Yearly Archives: 2004

Arafat’s Gone

I watched Arafat’s funeral this morning. What a mess. Total chaos, with people swarming all over that big open courtyard. The two helicopters landed, and it took a long time for them to even be able to get the coffin out of the helicopter.

The world is now, officially, better off. I’ve been conflicted over the years about Arafat. At times, he has genuinely seemed like a reasonable, peace-seeking man. But the past few years have shown that, bottom line, he’s just a terrorist. He obviously fooled a lot of people, people who really wanted to believe he was sincere.

Now we’ll see what the Palestinians come up with to replace him. More of the same, I suspect.

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Early Returns on UB Voting

In October, United Brethren members voted on the issue of uniting our denomination with the Missionary Church. One week into November, we’re hearing scattered results from local church voting. Very little, so far, favors joining the Missionary Church. At this point, I fear that it won’t happen.

This greatly disturbs me. I’m convinced that this is the best future for our denomination, and that only bad times lie ahead otherwise.

I lament the great synergies that won’t happen. I think the Missionary Church would gain greatly by the new energy, perspectives, and ideas that the United Brethren church would bring. They would be much better off with us, and we with them. But separately–well, the Missionary Church will continue moving ahead. But the United Brethren church will gradually go the way of the Primitive Methodist Church and other small denominations, that just aren’t big enough to really do anything.

But maybe things will turn out differently. Early in the day, one week ago, “exit polls” showed Kerry winning, but that turned out wrong. What I’m hearing mostly is from small churches. We’ll see.

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Election Day Plus Six

The special Newsweek edition, which gives an in-depth “behind the scenes” look at the two presidential campaigns, is fascinating. It shows the various incompetencies of the Kerry campaign. It’s not very nice to Teresa, either. Clearly, from the article, the Republican campaign really had its act together. George Bush stumbled a variety of times, particularly in the debates, but he stayed on message, and his highly-organized campaign (credit to Karl Rove) could always pick up the pieces. Plus, the Kerry campaign just didn’t capitalize on some of Bush’s mistakes.

I was sure there would be terrorist incidents, somewhere, on election day. But nothing happened. Praise the Lord!

I’m also pleased that the Democrats didn’t unleash their accumulated lawyers to try to get the results changed. I’m sure they could have at least drawn things out for a while. But Kerry pulled the plug the next morning, and I salute him for doing so. It saved the country a lot of turmoil and divisiveness.

It has been amusing listening to pundits talk about moral values, trying to explain why evangelical Christians voted the way they did. They really don’t understand.

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Four More Years — And Not Even Close

I stayed up until NBC called Ohio for Bush. I think that was around 2:30, though it’s a bit fuzzy. I really didn’t expect Bush to win so easily. Most of the commentators agreed that “values” was the crucial issue, the thing that either swung people to Bush or kept them in his fold. I was glad to hear that. Values was certainly the deal-breaker with me.

Tom Brokaw mentioned twice–once in the early morning hours, then again on the Imus program this morning–that he had talked to a number of evangelical Christians who felt they were mocked by the Democratic party. But you just wait–in 2008, the Democrats will trot out the Hollywood celebs again, and Michael Moore will make another film, and Sean Penn and Ashton Kutcher and friends will become Democratic spokespersons. They just can’t help themselves. They get a lot of money from celebrities, and celebs love the spotlight. And it just turns off more people than they realize–certainly the people who vote on the basis of values.

I thought Republicans might gain a seat or two in the Senate, but they did better than that. And to unseat Tom Daschle? Wow. But I guess we are talking here about the Dakotas (North or South? I can’t remember. Seems like South.), which are not exactly bastions of liberalism. Whether or not Bush uses his majorities in the House and Senate to do something meaningful, like in health care–that’s the question. He has had majorities for the past two years, but hasn’t capitalized on them. I’m sure he’ll want to give the rich some more tax cuts and loopholes.

Now the stage is set for Hillary to run in 2008. Does anybody doubt that she will? I don’t think she stands a chance, but hey–give it a shot, lady.

John Edwards is now off of the political stage. He ran for President WAY too early. If he had spent at least a full term in the Senate, preferably two, and built a legislative resume and developed a network, and THEN run maybe in 2008–he would have been very formidable. But he wanted it NOW, he gave up his Senate seat, and now it’s back to the courtroom for the trial lawyer. He’s extremely talented. But he got impatient, and now he’s gone. It’s been nice knowing you, John.

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What are Moral Values?

The news shows have been talking a lot about the fact that “moral values” ranked at the top of the reasons why people voted for George Bush. This could lead into a discussion of, “What exactly are moral values?” Because some liberals will argue that they voted against George Bush on the basis of their “moral values,” and they will try to add moral significance to liberal stands. It’s not so difficult to impart morality to environmental concerns, anti-war views, and civil rights concerns. But I can foresee some liberals trying to make a moral view out of a woman’s right to choose abortion, a gay couple’s right to marry and thereby proclaim lifetime fidelity to each other, tolerance for alternative lifestyles, the search for cures for disease through stem-cell research, and other issues.

When you have opposing definitions of “morality,” you must then head into a discussion of moral absolutes. Because if one side claims abortion is wrong and another claims it’s okay, and both craft their views in terms of morality–then something has to give. You must ask, “Is there a moral absolute at play here, which would then veto one or the other view?” And it’s hard to find a basis for moral absolutes apart from the Bible.

So, it might get interesting. It might also get ludicrous, as you have secular (non-religious) commentators debating the meaning of morality and trying to explain why people voted as they did. I caught a glimpse of that last night on one of the channels: some guy was talking about moral values, but it was clear that he didn’t understand it the same way people in the fly-over, red states understand it–people with deep Christian convictions.

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Election Day

Just finished voting. It was the busiest we’ve seen the voting place, though Pam says we normally get there earlier. In that particular place, I’m sure–Aboite–most of the people were voting Republican. Not that it matters. Indiana always goes Republican. It must be nice living in a state that is “in play.” Or maybe not. We’re largely spared all of the political ads, and the really nasty ones don’t show up in Indiana. We have to hear about them on the news.

We do see a few national ads, but I suspect they are more for the benefit of people in Ohio who see the Fort Wayne TV stations. Ohio’s the hot spot this year. I’ll bet things get real nasty later in the day. I’m glad two courts ruled that Republicans couldn’t have people in the polling places, able to challenge the credentials of voters. That wouldn’t be cool. And yet, it sounds like there was some shady stuff in registering Democrats.

There were three referendum items (changes to the state Constitution). I didn’t really read them. I just marked yes. I figured they must be good things. I wonder if anyone took that (admittedly shallow) attitude regarding the three referendum items the United Brethren church voted on during October? Hmmm.

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Bush, but With Reservations

The election is tomorrow. Most people I talk to think Bush will squeak by. I don’t have a clue. The polls go back and forth, with several new ones (seemingly) every day. All I know is that somebody’s going to win, and I, with a serious lack of enthusiasm, hope it’s George Bush. But I wouldn’t be surprised if Kerry wins. My gut tells me Kerry will win, but that’s not exactly a scientific evaluation.

I do think Kerry could help our standing in the world‚Äîbecause I think ANYBODY would help it. As long as Bush is President, the world will be polarized against us. That’s the nature of his Presidency, acting as though it doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks. I’m not of that mind. Some people argue, “Who cares what the rest of the world thinks? We don’t need them.” To me, that’s a pretty ignorant attitude. It’s in our best interests–our security interests, and our economic interests–to have friends in the world.

I also think the poor would be better served by Kerry‚Äîbecause I think ANY Democrat will probably be more attuned to the lower classes of society (even if only for purely political, rather than altruistic, reasons). Republican administrations look out for the interests of the wealthy. If the minimum wage is to be raised, or social services extended for the poor, I wouldn’t put any hopes in Republicans doing it. I say that as a life-long Republican. I think the Republican Party’s greatest weakness is its lame social conscience when it comes to the poor–because those people are GREATLY on God’s mind, and they should matter to us.

This is a big issue to me, because I’m convinced that God’s blessing on a country has a lot to do with how that country treats the poor. Throughout Scripture, God is concerned about the poor. I think God is pleased when he sees a government that looks out for the poor and helps raise them up, whether they’re doing it for religious reasons or not.

The Bush administration, much more than most administrations, seems to be in the “bag” of Big Business and the wealthy. And nobody really disputes that. That greatly saddens me. Which is why I’m voting for Bush with great reluctance.

I think Bush is genuine about his faith. I just think his clear preference for the wants of the rich, at the expense of the needs of the poor and working class, is a blindspot in his theology. We all have blindspots. But for the US President, this is a blindspot with serious consequences. By turning his eyes from the poor, Bush may prompt God to withhold blessing from us as a country.

Kerry’s Presidency would be a purely secular Presidency. His words about faith ring totally hollow, almost to a comical extent. For several weeks now, he’s been speaking in churches. The pulpit is not the place to be denouncing those in leadership. The Bible tells us to respect and pray for the persons he has allowed to be in leadership. It’s okay to criticize those in leadership. Just don’t do it in the pulpit during a worship service. Those pastors who allow Kerry to come speak‚Äîthey should know better. But Kerry doesn’t know better. I doubt that he’s even aware of the Bible verses he’s violating.

And while I sympathize with the Democrats when it comes to economic policies affecting the lower classes, that’s just about the only social policy where I agree with them. On most others, the Democrats, I’m afraid, would like to take us down some immoral paths. So I’m voting for Bush, despite my problems with him.

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The Joy of Netflix

Pam and I haven’t been to Blockbuster, or any other video store, in over two years. Not since we signed up with Netflix. We love it. We can have three DVDs out at once, and can keep them as long as we want without a late fee. No last-minute rush to return a video before it’s overdue.

We’ve also enjoyed being able to watch entire TV series. For instance, we didn’t watch the first season of “24.” But we loved the second season, and then went back and watched the first season–not over a period of 24 weeks, but during a 2-3 week period. It’s much easier to stay with the flow of the program that way.

We watched the entire “Band of Brothers” over a similarly short period of time. And then we discovered Stargate SG-1, a show we hadn’t watched at all. It had been going for six seasons, and five were already on DVD. We watched all five seasons. A couple weeks ago Season six came out, and we just bought the set. We’ve been taping Season 7, which is now in progress. So, in a period of one year, we’ll have gone through all seven seasons of Stargate SG-1. (Pam likes the show even more than I do.)

We still watch regular movies, too–quite a few of them. But the chance to watch entire TV series is the thing we’ve come to enjoy most. I have my eye on “Cold Case” and “CSI: Miami,” two shows we haven’t bothered to watch on regular TV, but which I’m sure we would enjoy. Someday we’ll get around to them.

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Ramblings

Nothing specific today.

  • The Red Sox actually won. I saw every one of their games, starting from when they were down 3 games to the Yankees. In other words, I didn’t see them lose once in the playoffs. So when I started watching, they started winning. And I, for the most part, couldn’t care less about baseball.
  • If Yasser Arafat on his deathbed? How, exactly, will the world mourn?
  • Pam and I love the TV show “Lost.” We’re captivated by it. We had to tape last night’s episode. I wonder what happened?
  • I’m addicted to The Daily Show, with Jon Stewart. He tends to skewer both Republicans and Democrats with some degree of balance. But all this week, he’s had on Democrats–Bob Kerrey and Jesse Jackson the last two nights, for instance. Come on, Jon!
  • Meanwhile, FoxNews has become so unabashedly partisan that I can hardly stand to watch it anymore. More and more, I’m watching MSNBC, which is something I thought I’d never do. I like Brokaw, too. CBS is now, officially, a joke.
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Thoughts on Bush

One week to go before the presidential election. I’m voting for Bush, but reluctantly. He’s had some good moments, particularly right after 9/11, but overall I don’t think he’s been a good president. But I’ll take him over Kerry. My preference would be to have a different Republican running for President.

Bush’s foreign policy, an America-First, America-Only type of thing, has turned much of the world against us. It just wasn’t necessary. We’ve got to remove arrogance from our foreign policy. As long as Bush is president, the rest of the world will hate us, and that’s not in our security or economic interests. ANY different president, whether Republican or Democrat, would help us in that regard. But I don’t want it to be Kerry.

I’m disturbed by the Bush administration’s clear advocacy for the rich, whether it’s tax cuts that especially benefit the wealthy (and nobody’s arguing that that’s not really the case) or loopholes and regulations that benefit big corporations. A good share of the problems rest in Congress, I realize (a Republican Congress), but Bush doesn’t seem to be even trying to stop it.

The tax cuts–I never really saw the point, and once we found ourselves in war, the continued cuts seemed ridiculous. Especially when we’re running up huge deficits. No President has ever cut taxes during a time of war. But Bush is. Makes no sense to me.

I was never comfortable with going into Iraq. It seemed like we were rushing it (and in hindsight, we obviously did). Why, I wondered back then, in the spring of 2003, couldn’t we wait six months or a year? Saddam was being contained; he was no immediate threat. But Bush was extremely anxious to get into Iraq. There is a big part of me which says, by rushing us into a war without really thinking things through, Bush broke the trust of the American people and deserves to be defeated. But another part of me is still going to vote for him. But I don’t view him as a Commander in Chief in whom I place confidence.

Now, I can’t voice these sentiments around most of my friends or coworkers. In so many people’s eyes, Bush can do no wrong.

There are other issues on which I break with the traditional Republican agenda.

  • I wish Republicans cared more for the environment. I’m far from being a tree-hugger, but I do think God made us stewards of his world, and we have some responsibility.
  • I think hard-core anti-crime Republicans have done great harm to the justice system with all of the “three strikes” laws and other mandatory sentencing guidelines. The result has been a lot of injustice, with people getting sent to prison for things they shouldn’t be sent to prison over.
  • I think Republicans are highly unreasonable when it comes to gun control. Some restrictions are good and reasonable.

Those are a few things. Like I said, I’m voting for Bush, but with great reluctance. Kerry really troubles me in many ways. His would be a totally secular presidency. And while I do think he would help us on the world stage, in most other areas–particularly domestic policy–I don’t like what I foresee.

Okay, that’s enough to get me in deep doo-doo with most of my Republican friends.

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