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Saturday, June 17, 2006
One Hundred Years Ago
As I mentioned a few blogs back, 2006 marks the
100th anniversary of the birth of Dawson Trotman, founder of The Navigators and a mentor to many of us. I owe Megan
Cohick, a longtime supporter of our ministry, the following interesting statistics for the year of Daws' birth, 1906.
Life expectancy for U.S. males was 47 years.
Only eight percent of U.S. homes had a telephone. A 3-minute call from Denver to New York City cost $11. There
were only 8,000 cars in all of the U.S. and only 144 miles of paved roads. The maximum speed limit in most cities
was ten miles per hour.
With a mere 1.4 million people, California was
only the 21st most populated state in the Union. Alabama, Iowa, and Tennessee all had more people than California.
The population of Las Vegas, Nevada: 30.
The average wage wage in the U.S. was 22 cents
per hour, and the typical U.S. worker earned between $200 and $400 per year. Yet 18 percent of all U.S. households had
at least one full-time servant.
Sugar cost four cents a pound; eggs were 14 cents
a dozen; and coffee was 15 cents a pound. Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea had not yet been invented.
Only six percent of all Americans had graduated
from high school. Ninety percent of all doctors had no university degree. In the year 1906 only 230 murders
were reported in the entire United States.
9:40 pm edt
Thursday, June 15, 2006
A Godly Hero
One hundred and ten years ago, in 1896, William
Jennings Bryan, congressman from Nebraska, delivered his famous "Cross of Gold" speech while campaigning for the presidency
of the United States. "You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thons," he declaimed, "you shall
not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold."
His reference was to the gold standand,
which protected the wealthy against inflation, but created chronic debt for the farmers of Nebraska.
Exactly 50 years later I, a high school
senior, having laboriously memorized Bryan's speech, delivered it at a statewide oratorical contest in my home town of Omaha,
Nebraska, and garnered second place. That's why I know about Bryan.
Bryan was only 36 years old at
the time he lost to William McKinley. He was defeated in two further runs at the presidency, though he became
Secretary of State in the cabinet of Woodrow Wilson. In the process of his long career, he became, to the people
of the Great Plains, "A Godly Hero" -- the title of a recent biography of Bryan by Michael Kazin.
He was publicly humiliated when, in
1925 and at age 65, he was asked to assist the prosecution in the trial of John Scopes, a public school teacher indicted
for teaching evolution in violation of Tennessee state law. At the trial, the renowned atheist lawyer, Clarence Darrow,
ridiculed Bryan relentlessly for his evangelical beliefs.
Why am I writing about this? Because
I am intrigued by the fact that during his government career Bryan was a fervid proponent of the Social Gospel and, at
the same time, an equally zealous believer in the literal interpretation of the Bible. Two decades later,
in 1946 when I was orating, such a combination had become impossible.
During the 1920s the modernist-fundamentalist
controversy heated up to the point that -- in the church in which I was raised, at least -- it was impossible for a person
to believe in the Social Gospel and in the Scofield Reference Bible.
What goes around comes around. Today,
as in 1925, evolution itself has become such an issue that many Christians assume it is not possible
to believe in evolution and Scripture. But just as Bryan refused to dichotomize the social gospel
and the Bible, so I find no persuasive reason to choose between theistic evolution and Scripture. Both
reveal the incredible creativy of God.
Monday, June 12, 2006
Immigration Policy
God knows I believe that U.S. President
Bush's foreign and domestic policies are a disaster, on virtually every front, and primarily, in my opinion, because
they are devoid of Christian character. But on one point he has got it right.
That point is his immigration policy.
Although his position puts him at odds with most members of his own party, it aligns well with the Bible's message.
"When foreigners reside among you, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born.
Love them as yourself" (Leviticus 19:33-34). "I was a stranger and you invited me in" (Matthew 25:35).
Many American Christians, I am discovering,
fear what they call the "Mexicanization of America." But as PBS commentator Richard Rodriguez points out, the opposite
-- the Americanization of Mexico -- is actually the case. Wal-Mart in Monterey, American beachfront properties
in Guerrero, American drug buys in Jalisco. The cross-polinization is never equal since the U.S. is by far the
more potent agressor.
Here in Paterson we have few Mexican immigrants,
legal or illegal. But in our city of 150,000 other Latinos from the Caribbean, Central America, and South America comprise
nearly 50% of our population. Our Mayor is Hispanic. Our church has a Latino congregation. For the most
part, Hispanics have benefited Paterson, reviving our economy and enlivening our culture.
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Wayward Christian Soldiers
In the wake of the exuberance in American
circles over the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, I encourage you read a brief article entitled Wayward Christian
Soldiers. See the bottom button on the navigation bar to your left. I will post it there for a short while.
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