This past weekend the nation celebrated an interesting cultural event---Valentine's Day. A new movie by the same name grossed 52.4 million dollars in just three days and topped the nation's box office sales this weekend. The storyline of the movie is interesting. It spins a star-studded yarn concerning the romantic escapes of an incredibly diverse group of fictional Los Angeles residents from a wide range of backgrounds, ages and circumstances.
It intrigued me that so many of our national luminaries could collaborate on such an expansive project. After watching the commercials and trailers, I am personally going to make a point of watching this entertainment phenomenon. Further I am convinced that the film reflects a cultural hunger. The theme of the movie taps into the fascination of people of all ages finding and maintaining true love. All of us want to find a soul mate. We are wired that way. read more
I was not surprised that a recent Washington
Post article gleefully asserted that D.C.'s left leanings were confirmed in a poll.
I was surprised at the seeming air of objectivity that the writers
attempted to project. I was skeptical of the article and its conclusions
for several reasons. First it was commissioned and paid for by the Post
(not to impugn the work of the research company, SRBI, Inc of New York).
Second a poll could yield very skewed results by focusing on selected
wards. Third private polling obtained by Stand For Marriage D.C. shows very
different results.
The writers asserted that their
telephone survey of just over 1,135 participants showed that the majority of
the city's citizens were pro same-sex marriage, for the legalization of medical
marijuana and desired the creation of an elected attorney general's post.
Surprisingly, in order to lend credence to their poll, Post writers
acknowledged that 60 percent of D.C. residents would like to vote on the issue
of same-sex marriage. read more
Last week I had the privilege of participating in a referendum request hearing at the board of elections in Washington, D.C. Our team petitioned to have the people of the District of Columbia vote on the recently passed same-sex marriage law before it goes into effect. We feel very strongly that the people’s voice needs to be heard.
As I sat in the chambers, I felt a growing sense of outrage at the audacity of my city’s elected officials and the hubris of our appointed civil servants. There seems to be an amazing assault on the basic freedoms of all Americans, regardless of race. Courts and legislators seem compelled to ignore polls and the heartfelt values of the people. Further, in D.C. the board of elections and the city council have ignored the District of Columbia’s charter, which should act like the “national constitution,” but on city affairs.
read more
Transforming America’s racial and
cultural dynamics is a lot like running a marathon. The only major differences
are time and course. The grueling 26.2 miles of a marathon is run in just over
two hours by world-class athletes, while the race toward King’s dream has
already been over 50 years in the making. Although we have some sense of the
finish line, the end of our course is not in sight. Further, it is hard
to judge our progress. We are not sure whether we should count certain “firsts”
as significant. Others believe that the depth of professional penetration by
blacks, Hispanics or other groups into various professional arenas is a more
appropriate measure of entering a post-racial era. read more
A very disturbing poll was recorded
this December from CNN. It compared the expectations of those peering into the
future at the dawn of 2000 with those of people looking forward into
2010. The survey reported that in 1999, 85 percent of Americans were
hopeful for their own future and 68 percent were hopeful for the world. Today,
however, people surveyed said that only 69 percent were hopeful for their
personal future, while only 51 percent had hope for the world.
There was something almost mystical
about the nation’s entry into the 2nd millennium after the birth of Christ.
I remember all the TV shows that speculated about massive technology
changes along with the fear that everyone’s computer could mysteriously crash -
resulting in a national crisis.
Some religious leaders advocated
storing food and creating bomb shelters. Other spiritual leaders believed that
the earth would experience the “rapture”, as described in Dr. Tim LaHaye and
Dr. Jerry Jenkins’ blockbuster Left Behind series. Surprisingly the
dramatic calendar milestone caused everyday people to think in big picture,
visionary terms. From the boardroom to the janitor’s storage closest and
everywhere in between, we all expressed confidence in our technology, our
business acumen and our American spirit.
We began the new millennium as though
we were opening the Wild West or exploring outer space. We all had a sense of
invincibility and a feeling that we could rise to any challenge. Since 2000, a
lot has changed. We have experienced a few setbacks. Things like the Sept. 11
terror attack, hurricane Katrina, endless political scandals, the bank
bailouts, the American auto industry bailouts and double digit unemployment
have all challenged our national self concept.
It’s obvious that the delicate balance
of government, business interests and our educational system must be
recalibrated. In 2009, we are looking at real problems that need to be
addressed by all sectors of our society. Further, rigid ideological approaches
to our problems are just fueling vitriol and blame shifting. Our focus
today is much more mundane and personal than the global or generational
perspective ten years ago. We are concerned about how to keep our jobs, pay the
mortgage and survive the economic downswing. The pressures of the times have
caused a reopening of two age-old American divisions of class and race.
Recent studies show that we currently
do not have the hopeful feeling we had just a year ago in terms of solving the
race problem in the nation. In addition, a lot of folks are developing a
growing resentment against both Wall Street and the major business engines of
the nation. Our focus today should return to the very core values that
have made America great: personal vision and achievement; a commitment to both
freedom and justice and the belief that the best man or woman will be received
and celebrated in business, politics and the professions.
Let me take a minute to address the
issue of how you and I personally change our world.
Sandra Bullock is quoted as saying that
she had finally met a Christian who “walks the walk”, when she met Leigh Anne
Tuohy, the subject of The Blind Side, the new blockbuster movie. Tuohy’s
desire for the movie is not fame and fortune but that the story might inspire
more people to begin to make a difference.
She acknowledges that many people cannot bring a child into their home
as she did, but people can find something they can do well and change the world
around them.
Another person who made a difference is Fannie Lou Hamer.
In 1962 this African-American woman went to the courthouse in Montgomery
County, Mississippi to demand her constitutional right to vote. She, and the
others with her, were jailed and beaten by the police. This defiant act of
civil disobedience resulted in Hamer being thrown off of her sharecropper
job on a local farm. She received numerous death threats culminating in someone
actually shooting at her. Hamer, however, refused to be
intimidated.
Fannie Lou worked at voter registration
all across her county and eventually the nation. In 1964, she challenged the
Democratic Party by demanding that an all-white Mississippi delegation should
not be allowed. She urged the party to include African-Americans. As a result, two African-American delegates
were given speaking rights at the national convention. This spotlighted more
than ever before the problem of illegal tests, taxes and intimidation of black
citizens.
How did this lady get started at such
an impacting mission? She is reputed to be originator of the phrase, “I
got tired of being sick and tired.” How did she arrive at such an epiphany? Her
personal history sounds almost mythic. The granddaughter of slaves, and
sharecropper parents, Hamer was the youngest of 19 brothers and sisters. To say
that she was born poor would have been an understatement. At 44-years old, she
attended a voter registration meeting. When she learned that African-Americans
had a constitutional right to vote, she decided to take action. She decided to protest
and action nonviolently to change her world. Years later she reflected,
"The only thing they could do to me was to kill me, and it seemed like
they'd been trying to do that a little bit at a time ever since I could
remember."
Is there something that you feel has
been killing you for a long time? It’s time for you to follow the advice of
Pastor Miles McPherson, Do Something!
The statement is title of his new book, which I have just started to
read. Pastor McPherson leads The Rock Church whose congregation committed
600,000 “Do Something” hours of volunteer service during 2009. Over 100,000 of
those hours were given to the city of San Diego, alone.
There is certainly a lot of work for all of us to do. Find what it is
that you can do well and help keep hope alive! read more
Last Friday, two historic events
occurred. A signing ceremony for D.C.'s same-sex marriage law and a blizzard
that blanketed the Northeast and left everyone in the capital physically isolated
except for the almost-too-frequent weather updates on TV and radio. Ironically,
the two events bore a strange similarity.
Their similarity was the level of local
media coverage along with the real sense of isolation that most citizens felt.
We either trust in both these situations that "big brother" is looking out for
us or we become concerned and questioning. read more
Last week, the worldwide summit on
climate change in Denmark encouraged some and terrified others. During the past
few years, the debate among many informed people has not just been focused on
whether or not the globe is getting warmer, but about how our nation should
respond to the perceived international threat.
A few years ago Tony Perkins, president
of The Family Research Council, and I decided to tackle the question of climate
change and evaluate popular proposals based on two things: 1.) a measurable
return on investment and 2.) the value of human life. Our thoughts are
catalogued in the book Personal Faith, Public Policy. Based on our
study, we are very concerned about the direction that our current
administration may be seduced into following in the name of saving the planet.
Unfortunately for the U.S., there are always wolves dressed in sheep's clothing
--- supposed "saviors" that may lead us astray. read more
