Why Do I Care???

I share the work of Dr Heather Cox Richardson, because I happen to care about the welfare of my nation. 

And why do I care?

I suppose a lot of reasons, but at the base of my life, a singular reason, my Christian Faith ... a faith that strives for honesty and thrives on the truth of whatever matter may present itself ... from the proper temperature of a stainless steel pan for searing a steak in butter, or the Jan. 6 Insurrection ... not that these two events are of the same magnitude, but both require truth ... an improperly heated pan will result in a ruined steak, and ignoring the skullduggery of the GOP will only add to their effort to reshape this nation as it was in the Antebellum South.

With this conviction: that religion, Christian, Jewish, or Hindu, thrives best of all in an environment of honesty and truth, a Democratic environment of equality, respect, and opportunity. 

Religion never thrives in an autocracy - if it cooperates, it soon takes on the meanness of spirit inherent in an illiberal form of government. If it resists, it suffers - sure, it'll survive as Christianity did in the Eastern Bloc nations, but I'm not talking about bare survival; I'm hoping for an environment in which people of any faith or philosophy will be able to engage with their faith in freedom, and will be able to practice the tenants of their faith without fear, yet with restraint, lest religious fervor warp the believer into a totalitarian view of things, "my way or the highway," at attitude always possible in any form of faith or philosophy. 

So, my thoughts on all of this, my regard for a truth-teller like Dr. Richardson, my support of the Jan. 6 House Committee, are finally and fundamentally driven by my faith in Christ.

You probably already knew that, but I felt the need to say it again this morning.

To all who read this, God's Peace - not the peace of some soporific, but the peace of engagement, truth, and, sacrifice, in the service of neighbor-love. And those who serve the neighbor serve God at the very same time.

 "Foreign Affairs ... will tolerate wide differences of opinion. Its articles will not represent any consensus of beliefs. What is demanded of them is that they shall be competent and well informed, representing honest opinions seriously held and convincingly expressed.... It does not accept responsibility for the views in any articles, signed or unsigned, which appear in its pages. What it does accept is the responsibility for giving them a chance to appear." ~ Archibald Cary Coolidge, Founding Editor, Volume 1, Number 1, September, 1922.

Having just received the latest Foreign Affairs, while scanning the index, I saw the above quote, and thought of FaceBook and it's continuing ban on Trump.

Archibald Cox says it well ... wide diversity of opinion, but with some critical benchmarks: "competent," "well informed," "seriously held," and "convincingly expressed."

By Jessamyn - Own work,
CC BY-SA 4.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=58697461

I thought about these criteria, and it's clear to me that Trump fails to meet all of them ... I paused at "seriously held," and asked, "Does Trump seriously hold the views he expresses? Does he sincerely believe what he says?"

Perhaps he does, but I suspect most of what he says reflects his desire for power, and a willingness to say and do anything to enhance his hold on the GOP. 

He may well "seriously hold" his views much like some who believe the earth to be flat, or the moon's made of green cheese.

I think FaceBook is right on this one ... though the Oversight Board recommends a thorough review and more clarity.

What Is Truth?

 I pray for friends and family imprisoned by The Big Lie; I pray for their deliverance. Only a miracle, by the Spirit of God, can set them free. 

Part of the miracle is our determination to know the truth, to tell the truth, to push ahead, and to push on. And to rely upon the work of truth-tellers like Dr Heather Cox Richardson​. 

You ask me, "What is truth?" And I say, "Truth is in the pudding." Does it affirm life for the many, or just the few? Does it rely upon the distinctions of race and class as if these were weapons of war against

others? Does it instill fear, irrational fear, a fear of conspiracies, space lasers, and vaccination chips? Truth stands on its own two legs, but lies cannot stand at all, and require a constant propping up, a constant effort to maintain the lie, because lies are fragile; lies have no inner life, no ability to bless, but only to bruise. Only by extreme effort, an effort that saps our strength and depletes the mind can a lie be sustained.

Truth, however, is of faith, hope, and love ... truth is of grace, mercy, and peace ... truth is a child laughing, a mother proud, a father pleased ... truth is generosity, kindness, and welcome ... truth is voting rights, marriage equality, and a woman's right to choose. Every one of these truths lifts up and broadens the expansion of life. That's how I know truth, and mostly likely you do, too.

Something I wrote in another blog that has bearing: "No Politics in Religion???" ...

Good Historians

I'm grateful for historians.
At least a certain kind.

Not the David Barton kind, who manufacture
history to suit a darker purpose.

Usually a conservative purpose.
To serve White Interests.
And evangelical priorities.
The rich and the powerful.

Sure, all historians write from a perspective.
They bring themselves to the table.
Their values and dreams.
Their DNA and childhood hobbies.

But there's a difference, sometimes slight.
A difference, nonetheless.

I think it has to do with fundamental honesty.
Good historians acknowledge the darker elements.
The ugly stuff that most of us would rather not know.

Honesty, to uncover the unconscionable.
But as well to reveal the best.

To read the primary sources.
To dig deep and think it through.

Honoring the mystery of the better angels who hang around.
Seeing justice and mercy in the ebb and flow of our days.
Celebrating, or lamenting, that we humans make choices.
And sometimes, lo and behold, make good choices.

Choices that reflect justice and mercy.
When nations sometimes rise above self-interest.
And make the hard choices to promote the best.

Good historians:
See the evils of white supremacy, and racial pride of any kind.
The narrowness of so much religious posturing, and all
The blather that radiates from the super pious.
The lies we tell to cover the fault.
And the faults we lionize because we think they're great.

Good historians are not likely to be praised by the self-interested.

Good historians are not likely to be read by those who choose ignorance.

Good historians will not make it on the megachurch market.

Good historians won't be hired by Liberty University.

I'm grateful for good historians.
We might call them nerds, and they smile.

They bury themselves in libraries with dusty documents.
They read voluminously.
They love books.
They think deeply (which is a form of prayer).
They love the truth, whatever it is.

And of such things, God is pleased.

I Don't Pray Any Longer ...

I used to pray regularly for those who support the man-of-lies, but I don't pray any more.

There's warrant in Scripture for not wasting one's breath on those who have hopelessly given themselves to lies, illusion and fabrication.

They have built their wall, a wall dense and high, to keep out the truth ... and why they should do this is quite beyond me, but I suppose it was their initial commitment, because they were Republicans of long standing, or conservatives of some sort, that got them on board, and now that the train of madness is plunging ahead at full steam, they don't know how to get off, and so they defend the man-of-lies all the more, to somehow save face, ease their conscience and dismiss the truth.

It doesn't take much to discern the truth ... it's just a matter of looking at this man-of-lies, his greed, his sexualizing of women, his thoughtless remarks, his cruelties toward immigrants and asylum-seekers, his unpredictability, his bombast and confusing lines of thought, his greed and his self-importance.

I keep recalling that even as Berlin was in flames and Hitler dead, the die-hard Nazis remained loyal, and to this day, there are folks who still believe that Hitler was a good idea.

Well, that's life, as Robert De Niro put it in "Joker." That's life, and how sad it is.

Telling lies seems to be in season.

The city of Santa Anna is drawing up a proposal to become a sanctuary city.

An opponent of the proposal said:
"We know that most illegals are criminals who come here to exploit the United States."

This is a lie.
We all know it.
Stats make it clear.
The evidenced is in.

Hats off to Santa Anna and other sanctuary cities.
Hats off to people who tell the truth.
Who embrace kindness and mercy and intelligence and reason.
Folks who see the world in the light of reality and facts.

And boo bad to the man or woman who tells the lie.
And double boo bad to those who believe them.
Because the lies coincide with fear and suspicion.
And let's face it, the lies also correspond to prejudice.

Are there criminals amongst the illegals?
Sure.
But not most, hardly any.
So, no more lies on this point.

Folks come here to work.
To find life for their families.
To find a future.
To live a dream.

Let's support them.
Let's help them.
Let love be the norm.
Not the lie.

Let the truth be told.
And let the truth set us free.
Free from the lies.
And free to be responsible human beings.

Politics - Then and Now

"The more things change, the more they remain the same."

American politics have always been tough, with plenty of meanness and bald-faced lies thrown in for good measure. We ought not to be surprised at anything these days. It's our tradition!

While some decry the harshness of today's political divide, and I'm among them, it doesn't help to pretend that it's been any other way. Perhaps it's a bit more intense these days because of the immediacy and huge presence of news. But it remains to us to sort out the wheat from the chaff, the high-minded from the scurrilous, fact from fiction, truth from lie, as best we can, though "fact" seems to be about as elusive as "truth."

The electorate is fickle, of course, and given to unpredictability. 

For what has been the strongest nation on the face of the earth for some time now, it's surprising how much fear resides in the American psyche, and what a role that plays in our politics.

And for a nation soaked in religion, it's surprising how much ill-will there is, and bashing of the vulnerable. 

Whether it be McCarthy or Cruz, first-term senators, trying to make a name for themselves, embarrass everyone but themselves, and then fade away quickly. Yet, before it's over, imparting to politics a poisonous residue that's hard to remove.

None of us have the option of withdrawal, though it's terribly tempting to retreat into our own little house and world. 

We're all in this together - that's the way it is. And we can only do our best to be responsible in our freedom, mindful of passions that do more harm than good, embracing what history offers in terms of the best (I'm quite confident to say that history gives to us plenty of people who chose the high road and not the low). No one, then or now, is perfectly clear and none are pure. But there are some who seem have a light in their lives, a purpose that's good and even godly now and then. To them, we must repair … seeking their counsel and then making our choices.

With a little luck, maybe divine favor, we might add to the light and make it brighter with our own little flame of hope!

Elephants in the Room - by Charlotte Ellison

Dear Blog Readers,


A good friend of mine, the Rev. Charlotte Ellison, Grand Rapids, MI, offers the follow reflection on life and events in the Reformed Church of America.

When I read her note, I was immediately struck by its relevancy and its depth of faithful thought.

As the RCA struggles with many of the issues confronting American Christianity, it's helpful to read some commentary from inside the Western Michigan Beltway!

Blessings Charlotte, and thanks for permission to republish your essay in this blog.

Tom Eggebeen

Los Angeles.

-----------------------------------

Those of us in the RCA are spending a good bit of time talking about "unity" this Synod season--it all rests in identity, though--who are we, where do we receive our identity from, what is diversity and what is a basic distortion of our identity--do we most faithfully resemble our Lord when we protect ourselves from any variant in the interest of purity or do we most faithfully reflect our Lord when we go forth with an imitation of his engagement of the world, his apparent acceptance of people of many conditions and his welcoming them to a place of forgiveness, grace and acceptance.

I think there is always a temptation to confuse "unity" with "uniformity", always a need to project our sense of purity onto the image of Jesus' desire to call all to fellowship with his heavenly Father, always the temptation to "defend the faith" in a way that undeniably resembles the Pharisees and always a strong human impulse to be carried by those factors and hidden currents of our own unrevealed human psyches, projecting into Jesus those "imperatives" of our own fragile selves.

The hidden elephant in the room, in my opinion, has less to do with our openness to women in office (now thirty years in, and still contested), our position regarding homosexuality (do we offer hospitality and healing acceptance or do we participate in the persecution of anathema for the protection of the purity of the body), do we continue our exchange with theologically kindred bodies (sharing Reformed roots but with different histories) or do we narrowly define those "pure" enough to fellowship with as those who have even more strict standards of "purity" and closed communion.

I think the elephant in the room is our commitment to an identity that has little if anything to do with our Christian identity--our love of sectarianism, the ethnic roots of this particular tribe, the Dutchness which is nationalistic and nostalgic, a "brand" of theological virtue known for its scholastic rigor but not well regarded for its inclusiveness or gracious application of is magisterial theology of Grace.

I think the RCA struggles with a current of sectarianism that perpetually is oppositional, defining who is the "real" reformed communion by erecting ever more strident and exclusive marks of the true church and schizming into smaller and smaller communions that produce bigger fish in little ponds, the historic reward for leading the charge of schism.

It is sectarianism, and it is an offense to the gospel and a vanity and those further up its stream are not well positioned to instruct us on its benefits, so when we bemoan our communion with the PCUSA and long for closer ties with the Orthodox Presbyterians, for instance, that is a clear marker of this sectarian spirit at work, I think. Sectarianism is a terrible distortion of the Gospel and if you want to see its effects, one need look no further than North Ireland for examples of Orangemen in their oppression of Catholics in the name of the "true religion" through the propagating of an exclusive and utopian distortion of the church.

Our identity rests in one place--Christ Jesus, as revealed by his life and the witness of the whole Word of God, rightly interpreted, not appropriated with weak hermeneutics and self-styled but theologically ignorant leaders who are trying to "re-brand" their own version of what is "reformed" by simply asserting with vigor that it is. To be Reformed is to take the whole counsel of God and follow the Word of God wherever it leads, even if that reveals a long arc of justice, a widening inclusion into the family of God and a manifestation of Grace that is almost beyond our human ability to comprehend it. Reformed ever reforming. May God's spirit be powerfully present at Synod this year.

Charlotte Ellison

Grand Rapids, Michigan

Truth-Telling at Calvary Chapel???

In California, powerful right-wing congregations have a troubling history on truth-telling when it comes to social change.

As for me and my house, I happen to think that the church needs to tell the truth, no matter what, because our Lord is the Truth, as well as the Way and the Life.

Where truth is compromised or denied for political purposes, there is no Gospel, and Christ himself is denied.

That Calvary Chapel should use fear-inducing lies is not surprising, given the history of right-wing religious groups in SoCal - please see Darren Dochuk's monumental study:

From Bible Belt to Sunbelt: Plain-Folk Religion, Grassroots Politics, and the Rise of Evangelical Conservatism

Whatever one's persuasion may be on the questions of homosexuality, I think most folks can agree that truth-telling is a virtue, and spreading lies, especially fear-inducing lies, is reprehensible.

For years now, the LGBTQ Community has been the target of the far-right. Christians who stand against Gays and Lesbians always claim to have the Bible on their side and the weight of tradition behind them.

Yet even conservative scholars these days are inclined to admit that the Bible has been mistranslated in several key verses and poorly interpreted with other verses, mostly to suit certain social norms. The same was done, of course, to deny women ordination and to perpetuate slavery and post-emancipation Jim Crow laws - such as laws prohibiting bi-racial marriages.

Another example of fear-inducing lies regards the use of the short-handled hoe in CA agriculture - it's a fascinating story and highlights how fear-of-change grows into a monster that continues to harm. You can read about it HERE.

With regard to SB 48, it's a matter of honesty - honest history, honest teaching and honest recognition of people and causes that have contributed to the well-being of American society.

Is there anyone who doesn't want honesty in these matters?

Here's a letter from Courage Campaign.

Tom

---------------------------

"SB 48 will teach homosexuality to kindergarteners." That was the response my brother got this past Sunday when encountering a signature-gatherer at Calvary Chapel in Chino Hills.

We were shocked, because we know that SB 48, the FAIR Education Act, simply ensures that California schools include LGBT people and movements in our history books, and yet homophobes are collecting signatures to put the law on the ballot and repeal it. I don't know about you, but I'm not up for another Prop. 8-style campaign and loss, where the other side uses lies and scare tactics to hurt the LGBT community. We have to start NOW to frame this issue, to get the truth out.

We need your help to spread the word. Will you sign up to help make sure this measure stays off the ballot?

What we saw in church yesterday isn't the only example. Yesterday, the "Stop SB 48" campaign sent an email reinforcing the lies about teaching "homosexuality" to young children, on the heels of their video ad last week from Pastor Jack Hibbs at Calvary Chapel. Two choice quotes from Pastor Hibbs's ad:

"The indoctrination of our children regarding gay and lesbian, transgender lifestyles and practices as it relates to state history, as it relates to US history, and as it relates to our own economy...This new teaching, frankly, comes against the very ministry of Jesus Christ, the word of God, and you and I."

"If we don't stop it, this will be the indoctrination of our children, on our watch...There's no opting out for your student, they must take this course, there's no getting away from it."

All SB 48 does is to make sure that the role of LGBT people and the movement for justice are part of American history taught in schools. How many people know that gays and lesbians were jailed simply for being gays and lesbians? Who really knows that even now transgender people are beaten up for being transgender? Did you know that in his first days in office, Dwight Eisenhower signed an executive order that not only banned gays and lesbians from public service, but from working for government contractors? That's our history. If we don't know what happened, we are indeed doomed to repeat it, if not for LGBT people then for other minorities.

America is made stronger by telling the story of all Americans: black, Latino, gay, straight, Jewish, Christian, Muslim. We are all part of the powerful fabric that builds our nation. Pretending that some of us don't exist is not the American way. I'm a proud straight ally and I support making our history more inclusive of people who deserve respect.

But we need your help to tell that story. Please sign up for Courage Campaign's efforts to defend the FAIR Education Act and keep their homophobia off the ballot.

Thanks for all you're doing,

Arisha Hatch, National Field Director, Courage Campaign

Chip in today to fight back against the Stop SB 48 campaign!

Does Sin Render Truth Indiscernible?

Just a few hurried thoughts:

Certainly, all are guilty of such things, but to suggest that there is no difference in the values popular people hold is to close our eyes to a simple reality: values are always incarnate in specific people, and if given a public platform, those values are trumpeted, and folks are influenced, and no all values are created equal. After all, Al Capone had his values, too.

To suggest that we're all alike in our sin is true enough, sort of, but akin to suggesting that Hitler and Churchill were both men of strong opinion, and leave it at that. Or both sinners, which they were.

But it's the content of their opinion that counts. Surely, Paul was a sinner, too, and he makes that clear, but we still listen to him; though Paul's a sinner, we don't discount what he said.

Those who use immigrants and the poor to further their own agenda are failing the American People. Having listened to Rush and Glenn for a long time, I grow increasingly convinced that these men pose a serious threat to our nation's soul. 

It took a long time for Germans to see who Hitler really was, but folks like Barth and Bonhoeffer, early on, saw it, and they saw it because they were infused with the gospel of the Kingdom of God (see the Barmen Declaration).

This morning, in Barth's biography, one of the most chilling photos I've ever seen: the lead pastor of the German Reich (Yup, they had all kinds of pastors lining up) at the head of a procession to dedicate and install Nazi flags in a German Church.

I ask you: what are Rush Limbaugh's values, or Glenn Beck? Can we actually name them?

And compare them to the Apostle Paul, or Jeremiah. Is there no difference? Does sincerity alone guarantee truth? Doesn't truth have a content?

Why would any of us choose to listen to a Billy Graham and not a Joe McCarthy or Father Coughlin? What's the difference. They're all sincere; they all believe fervently. They're all sinners, too boot. So, what's the difference? Is there no means to measure anything? Then, indeed, the inmates of the asylum have taken it over!

FB 7.28.10

Protecting Our Freedom?

A friend sent me one of those lovely emails filled with gripping pictures of our soldiers in Iraq – sitting on a ring of sandbags in the rain; sleeping on the road beside their tanks, boots off; obscured in a dust storm … with some thoughtful questions about the ease with which we complain while they struggle on in the hardship of war.

But, then, this: As they protect our freedom!

That’s the question, isn’t it?

Are they protecting our freedom…?

Or were they sent to Iraq to fight and die for a tragically misguided foreign policy driven by the illusions of the Neo-Cons bent on American Empire and world-domination?

Our freedom has never been at stake, except when threatened from within by the Neo-Con/Fundamentalist/Right-wing/The Family conspiracy to undermine our Constitution and create a fascist/fundamentalist-Christian theocracy ruled by the wealthy for the wealthy and the powerful for the powerful.

If this group were to have it’s way, abortion would be utterly outlawed, and the death penalty enacted for abortion providers; homosexuals stripped of their rights, harassed, persecuted, imprisoned and worse; the middle-class disenfranchised; unions busted; high walls erected on our southern border, while protecting wealthy employers who hire and abuse illegals; Israel’s madness would be used to destabilized the Middle East and continue the war against Islam (see Blackwater and Erik Prince), and world-domination, of course, all in the name of Jesus, or was that oil? Or is it strangely, both?

I strongly support our soldiers, so let’s bring them home now!

Let’s provide for their training, their health, their families 24/7, for we now have an all-volunteer professional army.

The day of the citizen-soldier is gone, except for the National Guard, but so many of them are on their second or third tour of duty they’ve become professionals as well.

Yes, provide for them, protect them, train them – give them everything they need to be the professionals they are (see The Hurt Locker), and let’s be rededicated to the sparing used of military power, for the lives of our soldiers are precious.

Politically, let’s tell the truth: Iraq was a misguided decision made by a failed administration driven by dark ambitions, and administration willing to fudge the facts in order to convince Americans and the world of the righteousness of our cause.

Lies and deception were the tools of the Bush Administration, that’s the truth, the dark truth underlying this tragic moment in our story. And if we can’t tell the truth, the lie will only grow darker, harder, leading to more lies piled up like barnyard manure.

As for our soldiers?

May God protect them, even as we pray God could forgive us, and with a lot of God’s help, restore our national dignity and rebuild our national character.

All Theology is Biographical

At many a point, I wanted to believe that my beliefs were more purely founded - on something called truth, or Scripture, or the Holy Spirit, and that my education, my studies, my determination to know the truth was paramount.

Which, of course, is the heart and soul of theological conflict, as we hurl "bigger and better" Bible verses at one another, along with "pure" reason and god-inspired convictions, which, when added up, make me right and you wrong.

But, then, of course, you might feel the same about your stuff. But, then, of course, you're wrong; you just don't know it. But I do! Ha! And so it goes.

Clearly, all of this is modernism at work - the conviction that reason, which is finally what it all is, even when dress it all up in the robes of faith, will lead us to the truth. And because of that conviction, people have been burned at the stake, congregations split down the middle, denominations embroiled in ceaseless conflict, relationships won and lost and perhaps never won again.

We have forgotten that when Pilate queried Jesus about "truth," Jesus remained silent.

And in one of the most telling of all notes in the gospels, John has Jesus uttering, "I am the truth," and with that, John liberates us from the illusions of modernism. Truth is not a set of data, a collection of theses or propositions - at best, such things can only dimly hint at the truth embodied in Jesus - a deep and profound self-giving love that risks everything for the sake of the other, that puts itself into the hands of a Father who at times seems distance and cruel ("My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?") and dies, “It is finished.”

That's the truth we see in Jesus, and to believe in Jesus, to set our heart upon him, is to move into that kind of love, and, then, suddenly we realize, just how distant that kind of love is from our meager little lives, driven as they are by self-interest (ouch, that's a toughie to admit, isn't it?)

But herein lies the possibility of discovering humility, and humility is the basis of conversation with one another.

That our convictions, which we all love to elevate to the level of god-like value, are profoundly shaped by everything we are ... in some remarkable way, we can say "I am truth" too ... because my truth is really mine - what with study and reflection and years of life and the witness of Christian history, it's still mine, in the sense that it's embedded within, flows through and emerges from my life, with all of its goodness and all of its darkness, its love and its callowness, its self-giving and its relentless self-interest.

As the tax collector prayed in the Temple, "Lord, have mercy," we are our best with those same words when we stand before one another.

I don't know how our conversations about faith and politics, abortion and homosexuality, war and national health care will turn out, but we have a choice to make: to approach one another with the illusion of "my truth" being better and bigger than your truth, or ... the humble admission: "LORD, have mercy upon me" - I am what I am, and I believe what I believe out of the stuff of my life, and my life is both good and fractured.

Perhaps we might all serve our gods better, whatever our faith is, by spending a little more time in discerning the contours of our personal histories - the matrix in which we receive the world, process the information and make our decisions about what we value and how we will live. The kind of home we had; parental influence and the deep undercurrents of family values and styles.

And to see that my life is of no greater value than anyone else's life - and, that my life is just as valuable as anyone else's life - thus, remembering, that we're all in this together.

I don't know how this could affect our discussion, but it might lessen the anxiety, turn down the volume and render us less likely to jump ship, maybe even allowing more room for one another to live “the truth” as it emerges and flows through our biography.

When queried about truth by a hostile inquisitor, Jesus choose silence.

Might the cause of truth be better served if we exercised that response a little more often.

It surely doesn’t mean that I’ll cease thinking about abortion rights and the ordination of gays and lesbians. Nor does it mean that I’m going to be less an advocate for a national, single-payer, health care plan or EFCA.

But to try to say “my truth” as clearly and as humbly as I can.

Perhaps in a common humility, we might help one another along the way, and maybe even grow a little wiser in our self-understanding and a little bigger in our compassion for the world.

As for my wife? She was right all along.

Clinton's Confidence; Obama's Reality

Former President Clinton suggested that it was time for Obama to exude a little more confidence about the economy; I disagree. For the first time in a long time, including Clinton, we have a President who's telling us the truth.

Americans have been treated as spoiled children, addicted to happy, clappy, sappy everything from politics to religion; maybe we are spoiled children.

But it's time for a reality check. A time to grow up.

Read this piece from the New York Times - click HERE.

Obama and the Economy

I'm 64, and can't recall a time when a President-elect had quite so much on the plate. I believe comparisons to Lincoln and FDR are appropriate.

The headlines this morning: Obama calling on economic experts for their advice.

It's going to take a lot of cool-headed thinking to find an approach, likely, multiple approaches, to resolving the world's financial crisis brought about by ideological thinking.

As Greenspan noted in his recent testimony to Congress, "everyone has an ideology."

That's true, but some ideologies are spelled with capital letters and others are a bit more fluid.

When Greenspan admitted that his Ideology, held for forty years, was flawed, he might well have said, "Any Ideology, spelled with capital letters, is flawed." Life doesn't yield to superimposed models (see Chaos Theory). Life requires a fluid, responsive, approach - a commitment to principles, but a willingness to revise the game plan and made lots of mid-course adjustments.

What we've seen since the halcyon days of Reagan has been an IDEOLOGY - ill-thought, never tested in a complex modern economy, looked upon as foolish by our Allies, and for my take on things, essentially fascist - the linking of business and government via the instruments of deregulation and low taxes. The fatal flaw of Greenspan's Ideology: what's good for business will be good for everyone.

Now is not the time for Ideology ... now is the time for intelligence.

Does Obama and his team have what it takes?

I believe so, but only time will tell.

The magnitude of our problems is immeasurable ... it took a long time for us to get here, and it will likely take some time for us to find our way through and out.

But I am heartened by Obama's style - to consult with the best and to think his way through, reminding us with the truth: it will take time - a year or two, maybe even the first time. This is the kind of honest talk we've needed to hear for a long time.

If confidence-building is one of Obama's primary tasks, it will be done with the truth!

And, as Jesus said, "the truth is what sets us free."