Ask me why I won't vote republican...

Pastor Commercial

I saw a Carpet One commercial staring a young lady named Amy Wynn Pastor. I missed the first few seconds of the commercial but I managed to catch a glimpse of the title bar with her name on it. Before I go any further I should note I don't have cable so I don't watch DIY, where Amy Wynn Pastor has a show. To continue the story, I caught a brief glimpse of the young ladies name which my mind read "Amy Wynn -- Pastor". I instinctively mumbled complaints under my breath since I saw this as a commercial staring a Minister named Amy Wynn.
I wasn't shocked that a minister would be starring in a TV commercial and endorsing a carpet company after all pastors plaster their faces all over books, boardgames, and other trinkets.
Why not take the next step and work in TV commercials? Or should I ask how long will it be until ministers take the next step and work in TV commercials doing product endorsements? There are pastors more who have bigger followings than many TV shows so why not earn a little extra.

Faith V. Politics

I'll start of by saying what we already know; the republican party has a strong monopoly on the Evangelical vote. The reasons are deeper than abortion, taxes, social policies, guns, fiscal policies, just war theory and the other niche issues of the day. The issues stem from Evangelical approach to reading and textual criticism. Evangelicals approach the constitution, the Bill of Rights, and our country's other "sacred" texts in the same way the approach their faith's sacred texts.

Evangelicals have a crush on the politics of Antonin Scalia an originalist supreme Court Justice. We like Scalia because treats the Constitution the same way we treat the Bible. We chant the Bible Can't mean what it never meant while we argue the Constitution has a fixed and knowable meaning, which was established at the time of its drafting. When we cut to the chase the two theories are the same, what it was supposed to mean 2000 or 200 years ago it must mean today. On the flip side Liberal Christian treat the constitution the same way they treat the Bible.

To be clear I fall to the conservative side of the scale but I'm not comfortable approaching my countries constitution the same way I approach my faith's sacred text. For starters they inspiration of the documents is different. The constitution is a document for men by men while the Bible is God's Holy Word. Beyond that The drafters of the constitution are human thus the document is limited to human ability and faults. The elevation of the Constitution helps lead to some questionable theology. Since we see the Constitution as inspired the belief that America is the new Israel gains support it shouldn't have.
I can't assign the same place in my life to a document by a group of men with questionable faith as I do to the Bible. It's not likely I'm going to change how I approach the Bible so I'll have to change how I approach the Constitution.

Obama & Church

I'm never sure what to think of the Obama and Reverend Wright situation.  My first instinct is to write Obama off as either a fool, an idiot or a liar. He is a fool if he listened to Reverend Wright for 20 years and did choose to leave the church until to now. He is an idiot if he listened to Reverend Wright for 20 years and didn't hear what he was saying. And he is a liar if he heard Reverend Wright and is telling everyone he didn't hear him. The issue is Obama is a Harvard educated lawyer congressman, and now Presidential Nominee. I would say this means he isn't a fool or an idiot, and I don't think he is a fool enough to lie constantly about the situation.
I think Obama is the average church going Christian, who has little idea what the real content of sermons are or what his pastor truly believes.
I couldn't tell you what I heard in last week's sermon much less break down my pastor's theological belief. I'm willing to guess the average sermon has a sticking time of just under 10 hours and the average person has no clue what there pastor believes.
So is Obama a fool, an idiot or a liar? I would say no more than the average person.

Neapolitan Pretzel's

This is a Neapolitan Pizza dough recipe I use to make pizza and Neapolitan Pretzel's. The Neapolitan dough brings a different taste to the pretzel while the Parmesan Cheese and pizza spice give it a Neapolitan twist. I shape the dough in balls because it is easier to roll them in the topping the trying to top knotted pretzel.

1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water (105 degrees F)
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup cold water
1 2/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon sea salt

2 quarts water
1/2 cup baking soda

Parmesan Cheese
Pizza spice

In large mixer bowl stir together dry yeast and water. Let sit for 10 minutes until creamy. Mix olive oil and water. Add one cup of flour salt, mix using bread hook. Continue adding flour one cup at a time. Mix on slow for 8 minutes. Add extra flour and water as necessary.
Cover dough with a warm moist kitchen towel and let rest for 15 minutes. Separate dough into 24 pieces and form tight round balls. Cover the dough and let rest for one hour.

Combine water and baking soda in a medium pan and bring to a boil. Boil dough for 15 seconds then place on a cooling rack. Roll balls in Parmesan cheese and pizza spice to desired flavoring and bake at 375 for 15 minutes or until cooked through.

Dip in pizza sauce.