She Lifts Her Lamp

She Lifts Her Lamp
by Maurice R. Franks

They took the lamp from out the torch
About the time they slammed the door,
And placed instead a lump of brass -
Fool's gold where flames had shone before.

Refurbished thus, this gift from France
With superficial gleam doth lure
A world naïve, nay, entranced
By ideals once so fresh and pure.

Shine that lamp on those in prison,
On ghetto children in despair.
Show the world our rapes and killings,
How racist thinking took us there.

A culture lost, its values gone,
Used needles shine from sea to sea.
Democracy shall ne'er last long
Too dumb to ask, "Why must this be?"

Truths now lost, truths now languish,
Truths for which our fathers died.
She holds her lamp aloft with anguish.
It's hollow, gnawing from inside.

Copyright © 1998, Maurice R. Franks

The Ongoing Iraq Intel Fraud

After my rant on the lies of George Bush I was directed to this article which lays out the facts of the lies about the Iraq war much more thorougly than I was capable of. If anyone you know still gives the president the benefit of any kind of doubt, refer them to this article.

The Ongoing Iraq Intel Fraud

Why no one in congress is seriously addressing this issue I don't know. The leadership seems to be content to study the issues to death. But as I heard a man say in a different context recently, "When you study something to death, death is not your goal." Unfortunatley while they are studying people keep dying. I don't care what it takes, GET THE TROOPS OUT, BRING THEM HOME.

DUBYA sings U2

Bush has Lied, is Lying, and Will Continue to Lie as long as people continue to listen

It's here folks. It's time to stand up and recognize that you cannot believe anything that comes out of the Whitehouse. If there is anyone out there who has not acknowledged the lies that have come out of his mouth and the mouths of all of his subordinates. If you cannot see it you need to pull your head out of your a$$ and pay attention. He has been lying for years. He lied in his Texas campaigns. He lied about his service in the national guard. He lied about WMDs. He lied about Iraq's nuclear capability. He lied about Saddam and Al Qaeda. He lied about wiretaps. He lied about firing US attorneys. He is lying today about the so-called surge and its effects on the stability of Iraq. He lies
readily, easily, and convincingly. And yet somehow 30% of the people in this country still say that they believe him. I really don't think they do. I think they are lying about it because they cannot admit to themselves or to us that they could have been so wrong. I posted the impeach banner a few days ago more as a symbol or protest than anything else, but I am beginning to believe that we cannot afford another year and a half of his lies.

ABP compares faith-based positions of top-tier presidential hopefuls

Associated Baptist Press (ABP), which is an alternative news source to be distinguished from the Baptist Press (BP), the mouth-organ of the SBC, has published a summary of the basic faith position of the currently front-running candidates from both parties. The summary includes: Faith background, Relationship with Religious Right, On abortion, On gay rights, On Iraq, and On the relationship between church and state. If you are looking for a good summary, this is the place for it. You can find the article at ABP compares faith-based positions of top-tier presidential hopefuls

So long, Kurt Vonnegut

The death of Kurt Vonnegut saddens me. I did not know him, neither was he one of my favorite authors. Other than Slaughterhouse Five, I read his other books primarily because I thought a well-read person was supposed to have read them. I put Slaughterhouse Five in a different category because it had a profound impact on me. I chose to read it in the first place because I was a science fiction freak and it was advertised as a science fiction book. As it turns out it was much more than just another good sci-fi yarn. It was the first anti-war book that I recognized for what it was. Not that it was the first I read, but I had always been able to dismiss the anti-war arguments as not be relevant or applicable to me. At the time that the travails of Billy Pilgrim affected me, I was serving in the army in Germany and soon to be deployed to Vietnam. I won't go into all of the details of my conversion from hawk to dove but give Kurt Vonnegut credit for being very significant in that process. He will be missed.

The destruction of Dresden can be seen in the picture below. While the bombing of Dresden was not charged as a war-crime, it is a clear example of the horrors of modern warfare with the use of weapons of mass destruction. Destruction like this is one of the main reasons I am firmly convinced that the concept of "just war" is no longer valid.

Happy Birthday Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was born 264 years ago today and yet is no less a controversial figure today than he was when he was living. In addition to the Declaration of Indepedance he left us with a strong legacy of keeping the government out of the churches business and of keeping the church as an institution out of the governments business. However, there are many who claim the mantle of speaking for Christianity who deliberately misrepresent his views on this important view. I find it tragic that many baptists are so ignorant of their own heritage that now that time and circumstance has brought to them a measure of political power they are trying to use it to gain an advantage in society that baptists of previous generations fought against. The so-called "obscure letter" that he wrote to the baptists of Danbury, Connecticut, stated in unequivocal terms that government and religion should remain separate as long as the country remained. The "wall of sepration" statement is clear in the excerpt printed below.

Blogswarm Promotes Support For Church-State Separation And Religious Liberty

I find it very informative that the adages about power corrupting are proved true over and over again through history. Contemporary baptists are one of the more recent examples. Demonstrating a deplorable ignorance of their own roots, many current baptist leaders, having gained access to the seats of power, now want to use that power to promote their spiritual values. Forgotten are leaders of previous generatons who fought and died for religious liberty. Here is a quick survey--

James Dunn, 1996
“Daunting is the challenge to conserve and defend the distinctive marking on the beast called Baptist that insists upon separation of church and state.”

Hobbs Lecture, Oklahoma Baptist University, 1980
“We're free. Please, please, don't ever let anyone take your Baptist freedoms away from you.”

George W. Truett, pastor FBC Dallas 1897-1944
“Never, anywhere, in any clime has a true Baptist been willing, for one minute, for the union of church and state.” May 16, 1920

John Leland Baptist Preacher Virginia 1754-1841
“If a man merits the confidence of his neighbors in Virginia—let him worship one God, twenty Gods, or no God—be he Jew, Turk, Pagan, or Infidel, he is eligible to any office in the State.”

“If government can answer for individuals at the day of judgment, let men be controlled by it in religious matters; otherwise let men be free.”

Thomas Jefferson used the phrase "Wall of Separation between church and state" in his letter to the Baptists of Danbury, CT in 1801. But the first record of the concept in the new world came from Baptist forefather, Roger Williams, who in 1631 advocated a “hedge or wall of separation between the garden of the church and the wilderness of the world.”

But the earliest baptist proponent of religious liberty was Thomas Helwys, credited with being one of the founders of the modern English baptist movement, who sent a treatise on religous liberty to King James I around 1612 with the following inscription.

"Hear, O King, and despise not the counsel of the poor, and let their complaints come before thee.
The king is a mortal man and not God: therefore he hath no power over the immortal souls of his subjects, to make laws and ordinances for them, and to set spiritual Lords over them.
If the king have authority to make spiritual laws and Lords, then he is an immortal God and not a mortal man.
O King, be not seduced by deceivers to sin against God Whom thou oughtest to obey, nor against thy poor subjects who ought and will obey thee in all things with body, life and goods, or else let their lives be taken from the earth.
God save the King.
Spittlefield, near London. Tho. Helwys

Shortly afterward, Helwys was imprisoned and probably died in prison.

Compare that with contemporary leaders like Jerry Falwell who, in 2003 said, "the hypothetical separation of church and state - the ominous phrase lifted from an obscure letter written by Thomas Jefferson that has been manipulated, exaggerated and embellished by those who wish to exterminate religious expression from the American public square.”

As long as I remain a Baptist, I will do what I can to call Baptists back to their roots.

Did the SBC end the boycott too soon?

Remember the SBC boycott of Disney that only the diehard SBs payed any attention to. For those who don't remember, it was because Disney allowed Gay/Lesbian Days in Disney World/Land etc. The SBC called it off in 2005 figuring that they had punished Disney enough. Well it looks like they ended it too soon. Accord an AP report, "Same-sex couples who want to exchange vows in front of Cinderella's Castle now have the chance." The article, Disney Opens Weddings to Gay Couples.

A Disney spokesperson said, "We believe this change is consistent with Disney's long-standing policy of welcoming every guest in an inclusive environment. "We want everyone who comes to celebrate a special occasion at Disney to feel welcome and respected."

"Welcome," "inclusive," "respected." That sounds almost Christian. But take heart SBCers, it's not too late to get resolution submitted in time for the annual convention in SA.