Oh my God. Clinton won only one jurisdiction in the entire state of Washington: Washington State Democrats — Caucus Results by Jurisdiction
Blog
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Not equivalent
The Wall Street Journal has an article on Mormon reaction to anti-Mormon feeling raised by Mitt Romney’s campaign for the Republican presidential nomination:
“I don’t think that any of us had any idea how much anti-Mormon stuff was out there,” said Armand Mauss, a Mormon sociologist who has written extensively about church culture, in an interview last week. “The Romney campaign has given the church a wake-up call. There is the equivalent of anti-Semitism still out there.”
I’m sorry, but what we’ve seen is not the equivalent of anti-Semitism. It is prejudice, and unfair questions and accusations based on ignorance or hatred, but I simply can’t see it as equivalent to anti-Semitism.
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Quiz: An artist or an ape?
Some of the images displayed below are masterpieces of abstract art, created by great artists. The rest were painted by an ape. Can you tell which is which?
Like Andrew Sullivan and Joe Irvin, I scored 83%.
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Doug Muder unpacking metaphors
Doug Muder has posted a sermon at Free and Responsible Search: Some Assembly Required. As ever, he has an engaging intro:
[T]here used to be a little sign on Highway 24 – I don’t think it’s there any more – directing you to the Ripley Church of God.
One of my character flaws is that I lack a proper sense of reverence. And so, every time I passed that sign, the same irreverent phrase went through my mind: Believe it or not.
Something similar happens whenever I pass an Assembly of God church. You know what phrase pops into my mind then? Some assembly required. I picture a bunch of people with a God kit and an enormous set of directions, trying to figure out how to make the omnipotence fit together with the benevolence.
That’s probably not what they do in Assemblies of God. But it’s not a bad metaphor for what Unitarian Universalists do. Our religion doesn’t come to us as a finished product; some assembly is required. As George Marshall wrote: “Don’t come to a Unitarian Universalist church to be given a religion. Come to develop your own religion.”
The meat of Doug’s sermon explores this quandary:
[S]omeone who walks in the door with the wrong metaphor, someone who tries to stuff us into the wrong box . . . well, they ask the wrong questions. And after you’ve asked the wrong questions, even the best answers might not help you.
He proceeds to reframe some of the “wrong” questions in order to make “right” answers possible.
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Today at the State House
Working beside the Massachusetts State House, it is not uncommon to see (and hear!) protests, demonstrations, award ceremonies, commemorations, and leafletters. My colleagues and I have in the past joked about starting a blog: Today at the State House.
Well, idealistic young supporters of Lyndon LaRouche have moved in lately. Today they are actually across the street in front of the local Fox affiliate. What makes them blog-worthy is their sign today:
Bush Performs Monetary Masturbation
Pelosi Supports The Jerk. -
Continuing trouble in Burma
Al Jazeera English — News — Myanmar Charges Protesters
Myanmar’s government has filed sedition charges against 10 pro-democracy activists detained during massive protests against the country’s military rulers last year.
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Unique expression
I’ve recently started following Old Girl of the North Country’s blog. Today she has a wonderful quote from Martha Graham (go there to read the whole passage):
There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique.
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Mathematical beauty
Burst of Energy #3. Ink on Paper, 36” by 36”, 9/2005. © Thomas Briggs (click for larger version)Thomas Briggs Art Website (tip of the hat to Andrew Sullivan)
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Beautiful, biblical information graphics
Chris Harrison — Visualizing the Bible
Due to the extremely high number of cross-references, this lands more on the aesthetic side of the information visualization spectrum. Different colors are used for various arc lengths, creating a rainbow like effect.
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Making the big time?
Who knew the Utne site had blogs? They do, including one on spirituality, and we made it with a story I put in our Winter 2007 “Reflections” section: Suicide, Faith, and Compassion
Kate Braestrup encountered this sad reality in her work as a chaplain for game wardens, an experience she recounts in an excerpt from her memoir, Here If You Need Me, published in the UU World, a publication of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.
