The story of Mollie Tibbetts. Don't advance a tragedy even more.

Yesterday a thousand people jammed into the gymnasium of Brooklyn-Guernsey-Malcom High School in Brooklyn, Iowa, population of 1,500, to celebrate the funeral of Mollie Tibbetts.  Tibbetts is a young woman who went missing in July after going for an evening jog just outside of Brooklyn, her hometown.  She graduated from Brooklyn High School in 2017.  When she went missing the community conducted a five-week search to find her.  She was found, but tragically her dead body was in a corn field.  Cristhian Rivera has been charged with first-degree murder. 

I can guess that the best of humanity was on display at the funeral.  As the above picture shows cars jammed the streets of Brooklyn as people attended the funeral.  In reading about the funeral on a number of web sites I read that her father, Rob, asked that the community turn toward life. He did this by recognizing a couple at the funeral who had just been married.  And he said this:

“And, today it’s time to turn the page,” he said. “We’re at the end of a long ordeal, but now we need to turn toward life. We need to heal — this community needs to heal, our family needs to heal, but the problem with that is the person best equipped to help us through this is Mollie. So, let’s try to do what Mollie would do. Let’s say what Mollie would say. Let’s start with baby steps.”

The article in the Brooklyn, Iowa newspaper describing the funeral is:

https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/community/mollie-tibbetts-funeral-malcom-high-school-brooklyn-iowa-20180826

Because Cristhian Rivera is reportedly an illegal immigrant, Mollie’s death has raised the issue of the crime rate among illegal immigrants.  The Trump Administration and President Trump have already taken Mollie’s death and fit it into their narrative.  It’s a similar narrative to which  President Trump communicated on his very first speech as a candidate for President when he said that ”They’re [people from Mexico] bringing drugs.  They’re bringing crime.  They’re rapists.”

It is important to know that much research shows that illegal immigrants do not increase crime rates.  According to a 2017 Cato Institute policy document, policy document, immigrants do not increase local crime rates and are less likely to cause crime than their native-born peers.  The document went on to say that those who are citizens are more likely to be incarcerated than immigrants.  The Cato Institute is a libertarian think tank.  The policy document can be found here:

https://www.cato.org/publications/immigration-reform-bulletin/criminal-immigrants-their-numbers-demographics-countries.

A recent study done by the University of California-Irving (UCI) found that immigration actually lowers the crime rate.  Charis Kubrin, UCI professor of criminology said, “So many of the current executive orders and policies are based on this idea that immigration causes crime: building the border wall, adding thousands of Border Patrol officers. But that narrative is simply false. Overall, immigration does not cause crime. In fact, our analysis reveals that, if anything, immigration causes a drop in crime.”  Kubrin’s quote is on a University of California Irvine web site:

https://news.uci.edu/2017/06/27/immigration-does-not-raise-crime-uci-led-study-finds-refuting-common-assumption/

The tragedy in Brooklyn Iowa is that a bright, young woman is dead, and a family and community are grieving.  Her tragic death should not be used to advance a narrative that research doesn’t support.  That does not advance healing.  

Would you take a moment to subscribe to this blog?  Put your email in the box on the right hand side of this blog.  You'll be asked a few questions to ensure you are really a human being.  You'll then receive an email whenever a blog is posted.

Celebrating Lindsay Whalen

Last Monday Lindsay Whalen announced her retirement.  It wasn’t a surprise given she is now the head women’s basketball coach at the University of Minnesota. To an outsider it seems almost impossible that she could play for the Lynx and coach at the ‘U.  The day before her retirement announcement I watched the Lynx lose to Seattle on television.  When someone asked why the Lynx were doing so poorly I promptly said, “they’re old. Lindsay is going to retire and the team is at the end of their run.”

Though her retirement wasn't a surprise, I think it caused many to pause and reflect on how very special Whalen is as an athlete and a person. She is arguably the most famous Minnesota woman’s athlete that has ever competed.

Her accomplishments are amazing.  Four-time WNBA champion; five-time all-WNBA all-star; two time Olympic gold medalist; led the Gophers to a final four appearance.  She’s won more games than any athlete in WNBA history.

I’ve been enjoying Whalen ever since she took to the lane as a Gopher. I remember often watching her drive for a lay-up or make a startling pass and thinking, “how did she do that.” Since then she has won wherever she has landed. She made the finals with the Connecticut Sun in her first two season. She won on the United States Olympic team. She’s won with the Lynx.  What an amazing ride for a kid from Hutchinson, Minnesota. 

Whalen fits the stereotypes of the best that a Minnesotan offers. She is classy, understated, witty, gives credit to the people around her, hard-working and is a winner.

One of my favorite memories of Whalen took place when she played for the Olympic team. I was watching one of their games while taking a break from a church conference I was attending in Florida. In their game the Olympic team (though a big favorite) was struggling. Geno Auriemma, the coach of the team, put Whalen in. In a short time Whalen brought an energy to the game that turned the tide back to the Americans. She dove for a few balls, got a steal, took a charge, and the Americans were on the way to victory. A few days later they were standing on a podium with gold medals hanging around their necks.

With Sunday being Whalen’s last regular season home game with the Lynx, I told my daughter, Hannah, that we had to attend the game. I wasn’t the only one with this thought. I couldn’t find a reasonably price ticket in the lower bowl of Target Center. We ended sitting in the upper level.

Whalen was at her classic best. It seemed that everyone in the crowd (including me) wanted to cheer for her. We cheered when she was announced in the starting line-up. We yelled when she hit a key three in the fourth quarter that propelled the Lynx comeback. We stood and clapped when she was taken out of the line-up with a little more than a minute to go. We laughed when the announced crowd was 13,013, undoubtedly a take-off on Whalen’s number 13. The night was hers and everyone cheering the Lynx celebrated the win.

After the game a celebration for Whalen was set up. The celebration started when Mike Thibault, coach of Washington, and Cheryl Reeve, coach of the Lynx, and a few other players spoke.  Whalen then took the microphone. She was out-of-this world funny. She cracked jokes about her parents and grandparents and other players on the team. She talked about Taco John’s and Burger King. My favorite joke was when she asked who missed the shot for her seventh assist. I couldn’t have laughed harder if I had been in a smoke-filled lounge listening to a stand-up comedian. Finally she wrapped it up by thanking the fans. We stood and applauded.

On the way home Hannah and I talked about watching her coach next year as a Gopher. Whalen has already said in print and last night that her eventual goal is a national championship. And though that seems improbable, I have learned to never underestimate Lindsay Whalen.

Well done, Lindsay Whalen; well done!  What a privilege it has been to watch you perform.

Would you take a moment to subscribe to this blog?  Put your email in the box on the right hand side of this blog.  You'll be asked a few questions to ensure you are really a human being.  You'll then receive an email whenever a blog is posted.

Pew Research Center study on why Americans attend Religious Services

On August 1 the Pew Research Center shared an exhaustive survey of Americans about the reasons they attend religious services.  The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. 

An overview of the survey’s results can be found here:

http://www.pewforum.org/2018/08/01/why-americans-go-to-religious-services/ 

The complete 35 page survey can be found here:

http://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2018/08/01115554/Attending-or-not-attending-relig-services-FOR-WEB.pdf

The survey was conducted among 4,729 respondents between December 4-18, 2017

The information that the Pew Research Center found is so rich and even complex that I depend on them to interpret it.  They shared that the top four reasons U.S. adults give for choosing to attend a religious service are:

1) To become closer to God;

2) So children will have moral foundation;

3) To make me a better person;

4) For comfort in times of trouble/sorrow

These four reasons have already been helpful to me as I lead Chain of Lakes Church.  On August 5 I shared a sermon on what is important to know about being Presbyterian.  The link to the sermon is here: https://vimeo.com/283466380.  At the start of the sermon I shared these four reasons that people attend a congregation. I shared that nowhere in the study does a person claims they attend a religious service to be a better Presbyterian, or Lutheran, or Catholic.  When a person chooses a local congregation to visit I am confident that the denomination of the place is much less important in that choice than it was 25 or 50 years ago. 

We live in a post-denominational age.

However denominations are still significant as the way a congregation practices faith can help people become closer to God. Presbyterians value women in leadership. Yesterday as I was encouraging people to sign up to help mow the church property I shared that we don’t expect just men to get on a riding lawn mower. Women can help too.  For people who don’t value women in leadership a Presbyterian church might not help them become closer to God.

I’m already taking this information as the leaders of Chain of Lakes evaluate worship services. From now on I’m going to ask the question, “How did this worship service help people become closer to God?” A basic question—for sure. But the question can drive the right conversation.

Buried in the survey is one result that I found fascinating. Protestants are roughly twice as likely as Catholics to say valuable sermons are important reasons to attend worship. As someone who has attended worship in both Protestant and Catholic communities I can affirm this finding. I love my Catholic brothers and sisters, but the quality of sermons in these communities is much lower than I’ve heard in Protestant communities.

I want to encourage every religious leader to spend some significant time studying this survey. The results can help all of us as we discern how to connect better with people in our communities.

Watching the 3M Championship

Yesterday my wife, Amy, and I had the opportunity to attend the last 3M Championship at the Tournament Players Course in Blaine.

We almost didn’t make it.  I was hot after leading the outdoor worship service at Chain of Lakes. Amy was warm after doing a number of projects around the house. The two of us had attended Mass on Saturday at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church.  But this was the last time the tournament was being held in Blaine, so off we went.

We parked at lot at the Blaine airport and rode a school bus to the golf course.  We probably were one of the last people to ride on the bus.  Beforehand we were given complimentary tickets to a hospitality tent.  When we got to the tent we enjoyed some food and sat down to watch the play at the 18^th green.  We saw four or five threesomes play.  But we didn’t know who was playing and we were a bit far from the green, so we left to get closer to the action.  We found a location at the 17^th green where we could watch play on that green and watch players drive off the 18^th tee.

The tournament was practically over at that moment as Kenny Perry had a large lead.  We did watch Wes Short Jr. miss a medium-range putt on 17^th that could have put him within two shots.  When he missed the putt it was obvious who would win the tournament.   

A highlight was watching Tom Lehman play 17 and 18.  His daughter was his caddie, and he had a golf bag with University of Minnesota apparel.  While I was watching him putt on 17 and drive on 18 I remembered watching him win the British Open in 1996 and almost win the US Open in at Congressional in 1997.

Jim Souhan wrote in the Star Tribune that this might be Lehman’s last professional golf tournament in Minnesota. I especially enjoyed reading about the nervousness that Lehman felt right before he crushed a 4 iron on 18 that led to a final birdie.  That article is here: http://www.startribune.com/tom-lehman-plays-final-3m-championship-but-there-s-work-to-do-in-home-state/490111701/

But the day belonged to Kenny Perry. I watched him make a par on 17 and take a cautious approach to 18.  Instead of going over the water he went to the left of the hole.  He hit an excellent approach and made a final birdie.  He finished at 21 under.  Any person at the age of 59 who can play 54 holes at that score deserves to win. 

I’ll be very interested to see how the course is changed when the regular PGA Tour has a tournament there next July. If Kenny Perry can shoot 21 under for three rounds at age 59 imagine what Dustin Johnson could do over four rounds at age 35.

Like yesterday, I look forward to watching.