Should Food Addicted People Be Incarcerated?

source

I have a lot of empathy for people who fight a losing battle with fat, salt and sugar addictions, and for those who feel they can't get through a day without ingesting large quantities of harmful, calorie-laden comfort foods.

But most of us see serious overeating and extreme obesity as mental health and medical problems rather than as crimes calling for prosecution and incarceration.

Yet this is mostly how we deal with people who are addicted to alcohol and other drugs. There may of course often be real crimes associated with people who are hooked on harmful substances, such as disorderly conduct, driving under the influence, selling illegal drugs, or stealing in order to support a drug habit. These need to be dealt with justly and on their own merits.

But should we not invest in more detox centers and treatment facilities rather than just locking people up because they are harming themselves with must-have substances that are bad for them?

The approach we are taking now is clearly not working, and its past time to come up with an approach that is more effective in saving lives and preserving health.

Here's a link to another piece on this topic 
http://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2015/01/a-deadly-sin-we-mennonites-seldom-talk.html

When Truth No Longer Appears To Matter

Christ Before Pilate, by Mihaly Munkacsy

"Thou shalt not bear false witness."

- from the Ten Commandments

"I am the Way, the Truth and the Life."

- Jesus Christ

"What is truth?"

- Pontius Pilate

"I cannot tell a lie."

- from a fake story about young George Washington

“Gentlemen, I depended on this witness to clear my client. He has lied. I ask that no attention be paid to his testimony. Let his words be stricken out, if my case fails. I do not wish to win in this way.” 

- Abraham ("Honest Abe") Lincoln

"A little hyperbole never hurts. People want to believe that something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular. I call it truthful hyperbole. It's an innocent form of exaggeration--and a very effective form of promotion".

- Donald Trump, in The Art of The Deal

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The cover of last week's TIME magazine featured the disturbing question, Is Truth Dead? Their cover format was identical to an even more controversial April 8, 1966 cover which asked, Is God Dead? 

And maybe there's a direct link between the two, a loss of faith in God contributing to a loss of fidelity in our speech.

Here's the link to TIME's feature article on the demise of truth:
http://time.com/4710614/donald-trump-fbi-surveillance-house-intelligence-committee/ Can President Trump Handle the Truth?

This article was followed this weekend by a CBS's 60-Minutes segment which featured an even more sobering report on how mass producing and disseminating fake news of all kinds, aimed at both left and right, has become a sophisticated and highly profitable enterprise. 

CBS's Scott Pelley interviewed the person who invented and circulated widely believed faux stories about Hilary Clinton's having Parkinson's disease and another about the Clinton's alleged involvement in a pedophile sex ring operating out of a DC pizza parlor. What was absolutely chilling was that the perpetrator refused to acknowledge to Pelley that he was lying, even though as a result of his massively publicized report the innocent pizza restaurant owner in question was nearly killed by a crazed gunman who believed the account.

Here's a link to the 60-Minutes segment, at around 17:30 minutes: 
http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/the-attack-in-garland-fake-news-chess-country/

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"Speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace."

- Zechariah 8:16 (ESV)

A Friend's Fast For The Healing Of A Nation

Daryl, now director of EMU's Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, has been an exemplary role model for many.

I've had the privilege of knowing Daryl Byler ever since he was a lad growing up in the church where I served as pastor for over two decades. He and his wife Cindy have been a special blessing to us and to many others here in the area, as well as in far off places like Mississippi, Jordan and other locations where they have lived and served.

I was especially moved by Daryl's latest decision to go on a water and juice fast during Lent as he prays daily for the world's healing and writes letters and tweets regularly to President Trump and some of his religious supporters and advisors.

In an email response yesterday to my inquiry about how he was doing, he wrote,

"My energy level has been good and am grateful that I've been able to walk to and from work each day. Cindy has been a wonderful and understanding source of support and so many persons have been offering prayers and encouraging words. I feel blessed and cared for in this journey. The most challenging part has not been the fasting (I don't feel hungry), but working on a new reflection each day -- specifically, trying to find a healthy balance between challenging the President's words and actions, and setting a tone of invitation and dialogue."

You can follow the insightful daily reflections Daryl writes for the president at https://healingjusticefast.wordpress.com/  Let's continue to pray for Daryl through the remaining days of Lent, and join him in praying and in some fasting of our own for our nation's healing.

Here's a link to an interview Daryl did recently for our local TV station: 
http://www.whsv.com/content/news/1on1-An-EMU-leader-is-doing-a-40-day-fast-415720253.html

And here is an earlier post on Daryl's late father, a truly good man and mentor: 
http://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2016/12/jesse-t-byler-1928-1990-beloved-mentor.html

A Demonic Trinity Of Evil: Nationalism, Civil Religion and Greed-based Economics

Albrecht Dürer's portrayal of the fearsome Beast (right) and deceptive False Prophet (left) of  the Revelation 

Among the ways the last book of our Bible is truly revelatory is in its portrayal of violence and harm as perpetrated by evil systems rather than simply by individual evildoers. The Revelation does so through a collage of dramatic images of the kind that we are used to seeing in political cartoons in our media.

A triumvirate of evil, manifest in many forms throughout human history and inspired by the epitome of all evil, Satan, is represented in the Revelation as follows:

                                                    BABYLON

                                               The Great Harlot

                                             (massive addiction to 

                                      a greed-based economic system)

                                     THE GREAT RED DRAGON

                                                     (SATAN)

              

       THE FIRST BEAST                                    THE SECOND BEAST

    A Many-Headed Monster                               A Lamb-like False Prophet

 (massive oppression through                         (massive persuasion through a
an evil political system)                                              deceptive belief system)

Regardless of how one feels about the mystifying collage of images and metaphors found in the Apocalypse (which means "unveiling"), I find its symbolic portrayal of the nature of evil profound and insightful.

The Revelation doesn’t refute the view that sin and wrongdoing result from individuals yielding to personal temptations, but presents us with a much more comprehensive picture of evil as a force that controls the very systems that tend to hold all of us in their grip. 

First century believers, who lived under the most advanced and most oppressive empire of their time, understood this. They realized how much evil comes from simply going along with whatever have become the political, economic and religious norms of the day. In other words, we sin by simply doing what everyone is expected to do, by supporting the seemingly normal and acceptable status quo. 

In this way, the Evil One, the Dragon, the Ruler of Darkness becomes much more efficient at perpetrating violence and other forms of evil, by infusing the world’s very systems and institutions with it, as follows:

THE FIRST (FEARSOME) BEAST (Revelation 13)

This is a symbol of political power become cruel and heartless. In the cartoon-like portrayal of this creature in Revelation 13, we see a fearful looking creature with many heads and many horns. While the original readers of the Apocalypse would have clearly associated this with Rome, this “beast” is still at work wherever governments, ordained by God to preserve order and do justice, instead become agents of destruction, intimidation and oppression. This beastliness is everywhere, exists under many flags and is a part of many (if not all) forms of human government.

THE SECOND (FALSE PROPHET) BEAST (Revelation 13)

By contrast, this creature appears benign and harmless, and is portrayed as a lamb with two innocent looking horns. “Lamb” is, of course, the metaphor used most often for the slain but triumphant Christ in the Revelation, but this false imitation has “a voice like the Dragon” (Satan). In other words, it is like a devil in lamb’s clothing, and its primary purpose is to persuade the masses to give their full allegiance to the First Beast (above).

In the first century, this would have involved an actual cult of emperor worship, but in every age and in every place, oppressive regimes rely on various forms of false religious or secular belief systems for their support and validation. These includes, in our time, the nationalistic cult of civil religion, based on the myth of American exceptionalism and of our being a superior and indestructible nation. All “God and country” based religion extol patriotism as one of its highest virtue, as do secular belief systems like socialism, fascism, or communism.  All serve one and the same purpose, to convince people that by serving the First Beast they are serving God or some other form of supreme good.

BABYLON (THE GREAT HARLOT) (Revelation 14-19)

This seductive woman sits royally astride the First Beast, the one with seven heads and ten horns. She is the antithesis of the Radiant Woman in Revelation 12 who represents the holy people of God. Babylon is dressed in purple and scarlet and bedecked with gold and expensive jewelry of all kinds. She holds a seductively beautiful gold cup in her hands but one that is filled with filth. All the kings of the earth commit adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth weep and wail when she finally collapses in ruin.

Babylon is the symbol of a greedy and self indulgent global economic system that is in bed with political powers everywhere.  So great is her grip on the wealthy and her ability to oppress the world’s poor and add to their misery that all heaven breaks loose with a chorus of praise when she collapses (Interestingly, the words of Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus in his “Messiah” oratorio are from this section of the Apocalypse).

This three-fold combination of the oppressive political power of world's empires, the persuasive power of  false belief systems that support such powers, and the seductive power of greed and wealth that is wedded to them, all results in evil being deeply entrenched in the institutions that govern our world. 

Only the kind of alternative power available to the followers of the slain Lamb can keep us from being controlled by this triumvirate of evil.

"Ours is not a conflict with mere flesh and blood, but with the despotisms, the empires, the forces that control and govern this dark world--the spiritual hosts of evil arrayed against us..."

  Ephesians 6:12 (Weymouth translation)

A 1742 Journey On The "Francis and Elizabeth"

This ship is likely similar to the one that carried my ancestors.

I spent some time at EMU's Historical Library yesterday to see if I could find the name of the ship that brought Christian Yoder and family (including his sixteen-year-old-son Christian, my direct ancestor) across the Atlantic. Turns out it was the "Francis and Elizabeth", which left Rotterdam some time in midsummer of 1742, stopped briefly in London and finally landed in the port of Philadelphia on September 21, 1742. 

The three-volume work I found at EMU contained photocopies of signatures of a total of 149 men, not counting the ship's crew, who survived the perilous crossing on the F & E and who then officially signed away their past citizenship and pledged their loyalty to the Crown. There are no names listed of the women and children, but their total number was listed as 74 1/2 (The "1/2" apparently comes from adding an uneven number of children who under a certain age were counted as half a passenger, since they didn't take up as much space). 

It was amazing to see a copy of the actual signature of one of my paternal ancestors. But I was at first puzzled as to why there was only one Christian Yoder on the signed list, though I did find a Christian Yotter. the younger Christian perhaps having chosen to use the more English-sounding spelling of the name "Joder" (pronounced Yoder, or Yetter in German), while the elder may have used the Swiss or German spelling, Yotter.

I also looked up Christian Nisly, one of my maternal ancestors who came to the new world in 1804 at age 17. Unfortunately, I was unable to find anyone listed by that name or by other variations of it, like Nusli, Neusley, or Nissli. Family stories passed on through the generations have it that his vessel nearly capsized in a storm and that the ship was attacked by pirates on the way, a common occurrence. And like virtually all cross-Atlantic voyages of that era, there would certainly have been a lot of sickness on board, some of which resulted in the tragic deaths of passengers who had to be buried at sea.

So many questions, so much trauma, so much courage, so many untold stories! 

"Not one of these people, even though their lives of faith were exemplary, got their hands on what was promised. God had a better plan for us: that their faith and our faith would come together to make one completed whole, their lives of faith not complete apart from ours."      

Hebrews 11:39-40 (the Message)

Here's a link to a later story on my ancestor Christian Yoder. 

http://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2016/07/to-exit-or-remain-july-4-1776-question.html

FLRC Will Offer A Free Marriage Class As Part Of Its 30th Anniversary Observance

My book will be free to the first five couples who sign up.

After nearly three decades of counseling and offering classes at the Family Life Resource Center, I plan to lead one more four-session Marriage Maintenance Class at the Center starting 7-8:30 pm Monday, April 3.

FLRC is offering the series on a donation basis as a part of its 30th Anniversary observance. All contributions are tax deductible, and will go toward our scholarship fund to assist clients without health coverage and who otherwise may not be able to afford counseling.

I have always loved leading this class, meant for those of us whose relationships are not necessarily in crisis, but who see value in working at better managing our problems and adding to our blessings.

The focus of the first session is on investing more time, energy and creativity in the "Problem Free Area" of our relationship, much as we do when we are dating each other and concentrating on what we truly appreciate and enjoy about being together. Many of us find this part of our relationship depleted over time and in need of fresh attention. In this area it takes two people working together to create positive change.

The second session focuses on our "Personal Problem Area", based on the premise that not all problems in a marriage are actually marriage problems, but are individual problems that can cause serious stress in a relationship. In this area each of us must take 100% responsibility for our own growth and change, with whatever help we needs to become the healthy and happy half of the marital pair. These problems are ones we tend to bring with us, and if, God forbid, the marriage were over, we would take with them us.

The focus for the third evening is on how to do more listening and less lecturing regarding issues that are in the "Spouse's Problem Area", where we have the least power to bring about change, but where we can provide important support and encouragement as the other person deals with their personal issues. Not surprisingly, this is the area in which most of us invest an excessive amount of time and attention, a big mistake and generally a huge waste of time.

The last session involves our setting aside times when we temporarily leave the "Problem Free Area" and work with our partner to address issues we "filed" for the purpose of addressing in our "Mutual Problem Area", in the same kind of rational and objective way we might deal with issues that come up in any business or other partnership. In the class we learn the value of having regular couples meeting solely for this purpose, where we become skilled at attacking whatever problems we put on the table, and strictly avoid attacking or blaming each other.

This is a fun class limited to about 12 couples. We welcome your taking part!

Register by calling 540-434-8450 or emailing services@flrc.org.

Note: A later special event marking FLRC's 30th birthday will be a fund raising dinner and celebration at 5:30 pm Saturday, May 6, 2017, at the Park View Mennonite Church. The Board has asked me to be the main speaker for that event, and the Cantore Men's A Cappella Ensemble  will provide special music. Please register in advance!

Does The New Proposed Budget Make US Safer?

There is far less waste and duplication in these departments than in the nation's military spending.

Joseph Nye popularized the principle of how a nation's "soft power" adds much more to its security than the "hard power" of military might. Soft power has to do with the influence a country like the US has when it demonstrates how much a free society can offer its citizens, and when it collaborates with developing countries to help them become more prosperous and the world more peaceful. China understands this principle, and continues to make major investments in emerging economies all over the world.

Much has been made of the fact that a nation's security depends not only on defense, but equally on diplomacy and on development. Unfortunately, the new budget slashes money for the State Department and limits the future influence the US will have in both its diplomacy and through promoting international aid and development.

Meanwhile, billions spent on ever more efficient means of killing, maiming and destroying will make a nation less safe, not more so. We've already wasted more of the world's limited resources in so-called "defense spending" than the combined military budgets of China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, France, India and Germany, the next largest spenders.

Could it be that multiple development and relief agencies like CARE, World Vision and even our own Mennonite Central Committee, small as they are, are the ones spreading goodwill and good influence all around the world in ways that really do help make everyone safer?