Why I Support Obama

A friend recently wrote that Obama is no different than the rest - he's owned by big money and has us in six wars.

To which I wrote:

The differences, in both vision and character, are never absolute - one has to weigh and assess, and with that said, make a choice. Neutrality, or mutual dismissal of the options, is a choice, as well, but hardly productive; neutrality, or mutual dismissal, has always seemed to me a luxury I cannot afford. Anyway, I'll continue to support Obama, not because he's perfect, but because of the general trajectory of his values and vision, and not just Obama the person, but the party itself, the Democratic vision of We The People, which, I think, is morally stronger than the GOP's vision at this point in time, simply because the GOP has reduced individuality to "survival of the fittest" - the GOP doesn't recognize the common wealth we enjoy and share. a common wealth that we support, as Lincoln did in the hard decisions of the Civil War. Some things cannot be lost, lest we cease being who we are - "that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

From Huffington Post on Greece

From Arianna Huffington: 

Until I went over and witnessed what's happening, I too had become convinced that the real issues were the ones the media were obsessively covering: the effects of a potential sovereign default on the Euro and worries about the crisis spreading to other European countries.

But here's the bigger issue: Can a truly democratic movement break the stranglehold of corrupt elites and powerful anti-democratic institutional forces that have come to characterize not just the politics of Greece, but most Western democracies, including our own? Greece is only an extreme example of an unfolding seismic social shift that is challenging democracies the world over.

Ms. Huffington looks at the issues and reminds us that more is at stake in Greece and in the Western nations than austerity.

The wealthy want tax cuts, so that more cash can flow into their coffers, so they can fund their corporate jets and lavish life-styles.

But taxation is what makes nations work well. 

Adequate revenue insures medical research, education for our children, fighting wild fires in Texas, helping folks who've lost their homes in flooding, building and maintaining our roads and water-delivery systems, and a million other things that only a nation can offer. 

Democracy is clearly at stake in Greece and throughout the Western world.

America's Love-affair with Conversion

From a recent message:

We don’t know when the disciples were converted.

The Bible says nothing about it.

Even someone as distinguished at the Apostle Paul is reticent about his “conversion” – he says almost nothing about it.

Why?

Because human beings love the spectacular.

In America, “conversion” is big business.

TV preachers and traveling evangelists.

From the tents of old and the sawdust trails, to the latest book telling us how to get close to Jesus.

Lights, camera, action.

Dwight L. Moody and Billy Sunday and Aimee Semple McPherson … Paul Crouch and TBN … and a multi- billion dollar publishing industry.

Conversion is big business in America.

Sadly, the business of conversion has only added to our spiritual confusion and religious division.

The kinds of conversion we see in the Bible are very different.

They’re quiet and slow and no one truly knows the moment.

How about Abraham and Sarah?

Or Jeremiah?

Or Jonah?

We read their stories, and there are lots of odd moments, and wonderful moments, and hard moments, but there’s no one moment, no singular moment, nothing all that splashy or profound … just the slow road of faith … a little here, and a little there, two steps forward and one step backward, and it all adds … a God who walks slowly with us, maturing us in the faith, bringing us along the way, like a fine bottle of wine!

The disciples leave their nets to follow Jesus, but do they understand him, in the fullness of God’s revelation?

Of course not!

Matthew leaves behind his ledgers to follow Jesus, but does he have a full grasp of the message, the glory, the love of God?

Not at all.

At the end of the gospel, Matthew 28, on the mountain in Galilee, the writer notes with accuracy, that some worshipped Jesus, and some doubted … and the language could also suggest that while they all worshipped, they all had some doubt in them, as well.

It takes a lifetime to grow into Christ, and then some.

------------------------

The "conversion" method popularized in America with Dwight L. Moody, Billy Sunday and most spectacularly by Billy Graham has done enormous damage to America's spiritual psyche, adding to our confusion and intensifying religions division.

The message of conversion is a "Southern" phenomenon based upon faulty interpretations of the Bible; it's pure Americana, with little to do with the reality of God's mighty work to create a people on the face of the earth who know and love and serve the Lord as we see God's work spread out before us in the Bible.

Conversion tactics rely upon fear and the threat of eternal damnation, with lots of emotional manipulation to move people out of their seats and toward the front.

This is no way to reach anyone for God, and no wonder so much of the fundagelical church is full of angry people who are quick to condemn and slow to welcome. They've been manipulated and ripped off, and, guess what? they know it, but without the wherewithal to do anything about it, and lacking the courage (which has been whipped out of them) to challenge the authority of their tradition, the soldier on, bitter and vengeful. 

I have always had positive regard for Billy Graham, and still do, but his message has caused untold harm. His refusal to allow segregated crusades speaks to his integrity and vision, but the Southern phenomenon of conversion that he popularized and injected into the American imagination has left us with us a serious mess that will take several generations to clear from our system.

My Son's Peace Corps Swaziland Project Is Validated!

And your help is needed!

To complete a Community Center for preschool children, for health-care workers and their supplies and community events. Doors, windows and water are needed. Since dollars go along way in Swaziland, your gift will make a big difference.

Monies have already been given, but work begins on the project ONLY WHEN ALL of the funds are secured. Please consider a gift to help this project get up and running. It's vital to the wellbeing of the community in which my son lives and works. He's carefully chosen the work and developed the plans. Everyone's excited to see it get underway.

Remember, this is a TAX DEDUCTIBLE donation when made through the Peace Corps Website.

You can visit the Project's Website at: https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=645-088

In the following letter from the Peace Corps, be sure to note the possibility of an employer's matching grant.

Thanks in advance for your kindness on this matter.

Tom Eggebeen

Los Angeles, CA

My email: castaway5555@gmail.com

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 

Dear Friends of Josh,

We are excited to tell you about Josh Eggebeen’s Peace Corps Partnership Program project.  Since its inception in 1964, the Peace Corps Partnership Program has helped thousands of Peace Corps Volunteers implement community-initiated projects worldwide.  Now Josh is taking on a new Community Social Center project in Swaziland that needs your support.

This project, developed to address a pressing community need, will be implemented by both Josh and local partners.  This project will benefit the people of the community for many years to come. 

In order to begin implementation, Josh must raise $5,741.96 from friends, family and other interested donors.  Josh and the people of the community are asking for your assistance to turn this project into a reality.

The easiest way to donate is to use this link, 645-088. Although, the web site is the quickest way to make a donation, you may also make a check payable to Peace Corps Partnership Program and send it to:

Paul D. Coverdell Peace Corps Headquarters

Peace Corps Partnership Program, OPSI 

1111 20^th Street NW

Washington DC 20526

Be sure to indicate the project number, 645-088, on the check so it will be applied to the correct project. 

Also, if you’re looking for ways to make your donation go even farther, check with your employer to see if they have a matching gifts program; many companies match donations dollar for dollar. Furthermore, consider forwarding this email to anyone else who may be interested in supporting Josh.  Remember that gifts supporting this project are tax-deductible!

Please feel free to contact our office directly at 202.692.1682 or 1.800.424.8580 x2170 with any questions you might have. Your support will go a long way to aid Josh’s efforts in Swaziland.

Best,

Melissa Becchi

Keep in touch with the Peace Corps Partnership Program by signing up for our e-newsletter, Building Bridges. www.peacecorps.gov/buildingbridges

Melissa Becchi, RPCV Namibia

Program Support Assistant-Peace Corps Partnership Program

Peace Corps

1111 20th St. NW, Washington DC 20526

Voice: 202-692-1682

Fax: 202-692-2171

Email: mbecchi@peacecorps.gov

Peace Corps 50^th Anniversary 2011

Be part of the legacy and join us as we honor our past and look to the future

www.peacecorps.gov/50

Harold Camping and End of the World

The fact that a 100 mil was spent on signage and other assorted media mystifies me - from whence does this kind of money come? But more than this, the human cost. Camping capitalized on the mystique of end-times prophecies. Folks desperate to escape, and folks eager to show their spiritual superiority, line up for this junk, and junk it is. 

As always, the church needs to have a strong educational dimension to it's preaching. N.T. Wright's work on this is extremely helpful.

If Camping had been selling stocks and bonds, he'd be arrested for fraud and imprisoned. He's no different than Madoff, who likely believed in what he was doing, too, and thought he was a pretty good guy. But a crook is a crook - whether it be a Wall Street Dandy stealing money, or a wolf in sheep's clothing stealing faith and hope.

I Am a Universalist

I am a universalist, and became so some years ago after trying to figure it all out, and I finally decided that no one can know fully the mind of God, but we can all know fully the love of God for creation, and that includes all creatures, great and small, and the not-so-bright (which I think encompasses the whole of the human race).

Having said, “I’m a universalist,” and having confessed my ignorance about ultimate things, but not ultimate means (Israel’s Messiah), I will also affirm that any firm speculation about “eternity” can only lead to deep flaws of thought and ethics.

Traditions that speak with ultimate assurance about ultimate destinies have all, to a one, crashed on the rocks of pride and judgment. And some within the universalist tradition have likewise lost their fervor for any kind of faith, and have played carelessly with what folks believe and live.

We do have a blessed assurance, and it’s Jesus, who is ours, by grace, and his destiny, wrought in the contours of his life, is ours. I agree with Barth, that in Christ, God resolved all the issues, and in Christ, we see the final Yes to all God’s creation, because whatever No any of us might say is never greater than God’s Yes.

Having become a universalist,  everything remains the same for me: Jesus and his cross, Jesus and his life, Jesus and his resurrection and ascension, but rather than focused on “getting folks to heaven and not hell,” everything becomes focused on the LORD's Prayer, and it’s central theme, “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” For this we need Christ. For this, we need the Holy Spirit. For this, we need the Bible, the church, prayer and evangelism.

One still has to be saved – from ignorance and fear and pride and selfishness, to take this one singular life that God created with such passion and kindness and make it worthwhile, if not simply for the self (which it can never be) but for others, too. The children who suffer and die all around the world for want of political commitment to work for peace, for all the suffering occasioned by the greed and malice of the powerful, for all of this, we need to be saved from fear and cowardice that we might live with the boldness of Christ, and, with him, enter the temple when necessary to cleanse it, calm the crowd that is so eager to stone the woman, and challenge the blindness of the religious cognoscenti.

Give to everyone (letting God clear up all the details) the gift of eternal life with the one who made them, the one who came here to show them the way, the truth and the life, and the Spirit who opens minds and hearts and doors!

Then, we’re free to love, and free to join together in caring for God’s world. We’re free to share Jesus Christ with all, not at the point of a threat, but at the point of a celebration, that, yes, we’re all in this together, both now and forever.

For me, becoming a universalist has removed some of the worst aspects of Christian history and theology and opened up doors of joy and hope for here and now, and most surely, for eternity.

I still share Christ with anyone and everyone I can. Why not?

But heaven is no longer a goal in question. Christ took care of that.

Earth is the goal, as it should be, and that remains the biggest question of all.

And as it is for God – from the beginning, and as Paul the Apostle celebrates in his letter to the Romans – that one day, all will be made new, with a new heaven and a new earth, and every knee will bow to the wisdom and glory of God. 

Rob Bell, Albert Mohler and Universalism

Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, calls Rob Bell’s latest, Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived, a “theological disaster.” And then adds, “When you adopt universalism … you don’t need the church, and you don’t need Christ … and you don’t need the cross…. This is the disaster of nonjudgmental mainline liberalism.”

But nothing could be further from the truth.

In fact, even if we go all the way to universalism, we need the church, we need Christ, and we need the cross all the more. Because this life then becomes incredibly important, and how we love one another, and we love the world, all the more, the bottom line. It’s not about going to heaven (which Jesus never ever said), but doing “God’s will on earth as it is in heaven.”

Mohler’s gospel is a small gospel.

Reduced to a few clichés and a “come-to-Jesus” moment.

In Mohler’s evangelical world, Jesus was born of a virgin and then he died. Everything else in between is ignored. Paul letters are stripped of their ethical orientation and turned into a Gnostic treatise – if you now this, you’re saved; if you don’t know this, your goose is cooked.

Mohler is flat-out wrong.

But there’s nothing new in that.

Mohler’s tiny little world is growing tinier, and it doesn’t feel very good, even for him. But rather than changing and growing, Mohler just grows more and more bitter.

Hats of to Rob Bell for taking up the challenge to think.

Think outside the box … because, indeed, God and God’s love are always larger and bigger than we want them to be.

Yes, I have no doubt about Mohler’s ultimate destiny. But when he gets there, he’s going to spend a few thousand years pissed off that Bell is there. And then a few thousand years pissed at God. And then more years pissed at himself, until there’s no more piss left. And from his lips, the angels will hear, Hallelujah!

If then, why not now?

Just asking … but what do I know?