Rev. Danny Fisher

Steven Soderbergh’s new film Ocean’s Thirteen enjoyed its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival yesterday. Though not in competition, the caper/sequel’s screening has dominated the latest headlines about the festival: it seems that the cast and crew have been doing quite a bit to raise awareness about the Darfur crisis while promoting their film in the south of France.

Ocean’s Thirteen stars George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and Don Cheadle, as well as producer Jerry Weintraub, have created a non-profit organization called Not On Our Watch. A partner with the International Rescue Committee, Not On Our Watch seeks to “focus global attention and resources to stop and prevent mass atrocities” as well as directly aid refugees from the Darfur region of western Sudan. The organization’s website informs visitors that their support will “fund programs that treat the sick, prevent disease, enable children to heal and learn, shelter the displaced, teach new skills and protect the most vulnerable in the Darfur region.”

As part of their circuit of appearances to promote Ocean’s Thirteen, the Not On Our Watch board members will continue their work in service of the organization’s mission. Considering their success last night at Cannes, this is exciting news: according to the Internet Movie Database, Not On Our Watch’s efforts raised a startling $9.2 million by the end of the evening. The IMDb quotes Weitraub, who says, “We’ve raised $9.2 million. We had $8 million and then [Steven] Spielberg sent in another $1 million.”

It is important to note that one need not be a Hollywood player to help out Not On Our Watch in their fundraising–simply follow this link to make a donation.

I recently watched Travis Fox’s devastating and incredibly powerful video reports from Chad and Darfur for the Washington Post. In a series of three short-but-remarkable videos entitled “Crisis in Darfur Expands”, Fox communicates a tremendous lot about the inconceivably difficult day-to-day lives of refugees from the Darfur region of western Sudan.

I’m not sure when the videos first appeared on the Post‘s website: the copyright notice on the page says 2006, but the videos themselves say 2007.

Regardless, this is required viewing for humankind. Follow this link to Travis Fox’s “Crisis in Darfur Expands”.

Lt. Jeanette Shin, the first Buddhist chaplain commissioned to serve in the United States Armed Forces, recently posted an article from truthout at the Buddhist_Chaplaincy Yahoo! Group. The piece, by Jason Leopold, is entitled “A Crusade and a Holy War in the US Military”.

An Orthodox Jew and former petty officer in the US Navy said his civil rights were violated after a chaplain and officials at a Veterans Administration hospital in Iowa City, Iowa, tried to convert him to Christianity while he was under the VA’s care.

David Miller, 46, who is on full disability, said in an interview that his physician at the VA hospital told him last week to go home and pray or meditate in place of using medication to relieve the pain he was experiencing from kidney stones. When Miller complained to VA staffers that his physician suggested he turn to God to treat his medical condition and refused to prescribe pain medication, VA officials provided him with a new doctor.

[...]

He started receiving treatment…at the Iowa City VA hospital after moving back to his hometown two years ago. Since then, he said, a chaplain on duty at the hospital has tried on numerous occasions to convert him to Christianity.

“The first two visits by the Protestant (Assembly of God) chaplain were all about trying to convert me, trying to convince me that I needed Jesus, that Jesus was the Messiah of the Jews too,” Miller said. “My medical records clearly indicate that I am Jewish. However, with each admission, I have informed the nursing staff both verbally and in writing that I require kosher food and that I do not wish to be visited by anyone from the chaplain’s office. I requested they contact my rabbi, and I provided them with his name and telephone number. Despite these instructions, during all three of my hospitalizations, I have been denied kosher food and have had to endure my entire hospitalizations without eating.”

About two weeks ago, after an apparently frustrating attempt to communicate with the hospital about his experience, Miller contacted Iowa Senator Tom Harkin and Military Religious Freedom Foundation founder Michael L. “Mikey” Weinstein.

Regular readers of this blog may remember mention of Weinstein in a post from last year.

The article continues:

“We will rapidly explore all legal options available, and I fully intend to file a lawsuit against the VA for massive constitutional violations against Mr. Miller,” Weinstein said. “We will look at the law and lay down a withering field of fire at the feet of the VA to stop this tidal wave of unconstitutional destruction.”

Weinstein, who is Jewish, said that VA chaplains, as federal government employees, are not supposed to “proselytize or rescue souls.”

VA chaplains “are not supposed to view the VA hospitals as their own personal mission field, or the veterans as low-hanging fruit…In this country, we have a separation between church and state…There is no difference between the VA hospital and a US Air Force fighter squadron. They’re both part of the federal government. It doesn’t matter if you’re an Orthodox Jew, a Buddhist or an atheist.”

As always, when I know more, I’ll post it. And thanks to Lt. Shin for tipping us off to this story.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported today that the spiritual care community group Boundless Hearts recently organized a gathering of several dozen mothers and others to remember those lost to gun violence in Oakland. The article explains:

Nearly 50 women gathered early Saturday in front of Lake Merritt to hold a vigil for the dead. Some were the mothers of murdered children, some were their friends. Some were members of Boundless Hearts, a community group that staged the event. By the time they walked to City Hall plaza for more prayers, and some songs and dances to celebrate the children’s lives, their ranks had swelled to 100.

The organizers called it Mother’s Morning-Mourning.

On their website, Boundless Hearts is described in this way:

…An organization of spiritual care companions and chaplains providing spiritual care to communities and individuals in the San Francisco East Bay…Boundless Hearts Spiritual Care Companions (S.C.C.) are people who provide a compassionate and loving presence to those who are uplifted by prayer, meditation, reflection, contemplation, and other forms of spiritual practice. Our focus is wellness from a holistic perspective…S.C.C.’s serve people who are not in an institution, or who are in institutions that do not provide spiritual care. We do not discriminate against individuals based on their religious beliefs. We do not espouse a particular religious belief. Our focus is on cultivating energy (the loss of energy can lead to illness) and relieving stress (stress can deplete energy that can lead to illness).

S.C.C.’s help in the healing process through conventional spiritual care practices (deep listening, mirroring, and assessment), and less conventional practices like qi gong, tai chi, and meditation (to name a few). Practically anyone who would like to bring a healing spiritual presence to others can be a Boundless Hearts S.C.C., including teachers, nurses, doctors, social workers, lay ministers, and active community members. A college education is not required.

Boundless Hearts is co-organized by Buddhist chaplain Pamela Ayo Yetunde, a graduate of the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies Chaplaincy Training Program who has completed a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education (C.P.E.) at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Berkeley, CA.

What Ayo and the other members of Boundless Hearts have done is extremely important as an awareness-raising event. The problem of “street shootings” is especially bad in Oakland. Indeed, as the Chronicle reminds us:

There were 148 homicides in Oakland last year, three-quarters of them “street shootings.” Two-thirds of the victims were African American, and 126 of the victims were male. In the past five years, there have been 550 homicides in Oakland, part of a ghastly trend that is playing out in inner cities across the nation.

Oakland has recorded 34 homicides so far this year. The latest occurred Friday night when a man was found shot dead on the 1600 block of 28th Avenue, but police could provide no other details.

To find out what you can do, visit the Save Darfur Coalition.