1. In my current rush of curiosity to better understand extremism in the USA, I've listened to Leah Sottile's podcasts and just finished her book, When the Moon Turns to Red. I discovered Kathleen Belew, a professor at Northwestern University, a few years ago on Twitter. I've followed her ever since and I've listen to interviews she's given on radio shows and on television. Now I'm reading her first book, Bring the War Home, her scholarly and carefully documented examination of what she terms the white power movement, focusing on the years from about 1970-1995.
Her study begins with emphasis on the small percentage of disillusioned veterans of the Vietnam War who, as her book's title suggests, brought the war home. Now, a certain number of disillusioned veteran's came home and organized as part of the anti-war movement. The disillusioned veterans Belew focuses on came home and organized like-minded people (mostly men) to oppose the government, justifying the use of violence in opposition to taxation, civil rights, immigration, abortion, gay rights, gun control, multi-culturalism, and other elements of American life they regard as a threat to freedom and to the survival of white people. For some, these changes in the United States that they opposed were signs of the end times and so, for these people, their mission is not only patriotic, but holy.
In these two paragraphs, I've only scratched the surface of Belew's work. I have many chapters left to read, but you get the idea of what her study entails.
2. Carol assigned Debbie and me to bring cornbread and cabbage salad to tonight's family dinner. Because of dietary limitations that began today in preparation for my colonoscopy on Tuesday, I wouldn't be eating the cornbread. Originally, I planned to make cornbread from scratch, but I decided to make things easier on myself and I baked six large cornbread muffins, using a Krusteaz box mix instead. Luckily, everyone seemed happy with the cornbread, but, I swear, next time I bake cornbread it will be from scratch!
3. Molly went to a Super Bowl party, but Christy, Carol, Paul, Debbie, and I were uninterested in the Super Bowl and proceeded with family dinner almost as if the game weren't happening. (Christy checked the score of the game on occasion.) We began with an appetizer plate made up of many of the items left over from the Greek Maze platter Carol brought to dinner last Monday.
Paul was tonight's mixologist and we could choose between a Dark and Stormy or a Horsefeather. One drink was a "Chiefs drink" the other an "Eagles drink". The Horsefeather is a Dark and Stormy with bourbon and bitters instead of dark rum. Until this evening, I'd never drunk a bourbon cocktail that featured ginger beer and I liked it a lot. If I remember correctly, the Horsefeather was the Eagles drink.
Dinner was simple and awesome. Carol consulted Betty Crocker and cooked up a pan of creamy macaroni and cheese and substituted sharp cheddar for American cheese. It was both comforting and had a bite to it that I enjoyed immensely. Debbie found a recipe for a Mediterranean cabbage salad and it was superb. (I look forward to eating more of it after my colonoscopy on Tuesday. The recipe included toasted almonds and my preparation instructions forbade me from eating nuts starting today in advance of the procedure.) The cornbread muffins rounded out the meal.
We talked about a lot of things. I'd have to say that my primary take away from our discussion is that when it comes to our spiritual lives, not one of us is intensely focused on any one aspect of our faith and none of us are motivated, in our spiritual lives, by fear. It was a pleasure to talk about God and church and our experiences knowing that none of us give concentrated attention to any one dimension of spirituality or the Christian faith. Since I've been reading a lot about people with laser like attention on and obsession with the end times, I welcomed discussion that was not fervent, not singly focused, but generous and balanced.
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