Starting out with FUNAMBOL

It's a weird name, but it's amazingly powerful. Using this cloud backup / cloud sync tool, you can keep your GMail contacts synched up with your iPhone (or Android, etc.). You can keep calendar events synched. For Macs, it's an excellent MobileMe alternative.

The best part: It's free.

Don't line up behind the world's banner

"[The devil] always sends errors into the world in pairs--pairs of opposites. And he always encourages us to spend a lot of time thinking which is the worse. You why, of course? He relies on your extra dislike of the one error to draw you gradually into the opposite one. But do not let us be fooled. We have to keep our eyes on the goal and go straight between both errors. We have no other concern than that with either of them."

-- C.S. Lewis

They are not always errors, of course; they may just be partial truths that their followers insist are complete. What are the ones that suck your time and energy? Republican vs. Democrat? Institutional church vs. Emergent church? Calvinism vs. Arminianism? Young-earth creation vs. Darwinism?

The world -- yes, including well-meaning Christians -- wants us to line behind a banner and beat the drum for it. Don't do it! Think for yourself. Don't accept the easy answers, the "traditional" answers. Find the answers for yourself -- through prayer, Scripture, research, and open discussion with trusted friends.

Hmmmm -- maybe I should come up with a name for my movement.

"Chilling" advice

When I recently received an e-mail titled "Chilling advice from an Israeli agent that we need to heed," my first thought was, "Great, another Internet prank." As it turns out, it's only half a prank -- this guy did not predict 9/11 or the London bombings; and the "imminent" attacks mentioned in the e-mail were actually his predictions from 2005. He also predicted that Bush would invade Iran and Syria (!).

The other half is a fairly informed and intelligent critique of our nation's response to terrorism. He writes that the Iraq War was a serious blunder, and will end up being worse than Vietnam. (I was surprised -- I expected him to be a Bush/Cheney supporter.) He also says what should be self-evident to nearly everyone: Airport security is a joke. A very expensive, wasteful and unnecessary joke.

What he doesn't ask is "why?" Why are we so frightened of dying in a terrorist attack, when such an event is so unlikely. Here are a few statistics derived from the National Safety Council:

You are 12,571 times more likely to die from cancer ...

You are 1048 times more likely to die from a car accident ...

You are eight times more likely to die from accidental electrocution ...

You are six times more likely to die from hot weather ...

... than from a terrorist attack.

Is this really worth getting so worked up about? Is it worth turning our country into a police state? My answer is: No. In fact, terrorism works when it scares us. Our panic and fear makes the terrorists very happy -- and it means terrorism will continue. To me, that is more chilling than anything else.

Whither Christian Conservatism?

Now that Barack Obama is our nation's 44th president, the season of chest-beating has begun for Christian conservatives. We are suddenly back to 1992, facing the victory of a populist, pro-choice, liberal president. The sky was falling then, as now. But eight years ago, we got exactly what we wanted: a pro-life conservative Christian president! Things were looking up!

So what went wrong? Frankly, it is time for us to admit that George W. Bush's presidency was a disaster -- for America, for the conservative cause, and for Christians. 

Why was it a disaster? In the last eight years:

• The national debt has more than doubled, from 4.5 to 10 trillion dollars.
  
• We have inched closer to a police state with the so-called Patriot Act and other legislation and executive orders.
• With the passage of the RealID act, we will soon have a single national ID card for all citizens.
• We invaded a sovereign country without first being attacked.
• We now officially use torture.
• We jail (without legal recourse) foreign citizens under suspicion of being illegal combatants.

Did we, as Christians, stand up against any of this? No. Is it any wonder we are no longer taken seriously by the culture at large? We have lost the culture war, and with it, the hearts and minds of the average American citizen.

Why?

You won't like my answer, but here it is: We are not much like Jesus. And we will not make a lasting difference in our country until we are.

You probably won't like my ideas for change either.

• Pro-life efforts should stop trying to change the laws and begin changing hearts.
• We should respect others' points of view.
• We should understand why people vote for Democrats rather than look down on them for it.
• We should stop worrying so much about gay marriage and work on straight marriages. The divorce rate within the church is no different from the culture at large.
  
• We should repent of our failure to address moral issues such as greed and treatment of employees.

And one last thing:

• We should be Christians rather than Conservatives.
  

Ask Billy Graham about that last one -- he is, after all, a registered Democrat.

Realistic goals in Iraq

It is a shame that our government leaders appear to be quite ignorant of our own country's political legacy.

We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other.

--John Adams

Nightmarish political realities in Baghdad are prompting American officials to curb their vision for democracy in Iraq. Instead, the officials now say they are willing to settle for a government that functions and can bring security.

--Story on CNN.com

Videoconference in the classroom

The Potter's School uses videoconferencing in its classrooms: "Internet videoconferencing technology has made it possible for students to take live on-line courses from their homes."

This can probably be done with inexpensive equipment and services --

• A reasonably new PC
• A fairly large screen (or TV)
• A web cam
  
• A USB speakerphone
• QNext or Skype

Apparently the current version of Skype has videoconferencing built in.

Posturing on Iraq

Democrats, flush from their victory over the Republicans, are now gearing up to try to block President Bush's troop surge in Iraq. Does nobody in the Democratic party have critical thinking skills?

What will happen if they successfully prevent additional troops, or pull the troops home soon? A bloodbath. Who will be blamed? The Democrats.

What will happen if they graciously allow President Bush to "finish the job" his way? A bloodbath. Who will be blamed? The Republicans.

How long will it be until America gets fed up with both of these blustering, greedy, power-hungry parties and gives more political parties room at the table? Instant-runoff voting would be a good start.