Well there you have it.......

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/09/four_george_fox_students_confe.html

FOUR students pulled this! Now I'm not trying to say that every student at George is racist, or that every evangelical is racist - but this incidents and others like it are indicative of a problem in the evangelical community. The focus on gay marriage, abortion and the militarization of Christian culture have all created an environment that fosters an "us vs them" mentality. The defacto segregation thats occurred between the suburban evangelical community and people of color is startling.

Its easy to see why these kids would see minority students getting different opportunities would be an injustice when they haven't been exposed to the evils of racism. Looking at what evangelical leaders write about - one could easily infer that the theological shortcomings of "The Shack", "secular" literature like the Golden Compass and their usual pet issues: gay marriage and abortion are all more important than racism. When evangelical leaders tie themselves to anti-affirmative action anti-immigrant politicians, these bonds become stronger.

What should be done about this? Churches need to make racial reconciliation a priority. Youth Pastors need to teach more social gospel theology - now I'm not saying throw the evangelical theology out the window (although again, I am not an evangelical, in case you couldn't tell), but students should be encouraged to not just to serve the poor in far away countries or in periodic visits to soup kitchens - they should build relationships with them. I'm willing to bet that in most suburban high schools and middle schools - regardless of how wealthy they are - there are probably significant immigrant populations. There lies the opportunity for an authentically "Christ-like" ministry - not sharing his word, but living it.

Now many of you might wonder why I felt the need to write this. Coupled with this dispatch from George Fox I recently heard a pretty disturbing account from a friend of mine. This friend isn't the type to make things up mind you. He hasn't been to church in some time but found himself in a conversation with someone who went to his former church. This person relayed a story about how they went to do some relief work in a place with a significant population of a certain minority. Along with an account of the work that they did they also offered their opinion about this group of people. They were "always looking for a handout", they "didn't deserve what they were getting since they weren't doing much before this disaster happened" and lastly they "certainly weren't like people in the mid west during a blizzard who knew how to pull things together".

Whats wrong with this picture? Now if this person was doing relief work out of the goodness of their own heart, or to feel better about themselves or even to brag about it thats one thing. But this person was a Christian and that Christian had done that work to follow Christ's teachings - his actions therefore, were quite simply, blasphemous in my opinion (that sentence was awful wasn't it?).

Now I'm not saying there isn't a strong social justice community in Christianity today. But my evangelical brothers and sisters have made me pretty darn concerned lately.

More racist Oregonians

http://wweek.com/wwire/?p=13285


Less than a week after a life-size cutout of Barack Obama was found hanging from a tree on the campus of George Fox University, another public display of hatred toward the presidential hopeful appeared in a Southwest Portland neighborhood.

On Sunday morning, Sharon Martini of Bridlemile came across an Obama yard sign with the word “Nigga” spray-painted on it, just steps from the Bridlemile Elementary School playground.

“I saw the sign around 11:45 a.m.,” Martini said Monday. “In fact, it is still there, just not upright. I photographed it this morning laying on the ground."

Martini also discovered “McCain Palin Fuck Obama” written on two play structures at the school, which were painted over by Sunday night before a youth soccer event.

BY: Mariah Summers



As a community we need to watch this very closely. I know its just a handful of people, but even two or three racists can't be tolerated in my mind. At the very least I'm sending a donation as soon as I get my paycheck.

Blakes big blog post week of 9/28/08

Top 3 things I'm likely to do this week:

1. Enjoy my first week of fall term
2. Enjoy my Wife's spinach lasagna
3. Punch the first person who blames this financial crises on minority homeowners directly in the mouth (for further explanation see http://www.stephenbainbridge.com/index.php/punditry/they_make_you_embarrassed_to_be_a_conservative)

National Politics Roundup:

THA BAYLOWT
This bailout vote should be pretty damn interesting, set to start at 1 PM EST today. So far from the debate one could infer the battle lines look like this so far:

Yep
Barney Frank (D-MA)
Gary Miller (R-CA)
Spencer Bachus (R-AL)
Mel Watt (D-NC)
Jim Marshall (D-GA)
Charlie Rangel (D-NY)
Tom Davis (R-VA)
Paul Kanjorski (D-PA)
Chris Shays (R-CT)
Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY)
Chaka Fattah (D-PA)
John Dingell (D-MI)
Maxine Waters (D-CA)
John Tanner (D-TN)
Jim Oberstar (D-MN)
Paul Ryan (R-WI)
Bill Foster (D-IL)
John Spratt (D-SC)
John Campbell (R-CA)
Melissa Bean (D-IL)
Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

Naw
Ron Paul (R-TX)
Virgil Goode (R-VA)
Gresham Barrett (R-SC)
Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA)
Barbara Lee (D-CA)
Ted Poe (R-TX)
Judy Biggert (R-IL)
Peter DeFazio (D-OR)
Darrell Issa (R-CA)
Scott Garrett (R-NJ)
Jeff Miller (R-FL)
Jeff Flake (R-AZ)
Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)
Louie Gohmert (R-TX)
Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-MI)
Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE)
Todd Akin (R-MO)
Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL)
Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)
Steven LaTourette (R-OH)
Michelle Bachmann (R-MN)

So far what we're seeing are members going beyond party lines to assert their own positions, ie what they actually believe should be done. What do I think? Honestly I have no clue. I am afraid that if the Democrats own this bill and it becomes unpopular Obama may get dragged down and lose in November. This would be really unfortunate for a lot of reasons, the least of these being that although theres a huge amount of blame to go around for this crisis - most of it goes to the bush administration.

THA DEBAYTE:

At times the whole thing seemed pretty tedious. I think Obama really did benefit from all those primary debates, but still, neither him nor McCain are great debaters. Looking at polling it seems that the whole thing was a victory for Obama. We'll see how the daily trackers go this week. If Obama continues this lead he could very well win this election. Thats assuming there isn't an October surprise around the corner.

***

Oregon Politics Roundup:

Obama effigy hung at George Fox
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hlnR7kQP7tXQKA0872BAweYKqPFQD93DPDBG0

You always have to cringe about stuff like this, especially when its in our state. Honestly I'm surprised stuff like this doesn't happen more often in insular evangelical communities. In my experience with churches I've certainly come across more than my share of implicitly racist, anti-arab and us vs them sentiment. In many ways mainstream evangelical culture has become the culture of suburban white America, I have a feeling we'll be dealing with the consequences of that for a long time.

Jeff Merkley: Kicking ass and eating Hot Dogs

http://www.pollster.com/polls/or/08-or-sen-ge-svm.php

Our Senate race is now one of the most exciting races in the country. How did Merkley do it? I think a great part of it has to do with Obama's coattails and of course the large gains in voter registration for the Oregon Democratic Party. I think another part of Merkley's surge is due to Gordon Smith's campaign. His ads have been too negative, the illegal immigrant scandal at Smith Frozen Foods and the fact that hes alienated his GOP support by praising Obama in his positive ads have all contributed to this opportunity for the Democrats to pick off the last Republican senator on the west coast.

Kate Brown and Rick Dancer - who are they again?

"According to a poll conducted by the Portland Tribune and Fox 12, 33 percent of Oregonians said they would be backing Brown, and 25 percent said they would vote for Dancer. That leaves 38 percent of voters undecided in the race for Oregon's Secretary of State."

Holy smokes! 38 Percent? I keep on telling people how important this race is, as the winner will decide our new congressional boundaries in 2010. I'm sure the upcoming debates will sway some folks, and again, Obama will have some nice coattails.

***

In other news.....

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND ARE PLAYING THE SUPERBOWL~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, an event over 30 years in the making. This also sets the tentative release for the next E street band album sometime in early 2009. Great news all around. My hopes for the setlist? I'd like him to play some of these kinds of songs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_ynmzbFsh4



Highly unlikely I know. I just hope we get something more than Born in the USA era hits.

Movie Review:

"Slacker Uprising" - Michael Moore - 2008

Two Stars **/*****

Theres a reason why Michael Moore released this for free, it would have been panned unmercifully by critics. Although the musical performances are great the messianic attitude of moore is more than palpable. As usually he he portrays his opposition as idiotic whack jobs. Which is true in many cases, but I've encountered the same kinds of people among democratic ranks. He also makes a point of mentioning that the cities he visited went for Kerry as some evidence of his power of persuasion. Wow, large cities and college towns went for Kerry? NO SHIT SHERLOCK. Watch Michael Moore's next scathing expose about how rurual counties are more likely to vote Republican.

Funny Youtube of the week:

David Letterman........

Makes up for the past five years of suckitude:

Woah

Man, what a day. Needless to say we are witnessing some of the most significant events in American History - certainly the most significant since 9/11. I have decided to hold any comments about McCain's decision and the bailout situation in General until this weekend. Shocking, I know.

Top Three things I've enjoyed today:

1. Amber's Cooking
2. Tom Waits
3. This Video:

Tomorrow night......

Tony Blair on Charlie Rose. Should be pretty darn interesting.

Will Washington residents finally grow a pair?

http://www.masstransitnow.org/the-plan/

I must say, this initiative is pretty darn impressive. I've often been underwhelmed by public transit in the emerald city so I'll be watching this with a great deal of interest. Sadly, with the economy the way it is I'm not sure residents will vote for ANY tax increases (even small ones) regardless of the potential long-term savings. Still, with fuel costs increasing its hard not to see initiatives like this being more politically viable in the future (like a high speed rail connection between Portland and Seattle? A guy can dream can't he?).

Add this to their Gubernatorial race and Washington will be pretty darn interesting this November.

PS: How cool would a high speed rail connection between Seattle and Portland be?