Category: American Affairs

WHAT’S GOING ON THESE DAYS IN PREPARING FOR WAR?

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

Reflecting on the set of queries read to our Quaker Meeting during worship one Sunday morning, I was struck by a fresh interpretation. That set opens

“Do you ‘live in the virtue of that life and power that takes away the occasion for all wars’? Do you faithfully maintain Friends’ testimony against military preparations and all participation in war, as inconsistent with the teaching and spirit of Christ?”

Initially, my mind considered ongoing conflicts around the world and the underlying conditions that fuel them. But to my surprise, as my thoughts turned to home, it was not the Pentagon that held my attention but the rising sales of guns sold for no other purpose but to maim or kill people – something quite different than hunting wildlife. Is this not “military preparations” of a more stealthy sort than we’d observe in the political arena? And what are the underlying conditions here? Hatred and racism, for sure, along with greed, lust, untruth, injustice, ignorance, fear, and much more, for certain. Turning these requires repentance, compassion, forgiveness, mutual respect, equality. Guns have no place in this equation.

New England Yearly Meeting’s queries on peace and reconciliation continue by urging an alternative action:

“Do you strive to increase understanding and use of nonviolent methods of resolving conflicts? Do you take your part in the ministry of reconciliation between individuals, groups, and nations? When discouraged, do you remember what Jesus said, ‘Peace is my parting gift to you, my own peace, such as the world cannot give. Set your troubled hearts at rest, and banish your fears.’ John 14:27 NEB”

PLIMOTH PLANTATION

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

As I noted at the time …

  • Wow! 10 t0 12 hours to make an arrow: WAMPANOG.
  • Hollowed log for a canoe: burning removes the sap, lightens the vessel.
  • 17 English dialects (and vocabulary) … many of them hardly understandable by the others.
  • Richard Pickering (aka Governor Bradford: “I’ve become my own father-in-law”).
  • High literacy, both men and women – dialect and faith via the mother.
  • Shakespeare / University of Lincolnshire: source of much of the research.

BEYOND THE SUPERSTITION AND BLAME

~ Jnana Hodson ~ 2 Comments

How do we deal with a segment of the public that has no interest in factual reality? Where belief, unsupported by critical reasoning, crosses into outright superstition? Too often, alas, it’s even wrapped in religious trappings – tainting both church and state with irrational fervor or madness.

And that’s what we have in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s campaign. The lies and half-truths will be hard to wash clean. The stench will remain even longer.

Yes, the underlying hurt runs deep, but Bernie Sanders tagged the causes of the problems accurately and pointed to joint collective action to repair the damage and heal the common good. Not so Trump or his legions.

There was nothing pragmatic or even logical in Trump’s babbling, no matter how many were deluded by his initial snake-oil charm. He was not telling it like it was but rather how they imagined life that might have been had they not been passed by. And then, toward the end, he was denying so much of what he’d told them in the first place or that his words had been just a joke. Locker room banter, as he claimed, not that many of us white guys recognized anything of the sort.

Now, no matter the outcome of the election, the nation’s divided by what he’s encouraged.

It’s not just racism, though those who think it’s fine for police to murder unarmed citizens is justifiable go about stealing Black Lives Matter lawn signs and then are alarmed if blacks take up the right-wing’s interpretation of the Second Amendment in self-defense. Folks, what would you do in that situation?

I’ll return to Bernie’s to-do list. I don’t think he was the administrator to push the goals through, but he certainly did an admirable job in articulating them. May he continue, building a base to take both houses of Congress in 2018.

Meanwhile, I’ll lament for what passes for national debate these days in all the tumult. We need honest dialogue to advance. And that will include admission of fault where it’s dues, rather than more blaming others.

HOW ABOUT MAKING THIS A DAY OF PRAYER AND FASTING?

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

After reading a post by Jonathan Caswell of the blog, A Mighty Mumford,  I’m wondering about reviving a practice from Colonial America – a day of prayer and fasting.

The idea would be for people of faith in America, across religious denominations and faiths and political identifications, to set aside time to pray for the future of the country. Not in negatives, but in visions that call for greater love, justice, peace, and compassion throughout the land. (No “Smite My Enemies,” for starters.)

Prayer, as Caswell observes, is difficult, for many reasons. And done truly, it leaves each of us exposed and humbled. To which I would add, praying truly also means listening and waiting rather than ordering the Holy One what to do.

There’s much to be done, including turning swords into ploughshares. I’d say, Let us begin.

VOTING WITH SAM

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

Usually, I’m tight-lipped about how I’ve voted. But once, my now ex-father-in-law (the retired colonel) and I (still the hippie in the workplace) compared the ballots we cast. To our mutual surprise, we discovered we supported the same candidates – some Republican, some Democrat.

Our reasons were identical: we turned to individuals of character who were interested in solving problems rather than acting on ideology. It helped that we knew many of them – pro and con.

 

 

DIGGING INTO THE REAL DIRT

~ Jnana Hodson ~ 1 Comment

Woodpecker’s finding worms everywhere under the bark.

Every time Republicans accuse Hillary, the old bird’s find much juicier stuff lingering on the Republican tree.

She’s Little League by comparison. In that way, she hardly measures up to the rot.

Still makes one wonder about the partisan obsession and the witch hunts, all the same. Or Newt Gingrich’s hypocritical envy.

 

TALLY THE BODIES, NOT THE NOISE, IN THE END

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

Contrary to right-wing proclamations, today’s Silent Majority runs independent, in the middle, far to left of the GOP. The rabid right wing, in fact, is anything but silent. Just listen to AM radio, if you must, or the Fox News propaganda machine.

No wonder they decry independent survey results that fail to support their fantasies, even while they continue to bray loudly.

(Remember, Hillary Clinton did win the popular vote for president. The Electoral College, however, is the one that counts.)

I remain concerned that in focusing so much on the surveys, the mass media introduced one more variable to the equation. In a multi-party race, if you’re assuming one candidate will win, is there a chance that entice casting a “conscience” vote elsewhere? And if so, how many would it take to sway the actual outcome?

Or, might it even have an impact if you’re assuming one candidate will lose, and if so, might enough “conscience” votes seal the deal?

In other words, it’s a case where the experiment itself might alter the results. I’d love to hear of cases in the physical sciences where this has happened. Meanwhile, back to the social sciences, I’ve long wondered about this, but the current situation magnifies the impact – and potential devastation.