CT: Wide Is the Road to Geneva

This month's Christianity Today features on its cover an article entitled, "Young, Restless, Reformed," reporting that "Calvinism is making a comeback -- and shaking up the church." The upshot of the article is that various bits of anecdotal evidence suggest increased commitment to Reformed theology among young evangelicals.

What does SWNID make of this alleged phenomenon?

First, we think it's false to see Calvinism as having recently been in decline among evangelicals and only more recently becoming resurgent. From our post-Reformed (I've always wanted to be "post-" something) point of view, Calvinism constantly dominates what is generally identified as "evangelicalism." We have seen an unrelenting interest in the tension between divine sovereignty and human freedom, the classic topos of Reformed theology, in our lifetime. Evangelicals constantly churn these issues. Our SWNIDish self has been trying to talk about other things for 25 years, but folks keep insisting that we come back to this issue. (So we happily defer to Son of SWNID's analysis of the merits of Reformed distinctives.)

Further, the leading institutions of what is generally identified as "evangelicalism" have consistently been dominated by Calvinism, at least soteriologically. Among the major evangelical seminaries, only consciously Wesleyan Asbury and totally pluralistic Fuller can escape the label "mostly Reformed" in regard to soteriology. The good Calvinists at Westminster Theological Seminary may bristle at the association, but the fact is that their dispensational nemeses at Dallas Theological Seminary are just as Reformed as they in regards to sin and salvation.

Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, whose diploma adorns our SWNIDish wall, is cited in the article as a place where folks report a growing number of students committed to Reformed theology. From our experience we find that unsurprising. When we studied there over 20 years ago, there were only two faculty members in Bible or theology who weren't Reformed. That may be down to one now, and he's near retirement. A generation of alumni have referred their progeny to what was in the generation before theirs a largely Arminian institution but which was transformed by Kenneth Kantzer into something different. As TEDS morphed from a seminary for Scandinavian immigrants who believe the Bible to the Evangelical Free Church's gift to evangelicalism at large, it has assimilated to the Reformed mainstream of evangelicalism.

We also see Calvinism's constant dominance of American evangelicalism in the rhetoric of Calvinist evangelicals. It is a commonplace for evangelical theologians to insist that only Reformed theology is genuinely "evangelical." This was the case most recently when the Evangelical Theological Society voted on the exclusion of advocates of "openness theology." The motion failed--barely--but it was justified by its advocates in language that would have excluded garden-variety Arminians as well as the more radical "openness" theologians. In other words, those guys take for granted that only the Reformed deserve the label "evangelical."

Second, we think that this alleged resurgence has more to do with the "rock star" prominence of John Piper and Al Mohler among some young, mostly male, budding evangelical seminary students and ministers. It's not that there are more folks of the Calvinist persuasion; it's that they've got some celebrity authors and speakers to rally around.

Third, we'll observe that this trend excludes what is most recently identified as North America's fastest-growing group of religious adherents with membership over one million, namely, the independent Christian churches and churches of Christ, a decidedly un-Reformed bunch if ever there was one. Of course, we Campbellites are used to being ignored. But more on that in a couple of paragraphs.

Fourth, we'll say that we are a little tired of CT telling us which "road" evangelicals are on now. In our lifetime, we've seen the magazine of evangelical record tell us that we were on the road to Canterubury, the road to Rome, the road to Byzantium, and the road to Azuza Street. We may have missed it, but maybe we were also on the road to Aldersgate sometime. And so now we're on the road to Geneva.*

It seems that there's always some sectarian trend among evangelicals who are looking for a more authentic expression of their Christianity, a more fulfilling and radical form of discipleship. Of course, one nasty consequence of getting on such a road is the message that it sends to others: if you aren't on the road with me, you are probably too stupid or evil to realize that you should be on this road, as it's obviously the right one.

And now a confession: the combination of observations three and four discomfit us. We think that more prominence should be given to the road to Bethany, West Viriginia, or the road to Cane Ridge, Kentucky or whatever road you're on if you're one of the growing host of Campbellites.

But whoops! Now I'm in the position of condescending to those not on the road with me. Evil Calvinists! Stupid Pentecostals! Silly Baptists! Join us, the only Christians! ... I mean, Christians only!

How hard it is to be right and not be smug.

Update: High-output Neutestamentler Scott McKnight details his own road away from Geneva here. Are there others? Let's sing another verse of our invitation hymn, "Conditional Election: It's Good Enough for Me," and step forward if you have a free decision to make.
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*Historical/geographical key: Canterbury = Anglicanism, Rome = Roman Catholicism, Byzantium = Eastern Orthodoxy, Azuza Street = Pentecostalism, Aldersgate = Wesleyanism, Geneva = Calvinism.

Plamegate Officially Over

Christopher Hitchens (a.k.a. The World's Smartest Person) has what we expect and hope will be the last word on Plamegate. With the revelation that Richard Armitage, Colin Powell's assistant at the State Department, told Robert Novak--at Novak's instigation--that Valerie Plame recommended her unemployed husband Joe Wilson for the temp job of investigating the Iraqi-Niger yellowcake connection.

For those who have even less interest in this non-scandal's whimpering end than SWNID, we offer some explanations and observations from Hitchens's thick-with-allusions article:

• Bush opponents have widely alleged--no, accused--that Bush administration officials, especially Evil Genius Karl Rove, deliberately "outed" Plame to punish Wilson for his report that was critical of administration actions. Armitage, however, was an opponent of the Iraq invasion. So much for the cruel, ruthless conspiracy hypothesis.
• Armitage is not the only opponent of the invasion in executive-branch offices. Much of the State Department and the CIA was against it and remains so. If there is a campaign to discredit, it has been folks in Foggy Bottom and Langley who have sourced articles blaming the administration for poor planning and execution. Next time you read that some high percentage of government officials think the invasion was a bad idea, remember who is being counted.
• Hitchens therefore notes "the extraordinary venom of the interdepartmental rivalry that has characterized this administration." Yet Bush has made no attempt to punish or purge within the State Department or the CIA. On the contrary, he has remained patient and loyal to these bureaucracies, probably unduly so.
• Ironically enough, all the unreconstructed romantic warriors of the Vietnam and Watergate eras who have focused their radical energy on the administration's alleged misdeeds in "outing" Plame have in fact been doing the work of Washington diplomats and intelligence officers who are trying to keep their bureaucratic control of foreign and military policy. Again, this is how pathetic the radical left in this country has become.
• Reporters continued to write about a Bush administration scorched-earth campaign to discredit critics of the administration, citing Plame as an example, even though many knew that the whole matter was initiated by reporter Robert Novak, a critic of the invasion, and sourced by Armitage, also a critic. Meanwhile, the members of the California State Legislature are imploring Congress to pass a federal bill protecting reporters from having to reveal their sources. With such a stellar record of honesty in this matter, who could object to giving reporters the same privileges accorded lawyers, medical doctors, mental health counselors and clergy?

Maynard Ferguson, 1928-2006

Belatedly and with sadness we note the passing of the Spartacus of the Jazz Trumpet, Maynard Ferguson, who died last Wendesday.

Like many band geeks of the 1970s, we got our notion of what was possible with a wind instrument expanded by Ferguson's ever-expanding range of pitches, dynamics and styles. Attending one of his thousands of performances -- most, it seemed, given in high school auditoriums that felt like a regathering of the kids we met weeks before at all-state band rehearsals or state solo and ensemble contest -- was the social and cultural highlight of our personal That 70s Show.

But we can't say it better than it has been said by David Von Drehle of the WaPo, whose tribute needs to be read in full by all Ferguson aficionados but which we exerpt here:

Ferguson lit up thousands of young horn players, most of them boys, with pride and excitement. In a world often divided between jocks and band nerds, Ferguson crossed over, because he approached his music almost as an athletic event. On stage, he strained, sweated, heaved and roared. He nailed the upper registers like Shaq nailing a dunk or Lawrence Taylor nailing a running back -- and the audience reaction was exactly the same: the guttural shout, the leap to their feet, the fists in the air. We cheered Maynard as a gladiator, a combat soldier, a prize fighter, a circus strongman -- choose your masculine archetype....

Maynard Ferguson did his best to blow some hormones back into the band room. Along the way, he turned a fair number of us on to the more subtle achievements of more refined musicians. For that, we forgive all the reverb and rayon, all the electronics, even the lamentable disco phase.

24 Wins TV's Self-Promotion/Self-Congratulation Award

Gentle readers are no doubt by now aware that our small-screen obsession 24 received the Emmy award for Outstanding Drama Series.

We note this fact simply so that we can ignore it, on the following grounds:

• Award shows insult the viewer as attempts by the entertainment industry to promote itself by congratulating itself.
• Award shows insult the viewer by their assumption that we want to see actors when they aren't doing their jobs, i.e. acting (if indeed actors ever aren't acting).
• Committed viewers of 24 will find the award at best ironic as they know that this season was hardly the best in the show's distinguished history, save for the brilliant acting performances of Jean Smart and Gregory Itzin in utterly implausible situations.
• Anyone who will only watch 24 because it won this award or who will watch it with greater regularity and interest because it won this award is unworthy of the experience of watching 24.

Georgetown U Attempts Command, Monopolistic Economy for Protestantism

Inside Higher Ed reports that Georgetown University, an avowedly Roman Catholic and markedly prestigious institution of higher education, is eliminating all independent Protestant groups from its roster of official campus organizations. Per the article, the expulsion includes InterVarsity Fellowship. We would guess that Campus Crusade is another.

The move was prompted by a decision by the university's Protestant chaplain to try to unify Protestant ministries on the campus. It seems that the students didn't respond to the Protestant chaplaincy's services and programming, so the expulsion of other groups creates a monopoly that the chaplain hopes will force Protestant students to join in the ecumenical spirit of things.

First, we want to note that Georgetown is noteworthy for even having non-Roman Catholic campus ministries. Some other prestigious Roman Catholic universities, notably Notre Dame, at our last check did not have any religious life on campus that was not of the Roman Catholic variety. That a private, faith-based university would allow any religious diversity at all is a remarkable occurrence.

However, we predict utter failure for this ill-informed move to limit groups formerly granted campus activity status. Command economies and state-enforced monopolies have a miserable historical record. The intangible matter of faith and its expression is, furthermore, impossible to control in an authoritarian way. Trying to force a particular kind of religious expression by restricting the supply will undoubtedly fail, as it always has in the past.

We also confess ourselves amused by the remark attributed to Georgetown's Protestant chaplain, the Rev. Constance C. Wheeler, who gave no reason for her decision to eliminate outside Protestant groups except that it came "only after much dialogue with the Lord." Her words suggest the following exchange between Isaiah and his wife after the gravid events of Isaiah chapter six:

PROPHET'S WIFE: What did you do today, dear?

PROPHET: Oh, I just went to the temple and had some dialogue with the Lord.

From the SWNID Files: Top Ten Obscure Facts About the Protestant Reformation

On a day that is slow for news and busy for SWNID, we offer something from our files that fits our criterion for publication on this blog (i.e., utterly amusing to the blogger, regardless of what gentle readers might think). As we recall, this list was a group production by ourself and some colleagues, though our aged memory is imperfect on this point. We also aver that the last point will be opaque except to denizens of the University of East Price Hill, where we serve.

Top Ten Obscure Facts About the Protestant Reformation

10. What Luther wrote with chalk in Latin on that table was not "This is my body" but 'large, thick-crust, sausage, onions and extra cheese."

9. Some of the polygamists in Munster escaped and made their way to Utah.

8. Calvin had to file for an extension when he missed the deadline for submitting the Institutes.

7. Henry the Eighth's marital misadventures were deemed by the pope "not to rise to the level of an impeachable offense."

6. Thesis number 91: "Tastes great." Thesis number 92: "Less filling."

5. The Vatican briefly experimented with the Powerball Lottery before opting for the sale of indulgences to finance St. Peter's.

4. The Council of Trent would have been finished 18 months sooner had the network not kept crashing.

3. The Diet of Worms did not taste like chicken.
2. Papal bulls have no horns.

1. Melanchthon didn't know Jack.

OH Senate Race: Brown with Lead, DeWine with Momentum

RealClearPolitics provides a helpful summary of current polling on the Ohio senate race, and it's telling about the general prospects for November.

All recent polls show Sherrod Brown with a lead close to the margin of error. But all polls show that his lead is less than it was a few weeks ago. DeWine is overcoming negativity about Republicans and moving up.

Hence, analysis of the polls leads the polling organizations to call the race a toss up. That is, except for Congressional Quarterly, who see it as leaning to the Rs.

It will be an interesting campaign season, which is a cliche offered when one is not confident enough to risk predictions. But we will not be surprised if the Democrats spend Thanksgiving in recriminations about lost opportunities of November 2006.

Embryonic Stem-Cell Developments: Societal Morals Marginally Less Coarse

Per press reports, today's issue of Nature announces the development of a new technique for human embryonic stem-cell extraction that does not destroy the human embryo.

Will this mean an end to the debate about stem cell research? Probably not, but it might mean some movement.

It is reported that there are questions and complications with the technique, not surprising as the article about it hasn't even been officially published until today. And some ethicists of the pro-life position will be concerned even if a single extracted stem cell could itself potentially develop into a human embryo.

Also, the White House has made a preliminary statement that it would prefer that stem cell research not use human embryos at all.

However, the main objection to embryonic stem-cell research is that it destroys actual human embryos. And this technique may make it possible for researchers to do their research without that outcome.

So we expect that if the technique pans out, the Bush White House will reverse its objection to federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research, perhaps with some additional caveats or lesser restrictions.

But here's the observation you won't see many other places: it's unlikely that anyone would have bothered to devise this embryo-saving technique if Bush hadn't stood firm on the funding issue. There would be no demand for such a technique if the supply of embryonic stem cells weren't limited by the restriction on federal funding.

Pro-life advocates generally refer to the coarsening of societal morals that legalized abortion and euthanasia create. We can easily imagine the coarser outcome had Bush not stood firm on this issue. And we prefer the less coarse course.

A Brief History of Debt

Gentle readers who are contemplating the prospects of mortgages, college loans and credit card purchases will want to read Robert Samuelson's precis of debt past and present, not to mention a hedged glimpse of the future.

In sum, consumer debt is not all bad, as it democratized such things as home ownership and fueled a strong work ethic and optimism about the future. But everything has its limits, and the United States may be near the end of the expansion of borrowing.

Next Iraq Debate: Unity or Partition

It appears that despite the efforts of partisan politicians to make the Bush administration "failures" in Iraq the singular issue of public attention, the real future of Iraq may yet be discussed in public forums. And the real future of Iraq revolves around one question: should Iraq be preserved as a single nation state or should it be partitioned into three or more smaller states.

Historical precedents for partition are many. The Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia are recent nation states that are now multiple nation states. In the more distant past, British India became India and Pakistan, and the latter divided into Pakistan and Bangladesh.

A debate of sorts on this issue can be experienced by reading diplomat Peter Galbraith's summary case for partition of Iraq in the NY Daily News and Michael Hirsh's critique of Galbraith in Washington Monthly.

What is the SWNID position on this? Still evolving, but intrigued that partition may alleviate the present crisis, as it did in other nations. Hirsh is right that it's illogical to decry the Bush administration's "mistakes" in Iraq and then proclaim that partition was inevitable. But it is also true that with hindsight no one would suggest that India could have emerged as a single, independent nation or that it should have remained under British imperium rather than be divided.

We suspect that it may take another American administration to advance the prospects of partition effectively. Bush has apparently exhausted his political capital, domestic and global, with the liberation of Iraq's Shiites, Kurds and Sunnis from Saddam. Any move he now makes is inevitably suspect simply because he makes it. Like Truman stuck in Korea (we remain fixated on the many ways that Bush is like Truman), he probably needs a successor administration to conclude the peace, such as it is.

None of this negates what the war has accomplished. People decry the situation in Iraq because they lack the memory and the imagination to consider what a world with Saddam still in it would look like. The cynicism that prefers the "stability" of a genocidal dictator with imperial ambitions doesn't bear comparison to the idealism that accepts the risks of removing such a tyrant. And in the end, the risks inherent in the cynical stability are inevitably greater.

New Nominating Calendar for Ds: Good News for Hillary

In the never-ending quest to perfect their system of nominating candidates for POTUS who can in turn lose the general election, the Ds have decided to alter their calendar of caucuses and primaries for 2008. Specifically, Nevada and South Carolina will join Iowa and New Hampshire in the dark days of midwinter.

Ostensibly this move is to bring more ethnic diversity to the nominating process, specifically Hispanic-Americans from Nevada and African-Americans in South Carolina.

We will not comment on the (racist?) assumption that people identified with an ethnic group in a less urbanized state like South Carolina have the same political interests as those in a more urbanized state like Michigan, or that the distinct economic issues of Nevada will play out politically with a particular ethnic group in the same way they do with that ethnic group in Texas or Florida. As always, we wish the Ds well with their good intentions grounded in the politics of special interest.

But we suspect another set of intentions, as the effect of this move is patent. To wit, moving the selection of yet more delegates to a point nearly eleven months before the general election puts a huge premium on early fundraising and name-recognition.

So call this the first victory in Hillary's '08 campaign, the result of which will give her, like the early-nominated John Kerry before her, sufficient time to wear down the electorate with her inherent insufferability before November.

Allen's "Macaca" Debacle: Social Darwinism Works!

We'll assume that gentle readers by now know all about George Allen's recent unfortunate remark. If "a majority of Virginians" know about it, certainly our sophisticated readership does as well.

We will confine ourselves to this observation. We believe that Allen's implosion as a national candidate was inevitable. And we think it a blessing to the GOP that it happened before the presidential nominating process began in earnest. Now his diehard conservative supporters can recover their senses and reorganize themselves to support some candidate with the ability to win a general election.

Many in our republic decry the length of time devoted to presidential campaigning. On aesthetic grounds, we join them. But the perpetual campaign may yet have a salutary effect along the lines of social Darwinism. "Survival of the fittest" takes time. Our drawn-out campaigns at least provide the circumstances to exterminate the least able candidates.

Kerry: Lieberman the New Cheney. SWNID: What's Wrong with That?

On "This Week with George Stephanopolis" John Kerry is reported to have "blasted" Joe Lieberman, specifically for "adopting the rhetoric of Dick Cheney."

This, of course, is Kerry's attempt at a bitter insult, like saying, "Your mother wears army boots."

But its power to insult depends entirely on one's evaluation of the predicate. To discuss chiastically, we begin with the latter insult. A mother who wears army boots is a source of pride to any child who believes that service in the armed forces is a noble and self-sacrificial act, suitable to both genders. And so the insult says more that is negative about the values and perceptions of the person who offers it than of its intended object.

So likewise, for those who pay attention to the real Dick Cheney--a man whose considerable record of scholarship, public service and private enterprise is not the fantasy of evil created by left-wing bloggers and columnists--the assertion of any similarity to Mr. Cheney is naturally construed as complimentary.

SWNID fancies ourself able to remember events of the distant past--like six years ago. We recall that the acknowledged highlight of the 2000 presidential campaign was the vice-presidential debate at Kentucky's Centre College between one Dick Cheney and one Joe Lieberman. Pundits and pols alike lauded both candidates for their reasoned, civil, rational and even courageous discussion of issues. Campaign talking points were significantly less in evidence than in the presidential debates, as both vice-presidential candidates exercised a willingness to discuss isssues on their merits and out of their own considerable experience and expertise.

So it's no suprise, really, that Lieberman should sound like Cheney, and no insult for either to be compared to the other.

Too bad Kerry can't remember back that far. Perhaps he can't remember because his consciousness is so full of the subjunctive that he has no cognitive room from the indicative. To wit, once again Kerry intoned what a hypothetical Kerry-Edwards administration would have done with the present Middle-Eastern distress: "I know that I would have handled the diplomacy."

In other confusions of fantasy with fact, Kerry intoned that Lieberman is out of step with the voters of Connecticut, this despite Lieberman's substantial lead in current polls regarding the general election. But perhaps it is Republicans who give Lieberman his edge in November, and so perhaps Mr. Kerry advocates the statutory disenfranchisement of all registered Republicans because of their association with the Evil Genius Dick Cheney.

Once again, like a voice crying in the wilderness, we plead with members of the opposition party to get serious. When losing general elections with positions grounded in the discredited ideology of the extreme left is seen as a badge of honor among Democrats, our republic is ill served by its two-party system.

SWNID Makes Social Scientific Discovery: Sex Sells

We are pleased to announce to the world a new insight into human behavior, discovered by us:

Humans are very interested in sex.

The proof is this blog.

Between our recent comments on l'affaire JBC and our link to an essay on the state of sexual ethics among evangelicals, we've had a bumper crop of hits and comments.

We will ponder this insight for its implications. One, we believe, is that sexuality might be used for commercial purposes. For example, pictures of attractive women might be used to sell products of interest to young men--say, beer and automobiles. But we have to think about that to be sure.

We also doubt that we'll deliberately pander to this interest to keep the hits coming.

When Wholes Are Far Less Than the Sum of the Parts

As gentle readers know, SWNID is very interested in the politics of our republic.

We are also anxious to see the forthcoming summer blockbuster, Snakes on a Plane, surely the most imaginative vehicle for Samuel L. Jackson ever devised.

So what happens when someone combines politics and SOAP?

Well, when the someone is the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, it's something so unspeakably stupid as to defy description.

Thanks, DSCC, for reminding us why even in trying times like these, it's wise to stick with the GOP.

Surveillance Ruling: SWNID, WaPo Agree

Gentle readers have not come to expect this blogger to agree with the editorial stance of the Washington Post. Such agreement is even less expected where questions of national security versus civil liberty are concerned.

But today the WaPo criticizes the decision of U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor finding for the ACLU and against the government on the constitutionality of the NSA's surveillance of phone calls between folks in the United States and those on foreign shores suspected of terrorist involvement. Remarkably, the consummate beltway insiders acknowledge that the President does have a constitutional position worthy of consideration, even though they disagree with it.

Still, they acknowledge the significance of the debate and scold Judge Taylor for her inflammatory rhetoric that dismisses it out of hand.

What the WaPo wanted was a more nuanced opinion on a difficult issue. Here SWNID disagrees. What we need is not a nuanced opinion from a judge but a carefully thought-out statute from Congress. The House and Senate need to define what the NSA is to do and how oversight is to be exercised. That's why they were elected. The courts don't need to find an answer to this question out of the tea leaves and goat entrails of legal opinion about the applicability of the Constitution. No one is that smart, least of all someone with a JD and the political connections to score a presidential appointment.

We've said this before. And just over two months ago, we were promised just this kind of legislation.

So when will it ever happen? Sooner than the next time SWNID agrees with the WaPo, we hope.

McIntyre: Romney the Rising Alternative to GOP "Moderates"

RealClearPolitics co-blogger John McIntyre notes that George Allen's political decline thanks to Macacagate happens to coincide with the rise of Mitt Romney as a credible GOP presidential contender to rival frontrunners Giuliani and McCain. He offers further that if Romney weren't a Mormon, he'd be the frontrunner.

We agree. Believing Mormon theology doesn't foster the impression that one is critically minded. But one can overcome that impression with competency in other areas.

And for those who wonder about our SWNIDish political preferences, we would be very comfortable with the Governor of Massachusetts as Republican candidate for POTUS should he prove a strong enough candidate to be likely to clobber the Junior Senator from New York in November 2008. We know Rudy can, but if Mitt can, that's all good too.

Wheaton Professor Analyzes Evangelicals and Sex

The indispensable Opinion Journal today provides space to Wheaton College Professor Christine Gardner's analysis of current attitudes among evangelicals toward contraception and sex. In sum, "plan B" bad, contraception good (mostly), abstinence before marriage excellent, marital sex most excellent.

For those who wonder about Sam and Bethany Torode, the authors of Open Embrace that argued evangelical couples should be less inclined to use contraception and more inclined to be open to the possibility of the blessing of children, Gardner notes that their web site now announces that the Torodes have three children and proclaim themselves "more mellow" about telling other people to have loads of kids.

Gardner's closing analysis, however, is this: evangelicals have really embraced a "great sex" ethic: (a) because it's your body and your choice, stay chaste before marriage for great sex after marriage; (b) contraception has a legitimate place in a marriage where great sex is a legitimate expectation. Her last word:

Some evangelicals charge that the Pill has contributed to the moral breakdown of society; perhaps, but evangelicals' embrace of the contraception culture has not helped. It may have made Christianity sexier to potential adherents but diminished a public understanding of marriage in the process. For evangelicals, this may be a bitter pill to swallow.

Claremont Emeritus Professor Proves Everyone Has Kooks

As if the Presbyterian Church in the USA didn't have enough on its plate already, a new book from its publishing company, Westminster/John Knox Press, has added an issue of utter outrageousness.

Specifically, W/JK is releasing a book by David Ray Griffin, a retired professor of theology from Claremont School of Theology, that offers the trenchant, rational allegation that the tragic events of September 11, 2001 were orchestrated by the Bush administration as a pretext for expanding the "demonic" imperial power of the United States.

The book is entitled Christian Faith and the Truth Behind 9/11.

We think that this event illustrates several immutable truths:

• Theologians, this blogger excepted, are generally awful at analyzing contemporary events.
• Publishing houses, even those not owned by for-profit corporations, are willing to publish almost anything that they believe will sell. The truth, to neuter a familiar phrase, be darned.
• Christian publishing houses will publish on any subject as long as the title of the book can somehow be christianized. Christian leftist-conspiracy-theory books can now be added to Christian diet books, Christian how-to-make-a-million-in-real-estate books, Christian romance novels, et cetera ad nauseum.
• The left continues to careen between the incompatible hypotheses that (a) the Republicans are unspeakably stupid; (b) the Republicans are so smart that they can launch massive, undiscovered conspiracies to manipulate events toward their nefarious ends. And of course, only the left is smart enough to perceive both of these realities at once.
• Some Americans are so convinced of the omnipotence of their own government and the invulnerability of their lifestyle that they prefer to believe utterly unsupported and implausible conspiracy hypotheses instead of the obvious truth that terrorists killed a lot of people one day.
• Jacob Neusner never spoke truer words than he did in a debate on William F. Buckley's Firing Line program in the early 1990s. Debating in favor of the proposition "We have nothing to fear from the religious right," the great scholar of rabbinics said to Cornell West, "Look, you have your kooks; we have our kooks. We don't want to trade our kooks for your kooks."

Ohio School Rankings: Say What You Will, Something Is Working

The annual report of state rankings for school districts in Ohio is out, and it's good news for just about everyone in southwest Ohio. Lots of districts moved up, only a couple moved down, about half are in the top two categories and none are in the bottom two.

Of SWNIDish importance is the ranking of Cincinnati Public Schools, which continues for a second year in the middle category of "continuous improvement," safely above the bottom categories where the district struggled for years.

What grand lessons do we confidently draw from these data?

• Lots of things ail public education, and some of them have to do with the fact that it's "public," which is to say a function of government with its inefficiency. But we are beginning to see that continuous attention to best practices and clear objectives can yield improvement. Public schools are not as doomed as some people allege. We do know a little about how to facilitate learning.
• There remains a pretty clear and obvious link between the quality measures of a school district and the prosperity of its students. Districts with a higher concentration of economically poor students have generally lower rankings than rich districts. And this has less to do with how much money is spent on the schools (some districts with poor students have lots of money to spend) than on the way that poverty generally impoverishes students' experiences outside of school and make it harder for them to learn. Regardless of the school, parents remain the most important factor in education.
• So urban districts that are making improvement deserve recognition for doing a very, very hard job better than they have before.
• District rankings don't mean much if a district is very big. Within large districts there are certainly good schools and bad, irrespective of the district's rank as a whole. Parents who make decisions about their children's education based solely on district rankings are exposing the weakness of their own education. And so we remind our gentle readers again: Cincinnati Public Schools has some awful schools and some great schools, and the good news is that just about anyone can go to one of the great ones. So don't move from the city just yet.
• We hope that Hamilton County's second biggest school district, Northwest, is not in a tailspin. It's one of the two area districts that went down a notch. The district is having a tough time holding onto superintendents, its most recent levy was voted down, and the last board meeting rivaled the Jerry Springer show for disorderliness. Our confidential sources fear the district is in a pattern of decline from which it may never recover. That would be bad. We hope that the district's many able and committed educators and parents prevail.

Finally, an unscientific, subjective, anecdotal and personal observation. We are entering our seventeenth consecutive year as a postsecondary educator. And it is our firm conviction that today's college students of traditional age are as a whole better prepared for college and more serious about learning than their counterparts a decade or two ago. We observe greater experience in serious reading and extended writing, not to mention such things as higher-level mathematics and foreign languages. Not all is well in our high schools; they are massively uneven. But as a whole, they've been a lot worse.