"Because the Bible says" is not good enough.

This week my New Testament Professor made a point I could not go by without sharing and expanding on. We were talking about the Gospel of Matthew and shared how interesting he found the narrative of Jesus' temptation. He pointed out that the Satan character in the narrative tempts Jesus using scripture and Jesus responds with other scripture. To say the Bible says one thing is entirely incorrect because the fact is that the bible says a lot of things and they often contradict themselves.

That being the case why do people continue to say I believe x simply because the Bible says? The answer is that we don't want to take responsibility for our own beliefs. Any reading of the bible necessarily is an interpretation because the Bible does not have one single monolithic theology or viewpoint, on top of that not only is the reader interpreting but if you are not reading in the original language you are at the mercy of the interpretation of the interpreter. And even if you do speak Greek and Hebrew the texts that exist are a compilation of ancient manuscripts which have textual variants within them so even in the original language you are at the mercy of the interpretation of textual critics.

I'm not saying that the scripture is not important, because I think the scripture is incredibly important but what I'm saying is that we can not use the scripture as a shield that relieves us from responsibility for our actions and beliefs. If our answer is that we believe something only because the bible says, I don't think we are taking our belief or the bible seriously. We are also dangerously relieving ourselves from the responsibility of the implications and ends that such beliefs bring about. Much evil has and continues to be justified in this way.

We must take responsibility for ourselves. We must examine our believes using our experience, reason and in conversation with what the tradition has said (this does not necessarily mean agreeing with the tradition but at least taking it into account). If our faith is not examined, thought about, and wrestled with it is no faith at all. And I believe that the authority of scripture only comes when we wrestle with it and struggle with it. We must be a part of the scripture making process.

I hope not to stand behind bible and use it as a shield. I hope to have an examined, thinking faith. I hope that when I fail in these things than I can recognize it.

A Much Deserved Thank You!!!

To all my PSR Friends,

You all deserve a big thank you. As many of you know I deal with issues of anxiety and depression. Two weeks ago I went through I really bad week where I let my anxiety and panic attacks get the better of me. It is not the first time it has happened, and though I hope it is the last I know it will probably not be the last. In the past when I have struggled with this issues I have felt terribly alone and it has only made me want to withdraw more. But this time I experienced something I have always longed for but had long quit believing would ever happen. I had people see that I was struggling, even though if I'm honest I was trying to hide it. You recognized my pain, and asked me how I was doing. You asked me not in the dismissive way I'm used to but in a way that invited me to be open, you cared enough about me to allow me to be vulnerable and tell you what was really going on. You listened to me and made me feel worthwhile. I can not express how meaningful this is to me. I could not say how thankful I am to all of you and how much all of you mean to me. Thank you!

With all my love,

Chris

Crying Out

Quiet...
There you are...
I feel you but you speak not...
or do you?
Its so hard to tell.
I know you and I don't.
You're right here...
or maybe you're too far...
even to touch.
Help me!!!
I need to understand...
or maybe I don't.

When Fear Wins America Loses

I have a lot I could write about in the midterm elections and there are no two ways around this I am disturbed by a number of things that happened yesterday. Sadly can not get to everything I would want to in just this blog but I do want to hit on a couple of things.

I think at the heart of what we saw happen last night was based on fear. An great example of this is Oklahoma which felt it was necessary to have a ballot measure that banded Sharia Law. I have spent a lot of the morning trying to research why this would be an issue in Oklahoma, not surprisingly I could not find a single example of Sharia being used in that state. So where does this kind of ballot measure come from? The answer is fear, fear of the "other" which in our current culture is Islam. This ballet measure in my opinion is a reaction not to any real threat but rather to fear of a people and a religion that many American's do not understand.

This is not the only vote that was driven by fear. In Iowa 3 state Supreme Court Justices were removed from the court because the in a unanimous decision the court made that denying LGBT people the right to marry was against the Iowa Constitution. I seriously doubt that those who voted against these judges looked at any other cases that these individuals presided over. Obviously I am a supporter of marriage rights, but even if you have a problem with LGBT people getting married is their really any harm that can be done to you by them being married, or visiting the person they love in the hospital, or being able to be on each others health insurance? The only answer I see to this question is no. The heart of this measure was reacting against judges who allowed something that was feared because it is understood.

In Arizona the people voted to end the state's affirmative action programs. This vote seems to me to be a clear example of white privilege perpetuating itself. Reading the arguments to end these programs I see fear, fear that you may not get a job and someone else may. When we realize there is a great disparity in the jobless rate for African Americans vs that of white Americans we can see that there are reasons that programs like affirmative action are rightfully in place.

If all that was no bad enough, but Rand Paul was elected to Congress of the United States. It is deeply troubling because this is a man who said that he disagreed with Article II the Civil Right Act of 1964 which prevents private businesses from discriminating based on race. I understand people saying the wrong thing during a race but he not only said this but defended it. Frankly, there is no excuse for this position he held and defended and I think it brings into serious question his ability to hold any position of power.

In the end I recognize that though I think those who voted these things into being made the wrong decisions, I have to recognize their right to vote the way they did. But I have to say that I believe that fear motivated a lot of those votes. Yes, we live in uncertain times, but if we continue to act out of fear it is the country that loses. It is fear that caused the Salem Witch Trials, fear that caused the Red Scare, and fear that caused us go into Iraq which cost many American Service Women and Men their lives.

We need to have a rational conversation in this country. One that does not comprise of soundbites. One that will not sell papers or drive ratings but one that will help us to rediscover our mutual purpose. I do truly believe we have a mutual purpose. We will not always agree, but we can disagree in a better way. We can leave the fear behind, we can recognize the racism, sexism, hetrosexism and privilege that exist in our country and we can do something about it.

God help us all.

We Can Be Silent No Longer

Over the years I have heard far too much hate coming from churches directed toward LGBTQ people. I have also seen many wonderful congregations and individuals who have been working for full inclusion for LGBTQ people within religious institutions. In the middle I have seen a lot of well meaning congregations stay out of the issue all together trying not to upset anyone believing that simply because they are not actively perpetrating this hate, they can stay out of the debate.

The recent suicides of 5 LGBTQ young people needs to act as a wake up call to us all. As people of faith and even more for those of us who are leaders have to recognize that our silence is, in a very real way, costing young people their lives. Those of us who believe that LGBTQ people are made in the image of God and that that God not only accepts them for who they are but longs for them to be exactly who they are, we have a responsibility to not allow hate dressed in religious language to be the only voice heard.

When we have people like Tom Prichard from the Minnesota Family Council making statements blaming the suicides on “homosexual indoctrination.” We can be silent no longer. I understand that for many in religious leadership there is risk involved with talking about this issue and taking a stand for inclusion, but think of it this way LGBTQ people everywhere risk each day by just being themselves, I simply find it unethical to choose silence because it is easier or less risky.

As religious leaders we must be willing to risk our own comfort, because there are people in our pews and sanctuaries that are looking for our guidance on this issue. There are many people who are inclined to do much to further the cause of inclusion if we only give them permission to do so. There are also youth and adults in our congregations that simply want to hear from someone that God really does affirm them, people who have been bullied, attacked (possibly physically), and demeaned simply for being who they are. This is simply not ok and we have say so.

Simple tolerance is not enough, to tolerate does not mean to be in solidarity with LGBTQ folks. No, only full inclusion goes far enough, and not a quiet inclusion that simply says this is what we believe, please leave us alone. We must practice an inclusion that all the world can hear, one that sends a message that says the Jesus we understand is not ok with people being stripped of their humanity. That those who call homosexuality an abomination do not speak for us or the Jesus we know.

I implore you be silent no longer, there are those out there who need to hear about the inclusive love of God in which we believe. There are those who need to feel the tangible inclusive love we can provide. As the Church we must repent, our silence has at the very least contributed to the deaths of many wonderful people who we were not there for. We can not let this continue to happen.

God have mercy on us for our silence. God help us as we move to real inclusion. God strengthen us for the struggle. God remind all that you love them for exactly who you made them.

... and yet I am

My history holds a legacy of oppression
but I am not my history... and yet I am.

My faith has perpetrated much evil
but I am not my faith... and yet I am.

My country is build on systems of privilege
but I am not my country... and yet I am.

Racism and Humanity

This originated as a reflection for my class "Race and Racism in the Congregation" I thought it was worth sharing here. It is a response the second part of the PBS Documentary "Race: the Power of an Illusion"


It is striking to me how quickly and completely the concept that whiteness is the norm has been written into the laws of the United States. It is shocking that a country that expounds the value of equality so quickly begins to make distinctions between people. What is even more disturbing is that in attempt to reconcile the value of equality with these distinctions that some peoples begin to be seen as subhuman.

It was horrifying to hear about the human exhibits that existed at the St. Louis World Fair. It is so easy for us to see in hindsight this for what it was, a kind of human zoo. It would be easy for me to look at this in judgmental horror and think how glad I am that I’m not as bad as those people who stripped people of their humanity in the past. Though it is tempting to pat myself on the back and say how good I am for coming so far, I have to avoid this temptation. If I fall into that temptation I don’t ask the question that is begging to be asked here and that is how are we still stripping people of their humanity.

I think this is a startling fact about racism and institutional racism that not only does it metaphorically strip humanity from those who experience it, but also in it’s very history it has literally left people being categorized as subhuman. This makes the work of bringing down the systems and attitudes all the more important. It is not simply about equality or justice but it is actually about working together to restore people’s very humanity.

This link between people’s humanity and racism has been an epiphany for me. Though I have thought it important to struggle with race and racism for quite some time, it shows me what is at stake in that struggle. There is a big difference between the concepts of people feelings versus people’s humanity being at stake. Somehow this is the first time I am making this connection and it means that I need to rethink the way I talk race and racism. It may in fact mean that I need to think about new models and new language for fighting the specter of racism.

I was shocked by how deeply embedded the normalization of “whiteness” was within the laws and history of the United States. This normalization has allowed people to equate being white with being “civilized.” First off it seems very arrogant to me to consider oneself “civilized” implying that one’s own culture is the measuring stick by which all others are measured. What is even more infuriating is that this concept lead to the discussions of who could be “civilized” (made to live like the dominate “white” culture) and who could not be therefore being labeled as inferior to the dominate “white” culture.

This sense of “civilizing” people has lead to a great deal of cultural genocide. We only have to look at how the Native American cultures in the United States have been systematically destroyed to find an example of this. The unsaid principle is that those being “civilized” have a culture that will not allow them to be fully human and to be fully human one must adopt the dominate “white” culture.

It is again tempting to say this is another idea that is somehow situated in the past, but the truth is that we can still see this idea today. All we must do is listen to the arguments in the emigration debate. It is this “civilizing” tendency that is behind the attempt to make English the national language. Even in the term “illegal emigrant” we see that it labels the person as illegal, suggesting that they must adopt the dominate “white” culture to be citizens.

Another disturbing fact about this tendency toward “civilizing” people is that if a person of color is successful, it allows “white” culture to take credit for it. In other words that person only could be successful because they have been so successfully “civilized.” Take the case of President Obama being described as a “well spoken, articulate black man” as an example. We see in this example the implication that being articulate or well spoken are not attributes that can be attributed with blackness, which in and of itself implies that these are “white” traits. Therefore the President must have been taught these “white” traits. I can not even begin to express how disturbing this logic is to me.

This normalization of “whiteness” without question is one of the factors that leads to the existence of white privilege. It makes me wonder in what ways do I benefit from the fact that “whiteness” is seen as the norm. I think it is this normalization that allows me to not pay to much attention to the fact that I am white. At the worst moments it can lead to me feeling like others should automatically understand my point of view. It makes it easy as part of the group who is seen as the norm to let that, even unintentionally, effect how I see myself.

Social sin is a real thing and if I am honest with myself I am guilty in participating in a number of social sins. All I can hope is that as I keep wrestling with these concepts that I can recognize where that sin exists and do what I can to make others aware of it as well.