL.

Barack Obama buys AMERICAN STUFF. He owns a FORD, a BASEBALL TEAM, and a COMPUTER HE BUILT HIMSELF FROM AMERICAN PARTS. He travels mostly by FORKLIFT.

Barack Obama says that Americans cling to GUNS and RELIGION because they are AWESOME.

HAPPY JULY 4th!

(props to the wife for the awesome find)

Invoking the Ghost Of Violence

I was introduced to Keith Olbermann from my BSG Seminary Collegue this past winter. I've followed his "special comments" often online as it reminds me of my journalism hero Edward R. Murrow (Good Night and Good Luck one of my fav. movies!). This I like Olbermann and Murrow as they expose politicians for what they say BETWEEN the lines. This is one of the reasons i'm voting Obama. Clinton's tactics are old. Her campaign based on the assumption that she had it all in the bag because of her priviledged last name.

Times change. Our policies haven't. We need to vote accordingly.

Invoking violence is the last straw. Hillary Clinton has lots of baggage; many Americans despise her. The Republicans can’t wait to run against her. Many of the voters that have been inspired by Barack Obama will feel disenfranchised once again. Most voters will once again see things as a choice between the lesser of two evils. Many will not vote. Plus the one candidate who CAN solve this problem is Zaphoid Beeblebrox, and he's not on the ticket!

Obama has brought independents and Republicans, young and old, rich and poor, educated and not, black and white together to work for change. People who have never voted before are voting this time. He can and will beat John McCain (who is running for Bush's third term, same means + war = same ends of recession and dead americans in foreign lands) in November. Hillary will not.

To me it is a clear choice. Barack Obama is the Man we need as our next President. This is the last post i'll do on this issue of choosing between Obama and Hillary. I'm onto to the next level, i just wish Hillary was.

Waterboard your Friends for Fun and Profit!

this past two weeks have been busy-busy! first my buddy Brian and I plant a garden.. of course we did it all manly and junk with beers, cigars, and punk rawk music! then someone steals my flower pot... so i contemplate on the meaning of life and find meaning it impermeance... then i go to a Washington Capitals game with my buddy Jim and watch them lose to the Flyers... ugh.

so then i return and take Sonny out for a walk and LOW AND BEHOLD!!!! THE FLOWER POT HAS RETURNED! Well this prompts me to spiral into a existential crisis. what does this mean? i prayed and found meaning in the loss and now it's back! does this mean i start preaching a Joel Osteen "pray and get rich" style prosperity gospel? now my suspicions are up and i figure it's an inside job... so i decide to politely question 5 of my closest friends using a technique that the president says isn't torture. You can really have fun with waterboarding!

the problem with this is that all 5 friends confessed to taking the flower pot. it's a small pot, so that doesn't make any sense... and those friends have ceased returning my phone calls...umm... wonder why.

maybe i have a quantum flower pot that blinks in and out of existence. sweet! the moral of all this silliness is that never live close to a friend whose wife likes to "borrow" things when she's a little tipsy. ;-)

i've completed my new testament paper on John 14 (the way, truth and life passage) and found some cool conclusions. I'm finishing my Jewish Scriptures paper on Jonah and will report back on that.. should be fun! Yesterday, Kate, Jim and his theive'n wife (;-)) and I went and saw Barack Obama make a stop at the Lancaster train station on his whistle stop tour. I really hope he gets the nomination. I like his policies and his positive and inspiring speeches. we need change from the same ol' same ol' and i believe he's the candidate to do it.

The LTS Silent Auction is going on this week as well! If you're in the area, please head to the second floor of Mayer Commons and check it out! Thanks to Brian for helping me set it up! RAWK!



This weekend Kate and I are gonna see my family at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington to see the Rolex 3 Day Eventing. I LOVE eventing. Same horse has to compete in Dressage (control and precision), Cross Country (endurance and courage) and High Jump (athleticism). It's really quite something to watch. I'm really excited for it.

What are you all up to? What other lessons can i get from the flower pot? how about these flower pots? hope all is well with you dear reader! Blessings!

Wright or Wrong?

In 1961, a young African-American man, after hearing President John F. Kennedy's challenge to, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country," gave up his student deferment, left college in Virginia and voluntarily joined the Marines.

In 1963, this man, having completed his two years of service in the Marines, volunteered again to become a Navy corpsman. (They provide medical assistance to the Marines as well as to Navy personnel.)

The man did so well in corpsman school that he was the valedictorian and became a cardiopulmonary technician. Not surprisingly, he was assigned to the Navy's premier medical facility, Bethesda Naval Hospital, as a member of the commander in chief's medical team, and helped care for President Lyndon B. Johnson after his 1966 surgery. For his service on the team, which he left in 1967, the White House awarded him three letters of commendation. What is even more remarkable is that this man entered the Marines and Navy not many years after the two branches began to become integrated.

While this young man was serving six years on active duty, Vice President Dick Cheney, who was born the same year as the Marine/ sailor, received five deferments, four for being an undergraduate and graduate student and one for being a prospective father.

Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, both five years younger than the African-American youth, used their student deferments to stay in college until 1968. Both then avoided going on active duty through family connections.

Who is the real patriot? The young man who interrupted his studies to serve his country for six years or our three political leaders who beat the system? Are the patriots the people who actually sacrifice something or those who merely talk about their love of the country?

After leaving the service of his country, the young African-American finished his final year of college, entered the seminary, was ordained as a minister, and eventually became pastor of a large church in one of America's biggest cities.

This man is Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the retiring pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ.

thanks to Cathi for the find!

Who did I see this past Monday?

you betcha!

Importance of Context

Postcolonialism is one of those university words... it deals with cultural identity in colonised societies: the dilemmas of developing a national identity after colonial rule; the ways in which writers articulate and celebrate that identity (often reclaiming it from and maintaining strong connections with the coloniser); the ways in which the knowledge of the colonised (subordinated) people has been generated and used to serve the coloniser's interests; and the ways in which the coloniser's literature has justified colonialism via images of the colonised as a perpetually inferior people, society and culture.

I am a postcolonialist. The short of this translates to: i'm trying to renounce my white priviledge. "Hi i'm luke! what's your favorite color?! i see your skin is different than mine, do you identify primarily through this medium or do you prefer i deal with you on an individual level?" There are no inferior people, just people in different contexts. The point is to dialog about those context and see the similarities! imagine what we could learn! imagine the different ways of viewing the world that we could learn and in turn use these to help solve problems in our own contexts! awesome huh?

the opposite of this view is colonialist. no one will identify as this, but i see a TON of this popping up recently. a colonialists believes that their country is the greatest and all other countries must measure up to their standard. for example, US colonialism would hold that white, male, middle to upper-class capitalist that is religiously nondenominational Prostestant is the standard to be measured by.

the biggest instance in current events is the whole blow up on the Barack Obama's pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright's 2001 comments where he stated "God damn America!" people are jumping up and down about this.. people are asking me what my thoughts are.. here they are:

someone claimed that Obama is “as a man and member of the Elite social-economic class Senator Obama has no sense of what working class men or women suffer, survive, and live through daily”

he’s not. please read his background. he's actually quite poor compared to every other politician out there...

as for the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.. please listen to his whole speech in context and read what Black Liberation Theology means. it mainly means that it is Afro-centric but not Afro-supremists. Why don't we have White Liberation Theology? Because we don't need it in this country! The majority of theology in America is white. What would we be liberated from? Keep that in mind while you view the whole speech! enjoy!



Do you see the postcolonialist message in here?

This whole mess is started because a man, Obama, was raised by a white mother and self-identifed as a black man and went to a progressive black church. this is what it is. what we’re dealing with is race issues on both sides and white priviledge is being confronted. white people don't like having to remember the fact that they were generally shitty to people of color despite the fact they had "All Men are Created EQUAL" in the bill of rights since the late 1700s and still haven't lived up to it yet (although there have been some improvements).

now that you have the context... what do you think?

Politics of Conscience

Fellow UCC Member Senator Barack Obama spoke at the UCC Synod on June 23, 2007. He really hit the nail on the head with what I've been try'n to say about my faith and the current political situation. Here's some Highlights:

"So doing the Lord's work is a thread that's run through our politics since the very beginning. And it puts the lie to the notion that the separation of church and state in America means faith should have no role in public life. Imagine Lincoln's Second Inaugural without its reference to "the judgments of the Lord." Or King's "I Have a Dream" speech without its reference to "all of God's children." Or President Kennedy's Inaugural without the words, "here on Earth, God's work must truly be our own." At each of these junctures, by summoning a higher truth and embracing a universal faith, our leaders inspired ordinary people to achieve extraordinary things.

But somehow, somewhere along the way, faith stopped being used to bring us together and started being used to drive us apart. It got hijacked. Part of it's because of the so-called leaders of the Christian Right, who've been all too eager to exploit what divides us. At every opportunity, they've told evangelical Christians that Democrats disrespect their values and dislike their Church, while suggesting to the rest of the country that religious Americans care only about issues like abortion and gay marriage; school prayer and intelligent design. There was even a time when the Christian Coalition determined that its number one legislative priority was tax cuts for the rich. I don't know what Bible they're reading, but it doesn't jibe with my version.

But I'm hopeful because I think there's an awakening taking place in America. People are coming together around a simple truth – that we are all connected, that I am my brother's keeper; I am my sister's keeper. And that it's not enough to just believe this – we have to do our part to make it a reality. My faith teaches me that I can sit in church and pray all I want, but I won't be fulfilling God's will unless I go out and do the Lord's work."

Obama just became my candidate! Universal Healthcare, taking care of the poor, and educating our children are the top issues i care about. We need to think of the young and the old and make sure the beginning and end of life aren't traumatic and stressful. I really don't care about abortion, death penalty, or gun control as they will not directly affect me (not saying i don't have views on them!). The top issues and plans to enact on them are very important and i'm happy obama laid these out.

To check out the full artile, click HERE. It's worth the read.

RULE OF THREE
Book: A Walk In the Woods
Music: Plain White Tee's
Movie: 007: Casino Royale