Catching Up on Blogs

I think I've mentioned that I sometimes hit patches that are a little too busy for me to blog consistently. I'm in one of those patches right now. However, I have had some blogs floating around in my head that I haven't been able to bring together, so here are a few things that should have become full length blogs.

1. Previously on The West Wing. This blog would have been about my personal devotion to the television show, The West Wing. It would have focused on how I thought they framed political arguments and about the great writing--particularly during the early Aaron Sorkin years. It would have also focused on my disappointment that so much on TV is crap and shows like The West Wing show us what is possible for the medium of television. Then I would have finished with some sarcastic comment about a great show like The West Wing being cancelled yet we're all in for another season of Trading Spouses.

2. Illegal Immigration. This blog would have been about the current Mexican immigration conversation. I would have talked about how so much of the language I hear about the situation is racist. But I would have also talked about the need to know who is coming in the country--something all countries have the right to know. It would have also focused on how appropriate it might be for someone's first act in a country to be breaking the law. At the same time, I would have had something to say about the business owners who hire illegals and why they are not punished for giving jobs to illegals and why the country isn't focusing on their law breaking. I would have also had to highlight the fact that I have had a house-keeper and a yard man that I suspect probably weren't here legally. And that those of us in southern states kinda like having the cheap labor when we need it. And how the historic home ownership rates are connected to illegal immigration and decreased cost of buying a home. I would have also talked about God's commands in the Old Testament to welcome the foreigner, and then posited some ideas about what that might look like in America today. Finally, I would have spoken about how it is a complicated issue and that my blog probably didn't do it justice.

3. The Vast Right/Left Wing. After doing a blog about The West Wing and Illegal Immigration, I would have written something to show everyone that I'm not necessarily a political liberal or conservative. Likely I would have focused on a right wing issues that I agree with--and there are several. In the end, I would have said something about the allegiance of a Christian being to a King and a Kingdom rather than a political party or ideology. I would have highlighted Derek Webb's song "A King and a Kingdom."

4.Power. After three blogs about political and semi-political topics I would have said something about power and the use of power. My thesis would have been that Christians should be EXTREMELY careful when it comes to issues of power, empire and dominance. Then I would have ended with this quote from Henri Nouwen from In the Name of Jesus. "We keep hearing from others, as well as saying to ourselves, that having power--provided it is used in the service of God and your fellow human beings--is a good thing. With this rationalization, crusades took place; inquisitions were organized; Indians were enslaved; positions of great influence were desired; episcopal palaces, splendid cathedrals, and opulent seminars were built; and much moral manipulation of conscience was engaged in. Every time we see a major crisis in the history of the church, such as the Great Schism of the eleventh century, the Reformation of the sixteenth century, or the immense secularization of the twentieth century, we always see that a major cause of rupture is the power exercised by those who claim to be followers of the poor and powerless Jesus. What makes the temptation of power so seemingly irresistible? Maybe it is that power offers an easy substitute for the hard task of love."