A Bad Day for Monotheism

     In a speech earlier this week, Pope Benedict XVI quoted a speech from a 14th century Byzantine Emperor, “Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”  This quotation, not surprisingly, filled much of the Muslim world with anger.
     The irony here is that the point of the Pope’s speech was about the incompatibility between violence and true religious belief.  In the same speech he later said, "Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul.”  This was a very true point and the message was one that we should expect from the Holy Father, leader of over 1 Billion Catholic Christians.
     I am very upset with this incident.  For one, the Pope’s message of peace and understanding was misconstrued and taken out of its full context.  In fact, several churches in the Middle East were attacked after the media reported on the Pope’s speech. This can not help the poor image of Islam held in the west. Rather unfairly, I might add, as once again the actions of a few extremists make a bad name for the majority of peaceful Muslims.  So the Pope was horribly misinterpreted.  At the same time, I am not happy at all with the Bishop of Rome.  Why in the world did he choose to quote from such a text?  Why did he not then pronounce such words as misguided?  It seems to me as if he was actually taunting the Muslim world. “Prove that you have a religion of peace!” He seemed to say while goading them with the words of a long-dead Byzantine Emperor.  Why this approach?  Some say that he is more “hawkish” than his predecessor, Pope John Paul II.  I thought that the symbol of the Holy Spirit was a dove. (As is the symbol of peace.)  I humbly suggest that the Holy See use a bit more tact and think about the future impact of “hawkish” language in the future.

September 11th

Today is the 5th anniversary of the September 11th attacks. Most of you probably remember where you were and what you were doing when you first received news of the tragedy. My wife and I had been living in Japan for just over two months on September 11, 2001. After teaching English for the day, I had returned home and eaten a good dinner with my wife. It was later in the evening as we were watching a rather rare English language move on Japanese TV. The movie, “Needful Things” was nearly over when we received a phone call from my mother telling us what had happened. We changed channels to see the news unfolding. Shortly after we received the news, the second tower of the World Trade Center collapsed. I received several other calls in quick succession from other expat friends living in Japan as well as calls from the US. I had a horrible feeling then, as if I was looking at the opening of a terrible new chapter in history – and I feared as much for what the American response would be as for the horrific tragedy still unfolding. Perhaps part of that silly movie stuck with me in the back of my mind, reminding me how people could be manipulated into causing other people harm. My fears were certainly realized as we went to war in Afghanistan and Iraq and began undermining civil liberties at home.
People might blame the atrocities on militant Islam. But to call such actions Islamic is truly absurd. These acts are terrorism through and through. On the other hand, American killing of civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq is labeled collateral damage. But one should not call this Christian aggression for such actions are truly contrary to the spirit of Christianity as well. Neither of these things are virtuous nor Islamic nor Christian acts. Terrorism is terrorism. The way to fight terrorism is first not to become a terrorist. There is truly wisdom in treating others the way one wishes to be treated. We should be spreading that message rather than the current message of “might makes right,” - regardless of what good ends for which we claim to be fighting.


On this September 11th, my thoughts and prayers shall be with the victims and their families. I shall also pray for any and all potential future terrorists – that they be dissuaded from militancy and see the true path of justice and holiness lies with treating one another with dignity, respect, and compassion.

Have You Stopped Torturing People, President Bush? Yes or No?

The terms “secret prisons” and torture at first seem best suited for a discussion on the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany or Communist China.  Sadly, these terms can now also be used in a positive sentence concerning the United States of America.  We’ve traded our old ideal of being the ideal for the world for an expanded notion of “Don’t mess with Texas.”
     Now, the Bush Administration is changing its policies of holding prisoners in secret CIA prisons and using hard techniques that sound like torture - but aren’t supposed to be - to policies which conform to the law.  Some may say this is progress, which it certainly is, but it is long overdue.  This is not even mentioning the fact that this should never have been done in the first place. Now, with even a highly conservative Supreme Court ruling against the Bush Administration’s handling of prisoners, and the Republicans’ prospects in the upcoming mid-term elections in jeopardy, the Bush administration is changing its approach – dare we call it a flip-flop?  Well, it is too little too late.  We can see this move for what it is – a pragmatic and reluctant move by an administration that would rather “do its own thing” than follow the law.

Progressive Values - Who Shall Speak For Us?

Who shall speak for us, we Americans who hold progressive values? Certainly not the Republican party, broken and schizophrenic as it is. The Republican party is divided on the issue of whether America should be a Theocracy or a Plutocracy. The GOP is also divided on whether or not to support an unpopular President in his attempts to gloss over a costly mistake of a war in Iraq.
So then, in our two-party tradition, the Democrats are the obvious choice. They must speak for we progressives, is that not so? Unfortunately, they have not been very outspoken in their opposition to the Republican efforts to undermine our freedoms, deceive the public, and squander our lives and resources. What kind of an opposition have they been? They have been an almost nonexistent opposition, I must admit. Further, they have offered few, if any good ideas of their own in the past few years.
So what are our progressive ideals? We stand for equal opportunity, a chance for everyone in society to flourish and contribute to the best of our ability. We count our people as having the highest value, not their money. Thus we want to see that no person’s life goes to waste, for their own as well as our own sake. We want to see everyone PROGRESS in their lives, and we look for means to allow everyone to have that opportunity. Every time a child goes hungry, we suffer as a community. Every time a prospective student can’t afford to go to school, we all suffer. Every time a homeless person becomes ill, we all suffer. Every time a person is denied employment based on their race, gender, or orientation we all suffer. Every time making money takes precedence over people’s welfare, we all suffer. Every time an election is contested and the truth is not sought, we all suffer. Suffering may be an inevitable part of life, but allowing needless and fruitless suffering is outrageous. We progressives stand in favor of eliminating needless suffering. This is true in our own communities and nation as well as around the globe. So, we would rather work with others, not dictate to them, for the mutual benefit all. Most of us progressives have deep philosophical and spiritual values that inform our opinions. We would rather build a more happy, prosperous and healthy earth, rather than waste all our resources in hope that the rapture will take us away before things get really bad. In fact, most progressive ideals ARE Christian ideas! I don’t recall Christ’s sermons on the need for preemptive military action, the need to lobby Caesar for lower taxes, or his advice on how to judge and force people to conform to one’s own conception of morality. But I do seem to recall a good deal about forgiving one’s enemies (Matthew 4:14-15), not judging other people (Luke 7:37), and loving one’s neighbor. (Matthew 19:19 )
It does not seem that the Democrats have been doing much to promote our values, and the Republicans have been working against them.
So will stand for these values? I wonder…