Israelis & Palestinians

One of my activities is leadership in the Saint Paul Interfaith Network. Check out our website at www.spinterfaith.org. We just completed a series of 3 October Monday night conversations on Israelis and Palestinians. The first two sessions featured, first, two Palestinians, the second, two Israelis, and the third, an opportunity to listen to Ronald Young, who heads up the National Interreligious Leadership Initiative for Peace in the Middle East. Check their website at http://www.nili-mideastpeace.org.

I represented the church of which I am a member, Gloria Dei Lutheran in Saint Paul, Minnesota as we were a sponsor of this series along with Mount Zion Temple in Saint Paul, and the Islamic Center of Minnesota in Fridley, Minnesota. About 160 persons attended each session.

At the last session three of us, representing the sponsoring groups, gave a brief response and what follows is the response which I offered:

I am a Christian who has been a Lutheran pastor for 46 years. My parents were people with a strong social conscience and, in particular, made it clear to me that what happened to Jewish people in the Holocaust was an inexcusable tragedy. So, when Israel was founded as a nation in 1948 this seemed right to me. In 1994 the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, to which I belong, issued a statement on Jewish Christian relations which says, in part, “Grieving the complicity of our own tradition within this history of hatred, moreover, we express our urgent desire to live out our faith in Jesus Christ with love and respect for the Jewish people. We recognize in anti-Semitism a contradiction and an affront to the Gospel, a violation of our hope and calling, and we pledge this church to oppose the deadly working of such bigotry, both within our own circles and in the society around us.”

Especially in recent years I have also come to know what has happened to Palestinian people who have lived on that land for something like a couple thousand years. There are Palestinians there who are Christian and there is a Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land headed by Bishop Munib Younan. The Lutheran body to which I belong has a strong relationship with that church and with Bishop Younan. In addition, our Lutheran church has said, in part, “Palestinian Christians and Muslims have suffered the loss of their land and dignity, disruption of their livelihood, and lack of human rights. This land is sacred to three monotheistic religions, whose adherents have the right to safe and unfettered access. On the positive side, this common cause offers opportunities for interfaith collaboration. In terms of global politics, what happens in the Holy Land can either help resolve conflict in the Middle East or expand it into even more deadly conflicts.”

I believe that God stands on all sides of the conflict in the Middle East, in the Holy Land. To suggest that God favors one side over another is untenable. We are all God’s people, created in God’s image and created with God’s desire for peace and unity. Therefore I think that it is critical that while we may disagree on various aspects of this struggle, that we honor the people whose feelings and opinions differ from ours.

It is my hope that Israelis and Palestinians will find a way to live together in some way. In addition to the religious differences, there are also important economic and political issues that need to be addressed. I think that we need to encourage our own United States government to use its good offices to encourage peace in the Middle East and to use our financial resources in ways that assist all the peoples of what we call the Holy Land.

In the United States I think we have a very vital task before us to listen to one another. If we can do this, there may be a chance that we will learn some things we had not thought of before. I am deeply concerned about the situation we face in the United States in terms of interfaith misunderstanding and the unwillingness of so many of our people to appreciate the gifts of those whose religious, ethnic or racial tradition differs from ours. That is why I am involved interfaith work through the Saint Paul Interfaith Network and why I think this Israeli Palestinian series has been so important.

I am grateful for the work which Ron Young and others have done through the National Interreligious Leadership Initiative for Peace in the Middle East. Anything that we can do to support that effort will be helpful. I commit to seeing to it that our Lutheran church supports that effort in every way.

Birth Day!

July 1, 2010

I had a lot of wonderful birthday greetings today, many of which came via Facebook. Thanks to all! My birthday day always starts at 7:18 a.m. the hour that I was birthed 72 years ago. Someone bought a silver bell with an ivory teething ring for me when I was an infant and the bell has a clock on it which was engraved with the hands at 7:18. Pretty neat!

My day was good – some money came in to support the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana and I took that to the bank and sent off thank you cards. I worked on notes from the meeting of our Saint Paul Interfaith Network team that is planning a November four-week dialogue series entitled “Western, Eastern and Indigenous (Native) Religious Traditions: Dispelling Misunderstandings.” We will invite representatives to speak from Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Baha’i, Buddhist, and Native peoples.

The day culminated with a nice evening out with Janet and my sons, Pete and Chris at the Nicollet Island Inn in Minneapolis. It's always a great place to go because, among other things, Chris and Pete used to work there. Chris had the longest tenure there from 1990 to 2000 (as he says, off and on) as a chef-type in the kitchen. I am proud and pleased with what great conversations we all have. Tonight we covered the foibles of politics, the issue of whether a gay or lesbian person should be outed or not, theological conundrums in the church, whether Columbus brought racism to the Americas (read "Rape of Paradise" by Guyanese Jan Carew), what I will do in this impending 73rd year, whether persons can communicate with those who are gone from this life -- just to name a few.

I have always liked birthdays! I probably have my mother to thank for that. She always made a big deal of birthdays. Each year she would have a different theme: cowboys, Indians, cars, etc. She would send invitations colorfully hand-drawn to a group of boys and invited them to come dressed for the occasion. But I was also often reminded of my baptism which took place on August 21, 1938 at Salem Lutheran Church, Albert Lea, Minnesota, with my grandmother, Lillian Hayek, my godmother, Marguerite (Petey) Jansma, my godfather, Uncle Harold Tidemann and Pastor Milton Haker. Thanks to God and to all! Paul

College Graduation 50 Years Later!

I graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1960. A couple of years ago I was asked to take over the role of Class Agent. (Sounds like the CIA or something!) I soon came to realize that our 50th Year Reunion was coming up in 2010, so I have spent the last year, in the company of about 18 other classmates, preparing for this reunion which took place May 28-29, 2010 at the college. It turned out to be a wonderful event!

One of my tasks was to offer a response at the 50 Year Club Luncheon held at Noon on May 29 when our class was "inducted" into the 50 Year Club of Gustavus. We first listened to Thomas Young, Gustavus Vice President for Institutional Advancement, give a fine and fun talk on what was happening 50 years ago in the state, the nation and the world, and on campus and then welcoming us into the 50 Year group. What follows is the response which I gave. It spells out some pieces that were important parts of my life in those college years.

RESPONSE FOR 1960 - 50th ANNIVERSARY LUNCHEON
Gustavus Adolphus College - St. Peter, Minnesota
Saturday, May 29, 2010 – 50-YEAR CLUB
Paul A. Tidemann, Class of 1960 - Class Agent

I think there has been a mistake! It was just five years ago that we were fully engaged as Gusties on campus! We remember seeing really old people walking around campus when we were getting ready for commencement. Why, we even remember that our commencement speaker was the Rev. Paul C. Empie, Director of the Lutheran Council U.S.A. You all remember him, right? He did raise the question about whether organized religion might be unethical. Sounds like a pretty current issue!

I was walking around on campus a couple of weeks ago and noticed all the younger people around, but I wondered what they thought when they looked at me - a guy just five years older than them! In our first years we ate our meals in the basement of Uhler Hall, but, as I recall, we got to experience the new Dining Services in our senior year. It is also neat that Christ Chapel is finally finished and that the Class of 2010 has experienced it now for two years!

Of course, we had compulsory chapel and if you missed more than 10 times in a semester you had to go in and apologize to the Dean. Some of us remember chapel in the Little Theatre building. It had a slanted floor and a few of our classmates were involved in the marble gig when, across the back row or two, folks brought marbles to let loose during Dr. Wilhelm Linss’ sermon, knocking their way against the metal seat legs and bouncing against the stage. And who could forget those who put thumb tacks on the piano hammers the day Esbj was preaching making the piano sounded a bit more like the Flame Bar. Esbj, who put up with a lot, looked pretty grim that day!

Has anyone managed to get an A in Dr. Lloyd Hollingsworth’s Handball Class? You had to beat him in handball to get an A. I know I almost did it! – Not!

I noticed the radio tower north of the campus and I think that station is now called KRBI. That stands for Krough Really Builds Individuals! But we did not have a tower for our campus radio station which was called KGAC and which has now been co-opted by Minnesota Public Radio. We broadcast through the electrical circuits of the college!

This could go on and on - but here are a few other quickies: the Art Barn, the Chester Myrum Fieldhouse where Anne Shumate sang!, Whitey Skoog’s first year as basketball coach and Bill Nordstrom who was a mainstay in basketball and in Don Roberts’ baseball squad; Ma Young’s great food and tough supervision; Philip Knautz’ Gustavus Choir (and we remember his death just a few weeks ago); North Hall, the bookstore next to South Hall; Steve Lundgren playing the roles of Othello and Jonah; Mel Hammarberg as editor of the yearbook and seminar-presenter yesterday on his research on Mormonism Today; our great nurse classmates who had a gathering a couple of days ago and many are with us today; twin homecoming stars - Lin Eckman, queen, and Lou Eckman, as attendant; our senior football stars Dick Rood and Rollie Hanks, co-captains, and Bob Swiggum, Bob Fenske, Dick Johnson, Bill Beck, Dick Loomer, Tom Carlson, Bob Krough, Pete Nyhus, Ray Olson, and Quentin Carlson, under Holly’s great coaching led to an undefeated conference season and the eighth championship in the 50's; several of us sang in the Choir, played in the Band and in the Orchestra; a couple of us were on the debate squad with our mentor, Prof. Bill Robertz; and, finally, our classmate Jim Anderson’s Dad, Ren Anderson (public relations director, and his mother, Sylvia, who really ran that office; and, of course, our classmate Dave Carlson’s Dad, Dr. Edgar Carlson, president of Gustavus for 24 years! Then let’s add one more gift of ours to the college: Dennis Johnson, who was sports editor of the Weekly and the Yearbook, became an ordained Lutheran pastor, and later served as Vice President for Church Relations at Gustavus, and became President of Gustavus for the years 2002 and 2003! If you have not heard his story, ask him, about how he and Carol were walking up the Hill in March, 1998 when the tornado was coming and quickly gathered everyone they could find into a shower area in Lund Arena for protection while the tornado roared overhead. Gustavus owes a lot to Dennis for his leadership following the tornado. And our Class owes him a lot for years of service as our Class Agent!

Yes, it has been 50 years - really! We are pleased to be the class which has broken a Gustavus record for more than 50% attendance at this reunion. We are glad to have met the challenge to the class of 2010 by surpassing our pledge challenge of $1,000 which the 2010 Class more than met! (Our Reunion Committee made this happen with a total gift oif $1,400!) We also went above and beyond the goal of $25,000 to activate our Class Endowed Scholarship for new students which now stands at $34,150. And, we are really happy to have presented President Ohle a check to Gustavus for $300,500 as our 50th Reunion class gift. Virtually 70% or 146 persons in our class are donors!

I could go on for another hour blowing our 1960 horn about persons and events, but let me say a few things about the heritage of Gustavus. I say these things as a non-Swede, for my ethnic heritage is Danish, Czech and German! I was being pressed to consider Wittenberg over Gustavus. I may have been influenced a bit by my pastor in the mid-1950s in Bloomington, Illinois, the Rev. Dr. Harold Skillrud, who, with his wife, Lois, is celebrating their 60th Anniversary of graduation from Gustavus – and besides, I have Minnesota roots having been born and lived my first 12 years in Albert Lea, Minnesota.

Gustavus is a college which has influenced a lot of people, has given growth of mind, body and spirit to so many through its 148 years. There are lots of notable people who walked these halls and walkways - persons like poet/author Bill Holm, Minnesota Governors Luther Youngdahl and Harold LeVander, Judge Paul Magnuson, historian James McPherson, theatre director David Esbjornson, sculptor Paul Granlund; and Minnesota Speaker of the House Margaret Anderson Kelliher. But, you know what I think is even more remarkable are the persons who came here and graduated, who came from small towns, tiny high schools, small farms and whose lives have been quiet witnesses to the importance of everyday people and places. Many of them went back to or resided elsewhere in places perhaps not seen as noteworthy, but which are part of the gift of this nation and this world.

Gustavus was the place where my mind, heart and spirit broke out of their overly-pious, parochial and somewhat narrow confines. I was mightily influenced by the international, global experiences in politics, national affairs, and issues of justice and broadened Christian understanding that I experienced here as I attended public lectures and presentations beyond the classroom which were perhaps the forerunner of what are now the amazing Nobel Conferences.

Gustavus was a place where I found how to be more myself and to know that I did not have to measure up to someone else’s standards in order to be cared for.

So, this class of 1960 is honored to take its place in the 50 Year Club of Gustavus Adolphus College. We hope that our witness and influence as alumni will inspire others to come here to study and that our support will continue to undergird the life of this college.

I’m used to saying AMEN at the end of a sermon - which this was not - but I say AMEN because what that means it “So be it!”

Too many people locked up

Every time I turn around I hear about someone who is being locked up - in jail or in prison. We call these places "correctional institutions." Anyone who knows anything knows that there is very little "correction" going on in our prisons and jails. In fact, the chances are that when persons are imprisoned they tend to learn more ways to live inappropriately in society. One might go into prison being not such a bad person and come out with an even greater social deficit.

Consider this: The United States has the highest documented incarceration rate in the world. The U.S. incarceration rate on December 31, 2008 was 754 inmates per 100,000 U.S. residents. The USA also has the highest total documented prison and jail population in the world.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS): "In 2008, over 7.3 million people were on probation, in jail or prison, or on parole at year-end — 3.2% of all U.S. adult residents or 1 in every 31 adults."

2,304,115 were incarcerated in U.S. prisons and jails in 2008. By comparison in 2006, the incarceration rate in England and Wales was 148 persons imprisoned per 100,000 residents; the rate for Norway was 66 inmates per 100,000 and the rate in New Zealand was 186 per 100,000. In Australia in 2005, the rate was 126 prisoners per 100,000 residents.


Then consider what it is costing to "warehouse" these people. One statistic says that on average it costs $22,000 per person per year. That is probably way low.


There is another sad statistic and that has to do with racial disparity. Racial disparities in incarceration increased in the 1980s and 1990s as the number of blacks sent to prison grew at a faster rate than the number of whites. Between 1979 and 1990, the number of blacks as a percentage of all persons admitted to state and federal prisons increased from 39 to 53 percent. Although the admissions for both races, in absolute numbers, rose sharply, the increase was greatest for blacks.

I heard a speech by a judge recently and one of the things that he said was that we have to decide whether to incarcerate someone because we are mad at them, or because they are a danger to society.

I think that many are being incarcerated because we are mad at them. I think of Bernie Madoff, Tom Petters and others who have done some terrible things in taking advantage of the investments of other people. I don't know what should be done with the likes of them, but do we give them a life sentence because we are mad at them? I would not think they would be a danger to the lives of anyone.

Yes, something needs to be done to the Madoffs and the Petters' but can we find no way to establish a system in which their lives are required to be spent correcting the evils they did?

We have also a terrible social evil called racism in which persons who are part of a racial minority are often set up by the societal system to a life of despair and frustration.

Why is it that so many fewer people are imprisoned in other coountries?

Someone remarked in a group I was in that those who are jailed for DWI's would be better off if we took away their cars and driver licenses and hired a driver to get them to work or to school. Or, the idea of putting a monitoring bracelet on them might be better than jailing them. Yes, no excuse for drinking and driving. But we need to find another way.

I offer no solutions right now. Just some frustration and a hope that we can find a different way.

-30-