An aggressive response to a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

Midway in our life's journey, I went astray

from the straight road and woke to find myself

alone in a dark wood. How shall I say

what wood that was! I never saw so drear,

so rank, so arduous a wilderness!

Its very memory gives a shape to fear.

So begins The Inferno, and so turned my thoughts as I began to read Mr. Hauerwas's Pacifist Response. He wrote this article for the Duke University paper, probably about 6 months after the events of Sept 11 2001. I sincerely hope that Mr. Hauerwas's journey, like Dante's, has changed for the better since that time, otherwise I fear he may be facing an eternity of much worse than any of the levels Dante envisioned. This article paints a picture of a man so deeply intellectualized and steeped in theological academia that the simple beautiful hope of the Word of God has become entirely obscured. Rather than writing a 10 page term paper dissecting every unfounded assertion, every grossly misconstrued and obtuse generalization that forms the body of this article by the supposed "Best Theologian In America" (Time Magazine 2001) I will simply share some verses that came to my mind while reading.

"Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."

Romans 8:26

"because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Professing to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things."

Romans 1:21-23

"But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea."

Mark 9:42

I will happily tear apart every facet and detail of this article for/with any who are interested. My heart breaks for this man, for those like him, and most deeply for those who have heard his words and chosen to believe them.

Media to digest

Dinesh D'Souza, a Rishwain fellow at the Hoover institute at Stanford, recently wrote a book called 'Life After Death, the evidence.'

Here's a link to the audio of a short discussion I heard on NPR that Dinesh has with a skeptic on the neurological mistake of considering the mind and the brain the same material. He provides basic philosophical arguments one can make for life after death and the existence of a soul.

http://www.scpr.org/programs/airtalk/2009/12/16/life-is-that-all-there-is/

Timothy Keller - Decision Making and the Will of God

http://www.cacfamily.org/cacpodcast.xml

This is an eleven 1-hour series of teachings about how most Christians don't utilize the Biblical worldview at all when making decisions. I am through part three, if anyone wants to join in and listen along, the teaching I have found to be enlightening.

Firstly, I would like to second the prayer requests. I meant to suggest this last night. And on that note, might I suggest we 'make private' the blog, so that our candidness would not only be up to a certain degree.

My initial reaction is that Stanley Hauerwas comes off as one who is committed to being identified as a pacifist, then tries to fit his Christian beliefs into his Pacifistic worldview. He even states that when he declared himself to a pacifist he knew there'd be consequences, quite similar to one declaring publicly their Christian faith, he puts it on the same level, an entire worldview. Not to disregard his commitment to peace, I do believe that what he's saying about the essence of peace and Christ is heartfelt, but his cynical view on nationalism, U.S. foreign policy, and the people in government blinds me from identifying with him. At other times it does appear that his breed of pacifism might allow for just war, but mostly not. That time right after 9/11 was different and I would like to think the gentleman would have revised the piece several times by 2009.

He does not seem to give full consideration of the consequences of the fallen world that we live in, which however unfortunate and abominable, does include war. Does this give war the ability to be just, at given times? I might have to leave that to soldiers among us to consider, rather than have my inexperienced (in the capacities of war) hands type shallow words. I would like to see Mr. Hauerwas if the Nazis won WWII and he would be Sprechen Sie Deutsche and probably know a lot less about the reality of Jesus or even have the opportunity to comprehend pacifism as an all encompassing worldview.

I compare it to the neo-cons and the Bush admin; they were full believers in a Laissez-faire, free market economy, yet when the shit hit the you-know-what they threw their hardline stance out the window and took the furthest step to the left, economic policy speaking, than the country has seen in....Ever? I do not wish to debate that here, just the fact that pacifism feels good to me, just like social justice feels good to me, just like free market ideals feel good to me. Yet if someone is pointing a gun at my family, I am going to shoot him first.

Ok ok .. enough with the facetiousness...

I look at Jesus' life - He, being the Son of Man, did not need to be protected. He knew what was coming and what had to be done, which his disciples did not fully understand or know. I take the statement about the sword to mean not to start a fight with someone, for it will hurt you and everyone in the end. I do not take it to mean not to defend your wife and child from harm through force.

Matthew 26:50: Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him. ⁵¹With that, one of Jesus' companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.⁵²"Put your sword back in its place," Jesus said to him, "for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. "

Prayer Requests:

- I have a dream to be involved in international development, and I am looking for the most effective path to productivity in that capacity, specifically acquiring capital to do my own project.

- That I would quit dating girls that are wrong for me

- That I would let go of my American sense of productivity and look to God in how I shape my value of time and efficiency

12.15.09 Meeting Minutes

Thank you all for attending. We had the biggest attendance to date: 8. Unfortunately we had a bit of a hangup in finding seating, but once Tavis brokered us a deal and we settled in some good conversation ensued.

At the end of the gathering I issued two articles for discussion next meeting (or never, depending), as well as a suggestion that we regain some order in the event. For all who missed those last moments, we will be reading Acts 1-3 independently for reference next meeting, and (contingent on venue) I would also like if 2 of us told our story as well. The concept is not far from a bible study, but different in its niche focus on ... of course unfolding stories and man topics.

Article links are below if you're interested. I do not fully endorse either author's opinion, but took a lot from reading each. For those who have articles or thoughts of their own, feel free to post here throughout the month or bring to a meeting.

A View of the History of Modern Homosexuality:
http://www.narth.com/docs/TheTrojanCouchSatinover.pdf

The (Artificial?) Link Between Pacifism and Christianity
http://saq.dukejournals.org/cgi/reprint/101/2/425

I also want to comment that publishing or sharing your work with the group is not off limits, it's simply not the focus of what we do. I have reviewed work from many of you recently and have considered it a great privilege. Let's keep making stuff.

Also, Shelvy brought up a valid point that this is a good forum for posting prayer requests. Bring it.