Joel & Dana

It's been a while...

2010-01-29T16:01:00.003+02:00

Unfortunately, it's been far too long since we wrote on our blog last. School and work have taken priority and have kept us too busy. Unfortunately we never finished our reading and analysis of the health care bill (which has changed since the summer anyway).
We actually never made it out to University of Pennsylvania, due to monetary reasons and Joel is still studying at Bloomsburg University - going for a dual degree in philosophy and political science.
Dana now has a full time job (another reason not to move).
The holidays were nice but busy with family home. Overall life is good here.
Hope all is well with you.

J&D

Notes on HR 3200: A response to Rick Joyner's "Special Bulletin: National Health Scare"

2009-07-29T21:13:00.024+03:00

The health care reform debate is a huge topic right now and there is much heated rhetoric flying back and forth. But how do we know who is right? How do we know what to believe?

Dana and I have been interested in health care reform for about 2 years now and support a single payer system. We see fundamental problems with how the profit motive has conflicted with quality health care in the US private insurance market.

In the past few days we have received a link to something that Rick Joyner wrote about the health care bill being currently considered in the House of Representatives. It contains a number of claims that Dana and I find to be suspicious - especially the claim that this bill would encourage euthanasia and set a massive bureaucracy which would decide who lives and who dies (i.e. what care will be given or not). Rick likened this bill to Nazi Germany or Stalinist Russia.
These are big claims and must be examined. At the end of the bulletin is an "outline of this bill [HR 3200] put together by Mat Staver of the Freedom Foundation and Liberty Counsel"

This outline of the bill is what prompted me to actually read the bill. Dana and I support change to the health care system, but we really should be looking at what exactly the bill actually says. The Devil is in the details.

Therefore what follows are links to the house bill, the afore-mentioned Bulletin and a set of notes I will be taking as I read through the bill.

Links:
Special Bulletin: National Health Scare by Rick Joyner
Text of HR 3200 (PDF)

Huffington Post also has HR 3200 available for reading online where one can leave specific questions or comments about lines in the text. The Link is:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/14/health-care-bill-released_n_232206.html

Notes:

Pages 1-5 outline the purpose of the bill.
Pages 5-8 lay out the contents of the bill.
pp.8-14 - definitions.

p.15 - January 1st 2013 is when government regulations begin for "Qualified Health Benefit Plans" (QHBPs) - all new health insurance plans, public or private, would be regulated for "affordable coverage," "essential benefits," and "consumer protection"

p.16 - all insurance plans that began before Jan. 1 2013 will be "grandfathered" into the system.
p.17
- "RESTRICTIONS ON PREMIUM INCREASES.—The issuer cannot vary the percentage increase in the premium for a risk group of enrollees in specific grandfathered health insurance coverage without changing the premium for all enrollees in the same risk group at the same rate, as specified by the Commissioner."
- In other words, insurance premiums cannot be increased for any individual without also increasing the premiums for all others in the same "risk group"
p.17 - Grandfathered plans will have 5 years grace period to comply with new regulations.
p.18 deals with exceptions

"Subtitle B—Standards Guaranteeing Access to Affordable Coverage"

p.19 - (IMPORTANT!!!) This Law (if passed) will prevent health insurance companies from denying coverage to patients on the basis that they have some preexisting condition or other health problems.
p.20 - Health insurance companies will not be able to dump coverage of a patient without notice.
"Rescissions of such coverage shall be prohibited except in cases of fraud as defined..."
p.21 - sets up regulations on price variations by age, area, and individual vs. family rates so that the prices can't be excessively high for one group.
p.22 - sets out rules on how the health commissioner will study the effects of this health reform bill and report to congress after a year and a half.
p.23&24 - This section empowers the health commissioner to lay out rules to prevent discrimination in health benefits.

p.24 - (IMPORTANT!!!) The Health Comissioner will set a minimum "medical loss ratio" - the percentage of each dollar from insurance premiums that insurers spend on actual health care. If the company spends less on health care than the minimum medical loss ratio then they have to refund their clients.

For instance, if the comissioner requires 90% of each dollar to be spent on actual medical care (instead of overhead costs or profits) but an insurance company only uses 80% of their income on providing medical care, then they would have to repay their customers the 10% not used on actual health care.

The commissioner is to set the "highest level medical loss ratio possible ... to ensure adequate participation ... competition in the health insurance market ... and value for consumers so that their premiums are used for services."

Subtitle C—Standards Guaranteeing Access to Essential Benefits

pp.26-7 - Limits cost-sharing, gets rid of annual or lifetime limits on insurance payments.
pp.27-8 - Essential Benefits include: hospitalization, outpatient and emergency services, prescription drugs, rehabilitation, mental health & substance abuse services, preventative health, vaccines, maternity care, baby & child care...

p.29 - (IMPORTANT!) Contrary to the claim made in Rick Joyner's bulletin that page 29 in the health care bill establishes health care rationing, this section of the bill actually caps the amount of pocket money a person must put out for medical treatment and stops the use of "co-insurance" where the insurance company only pays a percentage of a medical bill.

pp.30-7 - Establishes an "advisory committee" of "medical and other experts" (who will not be Federal Employees!) called the "Health Benefits Advisory Committee." They will "recommend covered benefits and essential, enhanced, and premium plans." Members of the board are to be drawn from all parties involved (doctors, consumers, insurance companies, unions, employers, financial experts, etc.) so as to "represent a balance among various sectors of the health care system so that no single sector unduly influences the recommendations of such Committee."
(IMPORTANT!) Contrary to the portrayal in Rick Joyner's bulletin of a "government committee that decides what treatments/benefits you get," this committee will actually be composed primarily of non-government sector experts who will be establishing minimum standards of care that insurance companies may not go below.
The way the system operates now is that insurance companies regularly deny coverage of, or restrict treatments in order to save as much money as possible (their real goal is the maximization of profits after all). This bill has set up a correction for this problem. Pages 26-8 set out minimum requirements for care and pages 30-5 merely establish a committee which will be responsible for updating and clarifying these minimum standards.
pp.36-7 - Adoption of Advisory Committee's Recommendations - The Secretary of Health and Human Services will either adopt the standards set by the committee or send back the recommendation for review.

America’s Role in the World: Morality, Hypocrisy and National Interests

2009-07-24T20:38:00.001+03:00

Growing up here in America, the ideas of what America stood for in the world were ideas of greatness, leadership, honor, courage, justice, equality, democracy and freedom for all. I saw America as a light in the darkness, a city on a hill, a beacon of hope. The American dream was the dream of freedom, opportunity and prosperity. I had little reason to doubt this narrative. Everyone I knew believed this, my schooling reinforced what they said, and politicians of both parties appealed to these great “truths.” And judging from talks with friends and family, this vision of America’s role in the world remains strong. Unfortunately the popular notions of what America stands for and the facts of American foreign policy are hardly connected. The rhetoric is almost Orwellian, but the truth is waiting for those of us who have caught a hint of the hypocrisy. However, undertaking a research project and questioning comfortable assumptions are not things most Americans feel inspired to do. The horrors of September 11th 2001 caused many Americans to question why anyone would hate America so much. Unfortunately President Bush painted terrorists as irrational agents of pure evil who hate us for our values and our freedoms. The problem is, that’s just not the case. As Jim Wallis says:

It is impossible to comprehend adequately the terrorist attacks of September 11 without a deeper understanding of the grievances and injustices felt by millions of people around the world. That is a painful subject that the US government mostly refuses to engage, the media avoid, and many Americans are unable to hear when they are feeling such mourning, grief and anger. …But the US policies that most anger people around the world are generally unknown to most Americans... (Wallis 96-7)

Given this, we must ask the question: What are these policies that anger people around the world, and why would the US pursue such policies? In answer, I argue that contrary to popular perception, foreign policy has been driven by a philosophy of “political realism” (a.k.a. power politics) with the aim of achieving so-called “national interests” by whatever means possible while masked in language about democracy, freedom and security. I will explore the examples of Iran from the 1950s to ’79, Colombia from the Cold War to present, and Pakistan as an ally in the “War on Terror.”

Although not totally uniform, political realism can be defined as “a school of thought that explains international relations in terms of power.” (International Relations, 35) Realism emphasizes states as primary actors exercising power for self-interest in an inherently anarchical international community. International law and codes of morality are seen as mostly irrelevant because self-interest is the primary motivator. Realists have tried to understand international relations in terms of the reality that people and thus states act in perceived self interest. On the other side of the spectrum is the idealist or liberal position, which emphasizes states as acting within an international community where law and norms should play a significant role. Realists have “blamed idealists for looking too much at how the world ought to be instead of how it really is.” (International Relations, 36) In reality, American foreign policy has been directed by a mixture of these positions in complex ways but, as I will show, perceived interest has played a decisive role in causing the US to support actions totally opposite of our stated American values. Even when US presidents have been seen as being motivated ideologically rather than through cold calculated interest, this has been the case. The question of whether the Bush or Reagan administrations believed their own rhetoric that they were fighting “evil” and thus could not negotiate with “evil” is beside the point. They both worked with clearly evil regimes to advance “national interests.”

The issue of self-interest when talking about states is problematic. The realist assumption that states are unitary actors is merely an oversimplification. States are made up of many different groups and individuals – interest groups, bureaucrats, politicians, lobbyists and the public in general – who compete to determine which interests will be represented in foreign policy decisions. Issues of group psychology, cultural norms and competing models of decision making, complicate this. However, generally speaking, those with more power and resources at their disposal, i.e. business interests, will inevitably have a louder voice and dominate the agenda. American foreign policy often does not represent what is in my best interest. Human rights usually take a back seat to the material interests of the powerful. George Kennan, the “architect of the US’ cold war grand strategy of containment… summarized the role that the US policy was to play in fashioning a global political economy conducive to US interests in the immediate post-war period. Kennan argued that ‘[The US has] about 50% of the world’s wealth, but only 6.3% of its population … [thus] Our real task in the coming period is to devise a pattern of relationships that will permit us to maintain this position of disparity’.” (Stokes, 371)

The example of US’ support for the Shah of Iran is a significant one. In 1951, the Shah Mohammad Reza and The Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (later British Petroleum) were facing a huge danger in an outbreak of democracy. The British were profiting in a major way from the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company which had sole claim to Iranian oil, giving to Iran only a token amount of profit. After WWII, “a loose coalition…known as the National Front” sought to restrict the monarchy and enact reform. “Most important, the National Front, angered by years of foreign exploitation, wanted to regain control of Iran's natural resources, and, when Mosaddeq became prime minister in 1951, he immediately nationalized the country's oil industry.” (Britannica) Britain naturally opposed this as the major beneficiary of the previous relationship and placed an embargo on Iranian oil with the help of the Americans whose oil companies would later gain a large stake in Iranian oil. In operation Ajax, the CIA staged a coup overthrowing the democratically elected government, and reinstating the Shah as the absolute monarch in 1953. The Shah then proceeded to oppress all opposition to his rule. “All forms of social and political protest, either from the intellectual left or the religious right, were subject to censorship, surveillance, or harassment by SAVAK, and illegal detention and torture were common.” (Britannica) Douglas Little points out the role of the US thus:

…After considerable prodding from Washington, in 1957 the shah created SAVAK, a Farsi acronym standing for the National Intelligence and Security Organization. Headed by Teimur Bakhtiar and trained by the CIA, for two decades the SAVAK relied on Gestapo tactics—arbitrary arrests, torture, and murder—and a huge network of informers to snuff out opposition… A quarter century after Operation Ajax, the shah’s Iran had become an oil-rich police state, thanks in large measure to help and encouragement from U.S. intelligence. (Little 666)

As we can see, behind the history of the US enmity with Iran which lasts till today, the reason for the Iranian uprising in 1979 is the not so oft spoken of subversion of their democratically elected government, CIA training of secret police and use of torture, all in the name of upholding American national interests.

Iran however is not a lone anomaly in the history of US foreign policy. US support of oppressive dictatorships in South and Central America such as Chile under Pinochet, and the training of soldiers in the School of Americas using manuals which “advocated torture, extortion, blackmail and the targeting of civilian populations” (SOA Watch) have a long history. “During the cold war the US intervened in more states in Latin America than on any other continent, with US sponsored counter-insurgency (CI), the primary means of US coercive statecraft.” (Stokes 368) From the Cold War period up to today, Colombia has been among the biggest recipients of US military aid. On the face of it, this policy seems justified. Colombia is a democracy fighting communist guerillas and the drug trade. However, the methods used by the Colombian military and paramilitaries have suppressed democracy for years. An AI report on US military aid to Colombia says “Colombia has been one of the largest recipients of US military aid… Yet torture, massacres, ‘disappearances’ and killings of non-combatants are widespread and collusion between the armed forces and paramilitary groups continues to this day.” (Amnesty)

In Colombia during the Cold War, just as in the war on terror, there was no obvious way to tell an insurgent from anyone else unless they engaged in combat. Thus, labor leaders, human rights activists, dissidents and opposition leaders, educators, and religious leaders who criticize government policies have all been targeted by the military and by paramilitaries. Increased participation in labor unions, student activism, protests, strikes, letter writing to criticize the government and “the appearance of questionable doctrine in the educational system” have all been seen as signs of potential threat. (Stokes 373-374) This policy appears not to have changed. Amnesty International points out that

“The Colombian Commission of Jurists has documented that between July 2002 and June 2005 [paramilitaries] assassinated or forcibly disappeared an average of 1,060 persons each year. Just recently, on January 31, 2007, a human rights defender named Yolanda Izquierdo was killed in the Department of Cordoba by gunmen suspected of being linked to army backed paramilitary groups. …Meanwhile, reports documenting the ongoing direct responsibility of the security forces in human rights violations, including reports issued by the United Nations, are abundant.” (Amnesty)

Human Rights Watch points out that “Colombia has for years had the world’s highest rate of killings of trade unionists. …more than 2600 since 1986… The suspected killers are often members of mafia-like paramilitary groups which have had close ties to military, political and business figures. In 95 percent of cases, the killers have never been caught or prosecuted.” (Roth) Regardless of the justifications of fighting drugs or terror, the policy is totally contrary to American values, yet “despite overwhelming evidence of continued failure to protect human rights the State Department has continued to certify Colombia as fit to receive aid… [continuing] a policy of throwing "fuel on the fire" of already widespread human rights violations, collusion with illegal paramilitary groups and near total impunity.” (Amnesty)

The more we look into the dark history of US foreign policy, we find that the torture, abuses and contempt for international law are not limited to the recent war on terror that President Bush declared after 9-11 but are merely the latest revelations of such action. The policy of support for Colombia in spite of abuses continues today, as does US support for Pakistan as a key ally in the war on terror. Musharraf, the president of Pakistan who took power unconstitutionally was a serious offender of human rights and as of 2006 Human Rights Watch “documented a pattern of ‘disappearances,’ arbitrary detention, and torture by the Pakistani security services in counterterrorism operations across Pakistan.”

The problem is, that it is precisely this history of hypocrisy which has caused untold grievances, not only in the Muslim world but on nearly every continent, that has sparked the anger and hatred of those who oppose US hegemony. US officials spout beautiful rhetoric about promoting freedom and respect for human rights and then turn around and promote so-called national interests at the cost of all that our great nation supposedly stands for. Clearly this pursuit of hegemonic power to dominate the international system has worked against us. We’ve sold our souls for wealth and are paying the price. Nevertheless, I believe our nation can be great, as a leader in democracy, freedom, and the pursuit of peace around the world. This will take a true commitment to place human rights at the top of our agenda. This can be accomplished only when we as Americans get informed and practice true democracy by demanding that our leaders refuse to pursue narrow and shortsighted interests and be true to our great ideals.

Sources:
Wallis, Jim: God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It. Harper Collins, New York. 2005.

Goldstein, Joshua S. & Pevehouse, Jon C. International Relations – Brief Fourth Edition. Pearson Longman, New York. 2008.

Stokes, Doug. ‘Iron Fists in Iron Gloves’: The Political Economy of US Terrorocracy Promotion in Colombia. British Journal of Politics and International Relations: 2006 Vol. 8 pp. 368-387.

"Iran." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica 2007 Ultimate Reference Suite . Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2008.

Little, Douglas. Mission Impossible: The CIA and the Cult of Covert Action in the Middle East. Diplomatic History Nov2004, Vol. 28 Issue 5, p663-701.

School of Americas Watch (SOA Watch): SOA Manuals Index; Accessed March 6th 2008
http://www.soaw.org/article.php?id=98

Amnesty International. US Military Aid To Colombia. Accessed December 1st 2008
www.amnestyusa.org/all-countries/colombia/us-military-aid-to-colombia/page.do?id=1101863

Roth, Kenneth. Delay Consideration of Colombia Trade Deal. Human Rights Watch. Nov. 14 2008. Accessed Nov. 30, 2008. www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/11/14/delay-consideration-colombia-trade-deal

Pakistan: Torture in Counterterrorism Should Top Blair Agenda. Nov. 16, 2006. Accessed Nov. 30, 2008. www.hrw.org/en/news/2006/11/16/pakistan-torture-counterterrorism-should-top-blair-agenda

News of the Big Move

2009-07-24T20:01:00.003+03:00

It's been a long time since we've written anything here. Bloomsburg University has been a great place for Joel but the work load has meant leaving off writing here. Now however after 3 semesters at Bloom U, Joel is transferring to University of Pennsylvania. He will be majoring in philosophy and South Asian studies. We are very much looking forward to this move to Philadelphia where we will be back on our own again.
Thanks for keeping up with us.

Peace

An Open Letter to the Editor and to our Representatives on Health Care

2009-07-24T19:53:00.001+03:00

The “Medical Loss Ratio” is what tells investors how profitable an insurance company is. It measures the percentage of each dollar paid in on premiums is actually used for patients’ medical expenses. The average is around 75% (down from 95% in the 1990s).

The goal for profit industry is to maximize profit for investors. In other sectors of the economy this works well. However, with health insurance companies this means that rather than providing quality care to patients who need it, the business focuses on reducing the Medical loss ratio as far as possible. To satisfy Wall Street they actively seek to insure those who are statistically the healthiest while dumping those patients who are the most costly. Is this how health care should operate? With an insurance company bureaucrat standing between you and your doctor?

Health insurance companies systematically use preexisting conditions to deny coverage to patients who get sick and become a cost to the company. Over half of all bankruptcies are due to medical costs. Roughly one in six Americans are uninsured. Although the medical equipment and training in America are among the best in the world, this has not translated into a healthier society.

We must reform the system. Health care must be a guaranteed right provided to all, no bureaucrat standing between a patient and their doctor. Who can accomplish this? We the people can and must. Our elected representatives have the moral responsibility to represent the people’s interests.

Sweatshops in Asia

2008-12-05T03:22:00.001+02:00

Sweet Memories

2008-05-24T18:42:00.013+03:00

Sweet Memories of Good Friends

After quite a longish time of not blogging - we're back! Just a quick recap - we are now in the US, Joel is studying Philosophy at Bloomsburg University and loving it. We're living with Joel's parents and brother, and I am currently looking for a job.

Cool exciting thing - we just returned from our trip to Indianapolis and Minneapolis. First, in Indianapolis, we visited with some good friends. Then we made the 10 hour drive to Minneapolis where we attended a conference for people interested in India, as well as visiting with friends and our 'family' from Varanasi. Needless to say, we really miss India :(

It was wonderful to see everyone, we wish we'd had more time together, but then, such is life, kya kare?

Here are some pics that will always remind us of good times with special friends.

Driving through Indianapolis

With Dr Mal & Wilma Long

Stylish Charis

Then Dana got a turn at being stylish

Reading a book with Benjamin

At the Museum of Natural History in St Paul

Joel being funny

Benjamin pedaling on his own

Out of the 3 times we saw Arjun, two he was sleeping

Minneapolis

Entering PA in the wee hours of the morning, after a looong night of driving

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-22T12:36:00.000+02:00

Today is the American holiday of 'Thanksgiving', a tradition in the States which is among my favourites. Today families join together for good home-cooked food, to spend time together, watch football, and to celebrate all that we have to give thanks for.

Unfortunately for the past 6 years I have been too far away and without enough money to return to celebrate with my family at my grandmother's house, as I did every year until moving to India, getting married and all. It's been good though. Every year since leaving home 6 years ago, there have always been friends (regardless of nationality) around to celebrate the day with - best of all my lovely wife. :-)

Today we wanted to share with you some of the things that are happening here which we are thankful for.

For a long time now, Dana and I have been planning to return to the States to continue studying and finish up the paperwork required to be free to live inside or outside the US as we choose. Many of you know that the process of applying for Dana's visa to come to the States has been a long and complicated one. So we're very happy to let you all know that we are finally very near the end, and that we're now just waiting for an appointment date for our interview at the US embassy here in Romania. This is the very last step in the process where the final approval is given. We are hoping and praying that this will take place by the begining of January! :-)

We also would like to announce that in mid January, I will be starting school at Bloomsburg University in the philosophy department. This is a step that I've been waiting a long time to take and we are both excited for me to finally get back to school!

Because of this, Dana is able to quit her job at the British School. Her last day is just a little more than a week away. This last month or before moving to the States, we wanted to spend with family and friends while we can. Also, the job has been a hard for her and the travel to the other side of the city every day has been quite time consuming. I have to say that I'm very much looking forward to spending our days together this coming month. :-)

Other good news is that this past month I finally got my residence card for Romania (which would allow me to work here if we were staying longer). This is a good thing because it will make it much easier to spend longer amounts of time here without having to leave the country every 90 days and is a step toward potential dual citizanship.

There are a lot of unknowns in our future right now, and although the unknown is scary, and we feel torn between 3 continents and our friends and family scattered across the globe - wishing we could be in 3 or so places at once - we feel that this is the right direction for us and we are so thankful that these opportunities are finally coming to being.

We hope you've had a great Thanksgiving (even if you didn't celebrate it) and that you have a great day.

Peace and Shanti

the Lamp of Hope School - आशा दीप विद्याश्रम

2007-11-08T09:30:00.000+02:00

This non-profit school for underprivileged children in Varanasi (run in the same building that we used have our Hindi language classes in) is run by some good friends from our years in Varanasi. The excellent work that the school does is quite encouraging. If you want to know more about their work and perhaps support them, they now have a very good website which you can find by clicking here.

To read page one of this brochure click on the image below

Today's Quote: On Love 2

2007-11-05T14:45:00.000+02:00

"I know that people can be beautiful and happy without losing their ability to dwell on this earth. I cannot and will not believe that evil is man's natural state...

A dream they say... I shall go further: let it never, never come true, let paradise never be... ...I shall anyway go and spread the word. And yet it could be done so simply: in a single day, in a single hour everything would be settled! One should love others as one loves oneself, that is the main thing, that is all, nothing else, absolutely nothing else is needed, and then one would instantly know how to go about it. It's nothing but an old truth, repeated and read billions of times, and yet it has not taken root.
...If only everyone wanted it, it could be all done at once."

Fyodor Dostoevsky, from his short story 'The Dream of a Ridiculous Man'

Today's Quotes: On Love

2007-10-22T10:21:00.000+03:00

"Dear friends, let us continually love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born from God and knows God. The person who does not love does not know God, because God is love. ...If we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. ... God is love, and the person who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him."
'The Bible' - 1 John 4:7-8, 12 & 16

“Let us speak then of love. What does it mean to “love” something? If a man asks a woman... “do you love me?” and if, after a long and awkward pause and considerable deliberation, she replies with a wrinkled brow, “well, up to a certain point, under certain conditions, to a certain extent,” then we can be sure that whatever she feels for this poor fellow it is not love and this relationship is not going to work out. For if love is the measure, the only measure of love is love without measure... One of the ideas behind “love” is that it represents a giving without holding back, an “unconditional” commitment, which marks love with a certain excess. Physicians counsel us to eat and exercise in measured moderation and not to overdo either. But there is no merit in loving moderately, up to a certain point, just so far, all the while watching out for number one (which is, alas, what we are often advised by a decadent “New Age” psychology)... Love is not a bargain, but unconditional giving; it is not an investment, but a commitment come what may. Lovers are people who exceed their duty, who look around for ways to do more than is required of them. If you love your job, you don’t just do the minimum that is required; you do more. If you love your children, what would you not do for them? If a wife asks a husband to do her a favor, and he declines on the grounds that he is really not duty bound by the strict terms of the marriage contract to do it, that marriage is all over except for the paperwork. Rather than rigorously defending their rights, lovers readily put themselves in the wrong and take the blame for the sake of preserving their love. Love, St.Paul said in his stunning hymn to love, is patient, kind, not puffed up or boastful; it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (I Cor. 13). A world without love is a world governed by rigid contracts and inexorable duties, a world in which – God forbid! – the lawyers run everything. The mark of really loving someone or something is unconditionality and excess, engagement and commitment, fire and passion. Its opposite is a mediocre fellow, neither hot nor cold, moderate to the point of mediocrity. Not worth saving. No salt."

From 'On Religion' by John Caputo

A Day in the Mountains

2007-10-16T06:30:00.000+03:00

Two Saturdays ago we spent the day with a group of friends driving up into the Carpathian mountains to a huge dam and lake and then a little further up the road for a picnic. It was great. ;-) Although they were calling for rain, the day actually ended up becoming a little sunny. But it's now clearly autumn/winter weather here with a sudden bout of cold weather. The leaves are falling now though maybe only a third of them have fallen by now.
The day out was great. Dana had a very good time playing with our friends' 4 month old girl Alma, a beautiful baby. :-) And I had a good time building the fire, helping the guys on the grill, and taking all these pictures (below).
Over all we're doing well. Dana's job is demanding and she has to travel to the opposite side of the city and out to get there too. It's quite a stressful job for her, so we usually end up not going out with friends much, but it's been nice to do that too. I'm keeping busy with a bit of paperwork that we're working on now as well as helping out with the construction of our church's new building.
We hope you're all doing well too.

Peace

Carpathian Mountains

Dana and Joel

The Dam Lake

The Guys working the Grill

Our Picnic

Dana and our friends's baby, Alma

The Girls

At the Dam

Looking out over the edge

The view from the top of the Dam

166 meter bungee jumping platform

It's a long way down

The Bungee Jumping Platform

The Dam Lake

The Problem with Politics

2007-10-15T15:28:00.000+03:00

Religion and politics are two of the biggest things that divide our world today.

Unfortunately Dana and I also happen to think that both religion/spirituality and politics are pretty important. And because of this, we've very often ignored the perfectly good advice that these subjects should never be brought up so as not to offend anyone. To make matters even worse, not only have we gone around talking about politics and religion to people in real life but also here on this blog (as I'm sure anyone who's bothered to check out our favorite links or past posts have noticed). The problem with the blog is that because we're not talking to you in real life, then we can't see if you might have a problem with anything we have to say, or if we might need to clarify what we mean, or whatever (like we said in our post on Facial Expressions).

Of course, everyone who reads this blog will have some sort of position on religion and politics. And this is not bad. Both religion as man's reach for God, and politics which is necessary for an orderly and just society, are very good things. Yet there are so many problems too, and I was just struck by this problem - the fact that the lines between people especially on issues of politics and religion cause division and then that division can turn into fear and mistrust and misunderstanding.

The reason this is on my mind is because I can see how it works in me. Of course, as I said before, Dana and I have a bit of a passion for political issues. We see that these issues really make a difference on how we all live our lives and the way our societies function. We've seen the impact that corruption can have on a society and so we want to have a voice in these areas too. But of course not everyone agrees with our ideas. And here's where the problem is. We may believe passionately in something and then when someone disagrees there can be a tendency to make the issues so important that they overshadow the relationship. I've seen this in myself. And I've had to fight this, because I firmly believe that the person and the relationship is far more important than opinions or the things we believe. I've seen how making our opposing opinions too important can overshadow a relationship. I do not want this to happen, and that's why I'm writing this. I want to apologise for all the times that I've failed in this way, and express what I see as the answer - the answer I'm working towards.

So here's the problem - we all think that our ideas are the right ideas (or else we wouldn't believe them ourselves), and we're usually pretty convinced that if someone else disagrees with our ideas, well, then they must be wrong! Of course this attitude can be dangerous, because we all know that everyone (even me) has been wrong at some point.
We're all just limited human beings who can and do get things wrong.
At the same time this doesn't mean that we're necessarily wrong - just that we should consider the idea. But I want to be clear that we can have strong convictions about what we believe and still remain humble and open to other people - knowing that we don't and can't have all the answers. You can know what you believe and why, and still be open to hearing from and learning from people who have different beliefs because there very well may be aspects that you or I have no idea about at all, or perhaps we may not have really understood the other. That's really the point I want to make. The problem isn't with knowing what we believe and why, but learning to also try to understand people who we disagree with.

So the problem that I want to focus on comes in when we group ourselves into camps of 'Us' vs. 'Them'. We naturally tend to hang around people who agree with us, and the talk can easily turn to how right 'we' are and where exactly 'they' are wrong. And because we've stopped communicating with 'them', all kinds of misunderstandings arise. From that inability to understand 'them' and how 'they' could possibly believe what they do or do the things they do, we stop being able to identify with 'them' as fellow human beings and we begin to see 'them' as our enemies.
It can so easily turn into a huge downward spiral.

So now, here is a solution that I'm trying to work towards in my own life.

Humility, Empathy, and Respect are the keys.
First of all, we start by recognizing that we don't have all the answers - we begin with humility seeing that we are limited, and that although we have reasons behind our beliefs and actions, we don't have all the answers. Then I think it's important to try to put ourselves into the shoes of the people we disagree with. When we try to understand them and really try to empathize with them, when we assume that they're like us and that they must have reasons for why they believe and act the way they do, then we can begin to respectfully communicate and truly understand them.

The amazing thing that we've been learning by trying to put this into practice and communicate with people who we disagree with, in a spirit of humility, empathy, and respect, is that it has broken down the barriers which separate 'us' from 'them'. People who on the surface seemed so incomprehensibly different or who were hardened against us at the beginning, have - when we tried to communicate respectfully, showing that we honestly wanted to learn from them - they have opened up to what we've had to say. In the process not only have we learned so much about them but also about ourselves.
Of course, this doesn't mean that we agree with everyone or that they will eventually agree with us. But understanding has been reached and we've found that by working together with people, so much more is possible.

Of course it's not easy. It can be quite hard to try to understand people who are so different from us - especially when the things we disagree about are important to us. But it's worth it.

It may be that no matter how respectful and open you are, there might still be people who will never be willing to respond, to make peace and try to bridge the divide. This can be difficult. Divisions may be terribly hard to overcome, but that problem certainly can't be solved by never trying to build the bridges in the first place. Trying to understand our 'enemies' may be difficult but the other option is to continue to live with the divisions and hatred which causes so much conflict.

In the end, in religion as well as politics, we have a choice to try to work together or work against each other. We've all seen what working against each other has done for our world. It's brought division, hatred, pride, and oppression and so on.
The choice to try to understand others and put ourselves into their shoes can be difficult - especially when they are our enemies. It goes against our every natural urge. But of course, we know that many times the hard thing is also the right thing.

Think about it. Who are some of the people we don't understand and whom we are divided against? Who are our enemies? Terrorists, Republicans, Democrats, pro-life, pro-choice, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, 'hawks', 'doves', Atheists, fundamentalists, liberals, conservatives, soldiers, anti-war activists, patriots and nationalists, universalists, realists, idealists…?

Whatever the divisions are, aren't we all first human beings loved by God and worthy of respect regardless of our associations?

Birthdays!

2007-10-04T20:40:00.000+03:00

It's been a while since our last personal update on how we are and what's happening with us. We wanted to write because today is Joel's birthday. :-)

This week has been a good week for us - full of celebration with family with special meals for both Joel and Dana's father whose birthday is a day before Joel's. This past Sunday we had a cookout at Dana's Grandmother's house in the garden with Dana's family. Joel and Tata ('Dad' in Romanian) worked the grill. We had cake and stayed for the afternoon and evening. Then, both yesterday and today on our actual birthdays Mama made special meals and a cake and we exchanged a few gifts.

It's been nice to stay here in Romania though it's been hard too. Time with family after such a long time away is priceless. It's true that you don't know what you have until you don't have it anymore, as we've learned from our years away from family while we lived in India.
But this is also a bit of a hard time for us. Dana's job is demanding and so she feels drained a lot of the time, which means that we don't have as much time to spend with friends here. We're also still in transition, not adjusted yet from moving from India. Even though Joel can't get a job here in Romania and is waiting until January to start school, he is trying to use the time each day wisely. This time here in Romania is perfect for him to work on learning the language.

Over all, things are a bit difficult, but good. We are blessed more than even we realize. We hope you are doing well (whoever is reading this) and may peace be upon you.

Below are some recent pictures of Dana with old friends, and from our cookout on Sunday. :-)

Novartis threatens access to medicines for millions

2007-10-04T13:58:00.001+03:00

North Indian Classical Violin

2007-10-04T13:57:00.001+03:00

Today's Quotes

2007-10-03T17:50:00.000+03:00

"Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral."

-Paulo Freire, author of 'Pedagogy of the Oppressed'

"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality."

-Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the South African Nobel Peace Prize winner and champion of human rights against apartied.

Here is a link to an interview with Archbishop Desmond Tutu which we watched earlier this week on CNN's Talk Asia. It was quite good.

A Prayer

2007-08-29T12:38:00.000+03:00

असतो मा साद् गमय।
तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय।
मृत्योर्मा अमृतम् गमय॥

Lead me from untruth into truth.
Lead me from darkness into light.
Lead me from death into everlasting life.

'Iraqi bloggers at home and abroad'

2007-08-23T09:04:00.000+03:00

Hey all,

I was just looking at the news when I came across this BBC article featuring Iraqi bloggers and what they've been writing recently. It's really amazing to read what they are writing. Just writing about daily things that anybody in the world can relate to like fishing, school, vacations, playing games, etc. but in the middle of this is the fear of violence, the bombs in the neighborhood, inability to travel... It was amazing because reading what they wrote, for the first time I could really see the human side of things there - people I could relate to and who, in a different world, could be my friends, neigbors, or relatives.
Just the other day I was talking to someone and telling them about what I learned in India - that the key to getting past the steriotypes about people who are different - Muslims, Indians, poor people, rich people, or whoever, you need to actually talk to them and when you do, to try to understand things from their point of view. For so long I've felt that this is what we need more of in the media about the war in Iraq. We need a human face to the war. But I never even thought of looking for Iraqi blogs. But here they are. It's sad, the stuff that goes on, and yet these people live there and make the best of it that they can. I won't go on though. They can say things much better than I can.
I'm posting links to two of the blogs I read. Check them out.

http://livesstrong.blogspot.com/
Sunshine is a 15-year-old girl in Mosul, northern Iraq.

http://last-of-iraqis.blogspot.com/
Mohammed is a 25-year-old dentist in Baghdad.

Our New Slide Show on MySpace

2007-08-21T18:57:00.000+03:00

Just to let you all know, we've added a new feature to our MySpace site. This slide show of all the pictures that we've previously posted to our blog here. :-) The older pictures are first but to see the newer pictures first just reverse the slide. To fast-forward just control the speed of the slide show. :-)

Peace (शांति),
J&D

Pictures: Annversary party with family and a new look for Joel.

2007-08-19T16:57:00.001+03:00

Joel, Dana and family at Grandma's house for a cook-out celebrating both J&D's 3 year anniversary and Dana's other Grandma's birthday.

Before and After

Joel's new Amish style beard is really only temporary. Dana doesn't like it!!! :-D

Today's Quotes: The meaning of goodness expressed in life

2007-08-17T11:13:00.000+03:00

[W]hen it comes to goodness, nothing can take the place of practice. Goodness is like playing a violin. All the musical theory, inspiration and sensitivity to local musical tastes in the world cannot make you into a musician. You have to practice.

...George MacDonald and C.S. Lewis reveal again and again in their fiction how people are formed by thousands of small, 'insignificant' acts. ...We are all moving - one day at a time - toward light or darkness, toward good or evil."

"Learning goodness from praxis means taking small, concrete steps to act out our stated beliefs. By action we gradually transfer what we believe is desirable into what we actually desire...

...A common error in Western-influenced thinking is to separate theory from practice and preparation from life. Not only what is learned but also how it is learned forms a person... All of our life is preparation for something else. And all of our life is also the thing for which we prepare. Living the goal cannot begin after preparation. Nor can it wait for adequate understanding. ... Now we must live the goal to the utmost extent that we know it. In such praxis the meaning of our faith is revealed to ourselves and those around us."

-from 'Strange Virtues' by Bernard Adeney

More Pictures from Greece

2007-08-13T14:54:00.000+03:00

Today's Quotes: Action

2007-08-09T08:46:00.000+03:00

"It is our actions that count. Thoughts, however good in themselves, are like false pearls unless they are translated into action"
-M. K. Ghandi

"The antidote to cynicism is not optimism but action. And action is finally born out of hope... The key is to beleive that the world can be changed, because it is only that belief that ever changes the world. And if not us, who will believe? If not you, who?"
-Jim Wallis

"If you want to see change, you have to be the change you want to see"
-M. K. Gandhi

"The greatest mistake is his who does nothing because he can do little."
-An unknown Zoroastrian

"No longer accept the unacceptable. Change what is believed to be possible. And always make the choice for hope."
-Jim Wallis

Greece

2007-07-28T17:14:00.000+03:00

This is a photo of the two of us while we were in Thessaloniki for a day. The ruins of the old city's wall are at our left and the harbor behind us.

Dana had a week's worth of holiday last week so we were very blessed to be able to take a pretty inexpensive trip to Greece, where we stayed in a small village along the Aegean coast in the north of Greece in Macedonia (where Alexander the Great was from).

Most of the time there we spent at the beach relaxing, but one day we took a trip to Thessaloniki (an ancient and important city named after Alexander the Great's sister, also well known because of the two books of the Bible, (I & II Thessalonians) written to the followers of Jesus who lived there). We walked up the hill to the old city, saw ruins from the Roman times and visited the archaeological museum which was quite cool. Another day we took the afternoon to walk to the next town along the beach. Although we started out thinking it would only take 40 minutes, we found out later after walking for 2 and a half hours (and cooling off in the sea for an hour) that we had actually walked somewhere around 17 km (a little over 10 miles). It was a lot of fun though. The water was a beautiful green-blue and quite clear.
Although the particular town we stayed at did not have such nice beaches (there were a lot of rocks) there were also far fewer tourists and we were able to find a few beautiful and secluded places where we could walk into the water without wearing our water shoes.
Not knowing if we'll ever get the chance to visit Greece again, it's especially nice to be able to have those memories on film. We were able to take quite a few beautiful pictures, and will be posting some of the better ones here later.

Peace, शांति
J&D

Facial Expressions, Communication and Love...

2007-07-26T14:57:00.000+03:00

Just last week while we were in Greece for Dana’s vacation (more on this later), Dana and I were watching TV together flipping through the channels trying to find something in English, when we happened across a documentary all about facial expressions and the huge part they play in communication. It was absolutely fascinating.

They explained that we all use facial expressions unconsciously all the time. We can ‘speak’ our happiness, frustration, love, surprise or any other emotion with something like 7000 distinct expressions. Our facial muscles are incredible. We can use our expressions to communicate our feelings, or to mask them. But making and reading facial expressions is picked up by the brain completely unconsciously. In fact, certain expressions such as surprise, happiness, anger and fear even trigger direct reactions in the brain which then controls certain reactions in the body. Similarly, when we make facial expressions, whether real or faked, we trigger a change in our bodies. A person’s body can’t tell the difference between a fake smile and a real one – both are good for our health.

The show was very helpful in giving me an answer to this problem that I’ve noticed especially since getting married. Sometimes the smallest and most insignificant difference, or miscommunication between Dana and I can turn into a huge argument. We may be arguing about how to make sandwiches or something stupid like that when it all suddenly gets blown completely out of proportion leaving both of us angry, frustrated, and hurt. I’ve often wondered at this, and why this happens for no apparent reason about the stupidest things. Watching this documentary gave me a very good answer.

They did studies with married couples and found that spouses reacted to the facial expressions of their partner much more than to the words spoken. So that when one spouse might show signs of frustration or anger, it triggers an unconscious reaction in the other spouse.
Also, even though expressions are so important for communication, we very easily misread them, and miscommunication can easily happen when strong emotions are involved. People get hurt easily and without need.
The whole show was very helpful because, knowing the problem is the first step to being able to deal with it properly.

Problems arise too with the growth of technology such as emails. Because so much is communicated by expressions (as well as tone of voice), when we are emailing or blogging, the subtle yet important information about how someone is feeling and reacting about what is being said becomes lost. (Which is perhaps why we like to use smiley faces. :-)

I began to think about our blog here. Dana and I, always try to strike a balance between writing personal communication for our friends and family while we are so far away, and expressing ourselves in what we are excited or passionate about. But I have to recognise that this can be dangerous. At times we have written about spiritual or political issues which can be very controversial and divisive. Even though we are passionate about these issues, we’ve tried to write in a way that will show humility – that we don’t know it all – and to show that we value relationships (especially with people who have a different point of view) more than our own ideas. Unfortunately, we may have failed a bit in this.

Yesterday I began flipping through the book ‘Blue Like Jazz’ which is an excellent book about Christian spirituality in which the writer Donald Miller shares his personal experiences in a very open and honest way. So while reading yesterday, I came across a passage which is what got me thinking about all this in the first place. After talking about how he learned to appreciate and become friends with a person who he had once disliked immensely, Miller writes:

“Here is something very simple about relationships that Spencer helped me discover: Nobody will listen to you unless they sense that you like them.
If a person senses that you do not like them, that you do not approve of their existence, then your religion and your political ideas will all seem wrong to them. If they sense that you like them, then they are open to what you have to say…

…When I am talking to somebody there are always two conversations going on. The first is on the surface; it is a about politics or music or whatever it is that our mouths are saying. The other is beneath the surface, on the level of the heart, and my heart is either communicating that I like the person I’m talking to or I don’t. God wants both conversations to be true. That is, we are supposed to speak the truth in love. If both conversations are not true, God is not involved in the exchange, we are on our own, and on our own, we will lead people astray. The Bible says that if you talk to somebody with your mouth, and your heart does not love them, that you are like a person standing there smashing two cymbals together. You are only annoying everybody around you.”

Speak the truth in love. It’s so true. The truth can be hard. Many times I find myself rejecting criticism because of how the person says it – especially if it’s true. I like to think of myself as a good person, and I don’t want to recognize that sometimes I’m a jerk, selfish, lazy, or whatever. I think this is how we all tend to react at every level of relationship - from close personal relationships like marriage and friendships, to the international level of nations interacting with other nations. Nobody likes criticism - especially destructive criticism. If people feel that we dislike them, that we do not approve of them, and that they are not lovely, then they will resist us. They will hate us. Returning dislike or contempt for what they receive from us. So often, when there’s a problem, we want others to mould themselves to our way – ‘it’s my way or the highway’ – but this is exactly what breaks down relationships and turns people against each other.

Earlier in the chapter, Donald Miller had been explaining a realization he’d had about love. A communications professor was talking about the metaphors that are used to describe cancer: “…we battle cancer, we fight cancer, we are rebuilding our white blood cells, things like that.” All from a war metaphor. The professor talked about how even though cancer is not nearly the most deadly disease, people feel they have been thrust into a deadly war. Apparently ‘Science has shown that the way people think about cancer affects their ability to deal with the disease, thus affecting overall health.’

In a similar way metaphors are damaging to relationships. “We value people…we invest in people…relationships could be bankrupt…people are priceless… All economic metaphor.” It doesn’t sound that bad but it is. The dangerous part is that we tend to use love as if it were money.

“If somebody is doing something for us, offering us something, be it gifts, time, popularity, or what have you, we feel that they have value, we feel they are worth something to us, and, perhaps we feel they are priceless. I could see it so clearly, and I could feel it in the pages of my life…I used love like money… With love, we withheld affirmation from the people who did not agree with us, but we lavishly financed the ones who did.”

Love is not meant to be used this way, and when we do we only alienate people. Of course the natural human reaction is to repay good with good and evil with evil. But this is exactly where we’ve got it all upside down. We don’t stop to consider what it would be like to be in the other person’s shoes. That’s the brilliance of the ‘Do to others what you would want them to do to you’ ethic. If only we all could empathize with other people, and think about our own actions from their point of view, the world would be a much better place.

Shanti, शांति

2007-07-09T13:13:00.000+03:00

The Meaning of Life...

I saw that the meaning of life was to secure a livelihood, and that its goal was to attain a high position; that Love's rich dream was marriage with an heiress; that friendship's blessing was help in financial difficulties; that wisdom was what the majority assumed it to be; that enthusiasm consisted in making a speech; that it was courage to risk the loss of ten dollars; that kindness consisted in saying, 'you are welcome,' at the dinner table; that piety consisted in going to communion once a year. This I saw, and I laughed."
-Soren Kierkegaard

Independence Day!

2007-07-04T19:48:00.001+03:00

Happy fourth of July to all our American friends and family! :-)

Not much of a celebration going on here except for at the US Embassy in Bucharest where they had a party for all the Americans who wanted to go complete with potato
salad and hot dogs (according to the local news).

We didn't go but we didn't know about it until after getting home in the evening after picking Dana up from work. Anyway, today I (Joel) was busy helping my brother in law move furniture to put in new windows for the apartment.

We hope everyone is enjoying the picnics (especially at the family reunion today :-) and all the good food. (I like food a lot, can you tell?)

Right now I'm just sitting here, listening to the old Clash song 'I'm So Bored With The USA', reading Sojourners Magazine's July 4th email update, and really missing you all back in the States.
In fact, I just realized that as of today I haven't been back to the States for exactly 3 years and 2 days. Hopefully we'll soon be able to get Dana's visa but still no word on that yet.

As today is the fourth and given that freedom is such a big theme for this day in American history and in American values, I thought it would be fitting to share this bit of scripture which really impacted me when I read it a couple of days ago:

For you have been called to freedom...only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
- Galatians 5:13-14

Hope everyone has a great day.

Peace शांति

Today's Quote: Butt Prints In The Sand

2007-07-03T12:41:00.000+03:00

One night I had a wondrous dream,
One set of footprints there was seen,
The footprints of my precious Lord,
But mine were not along the shore.

But then some stranger prints appeared,
And I asked the Lord, "What have we here?"
Those prints are large and round and neat,
"But Lord they are too big for feet."

"My child," He said in somber tones,
"For miles I carried you alone.
I challenged you to walk in faith,
But you refused and made me wait."

"You disobeyed, you would not grow,
The walk of faith, you would not know.
So I got tired, I got fed up,
and there I dropped you on your butt."

"Because in life, there comes a time,
when one must fight, and one must climb.
When one must rise and take a stand,
or leave their butt prints in the sand."

-Author Unknown

2007-06-12T13:45:00.000+03:00

Although we've been having some trouble uploading pictures here, we've managed to post these two from a few weeks ago.
Joel and Dana together with friends.

2007-06-08T21:07:00.000+03:00

Hi all,

Sorry we've been silent for a month now, but we've been keeping busy. Dana has got a job this past month at the British School of Bucharest as a secretary. It's very good for us as the cost of living here is significantly higher than in India. Joel is now also helping out with the construction of our church's new building here in Bucharest in addition to getting ready to take some classes through the Internet this coming September.

Of course, our friends in the States will want to know how things are going with Dana's visa situation. These things take time though and so we really have no good idea of how long the process will run. We will update you as we know.

Mostly our lives are pretty uncomplicated beyond that. Just tired. Dana's job is pretty demanding and the travel there and back each day takes somewhere around 3 to 4 hours total. This weekend is therefore all the more of a much needed break.

In addition to her new job, Dana has also been working the past weekends and evenings translating and subtitling a film made by some friends who are associated with the School of Hindu Studies. We were finally able to show the film in Romanian last Sunday evening to all our friends at the River of Life fellowship. Pictures, as they say, speak a thousand words. Everyone seemed to enjoy the film and were able to understand more clearly what life in India looks like than by us simply relating our experiences. It's been well worth it as the hard work is now finished. The next translation into English (subtitles) will be much easier as everything is already set up and timed.

Tomorrow we will hopefully be able to see Pirates of the Caribbean. These cliffhanger endings so popular since Lord of the Rings are a bit annoying, but as they say in India, 'What to do Yaar?!'
Ok, that's it on this side. Peace out.

shanti, shanti, shanti...
J&D

Foreign Affairs

2007-06-08T20:33:00.000+03:00

Further evidence for the necessity for the US to pull out of Iraq comes in an article in the latest eddition of Foreign Affairs, the most prestigious periodical in the USA on international relations. The author Bruce Riedel clearly states that "Al Qaeda is a more dangerous enemy today than it has ever been before ... thanks largely to Washington's eagerness to go into Iraq" and further recomends that "Rather than reinforce its failures, the United States should disengage from the civil war in Iraq, with a complete, orderly, and phased troop withdrawal".

An Ethical Way to End the War in Iraq?

2007-05-05T23:21:00.000+03:00

Thousands have died and their families torn apart on all sides in the course of this war in Iraq. The devastation and suffering are powerful reasons to take the debate about the future of US and coalition troops with a deadly seriousness. Should we 'stay the course,' as we are responsible for the situation in Iraq, or should we set a timeline for a pullout? As a democracy, it is we who decide. Should we stay or should we go?!

Below, we've given some of the reasons why we (personally) have concluded that we (the US and coalition forces) should go. But even more importantly, how to go.

Out of a belief in the sacredness of life which calls us to respect the lives of all people, regardless of who they are (even those people we may know as enemies);
Out of a belief that violence very naturally instigates a cycle of escalating counter violence;
Out of a belief that the path of violence should only ever be taken as an absolute last resort when there is a great and immediate threat, and then restrained as much (and as quickly) as possible;
Out of the belief that when a wrong has been done, the best option is to admit it and change accordingly;

Out of these beliefs we want to publicly support this proposal for an ethical way to end the war in Iraq.

In short, the proposal calls for:
-The withdrawal of US & UK Troops from Iraq.
-For the US government to admit wrongdoing in invading Iraq.
-For an international peace keeping force from both Muslim and non-Muslim nations to replace the US and UK troops in Iraq to prevent further violence.
-And for the US to commit to provide billions of dollars to rebuild Iraq in the style of the Marshall Plan (the plan for rebuilding Europe after WWII) - money otherwise used to fund the war.

The Proposal has been signed by leaders of several faiths, is written from a Judeo-Christian standpoint and highlights the fact that Jesus called his followers to LOVE their ENEMIES - an incredibly absurd idea which if actually followed would save us so much pain and save so many others from hell on earth.

But even for those who reject the ideal of love for enemies, the idea of ending the war is not so absurd. A better way to maintain security in this world is to stop attacking those we see as our enemies (and all those hundreds of thousands of other people who just happen to live in the same neighborhoods) which only escalates the violence. Instead, let's choose a higher way. One which will avoid the unnecessary death and destruction of war.

Please read the proposal - it's only one page and is covered in large print.

"...this entire society has mistakenly adhered to the view that safety and security can be achieved through domination or control of others...
...a better path to safety and security is to treat others with generosity, kindness and genuine concern for their well being."

...and for those of us (Americans especially) who read this and think this sounds impossible - remember that we have the power. As a democracy, we have the right and the responsibility to ask our leaders to change course.
Now, to the signing...

If you agree, please sign the proposal:
http://www.reachandteach.com/rtsurvey/public/survey.php?name=iraq_sign
(if you disagree please read below)

For More Information:
Read: The Cost of War - How the war affects Iraqis (two easy to read pages)
Watch: EYES WIDE OPEN - a 3 minute video

Below are links which give reason and evidence to our belief that, regardless of whether the war was wrong from the beginning, our soldiers' presence in Iraq is doing more harm than good for the people of Iraq by fuelling the cycle of hatred and violence which calls more and more into the insurgency and terror groups.

Check the Facts:
-A US Army Brief from 18 Apr. 07 shows that more than 1/3 of all US soldiers believe torture is OK. Further, only 1/3 said that all non-combatants should be treated with respect and almost 1 out of every 5 said all civilians should be treated as insurgents. In the anonymous survey 1 out of every 14 marines and almost 1 out of every 25 soldiers admitted to having physically abused civilians unnecessarily.
-The Washington Post article from Jan. 14 2005 about the CIA report (below) which named Iraq as a 'training ground' for 'Professionalized' Terrorists.
-The CIA report by the National Intelligence Council (CIA think tank) from Dec. 2004 (PDF file - see pages 93 & 94)

-Brookings' Iraq assessment - An independent, non-partisan assessment (and poll) "based primarily on U.S. government information" from Apr. 30 2007 shows that the overwhelming majority of Iraqis (78%) "oppose the presence of coalition forces" and support a time line for US troop withdrawal. (PDF file - see pages 47 & 57)
-A World Public Opinion poll from Jan. 31 2006 of Iraqis shows that at that time 70% of Iraqis favored a timeline for withdrawal of US troops. Two reasons cited most were "the feeling... that it is offensive for their country to be occupied." and secondly that "US forces attract more attacks and make the violence worse." (Pg. 5 of the report)

-Iraq Body Count - a website which reports total numbers of reported deaths in Iraq, based on Media reports.
"It is likely that many if not most civilian casualties will go unreported by the media. That is the sad nature of war."-IBC
-CNN - 'War blamed for 655,000 Iraqi deaths'
-A Johns Hopkins University website article outlining the findings of the study (link below) which found that an excess of 600,000 Iraqis have died as a result of the war in Iraq beyond the number that would have died under prewar conditions.
-655,000 Dead - Johns Hopkins - The Human Cost of the War in Iraq - Mortality Study 2002-2006 (PDF file)
-The 2004 Johns Hopkins Mortality study published Nov.04 which set the number of deaths related to the war at 100,000 mostly due to violence. "...air strikes from coalition forces accounted for most violent deaths."
-New York Times article on the John Hopkins 2004 mortality study

-Wikipedia - Johns Hopkins Mortality Study
-Wikipedia - Just War - when is war just?

BBC - Iraq Summit Mid-East journalists believe efforts to achieve stability will fail "without a frank admission by the US of its failures"

2007-04-24T18:51:00.000+03:00

Joel and Dana with friends at an Indian restaurant in Bucharest

At the park

Dana

much of our time spent here is dominated by the computer, looking into visa issues, studying in preparation for school, and researching various issues of interest online.

On CNN: Double Standards

2007-04-16T22:48:00.000+03:00

The Virginia Tech Shootings

As I write, Dana and I (here in Romania) are watching the breaking news of the shooting at Virginia Tech on CNN. At least 22 are dead and another 29 wounded. Students are among those shot but there is no word yet on how many were students. This is still early on, and information is still coming in. The gunman is dead. Reporters are interviewing students and police who have witnessed this tragedy. The school has been shut down. Students in a lock down while police search the rest of the campus.

Again and again, as we watch, the reporters emphasize that this is the ‘Deadliest campus shooting in US history’.

The president of Virginia Tech has given a briefing where he spoke of this as a ‘Monumental’ tragedy. The Whitehouse has said that President Bush is ‘horrified’ by the shootings. The reporters again and again speak of this as ‘mind boggling and shocking’. They speak of the situation as ‘utter terror and panic’, ‘Mass chaos’.

Now a reporter is interviewing a police officer by phone and they are talking about the possibility of a need for ‘airport type security’ on campuses in the US.

Now they are playing again a video taken by a student who was outside the building at the time of the shootings. In the video, shots are ringing out and the police are surrounding the building.
And they play it again.

This saddens me. It really saddens me. But you see, the thing which makes me really sad goes beyond this incident. Yes this is horrible. It is a tragedy. But the thing which gets me is the blatant double standards by which this type of incident is reported.

I don’t mean to take this incident lightly or to dismiss it, but this, like the infamous attack on 9/11, is being played over and over again. The shock of the students, police, and even the reporters is evident. It all goes to enhance the feeling of tragedy – and rightly so.

The problem is that this tragedy – and it is a terrible tragedy, nothing will change that – is being reported as if it is more of a tragedy than any of the other tragedies where tens and even hundreds of people die at once, yet happen not to have lived in the United States.

Somehow, some people are made to be more important than others. Some seem to deserve extended reporting where the shock and terror of the situation is apparent, while others simply get a footnote on the screen along with the sports and weather.

Last year, bombs went off in Varanasi at a famous temple and at the train station. Hundreds died or were injured. If I remember correctly, it hardly made it into the international news. No one at home knew, except for the fact that we just so happened to have been living in the city and almost walked into a place where bombs had actually been set. (They did not go off due to the heroism of a passing electrician).

Of course, if we know someone who has died suddenly (especially if they were a loved one), their death will affect us much more than when someone dies whom we didn’t know – It’s only human nature.

In addition, it is natural not to be surprised or shocked by violent deaths in a place where that has become common – such as in Iraq or even in the American inner cities.

But this should not take away from the fact that it is a terrible tragedy when anyone dies in violence. On top of this, CNN, like all other news organizations, is supposed to be objective – to share the facts objectively. Of course, we are only human and can't handle the details and emotion of every death. But the truth is that the way the facts are chosen – by relevance – shows what (and who) is really important to us.

Having lived outside the US for several years has helped me to see this double standard which goes on in reporting all the time. Some people are more valuable than others – especially the rich and powerful. And make no mistake about it, middle class Americans are (by world standards) rich and powerful.

Of course I recognize that this is not the truth of things – I recognize that everyone is equally valuable, simply on the basis that they are people, loved by God.

But the greatest tragedy here, beyond the fact that at least 32 people have now died at Virginia Tech (the number has changed even in the time of writing this), the greatest tragedy here is that one person’s death is seen as being more tragic than another’s – that one is more important than another, simply because of the accident of their birth in a certain time, place, race, and/or economic status.

I don't want to bring this up in an accusing manner. My point is that we should become aware of the fact that we too have hidden biases. When we know, we can change.

God sees all people with love. The question is - when will you and I learn to too?

In closing I want to share something which struck me at the time I read it, and says this powerfully.

"Fifteen thousand Africans dying each and every day, of preventable, treatable diseases—AIDS, malaria, TB—for lack of drugs that we take for granted."

"This statistic alone makes a fool of the idea many of us hold on to very tightly: the idea of equality. What is happening in Africa mocks our pieties, doubts our concern, and questions our commitment to that whole concept. Because if we’re honest, there’s no way we could conclude that such mass death day after day would ever be allowed to happen anywhere else. Certainly not in North America, or Europe, or Japan. An entire continent bursting into flames? Deep down, if we really accept their lives—African lifes—are equal to ours, we would all be doing more to put the fire out. It’s an uncomfortable truth."

"We can be the generation that no longer accepts that an accident of latitude determines whether a child lives or dies—but will we be that generation? ...It’s up to us."

- Bono (U2) from his introduction to 'The End Of Poverty'

2007-04-07T11:29:00.000+03:00

Happy Easter Everyone!!!

2007-04-02T18:38:00.000+03:00

hey all,

just wanted to let you know that all our blogger pictures will be available in one place at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/joel.dana

For now it's just the pictures we've posted since January but more will be coming.

Peace,
Joel & Dana

‘My Life is My Message’

2007-03-28T21:14:00.000+03:00

‘My Life is My Message’

Gandhi spoke this of himself, and ever since I read it, it has always been something which struck me as being exceptionally wise. So I just wanted to share a few thoughts I’ve had about this idea.

Recently, Madonna was quoted in an article where she said that she wanted to be like Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr (but not be murdered). She went further to say that we should all be like Jesus in our time.

I know that Madonna has become very religious of late, and I agree with her that we should all be like Jesus in our time, but the problem is that to be like Jesus isn’t just about words, it’s about how we live, in the real world. And for me, just like for Madonna – the biggest question is: What's my life's message?

For a long time now, these people have been heroes to me, who changed their societies with their voices and with their lives. But again – I have always hesitated to apply Gandhi’s statement to myself, that ‘My life is my message’ because I was afraid of what that would tell people. But here is something I realized recently: Whether I like it or not, my life really is my message. It’s true for everyone.

This is a hard truth to accept, if I believe that selfishness is not a good thing but makes the world a worse place; if I accept that to live like Jesus (the way that Mother Teresa, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr. all tried to) makes a person truly great; if I accept that lives like that which have shown love, truth and justice at great personal expense, have made the world a much better place; if I believe all this, and then I turn around and take a good look at my life, I realize that:

“I don’t believe very many noble things. My Life testifies that the first thing I believe is that I am the most important person in the world. My life testifies to this because I care more about my food and shelter and happiness than about anybody else.” (Donald Miller – Blue Like Jazz)

Of course I’m guilty of this. And normally, I don’t think anything of it. There is a disconnection between what I say (and even think) I believe and what I actually believe.

When self-centredness rules, the world becomes a lonely place. Cut away from true friendship and the beauty of a selfless love. This is the stuff of broken relationships for the sake of material possession, or the self-gratification of a secret affair and the pain which it causes when the former beloved finds that they were no more than a tool for pleasure. We are all like this in one way or another. This is the stuff which Allan Bloom spoke of when he said:

“The most visible sign of our increasing separateness and in its turn, the cause of ever greater separateness is divorce… There is a quest, but ever more hopeless, for arrangements and ways of putting the broken pieces back together. The task is equivalent to squaring the circle, because everyone loves himself most but wants others to love him more than they love themselves.” (The Closing of the American Mind)

But this isn’t the last word on things. Yes, the problem is that we all love ourselves more than anyone else. But there is true love too.

There is the love between really great friends, between a husband and wife who really love each other more than they love themselves. We all recognize the nobility of a friend, a husband, a father or mother, who sacrifice themselves to save their friend, their wife, or their son or daughter. This is the kind of love we all want and need.

I think we can't really even imagine how good the world would be if it was only filled with such people who love purely and truly. But we can get at least a glimpse of heaven in the love of a good father, a friendship which crosses all barriers and is true, the love of newlyweds, or in a mother for her new-born baby. We can get a glimpse of heaven, if only in part.

As Donald Miller wrote

“I am learning to believe better things. I am learning to believe that other people exist, that fashion is not truth... I am learning not to be passionate about empty things, but to cultivate passion for justice, grace, truth, and communicate the idea that Jesus likes people and even loves them.”

I’m also learning that I can change – but this has only come when I’ve realized that what I believe in my head and what say I believe - that other people matter - isn’t enough. I have to live it. It’s come when I begin to realize how self-centred I really am. As Gandhi said, “It is our actions which count”. The struggle is to figure out in each new situation how I will respond and how I will change to become a better person.

How will I react to the realities of suffering and injustice around me? How will I respond to beggars, to street kids, to the person who stole my new shoes, or the person who offends me? How will I act when there is a choice between acting for my own comfort or going out of my way to help someone else. That’s the question.

What will our lives say about us? What message are we sending?

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”
Leo Tolstoy

“I am the problem”
-An idea that Donald Miller talks about in his excellent book ‘Blue Like Jazz’

“Fathers and teachers, what is Hell? I think it is the suffering of one who can no longer love.”
-from ‘The Brothers Karamazov’ by Dostoevsky

More Pictures

2007-03-14T20:11:00.000+02:00

Sun through the palms

Sundown on the Arabian Sea

Arjun and his cousin looking out a window built into a ancient step well (a well which has steps going down into it - providing cool in the heat of Ahmedabad)

Elephants

Joel and Dana at the step well

Cows relaxing in the shade of an alley way

Driving by the spice market

At the Mosque in Ahmedabad, India
read #3 :-)

Muslim men doing their evening prayers

Dana and I visiting the Friday Mosque which has some amazing architecture

Beautifully carved stone lattice at the Mosque from the 1400s

3 big boys - Joel with our friends' kids Arjun and Benjamin

Dana holding Benjamin and his sister Charis

Men in skirts (Lungis are common wear for men in Varanasi - especially inside the house)

Our last evening in Varanasi - we had a few good friends over for a nice meal, some prayer for our journey, and to hang out one last time.

Arasi, Dana, Lijo, and Swami ji

Back in Romania - Pictures from the last 2 months

2007-03-13T10:01:00.000+02:00

Hi All,

Sorry for the long delay in our postings. We've been super busy both since we've been here in Romania for the past week and a half, as well as in our last few months in India finishing up work with the School of Hindu Studies Office.

In December, we really began our transition out of Varanasi. The Christmas season was busy for us and we ended up spending Christmas together with friends in Delhi for a week. It was cool. After Christmas when we returned to Varanasi we had a few days - before new years eve, to pack up and move out of our house.
Our plan was to move in with some friends and their kids for the remaining two months we would be in India.
So that's what we did. It was so nice to be able to take time with them (Chuck and Stacie), play with their two children - Benjamin 2yrs old, and Charis - 4 months old. Dana especially enjoyed that. :-)

The beginning of January saw us finish up with our work in the School of Hindu Studies Office and hand over our responsibilities to our friends in the office. Dana's project of compiling the curriculum for the School of Hindu Studies almost completely finished after a year of work on it was a big accomplishment.

From the end of January, we left on a month long trip through India with our good friends, an American/Indian couple, Jeremy, his wife Arasi and their 2 and a half year old son Arjun.

We began with a trip to a conference in South India for rethinking Christian/Hindu interaction This conference was initiated by Christians concerned with culturally sensitive communication between the two faiths.
The conference was good for us and we left feeling refreshed and connected to people of like mind even as we were preparing to leave India indefinately.

Next, we spent about 3 weeks of down time with our friends at the beach and then at Arasi's family's place in Gujarat (where Gandi was from) for an extended farewell - a good way to end our 5 years in India.

Upon our return to Varanasi we finally said our goodbyes to friends, packed up - (not an easy task to sort our things we had acumulated these past two and a half years and figure out what to leave and what we to take) So after a week back at Chuck and Stacie's house we said goodbye to them and took the train to Delhi where we caught our flight to Romania.

The story of our flight - which was late and forced us to almost miss our connecting flight from Istanbul (even with an eight hour layover planned) was crazy, but we made it alright and so did our luggage. :-)

Now we've been here for a week and a half and are very busy trying to figure out how to deal with the papers to apply for Dana's visa to the States, our taxes, School, and all. But I won' t bore you with details.
At any rate, we are here in Romania for what looks like 5-6 months before we can finally travel to the states for those of Joel's family and friends who haven't met dana even yet after 3 years to finally do so. :-)

Well, here are some pictures from the past few months. Hope you enjoy them.

Shanti,
Joel and Dana

Happy New Year!!!!

2006-12-31T20:56:00.000+02:00

Hi All,
Checking in to wish you all a very happy new year! :-)

Joel & Dana

Seva Ashram - Delhi, India

2006-12-01T09:32:00.000+02:00

Check out this website which belongs to the Seva Ashram - A centre for the Destitute, disabled kids, and the poor which opperates in New Delhi, India.

click on this link to check it out
Seva Ashram

Ashram Inauguration

2006-11-20T09:39:00.000+02:00

Hi all,

We just wanted to share with you an exciting event - the inauguration of the new 'Mukteshwar Matth' which we were privileged to attend and participate in as official photographers. (photos below)
'Mukteshwar Matth', which means 'Lord of Salvation Matth', functions as a spiritual centre and is similar to a monastery. It has now officially been opened by our old language teacher - Swami Muktanand ji - who is one of the founders of the Ashram and is now residing there as a spiritual teacher.

Though the inauguration started at 4 am with an anointing service for Swami ji as the Acharya, or head of the Ashram, the main event started at 4 in the afternoon.
About 200 people showed up (far more than expected) and there was a lively worship time, singing bhajans (traditional devotional songs) and with a short teaching by Swami Dayanand Bharati (one of our School of Hindu Studies teachers) who came to Varanasi especially for this event. After the teaching food was served but half way through eating, the electricity shut off (which happens every day here in Varanasi, but the Ashram has no back up system (generator or batteries) so we lit candles.

Anyway, they say a picture speaks a thousand words so here are the pictures:

Kids playing in the alley way outside the Ashram

A view of the singing from an Archway

The Aangan - every old house is built around a central opening which allows air flow and heat to rise from the house

Prayer

Dana and her friend Shuchita

Lights out

To see our previous post on the Ashram, click here.

Dev Diwali Pictures

2006-11-08T13:05:00.000+02:00

On the river on the night of Dev Deepavali

Lighting the Lamp - May the whole world be filled with the light of love in every heart.

Lighting lamps in a patern of a Swastika - a symbol of good fortune and well-being (not at all associated with Nazism)

Sunday November 5th was the festival Dev Deepavali which in Varanasi is the most beautiful night to be on the ghats (the steps on the banks of the river)
The ghats are the focus of this holy city, especially this night, because thousands of people light lamps and place them in rows all along the river.

Ten of us rented a small boat together and spent two hours on the river along with hundreds of others. It wasn't the most fantastic Dev Deepavali I've seen- two years ago, there were more lights out - but it was very cool anyway.
Above you can see some of the pictures we took along the way. One of them a picture of a friend lighting one light from another which we later floated on the river - each one with a prayer for the city and it's people.

Diwali Photos

2006-10-23T15:18:00.000+03:00

Diwali!

2006-10-23T14:56:00.000+03:00

We just wanted to share with you all some pics we took a few days ago on Diwali. Diwali is one of the numerous festivals/holidays celebrated in India, and one of the biggest. It is also called the Festival of Lights. On Diwali the return of the king Ram to his kingdom Ayodhya is celebrated. Ram, the rightful king of Ayodhya had been exiled from his kingdom for 14 years, most of which he spent in the jungle. His wife is kidnapped from him by an evil demon called Ravan. Ram succeeds in defeating the demon and taking back his wife, returning victorious to claim his throne. His reign is called the golden age. On the way back to Ayodhya, people from the kingdom kept lights on the roofs of their houses so that these would show Ram the way back home. This is what people celebrate and remember on Diwali.

For us, Diwali is a celebration of the Light of Life who came to establish his perfect kingdom in this world. It is like Christmas! So, on this day we get together and worship and light diyas (oil lamps) and share sweets with friends. And, we do what all the other people do in India: light fireworks!

It is hard to describe what craziness is going on during Diwali days - the whole sky is full of light (and smoke!) and the air filled with almost constant bangs! It can be quite scary actually. They put fireworks in the middle of the roads, set off rockets, so all pedestrians and vehicles have to stop and wait for them to pop before continuing on. Saturday night some kid set off a rocket which flew uncontrolled just feet above our heads - scary!
We really had fun though ;-)

To wrap it up here we'll post some pictures on the next entry (above).

Shanti, Shanti, Shanti, (Peace)
Dana & Joel

The Ashram Pictures

2006-10-10T15:38:00.000+03:00

Joel, Dana and friends eating lunch with our old Hindi language Guru (teacher) Swami Muktanand one of the founders of Mukteshwar Ashram ('Lord of Salvation' Monastery - or spiritual community centre)

The Ashram, being a very old building near the river in Varanasi is currently under repairs.

A traditionally carved stone work lattice window at the Ashram

Back!

2006-09-28T09:27:00.000+03:00

Hey all,

It's been more than a month since we last wrote, and so much has happened. Already, it's the ninth of October, crazy how time flies.
One month ago, on September 9th we finally said goodbye to Mama and Tata ('mom' and 'dad') and boarded our flight to India.
We arrived in New Delhi at around 2:30am and caught a taxi to our hotel where we were told, they didn't have any record of a room being reserved for us - even though Joel called them (from Romania!) the week before.
They did get a room for us though a short time later when some other guests were leaving to catch an early flight. Everything sorted out, we enjoyed our few days in Delhi (in Air Contitioning) before getting seats on the train for the overnight trip back to our home in Varanasi.
When we got back to our house though, it was a mess. Not only was everything super dusty, but all the clean sheets and clothes we had stored over the summer had mildewed because of the damp monsoon weather. We spent the next three or four days just cleaning our house and settling back into our place. It was nice to get back home in spite of the work and the heat though.

Since comming back to Varanasi we've been steadily getting back into the routine of things. We've started back in our office to work on our various projects - School of Hindu Studies curriculum, material for the web page, as well as some other studies. Joel also plans to start back into his music lessons.

On Saturday we had a party at our house to celebrate Joel's Birthday. We invited our closer friends, had a nice meal and watched 'The Skeleton Key' together. Good movie. Joel got some sweet books about the strange rise of 'modern India' which will be great reading...

Anyway, we don't want to bore you to death so we'll just end it here.
Hopefully we'll be posting more often than we have been. It's just been a bit crazy trying to get back into the swing of things.
Take care of yourselves.

Shanti (Peace),

J&D

ps. By the way, Joel cut his Hair! After Three Years!!!!

Our anniversary dinner photos and other crazy news

2006-08-30T16:49:00.000+03:00

Hi All,

Two weeks ago, we wrote to let you know about our sudden change of plans to stay longer here in Romania. This was to be only the start of a very crazy week.

just that following monday Joel came down with a fever which lasted all week and was finally diagnosed as a viral infection. On top of that, the following Saturday we had to take a day trip to Bulgaria (just for stamps on Joel's passport and a new visa to Romania) . On the way we got in an accident in our friend's car (she was driving) and so sorting that out took about 5 hours (four or so at the police station). No one was seriously hurt though (thank God) but both cars were damaged beyond drivability (is that a word?) . Anyway, Dana's father drove down from Bucharest to lend us his car to cross the border. Unfortunately when we got there, we were told that we couldn't use the car to cross on the Bulgarian side because the registration had to be in one of our names, which it wasn't and Tata (dad) didn't have a passport :( They said we couldn't cross by foot either! So we had to ask someone to drive us in their car, drop us off in the nearest town to the border. We spent about 40 minutes there and then hitched a ride back to Romania.

The trip ended up taking the whole day, when it could have taken only 3 hours!!!

We are happy to let you all know that everything has worked out now and we're also picking up our visas to India this afternoon!

Joel got over the fever some 4-5 days ago and we're ready to get back to India! :-) We'll get to Delhi the morning of September 10th.

Thank you all for keeping us in your 'thoughts' even in the absence of communication.
That's about it for now.

Shanti (peace) to all...

2006-08-15T14:47:00.000+03:00

Good Afternoon,

Just here checking out the news and what not so I figured I'd write something.

Things are going fairly well here, though yesterday when Dana and I went up to the Indian Embassy to apply for our India visas we found out that my (Joel's) visa will have to be approved by the Indian Embassy in Washington which will take a minimum of five days.

(We've never run into anything like this before as I used to have a 10 year visa until it was stolen and Dana has been able to get visas without this particular hastle when she applied before at least 4 countries various times)

Of course with our tickets to fly on the 23rd and the fact that there are two holidays this week, chances are almost nil for us to get the visa before our flight. So we had to postpone it...

arrrrrrrrrrgggg!!!!!!

well, now that that's out of me, One nice thing is that we'll be able to spend the extra week with family :-) Can't complain about that.

Once we do get back to India we will be pretty busy with some projects there with the School of Hindu Studies. There we'll be working on some new projects such as: ideas for a website. We'll also be continuing our monthly 'Movie Night' with a group of college age people, where we pick a socially and spiritually concious film, watch it, and have discussion.

For now though, not much is happening here - But A LOT is happening in the world.

Of course the Israeli/Lebanese peace deal is dominating CNN international as well as the BBC. But in other news: This past month (July) in Darfur, Sudan (where incidentally - an ENORMOUS amount of suffering is going on - Warring factions, Refugees, Genocide, etc.) has been the worst month for aid worker killings, attacks, and threats.
This is a place where 'Three and a half million people... are dependent on humanitarian aid.' and where 'The UN estimates that at least 70,000 people have died since the start of the conflict'
The irony is that, although this conflict, no, GENOCIDE, has been going on for several years now, it's like it's not even happening - if you only watch the mainstream news.
It's like, NOBODY CARES nearly as much about this as they do about what is happening in Israel and Lebanon (which is also important, but...)
It's absolutely crazy!
And we think we don't have double standards...

Sorry for the political commentary but it's just insane and I feel we're all just so apathetic about it.

We'll keep you updated as we go.

PEACE,

Joel (and Dana)

Family

2006-08-07T14:03:00.000+03:00

Joel, Dana, and Parents at the Park just after sundown

Castle Rishnov seen from the town

Beautiful View

From Joel and Gabe's 'Beach Work Out' video
Order Yours Today, and we'll send you the Calendar, for Free...

An Eye Opening Perspective

2006-08-06T22:27:00.000+03:00

Read This Powerful Article by Martin Accad, accademic dean of the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary.
He wrote this while stranded in the US because of Israel's invasion of his home: Lebanon.

----------------------------------------------------
"If we have the courage to honestly look at ourselves through the eyes of others who are strange and foreign to us or who have been injured and ignored by us, then I believe our hearts will open and the whispering of God’s still, small voice will begin to ring loud and clear in our ears."
-How Does God Speak in a Pluralistic Society?

Time with Family

2006-08-04T15:43:00.000+03:00

Hey All,

Just wanted to update you all on what's going on here.
We had a good month - Especially with our (Joel's) family coming.

We had a great time. My parents were able to take two weeks off this year and come to visit us here after two years apart. We spent a total of 10 days together with them as well as my youngest brother Gabe and Grandma (dad's mom).
We had a great time together and were pretty busy most of the time. We visited two castles in the Carpathian mountains (Transylvania) and spent some days at the Black Sea. :-)
We had some great discussions, went cool places, and ate a lot of really good food. (Romanian food is some of my favorite in the world - with such nice bread, soups, cheeses, etc). We were also blessed with a new camera so we took A LOT of pictures (which of course we will share and have already shared below).
But the best part was finally being able to talk and spend time together regardless of where we were and what we did. It was so nice to finally be together again.

Since they left last Friday we've also been able to spend some time with Dana's family as well - especially with her aunt Claudia and cousin Jennifer before they went back to Germany.
Over all it's been really great.

Gotta run now but we'll share more photos as we go so check out our blog again.

Peace,
Joel and Dana

Ask Philosophers

2006-08-04T15:37:00.000+03:00

We've recently discovered a very interesting website and are posting a link here to share it with you all.

Ask Philosophers

Check it out. It's cool.

Finally together after two years!

2006-08-01T10:16:00.000+03:00

The Boyers and the Dinus - party for Grandma's birthday

We took a trip to Bran Castle (aka Dracula's Castle) but we didn't see much of Dracula himself :-[

Wage Peace!

2006-07-31T18:32:00.000+03:00

Jesus Said:

"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also..."

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you..."

Why is it that we don't take these words seriously?

It is impossible to overcome evil with more evil, violence with violence, Hatred with Hatred.

What is happening now in the 'War on Terror', the War in Iraq, and most recently in Israel, Gaza, and Lebanon, these are examples of the social law of Reciprocity on a massive scale. That is: What you did to me, I am obligated to repay. If you bless me, I bless you. If you curse me, I curse you.

Terror must be confronted. Evil must be resisted. What was done on September 11th (among thousands of other terror attacks) was evil and cannot be justified.
But the problem is that by striking back, by attacking with military might, we are only drawing ourselves into a cycle of Hatred, violence, and bloodshed. More and more people, by the social law of Reciprocity, are obligated to hate, to strike back, and to even give their own lives to kill others.

Jesus calls us to a higher way. He asks us not to step into that cycle of violence and death. He calls us to act in the opposite spirit, to expose injustice and evil for what it is and let the Truth prevail.

We must send this message to our political leaders. The United States will NEVER prevail in the ‘War on Terror’ as long as we continue to use violence to fight it. It is not cowardly to step away from a fight which benefits no one. But this does not mean abandoning the people which we aim to help.

There is another way: Quit the War. It is far to costly with little benefit to anyone. Take the money which is now spent for military purposes (destruction and death), and give those billions towards rebuilding Iraq, Afghanistan and other war torn countries, as well as towards debt relief and to build infrastructure across the Third World where daily people die of hunger and diseases - all easily treatable given access to food, hospitals, and medicine.

Not only will this have the direct effect of rebuilding and saving lives, but it will also cut away the platform of hatred on which Terror organizations thrive, robbing them of their support and their reasons for vengance.

Send this message: ‘We seek to rebuild and to save, not to kill and destroy. We seek your good just as if it’s our own, because it is.’

Watch this short but powerful film: Wage Peace

"An Eye for an eye makes the whole world blind"
-Gandhi

"Almost three thousand people died needlessly and tragically at the World Trade Center on September 11; Ten Thousand Africans die needlessly and tragically every single day - and have died every single day since Sept. 11 - of AIDS, TB, and malaria. We need to keep Sept. 11 in perspective, especially because the ten thousand deaths daily are preventable"

-Jeffrey Sachs, excerpted from his excelent book: 'The End Of Poverty'

Making sense of what senseless really means...

2006-07-13T15:00:00.000+03:00

"Fifteen thousand Africans dying each and every day, of preventable, treatable diseases—AIDS, malaria, TB—for lack of drugs that we take for granted.

"This statistic alone makes a fool of the idea many of us hold on to very tightly: the idea of equality. What is happening in Africa mocks our pieties, doubts our concern, and questions our commitment to that whole concept. Because if we’re honest, there’s no way we could conclude that such mass death day after day would ever be allowed to happen anywhere else. Certainly not in North America, or Europe, or Japan. An entire continent bursting into flames? Deep down, if we really accept their lives—African lifes—are equal to ours, we would all be doing more to put the fire out. It’s an uncomfortable truth.”

“We can be the generation that no longer accepts that an accident of latitude determines whether a child lives or dies—but will we be that generation? ...It’s up to us.”

- Bono (U2) from his introduction to 'The End Of Poverty'

2006-07-05T20:14:00.000+03:00

Durga Kund - A Varanasi Temple

Poverty - Can We Make A Difference?

2006-06-30T17:05:00.000+03:00

Poverty, especially extreme poverty, is something that most of us don't deal with on a regular basis. We live our lives mostly oblivious to the immense suffering which goes on all over the world. Occasionally, when we do see starving children, refugees and other victims or war and disease on TV, we think: 'That's Terrible!', but then we just go right on about our business. I know, I do it myself.

Since coming to India 4 years ago however, Dana and I have been forced to deal with it again and again. Most often for me it's been the beggars. People who are dirty, smelly, and ragged; often times with open wounds or stumps for arms or legs. To many, far to many, are children.

It's difficult to deal with. Sometimes (if I'm honest) they can be really annoying: they won't take no for an answer.

There are two choices:
(a) Harden your heart and turn your back - (Any money you give won't help - they'll be here again tomorow)
The sterio types are there - drunk, lazy, whatever - telling you it's their fault and that you couldn't help them if you tried.
You hear stories about how women buy babies, or parents maim their children so they earn more money on the street. You also hear stories about how some beggars live in mansions or how some are misers, hiding huge amounts of money in their matresses or anywhere they can.)

(b) The other choice is to give a little - usually just two or three coins (the equivelant of 4-6 cents is the recomended amount) or maybe some fruit or something. This is enough to send them away and continue on about your life.

The problem is that both these choices suck!!!!

I've always felt bad in turning my back, even knowing that to give a few coins (which is what the're after) wouldn't help. These people are Human Beings and they deserve to be treated as such. Would Jesus turn his back? No. But neither would He give a few coins simply to get them to leave as quickly as possible.

Lately, I've learned that the answer is not in trying to help everyone. That is impossible. But in respecting everyone, as Human Beings who are loved by God.

Sure, giving some money won't help them escape their life of poverty, but it certainly can't hurt to give something in Love (this is how they earn their bread), look them in the eyes, and say a prayer for them.

The most important thing may be to have Love in our hearts. Love can open us to see Jesus in them.

p.s. "And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' " - Gospel of Matthew 25:40

Pictures of India

2006-06-27T15:02:00.000+03:00

Awesome view
Sunrise

Philip Yancey Interview

2006-06-26T20:13:00.000+03:00

Check out this interview with Philip Yancey

(from Sojourners)

Philip Yancey discusses America, Gandhi, sex, death

The Immigration Debate - A Perspective

2006-06-26T19:17:00.000+03:00

We found a very interesting perspective on the immigration debate.

"Let's face an obvious fact: People tend to want the laws they like to be strictly enforced, and the laws they don't like to be loosely enforced. Conservatives can complain about "amnesty" being offered to illegal immigrants, but we led the charge for a kinder and gentler IRS which had the power to forgive penalties for back taxes..."

To read more, go to:

http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/opinion/14903122.htm

School of Hindu Studies
Sunday Night

Some Interesting Statistics

2006-06-24T23:14:00.000+03:00

A BBC poll found that in spite of being "3 times richer", 36% of people interviewed said they were 'very happy', down from 52% in 1957, .
Research suggests that after an average income of "£10,000 ($18,000) a year, extra money does not make a country any happier."

72% of people said that they would not take "a legally available drug that made them happy if there were no side-effects." 26% said they would.

In an unrelated poll, the Washington Post found that 46% of Americans "have a negative view of Islam".
1/4th of Americans also "admitted to harboring prejudice toward Muslims"

Hindu
Renunciants

Some thoughts on faith...

2006-06-24T15:20:00.000+03:00

If it's true that what we really believe in is what we live for, and that our lives will really show what we believe, then Faith becomes more about a Way Of Life, than a set of beliefs or any particular theology.

Recently Dana and I watched the movie The Da Vinci Code. For the past months we've heard so much about it - how the christians in India called for the movie to be banned and all. My reaction to that was like, 'It's FICTION! What part of the word fiction don't you understand?!'

But having now seen the film, I can see how many 'Churchians' would feel threatened by this movie. It questions assumptions - and people don't like their foundations to be shaken - it causes fear. Many people, not having studied church history and having no real desire to, either blindly defend their assumptions, or may be shaken in their faith. Neither of these reactions are right.

So many people, I feel, hold on to Christianity or 'Churchianity' because it offers safety and security - they hold on to the surety of it all - that there are answers to the tough questions of life and death. Making the unknown, known.

But Jesus was never about comfort. He challenged His disciples, and He shook up the tidy rules and theology the religious leaders had created.

The fact is that any 'Faith' we hold onto is no true Faith until we make it our own, until it becomes real for us.
We must struggle with doubts, and search for Truth. We must reject ignorance and untruth - no matter how comfortable they might be. Until we do, we live in illusion.

Believing all the right things will not save us - Theology can never save us. But Jesus can. He doesn't ask us to be comfortable - He never offered that to His followers. He asked them to Follow Him.

Faith is therefore something to be experienced - a way of life. And as such requires all of us - mind, heart, and life.

"There are many people who arrive at conclusions in life much the same way school boys do; they cheat their teachers by copying the answer book without having worked the problems themselves."
- Soren Kierkegaard

"Truth is not something you can appropriate easily and quickly. You certainly cannot sleep or dream yourself into the truth. No, you must be tried, do battle, and suffer if you are to aquire truth for yourself. ...With respect to aquiring truth to live by, every generation and every individual must essentially begin from the beginning."
-Soren Kierkegaard

"the preacher's temptation, among others, is to deal with those problems only to which there is, however complex and hard to arrive at, a solution."
- from 'Telling the Truth...' by Frederick Buechner

Simone Weil said something to this effect: 'If ever I have to choose between God and Truth. I always choose Truth. And when I do, I find myself running into the arms of Jesus.'

On Love and Life

2006-06-21T15:35:00.000+03:00

I've been challenged lately to apply to my life what I've learned of truth and love - especially love. Jesus' words:

"Love your neighbor as yourself" and "Love your Enemy"

are easy to believe in with our heads, but infinitely harder to really practise. But these words demand to be applied to our lives.

Whatever it is that we really believe in, that is what we will live for,
How we live our lives will truly show what we believe.

As Kierkegaard said: "We must not support high and important things while ignoring the practical, daily stuff of life."

"Dare to act on the good that lies burried within your heart." -K.

In Pictures: Our India

2006-06-21T13:39:00.000+03:00

Ladakh, Kashmir - the Indian Himalaya
Uttarkashi - view of the Ganges river from the roof of a friends house

A Temple in Varanasi durring Deep Depawali - the Festival of Lights
A pattern on one of our sheets
View of the Ghats from Chet Singh Palace, Varanasi

Gatekeeper for the Chet Singh Palace, - The oldest building on the Varanasi Ghats
Sunrise at the Taj Mahal

If the Streets in Heaven will be Paved with Gold...

2006-06-20T21:14:00.000+03:00

If the streets in heaven will be paved with gold, does that show how rich everyone will be, or does it show that gold will be worthless enough to be used as pavement?

"There is enough for man's need but not for man's greed"
- Mahaatma Gandhi

Quotes for Today

2006-06-20T18:51:00.000+03:00

"Everything has been figured out, except how to live."

-Jean Paul Sartre

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."
-Mahaatma Gandhi

Back in Romania

2006-06-20T10:53:00.000+03:00

Romanian Coutryside
At an Orthodox Monastery
Ninetheenth Centry Palace at Sinaia, Romania

I think most of you know now that we're now Safely back in Romania. We've been here a couple of weeks now.
Although our ordeal in Delhi was a hard time for us (having our passports, tickets, and money stolen - and then the 12 days the Indian Bureaucracy took to process our request for exit visas) we made it through alright. With prayer, the normally unhelpful people at the Foreigners Registration Office gave Dana the visa the last day we could leave on our reissued tickets, even though we didn't have all the paperwork from Varanasi.
Now we are here back in Romania for a summer break. It's been nice to be back in Bucharest to visit with family, and for me (Joel) to start learning Romanian (though stressful at times too). We've also been able to begin working on some necessary paperwork for both of us. Not much else is going on here for the moment though.
In July we're looking forward to Joel's parents, grandmother, and brother all flying in to spend a week and a half with us. :-)
We'll keep you all updated and post more pictures as we can.

Joel and Dana

India!

2006-06-19T16:16:00.000+03:00

Joel with a Snake Charmer at the Royal Palace in Jaipur

Crowded Ghats during a festival in Varanasi
Joel and Dana with the kids from Panchkot Ghat.
Varanasi, India. Our Home.

New Blog

2006-06-19T15:53:00.000+03:00

Hi All,

Just wanted to start off our very first blog by posting a couple of our pictures.
Hope you enjoy them.

Joel