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sometimes you need to follow

Posted on May 31, 2007 | Filed Under the natural world

New York Times headline: Bush Calls for Global Goals for Emissions

It is not our place to take the lead on this one. We need to follow! Because on this issue, we are way, way, way behind the rest of the world. It is disingenuous and disrespectful to try to set the direction for a global response to climate change, when we are the ones, almost the only ones, who have been ardently resisting any credible response. The standards are already there and most of the world has agreed to abide by them. Let’s get on board! Let’s swallow our …

moral outrage

Posted on May 30, 2007 | Filed Under torture

May 28 headline: ‘Tortured’ prisoners freed from Iraq hideout

US and Iraqi forces freed 42 Iraqis – some of whom had been held and tortured for months – in a raid on an al-Qaida prison in Iraq, the US military said … US officials said the hostages were kept in a small, concrete and mud compound and were forced to sleep on dirty linens in cramped rooms … Some of the men held hostage had been hung from the ceiling and tortured. Some suffered broken bones. Some had been captive for as long as four months.

Human beings mistreated, abused, tortured, …

talking is easier than doing

Posted on May 23, 2007 | Filed Under church, justice, personal life, spirituality

It is easier to write than to do. Easier to complain than to do. Easier to rant and grieve about injustice and unfairness, than to do anything substantial to change the course of injustice and unfairness. Easier to say “No matter who you are, you are welcome here,” than to do the actual welcoming. Easier to be moved to tears by a song about “Jesus in all his distressing disguises,” a song about people failing to meet the eyes of a beggar on the street, than to meet the eyes of the beggar who greets you the next morning on …

the world doesn’t revolve around you

Posted on May 19, 2007 | Filed Under humility, politics

Senator Barack Obama delivered the commencement address today at Southern New Hampshire University. He talked of three lessons he had learned about growing up, about becoming an adult and putting away childish things (1 Corinthians 13:11).

The latter two of the three lessons are typical fare for a commencement speech:

Challenge yourself. Take some risks in your life.

Persevere. Making your mark on the world is hard … It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failure along the way.

It was the first lesson Senator Obama cited that caught my attention and is not so standard fare — for …

if at first you don’t succeed …

Posted on May 16, 2007 | Filed Under justice, terrorism

It’s hard to see how this is just or fair by any definition. If this is the practice, why go through the bother of a hearing at all? Why pretend to adhere to any rule of law?

The military system of determining whether detainees are properly held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, includes an unusual practice: If Pentagon officials disagree with the result of a hearing, they order a second one, or even a third, until they approve of the finding.

Read the rest of the New York Times article: Guantánamo Detainees’ Suit Challenges Fairness of Military’s Repeat Hearings.

general petraeus’ letter to the troops

Posted on May 12, 2007 | Filed Under terrorism, torture, war

It is good, very good, to hear General Petraeus talk about dignity, respect, and integrity, values, law, and doing what is right. It is good to hear him take an unequivocal stand against torture, both because it is wrong and because it serves no useful purpose. It is good to hear him emphasize the first reason, stating clearly that war is not just about doing what works, not just about gaining the upper hand by whatever means necessary, but about doing the right thing the right way.

We need voices like his in leadership, in the military and in government. The …

not ready for a color-ful president?

Posted on May 9, 2007 | Filed Under politics, tolerance

It’s a sad commentary on the state of our nation that an intelligent, articulate, Harvard-educated, church-going, family-oriented, compassionate, bridge-building presidential candidate requires early protection by the Secret Service … because he happens to be black. Racism is still embedded in our nation’s psyche — broadly and deeply — so much so that a truly viable candidate of color apparently poses an unacceptable threat.

We like to pretend this bile is not still in us. We like to pretend we are beyond it. Then the man who could be our next president must ask to be protected from those who think him …

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