Month: July 2007

Harry Potter Speculations

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I went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix today (my one movie of the season). While it didn’t follow the book exactly, I thought it was a good version nonetheless. We got to see Professor Umbridge in her full make you squirm in your seat portrayal of evil. She is to me the most loathsome and scary “bad guy” in the whole series because unlike fantastical dark lords, she is utterly real. Even with all her tacky pink clothing, decorative plates with cat pictures, and sugary teas she represents to me the worst sorts of evil present in educational philosophies, child development theories, and unthinking “the government is always right” patriotism. Her character makes me seriously physically uncomfortable. I think its because I know too many people that resemble her…

But we are just about a week away from the long awaited conclusion to the series – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Now some idiots planned a thing called the Midwest Emergent Gathering that same weekend, so I can’t dress up in my Professor Trelawney costume and join the crowds celebrating its release nor start reading it at 12:01AM Saturday the 21st and not stop until I am done. No, I will patiently have to wait a full day before I can start reading it (and yes Mike I get it first!!!). But in the meantime, I have my own speculations as to what will occur.

The two big questions swirling around the book are – Can Snape be trusted? and Will Harry die? I personally have to go with Dumbledore and say that Snape can be trusted. I think in the end he will prove himself to be on the side of good. My thought is that Snape will end up sacrificing himself to save Harry. But as for Harry’s fate, that a harder one to call. It would wrap things up nicely to have Harry die (and stop the call for sequels) and allow Harry to reunite in some form of the afterlife with his parents and Sirius Black. But it would require killing one of the most beloved characters in children’s literature. So unless Rowling can pull off a better “heaven” than C.S Lewis did at the end of The Last Battle, she will have some really disturbed kids to deal with. (and would she really want to be telling children that death is a good way to get back together with your parents who have died?) I also think that perhaps we will see in the end that Harry isn’t really all that important. He has been a celebrity in the wizarding community his whole life and everyone places so much faith in his ability to destroy Voldemort, so it would be nice in a way to have him discover that he is just an “ordinary” boy. I personally think that the “prophecy” (either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives) actually refers to Neville Longbottom (as has been hinted at) and not Harry. So I think Neville will be the one to eventually defeat Voldemort (and possibly be killed in the process). That is unless Rowling works in some possible means of redeeming Voldemort. Anything could happen then. (although I do think there will be some redemption for the Dursley’s, for Petunia at least).

Of course I could be way off base. But it’s fun to speculate. And to point you to a much more thoughtful set of predictions, I’ll send you to Alan Jacob’s thoughts over at Books and Culture. It was Dr. Jacobs who first introduced me to Harry Potter by assigning Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (just beginning to gain popularity in the USA at the time) as required reading in my literature Senior Seminar class. Harry Potter was our selection for studying the pleasures of reading. And what a pleasant adventure it has been.

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SynchroBlog on Utopia: Being Content in the Present

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The Bright Field
by R. S. Thomas

I have seen the sun break through
to illuminate a small field
for a while, and gone my way
and forgotten it. But that was the pearl
of great price, the one field that had
treasure in it. I realize now
that I must give all that I have
to possess it. Life is not hurrying

on to a receeding future, nor hankering after
an imagined past. It is the turning
aside like Moses to the miracle
of the lit bush, to a brightness
that seemed as transitory as your youth
once, but is the eternity that awaits you.

So this is my first contribution to the SynchroBlog community. I always enjoy reading the posts this group puts out and am glad for the chance to contribute. And as luck would have it (another strange serendipitous occurrence), this month’s topic is one that is closely related to my recent musings on sacred places and the longing for home – Utopia.

Back in the summer of 1998, I participated in my college’s study abroad program in England and Ireland. Basically I got to spend the whole summer reading great literature, visiting literary places, and discussing literary things. It was in its own indulgent way – heaven. We spent one afternoon wandering around Coole Park – the rich lush gardens where Irish poets (like Yeats) would come to escape from it all. A number of us expressed our delight at being in nature after a few weeks in Dublin. (a heartfelt sentiment from a number of us girls especially, who after being sexually attacked on one of our first nights there decided to remain in our dorms rooms after dark each night. We never got dinner and life was rather dull). Prompted by our expressions of contentment and the nature of the setting, one of our professors sat the group down in the middle of a field to discuss the temptations of Arcadia and Utopia. There are those who long for edenic Arcadia – to return to the innocence of nature and be content in a natural paradise. This of course was the appeal of Coole Park for those poets (and us college girls) wishing to escape Dublin. Then there are others who seek perfection through progress in the creation of Utopia – the master city as it were. We were warned that day of the dangers in either temptation and instructed in the need to place our hope in Heaven alone.

I see the dangers of centering our hope in Arcadia or Utopia, or Nostalgia and Progress as it were, but I can’t just sooth such longings with the opiate of escapism. We are rooted beings existing here and now on this earth. That is why I love R.S. Thomas’ poem The Bright Field. Perhaps the rugged Welsh landscapes breeds a different sort of poet than the Irish, but Thomas calls for a centering in and celebration of the present. “Life is not hurrying onto a receeding future, or hankering after an imagined past.” It is not dreaming of idyllic days in Arcadia or pursuing the construction of Utopia, but finding contentment in living life day to day. That is real life – where the passion, the love, the hard work, and the sorrows commingle. Thomas found that contentment in the present in his role as a parish priest in rural Wales – as difficult as it could be at times.

Instead of seeking God in the past or future, we need to turn aside like Moses to the burning bush and see God in the present. I love how Elizabeth Gilbert describes this need in her book Eat, Pray, Love. She writes, “Like most humanoids, I am burdened with what Buddhists call the “monkey mind” – the thoughts that swing from limb to limb, stopping only to scratch themselves, spit and howl… [the] problem with all this swinging through the vines of thought is that you are never where you are. You are always digging in the past or poking at the future, but rarely do you rest in the moment… if you are looking for union with the divine, this kind of forward/backward whirling is a problem. There’s a reason they call God a presence – because God is right here, right now.”

I remember in my youth being taught that certain parts of the Bible (like the sermon on the mount) didn’t matter because they would only be fulfilled in Heaven (the Kingdom of God). My whole worldview shifted when I encountered emerging thought that paid attention to the “kingdom of heaven is among you” verses. If God’s Kingdom is a present reality, life become so much more than a longing for the past or future (Arcadia or Utopia). Living in God’s presence is an everyday occurrence. We don’t have to wait for a future perfect Utopia, but can live in the Kingdom now. It’s an overwhelming idea.

The difficulty of course is understanding how exactly that plays out in each person’s life. There are places on this earth that do seem like an Arcadia (fewer that resemble Utopia). Are these sacred places just meant to be places of refreshment and respite? And what about being content in one’s present place? Is it just a matter of the will to find contentment whatever one’s circumstances, or is the longing for “home” actually God calling a person to where she can serve God best? Are all of our desires for Arcadia and Utopia just a longing for a far off heaven, a call to follow God’s kingdom now, or God pushing us to where we are meant to be?

Read other SynchroBlog Entries at –
Steve Hayes at Notes from the Underground
John Morehead at John Morehead’s Musings
Nudity, Innocence, and Christian Distopia at Phil Wyman’s Square No More
Utopia Today: Living Above Consumerism at Be the Revolution
Nowhere Will Be Here at Igneous Quill
A This-Worldly Faith at Elizaphanian
Bridging the Gap at Calacirian
The Ostrich and the Utopian Myth at Decompressing Faith
Being Content in the Present at One Hand Clapping
Eternity in their Hearts by Tim Abbott
Relationship – The catch-22 of the Internet Utopia at Jeremiah’s Blog
U-topia or My-topia? at On Earth as in Heaven
A SecondLife Utopia at Mike’s Musings
Mrs. Brown and the Kingdom of God at Eternal Echoes

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Local Art to be Destroyed

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A Chicago suburbs landmark, an art instillation called the “Spindle” is facing destruction. Known to the rest of the world from its appearance in the movie “Wayne’s World,” this Berwyn (not Aurora) sculpture consists of eight cars impaled on a silver spike. And it is facing destruction to make room for a Walgreens. Yes, a Walgreens. One of those freestanding drugstores that in a conspiracy theory sort of way have started appearing on the corners of every major intersection in America. And so now instead of merely tearing down local businesses and family owned farm, Walgreens is attacking local art.

I know that the Berwyn sculpture gets a mixed reaction from the locals. Many see it as local icon, a very visible landmark for their city. Its odd, but that’s part of its appeal. Others take the yuppie route saying that its an eyesore that detracts from the beauty of their community. It’s odd and different so therefore it’s bad. They’re also probably the sort of people who complain if the neighbor’s kids leave their toys in the front yard or for other random assaults on their suburban assumptions of beauty and order. The same sort of people as those who called the Eiffel Tower and eyesore and demanded its removal. (obviously I have no opinion on this issue).

So it will be interesting to see how this story unfolds. Will the quirky local art be saved or will it be pushed aside by the rich corporation?

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Empowering Women with the Millennium Development Goals

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This year marks the halfway mark for the Millennium Development Goals. The eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015 – form a blueprint agreed to by all the world’s countries and all the world’s leading development institutions. They have galvanized unprecedented efforts to meet the needs of the world’s poorest.

Well it’s 2007 and we are halfway to 2015. As aid groups are saying, “its halftime and this isn’t a game we can afford to lose.” But even though we are halfway there in regards to time, the goals are not halfway met. There has been progress, but not of the leaps and bounds kind. What is being found though is that we are seeing advances in Goal #3 – promoting gender equality and empowering women. That’s not to say that rampant oppression of women doesn’t still exist, but that in certain areas women are being empowered.

From reports I heard at the Jubilee Conference what is occurring is that in so-called developing nations women are becoming a more visible presence in politics. They are taking seats in Parliaments, being appointed to government positions, and occasionally even ruling countries. In fact the percentage of women in high level government positions is the same in sub-Saharan Africa as it is in the USA. Granted that percentage is still under 20%, but apparently that is huge progress. What is even more interesting is that it is being reported that the general population’s acceptance of women in positions of authority is much higher in those countries than it is in the USA. Over here we are still quibbling over whether or not a woman or a black man can be president and these other countries are just doing it.

So here’s to empowering women. May this goal be met and surpassed around the world and here in the States.

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Thin Places

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As I continue to ponder the idea of sacred places and a longing for home, I keep coming back to the Celtic idea of “thin places.” CAOL AIT – spots in the world where the physical world and the spiritual world come close, the barrier between them is thin. This idea often refers to holy sites, but also refers to in-between places and times (dawn, dusk, forest edges, the seashore). Apparently in these landscapes that are not quite one thing or another the spirit world has an easier time breaking through. As much as I find the concept of thin places appealing, I’m not entirely sure what I really think.

I remember hearing a very evangelical pastor say in a sermon once that dusk was useless. At dusk one has neither the light of day or the darkness of night, so its obviously useless. My reaction to his words was to invoke the Celtic ideas of thin places – dusk is an in-between time, the time when the fey and fairies enter our world, a time when magic can happen! Not that I necessarily believe in faeries, just in the beauty of the concept. I like the idea of there being specific places or times where one finds it easier to connect with spiritual things, but I also have some theological issues with it.

If I don’t believe in a gnostic dualism that separates the physical and the spiritual and I think that God is present everywhere, how can there exist “thin places”? Would not all places and all times be equally as conducive to spiritual experiences? That is what I’ve always been taught – one can pray whenever and wherever. Pray in the car, pray while you run. One can even apparently find God in a state of the art, aesthetically empty, contemporary church. God truly is everywhere. But even with that theologically concept firmly in my mind, I still see evidence of “thin places.”

Certain circumstances and specific places are known to help people connect with God. Is it all just psychological, and if so what does it really matter? If escaping from the ordinary to a special place helps one put aside the clutter in one’s mind that crowds out God, then yes, God is more accessible in that place. If a person feels more at home – more at peace- in a certain physical location, then yes, they will mostly likely be able to experience God there. So is it just the results of our collective unconscious or consensual imagination that have us all naming the same places as functional “thin places” for us all? Is that how sacred places are formed?

I know I’m just thinking aloud here. And that these are only lighthearted musings in my attempts to reconcile my theology with my romanticism. But there is too much truth in both approaches for this to be a clear either/or. I see this in the resurgence of contemplative practices and experiential worship practiced in many emerging churches. The answers are more complex than many of us protestants were taught to believe. So I will continue to ponder and occasionally think aloud.

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Cycles of Violence

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I’ve been following the story the past couple of days of the kidnapping of Margaret Hill in Nigeria. A three year old girl was kidnapped on her way to school and is being held for ransom. Officials are decrying the act as evil and calling for the immediate return of the girl. And while I fully agree that this is an atrocious act, I wish the full history behind this kidnapping would be part of the typical news story. This isn’t just about a random kidnapping for money. This was done by what is assumed to be a disposed tribal group demanding reparations for ruined land and stolen resources. The child is the daughter of a UK citizen who has profited from the oil business in Nigeria.

Brief history here. Very, very brief. The British Empire colonized what is now Nigeria and often used force to do so. They eventually formed Nigeria from pieces of four independent kingdoms. After Nigeria gained independence, the remains of those ancient tribes vied for power and survival. Series of dictators made themselves rich by selling land belonging to other tribes but with new found oil reserves to large multinational companies. These companies (Shall, Chevron) were known to support the military regimes of these dictators and are implicated in the deaths of activists who opposed the path being taken by their country. These oil companies devastated natural environments and often (with government help) imposed forced relocations of native peoples off of oil rich lands. In the 1990’s protest groups formed to speak out against the rape of the land by the oil companies. The native tribes wanted to continue in their way of life, but their fishing economy was ruined by pollution or they were forced to move to land with poor soil. They also received no wealth from the oil taken from their native lands. Early protest was peaceful and focused on diplomacy and discussion. Much of it was led by women as well. It was generally met with violence. Then more militant groups formed that used violence to end the control of the land by the oil companies. Kidnappings of oil executives involved ransom demands – so that the people of Nigeria could share in the wealth taken from their lands. Then there were bombs to destroy pipelines and cripple the multinational companies. This is the story that this kidnapping is situated in. I don’t condone the violence of that act just like I don’t condone the violence perpetrated by the oil companies or the dictators or the British Empire – I just want the full story told. Everything is connected as the saying goes. This event must be understood as part of a long chain of events. Perhaps then the cycles of violence can end and a better world be formed.

We are discussing this issue in church today as we examine the Parable of the Tenants and the life of Samson. In those stories we see the ugly cycles of unbroken violence. One offense is met with violence which leads to more violence and so forth. Excuses are given and revenge is demanded. It is an ingrained concept in our culture. We cheer in movies like Braveheart or The Patriot when revenge is consummated. We care less about the defeat of evil than we do about extracting punishment on someone who has hurt or offended us. And we care even less about trying to resolve differences without resorting to violence. Our imaginations are so limited and our hatred so strong that to hurt others far too often is the first and only response. Cycles are hard to break. And often those who seek a better way are silenced with violence. Christ warned his followers that they could expect as much, but still urged them to pursue the way of peace. Perhaps if his followers had listened to his words a couple hundred years ago as colonization of Nigeria began or fifty years ago when oil was discovered there, a little three year old girl would not be in such dire circumstances right now.

Update – Margaret has been released

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New Seven Wonders of the World

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7-7-7
The day has arrived. Apparently the rapture is supposed to happen today. More weddings are planned for today than any other day in history (Mike’s doing one tonight). And since I’ve been blogging on the process of this for the past couple of years – two millennia after the Greeks created their list, the New Seven Wonder of the World have finally been announced. After the casting of millions of worldwide votes and much controversy, a new list for promoting tourism is in. Of course Egypt insisted that the Pyramids be removed from the voting list since it is an absurd insult to have one of the ancients wonders being voted on. So they were removed and are considered an honorary wonder, whatever. The Vatican is bitching that the list has an anti-Christian bias because the Sistine Chapel wasn’t included. Oh and India was insisting that the reason the Taj Mahal wouldn’t make the top seven is because most rich Westerners (who hate other countries) voted with their expensive internet accounts and poor Indians couldn’t vote or be educated that such a beautiful structure even exists (guess it wasn’t an issue after all). If the whole thing is a marketing and tourism scheme to get people more aware of history and to go visit these places (and provide funds to help maintain these sites), does it really matter if the perception is that most of the votes came from the West? That’s strange because part of the point of this was to raise awareness of worldwide wonders (as opposed to the Greek’s list that were all in the Mediterranean). And the truth is that most of the West didn’t really care. Other countries had huge mobilization campaigns to get out and vote – promoting their country’s wonder (like setting up voting terminals and waving phone fees for votes). Since when do American’s care about anything but ourselves anyway (and it was obvious that the only American structure on the list, the Statue of Liberty, had no chance of winning ever).

Anyway enough talk, the results are more interesting. After an Olympic style ceremony celebrating all of this with a lot of international celebrities I’ve never heard of (I so don’t keep up with Bollywood or European soccer), the official New Seven Wonders of the World are –

The Pyramid of Chichen Itza
The Great Wall of China
Christ the Redeemer Statue
Machu Picchu
Petra
Roman Colosseum
Taj Mahal

Read more about it here.

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Gurus, Mentors, and Guides

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I’ve recently started reading Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and am thoroughly enjoying it. The book is a chronicle of the year the author spent traveling to Italy, India, and Indonesia. The stories are witty and the musings about life, love, language, faith and food are well worth the read. One bit that struck me today was her description of following a guru. That’s right a guru. She went to an ashram in India to study under a particular guru. The author fully admits how weird such a thing sounds to our American sensibilities. To put something as personal and private as our faith into the hands of another person is not a normal part of our typically protestant experience. In fact we look down on people who follow gurus as deluded hippies (or something of that sort). And yet the author overcame all of those stereotypes, found a guru, and went to India to study her way of yoga. Interesting.

Besides a few painful classes at the community rec center, I have never done much yoga (not that I wouldn’t like to try) and any that I have done has been of the strictly physical sort (hatha yoga I think it is). I am not looking for a yoga guru (although apparently there were a number of Christians at the ashram), but the concept itself is appealing.

A guru. A mentor. A guide.

All good things even to us protestant believers. I think the issues arise when the concept of a person attracting a following comes into play. That scares us. We shy away from personality cults, fear leaders being placed on pedestals, and ignore whatever a person has to say if they get too popular. I see all the dangers in such things, but should someone be dismissed as a guide just because a lot of other people see them as a potential guide as well? If they have the ability to inspire, teach, and mentor is it really all that bad to want to study under them? I see this all the time in the emerging church. For just reading McLaren or listening to Rob Bell, I am told that I care more about them than about God. So respecting someone as a teacher and wanting to learn from them means I worship them above God? Oh, I’ve seen personality cults form and devotion that borders on idolatry even in the emerging church (and yes even of those two men). But can’t I desire to learn from a person I respect without being accused of idol worship? There has to be a balance there.

So, why am I rambling and ruminating about such things. I think I’m just frustrated in my inability to find a person I can see as a mentor. Oh there are a number of authors, pastors, and bloggers that I respect and look to for a sort of guidance. I greatly appreciate that input in my life. But unlike in the yoga guru system, such leaders wouldn’t dream of taking on disciples (especially not a woman, but that’s another issue). I could pay a lot of money for a spiritual director, but while she may function as a guide, the personal connection gets mired in the business transaction. It is an odd predicament of wanting a mentor, but not knowing anyone who could fit that role. I think that’s why I liked reading about the concept of following a guru. There’s this ready made system in place where one can choose a person to guide them who has no issues taking on pupils/disciples. It’s a very convenient method of mentorship.

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Eight Random Things

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As I continue to post silly personal things…

So Mike tagged me in the 8 Random Things About Me Meme. I think he did it with malicious glee since he hates the things. The official rules for this one are –

The rules of getting tagged are simple. If you get tagged…

* Post eight random facts about yourself.
* Tag eight other bloggers (hopefully those who haven’t been tagged before).
* Post these rules.

I always feel really stupid trying to think of eight (or seven or five) facts about myself. So I tried to think up a theme to play along with. I toyed with the idea of crazy stuff that has happened to me in foreign places (mugged in Naples, car stolen in Barcelona, certain incidents with tequila in Cancun), but there weren’t quite enough to make eight (that I am willing to share). I already did the seven books I’m reading now one and a list of my favorite books would just be too hard. But I like the book theme. So I’m going to go with the “Eight Female Fictional Characters that I have Most Wanted to Be.” Okay, I’m sure that it says something weird about my personality and that I have serious issues that I want to be like characters in books, but I do it anyway (and not all of these are from when I was a kid!). I never wanted to be the typical choices either. All my friends when I was a kid went around pretending to be Princess Leia, Anne of Green Gables, or Madonna (yes it was the 80’s), but I chose lesser known characters to emulate. (I probably would have wanted to be like Anne of Green Gables, but I think I was too much like her to begin with…)

So here my list of really cool female characters I aspired to be –

1. Betsy. There are two types of women in the world. Those who grew up loving the Betsy/Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace and those who have never heard of them. I would check these books out of the library over and over again during my childhood (they have since been reprinted so I have my own copies now). Set in pre-WW1 Minnesota, they tell the story of a girl, Betsy, as she grows up and sees her world expand into the modern era. She is outgoing and loves to write. Her experiences as a teenager, falling in love, and traveling abroad shaped my conceptions of life. Part of me truly thought that high school would hold dances where one filled out dance cards and selected who one danced the waltz with. Or that hanging out with friends for entertainment involved reading Shakespeare, writing stories, and singing around a piano. I think I was most shocked by traveling to Europe when I was 12 and realizing that it was a modern as the USA. Not that I really expected different, but the descriptions I had come to know through reading Betsy and the Great World were ingrained in my mind. I loved Betsy because she was a writer – my dream as a child. She also had no limits. She was encouraged to live life fully – to pursue her dreams, to travel, to follow her heart. I wanted to grow up and be like her.

2. Meg from A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. Another go to again and again book from my childhood. Meg was smart, but not in the way that fit the system. I always did exactly what was expected of me and did it well. I wanted to do more than that – to be creatively intelligent and find myself on adventures. Meg wasn’t a fearless hero, but she never gave up and did things out of a love for her family.

3. Aerin from The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley. The quirky misfit princess who trains herself to become a dragonslayer and saved her Kingdom. Although most of my Christian friends have issues with her because of the way her relations play out in the book, I still love her for her courage. She didn’t fit the expectations of a princess and never gave up trying to discover who she really was. I love that she broke the mold and took on the most dangerous tasks because she was the only one who could.

4. Vicki Austin from Madeleine L’Engles’ Austin Family books, especially A Ring of Endless Light. So yes, the books about her are total coming of age, discovering oneself, and falling in love books. I so wanted to be Vicki when I was in 5th grade. She was a more normal person than the others on this list, but she got to hang out with family and friends that sat around discussing literature and philosophy. She also got to help do scientific observations of dolphins (this was my I want to be a marine biologist so I can swim with dolphins phase – 5th grade remember…). I wanted a life like hers – full of neat experiences and good conversations.

5. Mara Jade from the Star Wars Expanded Universe created by master Star Wars writer Timothy Zahn. So she is just an awesome, super sexy, totally independent, Jedi Master (who ends up marrying Luke Skywalker). The part of me that wants to be a kick-butt I’m going to save the world type of girl loves Mara Jade (same reason I love Sydney Bristow, but I’m sticking to books here). She’s fun and the exact opposite of my conflict avoiding pacifist nature. But then again if you know me only as Mara Jade from The Ooze, the description sorta fits.

6. Eowyn from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. Another kickbutt girl who is determined to fight for what she believes in. I love her passion even as I understand her uncertainty in who she is as a person (even though I hate the way Tolkien resolved her character in the end – he CANNOT write women). I share her fears of life becoming “A cage. To stay behind bars until use and old age accept them and all chance of valor has gone beyond recall or desire.” She appeals to the part of me that wants to make a difference in this world.

7. Liadan from Son of the Shadows Book 2 of The Sevenwaters Trilogy by Juliet Marillier. This book is a retelling of the Tam Lin tale – a Scottish poem where the damsel rescues the prince. I love most Tan Lin based novels, but mix in Celtic healing lore and ancient tribal factions, and this becomes more than just a feminist love story. The pagany side of me enjoys stories of wise women who are attuned to the earth and the natural power of plants. I like the idea of that sort of connection and would enjoy having that sort of knowledge.

8. Phedre from Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Legacy series. Um. If you’ve read the books, you may understand. If you haven’t, I really don’t want to explain.

Update – The picture is me as Eowyn back in 2003

As for tagging. I’ll leave it open. It you want to be tagged (for 8 Random Things or 8 Characters that you Want To Be…), consider yourself tagged. Just let me know if you decide to continue the meme.

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July 4

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So its Empire Worship Day here in the USA. Now I really don’t have an issue with the idea of a national holiday (Holy Day???) and I generally enjoy the bbqs, ice cream socials, and fireworks. But generally this day is a day of idolatry. Even in our churches pledges are said to a foreign god, hymn are sung to a temporal entity, and our citizenship to this country is promoted far above our citizenship to the Kingdom of God. (this article is a must read each year at this time). So this year it was refreshing for the first time in recent memory not to have to engage in idolatry just because I wanted to attend church around July 4. I will not be attending the local fireworks fest where last year the Rebel flag seemed as prominent as the US flag. I will not be twisting the truth and thanking the troops for my freedom to not have to wear a burka. I will continue to be offended by the “If you can read this in English thank a Vet” and the “Does my American Flag Offend You? Call 1-800- LEAVE THE USA” bumper stickers I’ve seen recently. I will try to avoid the worst displays of civil religion and propaganda. Sure I’ll watch the fireworks (not like my neighbors haven’t been setting some off every night for the last two weeks…), maybe even cook some slab of meat out on the grill but I won’t check my mind, my beliefs, and my values at the door in patriotic fervor.

But I will take the historical perspective and reflect on the Declaration of Independence. It’s interesting to read the full thing (not just the first part) where all the grievances against King George are listed. It’s hard to tell which George they are being leveled against and not so hard to understand why our presence isn’t welcome in Iraq (ht- Benjamin Ady). Included in the list as to why the USA engaged in violent revolution against this tyrant are –

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Happy Fourth of July.

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