I’m reading The Gospel According to America by David Dark. Mike Rowell lent it to me, as he is a most excellent fellow.

My previous exposure to David Dark was his book Everyday Apocalypse, which discussed the beautiful and revelatory in pop culture. Two thumbs up from me. Anyways, Dark’s definition of “apocalypse” is that of revelation. In this context, he asserts that the Church is to be revelatory, questioning the assumptions and power claims of the existing world systems. Profound thinking.

In this newest book, Dark is wrestling with being a Christian in America. The problem that Dark points out is that America believes its press releases and has established itself as a de facto religion. What is worse is that the Church has reinforced these opinions, rather than debunking them through the application of the prophetic word. As Dark says, “When the church is the blind, uncritical endorser or ’spiritual’ chaplain of whatever the nation decides to do, it has largely renounced its vocation as the body of Christ. It is neither the salt of the earth nor a light to the nations. And it has traded its worship of a crucified Jew for a devastatingly tribal idolatry.”

Peter Leithart points out that partaking of communion is proclaiming the death of one who died as a political dissident. Crucifixion was the punishment for political rebellion. As we are called to take up our crosses and go to Him outside the camp, we must be prepared to see the political ramifications of this call.

In contrast, I just finished rereading the original Dune trilogy. Funny how books change when you get older, eh? Frank Herbert knew a thing or two about how the powerful wield their power, and one aspect that he constantly points up is the corruption of religion to support specific political ends. To the powerful, religion is just another tool to control the masses. And it makes me wonder if we as Christians are sufficiently discerning and suspicious of the religious claims of the powerful. Are we playing our prophetic role? Or are we just dupes of the powerful, bound to them by chains of superstition and religion? (A previous article on this topic can be found here.)

(The previous report is here.)

After recording this report, I realized that I had indeed been to Wal-Mart recently to purchase some shelving. When I went to the front desk to pick up the shelves, I was joking with the clerk, asking her if she was going to buy it for me. Her response was telling: “I work for Wal-Mart; I can’t afford that.”

Ha ha only serious.

(The next report is here.)

Hamburgler struggles to save the world from alien invasion.

No, I’m not making this up.

So, I had a dilemma. I have steadfastly avoided putting pictures on this blog. After all, this is a blog about words, not pictures. At the same time, I really want to share pictures of my new son. So, my compromise: text hyperlinks to pictures of Justice. Perhaps it’s hair-splitting. Perhaps you don’t care. But, be that as it may, here they are.

Picture One
Picture Two

Both of these were taken mere minutes post-delivery. Doubtless more will be forthcoming as we take them. Right now, though, he is sleeping, and I intend to let sleeping babies lie.

On August 19 at 12:33 a.m., Justice Daniel Ben-Ezra was born. Mother and baby are both well. More details later.

EDIT: It’s later! 8 pounds, 12 ounces and 21 inches long. Mother and baby are still well. I am tired.

We’re still here. Crystal’s labor has slowed down quite a bit, and the midwives have gone home for now. That being said, Crystal’s labor has not stopped, so we know that her body is still moving things forward.

Please be praying for Crystal. She is very tired and frustrated. Pray that she would continue to trust Jesus’ good care for her, and pray that she would soon be able to hold her child.

The midwives have been summoned again. Things seem to be progressing again.

Well, things seem to have slowed down, so the midwives are leaving for now. Of course, Crystal’s contractions picked up almost as soon as they walked out the door. Biology. Grr. I think that it’s part of God’s way of keeping us humble or something. Why these babies don’t come with a digital display showing “Time Left Until Birth” is beyond me.

Guess what, people? We’re at Baby Level Red! Further news to come.

Recently, I’ve been ranting about Homeland Security. Some of it has been in my head, and some of it has been in other people’s direction. I don’t have time for the long version, but the short version is this: emotionally, I feel like Homeland Security=Nightwatch. Somewhat unfair, I know, and I don’t have any better solutions right now, but there it is.

So, given my perverse sense of humor, as we have entered the last couple of weeks of Crystal’s pregnancy, I’ve decided to use the Homeland Security threat level scale (Green, Blue, Yellow, Orange, Red) to rate our labor probability. So, Green would be no activity, while Red would be “the midwife is coming”. Sometimes, it’s better to laugh at your problems then gripe about them.

All of this to say: currently, we are at Baby Level Orange. Stay tuned.

“This is very neat experiment in presentation, and has rather dramatically increased the likelihood that I’m going to run it.”–Neel Krishnaswami, 20′ by 20′ Room

“If more RPG creators would give in to their laziness, I think both the RPG industry and the RPG hobby would be in better shape.”–Mike Sugarbaker, OgreCave.com

I was talking a bit about Babylon 5 last night, comparing it to Firefly, another favorite SF show of mine, and I think that I’ve figured out part of what appeals to me about Babylon 5. In Firefly, the characters are all rogues, on the run from the law. In Babylon 5, the focal human characters are members of Earth’s military. This affects the issues being addressed and, more importantly, the way in which they are addressed.

Firefly could be best summed up using Bob Dylan’s quote: “To live outside the law, you must be honest.” Mal Reynolds has no allegiance to anyone or anything outside the crew on his ship; everything else has been taken away from him. “Just keep flying” is his motto. As a result, the show focuses on the interactions of his crew, which has become his “family”.

Babylon 5, on the other hand, is about living honorably in dishonorable times. Captain Sheridan has duties and commitments placed on his: his duty to the station, to the military, to the protection of Earth , and to the preservation of peace. Much of the show has been watching him wrestle with the conflicts between these duties, as his duty to protect Earth has brought him into conflict with the government of Earth. How does one live honorably when surrounded by dishonorable enemies?

For example, in the last episode that we watched, Sheridan is in an unmarked warship, performing a secret raid into Earth space to destroy a captured Shadow vessel. He is successful in this endeavor, but then an Earth battleship arrives to secure the area. In fact, it is the battleship that he once commanded. Sheridan is still a member of the Earth military, and his sense of honor refuses to allow him to fire upon one of his own ships, even though they are firing at him. Mal (from Firefly) wouldn’t have this sort of concern; his allegiance doesn’t extend past his own ship.

I am not a member of the military; however, I am the citizen of a nation that is rapidly becoming an enemy of the God that I love. As a result, I find that I and my family are increasingly at risk, simply by continuing to practice our beliefs. I love my country, and I desire no conflict with my government. All I want is to live at peace with those around me by being a good citizen and productive member of society. But I fear that my circumstances will not allow this. Stories teach us things, and as I watch Captain Sheridan wrestle with his circumstances, I hope that perhaps I can learn for my own.

The Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace. It failed. But, in the Year of the Shadow War, it became something greater: our last, best hope… for victory. The year is 2260. The place: Babylon 5.

So, here we are, halfway through Season Three, and can I say that this is one of the best television series that I have ever seen? There’s a certain poignancy to it. The overarching story of Babylon 5 is of a world lurching towards war, so, from one perspective, as the Season Three intro explains, it is the story of a noble attempt that fails. The Babylon stations were supposed to be diplomatic stations, dedicated to the peaceful solving of interstellar problems. But that is not to be. By this point in the story, we have already seen the outbreak of a destructive war that resulted in the orbital bombardment and near annihilation of the homeworld of one of the warring races. And worse is to come. And, on the homefront, ruthless men have seized power on Earth and are extending their control through the Nightwatch, a organization of snitches and Thought Police.

But, at the same time, it is a show that has made me think. At the end of Season Two, we hear one of the characters muse:

It was the end of the year 2259 and the war was upon us. As anticipated, a few days after the Earth-Centauri treaty was announced, the Centauri widened their war to include many of the Non-Aligned Worlds. And there was another war brewing closer to home. A personal one, whose cost would be higher than any of us could imagine.

We came to this place, because Babylon 5 was our last, best hope for peace. By the end of 2259, we knew that it had failed. But in so doing it became something greater. As the war expanded, it became our last, best hope for victory, because sometimes peace is another word for surrender, and because secrets have a way of getting out.

“Sometimes peace is another word for surrender.” As I look around at the world I live in, a world where I wish that I could just be left alone to live in peace, I ponder these words, and I wonder what the future will hold for me.

The answer to “Guess The Quote“:

Brian McLaren

The entire article is well worth the read.

Who said this:

“Why do we who claim to be biblical talk so much about accepting Christ as personal savior, which is not really biblical language – and so little about the kingdom of God is at hand, which is at the core of Jesus’ message in the Bible?”

I’ll post the answer…later.