Reason for Treason: Once More For the People in the Back

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action, blogging, decency, Donald Trump, ethics, humanity, immigrants, law, morality, oppression, politics, presidency, question, race relations, racism, reasoning, reflections, struggle, treason, white sumpremacy

I wrote about this last August, coon after the Charlottesville rally and the death of Heather Heyer, but it never seemed to catch on. Now with the government about to be shut down due, in part, to the showdown over the status of immigrants covered by the DACA act that “president” Trump rescinded and his “shithole” comments about countries that send us non-Norwegian immigrants, it’s time to revisit this topic.

The Robert Muller investigation is gaining momentum and witnesses as we reach the new year, but the investigation is a far from completed, and what many hope will lead to Trump’s impeachment is actually a long process that we are hardly in the beginning stages. Still people are so sick of this “president” even after only one year that they want him out fast. Yet when faced with a golden opportunity as the “president’s” shithole comment, the Congress is moving to censure him. Instead, Trump can be removed very quickly right now on grounds of treason, and his comments serve as evidence.

The legal definition of treason according to US Code Title 18, Part 1, Chapter 115, Section 2381 is “whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason.” (emphasis mine) As such those guilty of treason, among punishments like death, “shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.” The neo-Nazis, KKK, and alt-right are hate groups whose presence and numbers pose a dangerous threat to our democracy and Constitution that upholds it. The purpose of the Constitution is to “ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare..” among other things. While the Constitution was created by white male land and slave owners for said white male land and slave owners, the Constitution has been amended to include women, people of color, disabled, the poor, the young, and working class people among others. Neo-Nazi’s purpose is to bring the original intent of the Constitution back through “purging” the land of people of color, and other undesirables. This purge—threaten, murder, attack, etc.–is against the laws of the land as they stand and to the Constitution they claim to adhere to, and makes them enemies of the nation. This “president,” as all presidents before him, have taken an oath to uphold the laws of the Constitution. By not denouncing the alt-right Nazis and hate groups, by not helping Puerto Rico (American citizens) in the wake of Hurricane Maria, and with referring to brown skinned immigrants as coming from shithole countries–“President” Drumpf given comfort and aid to an enemy within the United States. Statements by alt-right figures as David Duke and Infowars supporting Trump after those remarks—and anything that puts down brown and black people—proves that these groups are not only comforted but emboldened by the “President’s” words and actions. And when Trump’s racism starts to become and/or affect American policy, he is now undermining the democracy we have and the Constitution that protects it. Trump has therefore met the criteria for treason and can (and should) be removed from office. And we need no special investigator to do this.

Sending him up for treason would be a healing move for this nation. It would show to Black and Brown Americans that we as a nation are serious about doing something about white supremacy and institutionalized racism. It would heal damage already done by Trump in the name of ignorance and racism. And while it is not a panacea for race relations and racism in itself, it will be a giant step to show the country is serious about tackling the issue.

James Baldwin said “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it has ben faced.” We have been faced with Trump’s racism every day for a year, and now is the time to face it head on, not with censure, not with reprimands, not with speeches and countermarches, but with justice swift and sure and is expressed in our Constitution. Our democracy demands it and so should we.

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Back On the Air in December

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action, discussion, ethics, faith, internet radio, interviews, life, on air, politics, radio, reflections, religion, returning

I’m happy to announce that the “Theology in Action” online radio show will return to the interwebs with new shows on Sunday December 3 at it’s new time, 8am EST. Having been on hiatus since June, I will return to my hosting duties for the long running show on Activate Media Radio. We will continue the conversation about spirituality, social justice and the intersection between the two on a weekly basis. We tackle topics from the headlines, questions about and abounding in these turbulent times, and commentary on living in the world today. Interviews and round table discussions will be par for the course for us, but we hope to have real conversations about what we are doing and how we go about our lives in the best way possible and leaving it better for future generations. Please join us every Sunday morning at 8am for insights and discussions on Activatemedia.org. Hope to see you on Dec. 3!

Recommitting

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action, activism, advice, balance, blogging, faith, prepare, religion, work

At times this blog has been more political than faith based discussion, more populist rantings than modern pastoral care. Part of that is the nature of our mission: we talk about the links between faith and activism; sometimes that balance gets skewed one way than the other. This last year we got caught up in such a shitstorm on politics that spiritual matters got pushed aside by angry political diatribes in order to maintain sanity. I hoped that would change after the election, but I’ve been wrong before. In fact, the atmosphere is even more toxic.

Yet our mission and purpose won’t change, but I hope to rebalance us to better equilibrium. During the Martin Luther King service at my church (see our previous blog entry for that), it reinforced how big a role spirituality plays into civil protests. Any religion worth its salt advocates for human rights and gives a moral cover to a campaign on behalf of all religions. This is different than theocratic authority—the combination of religion and the political rule; this is the moral center of spiritual based activism—speaking truth to power because we need to do right by all faiths in the name of humanity; speaking up so no one suffers. This is churches being sanctuaries to immigrants facing deportation, soup kitchen and food pantries for the homeless and hungry, organizing groups to march in protest, and supporting other protestors. The next four years are going to call on and tax the power of spirituality to deal with the political realities. We need to be up to that call. It doesn’t matter if you love Christ, Allah, Newtonian physics, or human kind itself, you are being challenged to hold up what is best in this world against people and governments doing their worst, and we all need to answer that call.

Find that center within you that gives you strength and nurture it. Then be ready to use it in marches, direct actions, hashtag activism, petition signing, or donations. It’s going to be a long four years ahead of us, but the wind blows hardest the closer you get to the top of the mountain. Keep moving upwards.

Bill Maher is Right in the Wrong Context

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action, activism, beliefs, Bill Maher, conflict, debate, discussion, faith, Islam, Muslim, religion, social justice, terrorism, theocracy, theology

For a chunk of last year, a lot of people came to the defense of religion under attack. What wasn’t too surprising was the religion in question was Islam; it was surprising that the attack came from the political left. It started with a statement on Bill Maher’s show Real Time with Bill Maher earlier in the summer by Sam Harris (the atheist author, not the Star Search singer) who said “Islam is the mother-lode of bad ideas,” which Maher agreed with. Maher and Harris got reamed by panelists Ben Affleck for that statement for being racist. Maher, staunchly in his fellow atheist’s corner, kept up the conversation about the “bad ideas” of Islam for a number of weeks and months afterwards. Having heard his arguments up through his winter break, I have to say he has a good point but the context in which he makes it muddies it.

Every religion has problems, differences of interpretation and practices, as well as tensions between the established religious governing body and their practitioners. These are always hotly contested within the religious communities and Islam is no exception. When Maher brings up such big picture conversations around Islam, it is often in the middle of a discussion on tensions in the Middle East or recent jihadi extremist terrorist attacks. The problem in doing that: people falsely equate terrorism with Islam; we falsely say the problem is with religion, not violence. As we know, this isn’t the case. While true that terrorist groups like Daesh (ISIS) and Al Qaeda base their extremist activities on the Koran and a very narrow minded interpretation of Islam, more often than not the impression is that Islam is about terrorism or condones it. And while we can get into a whole discussion about which is worse—Christian terrorists or jihadi terrorists—it really misses the big picture problems.

The larger issues of Islamic countries and how they abuse human rights—treatment of women, prisoners, criminals, dissenters of the faith, etc.—is absolutely an important discussion to have. The problem is not Islam itself, but when any religion or religious philosophy is the basis for the rule and governance of people and state. The context of this argument is not about terrorism or extremism; the context is theocracy.

Mixing politics and religion is the real mother-lode of bad ideas. Most of human history only knows that kind of rule and it is only in the last 200 years that we’ve been moving away from it. There are 30 countries today that have religious requirements for Heads of State, and not just Islamic countries—and this doesn’t even include the secular governments with bad human rights violations to their history. When we as activists fight for human rights globally, often you bump against the messy and volatile mix of religion and governance. While Sharia Law as practiced in Saudi Arabia and the Sudan is as bad as how the Catholic Church once ruled Europe and its colonies, it’s not fair to say that Islam is worse than any other religion because of it. However it is fair to say that Sharia Law is bad because theocratic rule is not how we live in the 21^st century. This also includes how the undue influence of Muslim clerics/Imams/scholars and other Islamic sects have affected the practice of Islam and its interpretations today. Religion can be a guide to how people live their lives individually, but should never be the basis of laws dictating how people live and interact within society.

Discussions about mixing religion and rule of law and/or codes of conduct need to happen within Islam, but not within the context of how to deal with jihadi extremists. These should be an open forum by and for Islammic scholars, Imams, practitioners and reformers. This however ccan;t be hijacked for an agenda on foreign policy. Bill Maher is right to have Asra Nomani and Ishrad Manji on his show (and should have them return more often) to talk about problems within Islam and what can be done about it; but he’s been wrong to bring it up in a context that muddies the discussion. Maher should offer them and other moderate Muslim voices to be heard far and wide, just not try to lead the conversation.

Open Letter to Michael Bloomberg and Everytown for Gun Safety

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action, activism, activists, America, CDC, common sense, Community, conflict, death, debate, gun control, guns, help, hope, Intellignce, Michael Bloomberg, peace, policy, positive, study, violence

Dear Michael Bloomberg,

Hello. My name is David Concepcion, and while I was never one of your constituents, I am a New Yorker now living in New England. I admit I’ve never been a fan of your policies as Mayor of New York City, but I am impressed by your efforts to deal with gun violence in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook massacre in Newtown, CT. Your organization Mayors Against Illegal Guns (founded with the late Boston Mayor Tom Menino), which is now Everytown for Gun Safety, has been particularly good in promoting “common sense” gun laws and putting it into the public debate in a positive way. It is because of this stance and Everytown for Gun Safety’s analytical work why I write you for help.

Right to the point: America is in trouble. You know this because you’ve seen the statistics: we’ve have more mass shootings in 2015 than we’ve had days (356 shootings as of 12/8/15, the 342^nd day of 2015); that the numbers of Americans people killed by firearms since 2001 is equal to the number of all American soldiers killed in WWII (400,000); and this year alone, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expects the gun death total this year to be 33,000—or 3,200 people per week. The numbers are horrifying, yet our elected representatives are too afraid or beholden (or both) to do anything to stem the tide. While 80% of National Rifle Association (NRA) members support the almost 90% of Americans who want some common sense gun control measures in place, we seem to be at the mercy of that minority of gun owners and all gun lobbyists who feel any gun law is a slippery slope to losing our Second Amendment rights. What you and Everytown for Gun Safety are doing to counter the NRA is admirable and which is why this open letter is mainly directed towards you and your group.

I know that serious gun control laws will not happen until 2017, when a new Congress convenes that may have the political will and ability to do anything helpful for America. Personally, I don’t like guns at all, but I’m happy to accept what my NRA member buddies have suggested—expanded background checks, listing of all private gun sales, closing the terrorist and gun show loopholes, and a ban on high capacity magazines. Unfortunately too many innocent Americans will die by gunfire until that time. So I have a proposal that will fill the gap and prepare the public and other advocates for the future legislative fight.

The best tool that public safety officials have right now is health statistics. From smoking deaths to deaths by car accidents, comprehensive statistics illustrating the dangers of behaviors and/or items or substances have been indispensable to informing public opinion and policy. However for the last 20 years, the CDC has been barred by Congress from conducting ANY studies into gun violence and/or gun deaths whatsoever. Even the statistics from the Everytown for Gun Safety website had to by culled and extrapolated from FBI, police, hospital, and other databases. The CDC is one of the best organizations to study the issue of gun violence and a public health issue, but are unable to proceed due to the loss of federal funding the Centers need to keep operating. My proposal is this: since the CDC is barred from pursuing an accurate health study and this Congress will not lift the funding ban, I ask you to use a small portion of your considerable wealth to fund a national public health study in to gun deaths and gun violence in America, as well as the real life impacts—physical, emotional, and economic—these have on Americans.

In 1995, the CDC was prepared to spend $2.6 million on such a study, which is what is what public research funds are available today for firearms study. Adjusted for inflation, that $2.6 million would equal $4.1 million today. I suggest using $5 million to fund that important national study that was planned, and use the same CDC protocols to ensure accuracy and proper peer review. The results of the study would be of great use to the 2017 Congress and our next president, who may then fully act upon the results. While many call this “advocacy research,” it can serve as a study on how guns impact the daily lives of Americans, especially if done within correct protocols. It is a step in the right direction for all parties on either side of the debate as it will educate the public and policymakers alike, and can enhance the debate for “common sense” control laws. At the very least, the conversation can be faced honestly and without interference.

We all know why nothing has been done about guns and gun violence even after the death of 20 children in one school. It’s because a group like the NRA has an iron fisted hold on those who could do something. The NRA keeps the pressure on lawmakers to sustain the ban on studying gun violence not as a way to protect gun owners, but as a way of protecting the gun manufacturers that they really represent. Money has seeped into the process and corrupted the workings of policy to hold us all hostage, and America loses as a result. Until such a time that money is driven out of politics, it seems the only thing that can stop a bad lobbyist group with money and power is a good lobbyist group with money and power. Mr. Bloomberg, please use a tiny portion of your considerable wealth to fund a national public health study into the full extent of damage to people and society by gun violence. This is a giant opportunity to help America in the middle of a deadly epidemic. I plead with you as a patriotic American to answer the call.

Thank you for your attention.

Sincerely,

David Concepcion

cc: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, George Soros, Warren Buffet, and any philanthropist who recognizes that “ensuring domestic tranquility” and “promoting the general welfare” are equally important parts of the Constitution as the 2^nd Amendment.

Blessing Our Church’s Black Lives Matter Banner

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action, beliefs, Black Lives Matter, Community, faith, hope, principles, social justice, struggle, Unitarian

The Unitarian Universalist Church of Medford, MA will be putting up a Black Lives Matter banner in the next couple of days. Part of the service today was dedicated to blessing the banner. As one who asked for the banner, I was asked to lead the blessing and say a few words about needing to raise this banner. 

Earlier this fall, I asked Rev. Tess if we could put up a Black Lives Matter banner at the church. I didn’t ask because of any one particular death of a Black person at the hands of the police—despite the many that can be named: Tamir Rice, Laquan McDonald, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Sandra Bland; and the list goes on. I asked about a banner after what happened to a Unitarian church in Reno, NV. Their minister, Rev. Neal Anderson, is a friend of mine and I heard that they dedicated their third Black Lives Matter banner after their first two banners were vandalized and stolen respectively. Despite each time this majority White church had their banner ruined or taken, they put up another one with the same blessings and commitment as they put up their first one, because it was part of the commitment that church made to support social justive. I felt as we at this church believe in working for social justice, a banner is the least we could do.

In 1930s occupied Europe, the Unitarian flaming chalice had become an underground symbol for assistance to help Unitarians, Jews and otheers to escape Nazi persecution. We currentlly have a rainbow flag signifyingus as allies to the LGBT communities, and at one point we had a sign on the post that read “all welcome.” The question is not why don’t we have a Black Lives Matters banner, but why have we not put one up sooner?

As I said in a sermon this summer, ours is a covenental religion, meaning we practice our faith in the promise of how we treat each other. We have always shone a light on injustice and as a beacon of hope. At the rate that Black people are killed at the hands of those sworn to protect and serve the public, they are inneed of hope. By hanging this banner for all to see, we give hope because we stand in solidarity with those oppressed until such oppression is held accountable.

The banner is unfurled and the congregation is asked to lay hands on it as these words are read in blessing the banner:

There is a community out there that is hurting
While we cannot alleviate this pain
We can stand with those in pain and help support their struggle
As a faith community we hold in our second principle
Justice, equity, ad compassion in human relations
This should be the norm
But we recognize often it is the exception
We are called to action yet again
And as a faith community we answer that call
May we recommit ourselves to justice, equity, and compassion
And with this banner may we say
To the local community and society at large
That we light the beacon of hope again
That we are allies in their struggle

Blessed be.

Standing Up to Fascism

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action, activism, America, arrogance, campaign, Community, conflict, discussion, Donald Trump, fascism, hope, ignorance, intolerance, narcissism, social justice, struggle

In January 1992, I had the honor of hearing Elie Wiesel speak at my undergraduate commencement ceremony at Hunter College. It was thrilling to hear him speak and I know most of what he said got lost in the moment of seeing Wiesel 20 feet away, but one thing he said rang so true it stuck with me all these years: ignorance is a form of fascism and it must be countered at every turn. I think he later changed it to “indifference” especially in a speech in front of then President Bill Clinton. In front of Clinton, Wiesel spoke of indifference as a state—“a strange and unnatural state in which the lines blur between light and darkness, dusk and dawn, crime and punishment, cruelty and compassion, good and evil… Yet, for the person who is indifferent, his or her neighbor are of no consequence. And, therefore, their lives are meaningless. Their hidden or even visible anguish is of no interest. Indifference reduces the other to an abstraction.” (Wiesel “The Perrils of Indifference” 4/12/99) To me if indifference is a state, ignorance is a willful act; consideration of people as of no consequence and meaningless is now a conscious act. When you look at the tenets of fascism itself, the verb “disdain” appears often which means there is a conscious decision about intellectuals or human rights. Because of this, and after holding back for the last week, I cannot stay silent anymore about the Trump Presidential campaign, the GOP non-reaction to it, and the pitch of rage taking over our country.

We see and know how Trump acts on the campaign trail: he’s a malignant narcissist bragging he can “make America great again” if elected. He started his campaign saying the Mexican immigrants are rapists and killers, and has now called for a database of all Muslims in America. He demeans all of his opponents and anyone who criticizes him publicly. He’s seems to be going through the 14 characteristics of fascism pretty quickly and for him there seems to be little going back—at least no apologies for his statements or actions, another way to maintain strength and power. And even with all of that, he’s only down 14 points but still leading the pack, and that is the scariest part of all of this.

It seems no matter what Trump says, his supporters eat it up and he stays on top of the GOP polls. His fans and base keep coming back for more and worse. In Boston, two Trump supporters assaulted a man they thought was a Mexican immigrant. Earlier in the summer when Univision journalist Jorge Ramos tried to confront Trump on his immigration stance—force all 11 milliion Latino immigrants out and build a wall bodering Mexico—he was thrown out of the room by Trump’s bodyguards who told him to “get out of my country.” And last week, a Black Lives Matters protestor was beaten up at a Trump rally before being removed. In each instance, Trump stood up for his supporters/assailants and later further escallated his rhetoric about making America great. This is what can no longer be tolerated.

What made America great is that we are a place where we can have civil discourse that doesn’t lead to violence. We have serious issues with supremacy and racism/sexism/etc., but not every political discussion must lead to demonizing others and violently disagreeing. Now it is more commonplace and worse it is spurred on ,or at least sanctioned, by those who are vying for the top leader position in the country. Some conservative critics have finally started to call Trump’s actions fascist and only presidential candidate John Kasich has been hounding his actions and positions as eventually leading to fascism. One would hope that can solve things but I doubt it. Over he last 8 years, the GOP has made it acceptable to openly spurn a top leader for doing his job, resort to name calling and denigrating them as an “other” unworthy of such a position. We in the public have not pushed back enough maybe out of our own belief that we would never go down the route of totalitarianism or uprising. But now we are partway down that slope and facing people who are unapologetic in their rancor towards anyone who disagrees with them. This is where we have o stand up and say no more. Our indifference is on the verge of becoming willful ignorance and there is no going back from there.

If you are a supporter of Trump, please reconsider. He has promised nothing except a vision with his own ego in charge and no other way but violent means to get there. If he is spurring violence towards reporters and people who have the constitutional right to speak up for matters thay believe in, he is not fit to be a leader and you need not follow him. The “throw the bums out” mentality has taken a dark turn and the actions of others has shown this. Making America great again only happens if we have great Americans upholding our values; right now Trump and his followers are displaying the worst of us. We need to be better than Mr. Trump (which isn’t hard) and we need to not fall for pie in the sky promises that have no hope of fruition and all the markings of ruining who we are as a nation.

We know Trump will never apologize for his actions or who he is, but we can make sure that he never gets to office he seeks. We can also make sure that whenever the brand of Trump is uttered, it brings to mind fascism in bad hair. The best punnishment for Trump is not only losing the nomination, but to lose his businesses and fall into obscurity like some discarded misguided philosophy we never needed. It would be the best thing to happen to him and America.

Paris 11/13/15

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action, balance, Community, concern, conflict, danger, death, faith, hate, help, hope, human rights, Paris, prayers

I think we are all reeling from the late night attacks on Paris that have only recently been claimed by ISIL. When these attacks happen, I’m not sure what people think. I know I feel numb at how senseless all this violence can be, the damage it causes and the recriminations and violence it can spur from then on. While I know this blog talks about spirituality and theology, at times like these it feels like prayers are not enough. Keeping Parisians in our hearts are good, but I feel like I want to donate blood and mail it overseas. The situation is compounded with the refugee crisis in Europe. We need to hold all of Europe in our hearts, and take a long range look to see how we may tackle the root causes of terror and war.

I offer this poem by Karuna Ezara Parikh seen a lot in the past 12 hours.

Open Letter to the American House GOP

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action, activists, balance, Bernie Sanders, conflict, Congress, corruption, debate, election, equal time, GOP, Hillary Clinton, politics, satire

Dear Congressional Republicans,

Yesterday most of America watched as the House Select Committee on Benghazi had former Secretary of State and current presidential candidate Hillary Clinton testify before them. Despite this being—as told by Rep. Kevin McCarthy and other GOP representatives—a lengthy, costly and redundant attempt to discredit Clinton and her political aims, it was promised that the purpose of this committee was to get to the truth behind what went wrong during the Benghazi embassy attacks. Knowing better, we took Rep. Trey Goudy, chair of the committee, at his word. When the smoke cleared, what happened? 1) we learned nothing new about the attacks that wasn’t already uncovered or debunked at previous investigations, which Goudy admits; 2) we saw the House Republicans acting like petulant fools harassing a woman of power over much ado about nothing; but that doesn’t matter because, 3) you made Clinton look good doing it. Yes this was a taxpayer paid sham of a circus, but it was supposed to weaken Hillary Clinton, so that could have lived with that. Instead you tipped your hand early and then blundered your way into making Clinton even more presidential than before. Almost single-handedly you gave her the Democratic party nomination before any votes were cast. This is unacceptable.

Seeing that you are willing to use taxpayer money to play partisan politics while simultaneously refusing to deal with dark money in Super PACs and any campaign finance reform, there is only one solution to fix this mess: you must trump up a charge against Bernie Sanders and force im to testify in a congressional hearing. Committing divisive political fraud at the people’s expense is one thing, but you will not be allowed to violate the equal-time rule and get away with it—that’s how they’re allowing Trump to host “Saturday Night Live.” If you can’t figure out a hearing to subpoena him for, create a Select House Committee for some spurious reason; It’s not like you haven’t done that before. Maybe something where he has to defend socialism for 10-plus hours. It’s a ratings grabber, you can denounce socialism—or Communism or whatever misguided government philosophy you chose to conflate with the liberal agenda—and you can probably get Sanders frustrated a lot quicker than Clinton. On top of which you owe us. When you promise the American people spilled blood, that’s what we expect.

Please respond soon. The American people are watching.

Latest Show Online

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action, activism, activists, Black Lives Matter, Boston Radio, civil rights, debate, discrimination, discussion, police brutality, politics

This past Monday, we had a great discussion on our show about the Black Lives Matter and the continuing police brutality news with guest Sarah Francis. Very good and lively debate, and great interview. It is now online for your listening pleasure only on this blogsite. Click the link below and listen to the previous show. Don’t forget to tune in every Monday at 3pm EST for more Theology in Action discussion on spirituality and social justice.

Black Lives Matter discussion here.