Just gotta share this email also. I love our listeners. the dialogue and conversation stimulates me ( and I hope you too!).

Joe wrote to comment on a pastor who called in to the show to comment on how he would respond if a boyfriend hit one of his daughters. Enjoy!

Allen, Can you believe that pastor who called in about the incident between Chris Brown and Rhianna?

Unfortunately, I can believe he was being serious.

He would retaliate by physically harming Chris Brown? Even if Chris Brown couldn't legally annihilate this guy, which he infinitely can, that is the most un-christian-like thing I've heard since Bush wanted to invade Iraq to "spread liberty."

What a pastor. It's pastor's like him who give christianity a bad rap.

He would probably be one of the christians who publicly burned women tied to poles for being witches.

Christianity has come quite a way in the last two thousand years, hasn't it?

Doubtful.

I'm sad to have to e-mail you about this. This crazy man is just another reason my kids will not
be taught any of that biblical nonsense.

Joseph



I did remind Joe that less than 25 people actually died in the Salem Witch trials. 1 is too many but 25 feels small compared to the 20MM who died under Stalin's atheistic regime and the 70MM who died under Mao's. The transgressions of Christianity are a bit less bloody than the excesses of atheism.

At age eleven, in 1975, I sat in a classroom or on a ball field. At the same age today, Jordan Brown sits in a jail cell. Charged an an adult with criminal homicide by the state of Pennsylvania.

Last week, it appears that Jordan tragically shot and killed his father's pregnant live-in girlfriend, Kenzie Marie Houk, while she slept. Houk leaves behind two daughters from a previous relationship. Today, Jordan is dazed and bewildered in the aftermath of this horrific tragedy. Police say he used a 20 gauge shotgun to murder Houk and her unborn child.

After the murder, Jordan got on a school bus with one of Houk's daughters and promptly went to school. Today, he simply wants to be able to go home. Instead, he sits alone in an adult jail, separated from the rest of the incarcerated adults for his own protection. The law requires juveniles charged as adults to be housed in adult facilities. The jail warden says, "I think even for an adult, for the first time, it's probably a frightening experience." Jordan Brown is 11 years old. Until last week, he was in fifth grade.

Lawrence County District Attorney, John Bongivengo, believes the murder was premeditated, so he has chosen to charge Jordan as an adult. In Pennsylvania, a juvenile cannot be charged with criminal homicide; only adults can. Consequently, Pennsylvania leads the United States in juveniles serving life sentences, with 444. Pennsylvania “lifers,” who committed their crimes as juveniles and are now serving life sentences, account for 20% of all such inmates in the country. Jordan may well be number 445. And that is wrong.

Bongivengo rightly wants to bring justice in this case. It is, after all, a heinous crime. What Bongivengo lacks is prudence.

Aquinas wrote that prudence is “love choosing wisely between what is helpful and what is harmful.” Charging an 11-year old boy as an adult can hardly be classified as helpful.

Did Jordan behave like an adult in murdering Kenzie Marie Houk? Probably so.

Is any 11-year old boy capable of thinking, reasoning, or making decisions like an adult? Absolutely not.

In this tragedy, Bongivengo and the state of Pennsylvania somehow need to find a way to balance justice and punishment, with mercy and compassion. Evidently, the state of Pennsylvania needs to find a way to accomplish that in a number of cases. Housing 20% of America's juveniles who are serving life sentences would indicate to most reasonable people that perhaps there is a problem in Pennsylvania. One lesson is clear: if you commit a crime as a juvenile, it is best not to do so in Pennsylvania.

Jordan Brown has an 11-year old brain. He stands developed and reasoning like an 11-year old. He is a fifth grader.

By definition, every 11-year old boy faces fears. That comes with the territory. Healthy 11-year olds will be trusting, autonomous, and full of initiative, according to Erikson's stages of development. The unhealthy will doubt the future and perhaps even experience defeat and inferiority. That is what 11-year olds do: sort through the issues of becoming adolescents. Jordan clearly doubted the future. Jordan plainly is unhealthy. Healthy 11-year olds do not murder.

Does Jordan's unhealthy development excuse murder? Of course not. Does it help explain why the murder happened? Absolutely. It simply reminds us that he is an 11-year old boy, not an adult. An 11-year old boy still does not even have the capacity to create hypothetical situations and judge their outcomes. A male brain does not reach full development until well past the age of 21. Jordan is not a “little adult;” he is a developing young man. He needs help, not a lifetime of incarceration with no chance to recover from this catastrophic decision.

Bongivengo wants Jordan to have no chance at freedom ever again. The juvenile system requires release by the age of 21, and Bongivengo does not want to take the chance that Jordan might be released and murder again. So he is treating Jordan like an adult.

Prudence reminds us that ten full years lie between Jordan and the age of 21. Ten years of development and growth. Ten years of processing the horror his decisions have created for himself, his family, and the surviving daughters of Kenzie Marie Houk. Ten years of coming to terms with the outcome of one catastrophic act. Ten years to receive psychological, psychiatric, and rehabilitative treatment. Ten years to experience faith and its implications for life change. Ten years to move through the normal stages of development Jordan still has yet to reach, like being able to answer the question, “Who am I?” Ten years until the age of 21.

Bongivengo wants those ten years to be spent as the first installment on a life in prison. Prudence would suggest that those ten years might be better used offering hope, help, and healing to Jordan Brown, and those affected by his tragic choice. Human beings do have the capacity for change. For 11-year olds, change occurs every single day.

Sadly, for whatever reason, Jordan Brown chose to play for keeps before he was mature enough to know what that meant. We do not know the reasons, and we may never know them in full. After all, he is 11-years old. Because of that, we should treat him as what he is, a boy. A boy with the brain, thought processes, emotions, judgment, and decision-making abilities of an 11-year old.

How do you mix justice with mercy? That mixture is not an exact science, but prudence would teach that you certainly do not do that by treating an 11-year old like an adult.

Great conversation on Sunday night about race and the Attorney General's comments that we are "cowards" when it comes to having honest conversations about race. Most of us are afraid to have open discussions about race because we fear being called racist if we step on the wrong eggshell.

Terrific calls from every vantage point. Listen to the show here.

My favorite email came from Kaye - who dares to be honest and real. Enjoy!

Dear Allen,
I enjoyed the 30 minutes or so of your program that I got to listen to this evening. I was driving and didn't have a chance to call in, but I had written one of my personal experiences about this subject (racial cowardice) on my Blog yesterday. I thought you might enjoy reading it, so I did a cut and paste to save you time.

Racial Cowards in "Academentia"
When I was advising university students on the courses they should take, a young black student came in who only wanted to take one course for the summer term. I told him that the tuition for summer school covered two classes and encouraged him to take another one to keep from wasting his money. He left in a huff and I went on to the next student in line.

Within 15 minutes an imperious black female professor insisted on interrupting my schedule to discuss a “very important matter.” She was there to tell me that I had insulted the student by assuming he could not afford to “waste” money because he was black. She came to my office to get me to apologize to him for my racial insensitivity.

I told her that all advisors were instructed to remind all students to take two courses for the summer term, unless they had an important reason to not do it.

I also informed her that of my four children, three were married: one to an Hispanic, one to a Caucasian, and one to a Black. If I were racist to any degree, that would not have happened.

She left hurriedly before I could explain that my children’s friendships and marriages resulted from judging people by the content of their character, not the color of their skin. And furthermore, it happened without affirmative action, quotas, or lessons in politically correct behavior.

If Attorney General Holder is correct that we are a nation of cowards, it is because we have been taught to be cowardly by political correctness. In fact, it has been pounded into us until it’s almost impossible to discuss anything frankly and it only causes trouble.

Thanks for your program and thanks for "listening."

Godspeed,
Kaye

Talked on some of our most recent shows about the sense of gloom and despair that seems to be enveloping so many Americans. Even our President seems to be having a hard time preaching the "hope" on which he campaigned, preferring to govern from fear and worry.

I've been pleasantly surprised by our callers (who are the best there is!) and how vibrantly they seem to be weathering the economic storm. Some registered quite low on the gloom-o-meter while others seem to be sticking it out well.

This column from Chicago reminded me to share with you some of the Real Life and Faith survival strategies we've discussed on the show.

Here are three survival strategies to renew your spirit and help you grow one step stronger on the gloom-o-meter!

1) Develop your faith and prayer life. Carve out 10 to 15 minutes per day, preferably first thing in the morning or last thing at night. Use that time simply to sit quietly in the presence of God. Listen. Share your deepest worries and concerns with your Creator, the One who made you and loves you. Transfer any anxiety you may be feeling on to the One who holds the universe in the palm of His hand. Doing so will grow your sense of trust in the future.

2) Turn off the TV. Watch less news. The media is in a feeding frenzy of sharing downer after downer. The frenzy continues 24/7. You do not HAVE to watch it. Cut your news viewing in half or entirely. You will be pleased with the results. Focus on the positives in your life.

3) Be a part of a faith community. Find a group of believers and participate regularly. There is strength in numbers. You will experience solidarity, support, and encouragement from others. You will discover that you are not alone. You will experience hope.

Just finished the latest work by Philip Jenkins. He wrote the excellent book, The Next Christendom, which showed how and why the Christian faith is booming in Asia, Africa, and South America and waning in North America and Europe.

This most recent work has a long title: The Lost History of Christianity: the Thousand Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, and How It Died.

Paints a fascinating portrait of how the Church grew and prospered in the Middle East for the first 1000 years. Shows a part of history that most of us never got in school. For example, most of us today fail to recognize that the Church's earliest and deepest roots were in Africa (Alexandria) and Asia (Constantinople, Antioch and Jerusalem) every bit as much as in Europe. Jenkins does a great job of sketching the growth of Christianity in places like Lebanon, Iraq, Ethiopia, and Yemen.

And he provides a nice account of how the Church ultimately died, or has nearly done so, in the Middle East. Much of the Middle East, and other parts of the world, were deeply Christian for centuries before the conquests of Islam, and that early Christian history is nearly forgotten now.

Jenkins is adept at writing good history and providing readable accounts of early Christianity (not an easy task). He is less adept at interpreting theology and the truth claims of the Christian faith. This work reflects a syncretistic, "all religions are the same when you get down to it," point of view that pooh-poohs any claim to absolute truth (other than his absolute claim that there is no absolute truth!). In that sense, it appears that Jenkins has gravitated toward the modern academic political correctness.

Nevertheless, this is a good read to remind us Westerners that the Christian faith has lots of history that we have forgotten or never knew in the first place. With some very interesting people and some very interesting points of view and traditions.
Worth the read.

Allen Hunt Show Grade = B

We are a nation of “cowards.” At least that is what our Attorney General, Eric Holder, wants us to believe. You and I are a nation of lions walking around in search of some c-c-c-courage in hopes of having an honest conversation about race. He is right, but has no idea why.

Holder, America's first black Attorney General, sounded off last week on the issue of race. He said, “...in things racial we have always been and I believe continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards.” Holder rightly cited that our workplaces, schools, and military are far more integrated than our leisure time. Monday to Friday life brings engagement and interaction, but weekends bring the old adage “like seeking like.”

Sadly, Holder offered no explanations for why this odd polarity of work life/leisure life is so. He merely attributes it to “cowardice.” In doing so, he lacks reflection and honest engagement himself. The reason for our reticence to have open, honest conversations about race with one another lies fairly near the surface. Fear – not of each other – but of the R word. Fear of being labeled a “racist.”


As a Methodist pastor for two decades, I was required to attend “sexual ethics training,” to sensitize us pastors to matters of sexual harassment, intimidation, and power. Portions of the “training” were helpful. Some portions were downright absurd and dangerous. For example, “sexual harassment” was usually defined solely as being in the eye of the receiver. There was no objective, agreed-upon definition for what constitutes sexual harassment. Rather, the trainer was content to suggest that if a woman accuses me, a man, of having crossed a boundary or stepped on her sexual sensitivity, then I have done so. Absurd and arbitrary. Such a definition places all the power on one side of the equation and gives the other person no place to stand or defend at all.

To be called a harasser or sexist renders one defenseless and likely unemployed, whether one has actually done or said something or not. How does one defend oneself against a “crime” that is defined purely by the “victim”? How does one disprove a negative? It is impossible. “If you feel like it is harassment, then it must be.” Again, absurd and purely subjective. The result: male pastors began to distance themselves in safeguarding and protective ways from female colleagues and parishioners. We had been neutralized at best; gutted at worst. Our fates lay in the hands of the women around us to determine whether our words and actions met their own particular definitions of sexism, harassment, even abuse. Absurd and capricious.

In the same way, most of America has done the same thing with the word, “racism.” The term gets thrown around willy-nilly, often without meaning or basis, but always with the same result. To be labeled a racist in America in 2009, is to embrace exile and career suicide. “Racist” is such a loaded adjective, that most Americans fear open, honest conversation that centers around race. Once you have “gone there,” you may never come back. If the “victim”, who has all the power in the definition, determines that you fit their own subjective definition of racism, you have no place to stand or defend yourself. You no longer matter – you are a “racist.” Such a burden of proof squelches open, honest conversation. Where fear prevails, curiosity and conversation end..

To be labeled a racist today sends one into an exile far worse than any other categories one can be cast in to for asking questions or countering cultural norms: homophobe, misogynist, anti-Semite, dog-fighter. One can eventually recover from all these but rarely from the label of “racist.” Think Jimmy the Greek, Al Campanis, Dog the Bounty Hunter. The term is a conversation-stopper, an argument-ender. “Racist” is the ultimate egg-shell, to be trod upon lightly if at all. Its use compares only to being the first one in a debate to use the words “Hitler” or “Nazi.” The conversation ends there.

Three recent cases in point from the political world:

1) The picket line of protestors outside the New York Post demanding retribution, even the firing of a political cartoonist, for suggesting that a chimpanzee authored the recently passed Stimulus Bill. Since the President is an African-American, some citizens evidently believe that a chimpanzee can no longer be applied to any political discourse because it could remotely be interpreted as racist. Nix chimpanzees.

2) James Clyburn, the highest-ranking African-American member of Congress, recently accused Southern governors who oppose the economic stimulus spending of indifference to the plight of poor blacks who might benefit from the federal money. Again, he leveled the charge of racism to counteract policy opposition. Nix opposition to policy.

3) John McCain and Sarah Palin were immediately labeled “racist” for suggesting that some of their opponents' policies edged toward socialism. Some observers noted that politicians in the past had used the label of 'socialist” to discredit or soil the reputations of African-American candidates. Nix the term “socialist.”


Pile up a few more of these examples, and not only will chimpanzees, policy opposition, and socialism no longer occupy spots in the national discourse, but silence and fear will dominate the arena. The result: political cartoonists and commentators will tread fearfully, and fear-mongers will squelch the free discourse and honest conversations Mr. Holder hopes to encourage.

What is needed to encourage free speech and inquiry on matters of race is a moratorium on the leveling of charges of “racism.” Individuals and societies grow and develop not by squelching honest conversation but by encouraging them. Not by hiding from opposing or offensive views but by bringing them to light and examining them, even when it is painful or difficult to do so. If we sincerely believe that all humans are created in the image of God, and therefore have dignity and value, than we will not fear or silence those who think or suggest otherwise.

As long as we choose to live in fear and silence, Mr. Holder's assessment of our cowardice will prove accurate. He does not understand why we fail to converse openly and often about matters of race, but I do. Fear.

Great conversation on Saturday night's show about cheating death. All kinds of stories from people who should have been on Continental Flight 3407 but were not. And all kinds of great calls from listeners who have cheated death and what they learned from that experience.

Here is my favorite email on the topic - from a listener on KQTH in Tucson. Enjoy!

You ask if you ever cheated death.
I was on an airplane & one of the propellers caught on fire. We had just taken off from Wake Island on a Japanese commercial airline & I had a baby on my lap.

As I was sitting at a window seat looking out at the fire, I asked the stewardess if that propeller was going to be OK. She bent down over me to look out the window & screamed; then ran to the cockpit for the captain. I was numb but refused to give into fear (I guess because I was holding a baby) & the next thing I noticed the captain also was bending over me looking out the window. He was very calm & said "yes yes" & then disappeared back into the cockpit.

On the intercom came the announcement we were returning back to Wake Island as soon as we dumped all our fuel into the ocean. As we were turning around back to the island, I could see numerous fire trucks foaming down the runway for our emergency landing. We made it OK but what impressed me most was a Marine who was on that flight, got down on his knees & kissed the earth.

This made me realize how fortunate we all were. It took 3 days for the airplane to be fixed for us to complete our trip back to the States.
Paula

Here are the four real life and faith ways to keep the romance alive in your relationship over the long haul. I mentioned these on the Valentine's show on Saturday night. Check out some of the great calls and suggestions from listeners here.

1)Read and discuss together as a couple the book, "The 5 Love Languages." A really excellent insight into the 5 ways men and women give and receive love. Helps you understand your partner much better. Reading it together will cause you to have conversations you never would have had otherwise.

2) Give your spouse the gift of some personal time. Particularly, if your spouse is a stay-at-home mom, schedule some time each week or two where you take the kids and she can spend 3 or 4 hours doing whatever she pleases without responsibilities. Important time for her to recharge her batteries and also an important way of acknowledging and her own needs. Deepens the love between you.

3) Enjoy a Date night at least once a month if not more often. The greatest gift you can give your children is a good marriage of their parents. Invest the time with each other doing something you enjoy. Be completely with your spouse - physically, emotionally, and attention-wise. This regular investment will keep the romance alive and well.

4) Check in with a marriage Counselor every so often. Couples look at me like I'm crazy, but that fact of the matter is that most couples do not see a counselor until the train is running off the tracks. Seeing a counselor every 6 to 12 months gives you a place to talk openly and work on areas of your marriage with a skilled professional to assist you. Again, making the investment of time and money will pay off in a deeper romance and a stronger marriage over the long haul. Look at it as preventive maintenance. If you do not do it, you will eventually pay the price. If you do it, you will be blessed.

A long line. A flight attendant's predictions of turbulence. A connecting flight delay. The mystery of an opening in the room. Luck. The providence of God.

Continental Flight 3407 has generated varied responses from the people who might have died in its fiery crash but, for some reason, did not. Forty-nine people aboard the flight died as did one person on the ground in the house beneath the crash near Buffalo. However, a number of others somehow “cheated death” as it brushed near. Their reactions stimulate a single question: Why?

David Becony missed the flight from Newark to Buffalo because bad weather had delayed his earlier flight from New Orleans to Newark. He says now, “God was looking over me.” Paul Twaragowski encountered the same circumstances and says, “I can only thank God that I wasn't on that flight and my thoughts and prayers are with families and friends for those that were.” His mother, Louise, says, “God was with us all.”

Jeff Smith and his family of four planned to be on Flight 3407 as they headed to Buffalo for a mid-winter retreat from their home in Palm Beach. But a flight attendant warned him not to take the flight because it expected turbulence and his children would not enjoy the experience. The attendant's haunting words echo through Jeff Smith's mind: "For the sake of your children I wouldn't get on that flight.” The Smiths took a later flight. Jeff says, "I don't think it's really sunk in yet, how fortunate we are.”

Susan Reinhardt tried to get on Flight 3407 when her own earlier flight to Buffalo was indefinitely delayed out of Newark. The long customer service line dissuaded her from making the change. While there, Reinhardt met another woman with a seat on Flight 3407. That woman stayed on 3407; Reinhardt did not get her wish to be on it. One perished; Reinhardt cheated death. She asks, “What is the meaning of my life now? What am I supposed to do because it wasn't my time?”

Karen Wielinski and her family live in the home that unwittingly received the nose-diving plane. She was watching television, and “...the next thing I knew, the ceiling was on me and I just, I didn't know how much was on top of me. So I was panicking a little, but trying to stay cool, and happened to notice a little light on the right of me...” Karen and her daughter, Jill, escaped through the hole of that light. Karen's husband, Doug, did not get out.

In the wake of the first airline crash fatalities in over two years in America, we encounter the same questions we always have. Why did some fifty die while others emerged unharmed? Where is God in this mess?


God did not cause the crash of Flight 3407. He did, however, allow it to happen. God created each of us and gave us freedom, the freedom to live and choose for ourselves how and what we would do with our lives. God also established the order and laws of the universe, including gravity, windshear, and the freezing temperature of water, and those natural laws certainly permitted this plane to crash.

Yet, at a moment like this, we are tempted to ask the questions that none of us can fully answer. Why do some live while others die? I am most reminded of the words of William Sloane Coffin, famed former pastor at Riverside Church in New York, after the funeral for his son, Alex, who had died in a car accident.

When a person dies, there are many things that can be said, and there is at least one thing that should never be said. The night after Alex died I was sitting in the living room of my sister's house outside of Boston, when the front door opened and in came a nice-looking, middle-aged woman, carrying about eighteen quiches. When she saw me, she shook her head, then headed for the kitchen, saying sadly over her shoulder, "I just don't understand the will of God." Instantly I was up and in hot pursuit, swarming all over her. "I'll say you don't, lady!" I said.
For some reason, nothing so infuriates me as the incapacity of seemingly intelligent people to get it through their heads that God doesn't go around this world with his fingers on triggers, his fists around knives, his hands on steering wheels. God is dead set against all unnatural deaths. And Christ spent an inordinate amount of time delivering people from paralysis, insanity, leprosy, and muteness. Which is not to say that there are no nature-caused deaths — I can think of many right here in this parish in the five years I've been here — deaths that are untimely and slow and pain-ridden, which for that reason raise unanswerable questions, and even the specter of a Cosmic Sadist — yes, even an Eternal Vivisector. But violent deaths, such as the one Alex died — to understand those is a piece of cake. As his younger brother put it simply, standing at the head of the casket at the Boston funeral, "You blew it, buddy. You blew it." The one thing that should never be said when someone dies is "It is the will of God." Never do we know enough to say that. My own consolation lies in knowing that it was not the will of God that Alex die; that when the waves closed over the sinking car, God's heart was the first of all our hearts to break.

Wise words. “God's heart was the first of all our hearts to break.” In the death of his son, William Sloane Coffin still found hope in the undying love of God, His dazzling grace, and the conviction that God gives us minimum protection but maximum support, particularly at our darkest moments.

So, perhaps the wisest comment to emerge this week from those who skated near death but missed it, came from the wife of David Becony. When asked how her husband's close call with death would affect her family, she replied, “I think we'll probably appreciate each other a lot more.”

When faced with the knocking at the door of the imponderable and the unknowable, the best answer arrives when love opens the door.

An excellent article in the Wall Street Journal today. Reinforces the conversation from the show on Saturday night.

Updates how an approach to separate the Iranian people from their terroristic government can be highly effective and is actually already beginning to work. The jihadist, apocalyptic government is particularly vulnerable right now because:
1) global economic woes are straining its ability to function
2) the Iranian people hate the mullahs

Let's hope Obama reads the WSJ and pays attention. Negotiations with terrorists do not work. Empowering the people of Iran will bring a non-violent regime change.