Having finished a distraction, I got back to my real project at work, today. Hopefully I’ll make substantial progress on that soon.

Spent the evening doing homework. I got to review the psalm and prophecy assignment for the other three people in my “cohort”, and then it was back to studying Greek. Tonight’s material was going better, but I got to it much later than I wanted, so I didn’t get nearly as far as I needed to. I guess there’s always lunch tomorrow.

Time to go to bed. I needs my sleep.

I’ve spent all day trying to cram Greek back into my head. It is not working all that well. It would help if I didn’t have to keep turning back several chapters from the material on which the current exam is going to focus. Why can’t I remember autos? Curse you, autos!

Anyway, since no one has tried to pull me away from the microphone…

I’m going to speak again to a limited audience – social conservatives, especially Christians, that keep voting Republican. Everyone else can listen in if they want to, and feel free to participate.

It has also occurred to me that we keep overlooking some rather grievous problems with the Republicans. To an extent, this is true of all politicians, but I don’t vote for all politicians, so I’ll talk about the ones I vote for or am expected to vote for. Have you noticed just how corrupt the Republicans are? Jack Abramoff, anyone? Or how about the Bush White House claiming “executive privilege” for so many things during this administration? How about the obviously bad intelligence that was used to justify the war in Iraq? How about Senator Ted Stevens from Alaska who was just convicted for accepting illegal personal gifts? How about Sarah Palin and the problems with the firing of her public safety commissioner? How about John McCain of the Keating Five?

Do we really need to put up with this? At this point, given our lack of success working with the Republicans, is it doing us any good? That is to say, is it helping us meet our goals?

Here’s a hard question – how much do fiscal conservatism, Republican immigration policy (the “build a fence on the border” type, not the amnesty type), and hard lined foreign policy really mesh up with OT and NT teaching on hospitality, caring for orphans and widows, and living at peace? I’m not *saying* that they don’t, I’m just trying to spark a discussion.

More political thoughts. Or, probably more accurately, a barely edited spew of political train of thought. Well, political which then morphs into a sermon, maybe. So, if you’re not Christian, you may not be interested in this whole post. But, anyway, here it is. You can sort out whether your interested or I’m a kook.

I really hope that the brains behind the Republican party are thinking about these things. But, frankly, I doubt it, since I think they are more concerned with power than values. I find myself hoping for the death of the GOP so that the issues are forced. Anyway, more random thoughts:

The thought that captured my mind yesterday was just how much messianism pervaded the election on both sides. I’m going to focus on the Republicans, though, specifically my fellow “social conservatives.” I know I was buying into messianic thought during the primaries. My own “not McCain” sort of thinking has its roots in this. I was viewing Mr. Huckabee as the solution to the abortion problem. (Don’t debate abortion here, please. That’s not my point. Well, I guess if you want to, feel free to. Just keep in mind that it isn’t what I’m talking about here so I won’t respond unless what you say is particularly provocative.) While it’s true that we have a unique opportunity to directly choose our chief executive in the US and therefore need to use this ability well, in a manner which reflects our values, this sort of messianic thinking is dangerous and wrong from two perspectives which I claim to hold.

First, the simple case. My primary perspective is that of a Christian. Well, from that perspective, messianism belongs only the Messiah – Jesus Christ (which, of course, is redundant). Viewing political leaders in any sort of messianic light is, quite simply, idolatry. (I’m not going to bother mincing words here.) I’m not saying that all of my Christian brothers and sisters were being idolatrous during this election cycle, but I do challenge everyone to examine themselves. Where we have been guilty of idolatry we need to confess it and move on, taking a more sane approach to our interactions with this democratic republic in which we live. (I call everybody to this.)

Second, the less simple case. This is where we can learn something from our libertarian conservative friends, and where think conservatives have, in general, lost touch with their values. If I recall correctly, it was Jefferson who said, “The government which governs best is the government which governs least.” From this, we conservatives draw the principle that the government is not the source of solutions. Instead, it is the people who solve problems if the government stays out of the way. So, why is the election of someone who is decidedly from a different political perspective an issue? Granted, it will make it harder to keep the government out of the way, but why were we looking to the government to solve our problems? I understand the issue of the appointment of judges, and I am thankful for the changes that have taken place in SCOTUS over the last eight years. However, I’m suggesting that there is a better, less ephemeral, solution.

The problems that face this country (abortion, poverty, education, and energy reliance, to name a few) are all based in greed. The real solution to greed is not legislation, and this is where my first perspective, that of a Christian, is going to come back in. We can patch over these problems and constrain sin through the law. We do this with things that I think everyone can agree on – murder, theft, assault, battery, rape. I would contend that the other problems are really no different. The real issue with abortion is that of the value of people – if an unborn child is a person, then that child must be protected. (This is something on which I disagree with 75% of the state of Colorado according to our most recent election.) If a person is created in the image of God, then we must intervene in cases of poverty (read your New Testament, Christians, if you don’t agree). It is through education that the mind of a human is developed, and is therefore a moral issue. The real problem with dependence on foreign sources for energy is not so much interdependence around the globe, but that it forces the US, as a democratic republic, to compromise its principles to continue the flow of energy.

The problem is this – we as a society agree with the legislation of moral issues. Yes, we do. Refer again to murder, theft, assault, battery, rape. However, we don’t collectively see the other issues as moral ones. One “side” sees a subset of them as moral issues while the other “side” sees a different subset of them as moral issues. (In reality, individuals see a different subset than either “side” does.) So, why does that difference exist? Why is that we see some things as moral issues but others as issues of “choice” or “natural consequences” or completely amoral issues (like energy dependence) that only require pragmatic solutions?

I’d contend that the problem is the heart. And there is only one lasting solution to issues of the heart, and that is Jesus.

Application? Christians, step up. Stop waiting on government and elections to solve problems. Get involved. Pray, speak out about abortion, fight poverty, HELP WITH YOUR OWN HANDS. But, here’s the thing. We’re not trying to take away anything, but that’s how it is perceived. So, we must demonstrate that we have a loving relationship with our Creator and that we are trying to bring people into that relationship. That is what we’re concerned about, right? Not just avoiding judgement because of the murder of 50M babies? Not just avoiding judgement because the US might not continue to protect Israel? What are our motives? Are they fulfilling the Great Commission or maintaining our lifestyle?

Anyway, it’s time for lunch. Discuss!

I really need to get to work.

I slept in a bit late today. It felt good. Thankfully I worked an extra hour earlier this week.

Today consists of catching up on work after missing the last couple days. Then this weekend and cram for and then take the take-home Greek midterm. After that, maybe watch a little Star Trek. I’ve been ecstatic since Steve told me about Fancast/Hulu. All the classic Trek you can stomach. And I can stomach a lot.

Well, I got my paper written. It turned out alright. I wish I had the time to keep working on it. The cool thing about Bible study is that one is never really done.

I’m trying to sort out reactions to the McCain defeat. Specifically I’m referring to a subgroup of the people that are so disappointed. The thing that seems bizarre to me is how many of those people that are disappointed now that he lost the election are the same ones who were disappointed when he won the nomination. I just find it curious how far people moved over five(? seven? I don’t remember when the Republican nomination was sown up) months from rejection of the man to nigh-depression and panic when he didn’t win.

As I think about it, I think it’s probably a good thing that McCain lost. Not because I want Obama to be president; I think he’s wrong on lots of things. But, I think McCain is also wrong on a lot of things, just less wrong than Obama. To start with, there’s the $700B financial bailout. I’m trying hard not to fall into laissez-faire ideology here, but I really fail to see why it was so urgent. Yes, a bunch of bank-type businesses were going to fail, but that’s what is supposed to happen when those types of risks are taken. Bad risk == failed business. Also, has anyone else noticed the proliferation of banks? Doesn’t it seem like there are many more than are necessary? It seems to me like it is an industry that is ready for a consolidation. Anyway, my point is that both McCain and Obama were wrong about this, and this is a trend with McCain. (Don’t all of you who were McCain haters this time around remember wishing he had got the nomination back in 2000?) In general, he is a moderate, and comes up with a lot of ideas that agree more with the Democrats than with the Republicans. And, since it looks like the Senate won’t be filibuster proof, the Democrats won’t be able to go too far into the leftist weeds, forcing them to rule from the center. So, I don’t know how materially different a McCain or Obama administration would be. Given that, it may as well be a Democrat who gets the credit for Democratic ideas.

There’s also the historic nature of Obama’s presidency. I’m hoping that through this we can accelerate the healing of the racial divide in the US. I wish I could find the article, which I found rather ironic, because I don’t remember who made the statement. It was either someone from Europe or Saudi Arabia. Anyway, the comment was made that the US is “hopelessly racist.” How many European leaders have not been white? I honestly don’t know, but I’m pretty sure the number is somewhere between very low and zero. The question is irrelevant in Saudi Arabia, which is a closed Islamic monarchy.

Finally, while I as a “social conservative” saw the value of Palin, her choice never really thrilled me. Given her comments that did make it into the public during the campaign (Alaska’s proximity to Russia == experience in foreign affairs, not being able to give any of the several versions of the “Bush doctrine”), I don’t have a hard time believing that she couldn’t name the countries in NAFTA, even if the idea that she didn’t know that Africa is a continent is a bit far-fetched and unbelievable.

Anyway, those are my random, very undeveloped, political thoughts. I’m trying to keep them to myself, but just couldn’t help myself. Feel free to excoriate me for them – I’m a big boy.

So, the election is finally over. Yesterday I was finding that my biggest hope was that there would be no questions about the results, particularly in the presidential race. That is certainly the case. The result is basically what I expected two years ago. It was going to be almost impossible for a Republican to win (and McCain? guh!), and I figured Clinton would be dragging along too much baggage to get the Democratic nomination. With the rest of the Democratic candidates being non-starters (seriously, Biden has tried running for the last 20 years, did he honestly think he’d win this time? and Edwards? If he couldn’t get past John “Herman Munster” Kerry, how could he get past Obama the consummate campaigner?), that really only left the messianic Obama.

Have you seen “Brewster’s Millions”? One of the things Brewster does is run a “none of the above” campaign. I’m trying to refine an idea that could give that option to the voters. It probably wouldn’t have made a difference in this presidential election, but in a lot of our more local races, I know many people would have used it. If nothing else, it would be a means for demonstrating to those who do win that they are fooling themselves if they think their victory is any sort of mandate.

Anyway, I have a paper to write.

Tuesday the fourth was election day. I was at the polls by ~7:15 am and home at ~7:45 am. A quite pleasant experience.

After that it was work, followed by date night. We enjoyed some free ice cream at the local Ben and Jerry’s and watched the greatest political thriller of all time, “Canadian Bacon”. I had not before realized that it was written, directed, and produced by Michael Moore.

Then it was to bed early so I could get up and work on my paper.

Monday the third of November consisted of work and four hours reading ballot initiatives. Nothing exciting, just great fatigue from reading so many examples of bad ideas of what should go into a state constitution. Things like the expansion of gambling and tax plans. I’m not talking about what type of taxes are allowed, I’m talking about, “we’ll raise this tax X% and spread that money around with A% going to Y and B% going to Z.” In a constitution? Crazy.

Well, I fought through falling asleep while reading long enough to get the literary context done for that Colossians 3:5-17 paper. I found it to be enlightening. I had not before seen the general theme of Colossians (that Christ is life), but had instead seen it mostly as a bunch of disconnected thoughts. I gladly stand corrected. I need to get the other 70 pages of commentary read so I can write more of the paper.

My back has been doing a bit better today, too. I knew I was doing the right thing when I told that symptom checker that I had to run as part of the annual benefits enrollment that my back pain was in the class that it was improving so I should wait for a couple days before calling a health care professional.

Anyone want to diagram that sentence? I know what it means.

Oops. I see I shifted my weight the wrong way and now my back is hurting again. Time to stand up for a while.

My younger sister, ‘becca, pointed on her blog that November is NAtional BLOg POsting MOnth. So, I’m going to do my best to conform.

Woke up today to a headache. My back is hurting a bit more than yesterday, but still better than it was earlier this week. My guess is that all of the standing yesterday aggravated it. Speaking of yesterday, I finally finished my big coat for the pirate costume. It worked pretty well. Well, to say “finished” is an overstatement. I’d still like to go back and put in pockets, actual button holes, etc., BUT it was quite wearable last night. Before I do more work on the big coat, I should wrap up the waist coat. It still needs button holes and buttons. If I can get that done, then there’ll be time to work on some really interesting projects for next year.

I need to get to work on my Biblical Analysis Paper on Colossians 3:5-17. It’s mostly a list of does and don’ts which I’ve always thought was pretty straightforward, so it’ll be interesting to see what comes up as I’m forced to scratch below the surface.

Later.