In "A Letter Concerning Toleration," John Locke wrote that "I esteem that toleration to be the chief characteristic mark of the true Church." Writing in an era recently ravaged by all manner of religious strife, manifested most notably by the Glorious Revolution of 1688 settling the Catholic-Protestant conflicts of 17th Century England, Locke's premise makes sense. Locke argued that rather than have a Hobbesian central authority to settle all matter of religion on behalf of a society, the best available option was for religion to be privatized. If religion is a matter for the private chamber instead of the public square, then the doctrinal persuasions of one leader or another become irrelevent to his actions as a public official. Furthermore, if I tolerate your doctrinal dissent when I'm in power, maybe you will tolerate mine when roles are reversed.
Locke's ideas on toleration formed the basis of much of the thought on the relationship between church and state in America's infancy. The "go along to get along" mindset was formative for men loke John Adams, who believed that virtue was the key to happiness, and that if a person were properly educated, he would see that only through the pursuit of virtue was true happiness possible. Jefferson's idea of a "wall of separation between church and state" was largely a reaction to the excesses of church influence in government and politics.
And given the Catholicization of the Spanish Empire under Isabella, the painful birthing of the Anglican church under Henry VIII, the whole Oliver Cromwell mess, and (oh by the way) the Thirty Years War, Locke and his disciples might have a point. Keep government and religion separate, if for no other reason than in the name of peace.
As far as that goes, I agree. For that matter, so does the Apostle Paul. In 1 Timothy 2, Paul says Christians should pray that they can lead "peacable, quiet lives" in relation to the government. Interestingly for those of us in Churches of Christ, he uses the exact same language to describe the relationship between men and women in the church.
Furthermore, the historical evidence seems to indicate that Locke may have had a point. Societies where religious disagreement is a reason to fight have been marked by constant sectarian violence or harsh repression of any dissenting views -- religious, policitcal, or otherwise. By contrast, the tolerant societies have (generally) been peaceful, so long as there was nothing else to fight over.
But I would argue that Locke was not so much right as he was lucky.
Those societies which adopted his views fo tolerance and put them into practice were, at the time they became tolerant, largely Jesus-ist. The major societal disagreements Lockeian cultures have faced have not been between Jesus-ism and something else, but between one brand of Jesus-ism and another. But as Jesus has taken more and more of a back seat in those cultures, what has replaced Him has become harder and harder to tolerate.
John Locke was lucky, then, because his brand of tolerance only works in a society that leans on the crutch of the teachings of Jesus. Kick away that crutch, and tolerance becomes catastrophic.
Ironically, Christian teaching says as much. 2 Corinthians 12:20-21 says that the only possible path to virtue is by being invested in a community of faith. A religion that is purely private cannot, by definition, do anything to prevent sin or promote virtue. In fact, "private" religion does the exact oposite, providing a shield behind which all manner of vice and iniquity can hide.
For a society to truly be tolerant, there must be certain moral precepts everyone agrees to, accepts, and openly discusses in the public arena. If those precepts are violated -- or even supressed -- what is left is chaos.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Lipscomb Lady Bisions Basketball
It's that time of year. Coach, computer scientist, and all-around good egg Frank Bennett rolls out the latest edition of your Lady Bisons.
So far, the reviews are encouraging, even if there is still work to do.
First, the obvious: Lipscomb lost an exhinition game. Again. This time, Alabama-Huntsville came into Allen Arena and walked out with a 69-68 win. This can't be a good sign. A Divison I team ought to be able to give its 9 best players double-digit minutes and carry the day over a Division II team on talent alone, especially at home and especially in an exhibiton game in November. If Lipscomb has ambitions higher than "let's hope we make the Atlantic Sun tournament," this can't happen. And for Lipscomb, who relies so heavily on home-coourt advantage, this REALLY can't happen at home. Period.
What went wrong:
Free throw shooting. Lipscomb was 6 for 19 in the second half from the free throw line. Six for nineteen. Ugh.
Tempo. The game was WAY too fast for a team like Lipscomb. 80 possessions is high for a men's game, let alone women. For the talent Coach Bennett recruits to be most effective, Lipscomb needs to be playing in the high 60's to low 70's.
Turnovers. Lipscomb must take better care of the basketball. This is a recording.
What went right:
Shot selection: Last year, Lipscomb shot 3's almost without conscience. Tonight, fewer than 40% of their attempts were from beyond the arc. Factor in the number of 2-shot free throw situations they generated, and what we see is a return to the Bennett Ball of the mid 90's. Pound the ball inside and make their big girls make a play to stop you. In a guard-oriented league like the A-Sun, I like the idea.
Defense: 21 forced turnovers, including 14 steals. Defense and lay-ups, with just enough 3's to keep the other team honest. Welcome to Bennett Ball. One might have liked a stop late, but credit UAH for making plays when they needed them.
Grit: Down 5 with 2 minutes to go (in an exhibition game at home) and generally not playing very well, the Lady Bisons stepped up in crunch time. Miriam McAlister gets an and-one (which she made) to cut the lead to 2. Then Dana Carrigan, Katie Woods, and Jenna Bartsokas each hit 3's to give the defense a chance.
The Lady Bisions open up for real at UT-Martin on Friday.
So far, the reviews are encouraging, even if there is still work to do.
First, the obvious: Lipscomb lost an exhinition game. Again. This time, Alabama-Huntsville came into Allen Arena and walked out with a 69-68 win. This can't be a good sign. A Divison I team ought to be able to give its 9 best players double-digit minutes and carry the day over a Division II team on talent alone, especially at home and especially in an exhibiton game in November. If Lipscomb has ambitions higher than "let's hope we make the Atlantic Sun tournament," this can't happen. And for Lipscomb, who relies so heavily on home-coourt advantage, this REALLY can't happen at home. Period.
What went wrong:
Free throw shooting. Lipscomb was 6 for 19 in the second half from the free throw line. Six for nineteen. Ugh.
Tempo. The game was WAY too fast for a team like Lipscomb. 80 possessions is high for a men's game, let alone women. For the talent Coach Bennett recruits to be most effective, Lipscomb needs to be playing in the high 60's to low 70's.
Turnovers. Lipscomb must take better care of the basketball. This is a recording.
What went right:
Shot selection: Last year, Lipscomb shot 3's almost without conscience. Tonight, fewer than 40% of their attempts were from beyond the arc. Factor in the number of 2-shot free throw situations they generated, and what we see is a return to the Bennett Ball of the mid 90's. Pound the ball inside and make their big girls make a play to stop you. In a guard-oriented league like the A-Sun, I like the idea.
Defense: 21 forced turnovers, including 14 steals. Defense and lay-ups, with just enough 3's to keep the other team honest. Welcome to Bennett Ball. One might have liked a stop late, but credit UAH for making plays when they needed them.
Grit: Down 5 with 2 minutes to go (in an exhibition game at home) and generally not playing very well, the Lady Bisons stepped up in crunch time. Miriam McAlister gets an and-one (which she made) to cut the lead to 2. Then Dana Carrigan, Katie Woods, and Jenna Bartsokas each hit 3's to give the defense a chance.
The Lady Bisions open up for real at UT-Martin on Friday.
Friday, November 2, 2007
In Defense of the National League
For the third time in four years and the seventh time in ten, the representative of the American League has won the World Series.
I'm stunned.
Consider this: Since the dismantling of the Big Red Machine 30 years ago, only three American League teams have gone to the World Series and failed to win at least 2 games -- the 2006 Tigers and Tony Larussa's A's in 1988 and 1990. The American League has been swept EXACTLY ONCE since 1977. By contrast, the National League has gone down 4-0 three times in the last four years, and five times in ten years.
Competitive disadvantage, much?
Maybe, but randomness implies clusters. If the teams really are even and the National League is just hitting a "bad patch," things should even out over the long term.
So let's look at the long term.
The last 30 World Series have gone for the AL team 17 times and the NL 13. Pretty even, unless you consider that the NL won 4 in a row between 1978 and 1981. The AL leads the NL 16-9 in 25 Series.
What's more, in the last 10 years, the NL has won 16 World Series games, and 12 of those wins came in Series they won. The AL has won 38, a .704 winning percentage. In the last 25 Series, the AL is 82-52. 61.2% of World Series games in the last 25 years have been won by the team that used a Designated Hitter all year.
If you take any two teams and give one team a 61.2% chance of winning any one game, that team will win a best-of-seven series 73.3% of the time.
So in spite of their dominance, the American League has actually UNDER-performed in terms of winning championships since 1983. Statistically, they should have two more (and in 1997 and 2001, the AL team took a 1-run lead into the 9th inning of Game 7 and lost).
But all that said, this is a great time to be a National League fan. 9 different pennant winners in 10 years. 12 of the league's 16 teams have been to the playoffs since 2003, and Milwaukee got close this year. Fully half the league finished with 5 games of a play-off spot this year, a fairly routine occurance in the lower-offense NL. Not so routine -- with four days to go in the season, not only were there 8 teams still alive, but ALL FOUR spots were still up for grabs. Wild card or no wild card, that's a great race.
Then there's the AL. Yawn. The last time the AL played any meaningful baseball in September was 2000. The last one-game play-off in the AL was in 1978. The NL has seen six since. Almost half the league (6 of 14) has gone at least 5 years since their last post-season appearance, and for 4 of those 6, the drought is a decade or more. Plus, the average American League team plays 10 fewer 1-run games per year than the average NL team, resulting both in more blow-outs AND in longer games.
That said, scoreboard. The AL is killing the NL when they play head-to-head, finishing 18 games over .500 in interleague play this year, which is better than the 50+ games the AL had on the NL last year. Clearly, rosters that include a DH for 162 games are better than rosters built around the relaity that pitchers have to hit.
So what to do?
With no DH, the baseball is better, with closer games and tighter pennant races, both of which make for great TV. The balance between the leagues is restored. Big-time sluggers have to play defense. Plus (and this is no small consideration), shorter games fit better into TV schedules.
Maybe then baseball would be worth staying up for.
I'm stunned.
Consider this: Since the dismantling of the Big Red Machine 30 years ago, only three American League teams have gone to the World Series and failed to win at least 2 games -- the 2006 Tigers and Tony Larussa's A's in 1988 and 1990. The American League has been swept EXACTLY ONCE since 1977. By contrast, the National League has gone down 4-0 three times in the last four years, and five times in ten years.
Competitive disadvantage, much?
Maybe, but randomness implies clusters. If the teams really are even and the National League is just hitting a "bad patch," things should even out over the long term.
So let's look at the long term.
The last 30 World Series have gone for the AL team 17 times and the NL 13. Pretty even, unless you consider that the NL won 4 in a row between 1978 and 1981. The AL leads the NL 16-9 in 25 Series.
What's more, in the last 10 years, the NL has won 16 World Series games, and 12 of those wins came in Series they won. The AL has won 38, a .704 winning percentage. In the last 25 Series, the AL is 82-52. 61.2% of World Series games in the last 25 years have been won by the team that used a Designated Hitter all year.
If you take any two teams and give one team a 61.2% chance of winning any one game, that team will win a best-of-seven series 73.3% of the time.
So in spite of their dominance, the American League has actually UNDER-performed in terms of winning championships since 1983. Statistically, they should have two more (and in 1997 and 2001, the AL team took a 1-run lead into the 9th inning of Game 7 and lost).
But all that said, this is a great time to be a National League fan. 9 different pennant winners in 10 years. 12 of the league's 16 teams have been to the playoffs since 2003, and Milwaukee got close this year. Fully half the league finished with 5 games of a play-off spot this year, a fairly routine occurance in the lower-offense NL. Not so routine -- with four days to go in the season, not only were there 8 teams still alive, but ALL FOUR spots were still up for grabs. Wild card or no wild card, that's a great race.
Then there's the AL. Yawn. The last time the AL played any meaningful baseball in September was 2000. The last one-game play-off in the AL was in 1978. The NL has seen six since. Almost half the league (6 of 14) has gone at least 5 years since their last post-season appearance, and for 4 of those 6, the drought is a decade or more. Plus, the average American League team plays 10 fewer 1-run games per year than the average NL team, resulting both in more blow-outs AND in longer games.
That said, scoreboard. The AL is killing the NL when they play head-to-head, finishing 18 games over .500 in interleague play this year, which is better than the 50+ games the AL had on the NL last year. Clearly, rosters that include a DH for 162 games are better than rosters built around the relaity that pitchers have to hit.
So what to do?
With no DH, the baseball is better, with closer games and tighter pennant races, both of which make for great TV. The balance between the leagues is restored. Big-time sluggers have to play defense. Plus (and this is no small consideration), shorter games fit better into TV schedules.
Maybe then baseball would be worth staying up for.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
A Date Which Shall Live in Infamy
Happy Jeop-iversary to me.
November 1, 2004 -- known to most of nerd nation as the glorious day when the Sudoku puzzle made its major U. S. daily newspaper debut in the New York World -- was memorable in the life of your humble correspondent for another reason.
That was the night my Jeopardy show aired.
Note the singular.
I occupied the middle podium, armed with quick-draw reflexes, an obligingly cute cat story (Note to future contestants: Do NOT incur the wrath of the Jeopardy spirits by telling a pet story from the middle podium), and all the preparation I could muster. Between getting The Call in June and tape day on August 17, I had watched over 100 episodes, read the transcripts of 200 more, memorized the list of frequently referenced works of art and literature from the NAQT website, and generally crammed my brain with whatever else I could find to stuff in there. To my left (left, right?, uh, left. Yeah, left.) stood Lisa Ellis, a lovely young school teacher and recent Williams graduate who then worked at the Hathaway-Brown School in Shaker Heights, Ohio.
To my right . . . well, let's just say he'd been there a while.
As for the game, I actually don't remember much. The gory details are available on J! Archive. They tell me I got 10 right, 1 wrong: the miss coming on a Classical Music clue that opened the door for Ken to claim a Daily Double (Arutro Toscannini, best known as a lyric in Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire").
I also almost missed a Bible question, but fearing a rupture in the space-time continuum, the judges eventually ruled in my favor.
The other memorable clue from that game was near the end, when Ken had about 3 times my score and got a clue on "Bridge to Terebithia." The night Ken lost to Nancy Zerg there was a batch of clips from Ken's games (presumably provided by Sony) that aired on Nightline, David Letterman, A&E Biography, and the TV Guide Channel. Ken is seen firing off answer after answer, while his slack-jawed opponents stand helplessly behind their measly 3- and 4-digit scores. About three clues from the end, you hear "What is Terebithia?"
The slack jaw with the beard would be me.
Word to the wise -- don't use the word "Terebithia" in my presence. I might vomit on your shoes, and then I'll be in no condition to explain myself. If you're studying for the SHC, don't look for it any time soon.
If you remember that Final Jeopardy, you are probably not surprised to learn that "left" and "right" are still an issue for me three years later. I'm the goofball who drew the arrow the wrong way. For the record, I still wear my watch extra-tight on my left wrist when I referee soccer games so I'll remember.
Confession time: I haven't read Brainiac. I picked it up long enough to find out I'm not in it, then put it down and walked away.
Because that's exactly the kind of bitter, egotistical, curmudgeonly old windbag that I am.
P. S.: To Lisa -- If the editors ever have the sense to list you in the Social Register, I'll buy that.
November 1, 2004 -- known to most of nerd nation as the glorious day when the Sudoku puzzle made its major U. S. daily newspaper debut in the New York World -- was memorable in the life of your humble correspondent for another reason.
That was the night my Jeopardy show aired.
Note the singular.
I occupied the middle podium, armed with quick-draw reflexes, an obligingly cute cat story (Note to future contestants: Do NOT incur the wrath of the Jeopardy spirits by telling a pet story from the middle podium), and all the preparation I could muster. Between getting The Call in June and tape day on August 17, I had watched over 100 episodes, read the transcripts of 200 more, memorized the list of frequently referenced works of art and literature from the NAQT website, and generally crammed my brain with whatever else I could find to stuff in there. To my left (left, right?, uh, left. Yeah, left.) stood Lisa Ellis, a lovely young school teacher and recent Williams graduate who then worked at the Hathaway-Brown School in Shaker Heights, Ohio.
To my right . . . well, let's just say he'd been there a while.
As for the game, I actually don't remember much. The gory details are available on J! Archive. They tell me I got 10 right, 1 wrong: the miss coming on a Classical Music clue that opened the door for Ken to claim a Daily Double (Arutro Toscannini, best known as a lyric in Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire").
I also almost missed a Bible question, but fearing a rupture in the space-time continuum, the judges eventually ruled in my favor.
The other memorable clue from that game was near the end, when Ken had about 3 times my score and got a clue on "Bridge to Terebithia." The night Ken lost to Nancy Zerg there was a batch of clips from Ken's games (presumably provided by Sony) that aired on Nightline, David Letterman, A&E Biography, and the TV Guide Channel. Ken is seen firing off answer after answer, while his slack-jawed opponents stand helplessly behind their measly 3- and 4-digit scores. About three clues from the end, you hear "What is Terebithia?"
The slack jaw with the beard would be me.
Word to the wise -- don't use the word "Terebithia" in my presence. I might vomit on your shoes, and then I'll be in no condition to explain myself. If you're studying for the SHC, don't look for it any time soon.
If you remember that Final Jeopardy, you are probably not surprised to learn that "left" and "right" are still an issue for me three years later. I'm the goofball who drew the arrow the wrong way. For the record, I still wear my watch extra-tight on my left wrist when I referee soccer games so I'll remember.
Confession time: I haven't read Brainiac. I picked it up long enough to find out I'm not in it, then put it down and walked away.
Because that's exactly the kind of bitter, egotistical, curmudgeonly old windbag that I am.
P. S.: To Lisa -- If the editors ever have the sense to list you in the Social Register, I'll buy that.
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