Sunday, February 17, 2008

Caucuses and Churches and Change….Oh MY! (Part 2)

Part 2 of a comparison of political caucuses and churchs and change. This part on dealing with a ‘situation’.

“Church is much the same in its current desire to welcome hordes of now-distant young folks into their communities of faith. It misses the energy of young children, the creativity of youth and the hope found in the presence of young families.”—My Neighbor

I guess it IS like with politics; church that is. At least compared and contrasted with the above. It all depends on the ‘church’.

The point here being that our church in Littleton was not quite like my neighbor’s party caucus. There’s pretty good representation of all age groups there. And things don’t seem quite as raucous a caucus.

The problems begin, however, when they actually come. You walk in one morning, ready to enjoy your Sunday morning cup of coffee, and the pot is dry. You’d munch on a doughnut as a meager substitute, but some scrawny little punk just ran off with the last Danish. You head to the sanctuary to find your favorite seat, only to find it filled, and what in the world is the racket coming from the front of the room?

“Since when do we have guitars in worship? Who approved that anyway?

You head indignantly to the next leadership meeting to air your concerns, but you have been bumped down the docket so the new associate minister can talk to the group about a youth mission project. The seemingly benign conversation degrades into a more passionate argument about the overall mission of the church, and before you can get in your two cents’ worth, the youth choir starts warming up nearby.”—My Neighbor

I don’t think I’ve ever gone to the leadership of any church I’ve attended in the last 40 years, i.e., 1968, when I’d been ‘confirmed’. Even with ‘indignation’. Sometimes with concern. But never with ‘indignation’.

“Dejected, you take a handful of aspirin and ask yourself where the good old days went, and why it was that you wanted all this new blood in your church in the first place.”—My Neighbor

I don’t ask where the ‘good old days’ have gone, if I become gravely concerned about a particular ‘church’. If I find it is going against what I know to be the truth of a matter, I pray. And I ask guidance from a source superior to all others and I act accordingly. When advised to, I don’t go back to that place. I don’t get angry because people didn’t do what I thought they should. I just leave them to their own devices....whatever they may be. No anger involved whatsoever. Nor any headaches. Neither are called for. Sorrow may be called for. Certainly prayer for their sakes.

After all....it’s not MY problem. Rather, as I understand it, it is theirs.

More later....on coping with ‘change’.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Hiding My Light

It happened again today. Someone made some crack about “and don’t let them know what your IQ is.”

I AM SICK AND TIRED OF HAVING TO HIDE MY IQ AND MY EDUCATION AS IF I BOUGHT THEM ON THE BLACK MARKET!

I am sick and tired of hearing that you can’t discriminate against the handicapped, but it’s okay to discriminate against me, because I’m smart. I have to eat, too.

What is all this? Part of the “dumbing down” I keep hearing about? Why isn’t there some sort of law saying that you will hire the most talented and the most qualified, especially in schools and colleges?

Dumbing Down Example 1: Years ago I was hoping to get a job in the local school district as a school librarian. I had gotten a Master’s in Library Science. I had the Professional Teacher Education credits on my undergraduate degree. I had the state certification. I had two years teaching experience and three years library experience. I did some substituting while I looked for work. One day I substituted for a high school librarian. Someone in the school told me he’d been put into the position the previous year. He had the minimum qualifications for the position: an undergraduate teaching degree and 9 hours of library/ed media coursework. I had about 75 hours of coursework in library/ed media (a master’s and an undergraduate minor). When the librarian had retired the administration said to him,”You’ve taken some classes, are you interested?” He had to take one class that summer, and he was in, because the teacher’s union made the schools take minimally qualified teachers who were already on the payroll over better qualified people who weren’t. I went to work in private industry in another city. So much for schools advertising they hire the “best qualified” people. And a generation later they wonder why so many students have to take remedial classes in college.

Dumbing Down Example 2: When I finished my Master’s, you wouldn’t be considered for a professional position in a college or university library unless you had a second Master’s (the “subject master’s”) or a doctorate. Now I’m looking for work again, and I see college and university jobs advertised that don’t even mention a second advanced degree. What happened? Have colleges and universities reduced their standards, right when there are more people than ever obtaining advanced degrees? Was this done to accommodate the Ward Churchills of academia?

Dumbing Down Example 3: One of our City Council members works as a recruiter at a local college. Yet this person’s bio on the City’s web site says nothing about education at all. This person keeps talking about the importance of education for young people, yet doesn’t talk about his own at all. Has it gotten so bad that someone who works for a college won’t mention his education out of fear of … what? “Acting white?” Not being a “common” man?

Dumbing Down Example 4: A young friend with a master’s degree has mentioned, on more than one occasion, the difficulty he and his wife are having finding “like minded” individuals in this City to be friends with. He means young couples in their late twenties/early thirties with good educations, smarts, and a willingness to do something socially besides discuss what happened on this week’s “American Idol.”

Has there been some cultural paradigm shift, that we outsource professional work to foreign countries, and import professionals from them to do work that has to be done here (doctors, for example) because we simply don’t value education and brains the way we used to?

Or did I fall down the wrong rabbit hole?

Monday, February 11, 2008

Caucuses and Churches and Change….Oh MY! (Part 1)

The other day there was an interesting article in the Chieftain. Another item by my neighbor.

In many ways, I was very happy to see it.

In other ways, it inspired me to comment...here…

“I took part in my precinct’s caucus on Tuesday, which was a first for me. It was crowded, brimming with energy, and sometimes bordering on chaotic.”—My Neighbor

I’m happy to hear this. It seems to be something sweeping the country; this increase in people attending caucuses. In our own, the party across the proverbial aisle from his party, we had an 800% increase in attendees. The vast majority being people like my neighbor who had never before attended such a gathering.

“As many have read by now, there was an eclectic blend of seasoned veterans and newbies, all trying to learn how to work a pretty confusing political system together. In a lot of ways, it was a metaphor for what the church is going through as well.”—My Neighbor

Indeed, we, the distaff and I—as co-chairs of our precinct—spent a LOT of time explaining the processes of the caucus AND the forthcoming County Assembly.

“The experienced members of the caucus were thrilled to see such an unprecedented number of people turn out, and to see so many younger folks excited to take part. You could feel the energy in the air, and it was all smiles, at least for a little while.”—My Neighbor

Not quite as many younger folks amongst us so-called ‘conservatives’.

On the other hand, there were all smiles pretty much throughout the activity.

“As generally is the case, the glow waned as we got down to business. Like many church denominations, the caucus process has layers upon layers of processes and policies, some of which might seem arcane or even pointless to the untrained eye. However, the veterans in the group began to navigate the procedural waters with ease, only to be hung up, time and again, by the naive, inquisitive, and probably annoying, newcomers.”—My Neighbor

Ah....

One of my favorite sayings is, “There are advantages and disadvantages to every position one can take, or find themselves in.”

Not much annoyance at our event. Just people asking occasional questions and getting answers from the ‘veterans’.

“We were much like preschool children, with our hands in everything, asking “What’s this?” and “Why do you do it that way?” Though the inclination is to answer the 20th question with a resolute “Because I said so,” the leaders summoned the patience and tried over and over to bring us up to speed.

What began as a jubilant celebration of political activism turned into an hours-long marathon of deciphering rules, deliberating about the appointment of delegates, a few phone calls and appeals to the local party representative.

By the time we finished, no one was entirely satisfied with what we had accomplished, and everyone looked tired and beleaguered.”—My Neighbor

Wowzers!

More to follow.....

Saturday, February 02, 2008

Caveat Emptor — Cable Service

Another great reason to kill your television.

The other day, someone made comment about my life-style choice; regarding no television. Implied it was my own fault I wasn’t getting certain forms of information; specifically being able to record City Council sessions on my VCR via the local cable channel 17.

I didn’t go into much detail as to WHY I made that choice, about ten years ago. I didn’t think it relevant. Besides I didn’t want to drag out the meeting any longer than it was already going to go.

And the only reason I mention it now is because of THIS article.

A $2000 bill for equipment the cable service user lost during a tornado??!?!?!?

We’re talking about some SERIOUS ‘windfall’ profits here. And the Time-Warner Cable legal department must be expecting some serious bonus packages this year if it flies.

Who know that that stupid box was worth that much.

So...if some wind storm or fire or flooding or burglars damage, destroy or steal your cable box, be prepared......

Personally? I still suggest killing your television. 

Friday, February 01, 2008

A Modest Proposal

What to do about ‘illegal combatants’ or....

...can’t we just cut off their heads with a dull knife, video-tape the operations, show them on YouTube.....and have DONE with it?

I’m in an discussion with some people over on Roger L. Simon’s blog. Here’s the the link.

As with many such discussions, the original topic has been set on the back-burner while someone wants to exorcise some particular, personal demon(s). In this instance, something to do with the concepts of ‘torture’ and, for lack of a better term, ‘illegal combatants’.

Sooner or later, Roger is going to close that thread. Therefore, I’ve decided to open this one in order to futher examine this idea of how people running around killing other people without uniforms or distinguishing insignia should be ‘treated’ vis-a-vis the Geneva Conventions and, as preached in the US Army, Law of Land Warfare.

Read the text in the link to Roger’s web-site and provide your comments on what we should do with these people. It’ll probably be an issue in the forthcoming general election.....