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When medieval mapmakers came to the end of the known world, they would write on the edges of their maps, “Here Be Dragons.” Recently, disputes over core ideas have led the evangelical community into unsettling territory. Will we find our way out? James Emery White sets his sights for the new world Christ is mapping for us.
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S e p t e m b e r 2 5 , 2 0 1 0 / V O L U ME 2 5 / N U MBER 1 9
CONTENTS F E AT UR E S
38 Rookie season
2010 elections A surprising number of doctors and businessmen are setting aside their stethoscopes and spreadsheets to run for Congress—and they’re running well
42 Dying dogs
Conservative Democrats—blue dogs in red districts—may become an endangered species after the elections in November
45 Swinging back
After bringing Democrats to power in 2008, voters in the struggling states of Ohio and Michigan are preparing to register their regret at the polls
50 Anchors away
The debate over birthright citizenship hits hardest on the hospital ward
54 Fear at Fanda
DISPATCHES 9 News 18 Human Race 20 Quotables 22 Quick Takes
A sexual abuse scandal at a New Tribes Mission boarding school in West Africa reveals a long tale of childhood suffering and the poor record of missionary accountability
60 Right to higher hiring
Can faith-based relief organizations employ only like-minded workers? A recent court ruling says yes, but the groups themselves have varying answers
62 Works in progress
50
Reviews 27 Movies & TV 30 Books 32 Q&A 34 Music
Independent filmmakers Steve & Mary Pruitt are learning the high-stakes business of making movies as they go ON THE COVER: Illustration by Krieg Barrie; photos (left to right): candidates Dan Benishek, Stephen Fincher, Larry Bucshon, Scott DesJarlais, Scott Rigell; behind the dome: Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi
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notebook 67 Lifestyle 70 Technology 72 Science 73 Houses of God 74 Sports 76 Money
60 62
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Are we servants or slaves? Slaves had no rights, but some servants did. So when readers see Christians called to be Christ’s slaves in the Holman Christian Standard Bible, the radical nature of discipleship is clearer. Accuracy, one of the reasons you’ll love reading any of the HCSB digital or print editions. HCSB Study Bible Coming October, 2010
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Joel Belz
One Naïve fellow And the truth about his renaissance mother
M
y mother’s oldest son (she had five boys, along with three daughters) tended in some circumstances to be a little naïve. For a long time, for example, he supposed that a family of eight children was perfectly normal. He thought mothers everywhere worked late on Saturday night to make sure not just the house was sparkling clean, but the church sanctuary as well. And that even later that evening, she would, from scratch, make a double or triple batch of cinnamon rolls for Sunday breakfast and another couple of batches of butterhorn rolls for Sunday dinner. The doubling was because guests were also altogether normal. It was normal as well for her to work a couple of haircuts into that Saturday evening schedule, along with proofreading the church bulletin. And to check out the behind-the-ears efficacy of all those Saturday night baths, and to offer warm hugs as little ones trundled off to bed. I know how naïve my mother’s oldest son was because I was that oldest son. I thought it was perfectly normal for American moms every few weeks to take a couple of their boys to a nearby farm, stuff a dozen hens into gunny sacks, take them home where she taught us to be accurate with the first grisly blow of the ax, offer a mini-biology lesson as she explained the various “parts”—and then follow all with a leisurely sight reading of a section of a Mendelssohn concerto. She taught my ninth- and 10th-grade Latin classes, where she expected me to call her Mrs. Belz instead of Mom. Five decades later, she would call me to ask whether I’d read an op-ed item in that day’s Wall Street Journal; to ask whether I knew if such-and-such a church had found a new pastor; to discuss a Wordsworth sonnet; or to remind me of one of the Lord’s promises in a Psalm she had just been reading. This remarkable woman died Aug. 31. A devastating stroke interrupted her dinner table conversation with a daughter-in-law that included Wall Street Journal stories read that day about the Cherokee Indians, about some monks in Louisiana who specialize in making coffins, and about bluegrass performer Ricky Skaggs. Even at 91, her days weren’t quite long enough to accommodate so cosmopolitan a range of subject matter.
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WORLD September 25, 2010
To the extent that Jean Belz passed such a worldview on to her children, her students, and her friends, she might well be remembered as a renaissance woman—stretching the horizons and performance of everyone with whom she had contact. Indeed, her rich matriarchy in such matters makes her a specific antecedent to WORLD magazine itself. She never edited a page, but for good and legitimate reason you see her style of thinking on virtually every page. Yet still, if you look only at the bigness of that mind and that worldview, you really miss the point. For Jean Belz, my early naïveté was actually on target; there really was never anything special about such thinking. Isn’t that the way every creature of God is supposed to see things? Mom just kept sensing God’s calling in every detail of her life—and then kept responding to that call as faithfully as she possibly could. But she knew it also took God’s enabling even to come up with a faithful response. “I worked hard to keep a clean record,” she said of her early adult life, “but I failed. I lost my temper, was late for appointments, tangled with friends, and was impatient with my husband and children. But my pride was unreasonable. I only tried harder and refused to admit my faults.” “I needed help, a way out,” she continued. “The Lord did not let me rest until I confessed my need of Him, and laid my sins on Jesus. “After that day, my life was new—the grass was greener, the sky was bluer, my husband and children were dearer. I walked into the garden or drove down the road and knew that all the colors, shapes, and textures before me were made by the hand of the living God.” As renaissance as she was, that’s still the most important thing I can tell you about my mom. A Email: jbelz@worldmag.com
“The Son of God becomes a man, and there’s a written record? Maybe that’s worth a little study.” Dr. Sean McDonough, Professor of New Testament
Dr. McDonough’s most recent book, Christ as Creator (Oxford University Press), explores the New Testament teaching that Christ was the one through whom God made the world.
Students at GordonConwell are able to access
“Sometimes we find ourselves taking the incarnation for granted,” says Dr. Sean McDonough, Professor of New Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. “If we really believe the Son of God became man, lived in our world, died for us, and rose again, we should fervently study the written record of this event, the New Testament.” The renowed rigor of Gordon-Conwell’s academic program is the outgrowth of the faculty’s passion to study, and then teach, the Word of God. Students learn the original languages and the historical contexts, so they can achieve a greater understanding of the world in which Christ lived. “Gordon-Conwell emphasizes quality in the classroom, but not just for the sake of acquiring knowledge. The goal is always application, in our lives and in our ministries. As we diligently study God’s Word, we come face to face with Christ. And that’s how we–and the world– are transformed.”
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Dispatches NEWS HUMAN RACE QUOTABLES QUICK TAKES
Beckoning Christians NEWS: TV personality Glenn Beck is not the problem, but his religious syncretism is by Marvin Olasky
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“It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.” That message in Psalm 118 is vital to remember whenever a charismatic leader comes along. Many who trusted in Barack Obama two years ago have learned that. Anyone who trusts in Glenn Beck will learn that too. This is not to equate the two individuals. President Obama continues to promote policies that are fiscally irresponsible, ethically atrocious, or both. Beck is advocating antidotes: less government, smaller deficits, and the realization, as he has noted, that “abortion is murder. . . . I think if you had a womb with a window, it would never happen.” Beck is opening a window on what for decades has been obscured—not only unborn children but unknown stories from U.S. history. Civics has largely disappeared from American high schools. Many universities teach that sophistication means snootiness toward the United States. Since Beck’s televised programs emphasize the greatness of the American dream, it’s a revelation to those who heard only of nightmares. What Obama and Beck have in common, though, is a tendency toward S e p t e m b e r 2 5 , 2 0 1 0 W O R L D
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Dispatches > News
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WORLD September 25, 2010
meetings for political conservatives, the Family Research Council’s Values Voters Summit concludes Sept. 19 in Washington, D.C. Named after polling data in 2004 that showed voters who reelected George W. Bush voted on values rather than policy, the summit draws attention with its presidential straw poll. Republican candidates vying to be the GOP standard bearer in 2012 should be watching.
Looking Ahead IAEA conference Foreign policy
wonks will keep eyes on the International Atomic Energy Agency’s yearly conference that begins on Sept. 20. Veteran Japanese diplomat Yukiya Amano took over as director general of the international body in 2009, and experts are watching to see what he does about Iran’s nuclear program. Dealing with Tehran was conspicuously absent from his written goals when he took over the agency, leading some to believe the IAEA may shy away from pressuring Iran.
Ig Nobel Prizes Bona fide
Settlement ban lifted
Middle East peace gets no easier beginning Sept. 26 when a 10-month prohibition of Israeli settlement construction expires. Diplomats on the left and right of the political divide in the United States have criticized Israel for allowing settlers to build and develop portions of the West Bank, saying the construction unnecessarily undermines peace initiatives. Israel’s Arab critics have alleged the settlements violate international law. Emotions stirred by the 10th anniversary of the Palestinians’ second intifada against Israel certainly won’t help to ease tensions, as some are suggesting that the anniversary could even spark a third intifada.
Nobel Laureates will be on hand at Harvard University on Sept. 30 to hand out the Ig Nobel Prizes, a mock award created by the scientific humor periodical Annals of Improbable Research. The publication created the awards 20 years ago to highlight zany research it said “cannot, or should not, be reproduced.” Last year’s winner for the Ig Nobel Peace Prize was a research team that studied whether it is more harmful to be struck in the head with a full or empty beer bottle. The prize for biology went to Fumiaki Taguchi, who concluded that bacteria found only in the feces of giant pandas could reduce kitchen waste by 90 percent.
Run-off day The race for the GOP nomination in
Louisiana’s 3rd Congressional District heads to a run-off on Oct. 2. In August’s first round, Hunt Downer narrowly forced Jeff Landry into a runoff for the seat held by Democrat Charlie Melancon, who is running for a Senate seat. Landry or Downer will face off against Democrat Ravi Sangisetty on Nov. 2.
amano: DIETER NAGL/AFP/Getty Images • settlement: Sebastian Scheiner/AP • taguchi: kyodo/landov • downer and landry: handouts
r eligious syncretism, uniting beliefs that are logically and theologically separate. Obama is a Marxist-Christian syncretist, blending elements of the incompatible: That can work in an election campaign when a lapdog press doesn’t dig deep, but the little sister in the combination usually ends up frustrated, as many evangelicals who backed Obama in 2008 now are. Beck is syncretizing Mormon and Christian understanding in the service of a civil religion, but that’s a radically unequal yoking for reasons WORLD has pointed out before (see “Ye shall be as gods,” Feb. 16, 2002). Maybe the essence lies in the difference between two ditties: the traditional Christian one of “In Adam’s fall, we sinned all,” and the classic Mormon couplet, “As God once was, man is. As God is, man may become.” America’s Founders did not believe in men becoming gods. They emphasized checks and balances in governance because they put no trust in princes. Remembrance of the persecution of Mormons in the 19th century has contributed to Utah’s strong anti-Washington sentiment, but Mormon theology concerning the perfectibility of man does not give Latter-Day Saints an anchor to keep them from drifting with political currents as latter days arrive. Furthermore, the sense that we become righteous not by imputation (Christ’s obedience in God’s sight replacing our failure) but infusion (we become godlike) often leads movements to ascribe godlike virtue to their leaders. Let’s watch the Beck movement and pray that it does not become a cult of personality. Let Beck’s rise remind us that Christians in past decades did not take advantage of cable TV opportunities in news and public affairs as Ted Turner and Rupert Murdoch did with CNN and FOX: We complained but they built, and now we should do more than complain once again. Bottom line: Glenn Beck is not the problem. His entertaining lectures are a slap in the face to poisonous political correctness. He’s not the antidote, either. Christians should take refuge in the Lord and not in a beckoning embrace. But this country is better off with Glenn Beck than without him. A
Conservatives gather After three days of
“THEY’VE TURNED THE WO R L D U P S I D E D OW N ! ” That’s what people said about Jesus’ first disciples. In truth, they were turning the world right side up—reconciling people to God, bringing His truth and righteousness back into a corrupted culture. We, too, live in a world desperate for restoration. So become a change agent. Apply for The Centurions Program, a distance-learning adventure led by Chuck Colson. Join the movement. Visit www.centurionsprogram.o rg.
T U R N THE WORLD R I G HT SIDE UP.
Dispatches > News
Blowing smoke Environmental groups and some Democratic lawmakers responded to a fire on an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico on Sept. 2 by calling for an expansion of the Obama administration’s ban on deepwater drilling. “We cannot afford to lose any more human lives, nor can we tolerate further damage to the Gulf,” said Jacqueline Savitz of the environmental group Oceana. Two problems with that statement: The fire didn’t kill or seriously injure anyone, and it didn’t cause an oil spill in Gulf waters. Similarities between the September platform fire and the oil rig explosion in April that killed 11 workers and led to one of the largest oil spills in history were scant: The Mariner Energy fire happened on an oil platform that is located in shallow water and doesn’t facilitate drilling. Bruce Bullock of the Maguire Energy Institute said the fire was one of over 100 fires that happen in the Gulf each year: “This could have happened in a meat factory or a paint factory or anywhere else.” The ban on deepwater drilling is set to expire on Nov. 30, though oil industry blue-collar workers on the Gulf Coast have pleaded with the government to end the ban sooner.
Silver lining
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WORLD September 25, 2010
More than 50 million Americans are on Medicaid, the low-income federal-state health program, according to a survey of state data by USA TODAY. That’s a 17 percent increase in enrollees since the recession began in December 2007 and the highest on record—and before Medicaid adds to its rolls an estimated 16 million who will qualify under the new healthcare law in 2014.
Pakistan Younis Masih spent a recent afternoon surveying the flood-wracked ruins of the modest home he spent nearly 25 years building in Peshawar, Pakistan. His reaction: “God gave me this house and He took it from me. I do not blame God.” Masih is among thousands of Christians suffering alongside millions of other Pakistanis left homeless by monsoon floods that began in late July. But his struggle is especially difficult: Christian aid groups report that religious minorities are
facing discrimination, with some aid stations denying them food, water, shelter, and other basic supplies. Nazir Bhatti of the Pakistan Christian Congress condemned the discrimination and called on Pakistan’s government to send funds to groups helping religious minorities. Groups like the U.K.-based Barnabas Fund are helping funnel aid to churches and other Christian groups in Pakistan to help the minority population. Back at his ruined home in Peshawar, Masih remains hopeful: “God took everything away from Job, but later He blessed him as well. I trust God to bless me again.”
oil rig: Mario Tama/Getty Images • pakistan: CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images CREDIT
Can a public university’s student fees support worship? The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said yes, ruling Sept. 1 that the University of Wisconsin was wrong to deny student funds to the student group Badger Catholic because its activities include worship, spiritual counseling, and proselytizing. Religious discussion, not worship, is allowed under the school’s policy, but the court said that distinction was meaningless because worship could have many iterations in a given religion. The circuit court said it was reinforcing the Supreme Court ruling in June in Christian Legal Society (CLS) v. Martinez, which allowed a public law school to require religious groups to accept any member, religious or not. But the high court said the school must give recognition and funding for those groups, without regard to viewpoints. In the circuit court’s opinion, Judge Frank Easterbrook emphasized that part of the Supreme Court ruling. He argued that in light of the CLS decision, the University of Wisconsin must fund the Catholic group, “if similar programs that espouse a secular perspective are reimbursed.”
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Rape capital of the world Just 20 miles from a UN peacekeeping base in the volatile Democratic Republic of Congo, armed men seized the town of Luvungi for four days in August, beating and raping at least 240 women and children. The nearby force of UN peacekeepers said they didn’t learn of the attacks until after the rebels left. The UN Security Council said the troops should have done more to protect locals from the Rwandan FDLR rebels suspected of the brutal attacks. Ongoing violence by warring militias has plagued the central African nation that one UN envoy called “the rape capital of the world.” The UN is set to release a report on Oct. 1 that will likely VICTIMS: Monica Tamary stands in accuse the Rwandan army of her home where she possible genocide in the Congo was raped in front of during the 1990s after genocidal her 3-month-old fighting in Rwanda spilled over baby by two FDLR into neighboring Congo. members on July 30.
Tax skeptics
With more political pundits predicting a Republican takeover of the House, President Barack Obama is taking a curious campaign tactic: promising tax hikes. Blaming Republicans for a tax cut “philosophy that led to this mess in the first place,” Obama told a crowd in jobhungry Ohio on Sept. 8 that he would allow many Bush-era tax cuts to expire. In response, House Republican Leader John Boehner said job growth would follow the “cutting of federal spending to where it was before all the bailouts, government takeovers and ‘stimulus’ spending sprees.” Obama’s promise to tackle taxes in an election year may be met by as many skeptical Democrats as Republicans when Congress returns this month. Democrats know that voters are in no mood for tax increases in the midst of persistent economic turmoil. But ignoring taxes in an election year—the first choice of most lawmakers— is not an option: Without congressional action, the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts are scheduled to cease for all taxpayers at year’s end.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced plans to travel to Egypt and Jerusalem in mid-September for the second round of negotiations begun earlier this month in Washington. She is scheduled to meet again with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, along with other regional leaders. But outside analysts questioned the timing of U.S.-orchestrated talks and whether either side is ready to compromise on the main sticking points: dividing territory and construction of Israeli settlements. “It’s hard to be optimistic about these direct talks,” said analyst Steven A. Cook. “There have been years of direct talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians that produced very little. But beyond the kind of symbolism of hope such talks produce, the reality is that at the domestic political level, neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians are capable of making the types of concessions that are necessary to achieve significant progress.”
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WORLD September 25, 2010
Rich Outlier Worldwide, 84 percent of adults say religion is an important part of their daily lives, according to a Gallup survey in 114 countries in 2009 released on Aug 31. That number is unchanged from what the polling group found in other years. In 10 countries—mostly Muslim or Buddhist, and all poor, like top-ranked Bangladesh—98 percent say religion is important in their daily lives. Rich countries in general are less religious— except for the United States. Sixty-five percent of Americans say that religion is an important part of their daily lives— compared with 30 percent of the French, 27 percent of the British, and 24 percent of the Japanese.
obama: TIM SLOAN/AFP/Getty Images • Tamary: MARC HOFFER/AFP/newscom • clinton: JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images CREDIT
More Middle East talks
Side by side
Capt. Dale Goetz became the first Army chaplain combat casualty in almost 40 years by going where soldiers go By edward lee pitts
Maranatha Baptist Bible College/ap
>>
Not long after arriving in Afghanistan in early August for a yearlong deployment, U.S. Army chaplain Capt. Dale Goetz sent out an email of prayer requests. He asked friends to pray for three things over the next year: the salvation of 300 soldiers in his unit, that 10 soldiers would answer the call to enter into the ministry, and that the nation’s enemies, including members of the Taliban and Osama bin Laden, would accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. On Aug. 30, Stuart Schwenke, a friend from seminary, replied to his email and promised to pray every Sunday. But that same day in Afghanistan a convoy that included Goetz came under attack. Schwenke learned the next day that his friend had died. Goetz, a member of the 4th Infantry Division based in Fort Carson, Colo., is the first Army chaplain to be killed in action since the Vietnam War. Four other soldiers died with Goetz after an improvised explosive device, or IED, hit their vehicle during a convoy in the Arghandab River Valley west of Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. Schwenke, now the pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Oelwein, Iowa, described Goetz as a quiet man who was “powerful in the way he lived his life.” “He was going to make sure that a difficult situation like being deployed would be used for God’s glory,” said Schwenke, who has known Goetz since 1994. Goetz, 43, graduated from Maranatha Baptist College in Watertown, Wis. He leaves behind a wife, Christina, and three sons, ages 10, 8, and 1. Goetz pastored a church in White, S.D., from 2000 to 2003. But having served a stint in the Air Force, he felt God’s calling to become a military chaplain. “Dale saw the military as a great mission field with a huge need for
Christ-centered, Bible-honoring ministers,” said Schwenke. “He wanted to have influence, side by side, with these soldiers.” During an earlier deployment to Iraq from 2004 to 2005, Goetz, according to Schwenke, consoled soldiers coping with marriage strains, financial difficulties, and thoughts of suicide. “Real change comes when people are willing to make their own personal sacrifices to reach men,” Schwenke said. “Goetz had his rough-and-tumble soldiers just like Jesus had his roughand-tumble fishermen.” Goetz liked being able to minister to the soldiers where they worked, even if that meant taking risks with them on missions. “He went into conflicts without a weapon except his faith,” Schwenke said. But Goetz also took seriously his role as husband and father. His family moved to Colorado before his latest deployment, and he worked to help his wife and children settle in before he left, giving their home fresh paint and new carpet. The family also settled into High Country Baptist Church in Colorado Springs, where the small congregation of about 60 formally voted the family into membership the Sunday before Goetz died: “He loved his family intensely,” said Jason Parker, the pastor. “One of the comments he made to me was how much he wanted his boys to have a passion for Jesus Christ.” Now the men in that church hope to instill that faith in Goetz’s sons. For a Colorado publication in 2008, Goetz described in a column how he spent the night of
Sept. 10, 2001—discussing the Christian faith with a Muslim. “Have you ever had something that you were so devoted to that you would be willing to die for it?” Goetz wrote. “Freedom is that precious to many of us. Our love for freedom is worth dying for.” Goetz’s death has reminded his friend Schwenke, “Christ doesn’t need us to finish the job, but He often does use us to get that job started.” A
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Dispatches > News
Waiting still
While the mosque project at Ground Zero moves forward, authorities have halted rebuilding the church destroyed on 9/11 by alisa harris
16
WORLD September 25, 2010
Journalists have a term for the paragraph or two in a story that explains what the story is all about: “nut graph,” with nut signifying “kernel,” not “crazy.” A crazy thing happened on the way to publication of our last issue, though: A mistake in the production process led to the nut graphs of our cover story being dropped.
The first mistakenly excised paragraph summarized the point of the story: “This article will look at some young-earth creationist thinking as compared with conventional theories, and suggest how Christian colleges should react.” The second paragraph explained the setting: in the Grand Canyon “rafting with 25 creationists, most of whom think that God created everything not in billions of years but in six days. For nearly 200 miles we headed down the Colorado River through rapids that contain the fastest-flowing water in North America.” Readers could infer much of this from the rest of the article, but if you read it and saw a big jump with some basics unexplained, you were right. This is the first time in editors’ memory that we’ve dropped paragraphs like that, and we’ve reviewed our system to minimize the possibility of it happening again.
eric o’connell CREDIT
Just after Sept. 11, 2001, Orthodox priest Mark Arey walked into a tent at Ground Zero and saw an evidence bag holding a familiar paper icon. “That belongs to St. Nicholas Church,” he told the police officer. “This is evidence at a crime site,” the officer countered. Arey gestured to the rubble burying St. Nicholas Church, and he pleaded again. The icon now rests at the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese chapel in New York City, next to a small table that holds the remains of St. Nicholas Church: two icons and a torn tapestry, five twisted candles, and two Bibles with charred pages. The church crumpled beneath debris from the South Tower of the World Trade Center on 9/11, and as the nation debates the propriety of building a mosque two blocks away from Ground Zero, the plight of St. Nicholas Church is gaining attention as well. Nine years after politicians vowed to rebuild the only church destroyed on 9/11, St. Nicholas has gone from a pile of rubble to a hole in the ground. Today a construction fence conceals the church’s original site. A block away, another fence hides 130 Liberty Street, where the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey promised St. Nicholas could rebuild. St. Nicholas would cede its original deed and its air space in exchange for $40 million to rebuild the church and the infrastructure beneath it. But while the church and the Port Authority were still finalizing the terms of the agreement in 2008, negotiations broke down. In a statement to WORLD, the Port Authority blamed the church for wanting to approve designs and for seeking public commitments with the potential for another $20 million of public money. But the archdiocese said the church just wanted to know more clearly how it fit into the rebuilding plan, and money is not the obstacle. Days after 9/11, the archdiocese got an unexpected $250,000 donation from the mayor of Bari, Italy, where St. Nicholas himself is buried. The archdiocese has amassed a total of $4.5 million without even asking for money. “Keep your money,” Arey told the Port WAITING TO REBUILD: St. Nicholas Church, minutes Authority. “We just want to before the collapse of 2 World Trade Center. rebuild our church.” The church last heard from the Port Authority in March 2009, when officials said, “Our lawyers will call you.” The church is still waiting. Arey said he looked at the pictures of those protesting the Ground Zero mosque and saw an anger that didn’t reflect the best that Christianity, Judaism, and Islam have to offer. Maybe, Arey said, a new St. Nicholas Church could provide a place that brings people together. “This little church was there,” he said. “It needs to be rebuilt.”
corrective measure
© Image Source/Corbis.
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Understanding Calculus: Problems, Solutions, and Tips Taught by Professor Bruce H. Edwards, University of Florida Lecture Titles 1. A Preview of Calculus 2. Review—Graphs, Models, and Functions 3. Review—Functions and Trigonometry 4. Finding Limits 5. An Introduction to Continuity 6. Infinite Limits and Limits at Infinity 7. The Derivative and the Tangent Line Problem 8. Basic Differentiation Rules 9. Product and Quotient Rules 10. The Chain Rule 11. Implicit Differentiation and Related Rates 12. Extrema on an Interval 13. Increasing and Decreasing Functions 14. Concavity and Points of Inflection 15. Curve Sketching and Linear Approximations 16. Applications—Optimization Problems, Part 1 17. Applications—Optimization Problems, Part 2 18. Antiderivatives and Basic Integration Rules
19. The Area Problem and the Definite Integral 20. The Fundamental Theorem of Calculus, Part 1 21. The Fundamental Theorem of Calculus, Part 2 22. Integration by Substitution 23. Numerical Integration 24. Natural Logarithmic Function— Differentiation 25. Natural Logarithmic Function— Integration 26. Exponential Function 27. Bases other than e 28. Inverse Trigonometric Functions 29. Area of a Region between 2 Curves 30. Volume—The Disk Method 31. Volume—The Shell Method 32. Applications—Arc Length and Surface Area 33. Basic Integration Rules 34. Other Techniques of Integration 35. Differential Equations and Slope Fields 36. Applications of Differential Equations
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Dispatches > Human Race REBUKED A Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) court rebuked California minister Jane Adams Spahr, 68, after
CAPTURED
suspension—a “scoop” that other media outlets quickly picked up and reported. Wise says the tweet was aimed at showcasing “the absurdity of bad journalism” but now he admits it was a “horrendous mistake.”
REPAID
SUSPENDED Sportswriter Mike Wise is sidelined for a month after The Washington Post suspended him for intentionally posting a fabricated statement on Twitter. The veteran columnist had tweeted that Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was getting a fivegame
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Monied For the second year in a row, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., tops the list of the nation’s wealthiest lawmakers, according to The Hill’s annual review of financial disclosure forms. Kerry and his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, were worth an estimated $188.6 million at the end of 2009. The list features 27 Democrats, 23 Republicans, 30 House members, and 20 senators.
WORLD September 25, 2010
Pleaded Retired baseball pitcher Roger Clemens, 48, pleaded not guilty Aug. 30 to charges of lying to Congress about whether he used performance-enhancing drugs during his career. Federal prosecutors say they have a “voluminous” case against the Red Sox legend and seventime Cy Young Award winner. His trial is set for April 5.
Freed Former President Jimmy Carter successfully negotiated with North Korean authorities to secure the release of captive American Aijalon Mahli Gomes, who had taught English in South Korea. Officials arrested Gomes, 31, in January and sentenced him to eight years of hard labor on charges of illegally entering the country. Gomes returned home to Boston on Aug. 27.
Spahr: Eric Risberg/AP • WISE: HANDOUT • JOHNSON: Todd J. Gillman/THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS/AP • Villareal: Fernando Castillo/Latin CREDIT Content/Getty Images • Gomes: JOHN MOTTERN/AFP/Getty Images
finding her guilty of violating her ordination vows and persistently disobeying church law by performing same-sex marriage ceremonies while they were legal in the state. But the Aug. 27 verdict also included praise for Spahr’s ministry and called on the denomination to reexamine its “own fear and ignorance that continues to reject the inclusiveness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” Spahr says she will appeal.
Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, 74, has handed the U.S. House another ethics brouhaha after The Dallas Morning News revealed that between 2005 and 2009 she awarded $25,000 in scholarships to two grandchildren, two great-nephews, and two children of a top aide. The nine-term Dallas Democrat said she did not know about the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s rules against awarding the college aid to relatives, who were also ineligible because they did not live or study in a caucus member’s district. Johnson has since reimbursed the foundation.
Mexican authorities captured accused drug kingpin Edgar Valdez Villarreal on Aug. 30 following a year-long intelligence operation. Nicknamed “La Barbie,” the Americanborn Valdez, 37, is believed to have trafficked tons of cocaine into the United States and had a $2 million bounty on his head. Following trial in Mexico, Valdez may face extradition to the United States.
Q.
Q.
Who has trained and sent out more than 40,000 native missionaries to plant new churches within every province of Mainland China?
Who provides financial assistance for native missionary training centers in China?
A.
Q. How is Christian Aid financed? A. Christian Aid is supported entirely by freewill gifts and offerings from Biblebelieving, missionary-minded Christians, churches and organizations. Q. Are other indigenous missions in need of financial help for their missionaries? A. Christian Aid is in communication with more than 4000 indigenous missions, some based in almost every unevangelized country on earth. They have over 200,000 missionaries in need of support. All Christians who believe in Christ’s “Great Commission” are invited to join hands with Christian Aid in finding help for thousands of native missionaries who are now out on the fields of the world with no promise of regular financial support.
A.
Indigenous Bible institutes, seminaries and missionary training centers.
During the past 22 years Christian Aid Mission has contributed millions of dollars toward the establishment and operation of 146 Bible institutes and missionary training centers in Mainland China.
Christian Aid has been sending financial support to indigenous evangelistic ministries based in unevangelized countries for 57 years. More than 740 ministries are now being assisted in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe. They deploy over 75,000 native missionaries who are spreading the gospel of Christ among unreached people within more than 3000 different tribes and nations. Most are in countries where Americans are not allowed to go as missionaries.
Christian Aid . . . because we love the brethren.
Christian Aid Mission P. O. Box 9037 Charlottesville, VA 22906 434-977-5650 www.christianaid.org
When you contact Christian Aid, ask for a free copy of Dr. Bob Finley’s 285-page book, REFORMATION IN FOREIGN MISSIONS. 58:041W
Dispatches > Quotables “If they would adopt the rest of the McCain economic plan, I think we would make some progress.” Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, chairman of the National Governors Association, on President Obama’s proposal to allow businesses a tax write-off for capital spending, which was part of Sen. John McCain’s campaign platform in 2008.
“The last person I’d vote for.” U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., on Newt Gingrich, an oft-named GOP presidential hopeful. Coburn specifically criticized Gingrich for twice leaving wives for other women: “His life indicates he does not have a commitment to the character traits necessary to be a great president.”
Pinal County (Ariz.) Sheriff Paul Babeu on the lawlessness in southern Arizona. The Bureau of Land Management has reportedly posted signs along a 60-mile portion of Interstate 8 warning drivers that the area is unsafe. 20
WORLD September 25, 2010
Mohammed Daud, a 29-year-old Afghan man, on the centuries-old practice of men, even married men, taking boys as lovers in parts of Afghanistan. A U.S. State Department report calls the tradition a “widespread, culturally sanctioned form of male rape.”
“It’s my first shark.” Fisherman WILLY DEAN on inadvertently catching a bull shark in the Potomac River on Aug. 31. The shark was more than eight feet long and weighed more than 300 pounds. Dean says he plans to eat the huge fish: “We’re gonna steak him up and try him. Some people say shark is good to eat. We’ll see.”
“It’s a good time to call up Barney Fife.” Democratic consultant Brad Cone on the news that actor Andy Griffith’s approval rating has dropped 25 percent in his home state of North Carolina since 2008, according to the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling. This year Griffith cut an ad, paid for by taxpayers, touting the Democrats’ controversial healthcare overhaul.
arizona: suma/newscom • barbour: Rogelio V. Solis/ap • coburn: Sue Ogrocki/ap • dean: buzzs CREDIT marina • griffith: handout
“Mexican drug cartels literally do control parts of Arizona.”
“How can you fall in love if you can’t see her face. We can see the boys, so we can tell which are beautiful.”
CREDIT
Dispatches > Quick Takes
Natural law By now, some residents are probably wishing that town officials in Skowhegan, Maine, would simply let Bruce Obert do what he wanted with his land. Officials in Skowhegan barred Obert from building on a quarter-acre parcel near downtown. So, rather than let the land sit unused, Obert, who lives in Norridgewock, hung a banner, saying, “Nature Park, Nature Trails for the Homeless People of Somerset County.” Since the “nature park” opened, an 84-year-old homeless man and his Rottweiler dog have moved onto the land.
Reverse speeding You can’t blame Jeanette Sedillo for being surprised when a police officer pulled her over on Aug. 18 in Belen, N.M. “He said, ‘You were going 34 in a 40,’” said Sedillo. She said she thought she was simply practicing safe nighttime driving. Nevertheless, the officer presented her with a $70 ticket for driving 6 mph under the speed limit. Sedillo said she plans to fight the ticket in court.
Taxing A state treasure New Yorkers noticing the price of bagels increasing across the state have state lawmakers to thank. That’s because the cash-strapped state has begun enforcing a stale measure that imposes a small tax on sliced or whole bagels—an Empire State staple—consumed at the place of purchase. After a recent state audit, the owner of Bruegger’s Bagels, a popular New York chain, said he was hit with a significant charge in back sales taxes. Now bagel shops across New York are raising prices about 8 cents per bagel to cover the now-enforced tax.
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WORLD September 25, 2010
If you ask Irv Gordon what he’ll be doing for the next three years, chances are he’ll say driving. That’s because the East Patchogue, N.Y., man has set his sights on rolling 200,000 more miles onto his 1966 Volvo’s odometer by the end of 2013. Already a Guinness world record holder, Gordon’s Volvo P1800 currently has nearly 2.8 million miles. The 70-year-old retired science teacher says he’d like to get his red coupe over 3 million miles. Gordon bought the car new in 1966 for $4,150 and used it to commute 125 miles to and from school every day in Manhattan. His advice to car owners seeking to keep their car alive? “Maintaining a car over decades and millions of miles doesn’t just happen accidentally,” he says. “You’ve got to follow the factory service manual, replace worn or broken parts immediately and don’t let little issues become big issues. I have been extremely good to this car. I don’t even let anyone else drive it.”
Vicious swing Add swinging a golf club to things you might want to avoid to prevent forest fires. Fire investigators in Irvine, Calif., say a golfer’s swing was sufficient to spark a wildfire that blazed up 25 acres in and around Shady Canyon Golf Course. Officials say the fire was touched off by a spark caused by a golfer’s clubhead scraping off a rock during a routine swing. And after the fire got started, it took about 150 Orange County firefighters—both on the ground and in the air—to put it out.
gordon: DAVID M. SWANSON/PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER/krt/newscom • Skowhegan: David Leaming/morning sentinel • bagel: ndx/newscom • shady canyon: zachCREDIT bates
Driven to drive
Floating folly Famous for surrendering to Germans, it now seems that French authorities on the nation’s northern coast surrendered to a piece of driftwood. At least three people near the coastal town Boulogne-sur-Mer reported seeing a 12-foot crocodile swimming around sailboats near the coast. Worried for the safety of swimmers, local authorities shut down the beach along the English Channel—only to realize later the 12-foot “crocodile” was a piece of floating wood.
Conspicuous con The case of a stolen vehicle reported to Allentown, Pa., police on Aug. 23 proved easy enough to solve. Police reports indicated the suspect, 39-year-old Preston Renninger, drove the stolen car right past an officer as he was taking a report from the victim. Police say Renninger attracted even more attention by blaring the stereo with the windows down.
illustration: krieg barrie • renninger: handout • landfill: Daniel Hulshizer/ap • Mortenson: Cathleen Allison/ap CREDIT
No two ways about it? Ask Nevadans how to pronounce their home state’s name and they’ll almost certainly say, “Ne-VAD-a” with the second syllable sounding like “mad.” Residents of the Silver State have booed presidential candidates who mispronounced it, saying “Ne-VAH-da.” So imagine the gumption of Democratic state legislator Harry Mortenson of Las Vegas who submitted a draft of a bill proposing that either pronunciation of the state’s name is acceptable. “I expected a big controversy, and I got it,” he said. “The bottom line is, I do not want to change the pronunciation that Nevadans use for their state. I am trying only to ask them to be tolerant of those who use the Spanish pronunciation.” But Nevada residents aren’t likely to be so under standing. And just to be on the safe side, Mortenson waited until state term limits prevented him from running for reelection before submitting the controversial bill.
Smell test When the garbage reached critical mass at one New Jersey landfill, local authorities decided to fight smell with smell. More than 2 million pounds of garbage arrive every day at the Middlesex County Landfill in East Brunswick outside of New York City. And after hearing a bevy of complaints from residents, landfill operators have outfitted special trucks to spray fragrance around the landfill, which is on pace to receive as much as 1 billion pounds of garbage this year. “It has a pleasant, showery smell,” said Richard Fitamant, executive director of the organization that runs the landfill. “It’s not offensive and it’s not overpowering. It’s a light scent.” Neighbors say that would be an improvement on the current stench, which they say seeps through the walls some days.
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Janie B. Cheaney
Despising our youth
We’ve made adolescence a time of idleness when it could be full of good, hard things
B 24
WORLD September 25, 2010
Email: jcheaney@worldmag.com
krieg barrie
ye-bye church. We’re busy.” That’s the message teens are giving churches today.” The article in USA Today then goes on to report that only one in four teens now participates in church youth groups, and declining numbers engage in Christian behaviors like prayer, Bible reading, witnessing, and church attendance. This seems to reflect the news, reported more frequently over the last years, that fewer Americans profess any distinct religious faith or denominational affiliation. But reality is a little more complicated, as usual. The numbers reported by USA Today are based on YouthPoll, an annual study by the Barna Group that tracks the religious involvement of teens. Upon closer examination, the results actually show some rising levels of involvement among evangelicals (as opposed to Catholic or mainline denominations), with one exception: Evangelical teens are less likely now to share their faith with unbelievers than they were 12 years ago. Are they scared, or ignorant, or both? A youth evangelist brother tells me that the kids he speaks to seem less articulate about their faith and more easily distracted by the world. “And yet, I also hear that today’s youth want the hard-core truth. They want to be hit with it.” One purpose of a church youth group is to reinforce Christian belief among peers and create a sense of strength in numbers, but the ways and means change according to fashion. When I was a youth, it was games and
pizza with a late-’60s detour into relational dynamics. In my daughter’s case, it was informal debate on burning issues—once she startled me with the news that she and one other teen were the only pro-life voices in a group discussion on abortion. Though the experience was a characterstretching exercise for her, we didn’t attend that church much longer. When my son grew to “youth group” age, we didn’t belong to a church that had one—but, the Spirit first moved him to profess Christ among peers, at a rural Baptist camp. Christian peer interaction has its place, and certain kinds of peer pressure can even be positive. If the kids are losing interest, the problem may be less in the idea of youth group than in the idea of what it means to be a teenager. It used to mean taking on adult responsibilities in expectation of marriage and family. But by mid-20th century a culture of unprecedented wealth and leisure created a holding pen for teenagers called “adolescence,” carefree years that parents fondly expected would be the time of their children’s lives. Instead, idleness without a focus has produced teen angst—a modern construct that makes less sense the more you think about it. At a time of peak energy, optimum learning ability, and fresh enthusiasm, why are so many teens listless, bored, and jaded? Gen X adults remember those years as a viper pit of peer pressures and identity crises—and hormones, of course. Then they write books and produce music to reinforce that view, which makes the kids even more depressed. To grant surplus energy to someone who could only be frustrated by it would be a cruel joke, and God is not a cruel joker. Nor does He exploit, as tyrants and demagogues have exploited youth throughout history. With goals, guidance, and growth, why can’t the teen years be among the best? Youth group is often seen as a way to keep kids off the streets. Yet just the opposite should be true. “Go!” Jesus told His followers: Hit the streets! Youth delights in revolution; it’s a great way to take one’s own measure. Jesus came with the most revolutionary, countercultural, radical message ever. Every time the church tries to settle into complacency, He shakes it up again. He’s shaking now, raising the alarm among all ages. Teenagers should be pulling their boots on and listening to the Harris boys: “Do hard things.” It’s a great day for challenges. “Let no man despise your youth,” indeed—but more importantly, don’t despise your own. A
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Reviews MOVIES & TV BOOKS Q&A MUSIC
The ugly American MOVIE: George Clooney is not the actor to rescue The American’s weak script
Giles Keyte/Focus Features
by Michael Leaser
>>
Ponderous, pretentious, and soulless, The American serves up George Clooney’s latest exercise in audience alienation. Aiding and abetting this box-office poison are Anton Corbijn’s heavy-handed direction and Rowan Joffe’s barebones script. Jack (Clooney) is a contract assassin who has made his share of enemies in his tumultuous career. When several of those enemies track him down in Sweden, he flees to Italy, where his handler, Pavel (Johan Leysen), advises him to lie low for a while in a small Italian village. Despite Jack’s best efforts to be antisocial, an undaunted old priest (Paolo Bonacelli) attempts to pry his way into Jack’s life, and a local prostitute (Violante Placido) offers Jack an opportunity to escape his deadly profession. In the meantime, Pavel sends his associate, Mathilde (Thekla Reuten), to subcontract Jack to construct a weapon with a submachine gun’s power and a rifle’s range for an unspecified job. Though The American (rated R) has a promising premise, its long, still, quiet scenes prevent the film from establishing any narrative drive or rhythm. And Clooney
s imply does not have the acting chops to pull off the wordless, introspective sequences the film demands of him. His portrayal of Jack is so colorless and emotionless that one can hardly expect the audience to show any interest in Jack, much less care about his plight. The film needs a Daniel Day-Lewis or similarly skilled performer to convey the soul-draining nature of Jack’s occupation while revealing the remnant of his humanity that offers a chance of redemption, a theme the filmmakers are clearly, though unsuccessfully, trying to present. Of course, neither Clooney nor the rest of the cast is helped by what is essentially an outline of a screenplay. Somewhere in between the extended static scenes and Clooney’s vacant stares an interesting film might be lurking, but the audience is left with little more than shallow characters and gratuitous nudity. The one redeeming quality of The American is the old priest’s strenuous efforts to show Jack that God is powerful enough to forgive even the greatest sins, including the production of this film. —Michael Leaser is editor of FilmGrace and an associate of The Clapham Group S e p t e m b e r 2 5 , 2 0 1 0 W O R L D
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Reviews > Movies & TV MOVIE
Easy A by Rebecca Cusey
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Easy A seems like a fun teen comedy to watch at girly sleepovers. An attempt to replicate John Hughes (The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink) films for the current generation, the film, while well made, is, in fact, a treatise on teen sexuality. The film revisits Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, set in high school instead of a Puritan village. Olive (the charming Emma Stone) is an all-around good girl who feels invisible in the hallways of her high school. She perpetuates a false rumor that she slept with a college boy and finds she’s suddenly notorious. Christian purity club members, led by the caustic Marianne (Amanda Bynes), see her as both a threat and a potential convert.
DVD
Marmaduke by Alicia Cohn
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explain away this lifestyle by transplanting Marmaduke’s family from Kansas to Orange County, Calif. The movie’s message then becomes a muddled mix of “be yourself” and “pay attention,” themes that director Tom Dey attempts to parallel in Marmaduke’s owners, the Winslow family. Unfortunately, the movie brings out the worst in its human actors. The reliably charming Lee Pace and sassy Judy Greer (playing the parents) are underused here, and the relationships among humans and animals is assumed rather than developed. The most entertaining moments in the film are also those most grounded in the normal interaction of families and pets or animals with other animals. The friendship between Marmaduke and the Winslows’ Siamese cat Carlos (voiced by George Lopez) is both comical and endearing. Unfortunately, these moments are compromised by surreal scenes of doggy surfing and synchronized dancing. The movie also falls into stereotypes typical of animal movies, such as making the canine bully a Rottweiler (of course). Marmaduke does not pack the emotional punch of Homeward Bound or the selfaware cleverness of Garfield. An innocuous film, the PG rating comes from rude humor (mostly involving canine body functions) and very mild language. However, there is nothing here that elevates Marmaduke past the level of a cute, one-time viewing strictly for fans of talking-animal films.
Box Office Top 10 For the weekend of Sept. 3-5, according to Box Office Mojo
cautions: Quantity of sexual (S), violent (V), and foul-language (L) content on a 0-10 scale, with 10 high, from kids-in-mind.com
S V L
1̀ 2̀ 3̀
4̀ 5̀ 6̀ 7̀ 8̀ 9̀ 10
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WORLD September 25, 2010
The American* R.....................9 7 5 Machete R...................................8 10 8 Takers B.......................................4 6 5 The Last Exorcism PG-13.....3 8 4 Going the Distance R...........8 3 10 The Expendables R...............2 9 5 The Other Guys* PG-13. ........5 6 5 Eat Pray Love* PG-13.............5 2 5 Inception* PG-13...................... 1 7 4 Nanny McPhee Returns* PG................................2 4 3
*Reviewed by world
easy a: Screen Gems/CTMG, Inc. • Marmaduke: 20th Century Fox
The movie Marmaduke, recently out on DVD, is largely an excuse to make Owen Wilson talk like a dog. Wilson does a fine job embodying the title character with an overtly confident yet whiny personality that suits this hapless Great Dane. The trailer sold this movie as an identity quest—oversize “teenage” dog tries to fit in—but the plot does not follow a journey from puppy to mature dog. The comic strip “Marmaduke,” created in 1954 and still running in newspapers today, depends on the premise that unruly animals are domestic entertainment for stay-at-home families. As a result, the movie version of Marmaduke is almost old-fashioned in its portrayal of family life. But the filmmakers attempt to
Drawn with all the nuance of Hawthorne’s original portrayal of the Puritans—which is to say no nuance at all— the purity club is angry, judgmental, hypocritical, downright odd, and strangely influential at the school. In her new role as trollop, Olive makes friends with a gay boy. They team up and stage a false wild sexual encounter at a party. He is certified, for a while, as straight. She cements her reputation as a bad girl. To further enrage Marianne, she begins wearing a scarlet “A” on her trampy bustier. The multiple deceptions soon spiral out of control and the film ends up rejecting both chastity until marriage and wild promiscuity. Despite its PG-13 rating, the entire film is about sex and explicit in words although not in actions. Cleverly written, well-acted, and funny, Easy A will be sure to frequent DVD players at sleepovers for years to come. For these very reasons, it is a movie of which parents should be aware.
Hold the saccharine MOVIE The Christians behind Doonby hope it will be a different kind of “faith-based film” by Rebecca Cusey
doonby: MJM Entertainment Group • davi: Michael Underwood/PictureGroup/ap
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Smithville, Texas, already baked with heat and buzzed with mosquitoes in late May. John Schneider, Bo Duke from The Dukes of Hazard and Jonathan Kent from Smallville, sat in a hot, empty house near the set of his upcoming movie Doonby, fielding calls from his young adult children, swatting at flies, and explaining why the movie is not a “Christian film” despite the professed faith of most of the cast. “A lot of times when you work on ‘faith-based films,’ it’s kind of squeaky clean and feels more like you’re in a Bible study every day,” he explained. “And while you’re at a Bible study, you’re making a movie. I don’t get that vibe here at all. People are here to make a movie. There’s certainly time for Bible study. That’s why God made Wednesday. (He laughs.) But I don’t think that’s necessarily conducive to making a good movie.” Schneider stars as Doonby, a drifter who comes into a small town and makes it better. However, a menacing force stalks him. “It’s It’s a Wonderful Life without the wonderful part,” Schneider explains. “’Reach down into the throat of It’s a Wonderful Life, pull it inside out and make a movie out of it.” The film, due out next spring and also starring Jenn Gotzon (Frost/Nixon), Will Wallace (The Thin Red Line), and Robert Davi (The Profiler), is directed by Peter Mackenzie.
All come to their art from a perspective of faith but want to distinguish their work from saccharine and simplistic movies often made for and marketed to the faith community. Robert Davi, an actor with decades of Hollywood credits as well as a passionate Sinatra fan, plays a sheriff in the film tasked with figuring out the mystery of Doonby. Davi grew up Catholic and credits a saint with healing him as a teen. “In spite of temptations in life, you have a moral compass that gives you that center. I am as prone to the temptations of the flesh as any guy or woman. You battle that. Hollywood is a place where you can absolutely run wild.” Catholics are more comfortable making movies than evangelicals traditionally have been. Davi theorizes that this might be a result of the ritual in the church itself. “I grew up with the mass in Latin. It was a theatrical event. There was a history surrounding it. There was a mystery surrounding it,” he said. “I think the theatrical experience of ritual engages the subconscious in the archetype of life [and] connects you to the forces of good and evil.”
See all our movie reviews at worldmag.com/movies
Christians making movies: Davi (right) and Schneider (above).
For Will Wallace, who plays the villain, integrating his Christian faith is as simple as asking God to move through him. “Generally, if I pray for a role and I try always to pray before a role, a general prayer for strength and turn it over to God and to guide me and please speak through me.” As a violent evildoer in the film, he doesn’t see his role as instructive, but he does believe that playing a bad guy well can be pleasing to God. Director Peter Mackenzie, who works out of the United Kingdom, quotes C.S. Lewis. “We don’t need more Christian movies, we need more Christians making movies.” England is much more of a postChristian culture than America, he says, and the same marketing divisions don’t apply. In fact, the market for faith-based films doesn’t exist in England. Without faith in God or anything, he feels that great numbers of people are hopeless. He believes the job of a Christian filmmaker is to highlight hope. Schneider agrees and adds that films with a faith element are becoming more authentic stateside. “They don’t have to be preachy and browbeating anymore. [Or] so damn nice. The most attractive Christian examples I’ve ever met are not nice people running through fields of daisies and throwing candy to children. These are real people held together by their belief in God. They do wonderful things and they do horrible things and they’re sorry when they do them.” A S e p t e m b e r 2 5 , 2 0 1 0 W O R L D
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Reviews > Books
Pessimistic portraits Two Jewish authors offer Ecclesiastes-flavored novels By Marvin Olasky
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Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement for Jews, begins at sunset on Sept. 17 this year. It’s the 10th and last of the High Holy Days: The operating idea is that on the first day, Rosh Hashanah, God judges most of mankind and pencils in His judgments in the Book of Life—but He can make changes until Yom Kippur, when the Book is closed and sealed. It’s partly true that Judaism is a religion of works, with the Orthodox trying to keep most of the 613 Torah commandments and ending up with more pluses than minuses, but that’s too simple. Yes, actions are central, but the High Holy Days are a time for repentance that can make up for a multitude
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friend that the friend’s wife is having an affair. Or story 9: A late middle-aged man reaches out to a high-school friend from a different culture, but they cannot communicate. Or story 10: A son is close to his elderly father, who dies of cancer. Or 11: A brilliant Yiddish novelist dies, but few people can read his work or care about it. Or 12: A heralded but self-centered author eventually kills himself. In a couple of stories younger women cheer up elderly men, but that’s about it. No meaning to life, no hope of heaven, no High Holy Days, low holy days, or any holy days. Grand River and Joy, named after a landmark Detroit intersection, also echoes Ecclesiastes: Set in 1967, when a race riot left 43 dead and more than 2,000 buildings destroyed, the novel brings together wholesale shoe warehouse owner Harry Levine and an African-American father and son who live above the warehouse. Debut novelist Messer has Levine working without joy or meaning: Judaism provides not a purpose for life but some insignificant ritual: His wife says at one point, “We should light the candles. And the latkes [potato pancakes] are going to get soggy.” Messer does offer some hope for racial reconciliation. She also provides an inkling of the possibilities for vertical reaffiliation when Levine is dragged into an orthodox synagogue and finds himself praying: “He let the prayer shawl fall forward around his face and shoulders, and he withdrew into it, a private tent.” A Email: molasky@worldmag.com
Messer: Cindy Trim • epstein: mike fisher
of failures. The last hour of Yom Kippur includes a service called Neilah: It’s the only service during which the doors to each synagogue’s Ark (home to Torah scrolls) stay open throughout, indicating that the gates of Heaven are still open but will imminently close. Christians can learn much from Judaism, and in the process increase our thankfulness that because of Christ’s full atonement for all our sins
the gates of Heaven are always open. For that matter, most American Jews could learn much from Judaism, because most know little about it. Sadly, the Old Testament book that resonates most strongly with many Americans is the most apparently pessimistic, Ecclesiastes, with its signature line, “Vanity, vanity, all is vanity.” Two tightly written, dark-humored books by Jewish authors, Joseph Epstein’s The Love Song of A. Jerome Minkoff and Other Stories (Houghton Mifflin, 2010), and Susan Messer’s Grand River and Joy (University of Michigan Press, 2009), meticulously echo that semi-wisdom. Epstein’s short stories, almost all of which hurtle toward curdled conclusions, are pitch-perfect in capturing slices of thought and speech among middle-aged or elderly Jewish Chicagoans. Story summaries don’t do justice to Epstein’s immaculate style, but they’ll give you a sense of content: A widower decides he’d rather remain alone than marry a rich widow. An old professor goes crazy, falls off a roof, and dies. A nasty writer grows old and miserable. A daughter who becomes a business success disappoints her artsloving parents. A businessman shows compassion to a homeless man, who then becomes his enemy. Want some optimism? Try story 8: A man wonders whether to tell his best
NOTABLE BOOKS Four recent novels > reviewed by susan olasky
The Postmistress Sarah Blake Blake’s great storytelling begins with an aging war correspondent reminiscing about a World War II postmistress who chose not to deliver a letter. The novel then flashes back to interlocking stories of Frankie Bard, the war correspondent; an American doctor who leaves his wife on Cape Cod and volunteers in London; and the folks back home who wait uneasily for war to come. Bard’s radio accounts from London disrupt their ordinary lives by bringing into their homes eyewitness accounts of the Blitz and other war horrors. Bard’s desperate desire to rouse her fellow Americans against the Nazis drives her to risk a train crossing of occupied France, interviewing Jewish refugees along the journey. Cautions: some language and sex.
A Fierce Radiance Lauren Belfer This engaging historical novel includes plenty of period details and appearances by historical figures such as Claire Booth Luce and her husband, Time owner Henry Luce. The book begins with a man dying of pneumonia at the Rockefeller Institute in Manhattan where researchers are testing a new drug, penicillin. That story fascinates Claire Shipley, a Life photographer, because her daughter died from an infection that developed from a scrape on her leg. When her editor spikes the story, she learns that Washington has taken over the penicillin project as part of its WWII effort. The novel is a historical medical thriller that follows nations, doctors, and pharmaceutical companies competing to develop a cure for bacterial infections endemic in war and ordinary life. Some language and sex.
The Devil Amongst the Lawyers Sharyn McCrumb The chief pleasure here is McCrumb’s depiction of big city reporters flocking to a tiny Blue Ridge Mountain hamlet in the 1930s to cover the sensational trial of a schoolteacher accused of murdering her drunken lout of a father. As the train carries them from New York to Virginia, we see them sketching out the story, deciding how to portray the accused and the local “yokels.” Their basis for writing is not truth or eyewitness reporting but the demands of their readers, their editors, and their own egos. Although a local reporter goes after the truth, his editor can’t figure out why his stories don’t match those of the bigger, prize-winning journalists. One book in McCrumb’s lyrically written Ballad series.
mason: ROBERT LAHSER/ap
The Cookbook Collector Allegra Goodman Goodman’s novel Intuition captured life at a medical research lab, the conflicting motives of the researchers, and the temptations they face. Goodman turns her wonderful narrative powers to the dot-com era, when programmers, entrepreneurs, academics, and secretaries became multimillionaires overnight. She captures the frantic energy, creative rivalries, greed, and irrational exuberance of the period by focusing on the relationship of two sisters, one a high-tech entrepreneur and the other a philosophy graduate student, and the competition between two start-ups, one run by one of the sisters and the other run by her fiance. Goodman’s characters are all looking for meaning and purpose by pursuing tangible and intangible things. Some language and sex. Email: solasky@worldmag.com; see all our reviews at worldmag.com/books
SPOTLIGHT Martha Mason wrote her memoir Breath (Bloomsbury, 2010) while on her back, encased in an 800pound iron lung in which she spent 61 years until she died last year at age 71. The first 10 years of her life were full of typical childhood fun. She was energetic and smart, living a carefree, rural life during the 1940s. Then in September 1948— three days after her brother died of it—Mason contracted polio, which took away her ability to breathe on her own. After a year’s recovery, her doctor told her, “You’re basically an excellent mind and an exuberant spirit locked inside an inert body—a prison. Can you live with that?” She was 12 years old. She answered him, “No . . . but I can live above it.” Her memoir describes how she kept that audacious promise, including graduating at the top of her Wake Forest class. She writes with humor and insight, especially concerning her parents’ deep biblical faith and remarkable care.
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Reviews > Q&A
The consumer’s best friend It’s not government regulation, says investigative reporter John Stossel, but the competition of free markets By Marvin Olasky
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And then you had to write professionally . . . As a researcher, and eventually writing things for the anchors. In a way, it’s helpful to not know what you want to do, and just learn through fear. I wanted to succeed, so I stayed on the balls of my feet and tried to learn as much as I could. You were told you weren’t a writer, but also as a child you were a stutterer. Yes, I still am a stutterer, though it’s obviously largely under control. As a child I struggled with the B and D sounds, and as a consumer reporter, that meant I couldn’t say “better” or “different” on television. I could edit the stutters out, but it was very scary for me. I would wake up scared every morning. I came to New York after a number of years, and I had a job with Channel 2. I would do a consumer report and at the end there’s a live chat with the anchorman. I would wake up every morning dreading those 15 seconds of live, because I was so afraid that I would humiliate myself and be fired. How did you improve? I eventually went to a clinic
WORLD September 25, 2010
where they re-taught us how to speak. They slowed us down to about 2 seconds per syllable: We were like cows mooing at each other. It was boring therapy, but I was really motivated because I had this cool career in television. It paid well, I was doing things I thought were socially useful, I was meeting girls—it was wonderful. I didn’t want to give it up, but I thought I had to because it was too terrifying. So I did this therapy, and because I was motivated I really learned. In your career, were you at first the crusading consumer advocate, exposing nefarious activities of businesses messing around with the little guy? That’s a fair characterization. I did that because I was a stutterer, and the idea of covering what everyone else was covering terrified me, that I would be at the press conference and they would be saying, “Mr. President! Mr. President!” and I wouldn’t be able to get it out. I wanted to cover something where I didn’t face that kind of competition. News at the time was generally politics,
charge someone for a repair you didn’t have to make, or say something was wrong when it wasn’t?” They said, “Oh, no, we would never do that.” And I got to say, “Oh yeah? Well watch this!” and I played the video. Great revenge television. We did a 5-part series on that. I would say, “The government should step in and stop this! People are getting hurt!” Then politicians would call and say, “That was great. We’re going to do something about it.” And Email: molasky@worldmag.com
Evan Agostini/Getty Images
John Stossel, 63, has won 19 Emmy awards for his consumer reporting and investigative journalism. Now that he criticizes big government more than big business, espouses libertarianism, and—horror of horrors—works for FOX rather than ABC, those awards are no longer coming. When you were an undergraduate at Princeton, what did you dream about? I was just trying to find a girlfriend, to succeed at sports, and to make money. My mother had told me if I didn’t work hard I would freeze in the dark. That was my fear. After college you took the job offer that allowed you to get the farthest away? Business office of Seattle Magazine: the longest free trip. I thought, “I’ll take that, and see the Pacific Northwest!” But by the time I got to Seattle, Seattle Magazine had folded and they asked me if I wanted to try working as a researcher in the television newsroom in Portland, Ore. I said, “Sure.” I had never written anything; my worst grades were in English.
crime, and the weather. That’s what we thought of as news. At first you saw government as having a big role in protecting consumers. I was cheering on the regulators because I saw consumers get ripped off. One example: We would take a TV to a bunch of repair shops. We arranged it with a community college so it had a loose tube. All you had to do was put the tube back in and that would fix the TV. Most repair shops just did that, no charge, but some said they had to take it and repair it. We came back for it and they would charge us $200. I asked them, “Would you ever
young John Stossel was very flattered that people were paying attention to him. Many reporters foolishly measure themselves by how many laws they get passed, when we really should measure ourselves by how many laws we get repealed. But I hadn’t learned that yet. So I was
excited: They were going to create a Department of Consumer Affairs, and I had been a part of that happening. But I didn’t realize that they were using me because they wanted to get their faces on TV, because that would help them get elected. Did you see improvement? Five years later I was still on the beat; we would do the same tests and get the same results. So we started wondering, what was the Department of Consumer Affairs doing? We checked it out, and it was licensing people. That sounds good,
intuitively. We license dogs and we license drivers, and it sounds like it’s going to make life safer. But it doesn’t: It just adds bureaucracy. It made everything cost more. Now every business had to hire a lawyer just to understand the forms and go down there and get a license. If you’re an immigrant trying to open a new repair shop that would be cheap and serve people in poor neighborhoods, maybe now you couldn’t because it was too expensive. Or, maybe you had Copy goes here
to go into the black market and operate without a license, and risk being busted by the police— or extorted by the police, because once you’re underground the authorities can use you more easily. Then you started to do stories criticizing regulation? I talked about how when the government got rid of the Interstate Commerce Commission, suddenly they got rid of these idiot rules that would cause trucks that went from the farm with a load of carrots to have to go back to the farm empty, because they had to get permission from the bureaucracy to carry furniture back to the farm. Now they were going full both ways and we saved billions of dollars. And deregulation of natural gas prices: Politicians said the prices would go through the roof if we didn’t limit prices, and they did go up at first, but then there was much more production, and the prices went way down. So your street-level experience suggested that if a company is doing something wrong, competition will eventually take care of it, but government, operating without competition, can stultify the whole process? And keep it bad forever, like the public K-12 education system. I could always find scams when I was a local reporter: There was the New York scam, the Portland, Ore., scam. But when I got to Good Morning America and 20/20, we couldn’t find many. That’s because of competition: With free competition, the cheaters don’t get very big. The way to get really rich in America is to give your customers something they want, something good. If you cheat people, word gets out. You can make money for a while, but eventually it peters out. A
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Reviews > Music
Reimaginings Two new songbooks offer different takes on their source material By arsenio orteza
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weirder than hearing Al Green sing “To Sir, with Love.” Coming from the opposite end of the spectrum is the new album by the venerable Los Angeles garage-rockers the Morlocks, The Morlocks Play Chess (popantipop). The Chess that the Morlocks play is the greatest hits of the Chicago blues label of the same name, hits written or made famous by Bo Diddley (“Who Do You Love”), Howlin’ Wolf (“Killing Floor,” “Smokestack Lightning”), Chuck Berry (“Back in the U.S.A.”), John Lee Hooker (“Boom Boom”), and Sonny Boy Williamson (“Help Me”). Like the Gershwin songs covered by Wilson, these Chess pieces have been covered hundreds of times; unlike Wilson, whose admiration for Gershwin keeps him stuck in “tribute” gear, the Morlocks really do “reimagine” their source material, stripping it to its roots and putting it back together without following the directions. The result sounds like a battle of the bands between the Rolling Stones and the New York Dolls in which both sides fight to a draw and then decide to join forces—because such music was never about us-vs.-them in the first place. A Email: aorteza@worldmag.com
morlocks: www.Jenstarrphoto.com • wilson: Chris Pizzello/ap
ONCE AGAIN, ALBUM SALES have made headlines by reaching all-time lows, and once again illicit internet downloading has been getting the blame. But what deserves as much if not more blame is the instant disposability of the current “hot” product. Now more than ever, pop songs seem written less to set universal sentiments to timeless melodies, than to express the relatively uninteresting self-expressions of the singer. It’s an approach doomed to result in ever-diminishing returns for reasons best summed up in Dennis Hopper’s line from the film Search and Destroy: “Just because it happened to you doesn’t make it important!” So it’s not surprising that songbooks from the days when songwriters “got it” keep resurfacing no matter how old they are. The most talked-about of the recent crop is George Gershwin’s as interpreted by Brian Wilson, Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin (Disney Pearl Series) (although it probably should have been called Reimagines the Gershwins, as the final versions of many of George’s pieces were the fruit of his collaboration with his lyric-writing brother Ira). On paper Wilson’s project makes sense. Just as Gershwin was the early-20th-century composer most adept at twisting the innovations of serious-music pioneers into shapes that even the untutored listener could respond to, Wilson built the Beach Boys into America’s most enduring rock ’n’ roll group by wedding the jazz-based harmonies of the Four Freshmen to Phil Spector’s echo-laden Wall of Sound and making the marriage sound if not like one made in heaven, exactly, then certainly one made in quintessentially American adolescent reveries. As it turns out, there was always at least a little Gershwin in the Beach Boys’ music, too. In interviews promoting his new album, Wilson has cited Rhapsody in Blue as the first piece of music he remembers hearing, and certainly the ease and enthusiasm with which he throws himself and his patented layered vocal stylings into showing blinkered baby boomers what they may have been missing testifies to his Gershwin affection. What it doesn’t do, however, is show boomers already hip to Gershwin what they’ve been missing. Except for two unfinished Gershwin songs that Wilson completed, the track listing—from “I Got Rhythm” and “Summertime” to “Someone to Watch over Me” and “I’ve Got a Crush on You”—merely summarizes Gershwin’s most over-performed songs. And hearing Wilson sing “I Loves You, Porgy” is even
NOTABLE CDs
Five noteworthy new classical releases > reviewed by arsenio orteza
Bach Cello Suites Zuill Bailey
The music Bach composed for keyboards has assumed such a large place in his oeuvre that it’s easy to forget he composed for other solo instruments as well. So kudos to Zuill Bailey for putting his 1693 Ex “Mischa Schneider” Matteo Gofriller cello (well, not his exactly—it’s on loan from his “private patron”) at the service of keeping alive both the memory and the reality of these glowing suites, which, for their twohour-and-17-minute duration could (almost) make one forget Bach composed for keyboards.
Music of Viktor Kalabis Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Vlach Quartet, Suk Trio For most Westerners, simply discovering the existence of the music of the late Czech composer Viktor Kalabis, who toiled for most of his long life behind the Iron Curtain, will be reason enough to revel in this three-disc, “limited authorized edition” reissue of recordings heretofore available only as hard-toacquire imports on the Prague label Suprahon. His range was breathtaking (piano concertos, symphonies, ballet music, string quartets). But, on this evidence anyway, it’s the “Canonic Inventions for Harpsichord,” featuring the playing of his wife, that brought out his best.
Irish Classics John O’Conor,
the Irish Chamber Orchestra Why is this disc stocked in the “classical” rather than the “easy listening” section? After all, its familiar m elodies (“Danny Boy” included) would sound just as natural coming from Zamfir’s pan flute. Well, the piano isn’t a flute, and O’Conor plays with a non-condescending mixture of sprightliness and reverence. And just when the members of the Irish Chamber Orchestra start to come on a little too traipsingly, the demands placed upon them by the dignified wistfulness of a melody like “I’ll Take You Home Kathleen” keep them in line.
SPOTLIGHT Talk about bad timing. No sooner does the masterly American cellist Zuill Bailey release his recording of Bach’s Six Suites for Solo Cello (Bach Cello Suites [Telarc]) than Sony reissues Yo-Yo Ma’s 1983 recording of the very same suites (The Unaccompanied Cello Suites Complete) as digitally remastered in 2009 for—and previously only available in—Ma’s 90-disc (!), $600 (!!) boxed set, Yo-Yo Ma: 30 Years Outside the Box. Never mind that the differences between Bailey’s and Ma’s recordings only reveal themselves after multiple listenings and even then will strike all but experts as too subtle to debate: Ma’s Bach album will win out in the competition for consumer dollars on name recognition alone. But it needn’t—at least not among listeners who first encountered these pieces in Ingmar Bergman’s film Saraband. The mellifluousness of Bailey’s bowing as accentuated by the slight echo of Adam Abeshouse’s production consistently captures a sorrow at which Ma’s more aggressive technique sometimes only hints.
bailey: Lisa-Marie Mazzucco
Arvo Pärt: Symphony No. 4 Los Angeles Philharmonic, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir Inspired by the Slavonic “Canon of the Guardian Angel” and dedicated to Mikhail Khodorkovsky (a Russian entrepreneur “imprisoned since 2003, presumably on political grounds”), the three movements of Pärt’s 35-minute Symphony No. 4 come as close to articulating the paradox of the joy found only in suffering as orchestral music can. His 15-minute choral piece, meanwhile, “Fragments from Kanon pokajanen,” articulates that paradox as only Slavonic, churchtext-based choral music can. Not insignificantly, the album’s epigraph comes courtesy of the 18th-century opponent of the death penalty, Cesare Beccaria.
See all our reviews at worldmag.com/music
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Mindy Belz PITCHED BATTLE: U.S. Army soldiers carry a wounded comrade to a medical helicopter as others attend a soldier, left, who was caught in the blast of an improvised mine in the volatile Arghandab Valley near Kandahar, Afghanistan.
Let’s borrow trouble
U.S. objectives should drive war timetables, not the other way around
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Email: mbelz@worldmag.com
Rodrigo Abd/ap
op quiz: Who brought an end to U.S. combat operations in Iraq? Those who say President Barack Obama get an “E” for effort, but the correct answer is President George W. Bush. And the Iraqi government. Few Americans realize that U.S. military operations in Iraq have been authorized by the UN and the Iraqi government since shortly after the U.S. invasion in 2003. That’s when the UN Security Council agreed to a status of forces agreement renewable at the consent of the Iraqi government every six months. The last one was to expire in 2008. President Bush could have allowed it to lapse and let his successor pick up the pieces, but he negotiated a new agreement that was signed in Baghdad on Nov. 17, 2008—after Obama was elected but before he took office. It set a timetable for U.S. withdrawal, stating, “U.S. combat forces must withdraw from cities, villages and localities by June 30, 2009” and “All U.S. forces must withdraw by Dec. 31, 2011.” Those remain the two significant deadlines, with this year’s Aug. 31 deadline for withdrawal of all U.S. combat forces a tacked-on date set by Obama for political effect: It allowed him to pacify the anti-war wing of the Democratic Party and show that he was doing something tangible to end the war in an election year. The 2009 deadline proved the more important one on the ground, as the U.S. pullback from cities and towns effectively ended combat operations. As one recently returned Army officer told me, “All we’ve been doing the last year is supporting each other. We’ve not engaged Iraqis.”
The looming question is whether President Obama intends to negotiate a follow-on to the current status of forces agreement, something even critics of the war effort in Iraq say is necessary. “I worry more about total withdrawal and the expectation that the Sunnis and Shias will just get over their differences” in the absence of a U.S.-Iraq agreement, said Council on Foreign Relations fellow Stephen Biddle in a recent conference call with reporters. Biddle went further: “I worry more about the end of 2011 than I worry about August 2010.” That’s when not only are the last of the U.S. soldiers in Iraq scheduled to leave the country, but also the drawdown of forces from Afghanistan is set to begin. Biddle, a former professor at the U.S. Army War College and author of Military Power: Explaining Victory and Defeat in Modern Battle, has long argued that turning over fighting to local forces in Iraq is risky in the face of the sort of communal fighting (Sunni vs. Shia with outside terrorists thrown in) that has characterized the Iraq war. Judging by the 2010 drop in U.S. casualties, one might assume that fighting is over. But consider: While three U.S. soldiers were killed in Iraq last month, 273 Iraqis died (90 soldiers, 183 civilians). Added to the country’s political instability—it has yet to settle on a government following March elections—it looks clear that Obama’s August deadline was tied to a domestic agenda, not the realities on the ground. That’s not to say that troops should remain indefinitely, but to say that our objectives should drive a timetable, not the other way around. The president threatens to make the same mistakes in Afghanistan. And there we have a pitched battle with U.S. and Afghan forces against the Taliban, terrorists, and related insurgents. Our objective, plainly laid out by Biddle and a host of military experts, is to defeat the Taliban and al-Qaeda. If we do not, those forces are likely to take over a weak Pakistani government and its nuclear arsenal. And the only way that’s no longer our problem—in 2010 or 2011—is if the investment of thousands of lives and billions of American dollars doesn’t matter. Or if the threat of nuclear terrorism is to be left in the hands of the next commander-in-chief. A
2010 election
Rookie sea A surprising number of doctors and businessmen are setting aside their stethoscopes and spreadsheets to run for Congress—and they’re running well by Emily
Belz
On Stephen Fincher’s 2,500-acre farm in Frog Jump,
Tenn., it’s time to harvest the cotton and soybeans. The corn is still coming in. But after 18 harvests, which follow seven generations that his family has farmed the land, Fincher will have to miss most of this one while he campaigns for Congress. “I love farming, I love Frog Jump, but I love my children more,” Fincher said, explaining why he would ever want to leave his fields for Washington. He has three children, ages 14 down to 7. Since he operates his own family business, he is fed up with the federal government’s ever-expanding debt and regulation of the private sector. Fincher is running as a Republican for the seat held by retiring Rep. John Tanner, D-Tenn., and he already handily defeated two much wealthier candidates in the GOP primary in August—the most expensive House primary in the country. His conservative Democratic opponent, state Sen. Roy Herron, also has more cash than Fincher, but the race is a toss-up, according to Cook Political Report. WORLD kicks off its Election 2010 coverage by examining the stunning number of Republican candidates running for the House or Senate this year who, like Fincher, have no political background and are either small business owners or medical professionals: 55 in total. Eighteen medical professionals, concerned with the passage of the healthcare bill, are running along with 37 small business owners, concerned about the state of the economy and the nation’s debt. WORLD reporter Edward Lee Pitts discovered such grassroots anxiety on those two issues in meeting voters on his trip across the country (see p. 45). That anxiety puts incumbent conservative Democrats in jeopardy, too (see p. 42). Novices run for office in every election season, but it’s unusual to have so many with a good chance of winning. And all of those with a good chance of winning this year share at least one trait: They’re Republicans. Compared to the Democrats’ 40-orso toss-up seats, only three races for Republican-held House seats are considered toss-ups, and the Democrats running for those all have political backgrounds. While a few conservative Democrats have criticized healthcare reform or the Congressgenerated deficit, they are incumbents. The businesspeople running this year aren’t bored executives looking for the next ladder to climb. There’s a cherry farmer, the head of a music teaching company, the owner of a family swimming pool business, a funeral home owner. They have seen the recession damage their businesses, and they don’t understand how the federal government can add new ready for his close-up: Fincher watches the results regulatory burdens while flouting basic budgeting itself. of the primary race for the “We’re missing common sense, business sense,” Fincher 8th District congressional told me. “You don’t spend more than you make. It’s not seat, at his election party in that complicated.” Jackson, Tenn, on Aug. 5.
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Aaron Hardin/The Jackson Sun/ap
ason
2010 election
They say Congress has created a terrible environment for companies. “We don’t know what’s coming at us. We’re hunkered down,” said Scott Rigell, a car dealership owner who is running for Virginia’s 2nd District, where Democratic Rep. Glenn Nye is the incumbent. “There’s one word that everything revolves around: uncertainty.” Rigell fought off the recession at his dealerships. (The “cash for clunkers” auto program helped last summer, but only for a while.) Business started to go bad in 2007 heading into 2008. “I thought, everything we worked for—in 12 months, we’ll be done.” He quit drawing a salary and tried to bury unease by investing half a million dollars in advertising, buying new furniture, painting the dealership buildings, and doubling the business’ 401k contributions. He said he didn’t lay off anyone but didn’t replace employees who left either. “I was just trying to do my own little part, to push back against the
retiring after forging a deal that ensured passage of the healthcare reform bill. Dr. Dan Benishek, 58, has spent the last couple of decades slicing guts open as a general surgeon. He was easing into retirement, doing a few endoscopies a week at the veterans hospital, but in January he decided to set that aside for politics. A few months later Stupak, who as leader of a bloc of prolife Democrats was one of the chief obstacles to the passage of healthcare reform, agreed to support the bill in return for what many consider a toothless executive order banning tax funds for abortions. “Everybody hated that,” Benishek said about Stupak’s deal. “He stood up as a leader of the pro-life movement, then bailed on his principles.” When Stupak cast
doing their part: Rigell at a candidates forum in Virginia Beach, Va.; Benishek speaks at a Tea Party Express Rally in Escanaba, Mich.; Bucshon visits with employees of Flanders Electric in Evansville, Ind. (from left to right).
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his vote for the healthcare bill in March, Benishek was his only Republican challenger, and he was largely unknown. Donations poured in for the Republican from all over the country and in April Stupak announced his retirement, giving Republicans a chance to take the seat. Benishek has lost 28 pounds in the stress of entering politics, weathering a six-way primary. When he began campaigning, he said, “You don’t know what to do.” His stepson handles public relations, and his wife worked the phones for a while. He is brushing up on issues by reading economist Milton Friedman. He tells me he has just returned from media training with the National Republican Congressional Committee in Washington, to help him “not say anything stupid” to reporters. “People are deciding for the first time in their lives to get politically active,” he said. “I’m running for the same reason that they’re active. I wasn’t all that political as a physician. You work all the time.” Dr. Scott DesJarlais runs a general practice in Jasper, Tenn., serving several thousand patients. In the exam room, his patients used to talk about football, gardening, and hunting, he
rigell: Bill Clark/Roll Call/Getty Images Benishek: Holly Richer/The Daily Press/ap • Bucshon: handout
recession,” he said. “A lot of this is psychological.” Now, the business is “tenuous” and struggling to break even, he said. Since he is on the campaign trail around the clock these days, his business partner James Church is handling the dealerships, and they confer for about half an hour every week over the phone. The physician-candidates make the most of their apolitical backgrounds. They splash photos on their campaign websites of themselves in scrubs, with stethoscopes and face masks askew like they just finished saving a life, an implicit reassurance that they know what voters need. Docs4PatientCare, a group of physicians, has spread a letter to thousands of doctors to post in their waiting rooms, detailing what the implications of healthcare reform could be and calling for voters to oust Democrats who supported the bill. “America’s doctors have millions of personal interactions each week with patients,” wrote the group’s president, Hal Scherz, in a Wall Street Journal editorial. “We have political power.” In Michigan’s expansive 1st District, which includes all of the Upper Peninsula, it might be fitting that a physician is the GOP candidate for the seat of Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak, who is
said. Now they talk about politics. He heard their fears and decided to run for office, challenging Democratic Rep. Lincoln Davis. “The direction of our country . . . didn’t set well with me,” DesJarlais told me. His patients jokingly told him they wouldn’t vote for him because they didn’t want to lose their doctor. Dr. Larry Bucshon, a cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon running in Indiana’s 8th District, had noticed problems in the healthcare industry for years but doesn’t think the new law would solve them. “As a doctor, my main concern is access to quality healthcare for people—but also a vibrant, viable system that attracts young people to go into medicine,” he said. Recruiting doctors to his area, he said, is already difficult, and he and other physician candidates think the new law could discourage people from going into medicine. Costs for his medical group of a dozen physicians, Ohio Valley Heart Care, have been rising regularly—and he thinks costs will continue to rise under the current law without reforms like reducing the level of litigation in the medical industry. Bucshon’s group sold themselves to a hospital three years ago. “We’re like every other small business—we’re being pinched,” he said.
But will political greenhorns have sensible, doable ideas for governing? Will they really improve the culture of Washington, or will it change them? Before Fincher signed up to run for Congress, he didn’t own a BlackBerry, but he does now—the phone that every Washingtonian obsessively checks morning to night. If any of these candidates win, they’ll likely hire staff that already work on the Hill—which is practical, to bring in those with congressional experience—but raises the question of whether they can revolutionize politics as they would like. “I’m not naïve to that,” said Bucshon. “It may take decades to try to change the culture.” The prospect of leaving their professions and governing seems a bit daunting, too. Benishek said his wife Judy was initially worried he would lose. But now she’s worried he will win. A Email: ebelz@worldmag.com
the candidates Running for House seats Businessmen with no political background: 30
Medical professionals with no political background: 17
Tom Ganley Ohio-13 Scott Rigell Va.-02 Steve Fincher Tenn.-08 Beth Ann Rankin Ark.-04 Paul Smith Calif.-05 Calif.-06 Jim Judd Rick Tubbs Calif.-07 Calif.-08 John Dennis Andy Vidak Calif.-20 Tom Watson Calif.-23 Mark Reed Calif.-27 Calif.-39 Larry Andre Steve Southerland Fla.-02 Karen Harrington Fla.-20 David Ratowitz Ill.-05 Bob Dold Ill.-10 Teri Newman Ill.-12 Bobby Shilling Ill.-17 Jason Levesque Maine-02 Jeff Miller N.C.-11 Roland Straten N.J.-08 Tom Mullins N.M.-03 Kenneth Wegner Nev.-01 Charles Thompson Okla.-05 Rob Cornilles Oreg.-01 Rick Hellberg Penn.-02 Mike Kelly Penn.-03 Dee Adcock Penn.-13 Bryan Underwood Texas-28 Keith Fimian Va.-11
Renee Ellners N.C.-02 Larry Bucshon Ind.-08 Scott DesJarlais Tenn.-04 Nan Hayworth N.Y.-19 Chris Salvino Ariz.-05 Mark Weiman Ill.-07 Tim Besco Texas-16 Donna Campbell Texas-25 B.J. Lawson N.C.-04 Dan Benishek Mich.-01 Robert Steele Mich.-15 Mike Fallon Colo.-01 Paul Gosar Ariz.-01 Jay Fleitman Maine-02 Gerry Dembrowski Maine-07 Marcelo Cardarelli Md.-02 N.Y.-28 Jill Rowland
Running for senate seats Businessmen with no political background: 7 Linda McMahon Ron Johnson Gary Bernsten Jay Townsend Len Britton Jim Bender Bill Binnie
Medical professionals with no political background: 1
Conn. Wis. N.Y.* N.Y.* Vt. N.H.* N.H.*
Rand Paul
Ky.
* Sept. 14 primary
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Dying dogs Conservative Democrats—blue dogs in red districts—may become an endangered species after the elections in November by Edward
Lee Pitts
Learning how to frost a cake
or organize one’s closet? No problem. eHow.com is a website that, as its tagline goes, “tells you how to do just about everything.” But for its recent entry on learning “how to be a conservative Democrat,” eHow.com offers a blunt assessment: The site labels it “challenging” to pull that off in the current political climate. Challenging may be putting it mildly. Conservative Democrats are in tight spots right now all over the country. Even those who voted against such big-government legislation as healthcare reform are having a difficult time responding to Republican arguments that a vote for any Democrat is a vote for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Maybe that is why these conservative Democrats have kept busy this summer running as fast as they can away from Pelosi and their party’s establishment. Just by observing their campaign strategies, it is easy to forget which party they belong to: i Democratic Rep. Tom Perriello has been meeting with Tea Party groups in his Virginia district while fellow Virginia Democratic Rep. Glenn Nye touts in ads his willingness to “go against his own party.” i Democratic Rep. Travis Childers of Mississippi highlights in ads his pro-gun and pro-life stances while accusing his Republican challenger, Alan Nunnelee, of “raising taxes on sick people in hospitals.” i Rep. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., is running commercials attacking “Nancy Pelosi’s energy tax.” i Rep. Mike McIntyre, a North Carolina Democrat, “doesn’t work for Nancy Pelosi,” according to his commercial. i Television ads for Rep. Bobby Bright, D-Ala., highlight how he voted against “massive government healthcare.” “Bobby Bright is an independent conservative,” the commercial’s narrator says. “He is one of us.” Bright, who won by 1,700 votes in 2008, serves an Alabama district where 63 percent of the voters went for John McCain for president over Barack Obama. In a campaign season where candidates have already painted Pelosi as public enemy No. 1, no one has gone further than Bright. When asked at a late August Chamber of which side are you on? Glenn Nye, Walt Minnick, Mike McIntyre, Bobby Bright, Tom Perriello, Travis Childers, Frank Kratovil, Joe Donnelly, Harry Mitchell, Kathy Dahlkemper (clockwise from top left). S e p t e m b e r 2 5 , 2 0 1 0 W O R L D
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“All the Democrats, no matter what they vote for, the one vote Republicans bring up is that first vote they cast for Nancy Pelosi as speaker.”
by the numbers
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Email: lpitts@worldmag.com
Eric Isselée/istock • previous spread: Bill Clark/Roll Call/newscom; Charlie Litchfield/Idaho Press-Tribune/AP; Tom Williams/roll call/newscom; Julie Bennett/ Montgomery Advertiser/ap; Douglas Graham/roll call/newscom; Thomas Wells/Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal/ap; Douglas Graham/roll call/newscom; Marcus Marter/South Bend Tribune/ap; Patrick D. McDermott/upi/Newscom; zuma/newscom (clockwise from top left)
trade legislation that many fear would damCommerce event in Montgomery, Ala., if he would support age his district’s Eastern Shore economy. Pelosi as House Speaker next year, Bright responded that Pelosi Rep. Walt Minnick, a Blue Dog Democrat “may get sick and die” before he would have to decide. from Idaho, voted the least with his party But by Nov. 3, it may be conservative Democrats, called leadership at 71 percent of the time. Minnick Blue Dogs in the House, who could be facing their own political often mentions this on the campaign trail. His death sentences. opposition to the healthcare overhaul, climateWith originally just 23 mostly Southern representatives at change legislation, and the federal stimulus its formation 15 years ago, the Blue Dog coalition has enjoyed a package has helped him take a 23-point lead renaissance the last two election cycles. Since 2006 more than over his Republican challenger in a conservative state. 50 Democrats have won congressional seats in conservativeConservative Democrats campaigned two years ago with leaning districts. promises to curb the national debt. But like There are now 54 Blue Dog Democrats Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper of Pennsylvania, in the House, representing districts from many of these freshman Democrats made all over the country. But that may end up one of their first votes in favor of an ecobeing the group’s high water mark: Of the nomic stimulus package that is now costing 54, 32 are in districts McCain won in 2008. nearly $1 trillion. Currently 43 of the Blue Dogs are in comThese Democrats, now that they have to petitive races, according to a Cook Political face voters again, are trying to regain their Report evaluation. That includes 17 toss-up conservative labels by joining Republicans races and four races that lean Republican. i On average, the 54 Blue Dog to block some Democratic spending plans. “All the Democrats, no matter what Democrats voted with the party But it may be too little too late. they vote for, the one vote Republicans 92 percent of the time. Obama’s policies have so far failed to fix bring up is that first vote they cast for Democrats on average voted the economy or boost the job market. As a Nancy Pelosi as speaker,” says Isaac with the party (leadership) 92 result, these Democrats are becoming Wood, an expert on House races at the percent of the time. In other increasingly unpopular in districts where University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. words, the Blue Dogs show no voters elected them in hopes that they Republican challengers are not letting different voting patterns than the would right the nation’s financial ship. Democrats shake their Pelosi ties: In rest of the party. “There’s a lot of frustration here with Arizona, opponents of incumbent conservative Democrats who haven’t been Democratic Rep. Harry Mitchell have surThe 5 Dems who have bucked their party the most are: able to stop cap and trade and stop healthrounded Mitchell’s campaign signs with (the numbers are the percentage care reform, but also with all representalarger ones that read: “Pelosi’s Lap Dog.” they voted with the party) tives . . . for the economic situation,” says One reason the label may be sticking the University of Virginia’s Wood. can be found in the voting records of Blue Walt Minnick......................... 71% There is one group that may not mourn Dogs. In the 110th Congress the Blue Bobby Bright......................... 72% the loss of conservative Democrats: Liberal Dogs voted with their party an average of Gene Taylor........................... 78% Democrats. They believe that a thinning of 92 percent of the time. This is no different Harry Mitchell . ..................... 80% the ranks of conservative Democrats is a than the rest of the party’s members: Travis Childers...................... 81% necessary step toward being able to fully Overall House Democrats voted with implement far-left policies. party leadership the same 92 percent of And the 5 Dems who have Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., told The the time. voted with the party the most: Hill last month that the party may have Take Maryland’s Frank Kratovil. The more liberal purity soon: “I think a lot of freshman Democrat won by less than Adam Schiff........................... 99.5% the House seats we’re going to lose are those 3,000 votes in a district McCain won by Joe Baca................................. 99% who have been the toughest for the 19 points. Kratovil is calling his newest Mike Thompson.................... 99% Democrats to pull into line—the Democrats campaign ad “Independent.” Yet he voted David Scott............................ 99% that have been the most d ifficult.” A with party leadership 85 percent of the Jane Harman.......................... 98% time, including a vote for the cap-and—Emily Belz contributed to this report
Swinging back After bringing Democrats to power in 2008, voters in the struggling states of Ohio and Michigan are preparing to register their regret at the polls by Edward
Lee Pitts
in Canton, Ohio, and Hillsdale County, Mich.
About 20 members of an East Canton (Ohio)
The exodus of major employers is a problem that continues to plague the area. The northeastern Ohio congressional district that includes Canton has lost nearly half of its manufacturing jobs in the last 10 years. Locals still talk about the 2007 closure of the Hoover Company’s original plant in North Canton. (The upright vacuum was invented in Canton 102 years ago.) They don’t think the party in power is helping matters. “If I were a politician running right now, I wouldn’t want to be a Democrat,” said Tom Nieschwitz, a 63-year-old banker. Nieschwitz cringes at the record budget deficits being rung up by Washington due to such policies as the nearly $1 trillion stimulus package. Then, after thinking about the area’s continued economic misery, Nieschwitz says, “I ask myself, ‘What good did it do?’” Nieschwitz has supported Democrats in the past, but that will change: “I can’t see myself voting for Democrats this year because they are lockstep with Obama.”
Vergil Cabasco
Rotary Club somehow managed to stay awake one recent 7:30 a.m., listening to reports on deteriorating public restrooms, grants for new playground equipment, and the raffling off of a hog at a local fair. It was the second day of my cross-country road trip to measure the pulse of America in advance of this November’s mid-term elections. Yet these issues seemed far removed from the trillion-dollar debates that occur in Washington, D.C. Had I driven 335 miles just to hear about toilets, slides, and actual pork? But attendees assured me after the meeting that they have greater concerns than updating the community’s jogging track. The economy is Ohio’s top concern, which is not surprising since the state’s unemployment rate reached 10.5 percent in August—one GREATER CONCERNS: of the nation’s highest. East Canton Rotary.
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“I’m not worried about the election,” Boccieri said then. He is now. Boccieri has been traveling his district explaining his loyalty to the Obama/Pelosi agenda. But a recent poll by the American Action Forum shows that his challenger, Republican businessman Jim Renacci, holds a solid 14-point lead. This despite the fact that few people at the Rotary meeting I attended could give me Renacci’s name. “Even if he gets in and doesn’t do anything but slow down Democrats—that would be good enough,” banker Nieschwitz told me. Boccieri is not the state’s only freshman Democrat facing voter backlash for being an Obama soldier in Congress. In 2008, Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy became the first Democrat to be elected in the Columbus area’s 15th Congressional District in 42 years. Despite winning by just 2,311 votes, she went on to vote in favor of the stimulus, cap and trade, and healthcare packages. Now Kilroy and fellow freshman Rep. Steve Driehaus, who represents Cincinnati, are locked in tight rematches with the Republicans they narrowly defeated in 2008.
This freshman trouble isn’t confined to
Ohio: About 225 mostly interstate miles northwest of Canton you’ll find Michigan’s Hillsdale College. Around campus, statues of conservatives like former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher decorate the lawns. A statue of Ronald Reagan is set to be unveiled next spring. Inside the college’s library, oak-colored walls and leather chairs dominate the Heritage Room, where books like Thomas Paine’s Common Sense are enclosed in glass. Not surprisingly, the college teaches core principles of the Constitution like limited government. But what is surprising is that this conservative area’s congressional district now belongs to Democrats. “If you had asked me six years ago, I’d have said no way a Democrat wins this district,” said Mickey Craig, a professor of politics at Hillsdale. But everything went right for Democrats in 2008: Local economic hardships created both voter exhaustion with the Bush administration and hope for Obama’s promise of change. When GOP presidential
boccieri: Mark Duncan/ap • kilroy: handout
This represents an about-face from just two years ago. It is not what the district’s freshman House Democrat, Rep. John Boccieri, wants to hear. The positive energy around Barack Obama in 2008 helped propel Boccieri to an election win. The victory put Ohio’s 16th Congressional District in the Democratic column for the first time since 1951. Now a reverse anti-Obama wave threatens to wash Boccieri out of Washington. He is not alone. Many of the 31 freshman House Democrats face uphill reelection battles this November. Most took over Republican-held seats in 2008. Now they have to explain to conservative-leaning voters their support for the healthcare overhaul, sweeping energy regulation, bank bailouts, and stimulus spending. To retake the House majority, Republicans need to gain 39 seats. And GOP leaders have in their crosshairs new Democrats like Boccieri. These freshmen lack the often insurmountable combination enjoyed by long-term incumbents: a ramped-up political machine, high name recognition, and rich coffers. Almost three-fourths of the races involving freshman Democrats are competitive, according to the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. The reelection quest is made even harder for Boccieri. He is one of eight Democrats who first voted against the House healthcare bill in November before switching his vote to support passage of the final version in March. Boccieri is one of four freshmen to make the switch. Scott Sanders, a second-generation funeral director and lifelong Canton resident, still feels the sting from Boccieri’s vote. It proved to Sanders that Boccieri followed the dictates of Washington more than Canton. “Somebody from above pushed a button, and he just flipflopped,” said Sanders, 47. Since being elected, Boccieri has endured billboards in his district depicting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as a puppet master pulling Boccieri’s strings. Healthcare opponents flew a plane over Canton with a banner reading, “Tell Rep. Boccieri no abortion funding.” All to no avail. Boccieri, at a March press conference, announced he would change his vote even though “a lot of people are telling me that this could cost me my job.”
Wolfram, a Hillsdale College public policy professor. “That record is supporting Obama.” Like his fellow Ohioans, Schauer, despite his narrow victory, supported all of the Democratic Party’s big-ticket items. But the problem for Schauer is that those policies have not abated an unemployment rate that hit 18 percent in Hillsdale County. In the district’s seven counties, unemployment now ranges from 9.3 percent to 15.4 percent. “People are saying you can’t blame it all on Bush at this point,” said Wolfram. Michigan’s 14 percent statewide unemployment rate was the highest in the nation at points this year. This is bad news for Democrats who pledged that their expensive economic stimulus package would push unemployment to below 8 percent: Schauer trails Walberg by 10 percentage points. Meanwhile, another Michigan freshman, Democratic Rep. Gary Peters representing the state’s 9th District, is in trouble as well. The Cook Political Report lists 73 House Democrats as vulnerable, with almost all of them residing in counties where the unemployment rates exceed the national average. “Obama just keeps driving down the left lane, and the American people are asking, ‘How can you pay for this without hurting my retirement and my children?’” says Hillsdale’s Craig. With so many freshman lawmakers showing loyalty to party over state, one wonders if they did not fall on their political swords to advance a bigger government agenda. Over often strong constituent objections, did many Democrats push ahead, figuring the current congressional majorities gave liberals the best chance in generations to spawn new federal bureaucracies? “Schauer got swept into office,” said Hillsdale’s Greg Stuchell, 55, shaking his head, “and we got our change, whew.” If these lawmakers meet with defeat this November, conservatives hope that surviving Democrats will be less likely to soldier on with party leaders. Conversely, the survival of freshmen like Boccieri and Schauer would give Democrats a shot in the arm—bolstering their agenda as they conclude that voter unrest is not as bad as they feared. A
hillsdale: Vergil Cabasco • schauer: kevin hare/the battle creek enquirer/ap • peters: handout
CONSERVATIVE ENCLAVE: Hillsdale College.
hopeful McCain pulled out of Michigan just a month before the election, the abandonment had a trickledown effect on other Republicans on the ballot. Incumbent Rep. Tim Walberg, a former nondenominational minister and a free-market Republican, lost the district by 2 percentage points to Democrat Mark Schauer. Now, in yet another congressional rematch, Walberg and Schauer are at it again. But Schauer, the first Democrat to hold the traditionally Republican seat in 16 years, has given voters something new to chew on: “Schauer was basically an unknown, and now he has a voting record,” said Gary
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The debate over birthright citizenship hits hardest on the hospital ward
Anchors away
he evening after I gave birth to my daughter at Tucson Medical Center (TMC), a hospital administrator stopped by our post-delivery room and presented my husband with a bill for about $1,200—the amount we owed after our insurance deductible had been met but before we’d reached our annual maximum out-ofpocket. If we could pay in full that day, the hospital would knock 10 percent off the charge. Less than half of the women who give birth at TMC receive such a visit. That’s because Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), the state’s public health program, offers free maternity coverage to women in low and lower-middle income classes as well as covering all labor and delivery charges for women in the country illegally. The hos pital declined to say what portion of their AHCCCS-covered births involve illegal immigrants but revealed to the Arizona Daily Star in 2007 that around 20 percent of their deliveries are to noncitizen mothers. Considering that illegal immigrants make up between 7 percent and 8 percent of Arizona’s total population—and that men in that group significantly out number women—that accounts for a surprisingly high number. However, it is less surprising once another group of foreignborn mothers who are neither poor nor undocumented are factored into the picture. Pregnant Mexican women with proper visas who can afford to pay cash for their deliveries are also crossing the border to give birth at TMC. The hospital is one of a few nationwide capitalizing on the cutting-edge practice of birth tourism, targeting specialized maternity packages to Mexican citizens who want to have their babies on U.S. soil. Though TMC does not specifically advertise U.S. citizenship as a reason for delivering at its hospital, immigration experts say it has always been the main draw for noncitizens—both legal and illegal— who come to the United States to give birth. In a 2009 AP story detailing TMC’s birth packages, the Mexican consul general in Tucson, Juan Manuel Calderon Jaimes, found nothing concerning about the practice and said it was nothing new: “Many families of means in Sonora [Mexico] send their wives here to give birth because they have the resources to pay for the services.”
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WORLD September 25, 2010
But a growing number of U.S. residents are worried about what’s happening at hospitals like TMC and how it affects the future of the country. Their alarm is driving the recent push to amend or reinterpret the Constitution so that United States citizenship is no longer automatically conferred upon a person simply because he or she is born here. According to a recently released study by the Pew Hispanic Center, 37 percent of illegal immigrants in the United States are parents of a citizen child. Even without a citizen in the household, they pose significant costs to states (particularly those that share a border with Mexico) when it comes to healthcare, education, and law enforcement. Once unauthorized residents give birth on U.S. soil, they have access to additional benefits. Mothers and fathers of so-called “anchor babies” are able to apply on behalf of their child for a selection of public programs including Medicaid, Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) subsidies, and food stamps. Should they be apprehended by immigration authorities, they can use the child as justification against deportation and as a reason to request preferred action that will prevent hardship to a U.S.-born citizen. And once the child turns 21, he or she can sponsor his family members’ citizenship. Though Steve Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies, confirms that no one can concretely prove that illegal immigrants are intentionally trying to create anchors to the United States by having babies, he says he sees evidence that the parents are well aware of the advantages of giving birth here. He offers detailed statistics by state, noting, for example, that 40 percent of the unauthorized residents in Texas and California utilize food assistance and that a third of those in New York use Medicaid, most often on behalf of a citizen child. Says Camarota, “It is clear that a very large fraction of the illegal population with U.S.-born children learn to navigate certain welfare programs like Medicaid, WIC, and preschool lunch. And it’s clear that a significant body of
by Megan Basham in Tucson, Ariz. Photo by David Kadlubowski/Genesis Photos
knowledge in regards to that is shared among them on how to sign their children up.” With states like California and Arizona facing crushing budget shortfalls, it’s not surprising, says Camarota, that people are becoming upset over birthright citizenship. “So after [illegal immigrants] break the law coming here, they have a baby and get to benefit further by getting a green card and permanent residency? There’s a lot not to like there.” As for the wealthy, visawielding moms-to-be, he sums up the general objection succinctly: “It’s the same as buying U.S. citizenship and turns something we should prize and respect into a game.” Eileen Walker, a labor and delivery nurse at Thunderbird Medical Center in Glendale, Ariz., agrees with Camarota’s assessment and says in her work she sees illegal immigrants abusing emergency treatment laws and the AHCCCS program. “AHCCCS won’t cover an illegal patient’s doctor’s visit, but the hospital is different. Anyone who walks into OB Triage claiming a health problem, we have to provide care. If they come in and say they’re having headaches or have a cold or flu symptoms, we have to provide care.” She says pregnant noncitizens understand that they can use emergency treatment as regular maternity care. “They know the right things to say and they know how to manipulate the system. They’ll say, ‘I’m not feeling my baby move,’ because it is a guaranteed way to get the doctor to order an ultrasound. So they can get every benefit—top-ofthe-line sonograms, epidurals, all the care a patient with insurance or who is paying out of pocket has—for free.” Some illegal immigrants fail to complete the paperwork that allows the hospital to get reimbursed by the state for its services, says Walker. “They’ll get the care they came for and then just disappear, and we’ll look around and say, ‘Where did they go?’ They leave and we find the AHCCCS application in the room,” says Walker. “We eat those costs.” As a result, she says, employees of Thunderbird have seen a drastic reduction in their own benefits as the hospital tries to cut expenses without resorting to layoffs. Experience like Walker’s and research like Camarota’s are what’s driving legislators who say it is time for the United States to reconsider its practice of granting citizenship to everyone born here. Among those who support hearings on the issue are Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., as well as House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio. Graham is particularly vehement, calling birthright citizenship “a mistake” on Fox News in July and announcing possible plans to introduce a constitutional amendment to reverse it.
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Email: mbasham@worldmag.com
DAVID SANDERS/ARIZONA DAILY STAR/AP
The concept of citizenship by birthright has its roots in past injustices. When the Supreme Court ruled in the 1857 Dred Scott case that blacks were not citizens, Congress responded by passing a statute that conferred citizenship by birth. After the Civil War, citizenship for freed slaves received constitutional grounding in 1868 with the 14th Amendment. It states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” The frontline of the objection against anchor babies is that clause, “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.” Those who believe that the children of illegal immigrants shouldn’t be considered citizens argue that the 14th
Amendment was never intended to apply to them because their parents are not U.S. citizens nor here with U.S. authorization, and therefore are not subject to its jurisdiction. Recent polls show Americans split about 50-50 on whether birthright citizenship should be repealed—though in border states like Arizona support for the idea is stronger, with two-thirds favoring it. But even someone like Camarota—whose career is researching illegal immigration and publicizing the problems it creates—is hesitant to endorse such a constitutional change. On the one hand, he says he agrees with Republican leaders who point out that the United States is one of the only industrialized democracies to give citizenship to everyone born within its borders. And he understands the frustration of those who feel that birthright citizenship makes it extremely difficult to solve the problems of illegal immigration, as groups opposed to enforcement can claim that it divides families. “Politically, it creates a much different environment in which to have the debate. One of the chief arguments for granting amnesty to unauthorized residents is that they have all these citizen children and we shouldn’t do harm to citizen children,” says Camarota. “The advocacy groups make that argument all the time and you get [President] Obama saying that we’re tearing babies from their mothers’ breasts by trying to enforce the law. Of course the child can always go with the parents so we’re not really dividing families, but it allows that narrative to be constructed. So it matters enormously in the immigration debate and it greatly complicates our efforts.” Camarota says that the odds against changing the law are steep. “It’ll be a tough, nasty political battle that will focus on children. If you’re pro-enforcement, that’s not what you want,” he says. Even if Congress passed a law, it would by no means signal the end of the fight: “You’d still have an ambiguous outcome because it would have to wind its way through the courts for years. Then if you’d wanted to change it you’d have to get a constitutional amendment. To my mind it’s just not where we should put our political efforts.” Instead, Camarota feels that pro-enforcement groups and individuals would better spend their time pushing for work site enforcement, mandatory e-verify for businesses, having an entry and exit system, getting the cooperation of local police, and controlling the border. A
NOTHING NEW: Tucson Medical Center nurse practitioner Karen Narum (right) explains results of a medical screening to Rocio Perez of Mexico.
FEAR
A sexual abuse scandal at a New Tribes Mission boarding school in West Africa reveals a long tale of childhood suffering and the poor record of missionary accountability
by Jamie Dean
Photo by Gaetan Charbonneau/Getty Images
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Warning: This report contains disturbing accounts of child abuse in ministry settings.
he most harrowing hours for the children living at the Fanda Missionary School in Senegal, West Africa, came at night. It wasn’t just the country’s war-zone conditions of the 1980s and 1990s that brought dread into the hearts of young boarding school students who missed their parents at bedtime: For many of the children, the midnight prowlers they feared most were the missionaries assigned to protect them. Twenty years later, their dark story of abuse is getting daylight, exposing the victims’ ordeal and the child abusers who remain free today. In late August, an evangelical organization called GRACE, an acronym for Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment, issued the results of a year-long investigation into child abuse at Fanda, a now-closed boarding school operated by New Tribes Mission (NTM)—one of the largest evangelical mission agencies based in the United States. The findings of the independent study—commissioned by NTM— are brutal. They include years of sexual, physical, emotional, and spiritual abuse of NTM children by NTM workers at Fanda, and years of gross failure by NTM leadership to respond properly. They also include a report of statutory rape, and the victims’ response to abuse includes drug- and alcohol-related crime as well as possible suicide. S e p t e m b e r 2 5 , 2 0 1 0 W O R L D
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The report presents a critical moment of truth when one of the largest mission agencies in the country has an opportunity to act in the interest of abuse victims still struggling to recover from decades of personal destruction. It’s also a moment for other evangelical groups and churches to learn from NTM’s admitted failures and to face the stark reality: This could happen anywhere. Near the end of the 66-page report that includes 351 footnotes and reams of excruciating detail, the authors try to capture the horror of what they discovered after interviewing NTM abuse victims: “If the world could have seen and heard what GRACE saw and heard etched in the faces and trembling voices of those who shared their experiences with us, surely the world would act.” Within a week of the report’s release, NTM leadership responded: The leaders didn’t dispute the report. They expressed sorrow and confessed that the group had sinned against some of its most vulnerable members. They promised swift action against specific abusers. NTM leaders say they have begun following the report’s recommendations regarding a number of former and active NTM members. Some of the recommendations involve terminating NTM membership. For the worst perpetrators, the recommendations involve notifying abusers’ current church leaders, and cooperating with criminal or civil investigations.
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he road to this point of reckoning began more than 20 years ago in Senegal. For decades, NTM clung to a tradition once common among other mission organizations: When parents left for remote mission outposts, NTM usually expected (though it didn’t require) that parents leave their children in boarding schools staffed by other NTM missionaries. It wasn’t just the difficult conditions of the mission field; it also was a ministry philosophy the report described this way: “The children were viewed as a hindrance to the work of God.” NTM leaders believed couples could achieve more without the distraction of children and encouraged parents to leave their children behind for the sake of other souls. According to the report, “Parents were often reminded that if God sacrificed His only Son, missionaries should be willing and prepared to do the same.” For many children left at Fanda during the 1980s and 1990s, the results were disastrous. The investigation records 22 to 27 victims of sexual abuse and more than 35 victims of physical and emotional abuse by at least 12 adults at the school. The report says victims of spiritual abuse “may well include almost the total school population.” The descriptions of abuses against children as young as 8 are nauseating. They include accounts of men repeatedly molesting, fondling, and caressing young girls. At least one predator—a “house parent” to the children living in the school’s dormitory—molested girls at night in their dorm beds. Others sexually abused girls that they invited to their private homes on campus. One abuser followed girls into dorm showers. One account included the statutory rape of a male teenager by a missionary’s wife. Physical and emotional abuse also abounded: The report included accounts of vicious beatings and humiliation of
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hildren by NTM workers at Fanda for infractions like breaking c a toilet or wetting the bed. Some of the most insidious abuse: The report says that Fanda staffers told children that telling their parents about the abuse would distract from the work of missions and send Africans to hell. Some perpetrators spoke about God while they abused children. One former Fanda student told the investigators: “I remember him [an abuser] talking about his close relationship with God while he was touching me.” When NTM parents and victims began complaining about abuse at Fanda in the 1980s, NTM’s local Senegal field committee failed to report the abuse, to take steps to protect children, or to listen to parents. Higher NTM authorities, even when some perpetrators admitted to abusing children, failed to investigate thoroughly or respond aggressively. According to the report, NTM leaders allowed some of the worst abusers to resign, without terminating their employment. The Fanda abusers apparently never faced criminal charges, either. NTM leaders say they contacted state abuse hotlines in the United States to report those who returned there, but that hotline workers told them the overseas abuse fell outside U.S. jurisdiction. The GRACE report contends that NTM should have contacted authorities beyond state hotlines. “Why aren’t you calling the sheriff’s office?” said GRACE president Boz Tchividjian in an interview. “Why aren’t you calling law enforcement?” The report doesn’t indicate whether Fanda victims reported their abusers to authorities. GRACE is a Virginia-based organization aimed at preventing and responding to child abuse in ministry settings. The sevenmember board of directors includes two former child abuse prosecutors, a clinical psychologist, a professional counselor, and a teaching elder. Meanwhile, NTM conducted its own investigation in 1997 and confirmed as many as 12 sexual abuse victims of one Fanda missionary, and another 11 victims traumatized by knowledge of the abuse. It cited four more abuse victims of another missionary, according to the report. Still, the August report on the scandal found NTM’s investigation “wholly incomplete and inadequate.” By 2008, now-grown victims of Fanda abuse began calling for NTM to respond. Kari Mikitson, an abuse victim who lived at Fanda for three years, created a website called fandaeagles. com to chronicle victims’ stories and correspondence with NTM. On the website Mikitson writes that after leaving Fanda, “I had a life of deep depression, drug addiction—a runaway with a death wish.” Mikitson was 8 years old when a Fanda worker began sexually abusing her, and she underwent years of therapy. Her grief-stricken parents tried to help while coping with their own guilt over failing to protect their daughter. “Our family went through a decade of darkest hells,” said Mikitson.
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y last year, NTM leadership had conducted another cursory review of the abuse scandal and concluded that they needed an independent report. In a phone interview from his office in Sanford, Fla., NTM CEO Larry Brown explained why: “It became very evident that New Tribes Mission didn’t have the competence or the trust to be able to work through this process in a way that was going to be constructive.”
“I had a life of deep depression, drug addiction—a runaway with a death wish.” kari mikitson
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“A DECADE OF DARKEST HELLS”: Mikitson (above) and her family in Senegal about three years before Kari (right) and her sister entered Fanda. Her sister also suffered abuse.
Brown also spoke about NTM’s reaction to the report: “We’re ashamed.” Brown, who grew up in an NTM missionary family in Brazil also said that theological failings planted the seeds for abuse in the organization. He says during the decades of Fanda abuse, NTM promoted a legalistic and authoritarian system among its members: “Any time there is legalism there is the stress of appearance and performance over spiritual reality.” That system made admitting failure anathema to some NTM workers at Fanda, and it made speaking out nearly impossible for children. Even parents of abuse victims faced pressure to conceal the truth by field workers determined to protect themselves and the organization. (The report does emphasize that some former Fanda students recalled good memories at the school, and it does not accuse all Fanda workers of abuse.) Brown says NTM also emphasized mission work over family needs: “In New Tribes Mission’s zeal to reach out into very hard, difficult places, we left families behind.” In 1997, that philosophy began changing, according to Brown. A letter from the group’s executive committee to NTM missionaries apologized for the group’s harshness and called for a gracious, Christ-like environment. Brown calls the era “a pivotal time” in the organization. The abuse report called it a “tectonic shift in priorities and practice” that would transform the institution. Nearly 13 years later, NTM still operates boarding schools, but Brown says the organization makes clear that parents don’t have to send their children. When he grew up on an NTM field in Brazil, about 90 percent of NTM children (including Brown) attended boarding schools; today about 9 percent do.
Even as NTM floundered in its internal Fanda investigation, NTM also began forming stricter standards for child protection in the 1990s and helped form the Child Safety and Protection Network subscribed to by more than 30 large mission agencies. Brown says that since the late 1990s, NTM has dealt with three cases of child abuse involving adult males. But more allegations of abuse may surface as the report is read. Brown says: “We’re committed to looking at any allegation that comes up.” For now, the Fanda scandal is NTM’s focus. The report includes a long series of recommendations for NTM, including action against former NTM workers accused of abuse, workers accused of not preventing abuse, and workers charged with not responding properly. NTM says it has already taken action against 14 of the individuals named in the recommendations. Though the report didn’t comment on whether criminal charges were possible against abusers two or more decades later, Brown said he would personally contact the church leaders of the perpetrators. But Tchividjian says his team found no evidence that NTM had contacted abusers’ church leaders in the past. The recommendations also include NTM setting up a victims’ fund to pay for medical and mental health treatment associated with abuse, and setting up a retreat for NTM leaders to apologize personally to victims.
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t’s unclear whether those steps will actually help the Fanda victims. The report includes a breathtaking catalog of the suffering investigators uncovered among former students: “denial, memory loss, depression, guilt, feelings of powerlessness, panic attacks, the S e p t e m b e r 2 5 , 2 0 1 0 W O R L D
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The mainline Presbyterian Church inability to sing in church, anger, (PCUSA), the United Methodist fear, distrust of adults, suicidal Church, and the Christian and thoughts and actions, self harming, Missionary Alliance (CMA) have all eating disorders, substance abuse, reported abuse scandals at boarding sexual experimentation, sexual conschools over the last two decades. fusion, sexual repression, running GRACE’s website and Facebook away, turning to the occult, criminal account offer a running list of current behavior, imprisonment, and death.” abuse allegations in evangelical conTchividjian says the investigators gregations across the United States. learned of one student who tried to “But those are just the cases that get commit suicide while enrolled at reported,” said Tchividjian. “Who Fanda, and of another death that knows how many go unreported?” could be a Fanda-related suicide. Tchividjian, a Liberty University Mikitson told me she was aware of law professor and former child sex“several suicide attempts, one there ual abuse prosecutor, says churches at Fanda and several later in life in should recognize that they are often the states.” targets of predators: “Pedophiles like Tchividjian says another student churches.” He adds that predators currently in jail for drug-related often abuse the trusting nature of crimes began abusing drugs at Fanda. Christians: “If we don’t have our And a former student who spent time antennas up and our guard up to in jail for vehicular homicide told the know that people are going to exploit investigators he began abusing the very fruits of the Spirit that alcohol because of his abuse at Fanda. Christ calls us to live, we’re foolish.” Other victims are spiritually Safeguards for churches include seared. “Because of NTM, I absolutely developing written, common-sense despise anybody who calls thempolicies regarding any work with selves a Christian,” one victim told children, including nurseries, investigators. Another said Fanda Sunday school classes, and youth “has destroyed any spirituality I groups. GRACE and similar groups had.” Another: “I hated the God of help churches think through such Fanda because God meant legalism policies to prevent abuse. Tchividjian and hypocrisy.” says his group also helps churches Some, like Mikitson, who started and Christian organizations respond a website for victims, have found when preventions fail. hope. A few years ago she encounTchividjian is hopeful that NTM tered a church with a welcome will respond appropriately to its tagline: “No perfect people allowed.” own scandal. “Right now, words She finally began to understand mean nothing,” he said. “Actions Christian grace. “Legalism taught me are going to be key.” The attorney that God hated me, but grace taught sees an opportunity for the missions me that I am loved indeed,” she organization to respond in a way wrote on her website. “Legalism that other ministries have not: “If bound me to impossible perfection, boz Tchividjian they do the right thing, it will be but grace freed me and gave me a groundbreaking.” heart that longs to obey Him.” In the meantime, the stories of some high-profile abuse Mikitson says she and other victims are pleased with the survivors offer hope for others who continue to struggle. abuse report and eager to see NTM act. After NTM announced Wess Stafford, president of Compassion International, its first steps, Mikitson wrote in an email: “I am now in a revealed a few years ago that he was a victim of severe place of great hope.” abuse at a Christian Missionary Alliance boarding school in Africa. Though the abuse deeply wounded him, he says it or all of the horror of the Fanda scandal, also drove him to a life of ministry to children. “I escaped Tchividjian says there’s another sobering reality: what should have been the destruction of me and everyThis kind of abuse happens in other ministry thing about me,” he told the Colorado Springs Gazette last settings. Grievous sexual abuse scandals in the year. “I am useful. I am a tool in God’s hand. It is a surprise Roman Catholic Church have dominated to me and pretty much to everybody else.” A headlines in recent years, but some Protestant ministries and churches have confessed that the scandal has reached The complete GRACE report—including names of alleged inside their walls too. perpetrators—is available online at fandaeagles.com
“If we don’t have our antennas up and our guard up to know that people are going to exploit the very fruits of the Spirit that Christ calls us to live, we’re foolish.”
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Email: jdean@worldmag.com
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Right to higher hiring Can faith-based relief organizations employ only like-minded workers? A recent court ruling says yes, but the groups themselves have varying answers by Alisa Harris
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Title VII bans religious discrimination in hiring but allows an exemption for “a religious corporation, association, educational institution, or society.” The dissenting judge narrowly interpreted this to mean a church or a place of worship while the other two judges gave two different criteria—a potentially troubling outcome for those hoping for clear agreement. The final criteria stated that in order to have religious-based hiring, an organization must self-identify as religious, do work that furthers those principles, and hold itself out to the public as religious. But not all Christian relief organizations take advantage of the freedom to hire Christians. Catholic Relief Services, the international relief organization affiliated with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, says its mission is rooted in Catholic social teaching, but in hiring it picks applicants “on the basis of merit without regard to . . . religious beliefs.” Feed the Children calls itself a “Christian, international, nonprofit relief organization” and an Equal Opportunity Employer that consider applicants “without regard to . . . religion.” In presenting itself to the public, Habitat for Humanity speaks of the “economics of Jesus” (the idea that God magnifies human efforts when we respond to human need) and the “theology of the hammer” (defined as the principle that acts of love can bridge theological differences). Because Habitat believes the “theology of the hammer” bridges religious divides, it has never had a religious hiring requirement. On the other side of the spectrum, Compassion International lists “personal relationship with Jesus Christ” as a job qualification. A qualified candidate is a “consistent witness for Jesus Christ, maintains a courteous, Christ-like attitude” in interpersonal relations, and prays for the ministry. For international organizations, a consistent hiring policy can become difficult. World Vision US hires only Christians, but its sister entity World Vision International makes exceptions for countries where the law forbids Christianity or for Email: aharris@worldmag.com
world vision: Ted S. Warren/ap • wagner: ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP/Getty Images
wo months into the captivity of Flavia Wagner, an aid worker with Samaritan’s Purse, her Sudanese kidnappers let her give news to the outside world. Speaking on a satellite phone, Wagner told Agence France-Presse that she was living a “nightmare” and it was growing worse. The 20 men around her no longer gave her clean water to drink, she said, and she no longer felt safe: “They are threatening me, my life, my health.” At the Samaritan’s Purse command center, the response team waited to hear more of her condition. Edward Densham, deputy response manager for the crisis, said everyone in the command center dropped what they were doing and gathered to pray for Wagner. That morning and afternoon as always, the staff of Samaritan’s Purse prayed for her safe return. Wagner endured more than three months of captivity before she was set free. She has hesitated to speak about her ordeal since her release, or the role her faith played in it, but Densham said faith was a “core value” for the people fighting to get her back. Samaritan’s Purse requires each new hire to sign a Statement of Faith—in part so that shared faith unites them through crises like this one. A recent court case upheld relief organizations’ freedom to hire only those who share their religion, but not all Christian relief organizations take advantage of it. In Spencer v. World Vision, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with a Christian relief organization after it fired three employees who stopped avowing Christianity. World Vision requires its employees to sign either a statement of faith or the Apostle’s Creed, and each employee provides a personal statement of faith during the hiring process. When World Vision found that three employees were holding alternative chapels, managers asked the employees to reaffirm their commitment to the Christian faith. They said they no longer believed in the deity of Christ or the Trinity, so World Vision fired them. The employees alleged discrimination and sued.
FAITH AT WORK: Wagner arrives at Khartoum airport on Aug. 30 after 105 days in captivity in Darfur (left); the World Vision headquarters in Federal Way, Wash. (above).
countries where it’s difficult to find qualified Christian staff. Samaritan’s Purse requires its American staff to sign the statement of faith, but in countries where persecution is a threat it does not require staff from those countries to sign. Stanley Carlson-Thies, president of Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance, said religious organizations are often reluctant to declare that they only hire co-religionists. They may not know they’re allowed to or they fear backlash from donors and activists. But they still unofficially screen candidates, perhaps by asking if they’re comfortable attending required Bible study and prayer or asking if a candidate can affirm their mission. According to a Faith and Organizations Project report, very few religious organizations formally require employees to share their faith, but they still recruit by word of mouth in their faith network, advertise in their religion’s media outlets, and make sure potential employees understand their values. Title VII’s definition of religious work will continue to shape public policy since the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, a bill that would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, also makes an exemption for religious organizations under Title VII. As Samaritan’s Purse said in an amicus brief it filed on World Vision’s behalf, losing the freedom to hire like-minded Christians is “one of the most critical issues threatening it and other faith-based charities.” When it comes to sharing the gospel, helping those in need earns Christians “a right to be heard.” A S e p t e m b e r 2 5 , 2 0 1 0 W O R L D
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n i s k r o W s s e r g o pr Independent filmmakers Steve & Mary Pruitt are learning the high-stakes business of making movies as they go by Amy Henry in Kansas City, Mo.
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handout/never2late productions
Mary Pruitt knew something was up the day she went down to the basement and found her husband Steve knocking holes in the walls of his office with a sledgehammer. At an age when some men buy sports cars or change careers, Steve Pruitt had a different kind of mid-life crisis. After years as Chair of Business Economics and Finance at the University of Missouri (Kansas City), Steve wanted to resuscitate guitar-playing skills that had been rusting since his college days and shoot his own music video. In the process of researching the kind of equipment he would need to make this happen, he realized that during the decades he had been busy raising his two daughters and growing his career, professional moviemaking
equipment had become not only accessible, but affordable enough for a moviemaker wannabe. Steve was instantly hooked, impulsively changing course and announcing his plans to make not a music video, but a feature length movie. This despite the fact that neither he nor Mary had so much as set foot on a movie set, much less turned on a movie camera before. This was the innocuous beginning of what Mary called Steve’s “Cuban missile crisis of mid-life crises” and of their newly minted film company, Never2Late Studios, a name that is more than apropos for this energetic 53-year-old professor-turned-indiefilmmaker and his Jane Seymour look-alike wife of 28 years. Never2Late Production’s full-length feature film, Works in Progress, a romantic comedy based in the Kansas City art community, started out as a play the Pruitts wrote a decade ago called Painters. Rewritten to film in 2006, it follows the story of two art school graduates who take a summer internship in Kansas City, Mo., and two mid-20s professional women whom they befriend. Humorously, yet poignantly exploring the question, Will I ever find my true love?, the Pruitts intend the movie to be a “wonderfully wholesome date movie.” Like most independent filmmakers, the Pruitts entered several film festivals in order to garner attention for the film. The process, from DVD submission to final judging, is highly competitive and often takes months. Smaller festivals review many hundreds of films; large festivals review thousands. For a small film made by newbie filmmakers, acceptance is both an honor and a huge step toward a wider distribution of the movie. Works in Progress was accepted by several festivals including the International Family Film Festival, the Kansas City FilmFest, and the Memphis International Film Festival, with the possibility of more acceptances during the fall festival circuit—which kicked off Sept. 9 internationally with the opening of the Toronto Film Festival. So far, audience and critic feedback is encouraging: “Inspired by Whit Stillman’s Metropolitan, [Works in Progress] represents a dream-come-true, damn-the-naysayers leap of faith for first-time filmmakers Mary and Stephen Pruitt,” said critic John Beifuss after the Memphis festival. After several standingroom-only showings in Kansas City, Never2Late Studios is making the film available to select screens across the country. Additionally, the Pruitts just signed an on-demand DVD distribution deal with Seminal Films of Hollywood with a release date near Thanksgiving. They hope these successes will help them obtain the funding for other films. Driven by their desire to create and help others create what they describe as “redemptive, thought-provoking, beautiful works of art,” over the course of two years, the Pruitts learned the ropes of independent filmmaking: screenplay writing, casting, directing, cinematography, lighting, filming, and audio. Steve researched what equipment to buy, scanning online forums at every stage and asking literally hundreds of questions before purchasing two RED one 4K digital cinema cameras to the tune of $40,000 each. Other expenses—actors’ pay, location rent, food bills, etc.—made filmmaking an expensive undertaking. With Works in Progress being their first movie, the Pruitts turned to their church family and other small investors to help finance the film, and spent over $300,000 of their own money on the venture. While Steve was busy researching equipment, Mary continued tightening the screenplay, closing gaps in the storyline and
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making space for the cameras, booms, jibs, mannequin pieces, a steadycam, lights, and 12 feet of dolly track that would become fixtures in her living room for the next two years. She ascribes to the “I write too much before I write just enough” school of screenwriting thought: “At least half of writing a good script is deleting the parts that would make a bad script.” For her, deleting was a major part of the process as a first-time screenwriter, as was adding “zingers”—important dialogue lines that end a scene. Part room mother, part crew therapist, part short-order cook, Mary filled every gap the movie making crew had. “Giving birth was easier,” she says. From writing the script to the final edits, co-producing as a couple took its toll. The Pruitts say the single most difficult part of making a movie together was working through issues as husband and wife in full view of their cast and crew, most of whom were single. “Paul and Barnabas thought they had it tough preaching,” says Steve. “They should have tried making a movie together.” Problems—from actors leaving town and going back to school, to explaining to the neighbors the trailer in their driveway and nightly unloading of equipment— plagued production. Although the cliché in the moviemaking world is that “all mistakes are made in pre-production,” the Pruitts found that potentially fatal mistakes could happen at any point in the process. While observers may think of moviemaking as standing behind a camera, Steve says that shooting great scenes was the least of their worries. A film with a great script, great actors, and great camera work is easily botched with bad sound or bad editing. According to him, “You’re really never out of the woods until you’re finished.” Working with a skeleton crew of about a dozen people, the Pruitts were forced, during certain scenes, to use Sam Kane (who plays the movie’s villain, Frederick Kane, and is also a friend from Sunday school) to man the boom. Crises were the norm. It was so hot outside as they shot a scene in which the lead and his friend are saying goodbye to each other that they left cars running and reimbursed the actors for gas so they could sit in an air-conditioning between takes. “It was our low-rent version of a trailer,” says Mary. She said she also put ice bags on the cameras to keep them cool enough to work. Christ Community Church, the Pruitts’ home church in Leawood, Kan., played an integral part in the movie. Several cast and crew members, including many extras, were friends from church. Half of the film company’s outside funding came from church friends. Most of the music used in the movie was created by their church’s worship leaders, Randy Bonidield, Patrick Largen, and Tim Seeley. Sara Groves, a Christian artist, allowed them to use two of her songs after they met her at a concert at their church. It was “the body of Christ at work,”
Mary says. Both Pruitts love the gallery scenes in the movie because most of the people milling around are extras from their church. Each scene was shot on a different night. Each person had to show up each time. “Imagine walking around in circles and not drinking your faux glass of wine for four hours,” says Mary. “There’s a special place in heaven for those folks.” The leads in Works in Progress had never appeared in a movie before. Greg Brostrom, the male lead who plays John Weatherford, was recommended by one of the Pruitts’ daughters who knew him at Wheaton College. They found the female
movies exist or hate them. According to Marshall, a good film is “always allusive, suggestive, and alluring; it hints, it frames, and it touches. It does not come right out and state the case; it does not argue.” Christian movies often follow an evangelistic formula because, as Marshall says, “We are impatient with the allusion, the gesture, the suggested, and latent. We want the straightforward sermon, not the implied question.” Works in Progress attempts to present its themes of integrity and responding to the prodding of the Holy Spirit with subtlety and humor, says Steve. And rather than avoiding exposure to and critique from the secular film community, where cinematic expectations are high and the critics less likely to be forgiving of a novice’s work, Steve is eager for the challenge of going head-to-head with Hollywood standards. Comparing his film only to other Christian movies is “the cinematic equivalent of shooting fish in a barrel,” he says, and being judged according to secular expectations forces him to hone his moviemaking skills and produce higher-quality art. Hard as it might be to compete in a biased environment like Hollywood, what he doesn’t want to produce is “the kind of movie where patrons walk away disappointed, saying, ‘Well, at least there was a good message,’” he says. For the Pruitts, this means emphasizing excellence in their artistic efforts and being honest with themselves when things aren’t up to standard. And that means long days, long nights, and lots of retaping. The effort is worth it. “Most of the key players on our team would rather lose on a large, level playing field than win on a small, tilted one,” Steve says. The Pruitts and their Never2Late crew are working on their second project, a film called Terminal, a dark PG-13 drama about a district attorney dying from a brain tumor and a street-savvy woman with a terrible secret. Drawn from events in the Pruitts’ own lives, the film has been emotional to write, the story coming to Steve while he was driving around the terminal at the Kansas City International Airport, he says. But with some experience, work on Terminal is smoother than Works in Progress. The Pruitts hope that these and other films— movies made by Christians rather than Christian movies—will break away from Hollywood formulas that rely heavily on the demands of the market, as well as from Christian formulas, where faith in God solves every problem and bad people always get what they deserve. A
“Paul and Barnabas thought they had it tough preaching. They should have tried making a movie together.”
lead, Christina Blodgett, who plays Abbey Sanderson, through a local audition. Ben Jeffery plays Patrick O’Reilly, “the heart and soul” of the film. He was not what the Pruitts initially had in mind for the lead’s best friend, but, after hearing him read for the part, they found him perfect for the role. Kate Bartholomew, who plays Abbey’s best friend, also didn’t fit the Pruitts’ initial concept of the character, but soon won them over with her comedic portrayal of Margo. Seasoned filmmakers told them to go with the best actors they could find, so even though they picked actors and actresses who sometimes challenged their expectations, the Pruitts don’t regret their decisions. With no thinly veiled sermon, Works in Progress parts ways with Christian films like Fireproof or Facing the Giants. Steve says he feels that film is not an effective evangelistic medium, referring to a book by Paul Marshall (Heaven is Not My Home), which notes that most people who watch Christian movies are, well, Christians. Those who aren’t, are either unaware these
handout/never2late productions
REEL WORLD: Steve and company at work filming a Works scene.
S e p t e m b e r 2 5 , 2 0 1 0 W O R L D
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Growing your Business
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Members share specific timely issues, gaining feedback and perspective from the group.
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Notebook
LIFESTYLE TECHNOLOGY SCIENCE
HOUSES OF GOD SPORTS MONEY
Going cheaply LIFESTYLE: Planes and trains for the budget-minded
krieg barrie
by susan olasky
>>
Back in the early 1980s Cheerios offered coupons allowing children to travel free on Greyhound buses, so we traveled by bus from Delaware to Detroit. Several years later we traveled by train from Austin, Texas, to Detroit. My kids are grown, but I decided to make my summer trip to Detroit a bit of an adventure by checking out some different travel options: Spirit Air (an ultra-budget airline) and Amtrak. My one-way fare was $85.74 before taxes of $18.70. But I received a $12.00 discount (a
special web deal), so the total one-way fare was $92.44. Not bad, I thought. Of course, if I wanted to check a bag: $20. Check a bag weighing more than 50 pounds or larger than 62 inches (length + width + depth): $100 more. Choose a seat in advance: Extra. Choose a seat at the front of the plane, an aisle, or window: Extra. If I didn’t want to choose a seat, the airline would randomly assign me one for no charge. I chose the lottery and ended up with a window seat about four rows from the back. Not bad, but it seems the feds are upset that these cheapo airlines charge extra for things typically included in an airline ticket: A congressional committee and the Department of Transportation are both investigating airline fees. S e p t e m b e r 2 5 , 2 0 1 0 W O R L D
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Notebook > Lifestyle
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way to Chicago to certain cars where we found the aggressive passengers had already grabbed the windows, spread out their blankets, and taken off their shoes. I am not usually pushy about my seating, but when the conductor handed me a ticket to a seat next to a man I didn’t know, I complained. I knew I’d be sleeping on the train and didn’t want to sit next to a strange man. The conductor gave me another seat, from which I watched the confusion as
was so crowded. Her dinner looked and smelled like mediocre lasagna—and I was glad to have my own food. Although the seats recline, it’s hard to get comfortable enough to sleep, especially since the lights remain on and the train stops during the night to let people on and off. A sleeping car might be a wise investment. Amtrak does provide passengers a pillow. My train was frigid. Smart travelers bring blankets, socks, and sweaters. I
TRAIN POWER: An Amtrak conductor signals for the doors to close on a train in Baltimore.
was well-supplied with food, but next time (if there is a next time) I will bring sanitary wipes, gum, and a blanket. The train car was equipped with two bathrooms, but on both legs of the trip one of the bathrooms was out of order. We arrived in Chicago an hour late, which wasn’t bad since Amtrak shares the rail lines with freight trains, and the freight trains have priority. Coming out of Chicago, we got behind a freight train and lost an hour going to Detroit. Long-distance Amtrak is not for those who have to get somewhere fast, but for those with time and an inclination to chat with strangers, the train can be a pleasant adventure. A
he tried to s atisfy other passengers who all had demands of one sort or another. When you purchase your ticket it includes information about what amenities the train has: checked baggage, dining car, lounge car. Most people pack food and snacks, especially for the longer trips. I packed a small cooler with dinner, several bottles of water, and food for breakfast the next day. I also brought fruit and nuts to munch on. My seatmate went to the dining car for dinner, but she ended up bringing her meal back to the seat because the dining car
Email: solasky@worldmag.com
spirit: handout • amtrak: rob carr/ap
An air traffic control problem at LaGuardia repeatedly delayed the plane. Even though an agent made frequent announcements to let us know the flight status, some passengers began to grumble that they would never fly Spirit again. We experienced several more delays once we boarded, as the pilot waited for clearance. One passenger two rows in front of me was so exasperated that he cursed out the flight attendant before being escorted off the plane. When we were airborne the flight was like any other, with one exception. Flight attendants handed out free pretzels, which was a surprise, but the water, soft drinks, and juice all cost $3. I shouldn’t have eaten the salty pretzels because I didn’t want to pay $3 for a bottle of water. Should I be irritated that water and seat selection cost money? I gladly traded those perks for a cheaper ticket. It’s likely that congressional action will result in more regulation, and bargain travelers will kiss cheap tickets goodbye. I took the train for the other half of my trip. The Amtrak website makes trip planning easy. It offers coordinated train and bus routes and allows you to purchase a ticket that includes both. I took the Lake Shore Limited between New York and Chicago and the Wolverine between Chicago and Detroit. My total fare was $141. Estimated travel time was 25 hours including a 3-hour layover in Chicago. Getting on the train is the first hurdle. At some stations no one maintains order. When a voice comes over the PA announcing the track number, aggressive passengers, often toting multiple suitcases, press forward to be first. Those who hang back out of politeness or fear will find themselves trying to board a fast-filling train where folks have already staked out territory. Overwhelmed conductors tried to sort people by destination, pointing those of us going all the
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Notebook > Technology
Sizes and scales
BBC site seeks to make abstract details concrete By alissa wilkinson
>>
Disasters, spectacles, wars, and ancient landmarks: hearing or reading about the size of an event or place is nothing like seeing it for yourself. Recognizing this comprehension gap, the BBC has launched a project called Dimensions (howbigreally.com). Want to know how the moon’s diameter compares to your hometown? Interested in seeing how much of Europe the Gulf oil spill would cover? Curious about how ancient Constantinople’s size squares with Texas? Simply choose what interests you—say, the Great Wall of China—then punch in your zip code or the name of the town, and see an illustration laid across the map. (The Great Wall, by the way, would stretch from eastern Illinois to Canada’s Prince Edward Island.) The Dimensions project is an attempt to bring events and places in history into “human scale”—giving viewers a way to translate abstract knowledge
Checking in
into something more concrete. Currently, information designers in the BBC research department create the map illustrations using library and online resources, and the news organization plans to use the technology to illustrate its articles. But users will eventually be able to add their own illustrations—exciting news for teachers, pastors, students, scholars, and enthusiasts.
iSigning
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great wall: istock • facebook places: facebook
One of the more widely touted features of the iPad is its ability to extend the traditional definition of the book, since the device’s multimedia capabilities introduce the possibility of animation and sound into the reading e xperience. Taking this to the next level, the publisher iStoryTime recently released an iPad book that includes sign language. The book Danny the Dragon “Meets Jimmy,” available for $3, includes the book’s text and illustrations, a voice that reads aloud, and a video of a woman signing the story—useful not just for deaf children but also for students of sign language. —A.W.
Facebook, which added its 500millionth active user in July, has a new feature enabling locationbased updates, called Facebook Places. Using the iPhone app or a mobile phone with the latest web browser and geolocation capabilities, Facebook users can “check in” to a location. First, the phone locates the user and generates a list of places nearby. If the place isn’t on the list, the user can add it. After tapping the check-in button, the user can see if any Facebook friends have checked in nearby. (Users may disable this capability in their individual privacy settings). Location-based check-in is nothing new. Similar applications such as FourSquare already help friends to locate one another and share restaurant and store discoveries. Such applications extend the web’s ability to stumble unexpectedly across something cool by helping friends “stumble across” one another in real life. Yet Facebook Places will likely overtake its competitors, given the site’s massive, devoted user base. Check-in is currently only available in the United States, but global rollout seems imminent. —A.W.
EXERCISE IN EXACTLY 4 MINUTES PER DAY The typical ROM machine purchaser goes through several stages:
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1. Total disbelief of a cardio workout done in only 4 minutes. 2. Reading www.WhyIsItSoExpensive.com and learning that it is actually the least expensive exercise with the most result. 3. Calling (818) 504-6450 for a free DVD and watching it. 4. Ordering a 30 day rental to try the ROM yourself at home. 5. Being highly impressed with the results. Purchasing the ROM. 6. Becoming a ROM enthusiast and trying to persuade friends. 7. Being ignored and ridiculed by your friends and them telling you that you must have lost your mind. 8. After seeing your results, your friends becoming interested. 9. You telling them that you only use it exactly 4 minutes. 10. Those friends reluctantly renting a ROM for 30 days to try it. Then the above cycle repeats from point 5 on down.
Rent the ROM machine for 30 days to test it. Rental applies to purchase. Over 97% of people that rent it buy it.
Order a free DVD from www.ROMmachine.com or www.QuickGym.com or call 818.504.6450
Emily’s story had a happy ending...
But for college students all over America, the ending is still in doubt. Illegal discrimination against Christians on public university campuses is real, aggressive and growing. Read and watch Emily’s story at
TellADF.org/University
Notebook > Science
Climate panel change Advisory group proposes reforms for the controversial IPCC By daniel james devine
>>
The ongoing international “climate talks” are premised on scientific climate reports that build a case for man-made catastrophic global warming. The reports are created every six years by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Last year critics upbraided the IPCC for relying on non-peer-reviewed “gray literature” to substantiate dire environmental predictions in its 2007 report. (Memorably, it concluded there was a “very high” likelihood that the Himalayan glaciers would disappear by 2035—yet not one scientific study backed up the claim.) Critics say the organization has downplayed climate views that aren’t mainstream and failed to disclose the scientific disagreement that exists. So in March IPCC chair Rajendra Pachauri invited the InterAcademy Council, representing scientific academies from several nations, to review his organization’s report-writing process. The Council released a 113-page assessment on Aug. 30
recommending significant changes in IPCC structure and policy, including more guarded treatment of gray literature and a more transparent writing process overall. John Christy, a climatologist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville who was one of many “lead authors” for the IPCC’s 2001 report, testified before the Council in June. Christy disagrees that global warming is largely manmade, as the reports conclude. “The IPCC [has] become pretty much a series of gatekeepers,” Christy told me— meaning that people with alternate interpretations of climate data lose their voices in the review process. As a former lead author, Christy knows why: The lead authors have final say over their sections of the report, even if a reviewer disagrees with them. “Whose view gets pushed forward? You are probably predisposed to your data,” said Christy. The Council is calling for reviewers to exercise more clout, and Christy said that’s a good thing. The assessment recommended changes within IPCC management as well—including reducing the term limit
PACHAURI: Probably predisposed to data.
of the chairman to six years. That provision may be an indirect call for the resignation of Pachauri, the chairman since 2002 who has been criticized for his handling of the past year’s controversies. (He defended the Himalayan glacier statement for weeks before issuing an apology for the “poorly substantiated” prediction.) The InterAcademy Council is aiming to strengthen the IPCC, and the recommendations may—if adopted—have the effect of broadening the perspective of the climate reports and thereby toning down the doom-laced language used to describe the present global warming. In turn, that could reduce the impetus for an international climate treaty.
Caesarean spike
U.S. Caesarean stats 31% Number of new mothers giving birth by C-section 53% Increase in C-sections from 1996 to 2007 9% Number of vaginal births after Caesarean in 2006, down from 28 percent in 1996
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Email: ddevine@worldmag.com
top: Thierry Charlier/ap • bottom: istock
One in three births in U.S. hospitals now occurs by Caesarean section, trading risks from natural delivery for possible complications in future pregnancies. Some OB-GYNs go Caesarean to avoid lawsuits, but others hope the practice decreases: A study released last month found women whose labor was induced were twice as likely to get a C-section—and once labor began, the decision for surgery was often made earlier than guidelines recommend. The study authors suspect “clinical impatience” plays a role.
Robin Nelson/genesis photos
Notebook > Houses of God
Rev. H.D. Dennis promised “the widow Rogers” (later known as his wife Margaret) that he would build a church around her small grocery store if she would marry him. That was over 30 years ago, but Dennis, 94, kept his promise. Residents along Highway 61 on the east side of Vicksburg, Miss., have watched the “Home of the Double Eagle” grow—all with materials that Dennis, a retired Baptist preacher, found at garage sales or in junk piles. Dennis hand-painted each of the red-and-white plywood signs. Dennis lives in a nearby nursing home following his wife’s recent death, but Cool Springs Missionary Baptist Church c ontinues his work with a congregation of 80 active members. S e p t e m b e r 2 5 , 2 0 1 0 W O R L D
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Notebook > Sports
Iron Nun
National treasures
Despite two top draft picks and two record contracts, the Nationals are years away from hope By mark bergin
>>
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careers. The bad news: Strasburg won’t pitch in a game again until at least 2012. The ugly news, which isn’t news at all: The last place Nationals now have millions of dollars invested in two players who are years away from Big League production, never mind the stardom their salaries suggest. Of course, such is the nature of professional sports. Injuries happen and investment in talent for the future is necessary, albeit risky. Some insiders anticipate the Nationals’ fate could help make the case for a less flexible slotted salary system when baseball’s present collective bargaining agreement expires after the 2011 World Series. In such a slotted system, draft picks would be paid a prescribed amount according to their place of selection. But that is of little comfort to Nationals fans, who have seen their team shell out piles of cash but can expect only more dismal results until the pair of young stars join the active roster. That old hopeful refrain, “Wait till next year,” won’t mean much for at least another year.
—M.B.
STRASBURG: ANN HEISENFELT/AP • HARPER: ALEX BRANDON/AP • BUDER: ELAINE THOMPSON/AP
When the Washington Nationals signed No. 1 draft pick Stephen Strasburg (above) to a record-breaking $15.1 million deal last year, few questioned the wisdom of it. The 21-year-old pitcher was a lock for greatness, a sure thing. And such expectations were seemingly confirmed this past June when Strasburg struck out 14 batters to pick up a victory in his Major League debut. So it was that when the Nationals dipped back into the bank account to drop another $10 million on No. 1 draft pick Bryce Harper this year, few commentators raised eyebrows—despite Harper being just 17. This 6-foot3, 205-pound slugger is such a can’t-miss prospect that he made the cover of Sports Illustrated a year ago when just 16 under the heading “baseball’s chosen one.” But less than a week after signing Harper, the Nationals got a painful reminder that the promise of youth can evaporate in an instant. Strasburg was removed from a game Aug. 21 due to a torn ulnar collateral ligament, an injury requiring Tommy John Surgery and 12 to 18 months of rehabilitation. The good news: Many pitchers who undergo such surgery return to productive
Sister Madonna Buder, who turned 80 this past July, is attempting to break her own record for the oldest woman ever to complete an Ironman triathlon within the 17-hour time limit. She finished the Subaru Ironman Canada last year in a time of 16:54:30 but had to drop out of this year’s race when her new wetsuit restricted her ability to breathe. The “Iron Nun,” as she is known throughout the triathlon world, will have one more chance this year at the Ford Ironman World Championship Oct. 9 in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. Publishers at Simon & Schuster are rooting hard as the feat would coincide with the release of Buder’s new book, Grace to Race, which chronicles her completion of some 340 triathlons over the past 30 years.
Email: mbergin@worldmag.com
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The Correct Answer A very curious child spurred the Bierle family to educate at home
As every parent knows, a child is not a little peg that precisely fits into an expected round hole. This is especially true when it comes to education. Young children grow, mature, and learn at different rates. Some are fast learners, some slower, and the rest fall somewhere in the middle.
“From the beginning,” continued Sarah, “I never secondguessed that I was using the right curriculum because I knew from talking to other homeschool parents, teachers, and friends that my kids were getting an excellent and comprehensive education.” Further, Sarah found that some other homeschool families were spending far too much time preparing lessons, assignments, and other work, while she was able to concentrate on actually teaching and facilitating learning.
And some are sooooo curious they just have to know everything about something to satisfy their questioning nature. Such was the case with Sarah Bierle’s older son, who displayed a healthy curiosity at an early age.
Focus on Learning, Not Prep Work
“He would ask a zillion questions about something because he wanted to know more and more detail to satisfy his curiosity,” laughed Sarah, the mother of two sons, now ages 13 and 10, and a 7-year-old daughter. “He just wanted to keep figuring out everything he could about a topic.”
One of the main components of a K12 education is its focus on teaching and learning, rather than spending time managing back-end administrative tasks. Parents use the Online School (OLS) tool that manages such tasks as scheduling, planning, evaluation and progress reports.
When it came time for kindergarten, Sarah and her husband thought their 5-year-old son might not be mature enough for a public school classroom environment. “We realized that in a classroom setting he could get squelched because a teacher would not have the time to answer all of his questions… we didn’t want that. Education is important to us, and we wanted to nurture his learning.”
Says Sarah: “Everything I need is right there, which allows me to be a teacher. I don’t have to spend time planning lessons, scheduling, and worrying about attendance reports or the content or structure of the courses. K12 takes all these tasks off my plate, and I can focus on family building and fostering a love of learning. The curriculum and tools can help you do that. I don’t have to worry that there are any holes in their education.”
Residents of Sioux Falls, S.D., Sarah and her husband didn’t have any issues with the local schools, but they decided their best option was to school their child at home—at least for kindergarten. The Bierles researched various curriculums and chose the K12 program to educate their son. “We had this curious child, and when we looked at the programs out there, we wanted a comprehensive curriculum that was well-rounded and challenging so we didn’t have to worry about if we were doing the right thing,” noted Sarah “We thought we would try it for a year.”
Sarah is quick to note, however, that the K12 curriculum is challenging. “Sure, educating three children at home, who also need a lot of mommy time, is the biggest challenge —but that’s what I signed up for,” she explained. “It just becomes part of your lifestyle. People tell me they don’t have the time, and I tell them this is not a watered-down curriculum—and that is why I chose it. It gives me peace of mind because the curriculum gives you permission to do what works for you. And as your children continue to grow and develop, you can change and adapt to suit their needs.”
Seven Years Later… Today, Sarah knows she made the right choice—so much so that all three of her children are K12 kids, all starting in kindergarten and all performing at higher grade levels than their age level. And, of course, free to ask any and all questions during instruction. “The K12 program allows my children to go deep and wide in subjects that really interest them—and that makes learning fun,” she said.
“My advice for families is to make it fun and enjoy the journey because it has been an unbelievable seven years.”
For more information, go to K12.com/individualize
Notebook > Money
Cruel summer
What was supposed to be a season of recovery is turning into a time of concern By Joseph Slife
>>
1983, according to Autodata Corp. And, despite record low mortgage rates, sales of new homes plunged, hitting a record low in July. Meanwhile, the Commerce Department revised its second-quarter GDP figure down to 1.6 percent from an initial estimate of 2.4 percent. Not all the economic news was bad, however. Manufacturing activity rose in August, according to the Institute for Supply Management, and consumer confidence inched upward (bouncing off a five-month low in July). In addition, the FDIC reported that banks had their most profitable quarter (April-June) since 2007. That news, however, was tempered by FDIC data showing 829 banks on the government’s watch list for possible failure—nearly double the
number of “problem institutions” listed a year ago. So far this year, 118 banks have gone under. The most recent failures include ShoreBank (slogan: “Let’s change the world”), a community development bank that focused on inner-city
areas in Chicago, Cleveland, and Detroit. Regulators seized the bank on Aug. 20 because of what the FDIC termed “asset quality problems.” A new company, Urban Partnership Bank, took over most of ShoreBank’s deposits.
Sorry, we can’t pay Unable to close a $9 million budget gap, Pennsylvania’s capital city, Harrisburg, prepared to default on a $3.29 million municipal-bond payment due in mid-September. “[Our] current financial situation precludes us from making . . . these debt service payments at this time,” the city’s interim business administrator, Robert Kroboth, wrote in an Aug. 30 letter to the paying agent, Bank of New York Mellon. Even though Harrisburg’s bond-insurance company is expected to make good on the mid-September payment, some city officials have floated the idea of having the city file for bankruptcy, an idea Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell has tried to discourage (although the state has not offered any direct financial help). The Harrisburg Authority, a separate legal entity from the city, has already missed several debt payments related to an ill-fated $288 million incinerator project. Municipal bonds usually are considered low-risk investments, largely because cities have the power to institute tax increases to meet their obligations. —J.S.
76
WORLD September 25, 2010
Joseph Slife is the assistant editor of SoundMindInvesting.com
DOW JONES: JIN LEE/BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGES • CARS: Scott Olson/Getty Images • HARRISBURG: ISTOCK
Dogged by worries about future economic growth, the U.S. stock market suffered through its worst August in nine years, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling more than 4 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq off more than 6 percent. Yields on the 10-year Treasury note fell below 2.5 percent, the lowest yields since March 2009, evidence that huge numbers of investors are willing to opt for low-yield safety rather than take risks in other investments. Despite the Obama administration’s high hopes for a “summer of recovery,” much of the economic data refused to cooperate. Unemployment ticked up to 9.6 percent (from 9.5 percent in July). U.S. auto sales were stuck in low gear, enduring the slowest August since
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Progressivism:
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Zester and Mari lyn J. Hatfield
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Progressive Socialism is the new identification for Communism and Total State Control. This is what “politicians” mean when they talk about “Restructuring America.” Progressive Socialism is the s the American dream really dead? What really makes thethat Ibetween a “have” and a “have not”? In Progre“Change” different ssivism: Our Road to Serfdo authors Zester and Maril m, yn Hatfield exam some politicians ine these others in light of the histor questions and ic realities of who we are, where we have come from, and where we are going in relation to wages want Americans , job security, full employment, personal wealt h accumulation, and perso nal freedoms. The Hatfields discuss the live with. causes and historto y behind the current failing economy and present a step-by-step understand ingis of how our God-g iven capitalist to rebuild totally foundations withThis greater success. It takes candid look at how new a wealt h is created by curre nt and advancing technologies. Moreover, it reveals the secret against God’s s and the inner workings of progressive socialism— the political and ideolo gical barrier that stands between those who love Amer ica plans forlic’s limited and the repub form of government. America and Progressivism: Our Road to Serfdom presents a fascin ating story of how wealth is created and its effect on all Amer icans— small business owners, wage earners, Kingdom and equity ownersthe both large and small. demonstrates how the Const It itution gives all Americans the unalienable right to prosper from their ofl posse Christ. own labor and capita ssions. “Progressivism: Zester Hatfield is a practi cing financial consultant andOur Road To, holds license s in real estate insurance, and securi ties. Marilyn J. Hatfield is a practic Serfdom” is al ing tax and financia advisor, author, and busine ss manager. She holds licenses in accounting, tax preparation, read for securities, and must insurance. They have six children and twent y-four grandchildren. all Christians who seek the will of God for Christ’s Kingdom here on earth.
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MAILBAG “Bad connections” (Aug. 14) My skin crawled after reading this article. Mark Siljander is unbelievable, and what hubris. Promoting peace? Give me a break. I also have grave doubts about the Fellowship. It seems very suspect, calling into question a number of our political representatives connected with them. Beverly A. Coldiron, Longs, S.C.
I was grieved to hear of the court case against Siljander, obviously for him and his family, but also for the setback his apparent errors in judgment gave to Christianity’s credibility.
“medicate” or “mediate.” And my vocabulary has greatly improved. I also hope Marvin Olasky’s finger will recover quickly so I can continue reading his columns without have to diphr thm ovr lunh tim. Alyssa Hughes, 16
Glenn Martin
Santiago, Dominican Republic
“Talk talk talk talk talk” (Aug. 14) I reluctantly joined Facebook recently, hoping to stay connected with a few old friends who scarcely use email anymore, and was friended by half the students with whom I attended high school. I was unprepared for the shallowness and the frothy comments, but encouraged to know that others see the lack of substance in our dialogues.
Yigo, Guam
Olasky’s alphabetic musings inspired me to find more unrecognizable
parings and cost me an afternoon nap in the process. In this alphabetic economy, credit is severely crunched, to “rit.” Lengthy ceremonies could be shortened to more bearable “rmonis.” And it “ain’t” an “accident” (or is it?) that some, called upon to “recant,” choose instead to “rant.” Clearly this could get out of hand, so let’s hope Olasky’s injured typing finger mends quickly. Mark Lama
Arlington, Wash.
“A need-to-know basis” (Aug. 14) I enjoyed the column. Most of the giants of the scientific revolution in the West— Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Boyle, Pascal, and others—were Christians. In their view, God is a God of order and therefore His orderly creation would yield information to rational investigation. Further, since the Creator and the creation were separate, no longer was nature in some sense sacred. They could tamper with nature without defiling anything, and the experimental method, the backbone of modern science, was born. Scott Hightower Colorado Springs, Colo.
Inside Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey / submitted by andrew odell around the world
Rebecka Tol Tacoma, Wash.
I agree that social interaction is a lost art. With the distractions of everyday life, who has time to interact with a friend or neighbor? Why not have every personal experience on a social networking site? Thank you for the insightful column. Phillip Owen
Kissimmee, Fla.
“Thank you, subsribrs” (Aug. 14) After a rather lengthy argument my mother and I determined that “miat” could either be Send photos and letters to: mailbag@worldmag.com
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Janie B. Cheaney points out that Christians are encouraged to satisfy their curiosity, and in the West this has led to scientific progress. Curiosity exists in non-Christians as well. Some atheists claim not to care where it all comes from, but this is a lie. Part of the human condition is the God-given curiosity that d istinguishes us from other living creatures. To ask why, how, and who is a built-in part of the hiker’s equipment. Don Fairburn
Wilmington, N.C.
“Love, internet style” (Aug. 14) I agree that the “matches” internet dating services provide often aren’t of interest, that there are unique risks, and that you can’t always trust what people say about themselves. Of course, meeting people in real life can have the same drawbacks. But past age 30 or 40, very few spiritually compatible, interesting, and marriage-minded singles are available. These websites may open up new possibilities. Cheryl Dunlop
Nashville, Tenn.
The article on “electronic” matchmaking was fun. Next June, my husband and I are traveling to Phoenix for our 10th anniversary to visit the office of the Christian dating site where our profiles first met. We are both convinced God used it to answer our lonesome prayers. Janie Cook
Flagstaff, Ariz.
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Quotables (Aug. 14) No one would doubt the total forgiveness of God to a repentant sinner, but does God have anything to say about whether Ted Haggard should be leading a church? I think so. Priests who sinned could not come near God in the office of priest, according to Ezekiel 44, but they could serve as a keeper of the gates and in similar roles. However much the fl ippant Haggard “needs” to lead a church, God has other ideas. Gladdy Teague Mount Vernon, Iowa
My daughter who is not yet 3 years old regularly counts from 1 to 50. I can’t help
magazine but think that when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid stated, “It’s easy to count to 60. I could do it by the time I was in eighth grade,” he is giving us a much bigger glimpse into the real reasons for what he says and does in the Senate than he realizes. Loren H. Sanders
Milwaukee, Wis.
“Role change” (Aug. 14) You noted that Lance Armstrong may fall from grace due to drugs. But he showed his true colors when he ditched his wife and kids some years ago for a string of floozies. And his wife had nursed him back from cancer! What a guy. Richard Brewster
Cutchogue, N.Y.
“The disappointment of the double helix” (Aug. 14) Rather than being a biomechanical blueprint, DNA more closely resembles computer programs. Programs for vastly different purposes often use identical code to perform common tasks; these are called “operation codes.” The “modest” 20,000 genes in all living things might be like the operation codes of DNA. In comparison, the Java programming language has at most 256 opcodes. Could God have used something akin to a computer language with 20,000 opcodes to express something as complex as a living thing? I think He could. Scott Ritchie
Palm Bay, Fla.
“The end of accomplishment” (July 31)
I appreciated Janie Cheaney’s column, except her comment that “still later, [the U.S.] was able to subdue two deadly enemies on opposite sides of the globe, and then single-handedly rebuild them.” Not to downplay the U.S. contribution, but quite a few others were involved in the war with Germany and Japan and, especially in Europe, some of them did a lot of the heavy lifting. Don Codling
Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia
“This important war” (July 17) America’s proud heritage includes fighting
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a Revolutionary War and many others on the premise that we were “fighting for freedom.” If we are not fighting for freedom of religion in Afghanistan, why are we there? Everything I have learned about the Islamic religion and Shariah law indicates that those under that law are not free. Ray L. Jones Mesa, Ariz.
“Moveable feasts” (June 5) Great column! Thanks so much for the reminder to slow down. As a rural family living in the largest agricultural area of the United States, we see how people are in a quest to feast all the time. They come to our fruit stands in May when we have fresh, ripe, luscious strawberries, and they want walnuts or navel oranges, which come in the cold weather. Now in August we have mouth-watering peaches and plums but they want strawberries and cherries, although their cool season is past. I praise God for the seasons of the year and seasons of life, and that He gives us wisdom and grace to enjoy them all. JulieBeth Lamb
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Corrections Chaplain Frederick McGuffin’s rank is Navy Commander (“Warrior class,” Aug. 28, p. 42). Scientists estimate that the BP oil spill is the worst offshore, accidental oil spill in history (“Oil deal?” July 31, p. 8).
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krieg barrie
I
am interested in the psychology of prayer. By that I don’t mean what the psychologists who want to deconstruct it mean. This will be an in-house discussion. What fascinates is that we Christians are capable of some pretty strange abstract thinking that doesn’t comport well with Jesus’ urging to be “like children.” The Lord says when we come to Him we should come “without wavering” (Hebrews 4:16; 10:23; Psalm 26:1). What would “without wavering” look like? I know full well what “wavering” looks like: Maybe God is ticked off with me. Maybe God won’t answer because of what I did last night. Maybe I’m not forgiven. Maybe the request I am making is the kind of thing God doesn’t do anymore. Maybe that promise I thought I saw in the Bible pertains to the distant future only. Maybe that miracle was only for the time of Christ. Maybe that verse that looks like a promise is not really a promise but a principle. Maybe I’m taking that promise out of context. Maybe my request is too petty. Maybe I’m not asking according to His will. Entertain clutter like this in your head and your hole-riddled bucket will have leaked out all its boldness by the time you get to the throne of grace. I sometimes must do a fair amount of deprogramming before I can move into the zone of “confidence,” “boldness,” and “unwavering” in the courts of the Lord: Ticked off?—I choose to believe the Lord’s declaration over my own feelings: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). “Whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart” (1 John 3:20). Because of what I did last night?—So how long will I wait till I come crawling back? Is it my plan to let God cool off while I keep my distance? Something fishy about that.
Email: aseu@worldmag.com
Maybe I’m not forgiven?—Ephesians 1 says I am. Is the blood of Christ a common thing? Have I finally committed the one sin He can’t handle? Do I spurn the Son of God and trample the blood of the covenant underfoot, outraging the Holy Spirit? (Hebrews 10:29). Will I not dare to live as a f orgiven woman? Will I not take sides with Christ against my own self-assessment? God doesn’t take those kinds of prayer requests anymore?—Says who? Who made you God’s press secretary, O man? God will answer any kind of prayer He sees fit to, and since He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, I can go ahead and ask. Not to mention that Jesus is now ascended to an exalted place with all power and authority for the church (Ephesians 1:22). That promise isn’t really a promise?—Again, says who? If God claims, “No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11), and a human book claims different, there is no contest of authority. A mistake not to read in context?—I’ll tell you what’s a mistake: to whittle the Word of God down to nothing by multiplying contexts and disclaimers, and thus robbing the hope of the believer. Too petty a request?—Let the Lord be the judge of that. He says cast all your anxieties on Me because I care for you (1 Peter 5:7). He says make your requests, with thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6). He welcomes all kinds of prayers (Ephesians 6:18). He says we do not have because we do not ask. Not according to His will?—I know it is not His will that any should perish but all should come to the knowledge of God, so I will hit that one hard. I will recite it back to Him. I will pray pre-envisioning my children’s salvation. I know it is His will to undo the works of the devil, of whatever variety they are (1 John 3:8). Furthermore, I know I am in His will because I abide in Him. I don’t believe the Lord will “drop” a single prayer request but will answer it in some way, in His timing. I don’t believe the martyrs believe that either (Revelation 6:10). If I am wrong about any of this, you can go back to wavering. A S e p t e m b e r 2 5 , 2 0 1 0 W O R L D
87
Marvin Olasky
Thorns and thistles
Evangelicals should limit their expectations of—but not their involvement in—politics
W 88
WORLD September 25, 2010
Email: molasky@worldmag.com
krieg barrie
e kick off WORLD’s intensive campaign coverage in this issue. That raises questions: What should be the evangelical frame of mind as we slouch toward this crucial election on Nov. 2? Why be involved in politics when we don’t see much progress? Our starting point in evaluating “progress” should be God’s declaration in Genesis 3 following Adam’s sin. God tells the perpetrator, “Cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you.” Those words may be familiar, but stare at them for a time: “cursed . . . pain . . . thorns and thistles.” Why do people spend five years creating a book, a movie, a new product, a ministry, a school—and the result is underwhelming? Like even great major league hitters, we usually make an out. That’s Adam’s curse. Given the curse, a tie in politics—contra football wisdom—is not like kissing your sister. Given everything that can and does go wrong, fending off a loss is not bad. And that leads to a call not for cynicism, disengagement, or “being silent for a season,” but for political realism. We are unrealistic when we say that conservatives, when they held sway in the White House or Congress, didn’t do much, and therefore it doesn’t matter whether evangelical conservatives get politically involved or not. Having a do-little Congress isn’t bad. For 12 years I had a fox terrier who barked at every passerby. I learned to prefer a more sedate Lab mutt. Liberals in power bark and bark, and their bite—in taxes and lives—is even worse than their bark. Think of all the barking and biting last year and this, as Obamites and Pelosians feasted at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. Sure, Republicans from 2001 to 2006 messed up, but—given post-curse thorns and thistles—that shouldn’t surprise us. Sure, it was frustrating to see the GOP mutt not push for the relatively small
changes in our healthcare system that would really have helped poor people—but isn’t it worse to see yipping Democrats move us toward socialism? We similarly minimize the results of Adam’s fall when we say the pro-life movement has failed because abortion is still legal. Back in 1970 reasonable prognosticators were predicting that by this year the United States would have 4 million abortions annually. They did not anticipate the growth and perseverance of the pro-life movement. The actual butcher’s bill is probably 1.2 million, still a terrible number, but 70 percent less horrible than the forecast. We underestimate the fall’s effect when we search for the perfect candidate: Sometimes we have to ask, “Which candidate will do the least harm?” A standard Barack Obama commercial in 2007/2008 went like this: “You see, they don’t believe we can actually change politics and bring an end to decades of division and deadlock.” Evangelicals should have said, “That’s right, you won’t be able to reverse the curse, but you can reduce its effect by decentralizing whenever possible.” This is not a call for pessimism, but for truth in advertising rather than hype. Can we end abortion? No, given sin, but we can reduce the number of killings, and one day give unborn children legal protection. Can we eliminate poverty? No, but we can also reduce its extent. Want legislators to read bills before they vote on them? Demand that, and have a free press embarrass them when they don’t. Want to reduce the power of lobbyists? If we reduce the size of the Washington honey pots, bears will find other places to stick their snouts. We can work for candidates who have shown their trustworthiness and who pledge to defend life and liberty. We can vote for senators who will not confirm judges likely to substitute their own views for the Constitution’s. We can support men and women who have not only the right policy positions but the character to fight for them. And we can push for journalists to tell the truth about the politicians they cover and the principles at stake. A
There’s still
health care for people of faith after health care “reform” If you are a committed Christian and do not want to purchase mandatory health insurance that forces you to help pay for abortions and other unbiblical medical practices, you can put your faith into practice by sharing medical needs with fellow believers through Samaritan Ministries. The provisions below are on pages 327 and 328 of the 2,409-page health care “reform” bill, and they protect people of faith who join in sharing medical needs through health care sharing ministries.
“…an organization, members of which share a common set of ethical or religious beliefs and share medical expenses among members in accordance with those beliefs…” Sec. 1501 (b) of HR 3590 at pg. 327, 328 Every month the more than 15,000* households of Samaritan Ministries share more than $3.5 million* in medical needs directly—one household to another. They also pray for one another and send notes of encouragement. The monthly share for a family of any size has never exceeded $320*, and is even less for singles, couples, and single-parent families. Also, there are reduced share amounts for members aged 25 and under, and 65 and over.
For more information call us toll-free 1-888-268-4377, or visit us online at: www.samaritanministries.org. Follow us on Twitter (@samaritanmin) and Facebook (SamaritanMinistries). * As of August 2010
Biblical faith applied to health care www.samaritanministries.org