Why Not. Bart?

60 leaders of religious orders representing 59,000 Catholic nuns have sent lawmakers a letter urging them to pass the Senate health care bill.

The letter says that “despite false claims to the contrary, the Senate bill will not provide taxpayer funding for elective abortions.” The letter goes on to say the legislation will help support pregnant women and “this is the real pro-life stance.”

In an interview aired on CNN, Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of Network, a national Catholic social activism lobby, expressed that the bill was clear in that it did NOT allow for federal funding of abortion.  You can watch the interview here.

Bart Stupak, the Representative who seems to be going overboard on this issue, responded to the news by saying “When I’m drafting right-to-life language, I don’t call up the nuns,” 

WHY NOT, BART?  They have more experience working with the poor and the Catholic hospitals than the Bishops do.  Why wouldn’t you want to consult them?  Is it because they are women?  Or is it just nuns, and not all women, that you dismiss so easily? 

Rush Limbaugh: Mindreader

Conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh got all worked up Friday by this fake quote attributed to the Columbia University thesis of President Barack Obama.

 “… the Constitution allows for many things, but what it does not allow is the most revealing. The so-called Founders did not allow for economic freedom. While political freedom is supposedly a cornerstone of the document, the distribution of wealth is not even mentioned. While many believed that the new Constitution gave them liberty, it instead fitted them with the shackles of hypocrisy.”

Conservative author Michael Ledeen had posted the phony quote on his blog last Wednesday. Ledeen reports that he found it on another site and didn’t notice that it was tagged as satire.

The Rush Limbaugh Show did not properly fact check the quote and rushed to the airwaves with it so Limbaugh could use it as a launching pad to berate President Barack Obama.

Do you think Limbaugh apologized to his listeners and to Obama when he realized it was a fake quote? No. He said what he did was okay because that’s how Obama thinks anyway.

It seems that Limbaugh can now read minds. That power is going to make his job a lot easier.

Take A Flying Leap

Sometimes I wonder how people take some of the leaps that I witness. 

For instance, a friend on facebook was talking about someone who said “God wants to strike her dead because she castrated him by supporting gender inclusive bibles.”  And recently someone said they didn’t understand how I could call myself a Christian if I thought feeding the homeless was as important as sharing the gospel (I didn’t even get into the discussion with her about how I probably didn’t share her definition of “the gospel”).  But the most unbelievable leap I have witnessed lately is this one:

Many conservatives are complaining that President Obama’s upcoming September 8 speech (which will be televised and presented during school to all elementary students) about “persisting and succeeding in school,” along with classroom activities about the “importance of education,” will “indoctrinate” and “brainwash” their children. Conservatives have compared Obama’s address to Chinese communism and the Hitler Youth, while also calling for parents to “keep your kids home” from the “fascist in chief.”

It makes you want to say “go take a flying leap” – but it looks like they already have!

Am I all alone here?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hryckowian/109004281/

I am about 2 or 3 years into the emergent/missional conversation/movement. I come from a very conservative, evangelical background and have had to come to terms with the realization that a lot of stuff that I believed, a lot of things I said and did, and a lot of people I supported in the past were wrong. The journey has been exciting but also disconcerting and painful at times. I am thankful that there are people out there that have challenged my thinking/motives/actions/beliefs. I no longer think of myself as conservative or liberal but a follower of Christ – but since that can sound vague and like I am trying to avoid giving a straight answer (to some) I guess I would say that I am a moderate – although my conservative friends would probably think me to be liberal these days and my liberal friends would say I was still a conservative just not an extreme one :>) Anyway, on to the point of this post…

What concerns me is that so many of the very people who have challenged me and my conservative views seem to have gone soft and are doing some of the same things that they rightfully criticized me about.

For instance – when I pointed out that $170 million dollars would be better spent on helping people rather than staging an extravagant inauguration (I did this on facebook and twitter) I barely got a bite. My friends there are mostly liberal (sorry for the label) and supporters of Obama (which is fine with me – I almost voted for him) but I don’t think they would have given a republican or a conservative that kind of break (and I don’t think they should).

And then – when I pointed out that I thought the end of Rev. Lowry’s prayer contained racist speech (again on facebook and twitter) I got even less response. I was careful to explain that I wasn’t calling Rev. Lowry a racist (I know very little about him) but that I thought calling Native Americans “red”, Asians “yellow”, saying that “yellow needed to mellow” and saying white people, in general, are racist, was racist speech even if it was contained within a rhyme that has been around for a long time in black churches. I talked about racism lurking in people’s lives (no matter what race they are) even without their knowledge and that when we see or hear racism we should point it out and speak against it.

Now maybe I am wrong, but I got the feeling that I was breaking some sort of unwritten law, or treading on “holy” ground, or something. No one reprimanded me but the passion that is typically there was absent – the critical eye was missing – the silence said a lot (IMHO).

I don’t say any of this because I didn’t vote for Obama. I think there is a possibility that he will make a great president and do many good things. I was honestly worried about his lack of experience – particularly with the war and economics – but maybe that will end up being a plus – I can see that side of the argument.

I say this because I don’t want my wonderful new friends, who have challenged me for my own good, to go soft because Obama is President. I want them to keep examining and questioning and pointing out discrepancies and injustices – even if it is with people they support and agree with on most everything.

Am I all alone here? Or does anyone else know what I am talking about?