HAVE A LITTLE FAITH; What If Faith Didn't Separate Us But Brought Us Together?

I've been a little remiss in my summer reading. There have been summers when I would read as many as ten books between Memorial Day and Labor Day- but this wasn't a typical summer.

The last book I sat down and read was Bob Lechie's Helmet For My Pillow, and that was way back in May. So last week I checked out some books from the library, and started making up for lost time.

Mitch Albom has had a long and distinguished career as a sports journalist, and has become a best selling author of the novels The Five People You Meet In Heaven and For One More Day. His nonfiction book Tuesdays With Morrie chronicled the weekly meetings and talks Albom had with Morrie Schwartz, his old college instructor who was slowly dying of ALS. Morrie's wisdom and upbeat personality in the face of his suffering was an exercise in what it means to be human under the most trying of circumstances.

Albom is on a similar path in 2009's Have A Little Faith, a bestseller that debuted at #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list and was chosen by Oprah.com as the Best Nonfiction Book of 2009. I was not able to put the book down and finished the 249 pages in less than three days . It's the story of Albom reconnecting with the rabbi from his hometown in New Jersey, who was his instructor as a kid. Rabbi Albert Lewis made a request of Albom; that Albom deliver his eulogy when the then 82 year old rabbi passes on. Since Albom hadn't seen the rabbi in years, he started a series of visits and interviews with Rabbi Lewis, hoping to gain an insight into what kind of man he is.

Also coming into Albom's life was Henry Covington, an African American pastor....and reformed drug dealer, thief, and ex con.... who started a ministry to the poor and homeless of Detroit. Both men offer life lessons to Albom, who admittedly ran from the faith of his youth, and in the end learns more of life's purpose.

I highly and enthusiastically recommend this book. We've been turning on the television daily, and listening to more and more stories of nativist sentiment, and of paranoia and the politics of division; in particular the controversy of the "Ground Zero Mosque" has resonated long and hard.

But before "Islmaphobia" overtook our nation, we had the stain of slavery, of Jim Crow, of the genocide of the our Native People, of the anti-Catholic nativist "No Nothings" of the 19th century, and of the antisemitism that was generally accepted by our society until fairly recently. A little more than half a century ago Rabbi Albert Lewis began a synagogue in Haddon Heights, NJ. In the chapter "A Little More History" (pages 67-71) Albom talks about "The Reb" and his early days in Haddon Heights, in 1948.

The three dozen Jewish families in the area wanted to start a congregation....Albert Lewis was sent to minister to them. A group of residents signed a petition to prevent a synagogue from being established in Haddon Heights; some were threatened by the possibility of a Jewish community in the town. In Albom's words, the thought of a Jewish congregation was "alien" to the townies. Rabbi Lewis worked hard to win them over, and he reached out to his Christian neighbors, and even gave talks in Christian churches and halls. At one meeting a young boy asked to see the Rabbi's horns. He was under the assumption that all Jews had horns. "The Reb" removed his skull cap, and let the kid feel his head....not a horn to be found.

Rabbi Lewis had an Episcopal priest he became friendly with give a talk in the synagogue. The priest went the pulpit, and told the Jewish congregation to help him get the Rabbi to accept Jesus as his savior, because the alternative means he's going to hell.

And there was an incident of antisemitism involving parked cars, a Catholic priest, the High Holy Days, and an utterance of wishing someone had finished the job in the early 1940's. Members of the Jewish congregation parked near a Catholic church on a Sunday, and the Jewish attendees were told to move their cars by the priest.....some words were exchanged between a Jewish man and the priest- and the priest told the man "They didn't exterminate enough of you".

We look at that sort of behavior as a relic of another century; it is unacceptable now, and should have been unacceptable then. Only the targets have changed.

In recent days we've seen "Islamaphobia" ratcheted up with the burning of a mosque under construction in Tennessee, and of Glenn Beck blending That Old Time Religion into his message, which changes depending on whatever audience he is addressing. We see maters of faith become matters of the political news cycle, and to me, that's an unhealthy place for our society to be. Because our nation has always been a contradiction of sorts; a secular state for the most part governed by men of faith, including our current President and Vice President, though there are many who would have you erroneously believe otherwise.

What Have A Little Faith does  make the reader do is take a deep breath and contemplate; just what constitutes a man of faith? And the answer is there is no template. Some like Rabbi Lewis seem to be born into "the God business". Others, like Pastor Henry Covington have to experience a "Road to Damascus" conversion....in Covington's case, there were several conversions until one finally stuck.

Rabbi Lewis made many comments that leads you to challenge what you may or may not believe in regard to religion, or of God and his/her nature. When he was old and near death, the Rabbi told Mitch Albom that he hopes God prays for him.

But since he is God....who would God pray to?

It is true that there are religious hucksters to be found, and we could name names....but what's the point? What Mitch Albom has done in this book is put a spotlight on two men who serve men (and women) and in doing so serve God. It was never about them, it's about their service.....and their faith.

In a perfect world, both sides of the "Ground Zero Mosque" would be given a copy of Have A Little Faith with instructions to read it and come back for a group discussion in two weeks. Because if you can't find some common ground with the other guy after reading this book, then sadly, it will probably not happen.

Rabbi Lewis was a man who loved to sing; a non-singer who always had a song on the tip of his tongue. Ask him how he felt and he would sing, "The old gray rabbi ain't what he used to be."

So it was entirely fitting for Mitch Albom to close his book with these words.

"In the beginning, there was a question. In the end, the question gets answered. God sings, we hum along, there are many melodies, but it's all one song- one same, wonderful human song.

I am in love with hope."

Ron Paul- Stop The Demagoguery About The NYC Mosque

It's been said that once you get beyond the rhetoric, there really isn't that much difference between a true conservative and a true liberal. Both have the same objectives in mind, but are taking different paths.

Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) is the Godfather of the New Libertarianism, a lifelong Republican, and probably the closest heir to the Republicanism of Barry Goldwater. And on Friday (August 20) he issued a statement regarding the controversy of the Islamic Center that is scheduled to be built two blocks from Ground Zero in Manhattan.

We hear the term...."What would Jesus do?". In his statement on the "mosque" controversy Congressman Paul gives us an example of "What would Thomas Jefferson say?".

Below, his statement, which can be found at RonPaul.com.

Is the controversy over building a mosque near ground zero a grand distraction or a grand opportunity? Or is it, once again, grandiose demagoguery?

It has been said, “Nero fiddled while Rome burned.” Are we not overly preoccupied with this controversy, now being used in various ways by grandstanding politicians? It looks to me like the politicians are “fiddling while the economy burns.”

The debate should have provided the conservative defenders of property rights with a perfect example of how the right to own property also protects the 1st Amendment rights of assembly and religion by supporting the building of the mosque.

Instead, we hear lip service given to the property rights position while demanding that the need to be “sensitive” requires an all-out assault on the building of a mosque, several blocks from “ground zero.”

Just think of what might (not) have happened if the whole issue had been ignored and the national debate stuck with war, peace, and prosperity. There certainly would have been a lot less emotionalism on both sides. The fact that so much attention has been given the mosque debate, raises the question of just why and driven by whom?

In my opinion it has come from the neo-conservatives who demand continual war in the Middle East and Central Asia and are compelled to constantly justify it.

They never miss a chance to use hatred toward Muslims to rally support for the ill conceived preventative wars. A select quote from soldiers from in Afghanistan and Iraq expressing concern over the mosque is pure propaganda and an affront to their bravery and sacrifice.

The claim is that we are in the Middle East to protect our liberties is misleading. To continue this charade, millions of Muslims are indicted and we are obligated to rescue them from their religious and political leaders. And, we’re supposed to believe that abusing our liberties here at home and pursuing unconstitutional wars overseas will solve our problems.

The nineteen suicide bombers didn’t come from Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan or Iran. Fifteen came from our ally Saudi Arabia, a country that harbors strong American resentment, yet we invade and occupy Iraq where no al Qaeda existed prior to 9/11.

Many fellow conservatives say they understand the property rights and 1st Amendment issues and don’t want a legal ban on building the mosque. They just want everybody to be “sensitive” and force, through public pressure, cancellation of the mosque construction.

This sentiment seems to confirm that Islam itself is to be made the issue, and radical religious Islamic views were the only reasons for 9/11. If it became known that 9/11 resulted in part from a desire to retaliate against what many Muslims saw as American aggression and occupation, the need to demonize Islam would be difficult if not impossible.

There is no doubt that a small portion of radical, angry Islamists do want to kill us but the question remains, what exactly motivates this hatred?

If Islam is further discredited by making the building of the mosque the issue, then the false justification for our wars in the Middle East will continue to be acceptable.

The justification to ban the mosque is no more rational than banning a soccer field in the same place because all the suicide bombers loved to play soccer.

Conservatives are once again, unfortunately, failing to defend private property rights, a policy we claim to cherish. In addition conservatives missed a chance to challenge the hypocrisy of the left which now claims they defend property rights of Muslims, yet rarely if ever, the property rights of American private businesses.

Defending the controversial use of property should be no more difficult than defending the 1st Amendment principle of defending controversial speech. But many conservatives and liberals do not want to diminish the hatred for Islam–the driving emotion that keeps us in the wars in the Middle East and Central Asia.

It is repeatedly said that 64% of the people, after listening to the political demagogues, don’t want the mosque to be built. What would we do if 75% of the people insist that no more Catholic churches be built in New York City? The point being is that majorities can become oppressors of minority rights as well as individual dictators. Statistics of support is irrelevant when it comes to the purpose of government in a free society—protecting liberty.

The outcry over the building of the mosque, near ground zero, implies that Islam alone was responsible for the 9/11 attacks. According to those who are condemning the building of the mosque, the nineteen suicide terrorists on 9/11 spoke for all Muslims. This is like blaming all Christians for the wars of aggression and occupation because some Christians supported the neo-conservatives’ aggressive wars.

The House Speaker is now treading on a slippery slope by demanding a Congressional investigation to find out just who is funding the mosque—a bold rejection of property rights, 1st Amendment rights, and the Rule of Law—in order to look tough against Islam.

This is all about hate and Islamaphobia.

We now have an epidemic of “sunshine patriots” on both the right and the left who are all for freedom, as long as there’s no controversy and nobody is offended.

Political demagoguery rules when truth and liberty are ignored.

I may not agree with Ron Paul on most things, but I'll never question his love of country or his adherence to principles. Well done, and better said than anyone regarding this two week old contrived controversy.

Late Addition! Below, videos of Ron Paul's decision to back the right to build the Islamic center, with Lawrence O'Donnell on COUNTDOWN.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

To see the "anti-mosque" protesters surround and intimidate an African American man wearing a tight fitting cap because they assumed he was a Muslim (he isn't)....it just goes to prove............

The first three letters in "assumed" are A-S-S.

Quick Hits For August 22, 2010; End of the Summer Clearance !!!!!

Summer heat, drought, mosques, yellow jacket attacks, troop withdrawals, and FOX-es....all kinds of stuff, big and small.

Time for some Quick Hits!!!

(1). I really enjoy blogging. I only wish there was less typing involved.

(2). Beautiful, damp, delicious, glorious RAIN! I love it. For some of you reading this from cooler climes in the United States (is there such a thing in August?) and in foreign countries, it's been an exceptionally hot and dry summer in the Mid Atlantic states. I'm guessing that we've had more than 40 days of 90 degrees plus days this year (as opposed to nine all of last year), and for this summer we're at minus six inches in rainfall for the past three months; front lawns crunch when you walk on them, and there has been some limited water rationing.

This morning we woke up to some much needed rain, and there's a 100% chance for more during the day, and 60% for tonight. I don't think I've ever experienced a summer when it's been such a struggle to keep plants, herbs, vegetables, shrubs, and flowers alive...we've lost some, as have many other people. And in trying to keep the greenery from dying off other projects get sent to a back burner for another year, not to mention the toll all of the heat takes on you physically and even psychologically by the end of August. By the time evening rolls around you're gassed.

As much as I love summer (in most years) it will be a relief to see September roll in; they'll be cooler temps, and tropical systems churning up the coast to break the drought.....unless the climate change we're told is "only a theory" proves to be anything but.

(3) Rallies were held today in support and in opposition to the building of as Islamic Center two blocks from Ground Zero in Manhattan. The rallies were separated by police by several blocks, and as I type this no incidents of violence were reported.

One pro center supporter held a sign that said...."We don't care what bigots say, religious freedom is here to stay.".

And opponents sang patriotic songs and held banners as well... "Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all the terrorists were Muslim."

Many of us have noted and asked the "why?" regarding Glenn Beck's Rally To Restore Honor on August 28, the anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, mere blocks from where the first African American President and his family reside. Now I have a question as to the lack of judgment of BOTH sides of the "Ground Zero Mosque Issue" having opposing rallies on anniversary of the day of one of the worst Christian on Christian acts of religious genocide in history. Namely, today at St Bartholomew's Church we celebrated the The Feast of St. Bartholomew The Apostle. Technically the feat is Aug 24, but today it was celebrated because he's the church's patron saint.

In France, 1572, on St. Batholomew's Day a massacre of epic proportions was set off by Catholic King Charles IX's supporters on the French Protestant population. The Huguenots were not only a religious minority who were gaining in numbers, but were part of a political movement as well. Civil war had been waged for three years between Catholics and Huguenots, but peace had been agreed upon, and the sister of the Catholic king was engaged to be married to a Protestant prince.

The anti-Protestant factions in the strongly Catholic city of Paris objected to the peace and the marriage. Tensions boiled over on the St. Batholomew's Day....Catholic troops and mobs attacked unsuspecting French Protestants.....the carnage went on for weeks. Men, women, and children were killed, and estimates of the murdered range from a low of 8,000 to a likely 30,000 dead.

Two years before French Protestants were granted freedom to worship by their King; two years later he ordered the same people slaughtered.

And on this St. Bartholomew's Day, 2010, we see Muslims at one rally asking for the same freedom of worship with no restrictions as other religions.....and at another rally there is opposition that says they respect that right, but don't agree with their judgment and perceived lack of sensitivity.

I'm not making a case that these situations distanced by hundreds of years are the same. I only make note of the irony. We pride ourselves as being a republic that treasures freedom; but at a certain basic level just how different are we from those we left behind in Europe, or from any other land of our ancestry?

(4). A further comment on one sign that was against the construction of the Islamic center....

"Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all the terrorists were Muslim."

It reminds me of a quote from a classic American television show.

"(Serial killer) Joel Rifkin was adopted. The Son of Sam was adopted. If you're adopted you'll become a serial killer"..... Cosmo Kramer, Seinfeld, The Masseuse,
November 18, 1993.

(5). And while we're at it....St Bartholomew the Apostle. We Roman Catholics have a patron saint for everything. Tradition says Bartholomew served as an apostle to the east, into Parthia, Ethiopia, and even to India. He was said to have met martyrdom in Armenia....we are told that he was executed by being flayed alive.

And old St. Bart became the patron saint of a bunch of professions and conditions....remember, he died by being skinned alive!

He's the patron of butchers, tanners, cobblers, leather workers, trappers.....and plasterers, bookbinders, and Florentine cheese merchants. No, I didn't make that up.

Bartholomew is also the patron saint against twitching....so for all of you nervous people out there, he's the guy you pray to for intercession.

Maybe he should become the patron saint of offensive line coaches....you try anything to prevent false starts.

(5). Kathleen O'Brien of the Star-Ledger wrote a front page story about New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and his confrontational attitude towards New Jersey's teachers and the New Jersey Education Association. One of the main questions explored is...... does Christie have a vendetta against the state's teachers? And the answer is: it all depends on who you ask.

O'Brien interviewed some of Christie's high school and junior high teachers in Livingston, some for, some against, some angry, some hurt, some see a politician playing politics.

Here's a sample from two of them.

"We’re all puzzled by the attitude, more than by what he’s trying to do.....I agree with most of what he’s saying — I hope he has success, because we’re all going to benefit — but not how he’s saying it."..... Anthony Hope, a Christie supporter and his former baseball coach.

"It’s (Christie's barbs at New Jersey's teachers) over the top. It does nothing but create animosity. It’s going to hurt him......the people you diss and antagonize are the same people you’re going to have to deal with later."....Ed Hill, retired social studies teacher, a lifelong Democrat who voted for Christie.

And those, ladies and gents, are what a couple of friends and supporters say about New Jersey's governor.

This is a fascinating story, more of it here.

(6) According to The Huffington Post, Fox News spent less than ten minutes on the withdrawal of the last combat brigade from Iraq last week while MSNBC spent the entire night on the event, with Keith Olbermann in studio, Rachel Maddow with Richard Engel (embedded with the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division), and Chris Matthews commenting while on vacation.

While MSNBC, and to a similar extent CNN, gave the story a lot of coverage, FOX chose to ignore the story or marginalize it. Rather, it was given second tier status by both Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly. Their shows continued to present the story of the "Ground Zero Mosque" as the most significant story of the day.

Years before his death, Walter Cronkite was asked "What is the purpose of network news?"

Cronkite answered...."To inform the public of the things they need to know".

I wonder what Mr. Cronkite would have said of Fox's decision?

Are they a news organization, or a propaganda machine?

(7). Suppose there was a fictional cable company with a fictional on air host on it's relatively small news network; call him Cable Host. And pretend there was a fictional news organization, a giant in the industry, with a fictional host who might be the top dog at the News Giant; he's News Giant Host. And suppose Cable Host was critical of News Giant Host, and made that fact public. So News Giant Host leans on cable company, about what's in the best interest of cable company; he has the muscle and he uses it. And suppose cable company blinks....and Cable Host is first suspended, and then fired. He then sues cable company for wrongful "termination".

But this scenario may not be fictional.

Barry Nolan, former host of CN8's Backstage With Barry Nolan, was appalled that Bill O'Reilly was to receive the Governor's Award at local EMMY AWARD CHAPTER in Boston in May, 2008. Nolan protested in the lobby of the Boston Marriott Copley Place at the precise time O'Reilly was to receive his award. In less than two weeks, Barry Nolan was out of a job, first suspended by and then fired by COMCAST. And Nolan has suspicions who was behind his firing.

Terry Ann Knopf tells the story in her piece from Columbia Journalism Review, "The O'Reilly Factor". As you may or may not know, COMCAST is purchasing NBC-Universal, including NBC, MSNBC, BRAVO, Telemundo, and it's entire cable menu. Here's Nolan in the article's last paragraph.

"I don’t think they had the F-ing right to tell me what I’m allowed to say. In the end, I think they were trying to suck up to Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch and Bill O’Reilly in a way that’s spineless and appalling for a company [Comcast] that aspires to run a major network news operation [NBC]. What happens when Keith Olbermann goes after O’Reilly? I think that’s scary.”

Yes Barry, it is scary.

Click here for the complete article .

 (8). In closing.....as they say, at the end of the world, after the Apocalypse, only two things will survive; cockroaches and old pictures on the Internet.

Well....not really. I just made that up. But anyway.....look what I found!

The two ladies pictured above have logged thousands of hours on American TV in the past two decades, and both were contestants the same year (1992)  in the Miss America Pageant.....they didn't win. But they shoulda....coulda.....

One went on to make a name in news, and is currently the lead anchor on HLN's Morning Express. Yes ladies and gents, pictured above is Robin Meade from her days as Miss Ohio. and no, Robin does not lack for pictures (more than 40 pages) and attention in cyberspace.....so many choices, but somebody had to do it.



Also competing that year from Robin's neighboring state of West Virginia was Kim Parrish, who was a host on QVC for years, and later went on to become a clothing designer on HSN and ShopNBC.

She also serves as president of Miss America's Outstanding Teen, which holds it's scholarship competition in Orlando this week.

Truth be told.....I prefer the the 2010 editions of these two talented and quite beautiful women....but that's just the opinion of one Manly Man.

Don't laugh! I've still got it....but it just takes a lot longer to get it.

Got it?

That's all....time to get ready for MADMEN!