Hassagot השגות

On the Eve of the Election

   

Obama and McCain both penned columns on the Opinion page of The Wall Street Journal today (Monday, 11/3/08).  In his own words, Obama pointed to things that I have drawn attention to in this blog:

• "We'll create two million new jobs by rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure and laying broadband lines that reach every corner of the country. I'll invest $15 billion a year over the next decade in renewable energy, creating five million new, green jobs that pay well, can't be outsourced, and can help end our dependence on Middle East oil."

Whose jobs will these be?  I worry:  the jobs of the federal government.

• "I'll finally finish the fight against bin Laden and the al Qaeda terrorists who attacked us on 9/11, build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century, and restore our moral standing so that America remains the last, best hope of Earth."

I hear the refrain, "bin Laden and the al Qaeda terrorists."  If he can take out the bad guys, will the badness be defeated?  But more worryingly, he wishes to "restore our moral standing."  We are found wanting in the court of opinion--I presume European (plus Canadian, Australian, New Zealander...?).    America is 'immoral'? Bad? Deserving of punishment?  What shall be its penance? 

• "So tomorrow, I ask you to write our nation's next great chapter. I ask you to believe -- not just in my ability to bring about change, but in yours."

Obama opens his closing paragraph with an appeal to his secular-religious faith.  "I ask you to believe."  One must believe that by voting for him one has the abilitiy to "change this country."

    In contrast, McCain writes

• "...we must place our trust in the hands of those who have never let us down, especially the American family and small businesses."

This is a surer trust in my book than placing one's trust in the hands of the president--any president.

-- H. A. Massig

Obama, McCain, the Infomercial, the Election, and America beyond November 4, 2008

Obama, McCain, the Infomercial

    I write as I watch, listen, and mull over  Obama's Infomercial, today, at midnight of Thursday, October 30, 2008.

    Obama is an amazing politician and an eloquent and intelligent man.  He may well win the election.  If he does, his victory will be a testament to his talents, and to the mood of a country that seeks great change.

    McCain is an unimpressive politician and a man of great grit and commitment.  He, too, may win the election.  If he does, his victory will be a testament to his tenacity and to the mood of a country that is unsure of the promise of great change.

    This election is about the nature of a promise that Obama makes and McCain does not.

    What is that promise?  It is a promise of

• the gifts of government.  Government will solve the ills that beset us.
• healing.  Because our country is--in his view--ill, sick.  Its citizens are ill.  Its politics is ill. 
• hope.  Hope against the backdrop of despair.  Because Obama despairs of America as it is.  Because America and its people are all suffering and there is nothing to celebrate.
• isolation.  Because the world is not our friend (it steals our jobs) nor really our enemy (if we can focus on Afghanistan and befriending Russia, our enemies will cease to trouble us).
• equality.

    What does Obama leave out?

• freedom
• liberty
• the power of personal initiative
• humility
• engagement with the world--friendship in trade and vigilance in defending our civilization against its enemies.
• love of America for what it has accomplished--and not just for what it might accomplish.

Transgressing is so old-fashioned

Who are the old-fashioned ones?

Many years ago, I believed that crossing borders was progressive and would lead us to a bright future.  Now, I understand that trans-gressing /transgressing are leading us back in time.  Crossing borders is a feature of paganism. 

A friend told me that his child's teacher commended his daughter on crossing borders--his daughter had imagined a cat having sexual relations with a monkey in a creative writing assignment.  How progressive!  How transgressive!  How old-fashioned.  My friend commented that his daughter's teacher is a Lesbian.

Leviticus 18:22-23 juxtaposes sexual relations between two men and between humans and animals.  A person of liberal inclinations with an aversion to biblical morality might say, "Oh, when religious conservatives say that homosexuality is connected to relations with animals--who would ever imagine relations with animals!"    In fact, the Greeks and Romans were fascinated by human-animal bonding, as their myths  and iconography attest. 

Sexual relations by definition involve a border crossing, and the Torah teaches us to navigate that crossing with care, commitment, and purity.   

Impurity and being trans-gressive aren't hip; they're  hopelessly old-fashioned.  Disciplining our passions--now that's a novel idea.

-- H. A. Massig

Intelligent Design / Darwin

What's at stake?

1. The capacity to be able to do good science?
2. The place of religion (or irreligion) in public life?
3. Civilization as we know it?
4. The meaning of human existence?

-- H. A. Massig