Facilitating dialogue to promote open and multi-faceted discussion and awareness

John Boehner made an interesting (ridiculous) statement earlier today, addressing both the Cordoba Initiative and Terry Jones, the radical conservative pastor from Gainseville, Florida, in the same breath:

“Just because you have the right to do something in America, doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do…”

This is just a testament to how ridiculous this debate has come to. Allow me to play Captain Obvious and list some problems with Boehner’s comparison of the Cordoba Initiative and Terry Jones:

- It’s interesting that Christians and Jews are coming out trying to appeal to Jones not to proceed with the burning. They are also appealing to the public that Jones version of radical Christianity does not define Christianity as a whole (something the Cordoba Initiative is trying to accomplish as well, speaking and living out against radical, violent Islam…).

- Terry Jones actions are actions out of fear and are blatantly meant to cause a divide and a reaction. His action will incite violence, as warned by General Petraeus himself. The Cordoba Initiative, on the other hand, is built upon the premise of peace, tolerance, and community.

- Terry Jones is the radically violent fringe of Christianity, Feisal Abdul Rauf and the Cordoba Initiative are the peaceful, mainstream vein of Islam. As Jones speaks of burning Islam’s holy book, Rauf speaks this:

“The wonderful outpouring of support for our right to build this community center from across the social, religious and political spectrum seriously undermines the ability of anti-American radicals to recruit young, impressionable Muslims by falsely claiming that America persecutes Muslims for their faith. These efforts by radicals at distortion endanger our national security and the personal security of Americans worldwide. This is why Americans must not back away from completion of this project. If we do, we cede the discourse and, essentially, our future to radicals on both sides. The paradigm of a clash between the West and the Muslim world will continue, as it has in recent decades at terrible cost. It is a paradigm we must shift.”

Rauf means to influence the impressionable young Muslims who do not feel accepted in society to become a part of a peaceful community and “to strengthen relations between the Western and Muslim worlds and to help counter radical ideology.” Jones actions will simply give those young Muslims more reason to feel alienated in western culture.

Boehners’ ridiculous remark just adds a bigger voice to the subtle bigotry that is becoming not so subtle here in the United States. To further alienate the Muslim world out of fear and hatred is giving Osama Bin Laden what he wants, and more fuel to train his radical extremists in terrorism and hate.

These kinds of comments are simply aiding and abetting terrorism itself…

I want to say I failed, but how can I say so when I learned  so much. In the traditional sense I did fail. I didn’t make it to Sunday, yes, I ate something last night. I was at a friends apartment hanging out until it was clearly past my bed time so I could wake up at 5 a.m. Again I got in the car and it hit me. I would like to say it was something spiritual that God challenged my life with that made me feel release from my fast, but it wasn’t. I was driving home and began to feel immensely sick and dizzy. I got to my apartment where my roommate also was laying day sick from some unknown illness that I was desperate not to catch.

I began to see how he was and explained I was starting to feel really bad. Well I went to go lay down hopeful that sleeping would be an adequate way to forget the dizziness, nausea, and headache I was going through. Well after laying there for a while just praying it became to the point that I could no longer bear it. Nearly for days and I was done. I cheated out, ate about a two spoonfuls of rice and a piece of toast. Yet while I was disappointed with myself that my body got to the best of me I subtly realized something I have never actually experienced before.

We hear over and over again that Africa is a starving nation, and it’s not just Africa, but many places around the world even some places here in America (albeit not in as a sever fashion). I have never felt so hungry in my life as I did that night and as much as I hate to admit it, I had my way out. I knew no matter how bad it got out I could always eat something, but I could never imagine what that means to not be able to at all. While I can’t imagine that I know there are people who go through that every day. The become so hungry and have no way out, none at all, not even a shelter to find, no scraps to find.

It makes me want to do something, to want to change something, to find a way to feed people. I have heard all of the statistics, I know what the improbable is, I know what the church in America is capable of. Beyond all of this I know what can be done, but I am not worried about the can I am worried about the how. How do we do this? How do we stop world hunger with using the power of the church and with showing the love of Christ that needs to be clearly shown. How can we spread the gospel to those who are dying of hunger? Shoes, clothes, presents, friends are all very very good things to be given to people around the world, but so many lack just the necessity of food and water. Diseases may come from a lack of shoes, but death comes so much more immediately from lack of food. I want help. I want to know what we can do to show the church what we have a responsibility to do. I know I would love to see followers of Christ who have never experienced this feeling to go without food for even three or four days. Learn what it does to your body to lack food, to be completely without. Any thoughts I would love to hear, but for now I am going to contemplate more on what I think we can do.