Jones seems to have had some sort of epiphany somewhere along the line. Said he: “My advice is to the Democratic platform committee: Just pretend that the draft you submitted that didn’t have the word ‘God’ in it was just a draft, and in fact, the real draft was inclusive of people like myself who are people of faith, who are Christians, who go to church, and who are also progressive Democrats.” It's not my place to question Jones' sincerity, but when did he become a Christian? The best I can figure is that it has something to do with black liberation theology, which neatly combines Christ the Good Guy, race, religion and Marxism.
Jones contends that the clearly anti-religious thrice-taken vote on putting God back in the platform was the result of not being clever enough in the wording. It was an “unforced error and really quite foolish,” Jones said, adding that the Democrats “talk about faith all the time.” Well, so do Satanists, so what's his point? Jones is not the first to have the idea of obfuscating his real beliefs. He has a soul-mate in Prince Charles, heir-apparent to the British throne. One of the royal titles for the king of England is “defender of the faith.” Charles declared a couple decades ago (will that old woman ever die?) that he would take his kingly oath as “defender of faith.” Get it? Faith. Any faith, as long as it's faith.
Jones also added: “Dr. King was a Christian minister. Every Democrat loves Dr. King and celebrates him, and yet, somehow, we’re becoming this party where you can be spiritual but not religious. That’s gonna be the banner of the Democratic Party. It’s gonna leave out too many people.” Huh? So is it being Christian or being spiritual which will leave out too many people? But he did get in the obligatory reference to Martin Luther King, Jr. Maybe at the next convention they can have a mass séance instead of a public prayer.
Jones is indeed a man of faith. Except for faith in his own country. Good old Van is a 9-11 Truther. He has faith that our Islamist brethren have entirely clean hands, and that the destruction of the World Trade Center and the damage to the Pentagon was an inside job perpetrated by Bush war hawks and Jews. Since he and Obama are both Christians, but not very publicly so, I wonder if they attend the same
Those were just a few random thoughts for Friday, the day of prayer and protest.
41 comments:
LawHawk,
It is amazing that a man can just declare himself spiritual and not have to prove it. Or did he mean spirits of the alcohol variety and put too many syllables in? From this distance I can't tell. :-)
Jason Apuzzo, who started the first conservative film blog "Libertas", mentioned that when he was at Harvard (?) that Van Jones helped him with the conservative student newspaper, even though he was an avowed Communist.
I suspect Jones is rather versatile politically and moves in the right circles, circles in which being a black Communist is exotic, stylish and avant garde and which subsequently got him a plum government post until his identification with the far far left got him fired.
I also expect his mental gymnastics wrt to the "G" word and the party (Democratic, not Communist - although there seems to be a lot of cross over these days) is aimed mainly at the black community. A voting block which benefits and is in favor of left government economic programs while also largely in favor of many social conservative positions - e.g. against gay marriage.
Conspiracy theorists are all nutjobs but those who believe that the government (which leaks like a sieve) would be willing or able to pull off such a massacre with no leaks are the craziest of them all.
Someone should ask Van Jones his thoughts on Islam, a religion that seeks to either convert Kafirs to the faith or kill them.
Let's see if he would be willing to die for his faith, or like most "progerssives" bury his head in the sand when confronted with anything that contradicts their "deeply held" beliefs.
Methinks he would love to see Sharia law ensconced world-wide as long as he and his other fellow travelers were the Mullahs in charge.
His "faith" would be quickly spun to claim he is a believer in "God", no matter what names we use for Him (PBUH). "I'm a man of faith."
Funny, "spiritual but not religious" is how lapsed Catholics tend to refer to themselves. While I certainly have my share of skepticism when it comes to religion, I find so-called spirituality doubly dubious.
As to faith, I think the dear Prince has lost its meaning. Faith not based on reality is merely wishful thinking. As C.S. Lewis wrote, "Now Faith...is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods."
It's worth including Philip K. Dick's words on reality, as well: "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away."
Yeah, saying "I'm spiritual, but not religious" just provokes one of those big eyerolls from me. That's the sort of thing you hear from people who want to sound deep but don't want to have to walk a hard road. Because God (or Earth Spirit) forbid faith inconvenience you in any way.
Oh, my gosh. The card-carrying communist now is showing his "spiritual side". The spin just keeps spinning. Most Black Panthers would claim that "money is their god". Maybe that's what he's talking about?
Joel: He reminds me of those Hollywood types who appear on the USA Network "character" blurbs who say "I'm spiritual." I have no idea what they mean, and I suspect they don't either.
K: Jones had a lot of cleaning up to do. Beside his attachments to communist causes, he has a fairly healthy criminal record as well. More than anything else, I think he subscribes to Abbie Hoffman's "revolution for the hell of it" school of thought.
This man's logic makes my head spin, but what else can you expect from a group that perpetrates voter fraud on its own people, and so blatantly...if front of all to see...at their convention, for goodness sake.
Anthony: That is absolutely true. Once I find out that someone is a 9-11 Truther, I discount entirely anything he says, including but not limited to "the sun came up this morning."
Patriot: If asked, Jones would take the same line almost all our politicians take, that is that Islam is the religion of peace, and only a small, radical percentage actually believe in the "submit or die" part. Willful blindness and ignorance of the non-exegetical nature of the Koran and sharia. And like you, I could easily imagine Jones having a sudden conversion to Islamism so long as he was promised the reward of a top position as a mullah or imam. "God" may be an interchangeable term, but Christ, Jehovah, Yahweh, and Allah are not, regardless of what our faithless people of faith would have us believe.
tryanmax: Good quotes. Your C. S. Lewis quote from Mere Christianity is one of my favorites.
T-Rav: Well said. It's the kind of faith one could have in a tree or a rock, or an Obama. A mile wide and an inch deep. "I have no idea why I believe it, but I just believe it."
FIRE CAN'T MELT STEEL!!!!!!
LL: Could be, though I think power is more important to totalitarian minds. Wealth can follow easily enough.
Patti: They're hopeless and faithless.
Rosie: Thanks. I just googled it. LOL
T-Rav and Bev: Sorry that you were the designated Blogger dumpees yesterday. I wonder who it will be today. Usually the Blogger demon just singles me out.
LawHawk, at the kittens' request, I gave them a reprieve and shot Blogger's pets in the face instead. That explains some of it. I don't know what Bev did to anger them.
T-Rav: Is that all? I knew Blogger didn't have a sense of humor. I guess we'll have to wait to see what Bev has to say for herself.
I am regularly surprised at what "educated" individuals will believe, let alone say...
Faith is the substance of things hoped for [expected], the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1
SUBSTANCE - not wishes, dreams, ethereal wannabes
LawHawk,
Yeah, he does remind me of a character. Which show would he be on? I think Psych. What say you?
Lawhawk - I've never been dumped before. I feel I have "arrived" since I have now been dumped with the best of them! I think the black helicopters outside my window may have had something to do with it too or maybe it was T-Rav's kitties.
Bev, could be both.
T-Rav, do those kitties have their helicopter pilots' licenses yet?
rlaWTX: I almost quoted Hebrews, but for some reason I didn't. Glad you did.
Living in the academic post-modernism/deconstructionist world of Foucault and Derrida, I'm no longer surprised at anything allegedly educated people say or believe. Wouldn't you know that the major contribution of the late 20th century French school of philosophy is the concept that there's no such thing as truth? Everything is based on one's own definition of truth, and facts be damned. And in such a belief system, faith can never be objectified.
The "therapeutic society" was the precursor. Don't tell me what you think, tell me what you feel.
Joel: Jones is a psych(o). But Shawn in Psych isn't the one I had in mind when I made the reference. The USA "character" nonsense I referred to was mouthed by Matt Bohmer, the star of White Collar. Similar things came from the new kid on Suits, and one character from Psych. I don't remember which others did it, but there were multiple claims of "being spiritual."
Bev: Well, at least that explains why the black helicopters weren't hovering over my place yesterday. I guess there's a limited supply of helicopters and crews.
tryanmax: Licenses for kittens would be a solution to the dearth of current pilots and crews. But can kittens afford their own helicopters?
LawHawk,
I didn't mean any specific character, I meant more in general. As a bad guy on Psych, Jones would be perfect.
BTW What do you think of White Collar and Suits this season? I like them, but I a little disappointed.
Joel: I haven't enjoyed the new season of White Collar as much as I did the previous ones. They are making the same mistake too many shows make by trying to create suspense by instead creating plots which are simply too convoluted. As for Suits, I have to admit it's a true guilty pleasure for me. Watching all those Harvard-grad lawyers stabbing each other in the back is just plain fun. But now I am noticing them getting slightly off that track by delving into personal problems (especially the kid and his drug problems). Also, they still haven't gotten past the problem that the kid didn't actually graduate from Harvard Law, nor does he have a valid license to practice. It looks like that's going to return to the plotline in future episodes.
LawHawk,
With White Collar, I wouldn't call it suspense. Suspense implies mystery. What I am disappointed with is they killed off a very good character too early. Only one episode I really liked was the Mozzie one. Where Mozzie buys a storage cubicle finds keys and moves into a town house. That episode screams for another visit to the Culper Spy ring.
With Suits, I am not sure I like the way it is going. I do like what they did with Louis Litt. Check out the Suits Recruits Webisodes. Two are terrific. One involves only cliched quotes from movies. The other features Donna Paulsen with Louis Litt acting up a scene from MacBeth. :-)
http://www.usanetwork.com/videos/Suits
It is under the video drop menu.
Joel: I agree with your definition of suspense. But suspense and mystery is what White Collar is supposed to be about. Neal Caffrey is supposed to be the ultimate mystery man. Is he a good guy? Is he a bad guy? Will he betray his friend in the FBI? But I do like Mozzie.
In Suits, the previews indicate Louis will directly challenge the kid: "Where did you go to law school?" That should be interesting.
No matter how you and/or the general public view the meaning of the show, it holds a special interest for those of us who are in or retired from the legal profession. It's corporate in-fighting combined with the shark mentality of many lawyers. I'm guessing that a lot of viewers are bored by or turned off by that aspect, but I can't help being fascinated by it (knowing full well that much of it is exaggerated).
Joel and LawHawk, I like White Collar, but I worry that the suspense themes you've referenced are being dragged out too long. It's on the fourth season now, I think; Neal and Peter should be able to completely trust each other, after all they've been through, but it seems like there's a rift every few episodes. They need to maybe take it in a new direction or something.
Frankly, everyone loves Mozzie. :-)
Mozzie is awesome. I only watch White Collar sometimes (not regularly), but I like it.
Kittens and helicopters - fantabulous!
Therapeutic communication is good... IN therapy! :) But even there, it shouldn't leave out thinking! (but I'm a cognitive behavior + choice theory kinda girl)
tryanmax and LawHawk, all kittens have been banned from flying helicopters since the Helsinki Incident of 1919. The court battles continue to this day.
T-Rav: I see it the same way.
rlaWTX: My personal opinion is that psychotherapy works for individuals and small groups. Once you have too many people involved, group-think and "facilitator guidance" take over. That is not to say that emotions and feelings should be entirely divorced from public discourse. Do that, and you get an Obamatron reacting to catastrophes in the proper order and with the proper display of zero emotion.
T-Rav: OMG, I hope it's not in the International Criminal Court!
The Helsinki Incident was a cover-up, a conspiracy, I tell ya!!!!!! hissssss, mrowr!
Cats: Quit complaining. You got your own long-running musical on Broadway. What more do you want?
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