(A picture from the work, “The Boys’ Book of Battle-Lyrics.)
While the current regime claims we focus too much on the history of slavery, in Oklahoma, the City of Tulsa is continuing its efforts to find the bodies of victims of racial violence.
It’s an effort that could take weeks, Mayor Monroe Nichols said during a press conference at City Hall. Forensic anthropologist Phoebe Stubblefield and archaeologist Kary Stackelbeck joined Nichols as he gave an update on the city’s progress.
“This groundbreaking work from our archaeological and genealogy teams is a great mark of success and it tells us where we are, certainly in the right place and on the right track,” Nichols said. “The latest report from the Oklahoma Archaeological Survey gave us very detailed information as to what we believe we have left at the Oaklawn Cemetery.”
The destruction of “Black Wall Street” and the deaths of so many of our black citizens deserve remembrance. That such horrors happened are matters of fact and history which we ignore at our peril.
A free and great people does not fear its history. It embraces its past with a willingness to change and improve.
Ethics and Morality demand that we remember the crimes and mistakes of the past in the hope that we are now a better people who have found a better moral compass and a greater responsibility toward our fellow human beings.
Let us pay attention to the great words of one of our greatest Presidents, Abraham Lincoln:
Lincoln didn’t just talk about having more money but assumed that social and political health were also of great importance. He could not have spoken truer words. While we live in an age of the most disgusting and degrading money grubbing and corruption, he calls us to be a great people with an unwavering committment to doing what is right.
I found this article online at the Sojourner’s web site. It is called: Can Poems Push Christians to Stop the Suffering in Gaza? The article is written by Ryan Duncan.
The article discusses a book of poetry and its author and what this use of art does. You might say, when we read this we are discussing the power of language and in particular, the power of poetic language.
Below is a link to the story and a short but effective quote.
After reading Forest of Noise, it becomes apparent why Abu Toha’s public appearances are often marked by moments of sorrow and anger. In one MSNBC interview following his Pulitzer win, Abu Toha fell into a tense back-and-forth with journalist Catherine Rampell when she pointed to some of his social media posts and suggested he was questioning the status of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas.
“I’ve never denied anyone’s suffering,” Abu Toha remarked sharply, “I know that everyone is suffering, Israelis and Palestinians, but why are our sufferings not acknowledged? Why are we called terrorists? Why are we called prisoners of war while the Israelis who were kidnapped from Israel are named hostages? Does this give them more humanity, because they are Israeli, while my loved ones are being named prisoners and they are tortured?”
Why indeed.
It’s a pretty piece of writing and I hope you read the whole article.
Now for my take on this.
We live in a period in the United States where words have been weaponized. Our current regime’s leader will reach thirty thousand documented lies in just a week or so. In addition, he has made insults a standard part of his particular brand. He likes “Low IQ,” “Communist,” Marxist”, etc. His pitiful flock hangs on every insult, every lie and every appeal to their lowest and most base instincts like hogs wallowing in mud and excrement squealing in delight.
But words don’t have to be evil and wretched to have power. How about these:
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of being and ideal grace. I love thee to the level of every day’s Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
“By sun and candle-light” is a very pretty little phrase. Words can exalt. Words can heal. And yes, words can heal and guide us.
Let’s try some healing works from history. This is Lincoln’s first inaugural address.
I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.
Good words. Our current’s regime’s leader is incapable of forming those kinds of sentences, of attempting to unite the American people in love and common purpose.
But we can work to make this a united and great nation in spite of our lack of competent, intelligent and spiritual leadership. We can find our own words. America is full of great words and great thoughts.
Try these:
I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear, Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong, The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam, The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work, The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck, The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands, The wood-cutter’s song, the ploughboy’s on his way in the morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown, The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing, Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else, The day what belongs to the day—at night the party of young fellows, robust, friendly, Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.
Even before this current set of horrors we must endure end and even before our suffering is assuaged, we can still find the great and healing words here in America, in many ways more of a dream and an aspiration.
Let us remember what we are as a nation in our highest and strongest longing.
Often on Facebook, I am asked to pray for a number of causes, often a pet or family member, sometimes a cause. I usually comply. When someone or a pet is ill, I would very much like them to get better.
Those prayers are private and I hope they do some good. But you and I both know that much public religion is little more than grandstanding. And here in the United States, many politicians wish the mantle of Christianity. We often, very often, see them fail to uphold the behavior of a follower of Christ.
The Pharisees are one of the earliest practitioners of the “public” prayer. They would go out on the street and pray publicly and loudly to demonstrate their piety. Jesus Christ called them out for their false religion and said they would have their “reward.”
But we have in our modern age, “Thoughts and Prayers.” This is a media strategy to divert criticism from a total and complete lack of action most often in regard to firearms. While children are being stacked up by so much bullet riddled cord wood, the solemn intonation that they have the thoughts and prayers of a prime recipient of National Rifle Association votes and money are solemnly reported by a compliant media.
Do the children, dead and wounded, deserve prayer? Yes, absolutely. What kind of prayer? Why don’t we see what a professional says?
The first US pope in history, a native of Chicago, spoke in English as he prayed for the victims of last week’s shooting during a Catholic school mass in Minnesota which saw two children killed and others seriously injured.
“Our prayers for the victims of the tragic shooting during a school mass in the American state of Minnesota,” he said. “We hold in our prayers the countless children killed and injured every day around the world. Let us plead God to stop the pandemic of arms, large and small, which infects our world.”
Michael Sainato writing for the Guardian reports in an article entitled (and quoted from just above this passage) Pope Leo demands end to ‘pandemic of arms’ after Minnesota school shooting
The Pontiff didn’t just offer “Thoughts and Prayers,” he addressed the root cause of all these small dead bodies. He’s calling for action, constructive and intelligent action to stop this kind of violence.
Let me explain about meaningful prayer. If you want children to be fed and they are nearby – like outside your door, feed them. Prayers is just spoken nonsense when you know what needs to be done and you don’t do it.
Prayer is never to be used as an excuse or substitute for action. We are justified in the eyes of God by what we do or fail to do. Your faith in God is demonstrated by works. What you do shows what is in your heart.
And using “thoughts and prayers” as political cover is horribly impious and wrong. James Alan Pilant
(The Great Seal of the United States is a public domain image.)
Several articles have been written about what comes after the current regime ends. One recommended that we create a “truth and reconciliation commission” in the manner of South Africa to restore civility and union. I deeply appreciate the sentiment but I do not believe that is possible in the United States, not any more. Another one I read called for mass prosecutions and prison sentences for the massive fraud, self-dealing, and law breaking that is a daily part of our news perpetrated by this administration and its sympathizers. That is very likely to happen and I expect it will happen.
Before I write any further, I want to make it clear that I do not believe that victory over these neofascists and their dim-witted followers is in any way guaranteed. I have to admit there are days when I think they just can’t be stopped. The lies, the impudence, the confidence and their unrelenting attitude of righteousness would cause all the saints of history to lose their composure. Some days it certainly ruins mine.
But let us assume for a few moments of optimism that we, the good guys, prevail over this scum. We know that we must act whenever and wherever possible to protest and throw barriers in the way of this regime. But let us talk just now of what comes after victory, after Trump is done, perhaps condemned and imprisoned.
I have been reading a book pictured below, a picture which I have borrowed from the internet. I believe this is okay under a fair use exception and since I am mentioning both that I read it and recommend that others buy it and read it, that I may perhaps be forgiven for using it.
This book by Daniel Todman is a very detailed history of Britain at war before the entry of the United States.
Why mention it here? Because just after the British had stopped the Germans from gaining air superiority over England, a number of people from the labor party as well as a group of the intelligentsia began to agitate for and develop a plan for after victory.
And that plan was very largely enacted and put in place when victory was won.
Can you imagine?
Great Britain stands alone. They are being bombed nightly by the Luftwaffe. Hitler has not yet invaded the Soviet Union and the United States seems to see no urgency in joining the conflict. And yet they assumed eventual victory. They had faith. I wish I had that kind of faith now. I wish we all did.
But in any case, what their example shows is that planning for after the struggle is vital and every bit as important as the struggle itself. There must not only be a cause worth fighting for but a set of goals to be achieved, a further set of purposes beyond simply prevailing.
I have some simple suggestions. But I want you to know that I am going to research and think about what is possible and what can achieved, so I may very well return to the topic on multiple occasions.
But here goes –
Fix the mess at the Supreme Court. Add six justices, impose term limits and a code of ethics – it has to be fixed.
Raise the minimum wage.
Universal Health Care, it’s time.
The end of the Imperial Presidency, a comprehensive set of laws and perhaps a couple of constitutional amendments to prevent this kind of power grab from ever happening again.
A complete overhaul of campaign law and among many other things no dark money ever again.
A National Guaranteed enforceable right to vote. No more of this gerrymandering nonsense.
A graduated income tax
Free college education
Free vocational training
And as 8. and 9. imply, a national never ending focus on the development of human capital in American.
We should be building a society devoted to the development of each individual so they they can live a full life of achievement.
At least, that is my poor opinion about what is necessary.
I am going to write about this more at length.
You may share your thought if you wish, but I have approval on all comments so post accordigly.
Business ethics demands that a human being behave as a person of reason not subject to outbursts of rage or radical responses. This act caught on camera, a very foolish act, is a failure of behavior and judgment. It is also a moral and ethical failure for which there must be penalties. As of the current date I am writing this, charges have been filed and I suspect there will be a civil suit as well.
We live in a civil society. We have an opportunity every day to reject the law of the jungle and live as brothers and sisters, joint citizens of a nation and a community.
Disputes don’t have to escalate to violence or the destruction of property. I taught for many years. One of my subjects was business law. I told a story of a very large company. They had a minor dispute over the boundary line between a huge factory and a home owner. The leadership of the company handed the problem off to the legal department who filed a lawsuit. I explained that was probably going to happen every single time you handed the problem off to legal. Let me explain.
“What should you have done in the CEO’s position?” I asked. And then I had to explain because they thought what was done was okay. “How about simply asking the neighbor, the home owner, if the problem could be settled by an agreement?” Now, maybe it couldn’t and we wind up in court anyway. But I believe most of the time that minor property disputes should remain minor disputes and not major legal cases that can last for years and cost a lot of money. Besides, why not act as a good neighbor and in fact, be a good neighbor. We don’t have to go to war over every dispute.
The man above did not act as a good neighbor. The acts we see on camera are those of a pathetic fool. I bet he thinks of himself as an “alpha” male and had a lot of laughs with his buddies over the thousands of dollars worth of damages he did to the neighbor’s car. Just another bully. They are a dime a dozen, strutting their pretend machismo. We see a lot of them these days.
There is a better way. Be a good neighbor. Behave as a good member of your religion if you have one. But above all remember you have a duty to act as a lady or a gentleman is all circumstances.
emblem of the Papacy: Triple tiara and keys Français : emblème pontifical Italiano: emblema del Papato Português: Emblema papal. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Pope Francis Criticizes “Ideological” Christianity
Originally the title was going to have a question mark after it but I reread the middle paragraph below and I just didn’t see any doubt as to the meaning of his remarks. I have had serious doubts about Catholicism after the scandals, the coverups and what I felt was a lack of sincerity in pushing for Catholic Social Justice. But I am reluctantly, cautiously, and slowly being impressed by this man.
I’m willing to take a second look. A Catholic church that took it duties of helping the poor and the powerless – that would be something.
English: In the United States, Social Security benefits for married workers with stay-at-home spouses. According to author Joseph Fried, this graphic uses information from: C. Eugene Steuerle and Adam Carasso, “The USA Today Lifetime Social Security and Medicare Benefits Calculator,” (Urban Institute, October 1, 2004), from: http://www.urban.org/publications/900746.html. Note: The calculator does not include the value or cost of the Social Security disability program. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Thomas Friedman Gets Entitlements Wrong
Sorry Kids, Thomas Friedman Is Not Very Good at Economics
Many young people may have been mislead by Thomas Friedman’s column, titled “Sorry Kids: We Ate It All,” which implied that our children might somehow suffer because we are paying so much to seniors for Social Security and Medicare. The reality of course is that if our children and grandchildren do not enjoy much higher standards of living than do current workers and retirees then it will be because the rich have rigged the deck so that they can accrue most of the gains from economic growth.
This is easy to show. For example, if we look at the Social Security trustees report we see that average annual wages are projected to grow at more than a 1.3 percent annual rate between now and 2050. As a result, the average before tax wage will be more than 60 percent higher in 2060 than it is today. If our children and grandchildren get to share equally in these gains then they will be far richer than we are today.
It’s true that we will have a higher ratio of retirees to workers in 2050, just as we have a higher ratio of retirees to workers than we did in 1970. Just as the increase in the ratio of retirees to workers over the last 4 decades did not prevent an increase in average living standards over this period, there is no reason to think it will prevent an increase in average living standards over the next four decades.
I heartily agree with Dean Baker of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. The generational theft storyline has been running around for a while and it is both wrong and unconvincing. Let’s take me for instance, I have my form in the mail from the Social Security Administration telling me what to expect. If I wait all the way until I’m 70, I will receive, $1,440 a month. I’m a little curious? When did that become a princely sum? Is this the kind of money that will enable me to go the sand and surf of Hawaii or does it more look like I’m going to have trouble paying for a place to live and basic groceries. I’m leaning toward the latter conclusion. Even in Arkansas, 1,440 dollars a month is not going to pay for a mansion. I might add that I have been paying in on that all of my working life, so it’s not free as far as I am concerned.
Well, what about Medicare? Well, it’s obvious to me although not to Friedman, that medical patents are being abused, that not allowing prescription drugs to either be bargained for by the federal government or purchased overseas is creating dramatically high medical costs and there are a bundles of other good choices we have to reduce out medical costs instead of telling seniors, “It’s just too bad, you got old while Thomas Friedman was considered an expert.”
Where do these people get the gall to tell the great middle class to go without pensions and health care when they have expressed no willingness to fix the nation’s problems? Why do we have a system where capital gains is taxed at less than wages? Why do we have no financial transaction tax to discourage the speculation which has wrought havoc all over this nation and the world?
Social Security and Medicare are programs that are needed relevant and necessary!
The economy is slowing repairing itself but we still have those on the right who want to deep-six any social safety net that would protect our seniors, the poor and disadvantaged, the sick, the halt and the lame. These are very people whom even Jesus Christ said should always be protected and aided. People like Tom Coburn don’t agree with Jesus on that, even though Coburn professes to be a follower of that Jewish Rabbi from Nazareth he had publicly stated that Social Security and Medicare are programs that we really don’t need to continue. Tom must have read a different Bible from all the ones I have read.
But, that is the current mantra for a lot of neo-cons and they are influencing a lot of neo-newbies who are coming and have come into the workforce over the past decade. These are people most of whom have never known any toil or strife in their lives because of safety nets like Social Security and Medicare were there for their parents and grandparents. They are the very ones buying to the neo-cons who claim most of the people who are poor don’t try hard enough or don’t or are lazy and shiftless and don’t really want to work. It’s a completely asinine idea, but they are buying hook line and sinker. When you have never known what is to be hungry or out of work I guess it is difficult to understand that, that is something that doesn’t necessarily mean you caused it.
“In view of Jesus’ clear example, how is it that the church has now become a community of respectability, where the down-and-out no longer feel welcome? The middle-class church many of us know today bears little resemblance to the diverse group of social rejects described in the Gospels and the book of Acts.” – Philip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew … Read More
Moral Hazard is one of the more important concepts of our current economic situation. This is an intelligent, insightful article with a clear explanation of the phenomenon. I am a big believer in Christianity’s view of business ethics and here is a good one by a fine author. If you are an economics or business student, you will find useful material here.
James Pilant
If corporations are considered to have most of the same rights as humans should they also be entitled to Grace? Last summer the Supreme Court decided that corporations had the right to make unlimited contributions to political candidates. For a number of years labor unions have also been able to make contributions to political campaigns. This ruling is just another incident where the law has held that corporations have many of the same rights … Read More
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