10 Arguments I'm Tired of Having

I'm getting increasingly tired of people claiming to be Christian, and at the same time, claiming that ignorance, discrimination, sexism, hatred, and intolerance are an inherent part of their religion. This is not the Christianity that I believe, nor is it consistent with my reading of Jesus. 

So here are 10 arguments I'm tired of having - in no particular order. 

1. Neither women's capacity to reproduce, nor their right to autonomy over that capacity, are a threat to Christianity.

2. Jesus told us to welcome strangers, not ask for their papers.

3. Jesus told us to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. He did not ask for a drug test first to see if they deserved it. 

4. Jesus healed people. He didn't ask for an insurance card, and he sure as hell didn't say "let 'em die" if they couldn't pay for the care.

5. No one has a divine right to own a gun. I'm pretty sure killing is not cool within Christianity.

6. What would Jesus do? I'm pretty sure he wouldn't claim that any kind of discrimination in his name is an exercise of religious freedom. 

7. Religion and science are not in competition. Knowledge blesses God. Neither science, nor history, nor geology, nor climatology, nor evolution, nor any other kind of scholarship are threatening to God or to Christianity. (If you're the kind of Christian who is threatened by these things, then blame your own lack of imagination, not Christianity.)

8. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and queer folks are made in God's image. God loves them. And if Jesus were around in June, I'm pretty sure he'd be marching in pride parades. 

9. I'm a Christian and I think free contraception is a good idea. Might even save lives. Pretty sure there's nothing about Christianity that is in conflict with contraception.

10. The only thing that can be interpreted from the Bible about marriage is that the definition of marriage has evolved over time. No reason why it can't continue to evolve.

Trayvon Martin: We've Got Work To Do

Over the past several days, I have been deeply touched by the death of 17 year old Trayvon Martin outside Orlando, Florida. I wasn’t there. I don’t know exactly what happened. I do know that the shooter, George Zimmerman, was told by the 911 operator not to follow Trayvon, but Zimmerman followed him anyway, and Trayvon ended up dead.  

President Obama reminded the nation last week that if he had a son, he would look like Trayvon. This touches me deeply, both as a father, and as an American. I know there may be differences of opinion about politics, but no American can deny the magnitude of that statement. For a very long time in this country, the stereotypes of young people of color, particularly African American boys, have been overwhelmingly negative. Now, with the presence of an African American President, a snap judgment about a teenager in a hoodie being up to no good, could be a judgment against our First Family. 

Again, I wasn’t there. And I’m not in Zimmerman’s head. I don’t know how he concluded what he concluded about Trayvon Martin. Was it because Martin was black? I suspect so, but I don’t know for sure. Was it because he was a teenager wearing a hoodie? I don’t know. I do know that Martin isn’t the first one to be baselessly suspected of ill intent, and Zimmerman isn’t the first to get angry over nothing, angry to the point of violence. 

We have a lot in our society to unpack - assumptions about teenagers, assumptions about people wearing a hoodie, and assumptions about race. I strongly believe that we Christians are called to think twice about our assumptions based on surface details. We are called to see beyond our own anxieties and prejudices, to see the human being, the one created in God’s image, that lies on the other side of our own snap judgments. We all feel anxiety from time to time, but if we fail to acknowledge the person of the other, about whom we are anxious, and if we fail to be critical about our anxiety and whether or not it is justified, we may well end up taking the life, or at least denying the humanity of one of God’s beautiful children. 

GOP Greed Breaking Fifth Commandment

Exodus 20:12, the fifth of the Ten Commandments, reads, "Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you." (NRSV) Scholars tell us the honoring of one's father and mother is not actually about young children cleaning their rooms when their parents tell them to, the point is rather for adult children to take care of their aging parents. And if this happens, their "days may be long", because someone following this commandment is taking care of them.


So how would cutting Social Security and Medicare, two programs that directly help aging parents and differently-abled people unable to physically support themselves, fit with the fifth commandment?


It appears that Speaker Boehner and other House GOP leaders would rather cut aid to sick people and the elderly than dare to ask corporations and the wealthy to pay their fair share. This is sinful. The GOP has lectured the country on moral values for a while now, but this stance shows their true colors - they have sold their moral integrity to the highest contributor. The would rather create public policy that rewards selfishness and greed, than balance the country's books and show some financial responsibility.


The GOP claims to want fiscal responsibility, but when they have an opportunity to make an impact on the deficit by ending the Bush tax cuts, they are too cowardly to do it. 


They claim to want fiscal responsibility, but when handed a surplus by the Clinton administration, the Republican White House and Congress turned it into a substantial deficit. 


I'm not so naive as to expect politicians to always tell the truth, especially when the truth contradicts their chosen narrative. But I do expect people who claim to be public servants to at least once in a while actually serve the public, and not throw our grandparents under the bus to save their contributors a few dollars. 


If we honor our fathers and mothers, we too will live long in this land we've been given. If not, well, here comes oligarchy. 

Why Did Jesus Die?

“In the temple precincts [Jesus] came upon people selling oxen and sheep and doves, and bankers were doing business there too. He made a whip out of rope and drove them all out of the temple area, sheep, oxen, and all; then he knocked over the bankers; tables, and set their coins flying. And to the dove merchants he said, ‘Get these birds out of here! How dare you use my Father’s house as a public market!’” (John 2:14-16)

There is a lot of imagery during Holy Week, of Jesus as the “Lamb of God”, an innocent, being led calmly to slaughter on the cross. During the passion readings, which you will hear on Thursday evening and Friday at noon, Jesus is, actually, fairly calm and non reactive.

But in this story, which happens at the beginning of the week before his death, Jesus is anything but lamb-like. 

Jesus is angry. Jesus is reactionary and violent. Jesus goes into the area around the Temple in Jerusalem, and sees merchants trying to sell animals for ritual sacrifice, and the money changers exchanging foreign currency to buy these animals, likely at unfair rates, and Jesus flips out. He yells at them (according to Matthew 21:13), “My house shall be called a house of prayer; but you are making it a den of robbers!”

In the typical Christian experience of Holy Week, we start with Palm Sunday, the pageantry and expectation of the Messiah, the Anointed, coming triumphantly into Jerusalem, only to die and then be resurrected on Easter. Many Christians miss the death part, if they don’t come to church on Thursday or Friday, and so they miss out on the emotional roller coaster that Holy Week can be. 

But even more so, if we skip the stories of that week, we miss the point that Jesus’s death wasn’t just for later Christians to make theological points about salvation. Jesus’s death was because he was angrily shouting out for justice, turning the tables over on systems of inequality, and crying out for a new relationship with God--ironically one of reverence and piety, not sacrifice.

Make no mistake, this week is about the brokenness and pain of Jesus’s suffering and death. But we should never forget the very human events that brought that death about. Jesus gave his life because he was unafraid to cry out against injustice, to call people to account for their oppressive actions, to fight for a transformation of the world toward greater justice and mercy. 

May this be our guide as we follow his example.

On Wisconsin

Last night, the Wisconsin Senate spat in the face of every working family in their state. I'm angry, and terribly disappointed in their sinful act.


Governor Scott Walker was quoted by the BBC as saying, "'This is about protecting the middle class and doing it in a way that avoids massive tax increases and massive lay-offs.'"


First of all, the middle class only exists in this country because of collective bargaining. Second, tax increases and lay offs were already avoided because of the concessions the Governor got from the unions through the process of, say it with me, collective bargaining. 


(CBSNews.com reported 2/22, "Public sector unions have conceded to Walker's proposal to roll back their benefits in order to help balance the state budget.")


More to the point, I get that the GOP's endgame is to cut the Democratic party off at the knees. Unions have given an enormous amount of financial and political support to the Dems over the last several decades. 


But here's the important question that no one seems to be asking - why? Why do unions support more Democratic candidates than Republican? Because the Democratic party has enacted policies that support working families. That's why. 


When the GOP stops being the party of "no" and starts being the responsible, values-based party their rhetoric suggests, enacting policies that are pro-family and pro-workers, my guess is that the Union money will start to be a little less partisan. 


My heart goes out to the good people of Wisconsin. They do not deserve such callous and hateful leadership.

Stanley Cup Pride

The other day, I protested with several dozen clergy colleagues at the Hyatt Hotels stockholder meeting. Turns out, they're making money hand over fist, but are quite reluctant to share their profits with the workers who're making it all possible. 

There were some news cameras there, but given the Chicago Blackhawks Stanley cup excitement, very little of the protest was shown on the Chicago news stations.

I thought Noam Chomsky was right. Sports is indeed the great distraction, drawing the public's attention away from the pain and injustice of our brothers and sisters. 

But today, at the Chicago Gay Pride Parade, there was the Stanley Cup, which the Hawks had flown back from the NHL draft early, in order for it to make an appearance in the parade. 

So for that, I say praise God! It warms my heart to see the Chicago Blackhawks use the excitement of the Stanley Cup to draw attention to important justices issues. 

With all due respect to Noam Chomsky, sometimes the world of sports gets something really right.

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

I need to preface this by saying that I have deep respect for the piety and practice of the Roman Catholic faith. I cannot however stand by silently, while my fellow Christians defend the abysmal failures of Roman leadership.


Today, on Good Friday, a priest claimed the status of victim for the Pope and the Church in regard to the abuse scandals. Moreover, he had the nerve to quote a Jewish friend, saying that the confrontation of the Church is akin to "the most shameful acts of anti-semitism."


This is absurd. Anti-semitism is baseless bigotry based on sectarian hatred. Questions of the church hierarchy about actual abuse cases, in which Catholic priests unquestionably raped and molested people, is not remotely comparable with anti-judaism. 


The Roman Catholic church cannot have their cake and eat it too. You cannot have a hierarchy, where power is concentrated more and more as you rise to the top, without having responsibility go along with that power. 


The claim is that the Pope, then Cardinal Ratzinger, didn't know what was going on. If you're going to say that bishops and cardinals and popes should be taken more and more seriously as they rise through the hierarchy however, then they need to take more and more responsibility for the people over which they preside. I don't care what he knew or didn't know, I care that his office was responsible for it, and they didn't do their job.


As pope, his authority and responsibility go hand in hand. A letter of apology doesn't cut it. If the pope is truly sorry, then he needs to initiate real, lasting, systemic change in the way clergy relate to parishioners in the Catholic church. Anything short of that is an insult to Jesus Christ and us, his followers.

Do Kids Deserve a Sabbath?

I've been involved in some kind of youth work in churches for several years. I have heard so much about 'over-scheduled young people' that it is really a cliche for me now. Between sports, school, work and a social life, church often comes near the end of too-long to do lists.


But this post isn't about trying to get more kids to come to church (though I'm certainly not opposed to that). I want to know what happened to us adults, that we parents, coaches, teachers and administrators have forgotten about the old notion of sabbath - of taking some time off (Exodus 20:8-11). Or are we all okay with running our kids into the ground?


I heard of a high school freshman having a soccer game starting after 9PM on a Sunday. In talking with a local school official, she said that there are hockey practices for elementary students that end after 10PM on school nights.


Out of curiosity, I glanced at the Illinois child labor laws for comparison. Turns out, kids under 16 aren't supposed to work after 7pm. It seems that in those labor laws, school is actually prioritized above work. 


Shouldn't school also be prioritized above sports? How are kids supposed to concentrate in class when they don't get home from hockey practice or a soccer game until 10:30 at night?


I'm all for encouraging kids to participate in activities outside of school. I know not everyone is an academic. I also know that in some parts of the world, a basketball game at midnight is a lot better than some of the alternatives. But I also know that kids who're able to get a good night sleep are going to be a lot more successful in anything they do.

Where Would Dr. King Be Today?

I spent the afternoon in Joliet, IL. I heard the story of 70 workers who were fired from the Bissell warehouse for wanting to form a union.

One woman worker was 8 months pregnant, and was given no concessions by her employer, having to continue hard labor. Two workers can spend 5-8 hours to empty a 52' container, getting paid $16 each for the whole job. Since they're all temps, none have health insurance, no vacations, no holidays, and no guarantee of a job if they get injured and need time off before coming back to work. Women often get paid over $2 per hour less than their male colleagues. There are a few jobs that are closer to the living wage of $15/hour, but as you get higher in pay, the workers get more male and lighter in skin color.

The Warehouse Workers for Justice, in cooperation with interfaith religious and community leaders, are calling for a boycott of Bissell cleaning products. This is just the tip of the iceberg, but if we can all focus on Bissell first, it'll be a step in the direction of greater justice and mercy for all of God's children.

This my friends, is exactly where Dr. King would be today, because he cared so deeply about how we treat the least among us.