Manhattan Mosque

Okay, I'm going to say this about the proposed mosque in NYC. Please follow my logic: 1) There has already been a mosque near Ground Zero for some time. 2) The new center is being proposed by moderate Muslims. 3) There are 1.5 billion Muslims in the world. 4) Most Muslims are moderate. 5) 9/11 was not committed by moderate Muslims. 6) Moderate (i.e., most) Muslims are the declared enemies of Muslim extremists, who consider them deluded puppets of Satan. 7) There were in fact Muslims killed in the World Trade Tower collapse on 9/11. 8) Most Muslims who live in our country are here because they respect the rule of law and its history of cultural pluralism. 9) There is a great need to have a public presence of moderate Muslims in our cities. 10) The proposed mosque will be adjacent to the largest, most conscpicuous shrine to the victims of Islamist terrorism in the world. 11) Truly radical Islamists would never think of building a sacred structure close to such a memorial. 12) If anything, they would want to blow IT up, along with the WTC memorial. 13) America is NOT a "Christian nation" and never has been. 14) The whole idea in 1789 was to prohibit government from favoring or hindering any particular religion (is this not known by everyone?). This did not exclude non-Christian religions (which existed here at the time). 15) Islam is a religion; Islamist terrorism is not. 16)  People of the Christian Right are hypocrites of the worst variety when they oppose this mosque, since they have for the last 30 years so vociferously protested what they claim to be societal discrimination against Christians. Which leads to this conclusion: 17) The Christian Right is only for freedom of religion when it comes to its own.

Pat's Jealous God

According to the Rev Pat Robertson's theology, God imposes great affliction on those who do not obey him, that they might turn to him. He is, after all, a loving God, and wants the best for us. This is in the Old Testament: you know,  Jews being cast into the wilderness for 40 yrs and then sold into slavery because they chickened out when God told them to conquer the "promised land" by military force (sound familiar?). Pat likes the Old Testament. So, if all the poor Haitians will just put away their voodoo dolls, accept Jesus as their personal Savior, and start tithing to the 700 Club, all the buildings will be miraculously restored, the dead will rise from the mass graves, and they'll never have to worry about those bad little earthquakes again.

From a theological perspective, there is a legitimate argument that God "allows" or at least "uses" natural disasters or in general human suffering that would arouse people from a state of spiritual slumber and to bring about a state of inward soul-searching that would cause them to "turn their hearts" toward God and spiritual things. Probably even the most die-hard atheists utter a little prayer if they think they may be about to die. So there's something naturally appealing about this argument, if there is assumed to be a "personal" or "intervening" deity. (As I stated earlier, the "Old" Testament is full of such.) And if one wants to accept a condition of suffering as punishment or divine incentivizing for one's OWN sins or inadequacies, who is going to take offense? It may even be true. But when one seeks to blame someone else's misfortune on THEIR own perceived sins, one assumes the place of a fool. There's a biblical condemnation for that sort of thing, you know: it's called presumption & self-righteousness. Obviously Pat likes sitting there on that high perch & picking on poor Haitians, like the buffed bully on the beach who kicks sand in the face of the scrawny boy. Somehow it makes him feel good. But he is seen -- rightly -- by most people as the fool that he is.

Bah Humbug to "Years in Review"

Okay, we've entered the annual time of the apocalypse for the media, the second coming of the editors, since they want to create bulk while they're taking holidays and present themselves as sages and soothsayers: a whole week (or two) of recapping stories we've all been flooded with already during the year & hoped we could forget. "Best and Worst of 2009," "Year in Review," and (since it is going on 2010), "A Look at the Decade." 


Well, I've got my own take. I don't need all this omniscience and presumption from the inflated egos of establishment journalists. Bah Humbug!!!! Just get on with the next story, please.


(or I'll pick up the remote and skip to the next chapter on the DVD...)

The nobel Obama

I think Obama will prove to be very much like Lincoln, caught in the middle of an ideological (and later, physical) war. Of course, Lincoln's ultimate worth was proved by a catastrophic event, so glibness is not something in which we ought to feel comfortable indulging.. But here is an excellent piece by George Packer (brought to my attention by my friend Margaret Arndt), on the significance of the Nobel Peace Prize given to Pres. Obama:

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2009/12/21/091221taco_talk_packer

Health Care on the Titanic

The current legislation is toothless. But the country is a very big ship (hopefully, we are not the Titanic), and it takes a loooong time to turn around, not to speak of actually getting anywhere. Health Care reform will be a decades-long process, just like civil rights in matters of race. No reason to give up, but, to quote Karen Carpenter, "we've only just begun." Wish it weren't so, but it's just reality. It will be that way with gay rights too. Unfortunately, we're being sunk financially precisely BECAUSE of the "free-market" health care system, not because of "socialist" reforms, as the Republicans are saying as a mantra. Let's just pray that we get to true reform before we become annexed officially by the People's Republic of China. That would surely be our bow-breaking iceberg. Check out Gail Collins' recent column about those previously obscure senators who are suddenly pulling all the levers of debate on these huge issues: 


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/19/opinion/19collins.html?_r=1&em

Into the future

Here, I am the muse. And I muse! Living by my wits, I (hopefully) am witty. Every muse of course has his own muse, or muses. So who are my muses? Those who (hopefully) are witty... and wise! Therefore, forward we go: follow me.... THIS IS MY BLOG.