last Jesus freak

Losin My Religion

2008-11-05T12:09:00.005-05:00

No, not that one. My political religion. Why, after such a great victory, would I be so discouraged? Good question; and let me say up front I could not be more delighted that Barack Obama will be our next President. Let me say it, us liberal Christians don't say it enough, Hallelujah! This is good news, but yet there is bad news in this election season. We are not the people I had hoped we were, and by we I mean Americans and particularly liberals. All the signs were there all along but with the hustle and bustle of the past 22 months it sat just under the surface in my consciousness. But now I can only ask "what is the matter with us? when did we become so jaded, so selfish, so ugly?"

There is a story in the Bible (John 6:35-70) where it becomes pretty obvious that Jesus is bat shit crazy and nearly everybody deserts Him. So He turns to His close disciples and asks if they might be leaving too. Peter answers "where will we go, you have the words of life?" and then Jesus rewarded Peters oath of fealty with another non-seqitur. "We wish you were a little more stable and we know you are going to get us all killed, but you da man! We don't want to be with anybody else, no matter how much you frustrate us" I guess this is how I am feeling about the progressive movement and America in general. I am not going to become a Republican or move to another country, I just wish we could get our shit together. We can't blame our leaders. this is a democracy; we decide how we react. We decide if we are going to get one more jab in on Mr. McCain, we decide if we are going to file a lawsuit against Mr. Obama for visiting his dying grandmother, we decide if we are going to spread specious and anyway unhelpful rumors about Mr. McCain's aunt. Because, you know, Mr. McCain showed a lot of grace in his concession speech, encouraging his supporters to now support our new President; and the citizens, those good hearted Americans, booed and cat called anyway. I think it is we that are corrupting our leaders.

We elected an African American to the Presidency, that is a positive step; it shows that many of us have gotten over some of our prejudice, and that still others are willing to admit that the country is such and unmitigated mess that we need a different solution, because what we have been doing hasn't been working. But, for the most part we did it for ourselves; it does not herald a great enlightening of the American people. We were in trouble, scared, and turned to the guy who most loudly proclaimed that we arrived here due to mismanagement and that he would do things differently; but we are no more tenderhearted, we are no more convinced that our Constitution matters. How can we tell? Just look at the various state referendums.

Voters in Arizona took time out of their busy day to pass a Constitutional amendment marginalizing their GLBT neighbors but couldn't spare the time to punish dishonest businessmen who illegally exploit South American immigrants, preferring to heap condemnation on the heads of those people who have fled to the US to escape economic and political oppression which in many cases exist to enrich American businessmen.

In Arkansas they voted to prohibit gay couples from adopting children; I wonder how this will affect existing families?

In California, Cali-frigging-fornia!, they passed a Constitutional amendment, prohibiting gay marriage. I am conflicted about the abortion notification measure, as I am fully committed to the fact that ones body belongs to oneself, but loving supportive parents might wan the chance to offer comfort to their child. More on this later. The people in California voted for Mr. Obama.

In Colorado they voted to end affirmative action in the public sector. The movie "Men of Honor" tells the true story of Master Chief Petty Officer Carl Brashear, the first African American Navy diver. In one scene it show Chief Brashear completing his certification using a gear bag that had been sabotaged, this was a turning point in his trainer's opinion of him. If a person can perform competitively at a job against great odds then it is just common sense they will excel when the odds are equalized, thus providing exceptional service. Fairness aside, affirmative action provides us with the strongest and most persistent candidates for a job. I too feel that life cannot possible begin at "conception" (if conception could even be determined), and if it did God kills an awful lot of babies, more on that later. The people in Colorado voted for Mr. Obama.

Florida banned gay marriage and voted for Mr. Obama.

Maryland voted to allow a video lottery to pay for public school costs, presumably relieving the tax burden on its citizens and voted for Mr. Obama.

Nebraska voted to end affirmative action, but voted Republican, so this is, at least, consistent.
Additionally, South Dakota voted down their draconian abortion laws, which would appear inconsistent in light of them also voting Republican.

And Washington State voted to legalize physician assisted suicide. I agree that it is wrong to force a terminally ill person to suffer with no hope. The did vote for Mr. Obama.

Michigan voted to allow medical marijuana and stem cell research and voted for Mr. Obama. I support both of these issues.

What is my point? People voted for their personal best interest when given the opportunity but consistently, across the board failed to vote to protect the rights of others. It's my body, dammit, and mind your own business, but we get to tell you what to do with your heart. In a country that get past their prejudices and dogmas to ensures women the rights to their own body; the sick access to effective medication, both in the present and in research for the future, discover creative ways to cut taxes without cutting services and provide a dignified end when life is over; people should be allowed to decide with whom they are going to spend their lives, and be treated with the same dignity and respect for their family as their neighbor, gain justice in the workplace and not be scapegoated for broken immigration and foreign policy.

TOP 5 REASONS OBAMA SUPPORTERS SHOULDN'T REST EASY

2008-10-21T01:08:00.002-04:00

The fine folks at MoveOn.org asked me to share this with you (whomever you are):

1. The polls may be wrong. This is an unprecedented election. No one knows how racism may affect what voters tell pollsters—or what they do in the voting booth. And the polls are narrowing anyway. In the last few days, John McCain has gained ground in most national polls, as his campaign has gone even more negative.
2. Dirty tricks. Republicans are already illegally purging voters from the rolls in some states. They're whipping up hysteria over ACORN to justify more challenges to new voters. Misleading flyers about the voting process have started appearing in black neighborhoods. And of course, many counties still use unsecure voting machines.
3. October surprise. In politics, 15 days is a long time. The next McCain smear could dominate the news for a week. There could be a crisis with Iran, or Bin Laden could release another tape, or worse.
4. Those who forget history... In 2000, Al Gore won the popular vote after trailing by seven points in the final days of the race. In 1980, Reagan was eight points down in the polls in late October and came back to win. Races can shift—fast!
5. Landslide. Even with Barack Obama in the White House, passing universal health care and a new clean-energy policy is going to be hard. Insurance, drug and oil companies will fight us every step of the way. We need the kind of landslide that will give Barack a huge mandate.
If you agree that we shouldn't rest easy, please sign up to volunteer at your local Obama office by clicking here:

http://pol.moveon.org/obama/office.html?source=blog&id=14534-3587469-1PM3Nox&t=1

We're just two weeks away from turning the page on the Bush era—but we can't afford to take our eye off the prize. We've got to keep pushing until the very end.

And by the way it wouldn't hurt to drop me a line; I feel so lonely.

Enough!

2008-09-24T11:00:00.007-04:00

Well, it isn't getting any better, is it? The present administration does one evil destructive thing after another, and Congress just lets them. One catastrophe worse than the one before and the answer is suppose to be to give them more authority. This should have been nipped in the butt THE FIRST SECOND that the "Democrats" had the majority. It may almost be OK for the Republicans to take for granted that we are "nice guys" and expect us to lay there; I mean if we realize that they are "evil bastards" and that they will rape us (and the rest of the country) with every vile and hurtful thing they can get their hands on. And the really annoying thing? The unmitigated evil of the administration and their cronies coupled with the complicity of the Democratically controlled Congress obscures the fact that there are good honest patriotic Republicans that are sick of the abuse and Democrats ready to fight to take our country back, but ham stringed by their leadership too flush with privileged to do their jobs; representing the American people. I want to share a couple of e-mails I sent the speaker of the house soon after their "victory". They apparently had no effect on her, maybe they will make sense to you.

===========================================================================================

5-23-2007: Taking back our country -

Dr. Madam Speaker,

My father would ask ba quanda? (sp) , but when?
I guess the advertisement advocating John McCain for president on your web
page says it all.
It should be abundantly clear by now that Mr. Bush has no intention of
cooperating with healing the country that he so gleefully destroyed, and
frankly, every day that you allow him to continue as a barrier to progress
you are further implicated in his evil doing. He stated today that AG
Gonzales did nothing wrong. The use of the Justice department to steal
elections was doing nothing wrong. These are not misguided people, who just
want what is best for our country and its people; but rather greedy selfish
men who envision a society where the majority of Americans are beholden to
their feudal masters. They have , with much industry, dismantled not only
the advances made by the new deal and the great society, but also those made
by the American revolution. There is not much of the Constitution that
remains intact after this administration. And the bill of rights might as
well never been written. The President is unfazed by his tumbling popularity;
he doesn't care what others think of him, only his opinion matters; in short he is a sociopath.
No amount of failure is going to dissuade him from his disastrous course, and
he is willing to take the country with him, no he desires it. It is kind of
cute that you passed all of those bills early in the year, but with no way to
get them signed into law, what difference does it make? When the country
comes crashing down around our feet, George Bush will not be called on to
pay; he will already be gone, living a life of privilege in a country more
accommodating to the privileged than when he took office. And when our
grandchildren are struggling for air and food and jobs, when we are no longer here to protect them, it will not trouble him in the least. A Viceroy in
Iraq that loses billions, a FEMA chief that allows thousands to die and tens
of thousands to suffer, an AG that perverts the very meaning of justice; when is enough enough?

===========================================================================================

06/10/2007: National Security Presidential Directive (remember that? kinda seems like small change after all the Congress has allowed the administration to get away with since) -

Dear Madam Speaker,

Can you think of a more criminally incompetent person to be totally in charge
of America during time of real crisis than George W. Bush? For that matter
can you think of a more inept person to be in charge of a lemonade stand
during a heat wave. Is there anybody in your recent memory that has been
more prolific at rescuing disaster from the jaws of opportunity than George
W. Bush?

How can you possibly leave him minding our great country, when it appears the
only thing keeping him up at night is his failure to have totally destroyed
our country, our reputation, our freedoms and our way of life? How can you
claim to be doing your job while allowing him to word the NSPD and HSPD in
such a way that it gives him dictatorial powers if HE decides there is a
crisis of sufficient magnitude? His entire administration has been defined
by large scale crisis, most by his hand.

No matter how true your motives, this country will never get back on track
with Bush in the White House, he has proved that by vetoing the Military
Spending Bill, by continuing to shelter Alberto Gonzalez, and by continuing
to nominate hateful or incompetent people to those positions that fall under
his control. There is also a good possibility that anther Supreme Court
Justice will have to be appointed before his term naturally ends. If there
is any question of what a disaster that would be, just review some of the
rulings made by the Supreme Court in the past month or so. Imagine forty
years of this type of obstruction, regardless of who lives in the White House
and what the composition of the Congress is.

You must either reign him in, or if you feel you (meaning in both cases
Congress) cannot, then you must impeach him. It has gone beyond politics.
This is no longer about getting along; Mr. Bush has proved that he takes
Newt Gingrich's advice to heart; "bi-partisanship is another word for date
rape." You cannot hope to unilaterally cooperate. Mr. Bush has decried the
mean spirited tone in Washington and then when you have presented a more
friendly face, has interpreted it for weakness and attacked since the
beginning of his term. NO MORE MS NICE GUY! Start doing what we hired you
for; defend the Constitution from ALL enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC.

===========================================================================================

This administration has proved that they don't need a whole lot of time to percolate a disaster; January is a million years from now in "Dubya" years. There is also time for the Congress, Democrats and Republicans, to do the job they were hired to do; put some stringent conditions on any bailouts, automakers, banking, Wall Street. These people have made their living despoiling America for long enough, it is time they start giving back. It has become standard operating procedure in our justice system to deny the criminals the fruits of their ill gotten gains, except in those arenas run by the administrations cronies. This must change.

The automakers can have the money, if they retool their factories to produce massively more energy efficient cars and hire American workers to build those cars, it is our money. The financial sector can have the money, if they are equally forgiving of their clients, if they will restructure mortgages so that home owners can pay them, it is our money; if they will repair retirement accounts so that retirees are not impoverish by the collapse, it is our money; if they will operate to rebuild our economy and invest in the hardest hit communities, it is OUR money!

Or we could let "the market prevail", let them live with the consequences of their actions (as they have advocated for us), throw the criminals in jail, take the wealth from the greedy offer no aid to managers that mis-managed; and spend that money on a new crop of automakers, investors and government officials who are willing to put us before their personal and financial agendas.
Either way is OK with me (Jesus probably prefers compassion, though.)

Pauline Gospel

2008-09-15T16:24:00.005-04:00

I was pointed to this page by a friend on a mailing list and i felt I should answer its allegations. I promise I will get back to posting political articles in this election season.

http://www.gotquestions.org/Pauline-Christianity.html

You know what I like about the Rainbow Bible? It illustrates that everything is not black and white ;-)

I think that Paul (and subsequent "Pauls") had a "refreshing" view on Jesus and His message. I also believe

1 - that the fore mentioned Jesus was God incarnate, died until He was dead dead dead and then rose bodily from the dead. I believe that His life death and Resurrection mended the gulf between God and mankind.

2 - That the Bible is the inspired message from God through which He reveals His character and His love for us. It's message is much too important to insist that it is 100 percent scientifically or historically accurate, or that it was written in such a way that it is easily transposed into the 21st century without prayerful reflection and study; including study of what it would mean unassailed at the time it was written and to it's original audience. And as such can have messages that seem inconsistent to our modern minds, If we can be sure of any part of the gospels it is what Jesus said. The sequence and context and order of what He did carried lesser importance to the gospel writers and who the other actors were, exactly. They were telling the good news of Jesus, and if a Pharisee became a a Sadducee or some such for the continuity of the story, so be it. But nobody doubts the words. And fewer than you think doubt the narrative, just maybe the order.

3 - Paul was in fact a Pharisee and Pharisees were not all that bad of a group of people, and a convenient composite for contrast to the Church. Paul does not apologize for being a Pharisee, but rather supports his assertions due to his advanced learning. This witness is not only present in his epistles, but also in the book of acts, where "At this point Festus interrupted Paul's defense. "You are out of your mind, Paul!" he shouted. "Your great learning is driving you insane." Acts 26:24. The Pharisees went on to found Rabbinical Judaism, which also believes that God is still speaking.

4- a) asked and answered; Jesus is Lord, this certainly occurs in places other than the epistles credited to Paul (and the ones he indeed wrote)
b) salvation is by grace through the faithfulness of Jesus. It is what the actual words say (in Greek, a language that the Bible WAS written in) and it is more consistent with scripture and the other words of Paul.
c) The blood of Jesus, as a substance has as much to do with salvation as the blood of lambs and goats had in the Hebrew covenant. Paul did not invent this doctrine, but rather appealed to it when addressing a Hebrew audience, as this was the context that they could relate to. It is an imperfect model at best, which is why it is not the only one he used, and even in that his arguments are inconsistent IF that is what he is arguing. For example he cast Jesus as the sacrificial lamb and the scape goat, two incompatible beasts, who are not interchangeable. This cannot be a Pauline invention, because it is not what he is saying.
d) This again is both present in other scriptures, beside the point, and cannot be literally accurate. Jesus never transgressed the will of the Father, so in this He is "sinless". But sin mean separation and Jesus Himself cried out (yes I know He was quoting scripture) "My God, My God why have You forsaken me", and then further He gave up His ghost (which was, you know, God) so the man Jesus was separated from "God". There was a period of time that His body, which was resurrected was separated from God.
e) I am not sure that the concept of "original sin" is the problem, or what conclusions we draw from that, a controversy that has played enthusiastic drama for the entire life of the church. Is man separated from God due to some conditions which the individual does not have control and can be traced back to the act or acts of another or others, sure.
f) I cannot imagine the fellow who wrote this web page could have typed this with a straight face. I mean, there were probably enough specious allegations in the page that most of his intended audience would not show the intellectual courage to refute, but The Holy Spirit? Cmon!!! I, apparently unlike the author of this web page, have listened to and studied many of the folks that I am sure this page is referring to (Crossan, Borg, etc.) and none of them would allege that Paul created the Holy Spirit. That's just embarrassing.

5 - The Gnostic gospels are a good source for understanding the cultural conditions in which Jesus lived and the Bible was written. They shed light on some issues that were not among the priorities of the canonical gospel writers. There are also fragmented and jejune in many cases. Not even Bart Erlman consider them of greater value than the canonical gospels.

It is probably true that the concept of a Pauline gospel is a misunderstanding of the Gospel, regardless of which end of the issue you stand. There is a single gospel that is made up of many voices. Paul himself cautioned those whom he wrote to not take his word above all others, but to follow Jesus. Paul interpreted that journey in one way, Peter another and John and James another still. This is the thing I do have against the "Rainbow Bible" it is confusing with all those colors, we may lose sight of how important the words in red are.

Two Accounts of Creation

2008-09-11T17:00:00.001-04:00

OK, so like there are two accounts of creation, and they differ, and they are right next to one another, right in the beginning of the book; right next to each other, not even separated by a few pages or nothing. So either the cat that wrote Genesis is really really stupid OR realized that cover pages often get lost and this was better and less likely to be ignored than a disclaimer that said "WARNING! THIS IS NOT A SCIENCE TEXT - for worship and religious purposes only!" And that should really have been that, start the book with two distinct poetic renditions of creation and people will get the joke that what is contained withing is a lot more important than science or history or any type of "hard" knowledge. But this doesn't happen, instead you get people trying to reconcile the two and arguing about what kind of weapon Cain used to off Able and what the heck is gopher wood and how did all those animals fit in the ark, where did the water come from and where did it go and why was God afraid the the tower builders in Babel would succeed when He knew there was no place for them to go and a tower would collapse if it were just a couple of miles high regardless of what it was made of? And they actually come up with answers! Sometimes conflicting answers, and they argue and fight and start wars about the which answer it right.

Maybe we need a new translation, like a "Bible for Idiots" that has hints that this is a religious tome and not history or science or any of that stuff. We could change just a few things like change "there lived a man named Abram" to "there was once this guy, let's call him Abram, for example" and sprinkle a lot of "yeah, that's the ticket" and "no man, really forty flippin' days!" around and then maybe people would get the joke. Or they could just tell the stories around the camp fire for about 3000 years before anybody wrote it down, just like the folklore of every other religion in human history. Nah, that wouldn't work, they already tried that one. I guess they should stick with starting the book with two different poetic renditions of the same story that say different things (I admit the second story isn't quite as poetic).

Requiem for a Horse

2007-10-03T21:03:00.001-04:00

Brothers and sisters we are gathered here to mourn the death of the Republicans moral high horse. Mitt Romney is running a political advertisement stating that he is not one of those "tax and spend" democrats, this is probably the only state in the union that would not respond to this rubbish by storming the station. But. today, the horse is finally dead; it is only right to mourn it, after all the great sins of the republican party aren't the horses fault. For thirteen years the poor thing has taken them everywhere they wanted to go, regardless of how foolish they looked when they got there. The horse, I think Bullshit is his name has been looking sickly for quite some time, with them spending over a billion dollars a week on the Iraq war and two trillion dollars in tax cuts aimed at the very rich, while requests by we the people for five or ten million dollars to feed our hungry, or 3-10 billion to keep an entire city from winding up underwater were rebuffed by the cry, "there is no money." Today, President Bush, who fancies himself a Christian vetoed a bill to fund medical care for children, and my representative, who undoubtedly ran on some sort of a religious platform (it is hard to keep the "three stooges", Graham, DeMint and Wilson, straight) explained to me that he supports him for the same old political reasons. This after yesterday then entire Congress gave the White House over 200 billion dollars to fuel the disaster in Iraq.
An investigation is underway to determine cause of death, foul play is seriously suspected; knowing the republicans it's probably something sick and disgusting. So, Rest in Peace, Bullshit; and please you horse traders out there, don't sell these reprobates another horse.

NAFTA? CAFTA? SHAFTA!!!

2007-08-10T12:38:00.001-04:00

In this "election season" a neglected issue is what will the next president do to rescue our neighbors to the south from the bloody greedy hegemony of American and "transnational" (read American) corporations? Who will stand up to these bullies and tell them they may not despoil the entire planet to fill their own pocketbooks; that they have gotten away with it for long enough? America's relationship to the world is a vital issue and touches on virtually every other issue we face. You want to discuss an "immigration problem"? Stop making other peoples homes unlivable and they will live in them; stop destroying the economies and governements of the Americas and beyond, and they will build democracies that the people want to inhabit (but, of course those people won't be available to exploite here and abroad). What we are calling an immigration problem others call human trafficing and slavery. You are concerend by war and hostility that other people have toward us? Alllow them to govern themselves; stop putting puppet governerments in power that steal from the poor to give to the rich.

Make no mistake, this is a moral, a "religious" issue. An administration that claims to be "Christian" and trades in slavery and oppression has a lot of explaining to do. Much of Jesus preaching was council on how to resist the "free trade" advocates of His time, the Roman empire; lend without expectation of repayment, share you excess, love your neighbor There is of course more to this than a political strategy, but the people of His time were being driven into poverty by the policies of the empire, and their response to the communities that His followers created mirror our response to South American countries that demand freedom. Then as now, free trade meant that the empire was free to become more powerful and the local people were free to starve.

We know these neo-liberal economic policies don't work. We know they only wreak destruction; we have seen it in nation after nation, not the least of these Iraq (and of course the U.S.A). We have seen economies destroyed and freedoms lost. In Iraq we did everything that has already failed and then we were shocked it erupted in violence. And further, we know what does work. After world war two we instituted the Marshall plan; rebuilding economies, putting the wealth and potential back into the hands of the people in the lands of our ex-enemies. At home, we funded the arts, put people back to work for a livable wage, provided the GI bill to help returning soldiers get good jobs and own houses. All of thes policies have fallen by the wayside; they are not friendly to a feudal society, they create and egalatarian society, not one where the majority of people are just tools to be used by the priviledged few and then discarded.

So, which of these candidates will become a President that will give our nation its soul back? Restore or dreams and our morality? Does anybody have the courage? And rest assured, it will take courage. If the people of the U.S. caught wind that democracy and populist capitalism works, and that the corporatism that runs this country is neither democratic or capitalist, we might want a piece of that.

The Junkies Psalm

2007-06-04T13:18:00.000-04:00

God! Hey God, why don't you love me any more? Why are you so cruel and distant? Do my tattered clothes offend you? Do I wreak of sweat and urine? Am I grotesque with my paper thin skin, where track marks map my descent?

I weep and I rail; I plead for just a glimpse of your face, a touch from your robe; and you are not there.

On every street corner, the signs blare that you are the answer, but none of them even know what my questions are. All of the stuffed shirts throw your name around; you have solved all of their problems, like the time a bird crapped on their Lexus.

My father, as he drives from his big house in his expensive car to his prestigious job, listens to the religious station on the radio. God can do anything he explains to me. But he has never woken in the gutter, in a pool of his own blood and vomit, with a needle sticking out of his arm.

All around me people parrot platitudes and mindlessly recount things that happened long ago, to a friend of a neighbor of their brother-in -law.

But I am human flotsam, even the alcoholics don't want to hang out with me, and consider me more despicable than themselves. They look down on me, as they recall their stories of drunk driving and public humiliation; but nothing like the garbage that I have become.

I am a sermon topic, a right winged blow-hards topic of the week. They all are so much better, none would have fallen into this pit with me.

But I was there with them; worshiping their twisted caricature of you; wondering how someone could be so stupid as I stepped over dirty smelly people lying in the gutter. “Hey, didn't you used to go to that church? The big monstrosity on the corner; the one that lobbied to have our shelter closed down because it was depressing property values? Didn't you argue for tougher drug laws?” Yes that was me. Even the “liberal” do-gooders ridicule me. “Where is God now? Jesus saves, but I guess just not you. Maybe if you dumped your superstition you would be less of a hypocrite”.

Why did you even let me be born? I trusted you, I believed in you. Even when I was young I adored you. And even when they told me of your darker side; the crusades, inquisitions, witch trials, drowning Pharaoh's army, the battle of Jericho, hell; I stood by you, I defended you. It did not matter how much you strayed from my ideal, I never abandoned you; but you have dropped me like a bad rock in my time of trouble.

Why won't you answer me? Where are you? I need you, there is nobody else. Nobody cares; my father threw me out, the church abandoned me, and those who normally care about the lost and destitute take great joy in my fall.

The gang members that sell me the poison that has eaten my soul beat me.
They make me do horrible and degrading things for the next fix.
They laugh as they pass me around.
They have tattooed me with their mark. and bruised and cut me.

I can't keep anything down and soil myself. All of my joints feel like they are on fire, and I ache constantly. My heart pounds and falters, my breath is rancid and shallow.
I can't sleep and I am so exhausted. My ears are ringing, and in the ringing I hear voices; my eyes blur and I see things that aren't there. I have the taste of a thousand misadventures in my mouth.

Why won't you let me rest? I am dead already.

The police herd us like cattle, because we offend the good people of the town. They throw us into cells without even a foam sheet to lie on; the stones and cracks in the cement pierce and tear our flesh.
I am frail and wane, no strength is in me and my clothes hang on by wretched frame. The towns people are just glad to have me off the streets; they point to my incarceration and brag how they are really cleaning up the place.
They tear my clothes manhandling me, they smoke my cigarettes, confiscate the money in my pockets, the drugs I had on me “mysteriously” disappeared. I had a watch once.

God! Hey God, You do love me You sent someone to pay my bail? Someone from that small church on the edge of town? The one we used to ridicule as preaching a social gospel. It is your will that they bind up the afflicted and set the captives free? He says you told him that he would find me here, when he prayed so desperately to become closer to you? He has brought food and bandages; enough for all.

“Shame on you for beating these precious children of God!” , He proclaims. “They have no place to lay without injury and many of them are naked. God has given you your sword to protect His people, not to abuse them.”
I am going with him? They have a family that will treat me with patience and love? Who will keep me from the pushers and the gang bangers until I am stronger?

When I am stronger I will tell the others that the big church on the hill has been selling a story other than the gospel. That God loves them, that He is desperate, He travails over their suffering. That His servants prepare a banquet in their honor and they are all welcome. His story has always been about love.

We will tell the big church what God has done and what He says is important. That He does not desire their incense and right doctrines, but justice and mercy. That you cannot claim to love God and yet hate your neighbor.
He does not exclude the afflicted, even if it is by their own hand. He has gone searching for me as I have chased my own pleasures. God's grace is without limit. He heard me when I screamed and railed. he loved me when I was calling Him names and holding Him in contempt.
I will, one day at a time, and only with your help, live an upright life and reach out to those who have not yet experienced your love, and I will tell everyone of the depths I have fallen and how you lifted me to your embrace.

There is plenty of food, shelter abounds; God has made provision for all of His children, there are poor and hungry people because we are greedy, not because God is inadequate. All are welcome in the presence of the LORD. He delights in all of His children and if we worship Him we will do the same.

He will restore all of creation, and every person ever born will share in His love.
Nations and empires are of no consequence. The earth and all of its inhabitants are the LORD's.
This is phenomenal news, for only God loves every creature with an unending love.

Even the wealthy will be blown away with the greatness of God. The poor will be comforted and lavished with gifts. Those that the world counts as beyond redemption will share in the blessings of our God.
The universe bends toward justice, and the glory of God will fill the whole earth, regardless of how hopeless it now looks. There will be no lack and all of creation will praise the LORD.
They will all have a story about the wonders he has worked in their lives, stories to tell their children and grandchildren, because He has made us free.

Dear Daddy (a targum on the Lord's prayer)

2007-05-27T15:51:00.000-04:00

Dear Daddy who loves all of us and inhabits our lives and all the space around us,
Please may we not use your name to justify our own greed and bellicosity,
May we never lose sight of your kingdom due to being distracted by the shiny pretty things of the empire.
Guide us in subverting the empire to bring it more in line with you purposes. Remind us that the empire, no matter how progressive or godly, is at best a twisted caricature of your kingdom.
Allow us to be content with our blessings, and recognizing when we have enough, while being constantly dissatisfied that others live in want. Do not allow us to be blinded by the failures of this system to feed the hungry, heal the sick or clothe the naked just because we are adequately fed, in robust health or lavishly attired.
Recall for us our shortcomings only to remind us to forgive the shortcomings of others; remind us that forgiveness is a flowing river that we only benefit from when we pass it on to others. May we realize that we break the hold of the money changers on our brothers and sisters by giving freely.
Fill us so much with your love that an offense against our brother or sister is repulsive to us; grant us humility, fill us with generosity. Free us from greed and fear and lust. Open our eyes to the dangers of nationalism and civil religion, which is idolatry. Take down the standards of our personal empire from you holy place in our heart.
The whole of creation belongs to you and only You can empower us to care for it properly. We wait on you to perfect those things that you have taught us, so we can present it back to you in a way that honors and glorifies you, so we may be your pleasure.

With all our love,
Your beloved children

You Shall Have no Gods before Me.

2007-05-23T18:40:00.001-04:00

We had so much hope in 2004. There was so much excitement and enthusiasm. We were going to defeat the beast, drive the dragon from his lair, usher in a new age of hope. Everybody was buzzing around; there were new songs and speeches and demonstrations everywhere. How could we lose, it would be glorious! But... we did lose. It doesn't matter how it happened, we lost. So we wept, and we despaired and we wept some more. And the grinning gargoyles sat smugly on their perches above the cathedral of the anti-Christ as they explained that God's promises were not for us, that we were the accursed, and they were the truly anointed. We began to heal. lick our wounds, band together and learn from our mistakes; we would get them next time.

And we did. We began preparing for 2006 the day after that dark January morning that the beast was installed on his throne. As the brave soldiers came to give praise and honor demanded by the dragon, forced to make their own way and buy their own food amidst the limousines and delicacies of the privileged hordes, we planned and protested and waited. And then we voted, and we took the house and, after much struggle from the entrenched powers, the senate. And we rejoiced. The air seemed cleaner, it appeared that America returned. We had hope.

Our saviors took office this January and... nothing has changed. They have not vanquished the beast, they have not dislodged the evil from his lair, they have made a lot of noise (actually not even that), but have accomplished nothing. We expected they deliver us from the dragon, but they have instead fed him. And worse, they have fed him us. He dines on bread made form the bones of our children, ground lovingly by our paladins. And he washes it down with the blood of our brave warriors, who like their predecessors, die at his pleasure for no other reason than to entertain him; and they do nothing. Children are still hungry and the sick still suffer, the prisons still fill and random victims are still beaten and raped and murdered in the name of “freedom”.

And we are shocked! They promised! We feel betrayed and hopeless. We have played our last card, and whatever shall we do now? We did what we were supposed to do; we diluted our faith with partisan politics. It worked for the religious right, why not for us? The received glory and power and riches, and all they had to do for it is crucify one insignificant Jewish prophet. We did not hurt anybody, we didn't betray any of our ideals; we just put our trust in men. And they let us down. How could they do otherwise? They are concerned only with preserving the empire, albeit in a more humane form; we want to spread the kingdom of God. We are concerned about two different, if not completely incompatible things. We are focused on blessing the people, and are not adverse to using government; they are focused on building a strong empire and are not adverse to using people. We lean on God's love, they on armies and prisons. We see every person as a precious child of God, they as an employer at best and a subject at worse.

We work inside the system, but we realize that our deliverance comes from God. When we lose focus on Him we are destined to fail. This sounds like a lot of religious bombasity, but it is hard won humility. We can be pretty sure that if we just throw up our hands in disgust and withdraw things will get worse; God never called us to do that. Jesus spoke truth, powerfully, to power. The prophets of Israel strode forcefully into the royal chambers to pronounce God's judgment on the residents there in. The disciples fed the hungry and healed the sick, and they spread the word that all are precious in God's sight and none deserving of oppression. In every case, throughout the world, when the gospel is first preached, before the powerful have a chance to dilute it, it inspires a desire for freedom. And in a society where we are, in theory, the sovereign, we have no excuse for the results we are receiving. So, depend on God, roll up your sleeves, make your elected representative learn your name (even if they use it to cuss) and “preach the gospel unceasingly, sometimes use words” as St. Francis of Assisi used to say.

Without Apology

2007-03-14T13:56:00.000-04:00

It seems the new rage in Washington is apologizing without apologizing. “I made a mistake” or “I feel terrible for saying that” should no longer be considered an apology. They can admit responsibility without being held accountable. In an environment which thrives on twisting the Christian scriptures to ones personal needs it is not too far a journey to change the meaning of language (this reminds me, sometimes when I am especially tired and someone says “good morning” I respond “compassionate conservatism, one good oxymoron deserves another”. This is not entirely fair, however as “good morning” is not a cynical perversion of the language).

General Peter Pace, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, proclaimed the other day that homosexuality is a perversion and the military should not encourage such activity. After a loud outcry from the GBLT and progressive communities, He stated that he felt terrible for his comments, and should have kept his opinions to himself, but would not apologize. There are several interesting dilemmas here. Firstly, should he keep his opinions to himself? On one hand, putrefied decaying ugliness just gets worse when it is buried; so we all have a stake in knowing how General Pace feels, and getting it out in the open allows us all to see how small and reprehensible homophobia is. But, on the other hand, just because you can say something doesn’t mean you should. One might be tempted to say “oh, a Marine General who is homophobic, no news there.” But that would be unfair and false, as I am sure there are many Marine Generals who are gay, and personally hurt and threatened by their boss’s comment. And in a religious vein, it is ironic of the General to condemn gay warriors when Jesus had nothing but high praise for the gay warrior that He encountered (Matthew 8:5-13, Luke 7:1-10) and to His followers that to even utter the epithet “raca” ( which alternately means “homosexual offender” or at least “sexual pervert”) was wrong (Matthew 5:22). General Pace needs to face his homophobia like a man, for the good of his men, the service, the country, and himself.

Attorney General Albert Gonzales is having quite a go of it. The FBI has admitted they misused the PATRIOT ACT (how could that be?!? I mean, it goes out if its way to protect the American people from abuse; doesn’t it?), the Justice Department’s (ironic no) own Inspector General has found numerous abuses of investigatory powers, and now he is implicated in the politically motivated firings of U.S. Attorneys. He admits that he “made mistakes” but will not step down as Attorney General, a post that is supposed to, first and foremost, protect the citizens of the U.S. I suppose it is all for the best, we progressive are big on full employment and if every Bush official who behaved in an un-American way quit their jobs, it would surely have a noticeable effect on the job market (and leave the White House empty, but that is another story). Mr. Gonzales is holding on, partly I am sure, so that when Vermont or one of the North Western states finally tips the scales and pushes through a resolution for impeachment, he can baffle a disappointingly spineless (still?!?), out of touch (still!!!) and dimwitted Congress with more of his bullshit, that the procedures outlined in the Constitution do not apply to the Bush crime family. But this kind of treason is not going to go unanswered forever. The Justice Department would be well advised to live up to its name and call for a truth and reconciliation council; as impeachment, while it would be emotionally satisfying, and prevent any further disasters authored by the present administration, would still leave the underlying flaws in our system intact. We must not only focus on who has committed the crimes but how they were allowed to do so.

So, these folks and the many others in Washington who know they have “made mistakes” and “feel terrible about it”, but not bad enough to apologize need to take some good old Biblical advice, repent, turn from your wicked ways and let the healing begin.

Keep It Compassionate

2007-01-27T16:23:00.000-05:00

I was so horrified by the cynical and shallow advice to troops departing South
Carolina for the Middle East in the sidebar "keep it legal" to “Where
there’s a Will…”, (Friday January 05, 2007, Page B1) by the state newspaper, that I wrote them about it. They, of course declined to publish my letter. I don't mean to give you the impression that they will not publish letters from progressives, they will. So, I am reproducing it here. It seems that the loss of life among our servicemen has become an economic equation, and that isn't right.

********************************************

There are things much more important, and many of those thing are on the minds of the departing soldiers. Further, the text of some of the suggestions were insensitive and callous; “$500,000 is at risk if a guard member is killed in action”, for example, or counseling marriage because it will be worth more money is another. As a fellow member of the human race, I resent these brave men and women being reduced to dollars and cents. People back home lose children, spouses and lovers, parents, siblings and friends when a serviceman is killed in action. The world loses a precious life, and all of us are diminished. So, I would like to offer alternate advice for those going overseas.

Advice for National Guard members deploying overseas:
1. Keep your head low
2. Keep you weapon clean
3. Watch your buddy’s back
4. Hug your babies and kiss your wives; now reverse, then seek out your parents and repeat.
5. Don’t do anything stupid just because some guy, safely tucked away in a hotel in Kuwait thinks it is a good idea.
6. Contact your Congressmen and Senators and prevail on them to end this foolish war so no more of your classmates and new friends and Iraqi children have to die to inflate the ego of a madman that could do with a little bit of humility. (Warning: this step may be pointless in South Carolina).
7. Come back to us in one piece. When you get back, don't carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. Get whatever help you need from friends and neighbors and counselors to deal with the horrors you have seen. Too many of you have watched your life disintegrate when you got back.

**********************************

Indifference is the most harmful attitude we can take. We live too easily with the deaths and maimings in Iraq, the executions throughout the country, the torture and illicit incarceration in our name, those dying of starvation and AIDS and unsafe living conditions. These are our brothers and sisters; we MUST stand up for them.

Agape Means Love

2007-01-07T15:44:00.000-05:00

OK, so I probably should have known this already (being the well informed pundit that I am), but I just found out that one of the purveyors of “Christian” hatred; The American Family Association, uses as the title for their publishing service Agape press. Apparently the fundies don't know what love means in any language. You know, when I look everyday at what the “church” is up to, I don't know whether to cuss or cry; sometimes I do both. A respected U.S. General, retired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (you would think a guy like that would have some insight as to what is bad and good for the military) states that in his experience the military's homophobic policies are hurting the service and the country; the adulterous bride of Christ goes batshit. “Oh, it must be the stroke he had” (two and a half years ago) they exclaim, “it is clouding his judgment.” What is the matter with these people? Can somebody please help me to understand why they harbor so much hatred?
When the movie “The Passion of the Christ” came out, the folks in this part of the woods were beside themselves; “Do you see what those Jews did to Jesus? Those dirty heathens!” Jesus was able to survive thirty three years in Palestine, preaching what he preached; that hippie jew-boy (are you shocked, offended? Good! You should be offended, dammit! How could this writer even imply that Jesus was a hippie or one of them Jews?!?) wouldn't last a single weekend here in the Bible belt. He opposed capital punishment (John 8:3-11), was an outspoken defender of homosexuals; publicly praising the faith of a gay Centurion (Matthew 8:10-12) and prohibiting gay bashing (Matthew 5:22); stood up for the rights of women (Matthew 19:3-8), tax collectors (Luke 11:8-14), lepers (Matthew 8:1-4,) and the poor and enslaved (too many to list). He advocated universal health care (Matthew 10:8, 11:5, Luke 7:22). Had no objection to paying His taxes (Mark 12:13-17) and advocated the separation of church and state (Mar 12:17, John 18:36). Make no mistake, they would have popped Him the first time He opened His mouth, long before He had a sit in at the Temple (Mark 11:15-18) publicly criticized the governor (Luke 14:28), the king (Luke 13:32) or the religious leaders (again too many to count).
So, why then do they call themselves by the name of a man whose every opinion they hate? How can they criticize a people that did exactly what they would have done? And how can they expect that they will like Him any better when He is in charge? And what will they say to Him when He asks why they behaved the way they did, when He made crystal clear what He expected from them (Matthew 25:31-46)? When they look at the suffering that they have cause their Master, the tear ruts cut in His face; and they kind of recognize Him as that homeless guy they spit on or that gay guy whose funeral they disrupted, what will they say? How will they answer the child that died of an overdose or suicide, or lived her life in misery when God's love was available to her always, because they turned God's love into hatred (Luke 17:2).

Prophetic Love

2007-01-01T18:29:00.000-05:00

The prophets of the Old Testament knew that people would suffer due to the things that they foretold. They knew that neither they nor God was responsible for the tragic ends that would befall their people, but rather it was the natural consequence of evil behavior. They further knew that, at least for a little while, in the people would draw closer to God and one another. They knew that the privileged the oppressor would bear the brunt of the punishment, and that they would return humanized by their travails. So, while they were saddened by the calamity their nation would face, they were hopeful for a new beginning. Besides, there was always an opportunity for repentance, to turn from their self destructive ways and create a more egalitarian society, that would not collapse under its own weight. It would be meaningless of God to warn the people of a great disaster if there was nothing they could do about it; and sometimes they did, more often they did not.
In 2 Kings 22 we read about King Josiah, who upon finding the book of the law, rent his robes on account of how far the people had strayed from it, he command all the people that the kingdom would be ruled in accordance to those laws. In a like way, the only hope this nation has is a leader who, upon a careful reading of the laws that established this land, will rent his garment at how far the people have strayed from it, and decree that this nation will be governed in accordance with those laws. Our Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights are not buried in the ruins of an ancient temple, but hidden in plain sight. Marginalized by the very people we hire to enforce them. Franky, the nation has wandered much to far afield for her repentance to be painless. Drastic action must be taken. The health and security of the American people must be repossessed from the corporate interests that hold it hostage and placed back into the hands of the people. Medical insurance can no longer be reformed, it is too late and their minions have feasted for too long on the blood of the people; it must be abolished and we the people must take over in looking out for our countrymen. We must, for once and for all, declair that corporations are not people, and that it is the people that matter. If a corporation can not put the children of men first then they should be driven from the land, leaving behind the ill gotten gains that we, in our niavity have awarded them. Too long they have scoffed the laws written to protect the people, but used only to further exploit them. Corporations of all ilk will operate at the people's pleasure, or they will be denied the privilege of operating at all. Until this country is about the business of humanity, all of it's other business will amount to naught. We must recognize that health care is a human right, that penitentiaries, by their very name are places for misguided children of God to recognize the error of their ways, the nations wealth is for the enrichment of all her citizens, not just a few, our laws are to promote the general welfare of the people not their further enslavement and we hire those people that inhabit the halls of government to ensure that our unalienable rights, bestowed on us by our Creator, are protected; that is their divine charge that they dare not fail.
Just as it was to the prophets of old, it is clear that if this nation does begin to keep the promises she made over two hundred years ago, she will falter. The mighty will be brought down, and after much pain and suffering, the remnant will begin to heal; maybe. Perhaps the blessing will fall to another, maybe God will reason that He has given us long enough, and those mighty works that He has been waiting for us to accomplish have waited long enough, and will be gladly performed by another. And perhaps He has a similar message for the church. In this new year we have a new chance to be the nation, and the people that God has called us to be. Let's not blow it.

Let He Who is Without Sin Cast the First Stone

2006-12-30T02:17:00.000-05:00

Early this morning, far away, Saddam Hussein was executed. Before we get too enthusiastic about this event, we must remember a few things. Saddam Hussein was an evil man and a mass-murderer; but this is not how God saw him. When God saw Saddam Hussein, He saw a precious child, someone He loved and would, if need be, give His life for. And now, He sees a precious child, gasping for air, hanged and killed. Politically, capital punishment is state sanctioned murder, regardless of who is being executed. In America it is tolerated by weak willed politicians who are too cowardly to recognize what every other civilized nation already has; that it does not matter who does the killing or who the victim is; murder is murder and two wrongs don't make a right.
But, to Christians, it is even worse. Ignoring for a minute (somehow), that our master was brutally tortured and murdered by the officials of His time, we are still confronted by Jesus' antipathy to executions. In John 6:2-11, we read of the Jewish officials bringing a woman caught in adultery to Jesus, and He tells them, "whomever is without sin, cast the first stone." It is ironic that a government put in place by an occupying force, that is directly responsible for more deaths in Iraq in three years that Saddam managed to cause in twenty years of brutal bloody rule could consider themselves "without sin."
It is the pinnacle of hypocrisy that some of the very people who colluded with him in his genocidal rage, could stand back and accept none of the blame. It is heartbreaking that all of the horrors that the American people were regaled with to justify the invasion; murder, rape, torture, oppression; have been committed by the new government and the occupation.
Even if Saddam were not a valued child of God, even if the heavens did not weep over this brutal murder, even if answering violence with violence were not opposed to everything the gospel teaches; would these be the group to mete out this punishment, would any of us? Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:22 that anyone who is even angry with his brother has already murdered him, whomever calls his brother a name is answerable to the council and if you consider your brother below contempt and unworthy of life, you risk the fires of hell. The very desire to kill for revenge or "justice" makes one guilty of the very sin they seek to punish.
But, this is, after all, Saddam Hussein, the butcher of Baghdad! If anybody should be executed, surely it should be him! He is among those who deserve mercy the least. Leaving off for a second that there are much worse murders in the world today (many of them trained in our "School of the Americas"), and that most of his murders were committed at our behest, this to a Christian is not adequate justification. Jesus tells us that how we treat "the least" is exactly the measure we will be judged on in Matthew 25:40,48. It is exactly how much mercy you show the murderer, the sex offender, the fellow that is cutting the budget for the poor and elderly to provide another tax cut, the CEO that has laid off another ten thousand workers to make his bonus bigger, the wholesale indiscriminate abortionist and all the like; that determines how much you are modeling your Lord, how far you are going to usher in the kingdom. It is easy to love the lovable, to lend to the rich and to feed the satisfied, it just doesn't have much effect.
Isaiah 55:9 tells us of the Lord "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." We can't outlove or outforgive or outgive God, but that doesn't mean we can stop trying. His solutions are better than ours, even if we can make a solid case otherwise. Jesus said do not murder, do not hurl the stone, do not answer evil for evil or violence for violence, those who live by the sword will die by it. The path that Jesus calls us to tread is one of non-violence, not just sometimes; but all of the time.

Jesus is the reason for Believing

2006-12-14T14:33:00.000-05:00

“Jesus is the reason for the season”, the float proclaimed. Well, OK, if you mean that Jesus is the word of God and all things were created by Him; and He created a round earth that has an elliptical orbit around its sun, resulting in a winter season. But if you mean that a fellow who all of the available evidence indicates was born in the late spring is the reason for a pagan ritual in mid-winter, then you don’t have much to stand on. Not that it matters. If a few crèches and jolly Santas and cheesy music can remind us to treat each other as if we are precious and sacred before God, the I’m all for it.
A more helpful observation is “Jesus is the reason for believing”. Christianity is about following Christ (go figure); and if we ignore His words and example, then there is no point to Christianity. If we support neglecting the poor, starting bloody wars and marginalizing some people for reasons outside of their control; then we are not following Jesus, don’t deserve the name Christian, and the world is well within their rights in not caring what we have to say.
During this season we celebrate the birth of a man that was born homeless and oppressed, an alien and a refugee, who stood throughout His life over and against the dominion system of the time and was executed by a corrupt civic and religious system for insurrection. He spoke sparingly about sexual morality, and always in another context or to make another point, but proclaimed good news to the poor and release for the captive.
The manger is relevant to society in that we can see the cross from there. As we celebrate the birth of Jesus, let us remember its context. God so loved the world that He emptied Himself of all His power and became a baby, at the mercy of others, helpless and poor, sleeping in barnyard feed container, fleeing for His life. It should move us to advocate for those in a similar position.

Not Only Religious People Are Fundamentalists

2006-11-30T14:50:00.000-05:00

God save us from fundamentalists! All of them, of every ilk. There is a story this week on Yahoo, that seems to present the perfect storm of narrow thinking. It seems there is a controversy about the City of Chicago’s “Christkindlmarket” celebration.
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061128/ap_on_re_us/christmas_movie_snub)

We encounter no less than three types of fundamentalists in this story, each more self involved than the one before. In the forefront we have the forgotten fundamentalists, the one nobody talks about for fear of being labeled one of the other kind; the fundamentalist atheist. This group apparently lies awake at night worrying that someplace somebody is enjoying their faith and would like to celebrate it publicly. They protest nativity scenes in the public square that have been there for decades, have become a tradition, and were probably erected, at least in part, by citizens who do not subscribe to their strictly religious meaning. It is just all that “good will” stuff, and maybe (just maybe) a crèche in the public square will inspire the “Christian” population to spread some good cheer, at least for a little while. The mayor’s office has decided to turn down sponsorship from New Line Cinema, which would include playing a loop from their upcoming movie “The Nativity Story”. They felt that playing the loop would be insensitive to members of other faiths. Has nobody made any movies about other faiths that, as a good will gesture, we could highlight along with “The Nativity Story”? Diversity doesn’t mean painting everything grey; it means exploring our differences and celebrating what makes us human. If we get together and truly share our traditions we will see how alike we are and where the commonalities lie, along with our distinctions and why they are both important and beautiful.

The problem, of course, is that everybody wants the whole enchilada; they want to win, vanquishing the other, without compromise. This leads to our second fundamentalist, a more recognizable chap, and someone who it is always OK to ridicule; as doing so will somehow reveal you as free thinking and enlightened. We are speaking about, of course, the fundamentalist Christian, that enchanting specimen that can insist on a literal reading of the Bible, but somehow miss over two thousand passages that relate to God’s preferential option for the poor and oppressed.
"’The last time I checked, the first six letters of Christmas still spell out Christ,’ said Paul Braoudakis, spokesman for the Barrington, Ill.-based Willow Creek Association, a group of more than 11,000 churches of various denominations.” By that reasoning, a careful examination of the first four letters of “shitake mushroom” would remove those little suckers from my list of approved foods. This controversy does not seem to be about how “Christmas” is spelled in English. Jesus (whose last name was not Christ, by the way), was probably not born anywhere near December, so the whole Christmas thing is just syncretism anyway. Fundamentalist seem to object to syncretism except when it serves their purposes. In any case, the first six letters of “Christian” are also Christ, and I don’t see much evidence of that in day to day life either.

The final type of fundamentalist in this tale of woe is the free market fundamentalist. Those crafty little suckers who have no real ethics of their own, but adopt the ethics of the group they are presently trying to prey upon (kind of like tofu). “An executive vice president with New Line Cinema, Christina Kounelias, said the studio's plan to spend $12,000 in Chicago was part of an advertising campaign around the country. Kounelias said that as far as she knew, the Chicago festival was the only instance where the studio was turned down. Kounelias said she finds it hard to believe that non-Christians who attended something called Christkindlmarket would be surprised or offended by the presence of posters, brochures and other advertisements of the movie.’ One would assume that if (people) were to go to Christkindlmarket, they'd know it is about Christmas,’ she said.” This is partly the same kind of reasoning that leads to “no smoking” sections just situated anywhere in restaurants. It doesn’t matter if the non-smoker has to traipse right through the smoking section, or that the smoke wafts throughout the restaurant. These kind of gala affairs don’t just confine themselves to the area where the festival is being held. They effect traffic and in order to be heard, any audio would have to be played loudly enough to “share” with residents that have no interest in the event (I lived RIGHT above the Italian fest in Hartford Connecticut, forget about sleeping for three days). And again, the proper thing to do would be for New Line to offer to include scenes from other traditions in their loop.

The “funny” thing about this is how it has juggled normal alliances. In any other case, the studio would be defend themselves from the “Christians” with this very same argument; “if people go to a movie called ‘Rape, Murder and Dismember’ you would think they would know it is about unacceptable behavior.” And the atheists would be joining in to condemn the “fundies” for being narrow-minded and ignorant. In a sort of twisted way, Christmas does its magic once again, causing dissimilar people to see the other fellow’s side of the issue. Peace on Earth and Good Will toward Men, indeed!

Plant Your Own Garden

2006-11-30T01:09:00.000-05:00

We are infected with "fruit inspectors", those who judge the worthiness of others by their "personal holiness" instead of their effect on the emerging kingdom of God.

If you examine "fruit inspectors" in government you will find this in common:

1. They do not, themselves, own a farm.

2. They are too busy, anyway, inspecting fruit to actually grow any.

3. They know only bureaucracy and rules, and wouldn't recognize good fruit if the saw it without their rule book.

4. They generally impede and delay the real farmers from tending their crops.

It is much more important to plant a garden than criticize the garden of others.

Making Adult Decisions in Government

2006-11-23T02:33:00.000-05:00

Why I shouldn't buy my Granddaughter a mini-bike

1. She is four years old
2. It is too expensive
3. Her mother (my daughter) would kill me.
4. She would flaunt authority with it.
5. She would torment the family pets with it.
6. It is dangerous, and I do not wish her harm.
Wouldn't it be nice if the same adult decision making could occur in Washington?

"Why shouldn't I invade Iraq (or Iran)?" asks Mr. Bush?
Because the Iraqis were not ready for my intervention, and my troops were not trained or prepared for the task they would be asked to perform.
Because it is much too expensive, considering all of the problems we have refused to solve in this country, appealing to poverty. Because, families in this country are outraged by the waste of their loved ones' lives and the families in occupied lands are turning from their peaceful lives to become insurgents, seeking vengeance for lost loved ones. Because, freed from traditional ethical guidelines, parties are behaving in a gruesome fashion that would never have occurred to them otherwise. And because as the leader of the U.S. he should be concerned for the well being of our troops, and as a Christian, he should be concerned for the well being of those in occupied lands.

"Why shouldn't I reduce regulations on major industries and appoint leaders in those industries to regulate them?" he rejoins.
Because, they do not possess the maturity to be responsible moral agents, and cannot see beyond their bottom line to their neighbor. Because, in a society groaning under massive health care expenses and the economic weight of globalization, we cannot afford either the illness that results from an increase of pollution and toxicity, nor the migration of wealth away from the people.
Because, this country is founded on the principal that the citizens come before the elite and that the only reason governments are instituted among men is to secure the rights of the people. Because they have demonstrated that they will flaunt authority and even go as far as to terrorize those citizens that oppose them. And finally, because as the leader of this nation, he should be unwilling to see it's people come to harm.

But alas, George W. Bush, or even the Republicans are not the entire
problem.

"Why should there not be a draft?" Congressman Charles Rangel asks?
Because, pipe dreams aside a draft would neither be administer fairly nor prevent war. It is too costly, both economically and to the spirit of our nation. Ramping up the apparatus would cost a fortune and it would demoralize both the youth and those older folks (like me) who worked so hard to eliminate it the last time. It would divide the nation and cause unrest.
The privileged would find loop holes, as they did last time, even if you stipulated there to be no exceptions. Texas will always need a few (not so) bright young men for their Air National Guard (or Alabama). And those not so endowed would, once again, face long separations from their family to either hide in a foreign land or enter a war that is unjust. And war time is not the time to institute a draft, because deaths will most assuredly occur on account of it.

"Why shouldn't I make back room deals with industry leaders, trading regulations for benefits that 'we the people' should be cooperating to ensure?" asks Congressman Barney Frank.
Because those industry leaders (again) cannot be trusted. The regulations have already been dangerously relaxed and the "benefits" that the industry offers under duress, leaves their workers still unable to afford essential service.
Because, reclaiming those services from the private sector and back into the public trust will remove a powerful bargaining block from them, in terms of employment and corporate responsibility, returning the power back to the American people.

Instead of political tricks and sleeping with the enemy, the new Democratic Congress needs to get back to the peoples business.

Tax Codes are Moral Documents

2006-11-20T23:43:00.000-05:00

The Christian Coalition of America has made over the past several years their number one legislative priority making the Bush tax cuts on the rich permanent. Let me restate, in a world where thirty eight thousand children die each day of hunger, this "christian" organization has made it's top priority to give additional tax breaks to the rich (http://www.cc.org/noapp/issuedetail.cfm?id=257).

If I hear the old saw that the top 5 percent of the population pay over 50 percent of the taxes while the lower 50 percent pay a small percentage I am going to scream. Allow me to illustrate the fallacy of this argument starting with a scenario, followed by cold economic reality; both simplified for understanding.

First let's explore a scenario that perhaps these fine, upstanding "Christlike" folks would find more equitable.
Let us say you are a factory worker in a certain town, let's call
it Fundieville. In that town there is one restaurant, let's call it "Randy's Place". After saving up for some time you decide to take your wife and two children to Randy's for a burger and a coke. Now, Randy's serves all kinds of food, and when you arrive you find, Mr. Johnson, the owner of the factory eating some Surf and Turf with a fine Pinot. He is getting a complimentary pedicure, has already made 3 trips to the complimentary salad bar, and is enjoying the assorted cheeses and breads that come with the meal as he peruses the desert menu. "Good for him," you think "he can afford it." You sit down and order your hamburgers and coke. The waitress informs you that a side salad is available for just $2.95 or you can visit the salad bar for $4.95 each. You decline, too expensive.
After the meal, the bill comes; it's for $135.82. "Wait a minute," you exclaim, "we had 4 hamburgers and 4 cokes; the hamburgers are $4.95 and the cokes are a buck a piece, that's $23.80." "Yes," the waitress agrees "and Mr. Johnson's dinner was $145.95, together that makes $169.75, and 80% of that is $135.82; it's all in order!"
"But wait a minute," you continue, "what does that have to do with us?"
"Sir, are you going to be a problem," the waitress enquires, "plainly, Mr. Johnson was only 20% of the population, is it really fair that he pay 80% of the total bill?"

Now for the cold economic reality (simplified and illustrated to be more easily understood). Let us start with a country, we don't even have to name it Fundievania or anything, because this is pretty reasonable. The country has 100 citizens. Now 50 of the citizens make $10,000, 45 citizens make $100,000 and the remaining 5 citizens makes $1,000,000. In this "enlightened" country there is a flat tax of 10%. So the 50 citizens that make $10,000 pay $1,000 each in taxes for a total of $50,000; the 45 citizens that make $100,000 pay $10,000 each for a total of $450,000 and the remaining 5 citizens that make $1,000,000 pay $100,000 each for a total of $500,000. The total taxes paid is $1,000,000, of that the 5 citizens at the top paid $500,000; that's 50%, shocking!!! According to the US census bureau, the poverty level for individuals is $9183, and the top one percent of the population have incomes starting at $300,000. The average income for the top 0.1% of the population was three million dollars in 2002 (see http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/05/national/class/HYPER-FINAL.html?ei=5090&en=f1af44c9cec8c79e&ex=1275624000&adxnnl=1).
The problem with statistics is that they miss the point. There isn't some secret tax that is placed on those making ten million dollars a year, as you earn more your percentage of the total tax paid increases; it increases even under a flat tax, but so do the benefits.

Have whatever economic beliefs you choose, but don't pin it on Jesus that you are a greedy bastard, that is unwilling to pay your fair share for a free society. If you are going to be the "Christian Coalition" then preach the gospel.
(adapted from a letter sent to the editor of the Free Times)

Let's Be Honest

2006-11-19T23:56:00.000-05:00

"Let's Not Make our Religion Too Civil", the headline proclaimed. It was the late eighties and the column was on the back page of a nationally distributed Evangelical magazine. The author was warning against letting too much "patriotism" mix with our faith. Looking back, this was pretty darned prescient. Today, they say you're just not much of a Christian if you are not a Republican, and people have actually been disfellowshipped from churches for voting Democrat. The Republican party cynically mines the membership roles of Evangelical Churches for their mailing lists, and both liberals and conservatives proclaim that conservatives are godly and liberal know better.

This Sunday we, as is the custom of many churches around the country, had our Thanksgiving service. During the service I reflected on these things. How we as Americans swallow the officail line; hook, line and sinker.

We celebrate the birth of Christopher Columbus; and call it a natiional holiday, but the Christopher Columbus of history is not someone that we should revere. Christopher Columbus did something no other historic figure has done; he succeeded at genocide. He enslaved and then exterminated an entire race of people. He forced the natives to mine gold at an unattainable rate and then cut off their hands when they failed.
See http://www.danielnpaul.com/ChristopherColumbus.html and http://www.counterpunch.org/cohen11272003.html.
And, as always, do a little research for your self.

In today's history books reconstruction is often portrayed as a dismal failure, rife with incompetence and corruption. But the failure of reconstruction was precipitated by the powerful undermining the reforms instituted at that time. There was an attempt to finally live up to the great ideals that our founding documents claimed; and those whose wealth and comfort were threatened by a free and equtiable society fought back; delaying most of the reforms by nearly a hundred years, and honestly, we still have not witnessed the realization of the founders dreams, or those of good will during the reconstruction, or indeed those activists who fought so hard in the 1960's. The ideals and reforms of reconstruction were good ones, they were both effective and just. The greater majority of the reconstructionists were good honest people who would have accomplished great things if not for the corruption of their opposition.
See http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/exhibit/aopart5.html and http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/reconstruction/index.html.

And back to Thanksgiving. Most important, Thanksgiving was instituted by Abraham Lincoln and made official by Franklyn Delanore Roosevelt, both to play on the patriotic impulse of the American people during a difficult war. The local tribes, upon noticing that the European settlers were starving to death, instructed them on what crops to plant, and how to survive the hard New England winters. The serttlers reciprocated by giving the natives "blankets." These blankets proved so effective in pacifying the native populations that the settlers carried them along on all of their treks of expansion. They just killed!! The war department on discovering how effective these blankets were, sent them ahead a couple of times and just sat back and waited for them to do their work.
See http://www.mountainsofstone.com/indian_smallpox.htm and http://www.nativeweb.org/pages/legal/amherst/lord_jeff.html.

Is patriotism wrong for Christians? No, it is a healthy impulse. Christians should love their country and work for it's betterment. But, we are citizens of the Kingdom of God, with very specific laws and ethics and we may never abandon those ethics for nationalism. We may never equate patriotism with piety. Spreading the Kingdom must come first. An argument that this practice or that technique is effective in advancing the countries ends must hold no sway if those practices or techniques violate the rules of our faith. Torture may be effective (it is not), capital punishment may fit into our present law and order philosophy nad war may appear necessary for survival, but they are counter to the teachings of Christ, and as such are not an option for the Christian. Jesus said "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matt 6:23).

History Repeats Itself

2006-11-19T01:38:00.000-05:00

So many of the abuses during the cold war era read like today's morning paper.

http://www.berkeleydaily.org/article.cfm?archiveDate=12-06-01&storyID=8732
On December 6, 2001, nearly 50 years after convicted Soviet spy Ethel Rosenberg was executed, her brother admits he lied under oath about her involvement. An innocent woman was put to death in the nation's frenzy to punish "reds and traitors." He lied because the government made a deal with him. Today, they show no such finese, they just torture the lies from their victims.

http://www.english.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/mccarran-act-intro.html
The act was opposed because it "would make a mockery of our Bill of Rights [and] would actually weaken our internal security measures.", an observation levied at both the USA PATRIOT act and the attack of Iraq. Why even the author of the article, Phillip Morrison, in his time expressed doubts about nuclear warfare and was hauled before a tribunal for his trouble.

http://homepages.nyu.edu/~th15/home.html
Alger Hiss served in many capacities for the US government from 1929-1946, then left public service to become president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He was brought before the House Un-American Activities Committee and eventually convicted of espianoge. The evidence points to him being framed. During Hiss's career he held many posts that ran counter to the rich and powerful. Captain James Yee, an Islamic Chaplain serving at Guantanimo Bay was arrested for espiange and prosecutors were discussing the death penalty, until a question of whether or not the papers he was carrying were even classified arose. Now they have "found" pornography on his work computer, and are charging him with sex related offenses.

http://www.umsystem.edu/upress/spring1995/kirschn.htm
Maurice Halperin was another citizen that may have been run over by the unbridled wheels of McCarthyism. Whenever we hide behind the sudden vital need for national security innocent people are going to get hurt. Due process and the rules of evidence are vital to a free society. There can be no excuse for suspending them. Secret tribunals, internment camps, and other constitution shredding techniques should be openly and loudly opposed.

We need to get our courage back. It is not treason, but patriotism to question and speak up when wrong is done in our name.
Dwight D. Eisenhower U.S. general, Republican politician, President said "Here in America we are descended in blood and in spirit from revolutionists and rebels-men and women who dare to dissent from accepted doctrine, as their heirs, we may never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion."
Theodore Roosevelt, another Republican statesman, and President said "To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
And John F. Kennedy, a Democrat, soldier and President said "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."

Speak up and urge your elected Representatives to give America back to the people and restore our republic back to it's constitutional roots. These experiments with tyrany have been tried before, and in each case ended badly; each time the oppressive laws were repealed and the disgraceful practices rebuffed. Secret prisons, torture and domestic spying have all been foisted on the American people before, and our love for liberty prevailed. Habeus Corpus has been in jeopardy, innocent men denied their right to a fair trial, heroes accused of cowardous and patriots have been painted as traitors. And in each case the people have risen up to throw off the yoke of oppression. Mahatma Gandhi tells us " Be the change that you want to see in the world." and Jim Wallis of Sojourners recalls the words of his friend Lisa Sullivan, "we are the ones we have been waiting for." Don't ring your hands and bewail the lack of a deliverer, we are the deliverers. Step up and answer Rabbi Hillels challenge, "if not now, when? if not us, who?" Well, who?

Christians Should Champion Love

2006-11-17T14:28:00.000-05:00

“Yes, Lord, Yes” the announcement board out side a local church exclaimed; virtually screaming the hatred and bigotry, celebrating that they were able to shove homophobia down the throat of the entire state. I wondered if a similar sentiment was shared by the Pharisees as their innocent victim hung between heaven and earth being tortured to death by a corrupt imperialistic government and a complicitous religious community. The embodiment of the love and grace of God, tortured to death by a spineless and cowardly civil leader, who did not possess the courage to deny a cabal of religious fundamentalists who thought that their peculiar view of religion should rule the day. Just three days later, everything had changed; love had won out. Jesus was rescued form the grave; not a terribly unusual thing in the mythology of the day. But, what was different, is that unlike the myths where the slain hero rises to seek a terrible and bloody revenge on his enemies; Jesus rises and keeps right on loving. He sets His disciples to make right the corrupt system so that all might experience the love and mercy of God.

Some short articles in the “Nation and world round up” (http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/16031988.htm) section of the paper today illustrate how far we have strayed from that ideal (along with the “Yes. Lord, Yes” bullshit mentioned above).

They speak for themselves.

NEW FAMILY-PLANNING CHIEF TAPPED — WASHINGTON — The Bush administration has appointed a new chief of family-planning programs at the Department of Health and Human Services who worked at a Christian pregnancy-counseling organization that regards the distribution of contraceptives as “demeaning to women.’’ Eric Keroack, medical director for A Woman’s Concern, a nonprofit based in Massachusetts, will advise HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt on matters such as reproductive health and adolescent pregnancy.
Yet –
INCREASED CONDOM USE PROVIDES HOPE IN FIGHT AGAINST AIDS — LONDON — Amid all the dire warnings about the AIDS pandemic, researchers announce some good news: Young African women say they are increasingly using condoms with their partners. The study analyzed data in 18 African countries, looking at changes in the sexual behavior of 132,800 young women. While abstinence rates changed little, the study found that condom use more than tripled, from 5.3 percent in 1993 to 18.8 percent in 2001.

Jesus said “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). Where do you suppose that places this “Christian” administration? And, “the distribution of contraceptives” is “demeaning to women.’’? This has got to be either the most hypocritical thing I have ever read or the stupidest! Listen up; you want to seriously reduce the amount of abortions in this country, then you need safe effective birth control; and accurate and available information about human sexuality. Any religious zealot that is going to restrict either of these things is going to increase the number of abortions in this country. And making them illegal will do nothing to stem the rate of abortion. It will cause more deaths, no matter how you look at it. Let me restate that, statistically, the total number of abortions has not increased since Roe v. Wade (the number decreased, at an accelerating rate, between 1988 and 2001, when the above two things, birth control and education, were most available. And that decrease has slowed nationwide, and reversed in sixteen states, since 2002; when the fundamentalist policies of misinformation and restricted access to birth control began to be phased in), but the number of women that survived the procedure increased precipitously.
Hopefully, when the new Congress comes in, they will have the courage and the will to reign in these extremists. What do you think?

Progressives Anti-God?

2006-11-17T00:11:00.000-05:00

In the 2004 election there was a rumor that if the Democrats won they would take away your Bibles. We don't want to take away your Bibles; we want you to READ them.
Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless. Isaiah 10:1,2

Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land. The LORD Almighty has declared in my hearing: "Surely the great houses will become desolate, the fine mansions left without occupants. Isaiah 5:8,9

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8
Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? -James 2:15,16

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. -James 1:27

And over 2000 other passages (not verses, passages) promoting social justice and mercy.

I Blame the “Rainbow Bible”.

2006-11-15T12:09:00.000-05:00

In the old days, someone thought “wouldn’t it be nice if God would come to earth and speak to the people, as a human, face to face; boy that would be some important stuff! Hey, wait a minute, God did come to earth and speak to the people as a human; Jesus did that! You know what would be really helpful, if we were to highlight His words!” So, the red letter edition of the Bible was born, and now whenever there was some confusion about what the Bible meant, one could search for the red bits, and any ambiguity would be solved. People over the ages, who followed the words in red, became abolitionists, and civil rights leaders and anti-war activists; they fought for the rights of women and workers and the oppressed in other lands. Dorothy Day, the founder of the Catholic Worker’s Movement and William Sloane Coffin, an advocate for peace and social justice for over forty years knew what the red words said, and gave their hearts to their message.

But now when you open the Bible, you have a riot of color and the words in red get lost amongst the blues and greens and violets and oranges. And it is apparently not so obvious that the peacemaker is blessed (Matt. 5:9) and those who live by the sword will die by it (Matt 26:52); or that whomever is without sin should cast the first stone (John 8:7); or that your designation as a lamb or goat will be determined by how you treat the “least of these” (Matt 25:40,45). And, apparently, the condemnation of gay bashing (Matt. 5:22) and command to “not call unclean what God has made holy” (Acts 10:15), have equally gotten lost. In the newspaper today is a story about the Baptists in North Carolina passing an anti-gay policy (Baptists in N.C. OK anti-gay policy http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/nation/16014974.htm). This is apparently the beginning of a witch hunt for “gay friendly” churches. A spokesman goes on to explain that homosexuality is the only sin that has its own advocacy group. You can’t reason with this kind of narrow-mindedness, the whole point is that homosexuality is not a sin, but the way God has created some of His children. By ignoring the above scripture, they misread a small number of “proof texts” that have a much more powerful message that that ten percent of the population should be disenfranchised by the church. The article goes on to state that the resolution radically changes the entire relationship between the Baptist Convention and its member churches. While previously member churches were only required to support the convention through funding and co-operation, now, well I’ll let them tell you “any churches that ‘knowingly act to affirm, approve, endorse, promote, support or bless homosexual behavior’ will be barred from membership”. But any church that acts to support bellicosity and greed and hatred is still OK. You can preach that God is a giant asparagus (should you capitalize “asparagus” when referring to God?), or that Jesus will be returning on a space ship and that is just fine, but affirm, approve, endorse, promote or support a brother or sister in Christ and out you go. I think they should “shake the dust off their feet” (Matt. 10:14) on the way out. That is what I did (and it is in red, after all). I belong to a UCC church now that preaches the gospel and practices “incredible compassion, dynamic hope, extravagant hospitality, and radical love” (from our web page http://www.gogucc.com/ ).

Maybe it isn’t fair to blame a colorful Bible for all the problems in Christianity; maybe the problem is what it always is; monochrome minds and a blackened soul. What do you think?

The Really Big Issues Are Never Black and White

2006-11-14T14:22:00.000-05:00

The life forming things of great consequence. If we listen really close we hear dissonant reactions in our souls. I read two stories in the newspaper this morning, that are completely unrelated, but strangely resonate a simple truth. They make you examine your commitment, and find it shallow and wanting. You walk out on your partner, because “I just don’t love him anymore” or “he snores” or it isn’t fun. Or you skip church because it is too early or the preacher finally got around to “your” sin. You don’t bother to vote, know bigotry is wrong and don’t speak up; drive blocks out of the way to avoid a homeless person, all the time calling yourself the follower of, let’s face it, a homeless person (Matthew 8:20).

The first, a story about an elderly couple who committed suicide together, because the wife was dying of cancer (Couple devoted until end http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/16006148.htm). My God, most of us won’t get out of bed to get our wives a glass of water, this man would rather die than be without his. We are saddened by their act, but filled with both hope and joy, that they were so devoted to each other. Love in all of it’s earth shaking furor does exist. When we were very young and first married, we knew a couple, Gladys and Ray, who were in the autumn of their lives. Oh, the stories they told, of fortunes gained and lost, of struggles surmounted. In my youthful ignorance, I found these stories frightening, that they could rise so high, amass so much and in their declining years be living in the same run down tenement as us. Now, we had run away from our respective homes to be together, before we were legally old enough to even wed; we had stories of our own about sleeping in Laundromats and on church lawns and struggling to live day to day, and when we were old enough to marry walking to the Holiday Inn in the center of Bridgeport for a one night honeymoon that a relative had paid for (and Patty cutting her foot on the way and a kind convenience store owner giving her a band-aid), but I had hope it would eventually end; the struggle and the pain. Now, many years later, Gladys and Ray give me hope, even after all that, what they had, what they could really own, each other’s love, had prevailed. Imagine showing up in glory, hand in hand, saying “we are a package deal, nothing will change that.” In the Biblical myth of Adam and Eve, it appears that Adam began to step up and stand with Eve, but punked out when God confronted him. It is a thread that winds through our literature; think for example of Winston’s betrayal in 1984. But this couple, they stood together.

The other story is about a new citizenship exam that the Office of Citizenship and Immigration is proposing (Feds testing new citizenship exam http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/nation/16006151.htm). The article states that the test would emphasize less of the “trivia” and more about democracy. More about the Bill of Rights, the Constitution and other documents that define our democracy. More about civics and freedom and justice. Well, bravo, I guess. When do we give this test to a citizenry that said idle while the Bill of Rights was shredded and shepherds and taxi drivers were kidnapped and tortured and killed? When do we administer this test to college students who believe the first amendment to, frankly, not exist. How do we convince the populace that there is something wrong with a ‘democracy” have fourteen thousand political prisoners in prisons around the globe (according to the State Department report to the UN), being tortured; seventy five to ninety five percent of whom are guilty of any crime (according to the military officers charged with their custody). How do we get the press to report the truth, and the government to stop living a lie? And what of the danger that naturalized citizens will know much more about democracy than those born to citizenship. And the bold faced hypocrisy of the most oppressive administration in U.S. history presuming to teach others about democracy. But, America isn’t about what the mountains are called or the capital of Wisconsin, it is about those funny words, freedom, justice, honor, democracy; I guess at least somebody will know what they mean.

With Apologies to Cheech and Chong, Man!

2006-11-13T10:36:00.000-05:00

There was this dude, Moses man, and he lived with his old lady, Yeshiva and these fortune teller dudes in the Sinai dessert.
So anyway, Moses was truckin' home one day picking the buds off the cactuses and shit when all of a sudden he heard someone saying like "Yo Moses, come here and check this shit out". And there was God smoking a whole bush of gold (what do you mean "how did he get it from Mexico?" He's God, man!)
So Moses is all freaked out because it never occurred to him to smoke the bushes (they used to lick frog in Egypt, no really, it's in all the papers of the time, "God save Israelites from frog poisoning by turning them on to good weed, man.")
And so Moses goes "who are you?" and God say's "I am Yehova, er
Jehovah, um Brahma, I mean... shit this is good stuff.. I am who I am". And Moses said "ok man, no more for you" (yeah, that's where the expression "don't bogart the bush, my friend" came from).

And the rest is history! Well, not really, but the point is we get all caught up with things that aren’t important. We are letting killers go free to make room for kids caught with small amounts of marijuana, and building bigger prisons to house them all. Old people and the infirmed are being arrested and persecuted because they have found it is effective in relieving their pain. This is another issue that the Church is pushing the Empire’s agenda instead of mercy and compassion. “And the language, Mildred did you see the language? And God smoking dope? Blasphemy!” Get over your selves, and proclaim redemption to those in prison… man.

Common Sense Pool Rules

2006-11-13T01:15:00.000-05:00

Sometime back an email was circulating about how Abraham Lincoln was "aware" that corporations should be allowed to run roughshod over the citizens of a country. This could not be further from the truth; as Mr. Lincoln feared that his actions in defense of the Africans kidnapped and brought to our shores would be co-opted by the corporate community (and he was right). So, in response, I present to you:

Common Sense Pool Rules

1. You cannot pee in the pool, no matter how much money you have
2. If you do pee in the pool you will be fined
3. If others become ill, or if their property is ruined because you peed in the pool, you will recompense them.
4. If the pool requires cleaning because you peed in it, you will be sent a bill.
5. If you contracted to clean the pool for a reduced entry fee, then you must clean the pool to retain that discount.
6. If you are trading other services for entry to the pool and you stop providing them, you will be charged the normal entry price.
7. According to our lifeguards oath to protect the pool from all enemies, foreign and domestic; if you bully others while in the pool, you will be prosecuted; regardless of how much you may have contributed to the pool in the past, or what imagined potential you have to contribute in the future.
8. If it is found that our lifeguards are aiding you in bullying others, they too will be prosecuted.

Please Note: Abraham Lincoln was aware of these rules.

Jesus Is a Progressive

2006-11-11T13:51:00.000-05:00

Many people have told me that a progressive Christian is a contradiction in terms, and I think it might be important to examine the validity of that statement. We Christians rely on the Bible as, at least, a first source for theological issues, (how's that for equivocating?) and it where our accusers claim to get their opinions. So, let us take a brief (very brief, Jim Wallis of Sojourners reports that while in Seminary, he and a group of friend removed all of the “progressive” bits out of a Bible and there wasn't enough material to keep the book together) tour through the Bible. Please note that my contention is not that critics can't find objectionable passages in the Bible, but that Christians cannot find justification for their present greedy, bellicose doctrines. The Bible advocates and allows some pretty rotten things but, in most cases, provides evidence that this is not how a believer should live, or believe.

Starting in Leviticus, the Israelites are instructed to not fully harvest their fields, so that the poor among them (which they are commanded not to have, but God is a smart dude) might gather food from them (Leviticus 19:9, 23:22). Also, in Leviticus, God commands positive environmental practices (25:4,5; 26:34,35) good labor relations (23:39) and in Exodus He condemns hording (chapter 16, Jesus said much later “give us this day our DAILY bread”) and again fair labor conditions (20:8,10-11). In Ezekiel 16:49,50 God explains that He destroyed Sodom for inhospitality and a lack of compassion, and brutal behavior, not homosexuality; “" 'Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.” And the beat goes on.

In the New Testament, though we could start anywhere, let's see what Mary had to say (in part) when she learned she was to have a baby; “He did powerfully with His arm, He scattered abroad the proud in the thought of their heart, He brought down the mighty from thrones, And He exalted the lowly, The hungry He did fill with good, And the rich He sent away empty,” (Luke 1:51,53). And Jesus read this passage when beginning His ministry “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:18,19; Isaiah 61:1,2) and when asked by John's disciples if He were the Messiah or should they seek another, well let Him tell you "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.” (Luke 7:22). In Matthew 23:31,46 it is not good doctrine or “sexual purity” that separates the lambs from the goats, but social justice. And finally (but again, not at all exhaustedly), in Revelation, Jesus speaks to the Church in Laodicea “You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.” Revelation 3:17,18) The in Laodicea was reputed by Hal Lindsey as the “tribulation church” and it sure does resemble the church today, with wealth being the measure of godliness.

I think it is pretty clear from even this brief look at scripture that it is, at least not contradictory to be progressive and Christian. Maybe even an opposite conclusion could be derived. And this is forgetting the whole letter of James, who couldn't get out two sentences without reverting back to his message of humility and social justice (there is literally so much and it is so scattered through out his letter that I invite you to read it yourself). What do you think?

Spring is Coming?

2006-11-10T14:37:00.000-05:00

I was in the Build-a-Bear with my granddaughter last evening, and I felt, for the first time in a long time, like I lived in America. “Blowing in the Wind” was playing on the store sound system, not Bob Dylan (and maybe that is more to the point, a recent cover of the song), but it still had the cannon balls ceasing their flying and the soldiers not being spent freely and all the Blowing in the Wind stuff. Then (because it could have been an aberration) the next song was “Black and White” by Three Dog Night. I had not heard these songs in public for five years; clear channel had ordered their minions to not play them, and the rest of the country seemed to follow suit. I wondered if some of the fear had already dissipated, or if it was a kind of open act of rebellion, or if I just don’t get out much. But in any case I was sticking with my moment of democracy.

Something that Christians and progressive hold in common at their core, in their heart of hearts, is a sense of hope, a dogged optimism. You wouldn’t know this by talking the most extreme of either group, the prophets of gloom and doom, who see apocalypse lurking in every shadow. But we for the most part interpret the least pleasant breeze as a harbinger of spring, no matter where we are in the calendar. The Democrats took back the house and the senate, Donald Rumsfeld resigned, they are playing protest songs in public, wow! We’re on our way! But in the past two elections around two million Americans were declared, by their pears, their fellow citizens, to be less human than the rest of us. In nineteen states there was enough support for the notion that homosexual Americans were not entitled to the same basic rights as the rest of us, to place it on the ballot to amend their constitutions; and in eighteen of those states it passed. Nothing is going to change in this country until hearts are redeemed. The people, voting in their own best interest, eviscerated a corrupt and destructive government; good for them. But do you think they could have found a little something in their hearts for their neighbor? Would that have been too much to ask? When the Republicans come back in 2008 or 2012 with some shiny new bauble, some promise that they fully intend to break, for prosperity or security or some other pipe dream, will the people forget the lesson that the past six, no twelve, years had taught them? Will they follow like obedient puppies, or will they stand their ground? Will these new leaders move America forward, at least keeping their promises, or will it be more of the same? Because, they have these two years to show they have not only a better plan, but the heart of service to stick with the plan and the courage to implement it. Let’s all hope that spring is coming.

We Discover Jesus in the Margins.

2006-11-09T14:51:00.000-05:00

So, a sociopathic president and a bisexual, drug addicted pastor stand with the rest of us broken and bruised children as prime candidates for the grace of God. All of us are living in a fallen and twisted world, and the great sin isn’t failure and imperfection, but arrogance and hubris. We fall because we exalt ourselves so highly.

The President, yesterday while announcing the eminent departure of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, admitted that he was aware of the event long before the announcement. One of the members of the press corp., emboldened no doubt by the believe that he could no longer wind up in a gulag, questioned the President as to why a week earlier he had told them that Secretary Rumsfeld was in for the long haul. The President replied that he certainly could not announce mews like that during the election. The journalist pressed the issue “why did you lie, though?” “Because I wanted you to get to the next question.” The President responded. How telling; the President felt it would show weakness and negatively effect the election to announce that he was being responsive to the people’s wishes by replacing Mr. Rumsfeld. Most of us, when we think of democracy, would expect that if enough of the people indicated that the government is going in the wrong direction, they would entertain the possibility of change. But in the Marlboro country that Mr. Bush inhabits, any compromise or correction is a sign of weakness, deserving defeat. Further, when asked about his reason for lying he answered like an undisciplined child (or someone who has no grasp of right or wrong), that it was convenient for him, he wanted to talk about something else. Almost guilelessly stating that his whims were more important than the truth. If Mr. Bush had the ability to assess his failures and mistakes, we would be living in a different world today. But, Mr. Bush was never taught to be an adult, and we all, including him, suffer.

Pastor Ted Haggard has been in the news a lot lately for being human. Progressives, who should know better, are wringing their hands in glee about what a hypocrite he is. All those good double entrants are coming out, and gay bashing abounds. Christians, on the other hand are scandalized, keying on entirely the wrong issues. Pastor Ted spoke against the GLBT community, even though he reports that he has been aware of membership in their ranks since his youth, that is hypocritical, no question. But, how much of this scandal is based on bigotry toward gays; and unbiblical and ungodly hatred for children which God has loved? Some good news is that he has been spared the threatened “counseling” of James Dobson (he was apparently busy abusing children and didn’t have enough time to pick on someone his own size), but he will probably not get the counseling he really needs. Jesus lives in the margins, He hangs out with and delivers dope fiends, and expects the same integrity from His gay followers that he does from His straight followers. If Pastor Ted is bisexual, this changes nothing, heterosexual married people have three billion other people that they can cheat on their spouse with. A bisexual spouse just has more people that (s)he will “put aside” in order to be faithful to their spouse, and betraying that vow is equally wrong. If he is gay, he has some decisions to make. He still has to be compassionate of those people that are left in the wake. And the Church has to take their position as partly responsible for all the pain this causes, because if they had not lied to and shoehorned him into a role that God never created him to fill, all of this heartbreak would not have occurred. We in the progressive community need to be welcoming to Pastor Ted (yes it is difficult, but it is progressive). How hypocritical is it to drag our some of the same tired taunts that would set our teeth on edge if it came from the right. It would be a sad ending to this story, indeed if it ended not in redemption, but in brainwashing.

Jesus meets us all in the margins. He accepts us when we feel guilty and picks us up when we fall. Us progressives (even those who don’t believe in Him) follow His example a lot closer than many of those that claim His name. As the nations vote to exclude some of God children from full human rights because of how God made them, and judges fill prisons with children who seek their love in a pipe or a straw, and a misguided administration sends our children to kill their children, Jesus weeps. He calls out to us; to meet Him in the margins.

News From an Orphaned State

2006-11-08T14:11:00.000-05:00

It is not seemly to be so glum when so many great things are happening in the country (ok, some crappy things are happening too; of the eight states that had the hatred amendment on their ballot only Arizona realized that you should “not call impure what God has made clean” – Acts 10:15). But I feel like the kid that got underwear for Christmas, while all of my friends got cool presents. I mean I am really happy for them, and it kind of means that Santa is still on the job and maybe next year, if Mommy and Daddy stop drinking and sniffing that white powder off the coffee table I will get neat presents too. The wins nationwide are wins for all of us, but I just wish I could feel I had something to do with it, that my vote contributed to the whole thing. I guess democracy is more than voting, though. While I was writing this (really! I always question when somebody says “just now” because, how weird is that?), the presidential substitute announced that Donald Rumsfeld is resigning as Secretary of Defense, and I did call for his resignation many times. Maybe we wore him down.

Anyway, congratulations to the new Democratic House (and it is increasingly looking like the Senate also); I wish I could have been more help. And, oh yeah, I’ll be keeping my eye on you. That “D” by your name doesn’t give you a free ride in my book. Now the easy part is over and it is time to give the country back to the people.
(I should probably throw a gratuitous “God bless you” in there also, but “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” Matthew 5:45b)

A Phylactary is a "Bible Belt"

2006-11-07T13:30:00.000-05:00

Well, it’s on. Here in South Carolina, all of these good upstanding Christians are going to the polls. Now it remains to see if they will, in fact, do what Jesus would do. I don’t hold out a lot of hope.

South Carolina is one of those states that are deciding if they want to write bigotry right into their state constitution. This seems to be a hot button issue here, despite what little evidence we have as to how Jesus felt about the issue. In Matthew 5:22 Jesus tells us that anybody who calls his brother “raca” will answer to the council. Raca is an Aramaic term of contempt which could be accurately translated “faggot”, the Jesus who had nothing to say about homosexuality still took time out of His busy schedule to condemn homophobia. In John 8:11 we are told that Jesus told the woman caught in adultery to go and sin no more, and in John 4:18 Jesus speaks frankly with the woman at the well in Samaria about her past infidelities, but in Matthew 8:5-13 we read about a Centurion that came to Jesus to ask Him to heal a young man that was dear to him. We know by the customs of the times that the young man was probably more than a servant to the Centurion (you might want to do some research into this, “New Testament and Homosexuality” by Robin Scroggs might be a good start). Jesus engaged the Centurion in conversation and even praised him to the crowd, but made no mention about his relationship to the young man, that He healed. So, what would Jesus’ reaction to this issue be? Would He vote to marginalize a child of God? Would He accuse a couple of adultery because they are unwed, all the while pushing for legislation that prevents them from marrying? Would Jesus not vote to preserve the dignity of one for whom He died. Would He not, in fact, be outraged, that people are using His name to do this evil and hateful thing?

This Sunday, in Church, as the children’s church was forming, we sang “Jesus Loves the Little Children”. I was reflecting on the words, Jesus loves all the children of the world; the little Iraqi children who are being killed daily by this stupid little war that our politicians are waging. While probably not generally interested in politics (He said so in Matthew 22:21 to the Pharisees and in John 18:36 to Pilate), I think He would vote for candidates that will end our bloody foray into Iraq and promise not to pick a fight with Iran or anybody else needlessly. I think He would see the value of educating our children and ensuring that they have adequate food to go to school. I think He would want them to have medical care available if they fell ill. I found that if a child does not have adequate insurance coverage for catastrophic medical care in South Carolina, they are welcome to “die and reduce the surplus population” if they cannot gather the money somehow. In some of those “sinful” states the state steps in and covers catastrophic medical bills, shouldn’t the good upstanding Christian people of the bible belt do the same?

The local news paper decided that if the hate amendment was defeated South Carolina would become a magnet for gays and lesbians who want to get married. Now recall defeating the amendment would change nothing and gays and lesbians are not exactly flocking to the area now, so that was stupid. But imagine; imagine South Carolina being a shining beacon of inclusion and tolerance. Imagine a kind of reverse underground railroad, people coming to the south to escape oppression, because here in South Carolina we were finally doing what Jesus would do. Imagine South Carolina being a center of realistic Christ-centered opposition to the war and it’s various atrocities (Senator Graham tried to make a limited step in that direction; bless his heart, but eventually caved in, we are all human). Imagine South Carolinians boldly deciding that our children are too important not to educate, that people are more important than profits, and that a sick child should be at the top of any Christian agenda. Imagine those exodus folks not wanting to come to South Carolina because we follow Jesus too closely and expose their hypocrisy too completely.

But, as I said , I don’t hold out much hope that the fine folks of South Carolina are going to repent of their unchristian ways. They have been doing things this way for a long time, and it will take a miracle to change things. I guess God is in the miracle business, though. Pray for us “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).

The LAST Jesus Freak???

2006-11-06T13:02:00.000-05:00

The title of this blog seems a little self-indulgent now. In the past several years, the ranks of those who take Jesus' words seriously about justice and mercy have grown. But in the early years (the 90s), it seemed that I was a voice crying out in the wilderness. There were "Christians", but it did not appear that they would care much for Jesus if they ever met Him. He would seem to them to be a bit of a pinko, always talking about love and all. And there were "liberals", but even though they were living more as Jesus would have advocated, they didn't care much for the person the other fellow portrayed Him as. To some extent, this is changing, and it is inaccurate to call the blog "the last Jesus freak blog. " There are others, and they are good. But I had to call it something.