S/R Report 03: Balanced Military Spending?

My bias is that the United States spends too much money on military expenditures. I admit that statement is biased, or prejudiced. I hope, through the SR Report to learn about our defense spending and to determine some solid facts about it. If the statistics I present are not accurate, please refer me to a more solid base.

While I am anti-war, I am not anti-military. I have a son who is a Sergeant in the US Army and I am very proud of him and his service. I support a strong military, one which is an adequate deterrent to any would-be adversary. I am a patriotic American, born and raised, who truly loves this land. [So, when I say "but" do not forget these things I have just said.]

But, it seems to me that we spend way too much money on defense. Money which could be applied to very needed domestic projects, or to paying down our national debt.

For example: according to Time Magazine (6-12-09, p. 15)*in 2008:

• the United States spent $607 billion on the military
  
• China, France, UK and Russia spent $274 billion combined
  
• The US has 2,000 nuclear warheads on alert for instant launch
  
• The US has spent $903 billion in Afghanistan and Iraq since conflict began
  

President Dwight Eisenhower (1953-1961) is remembered by many for his "Military-Industrial Complex" speech. That farewell address has been used by some to build fear of the growing power of the military and its defense contractors. There is serious concern in that area; many see that speech as an indictment of possible excessive spending for our military on defense projects. But, the primary thrust of Eisenhower's speech was an appeal that we maintain balance in our national spending, not that we weaken our military capabilities. He asked that we keep our priorities in order. He said:

Crises there will continue to be. In meeting them, whether foreign or domestic, great or small, there is a recurring temptation to feel that some spectacular and costly action could become the miraculous solution to all current difficulties. A huge increase in newer elements of our defense; development of unrealistic programs to cure every ill in agriculture; a dramatic expansion in basic and applied research -- these and many other possibilities, each possibly promising in itself, may be suggested as the only way to the road we wish to travel.


But each proposal must be weighed in the light of a broader consideration: the need to maintain balance in and among national programs

• balance between the private and the public economy,
  
• balance between cost and hoped for advantage
  
• balance between the clearly necessary and the comfortably desirable;
  
• balance between our essential requirements as a nation and the duties imposed by the nation upon the individual;
  
• balance between actions of the moment and the national welfare of the future.

Good judgment seeks balance and progress; lack of it eventually finds imbalance and frustration. The text of the complete speech can be found at: this site.

What follows is a short excerpt from Eisenhower's speech. Please remember, prior to being a two-term president of the United States, he was a five-star general in the US Army, and was the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces D-Day invasion of Normandy.

Farewell Speech

The first question I raise in this S/R Report is one of balance. Is the amount of money we spend with the Pentagon an appropriate amount, given the other national needs and budget Items?

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SR Snips:

Hate Crimes: No religion is without its extremists, including those who think killing others is within God's will. Murder is a perversion of God's will and religious people must speak out against this heresy. --Rabbi Barry Block, Temple Beth-El,San Antonio. SA Express-News, 6-20-09

Gay rights: The Georgia Supreme court recently overturned a ban prohibiting a divorced gay man from attending a Little League game, or a concert if his three kids were taking part--and, if his gay partner were with him.--AP, SA Express-News, 6-21-09, p.22.

Defense SpendingThe military has purchased 183 F-22 Raptor fighters and says they probably need 60 more. The fighter costs $353 million each. --Time, 2-23-09, p30-33.

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*Time got its figures from the Stockholm International Peace Institute.

S/R Rpt 02: Gay Repression & Expression

Sanity/Respect Report--Focus: hate, gay rights & defense spending
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June 28, 1969 is a date in American homosexual history revered as a watershed moment. On that date, riots broke out at the Stonewall Inn in New York City in the early morning hours. Those riots are often pointed to as the first instance in American history where gay and lesbian resistance to government-supported persecution took place. It is held to be the start of the gay rights movement in the United States. The following year, June 28, 1970, Gay Pride marches took place in New York and Los Angeles--and are currently held annually throughout the world to mark the Stonewall event.

Suppression of Gays In the 1950s, strong suppressive movements existed with the purpose of controlling and eliminating subversive security risks. The McCarthy hearings led to a somewhat paranoid search for communists and anarchists. The State Department added homosexuals to the list, saying they were enotionally unstable, and thus were subject to blackmai (as security risks). From 1947 to 1950, 1700 federal job applications were denied, 4380 persons were discharged from the armed forces and 420 were fired from their government jobs for being suspected homosexuals.

In the fifties and sixties:

• the FBI kept lists of known homosexuals and their friends
  
• the US Postal Service kept track of addresses where homosexual material was mailed
  
• state and local governments shut down gay bars, arrested customers and exposed them in newspapers
  
• the wearing of "opposite gender" clothing was outlawed in some cities
  
• professors suspected of being gay were fired by universities
  
• thousands of gays and lesbians were jailed, fired or institutionalized in mental hospitals
  

The above material was gleaned from an article in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_riots , reviewed 6-17-09.

Is there any wonder why gays would tend to stay "in the closet" and live in fear of having their sexual orientation disclosed? A homosexual young person, in their twenties or thirties shows great courage in openly declairing their sexual orientation. Even to their parents, who for the most part were culturally conditioned by the "anti-homosexual" culture of the last half of the twentieth century.

I worked as a professional counselor at a mental health facility in the 1970s. I became known as the "gay counselor" because I was one of a very small number of counselors who were willing to counsel with gays. In ten years of counseling I found no homosexual persons who experienced the sexual orientation as a choice. The only person who said it was a c hoice turned out to be a bi-sexual person, not a homosexual person.

Think about it: why would anyone freely choose a sexual life that would bring such hatred and social ostracism? It is not a choice. Think about it. If you are heterosexual, do you remember making that choice regarding your sexual orientation? Think about it. Most heterosexuals are usually repulsed, or at least have an aversion, to same-sex intercourse. Most homosexuals express the same repulsion, aversion to opposite-sex intercourse. Think about it.

SR Snips:
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Hate crimes occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her perceived membership in a certain social group, usually defined by racial group, religion, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, gender identity or political affiliation.
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US Defense The United States has spent $903 billion in Afghanistan and Iraq since hostilities began.
Time, 6-22-09, p. 15
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Gay RightsThe Defense of Marriage Act (1996) says that no state needs to treat a relationship between persons of the same sex as a marriage, even if the relationship is considered a marriage in another state. The federal government defines marriage as a legal union exclusively between one man and one woman.

S/R Report 01: HATE is available at this same site. Scroll down.

Sanity/Respect Report 01: HATE

A World of Hate

"hate 1.a: an intense hostility and aversion usually deriving from fear, anger or sense of injury b:extreme dislike or antipathy . . . 2: an object of hatred."

We live in a time when the fires of fear and anger are being daily stoked. An almost constant parade of evocative words march past our consciousness: Islamic terrorist, socialist government, job loss, foreclosure, nuclear war, baby killers, gay marriage, hate groups . . . . And fear often evolves into hatred. "In time we hate that which we often fear." (Shakespeare)** No wonder it has become sytlish to hate, more than to love.

As seminal as fear may be, anger is an even more potent seedbed for hate: "Anger may repast with thee for an hour, but not repose for a night; the continuance of anger is hatred, the continuance of hatred turns [into] malice." *** A warning regarding anger comes to us from the New Testament, "Let not the sun go down on your wrath."**** Because, holding onto anger, leads to hatred, and holding on to hatred fuels the desire to hurt the object of hate.

Too often we hate because we forget that we are brothers and sisters. We tend to divide the world up into "the good" and "the evil"; and, always "we" are on the side of the good, the honorable, the righteous. We make our divisive issues, e.g., racism, abortion, terrorism, etc., into sides of right and wrong. And we get so polarized in our thinking that it become impossible for us to see any good in the view opposite to ours. Iba Ezra said, "Love blinds us to faults, but hatred blinds us to virtues."

Representing the "other side" as less human than we--demonizing them, making them totally depraved and evil--makes it even more difficult to share a common vision of progress. In fact it makes us slightly paranoid, suspicious that they might do something to harm us. Hear the words of Archibald Macleish, "The man who lives, not by what he loves, but what he hates is a sick man."

With kindness, yet forcefulness, let each of us reduce hatred in our space by diminishing fear, anger and malice.

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S/R SNIPS:

New San Antonio mayor Julian Castro has agreed to serve as the grand marshall of the city's Gay Pride Parade July 4. He is the first SA mayor to agree to so serve.
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In 2008 the US government spent $607 billion to upgrade its military. Other figures, in billions: China was second with $85, followed by France ($66), ($65), Russia ($59). Total world spending; $1.46 trillion.
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Southern Poverty Law Center link: http://splcenter.org/

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* http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hate (copied 6/13/09)
** William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra, Charmian at I, iii)
***. Quarles Francis, no citation
**** Ephesians 4.26, KJV.

Favorite Things

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Went through my ITunes "purchased list" this morning (cursorily) and picked my favorite songs (below). I will probably add other favorites (songs, books, food, games, tv shows, movies, etc.) to this list. For now, here are the songs I have picked as "five stars" from ITunes. It seems to me that selecting our "favorites" is a way of understanding ourselves and others better.

FAVORITE SONGS

• We Shall Overcome -- Joan Baez


• Over the Rainbow -- Karaoke version


• No Place But Texas -- Willie Nelson ** (lyrics below)


• Both Sides Now -- Neil Diamond *** (partial lyrics below)


• It Is No Secret -- Elvis Presley


• Always On My Mind -- Willie Nelson


• Forever and Ever, Amen. -- Randy Travis


• I Came to Believe -- Johnny Cash


• Believe -- Josh Groban


• Belief -- John Maher * (see lyrics below)


• The Closest Thing to Crazy -- Kate Melua


• Battle Hymn of the Republic -- Morman Tabernacle Choir

There are a number of contradictory emotions and beliefs expressed in these songs. I am coming to believe that the need for us to strive for consistency in our lives (as a means of achieving integrity) is highly overrated. Honesty and loyalty should not be diminished, but as circumstances in life change, one must be open to embracing new perspectives.

Striving for consistency (e.g., "holiness code stuff") leads to living in denial (or conscious hypocrisy). Our existence is filled with settings in which we are multi-polar, impure, contradictory. Neil Diamond's song "Both Sides Now" tells me of the ways our "conformity-urges" constrict our growth and expression. Humbly, we find freedom as we embrace the illusions of life--which somehow synthesize our experiences.

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*Lyrics "Belief" by John Mayer

Is there anyone who Ever remembers
changing their mind from The paint on a sign?
Is there anyone who really recalls Ever breaking rank at all
For something someone yelled real loud one time

Everyone believes In how they think it ought to be
Everyone believes And they're not going easily

Belief is a beautiful armor But makes for the heaviest sword
Like punching under water You never can hit who you're trying for
Some need the exhibition And some have to know they tried
It's the chemical weapon For the war that's raging on inside

Everyone believes From emptiness to everything
Everyone believes And no ones going quietly

We're never gonna win the world
We're never gonna stop the war
We're never gonna beat this
If belief is what we're fighting for

What puts a hundred thousand children in the sand
Belief can Belief can
What puts the folded flag inside his mother's hand
Belief can Belief can

** Lyrics "No Place But Texas"

God painted the bluebonnets in the fields
By a tough little scrub oak on an East Texas hill
And he plucked the star from a lone star sky
And he put it in the twinkle of a cowboy's eye

The wide open spaces he made wild and free
Texas as far as any eye can see
And he made her sons grow tough and strong
They still cry when they hear a sad song

(Chorus:)
No place but Texas
Would I ever roam
No place but Texas
My home, sweet home
No place but Texas
My home, sweet home

When I die I hope they bury me
By the Pedernales River 'neath a white oak tree
Where I can see the longhorns graze
And the cactus flowers blooming in the morning haze

No place but Texas
Would I ever roam
No place but Texas
My home, sweet home
No place but Texas
My home, sweet home


*** Lyrics: "Both Sides Now"
Rolls and flows of angel hair,
Ice cream castles in the air,
Feather canyons everywhere,
I've looked at clouds that way.
But now they only block the sun.
They rain, they snow on everyone.
So many things I would've done
But clouds got in my way.

I've looked at clouds from both sides now,
From up and down and still somehow
It's clouds' illusions I recall.
I really don't know clouds at all.

. . . .


Tears and fears and feeling proud,
Say "I love you" right out loud.
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds
I've looked at life that way.
But now old friends are acting strange.
They shake their heads and say I've changed.
But something's lost when somethings gained
Living everyday.

I've looked at life from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
It's life's illusions I recall.
I really don't know life at all.

Election 2008

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GOOD FRIDAY?

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This sermon was preached at Boerne First United Methodist Church on Good Friday, March 21, 2008.

I was reading on the internet a review of a movie earlier this week when I came upon a warning, in bold print. WARNING: SPOILER AHEAD. What they meant was they were about to tell me the way the movie came out. So if I didn’t want to know how the story ended, I shouldn’t read any more. Knowing how the story ends, takes away from the suspense and emotion of the movie.

I think the same can be said for the passion story.

I have heard it said that we cannot experience the ecstasy and joy of Easter, unless we experience the pain and despair of the crucifixion.

It is an basic part of our human make-up that we try to avoid pain and we seek out pleasure. But it is also true that healing and growth often require pain and sacrifice.

So, tonight, let us listen to the testimony of some of the principle actors in the Good Friday events. We will hear from them as they speak to us on Saturday---the day after the crucifixion, the day before what we call Easter. So at that point, they did not know about the Resurrection

We know that the Jewish day began at sunset. So, “Friday” actually began on our Thursday evening. It included the Last Supper and ended at Sunset the next day.

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Our first witness is Peter:

“This is the worst day of my life. First, Jesus wanted to wash my feet and I wouldn’t let him. Then I begged him to wash my feet. I had a hard time knowing what was expected of me. Then Jesus asked me to pray with him when we got to the garden. And, of all things, I fell asleep. The next thing I know the Temple Guard is there, arresting Jesus. I was ready to fight them off, but Jesus said no. Then, early in the morning (or very late last night) I said I didn’t even know him. --- not once, but three times. I was so scared. I wish I’d never been born. And I ran away and hid. Then they killed him on a cross.
WHY DO YOU CALL THIS GOOD FRIDAY?"

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And hear from his mother, Mary:

I worried so much for him, especially those last days. There had been times in his life when our family felt like he was going too far. We tried to help him, but he wouldn’t listen. When he created that ruckus in the temple, earlier this week,I think that was the last straw.
So today as I watched him dying on that cross. I felt like I was dying too. I wish I could have taken his place. My heart has been crushed. I loved him so, and now he is gone. Any mother knows how I feel.
WHY DO YOU CALL THIS GOOD FRIDAY?

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Then there was the Roman soldier:

I never wanted to come to this country. And when I got here I was appalled to be assigned to execution squad. Once, my son was terribly ill, and having heard about Jesus, I asked him to heal my son. And he did. That is why I find it so hard to understand why these people wanted to kill Jesus. I watched as my men whipped him. I saw him struggle as he went to Golgotha. It was incredible. Here he was, seemingly despised and hated by everyone, and he asked his Father God to forgive everyone. Then the earth began to move from under my feet, and the sky was covered with a blanket of darkness. I was surprised when I heard my self say, “Surely this is the Son of God.” And then he died.
WHY DO YOU CALL THIS GOOD FRIDAY?

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We call this Good Friday because we see all these events with Resurrection Eyes. But Resurrection eyes can see the risen Lord, only with the cross in the background.

As I heard someone say earlier today, “We know how it all turned out.” So for us the horrible things that happened on that day are more easily accepted. We may want to minimize the suffering of Jesus. We may want to run away from that cross and hide, like his disciples did. But we cannot; not if our salvation has any real meaning.

So here, on this night of all nights, may we meditate and give thanks for the overwhelming sacrifice of love which Jesus give to us.

We call this day Good Friday, because what Jesus did this day and every day of his life, was to erase the condemnation of sin from each of us.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
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Freedom of / for / from religion

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In South Carolina one can now purchase an automobile license plate bearing the emblem of a cross with the words "I believe" embossed on the bottom of the plate. In my own church Sunday, the congregation said in unison (during the call to worship) "our nation was founded as a Christian nation". I take offense to both those expressions and discuss my reasons below.

Some evangelicals tout the United States to have been founded as a Christian nation; yet, nowhere in the founding documents (Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, etc.) is Jesus Christ mentioned. We do have freedom of / for / from religion in this great nation, and I, as a Christian minister, am proud and grateful that we are a secular "republican-democracy" instead of a state-sponsored theocracy.

I know of no religious group which would want a theocratic government dominated by some religious viewpoint other than their own. That is the key reason for rejection of any tinge of state-sponsored religion.

The assumption by most zealous religious groups is that the rest of the population shares (or ought to share) their own perspective. But in the real world, even the seemingly universal Christian statement "I Believe" is open to controversy. The emerging progressive Christian movement holds that a transforming relationship with God is more important than creedal beliefs.

So, can one order a South Carolina license plate which says "I relate"? To take the

argument even further, will other religous perspectives be allowed on the state-issued licenses? The star of David? The crescent? The words, "Hail Mary, full of grace"? Or even "I don't believe"?

Jesse Helms is quoted as saying that when religous critics espouse "freedom of religion" they mean "freedom from religion". While he may have meant that to be a derogatory condemnation of the "non-religious", I find truth in his statement.

While I will defend anyone's right to their own peculiar religious expression, I cherish deeply the protection that I am constitutionally guaranteed to have freedom from the imposition of "their religion" on me. The tyranny of majority religions being forced on minority perspectives presents itself as a sad and despotic stain on freedom's flag.

In the latter part of the 19th century, Methodism was so popular in the United States, it is said, that a movment wanted to delcare it to be the Church of America. As a Methodist, I am extremely happy that idea died away (I am sure my good Baptist friends also agree).

The choice to express, or to refrain from the expression of, theological / religious tenets in this nation must be vigilantly guarded against the efforts of the well-meaning but zealously self-righteous ones who seek the sanction of government.