Traveling in Place

More on the Plight of Arab Christians

This week’s cover of Newsweek magazine marks a turning point: the first time a mainstream national newsmagazine has so prominently featured the plight of Christians in the Arab world.  The picture of a blood-stained image of Christ found in a bombed-out church building is shocking to American believers who take their freedom of worship for granted.  The plight of Christians in the Middle East and Northern Africa has grown increasingly horrific over the past twenty years.  Since the fall of Saddam Hussein, it has become genocidal.  The Arab Spring has simultaneously produced the hope of popular sovereignty and the specter of religious violence, particularly against Christians.  Yet, Western news outlets have largely ignored this story.

Two of my previous posts were devoted to this subject.  In December of 2010, I wrote this post about how Christians celebrating Christ’s birth were literally risking their lives.  And six weeks ago, I wrote this post about the rash of violence against Christians in the wake of the Arab Spring.

Here, I’d like to focus in on the central thesis offered by Newsweek reporter Ayaan Hirsi Ali. He writes,

Public Policy and the Poor

It was a stupid gaffe, but it just might inject some seriousness into our national political discourse.

I’m speaking of Mitt Romney’s careless remarks about the poor that have drawn the ire of people as different as conservative talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh and liberal Senator Chuck Schumer.  First, here’s what Romney said (in an interview with CNN’s Soledad O’Brien):

“I’m in this race because I care about Americans. I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I’ll fix it. I’m not concerned about the very rich. They’re doing just fine. I’m concerned about the very heart of America, the 90, 95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling, and I’ll continue to take that message across the nation.”

Here’s how he clarified his statement in the same interview:

“I said I’m not concerned about the very poor that have the safety net, but if it has holes in it, I will repair them…The – the challenge right now – we will hear from the Democrat Party the plight of the poor, and – and there’s no question; it’s not good being poor, and we have a safety net to help those that are very poor. But my campaign is focused on middle-income America. My campaign – you can choose where to focus. You can focus on the rich. That’s not my focus. You can focus on the very poor. That’s not my focus. My focus is on middle income Americans, retirees living on social security, people who cannot find work, folks who have kids that are getting ready to go to college. That – these are the people who’ve been most badly hurt during the Obama years.”

And here’s how Romney sought to minimize the damage of his earlier remarks when he spoke with Nevada political reporter John Ralston:

What About Mormonism?

For the past couple of months, I’ve been asked two questions with increasing regularity: 1) Is Mormonism a cult?  2) Is Mormonism a form of Christianity?

Of course, there’s no secret about why I’m getting these questions.  There is at least an even chance that a major political party will, for the first time in American history, nominate a Mormon for President.  This would be another one of those “firsts” in the recent American history (following JFK as the first Catholic President, Sandra Day O’Connor as the first female Supreme Court Justice, Barack Obama as the first black President, etc.) that cause some to applaud the still unfolding American dream, and others to bite their lips in anxiety.

I can answer the first question very simply.  No, Mormonism is not a cult.  It is too big and diverse to be a cult.  It’s been around nearly 200 years and has matured into a religious denomination of over 14 million people worldwide.  Mormons do not all believe exactly the same thing.  There are liberal Mormons, conservative Mormons, and fundamentalist Mormons.  If Mormonism were a cult, there would be no spectrum of beliefs.

Beyond Ideologies

On the eve of the nation’s first primary for the 2012 presidential election, six Republicans are vying for the opportunity to challenge President Barack Obama.  The outcome of the New Hampshire vote tomorrow is hardly in doubt.  Frontrunner Mitt Romney has been consistently outpolling the rest of the field there since the race began last summer.  But a lot of attention will be paid to who comes in second, third, and fourth, because at this point, there are three primary races within the Republican Party. 

First, there is the race for the “conventional” or “establishment” wing of the party.  That contest is between Mitt Romney and John Huntsman, and represents about a third of the national party vote.  Second, there’s the race for the “libertarian” wing of the party.  One could argue that this is not a race at all.  Ron Paul is the only real libertarian running, though in New Hampshire, some of that vote is split with Huntsman.  It accounts for 10-15% of the party nationwide.  Finally, there’s the race for the “social conservative” wing of the party.  This vote has been splintered between four candidates – Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Rick Perry, and Michelle Bachmann (who dropped out after her poor showing in the Iowa caucuses).  The national polls suggest that this is the largest wing of the current Republican Party, accounting for upwards of 40% of the party vote.

Standing with Arab Christians

On Christmas Day, Islamic extremists attacked a Christian church in Nigeria during worship.  Twenty-six people were killed.  This kind of tragedy is an all-too-frequent result of the otherwise promising “Arab Spring” that is sweeping the Middle East and Northern Africa.  In October, extremists in Egypt opened fire on Christians as the Egyptian military turned a blind eye.  Twenty-four Christians were killed and 300 wounded.  Over the past year, Egyptian Christians have been under relentless assault.  Jihadists have destroyed churches, vandalized homes, and disrupted Christian neighborhoods.  In Iraq, the plight of Christians has grown worse every year since the toppling of Saddam Hussein.  The Wall Street Journal recently reported that since 2003, 54 Iraqi churches have been bombed and 905 Christians have been killed.  Christians in Syria, Iran, and Pakistan also live in constant fear.  Across the Middle East and Northern Africa, Christians are fleeing by the hundreds of thousands.  Ironically, the day may come when no Christians live in the land of the Bible.

All those repressive regimes that are falling like dominoes in the Arab world had been giving protection to minority Christian populations in order to win the favor of Western nations, especially the United States.  Now that popular revolts are taking down those regimes, the protections enjoyed by Christians have been swept away.  Here in the U.S., reaction to the Arab Spring tends to fall into one of two broad categories. 

Exploiting Injustice

Today, the most unpopular person in Central New York has to be Gloria Allred, a celebrity attorney who tries cases in the court of public opinion before they ever go to trial.  Allred has convinced stepbrothers Michael Lang and Bobby Davis, both of whom have alleged they were abused as boys by Syracuse University assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine, to sue the head coach, Jim Boeheim, and the university for defamation of character.

Boeheim initially defended Fine and accused Lang and Davis of lying and hoping for a monetary settlement.  Then, confronted with evidence that got Fine fired from the university, he apologized.  A few days later, he apologized again and pledged support for a local agency that advocates for child victims of sexual abuse.  Officials at the agency have praised Boeheim for his sincerity and his support of their work.  But at a press conference in New York yesterday, Allred mocked Boeheim’s apology, calling it “too little, too late.”  She alleges he had already done irreparable harm to her clients.

The case against Boeheim is pretty thin.  I’m not making that judgment on my own.  It’s what legal experts have already concluded.  But that doesn’t matter to Allred.  The aim here is not to win, or even try a case, but instead to create enough public embarrassment for Boeheim and SU to force a settlement.  Ironically, two men are suing Boeheim for saying they were only interested in a monetary settlement, which is exactly what they are now after.

Dealing with Disillusionment

Last night, our beloved Syracuse University basketball team looked flat, but they came away with another win.  They’ve already beaten one Top 10 team this season and are ranked 3rd in the nation.  The experts say this year’s team might be the most talented SU has fielded in decades.  To channel Chris Berman: they could – go – all – the – way!

But a pall hangs over the basketball program because Assistant Coach Bernie Fine is under investigation for sexual abusing young boys.  Before the university fired him last week, Fine had been in his position for 36 years.  He was the wordless fixture anchoring the bench during games, a symbol of the program’s stability.  For the last month, however, he’s been absent as local and national media report every sordid detail of “the Syracuse scandal.”  At first, it all seemed so unbelievable.  Lots of fans nervously consoled themselves that someone was trying to take advantage of the Penn State scandal.  But as details have dribbled out, it seems more and more likely that terrible crimes were being committed in the shadows of this high-profile program that gives people in cold, gray Central New York a reason to cheer every year.

Where's the Compassion?

My, how far we have come (or gone backward) in such a short time.

Only 25 years ago, President Ronald Reagan supported and signed into law an immigration reform bill that granted amnesty and citizenship to every illegal immigrant who had resided in the United States for five years or more.  Republican Senator Alan Simpson, co-author of the bill, is proud that he played a role in ending the exploitation of undocumented workers.  “Anyone who is here illegally is going to be abused in some way, either financially or physically,” he said.  “They have no rights.”  In a 1984 debate with Democratic challenger Walter Mondale, Reagan proclaimed, “I believe in the idea of amnesty for those who have put down roots and live here, even though sometime back they may have entered here illegally.”

That’s right.  The hero of the modern Republican Party, patriarch of modern American conservatism, favored amnesty for illegals.

Now, only a quarter century later, “amnesty” is considered the worst form of heresy in the Republican Party, and Democrats avoid using the word for fear they’ll be labeled un-American.

What the Penn State Scandal Illustrates

The scandal at Penn State University has provided plenty of fodder for journalists, columnists, and local newspaper letter writers.  The revelation that assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky raped an untold number of young boys is disgusting.  That other members of the coaching staff witnessed this criminal activity and either turned the other way or only met the minimum requirements of the law is infuriating.  That the name of coaching great Joe Paterno, known for decades as one of the “good guys” in college football, has been forever tainted is deeply disappointing.

There’s no debating the awfulness of the situation.  How many young boys have been traumatized for life and deprived of any kind of justice for the crimes committed against them?  What does this say about the subculture of big-time college athletics that protects players and coaches from public accountability?  What’s wrong with the law in Pennsylvania (and other states) that allows witnesses to this kind of unspeakable abuse to meet their legal obligation without crossing even a minimum threshold of moral responsibility?

I hope these questions are being raised with sufficient outrage to produce needed change in the law and in college athletics.  Here, I want to address how this tragedy demonstrates the reality of sin in the human experience. 

Honoring our Society's Elders

Having addressed society’s responsibility toward little children, I feel compelled to turn to the subject of caring for the elderly.  The fifth commandment, “Honor your father and your mother,” addresses more than the nuclear family.  With this word, God commanded Israel to honor its elderly.  Society’s mothers and fathers were to be given respect and dignity. 

Ancient societies would have welcomed such a commandment.  Elders, even when they were well beyond the physical ability to work, were honored for their wisdom and experience.  Since the beginning of the Industrial Age, however, a premium has been placed on “productivity,” as if one’s worth is a function of one’s ability to draw a paycheck.  Consequently, senior citizens are often devalued when declining health reduces their ability to earn an income.  Among the saddest venues of my pastoral work are nursing homes where I have met elders who were largely forgotten by their families.  Without strong family advocates, nursing home patients sometimes become victims of abuse and neglect.  They waste away, malnourished, under-stimulated, and safely removed from the sight of their children, who are too busy with their own affairs to assume the “burden” of looking after their parents.

On the other hand, I’ve noticed that, over the years of my pastoral work, this kind of tragedy has become less common.  Today, the traditional nursing home is being replaced by facilities that offer many different levels of care and encourage their residents’ independence as long as possible.  It seems to me they also reach out to families, welcoming them as a vital part of the overall care of their loved ones.  Whether this is the norm yet, I cannot say.  But we do seem to be improving as a culture in how we treat out elders.