Re: Relevant Issues and Concerns Pt. 2

starbug_56 · Sat, 15 Sep 2001 10:15:21 -0700

A few comments in the interest of
openness:

First, I'm a Unitarian Universalist of Roman Catholic
heritage. I do not consider myself Christian because I
don't literally believe the supernatural claims of
theism. However, I have a tremendous respect for the
ideas of the teacher Jesus of Nazareth. I think the
Falwells and Robertsons of the world are using other
people's suffering towards their own self-aggrandizement .
They may read their Bibles, but they're certainly not
absorbing much of what they read (particularly anything
that comes after Leviticus -- the last time I read it,
the Bible had more than three books in it.) When
someone I know identifies himself or herself as
Christian, I don't associate that person with Falwell or
Robertson. I assume the best -- I presume that person has
actually internalized the best of what Jesus of Nazareth
had to say. 

Second, the Americans who are
asking the hardest and most subtle questions now are the
ones I'm proudest to consider fellow Americans.
Someone mentioned Michael Moore and Noam Chomsky. They
are two of the writers who are, right now, as they
have been for years, giving me the most hope for the
future. You may disagree, maybe very strongly, with their
overall political opinions, but if you find them
"anti-American", you're not understanding any of what they're
writing. Don't read them if they make you angry right now
-- you don't need that -- but do understand that
they represent authentic, very much American voices
that are shared and respected by many of
us.

Third, as the flip side of my second point, I've been
tremendously impressed by the behaviors of some people whose
political beliefs and/or actions I often wouldn't
personally support under more mundane conditions. Mayor
Giuliani, for example, has been a class act under the worst
conditions anyone can imagine. 

And, fourth, as an
anecdote: One of my best college friends is an Army officer
whose political beliefs are quite conservative. She was
transferred out of the Pentagon several months before the
attack , which hit the wing of the building where she
used to work and killed some of her closest
co-workers. She was the first person I wrote to after hearing
of the attack, and I literally cried with relief
when she wrote back a few hours later. I'm as sorry
for her loss, and as relieved for her safety, as I'm
sad for the death of the politically very liberal
friend of ours who was aboard that plane. As far as I
can tell, true concern doesn't come with distinct
right and left wings. 

Julie