natalie's narrative

Hooray for non-law reading!

I finally get to read whatever I want for a while-- so I picked up The Nonviolent Atonement again. Maybe this time I won't let all the big seminary-level words get to me!

The main idea so far - "the crucifixion of Jesus cannot be interpreted as a divinely sanctioned or divinely willed sacrifice. [...] [V]iolence originates with humans and not with God."

Very interesting and very contrary to what I have been taught in church!

Should be required reading for all US Americans...

Today's Chicago Tribune Magazine features a Chicago attorney fighting for the righs of Guantanamo prisoners:  The Guantanamo Labyrinth.  

After a semester of constitutional law under my belt, I am even more disgusted with the Bush adminstration's tactics.  Here's an exceprt from the article that explains how we got here:

In the months after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the highest-ranking officials in the Bush administration -- Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft, CIA Director George Tenet and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice -- met in the White House and quietly agreed to override some of the basic provisions of the U.S. Constitution that protect individual rights. They also decided to disregard the Geneva Conventions and to sanction the use of torture, which they renamed "enhanced interrogation techniques." All of this they did in the name of national security. To provide legal cover for these activities (and to immunize themselves against future prosecution), they enlisted a cadre of government lawyers to draft opinions that cloaked what many believe to be war crimes in an aura of respectability. 

Hopefully we can keep on the current administration and undo the damage.  The article is lengthy, but totally worth a read.  I'm glad I found this as I'm studying for my last final and have the urge to just drop out of law school right now.