IntentBlog

Just Say "No" to Any Immediate Bailout - Don't try band-aids to keep the Tower of Babel Standing

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 03:37:18 -0800

Rabbis of antiquity interpreted the attempt by humanity to build a Tower of Babel that would allow people to storm heaven as a symbol of human hubris and technological power gone crazy. It was globalization for the sake of power, not for the sake of kindness or goodness, so, according to the Bible, God ensured that the whole thing would collapse.

The High Priests Gathered to Praise the Dems - but the Prophets Were Missing

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 22:47:52 -0800

For all the media chatter about how far we've come since the Democratic Convention in Chicago,1968, or the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr's. "I Have A Dream Speech," if you were expecting that the words of the prophets had moved from the subway walls and tenement halls into the mainstream of the Democratic Party you'd be sadly disappointed.

Why is Obama Down in the Polls?

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 05:02:26 -0800

In an open-letter to Senator Obama on Thursday, over 150 American clergy appealed to the Democratic candidate for President to retain the ethical and spiritual vision that won him the nomination in the first place. Rejecting the "inside-the-Beltway" wisdom that a Democrat must "move to the center to win the election," the clergy disputed the very notion that this is an accurate understanding of American politics.

140 Clergy Appeal to Obama to be Obama and reject the Inside-the Beltway Logic

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 05:38:17 -0800

Dear Senator Obama,
As strong supporters of your campaign to become President of the U.S. in our own personal lives and as leaders in the religious communities in the U.S., we understand well the pressures you must be facing to tone down your message so that you can win the election and then later be more courageous in challenging major assumptions in American public discourse that have been inserted there by a powerful conservative assault for the past thirty years by conservatives and champions of the elites of wealth and power in this country.

The Enduring Universal Theological Relevance of the 9th of Av:

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 03:07:58 -0800

and the Prophetic Warnings about the Coming Potential Destruction of Human Life and Perhaps All of Life on the Earth!
The Contemporary Prophetic Perspective
Jewish tradition unequivocally says that "because we sinned we were exiled from our land." The fate of the Jewish people, in other words, is a direct reflection of the level of our ethical behavior and our degree of holiness in the world.

My Talk with the Saudis, and What I Learned from Them

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:47:05 -0800

I had expected the World Conference on Dialogue convened by the King of Saudi Arabia July 16-18 in Madrid to be little more than a photo op for the King, a cheap way to buy good public relations for a regime that has refused to increase production of oil as a way to reduce the current surge in the price, provided haven and support for the Wahabaist stream of Islam that has fostered extremists like

Obama Funding the Churches - A religious critique

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 23:13:52 -0800

Presidential candidate Barack Obama's commitment to continue and expand church-based funding is not that it will end up undermining church/state separation or that it will aid in indoctrinating innocents into Christianity. Obama's administration is likely to take strong steps to avoid those slippery slopes.

Interdependence Day Celebration

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 07:01:06 -0800

Faced with July 4th celebrations that are focused on militarism, ultra-nationalism, and "bombs bursting in air," many American families who do not share those values turn July 4th into another summer holiday focused on picnics, sports and fireworks while doing their best to avoid the dominant rhetoric and bombast.

What Kind of a President Does America Need?

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:36:42 -0800

Lets start with what America does NOT need: It does not need a President who is deemed (by the media, the pundits, the chattering classes, the owners of capital, and the mavens of the Democratic and Republican party) "realistic," "pragmatic," "knows how government works," "not too partisan," or "savvy."

A Perfect Circle, like a Ring

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 05:26:34 -0800

What do we understand about desire? Other than being led around most of our life by desire, we have a hard time attempting to undestand it, and harness it. A popular teacher has built an entire career around explaining and analyzing it;

Why Americans & Israelis Should be Thanking Jimmy Carter

Fri, 02 May 2008 00:15:33 -0800

On the Absurdity of Refusing to Talk to our Enemies
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has received public scorn and derision from the spokespeople of the State of Israel and leaders of American Jewish communal institutions for having met with the leadership of Hezbollah and Hamas in Syria.

Gordon Brown Endorses and Widens the Framework for a Global Marshall Plan

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 04:22:35 -0800

Great Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown Endorses and Widens the Framework for a Global Marshall Plan. Now it's time for YOU to get involved. While the media's attention focused on the exchanges of put-downs between Clinton and Obama, or on the papal visit to the U.S., they wildly underplayed a very significant event:

Obama's Error - and What It Would Really Take to Rectify It

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 02:54:40 -0800

A continuing irony of American politics is that the candidates of the ruling elites have been able to convince many Americans that the candidates who seek to redistribute wealth to the less fortunate, provide health care for all, and provide jobs and housing for the poor are the real elitists.

Obama's Error... and Ours

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 23:04:34 -0800

Seeing religion as a substitute gratification grabbed on to by people who are otherwise oppressed is an insight that has been part of liberal and progressive culture for at least 150 years. Unfortunately, Senator Obama got it wrong because he identified the needs that are being systematically denied as purely material, thereby falling into the deep "It's the economy, stupid" mistake of the Left.

Attacks on Spitzer Reveal America's Ethical Perversity

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 22:47:26 -0800

Why are Sexual Crimes the only ones Americans Really Seem to Care About? The cross-the-political-spectrum attacks on Elliot Spitzer and demands that he resign his office show just how far the combination of Right-wing sexual moralism and counter-cultural sexual-correctness have been able to trump any other kind of ethical reasoning in American society.