Next Book- GOD without Religion by Andrew Farley

So we have picked a new book, GOD without Religion by Andrew Farley you can find it here on Amazon. Andrew Farley has been compared to Dietrich Bonhoeffer and proposes that his reading of Relationship versus rules is a much more straightforward reading of the text. In addition he takes on some other controversial topics such as predestination. I hope everyone can get the book and join us for the discussion in January.

Information about Nigeria and Immigration

Chris Cleave put this together to inform about what is going on in Nigeria related to the Oil Wars. In addition she has posted information about refugees and asylum seekers and how someone might help. Explore the Issues- Chris Cleave There is some information on the conflict in the Niger Delta here Conflict in the Niger Delta on Wikipedia as well. And here is an article from Vanity Fair about how the fighting in Nigeria could cause repercussions around the world. Vanity Fair-Blood Oil

Great Night of Discussion

We had regulars there and even added a new member, welcome Carol. We went over parallels and differences in the campaign of 1828 and campaigns now. We talked about bias and the book along with bias in the media and peoples perception in general and decided that it is almost impossible to relay information while being devoid of bias. We noted that while there was only one party for the 1828 election the mud slinging was still robust. We noticed that neither were willing to change the constitution but accused the other of desiring too. Federalism was shown to be to powerful to go away even though the party disappeared shortly before this election and that even Jackson who stuck by State's Rights expanded both the reach of government with projects and the role of the president. We talked about the precursors seen in the campaign and election to the civil war and even discussed what might have been different if Adams had won instead. I really enjoyed the discussions on the qualities of the men involved and how their strongly held opinions during the campaign may not be feasible in practice and may even be counter actual beliefs. There were many issues that we see now, like electoral vs. popular vote to determine the president. We spoke about why it was designed the way it was, why it won't likely change for representation purposes and how some states are looking to force their electoral votes to match the overall popular vote rather than sticking with the actual states result. There was much more than that though. If you have any thoughts about the discussion I missed feel free to comment, or even if you couldn't make it tonight please feel free to include your take on the book. The next book will be: Little Bee by Chris Cleave We will meet next November 19 at 7PM. God Bless You and Thanks again for letting me do this with you.

Constition and Citizenship Day

Happy Constitution Day. September 17th, 1787 (225 yrs ago today) the US Constitution was signed in Philadelphia. Here is some information on the Constitution that DOD Public Affairs has put together. There is a course you can take and you can take a quiz at the end. Constitution and Citizenship Day

Club is Tomorrow Night

We get to talk about the Birth of Modern Politics tomorrow and I am excited to hear what you all think. Some things I wanted to discuss were: What parallels are there to the current campaign for president? What ideas about how politics worked 200 years ago changed with this? Did it surprise you the views that each of the candidates had on issues that may be moot now? State's rights? Slavery? Balance of Powers? Designation of duties of the branches? Power of the federal government? Popular versus electoral choice? Two great men, both with flaws and strengths. How to choose.

Okay, Jesus, Now You're Meddling

The way this started I thought it would be more about politics, but a powerful message nonetheless. I thought I should share it. http://bespent.com/?p=239 Okay, Jesus, Now You're Meddling

Next book

Are there any suggestions for the next book? I will post suggestions from previous meetings later to help selection, but feel free to suggest something we haven't thought about before.