October 29, 2007 @ 11:14 am | Category: politics
The Christian Century (October 2007) arrived a few days ago with the cover story ” Getting Religion:How Democrats are Learning to Talk about their Faith.” Inside the covers, we have a quote from Mississippi gubernatorial candidate John Arthur Eaves, ” I am a Democrat because I am a Christian,” along with a photo of his praying family around a dinner table. Good for him! So why does it make me uncomfortable? While I firmly believe in the American principle of separation of church and state, I also believe people have the right to advocate according to their beliefs. Everyone advocates based on their view of how the world should be, including all the current presidential candidates. Thanks to Jim Wallis’ book God’s Politics, people have become more open to the idea that religious beliefs have political consequences. The American people have warmed up to this so much that Beliefnet.com has God-o-Meter ,” scientifically measures factors such as rate of God-talk, effectiveness—saying God wants a capital gains tax cut doesn’t guarantee a high rating—and other top-secret criteria.” To me, this marginalizes religion by making it silly.
I am not encouraged by the current vogue of politicians wearing their faith on their shirt/blouse sleeves, regardless of their party. I didn’t like it with the Christian Right, and I don’t like it with the Christian Left. It makes me uncomfortable, because there is no way for me to test their claim that they “have been born-again,” or that they have “Jesus in their heart”. I am just suppose take their word for it. It’s code for ” God is on my side.” Rather, I will judge any politician by what he/she does and the things I can actually see — like their record. I would like for us to go back to the good old days when Gerald Ford refused to bring his faith into the political race, while Jimmy Carter was becoming the first “born-again” president. While I will never deny that someones faith will shape their decisions, on the campaign trail there is no way for me to differentiate between an expression of faith and manipulative pandering. I think there are some hidden dangers. The trumpeting of religion on the part of politicians may result in a severe backlash against religion we haven’t yet imagined.
1 Comment
October 26, 2007 @ 6:28 pm | Category: global issues, food
Here is an interview at Salon.com with Alice Waters, food advocate and chef. Waters advocates organic, locally grown, slow food as a way to better health, earth care, and stronger communities. In my early years, my mother would take me to the farmer’s market in Buenos Aires. She went often, and would take hours every day to cook meals completely from scratch. This was the slowest food possible for an urban dweller. While I agree with Waters that how we eat matters more than just for maintaining health, I also believe that the structures of our cities discourage eating the way she suggest. Never mind how we work. My farmer’s market in Dallas is ten miles away, requiring a car trip plus difficult parking. Besides I don’t know how local these vegetable stands are. Some of the “farmers” looked like they have never pulled a weed.
In order to eat locally, we need multiple farmer’s markets in neighborhoods. If not, they function more like tourist spots. The most promising trend is grocery stores who have begun carrying locally grown seasonal items. That’s the only way large number of people will change the way they eat. Otherwise, locally grown fresh food remains the luxury of the urban elite.
1 Comment
October 7, 2007 @ 5:16 pm | Category: media, global issues, food
Remember the Coke commercial twenty years ago with the song ” I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing?” Well, I just saw it recently and what seemed like a wonderful idea now appears dreadful. The commercial was prophetic. The whole world is drinking Coke, eating McDonald’s and KFC. That means that they are losing their own cultural foodways and getting fat just like us. As an immigrant, I understand the deep connection between food and cultural identity. Diversity and globalization are code words for the homogenization of all cultures into one that is distinctively American. We wonder why some people are resisting this in the most violent way possible. Something to think about.
Add Comment
@ 4:52 pm | Category: gender/feminism, family/relationships
How much is fatherhood changing? I think not as much as we like to think. Well, maybe I’m wrong. Take a look at Time Magazine’s article about fathers who are stay-at-home dads. I’m not skeptical because I believe that there is some lack in men (or that the corresponding moms are emotionally cold). Social, economic and religious pressure simply don’t allow much room for this sort of deviation from traditional ideas of masculinity. A man has to explain it to his parents, his former co-workers, his neighbors, and maybe even his minister. That’s huge social load to carry around making it not a viable option for most. But for those who are doing it well, my hats off to you.
1 Comment
