To My Children on 9-11

Today is the ninth anniversary of...my oldest son's 18th birthday. As we were preparing to celebrate this milestone, multiple attacks stunned our nation and forever changed how we see September 11. There are so many images and words filling the media spaces that I wondered what I could add to the mix.

I dedicate this essay to my oldest son Michael, for whom 9-11 will always cast a shadow over his birthday. I dedicate this work as well to my other two adult children, Charlotte and Christopher, who, together with Michael, make my wife Kathleen and myself the proudest parents on earth. This essay is my letter to the emerging generation of adults who will need to redeem the messes that my generation have bequeathed to them.

My dear children,

On this auspicious day I want to thank you for bringing so much joy to your Mother and myself and offering so much good to a troubled world. All of you have authentic faith, passionate hope and a deep love for God and people. Your community service inspires us and many others.

I am sorry that our generation could not figure out how to avoid unnecessary wars and offer help to the poor compassionately and effectively. The proof of this is the debt we leave for you to manage. Please forgive us for not balancing our checkbook. Our idealism and avoidance of pain have placed you in shark-infested economic waters.

The attacks we remember on this day were not America's fault. There are millions of militant Muslims who believe in jihad in order to bring the entire world under an Islamic caliphate. If these attacks had occurred in Europe eighty years ago, there might have been some justification, given the colonialism that placed the former Ottoman Empire in the hands of England and France. But "9-11" was neither a right-wing conspiracy nor a legitimate defense of national or religious interests. It was terrorism of the worst kind, carried out by evil men.

You will have to navigate a tightrope between living with the liberties of a pluralistic society and exercising vigilance toward Islamicist leaders. Yes, your Muslim neighbor is most likely friendly, peaceable and a natural ally as you battle the hedonism and narcissism of a culture with theistic amnesia. At the same time, be aware of the difference between enjoying religious freedom (the genius of our First Amendment) and the increasing demands of some radicals for public accommodation of the specific religious practices.

It is my fervent prayer that you will get to see greater peace in the Middle East. But this will only come when Arab leaders stop their dissimulation and unequivocally acknowledge Israel's right to exist with secure borders and diplomatic and economic cooperation with a new Palestinian state.

Please keep the memory of the Holocaust alive as you learn and teach history, make movies and shape public culture. The events of 1933-1945, especially the systematic murder of millions, must not be normalized, placed in a category with other events, or allowed to fade into the mists of memory. The Shoah is proof that the most educated, scientific and "cultured" nations can lose all moral restraint when they abandon Judeo-Christian beliefs and morality and replace it with pseudo-scientific ideologies of Left or Right.

OK - there are some bright spots in all this darkness!

You will have access to global knowledge and, therefore, the opportunity to forge friendships and partnerships that cross all cultural lines. You will continue to befriend, marry and do business with people that your grandparents would never have met.

You will find cures for many cancers and (we pray) for AIDS. You will offer a healthier life for everyone willing to align their lives with sound habits. Your work ethic and common sense are much greater than ours, so I am confident that future budgets will be better and, if we do not self-destruct soon, we will see an improving economy.

You are a generation committed to justice and compassion and you will find new ways to help the needy and poor move from surviving to thriving.

Dear ones, this is not my last testament. My best days are ahead and I want to work with you to bring glory to God and good to others. Let's displace

• Fear with faith
• Hatred with love and mutual respect
• Materialism with generosity
• Hedonism with service
• Narcissism with care for our neighbor
• Daydreaming with vision
• Propaganda with authentic, clear speech
• Image with integrity
• "Politically-correct" cliches with careful reasoning
• Cowardice with courage

Together we can make a difference beginning today.

I love you, my children and thank you for walking onto the future with me.

Dad, Daddy, The Dad-Person, Father, Pater Familias or the Dadster

Clear Thoughts in a Cloudy World

A fringe, small-church pastor wants to burn the Muslim scriptures, the Qur'an. Burning the Qur'an benefits only extremists, and hinders the cause of dialogue and peace.



Palestinian leader Abbas' vision of a new state includes no Israeli political or security presence. On the surface, this sounds reasonable, until one realizes that neither Abbas nor any other Arab leader has given unconditional recognition of Israel's right to exist in secure borders. They also flatly refuse to have any shared capital in Jerusalem. Now is the time for all people of conscience to urge Israel to extend the freeze on new settlements in exchange for real progress and for Abbas to look for ways to agree on terms instead of excuses to exit the talks. Oh yes, and the current vision has no room for Jewish citizens either, unlike Israel, which gives full rights to its Arab citizens. By the way - in 1947 the U.N mandate gave 80% to a new Arab nation, today called Jordan. The other 20% was divided between Jewish and Arab Palestinians. Israel's original borders contained a majority Jewish population. In essence, Arabs were given 90% of the territory and still refused to live in peace. Notice that Israel has prospered while most nations around her are awash in poverty. The refugee camps are a deliberate strategy of the Arab states to keep hatred of Israel alive - so that radical Islam will not topple their regimes! Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the PA are all funded by the Saudis and others to make sure they keep the pressure on Israel and off of their benefactors.



The Ground Zero Mosque is not illegal; however, it is unwise and a deliberate flash point conceived by radicals to further their agenda. It is amazing that the Left will defend this construction while shrilly condemning any Jewish or Christian symbols and words in public space. The demonic alliance of the radical Left and militant Islam have one shared aim: the destruction of the Judeo-Christian underpinnings of the American life. Each of these subversive forces thinks they will win the battle for the public square once the old religious influences are gone. The tragedy of such thinking is that the removal of our lasting values will end in either religious or secular totalitarianism and the loss of liberties gained over hundreds of years.



Too much governmental control of the economy yields stasis and decline as creativity and wealth production yield to mind-numbing bureaucracy and zero-sum thinking. No ethical or regulatory oversight yields Love Canals, foul air, lakes and rives. We must encourage private initiative and public responsibility. We must protect profits and property rights while promoting community well-being and opportunity. Whenever taxes are low, government revenues increase. The Democrats refuse to see this simple math because they cannot imagine any restraints on spending. The Republicans have to demonstrate an intelligent understanding of what federal, local and state governments should do - and what prerogatives must be left to the people.



Historical ignorance is fueling folly in the public square. Freedom without morality and reverence becomes anarchy and eventual totalitarianism - hence Nazi Germany in 1933. Centralized control gives us Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot. Today's "liberal" foundations were yesterday's "robber barons." The problem is not that the rich should not give back. The deeper problem is that the compassionate, non-profit sector forgets where all the money comes from! At some point, wealth must be created. Risk and reward are vital to progress.



"Social justice" must include not only fair trade practices and public accountability - it must empower wealth creation and understand that there will be differences in income levels. I do not see Al Gore divesting himself of the more than $100M he has made since losing the 2000 election. George Soros may give to liberal causes, but his wealth comes at the expense of whole nations. Conversely, the Right has not articulated who should be the recipients of public generosity and how to help people in times of economic upheaval. It is not enough to say, "get a job" when there are no jobs. Jim Wallis of the Evangelical Left needs to realize that conservatives are not against fairness and generosity - they just think such values are best administrated locally and privately. Glen Beck needs to stop castigating those to promote social justice and demonstrate by his words and deeds creative ways to partner with folks outside the conservative bubble.



We can trim the federal budget and balance it within three years. Of course this means 10 new fighter jets instead of 15 and hammers that cost $20 instead of $900. It also means decentralizing all humanitarian aid and helping thousands of federal workers find jobs in the private sector. It means privatizing all political and public employee pensions. It means inviting ethical business execs to examine all levels of government and streamline the systems. It means that we cannot prosecute wars and have a welfare state. Europe is more generous with her public benefits because the USA has borne the major military costs for two generations.



The clouds are still in the sky, but I hope I have been clear. There are ways forward, but they are the "road[s] less traveled" and only faith, hope and love in large amounts will propel us forward.

An Alliance for Health and Life

AIDS activists are protesting the unsafe sex practices of Larry Flynt's pornographic films. They argue that the failure to show condom use will encourage dangerous practices that allow AIDS pathogens to spread.

Concurrent with these protests are feminist concerns about the dehumanizing and objectifying consequences of pornography for female dignity and equality. Some of these same groups are courageously protesting female mutilation.

For all kinds of reasons, we are also more aware of the appalling levels of child abuse and other forms of domestic violence. Just under the surface of some of the most conservative geographies is a cauldron of pain that is unspeakable. Social workers tell me that they are overwhelmed with their case loads and the depth of the challenges.

Pornography and promiscuity, violence against women, and families in crisis are causes we can all agree need attention. Solutions involve much more than money and programs - they involve a reordering of body and soul, a renewing of personal and community responsibility and rethinking how we can work together.

AIDS activists and feminists face serious moral and social challenges as they (rightly) lift their voices against self-destructive behaviors. Their problem is that you cannot have "safe" promiscuity. The half-century battle against traditional heterosexual (and married) monogamy has not brought liberation, but two generations of hurt, lonely and infected people who believed that "dating" meant sexual intimacy and "celibacy" equalled repression.

Rather than demean these activists, I want to suggest a new Alliance for Life. I invite all people of conscience and faith to join together to eliminate - not just by laws, but by disuse, marginalization, protest and positive partnerships - the scourges of pornography, promiscuity and violence. These are causes that Christians, Jews, Muslims, AIDS workers, feminists and all people of social concern can get behind.

We are not talking about violating First Amendment rights or barging into consenting adult bedrooms. In fact, we are moving way past legislation to something even more powerful - our American ethos of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." The last fifty years have taught us a painful lesson that true happiness is not found in consumption, but in community. We have learned that self-indulgence needs to give way to service. Empirical studies abound affirming the physical and psychological blessings of fidelity in marriage and self-restraint in sexual behavior. The "me generation" has sown to the amoral wind and reaped the whirlwind of anarchy.

Our new Alliance for Life will aim to expose the lies of the purveyors of promiscuity and the perpetrators of violence. We will protest, refuse to consume such wares and call on all people to "seek the good of others more than their own." Oh yes, we will argue among ourselves concerning morality and religion, but we will find common cause against these clear evils and work for a safer, saner world.

Our new Alliance for Life will not excoriate Christians, Jews, Muslims and other religious traditions for affirming their stance of heterosexual monogamous marriage. Conversely, deeply religious folks will not try to impose a theocracy. Will will argue and debate civilly and passionately, living with deepest differences. We are allied for common goods that are clear.

Let's make celibacy and monogamy good again. Let's refuse to call female mutilation a "cultural" practice. Like the burning of widows in India, it is simply wrong. Domestic violence in all forms has no place in civil society.

Simplistic conservative and liberal solutions must give way to integrated solutions that bring everyone to the table, locally and globally. Yes, we do need to fund education and social services more - but make sure we are funding the real work on the ground and not a federal system that takes 3X dollars to provide 1X of services. We must also stress personal responsibility and the consequences of life-choices. While providing a compassionate landing for the hurting, we must also empower them with disciplines that will alter their destiny. Social enterprise from the private sector can be united with legal enforcement and service provision from non-profit sector to deliver real help.

Will you join this new Alliance? The membership fees are reasonable: unplug from all products connected with pornography. Make a friend across philosophical and religious lines. Find out what you can do locally to help the hurting. Mentor a child or young adult and help them inculcate values that will keep them safe and help them flourish. Make your voice heard against all forms of intolerance and violence.

Reality brings truth into focus and unleashes new possibilities. Let's go "back to the future" and find the bedrock upon which to build a better society.

Ad Hominem Attacks: The Refuge of the Thoughtless

We live is a world of data points, sound bites (or bytes?), twitter updates and instant analysis. What is lacking is the rare combination of compassion and critical thinking, the love and respect we need if we are going to solve the global and local problems we confront.

In recent days I have been deeply disconcerted by the behavior of two Christians - one from the Left and one from the Right side of ideological spectrum. Jim Wallis is the leader of the Sojourners Fellowship and the author of God and Politics and other left-leaning critiques of American economics, culture and policy. Ann Coulter is a best-selling author whose blond hair and scathing jabs make her the object of great hatred on the Left.

Jim Wallis lashed out at Marvin Olasky, comparing him to Glenn Beck (the man "who lies for a living") and accusing Olasky of lying about a $200,000 contribution Wallis' group received from a George Soros group. When researchers unearthed proof of the donation, Wallis' representatives issued a bleak apology, citing how busy they were. We should expect better from one of Barak Obama's spiritual advisers.

Joseph Farah and others hosting a Tea Party event dropped Ann Coulter from the speaking menu when they found out she is speaking at a Republican group that advocates gay marriage and gays in the military. Instead of expressing regret and perhaps giving a trademark one-liner, Coulter goes on the attack in public and calls Farah and WorldNet Daily "fake Christians" and 'publicity whore[s]" who foolishly pursue the "birther thing" that "no conservative takes seriously." Ann, you have gone too far and your libel of fellow-conservatives is uncalled for, especially when unity is vital to winning upcoming elections and returning America to her roots.

Ad hominem arguments are the last resort of thoughtless people who, instead of arguing their points with class and precision, choose to attack the character of their opponent. Now character does matter and Jesus of Nazareth himself had choice words for the hypocritical and the proud. But most of the time, these specious attacks obscure our failure to confront the hard choices we must make.

Wallis and Coulter go to church. How can they receive the Eucharist with what is on their tongues? Is "love your enemies" only for a few saints, or does it contain the kernel of what can become an ability to love compassionately and argue critically?

I am deeply upset about our nation's course and there is almost no policy of this current government that I agree with. That does not give me license to hate or spew venom all over the web. I will make my case on principles, careful analysis and thoughtful reflection. I invite all thoughtful people to join with me and start a civil and passionate movement of hope.

Some Hot August Thoughts

Amidst the final days of a surreal summer and in anticipation of the election propaganda about to be unleashed, I offer the following observations for my thoughtful audience to contemplate:

It is easy to caricature and criticize, but difficult to think critically and act wisely.

In the absence of solutions, attack your opponents character and motives. It will veil your superficiality.

The world is changing daily while our educational and governmental enterprises are still stuck in decades-old systems.

The way forward for the global economy is unleashing wealth creation, not taxing the productive. This said, wealth creation without compassion and ethics is one more form of exploitation as dangerous as increased government bureaucracy.

Changing our politicians without moral and spiritual change in the populace at large is simply replacing one ruling elite with another.

St. Peter wanted to build a monument to an ecstatic experience; Jesus invites us to build people with faith, hope and love.

The "new atheists" recycle the old, unsuccessful arguments with better promotional material. The Preacher was right, "There is nothing new under the sun" - including attacks on faith.

When we make the exception the rule, there are no more rules. In the ensuing moral anarchy, the way is paved for dictatorship.

Failure to self-regulate allows others to run our lives.

When a Palestinian leader of repute stands and proclaims Israel's right to exist within reasonable borders, and with real exchange of commerce and diplomats, there is a chance for peace.

Do not ask people of deep faith to promote lifestyles contrary to their convictions. Conversely, the call to faith is an invitation, not a coercive calculation. We are freest when we defend for all others the rights we desire for ourselves.

No one wins with a mosque at the 9/11 site. Bitterness is amplified and religious tradition obscured by political agendas. A place for all to pray and remember is the only way forward.

Every leadership guru advises, "Begin with the end in mind." My challenge to the Left and the Right is simple: what is the 'end" you have in mind for the USA and the world? On the Left, is it some kind of Star Trek-inspired global federation ruled by a politically correct elite? On the Right, are you trying to bring back the good old days that never were?

Solving BIG problems begins with "small" acts of personal courage and kindness. Mother Teresa did not begin with grant money and media campaigns - one child at a time was rescued from the ash-heap.

We can improve our economy and rebuild our infrastructure with private-public partnerships. We need private initiative and profitable ends. We also need oversight for ethical and structural integrity.

If you journey around the globe, you will find a direct connection between the level of political freedom and the historical influence of Judeo-Christian values. Except for some movements in Indonesia and Turkey, no Muslim-dominated state has ever been a pluralistic democracy with complete freedom of conscience, religion and speech. Of course, it took about 1200 years for Christendom to cease its infighting as well.

The either/or fallacy rules too much thinking. Churches divide over musical and sermon styles instead of creating mosaics of the best of the past and future. We need head and heart. It is not freedom or oversight, but liberty with accountability.