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Friday, February 01, 2002
posted by gbarto at 2:50 AM:
I have no intention of making this a religion page; at the same time, religion is a force in the culture we live in; those who would sweep it into a corner and ignore it risk more than their souls, they risk losing touch with what makes a lot of their fellow men and women tick. The post below mentions my Christianity. Christianity has hit a few rough patches of late; there are those who ridicule Christians as simple-minded souls who believe in virgin births and resurrections, even as they listen with rapt attention to their friend who just became a Wiccan and mumble Sanskrit chants they do not understand in yoga class and declare themselves cleansed. But those who think this is something new just haven't been paying attention. The word "cretin" is a mispronunciation of the French word for Christian; this word for the sort of simpleton who would actually believe in God first showed up in 1750. Forty years later, French Christians were taken a little more seriously - the self-proclaimed heirs to the Enlightenment turned their superior reason to lopping off the heads of those who believed in a higher power than the Committee for the Health of the Public. Call them the Falwells of atheism.In the world today, there are of course places where Christians are having a rough go of it; China and the Sudan come to mind. But in the United States today, those who feel genuinely downtrodden are in stiff competition with the "God-talk oppresses me" crowd for the thinnest skin in America award. What we have, rather, is a nation where politicians can't stop telling us how good they're in with God and elites in other spheres (especially academia) can't stop telling us how they are sooooooo above that religion stuff that the rubes go in for. In the middle are Christians afraid to say so lest they be thought stupid, atheists afraid to say so lest they be thought monsters and Jews, Muslims and others wondering if there's a place for them at all. There is. The social pressures involved are just that - social. This isn't about organized oppression, it's about bullies on one side declaring fellow citizens unworthy of God's love and bullies on the other declaring fellow citizens unworthy of respect as human beings. Both sides deserve contempt, not only for their brutishness but also for inconsistency. Using Christ to shout down your fellow man runs contrary to just about everything in the New Testament; getting so passionate about your atheism that you proclaim your knowledge of what physics declares itself unable to resolve runs contrary to reason. Those of us in the middle between these two groups should realize that they do not enfold this society; they are at its margins.
Above, I've mentioned Christians and atheists in broad terms. My main point, poorly made, is that both have their place in society, both can hold their own in society, and both should get out of the victimhood business and focus less on the doings of their neighbors and more on revealing what in their system of beliefs ennobles. With any luck, this will enable us to enlarge our hearts and open our minds for people facing far greater existential crises than the potential disapproval of the folks across the street.
Andrew Sullivan today has a write-up on a movie about gay Orthodox Jews trying to reconcile their faith and their desire. This is rough stuff: looking in the mirror and seeing the Other - both the bigot your gay friends denounce and the homosexual your rabbi denounces. And when you seek reassurance, the rabbi and your friends both disappear. Sullivan tells us:
You realize again the pain and despair that many young and old gay people are feeling even today, caught between a faith they believe in and a ‘holy’ life they cannot humanly lead, however hard they try.
We must not endorse those who create this pain, must not legitimize the idea that the denial of someone else's humanity is righteous. My own faith teaches that we are all fallen, but that Christ raises us up. It also teaches that only God can judge, yet some persist in trying themselves to decide who is and is not saved. We must stop trying to decide who deserves help, who deserves support, and acknowledge that every human being is a child of God and a brother or sister in humanity. We must acknowledge our own need of forgiveness so we can stop begrudging it of others, whether or differing faith or political outlook.
The gay orthodox Jews are not the only ones left alone in the world. This article tells about a young girl who died in labor in a dormitory bathroom. She was apparently afraid to tell anyone she was pregnant. Even her roommate - her best friend from high school! - hadn't been let in on why she had been gaining weight. Imagine that fear, standing alone in the world, abandoned by friend and faith or afraid to even ask their help. The gay orthodox Jews and this young girl inhabit a common space - cut off from the communities that were created to uplift and support them. It's time we welcome such people back. We need a reaffirmation of the value of every life - from the religious who look to God for purpose, from the atheists who rightly condemned the inhumanity of organized religion's worst excesses and then settled into their own comfortable dogmas. When family and friends are feared, when rabbis and priests are feared, we are doing something wrong. It's getting late and so I will leave some of my thoughts for later, but I would ask this for now: The next time you find someone suffering, do not run to your Bible to diagnose their wrong; do not run to your handbooks and newsletters to find out if they're with you or against you. We do not need more excuses not to help. We need all of us to remember our good fortune if we're in a position to help, and to seize the moment to show both the grace of God and the good of man.
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Wednesday, January 30, 2002
posted by gbarto at 12:28 PM:
Rich Lowry has an interesting piece on Bush and evil. I think he's pretty much on target about Bush's thinking. I also think there's something to what Bush is saying.A Christian myself, I get a little nervous when politicians start invoking our religion. Most of them forget too much from the bits about humility and forgiveness while seeking to prove that they have the keys to divine wisdom that their political opponents lack. This not only reeks of pride, one of the seven deadlies, but its arrogance makes it all the harder for those who would offer their faith as source of comfort and spiritual uplift to get a fair hearing. Even astrology is greeted with less nervousness than Christianity in some quarters.
Unlike the Falwells of the world, however, Bush seems to have a strong sense of humility and an understanding that if he is indeed doing the Lord's work, it is the Lord's work, not his. The humility helps him in a lot of ways, especially by keeping him from becoming too impressed with himself - he just rearranged a country on the other side of the world and yet with none of the crowing that most politicians engage in. And while I haven't counted, it seems to me that the word "I" was used sparingly, and only for things he had done, not things his staff, the government or the whole country made happen.
Less disjointed thoughts perhaps to come.
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Tuesday, January 29, 2002
posted by gbarto at 9:03 PM:
State of the Union: I haven't heard much from the talking heads, but I thought the speech went well. At a glance, the speech looks more eloquent in print. Still, sometimes a lack of eloquence makes the oratory more genuine. Certainly, the President made the words his own, and again the lack of polish makes his evident passion on certain matters clear. I particularly appreciate the President's insistence on the importance of this struggle, not just in terms of realpolitik but in terms of where we as a people are going. Andrew Sullivan is exactly on target when he tells us that Bush "gets it." This is a guy who is plugged in to the fact that he is not the star of the show, he's the President, and at a time of crisis when what really counts really counts. This makes for a lot of hard work and hard decisions that are cool to daydream about being powerful enough to make but not so cool to be responsible for making. Yet Bush carries this responsibility with reluctant acceptance. He isn't likely to tell us how hard he's been working for us because he knows we hired him to do so.It seems clear to me that for all the chatter, Junior was watching pretty carefully when his old man was coming up through the ranks. Sure, he didn't memorize the countries or their leaders - they've all changed since then anyway - but he got a clear idea of how people with power behave and how it can do them credit or get them grief. As such, he has surrounded himself not with friends who are likely to get ideas, but with pros who have to buttress his reputation to maintain theirs. This guy is a shrewd operator who knows what he believes and where he wants to go and has a pretty good idea how to get there. And, thank God, he knows that as his advisors gain by looking out for him, he does his best by looking out for us.
Watching Bush, I was struck by one major contrast between this president and the last: the ways the two approach their foibles: Clinton with denial, defensiveness and spin, Bush with humility and generosity. I like Bush's impatience with applause, his look that says, "Can we get this over with, please?" There is none of the relishing of the spotlight, just grim determination to get off the podium without a mistake so he can get back to what he does: act (act, that each to-morrow/find us farther than today-Longfellow - it's on the poetry page), and this puts him again in the spotlight.
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Monday, January 28, 2002
posted by gbarto at 10:28 PM:
Others have been rehashing the Enron scandal, mostly to remind how it pales before real scandals. Check out the links at the left for commentary.* * *
posted by gbarto at 10:26 PM:
Random thoughts: Very glad to see the return of the term Bushies. The word was a delight during the first Bush administration with its soft prep sound; it's a joy with W for the way it reminds of the contrasts between Bush I and Bush II.We will see tomorrow how the State of the Union goes, but it's nice to have a president made uncomfortable by the whole to-do rather than being overjoyed to have such an august captive audience. I expect W will do a good enough job, and that's all he needs since we really don't need a primer in what he's been doing as president. Let's just hope he keeps selling the tax cuts.
One note about Bush: I like his class. Being one of those people who gives money to political causes, I've gotten the Bush Christmas card the last two years. And both times, it's been a little painting alluding to Christmas. Alongside too many grinning politicians showing us just what a wonderful loving family they have, the Bushes have chosen to offer a pleasant evocation of the actual holiday while limiting their presence to the signature inside. Nice, and indicative of this Bush's modesty and humility.
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Sunday, January 27, 2002
posted by gbarto at 9:52 PM:
Just a reminder to check out the Hugo poetry at gbarto.com/hugo. So far, it's all selections from Les Châtiments. Incidentally, this site is for politics, art, culture and literature. All will come up sooner or later.* * *
posted by gbarto at 9:39 PM:
In order to save the BlogSpot server some room and get better control over my files, I've moved the TurkeyBlog to my own site. For the old site, visit turkeyblog.blogspot.com.* * *
French Elections, 1st round
Second round special page
Second Round Results Map
The TurkeyBlog main page contains only the 20 most recent entries.
To go further back, check the archive in the right hand bar.
