Friday Photo

Hope everyone had a nice Christmas. Here is a shot I took of a house where they had put green lights on the ground, which created a neat effect once a few inches of snow barely covered the lights.

Second Chances

After Barack Obama said he thought it was good that the Philadelphia Eagles gave Michael Vick a second chance, it seemed quite likely that it would not take long for some conservative to take the exact opposite position just to disagree with Obama. However, I just did not expect someone to go so wildly in the opposite direction. Conservative pundit Tucker Carlson invoked his Christian faith and argued that Vick should have received capital punishment for his dog crimes. Carlson declared:

I'm a Christian. I've made mistakes myself. I believe fervently in second chances. ... But Michael Vick killed dogs and he did it in a heartless and cruel way. I think personally he should have been executed for that. He wasn't.

Now, I am a dog lover but Carlson has clearly jumped the shark with this one. It is necessary to keep things in perspective. His comments are even worse when he puts them in the context of his faith, which should result in him offering more grace, not less. Had Obama advocated the death penalty for Vick, Carlson probably would have attacked Obama for being heartless and claimed Vick did nothing wrong. But instead, Carlson seems perfectly willing to sell out his faith just to attack his political opponent. Too bad anyone gave Carlson a second chance after Jon Stewart rightfully killed Carlson's 'Crossfire' job.

UPDATE [1/5/2011]: Carlson now says he does not think Vick should actually be executed. Guess Carlson needs another second chance.

Some Baptists Echo "Lie of the Year"

Ethics Daily ran my latest article today, which is entitled "Some Baptists Echo 'Lie of the Year.'" It covers what the independent fact-checking organization Politifact.com called the political lie of the year--the claim that the new health care law amounts to "government-run health care." Richard Land, the Baptist Press, and other Southern Baptists quickly joined Republicans in echoing this claim.

Friday Photo

Here is a shot I took recently of Paprike checking out his first snowfall. He seems to really enjoy snow. We also shot a couple of videos of him chasing snow flakes (here) and running wild in the snow (here). It is nice to have a white Christmas. Merry Christmas to all!

Colbert and Jesus

Congress has finally wrapped up its most productive couple of weeks in years and is off for Christmas break. As the rest of us also prepare to celebrate Christmas, I thought it was worth considering the wisdom of Stephen Colbert. Last week, Colbert spent time considering Jesus and the legislative priorities of our leaders and pundits. As usual when he deals with religious topics, Colbert is both funny and profound.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Jesus Is a Liberal Democrat
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog March to Keep Fear Alive

Prayer Caucus?

Earlier this month, over 40 members of Congress signed a letter scolding President Barack Obama for not invoking God enough in speeches. The members, writing under the auspices of the Congressional Prayer Caucus, were upset that Obama recently referred to our national motto as "E pluribus unum." In 1956, Congress adopted "In God We Trust" as the official motto of the nation. The phrase Obama used is still on the national seal and was often considered a national motto from congressional adoption in 1782 until Congress's action in 1956 (and is still considered one of our nation's mottos). The congressional members also criticized Obama for not mentioning God more in other speeches about our rights we have as Americans. The letter urges Obama to issue a correction and ends with a quotation from Ronald Reagan about the need to keep following God as a nation. Joining Caucus leader Randy Forbes in signing the letter were Todd Akin, Michele Bachmann, Louie Gohmert, Steve King, Randy Neugebauer, Mike Pence, and Joe Wilson. Interestingly, the letter claims to be from members of the 68-member bipartisan Caucus, but only 42 signed it and only one Democrat did (there are other Democrats that are part of the Caucus so perhaps most of them wanted to keep praying instead of attack Obama). This demand that Obama talk about God more is quite troubling and a sad sign of the age of confessional politics in which we live.

However, there is another big problem since the Caucus seems to be attacking Obama for doing what other recent presidents have done--including Reagan, who was quoted as a role model in the letter. Journalist Frank Lockwood noted that both Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush referred to "E pluribus unum" as our nation's motto. Although the Caucus was not around during Reagaon's presidency, it did exist during Bush's but apparently was silent about his God talk. Thus, Lockwood asks, "is the prayer caucus a Republican attack machine denouncing President Obama for political purposes?" Either way, it seems that Forbes and his Congressional Prayer Caucus need to spend more time praying and less time engaging in partisan politics.

Friday Photo

Here is a shot Jen took of me standing in front of a church in Savannah where John Wesley was the minister. We spent Thanksgiving day in Savannah, which is a beautiful city with lots of history.

Gracious submission

My latest academic article is now out in the Journal of Gender Studies. The study is entitled "Gracious submission: The Southern Baptist Convention's press portrayals of women." You can read the abstract here (and read the whole article if you have journal access or purchase the article).

Senate Christmas Wars

With Republicans in the U.S. Senate filibustering all legislation until the tax bill compromise was worked out, little has been done yet in this "lame duck" session. Thus, Senate Majority Harry Reid is now threatening to keep them in session longer and even bring the Senators back quickly after Christmas instead of a traditional longer break. Republican Jon Kyl responded by suggesting that Reid hates Christmas:

It is impossible to do all of the things that the majority leader laid out without doing — frankly, without disrespecting the institution and without disrespecting one of the two holiest of holidays for Christians and the families of all of the Senate, not just the senators themselves but all of the staff.

Playing a similar note, Republican Jim DeMint invoked Christmas to justify his opposition to START, the proposed treaty designed to decrease the number of nuclear weapons in the world. DeMint argued:

You can't jam a major arms control treaty right before Christmas. ... What's going on here is just wrong. This is the most sacred holiday for Christians.

With Reid being Mormon, the insinuations of Kyl and DeMint come awfully close to playing on the religious divide between Mormons and many Christians--even though Christmas is very important to Mormons. DeMint's comment is also odd because I thought Easter was the most sacred holiday for Christians, with Christmas being second. Reid quickly fired back in religious terms:

As a Christian, no one has to remind me of the importance of Christmas for all of the Christian faith, for all their families, all across America. ... I don't need to hear the sanctimonious lectures of Sen. Kyl and [Sen. Jim] DeMint to remind me of what Christmas means. Where were their concerns about Christmas [when they were posing] filibuster after filibuster of every piece of legislation during this entire Congress?

Reid's response falls into the trap of confessional politics by trying to prove that he, too, is a Christian who loves the baby Jesus. Using Christmas to gain political points seems to run quite counter to the whole reason for the season. All that fighting (especially to keep an obscene number of nuclear weapons) seems to run quite counter to the Christmas message of peace on earth and goodwill to all. The Two Futures Project, an evangelical Christian group working toward the abolition of nuclear weapons, gathered statements from several Christian leaders urging politicians not to use Christmas to gain a political advantage regarding START. Those speaking out include Michael Kinnamon of the National Council of Churches, Joel Hunter, and Jim Wallis. It is time to debate the legislation on the merits and leave Christmas out of the debate.

UPDATE [12-16-10]: Conservative Joe Scarborough criticized the Senators invoking Christmas as part of their opposition to specific policies for being "offensive," "baseless," and "unChristlike." He advised the Republicans making this argument to just "shut their mouth." He also wondered why the Senators could not celebrate Christmas in D.C., but he phrased it in a way that many might be tempted to answer differently than Scarborough was intending: "Does Jesus not live in Washington, D.C.? Can they not worship Jesus in Washington, D.C.?" Sounding an even odder note, Vice President Joe Biden declared, "I understand Christmas. I have been a senator for a long time." Guess, he did not understand Christmas before becoming a senator!

Do Words Matter?

A few weeks ago, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia spoke at an event in Richmond, giving an address entitled "Do Words Matter?" Although his main point--that the U.S. Constitution should not be viewed as a "living document"--is not surprising giving his earlier remarks on the matter, some of his remarks in the context of the meaning of words are quite interesting. He argued:

Unless the words have meaning and unless judges give them their fair meaning, democracy doesn't work.

He gave a couple of good examples: that "nimrod" in the Bible meant a great hunter but Bugs Bunny made it mean idiot, and that "cruel and unusual punishment" clearly did not include the death penalty since that was a common form of punishment when that constitutional phrase was written.

Scalia's examples are good reminders about how much language changes (so that "bad" can now mean "good"), just like words can have different meanings at the same time for different people (so that some people still use "bad" to mean "bad"). It is precisely this argument about language that makes Scalia's attacks on viewing the Constitution as a "living document" so odd, since words--as he just proved--are living and constantly changing. Yet, somehow, he believes that it remains obvious exactly what was meant by the use of particular words over two hundred years ago. As he argued in his speech:

The Constitution says what it says and it doesn't say anything more.

Yes, but the problem is figuring out how to read what it says--both because the meaning of some words have changed since then and because words are merely symbols and thus could be misread even by contemporaries of those who wrote them. Apparently, we need to quit putting judges on the Supreme Court and instead pack it with linguists. Scalia is correct that words do matter and that their usage and meaning can change, and that is precisely why it remains impossible to confidently claim to know exactly what was meant by those who wrote the Constitution. The good news for Scalia is that is why he has a job. After all, if it was obvious was the Constitution says and means, there would be no need for judges to carefully consider it.

Divided to Fall Again?

With the 2010 midterms behind us, political attention has shifted strongly to the upcoming 2012 Republican presidential primaries--although candidates are slower in announcing their runs than they were for the 2008 race. As with the 2008 Republican race, it seems that conservative Christian leaders are struggling to find someone they all like. A recent Newsweek article does a good job of detailing the thoughts of several conservative Christian leaders. It begins with Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention who seems to have soured on Mitt Romney since the last race (because of the issue of health care) and continues to be against Mike Huckabee but without being able to articulate an accurate reason (Land wrongly claims Sarah Palin is more popular among evangelicals than Huckabee even though polls clearly show the opposite). Land and many other conservative Christian leaders did not support Huckabee in 2008, even though he remained the most popular with average evangelicals.

As I reported last month, conservative Christian leaders are already meeting and plotting to defeat Barack Obama--in the same way they did against Jimmy Carter--but they apparently are struggling to find the candidate that excites them like Ronald Reagan did. Although several commentators who wrote about my piece thought it was an effort to help Huckabee, that seems unlikely given the response these leaders gave him last time (and that Land is still giving him). Interestingly, the candidate who seems to have the most connections with the group is Newt Gingrich (most significantly, the leader of his religious-political group was part of the meeting). However, the Newsweek piece quotes some of the individuals from the meeting I covered who clearly are not keen on Newt, including Land and Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council. Yet, the leader of that effort--James Robison--seems to be building his ties with Newt. The two recently appeared together in a program in Dallas. During his speech at the event, Newt stated:

Reverend James Robison's an amazing person. He was a leader in the Reagan years. He has, I think, the most important thing that a Pastor can have, which is a sincere, deep, total belief that helping Christ to enter the lives of others will permanently and decisively change who they are. And I think all the rest of us are busy doing many other things but having people walk up to you, look you in the eye and say that Christ truly loves you and that your life can be changed if you would just surrender to that love, is an enormous part of the best of America. And so when you were here tonight, I just wanted to thank you for a lifetime of living what you believe and living what you preach.

If Newt, who is twice-divorced and a recent evangelical convert to Catholicism, can win over the key evangelical Protestant leaders, it would clearly provide him a strong boost should he enter the presidential race. Either way, all of this seems to confirm that we live in an era of confessional politics.

Friday Photo

One of Paprike's favorite things about camping was that the sand made for quick digging of holes.

New Churchnet Website

As part of the First Priority 2015 strategic plan adopted earlier this year, the Baptist General Convention of Missouri is now known by its doing-business name Churchnet. Although the transition has been occurring over the past few months, the new Churchnet website is now live: www.thechurchnet.org. The new website includes many exciting new features designed to help churches and church leaders as they seek to better fulfill the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. These include: the Resource Center (where one can search for and find numerous ministry resources, as well as suggest resources for the database), the Event & Training Hub (where one can find information about training events, many of which are free and online), the Relationship Network (where one can join and create discussion groups, including private ones), and the forums (where one can sound off on various topics). These interactive online resources--in addition to the other ministry resources and efforts of Churchnet--are part of Churchnet's first priority of serving churches!

Friday Photo

Here is a shot I took during our recent trip to Hunting Island, South Carolina.