Progressive United Church of Christ (UCC) Feed by IPC
Republican Cynthia Davis: Child “Hunger can be a positive motivator”
Missouri State Rep. Cynthia Davis is against free summer lunches for kids. "Can’t they get a job during the summer?" asksthe politician / Bible book store owner.
The editorial board of the St. Louis Dispatch reports:
State Rep. Cynthia Davis, R-O’Fallon, is staking out a strong position on child hunger: She’s for it. “Hunger can be a positive motivator,” she notes in the latest edition of her newsletter. More precisely, Ms. Davis is against summer feeding programs for poor kids. They are an excuse “to create an expansion of a government program,” she says. Ms. Davis chairs the House Special Standing Committee on Children and Families. In that position, she might be expected to have insight into child hunger in our state. She might know, for instance, that about one in five Missouri children lives with hunger. That ties us with Louisiana for the nation’s seventh-highest rate, according to a report released last month by the hunger-relief charity Feeding America. Or that the recession has pushed the number of poor Missouri kids who qualify for free or reduced-price school lunches by 8.3 percent this year, well above the national average.
Apparently not.
The ignorance is shocking enough for a politican but it is even more tragic coming from someone who calls themself a Christian.
The Colbert Report Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c Tip/Wag - Cynthia Davis & Fox News www.colbertnation.com Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Jeff Goldblum“God, Guns & American Violence: Turning Weapons Into Ploughshares”
Come listen to my Sunday, July 5th sermon on “God, Guns & American Violence: Turning Weapons Into Ploughshares," Click here for all the info.
“God, Guns & American Violence: Turning Weapons Into Ploughshares”
“God, Guns & American Violence: Turning Weapons Into Ploughshares”
Comments from a Veteran on the 4th of July
Comments from a Veteran on the 4th of July
By Jim Ramelis
The 4th of July is here and it is time for patriotism, flag waving, parades and fireworks. The 4th is about picnics, fun, sunburns, baseball games and a celebration of America. It has always been one of my favorite holidays, probably because I have spent most of my life in Michigan, and the 4th is a holiday that usually is a warm sunny day. It is a day of bands and color and pageantry and community.
President Obama , Do The Right Thing !
President Obama, Do The Right Thing in Honduras!
As those of you who follow the news may know, Honduran President Manuel Zalaya was ousted in a military coup. He was flown to Costa Rica and Roberto Michelettti was sworn in as interim President until January 27, 2010, the end of Zelaya’s term.
Obama called the action a “coup”, and said “We believe that the coup was not legal and that President Zelaya remains the President of Honduras”.
Later, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the administration was not formally designating the ouster as a military coup. If the administration were to call the “coup”, a “coup”, it would demand by law that the U.S. cut off military aid to Honduras. We heavily finance the Honduran military and have trained many of its leaders at the infamous School of the Americas in Georgia. The State Department will ask for $68 million in aid for the Honduran military in the upcoming fiscal year.
It doesn’t take the proverbial “rocket scientist” to figure a few things out here very quickly. The first is of course, it was a military coup. The whole world and the President Obama are calling it a military coup. But in a very obvious spin, Secretary Clinton is not calling it a coup, so military funding won’t be cut off.
A conservative who predicted that "Reagan was wrong". Republican seeds of destruction.
This week's issue of Newsweek has an article entitled "Reagan was wrong; to conservative Cassandra Henry Fairlie, Republicans sowed their present-day destruction from the start." A conservative English Tory who emigrated to the US in 1966, Fairlie was "the first of the Angry Young Men", who coined the phrase "the establishment". He witnessed the fallout of the Goldwater defeat and the rise of Reagan; who saw from the very start of the Reagan era how badly it was going to end.
He saw "government's role was to preserve tradition and social order; not to speed the accumulation of power and wealth among the elites or to enact sudden or overreacting reforms." He thought that by excessively embracing the free market philosophy the Republican party had gone calamitously awry. "The conservative can all too easily drift into a morally bankrupt and intellectually shallow defense of those who have it made and those who were on the make," that without the humanizing Tory influence, conservatives were apt to forget "the ugly face of capitalism". Hmmm - sounds like to me the sage warning of Paul to the early Christians, "For the love on money is the root of all evil--. 1 Timothy 6: 9-10 Read verse 9 and see if it does not describe the actions of Fairlie's false conservatives, and, in verse 10, the predictable result of their actions.
CBS's Go To (Rightwing) Catholic Guy
Originally posted at Talk to Action.
The go to guy at CBS News for all-things Catholic is one Father Thomas D. Williams. Never heard of him? Well, if you watch The Morning Show's Maggie Rodriguez or the CBS Evening News's Katie Couric you may very well see Fr. Williams appear live via satellite from Vatican City. But "the Tiffany Network" will also probably fail to disclose that Fr. Williams is also a member of the Legion of Christ, a reactionary order that is squarely aligned with American movement conservatism and that espouses the most conservative of Catholic views on bioethical issues such as LGBT equality, abortion and stem cell research.
Eyes to See, Ears to Hear
The universe is our gas gauge or speedometer because it tells us what to add or retract from our physical vessel. We have ears, but do we hear? We have eyes, but do we see? The universe tells us when to be proactive and when to be passive.
http://thinkunity.com
Secretive "C" Street Spiritual Haven
Yesterday as we all heard Gov. Mark Sanford, (R) South Carolina, publically admitted to having an extra-marital affair. In his statement he made reference to a house on "C Street" (in the SouthEast section of the District of Columbia, very near the nations Capitol Bldg.) where some congressmen come to face "hard questions". At least 5 members of the House and Senate live there. They, and others, engage in bible study classes. For more details I refer you to today's Washington Post article, "The Political Enclave That Dare Not Speak Its Name". www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article
If it is a place of refuge, a place for some harried members of the Congress and Senate to recharge depleted batteries, I have no problem with the idea. Even if they do conduct bible study classes, that's their private business. The article refers to efforts by one resident to persuade Senator John Ensign (R) Nevada (who also admitted to the same 8 days ago) and Gov. Sanford (a former congressman) to end their affairs. Sen. Tom Colburn (R) Oklahoma, who lives there apparently tried to be a peacemaker by pursing the topic of forgiveness with the husband of Sen. Ensign's mistress. Good Christian behavior.
Good Bye Farrah Fawcett
Farrah Fawcett died today. She was my first celebrity crush. When I was a kid a poster of the star of Charlie's Angels was mounted on the wall above my bed. I'd lost track of my celebrity crush over all these years but still remember her how she fought the bad guys on TV and how good she looked in a swim suit. I pray that her suffering has ended and that she has found peace. I also welcome the changes we've seen in television and film since the 1970s. My daughters know the story of Cinderella (how could we have avoided it) but they also love to hear stories of the brave Capt. Katherine Janeway from Star Trek: Voyager.
Starting to Feel Betrayed
Betrayal
If the public option for health insurance is thrown out, I will have to admit I will feel a bit betrayed by the Democrats.
However, I shouldn't be surprised as I know that the real divide in Congress is not Democrat/Republican, it is Conservative v Progressive/Liberal. There a lot more conservatives than Progressives/Liberals. There are a lot of Conservative Democrats, bought and sold by the same corporations and people that have the Republicans bought and sold.
The Hypocrisy Of Mark Sanford
Politico (via) CNN has this quote from Friend Of Mark Sanford Tom Davis:
People be will watching for his sincerity. I think there's an incredible capacity in the American people for forgiveness. What they will not forgive is hypocrisy. And, so, I think the next few days are going to be very critical for the governor.
I agree with that and really believe that what the governor showed today is that he is simply a broken human (like the rest us). All of us are boken. Just in different ways.
But Stanford - as Politico notes in another story - has already shown his hypocrisy:
Mark Sanford, following a long procession of GOPers before him -- most recently John Ensign -- took a Draconian view of pols caught in in flagrante, when that pol wasn't them of course.
When it was revealed, back in '98, that incoming Speaker Bob Livingston (R-La.) had strayed big time, Sanford bucked many in his own party by suggesting Livingston get the boot.
He also wanted President Clinton to resign.
Davis is right: Americans won't forgive hypocrisy.
The Hypocrisy Of Mark Sanford
Time For Portland And Mayor Sam Adams To Move On
The decision by the Oregon Attorney General not to prosecute Portland Mayor Sam Adams does not answer some of the questions at the heart of the scandal.
All we know today that we didn’t know yesterday is that the mayor will not be charged with a crime in this affair. Mayor Adams has resisted calls for his resignation (including my own) since this matter first came to light in January and will likely see this report from the OAG as a personal vindication. He shouldn’t.
“Not getting prosecuted” is a pretty low bar for a politicalian awash in scandal. His actions that brought about this scandal and his actions in the aftermath have been indefensible.
The mayor isn’t going to resign. As I’ve said, I oppose a recall election because of the divisive impact such an election would have on the city. Clearly, this news from the OAG’s office takes the wind out of what was a doomed to fail recall effort from the start. The recall effort should now fold.
It is time for Portland to move on. Voters can impose their final verdict on this issue in 2012 if Mayor Adams seeks re-election.
Sacred Activism
I was reading the July edition of "Science of the Mind", a monthly put out by the Religious Science folks that I have subscribed to for years, and came across a great article by Donna Mosher,"Invitation to Awakening".It is an article about mystic Andrew Harvey and the spiritual shift that seems to be going on in the world now. Some call it "the great awakening".
Harvey uses the term "sacred activism" in a very interesting way that I find very appealing.
Mosher writes(begin Science of Mind quote) "Sacred activism brings together the fire of the mystics passion for God with the fire of the activist's passion for justice", says Harvey. It is a holy marriage that is absolutely essential."
"Without the union of the two fires, he says,one can find themselves either blissed out or burned out. The mystic can become addicted to the pursuit of transcendence, in danger of ignoring the problems of he world. The activist is threatened by an obsession with "doing", resulting in exhaustion and burnout. The marriage of the two fires, Harvey says, is purifying and clarifying. It is the authentic Christ Consciousness, the force of divine passion in action that will birth the new humanity."(end quote from Science of the Mind)
Being both a mystic and an activist, I was quite impressed with Harvey's analysis.
Time For Portland And Mayor Sam Adams To Move On
father's day
to all the happily married fathers, devoted to wife and children in a happy home –
to all the single fathers, striving alone to meet the needs of their children –
to all the remarried fathers, parenting as best they can in the tumult of modern divorce law –
to all the widowed fathers, raising their children in the midst of loss –
to all the gay fathers, dedicated to their children despite a culture that questions the legitimacy of their parenthood –
to all the adoptive fathers, fostering a love no different from any other –
to all the fathers by marriage, navigating with love the uncertainty of step-parenthood –
to all fathers, of all kinds, in places –
Happy Father’s Day.
Renewing of the Mind
Rom 12:2 Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God – what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.
The Spirit is always there so we must transform and enlarge our personal consciousness and individual experience with the Holy Spirit. This is basic to every mode of spiritual discernment, and every quest.The more we are aware of Spirit working in and through everything, especially within ourselves, the more God’s presence can replace prior limitations and disharmonies with good. Our minds will act on the new ideas that are formed and form a new, more positive belief and attitude. This deep understanding sees the good of God everywhere and always present. This shift in attitude brings greater freedom; peace and joy so we need to give up the old worries, free ourselves and replace old ideas with the knowledge that everything we need is available. When we recognize Spirit and pull into life revelation, discernment and right choices are made.
Pray For Sam Adams
As a citizen, I want Sam Adams to resign as the mayor of Portland (for all the reasons I’ve outlined in previous posts). But as a minister I’m reminded of the need for compassion as Mayor Adams’ political, personal and financial life implodes around him. The latest news, of course, is that the mayor has two properties – including his home – under foreclosure. Some opponents of the mayor seem to be taking glee in this. Instead, I want to offer my sympathy and prayers for the mayor. He brought this all on himself and he would be doing both himself and the city a favor by resigning his office and allowing Portland the chance to move on during a time of economic challenge for the community. But no one should take joy in his suffering. His actions that brought about this scandal and his actions in the aftermath have been indefensible. You might want him to resign or even support his recall (a step I oppose because of the divisive impact such an election would have on the city). We can want him out of office because of his actions but we should not forget the contributions he has made or forget that he is a human deserving of compassion even as we oppose him politically. So I pray for wisdom for the mayor in the face of adversity, the chance for reconciliation between him and the people of Portland, and that all of us opposed to Mayor Adams are reminded of our own brokenness so that our actions in civic life reflect humility and not hubris.
