Michael Moore ~ A Modern Prophet?

I knew of Michael Moore vaguely; a fat guy who made documentaries which seem to anger and tremendous amount of folk. Then there was his famous anti Iraq war speech at the Academy of Awards, which was popular at the time and which seem to make him public enemy number one. I had never seen any of his documentaries.

But then there was an article in the last issue of Christian Century that really caught my eye. It started with an interview in 2009 by Sean Hannity of FOX news with Moore on his film Capitalism – all about corporate greed which led to the great recession. Hannity begin the interview  saying that Moore is an “unapologetic socialist” – are you not?” Moore corrects him saying, “Christian. I am a Christian, an unapologetic Christian. I believe in what Jesus said.” Hannity then replies that he, Hannity, is a Christian inferring that if he is Moore could not be. Hannity them says “I did theology” and asks Moore if he is Catholic and if attended mass this Sunday. Moore then asks Hannity what the gospel and the sermon was about. Hannity can’t remember and Moore continues that it was only two days ago.

Wolf Blitzer on CNN later in the year interviews Moore and infers that Moore is a left-wing Democrat and a multimillionaire (are these sins?) and again asks, “Are you a socialist?” Moore replies, “I am a Christian.” And then explains he believes we will all be judged by how we treat the least among us. And the interviews go on with Charlie Rose, Bill O’Riley and with the women on the View.

The article goes on and has a lot of content show Moore raising questions about who’s side is God on; what would Jesus do? Are we not our brothers and sisters keepers and seems to try to take Christianity back from the evangelical right. At this point I see Moore as a kindred spirit.

I also find out that Moore has a new book out called, Here Comes Trouble. So, it now resides on my Kindle and I’ve read about a quarter of it and I like it very much. I have found out a lot about Moore and what happened to him since the Academy Awards speech and that he has to have his own police force to protect him. He went through a period withdrawal and then entered the arena of documentaries again. He went to Roman Catholic Seminary; I think he got tossed out. He has incredibly deep family values and his time with his mother when she dies brings tears to your eyes. And, he has become physically fit.

I am reading his book like a box of chocolates and have put his documentaries on my Netflix instant queue and am looking forward to watching them.

I love the way Moore combines his religious teaching with his political beliefs and says, “If I have a clarion call, it is: Everyone off the bench. Everyone in the game. Citizenship is not a spectator sport.”

Michael Moore appears to me modern day prophet. And as prophets often do, he makes us uncomfortable with his ethical demands to live out the gospel with all the risks that entails.

Polling Bias?

“When did you quit beating your wife?” “Would you rather be red and dead?” “Would you prefer to kill Bill Clinton or Hillary Clinton?” “Do you think that all or just certain democrats should be in jail?” “Do you think Ronald Reagan or G.W. Bush should be cast into the outer rings of hell?”

All of the above are types of questions that pollsters should not ask. Admitted some pollsters are a bit trickier than others but there are polls that have a definite bias and should be known for their biases. 

One of the polls that is most respected in this country is the Gallup Poll, but the Huffington Press has recently detected what they believe is a bias in the polling. This bias is found that they typically produced polls that are more negative of President Obama than polls of other firms. The Post believes this is due to the way Gallup handles the racial composition of its samples. For instance this below:

We reviewed Gallup's polls over a two-week period from April 11 to 26.

Gallup's interviews showed Obama leading Romney by an average of 1.3 points (46.7 to 45.3 percent). Seven other national surveys conducted during that timeframe using similar methods put Obama ahead by a wider, 3.9-point margin (47.9 to 44.0 percent).

Here are a couple of graphs supporting their premise.

I find all of this very interesting and suggest you go to the following for the full story.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/17/gallup-poll-race-barack-obama_n_1589937.html?igoogle=1

What’s with the NRA?

I have a number of friends and family who belong to the NRA. They talk about how the NRA has training classes to help folk learn how to hunt responsibly which I think is a really good thing. But the things the upper echelon of the NRA says sound just as whacko as they come. There seems to be a real disconnect between local chapters and the pronouncements of the leaders of the NRA.

On  Politifact.com there have been 3 recent blogs about the NRA blaming President Obama for all the sins of the world and saying he will take everybody’s guns, ban hunting, destroying the second amendment, wants to give animals the right to sue hunters, is planning major cuts to the federal “Armed Pilots Program” (well that one is true), and he is sneaking around doing all this “under the radar.”

In truth, President Obama had done very little about gun control, which I think is too bad because I believe their needs to be far more regulation than there is. Gun ranges and gun meets, to which I have been to very few, but those few scared the crap out of me. Beer drinking dudes with weapons of mass destruction. Does a household need a bazooka, and antitank missile, and automatic arms to be safe? One fella down south told me the only reason we’ve never been invaded is because US citizens are armed. I just looked at him knowing reasoned response would not work. Too weird.

What I am disappointed in was Obama didn’t follow up on his promise to eliminate an amendment requiring the FBI to destroy records of gun buyers’ background checks and his avoidance of the subject.

One could go on with facts and figures about the need of gun control b but it seems to be one of those areas where reasoned argument based on facts have no sway. 

Ark Tweets

Recently I received a comment from Kate Croston with a delightful link to her website one in particular of what Noah might have tweeted from the ark. Just click on ark and you will find her article and website with delightful tidbits

What Does It Cost to get elected.

The chart below comes from Good magazine, I found it on Bill Moyers blog. 

Click on it to enlarge.

The Moyers blog reports that campaign spending has increased 5 times since 1982.

There has to be a better way.

It’s All Right to Lie

Remember when football player Rosie Greer sang on Marlo Thomas’ children’s album the song “It’s All Right to Cry. Crying gets the hurt out of you.” Today he might sing in a political song album, “It’s all right to lie, it gets the votes out for you.” Or image Mr. Rogers coming out to the children after he changes into his sweater and tells the kiddies, “It’s okay to lie, just like the campaigners do in the political neighborhood.”

It sounds a bit farfetched but it is what’s happening. One case in point (out of many that could come from any candidate in any party), Larry Corn told us that Mitt Romney was claiming the government would control half the economy once Obamacare was up and running. Romney continues to say it even when Glen Kessler of the Washington Post gave him a score of four Pinnochios. Tweak it, bend it, twist it however you want it’s still just a lie.

Over the past 20 years politicians have learned that you can make one blatant lie after another and get by with it. Even if you get caught in the lie, you won’t pay any consequences. We just seem to expect it of politicians today. That’s too bad.

Will the mainstream media call you out on your falsehoods? No way, there’s no money in it. Media buys and sells news, real investigative news doesn’t bring in the cash. If the caught lie is published at all it is lost in a bit on an inside page.

Now this has been true in local politics for a long time but now it is a basic of national politics.

Smart politicians have figured out the norms have changed says Mother Jones and smart politicians like Mitt Romney know it.

Obama is not above giving some spin to things, but I think it could cost him an election along with others that still play by the old rules.

Analysis: Romney is Smarter than Obama in today’s political arena. At least if that is how you define smart. Doublespeak at work and we are long past 1984.

Have You Ever Questioned the Existence of God?

Mother Jones recently reported a poll taken by the Pew Research Center asking voters if they ever question the existence of God. 86% of older voters say they never had while Milliennials (folk born after 1981) drop down to 68% never questioning God’s existence.

Mother Jones reports on this to show a changing base in the Evangelical Christians which constitute 36% of Republican voters. They also point out that younger Christians are turned off by attacks on gays and lesbians and basically more disillusioned with GOP politics. Ralph Reed, an evangelical political activist says it doesn’t mean a thing; youngsters may start out liberal but when they marry and have babies and pay taxes “We’ve got them.”

A couple of things here bother me. First, Evangelical Christians don’t speak for all Christians and all Christians are not Republicans. Speaking for myself I find the law and order, strict interpretation of laws (biblical and otherwise) absolutely counter to the teachings of Jesus who took on those folk (Pharisees, Sadducees and Zealots) of his day. His basic teaching technique, storytelling (parables) encouraged people to think through issues for themselves. And he was most inclusive of people who others excluded.

But what absolutely boggles my mind is that most folk say they never have questioned their belief in God. That amazes me! I can’t think of any religious tenant I hold that I have not questioned, lost faith in, and later either accepted or rejected it based upon biblical study and reason. Naively, I thought most folk were that way.

My conclusion on all this is that most folk today just don’t appear to think much. We seem to be an increasingly non reflective culture. Just give me a good job so I can live well, play a lot, and take care of my own. As for the future…well, who knows? And, that bothers me a lot.

The founding fathers knew that if democracy was to work it needed an educated, and interested and involved populace, voters. They were thinkers and reflectors and questioners who were serious about what government should be and how it should work. The same was true for religious leaders who exercised much more influence at the time.

Today, the voting public seems happy to drink beer, go to ball games and get excited about athletic contests, and watch mind numbing TV that have no real impact upon the world at all. No wonder the money brokers can manipulate the public, they just don’t think much and are myopic in what thinking they do.

The political issues of the day are jobs. But there seems to be little thought about whether the jobs affect the environment, are good for most folk, and have long lasting importance for the overall economy.

In my younger years I used to lose my faith with some regularity, but it kept sneaking back into my believing nature. Fortunately that is less true now, but I still wrestle with faith issues and believe God wants me to do that.

As to my faith in democracy and our current political track, I have little faith. My religious faith is based upon God. My political faith is based upon people. God I trust, people I am less confident about. Perhaps Reed is right, when kids age they just quit thinking beyond immediate needs. If true, that is very sad.