Jesus: Communist or Capitalist?

I get into this discussion a lot. It is kind-of the idea of the old WWJD; which would Jesus advocate for more: Socialism or Capitalism. It is tough. There are a lot of passages and examples from the teachings of Christ and the early Church that make a lot Christians who are social activists to answer: socialist. However, there are other passages that would make one argue against that.

Even pulling the Bible out of the picture, this has been an ongoing philosophical battle for decades in the US. I am a big fan of Ayn Rand and her Magnum Opus: Atlas Shrugged. It is perhaps the most comprehensive philosophical and narrative argument for Capitalism. However, it is an idealized Capitalism, not an actual one. I struggle with her theories in my head because that is the only place her reality has existed. Socialism, on the other hand, shares much of the same story. Socialism DOES NOT = COMMUNISM. There is a difference. I think that socialism is another "ideal" that has yet to be realized. Both, in my humble opinion, have their strengths and flaws in the utopian philosophical arguments.

However, CNN has a post that puts these two ideas in debate. I DO beyond a doubt think this is a great discussion for Christians and the Church to have. However, as much as I like this conversation, I must remember that Jesus was BEYOND either systematic thesis. The Kingdom of God (again IMHO), is bigger than this. But, if we want to bring about the Kingdom of God on this earth, then we have to do so with the systems that are in place. Wether it means subverting a specific system or embracing it, we have to use the best of it to heal while we in turn, heal the broken parts of our system.

It seems to many (I'm not sure I agree) that our government is sliding into a more socialist identity. While this is not a political blog, I'm not sure that some synthesis of the best parts of a socialist and capitalist mindset are truly at odds. A government's job in the USA is to protect and care for it's people. I'm not sure how you can do this with an Ayn Rand type of Capitalism. Then again, we have yet to have a truly successful Socialist experiment without the corruption and disenfranchisement of the people. Yet as a Social Conscious Christian, I find myself asking, "in what areas would a more Capitalist/Socialist approach truly do things like:

End Poverty
Alleviate corruption in government (this must be done, not to be political, but because to truly heal a situation, the system itself that is causing or at least allowing oppression, must be fixed).
End World Hunger
Give equal rights to all men and women
AND THE LIST GOES ON......

In any case, as always I have more questions than answers to offer. So in my offering I give you the link to the following debate/article and the video clips.

CLICK FOR ARTICLE



Enjoy, and please feel free to leave comments.

Looking at Clergy Burnout

There is a fantastic article in the NY Times on this issue. READ IT HERE!

I've had countless conversations with people in the field of ministry (doesn't matter pastor, associate, youth, children's, etc...) that have or are experiencing burnout. I know that I have experienced it, not in ministry, but during non-stop semesters of college and straight into Div. School. I took classes every summer and after 8 years, I was showing the signs.

I know ministers who have been at churches 25 years who are burned out, and I know ministers who have been at a church 5 yrs. who are showing all of the symptoms. It seems that you are hearing more and more about clergy burnout these days. I think that there are many culprits here, the biggest being that both clergy and laity are not aware of the symptoms, or even the problem.

Clergy like to go nonstop, they take on the emotional burdens of their beloved congregation. ministers often times have "boundary issues" as is backed up in a study mentioned in the above article. They don't know when to say no to things and don't know when to separate themselves emotionally and physically in order to take care of themselves. I think that this is part of the personality of most ministers, and is simply something of which they need to be aware about themselves.

Laity can help too! Knowing the signs of burnout can help the laity take care of their ministers. It only makes sense. If you have a good minister you want to keep them healthy so that they can continue to be a good minister! It is a win for all. However, the best thing the laity can do is have steps in place FROM THE BEGINNING to PREVENT burnout. It's like heart disease, why wait until you have a heart attack to make a change when you can practice prevention and perhaps keep one from ever happening!

What Laity can do:

Encourage/allow ministers to seek regular therapy.

I have done counseling for a couple of ministers, and I have been counseled professionally. It keeps your sanity. It helps you keep tabs on yourself, and gives the clergy a safe place to express their feelings. Sadly, ministers do not feel that they can open up or explore their feelings with their congregations. I understand this. I can't speak for everyone, but I used to feel that expressing my frustrations, doubts, fears, and troubles would burden the congregation that I loved so dearly. I'm not sure this is true anymore, but in any case, the congregation cannot be a substitute for a professional counselor.

Encourage/allow ministers to meet regularly with other ministers.

Ministers need to vent at times. But they also need to be refreshed with new ideas. Sometimes the thing I get the most excited about is when I share and listen to the ideas of others. I can see what is working for other ministers, get feedback on my own thoughts and frustrations, and then take that back to the congregation. I have found that this benefits both the congregation and the minsters alike. And let's face it. Like any profession, the people that know best what you are going through are the people in the same field as you. Other ministers can also provide a support group and point out what one minister alone may not see.

Make sure your ministers take vacations and sick days.

This is one thing that I see a lot of ministers not doing; taking their vacation. Since only 2 churches I know of let their ministers bank vacation days, if the minister doesn't take it, they lose it. I've worked in and with churches for 13 years now and I know how hard it is to find time to take vacation days. There is ALWAYS something going on at the church, and you always have to coordinate to make sure that only one staff member is gone at a time. I am thinking of a certain pastor (and I know this isn't the only case), who has been called back for an emergency more than once. I remember one time that he had to spend extra money in order to change flights and come back early, leaving his family in the midwest. He never got that vacation time back. There needs to be some protection for the minister. He or she should not go on every vacation with the fear of being called back. This is where the laity and other staff members should step up and give some vacation security!

Everyone needs time away. We all need time to get our mind off of the daily stuff, get away, spend quality time with their family, etc... things that people in other fields of employment take for granted. Think about it, clergy are at church most holidays. And speaking from the experience of someone who's whole family lives out of town, it makes the built-in vacation times over those holidays (after the Christmas eve service I we jet out of town) far from relaxing and rejuvenating.

Ministers need time away. Their families miss them, they need to relax, and they need to come back excited and rejuvenated. The laity needs to be the minister's biggest advocate on this, because ministers often times get to the end of their year and are stuck with more vacation than they can take. Then it is a struggle to get away and they end up losing their vacation. Or the church has lost a minister suddenly for 2-3 straight weeks and becomes frustrated. This can be prevented.

The same goes with sick days. A lot of ministers are stubborn about taking sick days. Let's face it, if you are a pastor, you can't just call in when you wake up sick Sunday morning. This is where having a staff that can jump in as a support system in these times is important. Heck, even laity could still do the worship sans sermon if need be. But most ministers will power through the Sunday morning duties. But many are so overwhelmed with expectations and responsibility that they have trouble taking a day away from the office/ meetings/ visitations in order to take care of themselves. This is really where a staff covenant of helping, as well as a strong laity support system could take that pressure off of the minister. I can remember only one time in my ministry where a person looked at me and told me to go home and they would cover the meeting that night. I felt really guilty. I'm not sure why i felt guilty, I def. don't like being sick! However, she convinced me and I handed her my agenda/notes for the meeting and went home and got rest. What would happen if more laity stepped forward and told ministers who are sick to go home and get rest. Remember, the healthier the minister, the healthier the congregation has a chance to be!

Give comp. time!

This is one that is easily overlooked. As a youth minister I worked it into my contract to receive time compensation for extra time (time outside of my contracted weekly hours) that I worked. Ministry is always a 24 hr. on call job. Now I didn't keep up with every hour I spent over my 20 or 40 hr. work week. However, if there was an emergency that took up a whole night, a week of extra services, a conference out of town, or even a weekend (or better yet, a week-long) youth trip, I would find time to take and rejuvenate myself. I would be out of the office on monday, take an early weekend (being Thurs.-Sat., not Sunday), or just leave early one day.

Now, I never took all the time that was due to me, but that was ok! I was taking ENOUGH. I would go play golf with friends, have lunch with a colleague I hadn't seen in a while, get some stuff done around the house, or simply take a nap! It amazes me how few churches build in comp. time! The few I know have it for their youth ministers but not for the other clergy. Let's face it, many churches expect ministers to be in the office during the day (so we will say 9-5 mon.-thurs.), and then most of the day Sunday. There's the 40 hr. work week right there! However, the majority of the stuff that happens in ministry happens outside of those times. Services, meetings, meals, and ministry are often done when people are off of work. That means either in the evening or on Sat., which is the time the ministers usually have off. This is the nature of ministry and being available when people need you is why I went into ministry. However, being expected to pull "normal" hours plus the other 20-30 hrs. when ministry happens outside of the 9-5 window quickly wears and tears a minister. Giving the minister the option of using some comp. time when needed does wonders when he or she feels they need a breather! It allows them not to feel guilty when their child gets sick, they have a dental appointment, want to take a day to spend with their kids, or when they just need a day of real rest (since the ministers do most of their work on the "day of rest").

Unlike vacation days, most ministers won't feel like they have to take all of their comp. time. They won't feel bad when they have to take an afternoon to themselves and don't have to worry about using up sick days except for when they are truly sick. They can see it as a perk, as being recognized as a human being, not a machine. We all need some time off, especially if we've been pulling extra hours at work. My mom (not a minister) works more than 40hrs a week, and one month a year she is there from 7am-10pm most days. However, her boss makes sure that her and her staff get a break afterwards. My mom takes a week to herself (not sick or vacation days), and then throughout the next month she takes a few long weekends as comp. time for how hard she worked during the busy times. It makes my mom not dread the really tough month, and makes sure she is refreshed and happy when she's at work afterwords. Did I mention she loves her job? What if more churches took this approach? How much healthier would they and their ministers be?

Set up and honor sabbaticals.

This is an important one for many ministers because it gives them a nice break...one long enough that they are usually eager to get back because they miss their congregation and have so much new stuff to share. Let me be clear, A sabbatical is not an extended vacation on a beach. There is relaxation and vacation involved, but this is a time where a person betters themselves. Most ministers will take classes, catch up on some reading, visit other churches to see what they are doing in ministry, visit the Holy Land, take a tour of European Church History, etc...

This is a time where a minister become a stronger and more rejuvenated person. We've all heard of ministers and their "bag of tricks". They have 3-5 years of "tricks" (sermons, lessons, ideas, etc..) in their bag and once they have used them up, the feel they have to move on in order to find a new place where the bag becomes new again. Ministers who are given a sabbatical (usually with the contracted understanding that they will do more than just vacation) come back with fresh ideas. This means fresh sermons, new programs, new ministries, and new experiences to share and discuss. An excited minister means an excited(ing) ministry!!!

In the article above, Rabbi Joel Myers says this: “We now recommend three or four months every three or four years,”. Most churches I know of that give sabbaticals contract one 6 month leave after 5 years at that church, and a 4 month leave every 3 years subsequent. I don't think this is a bad set-up. It means the minister has put in enough years to not be new, but (hopefully) not to long to have begun to burn out. I think 4 years would be better (take the sabbatical on the 5th year), but there is some negotiation here. Remember this will end up benefiting both the minister and the church. I know I would use my time to visit a school and take some challenging classes. Or perhaps I would teach at a seminary in South America. Who knows? But I know I would come back with new invigoration and excitement, wanting to share all of my new experiences with my community.

The problem here is that when a church offers a sabbatical, it is usually only for the pastor. We expect so much out of all of our ministers, why do we treat them differently...like they are less of a "minister"? What happens when the youth minister goes to a huge youth ministry conference overseas or on a different coast? What happens when the education minister goes to a seminary to brush up on the latest education concepts and understandings? What happens when the music minister takes a couple of months and does an apprenticeship under another well-renowned music minister? Besides preventing burnout? I think it would benefit everyone, even beyond that specific ministry!

Finally,

Create an environment where the minister is allowed to be human!!!

This is prob. the bedrock/most important thing a Church can do to prevent burnout. Why? Because this happens on a daily basis! Many ministers are put on a pedestal, expected to be the museum display of the perfect Christian. Remember though, we are all on this journey. No one, not even the clergy, had "arrived" yet. These ministers are not Christ! They are not perfect. Yet they come into the church having to feel like they can't make a mistake. And if they do, people are quick to jump on them. We have to change our expectations!!!

This goes for the ministers too. What happens when you teach your church that you are a simple pilgrim and divulge openly when you make mistakes. What happens when we teach our laity love and forgiveness over judgment especially when it comes to clergy? What happens when we become intentionally authentic (no masks, no pretending, just be ourselves flaws and all) and humbly transparent? It is a scary thing for a minister to do, trust me. But if we work together we can create an environment where it is safe for EVERYONE to be one's self, admit their mistakes, find encouragement, and receive forgiveness. This can happen for both clergy and laity alike. This isn't a new idea, it is the Biblical concept of community!

Creating this intentional place is hard. It means letting go of power, changing one's expectations, and accepting everyone for who they are. It means loving each other, regardless of our differences; the way Christ teaches us to love. If we can't do it in our churches, then how can we do it in the world around us?

Just remember, it is just as easy for a church to get burnout with their ministers as it is for the ministers to find themselves in the same state. These things mentioned (and I'm sure other ministers would have some other great ideas), are just a few easy ways to PREVENT this from happening. A healthy congregation with healthy ministers leads to a ministry and community with vitality! And remember, vitality...life is what people are seeking when they look at our churches!

Leave your thoughts, and ideas!

Picture above taken from Outreach Magazine article on burnout. Click to read!

Don't Believe Everything On TV

Glenn Beck took on Liberation Theology and does a pretty poor job of representing the theology.

Take a look:

http://video.foxnews.com/v/4281358/beck-liberation-theology-and-social-justice/

This bothers me, not because Beck is not entitled to his opinion, but because this was a gross misrepresentation of the complex study that is Liberation Theology! The clips of James Cone is taken out of context and then twisted to fit into Beck's political agenda. It is amazing to see how much he warps scripture such as "The Good Samaritan" to fit his own ideals. It is simply frightening.

Why?

Because many people (reading comments, blogs, and having conversations on this) take Beck's statements as if he were a true theologian or Biblical scholar. Where does the real problem lie though? Again, Beck is entitled to his opinion, and he is entitled to his voice on his own show. What frightens me most is that there is a lack of solid education going on in many of our faith communities on things such as Liberation Theology.

One reason I was called into ministry, and specifically into teaching in churches, is because I thought it was very sad that I had to go to college and Divinity school in order to get a solid education on what all is out there on scripture and theology. Bringing this same level of education to the laity is a a strong passion of mine and many of my friends and colleagues! It is my hope that when people see something like this on TV, they will think about it, weigh it against what they know based on solid education in our faith communities, find and be led to solid research sources, and know how to formulate their own thoughts and ideas.

Whether it be a charismatic TV personality, or a beloved pastor, or an opinionated blogger; we should encourage and train our fellow brothers and sisters in our communities to not settle for anything less than solid and well-informed education. We should help others to study and share within their communities so that we are having conversations to a more enlightened and responsible faith. This begins with the ministers' encouragement, training and equipping of the laity. Making a safe place of intentional diversity of opinion and encouraging healthy discussion as well as providing solid resources for people to learn more about their topics of interest.

I am a firm believer that you shouldn't simply take anyone's word (no matter how big their platform) as gospel. Instead, we should teach others to take responsibility for their thoughts and beliefs and become well-informed people of faith. Perhaps then we will have productive and more accurate conversations about things like Liberation Theology.

My prayer: that we would up the level of quality of our education in our communities of faith and never settle for anything less than the best!

More links:

Religion Dispatches blog on Glenn Beck's broadcast

Glenn Beck’s ‘Social Justice’ Heresies (essay)

Huffington Post (editorial)

Always About Us

Hey faithful readers. Sorry for the blackout in posts, but just got back from a week in glorious Chicago! This was a great trip to a fantastic city for a much needed break!

As I was gone, I tried to keep myself away from blogs (successfully I might add), news (mostly good), and anything on my usual tech. routine (except for google maps on my iPhone... needed that in the city)!

Yet now that I'm back I saw New York Times (and many AP papers) ran this story today: Climate Change Seen as Threat to U.S. Security

Now one doesn't have to be a liberal hippie to have heard warnings about climate change and its dangers for say that last 25+ years! And I know we in America have gotten better (at least while the gas is still high and the economy still low) and more aware on the issues. However, as our cogs turn in our American self-preservation systems it becomes front page news (it was sent out as lead story on NY Times daily update, and was front story on N&O) when it be comes a "security issue".

This saddens me for many reasons. It isn't an issue that our world is in trouble, or that our yet-to-be-born relatives will have this impact their daily lives. No, it is that it is a threat to the security and prosperity systems of our country. I don't understand why it takes the pentagon telling us it is an issue before we take it seriously.

I mourn for who we are and what we've become as ego-centered Americans. God knows I love this country and thus why I am so proud of who we were and so distraught by whom we have become. But I am still retaining hope that we will break out of our self-centered systems and step up to the plate as people who care about something bigger than ourselves...something bigger than a singe country. But as we have people fighting and misguiding health-care reform out of ignorance and selfishness, as we have people still walking on the meek to rise higher on the ladder, and as we continue to focus only inward I lose a little more hope in us each day!

But I haven't given up hope yet. We were created better than this... and we can become better once again!

On Abortion And Murdering Abortionists

I actually never thought that I would write a post on the topic of abortion simply because I think that it has become a hot-button political/religious topic that has helped to polarized both the Church and America. None of the arguments we hear are fair, balanced, or productive at this point. So I simply avoid this topic. I have my thoughts and beliefs, but I also respect those that might disagree. I am not above having a civil discussion on the topic, but I can count how many of those I've encountered in my life on one hand!

WARNING: I am going to trust my readers, BUT I will break my own rule and delete inappropriate comments and even shut off comments on this post if they are not respectful. I invite constructive comments and even conversation. You are free to share your thoughts, but do so respectfully.

Anyway, something about this latest story on the death of Dr. George Tiller, gunned down while in church sets me off.

I've been sitting here watching CNN and tonight on AC360, I simply hit my breaking point. I can't believe what some people are saying publicly about this. The pure hatred and evil that pours from people's mouths is EXACTLY why I avoid this topic. Here's a great example on CNN, and interview by Drew Griffin with Dan Holman of Missionaries to the Preborn. Here's an excerpt:

Drew Griffin: When you heard the news over the weekend about the abortion doctor -- that I'm sure you are well aware of -- was shot and killed, what was your reaction?

Dan Holman: I was cheered by it because I knew that he wouldn't be killing any more babies. And I expect that would happen when all legal and moral -- legal ways of trying to stop it has been exhausted, as they have tried to prosecute him for giving abortions to people in violation of Kansas law.

Drew Griffin: When you say you were cheered by it, is there any inconsistency in your thought in that you are trying to protect life and at the same time here's this doctor who was shot and killed and in your own words you are cheered by that?

Dan Holman: No, because I'm protecting innocent life. I'm not -- and the doctor or the abortionist is guilty of murder as far as I'm concerned. It's no different for him to be killing a preborn child or a post-born child. The preborn child is entitled to the same rights, privileges and protections as a post-born child.

Drew Griffin: So, you support this killing?

Dan Holman: I don't advocate it, I don't support it. But I don't condemn it, and I believe that what he did was justifiable.

Drew Griffin: You told me earlier that he -- meaning the shooter -- he did what the law should have done?

Dan Holman: Right, exactly. The law should have protected the preborn child; and the law is supposed to execute vengeance, you know, in protecting the child. But what the man did was not execute vengeance, as far as I'm concerned. He was protecting preborn children, ones that are slated for abortion today and the future. I don't feel that what he did is vengeance.

Drew Griffin: Do you seek this fate on all doctors performing abortions out there?

Dan Holman: I believe that all abortionists are deserving of death, and they are not the only ones. There are politicians and judges and others who support this murder that are also deserving of death.

I choose this article because it is somewhat more kind than other comments I have heard. Anti-Abortionist Randall Terry was quoted on AC360 tonight as saying that, "Dr. Tiller was a mass-murder who reaped what he sowed."

But at least these two people "say" they don't condone the murder (I think that nice little semantic dance above is a particularly interesting exchange). I don't know if their other words match that lip-service, but let's give these two the benefit of the doubt. But right after Anderson quotes Terry, a close friend of the suspect was quoted saying, "[Dr. Tiller] was a rat and he needed to be killed." And that is still one of the more kind statements I've heard!

I listen to the rhetoric of hatred on this topic and I see such hypocrisy. Not to mention that it is an "issue" and we argue the issues (both sides) as if there are not real people with real hopes, dreams, worries, struggles, families, and whatever else constitutes living this life. Never mind that everyone involved in all areas of this topic are supposedly created by God and created in the image of God. We do a fantastic job of living as if we believed this to be true!

No matter where one falls on this, like most "issues", when we remove the human element from the topic, we begin this process of distancing ourselves from our own humanity. We devoid ourselves of things like empathy, compassion, grace, love, and humility. Yet these are the very things that make us supposedly "set apart" from all other creation. It's these things in part that supposedly places us at the top of the animal kingdom... yet it is instances like this that remind me just how close to animals we are.

It's time for a new rhetoric. We need to rethink how we talk about these issues, and more importantly, how we think about these issues. We need to regain our civility; it's time to find our humanity. We need to regain our imagio dei, both in ourselves, and in how we view and treat others.

I value Frederick Buechner's thoughts on abortion, and I think they really ring true with what I have seen and heard today:

Speaking against abortion someone has said, "no one should be denied access to the great feast of life," to which the rebuttal, obviously enough, is that life isn't much of a feast for children born to people who don't want them or can't afford them or are one way or another incapable of taking care of them and will one way or another probably end up abusing or abandoning them.

And yet, and yet. Who knows what treasure life may hold for even such children as those, or what treasures even such children of those may grow up and become? To bear a child even under the best of circumstances, or to abort a child even under the worst-- the risks are hair-raising either way and the results are incalculable.

How would Jesus himself decide, he who is hailed as Lord of life and yet who says that is is not he ones who, like an abortionist, can kill the body we should fear, but the ones who can kill body and soul together the way the world into which they are born can kill unloved and unwanted children (Mt. 10:28)?

There is perhaps no better illustration of the truth that in an imperfect world there are no perfect solutions. All we can do, as Luther said, is sin bravely, which is to say, (a) know that neither to have the child nor not to have the child is without the possibility of tragic consequences for everybody, yet (b) be brave in knowing also that not even that can put us beyond the forgiving love of God. (Beyond Words: Abortion Entry. Emphasis his)

Your thoughts are welcome, but keep it civil and respectful! I welcome honesty, but honesty with tact is expected.

"The Shack" Comes to the Triangle

I know many people I talk to about William P. Young's The Shack, ask about his personal experiences that led to him writing the both widely beloved, and widely criticized book. Some know that on the Audio version, there is an interview with Paul, and he gives some insight to his inspiration and experience.

On the front page of today's N&O, there is an article entitled Author's Journey Grew Into Spiritual Therapy (click for full article). I post here some answers into the author's insight and background for all those who have asked or are simply curious.

AND a shout out to my man George Fuller for getting a quote in print... You're my hero George!

_-_-_-_

...in Young's case, "the great sadness" that led him to his proverbial "shack" was childhood sexual abuse followed later in life by an extramarital affair.

For Young, who grew up in New Guinea as the son of missionary parents, God was a punitive presence in his life whom he could never fully please. For years, he said, he masked his true self, hiding his secrets from everyone, including those he loved.

On Jan. 4, 1994, his wife, Kim, told him she knew about his affair. He resolved to finally confront his demons, a process he said took 11 years, including nine months of intensive psychotherapy.

_-_-_

This was Young's real-life "shack" experience, but read the full article to get background on the book's own journey and how it is affecting people in my area!

Enjoy

Should Clergy Perform (LEGAL) Marriages?

I am ordained clergy and one of my favorite parts of being ordained is the unique role that I can play in officiating a wedding. I've already done 2 this year, and there's more to come. There is something so holy to me to when I walk a couple through the vows that they chose/wrote for each other as they look lovingly in each others eyes.

However, as of late there has been an interesting point being pointed out by many in the church. The latest is found on Tony Jones' blog entitled: Doug Kmiec Is Right: Clergy Should Not Perform (Legal) Marriages.

In this Tony points out some interesting and thought-provoking observations about clergy and marriage. He says:

In no other fuction as a clergyperson did I function as an extension of the government -- not when I was baptizing, burying, counseling, or communing. Only when performing a wedding did I, with the stroke of a pen, make official a legally binding contract that, in the eyes of the state, allowed that couple to enjoy certain privileges like the ability to file joint tax returns, visit one another in the hospital, and receive joint health care benefits from one of the partner's employers.....
I do find it odious that clergypersons are called upon, in this one instance, to act as agents of the state.

He goes on to conclude:

Clergy and churches, on the other hand, should have no part in legally-binding contracts. Instead, religious professionals should bless and sanctify unions and partnerships that fit within their religious traditions as part of their sacerdotal functions.

Of course part of this is brought on by the issue of same sex marriage. Douglas Kmiec on The Colbert Report (Video Below), points out that "the state has an obligation to treat all of its citizens equally and to preserve the principle of equality." In essence, he is saying that by allowing the polemic Church to decide who can and can't be married that the State is not upholding its role of equality for all citizens. This is something of which I had not considered, but has been thought-provoking to me.

By watching the video and reading all of Tony's blog, you will see that what they are suggesting is a separation of the two roles. This allows the state to practice equality, while allowing the Church to decide according to their own convictions and traditions. That would mean that different traditions would bless and marry same sex couples, and others would not. If a couple would not be recognized/blessed by their own church/tradition, then they could seek out another tradition. Either way, they would still have equal rights as heterosexual unions, because according to the State, all couples would have to go through the state for the legal union of marriage.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Douglas Kmiec
colbertnation.com
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I'm not sure this solves the problem, but it is an interesting concept. Let's face it, when it comes to marriage there is no separation of Ch. and St. When that occurs, others suffer. In this case, some churches suffer and many individuals and couples suffer. I agree that the Church and her clergy should not be agents of the State, but marriage has also become a tradition of sacrament.

I'm not sure what the right call is here, but it is a new (at least to me) thought that is interesting and will be given more thought! I do believe in equality, but in that equality it also means not forcing churches into performing marriages with which their beliefs do not mesh. How do we provide equality for all parties involved? I do not believe that there is true equality if one party is hurt by the "rights" of the other. I think on this issue it goes both ways.

In the meantime, I will continue to do weddings when asked because I truly do enjoy the unique perspective on that holy moment. I adore watching as everything that the couple feels for one another culminates into that one moment where they are pronounced married for the first time! I will continue to do it because I love the role that God plays in the blessing of those that want to seek the marriage commitment. But I will also continue to speak out for equality for all, even those that I don't agree with. Those that want to call me names and label me because I disagree with their theology, I will still fight for you. Why? 2 reasons: Because liberty for one means liberty for all. And 2, because I am called to love all and not be judgmental. And I will never forget that behind these "issues" are real human faces. People with feelings of love, pain, sorrow, etc... the same feelings that I feel. We must never remove the human element when discussing these issues or we chance perhaps losing our own humanity in the process.

These are some interesting thoughts, feel free to share yours.

Elizabeth Warren on the Economy

An interview with Elizabeth Warren on last night's Daily Show.
I thought this was a good and one of the most educational and informative interviews out of all the "experts" that have been interviewed on any network/show. Perhaps it is because I feel like finally someone is being honest with us (good and bad), as well as keen insight on the economic trends through history, and on the precipice that we are on economically RIGHT NOW!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Elizabeth Warren Pt. 1
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Elizabeth Warren Pt. 2
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

I think, like John Stewart, that after this, this is the first time I have felt a little better...can we say possibly...hopeful?

I also like Warren's text called "The Vanishing Middle Class" in the book, Ending Poverty in America: How to Restore the American Dream, which is an issue close to my heart (at least the widening gap between the wealthy and the poor). As is stated in the book, I think the issue of the emerging gap and polarization between classes and the issue of poverty go hand-in-hand...not just in America, but also on a global scale!

Any thoughts?

Is The Economic Crisis Good For America?

First off I want to apologize for not posting the last 2 weeks. Believe it or not, I've been doing A LOT of thinking and writing (in note form), but have not had time to really sit down and hammer out my thoughts in an a more reader friendly format. Don't worry, I have much on mind that I hope I catch up on here soon. Interestingly enough, a lot of the thoughts I have are all converging. Once I am ready to tackle these thoughts, new ideas and/or circumstances cause me to take a step back and ponder more!

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The center of a lot of my thinking of late centers around the global issues that plague our world. With issues like global poverty, hunger, war, social justice, oppression, slavery, etc... always near the front of my mind, I have found myself thinking less about what we/I can do (even though that is always a big concern for me) and more about what causes and perpetuates these problems. This has a lot to do with our Bible Study Community reading and discussing Brian McLaren's Everything Must Change. In this book he tackles the systems that keep us from solving these global problems. More on that in another post.

With this at the front of my mind, along with the economic situation, I see this week's Time

Magazine with the cover story, "The End of Excess: Why This Crisis is Good For America" (click on link to read the full article). There are some interesting things pointed out.

We saw what was happening for years, for decades, but we ignored it or shrugged it off, preferring to imagine that we weren't really headed over the falls.....Even smart, proudly rational people engaged in magical thinking, acting as if the new power of the Internet and its New Economy would miraculously make everything copacetic again. We all clapped our hands and believed in fairies.
The popular culture tried to warn us. For 20 years, we've had Homer Simpson's spot-on caricature of the quintessential American: childish, irresponsible, willfully oblivious, fat and happy. And more recently we winced at the ultra-Homerized former earthlings of WALL•E.

The article goes on to say:

We are like substance abusers coming off a long bender, hitting bottom (we can only hope) and taking the messes we've made as a sobering wake-up call. I've always thought many of the 12 Steps were superfluous, so here is a streamlined, secularized Three-Step Program for America — Bubbleholics Anonymous? — to start getting back on track:

• Admit that we are powerless over addiction to easy money and cheap fossil fuel and living large — that our lives had become unmanageable.

• Believe that we can, individually and collectively, restore ourselves to sanity and normal living.

• Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves and be entirely ready to remove our defects of character.

Unfortunately, those steps are only a start, but the article shines with hope...at least for some people. Others (the addicts that are in denial or want to remain addicted to our "prosperity, security, and equity systems" (EMC)) will find this a judgement of damnation in their lives. For me, although this economic crisis hurts, (I like my comfortable consumerist life), I see a hope that this is the breaking down of those addictive systems. I hope that this helps break us out of our collective greed bubble and will help us focus on the role we, as the wealthiest nation in the world, can play in solving these global crises.

We've already seen it. When gas prices get too high we start looking into more affordable vehicles and learn about our carbon footprint and begin to focus on the environment. However, as gas prices dropped, we once again looked longingly at the newest H2. No, our addictions are much deeper and a bigger intervention is required. Perhaps an economic meltdown is the kind of intervention we need! Trust me... it hurts me to say that. It also scares the living snot out of me!

However, we can do it...."Yes we can!" We can break free of our suicidal systems and addictive habits and begin to see past ourselves into a bigger world; a world where there are a LOT of issues that we need to deal with. Its not just about helping others, its about helping ourselves. Its about working for the good of the collective, not just working for our own good.

Poverty, AIDS, Hunger, War and Peace, Social Justice, Equality, the Environment, Etc...

These are American issues. By that I mean these are issues about which Americans should be concerned. By ignoring these issues and denying "the American dream" ideal to the world, we have lost our own identity as a great country!

These are also spiritual issues! While we've been in our own secure little bubble where our biggest concern is safeguarding ourselves at the expense of others, we've been losing our very soul! We would sell the very essence of who we are...who we are created to be. All for excess. How? Because we are all connected. we are connected to the abused, malnourished, mistreated, and alienated human-beings that we've all been ignoring for far too long. We are all created in the image of God...referred to as the children of God. Yet we've been ignoring our own siblings.

This is why I see hope in this article. Don't question my patriotism, I love America! But perhaps this is the kick in the pants we all need to see past ourselves and to begin living for something other than ourselves...something BIGGER than ourselves!

What are your thoughts?

World AIDS Day

(The Whitehouse raising awareness on World AIDS Day!)


Click to see how you can make a difference: ONE

Same Sex Marriage Blogalogue

An interesting discussion Over at Beliefnet between Tony Jones (Emergent Church) and Rod Dreher (Conservative politics and religion blogger) on the issue of Same Sex Marriage. Obviously this is a hot topic after the prop. 8 vote.

I am not promoting one over the other as the discussion continues (it will continue over several weeks), but give ear to both writers and the comments. It is a great resource that you can participate in...just please do so respectfully on all sides!

check Tony's first post here, Rod's is linked at the end of Tony's post, and at the top of this post.

feel free to leave your thoughts here too if you like!



A taste of the discussion!

Election Afterwards: A Reflection

John Ortberg Writes a great post as he reflects on the election, and the role that Christians seem to play in politics. He calls it the, “Seven Deadly Sins of Evangelicals and Politics.”

It is a good reflection and warning about how NOT to approach an election as traditionally most Christians (esp. evangelicals) seem to do. I post this because of my own conversations during this election season, and I see how utterly true this has been. I've cut-and-pasted the list below.
_-_-_-_
Messianism. The sin of believing that a merely human person or system can usher in the eschaton. This is often tipped off by phrases like: “The most important election of our lifetime” (which one wasn’t?); or “God’s man for the hour.”

Selective Scripturization. The sin of using Scripture to reinforce whatever attitude toward the president you feel like holding, while shellacking it with a thin spiritual veneer. If the candidate you like holds office, you consistently point people toward Romans 13: “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.” If your candidate lost, you consistently point people to Acts 4:10 where Peter and John say to the Sanhedrin: “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.” It’s just lucky for us the Bible is such a big book.

Easy Believism. This is the sin of believing the worst about a candidate you disagree with, because when you want them to lose you actually want to believe bad things about them. “Love is patient, love is kind,” Paul said. “Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices in the truth.” But in Paul’s day nobody ran for Caesar. There was no talk radio.

Episodism. The sin of being engaged in civic life only on a random basis. The real issues never go away, but we’re tempted to give them our attention only when the news about them is controversial, or simplistic, or emotionally charged. Sustained attention to vital but unsexy issues is not our strong suit.

Alarmism. A friend of mine used to work for an organization that claimed both Christian identity and a particular political orientation. They actually liked it when a president was elected of the opposite persuasion, because it meant they could raise a lot more money. It is in their financial interests to convince their constituents that the president is less sane than Jack Nicholson in The Shining. Alarmists on both sides of the spectrum make it sound like we’re electing a Bogeyman-in-Chief every four years. I sometimes think we should move the election up a few days to October 31.

One Issue-ism. Justifying our intolerance of complexity and nuance by collapsing a decision into a simplistic and superficial framework.

Pride. I couldn’t think of a snappy title for this one. But politics, after all, is largely about power. And power goes to the core of our issues of control and narcissism and need to be right and tendency to divide the human race into ‘us’ vs. ‘them.’
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Find it in full here.
NOTE: I place the picture of our President-Elect, not to point out that this happens one-sided. It is on both sides, but this is the man that was elected, and I like putting up pictures to easily identify posts:)
Thanks to Mike for pointing this out.
let me know your thoughts.

The Free Market god

Steven Colbert's "The Word" from Monday night after the failed financial bailout. I thought this very interesting. I mean we NEVER equate our consumerist free-market with the Christian faith... right? Enjoy:) (Actual "The Word" begins @ 2:12 into it).

On Judgement

These are some raw thoughts that I've been kicking around in part due to my "True<" post and part due to the circumstances in my life and ministry in the past year+. I'll admit that once you are fired for NOT judging others, it is hard to let this theme go. At the same time, it is also a challenge not to stand in judgment of those who have wronged me. This theme keeps rearing its ugly head, and this is my attempt to vocalize my thoughts on this topic, while admitting that I am speaking about myself first, and others in general second. It is meant as simply an exploration of an idea; an understanding, with no intention to offend or inflict pain. Please respect it as such.

ANY AND ALL THOUGHTS ARE WELCOME!!!!
_________________

On Judgment and Judging Others:

When we become judgemental of others (and we all do it), we judge them based on the (perhaps unconscious) concept that we are closer to "perfection" (as we understand it) than that person is, and that we are closer to perfection that is that person.

Therefore, we feel free to stand in condemnation and conviction over someone who does not measure up to our "ideal". This could be someone we call a heretic because they have differing beliefs than we do. It can be someone who is gay, had premarital sex, had an abortion, committed adultery, has been in prison, and on it goes. It even seems that some want to be the judge of women who seek the pulpit in fulfillment of their calling (article here) from God. Is it our right to judge these people?

Because we see ourselves as "closer to perfection" than those around us, we give into our nature to be judgmental. Yet we have all "sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." (Rom. 3:23). We have all come up short next to perfection. And God, by the very nature and definition, is perfection.

Therefore, Judgment rests SOLELY in the realm of God, and is never perceived as a task for mankind. Yes, we have a court system for offences of a person against another person. But that is the task of the institution, not of the individual. Perhaps being judicial and being judgmental are two different things. One proceeds justice, while the other breeds injustice!

We are never called in our scriptures to stand in judgment over another person for something we perceive to be "sinful". No, indeed we have only one command: "to love others as [Christ] has loved [us]." (John 15:12). Or perhaps, since it is a comparison between two people/groups, the command to "love your neighbor as [you love] yourself." (Mt. 22:39).

We are commanded to love ALL regardless of how short we think/perceive they fall from OUR standards... from OUR "ideal". We are to leave to perfection...to THE DAVINE the task of "separating the wheat from the tares" (Matt. 13:24-29).

We may just be surprised to find how man people we considered to be the weeds/tares who are actually the healthy, life-giving grain. Conversely, we may be even more surprised to discover that all of this time we have spent in condemnation of others, indeed we were the ones that God considered to be the destructive weeds in the earth. Perhaps that what we should think of when we consider judgment; not the perceived flaws in others, but how we are fulfilling God's commands in our lives.

And what happens when we finally see God and God doesn't see things the same way we do? What happens when those that we deemed to be guilty, are held up as shining examples of God's work in this world (much like the centurion in Matt. 8), and those that we deemed worthy and good, are chastised by God? Will we then stand in judgment of God, for that seems to be the way we act now in our arrogance of "knowledge" about God and Judgment. Or perhaps this is what it truly means when the scriptures say, "As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God." (Romans 14:11).

Every person will bow in humility at how holy and righteous God is, and how far off we might have been in our judgment. We will then have to trust God's judgement, in whatever way it is manifest. There will be nothing we can do about it from our prone positions. We will finally be faced with having to accept God as is, not as we want or "know" God to be.

In conclusion, perhaps we're we too busy trying to BE God that we fell short of allowing God to work in and through us? Perhaps we fall short in allowing God to make us into whom God wants us to be, because we're too busy trying to play God instead. God wants to make us instruments of love in this world. It is in allowing God to transform us into the light of the world...the love of the world, that we find that we are too busy to judge. All of our time and energy has been taken up by being love.

QotD

From Nick Fiedler's Blog:


It’s extraordinary to me that the United States can find $700 billion to save Wall Street and the entire G8 can’t find $25 billion dollars to saved 25,000 children who die every day from preventable diseases.
- Bono


Just something to think about....

The Church in Crisis

Copied from Relevant Christian Blog:


There has been a lot of buzz about David T. Olson’s new book, The American Church in Crisis (Zondervan, 2008). Olson is the director of the American Research Project and director of church planting for the Evangelical Covenant Church.

His book is loaded with charts, graphs and sidebars, and his research is based(as are his conclusions) on his study of a national database of some 200,000 churches.

And the upshot of his research - there is cause for concern.

For instance, despite some optimistic polls that otherwise suggest the American church is thriving, Olson writes,

“On any given Sunday,cthe vast majority of Americans are absent from
church and if trends ccontinue, by 2050, the percentage of Americans attending
church will be
half (of what it was in 1990).”

I know that in Metro Atlanta in the heart of the “Bible Belt” there are over 70 Mega-churches (defined by 2,000+) and one would think that almost “everyone goes to church”. And yet in our county, only 15.7% of the population actually go to church. We are not as “churched” as we are often led to believe.

According to Olsen, to avoid this dismal future, “the American church must engage with…three critical transitions …which have altered the relationship between American culture and the church.” Namely, Olsen defines these critical transitions as:
1. The transition from a Christian to a post-Christian society;

2. The transition from a modern to a post-modern society;

3. The transition from a mono-ethnic to a multi-ethnic society.

Of course, transitions 1. and 2. have long been foreseen and understood. It’s transition 3. - the new kid on the block - that’s getting increased attention from researchers, writers, theologians and practitioners, etc., alike.

According to Olson, it’s not only what’s needed; it’s the future.

He writes,

“In the mono-ethnic world, Christians, pastors and churches only had to
understand their own culture. Ministering in a homogeneous cultures is easier,
but mono-ethnic Christianity can gradually become culture-bound….In the
multi-ethnic world, pastors, churches and Christians need to operate under the
rules of the early church’s mission to the Gentiles.”

But this is the “money” quote:

“As the power center of (global) Christianity moves south and east, the
multi-ethnic church is becoming the normal and natural picture of the new face
of Christianity.”

The NEW FACE of CHRISTIANITY in AMERICA. If you are threatened by the idea of a church that is going to be less Anglo and more diverse, then this won’t perceived as good news. But if you believe and know that the heart of Christ and the gospel is a church for the nations, then it becomes exciting to see the church transformed from ethnic and cultural parochialism to seeing it transformed into a multi-ethnic mosaic.

What do you think, is this a crisis or a new and exciting opportunity?

Bill Reichart is a pastor at Big Creek Church in Forsyth County, GA. He blogs at his personal blog, Provocative Church and his ministry blog, Ministry Best Practices.
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I also want to import the comment/response up as of right now, but would love to hear your thoughts!!:

Paul says: (please click to see original link)
The problem lies in the fact that modern fundamentalism is a failed method of communication in a post-Christian world. Modern fundamentatlism, which didn’t come about until the end of the 19th century, sets itself in opposition to modern society, rather than in support of Christ. It is no wonder, then, that people become so turned off. Instead of doing what we should do, we focus on telling people what they should not do. Instead of love and education, we give fire and brimstone. We are a negative religion instead of a positive one. We stand in opposition to science with ID. We stand in opposition to so many things. And it is this very angry face which is the picture of Christianity in our post-Christian world.

We can only win them back with unconditional, non-judgemental love. If homosexuals want to come into the church, as one example, greet them with open arms. If God can forgive a murderer, as He did multiple times in the Bible, then how much more easily can He forgive a homosexual? If God set Deborah in charge of Israel, how can we not let a woman stand behind the pulpit in our churches? No man can know what any woman’s calling is. That is between her and God.

What is the major challenge facing Christianity in America? Look to the mirror. It is you and me.

Sex Ed. 101

SCENE: A Public School Health Class
TEACHER: "Today's topic... Sexual Education. If you'll please turn to page 77 in your textbook....um yes Timmy, will you read what it says on that page? What's that...yes, please read the whole page!"
TIMMY: (reading) "uh....it just says, 'don't do it'?!"
TEACHER: "That's right, and that completes our comprehensive education on Sex, now on page 31 we will be discussing the most important topic this year, how to clip you toenails"
END SCENE
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Coming from a conservative (actually fundamentalist) Baptist upbringing, sex was a big topic in my youth years...I mean abstinence was a big topic...SEX was NEVER openly and honestly talked about!!!

Yes, as with most churches, sex is a taboo topic except for that once a year weekend retreat where you bring in someone else to talk about the evils of sex before marriage and guilt them into signing some sort of covenant (like True Love Waits) pledging that they will remain abstinent until their marriage night (or 50th wedding anniversary). ONE problem with this approach (from both a youth and youth minister perspective) is that all this usually guarantees is that when a teen does decide to have a night of passion, they will wake up the next day with a LOT of guilt. The subliminal message: Sex is bad!

I know that that's not the message that these approaches are trying to send, but it is, in fact, the message that we do send. I'll be honest... my wedding night, I was scared that I would feel like I was doing something wrong because fear and guilt tactics were the only way anyone would ever approach the topic of sex.
____________

After that TMI, we recently see the results from the Oversight Committee Hearing on Abstinence-Only Education, headed by Chairman Waxman. Here's some of his opening statements:

The statistics are shocking. A few weeks ago, the CDC released data showing that one in four teenage girls in the U.S. has a sexually transmitted infection. 30% of all American girls become pregnant before the age of 20; for African-American and Latina girls, the rate is 50%. And thousands of teenagers and young adults in the United States become infected with HIV each year.
If we’re serious about responding to these challenges, we must base our policy on the best available science and evidence, not ideology.
We’re here today to discuss evidence on the effectiveness of abstinence-only programs. There is a broad consensus that the benefits of abstinence should be taught as part of any sex education effort. But abstinence-only programs teach only abstinence. In federally-funded abstinence-only programs, teenagers cannot receive information on other methods of disease prevention and contraception, other than failure rates.
To date these programs have gotten over $1.3 billion dollars of federal taxpayer money, along with hundreds of millions of dollars in state funds, to conduct programs in schools and communities across the United States. Meanwhile, we have no dedicated source of federal funding specifically for comprehensive classroom sex education.

But we will hear today from multiple experts that after more than a decade of huge government spending, the weight of the evidence doesn’t demonstrate abstinence-only programs to be effective.
In fact, the government’s own study showed no effect for abstinence-only programs. In 2007, the Bush Administration released the results of a longitudinal, randomized, controlled study of four federally-funded programs. The investigators found that compared to the control group, the abstinence-only programs had no impact on whether or not participants abstained from sex. They had no impact on the age when teens started having sex. They had no impact on the number of partners. And they had no impact on rates of pregnancy or sexually transmitted disease.

Meanwhile, more and more research shows that many well-designed comprehensive programs that teach about abstinence and contraception are effective. Comprehensive, age-appropriate programs have yielded results including increasing contraceptive use, delaying sex, and reducing the number of sexual partners.
In other words, the evidence demonstrates that not only do good comprehensive programs not encourage teen sexual activity, they actually decrease it. This shouldn’t be too surprising, because in effective comprehensive programs, young people are taught that abstinence is the safest choice, the healthiest choice, and a choice that they should never feel pressured to abandon.

Click to read the full transcript!
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Ok, so let's get this out of the way. I'm not some person who doesn't care about our youth and is an advocate for sex before marriage. Actually, I still strongly support abstinence as the best choice... but not ONLY for religious reasons. I would actually say they are the least of my justification on that stance. No, I stand for abstinence as the best choice for psychological, and physiological health reasons IN ADDITION to my religious beliefs on the subject. (actually, they are all tied together being that I believe God wants what's best for us as a whole person, not just spiritually).

But, the Abstinence-ONLY approach of education isn't working. It isn't effective, studies have shown, and if you have truly worked with real life teenagers then it's pretty intuitive, that Abstinence-only education is not long-lasting education.

So...why do we ignore the experts? I mean I agree if a more comprehensive sex-ed. program did not give abstinence as a sexual option. But every comprehensive program and curriculum that I've studied not only spends time on an abstinence option, it ENCOURAGES that option OVER AND ABOVE all other options. AND IT IS MORE EFFECTIVE! Here we have teens (esp. male guys) at their sexual peak (hormonally speaking), and we're telling them that they are supposed to completely ignore those natural feelings, and feel guilty and dirty when they give into their hormones. Instead, we can better educate them about their bodies, what's going on, and the ones who are going to have sex regardless, will at least be better informed on their options! Studies have shown that those who are MOST LIKELY to remain abstinent because of an abstinent-only approach, will still respond with the choice of abstinence when given a more comprehensive approach to sex.

So here are my questions:
Why do we not listen to the experts and take a more scientifically proven approach? Why don't we listen? Are we scared?

I think Representative, John Duncan (R-Tenn.) summed it up best: "It seems rather elitist to me for people who have degrees in this field and because they've studied it, somehow know better than the parents...."
Yeah, all these researchers with all their research and studies and degrees thinking they know something about the field in which they are working. Because parenting REQUIRES a higher degree and....wait...what's that??? I'm being told that parenting in fact, does not require a degree or class of any sort. What many would consider the most important job in our society (raising a child) does not heed the research and use it towards better parenting, instead cling to the the way they think is best.

I know that's sarcastic, but, like my last post... we Christians seem to think that because we have the Bible, we don't need any advancements in human technology and understanding. Hmmm.... we should picket the printing press!!!! Stupid Martin Luther and his idea to translate the Bible into the vernacular and have it mass produced!

Sorry, really don't know what's gotten into me tonight to be so sarcastic, but I really do question when parents (esp. Christian parents) are so against a better and more effective way of educating teens about sex. Let me say this, I respect if you want to teach abstinence-only in your house, or even in your church. That is perfectly fine if that is your religious viewpoint. But in public schools (sit down, this may shock you), teens are 1) not all Christian or religious, and 2) are having sex. Us fighting against a more comprehensive public education program is IN FACT, not making number 2 any better, and the WAY Christians teach it isn't helping #1 all that much either.

So studies show....
Comprehensive Sexual Education is more effective....
Abstinence-only education has little-to-no effect....
Why not allow the system to change?'

Sorry for the rant and the sarcasm, but this has bothered me since I was in youth. I saw how little this old approach worked with my peers, and well... I think I will support whatever the studies show as long as the educational program still teach abstinence as the best option!

Obama's Hope: Reconciliation

Obama's speech today about his faith, relationship with Rev. Wright, and racial reconciliation. I think that Obama had a couple of easy ways out on this "situation", but I have a high respect for the way he handled this. An inspiring speech, one that reminds me of Dr. King's speeches at times. What I love most, is that this isn't just a speech of "damage control", but a speech about civil affairs that need to be addressed. Yes, we have come a long way on many of these issues (like racism), but there's still a ways to go. Our economy, our global stance, our responsibility to all of humanity (both domestic and abroad), and the search for peace (just to name a few). These are all issues that Americans NEED inspiration and motivation in these days. From a Christian perspective, we need this type of inspiration for the same reasons!

Check it out!P(in video or transcript)

(Transcript)
As Prepared for Delivery...
“We the people, in order to form a more perfect union.”

Two hundred and twenty one years ago, in a hall that still stands across the street, a group of men gathered and, with these simple words, launched America’s improbable experiment in democracy. Farmers and scholars; statesmen and patriots who had traveled across an ocean to escape tyranny and persecution finally made real their declaration of independence at a Philadelphia convention that lasted through the spring of 1787.

The document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished. It was stained by this nation’s original sin of slavery, a question that divided the colonies and brought the convention to a stalemate until the founders chose to allow the slave trade to continue for at least twenty more years, and to leave any final resolution to future generations.

Of course, the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution – a Constitution that had at is very core the ideal of equal citizenship under the law; a Constitution that promised its people liberty, and justice, and a union that could be and should be perfected over time.

And yet words on a parchment would not be enough to deliver slaves from bondage, or provide men and women of every color and creed their full rights and obligations as citizens of the United States. What would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part – through protests and struggle, on the streets and in the courts, through a civil war and civil disobedience and always at great risk - to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time.

This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this campaign – to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America. I chose to run for the presidency at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together – unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction – towards a better future for of children and our grandchildren.

This belief comes from my unyielding faith in the decency and generosity of the American people. But it also comes from my own American story.

I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton’s Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. I’ve gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world’s poorest nations. I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slaveowners – an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.

It’s a story that hasn’t made me the most conventional candidate. But it is a story that has seared into my genetic makeup the idea that this nation is more than the sum of its parts – that out of many, we are truly one.

Throughout the first year of this campaign, against all predictions to the contrary, we saw how hungry the American people were for this message of unity. Despite the temptation to view my candidacy through a purely racial lens, we won commanding victories in states with some of the whitest populations in the country. In South Carolina, where the Confederate Flag still flies, we built a powerful coalition of African Americans and white Americans.

This is not to say that race has not been an issue in the campaign. At various stages in the campaign, some commentators have deemed me either “too black” or “not black enough.” We saw racial tensions bubble to the surface during the week before the South Carolina primary. The press has scoured every exit poll for the latest evidence of racial polarization, not just in terms of white and black, but black and brown as well.

And yet, it has only been in the last couple of weeks that the discussion of race in this campaign has taken a particularly divisive turn.

On one end of the spectrum, we’ve heard the implication that my candidacy is somehow an exercise in affirmative action; that it’s based solely on the desire of wide-eyed liberals to purchase racial reconciliation on the cheap. On the other end, we’ve heard my former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, use incendiary language to express views that have the potential not only to widen the racial divide, but views that denigrate both the greatness and the goodness of our nation; that rightly offend white and black alike.

I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy. For some, nagging questions remain. Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely – just as I’m sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed.

But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren’t simply controversial. They weren’t simply a religious leader’s effort to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country – a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam.

As such, Reverend Wright’s comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity; racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems – two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis and potentially devastating climate change; problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that confront us all.

Given my background, my politics, and my professed values and ideals, there will no doubt be those for whom my statements of condemnation are not enough. Why associate myself with Reverend Wright in the first place, they may ask? Why not join another church? And I confess that if all that I knew of Reverend Wright were the snippets of those sermons that have run in an endless loop on the television and You Tube, or if Trinity United Church of Christ conformed to the caricatures being peddled by some commentators, there is no doubt that I would react in much the same way

But the truth is, that isn’t all that I know of the man. The man I met more than twenty years ago is a man who helped introduce me to my Christian faith, a man who spoke to me about our obligations to love one another; to care for the sick and lift up the poor. He is a man who served his country as a U.S. Marine; who has studied and lectured at some of the finest universities and seminaries in the country, and who for over thirty years led a church that serves the community by doing God’s work here on Earth – by housing the homeless, ministering to the needy, providing day care services and scholarships and prison ministries, and reaching out to those suffering from HIV/AIDS.

In my first book, Dreams From My Father, I described the experience of my first service at Trinity:

“People began to shout, to rise from their seats and clap and cry out, a forceful wind carrying the reverend’s voice up into the rafters….And in that single note – hope! – I heard something else; at the foot of that cross, inside the thousands of churches across the city, I imagined the stories of ordinary black people merging with the stories of David and Goliath, Moses and Pharaoh, the Christians in the lion’s den, Ezekiel’s field of dry bones. Those stories – of survival, and freedom, and hope – became our story, my story; the blood that had spilled was our blood, the tears our tears; until this black church, on this bright day, seemed once more a vessel carrying the story of a people into future generations and into a larger world. Our trials and triumphs became at once unique and universal, black and more than black; in chronicling our journey, the stories and songs gave us a means to reclaim memories tha t we didn’t need to feel shame about…memories that all people might study and cherish – and with which we could start to rebuild.”

That has been my experience at Trinity. Like other predominantly black churches across the country, Trinity embodies the black community in its entirety – the doctor and the welfare mom, the model student and the former gang-banger. Like other black churches, Trinity’s services are full of raucous laughter and sometimes bawdy humor. They are full of dancing, clapping, screaming and shouting that may seem jarring to the untrained ear. The church contains in full the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance, the struggles and successes, the love and yes, the bitterness and bias that make up the black experience in America.

And this helps explain, perhaps, my relationship with Reverend Wright. As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children. Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect. He contains within him the contradictions – the good and the bad – of the community that he has served diligently for so many years.

I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother – a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.

These people are a part of me. And they are a part of America, this country that I love.

Some will see this as an attempt to justify or excuse comments that are simply inexcusable. I can assure you it is not. I suppose the politically safe thing would be to move on from this episode and just hope that it fades into the woodwork. We can dismiss Reverend Wright as a crank or a demagogue, just as some have dismissed Geraldine Ferraro, in the aftermath of her recent statements, as harboring some deep-seated racial bias.

But race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America – to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality.

The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we’ve never really worked through – a part of our union that we have yet to perfect. And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American.

Understanding this reality requires a reminder of how we arrived at this point. As William Faulkner once wrote, “The past isn’t dead and buried. In fact, it isn’t even past.” We do not need to recite here the history of racial injustice in this country. But we do need to remind ourselves that so many of the disparities that exist in the African-American community today can be directly traced to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow.

Segregated schools were, and are, inferior schools; we still haven’t fixed them, fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, and the inferior education they provided, then and now, helps explain the pervasive achievement gap between today’s black and white students.

Legalized discrimination - where blacks were prevented, often through violence, from owning property, or loans were not granted to African-American business owners, or black homeowners could not access FHA mortgages, or blacks were excluded from unions, or the police force, or fire departments – meant that black families could not amass any meaningful wealth to bequeath to future generations. That history helps explain the wealth and income gap between black and white, and the concentrated pockets of poverty that persists in so many of today’s urban and rural communities.

A lack of economic opportunity among black men, and the shame and frustration that came from not being able to provide for one’s family, contributed to the erosion of black families – a problem that welfare policies for many years may have worsened. And the lack of basic services in so many urban black neighborhoods – parks for kids to play in, police walking the beat, regular garbage pick-up and building code enforcement – all helped create a cycle of violence, blight and neglect that continue to haunt us.

This is the reality in which Reverend Wright and other African-Americans of his generation grew up. They came of age in the late fifties and early sixties, a time when segregation was still the law of the land and opportunity was systematically constricted. What’s remarkable is not how many failed in the face of discrimination, but rather how many men and women overcame the odds; how many were able to make a way out of no way for those like me who would come after them.

But for all those who scratched and clawed their way to get a piece of the American Dream, there were many who didn’t make it – those who were ultimately defeated, in one way or another, by discrimination. That legacy of defeat was passed on to future generations – those young men and increasingly young women who we see standing on street corners or languishing in our prisons, without hope or prospects for the future. Even for those blacks who did make it, questions of race, and racism, continue to define their worldview in fundamental ways. For the men and women of Reverend Wright’s generation, the memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has the anger and the bitterness of those years. That anger may not get expressed in public, in front of white co-workers or white friends. But it does find voice in the barbershop or around the kitchen table. At times, that anger is exploited by politicia ns, to gin up votes along racial lines, or to make up for a politician’s own failings.

And occasionally it finds voice in the church on Sunday morning, in the pulpit and in the pews. The fact that so many people are surprised to hear that anger in some of Reverend Wright’s sermons simply reminds us of the old truism that the most segregated hour in American life occurs on Sunday morning. That anger is not always productive; indeed, all too often it distracts attention from solving real problems; it keeps us from squarely facing our own complicity in our condition, and prevents the African-American community from forging the alliances it needs to bring about real change. But the anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races.

In fact, a similar anger exists within segments of the white community. Most working- and middle-class white Americans don’t feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race. Their experience is the immigrant experience – as far as they’re concerned, no one’s handed them anything, they’ve built it from scratch. They’ve worked hard all their lives, many times only to see their jobs shipped overseas or their pension dumped after a lifetime of labor. They are anxious about their futures, and feel their dreams slipping away; in an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity comes to be seen as a zero sum game, in which your dreams come at my expense. So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town; when they hear that an African American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committ ed; when they’re told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment builds over time.

Like the anger within the black community, these resentments aren’t always expressed in polite company. But they have helped shape the political landscape for at least a generation. Anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan Coalition. Politicians routinely exploited fears of crime for their own electoral ends. Talk show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or reverse racism.

Just as black anger often proved counterproductive, so have these white resentments distracted attention from the real culprits of the middle class squeeze – a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices, and short-term greed; a Washington dominated by lobbyists and special interests; economic policies that favor the few over the many. And yet, to wish away the resentments of white Americans, to label them as misguided or even racist, without recognizing they are grounded in legitimate concerns – this too widens the racial divide, and blocks the path to understanding.

This is where we are right now. It’s a racial stalemate we’ve been stuck in for years. Contrary to the claims of some of my critics, black and white, I have never been so naïve as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle, or with a single candidacy – particularly a candidacy as imperfect as my own.

But I have asserted a firm conviction – a conviction rooted in my faith in God and my faith in the American people – that working together we can move beyond some of our old racial wounds, and that in fact we have no choice is we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union.

For the African-American community, that path means embracing the burdens of our past without becoming victims of our past. It means continuing to insist on a full measure of justice in every aspect of American life. But it also means binding our particular grievances – for better health care, and better schools, and better jobs - to the larger aspirations of all Americans -- the white woman struggling to break the glass ceiling, the white man whose been laid off, the immigrant trying to feed his family. And it means taking full responsibility for own lives – by demanding more from our fathers, and spending more time with our children, and reading to them, and teaching them that while they may face challenges and discrimination in their own lives, they must never succumb to despair or cynicism; they must always believe that they can write their own destiny.

Ironically, this quintessentially American – and yes, conservative – notion of self-help found frequent expression in Reverend Wright’s sermons. But what my former pastor too often failed to understand is that embarking on a program of self-help also requires a belief that society can change.

The profound mistake of Reverend Wright’s sermons is not that he spoke about racism in our society. It’s that he spoke as if our society was static; as if no progress has been made; as if this country – a country that has made it possible for one of his own members to run for the highest office in the land and build a coalition of white and black; Latino and Asian, rich and poor, young and old -- is still irrevocably bound to a tragic past. But what we know -- what we have seen – is that America can change. That is true genius of this nation. What we have already achieved gives us hope – the audacity to hope – for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination - and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past - are real and must be addressed. Not just with words, but with deeds – by investing in our schools and our communities; by enforcing our civil rights laws and ensuring fairness in our criminal justice system; by providing this generation with ladders of opportunity that were unavailable for previous generations. It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper.

In the end, then, what is called for is nothing more, and nothing less, than what all the world’s great religions demand – that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Let us be our brother’s keeper, Scripture tells us. Let us be our sister’s keeper. Let us find that common stake we all have in one another, and let our politics reflect that spirit as well.

For we have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. We can tackle race only as spectacle – as we did in the OJ trial – or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina - or as fodder for the nightly news. We can play Reverend Wright’s sermons on every channel, every day and talk about them from now until the election, and make the only question in this campaign whether or not the American people think that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words. We can pounce on some gaffe by a Hillary supporter as evidence that she’s playing the race card, or we can speculate on whether white men will all flock to John McCain in the general election regardless of his policies.

We can do that.

But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we’ll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change.

That is one option. Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, “Not this time.” This time we want to talk about the crumbling schools that are stealing the future of black children and white children and Asian children and Hispanic children and Native American children. This time we want to reject the cynicism that tells us that these kids can’t learn; that those kids who don’t look like us are somebody else’s problem. The children of America are not those kids, they are our kids, and we will not let them fall behind in a 21st century economy. Not this time.

This time we want to talk about how the lines in the Emergency Room are filled with whites and blacks and Hispanics who do not have health care; who don’t have the power on their own to overcome the special interests in Washington, but who can take them on if we do it together.

This time we want to talk about the shuttered mills that once provided a decent life for men and women of every race, and the homes for sale that once belonged to Americans from every religion, every region, every walk of life. This time we want to talk about the fact that the real problem is not that someone who doesn’t look like you might take your job; it’s that the corporation you work for will ship it overseas for nothing more than a profit.

This time we want to talk about the men and women of every color and creed who serve together, and fight together, and bleed together under the same proud flag. We want to talk about how to bring them home from a war that never should’ve been authorized and never should’ve been waged, and we want to talk about how we’ll show our patriotism by caring for them, and their families, and giving them the benefits they have earned.

I would not be running for President if I didn’t believe with all my heart that this is what the vast majority of Americans want for this country. This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected. And today, whenever I find myself feeling doubtful or cynical about this possibility, what gives me the most hope is the next generation – the young people whose attitudes and beliefs and openness to change have already made history in this election.

There is one story in particularly that I’d like to leave you with today – a story I told when I had the great honor of speaking on Dr. King’s birthday at his home church, Ebenezer Baptist, in Atlanta.

There is a young, twenty-three year old white woman named Ashley Baia who organized for our campaign in Florence, South Carolina. She had been working to organize a mostly African-American community since the beginning of this campaign, and one day she was at a roundtable discussion where everyone went around telling their story and why they were there.

And Ashley said that when she was nine years old, her mother got cancer. And because she had to miss days of work, she was let go and lost her health care. They had to file for bankruptcy, and that’s when Ashley decided that she had to do something to help her mom.

She knew that food was one of their most expensive costs, and so Ashley convinced her mother that what she really liked and really wanted to eat more than anything else was mustard and relish sandwiches. Because that was the cheapest way to eat.

She did this for a year until her mom got better, and she told everyone at the roundtable that the reason she joined our campaign was so that she could help the millions of other children in the country who want and need to help their parents too.

Now Ashley might have made a different choice. Perhaps somebody told her along the way that the source of her mother’s problems were blacks who were on welfare and too lazy to work, or Hispanics who were coming into the country illegally. But she didn’t. She sought out allies in her fight against injustice.

Anyway, Ashley finishes her story and then goes around the room and asks everyone else why they’re supporting the campaign. They all have different stories and reasons. Many bring up a specific issue. And finally they come to this elderly black man who’s been sitting there quietly the entire time. And Ashley asks him why he’s there. And he does not bring up a specific issue. He does not say health care or the economy. He does not say education or the war. He does not say that he was there because of Barack Obama. He simply says to everyone in the room, “I am here because of Ashley.”

“I’m here because of Ashley.” By itself, that single moment of recognition between that young white girl and that old black man is not enough. It is not enough to give health care to the sick, or jobs to the jobless, or education to our children.

But it is where we start. It is where our union grows stronger. And as so many generations have come to realize over the course of the two-hundred and twenty one years since a band of patriots signed that document in Philadelphia, that is where the perfection begins.