Pointing out GOP/Ayn Rand Hypocrisy Without Demonizing Atheists

I have been very glad lately to see the progressives finally calling out the hypocrisy of members of the GOP holding Ayn Rand up as a foundational Republican thinker and claiming that it is the party of faith. This is a hypocrisy that should be pointed out. I am concerned however that progressive people of faith while pointing out this hypocrisy are unintentionally in the process demonizing atheists.

I think the youtube video Ayn Rand & the GOP vs. Jesus is an example of this. I have seen it widely distributed and have watched it a number of times. Each time it left me feeling uncomfortable. The video while trying to point on the hypocrisy has a tone that seems to fall into an us vs. them binary that borders on calling atheism evil. This is deeply concerning to me.

The truth is that while I have different views on faith than the atheists I have met, I have found some of my best allies and friends in the fight for social justice in the ranks of self-proclaimed atheists. The truth is that some of the most compassionate, caring and moral people I know are atheists. Atheism simply is not evil, it is an expression of belief. People of faith can find much common ground with those who adhere to know religion. I have gained much over the years from open, honest and respectful dialogue with my atheist sisters and brothers.

We must be careful and respectful. If we as progressives begin to demonize atheists we are no better than those who use the scripture as a weapon rather than to give life. We can disagree on issues of faith and still work together and live as neighbors. We must not stop pointing out hypocrisy like that we see in case of Ayn Rand and the GOP, but in doing so we must be careful not to create collateral damage.

When we go down the road of the us vs. them binary we are always in danger of hurting those who in no way deserve it. We must use our faith as a tool to unite and resist the temptation to use it to divide. I believe our faith calls us to nothing less.

Why Tolerance Has Failed.

Whether it is the arguments over marriage equality, the rampant Islamaphobia or the anti-emigration sentiment in our country it is becoming very clear that at its very heart tolerance has failed. When we think about it for a moment it should not be a surprise, tolerance has been doomed from the beginning because tolerance simply does not go far enough.

Essential to the divisiveness of the topics mentioned above is the labeling of someone else as the other. Tolerance allows this to continue to happen; we tolerate the people who are different then us. They are the other but that is ok. Tolerance fails right there, we must instead of seeing people as the other, see them as essentially human and valuable. It is this much more radical approach that is called for by the Christian faith.

We are called to see the image of God all around us, particularly in people we come into contact with each day. What this means is recognizing that all have the divine spark, divine value. This goes far beyond simply being ok with differences; this means celebrating differences, seeing those differences as an essential part of what it means to be human. It means breaking out of the binary world we have all been taught to believe in.

This becomes all the more challenging when we consider those we disagree with on the deepest level. We are however called to treat them with the same respect and recognize the same divine spark within them. This is what Jesus was talking about when he called us to “Love our Enemies.” It is easy to hate when we can label people as other. It is much harder to hate when we see that divine resides in those who disagree with us as well.

The practical reality is that if we can move beyond tolerance and move to a place where we see people as worthwhile and valuable it will open the door to true conversation. We will not always agree and we may in the end continue to make each other mad, but by not labeling each other we can at least come to the table. In coming to that table maybe find more common ground than we expect on which to stand and make the world a better place.

Proud to be an Ally this Pride Month

I have to say that I’m very excited that it is Pride Month. I am particularly excited to be living in the Bay Area this year and getting to go to the San Francisco Pride celebrations at the end of the month is something I have wanted to do for a long time. I’m also excited because I know the Grand Marshall of the San Francisco Pride Parade.

I am ally and I am deeply proud to be an ally. Over the years I have been asked many times why I am so deeply drawn to the fight for inclusion and equal rights for the LGBTQ community. I have a hard time answering that question because I cannot pinpoint a “became” an ally. It simply feels like part of who I am and has been that way as long as I can remember.

While I cannot answer how I became an ally I can, however, tell you the reasons it means so much for me to be an ally every day. Over the years my life has been deeply affected by my LGBTQ friends and I have learned more than I can possible say from them. They have taught me about courage as they have been themselves even in the face of the world asking them not to be. They have shown me what it means to love and love deeply and honestly. They have taught me about faith, staying in love with God even when the church brokenly says we don’t want you. They have shown me acceptance and they honor and affirm who I am. I am grateful for the lessons the LGBTQ community has taught me even at the same time mourning the brokenness of the rest of the world that gave the opportunity for these lessons to be taught.

So this pride month I proudly declare that I am an ally and would not have it any other way.

Mary

A poem inspired my worship at New Spirit Community Church on 5/29/2011.

She stares into my soul. Her eyes that of divinity. Caring, compassionate, loving. She knows me, this Mary, not for who I pretend to be, but for who I am. In the moment, Mother God with us.

Reflection on the End of the World That Was Not

May 21 came and went and we are all still here (no surprise here) and I find myself wanting to be snarky. I find myself wanting to say I told you so, and to make jokes at the expense of those who thought the Judgment was upon us. The truth is, though, if I fall to these urges I miss an opportunity to learn from what we have just seen, I miss to opportunity to practice compassion for those who must be reeling from this experience.

Before I begin my thoughts on the subject I want to give credit to one of the most intelligent and thoughtful people I know Jay Johnson for helping me to recontextualize this event in his blog post "Apocalypse Now or Later."

Now to my thoughts; if we just become snarky about this event I believe we miss the point. The fact that so many people were willing to see and wish for the end of the world revels something about the brokenness experienced in our world today. When people see the only hope as the end, something has failed them, it is not a new phenomenon but it is one to pay attention to. What if we who saw this prediction of the end of the world for what it was had been better able to express a sense of hope to those who had been unable to find it? What if I had been able to speak of hope instead of simply making fun of the prediction as I did? I find myself feeling I missed an opportunity to engage brokenness and instead engaged in brokenness.

I also find myself with anger at Harold Camping himself. I think that some of that anger is rightful. This man has done a great deal of damage to thousands of people, and has in the name of Christianity once again hurt the world rather than done anything to better it. So I’m not saying my anger is not justified but if I stay only at anger I miss a lesson here. We who are religious leaders need to see again just how much sway we hold in people lives. There is a lesson for us here to once again examine our beliefs and make sure that we are not through what we do and say leading people to a place that is destructive for them. While we may not predicting the end of the world like Harold Camping, we need to take the time to ask ourselves if our theologies are really furthering the betterment of human kind or are we holding onto dogmas that divide, encourage hate, rob people of hope, or leave them feeling that the only hope is in the end. It would be ashamed to let this pass without reflection.

Lastly, we are left with a great opportunity for compassion. There are a great number of people in a great need for that compassion. Yes, it is true that they themselves chose to quit their jobs uproot their lives to follow Camping. This does not make these people any less worthy of compassion. In the end what one of us can look back at our lives and say we have not at one time or another made some kind of massively bad decision? In the end these people are people and they are people who are hurting. We have an opportunity to provide hope and to heal some of the brokenness in the world. Are we going to fight the brokenness of this world or again add to it, in the end it is our choice.

Open Letter to Sojourners

What follows is an open letter I wrote to Sojourners in regard to them rejecting an ad from Believe Out Loud a United Methodist group working for full inclusion in the church.

Dear Sojourners,

As a long time reader of Sojourners, I have gained a lot from your insightful take on issues of faith. I am deeply troubled however by your rejection of the ad from Believe Out Loud. You have been a consistent voice for the oppressed and marginalized and this decision is simply out of character for your organization. I understand that not everyone in your organization is of the same mind on the issue but you do not foster honest dialogue on the issue by by excluding the voice if faithful Christians who are attempting to promote said honest dialogue as Believe Out Loud is. I fear that this decision has less to do with the mission of your organization and more to do with dollars and cents, fear of losing readers/ sponsors. I pray that you will reconsider the issue and live up to your call to be the prophetic voice I have known you to be.

Chris Hockley

Blessed is the One Who Comes in the Name of the Lord

Jesus...
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

Moses, Mohammed, The Buddha...
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

Dorothy Day, Holy Mary, Mother Theresa, Rosa Parks...
Blessed is she who comes in the name of the Lord!

Martin Luther King Jr. Malcolm X, Oscar Romero, Harvey Milk...
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

The Dalia Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, Black Elk, Eboo Patel, Rumi...
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

The millions unknown who devote their lives for Justice...
Blessed are you who come in the name of the Lord!