Archive for October, 2008
Obama TV
Thursday, October 30th, 2008Reaction to the Obama TV program has been revealing. On the one hand it was described on MSNBC immediately following as slick and professional. On the other hand, it didn’t take us to our emotional depths–not exactly feel good, merely feel better–said Tom Shales. He wrote that it relied on stories of real people and [...]
Reinhold Niebuhr, Where Are You When we Need You?
Wednesday, October 29th, 2008An economist on Marketplace this morning referred to theologian Reinhold Niebuhr’s worldview as a familiar frame of reference for both presidential candidates. Niebuhr’s view of ethically ambivalent individuals yearning for perfectibility, yet caught in a sinful state and working in a fallen world, is found in the attitudes of both John McCain and Barack Obama, [...]
Forgetting the Global Food Crisis
Sunday, October 26th, 2008As the global financial crisis deepens the world risks forgetting the food crisis that is becoming even more severe. That’s the word from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. The number of seriously malnourished persons is up from 848 million in 2003-2005 to 923 million in 2007.
Asia and the Pacific region has more people [...]
Global Warming: Water and Disease
Friday, October 24th, 2008Global warming will drive significant increases in waterborne diseases around the world, according to a report by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, reported in the Washington Post by Kari Lydersen.
According to scientists, weather events will become more extreme which means heavier rains triggering sewage overflows, contaminated water supplies and more standing water [...]
Values Votes
Thursday, October 23rd, 2008Jim Wallis of Sojourners is ambivalent about making absolute religious claims in the mix of faith and politics. He notes a few conservative Roman Catholic bishops and megachurch pastor Rick Warren set out a list of “non-negotiables” that were raised around the time of the event Warren hosted for John McCain and Barack Obama.
In contrast, [...]
On Digital Natives
Monday, October 20th, 2008I’ve been having conversations recently about digital natives and digital immigrants. I’m an immigrant, as are all people born before the Internet.
The nature of the conversation is how we inhabit different worlds depending upon when we came to the digital terrain. I noted several years ago that broadband access and, later, cellphones were so much [...]
The Great Emergence
Sunday, October 19th, 2008Every five hundred years the Western world goes through a period of re-formation. It’s an across the board change that affects the entire structure of society. In our day, according to Phyllis Tickle, it includes globalization, the flattening of the world, technological changes that result in lifestyle changes.
It is a great upheaval, a time when [...]
Ethiopia & Somalia Food Crisis
Sunday, October 12th, 2008Lost in the news of the global economic meltdown is the continuing hunger crisis across the Horn of Africa. The BBC reports today that 20% of Ethiopians–8 million–may be facing hunger. Oxfam International says the number could be as great as 13.5 million including those in chronic poverty who receive governmental assistance yearly.
Further east, half [...]
John McCain and Rhetorical Excess
Friday, October 10th, 2008When audience members of McCain/Palin rallies yell, “Kill Him!” “Off with his head” and “terrorist” it’s dangerous. McCain finally challenged one woman in Minnesota today and called for his followers to respect Sen. Obama. McCain was booed, which should have told him something.
In an atmosphere of anxiety and fear fueled by a global financial collapse, [...]