As I mentioned, maybe somewhat miss-ably (since someone told me that they came to this blog looking for the link and missed it) I have put together a fact sheet about the teaching of Jesus compared to the actions of Bush. What I would really like is a different picture of Jesus. The one I am using was really meant as a place holder so that I could get on with the business of laying out the page and filling in the details. Does anyone have any recommendations? I'd like something where Jesus looks like a "real" person, connecting with us. Something with him teaching, maybe?

Dierdre Pike of The Reno News and Review just recently did a cover story called Left Behind: The Democratic Party may be missing its chance to exploit religious liberals The author wrote me to let me know that she had included a quote from this blog. My first thought was, of course, that it's kind of neat to be quoted--after all even though the button on the Blogger interface says "Post and Publish", I don't automatically think of this as publishing. Or rather, I don't always know that anyone is reading. ;-) More importantly, though, I am glad to see this issue being addressed: Democrats are often less than comfortable making an issue out of their personal religious beliefs, says Chris Wicker, chairman of the Washoe County Democrats. "On the left, you have such a mix of religions," he says. "Generally, I would say that the religions on the left are not as intent on imposing their religious views on others, or saying that they're right and everybody else is going to hell." So, he says, the Democrats don't have a cohesive strategy for organizing spiritual fervor into a voting behemoth. "You don't have the same type of zealotry or goals on the religious left," Wicker says. "I don't ever see this being a force in politics that's the same as the religious right." That doesn't mean that these individuals are any less spiritual, as if that were something you could measure with a yardstick. "Their views give them room to become active in politics and oppose some of the strategies and goals of the religious right," he says. "They don't do so as the 'religious left,' but as Democrats or moderate Republicans or any individuals involved in politics. They don't distribute voter guides in their churches, telling people how to vote. ... Democrats aren't using them the way the Republicans use the religious right." The results of this divide between the left and the right: Wicker says that the public has been sold a "bill of goods" that paints Democrats as anti-religious or lacking a moral conscience. In part, these characterizations come from the party's insistence on separation of church and state, a value that lands the party in opposition to forced school prayers or giving federal funds to religious social services. Democrats engage in these issues on the basis of protecting freedom of religion, Wicker says. But conservatives who see the American identity as closely tied with Christianity view the Democrats' stance as an insult to their faith. Yes. The Alabama Ten Commandments monument is a case in point. I find it absolutely mind boggling to see the sense of entitlement displayed by Judge Moore and those who support him. It just seems like tremendous hubris to expect that your religion deserves more protection under the law. Maybe it's like that line from Animal Farm: "All animals are created equal, but some are more equal than others." By the way, I finally finished putting together the fact sheet comparing Bush's actions and policies with the teachings of Jesus. You can see it here. Feel free to print it out and share it--that's what it's there for!

So I was driving home from church today, and I encountered a new church sign: "God called while you were out. He wants you to call him back." Really? I could have sworn God had my mobile number. And, come to think of it, when was I ever away from God (the One who is both imminent and transcendent.) Wait a minute--maybe it's a metaphor... Maybe it's about not really being genuine and present in the moment, and thus present to the one "in whom we live and move and have our being." Or maybe I think too much.

Just found this through Talk Left. It's a blog called Baghdad Burning, and it is written by a woman in Iraq. I have only skimmed it so far, but it looks like it could provide us with some much needed insights that we don't get from the American media.

It has been amazing to see the story of Sally Baron spread throughout the left-leaning web sites so quickly. We could easily never have heard of her, except that her family chose to add the words: "Memorials in her honor can be made to any organization working for the removal of President Bush." People without internet access, or those who do not surf the web regularly, can easily miss out on some stories that are real gems. I chose to spend this morning putting together a page about Sally Baron and her memorial. Please feel free to print out the page and share it witn anyone off line who needs to see it. (And if, by chance, you had missed this story, this link will fill you in on the details.) In memory of Sally Baron--defeat Bush in 2004

In the current issue of Sojourner's, there is an article by Jim Wallis called "Dangerous Religion: George W. Bush's Theology of Empire": To this aggressive extension of American power in the world, President George W. Bush adds God—and that changes the picture dramatically. It's one thing for a nation to assert its raw dominance in the world; it's quite another to suggest, as this president does, that the success of American military and foreign policy is connected to a religiously inspired "mission," and even that his presidency may be a divine appointment for a time such as this.

We have another round of perplexing church marquee signs near my neighborhood. One that I pass reads "That 'love one another' thing--I meant it" God". Good. I approve. Then, on the other side, "You think it's hot here? God" Ah, I see. Love one another, or you burn forever. It's true that fear can be a motivator. It's not the best, but it can do in a pinch. But I'm just not sure that fear can be used to motivate us to love. Love and fear are a bit like oil and water--they just don't mix. The hell-as-burning-forever idea, to me, has all the marks of something blurted out by a parent whose kids have gotten on his or her last nerve. "Stop it right now, or you'll burn forever! No, you won't eventually burn to nothing--you'll keep burning! No, you won't eventually get used to it. Why? You just won't, that's all! I'll admit that I have my bad mommy moments from time to time, but they are never that bad. And I just can't imagine God going mental like that. I see God as having the infinite reserves of patience that we humans don't. The other marquee I saw recently, reads "Stop, drop and roll won't work in heaven!" What? It's been up for weeks--I assume if there had been an error, they would have discovered it by now and changed it. Maybe it's a new approach to bringing people into the church...they wait for people to ask about the error on their sign, and use that as an opening for telling them about their church. Today I had both kids in the car, and commented aloud about the "You think it's hot here" marquee, and my son started on his usual there's-no-such-thing-as-God bit. But then he asked, "If there is a God, and he's the most powerful, why is there a devil?" Ah, yes, the problem of the all-powerful, all-good God allowing evil. Tricky. I talked to them a little bit about how many people have a problem seeing any bad in themselves at all, and the problem of seeing the world in a way that is so black and white. I don't know how much sense it made, or how if it had any effect, but it's a point I feel I should make often. Nobody is all good--not even you. Nobody is all bad--not even people who really make you mad. So it was interesting timing for me to look at Sojourners this afternoon, and find an essay by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, that included these words about people protesting the war in Iraq, and those protesting the protesters: Equally, though, some defenders of the war have accused its critics of being unable to tell good from evil, of colluding with monstrous cruelty, and of being indifferent to the suffering of nations. On one side, people seem to see equivalence between Saddam Hussein and the coalition leaders; on the other, equivalence between Saddam Hussein and a grandmother from Surrey, a Conservative voter, who finds herself, much to her amazement, at the anti-war march in February. "Imperialists!" "Butchers!" cries one side, "Blood for oil!" "Appeasers!" shouts the other, "Useful idiots!" This is not simply about how we conduct controversies (though it has some relevance to that, to the barbarous superficiality of some of our public arguments). It is about that odd and not very pleasant tendency in our hearts to ignore the mixture of motives and the uncertainties of understanding that lie behind our own decisions, to deny the elements of chance and hidden prejudice, temperament, and feeling that make up our minds, even on the most profound matters. We fear that if we admit this sort of mixture in ourselves we fail to distance ourselves clearly enough from what we believe to be evil.

The invisible hand of God One thing I like about the progressive Episcopal church I attend, is that people, including the priest, are quite willing to say "I really don't know for sure" in response to theological questions. I remember hearing once that the symbol of the Unitarian Universalist Church could be the question mark, and it is reassuring for me to find that there are people in my own church who are comfortable with uncertainty as well. An issue that is a major "question mark" for me is whether and how much God directly acts in our lives. I have decided that I cannot accept the idea that God intercedes in things like war--knowing that both sides are always invoking the Infinite, how could a loving parent choose sides in such an extreme way? I do, on the other hand have a sense that God often acts in small ways, giving gentle nudges and hints in our day to day lives. We can discern these these clues (I thought to call them "God's Clues" when my children were preschoolers and big fans of the show Blue's Clues) if we are paying attention and not too preoccupied with our own agendas. That is, if we are open to seeing them. I must admit, that it has been some time since I identified something in my life that really seemed like a divine clue. Maybe this signals a need for me to find more quiet time. In any event, this is what happened yesterday. My daughter has been fascinated with butterflies lately. We got a book out of the library called The Family Butterfly Book, and she has expressed an interest in getting her own copy of the book for her birthday. She and a friend are planning to work on a report on butterflies. As we got into the car to run an errand, I spotted a fuzzy yellow caterpillar crawling toward the car. I was a bit concerned, because it was crawling fast enough that it could end up under a tire as I backed out of the driveway. I commented about the caterpillar to my daughter, and she told me that the book she is reading describes how to make a butterfly farm, and could we catch the caterpillar and put it in a box. Um...um... I remember kids adopting little creatures they found as children, and it often seemed to turn out badly. Man, I really didn't want us to suddenly take on this "project". But, on the other hand, I felt unable to say "no". Here, right under our noses, was a bright yellow caterpillar, standing out brilliantly against the black pavement--at exactly the point in my time that my daughter had this fascination. I could almost hear God whispering, "Here--I thought you might be interested in this..." My husband found a box that a digital camera had come in, and it had a clear plastic window so that you could see the product inside. He and my daughter got a branch and some leaves and made a little home for our new little critter. Last night the caterpillar crawled around the branch and box, doing caterpillar acrobatics and eating leaves and bark. By this morning, it had made a cocoon. Watching and waiting...

I just ran across a good article discussing Bush's version of Chritianity. The article is called Bush's "Christian" Blood Cult. The whole article is worth reading, but here is one passage of interest: Bush's self-proclaimed adherence to Christianity (during one of the presidential debates he said Jesus Christ was his favorite "philosopher") and his constant reference to a new international structure bypassing the United Nations system and long-standing international treaties are worrying the top leadership of the Roman Catholic Church. Well-informed sources close to the Vatican report that Pope John Paul II is growing increasingly concerned about Bush's ultimate intentions. The Pope has had experience with Bush's death fetish. Bush ignored the Pope's plea to spare the life of Karla Faye Tucker. To show that he was similarly ignorant of the world's mainstream religions, Bush also rejected an appeal to spare Tucker from the World Council of Churches - an organization that represents over 350 of the world's Protestant and Orthodox Churches. It did not matter that Bush's own Methodist Church and his parents' Episcopal Church are members of the World Council.