Ignorant bloggers

Every now and then I come across something that sends me back into the blogging world. Tonight as I was searching for research online, I came across a horrid statement on a blog site. I wouldn't have taken the time, noting blatant ignorance and racism which is everywhere in our country, but this time however chose to respond. The issue was a woman who spoke at the DNC convention for Obama, a woman who has been known to support Black Liberation Theology. The following was written and amazingly approved on a blog site called americanthinker.com. I will warn you that the words are offensive and in my opinion racist, and if you feel so inclined - feel free to let americanthinker.com know what you think about the comment.

My response follows 'BubbaJ's:

BubbaJ -"I too am so sick of the african-american feels they are "OWED" the Native americans are truly been robbed and treated the worst on what was truly their own soil....Ms.Daughtery or barely anybody else living today (african-american) here in America have never been a slave except to their anger and hatred..and if they are Christians what ever happened to Forgiving and moving on oh yea this black-liberation stuff is really about anger and owing but is it not true that the tribal chiefs were the ones who actually traded their "own people" (Muslim sultans did this) for tobacco.gold guns etc...The LUO tribe (Obama's descendants) captured prisoners of war and then sold them as slaves actually it was the "white" people (BRITISH) who banned selling of slaves in 1847 and finally in 1876 eleven years after CIVIL war this happened. get over it!!!!"

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In response to BubbaJ - It is ignorant statements such as yours that perpetuate concepts of anger and hate. If you never acknowledge that you stand in the dominant position of privilege and judgement you will never see the reality of the full human experience. It's easy to tell someone who has been effected by an oppressive structure and situation to 'get over it' - while you stand in a place that has never felt that oppression. You might have even been apart of the oppression without being aware of it.... and by your words here I would guess you still are. Oppression comes when we dismiss others and the reality of their situations - when we don't acknowledge pain or frustration, or basic needs or rights. This is called compassion and it is what sets us apart from animals.

Liberation theology isn't about anger and owing, and if you took the time to really read -if you read up on these things- or listen to the sources of these scholars you would know that liberation theology is about understanding the pains of another human person and understanding that if there is a God, that God has liberated them from their pain and the injustices that were felt because of the oppression. Native Americans, African Americans, Latino/ Latina Americans, Black Americans, homosexuals, and the poor, - whatever the minority group - whatever is not the dominant, privileged group - whoever has felt oppression - there is liberation from it and the liberation allows us to live together as one people.

Being critical of another race, theology, people group, or political party will not give you credibility. It will only reflect the ignorance you still bear as a human. Open your mind to try to understand others who are different then you - those who have a different story. You might just learn something. Read the liberation theologians - Gutierrez is the main one.
And the next time you are in pain, when someone has hurt you or offended you - think about how quickly and easily you want to 'get over it'. When we walk in those shoes, the shoes of others, we don't find it so easy.

2 thoughts:
1. I can't believe there are still such ignorant and careless people in our world. And we wonder why our reputation in the world is bad.
2. Regardless of your political ties, let's figure this stuff out openly, honestly, and in community - or we will never get anywhere beyond destroying each other.

I welcome your thoughts....

That's right - I saw Obama

Not only did I get to see this incredible man who I believe is undoubtly the best and most reasonable choice for the Presidency - the AP snagged me for my thoughts and today my quotes are flourishing throughout the online news world. four of us fought hard to get tickets to his rally in Portland yesterday, and waited in line for 3 hours to get floor access. It was quite the day. He is so humble and an incredible speaker. I believe he will make quite the fine President.

Here is a short clip from the National Examiner online....

PORTLAND, Ore. (Map, News) - Scoring an endorsement of national importance, Barack Obama threw down a marker Friday in the race for Oregon's suddenly important 65 votes for the Democratic presidential nomination.

A former challenger, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, took the stage to endorse the Illinois senator and repeat the Obama campaign theme - "yes we can" - in Spanish: "Si se puede."

The nation's only Hispanic governor called Obama a "once-a-lifetime leader" who will be a "historic and great president."

Obama responded with praise for Richardson, citing his leadership on alternative energy and saying he "understands diplomacy" and the need for an improved foreign policy.

Both had kind words for Sen. Hillary Clinton, who is expected to make a campaign appearance in Oregon within the next couple of weeks, well before ballots are mailed to voters in the Oregon primary.

Obama told a crowd of about 12,000 cheering supporters that during his campaign travels he found the American people desperate a politics based not on tearing each other down but on lifting the country up.

The message resonated with crowd members such as Brenulla White, a nutritionist.

"Obama talks about doors that have not been opened, and it's time for those doors to be opened," she said.

White said her son served two tours of duty in Iraq in the Army, and she praised Obama for promising to start bringing home the troops and for confronting racial issues.

"It's time for racial differences to come to the forefront and be resolved," she said. "How can a country fight if it's divided?"

White and other black woman at the rally said Obama can reach average people, define the issues for them and bring them together.

"I find him absolutely inspiring," said Melissa Marley, a graduate student. Despite talking to a large crowd, she said Obama can engage people individually and make them feel like he's listening. "I truly feel it's like he's in my living room," she said.

Voting starts in Oregon's primary in early May, and the ballots are tallied May 20.

The candidates will divide 52 pledged delegates in proportion to their primary vote totals. Twelve more so-called superdelegates, party leaders and officials, will go to the national convention without being formally committed. One more delegate to the national convention is to be chosen at the party's state convention in June.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Thoughts on Race

So... sure enough, this week's events concerning race have brought me out of blogger aloofness and into blogging engagement.

First - if you have not read the transcript of Obama's thoughts on race in America, please check that out anywhere on the web. google it.

Second - if you have only heard Jeremiah Wright's comments based on the small fractions the media has been feeding you, please check that out on the web as well. Google the whole sermon and you will find the context - always important when considering what any pastor is trying to convey.

And now for the rant.

America - wake up. The reaction over this past weeks remarks only convince me more, that not only has the United States of America forgotten its history, here I mean years of oppression and slavery leading to jim crow leading to MLK and the civil rights which only occured less then 50 years ago leading to a continued quited institutionalized racism, but has chosen to ignore present realities that continue to oppress millions of Americans and hold back this country from being a truly great nation - indeed this week reminded me that we are far far far from that.

If the remarks that were aired, realites that people of privilidge continue to gain privlidge whiles those who are poor and oppressed - regardless of skin color or ethnicity - only remain poor and oppressed -or the notion that God might not be pleased, even disappointed, in a nation that has so much - but does so little to help those in need and continues to oppress, manipulate, murder, with hold, betray, and humiliate these under class brothers and sisters...- if these remarks make you upset, possibly even rattle you a bit- good. They are meant to - beacause they are true. If truth is hard for you America then don't vote for Obama, because evidently that's what you are going to get. Something we as a country have not seen in a long time, even past the Bush monoarchy.

And something, unfortunatley, this week America is starting to ignore again. The fact is, America can't handle the truth and that statement is one that every American should weep and nash teeth over.

On another note - a much calmer note.
The church has a role in this. Christians have a role in this. Jesus was the one who said - I am the truth. Our calling is simple, love. What an opportunity we have - to say as communities of faith to one another and the world, what does this mean for us? This does not mean that we trun our heads and avoid the question or the conversation- no matter how uncomfortable you might feel. What does it mean to be a people who say we love our neighbor? Who is your neighbor friend? Not the one who lives directly beside you - who looks like you, acts like etc... but the one who you are afraid of because they are different. Because their skin is a different shade then yours. When you truly love your neighbor, then friend - you are truly - truly a Christian and understanding the Truth that provides transformation and reconcilliation. If the church has anything to say - now is the time to stand up and claim = instead of forgetting we will listen, instead of ignoring we will remember, we will choose to walk in the other shoe instead of throwing it in the river, we will choose to love instead of hate...because only when we love do we choose to live.

There is no other solution. So if you think you might turn it off or drown it out - you're wrong. There is no turning back now. Stop talking, start listening, choose love.

May God help us all.

Missing Tampa

They say that when its beautiful in Oregon it is absolutely gorgeous. Attesting to this fact, the fall here in Portland was amazing - brilliant colors of orange and gold & lots of sun. They also say that when it stats to rain, it lasts forever. That was last week- I wonder if I will see the sun again.....

What does this mean?

Hundreds of homeless camp outside New Orleans City Hall, urge mayor to offer more housing
November 16, 2007 5:49 PM EST
NEW ORLEANS - The homeless of New Orleans have left the city's shelters and gutted buildings to set up camp on the mayor's doorstep.

About 250 homeless people have erected smal makeshift tents - the only affordable housing they say they could find since Hurricane Katrina - and created a colony of despair in a grassy plaza outside City Hall.

Mayor Ray Nagin's second-floor office faces the camp, and its residents rally almost daily with the chant: "Hey, Ray! How about a house today!"

Nagin has not met with the group, but he said in a statement that the city "is working with numerous agencies to address the homelessness" that worsened after the hurricane.

The mayor said many of the homeless in Duncan Plaza have refused temporary shelter and rental assistance, and he is concerned about unsanitary conditions and safety.

Julius Nelson, 32, leader of a group called Homeless Pride that formed in the plaza, said shelters are overflowing and rental assistance is useless in a city where the storm destroyed most of the inexpensive apartments. He feared Nagin's statement meant the mayor would break up the camp.

"You've got people all over New Orleans sleeping in abandoned buildings, in abandoned cars, everywhere," Nelson said. "You don't have any affordable housing. People don't even go to the crowded shelters. They come straight here."

New Orleans has 12,000 homeless people, up from 6,300 before Katrina, according to UNITY of Greater New Orleans, a group that helps the homeless.

Nagin said his office of public advocacy has provided food, clothing and shelter to more than 1,000 people this year. On Thursday, he urged state officials to release rental subsidies that UNITY plans to distribute at the plaza.

Still, the encampment has grown from a half-dozen tents three months ago to more than 40 pitched on two grassy knolls. A gazebo in the plaza center is a pen for sleeping bags, cardboard and newspapers on which more homeless people sleep.

Some call it a safe haven because National Guard humvees begin their patrols from a Holiday Inn across the street. But a 39-year-old homeless man died in his tent Nov. 8 after he was beaten elsewhere the previous night and wandered back, authorities said.

"Bad things happen out here," said a 47-year-old woman who asked to be identified only as Donna. A gold ribbon tied to jesters bells hung on her tent zipper not for decoration, she said, but as an alarm after a stranger tried to enter one night.

The camp has become so hard to ignore that some observers believe it will force the mayor to take action on housing, an issue many critics say he has failed to address.

"His hand is being forced," said Sam Jackson, a member of the group Concerned Compassionate Community, one of several that brings food to the park. "The mayor can work to get these people a place to stay. Or, he could run them all out. But isn't that harsh?"

Of the 200,000 homes the hurricane destroyed, 41,000 were affordable rental units, according to estimates by the nonprofit group PolicyLink. Since the storm, fair-market rent for an efficiency apartment has risen from $463 (euro316) to $764 (euro521).

The storm also destroyed homeless shelters, reducing the number of beds from 832 to 232, according to UNITY.

About a third of the people in the plaza work at least part-time, but they cannot find affordable housing, UNITY said.

Katherine Scott, who stocks the camping section of a nearby Wal-Mart, said she has seen tents purchased one-by-one by people who look down on their luck.

"They've been buying them up faster than we can stock them, the sleeping bags, too. That just makes you cry," she said.

A church near the plaza offers laundry and showers to the homeless. Several groups bring regular meals. A few people living in the plaza give haircuts.

Those living in the plaza relieve themselves at fast-food restaurants, or in a row of bushes on the far end of the grounds, the smell wafting through the compound on a breezy day.

As night began to fall on the camp, Donna watched a group of people open beer cans after a day in which they did not leave the grounds.

"Around this time people start drinking. They've been fed. They don't have a reason to go out and work," she said. "But where else do they have to go?"

The few, proud, and the brave on the streets

Every morning I watch veterans board my bus and head up the hill to where both my work place and the veteran’s hospital are located. There is an American flag outside the hospital and I can't help but wonder if they ever question if it was all worth it. If the country that promised to take care of them on and off the field, is living up to its promise now that the years have gone by and the hospital visits are still regular. I don't mean to speak about things that I don't understand - and hear me - I don't understand much of it all - serving in the military, war, patriotism....but from the deepest depth of my heart I hope and pray that these folks, the veterans, are getting the best possible care post- war, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Korean ... because, they - like any other human - deserves that dignity and that right.

Veterans Make Up 1 in 4 Homeless in US
November 07, 2007 7:14 PM EST
WASHINGTON - Veterans make up one in four homeless people in the United States, though they are only 11 percent of the general adult population, according to a report to be released Thursday.

And homelessness is not just a problem among middle-age and elderly veterans. Younger veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are trickling into shelters and soup kitchens seeking services, treatment or help with finding a job.

The Veterans Affairs Department has identified 1,500 homeless veterans from the current wars and says 400 of them have participated in its programs specifically targeting homelessness.

The Alliance to End Homelessness, a public education nonprofit, based the findings of its report on numbers from Veterans Affairs and the Census Bureau. 2005 data estimated that 194,254 homeless people out of 744,313 on any given night were veterans.

In comparison, the VA says that 20 years ago, the estimated number of veterans who were homeless on any given night was 250,000.

Some advocates say such an early presence of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan at shelters does not bode well for the future. It took roughly a decade for the lives of Vietnam veterans to unravel to the point that they started showing up among the homeless. Advocates worry that intense and repeated deployments leave newer veterans particularly vulnerable.

"We're going to be having a tsunami of them eventually because the mental health toll from this war is enormous," said Daniel Tooth, director of veterans affairs for Lancaster County, Pa.

While services to homeless veterans have improved in the past 20 years, advocates say more financial resources still are needed. With the spotlight on the plight of Iraq veterans, they hope more will be done to prevent homelessness and provide affordable housing to the younger veterans while there's a window of opportunity.

"When the Vietnam War ended, that was part of the problem. The war was over, it was off TV, nobody wanted to hear about it," said John Keaveney, a Vietnam veteran and a founder of New Directions in Los Angeles, which provides substance abuse help, job training and shelter to veterans.

"I think they'll be forgotten," Keaveney said of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. "People get tired of it. It's not glitzy that these are young, honorable, patriotic Americans. They'll just be veterans, and that happens after every war."

Keaveney said it's difficult for his group to persuade some homeless Iraq veterans to stay for treatment and help because they don't relate to the older veterans. Those who stayed have had success - one is now a stock broker and another is applying to be a police officer, he said.

"They see guys that are their father's age and they don't understand, they don't know, that in a couple of years they'll be looking like them," he said.

After being discharged from the military, Jason Kelley, 23, of Tomahawk, Wis., who served in Iraq with the Wisconsin National Guard, took a bus to Los Angeles looking for better job prospects and a new life.

Kelley said he couldn't find a job because he didn't have an apartment, and he couldn't get an apartment because he didn't have a job. He stayed in a $300-a-week motel until his money ran out, then moved into a shelter run by the group U.S. VETS in Inglewood, Calif. He's since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, he said.

"The only training I have is infantry training and there's not really a need for that in the civilian world," Kelley said in a phone interview. He has enrolled in college and hopes to move out of the shelter soon.

The Iraq vets seeking help with homelessness are more likely to be women, less likely to have substance abuse problems, but more likely to have mental illness - mostly related to post-traumatic stress, said Pete Dougherty, director of homeless veterans programs at the VA.

Overall, 45 percent of participants in the VA's homeless programs have a diagnosable mental illness and more than three out of four have a substance abuse problem, while 35 percent have both, Dougherty said.

Historically, a number of fighters in U.S. wars have become homeless. In the post-Civil War era, homeless veterans sang old Army songs to dramatize their need for work and became known as "tramps," which had meant to march into war, said Todd DePastino, a historian at Penn State University's Beaver campus who wrote a book on the history of homelessness.

After World War I, thousands of veterans - many of them homeless - camped in the nation's capital seeking bonus money. Their camps were destroyed by the government, creating a public relations disaster for President Herbert Hoover.

The end of the Vietnam War coincided with a time of economic restructuring, and many of the same people who fought in Vietnam were also those most affected by the loss of manufacturing jobs, DePastino said.

Their entrance to the streets was traumatic and, as they aged, their problems became more chronic, recalled Sister Mary Scullion, who has worked with the homeless for 30 years and co-founded of the group Project H.O.M.E. in Philadelphia.

"It takes more to address the needs because they are multiple needs that have been unattended," Scullion said. "Life on the street is brutal and I know many, many homeless veterans who have died from Vietnam."

The VA started targeting homelessness in 1987, 12 years after the fall of Saigon. Today, the VA has, either on its own or through partnerships, more than 15,000 residential rehabilitative, transitional and permanent beds for homeless veterans nationwide. It spends about $265 million annually on homeless-specific programs and about $1.5 billion for all health care costs for homeless veterans.

Because of these types of programs and because two years of free medical care is being offered to all Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, Dougherty said they hope many veterans from recent wars who are in need can be identified early.

"Clearly, I don't think that's going to totally solve the problem, but I also don't think we're simply going to wait for 10 years until they show up," Dougherty said. "We're out there now trying to get everybody we can to get those kinds of services today, so we avoid this kind of problem in the future."

In all of 2006, the Alliance to End Homelessness estimates that 495,400 veterans were homeless at some point during the year.

The group recommends that 5,000 housing units be created per year for the next five years dedicated to the chronically homeless that would provide permanent housing linked to veterans' support systems. It also recommends funding an additional 20,000 housing vouchers exclusively for homeless veterans, and creating a program that helps bridge the gap between income and rent.

Following those recommendations would cost billions of dollars, but there is some movement in Congress to increase the amount of money dedicated to homeless veterans programs.

On a recent day in Philadelphia, case managers from Project H.O.M.E. and the VA picked up William Joyce, 60, a homeless Vietnam veteran in a wheelchair who said he'd been sleeping at a bus terminal.

"You're an honorable veteran. You're going to get some services," outreach worker Mark Salvatore told Joyce. "You need to be connected. You don't need to be out here on the streets."

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Associated Press writer Kathy Matheson contributed to this story from Philadelphia.

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On the Net: National Alliance to End Homelessness: http://www.naeh.org/

New Directions: http://www.newdirectionsinc.org/

Project Home: http://www.projecthome.org/

County of Lancaster: http://www.co.lancaster.pa.us/

Veterans Affairs Department: http://www.va.gov/

U.S. Vets: http://usvetsinc.org/

FINE

Today was truly one of those days for me. I felt nerotic and emotional, homesick and overwhelmed. I questioned what God would use me for and why He would ever call me to such big things that require a big faith which I continuously doubt I have.
Luckily the Spirit moves great friends to share the right words at the right time. This word comes via my dear friend Emma in Uganda......


You were put on earth to make a contribution. You
weren't created just to consume resources -- to eat,
breathe and take up space. God designed you to make a
difference with your life. This is one of God's
purposes for your life, and it's called your
"ministry" -- or service.

The Bible says, "God has created us for a life of
good deeds, which he has already prepared for us to
do" (Ephesians 2:10b, TEV). These "good deeds" are
your service to the world. Whenever you serve others
in any way, you are actually serving God and
fulfilling one of your purposes. You were placed on
this planet for a special assignment.

The apostle John said, "Our love for each other
proves that we have gone from death to life" (1 John
3:14, CEV). If I have no love for others, no desire to
serve others, and I'm only concerned about my needs, I
should question whether Christ is really in my life. A
saved heart is one that wants to serve.

Another term for serving God -- one that's
misunderstood by most people -- is the word ministry.
When most people hear "ministry," they think of
pastors, priests and professional clergy, but God says
every member of his family is a minister.

In the Bible, the words servant and minister are
synonyms, as are service and ministry. If you are a
Christian, you are a minister, and when you're
serving, you're ministering. God has a ministry for
you in his church and a mission for you in the world.

Serving is the opposite of our natural inclination.
Most of the time we're more interested in "serve us"
than service. We say, "I'm looking for a church that
meets my needs and blesses me," not "I'm looking for a
place to serve and be a blessing." We expect others to
serve us, not vice versa.

But as we mature in Christ, the focus of our lives
should increasingly shift to living a life of service.
The mature follower of Jesus stops asking, "Who's
going to meet my needs?" and starts asking, "Whose
needs can I meet?"

Do you ever ask that question?

At the end of your life on earth you will stand
before God, and he is going to evaluate how well you
served others with your life. Think about the
implications of that. One day God will compare how
much time and energy we spent on ourselves compared
with what we invested in serving others.

At that point, all our excuses for self-centeredness
will sound hollow: "I was too busy" or "I had my own
goals" or "I was preoccupied with working, having fun
or preparing for retirement."

To all excuses God will respond, "Sorry, wrong
answer. I created, saved and called you and commanded
you to live a life of service. What part did you not
understand?"

If you're not involved in any service or ministry,
what excuse have you been using? Abraham was old,
Jacob was insecure, Leah was unattractive, Joseph was
abused, Moses stuttered, Gideon was poor, Samson was
codependent, Rahab was immoral, David had an affair
and all kinds of family problems, Elijah was suicidal,
Jeremiah was depressed, Jonah was reluctant, Naomi was
a widow, John the Baptist was eccentric to say the
least, Peter was impulsive and hot-tempered, Martha
worried a lot, the Samaritan woman had several failed
marriages, Zacchaeus was unpopular, Thomas had doubts,
Paul had poor health, and Timothy was timid.

That is quite a variety of misfits, but God used each
of them in his service. He will use you, too, if you
stop making excuses;

His NAME BE PRAISED, AMEN AND AMEN