January 22, 2004
Clergy Leadership Network responds to Bush.
The
Clergy Leadership Network, another excellent group I've never heard of, feels compelled, for spiritual and ethical reasons, not political ones, to
respond to Bush's speech.
CLN (www.clnnlc.org) is a new interfaith movement of moderate and progressive clergy who are pursuing greater political participation as an expression of an inclusive faith and a religious social conscience.
"Just as the prophet Jeremiah spoke truth to power in ancient Judah, we find ourselves compelled, out of a sense of faith and patriotism, to give voice to our concerns about the integrity and well-being of our country.
"It comes as no surprise to us that George Bush should find the state of the union so healthy. For himself and those he associates with, times have surely never been better. That is because, in spiritual terms, his Administration has been one that has coddled the wealthy and catered to the powerful at the expense of desperate and even destitute people. While this Administration seeks to aggrandize the corporation and the profiteer, millions of God's children are plagued by unmet needs: the struggle to find jobs, to shelter their families, to educate their children, and to heal their illnesses.
"We reject domestic economic policies that favor the advantaged and pander to greed. The pursuit of such policies is irreconcilable with spiritual commitments and biblical convictions. But worse, to wrap these policies in a false cloak of 'compassion' moves into the arena of cynicism and public hypocrisy.
"Tonight, President Bush also defended - and even celebrated - his violent and unnecessary war in Iraq, which has brought so much human suffering to Americans and Iraqis alike. We share the President's goal of security for all our people. But faith teaches that security realized through conquest is no security at all. Only policies that affirm human dignity, provide for basic human needs, and create global partnerships can lay fair claim to having enhanced security for us and for all nations.
"Furthermore, it is unconscionable that public resources can be found to tear down and rebuild an entire society abroad, but when it comes to pressing human priorities here in our own communities, the nation's coffers have mysteriously run dry."
They
go on. More intelligent speaking. And they're right. The worse thing about what Bush and company are doing is that they are doing it in the name of religion and God.
For another response to the speech, the
Center for American Progress has a
detailed, point-by-point analysis and rebuttal. Not only do they answer his false claims with specific facts, they offer lots of links to further material. Excellent work.
Both links via
Wood s Lot. What excellent work they do. Tons of poetry and artwork there as well. It just goes on and on. And what I especially love about it, is that instead of "dumbing down" as they do in the US, the "smarten up." They assume you're intelligent, which is so refreshing. Incredibly inspirational. It's from Canada. Thank God they've kept their educational system alive, or North America would be in even worse shape than it is.
