The Bosque Boys

As this campaign comes to a close, I direct you to an amusing piece on the Democratic nominee for veep in TIME Magazine: "Hidin' Biden." The article reveals that Joe Biden has become even less accessible to the press than Sarah Palin, with the Obama handlers counting the days and doing their best to sit on the gaffe-prone Senator until the clock runs out.

You will remember my utter disbelief when Obama tapped "Joe the Biden" as his number two.

Back then, in a post entitled "Biden? Really?" I wrote:

Why haven't we seen more Joe Biden dust-ups over the years? For the simple reason that no one really pays him much attention. Not so anymore. From now until 4 November, the world will be following him around and scrutinizing his every word. Not good for Camp Obama. Sure, the mainstream PrObama press will give him a pass whenever possible, but the conservative media will push and press every chance they get. My guess is that Biden will give them plenty of chances. These guys are likely to be putting out fires almost continually.

While events have proven the foundation of my assertion essentially correct, you will notice that none of his thoroughly predicted mischief made an impact on the election. None of it mattered. Why?

Simple: the fix was in.

When I predicted that his "penchant for injudicious statements" would prove embarrassing to Barack Obama, I had not gotten my mind around the fact that the prObama press corps was determined to shout down and/or not cover anything detrimental to their candidate.

As for Biden and the press and the future, we will see what the next eight years brings. My sense is that Biden cannot be contained or ignored for that long of a period. My suspicion is that we will get a lot of laughs out of Joe the Biden in the years to come.

One More Thing in that vein: once the election is over, and the need to cover for Biden recedes, we may well have another Alexander Throttlebottom on our hands.

I am on record, extensively, assuring all of you that Barack Obama will win the presidency this coming Tuesday. Having said that, many of us will remember that I spent most of last January explaining how John McCain could not win the Republican nomination. My record as a prophet is not one of 100 percent accuracy--but I keep slinging.

Polls seem to be tightening--what is really happening?

1. Cold Feet. We have spent approximately one week with Barack Obama as president-elect. That is, we have bought into the idea in our own minds that this international man of mystery is going to be our next chief executive. This week we are experiencing buyer's remorse. A lot of voters are suddenly unsure. No truer emotion in the human condition than cold feet.

"This is what I want. This is what I have to have. I will die if I don't get it." Then, once we own it: "Oh no, what was I thinking. This was a big mistake."

But, in this case, we have not really done it yet. We can still back out. Will we?

2. Media backlash. A lot of stories this past week (accompanied with unimpeachable statistical evidence) acknowledging the unprecedented media bias during this canvass (even the media seem to be feeling a bit sheepish about it). Even without the stats, we know it in our bones when the fix is in.

Moreover, Americans are not big fans of the media. Natural Question: why are these guys willing to lie, obfuscate, and run interference for this candidate? Is it really in our interest to hand this election over to the prObama press corps? Suddenly, we've got a bad feeling about all of this.

3. America loves an underdog. Gotta love that Johnny McCain. He does not know the meaning of quit. Do you believe in miracles?

4. John McCain finally found an issue and a symbol. Joe the Plumber. We are finally on GOP turf. We win elections in this country on three issues: small government, taxes, and cultural populism. "Spreading the wealth around" gave us an opening. The feeding frenzy on Joe was offensive and disturbing. The "redistribution" stuff was more gas on the fire. And now the ever-shifting definition of rich ($250K, $200K, $150K, $120K) is probably innocent enough--but, nevertheless, devastating. This undisciplined message reminds us that whatever number the Democrats have in mind is whimsical and not subject to any accountability. If they take control of the White House and improve their numbers in Congress, the Democrats can literally do anything they want.

5. Sarah Palin. No matter how many talking heads in the media assert that Sarah Palin was a big mistake--she continues to hammer home her points in an appealing way. She weathered her nadir a few weeks ago--when Tina Feylin almost stole her soul. But, since then, she has won a vice presidential debate, gone toe-to-toe with the cast of SNL, taken to the offensive again, and continued to thrill the heartland.

Bottom Line: Johnny McCain is on a roll. Will it be enough to come all the way back? I continue to say no--but nobody knows anything--and nobody more so than I. But this seems to me like too far to come in too short of a time. McCain needs another week or two to pull off this comeback. I suspect this is a last gasp of a dying campaign. But, then again, who knows?

One great thing about this being a close election, however, is that it may give pause to Obama. If he wins a squeaker, perhaps the unexpected close call will remind him that this is a center-right nation. Overreach on the part of a Democratic majority guarantees a devastating defeat at some point in the future.

One Last Thought: if things are getting tight, should we expect one last "November Surprise" directed at McCain-Palin? I suppose tonight would be the absolute last chance for any devastating revelations.

The Infidel Bloggers Alliance yesterday contained this post by Rolf Krake on the growth of Asatru in Denmark, and its implications for the Danish Army. The writer, an atheist and a Dane, expressed an admiration for this belief system, stating that if he were to have a religion this would be it.

Outside Scandinavia most people do not know what Asatru is or their values so a quick explanation is needed to know what an Asatru believer is - He is one who believes in the old Norse deities as did the Vikings, Asatru is not a religion in the sense as we know it from monotheistic religions but a way of life and spirit and a set of values of some can be found in the Havamal.

Moral virtues inculcated by this religious system include courage, honor, and independence. With these values, many Asatru believers join the Danish Army.

"They want to be soldiers and some of them have got a romantic dream about dying in battle. Then you are assured to go to Valhalla" Says the asatru society Forn Sidr's secondary chairman about his young male co-believers who are deployed in the Danish Army. . . .
"They want to be soldiers and some maybe have got a romantic dream about dying in battle. Then you are assured to go to Valhalla. The Asatru-believe is right up the alley because it emphasizes on masculine values. You are persuaded to show courage and to protect the community, all are values which also belongs in being at war" he explains to Kristelight Dagblad.

According to Army priest Christian Madsen who have been on mission in Kosovo and Iraq the Asatru believers are so visible that the latest camp in Iraq, Camp Einherjer, was named after einherjerne, who in the Norse mythology were the Viking warriors who felt in battle with honor and found worthy to live in Valhalla.
Christian Madsen do not know how many Asatru believers there is in the army. But he underscores that they are very visible both in the military at home and on the international missions.

"There is a great deal of Asatru believing soldiers there have got a romantic dream of the community solidarity one experienced in the old North. The Norse mythology is heavily influenced by war and probably also one of the reasons they want to be soldiers. You notice them because they have got Thor's hammer as a necklace and tattoos of the Midgard serpent or other Viking tattoos on their arms" Says Christian Madsen to Kristeligt Dagblad.

Asatru seems to be growing worldwide, and even has an internet presence, such as this site. In the United States, Asatru has an appeal to White Supremacists who prosyletize in prisons.

The last link is to an article from today's (October 31) CBS website, here is a portion:

A man who murdered a fellow inmate during a pagan religious ceremony was executed Thursday after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his appeals and Gov. Timothy M. Kaine denied his request for clemency.

Michael Lenz, 42, received a lethal injection at the Greensville Correctional Center and was pronounced dead at 9:07 p.m.

When asked if he had any final words, Lenz gave a slight shake of his head, indicating no.

Lenz and another inmate, Jeffrey Remington, were sentenced to death in 2000 for stabbing 41-year-old Brent Parker a combined 68 times with makeshift knives at the Augusta Correctional Center. Lenz had been serving a 29-year sentence after being convicted in Prince William County of burglary and weapon possession.

The three inmates were followers of the Nordic pagan religion Asatru, and belonged to a group known as the Ironwood Kindred. The kindred was gathered for a ceremony when Lenz and Remington attacked Parker at the foot of a makeshift altar.

Asatru has been gaining popularity among inmates, say religious leaders and prison experts who believe its roots in Viking mythology attract prisoners seeking power, protection and unity.

Asatru belongs to the much larger category of Neopaganism, which means a revival of beliefs and rituals from European paganism. There are a wide variety of groups and practices, and most are not violent or particularly martial. For example Wicca, which focuses on the Earth Mother. And Druidism, reviving ancient Celtic beliefs. Neopagans can be found in most Western cultures, and are working for greater recognition and respect.

So, why the revival of the Old Gods and Goddesses? Perhaps a search for community, prison inmates are not the only ones who feel a need to belong to a group for protection and identity. In Eastern and Central Europe neopaganism has been linked to a search for national identity. And,some feminists and environmentalists are drawn to the idea of an Earth Mother and a sacred earth.

But, in the main, I think Neopaganism can be understood as a replacement religion for Christianity. Most of Western Europe secularized in the nineteenth century, and the decades since WW 2 have seen this trend accelerate. But, since scientific secularism is so basically unsatisfying to people, and postmodern anomie even less satisfying, Religion will be found. With Christianity seemingly discredited, paganism once again had an appeal. And with Christianity associated in people's minds with the modern dominant industrial culture, those who cared for the environment and those who despised patriarchy felt the appeal of the old gods and goddesses.

The more martial paganisms, such as Asatru, with its strong appeal to men, also reflects a Christian failure, I believe. In much of Western Christianity, especially in Protestantism, the nineteenth century witnessed what is called "the feminization of Christianity." Not only were most worshippers women, but the role of the mother as the keeper of the family's religion was stressed. The softer virtures such as humility received more attention than fortitude. And the believer's relationship to Jesus Christ was presented in femine terms; even Jesus became feminized. Compare these two Victorian Era hymns with earlier hymnody.

1. Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,
calling for you and for me;
see, on the portals he's waiting and watching,
watching for you and for me.
Refrain:
Come home, come home;
ye who are weary come home;
earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
calling, O sinner, come home!

2. Why should we tary when Jesus is pleading,
pleading for you and for me?
Why should we linger and heed not his mercies,
mercies for you and for me?
(Refrain)

3. Time is now fleeting, the moments are passing,
passing from you and from me;
shadows are gathering, deathbeds are coming,
coming for you and for me.
(Refrain)

4. O for the wonderful love he has promised,
promised for you and for me!
Though we have sinned, he has mercy and pardon,
pardon for you and for me.
(Refrain)

and

I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear, falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses

And He walks with me
And He talks with me
And He tells me I am His own
And the joy we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known

He speaks and the sound of His voice
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing

And He walks with me
And He talks with me
And He tells me I am His own
And the joy we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known

I'd stay in the garden with Him
'Tho the night around me be falling
But He bids me go; through the voice of woe
His voice to me is calling

And He walks with me
And He talks with me
And He tells me I am His own
And the joy we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known

These two hymns are Victorian feminine sentimentality. No wonder some men have trouble relating to Jesus as portrayed in many churches. Compare them with two from an earlier century

1. Jesus shall reign where'er the sun
Does His successive journeys run;
His kingdom spread from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.

2. To Him shall endless prayer be made,
And endless praises crown His head;
His name like sweet perfume shall rise
With ev'ry morning sacrifice.

3. People and realms of ev'ry tongue
Dwell on His love with sweetest song;
And infant voices shall proclaim
Their early blessings on His name.

4. Let ev'ry creature rise and bring
His grateful honors to our King;
Angels descend with songs again,
And earth repeat the loud "Amen!"

and

1. Lo, he comes with clouds descending,
once for favored sinners slain;
thousand, thousand saints attending
swell the triumph of his train.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
God appears on earth to reign.

2. Every eye shall now behold him,
robed in dreadful majesty;
those who set at naught and sold him,
pierced and nailed him to the tree,
deeply wailing, deeply wailing, deeply wailing,
shall the true Messiah see.

3. The dear tokens of his passion
still his dazzling body bears;
cause of endless exultation
to his ransomed worshipers;
with what rapture, with what rapture, with what rapture,
gaze we on those glorious scars!

4. Yea, Amen! Let all adore thee,
high on thy eternal throne;
Savior, take the power and glory,
claim the kingdom for thine own.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Everlasting God, come down!

These last two, from an earlier era, present a masculine Jesus.

Of course, the old paganisms never really went away. As I write this on Halloween, I have been interupted by costumed children seeking candy on the date of an old pagan festival. And, in less than a month I'll put an evergreen tree up in my house. At my first teaching job, the elementary children of the school had a May Day celebration with a Maypole. The pagan religions were simply domesticated and Christianized. But now that Christianity is weakened in the West, they are slipping the leash and growling at their handlers.

Christianity Today has these stories:

Protestant pastors polled on presidential preference yields surprises--

1. Self identified "mainline" pastors not more pro-Obama (they were split).
2. A sizeable minority of pastors are still undecided.
3. A majority [of] pastors endorsed candidates outside of their church role.

Evangelicals polled in swing states. As expected, McCain leads, but, has a surprisingly small lead in Indiana.

Indiana: 57 (McCain) 33 (Obama) percent
Florida: 72-21
Ohio: 61-33
Pennsylvania: 62-31

It is not too late to register for UFO Conference 2008, November 7-9 in Las Vegas. Speaker topics include "UFOs and the National Security State," "Roswell's Day in Court; The Deathbed Testimonies," and "Disclosure 2009? Exopolitics and the New Administration."

Though I have never attended a UFO Conference, I am going to guess that the people there will range from the strongly curious to the obsessed, from those who think of UFOs in terms consistent with modern science to those who think in terms of "light beings" and multiple dimension and time travel.

And, there may be attendees for whom UFOs are central to their religious beliefs and feelings.

From Wikipedia (yes, I know I knock some of their entries, but this one is legit)

A UFO religion or UFO cult is an informal term used to describe a faith community whose belief in the existence of extraterrestrials and/or UFOs is a central component of its religion and practice.

Though their beliefs are highly varied, UFO religions commonly believe that alien beings exist; that they have played, or are still playing, a key role in human history; and that at some point in the future, humanity will become part of a wider galactic community. The arrival or rediscovery of alien civilizations, technologies and spirituality will enable humans to overcome their current ecological, spiritual and social problems. Issues such as hatred, war, bigotry, poverty and so on are said to be resolvable through the use of superior alien technology and spiritual abilities. Such belief systems have often been described as millenarian in their outlook.[who?]

Of course, not all believers are members of faith communities of the like-minded.

Perhaps the most famous, or infamous, UFO cult was Heaven's Gate, whose members committed mass suicide on March 27, 1997.

Trolling the internet, one can find "revelations" that

The third secret of Fatima also concerns the return of Jesus Christ and the fact that mankind is going to have contact with inhabitants from other planets. I was told that all mankind will realize that we are not alone in the universe. We will understand that many of these beings are much more evolved than us, not only on a psychological level, but above all on a spiritual level. And I was asked to talk about what Jesus Christ tried to teach us, the fact that we have to love one another, that we have to respect the planet, to respect one another, exactly what he taught us 2,000 years ago. I was asked to spread this message to the world. Read more.

and

The power-oriented civilization behind the 2008 Disclosure Management Psyops does not represent the future of human civilization. That civilization - which we call the "permanent war economy" - represents a species of human consciousness which is destined to become extinct during the emergence of transparent, interactive contact between our Earth and ethical advanced Extraterrestrial civilizations surrounding and following alignment during the period 2011-2012 with the gigantic Black Hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, 23,000 light years from Earth, and 4000 as heavy as our Sun. As our Earth approaches alignment with the Black Hole, time as a dimension accelerates and human consciousness stratifies into two domains or dimensions. For polarity's sake, we can call these two domains "Fear & Contraction" and "Love & Expansion".
During this post 2011-2012 transitional period we are entering, Exopolitics - the new political science of outer space - and Exo-consciousness - humanity's emerging Extraterrestrial consciousness - will establish the platform for transparent and inter-active contact between an emerging human civilization based on values of sustainability, Universality, cosmic Love and advanced ethical Extraterrestrial civilizations. Read more.

and

I also strongly suggest that there are many people who have experienced themselves outside of their own physical and mental bodies.

This is a form of existence for many human beings on earth. There are doctors and scientist who are aware of people who say they have had near death experiences (NDE), out of body experiences (OBE), and ET UFO experiences. (ET UFO Exp). Some prefer to call these contacts, some abduction, and some experiences. Regardless of the words chosen or accepted while in discussion, these situations are real. The differences that have occurred are based on the individuals and yet we know there are now similarities. Read more.

What do I think? Well, it is a big universe. May be we are not alone, that there are other sentient beings with civilizations perhaps more technologically advanced than our own. But, I cannot imagine that our obscure solar system on the edge of our galaxy is some sort of high-traffic space crossroads. If other races exist, odds are we'll never meet. And, I don't think they are necessarily higher spiritual beings than ourselves.

What interests me most, is the way UFOs function for some people as a focus for religious feelings and beliefs. Scientific secularism is ultimately unsatisfying to almost all people. Homo sapiens seems hard-wired for belief. We need to believe in something that transcends the ordinary, that is higher than ourselves, that gives us hope. Some people find this in UFOs. I pray that some day they may find it in the truth as it is in Jesus.

Here is a list of the ten scariest movies according to LiveScience. Just in time for Halloween.

Some of these films I had not heard of before reading the list: Bug, Martin, Frailty. Others are familiar such as Pscho, Jacob's Ladder, The Shining, The Stepfather, Seven, The Exorcist, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Last year for Halloween I posted this listing of movies and reading for this season of the year.

I recommend The Exorcist, or the original 1925 Phantom of the Opera with Lon Chaney, or perhaps the 1922 Nosferatu, or maybe the 1932 The Mummy with Boris Karloff, or if you can find it the 1932 Freaks.

To my list I'll add Alien, the first one from 1979, and The Innocents, a 1961 adaptation of Henry James' The Turn of the Screw, and The Omen from 1976.

Anyone else have any favorite horror movies?

Two significant items: The Central Washington Presbytery is beginning to consider steps to remove itself from the PCUSA. A presbytery is a regional association of congregations.

The Presbytery of Central Washington has approved a resolution declaring that the General Assemblies of 2006 and 2008 “have brought our PCUSA denomination to a point of crisis. Actions of these assemblies have broken the connection and covenant that has existed in our church since the first meetings of our General Assembly.”

The Presbytery report also included this quotation from the respected German theologian Wolfhart Pannenburg:

6. Finally, we believe that we have come to a tipping point as a denomination. We affirm the words of Wolfhart Pannenberg:
“Those who urge the church to change the norm of its teaching on this matter must know that they are promoting schism. If a church were to let itself be pushed to the point where it ceased to treat homosexual activity as a departure from the biblical norm, and recognized homosexual unions as a personal partnership of love equivalent to marriage, such a church would stand no longer on biblical ground but against the unequivocal witness of Scripture. A church that took this step would cease to be the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church.” (Church Times, June 21, 1996)

Full story. from The Layman.

And, also from the Northwest, Second Presbyterian Church in Portland has worked out an agreement with its Presbytery to leave the denomination with its property in exchange for cash contributions to the Presbytery. Second Pres, Portland, is exactly the kind of large, healthy congregation a denomination cannot afford to lose.

According to denominational data, Sunset’s membership at the end of 2007 was 1,957. Sunday school attendance averaged 3,911 and the average turnout for Sunday worship services was 2,067.

Attendance larger than membership is not common, and indicates a growing, energetic, faithful congregation.

Full story from The Layman.

Copper mines from the time of King Solomon found south of Dead Sea. Story.

The oldest Hebrew text found written on a pottery shard, about 3000 years old. Story.

Story here from The Mail.

Vatican chiefs are concerned at what they see as an increased interest in the occult.
They have introduced courses for priests to combat what they call the most extreme form of "Godlessness."
Each bishop is to be told to have in his diocese a number of priests trained to fight demonic possession.
The initiative was revealed by 82-year-old Father Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican "exorcistinchief," to the online Catholic news service Petrus.
"Thanks be to God, we have a Pope who has decided to fight the Devil head-on," he said.
"Too many bishops are not taking this seriously and are not delegating their priests in the fight against the Devil. You have to hunt high and low for a properly trained exorcist.
"Thankfully, Benedict XVI believes in the existence and danger of evil . . .

"Exorcism" means the casting out of a demon or demons who are possessing a person. The belief in evil spirits who would harm humans, including by possessing human bodies, is an ancient and widespread belief, not confined to Christianity.

From its earliest days Christianity has believed that a personal devil, and hordes of lesser demons, sought to harm human beings as part of the rebellion of the fallen angels. In the Early Church casting out of demons was done by laypeople as well as church officers, but gradually the practice became restricted to the ordained.

While Modernity downplayed the supernatural, resulting in the loss of belief in demons and exorcisms among many Western Christians, the growth of Pentecostalism has revived the practice of casting out demons among conservative Protestants.

Traditionally, "possession" was distinguished from "oppression" and from the more general temptations and malicious work of demons. "Oppression" refers to the strong presence of demons in a person's life, perhaps resulting from willingly participating in sins. "Possession" refers to demons taking up residence in the person's body.

The Roman Catholic Church's position is that actual possession is rare, at least within Christendom. More common is Oppression, which can be handled by prayer, along with confession and repentence if needed. Possession, however, must be fought with Exorcism, the casting out of the demon through the work of an exorcist (involving prayers, rituals, sacred objects) and the willingness of the possessed to be delivered.

Raised within modern culture, I have tended not to think much about possession, or exorcism. Probably that is an area of my ministry I need to reconsider.

From The Anchoress, Lewis and Chesterton on the threat to Freedom posed by the Nanny-State.

link via Brits at Their Best.