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Christian Witness, Poland - Polish - Polonia, Political,

A review of Penderecki’s St Luke Passion

From The Guardian: St Luke Passion at Canterbury Cathedral

Sounds New, Canterbury’s contemporary music festival, has focused on postwar Polish work this year, culminating in a performance of Penderecki’s St Luke Passion with forces from Poland conducted by the composer himself. Last heard in the UK at the 1982 Proms, this 1966 work put Penderecki on the international map as an angry, avant-gardist. At Canterbury, with Polish dignitaries in attendance, we were conscious of just what an establishment figure he has become.

As a religious-political statement, the work still arouses intense admiration. Its aim was to redefine the Bach-based tradition of passion music in the aftermath of mid-20th century genocide, and Penderecki’s choice of a Latin text over the vernacular expressed a libertarian Catholic militancy in opposition to totalitarian thought…

The brief review captures a whole swath of history in three paragraphs. Well done.

Perspective, Political,

I agree with Bishop V. Gene Robinson? Yep.

From the Los Angeles Times: Gay Episcopal bishop visits Studio City

In response to a question about how the parish should respond to the passage of Proposition 8, the bishop suggested that churches could begin mending the split on same-sex marriage by having clergy get out of the civil marriage business altogether.

Robinson, who supports gay marriage, said he favors the system used in France and other parts of Europe in which civil marriage — performed by government officials — is completely separate from religious vows.

In the U.S., the civil and religious are often combined, with the cleric signing the government marriage license.

“In this country, it has become very confusing about where the civil action begins and ends and where the religious action begins and ends, because we have asked clergy to be agents of the state,” he said.

Last summer, Robinson and his longtime partner had their civil commitment ceremony blessed in the church. He said that “untangling” the roles of clergy and government in this country would focus the discussion of same-sex marriage on civil rights rather than religion.

“The church is infringing on the secular society and trying to enforce its beliefs onto the entire culture,” he said. “If we can get these two things separated, we can assure every religious group, no matter how conservative, that they will never have to bless these marriages.”

“I think we could actually gain some support from our detractors if we could make this separation clear,” he said…

The one statement I disagree with is: “…we can assure every religious group, no matter how conservative, that they will never have to bless these marriages.” No Church has to do anything the government demands of it as it is, nor can they be forced to, even under penalty of law. If Church is true to its faith — faith in God, not government, adherence to God’s commandments, not man’s, then it will reject falsehood whatever the penalty. A long line of martyrs and confessors attests to that.

To that point, I have commented on the Church’s complicity with government in prior posts and won’t re-cover that territory. In short, the co-mingling of faith, politics, and governmental administration is in-and-of-itself a wrong. The Church should encourage the good that governments do, but should do so without acquiescence to an agenda beyond that immediate good. Churches must use care so as not cloud their message. Yoking themselves with unbelievers’ (2 Corinthians 6:14) agendas detracts from the Church’s mission.

Reading Bishop Robinson I am reminded of a post by former blogger, the Rev. Jim Tucker (unfortunately his posts are no longer publicly available), in which he discusses marriage and the motivations of young couples who appear in church for the pomp and circumstance, never to cross the threshold again once married. Bifurcating civil co-habitation contracts from ecclesiastical marriages would do a lot to end the extravagance and expense associated with “marriages for show.” Do couples come to church intending to embark upon a life of faith, or do they come intending to embark on a one night party? In many cases I fear the later. They are caught in a moment blinded by expectation and rarely consider the consequences. That unthinking action, that type of marriage, is more harmful to the institution of marriage than any myriad of civil co-habitation contracts.

Do civil co-habitation contracts open the slippery slope which posits that once “gay marriages” are allowed all evil will break loose, to wit: polygamous marriages? From my perspective the same rules apply. If people want to enter into a civil co-habitation contract of any form then let them. The problem with such arrangements as practiced by fundamentalist Mormons is that they are a.) abusive and b.) an excuse for latching onto the public dole via welfare and Medicaid fraud. A good civil co-habitation contract and the enforcement of current laws would rule those options out. I don’t see many willing to enter into such a contract if it forces them to give up X% of their estate should the contract fail.

In the end a person who believes is required to subject themselves to the teaching of the Church. That choice, one we each must make with our God given freedom, doesn’t make life easy and demands sacrifice, but is essential to our call to be faithful. We are all called to make the choice, not “a” choice, but the choice.

The recent Miss USA controversy is a case in point. Miss Prejean stood by her Church and its teaching. For that she was ridiculed by those who do not believe in freedom of conscience or expression — the new communists and overlords. The words of Keith Lewis, Co-Executive Director of K2 Productions (the sponsor of the Miss California USA) in the organization’s Official statement regarding Miss CA USA 2009 final answer controversy better reflect the attitude of those who love and respect freedom (emphasis mine):

I am proud of Carrie Prejean’s beauty and placement at the 2009 MISS USA pageant. I support Carrie’s right to express her personal beliefs even if they do not coincide with my own. I believe the subject of gay marriage deserves a great deal more conversation in order to heal the divide it has created.

Freedom is beautiful. The overlords…not so much.

Miss California - Carrie Prejean Perez Hilton

Christian Witness, Current Events, Perspective, Political

Cover your Jesus

From CNA: Georgetown students react to White House request to cover Jesus’ name

Georgetown University’s decision to comply with a White House request to cover up the —IHS— monogram representing Jesus’ name at President Obama’s speech on Wednesday is drawing fire from the Cardinal Newman Society and Georgetown students, who are charging the university with —sacrificing— its —Catholic and Jesuit identity.—

Reports surfaced today from attendees at President Obama’s speech on the economy that the White House asked Georgetown University to cover up several emblems, including an IHS monogram above the president’s head during his speech at the Jesuit university.

Although President Obama focused his speech on his administration’s plans to spur economic growth, some in attendance noticed that the IHS monogram—”an early 3rd century abbreviation for the name of Jesus—”was covered up for the speech.

CNA attempted to confirm the report with Georgetown officials, but no one available for comment before press time.

However, Julie Green Bataille, associate vice president for communications at the university, told CNSNews.com that the covering up of Jesus’ name was prompted by —logistical arrangements for yesterday’s event.— According to Bataille, —Georgetown honored the White House staff’s request to cover all of the Georgetown University signage and symbols behind Gaston Hall stage.—

She said the —signage and symbols— were covered up because —the pipe and drape wasn’t high enough by itself to fully cover the IHS and cross— and that it seemed more —respectful to have them covered— so that viewers wouldn’t see them —out of context…—

IHSFrankly I do not blame the Obama Administration. They are being true to who they are and to what they represent. If they believe they have the savior on-hand why bring up the name of the other One.

I could say that the real fault lies with the Administration at Georgetown. By covering the name of Jesus they are not being true to who they are. But, is that so?

As Christians we hope that other Christians will be true to who they are. We feel a great sense of disappointment when our brothers and sisters fall short of our expectation. We hope and wish that Christians in academia, in politics, in ordinary life will set an example in relation to the immutability of their Christian faith. When they do not meet our expectation, as in this case, we are left to sort out who is being true to their beliefs. We point to the martyrs who chose death over denying Jesus, and we are left to wonder.

Our conclusion does not yield blame. Our conclusion must free itself of expectation, of false notion. The early Christians had a system of codes so that they would know their fellow travelers. We need to re-establish the outward marker, the sign by which we will know. Intellectual faith, the faith of the academics, has its place, but that doesn’t make one a Christian. The sign on the wall does not make one a Christian. Hanging a cross in the classroom doesn’t make one a Christian. What we do (or don’t do), for all to see, makes it so.

It is easy to quote scripture in relation to what has been done. This scripture is key:

“So every one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” — Matthew 10:32-33

What does our doing and not doing say? This scripture is the measuring stick. I do not think that our Lord will count the number of Ph.D.’s we have obtained, or the number of books and scholarly articles on our C.V. Here is the test. Did you acknowledge Me beforeIn front of and above. men?

Political, , ,

Meet the author — Tom Mooradian

The St. Peter Armenian Church community extends a cordial invitation to join us for a “Meet the Author” event being held at St. Peter Church on Sunday, March 29, at 12:30 p.m.

All are invited as St. Peter Armenian Church welcomes author Tom Mooradian for a presentation and book signing on Sunday, March 29, immediately following services, in the Gdanian Auditorium of the church located at 100 Troy Schenectady Road, Watervliet. Tom is the author of The Repatriate: Love, Basketball, and the KGB —” a powerful, historic, fascinating tale of his 13 years behind the Iron Curtain, sharing how he survived while waiting to obtain an exit visa. Refreshments will be served. Suggested donation is $5 per person.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call the church office at 518-274-3673.

Perspective, Political, , , , ,

All for fear

From TPMCafe: Huntington revisited

After Professor Samuel Huntington passed away on December 24, I held off commenting on his work during the first 30 days of mourning out of respect for the norms that govern such a period. I believe we are now ready for a balanced review of his work.

The theme that runs throughout Huntington’s various works is best characterized as a theory of fear. His books typically identify a mounting threat, such as Mexican immigrants, Islamic civilization, or democratic proclivities, and then point to the need for strong national-unity building measures and mobilization of the people (including militarization) in response to the barbarians at the gates. Sometimes, the argument is formulated in basically analytical terms: If the required vigorous responses to the particular challenge at hand are not forthcoming, various calamities will ensue (e.g., the U.S. will lose a large part of its territory to Mexico and its Anglo-Protestant identity will be undermined) that will implicitly call for stronger countermeasures. In other cases, advocacy for powerful antidotes is quite explicit. As Huntington puts it in the Foreword to Who Are We?, he is writing as a patriot and a scholar, in that order.

Taken on its own, the threat-response thesis is unproblematic, a correlation the validity of which even people without social training can readily discern, and one that has often been repeated in the annals of social analysis. When the Nazis were about to overrun Britain, the country suspended habeas corpus. And few, even among the strongest supporters of Israel, would deny that while continuous threats from armed neighbors and terrorists and the responses to these threats have helped keep the segments of Israeli society together, they have also involved a measure of militarization and have imposed limits on civil rights.

The key issue then is to determine whether a nation truly faces particular threats or whether such concerns are largely drummed up, if not totally manufactured–say, in order to keep a nation under the control of one powerful elite or another and to make its citizens accept various governmental measures that they otherwise would not tolerate. These measures might include the curtailment of rights, economic belt-tightening, and discrimination against foreigners, among others. It is a familiar issue, seen for example in the debates over whether or not Saddam actually possessed nuclear weapons that could pose an imminent threat to the United States. Even more recently, it has been witnessed in the argument over whether or not Social Security is indeed in “crisis.” We must ask: If the various threats are real, what is their magnitude? And if the dangers are vastly exaggerated, what purposes are served by such a politics of fear…

A good read, putting our country’s trends in perspective. The only point I would make is that Huntington just represented one side of the fear mongering elitist class. It really isn’t left/right, liberal/conservative, Democrat/Republican. The sins are the same, the power grab in a different dress; with all the dresses from the same nation over individual dressmaker. Sadly, our rights diminish, our freedoms like sands through the fingers of a fear filled child.

Perspective, Poland - Polish - Polonia, Political, ,

Human lives, rebuilding cities, making neighborhoods

From Model D Media: Immigrants in the 313: ‘This is Where the Future Begins’

You know it when you see it — or better yet — immerse yourself in it.

It can be charted, measured and put under statistical scrutiny, but a neighborhood that benefits from the presence of immigrants is best appreciated in real time, on its own terms, in dramatic living color.

The early voice of Detroit was French, Irish, German, Italian, Polish, Ukrainian, Spanish and Yiddish. Many of those voices have disappeared into the greater American tapestry, but others came to replace them: Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Albanian, Arabic, Urdu, Bengali and others. And to ensure urban vitality in the region, history suggests there need be a lot more to come in the future.

…

Fast forward into the 21st century and Hamtramck still relies on property and income tax revenues from the distressed automakers and their suppliers, but it is also developing an identity quite separate from its industrial and Euro-ethnic cultural past.

A place that was about 90 percent Polish-speaking in the 1940s still retains that ethnic flavor via its three Roman Catholic churches, a Polish National Catholic parish and a Ukrainian Catholic church based on principles of the Eastern Byzintine Rite, as well as assorted restaurants, meat markets, credit unions and retailers. Hamtramck now, however, shares its dense 2 square miles with newer immigrant communities originating in the Balkans, the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. A long decaying commercial strip on secondary main street Conant was recently designated “Bangladesh Avenue,” to signify a decade-long turnaround helped by dozens of businesses opened by Bengali-speaking newcomers. An excellent account of this development appeared in Model D in October.

Economic Development Director Jason Friedmann says the transformation of Conant is only the beginning of what he sees as more investment by immigrant entrepreneurs in the near future.

“We are getting more interest in the south end of Jos. Campau (Hamtramck's well known main drag), where there is a larger Arab community (from Yemen),” Friedmann says. “There is a bakery in the works and other businesses (quite separate) from what's going on the Bangladeshi community.”

To add more multicultural flavor to this urban stew, there is a Bosnian American Cultural Center and mosque in the city, which serves a Muslim population that fled its war-torn country in the late 1990s, a Zen Buddhist center, in a former Polish social hall tucked away in a northend residential neighborhood, and a newly-relocated Hindu temple on Conant.

Debashish Das, who runs a business on Conant and is a member of comparatively small Bangladeshi Hindu community, lives within walking distance of his work and the temple.

“Some of my customers who moved to the suburbs say I should move there, too,” Das says. “But I disagree. I have everything I need right here: business, community, religion. I tell them, 'You should join me, my life is a full as life can be in this neighborhood.' ”

Models for the D

What Southwest Detroit and Hamtramck have to teach us is that by concentrating our most valuable resource —“ people, people, people —“ into densely populated neighborhoods, real social building results. Then even more people are attracted to this growing human core of energy, creating exciting cultural hybrids.

It's no surprise then that these two districts within the 313 are also attractive to young adult artists and professionals who favor the snap, crackle and pop of city life over the generally dull and unremarkable suburban experience favored by their parents. Imagine Corktown, Midtown and Woodbridge infused with a recombined immigrant business and neighborhood buzz (let's use Brooklyn's North Williamsburg and Greenpoint as prime examples), and the mind boggles.

The article’s author, Walter Wasacz, describes himself as “a pierogi-eating, techno/punk-rockin’ Hamtramck native son and resident.”

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, these efforts at rebuilding cities and neighborhoods through adaptive reuse, re-invigoration, and re-investment are not doomed to failure. I applaud the idea people and the workers who see value in human lives, their ability to transform lives by working with life. Another important point, churches and religious centers are of necessity, the heart of the community. Fancy that…

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