God's Politics

God's Politics Has Moved!

2008-09-22T15:47:33Z

Please change your bookmarks to: www.godspolitics.com

and your RSS feeds to: http://www.sojo.net/blog/godspolitics/?feed=rss2

After two years of a blog partnership between Sojourners and Beliefnet, we're moving the God's Politics Blog in-house to the Sojourners Web site. You can still go to www.godspolitics.com which as been redirected to reach us at our new location.

Other than a new look and feel, you'll still find the latest commentary by Jim Wallis and friends "articulating the biblical call to social justice" as our Sojourners mission statment says. You will also find a few welcome changes and great new features, such as:

More ways to access blog content, including links to posts by author, "most read," and "most commented."
A "tag cloud" that represents the hottest topics on the blog.
Separate RSS feeds for God's Politics, Verse and Voice of the Day, and our Daily News Digest (and more to come...)
Advertisements that comport with Sojourners' mission and values.

And perhaps the most significant new feature of all--new comment software including a new sherriff in town: YOU!

That's right--we're implementing peer moderation, with the ability for readers to rate comments up or down as useful or not useful. Posts that receive too many down votes (no, we're not telling you how many) will be automatically removed. We know we're asking a lot of our readers--to rate posts not on what views are expressed but on how they're expressed--but we think you're up to the task.
Of course, you can still always "flag" abusive posts for removal by our staff if something's obviously inappropriate.
Plus, personal profiles for each commenter with optional attributes including "avatar" images.

We hope you'll continue to enjoy reading God's Politics at its new home!

Just the Facts (by Jim Wallis)

2008-09-16T20:01:32Z

Most of you are too young to remember Joe Friday, the tough inner-city police sergeant on the old television series Dragnet, which I still see sometimes in syndication. The no-nonsense cop was famous for a line he almost always used while conducting his investigations into a crime. To the many eyewitnesses he would interview, he would say, "Just the facts, ma'am."

Where is Joe Friday when you need him, like during this election campaign? Who is going to check the candidates on their positions, statements, speeches, and especially their attacks on each other, which are getting more vicious? And now, who will also check the media, especially the cable networks, who are increasingly just dividing along partisan political lines?

Where do we go to find the facts? Unfortunately, the media (especially the cable television networks and talk radio shows) are of less and less help -- especially in presenting "just the facts." I try to watch all the Sunday morning news shows some time during the day. Last Sunday's Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace had a long feature with one "analyst" to help us all understand what was happening in this election. The analyst? Karl Rove -- the only analyst. The great Republican architect has now become the great Republican analyst. Now how's that for "fair and balanced?" And if you want the political alternative, just turn on MSNBC, which is increasingly the ideological counterpoint and competitor with Fox. Then we go to CNN, where more and more of the commentators have become surrogates for one side or the other, saying predictable things along predictable party lines, with notable exceptions like David Gergen, who has worked in the White House for both Republican and Democratic Administrations and really does try to be fair and balanced.

Most of you are also too young to remember when evening news anchors were mostly eloquent narrators of the news. Now turning on television is like tuning into an ongoing partisan debate or, worse, seeing a succession of negative ads fighting back and forth in the name of commentary.

There are, however, a few segments on television, and more investigative stories in the newspapers, where journalists are trying to do the job of keeping the politicians honest. And there are respected fact checking places emerging on the Internet which appear to be developing respect on both sides of the aisle -- a very rare thing these days. One of them is FactCheck.org, whose spokespersons seem to be both fair and balanced. So far, I have seen them do helpful fact checking into the lies now being told in campaign ads and the overstretching of the truth in both campaigns. No, Obama did not support a bill in Illinois to teach sex education to kindergartners, but rather one to protect them from sexual predators. And no, McCain didn't say we should keep the war going in Iraq for a hundred years if necessary, just that we might have to support troops there that long as we do in other places.

Check the facts very carefully when the campaigns tell you what their opponent will do on taxes. Hopefully, there will be more of such places emerging that can be trusted. Send in the best choices for fact checking in your experience. Let's find some Joe Fridays out there -- "Just the facts, ma'am." Better yet, let's try to be Joe Fridays ourselves.

[Correction: Thanks to our fack-checking commenters, we have learned that the Dragnet detective's name was, in fact, Joe Friday (not Jack Friday), and the actor's name was Jack Webb. This correction is now reflected in the text.]

A Colombian Peacemaker's 'Option for Civil Resistance' (by Janna Hunter-Bowman)

2008-09-16T17:28:24Z

We are deeply concerned. Attempts are being made to link Héctor Mondragón to the FARC guerilla movement in Colombia's paper of record, El Tiempo, which has reported on alleged e-mails to Héctor found on the computer of assassinated FARC leader Raul Reyes. Héctor, a Mennonite economist dedicated to the cause of the poor, is a good personal friend. He works closely with Colombia's indigenous and small-scale farmers (campesinos). He speaks passionately and writes prolifically on connecting the dots between the social political violence suffered and multi-national economic interests underlying the current armed conflict. In Colombia, good work does not go unnoticed. He is a survivor; he was being tortured around the time I entered the world.

Colombian Mennonite Church President Alix Lozano writes:

Héctor H. Mondragón has been a member of our church since 1994, that is, 14 years. We have known him as a Christian not only committed to the cause of Jesus Christ, but also to Jesus' teaching and example of nonviolent love. ... His positions towards the government as well as toward the insurgent groups have been clear. ... The Colombian Mennonite Church rejects any attempt to link one of its members -- and in this particular case Héctor H. Mondragón -- to any armed group or any violent practice or to slander his/her name, which as we all know, is also extremely dangerous for the life and security of any person in this context. (Click here for the full statement; aquí para español.)

You can also read Héctor's response in his own powerful words in an essay called "My choice for civil resistance" (aquí para español):

Those who know me know very clearly that I am not part of the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), because I disagree with their strategy, their political line, and their methods.

For 18 years, I have publicly and privately differed from the FARC's strategy. That strategy is centered on the role of the guerrilla converted into a revolutionary army, through which the people can seize power and transform society. ... It has become a tragedy for popular struggles. It has permitted the strengthening of the extreme right, which today is running the country. Not only has it failed to stop the displacement of hundreds of thousands of peasants and Afro-Colombians, but it has actually exacerbated that process, and even provoked the forced displacement of indigenous peoples in various parts of the country. ...

Since 1994 I have opted for a personal commitment to nonviolence as the way to contribute to radical social change. I renounced the use of arms in self defense under any circumstance. I got rid of two revolvers that I had legally carried since I had been threatened with assassination ... I stopped working with bodyguards because I did not want to save my life at the expense of another. I ended up abandoning all routines, and thus the possibility of a stable job, in order to avoid being assassinated. I believe in the struggle for radical social change, but I believe it must be accompanied with a radical change of method, the abandonment of armed struggle and the abandonment of the notion that the end justifies the means. The radical means of nonviolence can help us reach the objective of truly radical social change. ...

It is not about replacing one corrupt, right wing government with another. It is not about exchanging one set of gangsters for another, so that our friends can rule instead of our enemies. It is not about demonstrating "governability" without meeting the basic needs of the 80% of Colombians who live in poverty. Colombia needs deep changes, especially on the land and in its relationship to the transnationals. And the only way to win these changes is to deploy the widest civil resistance, to construct alternatives from the base, and to have massive and committed civil mobilization. Absolutely everything I have done in these years, every single day, has been to work towards this with all my strength and all my experience.

Today, I still carry wounds from the torture that I suffered in 1977 and also from 20 years of being threatened with death, pursued by the paramilitaries. Sometimes I lose hope, especially when I know that some of my friends have been killed. I ask myself why continue in this struggle with indigenous people and peasants, why not give up. But then I am struck again with the passion for the people I love and the certainty that they deserve lives with dignity, and solidarity. They failed to kill my body but today they are threatening to kill my words, and I feel it like a re-opening of my old wounds. But the word is a seed and it grows, whatever happens, in the peasant on the land, in an indigenous person in her territory, in Afro-Colombians returning to their communities, in those who live in the popular neighborhoods of the cities who will eat better after the land reform that we will win, in every working family that will get a just wage for work, there the word will live. They won't be able to kill it.

A call to action may be forthcoming. For the time being we invite you to share this concerning turn of events and pray. Héctor writes, "I remain firm in prayer and many have prayed for me as well. They sustain me. (Me he aferrado a la oracin y muchos han orado por m. Me llegan muchos apoyos y me sostienen. )"

Janna Hunter-Bowman works for Mennonite Central Committee in Bogotá, Colombia, as the coordinator of the Documentation and Advocacy Program for Justapaz.

Beyond Just War Theory (by Valerie Elverton Dixon)

2008-09-16T14:15:43Z

Just war theory is a mode of analysis that lists criteria by which war may be considered righteous before, during, and after its execution. The criteria to consider before a war are: declared by legitimate authority, just cause, right intent, reasonable hope of success, last resort, and announcement. The criteria to consider during war are: noncombatant immunity, proportionality of damage to good that will result, and limitations on weapons and tactics. Young scholars in Christian ethics are developing criteria to consider after war, such as reparations, truth and reconciliation, and refugees.

Just war theory has a long history inside of Christianity. It is a middle way between holy war and pacifism. However, just peace theory occupies the ground between just war theory and pacifism. From the perspective of just peace theory, just war theory is only war. It presupposes war. It comes into the discourse at the moment when a conflict reaches a crisis point and the possibility of war. The conversation becomes about making the case for war using just war principles. In contrast, just peace theory presupposes peace. The discourse becomes about what the nation is doing to preserve the peace. Further, just peace theory moves beyond just war theory because just war theory is unrealistic in the face of the nature of war itself.

For example, before a war we consider just cause. In reality, the causes of war are always multiple, complex, and entangled. So underneath arguments about defense and humanitarian intervention, there often lies an economic intent. Further, once war begins, no one can ever know how successful a nation will be in executing the war. Just war during war calls for the immunity of innocents and the protection of noncombatants from being targets of violence. Realistically, innocents always die in war. Some will object that this is an argument of moral equivalency. It is. The blood and tears are equivalent; people are equivalently killed and physically and psychologically injured. An innocent ecology is equivalently wounded.

Moreover, the nature of warfare is to defeat an enemy by any means necessary, and this includes using weapons and tactics that will demoralize the enemy even if that means killing innocents. Just war theory cannot come to terms with this reality.

Just peace theory understands that peacemaking happens every day, that the only just war is the war that we prevent because there is no such thing as victory in war. War itself is a defeat of human reason, communication, truth, and respect. At the same time, just peace theory recognizes there may be times when a military force ought to deploy to protect vulnerable populations or to enforce a peace agreement.

September 21 is the U.N. International Day of Peace and Global Cease-fire. It is a day when the world can pause to think about ways to make justice and peace the project and the goal of daily life.

Dr. Valerie Elverton Dixon is an independent scholar who publishes lectures and essays at JustPeaceTheory.com. She received her Ph.D. in religion and society from Temple University and taught Christian ethics at United Theological Seminary and Andover Newton Theological School

Verse of the Day: 'Stand at the crossroads'

2008-09-16T13:56:28Z

Thus says the Lord: Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, "We will not walk in it."

- Jeremiah 6:16

+ Sign up to receive our social justice verse of the day via e-mail

Daily News Digest (by Duane Shank)

2008-09-16T13:51:36Z

The latest news on the Wall Street Crisis, Iraq, Iran, Presidential Campaign, Hurricane Ike, Hurricane Ike-Cuba, Crime, Homelessness, Zimbabwe, Burma/Myanmar, Bolivia, and Father D'Escoto at U.N.

]]> Wall Street crisis. Wall Street Posts Worst Loss Since 2001 "In another unnerving day for Wall Street, investors suffered their worst losses since the terrorist attacks of 2001, and government officials raced to prevent the financial crisis from spreading." Stocks Plunge as Crisis Intensifies "The Federal Reserve and Treasury Department struggled to contain the fallout from an upheaval among the country's largest investment banks as they moved on to their next challenge -- engineering a $75 billion private rescue of the nation's largest insurance company." Financial crisis could make consumer credit even tighter "But in letting the company fend for itself, the Fed is sending a message that the next faltering financial institution cannot expect a taxpayer bailout. That alone adds greater risk to credit markets, which could make home, retail and business loans more expensive and harder to secure." Wall Street crisis is culmination of 28 years of deregulation "No one cog in the federal government's machine of financial regulation let down the country by failing to prevent the latest shakeout on Wall Street. The entire system did."

Presidential campaign. In Candidates, 2 Approaches to Wall Street "The crisis on Wall Street will leave the next president facing tough choices about how best to regulate the financial system, and although neither Senator Barack Obama nor Senator John McCain has yet offered a detailed plan, their records and the principles they have set out so far suggest they could come at the issue in very different ways." Economy Becomes New Proving Ground For McCain, Obama "Yesterday's meltdown on Wall Street brought the economy roaring back to the center of the presidential campaign, and the question for the final seven weeks of the general-election campaign is whether Barack Obama or John McCain can convince voters that he is capable of leading the country out of the morass." Obama, McCain debate economic crisis "With both candidates pressing for regulatory reform, concerns about Wall Street problems spilling onto Main Street took center stage as McCain, Obama and their running mates jockeyed for advantage amid the growing economic stress."

Hurricane Ike. Texans warned to stay away from areas hit by Hurricane Ike "Officials were in the early stages of assessing the effects of the storm, which battered Galveston over the weekend with 110-mph winds and a 15-foot storm surge before roaring north to Houston." Texans persevere through Ike's fury, but may wait weeks for hot meals, showers, electricity "Tens of thousands of residents first hunkered down to wait for Hurricane Ike's brutal punch. Those survivors on the wrecked Texas coast must now wait again -- for food, water and ice, for the electricity to return to their homes, for that first hot meal and shower." Searchers fear more grim discoveries in Galveston "Through dark and filthy water, the tangible last remnant of Hurricane Ike, search-and-rescue teams continued combing Galveston Island and other coastal communities hit hardest by an overwhelming storm surge. The hope was for more survivors - a hope rewarded more than once Monday. The fear was that grimmer discoveries awaited." Got power? "The National Weather Service says it can find no stronger winds in its weather history files than Sunday's 75 mph remnants of Hurricane Ike that caused so much turmoil and damage. ... Gov. Ted Strickland declared a state of emergency for Ohio as it became clear that it will take up to a week in many places for power to blink back on."

Hurricane Ike-Cuba. U.S. Urges Cuba to Accept Aid "The Bush administration has asked the Cuban government to reconsider its rejection of emergency hurricane aid from the United States, including an unprecedented offer to send assistance directly to the government in Havana aboard civilian aircraft."

Crime down. Violent Crime Fell in 2007 From Previous Year "Violent crime in the United States fell slightly last year, reversing the upward swing of the previous two years, according to statistics released by the FBI yesterday. The bureau's Crime in the United States report showed a decline in crimes in almost every category."

Homelessness. Capitol Strives to Define 'Homeless' "With unemployment and foreclosures rising and growing numbers of families struggling to find affordable housing, lawmakers in Congress are debating who should be considered homeless."

Iran. U.N. report says Iran has blocked nuclear investigators "Iranian stonewalling has stalled a U.N. investigation into whether Iran conducted nuclear weapons research, according to a new U.N. nuclear watchdog report that for the first time raised the possibility that foreign experts may have assisted in Iranian nuclear experiments." Nuclear Agency Says Iran Has Improved Enrichment "Iran has substantially improved the efficiency of its centrifuges that produce enriched uranium, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Monday, indicating that the nation has overcome some of the technical challenges that had plagued its enrichment program." U.N. watchdog reports growing frustration with Iran's nuclear push "Iran failed to resolve lingering questions about alleged nuclear weapons research and modestly expanded its ability to produce sensitive radioactive material that could potentially be used for a bomb." France pushes for more Iran sanctions "'We have no other choice than to work in the days and weeks to come toward a new (U.N.) Security Council sanctions resolution,' French Foreign Ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier said."

Iraq. Gen. David Petraeus leaves a safer, but still fragile Iraq after 20 months leading US troops "David Petraeus, the American general who presided over Iraq's pullback from the brink of all-out civil war, relinquished his command Tuesday to Gen. Ray Odierno under a cascade of official thank-yous." Odierno replaces Petraeus in Iraq "General Ray Odierno, a U.S. military commander known for his aggressive tactics, has taken command of U.S.-led forces in Iraq, replacing General David Petraeus." Odierno warning on Iraq security "The new U.S. military commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, has said that recent security gains there are 'fragile and reversible.'" U.S. officials warn against leaving Iraq forces on their own too soon "As Iraq's government presses Washington for a deadline to withdraw American troops, top U.S. military officials cautioned against pushing Iraqi forces to take control too quickly -- a warning underscored by bombs that killed at least 35 people."

Zimbabwe. Power shifts as Zimbabwe deal signed "The signing of a painful compromise Monday by bitter enemies marked a clear power shift in Zimbabwe." Zimbabwe's Mugabe relaxes grip on power but will power-sharing deal work? "President Robert Mugabe ceded some power in Zimbabwe for the first time in 28 years, signing a power-sharing deal Monday with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai amid questions on how the fierce enemies will work together to fix the collapsing economy." Zimbabwe power-struggle begins in earnest "Zimbabwe's new political partners were due to sit down today to the thorny task of allocating Cabinet posts in the country's new unity government after a day of raucous celebration by opposition activists." U.S. and EU keep Zimbabwe sanctions "EU foreign ministers said the measures would continue until the new government took steps to restore democracy."

Burma/Myanmar. Myanmar's Junta Eases Restrictions on Opposition Leader Under House Arrest "Myanmar's military junta will allow the pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to receive letters from her two sons as well as some foreign magazines, slightly easing her stringent house arrest."

Bolivia. South American leaders hold emergency session on Bolivia "Leaders of nine South American nations called Monday for Bolivians to 'take all actions necessary' to help calm the domestic turmoil threatening to split this fractured Andean country apart."

Father D'Escoto at U.N. Nicaraguan priest taking a top U.N. post "Father Miguel d'Escoto stopped saying Mass 23 years ago when the Vatican suspended his priestly functions for refusing to quit Nicaragua's revolutionary government. But he never stopped preaching. ... Today he is being promoted to a far bigger pulpit: the presidency of the United Nations General Assembly."

Voice of the Day: Lawrence Kushner

2008-09-16T13:02:40Z

God does not have hands, we do. Our hands are God's. It is up to us what God will see and hear, up to us, what God will do. Humanity is the organ of consciousness of the universe ... Without our eyes the Holy One of Being would be blind.

- Lawrence Kushner

+ Sign up to receive our quote of the day via e-mail

Ohio After Ike: On the Ground, In the Dark (by Virginia Lohmann Bauman)

2008-09-15T20:01:52Z

Yesterday afternoon, after devastating the Texas coast, the remnants of Hurricane Ike tore through Granville and the rest of Ohio, uprooting centuries old trees and downing power lines with hurricane force winds. More than one million Ohioans lost power, and some of us may be waiting for up to a week for power to be restored. In central Ohio where I live, 455,000 remain without power at this time. The schools here are closed, and many of us are without water due to well and septic systems that rely on electricity to work.

We lived through this kind of power outage before -- during the ice storm of 2004. So neighbors are pulling together, checking on the elderly, and making sure everyone has enough supplies to last until the power is restored. The Granville college students are helping with water delivery and clearing the trees. Local residents are pooling their cash and making trips to stores in Columbus that have opened to sell water, batteries, candles, and other necessities. Churches are checking on their shut-ins and providing food to those without the necessary provisions. The local government turned out road crews with chain saws and tools to clear blocked streets and passages. And in the one coffee shop that has electricity, residents are sharing the electrical outlets as we charge up our laptop computers, Blackberries, and cell phones. So, all in all, our small community will weather this storm.

But I wondered last night, when I saw one gas station charging $5.99 per gallon for gasoline, what about those who are living on the edge here? Are the folks in the trailer park at the edge of town okay? Can they afford to pay for price-gouged gas? Can they afford to replace an entire refrigerator and freezer worth of food that is now spoiled? Do they have the extra cash to buy emergency supplies and food for a week until the power comes back on? Can they take their child to work for the day, or a week, until the schools and childcares open again?

One in six children in Ohio is hungry. How many of those children will miss their government subsidized meals this week because the schools are closed and the meals cannot be prepared? Poverty hurts -- and an unexpected emergency like a windstorm and a long term power outage makes poverty hurt even more by laying bare the continued economic disparity in our country -- and in my small town.

These are the issues that propel me forward in my work to Vote Out Poverty. These are the questions that drive me to ask pastor after pastor after pastor to host a Poverty Sunday this fall to raise the consciousness of parishioners in the pews about poverty. These are the questions that had me participating by candlelight last night in a national conference call with Jim Wallis to Vote Out Poverty. And these are the questions that have turned the Lord's Prayer into my plea: "thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

Please keep in prayer the families of the three people killed in Ohio last night during the windstorm, as well as the thousands and thousands in Texas and the Gulf Coast who were displaced by Hurricane Ike. Please also pray: "The world now has the means to end extreme poverty; we pray we will have the will."

Rev. Virginia Lohmann Bauman lives in Granville, Ohio with her family, and she is the Ohio Field Director for Sojourners.

Ten Reasons Why This Election Should Be About Issues and Not Personalities (by Jim Wallis)

2008-09-15T16:36:20Z

The presidential tickets in this election on both sides of the aisle have lots of "personality;" some of the candidates have even been referred to as "rock stars." John McCain's campaign manager Rick Davis has said that "this election is not about issues, this election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates." That has been widely interpreted as a prediction that the election will be about personalities more than about issues. That would be a tragedy. And some on the Obama side were perhaps hoping that their candidate's charisma and popularity would be enough. But those qualities won't be enough and shouldn't be. Here are ten reasons why.

The economy is in grave danger. Over the weekend, two more of the nation's top investment banking firms have gone down. Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy, and Merrill Lynch was sold to Bank of America. With the earlier demise of Bear Stearns, that's three out of the nation's top five investment banks who have not been able to weather the financial storms triggered by the subprime lending crisis. Analysts this morning say this is either the beginning of the end of the crisis or the beginning of the end. The stock market looks like it fears the second outcome. Ordinary Americans are worried about college and retirement funds and, much worse -- a downward economic spiral that affects most all of us. We need more than personalities here.
"Poverty is now our next door neighbor." That's what a hospital administrator said to me during my annual physical last week. With foreclosures, declining housing equity and opportunity, job losses, stagnant wages, and lack of affordable healthcare, more and more people are being affected. And, of course, those at the bottom are in the worse shape of all.
Globally, the progress we were making on international poverty has been seriously set back because of food and fuel prices. Untold numbers of people are facing starvation.
There continue to be about 1.3 million abortions a year. Partisan shouting on both sides during election seasons has prevented our finding solutions that result in real abortion reduction.
A broken immigration system is resulting in more and more raids on workplaces, breaking up thousands of families. How can we create reforms that are compassionate and just along with protecting our borders?
Global warming is shrinking the polar ice cap at an unprecedented rate, more plant and animal species are endangered, and weather patterns are becoming erratic and more dangerous. How can we stop and reverse climate change?
The war in Afghanistan has gone on for seven years now, yet the situation on the ground is getting worse by most accounts. The war in Iraq has gone on for more than five. Some claim progress and others say the underlying issues remain unresolved. Both those who want "victory" and those who say we should "end" the war must show their plans for success. There are other wars now threatening in places like Iran and Syria. How many more wars can we fight at one time? The military is severely strained, especially service men and women and their families. And those veterans who come home needing so many things are not getting them.
We are no closer to a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, still a critical factor in Middle East conflicts.
The conduct of the United States' war on terrorism has taken a great toll on America's standing in the world. The use of torture, the abuse at Abu Ghraib, the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo and secret prisons around the world have all taken their moral toll. There needs to be a plan to repair the nation's moral stature.
The great danger of nuclear proliferation continues unabated. And even the pleas of national security wise men, from both sides of the aisle, have not been heeded.

And because each of you has other crises you think should be added (I can think of another ten easily), it becomes more and more clear that voting on personalities this election would be irresponsible. It's time to focus on the issues, the records of the candidates, and their plans for solving the massive problems that we face. That will be the subject of my blog posts between here and the election -- and what a more "prophetic" than "partisan" Christian witness might be. Stay tuned.

Catholic Bishops Denounce Immigration Raids as Anti-Family (by Jennifer Svetlik)

2008-09-15T14:32:26Z

Last year I lived in a Catholic Worker house that offers hospitality to immigrants without first inquiring about their legal status. One day, a woman called the house on behalf of two young boys who had come home to an empty apartment; their parents had been taken in a raid, and the boys had no other relatives or friends in the country. They had been born in the U.S., but their parents were undocumented workers; the raid had traumatized and temporarily orphaned them. They were afraid to leave their home and had no idea how to locate their parents.

Unfortunately, these boys' story is not unique. Over the past year, throughout the country the Department of Homeland Security has conducted increasingly numerous worksite enforcement raids that target employers who hire unauthorized workers. During these raids, large numbers of workers who have often worked in difficult and appalling conditions are arrested. Children are separated from their working parents for days at a time, and community life is disrupted.

Last week, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement urging Homeland Security to discontinue worksite enforcement raids until several "humanitarian safeguards" are put into place. The statement says, "The humanitarian costs of these raids are immeasurable and unacceptable in a civilized society" and reminds us that "many families never recover, others never reunite."

Catholic social teaching states that the family is the "fundamental institution upon which society and government itself depends" and that the family "must be supported and strengthened." May Christians follow the lead of these courageous bishops to speak with one voice, urging the government to support families and put an end to the inhumane practices of worksite enforcement raids.

Jennifer Svetlik is a policy and organizing assistant at Sojourners.

Daily News Digest (by Duane Shank)

2008-09-15T13:58:29Z

The latest news on Hurricane Ike, Wall Street Crisis, Afghanistan, Unemployed Women, Education, Urban Gleaning, Religion, Arms Sales, Zimbabwe, Canadian Election, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Bolivia, India, and Select Op-eds.

]]> Hurricane Ike. Millions struggle to cope with property losses, shortages "Just a day after Hurricane Ike humbled America's high-flying energy capital, millions of people across southeast Texas wearily confronted a stunning reality Sunday: Millions of lives have been dismantled indefinitely by the loss of everything from power and water, to property and even people." Along Texas Coast, 'Monumental' Damage "The devastated Texas Gulf Coast began Sunday to assess the scope of the impact of Hurricane Ike, finding that the massive storm washed away homes and knocked out power to millions, but did not cause the catastrophic loss of life that federal and state authorities had feared." Texans mired in Hurricane Ike's aftermath "Weary residents of the Texas coast foraged Sunday for water, ice, generators and gasoline as rescuers continued to save people trapped by widespread floodwaters a day after Hurricane Ike flooded roads, destroyed homes and businesses, and knocked out power to nearly 4 million people." Remnants of Ike batter Midwest, forcing thousands to evacuate, extending summer of floods "As Ike faded and headed off toward the northeast, it dumped as much as 6 to 8 inches of rain on parts of Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, spawned a tornado in Arkansas that damaged several buildings, and delivered hurricane-force wind to Ohio, temporarily shutting down Cincinnati's main airport during the weekend. Missouri had widespread flooding, and high water on the Mississippi River was expected to close a riverfront street later this week in front of St. Louis' famed Gateway Arch."

Wall Street crisis. 2 storied Wall Street firms fall as US financial markets roiled by further shock waves "When Wall Street woke up Monday morning, two more of its storied firms had fallen." After Frantic Day, Wall Street Banks Falter "In one of the most dramatic days in Wall Street history, Lehman Brothers said it will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, while Merrill Lynch agreed to sell itself to Bank of America for about $50 billion." Jittery Road Ahead "Wall Street and the federal government faced off over the weekend, raising worries of a sell-off when markets open on Monday." A New Architecture For the Financial World "The U.S. financial system this weekend faced its gravest crisis in modern times, as regulators resorted to triage on Wall Street to contain the spreading damage from a meltdown in the housing and mortgage market."

Unemployed women. Spike in jobless rate for women is worst in more than 33 years "A sharp monthly rise in unemployment for women could be a sign that the economic slowdown has begun to hit working women with a force not seen in decades."

Education. In Rush to White House, 'No Child' Is Left Behind "For the next president, one of the first domestic challenges will be to reshape the No Child Left Behind law, hailed six years ago as a bipartisan solution to America's education troubles. But in their race for the White House, Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) are distancing themselves from what has become a tainted brand."

Urban gleaning. Food Banks Finding Aid in Bounty of Backyard "A renewed emphasis on locally grown organic foods, along with higher food prices and increased demand at food banks, has inspired a new generation of community harvesters to search for solutions in their backyards."

Religion. Divided Landmark Church Picks 'Progressive Evangelical' as New Leader "A divided congregation voted on Sunday to affirm the Rev. Dr. Brad R. Braxton, a Baptist minister and former Rhodes scholar, as the sixth senior pastor of Riverside Church, the soaring Gothic cathedral on the Upper West Side of Manhattan."

Arms Sales. U.S. Arms Sales Climbing Rapidly "The Bush administration is pushing through a broad array of foreign weapons deals as it seeks to rearm Iraq and Afghanistan, contain North Korea and Iran, and solidify ties with onetime Russian allies."

Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe: Leaders Sign Historic Unity Pact "Zimbabwe's three principal political leaders signed a power-sharing agreement in Harare on Monday, bringing to an end nearly 30 years of exclusive rule by the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF)." Zimbabwe rivals in historic pact "Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe signs a historic power-sharing deal with the opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai." Will Robert Mugabe wriggle out of deal? "Insiders in both parties remain split over whether the agreement -- reached after weeks of negotiations -- can end the country's long decline, or whether it will simply open a new chapter in its misery."

Canadian election. Campaigns head into 2nd week with new targets "Stephen Harper may be setting his sights on a new target, as the federal election campaign enters its second week, but Liberal Leader Stephane Dion went after a familiar one -- the prime minister." Conservative lead narrows "The Canadian Press Harris-Decima poll of at least 1,343 voters across Canada gave the Conservatives 38 per cent support across Canada, followed by the Liberals at 27 per cent."

Iraq. Sunni Proponent of Reconciliation Is Killed "A Sunni Arab leader of a citizen patrol group in Baghdad who had been a proponent of reconciliation in his neighborhood was assassinated over the weekend."

Afghanistan. Afghanistan Is in Its Worst Shape Since 2001, European Diplomat Says "One of the most experienced Western envoys in Afghanistan said Sunday that conditions there had become the worst since 2001." Doctors die after U.N. becomes Taliban target "Two United Nations doctors working on a polio vaccination campaign for children were killed by a suicide bomber yesterday in the first significant Taliban attack against the organization in Afghanistan."

Iran. U.N. nuclear agency criticizes Iran "The International Atomic Energy Agency says it has not resolved questions about a possible military dimension to Iran's nuclear program. In its latest report, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said it had failed to make meaningful progress in assessing Iran's past nuclear activities."

Sudan. Former rebels say government offensive has reached their base in central Darfur "Sudanese government forces waging an offensive in northern Darfur have attacked rebel-held areas farther south, including a base belonging to a group that signed a peace deal with the government, rebels said Sunday."

Bolivia. Bolivia death toll rises "The death toll in last week's violence in a remote northern province rose to more than two dozen, Bolivia's government said Sunday, as it held frantic talks with opponents to avert further bloodshed." A Crisis Highlights Divisions in Bolivia"President Evo Morales is facing the most acute crisis of his presidency as deaths from violence in rebellious northern Bolivia increased to almost 30 over the weekend. Supporters of Mr. Morales said Sunday that the death toll could rise with dozens of people caught up in the violence and still unaccounted for."

India. Christians Face Hindus' Wrath "Babita Nayak was cooking lunch for her pregnant sister when a mob of Hindu extremists wielding swords, hammers and long sticks rampaged through their village, chanting 'India is for Hindus! Convert or leave!'" Arrests over India church attacks "Police in the southern Indian state of Karnataka have arrested over 60 people in connection with attacks on churches and clergymen over the weekend. More than a dozen churches were ransacked by alleged activists of the radical Hindu group Bajrang Dal."

Op-Ed. How we measure poverty (Rebecca M. Blank, Los Angeles Times) "Who is poor in America? It turns out that's a hard question to answer. The federal government's badly outdated method of measuring poverty provides an inaccurate picture. New York found the official numbers so useless that the city recently developed its own poverty measure. Other cities, including Los Angeles, are considering doing the same thing, and those efforts are expected to be high on the agenda when the U.S. Conference of Mayors meets in Los Angeles on Sept. 23-24."

Voice of the Day: Flannery O'Connor

2008-09-15T13:38:49Z

Your beliefs will be the light by which you see, but they will not be what you see, and they will not be a substitute for seeing.

- Flannery O'Connor

+ Sign up to receive our quote of the day via e-mail

Verse of the Day: 'How long shall I cry for help'

2008-09-15T13:31:22Z

O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
and you will not listen?
Or cry to you "Violence!"
and you will not save?

Why do you make me see wrongdoing
and look at trouble?
Destruction and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.

- Habakkuk 1:2-3

+ Sign up to receive our social justice verse of the day via e-mail

Once Upon a Time There Was a House... (by Phyllis Tickle)

2008-09-14T11:08:55Z

Once upon a time there was a house...

Anything that begins with such words as that usually carries with it the implicit promise that a tale is about to be told. "Once upon a time" rarely is a vehicle for conveying factual or objective truth. Rather, we have learned to read it as the set piece that introduces a bit of folk entertainment which, in the end, will leave us with a bit of folk wisdom forever wrapped in a memorable tale. All well and good and as it should be.

On the other hand, when a professional religionist begins something by saying, "Once upon a time," there is the hesitant assumption that the forthcoming insight or wisdom will be less folk or common wisdom and more geared toward making some kind of moral point. And when a professional religionist begins something by saying, "Once upon a time, there was a house...," there is every reason to assume -- especially if the religionist is a Christian -- that we are about to re-visit, whether we wish to or not, the parable of the two houses. One was built on a solid foundation of rock so that, when the storms came, it withstood their onslaught and remained standing. The other was built upon a foundation of sand and, when the storms came, crumbled under their onslaught and fell down. It is one of the better known of Jesus' parables and contains something very close to folk wisdom or common sense in addition to its theological ramifications.

Actually, a number of New Testament parables are common sense or folk wisdom tales, requiring not much depth of perception to understand and yet still wrapped in the skin of story and entertainment ... a fact which is, I suspect, a good deal of the reason for our having a certain kind of laziness about extending them into our own time instead of leaving them as quaint, but still honored, artifacts of an earlier one. All of this came to mind for me three or four Sundays ago when the parable of the two houses was the New Testament reading for the congregation with whom I was worshipping at the time. I've been chewing on the matter ever since. So...

Once upon a time, there was a house, whether on sand or rock, I can not say; but let us assume that this house was securely positioned, at least for our purposes here. Now this house of ours had an occupant. Who, we don't know, but an occupant. That occupant has a family ... a mate, children, a few pets, and an occasional relative or friend who comes for a visit. Now the children are all worrisome and gratifying and demanding, as children are supposed to be. The mate is the beloved whom the occupant can hardly bear at times, though it is clear that each of them is really in the business of sculpting the other into something that more resembles half of a new whole than it does anything else. The pets all bounce around ... or the dogs do, anyway. The cats prefer to sit back, tails curled under them, and wait to be asked about what should be done next. The pets are quite dear at times and not so dear at others, but all of them are fed and housed with an affection which, unlike that extended to the children and the mate, is largely untainted by any sense of obligation or duty.

The house has all the appointments that one would expect. There are windows, well-positioned not only to let in the light, but also to admit of good cross-ventilation. There is an adequate electric system that also keeps the house well-lit, warm enough and cool enough, and very functional. Likewise, the plumbing is in good balance with the needs of the house, though like all plumbing, it will occasionally suffer from overload and back up or will be the dumping place for more than it can handle and overflow. These are ongoing nuisances that cause the occupant only passing inconvenience, but rarely extended difficulty. There is the usual division of the house's rooms into those that are more or less public and those that are private and also, of course, those that are distinctly personal ... or at least, from time to time and on a routine basis, their use is. There is, as we would expect, a lovely, warm, cheerful kitchen which transcends the categories and simply is communal space at all times. The occupant, being a good person, sees to the house and its maintenance responsibly, consulting experts from time to time, when that is necessary, and spending time and money, as well as energy, in seeing to the house's ongoing good health.

In all of this, it is very clear to all concerned that the occupant is not the electrical system, though neither the house not the occupant would scarcely be able to function without it. It is equally clear that the inviting, communal kitchen is not the occupant, nor are the attractively dressed windows nor the front porch and flowers beds that complement the house. The furnishings, all of them adequate and suited to their purposes, are not the occupant, even though they are used constantly for the comfort, sustenance, and betterment of the occupant. And certainly no one would ever think that the occupant was the stairways which went up and down, from basement to first floor to second floor to attic, or even from doorways to driveway and sidewalk and patio. The occupant is none of these things, in part, of course, because the occupant isn't a "thing" and therefore can never be one. It is true, however, that the occupant could not long survive without a house of some sort, be it this one we are speaking of, or some other shelter.

But the house and the occupant do share one commonality: they both will someday cease to be. Both will pass away. The occupant, who was not the house, will die; and the house, who was not the occupant, will burn down or molder down or be torn down or undergo some other such ending. All will be gone. All the pieces and parts of our lovely story gone into dust and ashes. All of them gone as pieces, anyway. What is and always will be is what neither the house nor the occupant, as separate entities, ever was. What is and is ever to be is home ... the joy-giving, rest-filled, and light-bearing presence within experience of the reality of "home." What is, is the translation of passing tangibles into the eternal. What is, is the fusing of occupant and house into one that is neither, but both together. What is, is a story about an occupant and a house that, in truth, is really a story resurrection bodies and the kingdom of God, as in "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as in Heaven." Or so it seems to me anyway.

Phyllis Tickle (www.phyllistickle.com) is the founding editor of the religion department of Publishers Weekly and author of The Words of Jesus: A Gospel of the Sayings of Our Lord and the forthcoming fall release, The Great Emergence: How Christianity Is Changing and Why.

Jesus Convinces Some Evangelicals to Reject Torture (by Jimmy McCarty)

2008-09-12T19:29:51Z

Based on some responses to my last post, and a new poll by Faith in Public Life and Mercer University, it seems there are many evangelicals who believe that there are in fact times when torture is necessary and proper. I am assuming these people also believe it is at times necessary and proper for Christians to do the torturing?

According to the poll, 57% of white evangelicals in the South believe that torture is often or sometimes justified. Another 16% believe that it can be justified in rare occasions. Only 22% believe that it is never justified. This is surprising because only 48% of the general population believe that torture can be justified. How can this be?

Well, it seems it is because those Christians polled have forgotten or ignored the teachings of Jesus. The poll found that 44% of those asked relied on personal experience and "common sense" more than on Christian teaching when making their decision. Only 28% of the people polled initially were found to base their decision on Christian teaching. When these same people were reminded of the "Golden Rule," many changed their answer. When taking into account Jesus' teaching that those who follow him should, "Do to others what you want them to do to you," opinions changed by 14%. After the reminder, 52% of white evangelical Christians polled replied that the U.S. government should not do to others what they do not want done to their soldiers. This is a 14% jump from the initial 38% who claimed that torture is never or rarely justified.

When we lose sight of the life and teachings of Jesus, we tend to stray away from the path he paved for us to walk. How do those who respond to the call of Jesus to "follow me" end up supporting the torture of children of God? By forgetting what he taught and lived. If we take the words of Jesus seriously to "do unto others...", it becomes much clearer that torture is out of the picture for Christians to support or engage in. There are no known sayings of Jesus that can remotely hint that torture is ever justified, but there are many that point to the fact it is never justified. "Do unto others" is just one of those teachings. Jesus does not call us to "common sense" but to radical discipleship and love. He calls us to the type of discipleship and love that is more likely to get you tortured than approve of the torture of others.

Jimmy McCarty is a student at Claremont School of Theology studying Christian ethics, a minister serving cross-racially at a church in inner-city Los Angeles, and a servant at a homeless shelter five days a week. He blogs at http://jimmymccarty.wordpress.com/.