It is not news that the news business is in trouble. Newspapers across the country are going out of business or shrinking to a shadow of their former selves. News magazines are also on financial thin ice trying to find their role as weeklies in a news market that makes their information old by the time it hits the newsstands. On television, the days of Walter Cronkite are long gone and none of the network news organizations commands the respect or viewership it once enjoyed. The two big cable news organizations, CNN and Fox, claim to be “the most trusted name in news” and “fair and balanced” but any objective observer can clearly see that they are neither trusted nor balanced.

Increasingly, news is primarily available in easily digested bites. Take a look at internet news sites and, for the most part, they are heavily slanted to the bazaar, to celebrities, and to the kooky. As I write this, the Supreme Court has just issues a major ruling on affirmative action and Yahoo news is leading with a story about what malls are closing. Both the network news programs and the cable news networks offer “stories” that a minute or two long–if not shorter. Newspapers rarely do in depth reporting as their reporting staff and budget shrink.

Should people of faith be concerned? I think so. Democratic systems of government have a strong affinity with the Jewish and Christian belief in the worth and importance of each person. Democracies are dependent on an informed, educated, and to some extent, sophisticated citizenry. With the decline of serious journalism, who is going to keep an eye on city hall? Who is going to uncover the Watergates of the future? Who is going to get beyond the sound bite, public relations campaigns of political candidates and take a serious and informed look at their philosophies, characters and plans? If we think democratic government is most consistent with our religious values, we had better be worried about the decline of responsible and serious journalism.

We all have plenty of gripes about the news media, but where will we be without them?

American Emipre, Religion | No Comments »

Over that past two weeks we have experienced two acts of violence.

The first was the murder of Dr. Tiller in Wichita. As you know, Dr. Tiller was a leading provider of abortion and one of only a very few doctors providing late term abortions in the U.S.

Last week a man entered the Washington D.C. Holocaust Museum and killed a security guard.

Certainly violence is commonplace in the U.S. Every day we experience family violence, gang violence, crime related violence and other mayhem. Each act of violence is cause for concern, but these two are different in that they are both a form of political violence–one could even say a form of terrorism.

Dr. Tiller has been the focus of anti-abortion demonstrations for years. His clinic has been vandalized and he had previously been attacked. Ironically, his death came not in his clinic, but as he was serving as an usher at his local Lutheran Church where he and his family had worshiped for years.

One need not be a fan of abortion, particularly late term abortions, to understand that abortion questions are not just moral questions but also political ones. Abortion is a medical service that is subject to the law of the land. In a democratic society governed by a constitution, moral questions of a public policy nature are worked out through the political process. Whether or not one agrees with the availability of abortions, Dr. Tiller was performing a legal medical service. His killer decided to “take the law into his own hands” and trump the political and constitutional process in an act of vigilante violence.

The accused killer at the Holocaust Museum has a long history of anti-minority and anti-Semitic activity. The attack at the Holocaust Museum was not a random event, but a politically motivated form of terrorism.

American citizens are, for the most part, in the broad political middle. One of the things that gives stability to our way of life is the common sense and moderation of the middle. For years, the general political culture has feared the left. One inheritance of the Cold War is a fear of the far left and a widespread concern that the far left is dangerous. It is time the broad middle of American thought come to realize that it is the radical right that is the greatest danger to our way of life. From the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, to race driven violence of the 1960’s, to the recent shootings; the great majority of the extremist violence has come from the right.

Many recent news reports suggest that despite the recession, sales of guns are at an all time high. The Department of Homeland Security has issued a statement warning of the potential for extremist violence from the right wing. Totally unfounded conspiracy theories have been making the rounds related to the election of President Obama. While we have every reason to continue to be concerned about foreign terrorism, domestic terrorism of the far right may be an equal or greater danger.

It is time for the broad middle of American citizens to realize that our national life is threatened internally not by the left but by the extreme right.

American Emipre | 1 Comment »

Egypt is old. Old in ways we do not get. We tend to think the American revolution was a good long time ago. From an Egyptian perspective our revolution was just yesterday, or perhaps just 20 minutes ago.

When Roman senator Mark Anthony and Egyptian princess Cleopatra sailed the Nile together a few years before Christ’s birth, they were closer to us in time than they were to the building of the Great pyramids.

Get that–if you develop a time line beginning with the building of the Great Pyramids and extending to our time, Anthony and Cleopatra are closer to us than they are to the building of the pyramids. The Giza pyramids were built approximately 4,600 years ago. When Anthony and Cleopatra saw them they were already 2,600 years old. That famous couple is only removed from us by a little over 2,000 years. Egypt’s age may be one reason–and there aren’t many reasons–to be hopeful about it.

It’s hard to think of Egypt as a country. The parts just don’t fit together. Cairo’s airport is modern and lovely. When one travel’s from the airport into the teeming Cairo streets, the driver is required to dodge two wheeled wagons pulled by donkeys and/or horses. Most of what we would do with heavy equipment, the Egyptians do with manual labor. On the streets of Cairo you see men in western style business suits and women in the latest fashions. Also, seen are people in traditional dress, turbans and sandals. Education is officially required for all children up to the tenth grade, yet the streets are full of children. Some of them are at the tourist sites hawking trinkets to the visitors. It’s really very sad.

It is hard to picture how all this is going to work in the 21st century. When the military is included, nearly half of all the people with jobs in Egypt work for the government. Government income comes from fees for passage on the Suez canal, tourism, selling electricity from the Aswan high dam and international charity. While there is still agriculture and some manufacturing, it is not at all clear how Egypt’s teeming masses will ever join the 21st century.

Egypt is also ripe for Islamic fundamentalism, though in recent years there is some reason to believe this threat has receded. It may have receded, but it still remains a threat.

So, the most hopeful thing about Egypt is its age. Somehow this place of so many contradictions and seemingly insurmountable problems just keeps on going. Like the Nile itself, Egypt seems to be forever. One would hope it would not be forever backward, poor and unpredictable.

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Our lives are largely shaped by the experiences we have and the persons we meet. It is easier to see this in others than it is in ourselves.

Having traveled a number of times in Israel, I am distinctly aware of how this reality expresses itself in this countries professional guides. Israel has very high licence standards for guides and all of them know their history, geography, archeology and people management. Yet, their presentations are distinctly shaped by their life experiences.

On this trip we have had an excellent guide who is particularly adept at telling us just enough without overwhelming us with information. He is also great at providing expert advise and counsel in the game of Dodge Pope as he adjusted our schedule skillfully to minimize the impact the Pope’s visit on our tour.

But the most compelling aspect of his work springs from his personal life experience. Our guide is a Palestinian Christian. He comes from an old and prosperous Christian family. He was seven years old in 1948 when the United Nations created the state of Israel. Immediately war broke out between the new Jewish state and its Arab neighbors. Our guide’s family lived in Jerusalem, owned a major business and many properties. When hostilities broke out they fled the fighting in Jerusalem and relocated to Jericho. Their homes, businesses and other properties fell into Israeli hands and they lost nearly everything. Homes to which his family holds pre-1948 deeds are now occupied by Israeli citizens. There never has been any financial compensation. This story repeated itself thousands of times to Palestinian families.

Our guide’s life has been shaped by this and other experiences that have been the lot of many Palestinians over the past 60 years. He is not a radical. He has made a good living in the tourist trade. He owns a home and a nice car. In most respects his life is fine, but his style of guiding Americans includes the telling of his family story. It also includes making sure we are aware of some of the daily restrictions under which he and his people live.

Let one example suffice. The little city of Jericho is currently the home of about 10,000 people–all Palestinians. Jericho is surrounded by Israeli defense forces. Persons can leave Jericho only if they have a pass issued by the Israeli government. About 20% of the Jericho residents hold such passes. The rest are virtual prisoners unable to travel out of their own small city. These conditions are not unusual.

If we would have had an Israeli guide, we would have seen a much different contemporary situation. We would have not only visited ancient sites, we would have heard about the amazing transformation of this land from a sleepy and backward region to the advanced society it is today. We would have heard about the dangers to Israeli society, and even survival, posed by its neighbors. We would have heard much about terrorism.

Our lives and perspectives are shaped by our experiences. It can be no other way. But seeing the contrast so clearly between the perspectives of Palestinian and Israeli, can make us think carefully about how our own view of reality is shaped (distorted?) by the limitations of our personal stories. Those of us on this trip will go away with a somewhat different perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict because we had an outspoken Palestinian guide. If we had been hosted by an equally outspoken Israeli as our guide, our perspective would have been nudged another way. I saw things with my own eyes this week that I would have never seen or heard if my information had come solely from the usual America diet of news.

This is a good reminder to be sure that we are always listening carefully to the full life experience of others on various sides of complex issues before we delude ourselves into believing we understand the situation.

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We have created a new game. Our group has been playing “Dodge Pope” with the creative assistance of our local guide.

As you probably know, the Pope has been here visiting sites and making news. We don’t get much news as internet access costs more than we want to pay regularly and English language papers are not always available. Most of the news we get is via word of mouth, mostly coming from our guide or bus driver. You probably know a great deal more about the news the Pope has been making here than we do.

But we do know about Dodge Pope. This is a game we have nearly perfected by adjusting our tour schedule to avoid the worst of the crowds surrounding the Pope. The problem is not only the crowds, but also closed roads, closed sites and other challenges.

Our most effective way of winning the Dodge Pope game was to be in the Galilee while he was in Jerusalem. This did not prevent us from seeing hordes of Pope followers who came from all over the world to see him and to participated in Masses he celebrated. The crowds in Galilee were much greater than we would have usually encountered. But still, we were able to get into all the sites we wished to see.

Yesterday we traveled from Galilee in the north to Jerusalem in the south. The Pope went to Galilee yesterday and was in Nazareth where we had been a couple of days before. Good scoring for us in Dodge Pope.

Because we had scored several points in Dodge Pope, the other side upped its game today. We were scheduled to be on the Mount of Olives this morning, but the Pope was there and scored points by trumping our schedule. We fought back by going to the Holocaust Museum in the morning–our scheduled afternoon activity. Points back for our side. Additional points were scored when we arrived first at the Holocaust Museum and while we did not have the place to ourselves, we had much smaller crowds than we would have had in the afternoon. An added morning visit to the Shrine of the Book where the Dead Sea Scrolls are displayed, followed by lunch allowed the Pope to clear out of the city and the streets to open in time for us to go to the Mount of Olives in the afternoon.

We were able to walk some of the traditional Palm Sunday route down the Mount of Olives stopping at the Garden of Gethsemane. Olive trees are able to live to a very old age and there are gnarled trees there that are believed to be over 2,000 years old. One of our group wished aloud that the trees could talk.

All in all, played a pretty good game of Dodge Pope. He retreated back to Rome in defeat this afternoon and we will have Jerusalem to ourselves tomorrow. Actually, since it is Sabbath tomorrow, we should have lighter than ususal traffic and crowds.

I’ll be back with a more serious post in a couple of days.

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There is something about Galilee that draws my heart. The sculpted hills around the fresh water lake that is known as the “Sea of Galilee,” form the backdrop for the public ministry of Jesus. It was here that he taught, healed, feed the hungry, and proclaimed the breaking in of the Kingdom of God.

To the first time visitor, this area seems intimate and the scale is human. As Midwesterners we are accustomed to vast distances that require automobiles or airplanes to travel them. Here it is possible to think of life on foot. The little villages are just a few miles apart. The traditional sites of some of Jesus’ teaching and wonder working are located within the nest of villages that circle the Sea of Galilee. Though we might find the distances daunting to walk, it is easy to see how seasoned walkers could move about this area on foot.

Some of the villages have become cities. Nazareth, where Jesus is said to have grown up, was a backwater village of a few hundred people at most. Today, it is a small city of 150,000 people. On the other hand, Capernaum, which was the headquarters for Jesus’ ministry and the home of at least four of his disciples, was a bustling place in Jesus day. It had a substantial synagogue, some thriving fishing businesses, and sat beside a still active ancient trade route between Egypt, Mesopotamia and Europe. In the 600’s of the common era the village was destroyed by earthquake. It was abandoned, fell into ruin, was covered with centuries of dust and vegetation and its remains were not rediscovered until the early 20th century. Today it is an archaeological site.

Sitting in a boat on the Sea of Galilee, absorbing the quite and meditating on all that took place nearby is a moment to remember.

Tomorrow we will travel south with Jerusalem as our destination. It was in Galilee that Jesus taught us. In Jerusalem he gave himself for us. Tomorrow we visit Bethlehem and then arrive in the holy city of Jerusalem.

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After much too long a silence, I shall be back posting more regularly. I hope there are still some readers out there! Beginning next week, it is my intention and expectation to be posting from Israel and Egypt where I will be traveling with a group from my church. I hope you will find those posts interesting. I will be closing down the comments section during the trip.

Much has happened on the national/international front during this time period and I have thought a lot about how to make theologically based comments on any number of events and issues.

For today, let me make just a few observations about the debate over enhanced interrogation techniques/torture. The first difficulty encountered is in putting a name on these methods. The choice of either the word “torture” or the phrase “enhanced interrogation techniques” is a comment on the practices and biases the discussion. The use of either word is likely to close the minds of those who prefer the other description.

The underlying question has to do with how ethical decisions are made. Those who support the use of these practices do so with the argument that physical or emotional pain or terror is morally justifiable in order to secure information that may save lives. Is this a valid moral argument?

In assessing this argument, it is important to acknowledge that the general public does not have enough information to know whether these techniques did, in fact, produce information that protected lives. The media is full of claims on both sides of this question. Anyone in the general public that pontificates that these practices did or did not yield life saving information is simply talking through their hat to support their bias. Someone knows, but the general public does not.

However, this is not a basis to suspend judgement on the moral question as it is not possible to know with certainty, in advance, whether these techniques will produce life saving information. The moral choice regarding using interrogation techniques that violate our normal values about humane conduct must be made in advance of knowing what, if any, information may be gained. We in the general public do not know with certainty if these techniques “worked,” but this does not exempt us from considering the moral questions involved.

The moral problem with the argument that torture is justified in order to save lives is that this position takes an extreme situation ethics position. Situation ethics says that there are no morally binding principals, but that every ethical choice must be made in light of the known results. If good results are obtained almost anything is permitted. It depends on the situation. In this case, if information that may save lives is obtained, then any form of torture would be permitted.

Most people have long ago turned away from situation ethics as a valid moral position. When pushed to its logical conclusion, situation ethics can be a way to justify almost anything. The great religions of the world all hold to some core principals that are not to be violated regardless of the cost. There are certain fundamental principals that are necessary for human beings to have a just and orderly society. When those principals are violated, even in the name of some good outcome, then the behavioral underpinnings of society are damaged.

At the personal level, our identity is tied up with our ethical principals. When certain acts are committed, our identity is defined. To a degree, we are what we do. If we lie, we are liars. If we abuse, we are abusers. If we murder, we are murders. Our behavior defines us. The same is true for nations.

For these reasons, I would side with those who oppose the use of inhumane or torture techniques. The use of these methods makes us the very thing we say we are opposing. If terrorists are thugs, so are we if we use their terrible techniques against anyone. In international and inter-cultural conflicts, we must seek the higher ethical ground. Such a stance might cost us, but the cost of descending to the lowest common ethical denominator is infinitely higher.

Ethics, American Emipre, Religion | No Comments »

In January the congregation I serve adjusted its Sunday morning worship schedule. We are a church with both traditional and contemporary worship offerings and the new schedule caused some services to be available only at certain times on Sunday morning.

Worshipers are still sorting out their personal schedules. Some have stayed with their preferred time while others have shifted their worship time to access their preferred worship style. This is an inevitable result of the schedule changes.

It has been interesting to hear the cries of some of the members about the changes. More than one person or household has indicated that even though they have been members of this church for two or more decades, they would be leaving because their preferred worship style was not available at their preferred time slot.

This reaction raises questions about what it means to be a part of a church. We have abroad in our land a rather widespread approach to religious life and church membership that views religion as a consumer commodity. The church, according to this view, offers various services like worship, Sunday School, Bible study, etc., and as consumers folks decide to visit the religion store to buy their religion services based on convenience, quality, price, etc. If the religion store next door is perceived to have a better deal, then the religious consumer changes stores. What many people do is approach their religious life and their church or synagogue or mosque life the same way they select a grocery store or a car dealership.

When people with decades of investment in the place, people, programs and mission of a church leave because the product is on a different shelf or the store is open on a different schedule they are trading community for consumerism. It baffles me to understand how decades of relationships and investment can be cut loose because one has to either adjust to a worship style or time that does not meet their exact preference.

What ever happened to the notion of belonging to a community? Where is the value placed on relationships with fellow pilgrims nurtured over years? How is it that a minor time adjustment is too much to make when the alternative is abandoning the people, places, programs, and ties that have been a part of one’s life for years?

The church or synagogue or mosque or temple is not a religion store. They are communities of people networked together for common purposes and represent something to which we belong rather than simply patronize.

This consumer mentality applied to religious life is just one more sad victory of the culture over the faith.

culture, Religion | No Comments »

Schools are an emotional topic. They are also a very important topic. Most people recognize that our school systems are not producing young people prepared to compete effectively with the graduates of the school systems of many other countries.

The public schools rightfully have very strong advocates who point out that free public education for all children is one of the bed rocks of equal opportunity. Public schools also have powerful detractors who point out the all too real failures of many public schools. Persons with liberal or conservative biases tend to see solutions that are based more on their preconceived philosophies than on hard data about school performance.

One of the suggested remedies for our school challenges is the voucher system. Under this system the tax payers would provide a voucher to parents who remove their children from the public school. With this voucher the parent could pay, or pay in part, the tuition to a private school. Proponents of such a system reason that the resulting competition would strengthen the public schools as well as give low income parents access to expensive private education.

Voucher systems have been tried in a number of places around the country and the data is beginning to come in about the effectiveness of this approach to increasing performance of students. Unfortunately, the data is not supporting the hopes of the voucher proponents.

In February, 2008 a group of researchers led by voucher proponent and University of Arkansas professor Patrick J. Wolf produced a study based on tests given the previous year to students in Milwaukee who were attending public schools and those attending the private voucher school. Wolf found “relative parity” in the scores, with no statistically significant differences between the public and private schools students for both the fourth and eighth grades.

In Cleveland a much more through study followed the same students over time. This study tracked the scores of students who began kindergarten in the 1997-1998 school year and followed these students through sixth grade in the 2003-2004 school year. Indiana University researchers found no significant differences in overall achievement between students who attended the public schools and those in the voucher private system when socioeconomic differences were taken into account.

School improvement and student achievement are subjects that should be near and dear to all citizens. Ideologically driven “solutions” must be held up to the actual data. Sometimes “liberal” approaches will not work. Sometimes “conservative” approaches will not work. What matters is not the ideology of the system but the performance of the children. Especially important is the performance of children from disadvantaged environments.

Just as I posted on February 13th on the economic stimulus debate, when it comes to education outcome improvement, we should seek some consensus on the results that we want from our educational system, hold these results up to our values, and proceed driven by data not ideology. In the emotionally charged subject of schools, this will not be easy.

[Information on school performance data from “A Failed Experiment” by Greg Anrig published in the January 27, 2009 issue of The Christian Century.]

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Advocating for a social, political or religious perspective is a good thing and is protected speech under the U.S. constitution. Those who advocate for a position or point of view sharpen the debate, help insure that debate is based on accurate information and, in the long run, improve the quality of public discourse. This is a form of healthy partisanship.

At the same time, partisanship can be destructive when the contest becomes more important than the debate. The new president has made much of his desire for a less partisan tone in Washington. Most of his predecessors have begun their administrations with the same hope. Unfortunately, both political parties seem to be led by persons who are more interested in winning political points and contests than they are in honest debate about what is good for the country and the world. The fierce competitive relationship between the parties often leads to win at any cost mentality and debate that is not real debate at all, but public relations in service of winning. There is plenty of guilt to go around to both parties when one takes the long view.

Religious groups that participate in discussion of public policy are often just as guilty as political parties of substituting public relations for real debate.

Among the elements of the recently passed (along virtually strict partisan lines) stimulus package was a provision that granted funds for modernizing university facilities. This provision of the law prohibits the use of these government funds to renovate buildings used primarily for religious purposes.

The conservative religious group the Traditional Values Coalition attacked this provision of the bill as something that would “stimulate anti-Christian bigotry.” They went on to say that the bill would “curb religious liberty at institutions of higher learning” by outlawing campus ministries. The TVC declared that “this new administration and its secularist allies don’t accept the First Amendment’s protections of religious activity.”

The problem is that none of this is true. Long standing American tradition and law have prohibited public funds being used to support religious activities. The provision in question in the stimulus bill simply ensures important constitutional practice is observed in that proposal.

The real purpose of the TVC’s railing against this provision of the bill is not honest debate of the merits of the bill, but public relations. In using inflammatory language about loss of religious freedom and “anti-Christian bigotry” the TVC is not addressing the issue, but finding an excuse to seek to sway public opinion against the current administration. The tactic is dishonest and destructive.

Now, I have no issue with a religious group or any other group that wants to engage in a debate about the merits of a public policy. In fact, I think this is a good thing and that more religious groups should seek to clarify and advocate for their values. But this conversation must respect the truth, respect those who take a different position and use language that furthers civil discourse rather than verbal bomb throwing.

This is a case of a religious group behaving badly and partisanship gone overboard. Or even worse, a case of a partisan group masquerading as a religious group.

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