Titanic Post

SOJOURNERS - It’s sadly rare for a church leader, or for the leaders of most of our dominant institutions, to demonstrate a spirituality that attracts millions of people around the world - particularly so many young people. But the scene of millions lining up to simply pass by the body of John Paul II in Rome this week is remarkable indeed. The enormous attraction to this pope goes far beyond agreement with all the positions of the Catholic Church or even all of the decisions of his papacy. Indeed the “ecumenical” and even “interfaith” attraction to John Paul II reflects his own practice of reaching out to more people in more faith traditions than any other pope ever has.

One of the great attractions of Pope John Paul II’s spirituality was his consistency. At the core of Catholic social teaching is the idea of a “consistent ethic of life,” an ethic that seeks to protect and defend human life and dignity wherever and whenever they are threatened, and which challenges the selective moralities of both the political left and right. (more…)

Recent evidence suggests that the cause of the recent school shootings is not the mere existence of guns, rather the finger seems to be pointed at the kids who are pulling the trigger. To be more exact, the drugs consumed by the shooters have altered their minds to the point where they are willing to overcome strong taboos against murder and to kill their school mates, their teachers, and ultimately, themselves.

Now before my conservative friends make their usual smug remarks about the necessity of fighting “the War on Drugs” and its amazing successes, I must mention that I am referring to prescription mood enhancing drugs. Most of the recent incidents were caused by teenagers taking anti-depressants.

I don’t know much about Ward Churchill, but I have read his book Cointel Pro, which was about the FBI response to the Black Panthers in the 1960s and the death of BP leader, Fred Hampton. I do know that he is critical of U.S. policies and been accused of “hating America” in the past. His recent remark that the victims of 9/11 were “little Eichmanns” has renewed the accusations that he hates America. That seems to be the summary of the criticisms aimed at Churchill, plus the fact that someone is trying hard to get him fired from his tenured position at the University of Colorado.

No one has really asked the salient questions: “What does he mean by this statement?” Or, “what is he trying to tell us?” I’m not saying that I know the answers, only that news reporters should be asking these questions, instead of dismissing the whole incident as the words of an “American hater” and calling for his dismissal.

Freedom of academic expression depends on there being no reprisals when a professor says something offensive. The UNESCO recommendations on academic freedom - which endows members of the university with the right to hold, express and teach any views they deem fit, and to research and publish their findings without restraint - is widely recognized as essential to the pursuit of knowledge.

Another UNESCO report from 1998 observed that academic freedom is ‘not simply a fundamental value’, but also ‘a means by which higher education fulfilled its mission’. Even those politicians, bureaucrats and administrators who are, by temperament, hostile to academic freedom should feel compelled to defend it.

Part of successful debating requires that we learn how not to get angry when someone says something insulting or offensive. If we are to keep our freedom of speech, we should learn to inquire before we retaliate, we might just learn something useful.

Since before the 2004 election, the buzz has been about values (or the lack thereof) and who has the “right values.” If you are looking to sort out the confusion and to find a slant on values that rings true, God’s Politics : Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It, Jim Wallis, 2005, San Francisco: Harper, may be the book for you. It seems that there are more values than just homophobia and abortion.

Jim Wallis is the editor of Sojourners and one of the founders of Call To Renewal, a faith-based movement to overcome poverty.