One would think that after watching the unintended consequences caused by the "go it alone," " history is what we say it is" policies of George W. Bush, American politicians would be expert on things that can go wrong when they play their games. Nope, Republicans today are no different than they were before, when Karl Rove was the "Architect" and Tom, "The Hammer" DeLay was running the House. To hell with the risks? So what if the stakes for the country are huge? Such things didn't stop them before.
Soo, when Barack Obama became President, promising change and new ways in Washington, Mitch McConnell, that crafty senator from Kentucky, saw a wonderful opportunity to regain Republican power. "We'll make sure NOTHING happens, nothing," I can hear him saying. "We'll break him on Health Care Reform," said Sen. DeMint of South Carolina. We won't boycott, but we won't let anything significant happen the President might conceivably take credit for, even if we liked it a few months ago. Forget the needs of the nation.
And so it goes. According to Sen. McConnell, the country is headed for Socialism and financial disaster. Obama has broken his campaign promises and can't be trusted to accomplish anything, he says. The "hopey-changie" thing isn't working, agrees Sarah Palin, as she rakes in as much as cash as possible for every swipe she takes at the President. And then there's Glen Beck and Sean Hannity trying to outdo each other in discrediting the President and government in general. Former VP Dick Cheney screams that the President has weakened the country and is soft on terrorism, despite the remarkable similarities between the way President Obama and President Bush dealt with captured terrorists.
Here's where the unanticipated consequences come in. Much of this kind of criticsm should stop at America's shores, as they used to. It surely serves to encourage our enemies abroad, but now they are also fueling America's crazies, from the KKK to the Skinheads and Minute Men, as well. Membership is up in extreme groups all over the country and people are buying weapons and ammunition as if they were preparing for World War III for fear the Administration will seize their beloved AK47s, or worse. Horrifyingly, they are very close to calling for assasinations, indeed they HAVE in some isolated instances, showing up at Tea Parties armed to the teeth, and the like. Census Takers are scared and so are IRS workers, after a plane was crashed into their building in Austin, TX recently. Even federal Fish and Game officers are nervous in many places in the West. I won't mention the latent interest in secession that Gov. Perry has been supporting in Texas, or the energized efforts of the Texas State School Board to rewrite American history through legislation concerning their twisted views on the Bible and American history. Wow! All that because an Afro -American was elected President of the United States and Republicans lost power.
I don't think Republicans want assasinations, but by being total legislative obstructionists and waging a viscious war of deliberate misinformation, they may well get even more serious unintended consequences. Anyone for a third party dark horse, another Texas zillionaire? How about someone risably unqualified like the opportunistic former governor of Alaska to represent us abroad. (What do Sen. McCain and Dr. Frankenstein have in common?) Or maybe we should just go with good looking neophytes wherever they crop up. What a travesty of leadership, what a sickening response to the huge challenges facing our country and the world! Will Americans buy it? I don't think so. Where does partisanship become malfeasance or worse? Let's hope we never have to find out.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
Faith of Our Fathers
I was raised a Christian and a member of the Presbyterian Church. My parents read their Bibles and went to church faithfully. They believed in God and they communicated well by example; they both prayed by their bedside every night! My father didn't swear or use bad language. Neither drank. They were kindly, generous people and possessed many virtues. They surely influenced me to believe in God, but that's not the real reason I believe as strongly as I do.
What does believing as a Christian mean? As with all religions, it seems like a big stretch, saying that a woman had a baby through a miracle and that Jesus was divine, that in fact He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. Indeed, St Paul, himself, said that if there was no resurrection, Christianity is a sick joke. C. S. Lewis, who wrote Mere Christianity, goes further and says that in view of what Jesus himself said, He was either the Son of God or as nutty as someone calling himself a "poached egg." As for me, I believe every word of The Apostles Creed.
And I'm in the company of about a billion living people, not to mention all the heroes and geniuses, both men and women, who have testified to their belief in God in the past and fill the churches and cathedrals of the western world. God lives and He/She loves me, moi, myself, just as He did those people down through the ages! He wants me (and you) to call him Abba, Hebrew for daddy, by the way, not your majesty or Your royal Highness. Isn't that great?
Other people aside, my conviction comes from the fact that God has, unbelievably, deigned to reveal himself to me, not in a vision or a burning bush, to be sure, but in INNUMERABLE minor miracles and acts of kindness! Imagine it? It's almost scary! You'd be impressed, I bet, if I told you I was a friend of The President or the Queen of England or Manny Ramirez, I think. How about being loved by God!!! And then there is my enormous personal privilege and good fortune. I am, after all, an American, free, healthy, top of the food chain, etc. Why am I not a Haitian or a Bangladeshi? And what do I do about that incredible difference?
I don't have adequate space for an accounting of these mini-miracles mentioned above. They convinced me long ago and they range from getting an excellent VP job on one interview, through an incredible twist of fate, avoiding a pitfall that could have ruined my career, circumventing several serious sins that God did not wish me to commit, and even more bizarre stuff! On one occasion, I felt so strongly that God wanted me to do something important that I turned around in the middle of the road to get on it. What an honor to be asked by God to do something, anything.
In addition, there have been so many times when my spirit was divinely restored after some terrible blow that I can't count them! A couple of these minor miracles had a humerous overtone, too, a certain signature. In one case, for instance, I needed a substantial infusion of cash and I got it almost to the dollar by complete surprise and from an unimaginable source! (Someone wanted to buy mineral rights my family didn't even know we owned.)
Let me give you details of another incident. I drove into New York to meet with some people at my company, a large national brokerage house, where I was a Limited Partner. I intended to do some major political scheming to get ahead in the company. I was planning to work hard against another guy up for promotion, knife him you might say. That kind of corporate infighting is routine, unfortunately, but it definitely wasn't my style and God didn't want me doing that kind of stuff. So, when I stopped on a street in New York for literally a couple of minutes to phone ahead from a booth (this was before cell phones) that I would be a little late due to traffic, my car was TOWED away for illegal parking!! I was around the corner only a few feet away; the tow required exquisite timing! When I realized what had happened I started laughing because I realized that God was talking to me, and why.
Christianity also appeals very strongly to me on an emotional level. It is all about LOVE, not fear or vengeance, whim, Karma, etc. and it comes to us in literature of huge power and appeal that is nothing less than romantic and maybe miraculous in itself! Few would quarrel with the thought that Shakespeare's works of 500 years ago represent a pinnacle of western culture, but the Bible is even more beautiful, inspirational and dramatic! "I am who AM", God declares to Moses. "Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do," says Jesus. Dying hideously on the cross, He tells one thief expiring next to him that he would accompany Him that day to Paradise. And then there is the single most poignant one word utterance in Literature when the risen Christ says a single word, "Mary," to that woman who loved him and had come (on what was to become Easter Sunday) to the cave in which Jesus had been layed after the Crucifixion. It goes on and on throughout both the Old and New Testaments, the highest possible drama written magnificently and surely inspired by God himself: the Annunciation, the Resurrection of Lazarus, the other miracles, the lovely Psalms, David dancing in his underwear before the Lord, etc. Maybe it's hard to believe, but millions do.
Here's the clincher for me. Even for the most privileged, life is enormously difficult and often very painful, even tragic. What person with a brain would like to face life's uncertainties alone, a tiny boat on a heavy sea, when he/she can move with confidence and calmness supported by He who made heaven and earth coming to us in the form of the Holy Spirit? Jesus specifically promised that, after He returned to Heaven, He would send such a Counselor to those who believe in Him. God does not prevent bad things from happening to good people, but He will help us mightily in dealing with what happens in life. The Holy Spirit brings to believers what the Bible calls "peace that passes understanding" without which I could not survive.
Many times, as life goes on, one wonders "how does that person do it" in responding to some terrific challenge? I stood in a long line of well wishers one time, after a funeral service, to express my sympathy to a father whose teenage son had just died in a skiing accident. He was calm, composed and gracious. How did he do it? The answer is that his strength came from above. The ultimate wisdom for living is to trust in God for EVERYTHING all the time, ESPECIALLY when things are going WELL. The ultimate stupidity, actually evil, is intentional separation from God. That's usually called rebellion, because we know deep down the relationship we should have, just as we know right from wrong. Anyone who wishes to have this strength, this reserve, this endurance, this Grace, it's yours FREE! Go it alone at your own peril. Not much of a choice is it?
Let me be even more specific. Unexpected daily events can throw me for a loop quite easily. How about you? Suppose I break an arm or leg and then a storm blows a tree down on my car. In a flash, I'm upset. Then suppose someone close to me gets seriously sick or my job goes South, or someone leaves the front door open and a cat I'm very fond of gets run over. Maybe a friend abandons me or I find a hate (another) letter on my doorstep telling me what a lousy job I'm doing on a local board. Suddenly, I could be feeling absolutely awful, sleepless, discouraged, unappreciated and miserable and there's very little I can do about it. To whom do I turn? My mother and father have been dead for years, relatives and friends have their own problems and most really don't want to hear about mine. That's human nature. "My help comes from the Lord," says the psalm. "Cast thou thy burden on the Lord and He will give you rest," says the scripture. And it works again, and again and again. Thanks be to God!
What does believing as a Christian mean? As with all religions, it seems like a big stretch, saying that a woman had a baby through a miracle and that Jesus was divine, that in fact He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. Indeed, St Paul, himself, said that if there was no resurrection, Christianity is a sick joke. C. S. Lewis, who wrote Mere Christianity, goes further and says that in view of what Jesus himself said, He was either the Son of God or as nutty as someone calling himself a "poached egg." As for me, I believe every word of The Apostles Creed.
And I'm in the company of about a billion living people, not to mention all the heroes and geniuses, both men and women, who have testified to their belief in God in the past and fill the churches and cathedrals of the western world. God lives and He/She loves me, moi, myself, just as He did those people down through the ages! He wants me (and you) to call him Abba, Hebrew for daddy, by the way, not your majesty or Your royal Highness. Isn't that great?
Other people aside, my conviction comes from the fact that God has, unbelievably, deigned to reveal himself to me, not in a vision or a burning bush, to be sure, but in INNUMERABLE minor miracles and acts of kindness! Imagine it? It's almost scary! You'd be impressed, I bet, if I told you I was a friend of The President or the Queen of England or Manny Ramirez, I think. How about being loved by God!!! And then there is my enormous personal privilege and good fortune. I am, after all, an American, free, healthy, top of the food chain, etc. Why am I not a Haitian or a Bangladeshi? And what do I do about that incredible difference?
I don't have adequate space for an accounting of these mini-miracles mentioned above. They convinced me long ago and they range from getting an excellent VP job on one interview, through an incredible twist of fate, avoiding a pitfall that could have ruined my career, circumventing several serious sins that God did not wish me to commit, and even more bizarre stuff! On one occasion, I felt so strongly that God wanted me to do something important that I turned around in the middle of the road to get on it. What an honor to be asked by God to do something, anything.
In addition, there have been so many times when my spirit was divinely restored after some terrible blow that I can't count them! A couple of these minor miracles had a humerous overtone, too, a certain signature. In one case, for instance, I needed a substantial infusion of cash and I got it almost to the dollar by complete surprise and from an unimaginable source! (Someone wanted to buy mineral rights my family didn't even know we owned.)
Let me give you details of another incident. I drove into New York to meet with some people at my company, a large national brokerage house, where I was a Limited Partner. I intended to do some major political scheming to get ahead in the company. I was planning to work hard against another guy up for promotion, knife him you might say. That kind of corporate infighting is routine, unfortunately, but it definitely wasn't my style and God didn't want me doing that kind of stuff. So, when I stopped on a street in New York for literally a couple of minutes to phone ahead from a booth (this was before cell phones) that I would be a little late due to traffic, my car was TOWED away for illegal parking!! I was around the corner only a few feet away; the tow required exquisite timing! When I realized what had happened I started laughing because I realized that God was talking to me, and why.
Christianity also appeals very strongly to me on an emotional level. It is all about LOVE, not fear or vengeance, whim, Karma, etc. and it comes to us in literature of huge power and appeal that is nothing less than romantic and maybe miraculous in itself! Few would quarrel with the thought that Shakespeare's works of 500 years ago represent a pinnacle of western culture, but the Bible is even more beautiful, inspirational and dramatic! "I am who AM", God declares to Moses. "Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do," says Jesus. Dying hideously on the cross, He tells one thief expiring next to him that he would accompany Him that day to Paradise. And then there is the single most poignant one word utterance in Literature when the risen Christ says a single word, "Mary," to that woman who loved him and had come (on what was to become Easter Sunday) to the cave in which Jesus had been layed after the Crucifixion. It goes on and on throughout both the Old and New Testaments, the highest possible drama written magnificently and surely inspired by God himself: the Annunciation, the Resurrection of Lazarus, the other miracles, the lovely Psalms, David dancing in his underwear before the Lord, etc. Maybe it's hard to believe, but millions do.
Here's the clincher for me. Even for the most privileged, life is enormously difficult and often very painful, even tragic. What person with a brain would like to face life's uncertainties alone, a tiny boat on a heavy sea, when he/she can move with confidence and calmness supported by He who made heaven and earth coming to us in the form of the Holy Spirit? Jesus specifically promised that, after He returned to Heaven, He would send such a Counselor to those who believe in Him. God does not prevent bad things from happening to good people, but He will help us mightily in dealing with what happens in life. The Holy Spirit brings to believers what the Bible calls "peace that passes understanding" without which I could not survive.
Many times, as life goes on, one wonders "how does that person do it" in responding to some terrific challenge? I stood in a long line of well wishers one time, after a funeral service, to express my sympathy to a father whose teenage son had just died in a skiing accident. He was calm, composed and gracious. How did he do it? The answer is that his strength came from above. The ultimate wisdom for living is to trust in God for EVERYTHING all the time, ESPECIALLY when things are going WELL. The ultimate stupidity, actually evil, is intentional separation from God. That's usually called rebellion, because we know deep down the relationship we should have, just as we know right from wrong. Anyone who wishes to have this strength, this reserve, this endurance, this Grace, it's yours FREE! Go it alone at your own peril. Not much of a choice is it?
Let me be even more specific. Unexpected daily events can throw me for a loop quite easily. How about you? Suppose I break an arm or leg and then a storm blows a tree down on my car. In a flash, I'm upset. Then suppose someone close to me gets seriously sick or my job goes South, or someone leaves the front door open and a cat I'm very fond of gets run over. Maybe a friend abandons me or I find a hate (another) letter on my doorstep telling me what a lousy job I'm doing on a local board. Suddenly, I could be feeling absolutely awful, sleepless, discouraged, unappreciated and miserable and there's very little I can do about it. To whom do I turn? My mother and father have been dead for years, relatives and friends have their own problems and most really don't want to hear about mine. That's human nature. "My help comes from the Lord," says the psalm. "Cast thou thy burden on the Lord and He will give you rest," says the scripture. And it works again, and again and again. Thanks be to God!
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