THE NATIONAL CATHOLIC WEEKLY - America … · n one of the most hotly contested presidential elections 26 3, 2012 America

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SPIELBERG’S ‘LINCOLN’

ood for Fordham University!The school’s College Republi-cans have cancelled an appear-

ance by Ann Coulter, the prominentconservative pundit known for her slash-and-burn rhetorical tactics. The studentscould have gone ahead with the talk.Joseph McShane, S.J., Fordham’s presi-dent, made it clear that in the interest offreedom of expression, the universitywould not stand in the way if the clubreally wanted to provide a platform forMs. Coulter.Still, to say that Father McShane was

not enthusiastic about Ms. Coulter’spending appearance could be the under-statement of the semester: “There aremany people who can speak to the con-servative point of view with integrity andconviction,” Father McShane wrote in anopen letter, “but Ms. Coulter is notamong them. Her rhetoric is often hate-ful and needlessly provocative.”Father McShane, then, did not object

to Ms. Coulter’s appearance at Fordhambecause she is a conservative. For all weknow, he may have some sympathy forher positions on certain public policyquestions. No; Father McShane did notwant Ms. Coulter at Fordham because, ina word, she’s mean. Whatever else itmeans to be a Catholic institution, itshould mean at a minimum that thecommunity esteems charity above all else.Ms. Coulter has spent many years

cultivating a mass market for her partic-ularly potent form of political snake oil.The type of controversy that beset NewYork City’s Jesuit university is exactly thekind of public frenzy that builds Ms.Coulter’s brand and helps sell her books.Ms. Coulter is a mega-star in what thecolumnist David Frum calls “the conser-vative entertainment complex...peoplewho have made politics a theater foridentity politics for a segment ofAmerica, rather than as a way to solvecollective problems.”It’s not just some conservatives who

are building and profiting from a politi-cal entertainment complex; liberals can

be just as cynical. A recent Pew studyfound that left-leaning MSNBC’s cov-erage of the 2012 presidential campaignwas even more biased than right-lean-ing Fox’s. Yet both networks made freshmillions from their neo-yellow journal-ism, while the decorously objectiveCNN limped across the Nov. 6 finishline with fewer viewers and even feweradvertising dollars. Before we jump to any self-righteous

conclusions, however, we should recallthat the only reason these media outletsdo what they do is that we watch them.Quite a few of us are watching, in fact,even some of us, the numbers suggest,who claim we’re not. If things are goingto change, as this week’s editorial sug-gests, then all of us need to take an hon-est look at how we are part of the prob-lem. It is not enough to point fingers,sigh and move on, as if it’s only ourneighbors who profit from our commer-cialized political culture.That last point is the first point that

John Kavanaugh, S.J., might have madein his next column for America. FatherKavanaugh died the day before ElectionDay. Remarkably, John first wrote forthese pages in the year I was born. Wetreasured his analysis, his wisdom andhis wit. He would not hesitate to chal-lenge his readers, but he always did sowith charity and humility; as a Jesuit, apriest and a journalist, he lived accordingto the Golden Rule. We would do wellto remember his words: “To resist a con-sumerist culture,” Father Kavanaughonce wrote, “that weaves itself into everyfabric of our lives, we must engage ourpersonhood with our whole heart, ourwhole mind, our whole being. Not onlywill we find ourselves more able tocounter the culture’s dogmas; we willalso be more ardent disciples of Christ.” The public debate in this country

desperately needs more JohnKavanaughs, especially now that it nolonger has the John Kavanaugh thisjournal relied on and loved for morethan 40 years. MATT MALONE, S.J.

PUBLISHED BY JESUITS OF THE UNITED STATES

Gof MANY THINGS

Cover: Syrian refugees protest livingconditions at Boynuyogun refugeecamp in October. Reuters/MuradSezer

PRESIDENT AND PUBLISHERJohn P. Schlegel, S.J.

EDITOR IN CHIEFMatt Malone, S.J.

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www.americamagazine.org VOl. 207 NO. 16 WhOlE NO. 4992 NOVEmbEr 26–DECEmbEr 3, 2012

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CONTENTS

A r T I c l E S

14 ‘WE ARE DYING HERE’An eyewitness account of the Syrian refugee crisisDaniel G. Groody

19 GREAT EXPECTATIONSJoy and the Visitation James Martin

c o l U M N S & D E P A r T M E N T S

5 Current Comment

7 Editorial The Work Ahead

8 Signs of the Times

12 Column Poll VaultJohn J. DiIulio Jr.

23 Faith in Focus Never Too LateSusan Windley-Daoust

26 Poem Crow Koan Vincent J. Cleary

35 Letters

37 The Word Advent Invitations; People, Look EastPeter Feldmeier

B o o K S & c U lT U r E

25 FILM Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” BOOKS The Color of Christ;House of Stone; End This Depression Now!

Matthew Kunkel, S.J., reports on his journey along the pathtaken by migrants to the United States. Plus, Daniel G.Groody, C.S.C., speaks on our podcast about his visit toSyrian refugee camps. All at americamagazine.org.

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CURRENT COMMENT

Who Cares?One of the most overused terms of the 2012 election sea-son was “job creator.” In campaign parlance, job creatorsoccupied hallowed ground, not to be interfered with bygovernment in any way as they went about their importantwork. Little noted was the fact that many job creators arewomen; according to one study, women will help create fivemillion jobs in the United States by 2018.Contrary to campaign wisdom, there is one key area

where government could provide these job creators withspecial help: child care. Many women are unable to work afull-time job or spend the time they would like at workbecause they have few affordable options for child care.Affluent families may be able to afford full-time care fortheir children, but many would-be entrepreneurs areunable to exercise their skills because it is simply not cost-effective for them to enter the marketplace. Increasingly, this is true for men as well as women.

Many families choose to have one parent stay at homebecause an additional salary is not sufficient to cover thecost of child care. It is a wonderful thing when a parent canstay home to help raise the children; but this decisionshould be made out of choice, not necessity. Clearly the free market has not provided families with

the necessary support services. Who else but the state canstep in? One effective government program provides afford-able day care, tax breaks for families employing nannies anduniversal free preschool. Regrettably, those benefits are onlyavailable to residents of France.

Tracking BigotryThere was some guardedly good news from the Anti-Defamation League last month. The A.D.L.’s annual auditof anti-Semitic incidents, released on Oct. 29, recorded1,080 anti-Semitic incidents in the United States in 2011.That figure represents a 13 percent decrease from thenumber of incidents in 2010.That is a significant reduction of public manifestations

of anti-Semitism, and it is cause for measured relief. Still,more than 1,000 recorded incidents—and surely manymore go unreported—is hardly insignificant. The actsthat were tracked in 2011 leave plenty of reason toremain vigilant about anti-Semitism in the United States.According to the A.D.L., even as anti-Semitic harass-ment and threats decline, anti-Semitic vandalism andphysical assaults are holding steady. There were 19 physi-cal assaults on Jewish individuals last year and 330 casesof anti-Semitic vandalism, by far the two most serious

expressions of anti-Semitism. In addition, the A.D.L. has been alarmed by a “continued

outpouring of online hatred” against Jews on conspiracy Websites and blogs. It appears the impulsive and usually anony-mous world of the Web has provided a new digital breedingground for this oldest of bigotries. That trend is accompa-nied by a lower-tech version of anti-Semitism in bullyingamong school children. As always, parents must remain alertto the influences their children will be exposed to or temptedto replicate, whether in the schoolyard or online.

Demographic DetonationChina’s “one child” policy has been a human rights catas-trophe since its “temporary” institution in 1980. The policyhas been ruthlessly enforced through coerced sterilizationsand abortions and crippling fines or job losses for violators.The phenomenon of “gendercide”—the systematic abor-tion of girls, female infanticide and the abandonment ofbaby girls—has been a direct result.Beyond the moral horrors propelled by the policy, one-

child has always represented a potential demographic andsocial breakdown that now seems to have become fullyrealized. In China, the birth ratio of girls to boys is themost skewed in the world: 100 girls born for every 118boys. These “excess males,” an estimated 37 million ofthem, are coming of age, and the shortage of partners isdriving a demand that has led to human trafficking, forcedmarriages, sexual exploitation and even the outright abduc-tion of young women and children. China’s shrinkingworkforce and growing proportion of seniors threatens tostrain government social services, and the one-child policyitself—actually a misnomer for a complicated programthat can be haphazardly applied—has created widespreadinternal tensions and encouraged official corruption.In October some high-level recognition that this 30-

year-old policy may require retooling finally appeared. Agovernment-sanctioned research center, the China Deve-lopment Research Foundation, offered an unprecedentedcriticism of the one-child policy, acknowledging its manydrawbacks and urging the government to implement anationwide two-child policy by 2015. Beyond 2015, thefoundation suggests allowing China’s families to decide forthemselves how many children they want to have. China-watchers say the C.D.R.F. has strong connections to gov-ernment leadership, so the agency’s willingness to go onthe record suggests that the change, even abandonment, ofthe long-resented policy may be inevitable. More clarity onthe issue can be expected over the next few months asChina’s once-in-a-decade leadership transition continues.

November 26–December 3, 2012 America 5

The Society of Jesusin the United States

Responding to theCall of Christ.

Everyone has a great calling.Let us help you discern yours.

“The Church needs you,counts on you and continuesto turn to you with confidence,particularly to reach thegeographical and spiritualplaces where others do notreach or find it difficult to reach.”

Pope Benedict XVI, address tothe Society of Jesus, GeneralCongregation 35, February 21, 2008

www.Jesuit.org

6 America November 26–December 3, 2012

n one of the most hotly contested presidential electionsin decades, President Barack Obama won his bid for re-election over a challenger who, just a few weeks earlier,

seemed to have the presidency within his reach. MittRomney, the former governor of Massachusetts, aformidable campaigner and debater, was gracious in defeat.Mr. Romney telephoned the president shortly before 1 a.m.to congratulate the man he had tried to unseat and to offerhis support in the next four years. “This is a time of greatchallenge for America, and I pray that the president will besuccessful in guiding our nation,” he told supporters.

Whether that prayer is answered depends on whetherAmericans can be as gracious to one another as Mr. Romneywas on election night. The new Congress and the presidentmust find a way to break the political gridlock that has par-alyzed the capital. Politicians, however, are hardly the onlyones who have demonstrated an inability to listen and a per-nicious habit of name-calling. The sad fact is that Catholicsand other Christians can be just as divisive, and just as over-ly partisan and ideological, as the rest of our fellow citizens.At times in this election, a disinterested observer could beforgiven for failing to discern a qualitative differencebetween the public discourse among American Catholicsand that of the country at large. The so-called Catholic lefttoo often accused the so-called Catholic right of not beingChristian enough, while the right too often accused the leftof not being Catholic enough. Such tactics are incompatiblewith our self-understanding as a communion of believers.

Still, Catholics also made positive and meaningful con-tributions. The 2012 election was marked by a remarkabledegree of Catholic participation. The U.S. Conference ofCatholic Bishops and many Catholic leaders and citizensjoined in the public debate, defending the traditional defini-tion of marriage, debating the ethical implications of theAffordable Care Act and working to strengthen the church’sprophetic pro-life voice. Other voices, including the Nuns onthe Bus group, which grew in prominence as the election con-tinued, emphasized the church’s teachings on other matters ofsocial justice, the need to care for the poorest of the poor andto preserve the social safety net. Catholic commentators andtheologians of every political stripe were also not shy in offer-ing their “Catholic perspective.” Ultimately, because bothmajor presidential candidates held positions at odds withimportant Catholic teachings, neither candidate dominatedthe Catholic vote. Mr. Obama’s margin of victory among

The Work Ahead

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EDITORIAL

Catholics was only two or three points. The church in the United States now

faces a dual task. In addition to continuedwitness and advocacy on behalf of the poorand vulnerable, the church must also drawon its spiritual resources to forge a newform of discourse, one based in charity.

So how can we model cooperation in an era of grid-lock? Catholics understand that the Holy Spirit works in allpeople. In our tradition the most unlikely people sometimeshave the most to contribute to the church; saints are oftendrawn from the ranks of the poorest and most obscure.Every life is sacred, and everyone has a unique vocation tohelp the church in its mission on earth. In the secularsphere, this notion that everyone at the table has somethingto contribute may help to unite an increasingly fractiouscountry. Only when one holds to the principle that the“other side” might have something meaningful to say doesgenuine listening become possible.

At the beginning of his classic Spiritual Exercises, St.Ignatius Loyola offers these words: “Let it be presupposedthat every good Christian is to be more ready to save hisneighbor’s proposition than to condemn it. If he cannot saveit, let him inquire how he means it; and if he means it badly,let him correct him with charity. If that is not enough, lethim seek all the suitable means to bring him to mean it well,and save himself.” In other words, give the other person thebenefit of the doubt. Assume that he or she is working forthe good. This is as important in political life as it is in thespiritual life. Emotionally charged public policy issues likeabortion, same-sex marriage, health care, defense spendingand religious freedom are difficult and complicated enoughwithout the added hindrance of hyperbole and invective.

This magazine, of course, is not immune to the dis-ease we diagnose. At times in our history, we too have beena part of the problem. With Christians everywhere, weseek forgiveness, for what we have done and for what wehave failed to do. We pray that all people of faith, thatDemocrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives,indeed that every citizen will reject the politics of divisionand remember that everyone at the table is not only wel-come, but worth listening to. While the progress of boththe church and society relies ultimately on the grace ofGod, it also depends in no small measure on our willing-ness to trust one another.


hat a difference an Election Day makes. After more or less signalinga preference for Mitt Romney in the White House, defying theObama administration on settlements in the occupied West Bank

and repeated efforts to pressure the administration into a more bellicose postureon Iran, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu scrambled on themorning of Nov. 7 to deal with a new reality: four more years of Barack Obama.The Israeli prime minister was among the first to call the president after his

victory and quickly pulled together a photo op in the company of U.S.Ambassador Dan Shapiro to publicly congratulate the president. Those gestureswere not enough to placate Israeli media or forestall an opportunistic censurefrom the Israeli Labor Party, apparently seeing an opening before January elec-tions. Critics charge that Prime Minister Netanyahu badly misjudged in his var-ious provocations of the Obama administration and that his bet on the wrongcandidate would damage U.S.-Israeli relations. But can Prime Minister Netanyahu’s sudden enthusiasm for the re-elected U.S.

president help revive what has been a faltering Middle East peace process? That’s a

Unabali told participats at a sympo-sium in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 8,“which is going to be affecting us moredrastically than probably in the past, tohelp people recapture our relationshipto the environment.”Bishop Unabali’s diocese includes

the Halia people of the CarteretIslands. As ocean waters slowly over-run their atoll communities, more than700 Halia are widely believed to be theworld’s first climate refugees. Thebishop said the remaining Halia arecoping with diminishing land, but that

he link between respectingthe environment and thesacramental life of the church

is inseparable for one bishop, whooversees a diocese that encompasses acollection of small islands in the SouthPacific. When Bishop BernardUnabali of Bougainville, Papua NewGuinea, baptizes a new member of thechurch or confirms someone or evenwhen he ordains a priest, he asks indi-viduals to plant 10 trees as a way togive rise to new life.“[I] use this situation,” Bishop

SIGNS of THE TIMES

E N V I R O N M E N T

The Church and Climate Changehe expects that within decades all willbe forced to live elsewhere.The symposium, hosted by The

Catholic University of America,brought together Catholic theologiansand philosophers to discuss the impli-cations of Pope Benedict XVI’s bibli-cally based ecological vision for thechurch. The symposium was spon-sored by the U.S. Conference ofCatholic Bishops, the CatholicCoalition on Climate Change andC.U.A.’s Institute for Policy Researchand Catholic Studies.The symposium began just over a

week after Hurricane Sandy, thelargest and second costliest Atlantichurricane on record, devastated por-

definite “maybe,” Philip Wilcox, aretired U.S. diplomat who now servesas president of the Foundation forMiddle East Peace in Washington, toldAmerica. Wilcox said a “positive sign” isthat Netanyahu “believes he now has totake Obama seriously.

“In the past he has treated himalmost contemptuously,” Wilcox said,“believing that he controls the U.S.Congress and that he could handle theU.S., and the [Obama] admin wouldbow to his wishes.”

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In Washington some suggest thatthe president could use his new lever-age for political payback as Israeli elec-tions approach on Jan. 22, but Wilcoxargues it would be a huge mistake forthe administration to become overtly

U . S . / I S R A E L

Bibi and Barack: Can ThisRelationship Be Saved?

U.S. President Barack Obamaand Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu at theUnited Nations last year.


teaching,” he said, “but a core part ofwho we are and ought to be asCatholics.”

uing weakness. The coalition may losesome seats in January, said Wilcox, butNetanyahu is likely to survive.Happily, his instincts for survival

could prove useful. “Netanyahu issomething of an ideologue,” he said. “Ithink he genuinely believes that Israelowns” the occupied West Bank andthat it has every right to suppress thenationalist ambitions of thePalestinians who live there. Wilcoxadded, however, that throughout hiscareer Netanyahu has demonstrated awillingness to compromise when he isunder pressure. “He is not a fanatic,”said Wilcox. “I think his principleobjective is to remain in power.”To that end, Netanyahu may accede

to renewed pressure to end settlementconstruction on the West Bank and set-tler expansion into East Jerusalem asthe Obama administration has longadvocated. “The U.S. is Israel’s bestfriend these days—perhaps its onlymajor friend,” said Wilcox. “Israeli vot-ers will be critical of Netanyahu if he isclearly at odds again with the Presidentof the United States. He cannot afford

tions of New York, New Jersey andother states along the U.S. East Coast.The reminder of nature’s destructivepotential was not lost on symposiumparticipants.Sandy came up “as an example of

what we might expect more of as theplanet warms,” said Dan Misleh, execu-tive director of the Catholic Coalitionon Climate Change. He added, “Thereis no way to argue a clear connectionbetween climate change and events likeSandy; however, most scientists believethat climate change has a multipliereffect on such storms,” droughts andother adverse climate events.According to Misleh, the scholars

agreed “that the Catholic community

is very fortunate to have the traditionof Catholic social teaching and a popewho highlights environmental stew-ardship and sustainability tohelp us see a way forward ineducating more Catholicson these issues.” He said thatwhile serious scholarshipneeds to continue on climatechange, it must be madeaccessible through educa-tional outreach. Catholics,according to Misleh, shouldembrace an ethic of eco-stewardship that is consis-tent with church teachingand Benedict’s leadership.“This is not some fringe

to create a significant breach in thisrelationship.” And the prime ministerwill no doubt recall, said Wilcox, thatthe last time he locked horns with aU.S. president—Bill Clinton in the late1990s—he was turned out of office atthe next opportunity.Wilcox does not expect to see any

rapid response on Middle East policyfrom the Obama administration. Hesuspects it will first focus on pulling theUnited States back from its so-calledfiscal cliff, the automatic spending cutsand tax hikes in January that threaten totrigger another recession. After that cri-sis is presumably resolved, however,Wilcox suggests the Obama administra-tion could put together a domestic coali-tion including key leadership from theJewish-American community thatcould press Netanyahu to halt furthersettlements on the occupied West Bankand return to the two-state peace pro-cess. “It will take courage and persis-tence,” Wilcox said, but it is a diplomat-ic feat that could be accomplished if theObama administration has “the skilland the will.” —KEVIN CLARKE

involved in Israeli politics. Despite hisapparent misstep in handling the spe-cial relationship with the UnitedStates, Netanyahu’s right-wing coali-tion remains strong, says Wilcox, whilethe Israeli left and center show contin-

Was Hurricane Sandy an anomaly or a sign ofthings to come? Mantoloking Bridge, N.J., Nov. 1.


From CNS and other sources.

Welcome the MigrantThe treatment of immigrants in theUnited States violates the biblical andethical norms that God requires of hispeople, according to speakers at a con-ference at the Catholic TheologicalUnion in Chicago on Nov. 2 about theethics of immigration. Deportations,for example, often cause suffering forfamilies and children. WilliamO’Neill, S.J., an associate professor ofsocial ethics at the Jesuit School ofTheology of Santa Clara University,Berkeley, Calif., pointed out thatthroughout salvation history Godreminds the people of Israel that theyare to “love the stranger and themigrant” because they themselves wereonce exiles. The Gospels describe howJesus, born away from home, wasforced to flee and was brought back,mirroring the story of the Jewish peo-ple. “To oppress the alien is no lessthan a betrayal of faith,” said O’Neill.“It is apostasy. Hospitality is the mea-sure of righteousness and justice....Hospitality is the very heart ofChristian discipleship. It is not offeredto kith and kin, but to those whoseonly quality is vulnerability and need.”

Vatican Delegation To Syria CanceledDeteriorating conditions in Syriaprompted Pope Benedict XVI to can-cel a planned visit by a delegation ofcardinals and bishops. Instead, thepope announced on Nov. 7 that he hadsent a smaller group, includingCardinal Robert Sarah, president ofthe Pontifical Council Cor Unum, toLebanon to deliver a $1 million dona-tion and boost the church’s humanitar-ian response to the crisis. The popeappealed for dialogue to end the con-flict. “I renew my invitation to the par-ties in conflict,” he said, “and to all

SIGNS of THE TIMES

The effort to reintegrate the Society of St. Pius X intothe Catholic Church “absolutely does not mean” that thechurch will accept the anti-Jewish or anti-Semitic posi-tions espoused by some society members, said CardinalKurt Koch on Nov. 7 in L’Osservatore Romano. • Bishops in Cuba called on Nov. 6 for emergency assis-tance to help feed and shelter victims of HurricaneSandy,which cut a devastating path through the easternpart of that island. • The new archbishop ofCanterbury is Justin Welby, 56, a former oil executive who “wasunable to get away from a sense of God calling.’’ • Two of the nation’slargest Catholic hospital systems,Michigan-based Trinity Healthand Pennsylvania-based Catholic Health East, are exploring a con-solidation. • Congress will become a shade more religiously diversethis January after the election of two Democrats from Hawaii—Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu-American congresswoman, andMazie Hirono, the nation’s first Buddhist senator. • After almost three and a half years at the Vatican, the U.S. ambas-sador to the Holy See, Miguel H. Diaz, is returning home toresume teaching at the University of Dayton.

N E W S B r I E f S

Justin Welby

those who have the good of Syria atheart, to spare no effort in the searchfor peace and to pursue through dia-logue the path to a just coexistence….I continue to follow with great concernthe tragic situation of violent conflictin Syria, where the fighting has notceased and each day the toll of victimsrises, accompanied by the untold suf-fering of many civilians, especiallythose who have been forced to aban-don their homes."

Presidential PrayersIn a message of congratulations onNov. 7, Pope Benedict XVI sent bestwishes to President Barack Obamaand assured him of his prayers “thatGod might assist him in his very greatresponsibility,” the Vatican said, andtold the president he was praying that“the ideals of liberty and justice that

guided the founders of the UnitedStates of America might continue toshine.” Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan ofNew York, president of the U.S.Conference of Catholic Bishops, like-wise congratulated President Obamain a letter on Nov. 7. The bishops, hesaid, “offer our prayers that God willgive you strength and wisdom to meetthe difficult challenges that faceAmerica.” He added that the bishopspray that Obama will “help restore asense of civility” and “that you willexercise your office to pursue thecommon good, especially in care ofthe most vulnerable among us, includ-ing the unborn, the poor, and theimmigrant. We will continue to standin defense of life, marriage and ourfirst, most cherished liberty, religiousfreedom.”


“moderates.” This subgroup of thewhite Catholic electorate accountedfor about 42 percent of all Catholicvoters in 2000 and about 32 percentin 2008. Still, in 2012, 31 percent of all

white Catholic voters self-identified as“moderate,” while 30 percent self-iden-tified as “conservative,” and 11 percentself-identified as “liberal.” By a ratio of2 to 1, these white Catholic“moderates” prefer “smallergovernment, fewer services”to “bigger government,more services,” but only 38percent attend Mass weeklyor more; and by roughly 2to 1 they favor allowingsame-sex marriage andoppose making abortion“illegal in most/all cases.”They lean ever morestrongly to the Democrats.Obama could not have been elected in2008, or re-elected this year, withoutthem.Catholic America is increasingly a

Latino Catholic America. The fractionof all Catholic voters who are Latinoincreased from 13 percent in 2000 to21 percent in 2008. In 2012, LatinoCatholics mirrored all Latinos in par-tisan leanings, with about 70 percentself-identifying as “Democratic/leanDemocratic.” Still, Latino Catholicsare at once more churchgoing (45 per-cent attend Mass weekly or more),more pro-government, more pro-lifeand less supportive of same-sex mar-riage than white Catholics.Latino Catholics are America’s

demographic and democratic future.By the time Election Day 2048 rollsaround, the nation’s total Latino pop-

ith 97 percent of thenational vote counted,President Barack Obama

led Governor Mitt Romney by 50 per-cent to 48 percent. According toNational Election Pool data analyzedon Nov. 7, the morning after, by Dr.John Lapinski, the top NBC Newssurvey analyst and my esteemed col-league at the University ofPennsylvania, the Catholic vote per-fectly mirrored the national vote: 50percent for Obama to 48 percent forRomney. Catholic voters shadowing the

mass electorate is nothing new. In2000, for example, the electorate split49 percent for Vice President AlGore to 48 percent for Gov. GeorgeW. Bush, and Catholics split thesame way. Even when one disaggre-gates all relevant data from 1992 to2012 in various ways (by race, ethnic-ity, religious habits), Catholics stillemerge as America’s most reliableswing voters.In each of two Pew surveys released

in the month before Election Day2012, we learned or confirmed twoimportant sets of things aboutAmerica’s Catholic voters and theirintragroup differences. The first setconcerns white Catholics; the secondconcerns Latino Catholics. Catholic America has its two high-

ly partisan and ideological wings, butthe median-voter character of theCatholic electorate is sustained by thewhite Catholics who self-identify as

ulation will constitute about one inthree U.S. residents. Even if theCatholic fraction of that populationdips from more than two-thirds tojust half, Latino Catholics will beabout as big a fraction of the totalelectorate as white Catholics aretoday. Fully one fifth of today’s LatinoCatholics are ages 18 to 29. While 28percent of white Catholics who self-

identify as “conserva-tive” are age 65 or older,only 15 percent of allLatino Catholics aresenior citizens.As Lapinski has

noted, even in a generalelection season like theone just passed, inwhich religion “was notdiscussed much,” voters’respective religious self-identities make a huge

difference to election outcomes. Since 1980, Republicans at the

national level have banked largely onchurchgoing white evangelicalChristian voters, about three-fourthsof whom have voted their way. Theywere the key to President Bush’sreelection in 2004. But if Republicanleaders do not catch up to the Latinosin general, and Latino Catholics inparticular, then the Grand Old Partywill go the way of the Whigs. And if the church does not start

teaching, preaching and actively pro-moting “faithful citizenship” in a waythat really resonates with LatinoCatholics (which means more thanjust being pro-immigrant or keepingsome Latino-serving urban Catholicschools going), then the AmericanChurch could go the way of Europe’s.

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LatinoCatholics areAmerica’s

demographicand

democraticfuture.


JOHN J. DIIULIO JR. is the co-author ofAmerican Government: Institutions andPolicies (2012) and other books on politics,religion and public administration.

JOHN J . D I IUL IO JR .

n the last chapter of the Book of Deuteronomy,Moses ascends to the top of Mount Nebo; from theeast side of the Jordan, God shows him the landpromised to Abraham and all his descendants. The

view of this territory is one of the last things Moses sees inthis life, but he never sets foot there. It is left to his descen-dants to cross over the river and enter the land of promise.I had a chance recently to look at the world from atop

Mount Nebo. I went there as part of a delegation, led byBishop Anthony Taylor, with the U.S. Conference ofCatholic Bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services. We weresent to the Middle East to examine the situation of refugeesin the countries around Mount Nebo, particularly Egypt,Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey. Our mission was to betterunderstand the Syrian refugee crisis, strengthen networks ofsupport between the bishops and other relief organizations,stand in solidarity with the people who suffer and recom-mend possible durable solutions to policy makers.The surrounding land shows that little has changed since

biblical times. Brothers here are still selling brothers (Gn37:27-28); families are still enslaved (Ex 1:1-22); people arestill in captivity (2 Kgs 25); Rachel is still weeping (Mt2:18); nations are still living in exile (Ps 137); refugees arestill wandering in the deserts (Dt 2:1-37); and refugee citiesare still being created (Dt 4:41-43). Only now these narra-tives are echoed by contemporary stories: of trafficked vic-tims in Egypt, tortured Eritreans in the Sinai, persecutedChristians in Iraq and Iran, unaccompanied minorsthroughout the region and displaced Syrians in the crossfireof a civil war. Throughout my time there, I kept wondering:Is it still possible to see the land of promise amid this desertof human suffering?The situation is critical. The office of the U.N. High

Commissioner for Refugees estimates that the number ofSyrians fleeing their country’s violent conflict could reach700,000 by year’s end and 1.5 million by June 2013. Somerefugees are twice displaced: first from Iraq to Syria, then

from Syria to anywhere they can find protection. At a makeshift camp on the Lebanon-Syrian border,

inside a precarious, plastic-covered shelter, we visited anumber of families displaced by the fighting. Three sisters-in-law, each in her early 20s, had just lost their husbands inthe Syrian war. One widow showed us a cellphone videotaken just after their husbands had been brutally killed.Then the mother of those men came in, weeping and sob-bing uncontrollably, holding in her hands the heart-break-ing report that her grandson had been killed the day before.Until that moment I had only seen pietàs carved out ofstone. There I saw one carved out of the suffering of Syrianrefugees.

A Mission of RefugeAs Syria plunges deeper into chaos, many churches,mosques, nongovernmental organizations and governmentsof some Middle East countries are doing their best torespond. But the scope, severity and urgency of this crisisrequire much broader international collaboration becausethe pressing human needs far outstrip the availableresources. The official camps set up by the governments ofTurkey and Jordan offer a thin line of protection for theserefugees, providing some basic shelter, security, food andmedical assistance. But the camps are inadequate to rebuildshattered lives. They are, at best, a stopgap solution for whatis likely a long-term issue. In these camps we met peoplerecovering from blasts, bombardment and battles. In a tenta baby had just been born and wrapped in a blanket, a signthat the persistent power of life still bursts forth even amidthis deadly reality. The mission of the church in this part of the world

extends not only to other Christians but to any humanbeing in need. As one organization put it, “Being Syriandoes not make you our client; being extremely vulnerabledoes.” As the church drills down beneath the complex his-torical factions, religious differences, social crises and eco-nomic problems of this situation, its missiological founda-tion rests on the bedrock of the gratuitous love of God andthe human face of the refugee. When viewed from the per-spective of those who are most vulnerable, the issues are

‘We Are Dying Here’AN EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT OF THE SYRIAN REFUGEE CRISIS


DANIEL G. GROODY, C.S.C., is associate professor of theology anddirector of the Center for Latino Spirituality and Culture at theUniversity of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind.

BY DANIEL G. GROODY

I

reality right now. Memory plays an important role in bibli-cal spirituality precisely because it helps us see something ofour own lives in those who suffer. When the plight of suchsuffering fails to move us, then something inside us hasbecome alien, for we have become disconnected from thefundamental bonds that join us not only to God but to oneanother.Biblical faith also reminds us that the true greatness of a

nation is measured not by its military might or economicassets but by the wealth of its character, expressed particu-larly in its responsiveness to human need (Mt 25:31-46).Movement toward the Promised Land is not simply move-ment toward a physical location but also toward a place ofhuman solidarity. We cross the Jordan River, a symbol ofour baptismal commitment, every time we create a safespace, foster human dignity, fight for human rights, provide

indeed very basic. The refugees wanted us to bring back themessage that they are hungry, needy, homeless and movinginto the winter months, with little protection from the ele-ments. “We are human beings,” said one woman, and “the hard-

est part is not knowing when this conflict will end.” “We arenot living here,” said another refugee. “We are dying here.”

Crossing the JordanEven though refugees are not a new phenomenon in thispart of the world, each generation defines itself in relation tohow it responds to them. According to stipulations of thecovenant, inheritance of the Promised Land is inextricablylinked to care for those who are most vulnerable (Dt 10:12).Our spiritual ancestors were once refugees in these parts,and God heard their cries (Ex 3:7). Others are living that


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SYRIA IN BRIEF

GENERAL: Arab republic under authoritarianregime; Independence, 1946; Approx. pop. 22million; majority Muslim, 10% Christian; Basharal-Assad president since 2000.

THE CONFLICT: Commenced with pro-democra-cy protests in March 2011; expanded to all-outcivil war. Government crackdown denouncedby many in the international community.

THE COSTS: Nearly 40,000, mostly civilians,have died; 1.2 million displaced internally;2,000 refugees flee to Jordan nightly; numberof refugees could reach 1.5 million by June2013. Most refugees are women and children.

Sources: CIA World Factbook, The New York Times.

time went on. The more I heard, the more speechless Ibecame, recognizing that no thought or words could touchthe pain of the people we encountered. By the end I wasweeping. For a moment I could feel God’s heart breakingover what is happening there. God continues to offer his life not only for those who are

trying to help but also for those who are struggling to hope.As people’s lives are torn asunder, faith is all many have left

when everything else has been takenfrom them. God remains a refuge for allwho place their trust in him (Ps 16:1),even as these refugees do from the exileof their shattered lives. Christ himself not only migrated to

this territory but also became a refugee in these parts. AndChrist still migrates into these broken territories of humanexistence, especially through those who reach out to therefugees in their need. But whether there is room for theserefugees in the “inn” of our human community (Lk 2:7)remains an open question. Perhaps, like Moses, some futuregeneration will see a territory of human solidarity on thehorizon, where each person’s basic needs are met for protec-tion, food and shelter. But the view of the Promised Landfrom Mount Nebo today—and the situation of refugeessurrounding it—suggest that we still have a vast desert infront of us and a long road ahead.


basic needs, advocate for just systems, create opportunities,build networks for resettlement and integration, join peoplein a shared human vulnerability, denounce injustices likehuman trafficking, challenge attitudes of xenophobia andcreate an oasis of hope. The work of the U.S. Catholic bishops, which resettles

about 20,000 refugees each year (more than any other orga-nization in the world), is a step in the right direction. But itis only a small step in relation to the over-all need. The humanitarian response to theSyrian refugee crisis requires not onlyfaith-based actors but also governmentsand nongovernmental organizations,indeed the whole human community. Inthe face of the world’s many needs, this suffering can over-whelm us and make us numb, at times. Yet even if we can-not do everything, we can do something.

A View of the Promised LandBefore leaving the United States, I anticipated that our del-egation would help me understand the refugee situation inthe Middle East. After speaking with political leaders Iattempted to analyze it. In talking with U.N. officials I triedto evaluate it. In conversations with faith-based organiza-tions I faced the scope of it. But conversations with refugeesand seeing their plight made me progressively more silent as

ON THE WEBDaniel G. Groody, c.S.c., talks about

his visit with Syrian refugees. americamagazine.org/podcast

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n the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke, the angelGabriel appears to a young girl named Mary, who livesin the small, backwater town of Nazareth. The angelannounces the birth of a son, to be named Jesus.

Not surprisingly, Mary is at first fearful andthen doubtful. “How can this be,” she says,“since I am a virgin?” In response, theangel offers an obscure answer.“The power of the Most Highwill overshadow you.” Then, asif to remind Mary of God’spower, he says, in effect, lookat what God has already done.Her cousin, Elizabeth, isalready pregnant, says theangel, even though the elderlywoman was thought to havebeen unable to conceive. “Fornothing will be impossiblewith God,” says Gabriel. Seemingly satisfied with

this answer, and overcomingher initial fear and doubt, theyoung woman assents. “Let itbe with me according to yourword,” Mary says.This passage in the Gospel

of Luke, called theAnnunciation, is one of themost beautiful in the entireNew Testament. It is also oneof the most mysterious. Likemany passages from Scriptureit seems to raise as many ques-tions as it answers. For exam-ple, did an angel appear to Mary in precisely this way?Perhaps. After all, nothing is impossible with God. (If Godcould create the universe from nothing, then sending anangel to a young woman and having her conceive miracu-lously seems relatively easy.) Did her encounter with the

transcendent mystery of God happen in another way—say,in a dream? Or was a meeting with an angel the best way thatMary could communicate an incommunicable story?

Who can say? We do not have access to Mary’s innerlife. As the esteemed Scripture scholar Joseph A.

Fitzmyer, S.J., wrote about this passage,“What really happened? We shallnever know.” The story of theAnnunciation, beloved as it is, canseem completely removed fromour human experience. The next part of the story,

however, is far easier to under-stand. “Mary set out and wentwith haste to a Judean town inthe hill country.” She is goingto visit her cousin Elizabeth.This part of the tale, which Iwould like to focus on, iscalled the Visitation.Why is Mary portrayed as

traveling to the hill country?Several reasons suggest them-selves. First, Elizabeth iselderly and so will probablyneed some help in childbirth.It would be natural for ayoung woman, once she hasheard news of her cousin’spregnancy, to visit her.Perhaps Mary’s parents evenencouraged her to visitElizabeth as part of her famil-ial duties. On the other hand,the last verse of the passage,

which says that Mary stayed for only three months, impliesthat she apparently left at the time of Elizabeth’s greatestneed—though perhaps Mary left as her own pregnancy wasprogressing.Another possible reason for her journey: Mary may have

been frightened. Perhaps terrified by this strange encounterwith the divine (in whatever way it occurred), she may havesought out the advice of an older woman. She may have hada close relationship with Elizabeth and felt the need to dis-

Great ExpectationsJoy and the VisitationBY JAMES MARTIN


JAMES MARTIN, S.J., is a contributing editor of America. This essay isexcerpted from his book Between Heaven and Mirth: Why Joy,Humor and Laughter are at the Heart of the Spiritual Life(HarperOne), which was recently released in paperback.

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cuss her situation with her older cousin. Perhaps she evenfelt closer to Elizabeth than to her parents. Who knowshow Mary’s parents responded to her situation? In Jewishlaw, Joseph, to whom shewas betrothed (a formalarrangement somewherebetween engagement andmarriage), would havebeen within his rights todivorce her upon hearingof the pregnancy. Likewise,Mary’s parents could beforgiven if they were notthrilled by her news, atleast initially. PerhapsMary’s parents sent heraway for her own good,until any scandal dieddown. Or, the youngwoman may have fearedher parents’ reaction towhat she knew wouldsound outlandish, ridicu-lous, even blasphemous. Both concern for

Elizabeth and her own fearmay have motivated Mary’s“haste” to visit “the hillcountry” of Judea. You canimagine her journeying tohelp a relative; or eager tomeet someone who mighthelp her make sense of hermysterious encounter andstrange predicament; orsimply seeking counselfrom a wise, older woman.

Another OptionBut there is another possi-bility: joy. For the firstwords out of Mary’s mouth when she meets Elizabeth is ajubilant song of praise. “My soul magnifies the Lord,” saysMary, “and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior....” There arefew more beautiful words in the entire Bible. The followingverses have often been set to music and are known by thefirst word of the Latin translation of Mary’s song:Magnificat. Magnificat anima mea....Mary is happy. The young Galilean woman, like most

women then and now when they hear such news, was filledwith joy at the prospect of giving birth to a child. And she isfilled with joy at greeting Elizabeth, who is also expecting a

child. Both of them are joyful at God’s activity. This is not so far from our own experience—man and

woman alike. Think of times when both you and a friend, oryou and someone in yourfamily, have received goodnews at the same time. Isthere anything more joy-ous? Perhaps you haveboth passed a difficultcourse in school or gotteninto the college of yourchoice or received a pro-motion. How exciting it isto celebrate together! Youwant to be with yourfriend, to rush right overand share your dual joy. SoMary sets out “with haste.”And on greeting Elizabethshe opens her mouth inpraise. Mary is filled with joy,

first, for what God hasdone for her. “For he haslooked with favor on thelowliness of his servant,”she says. “Surely, from nowon all generations will callme blessed; for the MightyOne has done great thingsfor me.” Like many of us intimes of good news, we feellike we are bursting withjoy and want to declarepraise to God. If we receivea promotion or fall in loveor find out that we aregoing to become parents orget a good diagnosis fromthe doctor, we want tosing, with Mary, “My spirit

rejoices in God my Savior.” On a literal level as well youmight say that she is “filled” with joy: filled with Jesus.But Mary is not happy simply for herself; she is happy for

what this means for Israel, for God’s people. Her song nowwidens noticeably to include the larger community. God hasreversed the fortunes of those who were suffering. God hasheard the cries of the poor, those who were hoping for somesort of salvation. “He has scattered the proud in the thoughtsof their hearts,” she says. “He has brought down the power-ful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filledthe hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.”


The Visitation and the MagnificatLk 1:39-56

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to aJudean town in the hill country, where she entered thehouse of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabethheard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. AndElizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimedwith a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, andblessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this hap-pened to me, that the mother of my lord comes tome? for as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, thechild in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she whobelieved that there would be a fulfillment of what wasspoken to her by the lord.” And Mary said:

My soul magnifies the lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness

of his servant.

Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;for the Mighty one has done great things for me,and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear himfrom generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm;he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their

hearts.

He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,and lifted up the lowly;he has filled the hungry with good things,and sent the rich away empty.He has helped his servant Israel,in remembrance of his mercy,according to the promise he made to our ancestors,to Abraham and to his descendants forever.

And Mary remained with her about three months and thenreturned to her home.

Who isn’t joyful when they finally see things set right? Mary’s Magnificat is often used by Christians who

work with the poor and advocate on their behalf, as a wayof pointing to another reality: what the Kingdom of Godis like. In the Kingdom of God, one of Jesus’ favoritethemes, things are finally made right: the lowly are liftedup, the proud are cast down from their thrones and therich are sent away empty. In Jesus’ ministry, a similar rever-

sal of fortune hap-pens, one that hehimself brings abouton earth: the blindsee; the lame walk;the deaf hear. God

reverses things and upends our usual expectations, so thatthose who had been on the bottom are on the top. God hasfulfilled his promises to his people. So Mary, a poorwoman, is joyful. And Mary praises what God has done. Often the Jewish

and Christian Scriptures point to a hopeful future, based onthe past. God has done this, and so God will do this in thefuture. The angel Gabriel says something of the same to Mary.Look what God has already done for Elizabeth. Fear not!Scripture scholars note that the Magnificat is based large-

ly on Hannah’s prayer in the First Book of Samuel (1 Sm 2:1-10). Mary’s praise hews very closely to Hannah’s, often called“The Song of Hannah.” Hannah, thought to be barren, hasgiven birth to Samuel. “My heart exults in the Lord; mystrength is exalted in my God,” she says. As in the Magnificat,Hannah goes on to praise God for reversing the fortunes ofhis people. “[The Lord] raises up the poor from the dust; helifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit withprinces and inherit a seat of honor.”What then are we to make of Mary’s Magnificat? Did

Luke place those words in her mouth at that point in hisstory, to link the story of Jesus to that of Samuel, an OldTestament figure? Perhaps. Some scholars even posit thatthe story was originally associated with Elizabeth, the olderwoman in the story, thought to have been barren. But thereis also the distinct possibility that Mary (and Elizabeth)knew the song of Hannah. A devout Jewish woman mighthave known of the story of a strong woman from her reli-gious tradition. So perhaps it was natural for her to makeuse of familiar images and language in her daily life, as itwould be today for someone familiar with Scripture.

Of ExaltationMary is not the only one who is joyful. Elizabeth too seemsoverwhelmed not only by her own unexpected pregnancybut by this amazing visit. When she first hears the voice ofMary, she exclaims “with a loud cry” the following: “Blessedare you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your


ON THE WEBA Jesuit journey along

the migrants’ path. americamagazine.org/migrants

womb. And why has this happened to me, that the motherof my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the soundof your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy.” The child leaps for joy! Mothers know of the experience

of a child moving—sometimes, mothers say, it feels likejumping—in their womb. What a beautiful image is pre-sented to us in Luke. At the sound of Mary’s voice, some-thing literally stirs within Elizabeth. The child of course isJohn the Baptist, the “cousin” of Jesus, who will later preparethe way for Jesus.The baby’s leap is a marvelous response to anyone who

thinks that religion is about being gloomy. The Greek wordused here is agalliasis, sometimes translated as “exaltation.”As Luke Timothy Johnson translates it in his book on Lukefor the Sacra Pagina series, the baby “leaped with gladness.”It is the same word used by Mary a few lines later, when shesays that her spirit “rejoices.” “The context makes clear that by leaping John recognizes

his Lord, Jesus,” says Robert J. Karras, O.F.M., in The NewJerome Biblical Commentary. “John’s joy is the most appro-priate response to God’s fulfillment of promise in Jesus.” Joyis the response to the Good News.Mary is joyful. Elizabeth is joyful. Even the baby John

leaps for joy. Joy virtually leaps off the page in this story of theVisitation and in Mary’s great Magnificat. Other Bible storieswill also reveal joy, if we just know where to look for it.


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grew up in the American South,born the year before MartinLuther King Jr. was killed. I came

into adulthood with people who hadin near memory segregation and inte-gration, habits of and challenges to“the Southern way of life.” Southernculture was and is constantly figuringout what makes up the daily practiceof reconciliation. So when I moved tothe upper Midwest years ago, it waswith some apprehension. I worriedthat my new neighbors would simplywonder, “How could you stand livingwith all those racists?” I asked a friendwhether Midwesterners would be ableto see that thousands of people in theSouth are trying to overturn a historyof injustice day by day.“Don’t worry,” he said. “Moving to

Minnesota? Mention the 1862 DakotaUprising. They’ll drop their rocks fast.”This year marks the 150th anniver-

sary of the Dakota Uprising, oftencalled the “civil war within the CivilWar.” The Minnesota Dakota werestarving. The U.S. annuities promisedto them—paid out as food—werecontinuously delayed. When askedabout the looming mass starvation, thetrader Andrew Myrick commented,“Let them eat grass.”Soon after, a group of Dakota out-

side Mankato, Minn., swept throughthe European settlers’ farms, killing upto 800 people—including Myrick. Hewas found dead with a mouth full ofgrass. The U.S. military struck back,

Never Too Late

ISeeking reconciliation 150 years after the Dakota UprisingBY SUSAN WINDLEY-DAOUST

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hanging 38 Dakota men on Dec. 26,the largest mass execution in U.S. his-tory. An act of Congress expelled theDakota from Minnesota permanently. As an outsider to Minnesota, I

often tripped on the half-buried rootsof local history, caught off-guard.Discussions on justice for NativeAmericans would inevitably yield tosomeone sputtering some racial slur(and, predictably, another wouldrespond, “Hey, I’m part Ojibwe!”).Treaty disputes on fishing rights pro-voked heat and even violence. I mar-ried into a family with Blackfootancestors, but know nothing aboutthem; the elders considered the con-nection something “not to be dis-cussed.” Thomas Maltmann (who pre-sents these events in the historicalnovel The Night Birds) says that manypeople of Dakota and European ances-

try earnestly urged him to “get itright”—which he assumed meant totell their side of the story alone. Westill stumble through a painful historyand a wounded present.

Gathering at the RiverThis complex history is what makes theGreat Dakota Gathering all the moreremarkable. I moved from the TwinCities to small-town Winona: aMississippi river town planted in gor-geous bluff land that made Mark Twainwax eloquent and loggers thirst for prof-it. Nine years ago, as many celebratedthe 1854 Grand Excursion up theMississippi to “open up” this land to set-tlers, a few local men remembered: therewere others here first. Those men, hat inhand, traveled to visit Dakota leaders.They invited the Dakota to visitWinona. The Dakota accepted. From

FAITH IN FOCUS

SUSAN WINDLEY-DAOUST is an assistantprofessor of theology at Saint Mary’sUniversity of Minnesota, Winona campus.

Great Dakota GatheringSeptember 2012, inWinona, Minn.

Spirit. It becomes possible to recognize,even within tragic history, that we areall members of God’s family.Reconciliation is a daily work, the

work of the people. I am in awe of thetownspeople who, to use DorothyDay’s words, “were just sitting aroundtalking” and thought to invite theDakota to their homelands. I aminspired by the Dakota, who afterdecades of injury, embraced that invi-tation. This has been what Day wouldcall a “personalist” project of the high-est order: the people are doing this.More precisely, God, through the peo-ple, is doing this: to see a people standup and say, “We’ll do something differ-ent here” is as fresh as the breeze wasthat September weekend. We remem-ber evil is not the last word.May we always remember God calls

us to be reconciled before laying ourgifts at the altar. May we give thanksfor people who quietly risk theinbreaking of God as their everydaywork.


this came the Great Dakota Gathering.Dakota from across the United Statesand Canada come to Winona for threedays each year for a celebration of home-coming, education and reconciliation.Winona has embraced this weekend,signing a covenant of friendship andwelcome with the Dakota (who, techni-cally, remain banned from Minnesota).The event is a mix of good planning anda laid-back atmosphere that invites con-versation, not confrontation. Signifi-cantly, each year, there is a daily “recon-ciliation circle,” to which everyone isinvited.This year’s theme was

“Reconciliation and the 1862 DakotaUprising,” no question the most chal-lenging theme of the gathering’s exis-tence. To celebrate the Dakota peopletoday is one thing; to test the ties ofnew friendship and seek reconciliationon the anniversary of such violenceand its painful aftermath is another.But people decided to risk reconcilia-tion, and the event was moved to coin-

cide with the date the uprising began.Under a clear sky by a sparkling lake,150 years later, hundreds of Dakotaand European descendants talkedrather than screamed, listened ratherthan killed, danced rather than hid,prayed rather than raged, learnedrather than destroyed. They ate aunity feast instead of grass.But the event was more than just

pretty words. Reconciliation cannotundo the past, and how to truly makeamends remains a challenge. But tomake the simple decision to be vulnera-ble, to sit, listen and commit to a peace-ful way forward draws out the poison ofacts from generations past. To committo that listening as a ritual once a yeargives reconciliation weight and reality. Itgives all of us a way to live with a histo-ry none of us asked for, and let that his-tory not rule, but inform our presentefforts toward friendship. We learn tobe humble. We learn to listen to hardtruths. We practice respect. And in sodoing, we make a space for the Holy

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aniel Day-Lewis gives us thepresident we want in StevenSpielberg’s Lincoln. And

Spielberg gives us the movie we expect.Positioned for Oscars and likely to getthem, it’s a canonization fer sure, asAbe might say. Spielberg enjoys suchan exalted stature in the public mindthat he could not do anything less.At the same time, the filmmakers

bestow upon Lincoln a highly calibrat-ed sanctity, one that acknowledges thepolitician behind the man behind theimage behind the myth. Like the pic-ture of Mr. Lewis in the ubiquitousprint ads for the movie—think of apenny, held at a downward angle—theLincoln of “Lincoln” is slightly askew.The fractured humanity of

Spielberg’s Lincoln—who is also theLincoln of the screenwriter TonyKushner and the historian DorisKearns Goodwin—makes him endear-ing but also precludes the movie’s beingdismissed as an American liberalwhitewash of a problematic president.Lincoln had his issues. As Mr. Kushnertold this writer, the 16th presidentcame from a state that was institution-ally hostile to blacks; he was personallyacquainted with very few; he was gen-uinely surprised when he met one whocould read and write. He was notentirely comfortable with the idea ofracial equality.But there is a sense throughout the

film that Abraham Lincoln’s educationparallels the nation’s. And this raisesquestions about the timing of themovie’s release. It is hard to miss themessage one gets from “Lincoln” that avote against Barack Obama is a voteagainst Abraham Lincoln. And yet thefilm was held back until three daysafter the election. (Spielberg’s responseto questions about this have rangedfrom oblique to ridiculous.)


BOOKS & CULTURE

DF I L M | JoHN ANDErSoN

ABE, HONESTLYSteven Spielberg’s ‘Lincoln’

Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln

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If one were being unkind, onewould say that Mr. Spielberg, who is asin control of the marketing machinerysurrounding his movies as any directoralive, considers his film above merepresidential politics. If so, he shouldhave informed his screenwriter. Theincandescent Mr. Kushner (“Angels inAmerica”), drawing largely from hisfellow Pulitzer laureate Goodwin’sTeam of Rivals, creates a Lincoln ofcontradictory parts and an iconicwhole. A weary sainthood hangs onhis shoulders like the shawl that theincreasingly wraithlike Abe wears ashe prowls the White House halls atnight, worrying whether he can endslavery and war without one plan can-celing out the other. In a very earlyscene involving a battlefield visit, shot

over Lincoln’s shoulder, at first, to easeus into Lewis’s uncanny imperson-ation, several soldiers are given anaudience with their president, includ-ing an educated black man fromMassachusetts. He bemoans the slowpace at which the Army promotesAfrican-American officers. At thisrate, he says, black men might get thevote in, oh, 100 years. Not to thinkabout President Obama at thismoment is impossible.Mr. Kushner’s screenplay is far more

sophisticated than the film around it,which, per Mr. Spielberg’s usual M.O.,relies on John Williams’s intrusivemusic, which goes so far as to emulateGabriel’s trumpet and is always leadingone’s heart by the hand (if that’s possi-ble). Mr. Kushner’s intentions might be

equally obvious, but theviewer doesn’t feel quite somanipulated. WhenLincoln explains the intel-lectual gymnastics he hadto perform in issuing anEmancipation Procla-mation that usurps thestates’ rights issue at theheart of the slavery ques-tion, it is lawyerly butthoroughly accessible andilluminates for the legallyunschooled viewer (likethis one) the knotty ques-tions with which the pres-ident had to contend.Instead of Lincoln’s biog-raphy, it is the fight overthe 13th Amendment,which is what really freedthe slaves, that serves asthe plotline of the movie,and its intrigues seem toexist only half in the past.In fact, when the RahmEmanuel-like secretary ofstate, William Seward(David Strathairn),assesses the odds of theamendment passing theHouse (“When have the

Republicans ever been unanimous onanything?”), we are jerked back to thepresent as abruptly as if Mitt Romneysuddenly showed up dressed as MaryTodd Lincoln.Speaking of whom: Playing a flying

nun early in your career seems to makepeople take you less seriously thanthey might; and despite two Oscars forBest Actress, Sally Field is never men-tioned in the same breath as, say,Meryl Streep. This may change. Field’sMary Todd Lincoln, usually dismissedas one of the premier loonies ofAmerican history (thanks largely toGore Vidal) is given a complex, con-toured portrayal by Ms. Field, whoapplies layers of character and conflictonto a first lady whose personal griefmatched that of any soldier’s mother,North or South. In the film, as in fact,she is a woman of emotional volatility,which has caused her husband nosmall degree of anxiety. But she is alsocultured, intellectual, educated andclever. When she dresses down herhusband’s chief congressional ally,Thaddeus Stevens (a terrific TommyLee Jones), she does so with surgicalsarcasm and brittle eloquence. She isalso, in this one key scene, clearly awoman who is barely keeping ittogether, played by an actress who hasit all together.Then there’s Mr. Lewis, who, as

many will agree, is the greatest actorcurrently making movies and has beensuch for quite a few years and in quitea few films: “The Boxer,” “TheCrucible,” “Gangs of New York,” “Inthe Name of the Father.” While far toomuch emphasis is placed on theimportance of the AcademyAwards—which are, after all, industryawards given in an industry town—Mr. Lewis has won the Best Actorprize twice, for “My Left Foot” and“There Will Be Blood.” And if he winsfor “Lincoln,” he will become the onlyactor ever to win three.No one could be more deserving.

While the movie around him is typical


Crow Koan

Jet-black flyer, wintry clime,

Sheen refracting sun-lit feathers,

How to parse a bird so fine,

Dark as pitch what e’er the weather.

can it be that such a hue

carries with it thoughts of death,

Has us ponder, ask anew,

What remains for us of breath?

or do such colors as the crow’s,

call attention to the light,

Set against New England snows,

The opposite of death and night?

A deep enigma, what’s the answer?

let me ask the crow, Zen Master.

V I N C E N T J . C L E A R Y

VINCENT J. CLEARY is retired from teaching the ancientclassics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Heis the author of Amherst Massachusetts 01002: Oneof the Best Small Towns in America (2003).


Spielberg—too much music, too muchsentiment, too much movie—Mr.Lewis occupies its center like a pearl ina particularly untidy oyster. HisLincoln is gentle and fierce, philosoph-ic and poetic, acrackerbarrel yarn-spinner and a ruth-less manipulator. Infact, much of the purefun to be had from“Lincoln” comes in watching the threeshady operatives that Seward sendsout, with Lincoln’s tacit approval, tobuy votes. The trio ( James Spader, TimBlake Nelson and John Hawkes) hilar-iously do their dirty business amongthe capital’s craven and soon-to-be-morally-compromised congressmen.And in this, we can look back on theWashington of Abraham Lincoln witha lofty, superior attitude: Our politicswould never stoop so low or be so cor-rupt—not so transparently, at any rate. At the same time, the questions of

political courage that make “Lincoln”

as much a suspense thriller as a biopicare not so easily answered now. Theresolution of slavery called for inde-pendence of mind and allegiance tosomething other than party, condi-

tions which seem atthis point in ourpolitics all but ante-diluvian. In veryrecent years, blocsof politicians have

voted unanimously for matters far lessimportant than the freedom of theirfellow man, and likely will again. Forall the excesses of the film, it seemsthat Mr. Spielberg and Mr. Kushner,and perhaps Mr. Lewis too, recognizethat “Lincoln” is not about evokingnostalgia or pride or heroism, but alonging for moral clarity. And it will, aslong as we are the country AbeLincoln thought we were.

JOHN ANDERSON is a film critic for Varietyand The Washington Post and a regular con-tributor to the Arts & Leisure section of TheNew York Times.

perhaps no better way to understandthese collisions than through themultiple struggles over the ever-changing face and color of Christ. To Edward J. Blum, author of

Reforging the White Republic: Race,Religion and American Nationalismand Paul Harvey, author of Freedom’sComing: Religious Cultures and theShaping of the South from the CivilWar through the Civil Rights Era, theoften divergent, mutable, contradicto-ry, conflicting and self-justifying waysAmericans whitened, colored andremade the Son of God time andagain into a symbol of their deepestfears, highest aspirations, devastatingterrors and hopes for racial suprema-cy or justice, reveal deep truths andmyths of American history.Blum and Harvey dissect how the

combustible elements of race and reli-gion, gender and sex and the develop-ment of manufacturing, technologyand communication were put at theservice of racial hierarchy, namely,white projections of Christ repro-duced in postcards, pamphlets andbooks to reinforce the assumptionthat white domination was a God-given right. If whiteness has been acentral marker of identity and privi-lege in American history, Blum andHarvey describe how white Jesus fig-ures have been reconfigured constant-ly to fit varied circumstances and cre-ate the perception that whiteness issacred and everlasting.One of the great strengths of The

Color of Christ is its contribution toan understanding of how whitenessgained ascendancy in the early repub-lic and, although white images ofChrist were appropriated for oppos-ing purposes in the North and Southduring the Civil War, they became thedominant image of Christ propagatedin schools, homes and diverse publi-cations in the United States andbeyond. Although the whiteness of Christ

is an enduring, if mercurial, projec-


ON THE WEBleo J. o'Donovan, S.J., reviews the art of ferdinand Hodler.

americamagazine.org/culture

B O O K S | AlEx MIKUl IcH

IN WHOSE IMAGE?

THE COLOR OF CHRISTThe Son of God and the Saga ofRace in America

By Edward J. Blum and Paul HarveyUniversity of North Carolina Press. 336p$32.50

Beyond death and taxes, there areperhaps two additional certainties inAmerican culture: religion and race.Collisions of race and religion recurat many crossroads of U.S. history,including the Atlantic slave trade, thefounding of the nation, the Indianremoval and the Trail of Tears, theEuropean migrations, the Civil War,Jim Crow, civil rights and, four yearsago, the first election of a man ofcolor to the U.S. presidency. There is


tion of white power and self-imagethat is central to American history, itis only a part of the story. Blum and Harvey expose three

myths of American history: first, thatparticular racial or ethnic groups nec-essarily create God or gods in theirown image; second, that Americanssimply replicated European iconogra-phy and, third, that black liberationtheology was born in the 1960s. Regarding the first myth, The

Color of Christ deals not simply withthe projection of images of Christ.For the Puritans, who were deeplyinfluential in the founding of therepublic, iconoclasm was a criticalpart of the religious ferment andmigrations of the 17th century. Thatthe image of Christ was nearly absentfrom the revolutionary debates andfounding documents of the nation isdue to colonial anti-Catholic icono-clasm and some of the foundingfathers, who believed Jesus was noth-ing more or less than an “enlightenedsage,” reflecting the philosophicalinfluence of the Age of Reason.The authors recount how, when

white images of Jesus emerged in the19th century, Harriet Beecher Stowedrew upon a white Jesus not to sup-port white supremacy but to opposeslavery. The original version of UncleTom’s Cabin depicted a white Jesuswho was morally opposed to slaverybut, disturbingly, did nothing aboutit. Nat Turner and John Browndeployed more provocative images ofJesus as a revolutionary devoted to aholy war against slavery and racialoppression. Simultaneously,Mennonites, Quakers and Shakersdrew upon a pacifist Christ to resistslavery and the Civil War. The second myth, that Americans

simply replicated European iconogra-phy, misses the fact that the images ofJesus that were distributed globallyfrom the United States in the 19thand 20th centuries drew uponuniquely American 19th-century


and interracial relationships and con-flicts that have continually changedAmerican culture. Blum and Harvey’slatest work deserves to be widely readso that we may yet know how ourpast endures in the present. We havestories to hear that are rooted in ourcommon past. If we attend to thesestories, perhaps, Americans may yetlearn alternative possibilities for a

truly multireligious, multiclass andmulticultural democratic future.Then we may yet see the divine imagein all of us.

ALEX MIKULICH, an associate at the JesuitResearch Institute in New Orleans, is co-author of the forthcoming The Scandal ofWhite Complicity in U.S. Hyper-incarcer-ation: A Nonviolent Spirituality of WhiteResistance.

visionaries and the description ofChrist in the “Pentulus Publius” let-ter, a medieval forgery that could havegained traction only in the soil ofAmerican historical ignorance.The third myth, that black libera-

tion theology was born in the 1960s,was widely propagated by the U.S.press during the controversy aroundthe Rev. Jeremiah Wright, in whichthe presidential candidate BarackObama was criticized for attendingWright’s church in Chicago that drewinspiration from the liberationist the-ology originally taught by James Conein the late 1960s. Blum and Harvey show how, long

before the uprisings of the 1960s,slaves re-interpreted the master’sJesus into a trickster who turned themaster’s world upside down, howNative Americans used images ofJesus to resist U.S. expansionism andhow former slaves, like Richard Allen,who founded the African MethodistEpiscopal Church in 1794, weredevoted to a liberating Christ. If the media and others had known

that liberation theology is moredeeply rooted than academic theologyin the struggles of many diverse ordi-nary people of color throughout U.S.history, perhaps we would not havehad the controversy, or at least wemight be more willing to conversewith, and learn from, the divergentreligious and racial experiences thatformed the nation.

The Color of Christ is a timely anti-dote to the amnesia and nostalgia ofcontemporary political and religiousmovements that pine for a past reli-gious, constitutional or racial puritythat never existed. Culture in theUnited States was never united underany single conception of God orJesus. In Blum’s and Harvey’s telling,there never was a universal Americanculture for Jesus to uphold.

The Color of Christ reveals tremen-dous complexity, multiplicity andambiguity to the rich intercultural


MAUrIcE T IMoTHY rE IDY

HOMECOMINGHOUSE OF STONEA Memoir of Home, Family, and aLost Middle East

Anthony ShadidHoughton Mifflin Harcourt. 307p $26

Anthony Shadid put his life in harm’sway so many times that his death inFebruary 2012 has come to seem fore-ordained. Here was a reporter whomade his name in the crosshairs ofwar: in Iraq, of course,but also in Israel andLebanon. In 2002 hewas shot by an Israelisniper in Ramallahwhile reporting for TheWashington Post. Theepisode put an end tohis fraying first mar-riage and foreshadowedhis ultimate end.Shadid died on assign-ment for The New YorkTimes, felled by anasthma attack as he anda colleague were crossing the Turkishborder from Syria. They were in thedesert, far from the medical helpShadid needed to survive.The scene of his death was both

tragic and fitting. Shadid was coveringa conflict in Syria that still threatens toplunge the entire region into war. Itwas a story that Shadid had been cov-ering in one way or another for most of

his career. He died in a region, theLevant, that his family once consid-ered home. He was too young, thoughhis salt and pepper beard made himlook older than his 42 years. Perhapssomeday his only daughter, Laila, willtake comfort in the fact he died wit-nessing to history in a part of theworld that he could fairly claim as hisown.

House of Stone is the story of thathomecoming. Publishedshortly after his death,it is an unexpected bookfrom a war correspon-dent, ruminative andimpressionistic, devoidof the life and deathdrama one mightexpect. Yet it is a bookof unusual intelligenceand feeling that shedslight on Shadid’s uniquegifts as a reporter. Shadid grew up in

Oklahoma, the descen-dant of immigrants from Lebanon. Inhis memoir he recounts the story oftheir immigration to the United Statesalongside a more unorthodox tale:Shadid’s return to Lebanon to rebuildhis great-grandfather Isber’s house inthe town of Marjayoun. It was a crazyand quixotic endeavor. Ever sinceWorld War I, war “had been morefamiliar than peace” in Lebanon. From

the brutal 15-year civil war to theSyrian occupation, Lebanon was thescene of regular turmoil. The idea ofan American finding a home in theregion, much less physically rebuildingone, strikes more than one local resi-dent as a doomed enterprise. Yet Shadid persisted with the same

doggedness that characterized hisreporting. He paints memorable por-traits of the assorted contractors andartisans he hires to complete the pro-ject. The project moves in fits andstarts as Shadid slowly comes to knowthe place. “The beauty of Lebanon nei-ther shouts nor declares,” he writes.“There is a gentleness to the landscapeof hills rounded by age and terracescrumbling for centuries.” He seeks to recapture the lost cul-

ture of the Levant, a time when theMiddle East was not divided by fierce-ly contested borders. He mourns thediminishment of Arab Christendom,noting that in Marjayoun Christians“were not included in decision making.To persist in that identity, we faced ourown extinction.” All the while thework on his house proceeds until,finally, he is able to sleep under its roof.“It’s part of your body now,” a friend

tells him. “It’s the womb of your body.It’s you....”As the house finds new life, howev-

er, the town around it is dying.Marjayoun was once a crossroads ofthe Middle East, one resident proudlydeclares. Townspeople worked inPalestine, Syria and Jordan. It had itsown identity, proudly Orthodox, dis-tinct from Catholic Beirut. Yet thereader can see that was a long time ago.In the spring of 2011, following his

arrest and detention in Libya alongwith three other reporters, Shadidmade his way back to Marjayoun. Forthe peripatetic reporter, born inOklahoma City, employed by TheNew York Times, living and reportingfrom Beirut, it was the one place wherehe could find peace. He was joined byhis new wife, his infant son and even-tually, his daughter, Laila. Before shearrives he imagines her “suddenlygrown, beside these trees and repeat-ing the Arabic words I would someday teach her.” Shadid is gone now, histongue and his pen silenced. ButIsber’s house still stands.

MAURICE TIMOTHY REIDY is online editorof America.

that the book title was an attention-getting device; yet only in part. As thereader will discover, when Krugmancalls our national economic conditiona depression, he draws on the defini-tion used in the 1930s by the Britisheconomist John Maynard Keynes. In 1936, just as deficit hawks in

Congress had won the day and federalcutbacks were beginning to pull theeconomy into a second recession thatprolonged the Great Depression byfive years, Keynes published his mag-num opus, The General Theory ofEmployment, Interest and Money. Thework set in motion the final New Dealpush that saved the United States andlaunched a school of macroeconomicthinking that bears its author’s name.Keynes explained the word depres-sion, saying it was “a chronic conditionof subnormal activity for a consider-able period without any marked ten-dency either towards recovery ortowards complete collapse.”Given recent Bureau of Labor

Statistics reports showing that in thethree full summer months nationalunemployment remained stuck at 8.1percent or higher, Krugman’s use ofKeynes’s term is hardly the showboat-ing of a brilliant economist. Indeed,unemployment has remained at morethan 8 percent for 42 months.Does Keynes’s description sound

vaguely familiar to our wallets today? A depression need not be called

“great.” In an op-ed col-umn in The New YorkTimes last July, Krugmansuggested replacing“Great Recession,” anutterly inadequate termfor the events that beganin 2007, with the mis-chievously teasing term“Lesser Depression” forthe condition thatremains even after theNational Bureau ofEconomic Researchdeclared the latest reces-


cEcIl Io MorAlES

BRING BACK KEYNESEND THIS DEPRESSIONNOW!By Paul KrugmanW. W. Norton. 259p $24.95

In December 2000, with electoralcampaign passions subsiding, the Bushpresidential transition teams attempt-ed to inoculate the incoming adminis-tration against blame for the inevitablebust end of the longest running boomin U.S. history by invoking the R-word, “recession,” to which the ClintonWhite House replied with another R-word, “ridiculous.” Now comes the

Nobel laureate in eco-nomics and New YorkTimes columnist PaulKrugman with a D-word, “depression.”Should we respondwith the D-word “dis-agree”?At a recent briefing I

attended, Krugmanhimself seemed fullyaware of the impact ofcalling an economic sit-uation a depression. Headmitted sheepishly

The message, however, is deadlyserious, and Krugman is no longer inthe minority decrying the puny dosageof the Keynesian cure, given thedimensions of the crisis, both in theUnited States and Europe. Krugman alludes to the fact now

well known to close observers of poli-cy that the chair of the Council ofEconomic Advisers at the time,Christina Romer, urged President

Obama to ask Congress for a $1.4 tril-lion stimulus package, rather thanwhat was requested: half that amount,a figure that diluted hundreds of mil-lions into tax breaks that yielded theexpected extremely small payoff. Even the hidebound International

Monetary Fund surprised the public inmidsummer by warning against cut-ting back on public spending in theUnited States. The club of advanced

sion over in 2009. In fact, the GreatDepression designates a period thatincluded two recessions, one caused bythe Crash of 1929 and its aftermath, theother caused by the Republicandémarche on the New Deal spendingthat by 1936 was beginning to yieldweak signs of recovery.Krugman’s book is not about how

our depression came to happen, butabout the urgency to end it now. “Thedepression we’re in is essentially gratu-itous: we don’t need to be suffering somuch pain and destroying so manylives,” he argues. The Princeton professor makes his

case in droll, nontechnical terms, asdid Keynes, whose legacy includes thedictum that “in the long term we are alldead.” And there are only a dozencharts (on average one every 20 pages),a remarkable achievement for a manwho delights in every fluctuation of atrend line. The teacher in Krugman brings out

all the humor he can manage, and it isextensive, to illuminate complex ideasfrom the dismal science and debunkmyths that have blocked effectivecountermeasures. In doing so he bat-tles with “the Confidence Fairy,” singsan aria from the “Eurodämmerung”and lumps a certain WisconsinCatholic boy, chair of the HouseBudget Committee and an unsuccess-ful vice-presidential candidate, withmembers of the tribe known as theAusterians, whose federal belt-tight-ening Krugman sees leading to aslump similar to that of 1937.The reader will also learn that the

term Minsky Moment aptly describesthe realization in 2008 of the level ofrisk in existing debt that precipitatedthe continuing crisis. Or, in moreKrugmanesque terms, “The momentis also called the Wile E. Coyotemoment, after the cartoon characterknown for falling off cliffs, then hang-ing in midair until he looks down—foronly then, according to the laws of car-toon physics, does he plunge.”


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One easy fix: rehire all the teachersand firefighters laid off by state andlocal governments when stimulusmoney began to run out. Such a mea-sure alone, Krugman calculates, wouldbring unemployment down to 7 per-

cent. Another: raisesafety net spendingto match needs, notmerely costs, of cur-rent services. Thepayoff lies in the

proven fact that the poor spend moneyright away on necessities.Still, to Krugman the key point is to

keep in mind why a massive and vigor-ous government moves to alter theeconomic environment for the better isneeded: because government is thespender of last resort, and no othersector is increasing its spending.

CECILIO MORALES has covered federal eco-nomic policy as a journalist in Washington,D.C., since 1984. He is currently executive edi-tor of the specialized weekly Employment andTraining Reporter.


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Responding to theCall of Christ.

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nations called the Organization forEconomic Cooperation andDevelopment issued a few days later acall for broad measures of social insur-ance to deal with record levels of long-term U.S. unemployment. Krugmaneven suggests thatsome of MittRomney’s advisersmight silently agreewith him, eventhough it may be toomuch of a gamble to hope that, shouldRomney win, he will “rip off his mask,revealing his true pragmatic/Keynesian nature.”Indeed, to Krugman the Keynesian

solution makes detailed policies obvi-ous. When the private sector hoardsmoney as it is doing, choking produc-tive capacity (and jobs) out of the econ-omy, the answer is for government tospend. Balancing budgets is for anoth-er time, for a future boom whenClintonian federal surpluses can bemade to blossom again.

ON THE WEBread Americaon the Kindle.

americamagazine.org/kindle

Personal Choices “Preference for Equality,” by Meghan J.Clark (10/29), is a timely article on animportant subject, but it misses theforest for the trees. A recent report onfactors affecting health and longevitystated that the most important factor,accounting for 40 percent of the prob-lem, was the personal choice of theindividual. Japan spends far less on health care

as a percentage of gross domesticproduct than the United States oralmost any major European country,yet leads in longevity by a wide mar-gin. Why is that? The obesity rate inthe United States, 30.6 percent, isabout the highest in the world. Theobesity rate in Japan, the lowest of allmajor industrial nations, is 3.2 per-cent. Bottom line: personal lifestylechoices that affect weight control, notmoney spent, have a far higher corre-lation with longevity than expendi-tures or percentage covered by healthinsurance. There is one area already in our

Medicare formula that does addresspersonal choice: smoking. Anyone fill-ing out a Medicare application mustanswer the smoker question, and apositive reply results in a significantlyhigher payment. The United States must come up

with a health care program that incen-tivizes good personal health choicesand deincentivizes poor ones, or wewill simply not make progress onimproving the health of the nation atan affordable cost.

WALTER MATTINGLYJacksonville, Fla.

Social Forces, Too The relationship between individualresponsibility and conditioning socialfactors is a complex one. Long ago thegreat sociologist Robert K. Mertoncontended that when individuals can-not achieve the cultural markers ofsuccess in their society (for example,wealth, power, high educational attain-

ment) due to lack of opportunity, theywill often resort to unconventional andeven illegal means to attain them. This is not to say that individuals

are not responsible for their decisions.But we cannot ignore the social forcesthat shape those decisions. If a personlives in what is called a “food desert,”where access to affordable nutritiousfood is lacking, it is hard to expect thatthis person will make the most salubri-ous dietary choices. Even if there aregrocery stores in poorer neighbor-hoods, healthy food is far more expen-sive than junk food. Our society needs to encourage

healthy choices, but I think one impor-tant way to do that is to attenuatesocial and economic inequalities.Professor Clark is right that incomesthat rise faster at the bottom than thetop would lead to better health out-comes. Producing healthy outcomes isa matter of personal and social respon-sibility.

GERALD BEYERPhiladelphia, Pa.


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America classified. Classified advertisements are acceptedfor publication in either the print version of America or onour Web site, www.americamagazine.org. Ten-wordminimum. Rates are per word per issue. 1-5 times: $1.50;6-11 times: $1.28; 12-23 times: $1.23; 24-41 times:$1.17; 42 times or more: $1.12. For an additional $30,your print ad will be posted on America’s Web site for oneweek. The flat rate for a Web-only classified ad is $150for 30 days. Ads may be submitted by e-mail to:[email protected]; by fax to (928) 222-2107;by postal mail to: Classified Department, America, 106West 56th St., New York, NY 10019. To post a classi-fied ad online, go to our home page and click on“Advertising” at the top of the page. We do not accept adcopy over the phone. MasterCard and Visa accepted. Formore information call: (212) 515-0102.

LETTERSLip Service In “A Prayer for Malala” (11/5), theeditors write, “The church has repeat-edly promoted the full and equal dig-nity of women, and by extension girls,in a world where many societies arehostile to that notion.” I wish I couldbelieve that statement, but I do not. Ihave one simple test for whether sucha statement is real or just lip service:Do women have a voice in the church?Are they invited to participate whendecisions are being made? The answer,sadly, is no.

ANNE HECKSanta Barbara, Calif.

Centrality of Christ I read with great interest and appreci-ation Michael Anthony Novak’s arti-cle, “Misunderstood Masterpiece”(11/5), about Salvador Dalí’s painting.I have been enamored of this worksince I was a Jesuit novice more than50 years ago. I was so struck by thecentrality of Christ and the “geometry”of the painting that I took a ruler toexamine the many incorporated per-spective lines. What did I find? All ofthese lines converge to one singlepoint: the mouth of Christ, the Wordof God. Centrality of Christ indeed! The transparent, unfinished body

above Christ’s head is more mysterious.While I appreciate Novak’s interpreta-tion that this is a representation of theFather, let me offer an alternative inter-pretation. Both hands of Christ arepointing to himself—transparentlyseated at table and the transparent,unfinished body with arms extended totake in all the earth and its people. In thetradition of St. Paul and Pierre Teilhardde Chardin, S.J., this is the new reality ofJesus, the mystical body of Christ, thecosmic Christ. It is an incomplete body,waiting for us as living cells of that samebody to contribute to its full develop-ment and maturity.

DANIEL J. GATTI, S.J.New York, N.Y.


No Pension Needed Re “Blown Call” (Current Comment,10/22): A person can work and savefor their retirement without the bene-fit of a pension. I and others I knowhave done it. It takes hard work anddiscipline. First, we tithed. God ismore generous than we could everimagine. Second, I saved before spend-ing. That means we sacrificed buyingstuff, taking expensive trips or spend-ing more than we made. Study the stock market and become

aware of what a balanced budget is.This is hard and ongoing work; it isnot a mystery or a matter of blind luck.I invested and never touched themoney for retirement. I was in busi-ness for myself until I was 53 years old.Then I worked for a corporation thatoffered a 401(k) plan. I saved 10 per-cent, at first. As the last child lefthome, I saved 20 percent. I saved allbonuses. I just retired. I do not have toworry about money because it is there.

PAT SHANNONDallas, Tex.

Couldn’t we maybe begin working ourway out of the polarization so manyexperience in the church today by sim-ply talking with each other a littlemore? I recently attended an adult forma-

tion event at my parish on the legacy ofVatican II. A local theologian asked usto consider this: “We aren’t afraid totalk to anybody.” He had a PowerPointslide that listed a smorgasbord of reli-gious bodies and denominations withwhich the church has taken up earnestdialogue. After it was over, I told the theolo-

gian how impressed I was by all thefolks outside the Catholic Churchwith whom we have struck up conver-sations. Yet I wondered: Where is theconversation inside the church?Where is the fear-free dialogue there?“That’s a very good question,” he said.

BOB MCCABEChesapeake, Va.

Role of Chastity Your three commentators on Just Love,by Margaret A. Farley, R.S.M. (9/24)seem, like Sister Farley herself, to payno attention to the self-regardingvirtue of chastity and thus base awhole sexual ethic on the other-regarding virtue of justice. Such anethic is seriously inadequate. The truefoundation of a Christian sexual ethicis expressed by Dietrich vonHildebrand in Man and Woman: “Thesexual act, because it is destined to bethe consummation of [the] sublimeunion and fulfillment of spousal love,becomes sinful when desecrated byisolation.” Or by St. Paul in the FirstLetter to the Corinthians (6:13-20).

ROBERT E. RODES JR.Notre Dame, Ind.

Opening Doors to Faith Re “How To Evangelize?” by James C.Gorman and Robert S. Rivers, C.S.P.(Web only, 10/15): We are called toheal the sick, comfort the grieving, visitthe prisoner, welcome the stranger.This is the work of the Gospel. Whenwe do so, and do it with love, we createrelationships that serve as the catalystfor sharing more deeply the goodnews. The act of healing or feeding orwhatever else we do often leads to aninvitation to talk about faith; it opensdoors that welcome discussion about aperson’s faith. And when the door isopen, the Spirit enters. Without thoseacts we are just another Sunday morn-ing preacher with empty words.

GER LUONGORingwood, N.J.

Fearless Dialogue I was moved by “A Time to Harvest,”by Ladislas Orsy, S.J. (10/8). FatherOrsy cites our need for “trust in theSpirit, the capacity for friendly debatesand an air of freedom in God’s field.”

WITHoUT GUIlE

CARTOON BY H

ARLEY SCHWADRON

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THE WORD

here is an ancient storythat depicts a man enteringthe gates of heaven. Once

inside he discovers nothing but a placeto sit facing a huge wall. When he askshis escort, St. Peter, for an explanation,Peter says, “You have but entered theantechamber of paradise. Paradiseitself is on the other side of the wall.An opening in the wall will appear, butonly once a year. It could emerge at anytime: possibly in the next hour, possi-bly in many months. Keep vigil andwatch. If you miss it, your waiting willcontinue.”There are two striking similarities

between this man’s situation and ourown. First, like the man who hasalready passed the gates of heaven, wetoo are already saved, already sistersand brothers of the Lord and blessedby his Spirit. And yet we wait for theconsummation of that salvation. Wewait for the second coming, and in avery real sense we are in exile from theLord (1 Pt 2:11). Today we beginAdvent. In this month-long season, weprepare to celebrate the incarnation ofthe Word made flesh, the coming ofour salvation. And yet our AdventGospel reading is apocalyptic, antici-pating the second coming. Jesus pre-dicts “signs in the sun and the stars,”where “the powers of heaven will beshaken.” The first and second comings have

everything to do with each other. Wecould say that the end timeitself began with theincarnation. Christ isGod’s final word tohumanity (Heb1:1–3) and his pres-ence is destined tobe the “fall and riseof many in Israel”(Lk 2:34). Jesus saysin the Gospel todaythat those who resisthim will experience “dis-may” and be “perplexed” (literally,“panicked”). The faithful, in con-trast, are invited to “stand erect andraise your heads because yourredemption is at hand.” We neednot fear the second coming, but cananticipate it with great hope and joy.Indeed, the joy of Christmasincludes the anticipated joy of thesecond coming.Given these considerations, what

kind of posture should we assumeduring Advent? Jesus commands us toavoid being “drowsy from carousingand drunkenness and the anxieties oflife.” Rather, “Be vigilant at all times.”Like the man before the walls of par-adise, we prayerfully watch.Being prayerful and attentive brings

us to the second way the opening storyresonates with our own situation. Astate of spiritual vigilance is exactlywhat we ought to cultivate during thisperiod between the first and secondcomings. As many wisdom figures inour tradition have insisted, God often

blesses us with opportunities to knowhim more intimately, but we can easilymiss them by simply not paying atten-tion. It is hard to be alert, to be presentto the moment with a spacious heart.It is hard not to let “the anxieties ofdaily life” absorb us. It is easy to getlost in the minutiae of endless tasksand plans, many of them unnecessary.When a student knocks on my doorunexpectedly, I am welcoming, ofcourse, but sometimes my firstthought is, “How long is thisgoing to take?” Could not theLord desire to speak to me inthis encounter? Could I beunknowingly entertaining anangel (Heb 13:2)? What is thequality of my presence when Iam preoccupied? Not great,that’s for sure. I need to remindmyself that my experience of

God (or lack thereof ) here and nownot only has everything to do with thequality of my spiritual life but also rep-resents the very foundations of myfuture life with God.Advent invites us to do more than

simply commemorate Christmas; itinvites us to embrace a larger vision.Advent draws us to prepare to live themystery of the Word made flesh hereand now. Life is Advent. Perhaps thiscan be our daily reflection in this sea-son: “Trust in the Lord and wait forhis light; for it is easy in the eyes of theLord suddenly, in an instant, to makethe poor rich” (Sir 11:21).

Advent InvitationsFIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT (C), DEC. 2, 2012

Readings: Jer 33:14–16; Ps 25:4–14; 1 Thes 3:12–4:2; Lk 21:25–36

“Be vigilant at all times” (Lk 21:36)

T

PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE

• consider everyone you meet today asGod’s messenger.

• What in your life can you let go of?

• Take on an extra half-hour of daily prayerin Advent.

PETER FELDMEIER is the Murray/BacikProfessor of Catholic Studies at the Universityof Toledo.

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he Book of Baruch is a beauti-fully poetic biblical text thattakes us back to the period of

the Exile, a time of darkness for Israel.They are a broken people, far fromtheir homeland, which was ravaged bythe Babylonians. Just before our read-ing, desolate Jerusalem speaks as amother to her lost children. She recog-nizes their suffering from afar andcharges them with courage and faith(4:9-29). Now, in our first reading, the

prophet speaks to her: “Jerusalem, takeoff your robe of mourning; put on thesplendor of glory from God forever....Up, Jerusalem! Stand upon theheights; look to the east and see yourchildren…for God is leading Israel injoy by the light of his glory.”Look to the east: that is, look out at

your children coming home in gloryfrom exile. Jeremiah had prophesiedGod’s intent to re-establish Israel inpeace: “For I know well the plans Ihave in mind for you, says the Lord,plans for your welfare, not for woe!Plans to give you a future full of hope”( Jer 29:11). As we know, Israel’sreturn from exile was as shaky as it wasglorious. That is the human condition.Still, it was astonishing. Look to theeast and see God’s glorious salvation.That historical moment both testi-

fies to God’s love for a broken peopleand foreshadows the coming of hisglorious son. This foreshadowingbrings us to the Gospel reading. Lukedescribes how John the Baptist pre-pares for the Lord by “proclaiming abaptism of repentance for the forgive-ness of sins,” thereby fulfilling whatwas written in the Book of Isaiah(40:3-5). John becomes “A voice cryingout in the desert: ‘Prepare the way ofthe Lord...and all flesh will see the sal-vation of God.’” This passage, whichinitially referred to the return of theexiles, is now used to describe thefullness of that salvation in Christ.John is a brilliant transition fig-

ure from the Old Covenant to theNew. In his person, he encapsulatesthe whole prophetic anticipation ofGod’s salvation for Israel. He is theElijah figure prophesied by Malachi:“Now I am sending to you Elijah theprophet, before the day of the Lordcomes” (3:23); for John had the “spiritand power of Elijah” (Lk 1:17). John is unnerving, as all prophets of

repentance are. The story goes thatwhen a commissioned statue of Johnthe Baptist arrived at a certainBenedictine abbey in the UnitedStates some 50 years ago, several of themonks did not like the fact that helooked so unnaturally gaunt and grave.

The abbot is said to have remarked, “Isuspect that the reason you don’t like itis that it vividly reminds you of a lifeyou abandoned long ago.” Whetherapocryphal or not, the story points usto a man unwavering in his demandfor repentance. Yet John is ultimately a presence of

hope and light. To those willing to lis-ten and be baptized, he pointedmetaphorically to the east, toward therising sun, where a new era was emerg-ing. Repentance is really all abouthope. It is a purification in anticipationof union. As Jesus promised, the pureof heart will see God (Mt 5:8). Johnleads us to the Lord and thus our sal-vation. In this sense, we are Jerusalem,still in too much darkness, still beingcalled to look east.Advent is a time when the spirit of

John the Baptist calls us to purification

and prayer. His is a baptism, Luke tellsus, of metanoia. The word literallymeans a turn-around. Of course, theturning here is a turning from sin.Metanoia is a good image also for turn-ing from gloom to joy, from despera-tion to anticipation, from darkness tothe light of the world. We should let John the Baptist take

charge of us this Advent, unnerving ashe is. We should let him encourage usto purify our hearts. And we shouldlisten to the invitation he and thewhole prophetic tradition offers: turnaround to look east.

PETER FELDMEIER

People, Look EastSECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT (C), DEC. 9, 2012

Readings: Bar 5:1–9; Ps 126:1–6; Phil 1:4–11; Lk 3:1–6

“Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths” (Lk 3:6)

T

PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE

• consider what needs purification forchristmas.

• consider what deeply burdens your soul.

• Invite the lord’s light into all your dark-ness.

THE WORD


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