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The State Department has released a report indicating that religious intolerance is on the rise globally. Anti-Semitism is on the rise in much of the Arab world, and anti-Islamic prejudice can be found increasing in Europe and Asia.

The report did a good job at condemning anti-Semitism. It made mention of:

An incident on 19 October when Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi said “amen” to a religious leader’s call upon Allah to “destroy the Jews and their supporters”.

Government-controlled media in Venezuela, meanwhile, had published numerous anti-Semitic statements, including in opposition to a Catholic presidential candidate with Jewish ancestors.

The report also noted the Iranian government’s frequent denunciations of Judaism.

“Even well into the 21st Century, traditional forms of anti-Semitism, such as conspiracy theories, use of the discredited myth of ‘blood libel’ and cartoons demonizing Jews continued to flourish,” the report said.

The report also did a good job of pointing out intolerance by majority Muslim groups toward minority Muslim groups.  Where the report did not do so well is in holding America and Israel to task. For example, it did not mention the actual bombing of Islamic countries by Israel and the US, or the stereotyping of Muslims in both countries as “terrorists.” Instead, Mr. Kerry ignored anti-Semitic and anti-Islamic attitudes in the US:

As he unveiled the report in Washington DC, Mr Kerry acknowledged that America’s own record was not perfect, but said religious freedom was a “universal value”.

“The freedom to profess and practise one’s faith – to believe or not to believe, or to change one’s beliefs – that is a birthright of every human being,” he said.

“I urge all countries, especially those identified in this report, to take action now to safeguard this fundamental freedom.”

For those willing to take off the rose colored glasses, Humboldt University has constructed a “Hate Map” of homophobic, racist, anti-Semitic, anti-Islamist or other forms of hateful speech made in the USA and sent out on Twitter. (link below)

Whatever the actual demographics of hate, our only sane response seems clear enough. Those of us who are serious about lessening hate in the world can only begin with our own hearts and minds. We must purge our thoughts of that idea that we can solve this problem through violence. Violence is what has caused this insanity. Instead, we must redefine courage as the willingness to risk danger in order to establish communication with those who are different. Every person of every nation and every religion must stop believing the propaganda of its own group. We must trust that behind the frightening images our culture paints of our enemies, that underneath the differences beat human hearts just like ours.

Report by State Department

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22601881

Hate Map:

http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/05/20/the-geography-of-u-s-hate-mapped-using-twitter/?xid=rss-topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+time%2Ftopstories+%28TIME%3A+Top+Stories%29

The Reverend Clovis Jones, Texas Buddha and Professor Sarah Jacobs were playing guitar together when a sand storm blew in. TB and the others rushed outside to secure the frightened animals.

Later, back inside the house, Professor Jacobs, an atheist, decided to take a humorous jab at her religious friends. “Next time that happens, why don’t you two just pray to end the storm the way Jesus did?”

Reverend Clovis Jones was not happy with the joke and soon left.

Sarah Jacobs felt terrible, but she also realized that she felt some frustration with what she took to be magical thinking by her friends.  Later that evening, she respectfully asked TB, “So, why do you pray?”

TB had not been the least bit upset with her joke, but wanted to respond to her sincere inquiry. “Why do you tune your instrument?” he finally asked.

“Pardon?” She asked.

“Do you remember when the storm hit, amid all the chaos, my little wind chime was singing furiously.”

Thinking back, Sarah remembered the sound and smiled.

TB continued. “When an instrument is not in tune, almost any effort to make music is futile. When an instrument is in perfect pitch, even random winds produce music. The heart is the same way. For me, the heart of prayer is listening. I am not speaking to an imaginary person as you suppose. I am getting very still until I have tuned my heart to life.”

It is strange to hear some people talk about science as if it were a liberal conspiracy. I have conservative friends who seem to think that the scientific community is a lobby group secretly concocted by by leftist fanatics, and their consensus on climate change as a ploy to make good old boys drive smaller trucks.

Louis Black says it best:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXRNogFkM8k

Malala is the young Pakistani woman whose pursuit of education resulted in her being shot in the head at point blank range by the Taliban. Like other religious bullies through the ages, the Taliban thought shooting this outspoken young woman would send a message to all who think that woman should be educated.

Ironically, the Taliban were right. The shooting sent a shock wave around the world. Men and women everywhere realized the importance of solidarity on behalf of the 66 million girls denied education world wide.

Mala was just 15 years old at the time of the attack. Now she is recovered and is back in school still speaking fearlessly,

“God has given me this new life, I want to serve the people. I want every girl, every child, to be educated.”

Amy Jones and Texas Buddha were sitting on his back porch watching lightening bugs on a humid Austin evening.

Amy decided to put TB on the spot. “Do you believe in God?”

Finishing a sip of iced tea, TB answered, “In my way of understanding, one does not believe in religious symbols, but through them into a deeper sense of reality. Every symbol reveals some things obscures others.”

Amy thought for a moment, “So what does the symbol God reveal?”

“The symbol God can be used to remember that infinity which is always outside our widest allegiance, that primordial depth which is always beneath our deepest emotions, and that playful mystery which is always between our clearest distinctions.”

“And when does the symbol God obscure reality?”

“Whenever it is used to prove a theory, justify a cause, or replace human relationships.”

Attention Kmart shoppers!

All you who would rather save a dollar than a life,

There is blood on isle 9.

And today only,

You can hear the screams,

Of factory workers who died in collapsed buildings,

To bring you the new Barbie Dream House.

And who worked dusk until dawn,

At unlivable wages,

To bring you these T-shirts,

Three for ten dollars.

And whose dark brown fingers,

Have brought your children,

This blue eyed doll.

On isle 7,

We have a tribute to the brave marines,

Willing to invade any who would break our yoke.

Willing to crush their hopes ,

Or as we like to say,

Willing to protect American interests.

Why do the heathen rage?

When their servitude,

Creates American jobs,

And make products cheaper for our own poor?

Thus do we play,

The poor against one another,

Rather than curb the appetites of rich,

Whose God is their belly.

And who have subcontracted out with murderous indifference

Their crimes,

They who are the innocent executioners of our manifest destiny.

Why do the heathen rage?

Do they not know,

Whether it is for the pride of a Reagan,

Or the hope of an Obama,

That enslaved workers,

Have always been the invisible hand of the market?

Attention, Kmart shoppers,

You who would rather save a dollar than a life,

Please avoid isle 13, where a mysterious stranger is crying out,

That we have fattened our children for a day of slaughter.

And that the mark of beast,

Is the corporate logo,

On our clothes.

Note: I wrote this after reading the list of companies that refused to sign the Bangladesh Factory Safety Accord

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/17/bangladesh-factory-safety-accord_n_3286430.html

I have been doing a sermon series on the historical roots of Christianity. Tomorrow we will take the following verse from Matthew:

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for you souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

To illumine that text, we will look at their parallel in the figure of Sophia in Sirach:

 “Come to me, you who desire me, and eat your fill of my fruits”

“Put your feet into her fetters, and your shoulders and carry her, and do not fret under her bonds. For at last you will find the rest she gives, and she will be changed into joy for you. Then her fetters will become for you a strong defense, and her collar a glorious robe. Her yoke is a golden ornament, and her bonds a purple robe.”

I hope comparing these passages will make it clear that Jesus was not speaking in a vacuum, but was often paraphrasing the Wisdom (Sophia) of Proverbs and of other ancient scriptures left out of the Protestant canon (like Sirach and the Wisdom of Solomon.) Further, we will see that the wisdom literature of our canon is heavily influenced by earler roots coming from Egypt.

We will also notice how reducing the imagery down to male vocabulary makes some of the poetry harder to understand.

At this point, I suspect my three points will be that Jesus is not calling us to belief but to awareness, not to religion but to life, not to obedience but to love.

I have been listening all week to conservative talk show hosts contend that the IRS has a bias against conservative nonprofit groups. While I agree that the IRS was wrong to target Tea Party groups, I also think it is important to keep some perspective. The IRS does have a duty to investigate whether nonprofit groups are front organizations for political lobbying. The guestion is, are they being fair.

I decided to explore the question of prejudice by seeking a neutral standard. I decided to put conservative nonprofits on one side of the ledger and liberal nonprofits on the other. I then simply asked the question, “how much of the money each side raised received a tax exemption?” It seemed to me, that tally would be a fair test.

Here is what I discovered at opensecrets.org:

“Of the 21 organizations that received rulings from the IRS after January 1, 2010, and filed FEC reports in 2010 or 2012, 13 were conservative. They outspent the liberal groups in that category by a factor of nearly 34-to-1, the Center for Responsive Politics analysis shows.”

So conservative nonprofits are outspending liberal nonprofits 34-1, and still feeling mistreated. That total does not include some of the biggest conservative spenders like Karl Rove’s group that has yet to be approved, but is already raising money. I do not know the answer, but our democracy faces a tremendous crisis that the IRS was trying to address in these investigations. Citizens United has allowed corporations to empty enormous sums of “dark money” into our political process and hide behind tax exempt groups. I agree it is unfair to single out conservative nonprofits, so the only options I can think of are to either wave tax exempt status for everyone, or open all groups to the same kind of rigid scrutiny.

http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2013/05/conservative-groups-granted-exemption-vastly-outspent-liberal.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OpensecretsBlog+%28OpenSecrets+Blog%29

The Reverend Clovis Jones and Texas Buddha were playing guitar. Amy listened while she babysat her infant cousin John Henry. At one point, the infant dropped a rattle outside the crib and began to cry. Amy reached for the rattle, “John Henry, you still have a crib full of toys. Why are you crying for the one thing you can’t have?”

Without stopping his playing Texas Buddha shouted, “Young John Henry is teaching you the ‘one moment glad, three moment sad’ rule.”

Sensing he might get a sermon out of it, Clovis stopped playing, rested his hands on his guitar and asked, “what is the ‘one moment glad three moment’ sad rule?

“Possessive desire can give us tunnel vision. When we obsessively desire something we do not have, it is hard to fully appreciate the wonderful things we do have, thus we are not as happy as we were before our desire to possess something. Then, when we obtain the object of our desire, we worry about losing it. That is our second moment of unhappiness. Finally, when the object of our desire passes, as all things do, we can again be made unhappy by remembering what we no longer have.  That is the ‘one moment glad, three moments sad rule’.”

Amy objected, “But I don’t want to live without desire!”

“And you shouldn’t live without desire,” Texas Buddha agreed, “Just remember at all times that what you love belongs to life and not to you.”