Imagine the Quaker
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archives | newquaker.comSaturday, December 25, 2004
Who is Ty, you ask? Ty is the monkey off my back. My mother gave him to me many years ago and he's still hanging around.
Here he is reading E.F. Schumacher's classic Small is Beautiful, because I re-read it every now and then, too.
posted by Merle Harton, Jr. 11:45 PM
I have to get off this Bush jag. I'm now having Bush episodes in the way I used to get Nixon episodes: they weren't healthy or productive for me then and probably aren't now. Besides, I'm reaching a point where I just end up repeating myself, or at least start saying the same thing in different, creative terms—but that's only because the Bush administration is consistent, just as the Nixon administration was consistent, and these in the end turn out not to be virtues.
Instead, I need to put my energies elsewhere. A good place to start is where the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is picking up, by again calling for the immediate withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. They have an Iraq Peace Petition underway right now. The petition will be delivered on the morning after the inauguration.
posted by Merle Harton, Jr. 11:10 PM
"Everywhere peace is needed!" As rescuers finish digging up bodies from the truck bomb attack on the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad today, I have to reflect on the stark differences between two world leaders and their markedly different Christmas messages.
On the one hand is a man I admire very much, Pope John Paul II, who now can't walk, suffers from Parkinson's Disease, can barely talk or sit up straight, and yet can still muster up the strength to brave a pouring rain as he gave his "Urbei et Orbi" message from the steps of St Peter's Basilica. "Let there be an end to the numerous situations of unrest which risk degenerating into open conflict; let there arise a firm will to seek peaceful solutions, respectful of the legitimate aspirations of individuals and peoples," he said, calling for everyone, everywhere, to "come with trust to the crib of the Saviour!"
On the other hand is our President who, from the comfort of his radio studio, spoke words that could appear on any seasonal Hallmark card. But his words were somehow different, skewed, morphed from their original into something dark and subliminal:
He said, "Christmastime reminds each of us that we have a duty to our fellow citizens, that we are called to love our neighbor just as we would like to be loved ourselves." But what really came from his lips was: "What I mean is that we should love our own American kind. Forget about those Middle Eastern-types. Forget that Jesus said we must love our enemies: I say instead that we must destroy them, for they are the enemies of freedom."
He said, "By volunteering our time and talents where they are needed most, we help heal the sick, comfort those who suffer, and bring hope to those who despair, one heart and one soul at a time. " But what came from his lips was: "Americans must volunteer because my government will neither fund a national health plan nor set aside funding to comfort anyone—not in Darfur, not in Haiti, not in America. That money is needed to blow up insurgents, houses, and people in Iraq."
He said, "By bringing liberty to the oppressed, our troops are helping to win the war on terror, and they are defending the freedom and security of us all." But what really came from his lips was: "So these are two great lies—one, that we are actually helping the Iraqi people by occupying their country and, two, that the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq have anything whatsoever to do with the security of the US."
Meanwhile, in Italy, was heard the labored prayer of Pope John Paul II: "You, Prince of true peace, help us to understand that the only way to build peace is to flee in horror from evil, and to pursue goodness with courage and perseverance."
posted by Merle Harton, Jr. 10:30 PM
Friday, December 24, 2004
Well, I finally got to the post office in Herkimer and picked up my copy of Time magazine with the romantic cover featuring as "Person of the Year" President George W. Bush, American Revolutionary. How did he get this ridiculous honor? What were they thinking? Says Time in the frontpiece: "For sticking to his guns (literally and figuratively), for reshaping the rules of politics to fit his ten-gallon-hat style of leadership and for setting the global agenda whether the world likes it or not, Bush is Time's Person of the Year." In other words, for all the wrong reasons. At the President's next press conference, I'm sure that Time correspondents will be there asking the hard questions.
Time sent me a renewal notice to the magazine for $19 bucks, but I can't in good conscience pay that after this blinding evidence of bad judgment. I'd cancel my subscription, but I've been getting the magazine free through my $4.95 account with AOL. Now that the subscription is almost up, I figure it's about time that I got rid of AOL, too.posted by Merle Harton, Jr. 12:55 AM
© Merle Harton, Jr. All rights reserved. Biblical references are NIV® unless otherwise noted.
