Query: Why Biblical "Characters" And Facebook Are Not A Good Tandem

By now, the breathing world is familiar with Facebook. And while most people can debate about its utility, for those of us who use the social network, there is a bit of fun involved with reconnecting with old classmates, former co-workers, and relatives.

With that in mind, the downside is being inundated with a series of quizzes and tests which has to be nothing more than the 21st Century equivalent of a bad chain letter.

There is not a day that doesn't go by where I'm requested to take some test to find out what kind of a student I was, friend I am, and husband I will be. But today took the cake when I was requested to take a quiz to find out "What Kind of Bible Character (Am I)?"

Upon reading the invite, I had to rub my eyes because I found the statement to be incredulous on so many different levels.

I will readily admit that I am not the first one running to my local house of worship in a way that might please my parents. However, I certainly to try to live as pious a life as possible in today's world. But do I really need to take a social networking site's exam to find out who I best resemble? And what does it say about me if I wind up with a behavior more akin to Judas or Cain than John The Baptist or the Apostle Paul? (Heaven only knows where my soul will be resting in the afterlife if I found out that my personality is more like the former than the latter.)

As with many things in life, there are just some things that I'd rather not know.

But I hope you caught the biggest crime in this quiz. It is that fact that it referred to those who are mentioned in the Bible as "characters".

Now, I'm not the first one to pass judgment on anyone's religious views but I am certain that Job, Moses, Jonah, and David had more of significant role in Christianity than what the quiz suggests. And it is near lunacy to equated them with the likes of Cliff Huxtable, Elaine Benes, and Jack Bauer. To the surprise of the creators of the Biblical character quiz, Bill Cosby, Julia Louis-Dryfus, and Kiefer Sutherland are merely actors in television shows. They do not really go by these names in real life and certainly do not lead the life they portray on the television series. (And, yes, Virginia, most of those rap acts really aren't gangsta but that's another post for another time.)

However, I would beg to reason that the "characters" in the Bible did more than merely perform scripts before a live studio audience.

So again, we come back to picking on word choice. Maybe Facebook didn't really mean "characters" in the sense of acting but as everyone knows, when it comes to the interwebs the only way to clearly express yourself is through choosing words wisely. But that's okay, maybe he quiz creator merely thought that the Sermon on the Mount was nothing more than a staged lecture.

In the meantime, I'll pass upon this quiz and be certain to avoid most others. I think that I'm secure in my life just as I am.

The Farce That Is The WBC

The World Baseball Classic begins this week and I could careless.

I mean, why should I actually pay attention to a contrived tournament that does not showcase the world's best players playing at their best. Let alone playing for their actual nation of birth.

The fact that Davey Johnson was handed a note which read that Team USA was the team to beat resonates with me the same way that knowing Rhianna and Chris Brown are back together. My sporting life will continue to be following the Team The Other Players Use to Drive Up Their Contract Demands (also known as my Beloved, Atlanta Braves) and my personal life will continue to be just as great as ever.

So why do we need the WBC?

Those who run the game try to sell the notion that it is an opportunity to expand the game. They paint the picture that millions of baseball fans around the globe will be watching their brethren take the diamond to battle for baseball superiority.

I call B.S.

First, something tells me that the Italians are far more interested in Serie A than they are baseball. And while we Americans love to draw of the romantic notion of lil' Georgio watching the ballgame at his home in Roma, do you really think he is saying to himself, "Papa, one day, I want to represent Italia and hit the game winning home run off of David Price."?

Against our conventional wisdom, lil' Georgio would rather score the game winning goal during the World Cup.

The next joke is the fact that the teams will not be competing at full strength. Granted, American baseball started early to accommodate the WBC, but our major league players will not be game ready come Game One. (And remember, the majority of the WBC professional players are coming from MLB.) Pitchers will be on strict pitch counts as they are not "stretched out" enough to go even 75 pitches. As for the batters, I would prefer that Brian McCann gets to know the new arms of the Pitching Staff of the Willing (also known as those players who actually wanted to play in Atlanta) than trying to discuss strategy with his "teammates" during the WBC. It doesn't help the Beloved when B-Mac (or any of your favorite players) is riding the pine with one or two ABs when they could have received more during their basic spring training game in Florida (or Arizona).

Yet, the biggest fraud of the WBC is actually the players playing for "their" countries.

I'm not discussing the tired notion that Derek Jeter is actually playing for "me". (It is not as if the Americans lose to the Netherlands and while walking down the streets of Amsterdam , lil' Johannes will shame me because his country beat us.) No, I'm talking about how players with tenuous connections to other nations are somehow allow to represent the nation "of their ancestral heritage". This allows for American-born Alex Rodriguez (born in Manhattan and raised in Miami) to play for the Dominican Republic and allow for sandlot players, semi-pros, and career minor leaguers from the United States to play for the Italian baseball side. To me, it's the equivalent of allowing President Obama play for the Indonesia national team because he spent significant time there as a child. This just should not happen.

If this is truly an international competition, allow the nations to field their best teams - comprised of its current citizens. Not those who feel a cultural affinity due to their lineage or other fallacious reason. To see someone like Nick Punto, born in San Diego, California, play for Italy is simply a incredulous and makes the tournament more incredible.

In a perfect world, this game would be played either during the middle of the summer or at the end of the season. However, this is not a perfect world and therefore, maybe this whole thing should be scrapped. But as long as MLB can sell the game and its jerseys (I saw a man on the train yesterday decked out in the Puerto Rican cap and jersey along with matching shoes - but that's another blog for another time), MLB will find willing partners with ESPN in its great attempt to promote this tourney.

So for those of you who actually care, enjoy. In the meantime, I'm going to research my family history to see if I can get on a time for 2013.

The Epitome of Rhetoric

"Just a bunch of rhetoric...."

As President Obama ends his first address to the Joint Session of Congress, I am certain that The Cynic, resting in his home right now, is mumbling those exact words. The Cynic will state that it is just another politician, Democrat or Republican, who is just using words to try to mislead the American public from the reality facing out nation.

Yet, as I tell my class on every occasion, The Cynic has it all wrong. Rhetoric is not some type of voodoo that creative wordsmiths use to persuade an individual to see another way. Instead, it is the art of using language effectively - not only through the use of words, but knowing exactly who they are speaking too.

And with that, President Obama hit a home run this evening.

It will be easy to dismiss the address as akin to a Depression-era speech from FDR. Truth be told, our nation is in the grips of an economic crisis that has not be witnessed for generations. Americans, and the world-at-large, view each tomorrow with trepidation. We wake up to go to work but nervous if we will have that job when we punch out. Every monetary decision is made with caution and the luxuries afford just months ago are now placed on the back burner.

With this in mind, President Obama deftly reminded Americans of the great sacrifices that will remain before the tide turns. He discussed the causes for the current situation and tried to set forth the ideas that he believes will help turn the tide. Yes, it may have not had the specifics the policy-wonks were looking for, but this is an address to the American people. Policy can be found on any website or news program for those who want to delve deeper. After all, one can only do so much within fifty minutes.

However, in a manner not seen over the course of the last eight years, President Obama also managed to uplift the American Spirit. Through the use of civic responsibility, he called the nation to action and not in a WPA-manner. Instead, the nation was challenged to better itself through volunteerism and education: the basic pillars of American society.

With the vigor of a leader that fully understand the capacity of his office, and the understanding that his office truly has no boundaries, President Obama's address was that seminal moment that Americans can possibly look back on and say,"Yes We Can!"

More parent than friend, more ministerial than cheerleader, President Obama set forth his vision for the next year that left me more excited for tomorrow than I was earlier this evening.

"A bunch of rhetoric!", exclaims The Cynic.

Yes, it was.

And at at time when America needed it most.

The Moment And Me

Twelve hours from now, Barack Obama will be sworn-in as our nation's forty-fourth president.

However, unlike untold millions of Americans (and a great majority of my friends), I will not be be at a party or in Washington, D.C.

Instead, I will be in my central Jersey office, watching The Moment unfold online.

This is not to say that I am not as proud or excited. On the contrary, I'm just as ecstatic as anyone. And despite questioning the significance of his election to the "true believers" and conservatives alike, I am thrilled to have the opportunity to witness the presidency of man who has the political capital to do great things. Yet, like Election Day, I am personally served by taking in the events from afar.

Since I am literally a thousand miles away from my family, I witnessed Obama's election victory with those who I deem to be the closest to me. It was not a rowdy, dancing celebration with bottles popping. Instead, it was a somber moment to take in what we were just witnessing and how the course of our nation's history forever be changed. At the moment, it was fait accompli that I would have to be in the District of Colombia for the inauguration. (I mean, how could I not be there, we just elected the first president of color!) But, time and common sense made me understand that the best place for watching history would be alone.

The last three days have be fun to view and hear the festivities taking place in our nation's capital. The concerts, the procession, the celebration is at a scale never witnessed before for the changing of power. Listen to the phone calls on radio or witness the news accounts and it is obvious that everyone wants a role in history. Everyone has their own personal story about how our next president has affected their lives. Everyone is wishing him well. Everyone acting as if the grey skies that have hovered over our nation for the past eight years have now been magically lifted.

But in the confines of my office, I will personally have the chance to realize what his inauguration means to me, undisturbed by the hoopla that is associated with this particular event. Like my personal accomplishments, I do not seek revelry in The Moment. Instead, it is merely a chance to acknowledge the task and be prepared to move to the next challenge. I mean, why bring notice to something that is already garnering attention. And the task for President Obama will be to move a nation, in the grips of an occupation in Iraq, a battle in Afghanistan, a "cease-fire" in the Gaza Strip, and an economic meltdown of historic proportions - just to name a few items of major concern.

Instead, The Moment will be an opportunity for me to think of what his swearing means to me. I can recall the various times in elementary school when I was questioned for reading "radical" Black literature, in high school wanting to go beyond Dr. King's "dream" and discuss his campaign for the poor and anti-Vietnam stance, having to "justify" my acceptance into top tier programs for my undergraduate and law degree, and various "cultural" discussions that have been held weekly, if not daily, dating back to my elementary school days. Even more, The Moment will be a chance for me to reflect upon the contributions that Americans of color have made to this land - only to be told, implicitly or explicitly, that this land was (not) "made for you use and me". (That Capitol that Obama will stand in front of - created by slave labor from the deforestation of the area before its construction to the very edifice without so much as an acknowledgment of their work.)

The Moment will also give me a moment to reflect that a family of color will be the standard bearer for the American family lifestyle. From a power couple, with the intelligence and style to bring about a second Camelot, and two adorable children that we will watch evolve over the course of four (no, let's say it now, eight years). And this is just over twenty years when many Black Americans scoffed at"The Cosby Show" and the notion that it wasn't realistic.

The Moment will finally show the rest of the nation, and the world, that Obama's presidency states that at the end of the day, all Americans have the same desires. Much like religion, we all may have different routes on how we want to get to our final destination, but it is the final destination that we all have in common. Despite our differences, we ultimately want to achieve the same goal.

For me, it would be impossible to have these reflections amongst millions of others. The sound system, security, and scores of people would do their best to take away from The Moment.

Instead, I will take in the events from my corner of the world. Technology, in the form of email, texts, and phone calls will connect me with those who I cherish the most and give me the impression that we're all watching The Moment together.

Sure, memories of a lifetime will be had just hours from now on The Mall.

But I will have mine and they will be just as special.

The Work Ahead of "U.S."

There are a host of ideas that come to mind the day after our nation elected Barack Obama to become the forty-fourth president of the United States.

The conversation has centered on the historical nature of the vote and pride the runs deep, not only within the Black American community, but also within immigrate communities.

Without a doubt, this is a seminal moment in our nation's history; the son of a Kenyan man and a white woman rises to the presidency through hard work, determination, and modest means.

One thing that strikes me is this notion that our nation has somehow risen beyond its racialized past and that we are truly one nation.

This simply is not so.

As the results are still being tabulated, President-Elect Obama has received only fifty-three percent of the vote. Far from a mandate, in terms of politics, this means that forty-seven percent of Americans voted against him. Though I am not well-schooled in statistics, this shows me that American is still highly partisan. The only difference between 2004 and today is that the Democrats won.

The celebration that occurred on our nation's streets was a collective sigh of relief. It was a cross-section of America that witnessed history. It was a collection of Americans reveling in the fact that a man who inspired them achieved the ultimate goal. It was a gathering of citizens realizing that the theorized notion of America, often taught in elementary school as a "melting pot", was being realized.

Most importantly, it was a New Orleans-style "second line" celebrating the end of the W years.

Our nation is still as politically polarized today as it was two weeks ago, as it was two years ago, as it was in 1992.

The Obama election is symbolic in that he held on to the Democratic Party's key constituents while able to incorporate the white working class during hard economic times. What is significant is now our nation has two distinct parties. As evidenced by the Grant Park celebration, the Democrats embody a 21st Century America where everyone believes they can play a role. Meanwhile, the Republicans appear to be a relic of an old guard. And yes, they are certainly not equal.

But before we can start the conversation about healing our racial wounds, we have to realize that Obama will be challenged and tormented by Republicans the same way we Democrats have demonized W over the past eight years. The GOP will not "give (Obama) a chance" by virtue of his place in history. In fact, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mike Francessa, and Michael Kay (oops, the last ones are "sports" talk hosts) now have four more years to rail against progressive politics. Not because of race, but because of Obama's ideology.

The challenge to those newly inspired to vote and participate in the political process, as it is to all Democrats, is to realize that the next four years will be tough in selling what we believe to the American people. In the process, we must also make the American Dream available to everyone. That is where the GOP failed for the past eight years.

I, like my friends are all celebrating Obama's election. But there is still so much work which needs to be done. With his election, we now have no US Senators of color. There is only one Black governor. And this does not mention the dearth of Latinos in national politics. For our nation to truly move forward, we must strive for elective office in all branches of government.

So the "dream" is no longer just a dream but more akin to an extended thought.

But don't believe that our nation has atoned for its past sins. There is plenty of work for ALL of us to do.