To be honest, I can track with where both of you are coming from. When someone gets nailed for something, and then immediately plays the "Jesus card" as you called it, it leaves you with the sense that you are somehow the "bad Christian" for not forgiving "as Jesus forgave." Furthermore, it seems to me that if someone has a genuine sense of repentence for sins that he or she has committed, that individual must, in the process of turning from their sin, recognize that others have been wounded by their transgressions. Furthermore, in the process of recognizing the damage that they have done, there ought to be some sort of ... desire ... to right the wrong (so to speak). So to my way of thinking, when the leader immediately plays the "forgive as Jesus forgave card," he is probably saying more about the actual condition of his heart than he is about the condition of yours (based upon your willingness to either forgive or not forgive).

But ... there is the issue of Luke 6:37 and the "measurement of forgiveness" that we are willing to pour out. While I agree that the pastor (in this particular circumstance) does not appear to be genuinely remorseful (based upon his apparent lack of concern for the damage he has done and upon his apparently greater concern for maintaining his position) and thus is not fit for leadership, I wonder whether our desire is to truly see him restored or whether our desire is to merely protect ourselves from being swindled and being left to feel like a doormat. If it is the latter, than we are are every bit as guilty as he is in terms of failing to live as Christ commands.

What do you think?

I know very little about Fred Thompson, politically, but what I do know makes me want to know more.

James Dobson doesn't seem to be a fan... so that's a plus.

"Everyone knows he's conservative and has come out strongly for the things that the pro-family movement stands for," Dobson said of Thompson. "[But] I don't think he's a Christian; at least that's my impression," Dobson added, saying that such an impression would make it difficult for Thompson to connect with the Republican Party's conservative Christian base and win the GOP nomination.

So... even if the guy supports the same causes you do... if he's not a Christian, forget it!

Sigh. I hate politics.

Yeah, I see nothing wrong with "We forgive you. Now please leave. For everyone's sake."

And this may just be my own reading of it, but "Will you forgive me as Christ forgave?" just sounds... very guilt-trippy.

Charity fund pilfered; Oregon church asks pastor to leave; pastor replies with “Will you accept my apology? Will you forgive me as Christ forgave?"

If this interests others--I’d like to know some opinions. What is your collective take when people play the Jesus card? Because this is a prime example: you’ve got a pastor who for lack of a better description, acted in an exceedingly slimy fashion. I get that we’re all broken and that our God is (in a very real sense) a God of grace and second chances. And I have benefitted (and will continue to benefit) from both.

But when does grace remove or subvert accountability? I’m not suggesting that we revert to the Scarlet Letter or anything, but it seems to me that there’s a near pandemic (immature?) abuse by persons (who I consider to be lesser minds) who seem to equate forgiveness as forgottenness--perhaps a method to absolve consequences or personal accountability.

So where does Christian forgiveness end and doormat begin? Stated differently, how do personal boundaries and (Christian) forgiveness interact? And where does shame lie in all of this?

Because this has been of some personal interest to me, relative to my inlaws, as well the consequences of stuttering in the form of social punishment and societal marginalization. And the paradigm in which I currently find myself is that forgiveness can occur, but boundaries remain stable (if not more aggressively delineated). I can surely forgive you, but you don’t get to negatively affect my life anymore. And I can forgive you, ex-pastor, but you are now run out of any type of authority position.

Dogma

Thanks for the find, M. And it still is pretty amazing to see people go to such great lengths to ostensibly try to make themselves feel better. (i.e., lesson the cognitive dissonance)

I can’t comment on the Collins book, quite simply because I really don’t read for pleasure, but the reviews seem mixed. Almost like the film Contact. Some people seemed to really like it; I couldn't stop yawning and looking at my watch. In any event, if the Collins book ever comes out in a podcast in which I can use to go to sleep--then I'll give it my attention. 1776 was awesome.

But what I do find interesting is the extent in which people attempt to force (their) reality to be congruent with their dogma. This is notoriously pandemic in the area of stuttering research; so I feel like this (scenario) is one in which I have experience.

And even with my close and intimate familiarity with the phenomenon of those who idolize dogma (i.e., their own beliefs) over the data—I still don’t “get” it. How does this comfort people? Denial of the data, regardless of its validity or reliability, in lieu of one’s belief (regardless of the data). The end result is nothing more than a deductive house of cards around a single central premise that is usually exceedingly vulnerable. In a sense, it is a person attempting to replace God by usurping His omniscience. It is also a gross failure to recognize our own ignorance. It just baffles me to no end; so much so that I really don't bother engaging such people anymore. (As there would be no point.)

Why any Christian would choose this hill to die on is way beyond me.

I'll just strongly re-recommend Francis S. Collins' The Language of God at this point, and leave it at that.

Apple Woes...

So true to personal fashion, I drove down to this conference last night--without having completed any lecture preparation for my two lectures (today). So around 9:30 pm, I cracked open the MacBook Pro and began to work in MSFT Office. And I was working on the Mac side, as I now equally comfortable with both. But PPT was sluggish beyond belief, perhaps due to Rosetta translation. So I began working in Keynote (Apple's presentation software). It bites. Ok--I said it. It bites. Pages--good. Keynote--not as good.

So there I sit--tired, wondering if I should slog through (rosetta) PPT, suck it up with Keynote, or give NeoOffice a whirl.

Then it hits me. Parallels, stupid. So I opened up PPT in the Windows environment, and it worked fine.

I guess Mac-Office 2008 is worth it after all--simply for the native OSX86 coding.

I don’t mind threadjacking. :) The Mac OS has its compelling features, despite what Vista currently offers. (Although I have heard great things about Vista; my PC's hardware won't support it. I'm also not paying for it, and I no longer crack software.)

From what I understand, BootCamp is merely a dual-boot system--just as you describe. I have no experience with it, but from what I understand--it does provide decent driver support. I suspect that it might be a conceptually easier solution for any (computer-illiterate) staff; I also expect that it would be less “quirky”.

Parallels, as you describe, is nothing more than a virtual machine. However, it allows an X-86 based OS to run (functionally) natively on an X-86 chipset. So with that said, I don’t want you to compare it to Virtual PC, which tried to emulate the X-86 architecture on the PowerPC platform. (Tim, please correct me where I am incorrect.) Point being, Virtual PC has inherent limitations that an X-86 virtual machine does not. While I’ve never used Virtual PC, I’ve heard that it was sluggish and buggish.

In short, there is no speed degradation working on Parallels. And the virtual machine is a little quirky, such as the use of a “shared folder” in which you can share files between the two platforms, rather than drag-and-drop from one OS into another. (Note: Quirky does not equal Buggish. Sharing files between the two platforms isn't difficult, it's just different. One simple solution is to set the Parallels "shared folder" as the Mac's "Documents".) And as for Parallels essentially hijacking certain processes--yes, that can be an annoyance. I’ve not had any problems relative to the DVD drive, but I have had a few hiccups relative to who controls a USB thumb drive. As it seems, it can either be read by the Parallels virtual machine, OR the Mac OS can mount it as a drive. Both cannot share. And sometimes when I want to read the USB thumb drive on the PC side, the Mac picks it up (and visa-versa). But this really isn’t a problem as it is a hassle that one learns to work around. (As I have.) (There is a setting allowing Parallels to automatically mount the drives, or mount them upon your direct command. Both options have their own quirks.) The only limitation that I have run across w/ Parallels (and it’s one that I didn’t spend any effort rectifying) is that I couldn’t run my Classroom Clicker program under because of this USB annoyance issue. I expect that I could have found a work-around for the quirk, but I just didn’t care.

Any DVD-drive based quirks do not concern me. A simple work-around is to pre-load the DVD’s data into the “shared folder”, thereby bypassing any of the mounting/control issues. But with that said, I’ve not had any quirks w/ the DVD drive--primarily because I don’t use them. (My life is all online FTP servers and thumb-drives.) BTW--this “Shared Folder” is really the cat’s pajamas; it makes life *so* much easier relative to earlier builds of the program. Sharing data between the platforms won’t be a problem. I bet that your concerns over Parallels are based on past builds, and not the most current. (Recent within the past two weeks.)

And I’ve use a variety of builds (versions) of Parallels, and they have continually improved upon it. And this most recent build upgrade is a *vast* improvement over the past builds, and I’m quite impressed. Except for the USB thumbdrive annoyance, Parallels has been a terrific solution without any insurmountable barriers. Their “Coherence” feature is freakin’ awesome. MSFT apps actually show up in the Dock; and there is no problem relatives to the mouse knowing that it needs to be in the PC world or the Mac world. It’s been pretty flawless in terms of bi-platform usage.

But with that said, it may not be an ideal solution for the computer illiterate. One such example is that you have to remember special key-strokes to emulate a right-click on a 1-button mouse. (The simple solution, however, is to use a two button mouse!) There’s a few other key-stroke issues that a computing novice may find intimidating. And any time you change platforms, the lesser minds will whine and complain. Prepare yourself.

So my final comments are two-fold: (1) I don’t know your essential PC-based programs, so I can’t provide any intelligent feedback. If it’s a simple program, I’m not concerned. But if your programs require special USB keys or dongles, then we may have a problem. (2) I think Parellels has a free trial offer--so the best thing for you to do is get your paws on an OS-X86 computer and give it a whirl. Shame that we didn’t live closer; I’d just come over and let you play with it... I bet you can play around w/ it at an Apple store.

My final suggestion is to make sure that your Macs have a minimum of 2 gigs of ram memory; that way, you can dedicate 1 gig for XP, and 1 gig for the Mac.

/ Hope this helps...

P.S. I've not used MSFT Office 2008 for the Mac, but Office 2004 runs under that Rosetta emulation. And that has been of significant annoyance to me. To be honest, I prefer iWorks anyway; I have found their Pages and Keynote software to be superior in almost every way. I've also goofed off w/ NeoOffice, and find that to be on par with MSFT Office. So I wouldn't even waste the money on 2004 until the new (native to OS-X86) MSFT 2008 comes out. And even when it does--it may not be worth the investment.

P.P.S. If your office has broandband, I'd give all staff a Skype-out account, and reduce your long distance bills to (functionally) zero. One could also use SightSpeed for videoconferencing.

Hey Greg,

If I'm not hijacking the conversation, I'd really like to spend a few moments discussing Parallel. I am in the process of converting Tri-County to Macintosh and we're going to have to run either Boot Camp or Parallel for two programs that are essential to our operations. From what I gather, Boot Camp gives you an either/or option which basically doesn't work for us in terms of efficiency. I can't have my staff rebooting every time they want to switch platforms. But Parallel is actually nothing more than an emulator and my experience with emulators (specifically Virtual PC) left a great deal to be desired. Furthermore, I've heard that Parallel actually tends to dominate certain functions (e.g. the CD drive) and can sometimes be a bit tempermental in terms of allowing a user to transfer data from a Windows program over to the OS X side. Any thoughts on these subjects?

It's good to finally see that the real Al Gore is being discussed--as it annoys me to no end that someone (who is without merit) uses fear in attempts to gain merit.

We took a break for a bit, went to Hot Springs, AR...which was fun. Travelling with a kid is different, but it really wasn't a problem. I can see how two would be an issue, but one crumb-cruncher to tote around really wasn't a problem at all. We had a lot of fun...

Apple Talk
Finally--really busy week, but let me go off a bit on my feelings of technological nerdiness. I'm currently using this Macbook Pro a bit more; Parallels is a nifty program that has a coherence feature, allowing me to use both MSFT Windows programs and Apple programs side by side. Google Calendar has allowed me to sync my stuff throughout my Palm, Mac and PCs. Thunderbird allows for easy email synchronization... It's all coming together. All the various gMail drives (of which there are many options, including a Firefox pluggin) make thumbdrives obsolete. Quicksilver is a great app, and I might even shell out a few bucks to pick up PathFinder... And I may dump Google Calendar for 30 Boxes, which appears to be a bit more flexibile. Curious about Rogue Amoeba and TalkShoe as well...
< / Apple Talk >

Suffice it to say that I'm no longer bi-curious, but rather bi-platform. Both platforms will get the job done, but if cash isn't an issue--I'd just as soon get a Mac w/ Parallels. At least for the time being, technology is working for me, and not the other way around; it's a good (albeit fleeeting) feeling. Interested which Mac apps S may have to share...

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Al Gore. Helping to keep our planet safe.

'nuff said?

So things are settling down a bit. We have a board meeting on Monday night; and while we will still be dealing with issues in an offiical manner, the storm has largely passed. The responsible parties have sought to reconcile with me; and the interesting thing is: I honestly believe that they regret their actions.

Anyway, on to other news. As of two nights ago, my wife is once again officially pregnant. Needless to say, we're rather excited.

Welcome to Arkansas...

Yeah--I really don't care about product convergence; I just want a simple phone that I'm not afraid to use. As such, I'll be going with the Casio G'zOne. It's built to meet or exceed the MIL-STD-810F standard, so that's good enough for me.

There's so much going on right now in which I don't know if I can really post about (in a quasi-public forum). Suffice it to say that graduate admissions can be infuriating. One bloody well knows that the incoming class needs to be "diversified". One, however, isn't given any information relative to which applicants are or are not "diversified." So one is stuck by trying to figure out just how "diversified" a person is based on a name. Or a school. Or writing styles. It's the 800 pound gorilla that no one has the courage to talk about. (Well, except me--as I don't suffer from White Guilt.) And the duplicitous call for diversified anonymity (in grad apps review) just bugs the hell out of me--as it necessitates two standards. One (lowered) standard for those who might be "diversified", and another (higher) standard for those who appear not. Stated differently, if my daughter's name was changed to Ellaliscious, her probability of acceptance would increase. The unspoken and unwritten dual standard reality does result in reverse discrimination. Period.

And the thing is--I can see both sides of the coin... and I'm all for giving people a chance. (A chance to succeed, as opposed to a chance to fail.) But I just want the gorilla to come out of the closet. Academia lives within an unspoken yet fully functioning quota system, so let's just operationally define that quota. Thank you very much.

And the thing is--I think an argument could be made that the tacit acceptance of this dual standard reflects an unfounded prejudice. (Still unclear what racism is, exactly.) The dual standard system stems from the soft bigotry of (racially profiled) lowered expectations. Inferred from that reality is the belief that these lowered standards are associated with lowered abilities--and I just don't believe that. Unapologetically. I just can't see how allowing the soft bigotry of racially profiled lowered expectations helps anyone long-term.

Will be on holiday for a while; have fun everybody.

Greg, I see where you're coming from with the Drew Marshall thing. All I'll say is that I bet he'd be the first one to agree with you. One of the first things he talked about in the video is how he recognized how easy it is to poke holes in things and sit back and criticize, rather than see how he could be an "agent of change".

I have to say, to me, the most surprising thing in your entire post was

won't be waiting for the iPhone, because all I want is a phone.

Wow, this is an older and wiser Greg! ;)

First--let me post that I really don't care too much for my job right now. Between my alleged white supremacy and what can best be described as a wholly irrational boss relative to a different matter--I am a man beaten down. Next week is spring break, and I'm lookin' forward to our trip to AR.

So with that said, let me offer you all this bit of internet crack.

And regarding those vid clips--I watched them both, but found the guest to be... well, annoying. As were the hosts, but we're focusing on the guest. While we all can certainly identify with his content--I am simply not impressed by a person that bitches and moans at reality without offering a viable alternative. And if you've got a viable alternative to a potentially broken model (example: the church), don't just talk or whine about it; do it. Create it. See if it's actually a viable (and better) alternative. Sitting in the back of the classroom and being disruptive by shouting out negative comments doesn't help anything. Yes, the church is flawed. Yes, humans (who happen to believe in the saving grace of Jesus Christ) are flawed. Yes, our perspectives of God and Christ are flawed. But to take on the rebel persona to dogmatically state these points just rubs me as high-school-aged maturity; he is no better than those in which he criticizes. I may have appreciated him at age 19; I do not at age...whatever I am now. 32 or 33 I guess.

So I wonder how much of this guy's message is lost in its presentation. Yes--the picture-perfect pre-packaged and polished religious model is not only flawed...it's inaccurate and likely counterproductive to the great commission. And there's little question in my mind that those who subscribe to such a model, do so for personal (i.e., psychological) reasons--and those reasons may not be Christ-centered. But his arguments would have been so much stronger had he simply acted his age. And that, I guess, is what bugged me. Instead, he seems proud of the fact that this was "His only time being invited on the show!!! Ever!!! Oh look at me, I'm such a Rebel!!!"

And to a certain extent, I'm currently struggling with similar concepts described by the self-proclaimed anti-establishment anti-authority rebel for God. A good example might be Bill Mallonee, as I really don't seem to get the same enjoyment from his music as I might have had in the past. (Prior to learning to his new marital status.) Is this my Amy Grant vs. the satanist? Or is it that I seemingly lost the refuge that I thought I once had? I would opine that his rebellion has tunneled his perspective.

P.S. My cell phone shattered last night; won't be waiting for the iPhone, because all I want is a phone.

So apparently in Canada there's a program on their version of TBN or Daystar or whatever--the Christian Channel--called 100 Huntley Street. Fairly standard, plastered-on smiles kind of praise-the-lord show that I personally watch only to laugh at. Anyway, someone at the show thought it would be a good idea to have a certain Christian radio talk show host named Drew Marshall on the program. Long story short, he will not be invited back... but some of the stuff he said that was critical of Christians was spot-on. Fortunately the videos are available:

Part I

Part II

Comments?

Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards says Jesus would be appalled at how the United States has ignored the plight of the suffering, and that he believes children should have private time to pray at school. In other news, John Edwards' Home is this County's Largest. Take that, Bono.

Wow Scott—your story seems surreal. The audit sounds like a (governmental) kick in the nuts; but that’s what they do—so I’m almost tempted to give that a pass. And then putting in all the extra hours—well, that would temporarily suck, but it would be something in which I would endure if I believed in the cause. (I may be a little bitter about it, but I could find satisfaction in the result.)

But when some uninvolved superior begins to question my loyalty? Well… game over. You know those little turkey-timers that pop-up when your birds done? Ok—that just went off. I’m done. As one of my first (4 year old) clients used to say, ‘I think our time is almost up!” I can deal with the hours; I can deal with the sacrifice. But when I do so in a matter that is not only unrecognized but also unappreciated… the emotional decision to leave the environment just became exceedingly easy and clear.

A not-so-similar situation occurred to me at my old position. One student had turned in two others for cheating. Upon looking at the data—the accusation was clearly confirmed. When confronted about the uncanny test similarities, the two students gave diametrically opposed (and conflicting) responses. Yet my spineless boss undermined me, and I was given the choice of proceeding without departmental support (i.e., losing) or writing a letter of apology to the students (i.e., make the situation go away).

And I’ve never felt a “game over” feeling quite that strong in my life. What I’ve come to learn realize since then is that appreciation trumps income. (Given that the income is sustaining.)

So in short… Wow man—I’m honesty sorry dude. I’d almost like to see a George Costanza quitting the New York Yankees kind of response—but I’m confident that you and S will figure this out.

In other news, the US Postal Service improves wait-times by removing clocks in public spaces. Oh--the price of stamps is going up again.

Posting from a long, lost friend ...

Good afternoon, gentlemen. My apologies for the rather pronounced silence coming out of Illinois these past few weeks. Not to be overly dramatic, but these last three months have truly been some of the worst we have experienced since our first year of marriage. To say that the non-profit I run is becoming a drain is to make a massive understatement on a scale I can't even describe. At the close of 2006, we were hit with an IRS audit, which turned out fine, but cost me one-and-a-half weeks vacation time with my family. Vacation time that has not be extended to in 2007. Then, due to the lengthy nature of the process, I was massively behind on rolling out our first major fundraiser of the year. Consequently, I had to work obscene hours that included working at least one full day every single weekend this year. And what do I get for my efforts? Efforts that have grown the fundraising campaign in question by a factor of 60% over the previous year. Well ... I get a sit-down with a Board Member who tells me that she and other unnamed members of the Board and staff are questioning how I am spending my time and whether I am truly committed to the minsitry.

The long and short of it is this. I have been so completely and utterly drained on an emotional level that I simply haven't felt like picking up the laptop to post. Several times, I had it in my hand, but I honestly didn't know where to even begin. All I can say is this: working for a volunteer Board of Directors is hands down the most difficult thing I have ever done in my life. They have all the power while feeling none of the reprocussions if the ministry does not meet financial goals.