street theologian: February 2006

Rest in Peace, Barney

LOS ANGELES — Don Knotts, who kept generations of TV audiences laughing as bumbling Deputy Barney Fife on "The Andy Griffith Show" and would-be swinger landlord Ralph Furley on "Three's Company," has died. He was 81.

Smile if (and Only if) You're Conservative

By George F. Will

To bemused conservatives, it looks like yet another example of analytic overkill by the intelligentsia -- a jobs program for the (mostly liberal) academic boys (and girls) in the social sciences, whose quantitative tools have been brought to bear to prove the obvious.
A survey by the Pew Research Center shows that conservatives are happier than liberals -- in all income groups. While 34 percent of all Americans call themselves "very happy," only 28 percent of liberal Democrats (and 31 percent of moderate or conservative Democrats) do, compared with 47 percent of conservative Republicans. This finding is niftily self-reinforcing: It depresses liberals.

Election results do not explain this happiness gap. Republicans have been happier than Democrats every year since the survey began in 1972. Married people and religious people are especially disposed to happiness, and both cohorts vote more conservatively than does the nation as a whole.

People in the Sun Belt -- almost entirely red states -- have sunnier dispositions than Northerners, which could have as much to do with sunshine as with conservatism. Unless sunshine makes people happy, which makes them conservative.
(continued)

:)

President's Day!!!

Top Ten Greatest Presidents Ever (WSJ 2000)
1 George Washington
2 Abraham Lincoln
3 Franklin Roosevelt
4 Thomas Jefferson
5 Theodore Roosevelt
6 Andrew Jackson
7 Harry Truman
8 Ronald Reagan
9 Dwight Eisenhower
10 James Polk

Steve's List
1 Abraham Lincoln
2 George Washington
3 Thomas Jefferson
4 Franklin Roosevelt
5 Ronald Reagan
6 Theodore Roosevelt
7 Andrew Jackson
8 Harry Truman
9 Dwight Eisenhower
10 William McKinley

OK, so it's mostly the same. Notice who's NOT on the list? No Kennedy, no Johnson. First of all, you can't really serve 2.5 years of your term and be considered great. Secondly, JFK and LBJ started the Vietnam build-up/non-committment to victory whose legacy we're still left with. Also, building up a vast welfare state doesn't fly with me, so FDR got knocked a peg down. I like James Polk, and he had a great 4 year run, but as a native Floridian, I appreciate presidents like McKinley who wage wars that put Tampa (the base of operations in the Spanish-American War) on the map. I love Ronald Reagan, who contrary to popular belief didn't just watch the Evil Empire Fall but was an active part of the process as well as the catalyst for mass tax cuts and re-establishment of free market capitalism in the USA. I put Lincoln on top...most presidents didn't have to deal with bodies of fallen soldiers in their backyard. It's my list, it's not meant to be scientific. Go democracy go!

More reasons I love the Antiochians

Whether they're (gasp) evangelizing to Americans, or (double gasp) establishing an autonomous synod here, the Antiochians continue to impress me.

Why One Orthodox Church Left the National Council of Churches
(excerpt)

“I always encountered objections from our priests and the rank and file at our General Conventions,” said Scott. “Many of them came from converts who had first-hand experience with the corrosiveness of theological liberalism. I explained that we saw our role as apologist and not as ecumenicist because of our alliance with the other conservatives that still remained in the NCC.”

The disaffection came to a head at the Antiochian Archdiocesan Convention in Dearborn, Michigan, last July. On recommendation from the Interfaith Relations Committee, a proposal was brought to the floor recommending the NCC pullout. The committee’s chairman reported that in his 29 years representing the archdiocese to the NCC, he had seen nothing fruitful that justified continued participation.

The issue never came to a vote. Instead, Metropolitan Philip, upon hearing the report, stated, “Enough is enough,” which was met with near unanimous applause. Antiochian participation in the NCC came to an end.

Orthodox leaders from other jurisdictions were critical of the unilateral nature of the move, including former Orthodox presidents Huszagh (who has privately scolded Edgar for the letter) and Kishkovsky. “It’s true we did not consult other jurisdictions,” Fr. Scott told me, “but that is because we see the NCC as no longer concerned with the gospel as it has been handed down from the apostles. Our commission is to bring the gospel to the unchurched of America and the NCC stood in the way. We decided not to wait any longer.” “We’ll see if others follow,” he told Ecumenical News International.

The Antiochian withdrawal was “particularly alarming” and caused “profound anxiety” to other Orthodox members of the NCC, claimed Kishkovsky, now chair of the NCC’s Membership and Ecclesial Relations Committee. He reported that Edgar’s meetings with Orthodox leaders, including Metropolitan Herman of the Orthodox Church in America, were reassuring.
The Antiochian withdrawal also caused dissension in NCC ranks, reports the Institute for Religion and Democracy, a conservative Protestant watchdog group. At a recent NCC General Assembly in early November, conservative delegates voiced similar concerns about political activism. Kishkovsky attempted to quell objections. He suggested that the pro-homosexual stands of NCC member denominations contributed to Antiochian dissatisfaction but remained silent on the Antiochian reaction to NCC political stands or the June fundraising letter.

Call him (Dick Cheney) Aaron Burr from the way he's droppin' Hamiltons!

White House Slow to Reveal Burr-Hamilton Duel
-Joel Achenbach
A Washington Post researcher dug up this notice that ran on page 3 of the July 18, 1804 edition of the Gettysburg Centinel:
"By a gentleman from Philadelphia we learn, that last week a duel took place at New York, between Colonel Aaron Burr, Vice President of the U. States, and General Alexander Hamilton, in which the latter was mortally wounded, and expired in a short time after he was taken from the field. The cause of the duel, or who was the challenger, we did not learn."
So you see there's a long and noble tradition of delaying disclosure when the Vice President shoots someone. Then, as now, the White House understood that the proper way for the public to learn about a shooting involving the Vice President is through rumor and gossip.
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Friendster Message: Steve, meet Communism!

My old college buddy Brandon has an...interesting sense of satire...

Meet his new friendster pal:
http://www.friendster.com/user.php?uid=13464025

Valentine's Day

VALENTINE'S DAY IS FOR LOSERS!!!

check this out!!

Equal Opportunity Desecration!!!

by Mike S. Adams

Dear (NEA Chairman) Dana Gioia:
I write to you today, not with a request, but with a demand. I’ve been sitting back patiently while the NEA has been promoting anti-Christian “art” for a number of years. In fact, one could say that I have been supporting it, too, given that my tax dollars have been spent on this garbage. And maybe I’ve been supporting it in another way by refusing to write you to express my frustration. That is, until now.

In the spirit of the “separation of church and state,” my demand is that you commission a painting – fully funded with tax dollars – that has one intention and one intention only: To offend Muslims everywhere.

This new painting will help the NEA avoid any accusations of state sponsorship of religion by insulting some religion other than Christianity. In the past, you’ve supported the “Piss Christ” and the “Elephant Dung Mary.” Now, I’m asking you to fund the “Queer Muhammad.”...(continued)

oooh....this article's 'slightly' sarcastic!!