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Christian Witness, Perspective, Saints and Martyrs

Drop your other shoe

By now almost everyone has heard of the Iraqi shoe throwing incident. The day after the incident I came arcoss an article through Christian NewsWire: Iraqi Christians Remain Under Siege

A press release issued last week from the USCIRF states: “Although there has been some reduction in violence in Iraq since the Commission’s last report on the country in May 2007, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom remains seriously concerned about severe violations of religious freedom there. The situation is dire for Iraq’s smallest religious minorities, including ChaldoAssyrian Christians, other Christians, Sabean Mandaeans, and Yazidis, who face a threat to their very existence in the country.

…

Although it is difficult to state how many Iraqi Christians are in the country, the number in 2003, prior to the fall of Saddam Hussein, was around 550,000. Violence targeting Christians has caused many to leave the country. Church leaders in Iraq conservatively estimate that almost 75,000 Christians live outside Iraq in Syria, Jordan or in the West and that another 75,000 have fled to northern Iraq. That means less than 400,000 Christians remain in mainland Iraq. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has estimated that at least 2 million Iraqis have fled the country since 2003 and another 2 million are displaced inside the country, mostly in northern Iraq.

Some say that in the past few years almost 500 Iraqi Christians, including pastors and priests, have been murdered because of their faith. Even more Christians have been killed in attacks, fighting or kidnapping for money. Approximately 2,000 families (a total of 10,000 Christians) fled the northern city of Mosul two months ago due to terrorism. The violence resulted in an estimated 25 to 40 Christian deaths. Hundreds remain homeless…

My first thought was — shouldn’t they be the ones throwing shoes? As I reflected on that I thought, no, they have dropped the other shoe (Matthew 5:39). In witness to Christ they travel shoeless, as He did. They are rejected, and without aid, except from Christians and others who are of good will. They are the new martyrs and confessors. For all of our President’s professed Christian certainty, he has cast these sheep before wolves.

Caesar never understood those who would not throw shoes, slap faces, or take an eye-for-an-eye. So let’s reflect on what is essential in our witness. It is those who rely on God, not on shoes, or weapons, or the works of men. Our vindication is from God.

Perspective, Poland - Polish - Polonia, Political,

Arlen Specter – wait, a member of the Know Nothing Party?

I hereby nominate Arlen Specter, Senator from Pennsylvania, and nominal Republican, as the new Chairman of the Know Nothing PartyThe Senator has a record of changing parties for the sake of convenience.

From Newsmax: Arlen Specter’s Polish Jokes ‘Offensive’

When Pennsylvania Congressman Jack Murtha recently said many of his home staters are “racist” and “rednecks,” he may have been referring to the state’s longtime U.S. senator.

The New York Post’s Page 6 reports that Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., used the occasion of a public luncheon Friday to lighten up the crowd by telling Polish jokes.

Specter was speaking before the influential Commonwealth Club, a Pennsylvania Republican group meeting in New York’s Rainbow Room, when he began his opening act.

The senator queried his audience if anyone present was Polish. Reportedly, about 10 people raised their hands.

Apparently callous to their feelings, Specter let loose with a stream of Polish jokes. The Post said he recounted the old one about a person who tells another person that he knows a good Polish joke. The man responds, “Hey careful, I’m Polish!” Specter delivered the punchline: “That’s OK, I’ll tell it more slowly.”

A member of the stunned audience told the Post that Specter’s jokes were “insensitive.”

“I was offended, and I’m not Polish,” the source said.

Also at the Huffington Post: Specter Polish Jokes At Luncheon Deemed “Tasteless”.

The Republican Party of Pennsylvania, which sponsored the meeting at which Sen. Specter spoke, says in its principals statement:

diversity is a source of strength, not a sign of weakness, and so we welcome into our ranks all who may hold differing positions. We commit to resolve our differences with civility, trust, and mutual respect, and to affirm the common goals and beliefs that unite us.

Do you think they will censure him for violating their principals?

Of course he later apologized as is de rigueur for such politicians. In Yiddish or Polish — Paskudnik. Interestingly, his Wikipedia bio states that his parents were Jewish immigrants from Russia; more than likely from the Russian controlled portion of Poland. There is a very good chance that his parents were Polish!

Perspective, Poland - Polish - Polonia, ,

Arts, the tour, and understanding

From The Brooklyn Rail: Poland here, and Poland now

While it may be possible to view Poland strictly in its current, robust guise, it’s perhaps more instructive and accurate to see it through the layers and ambiguities that resonate everywhere in a nation where such an important portion of its history was annihilated so recently…

The author, Alan Lockwood, is invited to tour Poland and attend the concerts and recitals of the Warsaw Autumn Festival. He comments on interpersonal and cultural understanding, complexity, and history over the course of his tour. The article is lengthy, and well worth the time.

Christian Witness, Perspective, Poland - Polish - Polonia

On heaven and forgiveness

Two great articles from John Guzlowski: Christmas and Forgiveness

A while ago, I gave a talk to a high school class about my parents and their experiences under the Nazis. I talked about my father’s four years in Buchenwald and my mothers two and half years in various slave labor camps in Germany.

During the Q & A after my talk, a young man asked me a question. I’m sure it was in part sparked by the Christmas season, the talk that you hear at this time of year about —Peace on Earth and Good Will to all Men.— He asked me whether or not I forgave the Germans for what they did to my parents.

The question stopped me. I haven’t thought about it before…

…and

Heaven

When our daughter Lillian was about five years old, she started thinking about the natural end of all the things she knew. She started thinking about dying and death.

I don’t know why she did, but she did, and it made her sad and worried. She didn’t want to lose her mother and me and her grandparents to death, and she was frightened that she would.

Because she was a bright kid and a problem solver, she tried to think of a solution, some way around death, and the solution she thought out was her own personal vision of heaven.

Heaven, she figured, would be a place where she and her parents and all the people she loved would live in some perfect place, interacting with all her favorite characters from all her favorite books.

It sounded great, and I used to love to hear her talk about it. She and Linda and I would be in the same perfect place as the characters in Laura Ingalls Wilder and C. S. Lewis. We would have lunch in a park with Laura and Lucy and Edmund and Susie and Peter and Aslan, the compassionate, kind, loving God of this Heaven…

Consider these two posts and their relationship, one to the other. Does God forgive, and to what extent? Beyond metaphysical and theological ramblings can we see a God Whose love is the ultimate victor? Who accepts all who present themselves? Who cannot help but run after those who purposefully turn away from Him in an everlasting series of overtures?

Our forgiveness is limited and human. Our concept of heaven too adult. We need more of the heaven of Laura and Lucy and Edmund and Susie and Peter and Aslan and less of our prosaic vision[less] concept. Perhaps Saint Exupéry was right:

Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to have to explain things to them always and forever. — The Little Prince, Chapter 1.

Something to ponder as we approach our celebration of the Incarnation.

Perspective, PNCC,

The war over peace

This interesting tale at Friar Rick’s Weblog: Moving the Sign of Peace at Mass was forwarded to me:

There has been talk about moving the Sign of Peace during the Eucharistic Liturgy to another location. In some cultures there has been a feeling that the Sign of Peace gets —out of hand—. I’m not sure what that means… perhaps it’s not what Western Europeans consider prayerful. The National Catholic Reporter in the US has a good editorial about this that I would like to share. It really captures my feelings…

Two things here: The first is the negative reference to “Western Europeans.” Of course Friar Rick has a huge picture of a bunch of “multi-ethnic” Canadian folks standing where — in front of the Vatican, in Western Europe, at the top of his blog. I don’t understand his point? Does Rome have it all wrongOk – we think they do have some important things wrong, but that’s not part of this post.? Is the entire Western Catholic milieu, to which he ascribes by being Roman (i.e., Western European) Catholic fraught with error? Does its “western-ess” make it wrong by default? The negative reference is nothing more than an exercise in self deprecation/self hate and without any purpose. If a person is going to stick with the Roman model of Church it is by its nature Western European. If not, there is Orthodoxy or the National Catholic Church (i.e., the PNCC model – and adherence to the Declaration of Scranton). Perhaps the real problem is adherence?

The second is the oddball reference in the National Catholic Reporter article to the best place for the “sign of peace.” Rome wants to move it to the offertory! I can understand the penitential rite, or its current position, but the offertory? That makes no sense whatsoever. I can just imagine the mess — the collection, the offertory song (as most U.S. parishes shy way from proper Church music as defined by the Roman Church), plus the peace… Oy vay — throw in a liturgical dance and you’ll have a real hootenanny.

For any Roman Catholics, who may be dismayed by these changes, perhaps a bit of catechesis is in order, compliments of Frederica Mathewes-Green in item five from “First Visit to an Orthodox Church: Twelve Things I Wish I’d KnownFound at About The Antiochian Orthodox Church”

5. With Love and Kisses

We kiss stuff. When we first come into the church, we kiss the icons (Jesus on the feet and other saints on the hands, ideally). You’ll also notice that some kiss the chalice, some kiss the edge of the priest’s vestment as he passes by, the acolytes kiss his hand when they give him the censer, and we all line up to kiss the cross at the end of the service. When we talk about “venerating” something we usually mean crossing ourselves and kissing it.

We kiss each other before we take communion (“Greet one another with a kiss of love,” 1 Peter 5:14). When Roman Catholics or high-church Protestants “pass the peace,” they give a hug, handshake, or peck on the cheek; that’s how Westerners greet each other. In Orthodoxy different cultures are at play: Greeks and Arabs kiss on two cheeks, and Slavs come back again for a third. Follow the lead of those around you and try not to bump your nose.

The usual greeting is “Christ is in our midst” and response, “He is and shall be.” Don’t worry if you forget what to say. The greeting is not the one familiar to Episcopalians, “The peace of the Lord be with you.” Nor is it “Hi, nice church you have here.” Exchanging the kiss of peace is a liturgical act, a sign of mystical unity. Chatting and fellowship is for later.

Or, the Friar and his flock could join the PNCC. Bishop Bigaj, Bishop-Ordinary of the Canadian Diocese, would be happy to discuss it with you. You won’t even have to worry about liturgical wars. We didn’t destroy the liturgy, and we didn’t throw out tradition for the sake of being contemporary. We have both, and that based on natural development — and in English, French, Spanish, Polish, or whatever language works for your people. All are welcome in the PNCC.

Current Events, Perspective,

Inside the Republic sit-in

From the NY Times: Even Workers Surprised by Success of Factory Sit-In

By the time their six-day sit-in ended on Wednesday night, the 240 laid-off workers at this previously anonymous 125,000-square-foot plant had become national symbols of worker discontent amid the layoffs sweeping the country. Civil rights workers compared them to Rosa Parks. But all the workers wanted, they said, was what they deserved under the law: 60 days of severance pay and earned vacation time.

And to their surprise, their drastic action worked. Late Wednesday, two major banks agreed to lend the company enough money to give the workers what they asked for….

The article gives the inside story on the sit-in and the workers’ victory. The way the business owner, Richard Gillman, steadily manuverded behind the workers’ backs is a sad testament to the way he ran his business. A new corporation, a new location, disappearing equipment, non-union workers, not a word, then blame it all on the banks. Sure they had their part, but Mr. Gillman selfishly tried to milk the whole process for personal gain. His lasting memorial will state: ‘Sure, give the workers their due, but give Gillman a Mercedes too.‘

It is too bad for Mr. Gillman. He ignored and undercut the ‘dark skinned, ethnic, Union workers’ because he probably figured they couldn’t help his business. Too bad for him, with their enthusiasm, courage, knowledge, and dedication they likely would have saved it.

Christian Witness, Current Events, Media, Perspective, Political

My rights are greater than your rights…

From ChristianNewsWire: In God We Trust’ to Oppose Attempt to Place Atheist Sign in Washington D.C.

The national advocacy group In God We Trust today pledged to fight any attempt to place a controversial atheist sign in Washington, D.C. The sign attacks religion and that is now on display in Olympia, Washington, Madison, Wisconsin and Springfield, Illinois.

The signs from the Freedom from Religion Foundation reads:

“At this season of the Winter Solstice, may reason prevail.
There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell.
There is only our natural world.
Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.”

“In God We Trust will oppose any effort to place these signs in any state capital or in any government location in Washington, D.C.,” promises Bishop Council Nedd, the organization’s chairman. “These signs have nothing in common with a menorah, a nativity scene or a Christmas tree. They are an attempt by anti-religious bigots to equate a belief in God with enslavement and to ridicule the majority of Americans who believe in God.”

“Why do these zealots have the right to post signs on public property attacking their countrymen?” Nedd asks…

Besides the errors in logic in this group’s argument, there is the issue of hypocrisy. Weren’t these the same folks who advocated, all but a few short months ago, regarding pastors’ rights to direct voting from the pulpit, to say whatever they please from the pulpit without government constraint? Groups like this one advocate free speech when it suits their purpose but are quick to quash others rights. Bishop Council Nedd asks, “Why do these zealots have a right…?” For exactly the same reasons you claim to have a right.

Now, do I agree with the “Freedom from Religion” folks? Not at all! At the same time I fully support their right to say whatever they wish, on equal footing with other groups. The Young Fogey often points to the difference between living in a secular state versus a secularist state as in this post. The government is doing as it should – it is treating all groups as equitably as possible. The ‘Freedom from Religion’ folks are secularist, and they have every right to that message.

I am confident enough in my faith and in our Lord and Savior so as to know that His message will prevail. I do not need the government nor ‘In God We Trust’ to defend me, or the message of the Gospel. I do not need to classify rights based on faith because my rights come from my faith. Faith is Christian witness. The victories of the world are fleeting. We await heavenly victory.

Christian Witness, Current Events, Perspective, PNCC, , ,

Workers’ rights, workers’ victory

From Interfaith Worker Justice:

Interfaith Worker Justice congratulates the United Electrical Workers Local 1110 for a historic victory that ended a six-day occupation of the Republic Windows and Doors plant in Chicago. Last night, the company’s workers voted to accept a $1.75 million settlement.

“Give justice to the weak and the orphan;
maintain the rights of the lowly and the destitute.
Rescue the weak and needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked”
Psalm 82:3-4

The Republic workers would have been forgotten if they hadn’t stood up — by sitting down and occupying their factory. They captured the attention and the support of people of faith, and sent shock waves through corporate board rooms across the nation.

solidarnoscAbsolutely true. The workers would have been caught up in court wrangling (something they couldn’t afford) and government bureaucracy in an attempt to obtain the wages they had earned. They faced a Federal government that has all but given up on wage and hour enforcement under the Bush Administration, the white tie and tails folks. The workers only choice was to stand up by sitting down — much like Anna Walentynowicz and Lech Walęsa did in the dawning days of Solidarity.

This is a victory to be celebrated by the thousands of people who stood in solidarity with the workers: people like you who took the time to send messages to Bank of America and rallied at banks across the country.

The Chicago Interfaith Committee on Worker Issues, an IWJ affiliate, has been working closely with Local 1110 since day one. On Tuesday of this week, IWJ members from around the country rallied alongside Chicago Interfaith Committee in supporting workers.

Both the Republic Windows victory and this week’s news of Wal-Mart’s $54 million settlement of a class-action suit over unpaid wages highlight wage theft, a national crisis on which IWJ and its national network of workers centers are playing a leading role in tackling.

IWJ Executive Director Kim Bobo has written the first book to deal with this issue. In a happy coincidence, her Wage Theft in America: Why Millions of Working Americans Are Not Getting Paid – And What We Can Do About It, was published this week, during the Republic sit-in.

While we celebrate the Republic victory, we are going to see hundreds of factory closings in the coming months, and the question is: will workers be paid what they’re owed? And while the Wal-Mart settlement is welcome news, 60 additional wage theft lawsuits remain pending, cases involving billions of dollars that have been stolen from and are owed to millions of workers.

Workers should never be ashamed of expressing their rights and their demands. That is their bargaining strength. We all assume that we have some measure of control, saying: ‘I work for who I choose.” Unfortunately the benefits of our labor, be it physical or intellectual, rarely inure to our benefit in proportion to our sacrifice. If we demand that we be compensated equitably we are seen as pariahs. The government, press, and many of our fellow workers look at us with disdain. ‘So you didn’t get paid — just quit, move on. So they took advantage of you, that’s just life.’

As people of faith we cannot move on, get over it, and most especially we cannot accept a life based on one-upmanship. I am a member and a deacon of the PNCC, a Church whose founder, Bishop Hodur, stood up for workers’ rights. I live in a Church, founded by immigrants and laborers, who from its beginning championed the dignity and rights of those immigrants and workers. I see the extent of abuse that goes on to this day (and people think the days of sweat shops, slave labor, and child labor are long gone – they’re not!), I can say that one must stand up, whether through advocacy, preaching, teaching, or sitting-in. People of faith must witness against inequality based on advantage and power.

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