What's happening in the religion-and-labor movement?
Commentary
Neve Gordon 9-01-2002
Attacks in both East and West Jerusalem damage and demoralize—but they're not the same.
David Cortright 7-01-2002
Bush administration officials are making plans for a major air war and ground invasion of Iraq that could come as early as this fall but more likely will occur in early 2003. The advocates of attacking Iraq say that the military overthrow of Saddam Hussein is part of the campaign against terrorism and is needed to prevent Iraq's development of weapons of mass destruction.
There are viable alternatives to war. The most effective means of addressing the threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction is to resume U.N. weapons inspections. Previous U.N. disarmament efforts were successful in eliminating Iraq's nuclear weapons program and destroying most of its long- range ballistic missiles and chemical weapons. Because of these efforts, according to a 1999 U.N. report, "the bulk of Iraq's proscribed weapons programmes has been eliminated."
To assure the return of inspectors and the completion of the U.N. disarmament mandate, the United States must drop the goal of armed regime change. Washington must also abide by the terms of Security Council resolutions, which promise the lifting of sanctions in exchange for Iraqi compliance with weapons dismantlement. The disarmament of Iraq must then lead to a Middle East "zone free from weapons of mass destruction," as specified in the original Gulf war cease-fire resolution.
Bob Hulteen 7-01-2002
Abbie Hoffman was having a bit of fun with the publishing industry's deepest fears when he titled his 1970 work Steal This Book. But maybe Hoffman was on to something. We might be heading toward a time when stealing books is the only way to avoid having your personal reading material fall under the scrutiny of the federal government.
In October 2001 Congress passed the USA Patriot Act as a nearly unanimous response to the vulnerability felt by many Americans after the tragedy of Sept. 11. The Patriot Act is a 132-page patchwork of new proposals and amendments to already existing laws, including the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), and ostensibly gives law enforcement additional tools and authority to track suspected terrorists.
One little-known aspect of this act may, and perhaps should, affect your reading enjoyment this summer. If you are sitting on the beach reading this, you might want to make a mental list of what you bought (or checked out) to take on vacation. The bad news is, under this act, Attorney General John Ashcroft may already have such a list for you.
The USA Patriot Act has given new authority to the FBI and other law enforcement agencies to track down just what you have been reading—or at least buying and checking out. Under the FISA provisions, the FBI can bring a court order gained in secret proceedings (ex parte) requiring a bookstore or library to turn over "business records." And the library or bookstore is forbidden from seeking legal counsel or contacting the individual whose material is being requested.
Duane Shank 7-01-2002
The recent agreement to reduce the number of U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear warheads from around 6,000 to between 2,200 and 1,700 sounded like good news. But rather than requiring the dismantling of those warheads, it allows them to be kept in storage—like unloading a shotgun, but keeping the shells in the closet. It's safer and prevents accidents, but in crisis or anger the weapon can still be used. And the real Catch-22 is that the reductions aren't required to take place until 2012, the year the treaty expires. Perhaps celebrations of progress are premature.
Most important, the treaty does not forestall the Bush administration's plans for new weapons and new potential targets. As a "senior administration official" told the press, "What we have now agreed to do under the treaty is what we wanted to do anyway."
When the Bush administration's Nuclear Posture Review was leaked in early March, a flurry of news stories followed. The "war on terrorism" had suddenly gone nuclear! Details of the plan that included the possible targeting of non-nuclear states, the possibility of a first strike use of nuclear weapons, and the development of a "bunker-buster" nuclear weapon that could penetrate deep underground to destroy storage facilities were explained and critiqued.
Yet in the months since then, very little has been heard, other than from national peace organizations. Peace Action, the Council for a Livable World, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Pax Christi, and others issued press releases and action alerts. They have played a crucial role in keeping the issue alive. Indeed, these activist groups mounted a campaign that helped lead to the Senate Armed Services Committee cutting the administration's request for $15.5 million to begin work on the "bunker buster."
Rose Marie Berger 7-01-2002
While much recent media hype has focused on the Catholic Church's pedophilia scandal, relatively little attention has been given to the high rate of sexual misconduct in the rest of American Christendom. This truly is a crisis that crosses all borders.
For example, research by Richard Blackmon at Fuller Theological Seminary shows that 12 percent of the 300 Protestant clergy surveyed admitted to sexual intercourse with a parishioner; 38 percent acknowledged other inappropriate sexualized contact. In a 1990 study by the United Methodist Church, 41.8 percent of clergy women reported unwanted sexual behavior by a colleague or pastor; 17 percent of laywomen said that their own pastors had sexually harassed them.
Obviously, this is not just a Catholic problem. And solutions must be broader and deeper than those carried out by Catholic cardinals. The whole church has a responsibility to offer decisive leadership in the area of sexual misconduct—whether it is child abuse, sexual exploitation, or sexual harassment.
Recently, churches have shown unprecedented unity on issues of poverty and welfare reform. Now it is necessary to call for a broad-based ecumenical council addressing the issue of sexual misconduct in the church. Its goal would be transparency and openness in developing stringent, forward-looking guidelines, consistent with denominational distinctions, for preventing and addressing sexual misconduct within Christian churches and church-related institutions. Such a council could include not only denominational representatives but also a majority presence from external organizations such as child protection agencies, law enforcement, psychiatric services, victims' agencies, and legal and legislative representatives.
Jim Rice 5-01-2002
Among the many sad notes that have been played in regard to the Catholic Church's sexual abuse scandal, here's one that points to the depth of the church's disgrace: Various media outlets reported that, "prompted by the scandal," dioceses across the country announced the firing of dozens of priests.
Bethany Spicher Schonberg 3-01-2002
From his fifth-floor window in Mennonite Central Committee's D.C. office, Daryl Byler can keep an eye on the Supreme Court while he takes calls from a press...
Roberto Rivera 3-01-2002
"Praise the Lord!" read the headline in the Dec. 21, 2001 Washington Post. No, the Post hadn't gotten religion. The headline was summing up reviewer Desson Howe's response to Peter Jackson's adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.
Howe wasn't alone in his enthusiasm. Jackson's opus received virtually unanimous praise. Many reviewers had Rings near or at the top of their "Best of the Year" lists, and the film is being mentioned as a serious Oscar contender.
Financially, the film is also an unqualified success. It grossed $74 million in its first five days, and it's possible that New Line Cinema, which spent nearly $300 million making the three films, will recoup its investment with the first film alone. It appears that Rings may join the book in achieving the status of cultural phenomenon. The question is: What can the church learn from hobbits?
The question is pertinent because, unlike nearly every other mass culture icon, Lord of the Rings is the product of an unmistakably Christian set of sensibilities. Its defining characteristics—the ideals that shaped the narrative, even the author's sense of what he was doing as he wrote—come straight out of Christianity.
Jodi Hochstedler, Bethany Spicher Schonberg 1-01-2002
Too often, farm bill dollars land in the wrong hands.