Archive for February, 2004

More on capital punishment

Published
by
Hugo Schwyzer
on February 11, 2004
in Aggression and violence, Christianity and Politics
. 1 Comment

Here is a link to the PDF-file of Mennonite Central Committee’s position paper on the death penalty. As bloggers across California debate the merits of the delayed Kevin Cooper execution, I thought I would do a bit more digging into the theological rationale for seeing capital punishment as inherently wrong and unChristian. It’s worth looking at, especially this claim, which I have heard before from my fellow Anabaptists:

Christ’s death on the cross, itself an application of capital punishment, canceled the Old Testament basis of shedding blood to testify to life’s sacredness (Hebrews 10). Christ died that others may live. By trading places with the guilty and the enemy, by dying in the place of the murderer Barabbas, Christ closed off any sacrificial reason for the death penalty. Jesus did not die for some sinners. He died for all. Unless we believe that every person, whether murderer or not, is redeemable and must have the chance to be redeemed, there is no real gospel. Depriving a person of the possibility of reconciliation with God and humanity is the real tragedy of capital punishment.

(Bold emphasis is mine). Though the MCC pamphlet does look at the issue of the possibility of the innocent being executed, it wisely grounds its opposition to capital punishment elsewhere, in the gospel.

And for those who think opposition to capital punishment is an innovation for modern liberal Christians, I found this quote from Lactantius, a third-century Christian writer whom I vaguely remember from a graduate course in patristics:

For when God forbids us to kill, He not only prohibits us from open violence, which is not even allowed by the public laws, but He warns us against the Commission of those things which are esteemed lawful among men . . . . a just man (ought not) accuse any one of a capital charge, because it makes no difference whether you put a man to death by word or rather by the sword, since it is the act of putting to death itself which is prohibited. Therefore, with regard to this precept of God, there ought to be no exception…

“Most of these comments are really wacky and have no basis in reality”

Published
by
Hugo Schwyzer
on February 10, 2004
in Ratemyprofessors and Vanity
. 2 Comments

Hadn’t checked my Ratemyprofessors site in a while (I think it was down for a long time), but gave into temptation just now and visited. The usual variety of comments, but the caption for this entry regards how I feel about just about all of them, even though most were fairly laudatory. After reading a particularly nasty comment last fall, I swore off visiting for quite a bit, knowing that even after all these years, my fragile human ego is too easily bruised by unkind (if perhaps not entirely inaccurate) remarks.

I just think my friends who are lawyers, homemakers, pharmaceutical reps, salespeople, pastors, seminary students, business managers and doctors should have rating sites as well. On second thought, what a miserable idea!

Coming after the gentle ones

Published
by
Hugo Schwyzer
on February 10, 2004
in Christianity and Politics
. 3 Comments

The Bush Administration is coming after Catholic peace activists in Iowa, reports Counterpunch and Religious Liberal Blog.

It is not communists in the State Department they are going after, but antiwar and environmental activists. In this particular instance, antiwar activists attending a forum held at a private university in Iowa.

Last week a federal judge ordered Drake University to turn over “all documents indicating the purpose and intended participants in the meeting, and all documents or recordings which would identify persons that actually attended the meeting,” according to the Associated Press. In addition to documents listing attendance at the forum, the subpoena orders the university to cough up all records relating to the local chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. The leader of the Catholic Peace Ministry, the former coordinator of the Iowa Peace Network, a member of the Catholic Worker House, and an antiwar activist who visited Iraq in 2002, was also served a subpoena.

For those of you unfamiliar with the depth of the subversiveness over at the Catholic Worker, check out their site here, and their wonderful summary of Aims and Means here:

The aim of the Catholic Worker movement is to live in accordance with the jusice and charity of Jesus Christ. Our sources are the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures as handed down in the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, with our inspiration coming from the lives of the saints, “men and women outstanding in holiness, living witnesses to Your unchanging love.”

This aim requires us to begin living in a different way. We recall the words of our founders, Dorothy Day who said, “God meant things to be much easier than we have made them,” and Peter Maurin who wanted to build a society “where it is easier for people to be good.”

Well, no wonder they ran afoul of the Patriot Act. I await my subpoena, but my most recent visit to the mailbox was disappointing.

UPDATE: The subpoenas have been withdrawn. Thank heavens.

Traffic

Published
by
Hugo Schwyzer
on February 10, 2004
in Blogging and Christianity
. Closed

Thanks to recent mentions by XRLQ and E-Claire, my visitors to this site have increased dramatically. But when the splendid and kind traditionalist, Kendall Harmon, picked up my “Why I am not an Episcopalian” post yesterday, it sent my traffic through the roof. For the first time since I began blogging, I have had over 500 unique hits in 24 hours. I am very pleased.

Capital punishment, war, abortion, consistency, and the obvious absence of coffee.

Published
by
Hugo Schwyzer
on February 10, 2004
in Abortion, Aggression and violence, Capital punishment, Christianity, Pacifism, Politics and War
. 11 Comments

In my post below on Kevin Cooper (whose execution in California was stayed overnight by the Ninth Circuit, a stay that was upheld by the Supremes), I linked to the Save Kevin Cooper website. XRLQ pointed out, correctly, that I seemed to be making two separate arguments for sparing Cooper — one based on doubts about his guilt, the other based on a blanket opposition to capital punishment. While the arguments can be complementary, of course, I realize that the first argument is actually irrelevant for me as a Christian. Heck, in my as of yet not fully awake state, I repent of having made it at all.

If we put time and energy as anti-death penalty activists into questioning the guilt of those on death row, we imply that we believe that capital punishment can be appropriately applied to the truly guilty. The historic position of Mennonites (which I mentioned below) has generally been that the death penalty is never appropriate, regardless of the guilt or innocence of the condemned person. To my mind, Cooper’s execution is fundamentally immoral, and I will grieve his judicial murder (should it in fact still take place, as it may well) without giving a moment’s thought to whether he actually committed the crime. Is that willfull ignorance on my part? Perhaps. But the tragedy of capital punishment is not that it sometimes is applied unjustly, it is that that capital punishment is inherently unjust.

Most Mennonites don’t debate whether wars are “just” are not, because (thank the good Lord) we believe all wars to be inherently “unjust”. The whole notion of a Just War tradition may be an interesting and fascinating intellectual exercise to us, but ultimately, when people kill people, we pacifists tend not to be too concerned with the rationale behind that killing. We reject the Just War tradition entirely in favor of an ethical pacifism that bravely (perhaps stubbornly) refuses to acknowledge the delicate distinctions that our fellow Christians make. That radical consistency also applies to our feelings on capital punishment.

But here is where my liberal friends will leave me: though I remain conflicted in my own mind as to how best to work to end abortion, I am convinced that the “rape exemption” is equally intellectually and spiritually untenable. Just as the guilt or innocence of Kevin Cooper is irrelevant to my opposition to his execution, so too are the circumstances of the conception of the preborn child irrelevant to the question of that child’s right to be born. I cannot even begin to imagine how traumatic it must be to carry a child conceived in violence to term. The fact that it must be unspeakably difficult and tremendously painful does not mean that it is not the fundamentally right thing to do. (How long before they pull me out of my classroom and tell me I am not fit to teach Women’s Studies — my favorite class — any longer?)

These are radical arguments. To most, they seem simplistic and easy. I once held far more nuanced positions, positions that I thought were reflective of my recognition of the complexity of situations like abortion, war, and capital punishment. But maybe sometimes, folks, the way of the cross isn’t as subtle as we highly educated western Christians think it is. Of course, it’s early morning, and this insufficiently-caffeinated fellow could be totally wrong.

Compliments from the other side

Published
by
Hugo Schwyzer
on February 9, 2004
in Blogging
. 3 Comments

Noted conservative blogger and Bear Flag League member XRLQ has paid me a most surprising compliment, which I quote with delight:

Hugo Schwyzer (is) an anti-abortion, pacifist, anti-death penalty socialist who manages to be polite to just about everybody, to the point of declining to call me “pro-death” even when I basically invited him to do so.

Cool. And he’s got me right.

Two thirds for Dennis

Published
by
Hugo Schwyzer
on February 9, 2004
in Feminism, Marriage, Men's Movement and Politics
. Closed

Dennis Kucinich finished third this weekend in both the Washington and Maine caucuses, garnering an astonishing 15% of the Maine vote, and finishing ahead of both Clark and Edwards. It’s possible, given that he does well on a shoestring budget, that he will be the last candidate to withdraw from the field, long after everyone else has ceded the nomination to John Kerry.

Thanks to the Kucinich website, here’s a link to the Belfast (Maine) Community News, which has a glowing endorsement of Dennis. It also makes a point that I had not heard before, that for Democrats, the single most important constituency in November may be single women (both with and without children), rather than the famous married “soccer moms” whose votes are said to be prized above all others…

Without any evidence at hand for me to look at, I can’t say with certainty that unmarried or divorced women are the base of the Democratic party. But there is something to be said for the argument that the most fundamental difference between Dems and Republicans in this country is the issue of marriage. Perhaps working class single women know just how tough it is to make it on their own, and they recognize that the state needs to provide at least a basic amount of support in order for them to prosper or at least, survive. On the other hand, middle-class single women also — and this is a wild generalization, of course — fear losing their precious autonomy; thus abortion rights (which symbolize autonomy like nothing else) become of paramount importance.

Some neo-conservatives in the men’s movement (like Warren Farrell) have gone so far as to suggest that the Democratic Party serves to advocate for the state as a “replacement” for husbands and fathers. According to this theory, so many women have been embittered by the many and varied forms of male abuse and betrayal that they (not surprisingly) have sought emotional, sexual, legal, and economic independence from men. Finding that such total independence is really a luxury available only to a few, many single women have begun to believe that the government ought to provide some of the economic safety once provided for by husbands — or, perhaps, by churches.

Not sure I’d go THAT far, but there might be a tiny grain of truth in there somewhere.

Yup, Hugo is still voting for Kucinich.

Give me that old time Anabaptism!

Published
by
Hugo Schwyzer
on February 7, 2004
in Aggression and violence, Christianity, Pacifism and War
. 2 Comments

Mennonite Weekly Review has this collection of quotations on war from the “founding fathers” of the radical reformation, the men who bequeathed to us our enduring commitment to total non-violence.

Here’s one I didn’t know, from Menno Simons, for whom our denomination is named:

The regenerated do not go to war, nor engage in strife. They are children of peace who have beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning forks, and know no war. . . . Our weapons are not weapons with which cities and countries may be destroyed, walls and gates broken down, and human blood shed in torrents like water. But they are weapons with which the spiritual kingdom of the devil is destroyed. . . . Christ is our fortress; patience our weapon of defense; the Word of God our sword. . . . Iron and metal spears and swords we leave to those who, alas, regard human blood and swine’s alike.

Menno and his Foundations of Christian Doctrine are to us what Calvin’s Institutes are to his followers. Not quite scripture, but darned tootin’ important.

Tile frustration

Published
by
Hugo Schwyzer
on February 7, 2004
in Class, Stuff and Vanity
. 1 Comment

As I write, the kitchen is being re-tiled. It is not happening as fast I want it to happen, and the workmen at times seem unable to read simple diagrams. And just when I think I am going to throw a minor fit, it occurs to me that I own a home and can afford to have my kitchen redone. What an amazing blessing. If the biggest problem in my life today is fitting in enough time to run high mileage and dealing with subcontractors, then life is truly, truly good.

God and Caesar and H&R Block

Published
by
Hugo Schwyzer
on February 6, 2004
in Christianity and Money
. 5 Comments

Yesterday afternoon, I filed my state and federal tax returns. As usual, I went to H&R Block. My return is not terribly complicated, though I do itemize deductions. I bought a condo last year, so I can write off mortgage interest and property taxes; I also can write off my gifts to the church and other charities.

The tax preparer who helped me was named George, and he was a bit more helpful than I had anticipated. George saw his job as helping me to get as much money back as possible, while I saw his job as merely taking care of a lot of tedious paperwork. I guess I hadn’t noticed this in previous years to this degree, but George was very aggressive about wanting to explore every possible opportunity to “write something off.” And though nothing he was proposing was illegal, I realized when I left the office that I was a bit discombobulated. Make no mistake, I want as much money back as possible! Uh, well, at least, the greedy part of me does.

I know that though my taxes do fund things I don’t like (such as the war in Iraq) they also build bridges, schools, and pay for the sort of social programs I do support wholeheartedly. As a community college prof, taxes pay virtually 100% of all of the money I have made in my life. Though I wish I could direct my tax money towards specific programs for social justice, and away from defense and prison budgets, I know that it is my moral — and biblical — obligation to pay taxes to Caesar regardless of how he spends the money. I just intend to spend time and money lobbying Caesar to improve his priorities! For me, taxes are a reflection of our interconnectedness as Americans. As I make more, I should pay more (and believe me, I both made and paid more this year). I give more to the church and other charities because I believe that churches have a huge role to play in bringing about social change in our country — but they don’t have the only role.

I am first and foremost a repentant sinner who is a citizen of the kingdom of Christ. I am secondly a citizen and resident of the USA. I owe time and money and allegiance to both, always in that order. I don’t try and get out of my obligation to give money to my church (and indeed, I strive to give more each year) — and I don’t think I should try and avoid my obligations to the state.

But anyhow, I’m getting a refund. And frankly, George convinced me to claim some things yesterday that as of now, on sober reflection, I just don’t feel right about. So I’m going to be tithing on the refund.

“A tempest in a C cup”

Published
by
Hugo Schwyzer
on February 6, 2004
in Age, Aggression and violence, Body, Clothing and Fashion, Feminism, Money, Music, Race, Sexuality and Sports
. Closed

It’s always gratifying to have others whom you admire agree with you. On Monday, I wrote this about the halftime incident. In today’s Times, Joan Brumberg (whose books I use in several of my gender studies classes) wrote this about Janet, Justin, and the breast:

… this was not just any breast. This was a single breast that symbolizes a cross-fire of issues that touch the lives of a huge swath of Americans.

Janet Jackson is a black woman. Justin Timberlake, a white male. The fact that both thought it was acceptable to have him rip off Jackson’s clothing suggests that both desperately need a short course in U.S. history. A million rapes of black women by white owners flashed before the eyes of Americans who understand the brutal sexuality associated with slavery. Jackson is also an aging woman in a business that celebrates young bodies. Was the exposure deliberately choreographed to boost sales of her upcoming CD among younger audiences likely to be “thrilled” by her flamboyant sexuality? Jackson obviously understands that images of the female body are used to drive billions in sales of all kinds of goods. Women in this society pay a price for this unrelenting, often violent, objectification.

Excellent. The bold emphases are mine.

Hugo’s new humanities course

Published
by
Hugo Schwyzer
on February 5, 2004
in Body, Books, Christianity, Pasadena City College, Sexuality and Teaching
. Closed

I’m not done with it yet, but here is the course description for my Humanities course I will be teaching this spring. The course is tentatively titled “Beauty, the Body, and the Euro-American Tradition”.

This course provides an interdisciplinary look at historical and contemporary attitudes towards male and female bodies. We live in a culture obsessed with beauty and sexuality and power; we also live in a culture in which millions of our fellow citizens are profoundly uncomfortable with their own flesh. This course will ask provocative questions about the ever-changing relationship between the body and the mind, the body and the culture, the body and the state. We will look at how attitudes towards beauty, the body, and weight have changed over the last several centuries in European and American society. Students will be asked to think and write about their own experiences as embodied people, and they will be asked to analyze words and (especially) the images they see around them. A major term paper, as well as a midterm and a final, are required.

Here are my readings:

Joan Brumberg, Fasting Girls.
Susan Bordo, The Male Body.
Susan Bordo, Unbearable Weight
Ophira Edut, Body Outlaws.

Not that I think I’m unique, but I really do imagine that I just might be the only faculty adviser for Campus Crusade for Christ in American academia who is teaching a class like this. Or maybe there are dozens of us… Anyhow, the class is full.

Kevin Cooper

Published
by
Hugo Schwyzer
on February 5, 2004
in Capital punishment, Christianity and People
. 4 Comments

California plans to execute Kevin Cooper next Tuesday, despite the fact that at least five of the 12 jurors in Cooper’s trial have called for a reprieve. The facts of the case are summarized on the Save Kevin Cooper website.

For those who are interested, here is the Mennonite Church USA’s official position on capital punishment, which calls for the immediate abolition of the death penalty. I like this phrase from our 2001 resolution:

We acknowledge the deep grief of families of murder victims and victims of capital punishment laws; hold them in our prayers; and commit ourselves to walk with them…

For Mennonites, all those who are executed, guilty or innocent, are “victims of capital punishment laws”. I am moved by the way that without distinctions, my church lifts up in prayer all of the dead and those who grieve for them. Some critics might say it is just bleeding-heart liberalism masquerading as the Gospel, but I think not. I’m in the right place.

“Kerry can be voted for. But Kerry can’t be loved.”

Published
by
Hugo Schwyzer
on February 5, 2004
in People and Politics
. 4 Comments

Marc Cooper has an interesting piece in the Nation today on the disappointment of the “Deaniacs”. Howard Dean’s avid supporters are clearly crestfallen at his poor showing so far in the primaries, and they seem to have little love for John Kerry. Describing some activists in Arizona, which held its primary Tuesday, Cooper writes:

The dilemma of where-to-go when Dean pulls out was emotionally debated this weekend among a group of “Cyclists for Dean,” who had come from Los Angeles to pedal and canvass the precincts of Tucson. “I don’t think Kerry has much integrity, given how he voted on the war,” said one volunteer as he mounted his bike. “But if I have to, I’ll work for him just as hard as I am for Dean. The point is to defeat Bush.”

But his canvassing partner sharply disagreed. “I can’t say that. I just can’t say that,” she said strapping on her helmet. “I’ll vote for Kerry if I have to. But I won’t work for him like this. I don’t love Kerry like I love Dean. Kerry can be voted for. But Kerry can’t be loved.”

I am a bit mystified as to how anyone could feel real love for Howard Dean, who strikes me as the most aloof and emotionally distant candidate to run for the presidency in a generation. But what counts for the left is that we get the votes. As long as Nader doesn’t run another campaign, and as long as (heaven forbid) my boy Dennis doesn’t try a third-party shot in November, we shall have the votes we need. After all, if everyone votes the same way they did in 2000, and the Nader vote goes to the Democrats, the White House is ours once more. Of course, those are some substantial ifs.

Matilde redux

Published
by
Hugo Schwyzer
on February 4, 2004
in Chinchillas and Photos
. Closed

behnd.bmp

Just thought you would want another pic.