Sunday, September 30, 2007

"Would you come back another time and help us sift the terds out of the cream?"

Surfing through archived clips of the Colbert Report makes me want cable. Here's another one for you. The "oxymoron" evangelical reverend Tony Campolo visited Colbert, and you should check it out. I think he must be one of the few guests to render Colbert speechless.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

"In God We Trust...If you don't believe that, you shouldn't spend money."

Athiest Sam Harris, author of The End of Faith, visits the Colbert Report. I'm pretty sure amidst all the satire (and hilarity) here, there's a lesson to be learned.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

A Suggestion for Bill Callahan

I am a Cornhusker fan living in Big Ten country (Minnesota). This means I am totally out-of-touch when it comes to all matters related to Nebraska Cornhusker football (so please forgive me subscribers to the Omaha World Herald). One thing I know remains true though; Husker football is borderline religion for us fans.

It is currently the 3rd quarter of the biggest game of the year, USC, the #1 team in the nation. The score is 42-10, them. They've scored 5 touchdowns unanswered. It has become pretty clear that our defense is greatly over-matched. They are marching all over us. Our blackshirts look pink.

Surfing through ESPN's college recruting website I immediately checked to see if there is any help in Nebraska's immediate future. Nebraska has received commitments from three out of ESPN's top 150 recruits: Blaine Gibbert (#8) from Missouri, ESPN's #1 ranked QB in the country; Jonas Gray (#89) from Michigan, a running back; and Baker Steinkuhker (#114) from Nebraska, an offensive tackle.

Granted, three players does not a recruiting class make, but, speaking as an outsider, living in Big Ten country, only being able to watch about 3 games a year, I have a suggestion for you Coach Callahan. Instead of focusing your recruiting efforts on legitimizing your hallowed West Coast offense, devote a little time on the defensive side of the ball. Restore the tradition of Grant Wistrom, Trev Alberts, Mike Brown, Mike Rucker, et. al. and let's turn those pinkshirts black again. Until you do this, the top tier programs in the country, like USC, Oklahoma and Texas (both from you own conference) will continue to humiliate our beloved Huskers. Remember Coach, defense wins championships and offense sells tickets...except in Nebraska, where defense sells tickets too.

UPDATE (10-08-07): Those blackshirts look pink right about now. Nebraska was routed this weekend, 41-6 by Mizzou giving up 606 total yards.

Door to Door Proselytism

Recently I had a very disturbing encounter with some door-to-door evangelists. They (actually it wasn't so much they as it was she, he just stood behind her) began their spiel by telling me about a bible study they were starting. I was immediately intrigued. I assumed this was a new neighbor who was starting a house church, or something of that sort. If someone in the neighborhood were starting a house church, I would at least want to know about it. So, I turned the porch light on and listened.

She began to tell me how the bible, not man, is the source of truth. She told me about how intellectual their bible study is. Apparently they really dig deep and they only use they King James Version, because that was the first, original version, which makes it much better than all the new versions that have been published recently. This was the first warning sign for me. I wanted to ask her why a translation of the bible published in 1611 was more authoritative than any other version we have today, especially since scholars have discovered other original manuscripts since 1611. Does the use of "thou" make the KJV more authoritative than any other translation? I really doubt it, it's really just a matter of preference. Of course, I didn't say this, I kept my mouth shut.

She also mentioned numerous times her passion for getting back to the model of Christianity presented in the New Testament, and her disdain for denominationalism. If it's not in the New Testament, they weren't gonna do it. She illustrated this by talking about baptism. She told me how she was taught that infant baptism was necessary for salvation and has heard that some denominations teach sprinkling is acceptable, but she quoted scripture after scripture about how immersion is necessary for salvation.

After 10 minutes of listening to her talk (without one mention of Jesus) it became pretty clear that she wasn't very interested in me. She was more interested in selling her version of Christianity, even though she apparently abhors denominationalism. After nodding incessantly (I'm a good active listener), I was finally able to jump in and let her know that I was a Christian and that we were on the same team. This apparently wasn't good enough for her. She wanted to know how I felt about baptism. I told her I believed that it was a symbolic act that represents a turning of one's heart towards God, and thus a change of behavior. She then asked what church I go to and what denomination that church was affiliated with. When I answered, she responded with, "That's what I thought. That's what Baptists believe about baptism (She never asked if I was a baptist, by the way). But it's not in the bible. You should read your bible and see what it says."

I was stunned. At this point it was pretty clear these two were not interested in sharing God's love with the East side, but were instead selling theology, and proselytism. So, gloves off, I asked them, "This is an issue [baptism] worth dividing over, isn't it? I just told you I'm a Christian. I don't doubt your faith. But you continue to question mine over the fact that I have a different belief about baptism. Should we be causing division in the church over issues of doctrine?" She had a lot of answers that I don't remember. This is where my active listening stopped.

She continued to argue her point. I asked her to leave. I'm guessing no one from my neighborhood will be attending their bible study. And sadly, if I were to ever host a bible study, my neighbors probably would't attend that either.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Twins Should Turn Young Pitchers Into Atkins

The Twins weakness at third base is no secret. The Nick Punto experiment failed miserably, with his quest to end the season above the Mendoza line quickly becoming a farce. The organization will be spending the rest of the season evaluating the former SEC batting champion, Brian Buscher, a Rule 5 draft pick out of the San Francisco Giants organization. So far he has been solid, but nothing spectacular, which is pretty consistent with all the scouting reports I’ve read on him that state he has very little upside.

The Twins need to be very sure on their decision with Buscher entering the 2008 season. If they aren’t, they should pursue Colorado Rockies third baseman Garrett Atkins, a player who could threaten .300-30-100 every season. He is currently making $400,000. but is due a salary jump to about $4 mil. next year due to arbitration. Nevertheless, he is not eligible for free agency until 2010, so the Twins would control him for two years, and would have those two years to negotiate a long-term contract that extends beyond his first few years of free agency, like they did with Joe Mauer, and unfortunately failed to do with Justin Morneau.

The Twins could also afford Atkins. It would not surprise me if their most recent offer to Tori Hunter for 3 years, $45 mil. was their final offer. Torii turned it down and is looking for a contract more in the J.D. Drew range, 5 yrs./$70 mil. Some even believe he will be the number one center fielder to hit the free agent market this summer, ahead of Andruw Jones. Certainly the Twins can allocate some of those unspent funds toward a contract with their new third baseman. Atkins will probably ask for David Wright money, 6 yrs./$55 mil.

Why would the Rockies do this? Many reasons, all interrelated. The Rockies have Todd Helton’s albatross of a contract to deal with, which pays him between 16 and 23 million dollars per year through 2012. Thus, they cannot move Atkins to first base to make room for Ian Stewart, who according to Baseball America is the #2 prospect left in the Rockies’ minor league system (after 2007 promotions) and #46 prospect in all of baseball. However, that ranking shrinks to #22, if one removes players from that list who are currently in the big leagues, or who have spent significant time in the majors this year, players like Hunter Pence, Ryan Braun, Yovanni Gallardo, Alex Gordon, Justin Upton, and Troy Tulowitzki.

How would the Twins acquire Atkins? With their pitching of course. The Rockies organizational weakness has been pitching (although it's getting better), and that is the Twins’ strength. A pitcher from the quartet of Matt Garza, Kevin Slowey, Scott Baker and Glen Perkins would probably intrigue the Rockies, though they’d probably demand Garza, the highest ranked pitching prospect in the Twins organization (they wanted Ervin Santana and another prospect from the Angels earlier this summer). Would new Twins G.M. Bill Smith pull the trigger?

In this league, and especially this small-market, the answer to that question always comes down to pitching? What about Johan Santana’s contract? Can Scott Baker and Kevin Slowey be relied upon to give the Twins quality innings as #3 and #4 starters? And, how is Francisco Liriano’s recovery coming?

The answers to these questions will decide if Garret Atkins, or a 3rd baseman of his caliber, will be manning the hot corner for the Twins next season. Whatever the Twins do, they need to do it quickly because time is running out. The most valuable assets in the organization, young pitchers, are probably losing their luster to prospective buyers so it's time to make a decision, hold for good or sell?

Wednesday, September 5, 2007