theo|digital

John Edwards’ campaign has announced that he will quit the presidential race from a speech this afternoon in New Orleans – the same place he started in 2006. Despite his white, white teeth – he was outshined by Obama and Clinton. I respected him for his consistent focus on poverty in America, although sometimes the rhetoric of “two Americas” sounded more like he was encouraging a new proletarian revolt.

John McCain won Florida, and for the first time, it’s sorta legit to say there is a front-runner for the Republican race. Gotta be honest, his “grinning thumbs-up” thing reminds me a little of Nixon. :-7 And his policy on Iraq makes me wonder if he can get to the White House in the general election. TIME Magazine reporter James Careney quotes him this week on Iraq:

It’s almost a ludicrous argument – ‘How long are we going to stay?’” McCain insisted to me between campaign stops in Florida’s panhandle. “It’s like asking ‘How long are we going to stay in Japan?’ Well, we’ve been there since World War II.”

This is typical of McCain – he calls it like he sees it instead of resorting to political rhetoric. No political political communications director in his right mind would let his candidate say that right now. And as much as I don’t like to hear that about Iraq, it makes me wonder if it’s just true, as bitter as a pill it is to swallow.

President Bush’s State of the Union speech was Monday night. The events still gives me goosebumps (I’m such a political nerd). It was his last one. If you missed it, you can read it, see the eight main points, or just the biggest words. Most interesting thing to me? His threat to veto to stop congress from adding “earmarks” that haven’t been voted on.

What was notable about Obama’s win in the South Carolina Democratic primary (Republican primary already happened) was how big it was. Most people expected Obama to win it, but it was going to be close. Which direction would the “black vote” go? In the past, the Clintons were well supported by African-Americans. Today’s numbers? 80% supported Obama.

But he doesn’t want that to be his message. I watched his speech tonight, and it was impressive. I actually got goosebumps twice. As an orator, he’s significantly better than the other two Democrats.

Several things he said that I noted, and make me wonder if I’ll wind up voting for him.

• Speaking of politics, he said that the current climate is too partisan. We can’t even acknowledge when a Republican has an idea! he says. And he vowed change. I don’t know if he can change that, but I like the message.
• Speaking of race, he emphasized both black and white relations and black and latino relations as areas we can still be better in. I do believe that race relations can be improved by national leadership.
• Twice he mentioned this idea of Republican voters crossing over in order to vote for him. One of his examples was a former staffer for controversial South Carolina politician Strom Thurmond who today was knocking on doors for Obama.
• “I think of the elderly woman who sent me a contribution the other day – an envelope that had a money order for $3.01 along with a verse of scripture tucked inside. So don’t tell us change isn’t possible.” (the full transcript)

In other politics news, Huckabee still seems willing to defend McCain when even though they are in competition. And whoops – back to Obama (and this could be big) – the only living daughter of JFK officially endorses Obama as like him.

Just sayin’.
(Stole this from my good friend Nick.)

ps – spent the late evening flopped on Champaign couches with my friend Ben talking about Once.

One of my new increasing interests is investigating some of the theology that has been passed down to me informally in Great Commission Ministries and my local church at the UofIllinois. Some of it is very standard, but other portions are more unique to the current Christian world, and I’ve been curious of their sources (besides scripture).

One of the definitions of the church that we’ve used is: “a family, body, and army rooted in faith, hope, and love.“

I took an aside this semester and wrote a short expansion of this definition for one of my theology classes. It only made me like it more. Furthering what I had been taught/taught in the past, I put the definition “in parallel” with itself, and also God as Trinity – ending up with this:

Read it, and feel free to tell me what you think.

Brought to you from the Stalling-Because-I-Don’t-Have-Time-To-Really-Blog-Dept:

I’m sure this isn’t new. But it’s my cool web thing of the day. Been staring at it for longer than I should, prolly. The key question: is she spinning clockwise or counter-clockwise?

Okay, back to stuff.

The stump speech is the repeat comments that the candidate gives multiple times a day when he is on the campaign trail. It’s rhetoric. Because I’m nerdy enough to sit here and watch them online, I can bring you direct quotes. Here’s a few fun ones from Romney who’s currently stumping in Michigan along with McCain and the others:

I spent my life in the economy.

~ Mitt Romney. As opposed to… floating above it? Hanging out with it?

I think it’s time we had someone as president of the United States who’s actually had jobs in the private sector and knows how the economy works!

~ Romney’s next remarks, about one minute after explaining that his Dad was the head of a car company and was escorted to the International Auto Show by drivers and a motorcycle escorts.

(ps – I didn’t know having a job taught you how the economy works! Let’s elect the Wendy’s late-shift manager.)

Watch the whole stump speech.

About to hit bed, but a few quick biased thoughts to keep us in the mood that now is when lots of the real presidential election is happening – not later in November.

Democrats. No surprise, despite heavy press to the contrary. Why is the New York Times calling his result a “sharp blow” and “startling?” He got 2nd place, but it was only the difference of a few thousand people. This race is still Clinton and Obama (tonight’s speech like a black-gospel sermon), with Edwards (aka hans solo) trailing a distant third. ps – did clinton get teary eyed?

Republicans. Another less dramatic result than CNN would have you believe. Huckabee dropped from 1st to 3rd. But it was expected (New Hampshire isn’t nearly as evangelical Christian). Will do well in SC. Go McCain on winning – and I don’t see why not – I still find him a national candidate. Romney on the other hand, seems to be (sadly) sticking in there at 2nd (watch his campaign remove McCain campaign signs). I wish the mechanical wonder would be removed himself. Oh, and if Guiliani doesn’t get a big win in Florida, he’s toast.

ps – the early stuff is important, but still just fireworks. Bill Clinton in 1992 got 3rd place in both Iowa and New Hampshire. He came back to win in Illinois. (Illinois friends – Vote on Feb 5th).

Aw geesh. Okay, I’m not going to be able to concentrate on theology with all the politics going on. How ’bout I just admit I’ll be posting more political stuff for a little while (at least until Feb 5).

I watched some of the ABC New Hampshire debate at St. Anselm College Jan 5. We watched the clips off youtube. It was spirited and (mostly) helpful, especially assisted, I think, by the looser format that allowed for longer than soundbite answers, and real interaction. Charles Gibson has significantly more gravitas than the CNN anchors, and even inspired a sincere apology from McCain when he trampled over his alloted time.

Several tips from me when watching debates:

• Read a fact checking site, like this one from the Washington Post. They’re great at examining those numbers which get thrown around, many of which will have less cred than Michael Moore under the influence of truth-serum.
• Read transcripts, but remember they don’t catch the facial expressions and tone.
• Know that the after-stories about the debate (who “won”) are influenced by the “spin rooms” – the off-camera media-arena where campaign spokespeople correct mistakes and try to add things to the record their candidate may not have gotten so well. Check out this great BBC article on Sunday’s spin room (ps – notice the name of the journalist – heh).

The video above was only part 1 of 9 for the republican portion. Want to see the fireworks? Some good ones in the last 2.5 minutes of clip 2 of 9.

Okay, after a short hiatus, back to further thoughts on Christians and culture. (ha. eventually we may get back to our catalyst thought – Christian reaction to the Golden Compass).

I think I’ll dive forward into a couple more thinkers on this, then come back for more reflection later. Let’s hit current Anabaptist thought. I’m a newcomer to this tradition (sometimes referred to as the “reformation left”) which spawned current Mennonites, Brethren, etc. My group GCM has some theological relationship to this group (whether they know it or not) because of their emphasis on “New Testament Christianity”

The Anabaptist theology of culture can be in part represented by John Howard Yoder (1927-1997) and Duane Friesen. Yoder would make the initial point that culture cannot be seen monolithically, as Niebuhr does in his classic typologies of Christ and Culture. Instead, we must understand culture as something all people already are embedded in, or possess (e.g. the fish). The key is discernment in cultural practices.

Christians living in the world must interpret and transform culture. To interpret culture is to look at Jesus. Jesus appeared in a specific Jewish culture in time and space, and his actions in that culture are our example, our “root metaphor” for understanding how we relate to our culture (that is to say – the principles are transcultural). To live out that understanding in our culture, then, is to transform culture.

This, according to Duane Friesen, is achieved by focal practices in community. These practices are concrete ways of speaking about transforming culture (cf. Neibuhr’s type of Christ transforming culture, an idea he unhelpfully leaves in the abstract). Ritual is one category of focal practice. For instance, Christians practicing the ritual of baptism, or keeping the Sabbath day. But social practices are essential as well and examples include: sharing meals, practicing sacrificial service for each other, practicing hospitality to the stranger.

Three roles we take in relating to culture: as artists – seeking for beauty we see in culture, as citizens – seeking for the common good, as philosophers – seeking wisdom in culture. The Anabaptist principle that ties it together is from Jer. 29, “seek the shalom (peace/wholeness/health) of the city.” This is the model of cultural engagement that doesn’t allow for separation (as Anabaptists have been accused of believing), but instead focuses on dual citizenship, guided by the principles of God’s kingdom and living them out for the good of our world hear and now.

We’ll have to get to dual citizenship next, I guess.

Yes, of course I was excited last night while eating dinner. Who wouldn’t be? With the Rose Bowl a complete bust (not unexpected I guess), Iowa Caucus night was written in to my calendar. I’m in Champaign right now, and I even got several of my dawghaus friends to join me (well, their commitment varied).

I flipped between CNN (but avoiding Wolf), MSNBC, and C-SPAN/2 for coverage, watching the totals creep upwards as the return percentage grew. Some of the most interesting stuff showed up when C-SPAN started simulcasting the local Iowa coverage from KCCI, which is fun both for local perspectives and the self-conscious way local TV reporters stare into the camera.

My random quick thoughts:

• Obama’s win was a surprise to me. I expected 1) Clinton 2) Obama and distant third Edwards. The analysis of stats say the reason he won was a) women voted for him more than Hillary, b) Democrats supporters of second/third tier candidates switched their votes to him c) independents chose him. Sounds about right.
• Huckabee wasn’t a surprise win (I’ve got previous posts on him – knowing he’s going somewhere). But I was surprised that Romney did so badly. Huckabee’s message that was outspent 20 to 1 but still beat Romney isn’t political just rhetoric – it happened.
• Check out Huckabee on Leno the night before (youtube search). He played the bass and had some interesting stuff to say, plus he did okay being funny.
• Guiliani and McCain didn’t do well but are supposed to play well in the rest of the nation. We’ll see. If they both do poorly in New Hampshire, I think they’re in trouble.

People know this is one of my drums, but if you haven’t been paying attention before, now is the time. The primaries are where it happens. Watch, investigate, and vote in the primaries. Don’t wait until the general election when you’ll complain that “you don’t like either candidate.”

In Illinois, our primary is scheduled on on “Super Tuesday,” which will be huge for choosing who runs. It will not be locked up yet, and Illinois has a lot of sway.