Help! Help! I'm being oppressed!

Rod, when/if you get broadband back up, I recommend reading http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index2.ssf?/base/living-0/116149796856910.xml&coll=1, an article by Chris Rose of the Times-Picayune, detailing his struggle with depression in the wake of Katrina.>

If you have REALLY young ones, the Praise Baby DVDs are quite nice:

Praise Baby Collection. Available at most Xian bookstores, too.>

I think we all needto thank Thomas Edison. If it weren't for Edison's inventive genious, we would all be watching television by candle light !!!>

Maybe a new book?

The Crunchy Con's Survival Guide to Infants

or

Crunchy Spirituality and the New (Old) Parenting

I'd buy in a hot minute. . . (Now, if my kids would only give the time to read it. . . .)>

The times they are a changing ...

Have you read Future Shop? If we actually faced our addiction to stuff, storage, pods, and rubbermaid tubs stacked in the garage and asked ourselves why? What are we lacking, why do we need this? Maybe we could focus on the emptiness rather than the shopping ...

Sell it, or be honest, rent it, lease it, pass it on ...>

Hi, Rod. Welcome to our world: the world of at-home moms. To paraphrase the late Erma Bombeck: without my Internet connection, I'd bleed to death.

Seriously, though, this was the kind of thing that kept bugging me whenever I considered Crunchyism. I mean, it sounds so lovely, the dream: sipping locally-cultivated organically grown herbal tea while the children do their home school assignments on environmentally friendly paper that we made as a class project out of the pulp of our old, non-crunchy bookcases; then on to hang the laundry in the breezy afternoon air before returning to the house to craft, lovingly and elegantly, the main meal of the day, the ingredients of which were purchased on our morning walk to the local farmer's market. But the reality is lovely too, even if it involves Target's cheapest spiral-bound notebooks, large infusions of caffeine via non-Crunchy coffee, a functioning washer AND dryer, and a main meal which may include flash-frozen chicken and instant stuffing. It's lovely because it's done out of love, just like the "Mr. Mom" service you're offering for your family right now.>

Yay! I'm back online tonight. ECurious, in my book, Julie is the voice of wisdom, puncturing the perfect crunchy reverie by saying that stay-at-home mom-dom is made possible in part by the miracle of the microwave -- quickly reheating homecooked meals that have been frozen. I can't remember if you read the book or not, but I'm pretty clear in there that there are ideals, and there is real life. We should try to live up to the ideals, but not freak out if we have to make some concessions to reality. (This is why we put Matthew in school; homeschooling simply wasn't working for him). This caused some people to call me a hypocrite, but the fact that we can't always live up to our ideals doesn't invalidate them.>

been enjoying the blog and posts! glad to know that our prayers for you family are being answered as well. i guess i'll have to find a copy of your book... think half-pice will have it? oh, and we should not forget that our local coffee shops are so enjoyable because the "commuters" are all over at starbucks! i myself am enjoying some dark roast and free wifi only two blocks from my home... ahhhhhh.>

This caused some people to call me a hypocrite, but the fact that we can't always live up to our ideals doesn't invalidate them.

Well said, Rod, but three quick things that are probably rooted with my oldest questions and objections:

1) I've yet to see an argument that the ideals of neo-traditionalism are, in fact, valid.

2) If the ideals themselves are internally inconsistent -- such as when the crunchy ideals weirdly support both community and the isolation of home-schooling and dietary self-sufficiency -- then the ideals might just be invalid.

3) You do clearly fall so friggin' short of the ideals you espouse: not only being addicted to broadband, but also playing Disney-produced DVD's on your laptop while your wife's recovering, and listening to French music on your iPod while cradling your newborn. Since your swimming in hypocrisy, perhaps you should have been more humble about others before you accused mainstream conservatives of being insincere in their faith and being idolators of wealth and power, or before you accused rank-and-file Republicans of being homophobes for holding the exact same position you do on redefining marriage.

Your hypocrisy does leave open the question of whether the ideals of crunchy conservatism are valid in the first place. Your hypocrisy at least leaves open the possibility that those ideals are themselves inconsistent and therefore invalid.

And, combined with your Christian faith, your hypocrisy requires more humility in criticizing others for living in suburbs and shopping at Wal-Mart. Mote and speck, Rod.>

Rod, I'm by no means the only one who's been critical or at least skeptical of your book and theses. You may have good reasons for ignoring me personally: why have you never even approached in public the substance of people like Gilbert Meilaender, Kevin Holtsberry, or Jonah Goldberg?

But if you do have good reasons to ignore me, you don't give them here. Yes, I didn't finish your book; part of the reason was, the same week I was trying to stomach the unsubstantiated insults that your book hurls at mainstream conservatives, you started the nonsense about how Republicans are homophobes for agreeing with you. At any rate, I've never read your book; you've apparently never responded substantively to criticism. Let's just call it even on who's arguing in bad faith, shall we?

As for the other reason, I wasn't "quick" to presume your withholding your move to Orthodoxy was related to the release of your book in paperback: I just noted that its release date coincided with the mysterious "professional" reason for keeping that conversion a secret, and I acknowledged the possibility of being wrong even before I noted that coincidence. But, again, we can call this even as -- EVEN NOW -- you seem pretty damn quick to reach the worst possible conclusions about me, attributing my being here to a "weird obsession."

AND I NOTICE YOU DO NOT EVEN ONCE ACKNOWLEDGE THE SUBSTANCE OF WHAT I JUST WROTE.

That's the difference between us: I actually take seriously what you write; I disagree with it, but I have substantive reasons for doing so. You not only refuse to take seriously what I write, you don't even take seriously your own words. You don't defend your positions, and you impugn as obsessed those who dare expect a professional writer and newspaper editor to do so.

"This is just a blog, I'm just a writer," et cetera.

You wonder why I'm still here? Give me a reason to leave: explain why I should give you a free pass on such unprofessional behavior, or start behaving professionally.>

It is, by the way, amazing the amount of time you and other people have for mean spirited attacks on one person. Though it is kind of cute and maybe even a little heartwarming how you've created a whole little online community for doing so.>

Amen Brother Bubba, Amen to that!!>

Rod,
A heads up here, as much as I enjoy your blog it's frustrating to be able to see your updated posts only intermittently. I'm posting this here only because it's the latest posting I can see. What's up with beliefnet's system?
Peter>

I've been seeing this post as the top one off and on as well. Yesterday I saw some newer entries, yesterday evening (PST) and today this has been the top. Better get the geeks on the case...>