Reconciliation With the Right

It is heaven, but only thee conservative Christians
will make it up there. Or maybe not.

The Culture War Continues Even Among Christians

On the one side you have the Conservative Christians who see the big issues as abortion and homosexuality. On the other side you have the more Liberal/Progressive Christians who see the big issues as peacemaking, protecting Creation, and fighting poverty. It is the Liberal/Progressive side who are more open to reconciliation and "hearing out" their theological opposites.

As for me, and many others like me, I have nothing personal against Conservatives. In fact, some of the most wonderful people I know are Conservatives, including my own extended family. However, I am angry and frustrated at how they chose to embrace just a couple of moral standards and were quite willing to throw all the other standards down the drain. Sadly, during the recent elections there was little talk about the environment or poverty, or even long-term peacemaking. The Right did a better job of keeping their pet issues — abortion and gays — in the forefront and keeping the opposition on their toes.

I really would like to have talks with Conservatives to find common ground. I would love to give presentations at their places of worship and listen to what they have to say. I would enjoy talking about "big picture" issues like the future and sustainability.

However, I know that these good people are believers in "dispensationalism," which is a belief that the world will get continually worse and ultimately Christ will come to rescue all the people who "got it right." My belief is just the opposite. I believe that as responsible humans we each have a lifelong obligation to make the world BETTER. So, there is little common ground to begin our discussions with.

Teen Pregnancy - Just Get All Sides Talking

As I once mentioned before, in 1988 I had this crazy idea of getting all sides in the teen pregnancy issue to the table to talk. At least the Catholic representatives heard me out and gave me well-thought reasons of why they weren't going to participate. For that, I will always have respect for them. But then I remember talking to this founder of a Christian adoption ministry that tried to get pregnant women to give up their babies instead of having an abortion. At least he was calling me "brother" a lot, but he really chewed me out on the phone. Apparently, he was horrified that I was even associating with some of the other organizations, such as Planned Parenthood. Well, my whole idea fell apart. So much for the whole "common ground" thing.

And Now, a Message on Poverty

Poverty is a complex and age-old problem that I need to give more blog time too. I just wish the Republicans had brought up the topic more when they were screaming about "family values" and a "culture of life." Perhaps all the abortion/gay rhetoric was designed to divert attention from more endemic problems like poverty. Yes, gays can't get married and girls who have abortions will be thrown in jail, but what about the growing millions of Americans who are struggling financially every day?

I am a believer that problems should be addressed at the root level, and once again I must say that human overpopulation is a main contributor to poverty. For the past six years, population growth has been my main issue, but now I am seeing that help is also needed on a personal level. I'm not sure what my calling will be, but I would like to do something to help the poor and disadvantaged. In my past job I was editor of a citywide teen newspaper and I had the opportunity to help in an indirect way — by providing educational and work experience opportunities for inner city youth. But now I think more is needed — I feel there are people out there who are not even getting enough to eat.

GOP Is God - Deficit, Pork Barrel Spending Is Good

Boy, those lobbyists sure treat us good. Yes,
Mr. Congressman, they sure do. This therapeutic
horseback riding sure is fun.


Pork, Pork, Pork

With the federal deficit soaring and most Americans just struggling to get by, the infallible, perfect, God-like Republicans recently rushed through another sloppy spending bill that is LOADED with pork. Now, I'm usually opposing the Heritage Foundation on about everything, but now I'm agreeing with them on this:

As runaway spending pushes the cost of government over $20,000 per household and the federal budget deficit past $400 billion, Congress continues to pile an endless supply of special interest projects onto the backs of weary taxpayers. With the recently-passed fiscal 2005 omnibus spending bill (H.R. 4818), Congress is expected the break its own record — set in last year’s budget — for pork projects, with new grants for such items as therapeutic horseback riding and a school mariachi music curriculum. This performance is simply embarrassing and highlights the need for reform of Congress’s obviously broken budget process.

— The Heritage Foundation

Now, the thing that freaks me out about myself is that while I am a social liberal, I am strong conservative when it comes to fiscal policy. Since two of my heros are Teddy Roosevelt and Barry Goldwater, I MUST be a Republican. However, the GOP of today is so infested with religious zealots and so sold out to special interests, that I want no part of this beguiled and corrupted excuse of a Party.

Yeah, this is a REPUBLICAN budget. You know, the people you voted for because they hold the high moral ground. Yes, it's really moral to take your hard earned tax dollars and use it for special interest frill projects. Or better yet, it's even more MORAL to fund a project and make your KIDS PAY FOR IT, which is EXACTLY what Congress does every time they pass a deficit budget.

While you are struggling to make ends meet, your government is going into debt to finance a variety of pork projects around the country. Now, some of these projects seem worthy while others are off-the-wall, but the fact is our Government should NOT SPEND more than it makes — never.

"But the Republicans are against abortion and my preacher told me to vote for them."

But look, you can hardly afford to buy groceries and you aren't going to get much help from the Salvation Army because Target kicked them off their property this holiday season. But don't worry, that great Party you voted for is spending your money wisely.

A sampling:

$450,000 Baseball Hall of Fame
$25,000 Develop curriculum to study mariachi music, Clark County School District, Nevada
$350,000 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Cleveland, Ohio
$150,000 Therapeutic Horseback Riding Program, Lady B Ranch, California
$950,000 Please Touch Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

These projects are just a few at the top of the Heritage Foundation list, and if I list any more I will probably hurl. The point is, again, I'm really questioning all this talk about the Republicans being the protector of morals and family values. If they really cared about the "family" like they say, they would do things to benefit the FAMILY and not slick lobbyists wearing Gucci shoes.

Anyway, the point is that I remain disgusted at all the people who voted straight-ticket Republican just because the GOP is supposedly "pro-life" or "Christian." What you've done is simply strengthened the power of a vile and corrupt political party that does not give a damn about you unless you are a big corporate lobbyist, rich, or own a company. Believe me, you were deceived by this pack of the most immoral politicians we have seen in decades. The hypocrisy of this all makes me sick, sick, sick! But, right, you voted for a "culture of life." Right!

Guns & God - Are They the Same?

Blessed are the gun advocates.

Well, first I read the following in the newspaper:

Lonneil Octavis Wade, 20, was shot to death by four black males while walking home from work with a handful of groceries.

This is significant because it is the first murder of the year in my home town of Powder Springs, GA. Seems like Lonneil had been dropped off from work at the corner convenience store. He went in to get some groceries and was then walking home when a carload of boys randomly opened fire on him. Fortunately, the suspects were caught and are now in jail.

Now, if that's not bad enough, this incident, which happened a few days later, REALLY takes the cake:

Five Wisconsin deer hunters killed in tree stand shootout
BIRCHWOOD, Wis. -- A deer hunter who apparently intruded on private property killed five other hunters who had been staying in a nearby cabin and wounded three more during the opening weekend of deer season ... A 36-year-old man was arrested Sunday afternoon when he came out of the woods, sheriff's officials said. Deputy Jake Hodgkinson identified the suspect as Chai Vang ... The shooting started when two hunters returning to their rural cabin saw the suspect in one of their hunting platforms in a tree, Sawyer County Chief Deputy Tim Zeigle said. Both of those hunters were wounded and one of them radioed friends at the cabin a quarter-mile away. Other members of their group responded and they also were shot, he said. "It's absolutely nuts. Why? Over sitting in a tree stand?" asked Zeigle. Zeigle said the suspect was "chasing after them and killing them," with a SKS 7.62 mm semiautomatic rifle, a common hunting weapon. Wisconsin's statewide deer gun hunting season started Saturday.

Okay, while this may be good news for the deer, it is very bad for humanity. First off, I've been told many times that GUNS don't kill, people do. So, in this case I suppose that without guns, Chai Vang would have chased down the five other hunters and found another way to murder them. Right. And in the case of the drive-by shooting in my home town, I'm sure those bad teens would have just jumped out of the car and murdered the guy with a knife or by hand instead of popping him with three rounds from a 9mm pistol. Yes, GUNS ARE GOOD, they are wonderfully good. It's just the people who are bad.



"These things actually don't kill people.
Only people kill people."

Federal ban on assault weapons expires
WASHINGTON (9/12/04) -- The expiration of the 10-year-old ban on 19 types of assault weapons Monday drove up business at some gun stores and set off sparks in the political world. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee, said President Bush had failed tests of character and leadership. But the National Rifle Association lauded the demise of what it called a "misguided law, which had no effect on the actions of criminals, but penalized law-abiding citizens." Bush said in the 2000 campaign that he would sign an extension of the 10-year ban on the semiautomatic weapons. However, he did not press Congress to send him such a bill, and its Republican leaders never did.

So, when the President and other GOP candidates were busy working up their constituents by pushing the "pro-life" button, they forgot to mention that the assault weapon ban expired JUST PRIOR to the election. But where was our pro-life President? Where were the pro-life Republicans in Congress? Is this just another example of SELECTIVE MORALITY in our country? In America, "pro-life" means you oppose a women's right to choose, but it's okay to own an assault weapon that only has one purpose — killing.

But Christians have a right to defend themselves.

Right, but....

• Is your faith selective too? Don't you believe that God will protect you?
• Shouldn't Christians show courage and set an example by NOT owning a gun?
• Why would a God of love support a weapon of death?

If it's the fear that's bothering you, do you really think a gun will help? After the story above was published, another hunter died. So, one mad hunter takes out six hunters, several of which were armed. So, again, I ask, do you REALLY think your gun will protect you?

But we have a constitutional RIGHT to bear arms. What if our government turns on us?

Yeah, whatever. Let's look at it this way:

Christianity — Brotherly love, forgiveness, tolerance, faith.

Guns — Murder, violence, hate.

If the government outlaws guns, then only the criminals will own guns.

Maybe a different approach is needed. I think the best weapon for fighting crime is LOVE. Instead of filling your closet with assault weapons and Bibles, maybe you should go into the inner city and help at-risk teens. Maybe you can encourage them, spend time with them, and give them a sense of hope.

Here are examples of people I know who are really fighting crime, and these are the people I have incredible respect for:

• Several of my friends participate in the Sierra Club's Inner City Outings program. This is a program where you take urban youth on hikes and camping trips in the wilderness.

• My co-worker does volunteer work for a metro-wide teen newspaper.

• A leader at my church leads a ministry for youth at the juvenile detention center.

These are the people who are really making a difference, and I assure you your gun never will. So when you get in my face and lecture me about the evils of abortion, I only have one question: Where were you when it was time to renew the assault weapons ban? Were you writing letters to your representative? Were you leaving messages on the White House Comment Line? Nope, you were not.

So, please spare me the "pro-life" lectures. In America, I know what that really means.



Canary seys: "Why do those gun rights
people call themselves 'pro-life?'"

Public Wake Up - Your Earth is in Danger!

You Never Give Us Rest...

While most of us activists are still recovering from the election it's already time to get back into the fight. This week I received several urgent Action Alerts that involved violations against our environment. It seems the mighty grips of business are able to manipulate and control government almost at will. I see we environmentalists as the Thin Green Line — we are the only obstacle that keeps business and their lackeys in government from riding roughshod over what's left of our environment.
Oh, excuse me Mr. President. I think I found
your missing Weapons of Mass Destruction.

This week as I was driving through the so-called "countryside" I saw new housing developments going up everywhere. All the beloved woods that I so deeply love and grew up with GONE — GONE FOREVER! And I'm thinking, just how much do we need to grow? Just how much of our world needs to become Peopleland? Shouldn't there be a balance, and a sense of fairness, between humans and the natural world? Seeing the bulldozers crush every last tree in their zeal to asphalt America crushes my soul. For years now, every time I drive by a new development I scream "rape" and "murder." But no one listens, and no one seems to care.

First and foremost, I am amazed how ANYONE alive can NOT have a desire to protect our natural world. Come on, this world sustains us. If we foul our water and air and pave the last of our greenspace, how can we live a healthy life?

I especially hold religious people to a higher level of accountability. Come on, God created this Planet. Don't you feel an obligation to revere and protect God's handiwork? Are you assuming that God or the Government will take care of it?

Every person on this Planet, especially Christians, should do SOMETHING to protect our natural world, even if it's working at a pet rescue center or recycling aluminum cans. EVERYONE should help. If you don't, you are simply dumping the problems of the world onto your children and grandchildren. And please don't tell me "God will take care of it" or "it's part of God's plan" because that is simply shirking responsibility.

My dream is that the preachers at the pulpit, the talking heads on the TV screen, the business tycoons, the intellectuals, the working people, and the government bureaucrats will all WAKE UP and start protecting and preserving our Planet. Because right now when you don't do ANYTHING to protect the world, all you are doing is handing the keys over to the corporate piranas.

My friends in the development community
appear unwilling to talk with me about their
ongoing efforts to weaken environmental laws.

And when you pull up next to me in your massive SUV, with 20 fish and "W" decals pasted on the back, please don't tell me how good you are because you sing in the church choir, and what a lowly, scum wretch I am. Don't tell me to "get into the word," don't tell me "I've been brainwashed," and PLEASE don't tell me I'm a "wayward sheep." Because after a lifetime of wrestling with guilt and cognitive dissonance, I've come to the conclusion that I'm not the one who's messed up. Rather, I'm the little Yellow Canary who is vainly going "chirp, chirp" as the mechanized flotillas of bulldozers come my way.

But You Can Help...

I encourage every living person to help make a difference in some way, even if it means NOT flicking your cigarette butt out the window. There are dozens of excellent environmental organizations, and I encourage you to join the one of your choice. Help financially when you can, and get on various environmental Action Alert lists and respond to their urgent messages. I've heard several politicians say that they don't talk a lot about the environment in their campaigns because they don't HEAR MUCH ABOUT IT from the public. We have to change this. We have to jump up and down and make more noise than the well-dressed corporate lobbyists (you know, the ones with the bottomless pockets). Write letters, attend demonstrations, visit your elected representatives, and become an ADVOCATE FOR THE EARTH. And on a personal level, set the example by reducing your impact on the Planet and live in such a way that does not harm our future. Yes, you can do it!


"One With the Earth"

The logo design comes from my brother and friend Dan, a fellow activist in Pennsylvania.

About the Logo. The symbol defines all environmental concerns as interconnected parts of one overarching challenge, ensuring a livable world for our children and future generations. The symbol will be an ever-present reminder encouraging personal, corporate, and public responsibility for protecting the environment. It will increase support for sustainability efforts and build demand for Earth friendly policies and products.

Humanity is damaging and depleting Earth's resources faster than nature can renew them. The "One with the Earth" symbol was designed to be the universal visual shorthand for acknowledging this problem and for promoting the need for fundamental change in our relationship with nature. It is free for all to use. Symbol artwork is available at www.onewiththeearth.org. Also available are (in small quantities) free buttons, decals, and refrigerator magnets.

The Earth has limits. Prior to the industrial revolution, the Earth was able to renew itself faster than it sustained losses and damage caused by people, animals, and natural disasters. Now, for the first time in the history of the world, the situation is reversed. Living in harmony with nature, once an option, is now a global necessity.

What went wrong? There are two major factors. In just the past 100 years human population has increased from under 2 billion to over 6 billion. There has also been, during the same period, an explosive growth in wasteful consumption, toxic pollution, and careless use of new environmentally destructive technologies. The result is runaway destruction of ecosystems and depletion of natural resources — fish, arable soil, fresh water, wildlife, and forests.

Why isn’t more being done? Our political, religious and economic attitudes were formed over thousands of years during which time it was thought that resources would always be plentiful. It is therefore understandable that global conventions for living within Earth’s limits have yet to be established.

There is good news. There is sufficient technology and practical knowledge to solve the world’s environmental problems while actually increasing our quality of life. The bulk of the advancements took place during the past 30 years and mostly by private business and entrepreneurs.



The Canary Concludes...

And that is the message of Dan, myself, and a growing number of Yellow Canaries all over the world. You may not listen right away because much of what we say goes contrary to the way of living that you have always known. But, in time, my hope is that you will join us on our journey.

On Saving the World...

Day and night .... I am obsessed with finding the "secret" to saving the world. The picture of me above was taken 20 years ago. At that time, in 1984, I didn't know I was going to try and save the world yet, but I did know that something was terribly wrong.

Possibly one problem is that people have different ideas about what "saving" the world means. In the Middle East, "saving" the world means saving fundamentalist Islam from the evil infidels. In the U.S., Christian evangelicals believe that "saving" the world is all about saving human souls from hell and from saving our culture from worldly influences. Then there are the followers of Daniel Quinn's book Ishmael who believe that "saving" the world means saving it from our own, destructive culture. Oh yeah, and the environmentalists are trying to "save" the world from human pollution and destruction.

What Me Thinks....

To me, "saving" the world means living in such a way that doesn't degrade our future. It means, in effect, we need to live more for the future instead of catering to our immediate gratification. Right now a lot of our beliefs, especially religious, are damning the world because these beliefs create an atmosphere for violence, intolerance, indifference, and denial.

Conservative religious folks, for example, are dealing with the fate of the world by digging their head in the sand. Today I read an article about a great contemporary Christian musician named Steven Curtis Chapman. He and I are about the same age (now in our 40s!) and we both began our journeys in our early 20s. Right now he is on a new music tour that focuses on "renewal."

Yes, Steven, that's what we need — a "renewal." You and I are thinking alike. I agree with you that we need a spiritual awakening and renewal.

"Ultimately there is a day coming when there will be a new Earth and Heaven. Knowing that that's coming it's not just kind of a distant crossing my fingers and hoping it all works out .. I think that's really a lot of what's been stirring in my heart and what inspired me to write this album and this song for the tour."

Right on, Steven! I remember once when we used to play your hard rock songs in church and it would freak some people out. We thought WE were the radicals because we broke away from the choir robes and dusty hymnals and we played your music. You liberated us and helped create a new generation of more contemporary Christians.

Oh, but maybe not. Maybe you just created more yuppie Christians who believe that the "American way of life" and Christianity are synonymous.

And this talk about a "new Earth and Heaven" hits the very core of our problem. See, the conservative Christian feel this whole Planet is just temporary and that the world decline is a good thing, since it is a sign that Christ will return soon. If we're getting a new Earth, what the hell, why try to save this one?

But Stephen, I'm so sorry to say that there won't be a new Earth. I believe in God too and I'm a spiritual person, but in my 20 plus years of searching I've come to a different conclusion — this Earth is all we get. To focus on some new Earth is just shirking responsibility for THIS Earth.

"All of us need to hear that message, a message of renewal, and be encouraged in that. To know that God is a God who does make things new."

Well, God also made us responsible creatures, and it's not up to God to make things new — it's up to us, both in our individual lives and collectively on a global level.

"Every time we turn the news on the television, there are reminders that there are things that are declining. We look around the world, we see the AIDS crisis in Africa. I've spent time in China seeing how many orphans there are. I believe there's a Creator, a God who's saying this is what I do, I do renew things. There is a fallen world that we live in and the results and the effects of the fall are great, and we live with those and yet we're not powerless to respond to it. We can respond ... and he wants to use us in that process."

Bravo, I applaud you Stephen by saying we are NOT powerless to respond to it.

Next to Jimmy Carter and a few other folks, I've only known a handful of REAL Christians in my lifetime, and Stephen Curtis Chapman is one of them. See, after raising his own family, he adopted three little girl orphans from China. Stephen is making a difference on the personal level, and though he and I view things differently, I salute him and respect him deeply.

But, again, it is not God who is going to renew things — it is up to us. God gave us a brain much larger than all other animals, and I believe He expects us to use it.

It Ain't Wal-Mart's Fault

Well, they ain't all perfect. Wall-mart refuses to sell emergency contraception
pills in their pharmacy, so my Canary friends and me were protesting. Such
a policy only leads to more unintended pregnancies and abortions.

Let's Talk About Wally World!!!

When I heard about the PBS documentary on Wal-mart, I thought it was going to make me angry at the company, but SURPRISE — that wasn't my reaction at all.

The documentary, which aired on the show Frontline, essentially made the case that Wal-mart was forcing U.S. manufacturing jobs to move to China. There, in China, employees are paid 50 cents an hour for the same job that would pay $15 an hour in the U.S.

The TV documentary made the case that Wal-mart was putting so much pressure on vendors to keep their prices low that they were being forced to relocate their plants to China, which has become the "world's workshop."

Another Canary Shocker...

While I am a social liberal, I'm also a fiscal conservative and a big believer that capitalism is like evolution. If you want to learn how capitalism works, watch Wild Kingdom on TV. See, really, Wal-mart has committed no crime. No one has to work for them, no one has to sell to them, and no one has to buy from them. And blaming the loss of jobs in the U.S. on Wal-mart is silly because it is OUR fault and the fault of our tunnel vision government.

See, the main reason that Chinese goods are so cheap is NOT because of alleged subsidies or the alleged deflation of Chinese currency. The real reason is that there are MILLIONS AND MILLIONS of people who need jobs. Such a massive labor glut keeps prices low and it's SO CHEAP to manufacture in China that even with the cost of a long boat trip, Chinese goods are still a great deal. So when you buy those $9 dress shoes or that $9.88 toaster oven, think about those Chinese workers who eagerly work for 50 cents an hour because they have hopes and dreams of moving UP.

As for the United States, we are quickly following China's example. Our population is skyrocketing and is fueled by high immigration and an abnormally high teen pregnancy rate. Let us keep having our large families and when the grown kids fight for jobs we can say it's "God's punishment."

Specifically, China has a current population of 1.29 billion and the nation will reach 1.39 billion by 2050, which is an 8 percent growth rate. Meanwhile, back in the idyllic United States our population is 291 million now and will grow to 421 million by 2050, a 45 percent growth rate. (Source: Population Reference Bureau).

So don't worry about jobs going to China. As our U.S. population skyrockets and China's population continues to slow, the jobs will return to the good ol' USA. We hard working Americans will then be making nice TV sets and toasters for the Chinese, but we likely won't be getting paid much.

To add injury to insult...

Funny thing is that the United Nations Population Fund has programs in China that help to slow the population by encouraging smaller and healthier families. But in 2002, President Bush cut the U.S. contribution to this program, and he continued withholding the funding in 2003. The reason he has done this is the claim that some of the funds are used for coerced abortions in China. Several delegations to the country have proven this allegation to be completely false, but the White House remains firm on their position. The main person pressuring President Bush to withhold the funds is an anti-contraceptive zealot in Congress named Chris Smith (R-NJ), along with the Family Research Council, an extremist and Catholic-leaning group.

What an irony!

Hmmm, I guess President Bush is withholding family planning funds to China so that they can have more babies, and thus more workers, so that labor rates will remain low. Thus, Wally World can continue to keep prices low for American consumers and jobs will continue to flow to China.

So, no, I don't blame Wally World for this crises. They are just shrewd business people who are exploiting an opportunity in the system. And for all the bad they are supposedly doing, they are also doing good by keeping prices low, forcing vendors to be efficient, and probably single-handedly slowing inflation.

And yet another irony in this story is that the VERY NEXT day after the documentary aired, Sears and K-mart announced their merger. This is even more evidence that Wal-mart is not the bad guy because they are just as susceptible to new and unexpected market developments as any other firm. It is survival of the fittest, or as the old saying goes, it's EVOLUTION!!!

A Vote For Life Is A Vote For Death

All my life in church, I've continually heard pastors scream about "giving more and doing more." If everything is so RIGHT about Christianity, shouldn't people be willing to do this without constant coercion?

When the Pastors and Priests told you to only vote for "pro-life" candidates, did you know that you were also voting for:

• A pro-war, pro-death agenda?
• The rollback of environmental and labor laws to benefit big business?
• Tax cuts for the rich and continued neglect and indifference to the poor?
• Support of an American lifestyle based on comfort and greed, at the expense of our future and the rest of the world?
• A growing federal debt left for your children to pay?
• A sorry health care system that is designed to benefit rich, greedy companies and not people?

Oh, and one other surprise. According to one statistician, since President Bush took office in 2000, abortions have actually gone UP!

Yes, it's true. Dr. Glen Harold Stassen, who is also a Christian ethicist and pro-life supporter recently did some interesting research.

Statistics show that abortions in the U.S. steadily decreased in the 1990s, with an average decrease of 1.7 percent per year (Alan Guttmacher Institute). But then came George W. Bush in 2001.

"One would expect the abortion rate to continue its consistent course downward, if not plunge," Dr. Stassen said. "Instead, the opposite happened."

In a state by state analysis, Dr. Stassen found abortions up in three states that had data available for 2003. For 13 states that had data for 2001 and 2002, he found that eight of them showed a significant increase of 14.6 percent, while the remaining five saw a slight decrease of 4.3 percent.

"Under President Bush, the decade-long trend of declining abortion rates appears to have reversed. Given the trends of the 1990s, 52,000 more abortions occurred in the United States in 2002 than would have been expected before this change of direction," Dr. Stassen says.

The reasons why abortions are going UP under Bush?

Reason 1: More women say they cannot AFFORD to have their child (Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life). This is due to the loss of jobs in our country and the nationwide decrease of average real incomes. Oh, and minimum wage has not been raised to match inflation for over seven years now.

Reason 2: Half of all the women who abort say they do not have a reliable mate. Men who are jobless typically do not marry. As male unemployment increases, marriages fall and abortion rises.

Reason 3: Women tend to worry about health care for themselves and their children. Since 5.2 million more people have no health insurance now than before the Bush presidency, abortion increases.

Adding to this, I, the Yellow Canary, would like to point out that President Bush is helping to increase abortions around the world by placing the "Gag Rule" restrictions on international family planning and removing the U.S. contribution to the United Nations Population Fund.

Conclusion: When You Voted For "Pro-Life" You Really Voted For More Abortions!

The real solution to eliminating abortion is not to throw desperate women in jail. Rather, we should work to provide these women with health insurance, jobs, child care, a decent wage, a responsible male mate, education ... and oh, the one thing that everyone forgot - love. Also, sex education and access to family planning services would ALSO help reduce abortion (yeah I know, those two things are evil).

Sure, the big companies and their minions behind the pulpits know how to "activate" their voter base. All I ask is that you do the research and really understand what you're voting for.

In the 2004 presidential election, a vote for "Life" was actually a vote for MORE abortions, MORE war, and MORE policies meant to appease the selfish masses, at the expense of everything else.

"But George Bush cut my taxes!" Yeah, right. I forgot — it's all about you.

Glen Stassen is the Lewis B. Smedes Professor of Christian Ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary, and the co-author of Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context, as well as other books and articles.

Post-Election Depression Continues

While you may be putting money
in the offering plate, taxes are
also taking a big chunk of your
money and using it on military
hardware. Should you have a
say in all this?

It's one week after the election ....

And I'm still feeling a sense of deep, dark gloom. The United States has chosen the direction it wants to go in the next four years — right over a cliff.

There is no sense of world community, working with the United Nations, getting serious about Mideast peace, healing our environment, or laying the groundwork for a sustainable future.

As usual, the ironies of our country continue to make me crazy. Our president talks about a Culture of Life while he engages in war and death. The moral masses of our country scream out against "perverts" getting married. Now, I find the marriage of Charlton Heston, Kenneth Lay, Pat Robertson, and Jerry Falwell MUCH more perverted than a same sex marriage. The marriage of religious America, corporate America, and gun America is the marriage that should be outlawed!

Now, if you're are a religious conservative, you are probably reading this and laughing SO HARD that you're blowing milk out your nose. Yep, I LOST, and it's no fun to be on the losing side. However, 48 percent of America is on the losing side with me. I find like-minded people everywhere I go, including work, the voting line, and especially in the environmental groups I belong too. We is pissed.

A lot of us are also getting angrier and angrier about this war. I say BRING HOME THE TROOPS TOMORROW! And you are saying, "That would just throw Iraq into turmoil, and then the country would become a breeding ground for terrorism. And then, gosh, some Ayatollah will take over and turn the nation into a religious fundamentalist dictatorship."

Well, that's already happening in the United States, and the same will happen in Iraq — with or without troops and rebuilding funds. So, let's just save a thousand American lives and billions of our tax dollars and end it now. It was all a VERY BAD mistake. Why do we have a Department of Defense and a Secretary of Defense when we are waging offensive war? Everything is twisted and upside down.

Some of us, well at least me, are also getting angry at the continual attempts to intertwine Christianity with the "American Lifestyle." Believe me, this American Lifestyle isn't a good thing. Look at us — most of us are overweight and we pump ourselves up with drugs for anxiety, depression, high blood pressure, obesity, headaches, and the list goes on. Look at our video addict kids — they down four Cokes a day, play video games for nine hours, and then we load them with Ritalin and send them to bed.

Well..

So maybe all of us progressives in this country are just depressed people anyway, and we just needed an excuse to feel glum. Or maybe we are all too smart and over educated. Maybe having an IQ of above 100 and having the ability to think for yourself and question is a curse. Maybe it is more peaceful to go through life in an ignorant bliss and just accept everything the "entrenched institutions" tell you. Maybe it's better to let Fox Network just spoon feed you the applesauce, while you say, "Yum, yum, that's right. We conservatives are under attack by those evil, baby-killing liberals who want to take our religion and guns away from us."

From the song "Jesus of Suburbia" by Green Day:

I'm the son of rage and love
The Jesus of suburbia
From the bible of none of the above
On a steady diet of soda pop and Ritalin
No one ever died for my sins in hell
As far as I can tell
At least the ones I got away with

And there's nothing wrong with me
This is how I'm supposed to be
In a land of make believe
That don't believe in me

Load Your Gun, Reject Your Child - For God

She coalesces with the NRA yet has ostracized her only daughter because she is gay.

...I find it deeply troubling that the Christian Coalition of Georgia and the National Rifle Association regularly cooperate. On at least two occasions, the Christian Coalition has sent out Action Alerts on behalf of the NRA, and the two groups once sat on a discussion panel together.

I find it even more troubling that Sadie Fields, the president of the Christian Coalition of Georgia, has ostracized her only daughter because she is gay.

...As a Church member for most of my life and the child of fundamentalist Christian parents, one of the most wonderful things I learned about my faith was "unconditional love." Sadie Fields, who most recently published a scathing article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that supported the gay marriage ban, is NOT showing unconditional love to her own daughter, yet she is a Christian leader ("Can't Let the Few Hurt Society As A Whole," Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Oct. 25).

...Lesbian daughter Tess Fields on mother Sadie's bigotry Tess Fields, the lesbian daughter of Georgia Christian Coalition leader Sadie Fields, who has led the state's same-sex marriage constitution amendment ban, has come out strongly against the measure just days before Tuesday's referendum. In a highly personal public letter to The Atlanta Journal- Constitution's editorial page, Tess Fields also criticized what she called her mother's "bigotry" and "abject hostility toward gay and lesbian people."

...Sadie Fields said her daughter's sexuality and their strained relationship is deeply painful for her. The Christian Coalition leader, who also has two sons, said that she loves her daughter and prays for her daily.... Sadie Fields said she would continue to support the constitutional amendment because she says it's the right thing to do.

...At least I have some respect for Vice President Dick Cheney, who has accepted, supported, and defended his lesbian daughter.

...When I ask conservative folks about the strange relationship between God and guns in this country, the common response is: "Christians have a right to defend themselves."... I suppose that when the Christian-Industrial coalition pushes the disenfranchised masses to the point of rebellion, they will need their assault weapons to defend themselves and their One Right Way.

Sadie Fields, is president of the Christian

Coalition of Georgia, and another great
role model for hypocrites. She coalesces with
the NRA yet has ostracized her only
daughter because she is gay.

I find it troubling...

I find it deeply troubling that the Christian Coalition of Georgia and the National Rifle Association regularly cooperate. On at least two occasions, the Christian Coalition has sent out Action Alerts on behalf of the NRA, and the two groups once sat on a discussion panel together.

I find it even more troubling that Sadie Fields, the president of the Christian Coalition of Georgia, has ostracized her only daughter because she is gay. So, instead of coddling her own 35-year-old daughter, she instead coddles the NRA.

As a Church member for most of my life and the child of fundamentalist Christian parents, one of the most wonderful things I learned about my faith was "unconditional love." Sadie Fields, who most recently published a scathing article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that supported the gay marriage ban, is NOT showing unconditional love to her own daughter, yet she is a Christian leader ("Can't Let the Few Hurt Society As A Whole," Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Oct. 25).

A few days later, her excommunicated lesbian daughter wrote a response to her mother's column. The following is a summary:


Lesbian daughter Tess Fields on mother Sadie's bigotry
Tess Fields, the lesbian daughter of Georgia Christian Coalition leader Sadie Fields, who has led the state's same-sex marriage constitution amendment ban, has come out strongly against the measure just days before Tuesday's referendum. In a highly personal public letter to The Atlanta Journal- Constitution's editorial page, Tess Fields also criticized what she called her mother's "bigotry" and "abject hostility toward gay and lesbian people." Sadie Fields found out Tess was a lesbian when Tess was 24. "My mother came over to where I worked, screaming, and told me I was 'dead' to the family. She called me 'sick,' 'crazy,' and 'of the devil,' " Tess Fields wrote.

Here is Ms. Field's response, excerpted from the Associated Press:

Sadie Fields said her daughter's sexuality and their strained relationship is deeply painful for her. The Christian Coalition leader, who also has two sons, said that she loves her daughter and prays for her daily. "I would give my life for her, but I can't affirm her in her choices," she said. Sadie Fields said she would continue to support the constitutional amendment because she says it's the right thing to do. "The amendment issue is larger than just one relationship," Sadie Fields said. "It's not just about me and my daughter. It's about the future of this country."

Yeah, right. At least I have some respect for Vice President Dick Cheney, who has accepted, supported, and defended his lesbian daughter. I have zero respect for Sadie Fields, who is really all about partisan politics and pushing a hard right agenda.



Canary Comment ...

When I ask conservative folks about the strange relationship between God and guns in this country, the common response is: "Christians have a right to defend themselves." But Christians are actually defending the status quo, the corporate-industrial complex, and their own brand of morals. I suppose that when the Christian-Industrial coalition pushes the disenfranchised masses to the point of rebellion, they will need their assault weapons to defend themselves and their One Right Way.

Hope

Just when I was starting to get depressed...

Leave it to some wonderful author to come and cheer me up. Last weekend I read a great article on this book and I can hardly wait to buy it. You see, this book is about the hard work of advocating social change. That's what I'm trying to do — I'm trying to promote sustainability. The way we are living now is totally unsustainable and if we don't change our ways in about 50 years we'll be in trouble.

I know that movements take time. I know that I will have to spend my entire life working on this movement, and I will likely not see the results of my work in my lifetime. But many social movements take several generations. Think of the liberation of British rule in India or the end to apartheid in South Africa, or civil rights in the U.S. These were long slow movements and there were many martyrs and much suffering before dreams were realized.

The book, titled "The Impossible Will Take A Little While" is a stirring collection of essays aimed at folks like me who are still crazy enough to believe that ordinary people can change the world. Featured in the book is a collection of 50 inspirational stories and essays from such activists as Wendell Berry, Congressman John Lewis, and author Tony Kushner. Also included are the voices of other, unknown activists in faraway lands. For these activists, instead of getting awards they often get killed.

According to author Paul Rogat Loeb, the idea of the book is to inspire people who feel too overwhelmed by the world's problems. The following are some quotes from his interview in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

"Apathy kills the soul. Activism reawakens it — no matter how hopeless the cause may seem."

"When we know things are wrong, we literally have to kill some part of ourselves to accept that. When we take action for justice, we're congruent with the core of our being. Our values and actions align. And we're part of a community, a stream of justice extending forward and backward."

"History shows that even seemingly miraculous advances are in fact the result of many people taking small steps together over a long period of time."

"Every act of defiance somehow pays off in the end. Don't look for a moment of total triumph. See engagement as an ongoing struggle with victories and defeats, but in the long run, slow progress ... Understand that even when you don't 'win' there is fun and fulfillment in the fact that you have been involved, with other good people, in something worthwhile."

"You have to have some sense of something larger than yourself, no matter how you name it."

"In today's fiercely partisan political climate people often try to denigrate social justice activists as relics from another era. That's because many powerful people don't want people to push past the clichés to learn more about social-justice movements. It's a dangerous example because if more people started following them and saying, "Look at what they did: we can do that, too' it would encourage people to question entrenched institutions of power today."



The Canary Adds One More Thought...

This comes from John Brown, who led a failed slave revolt in October 1859 and was hung two months later. This week, for some reason, the passage has taken on a new meaning for me:


. . . I believe to have interfered as I have done, . . . in behalf of His despised poor, was not wrong, but right. Now, if it be deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle my blood further with the blood of my children, and with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments, I submit: so let it be done."

They Don't Understand

The election was a few days ago on Tuesday...

And I'm still recovering from the shock. What I learned, I suppose, is that the United States is a REALLY religious country. That's alright because there's nothing wrong with being Christian or religious, I suppose. But it's the hypocrisy that absolutely kills me. It's like one narrow set of twisted morals have been thrust upon this land — and the Americans are trying to push them on the world as well.

I never thought I'd see the day when Christians form a coalition with gun owners and rich industrialists. What is moral about guns? What is moral about giant rich corporations that plunder the environment and screw the workers? Why do the Christians give their loyalty to industrialists, who are busy outsourcing American jobs overseas?

What is so Christian about tax breaks for the rich, which makes our country so financially strapped that we can't help the poor? What is Christian about cutting taxes and leaving the national debt for our children to pay? What is so Christian about war? Who are these people in the American Heartland who are so eager for vengeance?

What is so Christian about an American lifestyle that is based on selfishness, comfort, and the worship of materialism?

Yet, myself and the nearly half the country who voted for Kerry are the scums. We are the poor, the jobless, the disenfranchised, the minorities, the gays, the liberal intellectuals, and the lowly progressives like myself. We are the "out" crowd and there's not enough of us to stand up against the Heartland.

The Walmart shoppers — the God-fearing citizens of the small towns and suburbs have spoken. "Let us roll over the gays, feminists, environmentalists, Iraqis, Iranians, and whoever else stands in our way. Let us crush them with our tank treads, for we are the people of God."

When a thief steals a loaf of bread or some crack head buys some dope, the Christian Taliban puts him in jail and throws away the key. But what about the corporate polluters? Or the Ivy League boys who get nice jobs in glass towers and then spend their lives cooking the books? What about the tainted public officials who only serve the masters with the deepest pockets?

Where is the justice? Where is the dignity?

Of course, it all comes back to the evils of gay marriage — shit, imagine two people who love each other getting married. How sick is that? Or it comes to abortion ... let us show no mercy for those women who are poor, desperate, and have no one to help or care about them. Now they are pregnant and the Christian Right wants to throw them in jail. "No, we only want to go after the abortion providers," they say. But there were only a few of them to begin with, and now they are all gone ... so it's time to go after the young women.

All I ask, all I've EVER asked, is that we all make our decisions based on long-term sustainability.

But we are going in the wrong direction. The people of the Heartland put on their Christian Halloween masks, and then they condone environmental rape, global climate change, exploitation of the downtrodden, and the perpetuation of a system that is based on "ME" instead of other Americans and the World Community.

So, yes, come tell me what it means to be a Christian. Lead me to Christ. Tell me what a rotten, wretched person I am. Please, I believe I've missed something here and I really need to know.

Yellow Canary