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Signs of the Times  •  15 November 2018 •  No. 177

¶ Processional. "Pie Jesu" (“Merciful Jesus”) by Sarah Brightman, Paul Miles-Kingston. The music accompanies actual film footage (3:34) from World War I’s “Battle of The Somme,” when French and British allies took the offensive against German troops in France, 1 July-18 November 1916. The British suffered 57,000 casualties on the first day of the offensive. All totaled, more than 1 million men were wounded or killed, making it one of the bloodiest battles in history. 

Above: Wild poppies (Papaver rhoeas, known variously as the Flanders poppy, corn poppy, red poppy and corn rose) grow in the "Trench of Death," a preserved Belgian World War I trench system on July 14, 2017, in Diksmuide, Belgium.

Special issue
THE BACKDROP OF VETERANS DAY
The “Great War,” the armistice, and the commemorative red poppy

¶ Invocation. "Look into your own heart and discover your own pain and determine not to visit it upon others." —Karen Armstrong paraphrasing Confucius at the recent Parliament of the World’s Religions conference

¶ Listen to Leonard Cohen recite John McCrae’s “In Flanders Fields,” one of the most recognized literary pieces of the 20th century, written after McCrae presided over the burial of one of his best friends in the Second Battle of Ypres, Belgium. McCrae’s poem led to the custom of wearing red poppies as a memorial of World War I, the “Great War,” the “war to end all wars,” the “war to make the world safe for democracy.”

¶ “The World War I Origins of the Poppy as a Remembrance Symbol.” —history.com

¶ Call to worship. “You can no more win a war than win an earthquake.” —Jeanette Rankin, first female elected to federal office (in 1916, to the US House of Representatives, before women were allowed to vote) and dissenting voter on US declarations of war in both world wars

¶ The march of folly. About the Great War, British novelist H.G. Wells wrote on August 14, 1914, “This is already the vastest war in history. . . . For this is now a war for peace. It aims straight at disarmament. It aims at a settlement that shall stop this sort of thing for ever. Every soldier who fights against Germany now is a crusader against war. This, the greatest of all wars, is not just another war—it is the last war!”

¶ Hymn of praise. “135 Psalam: Slavite Gospoda” (“Praise the Lord), Vila, Serbian Orthodox Singing Society.

¶ Good news. All 19 of these African American candidates (at right) for judicial positions in Harris Country, Texas (encompassing most of Houston) were elected in last week’s mid-term election. Photo by Harris Black Girl Magic.

¶ Confession. Among the things we must do to be at home in a place, according to Martin Prechtel, is “we’ve got to begin to grieve. Now, grief doesn’t mean sitting around weeping every day. Rather, grief means using the gifts you’ve been given by the spirits to make beauty. Grief that’s not expressed this way becomes a kind of toxic waste inside a person’s body. This locked-up grief has to be metabolized.” —Derrick Jensen interview with Prechtel, “Saving the Indigenous Soul,” The Sun, excerpt printed in “Radical Discipleship  (Thanks Lydia & Tommy)

¶ World War I created unprecedented carnage. The first day alone of the Battle of the Somme resulted in over 70,000 casualties. By war's end on 11 November 1918, the final tally of vengeance for one assassination had claimed the lives of nearly 40 million combatants and civilians, many times over wounded.

¶ Hymn of supplication. “So they gathered the crippled, the wounded, the maimed, and they shipped us back home to Australia / The legless, the armless, the blind, the insane, those proud wounded heroes of Suvla / And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay, I looked at the place where me legs used to be / And thanked Christ there was nobody waiting for me, to grieve, to mourn, and to pity.” —Eric Bogle, “And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda,” representing an Australian soldier fighting Turkish soldiers during World War I

¶ In 1954, Armistice Day was replaced with Veterans Day, and so our public celebration of peace and an end to war became a rally to “support the troops,” a state and federal day off, and a platform for military recruitment.

¶ “Armistice Day was sacred. Veterans’ Day is not,” wrote novelist Kurt Vonnegut, a World War II veteran and POW. “So I will throw Veterans’ Day over my shoulder. Armistice Day I will keep. I don’t want to throw away any sacred things.”

¶ Words of assurance. “The Resurrection is the Beloved’s own / Armistice, intimate seal on ancient covenant, / when the rain’s own bow arches in the flood’s / aftermath as divine reminder, animus receding / by act of divine contrition: / Never again. Never again.” —continue reading “Aftermath of the Great War’s Armistice: On the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, 11 November 2018”

¶ Eight million horses, donkeys and mules were killed in World War I.

¶ Hymn of remembrance. “In Remembrance,” piper Andy Cant, of the 1916 naval Battle of Jutland.

¶ “‘Today on the Western Front,’ the German sociologist Max Weber wrote in September 1917, there ‘stands a dross of African and Asiatic savages and all the world’s rabble of thieves and lumpens.’ Weber was referring to the millions of Indian, African, Arab, Chinese and Vietnamese soldiers and labourers, who were then fighting with British and French forces in Europe, as well as in several ancillary theatres of the first world war.

        “Faced with manpower shortages, British imperialists had recruited up to 1.4 million Indian soldiers. France enlisted nearly 500,000 troops from its colonies in Africa and Indochina. Nearly 400,000 African Americans were also inducted into US forces. The first world war’s truly unknown soldiers are these non-white combatants.”v—Pankaj Mishra, “How colonial violence came home: the ugly truth of the first world war,” Guardian

¶ Hymn of intercession. “Merely the whim or intuition of an elected politician / Makes a melee without conditions as the monster quits the cage / It's a machine that knows no quarter, dealing death and sowing slaughter / Raping mothers, wives and daughters in an all-consuming rage / We may well decide we need it and we'll pay to arm and feed it / Can you tell me who will lead it when a decision must be made?” —Andy Irvine, “When the Boys Are On Parade”

¶ Chemical weapons. In World War I, the French were the first to use chemical weapons, tear gas, which is not lethal except in concentrated form. Germany was the first to use large-scale, lethal chemical weapons, in 1915, followed shortly after by the British. In 1917 the US manufactured a new form of poison gas but the war’s end occurred before it could be used.

Left: Pallets of US 155mm mustard gas artillery shells at Pueblo Depot storage facility in Colorado.

¶ Short story. During World War I, two conscientious objectors—Joseph and Michael Hofer—were tortured to death while in a US prison. —Wikipedia

¶ Word. “Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism. In saying ‘our interests first, whatever happens to the others,’ you erase the most precious thing a nation can have, that which makes it live, that which causes it to be great and that which is most important: its moral values.” —French President Emmanuel Macron, remarks during the 11 November 2018 commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I

¶ “In the aftermath of Veterans Day, four things are important to remember.” —continue reading “The backdrop of Veterans Day: Remembering red poppies and the Great War’s armistice”

¶ Hymn of lament. “Sgt. MacKenzie,” a lament written and sung by Joseph Kilna Mackenzie, in memory of his great-grandfather who was killed in combat during World War I.

¶ Short take. A reported conversation following World War I between Woodrow Wilson of the United States, David Lloyd-George of Great Britain and Georges Clemenceau of France speak well to the situation under consideration.

        Among them it was asked, "Do we want peace?" Their agreed answer was, "Yes."

        Then it was asked, more probingly, "Are we willing to abandon colonialism?" And the British answered, "No, of course not." It was further asked, "Are we willing to forego any claims for reparation against the Germans?" This time it was the French and the Americans who said, "No."

Right: Photo of African American troops of the 369th Infantry, formerly the 15th Regiment New York Guard, who were among the most highly decorated upon its return home in 1918. They were also known as the Harlem Hellfighters. Getty Images.

     Then, within that influential threesome, the perceptive insight was voiced, "What we really want is not peace, but only quiet while we enjoy the spoils of our victory in war."

     Such pretense of peace only sets the stage for more war, as the history of Europe in the thirties and forties so clearly proved.

¶ “After the 'war to end war' they seem to have been pretty successful in Paris [drafting the Treaty of Versailles, ending World War I] at making a 'Peace to end Peace.” ―British Field Marshal (and military historian) Archibald Percival Wavell

¶ Hymn of resolution. “Let every voice be thunder, let every heart beat strong / Until all tyrants perish, our work shall not be done / Let not our memories fail us, the lost year shall be found / Let slavery's chains be broken the whole wide world around.” —Peter, Paul, & Mary, “The Whole Wide World Around” (aka “Because All Men Are Brothers”)

¶ Preach it. “The apostasy of violence lies in its denial of God’s ability to accomplish anything without the trigger that is about to be pulled, without the missile that is about to be fired. Violence is inevitably a renunciation rather than an affirmation of the will and freedom of God.” —Lee Griffith, "The War On Terrorism and the Terror of God"

¶ Can’t makes this sh*t up. “When I can, I tell the truth.” —President Donald J. Trump

¶ Call to the table. “Divine love is not an attitude that one puts on like a cloak. It is rather the right way to respond to reality. It is the right relationship to being, including our own being. And that relationship is primarily one of receiving. . . . An important part of the response to divine love, once it has been received, is to pass it on to our neighbor in a way that is appropriate in the present moment.” —Thomas Keating OCSO (1923–2018), Cistertian monk known for developing “centering prayer” as a spiritual practice

¶ The state of our disunion. American PCs are attacked by 25-30 million damaging malware files per day on average. —reported in USAToday

¶ Best one-liner. "Things take time: You don’t get a pickle by squirting vinegar on a cucumber." —author unknown

¶ For those interested in literary history, see “How World War I Changed Literature,” Amanda Onion, history.com.

¶ For the beauty of the earth. Stunning photos of “The Fading Battlefields of World War I,” 32 images from tortured European landscapes, see Alan Taylor, The Atlantic

¶ Altar call. “I don’t want thoughts. I don’t want prayers. I want gun control. . . .” —Susan Orfanos, after the shooting of her son and 11 others in Thousand Oaks, California (0:37 video)

¶ During his Court Martial in 1918, British journalist and poet Max Plowman said: “I am resigning my [military] commission because I no longer believe that war can end war. War is a disorder, and disorder cannot breed order. Doing evil that good may come is apparent folly.”

Left: Stone crosses marking the World War I graves of German soldiers are overtaken by time and the growing trunk of a tree in Hooglede German Military Cemetery on August 4, 2014, in Hooglede, Belgium. Christopher Furlong-Getty Images.

¶ Benediction. “The facts of life,” spoken word by poet Pádraig Ó Tuama (2:01 audio).

¶ Recessional. “Hymn to the Fallen,” Mormon Tabernacle Choir & Orchestra.

¶ Lectionary for this Sunday. “Prior to his lynching at the hand of Roman rage, and to the cheers of Caiaphas’ temple tyranny, Pilate asks Jesus, ‘So, are you to be king?’ ‘So say you, Brother Pontius,’ Jesus replies. (Which is to say, I am but not as you think.) ‘My reign is not planted in the world you imagine. If it were, all who claim me as lord would bloody the sword.’” —continue reading “King Jesus and Brother Pontius,” a litany for worship inspired by John 18:33

¶ Lectionary for Sunday next. “And what do we mean when we speak of the Lordship of Christ? Is this to say that the Holy One is the ultimate author of vengeance and retribution? Of demeaning power and humiliation?

        “No, a thousand times, NO! The Lordship of Christ speaks of the coming end of all lording, of the day when the cords of subjugation will unravel.” —continue reading “Christ as Lord?” a litany for worship

¶ Just for fun. “Atheists Don’t Have No Songs” by Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers.

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Featured this week on prayer&politiks

• “King Jesus and Brother Pontius,” a litany for worship inspired by John 18:33

• “Aftermath of the Great War’s Armistice: On the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, 11 November 2018,” a poem

• “The backdrop of Veterans Day: Remembering red poppies and the Great War’s armistice,” an essay

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org. Language not otherwise indicated above is that of the editor, as are those portions cited as “kls.” Don’t let the “copyright” notice keep you from circulating material you find here (and elsewhere in this site). Reprint permission is hereby granted in advance for noncommercial purposes.

Feel free to copy and post any original art on this site. (The ones with “prayer&politiks.org” at the bottom.) As well as other information you find helpful.

Your comments are always welcomed. If you have news, views, notes or quotes to add to the list above, please do. If you like what you read, pass this along to your friends. You can reach me directly at kensehested@prayerandpolitiks.org.

 

Signs of the Times  •  23 November 2016  •  No. 98

¶ Processional. “Now Thank We All Our God,” arr. by John Rutter, performed by The Cambridge Singers and the City of London Sinfonia.

Above: “Farm Scene” painting by Walt Curlee.

¶ Invocation. “Of the things God has shown me,  / I can speak but a little word;  / not more than a honeybee  / can take away on its foot /  from an overflowing jar.’ —Mechthild of Magdeburg, 13th century mystic  

¶ Call to worship. “What does it look like for us to wait for Jesus’ coming, to practice Advent? Slow down. Be attentive to pain and suffering, to the wilderness. Repentance is not about teary faces and altar calls. It’s about interrupting the world’s tendency to silence suffering.” —Brandon Wrencher, “Called to Wait,” Sojourners

¶ Hymn of praise. “You saved me right from the start / I know in my heart / That we could survive / So let’s jump into the fire.” —D.J. Antoine, “Thank You”

¶ Three personal stories of welcoming “strangers” and creative resistance to intolerance.

        § “A cool thing that happened. I went to Panera for soup and saw a Muslim family there—dad, mama, two little boys, a grandma and another man. As I passed their table my heart tugged a little but I didn't stop. I put my things down, went back, took kind of a deep breath and said to the parents, "Excuse me, I just wanted to say that your family is beautiful and I'm so happy you are here." They literally lit up and thanked me profusely for that one sentence. I went back to my seat and a few minutes later someone said, "Excuse me, my sons have an invitation for you." It was the dad and his boys invited me to come for lunch at their restaurant. We ended up talking about their school and teachers and it was really fun and between the dad and me it was plain what a really important moment it was.
        “It's kinda braggy to tell but the thing is—I almost didn't go back, which would have been a big loss for me. For the first time in two weeks I felt joyful and hopeful and glad. I also understood so clearly that we have whatever kind of life together that we choose to have. All of which is to say—when your heart is tugging at you to say something or do something—it's probably trying to heal itself, so trust and obey.” — Facebook post by Annette Hill Briggs, Pastor of University Baptist Church, Bloomington, Indiana

        § “The air felt leaden in the hallways at West High School on the morning after Election Day. The usual clatter from the building’s 2,000 students was muffled. At lunchtime, Lujayn Hamad was in the cafeteria when she said a boy she barely knew roughly bumped into her and swore at her. ‘Go back home,’ he told Ms. Hamad, who is 15, and an American citizen, and wears a hijab.” —Julie Bosman, “At Iowa High School, Election Results Kindle Tensions and Protest.” Photo: Students protesting verbal abuse of Muslim and African American students at West High, Iowa City, Iowa, by Daniel Acker, New York Times.

§ “My uptown #1 train was covered with swastikas and "f. . k you Liberals" written in black marker. (See photo below.) After an uncomfortable silence a handsome young man asked for a marker. Someone had a yellow highlighter, not enough. My pen, too thin. A new rider got on, looked round and saw what was going on. He dug out a felt tip and that was better. A young woman shouted out, try this—it's my eyeline and bingo! Several more eyeliners came out and one by one the signs of evil were transformed to flowers and hugs. The participants were black, white, hispanic, asian, young and old. Those are my New York values! Don't leave the house without your corrective markers my friends.” —Kaleda Davis, Facebook post

¶ Some resources for carrying out difficult conversations.

        § Creative suggestions for Thanksgiving meal table talk with people you love but can hardly abide (because of how they vote). Try asking these leading questions:

        • “Why did you vote the way you voted?”

        • “What were you hoping your vote would accomplish?”

        • “How are you feeling right now?”

        • “Is there anything we can do together?” —Jacqui Lewis, “Tools for Table Talk” (Thanks Robin.)

        § FAN Statement on Civil Discourse in Response to 2016 Presidential Election.  The good folk at Franciscan Action Network have developed the “FRANCIS Pledge.”
        • Facilitate a forum for difficult discourse and acknowledge that dialogue can lead to new insight and mutual understanding
        • Respect the dignity of all people, especially the dignity of those who hold an opposing view
        • Audit myself and utilize terms or a vocabulary of faith to unite or reconcile rather than divide conflicting positions
        • Neutralize inflamed conversations by presuming that those with whom we differ are acting in good faith
        • Collaborate with others and recognize that all human engagement is an opportunity to promote peace
        • Identify common ground such as similar values or concerns and utilize this as a foundation to build upon
        • Support efforts to clean up provocative language by calling policy makers to their sense of personal integrity.

        § “In disputes upon moral or scientific points,” Arthur Martine counseled in his 1866 guide to the art of conversation, “let your aim be to come at truth, not to conquer your opponent. So you never shall be at a loss in losing the argument, and gaining a new discovery.”

        § “How to Criticize with Kindness: Philosopher Daniel Dennett on the Four Steps to Arguing Intelligently.”

¶ Confession. Mister Rogers did not adequately prepare me for the people in my neighborhood. —from the internet

¶ The “Doctrine of Discovery.” More background to the Standing Rock saga: When gobbling was not about turkey and dressing but land. Among the forces of historical momentum that continue playing out even today—think of the ongoing protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock, North Dakota—is a little known papal bull from the 15th century serving as legal justification for European conquest of the “New World,” based on the church’s alleged “Great Commission.”

        Seem a little far-fetched factor in modern jurisprudence? Actually, no. Numerous court cases in the US have cited this “doctrine of discovery” in justifying land grabs from indigenous peoples, mostly recently in a 2005 Supreme Court case, City of Sherrill, NY vs. Oneida Nation, which reads in part:

        “Under the ‘doctrine of discovery. . .” fee title (ownership) to the lands occupied by Indians when the colonists arrived became vested in the sovereign—first the discovering European nation and later the original states and the United States.” —For more see Katerina Friesen, “The Doctrine of Discovery and Watershed Conquest,” Radical Discipleship (Thanks Rose.) and “Discovery Doctrine,” Wikipedia  To read a primary source, see “The Doctrine of Discovery, 1493, issued by Pope Alexander VI.”

¶ Remembering a massacre’s dissenters. “Every Thanksgiving weekend for the past 17 years, Arapaho and Cheyenne youth lead a 180-mile relay from the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site to Denver. The annual Sand Creek Massacre Spiritual Healing Run opens at the site of the Sand Creek Massacre near Eads, Colorado, with a sunrise ceremony honoring some 200 Arapaho and Cheyenne people who lost their lives in the infamous massacre. This brutal assault was carried out by Colonel John Chivington on Nov. 29, 1864.”

        Ironically, on the final morning of the Healing Run, participants will gather at the grave site of US Army Captain Silas Soule who, along with another officer, Lt. Joseph Cramer, ordered their men not to take part in the massacre. —see more at Billy J. Stratton, “Remembering the US soldiers who refused orders to murder Native Americans at Sand Creek” (Thanks Cynthia.)

¶ Words of assurance. “Bright Morning Stars Are Rising,” The Wailin’s Jennys.

¶ Can’t make this sh*t up. “Hail Trump! Hail our people! Hail our victory!” (followed by standing ovation and Nazi salute). —Watch this brief video of Richard B. Spencer, director of the National Policy Institute (and the one who popularized the phrase “alt-right” to describe the movement he leads for “a new society, an ethno-state that would be a gathering point for all Europeans” after a “peaceful ethnic cleansing.” —The Atlantic

¶ Prayer of intercession. “Dona nobis pacem” (“Grant Us Peace”), John Brown University Cathedral Choir and Bentonville Children's Choir.

¶ “Why is it hard to say thanks? 10 reasons.”

¶ When only the blues will do—for those who endure sadness amid cheery holiday hoopla. “Melancholia,” Duke Ellington.

¶ Preach it. “Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good.” —Clarissa Pinkola Estes

¶ Call to the table. “The work ahead is . . . unglamorous. It has no cowboys and no Messiahs, as much as I wish to God it did. It is the work of being-in-the-world. We must contend with, maybe even embrace, the pain and the rage and the brokenness of the world—racism and misogyny and cruelty and meaninglessness and the same hunger that makes the end of history, the great narrative “f*ck you,” such an appealing aesthetic option for people who have voted for Trump. We must look flint-eyed on brokenness without sentimentality. We must allow, even embrace, that rage, and allow it to be our own, too. And we must allow for the absence of answers for them.” —Tara Isabella Burton, “Why Grant Narratives Won’t Save Us This Time: America (and Faith) in the Time of Trump,” Sojourners

¶ For the beauty of the earth. “The Earth—A Living Creature: The Amazing NASA Video. (1:28. Thanks David.)

¶ In the wake of the election, harassment and hate crimes targeting people because of their faith, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity are spiking nationwide. It's a crisis.
        At this dire moment, how can interfaith allies support one another? Join an important faith leader conference call on Monday, November 28th, at 1:30 PM EST, to hear stories and discuss strategies with Jewish, Muslim and Sikh leaders as their communities face hate and dire threats.
        Register here, and you can join the call by phone or listen in on your computer to a conversation featuring Aziza Hasan (New Ground: Muslim-Jewish Partnership for Change), Rabbi Deborah Waxman (Reconstructionist Rabbinical College), Manjit Singh (Sikh American Defense and Legal Education Fund), Rev. Jennifer Butler (Faith in Public Life).

¶ Altar call. “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall,” a Jason Mraz cover of Bob Dylan’s song, with stunning visuals and lyrics.

¶ “Gratitude is surely among the precious few, / truly-renewable energy sources available. The / hearts of both giver and receiver grow larger / in the process. Saying thanks, especially beyond / the demands of simple etiquette, is among the / most accessible violence-reduction strategies.” —continue reading Ken Sehested’s “On saying thanks” poem

¶ Benediction. Visualize the vocation ahead for people of faith: Head toward the light, regardless of the wave’s threatening crest. Video (5:53) of surfer Benji Brand.

¶ Recessional. Johann Pachelbel’s “Canon in D” (with variations) on electric guitar by Mike Rayburn.

Right: Illustration by Len Munnik

¶ Lectionary for Sunday next. “In the Prophet Isaiah’s vision, one day wolf and lamb, leopard and calf, cow and bear, child and viper, shall rest fearlessly in each other’s presence. And this is why we long to know God, because acquaintance with the Beloved brings health and healing to the earth.” —continue reading Ken Sehested’s “Who are you,” a litany for worship inspired by Isaiah 11:1-10

¶ Just for fun. “A Thanksgiving Miracle” from Saturday Night Live (3:47 video).

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Featured this week on prayer&politiks

• “Gratitude,” a litany for worship

• “Why is it hard to say thanks? 10 reasons”

• “On saying thanks,” a poem

• “Advent & Christmas resources for worship,” litanies, poems, sermons and new lyrics to old hymns

• “Prince of Peace: The birth of Jesus and the purposes of God,” a collection of texts

• “New secrets, waiting to be found,” a post-election sermon.  Or watch a video of the sermon.

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org. Language not otherwise indicated above is that of the editor. Don’t let the “copyright” notice keep you from circulating material you find here (and elsewhere in this site). Reprint permission is hereby granted in advance for noncommercial purposes.

Your comments are always welcomed. If you have news, views, notes or quotes to add to the list above, please do. If you like what you read, pass this along to your friends. You can reach me directly at kensehested@prayerandpolitiks.org.

Signs of the Times  •  18 November 2016  •  No. 97

¶ Processional. “Lift Us Up: A Song for America,” by Peter Yarrow, performed by Bethany Yarrow & friends.

Above: Zhangye Danxia National Geological Park in Gansu, China

Introduction
Special issue on banks and beggars

        In October Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf resigned in the backlash over earlier news that “thousands of Wells Fargo employees secretly opened two million fraudulent accounts without customers’ permission or knowledge, and were incentivized by the company to do so.”

        (See Rose Berger’s excellent reporting and evaluation, “Piracy and Puritanism at Wells Fargo,” Sojouners.)

        The scandal not only throws a light on the chicanery of large banks and other mega-corporations but documents such problems are not simply the result of a handful of devious individuals. Berger illustrates the structural incentive for fraud.

        The fine levied on Wells Fargo may seem steep to most of use wage-earners: $190 million. But that figure is but $100 per felony committed—and the bank admits to no guilt.

        As it turns out, the suspicion over banks’ concentrated wealth has been voiced by political leaders for a very long time. This issue of “Signs of the Times” features this legacy of warning.

¶ Invocation. “A Change Is Gonna Come,” Sam Cooke.

¶ “I have two great enemies, the Southern Army in front of me and the bankers in the rear. Of the two, the one at my rear is my greatest foe." —President Abraham Lincoln

¶ Profit is "always highest in the countries which are going fastest to ruin." —Adam Smith, considered the “father” of modern capitalism

¶ You don’t necessarily think of Forbes Magazine (“reliable business news and financial information”) as the place to turn to for prophetic economic critique, as in Drew Hansen’s “Unless It Changes, Capitalism Will Starve Humanity By 2050.”

¶ Call to worship. “Speak peace to the nation, to every relation, to each hollow and meadow, every inch of creation. Let mercy defend, and gracefully mend; each stranger, each straggler, welcome and befriend.” —continue reading Ken Sehested’s “Go to the hallowed abode,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 122

¶ “And Now, For Some Good News. In states and municipalities across the country, voters showed strong support for getting big money out of politics and empowering ordinary citizens,” —Frances Moore Lappé & Adam Eichen, commondreams.org

¶ Iceland’s answer to banking fraud. “Iceland, which became a gold standard for corporate accountability in the wake of its 2008-2011 financial crisis, has found nine bankers guilty for market manipulation in one of the biggest cases of its kind in the country's history.” No sentencing has been made, but one former bank president got 5+ years in prison. —Nadia Prupis, CommonDreams

¶ “I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.” —President Thomas Jefferson

¶ In 2010 Wachovia Bank settled a suit brought by the US Justice Department for laundering $378.4 billion for a Mexican drug cartel. The bank paid a $50 million fine (2% of its profits for the year). No one went to jail—where we routinely send kids caught with a dime bag of pot. —Ed Vulliamy, The Guardian

¶ Hymn of praise. “How Great Thou Art.” Oldie update, a cappella, 5-part harmony, by Home Free. (Thanks Matt.)

¶ “How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points? . . . A new tyranny is thus born, invisible and often virtual, which unilaterally and relentlessly imposes its own laws and rules. . . . The thirst for power and possessions knows no limits." —Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium” (“The Joy of the Gospel”), 2013 apostolic exhortation

¶ “Do not say to yourself, 'My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.'” —Deuteronomy 8:17

¶ Souls severed from bodies. “When the pope criticizes an entire economic system and is negative about it, he is indulging in politics, and I don’t think he should. I personally do not want my spiritual life mixed up with my political life. I go to church to save my soul.” —Stuart Varney, Fox news commentator criticizing Roman Catholic Pope Francis’ “Evangelii Gaudium”

¶ “If the environment were a bank, it would have been saved by now.” —Bernie Sanders

¶ An economic literacy primer in under eight minutes. Three short videos by Robert Reich, economist and former Secretary of Labor:

        • “The 7 Biggest Economic Lies.” (2:47)

        • “What are the 3 biggest economic myths propagated by the moneyed interests? (2:34)

        • “The war on the poor and working families.” (2.25)

¶ Suspect outrage. “But even while Republicans are outraged by Wells Fargo’s wrongdoing, all the Republican senators who spoke against the bank at today’s hearing have gone on record at various times in calling for the full repeal of President Obama’s financial regulation law—which would mean eliminating the agency that uncovered the wrongdoing and levied the biggest fines.” —Matthew Yglesias, “Republican senators outraged by Wells Fargo’s fraud want to eliminate the agency that uncovered it,” Vox

¶ "Now as through this world I ramble / I see lots of funny men / Some rob you with a six gun / And some with a fountain pen."  —Woody Guthrie in "Pretty Boy Floyd"

¶ Confession. “In those years, people will say, we lost track / of the meaning of we, of you / we found ourselves / reduced to I / and the whole thing became / silly, ironic, terrible. . . . / But the great dark birds of history screamed and plunged / into our personal weather.” —Adrienne Rich, “In Those Years.” Listen to a reading of the poem by Chelsea Tobin.

¶ “[The banks’] objective isn’t to control [war’s] conflict. It’s to control the debt that the conflict produces. You see, the real value of a conflict, the true value is in the debt that it creates. You control the debt, you control everything. You find this upsetting, yes? But this is the very essence of the banking industry, to make us all, whether we be nations or individuals, slaves to debt.  —banking executive advice in “The International,” a film starring Clive Owen and Naomi Watts

¶ “We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob.” —President Franklin D. Roosevelt

¶ “‘[Martin Luther] King is so hot these days [because of his criticism of capitalism] that it looks like Marx coming to the White House,’ complained President John F. Kennedy in 1963.” —Zaid Jilani, “Martin Luther King Jr. Celebrations Overlook His Critiques of Capitalism and Militarism”

¶ Hymn of lamentation. “Padded with power here they come / International loan sharks backed by the guns / Of market hungry military profiteers / Whose word is a swamp and whose brow is smeared / With the blood of the poor/” —Bruce Cockburn, “Call It Democracy” (Thanks Randy.)

¶ “Money has no motherland; financiers are without patriotism and without decency; their sole object is gain.” —Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France, 1815

¶ “An infectious greed seemed to grip much of our business community,'' said Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan in 2002. ''It is not,'' he added, ''that humans have become any more greedy than in generations past. It is that the avenues to express greed had grown so enormously.'' —quoted in Floyd Norris, “The Markets”

¶ Words of assurance. “I Know Who Holds Tomorrow,” Alison Krauss.

¶ Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men, for the nastiest of reasons, will somehow work for the benefit of us all." —economist John Maynard Keynes

¶ Short story. Several centuries ago a Roman pope who was an avid patron of the arts is said to have surveyed the vast artistic riches he had amassed and to have gloated: "No longer can the Church of Jesus Christ say 'Silver and gold have I none.'"  "True, Sire," a subordinate replied, "but then neither can she now say, 'Rise up and walk!'"

¶ "The proposal of any new law or regulation of commerce which comes from merchants and manufacturers should always be listened to with great precaution, and ought never to be adopted till after having been long and carefully examined with the most suspicious attention." —Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations

¶ Hymn of intercession. “Like a bird on the wire,  / like a drunk in a midnight choir  / I have tried in my way to be free.  / Like a worm on a hook,  / like a knight from some old fashioned book  / I have saved all my ribbons for thee.  / If I, if I have been unkind,  / I hope that you can just let it go by.” —Johnny Cash singing Leonard Cohen’s “Bird on a Wire”

¶ “Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures, the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge, has marked the upward surge of mankind and greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA.” —stockebroker Gordon Gecko, fictional character played by Michael Douglas, in his 1987 film “Wall Street”

¶ When only the blues will do. “I got me a fearless heart / Strong enough to get you through the scary part / It's been broken many times before / A fearless heart just comes back for more.” —Stevie Earl, “Fearless Heart”

¶ "Capitalism has defeated communism. It is now well on its way to defeating democracy." —David Korten

¶ Preach it. “A friend called last week to ask “What on earth are you going to say [about the election outcome]?” I responded, ‘Don’t know yet—still sorting through my own emotional reactions . . . something between flamethrowing and fetal crouch.’ Those are typically our immediate reactions to threat.” —Ken Sehested, “New secrets, waiting to be found,” a post-election sermon.  Or view a video of the sermon.

¶ Can’t makes this sh*t up. “PEACE OF MIND: Now available at a great rate. 3.00% APY 47-month CD/CD IRA.” —a 2003 Wachovia Bank ad

¶ Call to the table. “O see the darkness yielding / That tore the light apart / Come healing of the reason / Come healing of the heart.” —Leonard Cohen, “Come Healing”

¶ "We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings." —Ursula K. LeGuin

¶ The state of our disunion. “Oxford Dictionaries, standard-bearer for English language usage, has named “post-truth” as its international word of the year.“ —Alison Flood, The Guardian

¶ Best one-liner. “The issue which has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later is the people versus the banks.” —Lord Acton, 19th century British politician and historian

¶ Millennia before Karl Marx posited wealth as the principle influence on human behavior, Jesus said “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” —Matthew 6:21

¶ For the beauty of the earth. “A Bird ballet” (2:32 video), a starling flock’s aerial choreography, filmed by Neels Castillon, with Alt-J’s “Hand-made” musical background. 

¶ Altar call. “Come close, sisters and brothers, all you who have journeyed to this House of Memory, to this Table of Delight. All you anear, welcome!. All from afar, ¡bienvenido!” —continue reading Ken Sehested’s “Adelante—Keep Moving Forward,” a litany for worship

¶ Benediction. The profession of Jesus-oriented faith is hinged on the conviction that the future belongs to an insurgency against the rancorous reign of wealth. If next Sunday’s benediction doesn’t imply this mandate, ask why. —Ken Sehested

¶ Ten years ago. Maybe the most overlooked recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize was Muhammad Yunnis, the 2006 recipient, along with the Grameen Bank he founded in Bangladesh to give small loans, especially to women, to foster economic self-development. His example is important because of it indicates that economic justice must be part of peacebuilding work; and that on the small scale, free enterprise can be an engine for redemptive social change. Just recently Yunnis challenged president-elect Donald Trump to build bridges instead of walls.

¶ Recessional. World Dance Federation, 2014 World Formation (This is worth the 8:14).

¶ Lectionary for Sunday next. Engraving of Isaiah 2:4 (left) in the Ralph Bunche Park across from the United Nations building in New York City. The park is named for Mr. Ralph Bunche, US diplomat who received the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize.

¶ Just for fun. “10+ People Who Turned Log Piling Into An Art Form,” Šarūnė Mac , boredpanda.com (Thanks Sally.)

#  #  #

Featured this week on prayer&politiks

• “Go to the hallowed abode,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 122

• “Adelante—Keep Moving Forward,” a litany for worship

• “Watching and Waiting in a Half-Spent Night,” a sermon based on Matthew 24:36-44

• “New secrets, waiting to be found,” a post-election sermon.  Or view a video of the sermon.
 
Other features
• “Advent & Christmas resources for worship,” litanies, poems, sermons and new lyrics to old hymns

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org. Language not otherwise indicated above is that of the editor. Don’t let the “copyright” notice keep you from circulating material you find here (and elsewhere in this site). Reprint permission is hereby granted in advance for noncommercial purposes.

Your comments are always welcomed. If you have news, views, notes or quotes to add to the list above, please do. If you like what you read, pass this along to your friends. You can reach me directly at kensehested@prayerandpolitiks.org.

Signs of the Times  •  8 November •  No. 143

Special Issue
SUTHERLAND SPRINGS ARE US
Facing the facts, imagining a different future

¶ Processional. “Motete: Versa est in luctum,” 17th century Spanish Renaissance composer Tomás Victoria, a setting of Job 30:31; 7:16. English translation: “My harp is turned to mourning and my organ into the voice of those that weep. Spare me, O Lord, for my days are nothing.” (Thanks Brooks.)

Above: View in Garner State Park in the Texas Hill Country, an area just northwest of Sutherland Springs. Photo by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

¶ Invocation. "O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen? Or cry to you 'Violence!' and you will not save? Why do you make me see wrongdoing and look at trouble? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. So the law becomes slack and justice never prevails. The wicked surround the righteous—therefore judgment comes forth perverted.” —Habakkuk 1:2-4

¶ These are the victims of the shooting at First Baptist Church, Sutherland Springs, Texas: Read their names, see their faces (2:14 video).

¶ Call to worship. “I go about in sunless gloom; I stand up in the assembly and cry for help. My lyre is turned to mourning, and my pipe to the voice of those who weep.” —Job 30:28, 31

¶ The poem about gun violence every American needs to hear.” —IN-Qu, Occupy Democrats (3:14 video. Thanks Virginia.)

¶ Hymn of praise. “Well I’m pressing on / Yes, I’m pressing on / Well I’m pressing on / To the higher calling of my Lord.” —Regina McCrary & Chicago Mass Choir, “Pressing On”

¶ “The only variable that can explain the high rate of mass shootings in America is its astronomical number of guns.” —Max Fisher & Josh Keller, New York Times

¶ “People all over the world become furious and try to harm others, but only in the United States do we suffer such mass shootings so regularly; only in the U.S. do we lose one person every 15 minutes to gun violence.” —Nicholas Kristoff, “How to Reduce Shootings,” New York Times

¶ Confession. “‘In retrospect Sandy Hook marked the end of the US gun control debate,’ Dan Hodges, a British journalist, wrote in a post on Twitter two years ago, referring to the 2012 attack that killed 20 young students at an elementary school in Connecticut. ‘Once America decided killing children was bearable, it was over.’” —Max Fisher & Josh Keller, New York Times

¶ Intercession. “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen? Or cry to you ‘Violence!’ and you will not save?” —Habakkuk 1:2

¶ Hymn of supplication. “Kumbaya,” Choeur Gospel du Conservatoire, France (with dance).

¶ “Americans make up about 4.4% the global population but own 42% of the world’s guns. From 1966 to 2012, 31% of the gunmen in mass shootings worldwide were American. . . .

        • “American crime is more lethal. A New Yorker is just as likely to be robbed as a Londoner, for instance, but the New Yorker is 54 times more likely to be killed in the process. . . .

        • “Gun control legislation tends to reduce gun murders, according to a recent analysis of 130 studies from 10 countries.

        • “The US is one of only three countries” where “people have an inherent right to own guns. . . .” —Max Fisher & Josh Keller, New York Times

¶ The overlooked gun factor: virulent masculinity.

        • George Ciccariello-Maher, political science professor at Drexel University, was recently banned from campus after questioning why mass shootings in the US are almost always carried out by white men. ­—read a brief interview with him by “Democracy Now!” program host Amy Goodman

        • “The persistent crime that connects mass shooters and terror suspects: Domestic violence.” —Mark Berman, Washington Post

        • “What Mass Shooters Have In Common: Domestic Violence Records.” —Emily O’Hara, NBC News

        • The traits that are strongly linked with violence are “being young and male and having a history of childhood abuse and exposure to violence.” —Jeffrey Swanson, Duke University psychiatry professor, quoted in Lindsey Tanner/AP, Washington Post

¶ Prophesy. “Your iniquities have been barriers between you and your God, and your sins have hidden God’s face from you so that God does not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue mutters wickedness.” —Isaiah 59:2-3

¶ Words of assurance. “You may be down and feel like God / Has somehow forgotten / That you are faced with circumstances / You can't get through / But now it seems that there's no way out / And you're going under / God's proven time and time again / He'll take care of you.” —McKenzie George, “He’ll Do It Again”

¶ This makes my head spin.

        • “Gun homicides . . . in England are about as common as deaths from agricultural machinery accidents in the United States.

        • “. . . in Canada are about as common as deaths from alcohol poisoning in the US.

        • “. . . in Norway are about as common as deaths from accidental stranglings and hangings in the US.

        • “. . . in Germany are about as common as deaths from thrown or falling objects in the US.

        • “. . . in New Zealand are about as common as deaths from falling from a ladder in the US.

        • “. . . in the Netherlands are about as common as deaths from accidental gas poisoning in the US.

        • “. . . in Iceland are about as common as deaths from electrocution in the US.

        • “. . . in Spain are about as common as deaths from excessive natural heat in the US.

        • “. . . in Poland are about as common as deaths from bicycle riders being hit by cars in the US.

        • “. . . in Japan are about as common as deaths from being struck by lightning in the US.

        • “. . . in Scotland are about as common as deaths from cataclysmic storms in the US.” —for more see Kevin Quealy & Margot Sanger-Katz, New York Times

¶ Hymn of intercession. “Swing Low Sweet Chariot,” Garrison Keillor, Arlo Guthrie, The DiGiallonardo Sisters, Heather Masse and The Guy's All-Star Shoe Band.

¶ Both President Trump and Texas Governor Greg Abbott blame the Sutherland Springs shooting on mental illness. Yet “Most people with mental illness are not violent” and only 3-5% of violent acts “can be attributed to individuals living with a series mental illness,” according to the US Department of Health and Human Services website. —see Lindsey Tanner/AP, Washington Post

¶ By the numbers. There are more than 51,000 licensed gun shops (and 30,000 supermarkets) in the US.

¶ The National Rifle Association (NRA) began in 1871 by Union civil war veterans, after witnessing their troop’s inept shooting accuracy during the war. Its motto was “Firearms Safety Education, Marksmanship Training, Shooting for Recreation.”
        In 1933 and 1938 the NRA helped President Franklin D. Roosevelt craft gun control legislation. In Congressional testimony in 1938, NRA President Karl T. Frederick said “I have never believed in the general practice of carrying weapons. I do not believe in the general promiscuous toting of guns. I think it should be sharply restricted and only under licenses.” —for more see Steven Rosenfeld, Salon

¶ “How the NRA Enables Domestic Terrorism,” Jim Wallis, Sojo.net.

¶ Here are some myths that are trotted out regularly by the gun lobby, and that will likely be trotted out again today: “Mass Shooting in Texas and False Arguments Against Gun Control,” Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker.

¶ “Almost two-thirds of the people in the US live in homes without guns, and there is no evidence that the inhabitants of these homes are at greater risk of being robbed, injured or killed by criminals compared with citizens in homes with guns. Instead, the evidence is overwhelming that a gun in the home increases the likelihood not only that a household member will be shot accidentally, but also that someone in the home will die in a suicide or homicide.” —David Hemenway, “Does owning a gun make you safer?” LATimes

¶ Preach it. “Because violence is born of fantasy, visions of peace are the only antidote.” —see Alan Bean, “Violence is born of fantasy; so is the cure”

¶ What to do? In terms of public policy goals, here’s the best suggestion I’ve seen.
         “Frankly, liberal opposition to guns has often been ineffective, and sometimes counterproductive. . . . The left sometimes focuses on ‘gun control,’ which scares off gun owners and leads to more gun sales. A better framing is ‘gun safety’ or ‘reducing gun violence,’ and using auto safety as a model—constant efforts to make the products safer and to limit access by people who are most likely to misuse them.” —Nicholas Kristoff, “How to Reduce Shootings,” New York Times

¶ Commonsense gun regulation. “Do we go to the Ford Motor Company and stay stop making automobiles because people get drunk and kill people in cars?”
         “No, but we do enact stricter blood alcohol limits, raise the drinking age, ramp us enforcement penalties, charge bartenders who serve drunks, and launch huge public awareness campaigns to stigmatize the dangerous behavior in question. We do all those things because it might just help bring drunk driving rates down by, oh, I don’t know, two-thirds in a few decades. And in all that time, Americans didn’t lose the right to buy cars.” —Jon Stewart, Daily Show

¶ Strong bipartisan consensus on these gun-related matters. A 2016 poll found US citizens largely supportive of these forms of gun control: preventing the mentally ill from purchasing guns (89%); background checks for all (including private and gun show sales (84%); barring gun purchases by those on no-fly watch lists (83%); creating federal database to track gun sales (71%); banning assault weapons (68%); banning high-capacity magazines (65%). —Pew Research Center

¶ Even in the military, which rigorously trains troops to use firearms, there are serious gun restrictions. On military bases and naval ships, firearms are kept under lock-and-key except for specified training exercises—though in November 2016 the Department of Defense issued new guidelines allowing open and concealed weapons by military personnel, a policy change vigorously opposed by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley. —see Brendan McGarry, military.org

¶ Can’t makes this sh*t up. One of our nation’s growing vacation trends is machine gun shooting range tourism. “DeSoto County, Florida, Honolulu, and Las Vegas practice aggressive marketing to lure gun-avid tourism. Said one new business owners in South Carolina, “The more people that get to shoot machine guns, the better. Combined with large-scale machine gun shoots and silencer shoots, we hope that some things about who is allowed to own these things and who isn’t changes.” —for more see Hannah Gardner, USAToday

¶ It’s been a while since my grammar schooling; but the rhetoric of the Second Amendment to the Constitution—“A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed”—is not that complicated.

        The second part, concerning the “right to bear arms,” is a dependent clause controlled by the independent clause, on the need to maintain a well-regulated militia. Which is to say, the second part is governed by the first for its significance and meaning. The US no longer has militias, but we do have a national guard, whose members have a right to be armed.

        P.S. It wasn’t until 2008, in the Supreme Court’s District of Columbia v. Heller case, that that this Amendment was judged to protect the constitutional right for every individual, regardless of military service, to own firearms. —for a more thorough presentation on this topic, read the commentary of a real grammarian, Mark Moe, IdeaLog

¶ Call to the table. “. . . we feel round rage and desolation the finally enfolding tenderness.” —Rainer Maria Rilke

¶ Best one-liner. When you hear Republican politicians offering thoughts and prayers today [for the mass shooting in Las Vegas], remember they voted to sell guns to the mentally ill this year. —for more see Jessica Taylor, “House Votes To Overturn Obama Rule Restricting Gun Sales To The Severely Mentally Ill,” NPR

¶ Pastoral admonishment. “It is incomprehensible to us, as Australians, that a country so proud and great can allow itself to be savaged again and again by its own citizens. We cannot understand how the long years of senseless murder, the Sandy Hooks and Orlandos and Columbines, have not proved to Americans that the gun is not a precious symbol of freedom, but a deadly cancer on their society.

        “We point to our own success with gun control in the wake of the Port Arthur massacre, that Australia has not seen a mass shooting since. We have not bought our security at the price of liberty; we have instead consented to a social contract that states lives are precious, and not to be casually ended by lone madmen.” —editorial, Sydney Morning Herald, which goes on to recommend eight specific, commonsensical policy recommendations (Thanks Ivan.)

¶ The state of our disunion. Watch Fox News host Ainsley Earhardt explain why being shot in church is the best place.

¶ More disunion. Ever since 1996 (and quietly renewed in 2015, after the Charleston massacre), Congress has barred the Center for Disease Control from collecting and analyzing gun violence data. —read or listen to (4:52 audio) this PRI story

¶ Altar call. “Well, they guild their houses in preparation for the King / And they line the sidewalks / With every sort of shiny thing / They will be surprised / When they hear him say / Take me to the alley / Take me to the afflicted ones / Take me to the lonely ones / That somehow lost their way.” —Gregory Porter, “Take Me To the Alley” (Thanks Don.)

¶ Benediction. Listen to Stephen Colbert’s brief commentary (3:22 video) on “how gun violence makes us feel powerless—but we’re not.”

¶ Recessional. “Not Again,” Gregg Robins, a song to raise awareness about the proliferation of gun violence.

¶ Lectionary for this Sunday. “Teach your children well. For they are living messages to a lineage you will not see; to a future beyond your horizon.” —continue reading “Teach your children well,” a litany inspired by Psalm 78

¶ Lectionary for Sunday next. “Make vows to the Lord your God . . . who cuts off the spirit of princes, who inspires fear in the kings of the earth.” —Psalm 76:11-12

¶ Just for fun. Saturday Night Live gun satire (1:53 video).

#  #  #

Featured this week on prayer&politiks

• “Is an attack on one an attack on all? The brutal consequences of our nation’s gun fetish,” a short essay

• In preparation for Veterans’ Day (11 November), see “Patriotic holidays in the US: The nation's liturgical calendar celebrating our militarized history.”

©Ken Sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org. Language not otherwise indicated above is that of the editor, as are those portions cited as “kls.” Don’t let the “copyright” notice keep you from circulating material you find here (and elsewhere in this site). Reprint permission is hereby granted in advance for noncommercial purposes.

Feel free to copy and post any original art on this site. (The ones with “prayer&politiks.org” at the bottom.) As well as other information you find helpful.

Your comments are always welcomed. If you have news, views, notes or quotes to add to the list above, please do. If you like what you read, pass this along to your friends. You can reach me directly at kensehested@prayerandpolitiks.org.

 

Signs of the Times  •  15 November 2017 •  No. 144

¶ Processional. Wasamba and the Eco Faeries flash mob drum & dance line at a Perth, Australia commercial district plaza.

Above: Vatnajökull National Park, Iceland. Photo by torino071.

Special issue
TAX DEFORM

(and, no, that’s not a typo)

Introduction

“Do not say to yourself, “My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.”
—Deuteronomy 8:17

        The US Congress, with cheerleading from President Trump and a boatload of corporate lobbyists, is poised to foist on the nation what might be the biggest con job in DC political history, under the cloak of tax reform.

        If approved, the effect on the commonweal will be far more deforming than reforming. It represents the greedification of tax policy. Not to mention an indication of our spiritual poverty.

        The rush to get it passed—without full legislative deliberation and public debate—comes from three sources: (1) The congressional majority has virtually nothing to show for their dominance of the executive and legislative branches of government in 2017; (2) they know the slightly different House and Senate plans are highly unpopular with the general public and need to be wrapped up before a popular revolt emerges; and (3) wealthy donors are already calling to say get-it-done-or-stop-calling.

        I’ve learned seven key things researching this special edition of “Signs of the Times.” Here are the highlights. —continue reading “The greedification of tax policy is a sign of spiritual impoverishment”

¶ Invocation. “Tell me where is the road I can call my own, / That I left, that I lost, so long ago. / All these years I have wondered, oh when will I know, / There's a way, there's a road that will lead me home.”  —“The Road Home,” Stephen Paulus, performed by Conspirare (click the “show more” button to see the lyrics)

¶ Call to worship. “Oh, visit the earth, ask her to join the dance! Coax rain from the sky. Drench thirsty fields awaiting your touch, ready the land for blossom and fruit. Burden every stalk with grain sufficient to satisfy the hunger of all. Let all the barren rejoice. Let the wilderness blossom. Let every failed hope recover, every broken heart be mended, every silenced voice be heard.” —continue reading “Set our hearts on fire,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 65

¶ Finding wonder it out of the way places. Chris Funk of the music group The Decemberists has a passion for finding “the most surprising and most extraordinary people in music.” He recently met and jammed with Gaelynn Lea, who was born with brittle bone disease, confining her to a wheel chair, but writes and performs ballads by playing a violin upright, like a cello. (3:53 video. Thanks Amanda.)

¶ “An ABC News/Washington Post poll released found that most Americans strongly disapprove of the White House's desire to drastically slash the corporate tax rate: 65% of Americans believe that corporations pay too little in taxes, not too much, the survey found. [Only 11% said the corporate tax rate is too high.] Furthermore, 73% of respondents said—consistent with previous surveys—that the US economic system disproportionately favors the wealthy, and that Trump's tax plan will only worsen the gap between the richest and everyone else.” —Jake Johnson, CommonDreams

¶ Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Thursday became the latest Republican to admit the GOP is trying to ram through massive tax cuts for the rich to satisfy its wealthy donors, telling a journalist that if the party's tax push fails, ‘the financial contributions will stop.’” Earlier in the week “Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY) made a similar comment, complaining that his donors are pressuring him to pass tax cuts ‘or don’t ever call me again.’” —Jake Johnson, CommonDreams

¶ “Why tax breaks for big corps do not create jobs,” video (2:49) produced by Alex Cequea for act.tv.

¶ "‘Those with the very highest incomes would receive the biggest tax cuts,’ Tax Policy Center's report, the first in-depth analysis of Trump's proposals, notes. ‘Taxpayers in the top 1% (incomes above $730,000), would receive about 50% of the total tax benefit [in 2018]; their after-tax income would increase an average of 8.5%.’” —Jake Johnson, CommonDreams

¶ “Most important is the linkage [in Ephesians 5:5] of greed (pleonektes) with idolatry, so that exploitative affront against a vulnerable neighbor is equated with false worship. That equivalence, in the horizon of the Sinai commandments, brings together the first commandments on idolatry (Exod. 20:1-6) and the tenth commandment on coveting (Exod. 20:17).” —Walter Brueggemann, Money and Possessions

¶ “The first independent analysis of the Republican tax plan is in, and its bottom line is about what you’d expect: The vast majority of benefits go to the very richest Americans. The analysis comes from the Tax Policy Center, a joint effort by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute and the producer of some of the most authoritative economic analyses produced in Washington. The center calculates that by 2027 the top 20% of U.S. taxpayers (those earning $149,400 or more in 2017) would receive 86.6% of all the tax cuts in the GOP ‘framework’ released on Wednesday and the top 1% (income of $732,800 and up) would pocket 79.7% of the benefits. The top 0.1% ($3.43 million and up) would get almost 40% of all the benefits, collecting an average break of more than $1 million a year.” —Michael Hiltzik, LATimes

¶ “Bloomberg’s analysis of the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation’s breakdown of the Senate tax reform plan found that in 2019, the average filer with an income between $50,000 and $75,000 would save a whopping $688, while those with earnings of more than $1 million would gain an additional $58,000.” —Helaine Olen, “Why are Republicans rushing tax reform through? So voters don’t find out who loses,” Washington Post

¶ “Under both the Senate and House bills, nearly half of households making less than $100,000 will see either a negligible tax change or even a tax hike in 2019, according to calculations from Martin Sullivan, chief economist at Tax Analysts. By 2027, that share rises to 61% under the House bill, which phases down some of the provisions that help middle-class families.” —Catherine Rampell, “If the tax bill is so great, why does the GOP keep lying about it?” Washington Post

¶ “. . . the richest one percent—with average incomes of $2 million—will collectively get $72 billion in tax cuts in 2018 under the Trump plan. That money is enough to cover individual health insurance premiums for more than 12.6 million adults. Or, that $72 billion could cover Pell grants for 12.3 million low-income, and often first generation, college students. Or, that same $72 billion could create 689,900 jobs through infrastructure investment.” —Lindsay Koshgarian, CommonDreams

¶ “A new analysis by the New York Times shows that President Donald Trump would save himself well over a $1 billion if the proposals he laid out were to become law.” —Jon Queally, CommonDreams

¶ "You shall know the truth, and the truth will make you mad." —Aldous Huxley

¶ Hymn of praise. “I Saw the Light / I’ll Fly Away” medley, David Crowder.

¶ Wealth inequality in the US—a stunning visual dramatization. (6:23 video)

¶ Watch this brief video (2:33) of Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA) asking some very revealing questions of Thomas Barthold, chief of staff for Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation.

¶ “With a tax burden of 25% — a measurement that includes income, property, and various other taxes — the US is near the very bottom [on individual tax rates], well below the average of 34%. It ranks below all the measured countries [in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development] except Korea, Chile, and Mexico. . . . [D]eductions and other tax strategies mean relatively few US corporations actually get stuck paying the maximum nominal 35% rate, instead paying about 20% on average.” ­—Ian Salisbury, Business Insider

¶ “U.S. corporate taxation isn't all that big compared with other countries'. As of 2014, U.S. corporate tax revenues were at around 2.2 percent of the GDP. The OECD [Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development] average was 2.8 percent.” —Danielle Kurtzleben, “Does the US Have the Highest Corporate Tax Rate in the World?” NPR

¶ Do corporations need a tax cut to stay competitive? Six reasons why they don’t, from Robert Reich (2:45 illustrated video).

¶ “Our [Global Economy Project] report analyzes the 92 publicly held American corporations that reported a profit in the US every year from 2008 through 2015 and paid less than 20 percent of their earnings in federal income tax.” —Sarah Anderson, New York Times

¶ Confession. “My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress. It’s time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice.” —Warren E. Buffett, one of the wealthiest people in world, who admits that the tax percentage he pays on his income is less than half (on average) that of the other 22 people in his office, New York Times

¶ “. . . the tax plan gives American corporations a $2 trillion tax break, at a time when they’re enjoying record profits and stashing unprecedented amounts of cash in offshore tax shelters.” —Robert Reich, CommonDreams

¶ Hymn of intercession. “Weeping Eyes,” Amir Bar-David & Revital Khalfon.

¶ “More than 400 American millionaires and billionaires are sending a letter to Congress this week urging Republican lawmakers not to cut their taxes.” —Heather Long, Washington Post

¶ Words of assurance. “Softly and Tenderly,” Reba McEntire, Kelly Clarkson & Trisha Yearwood.

¶ Professing our faith. “The godness of YHWH has to do with taking sides against the wicked, that is, the ones who imagine they are autonomous and so are free to prey on the vulnerable.” —Walter Brueggemann, Money and Possessions

¶ By the numbers. “From 2006-2012 at least two-thirds of all corporations had NO federal income tax liability. Moreover, 42% of the largest corporations—those with at least $10 million in assets—paid no income tax in 2012. In fact, 18 major companies actually got tax rebates.” —sources: Roger Yu, USA Today & Patricia Cohen, New York Times

¶ Preach it. “That such language [denouncing private wealth] could still be heard at the heart of imperial Christendom [in the 4th-5th centuries] . . . suggests that it had by then lost much of its force. It could be tolerated to a degree, but only as a bracing hyperbole, appropriate to an accepted religious grammar—an idiom, that is, rather than an imperative. . . .  but in general, Christian adherence had become chiefly just a religion, a support for life in this world rather than a radically different model of how to live.” —David Bentley Hart, author of a new New Testament translation, “Are Christians Supposed to Be Communists?” New York Times

¶ The call to the table includes “the decisive break with conventional economics that assumes that ‘treasure in heaven’ does not require divestment of treasure on earth.” —Walter Brueggemann, Money and Possessions

¶ The state of our disunion. At the very time President Trump was issuing a proclamation naming November as “National Adoption Month,” Congress was hawking a tax plan that eliminates tax credits for adoptive families. —for more see Nathaniel Weixel, “Conservatives hit GOP tax bill for nixing adoption credit,” The Hill

¶ Hymn of resolution. “I'm gonna make my world a better place / I'm gonna keep that smile on my face / I'm gonna teach myself how to understand / I'm gonna make myself a better man.” —Keb’ Mo’, “Better Man”

¶ “Republican tax policy focuses on one central idea: If you cut taxes, the economy will grow. Now the man who helped write that doctrine says it's a myth. Bruce Bartlett, author of ‘The Truth Matters,’ was an economic policy adviser for presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. And during the 1980s, he championed the idea that tax cuts would equal growth in the economy. In a recent op-ed in the Washington Post, Bartlett debunks the myth that, as he puts it, he helped create. Marketplace host Kai Ryssdal talks with Bartlett about the GOP tax myth and why it's lasted so long.” —Kai Ryssdal & Shadeen Ainpour, MarketPlace

¶ “In the US, the 400 richest individuals now own more wealth than the bottom 64% of the population and the three richest own more wealth than the bottom 50%, while pervasive poverty means one in five households have zero or negative net worth.
        “Those are just several of the striking findings of Billionaire Bonanza 2017, a new report by the Institute for Policy Studies that explores in detail the speed with which the US is becoming ‘a hereditary aristocracy of wealth and power.’" —Jake Johnson, CommonDreams

¶ For the beauty of the earth. Photographer Chad Cowan has driven almost 100,000 miles across the US chasing powerful supercell thunderstorms and recording them in high definition. Cowan has recorded hundreds of storms and condensed the highlights into this short film titled “Fractal.” (3:22 video. Thanks Dick.)

¶ “The economist Gabriel Zucman and his colleagues have spent years estimating how much wealth is stashed in low-tax havens and what that means for government coffers. He’s found that 63% of foreign profits made by American multinational corporations are stuffed in these subsidiaries and accounts, depriving the country of about $70 billion in tax revenue each year.” —Bryce Covert, “Paradise Papers Show How Misguided the GOP Is On Taxes,” New York Times

¶ More than a few giant multinational companies based in the US are allowed to use creative bookkeeping methods—declaring the bulk of their business “losses” in the US and their “profits” overseas. Some even got tax rebates from the Treasury Department. —see Paul Buchheit, “This is how the biggest companies cheated on taxes in 2016,” Alternet

¶ Altar call. “The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little.” —Exodus 16:18

¶ Benediction. “We can go on—we must go on—by taking little steps forward and cherishing the occasional light that shines through the blackness. Those that honor only greed and deception as their deity cannot win and we have to survive to be around to pick up the pieces after they are gone. We will go on.” —“How Can We Possibly Go On,” by Jackie Alan Giuliano

¶ Recessional. Tine Thing Helseth and the Norwegian Broadcasting Orchestra performing J. S. Bach, "Trumpet Concerto in D after Vivaldi, 2nd movement" 

¶ Lectionary for this Sunday. “Make vows to the Lord your God . . . who cuts off the spirit of princes, who inspires fear in the kings of the earth.” —Psalm 76:11-12

Left: photo by Johnny White

¶ Lectionary for Sunday next. “Set our hearts on fire,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 65.

¶ Just for fun. Taiwan’s Isaac Hou, amazing cyr wheel performer. (1:59 video)

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Featured this week on prayer&politiks

• “Set our hearts on fire,” a litany for worship inspired by Psalm 65

• "The greedification of tax policy is a sign of spiritual impoverishment,” commentary on congressional tax "reform"

Resources for Thanksgiving
• “Gratitude,” a litany for worship
• “Why is it hard to say thanks? 10 reasons”
• “Come Ye Thankful (and Ye Cranky) People Come,” a call to worship on Thanksgiving by Abigail Hastings
• “Now Thank We All Our God,” revised lyrics to a traditional Thanksgiving hymn
• “On saying thanks,” a poem

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