Had the price of gas stayed where it is at now over the entire Bush administration, there would have been roughly two trillion dollars shifted from oil companies elsewhere…

I’ve already let my opinion on Legislating Morality be known, so I won’t rehash it now. The time has come for Christians to shift from talk and reliance on governance to take action and really make an impact on sin.
Our hope is not with the Republican Party, nor is it with the Democrats. But we have an opportunity with Barack Obama, a professed Christian whether you believe in his views or not, and a Democrat-controlled congress.

Opportunity to Reduce Abortions

While the Pro Life movement has focused on trying to reverse Roe v. Wade and enacting laws which push the limits of the High Court’s decision, many Pro Choice people have repeatedly emphasized a desire to reduce the number of abortions. Two of those persons would be Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

But the Religious Right does not take any statement on reducing abortions seriously unless it is accompanied by effort to make abortion illegal. There is extreme mistrust whenever a pro choice person says they don’t like abortion but believe it should be a woman’s right to choose.

It is time to call them on it. But doing so requires setting aside the primary focus of the Pro Life movement to repeal Roe v. Wade and replacing it with assisting women in unwanted, unplanned pregnancies. I personally believe President-elect Obama and Mrs. Clinton when they say they do not like abortion but believe it should not be made illegal. If they are lying to try to lessen the impact of their pro choice position, we will find out if we try to team up with those who are pro choice and try to help women deal with their unwanted pregnancies in other ways.

One of the more liberal shows on network television, Boston Legal, recently had an episode nearly entirely about abortion. The power of the episode was in the lack of propaganda. It told a story which brilliantly displayed the complexity of the issue. A young teenage girl sought a court order to allow her to get an abortion. One of the liberal attorneys, Shirley Schmidt, did not want to represent her because she had an abortion when she was young.

When Shirley spoke of how it haunted her and stayed with her forever, you could not help but to feel her pain. Shirley is pro choice, but she did not want to interfere with the mother’s desire to refuse an abortion, because she believed there was no way a teen could fully understand the ramifications of having an abortion. And she strongly suggested that although she thought abortion should be legal, no woman, under normal circumstances, should choose to have an abortion for the horror will stay with her for her entire life.

There are many, MANY pro choice people (if not even a majority) who would work side by side with pro life Christians to help pregnant women who may desire to choose an abortion.

Will it be easy? NO! Of course the pro lifers will want to keep abortion completely off of the table and the pro choice persons would not. There would have to be compromise in both camps for a partnership to work. The issues are numerous, but the benefits are tremendous: fewer abortions.

Maybe even fewer pregnancies.

At some point, focusing on overturning a court decision for 35 years rather than engaging the issue at ground zero brings responsibility for abortions on those who are so opposed.

I really believe that. If the pro life movement had even split the efforts evenly between the legal solution and building a support network for women, the number of abortions which have taken place over the last few decades would be dramatically less in number.

When a group in Colorado Springs consulted a film production company for continuing their advertising and expanding into tv ads, they were convinced to steer from the “abortion is murder” mantra and move towards helping women. What happened? The number of abortions went down. I forget the exact numbers my friend told me, but my understanding is the number of abortions were more than cut in half.

Not just abortions

The opportunity with Obama goes far beyond the issue of abortion. He claims (and I, again, believe him) he wants to work with the 47% who did not vote for him. If evangelicals take the high road and team up on other issues, Christians will have the chance to shape the policy and programs enacted by the Obama administration.

That doesn’t mean they will look like conservative Republican plans, but the finger of Christ can be involved in deep ways as Christians humble themselves and shift from fighting for a legal system which exacts their morality to exemplifying the care for the oppressed, the fight against injustice, and the love for all people modeled by Jesus Christ.

This post is already longer than I planned. The opportunities are vast for the Church to shift from political agenda to getting their hands and feet dirty with the downtrodden, the castaways, the broken. The current political and cultural climate has yielded us a chance to get back to being Christ to the world. Will we take it?

Prices dropped throughout October, and… I predicted it. I proclaimed often this spring to all of my friends that gas prices would drop incredibly before the election. The oil companies know who is good for them, and since Republicans are linked to big oil, lower prices mean less angst about oil connections.

Does it make a difference? Probably not in this election. But in a close election, 1 out of 100 persons could be all the difference in the world.

Gas prices have dropped more than twice as much in the fall of an election year under Bush as they normally do.

Here’s another prediction: Gas will be at least a dollar higher than current pump prices by Dec. 15.

It appears that Van Nuys Superior Court Commissioner Martin Wegman thinks I deserve the chance to be innocent…

I posted earlier about the possibility that I could not afford to be “not guilty.” It was going to cost me $381 to have my day in court. Evidently, the L.A. Superior Court thinks it is okay to coerce you into pleading guilty by offering you six months to pay a reduced fine (almost always reduced when you go before a commissioner), but if you want to plead not guilty you have to pay the full amount of the fine within seven days and then you get it back if you win your case.

Innocent until proven guilty? Hmmm…

But when I went back to court, seriously considering pleading guilty because I felt I could not afford to tie up almost four hundred dollars until my trial (and then who knows how long it takes them to send me a check…), I asked to be allowed to come to the trial based on my own recognizance (they call the fine amount “bail” to justify taking the full amount before you even get to trial).

Commissioner Wegman said because I showed up to court the first time and the second time I was given a new date without problem, he didn’t feel I was a risk to not show up and granted my request for O.R.

I just did a web search for Martin Wegman, and he seems like a decent guy. Here’s Martin Wegman’s personality profile.

I went near the end, so I heard him deal with quite a few people. He kept the mood of the court light but still professional, and he was very fair. The only requests he denied were from people who had continually failed to appear for court dates or who had done some other stupid things which negated his normally generous demeanor.

I’m sure it’s a tough job being a superior court commissioner, and I’m glad Martin Wegman is on the job in Van Nuys. Still have issues with the system, but at least I know there’s a possibility of justice even if you don’t have the money.

This may seem like an awful post on Christmas Eve, but as I read this post from Boing Boing (which they picked up on from Danny who picked up on it from The Straight Dope), I can’t help but to think about those who are experiencing this for their Christmas. Of course, many of those don’t give a rip about Christmas, but as I’m anxiously awaiting my first Christmas celebration with my girlfriend’s family, our government thinks this treatment of human beings is perfectly okay.

What waterboarding feels like:

The water fills the hole in the saran wrap so that there is either water or vaccum in your mouth. The water pours into your sinuses and throat. You struggle to expel water periodically by building enough pressure in your lungs. With the saran wrap though each time I expelled water, I was able to draw in less air. Finally the lungs can no longer expel water and you begin to draw it up into your respiratory tract.

It seems that there is a point that is hardwired in us. When we draw water into our respiratory tract to this point we are no longer in control. All hell breaks loose. Instinct tells us we are dying.

I have never been more panicked in my whole life. Once your lungs are empty and collapsed and they start to draw fluid it is simply all over. You [b]know[b] you are dead and it’s too late. Involuntary and total panic…

So, is it torture?

I’ll put it this way. If I had the choice of being waterboarded by a third party or having my fingers smashed one at a time by a sledgehammer, I’d take the fingers, no question.

It’s horrible, terrible, inhuman torture. I can hardly imagine worse. I’d prefer permanent damage and disability to experiencing it again. I’d give up anything, say anything, do anything.

Link

(Thanks, Danny!)

(Via Boing Boing.)

These are all issues we must be concerned about.

Do you feel a “but” coming?

But…

There’s a danger in big ideas. The danger is we transfer one cause for another. This is especially dangerous in the emerging church. Many of us have come out of church situations where we the primary focus has been the exaltation of ideas. For many, the danger to switch one big idea for another is too much to overcome.

I see that working in a lot of emerging churches today, at least how they are described by those running them (let’s be honest, very FEW of us have actually experienced most of the emerging churches we are familiar with, it all comes from personal conversation or what we read on the internet or emerging literature). The big ideas of theological reconstruction, focusing on the poor and the oppressed, care for the world we live in–these things can become just big ideas.

In a nation where free speech is touted as one of our greatest freedoms, we have become inclined as individuals to think we are actually doing something when we exercise that freedom. When we associate with others who are talking about the environment, talking about poverty, talking about corruption in politics, talking about (insert big idea here), we feel as though we are doing something. Simply by identifying with the big ideas which often are extremely important, we find an identity which justifies, to the big ideas’ detriment, just being passionate about something without actually doing something related to the big idea.

Even as I write this, I think, well, I recycle! I also drive a Z3 which doesn’t get quite the gas mileage I thought it would…

I do look the homeless persons in the eye when talking to them or passing them on the street, whether I give or not, but I don’t do near what I am able. I could truly help, but I don’t. Somehow, being amongst people who care about the poor makes it easier for me to shirk my responsibility to actually help them.

I don’t want to discredit the ministries which are talking about the big ideas, that is not my intent at all. Being aware, however, of the danger big ideas present, is necessary to overcome the very real possibility (or even probability) that our churches are more about talking up the big ideas than dedicating resources towards them.

And to beat a dead horse for long-time readers of this blog… as long as our primary focus for church life is a meeting with a half-hour or more sermon, big ideas will always be our focus rather than actually doing something about them.

She brings up a reasonable observation that it seems both pastors and politicians have an aversion to admitting they’ve changed their minds about something. I, for one, am not so worried about what Huckabee preached, as I am concerned with his political views. Having been a pastor myself, I wouldn’t want my sermons to be a factor on which acting gig I get or which website I develop. He has entered a different career.

Decisions about Huckabee should mostly be based on his political views and not his religious beliefs. Certainly, we cannot compartmentalize to the point where we do not consider something as important as religious faith, but it would be very easy to pull the focus on what matters most for politicians… how they vote and what they plan to vote for or against.

I hope no copies of Huckabee’s sermons come to the surface. I don’t want them to be torn apart, taken out of context, and abused by the media and his opponents. As far as whether he still believes them or not, I don’t really care a whole lot. I’m not voting for him, any way, and if I were, I’d be concerned with other things first.

I’ve listed to old sermons I’ve preached… let’s just say time changes a man.

I found this video via the One for Truth blog.

Jesus Creed does Politics — Democrats:

“At the inspiration of Eugene Cho, I’m trying something perhaps risky. We’ve addressed other controversial topics on this blog in a civil manner and now I’m trying something new: the elections. So, today, I’m asking those who are voting Democrat to announce who they are voting for and provide the positive reasons why they are making their choice”

(Via Jesus Creed.)

How we spend our thought life affects what we are passionate about. There’s no way around it. I know that when I spend little time thinking about the Kingdom of God, Scripture, the Church, that I spend little time acting on anything to do with the Kingdom of God, Scripture, or the Church.

Michael Spencer asks this:

How many conservative Christians are listening to multiple hours of Rush Limbaugh every week? I wonder how many include a couple of hours of Fox News Channel’s conservatives, Hannity and O’Reilly, on that menu. I wonder how many regularly listen to Marlin Maddux’s “Point of View” program, or Pat Robertson’s “700 Club.” How many surf Newsmax.com, Conservative News Network or WorldNet Daily.com, the tabloids of conservative web journalism? If we were to take the total hours devoted to these–and many, many other–conservative information and opinion outlets, how would it compare to the amount of time spent under the teaching of scripture? How would it compare to time spent in acquiring a Biblical vision of God? Does the total amount of time spent by that same random evangelical in “the renewing of the mind” with the Word of God come even close to the amount of time spent seeing the world through the eyes of conservative pundits and journalists?

And he notes this about his own life:

I’ll step to the front of the line and say that I have spent hours a day with these folks when I could, and in the same week spent minutes in personal devotion times. And it showed up in what I thought was important in that week. It showed up in what stirred my mind and emotions. It showed up on the thermostat of optimism that controls my energies in ministry. It showed up in my classroom demeanor, preaching, evangelism and worship. And the result was not a good one.

Those were the weeks I looked at my students and saw troubled youth listening to rap instead of young people God brought from the ends of the earth to sit under my ministry. Those were the weeks I was disgusted at what was on television instead of being thrilled at what was in Psalms. Those were the weeks I thought about the war in Iraq and not missionaries in the 10/40 window. Those were the weeks that I was mad over whatever hacked off Bill or Rush or Sean and not all that excited about the Holy Spirit showed me in the greatest news broadcast of all time. I was upset at how the government was spending my money, and not troubled at all at how I was using God’s money in my checkbook.

Read the entire article, I’m Not a Conservative Christian.

Just FYI, I’m not a Democrat.

1. Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton
2. Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush’s Daddy made war on him , a good guy when Cheney did business with him, and a bad guy when Bush needed a ‘we can’t find Bin Laden’ diversion!
3. Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is Communist, but trade with China and Viet Nam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.
4. The United States should get out of the United Nations, and our highest national priority is enforcing U.N. resolutions against Iraq.
5. A woman can’t be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multinational drug corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind without regulation.
6. The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches, while slashing veterans’ benefits and combat pay.
7. If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won’t have sex.
8. A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our longtime allies, then demand their cooperation and money.
9. Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy, but providing health care to all Americans is socialism. HMO’s and insurance companies have the best interests of the public at heart.
10. Global warming and tobacco’s link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.
11. A president lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offense, but a president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is solid defense policy.
12. Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet
13. The public has a right to know about Hillary’s cattle trades, but George Bush’s driving record is none of our business.
14. Being a drug addict is a moral fail ing and a crime, unless you’re a conservative radio host. Then it’s an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery.
15. Supporting ‘Executive Privilege’ for every Republican ever born, who will be born or who might be born (in perpetuity.)
16. What Bill Clinton did in the 1960’s is of vital national interest, but what Bush did in the ’80’s is irrelevant.
17. Support for hunters who shoot their friends and blame them for wearing orange vests similar to those worn by the quail.

I really thought this had to be satire. Then I read the article. And started reading the comments.

The dumbest crap I’ve ever read from a conservative

Yes. Those evil people who ask questions about whether followers of the Prince of Peace should be blindly supporting war… those people are liked and appreciated by Al Qaeda.

The worst part of the article, however, is that it’s not even our anti-war (or at least questioning of the war) stance which is the reason Al Qaeda “supports the emergent church.” No, it’s because we threaten the institutional church and the framework it provides the U.S., and thus the entire Western world… nay, the entire world since it’s clear Western ideals should dominate every one!

I’m restraining my comments now, because nothing more than judgment and condemnation can flow from my fingertips… desperately wanting these types of people to reap what they’ve been sowing for decades.

(Via Beliefnet Religion & Spirituality News.)

Stoned. Really.

The males go free.

Does Sudan have oil? We might be able to sway our government to go in and up end their government if they do.

The highlight of the day, though, has nothing to do with shoddy equipment and everything to do with a crazy voter who attacked a Diebold-brand machine in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Forty-three-year-old Robert Young, a registered independent, apparently believed that the e-voting machines had been deployed in a wild conspiracy by Republicans, and decided to make a statement by smashing the $5,000 device with a metal cat paperweight. A remorseful Young was quickly arrested by local police, and although the votes on the destroyed machine can still be saved, the feline paperweight did not fare nearly as well: officials have said that it will likely be impounded before being forcibly euthanized.

(Via Engadget.)

Does this surprise anyone, really?

Well, I guess the voter smashing the machine surprises me a little, but the problems with the Diebold machines across the country does not surprise me at all.

It seems much of the problem is human error this time, which is an improvement, I guess. How can we run such an important election in this country, however, without properly training election officials and having the actual people running the election know for sure how to well… run the election?

Sure, it would cost a lot to do the training. Not as much as it costs for us to wage a way to give another nation democracy, though, I’m sure of that.

I just hope when it’s all said and done that this time, unlike the last election, the irregularities will be fairly even instead of lopsided to one candidate or party.

Larry Gelbart’s List of Things to Remember on Election Day

Iraq
Abu Ghraib
Guantanamo
Unwarranted Phone Taps
Unprecedented Powers
Unmatched Incompetence
Unparalleled Corruption
Governor Bob Taft
Representative Tom Delay
Representative Roy Blunt
Representative Ken Calvert
Representative John Dolittle
Representative Tom Feeney
Representative Katherine Harris
Representative Jerry Lewis
Representative Gary Miller
Representative Marilyn Musgrave
Representative Richard PomboRepresentative Rick Renzi
Representative John Sweeney
Representative Charles Taylor
Representative Curt Weldon
Representative J.D. Hayworth
Representative Don Sherwood
Representative Bob Ney
Representative Duke Cunningham
Representative Tom Reynolds
Representative Chris Cannon
Jeff Gannon
Representative Mark Foley
Representative Dennis Hastert
Senator George Allen
Senator Bill Frist
Senator Conrad Burns
Senator Rick Santorum
David Safavian
The Vice Presidential Energy Task Force
Three bucks a gallon
Record oil company profits
Anwar Pipeline
Anbar Province
Adelphia
Merck
Halliburton
Arthur Anderson
Qwest
Tyco
WorldCom
Global Crossing
Global Warming
Global Boiling
Exxon
Enron
Abramoff
Adam Kidan
Timothy Flanigan
Ralph Reed
Rita
Katrina
Fema
Terri
Condi
Harriet Miers
The Supreme Court
Diebold
John Bolton
Florida, 2000
Ohio, 2004
North Korea
Iran
Darfur
Stem Cell Research
Scooter Libby
Valerie Plame
Golden Parachutes
Shrunken Pensions
Bernie Kerik
Eminent Domain
Social Security
Habeas Corpus
Ahmad Chalabi
The Baghdad Museum
Tora Bora
Taliban Resurgence
Iraqi Insurgents
General Eric Shinseki
General Anthony Zinni
Mission Accomplished
Illegal Immigration
Intelligent Design
Kenneth Tomlinson
Claude Allen
Swift Boat Hit Squads
Ari Fleischer
Scott McClellan
Tony Snow
Ann Coulter
Expiration of Assault Weapons Ban
John Ashcroft
Alberto Gonzales
George Tenet
Paul Bremer
Paul Wolfowitz
Richard Perle
Kissinger Redux
Duck Cheney
Donald Henry Rumsfeld

The Path to Mickey is a youtube parody of the Disney movie ‘The Path to 9/11,’ a propaganda film that blames the 9/11 attacks on Bill Clinton. In The Path to Mickey, Mickey Mouse is shown to be the motive force behind Stalinist purges, the Holocaust, and the assassination of JFK.

Link

(Thanks, Siva!)

“

(Via Boing Boing.)

A friend of mine sent out info on the Path to 9/11, and I was extremely disappointed to find out it was a conservative propaganda piece that conveniently forgets that Clinton nearly begged for legal wiretaps to pursue terrorists. Maybe that’s why Bush took the illegal route?