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Today is church officer training at our church. My part in the training will be to teach the principles of the reformation. As I prepare my presentation, I am realizing how many times I have gotten into trouble for actually trying to put these principles into practice.

“The priesthood of all believers” originally was meant simply that laity were not inferior to the priesthood. In our day, that same principle clearly means that gay and lesbian believers are as worthy to be ordained as anyone else. I have faced church hearings three times in my ministry for believing in the priesthood of all believers. Others in my denomination have paid a much higher price for this principle.

The protestant principle that “the rights of private judgment, in all matters that respect religion is universal and inalienable” should mean we can actually take responsibility for how we treat everyone, and that we have a right to resist peer pressure from the church to mistreat oppressed groups. The principle should mean that just as we have a duty to obey just laws, we have an equal duty to disobey unjust ones. This principles is especially important when the unjust laws are coming from the church. The democratic nature of decision making in our denomination prevents a fall into chaos and, of course, one must be willing to pay the cost of one’s civil disobedience even if that means excommunication.

The principle that “truth is in order to goodness” means that we do not believe creeds abstractly or hypothetically. Creeds are songs calling us to a different kind of world where all are clothed and all are fed. It is not enough to believe in God, religion must lead to lives of compassion. If a creed does not call us to universal human rights then it is useless in transforming our minds into lives of love. Truth is in order to goodness.

No one today still defends the belief in a flat earth based on first century science. It is even worse to inflict cruelty upon humanity based on first century ethical understandings where slaves were to obey their masters and wives their husbands. “Reformed and always reforming” means that the church must be willing to let go of past understandings and open ourselves to new scientific truths about the universe and ethical truths about the human condition.

So, today I will be teaching the principles of the church to our officers. I will also be noting that these guides can also be the surest way to get in trouble with the rest of the church. Some people in the church give lip service to them, but recoil in horror if they are ever put into practice. The situation is similar to the old Soviet Republic where people were assured of all the basic human rights (free speech, right of assembly, etc.) but would be arrested if they ever tried to practice them. The quickest way to get in trouble in the church is to practice its core principles, but any who love the church enough will live out these principles at any cost.

The call to fight for peace is almost always the rhetoric of demagogues. If we would seek peace we must struggle instead to establish the just conditions from which peace will naturally emerge. While fighting is necessary on rare occasions, genuine peacemaking is more often slow and hard work. Only spiritual children believe they can oft reach the goal of lasting peace through the short cut of violence.

If you are unfamiliar with the “Christian Catfish Awards,” here is a little background. The fish is a symbol of the Christian faith. A catfish is a bottom feeder. Together they symbolize Christian leaders who through exceptional and vicious pettiness have brought pain to humankind and shame to the body of Christ. We are proud to present our very first Lifetime Achievement Award to Rev. Pat Robertson.

There were three excellent nominees this week.

1. Florida pastor Terry Jones, famous for burning Korans, was arrested this week on his way to burn 2,998 Korans, one for every victim of 9-11. The pastor had filled his pickup with kerosene soaked Korans and was towing a barbecue grill. He was arrested on his way to a nearby park on the charge of “unlawful conveyance of fuel.” It’s a common mistake in book burning to soak the books before you transport them. Better luck next year Rev.

2. Former presidential candidate and defender of the faith, Michelle Bachman accused President Obama of having embraced the Muslim Brotherhood’s worldview.

“Now why in the world would we want to put these Islamist fanatics back in power, that hate Jews, that want to see the destruction of that West; why would you do that unless the Obama administration embraced the worldview aspirations of the Muslim Brotherhood?”

Bachman claimed that the Muslim Brotherhood is trying to “revive the Ottoman Empire.” “They are committed to reestablishing a global caliphate. What is very weird is that the Obama administration has bent over backwards to do everything that they can to reach out with what they call an engagement strategy.”

Even those who disagree with the Muslim Brotherhood have to realize that they are out of power and are currently being slaughtered in Egypt. It will be tough for them to re-establish the Ottoman Empire anytime soon, but this was an excellent use of linking Islamophobia and Obamaphobia by Ms. Bachman.

3. Our third candidate, and overwhelming winner was Rev. Pat Robertson. A documentary will be released today that tells the story of his “Operation Blessing” which raised millions for an African charity which was primarily used as a front for Robertson’s diamond mining with some of Africa’s shadiest leaders. Robert’s ministry took pictures of other agencies’ work and passed it off as his own.

Our committee felt that one Christian Catfish Award was not enough for a man who has brought so much misery to the species. Instead, we are proud to present Rev. Robertson with our very first “Christian Catfish Lifetime Achievement Award.”

To help the reader remember this remarkable ministry of hate, we have included a brief summary of Rev. Robertson’s finest quotes:

“You say you’re supposed to be nice to the Episcopalians the Presbyterians and the Methodists. and this, that, and the other thing. Nonsense. I don’t have to be nice to the spirit of the Antichrist.”

“These people (Muslims) are crazed fanatics, and I want to say it now: I believe it’s motivated by demonic power. It is Satanic and it’s time we recognize what we’re dealing with.”

Rev. Robertson famously said that feminism is a “socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.”

(On Hugo Chavez) “I don’t know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we’re trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It’s a whole lot cheaper than starting a war, and I don’t think any oil shipments will stop.”

(After a town had voted out a creationist school board) “I’d like to say to the good citizens of Dover: if there is a disaster in your area, don’t turn to God, you just rejected him from your city.”

Congratulations Rev. Robertson. You are a diamond. One might even say, a blood diamond.

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/sep/05/mission-congo-pat-robertson-aid-rwanda

Prejudice often speaks in a kind of code. You can’t quite put your finger on it. It doesn’t use racist labels, but instead gets the point across thematically. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz recently gave a speech at the Heritage Foundation where he said, “We need 100 more like Jesse Helms.” The message does not mention people of color, but the message is clear. Helms defeated an opponent with a famous as against racial quotas showing the white hands of someone being denied a job and then flashed back to the black face of his opponent. He went on to be one of America’s most visible opponent of civil rights.

Tim Murphy of Mother Jones writes:

Helms’ racism was unmatched on Capitol Hill. He got his political start by bashing interracial marriage and accusing the spouse of a political opponent of dancing with a black man. As a senator, he blasted the Civil Rights Act as “the single most dangerous piece of legislation ever introduced in the Congress” and dismissed the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill as “the University of Negroes and Communists.” In 1983, he filibustered the 1983 effort to create a Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday. The infamous “Hands” ad almost felt gratuitous.

And then there’s this: Shortly after Carol Moseley-Braun became only the second African-American since Reconstruction to be elected to the Senate in 1993, she got an elevator with Helms and Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch. Helms began singing the opening lines of “Dixie,” and then he turned to Hatch: “I’m going to make her cry,” Helms said. “I’m going to sing ‘Dixie’ until she cries.”

Sen. Cruz has made a living opposing a path to citizenship for immigrants, so when he evokes the memory of Jesse Helms in a room full of white conservatives, his point would be clear to all who recognize the code.

I mentioned a while back that I am hoping to raise money for a new organization that will help poor rural women get reproductive care after the Texas’ new anti-abortion law closes all but 5 clinics.”Fund Texas Women” is a new organization working specifically to help Texas women who are losing that care.

Like most of you, I am horrified that some poor rural Texas women will be forced to make desperate decisions as a result of the new law.

The efforts at a fundraiser are slowly getting off the ground. Last week a number of you said you would try to help. This Thursday I will meet in the morning with Julie Gillis who has offered to advise us. On Thursday evening at 5:30 or so anyone who can come is invited to  meet at Dog and  Duck at 406 W. 17th for a casual get together to get the ball rolling.

Don’t worry if you can’t be there Thursday, I’ll keep folks informed through my Facebook page until we get a better method going. Thanks to everyone for their concern and offers to help. It might be good for us to wear black or orange so we can find one another more easily.

“An updated study by the prominent economists Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty shows that the top 1 percent of earners took more than one-fifth of the country’s total income in 2012, one of the highest levels recorded in the century that the government has collected the relevant data.

The top 10 percent of earners took more than half of all income. That is the highest recorded level ever.

The figures underscore that even after the recession the country remains in a kind of new Gilded Age, with income as concentrated as it was in the years that preceded the Great Depression, if not more so.” -Annie Lowrey, NT Times

Thanks to Art Rutherford for the link. I’m linking to the AP story instead of the Times:

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_268744/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=qgIa232k

“Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of supply and demand; it is the privilege of human beings to live under the laws of justice and mercy.” 

― Wendell Berry

In a time such as this, when people confuse violence with power, superstition with faith, and wealth with value, holding on to our own humanity may be the most radical act possible. But know that remaining human in a time such as this may require the courage to be considered a heretic in one’s own religion, a traitor in one’s own country and a failure in one’s own culture.

This has often been the fate of humanity’s best friends.

“Slaves are generally expected to sing as well as to work.” -Frederick Douglas 

Oppressed people are not only taken advantage of, they are expected to soothe the conscience of the oppressor as well. So women are expect to be submissive and sweet even as they are passed over for promotions. Gays and lesbians are expected to live invisibly or play out stereotyped roles without asking for marriage rights. Many who will tolerate a president with black skin would never tolerate a black leader who looked at the camera without deference to white privilege and told America the truth about it’s racism.

For some, the cross is a decoration mounted on church walls. For others, it is a golden ornament to be worn on the wrist of rich Christians. For still others, the cross is a prop used to illustrate someone’s theory of atonement through the shedding of blood.

For me, the cross is a reminder that love is stronger than hate. The cross was a method of capital punishment used by the Roman empire, much like our weapons and prisons symbolize the coercive power of the state today. The cross then, is a reminder of a love that refuses to participate in the hierarchy of oppression in its day, is therefore crushed by that power, but whose example reveals and releases the power of the one life we share with all.

For me, this is resurrection, not that bodies resuscitate after we die, but that love is invincible. Love is invincible not because it meets evil force with good force, but because it will not hate and does not die even when someone has killed the lover.

Since I was a very small child I have felt that forcing children to say the Pledge of Allegiance has a totalitarian feel to it. I pledge alliance to the earth, and to my species, but I need to know if my nation is doing good or evil before I pledge my support. That’s part of what liberty means, and part of what it means to be an ethical human being.