The Futility of the Godblogosphere

Dan Edelen, whom I affectionately refer to as "Dire Dan," recently said something perspicacious:

…I don’t believe what is discussed on the Internet mirrors the discussion of the average church. Plus, those of us who write about church-related issues should not believe our own press. Fact is, the average Christian could care less about the Godblogosphere.

Or their nearest Christian seminary, for that matter. "Normal" people just don’t have the wherewithal to care about the background machinations of American Christendom. They leave such ponderings for eggheads who write blogs they don’t read or brainiacs who inhabit seminary classrooms they’ll never darken.

What Dan said bears repeating. But thinking back on my experiences and observations, I have to say that most of the "normal" people revolve their lives around the leadership of their churches, particularly so if that leadership happens to have a level of personal "duende" or magnetism sufficient to elevate them into celebrityhood. Whether or not they meant to be that, such leaders provide a visible focal point for people's lives, and what xtians end up really believing often depends more than anything on what the celebrity pastors happen to focus on.

That the Internet spreads misinformation, distortions, lies, and half-truths would be funny if it wasn't so pathetic sometimes. Some dunderhead put up a Facebook page entitled Assemblies of God Scandals which included a mention of Lonnie Frisbee. The big problem here is that Frisbee was never ordained by the Assemblies of God, and the Calvary Chapel and Vineyard movements were never part of the Assemblies of God denomination. If you're going to talk about a scandal, please, at least get it in the correct venue. But I think this is another example of how once the misinformation hits the Internet, there is no stopping it, for it takes on an immortal life of its own.

Lost Postcard

While making a trip to Starbucks the other day, I found a postcard lying in the parking lot. The front of the postcard had a reproduction of a very old, grainy, black and white photograph. In it there are three women wearing long ruffled dresses and enormous hats repleted with what looks like flowers or feathers. They are standing on what appears to be a train station platform, for rails stretch in the background. To the right of the ladies, a man dressed in a derby hat, a suit, and sporting a thin, disheveled tie, leans on a umbrella. His hat shades his eyes as he gazes at the camera. Behind two of the ladies, is another man whose face cannot be distinguished.

On the bottom of the photograph a caption says "Vollie Fox and Ernest Hemmingway Up in Michigan". The back of the card remains blank as no one wrote in an address or message. But another caption appears saying "Vollie Fox, owner of the Red Fox Inn, three unidentified women, and Ernest Hemingway c. 1918. Vollie taught Ernest to fish on Horton Bay in 1909." I guess the man behind the women must be Vollie Fox, and Hemingway must be the person leaning on the umbrella.

Horton bay is on Lake Charlevoix near the northern tip of the lower half of Michigan. Hemingway committed suicide at his home in Ketchum, Idaho, in 1961. This lost postcard connects itself to a member of the Lost Generation.

If someone out there values this lost postcard, please contact me. Any reward money will be cheerfully accepted.

Winning the War of R2P

Shock and awe them with our Tolerance,
Overwhelm them with our Diversity
Then smash 'em with our Sensitivity,
A kinetic action where no one bleeds.
We’ll show 'em how Progressive we do be.

Free speech for me but not for thee
Such double standards we all can see
We learnt at Open Minded University
Along with other strange perversity.

For we must not offend the R.O.P.
Nor our Saudi masters overseas;
They own the oil spigot, don't you see?
So let us all visualize whorled peas,

And shock and awe them with our Tolerance,
Overwhelm them with our Diversity
Then smash 'em with our Sensitivity,
A kinetic action where no one bleeds.
That's how we'll win the war of R2P.