That’s discrimination, Mr. President…

Last night, among the many suggestions Bush made in his lame duck state-of-the-union address, was the proposal that employers give preferential treatment to the spouses of military personnel. In other words, Bush suggested that when it comes to hiring, let’s give first pick to those who are married to soldiers. Now, it’s possible I heard that wrong, but just in case I didn’t, I’ll tell you my concern with such a suggestion. It’s discriminatory. That has nothing to do with my Quaker beliefs concerning war—instead, it addresses a very basic issue when it comes to jobs. Is it fair to give anyone preferential treatment? Now, you may argue that folks with college degrees get an advantage all the time, and while that may be so, I feel that offering a job to someone simply because they married the “right” person is more problematic than considering a person to be more qualified for a position based upon continued education credentials. There are a plethora of reasons why a person may not serve in the military, and thus be unable to offer their spouse that certain military “edge”: religious beliefs (which apply to many Quakers), physical limitations, mental issues, etc. The point is, jobs are difficult enough to come by without the president encouraging discriminatory hiring practices.

Contract, expand, unite…

I heard this phrase tonight during a lecture given by a Sufi Muslim. He used it in the context of Islam, of course, when discussing one’s relationship with God. But I felt that it really described my journey with God thus far.
When I first encountered God, really encountered him, I was in my early 20’s. My first reaction was very selfish—what some might call a belief in the so-called prosperity gospel. Let me explain: I viewed God in very individual, “me” terms. My Jesus, My saving, My blessings, and so on. I really fell for the prosperity idea—the belief that God has plans to bless you materially, and that everything comes down to two individuals—me and God. I was also quite narrow in my interpretation of Scripture, and very strict about who was “in” and who “wasn’t”. But then I started to expand. I began to embrace others, in all their imperfect wholeness. Yes, I really did just write that. I realized that this was not about two individuals—it was about millions of individuals, a whole planet, in fact—and a God who deeply loved all that he had created. I saw not “spiritual projects”, but unique creations with special gifts, struggles, and their own way of approaching the world. It no longer mattered whom I believed to be “in” or “out”. My purpose was to love, be compassionate, and to serve. And that’s when the final aspect of the phrase was fulfilled—I united with God and all around me. I see the very real connection I have to all of God’s creation—people, plants, animals, water—and know the responsibility I have to each one. And my recognition of that responsibility has brought me full circle with God—I can now spend my life loving and serving—the exact “job” he has for each of us if we really want to unite with him.

Who is this idiot, any way?

You may be wondering who I am and why I keep getting pissed off about the state of Christianity in America and around the world. I have a profile, but it’s rather brief—so, let me fill you in!
Five years ago I began working in the ministry—I have been an associate and lead pastor in the Quaker church. I am from of branch of Friends (formal name for Quakers) that is affiliated with Friends United Meeting—FUM is quite evangelical. My monthly meeting is a member of the North Carolina Yearly Meeting of Friends. NCYM has, for many years, been home to Quaker meetings that are either socially liberal or conservative. Many meetings are Christ-centered, but many are not. This “divide” has been problematic, but it seems to be getting worse. Because I no longer feel that the true spirit of Christ is visible in NCYM or FUM, I have resigned from my position as pastor of a meeting in Greensboro, NC. I’m “hopping” to a more liberal branch of Quakers, where gays and lesbians are welcome, and where issues such as peace, animal welfare, the environment, and social justice are just as important as a relationship with the Spirit. The challenge for me will undoubtedly be my Christ-centered attitude, but as I’m not an evangelical (nor do I claim to have exclusive access to the Truth), I will probably be okay.
I have been blogging for over a year now, but those postings (some of which appear here) have been for my Meeting’s website. I have decided to keep blogging, on this site, because it is a good way for me to continue my soapbox rants! I hope you gain something from them, and I always enjoy hearing from my readers, whether or not they agree with me!
So, happy reading…

That’s a dumb argument…

So, I’m still thinking about the film Jesus Camp. In particular, I can’t shake one of the pieces of “advice” good ol’ Pastor Becky gave her kids. She was preaching about sin, and made her way around to the topic of Harry Potter. Let me establish here that I’m a big Potter fan, and I doubt I’m the only Jesus follower who is. Any way, Pastor “B” informed her kids that Harry Potter is evil. Her advice? “You don’t make heroes out of warlocks.” But what really shocked me was what she next—she asked the kids if they knew that had this been Old Testament times, Harry Potter would be put to death. Hum. Well, let’s establish two things—Harry Potter is not a real person! He’s a book character, so maybe the Potter books would have been burned, but it would be quite difficult to actually execute Harry himself. My second point is one Pastor “B” already made, even though she didn’t actually say it: we are not living under the old law because Christ ushered in a new law. As sad as she may be about that truth, the fact is, we don’t have to worry about what would have happened—it no longer matters. So why even introduce an argument based upon a law that no longer exists? That’s like arguing that we don’t make heroes out of black Americans like Barach Obama. I can just hear someone asking, “Did you know that if these were still the antebellum years, blacks would be enslaved?” Please. That’s ridiculous. Don’t threaten people about punishments that are antiquated. In many ways, it says that Pastor “B” cannot come up with a valid reason, that applies to this current time, about why one should not read the Potter books.
By the way, Obama is one of my political heroes—his color makes little difference to me (except that if he wins, we’ll finally get to see someone who isn’t white sitting in the oval office!).

Blessed are the war makers?

I like Catholic television. If you have cable (which I don’t, but most of my pet sitting clients do!), you’ve probably breezed by it while “flipping”. I like some of the programming—especially the new music showcase and the reruns of Mother Angelica and the nuns reciting the Holy Rosary. So I turned to it while watching TV the other day, and instead of the usual programming I’m used to, there was a televised church service being led by John Hagee.You know from a previous blog how I feel about this individual, so I won’t go into that again. Nevertheless, he was still able to surprise me with his words. He was preaching about Christians and Jews. At first I thought this would be good—the church doesn’t have a good history (in my opinion) of reaching out to the Jewish people. I saw an example of this recently—Alan and I were attending the local Jewish festival. As we were parking, we saw a guy protesting the celebration; he had a sign that read The Jews killed Jesus. I was so embarrassed—ideas like that seem to ignore the fact that Jesus himself was a Jew. But this wasn’t exactly the essence of Hagee’s message—he did address, briefly, the problem of Christian anti-Semitism. But his real point was about uniting with the Nation of Israel—quite different from recognizing a shared history with the Jews as a people. His motivation was political. He is part of a movement called Christians United for Israel. He was preaching at a church on Capital Hill, with the goal of raising the government’s awareness of this group. He called for pre-emptive strikes on Iran, as they are a sworn enemy of Israel. He led the audience in a chant about supporting Israel, and pronounced diplomacy efforts with nations like Iran “brain-dead”. He called upon Christians and Jews to unite against radical Islam, and called moderate Muslims “silent” against their radical counterparts. I found all this rhetoric humorous—does Hagee not realize that he, too, is a radical? Does he not see that he is promoting war, alliances against “enemies”, and nationalism—much as radicals of other faiths do?Finally, he pointed out that we must support Israel if we desire God’s blessings. Ah…the real reason for uniting. Not because he loves Jews (I’m sure he does, though), but because he wants something as a result of that relationship. That’s like entering into a relationship with Jesus to save yourself from “hell”. It seems so disingenuous.My real concern is the call for war, however. And in light of wanting God’s blessings, I’d think Hagee would pay more attention to Jesus’ instructions about this kind of thing. Did Christ not say, “blessed are the peacemakers”? I think he did. In fact, he said “you’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight” (Matthew 5, The Message). Should Christians and Jews unite? Of course—but it shouldn’t end there. All people of all faiths should unite, find our commonalities as humans, and work for peace. Only then will we begin to realize the many blessings God has given us.

A narrow interpretation of Scripture may lead to a small life in Christ…

I had the “fortune” of coming across another John Hagee show the other day—this one was about a program he has started called Exodus II (see http://www.jhm.org/exodus2.asp). The purpose and goals are highlighted here, taken from a revealing look at his website: Through John Hagee Ministries, Christians are uniting in support for the State of Israel and the Jewish people… John Hagee Ministries has been able to donate more than 19 million dollars to various causes that support the Jewish people. These causes include education, repatriation, rebuilding and relocating children to safe zones, as well as providing medical equipment and supplies for the Jewish people injured in terrorist attacks… We have aided in tens of thousands of God’s Chosen to be brought back to their covenant… In Psalm 122:6, King David commands all Christians, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you.” The scriptural principle of personal prosperity is tied to blessing Israel and the city of Jerusalem… Why did Jesus Christ go to the house of the Centurion and heal his servant who was ready to die? Jesus went because the Gentile Centurion deserved the blessing of God because he had demonstrated his love for God’s chosen people, the Jews, by building a synagogue in Israel (Luke 7:5). When you do things to bless the Jewish people and the state of Israel, God will bless you. Your support of the nation of Israel through Exodus II strengthens their nation. As the Jewish leaders say, every Jewish person coming to Israel strengthens the nation… [Scripture verifies] that PROSPERITY (Genesis 12:3 and Psalm 122:6), HEALING (Luke 7:1-5) and the OUTPOURING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT came first to Gentiles that blessed the Jewish people and the nation of Israel in a practical manner.
Let me begin by saying that I absolutely love the Jewish people, and I understand (and support) their effort to get to their homeland should they desire to do so. However, replace the words Jewish people, and plug in whatever you like as far as race, religion, and country of origin: that’s how I really feel. The exception would probably be any person who interprets their religious beliefs to mean that they can harm any human or animal—terrorists, fundamentalists, that kind of thing. I only say that because in the past some individuals have misinterpreted my blogging to mean that I am for a free-for-all. Not so—common sense ought to dictate otherwise, but because it doesn’t, I felt the need to address that possible interpretation of what I am saying here.So, getting to the actual point of this blog… My concern here is Hagee’s apparent obsession with exclusively blessing Jews over people of other nations and/or religions. The underlying reason appears to be the sole desire to gain a blessing from God, apparently explicitly promised to the Christians in the Old Testament. Never mind that Christians weren’t even around then… But it isn’t what I’ve already cited that really disturbs me—it’s a grossly narrow interpretation of Scripture that he used on his program. He used a famous instruction given by Jesus—“I tell you this: whenever you saw a brother or sister hungry or cold, whatever you did to the least of these, so you did to me” (Matthew 25, from the Voice of Matthew). So, then, who is a brother or sister? A Jew? Yes, perhaps during that time. But it isn’t Jews who typically read this passage–it’s Christians. The narrowest interpretation during this time would have to be, at least to me, the Christians. But back to that pesky question, “Who is a brother or a sister?” Well, someone asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29) And I think that may be the better question, as I believe it gives us the answer to our first question: He tells the parable of the Good Samaritan. Sister Magdalen writes, “the neighbor is the one who shows mercy. Then Christ says, ‘Go and do you likewise.’ [So] the question becomes, ‘How can I be a good neighbor?’ By my becoming a good neighbor to others, everyone becomes a neighbor to me. We are asked not to find a neighbor but to become a neighbor”. She follows this by referencing another part of Scripture—“Whoever does not love a neighbor whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20).So, if all are my neighbors, and Christ has instructed me to do as the Good Samaritan did, then blessing only one aspect of God’s creation—in Hagee’s case, the Jews—then I run the risk of living a small life in Christ. It’s not that God won’t accept my kindness, but it’s that I’ll miss out on all the joy, community, and yes, even blessings (though not necessarily the kind Hagee refers to) that will surly come if I’d open my heart to all of his people (and creation in general).

Love from an autistic perspective…

For years, my whole life really, I lived in a private prison of self-judgment. I thought that I was cold and heartless. My actions did not reflect this belief, for the most part at least. But inwardly, I struggled with my lack of attachment to others that I know most people feel. When I saw a child, or heard a sad story, I would make the appropriate expressions outwardly, but internally I felt little or nothing at all. This is still the case today. The exceptions were with animals and in the early stages of every romantic relationship I’ve been in. In fact, when it came to romance, I had a near obsession with the person I was with—and that obsession engulfed my emotional and physical being with a kind of stranglehold. But eventually, that would subside, and I’d feel the way about that person that I felt for other people. Not a kind of complacency, but a lack of emotional attachment that one would expect a reasonable person to have. And so I came to believe that I was incapable of really loving; that in fact, I did not know or understand love. I still think this is the case—at least when comparing love to the rules of neurotypicals. But, I am not a neurotypical—I am mildly autistic. Regardless of where one falls on the autism spectrum—severe or mild, I think this is the case. Love is a difficult concept for us. But then I remembered this: “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. Love is not rude, is not selfish, and does not get upset with others. Love does not count up wrongs that have been done. Love is not happy with evil but is happy with the truth. Love patiently accepts all things. It always trusts, always hopes, and always remains strong… Love never ends.” (1st Corinthians 13:4-8) So whether you love in the emotional, attached way that is expected, or whether you love through the cocoon of autism, the best way to love is God’s way. It’s simple, straightforward, and honest. It lacks fanfare. And it involves sacrifice. One need not be warm and fuzzy to love this way.

Yet another reason why I’m not an Evangelical Christian…

I find it interesting that we are so scared of terrorists of the Muslim faith. We spend so much time and energy fearing a group from far away, when we have our own, good ‘ol made-in-America “terrorists” to contend with. Let me explain. I just watched a documentary called Jesus Camp. It’s an eye-opening (and scary, if you are like me) look at the indoctrination into the world of extreme evangelicalism.
It features the daily life of kids in extreme, fanatical Christian families. Many of the kids are home schooled, and all live in homes that are saturated with white-bread Christian culture. Not the Christian culture of Jesus’ community—in fact, except for the Bible, Jesus is talked about as if he is somehow separated from the world he walked, talked, slept, preached, and probably got sick in. It seems to ignore, except for the bloody (and I mean bloody—there’s definitely an emphasis on his bloody death) crucifixion, that Jesus was a real person—he got pissed off, felt lonely, worried, and ate real food (and it wasn’t from Chik-Fil-A!). It ignores that his favorite friends weren’t very respected—hell, they weren’t even Christians. The kind of religion practiced in the film seems so artificial and political—like the plastic cross one purchases at the bible bookstore to hang in their rear-view mirror (which is supposed to somehow help other believers identify them). It’s so one-dimensional. This kind of faith doesn’t look at all like the deeply spiritual, truly life-altering faith of some believers that I can think of, such as Brian McLaren, St. Francis of Assisi, Mother Teresa, or even the evangelical favorite (more beloved than Jesus, perhaps?) Paul. Their faith was multi-dimensional, and it really changed the world. It didn’t piss off and even alienate those outside the faith (or inside, for that matter). I would rather be identified as a Christian (by those a part of and apart from the faith) as a result of my love, service, listening skills, compassion for all, etc. than the Christian rock blasting from my radio.
So what do you think goes on at Christian camp? Team and self-confidence building? Bible lessons designed for children about how they can better serve their community and be good at home? How about those good old ghost stories (that we know aren’t real—at least I think they aren’t—but love anyway?)? Not at Jesus Camp. Oh, you’ll find team building—but it’s of a Republican sort. One scene features a “visit” by the beloved president himself—a cardboard cut-out of Bush was presented at the pulpit, where the children were required to greet him and pray for his efforts to achieve the conservative agenda. I was scared nearly to tears as I watched little kids cry and shake over their “sins”. One child was brought to the floor in shame because he had dared to question whether or not the Bible was true. Wasn’t it in the Bible that Thomas questioned Jesus about his authenticity? Was he not rewarded for his seeking? Another child dismissed quiet, contemplative churches (like many Quaker Meetings) as “dead”. She thought God only showed up to loud churches like the mega-church she was a part of. Probably the saddest part was the opinion voiced by one little boy—a child considered to have great leadership potential (by the camp staff). He said that he didn’t feel good around non-believers—in essence that they creeped him out. He said they made him sick, then promptly noted that that was perhaps the case because they were sick. I was immediately reminded of a passage of Scripture:“Very few people will die to save the life of someone else. Although perhaps for a good person someone might possibly die. But God shows his great love for us in this way: Christ died for us while we were still sinners.” (Romans 5:7-8)
God loves all of his creation—even when they aren’t (and perhaps especially) squeaky clean. Remember Jesus discussing the prodigal son? The greatest celebration is saved for the return of the lost. So, it was with great sorrow that I heard a child saying that those out of the Christian faith make him sick. Jesus’ best friends were the dirty and criminal.
A final note about the film—the pastor of the camp is a woman named Becky Fischer. Well, I guess those particular Christians don’t always interpret the bible literally…

Some more thoughts on worship…

I’ve been thinking about worship lately. In particular, I’ve thought about the difference between Quaker worship and the kind of worship you see in most churches. You know the kind—people raising their hands while singing, that kind of stuff. For most of my life, I had two images in mind when thinking of worshipping God: the singing with uplifted hands image, and people laying with their faces to the ground in God’s presence. And since I haven’t been sure what worship really is, I looked it up. The dictionary defines worship as
“Homage or reverence paid to a deity. Acts, rights of ceremonies of worship. Adoration or devotion.”
I’m not sure I like what the dictionary says. I know some would think differently, but I see God as more than a mere deity. He’s someone I have a relationship with. I think about him a lot, and consider what he would want me to do throughout the day. I think of his desires in all of my interactions with the world around me. And once a week I gather with my fellow Quakers and wait silently to hear what God has to say to us.This does not look like the worship that I always imagined, nor does it resemble what many encounter in churches. But it’s real, and I think it’s what God had in mind when he made us to “worship” him.

I have high-functioning autism…

I haven’t blogged in awhile because I’ve had to put some things into perspective, and to get used to something new to me—high-functioning autism, or Asperger’s syndrome. Last year I was diagnosed with OCD. I started therapy for it, but eventually I realized there was something missing—a piece of the puzzle that we had not yet identified. About that time I picked up a book by Temple Granden, the famous animal scientist who is also autistic. Over the next year, I read her book (a long time for a book, I know) and began to see myself in those pages. Each page seemed to leap out at me—a three-dimensional description of who I really was. Not liking to be touched. A fascination with words, sentence structure, and puns. Being hopelessly locked into routines that made little sense to others. A lack of genuine connection with people and a simultaneous belonging with animals. Enjoying repetitive activities like rocking and watching the same TV show over and over again. Social anxiety. Dressing weird as a young person, and inappropriately for someone my current age. Not liking to talk for too long. Difficulty remembering names and faces. A fascination with twirling objects, like fans. And finally, a pattern of making hasty decisions without any real regard to consequences.
I was seeing a therapist for my supposed OCD—but I found that I did not really struggle with the things I should have been struggling with, such as fearing impending doom if I did not stick to my routine. Rather, I became irritable and anxious if I could not follow my rules—something more characteristic of a person with autism. My therapist accused me of trying to be different; she pointed out that I dressed strangely and liked off beat things simply because I didn’t want to join the status quo. I thought about that, and concluded that while that may have been the case for a couple of years during adolescence (although I can’t be sure), at 29 years that was unlikely. I simply was different, but I did not know why.
And then I sort of started to spin out of control emotionally. I felt more alienated than ever before—I felt as if I was collapsing inward. I started to think about suicide again, despite being on two heavy anti-depressants. Then I came across a little tidbit on the Internet that changed everything. I read that often people with high-functioning autism (or Asperger’s syndrome) are mistakenly diagnosed as having OCD. With a diagnosis of OCD, treatment is of course totally focused on that one area—repetitive thoughts and behaviors—and autism is not generally considered after that. So I asked my therapist. She laughed outright and said, “you’re not autistic”. But why not? Because I could talk? Because my vocabulary may be unusual? But talking, and talking well at that, is quite normal for people with Asperger’s.
So I decided to see someone else—someone who would take me seriously, whether or not I was autistic. And that’s what led me to this current place. My new therapist sent me to be evaluated by an autism specialist—and you know what? We really do know ourselves best. I wasn’t simply seeing what I wanted to see in the pages of Temple’s book. I had spent years considering myself, compulsively thinking and rethinking about who I am. And now I know (and you do too).

Adventures in missing the point (big time)

I watched a great documentary tonight—it was about the book of Revelation. Now, let me just say right now that I do not hold a literal view of the Bible. That’s not say that I don’t think there are elements that can and should be taken literally, but most of it I take as narrative and metaphor that applied to the time and culture in which it was written. Many scholars hold this view as well. However, many Christian fundamentalists do not—they especially read Revelation with an excitement of things to come. The success of the ridiculous (my opinion—doesn’t have to be yours too) Left Behind series is evidence enough. In any case, the documentary presented both views, with much scholarship and great visuals. But one quote in particular proved to be very memorable for me (and the actual subject of this blog). A pastor was talking about Revelation and life in general. He said that if one lives with the expectation that Christ will return at any moment, then that will have a direct impact on how that person lives. He finished by saying that he would not want to be caught “off guard” when Christ came. Wow. What a huge example of missing the point of being in fellowship with Christ. Having a relationship with Christ is not about being on guard for screw-ups—it’s about loving Christ enough to live the way that he wants us to. It’s not about being scared of God; it’s about wanting to be with God. Notice I said wanting to be with him–not trying to escape “hell”.And this brings me to another thought I had about the documentary. The literal interpretation of Revelation almost hints at a delight in the horrors described in John’s vision. Now, Old Testament stories aside (and I’d argue that even then God did not delight in punishing the world), I have a hard time believing that God would want to heap such atrocities upon his creation. It seems inconsistent with the God who entered humanity, lived among his handiwork, died to reconcile his creation to him, and laid the groundwork for a new kind of kingdom. Jesus hints at this during his Sermon on the Mount—a little tid bit about how God cares for those who love him and those who don’t:“He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” God sends what we need, including himself, in the process of fulfilling the greatest revelation of all—reconciling with his creation.One final note about the documentary—some scholars believe John was actually writing about the Roman Empire, not some distant era to come. They even suggest that the Beast was the emperor Nero.By the way, I saw another annoying church sign today; it read: “If you can read this, then you can still be forgiven.” Bet you can guess what I thought of that…

A Christian cannot be a defender of homosexuality and still be a Christian…

What exactly is a Christian? It’s the theme throughout the postings on this blog. It’s a question that I think should be quite simple to answer, and yet it isn’t (at least for some). Well, John Hagee turns this around and offers up who is not a Christian. He wrote the words used as the title for this posting. You may be wondering how I know this—well, I was reading his book. Normally, I don’t pay attention to such rubbish (yes, I’m still reading the latest Harry Potter book and have gleaned some new vocabulary words!), but I knew that whatever was in his book was bound to anger me, so I took a peek. Suffice it to say that I got what I was looking for, and perhaps deserved—I really should know better than to read this stuff.
He made his judgmental proclamation in reference to the homosexuality “problem”. This topic just happens to be the problem de jour for a large number of North Carolina Quakers. It threatens to split up an already fragmented Friends community. At the heart of the debate, I believe, is really the question of who is and who isn’t—a Christian, that is. If you take the Hagee view, then those of us who don’t are doomed (in more ways that one). But I think a more important question to ask is whether or not it’s our job to make such judgments. I’m not so sure that it is. Paul is pretty clear about that in Romans: “So where does that leave you when you criticize a brother? … Forget about deciding what’s right for each other. Here’s what you need to be concerned about: that you don’t get in the way of someone else, making life more difficult than it already is… So let’s agree to use our energy in getting along with each other. Cultivate your own relationship with God…” (Taken from the Message, Matthew 14). Now, I’m addressing the Christian community here (although I believe we are to get along with everyone). Our job is not to point fingers and say who’s in and who’s out based upon interpretation of Scripture. Armed with a point of view like Hagee’s, we could condemn a lot more than just homosexuals—women who serve in the ministry, men who treat their wives as equals, those who don’t baptize with water. You get the point. But armed with a point of view such as Paul’s, we realize that what is important is getting along—doing that will accomplish a lot more than bickering and hurtful condemnation. And it will free up our hearts to let God do the work.
I’m going to tell a little autism story here that will make my final point. When I found out I had autism, I told Ernest the autism guy that I wanted to meet others who had my type of autism—Asperger’s syndrome. He said something that has really made an impression on me: sharing a condition does not mean that there will be kinship. That doesn’t mean there can’t be, but it does mean that it will not come automatically. I found out the truth in this statement recently—I met another “Aspie”, and he drove me crazy! But maybe it’s because we share many of the same characteristics. Although Aspie’s differ from one another, they share some unique quirks that tend to annoy and even baffle neurotypicals. So I decided that in order to have kinship with this person, I’d have to work at it. I’d have to stop judging him, and look past the things I didn’t like. I’d have to appreciate him simply because we share the same plight—that is what creates kinship. And so it must be with those who make up the Christian community. Simply because we love and follow Jesus does not mean we will be in agreement and have automatic kinship. Perhaps it should, but we’re dealing with people here, and that means we’re dealing with flaws. In order to be a cohesive unit of Christ followers, we’re going to have to work at it. That means not judging each other, or accusing those who don’t believe exactly as we do as not being Christians. The fact that we’re here, serving Christ, should mean something. No, we will never agree on how to interpret Scripture, but is that really important? I don’t think so; I think what’s important is that we love Jesus and have chosen to follow him. If someone is doing something “wrong”, and they really love Christ, than I believe he will let them know. It’s his job, not ours. That doesn’t mean that he won’t use us to assist in that process, but we must make damn sure that it’s his will, not ours. During the Quietist period in Friends history, Quakers waited a long time—months sometimes—to give a message to their fellow believers. They were so concerned that it was God’s message being spoken and not theirs that they waited and waited to speak. Perhaps we should take a leaf out of their book when “advising” our brothers and sisters in Christ. But saying that they are not Christians because of the way they read the Bible doesn’t sound like God’s direction to me. So our job is not to condemn, judge, or make someone’s life more difficult than it already is—it’s to see past the things we don’t like, or don’t think may be consistent with our view of Scripture, and kindle the kinship that exists among followers of Christ. If the Quakers in North Carolina busy themselves with that task instead, then perhaps a split is avoidable.

The religion America was founded upon?

They say an argument based upon emotion (rather than logic) is not a good one. Well, I’ll try to base this blog upon logic, but I can’t say there won’t be any emotion present. Today I watched one of my “favorite” kinds of TV shows—the Christian news broadcast. I really despise these—they are one-sided, with a special commitment to the right wing agenda. Any way, the one today was spotlighting the life of a TV pastor who recently passed away. At the end of the story, the anchor said that those who love America and wish to see her return to her “biblically moral” foundations especially appreciated this pastor.
Let me first say that a comment like this ignores the obvious—America was not founded upon Christianity. It was, in fact, founded by the native peoples who had long inhabited this land, and they had a variety of religious beliefs, none of which were Christian. Christianity did not present itself here until those who claimed to know Christ stole this land. Brian McLaren describes this steal-conquer-and subject way of founding a new nation beautifully:

In the old modern-colonial world, Christians could wish that everyone everywhere would just get with it and become proper…Christians like us. In fact, non-Christians could be seen as stubborn rebels who refused to capitulate to the dominating truth. They could either be seen as “in the way”, a problem to be removed through either conversion (forced or free) or ethnic cleansing… [Christians] showed boldness and confidence in the gospel through what appeared to outsiders (though not to ourselves) as bombast, arrogance, disrespect, and insensitivity.

So to argue about America’s religious foundations while simultaneously ignoring the people and faiths that were already present here is to deny the real truth. And let me just say that I don’t believe God gave America to us—Jesus never endorsed stealing, which is precisely how America was “acquired”.
But eventually Christianity did make its way here, via the European settlers who journeyed here. But that Christianity is one that I would hardly think folks would want to return to, if they considered it deeply. For one thing, there was not the freedom that some people would have us believe. Any one who dared to believe something slightly different (and I’m not talking about a whole different religion, I’m talking about deviating from the common understanding of the church at that time) faced jail, banishment, or death. A look at Quaker history in this country is evidence enough of that. When people did something wrong, they were subject to harsh, even cruel punishment that I doubt that even the most “conservative” among us would like to see. I say this because such harsh rules did not produce actual followers of Christ—it simply produced people afraid of getting into trouble and who therefore lived by the rules. Is that really what certain Christians want us to return to? If so, then that desire is not born out of a concern that folk know Christ, rather it comes from a desire to have everyone act the same, which is comfortable for some (and misery for a great deal more).
But I caution those who agree with me to view our true history with understanding. Again, McLaren writes:

We can apologize for the sins of our fathers [and mothers] in such a way that we render ourselves arrogantly superior to them, insensitive both to the challenges of their milieu and to our present and anticipated failures in our own. So [we must be humble], showing respect for our ancestors in the faith, for what they have handed down to us…even if we have reason to be painfully embarrassed by their racist, sexist, and imperialist bias.

I have a book about crime in the 1930’s, and there is a revealing quote on the cover—“proof that there were never any ‘good old days’”. It would behoove us to recognize that indeed there weren’t any better days in the past. Instead of wishing for a “better time” (keep in mind that that ‘better time” was only better for some—just ask a woman or a black person), we should work to make this time a good one, understanding that God’s kingdom is, after all, present and alive. We need only to jump in and be a humble, loving, and obedient part of it to make this life better.