Should we continue in Iraq?

Should we continue in Iraq?

Fahreed Zakaria says yes. Our best successes are Germany and Japan, where we stayed.
Faiza and her children say NO. Leave. We can't do anything until the U.S. is gone. Stop the destruction.
GWBush assured us that we have no permanent plans for U.S. presence in Iraq. He lied again. The U.S. is building between four and fourteen permanent bases (depending on how you define "permanent") in Iraq. Haliburton and Kellog Whoever are still scooping up the cash to do the work.
My beloved pastor is fervent in proclaiming the parish's support of the military. Says he.

Here's a letter written by one set of military parents, and endorsed by local parents:

Our son recently joined the U.S. Navy and we feel pretty much the same as the author, Mr. Kamileqicz  below.  Thought you would like to know our feelings and our question about where your children are...

James and Carla McMillin
40206

 
Published on Monday, February 14, 2005 by the Portland Press Herald (Portland, Maine)


How Dare Some Say, 'Support our Troops'?
by Dexter J. Kamilewicz

Someone recently informed me that they didn't know that my son was being deployed to Iraq and asked why I hadn't told them. I really didn't have an answer.

That is when I began to be annoyed by those ever-present, good-intentioned but mindless ribbons stuck on the back of cars and SUVs exhorting, "Support Our Troops."

I find those magnetic messages to be offensive when I think of parents and friends of National Guard soldiers who purchased expensive Kevlar armor for their soldiers while Donald Rumsfeld said they didn't have any in stock.

Those marketing messages seem so empty when soldiers are told to "up-armor" their Humvees because the Department of Defense had not asked the manufacturers if more could be done.

I am saddened when veterans wait over a year for appointments at veterans' hospitals and soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan and places like Walter Reed Hospital are required to pay for phone calls and emails home. I bet Rumsfeld doesn't have to pay for calls and e-mails back home, and I find it unbelievable and unacceptable that Rumsfeld has not been fired while the troops have been treated so poorly. Support our troops?

I accept that there are justifications for going to war. However, I cannot find anyone who can give me a solid reason to justify our going to and continuing the war in Iraq.

Seeking Reasons

There seems to be no question in America more avoided, particularly by elected officials, than a discussion of the war in Iraq. I asked Maine's members of Congress those questions.

U.S. Rep. Tom Allen said the war was not justified, but to abandon Iraq and its people now would be a mistake. Sen. Susan Collins said that going to war in Iraq was a problem of faulty intelligence, but the chaos in Iraq required us to stay.

Sen. Olympia Snowe blamed Saddam Hussein as the revised apparent rationale for invading Iraq, and she focused on the need for global support for the U.S efforts in Iraq. U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud agreed with Snowe.

Those answers translate that we got there by mistake, and we are staying there by mistake. There is no plan, there is no discussion and there is no leadership. Didn't we go into Iraq to protect ourselves from weapons of mass destruction and because of Iraq's connections with the terrorists, reasons that have been found to be utterly in error? Support our troops?

The pointless death and maiming of this war is pure insanity and probably even criminal. In this war, many times those who died in the World Trade Center have been wounded or killed. Over 1,400 American soldiers are dead, over 10,000 soldiers are physically wounded while uncounted others are psychologically wounded, and, by some estimates, over 100,000 Iraqis have been killed and maimed.

How can the killing be justified? Are we going to destroy a nation and kill its people to save it? We tried that once before. Support our troops?

I am afraid for my son. I certainly worry about his being killed, but I am also worried about his being placed in the position of killing, too. Most of all, I am angry that we are sending our soldiers to a war that nobody can justify.

Most Americans, especially members of Congress, do not have to worry about a loved one in the middle of this war, and they duck the tough questions.

Why do we permit a defacto back-door draft of the National Guard and recycle them, too? We were lied to once before, and we must avoid being lied to again. Will President Bush be this generation's Robert McNamara? I hope not. Will the Congress have the courage to ask the relevant questions? I hope so. Support our troops?

Please Don't Ask

Now you know why I didn't go out of my way to tell people that my son is being deployed to Iraq, and please don't ask about him if you really don't want to know.

Instead, please know that you will be in my shoes or his shoes unless you ask questions and demand answers of those in power. In the meantime, please excuse me if I have a painful lump in my throat or tears brimming in my eyes and that I am so angry with this damned war and the people who declared it.

Support our troops. Ask tough questions. Bring them home now.

Dexter J. Kamilewicz is a resident of Orr's Island, Maine.(dexkam@aol.com)
\xA9 2005 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

Beat the Devil: Ward Churchill and the MAd Dogs of the Right

Beat the Devil: Ward Churchill and the MAd Dogs of the Right: "At this point Churchill could have specifically mentioned the infamous bombing of the Amariya civilian shelter in Baghdad in January 1991, with 400 deaths, almost all women and children, all subsequently identified and named by the Iraqis. To this day the US government says it was an OK target."

Book Review: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens

From a review:

Book Review: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens: "“The Ghosts of 9-1-1,” originally published in a shorter form directly after 9-1-1,1 caused quite a stir amongst some American leftists. Intent on categorizing themselves and their loved ones as “innocents” in the wake of the attack, they flinched at Churchill’s description of the majority of those who died from the 9-1-1 attack as “little Eichmanns.” Whining “But Eichmann was a nazi!” – as though Churchill was unaware of that – those who use “nazi” to describe most everything they dislike are perhaps unable to comprehend how someone could use the same term with very specific intent.

Churchill uses “little Eichmanns” to describe that “cadre of faceless bureaucrats and technical experts who had willingly (and profitably) harnessed themselves to the task of making America’s genocidal world order hum with maximal efficiency...”  Eichmann, Churchill notes,

was a mere mid-level officer in the SS, by all accounts a good husband and devoted father, apparently quite mild-mannered, and never accused of having personally murdered anyone at all. His crime was to have sat at several steps remove from the holocaustal blood and gore, behind a desk, in the sterility of an office building, organizing the logistics – train and “cargo” schedules, mainly – without which the “industrial killing” aspect of the nazi Judeocide could not have occurred. His most striking characteristic, if it may be called that, was his sheer “unexceptionality” (that is, the extent to which he had to be seen as “everyman”: an ordinary,” “average” or “normal” member of his society. (“The Ghosts of 9-1-1,” note 131)

Although it is easy to see why many of us might wish to self-define ourselves out of this category, the fact remains that in the eyes of the world, today’s Good Americans are ultimately just as responsible for the state terror perpetrated in their name as were yesterday’s Good Germans. Then, with Americans cheering the loudest, the entire German people were convicted for “never attempting to meet the legal/moral obligation of holding their government to even the most rudimentary standards of human decency.” (7) Do American’s have less responsibility today then the Germans did then?"

Iraq Dispatches: What They’re Not Telling You About the “Election”

Iraq Dispatches: What They’re Not Telling You About the “Election”: "As Vice President Dick Cheney's Defense Policy Guidance report explained back in 1992, 'Our overall objective is to remain the predominant outside power in the [Middle East] region and preserve U.S. and Western access to the region's oil.'"

Heidelberg recordings

As my journal shows, I spent the last three days of my trip to Heidelberg in a beautiful, medieval church. Singing. (No surprise there.) Many thanks to the folks at the JesuitenKirche, who graciously allowed me to do this.

The reverberance in the church is very long, and I spent most of my time experimenting with this question: What does it take to sing the chant so that Word, the text, is foremost?

It became clear to me that in order to make this happen, many long tones must be held really long, letting the sounds catch up with themselves. Many other connecting tones must be sung very lightly, sometimes fast, so that they do not obscure the main tone, but decorate it, or stretch it, or amplify it, or harmonize with it.

I'm posting two files. One, Pater, si non potest is almost well-done. I can't hear the "s" in transire, but otherwise, ok.

The second, Ascendit Deus," is out of my league. I don't have the vocal skill that it takes to pull it off well. But, my daughter heard the recording and was fascinated by it. She didn't think it was a chant, but just "Mom playing around with the echoes in the church." And she likes it enough to learn it herself, which is good, because she IS a good vocalist.

This is the piece I was so excited about elsewhere in this blog (you can search for 'Ascendit Deus' if you want to read more.) It's expressive to the point of being medieval movie music, with God swooping up thru the clouds and trumpet calls playing in the distance.

Anyway, I'm putting this here so I can access it if I need to, but I hope some of you excellent vocalists will tackle the piece and record your own. I want to hear it.

Haight silencing feeds theologians’ fears

Haight silencing feeds theologians’ fears:

Oh, my. Human beings. Can't live with them, can't live without them.

"Reports that Jesuit Fr. Roger Haight, a professor of systematic theology at Weston Jesuit [School of Theology], has been barred from teaching while the Vatican scrutinizes his views made headlines recently around the country. Haight, in fact, has been on leave from teaching at Weston for the entire academic year, while he responds to questions about his newest book.


The investigation was prompted by Haight’s book, Jesus, Symbol of God. Winner of the top prize in theology from the Catholic Press Association, it was published in 1999 by Orbis Books.


The Vatican’s criticism turns on Haight’s attempts to separate Christology from Greek philosophical concepts, on which many of the traditional doctrines on the role and nature of Christ depend. Specifically, the problems relate to formulation of the mystery of the Trinity, an interpretation of Christ’s divinity and the role of Jesus in salvation.


The investigation by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was reported in the Aug. 11, 2000, issue of NCR, but did not gain wide publicity until an article appeared a week ago in the April 24 issue of The Boston Globe.


In response to the recent news reports, Jesuit Fr. Robert Manning, Weston’s president, released a written statement saying Haight was on leave at the request of Archbishop Zenon Grocholewski of the Congregation for Catholic Education.


Haight has not responded to inquiries from the press. In July, he told NCR, “I want to handle this like Jacques Dupuis did and not comment.”


Dupuis is a Jesuit who taught at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome until the fall of 1998, when he came under Vatican investigation for his book Toward a Christian Theology of Religious Pluralism. Dupuis was later cleared.


Franciscan Fr. Kenneth Himes, a professor at Washington Theological Union and president of the Catholic Theological Society of America, said he found the sudden storm of publicity about Haight’s silencing to be curious, given that the Vatican intervention had happened months before. The silencing is unfortunate, he said, because it is “a preemptive strike that short circuits the give and take of theological conversation.”"

Google Search: "Envisioning Past Musical Cultures"

Google Search: "Envisioning Past Musical Cultures" : "... Peter Jeffery’s Re- Envisioning Past Musical Cultures investigates ethnomusicological
parallels for the formation of the medieval sacred repertory. ...
journals.cambridge.org/article_S0961137101210122"

JSTOR: Could Not Retrieve Article

JSTOR: Could Not Retrieve Article: "[Letter from Peter Jeffery]

Peter Jeffery
Journal of the American Musicological Society, Vol. 49, No. 1 (Spring, 1996) , pp. 175-179"

Project MUSE

Project MUSE: "Snyder, John L. 1950- 'Aspects of Orality and Formularity in Gregorian Chant (review)'
Notes - Volume 58, Number 3, March 2002, pp. 560-562
Music Library Association

Excerpt


Gregorian chant has long been a focus of musicological research, and recent decades have seen new research paradigms, reinterpretations of established data, and the development of new views concerning the origins, transmission, and notation of this vast repertoire. Representative works include Leo Treitler, 'Homer and Gregory: The Transmission of Epic Poetry and Plainsong' (Musical Quarterly 60 [1974]: 333-72); Kenneth Levy, 'On Gregorian Orality' (Journal of the American Musicological Society 43 [1990]: 185-227); and Peter Jeffries, Re-envisioning Past Musical Cultures: Ethnomusicology in the Study of Gregorian Chant (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992). The present offering is thus of exquisite timeliness.

The book 'revolves about three themes: (1) the role of orality in the transmission of chant ca. 700-1400, (2) the role of the formula in the construction of chant, and (3) the varying degrees of stability or instability in the transmission of chant' (p. ix). Karp explores these themes individually and in various combinations over the course of the book. The methodologies employed range from traditional source studies (especially collations of multiple sources), to psychological theories of memory (both constructive and abstractive processes are considered), to 'folkloristic' studies of the transmission of various oral literatures (Homeric, the Hindu Veda, and synagogue practices, inter alia). The transmission of Gregorian chant, initially oral and later via notation, is thus placed in context with other literatures that have to varying degrees undergone similar processes and transformations.

The book comprises an introduction..."

Robert C. Provine: Publications

Robert C. Provine: Publications: "Review of Peter Jeffery, Re-Envisioning Past Musical Cultures, in Early Medieval Europe, 2, 2 (1993), 174-176."

A Response to Younkin's "Sing We and Chant It: Revisiting Some Musical Terminology"

A Response to Younkin's "Sing We and Chant It: Revisiting Some Musical Terminology": "In his work Man, Magic, and Musical Occasions, Charles Boilès describes this power as 'extra-normal forces' and elucidates the phenomenon as follows:
...words by themselves have little magical force, but when combined in special ways, when spoken or sung in unique contexts, these words of chants, spells, carmens, litanies, and invocations set in motion those extra-normal forces reckoned within the magical universe of the culture in question.4




Boilès's use of 'extra-normal forces' includes a broad range of musical repertories as well as many that some would consider non-musical. To illustrate his point Boilès turns to sports chant sung by the public or perhaps sideline cheerleaders at sporting events. According to Boilès, 'since there is nothing in the music that physiologically abets the team, it must be assumed that at least this music is partly for magical purposes if not completely so.'5 This magical purpose evokes the power of extra-normal forces, in this case team 'spirit,' to favor the home side over its competitors."

A Response to Younkin's "Sing We and Chant It: Revisiting Some Musical Terminology"

A Response to Younkin's "Sing We and Chant It: Revisiting Some Musical Terminology": "Younkin describes the numerous definitions of chant as falling into two general categories: a) chant as a style and b) chant as an act-in other words, 'chant' as a noun and 'chant' as a verb. An important point here is her clarification of the two. According to Younkin, chant, as a style, is an abstract concept that focuses on musical sound rather than contextual significance. She turns to several uses of 'chant' and 'song' in the literature, namely articles by George List, Andrew Strathern, and Helen Roberts, for illustration.2"

t r u t h o u t - Kelpie Wilson | Al Gore, Global Warming and Moral Leadership

t r u t h o u t - Kelpie Wilson | Al Gore, Global Warming and Moral Leadership: " To speak of market (read: economic growth) solutions to a problem caused by markets (economic growth) may not be as contradictory as it seems. It all comes down to how one defines growth. It is possible to envision a growth economy that is not based on material growth but rather on cultural and spiritual growth. Services are as much a part of the economy as goods, and a cleaner environment is the most valuable service of all"

anthonymcwatt.co.uk : Pirsig's annotations on Copleston

anthonymcwatt.co.uk : Pirsig's annotations on Copleston:

Coleridge and [Pirsig]:

"The ultimate principle is to be sought in the identity of subject and object. [This is strikingly similar to the MOQ.]



Where is this identity to be found? [At this point Coleridge is at the same door that Phaedrus was at, but he doesn’t have the key of Quality with him.]  So he answers: 'Only in the selfconsciousness of a spirit is there the required identity of object and of representation.' [What in the world is selfconsciousness of a spirit?] But if the spirit is originally the identity of subject and object, it must in some sense dissolve this identity in order to become conscious of itself as object. [Ridiculous]. Self-consciousness, therefore, cannot arise except through an act of will, [How did will get in here?] and 'freedom [How did freedom get in here?] must be assumed as a ground of philosophy, and can never be deduced from it'. The spirit becomes a subject knowing itself as object only through 'the act of constructing itself objectively to itself'.  [This is the sort of nonsense that has inspired logical positivism."]

I think "will" refers to the human function of following a DQ event with a conscious action at the biological/inorganic level.
I think "freedom" refers to the human function of following a DQ event with a conscious action at the social/biological level.

That's how they got there.

The"spirit" is the DQ event registering in intellect. "Identity" refers to the intellectual pattern that results, which, once conscious, creates a social pattern of value within one person's mind (its web of social pov's). It is only manifest to others, though, as "freedom" or "will."

Note: the sentence above would be too unwieldy to include this, but I must make a concession to the word "conscious." Without changing the meaning of the rest, realize that that particular interaction could be just as well with the somatic (unconscious) cognitive forms of perception and storage.

What word to use? Recognized? interacted with? aaaah..

Verstand (empirical knowledge) & Vernunft (reasoned knowledge)

Interesting that the definition of these two German words splits the world thus:

empirical (conclusions drawn from observation of action)
and
reasoned (conclusions drawn from observation of those conclusions).

the roots of the words are:
"stand" = booth, class, estate, frame, profession, rank, stall, stand, standing, state, station in life, status

"nun" = now

Looking at the roots, you would expect the two words each to refer to a level higher, ie. 'verstand' should be static understandings of the world in accordance to the observation of the conclusions of social empiricism (intellect reacting with social), and 'vernunft' should be the new divisions being made in the immediate present (Dynamic Quality reacting with intellect).

Where is Raed ?

A memorable quote on the headline of an informative blog:

Where is Raed ?:

"----------'the West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact, non-Westerners never do.'----------
Samuel P. Huntington"

Iraq Diaries: Salam Pax - News from the ground #2

Iraq Diaries: Salam Pax - News from the ground #2:

[This is old news, I guess. From a 2003 photo/narrative journal of a civilian. This is not a government-sponsored effort, just some Iraqi's using their education to investigate and get the information out to the world. But who listened? Thank you to the Jarrar family and their friends for providing me a window on their world.]

"The Shamia medical center saw 44 civilian deaths in one single night. All making the mistake of getting near the Shamia checkpoint on a day when the US army was having a bit of a mood. The people who live there told us that it was one of the sandstorm days. Everything that approached the checkpoint was shot without any discrimination. One of the cars was carrying the casket of a dead woman to the cemetery. All four passengers died. "

poem: For Our World

 

"We need to stop
Just stop
Stop for a moment
Before anybody
Says or does anything
That may hurt anyone else... ...

--Mattie J.T. Stepanek















   


   








 

 
"

Diversity Pledge

Quoted on Peace Love & Candlewax:

"Tolerance is a personal decision that comes from a belief that every person is a treasure. I believe that America's diversity is its strength. I also recognize that ignorance, insensitivity and bigotry can turn that diversity into a source of prejudice and discrimination.

To help keep diversity a wellspring of strength and make America a better place for all, I pledge to have respect for people whose abilities, beliefs, culture, race, sexual identity or other characteristics are different from my own."

--We Are Family Foundation

Salt Lake Tribune - Health & Science

Salt Lake Tribune - Health & Science
: "Adair, like most music thanatologists, draws from a repertoire of ancient, Gregorian chants and lullabies when she plays. Familiar music might trigger an unhappy memory,   she says.
   'We use lullaby because it has a rocking, three-quarter time that is so soothing to everyone,' says Adair. And Gregorian chant is 'exquisitely beautiful and meter-less. I can take Gregorian chant and because it doesn't have a beat, I flow the music to the patient.'
"

t r u t h o u t - Apocalypse Now: How Mankind Is Sleepwalking to the End of the Earth

t r u t h o u t - Apocalypse Now: How Mankind Is Sleepwalking to the End of the Earth: "    The experts at Exeter were virtually unanimous about the danger, mirroring the attitude of the climate science community as a whole: humanity is to blame. There were a few skeptics at Exeter, including Andrei Illarionov, an adviser to Russia's President Putin, who last year called the Kyoto Protocol 'an interstate Auschwitz'. But in truth it is much easier to find skeptics among media pundits in London or neo-cons in Washington than among climate scientists"

Amy, What you Gonna Do?

On radio today I heard "Amy, what you want to do?" And as I listened to the verses, they were simple chant, with exactly the types of ornamentation you find in the Triplex, IF you interpret it the way I do, with many of the square notes intended to be ornamentation.

When you look at it from the other direction, St. Gall notation is EXACTLY what a singer needs if he/she wants to record the nuances in a pop vocalist's renditions--the ornamentations that the simple shape of the melody can't convey, the part that (if you try to notate it in standard notation) comes out looking like unbelievable rhythmic complexity.

But it's not really complex. Any child can sing it, if it's learned orally.

USATODAY.com - What got so many counties to shift from blue to red?

USATODAY.com - What got so many counties to shift from blue to red?

Environmental issues--are they "domestic issues"?

Sometimes I see "Environmental Issues" labeled as "Domestic Issues," as if they are some kind of small-change backburner problem.

Don't people realize that a huge factor of the grief in the Middle East, (esp. Iraq and Afghanistan) is caused by the United States' uncontrolled race to suck up all the available oil in the world?

Don't they realize that the wildly out-of-balance money flow created by this so-called "U.S. interest" corrupts government after government in the Mideast, while the people who live above that oil live in poverty and frustration?

Don't they realize that quick homebased fixes to our energy problems, such as jumping headlong into nuclear power, pose huge dangers to us and our children? Any mistake is catastrophic, and do we know any organization that doesn't make a mistake or two? C'mon. Murphy's Law happens.

Don't they realize that permitting energy drilling in the last natural wildernesses destroys those ecosystems? Pristine ecosystems hold the keys for people who are going to be living in a world that has no more fossil fuel. In tomorrow's world, they will be the wealth. If we are destroying these ecosystems for a few weeks' or a few months' supply of fuel, can't we understand that this is not for America's good, but mostly to line a few pockets with more money?

Do people realize that in our grandchildren's lifetimes, people are going to look back at our greed and see it for what it is? Why can't we all see it now?

We really need to wake up. The sooner the better.

Baghdad Burning

Baghdad Burning: "It sometimes seems, from this part of the world, that democracy in America revolves around the presidential elections- not the major decisions. War and peace in America are in the average American’s hands about as much as they are in mine. Sure, you can vote for this man or that one, but in the end, there’s something bigger, more intricate and quite sinister behind the decisions. Like in that board game Monopoly, you can choose the game pieces- the little shoe, the car, the top hat… but you can’t choose the way the game is played. The faces change but the intentions and the policy remain the same.
"

Dissertation

I just started a new blog for my dissertation notes.

CREATION MUSEUM TO OPEN IN PETERSBURG, KY (courtesy of T. Moiser)

"Other exhibits in the museum will blame
homosexuals for Aids."


http://www.portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/01/02/weden02.xml&pos=portal_puff3

In the beginning . . . Adam walked with dinosaurs
By James Langton in New York
(Filed: 02/01/2005)

With its towering dinosaurs and a model of the Grand
Canyon, America's newest tourist attraction might look
like the ideal destination for fans of
the film Jurassic Park.

The new multi-million-dollar Museum of Creation, which
will open this spring in Kentucky, will, however, be
aimed not at film buffs, but at the growing ranks of
fundamentalist Christians in the United States.

It aims to promote the view that man was created in
his present shape by God, as the Bible states, rather
than by a Darwinian process of evolution,
as scientists insist.
The museum, which has cost a mighty $25 million (£13
million) will be the world's first significant natural
history collection devoted to creationist
theory. It has been set up by Ken Ham, an Australian
evangelist, who runs Answers in Genesis, one of
America's most prominent creationist
organizations. He said that his aim was to use
tourism, and the theme park's striking exhibits, to
convert more people to the view that the world and its
creatures, including dinosaurs, were created by God
6,000 years ago.

"Market research companies hired by the museum are
predicting at least 300,000 visitors in the first
year, who will pay $10 (£5.80) each...

The museum's opening will reinforce the burgeoning
creationist movement and evangelical Christianity in
the US, which gained further strength with the
re-election of President Bush in November...

"Since President Bush's re-election we have been
getting more membership applications than we can
handle,'' said Mr Ham, who expects not just the
devout, but also the curious, to flock through the
turnstiles. "The evolutionary elite will be getting a
wake-up call..."

Monday.
Dianna and Cherie took a bus trip, I went to the Jesuiten Kirche to see if I could sing there. Last time I was there, the church was empty and quiet. Today, there was a tape playing (Gregorian Chant, of course). I saw a man working there, and asked him if it would be ok for me to sing, and he turned off the tape so that I could. (I don't remember what I said, my German is not good at all for conversing).

I practiced and recorded quite a few piece. When people come in, I stop practicing and simply sing. People seem to like to hear Requiem and Kyrie from familiar masses.

Wonderful. Awesome. Challenging. And, just like the silo at Bernheim, you kno it's time to go when your toes are frozen.

Recordings made on this day seem to have good diction--the sounds aren't swallowed up--but I hear too much of myself. Tomorrow I'll record from further away.

Heidelberg

10 Uhr Mass at Jesuiten Kirche. Children’s choir, organ, alto recorder. Young soloist.
Presider was very comforting and engaging.
Recessional: organ only.
Hymn numbers projected on the wall when needed.

Dagmar and Martin met us to go to Speyer, on the Rhine River. It was COLD!. Foggy.
The cathedral is Gothic, amazing. Couldn’t sing there, music playing. Archdiocese offices were across the street.
We went in St. Joseph’s Church, a beautiful church with clean, spare lines. Beautiful. This would be a good place to sing with our choir someday.
Dagmar’s favorite church is the protestant church nearby with the statue of Martin Luther in front. (I can’t remember its name). It was closed for lunch time when we got there.
Fish soup for lunch.
Anna’s hockey.
Supper: leftovers and liver & rice & potato cakes & applesauce.
Philip had a flat tire. (Later we found out it was three. The tires were old, probably dry-rotted. )

Heidelberg

Breakfast at Denner
We drove to Strassburg, France with Philip and Laura.
Autobahn. Philip is good. He was upset, though, because even though it was very cold, the sun was shining in Heidelberg for the first time in weeks. As we left Heidelberg, though, the fog and clouds closed in. We sang sun songs.
Strassburg Cathedral of Notre Dame, once the tallest building in the world. I sang, of course.
The town was Roman ‡ German ‡ French.
Dog piles had little signs on them. (Go figure!)
Christmas decorations and medieval streets.
Gas, grocery ad home.
Dinner w. Dagmar, Martin and Eva. Pork and spatezle; salads, cheese and wine dessert, then ice cream dessert!

Heidelberg

Breakfast @ Denner.
Went to JesuitenKirche early. Locked. Back to hotel.
Met Laura, we went to Monastery, where the monks raise apples, vegetables, guinea pigs and rabbits.
Walked across Old Bridge.
Lunch: Indian food
Bought “Think” shoes. They are excellent. (From this point on, in spite of much walking, my feet don’t hurt any more. YES!)
Naps.
Philip takes us to see the Celtic Hole, Castle & Church Ruins and Amphitheater. (Heiligenberg-anlage). Sunset.
We drive to see the US Army base with fences and barbed wire (“America Land”). Aldi’s has shoes for $6.
Then we "Tie One On." First we go to Laura’s work, talk to John (privatizing SS), drink Jaegermeisters; then go thru the street-in-the-wall bar, then the Heiligeist Kirche door is open because someone is packing up sound equipment. We go there, and I sing it for a few minutes. Then to another bar, Barbie & Ken. “Ein Bier, bitte!”

Heidelberg

Breakfast @ Denner (which is, by the way, a beautiful, hand-crafted hotel. Lots of love here.)
Cherie & Dianna & I felt sure enough of ourselves to walk down the Hauptstrasse and find the stairs (300+ of them) up the hill to the Castle. We stopped often to enjoy the view, and wondered about the people who live there. At lunchtime, we stopped and ate a snack. A man passed us ( he was eating his bread, too), and said "Mach es dir gemütlich." We did.
We went into the castle (Schloss), went through the Apothecary museum, and took a tour. The tour ended up in the Chapel, which had a picture of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus. I sang Omnes qui in Christo.. Had a conversation with the tour guide about smoking. We had a late lunch (Fish & chips) in the little place just outside the castle, where (I believe), Philip's dad once had to jump thru the windows to escape the police. (Too much partying inside, I think.) Cherie walked around and made a video.
Supper; pizza under the Kaufhof Galleria. Then Philip took us to the Skylounge, where we had a drink and sat and talked. Very nice.
Philip asked me to send him information about the "Left Behind" series. I will.

Heidelberg

Breakfast at Denner Hotel.
Dianna, Cherie and I walked out Rohrbacher Strasse. We went in a cemetery, (trees, woods motif, Christmas trees, candles). Stood on the sidewalk and watched people parallel park. Unbelievable. Walked back past the schools--kids out on lunch break, some playing soccer.
Met Laura, walked down Hauptstrasse, shopped, shopped, shopped. HeilegeistKirch: closed. JesuitenKirche: empty.
Rain. Cold. Took the bus back.
Supper, chinese, w. Laura & Philip.
Rummy with Cherie.

Heidelberg

7:20 AM Arrive in Frankfurt (Me, Cherie, Dianna)
Follow people getting off the plane. Don't declare anything. Go out the green side.
Our luggage is the very last off the plane. Meet Laura and Philip. Philip has curly hair that he didn't have before. Cool.
Ride on Autobahn with Philip driving. To avoid traffic jam, take a "shortcut" through fields and greenhouses. Into the city, up tiny streets. Philosopher's walk.
Amazing driving the winding roads up to the castle, arch.
Lunch at Philip's mom's house (noodles, bread crumbs, peas & carrots).
Met Oma and Opa. Opa tells me about JesuitenKirche.
Supper: German Sauerbraten & spaetzle.
SLEEP!

Denner Hotel Room #34

Heidelberg

2:31 Depart Louisville NW1232 Arr Detroit Metro 3:53
Get a Vogue Magazine and Harper's New York for Laura
5:10 Depart Detroit Metro NW51

Omnes qui in Christo rehearsal sheet

Omnes qui in Christo sheet
Originally uploaded by hettingr.

Communion Antiphon Galatians 3:27 for Sunday, Baptism of the Lord.

Omnes qui in Christo baptizati estis, Christum induistis, alleluia.

All who have been baptized in Christ have pu ton Christ. Alleluia. Alleluia!

Ode: How I lost faith: How the end of religion can be the beginning of God.

Ode
Laura sent me this article. Good to read.

Brother Guy Consolmagno

State of Affairs: "Astronomy and Religion



Brother Guy Consolmagno is a Michigan-born Jesuit who's been working at the Vatican Conservatory since 1993. His research explores connections between meteorites, asteroids, and the evolution of small solar system bodies. He also curates the Vatican meteor collection and has been published in more than 100 scientific publications. He's also written several books, including Brother Astronomer: Adventures of a Vatican Scientist"

An Interview with Brother Guy Consolmagno http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=966&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

The Vatican's Eyes on the Heavens 
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/vatican_observe_000716.html

The Mechanics of God, Part II: Why Would a Techie Join an Organized
http://homepage.mac.com/brother_guy/.cv/brother_guy/Public/Mechanics%20of%20God%20II.pdf-link.pdf

Brother Astronomer: Adventures of a Vatican Scientist
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/007135428X/qid=1099514691/sr=8-3/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i3_xgl14/103-5327755-7957455?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

Turn Left at Orion: A Hundred Night Sky Objects to See in a Small
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0521781906/qid=1099514691/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-5327755-7957455?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

The Mayo Jar and the Coffee

THE MAYONNAISE JAR AND COFFEE

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar...and the coffee...

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the important things--God, family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions-things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car. The sand is everything else-the small stuff."

"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal."

"Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee
represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes
to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always
room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

(Cherie sent me this today. I like the concepts.)

Voting Forum

Voting Forum

It's time to contest the election.

I think we are being too blase about the vote in Ohio. That power-hungry group of people who are currently working within the Republican Party has actually been successful at subverting the election, and people seem to be ignoring the evidence. Ever since the election, we have been assured that the Democratic Party would "count every vote," and look into the outrages. It's time to do something. Otherwise, we are not a country of law, but of opinion and media control. It's our representatives' job to contest this, and not just as a principle.

George Bush hasn't legally won the election unless we hand it to him now.

Epiphany

by Maryanne Hannan


It was Einstein who said either nothing is a miracle,
Or everything is-
A jagged mountain range,
Lilacs in bloom,
A peacock unfurled,
Sun on your arm, the touch of a stranger.
Take your pick: be surprised
By nothing at all
Or by everything that is.

Spiritual Perspectives; Navajo Blessing Way Ceremony

Independent - December 11, 2004: Spiritual Perspectives; Navajo Blessing Way Ceremony

My God's Bigger than Your God

My God's bigger than your God.
My God's bigger than yours.
My God's bigger, cause he loves everybody.
My God's bigger than yours.

Gregorian chant; a history of the controversy concerning its rhythm.

By:
John Rayburn, Professor.

Type:
English : Book : Non-fiction

Publisher:
New York, 1964.

Chant at St. Joe

Today we rehearsed for 4th Sunday of Advent. Only three of us there, Shirley has laryngitis, Sharon is babysitting her new grandchild, and Frank won't be able to come during the day. Dave came, and Shaun (who is dealing with a horrible pinched nerve).

For You O Lord: decided to take it down a step.
Ecce Virgo: After listening to last week's recording, we tried to make the diction so explicit that the Engligh words HAD to come thru. It was painfully difficult. We. Spoke. Every. Sound. Then listened to the recording, and it was much better, not overdone, but still not quite good enough. I'm going to get Amy to listen to the recording with me, and help me figure out how we can have that much clarity, but without sacrificing the flow of the words.

Diction: Everything needs more S. Remember to make English Emmanuel different than Latin. English verse entrances were not together. Final consonants are still getting lost: EmmanueL, concipieT, filiuM, exclaiM. Learn how to sing "enemies."

After rehearsal, we were leaving, but the door up above the choir area was open, so I peeked in. Then went up. We went up three flights of dusty, ancient stairs, past the balcony of the trumpet row, up higher than the ceiling. And even there, when you looked up, there were more steps (from somewhere, who knows?) leading on up into the steeple. Wow! We weren't sure how stable the flooring was going to be, but you KNEW those huge beams everywhere were solid. What construction!

At youth choir, Amy rehearsed Veni, Veni, Emmanuel, singing and walking, for Christmas Eve with the Herde Family choir. Also, we rehearsed Resonet in laudibus , which is fun, with dance steps, tamborine, clapping, and dramatically-spoken English verses.

A Family in Baghdad

A Family in Baghdad

Faiza's journal, and her son Khalid's journal, put faces on the Iraqi people for me. This woman, who I would love as a neighbor or friend, is so angry and frustrated, trying to make sense of the violence and destruction that has overtaken her life, yet I always admire her sense of walking with God on a good earth. How does she do it?

Mining antiquity for heavenly music - The Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon, USA

Mining antiquity for heavenly music - The Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon, USA: "Intrigued by a mystical translation of prayers in Aramaic, the language of Jesus' time, the Moroneys embarked on serious research into the music of that period.

For melodies, they relied on the early 20th century work of Abraham Idelsohn, a musicologist who collected and studied the songs of Jews from many countries who were settling in what was then Palestine."

Bush asks Rumsfeld to stay

Bush asks Rumsfeld to stay

Ohio Soybean Council

Welcome to OSC - Ohio Soybean Council

EcceVirgo practice sheet

* We plan to sing this on 4 Advent, Prep of Gifts. 7 am at St. Joe
* Antiphon from Graduale Triplex
* Psalm verses from Lectionary, to match Graduale
* I'm not sure if I like the verses, they seem too busy. But, the notation suggests that the antiphon is pretty slow and stretched-out, so it might be ok if we sing the verses the same way.
* St. Gall notation over "eius" seems to be missing a note that we sing from the square notation.
* Gloria Patri: I changed DO from top line to third line down. The relationships are the same. That makes syllables center on DO. I have beginning readers, and this will help them learn better. Also, as per Dom Turco, it's probably more authentic anyway. (apologies to Guido)

Chant at St. A

Theresa (pastoral assoc.) and the Seminarians are setting up Advent Evening Prayer, followed by Scripture breaking (and food, I think). Next Wednesday at 6:30. She called me, and I went over to help plan (that was nice), and I'll cantor. That should be a good evening.

t r u t h o u t - Howard Fineman | Rove Unleashed

t r u t h o u t - Howard Fineman | Rove Unleashed: "Asked to name Bush's biggest accomplishment thus far, Rove replied in a flash: 'His clear-eyed explanation of how to win the war on terrorism. It was the defining moment of our time.'"

Chant at St. Joe

First Sunday of Advent 7 am mass

Entrance Song: O Come, O come Emmanuel # w. organ

Resp. Psalm from missalette, chant verses, a capella
Alleluia Show us Lord, your love, and grant us your salvation.

POG (cantor and schola)
Ad te levavi anima meam:
Deus meus in te confido, non erubescam:
neque irrideant me inimici mei:
et enim universi qui te exspectant, non confundentur. (Graduale Triplex)
(To you, my God, I lift up my soul.
I trust in you.
Let me never come to shame.
Do not let my enemies laugh at me.
No one who waits for you is ever put to shame.) (Fr. Columba Kelly english chant)

Eucharistic acclamations: Sanctus: (Mass XVIII)
Christ has died (Danish)
Amen (Danish)
Agnus Dei (Mass XVIII)

Communion (choir) John 6:57
Qui manducat carnem meam, et bibit sanguinem meum, in me manet, et ego in eo, dicit Dominus. Graduale Triplex
(“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood, remains in me, and I in him,” says the Lord.) Chant mode VIII

Sending: Organ Postlude On Jordan's Bank
--------------
All went well. The people sang strongly with us. I taught the Sanctus before mass.
The latin and its translation was printed in the worship aid. Yess!!!! Thank you, Vivian!
Next liturgy for this group: Fourth Sunday of Advent 7 am
Rehearsals: the next 3 Wednesdays 1-2, possibly a Friday.
I want to make some arrangements for someone to bring communion to the choir loft, if possible.
And David wants to approach people in neighboring parishes, which makes good sense to me.
Frank won't be able to attend daytime rehearsals, can we record? Sure. Just have to remember.

DO FENCE ME IN, Finding a Balance Between Hubbub and Silence in the Big City, by Sarah Vowell (11/18/04)

DO FENCE ME IN, Finding a Balance Between Hubbub and Silence in the Big City, by Sarah Vowell (11/18/04)

National Feathering-Our-Nest Club

National Feathering-Our-Nest Club

record:
Intelligence information, inconvenient
        decision: ignore
International opinion, inconvenient
        decision: ignore
Separation of Church and State, inconvenient
        decision: change the rules
Geneva Conventions, inconvenient
        decision: change the rules
Budget limits, inconvenient
        decision: change the rules
Environmental safeguards, inconvenient
        decision: change the rules
Deficit limits, inconvenient
        decision: change the rules
Ethics, inconvenient
        decision: change the rules
Objections from staff, inconvenient
        decision: change the staff
Democratic process, inconvenient
        decision: TBA

credo: Rule of Law Our Club RULES!

Possible correlation--voter preference and river systems

Wanna see something interesting? Open these three maps in new windows:

1. Election 2004 Results
2. Set this map to show rivers
3. Purple America

My daughter Laura is home from Germany. She's a geographer. We were looking at election results and she noticed that you can see the Mississippi river system in the "blue." (for Kerry).

That makes intuitive sense in that this country is more populated along the river systems, and the more populated areas (more urban? more international?) tended to go Kerry.

But the red/blue shift doesn't hold true about ALL river systems. Eyeballing it, I see a correlation between the direction the rivers flow and the voting percentages. By and large, areas with only east-west river systems are reddish. Areas with north-south river systems are more blue.

Offhand, the only things that come to mind are:
* rivers = people who travel more, meet more people vs. those who have less varied experience
* North/South = Union/Confederacy, thereore people who travel (or meet travelers) across north/south areas get more experience beyond whatever cultural mores are leftover from the Civil War divide, whereas travelling east-west would leave the person within whatever of that particular cultural mix he/she already lives in
* Population appears to be less (by my eyball) in those areas that were largely red. Again, less cross-cultural experience, just from meeting fewer people

???????????

Election 2000 Results Map by County

Election 2000 Results

U.S. births to youngest teens reaches lowest level since 1946

SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Nation -- U.S. births to youngest teens reaches lowest level since 1946

Regrouping at Bernheim Forest

Invitation:
To all of you who worked with Pledge-3 here in Bullitt Co.

Thank you for your hard work, your serious thought, and your sincere communication with so many people. Many of us are grieving, and this grief shows that there is much more to this past election than winning or losing.

You are invited to be part of a simple ceremony where we:

recognize our feelings of loss,
name the hopes that we want to carry forward,
express our gratitude to John Kerry and John Edwards,
and begin to transform this valuable experience toward a better tomorrow.

As John Kerry told us, "in an American election there are no losers, because the next morning we all wake up as Americans." He's right. We move on. Please come.

When: Sunday, November 14 4:30 - 5:00 PM
Where: Bernheim Forest Quiet Garden (beside the Arboretum)

Bring a pencil or pen for yourself and one to share. Lawn chairs optional. We'll be outdoors. Bernheim charges an entry fee on Sunday, but tell them you're with Maggie Hettinger, and you won't be charged.

pax,
maggie

---

REGROUPING
Bernheim Forest
11/14/2004

Song
Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gain'd
To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,
To turn, turn will be our delight
'Till by turning, turning we come round right.
--Joseph Brackett, 1848

Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag

Welcome
"Somewhere, in the last few years, from our different backgrounds, we all, I think I can safely say, we all came to an awareness that our world was even more out-of-kilter than usual, and that we probably should do something about it. What we here have in common is that we came to focus our hope for change on the election of the President of the United States, and put our efforts strongly behind two people, John Kerry and John Edwards, their vision and their goals.

"The result of the election may or may not be known yet, but regardless, our roles in the highly-polarizing, dualistic process have come to a natural breakpoint. We are all people who think deeply and evaluate, and this is the time to do it. I'm glad you agreed to come here to this beautiful place to do it together.

"Today I want to do three things, in a ceremonial way.
1. Recognize the loss we've experienced
2. Consider John Kerry's invitation to us to pledge in uniting our country over the partisan divide
3. Make a personal commitment to move forward.

"No matter how big the problems, how grand our goals, it still always come down to simple engagement between one person and another."

Reading

After the election
some of us thought that God
had smiled upon us-
had rewarded us for righteousness-
had promised to save us
and millions of sweet babies--
had shown allegiance
to the sacredness of marriage.

After the election
some of us thought that God
had become small
and mean spirited, like those
who like to make their gods
in their image.
Some of us thought
we could see them at the forge,
pounding out their chains from the veins
of gold in the human heart.
Some of us knew what they knew --
that even the shadows
can be sharpened into swords.

After the election some of us
talked about how simple it had been,
to extract those nuggets of goodness
and those ancient myths- fashioning them
towards a higher cause.
Manipulating the masses is easy
once you’ve found that core.

After the election some of us were
slain by words too small-
and bombs too dumb.
Some of us knew that morality
is larger than the body politics
of the bedroom and procreation.
Some of us believed in God’s whole house,
an ecology of relationships.
Some of us wanted that large God to come back
to occupy that house in us.
--Patty Wren Smith

Sharing
--Hobie Dotson
(individual accounts of loss, and coming to terms with it)

Reflection

What you did made a difference, and building on itself we go on to make a difference another day.

In an American election there are no losers, because, whether our candidates are successful, the next morning, we all wake up as Americans. That is the greatest privilege...

With that gift also comes obligation. We are required now to work together for the good of our country. We must find common cause. We must join in common effort, without remorse or recrimination, without anger or rancor. America is in need of unity and longing for a larger measure of compassion. I hope President Bush will advance those values in the coming years. I pledge to do my part to join in ending the partisan divide. Join me in pledging to bridge the partisan divide.

---John Kerry Nov. 3

* Put America back to work
* Political Party ideals
* Protect the environment
* Support our troops
* Push the frontiers of science and discovery
* Succeed in Iraq
* Restore America's reputation in the world

Commitment
Write a letter:

Dear John Kerry, John Edwards,

Thank you…

I hear your call to bridge the partisan divide. I pledge...

Signed,

(letters to be sent to John Kerry, either individually, or by Maggie)

I am one voice, and I am singing.
I am one voice, and I am singing.
I am one voice, and I am singing.
I am not alone.

We are two voices, and we are singing.
We are two voices and we are singing.
We are two voices, and we are singing.
We are not alone.

We are one hundred voices singing.
We are one hundred voices singing.
We are one hundred voices singing.
We are not alone.

We are one thousand voices singing.
We are one thousand voices singing.
We are one thousand voices singing.
We are not alone.

We are one voice, and we are singing.
We are one voice, and we are singing.
We are one voice, and we are singing.
We are not alone.

Letters to John Kerry, John Edwards

Dear John Kerry, John Edwards,
Thank you.
I hear you call to bridge the partisan divide. I pledge to continue voicing, with determination, the concerns, the ideals that you fought so hard for during the campaign. This includes but is not limited to, the environment, education, and health care.
Signed, A.A., Kentucky and Ohio campaign

Dear John Kerry, John Edwards,
Thank you for giving us hope. Thank you for making us believe that we could come together to make our country a truer, more honest place to live.
I hear your call to bridge the partisan divide. I pledge to continue to support the values that I believe in which are the ones I believe you embody. I voted my values and you got my vote. I will not go back to sleep. I am awake.
Signed, D.R. ATR

Dear John Kerry, John Edwards,
Thank you for working so hard for the past years on the campaign--that's a big sacrifice and a lot of work. I'm disappointed that you were not elected but the work goes on.
I hear you call to bridge the partisan divide. I pledge:
...to keep listening to people's deep desires
...to keep working in my own neck of the woods to make the world a better place
...to keep looking for the good, the truth, the beauty and find common ground.
Signed, C.B.

Dear John Kerry, John Edwards,
Thank you for inspiring us. Thank you for a vision of what we can be. Thank you for standing up for integrity of Law and Democratic process. John Kerry, thank you for your work to end the war in Vietnam. That story has inspired us, especially my children.

I hear your call to bridge the partisan divide. I pledge:
* To write a letter to someone (newspaper, etc.) once a week
* To learn how to speak to people who don't already agree with me
* To finish my schoolwork, integrating what I have learned in this election
* To seriously consider the Libertarian and Green political parties
* To make a home for progressive values in the spirituality emerging around me

John and John, we expect you to continue.
Any government leader who does not stand up for Law and Democratic Process is a patsy. Hold their feet to the fire.
And count those votes!
Signed, M.H.

After the Election

by Patty Wren Smith

After the election
some of us thought that God
had smiled upon us-
had rewarded us for righteousness-
had promised to save us
and millions of sweet babies--
had shown allegiance
to the sacredness of marriage.

After the election
some of us thought that God
had become small
and mean spirited, like those
who like to make their gods
in their image.
Some of us thought
we could see them at the forge,
pounding out their chains from the veins
of gold in the human heart.
Some of us knew what they knew --
that even the shadows
can be sharpened into swords.

After the election some of us
talked about how simple it had been,
to extract those nuggets of goodness
and those ancient myths- fashioning them
towards a higher cause.
Manipulating the masses is easy
once you’ve found that core.

After the election some of us were
slain by words too small-
and bombs too dumb.
Some of us knew that morality
is larger than the body politics
of the bedroom and procreation.
Some of us believed in God’s whole house,
an ecology of relationships.
Some of us wanted that large God to come back
to occupy that house in us.

Chant at St. Joe

We had a wonderful rehearsal tonight. David and his wife, Shirley, and Frank ( who was new to us, but knows chant and Latin).

We rehearsed for 1st and 4th Advent. Mass XVIII Sanctus, Mysterium fidei (though we won't sing that 'til Lent), Communion Antiphon Qui manducat carnem meam and english psalm verses, and Resonet in laudibus for Christmas season.

Then we sang Night Prayer from Fr. Pat Creed's book.

Next rehearsal, the Wed. before Thanksgiving.

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.