jimrigby.org

Once upon a time, there was an island with two tribes. On one side of the island lived a people who longed to see every color in the spectrum. They studied flowers and butterflies. Their worship was to gather after every storm and look up at the rainbow. For that reason, they were called the “Rainbow People.”

On the other side of the island lived a people who longed for clarity above all. They were called the “Zebra People.” Zebra people resolved to define every aspect of the island into black and white clarity. They could not rest until everything was clearly defined, which meant devoid of any tint or nuance of color.

Zebra People grew very frightened when they saw something grey. Anything that was not either black or white seemed to muddy the sacred clarity of their minds. And so, for that reason, the Zebra People grew to hate the Rainbow People, because what Rainbow People saw as the nuance of color, Zebra People saw as muddying the clear issue at hand.

For years the Zebra People hounded and tortured and tried to convert the Rainbow People. When they refused to be converted to a black and white world, the Zebras invaded and killed all the Rainbow People. Believing their superior power had proved them right, the Zebras rested. They trusted that they were finally safe, and now lived on in a world without the vagaries of tint or tone.

What the Zebra people did not know is that that every seeing child is born loving colors. They also could not spot the colorful symbols that had been left behind all over the island.  One day, after a particularly horrendous storm all the children of the island were found out in a field staring up at the clouds. “What are you looking at?” asked the terrified elders.

“Oh, nothing.” Answered the wisest of the children.

I’m a sucker for all things primate, but this popular video definitely gives me mixed feelings. Twenty years ago, a gorilla expert let his infant daughter play with the gorillas and made home videos of their play. I have problems with people who project human traits onto animals or see wild animals as enjoying our intrusion into their world. But setting aside the issues of whether this was good parenting, or even whether it was even sane, the video illustrates that our close relatives, the great apes, are more like us than they are different. To me, for we humans to let them go extinct would mean a death in the family.

http://www.examiner.com/video/toddler-plays-with-gorilla-caught-on-tape

Western media has gotten so used to serving us stereotypes that we do not realize how silly we have become as a nation. Playing it’s dutiful role as propagandist, Newsweek printed a cover of some of the riots over the recent movie insulting Mohammad and generalized that response to Islamic people in general. The cover was called “Muslim Rage.” As a Nation we keep forgetting that one fifth of the world is Islamic. Any simple picture of that many people is bound to be comedic even if done with the serious voice of a newscaster.

What follows is a link to the tweets of actual Islamic people responding to those stereotypes, but first, my favs:

BURN ALL WESTERN LITERATURE….onto a zip drive so I can listen to it while driving. #MuslimRage

“I’m having such a good hair day. No one even knows.” #MuslimRage

“A new column by Thomas Friedman”

“What do you mean you don’t serve chocolate milk at this pub?!” #muslimrage

“did she just change that diaper on the very rug we’re about to lay our faces on?” #muslimrage

http://www.religionnews.com/culture/arts-and-media/muslims-tweet-displeasure-with-newsweeks-muslim-rage-cover-story

This is what happens when a group of men write laws for women, because they cannot put themselves in the place of a pregnant woman, they simply cannot think of all the ways that law might do damage.

The recent furor over Rep. Todd Akins’ comments about “legitimate rape” has raised some other more obscure situations that a man would never imagine in a thousand years. For example, when the victim of rape decides to follow through on the pregnancy, in many states it is legally possible for the rapist to assert their parental rights and try to try to obtain custody through the courts.

As anyone who works with rape knows, stranger rape is the exception, not the norm. More often a woman is raped by someone she knows. Until the last few decades many states did not recognize that a spouse can rape. In abusive relationships the line can be hard to define legally, and if a woman does not choose to file rape charges, it is possible that the rapist can extend the nightmare by seeking custody.

In 2004, Shauna Prewitt was in her senior year of college. Prewitt says that she was raped in her home that year and chose to give birth. In the midst of the case against her rapist, he filed for custody of the child.

“I was struck with terror, not only with the idea of letting my child be around him, but also having to spend the next 18 years of my life tied to him,” she says.

According to Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, the former U.S. ambassador to Israel, Martin Indyk, said on Sunday that he thinks the U.S. will go to war with Iran over its nuclear program in 2013. Speaking during a panel on the CBS program Face the Nation, Indyk said, “I’m afraid that 2013 is going to be a year in which we’re going to have a military confrontation with Iran.” The former ambassador stated that “Iran doesn’t have a nuclear weapon,” but added that there’s not a lot of time left until it does.

“There is still time, perhaps six months, even by Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu’s own time table to try to see if a negotiated solution can be worked out,” Indyk said.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-will-go-to-war-with-iran-in-2013-says-ex-u-s-ambassador-to-israel-1.465366

Last Monday the Dalai Lama posted on his facebook blog:

“All the world’s major religions, with their emphasis on love, compassion, patience, tolerance, and forgiveness can and do promote inner values. But the reality of the world today is that grounding ethics in religion is no longer adequate. This is why I am increasingly convinced that the time has come to find a way of thinking about spirituality and ethics beyond religion altogether.”

Religion has always been the lamp, it has never been the flame. Religion is whatever skillful means we use to remember we are all interconnected. It is whatever practice we use to stay grateful and alert. Unfortunately those who do not fall asleep into religion are rare. I doubt the Dalai Lama was actually calling for the end to those disiplines that brought him to this clarity, but I do think he was realizing that religion that does not die into compassion, becomes a hindrance. He is calling for a new way of speaking about ethics.

I began this blog in part because I believe we are living at the death of an old worldview and the birth of a new. After Galileo, Darwin and Einstein, much of what we once called “religion” lies in ashes. But it is the nature of human understanding to die and then rise from the ashes. There is a growing realization that something is being born in between what we call “religion” and what we call “atheism.” It is a Colossus with the clarity of a scientist and the reverence of a mystic. We do not yet have words for it, but I personally find it a thrilling time to be alive.

http://www.religiondispatches.org/dispatches/guest_bloggers/6383/religion_no_longer_adequate_for_the_dalai_lama_/

I always grimace when I see people think they are “protecting Christmas” by privileging Christian symbols over other symbols of the community. Jesus once summarized his teaching as “being a good neighbor” Good neighbors respect and know one another. Christians should always remember that Jesus was a life-long Jew. He never went to the church we have named after him, nor read the book we quote in his name. Moreover, Jesus was bigger than the whole topic of religion. Someone who understand his message of love stops being in competition with other religions, and seeks instead to be a good neighbor to fellow travelers on the one true path- compassion.

To read article on Rosh Hashana, click here:

http://www.religionnews.com/faith/beliefs/Rosh-Hashanah-101-What-you-should-know-about-the-Jewish-New-Year

Capitalism may have once been the only viable system of economics to lead Europe out of feudalism and into democracy, but it inevitably realized it could purchase democracy, and with it every thing else. Capitalism regresses back to feudalism when it replaces the system of government. Titles like “Viceroy” and”Lord” and “are replaced by words like”CEO” and “shareholder.” Words like “serf” are replaced by concepts like”wage slave,” but the lives of the commoners are lived in service to the landed gentry upon whose property they are all born trespassers.

The following article is about how privatization is killing our nation. It covers 5 topics:

1. Public treasures sold off for short-term budget needs

2. Infrastructure decaying in the hands of profit-seekers

3. Water no longer available for the common good

4. Our children put at risk with unproven educational methods

5. Colleges gradually being replaced with prisons

Whatever form of government a nation chooses needs markets. This is not a screed against business. But when we talk about free enterprise, “free”does not mean outside the democratic process, for if people are not free to control the quality of their air and water, indeed if they are not free to control the quality of their own lives, then they are not free at all.

When we remember that the words “business” and “corporation” are abstractions, and that only human beings are real persons, then we can realize a basic fact. Either businesses can be free or people can be free, but not both at once.

To read the article:

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/09/17-0

“Reverend, For years I was disaffected from Christianity. As close as I could get was Unitarian Universalist. Then a few months ago I suffered a stroke. I got world-class treatment in just minutes, and I seem to have retained most of my faculties, but I am suddenly a happy Presbyterian. So, pastor, is Christianity a form of brain damage? Or putting it another way, are we hard-wired for our beliefs or lack thereof? Is that part of predestination?” -Robert Rister

Robert,

So your question is: whether a Presbyterian is just a Unitarian after a stroke? Even though I know you partially have a tongue in cheek, I think there is something important in your question. Forgive that I twisted your wording to make the title more interesting, but as a Presbyterian pastor I enjoyed the poke.

Just as after a stroke one must simplify one’s world, which can actually lead to a richer life, so can religion act as a kind of filter to enrich our lives. Because we are mammals living in a world of such change and complexity, we function at a pace and a scale that our brains can handle, but our hearts cannot.

Our brains can live in Einstein’s maelstrom but our hearts need a nest.

The stories and rituals of a religion can be like the frame of a picture or the walls of a stage. They create a staged microcosm in which our hearts may find expression. They should not limit what the brain will consider, but in this unbounded universe, they may filter out enough stimulation and information for deep art of human living to take place.

Jim

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the government of heaven.

For, only those who can let go of possessions are capable of sharing the whole world.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

For, only those who feel the sadness of others can ever heal of their own wounds.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
For, only those who renounce artificial value can experience the riches of nature.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be filled.
For, only those who work for universal human rights can ever know satisfaction unsullied by guilt.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
For, only those who show mercy to others can recognize mercy when shown to them.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
For, only those who can be truly human can ever experience the sacred.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. For, only those who work for peace can know how it feels to be in the common life.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for being just, for theirs is the government of heaven.For, only those who are willing to suffer for universal love can stand in the company of prophets.