Who Do You Say That I Am?

In case you hadn't been paying attention, the latest controversy is the face of Jesus. Or rather how his face is represented.

Reopening/Resurging: Ohio Data

Ohio has had a resurging of the virus in its South Western Counties. Below is the Gov DeWine's press conference last Thursday. He used to do these every day. Now he does them about twice a week, usually Tuesday and Thursday. The conference is now about sixty minutes. The first fifteen minutes are mostly about the problem in SW Ohio and contains a series of slides with explanations by someone from the area. Last half are questions from press. You might be amused by his ducking questions about Pence, Trump and Republican legislatures.


Ohio Governor Mike DeWine - COVID-19 Update | June 25, 2020


Below the break is my explanation of each slide which you can see

POWER POINT PRESENTATION HERE

Reopening/ Resurging: The National Data

Below the break is my original curve, plus two more for the recent data.

I know...preaching to the choir, but....

All of us are of an age to remember the rioting of yore, who suffered the most, and the "restoration" of law and order..  Today's WashPost has this story about Minneapolis

"Violence rises in Minneapolis, as debate over role of police rages..." 

First as tragedy and then as......

See Hamilton for cheap

... beginning Friday, July 3rd (a week from today) on your television set.  Or, presumably, on your cell phone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer.  If you are willing to subscribe to Disney Plus for $6.99/month.

On Making Peace With the Past

Michael Sean Winters had a good article on NCR today.  It touched on the destruction of statues, particularly that of St. Junipero Serra in what is now downtown Los Angeles. He had this to say about Serra:

Speaking up about what one learns second-hand

Some new details have been published about sexual abuse allegedly committed by composer David Haas.  It squares with what I've learned independently.

No Virtues Can Be Allowed in Florida

 I had an email this morning from my pen pal (since 1943) in Manchester, England.  He and his wife have been reading and hearing about Florida and COVID-19, and they wanted to make sure we were bearing up.
 Florida and Palm Beach County have been on a tear since I last reported. We have now reached 476 deaths in our county of  1.5 million, compared to still seven deaths in Taiwan (pop. 23.8 million). Our relatively small county left Taiwan in the dust in number of cases, too, our 11,178 vs their 446.
 That is what great leadership will get you.
 So far, our distinguished Trumpian governor has said there's nothing to worry about because most of the cases were in nursing homes. Well, nursing homes and prisons. Oh, well, and farm workers. Farm workers, but they will go north soon... Over the weekend,he came up with a new one: Most of the cases are people under 34, and their chances of recovery are very, very good. Let the good times roll.
 That his how Trumpian governors think.
 Our County Commission voted 7-0 today to make wearing masks mandatory indoors and outdoors where social distancing is not possible. 
 A central Florida legislator, Republican of course, already wrote to the governor to demand that he overrule such laws. (Miami has one, too.) His reasoning: "Floridians should not be arrested, jailed and fined at thewhim of local government officials who desperately seek to 'virtue signal'." 
 Democracy can get you killed.

A Brief Word about What Bolton's Book Is Worth

 The former leader of the free world said, “Whacko John Bolton” is “a washed up guy,” and a “disgruntled, boring fool.” In an interview with Susan Page of USA Today, Author Bolton replied that whoever hired Bolton should be fired.
  Bolton said The Don is  incompetent, uninformed, incurious, enamored with foreign strongmen, obsessed with his reelection and driven by self-interest — in a word unfit to be president.
 He didn’t know that when he took the job? He was the only one.
 Well, maybe not the only one. Republicans in Congress pretend they don’t know it. They keep trying to make idiocy make sense,
 Bolton also told Page that if he were a senator, he would have voted to remove The Don in his impeachment trial. That is how seriously he takes the threat to the United States. Of course he didn’t take the threat seriously enough to testify before the House impeachment committee. Instead he wrote a book about The Don to tell us what (almost) everybody knew before he went to work for him.

Barriers to police reform

In the wake of George Floyd's killing by a Minneapolis police officer, many voices have cried out for police reform.  Some recent articles detail the difficulty in achieving it.

Christian Cooper Speaks

The Washington Post has an interview with Christian Cooper, the bird watcher who asked Amy Cooper to leash her dog. A good story of growing up black in America, including fandom  of science fiction and comic books--no not Archie and Veronica.

What I'm reading and watching

A few comments on my current book, and the beginnings of my exploration of Netflix mystery series.

Find your voice, use your voice.

This year, our pastor asked my wife Therese to preach for this weekend, which is Father's Day.  The wife of our other deacon had preached on Mother's Day, so it was nice of him to offer a slot to Therese for today.  The readings for today are here.  In addition, for at least the next few days, a pre-recorded mass which includes this reflection is available here on the parish website.

A few thoughts on the current situation

My views of the way that social activism has developed in the wake of George Floyd's death are nearly all positive.

Paradigm Shift?

I have read some recent commentary lamenting that we don't seem to have made much progress since the 1960s on racial justice.  I tend to take the view that progress is three steps forward, one step back.
 Last week I heard that a group which called themselves "Woke Ogallala" were organizing a peace march in my old hometown,  in memory of George Floyd.  I rolled my eyes, thinking that a handful of people might show up. 

Bishops and parishes using Vigano's letter to Trump to promote their agemda

Not surprising, but incredibly sad.

https://www.ncronline.org/news/parish/priests-parishes-share-vigan-s-letter-trump

What is happening in your parishes and dioceses?  Are they pushing the Vigano letter too? Any off the record conversations?

Racially insensitive branding

Buried in a news article announcing criminal charges against the Atlanta police officers who shot and killed Rayshard Brooks after he fell asleep in the Wendy's drive-through lane is this news item:

Meanwhile, Quaker Oats said it is getting rid of its Aunt Jemima brand because the character was "based on a racial stereotype." While Aunt Jemima's image on packages was changed in recent years to make her look like a modern housewife, she was for most of her existence a stout, kerchief-wearing figure who evoked the plantation-era "Mammy" stereotype.
The owner of the Uncle Ben's brand of rice likewise said it will "evolve" in response to concerns about racial stereotyping.

I tend to make consumer purchasing decisions based on price and product quality.  That said, after it dawned on me, some years ago, what an offensive brand Aunt Jemima's is, I haven't spent a cent on it.  As for Uncle Ben, he hasn't really pinged on my shopper radar, but sending him to the branding graveyard sounds like the right decision.

There are little nuggets of info which, when I share them with my children, they can scarcely believe that the world used to be like that - like the ubiquity of the "n-word" when I was a child.  Let's hope that Aunt Jemima falls into that can't-believe-people-ever-bought-that category eftsoons.

The NY Times and Senator Cotton - Updated

Update 6/19/2020 12:39 pm: At Commonweal, Paul Baumann has weighed in.  His take? "The reaction to Cotton’s ill-conceived essay is not just a step on the slippery slope to intellectual conformity. It is illiberalism, full stop."

---

New York Times staffers rose in protest over an editorial decision.  They got the editorial page editor fired.  Were they right?

The Moral Revolution of the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II

For several  years now I have read speculation in the news media about the possibility of a progressive religious coalition. These almost always mentioned Barber’s  Poor People’s Campaign, A National Call for Moral Revival

On recent Sundays I have been listening to the Service at the National Cathedral following Mass on Catholic TV.  They have been inspiring and very inclusive services by a small group, including significant amount of Spanish, Black musicians.  Bishop Curry and Bishop Budde both gave inspiring homilies on racial issues.  They are getting about ten thousand viewers during the service.

Last Sunday they featured Barber. So far they have  over 70 thousand views of the service, plus they now have an additional 30 thousand views of his separately posted homily.  This is the link to the page which also has (a very poorly done) transcript of the homily.  I was surprised it actually lasted 43 minutes. It seemed more like a fifteen to twenty minute homily.  I usually tune out most homilies. 

Sermon: The Rev Dr. William J. Barber II on June 14, 2020

Below the break is my abbreviation of the text that focuses upon the main points.  Actually his practical program is very similar to that of Sanders. Religiously it is the program of Liberation theology.  Most people don’t seem to realize that the fundamental biblical idea behind liberation theology is choosing life rather than death. I certainly find these ideals much more inspiring than trying to make sense of White Privilege.

We have had an unprecedented wave of protests around the country, and an unprecedented outpouring of money in support of these protests. Will Barber's planned June 20, 2020 demonstration in D.C. spread around the country?

GIA Publications drops David Haas over multiple allegations of abuse

Catholic News Agency (CNA) is reporting that GIA Publications, one of the largest publishers of Catholic hymnals and music for worship, has "suspended" its relationship with David Haas. 

Many to one Body

This is my homily for Sunday, June 14, the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ.  The readings for the day are here.  In addition, at least for the next few days there is a video available of the recording of the mass at which I gave this homily, here.

What Is So Rare As a Day in June...

Once in a while I have to take time out from drinking from the fire hose of bad news, and just be in the present.  A few weeks ago, Jim Pauwels posted about family and personal landmarks. The month of June is one of my personal landmarks. As James Russell Lowell said in his poem, "...then, if ever, come perfect days..."

Spreading Covid Spreads Covid. Duh UPDATE: Double Duh

 The headline on my local paper today is: “Expert: Reopening likely explains surge.” In the vague way newspapers are edited these days, you have to reach pretty far into the jump to find out that the expert is an epidemiologist at the University of Florida. By that time, you have read that the governor thinks our county is some kind of weird exception but that the statistics show that what’s happening here is happening statewide.
 Bottom line: Covid-19 has gone right along infecting people while our politicians — acting on the best available scientific information thought up by the president — are boldly facing it with openings and “not backing down.”
 The county was getting 86.6 new cases a day during April. It is getting 168.2 now. In April we were in lockdown. Today I could get a haircut. But I won’t.
 I never believed in the reopening.

White privilege

Throughout history it seems that the official church can't decide which "side" it is on. God and angels?  Or with the powerful and wealthy?  Do christian churches really believe that ALL people are equal in their worth as human beings? In dignity? 

 Bryan Massingale's interview with Commonweal offers a good explanation of white privilege. 

A previously unpublished Hemingway short story

The New Yorker has published a previously unpublished short story by Ernest Hemingway, entitled "Pursuit as Happiness".  It's a short read and, if you enjoy Hemingway, you might enjoy this one.

Der Feuerteufel...only one word in German!