Bits and Pieces

Nancy Pelosi’s Husband: Nancy Pelosi is Speaker of the House of Representatives in the US Congress. That is a powerful position of leadership. She also has a private life. One of those private elements is her marriage, her family members and her husband. Mr. Pelosi has had a recent interaction with traffic police with a charge of Driving Under the Influence of alcohol. If the facts turn out to be true, Mr. Pelosi will have to follow the law and its protocols to the conclusion of the matter. This is not a reflection on Mrs. Pelosi. She had nothing to do with it.

Plus, this has nothing to do with her leadership responsibilities.

Why then is this ‘fair game’ for the press. The photos accompanying the news articles are not of Mr. Pelosi. No, they are of Nancy Pelosi. Stupid editing of the story. Shameful political nonsense. Shame on the press corps, and more shame on the political opposition that insists on pushing this sort of incivility forward.

Church and State: a politician takes a stand on a public issue. The issue has more than political sides, it also has opposition in church circles. The clergy take note and bar the politician from church sacraments. The church thinks this is OK. It is not. Why? Because the church has just then made church and state the real issue.

If I vote for a candidate to represent my views, I do not do so for religious or theological reasons. I do so for public policy purposes that impact the common good. That ought to be theologically supportable, but I do not require it from my candidates. I expect them to do their job under the law, civil law, not church law.

We Americans despise nations that follow religious law as national law. That is a particular problem in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Middle East in general. National traditions based on religious belief are one thing; rule of law laid out per religious teachings is another. The Taliban would not agree with me. Saudi Arabia would politely disagree with me. But Iran? Iraq? And others? Tell me the stories of India and how she lives with a polyglot of religions and survives to this day? With over 1.1 billion people?

America recognizes many holidays – Christmas, Easter, Good Friday to name a few. But having a day off is one thing. Punishing someone for not observing the holiday strictly is the opposite thing. It is not right.

Abortion rights is one thing. Church teachings on being against abortions is another thing. So is choosing to have an abortion. One doesn’t make that decision lightly. This is so true in our country today that abortions have declined significantly over the past 10 years.

So why does the church cross the church/state barrier? Because it can.

The slippery slope in America has been engaged. Watch your step!

The Bold and the Reckless: The Young and Reckless soap opera aside, seems modern social behavior is to reach out take a purse from a stranger, knock on their car window with a gun, demand their car, and drive off with it. Or smash and grab store window trinkets worth a lot of money. Perhaps the bold think it's fun to walk into a party, fill up on free food, then shoot a few partygoers. Later, they roam city streets, shoot a few innocent bystanders on the street corner, then go on a wild ride on the expressways shooting up a few cars during their romp.

Perhaps this does not describe the urban area in which you live, but it does for mine. Of course, there are over 10 million in our metro area, so the chances of getting shot are miniscule. That may be true, but the fear level magnifies the threat, and we stay put at home. I’d like to drive to the campus of the University of Chicago and visit old haunts. I’d like to see the new seminary building that replaced the old, and while at it, see the old building and how they have adaptively reused it.

But I don’t dare. The highways and byways needed to travel there and back are fraught with violence. Why take the chance?

When I first went to seminary, my landlady was most anxious for me. I didn’t think twice about it. Later I did, but while there nothing bad happened. I was impervious to the threat. Then. Now, I am past my then landlady’s age and I feel as she felt then.

Why is this happening? Not my age of fear, but the bold and reckless conduct that turns neighborhoods into battlefields?

June 1, 2022

 

 

 

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