From PCU Organizer, San Fernando Valley
“The voice of the faith community cannot be silent in the face of torture, which is widespread, cruel, life threatening, and approved at the highest level of our government. Of all the current scandals, history will judge this most harshly. The soul of the country is at stake”. Dr. George Hunsinger
US sponsored torture is not something new to this administration; our history in Central America, and with the School of the Americas, certainly tells us that. But what has happened in recent years in the current administration, with documentation of atrocities clearly available, calls us as Christians with a new urgency to rise up in resistance against the policies and practices of this country in relation to torture.
We should all rise up as committed, involved citizens. Torture is illegal, violating international treaties and our own country’s laws. As Jane Mayer writes in her recent book, The Dark Side, the US “became the first nation ever to authorize violations of the Geneva Conventions”. By its use of torture, the US has forfeited any capacity to provide international moral leadership. As the late Arthur Schlesinger said, “No position taken has done more damage to the American reputation in the world - ever.”
Torture does not provide reliable information. Torture potentially puts US citizens at great risk. All of these are compelling reasons to rise up in resistance.
But the most compelling reason to resist and abolish torture has to do with the impact of these atrocities on the human beings that are the victims of torture. Broken Laws, Broken Lies: Medical Evidence of Torture by US Personnel and Its Impact, released in June 2008 by Physicians for Human Rights, makes for painful but important reading, as does Jane Mayer’s recent (and chilling) book, The Dark Side. PCU asks us to: See, Pray, Act. Part of that “seeing” is to see the horror of what human beings have endured at the hands of US personnel. If we don’t first “see,” it may become possible for us to be like the “good Germans,” putting this in some far corner or our minds while continuing to live our lives as usual. How will history judge us?
As Christians, we are citizens of a larger realm, and our primary allegiance is not the US, but to the reign of God, and to the example set for us by God’s child, Jesus. At the center of our lives as people of faith, we believe that every person is created in the image of God. This belief is violated to the core by the intentional, deliberate brutality by US personnel and by those who put these policies into place.
In the Episcopal rite of baptism, the candidates are asked several questions, including: Will you persevere in resisting evil? Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being? These are profound words that represent the foundation of what we have committed to as Christians. As the candidates make their covenant, and the people renew their baptismal covenant, they respond to the questions with, Yes, with God’s help. PCU asks us to pray. Read the rest of this entry »
July 21, 2008Memo to those offended by the recent New Yorker cover portraying Barack Obama in Muslim garb and Michelle as a machine gun-toting revolutionary: A sense of humor is a terrible thing to waste.
(These days, the following disclaimer seems necessary:
* Yes, that was a parody of the old United Negro College Fund slogan.
* No, the reference was not meant to disparage Senator Obama’s race or intelligence.
* Yes, I am disparaging people who either can’t see the obvious satiric intent of the cartoon or claim that it wasn’t portrayed in the proper “context”. This latter group seems to be suggesting that Stephen Colbert stencil “I’m not being serious” on his forehead.)
Another group of the cover’s critics acknowledges the satire but insists that the cover is still dangerous because the masses will believe that Barack and Michelle plan to display a portrait of Osama bin Laden over the Oval Office fireplace. Right-wing bloggers have jumped on the complaint that Red Staters won’t get the joke to (perhaps justifiably this time) paint Obama and the left with the brush of elitism.
Perhaps the most aggravating aspect of this controversy is that it’s yet another event in the news media/political cycle which stages pseudo-conflict over nothing of real importance. So Obama can’t bowl and wanted to imitate John Kennedy by speaking at the Brandenburg Gate. So John McCain can’t send e-mails and sang “Bomb Iran” to the tune of a Beach Boys song. So what?
Events of this sort become significant because they distract the media from (or allow the media to avoid) reporting on issues of genuine significance. Read the rest of this entry »
Is the environmental movement too fixated on terrorizing the public with apocalyptic scenarios? It’s a question one might hear from apologists for Big Oil and other political ostriches who will deny that human influence on climate change is a clear and present danger until Lower Manhattan is under water. On the other hand, it’s likely that some potential supporters of green political and lifestyle efforts are scared off by those who think describe environmental doomsdays in endless detail is the best and only means of mobilizing the masses.The record of feature films that focus on portraying such catastrophes is a mixed bag. An Inconvenient Truth clearly struck a chord with a fairly broad audience (while ultimately offering ways to minimize the coming dangers), while the big-budget fictional disaster film The Day After Tomorrow seems just a few years after its release to be more lurid than prophetic.
The new Pixar animated feature Wall-E takes a different yet in some ways wiser approach to revealing its version of environmental degradation. By providing a more gentle and at times humorous perspective on a world ravaged by pollution and emphasizing the human dimensions of its storytelling, Wall-E may win over new converts to the green movement by touching their hearts.
(A quick sidebar to those who have avoided seeing any of Pixar’s nine films because you believe animation is only for children: These are among the most intelligent, emotionally satisfying movies of the past 15 years - you are missing out on some delightful cinema.)
The “W” in Wall-E stands for “Waste”, which gives you an idea what the title character is - a trash compactor on wheels. Centuries before the narrative begins, Wall-E and his robot brethren were enlisted to dispose of epic mounds of garbage flooding the earth while humankind (aided and abetted by Buy N Large, a corporate/governmental entity that resembles Wal-Mart on steroids) took a vacation in space - and never came back. 700 years later, Wall-E (along with a cockroach sidekick) is the only thing moving on Earth and is still on the job, though he’s barely made a dent in all the junk.
We view what has become a bleak and silent Earth through the binocular-like eyes of Wall-E, whose reactions to his isolation, bumbling charm and endless persistence make him hugely endearing. Wall-E may be mechanical, but he grounds this movie in emotions that transform the aftermath of the earth’s seeming destruction from an incomprehensible nightmare into something we can fully imagine experiencing. Wall-E doesn’t just mindlessly package trash: seemingly in an effort to connect with something alive, the robot collects mementos from the Earth’s wreckage - everything from lawn gnomes to a videotape of “Hello Dolly” - that help inspire him to attempt epic feats.
No doubt this isn’t the most factually comprehensive ecological scenario, but there’s a lot to be said for how the filmmakers keep some details of the disaster abstract. What’s left unsaid about the movie’s world is still frightening when one has time to consider the ramifications. (For example, what happened to the people who couldn’t afford the space cruise?) A recent Los Angeles Times piece by Reed Johnson criticizes Wall-E for not providing a more harrowing, authentic account of what the ravaged environment would be like, but he misses the point that artists can make us feel and think far more evocatively by leaving some events to our imaginations instead of spelling them out.
At the same time, the movie doesn’t stint on portraying other details of this future world. The epic piles of trash, the freakish storms that plague the city Wall-E monitors, the diffused sunlight that makes Earth look like the recently received photos of Mars - these visual elements bring the world alive yet seem less incomprehensible than they would in a movie trying too hard to scare us.
And by allowing us to laugh, not just at some of Wall-E’s quirks and antics but at the insanity of a world inundated with garbage and surrounded by so many satellites that the Earth appears wrapped in barbed wire, the horrors of environmental disaster become more accessible - and perhaps more open for us to seek solutions.
So where is God in all this? The little plant Wall-E finds (which sets the rest of the plot in motion) is a sign of ultimate forgiveness - that no matter what we do to the Earth, creation keeps happening. One could argue that showing the planet continue to regenerate - no matter how we attempt to destroy it - will give anti-environmentalists false justification for demanding the continuation of the status quo (though numerous conservative critics have damned the film’s green sensibilities). But through its willingness to laugh at some of our flaws and to remind us that love is always there to help us not just do better but to perform miracles, Wall-E can inspire audiences to see that we all truly can make a difference - and that it’s not too late to make that difference.
Healing Waters: A Journey to the RiverJuly 13
2-5 PM
Please join us and our friends at the Sierra Club for a special afternoon of meditation, hiking, and enjoying the unique wild areas that surround us. We’ll explore the San Gabriel River and learn about the status of our wild mountains and watersheds. AND we’ll have something to eat — potluck abundance!
We’ll be meeting at El Encanto above Azusa, where we’ll carpool further into the mountains before beginning our hike. Please meet us there no later than 2 PM so we can get organized and begin our journey.
RSVPs are recommended so we’re sure that we don’t leave our carpool point without you, and so we can make sure to send you any changes in plan. Please email or call (213) 625-0149. We’re looking forward to a very special afternoon!
Directions to carpool point:
100 N. Old San Gabriel Canyon Road, Azusa, CA 91702
Directions
1. Take Interstate 210 to the City of Azusa.
2. Exit at Azusa Ave./CA-39.
3. Go north on N. Azusa Ave/ CA-39, 1.6 miles.
4. Stay in the two left lanes, bear slight left and continue north on CA-39, 1.9 miles.
5. Turn right onto Old San Gabriel Canyon Rd and continue a short distance to our office.
Note: It’s easy to miss this junction. Shortly before you get there, you’ll see a new housing development on your left, across the river. Then you’ll see an RMC El Encanto sign on your right. A short distance beyond the sign, turn right onto Old San Gabriel Canyon Rd. CA-39 continues past this junction, then over a bridge across the river. If you cross the bridge, you’ve passed the junction.
