Friday, October 17, 2008

Some thoughts on Joe the Plumber

In the last debate John McCain brought Joe the Plumber in to the National spotlight. He used this man to attack Barrack Obama's stance on taxes. This attack hasn't set well with me and I have just now figured out why.

First McCain is distorting the facts. Lets say the Joe did buy a plumbing business and grew that business so that he had an income of $250,000 as McCain indicated. Although I do not know what Joe's current financial status is I am pretty sure that he would almost double his income if he were able to do this. (The average American income is about $44,000) Therefore per anyone's tax plan he would pay more taxes. That is the way the tax code is structured. The more money you make the more money in taxes you pay.

Secondly, if I understand Obama's tax plan correctly he wants to tax income above $250,000 at a higher rate. This gets to a deeper question that needs to be discussed. The question is how much money does someone need in America to live a comfortable life? Obama puts that threshold at $250,000. Almost 6 times the average Americans income. McCain has no threshold.

As a society I think this is a much needed conversation. With the economy about the take a nosedive, governments at all levels will need to make cuts, most likely cutting services that benefit the poor. Is there a way we can all live comfortably? Or as Micah tell us when we all have our own olive tree there will be peace. (Micah 4:3)

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Charismatic Identity crisis.

For about 8 years I was part of a church that would be considered charismatic. During those years I was in services and heard teaching that you would expect in a charismatic setting. Things like prophecy, speaking in tongues and hearing form God.

Recently I have left the institutional church and in light of the recent Sara Palin video and watching the movie Religulous, I have begun to question some of those previous experiences.

With a critical eye I can see how some of that I experience and was tough was just plain strange, and somewhat unhealthy. But then again, one time I had a very real experience that I can only classify as a baptism of the Holy Spirit.

What is one to do when their objective observations and real experiences clash.

Thus the paradox of following Jesus.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Movie Review - Religulous

The other day I saw Bill Mahr's new movie "Religulous" with my good friends the Holts.
As you might guess the movie brought about great conversation afterwords. I guess the best thing to do is to just jump right in.

First off; as my friend Steve pointed out, this movie is not a "documentary". In fact Mahr for the most part only interviews the stereotypical religious people that he has based his comedic career on. My disappointment with this stylistic choice of interviewing is that everyone was made out to be a fool, except Bill Mahr.

With all that said, I really liked this movie. Mahr's main thesis is that we all need a little more doubt in faith. Blindly accepting the things that we have been told about God actually doesn't give us healthy faith. Instead it can lead us down a destructive path.

It's not that Mahr is anti-faith or has no faith himself. At one point in the move he briefly talks about how he bartered with God in a tough period in his life. Also, through out the film he seams to communicate that he has an appreciation for Jesus teaching, but hates Christianity.

If I could point out one resource to follow up on this movie, I would recommend the book, "Jim and Casper go to Church". This book has some of what Mahr is talking. Jim, the pastor, is willing to take a critical look at the church. Casper, the the friendly atheist, is willing to ask questions and dialogue. May we all have a healthy dose of doubt that leads us closer to God.