Current Events Round Up

In what I hope to be a somewhat regular Friday feature where I give my take on interesting stuff happening in the world. This isn't intended to be political commentary, but may be take as such. I would hope that it is, instead, interesting news bits from the lens of my faith. I'll just let those chips fall where they may.

So what's of interest to me this week?

Budgets - I've already spent two posts on the topic already this week (see link), but I think my thoughts boil down to this: our federal budget is messed up, the process by which we create it is messed up and I don't even know where to begin. I know it's the government and not a person, but if where your heart is, there your treasure will be also, then we have a heart of conflict and chaos. Then again, the many heads that are on this beast are not of one accord, so what can we expect? Somehow, I think it will eventually collapse under its own weight if we can't bring it into order.

The Plame Game - Washington, the blogosphere and the national media outlets are all a-twitter over what federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald is going to do about the leaking of a CIA agent's name. The leak was intended to hurt former ambassador Joseph Wilson by outing his wife. Wilson wrote an op-ed piece critical of the administration's arguments for WMD's in Iraq, specifically nuclear weapons. A report issued by Wilson and commissioned by the government debunked the claim that Iraq was seeking yellow-cake uranium from Niger. That's the short of it anyway.

Why do I care? Aside from the fact that this is a huge story and having massive repercussion inside the White House, I care because it is a story about how government has come to be conducted. Somehow, we've allowed governing not to be about SERVICE in the PUBLIC GOOD, but about winning ideological and policy battles at all costs. Karl Rove has been ruthless in attacking, not the merits of his opponents arguments, but the opponents themselves. Character assassination has become routine and win-at-all-costs the mantra. Some may claim that this is just business as usual in Washington, but as far as I'm concerned I refuse to support anyone who eschews love, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, patience and self-control. You can tell a tree by its fruit and I haven't liked the apples on this tree.

Hurricane Season - Wilma made landfall in Mexico a couple of hours ago and it sounds like it's not pretty. After Mexico, it's slated to hit Florida and who knows where it will go from there. It seems like natural disasters have been piling up in recent memory: the tsunami last year, hurricanes this year, not to mention devastating earthquakes, the latest of which hit Pakistan. The earthquake is shaping up to as bad as the tsunami, if not worse. I can't really comprehend the devastation and loss of human life - it's overwhelming. My only response is prayer, for understanding, for those in need and in shock and for direction. I know in my heart that it is the church who should be leading the charge in relief efforts, bringing food, shelter and comfort to those in need. What is my role in that? I'm still seeking it, but I know there is one, even it is only to pray.

intelligent Debate? - A trial has been going on in PA over whether a statement about intelligent design (ID) can be read before a high-school biology class. The courts aren't really the place for this debate since it's really about academics arguing science that goes far over my head. I'm not claiming to be stupid, but the inner-workings of mitochondrial DNA and its implications on bacterial natural selection seems more like a doctoral thesis than an argument in court. I'd hate to be the jury on this one. Most scientists tend to agree, at least tacitly, in Darwinian evolution. A small percentage publicly question the model and find it lacking in ultimate explanatory power.

Here's my take: I believe the Genesis account to be true, but it's not a scientific text book. The opening words are probably the most important "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." The actual scientific mechanics of the thing aren't particularly relevant in my mind. Does Darwinian evolution, if true, disprove God's existence? Hardly. Does it invalidate Genesis? No - only a strictly literal interpretation of it. Then again, I think there is plenty of other science that goes against strict literalism (see Reasons to Believe dot org.) Science, for me, only helps illuminate the mystery, power and glory of God. It will never invalidate my faith, because it can't, it can't. It is inherently incapable of understanding the supernatural - that's not what it is for. What I hope these things help demonstrate is that faith and science are not mutually exclusive, but synergistic ways of understanding our existence.

One final thought on this. ID and evolution aren't necessarily mutually exclusive philosophical ideas. ID deals more specifically with origins of life, which encompasses physics, chemistry, astronomy and biology. Evolution is a process of natural selection and mutation. It has little if any explanatory power for how life began. Life has to already exist for evolution to work. So at least on that level ID and evolution are apples and oranges. Do they overlap? Yes, but for the sake of argument, I could grant you evolution and still claim ID is at work. The media accounts I have read oversimplify and misstate the debate (at least at the academic level). I'm not surprised, though, given that a bunch of hard science PhDs are on the stands. What was that, again? F₁-F₀ ATPase enzyme?

Food Stamps Safe?

I wrote on Monday about budget cuts to food stamps in order to offset Katrina relief. It appears now that food stamps are off the table for cuts. Hooray! This from Jim Wallace:

Finally, a victory. This week, Congress reconvened after its Columbus Day recess, with the budget reconciliation bill the first item of business - the complicated process of deciding on tax and budget cuts. On Tuesday, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) introduced his "chairman's mark" of proposed budget cuts. To the surprise of many, the expected $574 million cut in the Food Stamp Program was not included - no cuts in food stamps! News reports indicate that objections from several committee Republicans, including Rick Santorum (Pa.), Jim Talent (Mo.), and Norm Coleman (Minn.), along with Democrats, prompted the change. All of these senators are from states where faith-based organizations and leaders were actively pressing their elected representatives not to cut crucial service programs for the poor, including many Sojourners and Call to Renewal partners and allies who contacted their senators during the recess. As always, there were other factors, too, such as county commissioners and clergy in Georgia who told Sen. Chambliss their people couldn't survive without food stamps. Our religious voices were heard.

I've been challenged to think about the role of government in helping the poor by a friend and may have more to write about that as soon as I have something cogent to say. For now, though, check out Call to Renewal. That seems to be a positive direction in which to move.

Wednesday's Big Idea: May They Be One

There were several ideas floating around today, all good and all worthy of their own post. I'm going to stick with the key passage which touches on many of the other topics and that is John 17:20-26.

As we learn to pray, it seems a good start to follow the Master and so along with Matthew 6, The Lord's Prayer, we are looking at Jesus' prayer in the garden, which is an incredible insight into the heart and mind of Christ just before his arrest and ultimate crucifixion. He starts praying for himself, moves on to His disciples and finishes by praying for all believers. This final passage is where we started today.

In just 7 verses the prayer for unity is repeated over and over: "that all of them may be one","that they may be one as we are one","May they be brought to complete unity." Christ wants that unity to be complete and binding - "as we are one." Further, out of that unity comes love - "that the love you have for me may be in them." Christ sees ahead into the future, understands that a house divided cannot stand and prays specifically for a house united, against which nothing can stand.

Our Wednesday morning prayer time is a small demonstration of unity. We are a varied group, a group which would never form outside of a supernatural gathering and through the intimate experience of prayer we find ourselves bonded in a way difficult to explain. I suppose I would start with Christ's simile - "As we are one". The Father and the Son are inseparable. Nothing can change that relationship and the relational bond is permanent. We are adopted into that relationship and Christ becomes our brother and we are sons and daughters of the King.

We are one by adoption. In a quite literal sense, we are brothers and sisters, we are a family unit and are called to behave as one. In the second chapter of Acts, we glimpse what this was like for the early church. Each one cared for one another in such a way as to sell their belongings and have "everything in common." They lived in community to the extreme. We like to think "that was then, things are different now." But I wonder, are they? What would it look like if a community of believers was so committed to one another that none lacked in clothing, food and shelter? What would it be like if we loved each other deeply enough to rely on one another for help? It defies 21st century, American, rugged individualism. It recognizes that I am not "self-made", but God-made and it is His grace that supplies my needs.

I don't know how, or if, it is possible to replicate that time in Christian history, but I would like to think the theory remains intact, if not the exact application. Our challenge is not to form a utopian, commentaries village, it is to be utterly devoted to God. Out of that devotion comes unity and love and how that is expressed will be different for us than for those 2000 years ago. The outcome is similar, though - we care for our brothers and sisters because we "love one another deeply." My prayer is that we continue to grow in that love.

Isaiah on Tuesday - Who Do You Worship?

Per my previous post, I'm structuring my posts so now on Wednesday, there will be Wednesday's Big Idea and Tuesdays will be Isaiah on Tuesday. Isaiah's a pretty big book so I think I'll be going for a while, but this will keep the posts more orderly and less sporadic. Clicking on the headline will open up the passage for reference.

Today I continue with Isaiah 2. The first part is a revelation of things to come when all nations come to the Mountain of the Lord and train for war no more. A vision of being in one accord is a great place to linger, but Isaiah soon moves back into judgment mode, leveling a blistering indictment of the nation of Israel. What is this indictment? It is that they have chosen to worship things other than God, things made by their own hands. The nation has grown wealthy, bloated and lost, forgetting that it is not man who provides all things, but God.

Isaiah pronounces judgment on the proud and haughty, those that look to themselves as saviors, who think they can create gods of silver and gold who will hear their prayers and protect them from harm. When "God rises to shake the earth" those who have trusted in these things will toss them away recognizing that they are imitations - deaf and mute objects which have no power and pale in comparison to the glory and power of God.

Isaiah's closing statement sums up the entire section: "Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?" The Israelites had turned to trusting in temporal man whose power is limited and fleeting. Only when contrasted with "the splendor of his majesty" would it come apparent who they were trusting in.

For us, it should be easy to draw a line from Isaiah's fiery pronouncements to our own 21st century lives. Many things vie for our attention and it's easy to look to ourselves or our creations to find salvation. Media, technological advancement or governmental systems will not lead to salvation. The best they can do is make life a bit more comfortable, but these are only tools created by humans. Our worship must be directed appropriately, not to the tools or the humans who create them, but to the creator of all things, the one "in whom we live and breathe and have our being." Anything less brings us perilously close to that place of pride occupied by that ancient House of Jacob.

Trying a new format

I'm going to try out a new format. I already have a scheduled Wednesday post entitled "Wednesday's Big Idea" in which I write about a theme or idea that came out of our Wednesday morning prayer group. I've started a study on Isaiah which I think I will focus on on Tuesdays. I haven't figured out exactly how I'll fill the other days, but I wanted to add some structure to my postings, partly for my own organization and partly to add order to a fairly random and chaotic blog. A couple of things I'm thinking about adding on the other days are a 1) current events round up discussing what's going on from my own Christian perspective and 2) adventures in fatherhood, parenthood from that same perspective.

Of course, I will still have the interspersed random musings, quotes of the day and odd stories. However, I think the structure will help me focus and get stuff written on scheduled basis. It's unlikely I will be posting anything on Mondays since that day is packed full morning to night, but all the other days are on.

Budgets as Moral Documents

I have purposely shied away from politics on this blog because the current state of political discussion tends to be poor. Hopefully, this will elevate it somewhat. The trigger for this particular entry is a WP article entitled "House GOP Leaders Set to Cut Spending" Since I have also been writing on the words of the prophet Isaiah the juxtaposition seems quite appropriate.

I've been reading through Jim Wallaces' "God's Politics" (which I'll review when I've finished - currently I give it "mixed") but one thing that Wallace argues is that governmental budgets are moral documents reflecting the values of the citizens under those governments. I would agree. While I am all for fiscal responsibility, I think that means attempting to live within your means, prioritizing expenditures and if you can't afford to purchase everything you want, cutting those things which are least important. Borrowing may be necessary, either for investment or short-term needs, but it isn't a long term strategy for success.

Additionally, in government terms, citizens may be called to sacrifice income (taxes) for the greater good of the country. Infrastructure, social safety nets, education, defense, natural monopolies, etc. don't neatly fall into private sector responsibilities either because there is no economic incentive to pursue them or removing the profit motive provides a greater benefit to the majority of citizens.

That being said, the current GOP budget is just plain shameful. It attempts to permanently seal in the tax breaks to wealthier citizens and abolish the estate tax (again a benefit to mostly wealthy citizens) while cutting spending on food stamps and Medicaid which benefit the poor. Food stamps?!?!?! And the irony is this is to offset hurricane relief. It feels like robbing Peter to pay Paul. If we are unable to spend money to protect our most vulnerable citizens from hunger and illness, what does that say about us? Where is our compassion? Is it held out only for those who are suffering under a "tax burden"? I fear that our priorities are confused and this budget reflects not a heart of compassion, but a heart of greed and corruption. If we are going to start cutting (and why not ask for a modest sacrifice as well?) maybe we should start with our nuclear weapons programs, our pork barrel spending and corporate welfare. Going after the poor and disenfranchised is just plain wrong.

"Stop doing wrong,
¹⁷ learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow."

Isaiah 1:16b-17 (NIV)