Is the essential about being a man or a woman different or is it the same? I am referring to something beyond being a human being. Is the way that a man is human essentially different from the way that a woman is human? Or is there no difference?
This question has come up several times in the last couple of weeks. It came up as Carol and I listened to some DVD talks by Richard Rohr, who seems to talk as if there is an essential difference between men and women but hedges so carefully about the issue - especially when he has younger women in his audience - that I begin to think that gender is cultural with him.
In my direct experience lately, the question has come up as I observe my wife and my daughter together preparing Mary's apartment for the residency journey, and myself, as I deal with too many "management" issues that seem without end, without a sort of "accomplishment" point or coda, when I can rest, that is, where I can reach a place where I am left alone for awhile, feel pretty good about what I accomplished up to that point, look around, and then decide what I want to do next. I identify the former - building, managing, and administering a living place, that is a family economy or village economy or a larger, community economy that will be comfortable and useful over time - with femaleness. I identify getting to a successful finish, then resting, and then moving on to the next, essentially new task (not just another task or an old task that comes up cyclically) with maleness.
Two brothers (I'm not referring to my sons) I knew were very successfully in business together, the one the "outside" person - the salesman, the personality, the one coming bck in with the new ideas, and the other the "inside," managing the processes, the employees, the architecture, so firm and sure. Is it more male to be the outside partner? (But we have two males!)
Does it matter whether gender is essential or cultural? I think it does, because cultural is changable, although sometimes at a great cost. Essential, on the other hand, is not changeable. Spending time challenging the essential is a waste of time, at best, and destructive, at worst.
I am not saying that the essence of being a man is being a husband and father or of being a woman being a wife and mother. But I will say that the the race depends on this being the case often enough and it is because of the essential differences when it is the case, but it is not necessarily always the case and it does not need to be. There is a way of being a doctor, I think, that will at some "essential" level be a male way for men and a female way for women. And that will be a very good thing. It would be wrong, however, to deal with men and woman doctors by denying that the differences one sees belong to the essential. At least so it seems to me.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Friday, June 14, 2013
Christian Gnosticism showing up: Showing up on unhealthy bodies.
A 2006 Purdue University study first broke the news that religious people tended to be heavier than nonreligious, with "fundamental Christians" weighing in as the heaviest of all religious groups. Lead researcher Ken Ferraro minced no words: "America is becoming a nation of gluttony and obesity, and churches are a feeding ground for this problem."
-from an excellent article in the June 2013 issue of Christianity Today, entitled "The Fitness Driven Church."
More from the article, written by the very gifted Leslie Leyland Fields:
"We've been teaching very little about 'body,' and when we do, it's primarily negative: don't get drunk, don't smoke or take drugs, and don't have sex outside of marriage," Gary Thomas, author of Every Body Matters: Strengthening Your Body to Strengthen Your Soul, tells me. "Until recently, we've not known where to go from there."
After years of being a consumer of MSEM ("Mainstream Evangelical Media,") whether directly from the pulpit, in Sunday School classes, at conferences, magazines, etc., it has only been in the last several years that I awakened to what I describe as an aspect of Christian Gnosticism, an aspect that ignores the importance of what we put into our bodies and taking care of them. Ms. Fields refers to the problem as "dualism". Her article quotes 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, and that's one of many appropriate Biblical references:
19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
My kids will remind me that, years ago, when I taught a high school Sunday School class that each of them attended, I would bring to each class meeting a box of a dozen freshly baked donuts from Dunkin'. Mea culpa. On the subject of churches feeding children and young people bad food (not to mention adults), Ms. Fields reports:
An 18-year Northwestern University study released in 2011 found those who attended youth group as teenagers were 50 percent more likely to be obese by the time they were 50 than those who didn't.
(Two years I posted on a fine article in CT written by Leslie Leyland Fields on the matter of what church-goers eat.)
-from an excellent article in the June 2013 issue of Christianity Today, entitled "The Fitness Driven Church."
More from the article, written by the very gifted Leslie Leyland Fields:
"We've been teaching very little about 'body,' and when we do, it's primarily negative: don't get drunk, don't smoke or take drugs, and don't have sex outside of marriage," Gary Thomas, author of Every Body Matters: Strengthening Your Body to Strengthen Your Soul, tells me. "Until recently, we've not known where to go from there."
After years of being a consumer of MSEM ("Mainstream Evangelical Media,") whether directly from the pulpit, in Sunday School classes, at conferences, magazines, etc., it has only been in the last several years that I awakened to what I describe as an aspect of Christian Gnosticism, an aspect that ignores the importance of what we put into our bodies and taking care of them. Ms. Fields refers to the problem as "dualism". Her article quotes 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, and that's one of many appropriate Biblical references:
19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
My kids will remind me that, years ago, when I taught a high school Sunday School class that each of them attended, I would bring to each class meeting a box of a dozen freshly baked donuts from Dunkin'. Mea culpa. On the subject of churches feeding children and young people bad food (not to mention adults), Ms. Fields reports:
An 18-year Northwestern University study released in 2011 found those who attended youth group as teenagers were 50 percent more likely to be obese by the time they were 50 than those who didn't.
(Two years I posted on a fine article in CT written by Leslie Leyland Fields on the matter of what church-goers eat.)
Thursday, June 13, 2013
"Locked, Loaded, and Ready to Go!"
[A]ccording to a handful of quarterback tutors, including Trent Dilfer and Chris Weinke, among others who have recently praised Tebow’s changed throwing motion, he won’t be throwing his signature lame-duck passes for much longer, either.
“Like I told Tim when I found out (Monday) that he signed, ‘You’re locked and loaded, ready to go,’” Weinke told USA Today on Tuesday.
The most recent praise came from former IFL (Intense Football League) All-Star Dennis Gile, who worked extensively with Tebow on his throwing mechanics for more than three months in Scottsdale, Ariz., after last season. Gile, who was himself once signed by the Patriots as a undrafted free agent in 2003 but was subsequently released during training camp, told the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday that Tebow’s throwing motion has become “100 times better.”
-from today's New York Dailey News.
“Like I told Tim when I found out (Monday) that he signed, ‘You’re locked and loaded, ready to go,’” Weinke told USA Today on Tuesday.
The most recent praise came from former IFL (Intense Football League) All-Star Dennis Gile, who worked extensively with Tebow on his throwing mechanics for more than three months in Scottsdale, Ariz., after last season. Gile, who was himself once signed by the Patriots as a undrafted free agent in 2003 but was subsequently released during training camp, told the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday that Tebow’s throwing motion has become “100 times better.”
-from today's New York Dailey News.
Wednesday, June 05, 2013
All Things Do Not Automatically Work Themselves into a Pattern of Good.
Growing up at Central Baptist Church in the Fifties meant a lot of Scripture memorization. It was not drudgery for a child. In fact, because the adults took Scripture so seriously, a child quoting Scripture would become the center of admiring attention. My mind filled up with Bible verses and even chapters, all King James Version. The Scripture in that translation still inhabits me. One fragment from Romans 8 is verse 28:
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
All things work together for good?
John Stott writes that
the familiar AV [KJV] rendering 'all things work together for good' is surely to be rejected, since all things do not automatically work themselves into a pattern of good. The AV statement would be acceptable only if 'it is the sovereign guidance of God that is presumed as the undergirding and directing force behind all the events of life' [citation omitted]. An early copyist evidently felt the need to make this explicit by making 'God' as the subject of the verb. But the manuscript for this reading, although 'both ancient and noteworthy' [citation omitted] is insufficient to secure its acceptance. The addition is also unnecessary, for the order of the words permits the translation 'we know that for those who love God he is working . . . '. He is ceaselessly, energetically, and purposefully working on their behalf. Stott, The Message of Romans, p. 247.
The Revised English Bible (1989) gets it right:
[A]nd in everything, as we know, he [God] co-operates for good with those who love God and are called according to his purpose.
The NIV (1983) somewhat similar:
And we know in all things [even sad and desperate things] God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
When things work out, absent God's cooperation they tend not to work out.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
All things work together for good?
John Stott writes that
the familiar AV [KJV] rendering 'all things work together for good' is surely to be rejected, since all things do not automatically work themselves into a pattern of good. The AV statement would be acceptable only if 'it is the sovereign guidance of God that is presumed as the undergirding and directing force behind all the events of life' [citation omitted]. An early copyist evidently felt the need to make this explicit by making 'God' as the subject of the verb. But the manuscript for this reading, although 'both ancient and noteworthy' [citation omitted] is insufficient to secure its acceptance. The addition is also unnecessary, for the order of the words permits the translation 'we know that for those who love God he is working . . . '. He is ceaselessly, energetically, and purposefully working on their behalf. Stott, The Message of Romans, p. 247.
The Revised English Bible (1989) gets it right:
[A]nd in everything, as we know, he [God] co-operates for good with those who love God and are called according to his purpose.
The NIV (1983) somewhat similar:
And we know in all things [even sad and desperate things] God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
When things work out, absent God's cooperation they tend not to work out.
Tuesday, June 04, 2013
Better Late than Never for Wal-Mart and its Groceries
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which is working to keep its produce aisles fresh, announced steps to improve the quality of its fresh fruits and vegetables.
The nation's largest grocer and retailer said Monday it is making more changes in its operations, training and sourcing as it looks to increase sales of bananas, lettuce and other produce and instill more confidence among shoppers looking for healthier choices.
-from an AP report in today's Herald.
Here's more:
But analysts say that despite Wal-Mart's pledge to make its food healthier, its produce often looks tired and well below the quality of rivals like Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Costco and Kroger. C. Britt Beemer, chairman of America's Research Group, says that at Wal-Mart, some of the "produce is fresh, some isn't."
"It's not consistent," he says, describing some of the fresh fruit as "wilted."
Burt Flickinger III, president of retail consultancy Strategic Resource Group says it's key for grocers to make sure they offer the freshest strawberries, cabbage and the like since produce carries 50 percent higher profit margins than canned fruits and vegetables. It also adds a halo to the store brand and fosters shopper loyalty.
"Consumers don't have confidence in Wal-Mart's fresh produce the way they have confidence in Whole Foods, Costco and other competitors," says Flickinger. He and others say that a big factor is that Wal-Mart has cut so much store staff that it doesn't have as many workers to stock the shelves in a timely manner.
Look at those profit margins on produce. One can do well by doing good in the retail food business. What a concept.
The comment about Wal-Mart cutting its staff is very telling. I remember a successful businessman in my church years ago telling me that "You've got to have good people working for you, Paul."
Later, a successful business consultant, my older son's father in law, told me that he had never met a lawyer yet who had enough help. What he was referring to is the tendancy of "good" lawyers not to let things go, that is, not to delegate and to develop people who are competent to receive delegation. (You can't bill for teaching, and we worship the billable hour.) He made that observation just as I was leaving the big firm and opening the small one.
It was the best practice advice I have ever received, and it came at just the right time. At the old firm, I had a paralegal, a half a secretary, and one half of an associate. (Plus a gigantic staff for 300- 400 lawyers, a staff with its own inertia and inefficiency.) The firm would not allow me to hire anyone else. (Their advice was to work harder, if I had more work than I could presently handle.)
Now we are six lawyers, three paralegals, one secretary, and a lot of technology - all growing from the same practice. (Plus a staff of five, some part time, who are extremely efficient and nimble.)
The nation's largest grocer and retailer said Monday it is making more changes in its operations, training and sourcing as it looks to increase sales of bananas, lettuce and other produce and instill more confidence among shoppers looking for healthier choices.
-from an AP report in today's Herald.
Here's more:
But analysts say that despite Wal-Mart's pledge to make its food healthier, its produce often looks tired and well below the quality of rivals like Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Costco and Kroger. C. Britt Beemer, chairman of America's Research Group, says that at Wal-Mart, some of the "produce is fresh, some isn't."
"It's not consistent," he says, describing some of the fresh fruit as "wilted."
Burt Flickinger III, president of retail consultancy Strategic Resource Group says it's key for grocers to make sure they offer the freshest strawberries, cabbage and the like since produce carries 50 percent higher profit margins than canned fruits and vegetables. It also adds a halo to the store brand and fosters shopper loyalty.
"Consumers don't have confidence in Wal-Mart's fresh produce the way they have confidence in Whole Foods, Costco and other competitors," says Flickinger. He and others say that a big factor is that Wal-Mart has cut so much store staff that it doesn't have as many workers to stock the shelves in a timely manner.
Look at those profit margins on produce. One can do well by doing good in the retail food business. What a concept.
The comment about Wal-Mart cutting its staff is very telling. I remember a successful businessman in my church years ago telling me that "You've got to have good people working for you, Paul."
Later, a successful business consultant, my older son's father in law, told me that he had never met a lawyer yet who had enough help. What he was referring to is the tendancy of "good" lawyers not to let things go, that is, not to delegate and to develop people who are competent to receive delegation. (You can't bill for teaching, and we worship the billable hour.) He made that observation just as I was leaving the big firm and opening the small one.
It was the best practice advice I have ever received, and it came at just the right time. At the old firm, I had a paralegal, a half a secretary, and one half of an associate. (Plus a gigantic staff for 300- 400 lawyers, a staff with its own inertia and inefficiency.) The firm would not allow me to hire anyone else. (Their advice was to work harder, if I had more work than I could presently handle.)
Now we are six lawyers, three paralegals, one secretary, and a lot of technology - all growing from the same practice. (Plus a staff of five, some part time, who are extremely efficient and nimble.)
Meeting Steve Peifer
Carol and I had the honor of meeting Steve Peifer Saturday night. We drove up to Boca Raton for dinner with Steve at P.F. Chang's, and Mary was with us. She had gotten to know Steve and his wife well when Mary was at RVA. I'm still thinking about that occasion with Steve, having never met anyone like him. Ever.
As evident in his recent book A Dream so Big, he is a natural story teller. He doesn't take several pages to tell the story. He can grab you and finish you off in a paragraph on the written page and in a few sentences over a meal. Grab you and finish with you unforgettably. What a gift!
And there are gifts onto gifts with Steve, because his stories are about his interactions with people. That gift on the gift of story telling is the way he creates a story. He has a natural willingness to engage people in situations in which people like me would not engage (would not engage as my brothers the priest and the Levite in Luke 10 would not engage). I would, for example, have ignored the young woman who walked up to Steve early one morning in a 24 hour grocery store in the States to tell him in a challenging way about her very recent coke-fueled debauchery. Steve said he looked at her and asked her what she was doing with her life. She broke down in tears and followed him to his car in the parking lot, where they prayed and she gave her life to Christ. And that wasn't it. That story goes on about God's restorative Grace in this young woman's life. Steve's right in the middle of it. Good grief! Wake up, Stokes! What is going on around you into which God would call you if you just got out of and over yourself?
The Huffington Post has an excerpt of his book.
As evident in his recent book A Dream so Big, he is a natural story teller. He doesn't take several pages to tell the story. He can grab you and finish you off in a paragraph on the written page and in a few sentences over a meal. Grab you and finish with you unforgettably. What a gift!
And there are gifts onto gifts with Steve, because his stories are about his interactions with people. That gift on the gift of story telling is the way he creates a story. He has a natural willingness to engage people in situations in which people like me would not engage (would not engage as my brothers the priest and the Levite in Luke 10 would not engage). I would, for example, have ignored the young woman who walked up to Steve early one morning in a 24 hour grocery store in the States to tell him in a challenging way about her very recent coke-fueled debauchery. Steve said he looked at her and asked her what she was doing with her life. She broke down in tears and followed him to his car in the parking lot, where they prayed and she gave her life to Christ. And that wasn't it. That story goes on about God's restorative Grace in this young woman's life. Steve's right in the middle of it. Good grief! Wake up, Stokes! What is going on around you into which God would call you if you just got out of and over yourself?
The Huffington Post has an excerpt of his book.
Sunday, June 02, 2013
Friday, May 31, 2013
ECO Received into the WCRC
The World Council of Reformed Churches has received the Convenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians ("ECO") into its fellowship. This is an important step in making ECO even more attractive to moderate and conservative PC(USA) congregations seeking a less riven denomination. It has been more than a year in the making.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
McClatchy's Two-Bit Smear of Michelle Bachmann
"[Bachmann, who will not seek a fifth term in Congress,] leaves a legacy of political missteps and lots of incendiary rhetoric - often loaded with false accusations and wild exaggerations."
-from today's Miami Herald, under "News" and not under "Opinion".
Are we surprised at the Herald's declining circulation and influence?
(McClatchy Newspapers are the people who sold choice Miami waterfront to Hong Kong casino operators.)
-from today's Miami Herald, under "News" and not under "Opinion".
Are we surprised at the Herald's declining circulation and influence?
(McClatchy Newspapers are the people who sold choice Miami waterfront to Hong Kong casino operators.)
Monday, May 27, 2013
The Only Thing that Counts
The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
-Galatians 5:6b, Stott's text today in Through the Bible Through the Year.
My NIV Study Bible's note includes, "Faith is not mere intellectual assent (see Jas 2:18-19) but a living trust in God's grace that expresses itself in acts of love (see 1 Th. 1:3)."
I especially like the 1 Thessalonians 1:3 cross-reference in the NIV note:
We continually remember before our God and Father[, Paul writes,] your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
The theme in Scott's text is Christian freedom. One of the points he makes is the following:
Christian freedom is not freedom to exploit our neighbor. Rather, "serve one another in love" (v 13 of Galatians 5). There is a powerful paradox here. So far from having liberty to ignore, neglect, or abuse our neighbors, we are commanded to love them and through love to serve them. So from one point of view Christian freedom is a form of slavery - not slavery to our selfish nature but to our neighbor. We are free in relation to God but slaves in relation to each other.
I remember a preacher stating that a husband has no rights as far as his wife is concerned, only duties. And vice versa. I was willing to meet him half way on that proposition, the vice versa half of it. He was completely right, of course.
-Galatians 5:6b, Stott's text today in Through the Bible Through the Year.
My NIV Study Bible's note includes, "Faith is not mere intellectual assent (see Jas 2:18-19) but a living trust in God's grace that expresses itself in acts of love (see 1 Th. 1:3)."
I especially like the 1 Thessalonians 1:3 cross-reference in the NIV note:
We continually remember before our God and Father[, Paul writes,] your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
The theme in Scott's text is Christian freedom. One of the points he makes is the following:
Christian freedom is not freedom to exploit our neighbor. Rather, "serve one another in love" (v 13 of Galatians 5). There is a powerful paradox here. So far from having liberty to ignore, neglect, or abuse our neighbors, we are commanded to love them and through love to serve them. So from one point of view Christian freedom is a form of slavery - not slavery to our selfish nature but to our neighbor. We are free in relation to God but slaves in relation to each other.
I remember a preacher stating that a husband has no rights as far as his wife is concerned, only duties. And vice versa. I was willing to meet him half way on that proposition, the vice versa half of it. He was completely right, of course.
Saturday, April 27, 2013
I have a Juris Doctor degree. No one calls me doctor. No one should.
See this post on "Dr. Biden" from Glenn Reynolds. Hilarious. Sad.
Monday, April 22, 2013
A New Book; an Old Book; Mere Christianity
A new book is still on trial, and the amateur is not in a position to judge it.... The only safety is to have a standard of plain, central Christianity ("mere Christianity" as [Richard] Baxter [the 17th Century pastor] called it), which puts the controversies of the moment in their proper perspective. Such a standard can only be acquired from old books. It is a good rule, after reading a new book never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between.
-C.S. Lewis, God is in the Dock, ed. Walter Hooper (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1970), pp. 201-20s, as quoted in Foster and Smith, Devotional Classics: Selected Readings for Individuals & Groups (San Francisco, CA: Harper Collins, 1993) p. 2.
As to "mere Christianity" and C.S. Lewis, go here.
-C.S. Lewis, God is in the Dock, ed. Walter Hooper (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1970), pp. 201-20s, as quoted in Foster and Smith, Devotional Classics: Selected Readings for Individuals & Groups (San Francisco, CA: Harper Collins, 1993) p. 2.
As to "mere Christianity" and C.S. Lewis, go here.
Friday, April 19, 2013
CDC report: Illnesses linked to poultry, seafood rising.
Mary forwarded this from today's issue of the AMA's "Morning Rounds":
The AP (4/19) reports, "Bacteria commonly linked to raw milk and poultry is causing more and more food poisonings, health officials said." Over the past five years, the number of Campylobacter cases "grew by 14 percent," according to a report (pdf) released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although the report, which the CDC refers to as "the nation's annual food safety report card," was "based on foodborne infections in only 10 states" (about 15% of the US population), it is considered to be a "good indicator of food poisoning trends."
The AP (4/19) reports, "Bacteria commonly linked to raw milk and poultry is causing more and more food poisonings, health officials said." Over the past five years, the number of Campylobacter cases "grew by 14 percent," according to a report (pdf) released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although the report, which the CDC refers to as "the nation's annual food safety report card," was "based on foodborne infections in only 10 states" (about 15% of the US population), it is considered to be a "good indicator of food poisoning trends."
The Wall Street Journal (4/19, A3, Tomson,
Subscription Publication, 2.29M) adds that the report also showed a 43-percent
increase over the 2006-2008 rate of infections from Vibrio bacteria. Last July,
cases of Vibrio, which has symptoms similar to cholera, prompted the Food and
Drug Administration to issue a consumer warning against eating shellfish from
Oyster Bay Harbor in Nassau County, New York. The Journal notes that an FDA
spokesperson said the agency is accelerating its efforts to gain jurisdiction
over how states implement plans to control for Vibrio contamination.
The Los Angeles Times (4/19, Healy, 692K)
"Booster Shots" blog says Vibrio and Campylobacter were
"followed distantly by Shigella, Cryptosporidium, Escherichia coli,
Vibrio, Yersinia, Listeria and Cyclosporidium," in the report. Of the
"15,531 food-borne illnesses reported by the CDC's 10-site surveillance
system in 2012, 4,563 resulted in hospitalization and 68 resulted in
death." And although "Salmonella killed the largest number of
infected patients, Listeria was the most deadly, killing 10.74% of the 121
patients who were infected by it."
In its coverage of the CDC report, Bloomberg News (4/19, Armour) notes that the
"Obama administration has been slow to fully enact the 2011 Food Safety
Modernization Act, which was supposed to be the most sweeping overhaul of US
food safety in 70 years." One of the "two regulatory proposals"
the FDA released "Jan. 4 to carry out the core of the food safety act would
give companies one year to develop a formal plan for preventing the causes of
food illness. The second would force produce farms with a 'high risk' of
contamination to develop new hygiene, soil and temperature controls."
The CDC report is also covered by the Denver Post (4/19, Booth, 443K) "Daily
Dose" blog, The Packer (4/19, Ohlemeier, 13K), HealthDay (4/19, Preidt), Medscape (4/19, Lewis) and MedPage Today (4/19, Petrochko).
Friday, April 12, 2013
Camillus House Completes its $80 Million Upgrade; the Hon. C. Clyde Atkins; Murray Sams and My First Day in Federal Court (Updated)
The Herald today reports a hopeful advance in the care and rehabilitation of the Homeless in Miami.
Also today, the Herald reports the other side of the story. The Homeless continue to impose a huge cost on Miami's development, impeding the renaissance of Downtown and near-Downtown. The Hon. C. Clyde Atkins, US District Judge, issued 20 years ago a restrictive ruling in response to high-handed police efforts to clear tent cities established by the Homeless. (It reflected the settlement of a suit brought by the ACLU against the City of Miami.) Those tent cities were on the doorstep of the cruise-ship terminals. Now that venerable and even then (perhaps) impractical order is under attack. Having spent most of my waking hours during that 20 year period working in and about Downtown Miami, I would say that it is very much time to give that order another look.
We should note, however, that Norwegian Cruise Lines is a big contributor to the Camillus House project, according to the first linked article. One has to ask whether Camillus' success in raising funds and drawing positive attention from the private sector would have occurred without the obstacles that Judge Atkins' order created.
The church where I grew up, Central Baptist, is located across the street from a Federal office building that is part of a complex that includes the Federal Court House. According to a story told me during the late 1980s - early 1990s by one of the members of that church, Judge Atkins' office was on the north side of that building, directly across the street from the south side of the church and its south-side entrance, which is quite wide. An architectural feature of that entrance is a portico that extends over the sidewalk. Because that part of the sidewalk was so well covered, homeless people would camp out there at night. They made a mess, according to the people at the church, and it took some time each morning to clean up after the campers.
Judge Atkins apparently knew this was going on. He could see this situation from his office window, according to the person who told me this story. Judge Atkins called the church office one day and told the receptionist that the church was not to disturb the homeless camping under the portico. The church did not.
My first appearance in federal court as a lawyer was in 1972. It was before Judge Atkins and it was unplanned. I was a green associate at Smathers & Thompson, and one of the partners asked me to review the court file of a case before him. At that time, the federal judges kept the court files for their cases in their chambers rather than in the clerk's office, the practice in the state court system. So I went to Judge Atkin's chambers and asked his secretary for permission to review the file.
She said that the file was not in the office, but with the judge himself who was, at that very moment, conducting a hearing in the case. I telephoned the partner and told him the situation. Somehow he had not gotten the word that the judge had convened a hearing. "Well," the partner said, "Go on in there and take care of this!"
So into the court room I went. The lawyer on the other side was Murray Sams, Jr., a legendary trial lawyer. Holy Cow!, I thought. About the only other thing I remember, other than that it turned out all right that day, is that Murray came up to me just after the hearing. In his thoroughly charming and gracious way, he introduced himself and welcomed me to federal court. Then, he proceeded to tell me that my clients were involved with the Mafia and did I know that? Murray Sams, the consummate advocate.
Also today, the Herald reports the other side of the story. The Homeless continue to impose a huge cost on Miami's development, impeding the renaissance of Downtown and near-Downtown. The Hon. C. Clyde Atkins, US District Judge, issued 20 years ago a restrictive ruling in response to high-handed police efforts to clear tent cities established by the Homeless. (It reflected the settlement of a suit brought by the ACLU against the City of Miami.) Those tent cities were on the doorstep of the cruise-ship terminals. Now that venerable and even then (perhaps) impractical order is under attack. Having spent most of my waking hours during that 20 year period working in and about Downtown Miami, I would say that it is very much time to give that order another look.
We should note, however, that Norwegian Cruise Lines is a big contributor to the Camillus House project, according to the first linked article. One has to ask whether Camillus' success in raising funds and drawing positive attention from the private sector would have occurred without the obstacles that Judge Atkins' order created.
The church where I grew up, Central Baptist, is located across the street from a Federal office building that is part of a complex that includes the Federal Court House. According to a story told me during the late 1980s - early 1990s by one of the members of that church, Judge Atkins' office was on the north side of that building, directly across the street from the south side of the church and its south-side entrance, which is quite wide. An architectural feature of that entrance is a portico that extends over the sidewalk. Because that part of the sidewalk was so well covered, homeless people would camp out there at night. They made a mess, according to the people at the church, and it took some time each morning to clean up after the campers.
Judge Atkins apparently knew this was going on. He could see this situation from his office window, according to the person who told me this story. Judge Atkins called the church office one day and told the receptionist that the church was not to disturb the homeless camping under the portico. The church did not.
My first appearance in federal court as a lawyer was in 1972. It was before Judge Atkins and it was unplanned. I was a green associate at Smathers & Thompson, and one of the partners asked me to review the court file of a case before him. At that time, the federal judges kept the court files for their cases in their chambers rather than in the clerk's office, the practice in the state court system. So I went to Judge Atkin's chambers and asked his secretary for permission to review the file.
She said that the file was not in the office, but with the judge himself who was, at that very moment, conducting a hearing in the case. I telephoned the partner and told him the situation. Somehow he had not gotten the word that the judge had convened a hearing. "Well," the partner said, "Go on in there and take care of this!"
So into the court room I went. The lawyer on the other side was Murray Sams, Jr., a legendary trial lawyer. Holy Cow!, I thought. About the only other thing I remember, other than that it turned out all right that day, is that Murray came up to me just after the hearing. In his thoroughly charming and gracious way, he introduced himself and welcomed me to federal court. Then, he proceeded to tell me that my clients were involved with the Mafia and did I know that? Murray Sams, the consummate advocate.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
China Has Aborted 336 Million Babies since 1971
This, according to that country's own records apparently.
According to World Magazine's Jamie Dean, this number is "equvalent to the U. S. population". Of course, the U. S. population would be much larger without our country's own abortions, government protected if not government sponsored.
A new estimate published by the National Right to Life Committee indicates there have been an estimated 54,559,615 abortions [in the U.S.] since the Supreme Court handed down its 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision allowing virtually unlimited abortions.
-from a 1/23/12 post in LifeNews.com, a post a year old. So the figure today would be greater.
I would suggest that the collective culpability of our nation is greater than China's, given our cultural and religious history, and the peace, freedom, and prosperity with which God has blessed us for over two centuries. Think of what China has had to deal with in the last two centuries. In the 20th Century alone, think of its exploitation by the West, its invasion by Japan, its civil wars, and the Cultural Revolution. I don't say that to excuse China, because it also had a profound penetration by the Gospel in that century. I am saying it to elucidate more fully our own moral situation here in the United States.
According to World Magazine's Jamie Dean, this number is "equvalent to the U. S. population". Of course, the U. S. population would be much larger without our country's own abortions, government protected if not government sponsored.
A new estimate published by the National Right to Life Committee indicates there have been an estimated 54,559,615 abortions [in the U.S.] since the Supreme Court handed down its 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision allowing virtually unlimited abortions.
-from a 1/23/12 post in LifeNews.com, a post a year old. So the figure today would be greater.
I would suggest that the collective culpability of our nation is greater than China's, given our cultural and religious history, and the peace, freedom, and prosperity with which God has blessed us for over two centuries. Think of what China has had to deal with in the last two centuries. In the 20th Century alone, think of its exploitation by the West, its invasion by Japan, its civil wars, and the Cultural Revolution. I don't say that to excuse China, because it also had a profound penetration by the Gospel in that century. I am saying it to elucidate more fully our own moral situation here in the United States.
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