On fathering...

I am not a father, nor will i ever be one. But i have a father and have observed many throughout the years. So here we are at the tail end of father's day. A holiday that has been overshadowed for years by Mother's Day. (Perhaps to compensate for the injustices women have historically suffered?) I can't help but notice that we are living in interesting times for dads!

The New York Times recently ran an article on fatherhood in Sweden which did tempt many of my friends of both sexes to relocate there! Why? Well because in Europe, father's get equal treatment in terms of days off! But at the same time there has been push back from traditionalists who want to go back to the June Cleaver days of pressed undies.

I found myself wondering today about how one knows if they're a good father? What does it mean to be a good father these days? There seems to be a lot of messages and opinions out there on this topic. It seems like we are all wandering around and having to make our own paths. What are your thoughts?

Tarballs of the soul...

What can i say about what's unfolding in the Gulf right now. My heart breaks, my soul groans and reeks? Those seem like trite and overused metaphors for the sticky thick grief that has settled over me while watching this slow moving tragedy unfold.

The hidden currents of greed, corruption, amorality are now made visible with the introduction of the toxic sludge. We can fly over and see them swirling below, killing everything they come into contact with. Those who are untouched by the oil are touched by shame and frustration.

This oil is a visible reminder that humanity is a destructive creation. Our destructiveness is kept in check by boundaries given by God and ourselves.

And yet, out of destruction there is hope that great good can be done. With a little help, perhaps our oil-soaked robes will be made clean yet...

Let us all pray for those who are affected by the Gulf Tragedy and let us find work together to find solutions that will clean our waters and restore us to a more humane way of living on this earth and with each other...

arizona, tea partiers, primaries... what's a christian to think?

The news these days is hard to watch. There's alot of talking heads and interviews with angry peoples across the nation. Alot of signs, fear and frustration out there. I'm almost afraid to turn on my newsfeeds and NPR!

Unfortunately most christian's blog post or engagement with what's going on in the States goes like this:

*Insert Bible Verses to justify current political/cultural position here and argue passionately for your position*

I find myself wondering "when did American Christendom become so balkanized?" Oh wait, i know the answer... the 20th century. When the fundamentalists/modernist swore each other into eternal damnation. While i would love to get all academic-y here, i dont have the brain power or the footnote space. So a few summary sentences. In the late 19th and most of the 20th century there was an epic war among christians over just who Jesus was and who had the truth. Tree's, Ink and tons of Hot Air were spewed arguing over who was right and who had the corner on biblical hermeneutics. It was a very creative, but a very polarizing time to be a christian in the mainline. Many of our newer denominations were started during this time. Also a number of our Para-church organizations came out of this turbulence. Christianity Today has nicely compiled a reading list for those who want to delve deeper.

While i have a lot of frustration with the current climate of political debate and discussion in the States right now. I find myself seeing echoes of the debates and imbroglios that roiled evangelicalism in the century prior. While i kept hoping for people to burn themselves out, instead i think this is one of the few cases where the church was ahead of the curve. The purity tests, reluctance to dialogue and find a middle ground are all reminiscent of some of the battles that were fought among conservative believers. In fact for those who have studied american church history its not a surprise that its conservative christian politicians who are leading the resistance/naysayers to any policy change or law they do not agree with.

I find myself wondering if perhaps the fundamentalist/modernist wars were a battleground practice for the current flare up in American politics....

Something that's been bothering me...

While i've been out of commission in terms of blogging i've been reading alot. Its about all that i've had the energy for this past many months...

After two editorials in the NYtimes one by Roger Cohen and one by David Brooks crystallized what had been bothering about the whole debate and the general dialogue on health care and government. David Brooks says it best "Members of both movements believe in what you might call mass innocence. Both movements are built on the assumption that the people are pure and virtuous and that evil is introduced into society by corrupt elites and rotten authority structures. “Man is born free, but he is everywhere in chains,” is how Rousseau put it."

Ding!

Atonement, that's whats been bothering me. There are several different understandings of atonement and what Jesus accomplished on the cross, but one thing that is the same throughout is that all agree that humans are essentially evil/sin-filled walking sacks who are born that way and destined to die that way. Yes i know i've drastically simplified the theology, but this is a blog post, not a paper or academic abstract.

Here's what's been bothering me is that given the human propensity towards evil, it is obvious that we need safeguards in place to protect the weak and the defenseless. In addition without a sense of the common good or community, humanity has a dreadful proclivity towards selfishness and Darwinian self reliance. While if you're not a christian, or claim to be a bible thumper, you can be as selfish as you want to be.

But its been the movement of Tea Party idealogy into conservative Christianity that has really got me bothered. Where is the biblical basis of small govt and taking care of yourself and only yourself? Where is the biblical basis of not sharing the burden of living with those in your community.

And finally for the last time, politics and theology are not separate spheres. They inform one another, you faith/theology/worldview inform your politics and if you claim to be a bible believing christian, then you have no business attending the Tea Party or similar movements that preach self-reliance and individual liberty. Sorry, there's no scriptural basis for those ideologies.

*whew*

Thankfulness...

*whoooo/pat/pat/blow* *cough/cough* Now that i've gotten the dust off this blog...

This has been quite a year for the fogster! Between the ADHD diagnosis and the car accident involving three members of my immediate family, plus having a relative move into my small studio, i haven't had time for much else!

But here we are just before the holiday season, perched and waiting for the tsunami that is thanksmas to hit and carry us off into the food and spending binges of the season, and i find myself wanting to step out and just be thankful.

Alot has happened this year, but we all survived and with the help of church, friends, family....my community i got through it. With the wisdom and love from not just jesus, but the holy spirit and the father, i not only got through it, but i'm on the other side and ready to start again, with a fresh, but changed slate.

Thanks,

Ok... so much for the comeback..

Well shortly after posting that i'm planning to start blogging again, things went bad... Between friends going crazy and a bad car accident involving three members of my immediate family, its been hard to blog. But i do have some things i've been kicking around. Once i know for sure everyone is going to be ok, in about a week, i hope to post some thing's i've been working on. So apologies for the drop out, but hopefully i can pick back up again by July! Hopefully!

The fogster is attempting a comeback..

Alot has been going on in the fogster world these past few weeks, ok months. I found out that i have ADHD and have started meds and added another part-time job to my schedule. But things are finally calming down and i hope to get back to semi-regular posting!

The fogster...