this weekend i was told that my hair was thinning on top.  as in... going bald.  then my girlfriend made the comment she thinks i may have a receding hairline.  to some, this may be devastating news.  personally, i don't care.  if i go bald by the time i'm thirty, that's okay.  my girlfriend may have a problem with this, but it really doesn't bother me much.  i've always liked old guys with shiny domes.  don't do the comb over.  and don't do the toupee.   just rock whatcha got.  bald is about the only hairstyle i haven't had.  hell, if i was my hair, i would have wanted to leave a long time ago with all the things i've done with it.  long hair, short hair, spikey, slick, curly, straightened, pigtails, ponytails, cornrows, dreadlocks, fauxhawks, mohawks, comeovers, buzzed, shag, dyed, highlighted, and chilibowls.  i've done it all.  it may just be that my hair has had enough and decided to quit.  that's okay.  i've had fun while it lasted.

Oh Dr. Dobson... when did you become a theologian?  Was it before or after you became a politician? 

Today I read the news reports of Dr. Dobson (of Focus on the Family) where he criticized Obama's speech at the Call to Renewal conference.  I was quite saddened by what the good doctor had to say.  Dr. Dobson apparently doesn't support McCain because he won't get in bed with his agenda.  And Obama doesn't have any plans to sell out to the religious right.  And so Dobson's throwing a fit over in the corner because no one wants to play with him. 

"What happened to grandpa?"  "Oh, he just peed himself again."  "Poor old guy."

Now I get that Dobson doesn't like the fact that Obama makes room for people of unbelief and differing beliefs.  Obama argues that we should engage in rational thought and reasoning.  With this in mind, he suggests that we shouldn't just make laws against things because the Bible says it's wrong.  Obama gives examples from the Old Testament of stoning people and dietary laws as examples of how we can't legislate biblical codes.  But this leads Dobson to get out the theological whooping stick and try to beat Obama for not taking the Bible seriously.  And yet I believe that this is where good theology wins out and demonstrates where Dr. D has perhaps let his mouth run ahead of his brain.

If we take our Bible seriously, we understand a few things.  First of all, Christians don't believe the same things about the Bible.  You think it's wrong to cuss.  I don't.  You think we shouldn't do anything on the Sabbath.  I don't.  You believe drinking is wrong.  I believe Jesus was perfect.  Now, I may be completely wrong about these things, but you would have to have lost your mind to try to legislate these to be against the law.  Oh wait... we did do that.  Prohibition ring a bell?  How'd that go?

Dobson accuses Obama of resorting to the lowest denominator of morality.  Surprise!  He's right.  For some reason, we have not made all the Christian sins illegal.  Otherwise, I'm not sure we could actually run the country.  You gossip?  Go to jail.  Eat too much?  Glutton... pay a fine.  Oh?  You have enough to pay the fine?  Greedy.  Death penalty.  The Bible says not to let anything come from your mouth except that which is good for building others up.  Dobson's guilty.  Perhaps we should pass a law for this.  But no.  This is crazy talk.  No one wants that.  Dobson doesn't even want that.  He just wants his issues to be paid attention to.  And that's okay.  Yet the lowest denominator of morality allows for general consensus.  We want things that most people look at and say, "That's wrong."  Otherwise we have chaos.  Somehow I have a feeling that if we took Jesus' command on lust and how to solve the problem too seriously, we would all be blind.

So Dr. Dobson, I understand you may be frustrated because you don't have your political pull you once had.  I even understand that perhaps you don't like someone on the other side of the aisle actually using the Bible in a reasonable and insightful way.  But do me a favor and just don't pull the whole, "you don't believe the Bible" thing.  It's unnecessary.  Those of us who do read the Bible can judge for ourselves and it will save you some reputation.  But we appreciate you looking out for us.  The problem is, you just don't speak for me.... and apparently others.

http://www.jamesdobsondoesntspeakforme.com/

i was talking to my mom and dad a few weeks ago about my problem with church and capitalism.  my problem comes from the fact that most churches pay people in the same manor that the world does.  (and oftentimes far less than the world.)  the church attempts to value degrees and experience when determining pay scale.  for instance, a pastor deserves a lot more money than the janitor.  i for one find this sad.  it's a concession as churches attempt to pay people for their work while still trying to pay as many as possible.  the result is we pay people "what they're worth," which is quite insulting if we think about it.

the church should be about demonstrating the kingdom.  we should be demonstrating a different way of being a community and doing business.  i mean really... if we're going to turn church into a business, at least we can make a statement about how we value one another.  we shouldn't see janitors or administrative assistants struggling to make ends meet while other staff members are living cozy.  we should be leading the way on what a fair wage is.

this again goes back to the idea of supply and demand.  we feel we can hire an ex-con or immigrant to clean our floors and so they should get by on minimum wage.  but a pastor should be treated more special.  argh.  i wish we could demonstrate that we look past "what's the minimum amount we can pay this person in order to get them to stay."  instead, perhaps we could look at a person's place in life and family and ask what is fair.  perhaps that means that we pay a youth minister more than a pastor.  i'm really not sure where this may lead.  but this whole supply and demand thing that has infiltrated how we pay our church employees seems to fail to live up to the principles put forth by scripture.

there's a better way.  there is.  it's just a question of whether we can get there as a people.