Jarrod Cochran's blog

Is it proof of the sad state of affairs that we are in when a fictional madman makes sense? I’m referring to Heath Ledger’s portrayal of DC Comics’ “The Joker” in the 2008 box office smash, “The Dark Knight.”

At one point in the movie, Ledger’s character attempts to recruit another into abandoning the ways of “society” and giving in to his most base desires and instincts:

“You know what I've noticed? Nobody panics when things go ‘according to plan.’ Even if the plan is horrifying! If, tomorrow, I tell the press that – like – a gang banger will get shot, or a truckload of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics, because it's all ‘part of the plan.’”

Ledger’s Joker continues, stating that if something equally bad happens that isn’t a part of the “plan,” then everyone freaks out.

I believe we have bore witness to the truth in this statement these past two weeks with the tragic shooting at Fort Hood, Texas.

As I watched the "Ted Haggard Scandal" unfold on television several of my colleagues - who profess to be Christians - began to make angry and snide remarks about Haggard. Over coffee with a fellow theologian this past week, she made the remark that she was not sorry for Haggard at all.

"Why should we feel at all sorry for this bigot?" she asked me. "This man promoted hatred of a group of people who cannot change their sexual orientation any more than they can change the color of their skin! I'm glad he was ousted and I am glad the Religious Right took a major hit!"

Though Haggard and I likely disagree on every theological point other than how to spell "Christianity," I could not help but be saddened by the news. To be honest, Haggard's unabashed support of the Religious Right's agenda, along with his unwavering approval of everything the Bush Administration has done, angered me. I also was angered when I heard in amazement that this man, who used the pulpit to demean and vilify homosexuals - my friends - was accused of an adulterous homosexual relationship with a prostitute. I was angry at his deceitfulness and angry at the fact that yet another minister who placed himself high on a pedalstall had fallen and hit the ground hard.

It saddens me greatly how our governmental leaders’ blatant disregard for the Geneva Conventions by legalizing the torture of our detainees can be supported by so many of our brothers and sisters on the Religious Right.I am appalled by the lack of compassion for those who could be tortured under our new “law”. As we’ve just recently seen by the release of Canadian Maher Arar, a falsely-accused terrorist, from a U.S. imprisonment/torture camp in Syria, there are many people in these detainment camps that are innocent. Even if these men and women on the Right cannot wrap their collective minds around the fact that torture is flat-out immoral, surely they can understand that torturing the innocent is wrong.

As volunteer chaplain at MUST Ministries, (an organization that helps provide food, shelter, and assistance for the poverty-stricken in the Atlanta area of Georgia), I have come to meet so many impoverished people with so many stories of heartache.  I did not grow up rich, by American standards, but I did grow up in a middle-class home.  I attended the upper/lower-middle-class church that my father pastored.  In that church, I heard many stereotypes for people different than us, (basically anyone who wasn't a middle-class caucasian).  One such stereotype I heard repeatedly was directed at the poor.

After the countless forced removals of the Native Americans (sponsored by our apparently "Christian Nation" Federal Government) a new bill in Congress proposes to repeat this inhumanity to the Navajo tribe in the 21st Century.A new bill (S1003), sponsored by Senator John McCain, proposes to forcibly remove the Navajo tribe off of the Black Mesa in the state of Arizona.  Is it a coincidence that McCain happens to propose this bill at the same time Peabody Coal, the world's largest coal company, is attempting to gain a "life of mine" permit from the Office of Surface Mining to continue to strip mine the coal from the Kayenta Mine in Black Mesa after their contract expired in Januray 1, 2006 (which the Navajo are refusing to renew due to the massive polution of the tribe's water supply caused by the mining)?

Dear CrossLeft Community,

I am stepping down from doing Rapid Response. I will still continue blogging and occasionally helping out behind the scenes. Right now, God is calling me to another path. I appreciate all the wonderful opportunities that CrossLeft has afforded me as well as the great friendships I have made with so many of you. Take care and God bless.

- Jarrod Cochran

I've heard many things coming from the progressive camp recently.  Many of the things I've heard have been wonderful, but some of the things have been disheartening.  I've read and heard several fellow Progressive Christians call members of the Religious Right "the enemy".  This breaks my heart as I am sure it breaks the heart of Christ.The more I read the gospels, the more I realize that our Savior never saw another person as His "enemy" - not even those who mocked Him, falsely accused Him, spat upon Him, and nailed Him to a cross.  If we are to be followers of His teachings and actions, should not we try to do the same?

"....The second is: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these."
- The gospel of Mark; chapter twelve, verse thirty-one

Recently, the House passed The Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control At of 2005 (HR4437). This bill expands the definition of "alien smuggling" to include assisting a person to remain or attempt to remain in the United States when the "offender" knows the person is in the United States unlawfully - thereby treating social service organizations, refugee agencies, churches, legal services, and others the same as smuggling organizations and imposing criminal penalties for providing such assistance. Even family members and charitable workers could face federal prison time for assisting undocumented immigrants.

This is a prayer I wrote on one of those nights that I couldn't sleep, when I was convinced that the name of Christianity was conquered by the Dobsons, the Falwells, and the Robertsons (before I ran into all of you great people!).  I don't think this prayer is anything great, but it has helped give me clairity and realize just what being a Christ-follower is all about, so I thought I would share it with you: