The One-Eyed “God”

Have you heard about this? On Feb. 17, 2009 all TV broadcasts will switch from an analogue signal to a digital signal. No shocker there. After all, everything is moving toward a digital signal; it was only a matter of time before TV broadcasts made the complete switch. So what makes this worthy of a blog post? I’m glad you asked.

In yesterday’s Sunday Oregonian I read an article titled “Digital TV: Plot thickens Feb. 17, 2009” by Charles Pope. If you don’t have time to read the full article, allow me to summarize. The Feb 17 switchover is not a date set by the broadcast executives, but rather a date set by the government. Congress is now holding a series of meetings to ensure that the transition goes well, because if it doesn’t the American people will be pointing their fingers at the government and asking why all of their TVs have gone black. In addition the article states that “The federal government will spend $1.5 billion to provide $40 coupons to viewers who need to buy converters so their old analog TVs will work.” The remainder of the article goes on to describe the fact that despite efforts both in the private and public sectors, no comprehensive plan is yet in place.

Allow me to enumerate all of the things that anger me about this article.

1. The government should not be the one to dictate the transition to digital television. Is this what they’ve been paid to do? Is this the top priority of the US Government? Surely they can allow the private execs the latitude of making these decisions for themselves? I’m sure we did not need our government to intervene and set a mandatory switchover date.
   
2. Now that the government has overstepped their bounds, they have brought upon themselves a huge problem that they should never have had in the first place: What if it all goes wrong? Congress is actually holding a series of special meetings to discuss the “crisis” of 45 million people not being able to watch an episode of Jude Judy. If they’d have kept their nose out of it in the first place, they wouldn’t have to worry about a contingency plan. Allow the corporate execs to make those decisions and suffer the wrath of the public should it go wrong. Let’s not spend valuable Congressional time and money ensuring the general public has access to their daily soap operas.
   
3. $1.5 Billion to offer consumers coupons on digital converters. This is on top of all of the time and money already wasted on this fiasco. $1.5 Billion. We can’t guarantee the longevity of Social Security. We can’t provide healthcare to millions of children nationwide. Our elderly can’t afford prescriptions. And yet, we can spend $1.5 Billion to ensure Americans can rot their brains in front of the boob tube.

This is completely ridiculous. If all of you could understand how hard my fingers are hitting the keyboard at this moment…

My kids do not have healthcare, but I’ll rest easy tonight knowing that nobody in America will miss the next episode of Survivor. What a load of crap.

Where is our hope?

Psalm 71: 3-5 (a misguided paraphrase) 3. Be my rock of refuge, to which I can always go; give the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress. 4 Deliver me, O my Country, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of evil and cruel men. 5 For you have been my hope, O Sovereign Land, my confidence since my youth.

Blasphemous? Yes. But do these horrendous edits to Scripture express an uncontested shift for many U.S. Christians? What really is our hope?

In most churches today gay marriage, abortion, posting of the 10 Commandments, and prayer in schools are all political hotspots. But I want to know if they ought to be. Is that the arena in which to address these issues? After all, what will it accomplish? What if we were successful in banning gay marriage and abortion? What if we reinstated corporate prayer in schools and posted the 10 commandments in every public building? What then?

Will banning gay marriage stop homosexuality? Will banning abortion completely stop infanticide? Will instituting prayer in schools make children into believers?

My church recently put on a production of You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown. They opened up auditions to the congregation and to the community. In the end, the role of Charlie Brown was played by a man from the community who happened to be gay. He and another non-Christian cast in the production were always invited to stay for prayer after rehearsal. They were also told that they may feel free to leave should they choose. They always stayed. When the production was finished the actor playing Charlie Brown remarked that he was surprised that he had been welcomed and treated like everyone else despite his lifestyle. He then added – “but then again you are theater people so that makes a difference.” The director was then able to share that it wasn’t because of being a part of “the theater crowd”; instead this is actually how our church is. To which the man responded, “Yeah, but you’ve never had anything that you felt you had to keep from the church.” She was then able to tell about her painful experience of confessing to the church pastors that she had proceeded with an abortion years before and that she did not feel that she could go on ministering in the church as a result. She then talked about the loving and accepting response she received from the pastoral staff and the resulting ministry she has been able to do in the church since.

That is the church doing what it was called to do and that is what is going to change lives. Let’s spend a bit more time being the church and a lot less time being political lobbyists. We might actually see some change in this country.

It's ALIVE!!! (almost)

So for those that don't know, I've been working on my mother-in-law's '72 Superbeetle. It is nearly running. All that is left is to adjust the idle speed and put on new tires. I have the tires; I just need to find the time to put them on. So in the mean time, feel free to enjoy the pics. For those of you in Oregon, you should be seeing my drive this baby soon!!!