On Faith
MIKE YOUNG
Saturday, May 19, 2001
Good public policy
fulfills its objectivesEVERYBODY wants their values reflected in public policy. This is as it should be. We would be suspicious of the seriousness of anyone who did not want their values passed into law, shared by the populace or at least respected in the marketplace of ideas. RELIGION BRIEFS
I have been involved in trying to shape public policy since I was a teenager objecting to the House Un-American Activities Committee. The second poem I ever wrote was in opposition to the Soviet takeover of Hungary in the 1950s. I am deeply concerned about a shift in our attitude toward public policy. One of the first criteria for good public policy is that it have a reasonable chance of accomplishing the values that prompt it. The proposed policy must have some likelihood of advancing good and minimizing evil.
When I hear someone say a piece of legislation sends the wrong message, I wonder to whom they think they are sending messages. I spent 13 years in law enforcement and never saw a law-breaker who had gotten the message that violating the law was good.
Now creeping into discussion is the perception that appearing to approve of immorality is worse than committing immorality. It is not necessary to be effective at minimizing or eliminating immorality; it is only necessary to loudly oppose it. Take a stand, pass a law, raise the penalties -- anything but actually do the hard work of finding ways to effectively alter the behavior.
Feel-good legislation of this kind is not just irrelevant, it is a positive evil. It leaves us feeling like we have done something when we have not. It undermines the willingness to find responses that are effective.
Pity the poor legislator who knows that a bill will not have the intended outcome, that it may create more problems. If it appears to oppose immorality, he or she must support it or face the indignation of moralistic constituents. It has come to be that the appearance of approving of immorality is the naughtiest thing you can do.
I keep being reminded of Jesus' comment about whitened sepulchers -- clean on the outside but filled with corruption. And not out of evil intent, but out of misguided good intentions. This is too often how evil prospers. We think we have dealt evil a blow when all we have done is indulge our moralistic self-righteousness.
If there is a Satan, he loves such self-indulgent saints.
The Rev. Mike Young is pastor of First
Unitarian Church of Honolulu.
[RELIGION BRIEFS]
Spiritual Life Center sets 4-day Waiahole retreat
"Practicing the Art of Mindful Living" is the theme of a four-day retreat planned for May 31-June 3 at the Spiritual Life Center in Waiahole Valley.Arnie Kotler and Therese Fitzgerald, founders of Dharma Friends of the Big Island, will lead the retreat using the meditation method of Vietnamese Zen master and poet Thich Nhat Hanh.
The $200 cost of the retreat includes nine vegetarian meals. For information, call 523-1170 or e-mail spirlife@lava.net.
Greek church celebrates paying off its mortgage
The members of Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church are in a festive mood this weekend, and the reason is not so much theological as financial.Archbishop Anthony Gergiannakis of the San Francisco Greek Orthodox diocese is here to join them as they celebrate paying off a $500,000 mortgage.
Gergiannakis will join the Rev. Dean Kouldukis in celebrating the liturgy at 10 a.m. tomorrow.
The congregation will have a banquet tomorrow night at Hale Koa Hotel, where the entertainment will include Greek dancing.
Rev. Mitsuo Aoki to get Hospice Hawaii award
The Rev. Mitsuo Aoki, University of Hawaii religion professor emeritus and a pioneer in teaching a holistic approach to death and dying, will be presented a lifetime achievement award by Hospice Hawaii at its annual meeting in June.Reservations for the June 28 recognition dinner at the Sheraton-Waikiki Hotel may be made by calling Lani Miyahara, 924-9255, ext. 245. Individual tickets are $65.
Tables of 10 may be reserved for $1,000, $2,500 or $5,000, with a portion to go as a tax-deductible donation to Hospice Hawaii.
Catholic groups sponsor social ministry training
Applications are being taken for a training program to prepare Catholics to work in the social ministry of their parishes.Monday is the deadline for registration in the program, which will be presented July 13 to 15 by a team from Catholic Charities USA and the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.
Information is available by calling the Honolulu Diocese Office of Social Ministry's toll-free number (877) 263-8844, ext. 302, or (877) 935-3050, ext. 106.
The cost of the three-day retreat is subsidized by grants. Participants must pay for their meals and transportation.
Seminary bestows award on Kokua Kalihi director
Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minn., has presented its Race, Church and Change Award to the Rev. A. Joris "Jory" Watland, executive director of Kokua Kalihi Valley.Watland, one of the founders of the family services agency, which has served needy people in Kalihi for nearly 30 years, was cited at the April ceremony as "an excellent model for seminary students and anyone engaged in Christian mission and ministry."
