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September 30, 2005
Health Care Crisis in U.S. Grows More Urgent
Posted by Faithful Progressive
President Bush and the GOP leaders of Congress have ignored a huge decline in the number of people who have health insurance, and a staggering decrease in the percentage of employers who provide health insurance.
In 1993, U.S. Catholic Bishops passed a resolution on health care that concluded: "Every person has the right to adequate health care. This right flows from the sanctity of human life and the dignity that belongs to all persons, who are made in the image of God... Our call for health care reform is rooted in the biblical call to heal the sick and to serve 'the least of these,' the priorities of justice and the principle of the common good. The existing patterns of health care in the United Sates do no meet the minimal standard of social justice and the common good." Since 1993 the situation has gotten much worse. There is a health care crisis in the U.S., though it gets very little attention.
According to a recent Families USA report, “The number of uninsured has risen to “nearly 48 million Americans will be uninsured for the entire year in 2005. What happens when some of these 48 million Americans get sick? Research has shown that the uninsured often put off getting care for health problems—or forgo care altogether. When the symptoms can no longer be ignored, the uninsured do see doctors and go to hospitals. Without insurance to pay the tab, the uninsured struggle to pay as much as they can: More than one-third (35 percent) of the total cost of health care services provided to people without health insurance is paid out-of-pocket by the uninsured themselves.”
This means that fewer employers will provide health insurance. The number has been dropping in the past years. Jack Faris, President of NFIB (the National Federation of Independent Business), the nation's largest small-business advocacy group recently noted this past week that, "...(O)nly 60 percent of the companies provide health coverage to their workers, a sharp drop from 69 percent five years ago. The decline is centered mainly in the small-business sector. Nearly all businesses that have 200 or more employees offer health benefits. There is no greater concern among small businesses than the rising cost of health insurance. The most recent National Federation of Independent Business "Small-Business Problems and Priorities" survey reported that two-thirds, 66 percent, of small-business owners again named the issue as their single most important problem - up significantly from 47 percent four years earlier.”
Almost as alarming, as Bloomberg reported yesterday, “U.S. companies will pay an average of 8 percent more for employees' health insurance next year, according to Towers Perrin, a human resources consultant. Employers will pay almost $600 more next year for each worker, bringing total health insurance costs to $8,424 on average, Stamford, Connecticut-based Towers Perrin said today in a survey. Workers will shoulder $155 of the additional expense, 10 percent more than in 2005. “
Religious leaders of all types have urged fundamental health care reform in the U.S. One organizing group has been the The Faith Project of the Universal Health Care Action Network They have produced a Statement that has been endorsed by an impressive array of national and local groups. Their web-site has resources to get involved at many levels. I hope that we will add the Christian Alliance for Progress to the list, and that others join these groups in this important work.
American Baptist Churches in the USA
American Jewish Congress
Anabaptist Center for Health Care Ethics
Church Women United
Episcopal Church, USA
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Interfaith Voices for Peace and Justice
Islamic Society of North America
Mennonite Central Committee, US
Mennonite Medical Association
Mennonite Nurses Association
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
NETWORK: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby
Presbyterian Church (USA), Washington Office
Union of American Hebrew Congregations
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
United Church of Christ
United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society
State/Regional
Alaska IMPACT
American Baptist Churches of Indiana & Kentucky
American Baptist Churches of New Jersey
American Baptist Churches of Rhode Island
Coalition of Religious Communities, Utah
Church Women United, Alabama
Church Women United, Arizona
Church Women United, Illinois
Church Women United, Indiana
Church Women United, Kentucky
Church Women United, Michigan
Church Women United, Mississippi
Church Women United, New Mexico
Church Women United, New York
Church Women United, Tennessee
Church Women United, Utah
Florida Council of Churches
Illinois Conference of Churches
Jewish Labor Committee
Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Nevada
Michigan Ecumenical Forum
Nevada Health Care Reform Project
Ohio Council of Churches
Pennsylvania Council of Churches
Religious Society of Friends, Western Yearly Meeting, Peace & Christian Social Concerns Committee
United Church of Christ, Maine Conference
United Methodist Church, North Alabama Conference, Prophetic Ministry Team
United Methodist Church Wisconsin Conference - Board of Church and Society
Local
Amistad United Church of Christ - Vacaville CA
Fresno Metro Ministry - Fresno CA
New Spirit Community Church - Berkeley CA
Second Samoan United Church of Christ - Long Beach CA
South Coast Ecumenical Council - Long Beach CA
Diocese of St. Augustine, Office of Justice and Peace - Jacksonville FL
Lakewood United Church of Christ - St. Petersburg FL
Atlanta/Fulton Coalition on Health and Wellness GA
Mayflower Congregational United Church of Christ - Sioux City IA
Congregational Church Algonquin, United Church of Church IL
Emmanuel United Church of Christ - Carlyle IL
Friedens United Church of Christ - Farina IL
San Jose Obrero Mission - Chicago IL
St. Peter's United Church of Christ - Frankfurt IL
Trinity United Church of Christ - Chicago IL
Church Women United, Indianapolis IN
Grace Reformed Church, United Church of Christ - Gary IN
St. Paul United Church of Christ - Ft. Thomas KY
Zion United Church of Christ - Henderson KY
Maple Street Congregational Church, United Church of Christ - Danvers MA
Milbridge Congregational Church, United Church of Christ - Milbridge ME
Access - Dearborn MI
Central Lutheran Church - Minneapolis MN
Cathedral Church of St. Mathew, United Church of Christ - Baltimore MO
Church Women United, Columbia MO
Gethsemane Lutheran Church - St. Louis MO
United Methodist Church, MO Social Concerns Committee - Columbia MO
United Methodist Women of the Missouri UM Church of Columbia MO
Community United Church of Christ - Greensboro NC
Maple Temple United Church of Christ - Selma NC
Parkway United Church of Christ NC
Congregational United Church of Christ - Valley City ND
Smith Memorial Congregational Church, United Church of Christ - Hillsboro NH
Faith Health New York NY
Greater Rochester Interfaith Health Care Coalition - Rochester NY
Long Island Council of Churches NY
Sisters of St. Joseph Justice and Peace Committee - Rochester
Annunciation Parish Community - Cleveland OH
Catholic Ministry of Health Care Professionals - Cleveland OH
Commission on Catholic Community Action, Health Care Committee - Cleveland OH
Community of Christ the Servant - North Olmstead OH
Community of St. Malachi - Lakewood OH
Congregation of St. Joseph - Cleveland OH
Greater Cleveland Community United Church of Christ OH
Heights Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) - Shaker Heights OH
Lutheran Metro Ministry, Social Justice Task Force - Cleveland OH
Presbytery of the Western Reserve - Cleveland OH
Project H.O.P.E.- St. Philip Neri - Cleveland OH
Religious Society of Friends, Athens Monthly Meeting OH
Religious Society of Friends, Cleveland Monthly Meeting OH
St. Malachi Parish - Cleveland OH
St. Noel Catholic Church Social Concerns Commission - Chardon OH
Toledo Metropolitan Ministry
St. Mary's Catholic Parish - Corvallis OR
Breezewood Trucker Traveler Chaplaincy PA
Old First Reformed Church, United Church of Christ - Philadelphia PA
St. Paul's United Church of Christ - Spring City PA
St. Thomas United Church of Christ - Bethlehem PA
Barrington Congregational Church, United Church of Christ RI
Holy Rosary Catholic Church - San Antonio TX
Orem Community Church, United Church of Christ UT
Church Women United, Virginia Beach Unit VA
Metaline Falls Congregational United Church of Christ WA
First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ - Rhinelander WI
United Christian Church - Campbellsport WI
La Fondita de Jesus - San Juan PR
Posted by Faithful Progressive at 12:11 AM | Comments (6)
September 29, 2005
Quoting Tom DeLay
Posted by Jesus Politics
Some Tom DeLay quotes:
On the separation of Church and State:
I hope the Supreme Court will finally read the Constitution and see there's no such thing, or no mention, of separation of church and state in the Constitution.
A woman can take care of the family. It takes a man to provide structure, to provide stability.
It has never been proven that air toxics are hazardous to people.
The greenies have led us into the crisis in the Middle East... The rabid environmentalists felt it was more important to jeopardize the lives of our brave American servicemen than risk the death of a single snail darter.
Christianity offers the only viable, reasonable, definitive answer to the questions of 'Where did I come from?', 'Why am I here?', 'Where am I going?', 'Does life have any meaningful purpose?' Only Christianity offers a way to understand that physical and that moral border. Only Christianity offers a comprehensive worldview that covers all areas of life and thought every aspect of creation. Only Christianity offers a way to live in response to the realities that we find in this world only Christianity.
"He [God] has been walking me through an incredible journey, and it all comes down to worldview," DeLay told the crowd. "He is using me, all the time, everywhere, to stand up for biblical worldview in everything that I do and everywhere I am. He is training me, He is working with me."
DeLay decried the notion that churches are not for politics, asserting that he was motivated to "get out of the church and into the streets and standing for [God's] worldview" by Chuck Colson's book How Now Shall We Live? (Colson, the ex-Watergate figure, found God in prison and is now a Religious Right activist.)
"Unfortunately, for many years many, many years people have been forced into what I call the ghettoes of the church...," DeLay said. "Christians have been pushed and pushed into that ghetto, and they're told, 'You can go in the church, but if you stick your head out and you say anything that reflects your worldview, we're going to knock your head off.' And they do. And they come after me like you wouldn't believe."
Now, with President George W. Bush in office, DeLay said God "is giving us this opportunity to change our culture.... He is giving us grand and great opportunities to stand up for him, and he's giving it from the top, the president of the United States, all the way to Pearland."
Posted by Jesus Politics at 04:56 PM | Comments (54)
Hammer Time
Posted by Fresh Politics
The Hammer has landed. Back to reality, that is. Today, a Texas grand jury, on the last day of its term, indicted Rep. Tom DeLay and two of his associates with criminal conspiracy. Last fall, House Republicans repealed a rule requiring House leaders to relinquish their leadership posts when indicted, but the rule was reinstated in January following public outcry. As a result, today DeLay was forced to temporarily step down from his post as House Majority Leader, although he still represents his Congressional district.
Although DeLay has long been accused of having rather slippery ethics, his indictment is just another in a long line of Republicans caught in their own messes. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is currently being investigated for ordering the sale of stock shares in the company his family owns shortly before the company released negative information to the public. The patronage appointments of the Bush Administration have been attacked in the aftermath of the Hurricane Katrina fiasco where the incompetence of FEMA Director Mike Brown, whose only qualification was that he was a political friend, was on display for all the world. Whispers of Karl Rove's rumored leaks to the press to destroy political opponents have transformed into front page stories as his role in the Valerie Plame outing was far greater than we had been led to believe.
This isn't a Republican or Democrat thing. It's a power thing. Too much power in the hands of too few inevitably leads to the corruption and arrogance that has been the hallmark of the Republican leadership over the last few years. It is this belief in its own invincibility that those in power do not hesitate to misrepresent the threat of weapons of mass destruction or to perpetuate false links between Saddam Hussein and 9/11 despite clear evidence to the contrary.
After the indictment, DeLay accused prosecutor Ronnie Earle of having a “partisan agenda” and engaging in “political vendettas.” This from the man who has given new meaning to these terms, including orchestrating the Texas Legislature to do an off-cycle redistricting to help Republicans increase their majority in the House. Or, dare I say, the Republican partisan witch hunts against President Bill Clinton. Conduct of the sort we've seen from the so-called leadership of this country thrives when free from accountability. This indictment is a much-needed reality check that politics as usual cannot continue.
Posted by Fresh Politics at 05:58 AM | Comments (2)
September 27, 2005
House Passes Bill Allowing Religious Discrimination
Posted by Father Jake
The House of Representatives recently passed the School Readiness Act (HR 2123), which reauthorizes the Head Start program, one of the better programs in existence for pre-school age children. The bill passed in committee by a vote of 48-0. But, when it was voted on in the House, it squeaked by with a 231-184 vote. What happened between committee and the vote in the House?
What happened was an amendment proposed by Republican Rep. Charles Boustany of Louisiana's 7th Congressional District. Here's the specific wording of part of Boustany's amendment;
SEC. 654 NONDISCRIMINATION PROVISIONS
a)(1) The Secretary shall not provide financial assistance for any program, project, or activity under this subchapter unless the grant or contract with respect thereto specifically provides that no person with responsibilities in the operation thereof will discriminate with respect to any such program, project, or activity because of race, creed, color, national origin, sex, political affiliation, or beliefs.
`(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a recipient of financial assistance under this subchapter that is a religious corporation, association, educational institution, or society, with respect to the employment of individuals of a particular religion to perform work connected with the carrying on by such corporation, association, educational institution, or society of its activities. Such recipients shall comply with the other requirements contained in this subsection.
Here is part of the response of the Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, President of the Interfaith Alliance to Boustany's amendment;
"In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the levees protecting religious liberty are being breached, and the wall between church and state is cracking," Gaddy said. "If those in Congress who seek to repeal religious liberty safeguards are successful, thousands of children, teachers and parent volunteers who have dedicated themselves to this program could find themselves no longer welcome at religiously-affiliated Head Start programs because they are of a different faith than the sponsoring organization."
The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, called the vote "shameful";
Publicly funded programs ought to hire the best qualified applicant. I am outraged that House members have inserted religious discrimination into a program like Head Start.
Since Head Start does not teach religion, there is no need for religious groups to engage in discriminatory hiring practices. Head Start staff should be chosen on their ability to work successfully with disadvantaged children.
Terri Ann Schroeder of the American Civil Liberties Union offers this response;
Head Start's current civil liberties provisions work -- protecting participants from religious discrimination, while allowing faith-based groups to contribute to the Head Start program. Repealing these provisions is a significant step backwards for civil liberties, potentially depriving children of quality educators on a solely religious basis.
Our own Tim Simpson of the Christian Alliance for Progress has responded to this vote as well;
The right has tried to kill Head Start for years. When they failed at that, they did the next best thing, which is to turn the program into pork to reward their religious followers."
Instead of assuring that America's children get the best program possible, this legislation simply assures America's right-wing religious institutions a place at the public trough where they can feed, while the taxpayer pays for them to promote their beliefs, in contravention of the Constitutional protections against the government's establishment of religion.
In this land which has stood for the right of religious freedom since the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, it is sad to see the deterioration of our liberties as revealed in this legislation. What makes this even more disheartening is that our greatest national treasure, our children, are being used as pawns to further this theocratic agenda.
Posted by Father Jake at 04:16 PM | Comments (12)
September 26, 2005
"Make Levees Not War": Demonstrating for Peace in DC
Posted by Public Theologian
On Saturday, I was with several hundred thousand protesters flooding the streets of the nation’s capital to protest the war in Iraq, in what was the largest antiwar demonstration in this country since the war began in 2003. It was an exciting time for those of us who have been opposed to the war since long before it was undertaken, largely because the tide has turned in the country and so many of our citizens have now joined us in that view. There was no question whatsoever, if you walked the streets of DC on Saturday, that the nation has turned its back on the failed policies of the Bush administration and that the country is not going to support their agenda while this open wound on our national soul lies untended.
I could tell that the day was going to bring an excellent turnout from the time I went to breakfast at our hotel. The dining room was packed with people clad in walking gear, carbing up for a long march. The normally sleepy Saturday morning Metro in the Virginia suburbs looked instead like a regular workday, with lots of riders waiting on the trains whose cars started filling up long before they reached downtown. Impromptu conversations started throughout the car that my wife, son and I rode in among compatriots in a common struggle. When we arrived at our stop the train disgorged its entire complement of passengers and we could hardly get out of the building. Heading out of the station towards the Ellipse we came to a sea of crosses, stars and crescents which commemorated the nearly 2000 dead Americans whose lives have been needlessly sacrificed in the invasion and occupation. It was a very stark reminder of why we were all here. My ten year-old son, Jacob, who like most of us hears the casualty counts and fails to register the magnitude of the suffering, said it best when he saw row upon row of the fallen: “That’s a lot of dead people.”
We lined up for the march amidst a cacophony of raucous demonstrators. Directly in front of us was a group of dread-locked African-American young people playing drums of every sort led by someone who used their whistle to blast in rhythm. They attracted a group of frenzied dancers who endlessly jumped and twirled to the beat. Directly behind us was a large delegation from the Buddhist Peace Fellowship, some of whom carried a banner that spanned the entire width of the street, followed by the monks themselves, shaven and dressed in robes, ohm-ing and beating their drums in a monotonously disciplined rhythm that they were able to maintain despite the contrapuntal beat coming from the revelers just twenty feet in front of them. All around us were signs, most of them homemade and many of them quite funny, with people chanting, sometimes with bullhorns, the slogan of the day:
What do we want?
Peace!
When do we want it?
Now!
There were so many people at the march that for the first 45 minutes we did not march, we shuffled. It took us that long to move one block and the crowd was pressed against each other, cheek by jowl, for as far as the eye could see in every direction. When we finally did get moving we began making our way through the streets of DC that had been closed off for the day’s event. The highlight of the event, naturally, was marching past the White House, whose occupant had unfortunately fled to Colorado to watch Hurricane Rita inside a bunker. Trust me, it was a smart move on his part, because he wouldn’t have liked what people were saying when they walked by his house.
The right-wingers over at Free Republic and Move America Forward had planned a counter demonstration and rally over the weekend, but it fizzled big time. Visualize the ad copy: “Let’s go to Washington to let President Bush and America know how much we support the war!” Of course, no one showed up, except for a handful of demonstrators, probably Heritage Foundation interns forced to work a Saturday, who took refuge in the shadow of one side of the FBI building. The hundreds of thousands of marchers who passed them by gave them all the peace sign and drowned out their hate speech with louder chanting. One sign read, for example, God bless America and curse our enemies; and someone with a bullhorn kept screaming “Cindy lies and Casey cries”—a reference to antiwar protester Cindy Sheehan whose son Casey was killed in Iraq.
On Sunday afternoon I had the misfortune of coming out of the National Gallery of Art to the speeches of the right-wingers who were now having their “rally” at the Capital end of the Mall. We were a good distance away yet I could clearly hear what the speakers were saying from their large stage and their monstrous sound system. As we drew closer, however, walking towards the new Smithsonian museum dedicated to the American Indian, we could see the dimensions of the “crowd” that had gathered to support the President and the war. Truthfully, the group had about as many port-o-pottys lined up a hundred yards behind the “rally” as they did participants. There were more people at a high school football game than there were at this “national rally” held in the most prominent green space in American public life. It was truly pathetic. The hundred or so antiwar counter-demonstrators across the street were generating more noise and enthusiasm than the tepid crowd which they had come to oppose. To me it was emblematic of the decline in the President’s popularity and the growing disgust that the electorate has for this costly and unjust war.
Posted by Public Theologian at 04:04 PM | Comments (21)
September 23, 2005
Race & Class Back on Political and Religious Radar
Posted by Faithful Progressive
The Washington Post's Terry Neal had a very interesting column on Thursday. The title said it all: Race, Class Re-Enter Politics After Katrina. Of course, these issues never left for those who were paying attention--unfortunately, that is almost always a very small minority. Neal quoted Sen. Barak Obama (D-Ill.), the only sitting African American US Senator. "(Obama) wants to make sure that addressing poverty and race stays at the forefront of the national debate. Addressing the conference last night, Obama said: "The incompetence [in the federal response to Katrina] was colorblind. What wasn't colorblind was the indifference. Human efforts will always pale in comparison to nature's forces. But [the Bush administration] is a set of folks who simply don't recognize what's happening in large parts of the country." (Read more about Obama's speech here.)
What is it that Bush is missing? An excellent editorial at Civilrights.org this week by Mark H. Morial provides a good starting point.
Morial writes, "For example, four million more Americans were living in poverty in 2004 than before the economic recession of 2001 (1.1 million of whom fell below the poverty level in 2003 alone), meaning that now there are 37 million Americans in poverty.
The import of those figures was then underscored by the demographic profile of residents in the three dozen neighborhoods in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana hardest-hit by the storm the Associated Press published September 4.
Using Census data, the AP determined that sixty percent of those living in these neighborhoods were predominantly people of color and were twice as likely to be poorer than the national average and to not own a car: Nearly 25 percent of these residents had incomes below the poverty line, almost double the national average; and, while one in 200 American households doesn't have adequate indoor plumbing, in these neighborhoods, the figure was 1 in 100 households. The indicators of poverty were even worse in some neighborhoods in New Orleans, in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and in Mobile, Alabama.
University of South Carolina historian Dan Carter told the AP such figures shouldn't be surprising, but that usually there's "not a lot of interest in (issues of poverty), except when there's something dramatic. By and large, the poor are simply out of sight, out of mind."
Philosopher Cornel West said much the same in an interview for the British newspaper, The Observer. "It takes something as big as Hurricane Katrina and the misery we saw among the poor black people of New Orleans to get America to focus on race and poverty," he remarked. "It happens about once every 30 to 40 years."
We could say that some in America have long been trying to direct America's attention to the persistence of poverty. Our own publication, "The State of Black America," has had plenty of company in reminding the nation that the war on poverty the federal government mounted in the 1960s has never ended.
A Newsday story on Sen. Obama's speech noted that (Sen.) Obama offered short- and long-term suggestions for ending poverty.
"We have to start by ending the empathy deficit," he said. "We need to understand everybody has a sacred story to tell. We haven't been able to break through barriers of race and class. And we should make New Orleans a model for what is possible. Why not take every young man and woman in the 9th Ward who didn't have a job and train them in environmental cleanup? And then train them in construction. And don't rebuild the schools. They weren't teaching our children to compete. Let's give teachers bonuses to go down there and teach excellence...I don't know if I can save all these young men," he said. "But that's no excuse for not trying."
So far this post has all been about the political angle--what about the role of religion? Has race entered into the discussion again? Let's hope so. Let's start at home, with this site.
I think the section of our Values statement Equality and Inclusiveness is very strong: Samaritans were the outcasts of Jesus' day, and women were believed to be inferior to men in every way. Yet women were given the honor of announcing the resurrection, and Jesus stayed with the Samaritans for two days. Jesus healed the sick, who were believed to be ill because they had sinned. He traveled with women and welcomed them as his disciples. He ate with tax collectors and with Pharisees. Jesus lovingly ministered to the blind, the deaf, the lame. He cared for "unclean" lepers. He always welcomed people who society said were lowly and despised. By his actions, Jesus affirmed the equal value of all people. We seek to live as Jesus did when we hold that all people are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. We strive to follow his example by eliminating hurtful, exclusionary distinctions between "us" and "them."
But I think the statement of Issues that flows from these values is way too narrow. Of course I support gay rights--no sinner is more or less valuable in the eyes of god--and, as the so-called Christian Right forgets, we are all sinners. Further, The Reverend Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. writng in this months Trumpet, notes how Christian right fanatics have tried to use gay rights as a wedge issue to divide Christians. But Dr. Wright is having none of that: "The faith does not say that gays are going to hell." He also notes that efforts to use the Bible to support human cruelty are nothing new. "Christian fanatics used the Bible to keep us in slavery. Christian fanatics used the Bible to justify segregation and apartheid!"
To me it is clear that the struggle for Equality and Inclusiveness must also include support of Affirmative Action, economic development, renewal of the Voting Rights Act and other efforts to overcome these historic racial and class barriers. We have a duty as Christians to address these historic injustices, as well as to stand up for our gay brothers and sisters. In calling us to love our neighbors, Jesus demands nothing less of us.
Posted by Faithful Progressive at 12:11 AM | Comments (3)
September 22, 2005
The Age of Polymorphous Perversity
Posted by Jesus Politics
Albert Mohler, one of the most influential leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention, has recently posted a four part series on polymorphous perversity. Some quotes:
Now, in the year 2005, it has become obvious that this ideology of polymorphous perversity is inch by inch--if not yard by yard--gaining ground. Read the daily newspaper, or just review the events of a typical week. Even something as basic as the heterosexual nature of marriage is now very much under assault. The very idea of normality, or of fixed institutions, is being subverted by the culture and marginalized by cultural elites.
What we now face is the subversion of humanity's most basic categories and institutions--gender, marriage, and family. In the eyes of all too many in our culture, gender is merely a plastic social construct. Indeed, in the postmodern world, all realities are plastic and all principles are liquid. Everything can be changed. Nothing is fixed. All truth is relative, all truth is socially constructed, and anything which is constructed can also be deconstructed in order to liberate.
If any one institution in human life was most subverted in the 20th century, it was without doubt the institution of marriage. Assaulted by divorce, by lifestyle, by media, by law, by politics, and by custom, marriage was undermined in its very essence. Of course, the attack also necessarily took its toll on the family as well. The very idea of the family as a fixed unit--a husband and wife and their children, together with their extended family--is now seen as an archaic, antiquarian, and intolerant institution, one which must be undone in order that humanity may be liberated from oppression.
For those whose agenda is to undermine Judeo-Christian morality and to disconnect Western civilization from biblical norms, there is no better strategy than to subvert marriage, family, and sexuality, and unleash on society an age and culture of polymorphous perversity.
So even though it might appear from electoral maps that this polymorphous perversity is confined to the coasts and a few other urban areas, the reality is that this philosophy of liberation reaches into every community and into every home by means of entertainment, music, movies, and advertising.
The single greatest obstacle to the victory of the culture of polymorphous perversity is the Judeo-Christian heritage. The greatest obstacle to the normalization of homosexuality is the Bible. Therefore, the cultural revolutionaries have implemented a strategy to completely transform the understanding of sexuality as handed down in the scriptures and as understood by the Christian church throughout the centuries. What has emerged from this subversion of theology is two rival traditions, two religions, each claiming to be Christian. One of these "Christianities" is no longer based upon biblical authority, no longer committed to the great doctrines of the faith, and no longer committed to the faith once for all delivered to the saints. Yet it continues to bear the name Christian and continues to claim that its adherents have not in fact abandoned the authority of scripture.
As the late Elizabeth Achtemeier of Union Theological Seminary once argued, if there is any one thing that is plainly revealed in Scripture, it is Scripture's absolute condemnation of homosexuality in every form and in every context. There is no room for negotiation. If homosexuality is to be squared with biblical teaching, it will only be through subverting the entire authority of Scripture and by setting up a rival version of Christianity.
What then are we to do in order to work for recovery from this age of polymorphous perversity? First, we must fight on every front. We must fight on the legal front, the political front, the media front, the cultural front, the educational front, the psychological front, and the medical front. In each of these crucial arenas, we must bear witness to the truth. In doing so, we may be marginalized, we may be voted down, and we may be criticized, but we cannot simply surrender the field to the other side.
Second, we must bear witness to the truth. This means that we must be very careful not only to say the right things, but also to show the right things. In other words, we must make certain that our marriages and our families are a testimony to God's intention, and that we live before the world declaring that even if insanity, irrationality, and sexual anarchy rule the world, it will not rule us. God's glory will be shown in faithfulness wherever it is found, even in the tiny domestic picture of our seemingly insignificant families. The age of polymorphous perversity may one day become the rule of the land. The cultural revolutionaries may one day be successful beyond their wildest dreams. But so long as there remains one man and one woman united in holy marriage, receiving children as God's gifts and ordering their family life by the Word of God, there will still be a witness--a powerful witness the world cannot ignore.
Posted by Jesus Politics at 06:34 AM | Comments (10)
The Eleventh Voter
Posted by Fresh Politics
Yesterday was the primary election in my state. There were no statewide races, so voters were only making decisions for local positions. There were the obligatory challengers against the incumbent County Executive and County Sheriff, but they seemed unlikely to garner much support. In my town, the most controversial race was for the open Port Commissioner seat...or at least it seemed that way from the yard signs.
Big yawn, right? Even I, someone who has never missed an election no matter how trivial it seemed, had a hard time getting excited about this primary. Nevertheless, after dinner, I dutifully hopped on my bike and rode up to the polling place to vote. There was no one in the room except the poll workers and my husband, who accompanied me even though he voted earlier that morning. I signed in after I showed my identification and was shocked to discover that I was number 11 on the sheet. At first I thought that I was just number 11 on that sheet of paper, but then I saw my husband's signature on line number 1! So between 8:30 in the morning and 7:00 at night, only 11 people in our precinct actually voted in yesterday's primary. I have no way of knowing what the turnout was for the other two precincts in that polling place, but my guess is that their numbers were not dramatically higher.
Granted this was not an exciting election, but the incredibly low level of voter turnout troubles me. We can talk all we want about the direction the country (or state, town, etc.) should be going in, we can read books attacking the policies of the opposite political party, we can have blog arguments about the propriety of the estate tax. But opinions alone do not put people into office. Voting citizens – in this case, clearly a tiny minority of the citizens in my town – are making these decisions. That is a lot of power for a small group of people. I don't think it matters that the election is a bore. The Christian right has shown us how important these seemingly low-level local elections can be.
So why do people opt out of elections? I think for some people, they may not be able to get the time off work (this is particulary true for people who work two jobs). Voting may often be a low priority compared to the demands of surviving in an ever harsher world. Some people certainly don't think their vote makes much of a difference, though one would think that the razor-thin margins by which victors have emerged in the last few years would have put that reason to rest. There is definitely a problem with getting information out to voters about who the candidates are and what they stand for. In the state I live in now, they do a pretty good job – they mailed a voter guide to all registered voters that included statements by the candidates. But many states do an abysmal job. A few years ago, when I lived in another state, I had a heck of a time finding out who the candidates were, let alone where they stood on the issues. There was no information with the local clerk's office or with the secretary of state's office. I finally found some information online, but it was clearly incomplete – there were other positions on the ballot that I knew nothing about, forcing me to opt out of those races because I had no idea who I would be voting for. Of course, people may also feel that there is no real difference between candidates even when they have information on them.
At the bottom of it all, I think people are disengaged. Many times there is no direct connection between a person's vote and his or her daily life. Laws, like the upcoming changes to the bankruptcy law, get passed or amended. Even if the laws have a significant impact on people's lives, it is rare that those hurt by the laws point fingers at the elected officials who implemented them, holding them accountable in the next election.
So what's next? Why do you think people don't vote...and what do you think we can do to change that?
Posted by Fresh Politics at 04:42 AM | Comments (4)
September 21, 2005
Are Liberal Values Frightening?
Posted by Father Jake
Doug Muder has written an article entitled Who’s Afraid of Freedom and Tolerance? His reflection on why fundamentalists are so frightened by liberal values includes a number of thoughts worth pondering.
Muder leans heavily on James Ault’s book, Spirit and Flesh; Life Inside a Fundamentalist Baptist Church, which identifies the core of most fundamentalists’ values to spring from their understanding of family life; “ a ‘villagelike’ web of multigenerational family ties…” in which relationships are seen as rooted in obligations rather than choices.
Muder also cites Ronald J. Sider’s recent book, The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience, in which Sider notes various polls that suggest it is highly questionable if evangelical, “born again” Christian are any more “moral” than anyone else. It appears that there continues to be some debate regarding the accuracy of Sider’s claims, yet the implications if they are even partially correct are rather striking.
What I found most insightful was the section on “The Committed Life.” Here is a brief excerpt;
If there is one basic thing conservatives do not understand about religious liberals, it is this sense of commitment. They see us champion choice over obligation, but misunderstand our reasons. They understand us to be advocating a superficial and nihilistic way of life. They think we want to choose our own moral codes so that we can pick easy ones that rationalize our every whim. They believe that we want the freedom to define our relationships so that we can walk away from anything that looks difficult…
But the committed life requires freedom, because only voluntary commitment has meaning. We give our members the freedom to doubt and encourage them to question their beliefs not so they will see all beliefs as whimsical and contingent, but quite the opposite: We find that hard-tested and hard-won beliefs are more likely to withstand the challenges of modern life. A marriage whose every assumption and duty has been freely negotiated is not a house of straw, but rather a house whose every brick has been carefully laid. The freedom of liberal religion is an invitation to engage with the most significant issues of human life and society, not an excuse to fall into a shiftless and vacant hedonism.
Muder concludes with an excellent section on “The Message of Hope”;
It is a trying time, and the anger of the Christian Right is understandable. “Whenever an old order dies,” writes the liberal Episcopal bishop John Shelby Spong, “anger is always loosed upon the whole society.”
But though we must defend ourselves and other innocents against the misdirected rage of the Christian Right (and the comparable fundamentalisms of other major religions), we lose if we simply oppose our anger to theirs. To give them hell is to fight the battle on their turf, not ours. Instead, we can offer a message of hope for which they have no answer. We know that the system of timeless templates and universal obligations is coming apart—but we have come out the other side of that tunnel, and there is light here:
Civilization, in short, need not fall. And we need not victimize the poor, the powerless, or the unpopular in order to prop it up.
I found this article to provide me with much food for thought. I’d be interested in hearing your reaction to it.
Posted by Father Jake at 12:15 AM | Comments (34)
September 19, 2005
Hurricane Bush: The Disaster Continues
Posted by Public Theologian
If anything is clear about the Katrina disaster, it is that the President has learned nothing from it. He has decided, despite his lowest poll numbers in the history of his presidency, that it will nonetheless be business as usual in handling the aftermath of a debacle that was already greatly exacerbated because of the ineptitude of his government.
1. Already the money from no-bid contracts is flowing faster than did the floodwaters from the broken levees. NPR reported on Friday that companies are breaking orders down into $250,000 chunks, the maximum amount allowable for a no-bid contract, in order to get around the federal requirement. This means a company may make ten deals of $250,000 each with the government to deliver a load of diapers to the disaster area when the real order is $2.5 million worth of diapers, in order to guarantee their place at the trough. And, of course, it is the big Bush friends whom we already came to know and love in Iraq, folks like Haliburton and Bechtel, that are already getting the lion’s share of the business.
2. Already running record deficits throughout his tenure and now facing perhaps $300 billion more on top of that colossal number, the President promises the rich that they will not have their taxes raised, and that instead the bill will be picked up by the next generation of Americans who will have their standard of living reduced in order to pay for the this generation’s refusal to regulate its own financial life and so that the President can reward his millionaire friends who have stuck by him even when the rest of America thinks he’s a failure as a leader.
3. At the same time as the Bush cronies are reaping huge windfalls, the President has cravenly invoked the Davis-Bacon Act which allows employers to suspend normal rates of pay so that they will be able to have workers do the jobs for pay that no one else in the country earns and that no one in the region would have even considered doing prior to the storm. Josh Marshall over at Talking Points Memo has rightly called this “wage gouging” for it takes advantage of the most vulnerable workers who desperately need any kind of employment while stacking the deck in favor of employers who can now by law rob their workers of their labor, this at a time when people are trying to keep whatever life they had intact. Moreover, the right is using this disaster as an excuse to cram its conservative experiments that couldn’t get any legislative traction before down the throats of hurricane victims. These include such right-wing schemes as school vouchers and limitations on the rights of victims to sue. Rather than fixing the problems at FEMA, which would benefit all Americans and potentially save thousands of lives and billions of dollars, they are using their time to push their radical agenda.
4. Who has the President placed in charge of this effort? None other than the treasonous and now voter-fraud felon himself, Karl Rove, who knows about as much about disaster relief and reconstruction as I do about animal husbandry. It has been little covered by the press but two weeks ago it was revealed that Rove votes in Texas, where he has no residence but does own rental property, though he lives in DC. When asked about this hypothetically, without the use of Rove’s name, the lawyer with the State of Texas who handles such things responded that such a situation was illegal. When word got back to Rove, he called his Texas buddies who promptly had the lawyer, Elizabeth Reyes, fired last week even though what she said was correct and within her department’s policy for speaking to the press. In short, Rove is a criminal political hack whose expertise has to do with cultivating cronies and dispatching opponents, which ought to give the American people a good sense of how their $300 billion is going to be used. What benefit is there in replacing one incompetent political appointment, Michael Brown, with another one?
What is equally amazing is the call to caution on the part of people on the right who never met a scandal they couldn’t fabricate when Clinton was President but who are now counseling the rest of us that there will be plenty of time for finger-pointing and investigating later on and that we should be concentrating on the victims right now. That might be sound advice except for the small fact that the government is spending $2 billion dollars a day with hardly a bit of oversight, most of it still managed by the same characters at FEMA who have been universally denounced as incompetent. Moreover, as the big business buddies of the President rake in huge amounts of business acquired without competition, the very workers who have been displaced now face pay cuts in addition to the misery they are already suffering. Yet the right wing amen chorus tells us that we should hold all criticism in abeyance? Until when? Until the poor are ground into the very dust? Until the rich bankrupt the national treasury? At exactly what time will they think that the self-critique that characterizes a democratic society will again be appropriate? We already know that the Republicans in the Congress are going to block an independent investigation into the failures that followed the hurricane, so we can’t count on the government for a fair rendering of what is going on. SO why should the press or the citizenry not demand a full accounting on its own? Are not calls to refrain from a critical evaluation of the Administration’s actions simply a form of political co-dependence?
Anyone with a conscience and certainly anyone who is a Christian cannot help but be outraged by what is going on. Anyone who names the name of Jesus must become an advocate for people who are desperate like the hundreds of thousands of evacuees, and has to speak out against those who would prey on them in the hour of their need, as did Israel’s prophets and as did Jesus himself. Jesus demonstrated in his own ministry that it was possible to both take care of the needs of those who are in need as well as speak truth to power about trampling on the poor. Right now the church is doing an amazing job being the hands and feet of Jesus; feeding, clothing sheltering and nursing those afflicted by this storm. But like Jesus we must not neglect the other side of our obligation to those in need which is namely to call the wealthy to righteousness and demand that they do justice.
Posted by Public Theologian at 01:22 PM | Comments (12)
September 16, 2005
Mainstream Religious Leaders Urge New Budget Priorities in Wake of Katrina
Posted by Faithful Progressive
I had planned to say something very similar, and to link this wonderful post (Quoting the Bible, Cutting Worker Pay, by Dan Haar) and perhaps this one as well.(Overturning the Gospels by Melinda Henneberger.) But I think the statement below has to be the news of the week for progressive Christians. Sometimes I am proud to call myself a Christian--this statement is one of those times.
In Katrina's Wake, Church Leaders Urge Congress on Federal Budget, Poverty Concerns
WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Leaders of five mainline denominations have joined in a renewed call on Congress to oppose cuts to programs serving the poor in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Congress this week postponed consideration of the FY '06 federal budget reconciliation process, which would make deep cuts in programs that serve the working poor, children and seniors.
"In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, it is clear that greater burdens on these programs such as Medicaid and the Food Stamp Program will occur," said John Johnson, domestic policy analyst in the Episcopal Church's Office of Government Relations. "The leaders of the Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian Church, USA, United Methodist Church and United Church of Christ have consistently opposed cuts to vital programs serving the least among us included in this year's federal budget."
Earlier this year, Presiding
Bishop Frank Griswold joined with leaders of the other mainline denominations in calling the President's FY '06 Federal Budget "unjust" and calling on Congress to reject cuts proposed to vital programs for the poor.
"In light of the devastation resulting from Hurricane Katrina and new poverty numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau, Congress must reconsider our national priorities and recommit it self to the values that Americans share in standing up for the poor and disenfranchised in our country," Johnson added.
Full statement: follows
The full text of the letter follows:
September 13, 2005
Dear Members of Congress:
As leaders of our respective denominations, we have long sought an end to the injustices inherent in poverty. We have never seen these injustices born out so vividly in our own country as in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The devastation wrought by Katrina has exposed the anguished faces of the poor in the wealthiest nation on the planet. These faces, precious in the eyes of God, cause us to remember that racial disparities and poverty exist in almost every community in our nation. They also compel us to set before Congress once again our concerns for the FY '06 federal budget and its impact on people living in poverty. With renewed urgency, we call on Congress to stop the FY '06 federal budget reconciliation process immediately.
We believe our federal budget is a concrete expression of our shared moral values and priorities. Congress rightly and quickly responded in appropriating needed funds to ensure an adequate initial response to Hurricane Katrina. Our denominations have mobilized and are responding in prayer and financial support and direct service to those in need. Yet, just as disaster struck the Gulf Coast, the U.S. Census Bureau reported in very particular detail that poverty in the United States is growing. The annual report, Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2004 showed that 37.0 million people lived in poverty in 2004, an increase of more than one million people since 2003.
In April, during consideration of the budget resolution we wrote to Congress that, "As we view the FY '06 Federal Budget through our lens of faith this budget, on balance, continues to ask our nation's working poor to pay the cost of a prosperity in which they may never share." It is clear that programs such as Medicaid and the Food Stamp Program that were slated for cuts by Congress will in fact have greater burdens placed on them as a result of Hurricane Katrina. These programs are not simply entitlements or "government hand-outs," they represent the deep and abiding commitment of a nation to care for the least among us.
Believe us when we tell you that even before Hurricane Katrina or the Census Bureau's report, neither we nor our friends of other faiths had the resources to turn back the rising tide of poverty in this country. The FY '06 reconciliation bill that is working its way through the authorizing committees will send more people searching for food in cupboards that, quite frequently, are bare.
We commit ourselves to working for economic policies infused with the spirit of the One who began his public ministry almost 2,000 years ago by proclaiming that God had anointed him "to bring good news to the poor."
The Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold
Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church, USA
The Rt. Rev. Mark Hanson
Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in American
The Rev. Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick
Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
The Rev. John H. Thomas
General Minister and President, United Church of Christ
James Winkler
General Secretary, General Board of Church and Society, United Methodist Church
Posted by Faithful Progressive at 06:30 AM | Comments (8)
The Buck Stopped
Posted by Fresh Politics
It came as a shock the other morning when I heard that President Bush took responsibility for whatever failures the federal government had in responding to the Hurricane Katrina disaster. This is, after all, the same man who, when asked in the presidential debates in 2004, could not think of any mistakes he had made. Suddenly, less than a year later, he is on television admitting that he might, in fact, be fallible.
To be sure, it was a rather lukewarm statement and well below what I think those who suffered because of the inaction of local, state, and federal government deserved. But I never expected that they would get this much.
This administration has consistently passed the buck, passing it long enough until the electorate moves on to another issue. The media's attention span is only so long. If there has been any one major failure of this administration, it is a failure of accountability. From the administration's "head in the sand" mentality to the threat of domestic terrorism (discussed extensively, for example, in Richard Clarke's book) to the pathetic response to Abu Ghraib; from the false information that we were given about the initial reasons for going to war in Iraq to its repeated stalling of the formation of the 9/11 Commission and the publication of its report. Those at the bottom of the hierarchy may have paid the price, but the architects not only got to keep their jobs, some of them got promoted.
It's a sad thing to me when I get excited that the President actually took some responsibility for what happened in New Orleans. Of course the President should do this. The President is at the top of the chain of command and if there is a failure of the government as massive as this, then the President must acknowledge the failure as one of his own. That is not to say that he is the only one who we should be pointing a finger at...not by any means. But it's refreshing to hear the President finally recognize that he is in charge and he is accountable.
Posted by Fresh Politics at 05:02 AM | Comments (22)
September 15, 2005
Bill Moyers on the Christian Right
Posted by Jesus Politics
Some quotes from a recent speech by Bill Moyers:
But we also know that the “violence-of-God” tradition remains embedded deep in the DNA of monotheistic faith. We also know that fundamentalists the world over and at home consider the “sacred texts” to be literally God’s word on all matters. Inside that logic you cannot read part of the Bible allegorically and the rest of it literally; if you believe in the virgin birth of Jesus, his crucifixion and resurrection, and the depiction of the Great Judgment at the end times you must also believe that God is sadistic, brutal, vengeful, callow, cruel and savage—that God slaughters.
We’re talking about a powerful religious constituency that claims the right to tell us what’s on God’s mind and to decide the laws of the land according to their interpretation of biblical revelation and to enforce those laws on the nation as a whole. For the Bible is not just the foundational text of their faith; it has become the foundational text for a political movement.
But what is unique today is that the radical religious right has succeeded in taking over one of America’s great political parties—the country is not yet a theocracy but the Republican Party is—and they are driving American politics, using God as a a battering ram on almost every issue: crime and punishment, foreign policy, health care, taxation, energy, regulation, social services and so on.
What’s also unique is the intensity, organization, and anger they have brought to the public square. Listen to their preachers, evangelists, and homegrown ayatollahs: Their viral intolerance—their loathing of other people’s beliefs, of America’s secular and liberal values, of an independent press, of the courts, of reason, science and the search for objective knowledge—has become an unprecedented sectarian crusade for state power. They use the language of faith to demonize political opponents, mislead and misinform voters, censor writers and artists, ostracize dissenters, and marginalize the poor. These are the foot soldiers in a political holy war financed by wealthy economic interests and guided by savvy partisan operatives who know that couching political ambition in religious rhetoric can ignite the passion of followers as ferociously as when Constantine painted the Sign of Christ (the “Christograph”) on the shields of his soldiers and on the banners of his legions and routed his rivals in Rome.
The Christian Right trumpets charity (as in Faith Based Initiatives) but is silent on social and economic justice. Inequality in America has reached scandalous proportions: a few weeks ago the government acknowledged that while incomes are growing smartly for the first time in years, the primary winners are the top earners—people who receive stocks, bonuses, and other income in addition to wages. The nearly 80 percent of Americans who rely mostly on hourly wages barely maintained their purchasing power. Even as Hurricane Katrina was hitting the Gulf Coast, giving us a stark reminder of how poverty can shove poor people into the abyss, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that last year one million people were added to 36 million already living in poverty. And since l999 the income of the poorest one fifth of Americans has dropped almost nine percent.
None of these harsh realities of ordinary life seem to bother the radical religious right. To the contrary, in the pursuit of political power they have cut a deal with America’s richest class and their partisan allies in a law-of-the-jungle strategy to “starve” the government of resources needed for vital social services that benefit everyone while championing more and more spending rich corporations and larger tax cuts for the rich.
This silence on economic and political morality is deafening but revealing. The radicals on the Christian right are now the dominant force in America’s governing party. Without them the government would not be in the hands of people who don’t believe in government. They are culpable in upholding a system of class and race in which, as we saw last week, the rich escape and the poor are left behind. And they are crusading for a government “of, by, and for the people” in favor of one based on Biblical authority.
This is the crux of the matter: To these fundamentalist radicals there is only one legitimate religion and only one particular brand of that religion that is right; all others who call on God are immoral or wrong. They believe the Bible to be literally true and that they alone know what it means. Behind their malicious attacks on the courts (“vermin in black robes,” as one of their talk show allies recently put it,) is a fierce longing to hold judges accountable for interpreting the Constitution according to standards of biblical revelation as fundamentalists define it. To get those judges they needed a party beholden to them. So the Grand Old Party—the GOP—has become God’s Own Party, its ranks made up of God’s Own People “marching as to war.”
Posted by Jesus Politics at 01:09 AM | Comments (28)
September 13, 2005
Trapped in New Orleans
Posted by Father Jake
The Gretna police department, along with officers from Jefferson Parish and the Crescent City Connection police force, prevented the people trapped for days at the Superdome from walking to safety across a bridge into Jefferson Parish. Here's an excerpt from an eyewitness account;
...As we approached the bridge, armed Gretna sheriffs formed a line across the foot of the bridge. Before we were close enough to speak, they began firing their weapons over our heads. This sent the crowd fleeing in various directions. As the crowd scattered and dissipated, a few of us inched forward and managed to engage some of the sheriffs in conversation. We told them of our conversation with the police commander and of the commander's assurances. The sheriffs informed us there were no buses waiting. The commander had lied to us to get us to move.
We questioned why we couldn't cross the bridge anyway, especially as there was little traffic on the 6-lane highway. They responded that the West Bank was not going to become New Orleans and there would be no Superdomes in their City. These were code words for if you are poor and black, you are not crossing the Mississippi River and you were not getting out of New Orleans.Here and here are more eyewitness accounts. The UPI reports the story here.
The Independent tells the story under this headline; 'Racist' police blocked bridge and forced evacuees back at gunpoint. Here's some additional information from their report;
Arthur Lawson, chief of the Gretna police department, said he had not yet questioned his officers as to whether they fired their guns.
He confirmed that his officers, along with those from Jefferson Parish and the Crescent City Connection police force, sealed the bridge and refused to let people pass. This was despite the fact that local media were informing people that the bridge was one of the few safe evacuation routes from the city.
Gretna is a predominantly white suburban town of around 18,000 inhabitants. In the aftermath of Katrina, three quarters of the inhabitants still had electricity and running water. But, Chief Lawson told UPI news agency: "There was no food, water or shelter in Gretna City. We did not have the wherewithal to deal with these people. If we had opened the bridge our city would have looked like New Orleans does now - looted, burned and pillaged."
This is America, folks. This is the land that so many proudly claim to be such a "Christian" nation. May God have mercy on us all.
Look with pity, O heavenly Father, upon the people in this land who live with injustice, terror, disease and death as their constant companions. Have mercy upon us. Help us to eliminate our cruelty to these our neighbors. Strengthen those who spend their lives establishing equal protection of the law and equal opportunities for all. And grant that every one of us may enjoy a fair portion of the riches of this land; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Posted by Father Jake at 05:24 PM | Comments (24)
September 12, 2005
The Clergy Letter Project
Posted by ChristianAlliance
By Guest Blogger Michael Zimmerman
The battle between creationism (and I include intelligent design under that banner) and evolution has been erroneously cast as a fight between religion and science. In fact, however, this is a political contest that has very significant consequences for the nature of our country and, although you’d never know it from press reports, actually has many religious leaders and scientists on the same side of the issue. Clergy and scientists alike have come to the conclusion that creationism in its various guises is dreadful religion and miserable science.
It is important to note at the outset that religion and science have nothing to fear from one another. While both ask important questions about the world in which we live, those questions are of a different nature and the methodology used by each discipline is distinct. As powerful as science is at understanding the materialistic basis for natural phenomena, there are a host of critically important questions that science simply cannot address. Similarly, there are issues with which religion does not concern itself.
One reason why this controversy is so significant is because, if we are not careful, we will permit extremists to redefine the very nature of science. Science, as it has developed over the past 300 or so years, is based on the concept of falsifiability. For an hypothesis to be scientific, therefore, it must be framed in such a way that experiments or observations could be constructed that might potentially yield data disproving that hypothesis. Creating hypotheses that cannot be empirically tested, by definition then, is not a scientific undertaking.
Understanding this central point of science is absolutely essential. Remove the concept of falsifiability and you open the doors for pseudoscience to be mistaken for science. Is this medical treatment better than that one? Does this weight loss pill work better than diet and exercise? Is nuclear power safe? We have no way of knowing the answers to these and many other pressing questions if we don’t have the tools of science at our disposal.
Creationism and its younger brother, intelligent design, are not scientific because they make no predictions. Young earth creationism simply asserts that the King James Version of the Bible provides all of the science we need; all data are to be interpreted within the framework provided. No further investigation is necessary. Similarly, intelligent design asserts (erroneously) that some biological systems are so complex that the only way they could come into being was if they were created, by an intelligent designer, in exactly the form we see them today. Again, no further investigation is necessary.
Imagine bringing either or both of these concepts into the science classroom and trying to pass them off as science. Students will no longer learn anything about the scientific method under those circumstances.
A second reason why this controversy is so significant is because of the damage it does to our social fabric. In numerous small towns across America , Christian fundamentalists have demanded that their view of biology be taught – and they’ve often done so by claiming that they’re suffering religious discrimination under the current curriculum. The fights have turned ugly with neighbor turning on neighbor.
With the help of the media, fundamentalist leaders have asserted that people must choose between religion and science. This is a false dichotomy since the religion and science are not at odds with one another.
A coalition of scientists and Christian clergy members has joined forces to set the record straight. We have drafted a letter
http://www.uwosh.edu/colleges/cols/religion_science_collaboration.htm
explaining our position and are in the process of collecting the signatures of 10,000 members of the Christian clergy in support of that letter. The letter makes two things absolutely clear:
Evolution and Christian teachings are not in conflict; faith and science can be partners rather than enemies; and
The fundamentalist voices asserting otherwise are not speaking for a significant portion of the Christian community.
More than 7,500 Christian leaders representing every state in our country and an amazing host of denominations have already signed the statement. You can join this impressive effort by doing a number of things.
· If you’re a member of the clergy, please consider adding your signature to the letter. You can do this simply by sending an e-mail note with your name, affiliation and address to me at mz@uwosh.edu.
· Whether you are a member of the clergy or not, please pass the letter along to others. Please share it with members of the clergy, but share it as well with friends, relatives and colleagues who might be able to pass it along to members of the clergy. Post it on list serves. Get the word out!
A truly national effort of this magnitude can help make a difference. It can help support and enrich both religion and science. Please do what you can to help The Clergy Letter Project succeed.
Michael Zimmerman
Michael Zimmerman, founder of the Clergy Letter Project is Dean of the College of Letters and Science and Professor of Biology at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh . He is also the author of Science, Nonscience, and Nonsense: Approaching Environmental Literacy published by Johns Hopkins University Press.
Posted by ChristianAlliance at 12:19 PM | Comments (31)
September 09, 2005
Some Sad Facts, Christian Priorities and Two Calls to Action
Posted by Faithful Progressive
The priorities of this country are often very difficut to understand. Does our government really exist just to serve the needs of the wealthy and a select few corporations? The UCC JPANet Weekly Action e-mail I received today raised similar concerns:
Hurricane Katrina has dramatically exposed problems of race and class in our nation, and we must raise these critical questions in the months to come. We have seen with our own eyes the thousands of Americans who were failed by local, state and federal government rescue efforts. We also have seen how, in reality, they had already been abandoned by a government infrastructure that fails to provide basic social services. Even as members of Congress return from the August recess, they are preparing to consider a measure to repeal the estate tax. Proposals for further tax cuts in a time of such widespread need would further undermine an already weakened infrastructure.
Later that same day I read the following story in the Boston Herald:
“Oil companies came under new fire yesterday when it emerged that ExxonMobil's profits are likely to soar above $10 billion this quarter on the back of the fuel crisis. That's $110 million a day, and more net income than any company has ever made in a quarter. It's also a stunning 69 percent increase over the same period a year ago and a 34 percent jump from the $7.6 billion Exxon made just last quarter. `Do you realize President Bush has just given a tax break to ExxonMobil?'' thundered Rep. Ed Markey (D-Malden). ``Of all the companies in the history of the world that needed a tax break, this month, ExxonMobil should be at the bottom of the list.”
But somehow those at the top of the wealth and power pyramid are always first in line when it comes to help from our government. There's no doubt that this tendency has gotten worse over the past five years. Consider these facts:
*The percentage of African Americans living in poverty, which declined from 33 percent to just over 22 percent during the Clinton years, has been rising again under Bush. Last year, it was back up to 23.8. (US Census Dept.)
*There are now 37 million Americans living below the poverty line, 13 million of them are children, and there was an increase of 1.1 million below the poverty line from 2003 to 2004.
* For the first time ever, the wealthiest top 20 percent of our population received more than 50 percent of all household income--even though that measure does not include capital gains from stock and other investments. (USA Today)
*The Independent reported this week that the UN had concluded that there is shocking inequality in the US:
"The US is the only wealthy country with no universal health insurance system. Its mix of employer-based private insurance and public coverage does not reach all Americans. More than one in six people of working age lack insurance. One in three families living below the poverty line are uninsured. Just 13 per cent of white Americans are uninsured, compared with 21 per cent of blacks and 34 per cent of Hispanic Americans. Being born into an uninsured household increases the probability of death before the age of one by about 50 per cent.
None of this should be acceptable to people of good will and with a sense of justice and fairness. Christians in particular need to come together to bring "good news" to the poor in this country, as Jesus has called us to do. Here are two ways you can help:
1.) American Friends Service Committee/ Center for Community Change
Today, Congress returns to Washington, following a week full of tragedy, ready to cause even more hardship through the budgeting process -- unless they hear from you.
Last Monday, hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast, causing unbelievable devastation. The countless faces of people evacuated from cities that are now under water have dominated news reports for the past several days. But the often untold story is that the poor and hungry people left behind to fend for themselves as the storm approached are the same people who have been left behind for years by this Administration's radical economic agenda that prioritizes tax cuts for the wealthy over services for the rest of us.
The day after the hurricane struck land, the Census Bureau quietly released the latest data showing that the poverty level rose again, for the fourth year in a row. The data from 2004 reveal that poverty is rising, incomes are stagnating or falling, and more people don't have health insurance. Clearly, many hurricane victims were already part of the 37 million people living below this nation's official yet inadequate poverty line.
In response to the disaster in the South, the Senate has reportedly decided to postpone voting on a calloused and irresponsible proposal to repeal the estate tax. Still, Congress has received instructions to cut tens of billions from programs that provide needed services to the poor, elderly and disabled. Mandatory programs, like Medicaid, Food Stamps, Medicare, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program, and Supplemental Security Income (SSI), could face a combined cut of at least $35 billion.
Members of Congress need to hear that it is immoral to cut funding for programs for the hungry and uninsured at any time, but particularly during this time of rising poverty and hardship caused by both economic and natural disaster.
The American Friends Service Committee has set up a toll-free line to connect advocates to their Senators and Representative in the House. The call-in days to stop these federal budget cuts are Thursday, September 8, and Friday, September 9.
Please widely circulate the information below.
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Call-in Days to Stop Federal Budget Cuts to the Hungry and Uninsured
September 8 and 9
1-800-426-8073
This toll-free number will dial the Capitol Switchboard -- ask the operator to connect you to your Senators and Representative.
Tell Your Senators and Representative:
It is wrong to impose the biggest budget sacrifices on the sick, the poor, the elderly, and children, particularly during this time of national disaster and rising economic hardship and poverty.
The victims of economic inequality should not be forced to make sacrifices in order to expand tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and corporations.
Oppose reductions or eliminations of services that are being considered as part of a budget reconciliation bill.
2.) Estate Tax information from Protestants for the Common Good
Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121
Message:
"Please tell Senator _______, that estate taxes are an essential part of our federal revenue, and I ask that he/she vote no on the repeal or reform of the estate tax. Changing the Estate Tax rules is a lose/lose situation for both religious groups and government. Government loses important revenue and religious groups will lose significant funding from those who no longer have a tax incentive to make charitable donations through estate planning. All Americans - wealthy or low-income - should contribute to our nation's well-being in a manner consistent with their capacity to contribute. I am a Christian, and for me, this is a moral issue."
Remember to thank them for their time and give them your name and address so that the Senator can get back to you on how he/she voted.
Background:
On Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2005, the Senate will return from summer recess to vote this fall on repealing or reforming the estate tax. This could have a grave impact on religious institutions, faith-based charities and houses of worship in that it would take away an important incentive for wealthy individuals to leave charitable bequests potentially in the billions of dollars. Several facts are important to remember:
The Estate Tax has been around for nearly 100 years and remains an important part of our federal revenue.
Repealing the Estate Tax would add trillions of dollars to our current federal deficit.
The Estate Tax would be more appropriately called the "Inheritance Tax", since it affects only the heirs of very large estates.
Increasing the effective rate on the Capital Gains Tax would not make up for changing or eliminating the Estate Tax.
More information can be found by following links below:
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: http://www.cbpp.org/estatetaxmyths.pdf
Center for American Progress: Estate Tax Memo
Network: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby http://www.networklobby.org/issues/estate.html
Call to Renewal: http://www.calltorenewal.org/public_policy/index.cfm/action/policy/item/Call_Pushes_Reform_Estate_Tax.html
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: Policy Position Paper: http://www.elca.org/advocacy/issues/taxes/05-05-17-estate.html
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Posted by Faithful Progressive at 12:11 AM | Comments (28)
September 08, 2005
The Christian Right Responds to the Gay Marriage Bill in California
Posted by Jesus Politics
A variety of Christian Right responses to the same-sex marriage bill passed recently in California:
From a comment on the Free Republic:
If this bill becomes law, I predict in no uncertain terms, a cataclysmic earthquake will completely destroy San Francisco. The reason I say this is God has given our public officials maximum grace in allowing them to see the effects of a "do your own thing" culture, and they have completely ignored all the warnings and signposts. I only see an escalation in natural disasters until they begin to pay attention. Katrina is a sign that God's longsuffering with this nation's backsliding is coming to a close.
Matthew 24:37 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
From The National Review:
But is it some kind of sick joke to call the shred-the-Bible bill the "Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act"?
From a comment on La Shawn Barber's Corner:
It seems to me that the liberal wing of Christianity is building a brand new Tower of Babel called “tolerance.” Humans in their arrogance think they can disregard the Bible, and re-invent God in their own image. Don’t expect the results to be pretty.
From Ben Thompson at Renew America:
We need to appeal to the Holy Scriptures to know whether or not homosexuality is a sin. The scriptures clearly indicate that it is.
Let's hope and pray that Governor Arnie and the California State Assembly have the courage the set the right example by making the right decision, that is, taking a firm stand against same-sex marriage.
From Rick Scarborough:
In the meantime, every effort must be exerted to defeat a companion bill to AB 849 in the State Assembly. If that fails, pressure must be exerted on Gov. Schwarzenegger to veto this affront to both democracy and decency.
Again, my friends, God will not be mocked. A society can not do what He has specifically told us not to do, and not suffer the consequences.
From an article in the Christian Post:
"This is a sad day for California families because the very foundation of the family is being redefined and destroyed," said Karen England of conservative pro-family group Capitol Resource Institute in a released statement.
"The legislature, by callously disregarding their constituents, are proving that they are more concerned about embracing a group of adults, identified only by their sexual behavior, than promoting healthy families for the sake of our children," she added.
From Catholics for the Common Good:
"Last night, the California Assembly turned its back on California's children and future generations by passing special interest legislation attempting to redefine marriage as a relationship for the benefit of consenting adults rather than an institution that guarantees children a mother and a father for their foundation on life," said Bill May, Chairman of Catholics for the Common Good. "They also turned their back on the will of California voters who passed Prop 22, 'The Defense of Marriage Act,' with 61% of the vote in 2000."
"AB 849 seeks to provide legitimacy to same-sex relationships where none is needed. AB 849 does not serve the public interest or the common good. The truth is that children get a better start on life if they have a mother and a father and laws should encourage and protect marriage that provides these. Instead, if AB 849 becomes law, schools will be required to teach that marriage is tantamount to a life-style choice with no unique benefit to society compared to cohabitation or same-sex unions, and this is the wrong message for our children, their futures and the future of the state."
"Catholics for the Common Good strongly urges Governor Schwarzenegger, as a father and husband, to veto AB 849 and protect marriage and the family for this generations and those to come. Marriage, a life-giving institution for the protection and nurturing of children, can only be between a man and a woman."
Posted by Jesus Politics at 03:19 AM | Comments (84)
Laboring On
Posted by Fresh Politics
Labor Day brings to mind many things: a three day weekend, the beginning of school for many students, and the increasingly ignored admonishment never to wear white after. The struggle of workers that formed the basis of the holiday is overshadowed by beaches and barbecues. Such is the plight of many Monday holidays that hold symbolic meaning when created, but morph into something new with the passage of time.
In my family, it has been a rite of passage of sorts for the kids to walk on the picket line when my dad's union would go on strike. I did it, my sister did it, my son did it. For those who have never been on the picket line, let me tell you that it is no walk in the park. It's boring, for one. It can also be quite demoralizing over time, and for every supporter, there is at least one very vocal opponent. I vividly recall when my father's union went on strike when I was in my early teens. The strike lasted for four months. It was an extremely stressful and frightening time for my family, and it has had an influence on us that lasts till this day. Believe me, those strikers were not hanging around eating bon-bons those days.
It takes a lot of courage to go out on strike. I've been reminded of this over the past week as I've passed the Boeing machinists currently on strike. Many cannot afford to go on strike, yet they equally cannot afford not to. As unions and employers increasingly struggle over the bread-and-butter union issues of job security, benefits, and retirement, the unions must take a stand or risk annihilation.
The collapse of unions has been remarkable. Union membership in the private sector has decreased dramatically in this country from its highpoint in the 1950s. Certainly, labor law has gradually weakened labor unions. There is also a considerably negative public perception about unions. Some of this was brought on by the gluttonous, and sometimes discriminatory acts, by union leadership. Some of it, though, is good PR by union opponents. Unions are corrupt because of their political activities, but many corporations are also politically active. If it's good for the goose...
I don't like the current trend towards longer hours, decreased benefits, and the ever-present spector of off-shoring high-paying jobs. What I see is people spending more time at work in order to keep their jobs or make ends meet, or people working two part-time jobs without health benefits, at the expense of spending time with their families. We then bemoan the breakdown of the family, yet is it any wonder that parents today – exhausted from the demands and stresses of everyday life – might plop their kids down in front of the TV for a little while?
Unions are not a panacea for all of society's ills – not by any means. But it is worth remembering, though Labor Day is now behind us, that workers united can make a difference. By banding together, they have had the power to demand better wages, working conditions, and job security.
Interestingly, unions themselves disagree about which direction to go. The AFL-CIO is embroiled in its own battle, as a number of unions, including the Service Employees International Union, broke away from the AFL-CIO in July to form the Change to Win Coalition. This coalition was formed to focus more on organizing workers. I don't know if this split will ultimately be a good thing for labor, but something needs to change. Labor unions have made some positive impacts on workers and perhaps with new energy, unions will once again be able to improve conditions for today's workers.
Posted by Fresh Politics at 12:49 AM | Comments (4)
September 06, 2005
Responding to Disaster
Posted by Father Jake
September 4, 2005
In many of our minds linger the images of the disaster in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Our hearts go out to those who are suffering great losses.
These horrible losses touch each one of us. As John Donne wrote;
No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
We share in these losses. A part of ourselves is suffering right now. We respond by doing whatever we can to help those who are in such desperate need.
Our response to this disaster is important for reasons connected with our faith as well. There are those who see this disaster and ask us “Where is your God now?”
I don’t have a good response to that question. All I know is that there are reasons why the laws of nature are in place. We can’t see the big picture. We don’t know what further disasters would result if these laws were suspended. And the result is that sometimes bad things happen to good people.
Natural disasters do not challenge my belief in God. What does challenge my faith is to see the high winds and floods, and then see no one acting in the name of God to offer help.
If I witnessed no response from those who are safe, then I would agree with those who claim that there is no such thing as a compassionate God.
Critics of religion are quick to point out that radical terrorists invoke the name of God when they commit their atrocities. What these critics often miss is people of faith responding to help those in need.
In times of crisis, our hands become the hands of God, our feet the feet of God, our words the words of God. Responding to the previous tsunami disaster, Stan Purdum, a writer and Methodist minister, said; “This is a time to urge the church to be the church, and remember that when Jesus told us to love our neighbor, he had a really big neighborhood in mind.”
Sometimes, our religious tradition seems so complicated, doesn’t it? When that happens, I find it helpful to remember Jesus’ summary of the law,
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Love God, and love your neighbor. Pretty simple, really. But we need to remember the order of priorities. Our relationship with God must come first, otherwise we have little to offer our neighbor.
In Matthew 18, Jesus said, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them." It is Jesus in our midst that makes the difference. Without the belief of Christ among us, Christianity would be nothing more than a social club.
When we work together in the name of God, Christ works with us. When we reach out to those who are hurting in the name of God, we are empowered to re-present Christ to those in need of a word of hope. When we become the united body of Christ, working together towards common goals with Christ in our midst, we can literally transform the world.
Let us respond with the compassion of God to those suffering from hurricane Katrina. Let us also allow this tragedy to sharpen our vision so that we can see more clearly those in need all around us. Let us respond to those who are suffering, both spiritually and physically, with the healing power of God’s love.
Here is FEMA's list of recommended charities. Here is NZ Bear's list of recommendations from 1,800 participating blogs.
A prayer offered by Renee Miller;
O God, we remember when the disciples of Jesus were terrified after a long night on a turbulent sea. When they cried to you for help, you stilled the sea and brought them to safety. We ask now that you comfort and still the hearts of those suffering from the effects of Hurricane Katrina. We pray for those who have been displaced and who now must return to homes destroyed or damaged by the storm. We pray for those whose lives were lost and for those who now must grieve the loss of a loved one. We pray for those who are attempting to offer help and relief to victims. While we wonder why such devastation can occur, where lives and property can seem held so capriciously in the hand of what is uncontrollable, we know, O God, that you count every hair on our head and that our names are written on the palm of your hand. Let your loving grace wash over those who must now face damaged lives, homes, and possessions. Hold them close to yourself until they are sure of the security of your loving embrace. Calm their hearts and still their souls, O Lord. We ask this for the sake of your love. AMEN.
Posted by Father Jake at 01:38 PM | Comments (5)
September 05, 2005
People of Faith Declare: "Our Creator is NOT a Murderer."
Posted by ChristianAlliance
By Guest Blogger Sollicitudo Rei Socialis:
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, people of faith are coming together to speak out in protest against those who claim that the hurricane was an act of God to punish New Orleans and the rest of the United States. A petition condemning such claims and affirming a loving Creator is being sponsored by Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, a weblog committed to examination of social justice and politics from a Catholic perspective.
Addressed to the American faith community, the petition also addresses a statement made by Michael Marcavage, director of the evangelical Christian organizaton Repent America. In reference to New Orleans, Marcavage stated that "this act of God [Hurricane Katrina] destroyed a wicked city." Marcavage also made reference to an annual festival held by the New Orleans gay community, called Southern Decadence, stating that "Hurricane Katrina has put an end to the annual celebration of sin."
In response, the petition, entitled "Our Creator is NOT a Murderer," states that the signatories "do not believe that the Creator of all things would destroy whole cities, kill hundreds if not thousands of innocent people, and damage our whole nation's infrastructure as punishment for purported sins." The petition goes on to say: "Our various faith traditions teach us that our Creator is loving and merciful, slow to anger and rich in kindness. If there is one thing we can come together to affirm even in our diversity, it is the basic truth that our Creator loves us and also calls us to love one another." The petition concludes by exhorting those "who have committed this act of scandal" to apologize and affirm an all-loving God. The petition affirms the need for acts of kindness in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina's devastation, and declares that "it is through love, not through hatred, that we will come out of this time of national crisis."
The petition was written by Nathan Nelson, one of eight contributors for Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, a Catholic weblog founded in February 2005 to address social and political issues from the perspective of Catholic social thought. Although sponsored by a Catholic weblog, the petition is intended for all people of faith in the United States and in other countries.
To view the petition, visit:
http://www.petitiononline.com/katrina/petition.html
For more information, visit: http://socialconcern.blogspot.com/
Posted by ChristianAlliance at 08:16 PM | Comments (26)
September 03, 2005
Katrina and Beyond: We Need a New War on Poverty or America is a Failure By Any Measure that Matters
Posted by Faithful Progressive
Hurricane Katrina is literally a watershed moment in American history. It has revealed the grim reality of an America that is deeply divided by race and class. We need a new War on Poverty in this country or our society is a failure by any measure that matters, including the religious values that many falsely claim guide us. Perhaps the first key to changing this reality is for all of us to admit that America is not a perfect place.
We purposely live on social islands that rarely allow us to see our poorest neighbors. This is no accident. In the north and south, housing is still shockingly segregated by race. These neighbors are there, but we are too busy or too self-involved or too selfish to notice them. The evacuation of New Orleans was no exception: those with the means fled the impending destruction of the predicted Category 5 storm; those who could not, mostly poor and black, were left behind to improvise for their own safety. Forty percent of the children in New Orleans live in poverty. We accept this sort of thing in this country; we deny this harsh reality, preferring the sugar-coated myth that this is a just and godly nation. Our President is no different than most of us in this.
Shortly after the storm struck, President Bush said that the people who stayed behind in the city had made a poor choice. Our leader once again demonstrated how out of touch with reality he is. "We get paid on Fridays," one woman said. "I couldn't afford a bus ticket until it was too late." She was just one of the hard-working neighbors that America left behind both before and after the tragedy of Katrina struck. For the past several days we have helplessly watched what happens when a nation is too blind and too greedy to tend to its neediest neighbors. We flinch when we see these good family people, concerned for their babies and aged parents and neighbors--we flinch because they are better neighbors than we are, and because we know we have let them down. This must come to an end. The greed of the wealthy, our own self-centeredness, must be tempered with more compassion. Let no loud voice call this a great (and still less a religious) nation if we persist in cutting taxes for the wealthy even as we leave small children to fend for themselves in a hurricane. For all the rhetoric we hear, our actions reveal that this is not a country of religious people. As Jeff Sharlet writes, "The root of the word "religion," "religare," tells us what kind of religion story can be reported from the Superdome. Religare means "ties that bind." Those should be bonds of community. But in New Orleans -- and in every other poverty-stricken city in America -- they're chains."
This moral lapse was made worse by the shamefully slow response of our government to even provide basic services like food and water after the storm had struck. "What took you so long?" 70 year old Nellie Washington asked about the slow response of the Bush Administration. "They did not take the lead to do this. They had to be pushed to do this."
We have to keep pushing this morally corrupt Administration and the Congressional leadership. As Fresh Politics noted, the rate of poverty has soared in each of the past four years, and yet our leadership has been fixated on making life harder for the poor and easier for the wealthy--in an exact 180 degree repudiation of Biblical values. Saturday's New York Times editiorial was very well put:
One thing is certain: if President Bush and his Republican Congressional leaders want to deal responsibly with a historic disaster of this scale, they must finally try the path of honestly shared national sacrifice. If they respond by passing a few emergency measures and then falling back on their plans to enact more tax cuts, America will have to confront the fact that it is stuck with leaders who neither know, nor care, how to lead.
The pre-Katrina plan for this Congressional season was to enact more upper-bracket tax cuts for the least needy, while cutting into the safety-net programs for sick and impoverished Americans. These are the very entitlement programs most needed by the sudden underclass of hundreds of thousands of hurricane refugees cast adrift like Dustbowl Okies. Will Congress dare to go forward with these retrogressive plans in the face of the suffering from Katrina? Its woeful track record suggests that, shockingly, the answer may be yes.
Prof. Anthea Butler, a historian of African-American and American Religious history at the University of Rochester, is a former president of the Society for Pentecostal Studies. Just after Katrina she wrote the following in the Revealer. Folks, it is time to take a good hard look at this nation. We have an administration that wants to rebuild Iraq, to bring Freedom, but generations of black people in this country have never been free, they have just been poor. We can't even fix our own infrastructure, yet Halliburton gets the contracts to rebuild Iraq? Who will rebuild the gulf coast? When will the hordes of flag-waving, Christian Republicans realize that we are as sheep without a shepherd?
Of course, she is right. We can't afford the neo-imperialism of the neo-cons; we can't afford the tax cuts; can't afford to ignore either the wetlands that protect us against flooding or the global warming that makes it worse; we can't afford a government that exists solely to benefit the wealthy and a few selected large corporations. But we need to go beyond just pointing fingers, and just blaming Republicans. All Americans need to beg God or their own conscience for forgiveness. We need to repent from our selfish and greedy ways and engage with our poor neighbors and at last give them the means to rebuild their lives in a manner worthy of America.
The New War on Poverty has to include:
1.) Tax fairness, making the wealthy pay their fair share again, as in the very successful and prosperous Clinton years.
2.) Raising the minimum wage, so that all Americans can afford to buy a bus ticket and perhaps even a home of their own.
3.) A new public works program to rebuild the American infrastructure that has gone to seed over the past five years.
4.) Acknowledging that all Americans are entitled to health care and filling in the gaps that poverty and the private sector fail to provide.
5.) Bringing home the troops from Iraq and putting their skills to work here as quickly as possible.
Posted by Faithful Progressive at 03:25 PM | Comments (21)
September 01, 2005
Katrina and the Christian Right
Posted by Jesus Politics
How some in the Christian Right have reacted to hurricane Katrina:
"Although the loss of lives is deeply saddening, this act of God destroyed a wicked city," stated Repent America director Michael Marcavage. "From ‘Girls Gone Wild’ to ‘Southern Decadence’, New Orleans was a city that had its doors wide open to the public celebration of sin. May it never be the same," he continued.
"Let us pray for and help those ravaged by this disaster. However, we must not forget that the citizens of New Orleans tolerated and welcomed the wickedness in their city for so long," Marcavage said. "May this act of God cause us all to think about what we tolerate in our city limits, and bring us trembling before the throne of Almighty God," Marcavage concluded.
Now New Orleans is under water, bathing in sewage and devastation rather than providing downtown fountains for homosexual capers aplenty.
As far as Repent America is concerned, divine judgment has come upon a metropolis that was bent on making its environs open to hell’s demons. Therefore, God intervened. There will be no "Southern Decadence" skipping the light fantastic. Over and out. Done. Gone. Under water.
Repent America brings the nation back to Jesus’ opening call and Peter’s declaration as this evangelical organization continues to warn souls of personal accounting at the Judgment Seat of Christ. They do so without apology. They do so at the chagrin of theological liberals. They do so at the mockery of lesbians and homosexuals who claim to be "Christian." Yet they do so, being accountable for their mission only to their biblical God.
Now the Louisiana governor has gone to the media to ask for prayers for the state and particularly for New Orleans. How very interesting that New Orleans, extending the welcome mat to sodomites, is now in need of prayer from the very God the perverts disdain.
From Columbia Christians for Life and Eve's Apple:
Satellite picture of Hurricane Katrina at NOAA.com looks like a 6-week unborn human child as it comes ashore the Gulf Coast, vicinity states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida at 12:32 PM, Monday, August 29, 2005
Hurricane "Katrina" (reportedly means "Pure" in Russian) - satellite image - Monday, 29 Aug 05, 12:32 PM (EDT) - coming ashore Gulf Coast - satellite image looks like 6-week fetus
The image of the hurricane above with its eye already ashore at 12:32 PM Monday, August 29 looks like a fetus (unborn human baby) facing to the left (west) in the womb, in the early weeks of gestation (approx. 6 weeks). Even the orange color of the image is reminiscent of a commonly used pro-life picture of early prenatal development (see sign with picture of 8-week pre-born human child below). In this picture, and in another picture in today's on-line edition of USA Today*, this hurricane looks like an unborn human child.
Louisiana has 10 child-murder-by-abortion centers - FIVE are in New Orleans
www.ldi.org ('Find an Abortion Clinic [sic]')
Baby-murder state # 1 - California (125 abortion centers) - land of earthquakes, forest fires, and mudslides
Baby-murder state # 2 - New York (78 abortion centers) - 9-11 Ground Zero
Baby-murder state # 3 - Florida (73 abortion centers) - Hurricanes Bonnie, Charley, Frances, Ivan, Jeanne in 2004; and now, Hurricane Katrina in 2005
God's message: REPENT AMERICA !
Rev.Fred Phelps quotes Isaiah:
"Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupt; they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger. Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more; the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it, but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores; they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment." Isaiah 1:4-6.
Posted by Jesus Politics at 02:32 AM | Comments (50)
