Grown Folks Politics

To listen to the news reports on Election 2012,  you would think that President Obama stood around whistling while Mitt Romney lost the election.  They cite the vulnerability of President Obama because of the slow  economic recovery, record levels of debt, the so-called "failed" stimulus plan,and the fact that no incumbent except Roosevelt has been re-elected with an unemployment rate higher than when they entered office.  They cite the damage done to the Romney campaign by the extended Republican primary season, denial of facts, and Hurricane Sandy.

If I ask some of  my preacher friends,  they say that the victory of One Named Blessed (the definition of "Barack") was caused by  a 'mighty wind' sent by God to sweep the enemy away.  They say that the result was forewarned when God dispatched a hurricane at the beginning of the Republican convention.  All the signs in Heaven made Election Day's outcome clear, they say.

Heavenly intervention notwithstanding,  there  are discernible realities here on earth that explain President Obama's re-election.

President Obama had one of the most superb political campaign organizations in the history of the United states.  They met or exceeded the fundraising of the far more deep-pocketed Romney and friends.  Anticipating the nastiness that the Romney campaign was preparing to unleash, the Obama campaign took the fight to their opponent, releasing adds about Bain Capital weeks before Romney television commercials.  By maintaining field operations for the President's entire first term, they wielded a vastly superior voter turnout operation.

Applying a key ancient battle tactic of Sun Tsu's "The Art of War" Obama campaign strategists ensured victory before the the first vote was cast.  They defined the field of battle. They duped the Romney campaign to focus their efforts in the so-called "battleground states."  It is true that the election was decided in those states, but the Romney campaign may have had greater success if they had developed an original strategy.  Romney's failure to consider alternative approaches to defeating an incumbent President demonstrated a glaring lack of creativity and  an ignorance of history.

President Obama did not just win the election. Republican leadership did too much to lose it.  They ignored the reality of present-day demographics of our country.  It is mind-boggling to imagine that a party leadership would bank its political fortunes on appealing exclusively to one declining demographic.  Romney wasted hundreds of millions of dollars on television commercials that inflamed the hopes and fears of that one demographic. This is the reason for the outpouring of disappointment, dismay, and despair among so many Romney voters.

Unquestionably, a number of those who voted for Romney hold genuine concerns about the economy, national debt, the cost of health care reform and President Obama's ability to turn these huge problems around.  On their own, these are legitimate arguments for questioning the effectiveness of Barack Obama's first term as President. The President himself admits that more could have been done to strengthen the economic recovery.

The fact is, Romney chose not to allow these arguments to stand on their own. He embellished the criticism of the President's policies with  innuendo about the President's religion, patriotism and character.  He denigrated the President's supporters as un-American, burdens to society, seekers of government entitlements.  He painted every Obama administration accomplishment as less than impressive, a failure, attributable to the Republican-dominated Congress or the result of President  Bush' policies.  Everything Obama was labeled as wrong, failed, un-American, anti-American, alien, or evil.

The Romney campaign zeroed in on the fears of white America while insulting or ignoring the concerns, hopes and fears of Americans from other racial and ethnic backgrounds,  LGBT Americans, and young Americans.  The Romney campaign was a years' long repetitive chant that said "Elect Mitt Romney because we're mad as hell about everything "Obama" and we're not going to take it anymore."  That may have worked for a Hollywood movie, and maybe for the America of 30, 40, or 50 years ago.  Not today.

President Obama's margin of victory in the Electoral College was overwhelming (332-206), and in the popular vote, decisive (almost 3 million).  But President Obama's victory was not an overwhelming mandate. Almost half of voters did not support the President.  As flawed as it may be, huge swaths of the American populace believe in the vision of our country that Romney touted.

But there is a ray of hope _nay, an entire rainbow of hope_ that can be discerned from President Obama's re-election.  Those who voted for President Obama  _over 62 million people_ proved that the right to vote is the greatest privilege of our democracy.  They proved that money is not the only powerful force in American society.  They exemplified the hope, the essence, and the spirit of our foundational principles;  that all people are created equal with certain inalienable rights, including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  They proved that the American dream is not the exclusive domain of people from any single racial group, economic class, gender or sexual orientation.

On Election Day 2012 the majority of voters proved that Americans are not a collection of voting blocs that can be objectified, courted, ignored, bought, lied to, insulted, dismissed, wooed, or bullied.   As the population of the United States has become more diverse than ever, voters proved that ours is the most durable, healthy and  dynamic democracy in the world.

My prayer is that more white people come to realize that they have not lost America.  Rather, the country that was once a cute baby has grown up into the most attractive adult in the world.

Seven Reasons Why Black Clergy Support President Barack Obama

A recent news story stated that African American religious leaders are likely to encourage members of their congregations to stay home on Election Day rather than choose between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.  The article suggests that the African American church would turn its back on hundreds of years of political engagement because:  a) President Obama supports marriage equality, and b) Though Romney is against marriage equality, little else in his political agenda appeals to African Americans.

Major media cannot legitimately claim to understand the aspirations of the black community, but the article raises an interesting question about African American religious leaders.  Do Black clergy as a group believe that the next occupant of the White House is not an important matter to their congregants?   

Here are seven reasons why most African American clergy in fact, support President Obama:

1.       Barack Obama understands the beauty and strength of the ethnic and cultural diversity of the United States of America. Barack Obama is a walking example of the ethnic and cultural diversity of our county.  He embodies in his genetic make-up black, white, immigrant, native born, mid-Western, urban, and Islander.  He grew up in a working class family and is now financially successful.  He was raised by a single mother and by grandparents.  He has walked the streets of urban poverty and earned a law degree with distinction from one of the finest universities in the world.

2.       Barack Obama understands the opportunities, risks, dangers and nuances of American foreign policy. Having lived internationally, Obama understands the idiosyncrasies of different cultures.  He is clear about his convictions yet comfortable communicating across racial, ethnic and cultural boundaries.  He knows how to assert American values without unnecessary offense to our allies around the world.  He is clear about defending American interests and is not afraid to act decisively to protect them (i.e., the elimination of Osama Bin Laden and other notorious leaders of Al Qaeda). No American President has committed more resources to the security of Israel.  Few have kept foreign policy promises as well (removal of troops from Iraq). 

3.       Barack Obama brought the economy back from the brink of disaster to a period of sustained growth.  When he took office in 2009, our economy was losing 750,000 jobs each month.  Since taking office, Obama has presided over the creation or saving of 4-1/2 million jobs.  His policies saved America’s banking industry.  He rescued the auto industry and saved 1 million jobs.  Housing starts are at their highest point in two years.  Wealth creation in America is at its highest in history.  It can be argued that the economy could be improving more rapidly, but at best, such an argument is conjecture.  Yes, the poverty rate is higher than ever before but the growth in U.S. poverty dates back to the 1990s.  The growing number of poor people who have access to health care is strengthening the safety net for low income Americans, making it possible for them to save money and increase their productivity.  The data proves what the rhetoric tries to deny: President Obama’s economic policies are working.

4.       Barack Obama believes that women are equal partners in a democratic society. The President believes that women cannot be denied the right to make their own health care choices.  He believes that women have the right to equal pay for equal work.  He has appointed women justices to the Supreme Court, and to high-ranking positions in the Administration.  As the husband of an educated and accomplished wife and father to two daughters, President Obama has an intimate understanding of our country’s need for both women and men to participate fully in the American dream.

5.       Barack Obama understands that the vast majority of African Americans work, care for their families, pay taxes, and are fierce American patriots. The civil rights movement was nearly 50 years ago and yet there are still forces in our society that promote the idea that African Americans are a drag on American progress.  Indeed, facts don’t seem to matter when perception is clouded by racism, fear and ignorance.  The vast majority of African Americans are working and middle class people with the same values as other Americans.  Any candidate for President that does not know this is woefully ignorant of the people he is campaigning to serve and has dim prospects for knowing how to develop policies that get at the real causes of poverty in our country.

6.       Barack Obama has demonstrated the resolve, tenacity, and inner strength to make tough, unpopular decisions regardless of the polls.  He pushed for Health Care Reform because it was a part of his 2008 campaign platform and it was the right thing to do.  With no political upside and much political risk, he committed U.S. forces to assist the Libyans in the civil war that ultimately ousted Muammar Gaddafi.  He attempted to bridge the divide between Republicans and Democrats despite publicly stated commitments by Republican leaders to do everything possible to make his Presidency a failure.  Obama’s support for gay marriage presented no political advantage, endangered the support of some in his base, but he did it because he believed it to be the right thing to do.

7.       Barack Obama understands the distinction between personal faith and his responsibility as the leader of the most successful democracy in the history of the world.   Barack Obama is President of the United States of America. As such he is the commander-in-chief of the most powerful military in the world, the most powerful elected official in the free world, and the chief executive of the most renowned democratic government and society in the world.  Any policies that an American President advances should certainly be guided by his/her moral and religious beliefs but not set forth to impose those beliefs on the electorate. The United States is not a church nor is the President a pastor.  An American President must protect the constitutional and human rights and freedoms of all citizens, whether or not their religious values are the same.

History reminds us that the legislation of moral behavior was one of many tools used to repress the freedom of African Americans in American society.  Regardless of personal, religious or widely held moral views, Black clergy ought not to be counted among those who support policies to restrict the freedom of persons in a democratic society today.

African Americans will vote in large numbers in November and will play a key role in deciding the winner of the presidential election.

Abundance from Working Together

On May 23rd, Abundant Communities Together, Inc. (ACT), a nonprofit community development corporation  I serve as president, hosted a conference for 21st century pastors and church leaders.  The name of the conference was On Purpose: The Church in a New Economic Paradigm".   

One of the conference participants was from Bonn, Germany, and is a fundraising consultant to churches in her home country. She emailed several questions the day after the conference. The questions provided a great opportunity for me to summarize my thoughts on the day (which was a resounding success!).

Here are just a few of the questions, with my responses:

Q: Yesterday  120 people out of 48 churches attended. How many members did these churches (roughly)  represent ?

A: If you consider the fact that the Greater Allen Cathedral in New York, at 26,000 members and Redeemer Presbyterian Church has about 5,000 members, then add up all the other churches there, together we represented over 40,000 church members.  That does not count visitors or community members served by these churches (nursing homes, incarcerated persons, homebound, etc.)or persons served by soup kitchens, food pantries, outreach ministries, etc.  In that case, it is reasonable to say that these churches touch the lives of perhaps 100,000 people in this region.

Q: Can I say: churches from a wide range of denominations came- although some of the churches are "non-denominational"?- or what would be the right expression?
A: Yes.  I would say something like “churches from many denominations and non-denominational churches as well”.

Q: What would you estimate roughly: for how many % of the churches in the US  the topics you raised about church based enterprises, energy efficiency and sustainable agriculture are new ? For how many it will not yet be part of their discernment? ( I have the feeling that there are hardly any..... ??) 
A: My educated guess is that 60%-70%  of the church leaders present learned about at least one of these topics for the first time.  I would go further to say that perhaps 80% of the conference participants heard these ideas framed in a new way, i.e., as arenas for ministry, and as directly related to how the church uses its money and other financial resources to advance mission.

Q: I had the impression, that you have a very deep  understanding of community organizing ( and I have been into community organizing in Germany for many years)  - and I can very well follow your vision,  that we do not so much need to create new organizations but rather new operational infrastructure and networks to solve regional goals and objectives.     I got the impression, that most of these new initiatives were made possible because of new legislation under Obama ( tax reduction for solar energy,  American Reinvest & Recovery act ). is that right ?

A: Yes, I know organizing.  I’ve had some training in the Industrial Areas Foundation model of organizing; even worked to help start a Gamiel Foundation initiative right here on Long Island.  The great benefit of this model is the ability to mobilize hundreds and thousands of people around a cause.  However, this model relies very much on confrontation and stated demands.  Our slightly different take on organizing is that we mobilize people around goals and objectives that also involve development, investment, job creation, creating value where none is perceived, and fixing broken markets. 

You are right on target around ‘new operational infrastructure and networks to solve regional goals and objectives’ _”abundant communities together”_ i.e., when abundant communities (congregations, organized constituencies) come together to engage and transform death-dealing societal challenges like food access, food justice, energy independence, local investment and job creation, with the right information and expertise, together, we can achieve tangible successes.  These are ideas we have advocated for since 1999.  But yes, President Obama gets it, and he did fund the right kinds of initiatives to seed job creation and investment here in our country.  I’ve got nothing against other countries prospering, but renewable energy will always be a better choice for  local investment, local jobs and environmental health in the USA than either big oil or nuclear energy, for example.

What are your thoughts on these questions?  Please share your comments.

Jam It Up and Let It Flow!

    Culture is such that we live in many times at once.  There are people who read newspapers very day.  There are people who listen to news radio every day; people who watch news TV all the time.  There are people who read the news on eBooks and websites and PDA’s; people who take in news in every form.  There are people who never take in news in any form.

    And then in moments when culture collides with history, people who read the news and people who don’t read the news make news. Drawn together and emboldened by numbers, they challenge entrenched power through every outlet available _social media, cable news stations, major media stations, newspapers, web, radio, text, voice, and home-made video_  to create force and energy, and without a single bullet, change the course of history forever (a la Arab Spring).  On these amazing occasions we see 19^th, 20^th and 21^st century cultures and technologies jammed up together and pouring forth with fury.

    This mélange of cultures and histories is the make-up of Christendom today.  Except instead of three, the church is an institution of twenty-one centuries, all at work today.  Yet with all the outlets available and the power of the Gospel message, the so-called mainline church struggles to transmit ancient traditions to today’s generations.  As if stuck in all of its yesterdays, the church has not yet figured out how to use new forms and methods to teach very, very old things. 
    The church must find new ways of being.  Christian leaders must decipher the new religion of economics which commands the hegemony today that spiritual things did in ancient times.  It is not a matter of getting rid of the old and replacing it with new.  Rather, it is living out that phrase in the Lord's Prayer:  your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.  The church must find ways to jam up twenty-one centuries together, so that God will send the Holy Spirit, pouring forth with the fullness of life as God lives it, the life of abundance that is God's plan for humanity and all creation. 

Christian Charity is NOT Enough

Churches are champions for social justice, provide food, clothing and direct assistance to the poor, and advocate for legislative policy that can reduce poverty.  Unfortunately, that's not enough. 

Our organized protests and advocacy initiatives are not connected to broader strategies.  Cause-related giving is contingent and episodic.  We move hundreds of millions of dollars around.  We get quick hits from the news media.  Yet these mission-focused actions fall mostly within the ‘give-a-man-a-fish’ category.  Instead of using our millions to empower, we use them to increase dependence.  We do not ‘teach how to fish’. The people we help today need fish tomorrow.
 
Christians individually and our churches collectively control billions of dollars in the global economy.  Our wealth is distributed widely, is not organized, and is not very liquid.  However, if we are as committed to social change as we believe ourselves to be, Christians can no longer ignore God’s call to use the economic power within our grasp to advance our primary mission, to help the economically distressed (hungry, naked, and sick). 

We can begin by asking ourselves questions about ways our personal resources benefit our neighbors and our communities.  Are we banking with institutions that hold our money, but provide few services, pay little interest, and do not lend to local businesses or approve mortgages in our communities?  Are we purchasing from local businesses that invest and employ locally?  How much of our retirement investments are in companies that do business where we live or hire local residents and/or invest in our local economies?

Are churches asking the same questions about  purchases, banking, and investments?  Are we conserving energy in our buildings, or looking into solar panels or other renewable energy solutions that allow us to enhance the environment and devote more dollars to mission?  Are we participating in local food initiatives that encourage better nutrition, reduce hunger and generate local economic activity?  Are we using our cumulative economic power to create jobs and investment as we advance the mission of the church?

Our charitable inclinations make church folk feel aglow in innocence.  For Christians, however, charity is not enough.  Our global economy is in the hands of wolves.  It is time for Christians to be wise as serpents.

Patrick Duggan leads Abundant Communities Together, Inc. (ACT) a church-affiliated community development corporation.  ACT’s May 23^rd conference, On Purpose: The Church in a New Economic Paradigm will feature conversations with church leaders that excel in mission focused economic activities.   Click here for conference information.

Not At All Lin-Sanity

The scene:  Press conference after other-wordly NY Knicks win in Toronto.  

At the podium: Jeremy Lin.

Reporter:  “Can you believe this is happening to you?”

Lin:  “No.  But I believe in an all-knowing, all powerful God who does miracles.”

He’s not Tebow.  He’s not showy with his faith.  Don’t get it twisted though. He’s not ashamed of it either.  He loves the Lord and he’s clear about it a sincerity-that-grows-on-you way.

He is the reason for the resurgence of the Knicks.  But he does not embrace stardom.  He compliments his teammates.  Not a perfunctory mention.  Genuine expressions of appreciation. 

He sprints upcourt, usually before the entire team.  He shoos away the pick and roll.  Sees the opening. Takes a straight up three with 0.5 seconds  on the clock.  Swish!  The fruit of unabashed confidence in the excellence of your game.

Yet, he exudes humility.  There is no conceit in him.  He is not impressed with himself.  When asked about how good he is, he presents a list of all the things he did wrong.  " it's not because of me", he says, " but because we're playing together as a team."

Humility, not hubris.  Faith with works.  "We" not "me".  He is the anti-evangelist.  He does not regard equality with superstars as something to be grasped, but empties himself and as a result he is exalted.

For all the doubters out there, yeah, this is basketball.  But if you think this is just basketball you don't get it.  God is working a plan here.  The day of unbridled hubris is fading…  And none to soon.  The whole world is weary of it. Thank you Jeremy Lin.

And it’s only been a week….