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Thursday, January 31, 2008
Drop Outs
I wasn't sorry to
see Rudy Guilianim, far left, drop out of the primary contests, but it was a bit disappointing to see John Edwards
do so as well. He was the only one who spoke to the reality of the two Americas. His campaign was in the tradition
of William Jennings Bryan, a tradition I favor. Unfortunately, Edwards could not overcome the "three h's" -- haircut
($400), house (28,000 square feet) and hedge fund (which specialized in foreclosing homes). Edwards, like Guiliani,
is an excellent prosecutor and I suspect he would make an effective Attorney General in a Democrat cabinet, if there
turns out to be one. Tonight I must attend a wake -- an elderly church member has died of complications of diabetes
-- and after that I will return home to watch the final debate between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
2:46 pm est
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Florida
The important Florida
primaries are now history. Arizona Senator John McCain has won all 57 Republican delegates. He appears to be well
on his way to being his party's official candidate for President. Whether he is the best in the Republican
field, I cannot say, for I am not the best judge of Republican politicians. McCain has promoted policies I am in favor
of, on campaign finance reform and immigration. On the other hand, by his own admission he is weak on economic policy,
and economics is shaping up to be a major issue in the coming election. And McCain's military policy is, in my opinion,
disastrous. I believe he, like President Bush, misunderstands the true nature of the "war on terror" which is more likely
to be won by good intelligence operations and local police actions, not by military units or temporary "surges."
If McCain wins the presidency, Americans will be occupying Iraq for decades to come. That is not the route to
enduring peace.
Monday, January 28, 2008
The Suharto Paradigm
Indonesia's former
president, Suharto, died yesterday. He's the one on the right in the photo, shown as a young general with modern Indonesia's
founding president, Sukarno, whom he succeeded. (Many Indonesians use only one name.) Suharto was a prominent
figure during the years I lived in southeast Asia. He doesn't look like it in this photo, but he was an unusually brutal
man, with a mind-set like that of Stalin or Mao, and also extravagantly corrupt, more so than either Stalin or Mao.
He was ressponsible for the slaughter of somwhere between a half-million and a million Indonesians, a high proportion being
ethnic Chinese. It is estimated that he embezzeled up to $35 million from state coffers, much of this ending up in the
bank accounts of his children.
On the other hand,
he defeated the communist insurgency of his day, ended his predecessor's policy of confrontation with Malaysia, helped to
stabilize the region by organizing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, modernized the Indonesian economy, transformed
Indonesia from a rice-importing country to a rice-exporting one, and developed Indonesia's oil industry.
In all of this I
seen an enduring moral paradigm. Each human being is a mix of good and evil tendencies. Traditional Calvinists
downplay the potential for good and insist on our total depravity. But this is not so. We are made in the image
of God as well as tainted by original sin. And we exercise free will, although admittedly constrained by our DNA heritage
and cultural influences. In the end we will -- with Suharto -- be judged by the Judge who is also our Savior.
9:26 am est
Friday, January 25, 2008
New York Times Recommends...
The
New York Times announced its preferred presidential primary choices this morning: for the Democrats, Hillary Clinton; for
the Republicans, John McCain. The Times' choices are reasonable enoough but, in my opinion, the Times was premature
in announcing them so early. It would have been better to have waiting until after "super Tuesday," February 5th.
By then the American voter would have had more time to weigh it, yet there would still be enough primary election coming up
to allow the Times' choices to be influential, at least with those who are influenced by endorsements.
Georgia and I are
members of an interracial, but predominantly African-American, church. If John McCain becomes the Republican nominee,
it is doubtful that he will garner more than a handful of votes from our congregation. The Democrat race is another
thing. Whoever the Democrat standard bearer is will win most of our members votes. However, our church inclines
much more to Barack Obama than to Hillary Clinton. If she becomes the Democrat nominee most of our members will vote
for her. But reluctantly. They would much prefer Obama. I myself am still undecided.
9:57 am est
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Disciplemaking
Tonight we completed
the second full week of our intentional disciplemaking workshop. The workshop runs for eight weeks. Fifteen members
of oiur church are participating, about equally divided between women and men. They seem to be motivated and I
am expecting them to set the pace for others of our congregation.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Debate
Tonight I watched
the Democrat Debate held down at Myrtle Beach, SC. It was a spirited affair, lasting two hours. This is the second
debate between the three main candidates I've viewed. Each of them tries hard to distinguish himself/herself from the
others. That is understandable; one of the three will win the nomination. But truth to tell, there was not that
much difference between them; mostly nuances and other subtle distinctions. What struck me about the debate was the
fact that all three candidates discussed issues that were rarely heard at the Republican debates I've watched -- issues that
are important to me, but which the Republican candidates seem indifferent to: bringing the occupation of Iraq to a close;
stimulating the economy; promoting wider access to health care; tackling the ever-widening gap between rich and poor; toning
down our arrogant foreign policy, etc. I came away from the Democrat debate with the feeling that it really doesn't
matter whiich of three candidates wins the nomination. Any of them will be running on a platform clearly at odds with
-- and, in my opinion, clearly superior to -- the fear-based, me-first Republican platform.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
A Good Day
Martin Luther King, Jr. on the occasion of his
"I Have a Dream" speech.
Today was a good day. I've just been watching
the New York Giants play the Green Bay Packers for the NFC championship. I've been a Giants' fan since moving here to
the east coast. The Giants won in overtime, so now they go to the Super Bowl.
Earlier in the day,
of course, I was at church. Only seven percent of American churches are inter-racial. Ours is one of them, and
is the reason Georgia and I became members a quarter-century ago. Tomorrow being Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, we
commemorated the occasion by listening to a recitation of one of the sermons he gave just before he was assassinated.
That was 40 years ago. I attended his funeral in Atlanta -- and received a reprimand from The Navigators' leadership
at the time for doing so. But it was a decision I've never regretted.
10:58 pm est
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Poor Paterson
Dr. Michael Glascoe,
Superintedent of Paterson's public school system, has just submitted his letter of resignation. Poor Paterson!
Glascoe has been one of our better superintendents. Earning $215,000 a year, it was not easy for him to resign his post.
But the relationship between him and the State's education commissioner had become too tense. Irene Sterling, who has
been president of the Paterson Education Fund -- a non-profit advocacy group for Paterson schools -- ever since
I've been in Paterson, reacted: "I'm devastated. This is terrible news. Dr. Glascoe has been making progress against
terrible odds. We need his continued leadership."
Background: Way
back in 1991 the State took over Paterson's school system and since then has appointed its school superintendents. Glascoe
was the fifth or sixth appointment and, as I mentioned, one of the better ones. In spite of the State's oversight these
past 17 years, Paterson's system still fails to meet the standards that would allow the local community to resume control.
In my opinion, 17 years is more than enough time to demonstrate that the problem lies with the State and its bureaucracy,
not with our local community, nor with this particular superintendent.
9:46 am est
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
It's the Economy, Stupid
Finally the politicians
are beginning to talk about the economy, which has had many Americans worried for many months now. The American economy
is obviously in trouble, most likely headed for a recession. (Franklyn D. Roosevelt's New Deal pretty well eliminated
the possibility of decades-long depressions.) For many who have been living well beyond their incomes, but who now will
be losing their jobs, or working fewer hours per week, the next couple of years will entail real hardship, including home
foreclosures and the like. Those of us who have lived conservatively all our lives probably won't experience much change
in lifestyle. We don't spend our spare hours at shopping malls and don't accumulate unmanageable credit card debt.
If that sounds self-congratulatory,
it isn't meant to be. Rather, it's testimony to lifestyle decisions made back in the mid-1970s in the aftermath of the
Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization. One of the conclusions of that congress was expressed in these words: "All
of us are shocked by the poverty of millions and disturbed by the injustices which cause it. Those of us who live
in affluent circumstances accept our duty to develop a simple life-style in order to contribute more generously to both relief
and evangelism."
Nearly six years
later, in the spring of 1980, in connection with the World Evangelical Fellowship's Seventh Assembly (I was WEF's general
secretary at the time), and in cooperation with the Lausanne Committee, we held an International Consultation on Simple Lifestyle
in Hoddleston, England, just outside London. The consultation was co-chaired by Ron Sider and John Stott.
Out of it came a formal paper, An Evangelical Committment to Simple Lifestyle, which influenced many to intentionally
live more modestly.
2:18 pm est
Saturday, January 12, 2008
The Fuhrer
No, not Adolph Hitler.
This is the Rev. Christian Fuhrer, pastor of the Nikolai Church in downtown Leipzig, Germany. ("Fuhrer," Hitler's preferred
title, means leader, but also carries the connotation of guide or spiritual counselor.) Pastor Fuhrer was the leading
figure in the 1989 Monday Demonstrations that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the communist government.
Christian Fuhrer is fond of asserting that "It is not the throne and the altar but the street and the altar that belong together."
His own personal hero is Deitrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian (author of The Cost of Discipleship) who was
executed just before the end of World War II because of his involvement in the failed plot to overthrow Hitler. As reported
by Nicholas Kulish in the New York Times, Rev. Fuhrer, having reached the church's mandatory retirement age of 65, is
about to make way for a younger generation of spiritual leaders. In his forced retirement Pastor Fuhrer plans to write a book
-- something that has occupied my own (unforced) retirement years.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Name Changes
For many years,
but particularly during my tenure as general secretary of the World Evangelical Fellowship (now World Evangelical Alliance)
I had closs association with two great mission associations, the Interdenominational Faith Missions Association (IFMA) and
the Evangelical Foreign Missions Association (EFMA). Both groups cooperated closely with WEF's Mission Commision from
1975 onward.
IFMA has recently
changed its name to CrossGlobal Link (new logo above) to indicate "a deliberate new effor to link with North American churches,
especially those churches that tend to by-pass agencies as they do mission directly."
Name changes reflect
changes in identity, perspective, and sometimes mission. The EFMA changed its name to Evangelical Fellowship of Mission
Agencies in 1990 (dropping the "Foreign" tag). And now again in 2007 it has become The Mission Exchange because "we
believe it captures the sense of dynamic, interactive relationships between missional entities that is at the heart of our
vision and identity.
10:51 am est
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
New Hampshire
I was pleased with
the outcome of the Democratic primary in New Hampshire -- not because of Hillary Clinton's very narrow victory, but because
for the past few days I thought voters were demonstrating "herd mentality," the worst thing that can happen in a campaign,
in my opinion. Now voters have a chance to cool down and examine issues more dispassionately.
At the gut level,
I respond most to John Edwards. His focus is almost entirely on social justice. Of course, that's the problem,
because foreign policy is also of prime importance, and Edwards doesn't talk much about that. Perhaps that's why voters
are not responding to him. Everyone is worried about our rapidly deteriorating economy, and the impact this is having
on poor people, especially. At the same time I suspect voters regard Edwards as a one-issue candidate.
I want to continue
listening to all the candidates, Republicans as well as Democrats, at least up through the plethora of February 5th primaries.
After that, the field will be limited and the candidates' views will have become clearer.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Small Cars
I wrote about this not too long ago, but I continue to be intrigued by
plans to build and sell small cars for U.S. $2,500 in developing countries of the world, particularly in India. The
Tata company of Mumbai, India will introduce its ultra-cheap car this Thursday. Ford Motor Company plans to utilize
its plant in Chennai (formerly Madras) to manufacture a similar-sized automobile. According to one expert,
"In the next five to ten years the whole auto industry is going to be flipped upside down."
Of course, this
new product will be under-powered and lacking the luxury items we in the West are used to. It will not be as
safe, technically, and will not reduce polluting emissions much. But it will provide better, and affordable family transporation
for tens of thousands of families who presently cram themselves onto motor scooters.
11:19 am est
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Legacies
President Bush won't
be leaving much of a legacy when he leaves office next year. His war in Iraq has left America bitterly divided.
His war against the Taliban in Afghanistan, largely supported by the public, shows little sign of success after six years.
His tax cuts for the rich have resulted in an ever-widening gap between the rich and poor. His "No Child Left Behind"
reforms have met with increased resistance from the States and local education systems. His efforts to reform the
Social Security system and introduce immigration reform have been soundly defeated. His bellicose foreign policies have
produced resentment throughout the world, including some of America's closer allies.
But there is one
thing he has done well, and which may prove to be his most positive legacy. Prompted by former secretary of state Colin
Powell, Bush has stepped up the global war against AIDS dramatically and, it appears, effectively. So far, according
to reporter Sheryl Stolberg, approximately one and a half million AIDS sufferers in Africa and the Caribbean ave received
lifesaving medicines paid for with American dollars. Despite this effort, thee are still 33 million people living with
H.I.V. Bush is asking congress for a commitment of $30 million over a five year period. The goal is treat two
million patients, prevent seven million new infections, and provide care for ten million, including orphans and other children
at risk.
11:50 am est
Friday, January 4, 2008
Caucusing
Iowans have caucused.
Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee won their votes. (Obama's victory pleased my wife immensely.) Both men move on
now to New Hampshire, where Obama is likely to do well again and Huckabee not so well. Then on to South Carolina where
both men are apt to score. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards have serious ground to make up, and Mitt
Romney perhaps more so, for he is not popular among New Hampshire Republicans. The New Hampshire primary is only four
days hence. John McCain may be the Republican choice in that state, but he will not win many votes in South Carolina.
I'll be interested to read what the commentators have to say, but for the moment, from my perspective, everything is still
up in the air.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Happy New Year
...but not for everyone.
Kenyans are still rioting in the wake of the alleged presidential election fraud. More than 250 people have died so
far. A huge protest rally is scheduled for tomorrow. Whether the government will allow it is the question, however.
Our church has a heavy investment in Mathari Valley, one of the two Nairobi slums where much of the rioting is occuring.
We support a holistic ministry there, and have sent teams from our church to colabor with the folks in Mathari. Two
members of our congregation are from Kenya, one of whom is a young man I have discipling for some time now.
Now that the New
Year has begun I will be devoting much of my time to our church's Intentional Disciplemaking Initiative. About 15 members
are involved. I will be leading an eight-week workshop on discipling, beginning ten days from now.
8:13 am est
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