A Clear and Present Manger: The Role of Religion in American Politics

God's gone slummin' here in America, cruising the aisles of the House of Representatives for a vessel to inspire to act in His name and it's forever changed the complexion of our politics, this we know. But why? Why has God left us for the mean streets of D.C., prostituting His divine will for this bill, that proposition?

The clear answer is that he's only lurking around there 'cause He's not getting what He needs at home. That's usually the case, isn't it? His home, of course, is in the hearts of men, and his foray into the political arena is a symptom of our domestic neglect.

That's right folks, blame yourselves.

This age actually promises to be very fruitful in a way, insofar as it relentlessly saturates us with everything that is without, so as to lead us back within, where everything exists in perfect splendor -

you know, like a kingdom.

New Year's Letter

Dear 2009:

iHate sexy.

Please, stop bringing it back. Take my girlfriend (please), who's plenty sexy, but for good measure feels compelled to smatter her work, her life, indeed, with it as a kind of personal edge-cum-business utility, which is rather like putting one of these in one of these.

It's the world we live in, she would say, and she would be right. This year, though, after idling the foregoing years in darkness, I've finally hit upon the answer: live in a different world! Become expert in the constructions of yurts and live with a nomadic tribe in the outskirts of Mongolia. Find a corner of the earth where Steve Jobs, Justin Timberlake, et al. fall a distant second to a lactating Yak.

Oops. What's this? A Greek chorus, hmm? Well, let's hear what they have to say -

But it is the sacred and the profane!
They must exist together.
They are complementary.
You must embrace the one to fully embrace the other.

- well that is true, isn't it? Damn Greeks. There's a problem, though. Today, what passes for sacred (nationalism, religious dogma, ambition, bigdreams, money, the social contract I never signed) isn't really sacred at all and what passes for the profane (Britney Spears, E! Television, Hollywood, Carl's Jr. hamburgers, Mardi Gras) sure as hell ain't profane.

To have things like these form your constellation of that which is sacred and that which is profane is to do nothing other than be a dead human being. And not in a good way.

C'mon, let's go milk some Yaks, who's in?

Happy New Year.