Trip to Nicaragua

Folks, my apologies for being rather slow with my posting of late. I will be even slower the next 2 weeks since I will be out of the country and without internet access (oh no, a fate worse than death). I will be in Nicaragua as part of the delegation from the Central Southeast Association of the Ohio Conference of the United Church of Christ to establish a partnership between our Association and Iglesia Mision Cristiana. Their annual meeting begins on Thursday, 27 March. A delegation from Nicaragua will be in the Columbus area at the end of April and beginning of May for the Spring Meeting of the Association. I've never been to Central America, so I'm excited about the trip (despite the fact that I don't speak any Spanish). I'm sure I'll have pictures and stories when I return.

Easter trivia

As you may or may not be aware, the date of Easter is set based on the lunar calendar. Specifically, Easter (at least in the west, Orthodox Easter is a different date), is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. Since the spring equinox occurs on 20 March, the earliest that Easter can occur is 22 March. The latest Easter can occur is 25 April. This year, Easter falls on 23 March. The last time that it occurred this early was 1913, so there are some people alive who have seen it this early before. The last time it fell on 22 March was 1818 (so no one alive now saw that one). The next time it will fall on 23 March is in 220 years (2228) and the next time it will fall on 22 March is 2285, so I don't expect to see it. :(

Jeremiah Wright and why the mainstream media doesn't get it

I started a rant about this earlier, but never actually posted it. In the meantime, some better writers than I have posted some good articles, so that I don't have to. This one points to several of the best, so I'll just point you there. Also, check out this story from The Christian Century from last May about Trinity UCC. Also, I thought this note from Rev. John Thomas was great. My last thought on the subject for today, I read another story today that I can't find a link to now (I'll update when I find it again) that made a good point. During the 80s and 90s, white preachers from the "Religious Right" could get away with saying how screwed up our country was and be invited to the White House. The article clearly said it better, I hope I can find it again tomorrow.

Walking in a winter wonderland

We've gotten about 12 or 13 inches of snow so far and it is still falling, so we're not going anywhere today. The snow is almost over Ellie's back. See more of the snow pictures here.

Christian Principles in an Election Year

I first saw this over on the UCC blog (the original from the National Council of Churches is here), but I thought it was good enough to repeat here.

Your church, your communion, and the National Council of Churches USA do not endorse any political party or any candidate.

Be that as it may, our Christian faith compels us to address the world through the lens of our relationship to God and to one another. Public discourse is enhanced as we engage civic leaders on the values and ethics affirmed by our faith. At the same time, religious liberty and the integrity of our democracy will be protected as candidates refrain from using faith-based organizations and institutions for partisan gain. We offer these 10 principles to those seeking to accept the responsibility that comes with holding public office.

1. War is contrary to the will of God. While the use of violent force may, at times, be a necessity of last resort, Christ pronounces his blessing on the peacemakers. We look for political leaders who will make peace with justice a top priority and who will actively seek nonviolent solutions to conflict.

2. God calls us to live in communities shaped by peace and cooperation. We reject policies that abandon large segments of our inner city and rural populations to hopelessness. We look for political leaders who will re-build our communities and bring an end to the cycles of violence and killing.

3. God created us for each other, and thus our security depends on the well being of our global neighbors. We look for political leaders for whom a foreign policy based on cooperation and global justice is an urgent concern.

4. God calls us to be advocates for those who are most vulnerable in our society. We look for political leaders who yearn for economic justice and who will seek to reduce the growing disparity between rich and poor.

5. Each human being is created in the image of God and is of infinite worth. We look for political leaders who actively promote racial justice and equal opportunity for everyone.

6. The earth belongs to God and is intrinsically good. We look for political leaders who recognize the earth's goodness, champion environmental justice, and uphold our responsibility to be stewards of God’s creation.

7. Christians have a biblical mandate to welcome strangers. We look for political leaders who will pursue fair immigration policies and speak out against xenophobia.

8. Those who follow Christ are called to heal the sick. We look for political leaders who will support adequate, affordable and accessible health care for all.

9. Because of the transforming power of God’s grace, all humans are called to be in right relationship with each other. We look for political leaders who seek a restorative, not retributive, approach to the criminal justice system and the individuals within it.

10. Providing enriched learning environments for all of God’s children is a moral imperative. We look for political leaders who advocate for equal educational opportunity and abundant funding for children’s services.

IRS v. UCC

You may have heard by now that the IRS is investigation the UCC (and threatening loss of tax exempt status) because of the speech that Sen. Obama gave at last year's General Synod in Hartford, CT. There has been plenty of coverage, so I won't rehash too much of it, but it still seems an awful lot like it is politically motivated (whether by more fundamentalist members of the UCC as has been rumored or by someone out to embarrass Sen. Obama remains unclear). The invitation (one of dozens of speakers including Bill Moyers and Lynn Redgrave) was to a UCC member to discuss how his faith affected his life in politics. The invitation was extended before he became a presidential candidate and the leaders at Synod went out of there way to make sure that there was no campaigning allowed and didn't come close to an endorsement, so it is hard to see how they could have violated the tax exempt status. Regardless, after 7 months (and coincidentally just before the Ohio primary?), the IRS makes it public that they are investigating. While they probably have an obligation to investigate to avoid the appearance of impropriety, the facts here would seem so overwhelming that they ought to quickly end the investigation by finding that the denomination did nothing wrong. The facts are so overwhelming that a prestigious Washington, DC law firm has agreed to take the case on for free and the lead is a former Solicitor General of the United States who (I believe) has never lost a case before the US Supreme Court. Sigh....

Some random thoughts

It has been a while since my last entry. I've just been busy. Erin's season ended with a heartbreaking 3 point loss to UC-Clermont in the ORCC semifinals. OU-L led most of the game (by as many as 10 in the second half), but some questionable officiating late and just not hitting some of their late shots cost them. It was a disappointing ending, but they had a pretty good season (18-14 or something like that)

Ohio got a lot of attention due to the tight Democratic race for President. I was actually kind of hoping that this past Tuesday would put an end to it until the conventions because, frankly, I'm tired of it. Alas, that was not to be, but at least I won't get all those automated calls in my answering machine (at least until Oct).

The Buckeyes men's basketball team got the win they needed to keep any hope of an NCAA bid alive when the upset #15 Purdue in overtime on Tuesday. Now they need to do the same to Michigan State and get a win in the Big Ten tournament or they'll be going to the NIT.

They're calling for the biggest storm since 1993 (I honestly don't remember a bad storm in 1993, but that's what they said on TV this evening) in the next 2 days. We've been getting hit with storms every Tuesday and Friday for the last 2 months, but they're talking about 5-12" out of this one. I don't mind, I love snow.