Today I found Wikipedia’s list of bestselling books. I was enormously intrigued. Some I’ve read, and others I haven’t, and some surprised me with their presence. Here’s a partial listing, with the ones I’ve read bolded: (although a couple of them I’m partially ashamed to admit I read. Ah well)
First, of course, is the The Bible, with an order of magnitude more sales than anything else on the list–an estimated 5 to 6 Billion copies. Except wait–there’s one other one in this category of 5 to 6 Billion copies–Quotations from Chairman Mao. That sort of … sets the cold war, for instance, in a slightly different perspective, doesn’t it? I feel glad, strangely, to have had such a … familiarization with the Bible. It’s kind of referenced everywhere, isn’t it?
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Recently I e-met Brooke of Rivervision.com via a comment she left here on Jacques. I went and poked around her website, and found out she is joining Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) and I was terribly curious, so I asked Brook a few questions, which she has very graciously and fascinatingly answered. Thank you Brooke! There are also some pictures of Brooke’s recent rip with CPT here.
First from CPT itself:
“Enlisting the whole church in an organized, nonviolent alternative to war, today CPT places violence-reduction teams in crisis situations and militarized areas around the world at the invitation of local peace and human rights workers. CPT embraces the vision of unarmed intervention waged by committed peacemakers ready to risk injury and death in bold attempts to transform lethal conflict through the nonviolent power of God’s truth and love.
Initiated by Mennonites, Brethren and Quakers with broad ecumenical participation, CPT’s ministry of Biblically-based and spiritually-centered peacemaking emphasizes creative public witness, nonviolent direct action and protection of human rights.”
And 2 important points to stress about CPT:
How did you first hear about/get involved with CPT?
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I have listened enough to Socialists, or even to democrats, saying that the physical conditions of the poor must of necessity make them mentally and morally degraded. I have listened to scientific men (and there are still scientific men not opposed to democracy) saying that if we give the poor healthier conditions vice and wrong will disappear. I have listened to them with a horrible attention, with a hideous fascination. For it was like watching a man energetically sawing from the tree the branch he is sitting on.
If these happy democrats could prove their case, they would strike democracy dead. If the poor are this utterly demoralized, it may or may not be practical to raise them. But it is certainly quite practical to disfranchise them. If the man with a bad bedroom cannot give a good vote, then the first and swiftest deduction is that he shall give no vote. The governing class may reasonably say: “It may take us some time to reform his bedroom. But if he is the brute you say it will take him very little time to ruin our country. Therefore we will take your hint and not give him the chance.”
If clean homes and clean air make clean souls, why not give the power (for the present at any rate) to those who undoubtedly have the clean air? If better conditions will make the poor more fit to govern themselves, why should not better conditions already make the rich more fit to govern them?
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Nadia Plesner painted this. She is raising money to help Darfur. H/T Nathan
Last Fourth of July, the brilliant David H. recommended this song, saying
Just after I read this I happened to listen to an old David Francey CD. Francey is a Canadian by way of Scotland. He is a small-statement folk singer who doesn’t often come to conclusions. His songs are observations. He has a song on his “Waking Hour” album (2004) called “Fourth of July.” It seemed to express a little of what the rest of the world may feel when they look at America.Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Today, the 4th of July, is by far the biggest patriotic holiday in the United States of America. Americans all over the country will celebrate the signing of The United States Declaration of Independence. I’ve made a habit, since 2000, of reading the document aloud every July 4th. I think it’s a good habit, and it brings some context to today’s celebrations. I find people are generally quite interested and fascinated to hear the whole thing read aloud.
The … visible, media, public focus today will be on an almost mythologically bright vision of a glorious, righteous, free, beautiful America–an America of virtue and goodness and justice and lots of other positive words.
There are other visions of America which are arguably at least equally valid. One of them, for instance, is the vision of Native American youth, who have a far higher suicide rate than their counterparts in the population at large. Native Americans are referred to specifically in the aforementioned Declaration with these words:
the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
I find this language and the injustice it represent appalling. It seems so … huge, however, than I don’t even know where to begin to think or talk about it, much less hope to move toward … correcting it, somehow. What must it feel like to grow up in a nation that so strenuously celebrates a document which so horribly and cruelly mischaracterizes one’s entire people group–especially when that group has been the victim of that nation in so *many* ways?
In the early years of this century, something amazing was happening in Argentina. Due to a massive downturn in their economy, many businesses were going bankrupt threatening the livelihood of thousands of workers.
Then, in an unprecedented move, the workers of many of the businesses went to the bankrupcy courts demanding the right to buy out the factories they once worked in. Surprisingly, the courts allowed the workers to do this at a peppercorn rent for a few years. After some battles in the early years, many of the businesses have continued in workers hands - over 170 representing more than 10,000 workers.
Unwittingly, they had created the biggest workers co-operative movement ever.
Today, many of these factories are more profitable and more stable than they had been under private ownership and benefitting from a system of microcredit loans from an organisation called The Working World.
Wow.
Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments »Today I was in that church of Consumption commonly known as “The Mall” here in the U.S. It’s always a somewhat traumatic experience, watching all the Americans participate in the worship. I’m not *totally* clear on why I find it so distressing, but it is what it is. It’s July 2, which means there are only approximately 176 shopping days left until that annual pinnacle of the church’s year commonly referred to as “Christmas”. Last year for the first time ever I published a Christmas wish list. Here’s my wish list for this Christmas.
(I left one blank in case I think of something else)
What do you want for Christmas?
Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments »Yesterday my wife and I were over in one of the richer neighborhoods in Seattle, and poking around for public beach access so she could jump into Lake Washington, as it was a scorcher of a day. We finally found a parking lot down near the water with a little beat up sign that said “Public Beach Access” with an arrow. There was a tiny little path down to a non beach–the trees and foliage grew right up to the water, and there was a rock sticking out into the water, next to a 6 foot high fence with barbed wire. My wife went for a swim. I stood and looked and pondered.
The 6 foot high fence was separating us from a private club of some sort. It had about 150 feet of real sandy beach, with sand that was obviously brought in. (You have to understand that *no* Washington State beach has *real* sand naturally.) There were children’s toys, with slides going into the water. And a long dock extending out into the water, with expensive looking yachts moored there. Etc.
The barbed wire was tilted outward, clearly designed to keep people from moving from our side to the other side, and not vice versa. Read the rest of this news item »
Two decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court this week made headlines.
In the first, the justices declared that it was unconstitutional for states to execute individuals for the rape of a child, claiming that
A review of the authorities informed by contemporary norms, including the history of the death penalty for this and other nonhomicide crimes, current state statutes and new enactments, and the number of executions since 1964, demonstrates a national consensus against capital punishment for the crime of child rape
Meanwhile, the U.S. ranked number 5 on the number of executions carried out in 2007, behind China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan, and just ahead of Iraq.
Here’s a New York Times article about the decision.
In the other decision, the Court decided to reduce punitive damages against Exxon in the Exxon Valdez oil spill from approximatly $5 billion to approximately $500 million, a reduction of 900%. The original oil spill occurred in 1989, and had devastating and long ranging consequences for Prince William Sound and the entire surrounding ecosystem. It’s interesting to me that the jury which awarded the large punitive damages was located in Alaska, whereas the court which overturned those damages was located thousands of miles away in Washington D.C. ExxonMobil posted profits of $39.5 billion dollars in 2006.
What are your thoughts about the reduction of the punitive damages?
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