jimrigby.org

Rebekah Duke has sent a nice piece from the N.Y. Times on one authors attempts to bridge the gap between religious and nonreligious people.

“Anthropologists have a term for this racheting-up of opposition: schismogenesis. Gregory Bateson developed the word to describe mirroring interactions, where every move by each side makes the other respond more negatively, like those horrible arguments with your spouse where everything you say makes the other person dig in their heels more fiercely.       

These days we Americans live not only with political schismogenesis, but also religious schismogenesis. The political scientists Robert D. Putnam and David E. Campbell, in their book “American Grace,” found that “recent years have seen the sharpest points of disagreement between religious believers — of nearly all stripes — and those who denounce religious belief of all types.” The last few election cycles have made it clear that many evangelicals think that those without religion are dangerously wrong on many issues. A crop of equally committed atheists and agnostics have reciprocated, with vigor. Professors Putnam and Campbell find that it is the people at the extremes who are most engaged in the battle, but all of us see the battle lines clearly drawn.” -T.M. Luhrmann

I like Luhrmann’s framing of the conversation as more about differences in pychological approach than content. Both sides are focused on important truths but have trouble hearing the other because of bad experiences with the other side.

As I’ve said before, religion is really about the art of living and should make no scientific claims at all. Science is an empirical method, not a philosophy for living, and should never replace our need to affirm and celebrate life as lived.

The author’s belief, and my own, is that we are in big trouble if we cannot find a way to be both scientific and religious. We must not choose between mindless religion and heartless science, instead we must build a bridge between our hearts and our minds.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/opinion/sunday/how-skeptics-and-believers-can-connect.html?_r=1&

Thanks to Bobby Garcia for passing on this amazing song on same sex marriage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlVBg7_08n0

I ran across an illustration I’m going to use in today’s sermon. It puts in a few words, what I take to be one purpose of religion.

 “Suddenly out of the night came the sound of wild geese flying. I ran to the house and breathlessly announced the excitement I felt. What is to compare with wild geese across the moon? It might have ended there except for the sight of our tame mallards on the pond. They heard the wild call they had once known. The honking out of the night sent little arrows of prompting deep into their wild yesterdays. Their wings fluttered a feeble response. The urge to fly–to take their place in the sky for which God made them– was sounding in their feathered breasts, but they never raised from the water. The matter had been settled long ago. The corn of the barnyard was too tempting! Now their desire to fly only made them uncomfortable. Temptation is always enjoyed at the price of losing the capacity for flight.” -Jim Moss.

When Buddha taught against “illusion,” and Jesus spoke against “the world,” they both were referring I think to our everyday trance. We melt into our habits and culture and  lose what makes us most essentially human. Certainly, in our day, most religion has itself become a trance, but it was not always so.

Last week there was concern expressed that Exxon would try to avoid responsibility for the Arkansas oil spill, but thus far the clean-up is proceeding with Exxon at the helm.

The Arkansas Democrat Gazette reported a few days ago that the FAA has imposed a no fly zone over the oil spill and that an Exxon employee is in charge. The FAA claims the no fly zone is to protect helicopters from low flying planes, but critics accuse Exxon of not wanting photos taken of the disaster. Exxon did not explain why news helicopters were banned, or why reporters themselves were barred from the area, or why one reporter from InsideClimate News was threatened with arrest.

Exxon media relations manager Alan Jeffers told RT via email that teams are working directly with residents of Mayflower and are “paying all valid claims relating to the spill and providing interim housing for people from the homes which the city of Mayflower recommended be evacuated following Friday’s spill.” However, resident Chris Harrell tweeted after meeting with ExxonMobil that claims would only be dealt with individually and following the completion of the cleanup. He added that ExxonMobil had given no assurances as to when the cleanup would be finished.

The FAA has not explained why someone from Exxon is in charge rather than a government expert on wildlife or the environment.

Various Reports of the story:

http://m.arkansasonline.com/news/2013/apr/03/no-fly-zone-place-over-mayflower-oil-spill/?latest

http://rt.com/usa/faa-zone-exxon-employee-306/

http://www.commondreams.org/further/2013/04/05-5

http://blogs.marketwatch.com/energy-ticker/2013/04/03/exxon-ceo-proud-of-arkansas-spill-response/

A man was selling bibles door to door. One day a door opened to reveal the Texas Buddha. He had flowing orange robes, blue jeans and a Lone Star Beer. The salesman thought to himself that there was  no chance a Buddhist would want to buy a bible, so he started to leave.

“What do I get if I buy your bible?” Asked the enlightened one. The salesman was a little taken back, but answered, “This bible tells you how to be good. It tells you the history of our faith.” Texas Buddha frowned and asked, “Why would I want to buy the scattered bones of a dead lion?” Shaking his head, he closed the door.

The salesman was rattled, but he knocked again. When the door opened, the salesman blurted out, “This Bible also contains wisdom you can use to live wisely today. It is a handbook for living.” Texas Buddha examined the book, and said, “That is better. Now you are following the lion’s footprints.” Again, he closed the door.

Now the salesman was truly shaken. He thought for a moment about why he was religious in the first place. Finally, he knocked a third time. “I just want to be a good person. I read scripture because I want to learn to love.” Reaching for his wallet to buy a bible, Texas Buddha smiled, ”And that is the lion’s roar.”

I was filtering through the comment section of my blog the other day, weeding out the racist, sexist, homophobic, anti-Semitic and Islam-phobic remarks. I stopped for a moment at one particularly abusive, profanity-laced comment shortly before deleting it.

I tried to picture the person on the other side of my screen typing these threats and profanities. Who are these people who hide behind a keyboard to kick virtual sand in our cyber-faces? Is there anything we might say that would reach them, or to provide support for their victims? Possibly not, but it still seems important to try. Bullies count on our silence to isolate their victims. If we all speak up when someone is being abused, bullying will be much harder. But what to say?

1.      “Cyber-bullying doesn’t make anyone look tough.”

It takes zero courage to insult people online. Surely cyber bullies must imagine that we picture them as towering monsters and that we are cowering before their online persona, but that is not our image of them at all. When we run across cyber-bullies, most of us do not picture intelligence, wit or power; but sad little people. Let them know that you do not believe they are really so petty and small.

It is critical not to return insult for insult. We must model the behavior we hope to instill. Remember that you will quickly tire of such vulgarity, but they may thrive on it. By describing the sad nature of what they are doing it may become clear that you know they are threatening you with a rubber sword. Invite them to come out from behind that mask.

2.       “Ridicule is not reason.”

If a person has a point to make they can do so without insults. Ridicule is the cloak of a weak argument. Often a cyber-bully has spent their life surrounded by people with the same small worldview. They expect that the same empty name calling will work elsewhere. They need to be reminded that they are out of their jurisdiction and must provide logical arguments. Tell them that you are willing to have a conversation, but you will not waste time with someone whose argument runs no deeper than name calling.

3. “I don’t owe you an explanation.”

The cyber-bully has come onto your page as a guest.  Now they are rudely demanding that you justify you opinions to them. You answer their questions only to receive more. They never answer the questions you ask in return. You can say, “I do not owe you an explanation for anything. If you will be polite we can discuss this matter, if you continue your abuse, you will be blocked from this page.”

Those are thoughts off the top of my head. What other suggestions come to mind?

Texas Buddha once answered his door to greet a man selling bibles. He asked the salesman, “What do I get if I buy your bible?” The salesman was a little taken back, but answered, “This bible tells you how to be good. It has stories about the great men and women of our faith.” Texas Buddha frowned and asked, “Why would I want to buy the scattered bones of a dead lion?” Shaking his head, he closed the door.

The salesman was rattled, but he knocked again. When the door opened, he blurted out, “This Bible also contains wisdom you can use to live wisely today. It is a handbook for living.” Texas Buddha examined the book, and said, “That is better. Now at least you are following the lion’s footprints.” But, again, he closed the door.

Now the salesman was truly shaken. He thought for a moment about why he really turned to scripture, and why he was religious at all. Finally, he knocked a third time. “I read scripture because I want to learn to love.” Reaching for his wallet, the Texas Buddha smiled. ”And that is the lion’s roar.”

Reverend Rigby, what is the meaning of the biblical story of the Tower of Babel? In the story, God destroys a tower and scatters people so they won’t speak the same language. Why wouldn’t God want humanity to be unified? –Lucy H.

Lucy,

If we take the story literally, God was afraid that an ancient civilization was about to build a tower that would reach up to heaven. Taken literally the story is ridiculous on almost every count.

Remember that the stories of scripture are mythological, which does not mean the stories are false, it means they are attempts to express insights that are difficult to express in ordinary speech. To “hear” scripture we have to listen to it as a poem. We must never hear the stories as facts or we will try to reason from them. Myths are not untrue stories about something that happened once, they are artistic revelations about what is happening all the time. Only when we put ourselves in the poet’s place and time can we hear what the poet is saying to us today.

Moving into the poetry of the story, the speaker lives on the edge of a great empire that threatens to swallow and eclipse every other culture in the known world. Perhaps the one “language” about to be thrust on the world represents the culture of that empire. Perhaps the tower (a Babylonian ziggurat) represents the technological achievements of that great nation, and the resulting arrogance of the citizens who lived in the shadow of such remarkable achievements.

From this perspective, the insight of the story is timeless. Today our own nation is the current Babylon. We consider our technology as proof that we are smarter than anyone. We do what we can to spread the “American Way” to the furthest corners of earth.  We now threaten to infuse our culture into every nook and cranny of the world, destroying ancient cultures and reducing the world to the monotony of our one “language.” We have seemed invincible but our towers are beginning to crumble as if from some invisible force.

These stories never die. They are repeated endlessly by a humanity that does not learn their lesson. The people who live under our heel see things very much like the poet who told this story. They long to see our towers fall. If the story of the Tower of Babel seems irrelevant today, consider what it might tell us about what was really happening on 9-11.

Congress seems to lack the will to prevent real gun violence, but they may try to do something about the mock gun violence in video games.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said Wednesday that Congress may be forced to take action to limit video game violence. The California Democrat is the latest to add her voice to a chorus of lawmakers, including many Republicans, who have connected violence in video games to gun violence.

How reassuring. If we cannot protect our children, at least we can protect the pixelated victims of “Call of Duty.”

In January, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) told MSNBC’s Chuck Todd that he believes “video games is a bigger problem than guns, because video games affect people.”

First let us stop and admire the Senator’s command of the English language, “Video games is a bigger problem than guns.”

And then, “Because video games affect people.”

Relax America, we are in good hands. If Congress can’t stop another Sandy Hook shooter perhaps they can protect the pixelated victims in Call of Duty. And, after that, perhaps congress can at least get universal health care for the Sims.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/04/dianne-feinstein-video-games_n_3016703.html