Recovering Baptist

In the grand scheme of things, unemployment isn’t the bleakest of all situations. Things could be worse. I could be fighting cancer, or worse, my wife or children could be deathly ill. I could be facing foreclosure or bankruptcy, and at this point we’re still a far ways away from that. Regardless, unemployment does start to take its toll after a while.

When I lost my job earlier this year I was confident that I would land something soon. After all, I was confident in my experience and successes; I had a good resume; and I had good references. I interview very well, and in one early interview I even impressed the president of the company. But as time has progressed and the economy has slumped, I’ve started to lose hope. The calls are less frequent, and the more I review my experience the less confident I am in my successes. Worse, the positions which interest me all require some level of experience which I don’t have. In any other economy that wouldn’t be a problem, but this is not any other economy.

I’m quickly losing hope. I fully expect that things will work out in the long term, but the short term is very frightening. The effect is that I am beginning to be paralyzed. I’m losing interest in things that I used to enjoy, which partly explains the lack of blogging despite the abundance of free time. I do still have my faith, which is the only reason I have long term hope right now, but other than that and my wife, I don’t have much else to hang my hat on right now. At least my doctor prescribed some Valium; it may be for some other ailments, but it doesn’t hurt to have that in my system during a time like this.

I’m not a betting man, but I am intrigued by the accuracy of the point spread in football. The point spread is a market tool which encourages a roughly equal number of people to bet on each team in the game. It seems so simple, and yet, it is effective enough that the so-called sports experts on sports radio do well to pick right 60% of the time.

When it comes to this weekend’s game in Athens, some people may be tempted by the spread. At last check, UGA was picked by 8, which is down from the initial 12 point spread. Here’s a tip for this game. Ignore the spread. Place your bet based purely on which team will win; there’s little doubt that the winning team will beat the spread, regardless of how large it is. I am not a football genius, but here is my breakdown of the game.

Georgia Tech essentially runs two plays: the option and the pass. Its pass offense is rarely exceptional, and it cannot be relied upon when the option is not working. If UGA’s defense can use its off week to figure out how to stop the triple option threat, then it will be a long day of the Jackets. Tech will give up a couple of turnovers, UGA will dominate the clock, and the Jacket defense will tire. Knowshown will have a career day, and UGA, badly needing a marquee win, will not hesitate to run up the score.

The one major criticism of Mark Richt is that he does not run a very disciplined football team. Tech’s biggest hope is that UGA’s defense does not play disciplined football and overpursues, creating holes and allowing the option to work as designed. If this happens early, the Jackets may tear off a 70+ rushing play while slowly eating up clock (and wearing out the defense) on other possessions. UGA would then need to turn to its passing game. If the Jackets’ defense can stay fresh, then they may be able to get to Stafford and create frustration. GT will not show restraint in Samford Stadium as it did against Miami and will do its best to replicate its infamous Cumberland performance.

I cannot see a scenario where this game is decided by less than two touchdowns, but just to be safe, I’m keeping my money in my pocket, regardless.

Tonight we said goodbye to our houseguest from the past week. He and I worked together for several years; I was his customer, but we sat next to each other. I attended his wedding, and I was his sounding board when his wife left him. Not surprisingly, he returned home to Pakistan for a few years after that hard time.

Needless to say, I was glad when he called to say that he was returning to the US, and thrilled when he accepted a job back here in Atlanta. We wouldn’t have it any other way; he had to stay with us until he found his own place and got on his feet here again. The last eight or nine days have flown by. Every time he, my wife, and I sat down, we had another intriguing conversation about his homeland, his Muslim faith, our country, or business.

Today he moves into his apartment. I’m happy for him, but a bit sad, too. We’ll continue to see each other, but it was fun having him around every evening. And our kids love him, too. It’s going to be a bit more dull here now that he’s moved out. But at least we can put pork back on the family menu!

In the early 1930’s my grandfather left the farm in Georgia and headed to Miami. I’m still not exactly sure what he did with the CCC; all I know is that he was gone for a while so he could pay the bills on the farm. I’m sure working for the government was less fulfilling than working his own land, but a man does what he has to do.

Today I take a 66% pay cut. I will be working near the lowest rung of manual labor installing metalwork. I have no idea what I’m doing, which is why the pay is so low, but at least I’ll be earning some cash. At least I won’t be digging ditches or shoveling manure.

Like my grandfather, I would rather be doing something else, but also like him, I’m thankful for the work. Recruiter phone calls have dried up in the last week, and it will probably take a while for companies to decide that they can hire again. While all of that is going on, I’m going to take work wherever I can find it. Today that means I’m working with metal. I think I’m going to miss my desk job…

Hopefully this weekend’s events will mean that this is the last time we see something like this:

I do so enjoy it when overrated teams are put in their place. The USC loss was a lot of fun to watch, but I was afraid that it might lead to UGA leapfrogging Oklahoma into first place. Whew.

I’m not just saying UGA was overrated because I hate them. I do. But Dawgs fans need to recognize who and how UGA played in their first three games. They still haven’t really proven much this year. Hell, when it comes to SEC games, my beloved Yellow Jackets destroyed a team that Auburn beat with a baseball score, and those same Jackets are one touchdown away from having topped UGA’s scoring against SEC opponents in two games.

Let’s face it. No polls should be taken until after the first week’s worth of games are played. At that point the voters have seen this year’s teams and coaches and are then free to move teams around the ratings as the games, and not the previous year, dictate.

Back to that black out. Kudos to my Tide friend who ordered the T-shirt. I can’t wait to see him wearing that with a UA hat.

I can’t remember when I began learning about planar versus non-planar shapes, but somehow I don’t think it was in 5 year kindergarten. Over breakfast today my son started talking about spheres. Spheres! Good grief. I thought five year olds were doing well to know about circles and squares. At this rate I’ll be helping him with his calculus homework in fourth grade.

Is it just me, or is the media being just a bit more critical of Governor Palin than they have been of Senator Obama? I can’t recall anyone mentioning his speech writers, but we know everyone who had anything to do with hers. After her first interview many pundits have pointed out that she’s fine, as long as she’s on script, but I haven’t heard that from anyone except the conservatives who are always critical of him. I’m not accusing the media of some sort of bias, bias will always exist in every person, and there’s not much we can do to fight it; instead, I think the media doesn’t know how to handle a person about whom they have very little information.

Meanwhile, the American public seems to have a new celebrity. My father-in-law’s eye practice is consistent with the rest; they are completely out of Kawasaki 704 frames and have no estimate as to when they will be supplied with more. Maybe the celebrity Presidential candidate ought to consider making his own fashion statement. A presidential eyebrow ring, perhaps?

When someone “gives up” something, they are naturally mroe critical of those who haven’t. Ex smokers are some of the most judgemental people I’ve ever known, just edging out dry alcoholics. As a recovering baptist and an ex conservative, I’m more critical of those two groups than I am the athiests, Lutherans, or Democrats. It probably has to do with the recognition that there is still a part of me that is connected to those movements and a part of them in me.

As I watched the Republican convention last wee, I was struck by three things - the “Country First” signs, the over-the-top patriotism, and the warmongering. IT was a bit counter productive on the GOP’s part. Rather than thinking of a successful John McCain in the Oval Office, I was envisioning grainy footage from Germany in the 1930’s. I attributed it to having read too many political novels such as 1984, Brave New World, and Atlas Shrugged, but it turns out I wasn’t alone. Some of the bloggers at Lew Rockwell’s site not only had the same thoughts, but even managed to back them up with direct quotes from none other than the Furher himself.

The Republican part has taken a very significant turn in this election. They are no longer a party which stands for individualism, individual rights, or individual freedom. They have begun to use the same group identity tactics that the Democrats have been using for some time.

Group identity politics is a useful way to get people to rally together. It gives them a sense of belonging and a sense of accomplishment. Group identity provides a common enemy so that enemies of enemies might become friends. And group identity provides good slogans and chants. Group identity has been used for good, such as the space race, but more often than not, it seems to be used for bad. I’m not accusing the GOP of being latent Nazis. For goodness sakes, we’ve had enough of that nonsense. However, the show I watched last week seemed to take a page from their playbook.

Another blogger recently found me and invited me to review his Home Brewing Beer and Christianity series. I’m a bit slow at times, but I finally got around to reading his four posts and the comments. It is good to see other conservative (or orthodox, fundamentalist, evangelical, insert word here) Christians dealing with the same issues I have over the past 17 years. For people who were not raised in the Christian subculture that either explicitly or implicitly forbids alcohol, it can be very hard to even understand why booze is even an issue, but it is a very real issue nonetheless.

The inclination to mix cultural norms and scriptural mandates is older than Christianity itself. Christ spent a fair amount of time debating the religious leaders of his day over which “laws” were really required to gain God’s favor and which ones were man-made. With His physical departure from this earth came the Gospel which states that there is nothing that man can do to make himself more or less desirable to God apart form accepting the work of Christ. Yet, while that is the Christian message, many followers of Jesus still confuse culture and scripture and demand that others conform to their ideal.

Christians, however, aren’t the only ones who try to feel better about themselves by being “good.” One friend recently noted that environmental responsibility is the current trend in feel good legalism. It provides people with a sense of something they can do that is good while also giving them a yardstick by which to measure the badness of others. Similarly, John Stossel and Miguel Sancho recently wrote about what happens when healthy eating is taken too far. Orthorexia is a debilitating problem disguised as healthy eating. Orthorexics live in fear of eating “impure,” unhealthy foods, and in some horrible cases it leads to death. There are plenty of other examples of people who act as if they are in constant fear, but perhaps the worse are the adamant anti-smokers. These folks act as if a single whiff of someone’s cigarette will send them to the cancer ward, and since the smoker doesn’t know better himself, he should have his tobacco taken away immediately.

When we first look at things like the environment or healthy eating or smoking or alcohol, it is easy to say that avoiding these things are “good.” And to be sure, there is some good in treating the environment and our bodies with respect, but those of us who call ourselves Christians, need to be careful. We need to take a careful look at Peter’s dream. Not only did God convince Peter that it was acceptable to eat non-kosher foods, but He commanded him to take a bite. And this is an important step. For generations Peter’s family had believed that they were religiously justified because of what they didn’t eat, and now Peter was completely stripped of that justification. He was left only with Christ.

Once in a while Christians (both conservative and liberal) should review our list of do’s and don’ts and compare it with the Bible. There are plenty of scriptural moral requirements; chances are we aren’t living up to those standards. But we should also identify the moral code that we are following which is extra-Biblical and do something to ensure that we’re not adding to the Gospel. That might mean smoking a cigar or throwing an aluminum can in the trash can or even just eating a fat-filled steak wrapped in bacon and covered in blue cheese. We might decide that none of those things really do anything for us, but we have the freedom to do them without guilt. And, besides, we might realize that God has given us some good things that our culture might have prevented us from enjoying. Like bacon.