"Mr. Bush, according to several people in the room, paused for a single, stunned moment to take it all in.
"'How,' he wondered aloud, 'did we get here?'
"Eight years after arriving in Washington vowing to spread the dream of homeownership, Mr. Bush is leaving office, as he himself said recently, 'faced with the prospect of a global meltdown' with roots in the housing sector he so ardently championed.
"There are plenty of culprits, like lenders who peddled easy credit, consumers who took on mortgages they could not afford and Wall Street chieftains who loaded up on mortgage-backed securities without regard to the risk.
"But the story of how we got here is partly one of Mr. Bush’s own making, according to a review of his tenure that included interviews with dozens of current and former administration officials. . . . "
". . .As early as 2006, top advisers to Mr. Bush dismissed warnings from people inside and outside the White House that housing prices were inflated and that a foreclosure crisis was looming. And when the economy deteriorated, Mr. Bush and his team misdiagnosed the reasons and scope of the downturn; as recently as February, for example, Mr. Bush was still calling it a 'rough patch.'
"The result was a series of piecemeal policy prescriptions that lagged behind the escalating crisis."
from article in the 12/20/08 NYT by JO BECKER, SHERYL GAY STOLBERG and STEPHEN LABATON
Sunday, December 21, 2008
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Welcome
In this my personal Christian blog, I hope to be discursive and now and then critical. What I write here is tentative and tensive. I post thoughts, feelings, and observations somewhat randomly and often in immediate response to current events and posts on other blogs.
"Serendipitous Creativity" from Gordon Kaufman
"I suggested that what we today should regard as God is the ongoing creativity in the universe - the bringing (or coming) into being of what is genuinely new, something transformative; …
"In some respects and some degrees this creativity is apparently happening continuously, in and through the processes or activities or events around us and within us(…) is a profound mystery to us humans(…) But on the whole, as we look back on the long and often painful developments that slowly brought human life and our complex human worlds into being, we cannot but regard this creativity as serendipitous …
"I want to stress that this serendipitous creativity - God! - to which we should be responsive is not the private possession of any of the many particular religious faiths or systems …
"This profound mystery of creativity is manifest in and through the overall human bio-historical evolution and development everywhere on the planet; and it continues to show itself throughout the entire human project, no matter what may be the particular religious and or cultural beliefs."
Gordon Kaufman, Mennonite Life, December 2005 vol. 60 no. 4
"In some respects and some degrees this creativity is apparently happening continuously, in and through the processes or activities or events around us and within us(…) is a profound mystery to us humans(…) But on the whole, as we look back on the long and often painful developments that slowly brought human life and our complex human worlds into being, we cannot but regard this creativity as serendipitous …
"I want to stress that this serendipitous creativity - God! - to which we should be responsive is not the private possession of any of the many particular religious faiths or systems …
"This profound mystery of creativity is manifest in and through the overall human bio-historical evolution and development everywhere on the planet; and it continues to show itself throughout the entire human project, no matter what may be the particular religious and or cultural beliefs."
Gordon Kaufman, Mennonite Life, December 2005 vol. 60 no. 4
Melville is a rational man who
"Melville is a rational man who wants God to exist. He wants Him to exist for the same reasons we all do: to be our rescuer and appreciator, to act as a confidant in our moments of crisis and to give us reassurance that, over the horizon of our deaths, we will survive." (John Updike)
And that is a problem for me.
And that is a problem for me.
Fragmented Notions
Copyright © 2007 Jean and Alexander Heard Library, Vanderbilt University
Links to Sites Related to Themes Explored Here
- 1 Religious Dispatches: Religion Dispatches is a daily online magazine dedicated to the analysis and understanding of religious forces in the world today, highlighting a diversity of progressive voices and aimed at broadening and advancing the public conversation.
- 11 National Catholic Reporter
- 2 Religious Naturalism: Welcome to Religious Naturalism! As briefly defined in Wikipedia, Religious Naturalism is a form of naturalism that endorses human religious responses and value commitments within a naturalistic framework. We invite you to brouse awhile and learn about a consilience of science and religion that is an emerging paradigm of rationality with feelings.
- 3 The Intitute on Religion in an Age of Science: IRAS is a non-denominational, independent society with three purposes:
- 4 International Society for Science & Religion: The International Society for Science & Religion was established in 2002 for the purpose of the promotion of education through the support of inter-disciplinary learning and research in the fields of science and religion conducted where possible in an international and multi-faith context.
- 5 Science and Religion Bookstore: Welcome to the online Science and Religion Bookstore where you can find a full and diverse listing of books in science and religion, all available at a 20% discount! Listed below are the categories we have available, or look through the full listing of over 1044 books.
- 6 Robertreich Blog
- ACORN: In October 2008, Sen. McCain's campaign released a web-based advertisement suggesting ACORN was partly responsible for the 2008 economic crisis.
- Acres USA
- Aeggebroten
- AFSCME: AFSCME’s 1.4 million members provide the vital services that make America happen and advocate for prosperity and opportunity for all working families
- Alban Congregation Resources
- American Empire Project: Americans have long believed that the very notion of empire is an offense against our democratic heritage, yet in recent months, these two words -- American empire -- have been on everyone's lips. At this moment of unprecedented economic and military strength, the leaders of the United States have embraced imperial ambitions openly. How did we get to this point? And what lies down the road?
- Amnesty International
- Anthony Flood Blog
- Anthony Storm's Commentary on Soren Kierkegaard
- Anti-Union Organizations
- ARC: The Society's purpose and program are based on the belief that the roles of the arts and religion are decisive. They reflect the struggle to conserve and to recover depth and wholeness, to reaffirm personal responsibility in the face of dehumanization, to define the ground for human freedom and creativity in a culture which tends increasingly to impose impersonal tyrannies over mind and spirit. Religion in isolation from the arts is starved of concrete embodiment of its insights into the fullness of human life. Art gives religion the eyes to see ourselves in all our dimensions, the ears to hear the voice of our inner lives and the instruments with which to communicate with each other. At the same time, the past suggests that the arts realize their potential most fully within that transcendent, unifying vision which is the heart of religion.
- Baseline Scenario.com
- Beat the Press
- Bill Moyers Journal
- Blog: Flying Farther
- Bulletin
- Canterbury Tales from the Fringe Blog.
- Cato Institute: The Cato Institute is a non-profit think tank with strong libertarian leanings, headquartered in Washington, D.C. Cato states that it favours policies "that are consistent with the traditional American principles of limited government, individual liberty, and peace."[1] Cato argues for the abolition of the welfare system, against the U.S. government pursuing an interventionist foreign policy, in favor of more relaxed immigration policies and for a more deregulated healthcare system
- Center for Barth Studies
- Center for Process Studies: The Center for Process Studies (CPS) is a research center of Claremont School of Theology, and affiliated with Claremont Graduate University. CPS seeks to promote the common good by means of the relational approach found in process thought. Process thought is based on the work of philosophers Alfred North Whitehead and Charles Hartshorne, two contemporary examples of a longstanding philosophical tradition that emphasizes becoming and change over static being. Process thought helps to harmonize moral, aesthetic, and religious intuitions with scientific insights. It also grounds discussion between Eastern and Western religious and cultural traditions. Process thought offers an approach to the social, political, and economic order that brings issues of human justice together with a concern for ecology. Our wide range of interests includes multicultural, feminist, ecological, inter-religious, political, and economic concerns.
- Chalice Press
- Charity Navigator
- Choose to SaveFinancial security is one of the most important issues for most Americans. Whether it's putting kids through college, saving for an emergency, buying a house, or saving for retirement - having enough money for life's demands is among our biggest concerns. And yet, many Americans have not taken even the first steps toward a secure financial future.:
- Christian Anarchism
- Christian Church (Disciples of Christ): Do Justice. Love Mercy. Walk Humbly with God
- Church Dogmatics Online
- Church World Service: Founded in 1946, Church World Service (CWS) works with partners to eradicate hunger and poverty and promote peace and justice among the world's most vulnerable people. Founded in 1946, CWS works with partners to meet disaster relief and recovery needs, facilitate sustainable social and economic development, provide assistance and resettlement services to refugees, and help address the root causes of poverty. CWS is the humanitarian agency of 35 Protestant, Orthodox, and Anglican denominations that serves to provide nonsectarian relief and development programs for people in need.
- chycho.com: With the advent of the Internet we have seen unfiltered information travel at light-speed across the globe. This global community, functioning as the only true free society, is reshaping our world. Where this interaction and connectivity will lead us is yet to be determined however the changes are and continue to be unprecedented.
- Citizens for Ethics
- Citizens for Ethics
- Common Dreams
- Concern for the Weak NCC Statement
- CREW
- Cross Currents
- Cross Left: Balancing the Christian Voice...
- DISCIPLES WORLD
- Doctors Without Borders: Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international medical humanitarian organization working in more than 60 countries to assist people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe.
- Don S. Browning
- Episcopalians for Global Rconciliation
- Evangelicals for Social Action: Evangelicals for Social Action (ESA) is an association of Christians seeking to promote Christian engagement, analysis and understanding of major social, cultural and public policy issues. ESA's board of directors includes many prominent leaders of moderate and progressive evangelicalism. ESA emphasizes both the transformation of human lives through personal faith and also the importance of a commitment to social and economic justice as an outgrowth of Christian faith.
- Faith and Theology Blog
- Faith Trust Institute
- First Christian Church of Decatur
- God Web Reference Site
- Habitat for Humanity: Shelter from rain, wind and sun is a basic human need. With your help, more deserving families can have decent places to call home. Give families in need shelter, self-respect and the hope of a better life. Our ministry puts faith into action through empowerment and hard work. And it’s easy for you to help! Just click the links below to learn how you can help. Then put your faith into action by clicking to donate online.
- Interfaith Alliance: The Interfaith Alliance celebrates religious freedom by championing individual rights, promoting policies that protect both religion and democracy, and uniting diverse voices to challenge extremism.
- International Violence Against Women Act
- Lance Mannion
- Liberal Christianity at the Crossroads by John Cobb
- Liberal Christians
- Living Church Foundation
- Living the Questions
- Maple Street Bookstore New Orleans
- Media Transparency
- Mennonite Churches United States of America: Mennonite Church USA is an Anabaptist Christian denomination with more than 109,000 members in 44 states. A total of 21 area conferences serve as regional offices or districts for our 939 congregations. Together all parts of Mennonite Church USA strive to bring Christ’s healing and hope to others by identifying and joining God’s work in the world.
- Mennonite Weekly Review
- Ministry Watch
- Modern Church Union
- Nader: The rights of workers have been on the decline. It is time to reverse that trend and begin to give workers, the backbone of the US economy, the rights they deserve. Workers need a living wage not a minimum wage; access to health care and no unilateral reductions in medical benefits and pensions for current employees and retirees. Employers should not be able to avoid these benefits by hiring temporary workers or independent contractors.
- National Christian Foundation
- National Council of Churches United States of America
- National Hurricane Center
- New Revised Standard Version of the Bible: The NRSV first appeared in 1989 and has received the widest acclaim and broadest support from academics and church leaders of any modern English translation. It is the only Bible translation that is as widely ecumenical:
- NSRC/Sexuality Research and Education
- Positive Liberty
- Powells Books
- Presbyterian Church (United States of America):2008 marks the centennial of the Social Creed of Churches, a pledge to work together for a better, fairer and more faithful United States. One hundred years after Christians joined together to work to ease the human costs of industrialization, the 218th General Assembly has passed a new social creed to address the 21st century’s great challenges of globalization and sustainability.
- Progressive Christian Alliance: "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality." - Desmond Tutu
- Progressive Christian Uniting
- Progressive Christian Wtiness Ministry of Pacific School or Religion:The Progressive Christian Witness: A Ministry of Pacific School of Religion is a Web-based resource that aims to strengthen the voices of progressive Christianity in the public square by publishing theologically grounded articles for laypeople and pastors on significant issues in American life.
- Project Censored:Founded by Carl Jensen in 1976, Project Censored is a media research program working in cooperation with numerous independent media groups in the US. Project Censored’s principle objective is training of SSU students in media research and First Amendment issues and the advocacy for, and protection of, free press rights in the United States. Project Censored has trained over 1,500 students in investigative research in the past three decades.
- Protestants for the Common Good The central focus of PCG is to assist people to examine their responsibilities as citizens in the light of their religious faith. It does not attempt to dictate the religious or political beliefs of its members. Likewise, PCG believes that congregations as corporate entities should not be asked to take official positions on controversial, often partisan, public issues. To do so would imply that complex social policies constitute articles of faith. Particular political policies and programs must be given our attention but not be confused with the principle tenets of our faith tradition. For this reason, PCG urges individual Protestants who are active church members to join others in becoming PCG members but does not recruit churches as members. Congregations that utilize PCG educational resources and provide annual support for the organization can become "Educational Affiliates."
- Public Eye
- Publlic Eye
- Religion and Culture Web Forum
- Religion and Ethics Newsletter
- Religous Institute Founded in 2001, the Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice and Healing is a multi-faith organization dedicated to advocating for sexual health, education, and justice in faith communities and society. The Religious Institute has emerged as the national leadership organization working at the intersection of religion and sexuality issues. Our staff provide clergy, congregations, and denominational bodies with technical assistance on addressing sexuality and reproductive issues, and assist sexual and reproductive health (SRH) organizations on addressing religious issues and developing outreach to faith communities. Our partners include the major SRH organizations as well as the leading mainstream and progressive religious institutions in the United States. The Religious Institute's mission is to change the way America understands the relationship of sexuality and religion.
- Root:
- Samule Beckett Quotations
- Sex in Cinema Nudity
- Shopping Malls Are Sites of Religious Violence
- Some of my Photographs
- Talk2Action
- The Chapel Word Press
- The Nature Conservacy
- The Toll of War
- Theocray Watch: The Rise of the Religious Right in the Republican Party: Before the midterm elections of 2006, dominionists controlled both houses of the U.S. Congress, the White House and four out of nine seats on the U.S. Supreme Court. They were one seat away from holding a solid majority on the Supreme Court. As of January 1, 2007, dominionists will not control the leadership of either house of Congress, and the President will no longer be able to so easily appoint dominionists to the federal courts. :
- Theology Today
- Thoughtful Christian Study
- Tribe Link for Ted Morgan
- Truthdig
- United Church of Christ: Never place a period where God has placed a comma.
- Visual Economics
- Westar Institute: Until a few years ago, essential knowledge about biblical and religious traditions was hidden in the windowless studies of universities and seminaries—away from the general public. Such research was considered too controversial or too complicated for lay persons to understand. Many scholars, fearing open conflict or even reprisal, talked only to one another. The churches often decided what information their constituents were "ready" to hea
- Worksmith Bookstore:
- World Council of Churces: The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches which confess the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Saviour according to the scriptures, and therefore seek to fulfil together their common calling to the glory of the one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
- Yahoo Group Distributism
1 comment:
December 23, 2008
Letters
The Roots of the Housing Crisis
To the Editor:
Re “White House Philosophy Stoked Mortgage Bonfire” (“The Reckoning” series, front page, Dec. 21):
I am no fan of George W. Bush; surely he and his administration deserve blame for not stopping the practices of the housing crisis. But there is a long line all the way back to President Jimmy Carter, and the Community Reinvestment Act.
In fact, Congress, including the Democrats, and the Federal Reserve pushed banks and Wall Street to do whatever was necessary to pump up the home building industry. At the same time, both the House and the Senate, on both sides of the aisle, and the Fed pushed for even more deregulation concerning home mortgage lending practices.
Yes, President Bush had a role, but don’t forget the instigators, authors and supporters of the lead-up to the crisis and almost 10 years of government-supported policies that ended in the housing crisis.
John F. Dix
President
Business Development Index
Columbus, Ohio, Dec. 21, 2008
•
To the Editor:
When one of President Bush’s economic advisers says that the administration did the best it could “with the information we had at the time,” the statement indicates that the government would have done things differently, for example, monitor easy lending practices, if it had had more knowledge.
But the article demonstrates that the administration was cool to information that opposed its strong emphasis on cutting back regulations and oversight.
The lessons of the ancient Greeks are relevant today: seek the truth, recognize limits and pursue moderation.
Brad Bradford
Upper Arlington, Ohio, Dec. 21, 2008
•
To the Editor:
The push to increase homeownership started in 1994, triggered by the Clinton administration’s aggressive enforcement of the Community Reinvestment Act. As your front-page graph shows, the rate of homeownership took off in a “hockey stick” pattern and grew in a straight line for 10 years until 2004, that is, for six years under President Bill Clinton and four under President Bush.
E. S. Savas
New York, Dec. 21, 2008
The writer is a professor of public affairs at Baruch College, City University of New York.
•
To the Editor:
Having just read the article regarding the White House participation in development of the nation’s financial crisis, I am incredulous that it doesn’t mention the roles of Representative Barney Frank, Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Alan Greenspan and others in their encouragement and protection of policies that contributed in such major ways to the crisis.
Ray Demarest
Incline Village, Nev., Dec. 21, 2008
•
To the Editor:
While the article pinning responsibility for the worldwide financial mess on the Bush administration is on the mark, it would be unfair to suggest that the administration or the Republicans did it single-handedly.
As “A Champion of Wall Street Reaps the Benefits” (“The Reckoning” series, front page, Dec. 14) makes clear, New Yorkers in particular can thank our own senator, Charles E. Schumer, for his critical leadership in giving the Democrats their fair share of responsibility.
When the histories of this sad era are written, they will doubtless mention Senator Schumer as the man who made sure responsibility for the fiasco was truly bipartisan.
Barry D. Rein
New York, Dec. 22, 2008
•
To the Editor:
I refer you to “Fannie Mae Eases Credit to Aid Mortgage Lending” (Business Day, Sept. 30, 1999), which succinctly describes the impending crisis and the deliberate actions taken by Fannie Mae “under increasing pressure from the Clinton administration.”
The Clinton and Bush administrations did push homeownership, and Fannie Mae eagerly absorbed subprime mortgages.
Financial markets created new vehicles and products to sell these mortgages as investment-grade bonds. Home buyers seized on these opportunities to buy houses that they and we have since learned they could not afford.
Congress failed to oversee its agencies and resisted calls to tighten controls.
In short, there is no shortage of guilty parties who, with eyes wide open, led us into today’s debacle.
Arthur Stowe
Milford, Conn., Dec. 21, 2008
•
To the Editor:
What irks me, as I try to get a loan, is that despite my credit score of 787 and a 35 percent down payment, not to mention a net worth of about a million bucks, the banks will not lend to me! I just want to borrow $287,000!
Hey, I didn’t go bust and need a bailout. I have been soldiering along, working and saving, and now I’ve found a duplex to buy. The big shots who ran their banks into the ground, wasting taxpayer money and paying themselves big bonuses, won’t lend to me? What are they, jealous?
Caroline Collins
Monrovia, Calif., Dec. 21, 2008
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