Deep Thoughts

"He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."

JIM ELLIOT, Missionary and martyr
1927 - 1956

Announcing my Candidacy!

I would like to take this opportunity to announce my candidacy for President of the United States in the 2016 elections. I realize that it is a little early to make the announcement, but I anticipate several hurdles along the way that will take some time and creativity to overcome, so I am starting now. I am running as an independent and am not a member of any political party, though I welcome the endorsements of all of them so long as they can support my platform. Let me give you an outline of what I envision the Stults administration to look like:

-> I will be nobody’s bi---! As I am not affiliated with a party and no Political Action Committee or special interest group is likely to take a risk on me I will be indebted to no one!

-> Shooting people is bad! I don’t think people in our country should shoot each other, so I will put a stop to it. I think using our words is better than using our weapons with other countries, and I don’t want people from other countries to shoot us (If I have to shoot them I will, but not until we sit down and talk about it like grown ups).

-> If you can afford to pay more taxes then I’m gonna make you. If you can’t afford to pay then I’ll back off.

-> I like to drink clean water and breathe clean air, so that will b e a priority.

-> I know you can’t afford health insurance (I can’t either!), so as president I’ll make the insurance agencies and the HMO’s stop being so greedy and start taking care of people, and if you can’t afford your medicine I’ll let you buy it from Canada!

-> Speaking of Canada, let’s invade! No, scratch that.

-> Did you know that most of those legislators are rich? Yeah, I’m going to take away their salaries and a lot of their perks.

-> I think torture is bad.

-> I hate dealing with problems! So I’m going to hire a lot of people who are good at preventing problems.

-> I think kids should be smart! In my administration, we’ll implement education policies that allow teachers to teach kids the way they learn best (hint: it isn’t sitting in desks in neat rows).

-> My campaign is grassroots cause I have no money! Therefore, I will influence politics in America such that the “little guy” has more of a voice and the wealthy power houses can shut the he— up.

-> There are no topless pictures of me on the internet.

Well, that’s what I have so far. Eight years is going to go quicker than we think, so let’s all be ready!

President Palin

Gotta see it: http://www.palinaspresident.us/

Random Thoughts on the Church and Crazy People

Ugg! I have tried to write for a long time now, but I am having blogger’s bloc. To try and combat that I figured I would just sit at the computer and babble (or whatever the equivalent of babbling is when typing) and see what comes out.

There are two things that have been on my mind lately. The first thing is the church (not that this is anything new, “church” is always on my mind), or more specifically, the emerging church. Two observations on this: First, I am not an expert on the emerging church. Though I am trying to become more educated, reading various e-zines and blogs both for and against (I would read the books but then I would have to pay for them) and chatting with whoever will chat about such things. Still, owing in part I think to the “emerging” and therefore changing and morphing nature of the emerging church, I am no expert. The other thing I have discovered in my studies so far (this is observation number two) is that nobody else seems to be either. Ok, let me back off that a bit. There are people who seem to know their stuff, but I have rarely found anyone who is able or willing to do an even-handed treatment of the movement. I see a lot of finger pointing from the more traditional camps, almost all of which is inaccurate in substance. On the other hand, a lot from the emerging movement is doing the same thing, blaming any spokesman of the traditional church they can find for the various ills therein.

This is not unique to the emerging/not emerging groups. When I was in college we spent a lot of time making fun of the “ridiculous” theological positions of the Calvinists and arming ourselves against the liberals. When I got to seminary I found a group of Calvinists predetermined to defeat my Arminian viewpoints. The mental image I have of all this is a bunch of wannabe theologians standing with their backs to each other, pointing at the various differences, or more often the caricatures of the differences, when what they should be doing is facing each other and pointing at the similarities that bind us. It’s not as if this a new thought to anyone, it’s just been bugging me (again) lately.

Here is the other thing on my mind these days: Mary (I made that name up, it’s not her real name). “Mary” is a client that we discharged last week. She had been previously court committed to mental health treatment, but the commitment was dropped and she chose to leave our facility and return to the drug infested, nasty little home she was in before, living with her mom who is not much higher functioning than Mary is herself. I have spent the better part of my time for the last few weeks trying to secure the girl services, make sure she is taking her medications, make sure she isn’t using drugs or prostituting herself, and a myriad of other things that fully functioning individuals don’t really think about, the just do it as a matter of course. I am frustrated that it is so hard for Mary to get services, I am frustrated that the people that are supposed to help her are saying they don’t have the time or resources to do the job (like I do?!). I am frustrated that we live in a society that buys $4.00 lattes but lets its mentally ill waste away, pleasantly out of sight.

I am frustrated that the church is wasting its energy calling each other names instead of stepping up to the plate and taking care of the vulnerable, the disenfranchised, and the outcast. I am frustrated that it feels like all I can do is be frustrated.

Team America

Blah. I haven’t blogged for a long time-too busy worrying about losing the house. We’re still not out of the woods (actually, we keep going farther in) but I feel like blogging anyhow.

So my lack of finances has gotten me thinking about finances and economics in general, which got me thinking about politics, which made me think about these Obama and McCain guys. I’m really not sure who I’m going to vote for yet, though the addition of Palin to the Republican ticket has certainly nudged me more in one direction (to the left). To be honest, I don’t really like a whole lot of what either of them have to say, and what I do like I don’t trust them on; that is to say, promises are easy to make, harder to carry out. And what I really, really don’t appreciate is how I feel like I am in jr. high again whenever I listen to them debate or see one of the commercials. How am I supposed to feel good about two guys running for president of the United States that get caught up playing the stupid “gotcha” games that the rest of us (well, most of us) got over after eighth grade?

I came to the conclusion long ago that the man himself, that is, who the actual president is, isn’t going to make a whole lot of difference in the political landscape. What I am voting for when I vote for president isn’t really based on which candidate I like better, but on which sphere of influence I find most valuable. For example, McCain will most likely fill his cabinet with conservative thinkers and appoint conservative judges and listen to the conservative groups that helped him get elected. Obama will do the same with his liberals. So my vote isn’t for a man, it is for an ideology, and once again I do not line up with either one. Rather, I find myself wanting to pick and choose from each, as well as eliminating several tenants from either side.

Abortion, for example: I fall in line with conservatives. On the environment I am more of a Democrat. I think guns should be controlled, but I also think that faith-based charity groups should be supported in every way possible, including through public funds. I don’t think cutting taxes for the sake of cutting taxes is good, but neither do I think that money will solve the ills of the various groups that keep asking for more. I support the idea that everyone ought to be able to see a doctor when they need to without worrying about the cost, but I don’t think that as a society we can afford to foot the bill for that. And as far as gay marriage, well, why did we ever give government the right to have any voice in marriage to begin with?

So here is the point I am at now, and I know this is nothing new but I think it bears repeating, at least to myself: the government will never be able to solve moral problems. That’s the church’s job. We will never, for example, stop abortions by making them illegal. But the church could do a better job of teaching about the sacredness of life and supporting pregnant mothers and encouraging adoption. This is one of many areas where the church has given up its voice to the government, asking the politicians to do the work of the saints and then bemoaned them for their involvement. I guess what it comes down to is that I am separating the issues into two categories: that of moral imperatives and that of political preferences (or, if you are feeling more dogmatic, political imperatives). I realize this break down is not perfect, but I think it more or less works. Those things which my convictions, my faith, my belief that Christ came and will come again tells me are right or wrong, these are moral imperatives. If by way of happenstance or luck the government supports these convictions, great. But the energy I put into these issues is best channeled through the church. The category of political preferences, those things which I feel are best for me and for you and for the country but that stop short of being morally binding holds the issues that most influence my vote. Again, this is a hard line to draw and there will be some cross-over, but it’s where my thinking is at right now.

I guess that’s all I’ve got for now.