wpeltz's quotes

"(T)he Civil Rights movement has a powerful hold on me. It's a point in time where I think heaven and earth meet. Because it's a moment in which a collective faith transforms everything."

Jesus didn't send his disciples out as "Christian soldiers marching as to war." He sent them out as peacemakers, who would form circles of friendship and thereby enable people to connect with one another. That is still the primary Christian mission: better living through better circles of sharing.

"For Atwater, politics wasn't personal; it was just about winning by disemboweling your opponent and then desecrating his grave."

-- From a review (http://www.buzzflash.com/store/reviews/1316) of the documentary "Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story".

Atwater was the originator of the 'Swift Boating" style of Republican politics, Dukakis being the first victim. See the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eY3XnLv4YpA.

"When Jesus, according to Biblical reports, converted approximately 150 gallons of water into an equivalent quantity of wine, his conversion rate was about a cup of ethanol per gallon of water invested (given the typical alcohol content of wine). Compare that to current processes that use irrigated corn as their carbon source and get less than a teaspoon of ethanol for each gallon of water consumed."

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Since we're "earning points" for quotes, I think I should do more than just quote. A bit of reflection is in order.

This bit of technological evaluation of the wine-making process at the Cana wedding is perhaps just a gimmick that the writer uses to get our attention. Kind of cute. At least it caught my eye.

But there's also material here for theological/ecological reflection on stewardship and the good use of creation. In addition to the water to ethanol ratio, there are issues concerning the large amount of oil used in ethanol production (destroying the energy rationale for corn ethanol) and the need to use cropland for food instead of for ethanol fuel consumption (as food shortages begin to spread).

"All governments lie, but disaster lies in wait for countries whose officials smoke the same hashish they give out."

"To write the truth as I see it; to defend the weak against the strong; to fight for justice; and to seek, as best I can, to bring healing perspectives to bear on the terrible hates and fears of mankind, in the hope of someday bringing about one world, in which men will enjoy the differences of the human garden instead of killing each other over them."

If we are to believe that God deliberately sent his only son into the world to be brutally tortured and crucified, then I take that to be transcendental child abuse, and I will not have it.

"We'll renew the base on one condition: that they let us put a base in Miami -- an Ecuadorean base. If there is no problem having foreign soldiers on a country’s soil, surely they’ll let us have an Ecuadorean base in the United States.”

"If there's one thing that George Bush has done that we should never forget, it's that for us and for our children, he has shattered the myth of white supremacy once and for all."

George Orwell is banging on the lid of his coffin and screaming, "1984 was a cautionary tale, you dolts, not a motivational speech!"