Voices In The Wilderness

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Jul 302006
 

Today’s NY Times features a front-page profile of Woodland Hills, an evangelical church located here in the Twin Cities.  The article discusses the lead pastor’s efforts to disentangle his congregation from political ties to the Republican Party and conservative social causes such as opposing abortion and gay marriage.  The pastor also deplores using the pulpit to glorify military campaigns such as the one in Iraq.

I know enough evangelicals, including a couple friends who attend Woodland Hills, to understand that they are not necessarily a monolithic force.  Many do not toe the GOP party line and do not fit the stereotypical caricature of a shrill, dour, judgmental, gay-bashing, science-hating, book-banning killjoy that is common currency among those of us on the left.  It’s good to see the mainstream media recognizing this as well and taking the time to point out that, like any other broadly identified demographic in America, the political sympathies of evangelicals cannot always be easily identified. 

However, it’s difficult to deny that Republicans have been extremely successful at co-opting and mobilizing the vast majority of Christian evangelicals.  Bush makes no effort to hide the fact that his political fortunes are tied to the support of his religiously conservative base.  And the America envisioned by most evangelicals is vastly different than the one for which I hope and strive.  Despite the dissent of some within their ranks, the GOP and Christian conservatives have inextricably linked their fates, at least in this world.

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A New Monopoly In Town

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Jul 292006
 
My broadband provider, Time Warner, is ceding its control of the Minneapolis market to Comcast as part of their joint deal to acquire the assets of now-defunct Adelphia.  While I’ve had few complaints about TW’s service, I’ve heard nothing but dismal things about Comcast’s customer service.  The infamous YouTube video of the sleeping Comcast technician, articles about their clueless tech support, and tales of inexplicable service outages do not inspire confidence in my new corporate masters.  But if I want to use the Internet tubes at the speeds I’m enjoying now, Comcast is the only game in town, at least until wireless networks can catch up in terms of throughput. 

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Controlled Environment

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Jul 282006
 

Another week, another heat wave.  As I walked through the (mostly) air conditioned skyways this afternoon, I noticed that more people were using the skyways than the sidewalks below.  We Minnesotans are a fickle lot.  In five or six months, many of us will be complaining about the cold and these sultry days will seem like a fevered dream.  But, as with most things in life, a little perspective is in order.  Scores of Californians have died from heat-related deaths in the last couple weeks. 
 
After going into the office on Wednesday and participating in a teleconference this morning, I think my next vacation will be to a place that forces me not to do any work.  I wonder if French Polynesia is accessible. 

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Witnessing Tragedy

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Jul 272006
 

Most of us liberal bloggers are growing tired of pointing out the tragic consequences of the president’s bungling on the world stage.  His vision of democracy blossoming across the Mideast is crumbling before the eyes of a horrified world.  Iraq–particularly  Baghdad–is being ripped apart by wave after bloody wave of violence.  The results of our ill-conceived adventures in Iraq give us precious little credibility to negotiate any sort of solution to the raging conflict in northern Israel and Lebanon, a country that was just beginning to get back on its feet and was planting the seeds of a real democratic state when the bombs started falling. 
 
During a recent telephone conversation with my dad, he bemoaned the fact that nobody here at home seems to be expressing any strong opposition to the abysmal leadership–or more accurately, the lack thereof–coming from Washington.  “Where are the protesters?” he said.  “Why doesn’t anybody seem to care?  What the hell is wrong with people?”  I suggested that most Americans aren’t able to devote too much time to activism or civic engagement because they’re too busy trying to stay afloat economically.  I worry that, as a society, we are increasingly ceding simple acts of civic life (e.g. writing a letter to the editor, calling our representatives, attending a community meeting) to an elite group of professional activists. 
 
But that’s a topic for another time.  I told my dad that the fall elections might provide an opportunity for people to voice their displeasure and restore some measure of wisdom and competence to our government.  For all our sakes, I hope I’m right. 

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Cue Up “Wind Beneath My Wings”

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Jul 262006
 

I subscribe to Newsweek, mostly out of habit than for its inherent informative value.  It’s the kind of magazine that I can breeze through in 30 minutes or so and find one or two articles of interest, dismissing the rest as filler and fluff.  Newsweek fell further in my esteem when a regular fluff-piece co-sponsored by Beliefnet started appearing in the magazine.  Beliefnet is a religiously-themed portal site offering a lot of fuzzy, feel-good content that, from what I gather, is designed to make readers have a “There but for the grace of God” moment during their lunch hour.  So it should be no surprise that Beliefnet wants to “put together a collection of stories and photographs of disabled people of faith accomplishing amazing things.”  They set the bar even higher by asking that these stories be imbued with “courage” and “inspiration.”
 
Why, just this morning, I got out of bed.  And soon, I will commit the incredibly heroic act of going into the office for a meeting.  The fact that I’m not a “person of faith” might raise some eyebrows, but I think I can score some additional points by submitting a photo of myself in which I’m flashing a brave smile, though it’s still evident that I’m gritting my teeth in the face of tremendous, unimaginable physical and emotional suffering. 
 
Once again, thanks to Ouch for the tip.

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Matchmaker

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Jul 252006
 

Rumors are circulating that the next-generation iPod will have the capability to display e-books.  Please, please, Apple, include some kind of rudimentary voice control so I can take advantage of this function.  If you do, I might even purchase two: one for me and one for a gimp in need.
 
I spent most of last evening with my charming, lovely, hip friends Erin and Liberty at their condo and rooftop garden, which isn’t far from my own building.  They are one of the few couples in my circle of friends whose home is accessible to me, so this was something of a treat for me.  Another friend of mine recently told me that women don’t discuss sex with the same explicitness as men.  I should suggest to her that she have a few glasses of wine with Erin and Liberty sometime; she would likely change her mind afterwards.  At one point in the evening, Erin was trying to think of someone to set me up with and she started asking me if I’d consider any of her gay male friends.  Then she stopped herself, shook her head, and said, “No, no, never mind, you’re as straight as the day is long.”
 
I’m afraid she’s right.  I am boringly heterosexual.  But I did ask her to refer to me any hot bi women she might know.  I’m all about diversity. 

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Sloth

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Jul 242006
 

It’s bad enough that we have to put up with able-bodied scofflaws parking in disability spots.  Now, y’all are starting to appropriate the motorized scooters reserved in shopping malls and parks for people with disabilities because some of you can’t be bothered with the effort of putting one foot in front of the other.  I used to joke with people that I use a wheelchair and a ventilator because I’m incredibly lazy, but I never thought that laziness would become a bona fide justification for using a mobility device. 
 
I swear, when I become President-for-Life of Gimp Island, the illicit use of a publicly available scooter or wheelchair will be an offense punishable by a sixty-day term of exile to the more…untamed…side of the island. 

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