9.06.2004

I have skills

I have a couple of comments. First, Napolean Dynamite is a really good movie...probably the best that I know of. Everyone should see it many times. Napolean has lots of skills, like drawing cool warriors, nun-chucks, bow-staff, all that.
Second, I'm trying to decide if I should stay in my Masters of Divinity program and try to be a Unitarian Universalist pastor, or drop out and go to IU instead to study public policy, I guess with the goal of some career in foreign policy. I like theology, philosophy, ethics, spirituality, etc. Thinking seriously about those things has pretty much been my bag for a long time, and I've been thinking about religious leadership for a long time too. But, I also have lots and lots of reservations about Unitarian Universalism, which at best is a creedless community that fosters and supports each individual's search for truth and meaning and at worst is a spiritually shallow club for rich, white, liberal self-absorption and self-congratulation that doesn't seem to recognize its own impotence in American culture, both religiously and politically. But, since I'm not Christian (at least not enough to feel comfortable in a Christian organization) or Jewish or Muslim or any other established tradition, UU is really all there is left.
Foreign Policy seems cool, because the U.S. government is the most powerful force on earth, and if I could help use that power to help poor and repressive countries develop economically and politically, or to intervene in horrible situations like Sudan, Rawanda, Bosnia, etc, that would be cool. I could do a lot more good than I would trying to connect some spoiled woman to her inner-goddess, or even in espousing some issue. (Hey UU's, it's great that you support gay marriage. Guess what? Nobody in Washington gives a shit what you think, cause there's only 250,000 of you in the world!) On the other hand, I'd probably have to deal with a lot of government bullshit, ithe biggest being that I'd have to support policies that I disagreed with.
Whatever. Somebody tell me what to do.
Joe

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