Titanic Post

More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.
~Woody Allen

When the president talks to God
Are the conversations brief or long?
Does he ask to rape our women’s’ rights
And send poor farm kids off to die?
Does God suggest an oil hike
When the president talks to God?

When the president talks to God
Are the consonants all hard or soft?
Is he resolute all down the line?
Is every issue black or white?
Does what God say ever change his mind
When the president talks to God?

When the president talks to God
Does he fake that drawl or merely nod?
Agree which convicts should be killed?
Where prisons should be built and filled?
Which voter fraud must be concealed
When the president talks to God?

When the president talks to God
I wonder which one plays the better cop
We should find some jobs. the ghetto’s broke
No, they’re lazy, George, I say we don’t
Just give ‘em more liquor stores and dirty coke
That’s what God recommends

When the president talks to God
Do they drink near beer and go play golf
While they pick which countries to invade
Which Muslim souls still can be saved?
I guess god just calls a spade a spade
When the president talks to God

When the president talks to God
Does he ever think that maybe he’s not?
That that voice is just inside his head
When he kneels next to the presidential bed
Does he ever smell his own bullshit
When the president talks to God?

I doubt it

I doubt it

~Conor Oberst “Bright Eyes” on Jay Leno

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…)

When you call yourself an Indian or a Muslim or a Christian or a European, or anything else, you are being violent. Do you see why it is violent? Because you are separating yourself from the rest of mankind. When you separate yourself by belief, by nationality, by tradition, it breeds violence. So a man who is seeking to understand violence does not belong to any country, to any religion, to any political party or partial system; he is concerned with the total understanding of mankind.
–J. Krishnamurti, Freedom from the Known, pp.51-52

What happened on 9/11 was not war in its traditional sense. This was clearly a crime against humanity. War crimes are crimes which happen in war time. There is some confusion here. This was a crime against humanity because it was deliberate and intentional killing of large numbers of civilians for political or other purposes. That in itself is not tolerable under any international systems, and it should be prosecuted pursuant to the existing laws.

To call them “terrorists” is also a misleading term. There is no agreement on the definition of terrorism. One man’s terrorism is another man’s heroism, depending on which side you are on. We should try them for mass murder. Mass murder is a crime under any jurisdiction. As citizens, we must be careful about our words. We should not allow our politicians to define things and events in ways that are not true. If we had done that after 9/11, we would not have let our country go to war against Iraq for crimes committed against humanity with which Iraq had nothing to do.

In the early August of 1978, I had occasion to be in Rome on business. On the 6th of August, Pope Paul died while I was there. In late September I was again in Rome when the then newly elected Pope John Paul died after only thirty-three days in office. Some of my Italian friends suggested that there was a strong correlation between my presence in Rome and the mortality in the papal office. Two Popes out of 265 cannot bring about a strong correlation, just for the record.

While correlation, no matter how strong, does not show cause, I couldn’t help but think that my life had somehow connected to the Vatican and the Papacy. I later became interested in the newly elected Pope John Paul II who now appears to be in the final hours of his life.

I am not Catholic nor do I subscribe to any other dogmatic religion, but I have always been interested in the correlation between religions and social justice, or the lack thereof. John Paul II promised to be an important figure and I was not to be disappointed.

We Americans tend to see John Paul II in the light of his stands on abortion, contraception, women’s rights, and celibacy, but I see him and his work differently. To me he was the Pope of peace. He spoke out for reconciliation with Jews, the first Pope to ever do so. He spoke out in defense of a Palestinian state. He built bridges between Christianity and Islam. I see his influence in Eastern Europe as the prime mover of the people to rise against the communist regimes, which eventually led to the overthrow of the Soviet Union. I know that you probably think it was President Reagan who did that and I’m sure he helped it along, but it was mainly the Pope — and McDonald’s presence in Moscow, I might add.

Yes, he is the CEO of the Catholic Church and has to be mindful of the bottom line and the viability of the organization; however, throughout his papacy, John Paul II has consistently spoken out against war, oppression, poverty, pollution, and all injustices. He has worked for the elimination of the death penalty, which, along with his words against abortion, I see as a seamless regard for human life.

It is true that his voice has been, at least partially, drowned out by the moneyed interests of the world and their political puppets, but Pope John Paul II has changed many hearts and given us all ideas to ponder and goals to achieve. As for me, I promise to stay away from Rome, just in case, and I will hope that the new Pope has the stature and dignity of his predecessor. Long live John Paul II!

When you give food to the poor, they call you a saint. When you ask why the poor have no food, they call you a communist.

~ Archbishop Helder Camara, Brazil