After quite a long hiatus, I've decided to get back into the blogging game.  This time I intend to make it permanent.  As you can see by the posts below, it's been quite a long time.  I shall briefly recap 10 things that have happened in the world since I last posted, since now 90% of what's on this blog is outdated:

1. Christopher Hitchens died of esophageal cancer.  Ordinarily here I'd write "RIP" but I'm not sure even he would want that given his ardent commitment to naturalism all the way to the death bed.

2. The Lions no longer suck.  The Mariners still do.  The Twins suck again.

3. I'm no longer a member of the NEA, thank God.

4. My 2010 NFL predictions sucked, but I did call the Super Bowl winner right.

5. My baseball predictions were even worse.

6. Tim Tebow and Jeremy Linn became national sensations like no one ever thought possible.

7. Politics blows like never before.  There is apparently not a single charismatic, principled, and electable conservative in the country.

8. We killed Osama Bin Laden!

9. Here is a list of favorite shows of mine that have been cancelled since last I blogged: 24 (well...barely after), The Chicago Code, House, The Finder, Awake, The Event.  There's probably more I'm not thinking of.  So frustrating.

10. I obtained my masters degree and moved to Missoula, MT.

And with that everyone's caught up and I'll get back to blogging.  I plan to update my links and blogroll.  Topics will still be generally all over the place.  I will try to keep the posts going at a rate of at least one each week, but occasionally I'm sure I'll get frisky and do more.

Fake Concern for Hitchens

I've given Christopher Hitchens a tough time in the past.  A well-deserved tough time, I might add.  But now he has cancer and I can't/won't bring myself to give a guy with cancer a tough time.  Ok, maybe a little.  But I'll keep it to a minimum.  Anyway, apparently some Christians decided to make last Monday "Everybody Pray for Hitchens Day".  For his part, Hitchens will not participate.  Say what you will about Hitchens (and I certainly am not afraid to), but if I were Hitchens I think I would be offended at this idea.  How can this be justified as more than ad hoc concern?   If people truly care about Mr. Hitchens won't they pray for him on days other than September 20, 2010?  To me this just wreaks of a publicity stunt at the expense of a man dying of esophageal cancer.  Declaring a public day of prayer for an arch-enemy of your faith is uncomfortably reminiscent of the Pharisees who made sure their piousness was seen publicly only to be classified hypocrites and snakes when Jesus confronted them.  Undoubtedly there are some who are sincere in their prayers for Hitchens...I just don't see why they feel this is the best way to show that concern.

John Edwards & Christopher Hitchins

I was kind of looking around at random things today having to do with the Tim Tebow kerfuffle, and I came across this political cartoon.  Now, the cartoon was originally published in March of 2007 (yes, this date is important) to make fun of Newt Gingrich for being a jerk of a husband (which was true).  Umm...I would explain why this cartoon is so ironic, but you're all smart: I'm sure you can figure it out...

Isn't that just a doozy?  Exhibit A as to why it would be wise NOT to put your politician of choice on a pedestal.

Moving on - Christopher Hitchens (right) has definitely made a strange bedfellow with this one.  Who might this bedfellow be?  Would you believe me if I said "C.S. Lewis"?  While being interviewed by a minister of the Unitarian Church named Marilyn Sewell, he was asked the following question:

"The religion you cite in your book is generally the fundamentalist faith of various kinds. I’m a liberal Christian, and I don’t take the stories from the scripture literally. I don’t believe in the doctrine of atonement (that Jesus died for our sins, for example). Do you make and [sic] distinction between fundamentalist faith and liberal religion?"

He responds the way C.S. Lewis responds in "Mere Christianity" about people who similarly call themselves Christians without actually affirming virtually any major Christian beliefs.  Hitchens says:

"I would say that if you don’t believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you’re really not in any meaningful sense a Christian."

It's not often that you will ever hear me say this to Mr. Hitchens, but: Bravo, you cantankerous bastard - Bravo.