News, and not news

A few announcements!

First off, I've been doing some end of year tallies, and I was startled to find that RadioStar Improv had over 4,500 shows downloaded in 2006. Go team!

I'd also like to give congratulations to Tom Neely and Adrienne Miller on the birth of their son William Miller Neely! I especially offer my congratulations to Adrienne for passing something that weighs 9 lbs and 14 oz through her tender bits.

In unrelated, but interesting news, I came across this article by Sarah Weaton about the big controversy about Keith Ellison being sworn with a copy of the Koran.

"Mr. Ellison is not swearing in on the Koran. And no incoming members of Congress swear in on the Bible. Everyone is sworn in together during a private ceremony without any religious text. It'’s only during a ceremonial photo-op that a book may be brought out."

full article here

We've also got two Buddhists being sworn in it seems, and no one is raising a fuss about them. Of course, they're using Bibles for their photo ops in order to maintain tradition. And yet, no one seems to mind that the use of a Bible in swearing in ceremonies is not actually any indication of reverence and respect for the Bible per se, but rather a desire to maintain traditions of the popular culture. I.e., it's not remotely an act of faith.

So, what's the big deal? Well, there really isn't one, except for the one that the pundits, the press, and the radicals want to make. Ultimately all that is at stake here is maintaining the fiction that America is an Evangelical Christian nation, and doing one's best to plug one's ears to the reality of the separation of Church and State.

What amuses me most of all, though is that Mr. Ellis claims that he isn't a symbol, but has chosen to use the english language copy of the Koran that belonged to the Diest founding father, Thomas Jefferson. Right. No conscious symbolism there. No politicing to make a statement in that choice.

This is why, by and large, I avoid the newspapers.