Politics in the toilet

Ethics is tricky business. Postmodern Americans struggle with ethical questions. People with conservative ethics, moralists or uninversal ethicists, are denounced as narrow-minded or intolerant. Liberal ethicists, relativists, are viewed as immoral weaklings. In the end the old question of whose right and whose wrong seems to go unanswered. Is nobody right if everybody's wrong? Is anyone right? What is right or wrong? Is it wrong to harm a neighbor? What about war then? Is there such a thing as just war? Are we fighting in one? Is sexuality private or public? Who's sexuality is right? Can one's sexuality be wrong? Can one's gender be wrong? What is the basis for sexual identity and practice? Is it nature or nurture or both? Does anyone know? Is TV good, bad, indifferent? What about technology in general? Does technology that makes a phone a gps, a tv, a dvd player, and an email/internet device really necessary? What if the genius of Steve Jobs went to work to find better ways to fuel vehicles or get clean water to remote African villages or get malaria vaccines to dying children? What if the quality of everyone's life was more important than the next $600.00 gadget?
And then we have the case of the Senator from Idaho caught making odd gestures in a bathroom stall. He pleads guilty to some minor indecency charges, and later regrets the plea. He is being denounced as a sexual criminal and his career may be over. We've seen this story before, haven't we? Middle age white professional with sexual issues of some kind? Happily married with kids. And a salary. And responsibilities to others.
Why do we welcome the sexual exploits of our celebrity entertainers; but deplore the sexual lives of political leaders? Why are moral standards applied differently to different people?
Might it have something to do with a lack of wisdom about the human condition? Are we so unreflective as a human comunity that we cannot understand why we do what we do?
I think the best example of human reflection is in Paul's letter to the Romans in the 7th chapter. he writes, "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate I do." Paul has stumbled on the mystery of the human condition. And he is honest. he doesn't get himself. What is wrong with me? I know the difference and choose to ignore my own mind. I believe that smokers must suspend better, healthier judgment everytime they light up. We know cancer is caused by smoking. Nobody wants to get lung cancer or give it to a loved one. The risk is highly reduced if you quit. So why do people smoke? I don;t understand. All of us are tempted. The world is full of temptation. Why is health less tempting than the ting that cuold kill us, even though it might feel good. Humans.
We are good but not so good. We are lovers who crave the love of others, but can hate with passion. We demand much from life and give little of our own away to improve the lives of others. We are sexual but long to be spiritual. If secular modernity hadn't abandoned the concept of sin as a category, we might be okay. I appreciate the apologetic work of Paul Tillich whose second volume Systematics delves into human nature. Brokenness is the category he uses to describe the state we are in. Maybe if we all got humble enough to know that all of us are in the toilet, then we'd have a new starting ground for conversation. Does a Senator need loving community or God less than Britney Spears. And why do we care if she "rehabs" but hope he goes to hell? is Michael Vick news? ONly because he is a celebrity. Reprehensible behavior knows no bounds. Nor does God's reconciling grace.

dan

I had lunch with a young artist--a philosopher/scholar. He is no scientist. He is no mathematician. he is no businessman. he likes Bach and death metal. he is opinionated and open to other opinions. He is smart and needs to learn a lot more. he is 20. i like remembering 20. I met my wife when I was 20. i spent days reading and discussing religion or history. I spent my nights at Perkins or courting my future wife. A productive day consisted of study, writing, eating, praying, and enjoying friends. Work? Money? Bills? Not on the radar screen. That our western culture tolerates this behavior from young adults is quite bizarre. Maybe that is why colleg eis becoming elite again. a pendulum swing is occuring. It is unhealthy for a society to create a caste of young adults---or mature adolescents. Why? because the one's who might drive culture forward are marginalized by the adult world. a youth culture that is perpetuated a decade beyond what has been normatively accepted as child/adult transition creates a dangerous pattern of irresponsible and overly responsible people. 22 year olds are adults. They ought to be granted adult status. They ought to be taken seriously. dan is serious. and passionate. and ready to take on the world. who am i to prevent that? who are you? baby boomers have inherited responsibility from the last generation of adults who realized adult responsibility at 18. wwII and depression assured that. baby boomers are trying to keep hold of this place of control and power. how? By developing a cultural model that rejects the power of the elder and the passion of youth. why have nursing homes and retirement facilities become such a major industry? why hav child cares and colleges become accepted norms for families? is it not every genrations duty to learn from their elders with humility and respect and to graciously channel the passionate energies of youth in order to build a better world?

vacation and Jesus

There is no such thing as a vacation. At the Jersey Shore, Ocean City, rent one of those surreys with the fringe on top to ride around on the boardwalk. We rented a six seater. Four pedaling adults and two basket-riding children makes for a hilarious photo.
Beach rule # 487: A one-year-old will find ways to retain sand on his small body which cannot be removed, even after several baths. Its easier to picj fleas off a poodle. Trust me.
Beach rule #97: Americans will shamelessly don swimwear made for much smaller bodies. Obesity is an epidemic and so is indecency.
Beach rule #5511: Teenagers are spacially challenged. My wife was beaned with a small, hard plastic ball during a game of paddle ball she was not playing. try reading calmly on the beach while small projectiles are flying toward you. Did it even occur to them that the large, uninhabited area of sand 25 yards to our imemdiate south would have made for much safer paddle ball? Apparently, standing behind my wife and aiming for the area generally recognized as the back of her head seemed like a fine location.

I found it difficult to relax. There was no rest. I do not easily downshift. I think my brain craves stimulation.Or maybe I'm thinking that because I didn't have coffee today. I've been drinking too much coffee, especially in chicago. more about Chicago later...
I did, however, read a great book. Vacation Rule #7: Read a good book, even if yuo have to stay up late. "Rabbi Jesus" by Bruce chilton was the most readable 'historical Jesus' book I've ever read. I appreciated the way he described first century rabbinic life; halakah and khabbalah. The idea that Jesus was a Jewish Kabbalist, a spiritual mystic of sorts, was compelling. Although a stretch biblically. I accept the connection between John the Baptist and Jesus. I think Jesus was a student of John, somehow. I also believe that Jesus' Galilean roots and the nature of his conception/birth/illegitimacy would have contributed to his theology and radical inclusionary practice. Sort of like Moses---send a Hebrew who was raised by Egyptian royalty to talk of political liberation. Jesus would have had a place in both worlds---that of the outcast and that of the accepted community/family system.
Here's the thing: Vacation is a false reality created by workaholic americans to jusify unhealthy work habits.Its a way to avoid Sabbath by lumping it together in an annual contracted amount of leavetime. besides everyone knows that taking vacation means making more work. Better that we actually get sensible about work and productivity. A weekly Sabbath makes for a better balance. And does not force you to try to check out for two weeks in August.
Don't get me wrong. I think vacation is necessary. But is work more important?