I’ve always been enthralled by the elusive nature of beauty. It’s a title of highest honor, given to the plastically improved supermodel standing haughtily in a $10,000 Prada dress and stilettos or applied to the sublime kaleidoscope of sunrays that bounce off the Grand Canyon at dusk. Never the less, the characteristic of conceptual beauty that has always estranged me has been its nature of impersonality and distance. Such beauty isn’t something to engage in, it’s something to be admired from a distance. Thus, the love created for beauty is fabricated on partial truths into a flimsy romantic ideal.
Embarrassingly, I’ve found that many of my passions and desires are often founded on these partial truths, the aspect of reality that I have allowed myself to see. Since I was a little girl, I’ve had a love affair with the city of Paris. My childhood days spent speaking “pretend French” (aka gibberish) to my imaginary French friends gave way to years of diligent study of the French language and culminated in a spontaneous weekend getaway to Paris with a close friend just months ago. Though I claim a love for France and its culture, my infatuation extends only to the touristy fantasy that the media and my own bias have created to satisfy my romantic urges and neglect a necessity for holistic love.
I cannot understand true beauty lest I first grasp this holistic love. I am commanded to love God and love my neighbors and yet such a checklist of responsibilities often results in a quick, easy romantic love with a people group half way across the world that I can speak about but never to and that I can love without ever being hurt.
When I claim a culture to be beautiful or something for which I “have a heart,” what am I really saying? If that is my understanding of love, then my idea of the beauty of a different culture and missions is nothing more than my face on the glossy cover of Christianity Today bending down to lay a hand on an impoverish Nicaraguan child or a photograph of smiling dark faces that I hang above my mantel next to my sports trophies and family portrait.
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welcome to America- the land of the free
yet also home to victims of poverty
how do you justify this split dichotomy
anarchy thriving in the midst of democracy?
we are so far from the truth ever since eve and that tree
who ate from the fruit so we’ve inherited a genetic disease
people living like they author their own destinies
this life is an illusion and you cant see how its temporary

cause you live by the moment and tomorrow’s a mystery
you’re victim to the apathy of this materialistic society
none can serve two masters and the brother simply means
that you gotta choose between serving God or your bling
the enemy keeps us in bondage through mental slavery
a direct feed from the media to decrease the moral capacity
in the human soul, from history you can see the proof
of the decline of justice and the rise of gin and juice
drug deals, street brawls, gangs, crews and tatoos
no justice no peace but by the sound of the two-
two, three-eight, four-four of the red, white and blue
we’ve missed all the signs the sirens and the clues that point to
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The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has begun a campaign in opposition to capital punishment. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Archbishop of Washington, said at a press conference: “We cannot teach that killing is wrong by killing. We cannot defend life by taking life…The Catholic campaign will work to change the debate and decisions on the use of the death penalty: building a constituency for life, not death; calling on our lawmakers to lead, not follow; to defend life, not take it away.”

According to documents on their website, apparently Pope John Paul II has been saying this for at least ten years. Very interesting, considering that the Catholic church in the US has recently been known as an expressly conservative institution. This is a great move towards consistency in the church’s approach to protect life on all fronts, not just abortion.

The Foundation for Asian American Independent Media is having its 10th Annual Chicago Asian American Showcase at the Gene Siskel Film Center from April1-10. There will be an art show celebrating the past, present, and future of Asian American art. They will also be showing a wide variety of films shedding light and understanding on the Asian American experience. Some titles include: Monkey Dance, Slow Jam King, Stand Up For Justice, Chinese Restaurants, I Was Born, But…, Flying Fists of Funny, and much more. Go check it out!

taken from their website:

FAAIM’s mission is to promote film, video, and other media by and about Asian Americans, and to support the artists who create them. FAAIM presents these media in order to:

FAAIM is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. We seek institutional, corporate and individual support.

The Gene Siskel Film Center is found on State Street. From Ogilvie Transportation Center, walk east towards the lake on Madison and then north on Madison, it’s right before the Potbelly’s.

The URL for their webpage is:

http://www.faaim.org/front-all.php

http://www.artic.edu/webspaces/siskelfilmcenter/

“What has happened here is that the GOP, famously the party favoring limited government intervention into people’s personal lives, has inserted the federal government squarely in the middle of an incredibly personal medical issue. And they’ve done it all in the name of making sure that some of their core voters stay with them” (Athens Banner-Herald, 3/22).

The Terri Schiavo case shows the utter hypocrisy and opportunism of the Religious Right. They mobilize Congress and the President to preserve a women in a vegetative coma against the wishes of her husband and the courts, but they don’t think twice about 100,000 dead civilians in Iraq. They don’t mention the thousands of children dying of hunger around the world every day, as if that is not our responsibility.

The situation has promted anti-poverty organizations to launch a new campaign called “Feeding Tubes for the Third World.”
“We’re entirely serious,” said FTTW Executive Director Jacqueline Padrone. “Thousands of people, including thousands of children, die every day for lack of food or medicine. The United States government supports economic and debt repayment policies, and trade policies, not to mention wars and occupations, that promote these deaths. The level of aid provided by the United States continues to shrink in relation to past contributions, and in relation to the growing problem, as well as in relation to the impact of these destructive policies. We’ve run out of answers. We’ve arrived at the solution of providing feeding tubes.”

This case is another example of right-wingers using personal tragedy for political gain.
The political manipulation of a personal life-and-death issue by right-wing leaders is shameful and morally repugnant. Make no mistake about it: President Bush, Tom DeLay and Bill Frist are no friends of the Schiavos. DeLay’s unprecedented attack on Terri Schiavo’s husband, Michael, was designed solely for political gain and represents a new low for the ethically challenged House leader. A memo distributed by Senate leadership to right-wing members called Schiavo “a great political issue” and urged Senators to talk about her because “the pro-life base will be excited.”

And reporters are now raising questions about a right-to-die law Bush signed as Texas governor, contradicting his position in the Schiavo case. Just last week, the law was applied for the first time, allowing doctors to remove a critically ill infant from life support against his mother’s wishes. According to the Houston Chronicle, this marks the first time in American history that courts allowed a pediatric patient to die against the wishes of their parent. As the Knight Ridder News service reports:

“The mother down in Texas must be reading the Schiavo case and scratching her head,” said Dr. Howard Brody, the director of Michigan State University’s Center for Ethics and Humanities in the Life Sciences. “This does appear to be a contradiction.” Brody said that, in taking up the Schiavo case, Bush and Congress had shattered a body of bioethics law and practice.”

“Coming at a time when crucial health care services are being slashed, it is particularly upsetting to see this kind of expensive grandstanding on the part of congressional Republicans over one high-profile case. This is not compassion: This is cold-blooded political calculation” (Charleston Gazette, 3/22).

Christians should take a real, consistent stand on life. Being pro-life and also pro-death penalty, pro-war, and pro-rich is counterproductive and removes any moral value from their argument.

sources:
http://www.mediachannel.org
http://www.moveon.org

“It remains to be seen how many people in our time will make that journey from war to nonviolent action against war. It is the great challenge of our time: how to achieve justice, with struggle, but without war.”
-Howard Zinn

To commemorate the second anniversary of the Iraq war I went to Chicago to join thousands of others in opposing the costly (in human and monetary terms) occupation of Iraq. Several hundred police officers were also with us.

We planned to assemble at Oak St. and Michigan Ave., then march down Michigan to the rally at Federal plaza. The police were at Michigan and Oak ordering everyone to disperse and herding them to a less prominent spot on Dearborn. There we stood until the police allowed us to march along Dearborn. At federal plaza we were surrounded by officers in riot gear, and they used horses to push us off the street.

Despite the police intimidation, there was a great spirit of peace and togetherness.
The liberal media barely reported the protests, and I was very nearly in a Chicago Tribune photo.

I read that eight people were arrested and one counter-protester attacked a police officer. Figures.

Another $82 billion has been allocated for the Iraq occupation. There are plans to build 14 permanant U.S. military bases. Over 1,500 U.S. soldiers have died, and according to a Lancet study 100,000 civilians may have been killed. But since the Pentagon doesn’t consider them important enough to count we don’t know the real number.

The BBC just reported that “The Bush administration made plans for war and for Iraq’s oil before the 9/11 attacks.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/4354269.stm

It’s time that all who are truly concerned with human life and dignity stood and opposed this illegal war based on false precepts.

This is not a war for democracy, and it is not a democratic war. The majority of the world’s population opposed it, including the populations of the Coalition nations. Polls show that 70% of Americans think the level of casualties is unacceptable. No timetable has been set, nor has any intent been shown by the administration for removal of troops.

I opposed this war before it started. I am a pacifist and don’t believe in violence, but it doesn’t take a pacifist to oppose this war. I knew Iraq didn’t have weapons of mass destruction, and there were no ties to al Qaeda. The liberal media has been very complacent, and did not see fit to question these false justifications. I knew Bush & Co. wanted to go to Iraq long before September 11. And I knew this war would not be beneficial for the majority of the population. Wars have always been fought for power and profit, and this one is no exception.

They say it’s the worst since Columbine.

Perhaps we need to meditate on the role of Christians amidst all of this recent gun violence in the States. Our voice is needed, but what is it going to be? Christ’s voice is needed, but how are people going to hear it?

You’ve probably heard about the murder rampage that happened in Atlanta over the weekend. Probably also thought like most folks that this person was an evil horrible criminal, not a human.

Anyways, thought you would be touched by this account of Brian Nichols:

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/noads/0305/14hostage.html

You can use this name, email and password to login (courtesy of bugmenot.com):
name: David
email: spindler@mail.utexas.edu
password: 1234

The Social Justice Coalition is giving you an opportunity to stretch your political muscles and take a stand against the injustices of the new budget.

“The House and Senate Budget Committees approved budgets last week that make dramatic cuts to Medicaid, Food Stamps, and countless other low-income programs while extending tax cuts and proposing new ones for the wealthiest Americans. This week, the budgets will be discussed and voted on by the full House and Senate, with all members of Congress being able to participate. ” From calltorenewal.com

Stop by CPO and be sure to sign the letters to congress concerning the budget.

But go one step further and call your reps and tell them about your concern. 1-800-707-1009

And if you want to read more check out these articles.

Wheaton Student Government elections are just around the corner. This brings to the forefront the issue of how we as Christians should be governing ourselves.

Considering a recent poll by The Record it seems the student body doesn’t have a very good idea or good impression of the Student Government and their role on campus.

Hopefully this year we will take seriously our right to vote.