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| A Larger View |
| Applying Trans-Religious Values to Current Events |
| Volume XI Edition 1 |
January/February |
2006 |
In this issue:
Intelligent Design v Evolution: Bridging Religion and Science
Doing Away With Rickshaws: Not So Simple
Executive Compensation: More Transparency
Human Trafficking In The U.S. At The Forefront of Our Consciousness.
Intelligent Design v Evolution:
Bridging Religion and Science
According to a CBS News poll cited in Polling Report, a non-partisan resource on American public opinion, 67% of American adults believe it is possible to believe in both god and evolution thus suggesting that when it is broadly explained two thirds of us agree with the concept if not the content of Intelligent Design. If the very name Intelligent Design suggests that creation did not occur on its own, that god, the creator had a hand in it, then it indeed represents the beliefs of most of us. But, if it is a way to present the Biblical version of events as the equivalent of scientific fact, then to no one's surprise it ends up being pitted against the theory of evolution.
Like relativity, evolution is called a theory, which does not mean it is iffy. It means it has been tested and thought through and is subject to even more testing and thought in the future simply because that is what the scientific method rests on.
That's fine said the people at The Templeton Prize, giver of the annual Templeton prize for progress toward research and discoveries about spiritual realities, and which among other things would like to better explain the relationship between science and religion, submit research proposals applying the scientific method to Intelligent Design and we shall fund them. According to a recent story in the New York Times none came. The lack of response to an offer that could have supported its premise seems to only have bolstered what many on the academic side of the scientific community were already thinking, that they had difficulty seeing Intelligent Design as science.
We live in a society with one of the highest literacy rates in the world, but we are nevertheless not knowledgeable about a number of subjects, science being one of them. Most, for example, do not realize that it is the earth that orbits the sun, not the other way around. Our general ignorance is not a new phenomenon. It has been a concern to many for a number of years.
Wouldn't our scientific ignorance affect what we believe about Intelligent Design? And wouldn't that also affect the kind of questions we are able to raise about it? Certainly, we need to better understand the relationship between religion and science. At this stage, it would look that our understanding of whatever the links may be is at best nascent. Despite our own desire to prove them, however, we ought not to let our scientific ignorance keep us from going beyond mere faith or religious beliefs, nor mar our need for clear and rigorous thought.
Doing Away With Rickshaws:
Not So Simple
For some of us the idea of getting into a rickshaw and being pulled by a fellow human would be at the very least trampling upon his dignity. That is in part why the Indian government is outlawing rickshaws in cities such as Calcutta as of this year. It reminds one of the colonial era when well-fed, heavy-set colonial administrators were pulled by undernourished small-framed people. It's a humiliating image that the communists in the city, although they are sufficiently non-traditional and endorse free markets, do not believe is fitting. "It is a symbol of human bondage; it is inhumane..." Said the chief minister of the West Bengal state last August when he announced his intention to phase out rickshaws.
And yet human rights groups like Action Aid and Calcutta Samaritans while acknowledging the practice entails human beings toiling like beasts of burden, have declared themselves against it. They are not being blind but are being touched by what may be the plight of the thousand of rickshaw drivers in the city. Many are older and have been doing this for decades. It is the only job they may know or be able to do. For 60-year old Mukundhal Shalh, for example, it is what he calls an honest day's work He earns about $2.50 a day and unless special programs are initiated for people like him, how will he live, what will happen to him? A few years ago, a ban failed mainly because there was no other employment. In this instance failure is also possible since the ban may not be able to be enforced, certainly not until after Indian elections in the Spring, for being on the side of enforcement may not be a popular position for candidates to take. In addition, jobs or retraining do not seem to be on the political agenda.
As politics affect the issue, the life of a rickshaw puller continues to be not only harsh but also lonely. Pullers, who support families in their home states, typically live on the street, or in rickshaw garages, often visit prostitutes and end up HIV positive.
Whether seen from the pros or the cons of banning rickshaws, it is a poignant story that goes to the heart of social justice.
Executive Compensation:
More Transparency
Rep Barney Frank, a long time Massachusetts representative, along with two democratic colleagues, George Miller and Martin Sabo have introduced legislation that targets executive compensation. In short the bill would mandate companies to give more details about executive salaries and give shareholders the power to block a number of measures, such as bonuses. The bill drew immediate support from investor groups including the Council of Institutional Investors and the Institutional Shareholder Services as well as from the AFL-CIO. Their reason is far more compelling than their endorsement may in itself indicate. Their figures show that in 1982 the average CEO's pay was 42 times greater than that of the average worker. Now it is 431 times. In 2004 the average CEO had a 91% raise, while the raise of workers averaged about 4%.
The implications of these figures do give cause for much pause. Compensating executive in proportion to what they bring is legitimate, but increasing the disparity between the highest salaries and those of ordinary workers ought to be everyone's concern. If executive compensations keep going up and the salaries of average workers do not keep pace economic consequences such as reduced buying power and lagging sales will soon affect all of us.
Investor concern about abuses in executive compensation has reached the ears of the Security and Exchange Commission, who soon plans to issue rules in the hope that if corporation act on their own, they can avoid the need for federal regulation.
Rep. Frank's bill won't solve the many problems involved, but it may put a brake on an unhealthy trend. He hopes the bill survives the committee process and comes to the full House for a vote early in the year. "I think this could be an election issue," he said alluding to the fact that several members of Congress will be running for reelection.
Human Trafficking In The U.S.
At The Forefront of Our Consciousness
Human trafficking is a 9.5 billion international industry and it makes it all the more difficult to remember that part of this hefty sum includes trafficking in the United States. According to the U.S. State Department 14,000 to 17,000 victims are trafficked every year.
At a meeting by Media 4 Humanity at the Harvard Club recently, the panelists discussing child slavery said that teenage girls have been bought and sold on two popular Internet sites, the auction site, E-Bay and the classified Craig's List.
New York, California, Florida and Texas have the highest rates of slavery in the U.S. and as many as 300,000 children are at risk of falling into the sex trade. Trafficking is mainly fueled by economic disparities, and sometimes by social ones, leading to a continuous supply of victims and of people seeking to migrate.
The spread of HIV/AIDS makes this problem also a public health issue. Many believe there is a link between trafficking and AIDS and government programs try to address both, attempting a rehabilitation effort for victims of sex trafficking and also education about its public health hazards.
People fighting this hideous practice warn of a necessary distinction to be made between those who are smuggled and those who are trafficked. Smuggling involves consent, usually of migrant workers. Trafficking does not. The people have no say, no choice, and no voice. They are coerced and deceived. Another difference is that smuggling usually ends when individuals reach their destination, trafficking is an ongoing exploitation.
Experts say that preventing human trafficking requires action on several fronts: criminal punishment, addressing the underlying conditions that lead to supply, and the necessity to educate groups that are socially marginalized-the very groups from which victims tend to be recruited, and who are usually unaware of the deceptions used by traffickers.
Last October Lifetime Cable channel ran an original movie about human trafficking and had one of its highest ratings, 5.5 million viewers. Earlier it has tackled the issue of foreign adoption and had also experienced a ratings boost. Buoyed by the success of tackling social causes, it plans to do more. Given the high level of interest in trafficking, it is likely to address the issue again. That's commendable and necessary but it is only a beginning. The 13th amendment in the U.S. Constitution outlawed slavery yet in newer versions it has morphed into a no less virulent form. It rarely if ever makes the front page, but its existence ought to be at the forefront of our consciousness.
Website of Interest: www.food-force.com
Learning About Delivering Food Aid
To raise awareness of both hunger and the problems involved in delivering food aid, the World Food Program of the United Nations is offering a video game. While the developing world has at least some idea of the problems involved, youngsters in more affluent nations do not. In part because those are the youngsters most likely to play computer games, the idea of a video game addressing issues of food aid came about. Offered in several languages it has been downloaded (for free) over 2.5 million times as of this writing. The game focuses on the fictional island of Sheylan and the challenges of reaching people in time before crisis set in. The game simulates realistic situations and allows the children to face a number of situations in order to feed thousands, pilot helicopters on reconnaissance missions or negotiate with armed rebels. The players must locate the refugees, plan appropriate food packets based on the nutritional needs of the population and work out how to deliver the food or airdrop it to people in remote areas. Their biggest challenge comes toward the end when they must using limited resources help a village become self sufficient within 10 years.
To Ponder On
Dying Before One's Time?
Samuel A. Pettit, on death row in Florida, suffered from a degenerative brain disorder and had been in a wheel chair for several years. A few weeks ago he died of natural causes at the age of 43 at Union Correctional Institution in Raiford. Pettit had killed Norman Langston. Langston's brother, Richard, hearing of his death said," He shouldn't have died in prison; he should have been executed in prison."
Indeed compassion is very hard for some people, and perhaps they are those who deserve ours more than the rest.
A Larger View is published by the Inner\Outer Partnership, a tax-exempt educational organization probing how trans-religious spiritual principles can be agents of individual and societal change. We are funded through donations. Please send any - as well as any comments - to P.O.Box 1293, Pac. Pal. CA 90272-1293. Also contact us by email at alargerview@earthlink.net or call 310-836-7710 or visit our web site at www.innerouterpartnership.org
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