Looking For Answers in All the Wrong Places
I downloaded the Meet the Press podcast and watched a bit of it last night and was dismayed by the political and social pundits attempts to find out what happened at Virginia Tech.
Can campus security be improved?
Can we give better psychology tests to struggling students to help them?
Should we make background checks for guns more rigorous?
It is dismaying because it is meaningless. The attempt to find understand related to VT can only come through the one answer that no one wants to face: humanity is sinful.
The secular culture clings with all of its might to the faint, humanistic ideals which it has built itself upon. It’s built a castle (or perhaps ivory tower) on the sand and it wonders why it is sinking lower and lower.
I’m deeply pained not only for the suffering of the families and individuals affected by the VT shooting; but also for the spiritual impotency of our culture that emerges when such crises come the the fore. Violent video games are not the problem – the murderous human heart can only be cured by the sprinking of the blood of the Lamb. This is the end of the matter, and all else is truly meaningless.
Bottoming Out
I don’t know what my problem is – but I just can’t seem to get a post up, lately. Hence my stats have bottomed out…sigh. Yes – I care if you read…unlike Zack 
I’m too much of a poet or something – blogcasting…or whatever we are calling it…has too much spontaneity for my nature most days. I’m more of a ‘muser’ than a ‘ranter’ when it comes down to it.
In any case – I’ll give a little personal update for my adoring fan-base.
Went to a decent used book sale in Lawrence, KS last Friday. I highly recommend it as one of the better book sales in the region – not necessarily great for theological books (you really can’t beat amazon in 8 out of 10 cases) – but fun nonetheless. Click here for details…anyhow…
I picked up a bunch of literary fiction that I haven’t perused in awhile – 1984, Brave New World, a couple short novels by Flannery O’Conner and some JD Salinger – and Moby Dick (which I’ve never read, but may make my selection for vacation reading this year.)
I have real soft-spot for Salinger – if you are unfamiliar with him, he is a very acquired taste (best known for his coming of age story A Catcher in the Rye) – if nothing else, I can credit him with introducing me to Orthodox mysticism (many years ago) through his short story ‘Franny’. It centers on a young woman who becomes enthralled by a rather (in the 50’s at least) obscure Russian Orthodox book called ‘the way of the pilgrim.’
I am lamenting (winking at Molly here), however, the difficulty of finding any quality fiction that is written by Christians…and I’m not talking about Christian Fiction (Mitford stories and Peretti novels, tolerable if not memorable) – I’ve heard that John Grisham leans towards a sincere faith in Jesus – and it appears that Anne Rice has moved into the fold, but the only author I’ve encountered who has inspired me in this area is a Japanese Catholic (the irony of that, hopefully is not lost on everyone) Shusaku Endo.
I read several of his novels in college and was very encouraged that it was possible to weave themes of faith and redemption into fiction is a way that doesn’t isolate or alienate non-christian readers. I highly recommend his novel, Silence, considered by many a literary masterpiece.
Alas – any suggestions for books/authors are welcome.
And thanks for sticking with me through the wordcasting wilderness of the past month.
Killing the Sacred Cows
One of the problems with our little democratic society is fear. Our politicians, no matter how well-meaning they are, have no guts when it comes to tackling debilitating social problems that tug at the heart-strings (and the purse-strings) of their constituants.
There are more than a handful of these sacred cows that need to be turned into hamburger:
- social security: acknowledged by everyone as a broken system, yet the boomer voting block keeps it off of the chopping block every electoral cycle.
- education: the US is lagging behind other nations tremendously, but the teacher’s unions have the democrats terrified of any real reforms.
- welfare: who want to be known as the guy who is taking money away from the poor?
- immigration: this issue has polarized, either you want to ‘kick them all out’ or ‘legalize’ them all. there hasn’t been much room left over for a balance of compassion and justice.
The problem with politics comes down to a deeper human issue: you can’t stand for righteousness and remain popular. And to get elected, well, you have to be popular. You have to ‘appeal’ to a broad range of people over very different races, worldviews, and yes, even religions.
This touches on my point in a previous post that we can’t expect much in terms of justice from natural governments. We need a supernatural government.
The sermon on the mount will never get you elected – and it’s God’s version of justice that reflects the heavenly kingdom’s values. That’s why if it comes down to voting OR praying – praying is preferred. I think we are soon approaching the point where voting for either or the major parties will be dangerous. I mean, Guiliani? C’mon.
