30 Days of Thanks: Day 6 (Premature Edition)

This afternoon my iPhone (to which my right hand is usually welded) died.

When I say died I mean died.  I opened an app and the phone turned off and would not turn back on.  Huge bummer.

So my major thanks today was going to be AppleCare.  I have had one iPhone die already and was worried because I have had such miserable interactions when previous phones have died.  When I went to the Genius bar, however, the guy inspected the phone for about 30 seconds or so, then had me sign a sheet of paper and gave me a new phone.

I have a genius bar appt. tomorrow and hope everything goes just as well.  This is a huge part of why I like Apple so much.  I'm not delusional about their products, they're good but not perfect, but Apple's service is head and shoulders above anyone else I've dealt with.  Here's to hoping it goes just as smoothly tomorrow!


UPDATE: After having tried over the course of the day, on the third try plugging it in to my computer, the thing fired right up and works like new.  Now, perhaps I'll be thankful if it just stays that way!

Day 6: The Episcopal Diocese of East Carolina

When I was about 5 years old I was baptised at St. Anne's Episcopal Church in the Diocese of East Carolina at the Great Vigil of Easter.  This was a fortuitous first step of the many I would take in the Diocese.  I could (and have) written at some length about my relationship with the Diocese of East Carolina, but I'm going to leave a good portion of that for another day, as I'm sure my thanks for the diocese can span well more than two or three days, but I will speak primarily about my thanks for what it has done over the last couple of years. 

As anyone who's taken the time to read the bio on the right side of the page knows, I'm a Postulant for Holy Orders (Priesthood) from the Diocese, which means that Dio. E. Carolina and it's Bishop Clifton Daniel III have approved sending me to seminary.  As you can imagine, the process to be entered as a postulant is not a short one and involves approval by several individuals and committees as well as physical and mental evaluations.  The full process to be made a postulant can take upwards of two years (as it did in my case) and once granted ties you to a Diocese through three years of Seminary and two years of ordained ministry in the Diocese, so being comfortable with where you are is extremely important. 

I actually began the discernment process in 2008 in the Diocese of North Carolina where I was working at the time.  While still spending my required year at a parish before the calling of a discernment committee I had to move for work reasons.  I had the great fortune of winding up back in the Diocese of East Carolina where I had been raised.  

After attending the 2009 Diocesan convention, I was able to meet up with many people I had not seen in years, all of whom were exceptionally supportive.  After joining St. Andrew's on the Sound, starting the process over and working my way through my rector, my parish, the commission on ministry, and the Bishop, I could not be happier to be a postulant through this diocese.  It has given me more than I could ever have expected or asked for, and I'm ecstatic that I will spend the next chapter of my life working with and for such an exceptional entity.  

30 Days of Thanks: Day 5

Day 5

Sitcoms.

Yeah, sitcoms.


Judge me all you want, but they're awesome.  Not all of them are awesome, but a select few make it all worthwhile.  For every "Better with You" out there, there's a "Modern Family," for every "Cleveland Show" there's a "How I Met Your Mother."  These things are our simple pleasures.  Sure they are responsible for dumbing down America.  Sure Jim Belushi kills comedy on a regular basis, and clearly his shows have set mankind back decades.  Sure the bad ones are so horrifically terrible (and inexplicably popular) that they perpetuate and even prop up harmful stereotypes while dumbing down society and perpetuating a fatally flawed and disturbing legal system.  But like a fine Hogarth engraving, or a Bill Mauldin cartoon, a well executed sitcom spans the ages and stands the test of time, carrying both a message and humor through generations, and never gets old, entertaining the masses, informing and educating while making people laugh, and helping to define and unite a generation around a shared experience (I'm looking at you M*A*S*H!!)  So to the good sitcom writers, directors, producers, PA's, actors, interns, et al, Thanks for what you do.

And Jim Belushi.  Stop.  Please. Just. Stop.

He was prosecuted shortly thereafter for crimes against tartan.  Have mercy on his soul.

30 Days of Thanks: Day 4

Day 4

In memoriam: The life and service of Elizabeth Edwards

Last year we passed a landmark health insurance reform bill through an unwilling congress and it was signed by the President to mark the most significant change to health insurance of the last forty years.  While the bill was far from perfect and lacked the public option many wanted It was a remarkable accomplishment.  I'm not going to refight the process or the battles over the details of the bill; the important thing is that the bill passed and it's currently benefitting millions of Americans, myself included.  More than Nancy Pelosi, more than Harry Reid, more even than Barack Obama, the person who is responsible for this bill is Elizabeth Edwards. 

I had the honor of working on the Edwards for President staff in the 08 election, and was located at various times both in the Chapel Hill national HQ and in New Hampshire.  I met Elizabeth a few times, and she was a wonderful person; the kind of person who stops and talks to every volunteer in the office to thank them for everything they're doing.  Through and through a decent human being. 

More importantly than her kindness to the least of those in the office was the good she did nationwide.  It may be hard to remember now, but in 2007, no one wanted to talk about health care.  It was a quiet crisis developing that anyone paying attention knew was going to destroy the economy and cost millions of lives if left unattended.  Even so it was not a politically popular topic.  We were in the midst of two wars, a torture debate, outing of CIA agents and the like.  Health care reform was not on many people's minds.  Not many people aside from Elizabeth Edwards, and as a result John Edwards. 

John Edwards was at the time running in third place behind the Hillary Clinton juggernaut and the Barack Obama wave.  He needed to do something to distinguish himself, and this issue was a good way to do it.  It didn't hurt that he and Elizabeth had first hand encounters with the system after fighting Elizabeth's first round of cancer.  On this issue however, John used the bully pulpit of the campaign, and hammered constantly on the impending threat to our society that heath insurance companies were causing.  He pushed other candidates to talk about it and to establish positions, and by the end of primary season, healthcare reform was the second most important issue on voters minds behind.  Eventually it became so ingrained in the mindset of the campaign that public opinion began to shift and people began to call for something to be done.  

None of this would have happened without Elizabeth, pushing hard both publicly and behind the scenes to make sure the campaign drilled in the issue, health care, health care, health care, health care.  Her persistence and drive helped shape the national consciousness to the point that over the desires of the Chamber of Commerce, powerful health insurers and hundreds of millions of dollars spent against it would do little more than turn it into an imperfect form of major overhaul.  

This alone would be significant, but it merely stands alongside the other significant issues she (or she and John) stood almost alone in promoting to the public, most notably poverty, another pressing and often ignored issue that she and John tirelessly advocated.  This fit well with her personality as I experienced it, constantly reaching out to those who are not important, those who are on the margins, and those who toil, for the most part, thanklessly. 

So today, I am thankful for and I am remembering the life and work of Elizabeth Edwards, a decent and hardworking woman, tirelessly striving to improve the lives of those who needed help.  She was someone who did not mock the useful toil, nor hear with a disdainful smile the short and simple annals of the poor.  She and her service will be greatly missed.  May the peace of God be upon her. 

Give rest, O Christ, to thy servant with thy saints, where sorrow and pain are no more, neither sighing, but life everlasting. -Book of Common Prayer, 499 

  

30 Days of Thanks, Day 3

Day 3: The Carolina RailHawks


In the United Kingdom, there is a stable Football League with four tiers.  Below that, there are several more tiers of non-league football, many teams of which are professional.  In the United States, however, below MLS lies turmoil.  D-2 and D-3 feature a stunning failure rate of roughly 75% and fans accept as a fact of life their team may not be around next season.  Beyond that, with the American franchise system you can even have your team yanked out from under you and moved halfway across the country where they can play in a beautiful city beautiful game beautiful beautiful club beautiful, (or something like that. We feel your pain Austin.)  It's a tenuous existence and the uncertainty of it all makes the relationship you build with your team all the more meaningful.

Sometimes, you even get to watch your team find brilliant end of the season form and against long odds clinch their conference and make a run to the League Championship Cup.


The first professional soccer game I ever watched (and the next several I saw after it) were the decorated Wilmington Hammerheads, my local team.  Like so many others, they eventually folded (they will however be reborn as a USL-PRO side in the upcoming season.)  This left me without a team until I moved to Raleigh and was able to get into our RailHawks.

While I enjoy American Football, odds are if you're reading this you know there's very little that gets me fired up, for better or worse, than soccer.  So many people have written far more beautifully than I could ever write about what makes the game great, and why it inflames such passion.  My senior thesis in college focused in large part on the role soccer played in the break-up of Yugoslavia and the fanning of the flames of ethnics tensions.  The flip to that is the epic story of the civil war in Cote D'Ivoire that ended in a cease fire because the Elephants made the World Cup.

But knowing academically how much soccer means to people is nothing compared to experiencing it yourself.  Watching our hometown guys go out and play their hearts out, week in and week out, grinding out a win, pulling out a heart stopping come back, or simply not giving up in a hopeless situation brings me more happiness than nearly anything else I can do on a summer evening.  Watching them beat a team like Montreal is enough to keep me in a great mood all week.

I'm no fool.  I know Tom Heinamann is no David Villa.  I know that Etienne Barbara is never going to be another Messi.  But I also know that I got more joy out of a last minute Heinamann blast into the upper corner to beat the impact and send our boys to the finals than I ever will out of any wonder goal Messi puts in.  I'll get more pleasure out of a Richardson first-touch-after-subbing-in goal than I will out of even the most stunning Nasri shot.  Because while I recognize and appreciate the brilliance that is regularly put on display in Camp Nou, Stade de France, Emirates or Old Trafford, those teams are not my team; the Railhawks are.

This past season we came up just short, losing in the championship to the Puerto Rico Islanders; we'd been the better team all season, but were outclassed at the end.  That's the way it goes, though, and next season, we're going to go out and beat Puerto Rico.  Then we're going to do everything we can to go back to the championship and bring home the first hardware in our team's history.

So to the RailHawks, thank you.  Thanks for the opportunity to watch quality soccer week in and week out.  Thanks for giving me the chance to watch players like Jozy Altidore score a goal (and then for coming back and getting a draw with Red Bull!) Thanks for all the good times, the great games, the passion, and the thrill of victory.  Most importantly, thank you for always playing with heart and dignity and thanks for always, always, always making our city, our region, and our state proud to call you our own.  You'll Never Fly Alone.

      Beating Montreal: So Easy A Caveman Can Do It! 

Seriously though, you're a bunch of thugs.  Go back to Canada.

30 Days of Thanks: Day 2

Having not had computer access today, I am thankful for my iPhone. This little wonder has gotten me through more tough scrapes than I can count, from being lost in unsavory parts to being bored out of my mind in more situations than I can count.

More importantly, it keeps me connected to the people I care most about in life, and of all the benefits of technology, that has to be the greatest. I know that my family, my girlfriend, and my #twitterfam are never more than a few clicks or button pushes away. And I love all of you!




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30 Days of Thanks

The campaign over, and my online communication now unfettered, I'm back to blogging and looking forward to writing some more again for fun. With Advent having started recently, and fresh of being made a Postulant for Holy Orders in the Episcopal Church, I'm taking an idea from a twitter friend and starting something called "30 days of thanks." Each day I will post something for which I am thankful. In these times, especially in the consumeristic run-up to Christmas, it does well to remember that giving thanks makes you happier. In addition, being recently unemployed and now job hunting (anyone have anything??), it won't hurt to keep my mind focused on positive things. Keep checking back, there will be new content every day, and in all likelihood some of the folks reading this will be mentioned from time to time. Now, with no further ado, here is day one!

1st Day of Thanks, Housing!
I'm writing this sitting on the couch with my absolutely delightful Boykin Spaniel (his article is coming), watching hockey on TV, soccer on the computer (Soccer's article is coming as well), and looking at an absolutely beautifully decorated Christmas tree across the room. Having this fantastic shelter is doubly nice as there is currently a heavy snowfall going on outside, an oddity for this time of year in central NC.

Our house is a couple of houses from a bus stop, and yesterday while Sarah was on the front porch making a Christmas wreath, a young kid, maybe 18 or 19, walked up in the 28 degree weather wearing just jeans and an oversize oxford shirt. He asked if he could come into the house since he'd been waiting for the bus for a while and had another 20 minutes in the freezing weather outside. Sarah offered him a jacket and came to get mine. For reasons both obvious and less apparent (we had a seeming attempted break in a few weeks ago at 5 am when she was home alone) she was understandably nervous.

I asked him if he wanted a drink or anything, and got him some water, and we all sat out on the porch for a bit. I talked with him some to pass the time and he mentioned that he was, as anyone should suspect at this point, mentally challenged and mentally ill. It also came out that he was on his way to check himself into the hospital for rehab (or possibly just a warm place to spend the night). His sister lives in Raleigh, but he doesn't have her number and doesn't speak with her and seemingly had nowhere to stay. In spite of this he was working on his GED and is trying to do the best he can with the lot he has been dealt in this life. Sadly, he is only one of the many living in the downtown area who don't know where they will be spending each night, or where their next meal is going to come from.

I feel like there are a couple of things I'm thankful for, and I'll list a couple of them here. I'm thankful we were able to do something to help this kid at all, he clearly needed it. I'm thankful I haven't had to face many of the challenges he has, and I'm particularly glad I'm not strung out on whatever it is from which he needed cleaning up.

But mostly, I'm thankful for my shelter, and that I'm not homeless. Especially in this season (both Advent/Christmas and winter) I'm glad that I am out of the elements, out of the cold, protected from the hazards of the streets, and able to stay warm and dry and safe no matter the weather. Beyond that, I'm grateful that my girlfriend has fantastic taste and know-how and our place is wonderfully decorated, even on a particularly tight budget. It's comfortable, welcoming, and very much a home. I can't imagine the stress, both mental and physical, of not knowing where you will be spending each night, and so today, with snow falling outside, and temperatures dipping to the low 20s, I give thanks for the home I am fortunate to have.

Convention Wrap Up

I am now safely ensconced back home with a cup of tea and I'm beginning the work of mentally processing the results and events of convention. Some, like most of the resolutions and the changes to constitution and canons are pretty straight forward; some, like our resolutions regarding human sexuality, the death penalty, our relationship with the Anglican Communion and especially, the viewing of the movie "Traces of the Trade were a bit more complex, to say the least.

Traces of the Trade is, as I mentioned in an earlier post, a documentary about the descendants of the largest slave trader in United States history. The film attempts to address the continuing and incredible impact slavery has on us to this day. It is an uncomfortable film to watch, especially in a room full of folks who are overwhelming white and affluent. The film is massively ambitious, and though it can be easy to ignore the difficult lessons of the film, facing full on the horror of our history and the incomprehensible things whites did to slaves is embarrassing at some times and outright overwhelming at others. I can only say that it made even me, a progressive political warrior who has worked relatively extensively in black communities and for minority causes to totally reconsider my stance on race and racial politics in our country. Take that for what you will. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone.

As far as the Resolutions went, almost nothing surprising happened. The closest to an exception was a resolution calling on our Diocese to spend more energy opposing the death penalty. I participated in the Resolutions breakout session discussion on this resolution and felt very confident in its chances after hearing that debate. The room seemed to be (almost) of one mind in support of the resolution and, in fact, called on more than one occasion to strengthen the resolution in some ways so it was unambiguous that we were addressing the moral issue rather than any peripheral issues. However, when we came to a vote on this it was the only resolution that required a vote by show of hands (rather than a simple voice vote.) I am immensely relieved that the resolution passed, but was saddened that it was as close as it was (I'd say 60-40 from where I was sitting.) My only real regret of the whole convention, especially considering the relative tightness of the vote, is that I did not rise and speak in support of the resolution. This is one area I feel the Bible is unequivocal and plain. Presented with someone rightly sentenced under the law to capital punishment, Jesus stepped between her and her executors and prevented the stoning from happening (John 8:1-11). We are also told "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord" (Rom. 12:19 KJV.) This totally leaves out that little one from the Ten Commandments "Thou shall not kill." I don't know how much plainer we can be shown our duty specific issue, and it frustrates me that so many Christians still think that a well-thought out, sadistically planned, and precisely carried out killing of any person is acceptible. We are obviously making strides in the right direction as a Church and we are clearly far ahead of our state government on this topic, but I hope we can speed our progress and stand as a moral beacon alongside the Roman Catholic Church on this issue.

To end my recap on a high note, on Friday afternoon, I had the good fortune of being elected by acclamation to serve our Diocese in a three year term as a Trustee of The University of the South. I am obviously thrilled and itching to get to work on whatever my duties may be.

Apropos to the previous paragraph, all I can think to describe convention is this: Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! (Psalm 133) It was, in many ways all a convention should be. It was the embodiment of the Diocese with elected members sitting representative of their respective parishes. It was progressive, but with a tolerance, love and mutual respect between factions that has been conspicuous in its absence from many other meetings outside our Diocese.

It is this characteristic I most took away. Our friends from St. Paul's, Edenton, one of the most conservative parishes in the Diocese was at the table next to us. We interacted regularly and respectfully; Richard worked to modify a Resolution of theirs to make it more acceptable to the majority at the convention; they accepted as legitimate and fair the results of votes (even though I'm sure they were extremely disappointed in the failure of one of their resolutions) and did not show contempt for either the body or the individuals who voted against their resolution.

In the same vein, our reliably progressive Bishop struck a reliably (and unsurprisingly) progressive tone in his address. However, in that same speech, he also spoke at some length about his desire to accommodate many different points of view, and to allow for differences of conscience so all feel comfortable and welcome. He spoke of the areas of common ground we have in regards to human sexuality, and of the respect he had for their position. He was as welcoming and magnanimous to all (and not just the LGBT Community and its supporters!) as anyone could ask of a bishop.

It is a shame the news cameras didn't see that. There will be no clips of the conciliatory efforts made by either bishop or delegates. There will be no clips of us working together on the many things we agree wholeheartedly on, even while fumbling through the dark, trying to find acceptable ground on those things we don't. There will be no clips of the bonds of affection secured between those from the far left and the far right who, even in a short time of living and working together, are reminded of the humanity of those who stand apart; those who can so easily be called "enemies." If nothing else, gathering together reminds us that in spite of our differences we have far more in common than we think, and that though we may not all be of one mind, we are of one body and one prayer. Though we may disagree, we are of one God, one faith and one baptism. May we continue to recognize that, and to recognize our own need to serve the risen Lord in each and every one; as long as we do that I think we will be just fine.

For the 127th Convention of the Diocese of East Carolina, for those who hosted the convention, for the parishes and missions of the diocese, for the Episcopal Church, and for the people who attended and the work that was done this last week, Thanks Be To God!

Day 2, Part 2

After our legislative sessions have ended for the day, I want to reflect a bit on the Traces of the Trade. The movie was somewhat uncomfortable to watch as I'm sure it was intended to be. It is always uncomfortable when someone extends their hand in an earnestly conciliatory gesture and it is rejected, but this happened repeatedly in even the abridged version we saw. It is understandable though when one considers the magnitude of what the attempted apology is for. Put in the position of an African-American in today's still oppressive society, I'm not sure I could accept an apology, either. However, one thing that struck me was when the black producer took the hand of a white descendant of a slave trader and said, roughly, "Yes, I'm angry at 'White People', but when I see you all I see is a good and decent person." If we could step out of 'society' for a moment and recognize our shared humanity, seeing each other in that light might help us to heal our open wounds that we have been so willingly ignoring for most of the last 60 years.


In our afternoon breakout I attended the Resolutions meeting to watch and join the discussion on the resolutions. There were a couple of resolutions from St. Paul's Edenton in support of the Archbishop of Canterbury (standing against the Glasspool election) and in favor of the Anglican Covenant. Those were obviously the resolutions that sparked the most debate. Our standing committee gave consent to Glasspool yesterday which may have mooted one of the resolutions and another pro-LGBT resolution was pulled in light of the Bishops Address.

Happily, a Death Penalty resolution that I am strongly in support of was perhaps made stronger by folks urging us to highlight the immorality and social unacceptability of the Death Penalty rather than highlighting the cost saving benefits. I did not agree that the resolution was highlighting cost-cutting over morality, but I am always in favor of making as unequivocal a stand against the Death Penalty as possible. I sincerely hope the resolution passes.

I am now off to a Service of Reconciliation, again at Christ Church, New Bern. My father will be singing in the service as a member of Schola Cantorum, our Diocesan Choir, and I am very much looking forward to it. Following that, Dinner, a cocktail or two, and a chance to unwind after a surprisingly busy day.


Cheers!

Day 2, Part 1

After morning prayer, we moved into legislative session and began the business of starting convention, and a tedious business it was.

As anyone who has been to a legislative convention knows, there is a good deal of parliamentary procedure that ha to take place so we can begin considering business. We also took the time to recognize military chaplains, seminarians and postulants, and youth and young delagates. I was very pleased to see the number of youth delegates sent by their parishes. Sadly there were fewer delagates between the ages of 20 and 30 than there were high schoolers. Only two of us in that age group were not seminarians. This is clearly an area the episcopal church need to work on.

We followed this session with a viewing of a film called "Traces of the Trade.". It is a rather profound movie documenting one families attempts to com to terms with their slave trading history. It was a fantastic movie and I would recommend it to anyone and will post a more complete reflection later.




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Day 1

After check-in this afternoon, most of the new delegates headed (surprisingly) to the New Delegate Training Session. It was a rather nondescript, though useful little workshop, mostly focused on Robert's Rules of Order. The high point of the day came afterward at the opening Eucharist for the convention at wonderful and historic Christ Church New Bern.

When most of the St. Andrew's on-the-Sound delegation arrived roughly a half hour early to secure a seat the church was already thoroughly censed and the smoke hung rather heavily in the nave. This good omen carried through to the service. Though the hymns were a touch unconventional and left the crowd somewhat disoriented as to what we were singing, a rather good sermon from Bishop Daniel pulled the service through strong. As we were acknowledging the presentation of Christ in the Temple and his recognition by Simeon, the theme was based around the light of Christ. Bishop Daniel told a story of a little boy who watched the lamplighter making his rounds and told his grandmother he was watching the man "punch holes in the dark." After listing several of the many afflictions facing the world today, the Bishop spoke of how we have grown rather adept at punching holes in our neighbors instead. The suggestion was that we would serve better punching holes in hunger, oppression, fear, homelessness, want, etc. than beating up our neighbors over things of little consequence. It was a simple message eloquently put (by the Bishop, though obviously not here.)

Following the service, our delegation had dinner at a fantastic restaurant in downtown New Bern called "The Chelsea" and a few of us followed it up with a nightcap in the hotel bar afterward with some company. All in all a pretty good end to a pretty good day.

In other news, I may wind up with an opponent in my election for the Board of Trustees of the University of the South. A woman approached me purely by chance and asked if anyone was nominated for the University of the South trustee position. I mentioned that I was and she then mentioned that her husband was also interested in that and may put his name in. As of yet, I'm not terribly worried as I'm the only person in the convention literature, but it appears this may not be a totally uncontested race. I will check with the convention office tomorrow to see if anyone else has been nominated and keep everyone posted.

So ends the first day of convention, and I'll leave you with a bit of Night Prayer from the New Zealand Prayer Book



Lord it is night.

The night is for stillness.
Let us be still in the presence of God.

It is night after a long day.
What has been done has been done; what has not been done has not been done.

Let it be.

The night is dark.
Let our fears of the darkness of the world and of our own lives rest in you.

The night is quiet.
Let the quietness of your peace enfold us, all dear to us, and all who have no peace.

The night heralds the dawn.
Let us look expectantly to a new day, new joys, new possibilities.

In your name we pray.
Amen

Convention Time!!!

This afternoon the 127th Convention of the Diocese of East Carolina will convene and begin its business. I have the good fortune of attending this convention for the first time as a full voting delegate, having attended previously as a youth delegate, Bishop's page and observer. I also am very excited to be nominated and up for election as the next Trustee of The University of the South (Sewanee), my alma mater. There is not a ton of controversial legislation up this time, though there is a resolution regarding our position on the Ridley-Cambridge Draft of the Anglican Covenant we will be voting on.

The diocese will be addressing also the "Traces of the Trade," the marks slavery has left on our society, a particularly prescient issue in our diocese, who's many ports were the place of entry for many thousands of Africans brought to this country against their will. I will have my computer and phone with me throughout convention and will be blogging and posting twitter updates from convention at @danielstroud and with the hashtag #DECC unless an official hashtag emerges. So here is an invitation to the few folks who actually read this (and hopefully that number will go up over the course of the weekend): PLEASE COMMENT ON THIS BLOG!! Or send @replies to my twitter account or post on my facebook wall and join the conversation. Convention represents everyone from the Diocese and is in communion with the whole of the Episcopal Church, and I for one take my duties seriously and would like to have feedback and input on my thoughts and decisions so that I can effectively serve those who sent me there. So please send your thoughts and prayers and wish us all a safe, productive and harmonious trip to New Bern!

A Bit of Perspective

This has clearly not been a good couple of weeks for those working for social justice, health-care, racial and gender equality or any number of other issues. With such great change lingering seemingly inches out of reach, we can do well to remember how far we've come already. While providing universal health-care (which I believe is a right) is certainly a noble goal, and something we should strive for, taking a minute today to look back on things that have happened in the past that make the fact we're even discussing an idea like that incredible.


On August 13, 1965, Jonathan Daniels, an Episcopal Seminarian, was arrested with 29 others for simply picketing a Whites only store. He sat in jail for 6 days with the other adults refusing to be bailed out unless all were granted bail. As they walked to the only store in town that served non-whites they were accosted by a "Special Deputy" armed with a shotgun.

The man, Tom Coleman, leveled his shotgun at a 17 year old girl named Ruby Sales. Daniels moved quickly to shove Ruby out of the way taking the full brunt of the shotgun blast himself. He was killed instantly. John Morrisoe, also a protester and a Catholic Priest, was shot in the back as he fled with the other black protester.

Thomas Coleman was acquitted by a jury of his all white peers after Shooting a priest and a priest-in-training downtown in broad daylight.


July 23-28, 1967 had one of the worst riots in American histories. The streets of Detroit saw 467 injured, 2,509 stores looted, 388 families left homeless and 43 killed.

Clifton Pryor was mistaken for a sniper and shot dead by the National Guard. Ernest Roquemore was shot in the back by a US Army Paratrooper. He was 19. Roy Banks was shot when he was mistaken by a National Guardsman for a looter. He was a deaf mute. A tank rolling through the streets of Detroit shot Tanya Blanding. She was upstairs in her house. She was four years old.


On May 4, 1970, nine unarmed students were wounded and four more shot and killed when the Ohio National Guard opened fire on a crowd with live ammunition. Jeffrey Miller, 20 (Pictured), was shot through the mouth and killed instantly while standing 81 meters from the National Guard. Allison Krause (19), William Schroeder (19), and Sandra Scheuer (20) were also unarmed protesters shot by the Ohio Army National Guard.

As the US invaded expanded involvement in the already unpopular VietNam War into Cambodia, these students who were protesting the expansion of the use of force were unarmed themselves, but cut down by the US military. Again, none of the shooters faced criminal charges.



These were dark moments in American history, in fact, they were some of the darkest. As we debate now our views and lament our losses, whether they are a lack of legislative achievement or a perceived loss of American values, we would do well to remember that a generation ago Americans were killed at home with impunity, often by our government. Those in my generation could not conceive of tanks rolling through any of our cities instituting martial law and backing it up with lethal force. Shooting even the most unpopular people point blank in broad daylight would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, just ask Scott Roeder.

Though we have far to go and much work to do, we should in our defeats draw strengths from our victories over violence and hatred and be glad at least, that we no longer have to fear the bullets of our own soldiers turned against us as a method of crowd control. So let us continue to debate passionately about our future, but let us remember together how far we've come.

How could this week get worse?

This week this happened:

The Democratic Party lost Edward Kennedy's Senate seat.

Seriously.

Our party totally caved on saving the lives of 46,000 people a year.

The Supreme Court decided that corporations are actually people, just like you and me.

Conan O'Brien had to step down from The Late Show.



I'm not sure how this week could get any worse.

I hope there isn't a way.

A man, a plan, a truck; a total missing of the point!

The morning after Republican Scott Brown not quite stunned Martha Coakley in the Massachusetts Senate race, I, like so many others, want to throw in my two cents. While many are urging the Democratic Party to move to the right, I'm looking at you Lieberman, that seems to be exactly the wrong way to go.

As a Democrat, I feel I'm in a position to talk about why many people are either turning away from the party or not showing up to vote. Here's my conclusion.

We suck.

Really, really suck.


It's not that we have bad ideas, or unpopular policy, it's that we're governing as if Republicans matter. We have an overwhelming majority in both the House and the Senate, even with the Brown win. We have the American public behind us. Seventy some percent of Americans STILL want a public option. Yes, employment is a major issue, but with the numbers continually improving, we (as a party) have to accept that we are going to lose some folks who don't recognize it can't be fixed overnight.

Our main problem is that in spite of all the support on the issues, and all of the majorities we have, our electeds sit around on their thumbs, fretting and wondering how much they should water down what they want to do.

Here's a hint, when the electorate hands you a landslide presidential victory and the largest majorities in Congress in around 40 years, you go big.

The people who are walking around in Revolutionary War costumes with Lipton Tea bags hanging off their hats and signs that say "Gov: Hands off my Medicare" aren't going to vote for us whether or not we pass insurance reform. Ever. We can't satisfy them, and with our majorities we shouldn't even entertain the idea of trying.

President Bush didn't even win a majority of the vote in 2000. His response to that was "So what?" A w. is a w. for W. And he was right.

I disagree with nearly everything President Bush did as President, but even I have to admit he was a terribly effective president. When he wanted something done, he got it done. At the moment, we have folks like Lieberman, Nelson, and Stupak doing something Republicans would never ever consider doing by attempting to torpedo torpedoing their own party's signature issue.

I know not every bill is exactly what we want, but I'd a lot rather have our fairly pathetic Senate health-care bill than the Republican's plan which seems to be, mostly, "don't get sick." It's time to get it together and start passing meaningful legislation that helps people instead of hand-wringing and fretting about how much that meaningful legislation is going to tick off Glen Beck.

While I can offer assurances I will keep voting, working, and doing all I can to advance a progressive agenda, I can also strongly sympathize with all those who are disappointed that our party is acting like a bunch of pathetic, lily-livered weaklings. The lesson we take from this election isn't that we should moderate ourselves even deeper into the ineffective abyss, it's that it's time to wake up, flex some muscle and show voters we can deliver on our promises.



EDIT: Shortly after posting this morning, Huffington Post reported on THIS poll, basically confirming what I said. Voters punished the Democratic Party for being weak on health care and Wall St.

New Year's Resolutions, only two weeks late

In the past this blog has been primarily short essays, if you will, posted roughly once a week. Alright, once every week and a half to two weeks. Also, though I intended to keep this blog restricted to about three subjects, it has overwhelmingly focused on things with a decidedly Episcopalian bent. Part of that is my preference, part is that way more people who are way more knowledgeable in their fields get paid way better than I do to write on sports and politics. While lots of people get paid more to write on religion, I at least feel I occasionally have a viewpoint worth contributing there.

As a result, I'm planning on posting more. Way more. And mostly shorter posts. I'm going to try and post at least every other day, and more likely every day. I'm still planning on occasionally writing lengthy (for the web) thoughts on things that move me to write, but I'm going to loosen up the filter here a bit and stop just writing on things that move me like the death of Ted Kennedy & the Sewanee Community after Tragedy. Hopefully this will make this whole enterprise more enjoyable for you, the reader, and for me, as the poster.


To mark my departure from the purely serious and sincere, I'm going to post an exceptionally silly clip. This isn't indicative of the tone this blog will take in the new year by any means, but it's funny and irreverent, and with all of the horrors in the world today, the immense tragedy, the suffering, and the hopelessness one has to feel in the wake of the Haiti tragedy, hopefully this will brighten everyone's day (if you'll excuse the moderately coarse language.)

Just not before you make a donation to Episcopal Relief and Development, because before you can escape for a minute, you really should help out.


And now for something completely different.