Another reason to abolish HOAs

A Denver HOA has ordered a resident to take down a Christmas wreath in the shape of a peace sign because some of her neighbors have taken offense to it.

Now, how could a reasonable human being object to a universal symbol of peace, one of the central values of their own religion? Well, a reasonable person wouldn't. Only a stupid person would.

Their stupidity is confirmed by their reasons for taking offense to it. Some neighbors have confused it with a pentagram, which they have confused with a pentacle, which they erroneously believe is a symbol of Satanism.

If you are under this pernicious delusion, please take a note of the differences between the three symbols in this handy diagram:

As you can see, there are pronounced differences between the symbols. So there goes that argument.

Of course, if you want to get technical, even if she had displayed a pentacle or pentagram, it couldn't be considered an explicitly Satanic symbol because both symbols have been used by many cultures to represent God or some concept associated with God. The star of David is an example of a pentacle (the etymology of which has nothing to do with the number five, despite common misconceptions). Early Christians displayed pentagrams to respresent the wounds that Jesus suffered on the cross. It's not really necessary to go into all of this to refute the arguments of the peace sign opponents, but it does illustrate their ignorance of the history of their own religious traditions.

The other reason neighbors cited for objecting to the peace sign is that it expresses opposition to the war in Iraq, in which some of their sons and daughters are fighting. Here they are making rash assumptions about her reasons for hanging the wreath. Let's ignore the issue of whether the war is legal or morally right and focus on the meaning of the symbol. Again, a little history lesson will illuminate the matter. The peace sign was created for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in 1958. The symbol is derived from the semaphore symbols for 'N' and 'D'. So the peace sign is nothing more than a stylized acronym for "Nuclear Disarmament." Of course, the peace sign became a symbol for the movement against the Vietnam War. Beyond that, it has become a symbol for the ideal of world peace, something that real Christians wouldn't object to. The peace sign has no explicit connection to the war in Iraq, and one would think that opposition to the Vietnam War is no longer a hot-button issue. Once again, the HOA's reasoning has been proven fallacious.

Having established that our heroine was, in fact, explicitly supporting the abstract notion of world peace and not necessarily intending to express a stance on the current war, let's turn our attention to why the concept of peace should not be controversial.

There are numerous references to the ideal of peace in the New Testament. For example, Matthew 5:9 says, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." James 3:18 says, "Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness." There are also numerous associations between peace and Christmas in folk tradition, especially in carols. On famous example is in "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing", written by Charles Wesley in 1739. "Peace on earth and mercy mild" are lauded as the consequences of the coming of the Messiah. If the offended neighbors intend on singing this particular carol this year, in public or in private, they have no leg to stand on in their objections.

However, there is reason to believe that the campaign against the peace wreath has more to do with the personal ambitions of the HOA president. The architectural control committee voted to allow the wreath in accordance with the HOA's rules. The president, however, was dissatisfied with the result of this vote and fired all five committe members.

This goes to the center of why HOAs should be abolished or, at the very least, heavily regulated. They frequently go way beyond protecting property values and abridge the civil rights of homeowners without due process. There is no way the presence of a peace sign wreath, controversial or not, can severely affect neighbors' property values. This is entirely about trying to control what fellow Americans think and say, which is the very definition of un-American. I hope that the new Democratic majorities in both houses will make limiting the power of HOAs part of the 2007 legislative agenda.

Keep Your Jesus Off My Penis

Like the hammer hits a canteloupe

Warning: if you have no sense of humor when it comes to religion, don't watch this.

War

So now Jerusalem, you know that it's not right
After all you've been through, you should know better than
To become the wicked ones almighty G-d once saved you from

- Mirah, "Jerusalem", from the album C'mon Miracle

I am a Jew, at least by the Orthodox genealogical standard. My great-great-grandmother along my maternal line was born in a Polish shtetl. She arrived in Oswego County, Michigan in the early 20th century, along with thousands of other Polish Jews seeking to escape persecution.

This knowledge was concealed to me until fairly recently. I grew up thinking my heritage was as white-bread-and-mayo as you could get. German, Irish, Swedish was what I was told - with a tiny splash of Cherokee on my father's side.

That was until my sister, who had been given up for adoption at birth, did some research into our heritage. She found the 1920 census records that proved that we were not merely German, Irish, Swedish and Cherokee, but Polish Jews as well. I no longer have contact with my mother and only sporadic contact with my grandmother, but I suspect that they both know more than they have been willing to reveal. Our great-grandmother died in 2000, so we can't ask her anything.

According to traditional Jewish standards, one is either a Jew or a non-Jew - there is no gray area. One's Jewishness depends on his or her mother's status only. This is in contrast to the typically European idea that one can be half German and a sixteenth Swedish. This means that my sister and I are just as Jewish as, say, Adam Sandler.

Ironically, only non-Jews have tried to argue that I'm not really a Jew. All the Jews I have spoken to about my heritage not only agree that I am indeed a Jew, but welcome me into the community. Regardless of my beliefs or what I look like or whether I have had a bar mitzvah, I am a Jew by Jewish standards. They just say, "Er ken ongeyn far a goy," meaning that I can pass for a goy.

Since learning about this aspect of our heritage, my sister and I have both embraced it to varying degrees. Sarah has chosen the path of conversion - though it's not really necessary - to Orthodox Judaism. After months of reading and study, I determined that the spiritual beliefs that I already had are very close to those of Reform Judaism. I occasionally attend a synagogue and I read voraciously. I may or may not choose to become a member of the temple, but this does not limit my exploration of spiritual ideas outside of Judaism. I am what I am - including but not limited to a German Irish Swedish Cherokee Polish Jewish gay liberal intellectual audiophile anthropologist future-librarian pet-parent blogger podcaster with a craving for pepper jack cheese.

Having explained my fairly unique perspective, I must discuss my feelings about the situation about the escalating conflict between Israel and Lebanon. The words of Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn above are very similar to my own opinion. I think that the Orthodox-dominated government of Israel has become an oppressive power, treating Palestinians as sub-human and acting in ways that are contrary to the ideal of compassion that is at the center of Judaism.

Certainly Hezbollah is not blameless. Obviously, their actions in the past few weeks (and indeed their whole history) are despicable. However, by unleashing such an overwhelming attack on Lebanon, Israel is causing death and harm to more innocent civilians than to Hezbollah militants. It is also weaking political parties in Lebanon than can oppose Hezbollah.

There are no 'good guys' here, but lots of innocents in the crossfire. The fact that Bush supports one of the aggressors in this conflict rather than caring about the safety of civilians on both sides is disgusting - but hardly a surprise. Support for the actions of Israel's government is morally equivalent to supporting Hezbollah as far as I'm concerned. I applaud nations that have come out and publicly condemned both Israel and Hezbollah. This is what the U.S. should do as well.

I hope that there will be an end to this conflict very soon, but I'm not very optimistic about it.

Pale underweight podcast to return 4/1

Tomorrow is going to be a very busy day for me. Since March 20th, I have listened to more than 600 tracks - a little over a day and a half worth of music. I have to pick out about fifteen tracks to include in the podcast. Then I have to record the interstitials and integrate the entire thing into a single, (hopefully) seamless audio file. I intend to keep the length the same - just long enough to take up an entire CD-R.

I also have work and temple tomorrow, so the remainder of my free time should be consumed by the podcast. It will be worth it, though, once I unveil the first podcast to feature my voice. Stay tuned.

New links

Now that I am done mucking about in Teotihuacan and Wadi al Wasse, I can relax and get back to what really matters: World of Warcraft, CSI, and porn.

I have just added new links to several organizations whose work I admire greatly. Doctors Without Borders and War Child International help provide services to those affected by war, famine, and disease. The latter sells great music downloads found nowhere else to raise money to help children in war-torn regions. The Union for Reform Judaism and the Interfaith Alliance counter religious extremism with religious tolerance. And finally, HALO is an organization that is very close to my heart. I talk about them a lot, but it's necessary. Too many relatively healthy animals are euthanized in the valley before they have a chance to be found by a loving family. Give money, give time, adopt an animal - please do anything you can to help, even just a little.

How have I stimulated my temporal lobes today?

1. Mugison: Mugimama! Is This Monkey Music?
2. T. Rex: Electric Warrior
3. Modest Mouse: The Lonesome Crowded West
4. Tim Buckley: Starsailor
5. Kelley Polar: Love Songs of the Hanging Gardens
6. The Russian Futurists: Our Thickness
7. Dizzee Rascal: Boy in Da Corner

I ♥ Kurt Vonnegut; I ♥² Sandra Day O'Connor

I wish I had been at Kurt Vonnegut's final paid speaking engagement at OSU.

Even more, I wish I could have heard Sandra Day O'Connor skewer the "religious right" and their attacks on the courts' Constitutionally-vested authority. Snap!

Mmm... sacrilicious!

My blogging has been somewhat sporadic and impersonal lately due to one very important factor: pure exhaustion. Trying to keep up with the demands of school, work, volunteer activities, social obligations, and (occasionally) temple, combined with the anticipation of my imminent graduation, takes a toll on my well-being. I'm not performing anywhere near 100% scholastically, but I'm still so tired that I'm falling asleep on the bus by Tuesday morning. It will all be worthwhile, but I just have to muddle through somehow in the meantime. Luckily, I will have all of spring break to catch up on sleep and school work. There will be much less work to do after after the break, so the worst is already over.

In other news, I had the fortune and privilege today of photographing a member of ASU's Secular Freethought Society:

I praise his moxie and hope that he isn't accosted by religious zealots (who are preaching just feet away from his table).

Mmm... nosh!

Today I had my first meeting with a rabbi. It went really well. I think I'll go to services tomorrow night. Thay even have nosh right before services! You know I'm all over that. I have been noshing since long before I found out I was a Jew.

1. The Magnetic Fields: i
2. Brian Eno: Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)
3. Palace Brothers: There Is No-One What Will Take Care of You
4. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: Henry's Dream
5. Adult.: Gimmie Trouble
6. Rachid Taha: Diwân

Catch-up

This week I haven't had much time or energy for blogging. The semester began Tuesday and it seems that I have had next to zero free time since then. However, I need to blog regularly or I'll lose momentum.

Sugarfoot has become very interested in my mouse and how it moves the cursor on the screen. I now have to lock her out of the room if I want to get anything done. She has also started doing a kind of hermit crab impression with sheets of newspaper, which is just as cute as swatting at a two-dimensional arrow on my monitor, but less likely to disrupt my productivity.

I am going to try to get all my reading and homework done for all of next week by Saturday afternoon. Michael has been gone the last two weekends, so this will be our first opportunity to spend the weekend together in three weeks. Hopefully we will finally get to see Brokeback Mountain Sunday morning. We tried to go three weeks ago but it was sold out at the one theater showing it. I hope we can also watch Kill Bill Vol. 2, which I gave to Michael for Christmas.

I may also decide to go to Torah study and services at Temple Beth Israel Saturday morning. This will most likely depend on a) how much reading/homework I will have finished and b) whether I can drag myself out of bed early enough.

Here is the complete list of today's listening:

1. Max Tundra: Mastered by the Guy at the Exchange
2. Slowdive: Souvlaki
3. Scraping Foetus off the Wheel: Hole
4. M. Ward: Transfiguration of Vincent
5. Jan Jelinek: Kosmischer Pitch
6. Jason Anderson: New England
7. Animal Collective: Here Comes the Indian
8. Grand National: Kicking the National Habit

Last week in review

• I started e-mail correspondence with a rabbi at a local Reform congregation, hoping to set up an appointment to discuss learning about that aspect of my heritage and possibly starting to attend services and Torah study. We are having a hard time finding a time when we will both be free.
• I received my financial aid, got caught up with my bills (mostly), and put a significant chunk into savings for moving expenses and furniture once I graduate.
• I contacted a reputable credit counselling service (non-profit, of course) so I can reduce my monthly payments and get them paid off sooner. We have set up a start date of February 1st.
• I got a nasty phone call from Citibank's henchmen threatening to sue me and do all sorts of nasty things to me. It was upsetting, but Michael, relying upon his experience in the financial industry, reassured me that I will probably not get sued. It is in their best interest to work with me and get paid, rather than not.
• Sugarfoot had her first veterinary appointment this morning after I found blood in the litter box. She registered her objections all the way to the examination room. The vet suggested that she could have an infection or a parasitic infestation. Running all the tests would have cost nearly $400, so we decided to treat both without running the tests. This cost just under $100. The only challenge left now is learning how to administer a pill to a cat.
• The spring semester begins tomorrow. I need to meet with the anthropology undergraduate advisor to correct some minor misclassifications of past classes on my transcript and to remove my minor. Then I can pay for graduation.
• Tim Buckley's long out-of-print sixth album, Starsailor, is now available on iTunes!
• Jnana Records is releasing a five-disc charity compilation benefiting Médecins Sans Frontières for $24.99 plus shipping! It includes tracks by Damon and Naomi, Matmos, Devendra Banhart, Jarboe, Six Organs of Admittance, Edward Ka-Spel, Larsen, Vashti Bunyan, The Angels of Light, Jad Fair, Antony, The Hafler Trio, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Nurse With Wound, Shirley Collins, Current 93, Thurston Moore, Marc Almond, Simon Finn, Jim O'Rourke, Ghostigital, Coil, Ghost, and lots, lots more.
• Last Tuesday signaled a good start for 2006 in terms of new music. The first domestic release of Sia's Colour the Small One, Standing in the Way of Control by The Gossip, With Love and Squalor by We Are Scientists, and Morningwood's eponymous debut all left me wanting to hear them again. I'm not aware of anything decent coming out tomorrow, but the 24th of this month has me salivating. We will finally see domestic release of 2005's albums by Clearlake and Test Icicles, new stuff from Cat Power, Ariel Pink and The National Trust, and the long-awaited covers album collaboration between Tortoise and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy.