Compassion

I just watched the Compassion Forum between Obama and Clinton on CNN. (Disclaimer: I have been a supporter on Barack Obama and truly think we need him to be President.)

It was an interesting discussion. I think Obama in the whole came off better then Clinton. She seemed more stilted, more mechanical then Obama. He blundered a little in the early questions I thought. He was vague on the question of when life begins. He said he didn't know. I would have preferred he be more definite or precise on the answer. It would have shown some more thought. He was also a little unprepared sounding on the ending of life question. I liked the answer on the interpretation of "did God create the earth in 6 days?" He said he believed in God created the world but days may have been some thing we put into the bible to help understand. He also gave a commitment to try and reduce poverty by half in ten years.

As for Clinton, I've rarely seen someone talk about a personal matter with less personality. If that's her softer side I'm worried. And I like her.

For both of them, I wish politicians could answer a question with their true feelings. Not a planned carefully crafted answer. Answering questions about your faith shouldn't be a poll tested answer. Take a chance, the American public can take it.

The Middle East

There have been two recent news events that have received very little coverage but I'm curious about.

One, Iran's role in the settling of the fighting in Basra a little while ago. I've heard two brief mentions of their involvement but no details. I know the current administration is no friend to the current Iranian leadership. And especially to their involvement in Iraq, which has been proven to be adversarial at times. But I also think it is blind to not see that Iran will have a strong role in the region and that the more it can be a peaceful one and the more interaction we can have with the country the better. If they're going to be a power in the region wouldn't we like to have influence with them.

The second thing was a brief report on BBC Global News that 15 Muslim groups have signed a petition presented at a meeting of the Arab League pressing for a concerted effort to end the situation in Darfur. The head of the Muslim community in Nigeria said it was unacceptable for anyone to stand by and do nothing while watching such suffering. That's the last I heard of it. But again, I think strong regional action to help solve this problem is crucial to finally ending it. While he's right that no one should stand by, regional powers can often have a great influence.

And both these situations are real demonstrations of Islam reaching out to Islam to solve problems and to bring peace. Moves that can only help the view of the west towards a more compassionate and understanding approach.

Government?

As you may know this country has farm subsidies that make some farmers rich without growing anything. Some subsidies are OK but many are not, but that is not what I'm writing about tonight. It's a hugely messed up system

The farm subsidies bill is being renegotiated currently in congress. One of the amendments being slipped in is a subsidy for race horse owners, not a usually impoverished group. Who's adding it in you may ask? Senate Mitch McConnell from, you guessed it, Kentucky. That's our current government for you.

Just a phrase

First of all, I am a Barak Obama supporter but I haven't named this blog The Fierce Urgency of Now for that reason. Nor did I name it that because of Martin Luther King Jr's origination of the phrase during the hight of the Civil Rights movement. I used it because it still rings true. There is a fierce urgency of now. The urgency of bringing 1.1 billion people out of extreme poverty. The urgency of ending the war in Iraq and restoring that country to a stable, self-sufficient political entity. The urgency of ending the half a century old war between the Israelis and the Palestinians. The urgency of bringing stability and growth to sub-Saharan Africa.

I don't have the answers right now. I don't even know if there are answers. And there are many more problems that need to be solved then the few I've mentioned before. But I wanted a place to share my thoughts and more importantly to hear the thoughts of you and anyone out there who wanted to share them.

Dialogues, conversations and communications are the way to find solutions. Not necessarily solutions to bringing peace to the world, but solutions to making life better for those in areas of poverty or conflict. What do people around the world think of the problems I've listed above or the problems of their area? I watch the news here in the US. I listen to the BBC. I read al Jazeera's website. But all news is run through political filters. I assume comments here will be as well but I urge you to be open about them.

I hope you have comments. I'll add thoughts to this as I have them.

Thanks, Benjamin