partsofspeaking

Today I saw a woman of about 250 lbs wearing tight stretch pants and a tank top. The sight was not a pretty one, and all I could think was "Do women like that not look in the mirror? Or do they look and see something different than the rest of us? Or do they see what we see and just not care?" One thing I have learned in 52 years of living is the human capacity for self-deception. I am not immune to it; believing I am would only be proof of it. I like to think that at least in my self-deception I do not inflict myself upon others, such as the scantily clad woman of the first paragraph. Tonight I went to a local church's Halloweeen-based interactive drama with a very heavy-handed but somewhat effective message. We saw sin, judgment, hell, and heaven. Cynical me found fault; several young people made professions of faith, obviously quite moved by it. I wish I could see the world without irony sometimes.

The only paper I really read is the Chattanooga Times Free Press . It's good enough. I do not watch the network news anymore; I don't have the time and it nauseates me for a number of reasons. But even the Chattanooga paper, since it takes stories from the AP, is guilty of unbelievably bad reporting. Three cases: 1. A story this morning that the majority of voters think Palin is a drag on the ticket. Then you read the article and find out the poll was done by James Carville, of democrats. Only 10% of Republicans think so. I really don't think there would be such vitriol against her if they saw her truly as a lightweight and unqualified. The fact that she is attacked so much proves they must go after her out of fear. Some of the Republicans who don't like her are entitled to their opinion (she's our nominee, not the Dems) but if it's because she's good-looking, as one conservative columnist has said, that's pretty silly. I think she wasn't ...

I have just about finished reading the David Kinnamon book UnChristian . It was picked by a colleague for a reading group, and 20 profs have copies. Kinnamon works for Barna (or did) and used pretty extensive research to find out how "Busters" and "Mosaics" (young people about up the age of 30) think about religion, or really, Christianity. The three words that rise to the top in his group's evaluation of "us" is hypocritical, antihomosexual , and judgmental. A big section of the book is Kinnamon's (and his co-author, Gabe Lyons') prescription for improving our public image. Well, there are a lot of ways I could critique this book, but one of them is not their sincerity. These men want young people to come to the Lord and feel their advice will help. And their advice is Biblical, for the most part. I do not know where they come down on the emergent church movement, which I am trying to understand and find a little confounding. My neg...

People will stop treating Sarah Palin like Adolf Hitler (because she shot some wildgame) since she went on Saturday Night Live and had to touch Alec Baldwin (I shudder at the thought). (she took his arm to walk around, that's what I mean by touch, people).

Shame on you, Colin Powell.

I finally got around to seeing FireProof. It's amazingly good for being made by a church. I laughed, I cried. I recommend it, with the understanding it does get preachy. It's a message movie, but it's well done.

I am amazed how a chance encounter and soundbite can turn into a mainstream media frenzy. I can't wait to see what SNL does with Joe the Plumber. Poor guy. I heard on NPR that he owes back taxes to the state of Ohio. Why can't the media leave the guy alone. Do you lose all your privacy rights because you happen to ask a presidential candidate a question? Good grief. I think the reason the media has gone after him is that he dared to question Barack Obama's ridiculous claims that a. only people making over 250,000 will pay more taxes, and b. he was going to reduce taxes for 95% of the American people, a pretty good trick when 30% of them do not even pay income taxes. Joe doesn't want to spread the wealth. Joe doesn't want to show his patriotism by paying more taxes. So, driving home from work tonight, listening to NPR make fun of Joe the Plumber (I doubt anyone on NPR could fix a toilet, a truly practical ability, far more than snarky journalism), I turn...

Last week we had a lunch party for bosses' day. The department heads and the dean of the school were honored, and I was good with that, because my dean is phenomenal and I'm not afraid to say it. At one end of the table I sat with a young speech colleague who said something he'd heard on Bill O'Reilly , one of those words he uses at the end of the show, blooter , I think. We were laughing about watching Bill O'Reilly and I said, for the benefit of the person at the end of the table wearing an Obama button, "Clint, we've been outed." I've already been outed on campus of course; I call myself a conflicted conservative, but a conservative nonetheless. I've been asked to sponsor the College Republicans and the Pro-life group. Yes, I've been outed, and I'm proud of it. What I'm not as proud, or happy about, is being guilted . And my church is just doing that too much, even if not intentional. The guest speaker tonight at prayer ...

Most Christians concern themselves with "God's will" when they make a decision. It's a more complicated process if one brings God into it. Of course, that's the wrong way of thinking. God's not a consultant, an independent contractor there to give you advice. The whole decision-making process is supposed to be predicated on the belief that God wants you to make a decision and that He gets the controlling vote. I have heard hundreds of sermons on God's will and finding it, but none of them makes finding and doing God's will easier. Some observations: 1. Don't ask for knowledge of God's will if you aren't going to follow through on it. That's a slap in God's face, a waste of time and breath, and self-deceiving. 2. Most of the time God's will is clear--the moral choice, the Biblically -mandated choice. That doesn't mean easy, just clear. It's not a question of whether God expects Christians in church. Which churc...

I voted today! Early voting really has to be the best idea since, well, democracy itself. I went to the Catoosa County Annex and did the deed in 15 minutes. No lines, no hassles. There is no excuse to not utilize early voting. I'm going to become an evangelist for it. The poll worker said about 200 people a day come by there, which would add up to a significant number. Now you can vote early (but not often!) I'll refrain from any remarks about a certain candidate's connection to a certain group.