Disturbing News

Sometimes, it doesn't pay to get up early and read the paper. Two cases in point, the first from the land formerly associated with the rising sun:

But here, they [a few Japanese kidnapped by North Korea, decades ago] are still a burning issue, kept alive in the news media every day by nationalist politicians and groups that pound at the topic as firmly as their cherished goals, such as jettisoning the pacifist Constitution and instilling patriotism and moral values in schools.

The highly emotional issue has contributed to silencing more moderate voices who expose themselves to physical harm or verbal threats from the right wing.

By championing this one cause, Mr. Abe rose from obscurity to become prime minister three months ago. But Mr. Abe, who has backpedaled on economic changes undertaken by his popular predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, has begun to plummet in the polls. To survive politically, he will probably have to keep leaning on the abduction issue.

In a move that raised concerns about the news media’s freedom, Mr. Abe recently ordered the public broadcaster, NHK, to further emphasize abductions in its international radio broadcasts. NHK agreed, even though it had already been devoting about a third of its news content to the topic in the first nine months of this year, according to NHK.

(source)

Moderates being silenced by right-wing yahoos. A weak leader fanning the flames to distract attention from nationwide problems. Public broadcasting being controlled by the executive branch. Hey, we have all that here, too! I'n't grate?

And …

In Virginia, the two large [Episcopalian] churches are voting on whether they want to report to the powerful archbishop of Nigeria, Peter Akinola, an outspoken opponent of homosexuality who supports legislation in his country that would make it illegal for gay men and lesbians to form organizations, read gay literature or eat together in a restaurant.

(source)

Usually, I am happy to read about any big church organization breaking up. Divide and conquer, or at least, divide and lessen the political clout, I say. But it's awfully troubling to think that there are enough members of any organization, especially one professing to believe in Jesus, who would consider even for a moment choosing to take marching orders from a wingnut like Akinola. The fact that there are enough of them to merit a vote makes me want to go back to bed and pull the covers over my head.