The National Catholic Weekly March 15, 2010 $3.50 of Many Things

THE NATIONAL CATHOLIC WEEKLY MARCH 15, 2010 $3.50 OF MANY THINGS

PUBLISHED BY JESUITS OF THE UNITED STATES he Quadrennial Defense rocket went off-target and killed civil- Review is a Congressionally ians, the weapon was withdrawn from EDITOR IN CHIEF Drew Christiansen, S.J. mandated report by the service until the cause of the error TSecretary of Defense on U.S. strategic could be found. EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT goals and the personnel, hardware and The military tries to learn from its MANAGING EDITOR financing required to realize them. mistakes. What has not happened in Robert C. Collins, S.J. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates Afghanistan, however, is the disciplin- EDITORIAL DIRECTOR presented the 2010 Q.D.R. on Feb. 1. ing of personnel for inflicting civilian Karen Sue Smith His willingness to cut big-budget casualties. In northern Afghanistan, ONLINE EDITOR weapons systems that are relics of the when an isolated unit was exposed to Maurice Timothy Reidy cold war helped to bring the defense prolonged attack by the Taliban, field CULTURE EDITOR budget in line with meeting actual officers were disciplined for their failure James Martin, S.J. threats and the ongoing missions in to protect the unit. Similar discipline LITERARY EDITOR Iraq and Afghanistan, but they yielded seems not to have been applied when Patricia A. Kossmann no overall savings in defense spending. civilians were killed. POETRY EDITOR The report pays attention to the In counterterrorism operations, the James S. Torrens, S.J. needs of the active military, veterans problem of instilling accountability for ASSOCIATE EDITORS and their families, who have dispropor- civilian deaths is complicated because the George M. Anderson, S.J. tionately paid the price for war in C.I.A., rather than the military, operates Peter Schineller, S.J. Afghanistan and Iraq. many of the drones responsible for collat- Kevin Clarke The military will be asked to prepare eral casualties. The C.I.A. does not oper- ART DIRECTOR for rescue and relief operations follow- ate under restraints of the laws of armed Stephanie Ratcliffe ing natural disasters both at home and conflict or the discipline of military jus- ASSISTANT EDITORS abroad. Americans should be proud of tice. Targeting in these attacks is both Francis W. Turnbull, S.J. the transport and logistical capacities morally and legally problematic because Kerry Weber that make U.S. help indispensable in it involves assassination or, to use a term ASSISTANT LITERARY EDITOR complex humanitarian emergencies like favored by the Israelis, “targeted killings” Regina Nigro the current rescue effort in Haiti. (see Jane Mayer, “Predator War,” The But the variety of threats cited by New Yorker, 10/26/09). BUSINESS DEPARTMENT Secretary Gates, as well as shifts in mil- Some argue that these killings are PUBLISHER itary technology, demand further exam- justified acts of self-defense; others, Jan Attridge ination, especially as they strain mili- that outside the field of battle they are CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER tary law and ethics. Counterinsurgency prohibited by international law. Lisa Pope and counterterrorism will continue to Misleading intelligence from local infor- ADVERTISING be major foci of U.S. defense efforts. mants, which has lead to noncombatant Julia Sosa Under General David Petraeus, the casualties, is cited as another reason for head of the U.S. Central Command not authorizing assassination by drone 106 West 56th Street New York, NY 10019-3803 (Middle East and Central Asia), coun- as a tool of national defense. terinsurgency efforts have begun to As the number of threats against Ph: 212-581-4640; Fax: 212-399-3596 reduce civilian casualties, primarily for which we feel we must defend ourselves E-mail: [email protected]; strategic rather than moral reasons. An grows and as new political realities like [email protected] Web site: www.americamagazine.org. army cannot win counterinsurgency global terrorism and new technologies Customer Service: 1-800-627-9533 campaigns until the people are ready to like drones muddy the old clarities, the © 2010 America Press, Inc. trust it more than the insurgents. need to determine the moral and legal In the recent Marja campaign, under limits under which the military and civil- Petraeus’s supervision, the allies gave ian agents carry on that defense grows notice of their intentions well in more and more necessary. Moral scruti- Cover: A United States Air Force advance of the attack, so civilians would ny, like that by Mary Ellen O’Connell technician pushes a Predator have time to leave the region; they and Maryann Cusimano Love in this unmanned surveillance plane out of its hangar at an airbase in the Gulf received prior agreement to the cam- issue of America, will be required. on March 10, 2003. Reuters/Chris paign from local elders, and when a DREW CHRISTIANSEN, S.J. Helgren CONTENTS www.americamagazine.org VOL. 202 NO. 8, WHOLE NO. 4886 MARCH 15, 2010

ARTICLES 11 FLYING BLIND U.S. combat drones operate outside international law. Mary Ellen O’Connell A Troubling Disconnection Maryann Cusimano Love

COLUMNS & DEPARTMENTS 4 Current Comment

5 Editorial Administering Justice 11 6 Signs of the Times 9 Column Antidote for Anomie John F. Kavanaugh

16 Faith in Focus A Season of Grace Christopher M. Bellitto

21 Poem Ahimsa Edwin L. Millet 28 Letters

31 The Word The Finger of God Barbara E. Reid

16 BOOKS & CULTURE 18 TELEVISION “Damages” and “The Good Wife” look at female ambition BOOKS Faith-Based War; The Purples Are Coming!; Making Sense of Evolution

ON THE WEB ON THE WEB Kevin Spinale, S.J., discusses the novel Let the Great World Spin, by Colum McCann, right, on our podcast. Plus, from the archives, Drew Christiansen, S.J., on the just war theory after Sept. 11. All at americamagazine.org. 18 CURRENT COMMENT

ensues. The Getty Museum in Los Angeles was recently The Cost of Uranium ordered by an Italian court to return the Getty’s iconic President Obama has stated his support for the construc- bronze statue of an athlete. The museum says it did not tion of safe, clean nuclear power plants in the United know the work had been removed from Italy illegally. The States but has said little about the methods by which the judge countered that the museum showed “grave negli- uranium needed to run them will be obtained. One possi- gence.” Around the globe, artworks have been taken and ble location: the Arizona 1 mine, located approximately 10 retaken as invading armies plundered palaces and muse- miles from Grand Canyon National Park. At this spot in ums; others are housed in museums that have superior December 2009, uranium mining resumed after a 20-year resources for conservation. Both issues make deciding hiatus. Denison Mines, a Canadian company, will extract ownership a thorny question. Others were simply pilfered up to eight 20-ton truckloads of uranium per day. The from the original sites. The Elgin Marbles, part of the mining has begun, despite lawsuits from environmental Parthenon, were spirited away in 1801 by Lord Elgin and groups and a two-year ban on new mining claims, to assess are still in the British Museum. But Haverford did the the environmental and economic impacts of the mines. right thing. Ownership does not trump ethics. That would Denison’s claim is not a new one, however, so the company be putting Descartes before the horse. has been given appropriate permits to move forward. Its decision was spurred by rising uranium prices. But are The Urgency of Now increased profits worth the increased risk of environmental The health care summit meeting on Feb. 25 ended not with contamination and health problems? a bang but with a grimace. With the Republican opposition On the Navajo reservation in northern Arizona, where determined to remain only that, Democrats are left scram- extensive uranium mining took place more than 50 years bling to salvage health care reform before its momentum ago, the effects are still felt. Sheep graze in the midst of peters out completely. To start over, as Republicans disin- radioactive tailing piles, and more than 2.3 million tons of genuously suggest—as though they were not present and hazardous waste have been buried near the reservation had no responsibility to participate in the yearlong pro- town of Tuba City, Ariz., covered only by a layer of soil cess—would be to postpone reform indefinitely. and rock. Contaminated water and soil are thought to have But Congress cannot merely shrug off the vexing prob- increased instances of cancer and birth defects over time. A lem of health care in the United States or pretend to “fix” recent U.S. Geological Survey concluded that, while 95 it through tepid efforts at cost control. It does not serve the percent of the water near the mining strip north of the common good to help 3 million additional families pay for Grand Canyon was drinkable, contamination could be health insurance when more than 10 times that number found in areas near the mines. More work must be done to have none. And it is morally unacceptable for 45,000 peo- clean up past contamination and eliminate potential future ple to die each year in one of the wealthiest nations on problems before new mining projects move forward. earth for lack of health care insurance. As a player in the health care debate, the church may not Descartes in Pennsylvania achieve all its goals immediately, though it has already In the mid-1800s an Italian mathematician stole from the achieved a great deal in protecting the integrity of the Hyde Institut de France a stack of letters written by René Amendment. It can continue to fight for the protection of Descartes. Since then scholar sleuths have recovered 45 of the unborn, conscience clauses for medical professionals and the 72 letters. They should have been looking at Haverford health care for immigrant communities through the recon- College, a Quaker-founded school in the leafy suburbs of ciliation process and future legislative action. Philadelphia, where one letter was found in February. It Reform is imperative. The status quo already endangers had been given to the university’s library in 1902 by a the nation’s economic vibrancy as it diminishes human dig- donor unaware that it had been stolen. The university’s nity. Postponing a comprehensive solution means costs will president, Stephen G. Emerson, immediately called the climb and fewer employers will offer insurance benefits. It Institut and promised to return the heirloom that had sat took courage for previous Congresses to pass Social more or less unnoticed on his campus for over a century. Security and Medicare against powerful opposition and Mr. Emerson did the right thing. Often, after works of public uncertainty. That same courage is required today. As art with shaky provenances find their way into museums, Carol Keehan, D.C., president of the Catholic Health the original country calls for their return and a legal battle Association, insists, the time for reform is now.

4 America March 15, 2010 EDITORIAL Administering Justice

ecession-driven prison closings may provide state in Sacramento County, Calif., 76 pro- lawmakers an opportunity to promote a more bation officer positions, or 9 percent of R rational approach to criminal justice that still puts the total force, are on the chopping public safety first. Draconian sentences even for low-level block, as are drug treatment beds. offenders have long crowded penal facilities, and over the Not all parts of the country are past two decades the building of new prisons has increased closing prisons. Parts of the South have dramatically. In the 1960s and 70s an average of four pris- been moving in the opposite direction. Florida shows no ons a year were under construction, but in the 1990s the signs of closing any of its penal facilities. And Kentucky has average jumped to 24 a year. Correctional costs now swallow the fastest growing prison system in the nation because of up huge portions of many state budgets. According to a various tough-on-crime measures, like the so-called persis- March 2009 report by the Pew Center on the States, total tent felon law, similar to the “three strikes and you’re out” corrections spending has reached an estimated $68 billion, laws of some states, as well as such other measures as reclas- an increase of 336 percent since 1986. sifying some misdemeanors as felonies, which carry much For some states, this spending has produced disquiet- harsher penalties. Kentucky’s prisons have become so over- ing signs of skewed spending priorities. In Michigan, for crowded that it has been obliged to pay local jails to house example, one of the states hit hardest by the recession the overflow, and many inmates sleep on the floor. As the because of its ties with the ailing automotive industry, the Pew report observes, overincarceration is subject to the law state government spends more on corrections than on high- of diminishing returns; the greater the number of offenders er education, despite having already closed half a dozen imprisoned, “the lower the payoff in terms of crime reduc- penal facilities. tion.” Similarly, incarcerating more offenders can lead to “the Other states are considering early release for low-level replacement effect,” especially in regard to drug crimes: offenders who seem to present little risk to public safety. Other drug dealers quickly take over the territory left open Arizona, New Jersey and Vermont reduced the sentences of by the person behind bars. This is especially true of young thousands of probation and parole violators who had been people, who are more easily drawn into criminal activity returned to prison for violations of various kinds. Early than those in their 30s and 40s. So unless society addresses release, though, can work well only if strong re-entry pro- the demand for drugs, the supply of potential sellers seems grams are in place—initiatives that provide help with hous- virtually unlimited. ing, jobs and substance abuse. According to Marc Mauer, Corrections officers unions and local communities executive director of the nonprofit Sentencing Project in whose economies depend on prisons have resisted prison Washington, D.C., the commitment to re-entry programs closings. In some rural areas, prisons serve as large local has grown over the past decade—a positive sign of a prac- employers, and local employment in turn supports a num- tice he hopes will continue. ber of small businesses—a chain of economic dependency. Two of the most effective forms of community correc- Such resistance is understandable, given the paucity of tions, probation (after conviction but before incarceration) employment opportunities in such regions, but it raises an and parole (for those who have served time and are eligible important question: How many prisons exist because of the for release), have long been underfunded. Yet when ade- secure jobs they provide rather than for the punishment of quately funded, both probation and parole can be effective crime and promotion of public safety? Robert Gangi, who for limiting the overall incarcerated population and reduc- heads the Correctional Association of New York, has noted ing recidivism. But with nearly 90 percent of corrections that the “administration of justice shouldn’t be twisted into funds devoted to incarceration, Mauer points out, only 10 a job program for economically depressed upstate commu- percent remains for probation and parole. In many jurisdic- nities.” tions, caseloads are too high to permit adequate supervision It is time to put in place programs and policies that and services for those released. Cuts in those areas are being will depend less on funding and political issues, like those made by cash-strapped administrators—a case of being that created excessively stringent drug laws, and ensure a penny-wise and pound-foolish. The Pew report notes that more rational, effective approach to public safety.

March 15, 2010 America 5 SIGNS OF THE TIMES

IRAQ Christians March for Peace During Surge of Violence ore than 1,000 Christians walked through Hamdaniya, a town 25 miles east of Mosul, on Sunday Feb. 28 in an Mappeal to Iraq’s central government for protection. Many of the silent protestors were praying and carrying olive branches. One banner read, “The blood of the innocents screams for an end to the violence.” More than eight Christians were killed in the last two weeks of February in Mosul. A U.N. report on Feb. 28 indicated that 683 Christian families, or 4,098 people, fled Mosul between Feb. 20 and Feb. 27 following the attacks. The Christian families who remain live in fear for their lives. Iraqi Christians Iraqi Christians are among the oldest Christian communities in the demonstrate for peace world. Since the U.S. invasion in 2003 and the sectarian violence that in Mosul, Iraq, Feb. 28. followed it, many thousands have been forced to leave. The recent out- break of violence against Christians has come just weeks before Iraq’s par- Mosul, said before the Christian ones. The Christians want to stay in liamentary election, scheduled for demonstration in Hamdaniya: “The Iraq and live their faith in peace.” March 7, and has been accompanied community is shocked and wants to The date of Feb. 28 is particularly by deadly car and suicide bombings in draw the attention of the authorities, poignant for Iraq’s Christian commu- other Iraqi cities. who so far have done nothing to stop nity, as it marks the second anniversary Archbishop Georges Casmoussa, this killing. The march has no political of the kidnapping of Archbishop Faraj the Syrian-Catholic archbishop of or electoral motives, only religious Rahho, the Chaldean archbishop of

UNITED KINGDOM changed, that all cases will be investi- gated and that no one is being given Bishops Welcome Revised Policy immunity from prosecution under On Prosecution of Assisted Suicide these guidelines.” Starmer was instructed to produce he Catholic bishops of tion under the law to disabled or seri- new guidelines following a July ruling England and Wales wel- ously ill people and to those who had a in the House of Lords, Britain’s highest Tcomed new guidelines gov- history of suicide attempts and were court, in a case brought by Debbie erning prosecutions in assisted suicide likely to try again,” Archbishop Smith Purdy, a West Yorkshire political cases, saying that the most vulnerable said in a statement on Feb. 25. “There activist who has multiple sclerosis. people are better protected under the also appeared to be a presumption that Purdy demanded to know if her hus- revisions. Archbishop Peter Smith of a spouse or close relative would always band would be prosecuted if he helped Cardiff, Wales, praised Keir Starmer, act simply out of compassion and her to travel to the Dignitas euthanasia director of public prosecutions, for never from selfish motives,” he said. clinic in Switzerland to commit suicide. revising the guidelines in a way that “These factors have been removed The court’s ruling required removed some of the provisions that from the new guidelines, which now Starmer, as Britain’s chief prosecutor, were most dangerous for the sick and give greater protection to some of the to spell out exactly how the state vulnerable. most vulnerable people in our society,” would respond if someone helped a “Our particular concerns were that he said. “There is also a greater stress person to commit suicide. More than the interim guidelines gave less protec- on the fact that the law has not 100 British citizens have killed them-

6 America March 15, 2010 “The Eucharist will be celebrated in worse, Pax Christi reports, is the ongo- churches in the afternoon. We will be ing regional power struggle between fasting and praying for peace and for Kurds and Arabs in northern Iraq. “In the survival of Christians.” order to further their aims, the Kurds Addressing pilgrims in St. Peter’s have offered minorities inducements Square the same day, Pope Benedict while simultaneously exercising repres- XVI appealed to the civil authorities sion in order to keep them in tow. in Iraq to protect the Christian popu- Kurdish forces frequently rely on lation there. Pax Christi International intimidation, threats, arbitrary arrests demanded a response to the desperate and detentions to coerce the support of situation of Iraq’s minorities at the minority communities and in some opening on March 1 of the 13th ses- cases have resorted to extreme violence. sion of the U.N. Human Rights “Today the minorities are being Council in Geneva. threatened from all sides as they find The Pax Christi group noted the themselves trapped between the two “gross and systematic human rights ethnic rivals,” Pax Christi warned. violations of the minorities in Iraq” “Since the withdrawal of U.S. forces and warned that these minorities, from Iraq’s cities in June 2009, the including Yazidis, Shabaks, Turkoman attacks against minority groups have Mosul who was abducted and killed in and Assyrian Christians, “are facing a increased dramatically and show no sign a previous campaign of sectarian vio- human rights catastrophe.” of abating.” Pax Christi urged the U.N. lence. No Mass was held in Mosul that According to a Pax Christi state- council to act “swiftly and vigorously” to Sunday morning. Archbishop ment, “These groups have been system- save Iraq’s endangered minorities. “As Casmoussa explained that the time atically targeted, including by Sunni they face these unprecedented levels of would be “entirely devoted to an act of insurgents who regard them as ‘cru- violence, the Christians and other protest and silent prayer.” He said: saders’ and ‘infidels.’” Making matters minority groups risk being wiped out.” selves in the Swiss clinic, but there has tion unlikely, including instances when not been a single prosecution of any- the suspect was “wholly motivated by one who has accompanied them. compassion” and when the patient had Under British law, the offense is pun- a determined wish to commit suicide. ishable by up to 14 years in jail. Sixteen factors would favor prosecu- In November the bishops publicly tion. They include pressure on the vic- criticized Starmer’s interim guidelines tim, a lack of informed consent, a his- for allegedly creating categories of peo- tory of abuse by the suspect or if the ple whose lives would be legally con- suspect was unknown to the victim. sidered less worthy of protection than Starmer told reporters Feb. 25 that the the rest of society. They said the draft revised policy “is now more focused on guidelines stigmatized the disabled, the motivation of the suspect rather the terminally ill, the depressed and than the characteristics of the victim.” the aged and “could encourage crimi- The revisions were still criticized nal behavior” by signaling that it was by Paul Tully of the Society for the acceptable to help such people to kill Protection of Unborn Children, a pro- themselves. life lobby group, who said in a state- The new guidelines insist that ment on Feb. 25 that the element of assisted suicide is a crime but set out implicit discrimination against the six factors that would make prosecu- aged, disabled and sick “is more subtle, Archbishop Peter Smith of Wales

March 15, 2010 America 7 SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Church Responds To Chile Quake NEWS BRIEFS As Chile’s Catholic Church coordinat- If King Juan Carlos of Spain signs a new law easing ed aid to victims of the massive earth- abortion restrictions, as he is constitutionally required quake that struck the country’s central to do, the general secretary of the Spanish bishops’ con- coast on Feb. 27, church leaders ference said on Feb. 25 that no action would be taken expressed their condolences to fami- against him. • Mass media attacks on religion must be lies of the more than 700 people opposed, considering “the dangerous effect” they have killed. Bishop Alejandro Goic on social cohesion and interreligious peace, said a state- Juan Carlos Karmelic of Rancagua, president of ment released on March 2 after the annual meeting of officials from the the Chilean bishops’ conference, said, Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and al-Azhar University “We ache for our brothers and sisters in Cairo, Egypt. • A great champion of the Catholic laity and the first who have lost their lives, and we pray woman to hold a position of authority at the Vatican, Rosemary for their families and friends and those Goldie, died Feb. 27 in New South Wales, Australia. She was 94. • On who have lost all their possessions.” Feb. 21 the Rev. Evaristo Sada, secretary general of the Congregation of Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet the Legion of Christ, apologized to anyone whom the order’s founder, declared the southern regions of Marcial Maciel (1920-2008), “harmed with the immoral acts of his pri- Maule and Bio-Bio a disaster area, vate life.” • Organizers of the Atheist Bus Campaign in New Zealand ordered the army to reinforce the are considering legal action after their ads—“There’s probably no God. police and imposed a nighttime curfew Now stop worrying and enjoy your life”—were rejected by the national on the region to halt the looting of bus company. • In an open letter to President Obama and the Japanese stores. Most deaths were in the Maule government on Feb. 26, bishops from Hiroshima and Nagasaki called region, where a quake-triggered tsuna- on world leaders to work toward the total abolition of nuclear weapons. mi swept through coastal villages.

Israeli Heritage Plans East peace process, called on Israel “not lar institutions that are dealing with Provoke Palestinians to take any steps on the ground which child molestation. “We are assuming The plans of Prime Minister undermine trust or could prejudice responsibility. We condemn the Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to negotiations, the resumption of which offenses committed by monks, priests declare Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem should be the highest shared priority of and their colleagues in our dioceses, and the Cave of the Patriarchs in all who seek peace.” Another apparent and we ask pardon, in shame and Hebron Jewish heritage sites have gen- seizure attempt threatens the shock, from all those who fell victim to erated outrage on the West Bank. The Shepherds’ Fields in Beit Sahour near these appalling acts,” the bishops said move was perceived by Palestinians as Bethlehem, where tradition says angels in a statement on Feb. 25. In late an attempt to formalize a land grab announced the birth of Jesus. Israeli set- January, Canisius College, a Jesuit-run around the sites and close off Muslim tlers now are moving into the area, and high school in Berlin, confirmed there worshippers. The Cave of the Israeli solders have reoccupied a hilltop had been persistent abuse by three Patriarchs is known to Palestinians as position that had been returned to the priests between 1975 and 1983. At the Ibrahimi Mosque. An important Beit Sahour municipality. least 120 men have come forward Muslim spiritual site, it had been one since, claiming they suffered abuse by priests or lay teachers at Jesuit schools of the most accessible holy sites to German Bishops West Bank Palestinians. The Pales- throughout the country dating to the tinian Authority’s leader, Mahmud Confront Abuse Claims 1950s. The Jesuit order has apolo- Abbas, called the decision “a dangerous Germany’s Catholic bishops have gized to victims and hired an attorney provocation” that threatened to lead to asked forgiveness from victims of sex- to discuss compensation with them. a holy war. Robert Serry, the U.N. ual abuse at church-run schools and Special Coordinator for the Middle promised to “learn lessons” from secu- From CNS and other sources.

8 America March 15, 2010 JOHN F. KAVANAUGH

Antidote for Anomie n early February, I received a pack- George Bush. President Obama tlements? Both are required of us. But et of letters from eighth-grade stu- should give Bush credit for the good if the answer is a resounding no from Idents at Saint Joseph School in decisions he had made, acknowledge the right and left wings of our country, New York City. The students suggest- what programs the new administra- we can be assured that things will only ed ways to be both challenging and tion maintains and announce what get worse. With trillion-dollar wars respectful while discussing politics, policies it will change. and trillion-dollar deficits, the econo- and many sounded more mature and Most important, he should be ruth- my will reel. Without health insurance honest than some adult Democrats lessly honest with us. This is the only reform, it may come apart. and Republicans or MSNBC and Fox way to lance the boil of self-interest In health care, no matter what the News commentators. I hope that as inflaming the body politic. But it will upshot of the recent White House they grow up, they will not become be a difficult task, because members of summit, we need a single-payer sys- contaminated by the degraded dis- his audience do not want to tem insuring basic care course of our politics and media. hear any bad news, at least What is any for all. And we need Our political discourse suffers none that touches them. competition among the anomie, or normlessness. There is lit- Instead of naming and of us insurance plans, even tle respect for any position other than confronting this delusion, it across state lines, for self-interest. Instead of thoughtful cri- seemed the president, until willing to those purchasing a tique we hear knee-jerk expletives. If now, wanted only to please Cadillac, boutique or you watch the three major networks everyone. As it turns out, sacrifice for special options plan. and PBS, you may not see much of no one seems pleased. Just the common We need the tort this, although I think it is true that look at the health care reform and limits to they are slanted to the left. But if you reform mess. Pro-choice good? lawsuits against belea- tune in to the cable channels, you will groups claim that a con- guered doctors that find grist for every mill—pundits who science clause for doctors will displease many deride Sarah Palin as stupid and pun- and hospitals is violence against lawyers. But we also need the freedom dits who “wonder” if President Obama women. Trial lawyer lobbyists do not to buy approved medications from is a citizen. Watching some of these want restraints on lawsuits. Insurance other countries, which will displease programs could make a person feel he companies object to interstate compe- big Pharma. And we patients must or she is in a near occasion of sin. tition. Patients oppose limits on the finally realize that in matters of Whether you are a liberal or conserva- procedures or coverage they seek. The health, we do not have a right to tive, the sin might be wrath. Worse right wants less government and less everything possible. still, it could be despair. taxation. The left wants more pro- As Americans, we must be willing As for myself, I will take my young grams and services. The reason most to sacrifice a bit of our vested interest, correspondents’ advice—to respect people are resistant to true health care if our economy and health-care system President Obama but also challenge reform is that they are afraid of losing are to be preserved. In late January, the him. The president was thrust, even something. president told Diane Sawyer on ABC’s before his swearing in, into a daunting The president displays many “World News,” “I’d rather be a really state of affairs, a country that was mil- virtues—especially in matters requir- good one-term president than a itarily and economically compromised. ing prudence, justice and temperance. mediocre two-term president.” He This does not mean he can blame What he must call upon on now is his now has the opportunity to prove it. everything on former President fortitude. He should admit that all of Maybe his fellow Americans will be us are going to lose something. And he inspired by his own willingness to sac- should ask this: What, specifically, is rifice a second term in order to tell us JOHN F. KAVANAUGH, S.J., is a professor of philosophy at St. Louis University in St. any of us willing to accept for the com- not what we want to hear, but the Louis, Mo. mon good? More taxation? Fewer enti- truth we need to hear.

March 15, 2010 America 9 An armed MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft sits in a shelter Oct. 15 at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, before a mission. Larger and more powerful than the MQ-1 Predator, the Reaper can carry up to 3,750 pounds of laser-guided bombs and Hellfire missiles.

10 America March 15, 2010 U.S. COMBAT DRONES OPERATE OUTSIDE INTERNATIONAL LAW Flying Blind

BY MARY ELLEN O’CONNELL

n Dec. 30, 2009, a trusted Central Intelligence Agency informant walked into a base in Khost, Afghanistan, which borders Pakistan, and blew up himself and seven Oothers working for the agency. In the weeks that followed, the United States, possibly for revenge, dramatically increased the number of attacks into Western Pakistan using unmanned aerial combat vehicles, better known as drones. The attacks in response to the Khost bombing are rekindling the con- troversy surrounding this new technology of war. The C.I.A., which runs the drone operations in Pakistan, has called them “lawful, aggressive, precise and effective” (New York Times, 1/23), and its director, Leon Panetta, has said that when it comes to disrupting Al Qaeda, drones are “the only game in town.” The C.I.A. began using drones in Pakistan in 2004, even though the United States was not engaged in a war with that country. Under President Obama the use of drones in Pakistan has esca- lated dramatically. Following the attacks in Khost, the C.I.A. increased the attacks to every other day, up from about once a week. Drones are indeed “aggressive,” but whether they are precise and effective is open to dispute. The C.I.A. uses drones to target enemy leaders on its “watch list,” but the attacks inevitably kill many people who are not on the list, including innocent women and children. According to David Kilcullen and Andrew McDonald Exum (New York Times, 5/19/09), the United States kills 50 unintended targets for each intended target of a drone attack. As one intelligence source told The Nation: “If there’s one person they’re going after and there’s thirty-four people in the building, thirty-five people are going to die. That’s the mentality.… They’re not accountable to anybody and they know that.” Even killing the few on the C.I.A. list, however, raises concerns under international law. Neither the Bush administration nor the Obama

MARY ELLEN O’CONNELL holds the Robert and Marion Short Chair in Law and is Research Professor of International Dispute Resolution at the Kroc Institute, University of Notre Dame. This article draws on research for a forthcoming article, “Unlawful Killing With Combat Drones, a Case Study of Pakistan, 2004-2009” in Shooting to Kill: The Law Governing Lethal Force in Context. PHOTO: U.S. AIR FORCE PHOTO/TECH. SGT. ERIK GUDMUNDSON

March 15, 2010 America 11 administration has been persuasive about its legal right to give rise to the right of self-defense occurred on Sept. 11, launch attacks in Pakistan. Even with the legal right to use 2001. The Security Council stated in Resolution 1368 that military force, drone attacks must also conform to the tradi- those attacks permitted force in self-defense, but it did not tional principles governing the rules of warfare, including determine who was responsible for the attacks or whether a those of distinction, necessity, proportionality and humanity. response in self-defense would meet the other limits in general international law on the resort to force—in particular, The Rise of the Drones the principles of necessity and proportionality. Pakistan did Drones were invented not long after the Second World not attack the United States and is not responsible for those War. The United States began using drones equipped with who did. The United States has no basis, therefore, for cameras to gather intelligence during the Vietnam War. By attacking in self-defense on Pakistani territory. 2001, the U.S. military had modified them to fire missiles and drop bombs. Today drones have the ability to remain in Fighting Al Qaeda the air for long periods, record data and respond immedi- Some argue that the United States is engaged in armed con- ately with lethal force when a target is detected. The U.S. flict with Al Qaeda and other militant groups outside the Air Force first deployed weaponized drones in Afghanistan combat zone of Afghanistan. The United States is not, in November 2001. Drones were used by the Air Force in however, fighting with Al Qaeda anywhere but in 2003 during the invasion of Iraq; they have been used in Afghanistan. An armed conflict, as defined by international Pakistan since 2004; and since 2006 the United States has law, requires the presence of organized armed groups used drones in Somalia. engaged in intense fighting. Once or twice in 2009, the Killing with drones is made easy for operators, who often United States aided Pakistan in its attempt to use armed work at great distances from the scene of attack. An Air force against militant groups in that country. Otherwise, the Force “pilot” may be in Nevada, while C.I.A. operatives are in United States has not engaged in intense fighting with Al Langley, Va., and others, including private contractors, are in Qaeda in Pakistan. Al Qaeda remains a violent terrorist Florida, Pakistan or Afghanistan. An operator may launch group, but it should be treated as a criminal organization to an attack from a trailer in Nevada viewing a computer mon- which law enforcement rules apply. To do otherwise is to itor and using a joystick. The operators never see the persons violate fundamental human rights principles. Outside of they have killed. The pilot of a fighter jet flies over the place war, the full body of human rights applies, including the where the attack will occur and risks being shot down; a prohibition on killing without warning. drone pilot never experiences the place where the attack Another attempt to justify drone attacks is based on “hot occurs and knows he or she is in no personal danger. The pursuit.” In Afghanistan militants are killing U.S. soldiers, operator can go home at the end of the shift [see sidebar]. then retreating to Pakistan. There is, however, no right of In his 1996 book, On Killing, Lt. Col. Dave Grossman hot pursuit on land. Hot pursuit at sea requires law enforce- describes factors that can overcome the average individual’s ment agents to have jurisdiction and to remain in visual con- resistance to killing, such as “the distance from the victim.” tact with the suspect until the arrest. For Grossman, this includes many kinds of distance, like The only basis for the United States to lawfully use force social distance, perceiving someone to be of a different social in Pakistan is with the consent of that country’s political class; cultural difference, identifying racial and ethnic differ- leaders. Attacks into Afghanistan by Pakistani militants, ences that permit “dehumanizing” the victim; and mechani- even if they target U.S. soldiers, are still attacks on cal distance, engaging in combat through the intervention of Afghanistan. Afghanistan, not the United States, has a right “a TV screen, a thermal sight, a sniper to respond, but it has no right to use sight, or some other kind of mechanical major force for low-level cross-border ON THE WEB buffer.” All of these features characterize Drew Christiansen, S.J., incursions. The International Court of killing by drone in Pakistan. They help on the just war theory after 9/11. Justice has ruled in several cases that mea- explain why so many are dying in the U.S. americamagazine.org/pages sures short of military force must be used. government’s attempt to kill a few. In May 2009, the United States As to the right to kill by drone in Pakistan: Under the pressed Pakistan to begin a military campaign against vari- United Nations Charter, resort to military force on the ter- ous Taliban groups in the western provinces. With an invi- ritory of another state is permitted when the attacking state tation from the Pakistan government to aid in its campaign, is 1) acting in self-defense to an armed attack, 2) acts with the United States would have the right to resort to drones. U.N. Security Council authorization or 3) is invited to aid Yet it remains unclear whether our government has a valid another state in the lawful use of force. invitation. What is clear is that many of the ongoing drone The only recent attack on the United States that could attacks by the United States are not part of Pakistan’s cam-

12 America March 15, 2010 A Troubling Disconnection Although it may seem counterintuitive, surveys show Third, there is a troubling disconnect for drone that the military operators of drones (note that C.I.A. operators who kill by day, then go home to their fam- operators were not in the survey) suffer post-traumat- ilies at night. As one Predator drone pilot described it, ic stress disorder at higher rates than do soldiers in “You’re going to war for 12 hours, shooting weapons combat zones. Why? First, instead of going to war at targets, directing kills on enemy combatants. And with a unit that offers community, cohesion and mili- then you get in the car and…within 20 minutes, you’re tary support services, drone operators are commuter sitting at the dinner table talking to your kids about warriors who go to their battle stations alone, with few their homework.” support systems. Fourth, for those in the Air Force, drone warriors Second, the operators see in detail the destruction are often seen as second-class citizens in military cul- and grisly human toll from their work, whereas a tra- ture. Operators seldom volunteer for this duty, which ditional bomber sees little of what happens after drop- is derided as the “chair force.” Over half the current ping a bomb. As Col. Pete Gersten, commander of generals in the Air Force were fighter pilots; operating Unmanned Aerial Systems at Creech Air Force Base a drone is considered a career-killer. in Nevada, put it: “A lot of people downplay it, say, Finally, because there are too few operators, the ‘You’re 8,000 miles away. What’s the big deal?’ But it’s working tempo for drone operators has been excruci- not really 8,000 miles away, it’s 18 inches away. We’re ating. It is 24/7, grinding shift work, with no end in closer…than we’ve ever been as a service. There’s no sight, and the sleep deprivation and lack of time off detachment. Those employing the system are very take a toll. As P. W. Singer, author of Wired for War, involved at a personal level in combat. You hear the writes, “We have 5,000 years in one kind of combat, AK-47 going off, the intensity of the voice on the and we don’t really understand all of the stresses of it, radio calling for help. You’re looking at him, 18 inches so it’s a little bit arrogant to think we would under- away from him, trying everything in your capability to stand the stresses of this new kind of combat after get that person out of trouble.” only four or five years.”

MARYANN CUSIMANO LOVE is a fellow at the Commission on International Religious Freedom. paign. Pakistan’s president has told U.S. leaders not to national law, civilians may never be intentionally targeted. attack certain groups that have cooperated with Islamabad. The International Committee of the Red Cross puts dis- The United States has done so anyway, insisting that tinction first in its study of the customary law of war, and Pakistan use more military force and threatening to carry the Geneva Conventions, in Additional Protocol I of 1977, out attacks itself if the government refuses. None of this can also strongly emphasize the need to distinguish between be squared with international law. combatants and civilians. The elected government of Pakistan is, to be sure, weak; Persons with a right to take direct part in hostilities are the military and intelligence services sometimes pursue lawful combatants; those without a right to do so are unlaw- their own agendas separate from elected officials. Yet these ful combatants. Lawful combatants may not be charged agencies cannot give the United States permission to use with a crime for using force. Incidentally, C.I.A. operatives, military force. The United States has a major interest in a like the militants challenging authority in Pakistan, have no stable, democratic Pakistan, a goal it undermines by sending right to participate in hostilities and are unlawful combat- drones over the government’s protests. The United States ants. C.I.A. operatives do not wear uniforms, are not subject needs to respect the government and defer to its authority in to the military chain of command and may be charged with Pakistan. a crime for killing with drones. Attacks even on lawful targets must respect the princi- Conduct of Force ples of necessity and proportionality. Necessity refers to mil- Under the international rules regulating the use of force (jus itary necessity: Force is to be used only if necessary to in bello), four fundamental principles must guide the use of accomplish a reasonable military objective. Proportionality lethal action: distinction, necessity, proportionality and prohibits that “which may be expected to cause incidental humanity. The most important is distinction. Under inter- loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian

March 15, 2010 America 13 objects, or a combination thereof, which would be excessive in relation to concrete and direct military advantage anticipated.” These limitations on permissible force extend to both the quantity of force used and the geographic scope of Online its use. At a ratio of 50 to 1, the disproportionate impact of drone attacks in Pakistan represents a serious violation of Master of Science in the traditional rules of war. (Since Kilcullen and Exum reported their findings, U.S. authorities have issued a series Church Management of responses disputing their calculations. Yet the authorities have little information about who is being killed, other than Transform your leadership of that many victims are not on the C.I.A. lists.) the Church in an increasingly The situation in Pakistan is not like the invasion of Iraq, complex world. where U.S. forces met large, organized units of the Iraqi Army on the road to Baghdad. Before the United States reached Baghdad, its use of drones to launch missile attacks might have Villanova School of Business offers a protected civilians from bombs dropped from airplanes. unique and affordable program, led by (Recall the hundreds killed in high-altitude bombing during nationally recognized Professor the Kosovo conflict.) But can drones ever be precise enough to Charles Zech. The program provides comply with the rules of distinction and proportionality? participants a strong business skill set The case of western Pakistan presents particular chal- to help effectively serve your parish lenges. There suspected militant leaders wear civilian community. All courses are holistic and clothes, and even the sophisticated cameras of a drone can- integrated, and have been speciﬁcally not reveal with certainty that a suspect is a militant. In such designed for church managers. a situation international humanitarian law gives a presumption to civilian status (see the Red Cross’s “Interpretive Curriculum: 30 credits Guidance on the Notion of Direct Participation in Hostilities”). Even when a drone operator is reasonably cer- Delivery: 100% online tain that his or her target is a militant, the United States is Student Body: Clergy and lay Church obligated to do all it can to minimize injury to civilians. Little leaders and managers information is available as to whether the United States Travel requirement: One week of takes such precautions. In close cases, the dictates of human- orientation at Villanova School of itarian law support decisions in favor of sparing life and avoiding destruction. Business The use of drones is also difficult to justify under the Tuition discounts: significant discounts terms of military necessity, which holds that force should are available for students who receive only be used when there is a reasonable prospect of success. financial support from their church In Congressional testimony in March 2009, David Kilcullen said drone attacks give “rise to a feeling of anger that coa- To see the coursework and to apply, lesces the population around the extremists and leads to visit: www.mscm.villanova.edu. spikes of extremism well outside the parts of the country Contact us at [email protected] where we are mounting those attacks.” or 610.519.4371 with questions. Officials in Washington state again and again that the use of drones in Pakistan is imperative. Kilcullen is one of many independent observers who argue that drones are, in fact, exacerbating the problems of terrorism, violence and instability in Pakistan. The United States has other options besides launching missiles. The alternatives, generally law enforcement, do take more time and patience. And law enforcement is working with increasing arrests of high- ranking Taliban leaders in Pakistan. Law enforcement is not as fast-acting as drones, but it is lawful, ethical and effective—a real place to put our faith. A

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e did not get girl squirmed ashes on Ash through an extensive W Wednesday last ultrasound and other year. Late in the evening a few tests. When you days after our three-year-old don’t know how daughter’s heart surgery, I real- something terrifying ized what day it was. We would will turn out, that’s not make it to the parish in when trust comes in. time to receive ashes, I told my Heavily influ- wife. With pitch-perfect enced by the Jesuits, insight, she turned to me. I knew that the way “Babe,” she said, “we’ve been to pray was to say, wearing ashes for a month.” “Take, Lord, receive.” I do not feel guilty about it. At that moment, it We couldn’t pull it off. Our was fear, anger and heads were somewhere else: the despair, rather than hospital, doctors, medications, faith, hope or trust. five weeks of appointments, It is hard enough to medical testing, sleepless nights and then it seemed like play-acting. We put ourselves in God’s hands, but easy nightmares when we did doze. Yet mournfully get ashes on a cold winter compared with giving over someone there we were on Ash Wednesday Wednesday, knowing how the story you love into God’s hands, which is with an excellent prognosis for our lit- turns out. Even if the calendar and how I looked at the hands of our tle girl. The prior Friday, she’d had suc- weather don’t agree, we already know daughter’s doctors and nurses. St. cessful surgery by a caring medical that Easter comes, bringing a spring- Ignatius Loyola came to mind, but so team, a pediatrician and cardiologist, time of eternal life. did St. Teresa of Ávila. I always loved and she was doing fine—better than Reflecting on decades of Lents and her candid remark after she was we were. Grace was not yet in the clear, last year’s blurry Ash Wednesday, I thrown off her horse and landed in the but she was out of the woods. wonder about something that dogged mud: “If this is how you treat your Ash Wednesday felt more like me all last year: trust. Lent is ostensi- friends,” she told God, “no wonder you Easter. bly a question of trust that all will be have so few.” That’s the mystery. I have always well. But what merit is there in pre- I wondered: Where is God in all been fascinated by the liturgical para- tending to trust when we know, from this; or more basically, How is God in dox of Lent and Easter. As an altar boy the very beginning on Ash all this? I felt like Abraham or Mary, years ago, I helped set up for the tridu- Wednesday, that Easter Sunday is the who had to hand over their sons Isaac um and served at all the liturgies, so I end of the story? and Jesus. Mary had made a commit- got into the rhythm of Lent. Yet even I got a glimpse of the real thing last ment more than 30 years before to be year, a month before Ash Wednesday, the mother of Jesus, wherever that when our daughter was diagnosed path led, and surely Abraham also felt CHRISTOPHER M. BELLITTO is assistant with a congenital heart defect. A 15- that he had trusted God this far, so he professor of history at Kean University in minute check of a heart murmur had to keep going. Still, I took comfort Union, N.J., and the author, most recently, of 101 Questions and Answers on the Pope turned into three hours of utter fear in identifying with them. Even though and the Papacy (Paulist). that we had to mask while our little Abraham and Mary knew they had to ART: STEFANIE AUGUSTINE

16 America March 15, 2010 hand their sons over, I’ll bet they still wondered what God could be thinking. They did not know how their sacrifices would turn out. But we didn’t have a choice. Our daughter needed heart surgery. We could not pray her condition away. Maybe there was no merit in handing her over, but there might be spiritual growth in hoping and praying, which is all we could do. For me, it was not a matter of trust—it was a matter of faith. I didn’t trust that all would be well. Handing my daughter over reminded me that faith and trust are not about us. Handing over is about God, about God’s plan for each of us, about serving God in everyone around us. It the integration of is about St. Peter not understanding why Jesus had to wash his feet but somehow knowing he had to do it. It is SPIRITUALITY, about all the healing themes we hear in Lent. One Monday about halfway COUNSELING through these 40 days, we heard how Elisha healed Naaman the leper. A & CARE week later, a royal official with a sick son will implore Jesus to save his boy. Jesus responds, I imagine with a tsk- tsk in his voice, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” The royal official pulls no punches with Jesus, demanding without a pause: “Sir, come down before my child dies.” READY TO PUT YOUR FAITH TO WORK I read this story last year, a few THROUGH CARING FOR OTHERS? weeks after Grace’s surgery, and imme- Loyola’s Pastoral Counseling and Spiritual Care program—the only graduate program of diately identified with this royal offi- its kind in the world will prepare you to answer that call. Enhance your ability to serve cial who spoke so boldly to Jesus. through the unique blend of counseling, care, and spirituality. Our certiﬁ cate, master’s, Grace’s surgeon, an hour before the and doctoral programs are speciﬁ cally designed to study the integration of spirituality procedure, assured us that everything and the social sciences. We offer CACREP approved M.S. and Ph.D. programs, as well as would be fine. All I could think, M.A. tracks in Chaplaincy, Pastoral Ministry, and Spiritual Direction. Discover our vibrant toward him and toward God, was that community of healers and helpers. Register online for our next information session, March 18, 3-5 p.m. at our Columbia Graduate Center. it had better be. Approaching this Lent, I think about surrender. On Good Friday, Jesus will say, “Father, into your hands, I commend my spirit.” Jesus had faith and trust in his Father’s plan. Do we WWW.LOYOLA.EDU/GRADINFO/PC 410-617-7614 have faith and trust every day? I don’t. Visit LOYOLA.EDU/GRADINFO/PCVIDEO to watch an informative video about our program and I try to have faith, and I am growing download our brochure. into that trust. A

March 15, 2010 America 17 BOOKS &CULTURE

TELEVISION | REGINA NIGRO the first moments of the series pre- miere, when bloody, bruised and dis- WOMEN’S WORK oriented, she is hauled into a police station to discuss the murder of her ‘Damages’ and ‘The Good Wife’ look at female ambition fiancé. The audience is then immediately thrown into her past, when a ortraying ambitious women has television series, Damages and The bright, polished Ellen appears for a always proved challenging for Good Wife, grapple with the interplay job interview at a prestigious law Pplaywrights, screenwriters and of strength and femininity, focusing on firm. But seeds of conflict are sown television writers. Lady Macbeth, for female protagonists in the male-domi- early. Ellen’s upcoming interview with example, entreated the spirits to nated legal profession. Hewes and Associates, her first “unsex” her because seating your hus- For three years “Damages,” which choice, is rescheduled for a Satur- band on the Scottish throne and mak- airs on FX, has followed the journey day—the day of her sister’s wedding. ing yourself queen is a tricky business, of a young attorney, Ellen Parsons Torn between her family obligation especially if you are biologically hard- (Rose Byrne), and her complex rela- and her ambition, Ellen agonizes wired to nurture and care for life. tionship with her calculating, ruthless before telling Patty Hewes that she Competing with men often seems to boss, the senior partner Patty Hewes cannot meet with her. require a repudiation of the femi- (Glenn Close). Each season begins, in At the wedding, Ellen toasts her sis- nine—being powerful is being ruthless a sense, at its end, establishing a sin- ter’s and brother-in-law’s happiness is being masculine. gle plot with countless labyrinthine before dashing to the ladies’ room, But does success really require twists told through flashbacks. where she stares at herself in the mirror. women to become less “female”? Two Viewers were introduced to Ellen in As Ellen silently wonders if she has made the right decision, Patty emerges from one of the stalls. Patty says she had to meet Ellen “because, kiddo, you’re the first person stupid enough to turn me down.” Though Close delivers the line with irony, we are meant to understand that Patty is not joking. Sacrifice— of family, relationships, personal well-being—is not optional if you plan on earning her respect. In Patty’s world, “damages” means more than civil recompense; it suggests emotional damage: How much harm is one willing to bear for Glenn Close, left, and the sake of her ambi- Rose Byrne in “Damages” tion? No machination is

beneath Patty. Killing PHOTO: BARBARA NITKE/FX

18 America March 15, 2010 the beloved pet of a key witness to manipulate her Julianna Margulies as Alicia, right, and Archie Panjabi as into testifying? That Kalinda in “The Good Wife” doesn’t scratch the surface of what she will do to win. In spite of Ellen’s “wrong” (for Patty) decision, Patty still wants to hire her if she is up to the task. Ignoring the warning signs, Ellen, hopeful and confident, accepts the offer. She does not yet see a conflict between her job and her personal life. Ellen’s hope that she can balance work and love strikes Patty as ado- lescent idealism. Over time, testing Ellen’s commitment to the job becomes a game for her boss. Faced with com- pleting a crucial legal brief before her upcoming engage- literally killed her relationship. For an recycling a nightmare that Patty had ment party, Ellen sacrifices sleep to ambitious woman marriage, at least as as an excuse for his recalcitrance in accomplish both. When an exhausted I see it, should not be the apex of one’s school. Michael is Patty’s equal in Ellen delivers the brief, Patty tells life. But setting aside the joys of love viciousness and wields it as a weapon. Ellen to enjoy her party but requests and resigning yourself to choosing He mocks her openly: “People either that Ellen hand-deliver the brief to only one path—whether career or leave you or they die; those are the the judge. Assured by Patty that this love—is dangerously myopic. only two endings possible with you.” face-to-face encounter will benefit Ellen spends much of the second And he resists her pleas for better her career, Ellen arrives at the judge’s season plotting vengeance against behavior. chambers only to be informed that he Patty, mimicking Patty’s ruthlessness. The sad irony is that Patty’s mater- is running late. Ellen waits patiently. She disingenuously tells a reporter nal legacy contains only the destruc- And waits. Even as his secretary that working for Patty has “taught tive talent of alienation; she and packs up for the evening and Ellen’s [her] something about being a Michael are united in their ability to fiancé phones to tell her the party has woman...seeing how [Patty] balances isolate themselves from the world and started, Ellen stays the course. She work and her personal life, what she from each other. The tension between will prove, to Patty and to herself, prioritizes, how she prioritizes....” But them continues into the second sea- that her grasp does not exceed her Ellen has already started down a simi- son, when Michael rebels by dating an reach. lar path. older woman, and when Patty’s mar- But at what cost? Missing her own The first season provides glimpses riage to her second husband, Phil engagement party is merely the begin- of how well Patty prioritizes. We learn (Michael Nouri), falls apart after his ning of the deterioration of Ellen’s per- about her strained relationship with infidelities and backdoor business sonal life. The psychic struggle her teenage son, Michael (Zachary deals, which hurt Patty, come to light. between professional responsibility Booth). Absent a genuine connection, Patty may have successfully “unsexed” and interpersonal responsibility inten- Michael has learned only one lesson herself, but it is a hollow victory. Her sifies when Ellen’s role in a high-profile from his mother: how to manipulate. relationships shattered, she is left with case is directly responsible for the He lies to school counselors, spinning only a career that makes her fear for

March 15, 2010 America 19 “The Good Wife,” a recent addition to strengthen it. In an early episode, sleeping arrangements: “My son is the CBS lineup, begins with Alicia Alicia represents a friend’s son, here…. What’s your goal? To embar- Florrick (Julianna Margulies) literally whom she used to babysit, against rass me? To do the bidding of your standing by her man, the philandering charges of illegal drug possession and boss? I’m suggesting you stop asking State Attorney Peter Florrick (Chris assault. Alicia’s role in this case is dis- invasive and irrelevant questions....” Noth), who has tinctly maternal; Zach later tells his mother that she been imprisoned on ON THE WEB she once cared for “kicked ass.” charges of political William Van Ornum reviews the film his basic needs as a Another episode features a no-non- corruption. Now “Extraordinary Measures.” babysitter, a mother sense opposing counsel, Patricia the breadwinner, americamagazine.org/culture figure; now those Nyholm (Martha Plimpton), who Alicia returns to protective instincts tries to bully Alicia in an effort to work as an attorney after a 15-year inform her work. Her emotional throw her off her game. Nyholm is absence from the profession. The title stake in the case is so great that she fierce; she is also visibly pregnant. Like of the show and its opening scene heads to the scene of the crime in the Alicia, she does not need to be seem to define Alicia by her role as a middle of the night and inadvertent- unsexed or masculinized to convey “good wife”—a woman who sacrificed ly secures a crucial piece of evidence. strength. a budding career at a top law firm to Not only do her experiences as a On “Damages,” to be as successful care for her family and attend to being woman and a mother improve the as a man requires trading empathy for the selfless wife of a public figure. quality of her work, but rather than ruthlessness. “The Good Wife” pre- But returning to the workplace is a sidelining her maternal instincts, her sents a more optimistic vision: com- challenge. A slightly older female career has sharpened her ability to mitment—not cruelty—is required attorney, Diane (Christine Baranski), defend her children. At Peter’s bail for success. And a good wife probably offers advice: “Men can be lazy. hearing, where her son, Zach, unex- knows something about that. Women can’t. And I think that goes pectedly appears, Alicia rebukes a double for you. Not only are you prosecutor for his impertinent line of REGINA NIGRO is the assistant literary editor coming back to the workplace fairly questioning about her husband’s of America. late, but...you have some very promi- nent baggage. But,” Diane says, ges- turing toward a photograph of her | with Hillary Clinton, “if she can do it, BOOKS OLGA BONFIGLIO so can you.” Baranski’s Diane is firm but empathetic, softer but no less PLAYING GOD competent than Patty Hewes. Whereas Patty wants Ellen to “unsex” FAITH-BASED WAR herself and demonstrate a willingness From 9/11 to Catastrophic to sacrifice all to prove her commit- Success in Iraq ment to the firm, Diane’s counsel By T. Walter Herbert does not aim to position Alicia’s re- Equinox Publishing. 224p $26.95 entry into the legal world against (paperback) other aspects of her life, like marriage and motherhood. Despite all the experts, technology and One of the most refreshing quali- intelligence available to the Bush ties of “The Good Wife” is its refusal administration, the war in Iraq, now to assert that strong women need to going into its eighth year, was under- be less feminine or that femininity is taken with “ardent devotion to a mis- weakness. Alicia does not need to placed faith,” maintains T. Walter bury the “good wife” in her to be suc- Herbert, emeritus professor of cessful. In fact, the compassion and American literature and culture at understanding required to raise a Southwestern University in family, support a husband and forgive Georgetown, Tex. and author of this that husband’s transgressions do not insightful new book. This faith was threaten her ability to litigate; they derived from a faith-filled narrative

20 America March 15, 2010 with roots in our Puritan heritage. America was doing the right thing. played well with the American people The Puritans saw themselves as Besides, Herbert wryly suggests, because it evoked our feelings of inno- God’s chosen people, to whom was expressing doubt might have led to cent victimhood. Going to war against given the Promised Land in America. moral awareness, something that Iraq, however, moved us, as it did the The only thing stop- couldn’t be risked, Puritans, to a peculiar level of culpa- ping them from set- ON THE WEB especially when bility because we tried to defeat the tling it were the sav- America’s Book Club discusses boots were on the forces of evil by violating human law in Let the Great World Spin. ages who sought to americamagazine.org/podcast ground. the name of establishing God’s law. kill them. The fron- The decision to After reading this acerbic account of tier hero emerged to go to war also the decision to go to war with Iraq, rescue them from their plight. involved its chief advocate, the readers might wonder what will This hero re-emerged in the 19th- Christian Right, the author points out, become of the frontier myth in the century Wild West as the Indian fight- with its militarist religious vision seek- dangerous world of the 21st century. er who saved the lives of hapless pio- ing to avenge nonbelieving evildoers by And Herbert might answer: distin- neers. Later, white-hatted good guys executing God’s righteous wrath. The guishing between reality and religious like Wyatt Earp also took on mythic Muslim terrorists proved to be a good faith would be a good start. proportions by bringing black-hatted target on all counts. outlaws to justice. While Herbert lays most of the OLGA BONFIGLIO is a professor at During the 1970s, the frontier hero blame for the war on President Bush, Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Mich. and becomes Clint Eastwood’s Dirty he criticizes the American people as author of Heroes of a Different Stripe: Harry, the blunt, cynical, unorthodox well. Americans, he says, have learned How One Town Responded to the War in Iraq. She has written for several national detective who overcomes his incompe- to perceive war as an irresistible good magazines on the subjects of religion and tent bosses to apprehend violent urban not only because it has become the social justice. criminals. “center of value for President George Bush’s resolve to the society” but “get” the people responsible for the because military attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, also power in the second Ahimsa harkened back to the frontier hero, a half of the 20th cen- He let the flies land freely on his face role he played with moral certitude tury is seen as “the as if they were not there, or he were not, despite the poorly planned invasion truest measure of and occupation, says Herbert. The national greatness.” then ate his porridge with a simple grace president knew we could win in Iraq The most intrigu- without an urge to move, or move to swat, because we were doing the right thing. ing part of Faith- and in the wild untouched and timeless wood Besides, as a chosen people, America Based War is does not lose wars. Herbert’s explana- he’d made his home years back unto his youth Meanwhile, Bush’s “phobic anger” tion of the Hooded he spoke of ways that I—and all men—could about being right checked any advisers Man of Abu Ghraib who expressed doubt in the mission. prison. This haunt- approach the substance of our deepest truth. General Tommy Franks found that out ing symbol of the But I of stubborn old unbending ways before the war began when he ques- Iraq war stirred most had settled fancies, and still loved them too, tioned the number of troops needed. Americans’ shock “[E]xpressing unshakable and shame to learn so left his side, though filled with newfound praise faith…was the mark of a team player” that we, who usually for things that monks and martyrs tend to do, in the Bush leadership ethic, Herbert think of ourselves as and back within the city, thought it quaint writes. Likewise, any administration the “good guys,” had officials bearing bad news were not only used torture that, swatting flies, I could not be a saint. silenced into “drinking the Kool Aid” but justified its use. of “religious delusion.” One of President EDWIN L. MILLET By emphasizing his role as the war Bush’s first com- president and looking tough in the face ments after 9/11 was EDWIN L. MILLET , retired after 35 years of teaching public middle school and high school in Florida and Illinois, now of pressure and opposition, Bush the question: “Why drives the school bus. attempted to allay any doubt that do they hate us?” It

March 15, 2010 America 21 AARON KHERIATY species—characters include “wrens” and “kingfishers,” rather than the more GOD’S CREATURES ON THE MARCH familiar and pedestrian pigeons and crows that typically populate the THE PURPLES ARE COMING! picture book that breaks the mold— genre. By Ilow and Sheri Roque delightfully. The husband and wife How often do we encounter lines Rock House Press. 50p $17.99 team Ilow and Sheri Roque have like the following in contemporary apparently cast aside today’s publish- children’s literature: “The three of A good book is hard to find. It is a ing industry conventions to produce a them stood there, Bella, Derdle, and doubly rare treat to find one worth book that both children Dink...stacked one on reading aloud to your children. As a and the grownups who top of the other just father of four boys, three of whom read to them can enjoy. like one lamb, one king- have reached the ages of heavy book The use of poetic verse, fisher, and one wren consumption (nine, five and three), I not so unusual among might stack, you would have plodded through my share of dis- children’s books, avoids think.” appointing children’s books, cringing the heavy-handed rhyme Unlike the prose of every time my child reaches for The scheme and tedious some children’s books, Berenstain Bears, or the latest install- cadence that render many Purples has a spritely, ment in the Franklin series, gratefully modern children’s books imaginative style. We smiling when they turn instead to the oppressive to the ear. In get a wink and a nod, old-school Beatrix Potter or Winnie the realm of vocabulary, we are treated for who has the slightest idea (assum- the Pooh. to “crimson” rather than “red,” and ing first that one knows what these And so it was with cautious trepi- “dappled” in place of “spotted.” (It feels animals are) how they might stack? dation that I first cracked open The a bit like Gerard Manley Hopkins for But of course, that’s precisely the Purples Are Coming! To my relief, I wa s 6-year-olds: “Glory be to God for dap- point. And as for the forward-leaning not disappointed. Here is a children’s pled things…”). Birds are of multiple vocabulary, I am reminded of the oft- quoted publishing rules dictated by the children’s literary cognoscenti: Poetry Contest “Never use words that a 6-year-old Poems are being accepted for the 2010 might not know”—forgetting that 6- year-olds daily encounter novel words Foley Poetry Award without seeming to display any bewil- Each entrant is asked to submit derment. They would not ask you to only one typed, unpublished open a dictionary; literary context is all poem of 30 lines or fewer that is they typically require. New words— not under consideration else- insofar as their novelty even registers where. Include contact informa- to the first grader—will delight the tion on the same page as the poem. Poems will not be child, as does anything new. returned. Please do not submit But more important, this is a story poems by e-mail or fax. worth reading. It is a tale of friendship Submissions must be post- and spiritual insight that introduces the marked between Jan. 1 and reader to a troupe of comrades on a March 31. journey of hope and anticipation. I am Poems received outside the designated period will be treated as regular poetry submissions, reminded of Pope Benedict XVI’s and are not eligible for the prize. admonition that “life is not just a suc- cession of events, it is a search for the The winning poem will be published in the June 7-14 issue of America. Three runner-up poems will be published in subsequent issues. true, the good, and the beautiful.” Only in encountering these transcendental Cash prize: $1,000 attributes do we find happiness. And so it is with this tale. As the journey pro- Send poems to: Foley Poetry Contest ceeds, the original cast is joined on their America, 106 West 56th Street, New York, NY 10019 “happiness march” by others, who like-

22 America March 15, 2010 wise are eager to see the “purples”— practice a charity rooted in friendship Youngsters will thoroughly enjoy dazzling fields of new flowers in bloom. and confidence. following this adventurous journey, The amusing names did not fail to All this is refreshingly conveyed while seeing how God’s grace suffuses escape comment from my 5- and 9- without the least trace of preachiness nature’s beauty. year-olds, who saw the humor in or pious condescension. Eye-catching, Ladislaus Molski (the educated mole colorful and lively illustrations com- AARON KHERIATY, M.D., is the director of concerned about his failing eyesight) plement the verse: memorable charac- residency training and medical education, and Hubert Epineux (the spiritually ters sparkle in the foreground, against and the founding director of the Psychiatry and Spirituality Forum in the department of ambitious hedgehog who uses stilts to a soft backdrop of rolling fields and psychiatry at the University of California, get closer to God). They were also wildflowers. Irvine. amused by the peculiar (perhaps neu- rotic) idiosyncrasies of Gracie O’Hare, a nervous, fretful rabbit. The friends are bound together by the hope of the jour- ILIA DELIO ney, and by their shared faith and piety. All modern children’s books are A WINDOW TO THE DIVINE evangelical, in the sense that they preach a gospel of sorts. The gospels of MAKING SENSE OF idea,” evolution’s unsuspected libera- diversity or of environmentalism seem EVOLUTION tion of a truly biblical God. Haught to be especially favored these days. Darwin, God, and the Drama of states that “Darwin dropped a reli- More pedantic exercises in preach- Life giously explosive bomb into the ing—”do your homework,” or “tell the By John F. Haught Victorian culture of his contempo- truth”—also characterize numerous Westminster John Knox Press. 144p raries, and Christians ever since, books within children’s literature. $19.95 including some but not all theologians, Religious books (including Christian have been scrambling to defuse it or ones) also abound, though most are In his provocative book Christianity toss it out of harm’s way.” We can no stocked in strictly Christian book- and Evolution, Pierre Teilhard de more get rid of evolution, however, stores or relegated to the “religion” sec- Chardin, S.J., raised the question, than we can rid ourselves of the uni- tion of secular stores. The safe bets are “Who will at last give evolution its verse. Darwin’s major work, On the usually retellings of Bible stories, own God?” Teilhard Origin of the Species by which offer countless variations on grappled with this ques- Means of Natural Noah’s Ark or the Nativity story. tion throughout his life, Selection, “launched an These are important, of course, but as he sought a new intellectual and cultural equally important is the availability of understanding of God at revolution more sensa- a variety of reading options. work in an evolutionary tional than any since Stories of pilgrims on a journey universe. Similarly, the Galileo.” The problem, reflect the lives of ordinary Christians theologian John Haught however, is that many and remind us of our status in this confronts the question of religious people refuse to world. Indeed, the greatest merit of God and evolution, and accept this new under- The Purples Are Coming! is its celebra- one might see in Haught’s standing of life in the uni- tion of ordinary life—which for all its work an answer to verse, and many scientists everydayness, can still be understood Teilhard’s question. see evolution as a self-suf- as a divine adventure. The group of Unlike Teilhard, who ficient explanation of life. friends is introduced to the thrilling pursued a new synthesis of God in the Thus religious fundamentalists notion that even they (with all their world, Haught assumes a conversation remain entrenched in a literal reading frailties and follies) can be apostles of “between Charles Darwin and of the Bible and an outmoded cosmos, prayer. (Dink hears the message as Christian theology on the question of and scientific materialists dismiss reli- “popsicles of prayer,” but is given a gen- what evolution means for our under- gion as puerile. tle and amused fraternal correction.) standing of God and what we take to In 11 chapters marked by an alliter- Ordinary life, and an ordinary journey, be God’s creation.” ation of D’s (Darwin, Design, is the setting for these Christians to His latest book continues a series of Diversity, Descent, Drama, Direction, live out their faith and hope, and to books based on Darwin’s “dangerous Depth, Death, Duty, Devotion, Deity),

March 15, 2010 America 23 Haught takes on the challenge of sci- ists who cannot admit of God because tragedy and suffering. “If God had not entism, the debunking of religion and they refuse to move beyond a primitive opened up the universe to novelty and new theological interpretation in light knowledge of God. drama from the start, there would have of evolution. His slim volume is dense- As Haught moves his discussion been no suffering, but there would ly packed. On one hand he confronts from the misplaced concreteness of have been no increase in value or beau- the cryptotheology of scientific mate- scientific materialism to theology, he ty either.” The reality of tragedy and rialists, and on the other hand he elab- articulates a new understanding of sacrifice in nature is an essential part orates a new understanding of God in God, brought about by evolution. In of evolution’s forward movement in an evolutionary world. He challenges his view, Darwin’s gift of evolution lib- the drama of life toward greater unity the “either-or” criticism of popular erates the God of promise and hope, and beauty. atheists like Richard Dawkins and the God of the future, who is the God In the last chapter Haught discuss- Daniel Dennett by pointing out their of Jesus Christ. Evolution does not es the God of evolution in light of superficial reading of Scripture and dismiss God but opens up a new win- Teilhard de Chardin, and rightly so. their primitive understanding of God. dow to the divine mystery. “The God No other modern thinker has done He indicates that bad theology, like of evolution is a humble, self-donating more to unite evolution and the bad science, simply leads to bad liberality that avoids any unmediated Christian God than Teilhard. To this results. Religious reductionism, like manipulation of things.” God is at day Teilhard’s theology is not well scientific reductionism, fails, according home in this unfinished creation, understood and even less accepted to Haught, to see the big picture. By allowing the created world to be at within the mainstream of academic reducing God to a literal designer col- play, to mess up and to go forward into theology. He remains a marginal ored by a stroke of dualism (good a new future. Haught emphasizes that thinker in the same way that evolution God/bad God), scientific atheists drama is inherent in this evolutionary remains a marginal theory for wind up making dogmatic claims on creation; it is an unfolding story of Christian theology. And this is the incompatibility of religion and sci- beauty, goodness and love. Only with- Haught’s persistent plea: that theology ence. He suggests that there is a reli- in the context of drama and story, he wake up to the reality of evolution. gious yearning even in the best of athe- indicates, can we make sense of “What is needed theologically,” he writes, “is a thoroughgoing reinterpre- tation of Christian teaching about God, Christ, creation, incarnation, Felician College redemption, and eschatology in keep- The Franciscan College of New Jersey ing with Darwin’s unveiling of life’s long evolution and contemporary cos- mology’s disclosure of the ongoing GRADUATE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION expansion of the heavens.” This is not, in Haught’s view, just a reality check; ONLINE this is revelation. He invites us to encounter anew the God of incompre- Master of Arts in Religious Education (33 credits) hensible love, the God of the future Master’s Certiﬁcate in Religious Education (18 credits) Post-Master’s Certiﬁcate in Religious Education (18 credits) who lures us to new levels of life, to new possibilities and to a new way of t $PVSTFTBEESFTTUIFSFDPNNFOEBUJPOTGPVOEJOUIF4UBOEBSE5ISFFo being in the world. John Haught is not $BUIPMJD5IFPMPHZ -BZ&DDMFTJBM.JOJTUSZ$FSUJmDBUJPO4UBOEBSETBOE simply one of the best theologians of &MFNFOUTPG*OUFMMFDUVBM'PSNBUJPO $P8PSLFSTJOUIF7JOFZBSEPGUIF-PSE our time; he, like Teilhard, is a t "MMDPVSTFTBSFPOMJOFBOESFTJEFODZJTOPUSFRVJSFE prophet. t "MMGBDVMUZSFDFJWFEUIF.BOEBUVN IPMEEPDUPSBUFT BOEBSFFYQFSJFODFE Any serious thinker will find in his JOSFMJHJPVTFEVDBUJPOGBJUIGPSNBUJPOBDSPTTUIFMJGFTQBO book a rich banquet of thought, a t NJOJTUFSJBMEJTDPVOUJTBWBJMBCMFUPRVBMJmFEQFSTPOT depth of insight and a God who belongs to evolution. For more information: 201.559.6077 or [email protected] ILIA DELIO, O.S.F., is a senior fellow at Woodstock Theological Center, Georgetown 4PVUI.BJO4USFFU -PEJ /+tXXXGFMJDJBOFEV University, where she concentrates on the area STUDENTS FIRST of science and religion.

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Ph: (314) 289- degree and demonstrate a minimum of 10 years of Oregon and Washington State. Peace Health is 9407. www.slbmi.com. progressive experience in education, culminating in seeking a System Vice President, Sponsorship and a significant role in educational leadership. Salary Mission Integration, who will bring strategic direc- Web Sites is competitive and commensurate with experience. tion, thinking, counsel, operational expertise as THE EVOLUTION OF SYMBIOSIS is nature’s Position is available July 1, 2011. Interested and well as a collaborative spirit to ensure that Peace pattern and God’s plan. Enrich your faith with the synthesis of science. Free resources at: www.secon- TO SUBSCRIBE OR RENEW EB0909 denlightenment.org and www.evolution101.org. ❑ New subscription ❑ Renewal America Yearly rates are $56 for each subscription. Add $30 for postage, handling and GST on Canadian orders. classified. Classified advertisements are Add $54 for foreign subscriptions. 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26 America March 15, 2010 “James Martin has struck gold again.

This talented Jesuit brings his welcoming wit, honed writing skills, and comprehensive knowledge of Ignatian spirituality to the reader with an amazing balance of depth and buoyancy.” —Joyce Rupp, author of Open the Door

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From the author of My Life with the Saints

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rdinary people are making a real difference for families Our priests travel for weekend assignments only. Both full- and living in poverty around the world. They are joining part-time opportunities are available. Spanish-speaking priests are Owith Christian Foundation for Children and Aging, a especially needed. We offer competitive compensation. lay-Catholic organization, offering hope to families in developing countries and helping them create a path out of poverty. To apply, contact Tim Deveney at (800) 875-6564 or [email protected]. A message of hope CFCA is an international movement of people who support and We need priests with a passion for serving the poor and dynamic encourage children, youth and the aging in developing countries. preaching skills to share the CFCA message while celebrating Founded by lay Catholics acting on the Gospel call to serve the Eucharist in parishes across the country. In doing so, you will serve poor, CFCA works with people of all faiths. people living in poverty and the Catholic faithful by bringing them together in a true sharing of cultures, understanding and love. To learn more, visit www.hopeforafamily.org.

March 15, 2010 America 27 LETTERS A Gift topical, engaging, cultured, patient—all The Of Many Things column by that and more. And because of him I States Right$ James Martin, S.J., on March 8 was a came to know of and read The New Maryann Cusimano Love (“The magnificent tribute to John W. Yorker then and ever since! Defense Dilemma,” 3/8) points out Donohue, S.J. I was a senior at (MSGR.) KEVIN W. IRWIN Washington, D.C. the incredible waste in defense pro- Fordham when Thomas More College grams. To her credit she allots blame for women was founded, and I was Eye-Witness Reaction not just to the military and their con- enormously blessed to hear Father Re “The Other America,” by Tim tractors but also to the legislators. Donohue speak on occasion. What a Padgett (3/8): The author’s descrip- Bureaucracies are inherently wasteful gift he was to America, as you all tion of what happened here is as off- and inefficient. The Defense know better than I. Praise God for this base as was the CNN Español chan- Department and the Department of great priest. nel’s slanted coverage of what tran- Health and Human Services are TIM COLLINS spired. I’ve been living here for several bureaucracies. Vienna, Va. years, and I disagree that Honduras In my opinion, the root of the prob- would have been better off with lem with defense spending rests with America and John W. Donohue, S.J., Zelaya in office. the Congress, not with the military. have been part of my life for many years The author’s statement that Take as an example, the F-35 fighter now. This reflection brought tears to “Zelaya’s proposed nonbinding jet program. It is unnecessary and my eyes. Well done, Father Jim. plebiscite never mentioned re-election” should be replaced with considerably J. PETER NIXON Concord, Calif. is misleading at best. Everyone living less expensive Unmanned Aerial in this country had been listening to Vehicles. But the problem is that the Father John W. Donohue was a very him and knew exactly what he was up production of the aircraft is spread strong influence on many of us New to. He planned to follow Chávez and over 44 states. Which congressman or York seminarians through elective others and stay in office. His wanting senator is going to blink? MICHAEL COLLINS courses he taught in education at to “take a poll” on the issue was just a Myersville, Md. Dunwoodie Seminary. Insightful, witty, way of stirring up a frenzy that he

UNIVERSITY of ST. THOMAS Center for Faith and Culture New Master of Arts Degree in Faith and Culture The University of St. Thomas in Houston has developed a unique Master’s level program designed to form faithful citizens capable of leading others in the integration of personal and communal faith and the American way of life. The Master of Arts in Faith and Culture degree provides working professionals, educators, and ministers with an intellectual and practical formation program that responds to the demands of living in today's cultural context as a people of faith. Program highlights: • A student-centered cohort of 12 – 15 students • 36-hour curriculum includes Methodology Practicum • Emphasis on contrasting principles of American culture worldview and Gospel values • Student-centered areas of concentration provide both a theoretical and practical approach to the relationship between faith and various aspects of culture Apply online: www.stthom.edu/cfc PRIORITY APPLICATION DEADLINE: April 1, 2010 Contact us for current information on the MAFC program at 713-942-5066 or e-mail [email protected]. Houston’s only Catholic University. Founded by the Basilian Fathers. Located in the Museum District.

28 America March 15, 2010 anticipated would sweep him into con- Maybe America’s Web magicians Ambiguity Versus Precision tinuous presidential status. could find and then run the 1993 Re “Friendly Persuasion,” by Robert What Micheletti did was quite sim- video on America’s Web site, or link to Barron (Books & Culture, 3/8): ply to save democracy in Central the U.S.C.C.B.’s more recent offerings Indeed, that one simple scene from America. His actions contradicted the on the topic. “Juno” seemed to speak more powerful- status quo in Central America, where RICK MALLOY, S.J. ly than years of arguments by even the Philadelphia, Pa. presidents have been figuring out ways most impassioned defenders of the to stay in office. CNN Español covered unborn (which often repel as much as the pro-Zelaya marches more than Children’s Rights they attract or persuade). Micheletti’s pro-government marches; Re “Friendly Persuasion,” by Robert Unfortunately, many would fault thus world opinion was swayed by Barron (Books & Culture, 3/8): I “Juno” for being too ambiguous or for biased news coverage. think that the pro-abortion forces have not taking a clear stand. But I think you I witnessed the marches personally. defined the argument: It is not a chil- affirm the important point that God The Micheletti marches, referred to dren’s rights issue, it is a women’s speaks to us at the intersection of ambi- here as the “pro-government” marches, rights issue. Until we shift the ground guity and imagination, if we allow it to, were civilized and the numbers were and make it a children’s rights issue, at least as often as—if not more often huge. The people were average, every- Roe v. Wade will stand, with support than—at the intersection of precision day working class Hondurans trying by a plurality of the American public. and reason. Thanks for the reminder! to keep their country from becoming ROBERT DAVIS MARK MOSSA, S.J. another Cuba or Venezuela. The Nairobi, Kenya Bronx, N.Y. Zelaya marchers were bused in from rural areas, paid $20 a day and were a Doctor of Minisnissttryy In le Schedule ffoor the Fulltime Minister bunch of hoodlums. They burned e Coursework businesses, painted graffiti on every- Christiaann Spirriittualiitty annual Residency in D.C. thing and did thousands of dollars of ational Visiting Scholars damage to property. rt Model of Learning ting Applications for Cohorts Three and And contrary to what a lot of media Four reported, the military did not take over Honduras. They were simply the tool used to physically remove Zelaya. This was not the perfect solution. A democratic process to oust Zelaya would have been better. But this is a www.wtu.edu country still trying to claw its way into Contact Information: the 20th century. The end result was Anne E. McLaughlin, RSM, D.Min. that a free democratic election was Director, Doctor of Ministry Program Washington Theological Union held; and Honduras, imperfect though 6896 Laurel Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20012 it is, is still a democracy. Phone: (202)541-5247 ROBIN JAMES Clalaasss Fax: (202)726 -11716 Tegucigalpa, Honduras Conntteemmporraarryy Ministrryy E-mail: mclau [email protected]

Preachers’ Aid To send a letter to the editor we recommend using the link Domestic violence (Editorial, “Behind that appears below articles on America’s Web site, Closed Doors,” 3/8) tears the heart www.americamagazine.org. This allows us to consider your letter for publication in both print and online versions of the and soul out of so many, especially magazine. Letters may also be sent to America’s editorial children. In 1993, the U.S. Catholic office (address on page 2) or by e-mail to: letters@americamagazine.org. They should be brief and include the writer’s name, postal address and day- Bishops Conference made a superb time phone number. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. 12-minute video, “When You Preach, Remember Me,” a challenge to all America (ISSN 0002-7049) is published weekly (except for 13 combined issues: Jan. 4-11, 18-25, Feb. 1-8, April 12-19, June 7-14, 21- preachers to speak out boldly against 28, July 5-12, 19-26, Aug. 2-9, 16-23, Aug. 30-Sept. 6, Sept. 13-20, Dec. 20-27) by America Press, Inc., 106 West 56th Street, New York, NY 10019. Periodicals postage is paid at New York, N.Y., and additional mailing offices. Business Manager: Lisa Pope; Circulation: Judith domestic violence. This topic is too Palmer, (212) 581-4640. Subscriptions: United States, $56 per year; add U.S. $30 postage and GST (#131870719) for Canada; or add U.S. $54 per year for international priority airmail. Postmaster: Send address changes to: America, 106 West 56th St. New York, NY rarely addressed from the pulpit. 10019. Printed in the U.S.A.

March 15, 2010 America 29

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Catholic Theological Union’s Biblical Study & Travel Programs Our future For continuing education, retreat or sabbatical experience depends on you. Travel the lands of the Bible, from the pyramids of Egypt to the shores of the Sea of Galilee to the towering columns of the Parthenon. Please remember America Come, explore the ancient world and deepen your understanding of the Bible. in your will. For more than 30 years, Catholic Theological Union has provided this outstanding academically-oriented travel program. Join our world- renowned Biblical Literature and Languages Department faculty as they serve as your guides in the Holy Land. Reading Scripture will never be the same!

2010 Programs Holy Land Retreat May 15-27, 2010 Carolyn Osiek, R.S.C.J. Egypt June 5-19, 2010 Leslie Hoppe, O.F.M. In the Footsteps of Paul (Greece and Turkey) August 15-31, 2010 vanThanh Nguyen, S.V.D. Middle East (Israel) Our legal title is: August 30-October 6, 2010 For full trip information, applications, and Laurie Brink, O.P. prices, go to www.ctu.edu. For further America Press Inc. Egypt/Jordan information, contact Biblical Study and October 5-20, 2010 Travel Programs at [email protected]. Laurie Brink, O.P. 106 West 56th Street New York, NY 10019 www.ctu.edu 5401 S Cornell Avenue The Largest Roman Catholic Graduate School of Theology and Ministry in the U.S. Chicago, Illinois 60615

30 America March 15, 2010 THE WORD The Finger of God FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT (C), MARCH 21, 2010 Readings: Is 43:16-21; Ps 126:1-6; Phil 3:8-14; Jn 8:1-11 “Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger” (Jn 8:6)

t is easy to point a finger at some- is doodling, buying time while he necessary for the peaceable one caught red-handed in a sinful ponders his response. I suggest ordering of any organiza- I act. While someone else is in the that the Evangelist is making a tion, whether civil or reli- spotlight, the chances diminish that my connection with the giving of gious, law does not own wrongdoings will be found out and the law to Moses. express adequately how we draw others’ attention—at least for the Ex 31:18 says, “When God relate with God. It is God’s moment. Joining the mob of accusers finished speaking with freely given gift of forgiveness, also keeps me from self-examination Moses on Mount Sinai, offered to us in the person of and the possibility of repentance. It is he gave him the two Christ, that binds us to God much easier to point out other peoples’ tablets of the covenant, and invites us to a new way shortcomings. tablets of stone, written of life. It is a gift that is In the Gospel today the case seems with the finger of God.” It replicated every time we clear-cut. A woman is caught in the is not the content of Jesus’ offer forgiveness and com- very act of adultery. The evidence is writing that is important passion to one another. indisputable, and the law is clear. It is here; otherwise the Evangelist would just a matter of carrying it out. Jesus’ have told us what it said. It is Jesus’ PRAYING WITH SCRIPTURE opponents are not interested in the action of writing with his finger, repli- • While you pray, keep in mind the image of circumstances that led to the woman’s cating God’s action in the giving of the finger of God that points toward com- actions—and one must wonder how the law, that helps us understand that passion rather than condemnation. her partner escaped judgment when Jesus’ interpretation of the law is in • How might you be holding back from both were caught in the act! The line with God’s intent. The law was touching the finger of God? scribes and Pharisees are intent on never intended as an instrument of being able to charge Jesus with trans- condemnation but was to guide • What does Jesus say to you when you face gressing the law. They quote the law of believers in a godly way of life. him in prayer with your sins? Moses to Jesus and press him for his Like Jesus’ opponents in the judgment. While they wait for an Gospel, Christian teachers and ART: TAD DUNNE answer, Jesus bends down and begins preachers have struggled to under- A marvelous image is given us by to write on the ground with his finger. stand how Jesus could let a blatant sin- Michelangelo on the ceiling of the Much ink has been spilled by com- ner off without punishment. St. Sistine Chapel in Rome: God, sur- mentators who speculate on what Ambrose worried that the Gospel rounded by cherubs, with his left arm Jesus wrote. St. Jerome proposed that could produce anxiety in the inexperi- draped around a female figure, it was the sins of the accusers. Others enced and tried to dismiss the idea strains his right arm forward, with suggest that Jesus was imitating that Jesus could have made a mistake. his index finger extended toward Roman legal practice, where the judge John Calvin assured his followers that Adam. Instead of pointing the finger first writes the sentence and then reads although Jesus remits our sins, he does of guilt at humankind, God is exert- it aloud. Still others propose that Jesus not subvert the social order or abolish ing every effort to draw the human legal sentences and punishments. creature into the divine loving BARBARA E. REID, O.P., a member of the While the latter may be true, Jesus embrace. Their fingers almost touch. Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids, Mich., is does, indeed, abolish the notion that If he wanted to, Adam could com- a professor of New Testament studies at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, Ill., our relationship with God is contained plete the connection. where she is vice president and academic dean. within rules and law. While these are BARBARA E. REID

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