Have you ever noticed how often people who have been ostrasized or shamed, for whatever reason, end up going the extra mile to live by their ideals? 

Of course, it can go the other way, too.  Certainly, even when the larger group of an ostrasized bunch of people stay true to ethical principles and values, a few people in the group may become violent or undertake illegal or unethical actions that can end up backfiring because the prejudice is simply increased as the group is conveniently stereotyped as being something that the majority in that group are not.  This may have been the case with the Japanese who had sought citizenship previous to being shipped off through the internment program.

The internment program, we now recognize, was totally absurd.  Especially since it escalated after the U. S. victory at Midway (June, 42 or a full 6 months after Pearl Harbor).   Instead of the temporary arrangements that took 1500 people from San Diego on trains to an unknown destination, without explanation back the previous April, the victims were taken to permanent internment camps in the summer AFTER Midway, when it was already nearly impossible to consider these people could be a threat in any way!!  

What is amazing to me is how the peace-loving people, many who had never set foot in Japan, continued to revere the soldiers, the U. S. A., and what it stood for.  Despite the prejudice that had never allowed them to even become United States citizens! 

As a whole, the imprisoned innocents refused to abandon their belief system.  They continued to love and support one another, and eventually they worked to become citizens.  Perhaps many of them were able to do this because of people like Ms. Clara Breed--people who stood by their own principles and the treasured values that they shared with the victims. 

Perhaps someday our grandchildren will be reading about the Breed's of the early 20th century--people who were not victims, but empathized with those who were.

That's true advocacy! 

Posted by Dee Ann Miller at 12:01 AM CDT

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At the time of Pearl Harbor (1941), there were 110,000 people of Japanese descent who were immediately considered people to be feared, simply because of their ancestry.  They were guilty by association.  Just as many survivors of abuse are considered to be, despite the fact that the sole blame for the atrocities lies with the perpetrators.

We can gain insight into the importance of the voices of the innocent because one wise and caring woman, who was the librarian at the school where many of the children had been attending, before being abruptly shipped to internment camps.   Her name was Clara Breed.

Clara went to the train station to see her students off.  At the time of that sorrowful departure, she placed in their hands self-addressed, stamped post cards and urged them to keep in touch.  The collection grew to 250 pieces of mail, many of them now available at http://www.janm.org/collections/clara-breed-collection/

Over the next few days, I plan to be elaborating on this important work of Ms. Breed and her students.

All to show the power of the individual voice and the need for each of us to do all we can to encourage communication from people who, for whatever reason, have had their voices squelched from the view of the masses of people who are more privileged.  At least, privileged because of greater power and wealth, which seems to be the way most of us define "privilege."

Posted by Dee Ann Miller at 1:56 PM CDT

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To cast my early vote, I went to our county courthouse.  Inside is a statue of the familiar "lady" holding the scales of justice.  Impressive, spanning two floors over the staircase that many people have walked on their way to the courtrooms.  Filled with hope.  Or dread.   Some have exited in handcuffs, escorted to prison.  Others have smiled at the "lady" before departing, I'm sure.  Some family members have wept.  Others have shouted. 

As I stood waiting for the elevator, my eyes weren't drawn to the "lady."  Instead I focused on the scales.   Thinking how often they are weighted by cultural beliefs, before judicial processes even start.  Beliefs that blame the victim or convict the accused before there is a chance to even start the hearings.  What a tricky, daunting, seemingly impossible task it is for those of us who are not God to ever hope of achieving a perfect balance!  What a contrast between the beauty of this lovely "lady" and the ominous, yet very fragile,  scales she held in her hands!

Posted by Dee Ann Miller at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Tue 10/21/2008 8:16 AM CDT

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Today, I speak to you totally out of my role as a piano teacher. Yet what I have to say relates so much to the process of impacting individual lives and institutional dynamics, as well.

Sometimes, as a teacher, I create crises.  It may appear to be a semi-involuntary response.  It may even feel like that.  Yet I've seen it coming for a while and usually am rather certain that it's highly unlikely to avoid a crisis.  I do it when I sense that the student or his or her family are going down the wrong road and refuse to wake up.   Knowing that occasionally a family does.

You see, families often think that learning to play the piano is play. Now, play is optional, right? It's an important part of our lives, but we can play the way we want to play and choose what we want to do in a whole realm of what constitutes play.  What I often wonder is if the parents have had this same pattern growing up and are now unable to cope with the demands of responsible parenting.  It's difficult to tell.  There are some things I know for a fact, though.......

Learning to play the piano is not a matter of life and death, and I never want it to be. It IS, however, a matter of commitment to a very difficult task that will eventually allow the student to truly play the piano--at a time when working to learn something new is going to be a lot more fun than in the initial stages. 

One of my colleagues with a highly respectable record recently told me that she had picked up only two new students this fall.  "Both of them decided it was just too much work for them," she said with a chuckle.

The problem with individuals learning skills that have the potential for lasting a lifetime is that it is a lot of work.  This is true for institutions, as well, if they have had a history of pretending to be something that the institution obviously is not.  It is a lot of work to face the depth of reality that is required to develop character and responsibility.

So here's the crux of it all: It is just totally against my philosophy to contribute to the developing irresponsibility in a kid, even though that refusal has cost me quite a few students. It is, likewise, against my philosophy to spend much time with people or institutions that are irresponsible or immature. If that sounds selfish and demanding, that may very well be a good assessment.

What happens when we create crises? We may end up the losers of some things and winners of others. There is a price to pay. What is remarkable, however, is how many times I've seen my students turn around, just as I did my patients in mental health nursing, when I have the courage to hold the boundaries and keep the crisis alive! To that I'm committed, and it's not child's play doing it.

Posted by Dee Ann Miller at 11:02 AM CDT

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Twenty-four years ago, I stood in the pulpit where my father was pastor and spoke from my heart about what I believe.  I was talking then about the belief that we Americans need to all be concerned about the crying needs of the world, looking out beyond our shores where we have a limited understanding of what constitutes "need."

At that time, the dispute over women's ordination in the Southern Baptist Convention was just getting started.  It had so many folks in a panic.  As I told the congregation that evening, I did not have to be ordained in order to bring a prophetic message.  Nor did I have to be ordained to do ministry.  I "preached" from my heart, though my father and his congregation would not have called it "preaching."

I was visiting my parents in Texas, on paid leave of absence from Malawi, where I was serving in social ministries--wrestling with the problems of extreme drought, refugees, illiteracy, and malnutrition.  My parents had many needs at that moment, as well.  They were my priority, and that's how it should have been.  For my father was dying, even though he was still functioning relatively well and would for 2-3 more weeks.  He was leaving behind two granddaughters that my parents were helping to raise.  As a nurse and as a daughter, I had a special role to fulfill, and I did so even while being concerned about the work I'd left behind and my husband and two children back in Africa, managing without me.

In the back of my mind, was another concern.  Yet it was not going to take center stage of my life for two more years.  That was the fact that my report of a sexual predator in our midst, back in Africa, had been brushed over lightly by our American co-workers. 

This past Sunday was kind of a milestone day for me.  I again filled the pulpit, as I have a number of times since that day in 1984.  This time, it wasn't as a missionary, and I wasn't serving to stop the panic in the church my husband pastored because (as happened one Sunday) the "supply preacher" didn't show up!  This time I was the "supply preacher" because my husband asked if I was interested in doing so, since he could not be in two places at once.  I must say that it was a rewarding experience to find myself in that role.  What was surprising--my message contained some elements of what I had to say in 1984!  It was about being pro-active and persistent, being a voice of advocacy for the oppressed in our world.

How do we manage to attend to the variety of "cooking pots" we find in our lives--when there are multiple priorities, each needing attention.  It's certainly not easy.  Yet we can do the most effective job by learning to focus an appropriate amount of time and attention to the particular "pot" that appears to be priority for that moment in time.  We attend to our own health, first and foremost.  The health of those around us and our careers.  Yet we must never forget that we are extremely blessed and have a responsibility to take a look far beyond ourselves for a significant portion of our time and energy, as well. 

As I see it, we are all ordained to do that.  As I understand it, that is what Jesus came to teach us!

Posted by Dee Ann Miller at 11:56 AM CDT

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Sometimes, in stories involving professional abuse, I feel like we should bring back an old show, from the 50's, entitled "To Tell the Truth."  A contestant was brought on the show, on one side of the stage.  On the other, behind a screen that allowed the audience to see while the contestant could not, were three people who were introduced by the host with a one-paragraph teaser.  The contestant was allowed to ask questions of the hidden people, one by one.  Only one of the hidden guests was the real person, the only one who was telling the truth.

This morning, I woke up to the news that Eric McLean was found not guilty of murdering his wife's teenage "lover."  OK--on that I'll agree.   As the story shows, the shooting was not murder, though McLean was recklessly using a gun.  If he'd wanted to only scare the teen, Sean Powell, I don't understand why Eric was carrying a loaded gun to the confrontation in the first place!  Nor why he, an adult, would have been dumb enough to have his finger on the trigger, especially knowing it was loaded, when Sean reached for the barrel of the gun!!  Eric McLean made a HUGE error in judgment and brings into question the whole issue of why we so readily allow such easy access to guns in America, to start with!!

That's a sub-issue, however.  So before I get too far afield, I would like to be like Horton with his tiny little voice, and ask:  "Will the real perpetrator please stand up?"

At this prompting, if we had the whole scene on an episode of "To Tell the Truth," the person to stand would be MRS. McLean (I can't even quickly locate HER name this morning).  While she certainly didn't shoot her student, she certainly ABUSED HIM.  And all of the journalists and lawyers with big names are missing the main point of the story. 

Eric McLean was a victim, though a secondary one.  SO--especially so--was Sean Powell.  He was even a minor!  Teachers do NOT have affairs with their students.  Neither do ministers have affairs with their congregants.  PLEASE GET THIS STRAIGHT! 

The biggest perpetrator here may even still be teaching, or soon will be, the way things go!  Let's face it.  The real perpetrator--the one who betrayed her student and also her husband--got off without much notoriety at all.  Meanwhile her primary victim is dead, leaving a huge impact on the lives of all the secondary victims, especially his family.

Posted by Dee Ann Miller at 8:13 AM CDT

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Lots of discussion going on these days about what's supposed to private for people in power.  For me, it comes down to this:

When multiple personal matters show that an individual is likely to be over the top with stress from issues not related to the job, he or she is in no position to take on the responsibility of a powerful position that allows one to seriously effect the lives of many people, while having major stresses on the back burner.  One's health, one's family, one's personal lifestyle and habits--all of these together aren't entirely personal matters when they can ultimately effect the health and well-being of my family and many others. 

They are also not personal when one is "preaching" one set of values, such as Christianity, and showing symptoms of extreme hypocrisy.  Or showing that what one is so strictly teaching is not working.

You can take this as a political message if you wish.  It also applies to the church.  Character and morals and ethics and values do matter in both arenas.

Posted by Dee Ann Miller at 8:20 AM CDT

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The fact that there has been a lot of sexual abuse by priests stopped being a secret among priests in the 19th century!  In fact, in 1890 instructions were given from Rome on how to handle cases.  Because of the alarm that the mis-handlng of cases was creating.  In these thorough written instructions, it was said to be a crime even worse than murder and one that must be investigated.  Permission was given--in fact, it was expected protocol--that the "privileged communication" question was not covered by this crime.  Even back then, there was no assumption made about numbers being few.  What's more, they recognized that most of the victims were female--a fact that many of us suspect today, but it's hard to get the hard facts when so many are afraid to speak.

 All of this was presented by Patrick Wall at this year's SNAP conference.  Wall is a renouned consultant in legal proceedings that call the Church into accountability these days.  He's also a former priest, putting him in the camp with many of us who have been professionals formerly working for the institutional church in some aspect, yet unwilling to continue playing the games of collusion.

Problem was those instructions from Rome seem to have been ignored by the masses!  So much for following orders from Rome!  Maybe that's done only if it's convenient? 

As the problems grew, it seems that there was far more concern with controlling the messengers and evidence of the massive trends of cover-up.  In 1941, bishops were further instructed to destroy documents of criminals 10 years after the death of the criminal. 

By 1958 a property growing with inhabitants was shut down.  This happened because tourists discovered this island in the British Isle's that was the home of abusive priests who had been sent there to contain them. 

In 1964, a study revealed that half of the priests in treatment were there for substance abuse.  The other half for abuse of children (30%) or "affairs of the heart" (20%).  The latter, of course, were mis-labelled.  This 20% was the abuse of vulnerable adults.

And the beat goes on.  Only history will tell us if the number of adults who come forward with stories, when they are strong enough to do so, is reduced in decades to come.

What it will really be showing is whether the Church has faced it's shame and negative "pride" and replaced it with a genuine and well-earned pride that is a sign of spiritual health and courage.  For it's courage that is the hardest quality of all to muster, the one shortest in supply.

Posted by Dee Ann Miller at 12:01 AM CDT

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I'm still learning about bishops.  Cause, in my own little limited arena, being a part of the second largest denomination of Christians in the world (ie. Southern Baptists) until I was 40 years old, I'm not sure that I've ever met a bishop personally, though I've heard from several who have written to me about my work. 

Seems, from what I can gather, they are the Super Clergy who have the power to move the ordinary clergy around like a bunch of pawns.  In other words, the big bosses. 

Southern Baptists have a way that's just as strange to those who have bishops.  As strange, but not necessarily any more dysfunctional.  Baptists think of everyone in the church as being a priest.  There are no bishops.  Of course, it can get very messy and uneasy for everyone when a pastor needs to be moved, for whatever reason.  Or fired.  Or "run off," and that's what often happens. 

Mainline Protestants have bishops or the equivalent of one, but some are just as likely to be almost as loosely organized as Southern Baptists.  Generally, though, with some kind of profile system so that there is some way of approving the recommended clergy members that a church will consider as its next pastor, at least.  Though churches can be mavericks in many systems, calling unapproved people.

Bishops, as I understand it, are to be in charge.  Yet, according to Eugene Kennedy, this means a bishop is also someone who:

1. is expected to be a follower

2. has the job of controlling things so that questions get settled quickly

3. is not allowed to ask many questions

4. is obligated to conform

5. is uncomfortable with the mysteries of everyday life

Sounds like a child in the early part of the 20th century to me.  Just 100 years behind!  With the children in charge?  Talk about being stuck!

Posted by Dee Ann Miller at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Wed 08/20/2008 2:22 PM CDT

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Andrew Greeley was the first to introduce me to the "clerical culture" concept, though I'd grown up in it.  He was describing priests in the Catholic Church--which is all most Catholics seem to think exists in the whole profession!  Of course, I saw far beyond that--and looked at the similarities and differences between Catholic and other faith groups.

Yet, until I came across Greeley's phrase "clerical culture," I never thought of it as being a separate culture.  At times, it is one of privilege.  At other times, one of much duty.  Often being a part of it (even as the wife or child of a clergyman) is to live in isolation in order to be protected from the idealism of outsiders who cannot accept the humanity of those inside this mysterious world that really looks quite ordinary inside whenever one has the luxury of being in a situation where protection from the fishbowl can be experienced for a little while. 

The truth is that the outsiders say they want us to be "human," but just try being human for a few minutes in the wrong setting!  Just try letting your hair down and see how much "human" people really like.   Believe me, every word is judged in some circles.  Every smile or frown, too.

Being the rebel that I am, I learned quite early in life to pretend when I needed to do so.  Yet I've also learned, as I've grown older, not to care much about what the masses think of me.  I actually learned to enjoy presenting folks with ideas that shock most people in the pew, who have never thought beyond their tiny little world of home, church, and a career that opens a few more doors, often requiring that one stay in another box that doesn't challenge the status quo and sees simplistic solutions to complex problems.

To most people in the pews, clergy and their families are like little gods, if not the God.  It's idolatry; and it doesn't all come from the clergy handing down this idea either.  It comes just as much from the people who want to equate God with their spiritual leaders.  So that they do not have to look further, to see the limitations of all humans. 

So the people blame the clergy, and the clergy often blames the people.  I really believe it's both.  Somehow, together, we have to learn to create new images of what God's Kingdom really is.  Because it's dangerous for everyone concerned, the way things are now.

All because we often prefer to believe lies and fantasy rather than reality.  As if any of us fully know what reality really is!

Posted by Dee Ann Miller at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Wed 07/30/2008 9:14 PM CDT

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