Eclectic Amateur

John Forbes Kerry and Lurch.

You decide.

UPDATE: Thanks to Dawn Eden for the link and the kind words.

I didn’t think of it all by myself — I woke up to the alarm Thursday set to WJR to hear Paul W. Smith saying the fateful words:

“So, do you think Senator Clinton will be Lurch’s running mate?”

Since I couldn’t get the image out of my head, I decided to share it with everyone else, too.

(The answer is apparantly “no”.)

Via Mark Shea, I’ve been introduced (virtually) to a very cool blogger, Dawn Eden.

In the last few days, he’s linked to her:

• encounter and confrontation with Nazi wannabe esteemed scientist Dr. James Watson
  

• common-sense (and therefore probable hate speech in Canada) observation on “gay pride” and homosexual “marriage.”
  

And she gets to write headlines for the New York Post! How excellent is that?! (Other than the fact that you have to be warped enough to (a) live in NYC and (b) actually enjoy it …)

Katolik Shinja

… is Joshua Snyder’s blog. He is apparantly an American convert to Catholicism, living and teaching in South Korea.

This is not a perspective one meets every day.

Some days, the Internet can be a great thing.

If Victor Lams and Sandra Miesel ever worked together …

…they could actually flesh out my horrible inspiration today:

“Gauntlet: The Election of a Medieval Pope”

Containing pithy computer-voice sayings like

“Cardinal needs food badly”

And

“Borgia is about to die”

Victor could do the graphics, music, and voiceovers, and Sandra could supply the nitty-gritty historical details of favorite weapons of Italian assasination, how the lock-ins of conclaves really worked, etc.

Sometimes, the things that come together in my brain scare me …

I just saw the news that former President Ronald Reagan passed away yesterday at the age of 93.

I absorbed a visceral dislike of Reagan and Reagan conservatism as a college student during the 80’s, which I’ve been slowly unlearning ever since.

Was Reagan a perfect man? Of course not. Can his presidency be legitimately criticized? Of course.

But as I look back and learn more about what I was not taught in those years, I am more impressed with the sense that here was a man. One who tried to do the right thing and speak truth plainly, to the best of his ability. A marvelous thing this days, and a further wonder that such a man was granted eight years in the White House.

Did he have successes and failures, times he was in the right and times he was in the wrong? Of course. (Who does not?)

And let us not forget that even good and great worldly accomplishments are as straw before the true Accomplishment of knowing God and enjoying Him forever. Let us pray that the Great Communicator is no long merely “communicating”, but communing, with all the saints.

Kathy Shaidle has a beautiful story of Not Hating Reagan. I don’t have a moment of epiphany like Kathy, but count me as another who No Longer Hates Reagan™. God bless, Gipper.

Chris Johnson alerted me to this bit of nonsense about to happen in my own backyard:

Hosted by the Faith Action Network, a project of the Michigan office of The American Friends Service Committee Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Issues Program, Together in Faith will bring together LGBT and Ally people of all ages, races, religions and spiritualities from around the country for skill-enhancing workshops led by nationally renowned activists and community-building activities with like-minded progressive People of Faith/Spirit/Conscience. Attendees will leave with new information, tools and networks to help them create LGBT-affirming cities and faith communities.

Together in Faith will begin with a multifaith service and reception on the evening of Friday, May 21, 2004. Presentations and workshops will begin Saturday morning and the conference will conclude Saturday night. All events will take place at or near Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

Here are some of the workshops offered:

For your inner neo-pagan:

Speaker: Macha Nightmare

“Sex & Spells: Gender and Political Activism in the Witchen Community”

We will sit in circle for focused discussion about gender, power, and the many ways that people change culture. We will address our values and the ethics of spellwork, after which we will plan, create and empower our own collaborative spell for change in harmony with our values and in accordance with our wills.

For those of you who didn’t get enough of the “Christianity is inherently anti-Semitic” meme during the run-up to The Passion of the Christ, you can get some more with a Queer Power/Jews Rule! twist:

Speaker: Debra Kolodny

“Challenging Christian Hegemony in Interfaith Organizing”

Interfaith activists usually share the powerful, transformative and holy call to ensure that justice and respect flow to all people, regardless of race, color, sexual orientation, national origin, economic class or other identity variable. What obligation do those on this journey have to understand and stand in solidarity with those whom Christianity has negated or diminished? Come explore how Christian scripture, theology and practice can and does diminish if not dismiss the holiness of Judaism. Discover how failure to address this can create an insidious, often subtle, and frequently unconscious anti-Jewish climate, even in the most progressive of circles. Finally, work together to unlearn this harmful dynamic and stand as an ally and appreciator of Jews and Judaism.

And, of particular interest to Michigan Episcopalians, here’s this little gem:

Speaker: Jim Toy

“Advocating vs. Trans/Bi/Homophobic Harassment, Discrimination, and Assault”

A discussion of the characteristics of initiative politics and issues of ethics and morality.
Jim teaches us how to spot an Anti-LGBT argument and fallacy. He discusses helpful pro-LGBT tactics. Learn to teach others how to tolerate, support and advocate for LGBT concerns.

So who is Jim Toy? I hadn’t heard of him before, but his bio according to “Together in Faith” shows that he’s kept busy:

Jim Toy, MSW, Interpersonal Practice, University of Michigan, 1981. First homosexual person publicly out in Michigan (1970). Co-founder of first staff office for queer concerns in a U.S. institution of higher learning (University of Michigan, 1971). Co-author, City of Ann Arbor nondiscrimination ordinances on sexual oriention (1972) and gender identity (1999) Advocate for queer concerns, Episcopal Diocese of Michigan (1970 – present) [emphasis mine] Co-Founder, various HIV/AIDS agencies and groups (1983 – present) Founding Member, ASFC LGBT Issues Program “Towards Understanding” Committee. Founding Member, AFSC Faith Action Network.

Now, I suppose that could just mean that Mr. Toy is a crank who’s been harrassing Michigan bishops for 34 years — “Advocate for Queer Concerns” doesn’t really sound like the title of a diocisan position (yet). Let’s see what else is out there about Jim Toy…

Oh look. An old version of the American Friend’s Service Comittee page lists Jim Toy as the contact for “Committee on Lesbian and Gay Concerns, Diocese of Michigan.” Maybe that job title isn’t too far off.

[Sidebar: I tried looking up that committee’s membership, just to verify whether Mr. Toy is still on it. No luck there — but I did find Church and Society Committee: A Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan. This would be the committee which boasts of funding both Planned Parenthood and the Triangle Foundation. More of your offering dollars at work.]

Not to mention, Mr. Toy’s name appears as a member of the editorial board of The Record (the diocisan newsletter) as recently as last year. I assume his term expired then, since he’s not listed as a current board member. I am thinking this may explain some things about the editorial tone of the paper regarding all things “human sexuality”-related.

Jim Toy even managed to get himself quoted in the Detroit New’s coverage of the controversy prior to GC2003:

“It sends a message to the entire Christian community that God is a God of everyone. If God is all accepting, can we be less?” asked Jim Toy, a member of St. Matthew and St. Joseph Episcopal Church in Detroit.

Either there are two Jim Toy’s in the diocese, or the Detroit News’ religion page writer simply fails to note that her random parishioner quoted “just happens” to be a longtime gay activist with a committee position and and editorial board position within the diocese. I’m so glad we can leave this kind of journalistic integrity to the professionals.

Greg Griffith claims to have verified that diocesan funds are being directed toward this conference. I suppose that leaves it ambiguous at best whether Jim Toy’s workshop there is supposed to simply represent himself or if he is there as a reprentative of the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan.

Remember, Michigan Episcopalians: these are your offering dollars at work. And remember that Bishop Gibbs has asked Episcopalians lay aside the “issues over which we disagree” and to “further our commitment to improving our relationships with one another.” Just keep those checks coming, folks, and don’t question the program. That wouldn’t be good “dialogue”, you know.

Somehow, this actually fits …

Non curo. Si metrum non habet, non est poema.

“I don’t care. If it doesn’t rhyme, it isn’t
a poem.”

You are a type A personality. You like bright
things, you don’t call in sick to work, and you
have devastating opinions about art.

Which Weird Latin Phrase Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

This quiz must be pretty accurate, because it seems to characterize certain other people correctly, also.

What 20th Century Theorist Am I?

This is all Victor Lams’ fault:

You are an undergraduate! Your mind has not yet
warped into the utter oddness of contemporary
theory. If you put down the beer bong, and
start reading dreafully weird theory, you’ll
probably have a better chance of not getting
the answer designed to make fun of you.

What 20th Century Theorist are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

For the record, while I did at times drink more than was good for me as an undergraduate, not only have I never used a beer bong, to my knowledge I was never even part of a party where they were in use.

I did, however, spend quality time with Plato, Aristotle, Locke, Marx, and Franz Fanon (who is, in fact, “surprisingly readable for a major theorist”). Happily, I missed spending quality time with Derrida or any other post-modernist philosophers, for which I credit any remaining sanity that I might possibly retain (cue snickering from the peanut gallery …)

Over at Chris Johnson’s, somebody asked if I’d be reposting my “White Boys” riff in response to Bp. William Swing’s slander on the NACDC.

So here is the link to the original “Who you callin’ ‘white boy’?” riff.

Based on Bishop Swing’s little tirade, it looks like I have at least one mugshot to add:

Not A White Boy

Bishop Wiliam Swing of California

I can only assume that Bishop Swing is campaigning to be known as the second black Episcopalian bishop of California …

Anglefish Update

We have babies! For the first time in a year.

Of course, this would happen two weeks after giving up on having another clutch and starting to convert the rearing tank into another community tank. So I have no idea how they’ll survive. So far today, the parents do seem to be defending them well. Maybe some will make it.