On Facebook, last week, I took the “bishop’s side” on the Obama health care mandate regarding information on contraception. Let me begin at the outset by stating that I am pro-choice and an ardent Obama supporter. The problem with this particular issue for me is that I am also adamant about the “separation of church and state” principle that our country has adhered to since its inception. Since the Bush II era, I have been obsessed with the fear that this tea sipping evangelical movement wants to undermine our secular mandate and overturn many of our decades old - hard fought freedoms like voting rights, freedom to choose, the social safety nets and even labor rights. I continually insist to some of my old friends that “this is NOT a Christian nation” and was never intended to be.

What is even more contra-indicative is that although I was raised a Catholic, I have left the Church community because of differences over dogma, sexual hypocrisy and most of all centralized power. Although I have strong feelings for the Church of my memories, I refuse to be a “Cafeteria” Catholic, who insists on membership in a community that doesn’t share the same beliefs-----those beliefs that I now think are narrow minded and anachronistic. BUT, I am a libertarian only in the sense that I believe that because God gave us free will we must be truly given the freedom to believe anything we wish, no matter how bizarre, criminal or ridiculous. The corollary to this, of course is, that we must do no harm with our public words and actions. To me, there is nothing wrong with having prejudiced beliefs, it is our discriminatory behavior that needs government regulation.

Now to this issue at hand. Although there are many inconsistencies in how the Catholic hierarchy actually manages their health care institutions, they have a right to practice what they preach without government intervention , as long as they neither ask for or accept any government funding. And I just heard a Cardinal on a morning TV show assure the public that they do not take a penny even though their services reach out all religions and races.

Oh! Of course I wish these same Bishops would react as vehemently to the attempts by the Republican party to unravel many parts of the social safety net (such as it is)that we have constituted in the past half century to help the poor and disabled in this country. These are not political issues---these are moral issues----- just as the theme issue of this essay is a moral issue for Catholic believers. Get up to that same pulpit, you used to rally Catholics, to resist this mandate and speak out against the excessive greed ( a sin in any church), the Social Darwinism, the Ayn Rand libertarianism and the outright racism and sexism of these so called conservative zealots. To advocate for oligarchs and corporate raiders who would accumulate riches at the expense of the poor and the disabled is a moral offense (i.e. a sin) in Christian theology. If anyone doesn’t believe that, they might actually read what Jesus taught in the New Testament. To use their own theological argument---i.e. the Seamless Garment----they cannot be pro life and sit by and watch people being cheated, ignored and abandoned like the Samaritan in the ditch.

It seems to me that the Obama administration , for its part, are making the same mistake with this issue that they did at the beginning of their tenure in 2009—i.e. timing and priorities. It was certainly laudable that they tried to repair the healthcare system in 2009 when they had all of that power in Congress BUT the better political strategy would have been to focus on improving the economy first. That mistake cost them the disastrous 2010 election, which empowered the political vipers to veto anything that Obama planned to improve life for all citizens of this country. This issue is on a smaller scale but must as important as the health care bill. Why in the Dickens would they bring this up now? ---just when we seemed to have turned the election tide with good employment numbers . We could have fixed this after the 2012 election----- N'est-ce pas?

THE MEN BEHIND THE CURTAIN

“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain”

Those lines were uttered by a frustrated Frank Morgan, as Toto pulled back the curtain revealing him frantically pulling the levers to control the booming hologram of the powerful Wizard. The Professor turned out to be a kindly old hustler who helped Dorothy return home to Kansas. But the men behind the curtain in this nation are not nearly that benign. They have many names: the power brokers; the men behind the throne; the fat cats; the robber barons; the prime movers; the owners(George Carlin); the top 1%; oligarchs. But who are they? Name names.

They are not the ultra conservative politicians in state and federal houses around the country. Nor are they the radical right radio and TV talk hosts. These demagogues are not the puppeteers but merely the puppets that are on strings that cause them to prance around the stage in a public display of feigned patriotism and fiscal integrity. We need to know who the puppeteers are ; what they do and where they live. We have a few names but only a very few. The Koch brothers down West Texas , that wonderful state that we stole from Mexico. These sinister siblings come from a powerful old Dutch family who own the second-largest privately held company by revenue in the United States. Charles was ranked 24th on Forbes World's Billionaires list of 2011 with an estimated net worth of $22 billion. We also know much about craggy old Rupert Murdoch who controls the right wing media in both England and the United States. In recent days, they are beginning to pull the curtain away from him gradually to unravel the sketchy behavior of some of his minions. He just had too much public exposure.

In an excellent article by Aerik Vondenburg in the consortium news entitled The Robber Barons Are Back, the author traces the history of an emerging Facism in American history from Teddy Roosevelt to Barack Obama. His own words say it more eloquently than I can:

Since the Gilded Age of the 19th century, the wealthy financiers and "robber baron" industrialists have been effectively purchasing power – and creating further revenue for themselves – by directing money into the coffers of business friendly politicians, who in turn vote for lower taxes, special exemptions, tax loopholes, deregulation, etc.

But ,as I wrote in a previous post, “Who are these people”. It shouldn’t be too difficult to identify what their names are and what interests they represent. Harold Ickes, FDR’s brilliant Secretary of the Interior, initiated a campaign to go after the “superrich sixty families” whom he identified as the prime power brokers of the era. Isolating only the richest in 21^st Century society as the targets of our scorn would be a mistake. Billionaires like George Soros and Warren Buffett publicly admit that they would have no problem paying higher taxes to support the government. I doubt very much whether Mark Zuckerberg complains that he has to give out too great a percentage of his resources to support the government

We need to know the identity of those families on the Koch Brothers’ Christmas list. You know the ones who tie their sailboats together for the Fourth of July to watch the fireworks off of Shelter Island. Publish their pictures in Newsweek or Time. Tell us where they live so that we can demonstrate in front of their property Identify the industries they represent so we can boycott their products or services. Let us know who regularly wires those funds into Grover Norquist’s accounts in the Cayman’s or Switzerland.

Toto, do your job

“Tell Michael it Was Only Business”

Those were Salvatore Tessio’s words to Tom Hagen, just before he was taken away to be killed for betraying Michael Corleone in the classic film, Godfather I. In Mario Puzo’s script, he has his Mafia bosses justify their felonious behavior by claiming that they are no worse than large corporations and corrupt politicians. When Vito Corleone apologizes to his son, Michael, for getting him involved in the family business, Michael tries to ease his father’s concern by saying that they are all “pezzonovante’s anyway” In Standard Italian it is "pezzo da novanta" (ninety-calibre… a big gun). In Sicilian slang , it is not a good person.

I truly enjoyed the Godfather series because they were well made films but I never viewed those characters as romantic anti-heroes. They were larcenous cold psychopaths whose amoral behavior caused the death and suffering of many. But the business metaphor is appropriate.

One thing you have to admit about the Business Tribe in this country is that they are completely upfront about their agenda. Their one major priority above all is profit---the bottom line. They will readily admit that in any formal or informal communication with others. They are customer oriented only because they have discovered that the strategy yields economic rewards for the private owners or the stockholders of corporations. Calvin Coolidge said it clearly “The business of America is business”. The implication, accepted by many in or out the business world,is that it is truly “American” to support business and anyone who doesn’t accept this is not a true patriot.

The interesting thing about true believers in this tribe is that they separate their personal lives from their business lives. As private citizens they abhor cruelty, injustice, mercilessness and selfishness. When they return home to their family, friends and neighbors they adhere to the Golden Rule. They are like the Nazi Concentration Camp commandants who would return home from Auschwitz or Dachau and celebrate Christmas with their families and neighbors. Dorothy Thompson, the brilliant journalist, called it “doubling” in a 1930’s essay.

Do you think I am exaggerating? Well let’s look at the record. The Tobacco Companies continued to advertise and sell cigarettes even though their own research indicated that they were cancerous. The oil companies made comfortable deals with Middle Eastern Monarchs who funded the terrorists who ultimately viciously attacked our own country. They also were warned many times about the risks of deep water drilling until the gargantuan oil spill that devastated the inhabitants of the Gulf of Mexico.

The mining companies for decades have ignored safety regulations resulting the maiming and premature deaths of men who risked their lives in the bowels of the earth. The corporate environmental polluters whose carbon footprint has resulted in an unnatural climate change that threatens all of us. The weapons manufacturers hide behind the second amendment and the NRA to peddle their automatic weapons at gun shows that kill and maim law enforcement professionals, students, innocent bystanders and even politicians. And finally we have the Wall St. CEO’s whose greed and incompetence almost resulted in another Major Depression.

When you challenge them they cry “Un-American”, “Socialism” and “Communism” or like Sal Tessio, they want you to understand that it is not personal. ”It is only business” they say. I say “leave the gun; take the Cannoli”

Look for article on Daniel Schoor

BIBLE 101

The name of Jesus Christ has been bandied about quite a bit these days in political forums, rally signs and floods of emails that are around these days to remind us of the mandates of our Christian faith in the modern world.




What would Jesus do?
This is a Christian nation,
We want a return to the Christian values of our forefathers.

A great number of public figures, past and present, have not hesitated to use the Christian faith and Jesus himself to justify their political stand on various issues like the separation of church and state, abortion, the God given right to carry weapons, the fear of socialism or Marxism and the redistribution of wealth. Unless they are having sporadic visits from the Lord himself or his mother through visions, voices or mystical experiences, the only authentic source for their arguments is the Christian bible and more specifically the words and behavior of Jesus Christ as reported by his friends or friends of his friends in the New Testament. Here is a brief summary of my Bible 101 course.

Separation of Church and State

"My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence" (John 18:36)

"And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's and unto God the things which be God's" (Luke 20:25).

In these two citations, Jesus makes it clear that there is a separation between His kingdom and the kingdoms of this world. His kingdom is heavenly while governments are secular. His work is not political; it is spiritual. Violence, even in self-defense, is an earthly endeavor not a spiritual matter. Unlike Mohammed and Pope Julius II, Jesus was not a warrior. After his death and resurrection, his followers were told to serve as representatives of the heavenly kingdom in their contacts with secular governments. "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ." (2 Corinthians 5:20).

Abortion
Although abortion has been around for centuries, Jesus is not reported to have said anything about it nor about when a fetus becomes viable as a person. There is, however, a passage in Luke that implies that the fetus is a person who rejoices at the news of the coming of Christ.

At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. (Luke 1:39-44)

On the other hand, there is a passage from the Old Testament that makes it clear that killing a fetus in the womb is not as serious as killing a human being.

"And if men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so that she has a miscarriage, yet there is no further injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman's husband may demand of him; and he shall pay as the judges decide. But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,” ( Exodus 21:22-24)

Although Jesus seemed to have no public utterances about the issue of abortion, the Bible itself seems contradictory. It appears that it will have be up to modern theologians ,scientists and the individual conscience to decide on the issue. Most modern women feel that the choice is up to them and not any secular or religious institution.

The God Given Right to Carry Weapons
This is a “no-brainer” when it comes to the words and actions of Jesus as reported by the four evangelists. The Rev. Dr. Welton Gaddy tells a story of a little boy who liked to play cowboys and church, his very own role-playing game. One day she overheard him reenacting Jesus summoning Lazarus from the tomb; the little boy, toy gun in each hand, shouted, “Lazarus, come out with your hands up.”

After reading the New Testament, No one can deny that Jesus was a peacemaker and against keeping weapons and violence of any sort, even in retribution.
The following biblical quotations say it all:

But I say to you not to resist evil: but if one strike thee on thy right cheek, turn to him also the other. (Matthew 5:39)

"Put your sword back in its place," Jesus said to him, "for all who draw the sword will die by the sword." (Matthew 26:52).

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. (Matthew 5.5). Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God (Matthew 5.9)

Socialism and the redistribution of wealth
Critics of the present administration have railed against what they call the socialist leanings of the federal government. They warn against the rise of Godless Marxism that threatens our thriving capitalist economy. A conservative Christian blogger, Gary North, writes:

Fact: There has never been an expository Bible commentary that shows that the Bible teaches anything other than free market capitalism.

He goes on to cite obtuse excerpts from Genesis and Deuteronomy to establish his point.

But what does Jesus say and do? It is clear from these excerpts:

One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me" (Mark 10:21).

Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' ……….., Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me. (Mt. 25:31-46)

To the rich he said, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth," and "go, sell what you have, and give to the poor." When the rich turned away from him because they couldn't follow his command he observed, “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."(Luke:18-25)

And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. (Matthew 21:12-13)

What is really great about this country is that it protects our rights to differ on many social and political issues. Conservatives and Liberals will differ on the role of the federal government, fiscal policy, religious freedom and sociopolitical issues, like abortion, welfare and freedom of speech. These variances of opinion are what make this country unique and challenging.

But when Christians decide to use their particular interpretation of what God or Jesus may want for this country, they should, at the very least, cite their sources correctly. Personally, I am not at all certain about much in the area of religious beliefs, but I do believe that in His three years of public life, Jesus had clearly delivered a message to all of us about how God wants us to live together. To distort His message to support a particular political opinion is at best hypocritical---at worst blasphemous.

THE TEABAGGERS AND FRIENDS

“we want our country back”

What explains all of this this anger, rage, hostility, and racial hatred? It appeared to crawl out of the woodwork in the past two years . The anger ,which I shared, at the radical Muslims after 911 was always there but seemed to reawaken. The economy that was going bad in the last year of GW’s presidency also did not seem to set off a lot of this irrational and delusional rambling. It all started when, on morning of November 5, 2008, these folks woke to find that the nation had elected a Black President and had rejected their hero GW Bush and the great white hope of America----John McCain. They must have been in a fury over this.

In their minds, the villains in all of this of course were black people who suddenly decided to vote, Latinos who are really black anyway and bleeding heart white liberals---atheists and God-hating elitists from the eastern cities and large universities. To top it all is that the man they selected is the offspring of a mixed marriage of a white woman with a black man. The rage inbtensified when this President turns out to be an uppity, arrogant @#@#%#@ who thinks he is smarter than all of us. Sure he got his degree from Harvard and was chosen to head the Law Review . But that was only because the white liberals let him in and passed him through to satisfy affirmative action. Same with his wife at Princeton

They also rage at The liberal white fools who elected him have empowered him to insidiously complete his agenda which is to slowly but surely enable Blacks, Latinos and Muslims to take control of our government and punish good white Christian people who they really despise. Obama and his minions will tax all of their hard earned money to increase welfare benefits to all of those lazy people of color who want to hang around street corners in their drooping jeans and do rags, sing rap songs and drink beer and booze from brown paper bags, rather than work. It’s a conspiracy.

It all makes sense to me now. I agree “WE WANT OUR COUNTRY BACK”