Thursday, June 15, 2006
Warming up Thursday
This week’s Arkansas Times reports the Cessna jet which lost one of its two engines during a flight carrying Governor Huckabee to a North Carolina campaign appearance, and made an emergency landing in Chattanooga, is owned by Southeastern Asset Management, a corporation registered in New Hampshire whose manager of record is Ted Suhl. He is a director of a non-profit called the Lord’s Ranch, which gets payments for services through Medicaid — about $8.5 million in fiscal 2006, according to DHHS. State tax revenues provide about 25 percent of Medicaid’s budget in Arkansas.
The Democrat-Gazette’s Amy Upshaw has reviewed documents released in the April death of Leroy Johnson. They offer little explanation as to why he fought with employees at the Alexander Human Development Center or what happened in the moments before he died. Afterward, one person was fired and two others were repri manded. The documents do show that the facility has been admonished for failing to ensure that more than a dozen employees were CPR-certified.
War Memorial Stadium this summer will install a new $400,000 field, its second playing surface in four years. The current surface was supposed to last eight. The state commission that oversees the Little Rock stadium has already canceled one summer event because of the turf problem and will have to pay for the new surface itself - the company that installed the old one is out of business.
Arkansas will receive $7.4 million over three years to plan, start and evaluate charter schools from the federal Department of Education.
A former University of Arkansas secretary testified Wednesday that she called the FBI in May 2005 over Arwah Jaber’s threats to join a Palestinian terrorist organization because her university bosses refused.
The Arkansas Court of Appeals on Wednesday reversed the first-degree sexual-assault conviction of former Shannon Hills Police Chief John H. Brown Jr., ruling 4-2 that the defense should have been privy to a calendar used by his 15-year-old accuser to help with her court testimony.
The attorney for death-row inmate Don Davis, who was convicted in 1992 in the slaying of a Rogers woman, has asked a court to delay his execution until a ruling can be made in his claim the drugs used for lethal injection cause excruciating pain.
Former Pine Bluff Alderman Jack Foster has until 2 p.m. Wednesday to report to federal prison to begin serving a three-year sentence for one count of aiding and abetting an attempted extortion.
Sen. Hillary Clinton's financial report shows the family made more than $8 million last year, the bulk of it in speaking fees to the former president.
Flowers Baking Co. of Pine Bluff will close in mid-August. The bakery closing will affect about 62 employees.
The Democrat-Gazette’s Amy Upshaw has reviewed documents released in the April death of Leroy Johnson. They offer little explanation as to why he fought with employees at the Alexander Human Development Center or what happened in the moments before he died. Afterward, one person was fired and two others were repri manded. The documents do show that the facility has been admonished for failing to ensure that more than a dozen employees were CPR-certified.
War Memorial Stadium this summer will install a new $400,000 field, its second playing surface in four years. The current surface was supposed to last eight. The state commission that oversees the Little Rock stadium has already canceled one summer event because of the turf problem and will have to pay for the new surface itself - the company that installed the old one is out of business.
Arkansas will receive $7.4 million over three years to plan, start and evaluate charter schools from the federal Department of Education.
A former University of Arkansas secretary testified Wednesday that she called the FBI in May 2005 over Arwah Jaber’s threats to join a Palestinian terrorist organization because her university bosses refused.
The Arkansas Court of Appeals on Wednesday reversed the first-degree sexual-assault conviction of former Shannon Hills Police Chief John H. Brown Jr., ruling 4-2 that the defense should have been privy to a calendar used by his 15-year-old accuser to help with her court testimony.
The attorney for death-row inmate Don Davis, who was convicted in 1992 in the slaying of a Rogers woman, has asked a court to delay his execution until a ruling can be made in his claim the drugs used for lethal injection cause excruciating pain.
Former Pine Bluff Alderman Jack Foster has until 2 p.m. Wednesday to report to federal prison to begin serving a three-year sentence for one count of aiding and abetting an attempted extortion.
Sen. Hillary Clinton's financial report shows the family made more than $8 million last year, the bulk of it in speaking fees to the former president.
Flowers Baking Co. of Pine Bluff will close in mid-August. The bakery closing will affect about 62 employees.
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Dear Reverend Rigby,
The fact that you're;a). A Christian, b). A Paid Christian, c). A Paid Christian Texan---almost makes me believe in divine miracles. Yours is a Christian essay on a par with those of Dietrich Bonhoffer and/or Martin Niemöller.
Roy Murtishaw
Pine Bluff, AR
Don't Bow To God's Bullies
By Rev. Jim Rigby, HuffingtonPost.com
Posted on June 15, 2006, Printed on June 15, 2006
http://www.alternet.org/story/37565/
Whereas American theology was born out of a hope for democracy, much of it is wedded to a picture of Christ as a benevolent dictator. Should we be surprised that a hierarchical cosmology would produce hierarchical churches and nations? Should we be surprised that religious nations that picture Christ as a loving dictator have produced conquistadors, inquisitors and crusaders?
What else could they produce? As the tree is, so shall be the fruit. The word "Lord" was not in the original Bible. It is an English word from feudal times. Whereas the Greek word kurios had a range of meanings, from a title of respect to a title of leadership to a name for the sacred, the English translation "Lord" refers specifically to a male European land baron. Many people have softened that interpretation in their own minds, but in times of great stress, such nuance falls away and many Christians seek a white male king. He may be called "Pope" he may be called "the decider President," he may be called "televangelist," but the title only masks what he is, a benevolent (or not so benevolent) dictator.
Neither Calvin nor Luther spoke English, but they helped the Popes lay the groundwork for the view of God as a cosmic dictator. From Popes, Luther and Calvin we have some of the ugliest slurs ever recorded against women, intellectuals and those who refused the church's message. How did Christians hold slaves, oppress women and slaughter nonbelievers? Perhaps they could not see Christ in non-male, non-European, and non-Christian people because they were limited by their theology. Their "Christ" was merely a glorification of the most powerful member of their own culture.
To picture God in terms of power is also one of the great bait-and-switch gimmicks of all time. People within the power hierarchy proclaim that God is the ultimate authority, and then appoint themselves as God's interpreters and enforcers. They are God's humble bullies. It has been one of the most successful con games of all time.
The real Jesus was born illegitimately. He called himself "the human one." Just like Buddha, his authority came from truth, not power. He taught whoever has love has God. He said those who work for the common good are his church.
The real Jesus was an anarchist. He spent his life refusing to claim power over anyone. He said that God is understood in terms of love not power. We add nothing to the majesty of "the human one" by adding a throne or a crown. If he did not want to rule over others in life, why should he want it in death? That is why Jesus is called "lamb of God"; he spoke not as the king of the universe, but from its heart.
If you want to know why Americans are so frightened and why we are attacking anything that would challenge our dominance over others, read the Bible. Like Cain we have murdered members of our human family. Even when we silence our victims, the ground beneath our feet cries out against us.
Today's church lifts its arms to praise Christ wearing liturgical garments woven in sweatshops. So called "Christian America" is still a nation built on the work of slaves. We do not see them because they toil invisibly in other countries. Today's church doles out bits of charity from booty stolen from God's powerless people the world over. Anyone who claims to believe in a just God, or even in justice itself, has to know at some level that the prayers for liberation coming from third world countries will be heard and answered. At some level, people of faith have to know that unless America repents of the sin of empire we are a doomed nation.
Whatever prophetic voices survive in the church must take a message to the mainstream denominations. "We are guilty of our leaders' crimes. Just because we are silent and passive does not mean that we are innocent. If we have any status in the power hierarchy, we are partially responsible for its misdeeds."
I realize that most of the church consists of wonderful and compassionate people, but that does not matter if we turn over our power to those less charitable. The moderate mainstream church is helpless against fundamentalism because it is built on a nuanced version of the same cracked foundation of a theology of power.
Whether or not we can change America in time to avoid a political and ecological apocalypse, it is never too late to do the right thing. All of us can begin to plant seeds of a better future for our children's children. For Christians today, that means suffering the consequences of refusing to bow to the dictator Christ of this culture.
The Rev. Jim Rigby is pastor of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Austin, Tex. He can be reached at jrigby0000@aol.com.
© 2006 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/37565/
The fact that you're;a). A Christian, b). A Paid Christian, c). A Paid Christian Texan---almost makes me believe in divine miracles. Yours is a Christian essay on a par with those of Dietrich Bonhoffer and/or Martin Niemöller.
Roy Murtishaw
Pine Bluff, AR
Don't Bow To God's Bullies
By Rev. Jim Rigby, HuffingtonPost.com
Posted on June 15, 2006, Printed on June 15, 2006
http://www.alternet.org/story/37565/
Whereas American theology was born out of a hope for democracy, much of it is wedded to a picture of Christ as a benevolent dictator. Should we be surprised that a hierarchical cosmology would produce hierarchical churches and nations? Should we be surprised that religious nations that picture Christ as a loving dictator have produced conquistadors, inquisitors and crusaders?
What else could they produce? As the tree is, so shall be the fruit. The word "Lord" was not in the original Bible. It is an English word from feudal times. Whereas the Greek word kurios had a range of meanings, from a title of respect to a title of leadership to a name for the sacred, the English translation "Lord" refers specifically to a male European land baron. Many people have softened that interpretation in their own minds, but in times of great stress, such nuance falls away and many Christians seek a white male king. He may be called "Pope" he may be called "the decider President," he may be called "televangelist," but the title only masks what he is, a benevolent (or not so benevolent) dictator.
Neither Calvin nor Luther spoke English, but they helped the Popes lay the groundwork for the view of God as a cosmic dictator. From Popes, Luther and Calvin we have some of the ugliest slurs ever recorded against women, intellectuals and those who refused the church's message. How did Christians hold slaves, oppress women and slaughter nonbelievers? Perhaps they could not see Christ in non-male, non-European, and non-Christian people because they were limited by their theology. Their "Christ" was merely a glorification of the most powerful member of their own culture.
To picture God in terms of power is also one of the great bait-and-switch gimmicks of all time. People within the power hierarchy proclaim that God is the ultimate authority, and then appoint themselves as God's interpreters and enforcers. They are God's humble bullies. It has been one of the most successful con games of all time.
The real Jesus was born illegitimately. He called himself "the human one." Just like Buddha, his authority came from truth, not power. He taught whoever has love has God. He said those who work for the common good are his church.
The real Jesus was an anarchist. He spent his life refusing to claim power over anyone. He said that God is understood in terms of love not power. We add nothing to the majesty of "the human one" by adding a throne or a crown. If he did not want to rule over others in life, why should he want it in death? That is why Jesus is called "lamb of God"; he spoke not as the king of the universe, but from its heart.
If you want to know why Americans are so frightened and why we are attacking anything that would challenge our dominance over others, read the Bible. Like Cain we have murdered members of our human family. Even when we silence our victims, the ground beneath our feet cries out against us.
Today's church lifts its arms to praise Christ wearing liturgical garments woven in sweatshops. So called "Christian America" is still a nation built on the work of slaves. We do not see them because they toil invisibly in other countries. Today's church doles out bits of charity from booty stolen from God's powerless people the world over. Anyone who claims to believe in a just God, or even in justice itself, has to know at some level that the prayers for liberation coming from third world countries will be heard and answered. At some level, people of faith have to know that unless America repents of the sin of empire we are a doomed nation.
Whatever prophetic voices survive in the church must take a message to the mainstream denominations. "We are guilty of our leaders' crimes. Just because we are silent and passive does not mean that we are innocent. If we have any status in the power hierarchy, we are partially responsible for its misdeeds."
I realize that most of the church consists of wonderful and compassionate people, but that does not matter if we turn over our power to those less charitable. The moderate mainstream church is helpless against fundamentalism because it is built on a nuanced version of the same cracked foundation of a theology of power.
Whether or not we can change America in time to avoid a political and ecological apocalypse, it is never too late to do the right thing. All of us can begin to plant seeds of a better future for our children's children. For Christians today, that means suffering the consequences of refusing to bow to the dictator Christ of this culture.
The Rev. Jim Rigby is pastor of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Austin, Tex. He can be reached at jrigby0000@aol.com.
© 2006 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/37565/
# posted by 
: 10:12 AM
: 10:12 AM
Rigby is nothing but a social and political activist masquerading as a minister of the gospel. It is fortunate for him that the church no longer burns heretics at the stake.
I am still wondering, Roy, how it is that an over-sized intellect such as yourself does not already have his own radio show, several best sellers, or at least a blog. How tragic that, instead of favoring us with your own thoughts, you cut and paste somebody else’s essay. You know, Roy, blogs are FREE on Blogspot.
Your admiring pal,
Pat
I am still wondering, Roy, how it is that an over-sized intellect such as yourself does not already have his own radio show, several best sellers, or at least a blog. How tragic that, instead of favoring us with your own thoughts, you cut and paste somebody else’s essay. You know, Roy, blogs are FREE on Blogspot.
Your admiring pal,
Pat
Your brilliant analysis of Rigby's essay certainly confirms the depth of your imbecility.
Your warm,loving,typically Anti-Christian comments directed toward me are overwhelmingly generous and much appreciated!
When I grow up, I want to be just like Pat Lynch....only maybe a few hundred pounds lighter and several skin shades darker.
BTW,isn't it wonderful Joseph Ratzinger (Catholic-Cult Leader)and the 'Catholic Lites'a.k.a.,
Episcopalians , do not suffer social/political activism?
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Your warm,loving,typically Anti-Christian comments directed toward me are overwhelmingly generous and much appreciated!
When I grow up, I want to be just like Pat Lynch....only maybe a few hundred pounds lighter and several skin shades darker.
BTW,isn't it wonderful Joseph Ratzinger (Catholic-Cult Leader)and the 'Catholic Lites'a.k.a.,
Episcopalians , do not suffer social/political activism?
# posted by : 9:03 AM
: 9:03 AM<< Home
