Because I am a total geek

This is so going in my Amazon wishlist. Read a really great interview with Nathan Fillion here.

I Changed My Mind

This post was going to be all about the revisionist reaction to the Diocese of San Joaquin leaving the playground. But, the more I read the Swan of Newark, Terrible Terry, Screamin' Susan and the rest of that lot, the more I thought, why bother?

They are entitled to their tantrums. It's a free country and they may say what they wish. If you really want to see what they are saying, you can find links below as part of the revisionist bible, or over at RedStickRant.

Best quote so far

"Any country that halves the life expectancy of its population speaks for itself", Bertie Ahern, PM of Ireland speaking about Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe.

News we can use

Dong explains why buying cheap toilet paper is not necessarily the frugal thing to do.

Use of Force Justified or Not?

You decide

San Joaquin

The Diocese of San Joaquin just voted to leave by clear majorities of the clergy and laity. These are historic times in the Episcopal Church.

I'm betting there are attorneys heading to Fresno from New York as I type.

Materialism

We just had a new roof on our house. We are about to have a new furnace installed as well. Money is going to be tight around Ockham Manor for a while. Part of home ownership is that you have to deal with these issues from time to time. When you own your own home, you also have to deal with maintenance. One day this coming week, we will be in the yard cutting back some plants that have grown to close to our gutters.

One of the religious cliches of our time is the use of the phrase 'church home'. The idea is a fairly positive one. If one church is your church home, that is where you are comfortable. That is where you can rest and recuperate.

But churches, like houses, need maintenance. Every church vestry is well aware of how expensive a new roof can be. Or a new furnace. But homes, even church homes are not just about physical objects. Homes involve people. And where you have people, you have relationships.

I'm no expert in relationships. In our marriage, so far we've managed to get by. We've had some good times and we've definitely had some rough times. Mostly we've improvised as trouble crops up and that seems to have worked.

Churches involve many people, which can mean that the relationships get complex. Also, it is very rare for a church relationship to be anyone's primary relationship. So that if there is trouble with your son and trouble at the church, the church gets what time and attention you have left over after your son.

All of this blindingly obvious, but where trouble creeps in is with conflict resolution. In a marriage, how a couple deals with conflict is one of the keys to whether the relationship works or doesn't. And every couple knows that fights are inevitable. Some couples fight more than others. Some seem to do it on a schedule. But we all do it and trying to avoid a fight generally seems to make things worse.

Most churches I know deal with conflict by avoidance. Because we all think we have enough conflict in our lives, when it comes to non-primary relationships the desire to place potential conflicts on the back burner is very hard to resist.

The Episcopal church has definitely been avoiding trouble. I've been reading reports from the recent round of diocesan conventions. My diocese, the diocese of Atlanta, is probably fairly typical of those. The Bishop here spent more time discussing the current dissension than most.

Here is what he said:

"Before concluding this address, I would like to make a few comments concerning the state of affairs in The Episcopal Church and in the Anglican Communion. As you know, in September the House of Bishops met in New Orleans for its annual fall meeting. The Archbishop of Canterbury accepted our invitation to be present with us and we were joined by members of the Joint Standing Committee of the Anglican Consultative Council and the Primates of the Anglican Communion. The conversations were frank and clarifying, but gracious and productive. A spirit of goodwill pervaded the meeting.

After two days of conversation with our guests, and a workday in New Orleans to clear our heads, the bishops set about the task of responding to the requests of the Primates of the Anglican Communion expressed in the communiqué from their meeting last spring in Dar es Salaam. It is important to note that, although the Primates’ communiqué has been read by some as an ultimatum, our guests from around the Communion made it abundantly clear that they did not understand it that way. Nonetheless, in a spirit of generosity and humility, your bishops decided that we would try to respond faithfully to their requests, to the degree that we could, fully recognizing that we could speak only as the bishops of this church and that we could not speak definitively for our church apart from the General Convention. Naturally, there are those who believe the bishops wimped out and should have responded more forcefully. There are others who clearly believe that the bishops overstepped our authority. Frankly, I believe both such viewpoints are quite simply incorrect. The bishops were asked to clarify the meaning of the actions of the 2006 General Convention in response to the Windsor Report. We did exactly and only that. We declared absolutely nothing that was not already established, explicitly or implicitly, by the actions of the last General Convention. Many in the church are at odds with the decisions of the last convention with respect to the Windsor Report. Some believe the Convention went too far, others believe the convention did not go far enough. But, either way, I believe the bishops’ response to the Primates is an accurate reflection of where we are as a church at this time, as painful as that place may be for many of our people. Here it is important to note that, unlike most communications from the House of Bishops, which are termed “mind of the House resolutions,” we intentionally did not call our response a “mind of the House.” Your bishops are not of one mind on the church’s response to the Windsor Report any more than the church is of one mind. What we were able to do is to describe where we believe our church is at the present time. It is not a comfortable place for many of us and it is almost surely not the place to which the church will eventually land, but it is the place we find ourselves at this time. What is important for you to know is that by near-unanimous consent – with one dissenting and audible voice-- your bishops were able to agree, not on the issues, but on a response to the Primates of the Communion, a response that provides a clear and honest picture of where we are.

What concerns me is that much of the conversation seems to be framed in either-or categories and language. Needless to say, that’s not a very Anglican way of thinking! There are those who insist that the church plow full-speed ahead on any and all issues that can possibly be framed in gospel-justice terms and let the unity of the church be damned. The opposing position is just as clear: preserve the unity of the church and our participation in the Anglican Communion at all costs, even at the risk of losing our soul.

The problem is that polar thinking is always shallow thinking. Polar positions are always as weak as they are strong. The truth, dear friends, is we have a moral obligation to pursue both – justice and unity – and to pursue both of them boldly, faithfully and tirelessly. Justice without care for the unity of the church will be selfish, shortsighted, and shallow. Unity without justice is a sham, a shame, and a sin.

Finally, I want to tell you how distressed I am about the proposals before the conventions of three or four sister dioceses of our church that seek to amend their diocesan constitution and canons purportedly to make it possible for them to disregard the actions of the General Convention and to position themselves for realignment with a foreign prelate. In our church and in our Anglican tradition, not to mention the apostolic and catholic tradition of the whole church, a parish exists because it is in communion with its bishop as part of the bishop’s diocese geographically defined. In like manner, a diocese cannot exist apart from its establishment by the General Convention. Passing vestry resolutions to the contrary, or amending diocesan canons, does not change these ancient and well-worn ecclesial principles: Parishes are part of dioceses and dioceses are part of the church. That’s the way it works in the Episcopal Church. That’s the way it works in Anglicanism. That’s the way apostolic faith and order work.

Long before you called me to be your bishop, I understood that a large part of what a bishop does is to be a connector: to connect clergy and people with each other so that their experience of church is always larger than their local parish, to connect dioceses to other dioceses so that their experience of church is always larger than the local church, and to connect the church with the Anglican Communion and the ecumenical church catholic so that our experience of church is always as whole and as far-reaching as possible. To put it another way, we expect our bishops to be for us signs of unity toward which Christ calls his church by the power of the Spirit. So you can see why it would trouble my soul when I see some of my brother bishops who seem to be working against the unity of the church and plotting its destruction. I believe that as a bishop I have every right to my convictions, to argue my positions, to declare my loyalties, and when necessary, to be difficult to live with. But I also have a solemn obligation to stay at the table no matter how unpleasant the company, to live within the discipline of this church, and to do everything in my power to build up the family of God no matter how difficult that might be on some days. It breaks my heart to see bishops of this church, who took the same ordination vows I did, disregard their solemn obligations to our common life.

Deep in the psyche of Anglicanism is a profound respect for the conscience of an individual before God. I will honor, I will respect, and I will defend anyone – layperson, priest, bishop, or deacon – who for reasons of his or her own conscience cannot stay in communion with us. That’s a long held and deeply honored Anglican position. But no one, no one has the right – no bishop or priest, in particular – to let their conscience in any matter lord it over their parish, their diocese, or their church. I can easily imagine, friends, multiple lists of things that our church could do that would make me unhappy. I’ll fuss, I’ll whine, and I’ll be cantankerous, but I shall also be obedient. I find it hard to imagine that the church would ever do something that would so trouble my conscience that I could no longer find some way, however tenuous, to stay in the family. I can’t think of anything that would ever keep me away from the table of God’s generosity. Being a faithful bishop means leading the people committed to your care toward the fullness of the church, toward the richness of the tradition, toward that deeper unity that comes only from the Spirit of the Risen Christ. It never means pulling them apart or leading them away no matter what troubles you. "

What strikes me is how he totally avoids mentioning what the actual issues are. He uses process language to describe what happened without dealing with any actual content. Underlying the whole passage is the idea of pluriform and relative truth. That no one way is ever the right way. Not only is that patently false, it means that conflict never gets addressed and thus resolved.

The last three paragraphs describe his notion of what a bishop is. Nowhere is there leadership. Because a leader, leads. It's the root of the word. And to effectively lead a people, you have to have some idea of where it is you are going, whether it be Canaan or Atlanta. If anyone can tell me how a church can be led “toward the fullness of the church, the richness of the tradition”, I'd love to hear it. The processes described lead the churches he is in charge of towards avoidance of conflict, and nowhere else.

Avoiding conflict can result in a very peaceful church. After a while that sort of church usually begins to resemble another quiet place, a graveyard. More to the point, the best and brightest of a church, the ones who care about what church is truly about will not stick around for eternal process. In such situations Bishop Alexander wins by default.

That is exactly what has happened in the diocese of Atlanta. He became bishop in 2001. In 2001, the diocese had an average Sunday attendance (ASA) of 19,113. In 2006, ASA was 17,792, for a decline of -7%. To put things even further in perspective, in 2001 the population of Metro Atlanta (roughly contiguous with the diocese) was 4,187,003. In 2006 the population was 5,240,531, for a growth of 25%. In 2001, active Episcopalians comprised .46% of the population. Today, active Episcopalians are .34% of the metro population.

I do not have any numbers on how many are going to Anglican alternative churches. I do know that such churches have proliferated, going from two in 1986 to more than twenty in north Georgia. One such church, founded in 1987 (Church of the Apostles), reports 3,000 members. I do not know how that correlates to ASA or, indeed, how accurate the number is.

I think I know what is keeping the new migrants away from the Episcopal church. The diocese does not know what it is about. The diocese does not know what it is about because there is no discussion of ideas, only processes. And the discussion is restricted to process because the bishop does not want conflict. Very few people are attracted to a church that is committed to stasis.

I've seen the video for the Pittsburgh and the Fort Worth diocesan conventions. What struck me most was how un-Episcopalian the bishops were. They both discussed content. Of course, they framed the discussion in the best light possible, but even so, ideas were actually discussed. I suspect that the same will hold true today in San Joaquin.

I have also been struck by how accommodating the three bishops have been to dissenters. This is in stark contrast to the other bishops. Which leads me to an uncomfortable conclusion. If what you are about is the Truth, then you can let dissidents keep the property, because while it is material, it is irrelevant to what you are about. If you do not know the Truth, then the material becomes paramount, because that is all you are left with.

I do not like that conclusion. But my unease convinces me that it is likely true.

Note: This is a rough draft. I'm intending to flesh it out a bit more. I'm posting it in the hopes of getting some criticism. Either comment here or email me at mousestalker -at-gmail.com (replace the -at- with @).

The New Revised Episcopal Bible (beta)

I recently got a sneak peek at the new Episcopal Church Bible, soon to be rolled out a church near you!

Gospels
---------
Mark
Jonathan
James
Lisa

Book of Inertia

Epistles
------------
1st Letter of Katherine to the Heretics
2nd Letter of Katherine to the Heretics
3rd Letter of Katherine to the Heretics
1st Louie
2nd Louie
Louie, Louie
Epistle to Chatham
Epistle to Pasadena
Epistle to Hammonton

Book of Tantrums



Revision: Changed title to post to make it punchier.

My First Anti-Bush Post

I generally try to stay away from Bush-bashing, not because I like the guy, but because it tends to be tedious and the lefties get way too over-wrought.

However.

I saw this article and was somewhat appalled. As a real estate attorney, I'm somewhat aware of how interest rates are right now, I know something about sub-prime lending practices and adjustable rate mortgages. Now it appears that the freeze will be a reality.

Rate freezes sound like a great deal. And they are, for debtors. In the short term. The problem is that the purchasers of those debt instruments are being deprived of their property rights. And that is going to chill the repurchase market for home loans for quite a while. It's politically attractive because the people who benefit will know who to thank. However, everyone who borrows against their house from now to the forseeable future will wind up paying for it in the form of higher borrowing costs.

I know some of my readers will be wondering why, if it's going to chill the market, Countrywide is so keen on it. Countrywide does not hold the loans. They merely originate them. When you borrow from Countrywide, they resell your note to someone else. If the property goes into foreclosure, then the holder may be able to force Countrywide to buy back the note. Which leaves Countrywide owning property that is less than what it originally appraised for.

While this proposal will hurt Countrywide's origination business, it should substantially reduce their liability for loan defaults. So, in the short run, it's a very good deal for Countrywide. But how good a deal is it for the pension funds that are the major holders of ARM notes?

Addendum:

To get a handle on how things are for Countrywide, I decided to see how they did in October in Fulton County, GA (largest county in Georgia). Countrywide Home Loans, Inc recorded 47 security deeds for the month of October. In Georgia, mortgages are not typically used, so security deeds are. No one but real estate attorneys calls them security deeds though. Everyone else calls them mortgages.

Countrywide foreclosed on six properties during the same time period. So their business is down and they're having to buy back a fairly high percentage ( 13%) of the loans they are currently making. No wonder they're eager to stem the tide of foreclosures.

Obligatory Pop Song

Hot Chocolate

I'm a chocoholic. So here's a little recipe that eases my cravings on these cold winter days (and nights)

1. Get some water very very hot.
2. Add cocoa powder to said water. Stir frantically. When the water is dark dark brown, stop adding cocoa powder.
3. Add about half as much Splenda as you did cocoa powder. This time stir frenetically.
4. Add the teansiest bit of salt. Just a few specks will do.
5. (optional) Add either vanilla or cinnamon or both. If you have a cold, try adding the merest drop of pepper sauce.
6. Stir kinetically.
7. Drink and enjoy.

This concoction has almost no carbs and no fat. It is Atkins friendly, Weight Watchers friendly and Matthew friendly.

Needless Provocation

I normally do not listen to Neal Boortz. Like so many talk radio types he indulges in a fair amount of needless provocation. On a slow news day a talk radio host might lead the hour with the statement "I like to kick puppies, what do you think about that?" and hope his switchboard lights up.

But I have been thinking about some things. I read this essay about a first year teachers experience in a Washington DC elementary school. One of the major changes over the past century is the steady decline in both discipline and educational standards. I'm starting to think that feminism is to blame.

I remember that Mr Boortz used to vilify feminazis, and probably still does, but I actually have a fair amount of logic on my side in this one. First, since women got the vote, both learning and discipline have declined in our public schools. Like it or not, that is unarguable. Just check out any high school syllabi from 1920 and compare with today.

But just because the changes coincide doesn't mean that there is a causal relationship. Migratory patterns in birds show a close temporal relationship with the popularity of skiing, but one does not cause the other.

In connection with women being granted voting rights is the rise in children's advocacy. The relationship there is direct. Children's advocacy groups typically advocate no corporal punishment. Once a school district bans corporal punishment, suits alleging child abuse skyrocket (I will supply cites later, but it's true). By and large these suits are not caused by actual mistreatment but from the largely accurate perception that school boards would rather settle than fight.

The threat of litigation causes school boards who are politicians, to back administrators that don't cause problems. The administrators who cause the least amount of trouble are the ones that cave in confrontations with voters (parents). Which mean that teachers receive little or no support from their employers. Teachers become unwilling to discipline problem children in any meaningful way.

Undisciplined children disrupt the classroom so no discipline means no time to teach. Which means that children either self-educate or they remain ignorant. I'm starting to believe that the unintended consequence of treating children as persons with rights is that they remain unlettered.

Second cause, and this is very much backed up by statistics. With other employment options open, the best and brightest women no longer wish to teach as a career. Education majors have been the stupidest and most ignorant college students, on average, now for decades.

I am not arguing for a repeal of the Nineteenth Amendment. And I certainly do not wish any group of people barred by law or custom from seeking the employment that would best gratify them. But, if the facts I've stated are true, if the situation is the way I fear it is, what do we do?

Why the Internet is wonderful

All of the hidden dirt and drama that went into the production of one of the all time favourite Christmas TV shows are revealed. Oh the scandal and the shame! Two warnings, the site yields pop ups (which Firefox blocked for me) and there's a lot more information than you probably ever wanted to know.

Good stuff!

Mailing List Watch

The major topic of discussion on the House of Bishops and Deputies mailing list is currently....... oil spills. Every time I read the spam that accumulates in my designated mail box from that list, I'm struck by how intemperate the leaders of the Episcopal Church are.

I know that any and all of my friends and acquaintances can discuss local issues such as oil spills without dire hints about Bush Administration malfeasance or incompetence. On a side note, I also know that we would never indulge ourselves in environmental cliches such as fragile and pristine. Every time I hear or read those words I want to throw Silent Spring at the utterer. And the hard back edition too, not the weeny paperback.

Our Leaders are actively looking for objects of their hatred. Much as I despise Spiro Agnew (and I do), the phrase "nattering nabobs of negativism" rings true when applied to these folks. The only way I can keep reading the bilge they spew is to invent nick names for the more egregious of the lot.

Which I will concede is not very Christ like of me.

I earlier asked the question How do you bring a sociopath to Christ? That question continues to haunt me.

Life's Little Ironies

Back in the day, I wanted desperately to be invited to beta test new games. Now that I've abandoned online gaming, I keep getting invitations to beta test new games. Life gets really funny sometimes.

Speed Kills

Not enough speed that is. Anyone who drives the Interstates around Atlanta knows that the only reason for the posted speed limits is revenue enhancement. The speed limits are routinely ignored by drivers.

Here's a Shout Out to Gene

I hope this helps with your wish to be a June Bride
Because I care. No really.....

And Bishop Schofield Replies

I posted a small piece about Bishop Schori's letter to Bishop Schofield. He has responded. Well worth checking out if you haven't read it already.

One note: The letter was posted on StandFirm at 2:08 pm EST. I'm willing to bet it was emailed to a number of parties at or before then. As of 5:41, the letter hasn't been acknowledged at ENS. Episcope is similarly clueless. The HoBD started to ferment about 20 minutes ago.

By contrast, the PB's missive was received by StandFirm at 8:34 on 12/3. It was posted at ENS at 6:40 on the same day. My point is that the official Episcopal media are slow.

I remarked a while back on another blog that I thought TEC hasn't caught up with the Internet age. I still think that.

Addendum: ENS finally reported the story at 6:11 pm. Of course, they don't quote it in full, although they do link to it. It's a wretched little piece of alleged journalism. Give me bloggers every time. Were Father Jake to fisk the letter, he'd do it right. He'd be wrong, but he'd at least get it done.

Comedy Classic Theatre

Warning: This is not safe for work. No, I'm not kidding. Yes I know it's Tim Conway. It's still not work safe.

Tesla Trouble

I've been keeping an eye on Tesla Motors. They are the company that's been developing an all electric sports car. Unfortunately, there's been a major shake-up going on over there. Given that it is a start up, firing the founder of the company is probably not a good sign.

Of Course, That's When I'm Most Dangerous

Police in Kansas tasered a naked, deaf man in his bathtub.

Because They Have Nothing Better To Do Dept.

Nurses in the UK are being told to turn their Muslim patients' beds towards Mecca five times a day.

815

No bull.

Just cows and steers.



Yes, I know it's unkind, and it's probably not original.

The Next British Invasion

Check out their website.

My Next Car

Venezuelan Referendum

Maybe if Chavez had distributed milk cartons with his picture on them instead of belt buckles and such, he might have won. Just spitballing here. I know King Juan Carlos wishes Chavez was on a milk carton.

I hope he doesn't read blogs because he very well might try running the referendum until the voters get it right.

Letter to John-David

PB Schori has written a remarkable letter to Bishop Schofield. I've discussed it elsewhere at some length, but as this is the place where my editorial hand reigns supreme, I thought I'd fluff out my thoughts a bit more.

Firstly, it's an open letter. Unless it was emailed or couriered, the first Bishop Schofield would have known about it was when he read "Episcopal Life Online". The Episcoapl Church has been many things, but the one thing Episcopalians have been noted for is manners. These open letters are plain tacky.

Second, there is no concrete offer made. The letter asks (demands) that Bishop Schofield repent and change his ways. There is no offer on the part of Bishop Schori to do anything. She does not offer to come meet with him. She does not offer to discuss it over the phone. She offers nothing. This letter is no offer to effect reconciliation. It's designed to bolster Bishop's Schori's standing amongst her supporters and to paper the file in prospect of litigation.

Third, Bishop Schori is apparently unaware of the Arian vs Athanasian controversy. What she says in her final paragraph about San Joaquin's possible actions being unprecedented is simply not the case. It's also rather ironic given what the Episcopal Church has done and is doing by way of Women's Ordination, Ordination of practicing homosexuals, recognition of gay marriage, and communion without baptism. But who am I to quibble? That these self-same revelations are what is driving San Joaquin from the embrace of the Episcopal Church is apparently irrelevant.

In the spirit of the season, I say "Bah, humbug!"

It's About Time

Cory Doctorow is calling DRM terminally ill. Amazon and Wal-Mart are apparently putting the squeeze on the music industry to eliminate DRM software from their music. At this point the remaining holdouts are struggling Canute-like against the tide.

Women in Combat

Volokh Conspiracy, my favourite legal blog is having a great discussion about women in combat. Check it out.

It's a subject I'm interested in, but I don't really have a dog in that fight.

Canan Nan Gaidheal - Karen Matheson

This is from BBC's Transtlantic series. Well worth searching Youtube for the rest. Transatlantic was apparently a collabrative between Celtic (British musicians) and Country (USA) musicians. I haven't heard a song yet in the series that wasn't well done.

How did I miss this?

News I can Use

I'm a type two diabetic. I control my diabetes through diet (no, really!) and through using two prescription drugs (Metformin and Glipizide). I normally do not link to anything by Instapundit because he has such a popular site that anything there has likely already been seen by everyone. This morning though, he linked to this. He calls it an anti-aging drug.

I've been hearing about Resveratrol for a while now. It's pretty pricey stuff. But if it can do half of what the hype says, then taking it might be worthwhile. I'm really torn about whether to try it or not.

In Georgia, you go to church. In Iowa, the church comes to you.

Just an amazing video.

Hat tip to Joshua Claybourne.

Addendum: Clifford over at Red Stick Rant has a great take on it.

Just because

This blog has gotten too cerebral. I give you all a cat fight, set to appropriate music.

One of Life's Little Ironies...

I subscribe to the House of Bishops and Deputies mailing list. I do it under a separate account so GoogleMail doesn't get confused and overload my business email with spam. I'm not allowed to post on the list (being neither a bishop nor a deputy), but the posts do make interesting reading.

There's just one problem. GoogleMail treats every post starting a new subject (thread) by either Tom Woodward or Elizabeth Kaeton as spam.

I really can't comment any further on that. It's like being a five year old in a candy store with permission to have all the candy you can grab.

Will Hillary Step Up

and demand new restrictions on the sale of duct tape?

Millenium Development Goals

I think the main reason the orthodox in the Episcopal Church are so wary of the Millenium Development Goals has to do with the reverence granted them. No one is opposed to feeding the hungry, teaching the illiterate and such. But the MDG's are wholly secular. They were created by and sponsored by an organization that is wholly secular. That organization is also corrupt in a spectacular fashion.

Bad things happen when the Church gets involved with the State. For a church that used to be a state church such as TEC, the peril is greater. A good analogy might be the adulterous wife resuming an affair with the evil mustachioed banker while she is estranged from her husband. Not only is the affair wrong, but there is every chance she will sign over the deed to the ranch.

Similarly, TEC needs to keep her distance away from the UN. Certainly, do all the good works possible, but also not get drawn into the morasses the UN is prone to.

It would be far, far better to focus on God's law.

I don't support Ron Paul

But you have to figure videos like this will get him some votes

Strike Tips

My favourite advice columnist offers good, solid tips to the striking TV writers.

Friday Morning Palate Cleanser

Seven Deadly Sins (revised)

Proposed list of the seven deadly sins. To be offered by the movings of the Spirit at the next General Convention in 2009.

1. Narrow
2. Rigid
3. Fundamentalist
4. Conservative
5. Patriarchal
6. Breeding
7. Logical

Rowan Williams' Nightmare Outcome for the Anglican Communion

Rowan Williams Fantasy Outcome for the Anglican Communion

The Most Likely Outcome

----------------
Here's what triggered the series of videos.

The More Things Change

the more they stay the same

Credibility and Authority

The Internet has wrought great changes to how we perceive our world. There is a theory that we get and evaluate information based upon 'trusted sources'. That is we allow others to a certain extent to evaluate the credibility of the information we are presented. We give very little credibility to the drunk bum ranting about aliens in the sewers because we know that street people are often crazy, drunks are almost always wrong and we don't know the guy. So the sewer aliens are safe from our scrutiny.

On the other hand when our sainted, gray haired mother tells us that sister and her husband want to sell their condominium, we think that likely to be true. We trust our mother, it's exactly the sort of thing they would do, Mom's up on all the family news and she's a special confidant of our sister.

Television has used and abused our credibility filters for quite a long time. Commercials often dress actors up as doctors because we trust doctors. Actors who can sound especially sincere get hired for voice over work in commercials or as news anchors. Walter Cronkite in particular made his career on looking and sounding authoritative.

There is a more modern trend in credibility. Or rather in the mass destruction of it. Dan Rather assumed that he would have instant and overwhelming credibility because he was the CBS news anchor. What he ignored was the massive loss of trust for television news that had occurred throughout his tenure as anchor (and mostly not due to his actions). Talk radio and the Internet opened up new sources of information and the audience for television news shrank.

Rush Limbaugh enjoys a very large audience, but little credibility. I don't listen to talk radio, but I have friends who do enjoy listening to Rush even while they rarely agree with what he says. Likewise, I know an inordinate number of conservatives who listen to NPR.

On the internet, I visit both Kos, DU, HotAir, and Free Republic. I have Fox and CNN both bookmarked, as well as Youtube. I rarely grant instant credibility to anything I find on those sites.

There may be those who grant certain sources universal and unconditional credibility. But I suspect that the percentage of those who do is rather small and confined to the very young, the very old and the overly credulous.

Mostly what we grant is 'conditional credibility'. If there is a plane crash, I trust CNN to get the hard facts correct. That is, where the crash occurred, what make of plane, who the air carrier was and how many were injured. I do not trust them to report a U.S. Supreme Court decision accurately. I trust Eugene Volokh to construe constitutional law decisions. I do not trust him on kitchenware. Tony Bourdain is my kitchen guru, but I ignore what he says about religion. And so it goes.

Which brings me back to the doctor in the lab coat. Like it or not, we Americans are now a skeptical people. We are confronted on a daily basis with people who wear the symbols of knowledge or authority and we regularly dismiss what they tell us. The old ways of evaluating authority are dying or dead. Where this becomes important in religion is as follows.

I recently overheard a woman wearing a clerical collar bemoan that she was not given any respect as a pastor. As I understand it, she felt that she had the symbols of authority, but strangers upon meeting her accorded her no additional respect because of her station. She and her friend attributed it to the fact that she's a woman. I disagree. That may have been true twenty or so years ago, but in today's world we see a lot of people accoutered in symbols that no longer have meaning.

To an atheist or agnostic, a person in a clerical collar is a religious and to be treated as such. In other words, as a fraud or charlatan, or at best as a well-meaning fool. To a 'person of faith' the collar means that the wearer is also a person of faith, but not necessarily of the same faith. Which makes a bit of difference in a diversely religious country such as the United States.

Even assuming that we encounter an Episcopal priest, that doesn't mean that we grant the priest any additional authority or trust. Maybe in some earlier time, a new pastor was granted immediate credibility, but I doubt that is the case any more. Today, the clergy as well as everyone else must earn trust.

The Consequences of Communion Without Baptism

Communion Without Baptism

Whenever we go to visit my parents we drive past The Church in the Now. I'll usually make some comment about it and Sally and I will laugh. We've never been to it, entered its doors or even spoken to anyone that belongs to it. Other than the purple colour scheme what sparks the laugh is the name.

We are commanded to live for the day. Jesus was most clear about that. But we are also commanded not to be worldly. There is a tension between living in the present and living in this world. I strongly suspect that the Church in the Now is trying to live in the present. At least, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt on that.

The Episcopal Church is apparently in the grips of a prophetic moment. Just like Orwell's animals, it appears that some Canons of the Church are more equal than others. The Denis Canon (the one about all property belonging to the denomination) is rock solid, always to be enforced and firmly grounded upon Hooker's three legged stool of reason, scripture and tradition.

The other canons apparently are more flexible. Especially Canon 17, section 7, which states “No unbaptized person shall be eligible to receive Holy Communion in this Church.”

I've never made it a secret that I am a Catholic. I'm also an Anglican. But my theology is and was Catholic. Which means that the meaning I get from church, worship and all that other churchy stuff is derived from the Sacraments. Ultimately my faith is sacramental in origin.

Some people have argued in favour of open communion. The Episcopal Church has a variant of this wherein Communion is restricted to all baptized persons. This is the original, primitive theology of the church. For the Methodists, it's a matter of doctrine that they have Open Communion, by which they mean anyone may participate, baptized or not. When I was first married I attended a Methodist Church, but I never participated in their 'communion' (Scare quotes intentional) as such participation would bruise my conscience and sear my soul.

As should be obvious, I'm not in favour of Communion without Baptism. From the very beginnings of Christianity, the Church has practised 'Closed Communion'. In the second century AD Justin Martyr laid down the requirements for participating in the Lord's Supper ("No one may share in the eucharist except those who believe in the truth of our teachings and have been washed in the bath which confers forgiveness of sins and rebirth, and who live according to Christ's commands" ). This is a recapitulation of the Didache (From the end of the first century AD). Paul said something rather similar in First Corinthians 11:27-28. Church doctrine has not changed on this subject since those early days.

Until now. The commentary aggravated me and I went snooping around. Sure enough, there are Episcopal Churches that proclaim their profane practises to the world. Including the one nearest to us.

For those interested in this sort of thing, here are some arguments in favour of the abominable, profane, irreligious and blasphemous practise of communion without baptism. Here's a lengthy one against.

Hat tip: Christopher Johnson.

Not Gonna Do It!

Upgrade to Windows Vista, that is. Windows XP, my current operating system, is still trouncing Vista in head to head competition.

An Oldy But A Goody

An Example To Us All

A brief survey of Bishop Walter Righter (ret'd) formerly bishop of Iowa.

Walter Righter was consecrated Bishop of Iowa in 1972. He retired in 2003. During his tenure he was tried, unsuccessfully, for heresy.

Since his retirement he has been a consistent voice for the reappraiser cause on the HoBD mailing list.

In 1992 the Average Sunday Attendance of the Diocese of Iowa was 4,574. In 2003, when he retired it was 3,705. This represents a growth rate of -9.7%.

His ordination ceremony and vows may be found here.

He was exempted from being found guilty because the ecclesiastical court found that the "there is no Core Doctrine prohibiting the ordination of a non-celibate, homosexual person living in a faithful and committed sexual relationship with a person of the same sex."

For what it is worth, the same rationale that the court used in the trial could be used to justify darn near anything.

What I'd like to know is, what sort of shepherd has a smaller flock when he ends than when he started?

My Candidate

I played the Candidate match game over at USAToday. Normally, I'd post which candidates I selected. But, to be blunt, what's the point? The three candidates I wound up with (2 Republicans and a Democrat) are so far behind in the polls that they stand absolutely no chance of being elected. I had never heard of one of them. The other two can't even get press interviews.

Given my voting record in primaries, it would well behoove a political party to slide me some cash to vote in the other party's primary, for the person they think is their biggest threat. I have never voted for a candidate in a Presidential primary that has gone on to win the primary, much less the national election. Somehow I think that record will be intact again in 2008.

Holy Grail

One of my favourite works of art is Rodin's "The Fallen Caryatid Carrying her Stone". An online picture of the work may be seen at the Tate Gallery website.

I've loved that little sculpture ever since I read a description of it in Robert Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land". I have never seen it in person, but I have seen many many pictures of it since I first heard about it at the age of twelve.

In this modern age, where everything and anything is available at the click of a button, the one thing I have not been able to do is to see it in person. The London trip fell through earlier this year. But more to the point, there are no reproductions available. I'm staggered by the latter fact. If you want a copy of 'the Thinker' such items are available in a plethora of media. But, not apparently, Rodin's less well known work.

Ayn Rand is Alive and Well in Minnesota

And she is apparently working for the Episcopal Church there.

Firestorm over Canterbury

Rowan Williams put his foot in his mouth over the weekend concerning US foreign policy. The Archbishop of Canterbury is a genuinely brilliant man. He is a theologian of international repute. Unfortunately, his somewhat intemperate and misinformed comments have stirred up a fair amount of controversy.

Alas, Rowan+ has quite the history of flat out foolish remarks. Our good Archbishop is yet another man who really ought never to comment outside his own narrow area of expertise.

Because I'm a tease

If the Democrats win the Presidency, a fairly safe investment will be in home use machine tools, the companies that make home use machine tools or that sell them. Unfortunately Harbor Freight is a private company. Explanation to follow.

National Debt

Kendall Harmon over at TitusOneNine is linking to an article moaning about the national debt. It is high. It will get higher. That is probably, but not necessarily a Bad Thing. Our national debt puts us at #26 worldwide by the only realistic measure of debt (as a % of GDP). That is definitely too high. The interesting bit is who is at number 2. Lebanon is number one as their debt has remained high whilst the GDP has plummeted because of the endemic strife there.

For the record, the chances of recession in the near future are fairly slim. They increase a bit over the next year but remain low.

The odds of me explaining how I can predict that are very high indeed. I'll probably post an article later in the week on that subject.

For the record, the national debt while currently too high, is on the whole, a good thing.

More Church Snarkiness

I had an excellent Thanksgiving with my family. So I have a huge reservoir of snark that accumulated during my much needed break. Here goes.

I was looking up a priest at the episcopal clergy directory. I generally see three book advertisements every time I use the directory and this time was no exception. Here they are, in all their 'glory'. The three books are written by two priests and a theology instructor at General. "Jesus Family Values" is the most scholarly of the lot. It is also the least persuasive unless you adhere to the revisionist credo. It will persuade no one of anything, it will only reinforce existing beliefs.

I can't really comment about the 'Womb of Advent'. I just can't. It's the sort of reflective writing that really needs never to see the light of day.

Which brings us to "Gay Unions". I know Gray Temple. At the time I knew him, he was a very liberal priest in charge of a charismatic, growing parish. Membership peaked at his church back in 1997 and has declined since. Average sunday attendance has declined steadily since 2003 (Now, what happened in 2003?).

His theological tendencies have not changed and his church has, over time, adjusted itself to fit him. St Patricks, is to my mind, a good example of how important it is to have a sound rector. I haven't been there in several years (I am not a charismatic), but the reports I've heard from both past and present members is that the church is going to decline even more. It's growth was despite Gray Temple, not because of it, and now that the theology of the Episcopal Church has been revealed as little more than Unitarianism in drag, it will decline further. There is little room for true charismatic expression in the modern Episcopal church.

On to the book. He's not a bad writer. But the theology is mushy. And the Scripture is restricted to the usual array of biblical verses selected to demonstrate God's unconditional and unwavering love for us, despite anything that we might do. And that's true as far as it goes. But there is nothing about sin. What sin really is and what forms it may take. And there's even less about marriage, as in the reasons for it and the Church's take on it.

I have always been surprised by the lack of discussion by those who use the three legged stool as justification for gay unions because the stool has at best one leg. Scripture is dead against it. There is a whole, lovely discussion on marriage in the 1928 prayer book that states the Church's tradition about marriage. It's also in the 39 articles. One would think that since the tradition of the church on matrimony is encapsulated in those sources, and since the author of the book was ordained back in 1968, he might have some passing familiarity with it.

Is there so little teaching of logic in our seminaries, or has the faculty for it atrophied by inactivity?

One would think that such a sensitive and caring man would have had more regard for the environment to have had such a book published, thus resulting in unnecessary slaughter of so many trees.

/rant

Superhero

Your results:
You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man 85% Hulk 75% Superman 70% Robin 60% Green Lantern 60% Iron Man 40% Supergirl 40% The Flash 40% Catwoman 35% Batman 20% Wonder Woman 10%

You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

If they only had more limbs...

This story by Pejman Yousefzadeh made me think of an aphorism. Any society that requires a fundamental change in human nature is doomed. It seems like any time a social experiment fails the creators of the experiment blame the participants for a failure to change or adapt.

Yet these experiments continue to be tried. If an inventor were to blame gravity for the persistent failure of his space ships, he would be written off as a crank. Why does the same not happen to utopians?

I love economists

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard proves yet again that economic news can have a variety of interpretations.

Dean Munday does it again.

I need to to read his blog regularly. You ought to as well.

In Honor of Thanksgiving

More Helpful PSA's

I know most of my readers won't have any trouble sleeping after tomorrow's feast. If sleeplessness occurs, this ought to help.

I know it's early

But I think it's important we all brace ourselves for the onslaught of merchandising that is the Day after Thanksgiving. Here's a PSA of how Christmas ought to be.

My secret recipe

for tomato sauce. I learned to do this as a bachelor, but I've gotten raves for it.

Take one can (whatever size you like) of whole peeled tomatoes. Open the can.

Get a skillet or frying pan of some sort and set it at medium heat. When a drop of water sizzles when it hits the pan, remove the tomatoes one by one from the can and smoosh them over the pan. I usually throw the liquid in the can away, but you can reuse it for something else if you want.

Add anything else that you think might be tasty. I've used browned ground beef, prosciutto ham, garlic, olive oil, cumin, cilantro, basil, really the skies the limit.

Cook the smooshed tomatoes until they look like a sauce.

You're done. Enjoy!

Just Because I'm a Guy

I think the video speaks for itself.

Sometimes

I'm proud to be an American. A really nifty First Amendment opinion is here.

Hat tip: Volokh Conspiracy

Supremes to Rule on 2nd

Amendment that is. The US Supreme Court said today they were going to hear arguments on District vs Heller. Of course what they'll decide is anyone's guess.

Millennium Development Goals

The Episcopal Church has been touting the UN's Millennium Development Goals. One of my favourite things to do to determine what an organisation's priorities really are, is to see where they spend their money. Call me a materialist, but I firmly believe that reveals more about people than their rhetoric.

So let's look at the national church's budget. I note two items, the actual amount designated MDG partnership for 2007 is $308,000(.59% of the total budget). The amounts allocated for "Title IV Investigation, Trial and Legal" as well as "Property Protection for Mission" are $800,000(1.54% of the budget).

Which is more important to the Episcopal Church: the highly touted Millennium Development Goals or litigation?

And just FYI, the projected shortfall for 2007 is $805,435. That's an interesting figure when compared to the legal fees budgeted, isn't it.

An excellent essay

on the state of the Episcopal Church. Robin Jordan hits one out of the park.

All Rocky movies in 5 seconds.

All that needs to be said, really.

In the 'Fed Up Dept.'

When arguing for an innovation, especially in the area of church doctrine, please do not argue from 'relevance'. I have no desire to be hip or cool. Please confine all discussion to tradition, Scripture or reason. Those I can handle.


Thank you for your cooperation.

Monday morning reflection

I think this picture speaks for itself....

Monkey Morning

I saw this on the blog of an Episcopal seminary Dean.

Reactionary quote of the day

Mr. By-Ends: "Tis true, we somewhat differ in religion from those of the stricter sort, yet but in two small points: First, we never strive against wind and tide. Secondly, we are always most zealous when religion goes in his silver slippers; we love much to walk with him in the street, if the sun shines and the people applaud him."

From Pilgrims Progress by John Bunyan.

Being civilized

Food for thought.

Alien law

I really like this proposal. It's never going to pass. But I still think it's a great idea.

On this day #3

The finale

Hat tip to Samizdata

Translation:

Little brother, don't sob, it is not a banshee
Don't be frightened, it is only soldiers,
Who arrived in sharp-edged metal caravans

Through tears caught on eyelashes we look at each other
Come with me little brother, I fear for you
On the uneven roads, little brother, in children's shoes

It rains and it is getting dark
This night will not be short
The wolf has a yen for the lamb
Little brother, have you closed the gate?

Little brother, please do not sob
Do not waste your tears
Hold back the curses and save your strength
You mustn't blame me if we do not make it

Learn the song, it is not so hard
Lean on me, little brother, the road is rough
We will stumble forth, we cannot turn back

It rains and it is getting dark
This night will not be short
The wolf has a yen for the lamb
Little brother, do close the gate!
Please close the gate!

On this day #2

On this day #1

Prague began to be free

I love technology

I blew a fuse late last night. No big deal, except that we were out of the kind of fuse it was (20 amp TL) and Home Depot had just closed. The circuit that it was on was not a major circuit (mostly the microwave and our powered litter boxes) so I thought getting a new fuse could wait until morning.

When I woke up this morning, I did a little web surfing to check prices and I discovered these bad boys. Holy cow! As the owner of an older home, I am seriously in love. I only wish they made a 30 amp version as that is what most of our fuses are.

So one quick trip to the big orange box and I have two shiny new circuit breakers where fuses used to be.

To any corporate executives out there, I would have gone to Lowe's, but according to the website, Lowe's didn't carry them.

Disclosure: We are very minor stockholders in both Lowe's and Home Depot.

David Thompson Explains Why

Here.

More Fun With Church Statistics

I had a wild hair today and thought I'd do some quick comparisons of structure between various churches and the Episcopal Church. I crunched the numbers for the Methodists and the Roman Catholics before I ran out of steam. All numbers come either from the denomination itself or from Wikipedia. They are all for 2005.

Episcopalians had 100 dioceses, each with a bishop.

16,493 clergy which yields 165 clergy per bishop.

2,205,376 members which yields 22,053 members per bishop and 133 members per clergy.

787,271 ASA which yields 7,873 attendees per bishop and 48 attendees per clergy.

There are actually a fair number of additional bishops, but 100 gave me a nice round number to play with.

Methodists had 68 bishops

44,987 clergy which yields 660 clergy per bishop.

8,251,175 members which yields 121,340 members per bishop and 183 members per clergy.

I know the Methodist structure isn't really analogous, but it is a point of comparison. I couldn't find anything that would yield ASA for the Methodists.

Roman Catholics had 208 bishops.

42,839 priests which yields 205 clergy per bishop.

64,800,000 members which yields 311,538 members per bishop and 1,512 members per clergy.

22,680,000 ASA which yields 109,038 attendees per bishop and 529 attendees per clergy.

This confirmed my suspicion. The Episcopal Church is ludicrously over-staffed. I derived ASA by taking membership and multiplying by the percentage of Catholics who reported attending church in a given week (Gallup).

The real eye opener for me was comparing members per clergy between the Methodists and the Episcopalians. Why on earth do we need or even have 100 dioceses?

I Have No Comment

John Podoretz on Sally Quinn, an post about the press and religion. Be sure to read the comments. I'm gobsmacked, quite frankly.

Car Geekery

This is probably old news to some of my readers (possibly most), but there's a guy in Wichita that rebuilds cars to achieve absurd levels of fuel efficiency. If it's true, I'm in serious auto-lust.


Hat tip to Daily Kos of all places

Legal Geekery

It's probably not of general interest, but I found Chief Judge Easterbrook's decision highly entertaining.

In even more legal geekery, the ADL has a website with rebuttal citations for 'idiot legal arguments'. It has the usual laundry list of tax protester gibberish, but my personal favourite has to be "objections to fringe on flag".

Absolutely amazing

Why can't more football games be like this?

hat tip: Micah Snell

We were wonderful back then

The Rev Irene Monroe has an op ed piece on a gay website that discusses how progressive the Episcopal Church has been over the years, all the way back to the Civil War. I guess no one has ever told her about Bishop Leonidas Polk.

Contrarian

I think this essay sums up nicely why I'll never conform to the Spirit of the Age. For those of my readers who are not as rabid an Anglophile as I am, George Monbiot is the English writer who inspired the epithet "moonbat", or "barking moonbat" to give it its full glory.

Survival

I've been thinking about assembling a backpack of needed items for emergencies. In the process of doing that I've been intrigued by who recommends what. I found the Smith and Wesson kit somewhat amusing, but not particularly useful (a book about bear attacks?). On the other hand Kim du Toit had some useful ideas, even if he is strangely silent on the subject of fishing line and fishing hooks. The US Army has a great, free manual. But the Red Cross has the most common sense approach.

What it boils down to is the purpose of the bag. If you're looking to fend off ravening zombie hordes then you need the ever popular chainsaw and shotgun. But what I'm anticipating are ice storms, possibly a flood, car wrecks and assorted power outages. Which means less on the long term and more for the short term.

Where I stand convicted on this is how few real medical supplies we have in the house. I do have a one person supply of general use antibiotics. But we are sadly lacking in bandages and antiseptic items.

What I'm going to do is make a bag for each car with some general utility tools, a flare or two, a can of tire inflator (is that stuff great or what), jumper cables, a space blanket, some cord, a couple of power bars and a bottle of water. And then assemble a box full of stuff for the house. Distilled water, first aid supplies, a back up cell phone with charger, a hand crank charger, capacitor flash light or two, candles, jewelers loupe, magnesium flint, rope, etc.

My long term survival will depend upon my trusty .22 and the bricks of ammo I bought for cheap at Wal-Mart. If civilization breaks down and society collapses, I reckon squirrels will start to get mighty scarce in these parts. I hear they taste like chicken.

Deja Vu All Over Again

I posted below about the Presiding Bishop's correspondence with the Bishop of Pittsburgh. Well, she sent the same exact letter to the Bishop of Fort Worth. He sent his reply today. And unlike the last exchange, noted below, Pisky Pravda hasn't as of this moment formulated a spin to it. It's almost as though they're ignoring it......


Update: Ask and ye shall receive. ENS has posted a news story with a minimum (for them) of spin.

Fun with Statistics

I ran the Episcopal Church stats through some tables provided by the NCHS. If things continue as they are, and barring any members actually leaving, the Episcopal Church will dwindle by 33% over the next twenty years. The numbers and percentage will likely be much higher than that.

The bottom line is a church of less than a half a million people. The future of the Episcopal Church is that of church closures and property sales.

Bishop Spong was right. The present Diocese of Newark is the future of the Episcopal Church.

I never claimed to be an artist....

But here is my first cartoon on this blog.

Today, I'm proud

to be a lawyer.

In Honour of Guy Fawkes Day!

“Remember, remember the fifth of November,
The gunpowder, treason and plot,
I know of no reason
Why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.”

Summary of what's going on in Pittsburgh

Jonathan Millard gave a very nice summary of the situation in the Episcopal Church. (The link is to a PDF file).

A Man of God

It's only temporary, but I actually respect an Episcopal Bishop. Here is the letter our 'beloved' Presiding Bishop wrote Bishop Duncan. Here is his response. I truly wish he was bishop of Atlanta, instead of Pittsburgh.

By the way, Pittsburgh has voted to secede from the Episcopal Church. The TEC propaganda machine has already begun the spin cycle.

It's not my respect that's temporary. I suspect that Bishop Duncan will continue to merit it. It's his condition as an Episcopal bishop that is. I wonder if +Rowan will withdraw his invitation to Lambeth?

It's a lot of money for me

but the cost of building a space elevator is surprisingly affordable. Why hasn't it been built already?

Tom Lehrer - National brotherhood week

Time for a Classic