Faithful Philly Forum

I don’t get it. A group that names itself “Repent America” challenges the existing hate crime law that includes sexual minorities in Pennsylvania. What is the repentance about? Repent of protecting people’s lives? Repent that we might encourage lawsuits against those who resort to violence against sexual minorities just because they are sexual minorities? Are we to repent for being too compassionate or not being judgmental enough?

I know the Hebrew prophets sometimes stridently called for the need to repent and compassionately embrace the immigrants in their midst, (known as foreigners or aliens) who were being mistreated. They went on any number of tirades about the readiness of folks to go through the religious rituals but who failed to care for the widows and orphans in the community. And, the prophets went ballistic yelling about repentance of those who paid people unjust wages and exploited the workers.

Somehow I don’t think compassion is what “Repent America” is about…Oh yes, and they won the lawsuit by the way. The PA court ruled 5-1 the legislative process that was used to make this a law was indeed unconstitutional. Sometimes it is one step forward and two steps back.
http://www.equalitypa.org/news/news_view.php?news_id=51

I’m Meredith, the program intern at the Christian Association, and I’ll be talking about campus activism on here from time to time. I’m a sophomore at Penn, orignially from Milwaukee, majoring in political science, and apart from my social justice activities I write for the Daily Pennsylvanian and play viola in a chamber ensemble.

I’m also going to start getting in touch with West Philly places of worship and post a regular digest of what’s going on, as a way to start networking. We at the CA want to shape this blog into a hub for faithful peace and justice work in the area and can’t wait to build that with you!

Poor Jesus. For all the people who truly heard his message there were so many more who did not get it. Even among the people for whom he worked miraculous healing. One day it was two blind men who were given sight, at least of the material kind. He asked them to keep quiet but they ran off shouting the news. Another time he healed ten men and women with leprosy and only one of them turned back to praise this work of profound, incarnate, power and love.
Buddhist monks incarnate the hopeful, outraged, spirit of love and march in the streets of Myanmar. People notice for a minute when the monks are brutalized, but then they rush off to shout about other things. And see Frank Rich’s op-ed piece in the NY Times on Sunday. The US is using torture techniques developed in Hitler’s Germany. Where is the outrage? Daily we are called see and hear the Incarnation and that which would destroy it … to notice and to choose.

If 20,000 clergy took to the streets in support of democracy in Iraq I find it hard to believe that the US couldn’t find the resolve to encourage such efforts to continue. The Buddhist monks in Myanmar whose number of 400,000 is equal to theat of the military have lent a moral voice and physical presence of protest signaling to the populace they have every right to demand a change in the dictatorial government. So why is it that the US and the rest of the world seem so helpless in the wake of such atrocities? I simply don’t understand how our politicians can be so exorcized about Saddam Hussein’s brutality but plead impotence in the current situation of gunning down citizens, especially unarmed, peaceful ones. Oh yes, I forgot. They don’t have any oil under their soil.

May God bless their efforts because it is clear they are getting no help from the self-declared ‘police force of the world.’

There was a congruence of stories I noticed in the news this week, across a wide gulf of cutlure, affluence and faiths. While the monks of Burma are being controlled by force of the gun and being kept in bounds, a church in Pasadena is being hemmed in by the IRS. All Saints Episcopal Church, a large, affluent, socially active congregation was investigated for electioneering from the pulpit in the 2004 election–with the threat to cut off tax exempt status. This month, the IRS simply closed the case, thus leaving it unresolved–will they be investigated again? I think we should all think of ways to call our tax exempt status into question. How will I transcent the putative controls the government and culture seems to have on my willingness to speak out? What would it take for me to launch into the streets with my bowl in the air?

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The photo showed 20,000 orange-clad and bald Buddhist monks of varous ages sitting in prayer in protest of the policies of the ruling junta in Myanmar in Monday’s Metro PHiladelphia (Sept 24, 2007). (This is the same group who seized power and overturned the democratically elected Suu Kyi and kept her in detention and under house arrest for 11 of the last 18 years.) Now today the news is that  despite resistance from the military, they are still protesting, with chants and upturned bowls (which is an insult) as their weapons of choice. Asa result of course, the public now feels free to also join in and protest the repressive regime and its economic policies that have terrorized and famished the country. Has anyone noticed the spiritual power that these religious people are tapped into? Or, the quandary this action creates for the ruling junta?

These protests began nearly a month ago and now the whole world is watching. Let us pray for our Buddhist brothers and sisters and perhaps pray for ourselves that it will be a lesson the peacemakers in the US will learn. Spiritual power trumps military might.

It appears the homeless in New York City are not taking the bureaucrats’
answer of “no.” Refusing to go “home” that the city insists they have even though it is to live with people or in places that are unsafe or unwelcome or not acceptable, they are simply camping out at the office building after hours, going to the city shelters, and then returning to make new applications. Some have done this for months.

It seems these citizens won’t be bossed around to their own detriment! I like that because I think it bodes well for democracy. It is indeed time to stand up to the bureaucracies that are making decisions for us to our own detriment. The planned war on Iran comes to mind.

I just saw Sicko and found it funny and sad, provocative and enraging! It is a strong case for national health care. Just like we have a safety net for senior citizens with social security (unless Bush has his way and dismantles it) and a “socialized” free public library system, police force, fire protection, etc this would provide the safety net that other western countries already have in place. The highly successful programs in England, Canada, France are all documented in this film. So now President Bush has announced that he will veto a bipartisan US Senate plan to expand the health care coverage for children! Any thinking person would ask what has he got against the children? Sick ones at that? Why?         

Because according to his spokesperson, he suspects that people may drop their (read: expensive) coverage and “go on the government-subsidized program.” (NYTimes 7/15) In other words, this is an admission that they know people are desperate for health care, low cost health care. And since, we know that the cultural mandate of the elite is to give away nothing free, (unless it is to large corporations!), then he is against more money for the children!

   “And when you do it to the least of these my children, you have done it to me.”

I’m currently sitting in the press section at the ACORN Presidential Candidate Forum at the Bright Hope Baptist Church at 12th and Cecil B. Moore.  It’s an event that showcases a beautiful marriage of faith and politics.

Rev. Kevin Johnson, the senior pastor of Bright Hope, opened the forum with a prayer that walked the line between religious doctrine and protest rhetoric graciously.

We’ve heard from the presumed mayor-elect Michael Nutter, as well as Representative Chaka Fattah, both of whom spoke out again predatory lending, endorsed funds for neighborhood repair and full funding of public schools.

Later, we’ll be hearing from Sen. Hillary Clinton, Rep. Dennis Kucinich and Sen. John Edwards (who will be announcing his plan to increase minimum wage).
ACORN is streaming the forum live, which you can watch here.  There’s also a forum in which you can participate if you feel the need to respond to the things you are seeing and hearing.

I’ve got a heck of a busy day–along with a nagging idea I read this morning from a past issue of Tikkun–so let me put it out here and come back later. The idea is how do we deal with privelege? I mean REALLY deal with it in our own selves if we want to be change agents? We need to own it–but I think there are many alluring ways for us to deny it and keep the attention to ourselves. I’ll check in with some more thinking when I’ve got more time to stew about it. –j