September 3, 2008 | 8:29 pm

Rapture Ready—reviewing a book without a movie

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

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I never would have guessed I would become a writer who obsessively ordered books on Amazon and actually enjoyed reading. In high school, I routinely chose books for English courses that had been made into film. “The Outsiders,” “All the President’s Men”—these were the books I “read” and opined on in

film

book reports.

So it is with a glimmer of honor and a dollop of redemption that I landed a short—200-word tiny—book review in the Dallas Morning News last month. It’s not entirely original; with permission I cribbed a chunk from this post in May about the wacky world of Christian pop culture. But, hey, it’s a start.

Here’s how I begin my review of Daniel Radosh’s “Rapture Ready!”:

Talk about being a stranger in a very strange land.

Mr. Radosh’s journey took him inside the International Christian Retail Show, the Holy Land Experience and the mind of born-again actor Stephen Baldwin; placed him uncomfortably in the mob calling for Christ’s crucifixion in Arkansas’ Great Passion Play; and enlightened him to the rising popularity of the Christian sex industry and righteous, drug-free raves that include “DJ-led worship.”

You can read the remaining 100-or-so words here.

September 3, 2008 | 4:31 pm

Evangelicals and the Palin pregnancy

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

From the all-Sarah-Palin-all-time file, Perez Hilton says, “It’s called karma.”

I don’t believe in karma and I don’t think the Palin parents are to blame for a mistake made by their daughter. We all make mistakes—even though some of my Christian friends who have been where Bristol is would say their baby was no mistake. And while this case of teen pregnancy hits quite close to home—actually, right at home—for Sarah Palin, I don’t suspect it will change her stance on funding for teen moms.

The amazing thing to me, so far, has been the way that Bristol Palin’s pregnancy, and commitment to keep the baby, has energized evangelical Christians. Instead of being a liability, as I suspected, they see her case as a courageous example of owning up and taking responsibility for your mistakes.

I wonder if the McCain campaign had polled this possible reaction before selecting Palin ...

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September 3, 2008 | 3:09 pm

Palin visits AIPAC, promises to strengthen U.S.-Israel ties

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Just days after John McCain plucked Sarah Palin as his running mate, the Alaskan governor paid a visit to AIPAC to voice her support for Israel, something she definitely needed to do because of her support for Pat Buchanan’s 2000 presidential campaign.

Unlike McCain and Barack Obama, who dueled at AIPAC’s policy conference in June, Palin offered no sweeping statements regarding Jerusalem or Israel’s threat from Iran. She settled for the much more diplomatic commitment to “work to expand and deepen the strategic partnership between U.S. and Israel.”

Every legitimate candidate pays such respect to AIPAC and the U.S.-Israel relationship. But does she mean it? Considering McCain’s record, I’d imagine so.

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September 3, 2008 | 10:39 am

Putting the Bible’s stories, not books, in order

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

When did bloggers—the proverbial man on the cyberstreet—become expert sources that an entire story can hinge one? Case in point is this article from the Christian Post that discusses a new chronological bible coming out next month. The story begins:

A new Bible that arranges Scripture according to when the events occurred – as opposed to when it was written – has re-opened debate in the Christian blogosphere over whether chronological ordering leads to clarity or confusion.

In the edition, well-known books in the Bible like the Gospels, Psalms and the Epistles of Apostle Paul are chopped up and re-woven with other texts to fit the historical timeline.

Yes, the phrase Christian blogosphere actually appears in the first sentence. It is later complimented by this marvelous transition to controversy:

But some Christians see a dead end to this journey.

“It bothers me when bad historical criticism trumps narrative structure,” writes one blogger by the name of Drew. “It’s primarily a set of theological texts that have historical significance, not a set of historical texts that have theological significance.”

Since it apparently matters what bloggers think, and I am a blogger, I’d be fascinated to read this new Bible version. On my bookshelves, I already have “The Narrated Bible,” which places the book, though not the stories themselves, in chronological order. Sure, this won’t be the traditional canon Christians are familiar with—and let’s remember, there are three different “traditional” Christian Bibles—but it will offer a beneficial additional perspective, like the Skycam at football games: You rarely are shown footage from this behind the quarterback angle, but when it is used, it reveals something new.

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September 2, 2008 | 9:30 pm

Putting a $3 million lotto ticket in the offering plate

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

A mystery man won $3 million in the lottery, and then gave the winning ticket to his pastor at True North Community Church on Long Island.

“Our congregation has outgrown its facility,” Pastor Bert Crabbe said. “We’re having four services a week and adding a fifth. We needed another place to meet and I told the congregation, ‘Unless God drops a couple of million on us…’ I was joking, I wasn’t asking for it or praying for it. ‘Unless this happens we’ll end up renting a facility somewhere.’ And then this happened.”

Either this guy has a skull filled with stones or a heart of gold. Either way, good for him.

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September 2, 2008 | 6:43 pm

Obama, McCain and Jewish American princesses

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Both Barack Obama and John McCain have been obsessive in pursuing one of the many voters they desire: Jews. But I’d like to think neither is so desperate that they would sing and dance at the Miss Jewish Princess Pageant. And yet, that’s the news Paul Ryan just sent to my inbox.

The rumor mill has it that both candidates will be performing (McCain “If I were a Rich Man” and Obama “Papa, Can you Hear Me?”).

Yes, and Bristol Palin will perform “Matchmaker.” Ba dump cha.

It would appear that presidential campaigning has reached a new low. Fortunately, though, Ryan is a comedian and who has organized a series of mock-u-pageants—they include Miss Playboy Princess, Miss Plus Size Princess and Miss European Princess. The Yiddish twist on this shtick will be on display Sunday at the Acme Comedy Theatre. Thankfully, Obama and McCain won’t actually be there.

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September 2, 2008 | 1:29 pm

Sarah Palin: Is she good for the Jews?

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Right about now, Sarah Palin is looking like a great vice presidential pick—that is, if Barack Obama got to choose his opponent’s running mate.

So, she’s likely not good for John McCain, but is Palin, the relatively unknown governor of Alaska good for the Jews (the few real life frozen chosen, not the Sitka Jews of Michael Chabon’s world)? Rob Eshman, The Jewish Journal’s editor in chief, weighed this question in a news analysis Friday.

Despite the expected plaudits and scourges Palin received from the usual suspects, Rob argued that Palin could actually cost McCain some of the Israel Firsters that his track record and affiliation with Sen. Joseph Lieberman had given him such a firm grip on.

If McCain had picked Mitt Romney or Tom Ridge or—cue the bar mitzvah band—Joe Lieberman, he would have unquestionably swept up the Israel Firsters. These men have track records and gravitas when it comes to Israel and foreign policy. (This debate among Jews and Israel reflects the larger foreign policy concerns about Obama that Republicans are making the centerpiece of their opposition. Many conflicts in Jewish life mirror conflicts in the larger culture—that’s Anthropology 101).

But he chose Sarah Palin: former mayor of a small Alaska town, governor of Alaska, devout Christian.

As I’ve written about more than a few times, many devout Christians are Israel fanatics. But questions remain about Palin’s passion for the Promised Land, in part because she has less foreign policy experience than Obama. And also because she endorsed Pat Buchanan in his 2000 run for president. Rob continues:

Palin has no foreign policy experience. No Israel experience. Her AIPAC rating? When you enter her name on the AIPAC home page, you get this:

  Your search - palin - did not match any documents.
  No pages were found containing “palin”.

The RJC’s Greenfield says her AIPAC relationships are great, but confined to Alaska. And Republicans are now marshalling a great comeback to the charge that Palin once supported Pat Buchanan.

Buchanan is anathema to the Jews. He is someone who has blamed Israel and American Jews for directing American foreign policy against American interests. He has spoken kindly of Adolph Hitler—who is not popular with Jews—and, well, this is going to be interesting.

Sarah Palin might cause the Israel Firsters, who seemed to be pretty much done with Obama, to take a second look.

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September 2, 2008 | 1:07 pm

Nigerian Muslim downsizing wives corps from 86 to 4

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

Mohammadu Bello Abubakar

Just a month ago, Mohammed Bello Abubakar was resolute in his righteousness as the husband to 86 women and refused to divorce all but four, as Islamic leaders in his native Nigeria had ordered.

“A man with 10 wives would collapse and die, but my own power is given by Allah. That is why I have been able to control 86 of them,” he said. “I don’t go looking for them, they come to me. I will consider the fact that God has asked me to do it and I will just marry them.”

Though Muslim scholars say the Quran forbids a man from having more than four wives—remember, safety in moderation—Abubaker swore there was no punishment for being such a prodigious lover. But this weekend, at age 84, he had a change of heart.

Could it have had anything to do with this?

Last week one of Nigeria’s top Islamic bodies, the Jamatu Nasril Islam, sentenced him to death.

The sentence was lifted but he was threatened with eviction from his home.

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September 2, 2008 | 12:38 pm

‘Disclosures on Palin Raise Questions on Vetting Process’

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

That headline, from the No Duh Department was courtesy of The New York Times, but it could have appeared on the front page of many American newspapers today.

You think?

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September 2, 2008 | 2:20 am

Tennessee: Still low down, dirty and some snitches—and losers

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

I just got home from an all-day excursion at the Rose Bowl. First line of business was tailgating with the man, Ben Clark, who leaves in less than three weeks to work at an orphanage in Africa. (Support it.) Next I ended up screaming my vocal cords horse during UCLA’s excellent and unexpected upset of Tennessee.

In honor of the amazing start to the Rick Neuheisel football era, I decided to repost this video—one of the funniest I’ve ever seen.

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September 1, 2008 | 2:02 pm

McCain’s pregnant teen

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

John McCain’s selection Friday of relatively unknown Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate got all the more bizarre this morning. Palin’s 17-year-old daughter, it turns out, is unmarried. And pregnant. And the McCain campaign knew.

“We’re proud of Bristol’s decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents,” Sarah and Todd Palin said in the brief statement. “Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family.”

Obviously, these kinds of things happen; they happened to a few friends in my high school youth group. But, despite Bristol Palin’s decision to keep the child and marry the father, this is not going to help McCain with the James Dobsons of the world or even the so-called “values voters.” What was he thinking?

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