Jesus was a Socialist

Something I have been thinking about often recently is the morality of capitalism. While I make no claims about my own religious beliefs, I find it strange that the conservative standard of free economy seems to be in direct contradiction with Jesus' teachings, when most conservatives claim to be Christians. I asked Google, and it turns out there's a whole movement that believes Jesus was in fact a socialist. They're called Red-Letter Christians in reference to the common use of red text to indicate the words of Jesus Christ.

Let's look at some biblical examples of Jesus' social policies...

Jesus tells us that simple charity is not good enough- we must give our all. "Just then he looked up and saw the rich people dropping offerings in the collection plate. Then he saw a poor widow put in two pennies. He said, "The plain truth is that this widow has given by far the largest offering today. All these others made offerings that they'll never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldn't afford—she gave her all!" (Luke 21:1, The Message).

I recently had a discussion with a conservative-minded person who felt that their quarterly charitable donations were good enough for the less fortunate, but she was unwilling to risk her retirement savings in the name of better health care for all Americans. Charity is great, and benefits many people who are living in poverty, but it does not solve the ultimate problem- many hard working Americans do not have enough to live on, while the ever-shrinking upper class has more than they could ever hope to spend. Jesus thinks we should all give our all, no matter what it is.

Another instance in which Jesus professed that we should give all we have occurred when He was asked what a man must do to gain eternal life. "'If you want to give it all you've got,' Jesus replied, 'go sell your possessions; give everything to the poor. All your wealth will then be in heaven. Then come follow me'" Matthew 19:21, The Message). The man left, disappointed at the thought of all he would have to part with, and Jesus said "Do you have any idea how difficult it is for the rich to enter God's kingdom? Let me tell you, it's easier to gallop a camel through a needle's eye than for the rich to enter God's kingdom" (Matthew 19:23-24, The Message).

Jesus has us pray to "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors" (Matthew 6:12, NIV), and goes on to say "Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it's safe from moth and rust and burglars. It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being" (Matthew 6:19-21, The Message). He says that money and other earthly goods come and go, so we should give freely of what we have and be able to expect others to do the same.

A literal example of Jesus' socialist tendencies would be found in Luke 9:10-17. The New King James translation states,

"When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing. Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, 'Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.' He replied, 'You give them something to eat.' They answered, 'We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.' (About five thousand men were there.) But he said to his disciples, 'Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.' The disciples did so, and everybody sat down. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to set before the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over."

In this example, all of the food to be had was gathered up and divided. While it was surely a miracle, this event also exemplifies the socialist standard that when everyone gives what they have, there will be plenty. He did not tell those who did not have anything to fend for themselves, as we are so often expected to do in a capitalist society.

In a more figurative sense, Jesus shared the Parable of the Last Judgment. Matthew 25:34-36 says, "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. And here's why:

I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.'" (The Message)

Jesus then goes on to say that those on His left, the wretched goats that they had neglected to do those things (Matthew 25:41-43, The Message). When they claim no remembrance of those events, Jesus says "He will answer them, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me'" (Matthew 25:45, The Message).

Jesus tells his followers over and over to give freely of all they have and to do good works for those in need, but America has not been doing that. Claiming to hold Christian values has done nothing for this nation because we do not live them. If any American would profess Christianity as their faith, they should live these values and, to put it simply, "If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself...'" (James 2:8, New King James).

Further reading:
The first hit from my Google search "Jesus was a Socialist"
Biblical Basis for Liberal Politics
Red-Letter Christian Wiki

And that's all I have to say about that.

Busy Busy Busy!

I am sad to report that school did not work out for me this semester. I'm also a little relieved. I want to help people, but I also have a need to be creative and spend time alone, which just doesn't happen as a nurse.

So I'm trying to figure out what I should do. I've been job searching, taking career aptitude tests, thinking, pondering, worrying, and I still don't know what to do. I wish "freelance philosopher" were a job.

It's Amazing!

Jack is almost seven months old now! He is crawling and can sit unsupported for a few seconds at a time. He is so curious and gets into everything.

We took him to Rocky Mountain National Park when my mom and sister visited last week. We went all the way up to Trail Ridge at 12,304 feet. He did not seem to be bothered by the height at all. He looked out over the world and laughed.



We had a fun visit from my mom and sister. There was lots of shopping and lots of eating. We got some desperately needed furniture for our living room, and some fairly awesome Gyros in downtown Loveland.

As soon as they left, Joshua's sister came up with her three kids. Paula took me to Eco Thrift
in Fort Collins, which is one of those great stores full of treasures that most people don't like taking the time to dig for. I found some Diesel jeans, a bag, and some Levi's for Joshua for $10. Paula got us a vacuum.

I'm starting school next week, which I am kind of nervous about. I'm worried about spending so much time away from Jack. Well, it looks like Joshua will be able to be off work while I'm in class, so I hope it will work out ok.

Busy Busy!

I've kept my kitchen clean for almost a week. I put all the dishes in the washer and wipe down the counters every evening. I sweep the floor, and put away the clean dishes. It takes me five minutes a day.

So I've mastered keeping it clean, I think. I will not have looming piles of filth growing around my sink anymore.

Jack is starting to sit up on his own. I can't take an eye off of him for a minute, because he's getting the locomotion thing down. I'm thinking it's time to train Joshua to put the toilet lid down so we can avoid any accidents in the bathroom.

I'm working on something right now. It should be ready sometime next week.

Baby Itinerary

A Typical Day in the Life of Jack:

0300: nurse
0700: Wake up!
0702: nurse
0800: play quietly
0900: fuss, get Mommy to play
1000: Experience Solid Foods
1030: bath- be sure to scream as loud as possible. Make neighbors wonder if they should dial 911.
1100: nurse
1130: play
1400: nurse
1430: nap
1700: nurse
1730: quiet play
2000: nap
2200: Daddy's home! Play!
2300: nurse
2330: Night Night!

I've been seeing a lot of Baby Wise recommendations lately. I personally feel that this book is unrealistic at best, gravely dangerous at the worst. The rigid schedule can lead to dehydration and failure to thrive. The mother's milk supply will almost certainly be affected too.
The idea that a baby will not self regulate without a rigid schedule just does not make sense to me. Jack's schedule is something that we fell into that works for him, and fits into mine and Joshua's obligations. The day does not always go exactly like that- sometimes Jack is feeling needier than usual and wants to nurse an extra time (or three!). Sometimes we sleep in, and sometimes we get up earlier. Generally, though, our days follow a pattern, and Jack is happy and active.
One thing we never do is try to make Jack eat if he is not hungry, or keep him from eating if he is. I think if he is confident that food will be available when he needs it, it will help prevent an emotional dependence on food later.
I give Baby Wise a big thumbs down for promoting the idea that children are an inconvenience.

Video Day

Jack hanging out.
That's all for today.

Empty Kitchen

We went to see Joshua's sister Paula and her family in Canon City over the weekend. There were lots of kids and even more food! Paula has three kids, age 7, 5, and 3. They love Jack, so he spent the weekend with six little hands constantly grabbing and poking, but he took it well. He's really into feeling people's faces right now, and the kids were happy to oblige.

Jonah, 3

Sammy, 5

Addie, 7

Paula and Jack

The mountains are lovely.

And huge.

A rainbow!



We don't like to leave food at home while we're out of town, so I got back to an empty kitchen. No car to go to the store, only a few random cans in the pantry, what do I do? I made "Colorado Red Beans and Rice."

Yummy.

Colorado Red Beans and Rice
serves 4

1 cup brown rice
2 cups water

1 Tablespoon bacon grease
16 oz ground sausage (I used a package of Johnsonville hot Italian and removed the casing and sliced it)
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped (I did not have a bell pepper, but I think it would be good)
1-15 oz can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1-16 oz can diced tomatoes (I used Del Monte with Basil, Garlic, and Oregano for flavor)
2 Tablespoons sugar
Salt and Pepper to taste

Prepare rice using a rice maker or on the stovetop. In a heated skillet, melt the bacon grease, then add the sausage. Cook over high heat until the sausage is fully browned.
Add the onion and turn down the heat to medium. Add the bell pepper as the pan is cooling down.
When the onion and bell pepper have both softened, mix in the kidney beans and turn the heat back up. When you add the tomatoes to the pan, there should be a sizzling sound as the liquid hits the hot pan (I drained just a little bit of juice from the tomatoes so it wouldn't be too soggy).
Taste the sauce now, if you find it too acidic, add the sugar 1/2 tablespoon at a time until it tastes right. Add salt and pepper to your tast and turn the heat back down.
Allow beans to simmer for at least 10 minutes, for up to an hour on low heat, stirring ocassionally. If the sauce becomes too thick, add a little bit of water at a time to thin it out.
While preparing the beans, the rice should have finished cooking. You can serve the meal fresh from the pan by pouring the beans over the rice in individual bowls, or allow the rice to cool completely and mix the beans into it. The rice and bean mixture can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week, and I think it only tastes better with time.

At some point during the simmering process, my husband wondered into the kitchen and sprinkled some cumin into the mix. I can take it or leave it, but he insists it makes all the difference.

For more authentic red beans and rice, omit the tomatoes, and add a few finely chopped cloves of fresh garlic.

This can easily be made a vegetarian meal- replace the bacon grease with olive oil and omit the sausage. Start the skillet on medium heat instead of high since you won't need to cook the meat. It could be bulked up with a second can of beans, I would mix in some light red kidneys or black beans to give the meal some more color and texture.

So that was really easy for me to do because we always have canned beans and tomatoes, as well as a few onions in the house. The total cost for the meal was around six dollars. That's $1.50 per serving. The vegetarian option would be about half as much, or $0.75 per serving.

I was really happy about the way it came out because when I looked up recipes, they all involved soaking dry beans, simmering ham hocks, and wait, wait, waiting. This meal took me about half an hour, and there was minimal prep.

There's still a can of garbanzos in there, so next time... Empty kitchen hummus.

A sad day indeed

I was sad, but not surprised to learn earlier today that Farrah Fawcett had died. Shortly after, I heard about Ed McMahon. Sad, but again not so surprising.

Just an hour ago, I read that Michael Jackson has also left us.

I stared at the screen for a few minutes, dumbfounded. Normally, celebrity deaths don't bother me. They are just people and people die all the time, right? But Michael Jackson... As a child of the eighties, to me there has never been a time that he didn't exist. He was always there, a constant dose of mild insanity, a glittering monolith, the undisputed King of Pop.

And now he's gone. It's strange to imagine a world without him. Is it a better world? Considering the many accusations leveled against Jackson over the last sixteen(?) years, maybe it is. As mother to a little boy myself, I can certainly understand the outrage and fear that has been directed towards him. On the other hand, however inexcusable his actions may have been, without Jackson's influence, popular music as we know it today would not exist. It begs the question: do we discount the art because of who or what the artist is? His publicity marriages, questionable parenting, and other acts of disreputable behavior are beginning to fade from my memory already.

All that remains is a single, sparkling glove, a dance, and a beat that never ends...

I love my sling!

Jack is officially teething. While he's still a generally delightful baby, there have definitely been more tears around here than usual. This leaves me with three options: leave Jack to cry while taking care of my business, hold Jack and don't take care of my business, or make use of the sling.

Let's face it: when baby is crying, no amount of focus will allow me to do my work. But someone had to do the dishes before the leftover food bits became a highly evolved society. Still, for some reason, I spent almost 2 hours running back and forth between the kitchen and attempting to comfort a very uncomfortable child before realizing I was getting nothing accomplished. So, Jack went into the sling, and while the going was a little slower than I would have liked, I managed to clean the kitchen. (I did wait until his nap to wash the knives or begin cooking!)

Right now he's sitting in my lap, supported by the sling. I'm hands-free and able to type, and he is happy close to me and his mid-afternoon snack.

So here's Jack in his sling...

He's using the nursing cover as a tent. Well, at least it's being used...

Did you know plastic pants double as chef hats? Yes, they are clean.

So last night we had this ridiculous monsoon/storm thing. Joshua is convinced we brought the tornadoes with us from Huntsville. It's kind of weird that there has been a tornado almost every day since we got here, when normally there aren't whole lot of them here.

We had this bizzare continuous lightning. It went for at least half an hour.

25 seconds of cuteness.

And just for fun, we gave him his first solids last week. Plain pureed avocado, yum!

Reflections on Cloth Diapering and some Pictures

Ask anyone who knows me and they will confirm: I am obsessed with diapers. We made the switch to cloth when Jack was about six weeks, and after much trial and error, I think we've got the hang of it.

We use a combination of different types of diapers to meet Jack's... elimination needs. My favorites by far are bumGenius Organic One-Size Cloth Diapers. It's not that they're organic, though that's a nice touch. The fact that they are all-in-one doesn't hurt either, but the great thing is they seem to fit a slightly larger size range than the bumGenius 3.0 One-Size Cloth Diaper. Incedentally, that's my second favorite. Stuffing diapers can be a little bit of a pain, but it's great for nighttime and travel when Jack needs more absorbency, and when it's really hot, you can cut down on the bulk by using just the doubler/infant insert.

We also have a handful of purple size Medium FuzziBunz diapers that my mom found at Unclaimed Baggage in Scottsboro for $2 each. They are still too big for Jack, but I like the snaps and the fact that they have a higher rise, good because he is tall (long?) and thin.

But the real reason I'm making this post is to praise the wonders of a traditional prefold and rubber pants, or a Dappi cover. (Warning, there is about to be poop discussion...) Cheap, easy to wash, and almost stain-proof, if your baby goes number 2 on a regular schedule, these are the diapers to use when he is due. I use prefolds almost exclusively during the day for all those reasons. I also like that when pinned on, the sides of the diaper create a pocket that contains matter in a way that pocket diapers have never done for us.

You can't beat pockets or all-in-ones for convenience, but it's hard to improve upon the original prefold. I remember my mom using them as rags long after my sister and I had been potty trained. They make great burp cloths and impromptu bibs too.

Since changing over to cloth, Joshua and I have gone from three full trashbags a week to less than one. I think once I convince him that cloth wipes are great too, we'll get away with one every 2 weeks. We've added one load of laundry a week, so essentially, we are spending $1.75 to wash cloth, where we were spending at least $12 on disposables before. After the initial investment for the diapers, and estimating 3 years in diapers, that's a savings of almost $1500! Even more if we have another kid and reuse the diapers.

Yeah, I think cloth is pretty great.

And now for some pictures...

Jack can't get the pacifier straight.

He loves his new house =D

Chillin' in Canon City. My niece Addie took that one.

Joshua and Jack at Lake Loveland.
And the vector I whipped up for Father's Day.

Obligatory Introduction Post

Let's see... my name is Natalie and lately I'm pretty much a mom. I am primarily starting a blog now because my husband and I packed up everything we (cared to continue to) own and drove from Huntsville, AL to Loveland, CO last month. With Joshua working and Jack still preverbal, I'm a little lonely and would like somewhere to vent my thoughts.

So, what to expect as far as content. I have longed to start my very own webcomic since 2003 when I discovered Natalie Dee. I don't really have a cohesive concept, but I like to doodle about funny occurrences in everyday life. No stick figures, I promise. This is my blog, so there will be stuff about me and my family- photos, videos, goings-on in our lives, etc. Ramblings about my interests, maybe some tutorials that relate to my hobbies and activities.

Since Jack was born five months ago, my primary desire has been to simplify and get to what really matters. To me, that is family, both immediate, and our global family- kindness to one another and respect for the world we live in. So that's what the bulk of this journal thing is about.

Will post actual content later.

Love,
Natalie