"Prayer is where the action is."
~ John Wesley, English theologian 1703 - 1791
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headline today --
House chaplain rescinds resignation after furor over his ouster by Ryan
| | Washington Post
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--------------------- [excerpt from the Independent, May 3, 2018] ----------------- A House of Representatives chaplain who was pushed out by Speaker Paul Ryan has rescinded is resignation amid a backlash.
In a two-page letter to Mr Ryan, Patrick Conroy said he had not heard from the Republican leader until Mr Ryan's chief of staff approached him last month and asked him to resign. Mr Conroy said he had not committed any offences that could merit his being pushed out.
...Instead, Mr Conroy suggested, the decision may have been related to "my November prayer" -- an apparent reference to a speech in which he issued a plea for fairness as Congress was debating a major tax overhaul. The measure was a priority for Mr Ryan, who has advocated tax cuts throughout his political career.
...Mr Ryan's decision to ask for Mr Conroy's resignation stoked controversy, with legislators from both parties questioning the move and signing onto a letter demanding more information.
...In a separate interview with the Independent, Virginia Democrat Gerry Connolly said some House members suspected the priest was being punished for his political beliefs. -------------------------------- [end, excerpt]
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In the prayer, Father Conroy had asked that legislators' efforts "guarantee that there are not winners and losers under new tax laws, but benefits balanced and shard by all Americans."
That doesn't sound controversial, from here.
To hear that the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives is picking on a priest, is weird, on several levels.
Level 1. Freedom of speech -- the priest can say stuff
Level 2. Freedom of religion -- the priest can pray
Level 3. Freedom of thought -- the priest can be in favor of fairness to Americans -- and he could be against it, too, he has the freedom to think his own thoughts and express them...
Level 4. The priest asked for consideration of a proposed law's fairness -- for Speaker Ryan to "punish" him for that is very "off" because as a congressman from Wisconsin who represents humans, common sense says Speaker Ryan should be in favor of fairness, himself.
If he isn't, then something is weird, there.
And the priest is free to request consideration for fairness to working Americans and, morally, Ryan really isn't free to punish the priest for that.
If Ryan wants to go outside morality (in two ways, by legislating financial unfairness, and by punishing a priest for standing up for what he believes) -- then Ryan is -- "free" -- to punish the priest -- in the same way that a bank robber is "free" to rob a bank. He -- can -- do it -- but is it a good idea...?
Level 5. If the tax bill had failed, then Speaker Ryan would still be wrong to take revenge on the priest for speaking about the bill's fairness but you could at least trace a line of thought back to the idea that Ryan might be really upset that the bill failed, and he believed it was a good and necessary bill, and was suffering strong disappointment. You could see a form of logic, or sense, even if it was faulty and flawed.
But the bill did not fail, it passed. By requesting consideration of fairness to working Americans, Father Conroy did not kill the bill or do anything to it. The bill passed. Paul Ryan got what he wanted. And he's still mad. ("The priest must be fired!")
------------------------ This is a phenomenon I've observed in politics and I found it very surprising because it seemed unreasonable and futile. The phenomenon of "the sore winner."
When we're children, we are taught to never be "a sore loser" -- you congratulate the winner, and practice more to become better at the game. You grow up with that world view.... I was way into adulthood before I ever encountered a "sore winner." A man who had won a statewide election and got into a phone conversation with me where he just ended up ranting about his opponent.
(You know... he won - !...?) Sitting at my desk by a north window, holding the phone a couple of inches away from my ear, I thought, "I've heard of a sore loser, but I've never heard of a 'sore winner' before -- learning something new..." [very weird...]
I'm reminded of those moments, when thinking of Paul Ryan's problems... his bill passed, his priest prayed, what is the problem?
Sounds like a "sore winner" who can't stop spinning -- who just wants to hurt somebody, and he doesn't even know why. It's like the observations made by Anthony Scaramucci, mentioned in this blog, March 19, 2018 --
"In Washington, they actually get off on hurting each other.
They earn badges or stripes on their lapel if they hurt somebody else... '...Look at me, look how cool I am! Look how important I am.' They do that to each other and they admire it from each other....
These are terrible people. By and large, they are vicious people..."
This is Mr. Scaramucci's opinion, based on his observations -- I want to disagree with it -- but the actions and behaviors we read about and hear about seem to fit right in with the perspective expressed above.
Level 6. And it would be possible to find some trail of sense and logic in Paul Ryan wanting to be "rid of" the "turbulent priest," as Henry II said -- if Speaker Ryan were remaining in Congress and somehow felt he couldn't work well with that particular priest (although that's a stretch), but Ryan is leaving Congress anyway, he recently announced he wasn't going to run again! -- ?!
...Dude! It's hard to help you! The search for logic and reason keeps coming up empty...
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