Speaking of Faith

Speaking of Faith was a public radio program hosted by Krista Tippett that began airing as an occasional
series on Minnesota Public Radio in 1999 and evolved into a weekly national program in 2003.

The radio program has now morphed into one called On Being whose website is here. Tippett describes On Being as "conversation about meaning, religion, ethics, and ideas." *

In her 2007  book called Speaking of Faith, Tippett gives a memoir of religion of her time and ours. I especially enjoyed the chapter called "Speaking of Faith." Here is an excerpt:

The reasoned and moderate Muslim center will not be not secular, nor will the Christian or Hindu or Mormon or Jewish center.  Developing eyes and ears for moderation does not mean denying the importance of religion in human life. It means inviting and enabling the devout to bring the best of their tradition to bear in the world. In the macroeconomic, macropolitical, macroreligious sphere, as much as in our private lives, we must develop eyes to see and ears to hear. Islam offers nothing more and nothing less than the gentle lived faith of ordinary Muslims--at home and at school, in hospitals and in soup kitchens--to counter indelible images of airplanes crashing into buildings. To train our eyes on that is to accept the challenging idea that I live by, that my guests live by: that each person's presence, action, and words in the world  matter, however inconsequential they may seem against the backdrop of this evening's news. Religions remind us of this fact, this faith. Like any political or economic theory, this is empirically unverifiable. I choose it. Week after week, my conversation partners illuminate the imaginative and pragmatic possibilities of this choice.

_______________
  *In my area, On Being airs on WEKU-FM twice on Sundays.

Human Nature

His Holiness the Dalai Lama spoke of human nature and its basic goodness in his book with Howard C. Cutler M.D. called, The Art of Happiness in a Troubled World (Doubleday, c2009):

The basic goodness of human beings doesn't rule out that there will be these destructive acts like we saw on 9/11. We can't expect that every human being will live in accordance with these principles reflecting our basic human nature. After all, all our spiritual teachers failed to turn the entirety of humanity into something good. The Buddha failed. Jesus Christ failed. But then to go on to say that since all these great masters in the past failed, we will fail too, so, well then, why bother? That approach is also foolish. We should do what we can.

9-11!

9-11!

Wake up!

Help!

Er, not now!

Change!

Repent!

Who--me?

Who--US?

Like most Americans I remember where I was on 9-11-01. The only other time and event as such I remember where I was and what I was doing was November 22, 1963--the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. I was in high school, in algebra class. We heard a radio announcement through the school’s public address system.

9-11-01 was a beautiful sunshiny warm day here in Frankfort, KY, my hometown, as it was in New York City and Washington, D.C.

I left my sick teenage daughter home watching TV while I took off for a walk. When I came back I found that the first plane had hit the World Trade Center. My daughter and I watched TV off and on throughout the day.

I watched a lot of TV after that--especially CNN and PBS. I have always appreciated the PBS coverage and follow-up--analytical, thoughtful, informative, educational, in-depth programming.

I also read a lot--both in print and online. I learned a lot about Islam, Afghanistan, American foreign policy, etc. I had already been learning and praying about the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict. I knew there was a connection.

I was devastated by the American all-out military response of the Global War on Terror and I still am. I was horrified by the U.S. invasion of Iraq, especially knowing there was no connection there.

Following 9-11, I joined a monthly prayer vigil for peace. I took prayer walks in my neighborhood that included around the Kentucky Capitol Building. I helped organize a community celebration of the International Day of Peace on September 21.

Leading up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, I stood at first alone and then with my husband weekly before Frankfort’s Federal Building to protest. I stood with a sign in front of Kentucky’s Old Capitol, next to the Federal Building during a holiday celebration. With a friend, I organized a large MoveOn.org candlelight vigil before the New Captiol.

I gave up when the invasion of Iraq actually happened. When I found out that the war was not going to be the cakewalk as promised I began protesting again.

I really do not have the exact timeline of protests and events. I will say that a few joined me in my protests, that we had had a few events, including observances of the International Day of Peace and Mother’s Day for Peace. In the process we became a chapter of CODEPINK: Women for Peace.

After weekly protest vigils for sometime, especially after President Obama was inaugurated, people began leaving the vigil and I finally became unable to do so. I still maintain a listserv for CODEPINK Frankfort with announcements, news, and e-actions.

I have been blogging for peace and I have written occasional Letters to the Editor on the matter of peace. I participate in online activism.  I have also joined and am now on the board of the Frankfort Chapter of the United Nations Association.

9-11 was my wake-up call. I have dedicated my life to peace. I try to live for peace and in peace. I pray for peace. I use the prayer and affirmation of the World Peace Prayer Society, May Peace Prevail On Earth! In fact, I Declare World Peace. I have also signed the Charter for Compassion believing that compassion and peace itself, not war, is the way to peace.

Along the way I have acquired a new faith--Unitarian Universalism (See here and here).

I am still reading and I am still learning, too. (See some of my reading at my Beautiful Books page. Also check out my Lilting Links page as well as the Links in the Sidebar.)  I wish I could do more in the active mode, but I am limited because of circumstances.

I do encourage others to join the work of peace. I wish my own country would do so, too.

According to CostofWar.com of the National Priorities Project, the United States has spent 1.3 trillion dollars in total war spending since fiscal year 2001.

That same amount of money, the Website says, could have provided for

• 646.0 million Children Receiving Low-Income Healthcare for One Year OR
• 18.6 million Elementary School Teachers for One Year OR
• 122.0 million Fair Market Rent for One Bedroom Apartment for One Year OR
• 165.8 million Head Start Slots for Children for One Year OR
• 602.2 million One Year Worth of Groceries for an Individual OR
• 259.2 million People Receiving Low-Income Healthcare for One Year OR
• 159.9 million Scholarships for University Students for One Year OR
• 227.1 million Students receiving Pell Grants of $5550.

Something is wrong here. Instead of bombing and making war on others, the United States needs to invest in its own. Yes, we can and must help others abroad, but war is not the way. We must also not neglect our own people. We must Bring Our War $$ Home!

9-11!

Wake-up!

Help!

Osama bin Laden's Death

The US Needs to Focus on Not Creating Any More bin Ladens | | AlterNet

I would like to recommend this wonderful interview with Samina Sundas, the founder of American Muslim Voice, a post-9-11 group, by Rae Abileah, a Jewish-American of Israeli descent and a CODEPINK organizer. The interview is rather lengthy, but well worth the read. Sundas speaks to American foreign policy and I believe we need to take heed.

The interview was done the morning following the assasination of Osama bin Laden by the United States.

Uprising in Egypt

I am following the protests in Egypt while praying and hoping. I have not had much chance to post heretofore.

On Feb. 4, though I never read the advice column anymore, I happened to notice in Dear Abby the Thought for the Day which seems apropos: "How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." -Anne Frank

I trust that Egypt will turn out for the better, but whatever happens I know that Egypt, the Middle East or the world will not be the same. It is now a new game plan especially for the Middle East.

I believed that 9-11 should have been the wake-up call for a new U.S. foreign policy. I guess there is always hope that it can start here. The U.S. needs to get away from supporting dictators and corrupt regimes who rule against their own people and against our own values. "White man speaks with forked tongue," the Native Americans said. We need to practice what we preach as another saying goes. Human rights are not just for Americans. I have said before that it is not naive to have a foreign policy based on the Golden Rule.

May Freedom, Justice, and Peace Prevail in Egypt. I Declare World Peace. Power to the People.

9-11

911 is an emergency call, a call for help in distress. To me. that is part of what 9-11-01 was about.

Afghanistan was in distress, Israel-Palestine was in distress. People of the Muslims faith, especially extremists, were in distress. There was hurt and there was pain.

I deplored the response of my country. All out war was not the answer.

I believed that 9-11 was a wake-up call for the United States of America to change its ways in the world, to change its ways of doing its foreign policy business. 9-11 was blowback for our building up of the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan and the Taliban, too, and for our ungainly, overarching support of Israel against the Palestinian people who had lived in the Land for centuries.

For me. 9-11 was my own wake-up call. It was a call to learn of another faith, Islam, and to learn of and  involve myself in foreign policy. I have since learned about other faiths and I have devoted myself to working against war and for world peace.

I have always believed in the Golden Rule--treating others as they would wish to be treated--and I now believe that even foreign policy should be built on that rule. This is maybe wishful thinking, but it is not stupid thinking. I am convinced that the Golden Rule actually works. People respond as to how they are treated.

In accordance with the Golden Rule which is  held by all faiths and in opposition to the Islamaphobia that seems to be pervading this country and the ensuing acts engendered by it, I continue and especially at this time urge folks to sign the Charter for Compassion and to support it.

The Peace Advocate has been a supporter of the Charter and even has a separate page devoted to it. Please go to the tab at the top, learn about it, and sign on.

On this 9-11, there are people in this country who are in distress, too. May the Charter for Compassion be in effect.