reasonworkswonders

Ireland: Great Music, Great Scenery: Lunasa Video

2008-05-25T17:38:00.001-07:00

The Telegram and Gazette's Letters from Idiots

2008-05-11T10:19:00.001-07:00

I love reading the T&G's letters section online, because it is filled with choice, uninformed opinions that would be depressing if they weren't so genuinely stupid. Especially worth noting are the comments to news stories left by idiots. These folks all have in common a worldview that divides the world into good and bad (policies, presidents, teachers, students, people in general). It's as thought they must ascribe blame to someone, all the time.

A recent event at Wachusett High School spawned a long list of letters about kids involved in a beating. It was a nasty beating, and it was caught on video and put on Youtube for all to see. The opinions mostly fell into the category of "kids these days are spoiled rotten; punish them and they will improve."

Many of the comments on this story fell back on the "bad kid, bad family" explanation; others asserted that school choice was bringing bad Worcester kids in to mix with those really nice kids from Holden, who never get into trouble (I'd love to hear the vice principal of Wachusett address that one!).

One of the kids who was a perp in the beating is well known to me; I've watched him grow up. His folks are hard working, decent people. His father had him involved in all kinds of sports, at which the son usually excelled, because he's a gifted athlete. They sought out the best education for their son, which is why he was involved in school choice. In spite of this, their son is a mixed-up kid who has gotten involved with some serious trouble. He's under house arrest and has been expelled from school -- his parents did not attend the hearing (perhaps because they agreed he should be expelled for what he did; I don't know) -- and will certainly face legal consequences that might include jail time.

He's not a bad kid; his parents are not bad parents. People are not good or bad, unless you happen to view them that way. And if you do, you are at least half blind.

Worcester Jazz

2008-01-25T06:34:00.000-08:00

My musical partner, Rich Falco, got a gig for us playing jazz every other week in Oxford, at a place called Oxford's Casual Dining. Rich indulges me, perhaps because bassists are in short supply, so I'm happy to do the gig with him, since I learn more by playing with him, and we make some pretty good music. Click http://www.gigmasters.com/hear_audio.asp?rowid=20202&sequenceID=1 and listen.

Playing regularly anwhere is difficult, because any slow night might mean that the owner could cut you loose. So I do like to promote these gigs, andI post on Craigslist and Socialweb and hope to gain the attention of the local press.

It's the latter that's proved difficult. We can't really advertise; we're too poor. Tyra Penn has included us on WICN's club updates, bless her. But the Worcester press, which in most other instances stresses the local angle, tends to pay the most attention to jazz acts from out of town. Articles and items featuring local rock acts are common, too, most of whom aren't even paid musicians. But not jazz. And not us.It seems odd that more attention is paid to amateur musicians in rock clubs than experienced professionals who ALREADY know how to play. Call it the American Idol phenomenon.

I don't want to sound bitter. Rich is already well-known in the area's jazz community, so I can understand that local press might feel that he doesn't need more press, and people might not be interested in finding out more about him. But look at the "jazz scene" in Worcester right now. Java Hut closed, so there's no jam session there. There is no club in Worcester that features jazz, nor any restaurant that hires jazz musicians to play regularly. Oxfords Casual Dining is pretty much it, from what I can tell. Yet OCD (not a pretty acronym, but I'll use it) is not even in club listings, even though jazz is a regular feature there, and it's the ONLY JAZZ IN TOWN! You'd think that alone would be news.

Old Medicine for New Ills

2008-01-25T06:30:00.000-08:00

The recent crisis in the financial markets outed not only a Francophonic fraud, but also Republican rigidity. When banks need to “write down” their loans because assets securing the loans have lost value, money disappears from the economy. That money must quickly be replaced if markets are to remain secure. The quickest, most effective way to keep enough money circulating is for the government to take measures to get money to those who are most likely to spend it. Unsurprisingly, those most likely to spend their money are those too poor to pay any income tax. And those least likely to spend are those who have more than enough money to pay their bills, and who do pay income tax, especially the wealthiest Americans.

Yet the Republican response was to endorse tax rebates that don’t benefit the neediest, and to urge extending the Bush Administration tax cuts for the wealthy, due to expire in 2010. John McCain was a notable proponent of the latter measure. Now if those tax cuts promoted continued economic growth in the first place, why are we facing a recession now? If the Bush tax cuts were the economic panacea their advocates claimed, we would be worried about inflation, not recession.

Republican economic thinking is consistent no matter what the economic circumstances: cut taxes on the wealthy and those with the largest incomes. Yet this inevitably hurts the middle class and the poor, on whom both economic and social stability depend.

No-Ped in Worcester

2008-01-11T13:58:00.000-08:00

Although I called it a moped, my Tomos is apparently a "no-ped" in that it has no pedals. I've been riding it to work and back when weather permits (we had a recent spate of good weather), which is 40 miles round trip. The bike runs great, but I have to say, the seat sucks. Not very comfortable after a mile or so, and very uncomfortable after ten miles.

In spite of this, I've put over 300 miles on the Tomos, which my wife has nicknamed "Zippy," apparently in reference to the pinhead that rides it, moi. A friend of mine, when he saw the Tomos, asked me, "So have any of your friends called you a crazy idiot yet?" I've gotten some odd looks, but drivers seem to assume that I'm on a motorcycle, which in traffic is a good thing -- they come up more slowly -- and I feel much safer than when I've ridden a bicycle in the same circumstances.

Now that I've put on over 250 miles, some maintenence needs to be done. I've got to change the oil and tighten the chain, for starters, so I'm not commuting on the Tomos until I've made sure I don't run out of oil or throw a chain. Throwing the chain would be VERY BAD. But I'm looking forward to spring, and A NEW SEAT.

Moped Around the House

2007-11-08T14:43:00.000-08:00

After spending a summer working on a 1980 Vespa Grande moped, I relented and bought a 2005 Tomos Arrow moped to ride until I actually succeed in getting the Vespa running. The Tomos, although a 2005, is new, so I've spent the last week breaking in the engine, riding it daily back and forth to my job at Nashoba Regional High School in Bolton. That's about 20 miles each way by Route 70 north and 110 East.

Never having ridden a moped before, I can only compare it to a bike. The Tomos handles a lot better than a bike, as it has big, fat scooter tires and shocks front and back. It has been damned cold, too, and unlike pedaling a bike, riding a moped doesn't warm you up. The full-face helmet helps, though.

The best part was riding into a gas station and filling up with $2.00 of gas. Every time I take the moped instead of the car to work, I save about five bucks. Now I just need to find some fellow riders in Worcester so I can start a moped gang.

Pleased With Music Again

2007-08-10T14:50:00.000-07:00

Several things have conspired to get me excited about music again. First, I've been playing bass with some of Worcester's finest musicians. Paulo of Pueblo Nuevo, and wonderful singer, called to have me fill in for his bassist/guitarist at Bocado Tapas Bar on Winter Street. We had a quick rehearsal with Jonathan, his conga player and I had a ball accompanying Paulo on a bunch of Latin songs I didn't know before (I like a challenge). Then he asked me to put a group together to sub for Pueblo Nuevo the next Thursday, again at Bocado. Chet Williamson put me in contact with Miguel Almestica, a wonderful percussionist, who brought two other percussion players along just for fun, and guitarist and Berklee "cat" Mitch Seidman tore it up on guitar as we turned every jazz tune we could into a merengue, samba, salsa or bossa nova.

Another musical addition has been created by using http://www.gigmasters.com/jazz/richfalco to advertise for bookings. The site allows folks to hear the duo and lets them know how affordable we can be, plus how the group can expand to a trio or quartet. And I had a great time at a wedding in Rhode Island, right by Newport Bay, playing straight-ahead mainstream jazz as a quartet with Sonic Explorers Jerry Sabatini on trumpet and Mike Connors on drums, and Mitch Seidman filling in for Rich Falco on guitar . We've been filling up our calendar with private parties and getting some great feedback from customers.

2007-06-30T08:31:00.000-07:00

http://youtube.com/watch?v=jHjFxJVeCQs
Some things are so dumb, but I love them anyway, like this clip of a startled prairie dog.

Fatal Attack in My Back Yard

2007-06-19T07:02:00.000-07:00

Lately my back yard has been strewn with decomposing bodies left by my cat. Usually I miss out on the drama that precedes each unpleasant discovery -- my cat, Diz, is generous with her kills -- but last night as I was trying to order take out for dinner (from Anh Thu, excellent Vietnamese restaurant) there was such a ruckus I could hardly make out the voice on the phone. A fledgling blue jay on its maiden flight had an unfortunate encounter with Diz; its parents went into full alarm mode, prompting my dog to join the hellish chorus.

The parent jays kept up swooping down on Diz, keeping her at bay, and the stunned baby bird managed to hop first onto an iron Chinese garden lamp and thence to a low branch. My neighbor favored euthanasia for the little creature, which had a drop of blood on its beak, and offered me the use of his shovel. But I thought the creature might survive, and I couldn't bring myself to dispatch it while its parents were still doing all they could to give it a chance to do so.

However much Diz thirsts for blood, and however cruel her batting small creatures about once she catches them seems to me (I once saw a polar bear on TV play the same way with a couple of penguins bobbing about like float toys ), she doesn't gloat or make visits to the taxidermist with the remains of her more impressive kills. The next morning she was back to eating cat food from her bowl as though nothing had happened, while I went into the yard to check on the little jay. Its only motion was the down on its back waving gently in the morning breeze. The adult jays were nowhere to be seen. Grieving, I suppose, if birds grieve.

Rich Falco, Jazz Guitarist, Jim Allard's Band

2007-05-26T08:00:00.001-07:00

I saw a wonderful concert recently at the Joy of Music Program (Rich and Wendy Ardizzone's really cool music school) by Jim Allard's band. He's putting together a CD and featured a number of originals that will be featured. Not only were the tunes and arrangements good, but Jim and Rich were in fine form, and the incomparable Mike Connors demonstrated once again that there is no more musical or tasteful drummer on the planet.

I'd originally thought Joe D'Angelo would be playing bass, and wanted to hear him, but they had a sub (embarrassed to say I've forgotten his name) from Boston who teaches in Maine (there's a commute for you) who tore it up with bow and fingers. I wanted to steal his rosin so just a little of his playing would rub off on me, but instead went home and practiced!

Keep an eye out at www.jomp.org for upcoming faculty concerts in the fall.

The Telegram and Education

2007-05-26T07:54:00.000-07:00

I think I've finally figured out the Worcester Telegram and Gazette's editorial stance on public education: Any policy that Worcester taxpayers don't have to fund is good. Any policy that costs Worcester taxpayers more is bad.

Pilot schools with money from the state? Good.
Compensating teachers with expensive health care benefits? Bad.
Increased state aid to reduce the number of high school dropouts? Good.

And so on. The next time you see an op-ed on local public education in the Telegram, apply the simple test above, and see how it works.

The Ploughman's Launch

2007-02-03T06:02:00.000-08:00

Early this morning, long after the final flake of snow found its resting place, truckdrivers passed by my house on May Street with their blades down, plowing the air, doubtless contemplating their bottom lines. As the planet warms, what will these worthies do? Perhaps head toward the coast and plow the rising waters. I don't know. I do know that if they had kept their blades up, not only would they have plowed just as much snow, but I would have slept soundly enough never to have observed the pristine street swept repeatedly of invisible precipitation.

Scooter, Redux

2007-01-14T12:57:00.000-08:00

I like the way that sounds: "Scootereedoo."

I keep looking at my options for cheap, electrical transport to and from my P/T job in Bolton. Since I teach only three classes, it makes sense to keep my commuting costs low. Never mind that I'd feel ever so much more virtuous. So here's what I've found out so far about electric bicycles (as opposed to scooters).

Schwinn is coming out next year with a model called the Streamline, which not only looks so cool any Boomer worth his extra cash would want one, but Treehugger really likes it: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/10/schwinns_new_line_of_electric_bikes.php And doesn't it look sweet? No idea how many semolians that will set you back, though.

More easily obtainable -- and therefore less desirable -- is the almost-as-handsome Giant Lite, which along with its fellow travelers can be found here: http://www.electricvehiclesnw.com/main/lite.htm although these folks are charging list price; you can get one for $1000.00 elsewhere online. The advantage of the Lite is (no surprise) its weight. Check those specs!

I've investigated a number of electric scooters, too, but I'm still confused by them; some of them don't have pedals, some do, they weigh more, etc. I think if I were going to get a scooter, it would be gas-powered. The electric ones look like they'd run out of juice half-way up a hill, and I'd be left without the battery-powered equivalent of a paddle. And the only electric motorcycle that looks worthwhile (the Vectrix -- Google that one) is still under development (in Mass. as it happens) and unavailable.

To make the whole 2-wheeled commuting seem more practical, I've found a great route for my green commute along routes 12 and 110. It's about as direct as I could hope for, skirts the lovely Wachusetts Reservoir and lands me handily on the West Side of Worcester, not far from the little bungalow I call domus. On a gas scooter I could make it in about the time it takes to commute by car on the highway (the hardest thing about my commute now is getting on the highway). On an electric bike, I'm not so sure; it's 20 miles each way. At about 18 miles an hour, that's still over an hour. Granted, I'd reduce my commuting costs considerably and get fit in the process, but still...On the bright side, if the weather continues as it has, I'll be able to commute by bike all year.

Worcester and Crime

2007-01-05T16:52:00.000-08:00

I just had a look at the Worcester Police Department’s website, and was pleased to find that it had an easy-to-use, clickable map of the city showing crime statistics broken down by neighborhood and types of crimes. Looking at it, I couldn’t help remembering David Rushford’s observation that poor areas of Worcester, while they may look neglected, actually receive a far greater share of city services than well-off neighborhoods. There is a net transfer of wealth from the city’s upper-middle class to its poor because of this, something that the folks at In City Times might gag on, if they actually thought about it, which they probably won’t. It sucks to be poor anywhere, but it sucks less to be poor in Worcester than it would otherwise, chiefly because of the schools and other city services.

It was about five years ago I called asking the WPD if they had any crime statistics, and the officer that answered said no, that they lacked the time to assemble them. So I was pleased by the map, and especially the analysis that came with it, because it indicates that the Worcester police are getting more on the ball all the time. They appear to be doing much more than just responding to crime; the Worcester police are planning how to deal with it most effectively as it changes.

I also took the time to write the WPD an e-mail thanking them for their work, and I recommend you take time to do the same. I think the WPD are the main reason Worcester is so much safer than Springfield and Hartford.

I’m not wearing rose-colored glasses, because when you choose to live in a city, you live with the inevitability of urban crime. But it’s good to know that crime is not being ignored here in Worcester, and that competent people are working hard at dealing with it effectively.

Another Angle on Gay Marriage?

2007-01-01T14:54:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking about all the reasons the government might have for establishing, state by state, legal marriage status for same-sex couples. Or rather, I've been thinking of reasonable legal angles to prevent a Constitutional ban on same-sex marriages, and the best one I've come up with so far is this: Not only does such a ban conflict with the equal protection clause, any such ban -- even at the state level -- is also essentially establishing religion by forcing religions that DO legitimize same-sex marriages to conform to a particular religious practice. As such, banning same-sex marriages violates the First Amendment.

Scooters

2006-12-27T08:33:00.000-08:00

I've been investigating scooters - electric and gas -- mainly as a means of distracting myself from how much it is costing me to keep driving a car. Now that my family has three drivers, in true American fashion, each of us has to have a car. Previously, I worked in Worcester, where I live, and it was fairly easy to share the family car. Now, though, my stepdaughter drives, so does my wife, and I need to commute about 40 minutes or so to work each day. And the likelihood of either my wife or stepdaughter using an alternative form of transportation to go any distance in town, is pretty much nil, although my stepdaughter will walk the three blocks to her classes at Worcester State.

The difficulty is that since I'm the one who travels the most, if I'm going to get a scooter, I've got to lose a car, perhaps two (yes, I have three cars; or rather my stepdaughter has one, I have one, and my wife has one). Now I can ride as the crow flies to work and it's about 20 miles. On a decent scooter, that'll take the same amount of time as a car -- about an hour. The scooter will manage it for almost no money, while just keeping the car on the road costs thousands. Outside, the snow is falling. Perhaps I'll wait til spring.

My Favorite Worcester Guitarist: Rich Falco

2006-11-24T14:34:00.000-08:00

I will almost certainly deserve to be called self-serving for this (because sometimes I get to play with him), but I really think Rich Falco is not getting the rewards he deserves for all that he adds to the local music scene. Many may not know how hard Rich works, or the troubles he's had to endure (on which I am totally mum, because Rich would be embarrassed if I wrote about them), but since I do, and since as someone who gets to perform with him from time to time I know just how musical he can be under even the most difficult circumstances, I'd like Worcester to sit up and take notice of him. What really ticks me off is how few opportunities he gets to play locally in front of a public audience, in spite of how much Rich has given to Worcester's musical life over the years. It's not as if the local jazz community hasn't heard of him; quite the opposite. But when was the last time they gave anyone -- including themselves -- the chance to hear him play? And meanwhile, whenever anyone wants him to conduct a WPI group for some charitable purpose he does it gratis, often missing out on paying gigs (I know, because I've tried to book him and discovered the conflicts).

So ask yourself, jazz fan: When was the last time I got to hear a really great jazz guitarist in Worcester? And then wonder why it's been that long, when Rich Falco LIVES here!

Logos Dei

2006-11-24T14:22:00.000-08:00

One part about being a fundamentalist Christian has long confused me: Which text do you believe? I remember inviting an Orthodox Jew to speak to my students about his faith. He pulled out his Torah and said, “When I read this, I’m reading the actual words of God.” His point was that God spoke Hebrew and when he read God’s word he read it in the original. A fundamentalist Muslim will tell you the same thing about the Koran, if he’s literate in Arabic. Why God would speak Hebrew first and then Arabic is a matter I leave to the Jews and Muslims. But why God’s words are still His when they’re written in English is a problem that I can bring some of my own expertise to, limited as it is, because I’ve spoken English all my life.

When I was in a public speaking class in high school, one of my classmates gave a speech about the coming Armageddon predicted in Revelations; he used numerology to demonstrate that Henry Kissinger was the Anti-Christ. He did this by correlating English letters to numbers and performing some rudimentary arithmetic. Even then I thought this had to be a crock; English hadn’t even existed when Revelations was written. Morevoer, my classmate was doing his figuring using numerals that were originally Hindu, and got to him by way of Islam (ironic, I think). Of course, now I do think that Henry Kissinger could have been the Anti-Christ, at least until W and Cheney took over the positions of War-Criminal-in-Chief and Anti-Christ respectively.

It’s one of the great glories of this country that anyone can believe any sort of nonsense he wants, including that the Bible contains the literal words of God. A fair number of Americans not only believe this, but would like to have it acknowledged regularly in the public schools. Or at least they’d like to have their belief in this acknowledged ahead of anyone else’s beliefs.

You don’t have to be familiar with higher criticism to see that there are problems with this position. Anybody who’s ever translated text, or for that matter, ever used babelfish online, knows what a tricky process translation is. A language is the expression of a culture at a particular time and place. There are many differences between Hebrew and English. Translators are human and must make subjective choices based on the texts available to them, their condition, and who will be reading the result.

So my question for fundamentalists who read their Bibles in English or any other modern language isn’t whether doing so gets the scriptures wrong. My question is this: If you don’t read the Bible in its “original” form – and remember there are different versions of the original text – aren’t you putting your faith in the translators as much as in God? And if you are really trying to know God, wouldn’t it be sensible (and not really too much trouble) to learn Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek well enough to have an acquaintance with the texts your translation started with? And wouldn’t you want to make a careful review of the available texts? I’d like to hear what Fundamentalists have to say about this, preferably without recourse to “for God anything is possible.” How does a believing Christian choose the text that is truly inspired? And on whose authority does the truthfulness of the chosen text rely?

Does Congress Continue to Lie Down?

2006-04-14T15:15:00.000-07:00

Yes, unless it rids us of Rumsfeld and the leadership responsible for this debacle of a war.

A Leaking Ship of State

2006-04-09T08:52:00.000-07:00

The recent revelation by Scooter Libby that he was authorized by President Bush to release classified information has many pointing out that when you're president, it's not illegal to release formerly classified information, since as president you have the authority to declassify it. But it also has many wondering what kind of ethical framework the administration has in place when it authorizes the outing of CIA agents merely to take revenge on someone exercising his right to free speech, i.e. Plame's husband. I think we set the bar too low when we expect the president's actions to be merely legal. Is that the best we can do? Elect a man president and hold him to the not-too-high standard that he not act criminally?

Exit Strategies

2006-04-06T17:24:00.000-07:00

Someday, the Bush administration will be gone. What will the Republicans leave behind? An enormous national debt, tax laws that favor the wealthiest over the poor, sure, but what about the wars?

Yes, wars. Iraq is the front page news, but we're still proud owners of the world's leading opium-producing country, Afghanistan. And it's still garrisoned. Meanwhile in bases all over Iraq, our soldiers (and their many private-sector support teams forming the "tail" of the operation -- i.e. suppliers) are thinking they'll be out of there soon. They also think that Saddam was responsible for 9/11, so don't be surprised if they've been deceived.

What will replace Bush? Are we ready for what follows? Is there a part of our federal government left that can operate competently?

Freedom, the Veil, and Western Views of Islam

2006-02-24T15:08:00.000-08:00

I often spend time reading such blogs ashttp://www.muhajabah.com/islamicblog/archives/veiled4allah/010848.php to read Muslim interpretations of the West, as well as Muslim interpretation of the Islamic world FOR the West. What struck me today as I read about women in the Islamic world, the UAE port deal, and the Danish Cartoon Extravaganza was how much emphasis is placed in Islam on Society and the individual's place in the Umma (as I believe it is called), while in the West, the individual and individual conscience tends to have the upper hand. Wearing a veil is partly viewed by some as a FEMINIST response to Muslim men; see http://www.muhajabah.com/islamicblog/veiled4allah.php and scroll down to read about this.

From an American perspective, it seems sheer folly to wear a veil and cover oneself BECAUSE SO MANY MUSLIM MEN CANNOT BEHAVE PROPERLY TOWARD WOMEN IN PUBLIC. We have assholes here, too, hanging out of cars and hooting and whistling, yet in the US, covering yourself from head to toe would not be considered a reasonable or practical response to this behavior.

Veiled4allah also points out how a woman in Hamas can reconcile her feminist goals with sending her sons off as "martyrs" against Israel. It just sounds to me, as a Westerner, like fascism. Women were liberated under Soviet communism, but were "free to be put in a cage" in Leningrad (apologies to Randy Newman). They were equal to men under a form of government which rendered individuals impotent except to serve the state.

I'm afraid that whatever Muslim moderates might say, the logic of the state under Islam is headed away from democracy and toward state power over individual conscience. In practice, this has been more often the case than not, or wouldn't democratic governments be more common in the Muslim world?

It seems that Muslims wish that Danish editors would worry about Muslim sensibilities, just as the Islamic world seems to expect women to adapt to the sensibilities of Muslim men.

In America, we a have a saying: "Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke."

I just can't hear that being said in Arabic.

Ahoy Bikers! Confront Narrow-Minded Stupidity

2006-02-21T06:20:00.000-08:00

Reading this article at CNN made me wish I had learned to ride a motorcycle. Shame on Phelps and his ignorant followers, and kudos to the Patriot Riders.

Equal Opportunity Offensiveness

2006-02-05T09:16:00.000-08:00

Just thought I'd point you in this direction in the interest of spreading offensiveness around on an equal-opportunity basis.

I've Always Liked the Danes, but I'm Not Muslim; Or: Buy More Havarti and Legos

2006-02-04T08:54:00.000-08:00

After viewing this video which I think sums up the Islamic culture war situation pretty well (although it doesn't go into much depth), my reaction was to note how much shame is a part of so much of Muslim culture. Is Islam so weak, it cannot withstand a little blasphemy in a part of the world where blasphemy of all types is now the norm? And why are so many of these protesters hiding their faces?

And after hearing an English apologist for Muslim anger over the Danish cartoons, I wondered if he was standing the Muslim reaction on its head. Europeans learning to hate again? Huh? Doesn't this fellow know that when the Germans invaded Denmark, the Danish Jews had the support of their gentile countrymen? Or perhaps since so many Islamists hate Jews (actually, I think it's required) they still hold that against the Danes?

If Europeans are learning to hate, maybe they're taking a cue from the Middle East and its emigres. In so much of the Muslim world hate seems NEVER to have gone out of style. Read the signs in the video. Compare them to the cartoons. Which is more threatening? Is it any wonder when crowds take to the streets in the West urging death to anyone who doesn't like Islam Westerners fall prey to the urge to stereotype?

When moderate Muslims compare Western freedom of the press to Hitlerian propaganda, they miss the opportunity to EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENCE to their co-religionists. Religions in the West are part of the marketplace of ideas. If Islamists cannot hold their own without threatening death, beheading, etc. then they betray their own shame, self-loathing, and the anachronisms of their beliefs.

Does This Mean We Can Withdraw from Iraq?

2006-02-03T05:10:00.000-08:00

This article examines W's most recent take on the oil industry. It sounds as though Bush has been taking a look at Jimmy Carter's policies (another president who had a bit of experience with the Mideast, and particularly in Iran). Because of its staunch support of free market principles, I doubt that the Bush administration will try to regulate petroleum consumption in this country. Would that I were wrong.

Slots for Thoughts, and Why Faith Makes Politics Stupid

2006-01-28T07:40:00.000-08:00

With so many blogs, you'd think I'd no need to start another, and yet...

This one is for writing that addresses political and intellectual debates unrelated to education. So here we go.

I was just reading a blog by the Syrian author Amarji that got me thinking about the role of religion in politics, not just in the US, but in regions of the world where religion is much more powerful force than most Americans really understand. Amarji posted a very elaborate and carefully reasoned analysis of the victory of Hamas over Fatah. Just incidentally, I think it's ironic that Fatah is in turmoil AFTER the election, when a good healthy purge of its crooked members might have convinced voters that they were serious about cleaning up their act.

Amarji's post demonstrated just how complex the situation in the Mideast is (and always has been) and why the Mideast is the Balkans of our time in a global economy dependent on oil. A quick look at how the Bush administration interprets the situation in the Mideast to the American public shows a series of gross oversimplifications. We're not fighting a bunch of different groups with different political goals; instead, its a Global War on Terrorism. We're not going to work with Hamas because they are a Terrorist Organization. We don't condone torture or spy on Americans in violation of legal statute, we are doing everything necessary to Keep Americans Safe.

But the Bush administration is just doing what people of faith do all the time when interpreting world events: they look for good guys (people who share their faith or some approximation of it) and bad guys (people of another or no faith). If the faith-based criterion doesn't work, religious groups go on to use related criteria, but in the end the politics of religions is always reductive.

Since religious people KNOW that they are in the right, once in power they feel justified in using methods they would otherwise never condone (torture, rendition, spying) in others. Why is Hamas a Terrorist Organization? Because they kill innocent people in pursuit of their political goals. Yet the current administration admits the necessity of doing the very same thing, and acknowledge that they do so. Both were freely elected. But they both divide the world not into people who use immoral methods and those that don't; the Bush administration AND Hamas divide the world into those that are against them and those that aren't.

Ironically, the religious right in the US has a strong political place in the public forum. It's ironic because it is precisely that the public forum in the US is so secular that the religious right is able to make itself not only heard, but able to wield such great political influence in a party with so many diverse political views represented in it. That Bush misleads the Christian Right while pursuing another agenda is almost a liberal shibboleth now. On the Left, the GOP is viewed as a creature of money interests and the Christian Right, but that oversimplifies things. There are only two political parties with large memberships in the US, so they must represent a broad range of political opinions.

But the unifying themes of the Republican Party are of necessity simple precisely because these themes must appeal to the religious right, which has a very simple vision of the world. Criticisms of the Democrats for not getting their message out overlook the fact that the Democrats are no longer speaking to any one group in the party that has such a grossly reductive worldview. The Democrats have LOTS of groups with reductive worldviews (pro-Choice groups, animal rights groups, Greens, and so on); it's just that no one group is as dominant in their party as the religious right is in the GOP. They used to have the unions representing a huge swath of members, and the labor movement helped the Democratic Party by giving it a large part of its membership that was as well-organized as the Christian right is today. Those days are gone.

The broader point of which the Christian right is just one illustration is illustrated all over the world wherever democracies have political parties dominated by religious groups. Hindu nationalism is one example; the recent resurgence in Canada of the Conservatives is another, although the Christian right in Canada is not as dominant in their politics or culture as in the US. And Hamas is just one more.

Amarji's post expressed hopes that Hamas would focus on internal problems in Palestine, and that over time they might grow moderate. But to keep a strong hold on a religious group within the party (or those that just voted it in out of disgust with Fatah) Hamas will certainly want to keep its supporters united; and what better way than to focus on how the infidels keep screwing the faithful?

I'm not an atheist attacking religion; I just want to point out that secularism has been GOOD for democracy. Materialism is also GOOD for democracy; when people are busy trying to make a decent living, they're less likely to be fighting each other over differing belief systems. When people of faith recognize that civil society is about allowing differing view points to work freely in the public sphere and to compete within an open market-based economy, they acknowledge these truths.

I don't want the Kingdom of Heaven on earth any more than the American founding fathers did; I'll settle for a society that's messy and often wrong, but in which the complexities of the world are acknowledged, if not by all political leaders, then by enough people in politics that the public is constantly misled to think one side is right and good, and any others are therefore united against them.