Imprecatory Fashion

An imprecation is a curse.

Imprecatory prayer is a plea for God to strike down an evil person or people.

A typical case from the Bible has David, as related in Psalm 35, righteously calling for God's vengeance when he, David, was surrounded by enemies. Not to glorify David, mind you, but to glorify God Himself via some good, righteous, holy ass-whooping.

There is lately an American fashion in imprecatory prayer against the current President of the United States. We see people wearing t-shirts or slapping bumper stickers on their cars saying, "Pray For Obama -- Psalm 109:8."

That's pretty cute. Read the Psalm. "May his days be few, may another take the place of his leadership. May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow." (109:8-9)

In other words, calling on God to assassinate a politician they personally do not like. No doubt, they have not for one second considered the parallel to Islamist-inspired acts of terrorism, or acts of Christianist terrorism such as the murder of physicians who perform legal abortion procedures.

This calls for social confrontation and rejection. Notes on windshields of cars that bear such messages. Addressing the issue when someone shows up wearing the t-shirt. A person visiting my home in such a t-shirt, for instance, would be required to change or cover it up -- and I would be prepared to explain why.

I would have responded similarly if I had ever run into someone bearing signs like this during the Bush Administration:


No, no, no. Violence and imprecation are not cures; they are part of the disease.

Whichever side you are on, I ask you to think on this. What sort of country are we making? Are we Iraq, where political and religious divisions led to routine violence on a daily basis in the aftermath of our 2003 invasion? Or are we a democratic republic that honors the results of elections and, if so inclined, prays for our elected leaders to be guided by wisdom and compassion?

By my lights, the dispassionate answer to that question appears to be: neither, but some tortured thing lying in between.

What is your choice, and what will you do to walk that talk?

Not Just Any Bill

A health reform bill passed the House, and the Senate leader is shopping a Senate bill.

My too-busy-to-blog thought on it is simple: passing a bill is not a triumph if it increases inequality.

Monday Morning Gabriel

This was taken on Halloween. We had taken Gabriel to a segaki ceremony at Silver City Zen Center. This is a ceremony of offering to the hungry ghosts and tribute to the dead -- a sort of Japanese Zen All Saints day.

After the ceremony, both wife and child were ready for a hearty dinner, so we stopped at Nancy's Silver Cafe on Bullard Street. It was here that Gabriel sat with us in a booster seat for the first time, and ate a meal we ordered from the kids' menu: chicken nuggets and french fries. He kept grabbing the fries and dropping them because they were too hot, and he looked insulted about it every time.

Fear of Trials

Excellent post by Steve Benen:

When one cuts through the nonsense and poll-tested soundbites, the right's opposition to fair trials comes down to fear -- fear that our principles are aren't worth honoring, fear that our rule of law is somehow flawed, fear that radical thugs have acquired supernatural powers. It's just blinding, irrational fear.

It Never Hurts To Ask

On Wednesday, I had business on the campus of Western New Mexico University up in Silver City. After a meeting with my academic advisor, I was to take a piece of paper to the registrar's office on the other end of campus. The directions I was given to take me to this place were on par with a lot of information I get at Western, which is to say that I soon found myself good and lost.

It was odd, and not unpleasant. A rare weekday off, and a beautiful kind of New Mexico fall day, with sunshine, colorful leaves, and warm air -- not a bad time to be lost and wandering. I ran into undergraduates who, curiously, told me they had never even heard of a registrar's office. One wonders if undergraduates are required to take classes. Could it be possible they are allowed to come here, live in dorms, and just make love and drink wine day after day? Sounds nice. I think I tried to get that major myself when I was in college; without much success. I knew where my registrar's office was, all right, because I spent a lot of unpleasant time there.

Anyway.

Wandering around the Western campus last Wednesday, I met a puppy. His name, I overheard, was Socks. Socks was a delightful puppy, with all paws and head and floppy ears, sniffing the feets and slobbering and all those puppy things. We made our acquaintance, the owner called Socks to come along, and we went our separate ways.

After a long meander through various buildings, I was walking back across campus toward the Fine Arts building, and thinking about aborting this mission. The owner of Socks was chatting up a comely co-ed, and Socks was sniffing various things. Our paths crossed again, and Socks was jubilant, all paws and head and slobbering and sniffing the feet.

Since I was pretty much desperate, I said to Socks: "Hey, boy! Do you know where the registrar's office is?"

Suddenly, Socks took off, crimson red leash dragging behind him, down a hill and across a long flat field toward a little building on another side of campus. Arf arf, he indicated the building, and then his owner (who, I presumed, had not succeeded in winning the maiden's phone number) called for Socks to return.

Could it be? I ventured into the building. And wouldn't you know? Sure enough. The registrar's office.

Sometimes it is okay to give the ridiculous a try.

Two of Algernon's Plays To Be Broadcast

KUNM FM, Albuquerque public radio, will air the program You Have Five Minutes at 6:00 PM (Mountain time) on November 29. You can also hear it on-line at the station's website.

Two of the plays, Simulated Drowning and The Heart Has No Location, were written by your humble correspondent.

Many thanks to producer Lance Axt for the opportunity, and the info on the broadcast.

Pops and the Spankers

Pretty dismal mood tonight.

Gave up everything, sat, and then looked for ukulele videos on line. Found a nice one I hadn't seen: Pops Bayless singing and playing with the Asylum Street Spankers at a reunion concert. Thanks for the fun.