Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Empire - Alternate Future and Now

Just want to thank Orson Scott Card for his book, Empire.

On a whim, I grabbed this title as an audio book from our library. At first, I thought I was going to be doused with a particularly strong right-wing political/cultural point-of-view through his main character, Reuben... only to have that character die about 1/2 way through the book and left his "left-wing" wife to carry on as his widow. OK.... that got my attention. :-)

I wanted to race through the book ... but that's not possible since I can't "race" through a talking book ... anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to discover an Afterword in Card's own voice espousing his views on the polarization of America and how difficult it is to straddle (or dwell between) any of those "camps."

" ... any rational observer has to see that the Left and Right in America are screaming the most vile accusations at each other all the time. We are fully polarized -- if you accept one idea that sounds like it belongs to either the blue or the red, you are assumed -- nay, required -- to espouse the entire rest of the package, even though there is no reason why supporting the war against terrorism should imply you're in favor of banning all abortions and against restricting the availability of firearms; no reason why being in favor of keeping government-imposed limits on the free market should imply you also are in favor of giving legal status to homosexual couples and against building nuclear reactors. These issues are not remotely related, and yet if you hold any of one group's views, you are hated by the other group as if you believed them all; and if you hold most of one group's views, but not all, you are treated as if you were a traitor for deviating even slightly from the party line. " Read more.

These extremes haunt me in my own church and work life where assumptions are made every day about my "political party" (even though I insist on being called an Independent) and my "world view. " Example: One Sunday morning a kind-hearted soul had the temerity to describe a man he met as being a "Liberal" and an "Environmentalist" - as though these were really good examples of how far the man had strayed from the truth ... and apparently, into sin. For heaven's sake!

I am also a librarian... free speech! Free to read! All of that. And yep, I've read all the Harry Potter books, so there! I believe in free will. But I also wouldn't put American Psycho in a library if I could help it and I'm glad our computers are filtered (particularly after a man actually "licked" one of our computers while watching pornography).

I am a strong believer... Jesus Christ is my rock and my anchor. I love to worship and I enjoy contemporary Christian music. I also like jazz.... and even, on occasion, some R&B.

I'm a techie and a blogger and I even have a presence on Second Life.... these are connections and social networks I enjoy building. But these elements of "me" are also experiencing a certain type of tension. After all, who will read what I write? Who is my audience?

As a result, I feel I must constantly modulate my faith, my language, and even my point of view around the extremes of my colleagues at work as well as my faith family. I must prove that I am still "ok" - that I am normal or faithful or whatever phrase gives comfort to my circles of influence.

So, I'll just say it again, I appreciate Orson Scott Card's voice. It's not that I agree with all things Card either... we would definitely separate on our beliefs in the deity of Christ (Card holds fast to the Mormon teachings... )... but I will say, I believe I can give him room there knowing that he would do the same for me.

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Pressures of Time

I am maintaining too many blogs! Most of the rest are about topics of interest or for library work, but this is my heart and I am setting my heart aside too often. Ah well, tomorrow great niece, Jaana, comes from Estonia and we will show her all the "stuff" - from DC to NYC to the ocean... it's tourist time.

Tomorrow afternoon we celebrate Lily's first Gotcha Day! Hard to believe she's been here a year. We are opening our doors to neighbors and friends to drop by... it means so much to her, I do hope people will come.

And I'm doing an Emmaus weekend... what was I thinking to work on a team this fall with our Africa mission trip right behind it? Well, Lord, you're the commissioner. I'm trusting in each of these commissions... but keep my mind clear, my heart pure, and my temper in check! :-)