Eastern Mennonite grad takes on pro-life ethics in new book
“This is a book about killing.” That’s the opening descriptive line in Eastern Mennonite Seminary grad Rob Arner’s new book.
Arner, of Holland, a village in Bucks County, Pa., is a 2007 master of arts in religion graduate of the seminary. His recently-published “Consistently Pro-Life: The Ethics of Bloodshed in Ancient Christianity” is an extension of his master of arts in religion thesis at EMS. The book was chosen for publication by Pickwick Publications, a division of Wipf and Stock.
Arner, who grew up United Methodist, came to EMS hoping to better understand pacifism.
“I chose EMS because I wanted to explore the peace church trajectory as a faithful calling of Christian discipleship,” said Arner.
“During ‘Christian Tradition’ class my first semester, I heard about the Constantinian shift,” he said.
“I learned that one of many changes during this time was that the ancient Christian church changed from being pacifist and opposed to war to embracing violence. This intrigued me, and I began reading the works of the ancient Christian church find out more,” Arner continued.
“A theory began to suggest itself to me—no matter which century in the early church, or which part of the empire, every early Christian author that I encountered denounced human bloodshed in a variety of contexts – from abortion, to killing in war, and everything in between, espousing and living a consistently pro-life ethic.
“In this book I want to challenge both liberal and conservative readers on their assumptions about the taking o f human life,” Arner stated. “The gospel of Jesus is neither liberal nor conservative, and I make the case in this book that the Christians of the first three centuries consistently maintained that ALL killing is incompatible with the teaching and example of Jesus.”
In a review of the book, Mark Thiessen Nation, professor of theology at EMS, said, “No one has reminded us as clearly as Arner, in this compelling and wonderfully written book, that if we are to be true to the substance of the teachings of the Ancient Church, true to the Spirit by which it was animated, then we must recover their commitment to a Consistently Pro-Life theological ethic.”
Arner is currently working on his PhD at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. He is also an adjunct instructor at Chestnut Hill College and Eastern Mennnonite Seminary’s Lancaster (PA) campus.
Arner’s 152 page book is available through Wipf and Stock online at wipfandstock.com for $13.60.
Eastern Mennonite Seminary is a graduate school of theological education on the campus of Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Va., offering three-, two- and one-year programs of study.
Story by Laura Lehman Amstutz
Bruce Sallan: Being a teenager can be wonder-full
It’s so easy to complain about our teens. I know I’m guilty of too often dishing out criticisms, admonishments, and lectures. I worry that my boys might be doing drugs, drinking, or some other peer-pressure stupidity. But, they also deserve my support when they do well and my understanding when they slip up.
My 16-year-old, Will, recently bounded into my office, eager to talk. Wisely, I pulled away from the hypnotic lure of my computer, and faced him squarely, ready for whatever followed.
Normally, when Will comes to talk to me, I am concerned that he either wants something or is going to confess something that I wish I didn’t have to hear. This time, I listened. And I listened and I listened. I smiled, I nodded, I grunted. But, mostly I listened. He had made a remarkable discovery! What was this remarkable revelation? “Life is complicated and full of wonder and amazing things. Where did life come from? Why do we sleep? How does our brain work? Why are there different languages and how did they evolve?” He literally rambled off these and other subjects, as if he’d just discovered the wheel!
Will didn’t want me to offer any feedback: he just wanted to share with me his marvelous realizations. I just sat there and patiently let him passionately express these extraordinary questions. After maybe 15 minutes, he didn’t need me anymore and jumped up and left to call his girlfriend and share with her what he’d just voiced.
Later, as we were all getting ready for bed, he came into our bedroom, where my wife was lying down reading, and I had just come in to get ready for bed. He leaped on our chaise lounge, fell off to the side, and scrambled up laughing at his clumsiness. He then proclaimed, “I love this family,” and proceeded to elaborate for a couple more minutes.
My wife and I actually wondered if Will had taken some drugs, as he seemed so high. But, he hadn’t, and was apparently just being a teenager–a teen enjoying the “wonder-full-ness” of life.
That is my point. The older we get, the more we forget the wonder of youth, the wonder of being a teenager–discovering new worlds to explore and the new ideas that we feel are just ours. (Okay, let’s hear the Star Trek theme now).
Being a teenager means discovering the world. I think adults too often squash that sense of wonder with the desire to have our kids conform. That was my discovery during the short 18 months that I home-schooled Will, since the lack of conforming public school curriculum and class management allowed Will to learn so much more than he otherwise would have under the structure of public school. It’s why I believe home-schooling is really much better for some kids and, at the time, was the very best thing I could have done for Will.
The job of parents is to introduce our children to the world, to give them exposure to as much as we can, and to allow them to choose their paths. I know that early in my parenting, I had my ideas of what I wanted for my sons that were based on my own particular interests and desires. Fortunately, I got over that selfish instinct and ended up supporting my boys’ own interests and dreams. I know too many parents that are single-minded in pushing their kids in the directions these parents think is best while not taking into consideration their kids interests, skills, and desires.
This is dramatically evident in the sports arena, where kids are sometimes literally forced to participate in a sport in which they have no interest. The reason is simply the parents’ ego and vicarious desire to live through their kids. It is so wrong. We also see this in the over-the-top push that parents often inflict on their kids to excel at school so that they can get into this or that college that the parents deem best for their child.
I wonder if it ever occurred to those parents that their son or daughter might actually be better off with a year off between high school and college? Or, maybe not even going to college! Not every kid should go to college. Couldn’t college wait a year or two while these high school grads explore life on their own? Maybe they can see a bit more of the world rather than just continue in what can be the cocoon of education and parental (financial) support?
I may have wanted my sons to be great skiers, or get into an Ivy League college, but now I want them to fulfill their own passions and find the same joy in what they do that I’ve been blessed to find in my writing and now, my radio show as well. I urge you to do the same!
Read more from Bruce Sallan online at www.brucesallan.com.
Haresh Daswani: Wealth, power and product lifecycle
After thorough reflection, one has to redefine wealth as having something of value that is beyond monetary. It is also seen that a person of great experience has a wealth of experience, or that a sociable person is wealthy with friends. What is of a newer view with wealth, albeit monetary or otherwise, is that anything one has of value, one is accountable for. Wealth is actually a liability in a sense that one is accountable for how is that of value being utilized. When there is accountability, then one understands that one therefore has no personal possession of anything of value, but responsibility.
It is therefore imperative that wealth be used in a holistically positive manner. Wealth, like leadership or authority, is not having power over the others, but being accountable to ensure that the noble intentions for the sake of creating positivity is therefore met and provided in the field of both private and public concerns. Wealth is responsibility over general affairs. This of course, does not mean that one who is materially wealthy involves all one’s wealth in charitable affairs. One who is financially wealthy should choose the proper utilization of one’s wealth. It should be of benefit to all which therefore makes its use dignified. One who uses wealth to cause harm is abusing wealth, and one who exploits or deceives the other to obtain wealth is also abusing wealth. Harm caused need not be to others, but to oneself as well. Abuse of wealth will, over time, cause one’s right to be accountable to diminish due to misuse. This has shown great evidence with titanic corporations who have been discovered to be abusive, and their consequences are deserving to their fate accordingly.
It is when one realizes that wealth is an accountability that one realizes the need to establish corporate social responsibility, for one to utilize not only financial wealth but one’s innate core competencies for the holistic benefit that one therefore finds themselves in a more sustainable state, with better peace of mind, and a more solid foundation built on strong values and ethics.
Another strong aspect that brings new light is discovering the use and benefit deriving action to consequence. In its primal state, one has an object utilized and gain its intended consequence as its output. What one has to review is the efficiency of use, on how much of the product is the actual intended output or consequence, and how much of the others become residual or side effects that might not have been intended, and how are these side effects also put to good use.
One can better understand this as consuming food for body sustenance, the amount of nutrients should be the intended consequence, but consuming the wrong food would also mean negative side effects to the body, resulting in inefficiency. The food consumed is therefore inefficient for the body, and its consequence will cause the body greater inefficiency.
The more focused and balanced one’s meal is, the more beneficial it becomes for the body, making it more efficient. But another side effect would be excrement, which is an actual vital source of nutrients for the flora genre. This side effect is not being put in proper use when sent through sewage, where it causes more harm than good when its decomposition does not become of benefit for the plants.
In this deeper point of reflection, one can see that there is much more that can be done with a few reflections in one’s choice of action. Priority should be given to one’s core design, to be of positive service for the universe and its greater good.
Column by Haresh Daswani. Submit guest columns, op-eds and letters to the editor at freepress2@ntelos.net.
Jim Bishop: Going to Surf City, gonna have some fun, yeah …
Want a real test of love? See how well your family relates to each other while being cooped up in a room together on a beach vacation as the rain beats against the windows facing the ocean.
Sooner or later, the grandkids, five-year old twins in our case, will start picking on each other and then their parents and if that doesn’t bring the desired response, move on to the grandparents.
Anna and I, along with our daughter Sara and family, were spending a week in a duplex right on the beach in the Topsail Island, N.C., village of Surf City (not the place Jan & Dean made famous). The place was small, nothing fancy, but adequate for our size group. The area is less commercialized and beach houses stretch on for miles. This is when a boardwalk, such as the traditional one that has rescued us many times in the past just one block away from our rental place in Ocean City, N.J., would come in handy.
We don’t have this option readily available here the several times the weather favored the local wildlife rather than us vacationers, so we work on alternative strategies to fend off familial stress disorder.
It helps to have a large flat-screen television in the living room area with a bazillion channels available on the cable system – some better speed-dialed through with big-eyed youngsters looking on – and the Disney Channel and UNC-TV public television system serving up some decent fare with high-definition images. There’s also a stash of DVDs on hand and a variety of board games. I play “Scrabble” for the first time in years – and lose to Sara (I was left stranded with the letters “Q” and “Z”).
The water is warmer and appears so much clearer here, largely devoid of seaweed and those nasty jellyfish that often invade the Ocean City beaches. This is only the third summer since 1975 that we didn’t make tracks to “America’s Greatest Family Resort.” It might be awhile before we return there.
The best part of each day: sitting on the deck overlooking the water, slowly imbibing that second cup of robust coffee and becoming mesmerized by the waves pounding the shoreline. A fisherman standing out in the surf when we’re just getting up and still casting his line when we call it a day tells me the rest of his family “likes to sit and read” on vacation, while he “has to be more active – might as well be fishing.” He filets and pan-fries his catch of the day – “nothing like it,” he smiles.
Speaking of which, we ventured out for supper one evening to a local seafood restaurant and I’ve have never been in a noisier eating establishment in my life. We paid too much for quite ordinary fare, but made up for it by finding an ice cream parlor nearby with a 50’s motif. I dropped a quarter into an authentic Rockola jukebox and watched the original Atco 45 disc plop onto the turntable. Walden Robert Cossotto, aka Bobby Darin, crooned his 1959 hit, “Dream Lover.”
By midweek I’m standing in the surf and telling myself I must be unwinding. I need to think what day of the week it is and, like the Chicago song inquires, “Does anybody know what time it is? Does anybody really care?”
Pretty, dainty shells with interesting markings cover the beach. I’d pick one up, thinking it’s a keeper, then find another that surpasses the appeal of the previous one. Grand kids Grant and Megan had a blast picking up shells and deciding which ones to keep. They had a bagful to haul back to Virginia by the end of the week. I even gathered my own small collection, which now decorates a bookshelf in the office.
I spent a major block of time in the pounding surf with the twins. I think both my arms were stretched a half inch, hanging on to trusting little fingers.
“Jump, Paw-Paw!” they’d cry, and then emit screams of delight as the waves smacked against them and eventually knocked them over. “Get all wet!” Grant ordered, and I’d comply. The water was so warm and felt good, even if the sand accumulating in my bathing suit didn’t. It was memory-building time; it’s a grandparent’s mission.
At first, I felt out of my comfort zone in this different vacation space, but my persistent spouse was right once again: “We need to check out new places – it’s an adventure,” she insists – and while it’s good to be safely back home, I’m so glad we heeded the clarion call to go down to the sea again.
Column by Jim Bishop. Submit guest columns, op-eds and letters to the editor at freepress2@ntelos.net.
Lunch with the Generals Day
The new Waynesboro Chick-fil-A is hosting the Waynesboro Generals on Wednesday, July 28, at Lunch with the Generals Day.
Waynesboro Generals players will be at the restaurant in the Waynesboro Town Center from 11:30 a.m. to 1;30 p.m. to meet with fans, sign autographs, pose for pictures and more.
Come out and have lunch with the Generals.
Story by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
Rapids down Generals, 4-2
The eighth inning was cruel to Waynesboro Tuesday. A failed suicide squeeze in the top half of the inning and some successful small ball by Rockbridge in the bottom half proved to be the difference as the Rapids defeated the Generals 4-2.
A leadoff double by Jared King had Waynesboro, then down 2-1, in business. A Colin Harrington sacrifice bunt moved King to third with one out. Manager Derek McDaniel put the squeeze on with leadoff hitter Jon Clinard at the plate, but the 1-1 pitch was well outside the strike zone, and King was tagged out by Rockbridge catcher Dillon Way. Clinard then grounded out to end the inning.
A pair of infield hits by Way and Shane Davis led off the bottom of the eighth for Rockbridge. A wild pitch by reliever Justin Thompson moved the runners to second and third, and Andrew Siano followed with a two-RBI single that made it 4-1.
A two-out ninth-inning single by Chase Worthington scored Drew Turocy to make it 4-2 and bring the tying run to the plate, but T.J. Kuban grounded out to end it.
Michael Reed (0-4) took the loss for Waynesboro in a solid effort, giving up two runs, one earned, in six and two-thirds innings.
Chris Griener (2-2) picked up the win for Rockbridge, which has now won four in a row overall.
Story by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
The World According To ChrisGraham.com: A Democratic surge?
Polls are what they are – snapshots in time with value dependent upon a variety of factors. They can tell us a lot, or they can tell us nothing.
Trouble is most of the time there’s a fine line between them telling us a lot or nothing, and we’re usually not aware of the distinction until after the fact.
Case in point: Recent polls by Public Policy Polling and Gallup measuring voter attitudes toward Congress on a generic congressional ballot. PPP measures a 43 percent-to-43 percent dead heat in voter preferences between Democrats and Republicans. Gallup, for its part, has Democrats surging ahead of Republicans by a 49 percent-to-43 percent margin.
Link to column on TheWorldAccordingToChrisGraham.com.
Poll: Hurt has big early lead over Perriello
Republicans need the Fifth District to take back control of Congress. The Fifth appears to be the GOP’s for the taking, according to a Survey USA poll released on Tuesday.
The poll has Republican challenger Robert Hurt leading Democratic incumbent Tom Perriello by a 58 percent-to-35 percent margin. Independent Jeffrey Clark polls 4 percent.
Hurt, a state senator from Danville, leads in most of the major demographic areas – among meny by a 19-point gap, among women by 26 points, among independents by 11, and even among the 18-34 cohort that was key to Perriello’s success in 2008 by a whopping 32 points.
Perriello didn’t poll well in his ’08 upset of GOP incumbent Virgil Goode, trailing by as many as 35 points as late as August in one Survey USA poll before knocking off Goode by 727 votes on Election Day.
Link to the poll internals: here.
Edited by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
Art Center fundraiser: Bingo with bling
Not “bingo,” but “blingo.”
“This event is for everyone, but the turnout usually ends up being a ladies night out,” said Beth Hodge, the executive director of the Staunton Augusta Art Center, which is holding its Blingo fundraiser Wednesday night at Downtown at the Clock Tower in Downtown Staunton.
Tickets are $30, which include a bingo card, hors d’ourvres, and entertainment.
Donations of various bling-y items have been made by local artists and businesses for the prizes, which are anything from Native American silver bracelets encrusted with semi-precious stones to a Mickey Mouse watch.
Prizes throughout the night are jewelry, except for the very last game that is going to be played. To play the last game, you must pay an extra $25 for a ticket. The grand prize is a seven-day stay in a condominium at Emerald Isle, N.C. The condominium is two bedrooms and two bathrooms and is beachfront.
Proceeds go from the event to the Staunton Augusta Art Center.
If you are feeling fancy, a limited number of VIP tickets are available for $50, which gets you into a VIP lounge complete with your own wait service and bathroom.
There is even a special cocktail being designed for this event called the Blue Jewel, which just so happens to come with a blue jewel in your glass.
Tickets are $5 per cocktail and $3 for beer.
Tickets for this event can be purchased at Arthur’s Gallery, Celebrate, or the Smith Center, all located in Downtown Staunton, or may also be purchased at the door the night of the event.
The doors open at 6:30 p.m., and the games begin at 7 p.m.
Story by Jenny Hypes. Jenny can be reached at jenny.hypes@emu.edu.
Tickets on sale for Hairspray
ShenanArts will be hosting the Virginia premiere of the recent Broadway hit musical Hairspray beginning Aug. 12.
The local production, based on the film written and directed by John Waters, is being directed by one-time “American Idol” contestant Colon Berry, who also co-stars as Link Larkin, the resident hunk of “The Corny Collins Show.” The storyline revolves around that show and the plus-sized heroine of Hairspray!, Tracy Turnblad (Justine Juart), who has a passion for dancing and dreams of being able perform on the show.
Hairspray runs Aug. 12-Aug. 22 with Thursday, Friday and Saturday performances at 7 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 3 p.m.
Tickets are on sale now at www.shenanarts.org.
Edited by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
Chamber looks for leaders
The Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce is taking applications for its 2010 Community Leadership Program through Aug. 13.
The program is designed as an avenue for the development of tomorrow’s community leaders. Since its inception in 1979, the program has graduated more than 800 community leaders.
Each year, individuals from all business sectors, identified as having outstanding potential for community leadership development, are selected by sponsoring companies and organizations and offered a dynamic leadership experience. The leadership program is an excellent opportunity for a new employee, or one who is moving up the company ladder, to make valuable contacts while building lifelong relationships with other business people in the community.
“The Chamber Community Leadership Program is a great way to get connected and involved,” said Cory Davies of Rockingham Memorial Hospital, a member of last year’s CLP Class. “My experience in the program has helped me build a much deeper understanding of the many organizations, industries, and services that come together to form our great community.”
The leadership program brings together participants once a month, beginning in August 2010 through May 2011 for half-day sessions. Participants typically come from diverse backgrounds and varying perspectives to learn more about themselves and the opportunities and challenges facing our community and the surrounding areas. In the Leadership Program, people share their ideas and experiences with each other, gain new skills and knowledge that can be applied in their personal and professional lives, and develop plans and for implementing a community betterment project.
The Chamber’s Community Leadership Program includes ten engaging sessions that provide everyone who participates with a foundation of basic leadership skills and knowledge fine-tuned to Harrisonburg and Rockingham County’s needs. The curriculum includes:
1. Teambuilding – (September)
2. Workplace Communication – (September)
3. Public Safety – (October)
4. Education – (November)
5. Local Non-Profits – (December)
6. Community Sustainability – (January)
7. Community Development – (February)
8. Local Government & Legislative Affairs – (March)
9. Arts – (April)
10. Group Project – Project Management (ongoing)
“The Chamber’s Community Leadership Program is designed to cultivate new local leaders for the benefit of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County’s future,” said Frank Tamberrino, President of the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce. “We invite businesses to invest in your community and in your employees’ professional success by signing them up for the Chamber’s Community Leadership Program.”
The class size is limited to encourage interaction and leadership skills development so register early. Applications are reviewed upon submission.
For more information or to apply, visit www.hrchamber.org. The application deadline for the Community Leadership Program is Monday Aug. 13.
Edited by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
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Mark Warner: Every Virginian has a stake in Wall Street reforms
Posted on July 21, 2010 · 1 Comment
Eighteen months ago, our nation was on the verge of an economic catastrophe. Many families became over-extended and a lot of businesses got overleveraged, triggering a financial storm that also hurt many Virginians who were playing by the rules: retirement savings and college saving funds were devastated, home values plummeted, and many of our small businesses had to close their doors.
But modern new financial rules of the road that become law today will help create a 21st century financial system that works for all Americans – not just the big banks.
More importantly, we have created a framework for economic recovery and growth.
As a new member of the Senate Banking Committee, I was proud to be asked to help lead a bipartisan effort to address how we could better monitor, and disentangle, complex and interconnected financial companies that get themselves into trouble.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to hear the words “too big to fail” ever again.
So we have designed several new tools that should allow regulators to recognize when one of these financial firms is on the verge of failure. They will have the ability to impose tough new capital and leverage requirements that actually make it undesirable for any financial firm to get too big.
The legislation creates an “early warning” council of regulators who will be empowered to compare notes and identify and address systemic risks posed by these companies, their products, or their activities before they can threaten the stability of our overall economy.
These financial companies must periodically submit “funeral plans” with a roadmap for their own rapid and orderly shutdown should the company go under.
These new tripwires will allow us to “unwind” these failing corporations through an orderly bankruptcy process, and all of this will occur at the expense of the financial industry – not the American taxpayers.
That means company executives, members of their board and their investors will pay the price for their company’s financial mistakes. These failing companies will be put out-of-business. They will not be propped-up by the taxpayers, like we saw with AIG and CitiGroup.
In addition, these new reforms put an end to many predatory and deceptive lending practices. Every consumer will be empowered by access to clear and concise information they need to make the financial decisions that are right for them.
The bill creates an independent consumer watchdog at the Federal Reserve, with the authority to ensure that consumers get the information they need to shop for mortgages, credit cards, and other financial products. Never again will Virginians be treated unfairly because of the “fine print” or hidden bank fees.
Virginia’s smaller, community-based banks and credit unions – local financial companies who followed the rules and did nothing to trigger the 2008 financial catastrophe — are exempted from many of these new requirements.
We also provide tough new rules for transparency and accountability for the Wall Street credit rating agencies. That means investors and shareholders who want to see their companies grow and prosper will have greater access to more relevant information they need to make responsible financial decisions
The legislation takes responsible steps to stop the Wall Street practice of shopping around for the weakest possible regulatory oversight.
It also eliminates loopholes that allowed risky and abusive practices to go unnoticed and unregulated, including loopholes for over-the-counter derivatives, asset-backed securities, hedge funds and mortgage brokers.
I recognize that simply passing this legislation is only half of the challenge: now these new requirements must be implemented in a responsible and rational way.
The legislation does not address the problems and abuses at the federally supported home loan agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. After we see more signs of stability in the housing markets, Congress must address those challenges – hopefully next year.
But two years after a financial meltdown, I believe we have acted appropriately to ensure that a similar crisis does not happen again.
We have provided consistent and rational oversight within the financial markets – new rules that will allow our country to compete globally even as we grow our economy locally.
When the American financial system operates on principles of fairness and openness that promote economic growth and stability, we all win.
Mark Warner represents Virginia in the United States Senate.
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