The Value of a Dollar

I'm in a pickle over this economic disaster. I don't know enough about economics to understand exactly what all these bailouts mean. I do realize that while $700 billion sounds staggering, when it comes to macroeconomics, it's a little different from looking at your checkbook.

I know that. But it still makes me nervous.

If this all started with people not being able to make their mortgage payments, Washington's response seems at best, misguided.

I know that's a simplistic way of looking at a complex situation, but a number of things occur to me here. First, the talk in Washington should be how do we fix the problem of people not being able to afford their house payment, not, how do we bail out the ones who lent them the money.

Second, we should be careful about where the blame goes. I understand there are people who probably broke laws and deliberately deceived borrowers. They should come forward and be brought to justice. In addition however, this can be a time when each of us examines how we spend our money. Are we relying on other people to tell us what we can or cannot afford? It doesn't take a PhD in economics to know if there's more going out than coming in, that's a problem.

What it is that is the source of true joy? Jesus says, love God, and love your neighbor as yourself. Love doesn't cost a thing - and it doesn't come from a big, fancy house, a Lexus or giant television.

PS - Maybe the Muslims are on to something when they talk about the sin of borrowing and lending money...

Small, Big - Who's 'Real'?

With Sarah Palin being from a small town, and Barack Obama coming from Chicago, it seems that the size of one's hometown is becoming a political issue.

I grew up in a small town - Cheney, WA. I currently live in a small, distant suburb of Chicago, but have lived in or near the cities of Seattle, Boston, Belfast and Dublin. I have to admit, I prefer the diversity and variety of things to do that I've experienced in cities. But that's me. What I find curious is how on both sides of this issue, it seems that people tend to delegitimize the other.

For instance, I heard a delegate to the Republican convention talk about the "real people" and "real values" in small towns. While I would agree that there tend to be some differences between small and big town people and their values, it's a bit insulting to insinuate that big town people are somehow not 'real'.

Similarly, I am not so naive as to be unaware of the portrayal of small town folks as uneducated hicks, who can be easily dismissed because there aren't enough of them to affect our busy, urban lives.

That is, until presidential elections come around and we get to deal with the pesky little thing called the electoral college.

I would like to get to a point where rather than fight with each other over who is right or moral or real, we can simply recognize the truth of our diversity and realize that's okay. It's okay to live in different sized places, and it's okay to disagree on our values. The diversity of experiences is a lot of what makes living in the US so interesting. We're not all the same - and that's okay.

Jesus Was a Low Wage Worker

It's a good reminder every now and then to remember that Jesus was homeless. He was dependent upon the grace of strangers and friends for his meals and for a place to sleep. The way that we treat our working citizens in this country bears a direct relationship to how we view the sanctity of every human life. Matthew 25:40 - "Just as you did it to the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me." 

This video was made to be funny, but it's all too real in terms of how many corporations (and some of those in government) use their power over others to benefit only themselves. 

A Nice Reminder on Grace

Loving Real People, in the Real World

In the real world, moralism is a lot less black and white than the Republican party has been able to admit.

Today, we learn that Sarah Palin, John McCain's VP candidate, has a pregnant 17 year old daughter, Bristol. The salivating news anchors I saw on TV were quick to add that Bristol plans on marrying the child's father, and that her parents are glad she's decided to keep the baby.

Here we have another opportunity for Republican politicians to realize they're living in a real world, not one imagined by Ned Flanders. The GOP world, in which everyone is Christian, white, heterosexual, and abstinent, simply does not exist.

The world I live in is more complicated than that. Not everyone is Christian in my world, nor are they necessarily heterosexual or white. Humans are created as sexual beings, so it's not a shock that someone gets pregnant without being married (and it's not automatic that the mother should marry the father either).

Jesus talked a lot about the real world in which he lived. It was a world in which race, religion and gender didn't matter so much as how people treated each other. Jesus talked about loving people, not judging labels. Maybe the realness of Gov. Palin's daughter's experience can inspire the GOP to stay away from judging people this week, and be honest about policies.