I should probably change

the title of this blog since I am obviously not dallying daily. But what the heck, since I'm the only one reading (and writing) I will just continue to carry on. Besides I don't know how to change the name and I don't have enough interest to learn. Someday I'd like to take a class on blogging. (Thinking out loud -- Why don't I call Danny Callahan and see if he would be interested in teaching one.)

I'm writing today because I couldn't think of anything else to do. It's a pretty rotten day outside, windy,overcast and about 35 degrees. Wish I had a good book to read, thought about ordering the new book by Chris Hedges. It's about the Christian right and their leading us toward a fascist state. Sounds pretty far out, but when you look at them with a critical eye it seems ver plausible. I think Hedges is one of the most insightful thinkers of our time. I read his book "War is a Force that gives us meaning" and it really says a lot about us as a nation. I have a hard time expressing how strongly I feel that our country is becoming , if it is not already, the greatest threat to peace in the world.

I'm starting a Lenten Bible study at church next Sunday. There will be the same small group if 5 or 6 that usually attend. Trying something new, I will start by passing around one or two articles I will cut out of the Oregonian (or maybe even the Times-Journal) and try to initiate a discussion of the theological or moral issues that are touched upon in the stories, hoping the class (not me) will be able to identify and discuss them. Hopefully, each following week one of the others will be asked to bring one or tow articles from the newspaper and they will be the focus of the conversation. I'm looking forward to seeing how it works out. I'll let me know!!

Enough for now

I was going to sign off but I just went back and looked over what I had written and saw something I want to say more about, the idea that our country is becoming , if it is not already, the greatest threat to peace in the world. I am often reminded of the old bumpersticker America, Love it or Leave it. It still pisses me off, why should I have to move to some strange place because I don't "love" this one. I just spent a couple of days in the town I grew up in. It's nothing like the town I grew up in because the population has probably tripled, the industries that dominated when I lived there are non-existent, having been repleaced by a lot of different stuff. I can walk and drive all over town and never see anyone I know. Yet, despite all that I still have a warm feeling in my heart for the place. I don't love it, I don't really want to live there again but I'm glad it's there and it has a place in my heart.
That's kind of the way I feel about this country, the United States. I'm not at all happy with the way it is but it is still the place I grew up in and it has a place in my heart.
One of the things I think about is maybe it's time we get past the idea of nation states. At one point in history nations may have been a political solution to provide safety and identity to disparate and desparate groups and tribes. But I am coming to believe that nation states are now a threat to bringing peace into the world. When self-interest always overwhelms communal interest, the powerless will always suffer.

Enough for now, I will write more on this in future posts.

In the meantime, go out and do something (anything!) to stop this god damn war!