HerbEly

Rationalizing “the wrong and stupid”

Steven Pearlstein, writing in this morning’s WaPo has some good comments about Enron. In reviewing Kurt Eichenwald’s book, Conspiracy of Fools Pearlstein writes:

“What comes through in Eichenwald's narrative is how fragile institutions are and how susceptible they are to being corrupted by a series of small and seemingly innocuous decisions by individuals whose motivations are, in many respects, no different than yours or mine. At dozens of key points along the way, all it would have taken is one executive or auditor or lawyer or director willing to risk his job or bonus or disapprobation of his peers to stop the escalating fraud. And even if you don't completely buy the idea that Ken Lay was largely clueless (which I do) or that Jeff Skilling's offense was willful ignorance (which I don't), you can't help but come away from Eichenwald's story with a new appreciation for how people in an organization rationalize things they would recognize as wrong or stupid in another setting.” (emphasis added).

Somehow, I think that I will have occasion to refer to this comment as I review tomorrow’s report on reforming the intelligence community and the 72 page report of the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management (NLRCM).

Easter Tuesday

It is Tuesday morning and we are just emerging from an intense – and joyful five days. (We celebrated the Triduum, were invited to the home of our former pastor for Mass on Sunday, and then a Mass of the Resurrection last night.) I got to thinking that we had better stop going to church so often or it might rub off! At least I now have time for a posting.

This year, a passage from Gerald May's The Dark Night of the Soul captured the meaning of the narrative threaded through Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil:

“The dark night is a profoundly good thing. It is an ongoing spiritual process in which we are liberated from attachments and compulsions and empowered to live and love more freely. Some times this letting go of old ways is painful, occasionally even devastating. But this is not why the night is called “dark” The darkness of the nigh implies nothing sinister, only that the liberation takes place in hidden ways, beneath our knowledge and understanding. It happens mysteriously, in secret and beyond our conscious control.”

Experiencing the narrative in terms of liberation brought joy into our Easter celebration.

Our youngest son, Matt, gave us the additional gift of his trumpet during the Vigil. His four years at James Madison University have developed his skills to a high peak, adding to our joy and pride.

I usually have my iPod set to shuffle songs. Sometimes it picks out songs that seem highly relevant. This weekend I heard Hank Williams’ I Saw the Light and began to reflect. After the blind man saw the light he was filled with joy – but he still had to see the path ahead and then walk it. (Psalm 119:105) . We can’t do this on Easter alone. We need to get to Pentecost and learn how to do “the next right thing” under guidance from the Spirit.

Happy Easter. everyone.

Schiavo Case: Why Our Political Discourse Is So Bitter

It’s hard to write about Terri Schiavo. It is a tragic picture, the legal, medical and moral aspects are hideously complex. Many people are covering it well. GetReligion , in particular, is observing how fairly journalists cover the religious angle of the story. There is little original left to write and it is virtually impossible to be sure of the facts of the case.

Why is the fight so bitter? What is really at stake? JOHN PODHORETZ writing in today’s New York Post lays it out bluntly:

“The looming death by starvation of Terri Schiavo has exposed yet again the key fault line in American culture. Those who have sided with her parents in seeking the reinsertion of her feeding tube have a view of life that is profoundly different from those who have sided with her husband's quest to have her die.”

Two Books on the End of the Cold War

Two books on the end of cold war just made it onto my “must read” list. This is partly to check out my own story of how Jimmy Carter and Oleg Gordievsky helped Reagan end the cold war. While the American Catholic Bishops didn’t recognize it, Reagan was responded to their wish to end the danger of nuclear war – but succeeded by rejecting the advice of many of them.

If you think than I'm indulging in an “I told you so” posting, just wait until you read my last paragraph.

Leviticus 19:16 Protect Your Neighbor as Yourself

Love of neighbor may require the use of force to protect a life. If this reading of scripture seems unique, follow me along and see if you agree. If you disagree, please add a comment to this posting.

The nineteenth chapter of Leviticus gives several examples before it states great commandment “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD” Lev. 19:18. For example, when you harvest, you will leave some produce for the poor (19:9-10).

Spy Blogs & Corporate Culture

My son David alerted me to Army Reserve Captain Kris Alexander’s article calling for blogs on Intelink. Alexander wants the intelligence community to follow the Army’s example in making blogs available to soldiers;

“The first step toward reform: Encourage blogging on Intelink. When I Google "Afghanistan blog" on the public Internet, I find 1.1 million entries and tons of useful information. But on Intelink there are no blogs. Imagine if the experts in every intelligence field were turned loose - all that's needed is some cheap software. It's not far-fetched to picture a top-secret CIA blog about al Qaeda, with postings from Navy Intelligence and the FBI, among others. Leave the bureaucratic infighting to the agency heads. Give good analysts good tools, and they'll deliver outstanding results.”.

Please

Thanks to dribbleglass.com

Abortion: Can the GOP and Democrats Compromise?

We read that Hilary has proposed a compromise position on abortion. Condolezza Rice describes herself as mildly pro-choice. Most people assume that political posturing motivates Hilary’s position emphasizing the word “rare” in “safe, legal and rare.” Condi Rice’s position is assumed to be genuine. E.J. Dionne puts it all down to G.O.P cleverness in handling the issue.

Political posturing or not, there is a moral case to be made for the compromise position.

Why God Made Me – Version 2.0

Those of us who remember our Baltimore Catechism know the answer to this question: “God made me to know Him, to love Him, and serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him for ever in the next” When I was a kid, this was the ultimate urging towards delayed gratification. “Work hard now” they said, “and you will be forever happy at the end of your life.”

If I had had a Jewish grandmother, she might have asked another question: “So what’s wrong with being happy with God in this world?”

Merton, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and Lincoln on Pride

Last night we were discussing a sentence from Thomas Merton’s Seeds of Contemplation :

“When a man is virtuous enough to be able to delude himself that he is almost perfect, he may enter into a dangerous condition of blindness in which all his violent effort finally to grasp perfection strengthen his hidden imperfections and confirm him in his attachment to his own judgment and his own will.”

I remembered a line from Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s musical Carousel :