Unveiling the Light

Our Congress should be ashamed of itself. When this war in Iraq began, they were fully behind the mission, the troops, and the goal of eliminating Iraq from being a threat to the United States. When we rolled over the Iraqis in a stunning victory, they were quick to put themselves next to the military and the President to share in the glory. Now, when the going gets tough, they claim they had nothing to do with this decision, that they were mislead, that they were lied to, or that they were simply mistaken. All of this because the situation is Iraq has not worked out as we had hoped. They seldom do in a war.

It was made clear at the beginning of this war that troops would not be dedicated to this fight unless the country was fully behind them. That has been our policy since the disaster of VietNam where soldiers fought, suffered and died for this country only to come home and be spat upon and attacked by a powerful anti war movement. The military, Presidents, and Congresses have said they would never allow that to happen again. Now we have a Congress telling the soldiers that our being in Iraq is a mistake and that there is no mission in our national interests. Once again, for the sake of politics, we are turning our back on our troops.

I don’t accept the idea that Congress was mislead. Everything pointed to Iraq being a threat and holding weapons of mass destruction. We still don’t know the truth because while none were found, we have ample evidence that something was massively moved out of Iraq into Syria just before the war began. Those WMDs could still be around. Besides, Congress has its own sources and its own access to intelligence. They cannot blame the White House when they had the same information and came to the same conclusion. Also, no one mentions that we had to have a no fly zone to keep Saddam from killing his own people and that he repeatedly attacked U.S. planes flying in that zone as they protected those threatened. He undertook many acts of war without us retaliating in a significant manner. Were we going to wait until he was successful at killing Americans?

Nobody is happy with the war today. It has become worse than we hoped for and quite a mess, but we are making progress. I don’t look to the politicians or the news for this information. I depend on what the soldiers themselves report. This is a war with global implications. To think we can pull out now and that somehow we will be left alone is ridiculous. Part of the reason we have not been significantly attacked since 9-11 is that the terrorists have put so much towards fighting us in Iran. Better there, against trained soldiers, than here against innocent civilians.

I would love to see this war end and peace reign but I also know that nobody ever won peace by retreating. This is a tough war, but the fact is it is one that has not cost us more than we can afford and, sad as 3,000 casualties is, it is far less than a country of 300,000,000 can afford. In the time of this war we have lost 40 to 50 times that many Americans on our roads and far more young people die here for stupid alliances and acts of idiocy. At least our soldiers in Iraq have found a way to serve. We mourn every death but it should be a mourning for those who gave themselves on our behalf. Congress is saying that they are dying for nothing.

I firmly believe that Congress is acting for political reasons and not for the good of this country. The message they are sending is that we do not have the will to protect our interests. That was the lesson of Somalia when we evacuated after taking casualties and that was the example of Bosnia where we were glad to bomb the country into ruins because there was no danger to our people, but where we refused to step foot into the war zone where we might take casualties.

When things get tough, our leaders are supposed to step up and back their decisions and support those carrying out their decisions. This congress does just the opposite. In the first year of World War II we took tremendous losses on all fronts. Our leaders supported the troops and rallied the country until eventual victory was ours. Today, as soon as the war does not go exactly as we had hoped, Congress runs for cover and points to others. They are political hacks and moral cowards. Either they should have stood up against the war before it started or should back up their decision. Now they are just being expedient at the cost of our troops and national interests.

The main problem with this situation is the wise saying that a country has the government it deserves. I hope that is wrong because we I hope we deserve a lot better than this bunch. I would not want one of these Congressmen for a distant neighbor, much less as a leader. I hope the American people are deserving of more and that we earn that better government in future elections.

Posted by Fr Steven Foppiano at 08:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I have a question for the administration, teachers and parents of Paradise schools. If you care so much for the children, why have they been victimized by your actions? Parents are threatening to pull kids out of school and teachers have quit lunch time and after school assistance to students. The administration certainly took its time to come to an agreement. Meanwhile, teachers refused to do anything not specified in the contract. This is simply a work slow down and it protects the teachers from any economic harm. Parents threatened to force the parties to the bargaining table by pulling their children out of school, but the only people threatened by that would have been the school district which would lose money; not the teachers who would get paid anyway, and of course, the students would lose most of all.

Teachers say that their slow down is the only way they have to get the attention of the school board and parents say they want to force both parties to bargain. Unfortunately, both use the students as pawns in their confrontation and I am sure that the students resent it. If there is to be a teacher strike or a parent boycott, then at least do it in a way that is least disruptive to the students. The only victims now are the children who have seen their extracurricular activities and learning assistance disappear and are threatened with further isolation. How will parents explain to students that they are falling behind and loosing contact with friends by staying home, so that the school and teachers will come to an agreement? Why is that their responsibility?

The Teachers Union and the district need an agreement that is honest and fair to everyone. They need to act as adults and handle the issue between adults. Neither the union nor the district has much credibility but they can start earning it now. Whatever the parties do, leave the kids out of it. If the teachers want to strike, then do it. At least students will know that the days lost will have to be made up later. They will also see the adults in confrontation without either party taking advantage of the powerlessness of students. They are the innocent ones. They should not be used to make a point or to gain leverage over the other party. Deny it all you want but they are the ones who have suffered in this slow down and in the administration’s slowness to act.

I also encourage the district to not fund the salaries of teachers at the expense of non-teacher employees at the school level. Teachers should also protect these workers who keep the school working and not look for cuts there to fund their own raises. These workers have taken many cuts in the past and are at bare minimum now. Perhaps the district can start with a large cut in administration, cutting back the positions not directly related to school functions. Perhaps teachers can understand the need to cut positions as there is a decrease in students and that 20 is not a magical number of students that makes them effective.

Every bureaucracy in the United States has taken severe cutbacks due to efficiencies gained through computerization and the downward push of both responsibility and authority. Their employees have taken on more responsibility and learned how to do more with less. It is time for our school districts and teachers to do the same. Teachers are highly paid with very good benefits and a great deal of time off. They receive more pay for earned credentials but this is not accompanied by increased responsibility. The bureaucracy has even better pay and benefits and we can hardly brag about the quality of our schools. The generous pay for these parties is especially true here in the poorest county of the state. It is time that they demonstrated they deserve such pay by making real improvements in the education of students and the atmosphere found in the schools. It is time that students felt the mattered and felt someone was looking out for their needs.

The real answer may be in a return to local controls. The worst thing ever to happen to our schools is the unification process. Instead of local schools receiving direct feedback from parents in the local neighborhood, we now have impersonal bureaucracy with its own agenda. Parents feel alienated, students become a number, and the most important thing to teachers and administrators becomes statistics. Our drop out rates gets larger; our students become anonymous and learn less. Nobody is happy.

Charter schools are full and popular because they are small enough to be personal and allow parental involvement. Students know they are cared for and teachers can form personal relationships. They sidestep the pitfalls of large districts. Even though forced to take on “at risk� students, they manage to do a stellar job educating children and making them feel important and cared for. Also, when such personal relationships are formed in these smaller schools, the students are less likely to find themselves pawns in a battle between economic titans, the powerful teachers union and elusive administration. Besides, think of all the money we could save if we got rid of the bureaucracy and concentrated on teaching!

If this last agreement is accepted by both parties, you do not need to concentrate on "fixing relations" between the administration and teachers. The administration and teachers should apologize to the students and concentrate on making them the center of their concern that they should be. The children are the ones owed a great apology. The warring parties got what they wanted. The kids simply got abused.

Neither the union nor the district has much credibility but they can start earning it now. Whatever the parties do, leave the kids out of it.

Posted by Fr Steven Foppiano at 09:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The war in Iraq is now in its fourth year. Thus far, about 3,100 men and women from the United States have died in this war and some 25,000 have been wounded or injured. There is great sadness at these losses, as there should be. Every life is precious and every loss of life is to be mourned. Still, we have to wonder at the lack of fortitude demonstrated by so many Americans. Some complain that the war has lasted longer than World War II but fail to mention that in that war the level of violence reached unimagined proportions. They also fail to remember that it was the weakness of the United States, which at the start of the war had an army smaller than Switzerland, that enabled and empowered dictators and fascists to undertake that war.

Consider that in the single battle for Okinawa, the army, navy and marines lost over 12,800 personnel killed and nearly 38,000 wounded. In Europe, in a single day the battle to land on the European continent cost almost 11,000 dead among the allies, most of whom where Americans. World War II itself cost the world over 60 million deaths of which 17 million were soldiers. Some think the real figure could be over 70 million civilians. The United States suffered among the least but still lost nearly 300,000 soldiers killed. Civilians always suffer the worst in the area in which a war is fought. Thankfully very few American civilians were lost in that war. In fact, except for a few weather balloons with bombs sent over the Pacific by the Japanese, which killed a total of two people and started some fires; no civilians had been lost to enemy action since the War of 1812. That is, until the attack of 9-11.

None of this makes the deaths in Iraq any less tragic, especially for the families of those lost, but a country has to be able to take some losses and keep to its policies, or it will have no policy and become helpless in a world that is often unfriendly and hostile. Besides, much of the anguish over the deaths in Iraq rings hollow. Since the year 2000 the United States has lost, each year, over 43,000 civilians to auto accidents. 435,000 annual deaths are caused by tobacco, and 85,000 annual deaths are caused by alcohol. These are avoidable deaths. Where is anguish over these deaths?

In 2001 over 30,000 Americans committed suicide in the single year. Over 3,000 were between the ages of 15 and 24. Where is the outrage over this tragic loss of life, especially among our young people? Between the ages of 16 and 24, every year nearly 11,000 young men and women die in car crashes and another 5,000 die as victims of homicide. Accidental poisoning takes the lives of another 1,600 and accidental drowning account for over 600 deaths. While the losses in Iraq are tragic, they are much less than 700 per year and the fact is that we have far more problems right here at home. At least the deaths in Iraq are for a good cause and not due to bad behavior, alcohol and drugs, negligence or, simply the result of bad luck.

I want peace desperately, as much as anyone else. But I also recognize the situation we are in. The threat by radical Muslim fascists, a term that I believe well describes who these people fighting us are; is perhaps the biggest threat facing this country. To think that if we pack up and go home now that they will leave us alone is silly and unrealistic. They hate us. They have attacked our facilities continuously since the 60s and have managed to strike a powerful blow in our largest city, New York. What’s more is that their leaders depend on that hate and foster it so as to stay in power. It is all that keeps them from looking to their own system for the reasons behind their poverty. The idea of installing democracy in these countries is the one thing that can rob them of their power. It won’t be easy but it can be done.

I believe that the young men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are great heroes, even as many here at home derogate what they are attempting to do. They seem to understand what they can accomplish and have concern for the average Iraqi citizen but, but we who are safe in the United States are filled with doubt. It may be that we simply do not want to see the world for what it is. It is a dangerous place, being made more so by some madmen who are harnessing Muslim fascist for their own purposes. Those purposes are usually aimed at the United States. Perhaps it is the lack of support from Europe that causes us anguish but we have never relied on European nations for moral leadership or fortitude. Instead, they continually look to us to bail them out of their problems, often caused by the lack of morality and fortitude. .

Fascism is on the rise in the Middle East because it keeps the people outwardly focused. It does not allow for self inspection that would ask why so many in an oil rich area remain in poverty. Why do so few live richly while the majority not only live in poverty but live at the mercy of those empowered by that poverty? Why are their economies stagnant and their populations largely untrained and unschooled, except in a radical version of the Koran? By keeping the people ignorant, steeped in hate, and blaming the West for their problems; these dictators keep themselves in power and seek more power through our loss. If we empower the people under their power, the people will seek what is best for them and turn to domestic and peaceful issues.

I often hear people point to the loss of Iraq civilians for a reason to stop the war but where was that anguish before we entered the war? Hussein killed by the thousands and probably is responsible for several hundred thousand dead in recent years alone, without counting the millions that died in Iraq’s attack on Iran that dragged on for years, to the point that civilians were being sent into battle with no training. We did not hear concern for Iraqi deaths then. No country tries to avoid civilian death more than the United States and yet it seems to be the only country blamed for such deaths.

I believe and am trained in the ways of peace. Jesus Christ did not advocate war. He advocated that we love our enemies. But Jesus also warned that we would face trials and persecutions and he never explicitly embraced pacifism. He performed miracles for soldiers and only instructed them to be just in their actions, not to leave their service. In fact, when the lowly and poor are victimized by others, we are instructed to seek justice and to come to their aid. Today millions are victims of Muslim fascists. It is not just in Iraq and Afghanistan but throughout the world, especially in Dafar, Africa where a Muslim dictator has undertaken ethnic cleansing on non-Muslims, with over 100,000 estimated killed and millions displaced by this persecution.

Evil has to be faced and confronted. I believe that we are experiencing evil in these attacks on civilians, as well as the wars that keep countries in dictatorships and focused on hatred. We have made progress in Iraq and we should finish the job. We should not do it for any financial gain, nor for strategic gain. We should do it because millions are being victimized and because the situation will only get worse if we leave. Being the most powerful and richest nation on earth; if we do not stand up to this hatred, who will? How long would it be before we are again glued to our sets watching Americans die needlessly here at home? Do we really think they will simply take over and then leave us alone? It never worked before.

We need to pray for peace and that peace should be for all peoples, but we also need to take a stand. These young people who serve us are taking a stand for us. We need to support them, not only for who they are but we need to support their cause as well. It is our cause and we need to face up to it. We cannot pull back within our borders. The last time we did that, in World War II, nearly 70 million people died in the world and our cost was dear as well. Hundreds of millions were maimed and hundreds of millions lost their homes. We could have stopped that war had we been ready to intercede sooner. Instead we waited until we were brutally attacked and then had to start the war from a weakened position. Meanwhile our enemies killed, maimed, raped, and imprisoned innocent people unchecked, until we were strong enough to stop it by force.

I want peace in the world but I also want justice and security. Peace? Yes! Peace at any price? No! This holds especially true when the peace we seek is for ourselves, today; at the cost of so many today and many more in the future. I pray for peace but for a just peace. I pray for Iraqis as well as Americans that we can learn to live as brothers and sisters. But I know that this will be impossible if we allow the radical fascists to continue to be empowered by their hatred of us. It is hard to hold out the hand of peace when your opposition is so anxious to cut it off. It should be even harder for us to stand by and witness so many being victimized. With great power comes great responsibility. We cannot have one without the other and nobody really wants to face a world in which the U.S. is weak and at the mercy of others.

Many will claim that my stand is unchristian but I disagree. I am simply looking at the larger picture. I am viewing a war to stop a dictator’s brutal rule in context of what would happen if we would not fight. It is not a choice of the lesser of two evils, although war itself is evil. It is a choice to step forward now to stop evil, or to sit back and wait for that evil to come to us while watching most of the world fall under its power. Ours is not the choice of evil. It is the choice of righteousness and the choice of hope for all people, not just for us. It is a hard choice but it is a choice that I pray we make correctly.

I believe that the young men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are great heroes, even as many here at home derogate what they are attempting to do.

Posted by Fr Steven Foppiano at 12:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

There is a phenomenon here in the United States that sociologists and others have been identifying more and more. I have heard it given several different labels but I call it “Safe Love.� Its existence is evident in our social behavior. The falsehood of this notion of “Safe Love� is equally evident. There is no such thing! Love is full of risks and dangers but it is more than offset by its rewards and pleasure. Safe Love is a means of experiencing the emotions true love entails, but without the risks. It is therefore empty of meaning and in the end frustrating to the practitioner.

I am not writing here about safe sex. Love and sex are two separate things despite what society tells us. I am referring to true love; a love in which you deeply care for a person, be it a spouse, child, parent, or very dear friend. As highly held as sex is in our society, it is really love that humans truly seek. Sex should be an expression of the love between two adults who have committed themselves to each other for life. Without the love it may bring temporary pleasure but is ultimately unfulfilling and can bring on feelings of emptiness and longing, as well as self contempt for selling ourselves short of the real thing.

Safe Love is evidenced by much of the public which is so quickly able to express their sorrow or regret over the loss or downfall of a public figure but are equally unable or unwilling to express true feelings over those with whom they live or have family ties. Thus we have people who still mourn the loss of John Lennon but who are unable to speak of their feelings towards a deceased parent. Millions cried at the loss of Lady Diana, or recently and more strikingly, over the death of a race horse; but many of those millions are unable to tell their parent, adult child or other that they love them. Americans will sit for hours in front of a TV to watch Oprah or others expose the most intimate details of the lives of their guests, but many of these same watchers of TV are unable to speak about important or intimate subjects with their children or spouse and are unable to express their deepest feeling and desires.

Why would so many enter into national mourning over the loss of a public figure but be unable to express the same feelings about someone close to us? The answer of course comes with the risks and dangers of true love. To truly love and express that love to someone close to us is fraught with the potential of being hurt, disappointed or having our hearts broken. So instead many take the safe route of keeping their expressions of love limited to those who cannot hurt them. It is easy to love a Princess Diana or John Lennon. It is a one way relationship with no chance of being hurt in return. Expressions of sorrow at their death are made with the knowledge that our core and being are untouched. It is a safe expression of emotion without forming ties that may come back to hurt us. We can love them without chancing that they might or might not love us back.

Of course, such safe love is eventually unfulfilling and only tends to highlight what is missing in our lives. We are meant to be a people in relation to others. Our society had made a hero of Stoicism, the philosophy of being independent, untouched by the tragedies around us, and able to handle any problems on our own. The reality is that we all need intimate relationships and are stronger in unity than when alone. Intimacy is not sex. Intimacy is the ability to share our true feelings, emotions, thoughts and doubts with someone and being able to trust that person’s confidence and support. It is the ability to lean on someone without worrying about appearing weak and vulnerable. The truth is that we are weak and vulnerable but united with those we love, can be strong and enduring.

True intimacy means we have to take risks and that sometimes we will be hurt, perhaps badly. But there is an old and wise truth that says, “Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.� There is no chance of true loss with celebrity relationships but there is no chance of true intimacy or true fulfillment either. In the end we will only regret the time we did not take to form loving and intimate relationships. God is the ultimate Love and our love for each other will help to draw us closer to the perfection of Love that created us.

Life goes by very quickly. Do we really want to end up alone and bitter towards the end of this life or spend it memorized by a television that has come to be more real to us than the life in which we live? How ironic that so many of us will avoid the possibility of drama in our lives only to seek it in the lives of actors on a TV screen. We watch others play at life when we are called to live it and given the opportunity to live it every day. Is it so hard to turn it off and visit a neighbor, friend, family member or get to know a stranger? Would it really be so uncomfortable to turn off the noise in our lives and listen to each other?

We are a busy people in this nation and often we may not have the energy to put into relationships what love entails. That simply means that we need to cut back on those things that reward us in temporal ways or which falsely build our self esteem, and that we need to spend more time on things that reward us emotionally and which help to form ourselves into better human beings. The job, your luxury items, and especially public personalities that are shallow and false, being made for our entertainment; will never fulfill our inner desire. Only a loving life in relations to others, one that dares to share ourselves and allow others to share themselves with us, will lead to the fulfillment we desire. We are communal beings and are most happy when we unite with others.

You may think this does not apply to you but ask yourself, “Have you told your child, parent, or spouse that you love them today? When is the last time you sat with them and discussed what was was really going on in their lives and in yours? Who have you expressed your frustrations and hopes to lately? Do you plan on spending time with any of them alone today so as to have the chance to share your experiences? Are you growing as a person with your spouse by sharing your problems, frustrations, needs, and hopes; or are you both so busy in your own lives that you are growing apart from each other?

Your life is happening today. It is not on the TV, in the tabloids, at the theater or in the newspaper. It is in your home, your office, your place of worship, and all the places you find yourself. It is not easy and does not have a conclusion each hour, but it is rewarding and fulfilling when you work at it. It is in you, but you need to allow yourself to experience it. It is not safe and you do need to take some chances, but hurts will heal and true love will last forever. The rewards are worth the risks. The power to live your life is within you, and will be brought forth with your faith in God. It is the greatest gift you can receive. Open it and enjoy it. It leads to the love of our Creator.

Now go out there and have a good life!

Posted by Fr Steven Foppiano at 01:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)