Her voice was an accompaniment to the black-and-white images of the freedom marchers who walked the roads of Alabama and Mississippi and the boulevards of Washington in quest of an end to racial discrimination.

Rosa Parks, the woman who started the boycott of segregated buses in Montgomery, Ala., was once asked which songs meant the most to her. She replied, “All of the songs Odetta sings.”

Odetta, Voice of Civil Rights Movement, Dies at 77

Goodbye, Mr. Presisent

Maybe it will do well with the bottom 30.

via Blake C Hickman

United Church News has this remarkable story:

The peaceful tone of the Rev. Marvin Morgan's voice belies the passion of his message: It's time to get "personal" in eliminating the death penalty. Morgan's willingness to take the place of Troy Davis on death row in Georgia appears to be the ultimate gesture.

"If each of us were to be placed in shackles and led to the execution chambers, knowing we are innocent...try to imagine what that must be like," says Morgan, minister of pastoral care and counseling at First Congregational UCC in Atlanta.

On Sept. 22, Morgan and Davis' friend, Steve Woodall, hand-delivered to the office of Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue a letter requesting that Davis' execution be prevented. "If you are not willing to do so," Morgan wrote, "I, Marvin L. Morgan, do hereby request that you (the State of Georgia) take my life instead of that of Troy Davis, and allow Troy to be set free. I am available immediately to be taken into custody so that this request may be carried forward."

The case has drawn world-wide attention - with voices such as Archbishop Tutu and others calling for Mr. Davis to be removed from Death Row. 

Amnesty International reported in 2007:

Troy Anthony Davis has been on death row in Georgia for more than 15 years for the murder of a police officer he maintains he did not commit. Given that all but three of the witnesses who testified against Troy Davis at his trial have since recanted or contradicted their testimony amidst allegations that some of it had been made under police duress, there are serious and as yet unanswered questions surrounding the reliability of his conviction and the state’s conduct in obtaining it. As the case currently stands, the government’s pursuit of the death penalty contravenes international safeguards which prohibit the execution of anyone whose guilt is not based on “clear and convincing evidence leaving no room for an alternative explanation of the facts”.

Amnesty International does not know if Troy Davis is guilty or innocent of the crime for which he is facing execution. As an abolitionist organization, it opposes his death sentence either way. It nevertheless believes that this is one in a long line of cases in the USA that should give even ardent supporters of the death penalty pause for thought. For it provides further evidence of the danger, inherent in the death penalty, of irrevocable error. As the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court wrote in 1993, “It is an unalterable fact that our judicial system, like the human beings who administer it, is fallible. Or as a US federal judge said in 2006, “The assessment of the death penalty, however well designed the system for doing so, remains a human endeavour with a consequent risk of error that may not be remediable.”

A new hearing has been set for November 9.

Please keep all those involved in your prayers.

Will President-elect Obama and Congress "make life more difficult for the unborn?"  That's the charge made by Household of Faith Community Church, which is promoting a new "pro-life" film entitled "Come What May."

The Oregon-based congregation sent my office an invitation to a screening of the film.  Read their hyper-partisan invite and my response calling on them to support common ground approaches advocated by the president-elect to reduce the number of abortions and to support families.

Response from Rev. Chuck Currie to Household of Faith Community Church.    

(Note how they assume all pastors are men).

"For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly. You may have seen him perched on some dead Tree near the River, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the Labour of the Fishing Hawk; and when that diligent Bird has at length taken a Fish, and is bearing it to his Nest for the Support of his Mate and young Ones, the Bald Eagle pursues him and takes it from him.

"With all this Injustice, he is never in good Case but like those among Men who live by Sharping & Robbing he is generally poor and often very lousy. Besides he is a rank Coward: The little King Bird not bigger than a Sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the District. He is therefore by no means a proper Emblem for the brave and honest Cincinnati of America who have driven all the King birds from our Country....

"I am on this account not displeased that the Figure is not known as a Bald Eagle, but looks more like a Turkey. For the Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America... He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on."

--Benjamin Franklin, in a letter to his daughter

It is a Thanksgiving tradition of mine to post this letter from Mr. Franklin.  I wonder if we would be eating Eagle today had he won the debate?  Happy Thanksgiving!

It was three years ago this week that I was diagnosed with a pheochromocytoma, a nasty little tumor "which arises from the adrenal medulla and overproduces adrenaline" it can "be a deadly tumor because of the severe elevation in blood pressure it causes," according to Endrocrine.com. 

Dr. Greg Baker in St. Louis first caught it (a very good catch - these tumors are often found in autopsies and not before) and Dr. William Connor from OHSU (a friend of mine from Portland's First United Methodist Church) had me on a plane the next day to come home for treatment.  I was in my final two weeks of M.Div. studies at Eden Theologocal Seminary in Missouri when all this took place.  Academic Dean Deb Krause and the faculty arranged for my final papers to be turned in after surgery.

Dr. Bart Duell and Dr. Brett C. Sheppard put me back together again over the course of a couple of weeks.  Dr. Sheppard was the top-notch suregon who took the tumor out (with only 24-hours in the ICU afterwards) and Dr. Duell became my endocrinologist.  Dr. Duell checks me up every six months and so far so good.  I'm forever in debt to all those who helped me out.  That's certainly true 10x over for Liz and the rest of my family

There is a five year window on these types of tumors.  If one has not reoccurred after five years you are pretty much in the clear.  Only two more years of tests before they let me go for good.  I'm thankful for the gift of life, all the good care, the last three years with my chidren, and I'm thankful to have a future to look forward to.      

We are still early into the news of terrorist attacks in India. Reports suggest several attacks have taken place that may have targeted Westerners. Our prayers are with the people of India as rescue efforts are underway.  Click here for more.

Use the below link to download the podcast of this message from Rev. Chuck Currie your iPod or personal computer.

Download WEDNOV262008.m4a

(click with the RIGHT mouse button on the hyperlink and choose “Save Target As” and save to your desktop or other folder – once downloaded click on the file to listen).

Now On ITunes

You can now subscribe to Rev. Currie's podcasts on ITunes. 

Good for the people of Silverton, Oregon.  This election cycle they voted into office Stu Rasmussen, a transgender person.  Silverton is no hotbed of liberalism.  Sarah Palin would have even called this community part of her "real America" - though I suspect she would have resended the remark.  But the people of Silverton saw a good and decent public servant and voted to make Stu Rasmussen their mayor.  Now he can be judged on his effectiveness in office instead of anything else.