Progressive Christian Values & the Election

I wanted to make one last politics post before the big day gets here. If I had to pick 1 book that has changed my life more than any in the last few years, I'd points to Jim Wallis's God's Politics. Reading this book has really opened my eyes to how the "Religious Right" has hijacked the Republican Party in the last few years. Instead of making biblical issues the center of political debate & discussion, abolishing abortion & restricting gay-rights has been an incredibly divisive & inflammatory path. Reading this book opened up my eyes to the real values taught in the Bible and demonstrated by Jesus.

Last week, Jim Wallis sent out one of the best pieces I've seen that succinctly & eloquently describes why so many progressive Christians support Obama. Please take the time to read it & if you like it, you can subscribe to his blog God's Politics.

Republished from his blog:

In 2004, several conservative Catholic bishops and a few megachurch pastors like Rick Warren issued their list of "non-negotiables," which were intended to be a voter guide for their followers. All of them were relatively the same list of issues: abortion, gay marriage, stem cell research, etc. None of them even included the word "poverty," only one example of the missing issues which are found quite clearly in the Bible. All of them were also relatively the same as official Republican Party Web sites of "non-negotiables." The political connections and commitments of the religious non-negotiable writers were quite clear.

I want to suggest a different approach this year and share my personal list of "faith priorities" that will guide me in making the imperfect choices that always confront us in any election year — and suggest that each of you come up with your own list of "faith" or "moral" priorities for this election year and take them into the voting booth with you.

After the last election, I wrote a book titled God’s Politics. I was criticized by some for presuming to speak for God, but that wasn’t the point. I was trying to explore what issues might be closest to the heart of God and how they may be quite different from what many strident religious voices were then saying. I was also saying that "God’s Politics" will often turn our partisan politics upside down, transcend our ideological categories of Left and Right, and challenge the core values and priorities of our political culture. I was also trying to say that there is certainly no easy jump from God’s politics to either the Republicans or Democrats. God is neither. In any election we face imperfect choices, but our choices should reflect the things we believe God cares about if we are people of faith, and our own moral sensibilities if we are not people of faith. Therefore, people of faith, and all of us, should be "values voters" but vote all our values, not just a few that can be easily manipulated for the benefit of one party or another.

In 2008, the kingdom of God is not on the ballot in any of the 50 states as far as I can see. So we can’t vote for that this year. But there are important choices in this year’s election — very important choices — which will dramatically impact what many in the religious community and outside of it call "the common good," and the outcome could be very important, perhaps even more so than in many recent electoral contests.

I am in no position to tell anyone what is "non-negotiable," and neither is any bishop or megachurch pastor, but let me tell you the "faith priorities" and values I will be voting on this year:

1- With more than 2,000 verses in the Bible about how we treat the poor and oppressed, I will examine the record, plans, policies, and promises made by the candidates on what they will do to overcome the scandal of extreme global poverty and the shame of such unnecessary domestic poverty in the richest nation in the world. Such a central theme of the Bible simply cannot be ignored at election time, as too many Christians have done for years. And any solution to the economic crisis that simply bails out the rich, and even the middle class, but ignores those at the bottom should simply be unacceptable to people of faith.

2- From the biblical prophets to Jesus, there is, at least, a biblical presumption against war and the hope of beating our swords into instruments of peace. So I will choose the candidates who will be least likely to lead us into more disastrous wars and find better ways to resolve the inevitable conflicts in the world and make us all safer. I will choose the candidates who seem to best understand that our security depends upon other people’s security (everyone having "their own vine and fig tree, so no one can make them afraid," as the prophets say) more than upon how high we can build walls or a stockpile of weapons. Christians should never expect a pacifist
president, but we can insist on one who views military force only as a very last resort, when all other diplomatic and economic measures have failed, and never as a preferred or habitual response to conflict.

3- "Choosing life" is a constant biblical theme, so I will choose candidates who have the most consistent ethic of life, addressing all the threats to human life and dignity
that we face — not just one. Thirty-thousand children dying globally each day of
preventable hunger and disease is a life issue. The genocide in Darfur is a life issue. Health care is a life issue. War is a life issue. The death penalty is a life issue. And on abortion, I will choose candidates who have the best chance to pursue the practical and proven policies which could dramatically reduce the number of abortions in America and therefore save precious unborn lives, rather than those who simply repeat the polarized legal debates and "pro-choice" and "pro-life" mantras from either side.

4- God’s fragile creation is clearly under assault, and I will choose the candidates who will likely be most faithful in our care of the environment. In particular, I will choose the candidates who will most clearly take on the growing threat of climate change, and who have the strongest commitment to the conversion of our economy and way of life to a cleaner, safer, and more renewable energy future. And that choice could accomplish other key moral priorities like the redemption of a dangerous foreign policy built on Middle East oil dependence, and the great prospects of job creation and economic renewal from a new "green" economy built on more spiritual values of conservation, stewardship, sustainability, respect, responsibility, co-dependence, modesty, and even humility.

5- Every human being is made in the image of God, so I will choose the candidates who are most likely to protect human rights and human dignity. Sexual and economic slavery is on the rise around the world, and an end to human trafficking must become a top priority. As many religious leaders have now said, torture is completely morally unacceptable, under any circumstances, and I will choose the candidates who are most committed to reversing American policy on the treatment of prisoners. And I will choose the candidates who understand that the immigration system is totally broken and needs comprehensive reform, but must be changed in ways that are compassionate, fair, just, and consistent with the biblical command to "welcome the stranger."

6- Healthy families are the foundation of our community life, and nothing is more important than how we are raising up the next generation. As the father of two young boys, I am deeply concerned about the values our leaders model in the midst of the cultural degeneracy assaulting our children. Which candidates will best exemplify and articulate strong family values, using the White House and other offices as bully pulpits to speak of sexual restraint and integrity, marital fidelity,
strong parenting, and putting family values over economic values? And I will choose the candidates who promise to really deal with the enormous economic and cultural pressures that have made parenting such a "countercultural activity" in America today, rather than those who merely scapegoat gay people for the serious problems of heterosexual family breakdown.

That is my list of personal "faith priorities" for the election year of 2008, but they are not "non-negotiables" for anyone else. It’s time for each of us to make up our own list in these next 12 days. Make your list and send this on to your friends and family members, inviting them to do the same thing.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: No matter the results of the election, we still live in a free country & have the right to elect our own leaders and serve our God.

A Star is Born

Although my sister played in a volleyball league this summer, entering 7th grade is her first chance to play for a school team. I made it to one of her games a few weeks ago & enjoyed watching her play.

In the 7th grade, there is an A, B & C teams. She made the B team, which is pretty darn good for not having played before.

I remember the days of this cute hand holding before the serve thing. If you are wondering, they two girls will trade playing positions after the ball is in play.

My sister started in the first game, and she was also subbed in during the 3rd game.

This is one of her good friends in the pippy long stockings, and another of her friends who broke her arm the first week of school.

And when she's not on the court, she's chit chatting with friends.

Showing off a very good "ready" stance for the serve.

There are some very funny moments in beginner volleyball.

The the 3rd game, her team ended up beating my old junior high team.

One of the top qualifications of being a good player at this level is the ability to serve the ball over the net.

Only about 40% of the serves that go over the net are returned by the other team. So just serving the ball over almost always gets you a point.

Haley is doing great & I'm really proud of her. I'm really impressed that she waked up around 5:30 almost every morning, a very big deal for her, to make it to morning practices before school.

And the official, school photo in uniform. I'll have to dig out my uber-embarrassing sports & band portraits soon.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: H is having his best month EVER in sales! Go him :)

Junior High

A few weeks ago, one of my sister's volleyball games happened to be held at my old Junior High school. After visiting my high school, I had some nostalgia to return to my 7th and 8th grade years. Counting back, I was shocked to realize it had been 15 years since I'd entered into those tumultuous teenage years.

I bet these trees were tiny when I was there! This area to the left of the main entrance is where all the band/orchestra/choir rooms were & also the gyms and locker rooms.

Off to the right of the entrance are all the classrooms, and as you can see, windows were not a popular option. It appears so scenic now- I guess it's just something I didn't appreciate when I was 13.

My junior high is just as I remembered it. Everything looked just about the same as I thought it would. Although I only spent 2 years here, I was quite active on both the volleyball team and in the band.

Our mascot was the Rangers- a very popular thing in Texas. I swear even this wall painting looked the same. I was also very active on our student council and was even President my 8th grade year. Yes- I was a total nerd!

The cafeteria seems so small and quaint. Looking back, I think Junior High is such an interesting time for kids to start making their own decisions and following their own paths. I remember going through many "phases" in these short few years.

I couldn't really visit the library, because there was a teacher meeting going on. It still looks about the same- such a fun, playful library. Nothing like the menacing stacks of college libraries.

And of course- where I spent most of my time, the big gym! Gotta love all the sheriff's badges and that the girls are still wearing nice, modest uniforms.

I have so many fond memories of these years. I loved taking Algebra & being in the band. I met so many of my good friends that I would play volleyball with for the next 6 years.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: 7 days from now, the election will be over. I *really* need a break!

Our Couple's Massage

Two weekends ago, we finally had time to get our long overdue honeymoon couples massage. We'd hoped to do it on our honeymoon, but just had too much fun with all the other things in Cabo. Since we made our 101 List on our honeymoon, it was one of the top things on the list. We went to an awesome little spa in a renovated house in the Heights called Heights Massage. Our package included a little dip in the hot tub, surrounded by a lush garden & munching on chocolate covered strawberries. Then we had a side-by-side, luxury massage which included parafin wax treatment on our hands & hot towel service. It was heavenly & so relaxing!

Then we headed over to our favorite wine bar, Corkscrew. It's in, what we'll call, an "up and coming" neighborhood that is going to through lots of revitalization. I was fascinated by this scene: trees still askew from hurricane Ike, fancy cars, trash in the street, man on his bike, happy dog chasing him.

We started out with a yummy bottle of Malbec from Argentina. We plotted on how we can get back down there to visit Mendoza, Patagonia & Chile.

Doesn't my hubby look nice & relaxed after his massage and our first bottle of wine?

And then on to our second bottle of wine. What can I say? It was a lazy, wonderful, relaxing and romantic Saturday.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: It was SOOO good to sleep in this morning- it's been weeks since I've lolled around in bed!

More Fun with Google Earth

I happened to notice that Google Earth has updated the images over my house. This is the horrible medical office behind my house & I think this photo was taken in January of 2008.

It' interesting to see where the new images are. This is just north of my neighborhood, in the subdivision where I jog through. You can see where the new images, taken in the winter, meet with the old images, taken when the trees were more green.

This is a neat map showing our drive through Joshua Tree National Park. You can see exactly where we wen through all the mountain passes.

This is just east of the park. I assume this is a compilation of several satellite images. I'm assuming it has to do with the photo processing, and not the seasons, why the desert appears so many different colors.


This giant complex is my high school from space. If you look just SW of the track you can see that they are actually installing all those portable class rooms.

And of course the shot of downtown Denver, with the state capitol on the right, the awesome park in the center, and the city hall on the left.

And just for fun, a Google Earth shot of the entire US. I think it's so fascinating to see the different geographical features, mountains, deserts, and pretty blue islands!

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: It was 43 out this morning for my long run, and I can sleep in tomorrow now.

Windmill Farms

After our side trip to Joshua Tree National Park, we had to return to Ontario as the sun was setting. I do love traveling to California- it's just so scenic almost every where in the state.

One thing that really caught my eye was the GINORMOUS windmill farm outside of Palm Springs.

We drove through miles and miles of green energy as far as the eye could see and too numerous to count.

The engineer in me was fascinated by their design and placement and positioning.

There would be rows of windmills. A few would be whirling away, and a few would be stationary.


For a while, it looked like they were covering every available square foot of space to capture all the wind through this particular valley.

I suddenly had all these windmill questions: how much energy do they capture? are they noisy? how expensive are they to build? who decided to put them right here? what are the negative effects?

Again, totally mesmerized by the patterns and repetition of thousands of them carefully arranged.

Next time I will plan better, and we will have time to go on an official Windmill Farm Tour.

And I'll leave you with a beautiful, but quite blinding at the time, sunset in California.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Tomorrow is Friday- it's been one of those weeks.

Joshua Tree

This lonely stretch of road between 29 Palms Marine Corp base and Las Vegas was were I was working a few weeks ago. The desert's are so fascinating to me, but also beautiful in their own unique way.

On our way back to Ontario, we decided to take the long route and drive through Joshua Tree National Park.

Most of these pictures were taken through the window/windshield at 60 mph, but at least I didn't have to drive.

The full moon out in the middle of the day was very neat.

It took us a little over an hour to drive from the north end, through the park, down to I-10. It was a 2-lane little windy road like this, but a great drive.

This is a Joshua Tree in case you didn't know (I sure didn't!).

These trees definitely remind me of something out of a Dr. Seuss book with their unusual appearance.

Another very neat thing were these large rounded boulders. Some of them were around camp areas & we saw trailers/campers INSIDE of them. What a neat place to camp.

It was neat to wind our way through the mountains, waiting to see what would be around the next twist and turn.

In the middle of this barren desert, we came across the Cholla Cactus garden.

There was a large field of these very peculiar looking cacti.

As if to tempt you to touch them, there were these neat looking flowers that beckoned you to take one.

However, these needles were no laughing matter & there were numerous warning signs to visitors to take caution to not accidentally brush by a cholla cactus.

One bizarre thing about these cacti was that the bottom of their trunk would turn brown, while the top remained a light shade of green.

It was just very pretty to be in the cactus garden, as the sun was setting to the west and illuminating the area with a warm light.

We continued driving south through the park, taking in all the different, but very distinct areas of vegetation that we would pass through.

Another peculiar plant that we saw was this Ocotillo (tree?).

There were a few dozen of this interesting plants, then they were suddenly gone. I'd be honest and admit I was a bit disappointed with JTNP. Obviously, we didn't see all of it, but after all the hype, I was expecting a bit more. The desert and mountains were beautiful, but perhaps I'm just more of a forest and mountain gal.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: I voted yesterday!!! On the 2nd day of early voting in Texas, I had to wait about 30 minutes at 3PM to exercise my rights. Hope you all will consider early voting if you can in your state.