Undoing Unethical Political Practice

This weekend and this morning I was able to catch the speech of Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. to The Detroit NAACP and to part of that at the National Press Club. I am pleased that he had these opportunities and that some media had the courage to show them whole.

This episode is an example of the worst of modern campaign underhandedness. If you can’t find something in an opponent’s positions on the issues that the electorate will reject or about the candidate himself or herself that is unacceptable then go to the next step. Associate your opponent with someone or some group whose positions or personality would be unacceptable.

In this case a bad guy could not be found. At least the several attempts to associate Obama with Islam or Chicago criminals failed to wash. The tactic then was to begin with an association that the candidate clearly claims, his Christianity. A bad guy was needed, however, and the voluminous writings and widely distributed sermons of his pastor were mined. Apparently the only hope of smearing such a prolific and nationally respected clergyman was to circulate sound bites of his sermons out of context.

This tactic has been used also against McCain, mostly by fellow Republicans. The idea that if someone endorses a candidate that the candidate agrees with all the positions and biases of the endorsee is preposterous. It has been claimed again and again this year. The demands that candidates repudiate and condemn some person or group are widespread and while it may be appropriate in some few cases it appears to be mostly a diversion from the valuable debate and discussion the electorate deserves.

The reputation of Rev Wright has clearly been maligned. All those I have spoken with who are negative on him base their position on the You-Tube sound bites and not his books or his sermons in context. Despite all the calls of Obama supporters that he shut up and go away the Pastor deserves the chance to respond in the same arena where the attack took place.

How to be labeled as a liberal

In my formative years (I'm still being formed, however) it was clear to me that those Christians who took Jesus's words seriously and made a serious attempt to live them were inevitably identified as liberals. The workers of Catholic Charities or Lutheran Social Services, leaders and members of Catholic Worker Houses, Sisters of Mercy, Lay Missionaries in Central America, food shelf volunteers, soup kitchen volunteers and on and on. This is still true in large part today.

There were, of course, many non-christians, even athiests who considered themselves liberals but the strong emphasis of liberals on helping the poor and the hungry, the powerless and disenfrancised, those dehumanized because of their ethnicity , gender or race, and those being victimized by power, money or law creates a broad overlap with the directives of Jesus to treat all humans as though each was in fact Jesus himself.

You might say I became a liberal by the back door. That is my faith, when put into action, caused me to be identified as a liberal and the fit seemed to be fine. However, the last candidate for President I felt good about in the general election was Jimmy Carter. This was before abortion was an issue and his strong belief in the inalienable human rights of all human beings coincided with the Christian teaching about the dignity of all human beings. Since that time my presidential voting has been a painful process of choosing among less than acceptable alternatives.

If Carter were a candidate today I would have a problem because he has since moved to the right and bought into the conservative concept that some persons have rights only if granted them by the powerful or the majority.

The centrality of inalienable human rights in Christian thought, at least the Catholic Christian view, was demonstrated in Pope Benedict's talk to the United Nations last week. This point was made forcefully to the same body by John Paul II in earlier appearances at the UN.

More Pope Benedict Pictures

This photo show Pope Benedict on his way from the Pope-Mobile to the altar area in Nationals Stadium last thursday. You can clearly see the two deacons leading the way.

The ordination of permenant deacons was revived by Vatican II and Pope Paul VI and Deacons are now numerous in many areas of the world. Some America diocese now have more deacons serving the church than they have presbyters (priests).

You can read the biblical beginnings of the Order of Deacon in Chapter Six of the Book of Acts.

More on Pope Benedict's Visit

My son and granddaughter attended the Pope's Mass at Nationals Stadium last week. Their tickets put them in the upper tier and their view of the altar was blocked by some structure. They did get some good pictures of the Pope approaching the altar area, however. One of those is shown above. To see pictures of attendees from the Baltimore area click here.

Papal Mass Excitment

This is an exciting week on the East Coast. Pope Benedict comes to America and some lucky relatives get to attend the Papal Mass at Nationals Stadium. My son will be an adult chaperone for a dozen teenagers, including his oldest daughter, as they take the train from northern Maryland to attend the Mass.

Benedict has proven to be a great compliment to the charisma of his predecesor in his calm and pastoral manner and his rational speaches and books. His encyclicals on Love and Hope has attracted a wide readership just based on comment from non-Catholic pastors and friends. During my lifetime the Church has been blessed with outstanding leadership.

Father Benedict and Brother Martin

Over the years my wife and I have attended many retreats. One of our favorite retreat masters was Father Benedict Groeschel. I recently came across a story about a young man whose path in life was facilitated by Fr. Benedict. Stephen Ervin from Omaha is now Brother Martin of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. His story points out the benefit of spiritual guidance and the patience and hope of loving family members.

In 2004 Fr Benedict was seriously injured in an auto accident and near death in the emergency room. His revovery, in some way, is related to the prayers of thousands of people that his guidance had helped over the years.He has since returned to his minstry, TV show and the leadership of his community.

The Death of an American Hero

Forty years ago today Martin Luther King Junior, the American Christian leader, was assassinated in Memphis, Tn. It was a traumatic time. In many cities grief turned to anger and violence. In Indianapolis, however, there was little violence due, some think, to the fact that presidential candidate Bobby Kennedy attending a rally in the inner city told the crowd of Reverend King’s death and stood with them in solidarity. In the city where I lived a similar scene ensued.

Those of us who had been in the marches and protests seeking housing, employment and financial equality for our minority neighbors now went to our inner city to stand together in the solidarity of our shared grief. Opponent argued that doing this was offensive and that we should leave “them” to grieve alone in their own neighborhood. The example of the martyr reminded us God’s recommendation for our solidarity on this day.

“Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.” [Matthew 5:11, NAB]

In comparison to some other large cites our solidarity may have also earned us another blessing.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” [Matthew 5:9]

On the day of Reverend King’s funeral our city leaders planned a public commemoration at a downtown park scheduled for midday. I planned to take a vacation day so that I could participate fully in this event. I discovered, however, that while some of the African American employees wanted to attend but didn’t have the option of an impromptu vacation day as I did as a supervisor. I felt that additional employees might want to attend also. I approached the office manager a proposed that I and those employees that wished to attend the service would be granted an extended lunch break on that day. My status as a supervisor and the boss’s ok would shield the participating employees from any repercussions from peers or union rules. The plan was approved. This exercise in solidarity defused at least somewhat the fears rampant in the community and in our office. The prayers and the eulogies certainly helped us bear our grief.

A few years later I was introduced to an executive of the company. In an effort to place me he asked where I had worked. When I said that I had been a supervisor in city X in 1968 he said, “Oh, your that liberal supervisor that lead a walkout in city X.” This was an example of acting on Christian ideals getting me classified as politically liberal.

How I became a liberal

I do not remember deciding to be a liberal. It was more a matter of having been classified as a liberal by others. I was facinated by American democracy, however, and remember staying up late in August of 1956 listening (we did not have television) to the Democratic and Republican conventions. The Republicans went with the incumbent, Dwight Eisenhauer for president and the Democrats nominated Adlai Stevenson to opose him. Modern political conventions are boring in comparison.

Four years later I did choose to make some life altering decisions. Nancy and I were married and I discovered a relationship with God, a gift giving God. Thirty two years later, in writing a Theology of Ministry essay, I recalled this latter decision.

" . . . I awakened to the reality of a gift-giving God and the faith that opened the channel of personal relationship between us. Ministry, to date, has not been something I thought about but rather something I did in response to faith."1

I was not very good at responding to this new found faith as I began but my list of faith ideals did include the following:

• "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." (Matthew 22:37, NAB)



• "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:39,NAB)



• "I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least (hungry, thirsty, naked, imprisoned) of mine, you did for me." (Matthew 25:40 NAB)2

As near as I can tell, it was taking these ideals seiously that got me classified as a liberal.

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1 - "In Service to a gift giving God", Deacon Digest, November 1991
2 - See my posting "Christmas Message" on 2/26/08.