Vote for Joe

God is frequently depicted in heaven as wearing a crown. He’s King, of everything. However, we’ve started to play ‘King/God’ as a world wide society. The coronavirus is named such because of its spikey, somewhat symmetrical, extrusions that look like a: crown. (“Corona” in Latin.) Did God send us a reminder of who is really the King? Could be. And so, how are we playing God? Here’s just one (of many) examples: There are some 42,000 abortions a day in the world, and in practically every country now abortion is legal. (The coronavirus, as I type this, is in practically every country now.) Obama once said that determining when life began was above his “pay grade.” The Bible (Jeremiah 1:5) God: “I knew you before I knit you in your mother’s womb.” When does life start? In the mind of God, even before you’re in the womb. This would be a good argument, not just for no abortion, but for no artificial contraception either. I mean, if God is even thinking about someone, its probably not good to ‘stop that thought process.’ You know what I mean. The Catholic Church teaches artificial contraception is a “grave sin.” So is abortion. In fact, the Catholic Catechism refers to abortion as “murder.” Worldwide we are living in a modern day Holocaust unparalleled in the history of mankind. Think about it: 42,000 murders a day globally — not to mention all the other life God intends, that is blunted every day by artificial contraception. Note: What’s the bet the chastisement(s) don’t end until we figure this kind of stuff out? And perhaps we need a leader, unlike Obama, who has a handle on stuff like when life really begins. I mean, he’s Christian. He went to Harvard. And he couldn’t figure out Jeremiah 1:5? I mean, any average Joe who reads the Bible could figure that out. Note 2: God: “Have you read my bestseller? There will be a test.”

In a news piece this morning, it was noted that with the coronavirus crisis there’s, well, more funerals in the U.S. these days. Now to pick up with the American ‘spoiled’ theme from the previous post… The average cost for a funeral in America these days (coffin, burial plot, wake and other funeral home charges…): $10,000. You read that right! On a campaign stop at Habitat for Humanity Headquarters in Americus, Georgia, we toured a replica Third World slum village (see above), then we learned that to provide an adequate Habitat house for a family of five, or more (modest ranch style home) in the Third World costs, on average: $2,000. So doing the math on this: We bury one dead American for what it would cost to build five Habitat homes in the Third World, sheltering around 25 to 35 people. Uh… The slum conditions many in the Third World live in is off-the-charts deplorable. Meanwhile, most of us in, say, lower middle class America are living like kings by comparison, both in life, and in the (cherry wood coffin) death. The late Pope John Paul II at one point said that the First World and Third World were playing out the “Lazarus the beggar and the rich guy” parable in the Bible. And in that story, it doesn’t bode well for the ‘rich guy’ in eternity. Incidentally, Pope John Paul II was buried in a simple, inexpensive, pine box — with the savings, I’m sure, going to some outreach project for the poor. It is time to realign America, both in life, and in death. Note: First Mennonite Church in Bluffton has a “Casket Ministry,” with church member “carpenter hobbyists” building caskets for $350. Often instead of funeral home wakes, First Mennonite will have a memorial service and potluck afterward with photos of the deceased, and so on, displayed all over (no wake funeral hall fees, no embalming costs…). First Lutheran Church here has a Column Burial, with drawers for cremated ashes. Cost for a drawer: $200. Average cost for cremation: $700… When you add all this up, you got, maybe,$1,250 (plus coleslaw for the potluck) — leaving $8,750 for the Habitat homes for the Lazarus’s and their families.

As I type this, the coronavirus is in 180 countries playing havoc with practically everything. One of those ‘things’ is the global food supply chain. Planting is being delayed. Food import/export markets are being disrupted. Things are breaking down. So… Do we wait for the crisis to end and then rush right back at it trying to get this all up and running again? Or, well, do we realign? (The international food trade sends gigatons of carbon dioxide into the air every year, creates farm worker sweatshop conditions, if you will, in our fields and fields worldwide, and has fueled the use of massive amounts of toxic pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers to maximize profits in a global market.) So what would realignment look like in America, for instance? Our administration would work to establish local/regional markets for crops. We would ramp up, exponentially, home and community gardens, permacultures, and local Farmers Markets. We would go to “seasonal eating,” in tandem with, once again, learning the art of things like canning, and such. We would, in essence, become a lot more sustainable, food wise, in our particular regions. And speaking of sustainability, our administration would ramp up, just as exponentially, Peace Corps, and similar types of help into the Third World to help people in these countries become as sustainable as possible, food wise, as well. In addition, and as just one example, we would hold up the Common Ground Growing Project in Kimmel, Indiana, for farmers throughout the nation. Local farmers in Kimmel farm a common farm on the side with the crop going to a Food Resource Bank, which is a Christian initiative that then takes the profit and provides seeds, farm tools, irrigation equipment, animals… to 25 different Third World countries. Note: We have blindly bought into the evolution of a global food system that majorly pollutes the planet and has created a plethora of farm worker jobs (under current oppressive conditions) with little human dignity — all because we want apples (and so many other choices) year round in our well stocked First World grocery stores. Gluttony? Well, sure. Note: For a look at our outside-the-conventional-lines Agricultural platform in general, see…

I just read where Los Angeles is experiencing it’s third smog free week because of the whole “Shelter in Place” deal from the coronavirus. And that’s pretty much the same for the whole of the U.S. right now. With the exception of China, we’re the biggest ‘CO2 culprit’ on the planet. A corollary: You know how nuts we got when we learned Saddam Hussain was “gassing” the Kurds? During a talk at Notre Dame, I said that our First World energy gluttony, in a very real sense, is “gassing” the world. People dying of drought and famine in more arid countries now, increasing super-charged hurricanes/cyclones, climate refugees… First World moral theologians, given to heady rationalization (because they themselves are driving a lot, et. al), would say this was merely: “unintended consequences without moral culpability.” Common sense would say: “that’s crap.” Because, well, too many of us know now. Note: This coronavirus induced break in our habits, across-the-board, is giving us time to realign. Or not. If you’re looking to realign in this category, look no further than our position paper on energy, and our position paper on transportation.

The unemployment figures came out this morning, smashing the previous record in America by a lot. The previous record for a month: 700,000. This report: 3.3 million! An economics professor from New York University said this morning during an interview: “This is an unprecedented economic contraction… and we don’t want to kill the economy.” Uh, I would at least partially differ. Our campaign platform calls for simplifying and jacking down our economy considerably. For instance, we need to deemphasize (easy money) Wall Street financial speculation, complicated financial instruments, and extraneous “paper shuffling” jobs in general in America. In tandem, we would propose initial debt free stimulus to revive small town and big city neighborhood economies. In addition, using the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, we would break up the Wal-Marts, Targets, Lowe’s… as monopolies, as we would break up big national banks, and big corporate farms. To the latter, as an example, we would provide incentives to sub-divide these farms and stimulate small scale organic farms that are much more labor intensive. This would provide, for instance, jobs that are lost when a lot of non-essential “paper shuffling” jobs disappear. This corona virus crisis, this economic contraction, is allowing for a lot of the dross to be cleared from what has become, in large part, a bloated, convoluted economic system. Again, spiritual commons sense dictates that we simplify the system and go back to a decentralized orientation (“local production for local consumption”) that, for one, strengthens bonds in community. This will also cut down tremendously on transport carbon dioxide emissions. And it will “flatten the curve” (Where have I heard that phrase before?) on income inequality in the country, as some of those relatively meaningless professional jobs — that nonetheless pay well — go away. Note: For a look at our Economic Position that, I contend, aligns way more with what God probably wants for society, see…