A personal journal about teaching the Bible and ancient Near Eastern history/theology/religion/archaeology to university students in New Orleans, and whatever else happens to be on my mind.
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Friday, November 05, 2004
Tolerance and Objectivity
I think lately my posts haven't been so objective, or tolerant of the opinions of just over half of the people in this country. I'm sorry. It has been a very difficult few days for me. In fact the Democrat loss in 2000 was easier for me, as I could focus my frustration and anger on Katherine Harris and five Supreme Court Judges. Now, the people have spoken, votes were counted, and it didn't turn out the way I thought it would, or the way that I hoped. I am going to cope with this by taking some action that I feel will make the world a better place. From now on, I will no longer drive to work. Instead, I'll walk or bike. It's just under two miles, and I feel this country's dependency on oil is a problem. Will me not driving my 92 Tercel make that big of an impact? No, but maybe I'll sleep better at night. And besides, I'm fat, so the exercise can only help. Second, I am writing a book with my friend Mark Gstohl about the Bible and US history. I feel that education is a great way to improve the world, and I want to bring back the idea of Jesus and tolerance into the mainstream, rather than the current misguided belief that Christianity somehow teaches intolerance. So readers, if my blogs of intolerance and non objectivity bothered you, sorry about that. I'll try to be a kinder, gentler, and more tolerant blogger in the future. Did you hear that Santa?
If I lived where you do -- and we almost bought a house near Baudin and Murat -- I would walk to work every day. Riding a bike down Carrollton can be a harrowing experience. I think walking would be better.
ReplyDeleteI like the book idea. I also know of a toally awesome Bible website that is going to need a section about Jesus some day. Hopefully there will be some synergy there.
michael, i'm confused. how were you upset about gore's loss in 2000 if you voted for nader? didn't you contribute to the democrats' loss in 2000 yourself?
ReplyDeleteI voted absentee from CA, where it wasn't even close. The state went for Gore. If I'd have lived in a state where it was close I'd have voted for Gore. Does all this sound hypocritical? Sure. Does it sound spineless on my part? You betcha! And in retrospect, I remember hearing so much about compassionate conservatism, and I remember being told he was such a moderate in Texas. But the title of this post was tolerance and objectivity, so I'll try not to dwell on the past four years. Lately Democrats have let the Republicans define the issues, and they are so organized and unified. This time around in 04, many democrats were voting against Bush. Personally I liked Kerry and thought highly of his plans, but in the end he wasn't able to connect with the 3% of voters that could have tipped the election. I'm curious how many people who voted for Kerry voted for him because they liked him and his platform, and how many voted for him because they hated George W and the direction the country was heading. Seems like too many voted because of the latter reason. This comment to a comment is pretty partisan, sorry. I'll stop here
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