refugees and such

well, i've now completed my first week of my last year in seminary. kind of weird, I guess, but not really. I think my classes will be pretty good. I'm taking Methodist Polity with Bishop Woodie White, Theology of Church and Sacraments with Ted Runyon, Christian Communalism in America with Luther Smith, and Pastoral Care and Mental Health with three different adjunct professors, in addition to my thesis work with Dr. Noel Leo Erskine. Interestingly (I just realized), all but one of the teachers I've got this semester are black. I think each of my classes will be good in different ways, and that the semester will be a good one.

one of the things on tv that's really annoyed me is a) all the people playing politics and refusing to see any mistakes from anyone of their political persuasion (from liberal leaders who only want to blame to feds to republicans who only want to blame the mayor of New Orleans). There was a lot of screwing up that happened, and I'd just like to see the nation help the millions of people who are currently refugees.

which brings me to my major annoyance b), which is that people are offended at being called refugees and feel that using that term makes them less human and less American. i hate that there are refugees right now; I hate that there are folks in Rwanda who are refugees, folks in Israel who are refugees, and folks in Atlanta that are refugees. I hate that my uncle was a refugee for a while as he and his wife and kids stayed with my parents. But to imply that "americans can't be refugees" or that "refugees aren't human" shows both a misunderstanding of the concept and a complete disregard for all of those who have been refugees for years. Thankfully things haven't gotten as bad in Houston as they have in various parts of Africa, but we've still got refugees (which includes any corporate types staying in ritzy hotels while their gulf coast mansions are rebuilt). To have people out of their homes and living elsewhere for protection is horrible, but I just can't see getting riled up about being called a refugee as productive.