The primary motivating factor in the development of the religious right is a defensive response to the challenges posed by the power of popular consumer and entertainment culture and not a backlash against progressive or liberal ideas and social movements.

And he provides the obvious example:

Religious fundamentalism is revolutionary because it represents the only movement in American public life openly critical of American culture and society.

If the latter point seems strange to some, I would advise them to listen to an hour’s worth of programming from Dr. James Dobson’s daily broadcast on Christian radio. He is perhaps the most influential voice of the religious right on the broadcast medium. During that time, you will hear far greater criticism of American society and Americans on subjects such as greed, materialism, alienation caused by rampant individualism and the lack of supportive communities than you will hear on the purportedly liberal airways of Air America’s Radio Programs.

Bageant goes on to explain why the religion of pop culture is destined to triumph over fundamentalism,  because it demands so little from us, keeps us so distracted, and is largely disconnected from ground-floor reality. Obviously, this analysis will bring to mind the utter chaos surrounding our current economic crisis. If the credit crunch isn’t a mass crisis of belief–belief that our bank accounts will keep expanding, that our luck will never run out, that we will never have to actually curtail our consumption–then what is it?

Make sure and read Bageant’s entire essay.

OK, I’ll stop talking about the Marathon now.

I couldn’t have done it at all if it weren’t for my sister-in-law, Molly, and our neighbor Glen who ran the half marathon. We trained together all summer. Long 9 milers in the hot sun with no water, and easy 14 milers where it felt silly to stop because we felt we could go on forever. Molly and I share a natural pace so we could chat and chat while we ran. Unfortunately, she is a much more experienced (and younger!) runner than me and I’m afraid I held her back at the end. She still had more in her and wanted to pick it up, which we did a little, but I know she had more in her.

The good news is that she still got 3rd(!!!!) in her division and won $500. I am so proud of her! I was 70th in mine. 70th out of 119. Not nearly as impressive.

It was so awesome. Every time that I thought I was getting so tired I was crazy we’d pass another mile marker and I’d feel the relief of knowing I only had 9 miles, or 7 miles, and then 4, 3, and 2 miles till the end.

By one mile left I was unable to talk, not because I was too breathless, but because I needed all my mental energies to keep going. Rob and a good friend, Megan both had the great idea of meeting us a mile out from the finish and ran with us into Downtown. We couldn’t have done so well without them, it’s almost like they brought us fresh legs, almost…

Then we ran into the stadium and the finish and finally stopped. It was a lot like labor and birth, the labor is riveting and exhausting, and the celebration of achievement is much quieter.

Today I feel like a cement truck poured concrete into my bones. I’m pretty sure I’ll have to apologize to my family for the Beast I’m being to them.

Rob calls this a “child abuse picture” because of the bruise on her head. The poor thing fell down the church stairs on Tuesday night. She told me, “I cried. I fell down stairs. I hurt head.” Very concise. Strunk and White would be proud.

We were all out enjoying the raspberry bush a couple of days ago and I was snapping pictures. Before I realised that the white balance was off I had 5 or 6 shots. This was one of them. Actually, this is what I did to one of them in Photoshop. I could almost be an artist!

Every morning I check my email after breakfast. Usually the girls are done too, but not always. On mornings when I get particularly high amounts of email things like this happen:

Myers observes–with particular poignancy to our current election–that in the early years of this country, the Americans thinking deeply about the nature of governance and legislation were also the ones governing and legislating. In the last hundred years, the particular tasks of politics (and really, the particular tasks that make up all our lives) have been atomized into distinct specializations performed by experts, so that many politicians spend careers focused on the specializations of campaigning and legislating without dealing with  communities as a whole.

The philosophy of specialization and the metaphor of the machine have brought a similar fragmentation to every corner of our lives; our daily jobs, families, and our selves.

Akron Marathon Course Video

I am SO excited. I’ll be running with Rob’s sister Molly, and my neighbor who trained with me last summer is going to be running the Half Marathon. We’ve overcome injuries, lack of sleep, Molly’s gone off to college, and we’re so ready to finally beat the 26.2 miles that have spent the year haunting us.

Wish us luck!