I am Woman, Hear Me Roar

Tags

Christianity, fundamentalists, religion, Women's issues, women's rights

The Most Reverend Katherine Jefferts Schori

I’m always amazed at how things come together rather serendipitously. And indeed that is what happened today.

Last night, I was talking to the Contrarian about some of the blogs I had been reading the last couple of days. The gist of things was that a lot of women who I have come to respect most highly are freely and openly exposing their inner beings quite deliberately to their readers. And this includes the good, the bad and the ugly. I am awed at the honesty of these women, more than I can express.

As a blogger who from time to time continues a rambling discourse on my life, I have often been faced with the question of how far to delve? How much to expose? And while I have always been factually truthful, no doubt I have left out a painful incident here or there, considering some things just too dear for human dissemination.

What I have learned is that there is something different going on here. Historically, the warning has always been issued that care must be taken on the internet. People are isolated, insulated and able to project just about any image they wish. Certainly this was true on my first forays into the internet jungle of interpersonal discussion.

There used to be, and no doubt still is a service called MIRC. It was an Internet relay chat system. With a simple download of the software and a connection through a server, one could enter a “room” and converse real time with people from around the world. Most rooms were topically oriented. While I certainly met a number of very authentic people, (I met personally a good half dozen men via this instrument), from time to time we were all duped by those masquerading as somebody or something else.

The classic examples were married men and women romancing on the Internet pretending to be single. I know of one man, whom I talked to many times on the phone, who went to meet his “girlfriend” only to find a husband answering the door. She was shocked that he was devastated, she thought it all in good fun. He was thinking about marriage. This happened a lot, in those days, and perhaps it still does.

Yet blogging seems more akin to a private diary that people allow others to read, a most interesting and odd thing I believe. At first of course, one feels a huge anonymity, for there are few “readers” and all are strangers. As time goes on, I guess one becomes friends with some, and then trusts them with the details of one’s life.

Because it is real, and we do not question the truthfulness, these brave women do a tremendous service. They show all of us how very human and ordinary we all are. We all suffer the same inner anxieties of not being good enough. We share our stories, our pain and our doubts and we are uplifted by the sisterhood, as it were.

This is not to say that men are not invited to this fest. It is just that men find this process more difficult. Women, it seems are wired to be open in this fashion I believe, while men are wary of being too open. Exposing one’s inner demons, fears, and desires can and does put you at risk. Loving risks rejection, and being an open book also invites it or worse, being used for someone else’s personal needs. 

Anyway, I had thought about this last night, but didn’t see a real blog emerging from my thoughts. Until, of course, I saw this article on my first feed of the day. And it simply got me so angry.  To make a long story short, should you not wish to read the link, the Southern Baptist Convention saw fit to remove from its Christian bookstores a copy of a publication called Gospel Today. The reason? Because the cover featured a picture of four women pastors in a celebration of women. What is wrong with that? Oh nothing other, than the fact that the literalistic SBC believes that women have no place in ministry, according to the bible. In this case, according to Timothy, which was written by God knows who, and was either an attempt to explain Paul’s thinking or an attempt to speak against Paul’s teaching, women are to keep silent, and NOT minister. [1Tim. 2:12]

What is strikingly funny or sad about this entire thing is that these same wingnut-right-wing-head-in-the-sand idiots are the sure supporters of both John McCain and Sarah Palin. Sarah you see upholds the paternalism they so cherish. She, and other women like Phyllis Schlafly and Dr. Laura amazingly can tell women to be good little dears and do traditional things all the while they make a living in the man’s world they so extol as being the haven of men only.

Of course, in this they are not alone, the SBC I mean. Much as I hate to admit it, the Roman Catholic Church stands in agreement with the Baptists. So do some unfortunate Episcopalians as well. I recall but a few months ago, being bored at Catholic Answers with the traditional forums I was usually in and wandering to the “non-Catholic” forum.

I saw the usual belittling topic: “When will Episcopalians realize their “error” and return to Rome?” Since I had begun at the point my investigation of the Anglican faith, I decided to take a look. What did I find but the usual nasty posts that talked about how “the RCC was started by Jesus, and the Episcopal church was started by a king,” but I found a picture, similar to the one posted above. The poster made fun of Bishop Schori, and claimed that nobody could take TEC seriously given a silly looking picture like this. Women had no business in ministry, and this was clear. TEC could not be taken seriously either until it rid itself of such nonsense. I haven’t been back to CA since, finding its attempt at “ecumenism” simply revolting.

Now I know, that millions of Catholics don’t agree with such a backward and archaic view. Yet, a significant minority do, and they fall in lockstep with other Christians who also have taken this limited view of women’s rights and value.

It just all came to a head for me. Here, I know many women, women who are active in business and in various professions. Many I know, and am coming to know, are ministers, writing and giving sermons that are breathtaking in their depth and capture of the essence of Jesus’ message. And so many of these same women are reaching out to other women with their stories, speaking their truth, uttering their faith and politics and social conscience.

They are unabashed in their fervor and their passion. They stick their chin out and offer it to the public. They expose the heart of themselves and invite comment. They are unafraid. They are inspirational. They are role models. They are young and old, and in between. They are overweight, skinny, pretty or not, they are fashion conscience and not, they are married, single, gay and straight. They are all of us, and we are all of them. We are women.

We are smart, and creative, spiritual, maternal, strong, aggressive, passive, fearful, brave, extroverts and introverts, we are just like those with the slightly different chromosomal arrangement. We are, as men are, victims of our genes and our environments. We are as good and as lousy at every task as men are. We are idiots and geniuses. We are. We are.

And we deserve better than the SBC and the RCC and the TEC and all those other institutions that belittle and limit us. We deserve better than all those men and yes, sometimes other women who have been brainwashed into  claiming that women are equal “but different” which is nothing but a guise for sexism.

I was so angry when I saw the post at Essential Estrogen. Women are not some plaything to be used. Yet Palin has no idea it seems how she is used by men to pursue an agenda that has nothing to do with her. Nor do others who bow and grovel as “good” wives and homemakers waiting for the “decision maker” to arrive home from work. 

 I am, I am, I am. You will accept me on an equal footing, by God, before I die. You will, even if you have to cringe and bite your tongue. You will see me in my glory as a full participant in life. I will not give in, or give up. We will rise, and we will rise again and again, as long as it takes until you see and stop this foolishness. Don’t quote me Timothy. Read Jesus for a change.

To my sisters in blogging, those of you who have shared so much in the last days and weeks, and who continue to lay bare your lives in honest examination, I thank you and I commit myself to the struggle, renewed and refreshed.

A New Planet Called McCainland

Tags

economy, Election 2008, John McCain

<——-This is where John McCain and his caretakers live. I just wanted you to understand, you are not mad, you are not losing your precious mind. You are still on Earth, and gravity still works here.

Let me set the stage so we all can rationally follow along. There is a crisis on Wall Street, everyone agrees on that.

John McCain thought it so serious that he “suspended his campaign” to go to Washington and wheel and deal and broker a solution. By most accounts this has been seen as nothing more than a political ploy to stop the serious hemorraging of his campaign, as the poll numbers ran toward Obama.

No matter, John rode to the rescue, assuring one and all that he was the fixer. He spent some time in Washington last week, and some at least suggested he took a done deal and screwed it up.

Friday, he finally acknowledged that he could not avoid the debate, so he went. He painted himself into a corner there by assuring Mr. Lehrer that he indeed would support and vote for a bill when it was negotiated. On Sunday he reiterated on George Stephanopolous this same idea, and claimed he would let America decide if he had been the broker who saved the deal or not.

Oddly, John then leaves Washington and returns to the campaign trail where the usual nonsense ensues with his pony-tailed cheerleader Sarah. The House, meanwhile has worked most all weekend and finally agree they have a bill. Both sides agree that they have X numbers of votes ready and willing to support the deal.

A vote is taken, and all the Democrats who were added up, do as expected and vote for the bill. The Republicans, however, change their mind, pissed because Nancy Pelosi said un-nice things about them and their party’s responsibility for all this monumental crap. So they vote against the bill and what? it doesn’t pass.

The markets go crazy, dropping 500+ points. Barney Franks promises to say nice things if Republicans will reconsider. Various people point out that chosing a side based on having your feelings hurt is not exactly what people elect their representatives to base their vote on.

And John McCain? In what we have come to know oh so well, Johnny boy, though his now brain-dead caretakers in a fit if pique and ineptitude, and showing their utter and complete contempt for the brainpower of the average person on the street, blames the whole freaking mess on Obama for not caring enough.

Yes kiddies, you heard that right. This entire fiasco is the fault of one Barack Obama who, according to the withered one, cared not enough to run to Washington and interject presidential politics into the fray, like our gray knight did. So this was a choice between having to admit he failed to either broker a deal or control his own party, or blaming Obama. Hmmmm, he opted for the totally logical position on the planet of McCainland, and blame the guy who let the House do it’s work. According to John, Obama just “phoned” it in, while John was Johnny on the spot? and we can all be sure that failure was his middle name.

Yes, I see that John, you are most certainly ding headed as a bat!!! Talk about being Honorable there John, wow, I’m impressed, you sure didn’t shirk from taking responsibility for your mistakes did you? You flung them where they belong, at anybody but yourself. Sarah dear, look out, the old guy is gonna just crucify you once this is all over. You will be blamed for it all and don’t be a bit surprised at the names he is gonna call you. You might want to warn Todd, so he doesn’t take a swing at the irascible old coot.

Defending Sarah

Tags

Election 2008, John McCain, Sarah Palin

It seems almost unfair to continue criticizing Governor Palin. One is almost tempted to say, “Gee Sarah, I only meant to suggest you were unqualified to be VEEP, I didn’t mean for you to end up as one of the biggest political jokes of American history.”  And indeed that is what has happened.

We have been in a whirlwind of sorts the last thirty days. Sarah rose meteorically from the first announcement, as journalists scrambled to catch planes to Alaska to learn about this phenom that had hit the political ground running. She was exotic, even though exotic when applied to Obama had come to be a bad word.

She was beloved by her fellow Alaskans. She was a whole lot of things that were directly alleged to make the reactionary right all warm and fuzzy. She was “one of us” as they so proudly proclaimed. Not the wishy washy McCain when it came to abortion rights, she was downright doctrinally pure. NONE, no way, no how, nope nope nope. And whoopie, a creationist to boot. The living in the 12th century evangelicals were ecstatic.

Why we ever got the notion that our political officials were supposed to be “just like one of us” is currently finding a great deal of discussion throughout the blogosphere. Our presidents have never been “one of us.” They have almost always been successful, rich, and well educated. This is not the “just like us” that most refer to. It remains a puzzlement, and will no doubt keep the social psychologists among us busy for some time trying to figure it out.

To say that Democrats were dumbfounded at the beginning is obvious. They had no idea how to handle this strange creature. Finally they opted for saying very little. This turned out to be the perfect strategy. In fact the initial screams of “what in the f**k were they thinking?” came from conservative circles. Pundits at the NRO were screaming foul, until they decided to change their mind after the well-read speech at the convention.

Meanwhile, McCain basked in what he assumed would be a circle of love that would grow and grow until it fairly catapulted him into the White House. Ever the believer that lies are fine if told often, they really turned up the lie-o-meter when it came to Sarah. (I see a book by Sarah on this in a year or two, on how she was forced to disgorge all those lies about “thanks but no thanks” and other such drivel.) If one lie was good, ten are better. She spewed them with such timing and authority.

But the Obama people maintained their cool, and refrained from dumping on the lady. They remained largely silent. While doing so, no doubt they were busy vetting her, something McCain would soon regret having not done. And of course, the media, now here’s a turnabout.

The media has been wildly ineffectual throughout this campaign. They have deliberately given McCain a pass, refusing to report for the most part on his continual gaffes. Nearly every day the campaign chieftains have had to remind everyone that what McCain says on the stump must not be confused with his position. And the press pretty much nodded and reflected the “cleaned up” version.

Yet, they seemed genuinely teed off by being kept out the loop by their pal John. They decided to vet the lady themselves, and as we all know, that started turning up actual facts, and the facts were agin’ the rhetoric. And then McCain really turned up the amps on criticizing what once he had adoringly called the media, “his base.”

Now it was the media, the liberal media, that is, that was to blame. They were sexist pigs, beating up this poor woman who was the heart and soul of American ideals. They were parsing and dissecting every word and quibbling about things that didn’t really matter. “Don’t worry, my friends, she’s terrific and of course she’ll be ready on day one.”

Quietly, the media continued to vet, traveling of all places to Alaska itself, and drawing out the actual behavior of our Super Mom turned politician/maverick/reformer. She had it turns out, feet of clay. She had made attempts to over reach, she had been willing to trample the constitution. She seemed not an intellectual conservative so much as a person shocked to find herself the head of a whole state, and  played with her new toys, guised as political powers. She had not a clue what was proper or improper, she just knew what she liked or didn’t. Law, well, she didn’t worry about legalities.

The war ramped up as the media uncovered more and more, and then it got immeasurably worse. They started to smell a rat. Sarah was not speaking except through written speeches. Slowly it began to dawn that something was amiss here, the campaign bigwigs and empty heads were afraid of something. The clamor began to free Sarah from her captors and allow her free access to the press. This let to all kinds of anger on the part of McCain’s caretakers. “Not until you all promise to be nice and give her proper deference.” And that word was like red meat to a hungry dog.

Now the media knew the gig was up. Somthin’ was very bad in McCainsville. Picking good old Charlie Gibson was the giveaway. But Charlie actually pushed Sarah. Visions of deer in headlights came across loud and clear. This was followed up quickly by the totally idiotic “interview” with Sean Hannity. Hannity prefaced every question with “Has Barack Obama been fair, when . . . .” It was a love fest and McCain’s sweating caregivers hoped the worst was over.

But of course, they knew it wasn’t. Because, contrary to the rest of us, they were actually talking face to face with Sarah. They were teaching her about foreign policy, and economics, and they knew the awful truth. She was not able to assimilate the information, but for a few phrases, which she unfortunately just strung together in unintelligible groupings of inane babble.

Off to NYC for the meetings at the United Nations. Another political gaffe, take pictures but for God’s sake get out. No way were we going to be allowed to actually hear the conversation. The media continued its relentless pursuit. Like hounds after the fox they were determined to run her to ground.

All the time, The Debate looms ever larger as time shortens. Everyone is jumping on the bandwagon now, as more of the media, some long-time supporters of McCain begin to question the wisdom of this choice of a VEEP. It becomes essential that she give another interview. It’s just becoming altogether too clear that something is amiss. They opt for a woman, I guess thinking that Couric will go easy? They lost, in the process, any hope of painting a bad performance as some sexist ambush.

And of course, we all know what happened. It was far worse than her interview with Charlie. Almost as funny as her answers, was watching Katie Couric’s face, and she attempted to mentally do flips trying to follow the illogical responses and convoluted sentences that were essentially meaningless. So funny was it on it’s face, that Tina Fey could almost simply memorize the actual words. No funny writers needed on this one.

Following this, the conservative media reared it’s head once again. The NRO again came out and said, “by Jesus, this woman is an embarrassment. John, what were you thinking? Sarah, for the good of the world, make some excuse and step down.” Reports fly that other well-known conservatives are at least reporting privately that they cannot bring themselves to vote for this monstrous ticket so offensive is this.

And what is Johnny boy saying? Oh he continues to grin and say how proud he is to have such an illustrious running mate. One so clearly the favorite of so many. First he shook his finger at the nasty Democrats who were maligning his choice. When that failed because Democrats were not talking at all about Palin, he switched to the media. Now he’s switched again, “What do I care what some conservative pundits have to say. I only care what the American people have to say, and they love her.” Do they John?

Does America love Sarah? Oh yes, a very strange backward one-issue ill-informed group sure do. They don’t know much about politics but they love that abortion denyin’ cute little thing. She would not only cook that moose up in a pan, she would be out there in the swamp with her big old gun shootin’ it and field dressin’ it. She can drop them babies and be up in time to help clean fish for dinner. She would be right at home emptying that beer mug at the local Do Drop In. Foreign policy? She knows who  the enemy is, and she knows its those Ruskies, and other commies. What more is there to know?

Yep John, you have that group of voters for sure. If they can pull themselves out of the bar long enough on election day to get to the polls, assuming they know where that fool place is. And assuming they have voted in an election in the last few years and are still registered. They will be with ya John, you and Sarah girl.

I don’t know who McCain will blame for Sarah’s downfall next, but it sure won’t be himself. Why I even read that a McCain operative on the “promise of anonymity” was willing to comment on Sarah’s Couric interview. “It was just fine, she did just fine.” As the blog writer suggested, wow, it’s really amazing when you want to be anonymous before you will say she did a goodjob. Afraid you will be made too much fun of publicly? Afraid to have your common sense questioned? I bet you are.

I have no idea what to expect on Thursday. I’m told they cannot get through one debate practice. The handlers have to stop in utter frustration at her complete lack of ability to get this. She is that bad. The trick may be more Biden’s. How to not come off as looking a bit too superior. It’s gonna be hard for Joe, the bar has been set, well, on the ground at this point.

Sorry Sarah, it has been a blast, but you’re soon going back to Alaska, and I doubt your ratings will be staying up there high much longer. You have in a phrase embarrassed all of your state. I hear they are none too pleased. It was nice knowin’ ya. I learned how cute it is to drop your g’s. That’s about all I can think I learned from ya Sarah, but that’s somethin’ doncha think? I’ll go and look up if I can find ya some more and get back to ya. And wave to Russia next time when ya are home!

Is Ecumenism Really a Good Thing?

Tags

ecumenism, Interfaith, religion

There are some things that we tend to take for granted. We think they are statements so true that we never question them, never analyze, never contemplate alternatives. Such I think is the issue of ecumenism, the formal organized efforts to re-unite all Christian faiths, or more broadly, unite all dispirit faiths throughout the world into one.

Ask anyone, and most will agree, that God wishes such a thing. After all, there is but one God, or so most of us believe, however we may define that. And so therefore, it seems to be that there must be one perfect understanding of God which is embodied in some one faith, or so most believe. Of course, the rub is that all to many different faith traditions all claim to have the most perfect understanding.

Efforts to achieve such a union have been worked on for years by any number of organizations. The World Council of Churches is but one. But even from it’s inception, there have been those who have refused to join. Mostly it seems because there is always a requirement by some that certain basic principles of belief must be agreed upon. And that never happens, and so efforts are always stymied. The situation only becomes worse, when we move beyond Christianity into the numerous faith traditions of the world. How can there be a basic principles agreement? Other than “do unto others” most everything else is too different in concept to be the basis for agreement.

As a former Catholic, I of course was taught the necessity of at least a return to unity among Christians. If you haven’t guessed, Martin Luther is roundly criticized for tearing the Church asunder. The Eastern Church is given less culpability, though I am not sure that is deserved. In any event, what Luther began, clearly had no end. The numbers of new Christian groups multiplies at the rate of nearly 3,000 per year, and is now in the vicinity of some 35,000.

Catholics, at least those of a traditional orthodox persuasion see this as a horror, and await the “return” of the flock to the Mother Church. Of course, the awaited “returnees” have a rather different take on the issue. Not only are they, for the most part, uninterested in “returning” to Mother Church, but they await Mother Church to recognize that indeed it should be coming to them, as the true Church.

You see this all gets ugly very quickly. Nothing much gets accomplished when participants begin arguing about who is the “original” church, is there an original church at all, and what was the original teaching and doctrinal truths of that church. Having witnessed some of these “discussions” I can tell you they are brutal. Take a swing by Catholic Answers forum some time and be prepared to be insulted if you are non-Roman Catholic. You will soon learn that your faith, whatever it might be is polluted and silly, never apostolic, and is but one of those things warned of by Paul and others. Non-Catholics are, whatever their denomination, led by false prophets. Only return to the Mother Church with complete obedience to her word is sufficient to return to grace.

If you wish to approach from another way, try some of those fundamentalist evangelicals. They consider the Roman church that which is spoken of in Revelation. Not Rome, as in the emperor, but the very same Roman Catholic church. They of course aren’t returning anywhere, and they are sure there can be no unity until everyone agrees that scripture is literalistically true in every word. Welcome to creationism folks.

So, those of us who would wish for more unity, and less division, know that nothing like that is possible in any future we can so far see. And what’s more, we find it hard to see how that could ever happen. For goodness sakes, many of us can testify that whatever our faith tradition is, we are internally often badly split on serious issues. The Roman Catholic church certainly is, with any number of groups that run the gamut from strict and almost backward looking practices and dogma to those who are highly liberal and progressive in their outlook. There is sadly, badly veiled contempt held by both sides in this.

The Anglican church itself is clearly at odds within itself over issues of homosexuality and women. It would not surprise me to learn that there are other divisions as well. From what I have learned in my brief time as an Episcopalian, some of this is sadly vicious as well, with both sides taking increasingly hard lines.

The same is true of Baptists and other evangelicals, between those who are hardliner and those who favor a more moderate and progressive view. It is no doubt true that differences exist in probably every defined denomination. Those new “sects” have to appear for some reason, and the reason is, one assumes, that someone decided that their church had strayed from the “true” teaching and after futile attempts to get it back on track, some or many left and started their own church.

That is the state we find ourselves in unfortunately. It is not something I thought much about, except to think that those who were engaged in the attempt to forge bonds of agreements must be true saints to do such work. It was not anything I thought about until a few weeks ago.

Last week, many of you know, I was received into the Episcopal faith. Prior to that, I met with one of the priests of my parish to discuss things. The purpose was two fold. First, it was for them to answer questions I might have about the Church, but secondly it was about them getting an idea of where I was coming from theologically in order to determine whether the Church would be a good fit for me. Additionally, I’m sure they wished to get a handle on what ministries I might fit with, and how versed I was in biblical and theological issues.

We were talking about issues of difference, and I suggested that I found so much of interfaith dialogue frustrating because it always got bogged down in doctrinal differences instead of simply working on common problems. Poverty and social issues really don’t require that we are all on the same page regarding the issue of consubstantiation for instance.

Barbara suggested that it was probably not the best idea in the world to spend our time trying to “unite” doctrinally. I recall, taking that in, but being busy with other things, I let the significance of that statement wash over me with little recognition. She offered that we all have unique and special things to contribute to the great fund of Christianity, and unity would no doubt discard some of that.

Later, when I had time to digest and review that conversation, I saw that indeed, I had never considered whether the movement to unite was worthwhile. And, after having considered it for some weeks, I’m rather convinced Barbara was right.

Perhaps, we as this huge mosaic which we call Christianity are better off doing our separate things. Perhaps what is missing is the ability to recognize and respect that we all come to the table, enriching the full tapestry of Christianity by our differences. Perhaps it is through the fullness of our unique offerings that the clearest and most complete picture of God’s kingdom emerges.

I have long thought that the probability is that we have almost all of us, gotten it quite wrong. We have to one degree or another attempted to construct a faith that is faithful to what we understand to be  the message of Jesus. Given the plethora of opinions on that, just in the first two centuries following his crucifixion, I’d say we have but a limited clue of it really. Things, as we move through the centuries, just get worse.

Just one example will suffice. Nowhere did Jesus ever suggest that a priesthood need be either male nor celibate. True,  the men who wrote about his ministry, long after his crucifixion I might add, did not declare that Jesus picked women and named them apostles. That of course may mean no more than that the writer of the gospel or letter or such never understood it that way. But more clearly Jesus never restricted the priesthood to a celibate lifestyle.

That came much later, through the Spanish church. And since it was later adopted through what was then Christendom, it has stuck. Now the Roman church declares that said ideas (celibacy and male priesthood) is the will of the Holy Spirit and thus they have no power to change it. Convenient, but hardly definitive I would say. If you talk to Roman Catholics who adhere to the belief in celibacy and to a male priesthood, they will surely tell you that the Church has no power to change this. This is God’s will, evidenced by “tradition” which is synonymous with God’s will in their opinion. In other words, we never thought about doing it differently, so the fact that we have done it one way for a long time, is evidence that this is the way God wants it. Lousy logic I’d say.

So it hardly seems to me that today, we have gotten it more right than they did in say 50 CE or so. And that’s just Christianity. Things get no better, and only get worse when we add in all the other faiths, some of whom believe things quite drastically different than what is taught in Christian circles. Yet they have a rich heritage, and deep wisdom as anyone who has read sacred texts in Buddhism, Islam, or Hinduism can attest.

Many of the eastern faiths offer a breathtakingly beautiful explanation of God and humanity. So much resonates with us. We can recognize truth in what are otherwise foreign doctrines and beliefs. We are enriched and opened in amazing  ways. We benefit greatly. We are enlarged spiritually, fed with good food.

So I have come to a new conclusion about interfaith dialogue for the purpose of joining ourselves into one homogeneous and should I suggest bland concoction called Christianity. I think it’s a bad idea. I think we should stop worrying about it and arguing about it. I think we should worry about poverty, disease, and all the ills that face the world. We don’t have to agree about apostolic successions and Eucharistic prayers to address hunger do we? I think God might prefer we address those issues first.

It’s just what I was thinking about today.
**Cross Posted at Here I am Lord

McCain Doesn’t Reach Across the Aisle

Tags

Barack Obama, debates, Election 2008, John McCain

I don’t take credit for the following. I owe it to the Contrarian who brought it to my attention during the debates.

I’ll spare you my take on those by the way. You watched ’em and have your own opinion. In general I thought McCain did better than I would have expected, yet the polls seemed to have decided on the side of Obama. I am happy and will leave it at that. But I do wish to address one subject that stuck out, and I believe much can be made of this point point in upcoming days.

McCain touts himself as the Maverick, the man who bucks his own party and reaches across the aisle to embrace Democrats in a determined effort to effect bipartisan agreement on important legislation. For many the argument is not with this assessment, but whether McCain any longer actually does this or rather is it a thing of his past, long discarded in his singleminded drive to achieve this personal goal.

I question the entire idea at all, frankly and I’ll tell you why. McCain says he has a long history of reaching across the aisle. What does this mean? If it means that McCain is willing to embrace anyone who agrees with his point of view on any given subject, then indeed he does. But that is not bipartisanship at all in my book. What McCain actually does, is say that when I have made up my mind, I don’t have any problems with any Democrat who is willing to accede to my opinion coming on board. But this is not at all what reaching across the aisle means.

It means, that one is willing to say, “Look, we have important fundamental differences, but lets look where we agree, and attempt to build bridges across the areas we don’t agree.” That is bipartisanship as I see it. McCain does not do this. And the proof of that is in the debate last night.

Obama was criticized by some for being too agreeable. He started off too many sentences with “John and I agree on. . . .or I think John is right on. . . .” He wasn’t combative enough, so they say. But is this not exactly what a bipartisanship approach looks like? Do you convince someone to change their views or even consider doing that if you don’t soften them up with a few “I agree with you on this and this” remarks?

Now of course, no one expected McCain to change his mind. But Obama was about the notion of setting an example, a presidential example, I might add, that this is the way that conciliatory negotiations go forward. You do not negotiate with someone by continually saying “You’re naive, or you don’t seem to understand, or you don’t seem to get it.” These are belligerent words and guaranteed to make your opponent dig in his heels. They are not the words of a “reacher across the aisle” kinda guy. Not a uniter, but a divider.

So it seems to me that the best case against McCain’s notion that he is the reformer who can reach out to the other side and foster agreement is to bury him in his own words and actions. He made attempts to bully last night. He continually claimed that Obama was unable to grasp concepts, that he didn’t obviously know important things that he McCain already knew. He attempted to paint Obama as some inexperienced and naive child who was in over his head. It is about as far from diplomacy as one can get.

His entire body language was combative. He hunched away from Obama, refused ever to look him in the eye, stared glaringly at the moderator. He grinned smarmily when he thought he had an answer to knock down Obama’s point. He was, in a word, rather snarky, though they called it feisty.

Apparently the American people were not impressed. McCain, so I understand, did poorly with women who perhaps disliked the manner of McCain, and thought Obama a gentleman, quick to give a compliment and always willing to agree with a good point. Surely McCain must have agreed with something Obama said, yet he never once acknowledged that. Does that come off as truthful or merely gamesmanship? I would argue the latter.

It may be for this reason that the majority believe Obama won the debate. Agreed, I think it was close, and so did those polled, but Obama was still given the win, and the voter is the only one who counts. Pundits see things somewhat differently no doubt.

I’m sure McCain’s caretakers are befuddled. I’m sure they thought they won, McCain was literate and didn’t bumble around, though I guess he got a few names wrong. Still, he did well I thought. But as these things go, substance is never quite the issue. It’s appearances and Obama clearly it seemed was more Presidential, whatever that means to you or anyone.

I simply wonder what will happen next time. McCain will undoubtedly try a different ploy. Last night’s did not work. He has painted himself into a corner now with the bailout in addition. He said “sure” to the question of whether he would be voting for the bill when it came to that. No shocking refusal to upset everything at the last moment now. Unless he wants to be branded as flipping once again.

Most suggested that Obama needed not to win, but to weather the storm. He did that. And he looked the part, sounded the part, and was the real bipartisan candidate to boot.

Stay tuned for the circus that will be Sarah Palin and Joe Biden. Even the ultra right “National Review Online” is calling for her to withdraw before she destroys McCain’s campaign completely. Nothing but another McCain mistake it seems. There are so many these days, it’s hard to keep track.

Godly Humor, Part II

Tags

Autobiography, Catholicism, religion

When last we met, I had just been baptized and confirmed in the Roman Catholic faith. I was deliriously happy. I truly felt new and that all in the past was forgiven. I was now content to be chaste and holy. No doubt many people saw a difference. I was careful not to impose my negative moods on others, I was friendlier. I took time to go to people I had slighted or insulted and make amends. I, in a word, took it all quite seriously.

I was, at that time, living near Port Huron, which is in the “thumb” area of Michigan. I lived on what is called a “gentlewoman’s farm.” Twenty acres, a horse, two dogs and two cats rounded out the “family.” I had about a twenty minute drive to Marysville where my church was. I never missed a Sunday, and I sometimes found time in Detroit to attend a noon mass in Greektown, a couple of blocks from the court where I spent most of my day.

As the first few months went by, I felt a hunger to know more about not only my church but my faith. I engaged with Sr. Doris and joined a group of women who were attached to the Sisters of St. Joseph congregation. I started attending weekend retreats and evening meetings. I yearned for more, and concluded finally that I was called to join the congregation itself.

I will never forget that first talk with Sr. Doris about what I perceived was happening. She looked shocked and I think she almost became tearful. She immediately arranged for me to go to Kalamazoo and meet with a “spiritual adviser.” I began the process, and soon it seemed my local parish knew of my decision and well wishing abounded.

At this point, it seemed that virtually every weekend was filled with nun stuff. I was learning rapidly that nuns were busy women, sometimes too busy it seemed. They all now worked full time jobs. In addition they usually served on various boards and groups that worked for any number of social and justice issues. On top of all that, there were congregational issues that were always going on.

Most congregations have lost so many of their numbers and there are so few replacements, that few can exist in the traditional way of having sisters living together in communities locally. Most live alone or with only another sister. The mother house is the only place where everyone gets together, and since these often serve a large geographic area, many women drive hours to just get there.

In order to foster a sense of community, it becomes necessary for the women to meet in smaller geographic groups, usually on a monthly basis. At least once every couple of months, there are major meetings at the motherhouse. I started attending these and it seemed that most weekends I was off somewhere, usually with Sr. Doris.

It didn’t take long before my spiritual adviser concluded that it was best for me to have an adviser from another congregation. When one is in discernment, care must be taken not to inadvertently push someone in the direction of one’s own religious congregation. This is something carefully adhered to. The sixties, after Vatican II, saw a huge movement out the of religious groups, as many realized that they had entered way to young to have had a clear commitment to this type of life. The various congregations went through a much more taxing and careful assessment with the proposed entrant after that. The time and money spent in moving someone through the process was simply a financial drain if a few years later they “grew up” and decided the religious life was not for them.

My new spiritual adviser was a Dominican, and like many sisters, she “ran” a parish. The severe shortage of priests has led to sisters taking over the general duties of small often rural parishes. A priest shows up on Sunday and sometimes not even on every Sunday. Carol was a terrific adviser and she lived with a Sister of Saint Joseph member. I was in contact with both. They took me to Adrian, where the Dominican motherhouse was, and introduced me around there.

After a short period, I began to realize that I was a better fit with the Dominicans than with the Sisters of SJ. The reasons are numerous, but the main one was that I was drawn very much intellectually to learn. Dominicans are famous for that, Dominic being the preacher priest who pushed the Vatican to properly train its priests to intellectually spar with “heretical” doctrines.

When I finally mentioned this to a sister of St. Joseph, she laughed. “I’ve been waiting for you to realize this. I suspected you were better suited to the Dominicans than us. I am sorry to lose you, but I think you are a Dominican.” Thus I began the transfer of my emphasis to that Order. I was most saddened to have to tell this to Sr. Doris, a fine woman, the very best of the traditional nun. She was of course gracious, though I could see the disappointment on her face. They had at that time only one other woman who was in discernment. I had reduced their expectations by half.

I soon became deeply involved in the Dominicans and more importantly, I was induced to return to school. I entered Marygrove College, operated by the IHM sisters. The Immaculate Heart of Mary known locally as “I hate men,” ran a liberal arts college that had since opened its doors to both sexes and all religious persuasions.

I was entering a master’s program in “pastoral ministry.” It was run by a Dominican sister and a Roman Catholic priest who had been a professor at the local seminary. Both had doctorates from the most prestigious theology school in the world, in Brussels I believe. I was in a word, in heaven. I was like a kid again, off to college, thrilled with walking across the small campus inside the city of Detroit. I could hardly wait to buy books and otherwise return to the academic way of life.

A bit of history is necessary here. I had some months previously broken my ankle. It was such a bad break that I was unable to work, since I could not use a walking cast. I disbanded my law practice, and decided to prepare for my entry into religious life. My father’s health was deteriorating and I realized that my 92 year old grandmother was not able to keep up. So I sold out my home and returned to Flint to take care of them. It was under this situation that I returned to school.

It was an hour drive to school, something I was used to, albeit from Port Huron to Detroit. Now I was traveling usually three days a week from Flint to Detroit. I had lots of studying to do, but I did it with great relish, absorbing every word. I loved my classes, mostly in theology and biblical studies. Of course there were also a class or two more pastorally oriented, and mostly I loved them too, but not as much. Breaking open the bible and doctrine was a new experience for me, and one that I couldn’t get enough of.

When I first moved back to Flint, I had continued to attend my church in Marysville. I loved so many there, and I soon became involved in the RCIA program, now as a sponsor. It was a longer drive, nearly an hour and half both ways, but for some months, I was determined to do it, so much did I not want to change churches. Finally of course, it became too much. I began a travel around various Catholic churches in the area, looking for the right one.

I think I attended about four before settling intially on St. John Vianney. It was close by, and I liked the priest quite well. I attended there for several months, yet never felt entirely at home there. It was large and to some degree standoffish. I’m sure there were many wonderful people there, but I never felt warmth or welcoming there much.

At school, I was working a lot in liberation theology and I was a huge fan. I started to think that eventually I would like to work with immigrants. Migrant workers were always an issue in Michigan, mostly to harvest things like cherries and other hand crops. I had represented one or two during my active legal career. So, eventually I came to decide to try a local Hispanic church.

Our Lady of Guadalupe was a smaller church, run by a Cuban priest. But welcoming it was. Even for me, the Anglo. I was greeted with open arms and everyone it seemed went out of their way to make me at home. I began to learn a bit of Spanish. Some hymns were sung in Spanish, and occasionally the Our Father or Nicene creed was as well. I grew good enough that I could recite the rosary in Spanish. I cannot explain why I was drawn in this direction. Goodness knows the Hispanic church is more tied to tradition that some others for sure. About the same level as Polish churches are. But I truly adored it. Ritual was always important to me and perhaps this is what drew me.

So by then, I was going to school, attending Dominican functions regularly, had a spiritual adviser, a congregation adviser, and was volunteering at the hospital run by the Sisters of SJ. A pretty full plate, one that kept me busy most every day. I had to keep a pretty careful calendar not to miss appointments. But I was thriving in a way I had not for years.

Next: School

McCain’s Nose is Growing

Tags

economy, Election 2008, John McCain, lobbyists, Sarah Palin

I can relate. Most anyone can. One lie builds on another until, the foundation starts to crumble and the whole house of cards falls in a heap. McCain’s campaign has begun to shake and an implosion seems imminent.

And there is no one to blame but themselves it seems. And in fact, it is not clear whom to blame. One is simply not sure whether McCain has in fact been calling the shots, or whether he in his befuddled mind, has simply been okaying everybody’s ideas, no matter how self contradictory they are.

In any case, the campaign is in severe disarray, the left foot not sure where the right foot is, each hand in another cookie jar. And to top it off, they seem to be doing the entire thing with both eyes closed, and both ears stopped. Perhaps they can smell a problem? One would hope.

A plethora of inconsistent things have occurred, and even me, the amateur journalist can manage to figure out that this is one hell of a messed up campaign. Let’s see if we can work our way through the madness and find any coherence, or at least explanation of what has been going on.

• First we start with the fiasco on Wall Street. Without a thought to history, (his own) McCain (apparently not having heard of xerox machines or other forms of copying remarks) makes the stupid error of saying that the “fundamentals of the economy are strong.” This is then clarified with fundamentals being defined as American workers. So now American workers have a new name, namely they are “fundamentals.”
• This then morphs into “we are in a crisis the likes of which have not occurred since WWII.” No explanation of how our soundness changed. We are within hours told that “no bailout should occur” to a “bail out is necessary to save America.”
• On Tuesday, McCain received a copy of the Paulson legislation, three pages in all. By Wednesday, when asked, McCain said he had no opinion because he hadn’t had time to read it as yet. Oops. Either McCain mislaid it, or he reads awfully slow.
• Sarah Palin gives the most god-awful interview to Katie Couric, since Quayle admonished the kid that potato is spelled potatoe. Actually it was much worse. Not only have they come up with zero explanation for why being next to Russia gives her “foreign policy experience,” she actually made it worse by saying that being sandwiched between Canada and Russia, and being an “executive” somehow makes her obviously knowledgeable. After all, Putin can raise his head ?? and I guess she might see that?? It made no sense.
• McCain is scheduled to appear on Letterman. No doubt he will be asked about the Palin interview. Oh, lord he doesn’t want to do that, and now the team is desperate to get the Palin interview off the news. (It really was verrrrryyyyy bad, you see.)
• The poll numbers are also verrrry bad, with Obama pulling away to a nice lead and the internals also being very good for the Democrat as well.
• All this and now Rick Davis. It turns out Davis has been receiving money up to JULY for his lobbying efforts with Freddie Mac, all to keep those pesky regulations off their back. McCain has already said that Davis quit years ago. Oops. He gets into a war with the NYTimes, but the Times keeps producing facts, and McCain can’t counter except to call them “liberal” stooges for Obama. (He forgot they endorsed him in the primary season I guess.)

All this amounts to a perfect storm for McCain. Everything is going to hell in a handbasket. So, suddenly when Obama indicates that for the sake of the country and calm, they should put out a joint statement that is nonpartisan on the legislative actions now before Congress, McCain decides to throw another hail Mary pass, similar to the one that he is most certainly now regretting. He not only calls for bipartisanship in a statement, but he “suspends his campaign, says he must rush to Washington to save the day, (echoes of Mighty Mouse come to mind) and OH NO, he might have to delay that debate!

Thank goodness, Obama, remained cool and precise. Presidents, he says are expected to multi-task, I will go to Washington if I am needed, and this is precisely the time that debates are important to that the electorate can be clear on our views.

McCain, still operating with less than full command of all his parts, cancels Letterman, telling him that he must rush back to Washington. Except he didn’t. He appeared instead with Katie Couric to talk about the crisis on Wall Street. And, he didn’t fly back after that either. He slept in NY, and went to the Clinton Global Initiative to speak the next day. Letterman is not amused by the obvious lie, and McCain’s handlers decide to ignore that whole thing.

McCain, does not suspend his campaign as far as anyone can see. Ads continue running and when various campaign headquarters across the country are called, they admit to receiving no such order, and are conducting business as usual.

It appears that McCain finally arrived on Thursday in Washington, and contributed almost nothing to the White House meeting. In fact, plenty there suggest his very public entrance onto the scene, stalled negotiations, and politicized it, when before it had been pretty non-partisan.

The debate holders ignore McCain’s grandstanding and are fully intent on going forward. If McCain doesn’t show, they suggest that they may let the audience ask questions of Obama instead. Now Obama might get a full 1 1/2 hours of free time on primetime TV. They pay no attention either to McCain’s argument that the Palin debate might have to be postponed as well, (scrapped he hopes). That too is ignored.

What to make of all this? Like I said, it was a perfect storm, and McCain went nuts it seems, and just demanded a time out. I think the Letterman cancellation was designed to avoid dealing with the Palin mess. The rest of it suggests that the campaign has NO IDEA what to do about Wall Street and needed time to figure out a coherent position. The dancing around about the debate, is that McCain is simply scared poopless that he is not prepared and can never be prepared.

McCain is obviously attempting to drive this Wall Street mess, and appear as the savior of the plan, whatever one is finally passed. Or he will vote nay, and try to claim that Obama and the Democrats are with Bush on this, and they aren’t. I doubt they know yet. Policy you see is not important here, it’s getting the best for the campaign out of the disaster. He is ironically and amazingly still trying to spin this as him placing country first. That is an outrage of the first order.

Worse, they have to deal with Palin, and there is no solution to this. She is horrific, so bad that it’s embarrassing to watch. Yet they have no basis by which to call off her debate. None, she is clearly not at all involved in this economic mess or solution.

One wonders just what is going on inside. I’m sure there is screaming aplenty and finger pointing going in every direction. McCain is blaming everything and everybody no doubt. Surely not himself. This is the gift he offers to the American people as his “government.” Because, you can be sure, these folks aren’t doing this for fun, they fully expect to be getting job in John’s house. And that would be a scary place indeed from what we have seen the past week. Country first my eye. This is just the sad results of a man who it seems is a pathological liar of the first order. Except, folks have caught on. Pinocchio John, remember him?

I look forward to getting to bed early election night, but then again, heck I may stay up. It may be worth it to turn on Faux Noise and watch them vomit into pails strategically placed next to their chairs as they whimper and moan the night away. Popcorn anyone?