March 2008 Archives

Writing about, reviewing, and discussing a book written by a friend who is also your boss is a no-win proposition. If you are too kind to the book you will be accused of being a suck up. If you are too harsh a demotion must be feared. And since you know that your boss friend is going to be reading it you can't get away with thinking, "Well, maybe he just won't notice."

That's why I am going to do some posts on my friend Steve Waldman's new book Founding Faith: Providence, Politics, and the Birth of Religious Freedom in America.

First this note - buy the book. Please, please, please by the book. Buy it here. But it there. Buy it everywhere. The more copies that Steve sells from this post the more likely I am to keep my job. And today my nine-month-old son ate five jars of baby food for breakfast. That stuff is expensive. I need the work. BUY THE BOOK. Buy it for family members and the postman. Of course I am being objective. It is the greatest work of non fiction since... since... Steve Waldman's last book, The Bill. I would not lie.

Ok, time to be serious.

It IS a great book. And, much to Steve's surprise, one of the things that I like most about it is that it is a profoundly spiritual book... a profoundly Christian book.

I'll write more about other parts of the book... and I actually hope to get John DiIulio here so that he and Steve can debate some of the historical and legal aspects of both of their books. But I want to focus on one particularly prophetic thing Steve notes towards the end of the book.

"One of the reasons that men such as Isaac Backus and John Leland, and ultimately, [James] Madison embraced separation of church and state was that they had supreme confidence that, in a free marketplace of ideas, their religion would win. ...I can hear Backus shout: How tepid is your faith if you think it can be easily shaken without constant reinforcement by a government-run school! How ineffective must be the churches - and parents - if you rely on the public schools as the only way to keep your children away from depravity! Crutches are for the weak or ill. Backus and Leland would exhort: God does not need the support of government to triumph.

When Jefferson was preparing for a debate over the official church of Virginia, he made a simple notation about a common objection and the answer he would offer up in rebuttal:

Obj. Religion will decline if not supported And. Gates of Hell shall not prevail.... [from Matthew 16:18]

"How is it," Waldman asks, "that even Jefferson seemed to have more confidence in the power of Christianity to defeat the forces of evil than many modern Christians?"

Good question that. Particularly coming from a non-Christian.

The answer is that too many modern Christians do have a dim, dim view of the transformative power of their faith. Too many modern Christians - like me - do not really grasp the meaning of the resurrection, the meaning of the ascension, and the continuing power of Jesus to transform lives. We look to government and to politics and there, we are tempted to believe, we can usher in the kingdom by law rather than by love.

That is just one small, small takeaway from Waldman's book... from Rev. Waldman's book.

More to come.

I just finished reading two pieces on Obama and Wright. One was by Richard Land, the other by Rod Dreher.

The pieces were on different topics - Land's more general, about the speech and about race, Dreher's more specific, about the apparent hypocrisy of Rev. Wright's luxurious living with his messages.

But the difference was deeper than the topics. The difference was a difference of tone. Land's was humble and thoughtful and kind. It was the kind of piece that moves a discussion forward by alienating no one, by casting no stones.

I hope my writing and my thinking can have that same graciousness.

John McCain is under attack from Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in a rare moment of Democratic unity.

In an economic speech on Tuesday, McCain (Ariz.) said he supports government assistance for Americans facing home foreclosure because of the turmoil in financial markets. But he declined to embrace the kind of government intervention for individuals and institutions favored by Clinton and Obama, arguing that "it is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers."

Is McCain really wrong?

I don't know.

Certainly if his attitude was that the government had no real responsibility to the economy or to suffering people he was wrong. But I don't think that was his point. I think his point had to do with responsibility as well.

One of the vital lessons of life is that actions have consequences. It is not hard-hearted to say that. We teach it to our kids. We've all learned it ourselves. If I eat too much - as I have been doing - I will gain weight. If I gain weight there are potential health consequences. If I develop heart problems because of my diet, well bad on me. I would hope that doctors still treat me. I would hope that my family would help me. But at the end of the day I would have to face the fact that I brought it on myself.

Similarly, if I go credit card crazy buying a bass boat and an HDTV and a vacation to Guam, and don't have the money to pay my bills, that would be an exercise in irresponsibility and the blame would be squarely on my shoulders.

If that happens, is it really the government's responsibility to take care of me?

If I buy a house that is way beyond my ability to pay for it and suddenly I can't afford to make payments anymore isn't that my fault? Sure, people may have enticed me into buying the house but then again drug pushers would also like to get me to try crack.

Is it the government's job to bail me out?

I don't think so.

The more that government behaves like it is the answer - bailing out corporations or individuals who have behaved irresponsibly - the more it sends precisely the wrong messages to people... the message that actions do not have consequences.

The more that message is sent the less incentive there is for people to behave, to live, responsibly... AND, more importantly, the less incentive there is for people to actively engage in each others lives. Why should they? The government will do it.

We are addicted to government. We are in danger of believing that government really is the answer to most questions. It isn't. Increasingly we bow before a Messiah Government that will save us from all of our problems. In so doing we miss the true power of the true God.

Churches should be at the forefront of caring for people who are struggling. People of faith should be there helping to pick up the pieces of broken lives.

There is SO much wealth in this country. There is SO much wealth in our churches - one local church recently spent more than $100 million on its new compound. $100 million. It didn't really have too much of a problem raising that kind of money. How much more could it, should it, raise to help people pay their mortgages? To help people reorder their broken lives?

Compassion literally means to "suffer with." I think we need a bit more compassion and a bit less of Messiah Government.

From Mark Helprin in The New York Times, a way to end the genocide in the Sudan... yesterday:

DESPITE almost 1.5 million bombing sorties flown against Germany during the Second World War, the United States and Britain failed for lack of trying to destroy the system of transport that fed the gas chambers and crematoria. Thirty-five years later, America did not, despite its unquestioned naval supremacy, protect the Vietnamese boat people. That we and our two allies capable of projecting power, France and Britain, are now distracted and divided by the wars in the Middle East is terribly unfortunate for the people of Darfur....

The genocide there is thus an unattended stepchild left to well-meaning groups and individuals who further sap the possibility of decisive action by directing attention to delicate measures of relief and equally fragile diplomacy. Blankets are necessary, but they will not stop the razing of villages. As Sudan brazenly defies, if not the world’s will, then, its wishes, and the death toll closes upon half a million, the pity is that the people of Darfur can in fact be saved. In concert with our allies or entirely alone, we have the military potential to accomplish this.

Although Darfur is part of Sudan, it is physically distant from the country’s heartland and sources of military power. Every inch of the 600 miles of barren territory between Khartoum and the killing grounds is an opportunity for a reprieve commanded by American air power — with not a boot on the ground. The Sudanese military in Darfur can be trapped there without sustenance, to wither or retreat as the bulk of Sudanese forces are kept out. And the janjaweed can be denied tangible support merely by severing the few extenuated routes of supply.

Why are we waiting another day?

Rumor - and Bon Appetite magazine - have it that DiFara Pizza at 1424 Avenue J in Brooklyn, NY may have the world's best pizza...

...anyone had it?

Carlos' wife, Heather, writes of seeing Matt and Jefferson for the first time from a different perspective: We get seated, the music starts and the girls and I begin to grove. Then it happens, I see them. A couple cuddling...

What does Jesus look like? He looks like this: My only question is which one is he? The reality is that Jesus is both. Jesus is the poor and the broken and lonely and the lost. Jesus is the lover...

Charles Murray has written a longer piece about the Obama speech. It is definitely worth reading: I understand how naïve it is to read a presidential candidate’s speech as if it were anything except political positioning, but that leads...

Anna Grace has been sponsored by Eliot Ware. Thank you Eliot. I am so excited, so thrilled, so happy. I had been checking all day long to see if anyone had sponsored her and when I saw that Eliot...

Anne Rice has posted an extraordinary essay on her faith. Click here for the full text. Here are some key excerpts: Look: I believe in Him. It’s that simple and that complex. I believe in Jesus Christ, the Second...

Welcome to the most wonderful day of the year. Happy Easter. Get rowdy, get merry, pop the champagne and party and party and party. This is Easter. This is the day the universe changed. Easter. Think about it. Dead....

There are more than 270 Compassion International kids in Uganda waiting for someone to sponsor them. Anna Grace is one of them. Can any of you guys sponsor her? UPDATE Sunday evening - Anna Grace has been sponsored! Thank you...

I'm writing my Good Friday post on Saturday. Considering that we haven't yet sent out our Christmas cards I'm way ahead of schedule. The post begins on Wednesday. My phone buzzes while I am in a business meeting. It...

Rod Dreher has written something beautiful about Holy Week and Jeremiah Wright... please read: I bring all this up because I am bothered by the idea that the Rev. Jeremiah Wright passes off his hatred of oppressors as somehow...

These are scary days. A minister says something, some things, that are reprehensible, awful. Because he is the minister to a presidential candidate the things are elevated, scrutinized, analyzed. Does the candidate share the minister's views? Is the candidate...

If you haven't seen this, watch Mike Huckabee talk about Sen. Obama's speech and Rev. Wright's remarks: Particularly important is this paragraph: ...And one other thing I think we've got to remember: As easy as it is for those of...

I've watched the speech again in its entirety and I am more blown away by it than I was the first time around. There are few political speeches in the last 50 years that are its equal and fewer...

Noted conservative thinker and author Charles Murray writes this about Obama's speech: I read the various posts here on "The Corner," mostly pretty ho-hum or critical about Obama's speech. Then I figured I'd better read the text (I tried to...

I joke a lot about my race. My father is Chinese. My mother is American. I like to say that I had a unique upbringing - that I was raised on tofu and grits. Or, since I am a...

Jim Wallis is all over this: There is a deep well of both frustration and anger in the African American community in the U.S. And those feelings are borne of the concrete experience of real oppression, discrimination, and blocked...

The day before I flew to Uganda I ended up at Holy Trinity Brompton in London where I heard this song, Happy Day, by their worship leader Tim Hughes. It stuck in my head throughout the trip. The words and...

Ross Douthat is a scary smart human... read his post on sexual morality....

Looking around at all the stunningly bad economic news, I bring back for your reading pleasure a post I wrote March 14, 2007... my fears about our Yertle economy......

From Rod Dreher in response to my suggestion that Obama doesn't need a big speech addressing Jeremiah Wright: Whether it's fair to Obama or not, I think that's whistling past the graveyard. David Broder was correct this morning when he...

One of the biggest problems in modern American Christianity is the "church-hopping" phenomenon. People stay in churches for a certain period of time, get bored, find someplace new and repeat. I am a perfect example of this problem. I've been...

All of a sudden the blogs are silent. Those blogs that have been humming and screaming all day long about the terrible, horrible, awful, no good, very bad things that Rev. Jeremiah Wright has said are quiet. Why? Sen....

Rev. Jeremiah Wright is just another political rorschach test. My very conservative white evangelical friends - friends who smile and say, "golly" when someone like the late Jerry Falwell said gays and abortionists and people who had them were...

Watch this: Meet them: Go here and get addicted to being a micro banker for the world's working poor....

Ahhh, the age old question - why would a powerful, loving God allow bad things to happen to good people? Or, more simply - why does God allow suffering? The ancients and the moderns have written eloquently on these issues....

Well this is something worth writing about. Today in Mississippi (I do love spelling that state), Sen. Obama smacked down Hillary Clinton's utter arrogance at suggesting he be vice president on her ticket. “Now first of all with all...

I am having such trouble writing these days... commenting on politics feels about as worthwhile as commenting on the nearest pre-school playground fight, commenting on God seems WAY above my spiritual level... so I am glad to be able to...

I did the following review for NPR's All Things Considered today. I'm excited about it because it is one of the best things I've written in a long time. I'm more excited because it almost (almost) does justice to...

Much ink (actual and virtual) has been spilled this campaign season about how the Clinton legacy is impacted by Hillary's run. A win obviously does wonders for it - the first husband and wife ever to be elected. The...

As I write Ohio and Texas are too close to call for the Democrats. Commentators in ever media medium are saying the same thing in different words - wow, we don't have a clue. But to the American people,...

What if America's ministers and parachurch leaders got together and published an article confessing their failures as spiritual leaders - their misplaced priorities, their idolatry of politics? Well, it has been done before. I found this at Pure Church...

Late last year U2 quietly (for them) released a previously unfinished song from their Joshua Tree about the trip Bono and Ali took to Ethiopia during the famine in the mid-1980s. Stunning....

Thanks to my two older mun-chickens (that's 'muchkins' as heard by some Ugandan children) for helping me put my head on straight......