It’s something, but not a retraction per se

I’ve done some reviews of Greg Mortenson’s Three Cups of Tea and Stones into Schools books, which have spent loads of time on the various best sellers lists and have really motivated a lot of people to give to the cause presented within those pages. Namely that through the construction of secular schools targeted primarily at educating young girls (though by no means excluding boys) in some of the poorest regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan that we might be able to affect positive and lasting change that could help push extremist terrorism back to the margins of society where it often ekes out an existence. That mission, in and of itself, seems like a very realistic and useful approach that has the potential that extensive bombing campaigns just don’t have. Through these books, tireless work, and extensive speaking engagements all over the place, Greg has emerged as an unlikely hero, championing the cause of education for some of the planet’s most disadvantaged children. It’s very difficult to find fault with that.

However…

The State of Montana has launched an investigation into Greg’s charity, the Central Asia Institute (CAI), based on a 60 Minutes investigation and also investigative journalism by Jon Krakauer, who has written a short piece entitled Three Cups of Deceit. There is discussion about the fabrication of many stories within Mortenson’s books, possible defamation issues, and issues with the non-profit organization’s handling of funds in regard to Greg’s expenses. The general feeling from every angle seems to be that the central purpose here – educating children in that part of the world – is a just and noble cause well worth pursuing. The questions in many minds is, has the trust built so far been abused and to what extent.

To that end, the books themselves were indeed good reads as far as that goes. I have to say though that I’ll be watching the proceedings as the investigation continues and withholding judgment on CAI’s viability as a trustworthy charity until there is more available information.

On the subject of the Pat Tillman story, it is with great disgust that I read about the appointment of General Stanley McChrystal to an advisory board with the mission of supporting military families. Yes, the very same General who was an instrumental part of the friendly-fire cover-up of Pat Tillman, and the PR campaign to make it look like he died under extra heroic circumstances in order to provide distraction from the poor war effort in Iraq at the time.

1st Samuel

Welcome to 1st Samuel. This is to be the first book we encounter that is so good it spawns a sequel. Though to be honest, it doesn’t start out well, treading much ground already covered in previous books and continuing, what is in my mind anyway, the description of a God who seems to experiment and toy with His creations. Yes yes, I am but a mere mortal who couldn’t possibly comprehend the mind of God.

Still, the first 16 versus are about a man with yes, two wives, and for reasons beyond comprehension, God has seen fit to “close the womb” of one of them, making her the object of ridicule for the other and causing her extensive grief and anguish. In her grief, she pleads desperately with the Lord that if he will only bless her with a son, she will then give that son over to the Lord to follow him all of his life. At this, God does indeed take notice and shortly thereafter she conceives a child, gives birth, and once the child is weaned she gives the child over to Eli the priest. To recap, God makes her barren, then He ultimately allows her to have a child – 9 months maternity, labor and delivery, then approximately a year of nursing and care – then the child is handed over to somebody else. Truly this woman is blessed beyond all comprehension. (he types, with perhaps a touch of sarcasm)

At any rate, Eli raises Samuel to follow the Lord while his own sons partake in all manner of debauchery and otherwise become living embarrassments in the eyes of God and their father. Due to this downfall, God isn’t really with the Israelites at this point so the Philistines have an opportunity to thoroughly route the Israelites and capture the Ark of the Covenant. It will be many years later that Indiana Jones is able to locate the Ark and that with God’s help and the Ark’s face-melting capabilities, it is safely stored in a massive gov’t warehouse. Back in olden times though, the Philistines learned a tough lesson as each city the Ark was sent to tended to have disaster befall it via things such as ill omens and tumors. After only months of such devastation, the Philistines decided it might be a good idea to just give the thing back.

As Samuel gets old and feeble the people start demanding that a new king be appointed. After discussing the matter with God, eventually Saul is appointed. Saul, along with his son Jonathan spend much of their time in various skirmishes with the Philistines, and adhering (or not) to rather odd demands which are apparently tests of faith. Ultimately due to disobedience, God regrets appointing Saul king.

At this point we’re introduced to David, a young shepherd who is hand-picked and destined to be the next king. Samuel dutifully anoints the new king-to-be, and it is shortly after this that the young David enters the service of Saul. What’s going on with Saul at this point? Some crazy stuff, that’s what. Chapter 16, verse 14, “Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil (alternative translation: harmful) spirit from the Lord tormented him.” This is from the NIV version.

Really.

Let’s take a moment to again remind ourselves about our apparent lack of comprehension of the mind of God. We’re, again, dealing with a God of unlimited capacity in every way imaginable and unimaginable, the alpha and the omega, the head cheese, and this is how He chooses to manage his people. This sending an evil spirit business isn’t just limited to Saul. It’s not as though he goes into a deep funk and withdraws from society. He’s still the king, and as the saying goes in any management structure, the excrement rolls down hill. God could have seemingly just removed him…sent him to sleep with the fishes or something…but then he wouldn’t have been able to commit all manner of dick moves and attempted treachery toward the NEXT would-be king.

Moving along.

This book gives us the famous David and Goliath story. Goliath, a very large Philistine (think Hagrid from the Harry Potter series), keeps coming forth and taunting the Israelites to send out their best warrior for mano y mano combat. Winner rules the land. For a mere FORTY days the Israelites more or less ignore the challenge, as they’re all too busy back in camp soiling themselves and trembling in their boots. David and his trusty sling have other plans though, and a well placed stone to the forehead secured his place in infamy (and in various small business board rooms all over the world, thousands of years later). To then make a powerful statement, a statement which likely led to an epidemic of Philistine armor soiling, David then goes and takes Goliath’s sword and uses it to chop off his head. I’d like to think he had the comedic chops of Austin Powers, and made a series of “no time to lose your head” jokes, but there’s no evidence of that in 1st Samuel.

Saul, being of unsound mind, starts harboring some intense jealousy toward our young hero, and, with God’s evil spirit messing with him, starts making his first assassination attempts. While God is pouring the evil into Saul, he’s theoretically protecting David, making this whole scenario more like a marionette show than anything. Much more of the same happens for quite a bit of the book. Saul tries to kill David, David evades the attempt, on a couple of occasions David has the upper hand but spares Saul’s life, etc. Eventually Saul kills himself. Samuel is also dead by this point from old age.

The end.

A terrific story really. I can’t wait to see what the sequel has in store in:

2nd Samuel: Part Deux, for the second time, again!

In which, utilizing every piece of advance technology known to mankind, Samuel is brought back as half-man, half-cyborg, all-vengeance!

You thought the Philistines were bad, wait till you meet the new enemy! The Pleistocenes! The Israelites must confront a problem of mammoth proportions!!

In this installment, will David finally get the girl? (again, in addition to the girls he has) Will he finally be the wonderful God-picked king that we’ve all been waiting for who doesn’t turn out to be a total hoser??

BUM-Bum-bum!

Yin & Yang

Two halves of a whole.

I’m going to start this one off with The Tao of Pooh. “While Eeyore frets…and Tigger bounces…and Owl pontificates…Pooh just is.”

This book by Benjamin Hoff takes a look at Taoist philosophy through the lens of A. A. Milne’s famous character Winnie the Pooh. We find that our beloved Pooh seems to thoroughly embrace a life of simplicity. A life that doesn’t overthink everything to death, and as a result, a highly contented life.

While Eeyore’s often down and feeling sorry for himself, while Owl jabbers on incessantly, while Tigger singularly focuses on bouncing, and while grumpy Rabbit works to enforce some arbitrary set of rules, Pooh, very simply and quietly often figures out the solutions to all of life’s problems for himself and his friends merely by existing and not trying too hard and missing the solution due to overexertion. He’s in harmony with his surrounds and this often leads to some wonderful insights.  (paraphrasing: “We keep looking for home and keep finding the sand pit, perhaps if we look for the sand pit, we’ll find our way home.” Pooh, of course, turns out to be right and by ultimately listening to his tummy, he finds his way home to his stash of honey while Rabbit remains hopelessly lost in the woods)

Hoff’s goal here was to take philosophical discussion out of the hands of academics and make it available to us, the general public. The results are pretty good. I found the book quite engaging both for the entertaining way that it’s explained, and also because much of this rings true. I’ve found I do tend to achieve better results when I approach things with a bit more Pooh.

Well, now that we’ve had the Yin (our positive and uplifting offering), it’s time for some Yang.

Jon Krakauer writes some brilliant books that tell us a very compelling story (of the non-fiction variety) while cutting to the heart of the details surrounding it. In Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman, Krakauer takes us through the life of Pat Tillman leading up to his dramatic death in the war in Afghanistan.

Much of this story is known to the public and is available on the jacket, so I don’t think it’s spoiling anything to say that his death was the result of friendly fire. Fratricide in military parlance. The rest of that incident is also fairly broadly known. How the U.S. was suffering some publicly embarrassing setbacks in their questionable campaign in Iraq and seized the opportunity to misdirect the public about the heroic final moments (all fabricated) of a national hero, Tillman, a multi-million dollar NFL player who walked away from the easy life to service his country, and to do what he felt was right and honorable, and how he fought the enemy to the bitter end. How pretty much every step of the chain of command, from the very top to the very bottom conspired to cover up the true events of his death, thoroughly trampling on the very legacy of everything Tillman stood for, purely for political gain (something that has happened repeatedly throughout both wars over there). And finally, how it was only through the dogged determination of the family that turned out this extraordinary person, and the efforts of his strong and determined wife, that this story finally came to light.

There’s a really good chance this book will piss you off. The actions taken by so many are so thoroughly unconscionable and contrary to their stated mission, and that alone makes the book tough to read at times. Throw in Pat Tillman, and the subject matter here can really make your blood boil. Tillman was no saint, but at the same time, he was closer than a lot of us, and not in a religious sense, but in his strong sense of duty, honor, and his fierce defense of what was right. I’d highly recommend this book (and really, pretty much any of Krakauer’s stuff). There is much richness to be obtained in the life of Tillman, and his family has much to be proud of. The world is poorer for his death, and though everybody involved in the cover-up should’ve been given their walking papers at least, and harsh prison time at worst, very few have been punished or even reprimanded. So much for honor.