Postcards From Myself

The Democratic National Convention started today in Denver, Colorado, and it is no doubt that the nominee of the party for President will be Senator Barack Obama. With that nomination, and even before, come the questions of who is this man, what does he believe in, and where does he stand? As our nation has struggled through the recent hardships of 9-1-1, the Iraq war, and turmoils in our local communities, we are increasingly looking beyond the superficial appearances of our politicians to their core beliefs and values. We are, as a nation, more and more interested in what drives out leaders and makes them tick.

The Faith Of Barack Obama by Stephen Mansfield seeks to help the reader find some of those answers. The book does not make a judgement call on who Americans should elect as their next president. Instead the author, by explaining Obama’s upbringing and influences, strives to show what it is that forms Obama’s beliefs and how that drives his thought process. The book also pulls no punches. On complicated issues such as abortion and the various laws legislating around the issue, Mansfield clearly points out where Obama has logical struggles and at times has mis-stepped his ideals. But again, the strength of this work is that it offers up the facts on those issues and lets the reader form their own opinion.

In addition to detailing the influences that have gone into the Barack Obama’s faith, Mansfield also gives attention to three of the other main characters in this election - Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and George W. Bush. Not only does this help to give a foot in the door for exploring those dynamic individuals, but it also helps to compare and contrast the cast of players. It is made clear that there are more than years of difference in this election, there are also differences of education, social influence, and how their faith was obtained. Revelation versus inheritance versus personal exploration are depicted as paths that help to form the destination.

This book is timely not only in terms of the election and the conventions, but also in terms of where we are currently in US politics. We are seeing, across the board, Republican or Democrat, a renewed interest in values and what goes into a person to form those values. Those values, that faith, is important to the American people and to the world. How our President puts his personal values into action in the world is important to determining how we interact with the world and where this country will be in years to come. Well written, timely, and well researched, this should be considered a must read for anyone on either side of the election interested in learning more about the candidates.

There was an essay in the “Bookshelf” section of the most recent UU World that tried to be amusing, but ended up troubling me. W. Frederick Wooden’s essay entitled “Why I’m sticking with classics” while noble in defense and even promotion of classic literature, which as a long ago English literature major I love, seemed to go off course and strike a number of bad chords with me. I dislike sending negative feedback, but in this case I felt I must.

The first problem is one that was mentioned in the piece itself. It seems he is doing a lot of his classic reading so that he can rub other people’s noses in it – not because he enjoys the reading or wants to gain the knowledge. He says that when people talk to him about reading the latest pot-boiler, he wants to be able to retort that he is reading great classics instead. Not only is that mighty arrogant, but it is downright obnoxious.

Second, and much more importantly, he basically states that only the classics are worth reading or writing, so no one should even try writing new works now. In fact Wooden says there are “too many bad books already, “ and that “they are driving out the good.” If that is not a defeatist attitude then I don’t know what is! Is this what we are supposed to be telling our children? “Sorry son, Babe Ruth was the greatest player in the game, there is no reason for you to play baseball,” or “sorry dear, Penicillin has already been invented, no reason for you to want to be a researcher.”

Finally, his attitude towards recent religious works is that the current books are “at least statistically likely to be about stuff I already agree with.” Again the hubris astounds me. Assuming that someone agrees with you is just as bad as assuming that people won’t agree with you because they are of a different background. Making assumptions without hearing the other side of the story is exactly what some critics do when they call for banning a movie they have never seen and have no intention of seeing. Ignorance goes both ways.

I do realize that Mr. Wooden’s piece was intended to be humorous – at least I hope that was the intention. But, unfortunately, there is just too much troubling rhetoric in it for me to get to the humor. I would dare say that very often humor is a tarp thrown over the truth, and when we pull back that tarp we uncover the real message. Please let that not be the case here.

Thanks for the great magazine, and sorry for the negative feedback.

Note: This was an email letter I sent to the editors of UU World magazine.

Today is World Book Day! Much bigger in the UK and Ireland than it is here in the US, the website says, “World Book Day moves into its second decade in the UK and Ireland in 2008. Over this relatively short period World Book Day has become firmly established as the biggest annual event promoting the enjoyment of books and reading.”

What could be better? With the ever decreasing number of readers and, at least in my mind, the ever decreasing literacy and intelligence level in this country, we should really get behind this. In fact I am going to do my part. This evening I will take both of my kids to either Barnes And Noble or Books-A-Million and buy them each a book. And then I will somehow make sure they both read those books. I would much rather go to a small local bookseller, but unfortunately those are drying up faster than the Georgia water supply.

So, do yourself and us all a favor and promote World Book Day. Go to the library. Buy a kid a book. Pick up some inexpensive books and donate them to a school, church, or civic group. Or better yet, sit down and read a book to a young child who has yet to find the joy. No that would be a gift worth giving.

Harper Collin’s is making an electronic version of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods available for free for a limited time. A poll was taken on Mr. Gaiman’s website as to which book should be made available, and American Gods won. It is a great book, so I have included the link below.

Browse Inside this bookGet this for your site

It is a fairly lengthy book, so if you are like me, you won’t be into reading the entire thing electronically. But at least this will give you a really good taste of it and let you know if you want to buy it.

There are lots of posts and even websites dedicated to GTD. For the uninitiated GTD is the productivity system found in Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen. I will admit that some of the methods work for me, but then again some don’t. Call it a personal failing, but I end up with multiple lists in different places and thinkg break down, the center cannot hold, etc. Now I have found what I really need! Yes, the palm to-do list. Notice that the “P” is not capitalized.

Take a look at the picture, it is worth a thousand words.