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May 31, 2005
Memorial Day on the Savannah~The dead have their day too
Here's my column in the Pulse. I spent Memorial Day weekend in Augusta, Georgia, with family and friends. While there we walked the Savannah River. There I remembered veterans of war.
The river is inky below an overcast sky, a reminder of wars and warriors. The history of military events flows slowly away to the sea, worshiped by mermen darting around fallen armies like so much seaweed and sunken debris. The deep sea seems restful enough. But wars also beg for rocky monuments that root like gravestones in terra firma.
I remember my father-in-law although I never met him. He died when my wife was just a 9-year-old girl, yet even today she tells stories of his fighting in France, stories retold as a memory device of survival to be sure, recalling that in fact that he survived World War Two and came home. But he was wounded there like so many others, bled on foreign soil that has absorbed so much blood.
CLICK TO CONTINUE READING "Memorial Day"
Posted by wjbailes at 07:14 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
What happened to the family farm? Some called it HOME
Here's an excerpt from Dr. Olin Ivey's At the Threshold: An agrarian economy centers in two interdependent realities: land and home. They are so intertwined that it is hard to separate them. A whole culture emerges from within that interaction. From within that complex, the sense of place and the good sense that goes with it well up within our souls, family, and community. Fresh food from one’s own farm gathered by one’s own hands become joy in the cookin’ and delight in the eatin’. Gratitude abounds—to each other and to God. Shared stewardship blossomed vine-like to help form our sense of being, of having, and of doing.
CLICK TO READ OLIN'S COLUMN
Posted by wjbailes at 07:11 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 28, 2005
Disputing Manichaean Thinking & the Piaget Fallacy: Four for Matthew White (Thanks, Joe Lance)
Joe Lance has posted a brief but positive take on Matthew White's 27 May 2005 blog about Thursday's revelations concerning Operation Tennessee Waltz. I'd like to examine some of White's sometimes insightful arguments and assumptions.
1. White says that he is "convinced the only reason the arrests happened yesterday is because Chris Newton began to realize the jig is up and withdrew HB37 from the House Wednesday afternoon. The feds indicted those they had a solid case against and they're hoping to use them to cast a wider net." But this is a post hoc ergo propter hoc. While White has a point here, that these two events (Newton's withdrawal of HB37 and Fed indictments) happened near one another, that they did does not imply automatically a cause-and-effect relationship. The Feds, after all, had their evidence. In fact, if the Feds wanted to cast a wider net, they certainly would not have shown their hand. Showing their hand puts the entire secret operation in jeopardy.
2. White also says, "Bad people will do bad things, regardless of the law. Yesterday, we saw proof that while our system is made up of flawed people, the system worked." And this kind of Manichaean thinking continues throughout the blog: "Bad people did bad things and with any luck they'll pay for it. As the debate about ethics in our legislature looms, blame the bad guys for what they did. . . . it is worth noting that 129 members of the General Assembly were not arrested yesterday and many of those are decent, ethical people that you can be proud of. " This is too simplistic for me, whether we are reducing humans to being fated by nature to be either a good person or a bad person, or creating a false dichotomy between public and private. Let me take up the deterministic argument first, which says that some are bad seeds and others are not. This genetic fallacy rips away free will and choice. From this perspective, "bad" humans will do bad before, when, and after they get caught simply because they are "bad." But life is more complex than that. And it is this way of thinking that informs the false dichotomy between our American views of public and private behavior--by which we feel business is free to do almost anything, and politics is bound closely to the law. In the world of business, what might be called bribery in public office is done all the time. Business people sweeten deals all the time, never worrying about Federal agents around the corner, unless of course the government has deemed their services or products illicit. So why the double standard? We expect more (with an almost secular religiosity) of our public officials. And, in fact, White suggests that legislators with part-time pay and a lack of legislative resources might contribute to "bad" behavior.
3. White offers a solution: "If you want ethical, honest government, return government to a size and scope that doesn't attract hungry barbarians seeking a piece of pie." This is what I call the Piaget fallacy. Psychologist Jean Piaget observed children equating height to qualities of bigness or greatness or potency, even goodness. White's idea is a little different; his is that if you reduce the size of something it will automatically improve that something--or in other words make government less corrupt by diminishing its size. Why? Because "barbarians" are at the gate. Well, they probably are. But that's not because the prize is large. In fact, I'd say given the nature of barbarians, you don't need a big prize. Just some fresh meat. The process of political attainment and legislative procedure requires at least a little more than White is ascribing to political fortunes. In this case, wasn't it the Feds who did the baiting, didn't they dangle the bags of money in front of the defendants? Or do we have PROOF of any other corruption without the Feds being involved? White has already told us that it is "bad" people who do bad things, not big things that attract bad people. At least to White's credit, he recognizes that there is more to corruption than just "bad people."
4. White does offer a more specific solution, using the Piaget fallacy: "Do we maintain our tradition of a part-time legislature that can adequately lead state government with a limited amount of time and resources even if that means doing without some government services we have come to expect? Or do we accept that we need a full-time legislature, where members are paid a full-time wage and given the staff and resources to manage a bloated bureaucracy?" Is it really that simple. The horns of the dilemma bother me here. Especially here, because government, business, family, etc. are institutions that work in strangely complex ways. It would nice to think that government could just be fixed this easily--by choosing one or the other of these solutions. But government will always (by its nature) have a bureaucratic character, and even in states where agents of the people are paid fulltime salaries corruption still happens. The causes for individual corruption are complicated and probably not going to be remedied simply by changing the size (up or down) of an organization. While a smaller group may work more efficiently and be more aware of each other, a larger group may be more effective in dealing with larger challenges. Again, I don't think that size is the single issue here.
Posted by wjbailes at 04:20 AM | Comments (10) | TrackBack
May 27, 2005
"Matt on Media" Imagines Prez Bush on Talk Radio
His column is at the Daily Bailout, but here's an excerpt: What if you were appointed by the President of the United States to head up a high priority committee of great national importance? You, along with a staff under your direction, are to create a new revolutionary method for George W. Bush to better communicate to the America people. Considering the constant misinterpretations that occur between the media and President Bush, it's now your task to bring the American President and the country closer together in a more comfortable, less adversarial relationship.
Posted by wjbailes at 12:11 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
It Only Takes a Spark: UPS Reaches Out to Community
Leo Diaz presents Dr. Cahill with honorary plaque.
Arrested on the first of December 1955 for refusing to give up her seat to a white person, Rosa Parks triggered a clash between Alabama and the United States that ended the next year with the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that it is illegal to segregate blacks and whites on buses.
Rosa Parks we may all remember. But it was Edgar Daniel Nixon who bailed her out of jail. If you don't know about E. D. Nixon, you're not in the minority. Most people, for instance, don't know that it was Nixon (not to be confused with Richard Nixon) who brought Martin Luther King Jr. to the spotlight in Montgomery. Indeed, Nixon was active in civil rights in Montgomery long before Dr. King.
Now, if you're feeling rusty about civil rights history, don't feel bad. All nine of the UPS (United Parcel Service) managers who participated in this year's Community Intern Project (CIP) in Chattanooga felt the same way—that is, before coming to this city. These nine upper level managers left their families and homes to live and work in Chattanooga for one month. They soon learned what values community outreach and human rights teach under the direction of an individual who knew many of the civil rights leaders himself, Dr. Ed Cahill, former head of UTC's Department of Sociology and Anthropology.
Posted by wjbailes at 07:28 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 26, 2005
Essential Reading as Background to the "TennWaltz" Sting
1. U.S. Code Title 18 Part 1 Chapter 73 Section 1512. Tampering with a witness, victim, or an informant .
2. Hobbes Act.
Posted by wjbailes at 06:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
11 Million Paper Clips
I've got a photo essay over at the Daily Bailout about The Paper Clip Project & the Children's Holocaust Memorial at Whitwell Middle School
The rail car above was actually used for carrying war criminals (Jews and others) to Nazi concentration camps for torture and killing. The wooden boxcar speaks without words to the terrible history of why torture and war are so inevitably uncontrollable and humanly destructive. I felt I was in a womb of death. In a word, it reflects on a culture of death.
CLICK FOR ENTIRE STORY & PHOTO ALBUM
Posted by wjbailes at 07:28 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 25, 2005
The Kid Blog asks a tough one
My son appreciates your comments and suggestions. He's got another "kid" question for you. Take a look.
Posted by wjbailes at 05:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Uninsured? Join the crowd
When Blue Cross/Blue Shield told Carrie Cook she should get married if she wanted to be insured, she was shocked. That's the opening; read on by clicking below on image of Carrie Cook.
Posted by wjbailes at 09:16 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
May 24, 2005
Another Crazy Baptist Preacher in North Carolina~WWJD? He'd Flush the Koran, says Rev. Lovelace
Just heard this on MSNBC, and saw it at DailyKos. Basically, the story is that the Reverend Creighton Lovelace of Danieltown Baptist Church says he believes the Koran is an evil book and promotes evil actions. Only the KJV speaks truth, says Lovelace. Shall I phone him?
Posted by wjbailes at 08:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Five Ironic Headlines~Intentional or Accidental?
Five ironic headlines online today:
Mrs Brainy and Mr Dumb 'sleep better'
Premature ejaculation drug delays climax
Posted by wjbailes at 07:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
God's Grace Abounds?
Avoiding (please) any Manichæan definition, what would St. Augustine have said about Ms. Johnston, who endorsed checks that were made out to Krystal but put them in her personal account, although finally she turned herself in?
Posted by wjbailes at 07:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Aha . . . I did understand the questions! Thanks, Healy!
Your Dominant Thinking Style: |
| Visioning
You are very insightful and tend to make decisions based on your insights. An idealist, thinking of the future helps you guide your path. |
Your Secondary Thinking Style: |
| Experimenting
You're all about looking at the facts, and you could always use more of them. The master of mix and match, you're always coming up with unique combinations. |
Posted by wjbailes at 04:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Religious Proselytizers~Free Speech or Fanatical Intimidation
It seems that the stories about the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs keep getting bigger. If you don't know the case, here it is in a nutshell: AFA is accused of fostering an environment where right-wing religious proselytes could dominate. Not far away from the military school is James Dobson's headquarters.
Today NYT reports that chaplain, Capt. MeLinda Morton, continues to live in limbo. Kicked out of her job at the AFA and removed to Japan, she is fighting the religious dominionists over at AFA and surrounds. A congressionally approved task force is investigating AFA, but of course the task force (military) is not doing a good job. You'll see. Read the article.
Posted by wjbailes at 03:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Mount Shasta, Here We Come!
Weekend of July 1-4, my wife Dinah, her mother Pauline, our son Jackson, and I will be headed to Mount Shasta for a rendezvous with mystery and light. I say mystery and light because Shasta is almost the exact southern terminus of the Cascades, a range of volcanic mountains always rumbling, whose splendor takes one's breath away. You only need a minute of seing their snowy peaks and majestic shields to discover this experience.
This trip to Shasta is also about visiting the dead. Dinah's brother (Pauline's son) is buried here--a veteran of Vietnam. He died as a fully disabled vet (of course made so by war, which continues to make many more disabled). Near his gravesite is a small organic farm store. I look forward to stopping there for some Shasta fruit or vegetables. Wonder and beauty surround this region, despite its rocky soil of lava. And yet it is still not the hotspot of Californians, who prefer Tahoe or Reno or Yosemite over Shasta--and yet Shasta is so much grander.
After Dinah's father died in Missouri, she and her mother moved to Mount Shasta (actually Weed, CA--"Get High on Weed" was the motto for years). Now we're visiting old stomping grounds, a sacred place not just because of the Native American history, but also because of the almost magnetic pull of the mountain. Interesting how many physicists go there to live, as well as mystics. In fact there's a Buddhist monastery called Shasta Abbey nearby, one I've retreated to before. While the abbey is hard to find, the mountain sticks out like God's nose. But travelers can drive right up to the mountain, by it and past it and never notice it. Strange. Strange indeed.
Posted by wjbailes at 01:16 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Sometimes a Cigar is More than a Cigar~Striking up some controversy
It's another one of my political columns in the Pulse, but this time about smoking. This week's column is called "Sometimes a Cigar is More than a Cigar~Galloway strikes up his Havana & leaves Republicans in the ashes." I've always thought I had some Scot in me. So here's the start of my column:
Sometimes a cigar is more than a cigar; sometimes it's revolutionary.
I recall lighting up a cigar on the streets of Davis, California, ten years ago. Davis had passed a smoking ban on its downtown area—inside or outside. Logically, I decided to visit the city's downtown and light up. I made one modification. I lit up in the midst of a throng of anti-tobacconists.
CLICK TO READ ABOUT THE BIG CIGAR
Posted by wjbailes at 07:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 23, 2005
See My Son's New Blog~The Kid Blog
Hey! Take a look-see at my son's EXCITING website. Actually, he'd like some comments and some suggestions. Click on The Kid Blog.
Posted by wjbailes at 04:53 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
Peter Elbow's Right for the Modern Age
In an ancient age before ink and paper, or even before Guttenburg, pre-writing was done in the head, perhaps after long discussions with key conversants.
Today we write a lot, and we write paperlessly. The change fits the new medium, allowing (as some of my professorial colleagues put it) for mental laziness. I disagree.
As far as I'm concerned, I'm glad to see someone like Mr. Healy using the process writing approaches of Elbow. Elbow's method is not the only approach, of course. But it is perfect for approaching writing as flow rather than solid.
Posted by wjbailes at 02:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Remembering the Old Ivey Farm while the Corporate Farm Supersizes
Dr. Olin Ivey has a great piece on his old family farm, today at the Daily Bailout. Disturbing how our national treasure of family farms are being put upon under GW. And that's too bad. Corporate farming is on the rise. A great agrarian communal sense disappears.
So read Dr. Ivey. Here's an excerpt: One of the clearest memories I have of the old Ivey homestead is the way the generations worked together and each carried its load and each took responsibility for each other. Uncle Benny, a great uncle in reality, told stories of the family in addition to the work he did. When he got ill in his old age, the rest of the family gathered around to care for him. The same was true for Aunt Dempy who lived across the street. It is not wonder that every member of the family is still close and that goes for the newer generations that have come on the scene in the last 40 years. CLICK TO READ ON
Posted by wjbailes at 08:57 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
May 22, 2005
Censoring & Blogging: A RECAP
While I have offered apologies already, yesterday's blogging exchange about censorship revealed two things:
1. Some believe censorship is okay.
2. Some don't.
If you're being censored, you hate it. If you're not, you don't think about it. Bill Colrus' recap of the exchange provides the "property rights" argument. This argument says that because someone owns something, he should be able to do whatever he wants. But of course that isn't always completely true. Just look at the protest by Chattanooga's North Shore community members concerning the Coolidge Hotel. So "property rights" have limits because there may be other competing forces - i.e. government, other property owners, etc.
In the case of blogging, I don't know if those limits have been firmly defined in the blogosphere. However, they are obviously being tested - as seen yesterday. Blogs are often seen as places to say what you want, and therefore they pretend to be open-area zones online for anybody to rail, spit, bully, punch. Is this good for democracy? I'm not sure. It seems pretty safe as an online "acting out," but as Bill Colrus said so well: "People are way more petty/ruthless/evil/annoying/combative/disrespectful when conversing via blogs than they ever are when conversing in person."
Bill's point is that we don masks as if it were Halloween and try all sorts of scary stuff when we are blogging. I certainly overreacted. I know that Bill does once in awhile. I've never seen Josiah this way before (but I have a new respect for the boy). Tyler is just great. The guy betting on wife beating is just stupid. It's not worth $5.
Have I gone over the line?
Posted by wjbailes at 06:32 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
May 21, 2005
Update: No Censorship at Healy's Cruciform Axis: And I Feel Like Hell
As some of you know by now, I mistakenly took the stops and hangups over at the Healy blog as a censorship question. Well, seems it is. That is, it is a fine Chattablog system thing to stop spam. And I happened to be coming across that way. Imagine that. So apologies all round. Especially to Healy and Josiah. My earlier blog is down below this one. You'll have to click for it.
As I tried to post my comment (see below) at Healy's website I was stopped by this: Your comment submission failed for the following reasons: In an effort to curb malicious comment posting by abusive users, I've enabled a feature that requires a weblog commenter to wait a short amount of time before being able to post again. Please try to post your comment again in a short while. Thanks for your patience.
I waited a few minutes and tried posting again. Same message. My impression is that this is a matter of a fearful censor, who btw has every right to censor. But about hell? Yes, that was the subject. Now there is something intellectually dishonest about talking about hell and then dismissing comments about it. So here are my comments to Healy discussion:
Four in hell (not the four who have commented so far): You might read Jean Paul Sartre's Huis Clos which explores hell as a room in which four people (criminals of some sort or another) must come to terms with being honest. Ironically, one of the four is there for being a pacifist, Garcin. He concludes that "hell is other people."
Posted by wjbailes at 07:34 AM | Comments (16) | TrackBack
Rise of the Siths~How anti-abortionists divide & promote stupid Christianity
It's Matt on Media again with his "RISE OF THE SITHS ~ Anti-Abortion Group Divides the Church, Promotes Stupid Christianity". Here's an excerpt:
My spirituality has always been extremely special to me. But according to my critics who have viewed my media observations, I'm not necessarily perceived as a "religious" man.
Perhaps that's true to some degree, for the pomp and circumstance of the structured church and how some Christians use America's media has turned my interest away from organized religion from time to time. But what bothers me more than anything is watching others shy away from God and His personal life-changing experiences because of stupid Christians. CLICK TO READ ON
Posted by wjbailes at 07:16 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 20, 2005
Response to Saddam in Underpants~With Humor and Seriousness
The issue is more serious than one will admit. Commercial interests are at stake: Hanes versus Fruit of the Loom. In our global economy, let's be honest. The real threat is how will Saddam in cotton briefs affect a company that makes those underpants. Profits could be lost. Underwear consumption could drop. Who knows, boxers may be the only way to go now. Unless you're a jock strap man. Gals, you needn't worry. Victoria Secret has all your needs.
But seriously, brief shots like the one with Saddam may be used legally against the occupying forces because fundamentalists just don't like that kind of thing. And I mean all fundamentalists, even right wingers over in the ol' USA. Imagine Billy Graham standing in his scivvies. Not a pretty picture. But of course it would make the National Enquirer.
What is it about underwear that gets conservatives in a wad?
Bill Colrus, my boss at the Pulse, has blogged twice today on the subject. I'm afraid that his response is long on moral outrage and short on history. While I can't disagree with him about Saddam as deserving such, I must correct him on finding no historical culpability for ourselves, the good and brave USA.
Look, we took Saddam's Iraq off the "terrorist states" list back under Reagan because we had to deal with Iran. We knew, for instance, that Iraq was using chemical weapons (CW) to annihilate the Iranians coming at the Iraqis in massive numbers [see document] and we knew Saddam was using CW against Kurdish insurgents [see document]. And yet the Reagan administration chose to allow Iraq to continue with its CW programs and actions because of the Iranian crisis and impending oil crisis if intervention were made. Then Rumsfeld (yes, the same Donald Rumsfeld) was sent to meet with Saddam and develop "close ties" [see document]. Rumsfeld told Saddam and Aziz that we and Iraq had many similar interests (which included fighting Iran and Syria as well as getting oil to the US). Btw if you did not grow up in the sixties and seventies, believe me oil (energy) was big. I remember the lines at the stations during the 1970s. Reagan wasn't going to let that happen under his watch. So why not just work with mass killers? And that's what we did.
So before we go exploding on blogs with conservative rage only about Saddam, let's remember our role in empowering and puppeting him along the way - when we could have stood him down and stopped his mass killings decades ago.
Posted by wjbailes at 05:31 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
Breaking up is hard to do: Are southern senators having second thoughts about supporting Frist?
Mississippi Clarion-Ledger reports today some sudden regrets, doubts, and overall second thoughts by our two Mississippi senators, Trent Lott and Thad Cochran. So what's going on? Is this the first visible crack in the Frist cabal? See the digest of senators' remarks at Daily Bailout.
Posted by wjbailes at 08:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 19, 2005
Big Bad John Wolfe~Political Graffitist Leaves His Mark
For anybody interested in politics, you've got to see John Wolfe's parking sign (picture at Daily Bailout) marked in red. Wolfe's office is on Georgia Ave in the Flatiron Building. Seems the graffitist could not make up his/her mind about whether to reference fairy tales or films. You'll see!
Posted by wjbailes at 09:31 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 18, 2005
For the Love of God? (Followup on Waynesville fuss in the Pulse today)
A followup story on the East Waynesville Baptist Church split is in the Pulse today. It is called "For the Love of God? East Waynesville Baptist Church younger members leave with political pastor."
Posted by wjbailes at 08:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 17, 2005
Chattanooga Democrats Take to the Streets: Filibustering Frist!
From 11:30 a.m. until about 1:15 p.m. I joined the "Filibuster Frist" event organized by Sandy Lusk (major Dem blogger) and Stuart James (Chair of Dem Party locally). About 48 or so able-bodied people are showing up during the day - from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. - to filibuster the "nuke option" that Frist seeks if he doesn't get anything he wants. It is obviously bad senate politicking, and worse it is stupid politics~very short-term thinking! Hey, what goes also comes. Anyway, here are some photos of the event as I was there. I saw two television channels grab footage, a Times Free Press reporter and camera person, and a blog reporter (was that you Joe? if it was I was the one on the blowhorn).
[Sandy Lusk organized the Filibuster Frist event in Chattanooga, TN. Forty-eight to fifty-five volunteers are expected to participate today.]
Here's a link (Chattanoogans Filibuster) to other photos today. I'm the guy behind the camera. Btw, more to follow in the Daily Bailout and Pulse.
Posted by wjbailes at 04:40 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Bailout Column in Pulse~The Unbearable Wordiness of Rural Literalism: Rhonda Thurman speaks to the "big people"
Here's an excerpt of my column in the Pulse:
Thurman was talking to the "big people" in her circle, mainly Republicans. It is a well-known fact that one of the reasons many people join the Republican Party is so they can feel part of the "big people." I meet lower-middle-class people who have joined the "big people" party so that they may have a chance at becoming one of the "big people." CLICK TO READ ON
Posted by wjbailes at 07:25 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
May 16, 2005
QuizFarm.Com~Thank you, Mr. Healy
First, I love this graphic. Thank you, Mr. Healy, for sending readers to this site. I'm sorry you have not understood the questions. But maybe that was the point.
Second, the graphic is not only weirdly USA patriotic (redwhite&blue), it is also archetypally brilliant in a gnostic-angelic sort of way. Call it new age, the image suggests what the metaphysical poets were often after--divine ecstasy.
You scored as Idealist. That's what QuizFarm.com says about my score. Okay, I know my Plato and Neo-Platonists. But QuizFarm goes on: Idealism centers around the belief that we are moving towards something greater. An odd mix of evolutionist and spiritualist, you see the divine within ourselves, waiting to emerge over time. Many religious traditions express how the divine spirit lost its identity, thus creating our world of turmoil, but in time it will find itself and all things will again become one. Right on! I won't fuss with this. De Chardin is my man. Here are my scores:
Cultural Creative > 81%
Idealist > 81%
Postmodernist > 75%
Existentialist > 69%
Romanticist > 50%
Modernist > 38%
Materialist > 38%
Fundamentalist > 25% [I was glad this one didn't pop up any higher; even a quarter seems too much to me.]
Posted by wjbailes at 05:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Digging Centipedes: What a happy earth this could be!
And yet another At the Threshold column from Dr. Olin Ivey at the Daily Bailout:
[This redheaded centipede is native to the deserts of the southwest USA. It is a spectacular sight and also venomous though not fatal to humans--mainly to other bugs! Courtesy of Univ. of Arizona]
EXCERPT: ... a centipede, a hover fly, an earthworm, tiny insects, or microbes – well, that’s another matter. We further forget that without their continual labor – which often is centered in their absorbing, digesting, secreting, and otherwise eliminating the eliminations of other creatures.
Posted by wjbailes at 04:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 15, 2005
Spirit Stompin'
Read the poem from guest writer Martha White, called "Spirit Stompin.'" Here's an excerpt:
Albert Einstein once said that
“great spirits
have always encountered
violent opposition
from mediocre minds.”
And Frank Sinatra still croons
the sad fact
that “some people
get their kicks
stompin’ on a dream.”
CLICK TO READ ON
Posted by wjbailes at 09:51 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 14, 2005
Time Magazine: Documenting Bush as Big Spender & Fiscal Hypocrite
1. Federal Spending:
33% Increase since GWBush's first term
27% Increase over past decade for 101 biggest domestic programs (which btw Republicans vowed to eliminate in 1995
2. Iraq War:
$89.4 million spent on reconstruction yet unaccounted for
$7.2 million additional funds disbursed yet unaccounted for
3. Latino Unemployment:
6% Increase in one year, 2003-04
5% Decrease in wages from 2002-04
Posted by wjbailes at 04:57 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 13, 2005
Corporal Punishment? Spank Bush
Spank Bush by TrueMajority.Com was sent to me by Michael Staiti. Michael said: Slick move, eh? With all the base closings to save a paltry 50 billion over 2 decades. Hell, he spends that much every month, robbing our social security fund! The main reason for base closings is that recruiting is down. So all the military personnel that once worked at those bases will soon be going to Iraq to replace or give breaks to those serving there now. Once again he tries to hoodwink us and make us believe it was drummed up by Rumsfeld, whom we haven't heard a peep out of for months. It will also have an impact on local economies. Just another way to keep us all under their control. I just played Spank Bush and thought you might want to too. It's fun. It's easy. It's cathartic. Then send this to your friends. It's the only way he'll learn.
Click here to play:
Spank Bush--Brought to you by TrueMajority.com (One Click Activism)
Posted by wjbailes at 04:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Exhibit G: An Exclusive Q & A with Dr. Robert Prince III, Senior Minister at First Baptist in Waynesville, NC
On 9 May 2005, Daily Bailout's John Bailes talked with Dr. Robert Prince III (Senior Minister of First Baptist Church in Waynesville, North Carolina) about the debacle at East Waynesville Baptist Church.
Q: I see you've been quoted in the press quite a bit.
A: Yes.
Q: How has the East Waynesville Baptist crisis affected your church?
A: We've been receiving lots of hate mail, for one. But we've never seen anything like this in our churches before.
Q: Why not?
A: It's been at least 25 years . . . and this is the first time I've seen anything like this. But it's an outgrowth of the November '04 election. It emboldened Falwell and Dobson, who encouraged partisan politics in the churches.
Q: Do you know Chandler?
A: Chandler has many good qualities, but he got caught up in this partisan political movement, and then took it steps further. However, it all started back in October 2004, before the November election.
Q: What happened recently to bring things to a head?
A: Well, there's been a lot of tension in the air, especially since the religious conference on the judiciary [in which Senator Bill Frist participated]. And the tension has been ratcheted up by court decisions in Massachusetts on gay marriage. So much of this tension has been brought on by culture wars. But for Chandler, it was not because of his explicit endorsement of George Bush for president, but because he expelled some of his longtime members.
Q: What precipitated this "partisan political" development in the Baptist churches?
A: It is an outgrowth of two movements. First, Southern Baptist life has given greater authority to pastors. Second, the Religious Right has been encouraging pastors in conservative churches to make endorsements of political candidates and to demonize those candidates with who they disagree.
Q: You are a Southern Baptist minister. How have you steered through this storm?
A: I'm old school. My rule of thumb is this: Speak out on moral issues, not on candidates or political parties. That is, I will speak out against abortion and gay marriage, but I won't endorse George Bush from the pulpit (even though I voted for him). Franklin Graham has it right here too. Like his father, Rev. Billy Graham, he understands that these two areas—church and state—are separate. His father figured this out when he was dealing with President Richard Nixon.
Q: Thank you for talking with me.
A: You're welcome. Please pray for us.
Posted by wjbailes at 03:30 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Olympia Snowe: "45% of Americans" Are Moderates
As quoted in the New York Times, Senator Snowe hits the nail on the head about the precipitating peril of the GOP:
Ms. Snowe, meanwhile, had a message for fellow Republicans: "Frankly," she said, "the election of the president drew from Americans who describe themselves as moderates, which is about 45 percent of Americans today. That's something we overlook at our own peril."
And Senator Collins characterizes right wingism in Wash D.C. as "black and white" thinking:
By this week, Ms. Collins seemed a bit worn down by that debate. "It seems like it's issue after issue this year," she said, adding that she often envies "those senators for whom everything is black and white."
The NYT story, titled "Republican Moderates in Senate Sense Intensifying Pressures," is a concise sum up of the calculus of the Senate Republican moderates, namely these seven:
1. Senator Chafee
2. Senator Collins
3. Senator Snowe
4. Senator Specter
5. Senator McCain
6. Senator Hagel
7. Senator Voinovich
Of the seven identified by the NYT, there are four solid moderates--Chafee, Collins, Snowe, and Specter. And those four alone, along with Jeffords (if they all vote with the Democrats) will lose in an up or down simple majority vote, as Vice President Cheney breaks a tie.
Posted by wjbailes at 01:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Googling Friday 13 & Learning about Paraskevidekatriaphobia
I had never Googled "Friday 13" before, so I tried it today. The results? Some 77,800,000 links, a search that took less than a second (0.28 seconds to be exact). With that kind of speed and result, is it any wonder that we feel overwhelmed at times by all of the research yet to be done?
Colleagues of mine (fellow college professors) often tell me that these google results are mainly weak sources, too opinionated or so alien to fit into real scholarship. One of the major shifts in academe since 9/11 and the War in Iraq began in 2003 is the distrust of television media coverage. In fact many colleges and universities ban the use of television news or transcripts as credible sources for research projects.
This brings us back to "Friday 13." The first full link on the Google search is a link to www.about.com, a link that comes up a lot lately and leads one to suspect that this website is doing something special to be Googled so easily. Is this website, for instance, connected to Google somehow?
The interesting thing about this link for "Friday 13" is that it focuses on the urban legend of this day. The title of the link is "Why Friday the 13th Is Unlucky: Paraskevidekatriaphobia: Fear of Friday the 13th." For those of you who are wondering about that long Greek/Slavic looking word, here's the scoop from the website: Paraskevidekatriaphobics — people afflicted with a morbid, irrational fear of Friday the 13th — are no doubt pricking up their ears just now, buoyed by evidence that their terror may not be so irrational after all. But it's unwise to take solace in a single scientific study (the only one of its kind, so far as I know), especially one so peculiar. I suspect it has more to teach us about human psychology than it does about any particular date on the calendar. . . . How many Americans at the turn of the millennium still suffer from this condition? According to Dr. Donald Dossey, a psychotherapist specializing in the treatment of phobias and coiner of the term "paraskevidekatriaphobia," the figure may be as high as 21 million. If he's right, eight percent of Americans are still in the grips of a very old superstition.
I'll let the rest of you deal with the other 77,799,999.
Posted by wjbailes at 11:06 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Greatest Tragic Figure Since Hamlet: Anakin Skywalker~MATT ON MEDIA Fridays
This communication between you and me has nothing to do with my expert analysis on any form of America's media and the culture it shapes. Much like the fallen Jedi, Anakin Skywalker, I'm sometimes driven by my moods and just don't feel like delving into the various facets of media journalism today. By this submission, I'm not keeping up with the specifications tasked to me by Jedi Master Qui-Gon Bailout; therefore I'm in breach of the high Jedi order as well as my responsibilities for holding the fire to the feet of all things media broadcasting. CLICK TO READ ON
Posted by wjbailes at 10:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 11, 2005
Exhibit F: Exclusive Q&A with Marlene Casey, Member in Good Standing at East Waynesville Baptist
I spoke with Marlene Casey (member in good standing at East Waynesville Baptist Church) on 11 May 2005. She is owner and operator of Zoolie's Natural Foods, a health foods store in Waynesville.
Q: So where do I start? Well, I've heard Rev. Chandler resigned. Last night. How do you feel?
A: Very sad that it had to come to this. It could have been phenomenal for the Lord. But I was also surprised and relieved.
Q: Why surprised?
A: Because he would get up and preach politics like there was nothing wrong with it, and so I thought he would do it to the bitter end.
Q: And relieved?
A: It's over. And now we have our church back.
Q: What do you mean?
A: My father was a deacon at the church, and my parents raised me there, and I've raised my children there. We've had lots of car washes, selling pencils, fund raisers. All to build the church to where it is. And the buildings and property are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, the church and the parsonage. Am glad we aren't going to lose that.
Q: What happened last week, May 2?
A: My aunt was there. She was one of the nine who walked out. Well, he walked in that night and told him he was changing the bylaws and kicking them out, but remember we voted him in and the bylaws say no politics.
Q: How will the church survive with these forty or so people and a minister leaving?
A: We'll be provided a minister from the Southern Baptist Convention. But I'm going to miss all of the ones who left. We had a great thing going until last October. We had lots of young people because the Chandlers were good at bringing them in. And we lost a deacon, Francis Webb, and our piano player, Vicki Messer.
Q: I hear there were audio tapes of Chandler's sermons out there in the media. Your ABC affiliate played one of them that demonstrated how overtly and strongly political Chandler was being. Are there other tapes?
A: Yeah, I heard it. Well, about the other tapes, I've heard that he went into the church library and destroyed some tapes of his sermons. We tape sermons for the shut-ins. I think the pastor only got ahold of one or two to destroy.
Q: Before two weeks ago, what was happening in the church?
A: The deacons had been warning him, and there was no communion. And then that last Sunday [May 1] when he called a meeting we didn't even have a church bulletin. And why? Because my aunt does the bulletin and she included some scripture verses from the King James Version that he did not like, from Jeremiah 23:1-2 [which says: "Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!" saith the LORD. Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people: "Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD. "]. And he got hold of those bulletins, about 130 of them altogether, and destroyed them. But see those verses were about a pastor dividing his flock, our church. She would spend 4 or 5 hours a week doing the bulletin.
Q: What's your aunt's name?
A: Magaret Bidix.
Q: What will the church's mission be now?
A: We need to be preaching the Love of God. Look, he wanted to change the covenant and bylaws. And the first time I heard him preach politics back in October, I wish a camera had been on my face. But he wouldn't stop, and we never got a sermon after that on anything about the love of God or good things or heaven. Only hell and judgment and political talk. But he brought in so many new members who liked that.
Q: Who were these members?
A: Mainly people 30 years old or younger. I wouldn't let my 15-yr-old son, Landen [Steveson], stay in the youth group. He didn't want to anyway. The youth group was being run by the preacher and his wife.
Q: What about money? I hear assets were frozen.
A: You should talk with Selma Morris about that, or the lawyer.
Q: I know our time is up. I want to thank you and let you know we'll all be praying for you.
A: Thank you. We'll need it, believe me.
Posted by wjbailes at 08:15 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Exhibit E: Exclusive Q&A with Dr. Olin Ivey, Associate Minister at Pilgrim Congregational Church
I talked with Dr. Olin Ivey (Associate minister at Pilgrim Congregational Church in Chattanooga, TN and board member of the Urban Century Institute) on May 10, 2005, about the East Waynesville Baptist Church crisis.
Q: Have you heard about the East Waynesville Baptist Church situation?
A: Sure. I've read your Daily Bailout piece and seen the news.
Q: You're a minister at a progressive church in Chattanooga, just three hours from Waynesville. Do you think this case is isolated?
A: No. It is not isolated. This has been going on since the Sunday after the election at conservative churches everywhere. And a number of Baptist churches made it very clear, beginning with that Sunday, that any of their membership who had voted for Kerry were not welcome in the fellowship, threatening to kick them out. The other message was "you're going to hell if you voted for a Democrat."
Q: What will the religious consequences be for these churches?
A: A deep schism within the broader Christian fellowship will continue to form. It's been there for years, between progressives and ultra-conservatives pulling in opposite directions. Progressives have pushed for more open and affirmative congregations while the fundamentalists have closed down discussion and asserted that you must believe one particular way in terms of politics as a test of faith.
Q: You read my story. What did you make of the teenagers supporting the minister at East Waynesville Baptist Church?
A: The whole thing reminds me of Nazi Germany when Hitler used the youth to bring about revolution. It's so important to know history. With young people, you always have idealism. In terms of Christianity, new converts or members have a sense of new commitment which new Christians are almost always more conservative and zealous about. The minister obviously galvanized the youth in this case.
Q: How should a church deal with politics?
A: The church is always involved in politics because what counts most for people is usually real, but that does not mean that church should be aligned with a political party. Politics in church should be individual, not collective. In this case, if the church was collectively involved in politics, or the minister was using the church that way, then their tax-exempt status should be brought in question.
Posted by wjbailes at 07:49 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Why We Cannot Complain About Gas Prices~A Comparison
From CNN: Gasoline prices in the United States, which have recently hit record highs, are actually much lower than in many countries. Drivers in some European cities, like Amsterdam and Oslo, are paying nearly 3 times more than those in the U.S. . . . In a few Latin America and Middle-East nations, such as Venezuela and Saudi Arabia, oil is produced by a government-owned company and local gasoline prices are kept low as a benefit to the nation's citizens, he said. All prices updated March, 2005.
Netherlands Amsterdam $6.48
Norway Oslo $6.27
Italy Milan $5.96
Denmark Copenhagen $5.93
Belgium Brussels $5.91
Sweden Stockholm $5.80
United Kingdom London $5.79
Germany Frankfurt $5.57
France Paris $5.54
Portugal Lisbon $5.35
Hungary Budapest $4.94
Luxembourg $4.82
Croatia Zagreb $4.81
Ireland Dublin $4.78
Switzerland Geneva $4.74
Spain Madrid $4.55
Japan Tokyo $4.24
Czech Republic Prague $4.19
Romania Bucharest $4.09
Andorra $4.08
Estonia Tallinn $3.62
Bulgaria Sofia $3.52
Brazil Brasilia $3.12
Cuba Havana $3.03
Taiwan Taipei $2.84
Lebanon Beirut $2.63
South Africa Johannesburg $2.62
Nicaragua Managua $2.61
Panama Panama City $2.19
Russia Moscow $2.10
Puerto Rico San Juan $1.74
Saudi Arabia Riyadh $0.91
Kuwait Kuwait City $0.78
Egypt Cairo $0.65
Nigeria Lagos $0.38
Venezuela Caracas $0.12
Posted by wjbailes at 06:48 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
Exhibit D: Exclusive Q&A with David Richardson, Chairman of Brotherhood Ministries at East Waynesville Baptist
An Exclusive Q & A
Blog-Journalism from The Daily Bailout
Daily Bailout's John Bailes talks with David Richardson on 9 May 2005. Richardson is chairman of Brotherhood Ministries at East Waynesville Baptist Church, North Carolina. At Daily Bailout there is also a news story (click here).
Q: Where do you live?
A: In Maggie Valley. It's known for Ghost Town. That's an amusement park. We've got a ski slope here too. Our town is a tourist place. A lot of retired people live here.
Q: How old are you?
A: 72.
Q: Married?
A: Yes.
Q: What did you do before retiring?
A: I was an industrial engineer. I grew up in Georgia and worked there and other places. I also am a Korean War veteran.
Q: How long have you been a Southern Baptist?
A: About 58 years, in different churches.
Q: So what's happening in Waynesville?
A: This is not a show! This is serious!
Q: Lewis Inman told me that your minister called a meeting last Monday night. Is that right?
A: Sure. He invited anybody who wanted to attend. The problem is that we have a set of bylaws. But the pastor told me face to face that he did not have to abide by the laws of man. He said he would abide by the law of God, and then he held up his Bible.
Q: That doesn't sound right. What did you do?
A: I told him, and I'll tell you, we're all born again Christians and we believe in Christian teachings.
Q: Did he say anything about politics?
A: He said that Bush was the best Christian this country's ever seen, and that Kerry supported abortion and homosexuality and those who support him [Kerry] should repent or leave the church.
Q: Are you a Democrat or did you vote for Kerry?
A: When people ask me that, I tell them, "I'm a Christian." But I sometimes vote Democrat in the primaries because I feel I can do more good that way. I voted for George Bush for president. Mostly I vote Republican. I vote for the best person for the country, the person who I hope will end abortion in our country. But I think the worst thing for our government is to have two parties, Democrat and Republican.
Q: How did you feel about the minister's ultimatum?
A: I believe you ought to ask God who to vote for, not a preacher. And I told the preacher that God may have given him the message, but he didn't put the words in our hearts.
Q: I understand that this politicizing started back in Oct. 2004.
A: That's right. And it didn't stop until today at church.
Q: What have been the consequences?
A: Some people have left the church, a couple of families too. He kept telling us that if you don't support George Bush you ought to leave or repent. We couldn't take communion because most of the deacons were not going to support the pastor. We didn't even have communion on Easter. Of course, there was one deacon who still supported the preacher. Finally, last Sunday [May 1] he vowed to continue to fight us and invited everyone to a Deacons' Meeting Monday night so that "we can get rid of the troublemakers." Lots of the people clapped and cheered when he said that.
Q: Did you go to the meeting?
A: No, but I'm a "member in good standing" and can vote. The teenagers were there on Monday, though.
Q: Can teenagers vote?
A: Sure. Some of them can. That's mainly who were there on Monday.
Q: So what happened on Monday night, May 2?
A: Well, first let me say that I went right up to the pastor and told him you preached a good sermon of forgiveness tonight, but you hurt some people's feelings by calling them troublemakers. But he just said that he didn't do anything wrong. On Monday night, and remember I wasn't there, but this is what I heard. The preacher told the ones he wanted to vote out that because they hadn't voted for George Bush they'd have to be voted out. But some of them, nine of them, got up and left. And I heard the ones with the preacher started clapping and cheering. I heard that new members would have to sign a card saying they agreed with the preacher's political views.
Q: We're these the young people?
A: Yeah, mainly the teenagers.
Q: Who are these teenagers?
A: Well, there were some older people too who are with the preacher. But the youth program is run by Mrs. Chandler and she does a great job. You won't find another church with so exciting a youth program around here.
Q: Lewis Inman says that Rev. Chandler has these teenagers wrapped around his finger. Do you agree?
A: No. Well, yeah. Maybe. He does have control over them. And I don't know what they're teaching them. His wife has done an excellent job with them, something we could be proud of. I mean you have to give the devil credit where his is due.
Q: We're the teens the main supporters of this political approach to church?
A: No, no. There were all ages. Most of the members are hard-working people and the preacher was preaching soul-saving messages when I first came here. Lots of older people like him too.
Q: What you heard is hearsay. Is there any hard evidence?
A: Oh my, yes. Just call WLOS in Ashville. Russ Bowen there has the audio tapes of the preacher saying everything we've been talking about.
Q: What about the women of the church? How do they feel about all this?
A: Women for years and years have put their lives on the line, and they [the Southern Baptist churches] wouldn't allow any of them to have their say. I have no idea why any of these women put up with that. I mean most of these women at our church are smart. How can they allow that man, the preacher, tell them how to vote?
Q: Have you been interviewed by anyone else?
A: "Good Morning, America" wanted all of us on their show. They were going to fly us up and put us in hotels. But our lawyer said we've had enough coverage. MSNBC interviewed me, though. You can probably find that online.
Q: So how is this conflict going to be resolved?
A: Well, let me say this. I approached him [Chandler] many times because he was splitting out adult Sunday School apart with politics. Now he didn't mention politics at all today. Still if he stays on I won't sit under his preaching. I have no vendetta, and I'll forgive him. But if he does stay, we'll have to go to another church. You go where you feel comfortable. He's been running a dictatorship here. Now he's got a lawyer who used to be district attorney in Silva. We got an attorney too. He's from First Baptist of Waynesville and he's helping us for free. I hear the IRS may file a suit. I don't know. Right now assets are frozen, and so are salaries. We didn't take up an offering today. We found out that you can't vote a member out without telling about the meeting 10 days before the vote, and the vote has to be secret, and only members in "good standing" can vote.
Q: What are members in good standing?
A: Ones who come to church once a month. I think. I'll have to check about that.
Q: If he leaves, what would he do?
A: He worked in agriculture before he came here. And he goes to a school of theology down the road. I don't know. Maybe he'd farm. He's got a farm now.
Posted by wjbailes at 01:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Exhibit C: Exclusive Q&A with Deacon Lewis R. Inman of East Waynesville Baptist
An Exclusive Q & A
Blog-Journalism from The Daily Bailout
Daily Bailout's John Bailes talks with Lewis R. Inman (a longtime deacon at East Waynesville Baptist Church, North Carolina) about recent fuss over his minister's attempts to push Kerry voters out of the church. Now the minister has resigned, as of yesterday. This interview was conducted on May 9, 2005. Also, see the Chattanooga Pulse news feature on the Waynesville group.
Q: How long have you lived in Waynesville?
A: About 35 years.
Q: How long have you been at the church?
A: About the same amount of time for me and my wife.
Q: How many attend East Waynesville Baptist?
A: About 100 people on Sundays.
Q: I hear you are a deacon at the church, but you had been voted out. Is that right?
A: Things just boiled up and got worse and worse after Oct. '04.
Q: What happened in Oct. '04?
A: Our preacher [Rev. Chan Chandler], who was doing wonderful until then, decided to preach on politics. And so he started a six-series sermon on why we should vote for George Bush and not John Kerry. He told us that if we voted for John Kerry, we should leave the church. Or we could repent. We heard six sermons like this. So we (deacons) got together and told him that we were going to turn him into the IRS if he kept this up. He was breaking our bylaws as well. But he kept it up anyway. And now it's boiled over.
Q: How so?
A: Well, we haven't had communion for months, not even Easter. And then last Sunday [May 1] the preacher [Rev. Chan Chandler] gave two more political sermons. Then he announced that there was going to be a deacons' meeting Monday night, and that everyone was invited. Deacons' meetings usually don't involve the whole church, so I knew something was up. Well, Monday night came and they had a lynching with 40 people who he [Chandler] had brought into the church over the last year--mainly teenagers and some adults. They needed a three-quarters majority to vote us out, and they told us they were going to do it. There were eleven of us. And nine of us just stood up and left right then, before they had a chance to vote.
Q: What happened then?
A: Those young people stood up and hollered and clapped and jumped up and down. The preacher and his wife have those young people wrapped around their fingers. She's the youth minister. After we left, the other two deacons stayed on and heard what the preacher's supporters had to say. We heard that they voted us out of the church. That's what Rev. Claude Conard [a lay minister] said. And they told us how he [Chandler] was going to require that every member from now on sign a card that said they had to agree with his moral and political views.
Q: What kind of cards?
A: Membership cards.
Q: Why?
A: He told them that this was going to be a political church. And if you supported John Kerry in the election last year, you were supporting abortions and gay marriage. This is what we'd been hearing for months anyway. So it looked like if you're not a Republican, you're not going to heaven. But I know I've been washed in the blood of the lamb.
Q: Are you a Democrat?
A: Yes sir. I have been all my life. A union man too. Then Dayco Products shut down in 1998 and I had to start my own lawn maintenance business. Dayco went overseas. But this thing at church, this was worse, because it is like my family. Most of my friends I've made over 35 years are here.
Q: Did the plant closing affect your decision in the 2004 election?
A: Sure. I'm 60 years old and I didn't need to lose my job to a foreign nation. I'm also a Vietnam veteran, and I know what John Kerry went through.
Q: What happened yesterday, Sunday, May 8?
A: The eleven of us, along with some others, went to the church yesterday. And wouldn't you know it, the preacher didn't say a thing about politics. Cameras and journalists were all over. We gathered in the parking lot. There were plenty of police. And we all walked in together. The preacher spoke on being born again, which is what he should have been talking about all the time.
Posted by wjbailes at 01:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Exhibit B: ABC Affiliate in Asheville Played Tape On Air Locally & Nationally
Here's an excerpt from ABC News explaining and transcribing the audio tape of Rev. Chandler's sermon in Oct. 2004:
Chandler would not speak on the record to ABC News. But in an audiotape of a sermon from last October, he said God had urged him to endorse President Bush as the only truly Christian candidate.
"Now, friend, you know and I know abortion is wrong, there's no way around it. But the question then comes in, in the Baptist Church, how do I vote? Let me just say this right now: If you vote for John Kerry this year, you need to repent or resign," Chandler said on the tape, obtained from the church library by ABC affiliate WLOS in Asheville.
Posted by wjbailes at 12:52 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Exhibit A: Copy of Letter to IRS Calling for Investigation into East Waynesville Baptist
[Ed: Thanks to Jeremy Leaming at AU for sending copy of this letter.]
May 9, 2005
Ms. Martha Sullivan, Director
Exempt Organizations Division
Internal Revenue Service
1111 Constitution Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20224
Dear Ms. Sullivan:
Several recent media accounts have focused on the East Waynesville Baptist Church in North Carolina, whose pastor, Chan Chandler, ousted nine church members because they are Democrats.
This controversial action generated many headlines. Less frequently noted, however, was that the pastor's actions were the culmination of a long-running campaign of partisan activity that merits investigation by the Internal Revenue Service.
Several newspapers and television stations have reported that on Oct. 3, 2004, Chandler gave a sermon in church during which he said, "If you vote for John Kerry, you need to repent or resign." Excerpts from this recording were aired on a local television station, WLOS, and were also played on ABC's "Good Morning America" program May 9. (See copies of news articles enclosed.)
Church members have told the media that Chandler frequently endorsed Bush from the pulpit and attacked Kerry. As recently as last Sunday, Chandler vowed to continue naming specific politicians from the pulpit.
According to a report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Chandler said he is aware that some church members are angry that he singled out specific candidates for support or opposition and added, "I want you to know something: I'm going to again. I have to. I have to, according to the word of God." (See copy enclosed.)
I believe it is obvious that Pastor Chandler has openly defied federal tax law and is vowing to do so again. I also believe the IRS cannot afford to ignore such blatant disregard for our nation's tax laws, as it sends a signal to others religious leaders that they too can engage in partisan politicking from the pulpit without fear of sanction.
Please look into this matter and enforce the law.
The address of East Waynesville Baptist Church is 175 Woodland Dr., Waynesville, NC 28786; phone: (828) 456-6841.
Sincerely,
Barry W. Lynn
Executive Director
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Posted by wjbailes at 12:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Politics of God Fails
The Ashville Citizen-Times has the story of Chandler's resignation.
My blog-journalist exclusive interviews with Lewis Inman and David Richardson had indicated that not only did Chandler cross the line between faith and politics; he was going to be battled in court.
One Chattablogger, who has been a sympathetic supporter of the embattled pastor (didn't this blogger hear the audio tapes of Rev. Chandler's sermons?!), explains how he too has been in similar circumstances as a minister.
The IRS had been asked to reconsider tax-exempt status for the church, as reported by AP.
I will post four more exclusive interviews over the next two days. For now there is a news story that I've written as a blog-journalist, with pieces from all the interviews, at the Chattanooga Pulse.
CNN reports that some at the church continued to support him until the end. One member, Rhonda Trantham, said: "I don't believe he preached politics. I don't believe anyone should tell a preacher not to preach what's in the Bible."
And Blount Osborne, chair of deacons, said: "That was surprising, him leaving as quick as he did. I didn't figure he'd walk that way."
But then CNN continues to make the mistake that there were only 100 members. In fact, there are 400+ members, but on Sundays only about 100 attend.
Posted by wjbailes at 03:42 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 10, 2005
To Err on Nature's Side Is Good
That's what Dr. Olin Ivey has said this week in his At the Threshold column.
[Teddy Roosevelt & John Muir join in conservation movement. Photo from National Park Service.]
The two agencies have very different cultures and missions. The Forest Service seeks to balance nature with commercial interests -- mining, timber and recreation -- on the lands it oversees. The Park Service focuses much more on keeping the parks pristine and worries about environmental degradation on its turf. However, since the parks are there, in part, for the public to enjoy in some fashion, the Park Service has to balance nature with invasive interests.
Posted by wjbailes at 05:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Blog-Journalism: An Exclusive Q&A with Deacon at East Waynesville Baptist
An Exclusive Q & A
Blog-Journalism from The Daily Bailout
Daily Bailout's John Bailes talks with Lewis R. Inman (a deacon at East Waynesville Baptist Church, North Carolina) about recent fuss over his minister's attempts to push Kerry voters out of the church. The interview was conducted on May 9, 2005. Also, see the Chattanooga Pulse news feature on the Waynesville group.
Q: How long have you lived in Waynesville?
A: About 35 years.
Q: How long have you been at the church?
A: About the same amount of time for me and my wife.
Q: How many attend East Waynesville Baptist?
A: About 100 people on Sundays.
Q: I hear you are a deacon at the church, but you had been voted out. Is that right?
A: Things just boiled up and got worse and worse after Oct. '04.
Q: What happened in Oct. '04?
A: Our preacher [Rev. Chan Chandler], who was doing wonderful until then, decided to preach on politics. And so he started a six-series sermon on why we should vote for George Bush and not John Kerry. He told us that if we voted for John Kerry, we should leave the church. Or we could repent. We heard six sermons like this. So we (deacons) got together and told him that we were going to turn him into the IRS if he kept this up. He was breaking our bylaws as well. But he kept it up anyway. And now it's boiled over.
Q: How so?
A: Well, we haven't had communion for months, not even Easter. And then last Sunday [May 1] the preacher [Rev. Chan Chandler] gave two more political sermons. Then he announced that there was going to be a deacons' meeting Monday night, and that everyone was invited. Deacons' meetings usually don't involve the whole church, so I knew something was up. Well, Monday night came and they had a lynching with 40 people who he [Chandler] had brought into the church over the last year—mainly teenagers and some adults. They needed a three-quarters majority to vote us out, and they told us they were going to do it. There were eleven of us. And nine of us just stood up and left right then, before they had a chance to vote.
Q: What happened then?
A: Those young people stood up and hollered and clapped and jumped up and down. The preacher and his wife have those young people wrapped around their fingers. She's the youth minister. After we left, the other two deacons stayed on and heard what the preacher's supporters had to say. We heard that they voted us out of the church. That's what Rev. Claude Conard [a lay minister] said. And they told us how he [Chandler] was going to require that every member from now on sign a card that said they had to agree with his moral and political views.
Q: What kind of cards?
A: Membership cards.
Q: Why?
A: He told them that this was going to be a political church. And if you supported John Kerry in the election last year, you were supporting abortions and gay marriage. This is what we'd been hearing for months anyway. So it looked like if you're not a Republican, you're not going to heaven. But I know I've been washed in the blood of the lamb.
Q: Are you a Democrat?
A: Yes sir. I have been all my life. A union man too. Then Dayco Products shut down in 1998 and I had to start my own lawn maintenance business. Dayco went overseas. But this thing at church, this was worse, because it is like my family. Most of my friends I've made over 35 years are here.
Q: Did the plant closing affect your decision in the 2004 election?
A: Sure. I'm 60 years old and I didn't need to lose my job to a foreign nation. I'm also a Vietnam veteran, and I know what John Kerry went through.
Q: What happened yesterday, Sunday, May 8?
A: The eleven of us, along with some others, went to the church yesterday. And wouldn't you know it, the preacher didn't say a thing about politics. Cameras and journalists were all over. We gathered in the parking lot. There were plenty of police. And we all walked in together. The preacher spoke on being born again, which is what he should have been talking about all the time.
Posted by wjbailes at 06:44 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 09, 2005
Weird Exchanges with Healy~Final Thoughts (if there is such)
After a weird exchange with Clifton Healy, I've learned some things about his methods, and all from his last remarks:
1. Healy doesn't need progressives but likes to pick on them for no other reason than to begin an argument ("I used that as a foil to begin my argument. My argument, however, in no way depends on hyperventilating progressivists" ).
2. Healy opens dialogue online but merely to state his dogma ("it is a required belief of Christians to oppose the practice of abortion").
3. Healy is full of useful instruction ("You need to study up on your Aquinas or Catholic bio-ethics").
4. Healy can be direct, and I like that (referring to my remarks: "this is just incoherent to me").
5. Healy likes the stilted nounal style to say moral thinking is hard ("It is the superficial ascription of moral equivalency that denies any capacity for genuine and engaged thought on the matter").
Posted by wjbailes at 07:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Some Notes to Clifton Healy at This is Life!: Revolutions Around the Cruciform Axis
1. Healy says that I "still give the impression that" he is "defending Pastor Chandler on his political views." That is probably true. It is enough, btw, that Healy says "that this is not true." Still my question would be this: Why then the fuss in the beginning about "liberal" bloggers talking about Rev. Chandler?
2. The issue, as Healy so eloquently points out (for there is no doubt here that Healy is an intellect of high standing), is simply put, about abortion.
And to that effect, Healy says: "For the fact of the matter is, the practice of abortion is one moral matter about which Christians are to be utterly intolerant." The only problem I have with this statement is probably more or less grammatical. I want to know if Healy means to use "are to be" in the indicative mood or subjunctive mood. I'm guessing subjunctive since the verb phrase is part of a subordinate clause. But just in case it is indicative, I offer this poll from July 2001 which says that many Christians do not oppose the law regarding a woman's right to choose.
3. As far as reading Healy's excellent links to the early church fathers, etc. on abortion, I have. What can I say? I might have added some verses from the Bible, but that was not his point. Indeed I have no problem with the tradition. Where I would debate the issue is starting with St. Augustine's argument of "delayed ensoulment" and St. Thomas Acquinas' argument for the "principle of double effect." Take these two concepts up right here would be counterproductive, but I will in a later entry take up one and then the other.
4. Healy is not right to assume that I am "not familiar with the position of one of the largest abortion providers in America, Planned Parenthood, that no one is a person until they take their first breath." In fact, I am also familiar with the Enlightenment view of "simultaneous animation" which intersects ensoulment with conception. The Planned Parenthood mythology is obviously based on the superiority of breathing on one's own or breath. This is interesting because it sounds much like "inspiration" or the final act of creating humans by God in Genesis.
5. Finally, let me ask if Healy could prioritize these three practices (since it is "specific practices" that he cannot tolerate) in terms of more vincible to less vincible sins: abortion, satanism, death penalty. Of these three, I imagine that many would find all three equally unacceptable, but when put to the test of measuring them, which of three is worst? Certainly satanism is not only the most blasphemous to Christianity of the three, but also the most overtly and darkly (diametrically) opposed to Christianity, and yet satanism is protected by the First Amendment. And churches of satan exist with tax exempt status in the U.S. I never hear politicians from any party fighting this fundamental American right--allowing for separation of church and state, and thus the existence of a church absolutely opposed to the work of Christendom.
Posted by wjbailes at 03:34 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 08, 2005
Blogging Meets Journalism: My Interview with a Deacon at East Waynesville Baptist Church
As the Baptist church fuss explodes outward into the national psyche and international press, I decided to do what every good regional journalist should do. Call the church members.
I've interviewed one of the deacons who left East Waynesville Baptist Church last Monday night, 2 May 2005. The deacon's name is Lewis R. Inman. He and his wife, along with seven other longtime members, left the church on Monday night because of an attempt by Rev. Chan Chandler and 40 others to have eleven members kicked out of the church. Two of the members stayed behind and have attested to the same testimony of the nine who left.
It was clear to me, as I talked with Lewis and his wife Sue, that Chandler went off the deep end. He alienated members who did not share his political views, telling those who were planning to vote for Kerry or any Democrat that they would go to hell. In October 2004 Chandler started his six-sermon series on politics which went right into election week. Inman and his wife claim that all the messages on politics focused on Kerry and why he was an evil man. Chandler was threatened by those who asked him to stop the politicizing at church. In fact, the "eleven" told Chandler that they would have to report him to the IRS if he did not stop. The church is part of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Then again on 1 May 2005, Chandler preached two political messages (one at morning worship, the other at night) and called a deacon's meeting for Monday night but invited the entire congregation to be there.
"Monday night was a lynching," said Lewis Inman. "He [Chandler] had forty people with him, twelve adults and the rest teenagers, and said they were going to vote us eleven out. In other words, if you had voted for John Kerry for President, you were going to be voted out of the church. And he only needed a two-thirds majority to do it. I guess he thought that 40 against 11 would do it. So nine of us stood up and left before they could vote. And the two that stayed can talk with you too about what was said."
Btw, I plan on talking with those two also. For now I'm talking with another member who was not part of the eleven but is (quietly) in agreement with the eleven. A morning of police escorts and cameras and journalists everywhere has made this church the emblem of what's wrong with right-wingism in America. More to come at the Daily Bailout and Chattanooga Pulse. Stay tuned. This is where blogging meets journalism.
Posted by wjbailes at 06:18 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
May 07, 2005
Response to APOLOGIA at Revolutions Around the Cruciform Axis
Regarding an apologia by Clifton Healy claiming that I may have mischaracterized his position regarding a pastor's expelling nine members from their North Carolina Baptist church, I must respond. It is true that I used the words "defending the religious right" to characterize Healy's blog. Perhaps I should have stated, on retrospect, "appeared to be defending the religious right." However, I am convinced that the revised version would not have been as effective in promoting a dialogue. Certainly, overstating a point is sometimes worth the result. Surely, Mr. Healy understands this with headlines such as "Can't You See It? The Vast Radical Religious Right Conspiracy Is Happening Right Before Our Eyes!!!" or "Ooooh, Those Scary Religious Right People!"
Furthermore, Healy's point is to sympathize with the position of the pastor over that of the nine members who were expelled for not signing an oath to agree with the minister's moral and political views. Our duty to authority has limits--especially in a democratic republic like ours.
What was more critical, however, to contributing to my characterization of Healy's blog was his emphasis of fetal protection over Christ-like tolerance. Indeed, in his four-part discussion of politics and abortion, Healy violates his first point with point two: in point one, he claims that the Democratic Party Platform's stance with regard to abortion is of a serious enough nature to legitimately keep a Christian from voting for any Democratic candidate who espouses the practice of abortion, but then he claims that One's voting for a particular candidate should not be simply limited to considerations about a single issue. But abortion is a single issue. To be fair, Healy later asserts that abortion is so serious an issue that those who vow to support the law (whether Dem, Repub, or other party) should be opposed.
The point of all this summarizing is to suggest that in a roundabout way Healy has been defending the religious right for its strong--if not hostile--position against the choice of women to abort a fetus. While I would agree with Healy that abortion is a serious problem and morally difficult to support in all cases, I cannot agree with him in opposing political candidates or members of a church just because they support a woman's right to choose, especially where Christians must sign an oath to that end. Let us leave some things to individual moral conscience. We've had enough inquisitions.
Posted by wjbailes at 01:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
What drives religious people to intolerance?
[Are American churches dividing? A Church Divided: German Protestants Confront the Nazi Past by Matthew D. Hockenos examines how churches came to terms with too much involvement with politics under Hitler, the kind of engagement that led to supporting the killing of Jews and others.]
This week's news was capped by the story of a North Carolina Baptist church evidently kicking out its members who were Democrats. Whether there was a kind of ex-communication by the minister or a protest by the church's Democrat members, we will learn as the story develops. [One local blogger of This is Life!: Revolutions Around the Cruciform Axis reacts by defending the religious right while a Georgia blogger on Daily Kos posted the story in a way that made the religious right look pretty intolerant.
Posted by wjbailes at 06:27 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
May 06, 2005
Who Needs War When You've Got Wilbanks
Here's an excerpt from a column today by Matt on Media:
On the Saturday that Jennifer Wilbanks was suppose to be getting hitched, she opted for a towel over her face instead of a veil and the pictures taken probably won't be saved in a big white photo album. Jennifer's preacher gave the only worthwhile opinion since the runaway bride came clean, reminding us that her friends in Duluth were all hoping and praying she would be alive and okay. He encouraged the media to remember that her family and friends got what they wanted, an answered prayer.
CLICK TO READ ENTIRE COLUMN
Posted by wjbailes at 07:32 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 05, 2005
Listen to Max Hackett Today
Listen today, May 5, between 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. to The Max Hackett Show. I'll be a guest along with Dr. Olin Ivey & Rae Bond of Project Access. We'll be talking about how communities can make health care more sustainable, especially with so many Americans uninsured. You can log onto WGOW and listen/view via web.
Posted by wjbailes at 07:30 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Senate Majority Not Voters' Majority
Here's an interesting review of the way majorities function in our U.S. Senate, by Paul Von Ward:
In our constitutional republic (not a direct democracy) Republican Senators have 55% of the Senate votes, but stand for 49% of the U. S. population. The 44 Democrats and 1 Independent stand for 51% of Americans (based on state-by-state division of populations according to current Senate party affiliations).
Posted by wjbailes at 07:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 04, 2005
57% give thumbs down on Iraq War
It isn't pretty. In just one year Americans have gone from dopey flag-wavers to frustrated gloomsayers. Ergo, in April 2003, 73% of Americans believed that the war was worth fighting. A year later, only 41% believe it. What's the prob?
Couldn't it be that the violence continues to rise in Iraq?
Could it be that oil prices keep rising (see the Economist 14-page feature this week)?
Or that health care premiums march ahead even faster?
What is it?
Posted by wjbailes at 04:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Covering the Uninsured
May 1-8
Eight out of 10 uninsured Americans either work or are in working families. Being uninsured means going without needed care. It means minor illnesses become major ones because care is delayed. Tragically, it also means that one significant medical expense can wipe out a family's life savings.
You might be surprised to hear that today, 45 million Americans have no health insurance, including more than 8 million children. If you're not, you need to know that the U.S. is the only developed country in the world that does not provide health care for all its citizens. Somewhere between Medicaid/Medicare and sky-rocketing health care premiums fall the 45 million, usually hard-working people, often business people. This is amazing to me, that we can spend more on defense than all the defense spending of all the countries in the world, but we can provide basic health care to ourselves.
A Public Forum will be held on May 6. You might want to attend.
Posted by wjbailes at 06:13 AM | Comments (9) | TrackBack
May 03, 2005
In the Pulse~Are Housewives Really Desperate?
Here's your regular Bailes in the Pulse, a piece on Mother's Day politics:
Last week, something political happened. Our First Lady Laura Bush called herself a "desperate housewife." I've always liked Laura Bush because she likes poetry, a literary genre certain to put her husband to sleep. In fact, it was just that context—her husband's "early to bed" habit—that caused her to choose that epithet. But I had never thought of her as desperate or as a housewife. First ladies and librarians always seemed more independent to me.
But her reference to the ABC hit show Desperate Housewives set me to thinking. Of course, I knew that Laura Bush's lines were scripted (it was a party with White House correspondents). But why connect with an ABC show supposedly about suburban women? Did Bush really believe that she is "desperate"? CLICK TO READ ON
Posted by wjbailes at 07:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 02, 2005
A New Social Contract
I like this seminal essay by Dr. Olin Ivey about "Living among many for the Highest Good." Here's a digital of the Peaceable Kingdom which goes well with the column.
[Peaceable Kingdom was painted by Edward Hicks in the 1800s. It is now part of the National Gallery of Art in Wash, D.C.]
Here's an excerpt:
One can say the same from the standpoint of any of the many “communities” and corporate realities of which we are a part. This shift cannot be just a lonely journey of individuals. Each company, political entity, family, neighborhood, and organization has to do the same thing.
CLICK TO READ THE ENTIRE COLUMN
Posted by wjbailes at 08:58 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 01, 2005
Faith in iPod Era
OMG! A great study! This incredible study gives definition to what I've known for a long time~that spirituality is often opposed to religious tradition. This is a study where existential spirituality meets quantum physics. What might be missing is the emphasis on the dialectic or left-hemisphere thinking, a process that led ancient Greeks to an ideal kind of individuality. Generation Y wants his/her own God and spiritual experience. CLICK BELOW FOR ENTIRE STUDY:
OMG! How iPoders are redefining faith
Posted by wjbailes at 11:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Neither Rain Nor Flood Could Stop East Ridge Volunteers
A big thanks should go to those who, despite our current county educational problems, are still out there trying to raise money for literacy and books in our schools, even all weekend long. That's what the East Ridge Community Book Sale is all about ~ and they have a book for you or your child, or at least I think so. Sponsored by the East Ridge Education Committee and Scholastic Books, this sale offers new books at 50% OFF! Dinah, Jackson and I stopped by on Saturday and walked out with a bunch. Take a short trip Sunday, May 1, and walk into the East Ridge High gym (it's filled with books), buy a handful of books, and support literacy and our schools. Standing left to right: Renee Little (volunteer), Gail Phillips (EREC President), Annie Newall (Scholastic sales rep), Jennifer Shannon (volunteer), and Pati Lackey (volunteer). CLICK FOR MORE PHOTOS
Posted by wjbailes at 05:40 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack