Abortion Arithmetic

Now that voting is behind us for a while, it won’t hurt to evaluate the difficult role played by our faith and our Catholic churches in our American Democracy.

There are many social problems concerning protection of life, and many different levels at which our government might address these problems. In our role of Faithful Citizenship, following the Way of Christ, we not only weigh the issues and values, but the effectiveness of different civic agencies in dealing with these issues. The combined effect of all our votes, from all our different perspectives, can be a powerful force for insight and change. The Spirit moves in us.

The Holy Father and the American Bishops recognize this. Political Activity Guidelines prohibit any staff member (certainly the homilist), from intervention in a political campaign in discussion of an election by promoting candidates or issues.

I expect that the majority of Catholic pastors followed the guidelines of the Church and managed to speak in ways that shed light on the issues, without endorsing any side or position.

Of course, as we all know, some parishes did not follow those guidelines. Those renegades did us all a real disservice. And they undoubtedly commandeered enough of the Catholic vote to determine the outcome of the election. Should they be pleased with themselves?

In hindsight, the immediate problem of the election was this:

In a sea of ugly sound bites, George Bush, the 9/11-anointed hero, claimed and was awarded the Pro-Life stance. John Kerry stated his position, “I personally oppose abortion,” and his bottom line to oppose anything that compromises the constitutional right of the mother to make the decision with her doctors. Those who know Kerry as a decent, process-oriented, even idealistic person, know that Kerry was stating his limits, saying we could work with the rest of it. But most people didn't hear that. They heard, "I will not (oppose abortion).”

Neither Kerry, nor Democrats, nor Catholics of social conscience found a way to effectively bridge the chasm at which we found ourselves.

Why aren’t we saying, "Abortion has always been with us, but in our responsibility to protect the vulnerable, there are things that we will do that will help reduce the number of abortions. We have to respect the mother and the unborn child. We have to work within our American justice system, or chaos will reign. No law yet devised would be able to eliminate abortion, but we can cut it by ??% in eight years if we do (fill in the blank)."

There are universally acceptable and desirable social programs that can do this for us. Who is developing them? Who is researching their real effect in the real world? This would give us a direction to move steadily toward the values we consider so vital.

As it was, unless they could see beyond those renegade self-styled "Pro-Life pastors” who flaunt the rules and the radio talk shows that blather endlessly on a dead-end street, Catholics were faced with a deceptively clear inequality to define their moral position:

152 Texas executions + 1000 American military dead + 100,000 Iraqi citizens dead comes to much less than 44 million murdered unborn babies.

Anyone can do that kind of math. So we voted.

And we’re left at the same brick wall that we were before, where our favorite anti- abortion strategies imperil the American Constitution and justice system. What we need are people who can do the work of charting new directions through this impasse.

selection for attorney general

President Bush,

I am very concerned about the formerly illegal activites that Mr. Gonzales has enabled and supported, basically deciding to ignore the rule of law in anti-terrorism issues. These are highly visible, and look to me to be part of the basic failure of leadership in human rights (Guantanamo Bay and AbuGraib being the tip of the iceberg). These policies flout the rule of Democracy and Law that the United States has always stood for. This is NOT the kind of person I want to see as Attorney General. How can he be Attorney General if the only thing he is known for is flouting the law?

If he were to admit that those polices I mentioned overreach themselves, and your administration was to change those policies, I could support the man, and maybe he could go on to be a great Attorney General.

I think we have to clean up our messes before we go on to create even bigger ones, and as President, you are the one who has be responsible. Otherwise you're just a patsy.

Predicting the president

Predicting the president:

Lawrence County is the birthplace of country singer Ricky Skaggs and former Gov. Paul Patton, and now it has another claim to its name — a 40-year winning streak in picking U.S. presidents.
...
Louisa Mayor Teddy Preston said winning streaks don't just happen; some voters make up their minds at the last minute so they can see which way the race is tipping nationally.

'They're not going to go for a loser,' Preston said. 'They didn't want to go and cast their vote for nothing.'"

t r u t h o u t - Michael Feingold | Our Vanished Values

t r u t h o u t - Michael Feingold | Our Vanished Values:

John Kerry asked us to pledge to build bridges to unify the United States. I think that now, since the antagonistic election process is over, we might be able to rekindle the conversation on issues of good government, without the so-called 'moral issues' completly drowning out the voices.

Here is an excerpt from a rather blunt, yet insightful piece.

"  Fear and prejudice, Bush's twin allies, go hand in hand with the refusal to think, something that has always been part of American politics: The Republican Party actually had its origins, in the 1840s, as a faction of the anti-immigrant, fundamentalist Know-Nothing movement. A century and a half have only upped the ante: We live in a country as flooded with information as it is with conflicting viewpoints and contrasting ways of life. To understand the mistaken half of our electorate, we have to begin with the realization that this flood of data can itself be a source of fear.


  The longing to be simple and to solve problems simply is a natural human impulse. We on what might be called the unfrightened side of the informational flood have to make a start at bridge building and boat rescues; those on the other side are too panicked by the sight of the flood. Ill luck and unwisdom have made them run to a man whose only perceivable goal is to lead us all, like lemmings, over the cliff to drown. So our job for the next four years, while fighting every way we can to extricate our country from the messes Bush has already made, is to reassure simple souls by educating in simple terms. And to avoid condescension, this means reorienting ourselves to them, understanding that we have a basic faith in democracy, free speech, the separation of church and state, the balance of power among branches of government. We, as well as our opposites, have often enough let our prejudices and the media barrage obscure our understanding."

FOXNews.com - The O'Reilly Factor - Talking Points - Another Dangerous Ruling by an Activist Judge

FOXNews.com - The O'Reilly Factor - Talking Points - Another Dangerous Ruling by an Activist Judge

Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points about a Dangerous "Activist Judge" sound to me like commendations. U.S. District Court Judge James Robertson is being attacked by O'Reilly, with his customary warped logic.

Judge Robertson, thank you for your good service to this country.

Peace Love & Candlewax

Peace Love & Candlewax

I met someone yesterday, who calls himself Gentle Giant, and seems to have kept the positive perspective on life, peace, faith, and the Spirit, that I wonder if I have lost.

His journal is intelligent, productive and calming. THANK YOU for sharing.

Chant at St. Joe

Today the Youth Choir sang for mass, and sang very well. Edie was cantor for the responsorial psalm, and her clear voice was refreshing, beautiful, and accurate. It was her first time. I think she's in the 6th grade.

We sang Qui manducat carnem meam after the communion song, and it was beautifully done. Fr. Toan complimented the girls, saying that he knew from Seminary how difficult it was and how much work it took to prepare. He invited the congregation to applaud, and I was grateful. I don't think that is something that should be done very often, but it helps the young people know that this new "old" stuff is valuable to the parish. He also came over after mass, said he heard a lot of good comments, and the people of the parish would like to hear it more often. Great. There is a very long communion procession at St. Joe, especially on Saturday, and perhaps we could do this every week, changing our chant more or less seasonally.

We have an invitation for the Youth Choir to sing on Christmas Eve with the Herde Family choir, and so Amy would like us to find at least one chant piece for that.

"What Barry Says" video text

The United States of America is the most powerful nation on Earth.
in itself, this goes a long way to explaining the things it does around the world.
At present it is conducting a War On Terror
or, more accurately,
a campaign against opposition to U.S. domination.

Others prefer to call it the beginnings of the Third World War

The United States has an insatiable appetite for conflict,
and since going into Korea in the 1950’s,
it’s been at war with someone or other,
in some corner of the globe, nonstop,
right up to the present day.

This drive is now led by the weapons manufacturers themselves.
It is highly dangerous precedent.
I call it “War Corporatism.”
It is the door of a new fascism being pushed open.

And don’t be fooled, not all fascism looks like Adolph Hitler.

The reality,
as we see from the Iraqi invasion,
is that the Presidency has been captured
by the most powerful elements of this Corporatism.
And this ghastly molecule aims to turn the world
into its very own enslaved global market,
and the plan is well on the way.

The attack by AlQaeda on the World Trade Center
is just one response to it.

Is this a conspiracy?
Quite the opposite.

It is a high-profile project known as
The Project for A New American Century.

People like Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Richard Perle,
are the major players
among politicians, right-wing thinkers,
militarists and industrialists,
in the creation of the project.
The project is a neo-conservative manifesto,
which includes in its toolbox
an unbridled use of war
in clearing a path for U.S. interests.

The will to attack Iraq came entirely from this visible, yet sinister, group.
Sept 11 was merely the pretext.
Bush is merely the figurehead.

And so, who’s next, you wonder?

Iran? Korea? France? Britain?
None of us really matter to them.

Notes on fascisim

Fascism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Modern History Sourcebook: Mussolini: Wht is Fascism, 1932

Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) over the course of his lifetime went from Socialism - he was editor of Avanti, a socialist newspaper - to the leadership of a new political movement called "fascism" [after "fasces", the symbol of bound sticks used a totem of power in ancient Rome].

In 1932 Mussolini wrote (with the help of Giovanni Gentile) and entry for the Italian Encyclopedia on the definition of fascism.

Fascism, the more it considers and observes the future and the development of humanity quite apart from political considerations of the moment, believes neither in the possibility nor the utility of perpetual peace. It thus repudiates the doctrine of Pacifism -- born of a renunciation of the struggle and an act of cowardice in the face of sacrifice. War alone brings up to its highest tension all human energy and puts the stamp of nobility upon the peoples who have courage to meet it. All other trials are substitutes, which never really put men into the position where they have to make the great decision -- the alternative of life or death....

...The Fascist accepts life and loves it, knowing nothing of and despising suicide: he rather conceives of life as duty and struggle and conquest, but above all for others -- those who are at hand and those who are far distant, contemporaries, and those who will come after...

Fascism, now and always, believes in holiness and in heroism; that is to say, in actions influenced by no economic motive, direct or indirect...

After Socialism, Fascism combats the whole complex system of democratic ideology, and repudiates it, whether in its theoretical premises or in its practical application. Fascism denies that the majority, by the simple fact that it is a majority, can direct human society; it denies that numbers alone can govern by means of a periodical consultation, and it affirms the immutable, beneficial, and fruitful inequality of mankind, which can never be permanently leveled through the mere operation of a mechanical process such as universal suffrage....

...Fascism denies, in democracy, the absur[d] conventional untruth of political equality dressed out in the garb of collective irresponsibility, and the myth of "happiness" and indefinite progress....

The foundation of Fascism is the conception of the State, its character, its duty, and its aim. Fascism conceives of the State as an absolute, in comparison with which all individuals or groups are relative, only to be conceived of in their relation to the State. The conception of the Liberal State is not that of a directing force, guiding the play and development, both material and spiritual, of a collective body, but merely a force limited to the function of recording results: on the other hand, the Fascist State is itself conscious and has itself a will and a personality -- thus it may be called the "ethic" State....

...The Fascist State organizes the nation, but leaves a sufficient margin of liberty to the individual; the latter is deprived of all useless and possibly harmful freedom, but retains what is essential; the deciding power in this question cannot be the individual, but the State alone....

...For Fascism, the growth of empire, that is to say the expansion of the nation, is an essential manifestation of vitality, and its opposite a sign of decadence. Peoples which are rising, or rising again after a period of decadence, are always imperialist; and renunciation is a sign of decay and of death. Fascism is the doctrine best adapted to represent the tendencies and the aspirations of a people, like the people of Italy, who are rising again after many centuries of abasement and foreign servitude. But empire demands discipline, the coordination of all forces and a deeply felt sense of duty and sacrifice: this fact explains many aspects of the practical working of the regime, the character of many forces in the State, and the necessarily severe measures which must be taken against those who would oppose this spontaneous and inevitable movement of Italy in the twentieth century, and would oppose it by recalling the outworn ideology of the nineteenth century - repudiated wheresoever there has been the courage to undertake great experiments of social and political transformation; for never before has the nation stood more in need of authority, of direction and order. If every age has its own characteristic doctrine, there are a thousand signs which point to Fascism as the characteristic doctrine of our time. For if a doctrine must be a living thing, this is proved by the fact that Fascism has created a living faith; and that this faith is very powerful in the minds of men is demonstrated by those who have suffered and died for it.

FASCISM -- What It Is and How To Fight It

(The military ruin of German and Italian fascism in WWII convinced most
people that fascism had been destroyed for good and was so utterly
discredited that it could never again entice any followers. Events
since then, particularly the emergence of new fascist groups and
tendencies in almost every capitalist country,have dispelled such
wishful thinking. The illusion that WWII was fought to make the world
safe from fascism has gone the way of the earlier illusion that WWI was
fought to make the world safe for democracy. The germ of fascism is
endemic in capitalism; a crisis can raise it to epidemic proportions
unless drastic countermeasures are applied.)

PublicEye.org - What is Fascism?:

"Fascism is a form of extreme right-wing ideology that celebrates the nation or the race as an organic community transcending all other loyalties. It emphasizes a myth of national or racial rebirth after a period of decline or destruction. To this end, fascism calls for a 'spiritual revolution' against signs of moral decay such as individualism and materialism, and seeks to purge 'alien' forces and groups that threaten the organic community. Fascism tends to celebrate masculinity, youth, mystical unity, and the regenerative power of violence. Often, but not always, it promotes racial superiority doctrines, ethnic persecution, imperialist expansion, and genocide. At the same time, fascists may embrace a form of internationalism based on either racial or ideological solidarity across national boundaries. Usually fascism espouses open male supremacy, though sometimes it may also promote female solidarity and new opportunities for women of the privileged nation or race."

Four More Years--Simple

CBC News - Viewpoint: Adrian Dix:

Here's a clear post-mortem from Canada:

"In short, the Republicans' message to voters was sharp and clear. There are simple answers. America is right, its critics wrong. America would set its own rules of engagement with the world. God is on our side, the 'right God,' a message routinely delivered at Bush rallies.
"
...the Bush White House is on a mission, at home and abroad. A Bush advisor recently said for example, "We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality." He mocked opponents as living in a "reality-based community." Faced with enormous challenges to their policies, the response from the Bush White House will be unpredictable and potentially dangerous.

Here's another simple message:
http://www.knife-party.net/flash/barry.html

And here's the complete, Republican-approved program:
http://www.newamericancentury.org/index.html

And, horriffic as it is, it all appeals to a lot of Americans. Four more years of selfish, self-righteous, violent bigotry.

A handful of years ago we were seeing the incredible potential of the "faith-based" movement. Problem is, too many of us bought into the glory, but left our brains and experience behind. Too much born-again surrender makes people very susceptible to manipulation by horrible preachers promoting the "Born to Raze Hell" mentality, or the cold calculations of the New American Century group.

The Catholic Church's traditional foundation of faith-based living, the Liturgy of the Hours, is a practice that seems to allow the best of both worlds. It is a complete surrender to God's will, but, as evidenced by the life of the Saints, does not require that people give up their minds, their abilities, their judgment, their talents. Participation in the Church's great prayer brings all of our human capability into the influence of God's love for evaluation.

election

all votes aren't counted, but it looks bad for Kerry and the U.S. and the world.

What is the rush? Seems to me that any president would want all the votes counted?

But that's not the point, is it? It's a game, a "guy thing," about domination and victory.

There are legitimate differences between republicans and democrats, some major things, like the approach to abortion, the respect/disrespect for human life on other levels, and basic differences in the role of business and money.

Unfortunataly, this election wasn't really a referendum on any of these things. The endorsement of blatant bigotry and murderous commercialism is unprecedented in my lifetime. Bigotry and selfishness seem to have won out.

No big surprise there.

100,000 more Iraqi deaths than usual since US occupation

FINALLY, somebody managed to get in there and count this. I've been looking for this information for a year, but there was only partial information from the bodycount website.

source:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8243-2004Oct29.html?nav=hcmodule

And G. Bush call himself "pro-life"? Only to get votes, I think.

To this, one of my good friends wrote:

All destruction of human life is evil. But for a comparison, it is estimated over 44 million lives have been lost through elective abortion.

I guess the question is what we doing about it?

Since our "leaders" are actively promoting death in the Middle East, some for profit, some just out of arrogance, that seems to me to be clearly wrong. And that is directly the President's responsibility. It's in his hands. Directly. He acts proud to present United States violence as his policy.

On the other hand, he doesn't have that much effect on the abortion issue, because the American people have more say than he does, through the court system, and through the fact that, legal or illegal, abortion is always an event that happens in private. In the big picture, abortion and suicide are both deaths that can mostly be prevented by addressing the conditions that surround the event (which has implications for dealing with both abortion and suicide-terrorism).

People tell me that all these [irresponsible, probably criminal] acts that this administration keeps pulling are justified because Bush signed the partial-birth abortion bill and supports faith-based initiatives. As far as I can tell, that bill never had much effect on abortions, and anyone who knows law knew that it would be useless, except as a statement, even before it was passed.

Maybe as a statement it might be another case of "going in the right direction." But I think it was more about campaigning to his "base." Bush is a great campaigner. I don't think he's working for the babies at all, and he's not effective at ANYTHING that requires subtlety, skill or appreciation of pluralism.

I'll say one thing. This has sure wakened me up to the fact that we can't be just leaving abortion to politicians and lawmakers, "other" people and laws. I used to do a lot of work with Girl Scouts, where I had direct influence on young people, on helping them match values and actions. Since then, the only thing I've done is give money to the people who put up pro-life signs and billboards. Not a very good record on that issue.

To John Kerry I say:

You haven't managed to give pro-life people a way to vote for you. Can't you find a way to say:

"Abortion has always been with us, but in our responsibility to protect the vulnerable, there are things that we will do. We have to respect the mother and the unborn.

"No law yet devised would be able to eliminate abortion, but we can cut it by ??% in eight years if we do _____."

Surely there's something you guys can come up with that can fit the bill. Just figure it out.

I have faith that you, as president, have the capacity to be one of our best presidents. I say this because of your past record, including the parts of your record that this campaign seems to make you want to disown.

Keep the faith! I'll keep working to get the vote out.

pax,
maggie hettinger

Voting For a Butterfly Endorsement

Neat article. Amy clued me in to this one.

Also, Ralph Nader's paragraph-sound-bite on NPR yesterday made a lot of sense. He talked about the way the representation for votes has been gerry-mandered so much that we are trapped in a perpetual continuation of incumbents according to party. That's why it's so important to maintain other parties. (He explained it in different words, more understandable.)

Randomness--A house divided.

It's been a long time since I explicitly mentioned randomness, even though it the concept that always commands my attention.

Teenagers speak of "random" as if it is everywhere. Always available and operative. Ordinary.

But, as I've explained elsewhere, it is not. It is a highly-prized commodity, whose existence must strongly be supported by high degrees of order. In the interconnected world of matter and life, the level within a system in which randomness appears is crucial.

Any perception of randomness somehow also corresponds with a delineation, a bifurcation of some set of opposites that polarize in relationship to the capability of randomness.

And our current political/social system is caught in a highly-visible exercise of the condition in which the capability of randomness that enables evaluation is not operating in its usual mode. So where is it functioning now? What exactly IS the new order that is forming? We can feel the polarization, but what is it really?

If we could first know where we are and whither we are tending, we could better judge what to do and how to do it.

We are now far into the fifth year, since a policy was initiated, with the avowed object, and confident promise, of putting an end to slavery agitation.

Under the operation of that policy, that agitation has not only not ceased, but has constantly augmented.

In my opinion, it will not cease, until a crisis shall have been reached, and passed--
"A house divided against itself cannot stand."

I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free.

I do not expect the Union to be dissolved--I do not expect the house to fall--but I do expect it will cease to be divided.

It will become all one thing, or all the other.

---Opening lines of A. Lincoln's Speech delivered at Springfield, Illinois, at the Close of the Republican State Convention, June 16, 1858

Creation.

Al Gore | 'Take Our Country Back'

t r u t h o u t - Al Gore | 'Take Our Country Back':
It the article linked above, Al Gore dissects President Bush's ideology. He says Bush is not stupid, not blinded by religious faith, but following, inflexibly, a "right-wing Republican ideology that exalts the interests of the wealthy and of large corporations over the interests of the American people. Love of power for its own sake is the original sin of this presidency."

excerpts:

We know from the 9/11 commission that within hours of the attack, Secretary Rumsfeld was attempting to find a way to link Saddam Hussein with 9/11. We know the sworn testimony of the President's White House head of counter-terrorism Richard Clarke that on September 12 th - the day after the attack: 'The president dragged me into a room with a couple of other people, shut the door, and said, 'I want you to find whether Iraq did this…I said, 'Mr. President…There's no connection. He came back at me and said, 'Iraq! Saddam! Find out if there's a connection…We got together all the FBI experts, all the CIA experts…They all cleared the report. And we sent it up to the president and it got bounced by the National Security Advisor or Deputy. It got bounced and sent back saying, 'Wrong answer. ... Do it again.' …I don't think he sees memos that he doesn't-- wouldn't like the answer.'


  He did not ask about Osama bin Laden. He did not ask about al Qaeda. He did not ask about Saudi Arabia or any country other than Iraq. When Clarke responded to his question by saying that Iraq was not responsible for the attack and that al Qaeda was, the President persisted in focusing on Iraq, and again, asked Clarke to spend his time looking for information linking Saddam Hussein to the attack."

...

 This is not negligence, this is deception.


  It is clear that President Bush has absolute faith in a rigid, right-wing ideology. He ignores the warnings of his experts. He forbids any dissent and never tests his assumptions against the best available evidence. He is arrogantly out of touch with reality. He refuses to ever admit mistakes. Which means that as long as he is our President, we are doomed to repeat them. It is beyond incompetence. It is recklessness that risks the safety and security of the American people.

...

He claimed that he was going to war to deal with an imminent threat to the United States. The evidence shows clearly that there was no such imminent threat and that Bush knew that at the time he stated otherwise. He claimed that gaining dominance of Iraqi oil fields for American producers was never part of his calculation. But we now know, from a document uncovered by the New Yorker and dated just two weeks to the day after Bush's inauguration, that his National Security Counsel was ordered to "meld" its review of "operational policies toward rogue states" with the secretive Cheney Energy Task Force's "actions regarding the capture of new and existing oil and gas fields."


  We also know from documents obtained in discovery proceedings against that Cheney Task Force by the odd combination of Judicial Watch and the Sierra Club that one of the documents receiving scrutiny by the task force during the same time period was a detailed map of Iraq showing none of the cities or places where people live but showing in great detail the location of every single oil deposit known to exist in the country, with dotted lines demarking blocks for promising exploration - a map which, in the words of a Canadian newspaper, resembled a butcher's drawing of a steer, with the prime cuts delineated.

...

Iraq is not the only policy where the President has made bold assertions about the need for a dramatic change in American policy, a change that he has said is mandated by controversial assertions that differ radically from accepted views of reality in that particular policy area. And as with Iraq, there are other cases where subsequently available information shows that the President actually had analyses that he was given from reputable sources that were directly contrary what he told the American people. And, in virtually every case, the President, it is now evident, rejected the information that later turned out to be accurate and instead chose to rely upon, and to forcefully present to the American people, information that subsequently turned out to be false. And in every case, the flawed analysis was provided to him from sources that had a direct interest, financial or otherwise, in the radically new policy that the President adopted. And, in those cases where the policy has been implemented, the consequences have been to detriment of the American people, often catastrophically so.

...

There is now only one center of power left in our constitution capable of at long last holding George W. Bush accountable, and it is the voters.


  There are fifteen days left before our country makes this fateful choice - for us and the whole world. Join me on November 2 nd in taking our country back.

Former Vice-President Al Gore

Notes from Ky Author Forum--Karen Armstrong

Theology is poetry.

Socrates would say that confusion is the beginning of the spiritual quest.

Hillel

It is difficult to be creative religiously when you are under attack.

Religious fundamentalism is under attack, by Harvard and Yale secularism.

Realize that today's brand of "terrorism" is not Muslim, but Arab.

If religion becomes an ego-maker instead of an ego-loser, it goes bad.

QUESTION: How can we learn compassion for those who are fear-based?
(we ourselves are threatened).
Decode the fundamentalist fear-based imagery. An individual who gives such emphasis to violent end-of-time catastrophies would be considered mentally disturbed.
When we feel attacked, know that the other side, fears the anhillation of religion.

Historically, fundamentalism, when attacked, becomes more extreme.
Before the Scopes trial, fundamentalist Christian activists worked with the left (including communists). After the Scopes trial, they swung to the "right."
Consider the British/IRA conflict. British were always careful NOT to characterize it as a religious conflict. Progress began to be made when the British began to understand that not only were they being attacked, but also that they were at fault.
In USA, you could make it a spiritual process: learning about the "other" and wanting the best for them.
Use 'women's experience' of discrimination to understand those who are excluded and dispossessed.
At the beginning of the 20th century, every major Muslim mullah was in love with the West.

QUESTION: How do I raise my own children in the faith as Muslims in America given that we are being attacked from without and within?
(affirmation from author and from audience)
The best asset the United States has is its own Muslims in the [not "war"] with terrorism.

Pharisees and publicans

Discussing next Sunday's gospel with Sr. Marilyn at St. Joe, we looked at the Pharisee's bragging way of prayer, "O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity..." Sister Marilyn reflected that people today are not so likely to have that fault, being more likely to downplay their talents and needing to be encouraged to share their gifts in ministry.

That got us thinking.

I share that perception, but a light-bulb went off in reference to this huge demand for a Marriage Amendment (marriage=one man + one woman) -- which makes no sense to me, as it doesn't protect MY marriage, nor can I see that it protects marriage in any way for my children who are all of that age, nor can I see that it offers higher-quality lifestyle for the children of any marriage, which is one of the supposed reasons for supporting it.

No. But now I see what the Marraige Amendment does. It lets people (as a group, not individually) act as the Pharisee in Luke's gospel. After all, the Pharisees were basically good people, very serious about maintaining their relationship with God. The Pharisee was stating how he followed the rules, therefore justifying his relationship with God. The Marraige Amendment allows people to justify their goodness in terms of following a set of rules. What's more, they can define clearly those people who don't follow those rules as "other." This is simple. It is clear. And it is such a relief to be clear about things in this complicated world.

A legislation such as the Marriage Amendment clearly defines Evil in terms of biology, which is settled once and for all at birth, not in choices or decisions. It lets the majority point to a minority of others as the source of Evil. And it certainly avoids any need to look for Evil in one's own actions, lifestyle, or the unintended results of those actions and lifestyles. This seems to me to be a very Old-Testament way of looking at things.

I would hope that followers of the Way of Christ can take the more fruitful road offered by compassion. Can't we be inspired to recognise the goodness in stable, loving relationships? Can't we support caring people in their life-choices? Can't we see the fairness and richness this adds to our society? This is the direction toward which our governments and civil entities have been evolving. To me, it looks like the Christian choice as well.

Prayer for All Saints

A Catholic's Companion: "Blessed and Holy are those who turned the time of trial into a moment of grace.

Holy are those who choose peace in a violent situation.

Blessed are those who live in simplicity amid overflowing stuff.

Thanks and praise to those who live gently in an often angry and competitive environment.

How wonderful are those who show mercy and kindness in an uncaring time.

Holy and Blessed are those who choose purity in a depraved age.

Thanks and praise to those who act in justice with the weak and the powerless, the downtrodden and homeless, the old and the young.

Holy are those who choose less in an abundant and consumer society.

O Gracious God and Father, we gather this day to thank and praise you and those who choose your way. These are the Holy Ones, the Saints of the ages. Fill us with your Spirit. Help us to choose the better way and be numbered among your Saints, among those who dine at the Feast in your Kingdom.
"

Deus, Deus meus respice .mp3 Psalm 22 recording

This recording is VERY long, and quite a download if you're on dialup. (12 meg) This psalm ("Oh God, my God, why have you abandoned me?") is one of the few "through-composed" Gregorian chant psalms in the Graduale Triplex. It is incredibly expressive, and not likely to be part of the parish liturgy, since it is to be sung after the first reading as the responsorial psalm, and it takes fully 33 minutes to sing. But I can only imagine what it would be like to take part in a Palm Sunday liturgy that included this beautiful, haunting prayer.

Text, translation and reflection here

Recorded at Bernheim Forest, Sept 2004.

Rockridge Institute - Reframing the Political Battle: Market Fundamentalism vs. Moral Economy

Rockridge Institute - Reframing the Political Battle: Market Fundamentalism vs. Moral Economy:

"The United States should be working to build democracy in every corner of the globe. But Market Fundamentalism actually undermines democratic values. We cannot successfully export democracy without also exporting economic justice and economic opportunity.


Iraq in this sense is a microcosm of a much larger problem. For more than twenty years now, the United States has been aggressively exporting Market Fundamentalist policies to other nations. This country tells foreign governments that they must lower their tariff barriers, dismantle controls over capital flows, cut government spending, and privatize state-owned industries. Most of the world’s developing and transitional economies have followed these policies and the overwhelming majority of them have been moving backwards–not forwards-- on all of the key indicators of economic success reported by the World Bank and the United Nation’s Human Development Reports. Market Fundamentalism, in short, has subverted economic development in most of the poorer regions of the world.


Even before the disaster in Iraq, the global failure of Market Fundamentalism had badly undermined our nation’s credibility in the developing world. It is now far easier for Islamic Radicals to demonize the U.S. as a greedy superpower bent on continuing the subordination of all Muslims. The failures of Market Fundamentalism have made recruitment easier for Al Queda and similar groups. In short, a new Administration needs a radically new strategy to counter the terrorist threat. The centerpiece of such a strategy must be a new approach to global development that abandons Market Fundamentalism in favor of exporting economic opportunity and economic justice."

This is a group that seems to be making progress with what I would consider to be the greater, all-encompassing values into the political and social conversation.

Chant at St. Joe

David H. has been talking to me, and to the folks at St. Joe, about singing the chant at the early morning masses.

The music director asked me if I'd like to be part of the rotation for Sunday early mass, and I agreed. We also set up a time to rehearse with anyone who wants to learn to chant--Wednesdays from one to two, following Sr. Marilyn's lunchtime scripture discussion.

So. We start. (Not this week, but the week after.)

Operation Truth

Operation Truth

CBS News | All In The Family | September 19, 2003 18:41:47

CBS News | All In The Family | September 19, 2003 18:41:47

USATODAY.com - Army reviews reservists in mission refusal

USATODAY.com - Army reviews reservists in mission refusal: "Andrew Krepinevich, executive director of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a Washington think tank, said troop refusals are rare, but not unprecedented in combat. This incident, he said, could reflect poor leadership."

Poor leadership at the top. Good leadership at the unit.

Poll Shows Disapproval of Cheney Daughter Reference (washingtonpost.com)

Poll Shows Disapproval of Cheney Daughter Reference (washingtonpost.com):

"Kerry mentioned that Cheney's daughter was a lesbian in response to a question from moderator Bob Schieffer of CBS News asking the candidates if they believed 'homosexuality is a choice?'


After President Bush had answered that he 'did not know,' Kerry began by saying, ' . . . If you were to talk to Dick Cheney's daughter, who is a lesbian, she would tell you that she's being who she was, she's being who she was born as.'"

Well, it did come out a little awkward, but homosexuality is a subject that John Kerry is not uncomfortable discussing, and I think he was trying to make the question personal to the listeners, not just an "issue." Since candidates families are admired and in a way, adopted, by their supporters in this voting ritual, Kerry's strong statement of empathy might have crystallized into a shared realization among the people of this country. That would have been a good thing, especially since it's largely the neo-conservatives who have adopted the Cheney's as part of their extended family.

I guess it didn't. Too many Americans consider "lesbian" a cuss word.

I wish all that sensitivity that's showing up as "disapproval" would translate into consideration for partners' rights being upheld in our Constitution and state laws.

t r u t h o u t - The Cracks in Bush's Crown

t r u t h o u t - The Cracks in Bush's Crown: " But perhaps he (President George Bush) was thinking of the director of his faith-based initiative. John DiIulio, from Princeton, the most distinguished man of ideas to join his administration, who said, after resigning, 'There is no precedent in any modern White House for what is going on in this one: a complete lack of a policy apparatus. What you've got is everything - and I mean everything - being run by the political arm. It's the reign of the Mayberry Machiavellis.'"

debate: look, mom, I didn't slouch or scowl

No, President Bush didn't slouch or scowl. But he whined. At least 4/5ths of his words were delivered in a defensive, high-pitched "But I DID do what you told me, Mom. I did. See? Why are you being mean to me?" tone of voice.

And it's an accurate portrayal of his position. The things that he thought were the right things to do, really aren't good enough, and he just didn't know.

Not enough experience under his belt, too much adulation and power.

baby bowman

Thank you, Carmel, for asking me to be with you guys. He is beautiful, and you are a beautiful family.

Native grasses

We went out today and collected some seed from a field of native grasses. We think they are Indian Grass , Little Bluestem , and Big Bluestem .

It's been really dry around here for weeks, so I assume we can just put the seed in canning jars and it should keep until spring.

I want to at least make a bunch of round areas in the yard to plant these grasses, and down at the bottom (but can I roundup the current grass? There are fruit trees to consider). I might try to plant the old garden area in native grass, as well.

I'd really like to get some of that perennial corn, too.

Native American Seed - Establish a Native Lawn

Native American Seed - Establish a Native Lawn

Kenyan Environmentalist Wins 2004 Nobel Peace Prize

Kenyan Environmentalist Wins 2004 Nobel Peace Prize: "Ms. Maathai's Green Belt Movement has planted more than 30 million trees across Africa in an attempt to stem the deforestation that has turned parts of Africa into desert. The committee praises Ms. Maathai for enlisting poor women to take part in the tree-planting effort. The citation notes that Ms. Maathai's strategy to combat deforestation combines education, family planning, nutrition and the fight against corruption."

Electoral College, Afghan style

Afghans vote, ready or not | csmonitor.com: "Deference to tribe is a common attitude all across southern Afghanistan, where the largest ethnic group, the Pashtuns, live. Individuals such as Sayid Amir, an astrologer waiting for loaves of bread at a bakery in Qalat, know that the new Afghan Constitution allows them full personal rights. But he still says he must defer to his tribal elders with his vote.


'It depends on our tribal leaders,' he says. 'Yes, I know it is my right to choose whom I want. But in my region, the tribal leaders will all get together and choose whom they will vote for, and then everyone will vote for that person."

Democracy-->no terrorism?

Watching the VP debate, I am struck by a statement that Vice President Cheney made twice: that establishment of a Democratic government will somehow end terrorism in Iraq. I believe he considered this to be obvious.

What is the basis for this? By common definition, "the calculated use of violence or the threat of violence to attain goals that are political, religious, or ideological in nature" is considered "terrorism." History shows that Democratic nations' interests and policies are at least as likely to do this as non-democratic governments, and there are many examples in our own backyard.

One aspect of our choice for leadership in the upcoming election is to consider the Bush administration's near-sighted policy of using inappropriate levels of money, power, and violence to promote Democracy and to "fix" problems in countries (Iraq, Afghanistan) whose unrest and anger has been substantially exacerbated, if not caused in the first place, by inappropriate money, power, and violence.

Compare the Bush administration's brash commitment to military bravado with the Democratic Party's 2004 commitment to deploy, "in addition to military might, ALL that is in America's arsenal--our diplomacy, our intelligence system, our economic power, and the appeal of our values and ideas." In John Kerry we have a leader who has the depth and breadth of experience (in peace/war, ecology and economics) to allow us to combat the deep causes of terrorism, not be locked into stubbornly forcing U.S. image at all costs.

Suicide is a very common component of today's terrorism. This is significant. Medical experts know that in treating suicide, you can't treat the disease, you have to work with the environment. It's the distress of the global environment that underlies this social earthquake we are embroiled in. Attention to environmental issues is the only way to make a long-term difference. Here, again, is a clear difference between the Bush administration, which is systematically dismantling environmental practice at home and abroad, and Kerry/Edwards, which sees the environmental effort as a significant part of the social/political/economic picture.

A little perspective on living systems, oil, and soil

The Earth in Review:
The Rise, Role, and Fall of the Soil

A quick overview of our planet shows a history that began to get really interesting about 750,000,000 years ago. That is one-sixth of the total age of the earth. The earth spent five-sixths of its time getting set for the explosive emergence of higher life. Some twenty-five of the major phyla around us today appeared then.

For convenience, let us telescope the recent one-sixth into a year, for a quick look at the significant events of this part of the earth’s history. We start on January 1. By the fifteenth of March we can see several marine invertebrates and we think we can even see lichens on land. Some time after mid-June there are scorpions crawling about and these newcomers are joined by the first bog plants later in the month.

The lung fishes appear in early July. By late August early reptiles inhabit a landscape dominated by swamp forests, an as we approach September we can see the cone-bearing plant becoming forest trees. In late September, the Auraucaran forests (Norfolk Island Pine and Monkey Puzzle tree are modern descendents of this group) are quickly followed by other seed plants resembling pines.

Sometime in late October we get our first glimpse of flowering plants. A month later it has become obvious that the dinosaurs are headed for extinction. By December 11 some insignificant little mammals with a larger brain-to-mass ratio than the reptiles have become conspicuous, and by a short week later they are the dominant animal group. The mammals have made it. We are all fascinated as we watch the Miocene uplift that creates a rain shadow east of the Rockies, which in turn gives rise to the great North American grasslands. A few days before Christmas we see extensive grasslands in various parts of the planet.

Creatures best described as ape-men appear right after Christmas, and with about thirty hours left in the year, we see a creature which is decidedly human-like, even though it shows little promise at first.

As we watch these creatures closely, various forms develop, most with no future at all; but with less than three hours of the year’s last day left (or about 200,000 real years), a creature with a brain almost as large as our own is eking out a livelihood in ecosystems not much different from what we find in many parts of the few wild places left today.

An important system was developing literally under the feet of these diverse life forms. The early dust of the earth was mostly cemented together. It gradually became pulverized by the action of wind and water, plant roots and brevity. The bodies of dead plants and animals were added to this powder. A peculiar type of evolution was under way. This entity teemed with small organisms which secreted chemicals into the powder. Small life forms ingested and egested it, buffered it and burrowed in it. It grew in thickness and began to cover a large area with what we might call “ecological capital.” The capital of soil creates “interest” in the form of more soil. This interest then becomes reinvested. Water and wind still carried tons of this capital to the sea to become sedimentary layers, as it always had, but the life forms seemed almost purposefully devoted to retarding this work of gravity. From one point of view, David Brower has humorously suggested, plants and animals were evolved by this soil system to save itself and further its own spread.

A book written in 1905 by Harvard professor Nathaniel Southgate Shaler entitled Man and Earth described the soil and water system as an enveloping membrane or film, a placenta, through which the Earth mother sustains life. All life, including humans, Shaler suggested, draws life from the sun, clouds, air and earth through this living film. If the placenta is not kept healthy or intact, life above suffers. If healthy, it is a rich, throbbing support system. His message was clear enough: protect the placenta and you protect all Nature’s children.

Placenta may not be the best word, for once a birth is complete the placenta is disposed of. And yet Mother Earth is always pregnant with new life and therefore an intact placenta is necessary… Call it what you will, soil is important not just for land life but for life in the ocean around the continental shelves. In fact, the open ocean is a desert. It would seem as if all life forms—except plants—take this system for granted, regarding it much as they would regard gravity. When humans arrived, they, like the other animals, paid it no special respect.

In the early morning of December 31, changes took place on the surface of the earth. Later in the day the human population would explode … The human species, ten minutes before year’s end, was on all major land masses except Antarctica. It was in the next five minutes—from 15,000 to 8,000 years ago—that something critical happened. Gradually, an invisible claw began tearing at the placenta. It wasn’t dramatically ruptured as it had been by the ice; there was just a little scratch which failed to heal in the Middle East, and shortly another like it appeared n middle America. The larger the gash, the larger the concentration of people and their handiwork around it. The placenta itself was being ripped away to build civilization. Within three of those last five minutes, the face of the earth was changed. In some places scarcely anything would grow. Scabs—sterile areas or deserts—increased in size owing to human-directed activity. In the last fifteen seconds of the year, the continent of North America was discovered by the Europeans. The great wildernesses of North America disappeared, and the placenta wasted away faster than it had in any other area of the world.

Nearly half of it disappeared in the year’s last eight seconds.

In the final three seconds, a new stream of oil began to flow throughout the country, and out of it, fossil fuel that had been forming for eight months of our telescoped year, was discovered and was about to be used up in six seconds.

It was now being used not only for transportation, but also as feedstock for chemical fertilizer, in pest control, and in energy for traction in the fields. Clearly a very new thing was happening on earth. Production of living plants was shifting from total dependence on soil to an increasing dependence on fossil fuel. The new reality was clear—agriculture in America was shrinking the placenta, but the decline was obscured by heavy doses of petroleum-based chemical agriculture.

If we were far enough out in space for the planet to seem but the size of an egg, then all the soil, that thin, unique miracle, alive and sustaining life, would, if gathered together in one spot, be barely visible to the naked eye. Built by nature during our telescoped year, half of it lost by mankind, the self-proclaimed wise ones, in a few seconds.

The intensity of the entire agricultural operation can thus be seen as a frantic last attempt to keep alive a rapidly wasting cancer patient. Unless the health of the placenta is restored, a last convulsion will follow, throughout the countryside and around the world.

from New Roots for Agriculture by Wes Jackson
ISBN 0-8032-7562-5
Kansas Land Institute

The Land Institute - A Story, as told by E.F. Schumacher

The Land Institute - A Story, as told by E.F. Schumacher: "Fritz engaged a local man at the station by asking, 'How are things?' 'Fine,' the local replied. 'What is it to you?' asked Fritz. 'Oh, I work on that farm over there,' he said pointing. 'I used to own that farm but I had no money to pay the hired hand, so I paid him in land. Eventually he owned all of my farm and now I work for him.'".... Click the link above to read the rest.

It's one that can restore your faith in people and the world. Just think...E.F.Schumacher, one of my old heroes, and Wes Jackson, one of my new heroes, knew each other.

It appears that this story is an excerpt from Schumacher's book-- Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered: 25 Years Later ... With Commentaries. Hartley & Marks.

Iraq. Self-deception.

In light of the rhetoric at the Republican National Convention, we really should remember that there was actually MUCH debate about Iraq before we went in there, and there was a multi-national effort to combat the potential threat. Many knew about the danger, but they also knew about the danger of inappropriate reactions. These were the people who insisted that that the sanctions and the inspections and U.N. initiatives needed to be followed, and that the U.S. should NOT invade Iraq militarily at that point. Many people tried to get across the fact that the damage to the peace of the world would be horrific, that violence and inappropriate-cash-flow begat the terrorism, and a "solution" made of violence and big-cash-flow would continue to force people to actions that they deem heroic and we suffer as terrorism.

Pres. Bush listened to the cowboy Americans--the people who always seem to improve their ratings of a President when he is dropping bombs on people. He charged into Iraq, blithely handing out big-money opportunities to American businesses. He did NOT read his own briefings nor the intelligence reports. He did NOT look for the disadvantages in his "plan." He did NOT consult with the real government staff, but listened to the people right around him who are in love with him and his power.

He is really dangerous. But he puts on good makeup and does good photo ops, and keeps promises to people who will back him with money or votes, and helps folks who are afraid pretend that just by being nice people who love their kids, everything will be all right.

The rest of the world loves their kids, too.

Comparisons in history

Here's a Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust produced by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology, College of Education, University of South Florida. I'm thinking we should be reviewing this information and looking for parallels in our lives today. I'm not sure that today's focus is Anti-Semitism, maybe Anti-Other-ethnic-religious-groups, but the surrounding behaviors may be more parallel than we would like. I'm talking about perceptions of "other," perception of self, selection of leaders, success of demagogues, spin, and desperate partisanship.


The Rise of Antisemitism

GOP to play Bush's likability card

GOP to play Bush's likability card | csmonitor.com:

Christian Science Monitor says:

"Bush's strongest attributes have always been 'his ability to empathize,' agrees Bush campaign chairman Marc Racicot. 'He's always exuded humility, and an ability to work with other people.'"

Who are they talking about? I've never been able to discern one iota of those characteristics in our current President. They are the LAST words I'd use to characterize him. Where does this come from?

Empathize? Humility? Work with people?
Exuded?!!!!

"The president is not just a great president - he's a good guy," said GOP chairman Ed Gillespie at a Monitor breakfast. The convention will not only showcase Bush's strength as a leader, but as a loving father, dedicated husband, and "someone who likes baseball," Mr. Gillespie says

They're serious!
It's all social/biological. Fame and fortune. Loyalty. In-crowd/Out-crowd. Yea team, rah, rah!

And, according to polls, this appeals strongly to roughly half of the adults in the United States?

Jimmy the Cab Driver video

Short, sweet, and sassy. Jimmy the Cab driver's not just blowing smoke. We've all seen this information, but we forget:

"Environmentalists say the fire prevention claims made for 'Healthy Forests' are just a cover for big giveaways to timber to industry loggers.

Critics also worry that the bill doesn't protect old growth forests or allow for environmental and citizen reviews before forest thinning begins.

Those who live in fire-prone zones (who must be thinking a lot more than usual about this kind of thing right now) argue the bill doesn't even protect those wildfire-susceptible areas we should be most concerned about: 'red zones' that surround urban areas.":

----Smokescreen , Mother Jones, October 2003

...you're killing your father's father, and your mother's mother: the history of this nation, your nation, itself. You're killing the very core of the frontier spirit that, as Wallace Stegner so eloquently explained, has shaped our American character and spirit.
----- The Right to be Wild, by Rick Bass

Wild, intact ecosystems hold answers to questions we haven't begun to ask. They run on contemporary sunlight.
---Wes Jackson

What were the ecosystems like 10,000 years ago, after the retreat of the ice? Those ecosystems featured material recycling and they ran on contemporary sunlight. Humans have yet to build societies like that. Is it possible that embedded in nature's economy are suggestions for a human economy in which conservation is a consequence of production? Let's open that up. The day after 9/11, I wrote a piece suggesting that what George Bush should say is, "My fellow Americans, from this day forward we will evaluate our progress by how independent of the extractive economy we have become."

...This struggle that we're involved in is not going to be won with the bumper sticker. It's going to be won across the ecological mosaic of the country; it's going to be the particularities.
An Interview with Wes Jackson

This is a lot bigger than parties or elections, but inherent in a society that puts money flow above all else. So why are politically "faith-based" people, as a group, so blind to all that is going on environmentally? What about social justice?

Fr. Pat's solid Catholicism doesn't have that blindness. We kind of took it for granted while he was with us, and didn't realize that it was his unique skill to make the counter-cultural Gospel message so appealing.

The one who gives the banquet is told, “Don’t consider yourself a host if you arrange things in such a way (by inviting, for example, only the wealthy) so that the invitation will come back to you."

“Humility” is to correctly ascertain one’s God-given talents and then to share those blessings with others—with the community (one’s family, friends, coworkers, those who care for us). And to do so in such a way that we do not manipulate them so that the good we do comes back to us!

----Fr. Pat Creed, in last Sunday's homily, 22nd Sunday OT:

How John Kerry Busted the Terrorists' Favorite Bank

t r u t h o u t - How John Kerry Busted the Terrorists' Favorite Bank

Click the link above to read a detailed article about Kerry's consistent work against terrorism, in spite of opposition from the rich, famous and powerful U.S. Americans.

USATODAY.com - Soldier accepts blame in Abu Ghraib case

Soldier accepts blame in Abu Ghraib case:

"Army Staff Sgt. Ivan "Chip" Frederick acknowledged in the statement he broke the law and said he hoped others involved "in the chaos that was Abu Ghraib will also come forward and accept their responsibility."

Echoes from the past: Transcript : John Kerry’s 1971 Senate Testimony:

(SENATOR FULLBRIGHT)
Finally, in connection with Lieutenant Calley, which is a very emotional issue in this country, I was struck by your passing reference to that incident.

Wouldn’t you agree with me though that what he did in herding old men and women and children into a trench and then shooting them was a little bit beyond the perimeter of even what has been going on in this war and that that action should be discouraged. There are other actions not that extreme that have gone on and have been permitted. If we had not taken action or cognizance of it, it would have been even worse. It would have indicated we encouraged this kind of action.

(Mr. KERRY)
My feeling, Senator, on Lieutenant Calley is what he did quite obviously was a horrible, horrible, horrible thing and I have no bone to pick with’the fact that he was prosecuted. But I think that in this question you have to separate guilt from responsibility, and I think clearly the responsibility for what has happened there lies elsewhere.

I think it lies with the men who designed free fire zones. I think it lies with the men who encouraged body counts. I think it lies in large part with this country, which allows a young child before he reaches the age of 14 to see 12,500 deaths on television, which glorifies the John Wayne syndrome, which puts out fighting man comic books on the stands, which allows us in training to do calisthenics to four counts, on the fourth count of which we stand up and shout “kill” in unison, which has posters in barracks in this country with a crucified Vietnamese, blood on him, and underneath it says “kill the gook,” and I think that clearly the responsibility for all of this is what has produced this horrible abberation.

Now, I think if you are going to try Lieutenant Calley then you must at the same time, if this country is going to demand respect for the law, you must at the same time try all those other people who have responsibility, and any aversion that we may have to the verdict as veterans is not to say that Calley should be freed, not to say that he is innocent, but to say that you can’t just take him alone, and that would be my response to that."

Voting Your Catholic Conscience --Rep. Jim Wayne

This morning I want to say thanks to a career politician, Kentucky Representative Jim Wayne. He spoke to our cohort at Spalding University a few years ago, and I came away impressed with his presentation of the political vocation as one of public service, one of living out and actively promoting Gospel values in the world.

Rep. Wayne is speaking again, this time at "Theology on Tap" gathering. "The Record" (Archdiocese of Louisville's newspaper) has an article in which he speaks on "Voting Your Catholic Conscience."

I'm going to quote big pieces of it here, because as far as I can tell, it's not online.

"We, as Catholics, are called to be prophets in this world," he told about 50 young adults gathered for the talk. "As prophets we have to go to the polls to choose. I'd like you to consider your prophetic role in the world."

...He urged the young adults last week to embrace their roles as prophets by keeping Christ's teachings and the Gospel message in mind when selecting candidates.

He also warned them that Christ was a radical in his day. And though Christianity has flourished since then, following Christ's call today is no less counter-cultural, he said.

In fact, "Every time we understand the essence of wht Christ was all about, it is revolutionary."

...Wayne recommended that Catholics pass current issues through a filter of the Gospel message and Catholic social teaching. And he highlighted several areas of concern for Catholic voters.

Among them were the consistent ethic of life, globalization, militarization, education and the environment.

"The church has really developed a lot of rich thought on how we address these crises," he said. "Most of us Catholics aren't even aware of it."

For example, "The church emphasizes the common good over the individual," said Wayne.

"We were raised on John Wayne individualism," he said. "But the church says, 'No. You look at what's good for everybody. You protect life at all stages.' We need at all costs to protect it at all levels."

Within that framework, the poor should always remain at the forefront of concern, he said.

"That is the group you address first when you make policy decisions," he said. "The first question you ask is, 'How will this affect the poor?'"

The church also "has been very strong on demilitarization in terms of disarmament," said Wayne.

Under the Bush administration, the defense budget in the United States has risen to $470 billion, Wayne said. Education, which he said has the next highest budget, is allotted $60 billion.

He said health care--including the Medicare and Medicaid programs--receives about $40 billion; the justice budget is about $38 billion; and about $30 billion is allocated for housing for the poor, such as Section 8 vouchers.

"We as a church have to say, 'Is that just?'" he said of the discrepancies in funding. "There were 40,000 kids in the world who died on Sept. 11, 2001 of hunger."

Another concern for Catholics is globalization, which allows corporations to "extract wealth and exploit employees without unions," said Wayne.

"It widens the gap between the rich and the poor," he said. "It cost Kentucky 25,000 jobs in the last three years. And it has devastated family farms."

On the environment, Wayne cited the destruction wrought by mountain-top removal in the coal industry, air and water pollution, the United States' energy policies and other environmental abuses. As a result, "The world is filled with toxins," he said.

Following his talk, Wayne asked young adults to consider what role the church should take in addressing these issues. He noted that "by 'the church,' I mean us."

Wayne asked the crowd to consider issues other than abortion, which he said "we an all agree is a fundamental issue that needs to be addressed."

The popular answer was a belief that the defense budget should be brought more into balance with the education budget. Several teachers mentioned being frustrated by a lack of funding for schools and criticized the "No child left behind" program.

Wayne mentioned the struggle for private school vouchers that would help more children attend Catholic schools. He said the church also should focus its efforts on improving public education.

It seemed the question weighing most heavily on the crowd was, "Can a Catholic vote for a pro-choice candidate?"

In response, Wayne noted that the U.S. bishops are torn on this same question.

"People are really trying to swing voters on this issue," he said. "But legislators in Frankfort really can't do much on this issue. We are limited by the constitution of the federal government."

On the national level, he said, the issue depends on Supreme Court justices.

"In the end, we as voters have to decide," said Wayne. "It is important to weave the other parts of Catholic social teaching into weighing the candidates."

Some bishops have said, "As long as you don't vote for the candidate because he is pro-choice, you can morally do that," Wayne noted.

Catholics may be treading in "dangerous waters" voting solely on the issue of abortion, he added. "We as a church have to be skeptical of politicians who use us and our sacred issues for their benefit.

"You look at someone who says they are pro-life," he said. "There may not be a lot of other issues they're consistent on as far as life. They went against the church on everything else. Look at their records on housing for the poor, on capital punishment, on unions. You have to weigh those issues as you study the candidates."

Asked how he--as a Catholic politician--reconciles his faith with the desires of his constituents, Wayne said that those who vote for him know the Catholic faith guides all of his decisions.

"First, I am Catholic, then I am an American," he said.

---The Record, Aug. 19, 2004

Labels: Liberal or Conservative? Pro-life or Respect Life?

All these labels are hard to live with. I can't claim any of the ones I know of. If I have to label myself, it's going to be as a "Big-Picture Conservative."

Well, that's done.

Back to School: John Kerry's 1971 Senate Testimony

The school year has begun. Will it be business as usual?

The current bruhaha in the media regarding John Kerry's Vietnam war experience actually began in the primaries, when Pres. Bush attacked Kerry's protesting of the war in Vietnam, implying that Kerry's protesting was dishonorable and cowardly. This caused people to look for facts on whether Senator Kerry was a coward, and the material was then brought forth about his service record. The record speaks for itself, but our national fixation with the war-service question seems to obscure the reality that beyond the simple courage of behaving well in battle, the greater courage came later, in trying to change the course of a country.

Any of us can read the transcript of the Senate Hearing in 1971 in which John Kerry spoke as a representative of Veterans Against the War to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. A portion of this is available on video from MoveOn.org.

The video takes us back to the 70's, when we were very different people. I was in college then, too. Yet, amazingly, we were facing similar problems. You realize that when you read Kerry's speech, (which by the way, is 9 pages of clear thinking expressing the will of the 1000 veterans he represented), and the subsequent Q&A session (a significant stack of paper--Kerry's very coherent answers to the questions of the committee). This 27-year-old person obviously has a strong grasp of the nuance and the breadth of a very difficult subject, and with clarity of expression, he helps to turn the course of a nation that needed to be turned.

There are several things we can take from this wealth of information. One is the depth of conflict and responsiblity inherent in war. In our current time, when sound bites, such as "Dead or Alive," and "staying the course," and "protecting Freedom" are taken as rationalizations for our nation's behavior, we can compare the thinking expressed in this document from the past.

In 1971, Kerry speaks of the veterans' anger at finding out that the rationale for the war was phony, realizing that the South Vietnamese just wanted to be free to grow their rice and live, and that the Americans were often seen as the oppressors.

He spoke of veterans' anger that "money from American taxes was used to support a corrupt dictatorial regime" and that in battle, the "blacks provided the highest percentage of casualties." He spoke of an America that "accepted very cooly a My Lai and refused to give up the image of American soldiers who hand out chocolate bars and chewing gum."

Kerry speaks of the anger of the veterans who feel betrayed having to fight for a mistake, then called "misfits" when they try to speak out. He identifies the great threat to the United States. "...the crimes we (Americans) are committing (in Vietnam) threaten (our country), and we have to speak out."

He asks, "How do ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"

This is a speech from a young person to all people.

In the Q&A session, Kerry shows leadership, for example, when Senator Fulbright explains that Congress cannot actually stop the war, merely make recommendation to the President. Kerry returns with two specific ways that Congress CAN be effective within its power: namely to vote to cut off funding for the war, and to pass a resolution calling on the Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of it.

Later, still off-the-cuff, Kerry tackles the thorny questions of tangled responsibilities: to the South Vietnamese government members whom the U.S. supported (created); to the people of South Vietnam, to the U.S. soldiers, to the international community.

I hope that this fall, the young people in our colleges and gathering places are reading the 9/11 Commission Report. I hope they are reading the full text of this speech of the young John Kerry. I hope they are reading the platforms of the the Democratic, Republican, and Green parties. I hope that they are looking for documents and other information sources with deep meaning, and that this school year, they claim the vigor that youth of other generations have shown, becoming leaders in the positive, progressive work of guiding the world.

The alternative is to be mired in group-think. America really can do better. It's more than a slogan, and we have to work to keep it that way.

DeoOmnisGloria.com John Kerry, Abortion and Politics

DeoOmnisGloria.com discussion

My thoughts this morning, posted here and on the link above:

John Kerry works toward the goal of abortion being "rare, but safe and legal." That eliminates all the unconscionable casual abortions that take so many precious lives. It also saves many lives of mothers that are lost when abortion is illegal and dangerously performed. It's a pretty good goal, in my book. Compared to many of the public, who he is bound to represent in his vocation, Sen. Kerry's stance is definitely pro-life.

Most Catholics strongly oppose abortion. However, when it comes close to home, as in "my" daughter's health being threatened by a dangerous pregnancy, or even "my" family's way of life threatened by an untimely pregnancy, they get a glimpse of the horror of that "gray area" that we all wish didn't exist--the area of life choices in conflict.

People in those crisis areas deal with it in different ways. Our current President is proud of the fact that he sees the world in black and white. His youthful response to his own personal gray-area abortion decision, though, is not in line with the staunch anti-abortion advocacy that is attributed to him by his cheerleaders.

If the world was black-and-white, and "life" was only one thing--maximum procreation, the Church's stance would be easy to fulfill. But God's gift of life is present in much more than simplest biology. The needs of different levels of life always conflict, and as far as I can see, it's our duty to make our best choices with as much grace as we can.

Chant at St. B

Worship aid insert
Originally uploaded by hettingr.

We could add this (via Avery sticky labels) to the front of our worship aid (Word & Song)

George Bush Sr.'s take on Iraq

Here's an email that came to me:

In his memoirs, "A World Transformed," written five years ago, George Bush Sr. wrote the following to explain why he didn't go after Saddam Hussein at the end of the Gulf War.

"Trying to eliminate Saddam...would have incurred incalculable human and political costs. Apprehending him was probably impossible.... We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq.... There was no viable "exit strategy" we could see, violating another of our principles. Furthermore, we had been consciously trying to set a pattern for handling aggression in the post-Cold War world. Going in and occupying Iraq, thus unilaterally exceeding the United Nations' mandate, would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression that we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion route, the United States could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land."

If only his son could read.

 
I don't know who started this email, but I did check it out. It is an excerpt from the book, page 489.

I've spent all day making phone calls for KerryKentucky, verifying email addresses. Dozens of people took time to tell me that they wanted to DO something about all this.

TheStar.com - Editorial: Kerry fails Iraq test

TheStar.com - Editorial: Kerry fails Iraq test

Click the link above to read a thought-provoking editorial from the Toronto Star.

I would say to the author:

Your perspective is logical, but I don't think you quite have a handle on the American situation.

When you write...

That leaves most Americans feeling misled, or duped. They can see the damage to U.S. prestige internationally. The loss of more than 1,000 American and allied lives, and 16,000 Iraqi lives . A $200-billion cost.

...you are not speaking of the average American. A solid majority do NOT understand how unimaginably badly our U.S. prestige is damaged. It hasn't sunk in. They don't have a clue.

I'm glad to see you put a number on the Iraqi lives lost, because in this country's news reports, I never see it except as a vague afterthought, as in "...and also thousands of Iraqi lives." (This mortifies me. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.)

I feel betrayed by our President, and I think J. Kerry has his finger on the reason. After 9/11, facing a new, unknown, threat, people might be forgiven for thinking that the country's leadership needed to be light on its feet, and give more executive power to a leader. But even as the threat was new, our President's response was also new. Who knew that we had a President who isn't sure what a president is? Who doesn't understand that his legitimate power comes from being part of a vast organization to which and for which he is responsible? He is like a schoolboy president of a school organization who hasn't learned democratic procedure yet and just thinks he is the boss. What a disaster this is!

I think J. Kerry has a very STRONG sense of government, of its laws and it's myriad legitimate voices. In his more complex understanding role of President, it is allowable to have voted as he did.

But you're right, it's the wrong thing to say in an election. J. Kerry's appropriateness as "a serious man for a serious job" is unfortunately not an asset in the "democratic" election process in U.S.America.

And since it's too late to do the right thing about Iraq, hindsight is just as problematic, since there's this huge mess, and we are in it, and we are responsible to clean up. (I don't know if it's possible, but the responsibility is still there.)

It's a time for prayer. And campaigning.

[Added Aug 19.
Fareed Zakaria brings his knowledge to this question as in this Newsweek article:
Why Kerry Is Right on Iraq by Fareed Zakaria]

Chant at St. B

We tape for Mass of the Air this week(a TV broadcast for those who cannot attend mass in person), for the 24th and 26th Sundays of Ordinary Time. Because of the 25-minute time limit, it's a very strict format that we use. This time I want to try something different, and the St. B Cantors are willing to go along with it. During Preparation of the Gifts we always play some instrumental music. I have, in the past, played chant from the Graduale on the flute, which is interesting, but somewhat lacking [grin]. However, it fits very well. So this time, I'll prepare to sing the Latin communion chant from the Graduale at Prep of Gifts, and then we will sing a song at communion that corresponds to the communion chant.

Actually that's easier said than done. First of all, I should have looked up those "corresponding" communion songs in advance. When we were planning, it had to be done quickly, and we couldn't find very good matches. (I find this to be true a lot--that there is so much more (or at least different) range of expression in the Graduale than in our current hymnals.)

24th Sunday communion antiphon is Tollite hostias, et introite in atria eius: adorate Dominum in aula sancta eius.
Word & Song gives the English as "O God, how much we value your mercy! All mankind can gather under your protection."
We're going to sing "Amazing Grace" at communion.


26th Sunday communion antiphon is Memento verbi tui servo tuo, Domine in quo mihi spem dedisti: haec me consolata est in humilitate mea. "O Lord, remember the words you spoke to me, your servant, which made me live in hope and consoled me when I was downcast."

We'll be singing "The Lord is my Light" (based on Psalm 27).

I hope we get points for good intentions. ;)

The other tricky thing will be the acoustics at the recording session. We record in the Ursuline chapel, which has GREAT acoustics for chant, but the recording engineers are accustomed to placing the microphones directly in front of the singers, which cancels out the acoustics. I'll have to talk to them about this.

Chant at St. B

We tape for Mass of the Air this week(a TV broadcast for those who cannot attend mass in person), for the 24th and 26th Sundays of Ordinary Time. Because of the 25-minute time limit, it's a very strict format that we use. This time I want to try something different, and the St. B Cantors are willing to go along with it. During Preparation of the Gifts we always play some instrumental music. I have, in the past, played chant from the Graduale on the flute, which is interesting, but somewhat lacking . However, it fits very well. So this time, I'll prepare to sing the Latin communion chant from the Graduale at Prep of Gifts, and then we will sing a song at communion that corresponds to the communion chant.

Actually that's easier said than done. First of all, I should have looked up those "corresponding" communion songs in advance. When we were planning, it had to be done quickly, and we couldn't find very good matches. (I find this to be true a lot--that there is so much more (or at least different) range of expression in the Graduale than in our current hymnals.)

24th Sunday communion antiphon is Tollite hostias, et introite in atria eius: adorate Dominum in aula sancta eius.
Word & Song gives the English as "O God, how much we value your mercy! All mankind can gather under your protection."
We're going to sing "Amazing Grace" at communion.


26th Sunday communion antiphon is Memento verbi tui servo tuo, Domine in quo mihi spem dedisti: haec me consolata est in humilitate mea. "O Lord, remember the words you spoke to me, your servant, which made me live in hope and consoled me when I was downcast."

We'll be singing "The Lord is my Light" (based on Psalm 27).

I hope we get points for good intentions.

The other tricky thing will be the acoustics at the recording session. We record in the Ursuline chapel, which has GREAT acoustics for chant, but the recording engineers are accustomed to placing the microphones directly in front of the singers, which cancels out the acoustics. I'll have to talk to them about this.

Top News Article | Reuters.com

Top News Article | Reuters.com: "The testimony backed the contention of England's lawyers that Abu Ghraib was an unruly prison where inmates were often kept naked, guards were not trained and abuse complaints were ignored. England has said she was just following orders to soften up detainees for questioning.

Joyner said he and many colleagues had no training as prison guards when they went to Abu Ghraib and worked minimum 12-hour days there.

'No one knew what we were supposed to do. Basically I was shooting from the hip and hoping to God I didn't screw up,' he said."

Kerry Kentucky meeting

I went to the Kerry Kentucky Volunteer meeting last night at first Unitarian Church, across the street from Abe Lincoln at the library. I got there a little late, so I had a hard time trying to park. Then I had a hard time getting in. It was tight-packed standing-room only, with people hanging outside all the doors of a fairly-large church.

I don't know the names of the speakers. The first guy was probably on the staff of the Democratic Party. (He has an office and a phone number). He said that there are "swing states" and we know that campaigning is going really strong there. But he really spoke to me, (and many there) when he said that Kentucky is a "bubble" state, which, I think means that it is important, too. (see the numbers in the post below, and you'll see how possible it is). And the folks at that meeting last night were interested in what WE can do, HERE.

The Democrat fellow (he was young, articulate, and kinda cute, if that matters), invited everyone to go to Fancy Farm (old-fashioned outdoor political rally, both (all?) parties) tomorrow (Saturday), there's a bus leaving from Democratic Party headquarters. no charge to ride. Sounds great, but I have a prior commitment. Call them if you're interested, or show up.

The next speaker was a woman, didn't catch her name, who must be the main organizer of this KerryKentucky group that started in April around a table at the Rudyard Kipling. She noted that the number of people had multiplied GREATLY since the last meeting, enough that we'd have to change plans on meeting space from now on. This is a grass-roots activity that is unprecedented at this point in the election process.

Did we know that the US has the poorest voter participation of all the democratized nations of the world? One of the numbers I jotted down was that, in this country, only 38% of those in poverty vote, and these are the most affected.

She talked about individual efforts that are inspiring. Here's one: Louis Moseson is going to Wal-Mart 1-1/2 hours on Saturdays and registering scads of people to vote (I forget how many, but it's impressive). (Makes me think I should carry around voter registration cards, envelopes and stamps. I think I will.)

She talked about Owlsley (?) Brown, a prominent Louisville Republican, I think, who is organizing Republicans for Kerry. He says, "This is not about our party, this is about the future of our great nation."

She talked about some famous Texan, who had campaigned for GWBush for governor and president, who says something like, "GB is a really great guy, but his policies are really terrible, and he messed up too many things." (Don't quote this. I was just scribbling. Find a reliable source if you need it.)

People who do business overseas are coming together behind Kerry.

Of course, she talked a lot about what she sees in John Kerry. (Go to JohnKerry.com for info)

She had all of us who had never participated in any political events before raise our hands. It was a lot of us, about 1 in six or eight. That said something, too, I think.

She said, "We don't want your money." I was glad to hear that. (We give money whenever MoveOn asks for it, and occasionally when the Democratic party asks for it, but I am tired of being hit for money and not given a better idea of what I can do personally.). There were numerous groups and people with specific activities planned that you could talk to. (College student groups, people signing up to stand outside Fahrenheit 9/11 with information, people going around apartment neighborhoods with information, etc.) She had bought Yard Signs, T-shirts, bumper stickers and buttons. She would give them away, or asked us if we would reimburse her son's college fund with a donation.

KerryKentucky has a plan. They have something called "Pledge 3" which has the materials and information to organize in neighborhoods. Basically it involves volunteering to send out letters to people who are registered, regular Democratic voters, and invite them to a meeting at your house. That group meets and plans to bring 3 other people each to another meeting. At the third meeting (I think), you all plan to contact people, speak to them, get them to the polls. Arrange to drive folks who need rides, etc. (I'm not clear on the last part. It made good sense when I heard it, and I'm going to find out what it is.)

There are trainings for neighborhood volunteers all next week, day, evening and night. If you're interested, contact kerrykentucky@yahoo.com. They'll tell you were to go. I signed up to go Monday evening at 5:30.

That's it for now.

pax,
maggie

Win Back Respect

Win Back Respect: "More than 200 Americans studying abroad - including more than 30 Rhodes Scholars - have signed an unprecedented open letter alerting their families, representatives and communities back home to the growing rift that the Bush administration's foreign policies are creating between America and the rest of the world. Learn how the lives of Americans abroad are being affected by the administration's go-it-alone approach."

My daughter is in Germany, and has spent much time in Europe over the last 3 years. Her experience has been the same as the students who wrote the letter linked above. Just today she told me that, out of all the students and other Americans she talks to in Germany, she only knows two who have anything positive to say about Pres. Bush and his administration.

That's obviously VERY different from the percentages here, even of college-type people.

Folks in other parts of the world must be getting very different information than we are.

KeepMedia | U.S.News & World Report: In Iraq, in uniform, and in turmoil

KeepMedia | U.S.News & World Report: In Iraq, in uniform, and in turmoil

: " 'suicide is not a medical problem. It's a community problem. You don't reduce suicide by reducing suicide. You reduce it by improving the quality of life in the military.'"


Probably goes for suicide terrorists, as well. You reduce it by improving the quality of life period.

Frequent worshippers tend to cast GOP vote

Frequent worshippers tend to cast GOP vote

How much of this has to do with mannerisms, tone of voice and speaking/preaching style?

I've ordered two books by Noam Chomsky, whom I respect as a linguist, who seems to have done some work on this politics/control area.

I also ordered the 9/11 Commission report (only $8, very readable) , which, I am gratified to see, appears to make the assertion that the terrorist problem is not a nationalist situation, and conventional war is an inappropriate means to deal with the problem.

That's a lot of reading to do.

I'm also working on Deus, Deus meus, respice (Psalm 22) from Palm Sunday. What a compelling, haunting, piece of prayer. It seems to fit the subject matter of our times, doesn't it? I keep thinking of people caught in our military and money-flow horrors.