THE BALL IS IN YOUR COURT, CONGRESS!

        Let’s see if we can make sense of a complicated issue.
        President Obama has asked Congress to give him authority to take military action against ISIS, with whom we have already been at war for months. It is a carefully drafted resolution that he hopes will be a fair starting point for a thorough discussion and debate by Congress.
        The resolution has received strong reactions from both sides of the aisle. Some Republicans argue that the President already has the power to deploy troops as he sees fit under the War Powers Act. Being more hawkish than the Democrats, they don’t want to limit the President’s authority to use ground troops. At present more than 3,000 American troops are employed in an advisory and supportive capacity, but are not engaged in direct combat.
        The somewhat hazy language of the resolution allows for the use of combat troops for special purposes but not for “enduring offensive ground combat operations.”

FAREWELL, OLD FRIENDS

        My Dad often commented sadly in his later years, as he would hear of the death of a long-time friend, “The longer you live, the more friends you lose.”
        That sounds like a truism, not the least bit profound, but for my Dad it expressed a powerfully emotional reality that we all must face, if we live long enough, as more and more of our friends predecease us.
        All of my closest boyhood friends have died. All of my college roommates, my closest shipmates from my Navy days in World War II, all of my good friends from my baseball years, goodness knows how many wonderful friends from the various churches I have served, some close colleagues with whom I served on the faculty at Princeton Theological Seminary, and many good friends from recent years are no longer living.

Jim Hester, 1925-2015 

        That’s why I cherish the good old friends who are still around, and that’s why I grieve all the more, when one of them dies. In recent days I have lost two such friends. Jim Hester was my oldest Princeton friend and classmate. We met in June, 1942, when we both showed up as student waiters in the undergraduate student dining halls known as “the Commons.” We became instant friends, and the following November Jim came home with  me for Thanksgiving. We both loved to harmonize, and we used to entertain my mother, as she was preparing the delicious meals she served us. Her favorite song and ours was “The Java Jive.”
        Jim joined the Marines and I enlisted in the Navy the next month. We went our separate ways, but continued to see each other at Princeton reunions and on other occasions. In recent years we have been living in the same retirement community, where our almost daily greeting was not "Hello!" or "Good morning!" or "Good evening!" or just "Hi!" but "I love coffee, I love tea, I love the Java Jive and it loves me!"
        If you clicked on the Jim Hester link above you know what an amazingly accomplished man he was and what a distinguished career he had. But I'll remember the young Princeton freshman with whom I used to wait tables, study and harmonize, as well as the wheel-chair bound but still sharp as a tack friend I've been seeing almost every day for the past few years. Jim's ashes will be buried in Princeton Cemetery, not far from where my wife Margie's are buried and where mine will be, when my time comes. I'll be conducting a graveside committal service for Jim's family a few weeks from now, when the weather is more favorable.

I DON’T LIKE RELIGIOUS LABELS

       When it comes to matters of religion and faith, I don’t like labels, because of the baggage they carry with them. I try not to label others, and I don’t like to be labeled.
        I have not found a single term that describes who I am. I am more comfortable with adjectives than with nouns. On social justice issues I am usually on the liberal side. Morally I am conservative. Politically I consider myself to be quite independent. Theologically I would call myself confessional and in some respects radical, but I’d want to describe what I mean by that. Faith-wise I am evangelical, but I don’t want to be called AN evangelical, or A liberal, or A conservative, or A radical, because not one of those terms by itself defines who I am.
        There is a huge difference between being evangelical and being an evangelical. The adjective evangelical comes from the Greek word euangelion, meaning “good message,” or “good news.” The corresponding Anglo-Saxon word was god-spel, which was contracted, as is the way with words, in English to “gospel.” So the adjective “evangelical” means pertaining to, or characteristic of, or devoted to the gospel or the good news, specifically the good news of Jesus Christ. How could any

KUDOS AND CATCALLS (No. 1)

There are some folks in the news deserving our plaudits and others deserving our criticism. Depending upon our political leanings and other factors, we will have our differences of opinion as to who deserves which. Below are some of my personal choices for kudos or catcalls. I invite viewers to add some of their own to the list.

Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady

KUDOS AND CATCALLS

Kudos to Tom Brady for wanting to giving the 2015 Chevy Colorado pickup truck he received for being the MVP of the Super Bowl to his teammate Malcolm Butler for his game-winning interception in the final seconds of the game. . . .

Catcalls to the creators of most of the TV commercials on Super Bowl Sunday. How can so many advertisers get it so wrong? . . .

Kudos to Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll for the way he has dealt with the harsh criticism he has received from the Monday morning quarterbacks and second guessers who know what he should have done after the fact. Coach Carroll had a game plan. If it had worked, and the chances were good that it would, he would have been hailed as a genius. Furthermore, there was no guarantee that Marshawn Lynch, as good as he is, would have scored. The Patriots might have risen to the occasion. They were not looking for a pass. The quick pass, could well have worked, had not Malcolm Butler made an incredible interception. . . .

CONFIRM LORETTA LYNCH!

 

      U. S. Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch comported herself very well yesterday and today in her appearances before the Senate Judiciary Committee. She was articulate, composed, confident, unruffled, gracious, and she is extremely well qualified for the position. The Committee should move quickly to confirm her appointment.
        The Republicans on the committee, however, have been more interested in criticizing outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder, whom they accused of being in cahoots with President Obama in ignoring and violating (my words) the Constitution of the United States. They were bent on making sure that Ms. Lynch, if confirmed, would be her own person. She assured them that she would be, but she would not comply with their attempts to get her to criticize the President’s actions regarding immigration.

COMMENTS ON 'DEFLATEGATE"

The quarterback and his coach

        I have mixed emotions about the "deflategate" controversy. I don't like the rush to judgment against Bill Belichick and Tom Brady that has characterized much of the discussion on the social media and public media.Too many commentators are acting as if the Boston coach and his quarterback are guilty until proven innocent.
        On the other hand the fact that eleven of the twelve footballs used by the New England Patriots in their AFC Championship win over the Indianapolis Colts on January 18 were found to be below the allowed air pressure range does raise questions. How did it happen? Did someone tamper with the footballs? Did either Brady or Belichick know about it, or have anything to do with it? Why is it taking so long to find out, and is there anything to the rumor that the culprit was an equipment manager?
        Could the drop in pressure have been weather related? There have been conflicting opinions   offered by scientists about that possibility. Regardless of the cause, did the deflated footballs give the Patriots an unfair advantage over the Colts? I seriously doubt it. The lop-sided score is enough of an indication that the Patriots were the far better team that day both offensively and defensively.

TOO MUCH COMMERCIAL TIME!

        Yesterday I posted an article calling attention to the frequent cutting off of commercials on my favorite news channel, MSNBC. Their sponsors are getting short-changed!
       Now I have a beef on the other side of the coin. I resent the amount of time devoted to commercials! MSNBC is no worse than any other channel or station in this regard. I remember when half-hour programs were limited to three and a half minutes of commercial time. Those were the days! How different it is now!
        Way back in 1951 the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) adopted a code of practices for television broadcasters. It prescribed not only the amount time that should be devoted to commercials but also a set of ethical standards prohibiting such things as the use of inappropriate sex, profanity, and the disparagement of God and religion. Television broadcasters indicated their compliance with the Code by displaying a "Seal of Good Practice" in the closing credits.

MSNBC’S SPONSORS ARE GETTING SHORTCHANGED!

       My channel of choice for watching the daily news and commentary is MSNBC. I wonder how many of their viewers have noticed, as I have, that many of their commercials are cut of before they finish. This is not an isolated occurrence. It happens frequently.
        When I saw first saw it happen many weeks ago, I thought it was a mistake that could and would be quickly corrected. I can understand how such a mistake could occur once in a great while. But when it kept happening day after day and week after week, I became more and more concerned and frankly annoyed. Not that I love watching TV commercials, but I was offended by what was at best sloppy programming and at worst deliberate  malpractice on somebody’s part.

"Chicken parm you taste so good!"

        One commercial I do enjoy watching is the one in which Payton Manning is singing his own words in various settings to the Nationwide Insurance Company’s theme song. At the very end he sits down to watch television and you hear the familiar voice of their young woman singing “Nationwide is on your side!,” after which Payton  hums the tune one more time.
        As a former advertising executive who used to produce commercials, I would give the Nationwide commercial a very high rating. In a low-key but interesting way it very effectively fixes the insurance company’s theme song/slogan in the viewer’s memory. Though the sponsor’s name is mentioned only once, the end result makes for excellent product identification. So the first time it was cut off before I heard the woman sing the Nationwide theme song followed by Payton’s humming the tune again at the end, I thought to myself, “Nationwide should get its money back!”
       The sponsors to whom this is happening have a legitimate beef . They are getting short changed. At first I thought that whoever monitors the programs would notice what was happening and put a stop to it immediately. When it kept happening day after day and week after week, I decided I should call it to my readers’ attention to see if anyone else has noticed.
        I’m hoping MSNBC will get my tweet about this. Maybe if enough people bring it to their attention, they’ll do something about it!

SWEETHEART OF THE NASSOONS - Part 5

        As a college student I did not own a typewriter. I wrote all my papers in long hand. I did the same in Midshipmen School. In my senior year at McDonogh School I had sat in on part of a typewriting class, where I picked up a few exercises but never really learned to type. As a Naval Supply officer aboard ship I had enlisted men (“storekeepers”) who did most of the typing. For what little typing I had to do, I used my own two-finger “hunt and peck” method.
        Lacking that skill proved to be a disadvantage in more ways than one. All of my correspondence was hand-written, included much of what I had to do as Business Manager of the Nassoons. I would punch out the more important letters on a borrowed typewriter, but that took so much more time, because I was constantly having to erase my typos on the originals, as well as on the carbon copies, using what in those days we called “slip sheets," and that took time.

A MEMORABLE STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS

        Speaker John Boehner’s facial expression and body language during President Obama’s State of the Union address last night spoke volumes about the Republicans’ attitude toward Mr. Obama’s accomplishments and about his agenda for his final two years in office.
        Likewise, the unwillingness of the Republican lawmakers to applaud, let alone rise to their feet, for ideas in the President’s speech they themselves once favored, is a further indication not just of their disagreement with but of their dislike of the President.
        As a Pastor I learned early on that parishioners’ comments about my sermons told me more about them than it did about my sermons. I also learned that if you are really being true to the teachings of Jesus Christ, you are bound to step on a few toes. Those who like you will thank you for that. Those who don’t like you won’t like your sermons, no matter what you say.
        That is analogous to what’s going on with Congress. The Republicans have resented Barack Obama from the beginning, and they agree with nothing he says. That was certainly obvious tonight. If it were not so exasperating, listening to the Republican responders to the address tonight would have been almost amusing.

GET READY FOR THE HILLARY BASHERS!

Hillary Clinton

       Hillary Clinton has been and still is the most likely Democratic nominee for President in 2016.Her delay in formally announcing her intention to run is undoubtedly at least partly due to a desire not to peak too soon. Nevertheless, she has been and continues to be far ahead of any likely Republican opponent in the polls.
        But to borrow a line from Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, “Just you wait, Henry Higgins!” The big Republican smear campaign is about to begin. And the sad truth is that negative campaigning works. Look what it has done to President Obama’s popularity ratings. I hate to think of the kinds of smear tactics the Republicans will use against Hillary.
        Once again the perspicacity of the American voting public will be tested. Will they discern the half-truths and misrepresentations that are sure to come? Given the gullibility of so many Americans regarding the Republicans’ distorted criticisms of Obamacare, I wish I could be more confident that they will pay more attention to the facts than to the falsehoods.
        But when many of the same people who are opposed to Obamacare are all in favor of the Affordable Care Act, how can one be optimistic about the fair-mindedness if not the intelligence of those who will soon be the targets of the Hillary bashing brainwashing the Republicans are so good at?      
        We’ll see.

A CHRISTMAS SONG

I don't know what the shepherds heard that night so long ago.
     Angelic messengers of God defy my mind, although 
I love to hear the story of the angels from on high,
     and sing about that holy night when music filled the sky.

For if we hear the angel song and know the joy it brings,
     then Christian faith today as then must be a faith that sings!
A song there is for all to sing, yet each one's own must write ---
     a song of faith and hope and love, a song of truth and light.

Have we a Christmas Song, I ask, a message to proclaim?          
     What news have we to share with those who may not know the name
of him whose birth we celebrate each year on Christmas day?
     Is there a melody of works that blends with what we say?

The shepherds heard the angels' song with gladness and good cheer.
     I wonder if our Christmas Song brings joy to those who hear,
and hope to those who have no hope and need a helping hand?
     A song of acts our song must be, before they'll understand.

The Christ of whom the angels sang, a servant Christ was he,
     and if we want to be like him then servants we must be ---
our Christmas Song, a servant song; our gospel backed by deeds;
     our peace on earth, good will to all; its theme:  our neighbors' needs.

What better way to tell the news about the Savior's birth?
     How better to proclaim good will and peace to all on earth?
So let our hearts and voices now blend with the angel throng,
     for what would "Merry Christmas!" mean without a Christmas Song?

From Now, That's a Miracle!

A BOLD STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

        A few days ago I started an article advocating the normalization of the relations between our country and Cuba, but some pressing personal matters forced me to put that project on hold. I had planned to urge President Obama to take steps to fulfill his early intention to do that.

President Obama announces is new policy toward Cuba.

        Then yesterday, following Cuba’s release of American Alan Gross, whom they had held prisoner for five years, came the President’s world-shaking announcement that the move toward normalization had begun. It was initially brokered, as it turns out, by Pope Francis. The USA had released three convicted Cuban spies, Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, and Ramón Labañino, members of the so-called Cuban Five, in exchange for Gross and an unnamed US intelligence agent, whom they had been holding for twenty years. Even as Mr. Obama was speaking, Cuba’s President Raul Castro, brother of ailing Fidel, was simultaneously informing the Cuban people of the exchange in a tone some commentators called remarkably conciliatory.
        President Obama sees this as a first step toward ending the embargo, an action only Congress can take, because of congressional legislation naming three conditions that have to be met first: 1, the liberation of all political prisoners; 2, the legalization of all political parties, guaranteeing the freedom of the press and of labor unions; and 3) the scheduling of free elections for the Cuban people, with international supervision.

THE TORTURE REPORT

Dec. 9, 2014 - Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Dianne

Feinstein is besieged by reporters about the Committee's

summary  report on torture (Saul Loeb/Getty Images)

       The first time I heard about the use of
torture by the CIA in their interrogation of prisoners I was appalled. Such procedures violate international law and are completely contrary to our American values.
        With the release of the 525-page summary of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s much longer report of more than 6000 pages, I am even more appalled, not just by the totally inhumane and brutal practices employed, but by the reaction of those who opposed the release of the report, whether for fear of evoking retaliatory strikes by terrorist groups or out of a misguided belief that the use of such practices was effective and hence justifiable.
        The report shows clearly that the use of torture was not effective.  But that is not the point! Whether it was effective or not, the use of torture is morally and legally wrong. We lost the high moral ground with our preemptive invasion of Iraq and the use of torture has added to our disgrace. What right have we to complain the violation of human rights by any other nation, when we ourselves our just as guilty? The end does not justify the means, and those who say otherwise are doing our nation a huge disservice.
       As for whether or not the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report should have been publicly released, it had to be! One thing that distinguishes America from her enemies is our willingness to confess our mistakes, to disown whatever illegal practices we engaged in, and to recommit ourselves to the high principles for which our nation has always stood, even when individuals and parties have sometimes strayed from them. Would that other nations would do the same.

REFLECTIONS ON THE NEWS FROM FERGUSON

Prosecutor Robert McCullough

       St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch’s announcement earlier tonight that Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson would not be indicted for the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown was distressfully disappointing but not at all surprising, given McCulloch’s unprosecutorlike behavior with the grand jury. He has acted all along more like Wilson’s defense attorney than his prosecutor.
        That is understandable but not justifiable, in view of McCullough’s close working relationship with the Ferguson Police Department. That said, his role was to convince the grand jury that Wilson should be brought to trial. Instead, he abrogated that responsibility and inundated the grand jury with conflicting evidence that they were supposed to sort out, evidence that was obviously intended to justify the officer’s shooting of the unarmed African American teenager. In so doing the prosecutor in effect transformed the grand jury into a trial jury, whose conclusion sounded more like a verdict than a decision whether or not to indict.  

A LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT

Photo by Isaac Brekken/AP

        Thank you, Mr. President!
        Given the unwillingness of the House of Representatives even to discuss the Senate's bipartisan immigration bill that has been in their hands for a year and a half, your executive order providing temporary relief from the fear of deportation to millions of undocumented immigrant families was the right thing to do.  
        You gave the House every opportunity to act. You warned them time and again that if they did not, you would. You gave them ample opportunity to avoid your having to take executive action, and they did nothing. The Republican leaders said they preferred to work on the immigration bill one part at a time, and when you said you were okay with that, they backed off.
        You have stated clearly that even now they can nullify the need for any executive action on your part by passing the immigration reform bill they already have, or their own version of it. But no, they just want to attack you for doing what you legally could and morally should do to fix our broken immigration system.
        This is only a temporary solution, of course. There is much more to be done and you have acknowledged that. But it is a humane and hugely important first step.You have kept your promise to the American people. Thank you for having the courage of your convictions.

DON'T WAIT, MR. PRESIDENT!

        The President should act on immigration.
        He has waited long enough for Congress to bring him an immigration reform bill he can sign. He has said repeatedly that the moment they do, the new legislation will supersede whatever executive action he has taken. In the meantime he has promised to take whatever steps are legally possible to improve our broken immigration system.
       Despite that, and despite the fact that both Republican presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush took similar executive action, for Barack Obama do so would be in the minds of many Republicans and the right-wing media one more example of his “lawlessness” and an impeachable offense.  They have been bashing Barack Obama from the moment he first took office, and their negativity paid off for them in the mid-term elections. It aroused the Republican base and disenchanted the Democratic constituency, who, as feared, simply did not turn out to vote.

WHAT WOULD ISAIAH SAY? (A Preelection Sermon)

[This is a shortened and slightly modified version of the sermon I preached yesterday to the Pennswood Village Interdenominational Congregation, in Newtown, Pennsylvania, where I am in my thirteenth year as Minister of Worship.].

From a Bible card published by
the Providence Lithograph Co.
(c. 1904)

        If Isaiah were alive today, I doubt that he would win the most popular preacher award. He would be in too much hot water with those who think the church should keep out of politics.
        Isaiah was not too popular in his day either, for the very same reason. I can imagine the reaction when he attacked King Hezekiah’s foreign policy and denounced the politicians who were advocating an alliance with Egypt. One of the leaders was a foreigner named Shebna, who had risen to a position of power and influence in the court. Isaiah rebuked him publicly for his arrogance and presumptuousness in building an ostentatious tomb for himself.
        This, incidentally, is the only time in the Book of Isaiah that we find the prophet condemning an individual by name, and I’m sure Shebna’s supporters were infuriated by such blatantly partisan politics. Other prophets, like Amos and Jeremiah, did the same thing on occasion, but most of the time the prophets were dealing with issues and policies and general conditions. That was meddlesome enough, and they often paid a severe price for it.

SAY NO TO THE PARTY OF NO!

        It is incredible to me that this mid-term election could result in a Republican controlled Senate, as well as a Republican controlled House of Representatives. What a disheartening prospect that is, even frightening, when you realize how many Republicans would owe their victories to their States’ voter restriction laws and the Koch brothers’ millions.

Mitt Romney sounding off again. Associated Press photo.

        How could any reasonable person see such an outcome as being good for America? What has “the Party of No” done to deserve anyone’s confidence in their ability to govern? Mitt Romney claims such an outcome would end the gridlock in Washington. He conveniently ignores, as he is wont to do, the fact it is his own party that is responsible for the gridlock!
       It is the Republican controlled Congress that has blocked every constructive piece of legislation that has come before the House. They blocked the American Jobs Act, they have opposed raising the minimum wage, they oppose gun control legislation, they have continually tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act, they have blocked the infrastructure bill, they have rejected immigration reform, they have fought campaign finance reform, they have opposed closing the gender pay gap, they have opposed the President’s economic stimulus plan, and they have been against everything and anything the Obama administration has brought to them.

SHORT MEMORIES

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker

       Too many American voters have short memories.
       Take the Wisconsin electorate as an example. In April, 2012, more than a million Wisconsinites signed a petition to recall Governor Scott Walker. They were infuriated by the Governor’s attacks on the public service unions, by his administration’s misleading preelection tactics, by his enactment of a restrictive voter ID law and a law requiring women to have an ultrasound before having an abortion, and by his continual misrepresentation of the facts.
       Thanks partly to an inordinate amount of special interest money from out of State, Walker survived the recall election. Perhaps an even more important reason for the failure of the recall was the reluctance of many Wisconsinites to go that route. According to the exit polls the majority of voters were concerned about the divisiveness of the election. Two fair-minded friends of mine whose opinions on the matter I had sought, responded along those lines. Their feeling was that the better solution was to vote the Governor out of office in the next election.