Liberal Believer

Marshmallows, Bagels and Brownies

2012-01-11T14:15:00.000-06:00

I just read an article about a man who loved the marshmallows in Lucky Charms so much, that he bought 1,000 pounds of just the marshmallows, a semi-truck load, so that he wouldn’t have to fish for them in a conventional box of the breakfast cereal. In the same article, two women collaborated to invent a tool that would scoop out the inside of a bagel. One of them had worked at a bagel shop in

GOP Greed Breaking Fifth Commandment

2011-07-23T16:45:00.000-05:00

Exodus 20:12, the fifth of the Ten Commandments, reads, "Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you." (NRSV) Scholars tell us the honoring of one's father and mother is not actually about young children cleaning their rooms when their parents tell them to, the point is rather for adult children to take care of their aging

Why Did Jesus Die?

2011-04-19T16:10:00.001-05:00

“In the temple precincts [Jesus] came upon people selling oxen and sheep and doves, and bankers were doing business there too. He made a whip out of rope and drove them all out of the temple area, sheep, oxen, and all; then he knocked over the bankers; tables, and set their coins flying. And to the dove merchants he said, ‘Get these birds out of here! How dare you use my Father’s house as a

On Wisconsin

2011-03-10T13:31:00.001-06:00

Last night, the Wisconsin Senate spat in the face of every working family in their state. I'm angry, and terribly disappointed in their sinful act. Governor Scott Walker was quoted by the BBC as saying, "'This is about protecting the middle class and doing it in a way that avoids massive tax increases and massive lay-offs.'" First of all, the middle class only exists in this country because

Christmas Isn't Just A Day

2010-12-23T14:32:00.000-06:00

When the song of the angels is stilled, When the star in the sky is gone, When the kings and princes are home, When the shepherds are back with their flock, The Work of Christmas begins: To find the lost, To heal the broken, To feed the hungry, To release the prisoner, To rebuild the nations, To bring peace among brothers and sisters, To make music in the heart. Then indeed we shall

Peace Be With You

2010-11-29T11:54:00.001-06:00

A young man recently tried to explode a bomb at a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland, OR. North and South Korea seem to be at very high tension. Violence continues in Afghanistan and Iraq. Israelis and Palestinians seem as far from peace as ever. And now we enter the season of Advent, which is when we’re supposed to talk about peace and love, but end up having arguments about

It Gets Better - But We've Got to Make It So

2010-11-12T12:25:00.000-06:00

Why the GOP is Wrong for America

2010-09-25T11:17:00.000-05:00

Reality is our friend folks. Especially if you are a public servant, charged with instituting public policy on behalf of the voters, reality is our friend. But here's the hard part for Republicans - there are actually multiple realities going on concurrently in America. The GOP would be fine governing a small state, where everyone is upper middle class, educated enough to support themselves,

Stanley Cup Pride

2010-06-27T23:13:00.000-05:00

The other day, I protested with several dozen clergy colleagues at the Hyatt Hotels stockholder meeting. Turns out, they're making money hand over fist, but are quite reluctant to share their profits with the workers who're making it all possible. There were some news cameras there, but given the Chicago Blackhawks Stanley cup excitement, very little of the protest was shown on the Chicago news

Bring on a Liberal Media

2010-05-03T22:15:00.001-05:00

When presented with facts that make your world view untenable, do you criticize the source as biased? Or do you take the opportunity to reexamine your world view? It seems that Conservatives' obsession with accusing the mainstream media with a 'liberal' bias has scared the media away from reporting actual facts that contradict the conservative narrative of the world. Fox News is legendary for

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

2010-04-02T16:51:00.000-05:00

I need to preface this by saying that I have deep respect for the piety and practice of the Roman Catholic faith. I cannot however stand by silently, while my fellow Christians defend the abysmal failures of Roman leadership. Today, on Good Friday, a priest claimed the status of victim for the Pope and the Church in regard to the abuse scandals. Moreover, he had the nerve to quote a Jewish

Praise the Lord and Pass the Medication!

2010-03-22T15:20:00.000-05:00

Friends, today is a day for celebration. While far from perfect, the US House of Representatives laid the groundwork late last night for health care coverage to be considered a right for all Americans, not just the privileged few. I say 'thank you' to all members of the house who voted for it. Some of you did so out of considerable consternation, and in some cases, may be concerned about

Yay liberals!

2010-03-13T14:39:00.000-06:00

It's been a tough week. Glen Beck started things out by telling people to run away from our churches because we believe in social justice. Then I read yesterday that State Board of Education representatives in Texas are rewriting history because they disagree with some of the facts in it. Friends, there is little doubt that we live in tumultuous times. Between the Tea Party people, the Glenn Beck

Put Your Tea Where Your Mouth Is

2010-02-10T11:35:00.000-06:00

All right Tea Partyers, if you're serious about individual freedom and democracy, I encourage you to get behind the movement to amend the US Constitution. In the recent Supreme Court decision, Corporations were granted equal rights with individual citizens. The purpose of the bipartisan McCain-Feingold law of 2002 was to limit the involvement of wealthy corporations in the outcome of elections

Do Kids Deserve a Sabbath?

2010-02-02T16:57:00.006-06:00

I've been involved in some kind of youth work in churches for several years. I have heard so much about 'over-scheduled young people' that it is really a cliche for me now. Between sports, school, work and a social life, church often comes near the end of too-long to do lists. But this post isn't about trying to get more kids to come to church (though I'm certainly not opposed to that). I want

Remember Haiti

2010-01-22T20:59:00.002-06:00

Please pray for the people of Haiti, and give what you can to help our Haitian brothers and sisters.

Where Would Dr. King Be Today?

2010-01-18T17:28:00.003-06:00

I spent the afternoon in Joliet, IL. I heard the story of 70 workers who were fired from the Bissell warehouse for wanting to form a union.One woman worker was 8 months pregnant, and was given no concessions by her employer, having to continue hard labor. Two workers can spend 5-8 hours to empty a 52' container, getting paid $16 each for the whole job. Since they're all temps, none have health

Is Pat Robertson the Antichrist?

2010-01-14T14:01:00.003-06:00

I don't like to get into the business of telling my fellow Christians that what they believe is unchristian. Just as I didn't like being told my anti-war stance was 'unamerican', diversity of thought is as much a part of Christianity as it is Americanism. But Pat Robertson has gone too far.In a statement on his television program, Robertson alleged that the slave revolt which freed Haiti from the

Catholics Choosy on Pro-Life Stance

2009-11-04T08:53:00.002-06:00

It appears that the only 'life' for which the Catholic hierarchy is 'pro' is that life which has yet to be born. Those already alive have to fend for ourselves.The other day I drove past a Catholic church that had white crosses all over their front lawn, to commemorate abortions that happen every day. Where are the crosses for those executed under the death penalty? For those who die for lack of

Time to Speak

2009-09-14T23:18:00.002-05:00

The lectionary text for yesterday (for those traditions that follow it) included a passage from James about the dangers and possibilities of speech. Basically, he says the tongue is small, but mighty. It can do great things and also some very destructive things. Senator Tom Harkin noted recently that there is a "silent majority" of Americans that support Health Care legislation. If this is indeed

Modern Manicheans

2009-09-07T13:49:00.004-05:00

I just watched a woman in tears because the President is going to tell her child to work hard and stay in school. Mom's afraid the message might be 'political'. Really? How did she feel when George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan did the same thing?It is no surprise to readers of this blog that I was strongly opposed to nearly every one of George W. Bush's policies. The only time I thought he shouldn't

Farewell Senator Kennedy

2009-08-26T22:27:00.003-05:00

When I was 16 years old, I worked in the office of Speaker of the House Tom Foley as one of his pages, obnoxiously giddy with the excitement of a teenage political geek. I was walking down the hall of Speaker Foley's office one day, when the elevator dinged, the doors opened, and out walked Ted Kennedy. It was at that moment that the Kennedy's became less a myth to me, and more a human reality.

Rationality on Health Care

2009-08-18T22:30:00.004-05:00

I understand that there might be some legitimate reasons to be opposed to Health Care reform. What I don't understand is why so much of the argument against it seems to be bull pucky.These past few days, we have seen people talk about 'death panels' that are supposed to withdraw care from people over a certain age. We have seen people talk about government takeover of medical care. We have seen

Spaghetti at the American Academy on Religion

2009-08-10T10:36:00.003-05:00

If you are not an academic, you may have never heard of the American Academy on Religion. You may never want to. They are however an academic organization of religious scholars and for those of us theology geeks out there, they provide a great deal of interesting fodder for discussion.At this year's meeting in San Diego, CA, they are going to be discussing the Flying Spaghetti Monster. That's

It Depends

2009-08-04T19:29:00.003-05:00

I took one of those ubiquitous facebook quizzes yesterday. It wasn't 'which 80's pop star are you' or 'which Friends character are you', but it was about political ideology. The results plotted you on an axis between left and right, authoritarian and libertarian. The statements, to which I was to agree or disagree, were on issues from abortion to homosexuality to economic policy and government.