The Real Battle in Iraq

There was a short article buried in today's NYT —3 Insurgent Groups Warn Iraqis Against Voting—which I thought deserved more prominence.

Everyday you hear about the violent attempts to disrupt things in Iraq but there's precious little regarding the core reasons behind it. The tacit implication seems to be they're justified because we've invaded their land, but there's clearly more ominous rationale behind it:

"The militant group Ansar al-Sunna and two other insurgent groups issued a statement warning that democracy was un-Islamic. 'Democracy is a Greek word meaning the rule of the people, which means that the people do what they see fit,' the statement said. 'This concept is considered apostasy and defies the belief in one God - Muslims' doctrine.'"

I'm no longer convinced that aggression is the way to combat these forces, but I am convinced that you have to address the core issues head on if there's going to be any progress in the Middle East. I'm continually dissappointed that there doesn't seem to be much real discourse on the philosophical disconnect highlighted by the above comments.

Unfortunately, these are not merely the sentiments of a few isolated radicals. I recall reading a NYT Magazine article on the philosophy of Qutb, the intellectual 'father' of Osama Bin Laden. Qutb's problem with the west was our dis-integration of spirituality and public life. Ironically, I agree that this is a problem, though I obviously disagree with both his definition of spirituality and his means of achieving the integration.

You don't have true love, true worship, true honoring of God without free will, without choice. In this sense any religion can only achieve its highest expression when practised within a pluralistic, free, democratic society. Perhaps the best way to combat terror inspired by the beliefs above is to demonstrate to the world that spirituality integrated with one's entire life can exist and even fluorish in a democratic country.

"What it meant to be human..."

Susan Sontag, Social Critic With Verve, Dies at 71

I just read Dick Staub's Staublog where he quotes Margalit Fox's article in the NYT:

"What united Ms. Sontag's output was a propulsive desire to define the forces that shape the modernist sensibility. And in so doing, she sought to explain what it meant to be human in the waning years of the 20th century." (italics added).
The New York Times > Books > Susan Sontag, Social Critic With Verve, Dies at 71:

He goes on to describe his admiration for Susan Sontag "because such intelligence, independent, interdisciplinary thought and communication that is insightful and incites is a gift from God and I find them so lacking in people who say they know this God intimately."

I must confess that I, too, admire the traits he ascribes to Sontag. There is a part of me who would love to see them ascribed to me when I die. But then I wonder: Is this the battle to fight? Are we advancing the kingdom by analyzing culture from a heavenly perspective?

At first blush, my answer is no. The world doesn't want to hear about culture from God's perspective. They don't like what they hear. After all, Paul clearly tells us in 1 Corinthians 1 that God has "made foolish the wisdom of the world" and that "the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing".

Yet I know from experience that as I relate His story of creation and salvation in terms people can relate to, it has a positive effect. For example, Donnel Wyche tells of how his father uses the Matrix movies to help people grasp spiritual concepts (even though the movies themselves preach an eastern perspective of existence). NT Wright speaks of a "hermeneutic of love" that respects the "otherness" of the loved and receives them as they are. Perhaps this is the basis for engaging at an intellectual level. Not for the world, in general, but for the sake of those who find it important. After all, God loves the intellectual elite as much as the poor and downtrodden.

Looking for Yourself

I'm not much on "self-actualization" and other pop-psychology trends, but there's probably more than a kernel of truth in the latest trend toward identifying our unique talents.

Years ago I bought the best-seller from Gallup Now, Discover Your Strengths: that "fully describes 34 positive personality themes ... (such as Achiever, Developer, Learner, and Maximizer) and explains how to build a 'strengths-based organization' by capitalizing on the fact that such traits are already present among those within it." I confess to never having read it (though I did read and enjoy the prequel First, Break All the Rules).

Then today at the bookstore I saw Stephen Covey's latest book, The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness with a similar theme, namely developing " an eighth habit to achieve personal and organizational excellence: 'Find your voice and inspire others to find theirs.'"

I haven't read Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Life but it, too, seems to be along the same vein (though more overtly scriptural than the first two).

But I think the story of Akiba excerpted from Dick Staub's
Staublog : sums up the essence of the issue quite well...

"The Talmud, the body of Jewish law, tells an illustrative story of Akiba, who on his deathbed worried aloud to his rabbi that he was a failure. His rabbi moved closer and asked why and Akiba confessed that he had not lived a life like Moses. The poor man began to cry, admitting he feared God’s judgment. At this, his rabbi leaned into his ear and whispered gently, 'God will not judge Akiba for not being Moses. God will judge Akiba for not being Akiba.”

The importance of prayer

I once read a quote by Martin Luther to the effect of "sometimes I have so much to do in a day, that if I don't start off with four hours of prayer, I'll never get it all done!" Would that I could say the same. Here, too, is a similar quote (more recent) by NT WrightGower Street: Interview with N.T. Wright (part 3 of 6): "So, for me, the sheet anchor is the time of prayer in the morning. I really dare not start the day without a time of Scripture reading and prayer. Even if the day is going to be frantically busy with lots of urgent things – and it’s not a matter of overpiety – I dare not run on empty. Actually, although it can be hard work, I love praying for the diocese. It is an amazing privilege to have a diocese like Durham, 250 parishes, with the task of holding them before God in prayer. It’s just an extraordinary thing. That’s absolutely central to a bishop’s task, is to be praying for the diocese and the people therein."

Online fun and games

YETISPORTS is my son Robert's current favorite online game site...he loves batting the penguins.

Greetings

It's finally time for me to enter the 21st century, only four years late! Now all I need to do is figure out how to IM and I'll be all set. I've been thinking about blogging for a little while, but a number of things conspired to drive me to it today...first I recently met Bud Gibson who is launching a company to help other company's communicate better, in part through blogs...second, I've been reading the Gower Street blog...he had the pleasure of interviewing NT Wright and has transcribed it for us fans).