|
|
|
| A Larger View |
|
A Bi-Monthly Newsletter of the Inner Outer Partnership |
| Volume VI Edition 2 |
March/April |
2001 |
Mr. Ashcroft's Dilemma
Our Attorney General John Ashcroft is said to be a man of integrity,
someone who has deep Christian beliefs, beliefs that inform his values and
lifestyle. Those who do not share his understanding of Christian values
were assured that in no way would he impose those values upon them. To
reemphasize the point in a different way, time and again in his
confirmation hearing he reassured senate committee members that regardless
of his private views, he would enforce the laws of the United States.
Can one be true to oneself, exercise ones conscience and at the same
time enforce laws one does not believe in? Mr. Ashcroft's stance on
abortion and related issues for example is well known. Are we to take him
at his word? Are we to expect that as a man of conscience he would first
observe the laws of the land which do permit abortion? Or are we to believe
that his conscience will predispose him if not prompt him to do all he can
to undermine what he believes to be harmful if not evil.
What is the exercise of one's conscience? Does it lie in following the
law, or in a more private dictate? Would Nelson Mandela have succeeded in
contributing to the downfall of Apartheid had he not been willing to
engage in acts deemed unlawful but in direct opposition to his conscience?
Martin Luther King went to jail time and again for knowingly breaking the
law because he said he agreed with St. Augustine that we have a moral duty
to disobey an unjust law.
If John Ashcroft disagrees with abortion laws does he then have a duty
to disobey them? And if so how can he fulfill his promise to uphold the
laws of the land? His integrity is at stake for he cannot straddle both
sides of the issue. If his conscience opts against abortion laws, then he
lied to the questioning senators; if it does not then he is not being true
to himself.
A New Approach for Fighting Neo-Nazism?
In the midst of ongoing concerns about the continuing presence of white
supremacist groups in both the United States and Europe, Sweden is being
proactive. It recently called a two-day forum for politicians and human
rights activists to help fight the spread of racism. While we tend to
think of Sweden as a neutral, peaceful country, the rise in neo-Nazi
groups brings us back to a more realistic perception . Indeed a
documentary about the rise of the movement in Sweden strikes us with its
images of youth wearing black masks and waving swastikas.
Whether in Sweden or anywhere else, what is it that attracts these
youths to this movement? Do they need to feel special or unique? Is
demonstrating hostility toward people of various minorities a sign of
strength for them? Do they truly believe the rhetoric they espouse or are
they mouthing concepts in a sad attempt to belong somewhere? Regardless
of these or any other reasons, they would seem to emphasize a deep sense
of separateness not only from their fellow humans but mainly from their
higher selves, a unique alienation which sees no other way of expressing
itself.
The Swedish Prime Minister, Goran Persson, in addressing forum
participants and reminding all that "just a few generations after the
liberation of Auschwitz, we see an alarming rise in right-wing extremists
in Europe," was very clear in saying that "There is no room for
hesitation. It is time for action and cooperation." Forum organizers hope
to focus on education, legislation, the media and local community
initiatives as means to fight the spread of this kind of hostility.
Although it might seem somewhat naive to some, might a program of
meditation have a place in these initiatives?
Meditation is a means of bridging the alienation of the self from
itself as well as that of the self from others. As such meditation fosters
a sense of inclusiveness. It would to be sure take a while for this result
to manifest itself but somewhere in the proposed education and initiatives
there might be room to provide skills for inner reflection, itself a form of
meditation and the precursor to its more direct and potent form. In
addition an adjunct to meditation such as visualization techniques which
now have a proven track record could be of great value.
Perhaps meditation could begin with conversations in small groups, in
time discussing the concept of race through what forward thinking
biologists tell us--many describe it as a social construct rather than as
scientific fact. Groups could go on to recognize how we already meditate
without being aware of it when we bring our attention to bear on a topic,
for example and then perhaps attempt visualization, such as imagining
looking at water running over a rock or at the first flower seen in the
Spring? Could the participants sense what it is that might happen within
them at that moment? Would there be a greater sense of calmness ? Over
time koan like "seed thoughts" could take the place of images and perhaps
generate the same sense of calm. Used as a seed thought, the phrase "I
and my brother are one" could evoke something from within that wouldn't at
first be apparent. Later still as what is meant by brother or sister
would be explored, the significance of the phrase could be progressively
extended.
While it may be difficult for many to see the connection between
meditation and changing attitudes of neo-Nazis, it can nevertheless be a
powerful tool. Used thus meditation can open myriad possibilities each
contributing to an inner journey that starts in one place and ends in quite
a different one.
Affirmative Action redux
Last December the University of Michigan in a case championed by its
president, Lee C. Bollinger, won a victory when a federal district court
upheld its undergraduate admission policy of considering race and
ethnicity. And now Bollinger is involved in fending off a case
spearheaded by the Center for Individual Rights, a law firm hoping to
dismantle race-based preferences. The case is that of Barbara Grutter who
was denied admission to the law school. She argues that the university is
trying to enhance the educational opportunity of some and denying an
educational opportunity to others. Underlying the case is the court's 1978
Bakke decision whereby race could be taken into consideration either as a
"plus factor" or as one factor among others.
Affirmative Action at the beginning of this century is no longer clear
cut and now tends to revolve around the benefits of diversity. After
studying the experiences of 28 institutions former Harvard president Derek
Bok and Princeton President William G. Bowen conclude in a 1998 work, "
The shape of the River: Long Term Consequences of Considering Race in
College and University Admissions," that there are educational benefits to
diversity. Students exposed to a diverse environment for example exhibit
more critical thinking skills, and are more likely to eschew the "group
think" of a more uniform educational environment. This may strengthen the
rationale expressed by Justice Powell in the Bakke case. Still, many
opponents would like to see Bakke overturned.
Bollinger's answer is not only to press ahead with the court cases,
knowing they are more than likely to end up in the Supreme Court, but also
to bring his battle to the court of public opinion by articulating the
principles now involved.
We are a diverse culture, and educational institutions as any other
civic or public ones, ought to reflect the whole of who we are. In this
new incarnation the concepts are hardly reminiscent of the redress and
working toward parity implied in the original idea of affirmative action.
But as it stands and by whatever name it may be given this new version has
sufficient merits on its own to warrant endorsement and practice.
Life-giving Decisions
Several British Children's Hospitals, it was recently learned, have
for years performed autopsies on infants and children and without parental
knowledge or permission removed organs keeping them for medical research
and in some cases selling them to other medical research organizations.
The ensuing uproar gave rise to new regulations making it that much
harder for hospitals to continue these practices without parental consent.
It has also led to a renewed interest in the need for organ donations
and to a campaign by politicians, actors, and other public figures
asking people to register as organ donors with the National Health
Service. As part of this campaign newspaper features described what is
now possible in organ transplants citing striking examples such as those
of cystic fibrosis sufferers in their 30's now alive after receiving
double transplants: heart and lung.
Medical advances have truly made organ transplants a viable option
for those lucky enough to receive them, but attitudes towards the
disposition of the body after death as well as towards death itself may not
have kept pace. We still harbor many taboos and false notions which
interfere with organ donation as well as with understanding the role of
transplanted organs in their new bodies. Both in the U.S. and abroad much
work is being done demystifying the whole transplant process emphasizing
the continuity of life they permit. Still those are no substitute for the
needed inner search and shedding of old values.
Fighting Poverty an Old Fashioned Way
An old saying says that if you give a man a fish you feed him for a
day, but if you teach him how to fish you feed him for a lifetime. Working
along parallel lines, Heifer Project International, headquartered in
Arkansas, has been fighting poverty and hunger for some 70 years. Because
its base is agrarian it is very well suited to a number of third world
countries . It began in the 1930s when Dan West, a young mid-western farmer
and church worker realized that giving someone a cup of milk was not going
to feed them tomorrow. For that they needed a cow. The program now serves
115 countries including the United States, donating chickens, goats, cows
whatever the local husbandry can sustain to help families and communities
toward self reliance. Chickens provide eggs to eat plus extra to sell,
cows not only provide milk for the family but extra to also sell.
Anyone can participate. A $20 donation will buy chicks for a rural
family in South Africa. $50 may go towards a heifer for a mother in the
Dominican Republic. Donors can even receive a card explaining how their
donation is used.
Contact Heifer Project International P.O. Box 8058 Little Rock, AR
72203-8058 , 800-422-0755 or www.heifer.org
Seed Thoughts
Have you heard that it is good to gain the day?
I also say it is good to fall. Battles are lost in the same spirit in which
they are won.
I exist as I am, that is enough,
If no other in the world be aware I sit content,
And if each and all be aware I sit content.
From Walt
Whitman's Song of Myself
|
|
