patter pensée

bread and roses . . . again

2011-08-19T19:07:00.000-07:00

Bread, molasses, and beans were the staple diet of most mill workers. "When we eat meat it seems like a holiday, especially for the children," testified one weaver before the March 1912 congressional investigation of the Lawrence strike.

. . .

Whatever its future, the I.W.W. has accomplished one tremendously big thing, a thing that sweeps away all twaddle over red flags and violence and sabotage, and that is the individual awakening of "illiterates" and "scum" to an original, personal conception of society and the realization of the dignity and rights of their part in it. They have learned more than class consciousness; they have learned consciousness of Self . . . .

This was a fitting interpretation of the spirit of the striking mill girls who carried picket signs which read:

WE WANT BBEAD AND ROSES TOO.

bread and roses . . .

2011-08-19T18:53:00.001-07:00

The art of juggling

2011-06-21T16:21:00.000-07:00

At different times in my existence I've been mostly passive or mostly phrenetic (okay, ok, the speller is telling me that is archaic and that should be spelling it frenetic - geez, archaic!) but this site has been been mostly my sorta lay-back be-myself spot - no pretensions..... no looking over my shoulder. I like the site. Lonely as it may sometimes be. I'm not completely back yet, but I intend to be here a little more - looking over some of the earlier posts, it is in the direction that I tend to be. I mostly tend, not so much trend. I just enjoyed, softly and without commotion, turning 68 years old and have decided not attend the 50th reunion of my high school graduation. I think I'd rather spend the funds available to visit my mother's kid sister in Oregon again! See you soon and maybe often.

I'll be right back . . .

2011-02-28T16:20:00.001-08:00

baker's dozen of movies to watch again in twenty-ten

2010-01-03T06:07:00.000-08:00

Bagdad Cafe

Hud

Il Postino

Kolya

The Last Picture Show

Secondhand Lions

Sideways

Smoke Signals

Spring Forward

The Station Agent

Tampopo

Tender Mercies

What's Eating Gilbert Grape

I haven't posted yet and already there are another dozen in my mind that I regret cannot fit within the arbitrary list of thirteen movies: Harold and Maude; Benny & Joon; Cookie's Fortune; Gun Shy; Tea with Mussolini; Waking Ned Devine; Brassed Off; Moonstruck; etc., etc.

An aside: if you haven't visited Ned Beatty's web site, I recommend that you check it out. I guess I better add his latest movie, Sweet Land to my list for the year.

Enjoy twenty-ten!

May this be a good year to dance

2010-01-02T14:24:00.000-08:00

Some Turning Points

2009-12-31T15:29:00.000-08:00

An end-of-year tradition has become the making of lists. I have one – top of the head (and of the moment - I might possibly be leaving something out - as memory is tricky), but about turning points in my life. This end-of-year tradition is good enough timing for me even if most end-of-year lists attempt to define the closing year (or decade etc.) or somehow to place a particular focus on certain events in the past year. These lists tend to be “best” lists, though more and more there seems to be a trend toward “favorites” or most this or that lists. The number of things listed is arbitrary - ten wasn't enough - I settled for 12 but even that wasn't quite enough.

My list is both more simple and more complex and has nothing in particular to do with the past year or decade, etc. Perhaps the passing of my life but not really as intend to live through additional decades. My list is about influences or “turning points.” My list is one of writings, events, music that caused a profound change in my outlook, my actions, my habits. Mostly I am (as yet) unable to articulate the changes beyond the simple realization that the items on the list changed the direction of my life.

As an example, as a boy well into puberty (I don’t remember my age), I once stumbled across a little bookstore in Odessa, Texas that was all within a single room of a house. I liked to read (had learned to read “The Little Red Hen” before first grade). I remember that I was on my way to a school event and was early with time to spare and I stayed in the bookstore looking at the books. One book – I have no idea what the title was or who wrote it – caught my attention and as I read about boys and masturbation I suddenly knew that my own world was a world inhabited by others who also had similar experiences and concerns. It changed my life utterly – knowing that I wasn’t some weirdness on the flotsam of humanity. But enough. Dear readers (if such I have) here is the very personal list of the most life-changing events during my 60+ odd years:

1. Some book (title and author unknown) read in a little bookstore in Odessa, Texas (see above).

2. Something of Value, a movie directed by Richard Brooks

3. Report to Greco and Zorba the Greek, books by Nikos Kazantzakis

4. The History of Western Philosophy, a book by Bertrand Russell

5. Jules et Jim, a movie directed by François Truffaut (starring Jeanne Moreau, Oskar Werner, and Henri Serre)

6. This is It and Other Essays, a book by Alan Watts

7. The Lost Son and Other Poems, a collection of poetry by Theodore Rothke

8. Thus Spake Zarathustra, a book by Friedrich Nietzsche

9. Siddartha and Demian, books by Hermann Hesse

10. The poetry of Yevgeny Yevtushenko

11. The poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay

12. The Searchers, a movie directed by John Ford

I could have also included the 1969 "People's Park" March in Berkeley or the late '60's Veterans Peace March in San Francisco with a handful of veterans of the Spanish American War. Something about those will need to wait for possible future postings. Also, this is not a list of favorites - I would include many different movies, books and poems. Any such lists must also be separate posts.

From Every End of the Earth - Just Like Us

2009-12-27T04:10:00.000-08:00

I don't much read the Washington Post web site anymore but there do continue to be bits of reporting and writing worth the time. Nancy Trejos has a book review of From Every End of This Earth by Steven Roberts that has caused me to add the book to my "want to buy" list.

But the true sacrifice is made for the children. I've learned this from my own experience as the U.S.-born child of a Colombian father and Ecuadorian mother. My parents arrived in New York City with no college degrees and unable to speak English. But they found jobs -- my father served food to patients at a Manhattan hospital, my mother cleaned Park Avenue apartments by day and midtown offices by night -- and managed to save enough money to buy a house in Queens and send me to Georgetown University.

Roberts focuses much of the book on children like me -- Generation Next. "Being a child of immigrants can be a complicated way to grow up," he writes. "Generation Next is often pulled between the past and the future, between celebrating their own tradition and creating their own identity."

Postscript:

I may be on a roll - here's another book to add to my list of "must read" books: Just Like Us.

There are few books that can juggle both the human emotion and struggle against the controversial political backdrop that is America as well as Helen Thorpe’s “Just Like Us.” An accomplished journalist, Thorpe not only engaged in relationships with the stars of the book for 5 years, but uncovered the true face behind the issue of immigration. As the wife of Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, she treaded carefully and reported on the issue and its players throughout the years with skill.

. . . and a Happy New Year!

2009-12-26T05:39:00.000-08:00

I don't much mind Garrison Keillor's rant on the UU propensity to change things (holy or not). I'll let it mostly pass but would like to share a quote with Garrison from Earl W. Count, 4,000 Years of Christmas:

Shall we liken Christmas to the web in a loom? There are many weavers, who work into the pattern the experience of their lives. When one generation goes, another comes to take up the weft where it has been dropped. The pattern changes as the mind changes, yet never begins quite anew. At first, we are not sure that we discern the pattern, but at last we see that, unknown to the weavers themselves, something has taken shape before our eyes, and that they have made something very beautiful, something which compels our understanding.

Dulaman

2009-12-24T12:27:00.000-08:00

Remembering old snowfalls

2009-12-05T05:12:00.000-08:00

Yeh, we had a little snow in Houston yesterday reminding me of a snowstorm on February 4, 1956 in Plainview, Texas. Not because of any resemblance between the storms, but because of the rarity of the event. We seldom get snow in Houston, at least on the ground for longer than a nanosecond. The February 1956 snowstorm in Plainview set a record for for most snowfall in Texas for a 24-hour period. We had 24 inches over the course of a full day and night - for you finger-counters, that is an inch of snow an hour. We lived in a two-story house just to the north of Plainview in Seth Ward and on the back (north) side of the house we had a snowdrift that completely blocked view of the house.

Well, checking on the Internet I find that the record has been broken by a March 2009 snowfall in Follett, Texas (in the Panhandle).

Heavy snow accompanied by strong winds and blizzard conditions, occurred between the mornings of March 27 and March 28, 2009 across the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles. The most snowfall recorded in the Texas Panhandle occurred in Follett, Texas where a record-setting 25.0 inches of snow fell between 8 a.m. March 27 and 8 a.m. March 28. This surpasses the previous record 24-hour snowfall for the state of Texas which was 24.0 inches and occurred in Plainview, Texas on February 4, 1956.

I've no idea what the 24-hour record in Houston might be.

aida

2009-11-30T06:16:00.000-08:00

Happy Independence Day

2009-07-04T03:54:00.000-07:00

You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.
Erma Bombeck

got to walk it by yourself

2009-07-02T15:30:00.000-07:00

congressional option for all of us

2009-06-21T17:59:00.000-07:00

I agree with Eric Wattree's assessment of the healthcare "debate" in congress and wonder why can't we get the congressional option?

There's at least one thing that Republicans do much better than Democrats, and that's marketing their initiatives. It doesn't matter how regressive the idea, Republicans manage to frame it in a way that if you oppose it you look like you're either degenerate, or at the very least, un-American. For example, instead of accurately calling themselves "The Order of Religious Bigots Dedicated to Shoving Our Version of God Down America's Throat," they market their insanity as "The Moral Majority," and instead of being honest and calling themselves "The Public Vagina Brigade," they call themselves "The Right to Life" proponents (even though they're willing to let that very same life starve to death after it's born). Conservatives get a lot of milage out of their creativity in this area, and progressives would do well to follow suit.

lessons of compassion

2009-06-20T15:43:00.000-07:00

First, let me say that I do not automatically rejoice at the news that some human error has caused a dose of public embarrassment upon one of the moral leaders in our society - in this case, Cardinal O’Hara High School President William J. McCusker in Springfield, PA. Any past pomposity or public sneering at lesser souls raises the meter to "automatic rejoicing." I know no such thing in this unfortunate case. Second, let me also admit that a hope always arises in my mind (perhaps in my heart) that there is a lesson of compassion learned for others mixed within the bitter dregs of the resulting humiliation and possible loss of paid position.

SPRINGFIELD — Cardinal O’Hara High School President William J. McCusker said he is “deeply distraught, embarrassed and ashamed” of his recent arrest for suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol.

Peter Ludwin poetry

2009-05-26T04:58:00.000-07:00

Peter Ludwin’s new book of poems, A Guest in All Your Houses, is now available from Word Walker Press and, shortly, from Amazon.com.

A good review of the book is online here.

I've just finished reading the book and expect to do a review shortly. Clue to review: it's a terrific collection of poems covering the geography of much of my own earlier peripatetic nosings about.

If you'll be in the Seattle area, I see online that Peter will be reading from his book on Thursday, May 28 at 7:30 p.m. at Open Books, 2414 N 45th St., Seattle.

2009-05-25T15:56:00.000-07:00

a listing of all medal of honor recipients.

rolling along

2009-05-24T17:26:00.000-07:00

salute

2009-05-24T15:17:00.000-07:00

I salute our brothers and sisters in uniform and will light a special candle tomorrow for those who lost their lives while serving in the armed forces of the United States of America. This is doubtless not different from what most American will be thinking tomorrow. I take a certain pride, as an American veteran, that we recognize those who put themselves at risk for all of us.

in memoriam

2009-05-24T06:56:00.000-07:00

de colores

2009-05-23T13:22:00.001-07:00

simple gifts

2009-05-23T13:10:00.001-07:00

sim

Primate Evolution

2009-05-19T16:11:00.000-07:00

From The New York Times:

NEW YORK (AP) -- The nearly complete and remarkably preserved skeleton of a small, 47 million-year-old creature found in Germany was displayed Tuesday by scientists who said it would help illuminate the evolutionary roots of monkeys, apes and humans. Experts praised the discovery for the level of detail it provided but said it was far from a breakthrough that would solve the puzzles of early evolution.

About the size of a small cat, the animal has four legs and a long tail. Nobody is claiming that it's a direct ancestor of monkeys and humans, but it provides a good indication of what a long-ago ancestor may have looked like, researchers said at a news conference.

In an evolutionary sense, the fossil is like an aunt from several generations ago, said Jens Franzen of the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt, Germany.

The fossil is the best preserved ever found for a primate, said Jorn Hurum, of the University of Oslo Natural History Museum, one of the scientists introducing the specimen. It's about 95 percent complete, even including fingertips with nails, and lacks only the lower portion of one leg, Hurum said. It also includes gut contents, showing the creature ate leaves and fruit in its rainforest environment.

Former Postville Agriprocessors workers receive new visas

2009-05-19T16:04:00.000-07:00

This from the Cedar Rapids gazetteonline:

POSTVILLE (AP) — Twenty former workers at the Agriprocessors Inc. plant in Postville have received visas under a law that protects crime victims.

The first wave of women and children arrested last year at the plant have been granted U-visas by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, allowing them to legally live and work in the country for four years. They can apply for green cards in the third year.

Sonia Parras-Konrad, a Des Moines attorney who led the effort, said the visas are a big step toward vindicating the immigrants and giving them justice.

“A government entity has found, indeed, that these women and children have been subjected to extreme emotional or physical harm by Agriprocessors,” Parras-Konrad said. “These people have been exploited, have been assaulted, have been humiliated, have been verbally and emotionally abused by this employer.”

To be eligible for the visas, the former workers must meet several requirements, including assisting authorities in any pertinent investigations.

God's will

2009-05-19T04:43:00.000-07:00

"It is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men."

-- biblical quote from Top Secret war briefing memo prepared by Pentagon for President Bush (April 2003).

The full slideshow of memos is online here.

paying attention

2009-05-18T23:37:00.000-07:00

Some interesting comments from Matthew Yglesias about paying attention:

Newt Gingrich knows a lot about saying stupid things and being forced out of the job as Speaker. … But one way or the other — I mean, I wasn’t in the room, you weren’t in the room, Newt Gingrich wasn’t in the room. None of us know exactly what happened there. But whatever it is Nancy Pelosi knew about, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, John Yoo, Jay Bybee, they knew more. And ultimately, when we have a thorough investigation of what happened, the bulk of the blame has to lie with the architects of the policy, not with a member of the opposition party.

And then, via Josh Marshall at TPM, there's this quote from The Politico looking at Leon Panetta's actual words:

Central Intelligence Agency Director Leon Panetta didn't reject or deny House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's allegations that she was falsely briefed by the CIA about interrogations.

Look carefully at Panetta's statement from Friday, especially the verb tense used. "Let me be clear: It is not our policy or practice to mislead Congress." First, "let me be clear" always precedes an ambiguous statement. Without fail. Panetta isn't opining on past acts. He's referring to the current policy. He's also not saying it never happens or happened that someone lied to or misled Congress. He's saying the agency as a whole doesn't intend to.

Panetta was at his Monterey, Calif. think tank when this all happened in 2002 and 2003. He doesn't know if Pelosi was lied to. He also doesn't say he talked to the briefers and is convinced they're telling the truth. He just says the paper records say she was briefed about the techniques. We knew that already from agency statements. So he's adding his voice to the mix and sending a signal that he'll stand by his agency, but to say he sided with the briefers on the specifics is just wrong.

Again, I'm not saying Pelosi was lied to or even misled. It would seem rather brazen to do that. But Panetta's statement says less than people are claiming.

I've not always been a super fan of Rep. Pelosi but the media (to the glee of the wing-nuts) has clearly decided that she is liar based on the flimsiest "he said / she said" evidence. This is the same CIA that, at the time, was providing "slam-dunk" intelligence on Iraq to the Bush Administration. I think any judgment on all of this needs to wait for some type of 'truth commission.'

letters from postville

2009-05-14T19:16:00.000-07:00

The President
The White House
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President,

My name is Pedro Arturo Lopez Vega, I am the son of Consuelo Vega Nava, one of the workers that were caught in the May 12, 2008 Postville Raid at Agriprocessors, Inc. She was sentenced to five months in jail and then deported to Mexico on October 25th, 2008. She did not talk about me and my little sister because she was afraid that they would send us to jail with her. I don’t want anybody to suffer the way I did because it is very painful when they take away the one person you can always trust and count on.

The raid has affected me and my family in many ways. My nine year old sister Samantha would go into her room and “talk” to my mom while she was actually not there. My nephew who was eight months at the time, would always crawl to the front door and wait for my mom and after she would not show up, he would start to cry. As for me, instead of my mom waking me up, giving me a kiss, and sending me to school, my older sister Juanita has to do it. When I come back from school I don’t receive the warm hug that my mom used to give me and when I go to sleep I miss her goodnight kiss and her blessing for the night.

When we had mock elections in school I voted for you because I knew you were the change that this country and immigration population needs.

In school I read about a soldier in the Civil War who had to stand guard two nights in a row. On the second night he fell asleep and was sentenced to death for not doing his duty. Abraham Lincoln pardoned him and when the soldier offered to pay him with his savings Abraham Lincoln refused and told him to just do his duty.

Mr. President, I want to ask you to be like Abraham Lincoln and pardon my mother for three days so she can come to Postville on May 29, 2009 and see my graduation from 8th grade and allow me to show her that I kept my promise.

I cannot repay you with money but I assure you that I will always do my best and help people in need.

Respectfully yours,

Pedro Arturo Lopez Vega
332 North Reynolds Street
Postville, Iowa 52162

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Mrs. Michelle Obama
The White House
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mrs. Obama,

My name is Pedro Arturo Lopez Vega, I am the son of Consuelo Vega Nava, one of the workers that were caught in the May 12, 2008 Postville Raid at Agriprocessors, Inc. She was sentenced to five months in jail and then deported to Mexico on October 25th, 2008. She did not talk about me and my little sister because she was afraid that they would send us to jail with her. I don’t want anybody to suffer the way I did because it is very painful when they take away the one person you can always trust and count on.

It has been almost a year since I last saw my mom. I know that as a mother, you can imagine how my mother must have felt spending days and nights without knowing anything about her children or her husband.

The raid has affected me and my family in many ways. My nine year old sister Samantha would go into her room and “talk” to my mom while she was actually not there. My nephew who was eight months at the time, would always crawl to the front door and wait for my mom and after she would not show up, he would start to cry. As for me, instead of my mom waking me up, giving me a kiss, and sending me to school, my older sister Juanita has to do it. When I come back from school I don’t receive the warm hug that my mom used to give me and when I go to sleep I miss her goodnight kiss and her blessing for the night.

I don’t wake up with the same desire to go to school as I used to but I get up, go to school, and do my homework because I promised my mom that I would get an education and try to be successful in life.

I would very much appreciate it if you could ask your husband to give my mother a three day visa, so she can come to Postville and see my graduation from 8th grade on May 29, 2009 and allow me to show her that I kept my promise.

Respectfully yours,

Pedro Arturo Lopez Vega
332 North Reynolds Street
Postville, Iowa 52162

Postville redux

2009-05-13T16:36:00.000-07:00

The below quote is from a blog by the elected leadership of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), meant to help focus the national debate on the real facts about immigration and the means to achieve a just and rational system. AILA is the national association of immigration lawyers established to promote justice, advocate for fair and reasonable immigration laws, advance the quality of immigration law and practice, and enhance the professional development of its members. The blog entry is titled Postville, One Year Later:

To the government, Postville was a cold clinical experiment. For the first time it sought to criminalize immigrants on a mass scale. In Postville, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa, using the federal identity theft statute as a hammer, forged serious crimes out of mere civil immigration violations. No longer would it be enough to simply arrest and deport undocumented immigrants. They had to send them home as felons.

hey, hey

2009-05-12T17:54:00.001-07:00

Big Bill Bronzy

Braley: Immigration reform unlikely to come soon

2009-05-11T02:22:00.000-07:00

Iowa Independent, May 7, 2009

"On May 12, immigration reform advocates will once again gather in Postville to remember the massive enforcement action there one year ago and to plead for comprehensive immigration reform, but U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley doesn’t see that issue as a part of the national debate anytime soon, despite his wishes to the contrary."
Iowa Independent, May 7, 2009.

polar bear

2009-05-07T19:02:00.000-07:00

Only Two Days to Help Save the Polar Bear

On March 11, Congress passed and President Obama signed into law a bill giving Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar the authority -- until May 9 -- to rescind with the stroke of a pen two rules passed in the final days of the Bush administration that weaken the Endangered Species Act. One exempts thousands of federal activities from review by expert scientists, and the other is a special rule for the polar bear that expressly bans federal agencies from examining the effects of greenhouse gas emissions on the polar bear -- despite the fact that the number one threat to the bear's survival is melting of its sea-ice habitat caused by global warming.

In positive news, on April 28 Secretary Salazar made good on President Obama's pledge to restore science to government decision-making by overturning the regulation that exempted thousands of damaging activities from review under the Endangered Species Act, ensuring that top scientists will be involved in reviewing federal actions that could harm imperiled plants and animals.

But Salazar’s task of restoring full protections under the Act is only halfway finished -- he has not yet revoked the special polar bear rule. The polar bear’s Arctic sea ice habitat is rapidly melting away. If Bush’s 11th-hour special rule is not struck down, the polar bear is likely to be the first large mammal to go extinct due to global warming in the United States.

sign the petition here

from TPM

2009-05-06T18:38:00.000-07:00

Some writing cannot be adequately paraphrased and I present you with an example from my recent reading on Talking Points Memo:
Why the bible MUST be interpreted literally - or not used at all:

A VENGEFUL AND ANGRY GOD!

I am going to agree with fundamentalist Evangelical Christians - for the first and hopefully last time in my life. I have been reading many posts from Christian leaders, as well as excerpts from their books and articles they have written in magazines. I have also visited the websites and read through the literature of some of the largest megachurches (Lakewood Church in Houston - Joel Osteen & Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA,) in the Nation. I've read some more liberal interpretations of the bible in the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations website information. I've read through the articles and blogs on websites such as the 700 Club (our good friend Pat Robertson) and Promise Keepers. I've even forced myself to read the hate filled "end times" garbage on the rapture ready site (I'm banned from posting there after posting my "Christians and Torture" article. Apparently they don't want any conflicting opinions.)

What I've discovered is basically what you might expect. There are a plethora of different interpretations on every single passage of the bible. Each denomination seems to have a different way of interpreting the bible. The Unitarians seem to find a way to twist the bible verses to allow the celebration fo roe v wade - as well as the acceptance of homosexuals and the belief that they should be allowed to marry. The folks at the megachurches are generally about 2/3 on the scale when it comes to interpreting the bible. They don't take a literal interpretation - but will bend the words to make it OK to drive three SUV's, have a giant house in the suburbs where they just don't have to deal with "urban" people or problems. They have small group at the local "Dinner's Ready" franchise and make the weeks meals - and talk about how their husbands all seem to have a problem, no an addiction to pornography. One woman starts sobbing uncontrollably becasuse she caught her husband looking at Maxim at the dentists office. He had it tucked inside the cover of a Spirituality Today magazine. She said it made her feel that he wanted the women in that magazine more than he wanted her. (TIP FROM ME - HE DOES. WHEN YOU COME HOME WEARING "MOM" JEANS AND A SWEATSHIRT - OF COURSE HE'S GOING TO GET A BONE FOR ALYSSA MILANO - DUH!)
And of course the fundamentalist Christian Churches take a literal view of the bible. They view it as the inerrant word of God. There is no interpretation to fit their lives (well - no interpretation that can't be explained by the pastor anyway. It's simple - here is a brief rundown of some of their biblical truths .

keep reading . . .

making the most of commutes

2009-05-06T04:26:00.000-07:00

Max Bruch's First Violin Concerto ("Scottish Fantasy") is perfect timing for the morning commute with just a couple of minutes left to hear the headlines. Timing can make a difference in how a day begins.

Postville again

2009-05-05T02:11:00.000-07:00

Here's a rare bird indeed: a unanimous ruling by the Supreme Court that workers who use fake id numbers must know that they belong to a real person in order to be guilty of "aggravated identity theft."

The most sweeping use of the statute was in Iowa, after an immigration raid in May 2008 at a meatpacking plant in Postville. Nearly 300 unauthorized immigrant workers from the plant, most of them from Guatemala, pleaded guilty to document-fraud charges rather than risk being convicted at trial of the identity-theft charge. In most of those cases, the prosecutors demonstrated only that the Social Security numbers and immigration documents the workers had presented were false.

Many of the immigrants served five-month prison sentences and then faced summary deportation. The Postville cases raised an outcry among immigrant advocates, because they transformed into federal felonies a common practice by illegal immigrants of presenting fake Social Security numbers and other documents to employers.

The court’s ruling is unlikely to aid the immigrants in the Postville cases. Most of them have long since been deported.

until this battle's won

2009-05-04T16:06:00.000-07:00

A salute to my Dad. I wish he could have shared a 90th birthday with Pete Seeger:

generations

2009-05-02T19:37:00.000-07:00

Paulo Freire

2009-05-02T19:29:00.000-07:00

asylum seekers finding prison, not protection

2009-05-02T04:59:00.000-07:00

Human Rights First, a non-profit, nonpartisan international human rights organization based in New York and Washington D.C. with a mission to promote respect for human rights and the rule of law based on the belief that this will help to ensure the dignity of the individual while simultaneously helping to stem tyranny, extremism, intolerance, and violence.

A new Report Finds U.S. Often Greets Asylum Seekers with Prison, not Protection

Washington, DC – Since 2003, U.S. immigration authorities have spent more than $300 million to detain over 48,000 asylum seekers in U.S. prisons and prison-like facilities – in a system that lacks basic due process safeguards and is inconsistent with America's longstanding commitment to protect those who flee from persecution, according to a report released today by a leading human rights organization.

"Refugees who seek protection in this country are greeted with handcuffs and prison uniforms, and they are treated like prisoners in correctional facilities," said Eleanor Acer, the director of Human Rights First's Refugee Protection Program. "New leadership at the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice should seize the opportunity to end this practice and implement some long overdue reforms, like ensuring that an asylum seeker can't be detained for months or years without having an immigration court consider the need for continued detention."

Human Rights First is calling on the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice, and Congress, to place safeguards on the use of detention for asylum seekers and to improve the conditions where detention may be necessary.

say what?

2009-05-01T04:33:00.000-07:00

Cribbed from Doonesbury Mudline:

"What better way to sneak a virus into this country than to give it to Mexicans?...Get it going real good and hot south of the border, then just spread a rumor that there's construction jobs available."
-- radio host Neal Boortz

"Make no mistake about it. Illegal aliens are carriers of the new strain of human swine avian flu from Mexico... Could this be a terrorist attack...?"
-- radio host Michael Savage

It occurs to me that there may be a conspiracy in the making. What better way to spread idiocy throughout our great country than to feed racist gibberish to a few radio blatherers and step back and watch the dumbing down of a whole country? Could this be an insidious terrorist attack by radio?

for the last two days . . .

2009-04-30T15:56:00.000-07:00

I am reading - I am in the midst of - a really fine book of poetry written by an old amigo. An army buddy, Berkeley host, comrade and accidental rival, Seattle roomie (twice in vastly different circumstances), fellow-traveler (carried no cards), and yes, teacher. When Peter was up to his ass and beyond with the 12-string, I used to beg him to play Tom Rush's version of Big Fat Woman - and he did listen and share some licks, but I think that he thought that it wasn't worth the sound of the 12-string guitar. Never mind that, we didn't (probably don't) agree on everything. When we roomed in Seattle, we wrote poetry and shared works in progress - we were serious, little brother.

Look, this is not intended as a commercial, but if you are interested in some good, salt of the earth, poetry, check out my post on poetry patter (I would post his poem and information about his book here, but I only requested permission to post a poem for the poetry blog). The posted poem is not from Peter's book, but I gloamed onto it the moment I read it (sorry, gloamed is one of my words some may not know - it means (to me) something like "grabbed hold of in the twilight").

If flowers are prayers, and they are, then friends are answers to prayers. If that's sounds corny, then later, I'll share something about another old army buddy and friend in Iowa.

luck of the draw

2009-04-29T02:15:00.000-07:00

Asylum seekers have better luck
with northern or female judges
Northern, female judges most likely to let them stay
BY ABDON M. PALLASCH Political Reporter apallasch@suntimes.com

If you're a political refugee afraid to go back to your homeland, pray you get a woman judge or a Northerner.

A male judge sitting in a Southern court is about twice as likely to reject your asylum plea, according to research from two Georgetown University professors.

"The fact that women are more sympathetic to asylum seekers -- that is certainly a factor, and maybe Southerners don't like foreigners as much," Federal Appellate Judge Richard Posner said with a chuckle. "Maybe people in big cities are more used to having large [less] indigenous populations. Maybe it's different in more homogenous areas of the United States."

Posner has been the most outspoken appellate judge criticizing the decisions of federal immigration judges and he sits on the appellate court most likely to grant asylum pleas -- the Chicago-based 7th Circuit. Posner spoke this past week at a seminar by the Georgetown professors -- Philip Schrag and Andrew Schoenholtz who are compiling the book about how U.S. Courts handle asylum cases.

What they found was utter randomness -- some judges who refuse all asylum requests, others who grant almost all.

Perspectives differ on the efficacy of raids to discourage undocumented workers

2009-04-28T16:30:00.000-07:00

So that you know: this story is posted by Associated Press and since they've been suing folks who quote their stories, or show any of their pictures, without payment (I plan to attribute them, not pay them), if this blog suddenly ceases, it may be that the mighty AP has descended: 2 Iowa towns, 2 views on immigration raids

POSTVILLE, Iowa - For immigrant advocates, the raid on a meatpacking plant in Postville last May was evidence of all that is wrong with large-scale arrests of illegal workers.

Families were hurt, and empty shops and lines at the food bank show that the town was, too. One rental agency says nearly 70 percent of its properties are vacant. The City Council even sought a federal disaster designation because of the lingering effects of the raid on the Agriprocessors kosher slaughterhouse.

"At what point do we acknowledge that the system is so broken that we're no longer willing to participate?" wondered Maryn Olson, a coordinator with Postville Response Coalition, a group established after the raid.

But as the Obama administration considers a new policy on immigration raids, another Iowa town less than 100 miles away has emerged from a raid on its largest employer with a different perspective.

really cool

2009-04-24T17:06:00.000-07:00

Anyone know the history of this? It's really cool.

current certified congregations

2009-04-23T18:40:00.000-07:00

According to the UUA Data Services website with its List of Congregations That Submitted Membership Numbers to the UUA between November 15, 2008 and February 2, 2009, the

Total certified congregations, including those with no financial contribution: 997.

Update: Some earlier congregational membership data is online here.

a baby step

2009-04-23T18:16:00.000-07:00

We're told by John Morton, President Obama’s choice to head ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency), at his Senate confirmation hearing this week, that the new administration will target employers who hire undocumented immigrants rather than the undocumented workers themselves.

“We cannot make sustained reductions in illegal immigration without deterring employment of unauthorized labor,” Morton told the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. “We need to place renewed focus on employers to ensure that they are playing by the rules.”

Morton vowed to “vigorously pursue” civil fines against employer violators. The Bush administration did not exact a single dime of civil penalties from employers in 2005 and 2006, Morton testified, compared to $25 million imposed as recently as 1996.

The Obama administration so far this year has imposed $2.3 million in civil fines against employers, Morton said, adding: “I would encourage this trend.”

our country's fundamental ideals

2009-04-22T16:25:00.000-07:00

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American non-profit legal organization, internationally known for its tolerance education programs, its legal victories against white supremacists and its tracking of hate groups.

The SPLC, founded in 1971, is based in Montgomery, Alabama, in the Southern United States as a civil rights law firm. In addition to free legal service to the victims of discrimination and hate crime, the Center publishes a quarterly Intelligence Report which investigates extremism and hate crimes in the United States.

SPLC Report Finds Low-Income Latinos in South Targeted for Abuse, Discrimination

Low-income Latino immigrants in the South are routinely the targets of wage theft, racial profiling and other abuses driven by an anti-immigrant climate that harms all Latinos regardless of their immigration status, according to a report released today by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The report — Under Siege: Life for Low-Income Latinos in the South — documents the experiences of Latino immigrants who face increasing hostility as they fill low-wage jobs in Southern states that had few Latino residents until recent years.

"This report documents the human toll of failed policies that relegate millions of people to an underground economy, where they are beyond the protection of the law," said Mary Bauer, author of the report and director of the SPLC's Immigrant Justice Project. "Workplace abuses and racial profiling are rampant in the South."

Under Siege is based on a survey of 500 low-income Latinos — including legal residents, undocumented immigrants and U.S. citizens — at five locations in the South. The locations were Nashville, Charlotte, New Orleans, rural southern Georgia, and several towns and cities in northern Alabama.

The survey findings, coupled with accounts from in-depth interviews, depict a region where Latinos are routinely cheated out of wages by employers and denied basic health and safety protections. They are racially profiled by overzealous law enforcement agents and victimized by criminals who know they are reluctant to report crime to these same authorities. Even legal residents and U.S. citizens of Latino descent said racial profiling, bigotry and other forms of discrimination are staples of their daily lives.

A number of immigrants in the survey described the South as a "war zone."

"The assumption is that every Latino possibly is undocumented," Angeles Ortega-Moore, an immigrant advocate in North Carolina, told SPLC researchers. "So it [discrimination] has spread over into the legal population."

Maria, who came to Tennessee from Colombia, told SPLC researchers her immigration papers are in order, but she is still afraid of being stopped by the police. "You never know when you will come across a racist police officer," she says in the report.

Discrimination against Latinos in the region constitutes a civil rights crisis that must be addressed, the SPLC report says. The report concludes that comprehensive immigration reform — including a workable path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants — is the only realistic, fair and humane solution.

Reform legislation must be coupled with strong enforcement of labor and civil rights protections. This would make crime victims and communities safer, curb racial profiling and other abuses, and better protect the wages and working conditions of all workers, according to the report.

"We're talking about a matter of basic human rights here," said SPLC President Richard Cohen. "By allowing this cycle of abuse and discrimination to continue, we're creating an underclass of people who are invisible to justice and undermining our country's fundamental ideals."

Postville

2009-04-22T04:39:00.000-07:00

From the home page for the city of Postville, Iowa:

The City of Postville is a diverse community rich in industry and culture. As we look towards future goals and visions, we strive to make Postville the best town it can possibly be for the residents and business community who live and work here, but also for future generations and businesses.

Our mission, for the City of Postville is to maintain and improve the quality of life for all citizens in our community and to provide superior services and public facilities for the community.

The City of Postville is committed to meeting and improving the needs of the community by providing for essential services such as law enforcement, public utilities, streets, parks and recreation for today and for the future.

We strive to make Postville a "Hometown to the World" where people of all walks of life can call Postville home.

Sounds like a good place to live.

America's toughest sheriff

2009-04-21T19:03:00.000-07:00

East Valley Tribune wins Pulitzer for Arpaio series

The East Valley Tribune won a Pulitzer Prize — the most prestigious journalism award — for its five-part investigative series about Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office’s illegal immigration efforts.

The articles reported that MCSO’s ability to protect the public suffered because of its increased immigration enforcement. Tribune reporter Ryan Gabrielson and former Tribune reporter Paul Giblin spent about six months on the project, which was published July 9-13, 2008.

a year without a Guatamalan? might be more appropriate

2009-04-21T18:50:00.000-07:00

We're approaching an anniversary that we need to discuss and we will do that here. Mother Jones has a good story about a year without a Mexican but that may be too narrow.

It all began with the whir and flicker of helicopters on May 12, 2008, an incongruous sound in a tiny Iowa town tucked amid cornfields. All over Postville, people craned their necks from orderly lawns, phones rang, and gossip flew. Reverend Stephen Brackett, the town's Lutheran pastor, was on his day off and didn't hear the helicopters at first, but when his church secretary called to tell him something unusual was happening, he at once suspected what it was. For years, there were rumors that the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant at the edge of town was under scrutiny by immigration authorities. Later that morning, Brackett's wife called with confirmation: She'd spotted two helicopters and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in jackets and flak vests down by the slaughterhouse.

What happened in Postville is larger than that. We'll be discussing it between now and the May 12, 2009 one-year anniversary.

Postville, Iowa and undocumented workers

2009-04-21T16:05:00.000-07:00

moved by God

2009-04-21T04:52:00.000-07:00

I cribbed the quote below from UU Covenant Groups, Lay Preaching & Evangelizing.

The Quakers meet together, all of them silent, until one is move by God to speak.
The UU's meet together, all of them talking, until one of them is moved, by God, to shut up.

legalize pot

2009-04-20T19:04:00.000-07:00

The post 5 Reasons Why We Should Legalize Pot has some merit but does not address the primary reason I might favor legalization: the saving of countless lives south (and probably north) of the border between the U.S. and Mexico.

Spring and grandsons

2009-04-20T15:50:00.000-07:00

Our grandsons were over this weekend and the eleven-year-old demonstrated his skills with our little digital camera.

Just thought I'd take the opportunity to share the continuation and warming of Spring in southeast Texas.

Obama Doctrine

2009-04-20T05:00:00.000-07:00

Interesting post at Embodied Fragments.

what would the designer do?

2009-04-18T13:36:00.000-07:00

soup's on

2009-04-18T11:55:00.000-07:00

If there are secrets to making a good home-made soup - and I'm inclined to think that are a few - one such secret is as simple as sautéing all (or most - individual judgment and taste always to the fore...) the ingredients you plan to use that take the longest to cook. The brown from the sautéing in olive oil adds a dimension (and color if it will be mostly a clear broth) that is really most apparent when you cook the same soup twice - once following the above advice and once ignoring it. The difference is worth the notice.

Today is a good soup day in Houston - dark skies, thunder and rain all day - soup for a afternoon lunch after a wet trek on the bayou to satisfy the needs of our pups (not really pups since the two ladies are as ancient in dog years as the A Lady and I are in human years). The soup is on.

here for the long haul

2009-04-18T03:32:00.000-07:00

Yep, I've been told more than once that if I don't like what's going on in my country, I should just get out. Looks like the shoe may be pinching someone else's foot. I guess it bothers some folks that some of us got fed up the last eight years and took Thomas Jefferson's advice as expressed in the declaration:

"...Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

(Okay, I understand that it was just an election and not a resurrection.) But wait, now that we've elected a new president (one who as a candidate ran on a set of fundamentally different notions than our previous administration) and our country seems to be changing course back toward our ideals, there are a bunch of folks (even while their confederate battle flags continue to flutter from their pickups and state capital grounds) who have changed their rhetoric. What I may not have understand earlier, when these folks were telling me, "If you don't like it here, leave!" was that they meant that I could pack up the entire state in my suitcase before walking out the door. Even if I'd thought I had that option, I'd still be here. I'm here for the long haul.

I agree with Warrior Tang's conclusion:

It is with interest then that I read about a State Sovereignty Movement which is encouraging state legislatures to issue declarations of their States' Rights under the 10th Amendment. As of this writing, assemblymen in 19 state legislatures have introduced some version of a State Sovereignty Act since late January, starting shortly after Barack Obama was inaugurated. I hope it is not news to anybody that President Obama is not a picture of the Aryan ideal. No matter how sanitary the text of such a proposal and no matter how well it legally conforms to actual states' rights, the context of these proposals is not exactly a context of pure legal scholarship. There might be a case for discussion of the proper legal roles of the state and federal governments; I don't think this is it.

denimless dudes

2009-04-17T04:27:00.000-07:00

No matter how sexy, or not, was Mark Twain correct, do clothes really make the person? Or is it merely a matter of taste and what best fits one occasion or another? George Will argues

. . . the appearances that people choose to present in public are cues from which we make inferences about their maturity and respect for those to whom they are presenting themselves.

He agrees with Daniel Akst that if

hypocrisy had a flag, it would be cut from denim, for it is in denim that we invest our most nostalgic and destructive agrarian longings -- the ones that prompted all those exurban McMansions now sliding off their manicured lawns and into foreclosure, dragging down the global financial system with them.

But is it really the denim that bothers Will and Akst or is it more a matter of generation or, perhaps gender? Certainly Will, at least, acknowledges where he thinks the line should be drawn (both as to gender and generation):

For men, sartorial good taste can be reduced to one rule: If Fred Astaire would not have worn it, don't wear it. For women, substitute Grace Kelly.

Mark Twain was not alone in arguing that Naked people have little or no influence on society. After all, one dresses to kill, not the other way around. But that's not really Will's and Akst's argument since, as far as I can find, they neither publicly advocate nakedness. Their argument seems to be more that someone should set the acceptable taste standard and they obviously consider themselves up to the challenge.

my man madden

2009-04-16T15:29:00.000-07:00

The A Lady and I lived in Berkeley and North Oakland during the time Madden coached the Raiders. He was in his thirties, a young man on a mission. His .759 winning percentage during the regular season ranks highest among coaches with 100 career victories. During his tenure, the Raiders were a Team to Behold. The sideline at Raider's games was as entertaining, and sometimes as complex, as any opera. Like Verdi's Rigoletto the Raider sideline, with Madden holding forth center stage, was a mixture of comedy and tragedy, a masterpiece of apparently heterogeneous elements. So, I appreciated Coach Madden. But Lo, the advent of John the Broadcaster was of almost biblical proportion. Mostly a truth-teller, certainly an adept ad-libber, and an expert on the game of American football, he was the consummate color commentator along side his broadcast sidekick Pat Summerall. In my mind, only Don Meredith, comes close (as a very distant 2nd) to Coach Madden's everyman take of football, philosophically acute, without being cute, he seemed to never be bored with explaining the x's and o's. Watching football will not be as much fun.

Sorry to wax eulogistic, he continues very much alive. But I sure enjoyed his standing front and center for a time. Best wishes, John!

John Madden to Ride into the Sunset:

After serving for 123 years in different capacities with NFL, John Madden has already decided to retire from his broadcasting duties. Now, he has to say goodbye to the job where his enthusiastic and down-to-earth style made him one of the most renowned broadcasters in the field of sports for three decades.

John Earl Madden, who was born on April 10, 1936, is a former American football player in the National Football League, a former Professional Football Head coach with the Oakland Raiders, a football video game magnate and a color commentator for NFL telecasts. He began his pro football career as a linebacker coach at Oakland in 1967 and was named head coach two years later, at 33 the youngest coach in what was then the American Football League. Madden also led the Raiders to their first Super Bowl victory and retired in 1979. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his coaching career in the year 2006.

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T03:31:00.000-07:00

Cherry Blossom Under the Moon
a painting by Soojung Cho

poem

2009-04-11T12:44:00.000-07:00

The poem I found on the Internet and posted a few days ago was an early version of a now published poem:

Notes From A Sodbuster's Wife, Kansas, 1868
-Peter Ludwin
What really got us in the end--
we women who didn't make it,
who withered and blew away in the open--
was the wind. Space, yes, and distance,
too, from neighbors, a piano back in Boston.

But above all, the wind.

In our letters it shrieks hysteria from sod huts,
vomits women prematurely undone by loneliness,
boils up off the horizon to suck dry
their desire as it flattened the stubborn grasses.
Not convinced?? Scan the photographs,
grainy and sepia-toned, like old leather.
Study our bony forms in plain black dresses,
our mouths drawn tight as a saddle cinch,
accusation leaking from rudderless eyes, betrayed.

I tried. Lord knows I tried.
Survived the locusts and even snakes
that fell from the ceiling at night,
slithering between us in bed.
I dreamed of water, chiffon, the smell
of dead leaves banked against a rotting log.
I heard opera, carriage wheels on cobblestone.
Cried and beat my fists raw into those earthen walls.

The wind. Even as it scoured
the skin it flayed the soul,
that raked, pitted shell.
And how like the Cheyenne,
appearing, disappearing,
no fixed location,

not even a purpose one could name.

© Peter Ludwin

Notes From A Sodbuster's Wife, Kansas, 1868 is reprinted here with the permission of its author. The poem originally appeared in South Dakota Review and can be found in Peter's just published collection, A Guest in All Your Houses.

The book is available from Word Walker Press or, in a few weeks, from Amazon.

Peter Ludwin’s poems have appeared in numerous journals, most prominently The Antietam Review, Chaminade Literary Review, Coal City Review, Illya's Honey, Karumu, Hurricane Review, Lullwater Review, Midwest Quarterly, Permafrost, Raven Chronicles, Lake Effect, Small Pond Magazine of Literature, South Carolina Review, South Dakota Review and Whiskey Island Magazine.

Cross-posted from peripatetic patter.

Update: Here is a review of the book.

questions

2009-04-11T05:36:00.000-07:00

I have a couple of questions that I hope someone will answer. I also hope that the second question isn't of the kind that Oliver Wendell Holmes spoke to when he said, "That's a question that answers itself." Actually, I've just seen that attributed to Justice Holmes but I'm not certain that he actually said it. He did say,

Controversy equalizes fools and wise men - and the fools know it.

and that's a better quote (though it appears to have nothing to do with either of my questions).

Question One: I trying to understand after reading Important Information about Voting by Ministers and Credentialed Religious Educators, does a congregation with professional leadership thereby gain additional delegate strength at GA over the congregation without professional leadership?

Under the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) bylaws, ordained and fellowshipped ministers and credentialed religious educators (Masters Level) are also entitled to represent their congregations as General Assembly delegates and vote in the election (absentee or on site). However, to have delegate status and vote in the election, a minister must be in preliminary or final fellowship with the UUA, and must be either settled in a certified congregation or have been awarded minister emeritus/emerita status by a certified congregation not less than six months before General Assembly. And to have delegate status and vote in the election, a credentialed religious educator must have achieved Credentialed Religious Educator—Masters Level status with the UUA, and must be either employed by a certified congregation or have been awarded director of religious education emeritus/emerita status by a certified congregation not less than six months before General Assembly.

The appropriate number of absentee ballots for each congregation's ministers and credentialed religious educators will be included in the mailing to congregations in early May.

Preface to my second question: Until the last couple of years I was a member and an elected leader of a congregation that, while we had ministers for a few years, opted to call no minister. Our services were mostly lay-led though we also were blessed with visiting ministers from time to time. During this period, some of us formed a Sunday Service group, named 'The Pulpiteers,' to present Sunday Services that were done with a great deal of care - we rehearsed the "talk" to be presented as well as other elements of the service as needed. Most of our talks were written within the congregation but we also scoured books and the library (this was before UU sermons were so readily available on the Internet) for sermons we thought would fit our Sunday Service format. And we found a bunch of good ones. We always attributed the author of the sermon (though because we honed our delivery, in the early presentations, some of our members thought we were attending seminary in the evenings). Recently, I was invited back with the specific request to present the address that Rev. Forrest Church gave at last year's GA. I was given a copy of the sermon and found slight variations of the Rev. Church's talk on the Internet and was also able to listen and watch his delivery of the Sermon (I think it was at All Souls in Tulsa).

Question Two: Even if clearly attributed, does a congregation need permission from the Minister/author before presenting one of his/her sermons as part of a Sunday Service?

prevention of cruelty to animals

2009-04-10T04:51:00.000-07:00

Good morning coffee time and this from Monkey Mind:

. . . it is a good thing to mark today as the foundation of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

The ASPCA was founded as the result of the work of Henry Bergh, himself inspired by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The nascent ASPCA incorporated on this day in 1866. Originally concerned primarily with working animals such as horses, pigeons and livestock, household pets gradually became a major focus.

The ASPCA was chartered to enforce anti animal cruelty laws. As such the ASPCA is unique among the various organizations around the country that include the words "society for the prevention of cruelty to animals" in their names.

humanity for nonhumans . . .

2009-04-09T16:14:00.000-07:00

Earlier today I read Nicholas D. Kristof's column (a habit really) titled Humanity Even for Nonhumans and made a note for myself to include a link in a post this weekend (more time to compose on the weekends). But this evening, after work, I read a post by Rev. Dr. Marilyn Sewell wherein she stated:

. . . if I had to kill an animal in order to get its flesh for food, I would almost certainly be a vegetarian . . .

and I knew I could not wait for the weekend.

So that you better know the source of the thoughts in this post: I have not intentionally eaten red meat for over 18 years (my wife suggests that the number is over 20 years). My reasons are mostly, what seem to me to be, an ethical choice (health has crept into the equation, but has always been a distant second or third).

I find that I cannot eat packaged flesh for which I have taken no responsibility - were I in a position to raise animals for food and were I to decide to kill the animal to eat, I might could do it. I could have done it 18 year or so ago. But, I refuse to go into a supermarket, pick up a package of pig or cow and go home, pleasantly remarking to my neighbor how fine the bridal's wreath looks in her yard, and then sit down to a steak or pork chop dinner (both of which I used to very much enjoy eating) with little or no idea how those animals were treated - what lives they may have lived (or endured).

The slaughter of animals for consumption in this country has been, and continues to be, for the most part, on a level of brutality that is completely unacceptable. That is my opinion.

friends, books and memories

2009-04-08T16:10:00.000-07:00

This picture of a portion of one of my bookshelves includes enough memories to keep me blogging another lifetime or two. That may not (literally) happen but the interim may include a couple of anecdotes, including a smile that the picture brings forth (most of the memories are connected to the books and the points in my life when I first acquired the paper and attempted to acquire the authors' thoughts).

The couple in the picture are two of my best friends (one of them is my wife). Without consultation, they each chose a scary costume for our Fellowship Halloween party (some years ago now) and the serendipity was a splash at the party and a wonderful time later at a late-night piano bar with dim, indirect lighting that partly obscured the other, mostly convivial, patrons.

We had a really good time and when my friends (D & A) took the dance floor, it was almost a religious moment, a Kazantzakis moment of bliss: if we had had the wherewithal to pass a straw basket, we might have met the pending building fund at the Fellowship. Alas, so wrapt were we in the moment, that we perhaps lost a chance at an extra square yard added to the religious education wing of the new building (I'll try to remember to show you a picture of the final building later).

ethical issues as well . . .

2009-04-07T16:32:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: We, my wife and I, were vegetarians for some 15+ years but began eating modest (maybe that is not a reliable adjective) amounts of seafood about 3 years ago. We have not intentionally consumed other animal flesh in over 18 years (there was the time when Grandma died - a most wonderful woman who lived to be 104 years old, but that is another post).

Here are some arguments on the consequences of eating meat.

According to Environmental Defense, if every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetarian foods instead, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than half a million cars off of U.S. roads. See how easy it is to make an impact?

There is much more.

And by the by, this is by way of fallen monk.

not ultimately truly lost, but transformed

2009-04-06T16:25:00.000-07:00

Trusting that with loss, there is renewal

. . . Perhaps like the butterfly, we must be willing to let go of ourselves . . .

transcendental meditation to rule the world?

2009-04-05T15:53:00.000-07:00

Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, performed together on Saturday to raise money to help kids learn a meditation technique as reported by Reuters via MSNBC:

NEW YORK - The surviving Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, performed together on Saturday to raise money to help kids learn a meditation technique the 1960s icons practiced at the height of their fame.

McCartney was joined onstage by Starr for a rousing rendition of "With a Little Help From My Friends" at Radio City Music Hall at the Change Begins Within concert for the David Lynch Foundation, which promotes Transcendental Meditation.

The Beatles helped popularize Transcendental Meditation -- described as a simple mental technique to combat stress -- in 1967 when they sought spiritual guidance from an Indian guru, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

"It started for us when we met the Maharishi in India and it's going to get bigger and bigger and rule the world," McCartney said . . .

politics or religion?

2009-04-05T15:38:00.000-07:00

This may be more politics than religion but this article in the Washington Monthly is well worth a read:

A RELIGIOUS RIGHT CRACK-UP?.... In general, the most noticeable fissure among politically conservative evangelical Christians is generational. In this dynamic, older evangelicals see themselves as an appendage of the Republican Party, and consider abortion and gay rights as the only "moral" issues that matter. Younger evangelicals are less partisan, and consider poverty and global warming important, too.

But there's another fissure, which in the short term, may be even more consequential. It's between leaders of the religious movement vs. those more inclined to take John 18:36 to heart (Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world").

beliefs and myths . . .

2009-04-05T04:04:00.000-07:00

Okay I bit. I took the Belief-O-Matic personality religious test over at Belief Net after reading The New Unitarian Universalist post this morning. I am disappointed to see New Age so high on the list (albeit, still a failing score, thank god). I must also say that I don't think of myself as a Secular Humanist at all. While I surely refer to myself, from time to time, as a humanist, I don't use the adjective secular. Folks who do that are typically making a judgment call. Anyway, here's my score (my wife says I'm a "scary person"): what's your score?

1. Secular Humanism (100%)
2. Unitarian Universalism (97%)
3. Liberal Quakers (85%)
4. Neo-Pagan (76%)
5. Nontheist (72%)
6. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (69%)
7. New Age (68%)
8. Theravada Buddhism (66%)
9. Mahayana Buddhism (54%)
10. Taoism (51%)
11. Scientology (45%)
12. New Thought (43%)
13. Orthodox Quaker (41%)
14. Reform Judaism (41%)
15. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (38%)
16. Jainism (28%)
17. Baha'i Faith (27%)
18. Hinduism (27%)
19. Sikhism (27%)
20. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (20%)
21. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (16%)
22. Seventh Day Adventist (15%)
23. Eastern Orthodox (13%)
24. Islam (13%)
25. Jehovah's Witness (13%)
26. Orthodox Judaism (13%)
27. Roman Catholic (13%)

Update: my wife who thinks I am a "scary person" based on my belief score above, agreed to take the quiz to demonstrate a "non-scary person." I thinks she succeeded in that, here is her score:

1. Secular Humanism (100%)
2. Unitarian Universalism (89%)
3. Liberal Quakers (80%)
4. Neo-Pagan (70%)
5. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (68%)
6. Nontheist (63%)
7. Theravada Buddhism (63%)
8. New Age (56%)
9. Reform Judaism (51%)
10. Taoism (50%)
11. Mahayana Buddhism (48%)
12. Orthodox Quaker (44%)
13. Baha'i Faith (39%)
14. Sikhism (39%)
15. Scientology (38%)
16. Jainism (37%)
17. New Thought (35%)
18. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (29%)
19. Hinduism (26%)
20. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (24%)
21. Seventh Day Adventist (21%)
22. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (18%)
23. Eastern Orthodox (16%)
24. Islam (16%)
25. Orthodox Judaism (16%)
26. Roman Catholic (16%)
27. Jehovah's Witness (14%)

cultural cracks . . . ? / cracking culture. . . ?

2009-04-04T18:11:00.000-07:00

Can this be correct? From the same folks who told us god was dead?

The End [of] Christian America?

It was a small detail, a point of comparison buried in the fifth paragraph on the 17th page of a 24-page summary of the 2009 American Religious Identification Survey. But as R. Albert Mohler Jr.—president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, one of the largest on earth—read over the document after its release in March, he was struck by a single sentence. For a believer like Mohler—a starched, unflinchingly conservative Christian, steeped in the theology of his particular province of the faith, devoted to producing ministers who will preach the inerrancy of the Bible and the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the only means to eternal life—the central news of the survey was troubling enough: the number of Americans who claim no religious affiliation has nearly doubled since 1990, rising from 8 to 15 percent. Then came the point he could not get out of his mind: while the unaffiliated have historically been concentrated in the Pacific Northwest, the report said, "this pattern has now changed, and the Northeast emerged in 2008 as the new stronghold of the religiously unidentified." As Mohler saw it, the historic foundation of America's religious culture was cracking.

I like lists . . .

2009-04-04T03:32:00.000-07:00

I sometimes think in lists, positing goals for the day, reviewing garden chores and the like. Out walking the ladies this morning in the foggy predawn of east Texas with a list of all the dogs that have been a part of our family . . . here are pictures of Thelma (lower left) and Blondie (on the right).

Maggie and Jiggs (some background) were a pair of hound dogs we adopted about the time I started to school - they weren't really kid-dogs, more true country hounds. We lived "out in the country" of north-central Texas with a water well and kerosene lamps. No pipes, no lines.

When we moved to town (Windthorst), a neighbor gave them a home. They were too country for town. My Shadow was a small black and brown female and she was definitely a kid-dog. She loved to go down into the storm cellar (if the cover doors were open) and sleep during the mid-day heat. In Windthorst, we had all the luxuries: running water, electricity, a store that sold practically everything, including groceries, within walking distance.

Then to a bigger town (Archer City) and I was old enough for 5th grade football. We lived beside the highway to Wichita Falls and My Shadow got a friend, a real coon hound named Snooker. In case you're not sure about the name Snooker, here's some background. Our adult male of the house played snooker at the pool hall - he was good at it.

Snooker was a great dog, a good kid-dog, but not as smart as he should have been. Now that we no longer had a storm cellar, My Shadow would find a bush or something to lie under or during cold days, the stepping stones in front of our house. On cold days, Snooker liked the middle of the black asphalt highway that ran north to Wichita Falls. We didn't have a fenced yard and didn't like to see dogs tied up. The highway was all that busy most of the time and he was pretty easy to see, but I don't think he was popular with the drivers. Every time we would find him on the highway he would get a scolding and all the dire possible consequences would be explained to him. But, he was either stubborn or just plain dumb. We had to find him a new home, away from the highway.

We moved northward to the panhandle (had to go where we could find work) just north of an even larger town (Plainview). The area we moved into was called Seth Ward (some background) and while it had an elementary school, I had to bus into Plainview for the middle school (in Plainview, we called it Junior High). Seth Ward had a great barber, a Mrs. Dean who cut hair in what must have been her "front room." Nice woman; she knew how to cut hair and she had a singer son. We adopted a new friend: Button Nose, small like my shadow but a little less laid back. Still, she was mostly a kid-dog and like to prowl the empty lots near the house.

Time to start on a different list, some Saturday morning chores to get the household moving and fed - I'll finish my dog list later.

rocket fuel chemical in baby formula

2009-04-04T02:43:00.000-07:00

So you think we may be over regulating? Evidently not when it comes to our babies.

Rocket Fuel Chemical Found in Powdered Infant Formula
ATLANTA, Georgia, April 3, 2009 (ENS) - All 15 brands of powdered infant formula tested by scientists with the federal government's Centers for Disease Control were found to be contaminated with perchlorate, a component of solid rocket fuel, flares, fireworks and some fertilizers. The chemical has been detected in drinking water in 28 states and territories and at low levels in food supplies.

The CDC researchers tested four different types of infant formulas - those made from cow's milk containing lactose, cow's milk-based but lactose-free, soy-based, and elemental formulas, typically consisting of synthetic amino acids.

Perchlorate was a contaminant of all commercially available powdered infant formula tested. Bovine milk-based powdered infant formula with lactose had a significantly higher perchlorate concentration perchlorate than soy, lactose-free, and elemental formulas.

Keep reading story in Environment News Service.

Times co. threatens to shut down Globe

2009-04-04T02:10:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's real enough. From the article by Robert Gavin and Robert Weisman of the Globe staff:

The New York Times Co. has threatened to shut the Boston Globe unless the newspaper's unions swiftly agree to $20 million in concessions, union leaders said.

Executives from the Times Co. and Globe made the demands Thursday morning in an approximately 90- minute meeting with leaders of the newspaper's 13 unions, union officials said. The possible concessions include pay cuts, the end of pension contributions by the company and the elimination of lifetime job guarantees now enjoyed by some veteran employees, said Daniel Totten, president of the Boston Newspaper Guild, the Globe's biggest union, which represents more than 700 editorial, advertising and business office employees.

The concessions will be negotiated individually with each of the unions, said Totten and Ralph Giallanella, secretary-treasurer of the Teamsters Local 259, which represents about 200 drivers who deliver the newspaper.

"We all know the newspaper industry is going through great transition and loss," said Giallanella. "The ad revenues have fallen off the cliff. Just based on everything that's going on around the country, they're serious."

It's beyond sad, but evidently the Times Co. posted a net loss of $57.8 million in 2008. Here in Houston, the Chronicle axed a lot of folks. That story was covered well by the Houston Press.

I majored (oh so long ago) in mass communication and have highly critical of the major newspapers in their relentless move, especially in politics, from mostly covering what is happening to mostly interpreting what is happening. Actually worse is that the big dailies have cultivated a star system and ended, as in "sports" with paying outrages salaries to a few big names to the detriment of in the trenches reporting.

Things change. In the larger picture of our society the movement from corporations owning all the news outlets to a more grassroots gathering and sharing may be positive. Even if true, it is no solace to the families of the folks who have long depended on these newspaper jobs. There will be more of this across the country. It's troubling.

Update: A pre-package bankruptcy may may be the best solution.

progressive iowa . . .

2009-04-03T16:53:00.000-07:00

UUA President Celebrates Iowa Marriage Ruling

April 3, 2009

The following statement was issued by Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) President Rev. William Sinkford.

I rejoice at the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision to affirm the rights of same-sex couples to marry. This ruling, based on the equal protection guarantee in the Iowa constitution, recognizes the necessity for equal treatment under the law of all citizens. This decision will strengthen committed same-sex couples and their families in Iowa, and bring us one step closer to full legal equality for all Americans. A few days ago Sweden became the fifth European country to recognize the rights of same-sex couples to marry, and Americans can take pride that we continue our climb toward the same goal.

There's more . . .

divine feminine

2009-04-02T18:56:00.000-07:00

the dance of the elements

In Ireland, Imbolc is the feast of Brigit, originally a Goddess, and now a saint. The Goddess Brigit is associated with healing, poetry, and smithcraft. The saint is associated with them too, and with the perpetual flame tended by the nuns of Kildare - which possibly goes back to pre-Christian times. There are numerous folk-customs and stories associated with Brigit.

via a friend . . . mark your calendars

2009-04-02T15:41:00.000-07:00

If you're in the area (Houston, Texas), this should be worth checking out . . .

cribbed in reverence

2009-04-01T19:20:00.000-07:00

from Embodied Fragments:

I have been absent from the 'interwebs' recently - which has afforded me some space to grow more present to and patient with the now. One afternoon, during sunset, I stumbled across a miracle, which I belligerently tried to record (above). As we near the celebration of Jesus' resurrection, it is empowering to witness to the fact that nature has not forgotten the promise of new life - which seemingly desires companionship.

can't save everybody

2009-04-01T05:05:00.001-07:00

backyard prayer

2009-03-31T16:12:00.000-07:00

Flowers are a form of prayer.

As it is the last day of March, I share a couple of pictures proving the time of year from our east Texas backyard: the azaleas (on the left) have been in full bloom for several days; the mock orange (to the right) are just starting and will be around longer.

I had thought that the other flower on right might be from a mustard plant going to seed but cannot find confirmation on the Internet and I would welcome (and appreciate) any ideas . . .

consider the morning seized

2009-03-31T04:23:00.000-07:00

Sometimes the commute to the office is a pleasure: fresh black coffee at hand, with just a hint of cinnamon in it, my wife in the passenger seat (doesn't happen every morning) and Jascha Heifetz winging his way through Max Bruch's violin concerto ("Scottish Fantasy").

And now, to seize the day (before it seizes me).

just thinking . . .remembering

2009-03-30T16:02:00.000-07:00

I've just been thinking about my four years in the army and, as far as I knew there was nothing remotely like CLF and its new military ministry. Of course CLF was one of the first on the scene (read my previous post), but I was four years in the army and heard from a variety of chaplains (so many hours a month - or maybe a year - of required religious indoctrination), mostly Catholic monks for some reason, and I never (not ever) heard from a chaplain that could be described as religiously liberal - certainly no UU ministers. Maybe we were blessed with all the monks because of our post in southern German, but more probably it was because of the Catholic church dedicating resources in reaching out to our service men and women. WUWT?

Some of the monks were amazingly engaging. Mostly young (weren't we all?), mostly intelligent (it seems they were all Jesuits, but that could be my sometimes-less-than-accurate-memory) and full of stories and parables that somehow seemed relevant. We also had the protestants, also mostly young, but not so apparently intelligent (well, that's probably not fair, but they certainly did not come across as well educated as the monks) and with a less palpable story-line. Time slowed to an oatmeal crawl with those guys. Whatever they were originally protesting about, it all sounded main-stream nonsense (these prejudices clearly reflect my own calvinist upbringing). (If you want a defense of Calvinism, you might want to visit the Calvinist Corner.)

As UUs we need not go into the world and preach the gospel (however liberal the teachings), but, as it seems to me, we might be more open to supporting folks that need someone (who may or may not know us or even want to know us that well) to lend a listening ear, or an occasional bowl of porridge.

All I am saying is give our military folks a little return on their time serving us (it doesn't really matter if their reasons for joining the army, navy, air force, marines or coast guard had little expectation of sacrifice). I promise you, they sacrificed.

good news . . .

2009-03-30T02:15:00.000-07:00

As an army veteran I am most heartened to see the creation of a Military Ministry from CLF (Church of the Larger Fellowship).

The Church of the Larger Fellowship began during World War II, as a way for Unitarian Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines to stay connected to their faith while they were serving overseas. Though Unitarian Universalists may disagree on issues of war and peace, our faith does not disagree on our support of those who serve, those who have served, and their families.

a sunday sermon to share

2009-03-29T16:31:00.000-07:00

THE QUICK AND THE DEAD: A Reflection on Death and the Spiritual Path by Rev. James Ishmael Ford.

If you read my post from this morning, please follow up with a read of Rev. Ford's sermon. You will be glad you did.

surrendering

2009-03-29T02:19:00.000-07:00

The need to surrender self may be the notion that most keeps me from being a formally religious person. I haven't thought this through before. But a post by Rev. James Ford over at Monkey Mind has started me thinking about this. Rev. Ford was at the Boston Symphony Hall enjoying the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the Blind Boys of Alabama when, . . . well let him tell you:

Then, in a moment of clarity I noticed how the content of religion is so much less than the action, the movement of the heart. So, they call upon Jesus, someone else calls on Amida, another surrenders to Allah, and another just notices; whichever, the action is one of surrender. Letting go of our certainties. Just putting it all down.

And what follows is liberation.

I hope I don't take this too far out of the context intended, but this "liberation" following "surrender" . . . this choice of emotional response over intellectual response is probably central to the Christian notion of fully allowing God (or Jesus) into your life. In visiting Wikipedia, it appears, unsurprisingly, that the notion is indeed a center point among other faiths. I deem myself a spiritual person capable of surrendering myself to a moment. But this surrendering of self to a moment is a decision that I make from time to time, as at a wake or a celebratory communion, with full awareness that it is a temporary choice. It is a part, but only a part, of the complexities of self, of being the "i am" . . . a choice (even a path) that allows us to connect with one another in grief or joy, but as in a hug, there is no melding, only a temporary touching. No matter how profound and filled with emotion (or spirit) a moment may be, and no matter how total the letting go may be, it is more a hug than a melding. I consider myself a part of the larger UU body, that is the larger fellowship of living things (and on occasion the inanimate), but I also know that my integrity continues as a distinct being from, or within, that fellowship.

update:

I have been reminded of Bertrand Russell's opening paragraph in Mysticism and Logic:

Metaphysics, or the attempt to conceive the world as a whole by means of thought, has been developed, from the first, by the union and conflict of two very different human impulses, the one urging men towards mysticism, the other urging them towards science. Some men have achieved greatness through one of these impulses alone, others through the other alone: in Hume, for example, the scientific impulse reigns quite unchecked, while in Blake a strong hostility to science co-exists with profound mystic insight. But the greatest men who have been philosophers have felt the need both of science and of mysticism: the attempt to harmonise the two was what made their life, and what always must, for all its arduous uncertainty, make philosophy, to some minds, a greater thing than either science or religion.

If Russell were writing this today, I think the word "men" might be supplanted with gender-free words like "people" etc. And to me that is not beside the point.

photographic crash course in religion

2009-03-27T01:50:00.000-07:00

Photographs in the Houston Chronicle reflecting the variety of religions. Quite a treat.

Yes, there are Zoroastrians, Wiccans and Jains in Houston. And people of lots of other faiths too. Here's a photographic crash course in religion.

. . . and Unitarian Universalists.

quoting Rev. Forrest Church

2009-03-26T02:02:00.000-07:00

There Is No Hell (by Rev. Forrest Church)

The difference between Universalists and Unitarians (the old joke has it) is that Universalists believe that God is too good to damn them, whereas Unitarians believe that they’re too good to be damned. I am a Universalist.

For all my many failings, the day I wake up dead I won’t be in a cattle car on the fast train to Satan’s fiery pit. Nor will you. And neither will Old Scratch himself. If he actually exists, the devil too will be saved. In the good news of universalism, God is a loving God who will not rest until the entire creation is redeemed. All creatures will be saved. There is no hell.

It’s easy to understand why hell was invented (if quite late in the biblical record). Eternal damnation solves the sticky part of the problem of evil: Why do good things happen to bad people? Reserving a corner of hell for all who escape well-deserved punishment here on earth balances the moral ledger sheet. Justice is done. Otherwise, not only is life unfair; the afterlife becomes unfair as well.

The problem is, when we project our retributive logic onto a cosmic screen, we pervert the divine image. We predicate hell on the irreverent presumption that God’s appetite for vengeance—an all-voracious version of our own nagging hunger—must be satisfied. "She’ll get hers in hell," we say. That balances our ledger, but it turns God into a jailer. The idea of purgatory makes perfectly good sense. I can imagine the utility of corrective punishment. But eternal hellfire demeans everything I believe about God. More important, it eviscerates the heart of Jesus’ gospel..

Jesus was anything but a biblical literalist. He teaches by parable, not by citing chapter and verse, and gets into holy mischief by repeatedly breaking the letter of scripture. Love is the sum and substance of all the law and the prophets, he teaches. He enjoins us to forgive and love our enemies. "Your enemy be damned," is no part of his gospel.

"Be perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect," Jesus instructs his disciples. That perfection can be summed up in three words, each an expression of divine love: justice, mercy and forgiveness. Standing alone, justice might allow for the creation of hell, but mercy and forgiveness render it morally impossible. We can sift a spoonful of evidence for hell from the scriptures, even as we can ladle out dozens of arguments for slavery. Neither, however, meets the requirements of the biblical Spirit, whose imperative is love.

southern methodist univeristy and all . . .

2009-03-24T16:24:00.000-07:00

In case you've been wondering where the world's first lie-berry is being built, let Mary tell you.

I almost feel sorry for people trying to keep up with politics in the rest of the country these days. They must be overwhelmed - having to analyze the complex maneuverings of the stock market, forced to pore over the arcane elements of Wall Street bonuses and buyouts, mesmerized into memorizing the details of derivatives.

Life in Texas is so much easier.

Down here, we're still fightin' over the stupid stuff.

Like evolution.

Now, I must confess that living in Texas for the past 20 years has led me, on occasion, to doubt Darwin. To wonder if I had moved to some sort of land-locked political Galapagos, a dry island where species no longer found in the rest of the world still roam free.

You'll really need to read more to learn about the lie-berry in Texas.

Cross-posted (with some accuracy) from peripatetic patter . . . see link under 'siblings'

call to action . . .

2009-03-24T02:12:00.000-07:00

Read Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray's call to action.

Unitarian Universalists in Phoenix stand with Immigrant, Labor, and Civil Rights Groups. We demand: Stop the raids! Revoke Maricopa County's 287(g) agreement! Investigate Sheriff Arpaio!

Empowered by federal 287(g) agreements, which give local law enforcement the power and authority to enforce federal immigration laws, Sheriff Joe Arpaio has used this authority to create an environment of fear and intimidation throughout Maricopa County. His tactics are destroying families and the larger fabric of community in the Phoenix area. Under the guise of justice, he and the Sheriff's department rely on the worst acts of profiling, discrimination and civil rights abuses. What's more, his actions fail to address the criminal problems that result from the human and drug trafficking across the border because they only serve to victimize the most powerless, easy targets.

current uu world

2009-03-22T06:13:00.000-07:00

Our inner ape

. . .
The “killer ape” theory means we’ve gotten to where we are today through genocide. Says Ardrey, “We were born of risen apes, not fallen angels, and the apes were armed killers besides. And so what shall we wonder at? Our murders and massacres and missiles, and our irreconcilable regiments?” This is who we truly are, says Ardrey. Liberal religion tried to throw away the idea of original sin, but secular science revalidated a version of it. Scratch the surface, rub off the thin veneer of religion and ethics and civilization, and we find something horrible that is nothing less than the secret of our success.

Where do we go from here, if this horrible vision is true? Another movie scene comes to mind, this time from the classic The African Queen. Surrounded by the jungle, Katharine Hepburn’s character says, “Nature, Mr. Allnut, is what we are put in this world to rise above.” In others words, work even harder to shore up the thin veneer of civilization so that the jungle within us—the inexplicable pressure to do violence—is kept bottled up, pushed down. Sing hymns louder, perhaps; meditate more; repeat the Principles and Purposes regularly and often. Face your fate like a plucky and undaunted heroine, and rise above.

But defying nature only goes so far. Putting on a brave face won’t take away the dread we’ll never be able to stop feeling about ourselves—the sense that there exists a murderous force within us, so alien to all that we hold sacred and holy, so untrue to the teachings of our greatest prophets, so alien to our hopes for peace and justice for all, so irreconcilable with the idea that people have inherent worth and dignity. No inner light within, but inner seething. Therefore we could never truly trust our instincts; constant vigilance is needed to preserve the thin veneer. Not freedom, but authoritarianism, would be the better way in religion and in life. Unitarian Universalism, in short, would cease to make any sense.
. . .

Go read the article.

to qualify as religious . . .

2009-03-22T04:36:00.000-07:00

Transient and Permanent has an intriguing question in its post: Parents Magazine: UUism Apparently Not Religious.

The April 2009 issue of Parents Magazine has an interesting photo-essay on baby-welcoming ceremonies in various faiths. There is a Jewish one, a Korean one, etc. On page 156 they feature a Unitarian-Universalist ritual performed in Marquette, Michigan. The father explains that it was custom-designed by the parents as a celebration of the new life and to introduce the child to the church. As the article mentions, there was “a candle lighting, a rituals with water and rose petals, inspirational readings, singing by young guests, and a song written and performed for the baby by his proud dad.”

There are a couple of interesting things that this article brings up. One is the presence of baby-welcoming ceremonies in UUism.

. . .

The other thing to discuss is the way UUism is framed by the article. Because while the ritual is explicitly explained to be at a church, it is given the heading “A Secular Ceremony.” Even more interestingly, directly below it is a Roman Catholic baptism, which is headed “A Sacred Rite.” Why were these word choices made? What does this say about the presentation of Unitarian-Universalism?

It seems odd to label something secular when it takes place in a church, with ritualistic elements, strongly paralleling (though modifying) ancient Christian methods. Apparently, because the UU ritual was created for the gathering rather than being handed down from the past, or perhaps because it is UU and not Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or Buddhist, this was not seen as a sacred event by the writer.

Read the entire post here.

desktop flotsam

2009-03-22T01:59:00.000-07:00

Religion convinced the world that there's an invisible man in the sky who watches everything you do. And there's 10 things he doesn't want you to do or else you'll go to a burning place with a lake of fire until the end of eternity. But he loves you! ...And he needs money! He's all powerful, but he can't handle money! [...] I've begun worshiping the sun for a number of reasons. First of all, unlike some other gods I could mention, I can see the sun. It's there for me every day. And the things it brings me are quite apparent all the time: heat, light, food, a lovely day. There's no mystery, no one asks for money, I don't have to dress up, and there's no boring pageantry. And interestingly enough, I have found that the prayers I offer to the sun and the prayers I formerly offered to God are all answered at about the same 50-percent rate. [...] Religion is sort of like a lift in your shoes. If it makes you feel better, fine. Just don't ask me to wear your shoes. And let's not nail the lift to the natives' feet.

– George Carlin

George Carlin died last June; long live George Carlin.

So keep fightin' for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don't you forget to have fun doin' it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce. And when you get through kickin' ass and celebratin' the sheer joy of a good fight, be sure to tell those who come after how much fun it was.

-Molly Ivins

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.

– Henry David Thoreau, Walden, Conclusion, 1854

marriage and government

2009-03-21T04:20:00.000-07:00

Take government out of marriage business?

When a Jewish boy turns 13, he heads to a temple for a deeply meaningful rite of passage, his bar mitzvah. When a Catholic girl reaches about the same age, she stands in front of the local bishop, who touches her forehead with holy oil as she is confirmed into a 2,000-year-old faith tradition. But missing in each of those cases — and in countless others of equal religious importance — is any role for government. There is no baptism certificate issued by the local courthouse and no federal tax benefit attached to the confessional booth, the into-the-water-and-out born-again ceremony or any of the other sacraments that believers hold sacred.

Only marriage gets that treatment, and it's a tradition that some legal scholars have been arguing should be abandoned. In a paper published March 2 in the San Francisco Chronicle, two law professors from Pepperdine University issued a call to re-examine the role the government plays in marriage. The authors — one of whom voted for and one against Proposition 8, which ended gay marriage in California — say the best way out of the intractable legal wars over gay marriage is to take marriage out of the hands of the government altogether.

rothko chapel events (Houston, Texas)

2009-03-21T03:57:00.001-07:00

If you are in the area on Friday, March 27 2009:

Rigoberta Menchú at the Rothko Chapel

Rigoberta Menchú, Nobel Peace Laureate from Guatemala, will speak at the Chapel in collaboration with the University of Houston chapter of PeaceJam Foundation. Menchú first spoke at the Chapel in 1992 just prior to her nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize, which she was awarded that same year. Her talk will occur immediately preceding the presentation of pianist Sarah Cahill in Music for Peace.
Suggested contribution of $5 - $10.

Music for Peace: A Sweeter Music

The international observance of Music for Peace is the occasion for this concert with pianist Sarah Cahill, who has commissioned a group of composers to write new works on the theme of peace. The California-based pianist is a specialist in new American music. The title of the program, which she is performing throughout the United States, comes from a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Nobel Peace Prize lecture, where he said, “We must see that peace represents a sweeter music, a cosmic melody that is far superior to the discords of war.” A diversity of expression is represented in works by composers who range in age from their teens to their seventies, including Preben Antonsen, Meredith Monk, Terry Riley, Yoko Ono, and Pauline Oliveros. This event is a collaboration with the Foundation for Modern Music.
Suggested contribution of $5 - $10.

wobblywad about splut . . .

2009-03-20T19:42:00.000-07:00

I'm not quite sure what the religious news blog has against Dan Savage, but whatever it is they don't want to go into detail about his potty-mouthed terminology . . .

Feel free to use this at your next cocktail party when you want to impress strangers with your up-to-the-minute knowledge of religious terminology: Talibangelist.

It's the newest term coined by Savage Love advice columnist Dan Savage. Not entirely sure of the precise definition, but going on past precedent, I don't think he intends it as a compliment -- either to the Taliban or evangelicals.

I won't go into detail about Savage's other potty-mouthed terminology -- this is a family-friendly news blog, after all -- but needless to say, if you Google the term "Saddlebacking," a not-so-nice reference to Rick Warren's Saddleback Church, you'll see what I mean. I won't get into what he said about a former senator from Pennsylvania.

ooooh, how so very nasty without being explicit . . . .

But, if you read Dan Savage's column that the religious news blog finds so offensive, I'm not sure but what they would subscribe to his basic advice. But, why let reality enter into a chance to flaunt an oh-so-radical-sounding-new-word? Frankly, I think this is a bit of wobblywad about splut.

bare foot and pregnant in the kitchen

2009-03-18T18:08:00.000-07:00

Please read this "Newsweek Web Exclusive" by Kathryn Joyce:

If there is a wholesome counterpoint to the gossip-rich travails of single-mom Nadya Suleman and her 14 children, it might be Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, who had their 18th child just weeks before the arrival of Suleman's octuplets in January. The Duggar birth was televised on the Arkansas couple's popular TLC reality show, "17 Kids and Counting" (now "18 Kids and Counting"). Unlike Suleman, who was vilified as the freakish, government-assistance-dependent "Octomom," the Duggars' abundant progeny often attract admiration. Their children play violin, their palatial home is immaculate and the family matriarch is a soft-spoken multitasker who gently keeps order in her immense household.

Watching Michelle Duggar manage her Herculean tasks is addictive. We like to marvel at the logistics of life in oversized reality-TV families like the Duggars or the participants of the series "Kids By the Dozen" (also on TLC), which features families with at least 12 children each. How do they do all that laundry every week? Afford all those gallons of milk or cope with a joint birthday party for 13?

But there's one big omission from the on-screen portrayal of many of these families: their motivation. Though the Duggars do describe themselves as conservative Christians, in reality, they follow a belief system that goes far beyond "Cheaper by the Dozen" high jinks. It is a pro-life-purist lifestyle known as Quiverfull, where women forgo all birth-control options, viewing contraception as a form of abortion and considering even natural family planning an attempt to control a realm—fertility—that should be entrusted to divine providence.

...

Quiverfull doesn't follow from any particular church's teachings but rather is a conviction shared by evangelical and fundamentalist Christians across denominational lines, often spread through the burgeoning conservative homeschooling community, which the U.S. Department of Education estimates has more than 1 million school-age children, and which homeschooling groups say easily has twice that number.

Quiverfull's pronatalist emphasis is linked to a companion doctrine of strident antifeminism among conservative Christians who see the women's liberation movement as the origin of a host of social ills, from abortion to divorce, women working and teen sex. "Feminism is a totally self-consistent system aimed at rejecting God's role for women," Pride wrote in 1985; since then, the movement she helped create has erected an opposite and equally self-consistent system of "biblical womanhood."

...

A glimpse of this reality is sometimes visible beneath TV's glossy treatment of Quiverfull families, but more often it's difficult to see the hard edges of ideology underlying yet another large family adventure.

Look, folks, I admit that I sometimes have an on-going difficulty with the concept of "tolerance" as we genetically talk about it in UU circles (I've more than once addressed this in Sunday services, given the opportunity), but this "takes the cake".

What?! Is this a native American tribal group espousing some esoteric path to full womanhood or family fulfillment? Nooo o o o, it's a bunch of keep-her-bare-foot-and-in-the-kitchen-cooking literal Bible thumpers espousing their narrow band of egregious anti-democratic bullshit.

religion is driving folks away?

2009-03-17T15:58:00.000-07:00

According to Leonard Pitts Jr., we are losing our religion:

We are losing our religion.

That, with apologies to R.E.M., is the startling conclusion of a new study, the American Religious Identification Survey, conducted by researchers at Trinity College of Hartford, Conn. The poll of over 54,000 American adults found a sharp erosion in the number of people claiming religious affiliation.

A few highlights: The number of people who call themselves Christian is 76 percent, down 10 percentage points since 1990.

Thirty percent of married couples did not have a religious ceremony.

Better than one in four Americans do not expect a religious funeral.

It is important to reiterate that we are talking about overall percentages. In raw numbers, there are actually about 22 million more Christians now than in 1990. Still, the trend is clear, particularly as illustrated in one telling statistic: In 1990, 8.2 percent (about 14 million) of us said ''none'' when asked to specify their religion. Last year, 15 percent (34 million) did.

Some have suggested our loss of faith is due to increased diversity, mobility and immigration. I'm sure there's something to that, but I tend to think the most important cause is simpler: Religion has become an ugly thing.

Keep reading.

pensée is French for pansy . . .

2009-03-16T18:49:00.000-07:00

According to Encyclopædia Britannica, the term pensée

originated with French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal, whose Pensées (1670) was a collection of some 800 to 1,000 notes and manuscript fragments expressing his religious beliefs.

I am borrowing the name for his collection and not a jot of his beliefs. This blog will be the notes and fragments expressing my own religious journeys and musings. I expect it will be fun and somewhat irreverent.