Remembering Katrina
RESPECT FOR LIFE: THE TRAGEDY IN NEW ORLEANS
September 2005
I’ll admit it: I’m biased. New Orleans is the lodestone of my adult life, the gravitational force always pulling me back. I began my college teaching career there, reveling in the generosity of seasoned teacher-mentors at Xavier University, who patiently taught me how to identify and use my gifts as a teacher. The jewel-like experiences I have had in that magical, maddening city near the river’s mouth have enriched my life in ways so profound that I will never get over New Orleans. Nor do I wish to do so.
I studied at both Loyola and Tulane. In my undergraduate education, what the Jesuits at Loyola taught me about God’s determination to lift up the downtrodden has forever stamped me. The Jesuits compelled me into ministry, overturning my well-laid plans to sequester myself in an ivory tower with my beloved Greek and Latin texts. Those crafty men who would not cease nattering about the importance of living for others turned my life upside down. I came to them a callow middle-class youth from a small Southern town. I left them with blinders forever stripped from my eyes. After what I learned in my years of ministry to the needy in New Orleans, I had no option except to head off to study theology, to get my head around what my heart had learned about how systems of neglect and oppression affect the poor.
In my forays into ministry in New Orleans, I brought books, literacy training, food, and housing assistance to the needy. I approached these expeditions cavalierly: I was the one bearing gifts, after all, the one with the answers. But I quickly discovered that those to whom I reached out offered me far more than I could ever bring them. They taught me more than I could ever begin to teach them.
With these connections, I am shaken to the core of my soul by the scenes I have watched unfold in New Orleans day after day this week. I feel a frustration akin to battering my head against prison walls as I watch people pleading for food and water, even dying from lack of elemental nutrition or simple medication. I watch these scenes in helpless rage, in a comfortable house well-stocked with food and pure water. As I sit glued to my television set, I shout questions at it: how is it possible that we live in an advanced nation in which technology allows us to see people die of hunger, and yet our nation’s leaders seem incapable of delivering food to these suffering people we can see in front of us? I ask the television if we are in truth a developing nation, incapable of meeting the simplest nutritional and healthcare needs of our populace when disaster strikes.
As I worry the well-paced rug of questions in my head, I flash back to the last presidential election, when so many of our religious leaders twisted our arms as they informed us that voting for any but the pro-life candidates would be wicked in the extreme. I recall some of my own Catholic bishops compelling their flocks to vote pro-life, spelling out the “right” candidates and the “wrong” ones. I recall bishops who were willing to break with longstanding Catholic tradition and to use the Eucharist as a political whip to coerce errant believers into submission to their episcopal will.
I am also flashing back now to those grim scenes outside the facility in which Terri Schiavo died, when pro-life religious leaders held daily vigil as hydration was removed from the brain-dead woman lying inside. Where are those advocates for life now, I keep crying out to my television? Where are they as babies cry for water in the grueling heat of New Orleans summer days? Where are they, while corpses collect unburied, blankets draped over them, on the sidewalks of New Orleans?
The scenes we are seeing show us people dying precisely as Terri Schiavo died, from lack of nutrition and hydration. And yet those now dying on the streets of New Orleans are not brain-dead. They have the potential to live vibrant lives. Where are the buses of protesters now, shouting about how our nation has lost all respect for life? For that matter, where are the bishops who sought to bully us into voting pro-life in the last election? I have yet to hear the voice of a single one of my episcopal leaders, as human beings plead for food and water in New Orleans.
And the pro-life leaders the bishops told us to elect: what is their response to the agonizing scenes we see anytime we care to turn on our television sets? They are as absent as our bishops. As the grim scenes in New Orleans unfold before us, a number of bishops (along with their political allies) are engrossed in planning Eucharistic events, huge religious parties to celebrate the bread of life. Are those planning these parties recalling, I wonder, that the symbolism of the Lord’s Supper centers on a table, on bread, on wine, on food offered to the hungry? There is continuity between the dinner table at which we break our daily bread and the Eucharistic table at which the church offers bread to all hearts hungry for God.
When the church fails to do all it can to defend those who lack daily bread, it undermines everything that it proclaims about the holy bread of life. A church that neglects those hungry for daily bread cannot convincingly announce God’s invitation to hungry hearts everywhere to come to the table of living bread. Where are the bishops who teach this as the very heart and soul of Christian faith, while people lie dying in the streets in New Orleans, in this land of plenty, and no bread arrives?
Perhaps those bishops need to re-think their support for “pro-life” politicians who, to all appearances, seem shockingly callous in face of the need of poor, hungry human beings trapped like rats in a bowl in a major American city now lying largely underwater. Perhaps, as they prepare for their big Eucharistic shindigs, they should be pondering the core significance of what they profess about the bread of life. At the very least, perhaps they should be adding to their roster of speakers some who will remind us of the connections between providing daily bread to the hungry and inviting the spiritually hungry to the table of the Lord.
If they don’t do these things, it’s entirely possible that, one day, the bishops will give a party and no one will come. Or that they’ll shake their big sticks to compel the faithful to vote the “right” way, and no one will cower anymore. It’s possible that, having seen how our pro-life leaders have responded to the needs of the people of New Orleans, we will re-think what it means to vote pro-life in future elections, no matter what our bishops tell us.
William D. Lindsey, Little Rock, AR
The sordid tale continues to
The sordid tale continues to unfold--and it's deeply saddening to read the unfolding saga in light of Catholic teaching about respect for life.
Today's NY Times carries an op-ed piece by Paul Krugman entitled "Valor and Squalor." Mr. Krugman notes that the Walter Reed scandal--in which we're becoming aware of the disgraceful way returning soldiers from Iraq are being treated by our national military healthcare system--parallels the Katrina story. Here's Mr. Krugman's take on the parallels:
"We know from Hurricane Katrina postmortems that one of the factors degrading FEMA’s effectiveness was the Bush administration’s relentless push to outsource and privatize disaster management, which demoralized government employees and drove away many of the agency’s most experienced professionals. It appears that the same thing has been happening to veterans’ care....
...[T]he parallels between what happened at Walter Reed and what happened to New Orleans — not to mention parallels with the mother of all scandals, the failed reconstruction of Iraq — tell us that the roots of the scandal run far deeper than the actions of a few bad men."
Is this what those bishops who told us to elect these pro-life leaders hoped for, when they told us to cast our ballots on the basis of Catholic pro-life teachings? Does Catholic teaching life suggest that money is the most important consideration when taking care of the sick, the disadvantaged, those who have experienced disaster?
When will those bishops speak out, to clarify for their flocks that 1) the Catholic church does not endorse one political party or one political option, and 2) Catholic pro-life teaching is not a single-issue teaching, but addresses a spectrum of life issues, all of which are interconnected?
William D. Lindsey
Hi William, Purely out of
Hi William,
Purely out of interest I read through the postings on this subject and the one fact which came through quite distinctly was that it is time for us who occupy the pews to think and discern for ourselves which political candidate/party deserves our vote.
To allow our religious leaders - or anyone else for that matter, complete control or influence over how we live our lives and the decisions we arrive at, is to insult our Creator.
At the final reckoning we cannot abrograte responsibility for what we have done to any other authority, not even the Pope.
As an aside, and not certain that I should comment, I could never understand how the voters in your country could re-elect Bush for a second term in office given his prior performance on all fronts.
As with the situ in Australia, people have taken a very low priority in the overall scheme of things political. The sad reality is that in both countries our leaders loudly proclaim to be 'Christian' to the bootstraps.
Contrary to that famous saying by one of your illustrious Presidents 'they have fooled all of us all the time' or so it appears.
'This is my living faith, an active faith, a faith of verbs: to question, explore, experiment, experience, to seek, to embrace the questions, to be wary of answers.' -Terry Tempest Williams, naturalist and author (1955- )
Ninja
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Ninja, I couldn't agree
Ninja, I couldn't agree more, and I welcome the trans-global feedback. It's interesting that you say that in the final reckoning we cannot abrogate responsbility for what we have done to any other authority, not even the Pope. Without having read your posting, I have just posted that thought on another thread.
I suppose my own political bent is probably not secret, so you may have divined that I agree wholeheartedly with your observation that it's puzzling our nation did re-elect a president whose performance had been, shall we say, less than stellar.
More shocking to me, and far more grievous, was the active campaigning of some American bishops in the last election for "the" pro-life party (the party that brought us Katrina and now the Walter Reed disaster); the untraditional and coercive use of the Eucharist as a political tool to enforce Catholic voting conformity; and the silence of so many brother bishops when a few bishops went that route.
I think that if the bishops as a whole don't break with these patterns, our American church will remain in deep trouble. It's time to try a new way of dealing with the political realm, one that is more pastoral-invitational and less single issue-coercive. Whether the bishops will lead the way in that process remains to be seen. Frankly, I doubt it. Too many of them strike me as career ecclesiastics, and many were appointed under a papal regime that had a hard church vs. world stance.
I think the laity will have to lead the way. But I would like the bishops to address, honestly and openly, their failure to be pastoral leaders in recent years. And, of course, I'm painting with a broad brush and speaking as if they all stand in the same place, whereas they don't.
Still, the 2002 revelation that 2/3 of the American bishops had shielded sexual predators in their clerical ranks just won't disappear from my consciousness, and my distress has grown greater when I have seen the rank politicking, the single-issue ethical analysis, and the political use of the Eucharist.
William D. Lindsey
You know, if I didn't have
You know, if I didn't have to work for a living and be the only parent to a teen-aged daughter, I would spend a vast amount of my time reading and writing in this 'cafe'. I barely have time to read and keep up with the postings, so many of which are heartwarming and Christian. I feel so much love and generosity here. I also feel the anger - there is so much, often hidden, in the many postings. To have so much love and so much anger and frustration in one place, in a person. Including me, of course. At first I felt that I needed to belay the anger and pray more, much more. Which I do need to do. Then an image of Jesus overturning the market tables at the Temple came to mind, and I laughed. He was angry, too. Maybe it is good to be angry when you are angry over injustice and evil. Bless you all for being angry! And pray a lot, and keep New Orleans in your prayers.
Margie12
P.S. William, I think that you should gather all these comments in "Remembering Katrina" and put them together as a booklet when the postings end.
Wow! I am just seeing this
Wow! I am just seeing this - sorry, also, for the lapses. Barbara Bush really said those things. Unbelievable! I can see why the President is so out of touch with reality. Imagine having everything money can buy and no one to show you what real love is like? Sad. Margie12
Yes, I guess the thing I
Yes, I guess the thing I left out abut this pathetic and barbaric "why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that" (body bags and Katrina, etc.) comment of Mrs. Bush Senior's (who raised our distressing current President) is the total lack of compassion, IN HER STATEMENT OF THE MOMENT, the superficiality of which shines through.
I have known quite a few other women who have displayed that mindset; it is not rare among a certain species, (certain priviliged birds, but by all means not all) who also think of themselves as very "charitable" and "giving" types of people...Some of these outdated types would rather not be too closely associated with "the downtrodden"---oh no, PUHLEEZE don't let us come too close!
These sad specimens are among those blessed by the fates who appear to feel that they were Blessed by God because of "their own personal merit" and that somehow, "those less fortunate" are somehow being punished for not being too good, or somehow "less than". This attitude of "moral superiority" is quite common.
Is it possible that this is why not enough resources are marshalled quickly enough to assist New Orleans, a beloved City in our own Country while billions go to the wasteful War in a Country that appears not even to want our assistance while thousands of our young (and older) citizens die?
That this attitude (of condescension and distance) is at the heart of racism? And that this is what Republican and moral conservatives REALLY think in their heart of hearts? Jesus would argue with them, I believe!
Thanks for sharing the
Thanks for sharing the quotes from the President's Mother, Bill. It explains a lot, doesn't it? Imagine being raised as a young person by someone who thinks like that, with a mostly absent Father, in a small Texas town---not much to start with, even with "all the advantages", And our beloved Country, in so many places, including New Orleans, and the Planet as a whole, is paying the price. Who ever said Mothers don't have an "impact" in this world? They most certainly do... And your comments illustrated perfectly why...
Star, I've only now noticed
Star, I've only now noticed your reply. Please forgive me for missing it up to now. Interestingly enough, your two comments make me think of a New Orleans (and New York) writer, Lillian Hellman. In one of her autobiographical pieces, she talks about how her privileged parents failed (tragically) to provide her with any real moral moorings as she grew up. She attributes the keen moral sense that led her eventually to refuse to name names in the McCarthy era to save her own skin to the African-American woman who lived with her family in New Orleans when she was a child, and who gave her the real mothering that fostered that keen moral insight.
William D. Lindsey
Yes, Bill, it's amazing how
Yes, Bill, it's amazing how our "moral compass" often comes from outside the Family, isn't it? I wonder how many white children (especially in the South) learned extraordinarily "real" values from Black women who gave those children the only real warmth and nurturing they ever had? It's not a myth...
Today's NY Times contains an
Today's NY Times contains an editorial entitled "Unmatched Destruction" that points yet again to the failure of the pro-life federal officials many bishops told us to elect last go-round. The article provides more evidence of the conspicuous lack of respect for Catholic pro-life principles on the part of the administration many bishops told us we had to elect, or forego communion.
Here's a selection from the editorial:
"The recovery along the Gulf Coast and particularly in New Orleans is going too slowly, and there are steps the government can easily take to speed the process. One thing the Bush administration should have done immediately after Hurricane Katrina was to waive the requirement that state and local governments match federal rebuilding funds. The time to correct that mistake is now.
Much of federal disaster aid is handed out according to the Stafford Act, which calls for states to ante up a quarter for every 75 cents provided by the federal government. That way, locals still contribute what the law deems a fair share of each rebuilding dollar. When the damage exceeds $110 for each person in the affected state, the split increases to 90 percent for the federal government with a 10 percent local match.
Since 1985, the local matching requirement has been waived entirely for 32 separate disasters. It was waived for the State of Florida after Hurricane Andrew, when damage was $139 for each Floridian. It was waived again for New York after the Sept. 11, 2001, attack, which cost $390 per New Yorker.
Yet somehow the Bush administration has not found it necessary to forgive the local match for Gulf Coast states after the double-whammy of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, except for costs associated with debris removal and some emergency services — despite the fact that the two storms wreaked roughly $6,700 worth of damage per capita in Louisiana. This inaction is particularly surprising, given that such a large proportion of the damage can be attributed to the failure of the federal levees that were supposed to protect the New Orleans area."
Indeed. The discrepancy between how the federal government has treated some areas devastated by disasters and other areas is puzzling. And when one adds to this the fact that the federal levees that were supposed to protect New Orleans were inadequate, and known by the federal government to be inadequate, how can one conclude that the bishops who told us we had to vote for these pro-life leaders were leading us down a good pastoral path?
When will those bishops speak out and ask the forgiveness of the faithful for betraying their pastoral responsibility?
William D. Lindsey
I went home this past week!
I went home this past week! New Orleans at Mardi Gras - it almost seemed okay. But a short trip off the parade routes and away from the Vieux Carre tells a different story. In fact, it starts long before - as I crested the high-rise bridge over the Mississippi at Baton Rouge I could see the reality. A huge gray cloud clung to the horizon in the direction of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Low and dark, it looked unreal against the beautiful blue skies surrounding it. I called one of my friends in the city as I drove down I-12 and told her about the cloud. I asked if those in the city were aware of it - that the air they are breathing is gray, not clear. She didn't and hadn't heard anything about a cloud of gray, but she said that she expected it was Satan overshadowing the city of despair. Part of me wanted to ignore the reality, but as I drove south on the Causeway the telltale smell of mildew and rot permeated the air as I approached. I felt like I should be wearing an oxygen mask to enter. Most of my friends there are coughing now - a constant, chronic little cough that won't go away. I spend a week there and had a headache most of the time - and it wasn't from debauchery! After the first day I couldn't smell the mildew anymore, and the sky looked blue. I think the people in New Orleans that are struggling to make life "normal" again are working against rot at much higher levels. I want to take Congress down and show them the gray cloud and then make them live in it and breathe and eat it. There are so many good people in the midst of the ruin, yet I could show you picture after picture taken last week - February 19-24 - that look like they were taken a week or two after Katrina. No - it would take many hours of video to show the mess that is still there. Please pray for New Orleans and all the wonderful souls who are there.
Margie12
Dearest Margie, Thanks for
Dearest Margie, Thanks for keeping us posted. I am so sorry you did not find better progress in your beloved City. This is not good news. You did a very good job of painting a vivid picture of what is still NOT happening in New Orleans. The environmental issues you brought to our attention are now obviously affecting the health of the people, so add this to just the issues of living, safety, rebuilding, crime, etc. It is time for us to get on the phone to our Congresspeople again and relay in vivid detail exactly what YOU saw. I promise you I will do that today. And we all need to renew our prayers. NCR has a very extensive article this week. Love to all my friends on this thread, Star
Margie, this first-hand
Margie, this first-hand testimony is very powerful.
Like you, I have fantasies of requiring the high and mighty who are allowing this suffering to continue and continue--including the bishops who remain silent about their insistence that we elect these high and mighty pro-life leaders--to live in New Orleans a while now and see the damage first-hand. As you so aptly put it, "I think the people in New Orleans that are struggling to make life 'normal' again are working against rot at much higher levels."
I can't shake the strong suspicion that, if this were New York City (or Houston), things would have been cleaned up a long time ago. It's hard to avoid concluding that the lives of poor people and people of color just count for less than the lives of others, in the estimation of many of our high and mighty officials.
Is this what the bishops wanted, when they encouraged us to vote pro-life in the last election?
William D. Lindsey
And let's not forget the
And let's not forget the wonderful corporate example set by State Farm Insurance.
You All, Just a short note
You All, Just a short note to ask your prayers for those in New Orleans still dealing with the Crime Wave. According to the news this past week, The French Quarter is "back in business" and crowded as a tourist destination, but the other citizens, as Bill has pointed out, are still stuggling terribly with the aftermath of Katrina. It's as if the nations has turned its own collective back. The Levees are in no way "ready" for another severe hurricane, and yet brave individuals are trying to rebuild their own little homes, even without help from the Government, even in the Ninth Ward (see CNN-Anderson Cooper's touching report this week.) Please pray that things get better; and do what you can. Mardi Gras is coming! Love, Star
Star and Joer, Thank you so
Star and Joer,
Thank you so much for keeping our thoughts focused on these folks who have been so terribly let down by our pro-life leaders.
My local paper carried an article yesterday saying that the city is in crisis, as more of its citizens just give up and leave, and as others report that they are seriously considering leaving. It remains perplexing to me that so many of us seem to be silently shrugging our shoulders as this is happening, and that the bishops who told us to vote for the pro-life leaders who are ignoring this tragedy continue to say nothing at all about how they betrayed their pastoral charge in the last election. I want to hear my shepherds speak--and about something other than disordered folks and condoms!
William D. Lindsey
I will pray Star. I will
I will pray Star. I will pray for the return of the business, the repair and reconstruction of the levees, for the people rebuilding their lives with or without help from the government. I will pray for more government and private aid to the victims of Katrina and the aftermath of Katrina. I will pray for people to resist perpetrating crimes. I will pray the things get better for the people of new Orleans and the areas affected by Katrina. I will pray that Marti Gras is a success. I will ask for through in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen
God bless you Star for remembering those in need.
M't:5:3: Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
M't:5:4: Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
M't:5:5: Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
M't:5:6: Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
M't:5:7: Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
M't:5:8: Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
M't:5:9: Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
The more we discover how much we are Loved by God, the more we want to do God's Will
Thank you, Joer. You are
Thank you, Joer. You are just amazing!
I continue to ask why the
I continue to ask why the bishops who told us we must vote for the current administration because it is pro-life remain silent about its lack of respect for Catholic pro-life teaching.
My local newspaper reports today that former FEMA director Michael Brown said yesterday at a meeting in Daytona Beach, "Had terrorists blown up the levees in New Orleans, the response and recovery would have been different, and I know that, because I've been there."
Do Catholic pro-life principles hinge the value of people's lives on political considerations? Those whose lives are endangered or disrupted because of terrorism deserve more consideration than those whose lives are endangered or disrupted because of natural disasters?
Where are the bishops who told us to vote for leaders whose record in respecting Catholic pro-life principles has been so dismal? Why are they not speaking out? Why are they not offering sound guidance to their flocks about how to distinguish between rhetorical adherence to Catholic pro-life values and real adherence?
Why are the same bishops who were so intent to intervene in the political process in the last federal election so hesitant to take a stand now?
Bishops, where are you? Where are your voices? Where is the pastoral guidance you are called to offer to your flocks? We need to hear your voices! Can you please speak to us with the same clarity regarding these issues that you recently used to talk to us about contraception?
William D. Lindsey
Dear Bill, So good to "see"
Dear Bill, So good to "see" your voice on the site once again! perhaps I have not been looking on the "right" threads? (No pun intended?)
Last night I stayed up late and listed to the pundits talk about "The Governor" of Florida and how he was responding to this new, terrible disaster to hit that State. No more Jeb, just "The Governor" here and "The Governor" there, since it was no longer "The President's" Brother. Finally I wanted to sing out to the TV, "Just call Jeb; maybe HE can get you some action!"
But then it turned out that the NEW Governor had INDEED been on the horn to "The Decider" and it appeared that maybe, just maybe, FEMA was on its way. Larry King said sheepishly, (he really did) "Well, this is 'a more compact disaster' so maybe they will be able to clean it up more quickly!"
Do you EVER recall a time before when we had to APOLOGIZE for the SPEED with which we hurried to attend to a disaster in OUR OWN COUNTRY??? Maybe a little bit of griping here and there, but NOTHING compared to what is going on now! KATRINA puts us all to shame! As Mr. King processed which triplet was dead or not and how both parents had died, but wasn't it "good news" that the little 7 year-old boy who had lost his eye being kicked by a horse a few months ago who got killed in the tornado, well wasn't it GOOD NEWS that his Mother was found alive? Was it now? I cried and cried. Not just for his poor mom and for Forida and for the triplet girls who lost their parents and their brother suddenly in the night, Florida, but for the whole lousy mess, for ALL these suffering people, everywhere. The 82 Iraqis blown up in the marketplace NOT LAST WEEK but THIS MORNING (a different 82--and I think I worry about my kids in the winter snows on the highways?) And the people trying to make it through daily life in the war-torn Country that has become New Orleans. Then we put our Border Patrol guys in Federal prison for shooting at a drug smuggler, the SECOND TIME he's tried to smuggle drugs, (where he's been apprehended, that is) just because his momma "knows someone"??
What kind of corrupt Country do we have, anymore?
And then I stayed up all night and went through my notes and thought about my sweet little friends from The Gulf whose lives, and whose Parents' lives, will never be quite the same...different, maybe, but never the same.
Yeah, how 'bout them oil companies and them gas guzzlers? Who would'a thought? I remember that cute guy from K street who used to brag about "puttin' the arm on the White House" for one of the big oil lobbies. I wonder what he is thinking about all this now...probably in big-time denial somewhere. But maybe not. One of the first proponents of ethanol,'way before his time. No one would listen to him, back then, though.
Well, New Orleans got a year's reprieve from the worst-case scenario. But I didn't hear a word about any real progress being made about making it safer for next hurricane season. Do "they" think the hurricanes are going to evaporate into thin air?
And all most of the Bishops can think about is forbidding birth control? I do believe they must understand that they are somewhat becoming irelevant, and in so doing, just plain ireverent.
Star, it's good, as ever, to
Star, it's good, as ever, to hear your voice. I agree wholeheartedly with your sentiments.
There has been discussion in Florida recently--quite a bit of it, in fact--of the denial of FEMA assistance following the Christmas Day tornadoes in Daytona Beach. You're right, the new governor in Florida, Crist, is appealing that FEMA decision.
And now these even more devastating tornadoes in the same county and the next county over, on the heels of the Christmas ones....
The lack of a speedy federal response--and the outright denial of assistance to those affected by the Christmas tornadoes--underscores the shoddy record of those federal officials so many bishops wanted us to elect, vis-a-vis Catholic teachings about respect for life.
As if we needed any underscoring following Katrina....
It still bothers me to the core of my being that those bishops who were so intent on seeing these pro-life leaders elected are not saying anything about their track record on life issues. I am afraid I'm going to become the Molly Ivins of the bishops on this issue (though nowhere in the league of that classy lady): I just can't stop saying and saying and saying over again that we need to hear those bishops speak out, if we want the church to continue to command respect and to hold a position of serious moral leadership.
William D. Lindsey
For an informative new
For an informative new analysis regarding the lasting impact of Katrina by Peter Dreier and John Atlas go to:
http://www.tikkun.org/magazine/tik0701/frontpage/katrina
The article deals, in part with what A.C.O.R.N. is trying to do in the face of continuing government indifference and incompetence. This really is worth reading for anyone wishing to get involved or just be informed about the awful plight of God's children in New Orleans.
For those who don't know about A.C.O.R.N. here is a brief description pasted below:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) is the largest community organization of low-income and working-class families in the United States, with 220,000 dues-paying families organized into 850 neighborhoods spread across more than 100 American cities. The ACORN family of organizations includes two public-employee unions, two southern-based radio stations (KNON and KABF), several publications (including the magazine Social Policy), a housing development corporation (ACORN Housing), a law office, and a variety of other vehicles that supports its direct organizing and issue campaigns, such as Project Vote and the Living Wage Resource Center.
Since its founding in the early 1970s, ACORN has mobilized people around welfare, housing, lending discrimination (called “redlining”), economic development, and other issues, combining protest and politics to win real improvements for poor people and their neighborhoods. ACORN has been the prime mover behind the nationwide “living wage” movement, which in the past decade has pushed more than 100 cities to adopt local laws raising incomes for the lowest-paid workers. In 2004, ACORN launched a successful ballot initiative in Florida to raise the state’s minimum wage by a dollar an hour. In November, ACORN and its labor union allies sponsored similar measures, all successful, in four other states—Missouri, Ohio, Colorado, and Arizona, while unions led similar successful campaigns in Montana and Nevada. Their grassroots minimum-wage campaigns increased voter turnout enough to help Democrats Claire McCaskill in Missouri and John Tester in Montana defeat incumbent Republicans and cement the Democrats’ majority in the U.S. Senate. For more information about ACORN go to www.acorn.org.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Rev. Dr. E. McCoy
"So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" (2Cor 5)
Elaine, thank you for
Elaine, thank you for posting this. I'm just now seeing it. As the cafe threads proliferate, it's very hard for me to follow them!
William D. Lindsey
Thank God for columnist Bob
Thank God for columnist Bob Herbert, who will not let us forget Katrina. His commentary on the President's recent speech in today's NY Times, "Long on Rhetoric, Short on Sorrow," draws a sharp connection between what has happened in New Orleans and what is going on in Iraq.
Sometimes it takes a non-Catholic to remind us of the implications of our Catholic teaching on the sanctity of life. Herbert says,
"I wanted to hear him [i.e., Mr. Bush] talk about the suffering of the soldiers he has put in harm’s way, and the plight of the residents of New Orleans. I wanted to hear him express a little in the way of sorrow for the many thousands who have died unnecessarily on his watch. I wanted to see him slip the surly bonds of narcissism and at least acknowledge the human wreckage that is the sum and substance of his sustained folly."
Yes. I, too, wanted to see this expression of remorse.
And I wait to hear the same expression from the bishops who told us we must vote for this administration if we want to promote the Catholic teaching on the sanctity of life.
A church that is long on rhetoric but short on sorrow fails to fulfill its sacramental mission in the world.
William D. Lindsey
Thank you, Bill. Yes the
Thank you, Bill. Yes the word com-passion. Breaks down very nicely doesn't it? Appears that this one word (and what accompanies it) has gone out of fashion in the last few decades. One could do a whole thread on that..."Feeling" and "Passion" do a lot for "Motivation" which, in turn, does a lot to fuel "Action".
Apparently the only way we use "passion" anymore in this society is with empty dramas on our nightly TV shows.
Some of us seem wary of being "manipulated" by "real" passion, which might move us to do good for anyone for any consistent length of time. So a short-term disaster will "hold" our attention for about a month until the next one comes along.
And then, the politically-manufactured "disaster" of the Iraq War (now a Genuine Human Horror) saps our attention and funding away from the real needs upon our own shores. (Even though we should be concerned about Everyone, but are the Iraqis any better off with this kind of military intervention? No.)
Back to New Orleans--there are many good people there trying to hold their fingers in the figurative dikes, (forget a GOOD dike system like they have in Amsterdam--we could have that here, but it costs billions, and all that money goes to Iraq WEEKLY) like the wife of the clinic doctor who was murdered in front of her young family, why? (She talked her Husband and Family into returning there, after Katrina, I heard, because she felt they were needed there. And they were. They were in the midst of contributing immensely to The Recovery, such as it was, when the entire Family was attacked in this senseless crime wave cause by a lack of local and governmental support.) These people there cannot do this without outside help from our Government and from Parishes and friends, I hear of Parishes going to the Mississippi Gulf Area, but how many are going into the City of New Orleans?
Where is your PASSION people? It is not supposed to be tucked into a box and pulled out in the two weeks before Easter!
Where is the "passion" and "concern" that emanated from the Gospels? I don't hear it from The Official Church. I wonder why?
Star, thank you for an
Star, thank you for an eloquent appeal for com-passion. It seems mind-boggling to me that half the citizens of a major American city are displaced, the city remains in ruins, its infrastructures (already devastated by historic poverty) are almost non-existent. And yet, we carry on.
It seems we have somehow arrived at a national consensus to ignore issues of poverty and race that have never been resolved, and which we see very starkly--if we open our eyes--in the Katrina story.
There is no way to listen to Catholic teaching about the sanctity of life and not try to open our eyes wide to these realities, and to this story.
William D. Lindsey
The Katrina story still
The Katrina story still unfolds. To my mind, recent news releases continue to point to a serious challenge for Catholics concerned about the sanctity of life and about many U.S. bishops' complicity with the current administration. (Silence = complicity.)
On Jan. 20, an AP article reported that, in a lecture to graduate students at Metropolitan College of New York the preceding day, former FEMA Director Michael Brown said that federal decisions about whether to take control of Louisiana and other areas affected by the hurricane were influenced by party politics.
In response to this assertion, Gov. Kathleen Blanco of Louisiana stated through a spokesperson, "This is exactly what we were living but could not bring ourselves to believe. Karl Rove was playing politics while our people were dying. The federal effort was delayed, and now the public knows why. It's disgusting."
White House spokeswoman Eryn Witcher denied Brown's claims.
The same day that Brown accused federal leaders of playing politics with the lives of those devastated by Katrina, President Bush issued a formal White House proclamation declaring January 21 National Sanctity of Human Life Day.
The President stated: "America was founded on the principle that we are all endowed by our Creator with the right to life and that every individual has dignity and worth. National Sanctity of Human Life Day helps foster a culture of life and reinforces our commitment to building a compassionate society that respects the value of every human being."
President Bush’s proclamation also declares, "Among the most basic duties of Government is to defend the unalienable right to life, and my Administration is committed to protecting our society's most vulnerable members."
Mr. Bush adds, "National Sanctity of Human Life Day serves as a reminder that we must value human life in all forms, not just those considered healthy, wanted, or convenient. Together, we can work toward a day when the dignity and humanity of every person is respected."
I wonder if the President has watched footage of Katrina and its aftermath. I wonder if he’s watching and reading news stories about the state of New Orleans right now.
I continue to wonder, too, if the many bishops who did all they could to assure that their flocks would vote for these pro-life leaders are watching. As I have stated again and again, it bothers me tremendously to observe that, not only did many bishops seek to coerce their flocks into voting for these pro-life leaders, but that they continue to remain silent about what happened in Katrina and what continues to happen to New Orleans.
Some of those bishops will be participating in a March for Life in the month of March. Will they be carrying pictures from New Orleans, as they do so? Why aren’t they marching to New Orleans, I wonder?
I keep asking these questions because I remain very concerned to see Catholic teaching about the sanctity of life influencing the public sphere. And I also remain very concerned to see us representing that teaching in a way that makes it credible. This places a great onus on our leaders to live what they proclaim.
William D. Lindsey
I'm sorry that I have such a
I'm sorry that I have such a hard time trying to figure out where to 'reply'. Forgive me if this pops up in a strange place! William, you are such a good soul, as are so many of those who post herein. It heartens me to find Christian people (for the most part) who have such truly Christian hearts!
After watching Bush's speech last night I starting thinking that the trick to getting his attention and money is to not be an American. He's into building walls to block all the Latin nations from illegally entering the U.S. and he's into wars to blow away Mid-Easterners, save the Saudis (Iran is next on his hit list and we're still in Afghanistan, in case anyone's forgotten it). North Korea and Venezuela are in the wings. I think he is capable of starting WWIII all by himself.
Ah-h! Just think if he would allocate the “Wall” money for levees! And the troops could become WPA-type employees, rebuilding New Orleans and the Gulf Coast! Think of the massive rebuilding projects we could support!
I am going home for Mardi Gras – not because I’m a great partier, I’m not. But it is so New Orleans, and so much a part of the spirit. I will take my daughter to parades with her friends (yes – there are still families at MG, but you don’t hang out in the Quarter or on Bourbon). Houston is so successful and thriving, but I so much miss the heart of New Orleans. It will be a sweet/sour visit, I know. The destruction is still so much apparent, and many friends, who never before really worried about crime, are feeling nervous about it now. There is such a frontier feeling there – people sleeping in newly renovated houses with guns to ward off those who would strip the very electricity and plumbing from the walls to re-sell. FEMA trailers in huge ‘camps’ making new neighborhoods – boom town, you know – almost like prospectors living in tents. It’s an extremely nebulous world set on quaking ground… literally. My brothers and I used to go “1, 2, 3, Jump!” and all jump up and land together. We would then watch the earth ripple away from us like mud rings in a pond. The land literally floated on the water. And that is New Orleans, I suppose – a floating dream place, not quite set on the earth.
This has gone a whole different direction from when I started. Sorry. Just pray for the city and the coast. I don’t think that our government intends to do much about it. I wanted to mention the posts about the Michael Brown comments – we knew that in our hearts. Many comments, just after Katrina had passed, were about the fact that they immediately demanded that our female, Democratic governor give up the reins, whereas no mention was ever made of Mississippi (male GOP governor) doing the same. Bush even came to visit the city and didn’t even notify the governor – I think that may have been a first. She found out he was coming through a press contact, if I remember right. It was like the emperor’s (that what I call our President) first thought was “Whoa, now we can take control.” I wonder if his mindset ever really would have changed to “Whoa, we gotta help these people!” if it hadn’t been for the public outcry. And prayer is still the strongest hope there is, because I don’t think that helping New Orleans and the coast is very high on his current agenda. Got to go, lunch is over!
God bless,
Margie12
Margie, what you write moves
Margie, what you write moves me deeply. I understand the sweet-sour feeling about returning. My own heart is not ready to go back yet--and my ties aren't nearly so deep as yours.
So much that you say echoes what my friends are telling me. Their spirits are strong, and yet the daily grind of living in a city where so much is just...gone...is not easy, I can tell. A former student emailed this week to say he had returned to visit his family and, though his own family lived in an area that has recovered fairly well, so much he remembered is literally gone. As in just not there anymore--restaurants by the lake, and so forth. And he said that the areas where no rebuilding to speak of has been done, like the 9th ward, are like bombed areas from a major war.
New Orleans is, as you say, a floating dream place--in Ellen Gilchrist's phrase, the land of dreamy dreams. If we let it die, we--as a nation--lose part of our own national dream. We all lose, when we let our dreams die.
Yes, I, too, felt immediately that difference in treatment of the two governors. And it pained me, because I knew in my bones that it was both political and sexist. And human lives shouldn't depend on such distinctions.
I applaud your spirit, and that of all those who will continue to try to keep the dream alive this Mardi Gras. So many people in New Orleans remain in my heart and will continue to do so.
William D. Lindsey
Glad to hear from you again
Glad to hear from you again Margie12. I had the same kind of thoughts running through my mind as Mr. Bush gave his address. I can't seem to separate Iraq from New Orleans. The situations are equally mind boggling to me. I can't quite get my head around the fact that our prez seems content to leave both issues stagnant messes with no indication that he will ever do anything creative or meaningful about either one.
"After watching Bush's speech last night I starting thinking that the trick to getting his attention and money is to not be an American."
I thought this same thing right after we went into Iraq and they announced the first 30 billion dollar reconstruction plan. We were joking here in Montana that it would be nice if he invaded us, as we did have weapons of mass destruction, we did have armed militias which had already caused problems, and we did have our own unibombing terrorist. I for one was perfectly willing to have some vacant field bombed, succomb to shock and awe, and have our governor immediately surrender so we could get some much needed capital up here, and then I saw what happened to the Gulf coast and figured Americans relying on the American government for help was kind of pointless.
Anyway, I hope you have a good time at Mardi Gras and wish I could be there with you. I also hope the colts win the superbowl just because of the effort the Manning family has put into New Orleans. It sure would have been nice if the Saints had been able to make it too. What a party that would have been.
March for Life plans in
March for Life plans in March could also consider this (NOT in competition against but in line WITH and SUPPORT FOR *pro life* in New Orleans):
March 16, 2007
Your Community and Washington, D.C.
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
We invite you to join thousands in a “Christian Peace Witness for Iraq.” As followers of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, our faith compels us to make our voice heard—to repent of our complicity with the invasion and occupation of Iraq and to renew our commitment to peacemaking.
We ask you to join us in praying for peace, studying the scriptures, learning nonviolence, lighting candles of hope, and gathering together for an ecumenical public witness on March 16, 2007, the fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq. We stand in solidarity with sisters and brothers in other faith traditions and ask their prayers and support for our witness.
Just as Jesus wept over Jerusalem because it did not know the things that make for peace, we weep over Washington, D.C., because of the tremendous human suffering and loss of life that have resulted from our government’s policies toward Iraq. We are convinced that peace in Iraq cannot be won militarily. It is time to bring the troops home and to support a comprehensive peace process there.
Preparation
We invite you to join in a Christian witness against the war in Iraq, taking at least one of these forms:
• praying daily for the end of the war and occupation
• studying the Bible and its implications for U.S. foreign policy
• learning about and practicing active nonviolence
• fasting toward grounding our security in God
• forming groups for prayer, study and action
• inviting your neighbors to join in public witness against the war
• lighting candles in the windows of your home and house of worship
• participating in a weekly peace witness in your town center
Public Witness, March 16, 2007
These preparations will culminate in public Christian witnesses for peace on March 16 in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere. We will share in an evening ecumenical worship service at the Washington National Cathedral, a candlelight procession to the White House, and a latenight peace vigil, during which some participants may engage in “divine obedience” (civil disobedience) and risk possible arrest. We invite you to come to Washington, D.C. or to join similar public witness events in your community.
We will provide resources for this invitation on our website christianpeacewitness.org. We invite you to register your participation on the website.
We believe that until the Christian community is willing to take risks for peace, to put its words into action, to publicly witness that the war in Iraq is wrong, more people will die, more violence will shatter more lives, and we will all be less secure. Let us commit to the fullness of the Gospel vision of justice, peace, inclusive community and wholeness. Let us choose life that we and our children and the people of Iraq may live!
Scriptural references: Luke 19:41-42, Isaiah 31, Luke 7:22, Galatians 5:13-15; Romans 12:19-21, Matthew 26:51-52, Matthew 7:12, Deuteronomy 30:19, Luke 1:46-55, Micah 6:8
Partners
American Friends Service Committee • Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America • Catholic Peace Fellowship • Christian Alliance for Progress • Disciples Peace Fellowship • Episcopal Peace Fellowship • Every Church a Peace Church • Kairos: A Time to Speak • A Time to Act • Kirkridge Retreat & Study Center • Leadership Conference of Women Religious • Lutheran Peace Fellowship • Methodist Federation for Social Action • Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns • Mennonite Church USA Peace and Justice Support Network • No2Torture • On Earth Peace • Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service • Pax Christi USA • Pentecostal Charismatic Peace Fellowship • Presbyterian Peace Fellowship • Sojourners/Call to Renewal • United Church of Christ (Justice and Witness Ministries).
For more information and resources: www.christianpeacewitness.org
The Rev. Dr. E. McCoy
"So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" (2Cor 5)
Elaine, thank you very much
Elaine, thank you very much for posting this. It's a reminder to me (and, I hope, to others) that the policy of benign (?) neglect of people in our nation--notably, in this thread, folks in New Orleans and on the Gulf Coast after New Orleans--is part of a larger web of concerns, and part of a larger set of policies that seem all too often to ride roughshod over human life and human worth.
William D. Lindsey
Cheers, Bill. I'm praying
Cheers, Bill. I'm praying MLK's "Jericho Road" reflection lately and seem to be urged to seek connections. God's Abundance works in all sorts of strange ways, yes? Have you noticed how those with open hearts responding to New Orleans also seem to be questioning war and also seeking an understanding of Church inclusion and ... son on and ...so on ...
God's peace,
e+
The Rev. Dr. E. McCoy
"So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" (2Cor 5)
The limits of *Pro-life*
The limits of *Pro-life* policy seem to be, on the one hand, capricious and, on the other, frighteningly consistent.
Please see this from another post: (Shame and the Discouse of the Silent):
(Yesterday's) print news contains two juxtaposed headlines: one dealing with the wake of violence and destruction left in New Orleans following the racism and incompetence that marks the legacy of the Bush administration’s "handling" of Katrina, and the other dealing with the continuing (racist AND imperial) violence and destruction ensuing in the Middle East that marks the shame of our nation as we tolerate the Bush Administration’s "handling" of the "War on Terror."
Here's how the New Orleans analysis begins (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/11/us/11orleans.html?th&emc=th):
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
News Analysis
Storm Left New Orleans Ripe for Violence
By ADAM NOSSITER
NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 10 — The storm of violence that has burst over this city since New Year’s Day can be traced in part to dysfunctional law enforcement institutions, aggravated by a natural disaster that turned the physical and social landscape of New Orleans into an ideal terrain for criminals.
Eight killings have occurred in 10 days. New Orleans, the United States’ murder capital by many measures in 2006, is well on its way to keeping that distinction in 2007. Since July 2006, there have been at least 95 murders per 100,000 residents, and possibly a higher ratio depending on how the city’s depleted population is counted, said Peter Scharf, a criminologist at the University of New Orleans.
Frightened citizens now see their city as a stalking ground, roamed with impunity by teenagers with handguns — an image that may not be far off the mark, experts here say.
There are a variety of reasons for the descent toward chaos..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And then there is the WAR (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/11/washington/11assess.html?th&emc=th)
News Analysis
Bush’s Strategy for Iraq Risks Confrontations
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 — By stepping up the American military presence in Iraq, President Bush is not only inviting an epic clash with the Democrats who run Capitol Hill. He is ignoring the results of the November elections, rejecting the central thrust of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group and flouting the advice of some of his own generals, as well as Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq.
In so doing, Mr. Bush is taking a calculated gamble that no matter how much hue and cry his new strategy may provoke, in the end the American people will give him more time to turn around the war in Iraq and Congress will not have the political nerve to thwart him by cutting off money for the war...~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Where is Life supported in any of these actions?
The Rev. Dr. E. McCoy
"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near." (Phil 4:4-5)
The story doesn't end.
The story doesn't end. Words to ponder this Advent season in Bob Herbert's op-ed column entitled "Out of Sight" in today's NY Times, focusing on how children are continuing to suffer from the displacement Katrina caused:
"The big story in the immediate aftermath of Katrina was the way the government failed to rush to the aid of people who were obviously in desperate trouble....The government could have come up with a crash program to build housing and find or create jobs for the victims of Katrina. It could have ensured that all those hurt by the storm received whatever social services they needed, including mental health counseling and treatment. It could have begun to address the long-festering problems of race and poverty in this country.
The government could have done so much. But it didn’t."
Are the bishops who told their flocks that they would be sinful if they voted for any candidate other than the "pro-life" one in the last federal election reading these columns? Are they pondering their significance in light of the Advent story? Will they be issuing a statement of regret for having allowed themselves to be misled by political promises they knew well would never be cashed in, even as they told us to vote "pro-life"? Will they now encourage the respectful, open dialogue that will allow Catholic values to have a real effect on the public sphere? Will they encourage that authentically Catholic option now that the failure of their previous political tactic has failed--a tactic that depended on repression of dialogue, monomaniacal focus on a single life issue, and a tacit willingness to baptize aspects of "pro-life" leaders' programs that are deeply in conflict with Catholic values?
William D. Lindsey
Hello to all! A brief
Hello to all! A brief respite from work and a few minutes to wish everyone here a joyous and blessed Christmas and a new year full of hope and glad tidings.
I wanted to make a little noise about the so-called Christian right who so staunchly supported this conspicuously non-Christian President. I saw a bumper sticker that I wanted to stick on my car during the last Presidential election – it said “What part of “Thou shall not kill” don’t you understand?” I see cars with the ‘Fish’ and ‘pro-life’ stickers on them with a “W The President” sticker proudly stuck right next to them and I wonder how the confusion can be so thorough as to get people who think that they are being good Christians to support a policy and a person that are so anti-everything Jesus taught. I finally found the Sojourners Christian group (www.sojo.net) and that brought some sanity into my life – Christians who looked at what Bush and his compatriots did, not what they said. I’m trying to remember where the comment is about how to be a good follower of Christ – He said to go out and BE one. Not talk it, not brag about it, not to stand in front of the Synagogue (TV?) and shout it, but to quietly live your life as a Christian.
Oh, well… the fire alarm just went off… I guess I need to go!
Later,
Margie
Margie12
Reminds me of the time I saw
Reminds me of the time I saw a car with two bumper stickets. The first read, "Listen to Chrisitan Radio" the second, "This Vehicle Protected by Smith and Weston."
Margie, I'm just now seeing
Margie, I'm just now seeing your comment. All of you who lived through Katrina--and are still suffering from the failure of our pro-life leaders to address the calamity adequately--are very much in my mind and heart as Christmas nears.
I have just read Bob Herbert's op-ed piece in today's NY Times. It notes that entire sections of New Orleans continue to be a ghost town, that depression is a serious problem in the city, but access to mental health care is limited for very many. It quotes a resident of New Orleans who says that the people feel totally forgotten now.
I'm meditation on all of this now for a very specific reason. A former student of mine at Loyola's Institute for Ministry in New Orleans wrote me some weeks ago from New Orleans. He sounds very depressed. I am worried about him.
I replied to his letter, but am not confident my letter reached him. I have found that letters I send to folks in New Orleans are still not reaching them. I do not have a phone number for my student, so I cannot call. He is displaced, living in temporary lodgings.
I tried sending him an email Christmas card yesterday. It bounced back. His email address is no longer active.
I am reminding myself of all the passages in the psalms, the prophetic writings, the gospels, which say that when human beings fail to deliver justice, God remains concerned to see justice done. When people are deaf, God continues to hear. Like the importunate widow, I will keep crying out with all of you for justice--for your basic needs to be met in the aftermath of this calamity.
It is an abhorrent betrayal of all Catholic principles of life, that so many people have simply been abandoned by the pro-life leaders many of our bishops encouraged us to elect, or fear the loss of our immortal souls for casting wrong votes.
William D. Lindsey
William, your thoughts are
William, your thoughts are so to the point. I have friends and family back in New Orleans and the surrounding areas. Many of them are showing signs of depression and deep anxiety. Some hide it better than others, but just hearing their stories, what they are currently experiencing and their reactions is enough to start me crying again (I'm still somewhat depressed, too!). And some of the stories are good! Like about finally getting a contractor to finish the bathroom, or having one of our favorite places re-open, for even then there is a great sadness to their stories. Life is still so overwhelming DIFFERENT. I just recently read a quote by an ancient philosopher - Heraclitus. His quote was to the effect: "You can't step into the same river twice," based on his thoughts on the ever-changing quality of life. I see that as so true, but as I studied the quote I thought of the Gulf Coast, and I thought, "yeah, but at least you can usually recognize it as the same river." Which is so untrue in the case of the Gulf Coast and New Orleans - so little is recognizable of what used to be common and taken for granted just over a year ago. Life is so strained and on edge. When I see pictures of war-ravaged countries I think that the poor residents there must feel this same trauma. So few of us in America have experienced a total loss of so much that makes "home" home. More than losing just a house or even a few blocks, loss of your whole frame of reference for your past is just strangely devastating to the nerves. Margie12
Margie, I don't know if you
Margie, I don't know if you read the op-ed piece in today's New York Times about the New Orleans situation, but it is tearing at my heart all day now. Your post is a wonderful, sharply delineated complement to the story it tells.
The Times article speaks about the rash of killings in New Orleans these days--almost one per day in the new year. The story told in the article tears at me for several reasons, including a very vivid dream I had last night about New Orleans, post-Katrina (though I haven't been back since Katrina).
It also tears at me because it tells a story of a recent killing of the wife of a doctor who operated a clinic for the poor in Treme, my old neighborhood (my house there was destroyed in Katrina, I've been told). Apparently, people broke into his house and shot and killed his wife in front of him and their child.
I'm also haunted these days because I have just read a report I hadn't previously seen, in which the former FEMA director, Michael Brown, says he was in a phone (or video?) conference with the President and several other top administration officials as the city flooded. When he told them the city was 90% flooded, he says, there was utter silence on their side.
If tha
When I began this thread, I
When I began this thread, I placed the Katrina discussion under church leadership, because, for me, the failure of the federal administration to serve the values of life in its response to Katrina victims points to a massive failure in pastoral leadership on the part of many American bishops.
Many bishops have told us in recent years that there is only one political option, if we choose life. Some bishops have made their pastoral mandate about that single political option explicit, and have publicly endorsed "the" pro-life candidate and political party.
In the last election, some bishops even used the Eucharist as a political weapon to try to coerce their flocks into remaining within the pro-life fold--that is, the fold as they have defined it using narrow and exclusive criteria that ignore the wide range of Catholic teaching on life issues.
And then Katrina...which is not yet over.
Today's NY Times has an editorial noting that "President Bush has reneged on his promises to Katrina’s victims."
According to the editorial, "Over a year and a half later, there are 64,000 people still sleeping in trailers in Louisiana and far too many communities without schools, hospitals and other basics. These are unacceptable failures. At least part of the problem is a law that requires states to contribute 10 percent of the cost of most federally financed reconstruction projects. Mr. Bush waived that requirement after the Sept. 11 attacks (as his father did after Hurricanes Andrew and Iniki) but he refuses to do so for the Gulf Coast."
I continue to ask those bishops who sought to coerce Catholics to elect this administration, and who even used the Eucharist as a political weapon to do so, to address their failure of pastoral leadership. I ask those bishops--and the American bishops as a whole, who have narrowed the discussion of life issues to s single topic--to address their failure of pastoral leadership in recent decades.
For too long, the majority of our bishops have led us to believe that there is only one political option, if we are pro-life. In doing so, they have sought to lead us to cast our votes for political leaders who betray our pro-life values in many other gross ways. The bishops have, on the whole, failed to teach their flocks about the gamut of Catholic teaching regarding the sanctity of life.
It is time for a national conversation, bishops. This conversation must engage honestly and forthrightly your failure of pastoral leadership, which parallels your failure of pastoral leadership in the sexual abuse crisis. Both demand public conversation, with a willingness of bishops to admit your pastoral failure, so that the church may move forward.
In that public conversation, it would be healing (and pastorally wise) if you would invite to the table theologians you have silenced at the same time that you narrowed the conversation about life issues to one topic. Those theologians may have something very important to say to us at this time of crisis in American Catholicism.
William D. Lindsey