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Current Events, Media, Political

You’ll never see him again

Do you get the feeling that one day Keith Olbermann will suddenly disappear from MSNBC? Of course, with the President’s signing of the Military Commissions Act and with the commensurate loss of our Habeas Corpus rights there would be little if any chance of ever seeing or hearing from him again if he did disappear.

Maybe the President’s evangelical friends would assume he was taken up in the rapture?

A transcript from Crooks and Liars of Keith Olbermann’s commentary on the Death of Habeas Corpus: —Your words are lies, Sir.—

…

We have handed a blank check drawn against our freedom to a man who has said it is unacceptable to compare anything this country has ever done, to anything the terrorists have ever done.

We have handed a blank check drawn against our freedom to a man who has insisted again that “the United States does not torture. It’s against our laws and it’s against our values” and who has said it with a straight face while the pictures from Abu Ghraib Prison and the stories of Waterboarding figuratively fade in and out, around him.

We have handed a blank check drawn against our freedom to a man who may now, if he so decides, declare not merely any non-American citizens “Unlawful Enemy Combatants” and ship them somewhere —” anywhere —” but may now, if he so decides, declare you an “Unlawful Enemy Combatant” and ship you somewhere – anywhere.

And if you think this, hyperbole or hysteria… ask the newspaper editors when John Adams was President, or the pacifists when Woodrow Wilson was President, or the Japanese at Manzanar when Franklin Roosevelt was President.

And if you somehow think Habeas Corpus has not been suspended for American citizens but only for everybody else, ask yourself this: If you are pulled off the street tomorrow, and they call you an alien or an undocumented immigrant or an “unlawful enemy combatant” —” exactly how are you going to convince them to give you a court hearing to prove you are not? Do you think this Attorney General is going to help you?

…

Habeas Corpus? Gone.

The Geneva Conventions? Optional.

The Moral Force we shined outwards to the world as an eternal beacon, and inwards at ourselves as an eternal protection? Snuffed out.

These things you have done, Mr. Bush… they would be “the beginning of the end of America.”

And did it even occur to you once sir —” somewhere in amidst those eight separate, gruesome, intentional, terroristic invocations of the horrors of 9/11 —” that with only a little further shift in this world we now know —” just a touch more repudiation of all of that for which our patriots died —”

Did it ever occur to you once, that in just 27 months and two days from now when you leave office, some irresponsible future President and a “competent tribunal” of lackeys would be entitled, by the actions of your own hand, to declare the status of “Unlawful Enemy Combatant” for… and convene a Military Commission to try… not John Walker Lindh, but George Walker Bush?

…

Christian Witness, Current Events, Media, Political

Church and State

The NY Times is doing a four part series called —In God’s Name—. It highlights the exemptions and benefits religious organizations get from the government.

The first two articles are now on-line:

I encourage you to give them a read (they are long).

Besides the false extrapolation of those in the religious community who act uncharitably (e.g., those who turned a nun out because she had breast cancer) to the entire faith community, the articles do beg the question —“ When will the piper come for his pay?

The faith community needs to take charge of the paradigm and refocus itself on matters of faith, not business (although doing business rightly is not a wrong in and of itself —“ business must be connected to and must flow from the central purpose of the organization).

Current Events, Media

Panagia Elona recovered

From the BBC: Greek police recover stolen icon:

Greek police have recovered a priceless 700-year-old icon stolen last month in a daring raid on a cliffside monastery…

…and check out the snarky comment by a BBC reporter from the same article:

The BBC’s Malcolm Brabant in Athens says the deeply religious and superstitious people who worship at the Elona monastery attribute the discovery to the power of prayer.

Current Events, Media, Perspective, Political

Creeping toward real democracy

Turkey has always claimed to be a secular democracy. However, any real review of Turkish practice would indicate that it is a democracy where some (Muslims) are far more equal than others (Christians and Armenian and Kurdish minorities).

Calling yourself a democracy —“ and secular —“ may work as a disguise for a little while, but the proof is in the way you live out your democracy.

One of the traits of a democracy is the ability of its citizens —“ and anyone else —“ to comment on, criticize, and yes, even ‘insult’ the politics and practices of that democracy. Being ultra-sensitive and ultranationalist go hand-in-hand. They both act to stifle debate. Getting upset about criticism makes you anything but a democracy (by making laws against criticism) or just makes you childish.

Turkish judges seem to be getting that point. Zaman Online reports: Novelist Shafak Acquitted of Insulting Turkishness. Excerpts follow:

Well-known Turkish novelist Elif Shafak has been acquitted in the case against her for allegedly “insulting Turkishness” due to her remarks in her latest novel named “The Bastard of Istanbul”.

The controversial trial of the famous author Shafak commenced this morning at Beyoglu court amid protests from ultranationalists against the European Union (EU).

Beyoglu 2nd Court of First Instance decided on Thursday to acquit Shafak in the case in which she was charged with “insulting Turkishness” due to lack of legal grounds for the crime in question and insufficient evidence.

…

Turkey’s 35-year old novelist was sued under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, the same law that ensnared Orhan Pamuk, one of Turkey’s best-known contemporary authors, last year.

Late in July, an Istanbul court decided to open a case against author Elif Safak on charges of denigrating Turkishness for remarks made by Armenian characters in her book named “Father and Bastard” in Turkish version, aka “The Bastard of Istanbul.” Shafak faces up to three years imprisonment if found guilty.

Shafak’s book recounts the story of relations between an Armenian family and two Turkish families. An Armenian character in the book says that “Turkish butchers” killed her family and that the deaths were “genocide.”

The ultra-nationalist Turkish Lawyers Association Chairman Kemal Kerincsiz, who is infamous for filing complaints against journalists and authors, was also responsible for opening the case against author Elif Shafak, an assistant professor of Near Eastern studies at the University of Arizona, in the U.S.

…

The European Union has repeatedly criticized Turkey for its lack of progress on the freedom of expression of writers and journalists. Several writers have been convicted under the notorious Article 301; however, none have been jailed; instead, the courts have tended to hand down fines, the maximum amount being $4,000.

Earlier this year, an Istanbul court dropped a case brought against Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk, also charged with ‘insulting Turkishness’, following remarks he had made concerning the killing of Armenians during the last years of the Ottoman Empire.

In July, Perihan Magden another famous Turkish author and journalist was acquitted in the case against her for discouraging people from performing their military service due to remarks in her column in a Turkish daily.

Media, Perspective

Could I have exhibited insight?

Father Jake Stops the World has an interesting post on the future of the Episcopal Church (TEC). In Will a “Two Church Solution” be Traded for Invitations to Lambeth? he quotes an article by Ruth Gledhill in the Times: Clergy seek ‘two-church solution’.

Ms. Gledhill makes an observation concerning the end of TEC as a member of the Anglican Communion and a possible union between TEC and Utrecht, observations that coinside with my own. In her blog, Ruth Gledhill —“ Articles of Faith, she makes very similar observations to ones I made. Specifically in Love in the Ruins (updated) she says:

…it is not beyond the realm of possibility that TEC could itself decide it has had enough and seek communion with another body, such as the Old Catholic Church of Utrecht. This church is in communion with Canterbury, and is liberal on women and gays. I can imagine a scenario where, should the whole thing become a much looser federation, enabling the Methodists among others to come on board, the Old Catholics could end up part of the wider Communion in any case.

Maybe it would just then become The Communion, TC, with separate bodies such as the Episcopalians, the Anglicans, the Methodists, the Old Catholics, the Lutherans and numerous others all included.

In Possibilities for the Episcopal Church (June 20, 2006) I said:

In my estimation the stage is set for TEC to break from the Anglican Communion. They have created a sort of union of the left and liberal. They have also set the stage to become the money and the power behind a ‘new’ union (see we’re doing a new thing).

I find it very interesting that Bishop Joris Vercammen, the Old Catholic Archbishop of Utrecht, presided at the convention’s June 19 Eucharist, ostensibly in recognition of the 75th anniversary of the Bonn Agreement. Utrecht has already substantially adopted the ‘ordination’ of women and is well on the way to blessings of same sex unions.

In October 2005 when Utrecht met with the Abp. of Canterbury there was much discussion on the issue of overlapping jurisdictions. There are Anglican Bishops in locales under the jurisdiction of a Utrecht Bishop. Since Utrecht and the Anglican Church are in full communion there should only be one Bishop per jurisdiction.

Utrecht used a made up, far less serious excuse to eject the PNCC from the Union (not that the PNCC wanted to remain in union with Utrecht based on Utrecht’s liberal positions).

Could TEC become the new ‘Rome for the liberals’? Could Utrecht align with the TEC? Could Utrecht disavow their relationship with Anglicanism in general and join with TEC, the IFI (who have been in on and off discussions with Utrecht for years), the ELCA and the UMC in a sort of liberal, anything goes movement?

Wow, did I scoop the Times? Did I exhibit foresight? Hey, you never know…

Thanks again to the Young Fogey for the pointer to this.

Current Events, Media

Hot news day

Pope ticks off Muslims: It appears that the Pope’s lecture at Regensburg University has stirred Muslim anger. So what’s new? The pope calls on people to use reason in discourse and instead of reading and understanding Muslim leaders react by instigating violence.

Poland to supply troops: Poland will supply an additional 900 troops for the NATO mission in Afghanistan. The Polish politicians still think that generosity and cooperation will garner them friends. As former Polish President Kwasniewski found out at the White House —“ Too bad, so sad; thanks for the help, now shut up.

Polish workers held in “concentration camps”: Chasing the almighty dollar or Euro can get you into trouble —“ or get you killed.

Kimveer Gill, goth, blogger, gamer, killer: The usual stuff will follow as to how games and the Internet are all at fault. No one will look to his upbringing nor to his experiences with bullying in school (how does that mesh with Canada’s liberal ideals) which, while not an excuse, certainly didn’t help.

Christian Witness, Current Events, Media

Ralph ‘Bucky’ Philips and family values

Donn Esmonde of the Buffalo News comments about the Ralph ‘Bucky’ Phillips tragedy unfolding in Western New York in Fugitive’s family values perverse.

As you may know, Mr. Phillips escaped from jail several months ago. He is suspected of shooting three NY State Troopers and of killing one, trooper Joseph Longobardo.

In the article Mr. Esmonde highlights the Christian witness of a local R.C. pastor, Fr. Patrick Elis. Beyond that, Mr. Esmonde makes an excellent case in regard to the responsibilities of fathers to their families and to all families. Excerpts follow:

Family? This guy doesn’t know anything about family.

In the stomach-churning saga of fugitive Ralph “Bucky” Phillips, perhaps the most nauseating notion is of this man standing up for family.

That is what a friend of Phillips’ told The Buffalo News last week, after two state troopers on stakeout near Phillips’ ex-girlfriend’s house were shot. Dan Suitor said State Police brought the ambush upon themselves by – days earlier – arresting Phillips’ daughter, her mother and boyfriend for helping Phillips avoid authorities.

“That was like a declaration of war,” said Suitor, who believes Phillips was the shooter. “You do not mess with [Phillips’] family or his friends.”

Pardon me while I gag.

If Ralph Phillips did what police believe, not since Charles Manson led his self-styled “family” astray has one man done so much harm to so many families – including his own. Phillips’ daughter, her mother and his grandchildren all have been put in harm’s way by his actions.

“Nothing he has done [since escaping prison five months ago] has helped his family,” said the Rev. Patrick Elis, who offered his Cassadaga church as a safe surrender site. “Not at all.”

Monday we endured TV images of the widow of slain state trooper Joseph Longobardo as her husband’s body was returned to his Albany-area home. Teri Longobardo, a kindergarten teacher, planned Thursday to celebrate her fourth wedding anniversary. Instead she will mourn her dead husband. In her arms was their 13-month-old son. Little Louis Longobardo will never know his father.

…

Now tell me how much Ralph Phillips cares about family.

The guy spent most of his 44 years in jail. A real family man would have stayed out of stir, found a job and lived up to his responsibilities as a father.

No real family man would ever purposely destroy another man’s family. No one who values the web of a family’s interconnections, no one who realizes how every part – mom, dad, guardian, aunt, child, whoever – is a vital piece of a larger puzzle, would purposely destroy a family. Not for any reason.

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If Phillips truly cared about his family, he would take up Elis’ offer to turn himself in. Elis says he will put the $225,000 reward into a trust fund for Phillips’ grandchildren. The money gives them a chance at a better life than Phillips made for himself.

…

Current Events, Media

Muslim conversion trends

The New York Times, in and article describing the release of two Fox News journalists, notes that they were freed after declaring that they had converted to Islam, had taken Muslim names, and had read from the Koran (all at the point of a gun).

Now I could go in a lot of directions on this but I’ll stick with two:

First, these kidnappers are not stupid crazy people (a label the media often uses). They full well understand that Fox News represents rightwing Republican interests. They are also caught in the same trap many Americans are in, falsely equating Republicanism with true Christian conservatism. It is a presumption that many make and that holds fast in the ‘popular culture’ due to the actions of politically inspired ‘preachers’.

As such, the forced conversion of these two men represents, for the Muslim captors and the Muslim world, the ultimate in victories. What the Roman Empire was unable to do on a worldwide scale, a small group of Islamic terrorists accomplished in thirteen days —“ mocking the Christian faith and its adherent’s fidelity.

Second, it is our duty to forgive these men of their rapid ‘conversion’, and to pray for them and their families. The conversion was done at the end of a gun, and was not truly free. In addition, we do not know the depth of their faith or even if they follow Christ. If they do, the guilt of betrayal will be heavy. All in all we must avoid the heresy of Donatism*.

This ‘success’ makes what is old new again, and will give Muslim extremists/terrorists an additional tool by which they think they can mock Christ. Fortunately they are mistaken, the martyrs may be few in coming, but their blood will reap generations of faithful Christians.

Here’s an excerpt from the NY Times article: Fox News Journalists Free After Declaring Conversion:

JERUSALEM, Aug. 27 —” Two journalists kidnapped in Gaza were released unharmed on Sunday after being forced at gunpoint to say on a videotape that they had converted to Islam.

The two journalists for Fox News —” Steve Centanni, 60, an American correspondent, and Olaf Wiig, 36, a freelance cameraman from New Zealand —” were held for 13 days in an abandoned garage in the Gaza Strip as hostages of a previously unknown group calling itself the Holy Jihad Brigades.

—I’m really fine, healthy in good shape and so happy to be free,— Mr. Centanni told Fox News. He said the two had been forced at gunpoint to say that they were converting to Islam and had taken Muslim names. —I have the highest respect for Islam,— he said. —But it was something we felt we had to do because they had the guns, and we didn’t know what the hell was going on.—

Earlier on Sunday, their captors delivered a video showing the two men in Arab robes reading from the Koran to indicate their conversion.

*against which St. Augustine fought – his memorial is August 28th.

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