August 6 (Tuesday) Training Session for Building Bridges of Understanding - An Interfaith Response to 9/11; 1:00 to 3:00 P.M. See additional details on page 11.

August 16 (Friday) Catholic Worker Supper; 6:30 P.M.; free soup & bread and a talk on "Understanding Islam" by Fr. Ron Pachence; Our Lady of Refuge, 4226 Jewell St. in Pacific Beach.

August 17 (Saturday) House Church; 4:30 P.M., Liturgy and pot-luck dinner. Call Al (619) 284-6451 for info.

August 21 (Wednesday) C.T.A. Board Meeting; 6:00 P.M. Call Janet (858) 277-0259 for location.

August 25 (Sunday) Voices of Eve; 7:00 P.M. Study & workshop, Summer Series # 3; subject is Brigita of Sweden; Christ Lutheran Church in P.B. Optional meeting for dinner at 5:00; call Pastor Deborah Butler at (858) 483-2300 for info.

August 26 Anniversary; U.S. women win the right to vote, 1920.

September 17 (Tuesday) United Nations International Day of Peace.

September 18 (Wednesday) C.T.A. Board Meeting; 6:00 P.M. Call Janet (858) 277-0259 for location.

September 21 (Saturday) House Church; 4:30 P.M., Liturgy and pot-luck dinner. Call Al (619) 284-6451.

October 11 (6 to 9 P.M.) & October 12 (all day, beginning at 8 A.M.) We Shall Not Be Silent; Mini-conference; First Unitarian Universalist Church; co-sponsored by Dignity/San Diego and C.T.A/San Diego.; Marianne Duddy, National Dignity Executive Director, is the keynote speaker. (more info to come; mark your calendar).

October 19 (Saturday) C.T.A. Presentation; 9:30 A.M. to 3:30 P.M. Robert Blair Kaiser of Newsweek and John L. Allen of N.C.R. will speak at Christ Lutheran Church in P.B.

November 6 (Wednesday); a visit with author Michael Morwood; 7 to 9 P.M.; co-sponsored by Open Door Books; at Christ Lutheran Church in Pacific Beach (more info to come; mark your calendars).

Reflection

By James A. Conroy, S.J.

Let us think about our lives in the context of God’s love and presence with us. We can experience a deeply spiritual time of reflection if we examine our lives for the presence of God. We can talk to God about being present in our deepest longings; this is a God that is so in love with us that only goodness & happiness are wanted for us. This God celebrates and takes joy in being with us and having us share our lives with God. This God is faithful; even in our weakness, God will never abandon us. God’s unconditional, outreaching love for us is awe-inspiring. We can do some personal searching; how do we love? Do we exclude others? Do we simply "tolerate" certain people? Do we say that we love others but never turn that love into action? Do we imitate the unconditional love of God, which encompasses all people, in their longings as well as their celebrations, in their difficulties & weaknesses as well as in their joys. Are we or are we not with the marginalized of the world, as God is? Only with this kind of love will we have any hope of changing the world. (From a retreat in May 2002 for Ignatian Lay Volunteer Corps., as reported in Love In Deeds of Service, Spring/Summer 2002)

Kaiser is the current Rome correspondent for Newsweek ; during Vatican II he was the correspondent for Time magazine. He is the author of 8 books; his latest is Clerical Error, in which he relates his many personal expe-riences with the Church and church persons. It is a shocker, according to the reviewers. Anyone who receives the National Catholic Reporter is familiar with Allen and his articles; he is their current Rome correspondent. His latest book, Conclave: The Politics, Personalities and Process of the Next Papal Election, has just been published by Doubleday. Allen is especially well-informed about the history of the Vatican.

Kaiser & Allen will talk about your Church, including the current Pope, the next Pope, and other people and events in the Vatican. For the latest first-hand information on what is going on in Rome, don’t miss this opportunity. Both of these speakers are informed, insightful, thought-provoking, journalistically unbiased, and sometimes outrageously funny. You will enjoy listening to them.

When: Saturday, October 19, 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM

Where: Christ Lutheran Hall in Pacific Beach (4761 Cass St., just north of Garnet; parking is available in the church lot.) Please pre-register to assure your seat; admission is free, but a free-will donation will be requested.

Name: _________________________________________________

Address:________________________________________________

Telephone:______________________________________________

E-mail:_________________________________________________

CTA member__________ CTA non-member_________

Mail to CTA- San Diego County, P.O. Box 19458, San Diego, CA 92159

For more information: Call Janet: (858) 277-0259 or Evi: (760) 434-3710

By Paul Baier

Why should the poor suffer? Cardinal Law’s office has cut budgets of some Boston charities and the subsidies to inner city parishes by up to 40%.  Why should the poor and needy suffer because of the pedophilia scandal? Yes, donations are down because many Catholics are very concerned about the loss of moral authority of the church and the lack of bishop accountability. Yet, in Boston, land values have more than doubled during the last 15 years.  Why can’t Cardinal Law and other bishops in similar positions sell some under-utilized land to make up for the declining donations?   Keeping the land and cutting programs for the poor and inner city parishes is very troubling.  How do these decisions fit with our calling to minister to the poor?  We continue to proceed down a path of financial solvency and moral bankruptcy.  Can this be right? (From an email report dated 7/5/02 from Voices of the Faithful [VOTF]).

By David Cortright

The Bush Administration is gearing up for war against Iraq; it’s a war that could cause a massive loss of life and could end with the use of nuclear weapons. It’s a war that is unnecessary, a war that we, as peace activists, have an obligation to oppose, with all the nonviolent means at our disposal. [This is a call to action.] Arrange meetings with members of Congress; organize demonstrations and vigils; activate college campuses and communities; raise the issue at candidate forums; introduce resolutions in professional associations; write letters to editors and/or make appearances on radio and television shows. Where funds are available, conduct adver- tising and public relations campaigns. We must use every means of citizen action at our disposal to build a chorus of opposition to the madness of war in Iraq. It is not yet too late to stop this war before it begins. (From Progressive magazine, August 2002).

By Richard Ashwell

I recently held an agape in which we broke and shared bread and shared a cup of wine as part of a social meal, while remembering Jesus just as he commanded us. One of those present later said that they were uncomfortable with anything that ‘simulated’ the consecration in the Mass. I ask you this, as I asked them: which action, our agape or the Mass, was closer to what Jesus did at the Last Supper and which was the simulation? (From a letter forwarded by International Movement, We Are Church, [IMWAC] 7/3/02).

By Sr. Christine Schenk, CSJ

On January 15, the U.S. Bishops conference passed a resolution prohibiting preaching by lay ministers "at the moment reserved for the homily."  Since over 82% of all paid lay ministers are women, the new regulation effectively silences women’s voices in Sunday worship. In June, 600 Catholics in the Indianapolis diocese sent a petition to the U.S. Bishops meeting in Dallas asking them to rescind the regulation.  They organized after Bishop Daniel Buechlein sought to reverse a long-standing practice permitting lay ministers to preach after the procla-mation of the Gospel. On July 22, nearly 200 groups in the U.S. and worldwide held special cele- brations of the Feast of St. Mary of Magdala in parishes, convents, Catholic schools, private homes and small faith communities.  The celebrations were especially designed to encourage female preaching and presiding in Catholic settings. (From a FutureChurch press release forwarded by email by CTA organizer).

MARRIED PRIESTS APPROVED TO ADMINISTER THE SACRAMENTS
By Michael Higgins

I found the following information in the Spring issue of Corpus Canada, the journal published by the married clergy of Canada:
Klaus Dornseifer, aged 60, a married priest now living in the diocese of Aachen [Germany], recently received a letter from the vicar-general of the dio-cese stating that he is entitled to administer the sac-raments, including the celebration of the eucharist, if there is a necessity and the parish community agrees to be served by a married priest. Karl-Heinz Driessen of the same diocese received the same per- mission. It appears that the Vatican gave permission to the bishops to discern the local circumstances and how they will make use of married priests. [There are 22 thousand married priests in the U.S.; there is NO REASON to close parishes!?] (Received by email from IMWAC, dated 7/7/02)

ABOUT MOVEON AND THE MOVEON BULLETIN:
The MoveOn Bulletin is a free, biweekly email bulletin providing information, resources, news, and action ideas on the political issues that shape our lives. The full bulletin is online; subscribe at http://www.moveon.org/moveonbulletin/ . The MoveOn Bulletin is a project of MoveOn.org, which is an issue-oriented, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that gives people a voice in shaping the laws that affect our lives. MoveOn.org engages people in the civic process, using the Internet to democratically determine a non-partisan agenda, to raise public awareness of pressing issues, and to coordinate grassroots advocacy campaigns that encourage sound public policies. You can help decide the direction of MoveOn.org by participating in the discussion forum at: http://www.actionforum.com/forum/index.html?forum_id=223

Witness to Herstory (By Rea Howarth)

On June 29, seven women received the sacrament of holy orders in a ceremony that moves the issue of women’s ordination to a new level. Women are taking matters into their own hands.  No longer will they wait for permission to serve the people and the church they love. The seven Roman Catholic women were ordained by two bishops; the cere- mony took place under tight security on a boat on the Danube River with 200 invited guests. This pre- vented disruptions by demonstrators and the press, and it made it impossible for the local bishops, witnesses, and the newly-consecrated priests to know precisely where the ordinations took place.  The ceremony followed the Roman Catholic rite, and was attended by prominent theologians, acti-vists, and ordinary Catholics who are in the commu-nities served by the women. From a canonical standpoint, the ordinations are valid even though they are "illegal" under canon law 1024. The group justified their actions, saying that, for 40 years, women have used theological arguments to refute the justifications for excluding women from ordained ministry, in numerous scholarly and popular articles, books, and other publications. So far, the Vatican has ignored the refutations, and in 1995 forbid theologians from further discussion. Canon 1024 is based upon "a grave lack of respect for the human dignity of women and their Christian existence," said a spokesperson.  "That valid ordination is reserved exclusively to men ignores the status of women as baptized and confirmed persons. Canon 1024 and its underlying teaching denies that women are created in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:27) and the teaching of Vatican II (Lumen Gentium, para 32 et al.) and Galations 3:27-28 that says: "Baptized in Christ, there are no more distinctions between Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female, but all of you are one in Christ." The doctrine of exclusion of women from ordained ministry is based upon a heresy that women in the Roman Catholic Church are no longer willing to accept. (Howarth visited the ceremony under the auspices of the Quixote Center; this report was received by email.)

Vatican Threatens Excommunication By Rea Howarth

Following the ordination of seven Catholic women in Germany, the Holy See issued a threat to excom-municate the new priests.  The Vatican’s warning, written by Cardinal Ratzinger, says they will be excommunicated unless they admit the ceremony was invalid and express their repentance by July 22 (ironically, the Feast Day of Mary Magdalene).  On the same day that many Catholics celebrate the gifts and ministries of women through the example set by Mary Magdalene, the Vatican will take action against women choosing to live out their calls to ordained ministry. This is a critical time for advo-cates of women’s ordination to support women who live out their call. I find it beyond irony that Ratzinger will threaten these wonderful women with excommunication for following God’s holy call, yet he and others in the Vatican have for years tolerated the sexual abuse of women and minors with no suggestion of excommunication. (Howarth is coordinator of Catholics Speak Out; the above was forwarded by email by IMWAC).

In its recent meeting, the Group of Eight industrial nations supposedly grappled with the question of how to better economic conditions in poor nations. One powerful means would be to improve the conditions of workers in sweatshops. Two billion people in the world make less than two American dollars a day. As voters and consumers of sweat- shop products, Americans can make a difference in ending the miserable conditions under which these people work. Female workers in Bangladesh are paid an average of 1.6 cents for each baseball cap that they sew. The caps retail for $17, which means the garment workers are being paid a tenth of 1 percent of the cap’s price in the market. Also in Bangladesh, women receive 5 cents for each $18 Disney shirt they sew. Wages like these are not enough to climb out of poverty. Three million Chinese, women working for wages as low as 12 cents an hour, make 80 percent of the sporting goods and toys sold in the U. S. each year. Companies like Mattel spend 30 times more to advertise a toy than they pay the workers in China to make it. Think of this: each year Americans buy 924 million garments and other textile items made in Bangladesh and $23.5 billion worth of toys and sporting goods from China. Don’t we (the people) have the consumer and political power to pressure our corporations to end sweatshop wages paid to the people who make these goods? Some economists argue that even the most exploited and impove-rished workers are better off than those who are unemployed or trapped in slave labor. But that argument is not about offering improvement in conditions, and is certainly not about "justice"! We simply want to end the race to the bottom in which companies force countries to compete in offering the lowest wages for their people’s labor. There should be a floor beneath which no one has to live and/or work. Our elected officials should end their subservience to corporate donors and begin asking some big questions: Aren’t we entitled to know the addresses of corporate sweatshops in developing countries so they can be open to monitoring? Why should our tax dollars subsidize government purchases from companies that operate sweatshops? Under our customs laws, we ban imports made with inmate and indentured labor, so why not ban those made with sweatshop and child labor? And if we insist on enforcement of laws against pirate labels why not protect the young people who make these goods for American firms? We should be helping these people to a better life. It is not charity to do so; it is justice. (From an article by Tom Hayden & Charles Kernaghan in The New York Times, 7/6/02).

What does is mean to be "poor"? Here is another terrible example. In Bangladesh, one of the world’s poorest nations, UNICEF worked with the govern-ment for years to wean the people away from drin-king "pond" water, which was often the incubator of lethal diseases. The people were urged to install tube wells, tapping into plentiful supplies of under-ground aquifers. Regrettably, these water sources were not adequately tested. The result is that some 35 million people have been drinking water that contains arsenic! Many have died; many are very ill and will die; many are ill, but could recover. How? For those whose exposure is not extreme, the usual solution is simply to shift to a safe supply of water. And how do you find a safe supply of water for 35 million people in a country that is already desperately poor? This wouldn’t be a problem in the first place in a nation that wasn’t so poor. (From a New York Times News Service article by Barry Bearak, in The San Diego Union Tribune, 7/14/02).

When the church hears the cry of the oppressed, it cannot but denounce the social structures that give rise to and perpetuate the misery from which the oppressive crisis arises. The church would betray its own love for God and its fidelity to the Gospel if it stopped being a defender of the rights of the poor, a humanizer of every legitimate struggle to achieve a more just society, one that prepares the way for the true reign of God in history. (As quoted in Street Light, Summer 2002)

By Fyodor Dostoyevsky

There is nothing that is higher and stronger and more wholesome for life in one’s future than good memories, especially good memories of home and/ or childhood. People say a great deal in favor of education, but some good, sacred memories, pre-served from one’s childhood, are perhaps the best education. For if a person has only one good memory left in his or her heart, even that might keep them from evil, and if they carry many such memories with them into life, they are safe for the rest of their days. (From "The Brothers Karama-zov", quoted in The Plough Reader, Summer 2002).

The "Looking-Glass" World

By Eduardo Galeano

The world as it is today is a "looking-glass" world, one of strange "mirrors". The countries that guard the peace also make and sell the most weapons. The most prestigious banks launder the most drug money and harbor the most stolen money. The most successful industries are the most poisonous for the planet. Saving the environment is assigned to the very companies that profit most from annihilating it. Those who kill the most people in the shortest time win immunity and praise, as do those who destroy the most nature at the lowest cost. (From "Upside Down", as quoted in The Plough Reader, Summer 2002).

(Cardinal Walter Kasper talks to Robert Mickens)

He is not afraid of variety in the Church, he says. Kasper has written several books, and the two he is most famous for have been standard points of reference in seminaries and universities for 20 years. In them he demonstrates how the many strains and varieties of theological thought are not only complementary, but even necessary. "Variety is a sign of richness – not a mistake, a failure or a weakness", Kasper explains. He continues: "When one element or one aspect becomes "one-sided", that is close to heresy. You cannot make a unilateral system of our faith, because our faith is aimed on mystery, and in mystery there are different aspects and approaches." His bottom line is this: "No one has the whole truth; it is only found all together." "It was a very interesting time", Kasper remembers of Vatican II. "Every day the papers were full of the debates. The Church was seen in a very positive way, as one bishop debated against another and one cardinal against another. It did not damage the Church; it helped it! It gave good expression to a living Church!" The only way to keep the Church alive, Kasper believes, is to foster even more debate and more discussion. "The Church always needs reform", he says matter-of-factly, as if it were evident even to the most contented Catholics. "The Church is the same in all centuries and the faith is the same, but the shape and expressions can and will change", he explains. "Changes cannot come only from the top down, but must also come from the ground up. It’s a discussion; it must be. One challenge that John Paul II’s successor must face is what Kasper calls the "tension between the official doctrines of the Church and what is received and lived within the Church". Kasper believes "we must try to bridge this gap. The credibility factor will only be tackled adequately if the Church’s theology is rooted more deeply in people’s experience. The official doctrine of the Church is important for the Church’s theo-logy", he observes, but it is also "very important" to be in contact with the "living and lived faith of people: to know what people want, what their questions are, where they are bothered, where they have problems, and to answer these problems as much as possible". He believes that reforming the papacy will require help – not only from the other bishops and theologians, but also from all the people in the Church. "We need authority; but there must be three dimensions. "First, there must be the personal responsibility of the pope and of each bishop in his diocese. Then, there must be the collegial dimension: contact between the bishop and his priests, and between the pope and the bishops. And, finally, there must be a third dimension – a dimension of communion. We must listen to the sensus and the consensus of the faithful. These three dimensions must be interwoven. There is some lack of this today and I think it will be important to get back to the situation we had during the Council." (From an article in The [London] Tablet, 7/2/02, as forwarded by email by IMWAC).

By Dennis A. Jacobsen

The world, as it is today, is the enemy of God; the world, as it is today, is the enemy of the people of God; the world, as it is today, is the enemy of those who, even though claiming no belief in God, are devoted to creating a just society, who act with such courageous consciences that they put the institutional church to shame. A great tension exists between the world as it is and those believers & nonbelievers who are "in" the world, but not "of" the world. It is so because the world, as it is today, is driven by abusive power, consuming greed, relentless violence and narcissistic pride. The world, as it is today, employs nationalism, propaganda, racism, civil religion and class enmity to bolster systems, corporations and institutions. All of these are offensive to God and to those who seek to do what is just. (Jacobsen, pastor of Incarnation Lutheran Church, was quoted in Street Light, Summer 2002).

By Peter M. Kopkowski

In spite of the original goals of those who favor abortion of making it safe, legal and rare, such is not the case in California, and proposed legislation will make it truly "abortion-on-demand". SB 301 makes it explicitly so, and contains, among other provisions, one that will allow non-physicians to perform chemical abortions, chillingly called "interventions", using RU-486. If the bill becomes law, women in times of stress and concern over what is right will not even have the services of a doctor to safeguard their health. All readers are urged to contact their state legislators to advocate common sense restrictions on abortion practices that will mitigate its ill effects on women, on the child they bore and on society as a whole. Information on contacting legislators is at www.ca.gov as well as in the Yellow Pages of the phone directory. (Extracted in part from "Abortion-Crazy California Legislature Is At It Again" by Cyril Jones-Kellett in The Southern Cross, 7/8/02).

By Eduardo Galleano

In Victorian times, one did not speak of "trousers" in the presence of an unmarried woman; today, there are certain things that are not "politically correct" to say, because they are contrary to "public opinion". Some examples: Capitalism wears the stage name, "market economy"; imperialism is called, "globalization"; the victims of globalization are called, "developing countries"; opportunism is called "pragmatism"; the expulsion of poor children from the school system is measured by the "drop-out rate"; the right of management to terminate the employment of workers with neither warning, seve-rance or explanation is called, "a flexible labor market"; when thieves belong to a wealthy family, they are called, "kleptomaniacs". (From "Upside Down") as cited in The Plough Reader, Summer 2002).

By David Grinyer

There is surely little doubt that the Holy Office caused the Protestant Reformation, and the spin-off from that was truly amazing. Most of the French Huguenots who embraced the teachings of John Calvin were skilled artisans, carpenters, weavers, watchmakers, etc. In the 16^th and 17^th centuries, hundreds of thousands of them fled the persecution of Cardinal Richelieu and his ilk. The resulting "brain drain" threw Catholic France into an economic recession that lasted for at least a century. Protestant countries, especially Britain & Germany, benefited greatly. The economic depression led to the French Revolution; the Revolution led to Napoleon; need I say more? So why in God’s name do we allow this bunch of #%&@* to dictate to us? Why do we take any notice of them at all when they are clearly five centuries past their "use-by date", when they have caused untold misery to millions of the faithful but never achieved anything useful, when their anachronistic statements and attitudes are a constant embarrassment to us all? We should pray that Ratzinger may gain wisdom, but we must also demand the dissolution of the Confraternity for the Defense of the Faith, which is and always has been an abomination to our beloved Church. (From a letter forwarded by email by IMWAC).

LOW NUMBERS AT WORLD YOUTH DAYS NO SURPRISE, SAY REFORMERS
The final attendance numbers for Catholic World Youth Days are in, and they are disappointingly low. Fewer than 200,000 have registered for the events. A mere 18,000 Torontonians, a city with 1.8 million Catholics, have registered to take part. "These low numbers should send out an SOS to church leaders in Canada and everywhere," says Jane Walsh, coordinator of Challenge the Church. "This event has been extensively advertised. The Catholic school board offered free tickets to every Catholic high school. Surely, they will get the message that the church is out of touch with today’s youth." "To me, the Catholic World Youth Day is just a week-long Sunday-school extravaganza," says Milton Chan, youth spokesperson for Challenge the Church. "The top-down teaching style and the avoi-dance of substantial issues make it an event with very little appeal or relevance. Youth don’t need to be treated like children who can’t think for them-selves." The church’s response to issues that directly affect youth is also part of the problem. "The shameful way the church treated Marc Hall had a major impact on young people here, not just on gay and lesbian youth," says Gabe Thirwell, youth spokes-person for Challenge the Church. Hall’s request to attend his school prom with his gay partner was rejected by his Catholic school principal, who quoted the Pope’s ban on gay relationships to justify his action. Adds Thirwell, "Young women don’t understand why they are second-class citizens in the church. The ban on women priests doesn’t make sense because society today offers equal opportunity to women in every walk of life." "They keep telling us that young people are welcome in the church, but in fact we are only welcome on old men’s terms," says Tobias Raschke, spokesperson for We-Are-Church Youth, Europe, who has joined Challenge the Church for the Alternative World Youth Day program. "They won’t deal with the many questions young people have about the Vatican’s dictatorship."(Received by email from Challenge the Church via IMWAC).

Who Said This?

Of all the enemies to public liberty, war is the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other enemy. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes. Armies, debts and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few. In war, the discretionary power of the Executive branch is extended; its influence in handing out offices, honors, and emoluments is multiplied; and all the means of seducing the minds are added to those of subduing the force of the people. The same malignant aspect may be traced in the inequality of fortunes and the opportunities of fraud growing out of a state of war, and in the degeneracy of manners and morals, engendered by both. No nation could preserve its freedom and the freedom of its citizens in the midst of continual warfare. (See answer on page 11. 

"To those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty, my message is this: Your tactics only aid terrorists, for they erode our national unity and diminish our resolve. They give ammunition to America’s enemies and pause to America’s friends." --U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, December 6, 2001

"They that are willing to give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." --Benjamin Franklin

James Dempsey, deputy director of the Center for Democracy and Technology, writes: "Many civil liberties, far from being at odds with security, actually enhance the ability of the government to defend the common good. We guarantee the right to confront one’s accusers not only as an element of human dignity but also because cross-examination exposes lies and forces the government to continue looking until the truly guilty party is found. We subject government decisions to public scrutiny and judicial review not only to give voice to individuals but also because openness and accountability can produce a fuller factual record, expose faulty assumptions, and slow the rash decision making of elected officials acting under pressure. We protect freedom of speech not only because it allows room for personal self-expression, but also because it promotes the stability that comes from the availability of channels for dissent and peaceful change."

The USA PATRIOT Act was passed by a large margin: 98-1 in the Senate, and 356-66 in the House. At 342 pages, the final version of the Act was fully understood only by the people who crafted it. The nuts and bolts were worked out in all-night sessions, and the Act passed before Senators or Representatives (or even their staff) could possibly have even read it! Little was ever made of the fact that most of the provisions in the bill had been formulated years in advance of 9/11. Both the Reagan and the first Bush Administration pressed Congress to pass similar legislation. Each time, Congress rejected the proposals on constitutional grounds. Nor did many in Congress, in the rush to pass the bill, point out that an alarming number of the provisions have little or nothing to do with fighting terrorism! Many of the new powers granted to the FBI and other agencies are now applicable to any federal crime -- from mail fraud to fleeing across state lines. Of course, law enforcement officials have always claimed that they’ll only use their powers to prevent evil, but the Constitution offers protections for civil liberties simply be- cause government is fallible. In the hands of a single rogue agent, the vast information-collection abilities and lack of judicial oversight afforded by PATRIOT could be tools for blackmail, extortion, disruption of political activities, or worse. As to the requirement that some of the provisions need to be "re-authorized" in 2005, the Electronic Frontier Foundation notes, "there is no way for Congress to review how several of these key provisions have been implemented, since there is no reporting requirement to Congress about them and no requirement of reporting even to a judge about several others. In other words, if there are abuses of these newfound powers, Congress will have to trust the FBI’s own internal investigators to disclose them!

Among the parts of PATRIOT that target immigrants are provisions that: (1) Allow the government to imprison, potentially for life, with no trial, non-citizens who are not terrorists, simply because they’ve violated minor visa laws and their country of origin won’t allow them to return. (2) Make it possible for the Attorney General to lock up immigrants on mere suspicion, without any hearing. The Department of Justice has refused to offer any information on the thousands of people imprisoned for weeks and months after September 11^th; it won’t even disclose what they were held for. (It’s likely that many are still imprisoned, although no one knows how many.)

Yet, the Fourteenth Amendment reads (in part), "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges and immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Notice that the Amendment makes a distinction between persons and citizens. When the Amendment was written, its framers explicitly intended to protect the rights of immigrants and non-citizens, under the belief that due process and equal protection were fundamental rights that should be accorded every person. The PATRIOT Act and other post 9/11 immigration ordinances seem to forget that immigrants are "persons." (Edited by Eli Pariser; extracted from an email received from MoveOn, 7/18/02).

(Excerpted from playwrite Tony Kushner’s commencement address at Vassar, 5/26/02).

       Thank you for inviting me, but I worry about you. Haven’t you been reading the papers? Weren’t your parents worried when you told them who’d be speaking? Didn’t they suggest you go in another

direction, maybe get someone who could explain to you the new arms reduction agreement, which seems to leave the number of intact nuclear war-heads unchanged but allows Bush to go ahead and begin building StarWars, which seems to be proliferation rather than disarmament.

"WHAT AM I DOING HERE?" is my question, and it seems to me that it’s a good question to ask in a commencement speech. "WHAT AM I DOING HERE?" or perhaps put another way, "WHY ME?" That is a very useful question, two simple words which, depending on their inflection, can express everything from dark-night-of-the-soul-delving to adenoidal self-pitying whininess, either of which is suitable to the occasion of graduating from college. "WHY ME? WHAT AM I DOING HERE?"

Having some answer to the "WHY ME?" question, having done the work to change from the adenoidal to the introspective, is useful as you try to answer the other question, "WHAT AM I DOING HERE?" It is a question which vast forces of reaction, other-wise known as the devil, the Republican Party, the petrochemical industry, Dick Cheney, (call them what you will), vast and nearly-ineluctably persuasive and pervasive forces of reaction will seek to answer for you: you are here to consume and to surrender. You are here to comply, to be in agreement. You are not, these agents of sin and of Satan will tell you, here to do anything, and you are especially not here to ask what to do, or why.  The only action permissible is the compact of compliance you are expected to make with an order so vast it is nearly invisible, a surrender you are expected to have made of your own specificity in the name of an anti-human, unjust, anti-egalitarian antidemocratic ideology that masks its brutality in the guise of an Individualism that enforces conformity and a Freedom that exists only within a circumscribed arena of economic terror, scarcity and selfishness. What you are doing here is knowing never to ask the question, "WHAT AM I DOING HERE?" in such a way that your security is imperiled, in such a way that your civilization’s failure to provide for you anything like a civilized security, safety, luxury, or home, is exposed through your asking and answering.

This has always been true, as you have learned in your classes and in your lives; there have always been these forces, these imps and demons, this terror. But you graduate into a world in which the terror has become exponentially greater, though its aim is essentially unchanged; its aim remains the preservation of the global economy of violence and oligarchy, the preservation of grotesquely unequal distribution of the world’s wealth and of the human services and societal and cultural infrastructures that go with wealth; its aim remains the perpetuation of the tragedies of unequal development; its aim remains injustice, and it may not even know it, but it is one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

The answers you provide for yourself to the question "WHY ME?" will be of great consequence to how you answer "WHAT AM I DOING HERE?" but if I may succumb to the immemorial habit of commencement speakers, I will offer you advice: one of the answers to the WHAT question ought to be: I am here to organize. I am here to be political. I am here to be a citizen in a pluralist democracy. I am here to be effective, to make a claim on power, to spread it around, to rearrange it, to democratize it, to legislate it into justice. Why you? Because the world will end if you don’t act! You are the citizens of a flawed but actual democracy. Citizens are not actually capable of not acting; it is not given to a citizen that he or she doesn’t act; this is the price you pay for being a citizen of a democracy; you are married to the political beyond the possibility of divorce. You are always an agent. When you don’t act, you act. When you don’t vote, you vote. When you accept the logic that there is no political value in supporting the lesser of two evils, you open the door to the greater evil. That’s what happens when you despair; you open the door to evil, and evil is always happy to enter and sit down; to abolish the Clean Air Act and the Kyoto Agreement and to refuse to participate in the World Court or the ban on landmines; evil is happy refusing funds to clinics overseas that counsel abortion and evil is happy drilling for oil in Alaska; evil is happy pinching pennies while 40 million people worldwide perish from AIDS; and evil will sit there, flipping through the scrapbook reminiscing about the 131 people he executed when he was governor.

ACT! ORGANIZE! It’s boring, but DO it; the world ends if you don’t. Will the world end if you act? Will the world end anyway even if you organize? Maybe. Possibly. These are monstrous times and there’s no telling. Look across the globe; when have you ever seen such dismaying crew in occupation of the seats of power: a certifiable nutcase here, a tin-pot dictator there, a feckless blood-spattered Plutocrat in this office, an un-indicted war criminal in that office, miscreants, maniacs, and every one of them has the means of doing the most appalling damage. You aren’t fundamentalists; you have had a superb education and you have learned how to read; you have learned that all reading is interpretation; you are smart readers, but we’ve failed miserably to educate the world, and so there are many poor readers out there, so many fundamentalists, and every one of them has the means of doing the most appalling damage; every one of them who wants to can do a lot towards bringing the world to an end. But hope isn’t a choice; it’s a moral obligation; it’s a human obligation; it’s an obligation to the cells in your body; hope is a function of those cells, it’s a bodily function the same as breathing and eating and sleeping; hope is not naïve; hope grapples endlessly with despair; real, vivid, powerful, thunder-clap hope, like the soul, is at home in darkness; it may be divided, but lose your hope and you lose your soul, and you don’t want to do that, trust me, even if you think that you haven’t got a soul; who knows? You shouldn’t be careless about it. Will the world end if you act? Who can say? Will you lose your soul, your democratic citizen soul, if you don’t act, if you don’t organize? I guarantee it!

No better advice could one offer to graduates, to citizen souls, than this: "But speak the truth," says Ralph Waldo Emerson, "and all nature and all spirits help you in unexpected ways. Speak the truth, and all things alive or dead will help, and the very roots of the grass underground there, do seem to stir and move to bear you witness. Good is positive. Evil is merely negative. It is like cold, which is the privation of heat. All evil is so much death and nonentity. Benevolence is absolute and real. The intuition of the moral sentiment is an insight of the perfection of the laws of the soul. The dawning of virtue in the heart gives and is the assurance that Good is sovereign over all natures; [But speak the truth] and the worlds, time, space, eternity, do seem to break out into joy."

Kairos, a ministry to people in prison, is looking for members in San Diego. Their motto is, "Listen, Listen Love, Love". People are needed to visit prisoners, to share with them values & experiences. The prisoners need people to accept them, to let them talk, and to show concern for them. Persons who want more info can call David Neer at (619) 583-2330 or contact deacon Lou Rocha at the diocesan office.

If any readers have not yet followed my earlier recommendation to join this organization, please reconsider. Their recent quarterly magazine focuses on "A Green Energy Future", and includes items on energy generation, efficient energy usage in the home, new energy developments for autos, sweatshop news, and a long list of resources. Contact info@coopamerica.org .

By Pat Sullivan

Sr. Jeannine Gramick has encountered difficulties since leaving her previous order to become a Sister of Loretto. No longer able to teach in a school run by her former order, and barred from ministry to gay & lesbians, she is dependent upon speaking fees; she is working on a book, but that is a long-term project. To help her temporarily, contributions may be sent to Sr. Denise Ann Clifford, Sisters of Loretto, 300 E. Hampden Ave., Suite 400, Enlgewood, CO 80110-2661. Indicate that it is for Sr. Jeannine’s ministry fund.

(From the newsletter of CTA-Nebraska).

The California Council of Churches, in cooperation with the Ecumenical Council of San Diego, will hold a training session for a program to increase understanding of the major world religions. The training session is from 1:00 to 3:00 P.M. Tuesday, August 6 at the Disciples Center, 1880 Third Ave., downtown. Persons attending the training session will be prepared to present the six-week adult study which outlines the history and theology of six religions: Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh & Hindu. The session is free and open to the public; call (619) 238-0649 for more information.

The I.LV.C. is an opportunity for men and women in their 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, who are retired from full time work, to use their talents and life experiences to help others. While living at home, I.L.V.C. members commit to two days per week to work directly with people who are needy or with organizations that pursue the structural issues & concerns that affect them. I.L.V.C. members gather monthly for prayerful Jesuit-guided reflection upon their apostolic work experience, to discover the deeper meaning of the service that they do, and to find the presence of Christ in their midst, with the assistance of Ignatian-trained Spiritual Reflectors. For additional information please call Kathleen M. Spreen (858) 452-7360 or 1-888-831-4686; the I.L.V.C. website is at www.ilvc.org .

This San Diego group, among other things, is interested in filtering obscene and pornographic material on the Internet at our public libraries. Persons interested in this project, or about this organization, may contact Gina Holloway at (619) 303-6672 or GinaHolloway@ccvsd.org .

It is said that when we need love most is when we deserve it the least. When I have negative thoughts about someone else, it puts bad feelings inside me; I hurt my own self. If I hold resentment against my brother or sister, I will be a slave to that person until I let them go. Let me remember to look at my brothers & sisters in a sacred manner; let my thoughts toward them be good thoughts. Let me remember that God is in charge; if I get upset at another per-son today, let me remember that the most important thing I can do is to first talk to God, because when I am right with God, it is impossible to be out of harmony with my brothers & sisters. (From the Mayan Hunbatz people; submitted by James Yellowhorse).

It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, but it is impossible to find it elsewhere. (Agnes Repplier).

Ninety-eight percent of the adults in the U.S. are decent, honest & hard-working. The other two percent are not so, but somehow they get all the publicity (and a lot of the money!). Remember, however, it is WE who elected them! (Lily Tomlin).

I am only one person, but still I am one person. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. I will not refuse to do the "something" that I "can" do. (Helen Keller).

James Madison said this, on April 20, 1795.

In an email message dated 7/2/02. Jim Keady & Leslie Kertzu advised their supporters that they had recently completed a visit to Indonesia to get an update on conditions in the Nike-supplier plants there. Jim & Leslie are in the process of up-dating their website as well as completing a new book, "SWEAT, A Story of Solidarity". Jim & Leslie also requested financial assistance in order to continue this work; even modest donations are appreciated, and can be made online at www.Nikewages.org/sweat.html .

Justice can (and does) take many forms; the poor can be discriminated against in an almost infinite variety of ways, as has been shown throughout human history. In 1967, the Kerner Commission said "Most new employment opportunities do not occur in central cities near the neighborhoods of the poor. They are being created in suburbs and out-lying areas, and this trend is likely to continue, per-haps indefinitely." The Commission recommended expansion of aid to local public transportation ser-vice and to routes serving the inner cities in an effort to avoid the civil disorders (riots) of that time. The Commission’s recommendations have obvious-ly been largely ignored, to the detriment of the poor. The underinvestment in mass transportation plus the developing land use patterns have forced large seg-ments of the U.S. population to become dependent on private autos just to meet their basic needs. As Marcia D. Lowe wrote (in 1991!), "One of the grea-test ironies (and injustices) of the 20^th century is that around the globe, vast amounts of such priceless things as land, petroleum and clean air have been sacrificed to "motorization"; yet most people in the world will never own an automobile". (From "Will There Be Justice For the Poor?" by Beverly G. Ward, in The Witness magazine, July/August 2002).

Every human being gathers information from the circle around them. If we are not careful, we soon think that we are the center of all things! It is easy to become self-centered; once we become self-centered we start to think that we are above other things and therefore superior. In reality, we are only one part of a great whole, and the universe is all connected. Each part is here to do something spe-cial, according to its design by God. We as humans are here to honor and respect the job of each part. We are neither above nor below anything else. We need not rule over anything; we need only to live in honor and harmony with the system. (Oren Lyons, chief of the Onondaga Sioux; forwarded by email by James Yellowhorse).

By Peter M. Kopkowski

Americans today yearn for security; they think that we will achieve it by the pseudo-peace of military victory. However, peace will come only from the absence of enemies, and the only way to get rid of all of one’s enemies is to change them into friends! The present policies of the Bush administration don’t even consider such things, as far as I can see. We don’t want to admit it, but our government is following one of the dictums of Mao Tse-Tung, namely, "Political power emanates from the barrel of a gun". We as a nation, under the leadership of G.W.B., are lacking the courage needed to take the risks involved in developing other countries without our domination, and to share our material goods & technical knowledge with those in need. We are ignoring some advise that has stood the test of time: # 1: Courage is the price which life asks for granting us peace. (Amelia Earhart); # 2: If you don’t risk "anything", you risk even more! (Erica Jong). Our present path will not lead to "security".

The CCC advocates for fairness in state government budget decisions as well as year-round efforts to bring social justice to the needy in our state through the legislative process. It periodically publishes Commentary with the status of its work as well as its requests for the support of people on issues such as housing, education, prison ministry, and the death penalty. Persons interested in obtaining this information regularly may contact them by email at commentary@cacatholic.org .

By Peter M. Kopkowski

So, Cardinal Ratzinger has excommunicated the seven new women priests, on the feast of Mary of Magdala, no less! On what grounds has this been done? They have been "disobedient"! In other words, if a person does not follow "my" rules & regulations, and stay under "my" control, then I will throw you out! Such self-righteousness is appal-ling, and presents a horrible example (as compared to how Jesus asked us to act) to the non-Catholics of the world, who are, in fact, the vast majority of the people of the world! Who would want to continue to be a member of such an organization? Why not leave? Well, let’s think about those questions for a minute or two. If we "believe" something, we will hope-fully find the courage to "act" on our belief. If we believe that "WE are the Church", i.e., ALL of us, hopefully we can act on that belief. That will mean accepting, as part of the people of the church the following: (1) Cardinal Ratzinger; (2) the seven new women priests; (3) the bishops who ordained them; (4) all the priests who are abusive pedophiles; (5) all the bishops who "covered up" for them; (6) etc., etc., etc. "WE are Church", means ALL of us! How could I leave? And, just as important, how could anyone think that they had the power to throw me out?!!!

* * * * *

The Board of Directors of C.T.A. of San Diego for the fiscal year ending 11/30/02 is:
President: Janet Mansfield, (858) 277-0259, ejmans@pacbell.com

Vice-President: Al Rauckhorst, (619) 284-6451, lualrauc@lvcm.com

Treasurer: Mike Magee, (760) 471-4305, Mmagee@utm.net
Secretary: Rich Nirschl, (858) 273-0213, richNMo@aol.com

Directors-at-large: Evi Quinn, (760) 434-3710, eviq@cs.com ;

Al O’Brien, (619) 222-5676, obrien1@mail.sdsu.edu ;

and Ed Mansfield, (858) 277-0259, ejmans@pacbell.com .

(Visit our website: www.dignitypacific.org/ctasandiego/)

Peter Kopkowski, editor, (858) 278-8800, ajpmk@san.rr.com .

At its first national meeting in Boston, a non-clergy reform group, born of the Roman Catholic priest sex abuse scandal, called for drastic changes in the way the church is governed. An estimated 4,000 Voice of the Faithful members from 35 states and 7
foreign countries signed a petition urging Pope John Paul II to endorse reform policies that U.S. bishops approved in June. The group vowed to find ways for lay Catholics to "actively participate in the gover-nance and guidance of the Catholic Church." Among the proposals under discussion were policy-making power for lay church members, and giving parishioners a role in the appointment of bishops and pastors. Rev. Thomas Doyle, keynote speaker, said that Catholics must also "stop enabling, through financial support, the power structures’’ responsible for the "horrific consequences’’ of the scandal and cover-ups. Since February, the reform group says it has attracted 19,000 supporters, for-ming chapters in 68 parishes around the nation, half of them in Massachusetts. It is the fastest growing Catholic lay organization in the world, said James E. Post, a professor at Boston U. and the group’s president. Barbara Blaine, founder of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, called the national gathering "the first time a large group of
Catholics have come together to tell survivors, ‘we support you.’’’ (From an Associated Press article dated 7/20/02, received by email)

By David Grinyer

I think it’s a good idea to explore the meaning and significance of "Excommunication", so I bought a copy of the Code of Canon Law. It seems that excommunication is the most severe "punishment" used by the "Church". Only about three centuries ago the "Christian" penalties of flagellation, torture, confiscation of property, imprisonment and death by burning were discontinued. Whether this was done on compassionate grounds or simply because compulsory Catholicism became illegal under civil law I don’t know. Excommunication is the manda-tory punishment for receiving an illegal sacrament but it seems a bit pointless when a person is free to simply walk out and become a Protestant. It is also terribly difficult to enforce; the only way to be sure that an excommunicated person does not receive the Eucharist would be to introduce compulsory DNA testing at the church door. (This would probably add at least two hours to the time for Mass.) I think the "Church" is really the prisoner of it’s own history. It still considers it necessary to try to force people to grovel just because this is the way it has always been done. I doubt whether Ratzinger him-self expects to achieve anything in this case, but he has to go on playing the part as dictated by his office. Another interesting area to explore is the question of "conscience" with regard to an unjust law. Conscience is a personal matter, but I have no doubt that Canon 1024 is unjust. I am not a lawyer, but I am sure that it is contrary to our Australian anti-discrimination laws. It would be most interes-ting to see this challenged in court. Women have successfully used these laws to get into several exclusively male clubs. History is full of examples of Catholic priests who broke the laws of various countries, particularly those where Catholicism was illegal. Many English houses had "priest holes" where illegal priests could be hidden, and I would not be surprised if Catholic priests operating in the former Soviet Union were actually criminals under the laws of the legitimate governments of those countries. They presumably justified their criminal behavior on the grounds of conscience and the in-justice of the legal system. How does this differ morally from the case of 7 women who are called by God to the ministry and are prevented from ans-wering the call by a law which is unjust simply because the word "man" is used instead of the word "person"? I think that it is perfectly legitimate to use disobedience as a tool to reform bad laws. (It worked for Gandhi.) As a man, I am acutely con-scious of the beneficial influence of my wife and daughters on my own life and look forward to the day when the special gifts of women will be present in the priesthood, both as partners of male priests and as priests in their own right. The combined wisdom of both sides of humankind will help to make ours a more compassionate, more human, more truly Christian Church. On a lighter note, I have been wondering how we will address our lady priests; "Mother" is used for prioresses and convent superiors, and I suppose these 7 women priests won’t answer to "father". And, when we get our first Holy Mother the Pope, what will we call the Church? Maybe we should think of some non-gender-specific modes of address and start using them now. (Received by email from IMWAC).

By Pam Belluck

The Archdiocese of Boston said that it would refuse donations from a charitable fund set up to let people give to Roman Catholic causes while by-passing the archdiocese’s financial control. Voice of the Faith-ful, an organization formed by lay Catholics in res-ponse to the clergy sexual abuse scandal, had said it would begin raising money at its first convention. The intention of the group’s Voice of Compassion fund was to maintain contributions to programs that are supported by the archdiocese’s annual fund-raising drive, including programs to help inner-city parishes, people with disabilities and patients recu-perating in hospitals. The Voice of Compassion fund planned to give money specifically to those archdiocesan programs, without having the arch-diocese apply it to support other services or costs, since at least part of the Cardinal’s fund pays for
running the archdiocese, from groundskeeping to
seminary administration. Contributions to this year’s Cardinal’s fund have been down signify-cantly, reflecting widespread anger with Cardinal Law’s handling of the scandal. Despite that short-fall, a spokes-person for the archdiocese said that it would not take Voice of the Faithful’s money. The archdiocese could not accept contributions collected in the way Voice of the Faithful had used "because it under-cuts the customary means of financial support to the mission of the church in this arch-diocese. Moreover," the statement added, that approach to donations "does not recognize the role of the archbishop and his responsibility in providing for the various programs and activities of the church." Leaders of Voice of the Faithful said they were startled by the decision. "It is not the intention of Voice of the Faithful to undercut the cardinal," said a founder of the group. "On the contrary, it’s our intention to make these funds available to the cardinal for the good works of the archdiocese. We feel that what has undercut the fund-raising has been the scandal, which cannot be blamed on Voice of the Faithful." The money raised by Voice of the Faithful would be given to an independent nonprofit group, which planned to distribute it to the prog-grams after getting an archdiocesan accounting of how the money would be used. If the archdiocese rejects the money, the foundation will contribute it to Catholic groups not under the archdiocese’s authority. (From an article in The New York Times, 7/23/02).

A well-known speaker started his seminar by hol-ding up a $20 bill. "Who would like this $20 bill?" he asked. Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you, but first, let me do this." He proceeded to crumple the bill. He then
asked, "Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air. "Well," he replied, "What if I do this?" He dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, all crumpled and dirty.  "Now who still wants it?"  Still the hands went into the air.  "My friends, there is a very valuable lesson here, and I hope that you have all learned it.  No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value.  It was still worth $20. However, many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the cir-cumstances that come our way.  We feel as though we are worthless; but no matter what has happened, or what will happen, you will never lose your value in God’s eyes. To God, dirty or clean, crumpled or creased, you are still priceless." (Author unknown; submitted by Michelle Diekmeyer).

"Our security will require all Americans to be forward-looking and resolute, to be ready for pre-emptive action when necessary to defend our liberty and our lives." (George W. Bush) Now, substitute "Palestinians" for "Americans" in this sentence and let Arafat say it. Do the Palestinians have a right to pre-emptive strikes if they think their liberty is threatened and their lives rendered expendable? Now, substitute "Iraqis" for "Americans" in this sentence and have Saddam Hussein say it. Is it possible that the people of Iraq, according to their best judgment, think that their freedom and their very existence are at risk because of U.S. policy?

Apparently our current administration believes that Americans do not have to interpret words objec-tively; we are entitled to interpret words to suit our "interests". (From "Pre-empting Moral Discourse" by John F. Kavanaugh in America, July 15-22, 2002).

By Peter M. Kopkowski

One of the greatest injustices in the legal system of California lies in the treatment of drug abusers; the system provides absolutely zero tolerance for people who are basically "sick" and have become addicted. Despite being non-violent and no danger to society, they are incarcerated and still denied treatment opportunities. The record shows that those imprisoned are almost always poor and/or minorities. One of the worst situations lies in these facts: (1) many of those imprisoned are women; (2) 75% of the women are mothers; and (3) the prisons are located "miles from nowhere", making visits by children and other family members impos-sible, and in the process "punishing" the children as well as the mothers. As is frequently the case, such "systemic injustice" receives little if any publicity, and the average person is totally ignorant of them. Fortunately for some of these women, an "angel" appeared on the scene; Sr. Suzanne Steffen, work-ing with the Dept. of Detention Ministry in the archdiocese of L.A., established a program called "Get on the Bus", under which children are taken to see their mothers for Mother’s Day. The program was a huge success; as one can barely imagine, the emotional level was incredibly high, with mothers and children seeing each other for the first time in years in some instances. There are hopes of expan- ding the program to more mothers & children as well as doing it more frequently. (Factual data from "A New Kind of Busing", by Kelly Kester-Smith in America, July 15-22, 2002).

In the last 50 years, the U.S. has overthrown demo-cratically elected governments in Guatemala and Chile; it has invaded the sovereign states of Pana-ma, Grenada and the Dominican Republic; it has organized and funded the unsuccessful invasion of Cuba; it has supported brutal military governments allied with right-wing para-military death squads in El Salvador, Guatemala and Argentina; and it orchestrated a war against Nicaragua that lasted almost a decade. (From the introduction to Garry Leech’s book "Killing Peace: Colombia’s Conflict and the Failure of U.S. Interventions", as noted in The Washington Spectator, July 15, 2002).

Many people have been very kind in the comments that they have made about Connections; as editor, I appreciate them. However, no publication can main-tain the quality of its product, or even survive, with-out the help of many people. Connections suffers from two problems that I consider to be "serious". In the first place, there is a lack of input of material from readers; granted, not everyone wants to be a writer, but if you are a "reader", then you see items that might be useful to others. Please consider for-warding them to me. Thanks. In the second place, there is a lack of "letters"; by this I mean "letters to the editor". No newspaper or magazine that you pick up is lacking in comments from readers, either "agreeing", "disagreeing", or commenting; how-ever, I receive none of that, and I consider it to be a large deficiency. Please write to give your specific comments about a specific matter or article; other readers want to hear from YOU! Thanks.

By Barbara Kingsolver

Religion has no place in the science classroom if it affects students’ opportunities to learn the methods, discoveries and explanatory hypotheses of science. Rather, its place is in the hearts of the women and men who "study", and then "practice" science. In a bizarre recent trend, some states have limited or even banned the teaching of evolution in schools, and many textbooks in use in the entire country have simply "wimped-out" on the subject. As a sad consequence, an entire generation of students is in danger of arriving in college unprepared to compre-hend or pursue good science. A sound-bite culture like that of present-day America can’t discuss science very well. An evening news wrap-up can’t adequately summarize the trauma of what we are losing when we reduce biodiversity and the causes & consequences of global warming. The attempts by some people to achieve "religious correctness" are having drastic negative effects on the ability of the next generation to deal with the changes occurring in the world around us. (From "A Fist In The Eye Of God", as reviewed in The Plough Reader, Summer 2002).

We believe in a God who is Radical Grace; in a humanity that is wounded, but capable of transfor-mation; in a society that is beyond the boundaries of race, nation, culture, gender and religious diffe-rences; in a personhood with both rights & respon-sibilities; in both prayer and involvement in the issues of our time; in a simple, non-violent life, rooted in the Gospels; in a never-ending need to be educated, converted to and supported in these beliefs; in our own experience of truth, based in the Judeo-Christian tradition. (From The Center of Action and Contemplation, founded in 1987 by Fr. Richard Rohr in Albuquerque, NM. Its purpose is to serve as a place of training & formation, a place of discernment & growth. It teaches the integration of a contemplative life style and compassionate service. The Center also publishes a bi-monthly letter, Radical Grace. For more info, visit their website at www.cacradicalgrace.org ).

By Peter M. Kopkowski

Margot Fonteyn once said, "One important thing that I have learned over the years is the difference between taking one’s work seriously and taking one’s self seriously. The first is imperative; the second is disastrous." Keep this in mind for a moment while you ponder this question: Did you EVER, in your entire life, see a group of people so serious about themselves as George W. Bush, Richard Cheney, John Ashcroft, Condeleeza Rice and the other key people in the current adminis-tration? The entire group seems to be lacking even the elementary awareness to which Anais Nin referred when she said, "We never see things ‘as they are’; we see things ‘as we are’". With these people as our government, the U.S. has gone backward in the areas of ecology, civil rights, and foreign relations, just to mention three important segments of our national life. More than one person has made reference to the peril of not learning from the mistakes of history and of pushing onward to make even more of them! Harriet Hall said it well: "We ought to be able to learn some things ‘second-hand’; there isn’t enough time in life to make all of the mistakes ourselves!" This administration seems to have "making mistakes that were made before" as a major objective.

Wishing (By Kate Clinton)

You just wish sometimes that the hierarchy had protected children as much as it tries to protect fetuses. (From Clinton’s regular column "Unplugged" in The Progressive, July 2002).