An Outsider's Semester at Liberty University

I just finished reading The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University by Kevin Roose. This was a fascinating book and I highly recommend it to all of my blog readers, especially those of you with a particular interest in the evangelical brand of Christianity or those who went to an evangelical education institution like I did. I'm a busy person, especially during the semester when I'm teaching, and recreational reading doesn't usually garner much of my time. However, I finished Roose's book in 2 days. I couldn't put it down.

Roose, a student at Brown University, had an opportunity to visit Jerry Falwell's Thomas Road Baptist Church during a research trip with his boss, journalist A.J. Jacobs. Taking the opportunity to talk with a few Liberty University students in the lobby, he quickly realized that he and the other students came from completely different worlds. He was raised as a Quaker by ultra-liberal parents and attended an ultra-liberal university. They, as you can imagine, were 180 degrees the opposite of him. The conversation led him to study more about the God Divide, as he puts it. He realized that, while he attended one of the more prestigious educational institutions in the country, he knew nothing about evangelical Christianity. He decided to experience it for himself.

He determined to enroll for a semester at Liberty University and learn as much as he could about the culture. Before going in, he decided that he would portray himself as a new Christian. Otherwise, it was unlikely he would get the inside scoop from classmates skeptical about his spiritual background. He also determined to have a completely open mind. He would experience what they experienced. Along those lines, during his time at Liberty, he participated in prayer meetings, Bible studies, a spring break missions trip, sang in the church choir, interviewed Jerry Falwells for the student newspaper, and even went to Every Man's Battle meetings.

His insights along the way are fascinating. While I didn't go to Liberty, his experiences mirrored many of my own when I was a student at ORU. Many of the conversations he recounted from the dorms and interactions with the students were quite similar to those I had in my undergrad days. Not content to stay on the surface and simply comment on the Liberty culture, he sought a greater understanding of his own spiritual perspective. He asked probing questions about the reasons for prayer, the role of God in our lives, and even about the very existence of God.

This book isn't a hit piece on evangelical Christianity or Liberty University. Ultimately, the author concludes that Liberty, like all social institutions, has a mixture of good and bad qualities. The students who attend school there aren't fire breathing demagogues, but regular people who have the same worries, concerns, and struggles as others their age. He even came away with mixed emotions about Jerry Falwell. Having conducted the last print interview of Falwell before he died, he was able to see a personal side of Falwell that was often overlooked in the media. He has plenty to criticize about Liberty such as the lack of intellectual rigor, the attempt to indoctrinate instead of educate, and the way the school handles various social problems such as homosexuality. In the end, he was suprised at just how much he bonded with his fellow students and how, once all of the pretenses were stripped away, they actually had a lot in common.

An Immoral Act of Government

The Tulsa World ran an excellent story yesterday about the state lottery and the people who spend money on lottery tickets. The results of the newspaper's investigation are hardly surprising. According to the article, "residents of some of Tulsa County's poorest neighborhoods...spend more money per capita on lottery tickets than anyone else in the county." In North Tulsa zip code 74119, the average salary is just over $26,000 per year while per capita spending on lottery tickets amounts to nearly $600. In contrast, those in South Tulsa's 74137 zip code earn an average of 80,000 per year and spend just over $160 per capita.

This story highlights the fact that state lotteries are not just harmless fun or taxes paid voluntarily. The Tulsa World study emphasizes what economists and political figures have known for years. Those who can least afford to participate in the lottery are those who are the most frequent customers. It is the most regressive tax of all available tax options. Our politicians know this, yet time after time in the past 20 years, states have fallen over themselves to put a lottery into place.

State leaders justify the lottery with a variety of excuses. The biggest offender of all is the "money goes for education" excuse. However, as this article shows, the projected cashflow for education just hasn't reached expectations. There are many reasons for this which include the slumping economy, competition from casinos, and bloated overhead costs. Some state leaders washed their hands of the decision, insisting that they were simply responding to constituent requests when they voted to put the proposal on the ballot. This is a cop out. We elect our representatives to make responsible decisions on how our government should be conducted. We expect them to have the best interests of their constituents in mind. Yet, instead of looking out for those who are the poorest among us, they listened to the siren's song of coins dropping into the piggy bank. It's much easier to get people to voluntarily part with their money instead of passing a tax or (gasp!) cutting the budget.

Our representatives are supposed to be in the business of increasing liberty for the citizens of Oklahoma. Yet, by continuing to operate a state lottery, they have confined the poorest and most disadvantaged in our communities to shackles. This isn't just negligent, it is immoral. It's time to end the lottery and focus on getting our fellow community members out of poverty instead of keeping them there.

Veterans Day Quotes

Today is Veterans Day. It is the day we appreciate those who served in our armed forces, both alive and deceased. This Veterans Day takes on an even greater significance due to the recent tragic events at Fort Hood. We remember them as fallen heroes just as remember those who have fallen in battle.

Here are a few quotes to commemorate this day:

"To us is given the honor of striking a blow for freedom which will live in history, and in better days that lie ahead men will speak with pride of our doings." -Sir Bernard Montgomery

"I have not yet begun to fight." -John Paul Jones

"I regret that I have but one life to lose for my country." -Nathan Hale

"I am a soldier. I fight where I am told and I win where I fight." -General George Patton

"Therefore, while Armisitice Day is a day for pride, it is for pride in the achievements of others - humility in our own." -General Omar Bradley

My Choices in Tomorrow's Election

For those of you outside of the City of Tulsa, you'll have to bear with me on this blog post. Here are my choices in Tulsa's municipal election being held on Tuesday, November 10th:

CANDIDATES FOR OFFICE

City Auditor - Preston Doerflinger. It's time to get some new blood in the auditor's office. Phil Wood really dropped the ball this year on the firefighter audit. I've met Doerflinger several times and he comes across as someone with the drive and energy to be a great public servant.

Mayor - Mark Perkins. This one is really difficult for me. I've really struggled in choosing between Bartlett and Perkins. I don't think Bartlett would be a bad mayor, but I don't believe he'll be a great one either. In all honesty, the media campaign put forth by Adelson and Bartlett has really turned me off. Both of them have done as much as possible to mischaracterize the other while playing fast and loose with the truth. Integrity is important and I haven't seen much of it from Adelson and Bartlett. I think Tulsa needs to move in a new direction and from what I've read and heard, Perkins has the tools to do good things for the city.

CITY CHARTER AMENDMENTS

Proposition 1 - Should the Tulsa city auditor have a CPA or CIA certification? I will vote YES on this one. It makes sense that an auditor of a major entity like the city should be professionally qualified.

Proposition 2 - Should city council terms be staggared at 3-year intervals? I will vote NO on this proposition. This is nothing more than an effort to protect the status quo by those in power. If the citizens of Tulsa want to rise up and vote everyone out, that is our right. If this were to pass, it would do nothing more than protect the political elite. They have enough protection already.

Proposition 3 - Should the city council have to sign off on legal settlements worth more than $1 million? I will vote YES on this proposition. Currently, the mayor of Tulsa can sign off on any legal settlement without council approval. This proposition came about because of Mayor Taylor's agreement to issue a settlement payment in the amount of $7.1 million to BOK in the Great Plains Airlines bankruptcy case.

ESPN Columnist on Health Care Policy

I've said it many times on this page, but I'll say it again. If you're not reading ESPN's Tuesday Morning Quarterback column, you are really missing out. Gregg Easterbrook, a Brookings Institute scholar who just happens to be a huge fan of the NFL, writes the weekly entry. He regularly combines football insight and analysis with his views on matters of public policy. This week, in the midst of making fun of teams for punting in the maroon zone and talking about why football coaches are overrated, he had a fantastic analysis of health care pricing. Here are a few quotes:

"Health care is only the single largest segment of the U.S. economy, so surely there is no risk in passing a 1,000-page health care bill no one understands!"

"My impression is that so much lobbying attention has focused on the handouts, giveaways and interest-group demands for a gigantic new civil-service bureaucracy that not enough attention has gone to a simple change that would remove much of the injustice from health insurance -- standard rates with no denials for existing conditions."

"The distinction between list prices and "adjusted" prices prevents health care services from functioning as a rational marketplace."

"Gradually transitioning to a system in which most people carry catastrophic-cost medical insurance but pay the rest themselves could rationalize health care economics while restraining costs, because the wasteful paperwork aspect of the system would decline."

"Stipulating that health care providers offer standard, published prices would lay the groundwork for an informed free market in health care delivery -- and free markets control costs."

To read the entirety of his thoughts on health care pricing, go here. Midway down the page, you'll see a bold header entitled "Why Not Standard Pricing?" It is an excellent read and it makes a great case that some of the smallest, common sense changes could result in the biggest overall impact.

A Long Gone Hobby

It's hard to believe, but 20 years ago, I started collecting football cards. I was in the 6th grade. Some might have regarded it as a hobby, but for me and my brother, it was an obsession. We spent every spare dime we had on the shiny foil packs of cards at the local Wal-Mart. One time, when my parents wanted to punish me for doing a sub-par job on my chores, they took my brother to the store and let him buy football cards while I was given nothing. Message received loud and clear.

I'm not sure why the collection of little pieces of cardboard stirred me up so much. I loved watching football, but the culture wasn't nearly as geared toward constant coverage like it is now. I mean, we didn't even have the internet. There was no 24/7 sports talk radio or fantasy football leagues. This was even before the days that ESPN had around-the-clock coverage of Brett Favre.

Perhaps one reason I got into collecting cards was the competition with my brother. We were always trying to one-up each other and get the hottest rookie card or the card worth the most money in the football card pricing guide. When we did manage to find that rare jewel in the rough (I always hated opening a package of cards to find it filled with obscure offensive linemen), we would brag about it incessantly.

Early into our card collecting phase, we started writing to football players and requesting autographs. We would enclose a card to sign along with a self addressed stamped envelope to make it easier for the player to return it. I didn't expect much, but surprisingly enough, the autographs came rolling in. We sent them to famous and obscure players alike. To this day, my dad cannot stand Randall Cunningham because he sent me a letter stating we would need to enclose $20 for an autograph. I've gotten over it, but I don't dare bring it up around him.

Our football card collecting days only lasted a couple of years. By 1992, I was a freshman in high school and had other pursuits to attend to i.e. getting rejected by girls and figuring out why in the world they made us take Geometry. But, I still have the majority of my card collection and every now and then, I love to flip through the thousands of cards and think about all the fun I had collecting them two decades ago.

WWII Warbirds Weekend

Today, I took my son out to the Tulsa Air and Space Museum to see the vintage World War II planes on display as a part of Warbirds Weekend. The weather was a bit chilly, but the trip was completely worth it. The aircraft were in beautiful condition and visitors like myself were able to get up close and personal with them. For a history nerd like myself, this was the perfect way to spend the afternoon. It was even better because I got to do it with my son. I snapped a few pictures, in case you're interested:

A P51 Mustang:

Getting ready for his mission:

A fun day at the museum:

B25 Bomber: