Category Archives: Pop culture

Group process

My older sister teaches writing at Indiana University East in Richmond, Indiana. She let me sit in on a couple of her classes a few years ago, and she is one of the best teachers at the college level I have ever seen. She sent this comment along in response to a < a href="http://www.danielharper.org/blog/?p=288">previous post:

You’re right about the “old group process techniques.” They’ve become hackneyed, reductive, and unfortunately, often, required. I am all for nurturing the voices of my students, but too often “small group work” or “student centered learning/teaching” means nothing more than busy work or chaotic jabbering. Even my students will say: how can we critique each other’s work in small groups when we don’t yet know how to critique our own? Good question, kids. My teaching combines lectures, guided discussion, mentoring, apprenticeship, and judiciously teaching the students how to teach one another. Maybe the only postmodern thing I do is to teach to different sensibilities, or, I suppose, intelligences. We draw, eat, talk, write, take walks, watch films, talk, write some more, take self-created impromptu field trips, sing, argue, write, write, write. I suppose the fact that I won the big teaching award last summer validates this intuitive approach. Who knows.

Fish

Uh oh, here comes my evil alter ego, Mr. Crankypants. I better get away from the computer before he pushes me awa– ow! — I’m going already….

Heaven help us all, Mr. Crankypants made the mistake of getting stuck in bad traffic yesterday. Given all the crazies and their road rage these days, Mr. Crankypants no longer makes silly faces at drivers who do stupid things like slowing down for green lights or making left turns from the right hand lane of a four lane highway.

Mr. Crankypants was stuck at the railroad crossing on Route 38 east of Geneva, while a long slow train headed east — and just as it got clear of the crossing, another long slow train headed west. (At times, Mr. Crankypants almost feels jealous of my stupid alter ego, Dan, who gets to walk to work.) With nothing else to do for 15 minutes, Mr. Crankypants sat in his car and unwillingly had to read the slogans people stick on the backs of their cars and SUVs.

Most bumperstickers are boring. The ribbons are worse. The fish are the worst. Little cutesy child-like drawings of fish — plain fish, fish containing the word “Jesus,” fish with a little Latin cross, and fish with “Ichthos” in Greek letters pretending to have a classical education.

When the railroad crossing gates finally went up and rush hour traffic slowly moved eastward, Mr. Crankypants kept noticing the car fish on the backs of cars and SUVs. The way-too-cute fish with little itsy-bitsy legs that says “Darwin.” How coy. The vicious “Truth” fish swallowing the “Darwin” fish. How Christianly non-violent. The swarm of smaller fish ganging up on the “Jesus” fish. How bizarre. From there we headed out into da-da land, with a dead fish, a blue fish, and one fish that said “Sushi.”

Reporter Carol Kaesuk Yoon, in the article “Unexpected Evolution of a Fish Out of Water” [no link, story removed from Times Web site] from the February 11, 2003, New York Times, tells us whom we can blame for the proliferation of fish: Chris Gilman, president of a costume company in Hollywood. More than 20 years ago, after first seeing those Jesus fish, Gilman came up with the idea of the Darwin fish. Our voices heavy with sarcasm, let us all say “thank you!” to Mr. Gilman.

“Jesus” fish were never funny, hip, or cool, they were always just sad. “Darwin” fish and their evil spawn may have been funny, hip, and cool 20 years ago, but their day has come and gone. Today their only function is to annoy people who are so easy to annoy that it’s like — it’s like — it’s like shooting fish in a barrel.

While he continued to be stuck in rush hour traffic yesterday, Mr. Crankypants fantasized about getting a bumpersticker made for his car that would read, “Please do not tease the Jesus freaks — Control your car fish.” It was a sad and lonely fantasy, but it kept Mr. Crankypants from swearing too much at the traffic. As of today, Mr. Crankypants started listening to audio books. Now his commute is much more pleasant, and he doesn’t notice car fish at all. Life is better that way.

Religious intolerance at the Air Force Academy?

Today’s New York Times carries an unsigned editorial calling on the Air Force Academy to stop Christian proselytizing that appears to be sanctioned by high Academy officials. Supposedly efforts to stop the proselytizing have been going on for more than a year, but with little success. The editorial states:

But it turns out that the academy’s remedial program of religious toleration is running into resistance. The Air Force’s chief chaplain expressed displeasure at the object lessons dramatized in a multidenominational educational videotape. ‘Why is it that the Christians never win?’ the chief, Maj. General Charles Baldwin, demanded to know after watching the give-and-take of instructional encounters. General Baldwin had segments cut out on such non-Christian religions as Buddhism, Judaism, and Native American spirituality.

Hmm… I wonder what General Baldwin thinks about Unitarian Universalism? Maybe we should all think about writing to our congressperson or senator to complain about religious intolerance at the Air Force Academy.

(…and you have to love that quote, “Why is it that the Christians never win?”…)

Mr. Crankypants, evil alter ego of Dan, to the rescue. First it was birds, now it’s this Duelfer report. Good grief. Mr. Crankypants has always fancied himself as an investigative reporter, so here’s a hard-hitting interview with the alleged perpetrator of this blog…

Mr. Crankypants: Why the sudden intrusion of politics into what used to be a nice little religion blog?

Dan: Look, this is still a religion blog. But democratic principles are at the heart of who Unitarian Universalists are as a religious people. Yet we can’t even talk openly about the war in Iraq, let alone anything else, without getting into name-calling — or worse yet talking behind people’s backs. Our inability to engage in dialogue has become very divisive.

Mr. C. But why choose such a hot button issue as the Iraq war?

D. Because war has been a religious issue at least since Augustine’s justification for just wars.

Mr. C. But you hate Agustine.

D. Only because he’s a prig.

Mr. C. A while back, you spoke of the “divisiveness” that results from a lack of productive dialogue. Just what’s wrong with divisiveness, anyway?

D. Stop trying to be so evil, evil alter ego.

Mr. C. You still haven’t answered — why the emphasis on the Duelfer report? Why not some truly divisive issue like abortion or gun control, where people are so angry and shrill there’s no hope of any rapprochement in our lifetimes?

D. Exactly because there’s so little hope of understanding. With the Iraq war, there’s still hope of open, productive debate.

Mr. C. Chicken.

D. Evil alter ego.

Mr. C. Come on, I’m your alter ego — I know. ‘Fess up. Give the real reason you chose the Duelfer report.

D. I thought the report was very readable, if long…

Mr. C. [Hard stare from Mr. C] The real reason.

D. Oh, all right. I thought “Duelfer” was a cool name.

That concludes Mr. Crankpants’s investigative report. As with all investigative reporting on blogs these days, the goal has been to make the debate more shrill, and contribute to the general atmosphere of hatred and divisiveness. This is Mr. Crankypants, signing off — for now [bwah-hah-hah-hah-hah!!]

Monkey’s brain

Today I had this daydream about being a monkey… What would that be like?

What’s so funny about bein’ a monkey?
Monkeys is a very funny things —
always wanna laugh when a monkey tells a joke,
and dance when a monkey sings…

What’s so great about bein’ a monkey?
Somethin’ I gotta explain —
always know which hand you’re gonna grab your banana,
when ya got a monkey’s brain.

Yup, the Hoppin Haole Band knows what’s it’s like to be a monkey. If you have broadband, just click on the link above for audio and video (and what’s up with that ukulele player when he starts going “Ooo! Ahh!”). Dial-up connections who don’t mind waiting for an mp3 to download can find audio only at www.hoppinhaole.com — just click the “Muisc” link, and then choose “Monkey’s Brains.”

Interim papacy?

In a news release dated today, the Associated Press reports:

Ratzinger, the oldest pope elected since Clement XII in 1730, clearly was chosen as a “transitional” pope, who would fulfill the unfinished business of John Paul’s quarter-century papacy yet not be another long-term pope.

I had wondered about that. An interim pope — how very interesting.

As an interim minister myself, I’d love to know how the new pope understands his role. Most of us interim ministers understand our role as helping a congregation mourn the previous minister, developing a new identity, and anticipating the future with zest. We interim ministers don’t try to carry on the pet projects of our immediate predecessor. Instead, we work to empower the congregation to take responsibility for its own health, wellbeing, and future success.

Somehow, I think this new interim pope is going to handle things a little differently than I would as an interim minister. However, if he’d like some advice, I’d be happy to share what wisdom I have gained as an interim. Have him call me at the office (just don’t give him my home number, please — waht with the time difference, I don’t need him calling me in the middle of the night).

Education and Unitarian Universalism

The April 13, 2005, issue of the Geneva Sun reports that Kane County voters overwhelmingly approved a bond issue to raise money to purchase land for open space.

However, the Sun also reports that voters in the Geneva and St. Charles school districts turned down tax increases to fund public schools. Most other tax increases for public education that were on the ballot in the area also failed (notably, in the Glenbard school district, according to the Chicago Tribune).

While I’m all for preserving open space, I feel schools are an equally high priority. Clearly, voters did not agree with me — the tax increases for schools were voted down by substantial margins. While final vote tabulations are not quite complete, it looks like Geneva voted down additional school funding by a whopping 13% margin.

It’s true that tax increases are not always the answer to better schools. But remember that Unitarians and Universalists have historically supported public education in many ways — pursuing careers in education, serving in policy-making positions, volunteering in the public schools, doing research in education, etc. We believe in democratic principles, both in our religious life but also in public life, and we have long held that good education is essential to a working democracy.

Unitarian Horace Mann advocated for public education in the 19th C., and his Unitarian sister-in-law, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, brought kindergarten to the United States to improve the chances of inner city children. A century and a half later, it’s time we Unitarian Universalists got more involved in education policy.

Spring watch

Home from the Boston area, where Opening Day is considered one of the great religious holidays that welcome the arrival of spring. I know some of you follow basketball, and there were a number of people wearing orange in church yesterday. I, too, hope that Illinois goes all the way. But basketball is a sport. Baseball is religion.

Depressingly, the Boston Red Sox dropped their season opener to the hated New York Yankees. (Please, no nasty comments from Yankees fans, or I will have to remind you what happened last fall, in just four games.) I’m convinced one of the reasons Universalism began in New England is because we New England baseball fans needed an optimistic religion, a religion that assures us that everything will turn out fine, that some day the Red Sox will be perennial winners.

What’s that you say? Universalism started before baseball was even invented? Bosh! I don’t believe it. Haven’t you heard of the Winchester Profession, the 1803 profession of faith of Universalism, which clearly states “We believe that there is one God, whose nature is love, who will finally restore the Red Sox to their righteous place as perennial winners”? This clause was carried over in modified form to our current profession of faith, the UUA “Principles and Purposes,” where it is clearly stated: “We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote the goal of Red Sox Nation with peace, liberty, and the annual demise of the hated Yankees.”

There you have it. Now if we could just get some decent pitching….

More on C’thulhu

Ever stopped to wonder what might happen if Hello Kitty met up with the wicked elder god C’thulhu? C’mon, ‘fess up, I’ll bet you have!

And why do bother with such silliness on this minister’s blog? Silly stuff like this is a way to play around with ideas. Imagining C’thulhu makes us ask: What if all Western culture’s assumptions about God were utterly wrong? Imagining Hello Kitty as the embodiment of goodness is a little harder to justify, except as a reminder to have a sense of humor when it comes to religion. Frankly, Unitarian Universalism (and Unitarian Universalist blogs in particular) need a strong dose of humor — we take ourselves too seriously.

(By the way, ever notice how Hello Kitty doesn’t have a mouth? How does she talk or eat? Chu!)