tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65756472009-09-30T10:59:20.396-04:00RESURRECTION <-> REMEMBRANCE <-> RESISTANCE <-> RECONCILIATIONJPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17528655330733196741noreply@blogger.comBlogger308125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575647.post-36490562158438777032008-02-16T19:18:00.001-05:002008-02-16T19:20:13.711-05:00

I've been considering blogging again for a while, and to make a clean start, I've moved to a different site for my blog - WordPress. So you can now find me there.

JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17528655330733196741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575647.post-4215968991530867172007-09-08T10:04:00.000-04:002007-09-08T21:47:11.716-04:00

I've launched a new project through Google Reader. Finally, I've found a simple, web-based interface that lets me track, read, and publish my favorite website feeds with minimal effort. See my Reader page here. (Google hasn't allowed design on sharing pages yet, so it looks/works clunkily at present.) For a shorter URL, use www.tinyurl.com/yoxzkr.

JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17528655330733196741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575647.post-40818510625389986852007-04-15T20:45:00.000-04:002007-04-15T20:45:06.226-04:00

As you may know, since my first year of college at UChicago, my birthday has included a ritual discussion among friends of answers to questions that are once silly and yet serious. This past Monday, 13 wonderful people added their own experiences to what is becoming a living tradition. (This year's ritual was fascinating from a ritual-studies standpoint, since it is the first year that no

JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17528655330733196741noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575647.post-65389371075861228992007-02-27T10:00:00.000-05:002007-02-27T10:04:33.062-05:00

Listen here to the story (Windows Media); (Real Player)."Exonerated Prisoners Adjust to Life on the Outside"by Kathy LohrMorning Edition, February 27, 2007Willie "Pete" Williams spent 22 years in a Georgia prison for a rape he did not commit. DNA evidence recently exonerated him — but not before he spent half his life in jail. "Being free — there's nothing that can actually

JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17528655330733196741noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575647.post-66807904585700510612007-02-24T21:34:00.000-05:002007-02-24T21:45:39.730-05:00

From an admittedly cursory review of seven 20th-centurty fascist régimes (Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Franco's Spain, Salazar's Portugal, Papadopoulos's Greece, Pinochet's Chile, and Suharto's Indonesia) by Lawrence Britt, in the Spring 2003 issue of Free Inquiry:1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism. From the prominent displays of flags and bunting to the ubiquitous lapel pins,

JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17528655330733196741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575647.post-57840710264334298972007-02-22T10:04:00.000-05:002007-02-22T10:49:13.211-05:00

Well, obviously I've broken the rhythm of my new posting initiative. In my defense, I've been quite consumed writing new resolutions in light of the decision in the ecclesiastical trial of Pr. Bradley Schmeling of the ELCA (the Lutheran denomination to which I belong). While the annual release of resolution templates for use across the 65 synods (regional authorities) of the ELCA is always a

JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17528655330733196741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575647.post-11325906097306227372007-02-08T16:21:00.000-05:002007-02-08T14:39:34.784-05:00

The decision is complicated, and I will write more when I have time. There are TV stations interviewing Pastor Schmeling right now in the sanctuary! Full information is available at www.StJohnsAtlanta.org, but below is the summary I wrote for Goodsoil:Friends of Goodsoil,I wanted you to know right away the latest developments in the trial of Pastor Bradley Schmeling.Today (Feb. 8, 2007), the

JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17528655330733196741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575647.post-77510542100054489362007-02-05T19:41:00.000-05:002007-02-05T19:47:25.338-05:00

[Quite a feat for Emory University...]His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama has been named Presidential Distinguished Professor at Emory University, the first university appointment accepted by the 1989 Nobel Peace Laureate and leader of the Tibetan exile community.The Dalai Lama will deliver his inaugural lecture during an Oct. 20-22 visit to Emory, during which he will participate in a conference on

JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17528655330733196741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575647.post-60321815921305760972007-02-01T23:27:00.000-05:002007-02-02T22:38:11.312-05:00

I sat in on a class today and was posed with a question that seemed somewhat innocent at first and then stunned me into deep reflection: what are the basic sources that are authoritative for you as you understand and interpret the world and your place in it? And as I started to think how I might respond, I was forced in a moment to grasp for what I would define to be my fundamental commitments

JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17528655330733196741noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575647.post-65136961298693639172007-01-30T23:18:00.000-05:002007-01-30T23:28:37.683-05:00

OMG, I was looking at my friend KBB's blog, and discovered that she found a site where one can play one of the classic games of Generation Y: Oregon Trail. I was only able to access the linked site through Internet Explorer (not Firefox), but with IE you can actually play the game at the "speed" of the original! Good luck fording the rivers and avoiding dysentery.... It brings back such

JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17528655330733196741noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575647.post-66721577675653955272007-01-30T09:04:00.001-05:002007-01-30T09:38:02.610-05:00

"Gay Muslim's Case Puts Focus on German Asylum Law"by Emily Harris Morning Edition, January 30, 2007A lawyer for a gay Muslim from Lebanon says a new German law should be used to grant the man asylum in Germany. The case prompts debate about how homosexuality is treated in Muslim nations and in Europe.Listen to the story.

JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17528655330733196741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575647.post-42584874628601393422007-01-29T19:05:00.000-05:002007-01-30T09:34:16.203-05:00

One of my newest favorite movies is Children of Men, which I've now seen twice in the theater. I adapt here my recommendation of the film for people at my congregation, Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church of Manhattan (TELCOM):Quite simply, watching Children of Men was the first time I ever experienced in a movie the full and true meaning of what Christians call the Incarnation of God as a human

JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17528655330733196741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575647.post-91134003124397087352007-01-27T19:13:00.001-05:002007-01-29T21:28:33.636-05:00

As of 16:15 this afternoon, I have finished reading (in translation) the six novels that are generally regarded as the crown of Russian prose fiction.  Demons (also known as The Devils or The Possessed) is an amazing work on many layers, but I found it the most tragic of Dostoevsky's quartet.  So much of the concluding parts of the book involves tracing the deathly implosion of a conspiracy meant

JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17528655330733196741noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575647.post-30421658574785335652007-01-26T00:54:00.000-05:002007-01-29T18:21:35.199-05:00

I am closing in on my long-held goal of reading the six great novels by Dostoevsky and Tolstoy: my first time through Demons (in the Pevear-Volokhonsky translation), mostly during 2006, follows The Idiot in 2005, Anna Karenina in 2004, Brothers Karamazov in 2003, War and Peace in 2000, and Crime and Punishment in 1999. I have been struck by the different character- or plot-defining kinds of

JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17528655330733196741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575647.post-37505676670079424552007-01-23T12:45:00.000-05:002007-01-29T18:20:58.943-05:00

Here are two articles describing what has been my main occupation for the past few weeks: the trial of the Rev. Bradley E. Schmeling, pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church in Atlanta. I am a member of the legal team that is mounting a defense against the ELCA's discriminatory policies forbidding the service of ministers who are in same-gender relationships.As of 12:45 EDT on Tuesday, 23 January

JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17528655330733196741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575647.post-79368297129798139532007-01-15T15:01:00.000-05:002007-01-15T15:09:36.070-05:00

It's been almost exactly a year since I last posted to this blog; what a year this past has been. A year ago, the top of this blog bore a picture from the Goodsoil protest at the ELCA's 2005 national meeting; now, I am one of the leaders of Goodsoil. A year ago, the top of this blog also had urgent calls for reclaiming the US Senate from the Republicans; now, the Democrats possess the majority

JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17528655330733196741noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575647.post-1137526064319249652006-01-17T14:27:00.000-05:002006-01-17T14:35:04.416-05:00

[This message is not boilerplate: I wrote it myself.  I have also written it to individuals, not any email lists.  Please forward it as widely as you can.] Dear Family and Friends,We have now one last chance to make sure that Richard Nixon's legacy does not become the permanent scheme of US government: that is what's really at stake in the nomination of Samuel A. Alito to the US Supreme Court.  I

JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17528655330733196741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575647.post-1137102144717927342006-01-12T16:42:00.000-05:002006-01-12T16:42:24.726-05:00

"Honors for My Lai Hero Came Much Too Late," a memorial for Hugh Thompson, who helped stop the My Lai massacre.

JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17528655330733196741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575647.post-1137101360624190402006-01-12T16:29:00.001-05:002006-01-12T16:29:20.636-05:00

You have to see it to get it: "Their Levees - Our Levees"

JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17528655330733196741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575647.post-1136392592277761442006-01-04T11:36:00.000-05:002006-01-04T11:36:32.373-05:00

Bush could bypass new torture ban: Boston Globe, January 4, 2005.

JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17528655330733196741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575647.post-1136215712202831642006-01-02T10:28:00.000-05:002006-01-02T10:28:32.990-05:00

John Dean: Bush as the New Nixon

JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17528655330733196741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575647.post-1135839625315245272005-12-29T02:00:00.000-05:002005-12-29T02:00:25.356-05:00

This site is about the only thing that matters to read amidst all the "Political-Year-in-Review" articles in the MSM. What's especially important is that all the Senators were polled on at the same moment. See the graph. The way I read it, there is hope for taking back the Senate in 2006.

JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17528655330733196741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575647.post-1135446188133892852005-12-24T12:43:00.000-05:002005-12-24T13:03:46.640-05:00

First, of course, is today's news that the NSA's unconstitutional domestic spying program is much bigger than originally reported: "SPY AGENCY MINED VAST DATA TROVE, OFFICIALS REPORT". (Read the original NYT article).Now, from Common Dreams is a round-up of comments worth your reading time, two from Southern newspapers:- "Bush and Wiretaps: Congress, Citizens, This Means War"Jay Bookman, Atlanta

JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17528655330733196741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575647.post-1135294744939334602005-12-22T18:39:00.000-05:002005-12-22T18:39:04.996-05:00

... There is a name for a system of government that wages aggressive war, deceives its citizens, violates their rights, abuses power and breaks the law, rejects judicial and legislative checks on itself, claims power without limit, tortures prisoners and acts in secret. It is dictatorship. The Administration of George W. Bush is not a dictatorship, but it does manifest the characteristics of one

JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17528655330733196741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6575647.post-1135282742248670562005-12-22T15:19:00.000-05:002005-12-22T15:19:02.296-05:00

More great words from the Right Reverend V. Gene Robinson, Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire: ...I don't care so much about how much you give, but about how much of what you have that you give. America gives a lot of money overseas, but it's actually the next to the stingiest industrialized country in the world. So it's not the dollars that matter to me, it's what portion of what you have do you

JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17528655330733196741noreply@blogger.com0