Category Archives: Religious News

More Light Presbyterians “Celebrating God’s Whole Family” followup

More Light Presbyterians, an LGBT friendly advocacy group, had its “Celebrating God’s Whole Family” get together last weekend in Nashville. Activist blogger, Pastor John Shuck, was there as a workshop presenter. Check his Shuck and Jive blog post for his report.

This photo of a discussion circle, and many other photos from the event, may be viewed here.

Next summer, the Presbyterian Church, USA (PCUSA) will meet for its national convention in Minneapolis. LGBT issues will be on the agenda. Could Minneapolis be the scene of another breakthrough as with the ELCA convention of 2009?

God willing.

A lost generation? #CWA09 & #Goodsoil09

The young woman nervously approached the microphone at the ELCA 2009 convention. This fall, she will be a high school senior. With apologies, I paraphrase her plea.

“Give us honesty,” she said. “My generation is turned off by what they see as hypocrisy in the church. ‘Love your neighbor’ is on the lips of the church, but a cold shoulder is what my generation sees.”

Is she alone in her view? Not according to Harvard University professor Robert Putnam, who conducted research into the declining participation of youth in religion, which he summarized in advance of publishing his book, “Amazing Grace”. His research indicates that many youths have turned their backs on organized religion.

While the young may be unchurched, they are not necessarily atheists.

“Many of them are people who would otherwise be in church,” Putnam said. “They have the same attitudes and values as people who are in church, but they grew up in a period in which being religious meant being politically conservative, especially on social issues.”

Putnam says that in the past two decades, many young people began to view organized religion as a source of “intolerance and rigidity and doctrinaire political views,” and therefore stopped going to church.

A commenter on this blog said this earlier this week:

Thanks for writing this. It’s good to hear not all “Christians” subscribe to hate. As a gay man, I hear A LOT of hate spewed from Christians and I’ve been told I can’t be a Christian because of how I was born.

Unfortunately, I believe your efforts may be too little too late. I, along with so many others have moved passed and found peace without “Christian” leadership.

I will never go back to a faith that promotes hate.

While many in the ELCA are wringing their hands, worrying about losing members, wondering how to defend Convention actions, wistful about the loss of a Bible writ in block letters, black and white and bold print, I say this is an opportunity. An opportunity for mission. An opportunity to live the gospel and not merely preach it. An opportunity for honesty. Let this be a teaching moment in which we plumb the depths of scripture far beyond the literalistic superficialities of the past. Let us invite, encourage and inspire a new generation by our deeds.

“Jesus said, ‘Be fishers of men,’” says Putnam, “and there’s this pool with a lot of fish in it and no fishermen right now.”

Benedictine S. Joan Chittister to speak in Collegeville, Minnesota

What could be better? The campus of St Johns surrounded by hardwoods dressed in autumnal red and gold and yellow. The Great Hall and the School of Theology: perhaps an encounter with a professor from my days here a decade and a half ago. A tour led by Northfield friend, Lutheran Pastor Keith Homstad, an oblate of this Benedictine Abbey. Capped off by an evening address by Sister Joan Chittister, entitled What in the Monastic endeavor touches the heart of the gospel?

Sister Joan is a leading Catholic feminist and voice for progressive Catholicism. Among other liberal causes, she is an outspoken advocate for the ordination of women to the priesthood. The press release notes just a tip of the iceberg for her accomplishments:

S. Joan Chittister, OSB, a Benedictine Sister of Erie (Erie, Pa.), is a best-selling author and international lecturer on topics of justice, peace, human rights, women’s issues, and contemporary spirituality. She is founder and executive director of Benetvision, a resource for spiritual seekers. S. Joan received the annual Outstanding Leadership Award from the Leadership Conference of Women Religious at its 2007 national assembly. She writes a regular column for the National Catholic Reporter. Her most recent books are The Breath of the Soul and The Fine Art of Living.

Her lecture is sponsored by the Conversatio Lifelong Learning Program of Saint John’s School of Theology·Seminary, 8 p.m., Friday, October 9, 2009 Stephen B. Humphrey Theater, Saint John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota.

How the religious right stains all Christians

This is a reprint of a post in Street Prophets.

I won’t be silent – This is not CHRISTIAN!

by angeleyes

Mon Sep 07, 2009 at 03:48:18 PM PDT

I’ll begin by saying this. I’m angry. Righteously Angry!!

Just a little background on me. I’ve been a dedicated Charismatic, Evangelical Christian for almost 20 years. I was raised in a Christian home. I’ve studied the bible – which I believe is the inspired Word of God. I’ve meditated on the teachings of Jesus Christ. I’ve ministered and represented His teachings publicly.

I take a fair amount of heat, especially in Democratic circles for my Christian beliefs. It’s frustrating sometimes to be sure, but you know, with idiots representing my faith saying things like this:

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/…

I completely get it.

Part of the reason I believe Christianity today is so misunderstood is because those of us who are passionate about our faith, and happen to be sane, rational creatures are overshadowed by maniacal kooks who “wear” the Christian label, but are far from followers of the faith.

I woke up this morning and was checking the morning news headlines on CNN. There was the story of this Pastor (if I have to call him that) Steven Anderson of the Faithful Word (although I’m not sure what “word” that would be) Baptist church in Arizona who really has opened his mouth, as a supposed Minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and actually said that he hates President Obama and wants God to “break his teeth” (a veiled reference to Psalms 58:6 where David was asking God to go after the truly evil folks who were after him and were trying to slander him and take his life). HE SAID WHAT?!!

So I immediately started scouring the internet to see what the TRUE Christian response has been – crickets. No one from the faith has denounced him publicly yet? How is this even possible!

Well, I won’t be silent! This man does not represent the Jesus I know, love, and serve. I won’t sit quietly by while this man grabs the spotlight and purports to speak for those of my faith.

The Christian faith is built on the foundation of love. There are denominational and doctrinal differences for sue, but the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, humility and self control are fundamental to the faith, and the bible says against these things there is no law (or rule that anybody could come up with that would negate them). When Jesus said to “love your neighbor as you love yourself”, he meant it. It’s not up for debate.

By publicly voicing his desire that President Obama be killed, have his teeth broken, and whatever else looney things this man has uttered from his filthy mouth, he has violated the very principal precept of our faith. Now faith, hope, and love remain, but the GREATEST of these is love (1 Corinthians 13).

I don’t have a pulpit to stand in and denounce this man. None of the major news outlets are contacting me and asking me my opinion on Pastor (cough!) Anderson’s ravings. I just have this diary.

If there are any Pastors, Ministers, Church Elders, etc. who are reading this, please, IT’S TIME FOR US TO SPEAK UP! We’ve got the “harmless as a dove”, “meek and mild” thing perfected dang near to a fault. We MUST speak out when someone is misrepresenting our faith! Not later, but NOW. Use your voice wherever you are planted, but we have to push back. Let’s write Focus on the Family, CBN, Family Research Council (since they seem to want to be “on point” for all things Christian) and ask them to remain faithful to the Word of God that commands us to represent his teachings above our own selfish motives, and public denounce Pastor (cough!) Anderson and anyone else who, in the name of our Lord, says such things.

Do you really want to keep explaining away these clowns? Let’s marginalize them NOW!

A 16th century approach to 21st century problems: #CWA09 & #Goodsoil09

With feet planted squarely in the sixteenth century, octogenarian and retired theologian Carl Braaten has assumed the intellectual mantle as defender of Lutheran orthodoxy. On behalf of Lutheran Core (fellow travelers of the WordAlone network), he penned an open letter to delegates to the recent ELCA 2009 convention; later, he engaged in an ongoing debate with former Presiding Bishop Herb Chilstrom.

Presently, Braaten argues that ELCA Bishop Mark Hanson is wrong, our ELCA unity is not in Christ, as Hanson suggests, but in our Reformation era confessions. Braaten longs for the good old days of the Augsburg Confession (1530), but then he muses that even the Reformation was too radical: “When the first Lutherans lost the magisterial authority of the Roman Catholic Church, it had no sure authority to put in its place.” Too much democracy, that’s the problem. Too much enlightened thinking. Too much reason and rationality. Ah, if the Lutherans only had an authoritative, top down Magisterium like the Catholics, this slippery slope modernism would be held in check. Why, just look at who the ELCA’s ecumenical friends are these days! The Episcopalians, the UCC, the RCA, the Presbyterians, and the Methodists. Mainline Protestants all.

The Lutheran Core website claims that the ELCA convention’s approval of gay clergy and gay marriage has resulted in strained ecumenical relationships. With whom? Not with these mainline protestant ecumenical partners, but with the Roman Catholics and Missouri Synod Lutherans. A sharp turn to the right is in order, according to Braaten and the Lutheran Core reactionaries.

With tongue firmly in his cheek, Lutheran Pastor Erik Samuelson responds to Braaten:

Dr. Braaten-

Thank you for your comments. I have always held you to be one of the great doctors of the Church. Though I have never met you, through your writings[, you] are one of my teachers. I was hoping I would run into you at the Churchwide Assembly, where I was a voting member, so you could answer a question that came up for me while watching the lecture video LutheranCORE distributed.

In the video, you refer to Jesus’ teaching that remarriage after divorce is adultery as “one of the great absolutes of Jesus”. You even mentioned your own children who had been divorced (though didn’t mention that you have, as I assume you have, advised them to remain celibate so as not to enter into adulterous remarriage relationships).

My question is, how can the ELCA allow remarried pastors (unrepentant adulterers) and bless second “marriages”? Both of these actions and the underlying teachings put us out of line with the historical teaching (and 2000 year consensus on human sexuality) of the Christian Church and threaten our ecumenical relationships with both the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox churches? Why have we tolerated this open sin for so long in the ELCA? Might this be the next campaign for us to embark on? Perhaps LutheranCORE can tackle this next? This certainly affects more congregations and pastors than the homosexuality discussions have. Have you written anything on this that might help in our efforts?

Paul Sundberg, another commenter adds, “and what about those pesky women?”

Forward or back, whither shall we go?

Are the Holy Ones leaving? Or, holier than thou? #CWA09 & #Goodsoil09

A group of ELCA pastors huddles over coffee for their weekly text study, but sermon ideas are not the center of discussion this week. “What’s happening in your congregation?” is the question for each in turn. “Just talk, so far,” reports one. “My congregational president has resigned,” says another, “but that prompted two families who didn’t like his heavy handed leadership to return!”

It seems that there is a trickle of disaffected parishioners who are leaving or threatening to leave the ELCA over the new LGBT policies but not a trend–much less a torrent–at least not among this coffee shop gathering.

Word Alone and Lutheran Core, the voices of the opposition, are counseling patience and due deliberation:

We will want to give ourselves time for patient and careful reflection. Now is not the time to make rash, hasty decisions. Most people make serious mistakes when they make decisions under pressure. We do not want to make this mistake now. Our relationship with the ELCA is a serious matter for us. I ask that we all take time to reflect patiently with ourselves and with others and not to make rash decisions now. We all have the time for God to disclose his will for us. Lutheran CORE and our supporters have consistently urged us to maintain at least a formal relationship with the ELCA. The question now before us is the level of our participation within the ELCA.

Around the country, there is anecdotal evidence that the Lutherans are not jumping ship, at least not yet and not in great numbers, over the ELCA 2009 convention actions approving gay clergy and gay marriage. Many congregations are promoting discussion, and folks are seriously wrestling with the question, “what is the Bible and how do we use it?”

Those who leave echo a common refrain, “But there’s this line in the sand. It’s about the Bible and whether we believe what it says.” The Lutheran Core talking points include the statement: “Lutheran CORE is continuing in the Christian faith as it has been passed down to us by generations of Christians. The ELCA is the one that has departed from the teaching of the Bible as understood by Christians for 2,000 years.”

It pains me when some suggest that the ELCA decision was unbiblical, that those of us who agree with the inclusive actions of the assembly don’t “believe what the Bible says.” While we may disagree over interpretation of Scripture, it is self-righteous and judgmental to dismiss contrary opinions as unbiblical or even unchristian.

To the contrary, we believe in the heart of the matter, the “canon within the canon” (Luther’s terminology), the “core testimony” (Walter Brueggeman’s terminology) that compels us to open our arms, our hearts, and our pulpits as we did forty years ago to our sisters despite apparent Biblical admonitions. Luther suggested that all Scripture is not equal, that all passages do not carry the same weight, that some verses must surrender to the greater authority of the core testimony. We agree with Luther, but that does not mean that we reject the authority of the Bible, as charged by some in Lutheran Core and WordAlone.

The Bible says, “Slaves, accept the authority of your masters with all deference, not only those who are kind and gentle but also those who are harsh” 1st Peter 2:18 and “I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she is to keep silent” 1st Timothy 2:12. Yet, despite nearly two millennia of teaching and tradition, the church now rejects slavery and sexism, by finding deeper streams of meaning in the core testimony of the good news of Jesus of Nazareth, the one who included those that society rejected, those who failed according to the purity rules of the church of his day, those deemed unclean by the Levitical holiness code–the same wellspring that spills out the harsh texts that “clobber” our gay fellows.

The gospel text for yesterday that most Lutheran pastors preached on around the country was Mark’s narrative of the foreign woman who pushed against the traditional Jewish walls of exclusion. For the early church, the question was not “gay” but “Gentile”. Should the Jewish Jesus movement include non-Jews, the Gentiles? Despite their uncleanness? Despite their failure to follow the Jewish law? Despite centuries of tradition and teaching that these did not belong to the family of God?

Halfway through his sermon, my pastor interrupted himself. “There he goes again, some of you are thinking, he’s promoting the gay agenda. It’s not an agenda,” he said. “It’s the gospel.”

There it is. The heart of the matter. The canon within the canon. The core testimony. It’s not unbiblical. It’s not unchristian. It’s the gospel.

Sudanese woman convicted of wearing trousers UPDATED

I blogged earlier about Lubna Hussein (here and here), a Sudanese woman arrested for wearing trousers in public. Hussein is willingly becoming a feminist cause célèbre, first by refusing United Nations immunity and now by refusing to pay the court imposed fine which will result in a month long imprisonment.

The associated press reports:

The case has made headlines in Sudan and around the world and Hussein used it to rally world opinion against the country’s strict morality laws based upon conservative interpretations of Islam.

Ahead of the trial, police rounded up dozens of female demonstrators, many of them wearing trousers, outside the courtroom.

The London-based Amnesty International called on the Sudanese government to withdraw the charges against Hussein and repeal the law which justifies “abhorrent” penalties.

The trial had earlier been postponed, but now Hussein has been convicted. Although she was not sentenced to public flogging, as happened to many others arrested with her, and the minimal ($200) fine indicates the government would just as soon avoid a public spectacle, Hussein won’t let that happen. She refuses to pay the fine and is forcing the government to imprison her.

“I will not pay a penny,” she told the Associated Press while still in court custody.

Hussein said Friday she would rather go to jail than pay any fine.

“I won’t pay, as a matter of principle,” she said. “I would spend a month in jail. It is a chance to explore the conditions of jail.”

UPDATE:

Howard Friedman, a retired law professor, watches all things at the intersection of law and religion on his blog, Religion Clause. Today, he reports on a relaxation of dress standards for women lawyers in Gaza but also more stringent standards for school girls.

I’d like to ask for Sinead’s hand in marriage

With a hat tip toward Madpriest, who borrowed from Kathy, here’s an Irish video clip that makes my Swedish eyes smile.

Where’s the Biblical support for the ELCA action? #CWA09 & #Goodsoil09

I hosted a discussion at my local Lutheran congregation a few nights ago about the recent ELCA Churchwide Assembly 2009, which approved gay clergy and possibly gay marriage. When I was asked the question, “What’s the Biblical basis for the ELCA action?”, I’m afraid I didn’t provide an adequate response. That’s partly my fault and partly because the answer is complicated and nuanced and not a black and white, unambiguous, simple “proof text”, which is what many conservatives on this issue demand.

Does the Bible speak to nuclear disarmament? Universal health care? Teaching evolution in biology class? The flat earth society? Does the Bible speak to twenty-first century issues that are far beyond the purview and understanding of the ancients who authored the words of the Biblical texts? (Ok, if you’re of a mind that God wrote the Bible, you may as well stop reading now).

Does the Bible speak to “publicly accountable, monogamous, life-long same gender relationships?”

Yes, but we must use modern lenses to filter the pre-scientific, culturally conditioned worldview of ancient authors. We must view the issue in light of a twenty-first century understanding and apply broad Biblical principles and not isolated proof texts.

The sixteenth century monk and priest Martin Luther, the greatest sexual revolutionary in history, not only confronted the church’s insistence upon a celibate priesthood when he gleefully married his love, the nun Katy von Bora, but he also reversed a millennium of sexual angst by rejecting the hangups over human sexuality dating to the fifth century, the time of Augustine and Jerome and others who saw sex–even within marriage–as the spreading of the sinful seed of Adam. The joy of sex: the author of the modern book by that title can thank old Father Martin.

But I digress …

It was Martin Luther who suggested that we view, interpret, and understand Scripture through the lens of “the canon within the canon.” Not all scripture is equal. Not all verses carry the same weight. Had it been up to Luther, he would have excluded the “epistle of straw”, the book of James, altogether. He also had serious doubts about the book of Revelation. With deep devotion toward the Holy Writ, he was nevertheless willing to challenge that which should be challenged.

And what is the heart of the matter, Luther’s “canon within the canon”, or the Scripture’s “core testimony”, to use the terminology of theologian Walter Brueggemann? I think most Christians would agree that it has to do with the gospel, the good news of Jesus of Nazareth, the one who accepted and included those rejected by society.

And what of the law, the rules and regulations, the moral precepts that guide and instruct? Here too, there is a heart of the matter, a canon within the canon, and core testimony attributed to the words of Jesus himself. Love God and love your neighbor, “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Or, as John the evangelist records the words of Jesus, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.”

Christian ethics is less a set of rules than a principle: a measuring stick, a gauge, or a scale. What is the loving thing to do? The evidence must be weighed–and that includes the best evidence available—scientific, cultural, academic, historical, medical and psychological. Faith and reason. If the weight of the evidence tilts the scale one way—despite the ancient words of the Levitical priests or Paul the apostle—our way forward as faithful Christians is clear. The heart of the matter, the canon within the canon, the core testimony compels us.

While others may disagree, it is unfair to judge this view as unbiblical or unchristian. With Jacob at the ford of the Jabbok, we have wrestled with our wonderings. We believe we have plumbed deeper streams that wash away the passages that some would use to clobber their fellow.

Is there a Christian view toward health care reform?

What do Christians think of health care reform? Well, different things apparently, depending upon one’s brand of Christianity.

Does Blogger Kathy Escobar reflect the teachings of Jesus? In a recent post, Escobar states:

Jesus calls us to care for the poor, the widowed, the orphaned, the rejected, the oppressed, the unprotected. what this means is we are supposed to give some of ours to help. we are supposed to make sacrifices that we don’t necessarily want to make but are willing to because Jesus reminds us of that life-here-on-earth-is-not-about-gathering-wealth-and-taking-care-of-only-our-own-needs. it’s about sacrificial love. it’s about taking care of others needs. it’s about seeing gaps and filling them. it’s about humbling ourselves for the sake of others. it’s about offering our coats, our food, our hands and our feet in a tangible way even when it costs us time & money & energy.

Seems pretty clear, and Austin Texas Presbyterian pastor Jim Rigby would agree, yet he throws up his arms in exasperation as he laments:

I can’t believe I am standing today in a Christian church defending the proposition that we should lessen the suffering of those who cannot afford health care in an economic system that often treats the poor as prey for the rich. I cannot believe there are Christians around this nation who are shouting that message down and waving guns in the air because they don’t want to hear it. But I learned along time ago that churches are strange places; charity is fine, but speaking of justice is heresy in many churches. The late Brazilian bishop Dom Hélder Câmara said it well: "When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a Communist." Too often today in the United States, if you talk about helping the poor, they call you Christian, but if you actually try to do something to help the poor, they call you a socialist.

Roman Catholics have a long and admirable record of defending the poor. The latest policy statement from the United States Council of Bishops advocates for these points:

a truly universal health policy with respect for human life and dignity
access for all with a special concern for the poor and inclusion of legal immigrants
pursuing the common good and preserving pluralism including freedom of conscience and variety of options
restraining costs and applying them equitably across the spectrum of payers

Yet, the rigidity of many Bishops, priests, and lay persons in their opposition to abortion rights seems to be stronger than their advocacy for universal health care. Unless health care reform precludes coverage for abortions, many Catholics stand against a truly universal health policy with access for all. Ok, we get that many Catholics vehemently disagree with Roe v Wade, but it is the law of the land. Is the health care reform debate the proper platform to fight that battle? Should universal health care be sacrificed just to make a point?

On the other hand, many progressive Catholics are able to see the forest and not just the trees. The Consortium of Jesuit Bioethics Programs has issued a policy statement entitled “The Moral Case for Insuring the Uninsured”:

As health care ethicists, we believe providing universal access to health care is the right thing to do, and now is the right time to do it. Much like our commitment to providing universal access to K-12 education, the reasons for doing so are both pragmatic and moral. And these reasons are so compelling that they require us to do what it takes to overcome obstacles.

Each year, according to a report of the prestigious Institute of Medicine, approximately 18,000 Americans die prematurely because they lack health insurance. Persons who lack insurance typically do not seek medical care until their illnesses have progressed to the point when they can no longer be ignored. Then the illness is far more difficult (and expensive) to treat.

We believe that thinking about our values—values of justice, solidarity, and compassion—changes our perspective on health care reform. Currently, support among the public is wavering because of concerns about cost, funding mechanisms, and what is in it for the person who currently has private health insurance. From the point of view of our common values, the final concern is the most relevant. A just and
compassionate society is obligated to try to meet the basic needs of all members of the community—not every imaginable desire, but our most basic needs such as food, a foundational education, and basic health care.

Political leadership, if it is to be true moral leadership, must have the courage and will to push forward legislation that may not please everyone, but will give all persons access to an acceptable level of health care services. We become better people when we respond to the arbitrary and capricious threats to life and the pursuit of happiness that afflict our neighbor. And, of course, when we guarantee justice for our neighbor, we do so for ourselves and our families as well should disaster befall us.

My twenty five year old son has a full time job, but it does not provide health benefits. Last spring, he caught pneumonia and he resisted medical care because he couldn’t afford it; finally, he made a single visit to a local emergency room and antibiotics were prescribed. He recovered nicely, but he now faces a bill that is nearly ten percent of his net annual income for his single emergency room visit.

Hmm. For many, the issue is bankruptcy or ill health–which to choose?

The system is broke, folks, and it’s time to fix it. It’s the pragmatic, responsible thing to do. For some of us, it’s the Christian thing to do also.