A Big Week for the Little Man

Tater Tot has had a big week. As you know, he learned to ride his bike without training wheels a couple of weeks ago. Well, he loves riding his bike. He rides all the time. So this weekend I thought I would try to move him up to Madison and Matthew's old bike (the one Tiny just upgraded from about six months ago). He did great! He has a little trouble getting on and off, but he can do it and he rides it like a champ!

Additionally, he started doing Monkey Bars by himself this weekend! That's kind of sad because I miss being called over to help him--"Daddy, can you help me do the monkey bars?" is a refrain I may never hear again. :-(

Finally, Michelle taught him how to blow bubbles with bubble gum last week! He's doing great! I'm so proud of him! I'll post some photos soon.

Global warming, debate, and the nature of a university

Last night I was invited to participate in a panel discussion of An Inconvenient Truth by the GSBM student group NetImpact. Along with about 70 graduate students from the business school, the law school, and School of Public Policy, we watched the movie and then discussed some of the political, commercial, regulatory, and personal implications of it.

The panel was composed of several faculty from a variety of political views and training. It was an encouraging and entertaining exchange of perspectives about what many view as an important topic of discussion. It reminded me of one of the reasons I'm so happy to be at Pepperdine. I find this is a wonderful environment for discussing important issues. As a Christian University we have the freedom to discuss the role of faith, values, and ultimate beliefs in talking about these issues. And, as a University committed to the academic pursuit of knowledge, we are not confined to narrow interpretations of what questions we should ask, how we answer them, or what topics we talk about.

Finally, I was especially happy to have the opportunity to watch the movie and engage in this discussion with Matthew present. It is great to see the wheels turning in his mind as he grows.

Oh by the way...my primary contribution to the panel? As you know, I'm not a scientist, a politician, or an economist so my insights were limited. My major point of view is that the current global structure is self-motivated to keep the current technologies in place that support their hold on power and wealth. Therefore, it is important for all global-citizens to voice their opinions about the kind of world we want to live in. Otherwise, the rich and powerful of our world will marshal their extensive resources to defend the status quo. In the words of Alcoholics Anonymous..."if you keep doing what you've been doing, you'll keep getting what you've been getting." I find it ironic that in events like this we sit around and discuss the issues and try to calculate "is the morality of this issue such that I should act, or can I just wait-and-see?" That posture assumes that "wait-and-see" is morally neutral. I argue that the status-quo is never morally neutral. It serves the interests of those currently in power. If we want to see a change in global environmental policy, we can't look to the current global leadership to achieve it.

Global warming, debate, and the nature of a university

Last night I was invited to participate in a panel discussion of An Inconvenient Truth by the GSBM student group NetImpact. Along with about 70 graduate students from the business school, the law school, and School of Public Policy, we watched the movie and then discussed some of the political, commercial, regulatory, and personal implications of it.

The panel was composed of several faculty from a variety of political views and training. It was an encouraging and entertaining exchange of perspectives about what many view as an important topic of discussion. It reminded me of one of the reasons I'm so happy to be at Pepperdine. I find this is a wonderful environment for discussing important issues. As a Christian University we have the freedom to discuss the role of faith, values, and ultimate beliefs in talking about these issues. And, as a University committed to the academic pursuit of knowledge, we are not confined to narrow interpretations of what questions we should ask, how we answer them, or what topics we talk about.

Finally, I was especially happy to have the opportunity to watch the movie and engage in this discussion with Matthew present. It is great to see the wheels turning in his mind as he grows.

Oh by the way...my primary contribution to the panel? As you know, I'm not a scientist, a politician, or an economist so my insights were limited. My major point of view is that the current global structure is self-motivated to keep the current technologies in place that support their hold on power and wealth. Therefore, it is important for all global-citizens to voice their opinions about the kind of world we want to live in. Otherwise, the rich and powerful of our world will marshal their extensive resources to defend the status quo. In the words of Alcoholics Anonymous..."if you keep doing what you've been doing, you'll keep getting what you've been getting." I find it ironic that in events like this we sit around and discuss the issues and try to calculate "is the morality of this issue such that I should act, or can I just wait-and-see?" That posture assumes that "wait-and-see" is morally neutral. I argue that the status-quo is never morally neutral. It serves the interests of those currently in power. If we want to see a change in global environmental policy, we can't look to the current global leadership to achieve it.

Political Parties and People of Faith

One of the issues that has troubled me the most over the past decade is the depth of the attachment between many well-meaning Christians and Christian-themed organization (e.g., Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, NAE...) and the Republican Party. Now, I am not bothered by Christians who vote Republican, work for conservative causes, and generally act out politically based on their religious principles.

I do the same.

What bothers me is the depth of the attachment not to causes, principles, and beliefs, but to personalities and the Republican Party. IMHO, the GOP has played the Christian vote as powerful voting bloc with no intentions of delivering the level of governmental, regulatory, and legislative renewal that many of these people desire. For example, isn't it interesting that over the past six years with a Republican control over all three branches of Federal government we have not seen any of the changes that these Christian groups lobby for?

So, I am encouraged by recent events that indicate that many other Christian people are beginning to realize this as well. They are recognizing that politics is politics...and that it is not the primary work of the Kingdom of God. Here's a good article by E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post on a few recent events.

Link to E. J. Dionne Jr. - Christians Who Won't Toe the Line - washingtonpost.com

I also recommend Christian, Evangelical & Democrat? by George Hunter, and Tempting Faith by David Kuo.

The speeding up is speeding up...

Check out this brief video that lists some of the factors adding to the increasing velocity of our lives. Pretty provocative...

Change and "progress" in the Churches of Christ

I'm a long-time CoC-er. In fact, one side of my family goes back seven-generations to a frontier "Campbell-ite preacher" in Appalachia. So, I've seen much of the good and bad about my particular religious tradition. However, this weekend two events converged in an interesting way.

First, I grew up in a pretty conservative, fundamentalist, literalist church. I don't mean those as bad words, just descriptive. An anecdotal story...my grandma regularly taught Bible class at church. One summer while she was away from home, one of the 9-year-old boys in her class was baptized. When she returned home and found out that one of the boys had been baptized she immediately resigned as teacher because it was un-scriptural for a woman to "have authority over a man."

Needless to say, things have changed a lot over the years. Now, as I approach 40 I find myself in a traditional CoC that has a different view...there is more more inclusive (if not exactly equal) participation between the genders in nearly all aspects of the corporate experience. This week, my 7-year old, un-immersed daughter was the official "greeter" at church and several other elementary school-age girls read scripture, passed communion and served in other ways because it was "Girl Scout Sunday". Wow, that's a big change in 30 years...(One, by the way, I fully support. Like many of my peers from childhood I simply could not in good conscience attend the church of my youth assuming it was unchanged in this regard).

The second (and related?) incident was that Michelle and I had a long talk today about how "friendly" or "unfriendly" our church is. As we discussed this, I couldn't help but wondering what the relationship is between being an evangelistic, outreach-oriented church and being a conservative, fundamentalist church. Many historians have noted that most mainline religions have been declining in attendance over the past 50 years while conservative, Bible-based church have continued a steady increase in size, wealth, and political influence.

I wonder what, if any, relationship these two trends have? Maybe it will all become clear to me at the Pepperdine Lectures in early May?

Madison's First Design Project

Madison is very creative. She loves to draw and make things (like the hand-knitted scarf for my birthday!). The other day, they were cleaning out her close and she had a great idea...rather than give old tights and a pants to Goodwill, why not use them to make a new line of clothing for her American Girl dolls. Viola!

The View from Below

I read about a book one time where the author followed her dog around at night for several months and wrote about the secret life of dogs in NYC. Well, this is sort of like that. Lately we've been giving the camera to Marcus to see what the world looks like to a 4-yr old. Here's the first public work, but probably not the last.

2007-Q1-Life for a 4-Yr Old

It's my party and I'll wear a pink scarf if I want to!

2007-Q1-Mike's 38th Birthday

A Big Day for Little Marcus

Or, if you want to view it later, click here.

Is Iraq a quagmire, or a morass?

This is the question enquiring minds want to know.  The Borowitz Report today announced that the war had been upgraded by Condi from a quagmire to a morass.  (Props to DMC for the link).

When God sanctions violence, believers act more aggressively

A recent study from Psychological Science argues that there is a direct relationship between violent behavior, and beliefs/rhetoric about a violent diety (whether he/she is referred to as "God", "Allah", "Yahweh"...).

This is a topic that's been on my mind since I first read Martin Marty's work on the Fundamentalism Project.   How much does fundamentalism share in common across world religions?  The study above looks at one very interesting aspect of the relationship...fundamentalism and violence.  You may find it very interesting...I did.

Virtue and Narcissism

As a professor and father of three young children I have a good amount of exposure to today's youth.  Yesterday's LA Times reported a study by San Diego State psychologist Jean Twenge that argues Gen Y is overcome with "self-esteem" to the point of neurotic narcissism.  Read it here and see if you agree.  I wonder...how will this contribute to the "me-first" self-interest we often see from today's business leaders?