NOTE: this blog is no longer active as of 12/07. New one: http://blog.kirchhof.com
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur.
Tue, 22 Nov 2005
Hang On... For The Ride Of Your Life...
I used to engineer & produce commercials for a living, and the
work entailed the use of many talented voice-over people. They are a
brilliant, generally super-intelligent, extremely cynical and
black-humored species. Fun to be around, fun to work with.
So what happens if you get the five most in-demand national
V.O. talents into one car together?
This.
(Quicktime)
I haven't laughed out loud at something on the computer in a long,
long time. Go take a look. A true masterpiece, on several levels.
Posted at 17:32 by Randy Kirchhof [Permalink]
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When People Of Faith Speak The Truth
Much respect to Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism (the
largest Jewish organization in America), who had this to say to the
Radical Christian Clerics:
We are particularly offended by the suggestion that the opposite of
the Religious Right is the voice of atheism. We are appalled when
"people of faith" is used in such a way that it excludes us, as well
as most Jews, Catholics, and Muslims. What could be more bigoted than
to claim that you have a monopoly on God and that anyone who disagrees
with you is not a person of faith?
So we ask our neighbors on the Religious Right to take note: We are
religious Jews, gathered in Houston to study, pray, and commit
ourselves to God. And yes, we are generally liberal in our politics.
But our liberalism flows directly from our religious commitments.
And we worry that you don't understand what this means, or what it
means for anyone to be a liberal religious believer.
What it means is this: that we bring a measure of humility to our
religious belief. We study religious texts day and night, but we have
no direct lines to heaven and we aren't always sure that we know God's
will.
It means believing that religion involves concern for the poor and the
needy, and giving a fair shake to all. When people talk about God and
yet ignore justice, it just feels downright wrong to us. When they
cloak themselves in religion and forget mercy, it strikes us as
blasphemy.
It means that "family values" require providing health care to every
child and that God cares about the 12 million children without health
insurance. It means valuing a child with diabetes over a frozen
embryo in a fertility clinic, and seeing the teaching of science as a
primary social good.
And it means reserving the right for each person to prayerfully make
decisions for herself about when she dies.
It also means believing in legal protection for gay couples. We
understand those who believe that the Bible opposes gay marriage, even
though we read that text in a very different way. But we cannot
understand why any two people who make a lifelong commitment to each
other should be denied legal guarantees that protect them and their
children and benefit the broader society. We cannot forget that when
Hitler came to power in 1933, one of the first things that he did was
ban gay organizations. And today, we cannot feel anything but rage
when we hear about gay men and women, some on the front lines, being
hounded out of our armed services. Yes, we can disagree about gay
marriage. But there is no excuse for hateful rhetoric that fuels the
hellfires of anti-gay bigotry.
The pendulum swings slowly sometimes, but it swings just the
same. Sane people are finding their voices again. The sun is setting
on this particular historic episode of "conservative" insanity.
Yes, there will be more episodes of "conservative" primacy in the
future. Human stupidity and greed are the only truly non-exhaustible
resources that we have. But we're beginning to chase the cockroaches
back into the darkness where they belong. Many will end up in jail,
many others without a reputation and a voice. It will be a delight to
watch this process unfold.
I, for one, am hopeful that we may be seeing the dawning of a new
period of tolerance, and balance, and compassion and responsibility.
Posted at 11:47 by Randy Kirchhof [Permalink]
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