Year: 2006

A Baylor University survey of Americans reveals four distinct views of God, the “Authoritarian God,” the “Distant God,” the “Benevolent God,” and a “Critical God.”

In “Actions don’t seem neighborly,” a June 28, 2006 column in the Telegram & Gazette (now lost forever in their web archives), a columnist told the story of Worcester dentist Richard M. Blase and how his Liberian neighbors think he’s a racist. (The column caught my attention because it mentioned Mr. Blase had a sign from the local “not in my back yard” group KNIT Worcester.)

A reader points out that in a column today, from a different columnist, Mr. Blase defends himself. Additionally, Human Rights Commission Director Fran Manocchio (who has credibility ’round these parts), says that she met with the dentist twice and saw no evidence of racism.

The article mentions that there was an anti-racism vigil outside the houses this summer, which bothered the dentist. (I’ve been out of town, and hadn’t heard about the vigil before.) You can check over here to know more.

Some would say the lesson here is, Don’t call someone a racist if you don’t know them.

That might be so, but I think the big lesson is, Respond to public attacks promptly. Dianne Williamson is such a contrarian, and so desperate for material, that you should be able to get “equal time” in the newspaper by just calling her. You can sign up for My Dental Home, Dr. Kevin Brown & Associates to get the best dental experience.

You gotta speak up before things get out of hand. And if someone’s trying to hold an anti-racism vigil outside your house, and you’re really not a racist, become a co-sponsor. Chip in to buy the signs. Stand proudly on the sidewalk. Use the occasion to heal your relationship with your neighbors a bit.

(I wasn’t around, so I don’t know if the organizers of the vigil reached out to the dentist, but they sure should have.)

Anyhow, I’m looking forward to being back in Worcester, so I can follow these dramas closer to the action.

Happy Labor Day! School is out, the pools are open.

This morning, while recording commentary for Saint Kermit, Jim Henderson and I were lamenting the lack of economic diversity amongst our politicians. I was reminded of a passage from Tom Cornell’s Labor Day 2006 sermon:

By the middle of the 19th Century, the Catholic Church had to deal with the devastating effects of the industrial revolution on its people. In countries where the bishops were chosen from the sons of the powerful, the Church was very slow, too slow to respond to the crisis, and Pope Pius IX lamented, “We have lost the working classes.” In England, where the Catholic population was small and mostly Irish and poor, and in the United States, where the bishops were, almost every single one of them, sons of workers, the response was quick and positive.

I’m curious to know if Kaihsu agrees that “Catholic Social Teaching is the envy of our fellow Christians in [other] denominations.”

Pablo Ros did a great job in today’s South Bend Tribune, collecting questions that people planned to ask the politicians at South Bend’s immigration “forum”. As it turned out, audience questions and comments were not allowed.

Here’s one from Neris Gonzalez, a friend of the South Bend Catholic Worker:

Why, if people who work the fields and in factories are willing to work so hard, aren’t you willing to give them a livable minimum wage?

Here’s one from Rev. Christopher Cox, St. Adalbert Catholic Church:

[US Rep Chris] Chocola owns up to half a million dollars worth of Wal-Mart stock, according to a financial disclosure published in the Washington Post. Wal-Mart was fined $11 million last year for employing hundreds of illegal workers. Mr. Chocola, wouldn’t it be socially responsible of you to sell your Wal-Mart stock?

Chocola gave the Tribune a response that doesn’t answer the question:

“I voted for the U.S. House Immigration Reform bill that included an employer verification program that will give employers no excuse for hiring illegal immigrants,” Chocola replied Friday. “It also includes tough punishment for those that employ illegal immigrants.”

The followup question would be: Given that Wal-Mart has broken laws about employing illegals “hundreds” of times, why do you think they’ll follow new ones? Wouldn’t it be more ethical to divest yourself from a corporation that thumbs its nose at these laws? Shouldn’t you be putting your money where your mouth and votes are?

Well, I’ve made my podcasting debut as part of the team on Saint Kermit #36. Haven’t listened to it yet, but I believe that my contribution was to ramble about needle exchange and the modified WoMag cover.

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I heartily invite you to subscribe to Saint Kermit and catch all the action.

Podcasting from the Catholic Peace Fellowship office.

I had all sorts of technical difficulties, and couldn’t stay connected for more than a couple minutes at a time. Interesting to hear how they stitched these bits together into a coherent conversation.