Labels, Laws, Politics, and Pragmatism

I am attempting to define “compassionate conservative” for one person who is genuinely asking what it means. This is less a blog than an attempt to answer, though I claim to be no expert and only offer my opinion. Here goes.

While not always my favorite source, Wikipedia has some interesting tidbits on the term. Clearly the juxtaposition of “compassionate” and “conservative” is supposed to be a bit jolting so it is not surprising to read that one of the origins was used in a chiding way.

Nonetheless the term was promoted later with pride to denote a conservatism that did not turn a blind eye to social ills. I am not writing as an apologist for any political party or administration but would like to point out that the idea of a compassionate conservative is feasible.

From a religious standpoint, divergence about compassion and policy was most notable around 1900 when the more conservative evangelicals poured their energy into the Temperance Movement while progressive mainline churches promoted the Social Gospel.

Compassionate conservatism was espoused by the Bush Administration as a means of bringing conservatives into the social services movement . Building upon the Clinton Administration’s Charitable Choice which allowed churches and other religious institutions to receive government funds more easily, the Bush Administration became even more visible in building partnership between faith-based organizations and government, establishing the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. The Obama Administration has a strong Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Long story short, faith-based group including conservatives evangelicals can and do have partnerships with government to offer aid and hope in communities.

Government funds do not and cannot got to prosthelytizing but can go to services offered by conservative and as well as mainline faith groups. In Memphis we see both. For example the Emmanuel Episcopal Center and MIFA – mainline, progressive – work in the Peabody-Vance area not far from Streets Ministries and Advance Memphis – conservative, evangelical. The partnership between the City of Memphis and Memphis Athletic Ministries is a good example; faith-based MAM contracted with the City to re-open four closed community centers.

There are even evangelical groups embracing environmental activism. Similarly, I am a member of REP, Republicans for Environmental Protection, a small but credible voice.

The term compassionate conservative is not used much anymore and it is hardly the kind of topic that would make page 1 above the fold of a newspaper when there are so many more interesting stories with candidates from both right and left screaming at each other. It is important to look at actions separate from rhetoric, and it is also important not to lump people into huge homogenous groups.

Your second question: what is the Religious Right. The short-hand refers to an alliance of faith-base and political groups which share turf on the far right of the spectrum. To go back to the example of the Temperance Movement and the Social Gospel, both the fundamentalist and the liberals were exhorting congregations to civic engagement as a matter of conscience …that engagement simply took different directions. If there is a Religious Right (and there certainly is), then there is also a Religious Left. Contrast Jerry Falwell with William Sloane Coffin and you‘ll get the idea.

I think of compassionate conservative as a 1990s term and religious right as a 1980s term. The landscape today is different. Political debate today is childish and mean-spirited and often for show while the work of community building carries on in spite of the politicians. Some social service groups, both faith-based and secular, are working together, some working along parallel tracks, there is some duplication and redundancy, but I can’t recall seeing non-profits and community initiatives that are absolutely working at odds with one another. Compassion is expressed with different priorities in our town, but most of it in the right direction.

Why I commemorate Sept 12th!

Memories of the tragedy of 9/11 have been inescapable this weekend. It is right and fitting to honor the memories of the fallen.

But I also want to honor another memory. I want us to recall how people reponded, how people came to help in any and every way they could.

The frustration of being in a city far from ground zero, unable to offer direct help, was channeled into an unquenchable determination to find a way to help. My memory of 9/12 of spending over 12 hours in the parking lot of FOX 13 with volunteers accepting donation of bottled water, canned food, clothing, mosey, household item, and more that filled two tractor trailers. I remember a subsequent sorting of multiple truckload at a warehouse and the items were prepared for shipment north. I saw familiar faces, complete stranger, people barely able to make it much less donate, and well heeled civic leaders, all standing side by side, oblivious to any label other than that of "volunteer" throwing box after box until all our muscles ached. This lasted more than a day or week as people continued coming up with ways to help.

That horrible event helped shape a new mindset of services that we have seen again and again in response to hurricanes, tsunamis, floods, tornadoes, and more: we learned how to help each other as never before.

That is the lesson of 9/12.

Musing on the Arab Spring

Prague Spring. If you don't remember the uprising in Czechoslovaka in 1968 (or perhaps you don't remember Czechoslovaka at all - now the Czech Republic and Slovakia), then I will remind you that it failed. It failed just as the Hungarian revolution of 1956 failed and for the same reason: no support from the West.

It is easier for the West to support the Arab Spring because there is no threat of thermonuclear war from a Warsaw Pact. Honeslty up until Libya, all we really had to do was for the Arab Spring to work its magic was support Twitter. The alleged "no fly" zone policy in Libya was a farce as it quickly turned into an all out air assault on the minions of a dictator who was only a bit less stupid and somewhat less cruel that Idi Amin Dada (Ghadafi made colonel while Amin only made corporal after all).

I have no problem with air assaulting Libyan military assets to hell and further if for no other reason than it is a lovely piece of irony given Libya's air assault over Lockerbie, Scotland. The spineless Scots paroled the assassin for medical reasons a couple of years back, but kharma did a number on Libya anyway.

The case to watch now is Syria, the longtime strongman of the Middle East. Assad -- the kinder, gentler son -- has been stiffening his resistance to change after seeing how Mubarak is being treated in Egypt. Mubarak deserves better, Ghadafi deserve worse, but Assad's fate is something to watch closely, especially if you happen to be governing in a nearby kingdom or emirate.

It took 20 years, but the former Czechoslovakia gained freedom and a measure of prosperity. I think the Arab states are moving at a faster pace, but hopefully not too fast to be stable.

Three words for you to look up

Three words for you to look up before you completely forget about the rapture that probably isn't happening tomorrow - amillennial, premillennial, and postmillennial. Pop quiz: if you are a member of a Christian denomination, do you know which of the three that your denomination espouses? Ah, maybe not.

While we never need to get hung up in theology when we could be serving the poor or stewarding God's creation, the fact is that people have been asking questions about good, evil, redemption, eternity and such for quite a long time. And other people have been offering answers - some good, some not so good. It is something to think about.

Whether concerning religion, politics, social & civic issues, or anything else, it is good from time to time to reflect on what you believe and why. Values should be part of daily life...not something we ponder only when the cable goes out!

Have a rapturous day!

A Holiday Carol

The bright light in the sky – a UFO? extraterrestrial beings? – caught the eyes of a guru, a shaman, and a druid. These three wise men journeyed long to follow the light. Coming into a small town during a tax-free shopping holiday , they loaded up on a gifts, just in case. Heck, these could always be stowed in a gift closet for next year’s office holiday party if it came to that. As evening set it, they noticed that a large convention in town has taken up most of the hotel rooms. Passing a parking garage, they noticed a woman giving birth. They lamented that there was no universal health care in this backward country, as they walked past a found a drum circle in a nearby park. Suddenly the light became brighter and all the drummers cried in unison: the winter solstice has arrived! bless us every one! Everyone immediately began decorating trees until the police admonished them against celebrating a religious event in a public park. Next to one of the abandoned drums, the wise men found a stash of an interesting substance wrapped in paper and smoldering at one end; they breathed deeply and then started the long journey home. The passed the parking garage on the way back where they saw beings in white robes with halos singing , but they hurried by to get to a Krystal down the street.

"Mistakes were made" they said

Occasionally I make mistakes. Like daily. Though I try not to make the very same ones daily. Some are of the "I'll look back on this and laugh" variety. Many are not. Some make your heart sink. Most of the time I really do mean well. And that gives me pause when I am poised to pass judgment, pause to ask what is a mistake and what is an attack or sabotage or apathy...and how will I know, with being a mind reader, know for certain, intention? And does intention always trump consequence? or vice versa? Hhhmmmm....

Don't Burn a Koran

Please don't call yourself a Christian and behave in such a stupid way. We have military personnel fighting alongside a whole lot of good Muslim people to try to defeat some terrorist nutcases. We are not fighting a war against Islam. We had troops in Vietnam fighting Communists from North Vietnam, not killing all Vietnamese anywhere in both North and South. My house was burglarized 10 years ago by two black men who were caught and convicted of the crime, but I don't see every single black person in Memphis as my enemy because of two knuckleheads. It appears that someone in Russia swiped my credit card number last week and sold it to thug in Connecticut to go on a free shopping spree, but I don't hate all Russians as a result. Nearly 50 years ago some stupid white Christians thought to squash civil right protests by bombing a black church in Alabama (and killing four little girls); those little girls were innocent.

Reason and logic seem to go out the window for some people when they feel angry but are not exactly sure whom to be angry with; painting with a broad brush to vent such anger only results in more harm.

Our service men and women overseas will now have a more difficult time working with allies because some idiots in Gainesville, Florida think a bonfire was a good idea. Think again.