bailing out

Okay, I'm finally stretching my brain around the whole bailout issue. It didn't really hit my personal tripwire until I read of the Citibank bailout this morning. I've done precious little if any business with AIG or any of the other companies rescued so far. As to the big three auto makers, I am a Toyota man. I bought my first Toyota in 1989 (a pickup I finally sold this past year), and have owned three others besides. They are solidly built, comfortable, reliable, economical vehicles. Detroit has yet to offer anything comparable, in my opinion. And judging by the car lots and TV commercials I've seen, Detroit is still marketing gas-guzzling pickups and SUVs to the testosterone-addled mega-hauling crowd. They don't need a bailout so much as some intelligent leadership. But, hey, I get it that a pretty good percentage of our work-force is tied to the auto industry. So, a pretty good percentage of our economy is tied to counter-intuitive thinking and empty suits. They insist on blaming the unions for their lack of competitiveness, but last I checked, Toyotas and Hondas cost MORE than comparable American vehicles. The Japanese aren't eating Detroit's lunch because their products are cheaper. They are eating Detroit's lunch because they are building better products that American drivers want to buy!

But I digress. The reason the Citibank bailout strikes me is because Citi and I have an ongoing relationship. I have a Citibank credit card with a healthy (for them) balance. Times are tight right now, but Citibank will not lift a finger to bail me out. And if I am late on two payments in any twelve month period, my interest rate will more than double overnight. In fact, if I am late on a utility payment, go temporarily delinquent on an auto loan, or fall even a few days behind on some other credit card payment, Citibank reserves the right to turn the screws to me -- check your credit card agreement, they can do it to you, too! (Thank VP-elect Joe Biden for that...he helped make it law.) So the ordinary consumer can't afford to bleed the least little bit in the water, because, legally, that will result in all the sharks attacking!

What this all tells us is that government of the people, for the people, by the people has very nearly perished from this earth. It is all stacked against us. Our representatives on the local, state and federal level don't seem to have a subtract button on their budget calculators, and most have bought into thoroughly debunked "trickle down" theory rather than protecting the engine that drives the economy: the middle class. Duh!

I am not saying "tax the rich." Those reps who come home and gloat over this or that government grant they have landed are playing a shell game, calling themselves heroes for taking an ever-growing portion of our income and then returning an ever-shrinking portion of our money back to us. I don't see this ending well. I believe Jesus was right in saying "Give unto Caeser what is Caeser's," but he wasn't commenting on a representative democracy. We, the governed, now have a say in governance...or so we have been taught.

What's a good Christian citizen to do? Pray first, then raise holy hell?!? Could be. What do you think of the state of our economy and the solutions offered by government on various levels? How does your faith inform your response? Let's discuss...

Open and Affirming

Okay, here goes. The leadership team at West Bloomfield Congregational Church, UCC has arrived at the following statement. We will ask our congregation to pray over it, study it and then vote on adopting it as our own at our annual meeting January 4, 2009. Most who have read this statement see it as a simple formalizing of what we have already practiced for decades.


We know as Christians that we are many members, but are one body in Christ. We are members of one another, and we all have different gifts. With Jesus, we are called to love our neighbors as ourselves. We are called to act as agents of reconciliation and wholeness within the world and within the church itself. We join together as a loving Christian community to celebrate and share our common communion and the reassurance that we are indeed created by God, reconciled by Christ and empowered by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we do not discriminate against any person, group or organization in membership, appointment, use of facility, provision of services, funding, hiring, or promotion on the basis of sexual orientation, race, gender, age, nationality, ethnicity, economic status, marital status, or physical disability.

That is all there is to it. Yet, that is not all there is to it. To say we will openly embrace, encourage, and even hire anyone regardless of their sexual orientation is not an uncontroversial thing. I know a few of our church members are deeply troubled by this step. We will be speaking about it over the next few weeks in our church, especially in light of explicit Biblical chapter and verse that seem to contradict our stance. This is a deep issue and must not be approached carelessly.
What's your opinion?