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Hi Ho, Hi Ho. It's Off to War We Go

Faced by certain defeat on a second resolution in the UN, our National Guard deserter/Commander-in-Chief is going to announce at tonight’s “press conference” (a stage-managed farce designed to make it appear that he is not afraid to face the tough questions) that because the danger from Iraq is so grave and imminent, because Saddam has failed to cooperate, and because the UN has failed to do its duty, the United States and its motley store-bought coalition of the bribed have reluctantly decided to give Saddam 72 hours to disarm completely or we will liberate Iraq without a UN mandate. The deadline will not be something that Saddam can possibly achieve. Stay tuned for Bombs Over Baghdad, beginning Sunday night at 10 p.m. EST, following Six Feet Under.

posted by Jerry Bowles 3:58 PM

How To Tell a Born-Again From an Evangelical

Most writers—myself and Nicholas Kristof included—tend to use the words “born-again” and “evangelical” as if they are interchangeable. Not so, says George Barna, the most famous of the Christian right researchers, who categorizes his surveys on the basis of what people say are their theological beliefs, not what denomination they call themselves. Here’s how he separates the “born-again” from true “evangelicals.”

"Born again Christians" were defined in these surveys as people who said they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today and who also indicated they believe that when they die they will go to Heaven because they had confessed their sins and had accepted Jesus Christ as their savior. Respondents were not asked to describe themselves as "born again." Barna Research

This is a mainstream definition that most Christians—perhaps even Kristof’s 46%--could agree with. (Barna says 4 out of 10). The confusion begins when the researcher begins digging deeper into what people truly believe.

All Barna Research studies define "evangelicals" as individuals who meet the born again criteria; say their faith is very important in their life today; believe they have a personal responsibility to share their religious beliefs about Christ with non-Christians; acknowledge the existence of Satan; contend that eternal salvation is possible only through God's grace, not through good deeds; believe that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; and describe God as the all-knowing, all-powerful, perfect deity who created the universe and still rules it today. In this approach, being classified as an evangelical has no relationship to church affiliation or attendance, nor does it rely upon people describing themselves as "evangelical."

This classification model indicates that only 8% of adults are evangelicals. Barna Research data show that 12% of adults were evangelicals a decade ago, but the number has dropped by a third as Americans continue to reshape their theological views. Barna Research.

It is to this 8% that the current residents of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue belong.

posted by Jerry Bowles 11:39 AM

Things We Can Learn From France
Lesson One: Don't have a Saudi-Centric Arab world policy. Groom Lake checks in from on the road.

Ever so quietly Jacques Chirac last week-end became the first president of France to visit Algeria since Charles de Gaulle.

Nearly half a century has passed since the Algerian war and the Suez debacle caused France to lose its status as a first-tier world power. Now, the rapprochement between Paris and Algiers along with the probable veto of any new war resolution floated by the US and the UK in the UN Security Council is vaulting France back to the first-tier.

France has applied the lessons it learned dealing with populist movements in Indo-China and Algeria. The Algerian rapproachement unfolded without the threat of war, without mobilizing for war. But the Inner Circle in Washington prefers not to take French lessons. Instead, Fuehrer Bush, Unterfuehrer Rove and Obersturmbandfuehrer Rumsfeld are pumping out redneck, jingoist anti-French epithets in surround sound to their whitebread minions.

The continuing bloodbath in Algeria is one of the more underreported stories of the 1980s and 1990s. About 120,000 people have died in Algeria's civil war, which began in 1992 when the army intervened to cancel elections which an Islamic party was poised to win. Since the September 11 attacks America has been giving military aid to the army-backed president as part of its war on terrorism. US and French investigators believe al-Qa'eda operatives have been helping Algerian militants who engage in the mass murder of moderate, secular Islamic people, as well as nomadic Berber and Kabyle people. Women are raped before being murdered (death for women is usually disembowelment and mutilation). Things have quieted down since France and Algeria agreed to work together to counter terrorism.

About 2 million people of Algerian origin and an estimated 4 million to 5 million Muslims live in France. What if nearly a million Iraquis lived in and around metropolitan New York City just as nearly a million Algerians live in and around Paris? Would the Bush administration be as intent on exercising the unilateral military option?

The biggest issue between the countries now is visas. France grants 180,000 visas a year to Algerians who want to come to France to find jobs, but delays are long and procedures discouraging as French consulates were closed in the 1990s. Since terrorism seems to have receded in Algeria, Chirac has promised to ease visa policies and to reopen some consulates.

The lesson here is that France has learned to deal with Islamic fundamentalism in a way that moderate Arabs view as fair and balanced. But a ham-handed White House indicating that it advocates a fundamentalist Shiite government for post-Saddam Iraq can only trigger another Algerian-style scenario. The bloodbath in Iraq could make the murder and rape in Algeria pale in comparison.

Just as the United States was unable to grasp the cultural dynamics of Viet Nam, we make the same mistake with our Saudi-centric Arab world policy. France sees the world of Islam in the broad perspective. Shrub and his handlers prefer to let all the bad actors ride the Huntsville bull. At least the French know that the world isn't ready for cowboy justice.

posted by Jerry Bowles 1:06 AM