I blogged on this a couple weeks ago, as I recoiled at the inane thesis of a WIRED article about “conspiracy theories” such as global warning. The modern belief by evangelical Christians in the rapture, which does not exist in biblical literature, is no less fantastic, one that at once allows for the denial of global warming and of evolution Continue Reading
Chris Hedges , in reviewing a book by Dave Eggers, describing the Saudi kingdom (“A Hologram for the King”), sounds very accurate re: an alarming percentage of the Religious Right in this country: outward religiosity and piety mask a moral and physical rot that fits seamlessly into the world of globalized capitalism http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/the_mirage_of_our_lives_20120827/ This “seamless fit” is exactly what the Continue Reading
in this video, Chris Hayes talks about the way elites and their clubs stick together vs even the people they ostensibly are there to serve (priests in Catholic Church vs their parishoners, or the government and corporations vs thier constituents and/or customers). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDaFVjaZr7w&feature=plcp This is a good angle also for the financial system, and for a headlong dive into many Continue Reading
I believe that the most loving thing we can do for the richest and most powerful is to tell them the truth: call them to the truth and challenge them to live truthfully. After all, one of the spiritual works of mercy is to admonish sinners. If this is so, we must love the 1% enough to speak the truth Continue Reading
From General Secretary Jim Winkler’s column today at @GBCS The prophet Isaiah was awakened to two realities: the awesome holiness of Yahweh and the depth of his own nation’s sin. http://www.umc-gbcs.org/site/apps/nlnet/content.aspx?c=frLJK2PKLqF&b=7887565&ct=11523271
Make a visible step toward Washington DC and join the church movement speaking the truth to power in DC and NY (ie #occupyWallstreet ) Denominational agency efforts and reports re: economic/budget issues affecting our economy are few on the front pages of the denominations’ websites. I have seen exactly TWO (both UMC) so far in a month of watching this. Continue Reading
Reading an article this morning from Naomi Klein (author of The Shock Doctrine) about the absolute propensity of big business for self deception. In this case, it’s BP and the spill. This portion speak volumes: These priorities go a long way towards explaining why the initial exploration plan that BP submitted to the federal government for the ill-fated Deepwater Horizon Continue Reading
What country does he live in? Although the downward spirals may not be quite as steep, to build up our “sound economic values†is a good way to talk ourselves into a complacent slumber, thinking ourselves invincible. Another apt description of what Empires think like. “Human nature, in no form of it, could ever bear prosperity,†John Adams wrote in Continue Reading
I agree with this, with maybe a “smidgen†more confidence than Fitch has with Obama (but not by much) there are people who argue intelligently that the recent "Government bailout of Wall Street" was a capitulation to socialism. And the real reason that this happened was because we allowed the government to intrude into free markets forcing the banks and Continue Reading
As is so often the case, Dan has written a post , that as a Christmas reflection, fits my own longings this year: We are reminded of how incapable we are of giving good gifts to others, and so we drive ourselves deeper and deeper into debt and exchange commodities with one another — commodities that, more often than not, Continue Reading
In a TIME interview, Naomi Klein explains the connection between Chicago-School style economics and the rise of “Disaster Capitalism” in the Southern Cone countries. Milton Friedman is held up as really the guru of the modern global market. But my view on Friedman is, I don’t think it’s his fault in the sense that the role he played was more Continue Reading
This is what mass demonstrations in Iraq had people shouting. We NEVER heard this in the US Media. But there were massive mobilizations against what proved to be , for Iraqis, the REAL face of the occupation; that of selling off their factories and providers of their infrastructure to for-profit-only foreign corporations. By way of blowing out of the water Continue Reading
from a new study by LifeWay Christian Resources: On abortion: “Based on our conviction that all human life is sacred from conception until natural death, Christians must oppose abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide, human cloning, and any technology or research that involves the destruction of a human embryo.” Ethics Daily.com: Southern Baptist Study Puts Women in Their Place I’m much Continue Reading
One of the best descriptions I’ve heard for the functioning of governments such as this Bush-and-Co. version (which I often refer to as "money launderers"), is given here by Naomi Klein in a conversation with John Cusack: So the scandal isn’t Blackwater or Halliburton or Exxon; it’s the vision of politics we have been living with since Reagan that holds Continue Reading
A particularly disturbing chapter in Naomi Klein’s The Shock Doctrine is the one on South Africa. In the election of the ANC and Nelson Mandela to power, the rule was in title only. The REAL title was held by the powers that be in the economic arena (that being, the TITLES as in deeds to the land and economic pursestrings), Continue Reading