National Council of Churches leaders condemn attacks on Christians in Egypt
New York, January 15, 2010 --
The National Council of Churches USA has sent messages of solidarity and support to leaders of the Coptic Orthodox Church following attacks on Christians in Egypt.
In Egypt, where the Coptic Orthodox Church celebrated Christmas on January 7 (following the old Julian and Coptic calendars), seven people were murdered following a midnight Divine Liturgy in Nag Hamadi, Qena in Upper Egypt. According to press reports, riots then erupted during the funeral processions for six of the seven victims of the massacre. Six of the seven victims were Coptic Christians; the seventh victim was a Muslim.
In a message sent to H.G. Bishop Serapion of Los Angeles, Coptic Orthodox Church, and to Subdeacon Bishoy M. Mikhail, Ecumenical Officer of the Church, the Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon wrote: "On behalf of your brothers and sisters in the National Council of Churches, I want to assure you of our prayers following the death of Coptic Orthodox Christians this week in Egypt. May God receive them into glory, and may God grant peace to our violent and fragmented world." Kinnamon also lamented the death of the Muslim victim.
Other church leaders, including Pope Benedict XVI, also condemned the violence against Christians in Egypt.
Kinnamon condemned the attacks as a flagrant denial of the love of God as testified to in the New Testament, the Hebrew Scriptures and the Qur'an. "Violence in God's name is not only an obvious corruption of Scripture, it demonstrates an appalling disregard for the loving and just God who commands us to live together in peace," Kinnamon said. "What is especially painful is that this recent violence took place during a celebration of the birth of the one who Christians call the Prince of Peace and who Muslims call a holy prophet."
NCC News contact: Philip E. Jenks, 212-870-2228 (office), 646-853-4212 (cell) , pjenks@ncccusa.org
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
Jim Wall points to `Avatar' and a teachable moment
Jim Wall writes about Avatar and a teachable moment:
At a special morning New Year’s Eve screening in Hawaii, President Obama took his family to the mall to see the new 3-D movie, Avatar. Whose idea was that?
Did the leader of the Free World realize he was going to experience a “teachable moment”? Along with millions of movie-going families from Kansas to Qatar to Quebec, the Obama family found itself in Pandora, a lush jungle on a distant moon where the Na’vi tribes live in harmony with all living things.
http://wallwritings.wordpress.com/2010/01/03/a-teachable-moment-linking-avatar-to-gaza-and-af-pak/
The time is the future, 2154 to be precise, and the Na’vi live on land coveted by outsiders who have the military might to take their land from them.
Oh boy. Who among the Chicago nerds and political operatives who help the president organize his day, understood that Avatar could become a Teachable Moment for Obama, and the world.
The president likes Teachable Moments, when he recognizes them. Remember how effectively he turned all that negative publicity about his pastor into a serious discussion of race in America?
And remember how badly he missed another Teachable Moment when President Jimmy Carter came to his defense and described right-wing attacks on him as “racist”, which they were? Obama had his White House issue a statement disassociating the president from Carter’s defense.
Avatar now offers him the same opportunity. This is a Teachable Moment he should not reject. Maybe a special screening in the White House with some kind words for director James Cameron?
What viewers of Avatar discover is that the film immediately suggests the oppression of Native Americans by the US government, because the Na’vi and the land on which they live share a spiritual bond. The film also evokes the Vietnam War because the setting of the military struggle is a lush jungle.
Gaza, Afghanistan and its neighbor Pakistan, are mountainous; there are no jungles. The dominant indigenous religion of Gaza and Af-Pak is Muslim, but like the Na’vi, the inhabitants live on land the outside invaders wish to control.
For the full commentary, go to Jim's Blog: http://wallwritings.wordpress.com/2010/01/03/a-teachable-moment-linking-avatar-to-gaza-and-af-pak/
At a special morning New Year’s Eve screening in Hawaii, President Obama took his family to the mall to see the new 3-D movie, Avatar. Whose idea was that?
Did the leader of the Free World realize he was going to experience a “teachable moment”? Along with millions of movie-going families from Kansas to Qatar to Quebec, the Obama family found itself in Pandora, a lush jungle on a distant moon where the Na’vi tribes live in harmony with all living things.
http://wallwritings.wordpress.com/2010/01/03/a-teachable-moment-linking-avatar-to-gaza-and-af-pak/
The time is the future, 2154 to be precise, and the Na’vi live on land coveted by outsiders who have the military might to take their land from them.
Oh boy. Who among the Chicago nerds and political operatives who help the president organize his day, understood that Avatar could become a Teachable Moment for Obama, and the world.
The president likes Teachable Moments, when he recognizes them. Remember how effectively he turned all that negative publicity about his pastor into a serious discussion of race in America?
And remember how badly he missed another Teachable Moment when President Jimmy Carter came to his defense and described right-wing attacks on him as “racist”, which they were? Obama had his White House issue a statement disassociating the president from Carter’s defense.
Avatar now offers him the same opportunity. This is a Teachable Moment he should not reject. Maybe a special screening in the White House with some kind words for director James Cameron?
What viewers of Avatar discover is that the film immediately suggests the oppression of Native Americans by the US government, because the Na’vi and the land on which they live share a spiritual bond. The film also evokes the Vietnam War because the setting of the military struggle is a lush jungle.
Gaza, Afghanistan and its neighbor Pakistan, are mountainous; there are no jungles. The dominant indigenous religion of Gaza and Af-Pak is Muslim, but like the Na’vi, the inhabitants live on land the outside invaders wish to control.
For the full commentary, go to Jim's Blog: http://wallwritings.wordpress.com/2010/01/03/a-teachable-moment-linking-avatar-to-gaza-and-af-pak/
Monday, October 12, 2009
The Story of the Quilt Top
The Story of the Quilt Top
Messiah's members donated blankets and comforters again this year to help homeless people keep warm in cold weather, and others in the community added their donations.
Among those blankets left at the church was found an original hand-stitched quilt top, it was certainly “vintage” and probably antique. The Outreachers of Messiah Lutheran determined to make a new quilt out of the Butterfly design quilt top. The project was easier said than done.
Barbara Flannery set to work sewing the quilt top onto a new backing. The original green border turned out to be too fragile and fell apart – disintegrated - as fast as Barb could sew it down. She ended up creating an entirely new background for the original antique muslin butterly squares. Then the Outreachers applied the new quilt top to make a finished quilt.
The quilt raffled off on Saturday night has a double heritage: it's first life, represented by the butterfly squares, and the craftsmanship of Barb and the Outreachers who turned a forgotten piece of American primitive art into a lovely comfy quilt for today.
Messiah's members donated blankets and comforters again this year to help homeless people keep warm in cold weather, and others in the community added their donations.
Among those blankets left at the church was found an original hand-stitched quilt top, it was certainly “vintage” and probably antique. The Outreachers of Messiah Lutheran determined to make a new quilt out of the Butterfly design quilt top. The project was easier said than done.
Barbara Flannery set to work sewing the quilt top onto a new backing. The original green border turned out to be too fragile and fell apart – disintegrated - as fast as Barb could sew it down. She ended up creating an entirely new background for the original antique muslin butterly squares. Then the Outreachers applied the new quilt top to make a finished quilt.
The quilt raffled off on Saturday night has a double heritage: it's first life, represented by the butterfly squares, and the craftsmanship of Barb and the Outreachers who turned a forgotten piece of American primitive art into a lovely comfy quilt for today.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Prayer of Jesus from the Maori
Eternal Spirit,
Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be,
Father and Mother of us all,
Loving God in whom is heaven:
The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and
come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love,
Now and forever. Amen
Translation of the Prayer of Jesus from Maori
A New Zealand Prayer Bood - He Karakia Minhinare o Aotearoa
Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be,
Father and Mother of us all,
Loving God in whom is heaven:
The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and
come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love,
Now and forever. Amen
Translation of the Prayer of Jesus from Maori
A New Zealand Prayer Bood - He Karakia Minhinare o Aotearoa
Monday, March 16, 2009
Poverty Attacks Churches in South Africa
From the World Association of Christian Communication Congress in Cape Town: http://waccglobal.org/lang-en/288-february-2009.html
Poverty Attacks Churches in South Africa
By Redemtor Atieno, Uganda
Speaking to participants of the WACC 2008 Congress who visited the Gugulethu Presbyterian Church 8 October, Mzukisi said that although apartheid was a terrible crime against humanity that left people with deep scars, poverty was an even worse crime.
“Poverty is attacking people’s dignity and is humiliating and dehumanizing the human being,” he said. He observed that it was very difficult to address the problem of poverty behind the pulpit with limited resources.
“How do you preach to someone who went to bed without food?” he asked. He said that although South Africa is rich with notions of human rights, people do not eat human rights. “By teaching human rights we are not solving any problem because the people want jobs and food.”
He said the problem of HIV/AIDS has increasingly become uncontrollable because the patients take the strong medicines on empty stomachs.
The church needs to find a more practical solution because talking and praying alone becomes an academic issue that does not help the people on the ground, Mzukisi added. “Anything that attacks the dignity of our people is a sin. As Africans we believe that men are the heads of the family and if they fail to provide, the situation attacks the pillars of the family” he observed.
Mzukisi said the church in South Africa has continued to preach hope and strengthen the faith of the people but at times they preach hope against hope. He further observed that although the South African government is doing its best to address the issue of poverty, the damage made by the apartheid system is huge and cannot be covered in 10 years.
He said the church was embarrassed by the outbreak of violent xenophobic attacks in the country this year that left many migrants of African descent dead after being attacked by the black South Africans in townships. Mzukisi said the church went round to remind the people that during the apartheid era they migrated to other African countries where they were warmly hosted.
During the visit to the Gugulethu church, participants also heard the moving personal stories of political activist Koleka Rhombela and Nonkosi Madini, who is HIV positive.
See Congress photos at: www.flickr.com/photos/wacccongress2008
See Congress videos at: www.youtube.com/user/WACCglobal
Poverty Attacks Churches in South Africa
By Redemtor Atieno, Uganda
Speaking to participants of the WACC 2008 Congress who visited the Gugulethu Presbyterian Church 8 October, Mzukisi said that although apartheid was a terrible crime against humanity that left people with deep scars, poverty was an even worse crime.
“Poverty is attacking people’s dignity and is humiliating and dehumanizing the human being,” he said. He observed that it was very difficult to address the problem of poverty behind the pulpit with limited resources.
“How do you preach to someone who went to bed without food?” he asked. He said that although South Africa is rich with notions of human rights, people do not eat human rights. “By teaching human rights we are not solving any problem because the people want jobs and food.”
He said the problem of HIV/AIDS has increasingly become uncontrollable because the patients take the strong medicines on empty stomachs.
The church needs to find a more practical solution because talking and praying alone becomes an academic issue that does not help the people on the ground, Mzukisi added. “Anything that attacks the dignity of our people is a sin. As Africans we believe that men are the heads of the family and if they fail to provide, the situation attacks the pillars of the family” he observed.
Mzukisi said the church in South Africa has continued to preach hope and strengthen the faith of the people but at times they preach hope against hope. He further observed that although the South African government is doing its best to address the issue of poverty, the damage made by the apartheid system is huge and cannot be covered in 10 years.
He said the church was embarrassed by the outbreak of violent xenophobic attacks in the country this year that left many migrants of African descent dead after being attacked by the black South Africans in townships. Mzukisi said the church went round to remind the people that during the apartheid era they migrated to other African countries where they were warmly hosted.
During the visit to the Gugulethu church, participants also heard the moving personal stories of political activist Koleka Rhombela and Nonkosi Madini, who is HIV positive.
See Congress photos at: www.flickr.com/photos/wacccongress2008
See Congress videos at: www.youtube.com/user/WACCglobal
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
A larger realm of mystery: Niebuhr, Carter and Obama
Niebuhr, Carter and Obama Understand History as “a larger realm of Mystery”
by James M. Wall
Reinhold Niebuhr's influence on former President Jimmy Carter has been evident throughout Carter's political career. That influence is even more pronounced in Carter's post-presidency.
Carter is a political realist who understands, and acts on, Niebuhr's concept of the irony of history.
William Dean, a retired faculty member at Denver's Iliff School of Theology, was moved recently to write about Barack Obama's potential as the second president with a working knowledge of Niebuhrian realism.
Dean describes Niebuhr this way:
Niebuhr looked long and hard at history and claimed to see what the Bible did. He saw a record of personal and group pride so appalling and unremitting that it should cause us to distrust every nation and every leader, and every politician and preacher who glorifies them. That same skepticism should also be directed at the rest of us, who regularly exaggerate our virtue and diminish our vice.
For the rest of this piece and more from Jim Wall, go to http://wallwritings.wordpress.com/
by James M. Wall
Reinhold Niebuhr's influence on former President Jimmy Carter has been evident throughout Carter's political career. That influence is even more pronounced in Carter's post-presidency.
Carter is a political realist who understands, and acts on, Niebuhr's concept of the irony of history.
William Dean, a retired faculty member at Denver's Iliff School of Theology, was moved recently to write about Barack Obama's potential as the second president with a working knowledge of Niebuhrian realism.
Dean describes Niebuhr this way:
Niebuhr looked long and hard at history and claimed to see what the Bible did. He saw a record of personal and group pride so appalling and unremitting that it should cause us to distrust every nation and every leader, and every politician and preacher who glorifies them. That same skepticism should also be directed at the rest of us, who regularly exaggerate our virtue and diminish our vice.
For the rest of this piece and more from Jim Wall, go to http://wallwritings.wordpress.com/
Sunday, November 9, 2008
The Promise
This is the most beautifully written and moving lead I've ever seen in news reporting:
GAZA — From far away, this is how it looks: There is a country out there where tens of millions of white Christians, voting freely, select as their leader a black man of modest origin, the son of a Muslim. There is a place on Earth — call it America — where such a thing happens.
The entire article by Ethan Bronner in the New York Times is at this link: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/us/politics/05global.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=&st=nyt&oref=slogin
GAZA — From far away, this is how it looks: There is a country out there where tens of millions of white Christians, voting freely, select as their leader a black man of modest origin, the son of a Muslim. There is a place on Earth — call it America — where such a thing happens.
The entire article by Ethan Bronner in the New York Times is at this link: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/us/politics/05global.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=&st=nyt&oref=slogin
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