Quick Note on Karen Greenberg's Rogue Justice

Karen Greenberg is  the director of the Fordham Law School National Security Center.

I recall my concerns about the Patriot Act in the terrible days after 9/11. I know that the Supreme Court did stand firm for same basic constitutional guarantees but they blurred in my memory that is not what  it once was.
With journalistic detail, Greenberg reminds us that the courts were faced with basic habeus corpus protections under real threat. At the same time lower federal courts relaxed standards amid the uncertainty of the law in facing terror as opposed to a nation state. I would have liked a bit more detail on some of the major Supreme Court decisions, but she strikes the major notes of the rulings.

She spends a  good deal of time on the legal justification for the anti-terrorist memos out of the White House. It is particularly strong on the early days where lawyers seemed as concerned about extending presidential powers as they were giving careful guidance on balancing national security and constitutional rights. This included John Yoo’s memos justifying what must be called torture and seeking to provide legal immunity for practicing it. Still, a number of officials in the Bush administration did try to curb excesses and struggle to restrain some of the broader claims made for executive power in the face of the threats of terrorism.

Greenberg  reminds us how far afield President Obama went in his action, as opposed to his words during his campaigns and even as Chief Executive. The administration did not prosecute those who tortured. The administration sent a drone strike against an American citizen for publicly supporting terrorist ideology on an attractive web site.

This book provides the virtue of perspective and time so we can assess more accurately the shape of civil liberties after 9/11.

Sermon Notes for March 26-Ps 23, Eph. 5, John 9, I Sam 16

March 26-John 9, I Sam. 16, Ps. 23 Eph. 5:8-14

I’ve worn glasses most of my life. I recall vividly having to walk several steps toward the eye chart to to have any idea of what they asked me to see.So, it is no surprise that images of vision capture me. -I Sam. 16. Samuel blind to the preference of God.Samuel sees  physical attributes and birth order, but he does not perceive the view of god.Jacobsen-. We rely for almost everything on our sight, but it often proves untrustworthy.(social psyc) We also tend to pick our leaders--politicians, principals, coaches, celebrities, and so on--based on our society's norms about appearance. Samuel cannot imagine that god would choose the one hidden away working as a shepherd, the runt of the litter.

Ps. 23 deep dark valley of the shadow-sometimes it is difficult to catch even a  glimmer of light in a valley-It can be peering into the grave or it can by the psychological dark valley of depression that lacks the energy to even look for the light. It uses a traditional hebrew image of salvation as being in a safe space with plenty of elbow room, as opposed to the constricted world of danger around the next unseen corner.why, the bright presence of God accompanies us on the mountaintop or the valley floor.

Eph. 5:8-14, light and dark imagery is a favorite tool for religious perception.Peeler-The group Paul has categorized as darkness, whose work produces non-fruit, does things in secret.Action reveals character. Action reveals intent.  Light exposes the cover of secrecy and darkness into the state of revelation. Back-room deals come to light when they are revealed to transparent view, as we say today..In a fascinating turn, then, Paul declares that everything which has been revealed  is now light.  Darkness is now exposed by the light. So a redemptive possibility exists even there. . If the people of the light expose the deeds of those in darkness, that  can result in those people’s transformation. Paul’s citation of a poem  makes it more likely that salvation is in fact in view.This passage is the opposite of the Adam and Eve story from last week -they live in the light-exposed for all to see-no hiding place, nor do they wish one.

Few passages demonstrate John’s method of levels of understanding more than this long chapter.John 9 healing of blindness-physical and spiritual  blind to faults-blind to good points in soc, psyc.Perhaps the greatest blindness is the question raised at the start of the chapter.Blind to god’s hand-blind to God’s agent-So locked in their way of seeing, they create a religious trial over a healing. John’s account makes a mockery out of their religious trial.The man’s sight is restored instantly, but his spiritual sight develops with the story.

Blind about causation-the disciples assume someone has sinned; they figure that misfortune has to come out of a misstep in morality;they need to blame the victim. People can’t believe that they are seeing the blind man now with sight.The religious authorities may be worse, as they see a blessing of healing and have to try to contort it to be the product of evil.

Role expectations and slots blind us. I see a teller in a bank and recognize them, but not on the street. I recall how astounded students were if they saw a teacher in the grocery or the pharmacy.

All of our texts alert us to a salient Lenten fact: the most difficult thing in the world to see are our own hidden assumption, the glasses we wear to look at each other, especially with the blinder that prevent us from self-examination.

Column on 25th Amendment

I’m playing around with the idea of writing a novel on the 25^th Amendment. Already, eyelids are growing heavy. Bear with me for a few moments. This is the 50^th anniversary of its ratification by the states.

When I was a child the President was incapacitated by a heart attack for a while, but we were not clear on the powers of the office devolving to the Vice President. After the horror of Dallas, Vice President Johnson had the oath of office on a plane, with JFK’s widow there in her blood spattered outfit.  When President Reagan was shot, the Secretary of State was confused about power being handed over, and the staff had the President scrawl his signature to show he was capable. Bill O’Reilly, in his series of books, alleges; I repeat alleges, that the president’s capacities went downhill after that.

The 25^th Amendment spells out emergency presidential succession of power. The TV show The West Wing has the president cede power when he feels incapable of handling the office when his daughter is kidnapped. That is under its terms, and should be used in real life when the president may have to undergo surgery.

Later its provisions get more involved. What if the president should divest power of office, but is unwilling to do so? Here is section 4 of the text: “Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President. “ 

Now this could get interesting. I can easily imagine a president going through the rigors of recovery from serious surgery and needing help on a temporary basis. I can also easily imagine a president slipping into dementia and be mentally incapacitated in emergency situations. Congress could create a body to examine presidential fitness. Let your mind wonder and wander about those who would fill this task force and why they would be asked to serve.

What if the president want to return to the duties of the office/ The amendment continues: “Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide …

I am not a particularly imaginative person, but it takes little to be able to conjure a vision of competing doctor’s opinions, or the release of tests by psychiatric evaluators. One could easily imagine an ambitious vice president searching for a way to gain the highest office in the land. One could even imagine a conspiracy between the Cabinet officers, the vice President and the leaders of both houses of Congress to remove the president, for cause, or not.

I continue to be impressed with Indiana Senator Birch Bayh’s prescience in trying to draft and pass an amendment that tried to peer into the future to cover a number of exigencies. Since the advent of the nuclear age, we have invested the office with enormous power. I am so proud of our governmental system   that we looked forward and tried to prevent the evil of succession chaos or free-floating power to be allowed to persist, in the event of presidential disability.

Points for Reflection-Week of March 26

3/26-Sunday-Ps.23 is a prayer many know by heart. While it is often read at committal services around here, it seems to fit most circumstances. Today, wi the other passages for liturgy, consider how it uses light and dark sight and inability to see as  controlling images for the prayer.

Monday-“Mindfulness is the opposite of multitasking, where we do several things at once and usually none of them well. When we are mindful we have the opportunity to focus on one thing or task at a time in order to appreciate the moment.--- Christine Valters Paintner

Tuesday-Brian Shivers-let us be people of wells, not walls, bridges not trenches; tables not fences; toward not from; with not against; together not separate of  people let us be…

Wednesday-"The abyss of God's love is deeper than the abyss of death. And she who overcomes her fear of death lives as though death were a past and not a future experience." (William Sloane Coffin)

Thursday-Why do we work so hard to resist our tears? Jesus wept. . . . The Hebrew Scriptures are filled with this prayer of crying out to God. Lament gives form and voice to our grief, a space to wail and name what is not right in the world in the context of prayer.”-- Christine Valters Paintner

Friday-With wide-embracing love Thy spirit animates eternal years Pervades and broods above, Changes, sustains, dissolves, creates and rears Though earth and moon were gone And suns and universes ceased to be And Thou wert left alone Every Existence would exist in thee There is not room for Death Nor atom that his might could render void Since thou art Being and Breath And what thou art may never be destroyed. Emily Bronte

Saturday-We believe that the divine presence is everywhere, and that the eyes of the Lord are in every place. ... but most of all should we believe this without any shadow of doubt, when we are engaged in the work of God." [David Parry,

March 19 Sermon on John 4, Ex. 15, Rom. 5

March 19-Ex. 17,  this is a story on water as well-Instead of sparring the people are complaining. They are stuck on the merely physical, but Jesus leads to a two tiered understanding of the symbolic heft of water.While Moses' response centers on the conflict, God's reaction delivers compassion. In this text, God never condemns the grumbling Hebrews. Moreover, God grants Moses the reassurance of the Divine Presence: "I will be standing there in front of you" (verse 6). In response to the people's petitions, God becomes present and provides.. The term Massah reflects the Hebrew word "place of  testing" while Meribah derives from the word is translated as "place of quarrel."The question--"Is the LORD present among us or not?"--is a deep question of concern when facing real threats. God's actions of presence and provision supply the answer needed by a fearful community.(Garber) Constant complaining  dries up our hearts and minds.God does not complain about the people. God acts to relieve their physical issue.

We know how contentious water rights a can be. We know of the immense  repair costs to the large dam in California and how its spillway threatened many. Ex 17 shows up in the psalms, so some importance to the water issue lasted into the history of israel. With flint Michigan and the fear of horrendous water pollution due to fracking, it continues to be a contentious issue.When I was a boy many of the streams ran bright red and were called sulfur creeks from what is now termed acid mine drainage, due to pollution from coal mining and its attendant waste products piled high in what we called slate dumps.they were virtually devoid of life.

Rom 5 Hogan-. God loves us so much that, even when we were (and are) weak; even while we were (and are) sinners... We have a faithful God who was and is willing to go to any length to reconcile us.Paul paints a picture of God that is in harmony with the portrait of God given to us by Jesus. This is the God who will search high and low for us when we are lost and have wondered off. Ours is the God who runs out to meet us, the prodigal daughters and sons.

Water is an infinitely fluid image.It is the physical necessity for life on this planet.It is precious-I grew up in the old mining area of SW Pa. when i was a child the creeks were orange and called sulfur creeks from mine runoff. Even in chemistry class, the pollutants in that water  seemed countless.Around the same time Lake erie was declared dead due to algae growing in its polluted waters. It still has a long way to go, a sit was a dump site for years.You can fish for steelhead trout there.

John 4. Again we get the comic effect of someone staying at the physical plane alone when Jesus is moving to a different level. It is about having an encounter, as the light of Jesus' truth and love shines on our past and our future, and then  go share his abundant grace gushing up to eternal life in us.(Stamper) This reads to me as a contrast to the previous long Nicodemus story.It too has lots of wordplay. This outsider is more advanced spiritually than the people of the Exodus.\living water =running water-abundance of water in spirit.This seems to me to continue Jesus speaking of being born from above through water and the spirit ( see John &:37-9);  the  waters of baptism apply here.All Christians can be searchers/seekers. We probe the depths of the divine in engagement with us.

John 4-Column on reading Bible with new glasses

A child is able to read the words of the bible with ease, especially with the simplified versions on the market. It takes a lifetime to wrestle with the words of the Bible, to wrest meaning from them as one moves in the life of faith. Our eldest daughter contributed to a paper that considers the hidden injuries and often invisible advantages of different status levels. Whenever we read Scripture, the lenses of status impinge on how we read and hear the Bible. Today, many churches are reading John 4, the meeting of Jesus and a woman at the well. Some of the ways it is read reflect more the reader’s preconceptions than what the text actually indicates.

When one reads John, it is helpful to keep an interpretive rule in mind: John uses the physical as a gateway to the spiritual level; he holds them in tension. To insist on one level is an interpretive mistake, one that these early dialogues demonstrate.

Samaritan- Prejudice was as real as racial prejudice in our time. Very quickly, the Northern and Southern kingdoms of David and Solomon split. The Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom some centuries later and exiled some and forced the immigration of other peoples, as a political attempt to ease nationalistic fervor. The southern kingdom thought that they mixed some other religious beliefs and practices during this time.  One of the things the newly freed southern kingdom did, before the birth of Jesus, was to destroy, allegedly, the Samaritan sanctuary or  temple.

Jewish-for many Christina readers this story serves to show the superiority of an outsider to the religious leader Nicodemus. This is in direct opposition to the text itself where Jesus is clear about the origin of salvation (4:22). In a time when anti-Jewish actions and threats are on the rise, this is a powerful warning to Christians.

Imagining the woman-  I do not know how many times the woman has been imagined, usually by male pastors, to be an ancient version of Elizabeth Taylor’s many marriages. The potential sexuality of the woman’s many marriage sis heightened by the meeting at a well, a venerable Biblical trope for meeting a future spouse. The first sign of Jesus is at the wedding at Cana, and then we have a mention of a bridegroom at 3: 29. The bridegroom then may be read as spiritual level of the deep bond between God and an expanded people. Multiple divorces could only be a product of  a male determination in that legal culture. She may have been widowed multiple times. In all likelihood, she is probably in quite an economic  and social plight. As Fred Craddock notes, “the brighter the nail polish, the darker her mascara, the shorter her skirt, the greater the testimony to the power of the converting word.”

The woman is shown in clear juxtaposition to Nicodemus in chapter 3. While they are both struggling in the darkness of incomprehension, she is the more acute. In a way, she is portrayed as another Eve, but instead of a theological discussion with the sly serpent, she is dealing with Jesus. While Nicodemus remains in the dark and disappears from the account, the woman becomes a witness. Already the sign of the life of Jesus is spreading in the gospel narrative. Already boundaries are being crossed, as walls of separation come down.

Living water could mean a spring or fresh running water. Jesus is pointing toward a water of life redolent of the Scriptures and of baptism itself. We will get a further clue at 7:37-39. There rivers of living (flowing) water are line dot the gift of the outpouring of the Spirit. Her understanding has not reached that level early in the narrative. Like anyone ecounter9ing John’s gospel, she is moving toward enlightenment, moving toward greater, deeper understanding of the identity and message of Jesus.

Column On John 4 and reading the bible with new glasses

A child is able to read the words of the bible with ease, especially with the simplified versions on the market. It takes a lifetime to wrestle with the words of the Bible, to wrest meaning from them as one moves in the life of faith. Our eldest daughter contributed to a paper that considers the hidden injuries and often invisible advantages of different status levels. Whenever we read Scripture, the lenses of status impinge on how we read and hear the Bible. Today, many churches are reading John 4, the meeting of Jesus and a woman at the well. Some of the ways it is read reflect more the reader’s preconceptions than what the text actually indicates.

When one reads John, it is helpful to keep an interpretive rule in mind: John uses the physical as a gateway to the spiritual level; he holds them in tension. To insist on one level is an interpretive mistake, one that these early dialogues demonstrate.

Samaritan- Prejudice was as real as racial prejudice in our time. Very quickly, the Northern and Southern kingdoms of David and Solomon split. The Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom some centuries later and exiled some and forced the immigration of other peoples, as a political attempt to ease nationalistic fervor. The southern kingdom thought that they mixed some other religious beliefs and practices during this time.  One of the things the newly freed southern kingdom did, before the birth of Jesus, was to destroy, allegedly, the Samaritan sanctuary or  temple.

Jewish-for many Christina readers this story serves to show the superiority of an outsider to the religious leader Nicodemus. This is in direct opposition to the text itself where Jesus is clear about the origin of salvation (4:22). In a time when anti-Jewish actions and threats are on the rise, this is a powerful warning to Christians.

Imagining the woman-  I do not know how many times the woman has been imagined, usually by male pastors, to be an ancient version of Elizabeth Taylor’s many marriages. The potential sexuality of the woman’s many marriage sis heightened by the meeting at a well, a venerable Biblical trope for meeting a future spouse. The first sign of Jesus is at the wedding at Cana, and then we have a mention of a bridegroom at 3: 29. The bridegroom then may be read as spiritual level of the deep bond between God and an expanded people. Multiple divorces could only be a product of  a male determination in that legal culture. She may have been widowed multiple times. In all likelihood, she is probably in quite an economic  and social plight. As Fred Craddock notes, “the brighter the nail polish, the darker her mascara, the shorter her skirt, the greater the testimony to the power of the converting word.”

The woman is shown in clear juxtaposition to Nicodemus in chapter 3. While they are both struggling in the darkness of incomprehension, she is the more acute. In a way, she is portrayed as another Eve, but instead of a theological discussion with the sly serpent, she is dealing with Jesus. While Nicodemus remains in the dark and disappears from the account, the woman becomes a witness. Already the sign of the life of Jesus is spreading in the gospel narrative. Already boundaries are being crossed, as walls of separation come down.

Living water could mean a spring or fresh running water. Jesus is pointing toward a water of life redolent of the Scriptures and of baptism itself. We will get a further clue at 7:37-39. There rivers of living (flowing) water are line dot the gift of the outpouring of the Spirit. Her understanding has not reached that level early in the narrative. Like anyone ecountering John’s gospel, she is moving toward enlightenment, moving toward greater, deeper understanding of the identity and message of Jesus.