Abortion is not a woman’s issue

The latest Obama political mantra is for the female supporters of Hillary Clinton. Support Obama, they say, or Roe v. Wade is toast and none of you will be able to get safe, legal abortions. At the same time these Obamaites like to dismiss the followers of Clinton as uneducated, middle aged women. Sort of a disconnect there.

If they are middled aged, then they aren’t exactly the right age to have children, if you know what I mean.

It all got put into perspective for me last week by a male friend who is a lapsed Catholic. For some reason we got on the subject of going to church. “I killed a baby with my girlfriend by having an abortion,” he told me. The bitterness in his voice was not so much for the choice he had made–with his girlfriend–but for the interpretation put on it by his religious establishment. Clearly he would not be back to church in the near future, if ever.

The other piece of his outburst was that it had taken place some time ago, when he had a gilrlfirend who was still young enough to get pregnant. Abortion–and the corollary issue of birth control–is an issue not just for women but a decision many couples–young couples of childbearing age–make together.

Older women, or older couples, are not likely to be personally affected by changes in abortion and birth control legislation. But they are more affected by social attitudes to women working. So when the Obama campaign appeared to attack Hillary Clinton by innuendo about her gender, this was seen as weakening the credibility of working women and their ability to make a living.

McCain has been quick to capitalize on this by promising more federal jobs for women.

The DNC keeps up their Roe v. Wade mantra, totally oblivious to the damage they have done to working women everywhere. And many younger women–perhaps dependent on males for their livelihood and well-being–seem to be choosing reproductive freedom over financial freedom so far. After all, at that stage of life, the ability of a couple (not just the woman) to make reproductive choices that limit the number of dependents in the household, as well as the spacing of pregnancies, can have a large impact on both physical health and financial well-being of the entire family. But the older women know the realities of life. The still-high divorce rate and a higher death rate for men means more women will be trying to make it on their own without a male paycheck in the household.

The only thing the DNC is promising female voters is reproductive freedom. But age has given many women–and couples–that freedom already. Women, young and old alike, need financial security. The DNC just doesn’t get it.

Reflecting on the life of Gerald E. Forshey 1932-2008

Reverend Jerry Forshey was always fun to talk to. I first met him at an Abraham Salon–an interfaith discussion of Bruce Feilor’s book Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths. Our interfaith discussion group had been groping our way with the book–and with each other–as we tried to figure out how reach out to people of other faiths, discuss this book, and at the same time get a view of other religious traditions from within our own.

When Rev. Forshey sat down with the group, it just seemed natural for him to expedite the discussion. He brought Abraham up to our level very quickly. While the story is a little different depending on who is telling it, in all three faith traditions, Moslem, Jewish and Christian, Abraham intends to sacrifice his son, believing it to be in obedience to the will of God. “How have you experienced a call to do the will of God?”, Forshey asked the group. Then began a fascinating view into the life stories of everyone present, and Abraham was no longer a shadowy figure from thousands of years ago, but someone who had the same conflicts about doing the right thing as we do in our own time.

Rev. Forshey couldn’t always meet with the group, because of cancer treatments that took some time to recover from, but whenever I had a chance to hear his remarks, he always had something pithy to say. When a fundamentalist preacher claimed Katrina was proof of the wrath of God against New Orleans, Forshey pointed to three consecutive tropical storms that devastated the preacher’s own neck of the woods. What better proof of divine displeasure with that type of theology, Forshey pointed out, tongue in cheek.

The rest you can read about in the papers–about Forshey’s love of justice, and his work with the African American community. About his teaching and his interest in religious themes in American film. About the time he spend in a Mississippi jail as a result of his faith. And of course you could always find him at the center of any inter-faith tolerance issues. The Trib wrote a nice obit and so did the Sun Times. You can even find out about the books he wrote on religion in American film, now out of print.

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An added note: does anyone remember which classes Dr. Forshey taught at Daley, and when?

Reading all these newspaper accounts about Daley and Malcolm X colleges, opera, art, …..brought back an old memory of a conversation with a professor at Daley college.  I remember perhaps a field trip to the opera house, which turned out to be closed temporarily, then a migration to the old library at Michigan and Randolph that is now the cultural center. Could it have been Dr. Forshey who first introduced us to this incredible building, with its two breathtaking stained glass domes?

I also remember asking what happened to the Malcolm X students that had been part of the startup of that college in the West Side African American neighborhood.  The professor’s reply: they joined the middle class. Interesting  juxtaposition with Obama’s Trinity church’s “disavowal of the pursuit of middleclassness”.

My transcript doesn’t show the professor’s name, only the course number, Humanities 201, Fall semester 1988. Could it be that the Abraham book group was not my first meeting with Dr. Forshey?

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Sorry about the lengthy quotations, but I know these won’t stay online for long.

Said the Trib on 5-22-08:

Rev. Gerald E. Forshey, an activist Methodist pastor who regularly questioned church hierarchy and once spent five days in a Mississippi jail for trying to integrate local congregations, was also a film and art scholar who taught in the City Colleges of Chicago.

Rev. Forshey, 75, died of cancer at his La Grange home Saturday, May 17, said his wife, Florence.

Rev. Forshey came to Chicago in 1958 as pastor of Armitage Avenue Methodist Church. He also served a number of Chicago’s United Methodist congregations, including as an associate pastor at St. Mark United Methodist Church in the Chatham neighborhood.

In 1963, Rev. Forshey was among 12 people, four of them Chicago-area Methodist ministers, arrested in Jackson, Miss., for trying to lead blacks into three local churches.

“For him, justice was the issue whether it was in the church or on the public square,” said Rev. Philip Blackwell, senior pastor of the Chicago Temple.

In the late 1960s, Rev. Forshey was an outspoken member of a group of clergy called the Renewal Caucus that sought to effect change in the Methodist church from within. One offshoot of this group met regularly to consult on appointments made by the church’s bishop.

“This group had come to trust each other in a way we did not trust the bureaucracy,” said Rev. Martin Deppe, a friend and colleague.

“Within the church, we pushed for a level of flexibility. [Rev. Forshey] was the philosopher, he was the prod, he was the one who made us nervous.”

Rev. Forshey’s activism covered a breadth of issues as illustrated by the many protest buttons he collected over the years. “ERA, Welfare Rights, Indian Power, Anti-Gambling. Here’s one that says, ‘I’m not sure why I’m wearing this button,’ ” his wife said as she looked them over.

The perpetually disheveled Rev. Forshey cut a distinct figure among his fellow ministers. “He was the least genteel Methodist minister I knew,” said Roy Larson, former religion editor at the Sun-Times.

Seeking to create a church without walls, Rev. Forshey started the Church of the New City in the 1970s, which met at the University of Illinois at Chicago for a couple of years before disbanding, his wife said.

By this time, he was on his way to a doctorate in the humanities from the University of Chicago and a teaching career. He taught for many years at Malcolm X College and Richard J. Daley College before retiring about 10 years ago.

Rev. Forshey was born in Long Beach Calif., and grew up in Reno. While at University of California Los Angeles, he became close to leaders of his Methodist church and decided to join the clergy, getting a master of divinity degree from the Iliff School of Theology in Denver.

A lifelong fan of art, film and opera, he was drawn to Chicago by the local cultural scene, his wife said. Enthralled by metaphor, he wrote his doctoral dissertation on symbolism within cinematic religious spectaculars like “Ben Hur” and “The Ten Commandments” and filled his home with artwork depicting Don Quixote.

Last year, Rev. Forshey led a group on an art appreciation tour of Italy. He could discuss any number of works in great depth and length. “We’d still be there if we hadn’t had a co-leader with a watch,” said Blackwell, who was on the trip.

“His theology was very deep, a lot had to do with the redemptive nature of our imagination, that we could imagine things could be different,” Blackwell said.

In addition to his wife, Rev. Forshey is survived by a brother, Ron.

Visitation is set for 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday at Hitzeman Funeral Home, 9445 W. 31st St., Brookfield. A memorial service will be at 5 p.m. Sunday at First United Corporation Methodist Church of Chicago, 77 W. Washington St.

And the Sun Times 5-20-08:

The Rev. Gerald Forshey’s dreams were simply too big and too broad for one lifetime.

Activist civil rights preacher. Film critic. Professor of philosophy. Historian.

“He was a full-of-life, complex, intelligent, learned person,” said his wife of 50 years, Florence Forshey. “He responded to and loved people. He believed in causes, and when he believed in causes, he was never afraid of confrontation.”

The Rev. Forshey, a man who would stand alone if that’s what it took, died Saturday at his home in La Grange after a long struggle with cancer, friends and family said. He was 75.

He was born in Long Beach, Calif. His father was a casino pit boss and his mother a homemaker who taught her children to love God and to treat all people equally, said his brother, Ron Forshey, of Carson City, Nev.

The Rev. Forshey received his undergraduate degree from the University of California at Los Angeles and a master of divinity degree from Iliff School of Theology in Denver, said his good friend and former Sun-Times reporter Roy Larson.

The Rev. Forshey came to Chicago entranced by the big city and all it had to offer, his brother said. He pastored at Methodist churches with both predominantly black and white congregations.

He believed strongly in social justice, his friends said. In 1963, he traveled with other Chicago area Methodist ministers to Jackson, Miss., to protest an all-white Methodist church there. He spent a night in jail for his efforts.

To his friends, the Rev. Forshey was a Renaissance man with a wide range of interests and passions. He taught philosophy and other subjects at Chicago area colleges.

In addition to his wife and brother, survivors include six nieces and nephews. Visitation is from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday at Hitzeman Funeral Home, 9445 W. 31st St., in Brookfield. A memorial service will be at 5 p.m. Sunday at the Chicago Temple, 77 W. Washington, in Chicago.

You can also find tucked away on page 6 of the “Minutes of Regular Meeting Illinois Gaming Board December 6, 2001″:

Gerald E. Forshey, Ph.D., was present to discuss the Board’s accomplishments in turning down the Emerald application, issuing a $7.2 million dollar fine to Grand Victoria for its criminal connections, and affirmatively exploring the issues of problem gamblers and their vulnerability. Mr. Forshey stated that the Board has a history of which it can be proud. However, the Board’s task has been made more difficult by the September 11th crisis and its contirbution to a rising recession, which caused all types of programs in the state to be downsized due to loss of revenue. Mr. Forshey stated that many people are now more cautious about spending, which diminishes the sales tax. Mr. Forshey stated that the gambling industry has been using the crisis to press for new access, including putting slot machines in racetracks and taverns, increasing space on the barges, and offer a variety of new ways to create jobs and taxes. Mr. Forshey asked the Board how many jobs are needed before someone going bankrupt and putting a dozen employees out of work becomes a benefit. Mr. Forshey asked how many tax dollars are needed in order to turn a suicide into a benefit. Mr. Forshey stated that right and wrong are defined by utilitarianism by numbers and assigning numbers to pleasure-like taxes-and pains-like suicide. When the bill to allow riverboat gambling was originally passed, its original purpose was to save the river towns and support economic development. Mr. Forshey stated that in time, the tax revenues became addictive, and when Governor Ryan announced his support for the current bill, he announced that it was for taxes, changing the original intent of the law. Mr. Forshey stated that he recognized that this is not the business of the Board, but it is the atmosphere in which the board exists. Mr. Forshey stated that the state legislature used its power recklesssly by passing a law that benefitted one corporation and disregarded the public interest. Mr. Forshey stated that the state legislature stripped the Board of its powers to regulate, but the Board stood tall, taking the responsibility where the political system does not want to. Mr. Forshey stated that he believes that the Board’s responsibilities are three-fold: (1) to regulate the industry by allocating licenses; (2) to keep out people that give the appearance of impropriety in order to protect the general public from losing their confidence; and (3) to protect the afflicted from themselves and the industry. Mr. Forshey stated that he was concerned about Administrator Parenti’s comments, which he concluded meant that Administrator Parenti wanted to maximize tax revenues for the State in order to fulfill his “fiduciary obligation” to taxpayers. Mr. Forshey encouraged the Board to “take back” its license and open the license up to competitive bidding.

Who Would Jesus Vote For?–thirty black preachers say Obama

Undaunted by the experience of the church in Pasadena a few years ago that spent $200,000 to defend its tax-exempt status after an anti-war sermon preached by a guest preacher, a dozen or so black preachers gathered in a Chicago church this week to announce their endorsement of Senator Obama for President.

One preacher told the group that “Sen. Barack Obama best represents our hopes and aspirations” while another said the “black church supports Obama” and another called him “the man of the hour”. The “black church”? Whatever happened to God’s church? And all the “render unto Caesar” stuff in Luke 20:25?

We’ve got boots and shoes on the ground and we’re knocking on doors,” Finney said. (Rev. Leon D. Finney Jr. of the Metropolitan Apostolic Community Church). “We’ve got busloads of people leaving from Chicago over the weekend and they will be in Indiana.”

Maybe if Obama wins, the IRS won’t pay too much attention to these churchs’ tax exemptions or to issues of separation of church and state.

On the other hand, John McCain has been endorsed by evangelical preachers Rod Parsley and John Hagee. So how do we know which bunch of pastors really has the hotline to what God is thinking?

My own pastors? None of them–former or current–appeared in the picture.

Throwing a fit over “Fitna”

The European movie Fitna is currently unavailable anywhere. American bloggers are having fits because they can’t see it in order to determine whether it is offensive or not. According to the April 1, 2008 (!) Jordan Times:

The 15-minute film entitled “Fitna”, an Arabic word for sedition or disturbance, portrays Islam as a threat to the Western world. It shows images of violent acts and holds Islam and the Koran responsible for them.

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende released a statement on behalf of the Dutch government on the day the odious film was posted on the Internet.

The Dutch government banned the movie from being displayed on cinema screens.

“The film equates Islam with violence. We reject this interpretation. The vast majority of Muslims reject extremism and violence. In fact, the victims are often also Muslims,” the statement reads.

“We, therefore, regret that Mr Wilders has released this film. We believe it serves no purpose other than to cause offence. But feeling offended must never be used as an excuse for aggression and threats. The government is heartened by the initial restrained reactions of Dutch Muslim organisations,” Balkenende said.

Judeh said that the government valued the Dutch government’s condemnation of the film.

Geert Wilders, the far-right Dutch MP who produced the film, heads the Freedom Party that has nine seats in the Dutch parliament.

The Dutch government, however, remains on alert for delayed responses to Wilders’ film.

“Sometimes it can take months before the true repercussions are felt,” AFP reported Balkenende as saying.

Meanwhile, Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen sought to dampen anger through diplomacy and met with 26 ambassadors from the member states of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, including Jordan’s envoy.

After the meeting, Verhagen issued a statement saying: “I am happy with the moderate reactions we have been getting from the Muslim world.” He added, “the rhetoric in some countries shows that we must be alert.”

Alert? Anger? Agression? Threats? Repercussions?

Well, all I can say is it’s a good thing all these diplomats aren’t “portraying Islam as a threat to the Western world.”

Opinion meter of Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s sermon clips

This is sort of interesting. Slade publishes a real time graph of opinions to the Wright videos by 799 voters broken down by race and political party.

In case you were wondering, the dangling modifier was intentional, hee, hee.

Wright vs. Wright: Liberation Theology or a New Creation?

Still scratching your head over how something called “liberation theology” can make Chicago’s Rev. Jeremiah Wright act the way he does? Still waiting for your “taken up” neighbors to go flying through the air? Was The Golden Compass strangely unsatisfying with its emphasis on a theology not seen since the Medieval thinking of Dante?

Despair no longer. A new Wright is on the scene. Bishop N.T. Wright, the author of a new book called Surprised by Hope says he doesn’t believe in heaven, at least the kind of heaven where everyone sits around on a cloud strumming a harp. The idea of heaven and hell may have become popular through the paintings of Michaelangelo or the writings of Dante or Milton, but it’s just not biblical. According to an interview with Wright in Time, “It says that Christ is coming here, to join together the heavens and the Earth in an act of new creation.”

Wright: Never at any point do the Gospels or Paul say Jesus has been raised, therefore we are we are all going to heaven. They all say, Jesus is raised, therefore the new creation has begun, and we have a job to do.

TIME: That sounds a lot like… work.

Wright: It’s more exciting than hanging around listening to nice music.

This theology has another advantage. Unlike some other theologies, this one is based on the teachings of Jesus.

Obama’s Trinity Church and Hamas

The latest buzz about Senator Barack Obama’s Trinity United Church of Christ is about an opinion piece by Hamas senior official Mousa Abu Marzook. It was printed in the pastor’s column of the Trinity church bulletin in July 22, 2007, when Rev. Jeremiah Wright was still officially the senior pastor.

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The editorial originally appeared in the LA Times and was criticized for being grossly inaccurate. And the author, Abu Marzook, the deputy of the political bureau of Hamas, which the State Department considers to be an official terrorist organization, has been accused of funneling money to al Qaeda through the Global Relief Foundation and the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development.

So what’s the context? Why have I found this so intriguing enough to track down as many of the original sources as I could find and put them in one place? Maybe the most interesting thing about it is it’s lack of context. The entire editorial was just reprinted in the church bulletin, but with a new title ,”A fresh view of the Palestinian struggle.” Is it just meant to be something different and maybe easy to reprint in the summer when a church’s staff and clergy is mainly on vacation? Or is it meant as an endorsement? Reprinted as it was on the pastor’s page, and taken in context with Wright’s Libya visit with Qaddafi, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Louis Farrakhan, I would take it as an endorsement. I would like to see an explanation, but maybe it is all the more interesting, and flexible in terms of future usefulness, for not having one.

The Obama Race Speech: links to text, videos for Obama and Wright

Some links to text and videos of Obama and Rev. Jeremiah Wright:

Obama:

The text of the Obama speech is |here|.

Obama’s Huffington Post piece |here|.

Keith Olbermann’s MSNBC interview with Obama |here|.

Major Garret 3-14-08 interview on Fox with Obama|here|. Transcript of Fox Obama interview |here|.

Wright:

Rev. Jeremiah Wright N-word clip |here|

God Damn America clip |here|.

Clinton/Lewinsky comment clip |here| NSFW ( Rev. Otis Moss III portion has been repeated several times)

Montage of several clips together from Fox News |here|

“Chickens coming home to roost” longer (9:56) video |here|

There are a lot more clips out there, but they all seem to be variations of the ones posted above.

Still looking for the video of Obama’s Friday CNN interview and the “America created AIDS to kill blacks” video.

Links to Jeremiah Wright’s “Audacity of Hope” Sermon

The complete text of Jeremiah Wright’ 1990 Audacity of Hope sermon is reprinted in the Camel’s Nose archives here as well as in yesterday’s edition of The Atlantic.

Obama campaign tramples Constitution

The Obama campaign has been telling people judgment is more important than experience. They point to Obama’s role as a professor of constitutional law. What could be better preparation for the presidency, they ask, than that. With Obama at the top of the pyramid, all that peachy judgment stuff will just filter all the way through the government organization.

Except for one little thing. The Obama campaign is using churches for political rallies. Like this one:

This is an official campaign event from the official Obama campaign website. It’s a march from the Shiloh Baptist Church at 720 Mt. Vernon Ave. in Columbus, Ohio to the board of elections to vote early for Barack Obama. Breakfast at 8, march at 9. Free food.

Vote for Obama.

In Jesus name.

*burp*

Does Shiloh Baptist church have tax-exempt status? If they do, and if they are saying to the government that they are not using their special tax-exempt status to get the taxpayers of America to subsidize their partisan support for a political candidate, they are lying.

But so what if a little church in Ohio cheats on its taxes, or lies, or claims to know who God wants to be president. What about the Obama campaign? What do they understand about separation of church and state? What do they understand about the establishment of religion clause? Where can they find a constitutional law professor to explain it to them? When is that Obama Judgment we keep hearing about going to trickle down into the Obama campaign organization, which if you stop to think about it, it a whole lot smaller than the executive branch of the federal government.

If the Obama campaign can’t get this right, what can we expect from an Obama administration?

Senator Obama has voted consistently against retroactive immunity for the telecoms, against warrantless wiretapping, and against unreasonable search and seizure. He has supported Senator Dodd ’s courageous opposition to the FISA amendment. He opposes torture. He supports the Geneva Convention. That’s part of the reason Illinois keeps voting for him.

But what about separation of church and state?

Chicago has a north side baseball team: the Cubs. The Cubs are known as gentlemen, but they lose.

Chicago also has a south side team: the White Sox. The White Sox motto is “Winning Ugly”. The meaning of the motto is “We are not gentlemen, we do not play by the rules. When the ref is looking the other way, we get away with whatever we can. But we win.” With all those eloquent, Harvard-law-schoolish inspirational speeches, Obama must be from the north side, right?

I don’t think so.