Watching Trains

Well, we didn’t exactly pitch a wang dang doodle (lyrics to the song here), but we did have a pleasant family gathering at my house yesterday to celebrate Father’s Day and our daughter-in-law Sarah’s birthday.  Of course part of the celebration meant playing with our grandchildren.  We took them to the swimming pool, and the play ground, and we let them ride their little electric car and tractor.

But one of the kids most enjoyable pleasures is watching trains.

If you go east about three blocks from my house, the road will dead end before the railrood tracks.  Or, if you look south from my front yard through a clearing in the trees you can see the same track about the same distance as it bends around.

Elijah is three now and Ari is one.  For about a year when Elijah has been at our house every time he hears the train whistle, he will come get me and we will run out to the front porch to watch the train.  Or sometimes, if my pickup truck is parked in the right spot, we can sit on the tailgate and see both spots on the track.

I remember last summer when Elijah screamed, like it was an emergency, “Grandpa!”  and I came running from the other room to take him out to watch the trains.  He is a little more subdued now, but he still likes to watch every one.  A couple weeks ago when he was with us for the weekend, just before time to go home we heard one more whistle.  He looked at me, then thought for a moment and said, “We can just sit here in the living room and listen.”  Then he thought for a second or two more and took my hand and led me back out to the porch to watch.

Now Ari is watching the trains with us too.  If I don’t pick her up and carry her out, it will break her heart.  I can’t hear the trains whistles now without thinking of the kids.

Of course train whistles are famous in country music for having a sad lonesome sound–and sometimes I get a melancholy feeling, wondering if the day will come when the kids will lose their innocence and enthusiasm.  It’s hard to imagine a sullen thirteen-year-old getting excited about a railroad train.  But not all teenagers are sullen all the time; I’ve met a few cheerful confident adolescents.  And most of the others grow out of it.

Then I think of the day in the future, when Elijah and Ari will have children of their own.  Maybe they will come visit me; maybe I’ll be in a wheelchair, but they will push me outside to watch the trains when they hear the whistle.

A Difficult Topic

Imagine a frantic mother being restrained by firefighters in front of a burning house.  We can understand why she want to risk her life to save her child, but we can also understand that if the case is hopeless, at least her life should be spared.

Imagine the same scene with a twist.  The mother realizes the case is hopeless and heartbroken, sits on the ground sobbing.  Now imagine someone trying to force her into the house, risking her life in a vain attempt to save the child.

Americans are deeply divided on abortion.  Depending on how the questions are framed, about half are broadly “pro-choice” and the other half are generally “pro-life.”

The vast majority of those who oppose abortion believe it should be allowed in extreme cases: certainly to save the mother’s life, and nearly all agree it should be allowed in cases of rape or incest.  I say “nearly all,” because I know some argue that even the product of rape has a right to live; but I can’t imagine any state passing a law restricting abortion without provisions for cases of rape or incest.

My internet friend Margaret has sent a link to a thoughtful article in the NY Times by Judith Warner–you should also read the followup comments.  Earlier Margaret sent a link to an article by her writing teacher relating her tragic experience.  Margaret also related her own story in a comment here.

If these stories don’t make you sad enough, Valerie Tarcio tells her own tragic story here.  Valerie is a former evangelical Christian who became an atheist.  She is less abrasive and more thoughtful than most of the outspoken atheists today.  I’ve seen firsthand enough of the dark side of evangelical Christianity, although I will probably read her book on the subject.

As I say, I’ve seen enough to be sympathetic to Valerie, but I have also seen enough of the good that people of faith do–and the good that faith does in their life–that I hope I will be a reformer rather than an apostate.

Another Church Shooting

An usher was murdered at a Lutheran church in Wichita yesterday.  Back in March, Clint Van Zandt reported,

So far this year, churches in 39 states have reported 141 incidents, including shots fired, robberies, burglaries and bomb threats. Some shooters are liberals, some conservatives, some act under the belief that God ordered them to do so while others do not believe in God or organized religion.  (Newsvine)

Yesterday’s murder was likely perpetrated by someone who believed he was doing God’s will, since the victim was the late-term abortion provider Dr. George Tiller.  As usual, the Phred Felps family, which celebrates all murders, showed up to applaud Tiller’s murder.

Phred Felps himself is a case of how something can start out apparently good and then go awry.  In the 1960’s and ’70s he represented many African Americans in civil rights cases.   He and his daughter claim they systematically took on and dismantled the Jim Crow laws in the state (more here).  Then sometime around 1977, something snapped, and he was eventually disbarred.

I know many people who describe themselves as Pro-Life.   Most are quiet and humble.  A few have participated in quiet demonstrations, but most have never taken part in any form of public protest.  I don’t know any who approve of violence.  Of course, some will brand all who are prolife as dangerous fanatics.  Yesterday’s violence will be more than a setback for the movement.  I suspect it will quietly fade away, at least as far as being any kind of public political movement.

Maybe some will continue to work to reduce the number of crisis pregnancies and to support women who are pregnant in difficult circumstances.

The following may not seem related, but to me it is.  Last week a jury in Kentucky spared the life of Steven Green, who had been convicted of murder and rape in Iraq.  You could not imagine a more horrendous crime than the one planned and committed by Green.  If any crime ever deserved death, it was his.  Yet, the jury chose to deal a measure of mercy, giving him life without parole.

This leads me to a simple conclusion: It is time to abolish the death penalty in America.  Capital punishment might  be a deterrent where it is swift and sure, but in our system it will always be rare and agonizingly slow.  It can never be applied consistently, and so it can never be fair.

The Kentucky jury’s failure to choose execution for Green is an insult to the people of Iraq.  Than can see it only as an indication that American’s regard their lives as less valuable than the lives of others.  If capital punishment had never been an option, at least they would have had the consolation that we had given the harshest penalty possible to the perpetrator of this monstrous crime.

My further conclusion is that the only way to be pro-life is to be consistently nonviolent, and to work consistently for peaceful solutions to problems, however difficult the problems may be.

Read a Book, Write a Book

Tar Heel Reader

OK, here in Kansas we have forgiven the Tar Heels for stealing our coach, especially since we won the national championship last year with our new coach.  This year–uh, was a rebuilding year and some other team won  it.

The “Tar Heel Reader” is a fun site, sponsored the University of North Carolina.  You can write your own book or read books written by others.  The target users are children and teenagers.  The site provides authors with photographs; and so far there are books in eight languages, including Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and German.  It’s a great way to learn a little bit of a foreign language, or to express your creativity.

Thanks to Seumus MacDonald for the tip!

Changing the World, One T-Shirt at a Time

Today was graduation at MCC, the college where I teach.  The commencement speaker challenged the graduates to “Change the World.”

And the funny thing is, I think they will.  Three or four (or five or six) years ago, they were awkward, uncertain kids just out of high school, without too many clues.  Some are still finding their way; but some have a sense of confidence, focus, and purpose.

Three of my students and former students–actually, I don’t know if any of them are today’s graduates; one graduated a year ago, the other two have a year or two to go–have a plan to change part of the world.

They are going to an impoverished urban area in South Africa.  They want to empower women there.  One of them, diminuitive in size, has a big dream.  She has supported herself in college the last couple years by making T-shirts.

So this team of three young women from the US is going halfway around the world to help their sisters south of the equator set up a T-shirt shop.  They hope this adventure in small enterprise will do a small part in building a local economy and giving women some control over their own lives.

The alumna in our group will also be working in the public  schools, teaching girls how to reduce their likelihood of contracting AIDS and other STD’s.  It won’t be an “abstinence only” program–but she will be trying to give the girls confidence that they have the right to say “No.”

That will be a completely new concept for some of the young women.  They have never been told they have a right to choose what kind of life they want to have.

Other of our graduates will be doing different things.  Some are going on to graduate school in marriage and family therapy, some will be teachers, some are going into business, others into church-vocations as pastors, worship leaders, youth ministers.

And some are still finding themselves, even if that means moving back home and working for a while to pay off student loans.  There’s nothing wrong with that either.  I’m guessing there will still be things in the world that need changing three or four years from now.

I’d Love to Change the World

So, a Christian is someone who wants to change the world.  Since I’m trying to be clear, maybe I had better add the words “for the better.”  Many people have changed the world for the worse, but I  want to make the world a better place.  Maybe this is obvious, but I can think of three common objections; and I’d like to consider them before going on.

1. There are a lot of people who want to change the world.
   
2. I thought you Christians were only interested in another world.
3. What does faith have to do with it?

There are a lot of people who want to change the world for the better.  There are a lot of people who care about war, poverty, disease, oppression, injustice, global warming, education.  There are a lot of people who have compassion and are doing something about it.

That’s great, the more the better.  I’m not trying to prove that Christians are better than other people or the only ones who care.  I’m just saying, if you are a Christian you should care.  I am saying among those who care, Christians are included.  In the civil rights movement, in health clinics around the world, in organizations like physicians without borders, engineers without borders, amnesty international, Christians work side by side with people of other faiths and people of no faith.

Christians want to go to heaven when they die, yes.  I recently wrote about my aunt’s passing, and I’m glad my family has the hope that she lives now in the presence of God.  When I think about Jesus’ teaching about the final great judgment one thing stands out.  We will have to give an account for how we have treated the poor in this world, here and now.  Belief that there is a better world coming motivates us to do what we can to improve conditions in this world.

What does faith have to do with it?  When we lived in Memphis I met a woman who had worked in the juvenile justice system for about thirty years.  Trying to make conversation I said,

It must be difficult work.

She agreed.  But then, wanting to say something positive I said,

But it must be gratifying when a young person comes back some day and says, “Thank you, you helped me turn my life around.”

She said,

That has never happened.

I’ve thought about that ever since.  Whatever it was that kept her going–I have to admire it.  For me, I need either to see results or at least to trust that it’s all in someone’s hands who is bigger than me.

Christians believe that changing the world is God’s work.  But he has called us to participate in his work.  A Christian is someone who wants to participate in what God is doing in the world.  Our motto is not pray instead of working but work and pray.

What Is a Christian?

I’m going to start a series on this topic.  I will speak from my own perspective because no one else has authorized me to present theirs.  I’m answering really, what it means to me to be a Christian, or what I desire to be.  I’m not trying to exclude anyone, I am just trying to clarify my own thinking and maybe help anyone else who happens to be looking over my shoulder.

1. A Christian is someone who wants to change the world.
2. A Christian is someone who want to be made whole.
3. A Christian is someone who wants to connect with God and people of faith.

That’s all pretty simple, pretty basic, and also pretty important.  Maybe I need to elaborate a little bit.  I noticed that definitions 1 and 2 don’t say anything about God, and none of them even mention Jesus.  Further, they don’t really distinguish Christian commitment from other religious or nonreligious commitments.  Since I’m not trying to exclude anyone, maybe that doesn’t matter; but since I’m trying to be clear, maybe it does matter.

Alright, I’ll add a little detail to number 1.

A Christian is someone who wants to change the world.

More specifically, a Christian believes that God is working to change the world and that Jesus is God’s agent in changing the world. So,

A Christian is someone who is following Jesus in God’s work of changing the world.

Does Using the Interstate Highways Make Me a Socialist?

Last weekend I went on a road trip with some of my fellow faculty and students.  We enjoyed passing through parts of six states on the Eisenhower Interstate Highway system.  I was about five months old when the Republican president from Abilene signed the bill that made the interstate highway system possible.

Was it socialism?  If socialism means centralized planning, massive public (i.e., taxpayer) investment, and government control–then the interstate highways were absolutely an experiment in socialism.

Think of how the private economy could have built a highway system.  Landowners could have built roads on their own property and chosen whether to retain the exclusive use or to lease or sell access.  They could have negotiated agreements with their neighbors.

Or corporations could have attempted to buy up long contiguous strips of land and build private highways.  They could then sell access for a profit.

When you think through all the ramifications, it is hard to think of any practical way that private initiative and private funding could have built the kind of highway system we have today.

A little more than fifty years ago our president and congress made the decision to provide every citizen with universal access to travel in every state. They even have interstate highways in Hawaii–think about that!

Acquiring the land did require federal seizure of private property.  Therefore, building the Interstate Highway System was promoted as a military necessity.  The main impact, however, has been economic rather than military.

The internate highway system was a massive project in social engineering, involving a massive public investment of funds–and it has been a massive financial success.  Nearly all of the growth in prosperity in the past fifty years has been directly or indirectly related to the interstate highways.

But now it is time for a new economy not based on the automobile.  Is it time for a new investment in the future?

Money that is wasted by short-sided politicians will certainly be a drain on my grandchildren.  But wise investment in the future could lead to increased prosperity for the next generations.

A year ago I visited the decaying ruins of state socialism in countries formerly dominated by the Soviet Union.  I don’t want any part of that.  But I also don’t want to label any public investment in the future as socialism.  Someone has to rebuild the infrastructure, fund education, and prepare the way for the economy of the future.

Earth Day

Happy Earth Day

The day before Easter Sunday we helped Alex and Margaret burn the pastures.  Not a scorched-earth tactic, it is actually an environmentally friendly, natural way of managing the prairie.

Alex and Margaret send this message:

EatingWell This Week

Happy Earth Day All!!        Do something green today- recycle if you are not, drive less-walk or bike more, take your sack lunch,

pick up someone else’s litter, Carry on the spirit!!!!

It can start a snowball effect!!!!!

mj

Margaret participated in the first Earth Day, back in 1971.  She was a student back then, full of youth, energy, and idealism.  She still has those same qualities, to which she has also added wisdom.

Have You Had that Talk with Your Son?

It used to be parents found it difficult to have “the talk” with their adolescent children–the talk about “the facts of life.”  I can remember when I was six or seven years old taking family road trips and stopping for a restroom break.  I remember asking my dad what those vending machines were for (the ones that said, back then, “Sold only for prevention of disease.”)

My dad would get embarrassed and say, “uh, we’ll talk about that later; they’re waiting for us in the car.”

The book of Proverbs in the Bible portrays a father talking with his son about some important facts of life, warning him of the pitfalls that await a naive young man.  Of course he warns him about being enticed by a wicked woman, the one who says,

Come, let’s drink deep of love till morning; let’s enjoy ourselves with love!  My husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey (Proverbs 7:18-19).

He warns his son that her house is a highway to hell (Proverbs 7: 27).  But earlier in the book he warned his son about another danger that entices many young men–violence.  The words of the foolish young men, the youth gangs that prowled the streets of ancient Palestine, are similar to the words of the foolish woman.

Come along with us; let’s lie in wait for someone’s blood, let’s waylay some harmless soul . . . throw in your lot with us, and we will share a common purse (Proverbs 1:11-14).

Today is the tenth anniversary of the murders at Columbine.  If it wasn’t hard enough to talk to your kids about sex and drugs, parents now have to talk to them about murder and violence.  But we can’t afford to be silent.

Don’t Serve the Devil

In the Greek New Testament the word for devil is diabolos (el diablo in Spanish); the basic meaning of the word is “slanderer,” or “one who throws accusations around.”

In the Hebrew Bible the character ha-Satan makes a very rare appearance in the book of Job (the descendants of Jacob didn’t spend much time thinking about the devil). 

Satan in Hebrew means “the adversary.”  He does appear in Job in an adversarial, accusing role.  He slanders Job, saying the holy man only serves God for selfish motives.  The Lord defends Job’s honor by letting the slanderer tempt Job–and Job said “thanks a lot!”

In the book of Revelation the devil appears once more as the one who “accuses the brethren day and night before God.”  The devil is most true to his name when he is slandering someone.  So it makes sense to say that slanderers are serving the devil.

Last month when I went to a conference on the Dead Sea Scrolls at a seminary in Kansas City, it was the weekend after a pastor in Illinois was murdered.  He was an alumnus and adjunct professor at the seminary.  A group of picketers showed up to slander him.  This particular group of slanderers loves to quote from Romans chapter 1.  But they skip over the verse about “slanderers” or “revilers” as the King James Version has it, who are condemned as sinners, along with the “insolent” and the “ruthless.”

Of course that family of picketers is well known for their ruthless publicity stunts.  They are the ones who threatened to picket at the funeral of the Amish girls who were murdered in Pennsylvania a couple years ago.

What bothers me is that otherwise well-meaning, kind and gentle people engage in the sin of slander, in the form of spreading rumors without checking the facts.   A current rumor goes like this: a famous fashion designer admitted on the Oprah show to giving a percentage of the profits to the church of Satan.

Snopes.com is a good source for checking out rumors and urban legends.  Since–as anyone who knows me will gladly tell you–I know nothing about fashion or fashion designers, I went to Snopes.  It turns out the the designer in question has never been on the Oprah show.

Why would I trust Snopes rather than some other internet source?  I can give two answers.

1)  They document their sources.

2)  Suppose I didn’t know who was telling the truth?  I would still have to say, “If I don’t know for certain, I have no right to slander someone based on something I read on the internet or heard over coffee with a buddy.”

So if you are worried about people worshiping the Devil, at least don’t serve him yourself by doing his work for him.  Don’t pass on rumors.  If you hear something that concerns you,  check it out from some reliable sources.  Why not go to your local library and ask the reference librarian for help?

In Memory

My aunt Alice pass away this morning, a few months after being diagnosed with cancer.  My mother and their youngest sister were with her when she passed.

My mother has lost three sisters younger than her (all to cancer), a younger brother and an older sister to heart attacks.  My mom herself is doing fairly well after having bypass surgery just before Christmas.

They used to all get together when one had a birthday–it reminded me of Job’s children in the Bible.   My mom now has one sister remaining in the Kansas City area, one in Chicago, and a brother in Cabool, Missouri.

Aunt Alice was unlucky in love, betrayed by two men in her life.  In between the two brief, unhappy marriages she raised a learning-disabled son, our cousin Brian.  Her life wasn’t easy; yet, she always seemed cheerful; she was always fun loving.

She was a believer and follower in Jesus.  As our family celebrates Good Friday and Easter, we will remember the promise, “This day you will be with me in paradise.”

The Queen’s Charm

Royal Hugg courtesy Huffington Post

Some media pundits wanted to portray it as a breach in protocol when the First Lady touched the queen of England.  But according to witnesses, the queen herself initiated the mutual exchange of affection.

I am glad the queen had the good grace to recognize an American ceremonial ritual.  The two women have a lot in common.  Neither was elected to any political office:  They both hold ceremonial and symbolic positions, and in that sense, they do represent their people.  The American First Lady is the closest thing to royalty that we have.

We call her first lady, not in the sense of “your ladyship,” but according to the quaint, almost obsolete custom of referring to any respectable woman above the age of–oh, 25 to 30 (maybe younger if she is married and has children) as a lady.

Of course, it would be unconstitutional to address Mrs. Obama as “Your Ladyship” or to use any other title of nobility.  It is unconstitutional for us to recognize or bestow such titles; so if Mrs. Obama had breached royal protocol, she would have been in compliance with the document her husband has sworn (both on-camera and off) to uphold.

But there was no constitutional crisis and no social faux pas.  Both women seemed to share genuine affection for one another.

I’m Hooked

I met a new writer today, and I’m hooked.  A link on another site led me to the “Omega Course.”   Helen Ingram is using the blog format to write a novel about Jesus and Magic.

A year ago I was in Scotland and learned that the church there was using the Alpha Course as a nonthreatening way of introducing people to the life of following Jesus.  The Alpha Course has been around for a while, and it seems to be fairly popular.

The Omega Course is a way of introducing interested readers to the life of scholarship about Jesus and biblical studies.

It’s a success.  Helen has got me hooked.  I like her writing.

Of course, in the upside-down world of blogging you have to go back to the beginning and start reading from the bottom up.  The first post is “Biting the Bullet” from February 15, 2009.

Announcing the IBF

My colleague the Vagabond Professor and I like to give visual-aid assignments to our students.  The photo above is one of my students, Kasey,  with his Gospel Globe.  I have in my office a replica of the Moabite Stone, some Egyptian papyrii, and the bulla from the seal belonging to Jeremiah’s scribe Baruch.

Since creating replicas can be a valuable educational experience for students, today we announce the founding of the Institute for Biblical Forgeries, the IBF.  The IBF will include a lab for the fabrication of authentic facsimiles, a greenhouse for growing papyrus, a clay pit for mining cuneiform tablet grade clay, a scriptorium, a pottery wheel, a bronze smelter, and other necessary technology for producing authentic facsimiles.

We are negotiating with the College of Agriculture at Kansas State University on the prospect of breeding parchment-grade livestock.  The Department of Genetics has also expressed an interested in research on the feasibility of splicing caprine genes into strawberries with the aim of producing vegan parchment.

In addition to producing replicas for educational purposes, the IBF will sponsor an annual colloquium for the serious purpose of studying the phenomena of actual forgeries in classical antiquities, ancient art, and biblical-related studies.  A world class team of experts will be invited as participants.

Finally, a generous bequest by the Bernie and Ruth Madoff Foundation, will make possible the construction of the Museum of Biblical Forgeries.  Scholars are currently investigating future acquisitions.  According to Beni Eretz,

We want to be absolutely certain we are dealing with a genuine forgery before we make the acquisition.  It would be a real embarrasment to find out something on display as a forgery turned out to be authentic.

Are There Too Many of Us?

The earth is finite; it would be idolatrous to suggest otherwise.  There is a limit to how much human life the earth can sustain, and we are probably getting close to that limit.  Overcrowding is already causing immense human suffering.

The population is exploding in the poorest areas of the world; the birthrate is shrinking in wealthier nations.  When women have access to opportunity, education, and health care, the population problem takes care of itself.

In countries like the United States and most European nations, the birthrate is already below 2.1 per couple, the “zero-growth rate.”  Those few couples with more than two are three children are statistically insignificant.

So, it makes no sense to call for oppressive laws to limit family size in countries that already have a negative growth rate.  Freedom, not coercion, is what is bringing the size of families down.   Yet, some in the UK–a country that already has a negative population rate–are calling for mandatory enforcement of a two-child rule.

The problem is not the rare families who want to have several children.  The problem is the economic assumption that growth in consumption equals economic health.

The Optimum Population Trust calculates that ‘each new UK birth will be responsible for 160 times more greenhouse gas emissions . . . than a new birth in Ethiopia’. (Telegraph).

The solution is not for wealthier countries to stop having babies.  The solution is for people in wealthy countries change their consumption habits and help people in poor countries gain access to education, opportunity, and healthcare.

Earth Hour Is Upon Us

Tonight at 8:30 PM citizens around the world will turn the lights off for one hour as a symbolic gesture.  This is the Lenten season when many people are voluntarily fasting or giving up something as a sign of repentance and humility.  Unplugging for one hour is what I call a “coal fast.”

Will it change the world?  Symbolic gestures don’t change the world in themselves.  What they do is raise consciousness.  And a change in awareness could make us take other actions.  Here is what people in other countries are doing:

In Switzerland, the city of Geneva plans to switch off the lights on its theaters, churches and monuments. Among these are the Reformation Wall, where floodlights normally illuminate 10-foot (three-meter) statues of John Calvin and other leaders of Protestantism. The city’s motto engraved on either side of the statues is:

“After darkness, light.”

Romania planned to turn off lights at the massive palace built in Bucharest by the late dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.  (more from Yahoo News)

Last night I attended a Care of Creation seminar.  I learned that one in four mammals is endangered, and one in three mammals, and half of the world’s frogs.  Half of the world’s forests, wetlands, and grasslands are endangered or already gone.

Turning off the power for an hour and meditating on what we can do individually and collectively, might be a good way to spend the evening of the fifth Sunday in Lent.

Coming Soon–The Scrolls Online

Israel is working on a project to make all of the Dead Sea Scrolls available online  ( NY Times).   Meanwhile, you can see an impressive representation of the great Isaiah scroll via the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.  The scroll is even scrollable.  (Click here, then click on the “Isaiah Scroll” tab on the right.)  The Temple scroll is more fragmentary at the beginning, but is also impressive.

Who Am I?

Whoops!  I meant to post the following comment on “Theological German,” but accidentally placed it here.  Oh well, I guess I’ll leave it here.  If you are interested, the book is in English.

Dave Black recommends a new book on Bonhoeffer’s Poetry, due out in June from T&T Clark.

For a sample, see “Christen und Heiden” posted earlier here in three installments (1, 2, and 3).

By the way, Dave also says he is not opposed to Greek students using helps, if that’s what they need.  I assume the same would apply to German.

Conscience and Nursing

Lethal injection is considered a humane and sanitary means of dispatching convicted murderers.  Inserting an IV requires skill and training.  Here is what one nurse says,

Past experiences influence my belief that the essential vein will not be accessed on the first try. Despite the diminutive size of the needle, there is still pain with it’s insertion.

Worse than blood draws is the starting of an IV for either medication or for hydration. Now, we’re talking about a much larger IV needle. I have started IV’s for 30 years and never had one myself until six years ago, where it took the nurse four tries before she called another nurse to successfully start my IV. The first nurse was frustrated which only added to her difficulty with each of her next several attempts. I was so tense, that my veins went into hiding, “determined” to not be accessed by anyone!  (More here)

So, if we are going to have lethal injections we need trained professionals, specifically nurses, to do the deed.  But what if most nurses are conscientiously opposed to killing? When the federal prison in Indiana needed an executioner for Timothy McVeigh in 2001, they had to go all the way to Missouri to find a nurse willing to inject the poison cocktail.  David Pinkley was on probation in a plea bargain after stalking and threatening another man and his family.  He was willing to use his medical skills to end the life of America’s most notorious mass murderer (more here).  Presumably, he followed procedure and used an alcohol swab before delivering the potion (see Why an Alcohol Swab).

What would happen if all nurses refused to volunteer for the work of execution?  Would there be some sort of draft?  Would it be like jury duty?

Should nurses who conscientiously object be protected–or should they be fired if they refuse a summons to execution duty?

Do we want health care professionals with a conscience, or do we want doctors like Joseph Mengele and his subordinates who mindlessly followed his orders?

(More at Amnesty International)