Category Archives: politics

Madcap Christian Scientist for Bernie

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“Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy has always believed that those who are entitled to vote should do so, and she has also believed that in such matters no one should seek to dictate the actions of others.”
– from Prose Works by Mary Baker Eddy

Christian Scientists are expected to follow individual conscience when it comes to voting. There are no bossy britches big wigs in the Christian Science movement telling other Christian Scientists how to vote… and, frankly, trying to dictate voting choices to Christian Scientists would be like trying to herd cats, anyway. We are a… peculiar… people. (And “peculiar” might be an under-statement. 🙂 )

In 2012 I served as a delegate for President Obama at the state convention. This year I am rooting for Bernie Sanders. It is very tempting for me to explain my choice by pointing out the flaws and foibles of the other folks running for President. But it’s probably a more positive thing for me to talk about the things about Mr. Sanders that I like and respect – things that I liked and respected about him even before he announced his candidacy: He is honest; consistent in his views; fights for the humble, poor, and disenfranchised; and cares about the same things I care about. He is an upright man:

“The upright man is guided by a fixed Principle, which destines him to do nothing but what is honorable, and to abhor whatever is base or unworthy; hence we find him ever the sane, – at all times the trusty friend, the affectionate relative, the conscientious man of business, the pious worker, the public-spirited citizen…He assumes no borrowed appearance. He seeks no mask to cover him, for he acts no studied part; but he is indeed what he appears to be, – full of truth, candor, and humanity. In all his pursuits, he knows no path but the fair, open, and direct one, and would much rather fail of success than attain it by reproachable means.”
– Mary Baker Eddy’s re-working of a description found in Murray’s The English Reader, published in 1823

There’s a quote in Timequake, by Kurt Vonnegut, that I think could have easily been said by Bernie Sanders: “Many people need desperately to receive this message: ‘I feel and think much as you do, care about many of the things you care about, although most people do not care about them. You are not alone.”

Feel the Bern! 🙂

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photo by Carolyn Kaster

“Evil is not supreme; good is not helpless…”

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 “Your influence for good depends upon the weight you throw into the right scale. The good you do and embody gives you the only power obtainable. Evil is not power. It is a mockery of strength, which erelong betrays its weakness and falls, never to rise.”
– Mary Baker Eddy

 “Evil is not supreme; good is not helpless…”
– Mary Baker Eddy

After watching this videoclip from the Young Turks on Facebook – a clip from a Donald Trump political rally – I’ve been feeling really discouraged about mankind. As Cenk Uygur, the commentator, says: “If you think this isn’t dangerous, then you’re not paying attention.” In the clip we see the mob inside the rally hall applauding as people are bullied and threatened, hated on, and thrown out – the mob getting more and more excited and frenzied as the rally goes on. The blood lust and excitement we see in the crowd towards the victims of this hatred is incredibly disturbing. When did it become acceptable, in America, to treat each other with such brazen, unapologetic mean-ness? When did people in our society lose their civility and courtesy to one another? When did it become popular and “cool” to be hateful?

I’m grappling with how I, personally, should respond to what I see in this videoclip. I’m thinking it through as I type this… so… yeah… this may not be the most articulate post you’ve ever read…

It seems to me that to ignore the behavior we see in that video – to just close our eyes and stop up our ears and pretend it’s not happening – is not going to make it go away. It needs to be unmasked, exposed, and seen for what it is – senseless and hateful and dishonorable. The hatred needs to be condemned. Mary Baker Eddy writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: “Evil which obtains in the bodily senses, but which the heart condemns, has no foundation; but if evil is uncondemned, it is undenied and nurtured. Under such circumstances, to say that there is no evil, is an evil in itself. When needed tell the truth concerning the lie. Evasion of Truth cripples integrity, and casts thee down from the pinnacle.”

Whoaaaah, right?

But I don’t want to be a part of perpetuating the cycle of hatred, either. I don’t want to personify evil or demonize men. Eddy writes, “”Evil has no reality. It is neither person, place, nor thing, but is simply a belief, an illusion  of material sense.”  Okay. Let me think about that for a moment. Evil is an illusion. Hunh. It sure SEEMS real, doesn’t it? But… “Evil thoughts and aims reach no farther and do no more harm than one’s belief permits. Evil thoughts, lusts, and malicious purposes cannot go forth, like wandering pollen, from one human mind to another, finding unsuspected lodgment, if virtue and truth build a strong defence.” A Facebook friend said, upon watching the aforementioned videoclip, that these “folks are mesmerized.” And I think she’s spot on with that observation. In that sense, it IS an illusion – an illusion of power and belonging – a hypnotic suggestion that to follow the path towards bigotry and hatred is somehow a good thing. Illusion. There is no real power for folks who hate on others – hating on people doesn’t make you healthier or happier or stronger – it has no power to make the world a better place. And that’s the only power that really matters, right?

And now I’m thinking about all the really wonderful and noble people in my community of friends – good people – generous and caring and thoughtful and honest – decent, fearless individuals. THOSE are the people with the real power, right?

Okay. It’s time to get ready for work. I think first I’ll listen to Joan Baez sing one of my favorite songs, though…

“We are not afraid, we are not afraid today… deep in my heart I do believe we shall overcome someday.” (Charles Albert Tindley)

Do We Want a Bully in the White House?

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From The Washington Post: “At one point, Southall fell to the ground and was surrounded by several white men who appeared to be kicking and punching him, according to video captured by CNN. A Washington Post reporter in the crowd watched as one of the men put his hands on Southall’s neck and heard a female onlooker repeatedly shout: ‘Don’t choke him!’

“As security officers got Southall on his feet and led him out of the building, he was repeatedly pushed and shoved by people in the crowd.”

This is NOT okay. It is not okay to punch and kick someone who is practicing his First Amendment rights at a political rally. And when someone who is running for President of our great land says, “Maybe he should have been roughed up” I am beyond words. Well, beyond words that can be posted on WordPress, anyway. This is America. This is not Nazi Germany. Our President is elected to represent and serve ALL the people who live here – not just white men with money in the bank. Our President should expect that people will disagree with him now and then, and protest, and expect to have their protests heard by their President – this is what keeps America healthy. Any man who tries to bully others into bending to his will – who throws out people who disagree with him instead of listening to their concerns – is not a man I want sitting in the White House. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/11/22/black-activist-punched-at-donald-trump-rally-in-birmingham/

 

Report to the Mother Planet

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- Karen Molenaar Terrell

– Karen Molenaar Terrell

My Dear Humoristian Hooligans –

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My dear Humoristian hooligans – as the sun dawns over another day, may you rise with hearts full of benificent (I’m pretty sure that’s a word, right?) good will to all – armed with jocularity – ready to bring humor to the humorless, to transform the stodgy and stingy wherever you may find them, and to lighten the burdens of the scared and lonely. May your good-natured love of life bring a smile to all who you pass on your journey today. May the barbs and slings of envy, impatience, anger, and fear clink harmlessly off your armor of joy and kindness. And may you see all the beauty and feel all the love surrounding you. Go out there and make them smile! Amen.

Bow Sunrise

Sunrise over Bow (photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell)

 

What’s Important

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The politician said guns don’t kill; people do.

She lay on the hospital bed, and closed her eyes –

She said guns were designed to kill.

battle-weary and drained. She felt

The politician said marriage is a sacred institution.

her father’s 97 year-old hand reach from his wheelchair

She said every citizen should have equal rights.

to stroke her forehead as she drifted between sleep

The politician said global warming is a natural occurrence.

and waking. “I love you,” Dad said.

She said if we continue to use fossil fuels we will destroy our planet..

Love is the one important thing.

-Karen Molenaar Terrell

 

Adding Bullet-Proof Vests to Our School Supply Lists

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Our local gunshop is a couple miles from our home, down the street from the local elementary school, in the same parking lot with the post office, and next to the pre-school. Here is what it looks like:

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Yup. Those are AK-47s. I’m pretty sure. Assault rifles. Weapons made for the purpose of killing a lot of people in a very short time. Being sold in a building down the street from a school. Sharing a parking lot with a government building.  Next door to a pre-school.

And… does this strike anyone else as COMPLETELY INSANE?!!!

Here’s what it says on the gun shop’s webpage: “All American Armory is offering discount pricing to persons of faith wishing to purchase firearms to protect themselves and their families. This includes Handguns, Self Defense Shotguns, and AR’s.”

Assault rifles were designed to kill mass amounts of people in a very short time. What the heck are the “faithful” people of my community preparing for?!  Is there some zombie invasion here that no one has bothered to tell me about? When did my neighborhood suddenly become a war zone?

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I have heard people say that teachers should be armed to protect their students from intruders. And… well… there’s an idea, for sure. Of course, shooting a gun is not like in the movies where you just point and shoot and the bad guy drops. In real life there is “collateral damage” – innocent people sometimes have an annoying tendency to get in the way of the bullets – and, in a school full of teachers armed with guns, the “collateral damage” would be school children. And even if a teacher is an expert shooter she’d have to actually have the gun on her person to be effective against an unexpected intruder, intent on murder.So, yeah – let’s make sure our teachers are walking around their classrooms with the guns holstered to their waists or shoulders for easy access. This will surely give our nation’s kindy-garteners a nice cozy feeling in their first year in school.

Of course, if the intruder is wearing body-proof armor – which is often the case – a little handgun is not going to be a very effective weapon against a man in a bullet-proof vest. So maybe we should arm our teachers with AK-47’s, also. An AK-47 might be a little bulky for a teacher to strap to her waist, but maybe she could carry her AR around in her left hand, while she holds her whiteboard marker in her right. And maybe we should wrap up all our students and teachers in bullet-proof vests like the bad guys to make it all more fair – maybe we should add bullet-proof vests to our students’ school supply lists?

Yeah. That’s the kind of world I want to live in, for sure.

In case anyone’s interested there were two more school shootings yesterday.

The Duty to Speak Out

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There’s this mentality amongst some Americans that we shouldn’t stir things up – we shouldn’t talk about stuff that is uncomfortable, or might hurt our friends’ feelings, or might make us less popular, or whatever. And I just can’t live like that. Trying to live like that can make a person insane. So here are my thoughts this morning:

For too long we in America have let ourselves be pushed around and bullied by Big Business and politicians – by the gun industry, by mega food corporations like Monsanto, and by politicians who are in the back pockets of these hoodlums – and it is time to take our country back. It is time to make this nation, once again, a nation “by the people, of the people, and for the people” – as it was meant to be. YOU and I are “the people.” This is OUR country – and we are responsible for maintaining its well-being. It is, in fact, our duty to use our First Amendment rights of free speech to keep our nation healthy and safe. The politicians are OUR EMPLOYEES – they work for US – we are their bosses. And when our employees – the politicians who work for us – aren’t doing their job it is time to let them go. 

It is time for Americans to buck up, show some courage, and speak out. It is time to confront corporate and political bullies. and to firmly escort them out of their positions of power in our government.

Roseburg. Charleston. Newtown. Virginia Tech. Ford Hood. Aurora. Marysville, Chattanooga, Washington Navy Yard, Killeen TX, Columbine . No more. It needs to stop now.

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