I am struck this week by loss.
A collective sense of loss in story after story in the news. The War. Little girls senselessly murdered in Florida. The all American girl lost in Aruba after one probably fatal mistake on vacation.
Family loss, in the passing of a loved one.
I'm struck, most of all, by the preciousness of life.
I was reminded this week of the life that we all share here together. It's easy to lose track of that in this world of opinion blogging. To take sides. To draw camps. To be us and them. Sometimes we get reminded to broaden our view of each other.
I learned this week of the death of a young lady. I never met her and I never would have run into her. But through the miracle of this web we inhabit, I've gotten a chance to know a little about her.
She was a journaler as well, and I've gotten to read of her and her life on the web in this electronic paper trail that we journalers leave.
She was an activist. A strong and passionate advocate for the causes she believed in, and more importantly, the people she could help through this medium. Clearly, from the posts of the devastated people she left behind, she helped many - selflessly.
It wasn't hard to see from what I've read that she and I would have been on opposite sides of all of the issues that we each talked about. She probably would hate this blog. I've always said here, though, that I admire activists on both sides of issues. People who get in the game and care. I respect that, and from reading about her - I respect her.
It's not important what I think about her. Or who would have been right or wrong on issues if we had a debate. I didn't even know her. But I care about her, and the difference that she made.
I'm just struck tonight by loss.
And the preciousness of life.
Monday, June 13, 2005
Saturday, June 04, 2005
Elites are Upsidedown on Religion
My summer hiatus from this blog lasted less than a week. I'm back.
What brought me back is a series of articles that I read this morning over the course of a lazy Saturday morning spent with all of the newspapers that I missed during a busy week.
You should try it sometime. Read a whole week's worth of newspapers in one sitting. It was informative, to say the least. Troubling would be another word that comes to mind.
It's easier to see patterns in the news when you encounter it all at once. And I did see a pattern regarding the general discussion in the press and among the power brokers about Christianity vs. Islam.
And the pattern is this: Among the left and the elites (who are generally liberal and secular) there are two subjects that are fair game for hammering and ridicule:
1. Any critical or disrespectful treatment of Muslims or Islam
2. Any positive public mention of Christianity
Let's take a look at three specific articles that I read.
First, an opinion column by Bill O'Reilly regarding his observation that the anti-Bush left (websites, news organizations, 527's, NGO's) have an organized effort going. The effort is rooted in the stunning defeat of the left in the last two elections in the U.S. and the succesful elections in Iraq which make it likely that Bush will be seen as a hero setting up the Republicans for a win again in 2008. How to get Hillary elected instead? By taking down the President in public opinion. How to do that? By hammering and distorting the Administration's role in the "torture" allegations from Abu Gahraib and Guantanemo. The press has been hammering the idea that our troops are torturers, that we have set up gulags, that our reputation has suffered around the world, and that it's all George Bush's fault. (Gee, is it the chicken or the egg if our reputation has suffered after 50 front page stories in the New York Times on Abu Gahraib?)
I think O'Reilly has it exactly right, and then some. I think that left has an organized effort going to take down the President to set up Hillary Clinton's election in 2008. But I think it's more than that. I think it's the left's compatible agenda to take down Christianity's influence in the United States as well.
Story two was an AP article "Pentagon confirms Quran mishandling". Okay, we get it already. Apparently in the cause of detainee interrogations to prevent further terrorist activities to harm or kill Americans, some soldiers may have misused the Quran. Story after story are hammering this point lately, including this article that runs a half page and 12 paragraphs in my paper. I get it. Is this an offense on par with how Christianity is treated in Muslim nations - where you can be beheaded for stating publicly that you are a Christian, or sold into slavery in the Sudan for the same offense? Hardly. But, to the liberal press, this abuse of the Quran is highest priority news event of the day. Not the positive things we are doing to provide freedom in Afghanistan and increasingly in Iraq. No, you won't find those stories. They would get in the way of the ink space needed to expose the evil Bush administration's desecration of the Quran.
Story Three was a another in the series of stories and telecasts that I've seen in the media about the atrocity ocurring at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Horror of all horrors, this outrage was exposed again in the article by the AP entitled "Intolerance at military school". I'll issue a warning for sensitive souls here to be careful reading on. It appears, from the hours of press coverage that I've seen, that "Evangelical Christian" chaplains at the Academy are guilty of - "proselytizing" for Christianity. That, in short, summarizes the case for intolerance.
"The superindendent of the Air Force Academy acknowledged to leaders of a national Jewish group Friday that religious intolerance permeates the military school."
"As a commander, I know I have problems in my cadet wing", Lt. Gen. John Rosa said.He also said that the problem is "something that keeps me up at night".
What problem? Well, apparently the problem that he admonished his No. 2 commander for. The problem for which "we sat down and said, 'this is not right'".
The problem: Brig. Gen Weida, a born again Christian, had sent an email promoting National Prayer Day. A day, by the way, which is recognized federally and is honored by the President of the United States in the White House every year. But let's not let that fact stop the recoginition that the email represented intolerance and that the liberal elites demand his punishment.
Further evidence of intolerance cited was the transfer of Capt. Melinda Morton, chaplain, from the Academy after she complained of proselytizing at the Academy. I've seen Capt. Morton making the rounds of news programs complaining of evangelism on the campus. Amazingly to me, as an Air Force veteran, was that none of the intrepid journalists interviewing her exercisized the same tenacity that they used to validate her charges to ask her if her Rosie O'Donnell butch haircut was an indication that she may have had her own personal issues with evangelical Christianity. It would have been a legitimate question. But, don't ask, don't tell.
I won't even comment on a fourth article celebrating a liberal New England church's ordination of their first "trans-gendered" clergy. The congregation feels enlightened. Although, apparently not every one in the congregation. The others must be the intolerant.
What brought me back is a series of articles that I read this morning over the course of a lazy Saturday morning spent with all of the newspapers that I missed during a busy week.
You should try it sometime. Read a whole week's worth of newspapers in one sitting. It was informative, to say the least. Troubling would be another word that comes to mind.
It's easier to see patterns in the news when you encounter it all at once. And I did see a pattern regarding the general discussion in the press and among the power brokers about Christianity vs. Islam.
And the pattern is this: Among the left and the elites (who are generally liberal and secular) there are two subjects that are fair game for hammering and ridicule:
1. Any critical or disrespectful treatment of Muslims or Islam
2. Any positive public mention of Christianity
Let's take a look at three specific articles that I read.
First, an opinion column by Bill O'Reilly regarding his observation that the anti-Bush left (websites, news organizations, 527's, NGO's) have an organized effort going. The effort is rooted in the stunning defeat of the left in the last two elections in the U.S. and the succesful elections in Iraq which make it likely that Bush will be seen as a hero setting up the Republicans for a win again in 2008. How to get Hillary elected instead? By taking down the President in public opinion. How to do that? By hammering and distorting the Administration's role in the "torture" allegations from Abu Gahraib and Guantanemo. The press has been hammering the idea that our troops are torturers, that we have set up gulags, that our reputation has suffered around the world, and that it's all George Bush's fault. (Gee, is it the chicken or the egg if our reputation has suffered after 50 front page stories in the New York Times on Abu Gahraib?)
I think O'Reilly has it exactly right, and then some. I think that left has an organized effort going to take down the President to set up Hillary Clinton's election in 2008. But I think it's more than that. I think it's the left's compatible agenda to take down Christianity's influence in the United States as well.
Story two was an AP article "Pentagon confirms Quran mishandling". Okay, we get it already. Apparently in the cause of detainee interrogations to prevent further terrorist activities to harm or kill Americans, some soldiers may have misused the Quran. Story after story are hammering this point lately, including this article that runs a half page and 12 paragraphs in my paper. I get it. Is this an offense on par with how Christianity is treated in Muslim nations - where you can be beheaded for stating publicly that you are a Christian, or sold into slavery in the Sudan for the same offense? Hardly. But, to the liberal press, this abuse of the Quran is highest priority news event of the day. Not the positive things we are doing to provide freedom in Afghanistan and increasingly in Iraq. No, you won't find those stories. They would get in the way of the ink space needed to expose the evil Bush administration's desecration of the Quran.
Story Three was a another in the series of stories and telecasts that I've seen in the media about the atrocity ocurring at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Horror of all horrors, this outrage was exposed again in the article by the AP entitled "Intolerance at military school". I'll issue a warning for sensitive souls here to be careful reading on. It appears, from the hours of press coverage that I've seen, that "Evangelical Christian" chaplains at the Academy are guilty of - "proselytizing" for Christianity. That, in short, summarizes the case for intolerance.
"The superindendent of the Air Force Academy acknowledged to leaders of a national Jewish group Friday that religious intolerance permeates the military school."
"As a commander, I know I have problems in my cadet wing", Lt. Gen. John Rosa said.He also said that the problem is "something that keeps me up at night".
What problem? Well, apparently the problem that he admonished his No. 2 commander for. The problem for which "we sat down and said, 'this is not right'".
The problem: Brig. Gen Weida, a born again Christian, had sent an email promoting National Prayer Day. A day, by the way, which is recognized federally and is honored by the President of the United States in the White House every year. But let's not let that fact stop the recoginition that the email represented intolerance and that the liberal elites demand his punishment.
Further evidence of intolerance cited was the transfer of Capt. Melinda Morton, chaplain, from the Academy after she complained of proselytizing at the Academy. I've seen Capt. Morton making the rounds of news programs complaining of evangelism on the campus. Amazingly to me, as an Air Force veteran, was that none of the intrepid journalists interviewing her exercisized the same tenacity that they used to validate her charges to ask her if her Rosie O'Donnell butch haircut was an indication that she may have had her own personal issues with evangelical Christianity. It would have been a legitimate question. But, don't ask, don't tell.
I won't even comment on a fourth article celebrating a liberal New England church's ordination of their first "trans-gendered" clergy. The congregation feels enlightened. Although, apparently not every one in the congregation. The others must be the intolerant.
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