Month: April 2011

A Poem For Saturday

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"In These Times" by Bob Hicok:

That's what a job is: a pencil to hold, a scalpel,
shovel, "A Statistical Analysis
of the Probability That Anyone Will Read
the Statistical Analysis," even such slippage
is a mind-hold that keeps some someone
from drifting off into irrelevance.
I could offer this in Hegelian or Satreian terms
of engagement before the void, but really,
if you're alive, and sentient,
you're an existentialist in that you know
most of what awaits is neither breath
or the electro-chemical dream of you
you carry forth and mix with fellow soothsayers
of the eternal mysteries, know intuitively
that work is money, honey,
but also and maybe moreso, is your hands
kept busy with needle and thread, hammer and scythe,
memo and counter memo, is you
joining the thrum and hum that is all there is
except what there is not.

The full poem is here.

(Photo: People looking for jobs wait in line to speak with potential employers at the Brooklyn Job Fair on April 13, 2011. Thousands attended the event which featured less than 80 employers. By Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The Weekly Wrap

Today on the Dish, Andrew meditated on the reason that is at the heart of his faith. Andrew remembered those lost to AIDS on this Good Friday, weighed the religious appeal of writing a living will, and reconciled being a fiscal conservative with HIV. Andrew picked apart the morality of Obama's choices in Libya, McCain strutted around, and Larison watched history repeat itself. Campaign coverage of Palin ebbed, but Andrew stuck to his guns on why Trig helped Palin and why transparency matters. Andrew rejected Justin Elliott's "definitive" debunker on the Trig question, and a teenager faked a pregnancy.

Trump's hair blanketed America, and forced all the other post-modern Republicans to act crazy. Thoreau inquired after all the anti-Birthers, Michelle Goldberg defended the left, and Ben Smith reminded us more than half of Democrats used to believe Bush was complicit in 9/11. Megan and Kevin Drum went another round on tax hike fixes for the deficit, and until tax code changes, most people pursue pure self-interest. Annie Lowrey imagined a debt ceiling catastrophe, Ezra looked at the long-term, and Bradford Plumer investigated who killed cap and trade. We examined whether vaccine deniers belong to the left or right, Freddie Deboer reassured us liberal indoctrination doesn't fly on college campuses, Conor urged cops to surveil themselves, we digested a violent turn in Syria, readers misdialed porn numbers, and science regenerated a hand.

Email of the day here, cool ad watch here, VFYW here, MHB here, and FOTD here.

Trumpmap
 

Thursday on the Dish, Andrew laid out a modest proposal to lower healthcare costs, we gawked at what we pay versus the rest of the world, while real Americans would rather cut defense than Medicare. Josh Marshall, Andrew and Politifact parsed whether Ryan's plan would end Medicare, Catherine Rampell cautioned us to examine what's covered by our current healthcare plans (hint: not much). Obama didn't tax himself too highly, readers came to his defense, and Avent had faith that DC will tackle the debt. The GOP's Birther problem ballooned, Andrew felt more alienated than ever from the GOP, while drawing closer to understanding Obama.

Palin plummeted in Alaska, and Andrew reiterated his respect for Trig, while still demanding some real answers. Romney cowered before Trump, we ran the numbers on Trump as an independent, and we held out hope for a libertarian candidate like Gary Johnson to end the drug war. Americans wanted limited government (in war), and Egyptians wanted an Islamic state like Americans believe in Birtherism.

Andrew reeled from the loss of two missed war journalists, Sebastian Junger honored them, and remembered how the AIDS epidemic changed real attitudes about homosexuality in America. Dahlia Lithwick faced off with Ramesh Ponnuru on the war on Roe v Wade, and David Link quelled our fears about DOMA's defense. China dominated the beer market, E.D. Kain longed for alternatives to college, and the drug war, not the drugs, caused violence on the streets. The Dish waded into the Deaf Culture wars, and readers laughed at a possible Poseur alert who loves their mobile device.  Cooked eggs helped make us fat, Andrew can't multitask when Judge Judy's on, and Lady Gaga almost rejected Weird Al.

Dissents of the day here, cool ad watch here, correction of the day here, chart of the day here, quotes for the day here and here, VFYW here, MHB here, FOTD here, and a poem for Holy Thursday here.

Vfyw
Savannah, Georgia, 9.45 am.

Wednesday on the Dish, Andrew used Louis CK to illuminate the right response to Kobe's slur, prized WikiLeaks but not the Pulitzer, and called Obama on revising "I am my brother's keeper." Steve Kornacki splashed cold water on cocksure Democrats, Ryan's plan actually bested Obama's, Andrew Romano reminded us raising taxes is on the table, and Frum begged the GOP to tackle it. Palinites complained that the media was ignoring her, the Trig story reached denouement, Geoffrey Dunn hoped to disprove the Trig birther conspiracies, and HuffPo rejected his article as a conspiracy theory of its own. Michael Scherer mocked the Palin / Trump policy disagreements and Andrew's eyes bulged when critics called Trump unserious.

Readers assessed how to solve Mexico's drug war, Jeremy Cherfas defended the poppy trade, and we checked in on ending marijuana Prohibition in America. Mission creep came to Libya and Joel Wing followed up on blood for oil. Gabby Giffords received better medical treatment than many soldiers, tea partiers in New Hampshire didn't mind gay marriage, and phone porn tricked customers. Josh Green psychoanalyzed Glenn Beck's brain in a wordcloud, readers defended uploading to the Internet's shared brain during conversations, and Josh Green savored silence. We peeked into the medicine cabinet of Dish readers, Kay Steiger considered the dearth of women with disabilities on film, and Americans loved their Medicare. Ben Adler explored the roots of gentrification, short readers were offered steroids, and the web debated whether to pity the white male. Rich people didn't realize they're rich, a royal wedding just isn't what it used to be, penguins giggled, trees came pollen, and Andrew weighed in on Gaga's Judas.

Chart of the day here, quote for the day here, MHB here, VFYW here, and the yesterday's VFYW contest psychoanalysis here.

Tuesday on the Dish, we kept an eye on the growing debt bubble, ideas for how much to raise taxes, and a possible turning point in Syria. We debated Trump's seriousness, Obama performed at Clinton's level, and Huckabee threw us for a loop on taxes. The Tea Party over taxes may be on the wane, and Obama's fate may be tied to gas prices. Mark Kleiman solved Mexico's drug war, Adam L. Silverman watched our withdrawal from Iraq, and BP definitely had its eye on Iraq's oil fields. The AP hounded the State Department on human rights for Wikileaks, Andrew questioned the lack of out gay arch conservatives, and reminded us this country won't be drug-free until it's people-free.

Readers assessed Harvard's value, and you can read the Harvard Magazine profile of Andrew here. We explored deafness as an ethnicity, Dave Weigel considered capitalism in all its messiness, short men gave us their dating horror stories, and a warning, don't check your device around Dish readers. Shakespeare played with our brains, Stephen Fry wanted more joy in language, babies pay attention to "uhs," and Andrew quenched his Palin thirst with some inspired fantasy blogging. Alexis dug up an amazing account of San Francisco's earthquake 150 years ago, Alex Massie celebrated name-calling in British tabloids, and Nige documented the world's adventures in bad filler. Glenn Greenwald mastered the age gap, gay marriage matters immensely for immigrants, Kate Sheppard stayed angry a year after the BP oil spill, and Linda Holmes reconciled the fact that we'll miss almost all the great art there is to experience.

Hathos alert here, endorsement of the day here, chart of the day here, quotes for the day here, here, here, and here, FOTD here, MHB here, VFYW here, and contest winner #46 here.

Face
By Philippe Desmazes/AFP/Getty Images.

Monday on the Dish, Andrew mulled the problems in both Ryan and Obama's plans, parsed Obama's poll numbers, and considered what's at stake in 2012. Andrew considered liberals vs progressives, remembered He Who Shall Not Be Named by GOP candidates, and we kept tabs on the S&P with a full web reax here. Andrew raged against our inablity to stop looking at our devices while with friends, and seconded readers on Palin's bizarre birth. Roger Ailes remained creepy, and Palin's ghostwriter hit it big with otherworldly toddler stories.

Andrew countered Max Boot on withdrawing from Iraq, Andrew Exum defended cluster bombs, and the Libyan war hurts the West. Brandon Garrett illuminated why the innocent confess to crimes they didn't commit, and John L. Allen Jr. questioned the fast-tracking of Pope John Paul II's sainthood. The Giving Tree still made readers cry, readers talked smack about Greyhound's service, and Andrew didn't believe in perfection, or dieting, for God. We checked in on the Mancession, 60 Minutes exposed the story we tell ourselves about the Middle East, and Andrew wiled away time on Google Maps. Scott Adams wrestled with the real world as school's hardest subject, readers defended history, and Charles Fishman argued water shouldn't be free. Creativity flows in blue rooms, Conor and Andrew appreciated the noise in coffee shops, and Christian movies suffered the same problems gay cinema used to. Readers debated dating short men, Street Carnage gaped at a new drug that's uppers for your uppers, and Obama declared a no-fly zone for Angry Birds.

Typo of the day here, hidden lives of Barbie and Ken here, map of the day here, Sully bait here, dissent of the day here, quote for the day here, VFYW here, MHB here, and FOTD here.

–Z.P.

 

A “Rigorous” Theology

[Re-printed from earlier today]

David Brooks is at his customary acute in reviewing The Book Of Mormon. But he misses, in my view, a critical step. Here's his bottom line on religion:

The only problem with “The Book of Mormon” (you realize when thinking about it later) is that its theme is not quite true. Vague, uplifting, nondoctrinal religiosity doesn’t actually last. The religions that grow, succor and motivate people to perform heroic acts of service are usually theologically rigorous, arduous in practice and definite in their convictions about what is True and False.

That’s because people are not gods. No matter how special some individuals may think they are, they don’t have the ability to understand the world on their own, establish rules of good conduct on their own, impose the highest standards of conduct on their own, or avoid the temptations of laziness on their own.

The religions that thrive have exactly what “The Book of Mormon” ridicules: communal theologies, doctrines and codes of conduct rooted in claims of absolute truth.

So David uses the limits of human reason and self-restraint to make a pragmatic case for fundamentalism. And this is, indeed, a core problem – perhaps the core problem – for organized religion in modernity. Mark Lilla pursues this theme in his under-appreciated book, The Still-Born God, which, in a gripping narrative, exposes the failure of liberal Christianity in modern Germany – a failure that led, in part, to Nazism. Since the godless totalisms of the 20th Century have now collapsed under the weight of their own lies, new totalisms – literal, fundamentalist, anti-enlightenment versions of religion – have taken their place.

And this is in part the argument of The Book Of Mormon, which was written and composed by atheists. It is that religion, even if obviously based on a massive scam, is nonetheless useful and even admirable in its encouragement of moral life. That's what I meant by describing the musical's message as "religion is both insane and necessary."

But the ultimate test of religion for a non-atheist is not: is this or that religion useful? Or even: is it necessary?

It is, rather: is it true?

And The Book Of Mormon rather deftly shows that, by any rational perspective, the literal Dali_Crucifixion_hypercube doctrines of Mormonism are manifestly untrue – perhaps because they are more easily exposed because they are so recently concocted. And that's why, to my mind, it is insufficient or condescending to argue that the literal truth claims of fundamentalist religion are irrelevant, as long as they reliably lead to happiness of morality. On this, I side with the new atheists who do literalist believers a service by taking them at their word.

My own view is that if Christianity is a useful lie then it should be abandoned by thinking people. If being a Christian requires one to believe literally that the world was created de novo 6,000 years ago, or that our species literally emerged one day from an actual garden of Eden, then I am not a Christian. It's my view that if something is not true, it cannot be countermanded by a God who is Truth itself. And so a sincere modern believer has no choice but to make distinctions between kinds of truths – metaphorical, spiritual ones and empirical, literal ones.

We cannot deny Darwin without also denying God, to put it provocatively, since God cannot be in contravention of Truth. And sincere Christianity is a faith, it seems to me, that can embrace the deepest truths about human existence and salvation as revealed by Jesus without also embracing every empirical nugget in the flawed, mis-copied, mis-written, second generation oral accounts of the life of Jesus, let alone the even older myths and stories the Jewish people told about themselves through the millennia.

And so, on Good Friday, we cannot know what actually happened in those last minutes on the Cross. Did Jesus cry out in despair, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me"? Or did he utter in completion the words "It is accomplished"? This is the literal choice we have between the Gospels of Matthew and John. They cannot both be empirically right. And they are not signs merely of the confusion that often comes from individuals' last words and moments. They indicate radically different ideas of Jesus' moment of truth: was he so human that even then, he still did not know for sure that his self-sacrifice was for something – or so divine he knew in advance the itinerary he tried not to choose in Gethsemane?

To my mind, the truth is both at a deeper spiritual level; even if both is literally an impossible position to take on Rt-picempirical grounds. Ditto the Resurrection. Was it a literal, take my shroud off and walk out experience? Or was it something more mysterious? Again the Bible tells us all sorts of contradictory things: Jesus is tangibly physically resurrected; he is strangely altered; those close to him can see him after his death and yet not recognize him at all on the road to Emmaus. These cannot all be literally true and yet they all point to a mystery at the core of our faith: He is risen.

My difference with David, I think, is that I still believe; and I refuse to believe in something that has been disproven, however socially useful or salutary or admirable its social or personal effects may be. Fundamentalism, in this sense, is not a rigorous theology. It is rigid resistance to a rigorous theology. It's a form of denial and despair. It is rigorous only within a theological structure that does not account for the growth and expansion of human knowledge. It is therefore, to my mind, an expression of a lack of faith rather than an excess of it. And the use of fundamentalism by those who do not even believe in it – for whatever purposes, good, bad or indifferent – is the real blasphemy.

Does a force exist that is behind everything we are and see and know? Is that force benign? Does that force love us? Was the only way that truth could be revealed was by God becoming man and sacrificing himself to show us the only way to save ourselves? Today, in the darkness of the Cross, I say yes to these questions, which go to depths that literal parsing of parables or Gospels misses entirely. Which is why Scorsese's version of the Passion is so much deeper and truer than Gibson's.

Perhaps this is too much for us. We are not gods, as David says. But in the face of this difficult task of faith, we have God to fall back on. Precisely because we are human. And we were given reason for a reason.

In the beginning was reason. And reason was with God. And reason was God.

This beginning of John's Gospel – I'm translating logos as reason – is my faith. And it is why fundamentalism is not my faith. You cannot set truth aside, even if you cannot fully see it. And you must not use truth, as if its truth did not finally matter; it must stand alone. As we must. Till the hour of our death as well.

The Debt Limit Fight, Ctd

Ezra Klein seconds Howard Gleckman. We must raise the debt limit:

It doesn’t matter which budget plan you’re looking at: our accumulation of debt might slow in the coming years, but it doesn’t stop. Obama’s budget requires another $7 trillion in borrowing over the next decade. Paul Ryan’s budget requires $6 trillion. The Simpson-Bowles recommendations would require about $5 trillion. Odd as that sounds, it’s actually okay — perhaps even good. A gradual fiscal adjustment is far safer for the economy than an abrupt contraction. As Steven Hess, chief credit officer of Moody’s ratings agency, puts it, “You don’t have to have extreme austerity right now to come up with a plan that is long term. It’s the long term trajectory that’s important.”

The Right To Record Cops

NY cops could face charges for fixing parking tickets. Conor Friedersdorf wants to level the playing field:

It isn't that NYPD officers are irredeemably corrupt, or that they're unfairly maligned, though there are instances when both of those things are true. The point is that even in one of the most professional, highly scrutinized police departments in the country, serious misconduct happens. … Over the years, law enforcement has used ever more sophisticated surveillance equipment to monitor citizens. As every police scandal reminds us, the ticket-fixing story included, there is good reason for citizens to become far more sophisticated in our monitoring of on duty police, and the law ought to permit our doing so.

Faces Of The Day

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Local school girls in traditional clothes of the Matyo minority react as boys throw water in Mezokovesd, some 130 km east of Budapest on April 21, 2011 during a rehearsal of the traditional Easter celebrations by the members of Mezokovesd folk dance group. Locals from northeast Hungary celebrate Easter with the traditional "watering of the girls", a fertility ritual rooted in Hungary's tribal pre-Christian past, going as far back as the second century AD. By Attila Kisbenedek/AFP/Getty Images.

Email Of The Day

A reader writes:

Myself notwithstanding, I’m always amazed at the contributions from your readers, their diversity, and the serious work they do.  My guess is your audience as a whole are the most holistically educated, open-minded, and in-tune anywhere in the blogosphere.  Seeing how technology and life has turned our attention spans into that of a fly, I can’t help but think of this group as a human hard drive, able to pull up previous discussions, make links between data and stories, and maintain a thread of thought or argument over the course of days, months, even years. 

I think that in today's world, where the sense of community is fading, knowing that we are part of something as cool as this invisible group of people is consoling, in a modern sense.

Our Libyan Miscalculation

Larison watches history repeat itself:

[T]he Libyan war was founded on the assumption that attacking another country would drive the population to turn against the government instead of realizing that the completely normal, human reaction of the majority of every nation on the planet is to resent foreign attacks and usually to defer to the government in an emergency.

This is what we would do, and it is as predictable as the sun coming up in the morning, but for some reason we have to go through the same exercise of overconfident miscalculation, puzzlement, and then the dawning realization that bad and unjust governments don’t automatically collapse simply because we wish they would. Perhaps next time, if there must be a next time, our government should come up with a plan that doesn’t rely so heavily on the willingness of regime loyalists to commit the equivalent of treason.