God and I have a fight and then I get baptized

Well, it's more like that scene in The Apostle where Robert Duvall shouts at God in a bedroom in his mother's house. It's a tradition that dates back to the Psalmist, so I guess that I'm in good company. However, I am having a difficult time justifying things right now.

I mean, the whole disparity in the world-wide distribution of goods and services is bad enough, but easier to chalk up to human frailty and sinfulness. The tsunami was bad, but it was thousands of miles away, and those people had different skin tones than I did. Even the stampede in Iraq seemed somehow less important when put against the backdrop of all the suffering that has gone on there in the last two years.

However, today, God seems at best indifferent or distant, and at worst, malicious and capricious. I mean, this whole smiting of the city of New Orleans seems a little excessive. I know they had a whole red light district, and there was Mardi Gras, and they spoke French and all, but it seems all out of proportion. And there was Judith, who put a real human face on the tragedy for me. I mean, here is somebody who is a teacher, who keeps a blog, whose whole life is destroyed right before her eyes. (By the way, she's fine, she made it to Houston, and from there, will be flying to be with her family. But please keep praying for her and all the Novaurelians.)

Anyways, I went to the AFC tonight to swim laps. I've been really mad at God, because I have diabetes. It's stupid, I know, but it just seems unfair. I mean other people can stuff their faces with all sorts of crap, have ridiculously expanding waistlines, and they seem to live fancy free.

So, as I was swimming, I was thinking that there really are two choices for me. The first choice is that this world is a random admixture of physical principles, matter, and energy that has somehow coalesced into intelligent life. In this view, the universe is neither good nor bad, but indifferent. Cataclysmic explosions and violence are the rule, and the flowering of beauty in one small corner of it could be snuffed out at any moment by a ridiculously oversized destructive force.

The second choice was that there was an intelligence who had somehow hidden inside the very nature of this universe. This intelligence had crafted a cosmos that is disastrously entropic and dripping with tragedy. The reason for all this suffering is somehow known to this intelligence (mere caprice?), but hidden in it's complexity from simple mortals.

Well, both of these worldviews seemed drastically cold, uncomforting, and at an emotional level, completely unacceptable. As I pondered my growing rage, I began to swim with a vengeance. I was panting for breath, but I kept pounding the water. I then came upon a concept that seemed to seep from the tiles of the pool--I am supposed to be mad at suffering. It should piss me off that no Federal agency sent in buses to evacuate those without motor vehicles until days after the hurricane. It should make me angry that sociopaths can abuse the trust of really good people. It should make me mad that the cells in my body either don't know how to make enough insulin or don't know what to do with the insulin it already has or even both.

Evil should make me so mad that I do something about it. As I pounded furiously at the water, I was reminded of the biblical metaphor of death and rebirth. The water of baptism represents the abyss, the flood, and death. Peter was being very bold to step out of the boat on the lake of Galilee, seeing as he probably did not know how to swim. As I was swimming back and forth, I realized in a way that I was dying to the sinful nature that blames God for not being able to eat ho-hos or for my staying awake for 36 hours straight (due to lack of summertime preparation) on the first day of school. Of course, one can die to the sinful nature and the next morning wake up and have to lay it all down again.

The perserverance of the saints may be a theologically sound doctrine, but in my practical experience it is worthless rubbish. I've never met a saint that has perservered perfectly through everything. Look at Peter jumping out of the boat and then sinking like a rock--or, when Jesus told him, "Get behind me, Satan!"

Well, I've never been very good at giving anyone the silent treatment, so I guess God and I are still on speaking terms, but we've got a lot of talking to do. I think I'll start here.

Psalm 10
1 Why, O LORD, do you stand far off?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God

There is something inside me that deeply wants to see a pattern in this. I want to believe that we are being punished for global warming or electing W. or some other such nonsense.

Of course, this is what the Bible says...

8 "Would you discredit my justice?
Would you condemn me to justify yourself?

9 Do you have an arm like God's,
and can your voice thunder like his?

10 Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor,
and clothe yourself in honor and majesty.

11 Unleash the fury of your wrath,
look at every proud man and bring him low,

12 look at every proud man and humble him,
crush the wicked where they stand.

13 Bury them all in the dust together;
shroud their faces in the grave.

14 Then I myself will admit to you
that your own right hand can save you.
--Job 40

Not that it is terribly satisfying.

Some of you may know I have made a fairly regular correspondence with a young woman who is a teacher in New Orleans. I ask you to pray for her. This is the last I heard from her.

Thanks. I've got the washer filled w/water & unplugged am making tons of ice. All the stores are closed & the National Guard is standing by in the SuperDome. When the storm is over, if the power goes out, I'm a ten-minute walk to the French Quarter full of hotels w/back-up generators.

Oh, boy.

Since this is turning out to be a post full of quotations, let's look at several other found objects...

---

From: "Janna Swets" <notjannasemail@hotmail.com>
To: mateo_lind@hotmail.com
Subject: your blog twin
Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2005 16:33:24 -0400

Don't you think it is kind of weird that there is someone out there with the same blog name as you and almost the same blog address? (www.lucretius.blogspot.com)?

---

From: "Matt Lind" <mateo_lind@hotmail.com>
To: notjannasemail@hotmail.com
Subject: your blog twin
Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2005 18:33:24 -0400

I suppose so, sort of.  But not really, because the book "De Rerum Natura" was written by Lucretius, and the title means, "On the Nature of the Universe."  I guess great minds think alike.  I suppose this is proof that small minds do as well.

Lastly, we have an overly pompous satire I wrote about a year ago. Enjoy it like you would rewarmed Mac 'n Cheese.

Falwell makes gaffe, again

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA—Popular televangelist and conservative media darling Jerry Falwell stated yesterday that, “God has withdrawn his veil of protection from this country due to the oppression of the poor by the Republican administration.” This comment was in reference to the record four hurricanes which recently hit the state of Florida. Florida was crucial in the election of our current Republican president. Such a series of devastating hurricanes has not been seen since 1886, when the President’s home state of Texas was smote by God’s wrath.

Falwell made his comments on the 700 club, a Christian talk-show hosted by fellow televangelist and media mogul, Pat Robertson. Several prominent Republicans have spoken out with anger about the inappropriateness of Falwell’s remarks. Ralph Reed, formerly of Christian Coalition, and currently one of Bush’s campaign advisors, stated, “Mr. Falwell clearly is not reading the same Bible I have. The Bible is clear about condoning the unregulated free market.”

Rev. Rich Plutocrates of First Suburban Church located in the Mall of America, in Minneapolis, MN was outraged. “The Bible is clear in its teaching. Christians do not have to pay their workers a living wage as long as we give them all the old cans of soup my wife buys but I don’t like and my kids’ smelly old coats.”

Even former President Jimmy Carter expressed concern about the level of discourse. “I would not have dedicated myself to providing housing for the poor these last few years, if Jesus’ ministry did not mainly concern itself with condemning gay marriage and supporting gun rights. I mean, there are just a few isolated passages of scripture discussing social justice. This is not the kind of public discourse which will foster understanding.”

Falwell made his remarks in light of hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne, which have devastated Florida and the Gulf Coast, taken over 100 lives, and cost nearly $20 billion dollars in damages. Falwell was even so brazen to suggest that the $20 billion dollars is pocket change compared to the tremendous tax cuts and corporate subsidies the current administration has doled out to well-to-do Americans.

Falwell cited the Bush Administration’s own statistics on poverty, suggesting that more Americans are in poverty now than when Bush took office four years ago. The televangelist expressed concern that the president has taken more vacations than any president in recent memory, while millions of Americans struggle to make ends meet by working two jobs, quoting Mark 1:43-44, “Whoever wants to be the greatest among you must first be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be the slave of all.”

He also mentioned that the federal minimum wage has its lowest buying power in history since its institution. His other concern was that most poor families pay a far greater percentage of their income to the government than the richest one percent of Americans, when one factors in sales and other taxes and fees.
Falwell supported his comments by stating that Jesus spent more time condemning the love of money than any other sin. He also quoted a variety of scripture, including James 5:4, “Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you.” He also mentioned Amos 5:18, “You trample on the poor and force him to give you grain,” and Deuteronomy 15:7-8, “Do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs.” Falwell even cited Jesus’ own words in the New Testament, “Sell your possessions and give to the poor.” Lastly, Falwell condemned the unregulated free-market by quoting Exodus 22:25, “If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not be like a moneylender; charge him no interest.”

Name a "Foreign War" that hasn't started a Civil War.

Mexican War
Ummm...well, let's just say that it was a Civil War.

Spanish-American War
Apparently, it took us almost half a century to fulfill the "white man's burden." I'm talking about the Philippines, if you were wondering.
And apparently, still isn't over.

World War I
Let's go with Bolshevism, and possibly even WW the II, if we stretch a little bit. Or how about all of the colonial conflicts which the Treaty of Versailles only made inevitable?

World War II
Okay, there's a lot to choose from on this one, so let's hit the highlights...

China

Korea

Vietnam

Korea
Actually, this Civil War is still going on. Heard of Kim Jung-Il?

Vietnam
This one was is a great example of endless conflict. The slaughter had just gotten started when we evacuated the embassy in '75. Once again, the highlights film...

Laos

Cambodia

Thailand (ish)
Oh, by the by, while attempting to humiliate the Soviets in Afghanistan as we were in Indochina, we laid the groundwork for our modern terror based governance through the unrelenting 30 year internecine conflict. By the way, it hasn't ended yet.

Gulf War I
Heard of Kurdistan? Well, if you haven't, the majority of Americans are with you. You know why the Sunnis and Shiites hate each other and us. Because directly after this war, the American generals gave Saddam permission to attack Shia with helicopters. Those are the same ones whom Bush 41 told to rise up against Saddam, and we'd support them.

Somalia
If you say, "failed state," what comes to mind?

Bosnia
Leads us to...
Kosovo
which, hey, maybe Bill Clinton can take credit for this, but let's not count our chickens before they hatch...

Iraq War II
This is encouraging.

Okay, so if you're feeling depressed right now, let's think about the two Foreign Wars that resulted in only minor chaos. We've already given Slick Willy probably too much credit for Kosovo, and we haven't mentioned the myriads of times the Marines have been sent to either prop up some corrupt regime or install or more compliant, but possibly less democratic government in a banana republic.

However, if you've stayed with me this far, you're probably thinking that I should put on some pants and go out tonight. Which I fully intend to do. You're also probably wondering about early 19th century naval wars. So, let's give Jefferson and his local buddies some credit for winning the Barbary Wars. We kicked some serious Tripolitan tail, without completely destabilizing the whole region.

Halal (حلا) and Haram (حرم)

So, I was listening to a interview on Fresh Air of Muzammil Siddiqi, the leader of the group which recently issued a فتوى (fatwa) against terrorism. When Terry Gross asked him what kind of "teeth" his fatwa would have, Siddiqi suggested that he has no power to enforce any fatwa, but can merely comment on what is حلا (halal) or حرم (haram) ("lawful" and "unlawful").

(By the by, check out this cool website about Islam.)

The dichotomy between the two has been readily apparent to me as I prepare the classroom. Of course, teachers are supposed to focus on what is halal and minor on the haram. Therefore, a good classroom rule is, "Be respectful," as opposed to, "Don't be rude." However, it is sometimes easier to think about those things which we absolutely find unacceptable due to the almost infinite diversity of behaviors and possibilities.

In fact, I find it interesting that although the Prophet forbade the consumption of alcohol, various drugs, such as the Scrabble® favorite qat, hashish, and tobacco—via the hookah—are halal among Muslims. Yet, if Muhammed were alive today, he probably would have declared them haram too for the same reasons he outlawed booze.

I guess that is why general principles, such as "Be respectful," are more useful as guidelines to behavior. However, although thinking in terms of these principles is useful, it is very important to understand that all morality is relative.

Now, before you accuse me of being a namby-pamby liberal, think about this for a second. Let's play a little game, name a universal moral principle which must always be upheld no matter what, whenever, wherever, and by whomever. I decided to play this game with myself, and the first thing I came up with as an answer that someone might profer is...

Don't have sex until you are married.

Now, at first I thought—although not that every culture in the world adheres to this rule—that it might be a good idea. This is pure spitballing, but I read in Guns, Germs, and Steel that it is possible that one of the reasons for the swift population decline in the Roman Empire in the 3rd Century A.D. was the introduction of some pretty nasty STDs into a world which had experienced tremendous sexual freedom. This may partially account for the swift rise of Christians, whose behaviors would allow them to avoid these diseases, and whose apparent inaffliction may have made them appear more greatly blessed by their divinity than the general populace. Of course, this principle seemed to me a worthy, reasonable, and wholly advisable one in our world afflicted by AIDS.

However, upon further reflection, I realized the inherent contradiction of this "absolute" moral principle. By it's own construction, it, in itself is relative. The principle does not say, "Don't have sex," but rather, "In condition A, be sexually abstemious, and in condition B, back it up, strap it on, and reverse it." This kind of relativity inherent in an "absolute" moral principle made me think of the principle in which conservatives love to color with shades of gray.

This is the principle, "Thou shalt NOT murder." Of course, as Pat Robertson might tell us, the crucial word for conservatives is "murder," which they define as a "non-white or socially disadvantaged person ending the life of another." Of course, for these folks, what is not murder is killing, which is what God, of course calls us to do, especially with left-leaning oil-rich dictators and the civilians of their society.

Of course, for conservatives the only time (here another relative condition) it is absolutely always wrong to kill a human life is when that life has not yet come out of the womb, or hasn't even entered a uterus.

Now, whether you agree or disagree with any of these moral "principles" laid forth above, my point is that they are all "relative" principles. None of these so-called "moral absolutes" is absolute in any degree. For instance, in our universe, you cannot go faster than 299,792,458 m/s no matter how badly you want to. That is an absolute. Also, a hydrogen atom will always have one proton or it ceases to be hydrogen. Once again, this is an absolute.

However, these principles can be "absolutes" because they exist in the world of physics and mathematics, which are based on the irreducible axioms and theorems of the universe. However, human beings are not purely mathematical or, perhaps, even physical beings. Therefore, "relative" morality is the ecosphere in which we live, breathe, defecate, and have our being.

a vivid sense of illusion

Well, I guess I have no other excuse. I spent all summer wondering why other folks couldn't manage to update their blogs hourly, and now here I am feeling like I've lost touch with the great lights of the blogosphere. Seeing as I've stayed up until 2:14 in the morning doing "work," I feel I ought to finish the evening with some reflections.

The rather ironic thing, however, is that I spend all day thinking, "Gee, such-and-such would be a thoughtful [read "boring"] or informative [read "narcissitic"] thing to write about in my weblog." However, when it comes down to brass tacks, I'm really a total poseur.

Since I spent my evening listening to the BBC World News I now have two major insights.

1. Some believe that the area in southern Iraq between the Tigris and the Euphrates was the original garden of eden.


2. Pat Robertson is a grade "A", class "1", garden-variety, religious bully.

I mean, are we supposed to take anything the right says seriously? As Jeff Gannon might have said, "How are we supposed to work with people who have divorced themselves from reality?"

The Fascist in the Mirror

One of the great benefits of blogging, for those who have an ounce of self-awareness, is that one can see one's own thought processes reflected back at you through the computer screen. This allows one to really see how shallow, arrogant, ungrammatical, or hypocritical one is. I like to play the game of reading my blog as that of a stranger, and thinking how ridiculous the things I say sound. Of course, as Narcissus looked into the pond, it is possible to see how wonderfully eloquent and thoughtful one is as well. Yet, being raised a Calvinist, it is hard to escape the thought that somehow, deep inside me, no matter how hard I try, whatever I'm going to do will be profoundly flawed.

Of course, I have heard from many that this perspective is crippling to the soul and verging on paranoid scrupulosity. I can see it play out in my own life over and over again. I make a mistake; I feel horrible about it; I stuff myself with food, alcohol, etc..., I feel worse about myself. This is the kind of stuff that Stuart Smalley would have called a "shame spiral."

I have just been diagnosed with full-blown diabetes. My first reaction is that I have somehow failed. However, I did try and avoid this. I stopped drinking all sugared sodas. I stopped eating candy. I indulged in desserts rarely. I almost completely gave up cookies. I stopped buying ice cream (mostly) from the store. I started riding my bike to work, and other sundry locations.

Anyways, I feel like God is saying to me, "for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me." It doesn't seem quite fair that although I am overweight, that folks who are 100 pounds heavier wouldn't get this kind of diagnosis for a good decade.

However, as much as I doth protest, the fact remains—whether or not an angry, spiteful God is pursuing me for my great-grandfather's love of chocolates—if I don't shape up, I will live a life of pain, frustration, and frequent hospital visits. And then I will die. The choice to me here is not between either saying, "Screw you, God," and eating candy until I pass into a diabetic coma or walking through the streets of C-ville in a hair shirt, whipping myself, and chanting, "miserere nobis, Domine." Of course, the only logical course of action, is to accept my history for the failures it includes, make reasonable, sustainable efforts for good health, and to accept God's mercy.

The second commandment continues...

for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments.

The Fall, or I'm a Pompous Child of God

As August quickly ripens

reams of paper,

bins of mechanical pencils,

and piles of neon-tinted notbeooks

appear in stores,

I realize that the inevitable will happen.

The world will softly march through the kingdom of death.

The sun will be born in late December,

but only a reminder of the rebirth to come.

Then, with the bleeding, sacred heart extended earnestly
from the land of Huitzilopotchli,

the carnations will bloom,
the mulberrys will slowly turn scarlet,

and Grace

will chase our guilt around the world once more,
as it passes us each year, seeking to cleave East and West.

The rosary,
Old Hundreth,
the sweet smell of incense,

will remind us that the spinning of the earth,
is only the most profound illusion.

Anyways, I need to remember that as I step into a role of "authority," that I am still nothing but a child of God. It is too easy to believe myself to be "good" or "wise," but equally so to believe myself a complete and utter failure. Accepting the perfect imperfection of my being and living as a child of God, is the greatest challenge I face.

This is me in a nutshell...how did I get into this nutshell?

Thanks, Tom for this idea.

Here's what I am...


free enneagram test
Here's what I'm not...


free enneagram test
Once again, I consider this stuff to be as accurate, however, also as fun as, my horoscope.

I've had wonderful travels. Janna and I went to the OBX (tee-hee) last weekend, and I just came back from moving my sister into Ithaca, NY. I also dropped in on Aubrey and Paul, and married life seems to be agreeing with them.

Peace.

fascism is a state of mind

I just watched Hotel Rwanda last night. It is a story of the good inside one person that can be found when faced with evil on all sides. The nightmare of Rwanda, is of course repeating itself in the Sudan as we speak.

I have heard a lot of tough talk from all sides about stopping genocide in Africa, but something I heard on NPR a while back was that Congresspeople felt like nobody really cared about Rwanda, and they weren't willing to do anything about it because they didn't really see the benefit of acting outweighed the cost politically. They reached this conclusion because the volume of correspondence on Rwanda was a torrential trickle. Therefore they suggested that concerned folks should write their Congresspeople and get their friends to do the same. However, the movie went to great pains to demonstrate that a human life is worth far more than just money, or votes, or anything else for that matter.

So, since 180,000 people being butchered in the desert did not seem as significant as 3,000 people being blown up in an office building, I forced myself to readjust my internal calculus. Here is a letter from Amnesty International that I think you should sign. You'll need to sign up as a member, but you do not need to donate anything if you don't want to. However, I could think of worse places to send your tithe.

However, the film also got me thinking about fascism. Now, I'm still working my way through A New Kind of Christian, and I must say that I am very excited that this book is getting attention. I still do think it is a tad pedantic, but extremely thoughtful, and hopefully, evolutionary in the way that we see ourselves as Christians. I intend to post more at length about this.

One of the things that McLaren brings to light—and I don't think that American Evangelicals are very willing to face this obvious truth—is that if there is anyone in the Bible most like us, it is the Pharisees. Now the last time I read the New Testament, it did not paint the most flattering picture of these folks. In fact, I would argue that it showed them as fascists of the mind.

Now, Phil had a great post in which he used the term "Sauron's ring", which I found quite delightful. Of course, the ancient Roman equivalent of this symbol would be the fasces, hence the term, fascista.

My brother has argued that the term "fascist" becomes meaningless if not applied to the early 20th century Italian political philosophy. However, I believe that the term is only meaningful in the context of it's etymology. In fact, if we define "fascism" as "reaching for Sauron's ring," "believing in the power of violence," or, most descriptively, "believing in power as an end unto itself," then I think we have a really useful term to explore the dimensions of the human soul.

For instance, the conflict in Rwanda fits into this paradigm perfectly. The Tutsis were created by the Belgians for the purposes of maintaining their power. When they left with the Hutus in power, the then powerless Tutsis found themselves the subject of reprisals for the abuse of power by the Belgians. The Hutus felt that to make up for their colonial loss of power, they needed to abuse their "Hutu power" over the Tutsi minority.

Now, I could go on ad infinitum picking out parallels in history—revolutions American, French, or Russian; shirts blue, black, or brown; mass murder in Armenia, Cambodia, or Bosnia. However, I would like to make a philosophical move here, and suggest that believing in power as an end unto itself often necessitates a belief that oneself will exercise power in a benevolent, or at least "good" way, and that others would be malevolent or bad in their exercise of power.

Of course, this ethical system has an important consequence. It means that one cannot be self-critical, because oneself is the standard of goodness. Therefore, Socrates would tell us that the life of a fascist (he would say "tyrant") is not worth living. In fact, I would suggest that hypocrisy is fascism. Guilt and shame are what drive fascists to their pursuits. Some say that Hitler was partly Jewish and gypsy, had retarded close relatives, and—although this is probably not true, but when Chris Kattan portrayed it on Saturday Night Live it was hilarious—gay. In fact, it seems like closeted gay Republicans come out of the woodwork every week. These folks can't accept themselves for the imperfect people they are, but demand perfection, not through grace, nor even through works, but by inquisition.

Therefore, our fascist evangelical friends, like my portly onetime U.S. representative from Wheaton may be right about how wrong Bill Clinton was to get a B.J. and then lie about it. However, they are wrong in that they merely see this episode as a means unto an end, to crucify their political opponent to give them whatever greater power this might mean. In fact, just while Henry Hyde was politically stoning his president, it was made quite clear that his "youthful indiscretion" meant that he did not meet Jesus' sole criterion for doing so.

Of course, Jesus can be all too easy to ignore, whether you are a liberal or conservative. However, if Islam means submission and Islamo-fascism means blowing yourself up on a bus, then Christianity means following Christ and Christiano-fascism means not following Christ.

The Struggle Continues

Instead of struggling with Hamilton's life, I'm attacking two other books simultaneously, each of which I'm enjoying in it's own way. One of which I will blog about later, because I would like to read it before I pass judgement. That is A New Kind of Christian by Brian McLaren. Recommended to me by various persons, I want to know what this McLaren character is all about. I'm enjoying it so far, although I do think McLaren is somewhat dry, or at least interesting in the most pedantic way possible.

The other is a book recommended to me by my neighbor, Liz. This is Perfect Soldiers, and it describes the personal journeys of the 9/11 hijackers. It is spy-novelesque and quite a page-turner, if for no other reason than that which compels us to look at a traffic accident. I'm afraid I'm going to reveal no great secret when I say that none of the 9/11 hijackers were anybody special. In fact, the only thing they seem to have in common is that their brand of Islam was radicalized by spending time in "the West."

Here's a headline from MSN—"Al Qaida threat to West." Of course, without a verb, this fragment can be interpreted two ways, both hanging on the subjective or objective nature of "Al Qaida" as a genitive noun. Either we can say, subjectively, "Al Qaida [is] a threat to West," or, objectively, "Al Qaida [makes]a threat to West."

Of course, the first is ridiculous, the second is old news. You see, Al Qaida poses the same threat to the 2 billion or so people that live "West" of Asia that rabid orangutangs do. In fact, I would like to see George W. declare war on rabid orangutangs and invade the San Diego Zoo.

Of course, you've heard now that the PC Bush administration term for the "War on Terror," is the "Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism"—its Wu-Tang clan name being, "G-Save" (pronounced gee-SAAAAAYve). Now, the traditional, historical definition of jihad is merely "struggle," as in one struggles with oneself to live a life pleasing to Allah. This is the sense in which Jacob struggled with God or Job struggled with his hardships.

Of course, I'm curious to see how the G-Save is going to be translated into Arabic. Is this going to give the impression that Pat Robertson has given a fatwa to allow common West Virginians to rape detainees with nightsticks? Or, does this have the vaguely Socialistic overtones of class struggle—"Siempre la lucha!"—as one graffito in a Salamanca bathroom put it.

Now, after we have declared this global struggle, how do we define victory, or, failing that, success? Because, I'm still more afraid of getting hit by a drunk driver, contracting feline AIDS from a feral cat, getting conjunctivitis from one of my students, or inadvertently attending a meeting of the young Republicans than getting a paper cut from a terrorist.

When are we going to declare a global war against AIDS and extreme poverty, which kill far more innocent children in one day than George W. and Al-Qaida have managed to off in the past year? How about heart disease or diabetes? What about all the hurricanes being caused by the relatively warm climate?

Anyways, this whole video thing is like a ritual. One of the bearded ones turns on his handicam and shouts at the camera. Somebody hands it to Al-Jazeera and they pretend like somebody just rang the doorbell, dropped a baby on their doorstep, and ran away. Then the CIA analysts tell us they haven't finished analyzing it yet, but, as far as they know, it could be an animatronic puppet made out of used Kalashnikov cartridges and camel semen. That evening, on the late night talk shows, they'll all make the same lame voice-over joke—tonight it was, "Let me start by telling you this: I have never used steroids. Period. I don't know how to say it any more clearly than that. Never."

Then, the next day, George W. will get on TV and talk about his resolve to keep sending troops into battle with no clear objectives. Finally, we hear that four more American soldiers from the heartland with unpronouncable last names died in Iraq. Of course, what we won't hear about, except from those America-hating liberals, is all of the dead Iraqis whose lives are worth approx. 1/1000th of an American one, based on the news coverage.

I for one say that a Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism should begin at home. However, I won't because then Captain Oxycodone might impugn my love for country. God bless America! Xenophobia forever!

Hamiltonian Democracy

I must admit, I've been hopelessly deadlocked in the middle of Chernow's book on Hamilton. Hopefully, I'll get back into it before the end of the summer. The part of the book I did read though, was very well written. However, one often hears the phrase "Jeffersonian democracy" even though Jefferson openly denigrated the Constitution which he swore to uphold. Yet, it was Hamilton and Madison whose ideas really shaped our current system of checks and balances.

During one of those hot, dark spitball sessions locked up in Independence Hall, it is reported that Hamilton suggested the president be elected for life. Of course, this rumor later came to dog Hamilton, who had about as much success explaining it away as John Kerry did with, "I voted for the 82 billion dollars before I voted against it."

Yet, the arguments for a president for life are not so anti-democratic as we may think. A president for life does not have to bow the political pressure of the day. He can think long-term and make decisions based on his conscience. Since, there would be no primogeniture, he would not have to worry so much about his succession, which would be taken care of by an election. This would mean, optimistically, that he would watch out for the weak and oppressed of society, without looking to grease the pockets of his wealthy and powerful friends.

The weakness of this elective monarchy, which has a long tradition in Germanic history, is the same of any monarchical system. It is the relative strength or weakness of the ruler. George W. would like to give you the image of good king George, who rules as a beneficent despot without regard to political pressure or opposition. He would present his decision making process as quasi-regal—by consulting his supreme chancellors, he then makes a final and infallible decree.

This all may be true, but the problem is that W. is no philosopher-king. When Plato created his theory of the aristocracy, he believed that part of αρητη ("excellence") was the pursuit of knowledge and study. However, W. and his allies are openly scornful of "intellectual elites" and "science."

Yet, there have been several fabulous examples of philosopher-kings in human history. For instance, I recently watched the movie Asoka about the third century B.C. conqueror. Of course, mostly a romantic fiction, it does a decently good job of demonstrating his transition from a purely secular tyrant, to a Buddhist philospher-king. In fact, the whole Mauryan dynasty embraced religion more rather than less seriously. His grandfather and the first dynast, Chandragupta, gave up everything to be a devout Jain. His father, Bindusara, was somewhat of a devout Hindu. Ashoka himself sent Buddhist missionaries to all the neighboring kingdoms, including the Greek Alexandrian successor states. They went as far as Egypt, Syria, Burma, and Sri Lanka. Ashoka's dharma wheel became the basis for the modern Indian flag.

(I was inspired to do some light internet research on the man after watching the movie. I came to this delightful website on Ancient India. I found this comment to be an interesting example of the new bias against "Western" history in academia.

Alexander himself seems to have had literally no effect on Indian history, for he left as soon as he reached the Indus. Two important results, however, arose because of Alexander's conquests: first, from this point onwards Greek and Indian culture would intermix. But most importantly, the conquest of Alexander may have set the stage for the first great conqueror of Indian history, Chandragupta Maurya (reigned 321-297 BC), who, shortly after Alexander left, united all the kingdoms of northern India into a single empire.

Our historian is quck to tell us that, obviously, westerners had no impact on Indian history, but yet then goes into brief detail explaining exactly what impact that was. I may be overemphasizing this point, but I think that until we stop talking about whatever-centric history and start talking about human history we will continue to have these problems in various forms.)

Anyways, back to the point, which if you're still reading, I commend you. Having kings, queens, emperors, etc... works really well if you have a good king, queen, emperor, etc... This is the case in my home metropolitan area, where Mayor-for-life Daley has recently come into hot water for his court's patronage. This TIME article goes into the issue very well. A quote...

"I have never seen the city look better, run better," says Jay Schaller, whose family owns a bar in the working-class neighborhood of Bridgeport, a longtime Daley power base. "And if it takes a little patronage to get it done, so be it." That is a sentiment that Daley is banking on. "People used to say, 'You're the mayor's son--you don't have to do anything,'" Daley says. "I've worked very hard to be where I am. People know who I am in this city, and they respect me."

Surely, this is an example of an extremely successful chiefdom. Every time I return to the city of which I consider myself to be a spiritual resident, I am impressed by the constant improvements that are being made. Daley doesn't like graffiti, so guess what, all the L-trains are powerwashed at the slightest hint of such. He has been pushing for revitalization of blighted neighborhoods (read gentrification). However, he has also been rebuilding public housing and restructuring the city school system. He has made the city a place where people with money move to, not away from.

Anyways, if Daley is personally involved in corruption, then he deserves whatever comeuppance is in store for him, because unfortunately for Richard II, we don't live in a constitutional monarchy, only a Hamiltonian democracy. And if he is defeated by Jesse Junior, well then I hope that J³ lives up to the hype.