Safe Haven

5 Random, Loosely Connected Thoughts for Today 5. If the Bush administration had been really prepared to make the argument that waterboarding wasn't torture, why did they hide the fact it was being used? 4. In my view, the warantless wiretapping program in use at the time was perfectly legal, within the war-waging authority granted the president under Article II of the Constitution. If that is even possible, why did they claim the Authorization for the Use of Military Force granted after 9/11 as the special case which grants such authority? It looked like a power-grab, and gave President Bush extra unnecessary political headaches. 3. Consequently, I do not think former Attorney General Gonzales is very politically intelligent, and he was possibly corrupt. 2. I believe President Obama is an American citizen. I also believe he's on his way to one term and one term only as president. 1. Yes, I believe waterboarding is torture.

5 Points of Random Blather for Today (how very Calvinist of me, for once) 5. I saw That One Girl and said, "Hello,"--and didn't die. 4. Everyone should be part of A Triumvirate of Awesomeness at any given time in life; that is, have two friends that with you, bring joy to all three of y'all. In all frankness, this ought to be all-male if you're a dude, as the name implies. A rant on this is forthcoming. 3. She didn't mean to do it, but she is walking heartbreak, dude. 2. Sisqo of Dru Hill can sing a song fo' real. But the "Thong Song" is the end of being taken seriously ever again. 1. Pepsi, I still revile thee, like the platform of Eugene V. Debs .

5 Random, Disconnected Thoughts for Today 5. The band Say Anything might be offensive and immoral because they, well, say anything, but they know how to make a catchy melody that one is likely to remember. 4. John Henry Cardinal Newman really knew how to write an English sentence. 3. Though I can hear a professor in counseling remind me that adultery isn't always about looks, I think adultery when your wife is a model (or something close) is mind-blowingly nonsensical. It's wrong anyway, of course, regardless. 2. I'm staring at a two-liter bottle of Pepsi on my desk that I was enjoying last night--even though I hate Pepsi--because my beloved Coke was unavailable. 1. Thank you, Bobby Bowden .

For your consideration , I am amenable to the Catholic position on justification because: [The 5 Reasons I Might Agree With the Papists On Justification] 1. Love/Charity. If you asked me, "Could a person be wholly acceptable in the sight of God, welcomed into His presence (justified) knowing truths about God, without love for Him and others?" I'd be like, "Um, no, read 1 Cor 13 and 1 John 4." We all know this. But I can totally imagine someone saying, "Synergism! Works! Papist! Arrghh! Nooooo!" at the thought of it all. :) One might try to do it systematically, but why? Why make your systematics a pretzel, when life so obviously teaches otherwise? 2. History. Noone believed Sola Fide until Luther. And I refuse to believe that the people of God were out of luck and incapable of being saved from AD 95 until 1517. 3. James 2. The Catholic way of harmonizing James with Paul is more convincing than the Protestant "What James Really Meant Was..." D...

5 Reactions To Brett Favre's 60 Minute Torturing of the Chicago Bears 5. Without the penalties, it would have been worse. 4. How many primes does this guy have? 3. Are the receivers great, or does he make them great? 2. 392 yards, and I swear he was holding back. 1. If the season ended today, Favre is your MVP, winning his fourth (surpassing his current record 3) MVP 12 years after his last.

5 Points of Truth About "The Ugly Truth" 5. Ladies: Gerard Butler 's piggish character is a caricature...but barely so. I'd say about 87 percent of what he says men think/do is accurate. 4. I thank God I don't know too many ladies who look like Katherine Heigl. That "I'm completely unattainable to you" vibe really sucks. 3. The man would be more believable as a jerk if he was American. I thought European tools acted like Hugh Grant/Colin Firth or whoever. 2. Butler's "Women only want a resume" speech in an otherwise predictable romantic comedy resonated with me more deeply than I might care to admit. 1. When I was able to tear my gaze away from the living piece of art that is Katherine Heigl, I realized that the girl who played her assistant ( Bree Turner ) is an understated beauty.

5 Random, Disconnected Thoughts for Today 5. Happy Birthday, Uncle John. 4. If I'm funny, it's because of my friends. 3. Tacos are our friends. 2. Are tacos therefore funny? 1. The Roman Catholic Church may be the theological equivalent of the Borg Collective. In a good way. I think.

I was cruising the inter-webs again, and a friend posted this: "I thought such awful thoughts that I cannot even say them out loud because they make Jesus want to drink gin straight out of the cat dish." -- Lamott I laughed out loud. And then I reflected on why that was funny to me. That would never happen; Jesus isn't driven to drink like so many of us are. He never needs to "take the edge off"; there's no need to cover up feelings; just feel them in that perfectly holy way. Furthermore, I'd say drinking out of a cat dish is sub-human in the proper sense; I laugh at the thought of Jesus doing it because he is the quintessential human, [philosophical hesitations, ahem] our goal, our path, our means. I'm certain the world itself comes apart at the thought of Jesus doing--or even considering--something sub-human. I probably scared myself because I pictured it and found it funny. And yet again, I thought of a song . And a large part of the answer to the...

What is it with me and overwrought, sappy, Black vocal pop/soul? I am officially the whitest person ever. I don't even have elite snobby credibilty: I have loved its mainstream since the late 80s. Still do. Well, I was feeling a bit lonely tonight, and thinking about my one and only experience that could be considered a relationship--for the record, I screwed it up--and this tune came to mind. It's not nearly this bad, really; the title is true though; we skipped over that part. And it's kinda weird now. It is to me, anyway. And the singing from 3:20-3:45ish is the part that sucks me in every time: "I'll never, ever, find another love like you, ohhh"--even not being overdramatic, it's true. There's only one first (mutual) love that really costs you something. You know what other song reminds me of this? This one. Our friends Usher and Alicia here are doing their level-best to make sure this musical decade won't totally suck. And our colleagues fro...

5 Uncomfortable Thoughts on Protestant Justification 5. Sola Scriptura ("Scripture Alone") is not sufficient to vindicate any one (Protestant) theory of justification over another. 4. "Justification by Faith Alone" in Luther's formulation was entirely novel in Christian history. 3. Penal substitutionary atonement was not believed until the Reformation, either. (Perhaps aspects of each at various points, but never to that extent) 2. "Belief in Christ" implies faith and trust. And experientially at least, trust without Love (charity, agape) seems impossible, and maybe impious. Further, some cooperation in this Love, some synergism, does not affirm semi-Pelagianism or deny grace. AT ALL. 1. If ecclesial hostility led Luther to affirm justification by faith apart from Charity, Christian living in practice seems to teach that he was wrong. (Sorry.) I don't want the faith of the demons in James 2. The debate about works is but the minor one compared to ...

5 Semi-Connected Thoughts for Today 5. "Stokley" Williams , (sp?) I could listen to his singing for many hours. 4. Why do I love this song so much? 3. Yeah, I know he sounds like the lead from Tony! Toni! Tone! . 2. If an immersion in classical music or music education would give me a disdain for most of popular music, then I don't want it. 1. I wrote a song last night.

If you're one of those people for whom the answer to the question, "Why aren't you Catholic?" is, "Because it's indefensible heresy, and I'd fear for my soul and anyone else even considering it," then this upcoming list is NOT for you. For all the rest of us-- from those who named their cats "Benedict" (I know you're out there, stop lying) to those who have a healthy affection for the Catholic Church and its people, but will respectfully take a pass on "coming home,"--I dutifully present: (as if anyone cares/is reading this) The 5 Reasons I'm Not Catholic (At the Present Time) 5. Justification/Perseverence/Trent Though sola fide has no way of being verified historically, beyond, "Luther said so," it seems ludicrous to believe that our gracious God would make it so easy for those of us who love Christ to foul it up. Experientially: I may sense the separation that my sins create, but I cannot know that they will da...

What A Video Game Taught Me About Aging, Frailty, and the Fear of Death I’m OK with the fact that probably, I play too many video games, and watch too many sports. I’m not that important, and no one is relying on me for survival as of yet. But I learned something the other day from a game I was playing. Indulge me, for this requires some explanation. My favorite game is MVP Baseball 2005, from EA Sports. For one, I love baseball, and secondly, EA is justly well-known for making semi-realistic, fun sports games. The year corresponds to the upcoming season, so as far as this game is concerned, the last completed season was 2004, which featured a freakishly talented Cardinals team—winners of 105 of 162 games that season—and the surprising Red Sox, who climbed out of a three games to zero hole in the American League Championship Series against the Yankees to win in seven games. If that weren’t enough, they won the World Series in four games over the Cardinals. Even were I not a St. Louis n...

As one who's received his share of unlucky breaks in the game of love (it's a pity party, and you're invited) I thought the list for today might reflect that. So without further ado, I give you: 5 Amazing Brokenhearted Songs 5. "When Can I See You," Babyface. The legend. Recognize. 4. "Brokenhearted," (Soul Power Remix) Brandy. With a hand from Wanya Morris of Boyz II Men. 3. "The Love We Had (Stays On My Mind)," Dru Hill. This is a remake, but Sisqo really makes you feel it. 2. "Missing You," John Waite. Is there anyone on Earth who dislikes this song? 1. "Nobody Knows," The Tony Rich Project. Yeah, it sounds like Babyface. But it isn't. For the last time, it's not him!

5 Random, Disconnected Thoughts For Today 5. What have I done with my copy of the Westminster Standards? 4. Peter Falk is The Man. 3. My neck is still not right. 2. This one's gonna sting a little. 1. The more I read the Bible, the less perspicuous and sufficient it seems.

5 Thoughts On the Curiously High Profile Elections Last Night 5. I'll bet The Boss was mad about "Born to Run" being used as a victory song by the Republican governor-elect, Chris Christie. 4. At least Corzine, the current governor of New Jersey, used his own money. I respect that. 3. Don't be fooled: The Democrats and President Obama are justly alarmed by the VA governor's race and others (which they lost). This state had been trending toward them in national elections for several cycles. 2. Newly elected House representative Bill Owens (D-NY) will not be able to hold this seat in 2010. 1. This portends a 1994-like shift in the House of Representatives in 2010.

5 Natural Responses To Coming Upon Weingreen's Hebrew Grammar, Lesson 65 (Weak Verbs) 5. "Our Father, who art in Heaven...." 4. "What? Where? Who? What's going on here?! 3. "These verbs are seriously weak, dude." 2. "No, comparing it to the strong verb doesn't help." 1. "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to, cry if I want to, cry if I want to. You would cry too, if it happened to youuuuu!"

5 Signs You Have An Irrational Sports Hatred of Ryan Howard 5. You refer to him as Ryan "Strikeout" Howard. 4. You know that he went to Lafayette High School in St. Louis, while you attended nearby Eureka, and you hate that, though you were not especially attached to EHS at the time. 3. You improperly credit Albert Pujols with the 2006 National League Most Valuable Player award on purpose. 2. You say things like, "Ryan Howard, what a stupid name!" And, "I bet you lived on Stupid Street when you were a kid!" 1. You are rooting for the Yankees in this World Series.

5 Thoughts While Listening To A Babyface Tune 5. This cat probably writes #1 songs while humming in the shower. 4. If only I could write a song 1/10 as good as the worst he's written... 3. He looks good for 50. 2. You make it sound so easy. 1. DO NOT commit adultery , but especially not against a great singer-songwriter.

5 Possible Activites After the Most Brutal Hebrew Exam in the History of American Protestant Seminary Education 5. Read Dune. 4. Read The Andromeda Strain. 3. Read the Westminster Confession of Faith (specifically, the sections on Perseverence!). 2. Read the Catechism of the Catholic Church. 1. Sob uncontrollably. I just realized I could some up the first part of the list as, "Read dystopic, misanthropic, sci-fi novels." Bitter much?