Live 8 and Intergenerational Respect

Long after Live 8, the misguided attempt by Irish rocker Bob Geldof to "raise awareness" in the minds of political leaders of the G8 nations (which, for some perverse reasons, includes Russia, a nation not particularly great in anything except pride) will be remembered for its generational snobbery. In an act of Baby Boomer arrogance, Geldof has decided to go mainly with aging Baby Boomer rockers on the declining edge of their musical ability in order to appeal to the aging Baby Boomers who are ruling over the free and unfree world. Ah, the irony. Just call me when it's over, okay? I don't want to listen to a bunch of fifty-year olds who can't hold a tune in a bucket try to belt out songs that were hits thirty years ago. That just isn't my cup of tea. Obviously, Mr. Geldof decided against trying to appeal to younger people. Perhaps he thought that the retreat acts, for the most part, from Live Aid would have enough cred to appeal to young people without trying to get recording acts who have been successful in recent years. I personally think they're wrong, but they're probably trying to appeal to power-mad middle aged people anyway, not people like yours truly.

Now for my second rant about Live 8. What is the point of wasting a bunch of money on Africa? Bono and others are whining on behalf of Africa that the continent needs its debts forgiven and that it is unable to bear its burden. Well, no one (save Africa's own leaders) forced that debt on Africa. They have brought their disaster on themselves--through environmental degredation, civil conflict, a lack of democracy, culture that frowns on personal responsibility or respect for women and children (those nations who fail to properly respect their youth soon face the music), and the belief that they are entitled to everyone else's money. That sort of attitude doesn't do anyone any good. Let Africa show, through their deeds, that they are a worthwhile investment and not a lost cause, and then we will see about mercy. At this point, though, giving Africa aid and the chance to borrow freely is like giving a drunk a prepaid card at the local pub. It's a recipe for disaster. Sorry, Bob Geldof and you other bleeding hearts, but Africa isn't worth saving until it makes some major changes for itself. Then come and see us again. Until Africa can demonstrate the capacity to govern above the tribal level, proper respect for youth and women, sensible policies concerning agriculture and mining and forestry, a commitment to human liberty and dignity, and personal responsibility (rather than graft and dependence on charity), then it has no business asking anyone for help. And that is my rant for the day.

Order and Chaos

Many have said that creativity only comes from chaos, while others are paranoid about anything chaotic (and hence anarchic) whatsoever. I am a mildly chaotic person (but not excessively so), and am a relatively creative and productive person at the same time. The trick is to balance the order and the chaos. You see, in order to be creative, one must have some sense of chaos so the mind is free to wander and create anew. The problem is that the mind must wander within some sort of boundary. If the mind wanders anywhere and everywhere, the results are often less than pleasant (trust me, I know this from personal experience). God's law, if nothing else, places boundaries on our behavior and thoughts. Therefore, in order to be truly creative and productive there must be some structure to the chaos. However, too much structure is as damaging to creativity as too much chaos. Just as too much chaos gives the mind too many possibilities and not enough focus to complete any of the ideas, too much order stifles the creativity and stops the spring of ideas. That's just my two cents of the matter. It's an interesting discussion, though, but time forbids me to say more at this time.

The Importance of Having Your Own Seal

For those who are unaware, I am a civil engineer. Civil engineering, like most professions, is a "guild," where there are three layers to being a civil engineer. I am currently in the "apprentice" level, which is (of course), the lowest level of engineer. As an "apprentice" engineer, my job is to increase my knowledge, start trying to pass some exams (like the FE/EIT in October, more on that later), and move up to the next stage. After passing the FE/EIT (Fundamentals of Engineer/Engineer-In-Training Exam), one becomes a "Journeyman" engineer. As a journeyman, the wages get better, the skills are more easily transferrable, and there are more tests to take. During this level engineers often take other tests in various minor specialties and seek to further increase their own personal marketability. Often graduate school (an MBA or some other degree) comes into play during this stage (I'm shooting for at least one degree during this stage), as well as a host of other certifications (like GIS, Building Inspector, and so forth) which are transferrable personally as well. After at least four years of being an FE/EIT, one moves on to the ultimate level of the profession, which is the professional engineer.

And what's so big about being the "master," or the "professional?" Well, for one, you get the cool initials P.E. after your name, which mean you can sign your own drawings. You have CEU (continuing education unit) requirements, but the ability to be recognized for your work is a good one. One of the fringe benefits of being a professional engineer is the seal. The seal is the sign of reaching the level of competence to being a professional. Until you have the seal, you are not truly an engineer. Perhaps such a lesson is applicable in other areas of life as well. The seal cannot be bought (though it costs a lot of money). It is earned through hard work, practice, knowledge, wisdom, and character, and is maintained through continual effort. In many ways, the life of a Christian is much like that of an engineer, even if most Christians aren't as "nerdy" as engineers tend to be, nor is engineering a particularly religious profession (though as designers there is certainly some comparison between engineers and those who strive after the divine in their spiritual lives). Anyway, it's something to think about, at least.

Writing Projects...

Okay, for those who want to know how I keep busy when I'm not working (which takes up a lot of time) or studying for the GRE, read on. I enjoy writing. Of course, I have a lot of writing projects that I'm not very good at keeping track of or making progress on. Some of the more prominent ones on my queue are the following.

Plays:

Learning How To Speak Corporate (This is a short, humorous (I hope) play taken loosely from personal experience involving speaking with my brother.)

Sagecraft: Secrets of the Past (This is part four of an epic play I have been writing this year about a young man who seeks to save the world from the consequences of arcane studying into dark arts. In this part of the epic, the young eponymous sage and his friends explore the world looking for ancient history books.)

Original Sin (This play is about the slave trade in England, told by a young man kidnapped in Liverpool to serve on a slave ship as a doctor, set in the late 1700's. This book is also a dramatization of "Bury The Chains" from Adam Hothschild.)

A Palace Coup (This play is set in the misty days of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, as told by a recent National Geographic article about the tombs of Saqarra.)

Prose Fiction:

Chevalier (This short story/short novel is to be the first in the "War Games" series, where a young man who tests virtual reality games is pitted against an old enemy in a deadly virtual enactment of a Civil War campaign.)

The Imperial Marines (This short story continues the Secfenia Dark story, looking at the stumbling, bumbling exiles from the first class of the Imperial School.)

Prose Nonfiction:

The Implied Social Contract of Romans 13 (I'm almost finished with this paper, which is an analysis of Romans 13 as a tract against tyranny, rather than as an apologetic for absolutism, as it is often false interpreted to be.)

Deuteronomy 17: The Law Concerning Kings (Probably my next paper, after I finish the Romans 13 paper, this work explores the consequences of Deuteronomy 17 as to the system of constitutional rulership the Bible requires for just government, which places strict limitations onto the activities of leaders.)

Lessons From The Jerusalem Conference (This paper looks at Acts 15 and its lessons as to participatory government, resolution of doctrinal issues, and communication between members and the ministry, and between leaders themselves.)

Melchizedek Priesthood (This paper is a look at what separates the Melchizedek priesthood from the Levitical priesthood, and analyzes the resulting lack of a recognizable human priesthood in the Church of God, since only Jesus Christ is our priest today.)

Some Long-Term Writing Projects:

Rules of Interpretation (This paper, which will have to wait on research, is a look at the subject of hermeneutics, and will seek to establish and defend a system of rules for sound biblical exegesis. Of particular importance will be a look at how to interpret the Bible properly, using such methods as context, harmonization, literalism, and so forth.)

Canonicity (This paper, another rather scholarly work, is awaiting research on the differing views over the books of the Bible, and will seek to defend the canon we possess, without unnecessarily denigrating the apocryphal works (some of which are actually good reading, for historical purposes at least.) )

Obadiah and Nahum: Prophets of Destruction (This paper will compare the two biblical odes to destruction, the short books of Obadiah (a book on the destruction of Edom), and Nahum (a book on the destruction of Assyria), looking at their historical fulfillment and prophetic importance for us today.)

Romans Project (This will include an exegetical analysis of the chapters of Romans and the book as a whole. This project will take awhile.)

The Twelve Apostles Project (This will include an analysis of the twelve apostles, and will also take a long while.)

Okay, I'll be busy writing these for years, and more will no doubt be added to the list as time goes on...

Remember The Days...

The title for this entry comes from the song Remember The Days (...On The Radio) by Nelly Furtado, the only single I remotely enjoyed from her first album, and that with serious reservations about its lyrics. That said, the song adequately reflects the two sermon messages given today by Mr. Veller and Mr. Treybig, and hence the title will stand and will be explained in more detail below. Suffice it to say that on this most "Church History" of Holy Days that remembering the days of our own past in the Church was front and center, more so than it usually is. I would have called the two messages nostalgic, only that they dealt with events that I find impossible to be nostalgic about, as I was a bright, attentive, and very concerned 13 year old at the time I had to deal with the historical disaster of 1995.

The first sermon was by Mr. Veller on the subject of dealing with the fight when it comes to you. As a part of his sermon, he commented on the ubiquity of heresies in the history of the Church of God throughout recorded history. Of course, while I cannot remember HWA, I remember 1995 all too well. It happened at that rare moment where I was becoming aware of what was going out without yet being able to have any remote control over it. It was a delicate time, to say the least. To watch authority crumble before your eyes in a living example of Acts 5:29: "We should obey God rather than men" was a painful and scarring experience, one that I am still dealing with the reverberations from. One cannot invoke the sacred right of rebellion without paying the long-term costs of having to establish a new order when one has knocked out the support of tradition and human authority. And it is important to note that rebellion is a sacred right, but a very dangerous one to invoke. Anyway, to put it mildly, as a pioneer in the Tampa Bay United congregation (if a young one), I'm not too keen on having to relive those awful and chaotic times. There was a sense of strength and relief at joining together with others of like mind who also fought against the heresies, but I wouldn't want to have to go through it again, as it was a major crisis of "place," as I tend to have on occassions where I make massive shifts in my life and do not know exactly how I am supposed to behave or what role I truly have. I guess I think way too much about these things, but I have to try to make some sense of what happens. Mr. Veller commented on the early days of long question an answer sessions, alternate services, and private bible studies, days I remember very well.

The afternoon sermon by Mr. Treybig was a similar, though not identical message. Comparing the events of the early church in Acts with his own 1995 experiences as the pastor of Spokane, Washington. He commented, obliquely, on his own problems as a UCG pastor with local boards in Spokane, without going into a great deal of detail as to the issue. Methinks he protested too strongly. It was interesting to see how he dealt with the changes in 1995, and how it was predicated on the good of the congregation, as well as his own personal and professional sense of virtue and brotherhood with fellow ministers and elders. Obviously, that is not a perspective I have personal experience with. It is intriging that he tried to focus some of his comments on those of us who were under 30 (about 1/4 to 1/3 of the audience), who were too young to remember HWA personally. Those younger than myself may not have had the same sort of painful experiences from 1995, but I belong to the middle group of young people--those who do not remember HWA or have any sort of personal nostalgia for the "good old days" of HWA, but rather remember the negative effects of the hierarchial system that HWA set up. Perhaps it's a bit unkind or unfair, but such is the life. The end result of tyranny is anarchy and the end result of anarchy is tyranny. Those of us who seek after wisdom realize there must be a better way that avoids either, a pitiless and narrow road. The events of 1995 are a natural result of the tyrannical system of hierarchy practiced by those who were in high positions in Worldwide during HWA's time. Hopefully the ministers who have remained with the truth have not, as the Bourbons of France (post-Napoleon) "learned nothing and forgotten nothing." That would be a tragedy yet to be written. Only time will tell if these days augur well or ill for the future. Perhaps that is the reason why it is good, in such an anniversary time as this, to reflect on the past. With that, I take my leave.

On The State of Baby Boomer-Gen X relations...

Alright, I had a conversation with a friend in the local congregation (and a former employer actually), and a large part of the conversation related to the difficulties between communication between Baby Boomers and Gen Xers. He, a late cchort Baby Boomer (born in the same year as my mother, and Sputnik), is seeking dates (in the Church, of course) with women between 25 and 35 years of age. These women would all be members of Generation X. The younger ones would be in my cohort (at least to the extent that I am considered a Gen Xer), and the older ones would belong in the first cohort. His attempts have not been very successful, largely because he is a typical Baby Boomer (more on that later), and they are more-or-less typical Gen Xers. Those two generations get along like Hitler and Stalin, or cats and dogs, or oil and water. You get the picture; it's not pretty. And why do the generations not get along so well? Well, I wrote about 40 pages on the subject in my "Generations Study" paper. Many more illustrious scholars (with a better ability to speak dispassionately on the subject) have also written extensively on the subject. In particular I enjoy reading the books from Strauss and Howe.

The typical qualities of Baby Boomers are a moral zeal that overcomes all rational sense, a certain smugness towards youth (who are never as mature as they are), an arrogance about their importance and place in society, and an implacable hatred towards that which falls short of a pitilessly impractical ideal. In short, Baby Boomers are idealists (as a general rule), and leave others (see Generation X, the Millennials) to pick up the pieces of the inevitiable moral/physical/economic breakdown. Wherever Baby Boomers go, and they always seem to go in mass, destruction and gridlock seems to follow just as surely as night follows the day. This isn't to say that Generation X is a perfect generation either. As a matter of fact, I myself am a cusper, and as a practical consideration, I tend to claim whatever generation is the least popular at time time (sadly, this a common Gen Xer trait). Gen Xers are usually bitter about their fate, and I can't blame them (obviously, I sympathize and empathize). Gen Xers are the perfect foils for Baby Boomers, and vice versa. Gen Xers often show a complete lack of concern for the ideal, and gain a well-earned reputation for immaturity, materialism, bitterness, lack of self-esteem (if you were constantly upbraided by Baby Boomers, it would happen to you too), survivalism, cynicism, lack of respect for authority, and so forth. Since Baby Boomers are the quintessential implacable moralists, and Gen Xers loathe hypocrisy and seek the easier road (in general) of avoiding the appearance of morality than striving after the reality of it, the results of Xer-Boomer interactions are often tragic. My friend ought to rethink his dating interests. Sadly, the perfect match for a Baby Boomer is the Millennial, but I would not suggest that option to my friend, given the age disparity. Come to think of it, I have a great level of appreciation in the virtues of young ladies of the Millennial generation. That said, my friend should stick with the Baby Boomers. Unfortunately, it is the curse of Baby Boomers to not get along so well with other Boomers. Putting two equally self-righteous, smug, hypocritical, and arrogant individuals who disagree on "values" (*cough,* as I loathe that term) is an especially rewarding sight for those with bullet proof vests and helmets, and who happen to be behind barricades of some impenetrable kind. Come to think of it, that sounds like loads of fun. Unfortunately, many Baby Boomers think I am "very bright, but need to mature." This is undoubtably true. However, it might charitably be pointed out that the same is also true for them, as it is for us all. If we were perfect, there would be a host of other theological issues we would have to deal with. Life would also be much less amusing, or frustrating for that matter.

Politics in the family...

Ugg, I hate the fact that my family is so political and so hypocritical about it at the same time. I vote (not all the time, but at least occasionally, whenever I can, as I'm an absentee voter for California, and it's not always easy to get the ballot in a timely fashion). My brother is a registered "independent," but he really leans more towards leftist politics (though he doesn't want to commit to a party, a classic move). The discussion started (surprisingly enough, I don't bring up the subject of politics all that often in my family. I prefer to write about it.) when my brother brought up the goth music he likes to listen to, in particular, the song "B.Y.O.B." (The title stands for "Bring Your Own Bomb," and it's a shaft job on our current president). Among my family members, I am the only one who has views that are right of center, even if they are moderately conservative in nature (very conservative on "moral" issues, but with a greater concern for social welfare and equality than can be found by most conservatives). The argument, thus launched, continued into a wide variety of fields. My brohter made all the standard left-wing whiny comments about Bush's lack of intelligence (Bush has an MBA, my brother has no degree, and a lesser capacity for the English language at times), his mistakes in invading Iraq, and so forth. I let him have it with both barrels smoking about Roosevelt's frienship with Stalin leading to the subjugation of many millions of Eastern and Central Europeans. He tried to compare Iraq to Vietnam, which I had to correct him on (as well as defend the US involvement in Vietnam, which was a just involvement, if badly mismanaged from the start). He also tried to make the claim that Clinton did a better job at avoiding foreign entanglements than Bush. I reminded him of Bosnia, Haiti, Somalia, and Kossovo. Some people just never learn. If you want to play partisan politics, don't play them with me. Personally, I see places where our president has made mistakes (and I'm not usually slow to comment on the mistakes anyone makes, not even myself), but certainly he is far better than the alternative. In the real world, where we live our daily lives and have the responsibility to make as decent as possible (realistically, of course), we have to be aware that no one is perfect, and that the imperfectability of humanity does not mean we should fail in either of our obligations towards those in power: reminding them where they fall short (for they often do), and reminding them that they are our servants, are responsible to us, and can be voted out at our leisure (well, except for those Supreme Court Justices, but that's another rant) or should be voted out at our leisure.

Updates on activity/Call for papers...

Okay, this post is divided into two parts. The first is an update on the activity in my life. Since my last entry where I commented on how busy I was, I have since begun work (today, my shift for right now is 9AM-6PM), and I have added another activity to the list. On June 11th (Pentecost Eve) I will be attending the annual Tampa Bay choir appreciation dinner hosted by Mr. and Mrs. Treybig at their place (now, if only I could remember how to get there, I know it's over near where I work somewhere on the West side of Tampa).

The second update is on my future writing projects. I finished "Servants, Leaders, and the Class System of the Church of God" a couple of days ago, and since a few friends asked to read it, I sent it to them. The rest can read my other blog (www.livejournal.com/users/nathanalbright) in order to see an outline of it. I needn't duplicate the post here. The next paper I will try to work on is a paper on Deuteronomy 17, to go along with the one I am slowly writing on Romans 13 (as both passages are truly companion chapters on the limitations of rulership, a subject of major interest to me). If anyone has written their thoughts on Deuteronomy 17 before, feel free to send them my way. I have an idea of what I want to write, but it's always interesting to see what others think about this momentous text, which demonstrates beyond the shadow of a doubt that absolutism is bibically impermissible as a form of government. So, before I become too remiss in my updating of this blog, I beg my rest for today. Life is too busy for me to write as much as I would otherwise...