Religion

MCC Iran Silence

Should the Mennonite Central Committee be silent on Iran?

As a Christian and a conservative Mennonite (the latter of which MCC isn’t, by the way), I say they shouldn’t make any political statements regarding the unrest in Iran.

Alas, they have not kept silence when it comes to Israel’s “mistreatment” and “oppression” and so forth of Palestinians. Nor have they kept silence when it has come to saying good things about Iran’s leadership.

Therefore, it seems the folks at CAMERA make a good point:

When it comes to rehabilitating his image in the United States, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad can count on the Mennonite Central Committee for assistance.

The organization has sponsored two dinners and an interfaith pilgrimage to Tehran during which Christian leaders have met with the Iranian President and offered kind words about the man afterwards.

Now that events demonstrate that Ahmadinejad is the public face of a brutal regime willing to suppress the people it governs, the organization has fallen silent.

After more than two days of protests and violence in Iran, the MCC has not published any statement about the organization on its website, nor does it have any plans to.

Even though I don’t identify with MCC, I still cringe at that kind of negative publicity seared to the the term Mennonite. 🙁

Oh, the above-quoted story is dated June 15. I just probed the MCC site and found no current Iran-related statement.

Maybe MCC has turned over a new leaf and has decided to stay out of politics. If that is the case, I commend them for that.

Here’s Some Dough and Bread

OK, here’s the headline: NY store owner gives would-be thief $40 and bread.

I read that and thought that sounded so Christian. And uplifting.

So I clicked to read the story, which I excerpt below.

A rifle-toting convenience store owner said he decided to show mercy on a would-be robber after seeing the man collapse into tears and claim he was only committing the crime to support his starving family.

The Long Island store owner provided the bat-wielding man with $40 and a loaf of bread and made him promise never to rob again.

Wow! Isn’t that great! (I really do need to install a thumbs-up emoticon on this blog.)

That sure beats a story I read (yesterday, I think) of a shop owner on trial for murder for repeatedly shooting an unarmed teenage wannabe robber. Anyway, I kept on reading.

“This was a grown man, crying like a baby,” Mohammad Sohail, owner of the Shirley Express convenience store….

Urrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrch! went my thought wheels. That sounds like a Muslim’s name!

Sohail, who moved to the United States from Pakistan about 20 years ago, said he was getting ready to close his store shortly after midnight on May 21 when the man in his 40s entered with a bat in his hand. Sohail said he tried to stall for a moment and then grabbed a rifle he keeps behind the counter and ordered the assailant to drop the bat.

The would-be thief dropped to his knees and begged for forgiveness, Sohail said.

“He started crying that he was out of work and was trying to feed his hungry family,” he said. “I felt bad for him. I mean, this wasn’t some kid.”

He said he tossed $40 to the man, who then stood up and told Sohail he was inspired by the act of mercy and wanted to become a fellow Muslim. Sohail said he led the man in a profession of Muslim faith and the two ended up shaking hands.

Hmmmmm. So what do you make of that, huh?

It’s a great, heart-warming story.

Now I hope the two men eventually choose to follow Jesus instead.

And I hope it doesn’t turn out to be an embellished tale or even a made-up one.

Triablogue: Religious demographics in America

This morning my Google Alert for Anabaptist led me to Religious Demographics in America, from which I excerpt forthwith:

Which groups are the net winners and losers in the dynamic process of shifting religious affiliation?

The group that has experienced the greatest net loss by far is the Catholic Church. Overall, 31.4% of U.S. adults say that they were raised Catholic. Today, however, only 23.9% of adults identify with the Catholic Church, a net loss of 7.5 percentage points.

[…]

It is also interesting to see which childhood faiths people leave behind.

[…]

Roughly half of those raised as Protestant (52%) retain their childhood religious affiliation…. Overall, then, 80% of those who were raised as Protestant are still Protestant, either within the same denominational family in which they were raised (52%) or within another Protestant family (28%).

[…]

Of all of the Protestant families, Baptists, Adventists and Lutherans have the highest retention rates, at roughly 60% each. The Holiness, Anabaptist and Congregationalist families, by contrast, have much lower retention rates, below 40% each.

[…]

Two of the religious groups with the lowest retention rates are Jehovah’s Witnesses and Buddhists.

As an Anabaptist of the Mennonite brand, I’m troubled by our low retention rate. 😥

I wonder, though, what our congregation’s retention rate works out to be.

What about yours?

I also wonder what our congregation’s acquisition rate is. Especially from the ranks of the heathen.

What about yours?

They Found Grandpa Lemuel

I mean, Grandpa Lemur. 🙄

The search for a direct connection between humans and the rest of the animal kingdom has taken 200 years – but it was presented to the world today at a special news conference in New York.

The discovery of the 95%-complete ‘lemur monkey’ – dubbed Ida – is described by experts as the “eighth wonder of the world”.

Oh. I got the name wrong. Sorry about that, Grandma Ida.

They say its impact on the world of palaeontology will be “somewhat like an asteroid falling down to Earth”.

Researchers say proof of this transitional species finally confirms Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, and the then radical, outlandish ideas he came up with during his time aboard the Beagle.

I thought ole Piltdown was the “finally confirms” they’ve been hunting.

Sir David Attenborough said Darwin “would have been thrilled” to have seen the fossil – and says it tells us who we are and where we came from.

First of all, I thought I’d heard/read information that Darwin actually would have been dismayed. Maybe that’s just an urban legend sprung forth by an overzealous right wing (different, non-simian branch of the evolutionary tree apparently) conspiracy.

Secondly, if a monkey tells us who we are, what are?

Thirdly, and most importantly perhaps, where are we going?

Anyway, if you want to learn more about this Would Have Been Thrilled news (and it may be a good idea), here you go: Missing Link: Scientists In New York Unveil Fossil Of Lemur Monkey Hailed As Man’s Earliest Ancestor

Meanwhile, in other monkey business that should weigh more heavily on your mind than Grandpa Lemur-el Grandma Ida:

Good day?

“Abortion Is a Blessing”

This is quite the sermon. 😥

Here’s one paragraph, as reported by the UK’s Telegraph

I want to thank all of you who protect this blessing – who do this work every day: the health care providers, doctors, nurses, technicians, receptionists, who put your lives on the line to care for others you are heroes — in my eyes, you are saints; the escorts and the activists; the lobbyists and the clinic defenders; all of you. You’re engaged in holy work.

😯

Peace, Part II

Furious Berlusconi demands apology from wife

Now, which emoticon should I use?! 🙄 😯 😥 😆

I don’t know if either of the Berlusconis are Christians, but I suppose one could also wonder who the real Christians are in this next story.

U.S. denies letting troops convert Afghans

The U.S. military denied Monday it has allowed soldiers to try to convert Afghans to Christianity, after a television network showed pictures of soldiers with bibles translated into local languages.

General Order Number 1 from the U.S. military’s Central Command forbids active duty troops — including all those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan — from trying to convert people to their religion, considered a crime in many Muslim countries.

[…]

“The translated bibles were never distributed as far as we know, because the soldier understood that if he distributed them he would be in violation of general order 1, and he would be subject to punishment.”

No man can serve to masters, Jesus said once upon a time.

Besides, those soldiers are there to kill people, not save them. Or am I missing something?

Other reading: Kosovo and Serbia: A Case Study Regarding Christians in the Military

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Above all, love God!