Welcome

Welcome to what I affectionately call My Other Blog. My main bloc is here.

I have two passions in life, other than writing of course. One of those passions is religion, Christian theology with a special focus on Christian heresy – I am a bit of a heretic myself in more ways than one. I also am a theologian and am anthropologist. That is what my degrees are in. I have combined those two academic interests on my main site.

What I do here is indulge my other passion – an intense interest in politics in the broadest sense of the word. I look at current events, major and minor, and offer commentary and analysis colored by my academic training and my heretical beliefs. The focus on my main site is very tightly focused on the development of Christian orthodoxy in its battles with the heretics in the early centuries of the history of Christianity. My focus here is much more eclectic and diverse, running the gamut from the relationship of religion and science to Presidential elections to racism in sports to things I find just plain funny.

Feel free to browse the archives. Thy are open to everyone. And if you find something that triggers your hot button, feel free to post a comment. I love feedback. You do have to be a registered with wordpress.com to comment. If you have never registered at any wordpress.com site, just click the Register link at the top of the left sidebar and follow the instructions. It’s quite easy and when you are done, you can comment on any wordpress.com blog as long as you are logged in.

Happy reading and I look forward to your comments.

The Passing of a Legend

One of the most important stories in college sports that has been ongoing for the last few months is the child sex scandal at Penn State. I had not intended to post my thoughts on this story until the full details were available. However, with the passing of Coach Joe Paterno this past weekend, I feel I need to offer some thoughts on this extremely unfortunate and unpleasant incident.

I grew up in Pennsylvania and graduated from High School in 1966, the year that Joe Pa became the head coach at Penn State. Before finally deciding on Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, I briefly did consider attending Penn State. Many of my fellow graduates did go there. Back in those days, Penn State did not have the Academic Reputation that it holds now. In fact, it was considered a fall back for those who could not get into a good school. One of the main reasons Penn State’s Academic Reputation has greatly improved since then is the efforts of Coach Paterno. When the scandal involving the former long-time defensive coordinator under Coach Paterno first broke, there was a lot of discussion in the media, and most especially ESPN, about the fact that Coach Paterno had a lot of “power” at the University and in the community. However, it is my contention that the media analysts confused moral power with, for the lack of a better word, political power. In listening to comments made by current and former students at the University, I feel that the authority that Coach Paterno had was not in the arena of decision, but rather Couch Paterno was able to influence those with the real political power because of the high esteem he had with students and residents of the state.

Happy New Year!

Sorry I’ve been away so long, I’ve had some relatively minor health issues as well as personal business to deal with the last month or so. Should be back blogging on both blogs this weekend or early next week.

Hope you all had a good Christmas/Hanukkah and have a Happy New Year. Let me offer you the following blessing for the New Year:

Election 2012: Is it Socialism?

One of my pet peeves is the use of concepts by people who have no real clue as to the meaning of that concept. This is especially prevalent in political discourse. Too often people misuse concepts not out of ignorance, but rather to disceive and mislead. This deception is called propaganda, something that the nazi’s were masters at.

The reason that i mention the Nazis is because the right-wing political propagandists in this country equate the Third Reich with socialism, which is ridiculous. First of all, the Third Reich was a totalitarian political system, in which the government, embodied in the Oligarchy that controlled the Nazi party, owned some but not all of the most essential economic resources. Socialism is the cooperative ownership of essential means of production by all the citizens of the body politic. A socialist economy can exist in various political systems. It does NOT have to be a totalitarian government.

The Protestant Ethic And The Spirit of Capitalism Revisited

In 1905 Max Weber, one of the most influential social theorists, published probably his most widely read book, The Protestant Ethic and The Spirit of Capitalism, in which he argues that one of the most influential ideas of the reformation was that material success was a measure of spiritual favor. Weber also argues that this was the main driving force behind the rise of Capitalism of Western Europe and, of course the United States. i am not going to discuss the theological trail or implications of Weber’s hypothesis in this blog. Rather, I will discuss it in my Christian Heresiology blog when we discuss the reformation as heresy, which it is.

You Want Spending Cuts? I Got Spending Cuts!

The so-called “Fiscal Conservatives” in Congress want to balance the budget and lower the deficit by reducing Federal Spending. That’s a great idea! However, instead of reducing the so-called “entitlements” for low-income and little income people who really need the help, let’s reduce spending in areas where the people who would be effected by those cuts can at least afford them.

Besides the obvious reduction in the military budget, a topic I will discuss in a later post, why don’t we reduce the entitlements the elected officials? Former presidents do not need pensions. Even if they serve two-terms, eight years, that’s a lot less then the twenty years or more the average working stiff has to stay at the same job to get a pension. Also, eliminate all pensions for Congressmen. Most of these guys have “Second jobs” and outside interests that pay them far more then most working Americans will see in a lifetime.

Election 2012: Where’s the Change Part 2

What I want to talk about today is the lack of change in American foreign policy, change that was promised by Barack Obama when he was campaign for the democratic nomination and then the Presidency back in 2008. The main change that has not been forthcoming was the end of U.S Military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. Granted, Obama has finally set a time table for the removal of U.S. Troops from the Middle East, but this removal has come much later and much slower then originally promised. Instead of a reduction in our Militaristic approach to foreign affairs, we have seen an increasing glorification of militarism in all facets of American life. I do not begrudge appreciation of the service our veterans provide, but the glorification of militarism reminds me to much of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.

Election 2012: Where’s the Change?

Back in 2007 I started a two-year series of articles about the presidential primaries and general election of 2008. In that series I endorsed Barack Obama as the democratic nominee and in the presidential election of 2008. The main reason I supported Obama was that he promised change from the policies of the Bush administration. Well, I’m still waiting for those changes.

I do realize that the situation that he inherited in January of 2009 when he was sworn in as President was worse then any of us, including Obama, expected. Also, the loss of the democratic majority in congress in 2010 added to Obama’s difficulties. But that loss was, I believe, due in large part to the dissatisfaction that many of us felt with the way things had been handled the previous two years by the democratic Congress and Obama. What do i mean? Let me explain.

Announcement: Closing Bookstores

For a long time one of the best internet affiliate programs has been Amazon.com. They, unlike many others, do not require you to recruit a down-line or commit to buying a minimum amount of products every month. Also, they are one of the most stable and reliable affiliate programs around.

I have been an Amazon affiliate for quite some time, probably ten years or so. However, that relationship has come to an end, an end not of my choice. Amazon is strictly an online retailer. It has no presence in the real world, that is, no actual bookstores. For a long time online retailers and their affiliates have been exempt from collecting state sales tax. However, in recent years, and most recently here in Arkansas, states have been passing revisions to their tax codes that requires online retailers and their affiliates to collect sales tax for sales originating in that state.

The Ugly Americans at ESPN

I’m not really a golfer but I do occasionally enjoy watching a gold tournament on TV, especially the final round. Yesterday I watched the final round of the U.S open which was one my Rory McIlroy, a 22 year old from Northern Ireland. McIlroy’s win was very impressive in that he had a substantial lead from the very beginning and increased his lead each day. A lot of people are comparing it to Tiger Woods’ win at the U.S. in 2000.

As I do most mornings when I get up I grabbed a cup of coffee and turned on Mike and Mike on ESPN this morning. For those of you who are not familiar with Mike and Mike, it is a sports talk show usually very informative and quite interesting. Sometimes the banter between Mike Greenburg and Mike Golic gets rather amusing.

This morning they were talking about the U.S. open and Rory McIlroy. As they usually do each morning they had a fair number of “experts” talking about this event. There were two threads in the conversation about the golf tournament that set my teeth on edge.

Election 2012: Sarah Palin

This is probably the first of many posts about Sarah Palin, especially if she actually get nominated for President. My overall opinion about Palin is that she is annoying and, to put it nicely, not very bring. Palin, like most politicians, is a self-serving hypocrite, but she takes it a step further then most. Before any female supporters of Palin who read this come after me for being a male chauvinist, I have no issues with a female President. Matter of fact there are several women in politics who I think would make excellent Presidents.