[I am making Dope/Whack a regular part of the T.A.N.K. newsletter. It’s my way of briefly sharing some thoughts on the stuff that has been occupying my brain space this week. So, here goes…]

Dope

James Webb Space Telescope

I have seen all the infographics and videos about the scale of our boundless universe. I get it. The universe is infinite. But the images that JWST is returning has inspired in me a new sense of awe. It necessarily applies a frame of perspective over our finite existence. It could cause a person to feel worthless and insignificant. But allow me to offer a message reinforced by the glorious new film, Everything, Everywhere, All at Once:

Evelyn Wang, played to perfection by Michelle Yeoh, says to her daughter, Joy, “Maybe it’s like you said. Maybe there is something out there, some new discovery that will make us feel like even smaller pieces of shit. Something that explains why you still went looking for me through all of this noise. And why, no matter what, I still want to be here with you. I will always, always, want to be here with you.”

If we’re insignificant to the order of the universe, then let the stars collapse into black holes and forget about what that means to us. Choose to be with the ones you love and make peace where you can.

“The Sea Beast”

At the Young house, every Saturday night is Family Pizza and Movie Night. It is a tradition we began when the five of us lived in a 700 square foot apartment in Centretown Ottawa. The kids were little, and we were poor. We bought Lebanese pitas and used them for pizza crusts, and we made our own pizzas and every week it was someone else’s turn to choose the movie. Lo, these many years later, the event still stands. This past Saturday was my movie night, so I went out on a limb and chose a movie none of us knew anything about: The Sea Beast. I’m not going to give a full review, but I will say that it definitely worth watching. It is smart, sweet, dark, and just funny enough to bring some levity to the darkness. Chris Williams, the writer and director, wrote a solid adventure story and screenplay then just happened to animate it. It’s worth your time.

Peter Gabriel’s Secret World: Live recording

A week or so ago, on a whim, I streamed this album through a Bluetooth speaker in the house. Now, I played the hell out of this CD back in the glorious 90’s and I am still nostalgic for that time in my life. When I decided to play it again, after literal decades passing since I last listened to it, I suspected that the nostalgia wouldn’t be enough to support my gushing enthusiasm for the album. But, DAMN, if that album doesn’t still slap. I highly recommend you listen to this album. But two rules: 1. you must listen to the tracks in their original order, and 2. You are not allowed to skip any tracks. If you are feeling low or insignificant or depressed, I promise you will feel better after listening to this double album. I don’t make many guarantees these days, but this one is a sure thing.

Whack

Elon Musk

Alright, I know it’s popular to bag on these ultra-wealthy titans of industry. They’re easy targets because they are completely out of touch with the world you and I live in. But what is it with this guy? His business development model has been to get reeeeeally high and say, “Wouldn’t it be cool if…” Then he does it. Now, you might think that his ability to make his ideas a reality is a sign of genius, but you would be wrong. He’s an avowed fan of science fiction and has said that it informs his vision for the future. But what he, and his peers, fail to understand is that even the most rosy, utopian science fiction stories are cautionary tales of mankind’s runaway ambition. And, when presented with that truth, he assures us that he will do it right.

Cancelled Streaming Series

I don’t get to watch nearly as many series on TV as I would like. There are always new titles hitting the major streaming platforms and there just aren’t enough hours in a man’s life to see all that I want to see. There are three series that have been cancelled and I feel like I need to say something about them. Archive 81 (Netflix) had a bumpy start. The writing and acting are uneven, but it finally offered a folk horror property that was original. By the final episode, they had unpacked something worth waiting for. Atlanta (FX) is as flawless a series as there has been on television. The timing of the cancellation may be right. The cast are all doing lots of other things so it may just be time. But its brilliant writing and superb acting will be missed. Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K. is hilarious. It is irreverent without being crass. Its humor is dark without being cringey. It walks every line with near perfect balance. Patton Oswalt’s skill as a voice actor betrays a perfect sense of comedic timing and emotional range. These three will be missed.

In an effort to recognize those who came before us and did great (and not-so-great) things, I offer my Famous Birthday in History.

This week, I celebrate Feargus O’Connor, born July 18, 1796, in County Cork, Ireland. Feargus was a leader of the Chartist Movement in Britain. Chartism was a political reform movement in the early to mid-19th century that was motivated by the Poor Law of 1834. The government used the Poor Law to defund the safety nets that existed for the poor after the aristocracy enclosed the common spaces the poor used for subsistence farming. A charismatic and talented orator, Feargus used his skill to advocate for the right for every citizen to vote. Voting out the Whigs who enacted the Poor Law was the way the Chartists saw to undo its oppressive provisions. At the time, only the landed gentry could vote for parliamentary representation. As a MP for Cork, O’Connor agitated his colleagues in parliament for suffrage for the working class. His radical positions were communicated through his newspaper called The North Star. Beloved by the workers and hated by his peers, Feargus O’Connor, nonetheless, left an indelible mark on British politics.

Big happy birthday to you, Feargus O’Connor. And if you’re out there listening, know that we’re still fighting your battles.

[If you don’t know what Chartism was, please, if you want an historical perspective on voting rights, read up on it. The analog to our own American battles for democracy is striking.]

I live near the border between Illinois and Indiana. There’s no geographic border. It’s just one of those dotted lines you see on a map that the USGS imposed on the Upper Midwest. It rarely even occurs to me that there is a state line so close. However, each year, around the July 4th holiday, I become keenly aware of this border. Why, you may ask, does it matter around July 4th? Well, it goes like this: Illinois has laws against selling what the assholes in my neighborhood call the “good fireworks” and Indiana has no such laws. In fact, in Northwest Indiana, there are several HUGE fireworks retailers just a stone’s-throw across the state line. I didn’t sleep at all this weekend. I can usually sleep through anything. But what I can’t sleep through is my 45 pound border collie taking refuge on my head because my asshole neighbors conspired to turn our lovely tree-lined historic neighborhood into what sounds like a war zone. I am extremely sleep-deprived and that makes me cranky. I considered waiting to write this little newsletter until I was in a better mood but I opted to move forward so you, dear reader, can get to know me a little better. And what better circumstance to learn about someone than in the fog of war…

In the spirit of the rich American tradition of independence and rebellion, I have decided to offer some quick-and-dirty hot takes on recent events. Strap in and hang on because this is going to get real…

SCOTUS Rulings

The giant leap to the right in the recent SCOTUS rulings has done nothing to bring American together. I’m not going near the morass of the abortion debate right now (you can read my opinions in last week’s piece here). The Second Amendment and School Choice decisions are regrettable. But more troubling than the moral panics that are dominating into our public discourse is the preference for state’s rights on matters that need federal protections. The Confederates are getting their day. Although, they can’t legally enslave black people anymore, they are working overtime to disenfranchise them through redistricting and voter restriction laws in Red States. I hate abortion but throwing it back to the states allows states to take a large step toward disenfranchising women as well. Big thumbs-down to the SCOTUS.

Highland Park Shooting

I’m still horrified by this. I have a friend who lives in Glencoe, a neighboring town, and I reached out to him immediately to make sure he and his family were not at that parade. These things keep hitting close to home. My wife and daughter and I were at a suburban Chicago mall several years ago when a shooting took place near the food court and, while we escaped without injury, it is something you don’t forget. I am a gun owner, although I haven’t shot any of them in years. The problem of gun violence is intractable. The gun, and the power it grants the user, is so deeply embedded in the American psyche that I don’t think we can disengage it. That said, we have defunded and privatized our healthcare to the point that mental health support is either unavailable or too expensive for suffering people to access. If we are not going to control the sale and possession of firearms, the state needs to ensure that all of the victims of gun violence will have access to healthcare that will make sure these victims can be treated without financially ruining them. Consider it the cost of exercising your Second Amendment rights.

Conservative Christians and Nationalism

I’m going to be very brief here. If you believe that your faith and values must be imposed upon others, then that faith is not Christianity and those values are not Christian. Quit bastardizing my faith.

Let’s prioritize empathy and peace-making. What we’re doing now isn’t working.

At a time when Americans are pressed to take a side on virtually every issue imaginable, I am reminded of a saying from Confucius’ Analects: “The superior man in the world does not set his mind either for anything or against anything, but what is right he will follow.” While I am not a superior man, in the Confucian sense, I do believe that the biblical Wisdom Tradition demands the same thing from a wise person. What is “right” for both Confucians and Christians has a lot to do with our social obligations and with that in mind, perhaps Christians should begin with “love your neighbor” instead of “thou shall not”.

“The opposite of a fact is falsehood, but the opposite of one profound truth may very well be another profound truth.” Niels Bohr

UPI reported that a beaver felled a tree that knocked out power and internet service to a few hundred customers in rural British Columbia. I have to be honest here, I’m kind of fond of the industrious beaver for the simple reason that it is a rodent that can single-handedly undo all of the infrastructure we spend billions of dollars to build. Here’s to the mighty beaver, nature’s check on human industry. May you ever spoil human attempts at bending nature to our will and remind of our place in the world.

Per Religion News Service, a Southern Baptist leader in Tennessee, Randy Davis, recently acknowledged that the scorching report about literal decades of sexual abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention (the largest Protestant denomination in the US) is important and needs to be addressed. I honestly wasn’t certain where he would land on that. For those who may not know about the report I am referring to, allow me a brief explanation. An independent firm performed an investigation regarding decades of complaints of sexual abuse among the leaders and clergy in the SBC. What they found was hundreds of substantiated claims of sexual abuse that went unaddressed by church leadership. A HUGE black eye. This report by an agency called Guidepost Solutions produced a list of accused pastors, many of whom are still pastoring churches, and a long list of recommendations for getting the SBC house in order. SBC leaders have at the very least, signaled disgust and an intention to address the problem. Sounds like progress to me.

HOWEVER… before you go thinking these leaders have learned anything, Mr. Davis called on the SBC to “break all ties” with Guidepost Solutions because... «Drumroll please...» Guidepost Solutions posted support for LGBTQ Pride on their Twitter page. Natch.

Mr. Davis says Guidepost “does not share our biblical perspective of human sexuality.” I’m racking my brain and I can’t put my finger on the biblical perspective of human sexuality where ministers groom and sexually assault minors. I’m sure it’s in there. I should keep looking… But here’s the thing, even when the SBC is dealing with a gargantuan sexual abuse scandal, they have the temerity to grandstand their “biblical perspective of human sexuality.”

In the history of Christianity and in virtually every place you can find it, Christian leaders, fond of their positions of authority and influence, tilt at windmills while the dragons destroy the village. The most glaring example for our time, exemplified in the SBC drama above, is the preemptive salvos made about the sinfulness of homosexuality. Pastors, bishops, university presidents, and parachurch ministry leaders all over the country have crafted ironclad theological statements and preached impassioned sermons on the abomination of homosexuality. Few of these efforts are the fruit of any real encounter with a gay or trans person.

The only thing I can find that God preemptively dispenses upon His creation is Grace. Condemnation only comes on the heels of unrighteousness, and that, only after many repeated invitations to repent. Yet, like the Pharisees of Jesus’ time, our Christian leaders, certain that God’s limits of Grace correspond with their own, have no compunction over condemning those they have not loved.

Apropos of sin, righteousness, and judgement, I watched another Korean series that I commend to you without reservation. It is called Hellbound (2021) and is streaming on Netflix. The premise is that people all over the world begin receiving visitations from an “angel” who pronounces when they will die and that they will be taken to hell. At the ordained time, three demons appear and violently punish the victim and immolate them. This premise, while dramatic and horrifying, is a macguffin. That is, it becomes clear that it is a plot device that provides the context for the real point of the story. In fact, the brutal immolation scenes could be interchanged with any kind of natural disaster and still provide the context needed for getting to the bigger questions of righteousness and judgement. But this is much cooler than a flood or earthquake.

You get little tastes of religious dystopia a la Handmaid’s Tale but this show isn’t simply rehashing the dread of religious oppression. Hellbound ponders why humans suffer and demonstrates that it matters what we sacrifice ourselves for and who we sacrifice to. Check it out.

In the Christian calendar, this is the season of Pentecost, commemorating the 50 days after Easter (Pascha) when Jesus’ disciples were gathered and the Holy Spirit was poured out on them. This year, Pentecost falls on June 5 (June 12 in the Eastern Calendar). The following is a reflection on the event of Pentecost from my dear friend Gary Thomas.

Poem for Pentecost

Gary Thomas

On Pentecost I remember 

The way your Flame sits silently inside 

This soul of mine. And how I’ve been cut 

From the universe and laid down 

Like a collage, cemented upon this earth. 

Blending with You into the divine dance, 

An offering on the altar of passing time. 

Consenting to the soft contours 

Of Your personality, sending sparks of love

Into the neighborhood. 

Now, in this body I serve the sound of Your Spirit.

Safely nestled inside the great Kingdom Come;

A participant in the grace of endless days. 

First, I am putting this inaugural T.A.N.K. bulletin together while in quarantine. Yes, I tested positive for COVID. It was my turn. I’m miserable but not dying. But this has provided me a ton of time to catch up on series I have been behind on. It got me thinking about narrative and myth-making and how utterly essential these are to understanding ourselves and the world around us. By the way, never apologize for spending time on stories, whether written or filmed. Narrative themes come at us sideways and get past our logic filters. They tickle something deeply emotional and being in touch with that squishy part of ourselves is vital to being human. FWIW, the following are the series that I have been bingeing for the past couple of days…

Kingdom (Netflix) - A Korean zombie film set in the feudal period of the 16th century must have been an interesting pitch but, as far as I’m concerned, this is the the best thing going on Netflix right now. It’s actually the best thing going anywhere. It’s equal parts Game of Thrones and Walking Dead with more heart than the two of them combined. I won’t waste time summarizing it but after watching the two seasons on Netflix (there are more forthcoming) I feel like I understand Korean culture in a new way. There is also a feature length prequel called Kingdom: Ashin of the North that deserves your attention as well. Watch the series first, then watch Ashin.

We Own this City (HBO Max) - Produced by the same folks who did The Wire, this true story is based on the novel of the same name by Justin Fenton. It’s an eight episode limited series that follows Baltimore Police Department’s “Gun Trace Task Force” reign of corruption through the twenty-teens. If you liked The Wire or if you’re a fan of true crime, you have to watch this. Justin Fenton is a journalist at the Baltimore Sun so the story, while dramatized, strikes a balance between cold journalism and preachy politicking.

Vikings (Hulu) - I know, I know… Johnny come lately, right? I began this series a few years ago and I liked it but it just didn’t grab me and keep me. So, I am going back and starting over, and I have to say, it’s brilliant. In the first season, the spiritual crisis Athelstan, the captured friar, goes through while learning about his captors religion is deeply relatable. I have a loooong way to go but I think the attention they give to historicity and the very high production value commend this series highly.

Rekindle Me: A Prayer
By Gary Thomas 

Rekindle me.
This tiny ember in my heart
Was once a flame burning bright 
With all kinds of solutions and answers. 

Now I have 
Nothing but questions 
And even these sit 
Like cold stones 
Around yesterday’s ashes. 

I used to know everything about you 
I used to teach others how to touch heaven from earth by calling on your name.

Where did all those answers go? 
They are ashes that drifted off into the night sky.
I don’t want answers anymore. 
I no longer desire easy formulas
Or quick solutions. 

I just want to sit with you 
And have you sit with me
In the space of quiet unknowing.

Rekindle me 
Not with yesterday’s flames 
But with the warmth of your presence 
Now

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