tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83550867504862004392024-03-18T18:52:40.467-05:00The View from This SeatReflections about Life, Love, Light, and Liberty (the 4-Ls) by Leroy Seat.LKSeathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08860725174433173015noreply@blogger.comBlogger1050125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355086750486200439.post-64833650213189999332024-03-14T05:30:00.000-05:002024-03-14T05:30:08.080-05:00Tarnishing the Name of Jesus<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It
was a week ago tonight that Pres. Biden delivered the annual State of the Union
(SOTU) message. His address was widely applauded by Democrats and by the
mainstream media—and, not surprisingly, panned by Republicans and by right-wing
news outlets who castigate the “lamestream” media.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This
post, though, is about the Republican rebuttal speech given by Alabama Senator
Katie Britt. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg24-_-LX6KlUS7J8eIgXGfKNJo9W7IAafwSRAmFiKWLNJf3SuJnrWFcgNdk72DWr8eYvGPE37GjV0Y-8kjBi8FfF7Gq74iK0FuCfTx8oTB3-1CfiWGmQD6prxzdBFY1dvsQknsgFDOw3bVqvVqcY7pM-7sOSETMq6T6v471aQkLj09vNcPWc6PApLDOO8/s364/Katie%20Britt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="341" data-original-width="364" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg24-_-LX6KlUS7J8eIgXGfKNJo9W7IAafwSRAmFiKWLNJf3SuJnrWFcgNdk72DWr8eYvGPE37GjV0Y-8kjBi8FfF7Gq74iK0FuCfTx8oTB3-1CfiWGmQD6prxzdBFY1dvsQknsgFDOw3bVqvVqcY7pM-7sOSETMq6T6v471aQkLj09vNcPWc6PApLDOO8/s320/Katie%20Britt.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Katie
Boyd Britt (b. 1982) was elected the junior Senator </b>from Alabama in 2022,
defeating Democrat Will Boyd, a Black Baptist pastor. She received nearly 67%
of the vote. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
didn’t remember hearing the name of Sen. Britt before I saw that she would give
the rebuttal after the SOTU address, so I looked her up on Wikipedia and
elsewhere. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In a
<a href="https://yellowhammernews.com/katie-britt-talks-about-faith-her-with-michael-yaffee-jesus-christ-is-the-most-important-thing-in-life/">July
2021 interview</a>, Britt stated, “Jesus Christ is the most important thing in
life, and that should be the foundation that everything else comes around.” I
certainly would not disagree with that, but surely such a statement should
include telling the truth and not bearing false witness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Earlier
this week, the Los Angeles Times candidly <a href="https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-03-11/katie-britt-state-of-the-union-rebuttal-border-mexico-lie">stated</a>
that “the woman sitting in the kitchen with the cross glittering on her neck
lied.” After listening (on Friday) to her Thursday night rebuttal speech, that
clearly seems to be the case.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And
given what she has said about Jesus Christ and the sparkling (diamond-studded?)
cross around her neck as she gave her speech, it seemed to me that she was tarnishing
the name of Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">No
wonder more and more people in the U.S. are leaving the Christian faith and
joining the “nones.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Sen. Boyd’s rebuttal speech was criticized</b> <b>and</b> <b>critiqued</b>
by a wide variety of voices. For example, here is part of what historian
Heather Cox Richardson (HCR) wrote about Katie’s talk in her <a href="file:///C:/Users/lksea/OneDrive/Documents/Blog/Sitting%20in%20a%20kitchen%20rather%20than%20in%20a%20setting%20that%20reflected%20her%20position%20in%20one%20of%20the%20nation%E2%80%99s%20highest%20elected%20offices,%20Britt%20conspicuously%20wore%20a%20necklace%20with%20a%20cross%20and%20spoke%20in%20a%20breathy,%20childlike%20voice%20as%20she%20wavered%20between%20smiles%20and%20the%20suggestion%20she%20was%20on%20the%20verge%20of%20tears.">March
8 newsletter</a>:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"></p><blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sitting in a kitchen rather than in a setting that reflected
her position in one of the nation’s highest elected offices, Britt
conspicuously wore a necklace with a cross and spoke in a breathy, childlike
voice as she wavered between smiles and the suggestion she was on the verge of
tears. <o:p></o:p></span></blockquote><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">At the close of HRC’s letter, I first learned about Jess Piper and her
Substack posts under the name “The View from Rural Missouri.” Her March 8 “view”
was titled “<a href="https://jesspiper.substack.com/p/the-fundie-baby-voice">The
Fundie Baby Voice</a>.”<b>*</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But it wasn’t the voice that
most disturbed me. It was the lies that Sen. Britt told in that problematic
voice. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In his remarks at the Academy
Awards ceremony on Sunday evening, Jimmy Kimmel made these remarks about Emma
Stone, who had just been awarded the Best Actress Oscar: “<span style="background: white;">Emma, you are so unbelievably great in <i>Poor
Things</i>. Emma played an adult woman with the brain of a child, like the
lady who gave the rebuttal to the State of the Union on Thursday night.”<b>**</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Sen.
Boyd did her best to harm Pres. Biden</b> and to lessen his chances of winning
a second term as POTUS. She may have done the Republicans more harm than good,
however. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
was saddened by the touching story she told of talking last year with the girl
who had been a victim of sex trafficking—and then off-put by her blaming the
President for that tragic event. And then I was incensed when it turned out the
incident in question took place when George W. Bush was President!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">On
Monday, <span class="wpds-c-cndzup">Washington Post associate editor and columnist
</span>Karen Tumulty wrote that the “horrific story” Katie told, “at least by
implication, turned out to be a big fat lie.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Tumulty
went on to note that the “Post’s fact-checker Glenn Kessler awarded Britt
four Pinocchios for the way she twisted this tragic story to make a
cravenly partisan point.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Despite
her later efforts to walk back what she had said, there was no way her
listeners could have known she was talking about an incident that took place
more than a decade ago. Even if it wasn’t a blatant lie, it was highly
deceitful and told with the intent of harming the President. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It
is quite clear, though, that in spite of her prominent display of a cross on a
necklace and pious talk, she tarnished the name of Jesus and did the cause of
Christ far more harm than good.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">_____<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> <b>* </b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Jess Piper lives in (or near)
Maryville, Missouri, which is about 35 miles from my hometown. In 2022 she ran as
a progressive Democrat to become a Representative in the Missouri legislature,
but she was soundly defeated in the district that twice voted for Trump by 80%
or so. I am now receiving her Substack posts and have had email exchanges with
her this week. <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>**</b> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This was a powerful putdown of Sen.
Britt’s rebuttal speech to those who had seen Emma Stone's Oscar-winning performance
in <i>Poor Things</i>, but I do not recommend that movie except to insightful, mature
adults.</span><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>LKSeathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08860725174433173015noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355086750486200439.post-35907143745085468732024-03-09T05:31:00.000-06:002024-03-09T05:31:52.069-06:00 The 4-Ls: Life ◈ Love ◈ Light ◈ Liberty<p><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
header at the top of all my blog posts contains the words “Reflections about
Life, Love, Light, and Liberty.” Those are the 4-Ls that I have emphasized for
years and about which I am finally explaining in this blog post. </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj6H2WbQku6yMvSu4mzHQxQIieg3i27k6hQkQMp09iiqlaQIUqlCrDs5_ZKeXiWu-O_8pv5WrCQr-PY215mEgLcas9LizXVlO5z2NJBHpDWZbhqaGCG8B_rVCQbT9Mp9DRHaNAgg6L0SCD2pNCzbG1a9pilZALhQVVuP5x6-usyEE70GnpeQ-DBdxM6ZA/s649/4-Ls%20in%20Jpn..png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="649" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj6H2WbQku6yMvSu4mzHQxQIieg3i27k6hQkQMp09iiqlaQIUqlCrDs5_ZKeXiWu-O_8pv5WrCQr-PY215mEgLcas9LizXVlO5z2NJBHpDWZbhqaGCG8B_rVCQbT9Mp9DRHaNAgg6L0SCD2pNCzbG1a9pilZALhQVVuP5x6-usyEE70GnpeQ-DBdxM6ZA/w400-h210/4-Ls%20in%20Jpn..png" width="400" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Some
of you may have wondered why </b>more of my blog articles are not more
“religious” or more explicitly “Christian.” Many of you know that I was
ordained as a Christian minister at the age of 18 and that I served for 38
years as a missionary in Japan. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">True,
some of my blog posts are clearly Christian and/or religious. But many could,
conceivably, have been written by one who is neither Christian nor religious as
that word is generally understood.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But
with a few exceptions, most of my blog posts are directly related to <b><span style="color: red;">life</span></b>, <b><span style="color: red;">love</span></b>, <b><span style="color: red;">light</span></b>, and <b><span style="color: red;">liberty</span></b>,
the 4-Ls, and those words are basic concepts of the Christian faith and at the
core of my life and work.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>In
1995 after I had been elected as Chancellor </b>of Seinan Gakuin, the large
educational institution in Japan where I had been a university faculty member
since 1968, a local newspaper reporter asked me what I would be emphasizing as
the head of what was widely known as a “Christian school.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Beginning
at least in a 1994 Christmas sermon in a school Chapel service, I talked about
four words that began with the letter L in English. (Those words are known by any
Japanese person with a high school education.) So that is what I told the
reporter I would be emphasizing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Not
long after I was installed as chancellor, Nakamura Kunie-<i>san</i>, one of my
supporting staff members, presented me with the following wall hanging that I
kept in my office during the eight years I served as chancellor—and have had
hanging above my desk here in the States ever since retirement in 2004.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji__7N-P3Sy1aozMwCEyMhDAoiU-2-MyPz6MDPc5J0qI0ETzXX8_cXKtkRMCjwlT7YYz4usxcTfOnv32pW57mMw9YnxV-NMhZldQOJ-2e4TNekjS8zO8YsUbL_VzCFPZvfsPfPh4JNYtxPfcmyeg7gBKXshIk1ZcRCopzYkCSXYq7k6LVp9CJSvFXT9V4/s2875/4-Ls%20in%20circle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2813" data-original-width="2875" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji__7N-P3Sy1aozMwCEyMhDAoiU-2-MyPz6MDPc5J0qI0ETzXX8_cXKtkRMCjwlT7YYz4usxcTfOnv32pW57mMw9YnxV-NMhZldQOJ-2e4TNekjS8zO8YsUbL_VzCFPZvfsPfPh4JNYtxPfcmyeg7gBKXshIk1ZcRCopzYkCSXYq7k6LVp9CJSvFXT9V4/s320/4-Ls%20in%20circle.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">On
the back, Nakamura-<i>san</i> pasted an explanation of the simple image, saying
they were the four Ls: Life (<span lang="JA" style="font-family: "Yu Mincho",serif; mso-ascii-font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Verdana;">生命</span>), Love (<span lang="JA" style="font-family: "Yu Mincho",serif; mso-ascii-font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Verdana;">聖愛</span>), Light (<span lang="JA" style="font-family: "Yu Mincho",serif; mso-ascii-font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Verdana;">公明</span>), Liberty (<span lang="JA" style="font-family: "Yu Mincho",serif; mso-ascii-font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Verdana;">自由</span>). (The Japanese words do not begin with an L sound; they are
pronounced <i>seimei</i>, <i>seiai</i>, <i>kōmei</i>, and <i>jiyū</i>.<b>*</b>)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Most
of my Japanese students were not interested in religion</b> when I began
teaching Christian Studies at Seinan Gakuin University (SGU) in 1968—and that
remained so during my three decades teaching required courses in what was
founded as, and continued as, a Christian school.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Not
long after starting my teaching career at SGU, I came across a book titled <i>ABC’s
of Christian Faith</i> (1968) by Union Theological Seminary professor James D.
Smart (1906~82). I was impressed by that book and its unifying theme: “Life in
God.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">After
reading Smart’s book which emphasized that Christianity at its core was not
about religion but about life, I decided that since I was teaching an
introductory course on Christian beliefs, I would relate my lectures to how
Jesus came not to start a new religion but to help people live a meaningful
life. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
foundation of that emphasis was Jesus’ words as recorded in the tenth chapter
of the Gospel of John<i>: “</i><i><span style="background: white;">I came that they may have </span></i><i><span style="background: white; color: red; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI";">life</span></i><i><span style="background: white;"> and have
it abundantly</span></i><span style="background: white;">” (v. 10, NRSV).<b>**</b> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Later,
<span style="color: red;">love</span></b> <b>became a central theme </b>in the
new course on Christian ethics that I developed. While there continued to be
considerable disinterest in religion, students were generally interested in learning
about people who lived lives exhibiting Christian love. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Then
through the years, I also began to emphasize the Christian emphasis on <span style="color: red;">light</span> as well as <span style="color: red;">liberty</span>,
so by the mid-1990s, the 4-Ls were prominent enough in my mind to make them the
focal point of my work as head of Seinan Gakuin, the educational institution
with around 10,000 students and pupils. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
wanted then to speak meaningfully to the mostly non-Christian students, staff,
and faculty at Seinan Gakuin in Japan. And now I want to write these blog
articles so that those who are not, or no longer, active Christians will also find
them thought-provoking and relevant for the living of these days. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">_____<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> <b>* </b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The image at the top of this post is
the center of a large hanging scroll which I received as a gift at the end of
my term as Chancellor. The Japanese words for the 4-Ls are written by stylized
brush strokes and are read from top to bottom and from right to left. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>**</b>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I
plan to write more about <b>Life</b> in my March 30 blog post</span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> and about <b>Love</b>, <b>Light</b>, and <b>Liberty
</b>over the next several weeks. </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>LKSeathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08860725174433173015noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355086750486200439.post-17086492106187476432024-02-29T05:22:00.003-06:002024-02-29T05:32:21.822-06:00Beware of “Greenwashing”<p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="text-align: justify;">We are all
familiar with the term “whitewashing.” The verb </span><i style="text-align: justify;">whitewash</i><span style="text-align: justify;"> used in the
figurative sense means "to cover up, conceal, give a false appearance of
cleanness to," and it was used with that meaning by the middle of the 18th
century</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">But what
about “greenwashing”? What does that word mean and why should we beware of what
it designates? </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLe5shDEa9hjQURf7sc4kUIVYeAvlxDoszjFTd7wAOQVGwRjHu9QMQwMrlV1xyjTL33cuYCxkL9dlFYY8OEmd6ASzScBCAqxVb-H4NWhrAbA4uMfTwO38sQVVriZc3Hif8L0Viz6hfHEBAvTPzrRPG2eSdBnJk9W9bkSBsQtVnpgvVP1AC2aJZUZHt6qg/s445/Slow%20Down.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="298" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLe5shDEa9hjQURf7sc4kUIVYeAvlxDoszjFTd7wAOQVGwRjHu9QMQwMrlV1xyjTL33cuYCxkL9dlFYY8OEmd6ASzScBCAqxVb-H4NWhrAbA4uMfTwO38sQVVriZc3Hif8L0Viz6hfHEBAvTPzrRPG2eSdBnJk9W9bkSBsQtVnpgvVP1AC2aJZUZHt6qg/s320/Slow%20Down.jpg" width="214" /></a></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>Greenwashing
is defined</b> as “the act or practice of making a product, policy, activity,
etc. appear to be more environmentally friendly or less environmentally
damaging than it really is.” This word was first used around 1990<b>.*<sup>1</sup></b>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Since it
is a form of deception, we must be aware of and beware of greenwashing. This is
one of the many important emphases in a new book (in English) that I have read
and written a review of this month.<b>*<sup>2</sup></b> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The book
title is <i>Slow Down: The Degrowth Manifesto</i>, and the author’s name is
given as Kōhei Saitō. The English translation was issued just last month, but
the original Japanese edition was published in 2020, and its (translated) title
is <i>“Capital” in the Anthropocene</i>.<b>*<sup>3</sup></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Saitō (b. 1987)
was born in Japan but was a university student in the U.S. from 2005 to 2009
and then in Germany, where he earned a Ph.D. degree in 2015. After a few years teaching
at a university in Osaka, in 2022 he became an associate professor of
philosophy at the University of Tokyo.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<h3 style="background: white; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Ecology Is the Opiate of the Masses!” <span style="font-weight: normal;">is the attention-grabbing title of the Introduction in Saitō’s
book. He explains, </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="background: white; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><blockquote><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Long ago, Marx characterized
religion as “the opiate of the masses” because he saw it as offering temporary
relief from the painful reality brought about by capitalism. SDGs [Sustainable
Development Goals] are none other than a contemporary version of the same
“opiate” (xvii-xviii).</span></span></blockquote><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Before that, though, in his preface to the English edition,
Saitō asserts that “greenwashing is everywhere,” and he describes that concept
as “an optimistic belief in green technologies and green growth” and says that
it “may be nothing more than a ploy to buy time for capitalism” (xi). </span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Saitō’s main criticism is not directed toward the global
warming deniers, whom he rarely mentions, but toward those who want to save the
environment. Thus, his second chapter mainly disparages proponents of the Green
New Deal (GND)—as I was when I made a blog post <a href="https://theviewfromthisseat.blogspot.com/2019/02/what-about-green-new-deal.html">affirming
the GND in Feb. 2019</a>.</span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">He asks, “Can a Green New Deal really save us,” and he answers
his rhetorical question in the negative. Why? Because those espousing the Green
New Deal emphasize “green growth,” which Saitō thinks is impossible. And now I
think he is probably right and my previous support of the GND was wrong.</span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Politicians always have to be concerned about the next
election, so affirming “green growth” is a way of appealing to those who want
to combat the dangers of climate change as well as to continue receiving the
support of “big business.”</span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">But Saitō’s main point throughout his book is clearly
stated in the Introduction: capitalism is the “root cause” of the current
climate crisis (p. xix). Greenwashing is used to protect capitalism by making
people think that the GND and the like will alleviate the ever-increasing
environmental crisis.</span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">So,
why should we beware of greenwashing? <span style="font-weight: normal;">For the
simple reason that the New Green Deal and other similar plans for saving the
planet from global warming are deceitful, for they propose that that can be
done with capitalism kept intact. Still, the NGD is certainly better than
maintaining the status quo. </span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></h3>
<h3 style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Saitō’s analysis of the climate/ecological problem is most
probably accurate. (You’ll have to read Saitō’s book or at least a/my review of
it to understand what degrowth communism means and why he thinks that it is the
only viable solution to the current climate crisis.)</span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></h3>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">But the
solution he posits, a worldwide shift from capitalism to degrowth communism, is
absolutely unrealistic. Even Saitō says, “The Earth will become uninhabitable
for humankind before capitalism collapses” (p. 26).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">But,
sadly, with the MAGA Republicans refusing to provide additional funding for
Ukraine and candidate Trump saying he would encourage Russia to “<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/trump-says-russia-whatever-hell-want-nato-countries-dont-pay-enough-rcna138256">do
whatever the hell they want</a>” if it attacked a NATO country that didn<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-blasts-nato-ahead-european-visit-accuses-allies-shortchanging-u-n890141" target="_blank">’</a>t pay enough for defense, perhaps nuclear warfare will
bring the end of the world as we know it before the ecological crisis does. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">_____<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">*<sup>1</sup>
</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">From<b> </b>the
Merriam-Webster online dictionary. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">*<sup>2</sup></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> The review was written for The
Englewood Review of Books, which provided me with a free copy of Saitō’s thought-provoking
book. My review will appear on ERB’s website next month, but you can read
(<a href="https://theviewfromthisseat.blogspot.com/p/review-of-slow-down-degrowth-manifesto.html">here</a>) the review article (of around 1,200 words) that I submitted to
Englewood.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">*<sup>3</sup></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> In the first printing of the
English translation, all references to global temperatures should be
disregarded, for they are all incorrect. I was able to exchange emails with
author Saitō about this matter, and he said it was “a stupid conversion error”
that has already been fixed on the Kindle version and will be corrected in the subsequent
printings of the published book.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Note:</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYAN6wliLxw">Here is the link</a> to a
YouTube video of Saitō explaining his understanding of degrowth communism. That
video has had nearly 10,000 views, and there are other, and longer, videos by Saitō
on YouTube. </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>LKSeathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08860725174433173015noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355086750486200439.post-18123109990272434402024-02-20T05:29:00.000-06:002024-02-20T05:29:43.766-06:00 Do You Know about TheGrio and the Icon Awards?<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As
this is Black History Month, it seems like a good time to post an article about
TheGrio, which I just learned about by accident earlier this month. Some of
you, I assume, know about TheGrio, but my guess is that most of you know little
if any about it. </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOLjMTyT2rAcy4KMWn82tWzAQpbx5LgA0nLWmQMtlm3uQnBi91bRoV9rL2t2MhtXHKzvYjgZgtiP8wm4E1ZKUNwyleK1FymOs4QuZ0j2rbbqmB8UUEh6dCYr5AW_QcOm7AhIGdGcEhH_OkUER9jUASlmXfeRg6ffbEF8Z7DeNmEDo7L_bikmnPh8u9XyY/s870/theGrio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="870" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOLjMTyT2rAcy4KMWn82tWzAQpbx5LgA0nLWmQMtlm3uQnBi91bRoV9rL2t2MhtXHKzvYjgZgtiP8wm4E1ZKUNwyleK1FymOs4QuZ0j2rbbqmB8UUEh6dCYr5AW_QcOm7AhIGdGcEhH_OkUER9jUASlmXfeRg6ffbEF8Z7DeNmEDo7L_bikmnPh8u9XyY/s320/theGrio.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>TheGrio
is “an American television network and website</b> with news, opinion,
entertainment and video content geared toward African-Americans.” It can be
watched free on the internet, and it is also available on local TV in many
cities across the U.S.<b>*</b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">TheGrio’s
name comes from <i>griot</i>, a Western African word that designates a musician-entertainer
who plays a vital role in preserving their people's oral traditions and
histories.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Although
I rarely watch local TV, I happened to turn on CBS on the evening of Feb. 3 and
theGrio’s Icon Awards program was being telecast. I listened with interest to
speeches by three of the Icon recipients, the three I am briefly introducing below.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Al
Sharpton received the Justice Ikon</b> <b>Award</b>. According to Wikipedia, Alfred
Charles Sharpton Jr. (b. 1954) is “an American civil rights and social justice activist,
Baptist minister, radio talk show host, and TV personality, who is also the
founder of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Action_Network" title="National Action Network">National Action Network</a> civil rights
organization.” </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCGowg6XxmbXtDAHt9E3kEWNQk73FFJn7HqVtHQI7s6bWrvUj8C8V3WFRGcguT4ZtVHHaBBsxz6KuBvMNAPzmajuPb-GAdPYqvPBXQu08Yhd-gMBUmVYgEJZLZN_l0-PatqU-DHqNwrf5ObOoqTFVuZsJG-qbLWvDiS36RdE6ktmgOJzNQPqZySoVLuPg/s491/Al%20Sharpton.24.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="481" data-original-width="491" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCGowg6XxmbXtDAHt9E3kEWNQk73FFJn7HqVtHQI7s6bWrvUj8C8V3WFRGcguT4ZtVHHaBBsxz6KuBvMNAPzmajuPb-GAdPYqvPBXQu08Yhd-gMBUmVYgEJZLZN_l0-PatqU-DHqNwrf5ObOoqTFVuZsJG-qbLWvDiS36RdE6ktmgOJzNQPqZySoVLuPg/w320-h314/Al%20Sharpton.24.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sharpton
has been a leading, and controversial, civil rights leader for nearly 55 years
now. He has also sought various political offices, including that of POTUS (in 2004),
but was never elected. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: white;">At the end of his </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5CQo8SfdhM"><span style="background: white;">theGrioAwards speech</span></a><span style="background: white;">,
Sharpton said, “The only thing that I really live for is I get up with this
dream: every bigot, every racist, everyone in this country that hates will say
damn, he’s up again.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="file:///C:/Users/lksea/OneDrive/Documents/At%20the%20end%20of%20his%20theGrioAwards%20speech,%20he%20said,%20"><span style="background: white;">TheGrio online article</span></a><span style="background: white;"> concludes, “He loves to have them know
that they can’t stop him. He loves knowing that Black resistance to oppression
is unstoppable. That’s why the Rev. Sharpton deserves the Justice Icon Award.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: white;">Those who commemorate recent Black history
forty years from now will surely remember Al Sharpton along with many other
exemplary civil rights leaders such as him as well as the next two theGrio Ikon
Awards. </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The
Scientist Ikon was awarded to Kizzmekia Corbett</b>, born in 1986 in North
Carolina. In 2008, she received a B.S. in biological sciences and sociology
from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC).<b>** </b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEm_-QGf871GzGTRuEznkKnfGHh42he9VZE-ZftPTr4uud0djEDklTNw2fgMf34GFyiev4H32Q-bSenl1RQSbR4naW24zVTrlysy_IbdGRrD28FRt6QXg7gQR9p6TYqJr-nRVSOKU8ySoUBDUxByqUWa6KjeUbIxWRCeXjufSnl83pDJejieflOevoB18/s781/Kizzmekia-Corbett.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="781" data-original-width="622" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEm_-QGf871GzGTRuEznkKnfGHh42he9VZE-ZftPTr4uud0djEDklTNw2fgMf34GFyiev4H32Q-bSenl1RQSbR4naW24zVTrlysy_IbdGRrD28FRt6QXg7gQR9p6TYqJr-nRVSOKU8ySoUBDUxByqUWa6KjeUbIxWRCeXjufSnl83pDJejieflOevoB18/s320/Kizzmekia-Corbett.jpeg" width="255" /></a></b></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In
2014, Corbett earned a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology at the University
of North Carolina Chapel Hill, and since June 2021 she has been an assistant professor
at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Corbett
was awarded the Scientist Ikon because of her great contribution to the
development of the covid-19 vaccination, which probably saved as many as five
million lives—and some sources put that figure as high as 20 million—around the
world. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Please
<a href="https://thegrio.com/2023/11/14/thegrio-awards-science-icon-dr-kizzmekia-corbett/">click
here</a> to read the article about the reason Corbett was chosen for the
Scientist Ikon and listen to her acceptance speech last November.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The
recipient of the Inspiration Ikon Award was Dwayne Johnson</b>. I never thought
I would post a blog article in admiration of a man whose main claim to fame is
professional wrestling, for I am the very opposite of a fan of that “sport.” </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzfDaI09pxNvtWedOZP2D6PzFhY9vGa7FnnenaP_V6C1CdP21xgSZlPykfWW4Q0UYpjVa3HbJ6fgcsmfwsqcZ5Fg4VRYu8wyZ9vzuDfXlUBiWnuy4SuWR4v7Zl5iZpt8wnNzESuG_KRYYXx_joWMuGQBRZC3jNvZvfMx3nsc7kUWPMLQpgwcHuoq5fWYk/s491/Dwayne%20Johnson.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="435" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzfDaI09pxNvtWedOZP2D6PzFhY9vGa7FnnenaP_V6C1CdP21xgSZlPykfWW4Q0UYpjVa3HbJ6fgcsmfwsqcZ5Fg4VRYu8wyZ9vzuDfXlUBiWnuy4SuWR4v7Zl5iZpt8wnNzESuG_KRYYXx_joWMuGQBRZC3jNvZvfMx3nsc7kUWPMLQpgwcHuoq5fWYk/s320/Dwayne%20Johnson.jpeg" width="284" /></span></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Johnson’s
father was a Black Nova Scotian and his mother (whose first name is Mataniufeagaimaleata
(!) but she went by the name Ata) is Samoan. Both parents were professional
wrestlers.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Citing
Wikipedia again, Dwayne Douglas Johnson (b. 1972), “also known by his ring name
The Rock, is an American actor, businessman, and professional wrestler. He is…widely
regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Recently,
however, Johnson has been in the news because of teaming up with Oprah to raise
and provide much-needed financial and housing relief for the many people
suffering from the Maui, Hawaii, wildfires in 2023, the deadliest U.S.
wildfires in at least 100 years. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJWqgFkbuWg">Here is the link</a> to
Johnson’s impressive (and brief) acceptance speech for his Inspiration Ikon,
which was also awarded in November 2023. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Black
History Month </b>every February is an important time to recognize prominent
African Americans of the past as well as contemporary Black people of
distinction who are shaping Black history that will be remembered decades from
now.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">_____<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> <b> *</b>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">This is the opening sentence
of the Wikipedia article on TheGrio (often written as theGrio)—and it needs to
be updated as African-American is now not generally used as a hyphenated word
nor used as much as Black. </span><a href="https://thegrio.com/about/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Here is a link</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> to theGrio’s webpage with their
explanation about themselves—and I encourage you to take a look at that website.
(Note that Grio is pronounced grī/ō.) I was a bit surprised to learn that it is
available on channel 62-2, a free local channel, here in the Kansas City area.</span>
<o:p></o:p></span></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>**</b>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">I was interested to see</span>
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">that, for my granddaughter
Naomi is currently a student at UMBC. </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>LKSeathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08860725174433173015noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355086750486200439.post-62842399433222756882024-02-10T05:30:00.000-06:002024-02-10T05:30:22.899-06:00A Tribute to My Mother<p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="text-align: justify;">My
mother was born 110 years ago in February 1914. Her birthday was on Friday the
13</span><sup style="text-align: justify;">th</sup><span style="text-align: justify;">, right between Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, which was 105 years
earlier on Feb. 12, 1809, and St. Valentine’s Day, which had been celebrated on
Feb. 14 since 496 A.D.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>In
2017, I posted <span style="font-family: inherit;">“</span></b><a href="https://theviewfromthisseat.blogspot.com/2017/07/a-tribute-to-my-father.html"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">A
Tribute to My Father</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">,”</span> </b>on July 25, the day before the 10<sup>th</sup>
anniversary of his death. Now, just before the 110<sup>th</sup> anniversary of
my mother’s birth, I am posting this tribute to her.<b>*<sup>1 </sup></b></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-VfYrI_YZB3Sc1GjziwnlmmTfXjvpyCm2-H-tQUPCFub0WKJA_hbbCYhiNqpn57shTbYH7ARH3z0jMNByS6Zeqn8I14a2njPtgWQ9S-dNtWn0Vgj_UrmaizgSA5qZWJIRYUGXQIRLKJ1EgI4QURjQPnOWkMKA2Bak8030bDnkO1FDNw7AyCnfOrDX_ko/s480/Mom.05.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="341" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-VfYrI_YZB3Sc1GjziwnlmmTfXjvpyCm2-H-tQUPCFub0WKJA_hbbCYhiNqpn57shTbYH7ARH3z0jMNByS6Zeqn8I14a2njPtgWQ9S-dNtWn0Vgj_UrmaizgSA5qZWJIRYUGXQIRLKJ1EgI4QURjQPnOWkMKA2Bak8030bDnkO1FDNw7AyCnfOrDX_ko/w219-h320/Mom.05.png" width="219" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Helen (Cousins) Seat (2005)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><b style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large; text-align: center;"></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">To
tell the truth, from my boyhood until the end of their lives, I held my father
in higher regard than my mother, although certainly I never had any notable
conflict or disrespect for her. I am glad now to be sharing this long-overdue
tribute to her. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Helen Lena Cousins was born in rural Mercer County,
Missouri, the third child (and third daughter) of J. Ray and Laura Kathryn
(Hamilton) Cousins. In 1925 the Cousins family moved to Worth County, Mo. </span><span style="color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Mom and my father were married in 1935, two years after
they graduated from high school in Grant City, Mo.—the same high school I
graduated from 22 years later. She passed away 13 days after her 94<sup>th </sup>birthday
in 2008, having lived most of her long life in Worth County.</span><span style="color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>There
is so much I appreciate about my mother</b>, beginning with my pre-school
years. Neither of my parents had any formal education beyond high school, and
Mom had not been a very good student as a girl. (She had to repeat one grade in
elementary school, but that was partly because of illness.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">As a woman of her times, she was a traditional wife, mother, and
homemaker in the best sense of the word. She was a good housekeeper, an
excellent cook, a skillful seamstress, and a successful gardener. But more than
anything else, she excelled in encouragement and support. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">In
my life story book, I wrote that Mom “seemed to know how to encourage/support
very effectively my desire to learn.”<b>*<sup>2</sup></b> Thanks to her, I had
learned to read and to do arithmetic so well that a week after I started
elementary school, I was promoted to the second grade. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Through
the decades Mom’s unwavering support and encouragement continued not only for
me and my younger sister but also for her six grandchildren, whom she loved
dearly. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">In
1966 when June and I left with our two children for Japan as missionaries,
taking with us Mom’s only grandchildren at the time, she never complained. I
deeply appreciate her (and my father’s) understanding and prayer support of us
during our missionary career in Japan which didn’t end until 2004.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>The
following words of tribute</b> to my mother were heard by the family members
and friends who gathered on March 1, 2008, for her funeral and listened to the
sermon I preached on that occasion. I am glad to share just a bit of that
sermon with you Thinking Friends now.<b>*<sup>3</sup></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">In it,
I said that because of Mom’s quiet encouragement, my
sister Ann became a medical doctor and I was able to earn the Ph.D. degree. But
she was never pushy; she never tried to tell us what we ought to do. With only
rare exceptions, if any, Mom always believed in us and always encouraged us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Since Mom always took great pride in her children and their accomplishments,
"we thought that nothing would have pleased her more today than for Ann to
furnish the music and for me to preach the funeral sermon.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Through the many decades of her life, Mom was a faithful Christian
and church member. She “was constantly thinking of others—mainly her husband
and children, but others outside the family and around the world, as well.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Mom was also never one to complain—about her work or her health.
She didn’t read a lot, but she knew by nature what Norman Vincent Peale wrote
about in <i>The Power of Positive Thinking</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">At times in her later years when she was not feeling well and
someone would inquire about her health, she would usually reply, “I’m getting
better.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After
sharing those words in the funeral sermon, partly because the end of her long
life was marred by progressive dementia, I said that “now
she really is better—and in a better place, the place that Jesus had prepared
for her.”</span><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">_____<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">*<sup>1 </sup></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Ten years ago, on 2/13/14, I posted
“</span><a href="https://theviewfromthisseat.blogspot.com/2014/02/one-hundred-years-ago.html"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">One Hundred Years Ago</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">,” but only a few sentences at the
beginning were about my mother’s birth on 2/13/1914. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">*<sup>2</sup></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> About six weeks ago I published <i>A
Wonderful Life: The Story of My Life from My Birth until My 85<sup>th</sup>
Birthday (1938~2023)</i>. One definite reason why I have been so bold as to
refer to my life so far as a wonderful life is because of my mother. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">*<sup>3</sup></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> I certainly don’t expect many of
you to take the time to read all or even any of that sermon, but if you are
interested, </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_KqA-SbhNSa1zKsKUCpABgUlmTrOvbUGpS2jOA_Wnhk/edit"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">here is the digital link</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> to it. In March 1959, 49 years
earlier, I also preached the sermon at my mother’s mother’s (my Grandma
Cousins’) funeral when I was still a twenty-year-old college student—but
already an ordained pastor. </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>LKSeathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08860725174433173015noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355086750486200439.post-60986869208972567892024-01-30T05:32:00.000-06:002024-01-30T05:32:12.096-06:00 90 SECONDS TO MIDNIGHT (=Doomsday)!<p></p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A
week ago (on Jan. 23), the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced the
setting of what they call the Doomsday Clock. Contrary to my expectation, the
clock was set the same as last year: 90 seconds to midnight (with midnight representing
“doomsday”).</span></span></h4><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf0B04ezrlDECNnd2pCe2tUg_K5SUUIelCr9i14BjffCU8oT45FLodOO9wonwmcU0oTgIG2RzjGTNROx9GCZiNP0aVPLce38r-a2qwQKNivsGNxkqsvpRv33oS2qz-0htoAcznIMvEw4D_Nnqydbpr4w1Tz2hBEnMAc2JTeHDy_s-bN_i35bWwn5Il1zg/s325/90%20seconds%20to%20midnight.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="254" data-original-width="325" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf0B04ezrlDECNnd2pCe2tUg_K5SUUIelCr9i14BjffCU8oT45FLodOO9wonwmcU0oTgIG2RzjGTNROx9GCZiNP0aVPLce38r-a2qwQKNivsGNxkqsvpRv33oS2qz-0htoAcznIMvEw4D_Nnqydbpr4w1Tz2hBEnMAc2JTeHDy_s-bN_i35bWwn5Il1zg/s320/90%20seconds%20to%20midnight.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>For
75 years now</b>, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has been announcing the
setting of the Doomsday Clock. That nonprofit organization was founded in 1945 by
Albert Einstein and former Manhattan Project scientists. They introduced the
Doomsday Clock two years later.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
first setting of the Clock was seven minutes to midnight. In 1949, with the
explosion of a nuclear device by the Soviet Union and the beginning of the arms
race, it was reset to three minutes before midnight. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
testing of the hydrogen bomb in 1952 led to resetting the Clock in the
following January to just two minutes before doomsday. Relations between the
U.S. and the USSR improved over the next few years, though, and in 1960 the
hands on the Clock were moved back to seven minutes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Over
the next decades, the Doomsday Clock kept going up and down, reaching the
farthest from midnight, 17 minutes, in 1991. But in 2002 it was back to seven
minutes and has never been further since. In 2015 it was back down to three
minutes where it started in 1947.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In
January last year, the Clock was set at <b>90 seconds</b>. the closest to
midnight it had ever been, and it was kept at that setting last week. I expected
it to be set even closer to “doomsday” because of the threat of expanding, and
perhaps nuclear, war in the Levant.<b>*</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The
threat of nuclear war</b> was the main basis for setting the Doomsday Clock for
the first 60 years. In 2007, however, climate change was added to the prospect
of nuclear annihilation as another portentous threat to humankind, and the hands
on the Clock were set at five minutes to midnight. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
announcement regarding this year’s setting of the Clock stated that there were four
main considerations for determining that setting: 1) the many dimensions of
nuclear threat, 2) an ominous climate change outlook, 3) evolving biological
threats, and 4) the dangers of AI.<b>**</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>How
should we respond to the current setting of the Doomsday Clock? </b>This question
surely demands our thoughtful attention. Let me suggest three things:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">1) <span style="color: #9c0000;">Don’t ignore
the Doomsday Clock. </span>It would be easy to shrug off the Clock’s warning
because of denial, indifference, or the unwillingness to face seriously the present
predicament the world is in—or even just due to the pressure of meeting the demands
of our everyday lives.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">2) <span style="color: #9c0000;">Don’t let the
Doomsday Clock get you down. </span>Depression, of course, is the result of feeling
“down” for whatever reason. Too much attention to the Clock can certainly cause
depression. Just as we shouldn’t ignore the clock, neither should we think
about it “all the time.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">3) <span style="color: #9c0000;">Work
actively to elect candidates of the better political party, </span>that is, the
party working more consistently to deal with the dire problems besetting the
whole world. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">On the website linked to in the second
footnote, we are told that the threats the world is currently facing “are of
such a character and magnitude that no one nation or leader can bring them
under control.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">They go on to state that “three of the
world’s leading powers—the United States, China, and Russia—should commence
serious dialogue about each of the global threats.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Further, they contend that those three
countries “need to take responsibility for the existential danger the world now
faces. They have the capacity to pull the world back from the brink of
catastrophe. They should do so, with clarity and courage, and without delay.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I am not at all optimistic, though, that the
three countries mentioned will even begin to do most of what is necessary to
move the hands on the Doomsday Clock farther from midnight. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But I am quite sure there is much more
possibility of that being done under the Democratic Party in the U.S. rather
than by the MAGA party, which includes so many xenophobic people who, among other things, are also global warming and pandemic deniers--as well as deniers of the clear results of the 2020 presidential election. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">_____<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.25in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> <b>*</b> I previously wrote about the
Doomsday Clock in August 2020 (</span><a href="https://theviewfromthisseat.blogspot.com/2020/08/100-seconds-to-midnight.html"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">see here</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">) and mentioned it briefly (</span><a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/the-doomsday-clock-is-still-at-90-seconds-to-midnight-but-what-does-that-mean-101706328958102.html"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">) in March 2018. Some things now
are much the same, but there are some distinct differences also. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; tab-stops: 13.5pt .25in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Note too that the Doomsday Clock
elicits attention from around the world. See, for example, this Jan. 17 article
from the <i>Hindustan Times</i>, an <span style="background: white; color: #202122;">Indian
</span><span style="background: white;">English</span><span style="background: white; color: #202122;">-language </span><span style="background: white;">daily newspaper </span><span style="background: white; color: #202122;">based in </span><span style="background: white;">Delhi. </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">**</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> See </span><a href="https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/current-time/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">here</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> for the official “2024 Doomsday
Day Clock Statement” and related information. </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>LKSeathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08860725174433173015noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355086750486200439.post-45472493918768939932024-01-20T05:28:00.004-06:002024-01-26T06:52:13.075-06:00 The Challenge of the Golden Rule<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Golden
Rule is something “everyone” knows but hardly anyone follows to a significant degree.
In this post, I want to think with you about the meaning and practice (or lack
thereof) of the Golden Rule and the challenge it presents in one concrete
problem facing USAmerican society today. </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="737" data-original-width="2304" height="127" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqANvkOn4L2RmOoxo4xtbFEOoagn_uzKy7qD2WyCyWsBclN7cdF72fQsW7XJTDwaLybIWhfke_Dj_6ZeZtVk1l8UZiV5ipQAerZxgfMOJZGctQNrGh-ljiK3zVDpm0vVbaCvvV3EZRMaen7NR8LPFwsDHmFAczKrO6hNG9Q7QJBujnZ0T_HFjv7cvunG4/w400-h127/The%20Golden%20Rule.jpeg" width="400" /></span></div><p></p><h4 style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><b><span style="color: #a66500;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Golden Rule in Christianity and Other Religions</span></span></b></h4><p style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="color: #2c2d30; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“<i>Do unto others as you would have
others do unto you</i>” (Matt. 7:12), words of Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount,
have been referred to as the Golden Rule since the 17<sup>th</sup> century. Similar
words, though, were said/written in other religious traditions before and after
Jesus.<b>*<sup>1</sup></b><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="color: #2c2d30; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Of
special interest is the statement of Hillel, the esteemed Jewish rabbi who died
about 10 years after Jesus’ birth</span><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif">.
He reportedly said, “</span><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">What is hateful to yourself, do to no
other.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif">This negative version of the Golden
Rule, sometimes called the Silver Rule, is often expressed, “</span><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif">What you do not wish done to you, do not
do to others.” Similar words are found in ancient Hindu and Buddhist texts, as
seen in this image: </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT2PMXeCGmV53ztVbercpDOID8BU8I-Q_hQ5iEdHdYXK7ZwEvxrj5z3S4NLrsKtRl0C0TN6pfhuybkQD2FjT-QYNuAJiqIWyIFrmMbOCIj-jQgLB2dKjxKRKqUI6lOZ44uEtQml-JokIhcjOdWFuQ21_F0pG_ronNGZv6u1Q3KVdOJToSHR1n-NfM-EEA/s1002/Golden%20rule%20in%20varioius%20religions..jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1002" data-original-width="537" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT2PMXeCGmV53ztVbercpDOID8BU8I-Q_hQ5iEdHdYXK7ZwEvxrj5z3S4NLrsKtRl0C0TN6pfhuybkQD2FjT-QYNuAJiqIWyIFrmMbOCIj-jQgLB2dKjxKRKqUI6lOZ44uEtQml-JokIhcjOdWFuQ21_F0pG_ronNGZv6u1Q3KVdOJToSHR1n-NfM-EEA/w342-h640/Golden%20rule%20in%20varioius%20religions..jpg" width="342" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify;">It
is interesting that the words of the five major religions seen here, the Muslim
words are closest to the words of Jesus. </span><a href="https://muslimmatters.org/2020/03/25/the-prophets-golden-rule-ethics-of-reciprocity-in-islam/" style="text-align: justify;">One
source</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> states, “</span><span style="text-align: justify;">According to Anas ibn Mālik (d.
712), the Prophet [Mohammed] said: “None of you has faith until he loves for
his brother what he loves for himself’.”</span></div></span><p></p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">What about
the Platinum Rule?</span></span></h4><p style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="color: #2c2d30; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Some people are critical of the Golden
Rule and say it should be replaced by what they call the Platinum
Rule: “Treat others the way <em>they </em>would like to be treated.” This
shifts the focus from what <i>you </i>want to what others want. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="color: #2c2d30; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Jennifer Furlong, a motivational
speaker and advocate for personal growth gave a </span><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcdiDnQ9-DQ&t=169s">TEDx talk</a></span><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="color: #2c2d30; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">
titled “The Golden Rule Not so Much, Platinum Rule Rocks.” In that talk, she declares
that the Golden Rule is terrible relationship advice and urges people to use
the Platinum Rule instead.</span><b><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif">
*<sup>2</sup></span></b><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="color: #2c2d30; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="color: #2c2d30; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There is certainly merit in this
emphasis on the (poorly named?) Platinum Rule. Thinking about what others want or
need and seeking to respond to those wants/needs is a worthy challenge for us
all. But so many people don’t even come close to meeting the challenge of the
Golden Rule.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="color: #2c2d30; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Let me illustrate this with one
contemporary issue. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><h4 style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><b><span style="color: #ed0000;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Golden Rule and the Current Immigration Crisis</span></span></b></h4><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
number of immigrants crossing the southern border of the U.S. is one of the
most contentious issues facing our nation at present, and it raises a lot of
red flags for many. A shutdown of the government almost happened because of the
strong disagreement between the pro- and anti-immigration legislators. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Further,
before long the Republican House of Representatives will likely impeach <span style="background: white;">Homeland Security </span>Secretary Alejandro
Mayorkas. Republicans have repeatedly accused Mayorkas of failing to enforce
the nation's laws as a record number of migrants arrived at, and crossed, the U.S.-Mexico
border.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
clamor to “close the border” is actively supported by many conservative White
evangelicals. But how does one obey the Golden Rule and turn away people,
including families, fleeing violence and starvation?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">One
tragic example is that of a Mexican woman and two of her children who drowned last
week seeking to cross the Rio Grande at Eagle Pass, Texas. Mexican authorities
requested help from the U.S. Border Patrol, but they were denied access to the
area by the Texas State Police and National Guard.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So,
if you were there in the place of that mother, what would you want others to do
to/for you? Of course, you would want them to do all they could to rescue you
and your children.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">How
could people claim to follow the Golden Rule but do nothing to help those
seeking refuge from violence and extreme economic hardship? <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Some
have claimed that we are human <i>beings</i>, not human <i>doings</i>. That may
be true, but be sure to note that the first word of the Golden Rule is <b><i>do</i>.</b>
<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">_____<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>*<sup>1</sup></b> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">The </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Rule"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Wikipedia
article</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> gives a
helpful summary of the variety of ways the Golden Rule has been expressed by
numerous religious leaders and secular scholars.</span> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 6pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif">*<sup>2</sup></span><sup> </sup></b><span style="font-family: times;">That 2017 talk was
loaded on YouTube, and to date it has had around 12,000 views. It is a bit
ironic, though, that in contrast to what once was usually the case, gold is now
worth considerably more than platinum. Even at the end of 2017 an ounce of gold
was worth $1,300 but an ounce of platinum was worth only $940. </span><span style="color: #2c2d30;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>*<sup>3</sup></b> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">See </span><a href="https://steady.substack.com/p/update-the-family-who-died-at-eagle"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">this article</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> posted on January 16.</span> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Although it is about a bridge some 300 miles southeast
of Eagle Pass, I also suggest you read </span><a href="https://baptistnews.com/article/fellowship-southwest-joins-bridge-walk-to-draw-attention-to-broken-asylum-system/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">this Jan. 17 article</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> titled “Fellowship Southwest joins
bridge walk to draw attention to broken asylum system.”<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">P.S.</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">: Here is a 1967 Wizard of Id comic
strip by Johnny Hart: </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN_JOMyPtDK4Z8YxsRIEajrIy4LpaFaB5h74T4brM1TV7ow5k6wc6DqE1bFCqqyqzgUPsfVTirt-KfANfymRmmri3oWmPxTlnvExwRBqQFymeXeUpUiCxKdpZt5uqVpaFU7DkgtZo40xoUb3OFVo6UdAgWTKKaNhnUSWdAaRRL-bEm_fCSp8CVIWLehbY/s600/Golden%20rule%20in%20Wizard%20of%20Id.1967.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="267" data-original-width="600" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN_JOMyPtDK4Z8YxsRIEajrIy4LpaFaB5h74T4brM1TV7ow5k6wc6DqE1bFCqqyqzgUPsfVTirt-KfANfymRmmri3oWmPxTlnvExwRBqQFymeXeUpUiCxKdpZt5uqVpaFU7DkgtZo40xoUb3OFVo6UdAgWTKKaNhnUSWdAaRRL-bEm_fCSp8CVIWLehbY/w640-h285/Golden%20rule%20in%20Wizard%20of%20Id.1967.gif" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p>LKSeathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08860725174433173015noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355086750486200439.post-32941663976394263392024-01-10T05:29:00.001-06:002024-01-11T12:35:26.297-06:00 Looking Back, Looking Ahead<p><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In
her December 31 sermon, my pastor told us about Sankofa, a concept/symbol that
comes from the Akan people who live mainly in Ghana. I had not previously heard
of Sankofa, but Pastor Ruth’s use of that idea on Dec. 31 was surely appropriate.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sankofa
is also appropriate for us to think about now in this second week of the new
year. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNTiIznZAykOlCjSXSLsBFSZHntbj_GGJ7fcqpA24MROWRpmp2S3fRB0VmV51scCsIoIyd2ZXHSu55JIbzhXzxhiaWBA92q6SOq5guAwwDvu5n9s605gcujZlTQPdyLgTLFI-Doy8wgqisGHgNUSPtrM709hGZKoddV_0MI432NBq9Yh-NLUfR71Zyrus/s1123/Sankofa.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="627" data-original-width="1123" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNTiIznZAykOlCjSXSLsBFSZHntbj_GGJ7fcqpA24MROWRpmp2S3fRB0VmV51scCsIoIyd2ZXHSu55JIbzhXzxhiaWBA92q6SOq5guAwwDvu5n9s605gcujZlTQPdyLgTLFI-Doy8wgqisGHgNUSPtrM709hGZKoddV_0MI432NBq9Yh-NLUfR71Zyrus/w400-h224/Sankofa.png" width="400" /></span></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Sankofa
is often illustrated as a beautiful bird</b> with its head turned backward taking
an egg off its back. It symbolizes the West African proverb about the
importance of reaching back to the past, learning from it, and using that
knowledge to create a more desirable future. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">According
to what ChatGPT told me, “The Sankofa is deeply rooted in African philosophy
and is often used to emphasize the significance of cultural heritage, knowledge
and the interconnectedness of past, present, and future.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As Pastor Ruth showed us in her sermon, this symbol is at the very top of the new
(2019) Sankofa Peace Window at the New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church
in Chicago. (<a href="https://www.newmountpilgrim.com/gallery">Click here</a>
to see a picture of that impressive window.)** <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It
is certainly appropriate for African American people to use the Sankofa symbol
as they seek to acknowledge their past heritage in endeavoring to create a
better future for themselves in this country.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">That
same emphasis, though, is something we all, regardless of race or nationality,
can borrow and apply to our lives with considerable benefit at the beginning of
this new year.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Sankofa
can be linked to the ancient Roman god Janus</b>, the god with two faces, one
looking forward and the other one backward. The English word January, as you
probably know, is named after Janus. <br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRFlWcY7sRqIGdjvsly4ViWGIhmTgUmR7l3gOu-Y7Prm7L6Ys3OKPFXXIUE1q3lSZGOntUDb3SH-7nVkgcT8VIdYVPtii8QNFdgIW71BpFk50P5IlD-qXeDtbwket1UrLlJ1ULTd5mdzZFnor-wR6XqgjCq84N9_fBIN5QYGZn4EF6FDeHaK3VEEX45Bc/s143/zy38c11a.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="136" data-original-width="143" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRFlWcY7sRqIGdjvsly4ViWGIhmTgUmR7l3gOu-Y7Prm7L6Ys3OKPFXXIUE1q3lSZGOntUDb3SH-7nVkgcT8VIdYVPtii8QNFdgIW71BpFk50P5IlD-qXeDtbwket1UrLlJ1ULTd5mdzZFnor-wR6XqgjCq84N9_fBIN5QYGZn4EF6FDeHaK3VEEX45Bc/s1600/zy38c11a.png" width="143" /></span></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Both
Sankofa and Janus symbolize a dual-faced looking backward and forward, but Sankofa
is more noteworthy. Janus was primarily the god of beginnings and transitions,
associated with the passage of time and the start of a new phase.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sankofa
is more meaningful, though, because it places a significant emphasis on <i>learning</i>
from the past for the benefit of the future.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Utilizing
the Sankofa concept in this critical year of 2024 </b>is of great importance<b>.
</b>We need to learn from the past year, or past few years, to help us make
wise decisions in this new year. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Many
things might be considered in this regard, and I encourage each of you to
consider what you can learn from your own past experiences to forge a better
future for yourself and your loved ones in the year ahead. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Here,
however, I want primarily to think with you about the debacle that took place three
years ago on January 6 in our nation’s Capitol. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">At a news conference last Thursday
(Jan. 4), Matthew Graves, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, said, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">On January 6, 2021, the United
States lost control of the grounds around its Capitol and most of the Capitol
itself. Thousands of people descended on the Capitol, and hundreds of people
within the mob used force and violence to overwhelm the vastly outnumbered law
enforcement officers protecting the building and those who work within it.<o:p></o:p></span></p></blockquote>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Then
on January 5, President Biden made an important speech in Pennsylvania, not far
from Valley Forge, where <span style="background: white;">General George
Washington quartered his troops from December 1777 to June 1778 during the
Revolutionary War. </span><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: white;">That war, the President said, was about </span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“</span>Freedom,
liberty, democracy.” “Valley Forge,” he emphasized, “tells the story of the
pain and the suffering and the true patriotism it took to make America.” But three
years ago, when insurrectionists tried to stop the peaceful transfer of power
on January 6, 2021, “we nearly…lost it all.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When
all the facts are examined, it seems undeniable that by his words and actions, the
45<sup>th</sup> President of the U.S. was the one who instigated the violence
of that unruly mob.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>For
the sake of preserving the democracy</b> that has been at the heart of this
nation from the beginning, it is imperative that we look back and properly
assess the events of Jan. 6, 2021, and look ahead to November with the resolve to
do all we can to keep Donald Trump from becoming the 47<sup>th</sup> POTUS.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">_____<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">** This is the third remarkable
stained-glass window installed in that church since the MAAFA Remembrance
Window was unveiled in 2000. <span style="background: white;">The term “maafa” is a Swahili word that means “great disaster”
or “great tragedy.” It is often used to refer to the African Holocaust or the
transatlantic slave trade, during which millions of Africans were captured,
enslaved, and transported to the Americas and other parts of the world (ChatGPT).
The window pictures a representation of Christ whose torso contains a schematic
of a slave ship.</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Note</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">: Last week I discovered that a
novel titled <i>Sankofa</i> was published in 2021, and I am reading it now and
finding it quite interesting. It is by Chibundu Onuzo, a woman born in Nigeria
in 1991 and who has lived in England since 2005. It was <a href="https://reesesbookclub.com/">Reese Witherspoon’s book club</a> “pick” for
Oct. 2021. </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj39IQgFA4emJ3wMt7oJR6BgrYbeTxI08n2Tt4IgVsZBHkjuP4ROyWzANPnhGZQkg649961weVccg55g9YqL-3wMmjWDM6smk1-kzeyCVLtkN9Y50LTxqhR_KNbNsUM1appuWI8whVDCtKUy4tbHDiA3d0MT8MLOBFXlt13p6csJU_9poBJMnhdwDdZHTQ/s982/Sankofa%20book%20(2).jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="982" data-original-width="663" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj39IQgFA4emJ3wMt7oJR6BgrYbeTxI08n2Tt4IgVsZBHkjuP4ROyWzANPnhGZQkg649961weVccg55g9YqL-3wMmjWDM6smk1-kzeyCVLtkN9Y50LTxqhR_KNbNsUM1appuWI8whVDCtKUy4tbHDiA3d0MT8MLOBFXlt13p6csJU_9poBJMnhdwDdZHTQ/s320/Sankofa%20book%20(2).jpeg" width="216" /></span></a></div><br /><o:p></o:p><p></p>LKSeathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08860725174433173015noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355086750486200439.post-71765642830233446792024-01-01T09:09:00.001-06:002024-01-01T09:33:53.023-06:00In This New Year, Let’s Respect the Humanity of Everyone<p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: large; text-align: left;">In December, I
finished (slightly) revising and updating the 2020 book I wrote primarily for
my children and grandchildren, the subtitle of which now is </span><i style="font-size: large; text-align: left;">The Story of My
Life from My Birth to My 85<sup>th</sup> Birthday (1938~2023)</i><span style="font-size: large; text-align: left;">. My daughter
Kathy (who lives nearby) helped in several ways, including doing some proofreading. </span></p></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf2ggVgPls9urFwi1h9FQWG0bt5mLc9Wc1GiBM4ODMQ1doBeLVS4293FV9fnFesrdtWLRPGuNsxWGtFpLfahfBaiLgi9i71lGlcbyhIZN_qWHovgK-JY-uDTiKdb8jtCsnsABFy8aJKpuiQG1NQPv6r51Yu_hEHfFjtjyPycIHn8szg6dZAaSCRlW3CJM/s800/Happy%20New%20Year.2024.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="800" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf2ggVgPls9urFwi1h9FQWG0bt5mLc9Wc1GiBM4ODMQ1doBeLVS4293FV9fnFesrdtWLRPGuNsxWGtFpLfahfBaiLgi9i71lGlcbyhIZN_qWHovgK-JY-uDTiKdb8jtCsnsABFy8aJKpuiQG1NQPv6r51Yu_hEHfFjtjyPycIHn8szg6dZAaSCRlW3CJM/s320/Happy%20New%20Year.2024.webp" width="320" /></span></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>A few times in my book, I used the word
Black(s) </b>to refer to African American people. Kathy, who is a teacher of
gifted students in the local public school system, said that that terminology
should be changed, and referred to the current recommendations of the APA in
that regard.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In their style guide
for writing, the American Psychological Association (APA) lists some “general
principles for reducing bias,” one of which is “be sensitive to labels.” In
that regard is this directive: “Acknowledge people’s humanity.” They went on to
say,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"></p><blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;">Choose labels with
sensitivity, ensuring that the individuality and humanity of people are
respected. Avoid using adjectives as nouns to label people…or labels that
equate people with their condition.<o:p></o:p></span></blockquote><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Although there are some descendants of
enslaved people in this country who reportedly prefer to term Black to African
American, I soon agreed with the APA’s guidelines, and with my insightful
daughter.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>This insight is something I heard more
than 60 years ago</b> from Wayne Oates, the professor of my seminary course in
Pastoral Counseling.<b>*</b> I have not, though, sufficiently or consistently put
that perspective into practice.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I still remember Dr. Oates telling us “preacher
boys” (and I don’t remember even one female student in that course I took in
1961 or ’62) that in our work as pastors, we shouldn’t say things like we’re going
to visit the sick or the elderly. Rather, we should always refer to them as
sick or elderly people. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Oates, who had a Ph.D. in religious
psychology, was emphasizing then what the APA is still stressing now:
adjectives should not be used as nouns to label people. The humanity of all
people should always be recognized. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Even the humanity of
our enemies must be affirmed. That is one thing that impressed me when I read the
<i>Sojourners</i> article that introduced and included an interview with Ali
Abu Awwad, the Palestinian pacifist I wrote about in my previous blog post.<b>**</b>
That article begins with these words:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"></p><blockquote><i><blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;">A core principle of
nonviolence is recognizing the humanity of your opponent.<o:p></o:p></span></blockquote></i></blockquote><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Considerable progress has been made in
this regard</b> in recent years. In the public media, “slaves” are now usually
referred to as enslaved people. Such language choice separates people's
identity from their circumstance.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And just the other day, I was surprised to
hear a newscaster on the radio refer to “people experiencing homelessness”
rather than “the homeless.” That was another example of people’s humanity being
emphasized over their current condition. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But what about Awwad’s emphasis on
recognizing the humanity of one’s opponents or enemies? It is certainly
commendable that as a Palestinian man he can see the humanity of the Israelis
who incarcerated him. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Can Israelis or even us in this in country,
though, recognize the humanity of Palestinians affiliated with Hamas? It is
certainly easier to demonize such people—and the enemy in every war is
demonized. That makes it much easier to kill them. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As an advocate of nonviolence, I agree with
Awwad’s recognition of the humanity of all people, including enemies. After
all, Jesus said to his followers, <i>“…love your enemies and pray for those who
harass you</i>” (Matt. 5:44, CEB).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Hamas fighters are usually called
terrorists, and not without reason. But if we follow the guidelines given
above, perhaps they should be called “desperate people engaging in terrorism [=the
use of intentional violence and fear to achieve political or ideological aims].”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I do not in any way condone the 10/7 violent
attacks on Israel. But I do want to affirm their humanity, and that affirmation
comes partly from recognizing their legitimate grievances at the way
Palestinians have been treated since 1948. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There is no telling what may happen, in the Levant
or the world as a whole, in this new year of 2024. But among other things, let
us always endeavor to respect the humanity of all people.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">_____<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b> *</b> In my <a href="https://theviewfromthisseat.blogspot.com/2014/10/thank-god-for-wise-teachers-and.html">10/20/14
blog post</a>
I wrote that Wayne Oates was “probably the wisest teacher I ever sat under.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="text-align: right;">
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>**</b>
</span><span style="font-size: medium;">Only after
making my previous blog post did I learn that Awwad was one of two men awarded
this year’s Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development in
December. That award was bestowed on Awwad for his “efforts towards a
non-violent resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict.” That prestigious Peace
Prize has been awarded annually since its establishment in 1986. Jimmy Carter
was the recipient of it in 1997.</span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>LKSeathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08860725174433173015noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355086750486200439.post-67555075771957051622023-12-21T05:24:00.004-06:002023-12-21T05:44:20.585-06:00 Standing for Peace in a Time of War<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It has now been
nearly 11 weeks since the deadly rocket attack on Israel that began the Israel-Hamas
war. Most of the military destruction has occurred in Gaza, and most deaths have
been of Palestinians who were not directly a part of Hamas, <span style="background: white; color: #111111;">an acronym for Islamic Resistance
Movement</span>, its official name. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ3nX_Nkxo2PYck9MUcDZjIMhktntiVg9EJDqJaUOq_EWZJAJdtzWjyJUgMY5zRqZ_ZxUnmgPgYK7DPQ-47s6EFTs3rFiU5yYXD0RC1AmeNiVMhLD692WKBlzUMsAwP8GnVDtXCNEy7ZyZiHcyMR2dauOQA86Snf1-3CHuPSWUdQedJWQmHoa0zflmCt8/s400/Enough!.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="312" data-original-width="400" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ3nX_Nkxo2PYck9MUcDZjIMhktntiVg9EJDqJaUOq_EWZJAJdtzWjyJUgMY5zRqZ_ZxUnmgPgYK7DPQ-47s6EFTs3rFiU5yYXD0RC1AmeNiVMhLD692WKBlzUMsAwP8GnVDtXCNEy7ZyZiHcyMR2dauOQA86Snf1-3CHuPSWUdQedJWQmHoa0zflmCt8/s320/Enough!.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="background: white; color: #111111;">The destruction and death toll in Gaza has
been horrendous</span></b><span style="background: white; color: #111111;">. Make
no mistake about it: the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel was an evil event. Wantonly
killing more than 1,200 people, most of whom were civilians, cannot be characterized
differently.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; color: #111111;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But I also see Israel’s revengeful attacks
on Gaza as even more evil, for far more innocent lives have been taken. The
latest figures indicate that around 20,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been
killed by the Israeli Defense Forces military. How much greater that is than “an
eye for an eye”!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; color: #111111;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A large percentage of Palestinian deaths
are of women and children, and as children (and others) dying of starvation and
disease will increase in the days/weeks ahead, Palestinian casualties will
continue to rise to ever more distressing numbers. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="background: white; color: #111111;">The U.S. government has clearly
supported Israel </span></b><span style="background: white; color: #111111;">from
its beginning in 1948, and this support is even more distressing to me now.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As a U.S. citizen,
I am highly displeased with the stance of the federal government. The U.S. has given
Israel more than $260 billion of aid since World War II, more than to any other
nation. In October, the Administration asked Congress to provide $14.3 billion of
emergency aid to Israel. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: white; color: #111111;">I have been quite disappointed in
President Biden’s public stance on support for Israel—but not as much as
Thinking Friend Mike Greer, who on Dec. 15 </span><span style="background: white;">posted his strong views on this blogsite:
</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: white;">Biden's role in
the creation of a hell on earth in Gaza leaves me with little hope for the
Democratic party here. I am wondering if he does not have a case of moral
dementia . . . . </span></span></blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; color: #111111;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But I don’t think Biden’s position is
any different from what any other President’s would be, including Hillary
Clinton (who could well have been nearing the end of her seventh year as
President if it had not been for her inexplicable loss in 2016).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; color: #111111;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Near Election Day in 2016 when I thought
Clinton’s election was assured, I wrote “an open letter to Madame President.”
Among other things, I implored her to ease up on her support for Israel in
order to lessen the injustice being done to the Palestinians. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="background: white; color: #111111;">There are, though, voices for non-violence
and peace,</span></b><span style="background: white; color: #111111;"> even among Palestinians.
Despite all the violence that has been unleashed on Gaza by Israel since
October 7, I am heartened by those who are still advocating peaceful responses.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; color: #111111;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Just last week, I learned about Ali Abu Awwad,
a prominent Palestinian peace activist and proponent of nonviolence.<b>*</b> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: white; color: #111111;">Awwad (b. 1972) </span>took part in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Intifada" title="First Intifada">First Intifada</a> as a
teenager and was subsequently sentenced to 10 years in prison. During the four
years before he was released, he read the writings of Gandhi, Mandela, and MLK Jr.
and embraced their commitment to non-violence. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; color: #111111;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In 2016 he co-founded Taghyeer (the Arabic
word for <i>change</i>), a Palestinian national movement promoting nonviolence
to achieve and guarantee a nonviolent solution to the conflict between Israel
and the Palestinians. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">On the other side,
there is Jewish Voice for Peace in the U.S. Since its founding in 1996, it has
been working for “a world where all people—from the U.S. to Palestine—live in
freedom, justice, equality, and dignity.” (<a href="https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/about/#vision">see here</a>).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Also, Amanda
Gelender, a Jewish American anti-Zionist writer, has also recently stressed (<a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/israel-palestine-war-us-congress-zionism-menacing-message-jewish-faith">here</a>) that “Israel’s massacre of Palestine is an
assault on the Jewish faith.”<b>**</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; color: #111111;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So, in this war of Israel’s Defense
Force against Hamas which, broadly speaking, is seen as a Jewish war against Palestinians,
<b>which side am I on?</b> Without hesitation, <b>I am on the side of those standing
for peace and justice</b>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; color: #111111;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*****</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="background: white; color: red;">Merry Christmas</span></b><span style="background: white; color: red;"> </span><span style="background: white; color: #111111;">to all as people around the world celebrate the birth of one
prophesied to be the </span><b><span style="background: white; color: red;">Prince
of Peace</span></b></span><span style="background: white; color: #111111;"><span style="font-size: medium;">. </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; color: #111111;"><span style="font-size: medium;">_____<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> <b>*</b> The theme of the January 2024 issue
of <i>Sojourners</i> is “Nonviolence in a Time of War.” Their interview with Awwad
is titled “Nonviolence in the Face of War.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">**</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
Amanda Gelender is now based in the Netherlands. She has been a part of the
Palestinian solidarity movement since 2006. Her Dec. 7 article begins, “I <span style="background: white;">am a Jewish
person who opposes the settler colonial state of Israel. This is not despite my
Judaism, but because of it.”</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></p>LKSeathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08860725174433173015noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355086750486200439.post-5629875266793225332023-12-15T05:29:00.001-06:002023-12-15T05:35:49.396-06:00Crises within Crises<p><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">For this
blog post, I originally intended to write only about COP28, the international
meeting dealing with the ever-growing environmental crisis. Then, I read powerful
opinion pieces by Robert Kagan and became alarmed at the expanding political
crisis in the U.S.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">But
how can we neglect to consider the crises in Gaza, Ukraine, and other countries
where warfare continues, such as in Myanmar and Sudan that get far less press
coverage? In addition, there are millions of individuals in our world who are facing
personal crises of various sorts.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Indeed,
there are crises within crises that threaten the well-being and even the
survival of individuals, nations, and the world civilization as a whole. Please
think with me about these crises, beginning with the outer circle that includes
the whole world and moving down to the inner circle of individuals. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnL_ng6TLO9j9RnidwdLp3GEyoBSnZsfKH7ISz90oE3v1xlCLt7vKw_bog0ptclttaJB2bJ9RFmNO8hm4OzBZoOR_TCmyPJAc1ZStTS5AXjeJUark4LWfKaJ7uyfXqK_ZpTch67YMQBrMMExJthjTPzVUzjwu7XrhBXhrx37f26KXdCsInS4UPA420QHs/s242/Concentric%20circles.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="236" data-original-width="242" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnL_ng6TLO9j9RnidwdLp3GEyoBSnZsfKH7ISz90oE3v1xlCLt7vKw_bog0ptclttaJB2bJ9RFmNO8hm4OzBZoOR_TCmyPJAc1ZStTS5AXjeJUark4LWfKaJ7uyfXqK_ZpTch67YMQBrMMExJthjTPzVUzjwu7XrhBXhrx37f26KXdCsInS4UPA420QHs/w200-h195/Concentric%20circles.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>The
ever-growing environmental crisis </b>was the central concern of COP28, which
met in Dubai, the largest city in the United Arab Emirates, from Nov. 30 to
Dec. 12.<b>*<sup>1</sup></b> The first COP meeting, convened in Berlin, was in
1995 and there have been yearly meetings since then. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">As I
have repeatedly pointed out over the last two years, the current ecological
predicament is a crisis that threatens the very existence of the world as we
know it (TWAWKI). Some progress was made toward alleviating the global
environmental crisis at COP28, but it’s probably too little too late.<b>*<sup>2</sup></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">There
will be dire consequences for most of the world’s population if drastic changes
are not made soon, which is highly unlikely. This is the existential crisis in
which all the other crises exist.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>The
wars in Ukraine and Israel/Gaza are crises </b>for people living in those areas
of the world. But there is an ongoing possibility that they will expand into
larger wars. In the worst-case scenario, either of these wars could conceivably
escalate into World War III. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">These
crises are rather localized now, but they might conceivably enlarge to rival
the ecological crisis as an existential threat to TWAWKI.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>Within
these two larger crises is the political crisis </b>in the United States.<b> </b>While
this crisis is only brewing at present, there is a real and present danger of
democracy being replaced in the U.S. with a form of fascism. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">I had
not been aware of scholar and journalist Robert Kagan until this month, but he
is an editor at large for <i>The Washington Post </i>(WaPo) and has been a
foreign policy adviser to U.S. Republican presidential candidates as well as to
Democratic administrations via the Foreign Affairs Policy Board.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">During
the 2016 U.S. presidential election campaign, Kagan (b. 1958) left the Republican
Party due to the party's nomination of Donald Trump and endorsed Hillary
Clinton for president. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Kagan’s
Nov. 30 and Dec. 7 WaPo articles were titled “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/11/30/trump-dictator-2024-election-robert-kagan/">A
Trump dictatorship is increasingly inevitable. We should stop pretending</a>,”
and “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/12/07/robert-kagan-trump-dictatorship-how-to-stop/">The
Trump dictator-ship: How to stop it</a>.” (These are long pieces, but well worth
reading and reflecting on.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Some
Republican politicians are sounding the same warning. For example, former
Congresswoman Liz Cheney's new book (released Dec. 5) is titled <span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; letter-spacing: 0.25pt; padding: 0in;"><i>Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning. </i>(Hear her talk about
that in </span><a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/12/04/1216905473/liz-cheney-book-trump-reelection-republican-party"><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; letter-spacing: 0.25pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">this Dec. 4 interview</span></a><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; letter-spacing: 0.25pt; padding: 0in;"> on NPR.)</span><em><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0.25pt; padding: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></span></em></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><em><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #333333; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0.25pt; padding: 0in;">On Dec. 10, </span></em><em><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #333333; letter-spacing: 0.25pt; padding: 0in;">Sen. </span></em>Mitt Romney, the Republican
presidential candidate in 2012, expressed the same sentiment, although more
mildly, on “Meet the Press.”<b>*<sup>3</sup></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">There
is a lot that can happen between now and Election Day next November, but USAmericans
must be aware of the danger of losing their democracy—and minorities, the poor,
and the underprivileged are the ones who would suffer most under a non-democratic
government. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">We common
people may not be able to do much about the ecological crisis or the crisis in
Ukraine or Gaza, but we do have the power to vote and to encourage our friends
and neighbors to be informed and to vote accordingly.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>The
inner circle is the crisis of individuals </b>who are<b> </b>suffering from
illness, poverty, discrimination, or personal tragedies. We<i> </i>pray that
many of these people will experience new hope during this Christmas season. Who
is one such person you can help between now and December 25?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">_____
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b>*<sup>1</sup></b> COP stands for the Conference of
the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. (<a href="https://unfccc.int/">Click
here</a> to access the
UNFCCC website.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b>*<sup>2
</sup></b><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/14/cop28-winners-and-losers-fossil-fuel-climate-crisis">Here
is the link</a> to a helpful summary of the mixed results of COP28 on <i>The Guardian</i>’s
Dec. 14 website.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>*<sup>3</sup></b> See <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIXec1JoLyE">here</a></span><span style="font-size: medium;">;
Romney’s discussion of this matter begins at about 7 min. 45 sec. into the
program. </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>LKSeathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08860725174433173015noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355086750486200439.post-35147123377790360192023-12-07T05:29:00.002-06:002023-12-07T05:31:31.481-06:00In Honor of Ken Medema on his 80th Birthday<p><span style="font-size: medium; text-align: justify;">Today
is Pearl Harbor Day, but since I have mentioned that event in several past posts,
this one is about an outstanding man I consider to be a musical genius who was
born on the second anniversary of that tragic attack. </span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1AOjxph8F7yPn2wIoNcYyWd6jRYx3FqggX3W5fsAnsrwY8CDj3M_qoCUbAgO88uDm1EB_4rxKRdc92c8GBW8F45PuWFwV_moO3JuuyJbWv39H4iLBg5poV4NDqE0I8B1XVby_SZDBdl4wv8H6PkYwL0xFjrvkQkG9U8-xku0UmOCef74h-Jcgqrgq75I/s1170/Ken%20Medema.2019.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="1170" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1AOjxph8F7yPn2wIoNcYyWd6jRYx3FqggX3W5fsAnsrwY8CDj3M_qoCUbAgO88uDm1EB_4rxKRdc92c8GBW8F45PuWFwV_moO3JuuyJbWv39H4iLBg5poV4NDqE0I8B1XVby_SZDBdl4wv8H6PkYwL0xFjrvkQkG9U8-xku0UmOCef74h-Jcgqrgq75I/w400-h219/Ken%20Medema.2019.png" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Ken Medema in 2019</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Kenneth
Peter Medema’s birth day was December 7, 1943. </b>He was born in Grand Rapids,
Michigan, and brought up in the Dutch Calvinist tradition of the Reformed
Church. But he jettisoned his childhood faith and then as a college student at
Michigan State University, he met Jane Ann Smith. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Jane’s
father was the Baptist Student Union director at MSU and pastor of a small
Baptist church in Lansing. In his discussions with Jane and her parents, Ken
decided that “If this Baptist thing is what Christians are all about I want to
be a part of it.”<b> *<sup>1</sup></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Ken
and Jane married in 1965 and she has been Ken’s exemplary “helpmeet” and his partner
in composition for all the years from then until now. Ken acknowledges that “without
her input and perspectives his music would not begin to be what it is today.”<b>*<sup>2</sup></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
Medemas currently live in the San Francisco Bay area, close to their two grown
married children and four grandchildren.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>From
the time he was born, Ken Medema has been visually impaired</b>. His sight has
been limited to distinguishing between light and darkness and seeing fuzzy
outlines of large objects. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As
Ken says on his website, “I started banging on the piano when I was five years
old, making up crazy little pieces on my mom’s piano. When I was eight years
old my parents got me a wonderful teacher who taught me the classics with
Braille music and encouraged me to play by ear.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">After
college, he worked for four years as a music therapist at Essex County Hospital
in<span style="background: black; color: white; font-family: Karla;">
</span>New Jersey. It was while employed there that he began writing his own
songs. Then in 1973, Ken left that work and began a career as a performing and
recording artist—and he continues to do so.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
have had the privilege of hearing Ken perform two or three times and of meeting
him personally. The last time was in 2005 when he was at the Sunday morning
worship service at a Baptist church in the Kansas City area. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In
my diary/journal entry for that day, I wrote “Ken Medema was…wonderful. He is
one of the most talented people I have ever seen and met personally.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Ken
Medema is a radiant Christian in the radiant center</b>. Although as a teenager
and in his first years in college Ken seems to have been rather harsh in his
criticism of others, he began to mellow after meeting Jane, and through the
years he became a radiant Christian and winsome musical performer.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In
the 1980s he and Jane became outspoken supporters of moderate or progressive
Christianity, becoming ardent advocates of social justice for marginalized and
oppressed people. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Jane
studied at Union Theological Seminary and became the assistant pastor of
Dolores Street Baptist Church in San Francisco. That church began accepting
LGBT persons as members in the 1980s—and in 1989 their monetary gifts to the
California Southern Baptist Convention were rejected.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But
Ken has also been able to maintain an amicable relationship with conservative
Christians. One of the recent YouTube videos is of the Easter Monday chapel
service at Wheaton College.<b>*<sup>3 </sup></b>Also, a few years ago he was
repeatedly a guest at the Hour of Power telecasts. (<a href="https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?&q=Ken+Medema+Biggest+Hits&&mid=BAC45251EB9C76E14D11BAC45251EB9C76E14D11&&FORM=VRDGAR">See
here</a>, for example.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">At
the age of 80, Ken still keeps a busy schedule. His upcoming performances this
month include venues at Santa Ana, Calif.; Plano, Tex.; and Albuquerque, N.M.;
and his January schedule includes Christ Cathedral, Garden Grove, Calif.; and
the Jackie Kennedy Onassis Theater, New York City. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Truly, Ken is a radiant Christian who is a good example of
being in the radiant theological center that I have commended many times. I
encourage you to listen to some of his many YouTube videos—and to join me today
in saying, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: red;">Happy 80<sup>th</sup> Birthday, Ken Medema!</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: medium;">_____<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><a name="_Hlk152663322"><b>*<sup>1</sup></b></a><span> From “</span><a href="https://baptistnews.com/article/blindmusicalartistkenmedemaarticulateshisartform/"><span>Blind musical artist Ken Medema
articulates his art form</span></a><span>,”
Baptist News Global (June 26, 2011).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b>*<sup>2</sup></b><span>
From </span><a href="https://kenmedema.com/about-ken-medema/"><span>KenMedema.com</span></a><span> website. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b>*<sup>3 </sup></b><span><a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=Ken+Medema+at+Wheaton+College+2022&qs=n&form=QBRE&sp=-1&ghc=1&lq=0&pq=ken+medema+at+wheaton+college+2022&sc=11-34&sk=&cvid=09ED4C50A2644C26AB440DCC7004CFED&ghsh=0&ghacc=0&ghpl=">Here
is the link</a> to that video; Ken first appears about 6½ minutes from the
beginning. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">** In 1977
a video was made portraying Ken’s early life, his meeting and marrying Jane,
and his early musical career. If you have time, this is well worth seeing (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5I_Y6kS94E">here</a>).</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>LKSeathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08860725174433173015noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355086750486200439.post-39491194731938654062023-11-27T05:29:00.002-06:002023-11-27T06:02:39.117-06:00What Would You Do If You Had Only Seven ____ to Live?<p><span style="font-size: large; text-align: justify;">What
would you do if you had only seven seconds, seven minutes, seven hours, seven
days, seven weeks, or seven years to live? Ponder with me a bit about those
seven sevens and what you would say or do. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC9d7xlHNrKwtObOY2Ovpjlpv54p3UbbMluEwMGpv1LNi8Z2XqlrzeR7qk7EvB_ftU6hfrstZnvPrq9ikO-4fn6jEd5HNY4ExcYVBRyavrU8S4LEITnWewrDB00UO36H-edZq7xcHwh280HnQ7BsTdW8_Uhp_hhUy7NJIapBdTvuTtqN4Q7um4FTPhaVQ/s216/Oliver's%20poem.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="216" data-original-width="200" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC9d7xlHNrKwtObOY2Ovpjlpv54p3UbbMluEwMGpv1LNi8Z2XqlrzeR7qk7EvB_ftU6hfrstZnvPrq9ikO-4fn6jEd5HNY4ExcYVBRyavrU8S4LEITnWewrDB00UO36H-edZq7xcHwh280HnQ7BsTdW8_Uhp_hhUy7NJIapBdTvuTtqN4Q7um4FTPhaVQ/s1600/Oliver's%20poem.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>If
you had only seven seconds left to live</b>, there wouldn’t be time to do much
of anything other than say or scribble a final goodbye to the person(s) closest
to you. More than anything, I would want to say to my beloved wife of 66 years,
“Goodbye, June, I love you.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>If
you had seven minutes to live</b>, you could reach out to more people to share
final words of love and appreciation—and perhaps even to apologize to some. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In
addition to June, I would want to speak or write some words of love and
appreciation to my four children and seven grandchildren. (Could I get that
much done in just seven minutes?)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>If
you had seven hours of life left</b>, there would be so much more you could say
and do—and you might even want to spend some time resting, enjoying beautiful
music and/or peaceful images. As for me, I would also want to spend some time
talking about spiritual matters with family and friends.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>If
you knew you were going to live seven days more</b>, that would seem like a lot
of time (168 hours!) compared to seven hours. You might want to think through
your will and maybe make some changes. There might even be time to do some small
things on your uncompleted bucket list. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If I
knew I had only a week left to live, in addition to seeking to write final and meaningful
words to share with all my family and friends, I would also want to make some
major gifts to charitable causes, knowing that my savings were not going to be
needed for long-term health care or assisted living facilities. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Seven
weeks of remaining life </b>would mean 49 days, and certainly much could be
done in that length of time. If you are still employed, how long would you keep
on working? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Many
who are still working would doubtlessly continue for much of this time. Most
likely, there would still be bills to pay. Some say that we should live each
day as if it is going to be our last. But no one can really live that way. Who
would go to work if it were really going to be their last day? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>If
you had seven months of life left, </b>compared to the sevens above,<b> </b>that
seems like quite a long time. Most would likely continue living much as they
are now. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Those
who could afford it would perhaps use much of that time near the end to visit family
members and friends who live at some distance, and perhaps they would also try
to visit some of the places that they had always wanted to see, or to see
again. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But
wouldn’t you also seek to be involved in some service activities, using some of
your remaining time and energy for the benefit of other people?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Seven
years, compared to the sevens above, </b>seems like quite a long time.<b> </b>And
some of us might well expect that perhaps we have only about seven years (or
less) remaining. In seven years (on Dec. 20, 2030), I’ll be exactly the same
age as my father was when he died at the age of 92.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
thought a lot about these matters while reading Mike Graves’s new book <i>Jesus’
Vision for Your One Wild and Precious Life</i>, which I highly recommend.** Mike's
point is that Jesus’ message to us is not just about life after death, but how
to live meaningfully and joyfully now.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Graves
cites the striking words of E.B. White: “I arise in the morning torn by a
desire to save the world and a desire to savor the world. This makes it hard to
plan the day” (p.77). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If
we knew we had only seven—or even 27—years left to live, despite the challenge
of planning each day, shouldn’t we seek to live our “one wild and precious
life” seeking both to save and savor the world?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">_____<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">** I have written a review of this
book for The Englewood Review of Books, which will be posted on their website
in a few weeks. For you who read this blog post, I have posted that review (<a href="https://theviewfromthisseat.blogspot.com/p/review-of-jesus-vision-for-your-one.html">here</a>)
for you to read, if you are interested, as I hope you are.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>LKSeathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08860725174433173015noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355086750486200439.post-26824351761393528772023-11-15T05:28:00.000-06:002023-11-15T05:28:06.139-06:00 Who Are “My People”?<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It
has now been nearly six weeks since the horrific rocket attacks by Hamas on the
nation of Israel and then the beginning of Israel’s retaliatory attacks on
Gaza. There has been extensive death and destruction already, and there is no
telling how long it will be before the violence comes to an end.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
have been grieving over this “war” from the beginning and finally decided to write
this article, reflecting on the words “my people” and considering who are
often, and who should be, designated by those words. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk9fuLJFpY_pBmWGPS9irLzoWP_Tz0Ya0FBKpamvBii2ancCOogO6b6tvQ0TQPPM5MsHoZ1rBcn6IVSBAVyKccAmsJpmgZA2m3VEc7HzN9J2-hXZ1HSLuOzZrJsZRdXjLParyaY_67XohU6-0LvJRUvSH1yCmtu7vJeCSu62tKTjSbcB3pZ1boidExWK8/s1024/You're%20My%20People.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="1024" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk9fuLJFpY_pBmWGPS9irLzoWP_Tz0Ya0FBKpamvBii2ancCOogO6b6tvQ0TQPPM5MsHoZ1rBcn6IVSBAVyKccAmsJpmgZA2m3VEc7HzN9J2-hXZ1HSLuOzZrJsZRdXjLParyaY_67XohU6-0LvJRUvSH1yCmtu7vJeCSu62tKTjSbcB3pZ1boidExWK8/w200-h133/You're%20My%20People.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Are
contemporary Israelis God’s people? </b>I have serious concerns about the primary
stance of the U.S. government in relation to the current deadly conflict in
Israel/Gaza, but I am dealing here primarily with religious rather than
political aspects of this grave situation. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Online
posts by conservative evangelical Christians, including some of my Facebook “friends,”
indicate overwhelming support for the current nation of Israel, whose citizens
are perceived to be God’s people just as the Israelites in Old Testament times
were. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It
is true that in the Old Testament God calls the Israelites “my people” over 200
times, and the words “my people Israel” appear over 30 times. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In Exodus
19:5-6, God says that the Israelites, who are being led to the “promised land”
by Moses, “<i>will be my most precious possession out of all the peoples</i>”
and that they “<i>will be a kingdom of priests for me and a holy nation</i>.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Drawing
from those words, I Peter 2:9 in the New Testament declares that now it is the Jesus-followers
who “<i>are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people who are
God’s own possession</i>” (CEB). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Partly
on the basis of this highly significant verse, I believe God’s people today are
not only, or primarily, the Jewish citizens of the modern nation of Israel or the
Jews as an ethnic group. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And I
am quite certain that the citizens of the nation of Israel today are not by any
means the same as the Israelites whom God called “my people” in the Old
Testament.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>What
does it mean for a Jewish rabbi to stand with “my people”? </b>Recently, I had
the opportunity to hear a local Jewish rabbi speak about the challenge that he and
his congregation are facing at the present time. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There
was, naturally, some reference made to the deplorable antisemitism that has
increased in the U.S. since 10/7, which now has a very negative meaning to so
many Jewish people as does 9/11 to most USAmericans. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">At
the end of his talk, the rabbi said, and repeated, “As for now, I stand with my
people.” I took those words to mean that he was going to stand with (=support) the
Israel Defense Forces in their retaliatory attacks on Gaza. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But
a Christian pastor who knows the rabbi quite well took it differently. She
thought he meant that he was going to stand with the people of his Jewish
congregation who are incensed because of the Hamas attacks on Israel and
perhaps grieving the death or injury of friends and/or family members there.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Certainly,
a Jewish rabbi as well as a Christian pastor—and perhaps a Muslim
imam—should be expected to stand by his or her congregants in times of stress,
anxiety, and even anger. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Who
should you and I consider to be “my people”? </b>“<i>The earth is the Lord’s,
and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it</i> (Psalm 24:1, NIV)
is another single verse from the Bible that is crucially significant. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">God
may have called some people to a special task and referred to them as “my
people.” But most broadly, shouldn’t all the inhabitants of the world be
recognized as God’s people?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As
Creator of “the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1), God surely sees all
ethnic groups, adherents of all religions, and even all segments of society who
have no religious faith of any kind as “my people.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If we
are God-believers, shouldn’t we be able to see that all eight billion people in
this world are “my people”—God’s and ours—and seek to work tirelessly for the
welfare of all, including the peaceful coexistence of Israelis and Palestinians? </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDkE0zfQjP05hzUwG-6cDdwVkV8h5DW7_kJOZGA1-vt3KBcPo3PsglkxSKmGMfyEIIjDTIStCjLWRtbsMaEaB5J46wuS5I7b-vfTAntmowHy0yvjT1F-A1bV8sE3r2Yb3SCxR88SIV4vOzv1xzzqADJN3LmT9lboEHw_6_ZBHX56uxbAjs6b3jBfzTBdM/s723/We%20are%20all%20God's%20people.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="311" data-original-width="723" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDkE0zfQjP05hzUwG-6cDdwVkV8h5DW7_kJOZGA1-vt3KBcPo3PsglkxSKmGMfyEIIjDTIStCjLWRtbsMaEaB5J46wuS5I7b-vfTAntmowHy0yvjT1F-A1bV8sE3r2Yb3SCxR88SIV4vOzv1xzzqADJN3LmT9lboEHw_6_ZBHX56uxbAjs6b3jBfzTBdM/s320/We%20are%20all%20God's%20people.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><br /><o:p></o:p><p></p>LKSeathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08860725174433173015noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355086750486200439.post-39999770471995207622023-11-06T05:29:00.000-06:002023-11-06T05:29:42.567-06:00Remembering Martin Buber and the Importance of Dialogue<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_Hlk147993811" style="text-align: justify;">My </a><a href="https://theviewfromthisseat.blogspot.com/2023/10/does-america-need-more-atheists.html" style="text-align: justify;">previous blog post</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> was about a contemporary Jewish woman who
is an atheist. This post is about Martin Buber. a historical Jewish man who
stressed the importance of dialogue between people and of the encounter with
God, the basis of his philosophical thought and writings. </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhOI6QkaYNQ7YI2Ie5kBghX-MVadVv_OhZYeZZYNEUYe7PnLn_0gWUrtUpXktUnCIEtsINRlt80qjOGl1PEzv8bmP5I3wvXYhjTH8f4vJYDaWC184P0q1hnAC1XmWuCt6dKb3wdnwsNncWEzjHnP0u_Z9x8_Odyzq58T7rVnPAl_XlA3w9mOuu6S_oO1o/s492/Buber.I%20and%20Thou.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="492" data-original-width="334" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhOI6QkaYNQ7YI2Ie5kBghX-MVadVv_OhZYeZZYNEUYe7PnLn_0gWUrtUpXktUnCIEtsINRlt80qjOGl1PEzv8bmP5I3wvXYhjTH8f4vJYDaWC184P0q1hnAC1XmWuCt6dKb3wdnwsNncWEzjHnP0u_Z9x8_Odyzq58T7rVnPAl_XlA3w9mOuu6S_oO1o/s320/Buber.I%20and%20Thou.jpg" width="217" /></span></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Martin
Buber was born in 1878 </b>(145 years ago) to an Orthodox Jewish couple in
Vienna. From 1881~92, he was raised by his grandfather in what is now Lviv,
Ukraine. In 1899, while studying philosophy in Zürich, he met Paula Winkler,
who was a Catholic, and they married in 1901. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Martin
and Paula, who converted to Judaism, worked as a couple in the Zionist
movement. Unlike most Zionists, though, the Bubers believed that that movement
should focus on fostering cooperation between Jews and Arabs in Palestine, and
they envisioned a binational state where both could coexist in harmony.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Buber
was a prolific author, and <i>Ich und Du</i>, his best-known and most
influential book, was published 100 years ago (in 1923). It was first
translated into English in 1937 and issued under the title <i>I and Thou</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A
central emphasis of Buber’s book is the difference between the word pairs
“I-It” and “I-Thou.” H<span style="background: white; color: #1a1a1a;">is </span><span style="background: white;">philosophy</span><span style="background: white; color: #1a1a1a;"> centered on the encounter, or </span><span style="background: white;">dialogue</span><span style="background: white; color: #1a1a1a;">, of people with other human beings
through relationships, which ultimately rest on and point to a relationship
with God, “the eternal Thou.”</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In
1938, when he was 60, Buber moved to Jerusalem where he resided until he died
in 1965. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>“I-It”
is the primary stance of modern science.</b> As Buber states in <i>I and Thou, </i>“the
basic word I-It” is “the word of separation.”** <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In
the I-It realm, the natural world and everything in it is seen as something to
be observed, examined, categorized. It is completely related to in an objective
manner. Other humans, too, are often seen objectively. In that way, they, like
natural phenomena, are experienced but not encountered. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When
the physical world is considered an It, it can be used and manipulated for
one’s own benefit without compunction. That, in fact, is one of the reasons for
the ever-growing ecological crisis of the present time. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Unfortunately,
when people are considered as Its, they too can easily be used, manipulated, and
discriminated against without qualms. That is seen most clearly in the way enemies
in warfare are always seen as Its who need to be destroyed. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>“I-Thou”
is primarily the stance of those who emphasize relationships </b>and seek interaction
with other people and even the natural world through subjective encounter rather
than objective experience. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCeVWkQZbKVVZJCAhakDFTyjnhud4rzWRKCey0eG1kE58tl_NjDrRgLbNt_qVseeBvqQ0KfCLga30tz4kSe8jccHzCcJrzUqqbfMmA7xBrz2ptSI6P38ww61VsxGvyE0SciWH8-XjbAjDaTNUaTw7FGBxWcsJqHdvhoc4HvQYwOoTXErvJelJnF9R-aAs/s736/Martin-Buber-Quote.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="736" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCeVWkQZbKVVZJCAhakDFTyjnhud4rzWRKCey0eG1kE58tl_NjDrRgLbNt_qVseeBvqQ0KfCLga30tz4kSe8jccHzCcJrzUqqbfMmA7xBrz2ptSI6P38ww61VsxGvyE0SciWH8-XjbAjDaTNUaTw7FGBxWcsJqHdvhoc4HvQYwOoTXErvJelJnF9R-aAs/w400-h278/Martin-Buber-Quote.png" width="400" /></span></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The I-Thou
(I-You) realm is one of dialogue, where there is mutual respect between people.
Both the I and the You speak clearly and listen attentively, accepting both the
uniqueness and the similarity of each other. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This
I-Thou relationship can be enjoyed to a degree with even the non-human world,
and that has been practiced by animistic religions such as that of traditional
Native American peoples and of Shinto in Japan.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In the
<i>Handbook of Contemporary Animism</i> (2013), Graham Harvey sees the animist
perspective as similar to Buber's emphasis on "I-Thou." Animists
relate to the world of animals, trees, and even inanimate objects in an I-Thou
manner rather than in an I-It way.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And
even in the present time, some modern environmentalists are called
“tree-huggers” because of their desire to embrace an I-Thou relationship with
the world of nature. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The distressing
problem, however, is that modern industrial civilization and a world of eight
billion people cannot be sustained by a worldview that relates to nature primarily
in an I-Thou manner.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>According
to Buber, the basis of all I-Thou relationships is God, “the eternal Thou.” </b>Through
encounter with the eternal Thou, individuals are transformed and their
understanding of the world and their place in it is fundamentally altered. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Buber
believed that such encounter is essential to human flourishing and meaningful
existence. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In
my view, Buber was correct, indeed, and that is the reason I want us all to
remember him and his emphasis on the importance of encounter with God and of
having dialogue with other people. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">_____<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">** The first (1937) English
translation of Buber’s <i>Ich und Du</i> was by Ronald Gregor Smith. This
citation is from Walter Kaufmann’s 1970 translation (p. 66 of the Kindle
edition). At the beginning of that edition, Kaufmann has a helpful prologue of
more than 40 pages. Buber’s book alone is only about 120 pages, but it is
difficult reading and most of us need to read it more than once in order to fully
grasp what he is saying. </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>LKSeathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08860725174433173015noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355086750486200439.post-8577783998615981252023-10-24T05:31:00.002-05:002023-11-04T13:57:11.441-05:00Does America Need More Atheists?<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_Hlk147993811" style="text-align: justify;">An opinion piece on the October 3 website of the
Washington Post caught my eye and captured my attention. It was by WaPo’s
contributing columnist Kate Cohen and titled “</a><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/10/03/kate-cohen-atheism/" style="text-align: justify;">America doesn’t need more God. It needs more
atheists</a><span style="text-align: justify;">.” </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggqAkl13hO4xysoZJAaTwE2Qh6djtZpRWuXbc8gSmd58e35V4deo0Cs2oEdsH7_7pU9ErNYq8VRPgDyCcR-f9qCUj5kawAVgKjUNBWukkgexyLjlsSd4djkM7-htdircTd0n7u-T_5SwKwftTcz2yRHZIF1yKQjVhQyRzr-shWMvbkPkEE99uSAMu7JM8/s342/Kate%20Cohen's%20book.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="342" data-original-width="226" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggqAkl13hO4xysoZJAaTwE2Qh6djtZpRWuXbc8gSmd58e35V4deo0Cs2oEdsH7_7pU9ErNYq8VRPgDyCcR-f9qCUj5kawAVgKjUNBWukkgexyLjlsSd4djkM7-htdircTd0n7u-T_5SwKwftTcz2yRHZIF1yKQjVhQyRzr-shWMvbkPkEE99uSAMu7JM8/s320/Kate%20Cohen's%20book.jpg" width="211" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Kate
Cohen is a mother, an atheist, and an author. </b>Her book, <i>We of Little
Faith: Why I Stopped Pretending to Believe (and Maybe You Should To</i>), which
was also published on Oct. 3, states that being a mother led her to “come out”
as an atheist.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Cohen
was raised Jewish and married a Jew in a Jewish wedding—but she explains that she
never really believed “in that jealous, capricious, and cruel Old Testament
God” (p. 12). But she never identified herself<b> </b>as an atheist until she
began rearing her children. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In
her book, Kate tells how she vowed to teach her children “what I truly thought
about everything,” and she “did not let them decide for themselves,” for she
strongly believed that “passing on one’s preference for reason, evidence, and
honesty…is the truly moral choice” (pp. 13, 14). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Kate
was born and reared in Virginia. She graduated from Dartmouth University and
married in 1997. She is now in her late 40s, but I was unable to find out how
old her children are. They are probably young adults now and it would be
interesting to know how they have turned out<b>.*<sup>1</sup><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>There
are positive aspects of Kate Cohen and her book</b> that should be recognized. She
is honest in identifying who she is rather than seeking (any longer) to keep
her lack of religious faith closeted. And she encourages others to be honest
also as intimated in her book’s subtitle.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Even
though I have spent most of my life seeking to help people become
God-believers, I think those who don’t believe in God should be able to identify
themselves openly rather than pretending to be and to believe, what they are
not and do not. Honesty, indeed, is the best policy. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Further,
Cohen seeks to remove the stigma from those who identify as atheists. She
writes, “Like atheism, homosexuality is a difference that can be hidden.
Sociologists call it a Concealable Stigmatized Identity” (p. 221), but she
claims that that stigma is disappearing more rapidly for LGBTQ people than for
atheists. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But
as a God-believer—and because I am a God-believer—I certainly think that people
need to be respected/accepted regardless of their religious faith or lack
thereof. After all, that is what freedom of religion means. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>There
are also highly questionable aspects of Cohen’s book</b>. While there are some
nuanced places, she gives the impression that all atheists are largely the same,
and “good,” whereas all who believe in God/religion are also largely the same,
and “bad.” (See, for example, p. 228). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In strongly encouraging people who do not believe in God to
affirm their atheism, she writes, <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"></p><blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;">If you need a reason to let people know that you don’t believe
moral authority derives from a Supreme Being, then I offer you no less than
making America a safer, smarter, more just, and more compassionate country.<b>*<sup>2</sup></b><o:p></o:p></span></blockquote><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It
is because of that belief that the WaPo article was titled “America doesn’t need more God It Needs More Atheists.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">On
the previous page, she asserts, “…peel back the layers of discrimination
against LGBTQ people and you find religion.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">She
further contends that “control over women’s bodies,” as well as “school-library
book bans, and even the backlash against acknowledging the racist underpinnings
of our nation are motivated by religion.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">To
such charges, I can only say “Yes, but….” <u>Yes</u>, there are Christians
who are exactly such as Kate mentioned. <u>But</u>,
there are Christians who are against discrimination and control as much as she
is. And regarding climate change, note what Pope Francis said about in his 10/4
“apostolic exhortation.”<b>*<sup>3</sup></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Moreover,
if truth were known, my guess is that there is a large percentage of atheists
who support discrimination and control as well as the (mostly) conservative
evangelical Christians she uses as her foil. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>So,
no, Ms. Cohen, America doesn’t need less God and more atheists. It needs more intellectually honest
and intelligent atheists (or whatever) as well as </span><span>intellectually honest and intelligent </span><span>God-believers
to work together to make our society more compassionate and more just for all.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">_____<u><o:p></o:p></u></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">*<sup>1</sup></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> In her book, Cohen says that her
children are “engaged, informed, and savvy citizens” (p. 227).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">*<sup>2 </sup></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">These words are in a paragraph that
begins with her saying that “anti-atheist sentiment is not a matter of life and
death in America. But transphobia is, sexual violence against women is, forced
birth is, climate change is, and global pandemics are” (p. 230). <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">*<sup>3</sup></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> I wrote about this in some detail
in my Oct. 13 blog post (<a href="https://theviewfromthisseat.blogspot.com/2023/10/praise-for-pope.html">see
here</a>). <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p>LKSeathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08860725174433173015noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355086750486200439.post-21533349482876062602023-10-13T05:30:00.001-05:002023-10-13T06:14:16.885-05:00 Praise for the Pope<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a name="_Hlk147993811" style="text-align: justify;">Like most of you who
read this blog, I am not a Roman Catholic, but I have considerable appreciation
for Pope Francis. Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born in 1936, ordained as a Jesuit
priest in 1969, and elected Pope in March 2013. </a><span style="text-align: justify;">He chose Francis as his papal name in honor
of Saint Francis of Assisi. </span></span></div><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="text-align: justify;"></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibyg3PVbGDa1ZVlbrTuMjrNq6F43mWdZ2ydq5WhQzB6U0DOtF8N4NQAocjqTQeIUMiTuduQgHSc4RZzmkWlYj8qSjS-PpH8JAKhG_fNRymGwy52Pk5r4UbSkPw0yHzhBB28jMNdDsOsekXyR6SWqrBLAH9jgbWiZJNS5f62pZyh-sJzchRAZpsVyzLFGs/s683/Pope%20Francis.O04.23.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="557" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibyg3PVbGDa1ZVlbrTuMjrNq6F43mWdZ2ydq5WhQzB6U0DOtF8N4NQAocjqTQeIUMiTuduQgHSc4RZzmkWlYj8qSjS-PpH8JAKhG_fNRymGwy52Pk5r4UbSkPw0yHzhBB28jMNdDsOsekXyR6SWqrBLAH9jgbWiZJNS5f62pZyh-sJzchRAZpsVyzLFGs/w326-h400/Pope%20Francis.O04.23.jpg" width="326" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Pope Francis speaking at the Vatican on 10/4/23]</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>There are many reasons to praise Pope
Francis. </b>For example, just nine days ago (on 10/4/23), the Pope issued an
“apostolic exhortation” under the title <i>Laudate Deum</i> (=Praise God). That
document, which can be read in full <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/20231004-laudate-deum.html">here</a>, was directed “to all people of good will” and was “on the
climate crisis.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Last month, I read much of <i>Fratelli tutti</i>,
Pope Francis’s encyclical officially published by the Vatican in 2020 on
October 4, the feast day of Francis of Assisi. While there was much good and
important content, I was somewhat critical of it as it seemed to be lacking
specificity or concreteness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This month’s new document, however, which is
a commentary on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laudato_si%27"><i>Laudato si'</i></a> (=Praise Be to You), the Pope’s major 2015 encyclical
on the environment, is generally quite specific and concrete. In the second
paragraph of this recent “exhortation,” the Pope says:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">…with the passage of time, I have realized
that our responses have not been adequate, while the world in which we live is
collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Over the past twenty months, I have cited
Michael Dowd and others who have spoken warningly about collapse, but here is a
clear statement about that fateful future by the Pope.**<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Also, an Oct. 4 Vatican News article (<a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2023-10/laudate-deum-pope-francis-climate-crisis-laudato-si.html">see here</a>) states that in <i>Laudate Deum</i> the Pope “criticizes
climate change deniers, saying that the human origin of global warming is now
beyond doubt.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Early this month, the Pope convened</b>
the three-week General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops at the Vatican,
sometimes called the Super Bowl of the Catholic Church. It drew bishops from
around the world to discuss hot-button issues. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Some of those issues are whether priests
should be allowed to get married, if divorced and remarried Catholics should
receive communion, whether women should be allowed to become deacons, and how
the church will handle matters around the LGBTQ community.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It remains to be seen how, or when, these
contentious matters will be resolved, but for those of us who are egalitarians,
the Pope’s willingness to consider such matters is certainly praiseworthy. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Sadly, many USAmericans have little
praise for the Pope. </b>Politics takes precedence over their religious faith. Or
for others, they hold to an outdated, conservative Catholicism and are, literally,
more traditionally Catholic than the Pope. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">According to an <a href="https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-vatican-conservatives-abortion-us-bbfc346c117bd9ae68a1963478bea6b3">Aug. 28 APNews.com</a> post, “Many conservatives have blasted
Francis’s emphasis on social justice issues such as the environment and the
poor,” and they have also branded as heretical his openness “to letting
divorced and civilly remarried Catholics receive the sacraments.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As an example of politics taking precedence
over the position of the Pope, consider the contrast between Francis’s recent
“exhortation” regarding global warming and U.S. Catholics.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Pope, as well as the preponderant
majority of climate scientists around the world, emphasizes that “the human
origin of global warming is now beyond doubt.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But last month, Pew Research Center (<a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/09/28/the-pope-is-concerned-about-climate-change-how-do-us-catholics-feel-about-it/sr_23-09-28_catholics-climate_2/">here</a>) reported that only 44% of U.S. Catholics say Earth is warming
mainly due to human activity—and of U.S. Catholics who are Republicans or lean
Republican, only a strikingly low 18% think that global warming is human-caused.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>In response to such criticism, the Pope</b>
has called the strong, organized, reactionary attitude of some Catholics in the
U.S. Church “backward,” and has stated that their faith has been replaced by
ideologies. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Francis reminds these people that
“backwardness is useless, and they must understand that there’s a correction
evolution in the understanding of questions of faith and morals” that allows
for doctrine to progress over time. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Such progressiveness is one of the main
reasons I have praise for the Pope. His deep concern for the future well-being
of all people around the world has led him to claim that a correct
understanding of Catholic doctrine allows for change over time. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Would that all Catholics, and all
Protestants as well, could embrace these progressive ideas of the
forward-looking Pope.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">_____<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">** With considerable sadness I am sharing the
news that Michael Dowd (b. 11/1958) died on October 7 as the result of a fall
in a friend’s home. More information about his death and memorial service is
available </span><a href="https://jordanperry.substack.com/p/michael-dowd"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">here</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">. </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>LKSeathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08860725174433173015noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355086750486200439.post-39447650798284239622023-10-04T06:03:00.003-05:002023-10-12T09:38:19.058-05:00Remembering Alvin Toffler and “Future Shock”<p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="text-align: justify;">When I happened to see that Alvin Toffler
was born in October 1928, I thought that today, the 95th anniversary of
his October 4 birthday, would be a good time to write about him and his book </span><i style="text-align: justify;">Future
Shock</i><span style="text-align: justify;">. </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge-rMLxbYCiJs6rkEiPWDpU4kdJsJ3Ne7E-ThuHBDQiwa9KhpchfEdtDkB1yC9RwRqKkgzp4j2RWfrBuIJOoR0hXtrJjK20Nb9ZmXzRdq-A5KivqE8s617QIZPjEmX4_8CP4zc37b9m3j3nlMYwBA7yeNAHVaOmwfmWojtwVsTEvLGsYK1_mB44i0xSMw/s921/Toffler.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="619" data-original-width="921" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge-rMLxbYCiJs6rkEiPWDpU4kdJsJ3Ne7E-ThuHBDQiwa9KhpchfEdtDkB1yC9RwRqKkgzp4j2RWfrBuIJOoR0hXtrJjK20Nb9ZmXzRdq-A5KivqE8s617QIZPjEmX4_8CP4zc37b9m3j3nlMYwBA7yeNAHVaOmwfmWojtwVsTEvLGsYK1_mB44i0xSMw/w400-h269/Toffler.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Alvin
Toffler, who died in 2016, was an author, futurist, and businessman</b> who,
with his wife Heidi, wrote <i>Future Shock</i>, which became a worldwide
best-seller. It is considered to be one of the most important and influential books
about the future ever written.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Toffler
was raised in Brooklyn and graduated from New York University in 1950, the same
year he and Heidi Farrell married. During the last half of the 1960s, the
Tofflers did research for <i>Future Shock</i>, first published in 1970. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">According
to the Tofflers' website, over 15 million copies of <i>Future Shock</i> have
been sold worldwide. It has been translated into more than 30 languages and has
never been out of print. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The second book authored by the Tofflers and issued in 1980,
was titled <i>The Third Wave. </i>Following the agrarian revolution, and the
industrial revolution, the “third wave” is the information revolution.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Powershift</i>
(1990), their third major book, deals with the increasing power of twenty-first-century military hardware and the proliferation of new technologies. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
later books continue the Tofflers’ exploration/development of ideas first
introduced in <i>Future Shock.<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Alvin
and Heidi Toffler coined the term <i>future shock</i></b> to describe the
emotional distress that individuals and societies experience when facing rapid
technological and social change. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Early in the first chapter of their book, the Tofflers
referred to “culture shock,” explaining that it refers to “the effect that
immersion in a strange culture has on the unprepared visitor.” They then go on
to say that <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">culture shock is relatively mild in comparison with the much
more serious malady, future shock. Future shock is the dizzying disorientation
brought on by the premature arrival of the future. It may well be the most
important disease of tomorrow.<o:p></o:p></span></p></blockquote>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In
2020, a massive book titled <i>After Shock </i>was published with the subtitle,
“The world’s foremost futurists reflect on 50 years of <i>Future Shock</i> and
look ahead to the next 50.” (I wish I had been able to read much more of it.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Rather
than writing more specifically about the books just mentioned, though, I will now
share only some of my personal reflections about <i>Future Shock</i> and how I
was influenced by it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Reading
<i>Future Shock</i> in my early 30s </b>was instructive and formative for me. Early
in 1970, I somehow heard about “future shock” and that Toffler had written
about that concept in an essay published in the March issue of <i>Playboy</i>
magazine, of all places.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As I
was living in Japan at that time and there was no other way to read Toffler’s essay,
I bought a copy of that <i>Playboy</i> magazine at the excellent English bookstore
in Fukuoka, the city where I lived, and read his article with great interest. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">(Memories
from 50+ years ago are rather unreliable, but as far as I can remember, that
was the first and probably the last time I ever bought a <i>Playboy </i>magazine.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">After
several months I was able to get a library copy of the book, and it took a few
weeks to read it as I was stretched by the challenge of teaching university classes
in Japanese. I also remember taking rather extensive notes, but alas, they
weren’t included in what I brought back to the U.S.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Partly
because of reading <i>Future Shock</i>, sometime in the 1970s I joined the
World Future Society (WFS), founded in 1966, and read <i>The Futurist</i>, their
bimonthly magazine. I never was a futurist as such, but through the decades I
was deeply interested in thinking about the future.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In July
1989, I flew from Japan to Washington, D.C., to attend the WFS’s annual
assembly, and at one of the study group sessions I presented a paper titled “Religious
Faith and World Peace in the 1990s and Beyond.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Perhaps
it is not a direct quote, but Toffler is widely credited for this aphorism: “<i>The
illiterate of the twenty-first century will not be those who cannot read and
write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn</i>.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Much
has changed since 1970, and the likely future of world civilization is more
shocking now than ever. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
challenge for us now is to unlearn much of what we think we know, to learn what
the world actually is at present, and to see and act upon the new knowledge of
what it is likely to become in the near future. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">_____<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">** </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">The underlying notion of future
shock existed many years before the Tofflers’ book was published. In 1949, an
issue of the <i>Saturday Evening Post </i>included the poem (not by Toffler) titled “Time of the
Mad Atom,” which I remember reading, and quoting, in the mid-1950s. Here it is
in its entirety:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This is
the age<br />
Of the half-read page.<br />
And the quick hash<br />
And the mad dash.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The bright
night<br />
With the nerves tight.<br />
The plane hop<br />
With the brief stop.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The lamp
tan<br />
In a short span.<br />
The Big Shot<br />
In a good spot.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And the
brain strain<br />
The heart pain.<br />
And the cat naps<br />
Till the spring snaps<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">—And the
fun’s done!</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>LKSeathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08860725174433173015noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355086750486200439.post-91948061067499755562023-09-25T05:33:00.002-05:002023-09-25T05:40:58.881-05:00Enjoying the Present, Extending the Future<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Since early 2022, I have posted several times about the disturbing
matter of the likely collapse of the world order in which we now live. Many of
you are probably tired of hearing/thinking about that. So, here I am focusing
on enjoying the present as well as extending the future of our civilization. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHPaUWZiba7jGlz6dIVmMExHovDjIkPwSnBGblenOlr-rnId-KG3SYU4KfiG6YGaItqKu4s6C-Zz0mb3vWpzXkiKcYI8g42f4bEsSih3D_M0U1MJez0OBbpoHIo8WWmHcgZ4xqR7oO465fOO5kUnjoIjd5TrUlSloK0SXNctxmdVC4aPBay6iTLbnn4zY/s612/Cartoon.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="612" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHPaUWZiba7jGlz6dIVmMExHovDjIkPwSnBGblenOlr-rnId-KG3SYU4KfiG6YGaItqKu4s6C-Zz0mb3vWpzXkiKcYI8g42f4bEsSih3D_M0U1MJez0OBbpoHIo8WWmHcgZ4xqR7oO465fOO5kUnjoIjd5TrUlSloK0SXNctxmdVC4aPBay6iTLbnn4zY/s320/Cartoon.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>We humans are prone to embrace extremes.</b> There are
many people who focus so much on the present that there is but scant consideration
given to future perils. Of course, many such people are so busy with work and
family there is little time to think beyond the press of daily affairs. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">On the other hand, others think/worry so much about the
future in light of the current ecological predicament, their present happiness
is stifled. This is especially true for those who realize that <span style="font-family: georgia;">TEOTWAWKI </span>(the end of the world as we know it) may
soon become a reality. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Eco-anxiety is a current psychological problem for many, and
especially for many younger people—and I encourage you to read <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/16/world/europe/italy-greece-eco-anxiety.html?unlocked_article_code=-BBM6z2TfbVO0wUqjioaZaOCodbBa14_nEqFnMNTpaEvhp0eteORVSzsjdAaeEq6UFAZL5bKjXBipWVRjRcF_bNGRSods0H1XU9RsbkZFqMPtk-NA5KLJ9pkSSoIpo1NOuCeOL1t2_JHkNg58fkSy1bkwdpUBjzPCepuojjCiWwdTYf-z5AxDQyGHNWE28U3ejFHQR8jdGRYJV-NY6Q_aNDvbtk6Dqe3yt4wvw3Tlbm9TbayQTYZBOqGIc4wmDEjyrZGMeCLECqSq2sBiOovcS-Hyk2l44W8PqxpvLPE-zfHitIcPXNjgfoyNDLatp2CQ_emyl4-sCDhPlBBnKGTCufzFaqwVxg&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare">this
Sept. 16 article</a> posted in the New York Times, which Thinking Friend Anton
Jacobs sent me last week.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Is it possible, though, to be keenly aware of the likelihood
of <span style="font-family: georgia;">TEOTWAWKI </span>in the near future and still
live with joy in the present? I think so.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As in many other situations, we must seek to be firmly
established in a position between the poles—in a radiant center, if you will. At
the very least, we need to learn how to “toggle” between the opposites.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>How can we live with enjoyment of the present </b>while
being aware of the collapse that lies ahead in the not-too-distant future? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I asked Bard (Google’s AI chatbot) for suggestions about how
to live joyfully in light of the current ecological predicament. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I fully agreed with the beginning of their response: “The
ecological predicament is a serious one, and it is important to be honest about
the challenges we face. However, it is also important to find ways to live
joyfully in the present moment.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Indeed, that’s what we must seek to do: both to be honest in
assessing the world’s ecological challenges and also to learn how to live now
with a sense of joy. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Bard’s suggestions regarding how to do the latter were not
bad. They included “spend time in nature,” “connect with loved ones,” “be
grateful,” and “give back to others.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">(They also suggested, “do things that you enjoy,” but it didn’t
seem very intelligent for AI to say the way to live joyfully in the present is
to do things that you enjoy.) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Enjoying the present largely depends</b> on not allowing the
fears of the future to dominate our thinking. Rather, we must be fully present
in the present for much of the time. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Knowing that industrial civilization will at some point
collapse—and sooner than most people are willing to consider probable—doesn’t
mean we can’t live with enjoyment in the present. We individuals, especially we older adults, know that death is coming, but we still can experience much joy
now.<b>*</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But it is imperative that as we enjoy the present we don’t jeopardize
the future by damaging the environment. Or, more positively, our goal should be
living joyfully in the present and also doing all we can to extend the future
for the coming generation(s). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">While <span style="font-family: georgia;">TEOTWAWKI</span> is
most likely to happen sooner than any of us want to think, human action now can
push that collapse further into the future. Twenty years from now is far better
than ten years, and collapse in 40 years is much to be preferred over 20 years.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>What can we do to extend the future while enjoying the
present? </b>Here, very briefly, are three important things we can do in this
regard:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">1) Seek increasingly to practice simple living.<b>**</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">2) Continue to develop good environmental practices and to encourage
friends and acquaintances to do the same. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">3) Work actively for the election of Senators and
Representatives who have a good understanding of the current ecological
predicament and who will work to enact public policies that will, indeed, help
to extend the future.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">_____<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b>*</b> I have
already dealt with this matter to some extent in “Memento Mori,” my 1/28/23
blog post, <a href="https://theviewfromthisseat.blogspot.com/2023/01/memento-mori-for-world.html">see
here</a>, and I encourage you to read that post (again).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b>**</b> A helpful
book in this regard is <i>The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Simple Living </i>(2000).
This book is now out of print, but several used copies (reasonably priced) are available
at Abe Books. I also encourage you to read “The Shakertown Pledge: Nine Ways to
Make a Difference,” my 5/5/11 article on the GoodFaithMedia website (<a href="https://goodfaithmedia.org/the-shakertown-pledge-nine-ways-to-make-a-difference-cms-17857/">here</a>). </span><o:p></o:p></p>LKSeathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08860725174433173015noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355086750486200439.post-1758462075196212362023-09-14T05:28:00.002-05:002023-09-18T13:12:23.063-05:00"Windows to God": Introducing Kelly Latimore<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Perhaps
many of you haven’t heard, or don’t remember, the name Kelly Latimore, but he
is a man who deserves to be known because of his work as an iconographer. I am
posting this article to expand the circle of those who know & appreciate
Latimore’s outstanding artistic creations and what we can learn from him. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf4Npzmi51drfZSWhI7IXTWJYAZ5mOwqcWiytAojkZYPuFDuqXjQhJ0Gm-XX_51yOI-TDvOqKkdJ18Gb_6hGk0zBW8GZFFvbzS_um5a7ubP2rXUCnz2-Erjy4VVaaO3oF_1EDNQKURtybIhVu02IgkYDgrJ8xkotTvoUMhKoKXnOV1QtT_7RVtUvuNh34/s800/Mama.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="590" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf4Npzmi51drfZSWhI7IXTWJYAZ5mOwqcWiytAojkZYPuFDuqXjQhJ0Gm-XX_51yOI-TDvOqKkdJ18Gb_6hGk0zBW8GZFFvbzS_um5a7ubP2rXUCnz2-Erjy4VVaaO3oF_1EDNQKURtybIhVu02IgkYDgrJ8xkotTvoUMhKoKXnOV1QtT_7RVtUvuNh34/w295-h400/Mama.jpg" width="295" /></span></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Ruth
Harder, my pastor, is finishing her work on “Stained Theology,”</b> the name of
her pastoral study grant project funded by the Louisville Institute (which you
can learn more about <a href="https://louisville-institute.org/louisville-institute-story/about-louisville-institute/">here</a>).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Her
project grew out of concern at Rainbow Mennonite Church regarding the large
stained glass window in our sanctuary, which I wrote about in my <a href="https://theviewfromthisseat.blogspot.com/2020/10/what-to-do-about-white-jesus.html">10/10/20
blog article</a> titled “What To Do about a White Jesus?”. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Pastor
Ruth’s meticulous study has been not only about stained glass windows but also how
images of Jesus in such windows and elsewhere have stained, in a negative way,
theological understanding and has abetted racism and attitudes of white
supremacy. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In
her research, she visited Kelly Latimore in St. Louis, and while he is not
directly involved with stained glass windows, he has produced many striking
images of Jesus (and his birth family). <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This
past Sunday (Sept. 10), Kelly was the guest speaker at Rainbow Mennonite
Church.*<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Kelly
Latimore</b> is a youngish (b. 1986) artist who grew up as a PK (pastor’s kid)
in a conservative church in the suburbs of Chicago and graduated from
Greenville College (now University), a conservative Christian school in central Illinois. And then his religious
viewpoint/understanding expanded. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">From
2009-13 he lived/worked on the Good Earth Farm in Ohio as one of the Common
Friars, affiliated with the Episcopal Church. It was there in 2010 that he
painted his first icon.** <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">After
Trump was elected President in 2016, the first icon he drew was “Refugees: La
Sagrada Familia,” in which Latin immigrants crossing the desert depicts the
holy family’s flight to Egypt. A picture of that icon is on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Stranger-You-Welcomed-Me-Solidarity/dp/1626983038">Pope
Francis’s 2018 book</a> <i>A Stranger and You Welcomed Me</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Kelly’s
most widely known (and in some circles infamous) icon was the one titled “Mama”
(pictured above). It was painted in 2020 in the aftermath of the killing of George
Floyd in Minneapolis. Kelly and this icon, among others, was featured in a 5/5/21
Christian Century article (<a href="https://www.christiancentury.org/article/interview/iconographer-kelly-latimore-sees-god-plain-sight">see
here</a>).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">These
two icons elicited hate mail and even death threats. Kelly says, though, that
such opposition is confirmation that his “icons are preaching as they should.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>In
his Sunday talk at Rainbow Church</b>, Kelly referred to icons as “windows to
God,” and his icons mainly show God and God’s actions in the world now, not in
the past. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">He emphasized
that as an artist he must “pay attention,” and that all of us “must practice
seeing.” Kelly’s icons help us to see, to engage in what he calls “holy
pondering.” He also challenged us not only to see, but to become “living icons,”
acting for peace and justice in this needy world. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
icons of the past, most prominent in the Eastern Orthodox Church, always
portray the holy family or recognized saints with halos. Kelly’s icons are of
contemporary people who have not been formally designated as saints by any
Church, but they are “saints” nevertheless because they are windows to God.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">His modern-day
“saints” include several African Americans, such as MLK Jr., James Cone, and
John Lewis. But there are also notable White saints as well: Dietrich
Bonhoeffer, Henri Nouwen, Mr. Rogers, and Mary Oliver, for example.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Although he didn’t mention it Sunday, one of Kelly’s recent
and publicized paintings is of Matthew Shepard. It is now in the Washington
National Cathedral. Their website explains: <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"></p><blockquote><span style="background: white; color: #111820;"><span style="font-size: medium;">On Dec. 1, 2022,
on what would have been Matthew Shepard's 46<sup>th</sup> birthday, the
Cathedral dedicated a devotional portrait of Matthew Shepard by acclaimed
iconographer Kelly Latimore. <o:p></o:p></span></span></blockquote><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: white; color: #111820;">I encourage you to open </span><a href="https://cathedral.org/congregation/ministries-outreach/lgbtqia-alliance/remembering-matthew-shepard/"><span style="background: white;">this link</span></a><span style="background: white; color: #111820;"> to see a picture of that portrait and the story about it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: white; color: #111820;">My prayer is that we all will learn from
Kelly how to see God more fully through the icons, the “windows of God” around
us, and that we, too, can more and more become living icons. </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">____<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">* The YouTube video of that worship
service is available for viewing by </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvXEXqQpLZ0"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">clicking this link</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">, and Pastor Ruth’s introduction and Kelly’s talk
begins at the 18:50 mark. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">** Kelly tells about painting his
first icon </span><a href="https://kellylatimoreicons.com/blogs/news/christ-consider-the-lilies"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">in this article</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">NOTE: Learn/see more about Kelly’s
icons by </span><a href="https://kellylatimoreicons.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">clicking this link</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> to his website. Reproductions of his
icons can be purchased by linking to “store.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeKEGEWRFY4HQxSX3FMNG-MY-lt0OYHV01APphVcNPIq5p7EYhun6nRETDDWzKsGnd__RSlNpbhGO5PelNRMkjrgQjdAX42zy-8qmeYHfnfnTSR6CyetVDe2VPY58J2kWla-o69BM8wZmO8pQUtUFjq4q9uTE2GCwWpUOOsQvuBOR-ZUu0l9X5FCCyOzI/s3637/Kelly%20Latimore.910.23.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2508" data-original-width="3637" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeKEGEWRFY4HQxSX3FMNG-MY-lt0OYHV01APphVcNPIq5p7EYhun6nRETDDWzKsGnd__RSlNpbhGO5PelNRMkjrgQjdAX42zy-8qmeYHfnfnTSR6CyetVDe2VPY58J2kWla-o69BM8wZmO8pQUtUFjq4q9uTE2GCwWpUOOsQvuBOR-ZUu0l9X5FCCyOzI/s320/Kelly%20Latimore.910.23.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">LKS posing with Kelly on Sept. 10</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span><p></p>LKSeathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08860725174433173015noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355086750486200439.post-51185962488976148082023-09-05T05:30:00.003-05:002023-09-05T10:54:39.181-05:00 Why God Gets Angry<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">“When you see God getting angry in the Bible, it’s often
because the poor are being mistreated.” These are the words of Matthew Desmond in
the August issue of Sojourners magazine (<a href="https://sojo.net/magazine/august-2023/who-welfare-state-actually-benefiting">see
here</a>).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Over the years I have written about poverty several times on
this blog, but reading the Sojourners’ interview with Desmond spurred me to
post here again about that troubling topic.*<sup>1</sup></span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>Matthew Desmond is a sociology professor at Princeton</b><span>
</span><b>University</b><span>. His first book was the Pulitzer Prize-winning </span><i>Evicted:
Poverty and Profit in the American City</i><span> (2016). His new book, </span><i>Poverty,
by America</i><span>, was released in March. I was highly impressed by what I read in
both books. </span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixWdUWKPSG8H-7baxaREQZQRv0AHdvzn3c1xySJNAEQrdICrQnc_PtojwrDujwY889pkGyAI6vbZNJhX1UYcgNoY63WPEkk_QJ4_hrlLVZhN7mmQwutHPlg85FJQoAO5_Byk7GMy_tftQrfJQl-WEDw97rkdROr6z60-PYWiyNi07dGRpda5EG_MmhL58/s486/Poverty,%20by%20America.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="486" data-original-width="331" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixWdUWKPSG8H-7baxaREQZQRv0AHdvzn3c1xySJNAEQrdICrQnc_PtojwrDujwY889pkGyAI6vbZNJhX1UYcgNoY63WPEkk_QJ4_hrlLVZhN7mmQwutHPlg85FJQoAO5_Byk7GMy_tftQrfJQl-WEDw97rkdROr6z60-PYWiyNi07dGRpda5EG_MmhL58/s320/Poverty,%20by%20America.jpg" width="218" /></a></div></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">In introducing their interview with Desmond (b. 1979/80),
the editors of Sojourners note that he “is the son of a pastor, and his work is
rich with spiritual metaphor and flare while founded in the material realities
of poverty and the conditions that cause it.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Indeed, rather than an outside academic studying the problem
of poverty from the “ivory tower,” Desmond did his research by living among the
poor for extended periods of time, becoming friends with those suffering from
the many perils of poverty.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Interviewer Mitchell Atencio began by asking Desmond to
comment on <strong><span style="background: white; font-weight: normal;">Gustavo Gutiérrez’s depiction of poverty. <o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="background: white; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The Peruvian liberation theologian defined
poverty as “premature and unjust death,” and stated that “the poor person is
someone who is treated as a non-person, someone who is considered insignificant
from an economic, political, and cultural point of view.”*<sup>2</sup><o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="background: white; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Desmond agreed, noting that “one of the
leading causes of death in the United States is poverty.” For that and other
reasons, Desmond declares, “I want to end poverty. I don’t want to treat it, I
want to cure it. I don’t want to reduce it, I want to abolish it.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Accordingly, he challenges his readers to join him in becoming
“poverty abolitionists.”*<sup>3</sup><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>The abolitionist movement</b> was the name of the long
struggle for the eradication of the enslavement of human beings mostly to do
manual labor without pay. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">There have also long been attempts to abolish capital
punishment. The Death Penalty Information Center has a webpage titled <a href="https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/facts-and-research/history-of-the-death-penalty/the-abolitionist-movement">The
Abolitionist Movement</a>, and it is, of course, about the history of attempts
to abolish the death penalty.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Some people are seeking to abolish abortion. For example,
the “<span style="background: rgb(254, 254, 254);">Abolition of Abortion in
Missouri Act” was introduced to the Missouri Senate last year. </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Little has been said, though, about the abolition of poverty.
There was, of course, “the war on poverty” launched by President Johnson in
1964. Although opposed by GOP politicians from the beginning, some positive
steps to reduce poverty were made. But it soon began to lose effectiveness. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Accordingly, early in 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr., started
the Poor People's Campaign to address what he saw as the shortcomings of the war
on poverty—and his trip to Memphis where he was assassinated in April was not to
struggle against racism as such, but to protest against poverty.*<sup>4</sup> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>Desmond’s call for a new abolitionist movement</b> is
something that we need to take seriously. That is so for all people of goodwill
and especially true for those of us who are Christians, or Jews, and take our
Scripture seriously. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Reflecting on what Desmond said about why God gets angry,
consider the words of the Old Testament prophets speaking for God in judgment
on those who are wealthy and mistreating or neglecting the poor, words, for
example, found in Isaiah 1:11~17, Ezekiel 22:29~31, and Amos 2:6-7a, 4:1-2.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">If we are going to work to abolish poverty, we must work
toward ridding our neighborhoods, and our churches, of segregation—not of
racial segregation so much as economic segregation. Most of our neighborhoods
and churches now have far more of the latter than the former. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As Desmond says, “Segregation poisons our minds and souls.
When affluents live, work, play, and worship mainly alongside fellow affluents,
they can grow insular, quite literally forgetting the poor.” (<i>Poverty</i>,
p. 162). </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">_____<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span>*<sup>1</sup>
My May 20, 2015, blog article was titled “</span><a href="https://theviewfromthisseat.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-culture-of-poverty.html"><span>The Culture of Poverty</span></a><span>,” and it has been one of my most accessed
blog posts with over 3,000 pageviews.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span>*<sup>2</sup>
“50 years later, Gustavo <strong><span style="background: white; font-weight: normal;">Gutiérrez’s ‘A Theology of Liberation’ remains prophetic” is
the title of an informative </span></strong></span><a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2023/08/17/theology-liberation-gustavo-gutierrez-245850"><span style="background: white;">8/17/23 article in
<i>America</i></span></a><strong><span style="background: white; font-weight: normal;"> (the Jesuit review of faith and culture) about Gutiérrez
and his ground-breaking book first published in English in 1973. </span></strong><span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">*<sup>3 </sup>“<a href="https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/how-to-be-a-poverty-abolitionist-on-matthew-desmonds-poverty-by-america/">How
to Be a Poverty Abolitionist</a>: On Matthew Desmond’s ‘Poverty, by America’”
is an excellent review of Desmond’s book published on March 21 by the Los
Angeles Review of Books.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">*<sup>4 </sup>In 2018, William Barber II launched the
Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for a Moral Revival, seeking to
complete what King started 50 years earlier. (See my May 5, 2018, blog post: <a href="https://theviewfromthisseat.blogspot.com/2018/05/can-barber-do-what-king-couldnt.html">“Can
a Barber do what a King couldn’t?</a>”.)</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>LKSeathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08860725174433173015noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355086750486200439.post-15839730569637973522023-08-24T05:33:00.003-05:002023-09-01T12:28:42.546-05:00 “We” Most Probably Won’t Do It<div style="text-align: justify;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">For decades now, I have had high regard for Al Gore, who served as vice president of the U.S. from 1993 to 2001 and who barely lost the presidential election in 2000. Since then, Gore, who celebrated his 75th birthday earlier this year, has been known primarily as an environmentalist.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-9XaoLNPHTCuJQ_hA3VPpzzZqGBpsZSJfsxj-e5E8zY11Auu8L9DnTc_bbHxec5bDsx_74U-0mPf7UvuseQUOO6QO3t-9PgKZmub__pOzMjaGUk9DdS-3HubGyhuE_bn49JzFpPZxRHO-W7m7nUTLnNZ6_2YCeC3SlK_Vxsx8ALd4Oj4SMu-ksKEbzAI/s316/Climate_Reality_Logo-Globe.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="316" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-9XaoLNPHTCuJQ_hA3VPpzzZqGBpsZSJfsxj-e5E8zY11Auu8L9DnTc_bbHxec5bDsx_74U-0mPf7UvuseQUOO6QO3t-9PgKZmub__pOzMjaGUk9DdS-3HubGyhuE_bn49JzFpPZxRHO-W7m7nUTLnNZ6_2YCeC3SlK_Vxsx8ALd4Oj4SMu-ksKEbzAI/s1600/Climate_Reality_Logo-Globe.jpg" width="316" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Logo of Climate Reality Project<br />(started by Gore in 2006, new name in 2011)</span></td></tr></tbody></table></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b><i>An Inconvenient Truth</i> is</b> <b>the name of Al
Gore’s film</b> about his campaign to educate people about global
warming. in July 2006, June and I went with friends here in Liberty to see that
powerful new documentary, which includes Gore’s slide show about
environmental issues. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The 2007 Nobel Peace Prize was shared by
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Gore “for
their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made
climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to
counteract such change.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">In January 2008 I had the privilege of hearing Gore speak
(and show slides), and I was highly impressed with not only what he said (and
showed) but with him as a genuine, insightful person. I thought again how it
was such a shame that he didn’t become POTUS in 2001.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b><i>An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power </i>is Gore’s 2017
film</b> documenting his ten years of effort to combat global warming after his
first film that had garnered so much publicity. (I can’t explain why June and I
hadn’t watched this until last week; it certainly was well worth watching.)**<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The climax of this documentary is about the Paris Agreement
reached at the 2015 U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP 21). On Earth Day
(Apr. 22) 2016, 174 countries signed that agreement. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">But Gore’s joyful hope soon turned to feelings of despair as
the Trump administration announced in 2017 that the U.S. was withdrawing from
the Agreement as soon as possible (in 2020). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The film, of course, doesn’t show how Pres. Biden announced
on his first day in office that the U.S. was rejoining. Since then, Biden has continually
pushed measures to counteract the steady and detrimental increase of global
warming, in spite of constant opposition from the GOP.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">But has he done enough? Perhaps he has done about as much as
he could have done because of the climate change deniers, but no, he has not
done nearly enough to stem the coming collapse.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>Al Gore remains hopeful that “we” can solve the problem</b>
of climate change, etc. A 9/20/19 opinion piece in the New York Times is
titled: “Al Gore: The Climate Crisis Is the Battle of Our Time, and We Can
Win.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Speaking at the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs
in Oct. 2021, Gore declared, “We have the solutions…. I have an enormous amount
of hope about our future.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Then last month, David Gelles published <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/18/climate/al-gore-on-extreme-heat-and-the-fight-against-fossil-fuels.html">an
article</a> based on a recent interview with Gore. The NYTimes reporter stated
that “the events of the past few weeks have Gore even more worried than usual.”
Still, “Despite the apocalyptic weather news, Gore is also hopeful.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Gore said in that interview, “The faster <b>we</b> stop burning
fossil fuels and releasing other planet-warming emissions, the more quickly
global temperatures can stabilize.” Further, “<b>We</b> know how to fix this…. <b>We</b>
can stop the temperature going up worldwide…” (bolding added). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">While these words are perhaps true, the sad fact is that in
all likelihood, “we” won’t do it. All the books and films about global warming
end with what <b>we</b> need to do. But in spite of some encouraging signs, <b>we</b>
(meaning the vast majority of people on Earth) don’t seem to be making much
progress.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>Part of the Paris Agreement goal was the reduction of carbon
dioxide (CO</span><sup>2</sup><span>) in the atmosphere to no more than 350 ppm. In 2006 that
figure was 380 and it had risen to 410 by 2017. But now in August 2023, it is
420, and it keeps going up, as is clearly seen in the following chart.</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRZESlkz9Rj4sNW9r4yFZsRbc-Zje9q0nFTQDCmwFL80q6bEN9d5-y8UZUAt7tKsjwN9KSllrCkAnAy7NySCqWG-I0SpxSwZvo7AOaYccwxFKxuxO1jJ4U-swv1DciXUG5gz9kPLQz3_K16vHYQwJ59f0GhdFAZHxxdGIXruS-Kq1Jh_eLXJlsGTLFWoA/s620/co2_data.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="531" data-original-width="620" height="343" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRZESlkz9Rj4sNW9r4yFZsRbc-Zje9q0nFTQDCmwFL80q6bEN9d5-y8UZUAt7tKsjwN9KSllrCkAnAy7NySCqWG-I0SpxSwZvo7AOaYccwxFKxuxO1jJ4U-swv1DciXUG5gz9kPLQz3_K16vHYQwJ59f0GhdFAZHxxdGIXruS-Kq1Jh_eLXJlsGTLFWoA/w400-h343/co2_data.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">I’m afraid the much-respected Mr. Gore is somewhat affected
by “hopium” (holding on to false hopes that prevents us from accepting reality).
“We” are most probably not going to prevent the coming collapse resulting from
overshoot.</span></div></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">But we (you and I) can work to push the collapse further
into the future. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">_____<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">**</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> We watched this on Amazon Prime
(at a nominal charge), and then discovered that the DVD was available at our
local library. In addition to the two books published with the same titles as
the two movies, and several earlier books, Gore is also the author of <i>The
Assault on Reason</i> (2007, 2017), <i>Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate
Crisis</i> (2009), and <i>The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change</i> (2013).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Note:</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> The Buttry Center for Peace and
Nonviolence at Central Seminary in Kansas is offering a five-part course titled
“Creation Care in a Changing Climate: Doing Our Part to Reduce Greenhouse Gas
Emissions.” Please <a href="https://www.cbts.edu/connect-engage/buttry-center/">click
here</a> to learn more about this course, and if you would like to participate,
you can register there. (Courses such as this can help with doing what I
suggest in the last sentence of this article.)</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>LKSeathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08860725174433173015noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355086750486200439.post-37041452847770799352023-08-15T05:29:00.000-05:002023-08-15T05:29:12.246-05:00 Thoughts on My 85th Birthday<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Today <span style="font-family: times;">(August 15, 2023)</span> is my 85<sup>th</sup> birthday.
That being so, I am sharing personal reflections on this milestone day. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyVxPX35vOzoV1nGbYYbP8wPmF0zN9lN53SRTVRYbfzUk0f6L-DdKMY6CtaLq64780Aswbt3x20LW65eFEB8BOBu0s-8hMH-g31FNjZsGO_38VXsQZh1RxnrMxHdLy7RAO3LdVIwk4MCagJ4TZT7DcEa4Iw4QiulS2Ls27dQepQcxClwwvMy47d1V6FsM/s1009/85%20years.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1009" data-original-width="817" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyVxPX35vOzoV1nGbYYbP8wPmF0zN9lN53SRTVRYbfzUk0f6L-DdKMY6CtaLq64780Aswbt3x20LW65eFEB8BOBu0s-8hMH-g31FNjZsGO_38VXsQZh1RxnrMxHdLy7RAO3LdVIwk4MCagJ4TZT7DcEa4Iw4QiulS2Ls27dQepQcxClwwvMy47d1V6FsM/w162-h200/85%20years.jpg" width="162" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>I am
truly grateful to still be alive and “sound in mind and body.” </b>Many don’t live this long. Three
of my closest lifetime friends have been gone for years now: Bobby Pinkerton <span style="font-family: times;">(1937~2008)</span>,
Clyde Tilley<span style="font-family: times;"> (1935~2013),</span> and Joe Wolven <span style="font-family: times;">(1939~2015).</span> I still miss them. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Although
I am happy to say I have no illness of any kind, I am experiencing reduced
activity, and especially markedly reduced travel, because of the decrease in
physical energy/stamina. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">At this
point, I am not planning to go with June to attend our beloved grandson David’s
wedding in Georgia the first of next month, and I will also likely not make the
trip to south Missouri later in September for the burial of June’s only
brother, who passed away early this month at the age of 88. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Thankfully,
modern technology makes significant connectedness possible from the comfort of
one’s own home—and for introverts such as I, being home, even home alone, is
often more enjoyable than being in a crowd of people. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>I can
honestly say that overall, I have had a wonderful life</b> during these 85 years. Three
years ago, I published a brief book for my children and grandchildren with the
subtitle <i>The Story of My Life from Birth until My 82<sup>nd</sup> Birthday
(1938~2020)</i>. The book’s title is <i>A Wonderful Life</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As I
wrote on the first page, that title “is not an evaluation I have heard from
others. In fact, some may well think my life has not been particularly
wonderful—and that’s all right.” The point is that I believe that I have had a
wonderful life, and I am genuinely grateful for how my life has been graced. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Tomorrow
and in the following weeks, I will continue revising and updating that book
with the goal of publishing a new edition of it, with numbers in the subtitle changed
to 85<sup>th</sup> and 2023, before the end of the year. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">However,
for as long as possible I want to continue focusing on the present and the future
rather than the past. I plan to keep reading, thinking, and writing blog
articles (and perhaps an occasional book review). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I want
my grandchildren, and their children, to know something about my life story,
but I am even more interested in trying to share with them knowledge and,
hopefully, wisdom about the world as it is now and is likely to become. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>I deeply
desire to leave a meaningful legacy </b>to my descendants, but not a legacy of material things or of
things past. I hope to leave them a legacy that will encourage them to think
critically, meaningfully, and creatively. I also want to motivate them to think
deeply about the meaning of life. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">To that
end, last month I wrote a letter to my great-grandson on his first birthday,
asking his parents to keep it for him to read years from now. I decided then that
for as long as possible I will write a thoughtful letter to each of my family
members on their birthday.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Yesterday
I wrote a letter to my youngest grandson on his 16<sup>th</sup> birthday. And
today I will finish writing a letter to my oldest son, whose birth on August 15
was the best birthday present I ever received. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Looking
forward, I want to do all I can to help my children/grandchildren, and as many
other people as possible, to think well and to choose wisely, in order that
they, too, will have as wonderful a life as possible—and a life that will make
a positive contribution to peace and justice in the world. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>In closing,</b> I am sharing this little poem I have
written for today:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #002060; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I’m eighty-five</span></span></i><i style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #002060; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> and still alive.<br /></span></i><i><span style="color: #002060; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The good old days </span></span></i><i style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #002060; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">have parted ways,<br /></span></i><i><span style="color: #002060; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">but days are new </span></span></i><i style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #002060; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">and joyful too. <br /></span></i><i><span style="color: #002060; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So, I’ll go on ‘</span></span></i><i style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #002060; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">til time is gone<br /></span></i><i><span style="color: #002060; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">with gratitude</span></span></i><i style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #002060; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> my attitude <br /></span></i><i><span style="color: #002060; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">and faith in God until</span></span></i><i style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #002060; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> the sod <br /></span></i><i><span style="color: #002060; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">will cover me. </span></span></i><i style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #002060; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">And then I’ll see<br /> </span></i><i><span style="color: #002060; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">a blissful state, </span></span></i><i style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #002060; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">my lasting fate.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><span style="color: #002060; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></i></b></p>LKSeathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08860725174433173015noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355086750486200439.post-82007009818553146672023-08-07T05:33:00.003-05:002023-08-07T07:26:54.441-05:00The Radiant Center Challenged by Criticism of Centrists<p><span style="font-size: medium;">As many of you know, I am an advocate of what I call “the
radiant center.” The last part of the last chapter of my book <i>The Limits of
Liberalism</i> (2010, 2020) is about seeking and advocating a radiant theological
center between the extremes of fundamentalism and liberalism (see pp. 317~330).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Last month, though, a man I greatly respect published an
online opinion piece criticizing centrists. Naturally, I had to think about whether
that was also a criticism of my strong emphasis on seeking the radiant center. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp8PMjjsgqzkm4dpXKPOfaUQ_28WSfmIvVYcVDNThIKKqelkiibbCOR-7AvfgW57-GCxDrWLgx8bZ2u3AtRR7CDIufaxk0bGZ2yQl1hXUarK4ma29W4SyvgFDb6NsM3vCjX7aRMOf7RVpUEq0WIGRRPCxu57T0k1xeSj_7bbTBqFu_HhnSZ3HSZ78FJhM/s631/radiant%20center.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="371" data-original-width="631" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp8PMjjsgqzkm4dpXKPOfaUQ_28WSfmIvVYcVDNThIKKqelkiibbCOR-7AvfgW57-GCxDrWLgx8bZ2u3AtRR7CDIufaxk0bGZ2yQl1hXUarK4ma29W4SyvgFDb6NsM3vCjX7aRMOf7RVpUEq0WIGRRPCxu57T0k1xeSj_7bbTBqFu_HhnSZ3HSZ78FJhM/s320/radiant%20center.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Mitch Randall has
been CEO of Good Faith Media</b> (GFM) since July 2020. GFM evolved from what
once was the Southern Baptist Convention’s Christian Life Commission (CLC), which
I highly evaluated and appreciated in the 1960s through the 1980s.<b>*<sup>1</sup></b>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Randall began his <a href="https://goodfaithmedia.org/the-shell-game-centrist-christians-favorite-game/">July
20 article</a> by asserting, “The greatest enemy of freedom is not white
Christian nationalists breaching the U.S. Capitol. It’s white moderate — now
centrist — Christian males advocating for civility over justice.” He
immediately moves to MLKing’s powerful writing 60 years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">On April 12, 1963, King’s “The Letter from the Birmingham
Jail” was published. In that pointed letter, King wrote that “the Negro’s great
stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White citizens’
‘Councilor’ or the Ku Klux Klanner.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">No, that stumbling block is “the white moderate who is more
devoted to ‘order’ than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the
absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">I fully agree with King’s emphasis on positive peace and the
necessity of justice. But it seems quite clear to me that King was also a
centrist in that he was firmly between the extremes of doing nothing and of acting
violently. He did not engage in the extremism of Malcolm X or the Black Panthers.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">There are some who say that it was the extremism of the
violent Blacks that made it possible for King to be so effective, but it is
hard to know whether that was so. What we do know is that King had the
“strength to love” and used those words for the title of his influential book also
published in 1963.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Since I oppose the extremes of doing nothing and violent
action</b>, I guess I could be called a White centrist Christian. But according
to Randall, such centrists “have done more to thwart the progress of faith and
freedom than any fascist or anarchist.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Moreover, Randall charges that such centrists “decry those
demanding justice for the isolated, marginalized and oppressed” and they brand
people like him as extreme because he advocates “for inclusion, affirmation,
and equality for all of God’s children.”
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">But I want to remind Randall that the center is quite wide,
and the radiant center I advocate for ethics as well as for theology includes
those things he so strongly calls for. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">There are some who want the justice, the inclusion, the
affirmation, and the equality that Randall desires but who are willing to use
violent action to seek those good ends. However, I haven’t seen Randall
advocate such violence, so I would place him, just as I did MLK, in the radiant
center. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Seeking the radiant center doesn’t mean embracing “bothsideism.”</b>
When the opposing extremes are vacuous inactivity and violent action, the radiant
center calls for “neithersideism.”<b>*<sup>2</sup> <o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I have often emphasized the
importance of both/and thinking. But there are also times that the emphasis
needs to be on neither/nor. The radiant center often stresses the latter. So,
in considering the radiant center with reference to ethics as well as theology,
these words still are applicable:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"></p><blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;">The radiant center radiates the
heat (passion and compassion) and light of the teachings of Jesus Christ and
the gospel about Jesus. The radiant center is engaged, for light does not stay
in the bulb nor heat in the radiator. Radiance entails engagement.<b>*<sup>3</sup></b><o:p></o:p></span></blockquote><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Yes, being in the radiant center means actively engaging in efforts
to produce peace and justice for all, which usually means moving to the far
left side of that center—and I appreciate Mitch Randall for criticizing those centrists
who are on the far right and are not radiant. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">____<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>*<sup>1</sup></b> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">When
the CLC was significantly changed (and later renamed) as a part of the conservative
takeover of the SBC, the Baptist Center for Ethics was formed in 1991 by former Southern Baptists who had established the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship the year before, and in
2017 Randall became the second director of that organization, which is now GFM.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">*<sup>2</sup></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> I don’t remember ever seeing/hearing
the word “neithersideism,” so I thought maybe I was coining a new word. But in
searching the Internet, I soon found that journalist Matt Labash subtitled his 4/21/22
Substack article “<a href="https://mattlabash.substack.com/p/against-performing-monkeys">The case
for Neithersideism</a>.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">*<sup>3
</sup></span></b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">The
Limits of Liberalism: A Historical, Theological, and Personal Appraisal of
Christian Liberalism</span></i></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
(2020), p. 329.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>LKSeathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08860725174433173015noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355086750486200439.post-58180114690646748992023-07-27T05:29:00.001-05:002023-07-27T05:30:35.260-05:00 Living/Dying in the Capitalocene<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="text-align: justify;">The term </span><i style="text-align: justify;">Anthropocene</i><span style="text-align: justify;"> is
increasingly being recognized as a proper term to depict the current geological
era, replacing the long-used term </span><i style="text-align: justify;">Holocene</i><span style="text-align: justify;">, the era that began some
11,650 years ago. This new term was helpfully explained in an article about two
new movies that opened last week.</span><b style="text-align: justify;">*</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Theologian Joerg Rieger,
however, thinks there is a more accurate term to use for the present age, and
he writes about that in his new book. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Joerg Rieger is a professor of
theology at Vanderbilt University.</b> He was born in Germany and will celebrate his 60<sup>th</sup>
birthday next week. An ordained Methodist minister, Rieger had already authored/edited
20 books when he joined the faculty at Vanderbilt in 2016. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoz-no4hCIegshBU67eILTCCz_PmbkRRxyHGvP2tIw_YJX-N0r9w7nxBY7bb8AcAkNsogafjrE9OJ3EZP73yyjwWUQck4Rmrd0HF1UYP-3CKVsoMiGKZn90Gw5Nt25xt6rQc-Gt7aHDbRltD2ynCwnd2aOFhckQrb6-F6yMJdqES_bRFuobaFDk342BlM/s550/Capitalocene.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="429" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoz-no4hCIegshBU67eILTCCz_PmbkRRxyHGvP2tIw_YJX-N0r9w7nxBY7bb8AcAkNsogafjrE9OJ3EZP73yyjwWUQck4Rmrd0HF1UYP-3CKVsoMiGKZn90Gw5Nt25xt6rQc-Gt7aHDbRltD2ynCwnd2aOFhckQrb6-F6yMJdqES_bRFuobaFDk342BlM/w313-h400/Capitalocene.jpg" width="313" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Theology in the Capitalocene: Ecology, Identity, Class, and
Solidarity</i> (2022) is the title of Rieger’s significant new book. Since I am
also writing a review of it,<b>**</b> I
asked GPT chat for help. Here is how they described the book:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"></p><blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Theology in the Capitalocene</i> by Joerg Rieger is an
important and thought-provoking book that offers a critical examination of the
intersection of theology and capitalism in the context of the Anthropocene era.<o:p></o:p></span></blockquote><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Rieger’s
book is not a quick read nor is it easy to digest all of his salient emphases. One
criticism I have of his valuable book is the overabundance of references to
other scholarly works. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This
would be an excellent book for doctoral students writing their dissertations on
related issues. But it may be overwhelming for the general public. And even I,
who finished a doctoral dissertation over fifty-five years ago (though in a far
different field), found his book challenging. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Here
are some of Rieger’s main emphases</b> that are worth serious consideration,
and I am grateful to him for introducing each of these.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 9pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -9pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">* Emphasis on the importance, and neglect
of serious consideration of, “unpaid reproductive labor” that is directly
linked to discrimination against women.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 9pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -9pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">* Emphasis on the distinction between power
and privilege. This has ramifications that are often overlooked. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 9pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -9pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">* Emphasis on class as a societal structure
rather than “classism,” which is largely based on stereotypes. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 9pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -9pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-size: medium;">* Emphasis on “deep solidarity.” I have
long thought that solidarity is something that we who are privileged, to
whatever degree, can choose out of loving concern by becoming allies of those
who are “underprivileged.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 9pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">While there may be reason to
retain some of that emphasis, Rieger stresses that solidarity is a fact that
needs to be acknowledged rather than something chosen in an over/under
relationship.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">All of these, as well as his prevalent emphasis on ecological
concerns, are related to the pernicious power of capitalism in the present
world. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>My main criticism of Rieger’s book </b>is his apparent
belief that the serious ecological predicament facing the world today is a
problem that can be solved. His position contrasts with what I have written
over the past eighteen months about overshoot and the collapse of civilization.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Most scholars who are currently university professors and embrace
deep ecological concerns hold the same position that Rieger does. The following words spoken in the 1930s are still quite relevant and true today: </span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizzRNw-N9zBJKa9DHy_Hq1NzZUZeLNOC4LIjmfUK-4qYywFFWyq_opPl4Bg3eYqXmF8_NlrCspFLeOH_ZIDVwWTHCeMin8DkeQjgTf1Uhj9MGL9ugU3d4mkkmluw2cDK99V_OF-lxK8NtG2dXhzxuAc2uWcNH1HIqJntyiIhmpo2aiZcXDzM4rocl22Ec/s735/Sinclair%20quote.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="290" data-original-width="735" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizzRNw-N9zBJKa9DHy_Hq1NzZUZeLNOC4LIjmfUK-4qYywFFWyq_opPl4Bg3eYqXmF8_NlrCspFLeOH_ZIDVwWTHCeMin8DkeQjgTf1Uhj9MGL9ugU3d4mkkmluw2cDK99V_OF-lxK8NtG2dXhzxuAc2uWcNH1HIqJntyiIhmpo2aiZcXDzM4rocl22Ec/w400-h158/Sinclair%20quote.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">I can certainly understand why one in Rieger’s position
would not want to publicly talk about the possible “end of the world as we know
it” in a decade or two. If they believed that to be true, most high school
students would likely decide that there would be no use going to college.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Rieger does show considerable compassion for the people who
are suffering now because of capitalism as well as for the natural world that
is being ravaged by the forces of capitalism, and I appreciate that concern.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Still, there needs to be more awareness that we who are now
living in the Capitalocene era will soon be seeing massive numbers of people
(and non-human life) dying in this present age because of the ever-expanding
predicament produced by capitalism. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>_____<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">*</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">See “‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ tell the same
terrifying story,” an intriguing </span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/07/19/barbie-oppenheimer-movies-anthropocene/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">July 19 opinion piece</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> in The Washington Post.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">**
</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Last month I
received a free Kindle copy of Rieger’s book by promising to write a blog
article and/or review of it. The promise was made to Mike Morrell, who operates
“</span><a href="https://thespeakeasy.info/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Speakeasy</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">,” a website that offers “quality
books in exchange for candid reviews.” <a href="https://lifelovelightliberty.wordpress.com/2023/07/26/review-of-joerg-rieger-theology-in-the-capitalocene-ecology-identity-class-and-solidarity-fortress-press-2022/">Here
is the link</a> to the rather long review I have written, subject to further revision. Among other things, that review amplifies the too-brief treatment of Rieger’s emphases given above. </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>LKSeathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08860725174433173015noreply@blogger.com16