Putting the Christ back in Christian

If someone is a leftwing liberal, then they are hated by rightwing Evangelical Christians.

Christ was a leftwing liberal.

Therefore, Christ is hated by rightwing Evangelical Christians?

               Okay, please do not get angry.  This statement may be valid in rudimentary argument form, but conclusions valid and logically derivable are not necessarily in accordance with fact.  But is this premise not compelling?  Is it just your correspondent’s misguided observation, or is a belligerent and excessively vocal segment of Evangelical Christians especially skeptical to new schools of thought and the progressive mindset?  These same Evangelicals tend to side with self-described political conservatives and, by definition, conservatives are ones who hold traditional attitudes and values and cautious about change or innovation.

               How can anyone so resistant to change honestly claim Christ as their savior?  Christ was nothing if not a Renaissance man or, dare say it, a liberal.  Rather than be tamed by the status quo, He engaged in verbal combat and said unto the influential Pharisees…”And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. “

               The same Pharisees, like today’s Republican National Committee, staunchly advocated capital punishment, and brought to Jesus a woman condemned to die.  They said to Him, “that she shall be stoned, and what sayest thou?  Christ responded, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” 

               Christ went further by challenging the moneychangers at Herod’s Temple.  In this shamelessly left-wing, liberal act He expels these precursors to today’s bankers and wealthiest one-percent from His house of prayer in an effort to save it from becoming a den of thieves.

               Is it not perplexing?  An exceptionally loud and militant Evangelical faction are so resistant to change that they put low taxes, the second amendment and disdain for Obama-care ahead of their so-called Christian beliefs, Country and even own sense of humanity.  And any new thought that attempts to meet at middle ground on hot-button conservative issues churns in them anger and backlash much like the one their Messiah met upon His final entry into Jerusalem.  Perhaps the Evangelical fellowship that dominates and sways today’s Grand Old Party should take a look at their Savior’s dynamic acts and radical thinking, and rather than worship with using hollow words,  display reverence through humble acknowledge of ideas different from your own.   In other words, your correspondent implores you to think about “Christ” every time you think “Christian.”

Laissez Faire-Weather Friends

               A common conservative cornerstone is the free market.   Rather than relying on state intervention, markets must be competitive and only be driven by self-regulating Invisible Hand.  Minimal mix-ins of government intervention, like contract law and property rights enforcement are necessary evils, but the overarching theme is that he who makes the better widget more efficiently succeeds against the less adept.

               Competition, or at least the opportunity to complete, is vital free market component.  That said; please consider for a moment how free market conservative heroes like Rush Limbaugh, Ayn Rand and their admirers would view government sole-sourcing and no-bid contracts.  Would they not consider this an utter abomination?

               It seems that such an act is not an abomination due to the American Conservative’s selectively short memory.  Officials from two quite contemporary right-leaning, quasi-conservative presidential cabinets that dubiously claim to be free-market advocates and frugal government proponents have on several occasions awarded no-bid contract contracts to the engineering/private military firm currently known as KBR, Inc.  True, it may be unnecessary to conduct formal bidding processes for such mundane activities like aluminum siding installation, or basic plumbing repairs, but these no-bid contracts approved by presidential cabinet officials (some of whom had coincidentally served on KBR and its parent company’s board of directors) are for ongoing projects like Restore Iraqi Oil and various military support services with program costs well into the billions.

               Countless other free market abuses exist.  For example, the George W. Bush’s Food and Drug Administrator (FDA) nominee, Dr. Lester Crawford plead guilty to lying about the stock ownership of companies that he was supposed to impartially monitor as Commissioner of the FDA. Kyle “Rusty” Foggo helped orchestrate bribes of over $2.3 million from major republican donor Brent Wilkes that lead to preferential allocation of Federal Defense Department contracts. And this is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg; most of these facts and figures were accessed in seconds by entering “republican scandals” in a simple Google search.

               Please do not interpret this article of a sole Republican Party indictment.  Greed is in human nature and will forever transcend its way across party lines.  Capitalism is not perfect, and it is our best economic model, but in reality pure Capitalism is more fictitious than the Tooth-Fairy.  Your writer is simply irked by the Republic Party’s blatant hypocrisy.  The GOP has long proclaimed to be stalwarts of the free market economy.  High profile Republicans, like Mitt Romney describe the Chrysler and GM bailouts  as “not a success because the bailout program wasted a lot of money,” and quip further, stating it was the “wrong way to go” and encouraged the process of American ingenuity rather than government as a means to guide the economy. A neutral point of view would clearly see that infatuation with free market ideals is a marriage of convenience and not true love.  Rather than it being a right-wing cornerstone, the Republican Parts is “Capitalist when Convenient,” or in other words, Laissez Faire-Weather Friends.

Dead (heavy) Weight

               December 11, 2011 will mark the thirty year anniversary of Muhammad Ali’s last boxing match.  This, along with the recent passing of Ali’s rival, Joe Frasier, is yet another sobering reminder of a realization many sports fans have been attempting to ignore.  The truth is that meaningful heavyweight boxing is dead and gone.

               It is impossible to deny.  Most sports fans that would at least rate themselves as a “5” or “6” on a sports-knowledge scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the “Most Knowledgeable) can name the reigning NBA, NHL, MLB and NFL champions.  They may be able to name at least one golfer who has won a major in the last 3 years, or even a recent Wimbledon champion.   But try to name a heavyweight boxing champion from the last seven years. Nikolay Valuev, Sergei Liakhovich, Wladimir Klitschko, Oleg Maskaev, Shannon Brigg, and Ruslan Chagaev are not exactly household names that Mike Tyson, George Foreman and Lennox Lewis used to be.

               Further evidence is subtle, but undeniable.  Take a look at the punching bag section of a Sports Authority or Dick’s Sporting Goods and look for a new dominant theme.  There is an overwhelming amount of shelf space dedicated more and more to Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and less and less to the sweet science.  Places where heavy and speed-bag gloves once resided there is now an assortment of grappling gloves and MMA shorts.  How do we explain this changing of the guard?

               Reason One: Boxing is corrupt.  There is a no rhyme or reason to it.  No decipherable body or league office exists and an easy to follow ranking system is lacking.  Fights are scheduled and promoted by a seemingly small number of sorted characters, who all in way or another seem to be affiliated with Don King.  It is a sport with fixed-matches, rigged-rankings, sleazy Mafioso and questionable judging weaved deep within its fabric; and while this criminal edge may have once provided a compelling aura and mystic, it now fuels a frustration and inconsistency that inevitably frustrates and turns off the potential fan base.  Professional boxing is a sport so dysfunctional crooked that, by comparison it makes college football and its BCS rankings a monument of order, reason and rationale.

               Reason Two: Boxing is disorganized.  Governing bodies like the IBF, WBO & WBA have no clear face or branding associated with it.  Leagues like the NBA and NFL do a terrific job of marketing a clearly conveyed image that stresses fair, consistent and exciting products and highlighting the stars of their sports.  And the other major sports leagues know how to harness multimedia to introduce the athletes who participate in competitions.  The casual sports fan may not know much about the NHL, but they know that Sidney Crosby is a hockey player.  Try taking a random poll of people on the street and see how many can tell you the about Alexander Povetkin, Samuel Peter and their chosen professions. Your writer just discovered while researching for this article that Evander Holyfield won a share of the heavyweight championship for the fifth time back in 2010 and no professional body made any real effort to publicize his feat.  Such missed opportunities are due to the perpetual decentralized state of boxing.  The sport of kings is now a disarrayed mess in a helter-skelter continuum that requires too much effort, dollars and dedication to follow or understand.

               Reason Three: Good boxing is inaccessible.  It is difficult to get excited about a sporting event that fans cannot view.  This is the case when it comes to boxing.  Any decent fight with a worthwhile presentation is on premium cable stations like HBO and Showtime, or more likely on Pay-Per-View for a price well north of $70 that many families are unwilling to spend.  MMA sanctioning bodies do put most major bouts on Pay-Per-View; albeit at lesser dollar amount, but these same organizations attempt to woo fans on network television through programming like EliteXC on CBS and, more recently, UFC on Fox.  First class heavyweight prize-fighting is completely absent from American network TV airwaves and therefore inner city American youth will never view or be inspired to become the World Heavyweight Champion.

               The world will little note the 30^th anniversary of “The Drama in the Bahamas.” It may not be as monumental as Ali’s bouts with Frazier, or the iconic “Rumble in the Jungle,” but Ali’s anti-climatic 10-round unanimous decision loss to the upstart Trevor Burbick was not only the end of one of history’s greatest boxing career.  It was the first dip towards a monumental collapse that has transformed heavyweight boxing into a visionless criminal enterprise whose only decent live productions available to a privileged few.