So—we've been traipsing through "the 8th century prophets" for some weeks now. As we near the end of this (not much more than a) jaunt, what DOES it all have to do with us, and the life that we live here, and now?
In an attempt to answer this question for myself, I've spent this past week trying to read news reports and commentaries as if I were Amos, or Micah, transplanted from the 8th (BCE) to the 21st century (CE).
My postings to the 'blog in the last week or so represent some of the issues that Amos would have loved commenting on if he were a 'man about town' today.
Just a couple of examples:
In We Arm the World (posted today) William Hartung said:
As the world’s number one arms exporting nation, the United States has a special responsibility to take the lead in regulating the trade. A 2005 report by the World Policy Institute found that of the largest U.S. arms recipients in the developing world, over 70 percent were undemocratic regimes, major human rights abusers or both.
Can you imagine what Amos or Micah might have said about this topic? Or the whole article?
Then there's Cheney confirms that detainees were subjected to water-boarding. Yunno somethin', I'm not at at all sure that Micah would have been a huge fan of our Hon. Dick Cheney. In his interview with Scott Haden of WDAY Radio in Fargo, N.D., the following piece of 'light banter' takes place:
"Would you agree that a dunk in water is a no-brainer if it can save lives?" asked Hennen.
"It's a no-brainer for me, but for a while there, I was criticized as being the vice president `for torture.' We don't torture. That's not what we're involved in," Cheney replied.
Read the complete article again and, while you're at it, click on that illustration as well - and then tell Micah that he's got it all wrong … OK?
And then there's Space War in which Frida Berrigan (haven't I heard that name before somewhere?) talks about our plans for space (cue Gustav Holtz's "Mars" movement from The Planets suite). She says that "the Bush administration’s new space policy can be summed up in three words:
mine … Mine … MINE!
In an attempt to appeal to Star Trek fans and internationalists, the U.S. policy statement on space says:
- The United States is committed to the exploration and use of outer space by all nations for peaceful purposes, and for the benefit of all humanity …
But then, the very same item goes on:
…Consistent with this principle, "peaceful purposes" allow U.S. defense and intelligence-related activities in pursuit of national interests;
Let's see now … "peaceful purposes" = war(like) activities allowed, but only for the U.S. Straight out of Orwell, this … remember? … War is Peace - Freedom is Slavery - Ignorance is Strength.
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Of course it's easy being part of the Prophets' "amen chorus" when considering the big issues like the worldwide weapons trade, the torture of prisoners, the arms race in space, etc. Last time I looked, I haven't had a whole lot to do with any of these, unless you count my not adding my voice to the growing clamor for change. But what might Amos or Micah have to say about my oh-so-little life: the oppressions I'm party to; the excesses I indulge in or would, if I could afford the freight?
These were the uneasy thoughts jumping around in my head as I turned to the Houston Chronicle this morning. As you might imagine, there were more of those BIG issues on the front page:
- "Only the best will do: A strong economy and rock-star chefs are feeding an increasingly insatiable hunger for fine dining," by David Kaplan - Truffles at $2,000/pound; $42 steaks; $300 dinners, etc.
As I recall, Amos had plenty to say on the general topic of the rich and their fancy foods and drinks, right? … reclining on their ivory-inlaid couches while, all around them, the poor are crushed and oppressed. And then I spotted the box on the top left of p. A1:
- "Exxon Mobil: It's going high - The oil giant is closing in on its own $36.1 billion record for the highest annual profit ever recorded by a U.S. company.
Oh that's where the sound is coming from … they must be singing that song … how does it go? … "Happy days are here again/The skies above are clear again/So let's sing a song of cheer again/Happy days are here again."
What else is here? … nothing I can see on the janitors' strike. It started on … was it Monday? … is it still going on? Maybe it's over … I wonder how it turned out? …
And then, it hit me. When Amos & Co. talked about the poor, they were talking about what wasn't on the front page; wasn't being talked about; wasn't being mentioned in the sermons of the day. That's maybe what I have to bring to reading the paper! And so I went back to the two stories I just mentioned.
David Kaplan—the reporter who brings us the eye-popping report on “fine dining” in our town—justifies the interest in $300 dinners by saying that “the Houston economy is sizzling.” It is? For whom? It surely depends, Mr. Kaplan, at which end of the economy one lives. The only “sizzling” experienced by minimum-wage workers is when they can't afford air-conditioning during the summer because of electricity costs that keep rising and an hourly wage that doesn’t.
I don't know if Astroberta Rodriquez can afford to enjoy the necessity of air-conditioning during our long Houston summers. What I do know is that she has worked as a janitor for the same company for 27 years and, in all that time, her salary has never topped $5.15 an hour with no benefits. See the KHOU web site for the story and video clip. Let's see now … if a plate of white truffle pasta costs $80, how long would Astroberta have to work before she could have some? Well … you get the idea.
If I needed to get a sense of the real import of the phrase "with no benefits," I got it in Saturday's Houston Chronicle. Ercilia Sandoval, mother of six, has been making $5.25/hr. as a janitor with no benefits for some years in Houston. When she was diagnosed with breast cancer in April of this year, her doctor told her that, if they moved quickly, she might not need chemotherapy. But without insurance, she waited for approval for health care through the state's indigent system for about six weeks and, in the meantime, the cancer spread. Her surgery is scheduled for late November, and will inevitably involve some absence from work. Add to all of this the fact that Ercilia is an illegal immigant with citizen children, and one indeed does get a sense of how multileveled her struggle to has become.
I could go on and on here - yet another story on p. 1 reports higher enrollments in community colleges at the expense of enrollments in 4-year State universities. Tuition increases at the latter appear to be a major factor in this switch and, wouldn't you know it, colleges that traditionally serve mainly minority students—Texas Southern University and Prairie View A&M—show the largest declines.
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
If it took us being together to raise our sensitivity to all of these issues - and I certainly needed that - I cannot see our need to stay together diminishing any in the future, especially when it comes to the crucial task of moving beyond sensitivity into action. For some of us, that will mean working as a volunteer in the Dunn Center, and I know that the training for this, if not already under way, soon will be. For others, it might mean joining your friends who are already active in an organization like TMO, and I hope your attendance at Sunday's action at Our Mother of Mercy Catholic Church will seal that commitment.
As always, we'll talk more on Sunday morning.
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