What Are You Doing Here?
Looking for stuff about the war with Iraq? Hmm... There's some down below. But before you go read it, I urge you to zip on over to Donald Sensing's blog and read this, in which exposes how a fellow United Methodist pastor, Nashville UM Bishop Melvin Talbert, allowed himself to be Saddam's dupe in the anti-war movement. It's important - because Talbert is currently all over the news for his starring role in anti-war television commercial.

Not convinced you need to go to Sensing's blog pronto? Okay, here's an excerpt...

The bishop recently went to Iraq (December, as I recall), where he let Saddam spin him like a top. He saw only what Saddam wanted him to see, he spoke only to the people Saddam wanted, he heard only what Saddam intended. There is no account of Talbert's visit, including his own, that he attempted to give a witness to the Iraqi people or the regime's figures of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; there is no evidence or report that he challenged Saddam's regime on its tyranny and murder; there is no evidence or report that he had any real agenda other than a barely-concealed willingness to be used a dupe by the co-winner of the Gold Medal for bloodthirstiest tyrant alive today (Kim Jong Il being the other).

Now... get going!

UPDATE 2/16: I received an email from reader Tom Lee, who informed me the dictator-coddling United Methodist bishop's first name was Melvin, not John. My mistake, indeed it is Melvin. It will be corrected in the originial item Lee also said Talbert was from San Francisco, not Nashville. True, but in this case we're both right. According to this story. Talbert teaches at Vanderbilt Divinity School right here in Music City. Bishop Talbert retired from his San Francisco post Sept. 1, 2000. Lee pointed me to this very interesting press release from the United Methodist News Service regarding the circumstances surrounding Talbert's resignation.