You can't really talk about a Pope unless you talk about the Pope of the Catholic Church. He is the sole arbiter between Catholics and God. He is also the single Supreme Court Justice of the church. If he says no divorce, there's no divorce, since he also happens to be infallible. I have been informed that Popes are no longer considered infallible in some regards, but when they make a doctrinal decision and decree, the Pope cannot be in error. This, as I understand it, is still true, BUT...American Catholics apparently do not accept this doctrine, either. There are two incontrovertible examples. Popes have been unwavering in their opposition to divorce. Divorce is not only wrong, it's unacceptable, except in very narrow circumstances. And yet the divorce rate among American Catholics is 21%. While that's much lower than the population at large, it is still over 1/5th the Catholic membership. I suspect even more Catholics are not opposed to marriage. So on this one point, a large number of American Catholics do not accept the infallible decree of the Pope. This is interesting to me because, in the end, which one has more power? Well, clearly the people who get a divorce have done what they wanted. The Pope was powerless to stop them. The church does have the power to punish them and quite often does, by denying sacraments or even excommunication. Just so you don't think this is the only example, I'll also mention birth control. Among several sources, it seemed to me the most credible number was 86%. That's how many American Catholics USE birth control. That's about as strong a rejection of infallible doctrine as I can imagine. So the Pope is the supreme leader of the Catholic Church. There's no one above him to correct or admonish him. He's at the top and he calls the shots. But people don't have to do what he says, apparently.
That gets us to our American popes - the Supreme Court of the United States. Once chosen, the justices serve for life or until they retire. They are part of our governmental system of checks and balances because they can override the actions of the legislative and executive branches just by decreeing those actions unconstitutional. They are checked at two levels. First, by the nature of their appointments. The President nominates a justice and the Senate has to approve him/her. So both the other branches get a shot at the nominee. The fact that there are 9 of them is another check - one guy can make a mistake, but we assume that the majority of 9 experts on constitutional law are pretty much going to be right almost every time. AND...if they're wrong, we can overrule them. But they have to be SO wrong that 2/3 of Congress is willing to amend the Constitution, then 3/4 of the states have to ratify the amendment. This has been done 17 times (yes, there are 27 amendments, but the first 10 were tacked on in order to get the Constitution approved). So it's not impossible, but it is justifiably difficult. I can't imagine anyone disagreeing with the amendments that abolished slavery, or gave women the right to vote, or repealed prohibition.
And now we get to the decisions this week by our infallible justices. You can squirm all you want to about their decision on Obamacare, but it's the law of the land. The argument is over. The court basically says they're not going to do the legislature's job. If Congress doesn't like it, they have the power to rewrite it or repeal it. That's their job, not the court's. I like that. It was a 6-3 decision, so the message couldn't be clearer. For Republicans, it's a challenge. Do something. Anything. But don't expect them to do it for you.
The justices also made a decision about fair housing, but it's simply not as controversial as the other rulings. I really like their decision, but I'm not going to discuss it here.
The other huge decision was the one on marriage equality. Once again, I agree with and applaud the court's decision. The howling on the right mirrors the howling that ensued when Social Security was created, when biracial couples were allowed to marry, when schools were integrated...it's all so old and tedious. None of the suggestions for avoiding the ruling sound plausible. Civil disobedience? What are you going to do? Not get married to someone of the same gender? At least two Republican presidential candidates have suggested either doing away with the Supreme Court or impeaching the justices (absurd because they would face the same "high crimes and misdemeanor" standard presidents do - making a decision a minority of Americans disagree with doesn't meet that standard). Doing away with the Supreme Court essentially would end our country as we know it. So if you're opposed, know the Constitution and understand how our government works. You don't have the voting power, the legislative power, or the executive power to overturn any of these decisions, because most Americans agree with them. Deal with it.
Sunday, June 28, 2015
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Father's Day 2015
Events in Charleston have overshadowed my personal celebration of Father's Day. I think of those fathers who lost their sons or daughters in that horrible attack. The murderer stole Father's Day from them for the rest of their lives. I know some of the victims were fathers, so they missed this day with their families. I can honestly say I understand how those families have been able to forgive the shooter. Life is life and death is death, after all.
Having said that, there is one father in particular I can't stop thinking about. While I do, in the back of my mind, reserve the "there but for the grace of god..." excuse for all parents who do their honest best to raise good children, I confess I'm not as kind to Dylann Roof's father. Even if, as this kid said, he was not raised in a hateful or racist home, I think at his last birthday party, this father must have known who his son was. He knew about the openly expressed hatred and racism his son expressed. And how did he respond? He gave his son a gun. "Happy birthday, Dylann. Sure hope you don't use this to act on those hateful values." No, I'm not forgiving. Of course, Dad is doing what any father would do under the same circumstances. He's lying low. Trying to be invisible. It won't work. I suspect he's also erasing his own racist tracks before he comes out to the public. Let's see if I can predict his quote, "While I love my son, I am sick from his acts of violence. I am sorry for the victims and their families. Please respect my family's privacy as we grieve, too." Yeah, that.
Please understand I am not blaming the father for the crime. But Dylann is the son he raised. Happy Father's Day, Ben Roof.
And what about symbols? Those pictures of Dylann Roof holding the Confederate flag and Senator Lindsey Graham saying, "This is part of who we are." Yes, there's more truth to that than Senator Graham intended. It's not who the victims are. It doesn't represent the 30% of South Carolina who are African American. It doesn't represent a sizable portion of the white population who reject that racist symbol. It represents Lindsey Graham. It represents Governor Nikki Haley. And it represents Dylann Roof. And the battle has already begun to defend it, no matter what.
But there's another symbol in those pictures. Dylann Roof holds guns in every photo I've seen. Is that "part of who we are," too? I guess we have to own up to that. Here's the irony there. The NRA, solid representative and advocate for the firearms industry, continues to lobby for the unbridled access to guns. All the guns you want, no matter who you are. It's a brilliant marketing scheme because the more guns there are, the more gun violence there will be, until people without guns will be so afraid that they'll go buy guns, too. And it has worked. I woke up this morning to pictures of congregants of black churches holding up firearms in church. As the NRA would say, "Cha ching!" or "Winning!" The irony? The organization that created the conditions for the shooting in Charleston is set to profit from it.
All these things are in my head this Father's Day. There should be peace in there somewhere. It's just hard to believe that we are so helpless. That we will accept and even defend the status quo in spite of the horrific, tragic evidence that the status quo should not be tolerated for another day. Because this is all too easy to predict after Columbine and Aurora and Sandy Hook. Nothing will be done. Nothing will change. Kill - Grieve - Repeat. It's as mundane as a shampoo label in our country. So, so proud to be an American.
Having said that, there is one father in particular I can't stop thinking about. While I do, in the back of my mind, reserve the "there but for the grace of god..." excuse for all parents who do their honest best to raise good children, I confess I'm not as kind to Dylann Roof's father. Even if, as this kid said, he was not raised in a hateful or racist home, I think at his last birthday party, this father must have known who his son was. He knew about the openly expressed hatred and racism his son expressed. And how did he respond? He gave his son a gun. "Happy birthday, Dylann. Sure hope you don't use this to act on those hateful values." No, I'm not forgiving. Of course, Dad is doing what any father would do under the same circumstances. He's lying low. Trying to be invisible. It won't work. I suspect he's also erasing his own racist tracks before he comes out to the public. Let's see if I can predict his quote, "While I love my son, I am sick from his acts of violence. I am sorry for the victims and their families. Please respect my family's privacy as we grieve, too." Yeah, that.
Please understand I am not blaming the father for the crime. But Dylann is the son he raised. Happy Father's Day, Ben Roof.
And what about symbols? Those pictures of Dylann Roof holding the Confederate flag and Senator Lindsey Graham saying, "This is part of who we are." Yes, there's more truth to that than Senator Graham intended. It's not who the victims are. It doesn't represent the 30% of South Carolina who are African American. It doesn't represent a sizable portion of the white population who reject that racist symbol. It represents Lindsey Graham. It represents Governor Nikki Haley. And it represents Dylann Roof. And the battle has already begun to defend it, no matter what.
But there's another symbol in those pictures. Dylann Roof holds guns in every photo I've seen. Is that "part of who we are," too? I guess we have to own up to that. Here's the irony there. The NRA, solid representative and advocate for the firearms industry, continues to lobby for the unbridled access to guns. All the guns you want, no matter who you are. It's a brilliant marketing scheme because the more guns there are, the more gun violence there will be, until people without guns will be so afraid that they'll go buy guns, too. And it has worked. I woke up this morning to pictures of congregants of black churches holding up firearms in church. As the NRA would say, "Cha ching!" or "Winning!" The irony? The organization that created the conditions for the shooting in Charleston is set to profit from it.
All these things are in my head this Father's Day. There should be peace in there somewhere. It's just hard to believe that we are so helpless. That we will accept and even defend the status quo in spite of the horrific, tragic evidence that the status quo should not be tolerated for another day. Because this is all too easy to predict after Columbine and Aurora and Sandy Hook. Nothing will be done. Nothing will change. Kill - Grieve - Repeat. It's as mundane as a shampoo label in our country. So, so proud to be an American.
Sunday, June 14, 2015
But why retire, Robert?
Because I'm tired. Yes, I have a teaching job that doesn't take that much out of me. If I had to, I could probably go on teaching for at least 5 years, but...I'm tired. Time to take it easy, do some things just for me. I'm SLOWLY decorating my meditation room, a place to retreat from time to time. Pale green walls, symbols of nature and peace. No electronics. I'm considering blocking out heat and air conditioning, too. As little machine made as possible, but I will have a lamp and a futon couch/bed.
I was thinking about different mes this week. I was a different person in different parts of my life. One place in particular came to mind. I was in New Mexico from 1972 to 1975, and I was actually two people at once. There was Air Force Robert, who was not a very good electronics technician and wasn't really comfortable in the Air Force. My friends at Cannon AFB knew that Robert earlier in those years, but I slowly became immersed in my other persona, Smitty, who was a student at Eastern New Mexico University. Since I worked nights for the Air Force, I was able to go to school during the day. Some people in that world didn't even know I was an airman. This was an important time for me - I finally found myself as a student. I loved every English class I took, lost myself in Shakespeare, Hemingway, Twain, Faulkner, Milton. It all MEANT something to me. It helped me make sense of the world.
And who is left from those worlds? Oh, I remember my Air Force friends. I do know one of them owns a ranch in New Mexico and I did visit him once since I left. But really, it would take quite a bit of time to track any of those guys down. My friends at ENMU were more intimate, but one friend became a true, lifelong friend. I remember first seeing Jan in the basement cafeteria in the Student Union Center. She was this perfect blonde walking across the room and I was mesmerized. I didn't lust after her - never did. I just wanted to know her, to be her friend. I didn't think that would ever happen, but I was in theater (yeah, that's right - classes, work, AND theater) and we had mutual friends and finally got to know each other. I learned a lot from Jan. I learned that a beautiful woman could be my friend without being a lover. We never tried to be more than friends because we didn't need to. Jan is in California and we are friends on Facebook. I hope I can take a retirement road trip to see her again. Maybe we could meet back in New Mexico.
So college Smitty overshadowed Air Force Robert, and that was a good thing. They left New Mexico when I graduated from ENMU in May and received my Honorable Discharge in August. They're both part of who I am now. Life is good.
I was thinking about different mes this week. I was a different person in different parts of my life. One place in particular came to mind. I was in New Mexico from 1972 to 1975, and I was actually two people at once. There was Air Force Robert, who was not a very good electronics technician and wasn't really comfortable in the Air Force. My friends at Cannon AFB knew that Robert earlier in those years, but I slowly became immersed in my other persona, Smitty, who was a student at Eastern New Mexico University. Since I worked nights for the Air Force, I was able to go to school during the day. Some people in that world didn't even know I was an airman. This was an important time for me - I finally found myself as a student. I loved every English class I took, lost myself in Shakespeare, Hemingway, Twain, Faulkner, Milton. It all MEANT something to me. It helped me make sense of the world.
And who is left from those worlds? Oh, I remember my Air Force friends. I do know one of them owns a ranch in New Mexico and I did visit him once since I left. But really, it would take quite a bit of time to track any of those guys down. My friends at ENMU were more intimate, but one friend became a true, lifelong friend. I remember first seeing Jan in the basement cafeteria in the Student Union Center. She was this perfect blonde walking across the room and I was mesmerized. I didn't lust after her - never did. I just wanted to know her, to be her friend. I didn't think that would ever happen, but I was in theater (yeah, that's right - classes, work, AND theater) and we had mutual friends and finally got to know each other. I learned a lot from Jan. I learned that a beautiful woman could be my friend without being a lover. We never tried to be more than friends because we didn't need to. Jan is in California and we are friends on Facebook. I hope I can take a retirement road trip to see her again. Maybe we could meet back in New Mexico.
So college Smitty overshadowed Air Force Robert, and that was a good thing. They left New Mexico when I graduated from ENMU in May and received my Honorable Discharge in August. They're both part of who I am now. Life is good.
Sunday, June 07, 2015
Facebook is not a blog; contemplating retirement
I haven't blogged in a while. I let Facebook serve as a substitute. I've been kicking this around in my head for about three weeks now. There was one option to begin my blog again when I turned 66. Or when I hit the 36 month mark before retirement. And then there were just no excuses anymore. If I'm going to start it then, why not now? So there you have it. My goal is to say something useful once a week. Useful to me or to friends or to strangers. If not useful, maybe interesting or insightful.
First subject: How and when to retire and why.
How: As with most people, I cannot retire until I can afford it. It's amazing to me how many people of my generation will never be able to afford this luxury. There's a level of fear and sadness and even despair people express when they acknowledge that they're in their mid sixties and do not have the wherewithal to retire, nor do they have a manageable path to retirement. So they will work until they can't anymore. If I think about winning the lottery, I think about helping them. That's what I'd do with the money. In lieu of that, I hope things aren't as bad as they think. Life has a way of working itself out. As for me, I have three sources of permanent income once I retire, plus my retirement account. I also have three years of triple income that will help me pay all my debts before my last day at work. No car payments. No credit card payments. No house payments. Nada. I'm going to be ok. Oh, I won't be wealthy, but I won't be poor, either.
When: I know this already. September of 2018. That's the time I need to get financially healthy. I also need some time to prepare myself mentally for retirement. There are plans to make. Commitments. I need to be relevant, useful, and functional. I have so many options. Road trips to Maine, to Canada, to Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. To Yellowstone and Bryce Canyon and the Everglades. I want to see these places because they've long been a part of my psyche, either because of books or pictures or movies. I need to see them for myself. There is the problem of friends. There are people at work I love and will miss, but I'm determined to make a clean break. I will not be a person who makes "guest" appearances from time to time. I will miss them all, and can meet some of them for lunch on Fridays or weekends, or we can keep in touch on Facebook.
I want to play a role in politics. I don't have the energy or money to run for office, but I can help people who do. I'm sure future blogs will deal with political subjects, because that is my nature.
Perhaps most important of all, I need to explore spirituality. I have pretty much let go of organized religions - all of them. But I have not worked out exactly what beliefs and morals I want to put in that place.
One other topic to explore: what has my existence meant? How do I find a proper perspective? This is actually not necessary. I will walk off this Earth at a time and place not in my control. If I have time to make sense of this life, well, fine. If not, so what?
First subject: How and when to retire and why.
How: As with most people, I cannot retire until I can afford it. It's amazing to me how many people of my generation will never be able to afford this luxury. There's a level of fear and sadness and even despair people express when they acknowledge that they're in their mid sixties and do not have the wherewithal to retire, nor do they have a manageable path to retirement. So they will work until they can't anymore. If I think about winning the lottery, I think about helping them. That's what I'd do with the money. In lieu of that, I hope things aren't as bad as they think. Life has a way of working itself out. As for me, I have three sources of permanent income once I retire, plus my retirement account. I also have three years of triple income that will help me pay all my debts before my last day at work. No car payments. No credit card payments. No house payments. Nada. I'm going to be ok. Oh, I won't be wealthy, but I won't be poor, either.
When: I know this already. September of 2018. That's the time I need to get financially healthy. I also need some time to prepare myself mentally for retirement. There are plans to make. Commitments. I need to be relevant, useful, and functional. I have so many options. Road trips to Maine, to Canada, to Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. To Yellowstone and Bryce Canyon and the Everglades. I want to see these places because they've long been a part of my psyche, either because of books or pictures or movies. I need to see them for myself. There is the problem of friends. There are people at work I love and will miss, but I'm determined to make a clean break. I will not be a person who makes "guest" appearances from time to time. I will miss them all, and can meet some of them for lunch on Fridays or weekends, or we can keep in touch on Facebook.
I want to play a role in politics. I don't have the energy or money to run for office, but I can help people who do. I'm sure future blogs will deal with political subjects, because that is my nature.
Perhaps most important of all, I need to explore spirituality. I have pretty much let go of organized religions - all of them. But I have not worked out exactly what beliefs and morals I want to put in that place.
One other topic to explore: what has my existence meant? How do I find a proper perspective? This is actually not necessary. I will walk off this Earth at a time and place not in my control. If I have time to make sense of this life, well, fine. If not, so what?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
