American Morning
Pro-gun pastor says come armed to church
Editor’s Note: Kenneth Pagano is pastor of New Bethel Church in Louisville, Ky. On Saturday, he sponsored an “open carry celebration” at his church and encourages his congregation to embrace their Second Amendment rights by coming to church armed.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/06/30/intv.pagano.art.jpg caption="Pastor Kenneth Pagano is a gun rights advocate who encourages his parishioners to bring their firearms to church."]
By Kenneth Pagano
Special to CNN
One year ago I began thinking of creative ways that we as a church could host events that would give us opportunities to meet some new people and create venues with which we could share our faith in Christ. All things would be considered but everything would be implemented.
However, since I have been a sport shooting enthusiasts for as long as I can remember and a certified pistol instructor I came up with the idea of an open carry celebration.
As one who has been in public ministry for almost 30 years and having obtained my doctorate, I am not unfamiliar with theology or church history. Since I know that not all Christians are pacifists and that Christian pacifism in an option not a requirement, I knew this event was not unbiblical.
Being raised in New Jersey and familiar with the American Revolution, I knew that this event was not unhistorical. Pre-Colonial America had laws that required people attending worship to bring their firearms and ammunition or face a fine.
Being a certified concealed carry deadly weapons instructor with the Commonwealth of Kentucky Department of Justice, I knew this event was not illegal.
And being a former Marine who considers himself a patriot, I knew this event was not unconstitutional. I thought everyone knew these things. Boy was I wrong.
Gay soldier: Don't fire me
Editor’s note: Lt. Daniel Choi is a founding member of Knights Out, an organization of out Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) West Point Alumni. An estimated 65,000 LGBT Americans serve in the armed forces. The views expressed here are Dan Choi’s personal views and not those of the Department of Defense or the Department of the Army.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/05/11/art.dan.choi.jpg caption= "Lt. Daniel Choi is an Iraq combat veteran and a West Point graduate with a degree in Arabic."]
By Lt. Daniel Choi
Special to CNN
Open Letter to President Obama and Every Member of Congress:
I have learned many lessons in the ten years since I first raised my right hand at the United States Military Academy at West Point and committed to fighting for my country. The lessons of courage, integrity, honesty and selfless service are some of the most important.
At West Point, I recited the Cadet Prayer every Sunday. It taught us to "choose the harder right over the easier wrong" and to "never be content with a half truth when the whole can be won." The Cadet Honor Code demanded truthfulness and honesty. It imposed a zero-tolerance policy against deception, or hiding behind comfort.
Following the Honor Code never bowed to comfortable timing or popularity. Honor and integrity are 24-hour values. That is why I refuse to lie about my identity.
I have personally served for a decade under Don't Ask, Don't Tell: an immoral law and policy that forces American soldiers to deceive and lie about their sexual orientation. Worse, it forces others to tolerate deception and lying. These values are completely opposed to anything I learned at West Point. Deception and lies poison a unit and cripple a fighting force.
As an infantry officer, an Iraq combat veteran and a West Point graduate with a degree in Arabic, I refuse to lie to my commanders. I refuse to lie to my peers. I refuse to lie to my subordinates. I demand honesty and courage from my soldiers. They should demand the same from me.
Edie Falco: Health care reform can't wait
Editor's Note: Edie Falco is an Emmy Award-winning actress best known for her character "Carmela Soprano” in the groundbreaking HBO series "The Sopranos." She is now starring in the new series "Nurse Jackie" that premiered on Showtime in early June 2009.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/06/25/edie.falco.getty.art.jpg caption="Actress Edie Falco arrives at the 59th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards September 16, 2007 in Los Angeles, California."]
By Edie Falco
Special to CNN
Health care is something that affects everyone in America, and I am glad that we are having a national conversation about it. I am supporting Health Care for America Now because we are at a moment in time when we can actually make change that impacts peoples’ lives in a very real way.
We have got to fix health care, and we have got to do it right now. Health care reform cannot wait.
As a struggling artist, I spent many years without health coverage. I know the feeling of hoping your symptoms go away before you have to get money together to see a doctor. I know worrying about it makes it even harder to get better. I still have friends and family in this position.
It’s true, I have health care now. I have good doctors and I'm treated very well, and I can’t tell you how grateful I am for this. But I believe no one person is any more worthy of such treatment than any other person who may be sitting at home right now worried about their own health or the health of a loved one, knowing they don't have the money to take care of it. With all of the wealth and ingenuity in our country, I know we can do better. We can fix this.
Commentary: Iran conflict isn't class warfare
Hamid Dabashi is the author of "Iran: A People Interrupted." He is Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York. His Web site is www.hamiddabashi.com/
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/06/22/art.hamid.dabashi.jpg caption="Hamid Dabashi says it's wrong to view the conflict in Iran as a battle of the middle class vs. the poor."]
By Hamid Dabashi
Special to CNN
(CNN) - In a short essay that Abbas Amanat, a scholar of 19th-century Iran at Yale University, was asked to write for The New York Times on the current crisis in Iran, he asserted that what we are witnessing is "the rise of a new middle class whose demands stand in contrast to the radicalism of the incumbent President [Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad and the core conservative values of the clerical elite, which no doubt has the backing of a religiously conservative sector of the population."
This learned position of a leading scholar very much sums up the common wisdom that Iranian expatriate academics are offering an excited public mesmerized by the massive demonstrations they witness on their television sets or computer screens and eager to have someone make sense of them.
In part because of these hurried interpretations, the movement that is unfolding in front of our eyes is seen as basically a middle-class uprising against a retrograde theocracy that is banking on backward, conservative and uneducated masses who do not know any better. While the illiterate and "uncouth" masses provide the populist basis of Ahmadinejad's support, the middle class is demanding an open-market civil society.
Commentary: Iran's hardliners are the real losers
By Fawaz A. Gerges
Special to CNN
Editor's note: Fawaz A. Gerges holds the Christian A. Johnson Chair in Middle Eastern Studies and International Affairs at Sarah Lawrence College. His most recent book is "The Far Enemy: Why Jihad Went Global."
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/06/15/art.fawaz.gerges.slc.jpg caption="Fawaz Gerges says the elite running Iran has lost the support of two key groups – women and young voters."]
(CNN) - With an apparent political coup in Iran by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his supporters over the weekend, the ruling mullahs have dispensed with all democratic pretense and joined the ranks of traditional dictators in the Middle East.
The hardliners in Tehran, led by the Revolutionary Guards and ultra-conservatives, have won the first round against reformist conservatives but at an extravagant cost - loss of public support.
Widespread accusations of fraud and manipulation are calling into question the very legitimacy and authority of the mullahs' Islamic-based regime. The electoral crisis has exposed a deepening divide between female and young voters, who represent about 70 percent of the population, and a radical conservative ruling elite out of touch with the hopes, fears and aspirations of young Iranians.
The consensus in Iran, particularly among young voters, is the election was stolen from reformist candidate, Mir Hossein Moussavi, and that the outcome did not reflect the electorate's genuine will.
After the Interior Ministry announced the final election results showing a nearly 2-to-1 landslide for Ahmadinejad (62.63 to 33.75 percent), thousands of young protesters took to the streets and clashed with police and set trash bins and tires ablaze. Shock and disbelief turned to anger and rage.
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Commentary: The face of substance abuse today
Andrew T. Wainwright is a national expert on addictions and intervention. He is co-author of the book "It’s Not Okay to Be a Cannibal – How to Stop Addiction from Eating Your Family Alive" and CEO for AiR, which provides behavioral health case management services that are a beneficial addition to the treatment of chemical dependency, mental health and eating disorders.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/07/03/wainwright.andrew.art.jpg caption="Andrew Wainwright is a national expert on addictions and intervention."]
From my desk on the front lines of addiction treatment, the view is staggering. Prescription drugs are prevalent, proliferating and have introduced a new generation to the wonderful world of drug addiction.
These are people who otherwise might never have experienced addiction. The previous barriers to entry of stigma and circumstance were too high. Dangerous neighborhoods and unsavory characters, untrustworthy chemicals to be taken in unspecific amounts and the fear of becoming addicted kept most amateurs on the sidelines. But in 1996 that all changed.
In January of 1996, Purdue Pharma, a privately-held pharmaceutical company, launched the marketing campaign for their new pain relief product OxyContin. OxyContin was supposed to be nonabusable thanks to a special time-release ingredient. Unfortunately, this proved not to be true.
This might not have been such a big deal had Purdue not launched a multi-million dollar national advertising campaign, targeting both doctors and consumers alike. This campaign had a two-pronged approach. First Purdue incented doctors to prescribe their products then they encouraged consumers to request them by promising legitimacy, safety and lack of consequences.
From a purely business standpoint it was the right thing to do – if you can drive demand you can sell more product. From a “What are the long term effects on our society?” standpoint – it was devastating.
Today, three percent of our population is abusing prescription drugs. Prescription drug abuse accounts for forty percent of all treatment center admissions. Prescription drug abuse is growing fastest among teenagers and young adults.
These are the worst stats we could hope for.
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Filed under: Commentary • Drugs