matthewryanward

My alma mater, Belmont University is hosting Rick Santorum tonight. This coincides conveniently with Belmont board of trustees member, Lee Beaman hosting a large fundraiser dinner for the candidate at his home before the event, but follows a larger trend that should outrage the thoughtful (and conscious) amongst the student body and the larger Belmont community.

[The Tennessean: Rick Santorum comes to Belmont a year after sexual orientation debate]

It was one thing for the university’s new law school to hire as its chair, the former Bush attorney general, Alberto Gonzalez, who legally codified torture, destroyed the writ of habeas corpus as a legal underpinning and allowed federal eavesdropping under the Patriot Act. But for a self-professed “Christian” university to host the likes of Santorum is the modern day equivalent of an institution giving a platform for Alabama’s Governor George Wallace at the height of the Civil Rights Era – a man who once said,

“In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.”

Governor Wallace’s famous quote at his inauguration in 1963, (which will now seem irreconcilably reprehensible) represents the same level of fearful, ignorant, deep insanity that Santorum offers in his beliefs represented in comments such as these:

“You can say I’m a hater. But I would argue I’m a lover. I’m a lover of traditional families and of the right of children to have a mother and father… I would argue that the future of America hangs in the balance, because the future of the family hangs in the balance. Isn’t that the ultimate homeland security, standing up and defending marriage?”

“This is an issue just like 9-11… We didn’t decide we wanted to fight the war on terrorism because we wanted to. It was brought to us. And if not now, when?” “[Gay marriage] threatens my marriage. It threatens all marriages. It threatens the traditional values of this country.”

“If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual [gay] sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything… In every society, the definition of marriage has not ever to my knowledge included homosexuality. That’s not to pick on homosexuality. It’s not, you know, man on child, man on dog, or whatever the case may be. It is one thing.”

And most recently we witnessed his bastardized one-dimensional understanding (which is really his only form of understanding in general) of the constitutional separation of church and state,

“I don’t believe in an America where the separation of church and state are absolute. The idea that the church can have no influence or no involvement in the operation of the state is absolutely antithetical to the objectives and vision of our country … to say that people of faith have no role in the public square? You bet that makes me want to throw up.”

This lands as par for Santorum’s course, particularly following his comments that you’re only “Christian” if you share his worldview, and that there is no such thing as a “liberal Christian” and that he’s pretty sure that Obama can’t be one.  But ultimately Santorum’s ultimate stance that we subordinate the Constitution to fit his narrow understanding of strict literal Biblical teachings mirrors that of the very religious fundamentalist regimes of the Middle East that he so demonizes. When truth be told, the only thing separating/protecting us from an elected-Santorum’s rigid idealogy is wealth, a system of checks and balances, and democracy. As Jon Stewart summarized Santorum’s stance in his episode on the birth control debate, aptly titled, “The Vagina Ideologues” (you know you want to click),

“Got it, so in the American system of government we should all be free to live by Christian law… You’ve confused a war on your religion with not always getting everything you want. It’s called being a part of a society.”

And that’s just it, for Santorum it isn’t just another set of views within American society that he is running on and championing. Rather, he is an advocate and a hopeful codifier of One set of views for ‘A’ American Society – views just as dangerous as from those who railed against equal rights for African Americans in the 50′s & 60′s or the religious zealots who flew bombs into buildings in the name of their god.  A man like Santorum has no place in any institution of higher learning much less one that would seek to be guided by the life and teachings of Jesus – the personified antithesis of such men. Truly, it’s a shame that Belmont doesn’t have a return policy for degrees, because one alumnus would like his money back.

———–
UPDATE: Here’s my argument from yesterday expressed more intelligently and thoroughly by Andrew Sullivan:

Its religious absolutism is the core underpinning of this country’s polarization – because when religion becomes politics, negotiation and compromise become impossible.

This is Santorum’s fear-laden vision. Which is why he is not a man of questioning, sincere faith and should not be flattered as such. He is a man of the kind of fear that leads to fundamentalist faith, a faith without doubt and in complete subservience to external authority. There is a reason he doesn’t want many kids to go to college. I mean: when we already know the truth, why bother to keep seeking it? And if we already know the truth, why are we not enforcing it as a matter of law in a country founded on Christian principles? It is not religious oppression if it is “the way things are supposed to be”, by natural law. In fact, a neutral public square, in his mind, is itself religious oppression.  [Santorum Exposes The Real Republican Party]

So Which Is It?

Yesterday, Governor Haslam puzzled reporters when he told them he opposes a state law that would stop cities from being able to determine a living wage while he supported a state law that prevented them from expanding their non-discrimination ordinances.

“While making it clear he’s against living wage laws, Gov. Bill Haslam today also said he’s not in favor of prohibiting city or county governments from adopting them.

‘I’m not a fan of the living wage,’ the millionaire governor told reporters. But asked whether he’s for state legislation to handcuff cities and counties, Haslam said: ‘Governments should be able to decide for themselves if they want to do that.’

That state legislation is the brainchild of Rep. Glen Casada, R-Franklin, who last session gave us the law invalidating Nashville’s anti-gay bias ordinance. His new idea would bar local governments from passing not only living-wage laws but also health-care coverage and family-leave allowances that go beyond the requirements of state law.  [SO, at least Casada is consistently ok with being in the legal-business of constituencies that are not his own.]

Haslam signed Casada’s anti-gay bill into law. So the governor’s comments today caused reporters to cock their heads in puzzlement. Why would Haslam oppose Casada’s new legislation if he was OK with the anti-gay bill? The principle is the same: State legislators shouldn’t impose their political will on the elected representatives of cities and counties.

We asked Haslam about this obvious contradiction. His answer? ‘Little different implications,’ he said as his press secretary hastily called the media availability to a close.

What did Haslam mean by that? Who knows? Conservative Christians were behind the anti-gay bill, and he had to pander to them or they would have ripped off his skin. Maybe that’s the implication he was talking about. ”    [Nashville Scene]

Moving on to Mitt

Romney thinks he’s got a safe bet in talking to an old man in a diner with a Vietnam Veteran’s hat, but it turns out he’s just a sneaky gay! So we the viewer learn that Mittens wants to repeal a state law allowing gay marriage? But wait, I thought he’s been bloviating about “States’ Rights” for months?

From the Washington Post:

Garon, who lives in Epsom, N.H., and was eating breakfast with his husband, turned to Romney and said: “If two men get married, apparently a veteran’s spouse would not be entitled to any burial benefits or medical benefits or anything that the serviceman has devoted his time and effort to his country, and you just don’t support equality in terms of same-sex marriage?”

“I believe that marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman,” Romney replied, adding, “and we apparently disagree.”

At that, a Romney aide called for him to wrap up the conversation: “Governor, we’ve got to get on with Fox News right now.”

“Oh, I guess the question was too hot,” Garon told Romney.

“No, I gave you the answer,” Romney replied. “You said you had a yes-or-no [question]. I gave you the answer.”

“You did,” Garon said. “And I appreciate your answer. And you know, I also learned something, and New Hampshire is right: You have to look a man in the eye to get a good answer. And you know what, governor? Good luck…. You’re going to need it.”

“You are right about that,” Romney said, as he stood up from the booth and headed into a side room for his interview.

It’s once again clear that the Republicans only want “States’ Rights” when it supports discrimination [Civil Rights Era over Race and then again today for GLBT Rights]. Should a state take a stand against discrimination, well… that’s when States’ Rights and “local knows best” end, and we need the Federal guvmint to tell us how to live.

Update: Garon Speaks Out

“What nobody tells people who are beginners — and I really wish someone had told this to me . . . is that all of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, and it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase. They quit.

Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”

- Ira Glass (host of This American Life)
full video: http://youtu.be/BI23U7U2aUY

It appears there’s been some confusion over what is and is not Christianity – that is which represents belief which begats behavior representative of a follower of Christ – Love constraining to obedience – others-centered, countercultural, sacrificial, otherworldly love – Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7 kind of love.

The confusion seems to be broadcast the loudest of late from Nashville’s own Tennessee Baptist Convention. So, let’s start via negativa. This is what is NOT Christianity.  (For clarity, I am referring to the TBC’s response to Belmont’s decision in addition to their previous history with suing the university over non-Baptist board hirings, NOT Belmont’s right decision to add LGBT protections to its policy).

Less than two months after facing a controversy over the departure of a lesbian soccer coach, Belmont University’s trustees Jan. 26 added “sexual orientation” to the school’s nondiscrimination policy, a landmark move that is being criticized as a major departure from its Christian founding.

Located in Nashville, Belmont had ties to the Tennessee Baptist Convention (TBC) for more than 50 years until the university’s board, in 2005, voted to move away from a TBC-elected board to a self-perpetuating board. Two years later, the two sides reached a settlement in which Belmont would pay the TBC $11 million over 40 years.

Randy Davis, executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Convention, told Baptist Press, “For decades Tennessee Baptists poured themselves into making Belmont what it is. We did sever ties in 2007, but many of us never dreamed that the school would walk away so rapidly from their Christian heritage and roots. My heart is broken for all of the Tennessee Baptists that have loved and invested themselves in Belmont over the years. Many of our strongest leaders today are Belmont graduates, and the sentiment that I am hearing from them is one of outrage…”

[continued HERE]

Davis, the Tennessee Baptist executive, went onto say, “the school logically cannot claim to be biblically grounded while affirming unbiblical values.”  Davis is absolutely right. Yes, right, and due to the struggle and diligence of a dedicated group of students, faculty and alumni to hold Belmont accountable to its stated Christian values, this is precisely why Belmont included the LGBT students, faculty and staff into the non-discrimination policy.  It was done because of it’s values, not in spite of it, and until a man like Davis can see that, he needs to step down from any place of leadership with the name Christian attached to it.

I remember being at the student protest of the TBC’s suit of Belmont a few years ago, and I remember meeting with Mr. Davis along with a group of students. I remember Davis being asked about how he reconciled the Bible’s teachings prohibiting law suits amongst believers. I remember clearer than anything that day his response:

“The Bible says a lot of things.”

Indeed it does, Mr. Davis, indeed it does. Perhaps one day, even you will be bothered to believe those “things.”

Now let’s look at the kataphatic example. If the leadership of the TBC represents a clear departure from Christianity, here’s an example of it still alive, embodied.

Julio Diaz has a daily routine. Every night, the 31-year-old social worker ends his hour-long subway commute to the Bronx one stop early, just so he can eat at his favorite diner.

But one night last month, as Diaz stepped off the No. 6 train and onto a nearly empty platform, his evening took an unexpected turn.

He was walking toward the stairs when a teenage boy approached and pulled out a knife.

“He wants my money, so I just gave him my wallet and told him, ‘Here you go,’” Diaz says.

As the teen began to walk away, Diaz told him, “Hey, wait a minute. You forgot something. If you’re going to be robbing people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to keep you warm.”

The would-be robber looked at his would-be victim, “like what’s going on here?” Diaz says. “He asked me, ‘Why are you doing this?’”

Diaz replied: “If you’re willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, then I guess you must really need the money. I mean, all I wanted to do was get dinner and if you really want to join me … hey, you’re more than welcome.
“You know, I just felt maybe he really needs help,” Diaz says.

Diaz says he and the teen went into the diner and sat in a booth.

“The manager comes by, the dishwashers come by, the waiters come by to say hi,” Diaz says. “The kid was like, ‘You know everybody here. Do you own this place?’”

“No, I just eat here a lot,” Diaz says he told the teen. “He says, ‘But you’re even nice to the dishwasher.’”

Diaz replied, “Well, haven’t you been taught you should be nice to everybody?”

“Yea, but I didn’t think people actually behaved that way,” the teen said.

Diaz asked him what he wanted out of life. “He just had almost a sad face,” Diaz says.

The teen couldn’t answer Diaz — or he didn’t want to.
When the bill arrived, Diaz told the teen, “Look, I guess you’re going to have to pay for this bill ’cause you have my money and I can’t pay for this. So if you give me my wallet back, I’ll gladly treat you.”

The teen “didn’t even think about it” and returned the wallet, Diaz says. “I gave him $20 … I figure maybe it’ll help him. I don’t know.”

Diaz says he asked for something in return — the teen’s knife — “and he gave it to me.”

Afterward, when Diaz told his mother what happened, she said, “You’re the type of kid that if someone asked you for the time, you gave them your watch.”

“I figure, you know, if you treat people right, you can only hope that they treat you right. It’s as simple as it gets in this complicated world.”

[full story at NPR.org]

Christianity happens.

“When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.” [Matthew 7:28-29]

A Decade in Music and Films. My Favorites.

Top 50 Albums of the past decade:

1. Radiohead – Kid A
2. Sufjan Stevens – Age of Adz (w/ADP)
3. Radiohead – Hail to the Thief
4. Sufjan Stevens – Illinois
5. Arcade Fire - Funeral
6. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
7. Sufjan Stevens – Seven Swans
8. Neko Case – Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
9. Modest Mouse – The Moon & Antarctica
10. Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
11. Fun – Aim & Ignite
12. MGMT – Oracular Spectacular
13. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
14. Radiohead – In Rainbows
15. The Cardigans – Long Gone Before Daylight
16. White Stripes – Elephant
17. Sigur Ros – Takk
18. Sufjan Stevens  - Michigan
19. Brandi Carlile – Give Up the Ghost
20. M. Ward – Post War
21. Patty Griffin – Children Running Through
22. Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
23. Over the Rhine - Ohio
    
24. Steven Delopoulos – Me Died Blue
25. Bright Eyes – Cassadega
26. Coldplay – A Rush of Blood to the Head
27. Rufus Wainwright – Poses
28. Patty Griffin – 1000 Kisses
29. Ryan Adams – Cold Roses
30. LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver
    
31. The Shins – Chutes Too Narrow
32. Switchfoot - Nothing is Sound
33. The Format – Dog Problems
34. The Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
35. Radiohead - Amnesiac
    
36. My Morning Jacket - Z
37. Jónsi - Go
    
38. Matthew Perryman Jones - Throwing Punches in the Dark
39. The Jayhawks – Rainy Day Music
40. Björk - Medulla
    
41. Derek Webb - She Must and Shall Go Free
42. Damien Rice – O
43. The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
44. Animal Collective - Meriwhether Post Pavilion
45. The Postal Service – Give Up
46. Vampire Weekend – Contra
47. Jars of Clay - The Long Fall Back to Earth
    
48. Beck – Sea Change
49. The National – Boxer
50. Rufus Wainwright – Want One

HM’s: Spoon - Kill the Moonlight, Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, Daft Punk – Discovery, The Avett Brothers – I and Love and You, Josh Ritter - The Animal Years, Björk - Vespertine, U2 - HTDAAB, Interpol – Turn On The Bright Lights, Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism, G. Hansard & M. Irglová – Once

Top 50 Films of the past decade:

1. Junebug – dir. Phil Morrison
2. Lord of the Rings – Peter Jackson
3. I Heart Huckabees – David O. Russell
4. There Will Be Blood – Paul Thomas Anderson
5. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – Michel Gondry
6. Diving Bell and the Butterfly – Julian Schnabel
7. Tape – Richard Linklater
8. Dogville – Lars von Trier
9. Synecdoche, New York – Charlie Kaufman
10. Into the Wild - Sean Penn
11. The New World – Terrence Malick
12. Before Sunset – Richard Linklater
13. Magnolia – Paul Thomas Anderson
14. The Reader – Stephen Daldry
15. Children of Men - Alfonso Cuarón
16. Revolutionary Road – Sam Mendes
17. The Dark Knight – Christopher Nolan
18. City of God – F. Mierelles & K. Lund
19. Pan’s Labyrinth - Guillermo del Toro
20. Wall-E - Andrew Stanton
21. No End in Sight - Charles Ferguson
22. Almost Famous – Cameron Crowe
23. King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters – Seth Gordon
24. Mulholland Drive – David Lynch
25. Darwin’s Nightmare - Hubert Sauper
26. Punch Drunk Love – Paul Thomas Anderson
27. The Corporation - M. Achbar & J. Abbott
28. No Country for Old Men - Joel & Ethan Cohen
    
29. Inglorious Basterds – Quentin Tarantino
    
30. The Motorcycle Diaries – Walter Salles
31. Memento - Christopher Nolan
32. Brokeback Mountain - Ang Lee
33. Fog of War - Errol Morris
    
34. Wet Hot American Summer – David Wain
35. Inception – Christopher Nolan
36. The Squid & The Whale - Noah Baumbach
37. Shortbus - John Cameron Mitchell
38. Grizzly Man – Werner Herzog
39. The Royal Tennenbaums – Wes Anderson
40. Me and You and Everyone We Know – Miranda July
41. Sophie Scholl: The Final Days - Marc Rothemund
42. Manderlay – Lars von Trier
43. Persepolis - V. Paronnaud & M. Satrapi
44. Waking Life – Richard Linklater
45. Oh Brother Where Art Thou? - Joel & Ethan Coen
46. Adaptation – Charlie Kaufmann
47. Goodnight & Good Luck – George Clooney
48. Lost In Translation – Sofia Coppola
49. Shaun of the Dead – Edgar Wright
50. In Bruges - Martin McDonagh

HM’s: Mystic River - Clint Eastwood, The Fall - Tarsem Singh, Moulin Rouge – Baz Luhrmann, Talk to Her – Pedro Almodóvar, Zodiac – David Fincher, The 25th Hour – Spike Lee, Anchorman – Adam McKay The Hours – Stephen Daldry, Capote – Bennett Miller, Before Night Falls - Julian Schnabel

*Note: The decade spans 2001-2010. 2000 was technically the end of the 90′s. I’m sensitive to this fact since I graduated high school in ’01, the first class of the new millenium, and we took some pride in this. The past ten years have naturally been the most significant in making me who I am, here at 27-years-old, so I think this list probably says a lot about what’s shaped me, moved me, and sent me.

So….What’s missing? What’s in your top 5? Leave your list. Critique mine.

Many Republican leaders and Tea Party proponents express a belief (or at least a cognitively dissonant rhetoric) that there’s been a fundamental change in government towards tyranny and socialism with the Obama administration. In these two full length, un-edited interviews below, Jon Stewart discusses with Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty of MN and Newt Gingrich, the perennial tension between liberty, equality and efficiency, and struggles to move them past talking points into an honest, nuanced discussion. Sadly, you won’t find these kind of interviews on Meet The Press. The real questions can now only be asked during circus time.  (Follow links to watch if video does not display)