Century Marks

Real money: By one estimate, the war in Iraq may eventually cost the United States $2 trillion. Which raises the question: how else could we have used this money? According to Nicholas D. Kristof (New York Times, October 24), it is four times the amount of money needed to stabilize the Social Security system for the next 75 years, and it is four times the amount needed to provide health care insurance for all uninsured Americans for the next decade. Every minute we stay in Iraq costs another $380,000.

Real money: By one estimate, the war in Iraq may eventually cost the United States $2 trillion. Which raises the question: how else could we have used this money? According to Nicholas D. Kristof (New York Times, October 24), it is four times the amount of money needed to stabilize the Social Security system for the next 75 years, and it is four times the amount needed to provide health care insurance for all uninsured Americans for the next decade. Every minute we stay in Iraq costs another $380,000.

Gotcha—take one: When member of Congress Lynn Westmoreland (R., Ga.), who cosponsored a bill to display the Ten Commandments in the U.S. Capitol, appeared on The Colbert Report, host Stephen Colbert asked him to name all ten. Caught off guard, Westmoreland had trouble naming three (Chicago Tribune, October 22; interview appears at youtube.com).

First Pluto, now limbo: The Catholic concept of limbo is about to be put out of business. Pope Benedict XVI is expected to disavow the place where unbaptized babies and those who lived before the time of Christ were thought to live for all eternity—on the limbus of heaven; that is, on its border, according to speculation by St. Augustine (Philadelphia Inquirer, October 6).

Take this to court: People who think the Ten Commandments should be displayed in public places have a new option: having them tattooed on their arms or other visible places on their bodies. Check out the religious tattoos at www.religioustattoos.net.

Knit together: Jacqueline Novogratz tells the story of a favorite sweater that she wore for years. When she was 12 she finally donated the sweater to Goodwill. Then, 12 years later, she was jogging in Rwanda and saw a small boy wearing a sweater. She ran up to him and took a look at the collar: her name was on it! For Novogratz, the experience confirmed the interconnectedness of the human family (Atlantic Monthly, October).

A billion here, a billion there: Every two years or so the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi issues this claim: he could eliminate global terrorism by creating a “spiritual force field” with donations from billionaires (Chicago Sun-Times, August 29).

Eyes to see: When two of Motti Tamam’s brothers were killed by a Hezbollah rocket, the Israeli asked that his brothers’ eyes be available for transplant. One of the recipients was an Arab, Nikola Elias, who was blind in one eye and had little vision in the other. The two men later met, shook hands and exchanged phone numbers (ABC News, August 10).

How dare he? When retired Anglican archbishop Desmond Tutu spoke in a Seattle cathedral, the audience was prepared to applaud him for his part in ending the apartheid regime in South Africa. However, people were apparently miffed when Tutu criticized members of the congregation for not bringing their Bibles to church. Few shook his hand as they left the cathedral (Thomas Trzyna, Blessed Are the Pacifists, Herald Press, forthcoming).

Truth in fiction: Fiction often captures a historical moment. Already a number of novels have appeared that deal with the 9/11 terrorist attacks and their aftermath: John Updike, Terrorist; Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close; Jay McInerney, The Good Life; and Lorraine Adams, Harbor (Chicago Tribune, July 15).

Hot air: Although Americans drive just 30 percent of the world’s nearly 700 million motor vehicles, they account for nearly half of the greenhouse gases emitted by vehicles worldwide. The reason? Americans drive farther and their cars get lower mileage and use fuel with more carbon content (Los Angeles Times, June 28).

Most valuable payer: Dwyane Wade was the Most Valuable Player in the recent NBA basketball finals, in which his team, the Miami Heat, beat the Dallas Mavericks. Wade, who just completed his third year of professional basketball, is already being compared to Michael Jordan, the best player of all time. But perhaps Wade should be known for another trait: he tithes 10 percent of his $3.03 million income to his home church in Chicago (www.time.com).

God squad:The Colorado Rockies baseball organization wants players with character, and that appears to mean they are looking for evangelical Christians. At least three major league teams are sponsoring promotional "faith days," appealing to church groups with discounted tickets and the prospect of entertainment by Christian musicians and speakers (www.thenation.com, June 2).

Congregants at a church in Georgia did a double take during a recent sermon. Filmed with a high-definition camera, pastor Andy Stanley's face on the screen was so lifelike that some thought he was there with them. Not so. "Godcasting” is when churches use remote feeds, either live or by DVD, to bring a pastor's sermon to several congregations at the same time (Christian Science Monitor, May 18).

Americans produce 472 billion pounds of trash each year, including 96 billion pounds of wasted food—more than 300 pounds per person. (Discover, June).

How can you tell if someone is Lutheran? When the minister cracks a joke during the sermon, a Lutheran will smile right out loud (Dennis Fakes, the Joyful Noiseletter).

A Century reader reported seeing a church sign in western New York that said, “If you’re through with sin, come on in.” Somebody wrote below it: “If not, phone 425-XXXX.”

Jonathan Tasini, a Jew who is running for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate, says that U.S. Jews must speak out about American foreign policy on Israel. He believes "there will only be a just peace agreement when a Palestinian state—a strong, vibrant, prosperous, independent state, able to provide jobs and a good life for its people—thrives alongside Israel.” (rachelswords.org).

After scripture scholar Phyllis Trible lectured on the story in Judges 19 about a woman who was gang-raped, murdered and dismembered, a woman came up to Trible weeping, saying that she too had been raped, and didn’t know the Bible contained "her" story. Rather than being offended by its inclusion, the woman felt blessed by it. “You never throw away any part of the Bible,” says Trible. “You never know when . . . it will relate to a reader.”

The hidden Jesus: After the end of the Japanese occupation of Burma in 1945, the minority population of Christians feared for their lives in the face of some Buddhist mobs. Myanmar theologian Anna May Chain said that during this time her family was taken in by friendly Muslims—the males were hidden in a mosque and the females were led from one safe house to another. Later they were sheltered in a prison where Buddhists jeopardized their own well-being by bringing them food, medicine and clothes. They finally found refuge in a convent run by Catholics, then considered “outsiders” by Protestants. At this very vulnerable time in the life of her family, said Chain, Muslims, Buddhists and Catholics were like Jesus to them, offering hospitality and charity (address at the World Council of Churches Ninth Assembly).