Author: Alan Bean

When people can’t forgive, they’re stuck

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Russell Crowe as Javert

By Alan Bean

Genuine forgiveness feels a lot like open heart surgery; but without it, we’re lost.

To celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary, Nancy and I went to Les Miserables, a musical I had never seen before.  Nor have I read the 1500 page novel, although I’ve been hearing references to it all my life.  Unavoidably,the movie presents an impossibly compressed version of the original story line.  But they got the theme right: forgiveness.

Early in the story, Jean Valjean is paroled after serving nineteen years for stealing a loaf of bread.  But for repeated escape attempts he would have been released much earlier.  Unable to find work, Valjean comes under the care of Bishop Myriel, a compassionate cleric whose deeds of kindness have earned him the informal title “Monseigneur Bienvenu”.  Unable to sleep on a comfortable bed, the restless Valjean steals the Bishop’s silver and flees into the night, only to be captured and hauled back to the Bishop in chains for identification.

Myriel tells the gendarmes that his guest received the silver as a gift.  In fact, he was also given two silver candlesticks that he neglected to take with him.  When the two men are alone, Myriel tells Valjean to use the silver to become an honest man.  Overwhelmed with this display of unwarranted forgiveness, Valjean is transformed. (more…)

Bowling Alone?

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By Charles Kiker

January, 2013

Doesn’t sound like much fun, does it? It’s not supposed to be. It’s the title of a book (Copyright 2000) by Robert Putnam, Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University. Professor Putnam chronicles and laments the decline of doing things together in the United States. He found that civic clubs of all kinds were shrinking. Even bowling leagues and teams were in decline. People would rather just bowl as individuals. Hence the title: “Bowling Alone.”

It will come as no surprise to anyone who follows religious life in American that Putnam found churches and other religious institutions to be in decline. And that trend has continued in the dozen or so years since the publication of his book. So much so, that now sociologists and wannabes find “nones” a significant plurality in religious life. These nones are not atheists or agnostics; they are not anti-Christian. They claim to be “spiritual but not religious” in that they have no affiliation with any religious group. They are individualists in their spiritual life.

This has been coming on for a long time. When I was a campus minister in the early ‘70s there was a little ditty some of the college youth liked to sing: “Just me and Jesus got a little thing going . . . Don’t need nobody to tell us what it’s all about.” (more…)

Guns don’t kill people . . .

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By Alan Bean

“Guns don’t kill people,” David Cole says, “indifference to poverty kills people.”

So long as the consequences of gun violence are born by poor black males, Cole believes, the nation will not pass meaningful gun regulation laws.

There are two obvious responses to Cole’s argument.  It has frequently been noted that most of the cities with high rates of gun-related homicide already have strict gun control laws.  But this only underscores the need for national legislation that discourages people from importing guns into urban neighborhoods.

The second quibble is even more obvious: if poor black males are using guns to kill one another that’s on them.  The only solution, this argument goes, is for young black males to use firearms more responsibly. (more…)

Texas business needs Latino labor; the Texas GOP needs Latino votes

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By Alan Bean

Thanks to Scott Henson for alerting me to this piece in the San Antonio Express-News.  In the 2012 election, as everyone knows, Latinos turned out in record numbers, voting overwhelmingly for Barack Obama.  Signs abound that Republicans, even in safely red states like Texas, are taking notice.

Even if Latinos continue to support Democrats, the blue team won’t be competitive in the Lone Star State for at least another decade.  But Republicans can’t win the presidency without significant Latino support, and that sobering fact has deflated the anti-immigrant movement, at least temporarily.

Long-term, Texas Republicans can maintain control of their state’s legislative machine only by cultivating Latino participation and influence.  That won’t happen if Texas Republicans are lining up to sponsor anti-immigrant legislation.

Jason Buch’s article (see below) suggests the Texas GOP may be awakening to the new reality.

If so, this is great news.  Mass deportation is having the same impact in poor Latino communities that mass incarceration has wrought in poor African American neighborhoods, and for similar reasons.

During the most recent session of the Texas legislature, immigrant rights activists combined with pro-business groups to defeat most Arizona-style bills. Texas businesses, large and small, need undocumented workers in the same way the GOP needs Latino votes.  Texas Republicans can soldier on as the Party of White for at least another decade without Latino support, but bereft of undocumented labor the state’s economic infrastructure would collapse.

Immigrants, legal and otherwise, contribute far more in labor and taxes than they absorb in various forms of social assistance. Brave men and women (it takes courage to cross the border these days) come to America in search of work and show their gratitude by working far harder than most native born citizens.  As Texas moves reluctantly into new demographic territory, may these good people receive the dignity and respect they deserve. (more…)

Obama: mass incarceration is having ‘a disabling effect on communities’

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Nadav Kander for TIMEBy Alan Bean

The criminal justice system was hardly mentioned during the 2012 election season.  No one was banging the tuff-on-crime drum and we certainly didn’t hear anyone calling for reform.  With violent crime ebbing steadily, politicians are no longer locked in a Tougher Than Thou race to the bottom.  And although he didn’t press the issue during the campaign, President Obama has been dropping hints that his second term will address the problem of mass incarceration.

I have pasted the relevant section of Obama’s December conversation with Time magazine below.  As one would expect from a politician, he begins by burnishing his tough-on-crime credentials.  But pay close attention to his focus on non-violent criminals, a euphemistic reference to drug dealers.  The president isn’t simply arguing that the war on drugs has been a failure.  In fact, he wisely avoids any mention of drugs.  His point is that our ill-considered war on drugs is destroying low-income neighborhoods.  This is a moral argument.  Moreover, it shows that the essential features of Michelle Alexander’s critique is beginning to sink in.

One of the other things that I’ve heard is being discussed when you think about a second term is the idea of criminal justice reform. What would your goals be in that area? What is the problem you think can be solved in the next few years? (more…)

Gun legislation won’t do it; we need a twelve-step program

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By Alan Bean

America has a gun problem, but gun control legislation is too weak a fix; we need a 12-step program.

Since the tragic shootings in Newtown CT, we have been buried in a welter of statistics.  Support for gun control is rising, we are told, but the polls vary as to the extent of the shift.  We are reminded that 60% of men but only 39% of women favor gun rights over gun control, and that Republicans (72%) are more likely than Democrats (32%) to place the priority on gun rights.

Those inclined to dig deeper into the figures recently compiled by the Pew Research Center will discover that support for both gun rights and gay marriage has been advancing in recent years, a sign that libertarian arguments are impacting a wide range of issues.

The Pew study also shows that whites are twice as likely as African Americans or Latinos to value gun rights over gun control.   Moreover, white opinion changed radically in the wake of the election of Barack Obama.  In 2007, 37% of white Americans valued gun rights over gun control; the figure is now 57%.  White opinion on the gun issue flip-flopped in the space of four years.

Americans are far more likely to own guns than anyone else on the planet.  Here in the USA, 88.8 out of 100 people own at least one gun, that’s almost one firearm per person.  In Canada, the rate is 30.8, in Germany its 30.3, and in France its 31.2.  But in most of the world, the rate of gun ownership is exceedingly low: (Mexico 15, Australia 15, Denmark 12, Israel, 7.3, England 6.2, Afghanistan 4.6, the Netherlands 3.9, Romania .7).  In North America, Americans own guns at three times the rate of Canadians and six times the rate of Mexicans.

Americans are also far more likely to use firearms to kill people.  In the United States the homicide by firearm rate is 3.2 per 100,000 per year.  In the rest of the developed world, the rate varies between 0.0 in Japan (where only 11 homicides were recorded last year) and Belgium at 0.7.  In Canada, the rate is 0.5, less than one-sixth the American rate. (more…)

205K deported parents separated from their children in just two years

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By Alan Bean

Americans don’t agree on issues like abortion and gun rights, but most sentient citizens understand that kids need to be with their parents and parents need to be with their children.  We grieve for the families in Newtown CT who lost a child to a mad rampage because the worst nightmare of any parent is the horror of losing a child.

Does our compassion extend to undocumented parents separated from their children through deportation?  Seth Wessler has faithfully covered this issue for Colorlines and his most recent article raises issues most of us never think about because we don’t have to.  Parents frequently cross the border illegally in an attempt to reunite with a child.  Deportation destroys families.  Some deportees make several failed attempts to cross the border regardless of the consequences.  That’s what parents do.

Nearly 205K Deportations of Parents of U.S. Citizens in Just Over Two Years

by Seth Freed Wessler

The federal government conducted more than 200,000 deportations of parents who said their children are U.S. citizens in a timespan of just over two years, according to new data obtained by Colorlines.com. The figures represent the longest view to date of the scale of parental deportation. (more…)

Rachel Weeps for Her Children

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By Charles Kiker

December, 2012

We have been assaulted, insulted, and sickened by the deaths of innocent children in recent days. It was not the first incidence of a “slaughter of the innocents.” Prayerfully it will be the last. But from what we know of the history of human cruelty that is not likely.

We can go all the way back to the Book of Exodus, to the infancy of Moses, for an early demonstration. The Pharaoh of Egypt was getting nervous about all those Hebrew boys being born in his realm, and put out a decree ordering the midwives to kill all the baby boys as they were born. How many were killed? We don’t really know. But Moses was saved by the trickery of his sister and the soft-heartedness of Pharaoh’s daughter.

That incident is echoed in the infancy narrative of Jesus as told by Matthew. Joseph was warned in a dream, and took the child to Egypt, out of Herod’s grasp.

The magi were called to Herod, and they told him of the birth of this king-child. Herod was not pleased about a possible usurper to his throne. The magi were warned in a dream of Herod’s evil intent, and did not report back to him as instructed. Seeing that he had been tricked by the magi, Herod went into a rage, and ordered that all the male babes of Bethlehem under two years old be put to death. Matthew remembered this verse from Jeremiah:

A voice was heard in Ramah,
     weeping and loud lamentation
Rachel weeping for her children,
     She refused to be consoled, because they are no more.

Rachel has wept for her children repeatedly throughout history. She wept for the Jewish children of Germany, gassed and incinerated by the cruelty of Hitler. She wept for Native American children when a blue coated general said that Indian babies were like nits that grow up to be lice, so gave the order to kill them all. She wept when little Amish children were gunned down irrationally in their school a few years back, and she must have sobbed inconsolably a week ago when twenty first graders and six of their teachers and administrators were inexplicably gunned down with an assault rifle—a weapon that the shooter had earlier used to kill his mother. And then the shooter took his own life.

I think it was Joe Stalin who said, “The death of one person is a tragedy. The death of a thousand people is a statistic.” And Joe did his part to create many statistics among his own people.

Lest those children and adults of Newtown, Connecticut are thought of simply as statistics, let’s remember them with their names, one by one:

Charlotte Bacon, 6 years old; Daniel Barden, 7; Olivia Engel, 6; Josephine Gay, 7; Ana Marquez-Greene, 6; Dylan Hockley, 6; Madeleine Hsu, 6; Catherine Hubbard, 6; Chase Kowalski, 7; Jesse Lewis, 6; James Mattioli, 6; Grace McDonnell, 7; Emilie Parker, 6; Jack Pinto, 6; Noah Pozmer, 6; Caroline Previdi, 6; Jessica Rekos, 6; Avielle Richman, 6; Benjamin Wheeler, 6; Allison Wyatt, 6

And the adults:

Dawn Hochsprung, school principal; Mary Sherlach, school psychologist; Rachel Davino, teacher; Anne Marie Murphy, teacher; Lauren Rousseau, teacher; Victoria Soto, teacher. Dawn, and Mary, and Victoria gave their own lives in an attempt to save their children, and in fact may have saved some of them.

Let us remember also Nancy Lanza, mother of the shooter; and the troubled soul who was the gunman, Adam Lanza.

A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation,
     Rachel weeping for her children.
She refused to be consoled, because they are no more.

Let us weep with Rachel for these God’s children, and for all the people of Newtown, Connecticut.

 

Nolan: Why is the BOP so stingy with compassionate release?

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Pat Nolan’s Justice Fellowship is part of the Prison Fellowship organization created by the late Charles Colson.  They are concerned with issues such as:

The Justice Fellowship is also concerned about Compassionate Release, an issue that will be familiar to readers of the Friends of Justice blog.  Over the years we have told the story of people like Donna Stites, a brittle diabetic in the Indiana prison system who is also an Associate of the Sisters of Providence.  And you will also remember Ramsey Muniz, a leader of La Raza Unida in the 1970s who twice ran for Texas Governor.  Following a hip injury, Ramsey, who just turned 70, is hardly able to walk without assistance.  We believe Mr. Muniz is innocent of the charges that placed him in prison but, that issue aside, the twenty years he has served in prison is more than a sufficient penalty for any non-violent crime.

Both Ramsey and Donna are devout Roman Catholics who could be making significant contributions in the free world.  But, at both the state and national levels, compassionate release is very rare.  Please read Pat Nolan’s comments and click on some of the links at the end of the article.  It is encouraging to see political conservatives and liberals cooperating in support of a shared cause.  AGB

Why is the BOP So Stingy with Compassionate Release?

12/19/2012

Dear Friends,

When a federal prisoner faces imminent death or serious incapacitation, Congress has given courts the authority to grant early release – so-called “compassionate release.” However, the inmate cannot request such an order directly; the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) must file the motion.

And that is where the system breaks down. Congress intended for the BOP to act as a gatekeeper to weed out frivolous inmate requests. They never intended that the BOP would be the decision maker. However, the BOP has arrogated that function to themselves, and the answer is almost always “No.” The numbers tell the tale: Since 1992 the BOP has forwarded an average of only 24 compassionate release requests per year to the courts. (more…)

Winkler: The Secret History of Guns

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Adam Winkler, a professor of constitutional law at UCLA law school, wrote this piece for the Atlantic in September of 2011.  The National Rifle Association has been roundly vilified in recent days.  In the wake of the Sandy Hook slaughter of the innocents, an organization that opposes even the mildest attempt to regulate the sale, ownership and use of firearms comes off as insensitive and out of touch.

But why is the NRA so adamant on this issue?  And has it always been so?

Winkler argues that until the late 1970s, the NRA gave a grudging blessing to gun control legislation, especially in the wake of the wave of political assassinations in the 1960s.  Historically, he says, gun control enthusiasts have been primarily motivated by a desire to keep guns out of the hands of black people and that was especially true when leaders of the Black Panther Party made the most of their right to tote weapons in public.

But by the late 1970s things had changed.  Ronald Reagan, once a proponent of legislation designed to limit the right of the Black Panthers to carry guns in public, had changed his tune.  His new position was remarkably similar to the current policy of the NRA.

What accounts for this dramatic shift?  And why have proponents of gun rights, black and white, taken a dim view of government and law enforcement?  It has frequently been argued that the NRA is a racist hate group, and it is certainly true that the organization’s membership is overwhelmingly white and rural.  But listen closely to the rhetoric of many gun rights people and you will hear a distinctly anti-government message.  These people fear their government and insist on the right to arm themselves against it.

In short, American conservative have moved from the law and order rhetoric of the 70s and 80s to a new form of anti-government paranoia.  Is this largely a function of having a black man in the White House?  Is it a legitimate response to the kind of authoritarian overreach represented by the Patriot Act?  Or might it be an complex combination of a multitude of factors?  Those wishing to pursue this question should read Mr. Winkler’s remarkably evenhanded essay and the book he has written on the subject.

The Secret History of Guns

The Ku Klux Klan, Ronald Reagan, and, for most of its history, the NRA all worked to control guns. The Founding Fathers? They required gun ownership—and regulated it. And no group has more fiercely advocated the right to bear loaded weapons in public than the Black Panthers—the true pioneers of the modern pro-gun movement. In the battle over gun rights in America, both sides have distorted history and the law, and there’s no resolution in sight.

By Adam Winkler

THE EIGHTH-GRADE STUDENTS gathering on the west lawn of the state capitol in Sacramento were planning to lunch on fried chicken with California’s new governor, Ronald Reagan, and then tour the granite building constructed a century earlier to resemble the nation’s Capitol. But the festivities were interrupted by the arrival of 30 young black men and women carrying .357 Magnums, 12-gauge shotguns, and .45-caliber pistols. (more…)