20081119.ChurchLies

Ah, it's been a while. The ill will do that to you. So in the week and a bit that I've been sick, I really didn't want to continue in the political vein when I got back, but there was one last piece leftover from the recent elections. I'll try to make it less political and more... er, relevant.

So in the wake of California's election, Proposition 8 (the constitutional ban on gay marriage) passed by a resoundingly slim margin. Like 52% or something. The actions of the church in very vocally supporting Proposition 8 has drummed up all kinds of stuff, most notably numerous protests from a previously largely dormant segment of society. In this post, I will try not to say, "I told you so."

One of my issues with Proposition 8 and the Evangelical charge in its honour was that a victory would do very little save for stick it to people we don't prefer. And while the the proposition itself came off as rather petty, the propaganda used to support the prop seemed pretty, well, unconscionable for a group that purports to uphold Truth and Love above all. More on this in a bit.

In any case, while Evangelical Christians may have won a small battle in their war for a culture that has nothing to do with them, I think they've sealed their fate here. It's my guess that more than just make the church look like a bunch of evil people (which is what we look like to much of the world), the rabid support of Prop 8 and its narrow success at banning gay marriage will have mobilized the gay-friendly community to such an extent that it's only a skinny matter of time before gay marriage is legalized nationally and some of the liberties whose removal the religious right has long feared begin being assaulted.

See, here's the thing. The Christians' campaign against homosexual marriage was not landed with anything that we might actually report as quote-unquote honesty. Lies, exaggerations, and untruths. That is the legacy of the Yes on 8 campaign. At one of the protests last week in front of Saddleback Church (since Rick Warren was a Yes on 8 supporter), picketers held signs aloft that said among other things: YOU LIED. On the one hand, the church has shown that it is as deft as any at playing the game of Politics-as-Usual; on the other hand, well... there's really only one hand isn't there?

In case you're not ready to hop on board with the idea that the church played in the mud like the rest of the world, here's an example from an official Yes on 8 mailer we received days prior the election. Imagine. Bold, fearful text. Warnings that if 8 failed to pass, teachers would be required to teach even kindergartners that having two dad's was a perfectly acceptable. And to demonstrate what the future would hold, they pointed to current state law:

Instruction and materials shall teach respect for marriage and committed relationships.

If marriage were open to same sex unions, they argued, teachers would have to teach that it would be perfectly fine if little Susie grew up and found she had a taste for the fairer sex. The thing is, even after the passing of 8, this is still the case. Note the Committed Relationships bit there. Teachers have to teach respect for any kind of committed relationship. Gay. Straight. Liquid. So long as there's commitment, it's considered on the up-and-up to the state.

For the Yes on 8 campaign to use scare tactics as they did is a diminishment to the reputation of the church and a defamation of the name of Christ by their association to him. Really, some honesty would have been refreshing. Maybe,

Support Yes on 8 because homosexuality is sin.

And leave it at that. Then people know what you're all about. Of course the campaign's fear was that such honesty wouldn't garner votes, so they dipped their toe then and waded flailingly into the mire of the political. They dirtied themselves for a vote. Politics is a known whore and in its embrace of the Yes on 8 campaign, the church at large bedded said harlot. Let's just hope the church stops contracting political VDs.

Do your part, readers, don't get suckered by the lies and spiritual treasons of those who speak loudly.

20081106.ObamaTax

Ahh. Perhaps the best thing to come out of this election are the reactions. Some positive. Some negative. Of course the negative ones are far more amusing. And really, I hadn't realized it but days like election day and the morning following are what Facebook is made for.

For some reason, people show almost no restraint when it comes to posting things on the internet. If they're feeling it, Facebook will know it. And, as election season is often a season of passion (and this one more particularly than others!), Facebook was absolutely alive with status update mania. While watching and observing from the storied heights of my wry tower, I culled out some favourites.

Bon apetit!

________ thinks that if obama wins...say good bye to america.

Please dont make a poor mistake america! vote mcCain.

Ok thats over...bring on the snow...or will that be illegal too?

Elections are OVER! And thinks McCain should've had more of a chance of winning =(.

ugghh. Stupid politics and democrats! I couldn't really find any flaws with Obama winning, but then, oh yes, he's a democrat =(. blehh

________ will be praying for our new president...and those who say they follow Christ yet have shown nothing but hate this evening

________ saw the news and feels she wasted time voting ... now we have an EVIL president ... I guess you get what you deserve

________ is sad that so many Christians voted for the economy AND abortion

What's the difference between Simba and Obama? Simba is an African Lion...and Obama is a Lion(Lyin)African. Ha! =P

Wow....I 've heard a lot of the youth went for Obama...I'm contemplating how things have changed. I remember vivdly livng under the Carter adminstration... My Mom paid 18 percent for her home mortagage, if your license plate ended in an odd nummber you could get gas that day (in a 3 hour line). ________ and I are by no means wealthy, but we are going ... Read Moreto be taxed to the point where we will probably have to move out of So Cal. Also, where did this idea come from that the government should be so involved in our lives? His ideas of a civilian force funded to the same point of the US military...I just don't get it (welcome to Germany). His view on infanticide is beyond the pale. I know he's cool, but I am so baffled....

Healthcare, Taxes, Education.. really now. Sometimes I wonder if others really understand the consequences. I have a feeling that people voted based solely on a war not realizing the effects on other aspects of their everyday lives. And about taxes... ouch! It's 9am and I need a cocktail.

I am literally sick to my stomach about the outcome of this election. I know God's word is true. God is true. It still does not change the fact that I am grieving over the impending future of America, especially for my children's sake. There is no point in listing all the disturbing things concerning our new president and even our upcoming government. Psalm 46 is my hope right now. I need to cling to God and His mercy and His sovereignty.

________ wonders how he can grab his ankles while still clinging to his guns and religion!

The last one was my favourite (!!glee!!) and put up by a plainly disappointed church elder. Good times.

So far as the tax thing goes, am I missing something huge? Was there a big change in Obama's plan? The Washington Post did a story in June comparing McCain's plans for taxes vs. Obama's and under Obama's plan, taxes don't even go up until someone passes $603,000.

Now maybe all the people complaining make significantly more than I do or maybe they're just getting their info from elsewhere. Or maybe they're just plain crazy.

Which may be the case.

20081104.Pumpkins

Far more important than election day hoo-hah, here are this Halloween's two featured pumpkins. Both have strayed from the typical conceit of carving the famous and the real and instead reveal a taste of my geek depravity.

Also, for those interested, you may view the entire gallery (of pumpkins whose pictures are still extant, that is):

20081103.Obama08

Now this year probably won't experience volatile comment fisticuffs like last election when I apocryphally claimed to vote for the youth pastor at my church rather than for Bush or Kerry (neither of whom I cared for, though in retrospect, perhaps Kerry was the way to go). My voting record goes something like this: Perot ('92), Browne ('96), Browne ('00), and youth pastor/no one ('04). The slash-no-one is how 2004 really played out as I was boxing up to move and lost my absentee ballot. I wasn't particularly overwrought because I didn't like Kerry and couldn't in good conscience vote for Bush (especially after the debacle of his former term). I was however surprised that the Democrats couldn't put together a candidate to take on the guy who pretty much did more harm to America and international relations than any president in the last hundred years.

*shrug* It's not like my vote mattered anyway.

So then, we come to this year and the explanation for why I, a registered Republican who has never voted for a Republican candidate (save for in the primaries) consistently opting for Libertarian candidates, am voting for Mr. Obama. The choice wasn't really as difficult as one might think. And it helps that my vote means nothing.

First of all, we may note a couple items mentioned in posts precursory to this.

Namely, abortion is not a reasonable issue in this election. Neither candidate cares for abortion. Neither candidate is willing to oppose Roe v. Wade. Obama is more likely to pass both laws making abortions easy to obtain and laws making the quote-unquote necessity of abortion less likely. McCain is more likely to pass laws making abortion slightly more difficult to obtain but will do little to make abortions seem less necessary to those who might make the effort to abort. The upshot is that with either candidate abortion rates will in all likelihood continue their fifteen-year downward spiral.

And Obama's response to net neutrality and government transparency are forward-thinking and good for America. McCain's opposition to such means more hidden information, more hidden agendas, and a ground ripe for the sowing of further civil and human rights violations.

Now to stuff we didn't talk about. McCain is about as socialist as Obama. Which means little since neither of them are socialists. In fact, socialists across the nation scoff at accusations of Obama's so-called socialist tenancies. I scoff when I remember that Republicans criticizing Obama's quote-unquote socialist agenda have for eight years supported a president who just subsidized failing banks to the tune of 700 gazillion dollars. Right or wrong of him, people in glass houses ought not throw stones.

Add to this the fact that McCain is much more likely than Obama to initiate another gratuitous war in the Middle East in which we are required to liberate a people from tyranny (this means, chiefly, forcing democracy on the ones who survive our liberating efforts). One Vietnam was enough. Two is Reason #1 why the world hates us. A third? Can we really afford that at this point?

Throw in McCain's running mate and I can't see how I could possibly vote in any conscience on the upside of neutral for a McCain ticket. I cannot even imagine a Palin presidency. But I can remember W's and then just think "Worse than W's." I think that'd probably be a fair estimation. With neither McCain or Obama having great odds at surviving their terms, I'd have to say that between Palin and Biden, I'd choose Biden. Heck between Palin and Bush II, I'd choose four more years of Bush's blight, famine, and war (and him blaming it on God as has been his wont).

Add to this the fact that Obama inspires both the future of America (the young) and encourages the watching world and I think we've got a candidate who might be able to help us out of the horrible mess we've created for ourselves. If we elect another president cut from Bush's cloth, we're basically giving the finger to the citizens of the world and saying that another four years of American arrogance and brutality are just what the doctor ordered.

So yeah: Obama '08. No excitement really, just the way it is.