Le Sabot Post-Moderne

If Life Were Jeopardy. . .

I'm reading Douglas Coupland's novel, Microserfs. It's a clever look into life at Microsoft during the mid-90's heyday of Geek Chic. While enjoyable, it's a bit ephemeral. When you write books with titles like Generation X or Microserfs it's almost a form of literary planned obsolesence. Even now it looks less zeigeisty than quaint. But it's witty, and interesting in a time-capsulish sort of way. One of his better pieces of gimcrackery is listing the seven dream Jeopardy categories for each of his major characters. I thought I'd do the same:

If my life were Jeopardy, my dream categories would be:

1. Contemporary American Politics

2. Stout Beers

3. History and Theology of the Reformation

4. Anime

5. Non-Employable Bits of Trivia

6. 80's Television

7. Realist, Naturalist and Post-Modern Literature

What are yours?

***Cue Jeopardy theme music***

Words You Just Might Use Someday

Trephination -- Drilling a hole in the skull to relieve pressure on the brain.

Blood and Orchids

I just saw Tarantino's latest Pulp Culture pean -- Kill Bill. While not without weaknesses, it's a brilliant hodgepodge of genres. Anyone who grew up on old Kung Fu movies, anime, Japanese gangster flicks or David Carradine won't be disappointed. The soundtrack is his usual inspired melange of oldies and hiply obscure tunes. The plotline isn't just pulpy, it's fresh-squeezed. From the Bruce Lee-style opening credits to naming his assassins after poisonous snakes, the man is shameless. The actions scenes are a bit gory, but done in a tongue-in-cheek fashion that takes some of the cringe factor from them. My favorite part of the film wasn't even created by Tarantino directly -- a great anime clip giving the bio on O-Ren Ishii.

Taking the film for what it is, I enjoyed it. But it lacks both the sharp dialogue of Pulp Fiction and the intensity of Reservoir Dogs Thankfully, it also lacks the interminability of Jackie Brown.

I've also recently watched Kill Bill's polar opposite -- Adaptation. Charlie Kaufman, screenwriter for Being John Malkovich, takes his scripting to a new level of surreality. This film is probably the most self-consciously Po-Mo that I've seen. . . Without giving too much away, it centers on the screenwriter himself trying to adapt a novel about Florida orchid thieves to a movie script. It's difficult to speak of a plotline, as the film is utterly non-linear, jogging cheerily back and forth from four billion years BC up until the present day, and quite nearly everywhere in-between. There are even scenes which take place on the set of Kaufman's last film, along with cameos by Charles Darwin, a decomposing fox, and the Ice Age.

Overall, the film is lovely, and Nicholas Cage gives one of the least annoyingly phlegmatic performances of his career. The ending is a little weak, as Kaufman tries for a parody of Hollywood and comes up a bit flat. But the remainder of the film more than compensates.

More nails in the collective coffin?

Does anyone else get the sense that Bush took several more 7-League steps toward clinching the 2004 Elections over the past couple of weeks?

Let's recap:

1. Rather than being shifted downward, the estimated 7.2% GDP growth rate was revised upward to 8.2%. Additionally, durable goods and productivity are also charting upwards nicely. Considering that even a perjuring whoremonger can be re-elected if the economy is salutary, this bodes well for a decent man like Bush.

2. While a complete travesty, Bush's Prescription Drugs bill has neutered the key Mommy-Party issue of this decade. In the process, he's also pulled a central member of the Demo coalition, the AARP, over to his camp. To the tune of a 7 million dollar ad campaign backing his proposals. This also robs the Dems of another of their favorite plays -- the Medicare Mau-Mau. Without the AARP to mouthpiece for them, the Demos don't have the clout or the soapbox from which to demagogue the issue.

3. Gay marriage -- if anything will boost conservative turn-out, it's a hot button like this one. Bush's forthright statements about marriage consisting of a man and a woman contrast starkly with the tap-dancing the Demo front runners are pulling. If NASCAR dads really are the key swing vote this year, this is an issue ready-made to fire them up. And the industrial swing states are full of these blue-collar dads.

4. Bush's successful trip to the UK, and his surprise visit to Iraq. Bush far exceeded the pundits' expectations in Britain, and came back with a lot of momentum. And the trip to Iraq is awesome. From a political standpoint, photos of him chowing with the GIs remind us that the War on Terrorism is still a real one, and that it's much better having a mensch like Bush in office than a ranting New England liberal (Dean, Lieberman or Kerry, take your pick.) And I think it's just froodish in general that he spent Thanksgiving with the troops.

Considering how floundering the Democratic pack looks thus far, all of these seem like additional nails in their collective coffin.

Addendum-

I also want to acknowledge Hillary's trip to Afghanistan. Considering the ambivalence of many in her party toward our military, I thought it was admirable that she spent the holiday with our troops and expressed her support for them.

The Era of Big Government Hair Isn't Over?

I just saw a pair of legwarmers on a fashionably dressed young woman today. Can this mean the much-anticipated 80's Revival is finally here? Such joy would be mine if music video producers stopped rehashing the same incredibly tired 70's disco themes. . . As was pointed out here at Le Sabot recently, the 70's nostalgia thing has now lasted longer than the decade itself. I'm ready to relive the Age of Reagan. . .

Let's Crawl Before We Run, Maybe?

The Washtimes is reporting that net immigration is swelling -- up to 1.4 million just last year. About half of these are illegals.

"Whatever flimsy arguments the proponents of mass immigration were able to concoct during the illusory economic boom of the late 1990s about immigration serving some national interest, they have been utterly dispelled by the reality of the post-high-tech bust," Mr. Stein said. "

If the government has any reason for existence, securing our nation's borders would seem to be near the top of the list. If it can't do something so basic as this, why in the world would we trust it to regulate and 'improve' our health care system?

From Tulsa to Geneva, Part I

Pentamom asked me the other day how I came to Reformed Theology from the Word of Faith movement. I thought I'd give a quick overview of the journey. . .

My first experience with church was when I was seven. It was in a semi-converted barn in Lancaster, PA. The pastor literally preached over the lows of animals, and baptisms were performed in the pond out back. His wife was a 'prophetess' with a special prophecy for each baptizee. They were post-trib, and spent a healthy percentage of tithes on building shelters for the Great Trib.

We moved on to Florida when I was ten, and spent time in various AOG, charismatic and baptistic churches. I never did become a Christian, though I was wonderfully adept with the lingo. I was one person at church, and a little punk rock freakdaddy everywhere else. Then my mother got involved with a 'healing ministry' at a Word-Faith church. I got myself in a heap of trouble in school, and found myself at the Overcomers group too, getting my past memories healed and my soul delivered of demonic oppression. Then we joined the church.

It was everything you've ever heard about the W-Fers. The pastor had a bodyguard, because we mayn't "touch the Lord's anointed." Whenever receipts were low, John Avanzini, Lester Sumrall or Mike Murdoch would sweep in to stir up a tithing frenzy. The pastor constantly had "fresh words" from the Lord that steered the church exactly were he wanted it to go. Because faith was the only ingredient necessary for wealth and health, everyone kept up a front to show their spirituality. A friend died of AIDS there, convinced he just didn't have enough faith for his healing. I visited the last time I was in-state, doing some research for a future novel. The service is now basically a sucess infomercial, complete with power point.

But God is present even in the darkest of places. The youth pastor was an actual believer, and he led me to Christ in the midst of the insanity. For the first time I trusted in Christ, and meant the words I'd been mouthing my entire life. My view of God was pathetic -- He was essentially a cosmic bellhop who existed to serve me. I would never have said it that way, but there it is. But it was a start.

Over the next few years my spiritual growth waxed and waned, but I never strayed from my faith. Over time the church got weirder, and I grew ever more dissatisfied with the 3 Red Hots the preacher spoke on every Sunday -- healing, wealth and miracles. I wanted something more.

More tomorrow!

Some things to be thankful for. . .

While there's plenty of fodder for pessimism in modern America, David Brooks's latest column, Refuting the Cynics does a good job of pointing up some of the positives.

There's an inherent element of gloom in conservatism -- the nature of history is such that we're often on the side of lost causes and vanishing institutions. For some, this gloom seems to border on despair, these days. . .

He contrasts Europe and the States for much of the article. While less rosy for Euros, here's some good news for us this Thanksgiving:

"American fertility rates bottomed out around 1985, and began rising. Native-born American women now have almost two children on average, while the European rate is 1.4 children per woman and falling. . . Working off U.N. and U.S. census data. . . in the year 2050 the median age in the United States will be 35. The median age in Europe will be 52. The implications of that are enormous."

"The drop in crime rates over the past decade is nothing short of a miracle. Teenage pregnancy and abortion rates rose in the early 1970's and 1980's, then leveled off and now are dropping. Child poverty rates have declined since the welfare reform of the mid-1990's. The black poverty rate dropped "to the lowest rate ever recorded," according to a 2002 study by the National Urban League."

"The air is cleaner. The water is cleaner and we are using less of it. Our homes have doubled in size in a generation and home ownership rates are at an all-time high. There are now fewer highway deaths in the U.S. than in 1970, even though the number of miles driven has shot up by 75 percent."

"Obviously, huge problems remain. But the overwhelming weight of the evidence suggests that despite all the ugliness of our politics, this is a well-governed nation."

Time for an Amendment?

Conservatives have watched victory after victory overturned by activist Democratic judges -- a misnomer if ever there was one -- one vote overturning the votes of millions isn't exactly "democratic". . .

We've been justifiably annoyed by this, and in frustration have looked to the amendment process as a way of putting the cookies on a shelf the judges can't reach. At times this has been WAY premature -- the BBA and the Flag Burning Amendment spring to mind.

But marriage is so core, so central to the healthy functioning of society, that I think it really might be time for an amendment. Reality is this, if we don't make it an iron-clad amendment, then the natural momentum of contemporary "rights" theory is going to legalize gay marriage. Sooner rather than later. The cultural pendulum isn't going to swing our way again anytime soon. If we're ever going to have enough political capital to pass a marriage amendment, it's now.

Pardon My English has some good things to say as well. I especially liked: "Why must every privilege become a right?"

That's EXACTLY the situation we're facing today, on everything from gay marriage to suffrage for felons. . . The leveling instinct has become so strong, so reflexive, that any difference is perceived as a form of repression.

Blogs for Bush!

I just came across Blogs for Bush and joined up. This is the first election since blogging went big, it'll be interesting to see what role it plays.

Also, sign up to volunteer for the Bush campaign! I would, but it'd be a heck of a commute to the campaign office. . .

Found via Matt Margolis.

Pagan-Centered Worship, Part 2

I recently wrote on the essential chuckleheadedness of making unregenerate man the center of a church service, and then calling it a "worship" service. Especially considering that in this case the service is focused on someone completely incapable of performing the act of worship. . . Some of my near-and-dear here thought perhaps I had them in mind -- I didn't.

What motivated the post was a reflection on some of the churches I've attended over the years -- Generic North American Prot churches whose sermons were little more than a sales pitch, with the altar call being the clincher at the end; the Seeker church in Cali which refused to show crosses and never seemed to talk about sin or the blood of Christ. And others. The immediate stimulus for the post was this peach from Tall Skinny Kiwi.

"It might be better to have a party that is redemptive than having a boring service that has moments of drama/fun. More on this later. Its really important. Many of my friends start with a "service" that is, in its kernal, BORING and then try to add the fun element. But house church people start with a party in the living room - that is indeed fun and relational, and make the party work, make it useful, add purpsose and direction to the party. If church is a party . "

Unless his writing is simply opaque and I've missed something key, he isn't just one step down the winding road of asininity, but two. First, that a key element of worshiping the Holy God is "fun". As if the concept of frivolous enjoyment in any way coincides with glorifying God. As if the concept itself appears in the Bible in any form. . . But this "fun" is so vital, it turns out, that organized corporate worship needs to be chucked entirely if it fails the fun test.

Vertical, theocentric worship is out. Horizontal, 'relevant', fun worship is in. Gosh, he is SO cutting edge. No one's ever thought of this before. Except the mainline denoms in the 60's of course, and the Unitarians. And it worked GREAT for them. . . Or not.

So much of Evangelicalism is like a half-witted little brother to liberal Christianity these days. They're following in the footsteps of liberalism, yet deluding themselves that it's all somehow new and fresh. Whether it be feminism, environmentalism, "social justice", novel new ways of interpreting Scripture, the watering down of sexual ethics, the redefining of sin in psychological terms, the redefinition of salvation in relational terms, or radically redefining worship to mean hanging with the homeys, it's ALL been done before.

Tacking Post-Modern onto a silly, tired practice doesn't make it hip. It just hypes it a little.

Dorothy Parker writes you, you wonderfully urbane,
witty boozehound, you.


Which Author's Fiction are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

I've loved Dorothy Parker for ages. Big Blonde is one of my favorite short stories, and her doggerel poems are dark and fun. Here are a few I like:

Resume

Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.

Guns aren't lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.

General Review of the Sex Situation

Woman wants monogamy;
Man delights in novelty.
Love is woman's moon and sun;
Man has other forms of fun.
Woman lives but in her lord;
Count to ten, and man is bored.
With this the gist and sum of it,
What earthly good can come of it?

The Flaw in Paganism

Drink and dance and laugh and lie,
Love, the reeling midnight through,
For tomorrow we shall die!
(But, alas, we never do.)

Special thanks to Jared at Mysterium Tremendum!

I like the President.

I just reread President Bush's Whitehall Palace Speech, and am so impressed by it. It's the sort of optimistic, gutsy rhetoric we haven't heard since Reagan. No one could ever match Reagan in my estimation -- I'll never again be a twelve year old boy watching admiringly as my president takes on the hated Communists.

But George Bush has something of the same spark -- a hopeful, patriotic, confident outlook just when the country most needs it. So kvetch all you like; complain about stolen elections or popular votes. . . Say he isn't your president. Well, he's mine. And thank God for it.

Our 1,000th Commenter!

Congrats to David Silfry, who just posted the 1,000 comment here at Le Sabot. An honorable mention to Paxil, who actually submitted the 1,000 comment, but was disqualified due to Rule 12, paragraph 2b, which clearly states that Spambots are ineligible. . .

McCain-Feingold, meet Mr. Reality

Besides its fundamental incomprehension of human nature, probably the greatest weakness of modern liberalism is its short-term focus -- an inability to look at the attendant consequences of whatever program they seek to impose this week. One of the reasons for their continued electoral viability is that the electorate shares this inability to connect long-term disaster with past short-term liberal "solutions."

One example is urban renewal -- a noble goal of building clean, safe housing for the poor. Reality -- they destroyed poor but livable neighborhoods and built inhumane, people-sized ant-farms which breed crime and despair.

Another example, of course, is welfare. A typically high-sounding goal -- helping unwed mothers. A secondary consequence of helping increase the inner-city illegitimacy rate from around 21% to mid-80%.

Now the "Nicers", as my Uni philosophy prof called them, have tried to improve our campaign finance system. They've accomplished an ostensibly laudable goal of banning soft money. Bully for them. They've accomplished. . . Less than nothing.

Funny, but the money didn't just disappear. Now it goes instead to completely unregulated 527 organizations. Before this money was watched carefully by the FEC. All 527's have to do is file tax returns. These organizations are often the creatures of wealthy donors and single-issue zealots. And the politicians can't get on the 527 bandwagon fast enough.

Government regulation and intrusion is a club -- a clumsy blunt instrument. When it sets out to fine tune things, it only mucks them up worse. But hope springs eternal. Next we'll be looking for a way to fix the 527 problem, and thereby spawn a new set of unintended consequences. . .

Help Spread the Gospel. . .

. . .from the comfort of your own cubicle!

I can't go into details here, but I've been handed an opportunity to help someone spread the Gospel into a very creative-access country via blogging. What I need is some technical help from one of you high-speed, low-drag computery types out there.

This isn't asked lightly. I would very much like to see this get off the ground. Please prayerfully consider pitching in on this project.

If anyone is interested in more info, please email me at discoshaman@saintly.com

Has anyone else noticed. . .

. . .that Technorati is completely schizoid these days? At least when I check my site, it'll mark that I haven't updated in a week, or it double lists blogs by both name and URL, etc. Was I just born under a bad sign, or is this happening with everyone?

CW, Interrupted?

The conventional wisdom about Bush's trip to the UK has looked forward to a hostile and unwelcoming British populace. A new poll today in the Guardian runs hard against the CW. The headline says it all: "Protests begin but majority backs Bush visit as support for war surges..."

It's good to consider the source. This is no Tory rag or Murdoch tabloid. It's from The Guardian, the Lefty paper of record.

"A majority of Labour voters welcome President George Bush's state visit to Britain which starts today, according to November's Guardian/ICM opinion poll.

The survey shows that public opinion in Britain is overwhelmingly pro-American with 62% of voters believing that the US is "generally speaking a force for good, not evil, in the world". It explodes the conventional political wisdom at Westminster that Mr Bush's visit will prove damaging to Tony Blair. Only 15% of British voters agree with the idea that America is the "evil empire" in the world.

The ICM poll also uncovers a surge in pro-war sentiment in the past two months as suicide bombers have stepped up their attacks on western targets and troops in Iraq. Opposition to the war has slumped by 12 points since September to only 41% of all voters. At the same time those who believe the war was justified has jumped 9 points to 47% of voters.

This swing in the mood of British voters is echoed in the poll's finding that two-thirds of voters believe British and American troops should not pull out of Iraq now but instead stay until the situation is 'more stable'."

Disappointing news for those whose happiness is inversely-proportional to Bush's success, but such is life. As the Dread Pirate Roberts said to the Spanish swordsman, "Get used to disappointment." It only gets worse in 2004.

Pat Who?

The WSJ gives Pat! Buchanan a well-deserved smack today. For those of you who've forgotten him, this is the gadfly who formerly wielded real political influence, actually giving Bush '41 a run for his money. You know, the one with a sister who's marginally more masculine than he is? Still ringing no bells? Here's a pic.

And here are some highlights from the article:

"For all his talk about the "Buchanan brigades" that supposedly lie just over the hill, this is a man who took a Reform Party that captured a respectable 8% of the popular vote in 1996 and drove it down to less than half of 1% in 2000."

"The more fundamental divide is over our belief--the market's belief--that human beings are assets and not liabilities. At least they have proved so in societies of ordered liberty rooted in private property."

"For if the perennial temptation of the left is utopianism, that of the right is despair. Everywhere Mr. Buchanan looks, he sees American decline and another Bush sellout. Yet to take the most contested social issue of the day, the one around which the original Buchanan base was constituted, it's telling that it was the Republican Party of this President Bush that passed and just had signed into law the first national restriction on abortion since Roe v. Wade. While it was Mr. Buchanan who, with his eye on $13 million in matching government funds, jumped to a party founded on the proposition that social issues shouldn't even be discussed. . .

In his riff against "Hong Kong values," Mr. Buchanan believes he is attacking a form of rationalism that elevates efficiency over morality. But the morality divorced from economic efficiency he proposes in its stead will only serve, as it so manifestly has in his own case, to marginalize conservatism back to where it was before the founding of National Review and the rise of Ronald Reagan: a losing catalog of resentments."

Still, given the relative influence of the WSJ and Buchanan these days, there was something infra dig about them swatting him. Now that he's umbilically tied to the circus freaks in the Deformed Party, and his writings are read by a handful of survivalists in Montana (any readers of Le Sabot excepted, of course...) hasn't the guy suffered enough? Now that he's in his political dotage, wouldn't it be kinder to simply let him rant them out in peace?

World Blog!

The Duchess made a happy discovery recently -- World Magazine has a blog now. It's updated regularly, and focuses mainly on current events. Check it out!

Logophiles of the World... Accrete!

I've discovered a fellow logophile. . . Dan, a young financial journalist who's worshipping with our church, came by for dinner the other night. Afterwards we were discussing our favorite words in English, Russian and Ukrainian (Yes, we Presbyterians live life on the ragged edge.) My favorite Russian word is dostaprimichatelnosti, which means "site." For Ukrainian it's tyutyun -- tobacco. Then, for English I said callipygian.

Dan nodded sagely and quoted the definition almost verbatim. It turns out that he read and memorized the entire dictionary of his word processing program. At last, someone almost as weird as I am.

A Eurabian Revival?

I just finished an interesting piece by Derb over at NRO. He writes on America as the last "Christian nation." He points out the widening religio-cultural divide between the US and Europe. For example, 60% of Americans say that religion plays an important role in their life, while European countries range from 11-33%.

There's fodder in the article for a dozen blogposts, but I wanted to focus on a side comment he made: "Peter Hitchens has suggested that Britain might soon become an Islamic nation. This is not at all far-fetched, though I think some kind of Christian revival is also possible. "

Muslim birthrates are off the charts in Europe, while the native population of countries like Spain hovers around 1.5 (with a replacement level being 2.1. . .) If, as many demographers predict, Europe's future is as Eurabia, how will the native population react? Particularly given that Muslims are quick to consolidate power once they achieve the ability to do so. The northern states of Nigeria are a good example of what happens to a secular state once Muslims win at the ballot box. The sharia courts are already being applied to Christians, despite assurances that they wouldn't be. If you need a starker example of Muslim coexistence, look to Sudan.

How will the population of Europe respond to this, as Muslims begin to flex their political muscle? A reaction already seems to be forming, in the likes of Fortuyn, Haider and Le Pen. But will it eventually take on a more explicitly religious cast? The last place in Europe that seemed to take religious identity seriously was Northern Ireland. There a political question (many of the original Irish nationalists were Prods) quickly turned religious. Will Europeans in a couple generations do the same?

I ask these questions in a sense of realpolitick. I certainly don't think religious nationalism is a healthy form of revival. And it's sad that Europe is so denuded of real conservatism that bigots like Le Pen are the closest thing to a response that Western Europe can mount. But it is a legitimate question to ask -- will Europeans return to at least a tribalistic sort of Christianity as they see Muslims taking over their continent?

The importation of Islamic immigrants into Europe is probably the largest and riskiest experiment in history. And the results seem predictable, even a couple generations out from the conclusion of the experiment.

Don't Be a Lager Lout. . .

The myriad perfections of Guinness should be reason enough to prefer it to lager. It's more nuanced, fuller and richer, and inspires an emotional bond from its drinkers that no lager can match. It is quite possibly nature's most perfect food.

As if these weren't enough, now there's another reason to choose stouts over lagers -- your health. According to this BBC article, drinking a pint a day may be as beneficial for your heart as aspirin.

"The researchers told a meeting of the American Heart Association in Orlando, Florida, that the most benefit they saw was from 24 fluid ounces of Guinness - just over a pint - taken at mealtimes. . . They believe that "antioxidant compounds" in the Guinness, similar to those found in certain fruits and vegetables, are responsible for the health benefits because they slow down the deposit of harmful cholesterol on the artery walls. "

Peace, Love and Leave it to Beaver

Conservatives are often nostalgic about the old B&W television shows, and rightly so. But watching a tape of The Little Rascals with the boys today, I remembered something a prof told me in back in Uni. He pointed out that the generation that was raised on Leave it to Beaver and Father Knows Best was the one that went on to birth the New Left and tear the country apart. The last thing I want in the house is a quartet of hippies. Maybe my kids should be watching SpongeBob instead.

Is it just me...

...or is Christopher Reeve angling for a spot as Dr. Evil's newest henchman?

The Chivalric Synthesis

Growing up, C.S. Lewis's essay The Necessity of Chivalry helped form my idea of what manhood should look like. I looked for it online, but only found a brief overview here. Lewis "wrote that the disparate strands of manhood-- fierceness and gentleness--can find healthy synthesis in the person of the knight and in the code of chivalry. Here these competing impulses--normally found in different individuals--find their union.

"Were one of these two bents given full rein, the balance required for authentic Christian manhood would be lost. Strength and power, without tenderness, for example, give us the brute. Tenderness and compassion without masculine firmness and aggressiveness produce a male without the fire to lead or inspire others."

Now that God has given me four little men of my own to raise, I often think back to this essay. I'm trying to raise my boys within this same tension. Looking over some photos from France today, two of them seemed to capture this. One has them in Normandy, saluting in front of a German pillbox. The other is them with their favorite Degas sculpture at the Musee D'orsay -- The Little Dancer.

Is Homeschooling the Ideal?

While not the educational theorist the Duchess is, I've been giving some thought to homeschooling as a near-religion. I'm a great fan of home teaching. But while it is for many people simply a means of teaching their children, others seem to almost sacramentalize it. My aunt's ex-church had a large minority of such people. In fact, they were the ones who inspired me to coin the term "Blue Denim Jumper Mafia." They were so insular, and so intolerant of those who chose differently, that they sucked the life from their church. Eventually they decided that the rest of the parishioners were too worldly for their children to associate with, and they've since retreated into a monastic sort of home churching.

But are they right? Is homeschooling the one, true way? For awhile now I've thought that perhaps it isn't. If we believe that God gives different gifts and Callings to us all, then how can we tell parents that this is 'God's highest' for them? Do we really believe that every couple is gifted with the organizational, intellectual and educational giftings to teach effectively? And that each parent has this identical calling? (This is asked with the understanding that the responsibility for their children's education rests with the parents in the final sense.)

Further, if the church is a community of faith, then does atomistic homeschooling best reflect this aspect of the church? Don't we as Christians have a responsibility to the single parents, or to those who simply can't homeschool their children? And if God has uniquely gifted some in the church as teachers, or in areas of specific academic endeavor, aren't these gifts the province of the whole church, rather than exclusively familial?

Homeschooling has been a GREAT transitional period. Public school is no longer the automatic default when we decide where to educate our kids. But I wonder if a parent-directed co-op approach isn't in some ways superior. The pooling of resources and gifts seems a natural evolutionary step. A co-op I was involved with in Texas had a full orchestra, logic classes, a science lab, and a poli sci and current affairs guy -- me. (Imagine giving me free reign with the politics of middle schoolers. Needless to say, there are a few more conservatives in the world now...) Another option is a church-based Christian school with heavy parental involvement.

I'm not attacking homeschooling in any way. Some people are clearly called in that direction. And I haven't taken a firm position on this yet myself. But I'm curious -- is homeschooling the ideal?

Addendum- The Duchess wishes me to note that homeschooling IS the ideal in the early years, when education is more a matter of nurturing than hard-core academics.

Check back manana!

No full-scale blog posts tonight.

Bible study ran until almost 11:30. . . We had a great time discussing John 16. It was an interesting mix of peeps, including a Word-Faither and a dear brother from Berkley, CA. 2 hapless Mormon missionaries invited themselves to dinner (and got more than they bargained for.) During Bible study we talked about the ways in which God uses suffering in this life, and about what it means to pray "in Jesus' name." This is something foundational for anyone coming out of the Word-Faith movement, since the phrase is turned into a magical formula in that sect.

I was able to talk separately with the Mormons for a good half-hour. We talked about everything from the King Follet Discourse and the nature of God to the objective nature of Biblical truth vs. the subjectivity of Mormonism. Tapir-back riders even came into the picture. Everyone was gracious and friendly, but they still looked a wee bit shaky as they walked out the door.

I love my work.

Yeah, But What About Socialization?

Props to our friend Carol for turning us on to this fascinating research on homeschoolers. While not dogmatic about it, the Duchess and I are homeschooling our four boys. She herself was homeschooled, as were my sibs. I wasn't, and look how I turned out. This alone should be enough to convince you to teach your kids at home. If not, take a look at some of these stats:

Academic Attainment -- "In the general U.S. population in this age range (18-24), 46.2% had attained some college courses or higher; 74.2% of the home-educated had attained some college courses or higher."

Citizenship -- "71% of subjects were participating in any ongoing community service activity (e.g., coaching a sports team, volunteering at a school, or working with a church or neighborhood association), while 37% of similarly aged U.S. adults and 39% of all U.S. adults did so."

Faith and Religion -- 94% strongly agreed or agreed to the statement, "My religious beliefs are basically the same as those of my parents." Other data I've seen places it at 80% for Christians educated in public schools.

Happy With Homeschooling? -- "The findings regarding the participants' attitudes toward having been homeschooled are presented in tables and figures. On a 5-point scale (i.e., 1=Strongly Agree, 5=Strongly Disagree), the mean response to "I am glad that I was homeschooled" was 1.3. The mean response to "Having been homeschooled is an advantage to me as an adult" was 1.4."

Obviously whenever a research group has an axe to grind, we should take stats with a grain of salt. For example, the Alan Guttmacher Institute is operated by Planned Parenthood (not that the press generally mentions this when quoting its reasearch on "women's health" or abortion.) The same dynamic applies here. Nevertheless, the study should be encouraging to anyone teaching their children at home.

Tuzla Wars!

Some of you have probably been following the border dispute between Ukraine and Russia over the protective dike the Russians are building near Tuzla. Most of you probably aren't. But you probably DO know within which continent Ukraine resides, a distinction most Americans cannot claim. Anyway. For an overview of the situation, check out this VOA article. For a juicier and more polemical read, turn to the Moscow Times' look at Tuzla and Greater Russia.

It seems that the Ukrainian and Moskali civilians are having a war of their own via the internet. Either that or someone simply has way too much free time on his hands. My good buddy in Warsaw, infamous here at Le Sabot as The Liberal Media, was kind enough to send me some great propaganda pieces:

Peoples of the Entire World. . . Help with the Dam!

Be careful, the doors are closing. Next station is Simferopl.

Not a gram of fat to the Muscovites!

Russians! Let's Defend Tuzla from the Ukrainian Defenders!

Metrosexual Much?

The incomparable Duchess came across a Metrosexuality Quiz yesterday. While I think it gives a BIT too much emphasis to depilatory queries, it's not bad. I came in with 33 out of 50, which must be close to downtown -- near the border between Metrosexual and Suburbosexual. Or something.

Party Distinctives. . .

Shrode, one of the great and talented Thinklings, has linked to a great article on charitable giving and politics. While those of the sinister persuasion like to stereotype conservatives as heartless misers whose favorite holiday pastime is starving orphans and jeopardizing grandma's Social Security check, it turns out that Red states are much more generous than those misguided enough to vote Blue. In fact, the top 20 states in the 2003 Generosity Index ALL went for Bush.

On a similar theme, the Washington Times reports today on a Pew study that finds Republicans to be more patriotic, more hopeful, and more religious than the Demos.

This follows on the heels of my own investigations which clearly find Republicans to be better looking and more hygenic than those on the Left. For a brief abstract of my research, please compare GOP pollster Kellyanne Fitzpatrick (now Conway) with the ablutophobic Michael Moore.

Senator Harris?

I just noticed that Katherine Harris is considering a bid to replace Bob Graham. While the prospect of a dynamic, Christian senator should be encouraging to any of us, I'm especially happy to hear it.

Back in Uni, I took a 6-month hiatus to work on her very first political campaign. I was the first full-time worker on her campaign besides the manager. I just fell into it. My friend Justin had introduced me to her, and I was as taken with her as everyone is when meeting Katherine in person.

The campaign was one of the happiest times of my life -- working 'til all hours, eating Thai take-out, and fighting the good fight against the single most liberal member of the Florida state senate. . . In the end we won handily, and Republicans took control of the state senate for the first time since Reconstruction.

Katherine was also the one who introduced me to R.C. Sproul, and even sponsored a trip for me to a Ligoniers convention. Her rise from FL senate to Sec'y of State to U.S. Congress has been meteoric, and I'd love to see it continue. Now I just need to find the Embassy and look into absentee voting. . .

Cross Pagan-Centered Preaching?

Enjoying a smoke out on my balcony tonight, I was struck by something. Cigarette butts from the upper floors. And then, by a thought.

A small one, but a thought. It was about the basic chuckleheadedness of those who center their church worship service on evangelizing the unbelievers. Many were the visitor-oriented services I sat through during my days in happy-clappy churches.

I wonder that we never stopped, even for a brief moment, and asked ourselves why we were calling it a worship service at all. Unconverted people cannot worship God. And if they're the focus, then worship isn't. And if worship isn't the focus, then God isn't.

Exegete Me Baby, One More Time. . .

A girl in our Student Fellowship came to me excitedly the other day with the news that Britney Spears is a born-again Christian. She wanted to know if I had any more info on the subject. I was pleased to hear of it, of course. What an opportunity! Considering how recalcitrant Evangelicalism has been about embracing pop morals and culture, having a Spokes-Not-a-Girl-Not-Yet-a-Woman like Britney could be just the shot in the arm we need! And think of the influence a faith such as hers could have on the millions of Evangelical girls whose parents allow them to buy her records. Why, an abstinence advocate like her could revolutionize the spiritual and sexual mores of a generation. . .

So you can imagine how thrilled I was to see that Britney's agile mind was one step ahead of me. She's put together a relevant and hip Bible study for girls that encapsulates her Christian walk:

It's even ecumenical -- Madonna, a devout Catholic, wrote the forward as well as a chapter on sacred objects as fashion accessories.

Long Overdue Additions...

I've added some great blogs to the roll today. There's something here to enlighten and offend just about anyone!

For the Slavophile:

The Russian Dilettante should be the first stop for anyone interested in contemporary Russia.

The Politburo Diktat has the funniest schtick I've seen on a blog in a long-time. Pop over and watch him expose "Imperialist Lackeys, Capitalist Reactionaries, and Zionist Running Dogs..."

For the political junky:

A fellow Right-Wing conspirator, or conspiratrix, in this case... Spiced Sass.

Anti-com covers politics and the Middle East, with an edge.

Fellow Believers:

From my old stomping grounds in North Texas Presbytery comes OK Calvin.

King's Kid gives a good mix of spiritual musings and fun miscellanea.

Also check out Honest to Blog for your daily dose of neo-Calvinism.

Just to annoy the Ezzites, particularly Roger Samsel:

While not an Attachment Parent myself, I think they have some good things to say. Plus, Marsupial Mom is just a cool frood.

In the Army Now...

Last night was one of the most interesting I've had since coming to Ukraine. I was honored to be the only American invited to my friend Dima's Provodi. It's a cultural relic of the Soviet Era -- an all-night send-off for young men who've been drafted.

We watched DMB, a hilarious parody of Russian military life on the order of Stripes. We sang, drank vodka with chili peppers, ate hard sausages, and kept him awake 'til morning. As we're all Presbyterian, I introduced them to an old Scottish tradition -- whiskey. It's an acquired taste, and one they haven't yet acquired. The most common word they described it with was samogon -- moonshine.

In the morning we all walked him to the induction center and said our good-byes. Given the composition of our group, we were all sober. That couldn't be said for any of the other inductees, however. It was quite a sight -- joking boys, crying mothers, babushkas and girlfriends, and stoic fathers. Dima's going to do great in the military, both as a soldier and a missionary.

Save Your Dixie Cups...

...The South Shall Rise Again!

My favorite Democrat, Sen. Zell Miller of Georgia, has a GREAT column in the Washington Times today. The name says it all: How Democrats Lost the South. Not only does it lay out the reasons behind the continuing Dem meltdown in Dixie, but also gives some very encouraging stats about economic, educational and racial progress in the region. For anyone who grinds their teeth at the constant slandering of the South in the mainstream culture, it's a must-read. Here's a peek:

"Democrats have never seen a snail darter they didn't want to protect, but sometimes I think the one endangered species they don't want to save is the Southern conservative Democrat. We're like the alcoholic uncle that families try to hide in a room up in the attic: After the primaries are over and the general election nears, national Democrats trot out the South and show us off -- at arm's length -- as if to say, "Look how tolerant we are; see how caring? Why, we even allow people 'like this' in our party of the big tent. We still love that strange old reprobate uncle." As soon as the election is over, the old boy is banished to the attic and ignored for another two years. "

Does Red or White Wine Go With Crow?

We've spent two years listening to howling and gibbering from the Dems about the "Bush Economy" and how he's somehow singlehandedly responsible for the natural trends of the business cycle. A 6.2% unemployment level constituted the "worst economy since the Great Depression." The burst tech bubble, a worldwide financial slowdown, and 9/11 weren't even peripheral factors. Bush was the Man.

Well, in the spirit of turnabout being fair play, I'll agree. Bush is, indeed, the Man. And in the same spirit, I'll cheerfully wreath him in laurels for the 7.2% GDP growth rate-- the fastest since 1984. We'll toss in some applause for the 4 year high in manufacturing; the highest construction spending in recorded history; the Federal Reserve forecasting 150-200K new jobs a month; signs of recovery in the tech sector; a rebounding dollar; and a stock market surge, including a 30% jump in the S&P 500 since March.

When coupled with the news that Bob Graham is gone and another Southern senate seat open, this must be a painful day for the Bush-haters.

Being the empathic, metrosexual kind of guy I am, I had to fight back shuddering winces several times today. I feel your pain. You were planning on a sour economy to save you, and that's all changed now. I'll just echo the words of one of the truly noble Democratic presidents, Bill Clinton -- "We must learn to make change our friend."