Andrew Hodges, author of "Alan Turning: The Enigma," describing the findings of scientists by the mid-20th century regarding the mind and human development: "... nineteenth and twentieth-century science had been peeling the onion of the mind, and had dented the concept of responsibility with 'mental illness', shell-shock, neurosis, breakdowns and so forth. Where was the line to be drawn? The conservative fear was that every kind of behavior would be excused by appeal to some irresistible, uncontrollable, force majeure. ... they sought a non plus ultra [nothing beyond this] to the pretensions of mental determinism, a barrier against the flood of threats to traditional values unleashed by the Second World War. They found one in homosexuality: the new men's talk of 'conditions' and 'complexes' was not to be allowed to excuse a deadly social evil, corrupting and weakening everything in its path" (p.579).
It's hard for me to fathom the relentless social/moral fears flooding the conservative mind: to approach the world in fear, in terms of threat and loss, believing one's self to be surrounded by enemies.
Though, of course, I have my own set of fears regarding the ever-present threat of fascism (the easy answer to complex questions), and where fear is high, fascism is just around the corner.
Yet, my Christian Faith provides a basis of confidence: "Fear not."
And "perfect love" (meaning complete, no piece missing) "casts out fear."
The conservative mind will gladly take away freedom in order to maintain social morality. And no better arena in which to engage the "liberal enemy" than the arena of sexuality, both homosexuality and women's bodies.
Here is the fulcrum on which the conservative mind balances ... lose here, and everything is lost.
Whereas I say: win here, and everything is gained - freedom and democracy grow all the larger.
Friday, August 14, 2015
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Sorrow for Evangelicals Who Oppose Marriage Equality
Watching evangelical pastors condemn Marriage Equality while "quoting" the Bible is very much the same, I think, as those who cited Scripture to justify the persecution of Jews, the enslavement of people of color and the denial of rights to women.
Let's face it - in the conversation of faith we call "the Bible," every kind of voice can be heard, from the sublime to the mean. So, merely quoting the Bible, citing some passage of Scripture, means nothing, any more than picking up a novel, grabbing a piece or two of it, and then claiming to know the mind of the author, or at least the whole of the plot.
I feel a great sorrow for evangelical pastors who cannot cross over into a more enlightened world-view. They fear losing something, when in fact, it's all gain.
But truth be told, "condemnation" works in many a pulpit; it's easy to preach and fun to wallow in.
In all previous chapters of condemnation, from the Inquisition to the fight against civil rights, condemnation has proved wrong, though bolstered by plenty of Bible-thumping, or at least claims to "tradition."
Condemnation doesn't work.
The stance against Marriage Equality is failing, and will continue to fail. Sure, there will always be some who "fight the good fight" in their own skewed mind and world, as there are still those who subscribe to a flat earth and a geocentric view of the solar system.
I pray for evangelical pastors who are making a "brave stand" on their condemnation of Marriage Equality. They are on the wrong side of history with very little on which to base their claims. They know they're on shaky ground but cannot escape the clutches of their own traditions. And their congregations pay them to stay as they are.
It's all very sad.
Let's face it - in the conversation of faith we call "the Bible," every kind of voice can be heard, from the sublime to the mean. So, merely quoting the Bible, citing some passage of Scripture, means nothing, any more than picking up a novel, grabbing a piece or two of it, and then claiming to know the mind of the author, or at least the whole of the plot.
I feel a great sorrow for evangelical pastors who cannot cross over into a more enlightened world-view. They fear losing something, when in fact, it's all gain.
But truth be told, "condemnation" works in many a pulpit; it's easy to preach and fun to wallow in.
In all previous chapters of condemnation, from the Inquisition to the fight against civil rights, condemnation has proved wrong, though bolstered by plenty of Bible-thumping, or at least claims to "tradition."
Condemnation doesn't work.
The stance against Marriage Equality is failing, and will continue to fail. Sure, there will always be some who "fight the good fight" in their own skewed mind and world, as there are still those who subscribe to a flat earth and a geocentric view of the solar system.
I pray for evangelical pastors who are making a "brave stand" on their condemnation of Marriage Equality. They are on the wrong side of history with very little on which to base their claims. They know they're on shaky ground but cannot escape the clutches of their own traditions. And their congregations pay them to stay as they are.
It's all very sad.
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Jefferson's Wall
One of the driving pieces of the Puritan migration to the New World was to escape state-imposed religion, which has never worked very well anyway. But state after European state used religion to buttress national interests and power, and people went to prison because of it, or were tortured and maimed, property confiscated and prohibitions imposed, with one version of religion trumping all others in service to national interests.
All of this history is clearly before us.
But over the years, many of the descendants of those who came here to be free of state-imposed religion decided that state-imposed religion, if it were their religion, the right religion, would be just fine.
The effort to formally establish religion has never ceased, and in recent years has gained momentum, driven largely by various forms of evangelicalism.
These interests added "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance and initiated the National Prayer Breakfast, in the early 50s, among other things, and struggled to establish state-mandated prayer in public schools, which ultimately the Supreme Court decided on June 25, 1962, in "Engel v. Vitale."
Jefferson's "wall of separation" was wisely raised up, to protect both religion and government from one another, that they might remain good neighbors, talking with one another, helping one another, but neither assuming control of the other.
Good walls make for good neighbors ...
Those who cherish their faith in God should be well-advised, that efforts to establish a religion backed by state interests can only fail it's intended purpose of instilling virtue in people's lives. It has never worked and never will.
If the state uses religion to further its own interests, religion is no longer religion in the sense of pointing us toward God, but only a tool to further some limited purposes which are mostly about power and money.
And if a religious body uses the state to further its own interests (as we saw in the Middle Ages), the religious body soon begins to look, talk, act and feel very much like the state, with soldiers, bankers and attorneys working over time to impose upon the people a particular religious expression, and woe to those who would violate it.
People of faith need to consider these matters with great care. The evangelicals of our day who so easily speak of "getting prayer back into the schools," and using Charter Schools to foster a sectarian creed, are making a huge mistake, often caught up in their personal version of the "culture wars" (one of the worst ideas every coined, because God is God in all realms - there is, in God's love, no competing cultures, no culture wars; only human vanity and the the lust for power that uses religion as a cover for its base interests).
People of faith (and these days, that encompasses a much wider horizon than previously imagined in the Western World) need to jealously guard their traditions from the intrusion of other religions or the power of the state. Every religion needs to respect the others, too, and the state serves its religious purpose best of all when it legislates religious freedom for all forms of faith and respect for the essential practices that characterize various creeds, without endorsement or establishment.
Religion, by its very nature, seeks the wellbeing of the land in which it resides ... but base instincts also drive religion to control and dominate. It's these latter instincts that Jefferson's "Wall" seeks to mitigate, both for the health of religion and that of the state. And with that Wall well built, religion can flourish and do what it does best - to provide encouragement and strength to its adherents to live well to the best of their ability, to encourage a nation to be just in its regard for all of its citizens, with a special effort on behalf of the poor and marginalized and to address the state when it appears that the state is veering off into some form of hyper-nationalism and its attendant militarism.
Jefferson was right, and it's in our best interests to heed his advice. Build the Wall high, maintain it well ... it has enough doors and windows in it to allow conversation and mutual regard, but preserve the Wall, and in so doing, the character of good government and the character of a living faith are more likely to be preserved and served.
All of this history is clearly before us.
But over the years, many of the descendants of those who came here to be free of state-imposed religion decided that state-imposed religion, if it were their religion, the right religion, would be just fine.
The effort to formally establish religion has never ceased, and in recent years has gained momentum, driven largely by various forms of evangelicalism.
These interests added "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance and initiated the National Prayer Breakfast, in the early 50s, among other things, and struggled to establish state-mandated prayer in public schools, which ultimately the Supreme Court decided on June 25, 1962, in "Engel v. Vitale."
Jefferson's "wall of separation" was wisely raised up, to protect both religion and government from one another, that they might remain good neighbors, talking with one another, helping one another, but neither assuming control of the other.
Good walls make for good neighbors ...
Those who cherish their faith in God should be well-advised, that efforts to establish a religion backed by state interests can only fail it's intended purpose of instilling virtue in people's lives. It has never worked and never will.
If the state uses religion to further its own interests, religion is no longer religion in the sense of pointing us toward God, but only a tool to further some limited purposes which are mostly about power and money.
And if a religious body uses the state to further its own interests (as we saw in the Middle Ages), the religious body soon begins to look, talk, act and feel very much like the state, with soldiers, bankers and attorneys working over time to impose upon the people a particular religious expression, and woe to those who would violate it.
People of faith need to consider these matters with great care. The evangelicals of our day who so easily speak of "getting prayer back into the schools," and using Charter Schools to foster a sectarian creed, are making a huge mistake, often caught up in their personal version of the "culture wars" (one of the worst ideas every coined, because God is God in all realms - there is, in God's love, no competing cultures, no culture wars; only human vanity and the the lust for power that uses religion as a cover for its base interests).
People of faith (and these days, that encompasses a much wider horizon than previously imagined in the Western World) need to jealously guard their traditions from the intrusion of other religions or the power of the state. Every religion needs to respect the others, too, and the state serves its religious purpose best of all when it legislates religious freedom for all forms of faith and respect for the essential practices that characterize various creeds, without endorsement or establishment.
Religion, by its very nature, seeks the wellbeing of the land in which it resides ... but base instincts also drive religion to control and dominate. It's these latter instincts that Jefferson's "Wall" seeks to mitigate, both for the health of religion and that of the state. And with that Wall well built, religion can flourish and do what it does best - to provide encouragement and strength to its adherents to live well to the best of their ability, to encourage a nation to be just in its regard for all of its citizens, with a special effort on behalf of the poor and marginalized and to address the state when it appears that the state is veering off into some form of hyper-nationalism and its attendant militarism.
Jefferson was right, and it's in our best interests to heed his advice. Build the Wall high, maintain it well ... it has enough doors and windows in it to allow conversation and mutual regard, but preserve the Wall, and in so doing, the character of good government and the character of a living faith are more likely to be preserved and served.
Monday, June 1, 2015
Good Preaching!
Good preaching - okay, I'll have a go at it.
Preparation, preparation, preparation - and that's many years, and still learning, still preparing.
Writing, writing, writing - nothing hones the mind, the thoughts, the ability to give expression to the inexpressible.
Humility, humility, humility - give it your best shot, and know that it fell short. Period! It was probably good, but there's always another Sunday.
Trust, trust, trust - when spoken in hope for the wellbeing of another, a changed social condition, the welfare of the world, God does something with such efforts.
Energy, energy, energy - deep and penetrating care for the Word, the world, scholarship, politics and hope. If you care about it, preach about it. If you don't care deeply, find something about which you care deeply, and go from there. At such a point, a little pulpit-pounding might just happen, and that's okay, too.
To this, I'd add: use a text, or something similar there to. Have the notes at hand, and let the congregation know that you produced something requiring labor as well as spirit.
Use a lectern, or pulpit - waltzing around on the chancel, platform, is mostly a preacher-centered look-at-me device.
Anyone with thespian proclivities can dazzle an audience, but preaching isn't about dazzle, it's about grace and justice, and those are both amazing things and hard things, requiring a lot of emotional and intellectual effort well-harnessed by training, by sermon-text and by humility.
Nothing wrong with flair - let the Spirit lead, but like a horse, if the preacher is going to pull the wagon, some serious equipment/equipping is needed. Dashing off here and there across the field may be pretty to watch, but in the end, to be of value, the horse is harnessed for the day's work.
Well, that's enough for this morning ... a Sunday morning in Amsterdam.
Monday, April 27, 2015
Healing, Humiliation and Prayer
The life of faith, always ambiguous in its results ... frustrating at times, since there is no guarantee that prayer, or anything else we might call upon, will consistently "work."
In Mark 6.13, the disciples are hugely "successful" in their efforts to cast our demons and, by oil-anointing, to heal the sick.
What a spiritual high for them it must have been.
Yet, in Mark 9, the disciples have a "mountain-bottom" experience - they can't heal a boy with convulsions. After Jesus heals the child, the disciples inquire as to why they failed. Cryptically, Jesus replies that some "demons" respond only to prayer (NRSV; other texts add fasting), leaving the disciples scratching their heads, I'm quite sure, as this leaves us wondering, too.
But Mark has a point - at no point in time can the disciples "patent" a process of healing ... sometimes it happens, and sometimes it doesn't, and there's no clear explanation of it.
How humiliated the disciples must have been when they failed, and worse, when the scribes went after them. Had the disciples perhaps been earlier boasting, after their earlier success? Heck who doesn't engage in "spiritual boasting" now and again, if not with others, at least within our own spirit?
Mark addresses the simple reality: sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't, and there's no pattern to be claimed by the disciples, no method that "guarantees" anything.
Perhaps to keep in check the church's inclination to boast: "my god can beat up on your god," and so on.
Sort of like preaching: that one Sunday when it all came together and the angels sang ... and the preacher goes home to write a book about "successful preaching."
And then the following Sunday, with the preacher in full control of the method, full of confidence and self, and the sermon lands like a cow pie in the field - kerplop! And the preacher goes home humiliated and sad. And later in the afternoon, Jesus stops by and says something about prayer.
Oh well, there's another Sunday coming ... and another chance, and maybe it'll work ... and maybe it won't. Jesus my LORD!
In Mark 6.13, the disciples are hugely "successful" in their efforts to cast our demons and, by oil-anointing, to heal the sick.
What a spiritual high for them it must have been.
Yet, in Mark 9, the disciples have a "mountain-bottom" experience - they can't heal a boy with convulsions. After Jesus heals the child, the disciples inquire as to why they failed. Cryptically, Jesus replies that some "demons" respond only to prayer (NRSV; other texts add fasting), leaving the disciples scratching their heads, I'm quite sure, as this leaves us wondering, too.
But Mark has a point - at no point in time can the disciples "patent" a process of healing ... sometimes it happens, and sometimes it doesn't, and there's no clear explanation of it.
How humiliated the disciples must have been when they failed, and worse, when the scribes went after them. Had the disciples perhaps been earlier boasting, after their earlier success? Heck who doesn't engage in "spiritual boasting" now and again, if not with others, at least within our own spirit?
Mark addresses the simple reality: sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't, and there's no pattern to be claimed by the disciples, no method that "guarantees" anything.
Perhaps to keep in check the church's inclination to boast: "my god can beat up on your god," and so on.
Sort of like preaching: that one Sunday when it all came together and the angels sang ... and the preacher goes home to write a book about "successful preaching."
And then the following Sunday, with the preacher in full control of the method, full of confidence and self, and the sermon lands like a cow pie in the field - kerplop! And the preacher goes home humiliated and sad. And later in the afternoon, Jesus stops by and says something about prayer.
Oh well, there's another Sunday coming ... and another chance, and maybe it'll work ... and maybe it won't. Jesus my LORD!
Monday, March 9, 2015
"There Must Be No Handouts"
So many of the GOP candidates echo the refrain: "There must be no handouts!" As if those crossing our borders are looking for a handout. Heck no, they're looking for work, for a future, for hope, for safety - they're looking for an honest job to feed their families.
Ride an LA bus for awhile ... handouts? Are you kidding? ... they toil morning, noon and night, washing our dishes, cooking our food, mowing our laws, hauling our trash, emptying our bed pans, fluffing our pillows. Yeah, right - all looking for a handout.
Frankly, the GOP reminds me of some doddering old man who believes his neighbors are ripping him off, stealing his apples, letting their dogs crap on his marvelous lawn, borrowing things and not returning them - obsessing about this into the late hours of the night and peering all day long from behind a pulled-back curtain.
Deep and dysfunctional paranoia.
Sadly, certain crowds in America lap it up like kittens on a bowl of cream. Screaming their approval: "Yeah, no one's gonna take advantage of us. No way. Deport 'em all. Build those walls. To hell with them; they're no good anyway!"
Meanwhile, the real rip off is going on 24/7 in corporate America and Wall Street, to the tune of billions, and now trillions, and to cover their larceny, point to the poor and scream loudly: "You're not gonna get a handout from us!" And scream it again and again and again, until everyone is numb, too numb to see the crime being committed by the powerful against our nation.
All of this would be bad enough, all by itself, but when silver-tonged preachers, well-greased with cash, mouth these alarmist remarks against the immigrant, the poor, and their children, the crime is magnified infinitely, flying in the face of the very Jesus they purport to worship.
But, then, let's not forget, Jesus was betrayed with a kiss and crucified with a lot of religious folks standing around nodding their heads in agreement as the Roman Soldiers drove home the nails.
Ride an LA bus for awhile ... handouts? Are you kidding? ... they toil morning, noon and night, washing our dishes, cooking our food, mowing our laws, hauling our trash, emptying our bed pans, fluffing our pillows. Yeah, right - all looking for a handout.
Frankly, the GOP reminds me of some doddering old man who believes his neighbors are ripping him off, stealing his apples, letting their dogs crap on his marvelous lawn, borrowing things and not returning them - obsessing about this into the late hours of the night and peering all day long from behind a pulled-back curtain.
Deep and dysfunctional paranoia.
Sadly, certain crowds in America lap it up like kittens on a bowl of cream. Screaming their approval: "Yeah, no one's gonna take advantage of us. No way. Deport 'em all. Build those walls. To hell with them; they're no good anyway!"
Meanwhile, the real rip off is going on 24/7 in corporate America and Wall Street, to the tune of billions, and now trillions, and to cover their larceny, point to the poor and scream loudly: "You're not gonna get a handout from us!" And scream it again and again and again, until everyone is numb, too numb to see the crime being committed by the powerful against our nation.
All of this would be bad enough, all by itself, but when silver-tonged preachers, well-greased with cash, mouth these alarmist remarks against the immigrant, the poor, and their children, the crime is magnified infinitely, flying in the face of the very Jesus they purport to worship.
But, then, let's not forget, Jesus was betrayed with a kiss and crucified with a lot of religious folks standing around nodding their heads in agreement as the Roman Soldiers drove home the nails.
Thursday, February 26, 2015
That to Which I Am Utterly Devoted ...
Wow, and then some ...
Tillich takes to task "orthodox Lutheranism" for two shortcomings: 1) to contrast the salvation of the individual with the transformation of historical groups and separating them; 2) to contrast the realm of salvation with the realm of creation, and separating them ... leaving the Kingdom of God as something beyond time and space and history, something which the "saved" enter upon death.
"Finally, this view interprets the symbol of the Kingdom of God in a static supernatural order into which individuals enter after the death - instead of understanding the symbol, with the biblical writers, as a dynamic power on earth for the coming of which we pray in the LORD's Prayer and which, according to biblical thought, is struggling with the demonic forces which are powerful in churches as well as empires." ~ Vol. 3, p.356.
Much of the 20th Century Evangelical World fell into this trap, on the one hand, and on the other, in its "reconstructionist mode" in the last 40 years, envisions itself as "God's mighty army marching off to war," conquering this world for Christ, eliminating all ambiguity, and in such war (possibly literal), ushering in the Kingdom of God as a utopian end of history, with Christians in charge and "everyone bowing the knee," whether they like it or not.
If a former orthodoxy led Christians out of the world, allowing the orders of the world to lumber on without complaint or challenge, the current kind of Christianity, extremist and angry, will bring incredible disorder to the world by conquering the various orders and bending them toward a full and complete Christian hegemony, which has never worked, and never will, since the creative impulse of God's love engenders creativity and spontaneity and freedom rather than absolute control and management.
There are different kinds of Christianity, some of which are decidedly dangerous; some of which are purposeful and driven by justice and peace and a serious hope that, at least in fragmentary ways, history can be transformed and actually reflect the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.
To this end, and to these purposes, I devote my life.
Tillich takes to task "orthodox Lutheranism" for two shortcomings: 1) to contrast the salvation of the individual with the transformation of historical groups and separating them; 2) to contrast the realm of salvation with the realm of creation, and separating them ... leaving the Kingdom of God as something beyond time and space and history, something which the "saved" enter upon death.
"Finally, this view interprets the symbol of the Kingdom of God in a static supernatural order into which individuals enter after the death - instead of understanding the symbol, with the biblical writers, as a dynamic power on earth for the coming of which we pray in the LORD's Prayer and which, according to biblical thought, is struggling with the demonic forces which are powerful in churches as well as empires." ~ Vol. 3, p.356.
Much of the 20th Century Evangelical World fell into this trap, on the one hand, and on the other, in its "reconstructionist mode" in the last 40 years, envisions itself as "God's mighty army marching off to war," conquering this world for Christ, eliminating all ambiguity, and in such war (possibly literal), ushering in the Kingdom of God as a utopian end of history, with Christians in charge and "everyone bowing the knee," whether they like it or not.
If a former orthodoxy led Christians out of the world, allowing the orders of the world to lumber on without complaint or challenge, the current kind of Christianity, extremist and angry, will bring incredible disorder to the world by conquering the various orders and bending them toward a full and complete Christian hegemony, which has never worked, and never will, since the creative impulse of God's love engenders creativity and spontaneity and freedom rather than absolute control and management.
There are different kinds of Christianity, some of which are decidedly dangerous; some of which are purposeful and driven by justice and peace and a serious hope that, at least in fragmentary ways, history can be transformed and actually reflect the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.
To this end, and to these purposes, I devote my life.
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