[Dialogue] appreciation and a request

[David Walters]

Ken,
Here is the article you wanted. I wish I could write like Olbermann! 
You may not remember me but I showed up in Chucago fo ther Summer
Program in '70 on the Local Church. I remember your wife as the "go
to" person when you needed help, especially with your draft status.
Give my regards to Zoe.

David Walters 


Keith Olbermann's "This Hole in the Ground"

And lastly tonight a Special Comment on why we are here. Half a
lifetime ago, I worked in this now-empty space.

And for 40 days after the attacks, I worked here again, trying to
make sense of what happened, and was yet to happen, as a reporter.

And all the time, I knew that the very air I breathed contained the
remains of thousands of people, including four of my friends, two in
the planes and — as I discovered from those "missing posters" seared
still into my soul — two more in the Towers.

And I knew too, that this was the pyre for hundreds of New York
policemen and firemen, of whom my family can claim half a dozen or
more, as our ancestors.

I belabor this to emphasize that, for me
 this was, and is, and
always shall be, personal.

And anyone who claims that I and others like me are "soft", or have
"forgotten" the lessons of what happened here — is at best a
grasping, opportunistic, dilettante — and at worst, an idiot —
whether he is a commentator, or a Vice President, or a President.

However. Of all the things those of us who were here five years ago
could have forecast — of all the nightmares that unfolded before our
eyes, and the others that unfolded only in our minds
 none of us
could have predicted
 this.

Five years later this space
 is still empty.

Five years later there is no Memorial to the dead.

Five years later there is no building rising to show with proud
defiance that we would not have our America wrung from us, by cowards
and criminals.

Five years later this country’s wound is still open.

Five years
 later this country’s mass grave is still unmarked.

Five years later
 this is still
 just a background for a photo-op.

It is beyond shameful.

—

At the dedication of the Gettysburg Memorial — barely four months
after the last soldier staggered from another Pennsylvania field, Mr.
Lincoln said "we can not dedicate - we can not consecrate — we can
not hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who
struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add
or detract."

Lincoln used those words to immortalize their sacrifice.

Today our leaders could use those same words to rationalize their
reprehensible inaction. "We can nto dedicate — we can not consecrate
— we can not hallow — this ground." So we won’t.

Instead they bicker and buck-pass. They thwart private efforts, and
jostle to claim credit for initiatives that go nowhere. They spend
the money on irrelevant wars, and elaborate self-congratulations, and
buying off columnists to write how good a job they’re doing — instead
of doing any job at all.

Five years later, Mr. Bush
 we are still fighting the terrorists on
these streets. And look carefully, sir — on these 16 empty acres, the
terrorists
 are clearly, still winning.

And, in a crime against every victim here and every patriotic
sentiment you mouthed but did not enact, you have done nothing about
it.

—

And there is something worse still than this vast gaping hole in this
city, and in the fabric of our nation.

There is, its symbolism — of the promise unfulfilled, the urgent
oath, reduced to lazy execution.

The only positive on 9/11 and the days and weeks that so slowly and
painfully followed it
 was the unanimous humanity, here, and
throughout the country. The government, the President in particular,
was given every possible measure of support.

Those who did not belong to his party — tabled that.

Those who doubted the mechanics of his election — ignored that.

Those who wondered of his qualifications — forgot that.

History teaches us that nearly unanimous support of a government
cannot be taken away from that government, by its critics.

It can only be squandered by those who use it not to heal a nation’s
wounds, but to take political advantage.

Terrorists did not come and steal our newly-regained sense of being
American first, and political, fiftieth. Nor did the Democrats. Nor
did the media. Nor did the people.

The President — and those around him — did that.

They promised bi-partisanship, and then showed that to them,
"bi-partisanship" meant that their party would rule and the rest
would have to follow, or be branded, with ever-escalating hysteria,
as morally or intellectually confused; as appeasers; as those who, in
the Vice President’s words yesterday, "validate the strategy of the
terrorists."

They promised protection, and then showed that to them "protection"
meant going to war against a despot whose hand they had once shaken

a despot who we now learn from our own Senate Intelligence Committee,
hated Al-Qaeda as much as we did.

The polite phrase for how so many of us were duped into supporting a
war, on the false premise that it had ’something to do’ with 9/11, is
"lying by implication."

The impolite phrase, is "impeachable offense."

Not once in now five years has this President ever offered to assume
responsibility for the failures that led to this empty space
 and to
this, the current, curdled, version of our beloved country.

Still, there is a last snapping flame from a final candle of respect
and fairness: even his most virulent critics have never suggested he
alone bears the full brunt of the blame for 9/11.

Half the time, in fact, this President has been so gently treated,
that he has seemed not even to be the man most responsible — for
anything — in his own administration.

Yet what is happening this very night?

A mini-series, created, influenced — possibly financed by — the most
radical and cold of domestic political Machiavellis, continues to be
televised into our homes.

The documented truths of the last fifteen years are replaced by
bald-faced lies; the talking points of the current regime parroted;
the whole sorry story blurred, by spin, to make the party out of
office seem vacillating and impotent, and the party in office, seem
like the only option.

How dare you, Mr. President, after taking cynical advantage of the
unanimity and love, and transmuting it into fraudulent war and
needless death
 after monstrously transforming it into fear and
suspicion and turning that fear into the campaign slogan of three
elections
 how dare you or those around you
 ever "spin" 9/11.

—

Just as the terrorists have succeeded — are still succeeding — as
long as there is no memorial and no construction here at Ground Zero


So too have they succeeded, and are still succeeding — as long as
this government uses 9/11 as a wedge to pit Americans against
Americans.

This is an odd point to cite a television program, especially one
from March of 1960. But as Disney’s continuing sell-out of the truth
(and this country) suggests, even television programs can be powerful
things.

And long ago, a series called "The Twilight Zone" broadcast a
riveting episode entitled "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street."

In brief: a meteor sparks rumors of an invasion by extra-terrestrials
disguised as humans. The electricity goes out. A neighbor pleads for
calm.

Suddenly his car — and only his car — starts. Someone suggests he
must be the alien. Then another man’s lights go on.

As charges and suspicion and panic overtake the street, guns are
inevitably produced.

An "alien" is shot — but he turns out to be just another neighbor,
returning from going for help.

The camera pulls back to a near-by hill, where two extra-terrestrials
areseen, manipulating a small device that can jam electricity. The
veteran tells his novice that there’s no need to actually attack,
that you just turn off a few of the human machines and then, "they
pick the most dangerous enemy they can find, and it’s themselves."

And then, in perhaps his finest piece of writing, Rod Serling sums it
up with words of remarkable prescience, given where we find ourselves
tonight.

"The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and
explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts,
attitudes, prejudices - to be found only in the minds of men.

"For the record, prejudices can kill and suspicion can destroy, and a
thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all its
own — for the children, and the children yet unborn."

—

When those who dissent are told time and time again — as we will be,
if not tonight by the President, then tomorrow by his portable public
chorus — that he is preserving our freedom, but that if we use any of
it, we are somehow un-American


When we are scolded, that if we merely question, we have "forgotten
the lessons of 9/11"
 look into this empty space behind me and the
bi-partisanship upon which this administration also did not build,
and tell me:

Who has left this hole in the ground?

We have not forgotten, Mr. President.

You have.

May this country forgive you.



---- Original Message ----
From: klbarley at earthlink.net
To: dialogue at wedgeblade.net
Subject: RE: [Dialogue] appreciation and a request
Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 12:47:00 -0600

>Dear Richard
>
>I'm sure you don't know me from Adam but I am on your list and
>receive your regular email for which I am always grateful.
>
>My wife and I were member of the Order in the 60s and early 70s when
>the Ecumenical Institute was located on the West Side of Chicago. We
>were fortunate to be part of the first religious house in Kuala
>Lumpur and have always found RS I to be the foundation for a new
>understanding of Christianity. I am now retired (a former
>Presbyterian pastor) while my wife just recently stepped down from a
>role as V-P of  educational research and evaluation with an outfit
>called McRel. 
>
>At any rate I always look forward to Spong essays which you regularly
>forward and to the occasional articles that you forward via email. In
>particular I was overwhelmed by Keith Olbermann's article "This Hole
>in the Ground." Therein lies my request. I inadvertently erased it
>from computer before I had a chance to forward to a number of people
>who I know. If you still have it, could you send it to me again. I
>promise to be more careful with it.
>
>I have also note that you seem to be active in the MN chapter of the
>Network of Spiritual Progressives. I was fortunate to attend both
>meetings in Berkeley  and Washington. We are currently organizing a
>chapter here in Denver - in fact our first meeting is tonight. There
>is already a chapter in Boulder. To my way of thinking it is the most
>important movement being formed in the U.S. and has given me renewed
>energy and commitment to effect change in this grand old nation
>before it is too late.
>
>Again, thanks for including Zoe and me in your weekly communications.
>
>Ken and Zoe
>
>Ken and Zoe Barley
>klbarley at earthlink.net
>
>
>
>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: 
>To: nspmn at googlegroups.com
>Cc: Dialogue at wedgeblade.net; MICAH6-8 at topica.com
>Sent: 9/13/2006 5:42:50 PM 
>Subject: [Dialogue] Spong on Crosswalk and healthcare
>
>
>September 13, 2006
>Crosswalk America Arrives in Washington, DC 
>It began on April 16, 2006, following a sunrise service in Phoenix,
>Arizona. It ended on September 3, 2006, at a celebration in the
>Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington, DC. Between those two
>dates, more than five million steps were taken, at least three pairs
>of shoes per person were worn out, over 2,500 miles were registered
>and 12 states were crossed. These fascinating facts constituted just
>a few of the dimensions of the journey undertaken and completed by a
>group of people, who called themselves "Crosswalk America." The
>purpose of their walk was to lift up another face of Christianity
>that is quite different from the Christianity seen in the media
>today. They walked to publicize something they called the 'Phoenix
>Affirmations' that involve these principles: 
>Christians must have an openness to other faiths 
>Christians must care for the earth and its ecosystem 
>Christians must value artistic expression in all its forms 
>Christians must welcome and include all persons 
>Christians must oppose the co-mingling of Church and State 
>Christians must seek peace and end systemic poverty 
>Christian must promote the values of rest and recreation, prayer and
>reflection 
>Christians must embrace both faith and science
>It was the hope of this group, who certainly put their bodies where
>their mouths were, to raise in the national awareness the presence of
>the progressive Christian movement throughout America. They were
>tired of having the Christian faith, to which each walker was deeply
>committed, constantly identified with the negativity of the
>anti-abortion movement and the anger of the anti-homosexual stance
>employed by so many who use the name Christian. They wanted to
>demonstrate that those who are committed to Christ would not set the
>citizens of this land against each other over differing religious
>beliefs and practices. Their desire was to turn the present course of
>Christianity in America away from its divisive pro-war, anti-female,
>anti-gay public face, where those who disagree are relegated to an
>emotional status somewhere between being excommunicated and burned at
>the stake, to a religion identified with the words 'love' and
>'inclusion.' In every community entered across this na!
> tion, these walkers went to the local churches, identified
>themselves and shared their message. They worshiped in all kinds of
>settings, deliberately including the most fundamentalist. One was
>called 'The Jesus Baptist Church' in Springerville, Texas, that
>stated publicly their belief in the inerrancy of the Bible and the
>sinfulness of homosexuality, but they also worshiped in a
>Metropolitan Community Church in New Mexico, that was organized just
>for homosexual people who had been forced out of their churches by
>religious and biblical prejudice. One town that was not eager to
>entertain the walkers had only very conservative churches, yet they
>found a welcome in that town from a group of people who, tired of the
>religious atmosphere in their own community, had formed a "House
>Church" that met every Sunday. In the Texas town of Bovina, less than
>30 miles from the town of Hereford, the names of which indicate the
>dominance of the cattle industry in Texas, they discovered that !
> their stance on inclusiveness was not nearly so offensive to the
>local
>s as the fact that three of the walkers were vegetarians! 
>They received the apology from the mayor of Clovis, New Mexico, a
>town that advertises itself as the "most welcoming community in
>America," because the head of the ministerial alliance refused even
>to meet with the walkers much less to provide them with any
>hospitality. The mayor challenged the clergy there and insisted that
>the welcome of Clovis did extend to progressive Christians. 
>They were picketed at two services in St. Louis, Missouri, where they
>had been invited to share their story with two congregations. One was
>the Episcopal Cathedral in the heart of the city; the other was the
>Metropolitan Community Church in the suburbs. Interestingly enough,
>while the picketers carried a number of religious placards, the
>majority of their signs were anti-abortion/pro-life. Since the MCC
>congregation is made up entirely of homosexual persons, it
>represented the first time in the history of that denomination that
>they had been the target of anti-abortion picketers. Abortion is not
>frequently part of the life experience of gay people! 
>They were interviewed by the local press and appeared on local radio
>all along their route. One memorable interview occurred in Farwell,
>Texas, on a station known as "Jesus Radio." They went expecting to be
>attacked for not being fundamentalists but they found themselves
>embraced by the owner. "So what if we don't agree on every issue," he
>said, "You're out walking for Jesus and loving people!" This man
>could separate the wheat from the chaff. He admitted he would
>probably get a lot of criticism from his listeners for having this
>group on the show but, he said, "I will tell them that they are to
>run their churches and I will run this radio station!" 
>The Crosswalk America idea was born in the mind of Eric Elnes, a
>United Church of Christ/Congregationalist minister in Scottsdale,
>Arizona and an emerging national leader. A learned man with a PhD in
>Biblical Studies from Princeton, he had long chafed at the rising
>tide of fundamentalism in America. While on a retreat in Oregon, he
>wondered how people might respond if he planned a walk across America
>in the name of a progressive, scholarly and inclusive Christianity.
>When he returned to Arizona, he shared his idea with a few friends
>and found it excited all who heard about it. One person in particular
>who resonated with this dream was Rebecca Glenn, who had once been
>the moderator of Dr. Elnes' church. She was a very successful,
>high-ranking vice president in the information industry. Her husband
>was the head of an insurance company. She said that all her life she
>had been looking for some way to act out what she believed about
>Christianity and this possibility captured her !
> imagination. She resigned her job to be part of it. Dr. Elnes and
>Rebecca Glenn became co-presidents of what they named Crosswalk
>America and the dream began to move toward reality. Rebecca Glenn's
>daughter Katrina also joined the walk and Rebecca's mother and
>father, Ray and Donna Gentry, drove the van that accompanied the
>walkers, carrying luggage and supplies and being available to
>transport any walker to safety should sickness or accident strike.
>Others on the march had equally exciting backgrounds. One man named
>Mark walked from Oregon to Phoenix just to hook up with the walkers
>before completing the Phoenix to Washington DC journey. Another named
>Merrill heard about it in nearby Phoenix and immediately joined the
>effort. "I've never been good at talking," he said, "but I am good at
>walking, so I'll let my feet talk for me." 
>Last April, I wrote a column about this walk before it began. That
>column can be found here. I followed their progress across America on
>the Internet with great interest and was delighted to accept their
>invitation to be the keynote speaker at their final celebration in
>Washington, DC. 
>Quite characteristically, the Foundry United Methodist Church, one of
>the District of Columbia's outstanding congregations, that has
>claimed among its members both Bill and Hilary Clinton, as well as
>Robert and Elizabeth Dole, and whose former pastor, Philip Wogaman
>was a well known and highly respected national religious leader,
>invited this group to hold the celebratory service in their
>sanctuary. To get a feel for the spirit of the event, my wife
>Christine and I joined the walkers on the last two days of their
>pilgrimage from Maryland into Washington. The walk on Saturday,
>September 2, was a bit less than 10 miles, but tropical storm Ernesto
>had passed through that area the previous night so we walked in a
>steady, misty drizzle and stepped over branches and leaves that had
>been ripped off trees by the wind. We worshiped the next Sunday
>morning at the Silver Spring Congregational Church and then, with
>perhaps 200 people, many from the Washington area, we walked from
>Meridi!
> an Park the final mile to 16th and P where we held a news conference
>on the steps of Foundry Church. The celebratory service began at 4:00
>p.m. and ended at 6:30 p.m. It was as if something precious was being
>held tightly and no one wanted to let it go. 
>I listened as we walked those final two days to the life-changing
>stories of the walkers. A cameraman named Chris, who joined them to
>produce a documentary, told me of his distaste for Christians as he
>had experienced them in the past, but what it had meant for him to be
>embraced by this group as a non-believer. Another walker, named
>Meighan, who had left her job with the Seattle Symphony to join the
>walk said she had found her voice on this walk and now could talk
>about what Jesus meant to her without sounding like those religious
>people whose "Jesus talk" repelled her. She also found a new vocation
>into which she is now quickly moving. 
>Eric Elnes is completing a book on this experience that will be out
>from Jossey-Bass Publishing Company in about six months. Another
>religious voice, this one of tolerance and compassion, is now in the
>American religious conversation. Will the image of Christianity in
>America be changed by this wild imaginative act? Only time will tell.
>However, if nothing else happens except that a group of people found
>in Christianity in the year 2006 the power to motivate them to walk
>across America, to bear witness to what Christianity can be, it will
>be enough for me. For that means that this venerable faith tradition,
>to which I am so deeply committed, still has within its ranks those
>who can reform it and renew it to live in another century. I rejoice
>in that. 
>John Shelby Spong 
>Note: Those who want more information on Crosswalk America may find
>it at www.crosswalkamerica.org. You may also correspond with its
>leadership by writing Eric Elnes or Rebecca Glenn at: Crosswalk
>America, 4425 N. Granite Reef Road, Scottsdale, Arizona, 85251. A
>congratulatory card or letter from you would mean a great deal to
>them. 
>John Shelby Spong 
>Note from the Editor: Bishop Spong's new book is available now at
>bookstores everywhere and by clicking here! 
>Question and Answer
>With John Shelby Spong
>Dwight Oxley, via the Internet, writes: 
>Dr. Cato in his excellent essay several months ago, suggested that
>Christians should take a position on the morally appropriate
>allocation of medical resources in the event of a flu pandemic. I
>believe that the likely allocation pattern can be easily deduced from
>current public policy on health care: most resources will go to the
>elderly through the Medicare program and the children will be left
>out. This is misguided and immoral: children and the parents who
>provided for them should receive the highest priority. Medicare
>recipients like myself (age 69) are grateful for the Medicare
>benefit, but the future of our society does not depend much on 69
>year-olds. It depends very much on those who are now children. Even
>in the "best of times" (i.e. no flu pandemic) millions of children go
>without routine immunizations because their parents are poor, but too
>"rich" for Medicaid. I propose that the children, rich and poor
>alike, have what Dr. Cato calls ".the most value to (society)!
> ." I am a member of a small Episcopal parish in Kansas and I have
>already written my Congressional delegation about my views. You seem
>to suggest that we should do more to influence (i.e. change) public
>policy. But how? 
>Dear Dwight, 
>I hope your letter in this column helps. Thank you for your response.
>We do spend as a nation more than 90 cents out of every healthcare
>dollar on the last year of a person's life. Most of this is spent on
>the elderly, but children who are born with defects and cannot be
>saved despite numerous procedures are also in that number as well as
>accident victims but who die in a year from complications. In our
>free society, we must decide how to allocate the money raised through
>taxes to allow for the greatest good. If we choose to do so, I
>suspect that we, as a nation, have enough resources to provide health
>care for all people unless we face a cataclysmic disaster. There is a
>political question as to whether we will or not. If the world's
>population continues to expand at the present rates, all social
>systems will be overrun and a disaster is guaranteed.