Destruction and distraction. (Reflections On Tolerance).I AM WRITING THIS THE SAME WEEK our church is preparing to celebrate the Festival of Christ the King. The Gospel lesson is that often heard but seldom heeded text from Matthew 25 where the King comes back for the final judgment. The text is often read as a call to personal charity but the summons is to the nations of the world to deal kindly with the last, the least and the lost. Nations will be judged, our national policies will finally came under the scrutiny of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords Lord of Lords may refer to:
meantime, meanwhile it is left to people of faith, of conscience and of good will to call our president, our senators and our representatives in Congress to account for the use, or misuse, of our treasure. In this nation more than any other nation in the world, the relationship between personal conscience and national policy is intimate. This is a country that claims to be of the people, hence our government's policies are ours, the buck stops in front of each of us. The administration of George W. Bush has consistently decreased financial help to the United Nations in several areas and particularly to programs dealing with family planning family planning Use of measures designed to regulate the number and spacing of children within a family, largely to curb population growth and ensure each family’s access to limited resources. . In the summer of 2002 several newspaper editors and commentators condemned the Bush administration for withdrawing its, and our, financial support from the United Nations Population Fund The United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) began funding population programs in 1969. It was renamed the United Nations Population Fund in 1987, but kept its original abbreviation. . Without shooting a bullet or dropping a bomb, quietly the president's decision will likely cause incredible loss of life. This is a true weapon of mass destruction weapon of mass destruction (WMD) Weapon with the capacity to inflict death and destruction indiscriminately and on a massive scale. The term has been in currency since at least 1937, when it was used to describe massed formations of bomber aircraft. accompanied by clever mass distraction. Negative actions against choice in the international arena are coupled with a concerted effort at the national level to undermine reproductive and sexual health including a $33 million proposal for abstinence-only education; an expansion of health care coverage to embryos and fetuses while withdrawing it from pregnant women; and an attempt to end contraceptive coverage in health insurance for federal employees. This is not a time for people of conscience to give up. Rather, it is a time to multiply our efforts and to keep on keeping on. I return to the theme of the Festival of Christ the King to conclude. The symbols of the Kingdom of God and of Christ the King have the power of rendering all other forms of government relative. We who are ambassadors of Christ the King derive our power to oppose any government, especially an administration that is blind to the needs of women and children at home and abroad, from our ultimate and complete allegiance to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I am aware of the feminist critique of these symbols and I join in those efforts as well, but this may just be a time when we cling to Verb 1. cling to - hold firmly, usually with one's hands; "She clutched my arm when she got scared" hold close, hold tight, clutch hold, take hold - have or hold in one's hands or grip; "Hold this bowl for a moment, please"; "A crazy idea took hold of the implicit power of the symbols to enable us to redouble re·dou·ble v. re·dou·bled, re·dou·bling, re·dou·bles v.tr. 1. To double. 2. To repeat. 3. Games To double the doubling bid of (an opponent) in bridge. v. our efforts to challenge a regime that is clearly not faithful to the Prince of Peace. REV. IGNACIO CASTUERA is a pastor at St. John's United Methodist Church United Methodist Church, in the United States, religious body formed by the union in 1968 of the Evangelical United Brethren Church and the Methodist Church (see Methodism). in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , California. |
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