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45 years ago today, Dr. Martin Luther King gave his eponymous “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. “Unity is the great need of the hour”, Dr. King proclaimed; this statement is as true today as it was in 1963, during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. King’s most famous speech set a ripple out in time and planted a seed in our collective future. We sowed that seed – with love and with hate, with unity and with division, with progress and with regression. Had we nurtured it only with love, we very well may have seen results sooner, but as it has been said by people wiser than me – “to everything there is a season”.
And now the spring has come to the winter of our discontent. A new shoot of hope has broken through the surface of that rocky soil that is our America and stretched it’s leaves to the sky for that first drink of sunlight. Today, 45 years from the proclamation of a dream, we as a people will formally nominate the first African-American EVER for President, Senator Barack Obama. I can not tell you what this means to us as a people, but I can try and tell you what it means to me: it means that we ARE marching forward to freedom, that we ARE seeing ourselves in each other, that, YES WE CAN make it to ‘The Promised Land’ that Dr. King saw. North, South, East and West, from mountain to desert, from sea to shining sea, are saying in one voice “This is our time, This is our moment – we can heal this nation – We can heal this world”.
No to anger and aggression, Yes to peace and compassion
No to fear and division – Yes to courage and brotherhood.
“I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every
hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain,
and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord
shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with.
With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a
stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling
discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this
faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle
together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing
that we will be free one day.
This will be the day, this will be the day when all of God's children will
be able to sing with new meaning "My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of
liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my father's died, land of the Pilgrim's
pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring!"
And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. And so
let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let
freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring
from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let
freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.
But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi - from
every mountainside.
Let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow
freedom ring - when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet,
from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when
all of God's children - black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles,
Protestants and Catholics - will be able to join hands and sing in the words
of the old Negro spiritual: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty,
we are free at last!"
Thursday, August 28, 2008
This is Our Time
Here are some of the passages that stirred the sleeping giant in me that were spoken at the DNC last evening:
The night started off with former President Bill Clinton, giving a ringing endorsement of Senator Obama and some phrases that truly capture what it means to be an American, especially in these times:
"Barack Obama knows that America cannot be strong abroad unless we are strong at home. People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power.
"But on the two great questions of this election, how to rebuild the American Dream and how to restore America's leadership in the world, he (McCain) still embraces the extreme philosophy which has defined his party for more than 25 years, a philosophy we never had a real chance to see in action until 2001, when the Republicans finally gained control of both the White House and Congress. Then we saw what would happen to America if the policies they had talked about for decades were implemented. They took us from record surpluses to an exploding national debt; from over 22 million new jobs down to 5 million; from an increase in working family incomes of $7,500 to a decline of more than $2,000; from almost 8 million Americans moving out of poverty to more than 5 and a half million falling into poverty - and millions more losing their health insurance."
The man who followed Clinton is the very one I followed 4 years ago; Senator John Kerry. America was still under the spell cast by the Bush Administration and were allowing fear to run their lives and our country into the ground. He wasted no time showing these abuses of power for what they are:
"Never in modern history has an administration squandered American power so recklessly. Never has strategy been so replaced by ideology. Never has extremism so crowded out common sense and fundamental American values. Never has short-term partisan politics so depleted the strength of America's bipartisan foreign policy."
"So, the candidate who once promised a "contest of ideas" now has nothing left but personal attacks. How insulting to suggest that those who question the mission, question the troops. How pathetic to suggest that those who question a failed policy doubt America itself. How desperate to tell the son of a single mother who chose community service over money and privilege that he doesn't put America first."
"President Obama will shut down Guantanamo, respect the constitution, and make clear once and for all, the United States does not torture, not now, not ever."
"Four years ago I said, and I say it again tonight, that the flag doesn't belong to any ideology. It doesn't belong to any political party. It is an enduring symbol of our nation, and it belongs to all the American people. After all, patriotism is not love of power or some cheap trick to win votes; patriotism is love of country.
"Years ago when we protested a war, people would weigh in against us saying, "My country right or wrong." Our answer? Absolutely, my country right or wrong. When right, keep it right. When wrong, make it right. Sometimes loving your country demands you must tell the truth to power. This is one of those times, and Barack Obama is telling those truths."
And finally, with as much fanfare as was needed, Senator Joseph Biden:
"You know, you can learn a lot about a man campaigning with him, debating him, seeing how he reacts under pressure. You learn about the strength of his mind. But even more importantly, you learn about the quality of his heart. I watched how Barack touched people, how he inspired them. And I realized he had tapped into the oldest belief in America: We don’t have to accept the situation we cannot bear; we have the power to change it."
"I’m here for their future. I’m here for everyone I grew up with in Scranton and Wilmington. I’m here for the cops and the firefighters, the teachers and the assembly line workers, the folks whose lives are the very measure of whether the American dream endures."
"Our greatest presidents, from Abraham Lincoln to Franklin Roosevelt to John Kennedy, they all challenged us to embrace change. Now it is our responsibility to meet that challenge."
"Millions of Americans have been knocked down. And this is the time as Americans together we get back up, back up together. Our debt to our parents and our grandparents is too great. Our obligation to our children is too sacred. These are extraordinary times; this is an extraordinary election."
"The American people are ready. I am ready. Barack is ready. This is his time; this is our time; this is America’s time."
The night started off with former President Bill Clinton, giving a ringing endorsement of Senator Obama and some phrases that truly capture what it means to be an American, especially in these times:
"Barack Obama knows that America cannot be strong abroad unless we are strong at home. People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power.
"But on the two great questions of this election, how to rebuild the American Dream and how to restore America's leadership in the world, he (McCain) still embraces the extreme philosophy which has defined his party for more than 25 years, a philosophy we never had a real chance to see in action until 2001, when the Republicans finally gained control of both the White House and Congress. Then we saw what would happen to America if the policies they had talked about for decades were implemented. They took us from record surpluses to an exploding national debt; from over 22 million new jobs down to 5 million; from an increase in working family incomes of $7,500 to a decline of more than $2,000; from almost 8 million Americans moving out of poverty to more than 5 and a half million falling into poverty - and millions more losing their health insurance."
The man who followed Clinton is the very one I followed 4 years ago; Senator John Kerry. America was still under the spell cast by the Bush Administration and were allowing fear to run their lives and our country into the ground. He wasted no time showing these abuses of power for what they are:
"Never in modern history has an administration squandered American power so recklessly. Never has strategy been so replaced by ideology. Never has extremism so crowded out common sense and fundamental American values. Never has short-term partisan politics so depleted the strength of America's bipartisan foreign policy."
"So, the candidate who once promised a "contest of ideas" now has nothing left but personal attacks. How insulting to suggest that those who question the mission, question the troops. How pathetic to suggest that those who question a failed policy doubt America itself. How desperate to tell the son of a single mother who chose community service over money and privilege that he doesn't put America first."
"President Obama will shut down Guantanamo, respect the constitution, and make clear once and for all, the United States does not torture, not now, not ever."
"Four years ago I said, and I say it again tonight, that the flag doesn't belong to any ideology. It doesn't belong to any political party. It is an enduring symbol of our nation, and it belongs to all the American people. After all, patriotism is not love of power or some cheap trick to win votes; patriotism is love of country.
"Years ago when we protested a war, people would weigh in against us saying, "My country right or wrong." Our answer? Absolutely, my country right or wrong. When right, keep it right. When wrong, make it right. Sometimes loving your country demands you must tell the truth to power. This is one of those times, and Barack Obama is telling those truths."
And finally, with as much fanfare as was needed, Senator Joseph Biden:
"You know, you can learn a lot about a man campaigning with him, debating him, seeing how he reacts under pressure. You learn about the strength of his mind. But even more importantly, you learn about the quality of his heart. I watched how Barack touched people, how he inspired them. And I realized he had tapped into the oldest belief in America: We don’t have to accept the situation we cannot bear; we have the power to change it."
"I’m here for their future. I’m here for everyone I grew up with in Scranton and Wilmington. I’m here for the cops and the firefighters, the teachers and the assembly line workers, the folks whose lives are the very measure of whether the American dream endures."
"Our greatest presidents, from Abraham Lincoln to Franklin Roosevelt to John Kennedy, they all challenged us to embrace change. Now it is our responsibility to meet that challenge."
"Millions of Americans have been knocked down. And this is the time as Americans together we get back up, back up together. Our debt to our parents and our grandparents is too great. Our obligation to our children is too sacred. These are extraordinary times; this is an extraordinary election."
"The American people are ready. I am ready. Barack is ready. This is his time; this is our time; this is America’s time."
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
The Fringes of History
I agree with Rachel Maddow. Any former Hillary Clinton supporter still supporting the McCain presidency is, as she eloquently put, “post-rational”. Barack Obama has the nomination. Hillary has said so since her concession speech in June. What are the arguments now? She received the popular vote. No, she didn’t, the only way they spun the numbers to show this was by excluding Michigan and every single caucus state (caucus states don’t release vote totals). Some people have argued about the unfair rules of the democratic primaries. This is a fallacy, they wouldn’t have had a problem with the rules if the Clinton camp had been able to win. Obama’s team understood and accepted the rules, played by them and had a clear-eyed, pragmatic vision as to how to achieve victory. To say that the rules were the reason that she lost is ignorant. The Clinton campaign had felt confident that the primary contest would be over by Super Tuesday. They felt no need to cover themselves in states following February 5th. Obama’s ground game in those states assured victory against a candidate who showed up a day late and much more than a dollar short. Some say she should have won because of her historic campaign, being the first woman to go so far in a presidential race. No question that it was historic and 2008 will be a year that shows a divergence and evolution in our collective history. But to have that as an argument, are we blocking out the current nominee for President?
Hillary’s speech at the DNC last night was exactly what it needed to be. She asked a very simple question; were her supporters only involved for her? Or were they involved with all the Americans that have become invisible in the last 8 years?
Needless to say, anyone still on the fringes of this baseless argument will be on the fringes of history. When their children ask about the election of 2008, they can weave a fantasy tale about how they were involved for the better, but they will still have to lay their own head on their pillows; in that quiet time when all you have for company are your thoughts and all they will be able to do is wish.
Hillary’s speech at the DNC last night was exactly what it needed to be. She asked a very simple question; were her supporters only involved for her? Or were they involved with all the Americans that have become invisible in the last 8 years?
Needless to say, anyone still on the fringes of this baseless argument will be on the fringes of history. When their children ask about the election of 2008, they can weave a fantasy tale about how they were involved for the better, but they will still have to lay their own head on their pillows; in that quiet time when all you have for company are your thoughts and all they will be able to do is wish.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
The work begins anew. The hope rises again. The dream lives on.
Monday, August 25th, 2008; the first night of the 2008 Democratic National Convention and the first time that many people in America may have seen why I do not only stand behind or for Barack Obama, but why I stand WITH Barack Obama.
First was Senator Edward “Ted” Kennedy, the “Lion of the Senate”, the only surviving brother of a family that truly embodied the flaws and greatness of the American people. His niece Caroline first described the campaign of Barack Obama as “never understanding what it felt like to be inspired the way people said my father inspired them… but I do now”. After a video tribute, the Senator himself, recovering from brain surgery to remove a cancerous tumor, appeared in front of the convention to show why and how he served over 45 years in the Senate. He spoke of the torch passing from his brothers’ generation to a new generation. He spoke of his lifelong pursuit of healthcare as a right for all people and not an expensive privilege for the few. He spoke of Barack Obama and America. He ended his speech with soaring rhetoric enough to wake the sleeping giant that is our American spirit:
“There is a new wave of change all around us, and if we set our compass true, we will reach our destination – not merely victory for our party but renewal for our nation. And this November, the torch will be passed again to a new generation of Americans, so with Barack Obama, and for you, and for me, our country will be committed to his cause. The work begins anew. The hope rises again. And the dream lives on.”
And then the headline speaker of the night, Michelle Obama. I will admit, this is the first time I had seen an entire speech of hers. She showed me, along with all America, why she and Barack are together. Her intelligence, her compassion, her fiery passion and love for her family and country were awe-inspiring and humbling. She spoke of her father, diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at 30 years of age, who never missed a day of work so that her family had everything they needed. Who gave her the opportunity to go to Princeton, then Harvard, and then enter a life of public service. Her oratory abilities are a match for even her husbands, I include several snippets here that affected me deeply. Please watch the speech to find the ones that speak to you:
“The people gathered together that day were ordinary folks doing the best they could to build a good life. See they were parents trying to get by paycheck to paycheck; grandparents trying to get by on a fixed income; men frustrated that they couldn't support their families after their jobs disappeared. Those folks weren't asking for a handout or a shortcut. See they were ready to work -- they wanted to contribute. They believed -- like you and I believe -- that America should be a place where you can make it if you try. And Barack stood up that day, and spoke words that have stayed with me ever since. He talked about "The world as it is" and "The world as it should be." And he said that all too often, we accept the distance between the two, and we settle for the world as it is -- even when it doesn't reflect our values and aspirations. But he reminded us that we also know what our world should look like. He said we know what fairness and justice and opportunity look like. And he urged us to believe in ourselves -- to find the strength within ourselves to strive for the world as it should be. And isn't that the great American story?”
“All of us driven by a simple belief that the world as it is just won't do -- that we have an obligation to fight for the world as it should be.”
“And that is the thread that connects our hearts. That is the thread that runs through my journey and Barack's journey and so many other improbable journeys that have brought us here tonight, where the current of history meets this new tide of hope.”
“And in the end, And in the end after all that's happened these past 19 months, the Barack Obama I know today is the same man I fell in love with 19 years ago. He's the same man who drove me and our new baby daughter home from the hospital ten years ago this summer, inching along at a snail's pace, peering anxiously at us in the rearview mirror, feeling the whole weight of her future in his hands, determined to give her everything he'd struggled so hard for himself, determined to give her something he never had: the affirming embrace of a father's love.”
“And as I tuck that little girl in and her little sister into bed at night, you see I think about how one day, they'll have families of their own. And one day, they -- and your sons and daughters -- will tell their own children about what we did together in this election. They'll tell them how this time, we listened to our hopes, instead of our fears. How this time, how this time, we decided to stop doubting and to start dreaming. How this time, in this great country -- where a girl from the South Side of Chicago can go to college and law school, and the son of a single mother from Hawaii can go all the way to the White House -- that we committed ourselves, we committed ourselves to building the world as it should be.”
My love to all of you, and as I’ve said before, my friends in Africa said it best:
“Pave the way. Obama is coming.”
First was Senator Edward “Ted” Kennedy, the “Lion of the Senate”, the only surviving brother of a family that truly embodied the flaws and greatness of the American people. His niece Caroline first described the campaign of Barack Obama as “never understanding what it felt like to be inspired the way people said my father inspired them… but I do now”. After a video tribute, the Senator himself, recovering from brain surgery to remove a cancerous tumor, appeared in front of the convention to show why and how he served over 45 years in the Senate. He spoke of the torch passing from his brothers’ generation to a new generation. He spoke of his lifelong pursuit of healthcare as a right for all people and not an expensive privilege for the few. He spoke of Barack Obama and America. He ended his speech with soaring rhetoric enough to wake the sleeping giant that is our American spirit:
“There is a new wave of change all around us, and if we set our compass true, we will reach our destination – not merely victory for our party but renewal for our nation. And this November, the torch will be passed again to a new generation of Americans, so with Barack Obama, and for you, and for me, our country will be committed to his cause. The work begins anew. The hope rises again. And the dream lives on.”
And then the headline speaker of the night, Michelle Obama. I will admit, this is the first time I had seen an entire speech of hers. She showed me, along with all America, why she and Barack are together. Her intelligence, her compassion, her fiery passion and love for her family and country were awe-inspiring and humbling. She spoke of her father, diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at 30 years of age, who never missed a day of work so that her family had everything they needed. Who gave her the opportunity to go to Princeton, then Harvard, and then enter a life of public service. Her oratory abilities are a match for even her husbands, I include several snippets here that affected me deeply. Please watch the speech to find the ones that speak to you:
“The people gathered together that day were ordinary folks doing the best they could to build a good life. See they were parents trying to get by paycheck to paycheck; grandparents trying to get by on a fixed income; men frustrated that they couldn't support their families after their jobs disappeared. Those folks weren't asking for a handout or a shortcut. See they were ready to work -- they wanted to contribute. They believed -- like you and I believe -- that America should be a place where you can make it if you try. And Barack stood up that day, and spoke words that have stayed with me ever since. He talked about "The world as it is" and "The world as it should be." And he said that all too often, we accept the distance between the two, and we settle for the world as it is -- even when it doesn't reflect our values and aspirations. But he reminded us that we also know what our world should look like. He said we know what fairness and justice and opportunity look like. And he urged us to believe in ourselves -- to find the strength within ourselves to strive for the world as it should be. And isn't that the great American story?”
“All of us driven by a simple belief that the world as it is just won't do -- that we have an obligation to fight for the world as it should be.”
“And that is the thread that connects our hearts. That is the thread that runs through my journey and Barack's journey and so many other improbable journeys that have brought us here tonight, where the current of history meets this new tide of hope.”
“And in the end, And in the end after all that's happened these past 19 months, the Barack Obama I know today is the same man I fell in love with 19 years ago. He's the same man who drove me and our new baby daughter home from the hospital ten years ago this summer, inching along at a snail's pace, peering anxiously at us in the rearview mirror, feeling the whole weight of her future in his hands, determined to give her everything he'd struggled so hard for himself, determined to give her something he never had: the affirming embrace of a father's love.”
“And as I tuck that little girl in and her little sister into bed at night, you see I think about how one day, they'll have families of their own. And one day, they -- and your sons and daughters -- will tell their own children about what we did together in this election. They'll tell them how this time, we listened to our hopes, instead of our fears. How this time, how this time, we decided to stop doubting and to start dreaming. How this time, in this great country -- where a girl from the South Side of Chicago can go to college and law school, and the son of a single mother from Hawaii can go all the way to the White House -- that we committed ourselves, we committed ourselves to building the world as it should be.”
My love to all of you, and as I’ve said before, my friends in Africa said it best:
“Pave the way. Obama is coming.”
Friday, August 22, 2008
Faith and Politics
Keith Olbermann once wrote that "The man who sees absolutes, where all others see nuances and shades of meaning, is either a prophet or a quack." How true this statement is and how more illumined it becomes; especially with the current oversimplification of our national discourse on faith and politics.
I would like to direct the majority of my opinion here to the recent Civil Forum held at the Saddleback Church in California under the mediation of Rick Warren. The event was meant as a civil discourse between Rick Warren and the two major-party nominees for the Presidency. It was meant to elevate our national discourse, to start construction on the bridge between faith and politics, to facilitate the eradication of the demonizing of people who disagree with us; whatever their reasoning may be. In my humble opinion, this did not happen.
On the most superficial level, this did not happen due to the apparent dishonesty of the McCain campaign; or by the dishonesty of Senator McCain himself. Rick Warren had said on several occasions that Senator McCain would be in a "Cone of Silence", thereby unable to have foreknowledge of the questions asked and, thereby, having to answer them without prior coaching. The McCain campaign themselves stated that Senator McCain was in a campaign motorcade for the first half of Senator Obama's interview and then in a green room (without, specifically stated, a broadcast feed) for the 2nd half. Why was this fact not stated when Rick Warren asked Senator McCain if the "Cone of Silence" was "comfortable"? In addition, why did Senator McCain ask, midway through the interview, when they could "get back to the question" about Supreme Court appointees when they hadn't yet reached that question?
It is interesting to note the irony in the use of the term "Come of Silence", as this was a device used for humor in the 1960's television show "Get Smart". In the show, The Chief would lower the "Cone of Silence" so as to avoid eavesdropping. Unfortunately, it only served to cause Maxwell Smart and The Chief to not hear each other while the conversation was quite audible to anyone outside of the cone.
On a deeper level, while I applaud Rick Warren's intentions, I have concerns over what seems to be an ever-growing section of, for lack of a better term, the "Religious Right". There seems to be a push to boil down the entirety of the Bible, and especially the message and enlightenment transmitted by Jesus, to several hot-button issues; the two frontrunners being abortion and homosexuality. Within the entire Gospel, Jesus does not mention these two issues directly at all. There is not even enough real evidence to show that he mentions them indirectly. Furthermore, most of the issues with homosexuality come from the Old Testament. Unfortunately, when we show that The Law approved the stoning of people who ate shellfish, we are told that the New Testament made a new covenant with the people of Israel. Unfortunately, there seems to be little rhyme or reason as to what parts of the Old Testament are still applicable and which aren't. What is able to be cherry-picked? Who decides?
We have all witnessed the lengths to which people have sought to force their position to be legislated in regards to these two issues. We have seen the polarizing effect from familial rifts to schisms within our entire nation. People have, at times, resorted to violent acts to prove their point. My main question is, with all of the horrors that we witness today including war, poverty, disease, starvation, genocide, climate change, etc.; are abortion and homosexuality the only issues to be receiving the majority of attention? Understand, I am not dismissing the incredible gravitas that an issue such as abortion entails, but I am asking why faith-based litmus tests for President don't involve the questioning of how they will handle the other issues I mentioned.
As an example, the "Evangelical Vote" has been lauded as one of the main reasons for President Bush's election and re-election. This is a President who, among other things, brought us into 2 wars, one of which was based on misdirection and coercion; presided over torture abuses in Gitmo, Abu Ghraib and secret prisons abroad; hired lawyers to redefine and allow, through semantics and legal maneuvering, the torture of prisoners; allowed illegal surveillance of every single American citizen; presided over the tragic debacle that was the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and supported the death penalty as a governor and president. How does an Evangelical, who believes so much in what Jesus taught, accept that the President in question goes against EVERY SINGLE tenant mentioned in the Gospels? Is it because he stated that "Christ" was his biggest political role model, which cost him nothing but the air needed to push the word through his lips? Is it that he proposes to overturn legislation based not on democratic and legislative principles, but upon his own belief in the rightness or wrongness of a given issue, no matter what the majority of Americans think or feel? Because he "sees absolutes" and can "see the soul" of a man like Vladimir Putin?
What follows are some of the examples of an unappreciation or lack of depth in dissecting an issue that, I feel, the audience in the Saddleback Church displayed.
When discussing the issue of abortion, Rick Warren loaded a question with the phrase "when does a baby have human rights?" This is not the issue considering that a fetus is not a baby until after birth. This is a perfect example of destroying the ability for thoughtful debate by inferring that someone who is pro-choice somehow approves of infanticide. This was further compounded when Mr. Warren likened 40 million abortions performed since Roe v. Wade to the holocaust. When Senator Obama proposed that having a President staunchly opposed to abortion did not help to lessen them and that the real issue deals with WHY people seek out abortions and can we limit the risk factors - he was met with silence.
In addition, I would like to know how many abortions were performed prior to Roe v. Wade? I would like the statistics of dead mothers along with this, since the illegality did nothing to stop chop-shop doctors from performing brutal procedures that killed both mother and fetus.
In addition, Senator Obama gave a well-thought, nuanced explanation that the quaestion of when life begins, from both a theological and scientific standpoint, were "above his pay grade", inferring the fact that both theologians and scientists have been debating this fact for centuries. This was met with silence. The audience seemed unable to grasp the concept that we cannot understand the Mystery completely; therefore, our understanding of surface issues such as these needs to be approached with humility and a complete acceptance of our ignorance. Conversely, when Senator McCain stated, with complete and utter certainty, that life begins at conception and that he would be a pro-life President and, in essence, work to completely overturn legislation based on his own ignorance of what a democracy is and how it operates; this was met with an almost instantaneous round of applause.
The first two questions on real issues facing America and the next President of the United States were about abortion and the definition of marriage. Not about the wrongness of war, not about the torture of "enemy combatants" in Gitmo, Abu Ghraib and secret prisons abroad, not about the genocide in Darfur and throughout Africa, not about the destruction of our planet, not the erosion of civil liberties under the Bush Administration, not about worldwide poverty and starvation. No, it was about abortion and the definition of marriage.
Is this how we plan to start building a bridge between faith and politics? Is this the best we can do? Is faith so weak as to crumble under the weight of who is able to get married? Shouldn't faith be a lightning rod of righteousness that holds our elected representatives accountable on issues they face every day and that we have very little control over? Who we decide to fight and why? How much innocent blood will spill? How we care for the planet that is our ONLY home and that is a gift from our Creator? How do we face the genocide of our brothers and sisters half a world away? How do we care for our children and their ability to lead us in the future? How do we care "for the least of these"? Should some of these be the lead-off questions by people of faith? Or should we try and fit our understanding of our world, our hearts, our God, into the space of a bumper sticker?
I would like to direct the majority of my opinion here to the recent Civil Forum held at the Saddleback Church in California under the mediation of Rick Warren. The event was meant as a civil discourse between Rick Warren and the two major-party nominees for the Presidency. It was meant to elevate our national discourse, to start construction on the bridge between faith and politics, to facilitate the eradication of the demonizing of people who disagree with us; whatever their reasoning may be. In my humble opinion, this did not happen.
On the most superficial level, this did not happen due to the apparent dishonesty of the McCain campaign; or by the dishonesty of Senator McCain himself. Rick Warren had said on several occasions that Senator McCain would be in a "Cone of Silence", thereby unable to have foreknowledge of the questions asked and, thereby, having to answer them without prior coaching. The McCain campaign themselves stated that Senator McCain was in a campaign motorcade for the first half of Senator Obama's interview and then in a green room (without, specifically stated, a broadcast feed) for the 2nd half. Why was this fact not stated when Rick Warren asked Senator McCain if the "Cone of Silence" was "comfortable"? In addition, why did Senator McCain ask, midway through the interview, when they could "get back to the question" about Supreme Court appointees when they hadn't yet reached that question?
It is interesting to note the irony in the use of the term "Come of Silence", as this was a device used for humor in the 1960's television show "Get Smart". In the show, The Chief would lower the "Cone of Silence" so as to avoid eavesdropping. Unfortunately, it only served to cause Maxwell Smart and The Chief to not hear each other while the conversation was quite audible to anyone outside of the cone.
On a deeper level, while I applaud Rick Warren's intentions, I have concerns over what seems to be an ever-growing section of, for lack of a better term, the "Religious Right". There seems to be a push to boil down the entirety of the Bible, and especially the message and enlightenment transmitted by Jesus, to several hot-button issues; the two frontrunners being abortion and homosexuality. Within the entire Gospel, Jesus does not mention these two issues directly at all. There is not even enough real evidence to show that he mentions them indirectly. Furthermore, most of the issues with homosexuality come from the Old Testament. Unfortunately, when we show that The Law approved the stoning of people who ate shellfish, we are told that the New Testament made a new covenant with the people of Israel. Unfortunately, there seems to be little rhyme or reason as to what parts of the Old Testament are still applicable and which aren't. What is able to be cherry-picked? Who decides?
We have all witnessed the lengths to which people have sought to force their position to be legislated in regards to these two issues. We have seen the polarizing effect from familial rifts to schisms within our entire nation. People have, at times, resorted to violent acts to prove their point. My main question is, with all of the horrors that we witness today including war, poverty, disease, starvation, genocide, climate change, etc.; are abortion and homosexuality the only issues to be receiving the majority of attention? Understand, I am not dismissing the incredible gravitas that an issue such as abortion entails, but I am asking why faith-based litmus tests for President don't involve the questioning of how they will handle the other issues I mentioned.
As an example, the "Evangelical Vote" has been lauded as one of the main reasons for President Bush's election and re-election. This is a President who, among other things, brought us into 2 wars, one of which was based on misdirection and coercion; presided over torture abuses in Gitmo, Abu Ghraib and secret prisons abroad; hired lawyers to redefine and allow, through semantics and legal maneuvering, the torture of prisoners; allowed illegal surveillance of every single American citizen; presided over the tragic debacle that was the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and supported the death penalty as a governor and president. How does an Evangelical, who believes so much in what Jesus taught, accept that the President in question goes against EVERY SINGLE tenant mentioned in the Gospels? Is it because he stated that "Christ" was his biggest political role model, which cost him nothing but the air needed to push the word through his lips? Is it that he proposes to overturn legislation based not on democratic and legislative principles, but upon his own belief in the rightness or wrongness of a given issue, no matter what the majority of Americans think or feel? Because he "sees absolutes" and can "see the soul" of a man like Vladimir Putin?
What follows are some of the examples of an unappreciation or lack of depth in dissecting an issue that, I feel, the audience in the Saddleback Church displayed.
When discussing the issue of abortion, Rick Warren loaded a question with the phrase "when does a baby have human rights?" This is not the issue considering that a fetus is not a baby until after birth. This is a perfect example of destroying the ability for thoughtful debate by inferring that someone who is pro-choice somehow approves of infanticide. This was further compounded when Mr. Warren likened 40 million abortions performed since Roe v. Wade to the holocaust. When Senator Obama proposed that having a President staunchly opposed to abortion did not help to lessen them and that the real issue deals with WHY people seek out abortions and can we limit the risk factors - he was met with silence.
In addition, I would like to know how many abortions were performed prior to Roe v. Wade? I would like the statistics of dead mothers along with this, since the illegality did nothing to stop chop-shop doctors from performing brutal procedures that killed both mother and fetus.
In addition, Senator Obama gave a well-thought, nuanced explanation that the quaestion of when life begins, from both a theological and scientific standpoint, were "above his pay grade", inferring the fact that both theologians and scientists have been debating this fact for centuries. This was met with silence. The audience seemed unable to grasp the concept that we cannot understand the Mystery completely; therefore, our understanding of surface issues such as these needs to be approached with humility and a complete acceptance of our ignorance. Conversely, when Senator McCain stated, with complete and utter certainty, that life begins at conception and that he would be a pro-life President and, in essence, work to completely overturn legislation based on his own ignorance of what a democracy is and how it operates; this was met with an almost instantaneous round of applause.
The first two questions on real issues facing America and the next President of the United States were about abortion and the definition of marriage. Not about the wrongness of war, not about the torture of "enemy combatants" in Gitmo, Abu Ghraib and secret prisons abroad, not about the genocide in Darfur and throughout Africa, not about the destruction of our planet, not the erosion of civil liberties under the Bush Administration, not about worldwide poverty and starvation. No, it was about abortion and the definition of marriage.
Is this how we plan to start building a bridge between faith and politics? Is this the best we can do? Is faith so weak as to crumble under the weight of who is able to get married? Shouldn't faith be a lightning rod of righteousness that holds our elected representatives accountable on issues they face every day and that we have very little control over? Who we decide to fight and why? How much innocent blood will spill? How we care for the planet that is our ONLY home and that is a gift from our Creator? How do we face the genocide of our brothers and sisters half a world away? How do we care for our children and their ability to lead us in the future? How do we care "for the least of these"? Should some of these be the lead-off questions by people of faith? Or should we try and fit our understanding of our world, our hearts, our God, into the space of a bumper sticker?
Graves' New Digs
Well hello out there in radioland... or the blogosphere, whatever. Some of you may have read some of my early works on MySpace, hopefully some will actually read a somewhat routine blog that looks MUCH cooler, who knows. Either way, this gives me an avenue for my opinions (some would say too many of them) and thoughts on a variety of topics. You never know what you might get when I post, so hopefully there'll be something for most anyone. Before I begin rambling too much, thanks for stopping by... as a final note, I'd like to thank the illustrious Jay West for his amazing idea for the title... hope you all enjoy, Good Journey.
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