An Odd Post About Faith

Sometimes events or discussions take place that cause me to re-examine my beliefs and how I live my faith -- or what passes for my faith. Sometimes I'll find myself in a casual discussion on religion and realize that I hold more traditional Christian beliefs than many of my peers. I find this odd because I don't consider myself to be deeply religious. I do consider myself to be part of an organized religious church body...although I do not support or proclaim all that this church body adheres to. I go to church very rarely but primarily due to inertia and that I don't like going alone, not because I've fallen away or reject religion.

The news for today includes a headline that there is a rapid decline in the number of Americans who count themselves as "Protestant" Christians. I'm not at all surprised. The actual story is that Protestants no longer are in the majority. The news outlets are getting it confused either due to ignorance of intentionally to stir up controversy. This is really more about statistics than about religion. What is a Protestant? Perhaps the statisticians have a working definition but the respondents probably are not so sure. Some Baptists do not consider themselves to be Protestants. Are Mormons Protestants? How about self-proclaimed "Evangelicals"? If respondents are self defining their religious status, my guess is that there are not sufficient categories on a survey form to capture a meaningful aggregate response. The survey definitions are very likely out of date.

There is also the issue of non-Christians living permanently or temporarily residing in the US. There have been increases in Bosnians, South Asians, Muslims, Chinese, or other ethnic groups who would not consider themselves to be Protestants. Mexican or other Central American or Caribbean immigrants would probably consider themselves to be Roman Catholic rather than Protestant.  I'm not too worried about the survey headlines.

I am regularly asked to fill out survey for a national polling organization because I signed up to be part of their polling universe when they pulled a survey sample. All of these surveys have various political questions or policy questions (Who did you vote for? Are you a Liberal? What do you think about __whatever__ policy?). They frequently have questions about commercial products...like those pod coffee makers or some other product. They always ask about religious affiliation, whether I consider myself to be an "Evangelical", and how often I attend church. They ask other questions about income and location. These are used to sub-analyze the responses. Are Evangelicals more likely to be gun owners than Muslims? Are low income people more likely to want coffee pod machines?

I must admit that the whole label of "Evangelicals" irritates me and I never consider myself to be an Evangelical. My perception of Evangelicals is negative on several levels even though my church could be considered to be Evangelical. Evangelicals -- as popularly and commonly defined and recognized -- can't keep their nose out of other people's business or private life or personal decisions. I'm sure there is a spectrum or degree of Evangelical-ness and not all Evangelicals behave the same way but those who act out or profess the loudest seem to be the most extreme and most obnoxious.

I tend to favor tolerance and inclusivity more than one would think considering my church's position on some issues. I noticed an article in my monthly church magazine that cautioned against attending church services in other denominations or going to Bible study groups outside of our church. Our church practices "closed communion" meaning that only church members, or members of a very few other churches who meet certain criteria of belief or practices, may take communion in our church services. There are more conservative churches than mine but we are pretty far away from most Christian denominations. I can remember when women were first given the right to vote in church affairs.

Instead of being an Evangelical, I like the idea of being a "carrier for Christ". I use the term "carrier" almost the same way as if someone was a carrier of typhoid or polio but in a positive rather than a negative way. I think it is better, generally, to profess your faith in the way you live, act, behave, carry on business, raise your children and love your spouse and family. If Christians would be "carriers for Christ" we wouldn't need Evangelicals poking around in other peoples' lives. We would also be in conflict with others less often. The "Culture Wars" that Evangelicals seem eager to wage are often conflicts of their own making.

When you look at the basics, Jesus says we should love God and love our neighbor. The Ten Commandments say we should love and honor God, watch what we say and keep our hands to ourselves.  I don't see anything there that says we should maim, murder, persecute or hate people who have different beliefs, look different or live different lives. I don't see any admonition or encouragement for us to righteously poke our nose into other peoples' lives. Do you?

Officially, It's Fall

Nothing profound...I just feel like chatting tonight. We officially crossed over that celestial line and entered fall...or autumn, if you prefer (being in the northern hemisphere). Why does this season have two names??? Other seasons seem more steadfast in their identification. I'll check it out and get back to you on that later.   Anyway...we are about to close the book on September and go into October. This is one of my favorite times of the year.

 

 

Major league baseball is entering that frantic period where every team with a pulse is trying hard to make it into the playoffs and maybe get into more post-season play and, perhaps, win the whole thing. The St. Louis Cardinals surprised everyone, including themselves, last year by staggering into the playoffs and then winning it all. They are trying again this year as defending champs...I wish them well but it's not the same team. Looks like they might get in as a wild card team.

NFL football has been a comedy of errors...literally, but no one is laughing. The referees were locked out by the owners due to a labor dispute so NFL hired substitute refs. I don't thing you can call them "scabs" since there wasn't a strike but they were truly unqualified to officiate a professional football game. It was awful and it went on far too long. Finally, the NFL owners relented and negotiated with the "real" refs and they are now back on the job this weekend. The substitutes get to slink back to wherever they came from...


Missouri University couldn't wait to join the SEC (Southeast Conference) and leave the Big 12 in their dust...but they haven't made a good first impression. They can manage to put up a fight but have been steamrolled  in the later part of the game. They played South Carolina last week and it was bad but they managed to get a touchdown in the closing minutes so that the game doesn't look that bad on paper. I don't give a diddly-squat but I think the SEC is a class act when compared to the Big 12 and hope MU can salvage a few games. People tell me we will blow them out of the water in basketball.  Okiedoke.

Of course, the presidential election is going on...almost in the last few weeks. Also congressional elections. President Obama is a consistent leader in the polls and it looks like he has the electoral votes to win. Mitt Romney looks dumber and dumber as time goes on. He picked Paul Ryan as his VP running mate but Ryan decided to still also run for his congress seat...how's that for confidence? I'm an Obama man so I'm biased but Romney is really making a fool of himself. Either he has no decent advisers or he ignores his advisers and just runs his mouth.

 

 

Missouri has a senate race that is getting lots of attention because Todd Akin, GOP candidate, is a buffoon. Senator McCaskill is nothing special but Akin is sub-human in comparison. Akin has run out of appendages to stick in his mouth and it is hard anyway because his head is so far up his ass. Even Romney asked him to drop out of the race. But, he has support in rural Missouri and could even win if the city voters stay at home.  I admit that I crossed over and voted for Akin in the primary because I figured he would be so bad that sane people wouldn't vote for him. I knew he would self-destruct but not as soon as he did. Now, in the late weeks before the election, some Republicans are slinking back to give him support...Newt Gingrich, Huckabee and Santorum, three GOP guys not running for anything, have soiled themselves by coming to support Akin. Today Akin complained that Claire McCaskill was not "Ladylike" in her behavior during their recent debate...Ladylike?

Missouri voters are an odd group and hard to predict how they will go. We elected Mel Carnahan to the senate even though he was dead in order to keep John Ashcroft from retaining his senate seat....that's right, we elected a dead guy to keep Ashcroft out. So what happens?  Dubya appointed Ashcroft as Attorney General...where he makes a fool of himself.  Ashcroft was my boss for a while so I speak with some knowledge...he is a bible-thumping, gospel-singing, two-faced, ill-informed, self-righteous idiot. But I digress. Missouri used to be known as a bellwether state, one that could be relied upon to vote as the nation would vote as a whole. Not so anymore. We have cornered the market on wingnuts and religious bigots so anything is possible.


The drought is over but Mother Nature is very confused. My lilacs are blooming. They went dormant during the drought and now think it's spring. I suppose they won't bloom next year. Much of my grass is dead. I thought it was only dormant but it is still brown in spite of the several rainy days we've had. The trees began to turn colors way back in early August but there are more now that are showing fall colors even though it is early. There were some major forest fires in the Ozarks...worse than what we have seen in the past. Apparently, the forest ids trying to recover and some plants have sprung up that we have never seen in Missouri. They were just laying dormant in the soil waiting for a forest fire. Some of them are native to the Gulf Coast while others live in Arkansas or in pine forests in other states. 

Hello...Hello?

I was informed that I was entitled to a phone upgrade on my cell phone contract. My old phone is overdue for an upgrade...it could be an antique in the cell phone world. It runs on coal. I don't want or need all the bells and whistles they stick on cell phones. I don't even want a camera...who needs it? I have plenty of cameras. My phone has a camera and I have over 200 photos of the inside of my back pocket.

Anyway, my phone signal has been breaking up and deteriorating in reception quality. So, I decided to go check out what was available. I am on the low end of the phone spectrum so the options were limited to a flip-phone very similar to what I have and two models that offer more options (like a calendar and alarm) and have a little drawer that comes out with a tiny keyboard. These two models differ only in the quality of the camera and the size of the screen. Since both models had screens larger than what I had I decided on the lesser of the two...with the "inferior" camera.  My phone guy, Ben, was new so it took a while for him to get things worked out. I think all cell phone guys are new because they seem not to know what is going on with their own products.

After it was all over and things were signed and fees recorded, I headed for home. I spent much of the afternoon squinting at the little manual (just the English language part) and trying to figure out the phone. When I did actually get a call, I couldn't figure out how to answer it. 

I suppose that I'll get it figured out in a couple days. This is an improvement, I guess, over my old steam-driven cell phone.


Update - 9/15....Screw it. I took it back and got a phone I can use. I never actually was able to answer a call on that phone.  And the reception wasn't any better than my old phone. I got one I can use and it works fine.  Plus I get some money back.  End of story.


Well, not quite. Further Update (September 22 - the Autumnal Equinox) Why is this so tough? The new phone seems to work fine. Only problem is that I read the user guide which told me I'm supposed to hit the 'send' button when I answer a phone call. That seemed odd to me...this is a flip phone and just opening it up when it rings should be sufficient. So, I ended up disconnecting a few calls before I decided that the user guide was full of crap. I was right all along. So I got that figured out....but now I'm getting weird phone calls from numbers in my area code but there is no one on the line and when I try to call back the phone number is out of service. These calls are originating in Puxico, Jackson ans Ewing, Missouri. No one in those places should even have my cell number. This is political campaign season and I'm guessing that these are robo-calls that can't figure out my cell connection (??). Maybe this will end after the election.

Drought

We've been complaining about the weather for months. You have probably heard...there has been  a serious drought spreading through the Midwest. While serious, we are not talking "dust bowl" or Horn of Africa devastation. But the drought is ruining some farm operations and people will be forced off their land. In my 60-plus years I've not seen it this bad. I live in a mostly rural community within a few miles of the lower Missouri River and there are sand bars stretching most of the way across the river in some places. We have been living with water conservation restrictions almost all summer. I think most farmers got one cutting of hay but, based on the field near my house, that was probably it. The corn crop is pretty much gone. Soybeans look better, especially in the river bottoms, but they are still in trouble. Cattle farmers are struggling and some farm families I know are cutting down trees so the cattle can eat the few leaves that are left. Apparently, cattle don't always eat trees but when they do, they prefer Honey Locust trees. Here's a tip if you are ever in this situation...don't give them the Honey Locust trees first because they get picky and don't like eating the other trees.


Many of our trees have already turned brown and lost their leaves. That normally happens in late October or early November. I have a big Hickory tree in my front yard that seems to be holding its own. The Cedars are managing okay. Maples and Poplars are mostly bare. I have a Shortleaf Pine out back that is surviving but I've seen some in the area that have turned brown and are probably dead. Dogwood trees are struggling. Landscape plantings are looking terrible. I grow a few hop plants but they failed to produce flowers this year.  The local vineyards are faced with a small grape harvest but they say it will be very high quality. I guess I'll be drinking wine instead of home brew.


Finally things have started to turn around. The remnants of Hurricane Isaac came through on Labor Day weekend and I didn't hear a single complaint. We only managed to get about two inches of rain but it helped. Since then we have had more rainy days and the grass seems to be coming back. Some of the trees look better but it's too late for many of them. Some will come back next year if the winter isn't too harsh and we get more rain. Temperatures have really cooled off. We had weeks of 100 degree days but we are in the mid 70s the last two days. It will get hot again but most of it is over.


I haven't cut my grass since June but I'll probably have to find my lawnmower in about two weeks if we can get some more rain. We usually have a very pretty fall but this year it will be subdued.