So I’m reading Superfreakonomics these days (one of the books I’m evaluating for a workplace “book club”). I found a couple of quotes thatstruck me as relevant to some of the conversations we have here, from time-to-time.
This quote brought to mind some of the Christian distinctives and the beauty of the One true God, as noted by Rob Bell in The gods Aren’t Angry:
“Like all the best religions, fear of climate change satisfies our need for guilt, and self-disgust, and that eternal human sense that technological progress must be punished by the gods. And the fear of climate change is like a religion in this vital sense, that it is veiled in mystery, and you can never tell whether your acts of propitiation or atonement have been in any way successful.” – Boris Johnson
The second quote reminded me of the Ingrid Schlueter’s of this world for whom 1963 seems to be a watershed year (with thanks to Brendt for the link to this awesome blog):
It is a fact of life that people love to complain, particularly about how terrible the modern world is compared with the past.
They are nearly always wrong. On just about any dimension you can think of – warfare, crime, income, education, transportation, worker safety, health – the twenty-first century is far more hospitable to the average human than any earlier time.
I realize that a premillenial dispensationalist view requires that one believe everything is (literally) going to hell in a handbasket (as a prerequisite to parousia), but Christians engaging in woe-is-me, the-devil-is-hiding-behind-everyone-who-doesn’t-believe-100%-like-me-ism are just pathetic. And, in the face of all evidence to the contrary (cherry-picking outlying outrages as “proof”), they make a fool of themselves – and the One they claim to serve – in the process.
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Little known fact that the crosstalk blog has uncovered:
Carrie Prejean is the scarlet whore in Revelation. Who needs the gossip mags at the grocery store when you have crosstalk sans the cross.
BTW – I have not seen a CT post on Obama bowing before the Japanese prime minister. I hope Ingrid is OK.
I hope she posts this one.
It’s so much better than the still shot.
Its fair game, if you are into politics. Bush holds the Suadi king’s hand and the liberals make it an issue.
I love the politics of “my team doesn’t do this”. Chris, are you hoping for a contributing writer appointment at CT?
I’d be interested to know what the Japanese thought of it. We’re so ethnocentric.
Having served in the military and done training exercises with the Japanese I would say that Obama had the correct cultural etiquette. You know that whole when in Rome thing…
Here’s what Jake Tapper (a left-of-center, but fair blogger from ABC News) pulled together from several sources.
Short story: Obama got it wrong (such that the Japanese press didn’t publish a photo out of embarrassment), but not as bad as the far right would have you believe:
Actually no. Apparently the President not bowing to Kings and the like has a 200+ year precedent… supposedly dating back to the time when most countries had royalty.
Re:#8
Nope. Sorry.
http://lefarkins.blogspot.com/2009/11/dwight-d-eisenhower-bowing-hour.html
http://www.japanprobe.com/2009/11/16/american-president-bows-before-japanese-emperor/
Neil when did you serve?
Because according to U.S. Army regulation and appropriate guidelines we were instructed to bow.
Found Here
Plus Eisenhower and Nixon both bowed, so the precedent is anything but settled. (I posted a couple of links earlier, but they are lost somewhere…)
Cursory google search yielded this:
http://deepbraindiary.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Nixon-bow.jpg
Chris,
What military personnel are instructed to do is one thing… but he’s the President.
It’s not an Obama thing; it’s a “Should the president of the United States be bowing to an emperor” thing.
He is considered military personnel. Commander in Chief. The highest ranking officer.
this is a fake issue…again.
other presidents have bowed.
if this is what people are trying to make political hay out of…then you’re really desperate.
Not everyone did it but a slight bow was a show of respect in Vietnam too. Us grunts did it often as we dealt local chiefs of the various villages. It was even more important with when dealing with the Montagnards. They were a very proud people. Simple shows of respect could mean your life.
It was also not unusual for the men to hold hands when they walked together. As a G.I. if a Vietnamese man held your hand as you walked it meant they liked and respected you. Although there was a few red necks who had some problems with at first but, the longer in country you were, the less it seemed out of place, even for the hard core ‘manly” men.
Yes, I know.
As far as I am concerned it’s not a political hay thing… I just think it inappropriate that the President bow.
Some of you guys are so political in your perspective, Who really cares if Obama bowed or not – what does it change in the kingdom of God, unless you do not care about that anymore.
but it is making hay out of it in the hands of people who oppose obama.
there’s plenty of real, intellectually honest, and significant ways and reasons to criticize this president.
this ain’t one of ‘em.
other presidents have bowed…so it’s not some “revolutionary” indicator of Obama’s “true colors” and “embarrassment” about being an American.
It’s not demonstrative of his now revealed “hatred” of this country.
that stuff is just crazy talk…and it obscures REAL issues where people disagree with this guy.
And I’m still trying to figure out why “bowing” has become the main topic of discussion… It’s not in the OP…
Having reread each of the comments I can’t figure out who you have in mind.