Category Archives: politics

The Great Homosexual Lover

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This video is terrible for two reasons. Reason number one: the man is a very poor communicator. Reason number two: the man is absolutely filled with hate and misrepresents both what the church and Jesus is supposed to be about.

At one point he references Obama and says “I’m not going to vote for a baby killer and a homosexual lover!” Umm…I’m not sure if he realizes that Jesus was and and is a homosexual lover. No, I’m not going to write about whether or not I think Jesus is okay with a homosexual lifestyle because I think that this is arguable from both sides and from different angles…and that’s just not what this blog post is about. What IS NOT arguable is that Jesus loves all people, even and especially those who have been marginalized in society (which clearly includes the GLBTQ community). Those who have been forced to the fringes are those who early on were most drawn to the church, they were the ones who filled the crowds who followed Jesus, they felt drawn to Jesus and Jesus people.

I see no need to spend time calling out the people in this video because obviously the preacher and the backwards people who were cheering and clapping his hate-filled speech are not accurate representations of what Jesus people should be like. It would be like spending time and energy trying to argue against the Westboro Baptist folk–it’s both a waste of time and a waste of argument because there’s not really anyone in their right mind who needs to be swayed to disagree with them in the first place! So to spend time arguing against Pastor Charles Worley feels wasteful.

I do, however, think there’s reason to pause and remind us Jesus followers (and those who question what Jesus followers look like) that Jesus was and is a lover of all peoples regardless of race, sexual orientation, moral compass, sex, or economic status and that we are invited to do the same. It is so often easy write people off, to find reasons to be unkind, or–more likely–to find pretty sounding ways of treating people who are different from us with less dignity and respect. The whole “hate the sin love the sinner” phrase is one example of what I believe is a “pretty” way to treat people with less dignity. To look me in the eyes and tell me glibly that you hate what I do but are willing to still love me comes off patronizing and does not in any way feel like an act of love. I’m not suggesting you must like all people’s behaviors, but that phrase has an arrogant superiority to it that I believe is hurtful. It is especially hurtful because it usually emerges outside the context of relationship. Had Jesus’ first words to Zacchaeus been “Hey little man, I hate the way you live your life and your probably going to hell…but because I’m nice and loving I’m still willing to go out for coffee later with you. What do you say?” Zacc probably wouldn’t have hung out with him as he did. Instead Jesus not only treated him with respect and dignity but also showed and received hospitality from him. While Jesus did later invite Zacchaues into a new way of living, Jesus didn’t really live into that phrase “hate the sin love the sinner”. I just don’t see a reason to even use it. It feels arrogant, invasive, hurtful, assumptive, and just plain ol’ not nice. But I digress from the point…

Plain and simply: Jesus loves people. If you don’t vote for “homosexual lovers” then you’d find yourself not voting for Jesus. If you’re someone who wants to lock people up and drop food off via an airplane you’d probably not be in the same voting block as Jesus. If you’re someone who uses a stage, microphone, or pulpit to invite people into hateful living then I’m certain you’d be worshiping at a different church than Jesus. Jesus loves all people…

…now if only I were able to master doing the same…

 

Israel, Palestine, and Jon Stewart

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I don’t claim to know much about the Israeli/Palestinian crisis nor our awkward involvement in it. But for a show that follows a collection of adult cartoons on the Comedy Central network the Daily Show often seems capable of asking some pretty good questions. These two clips are worth watching for sure.

Bastards, two dads, unplanned pregnancies: the Birth story of Jesus

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What a crock! Have any of you paid attention to the lyrics to “Away in a Manger”? Really? Jesus didn’t cry as a baby? Have you ever bucked hay before? Try sleeping in it! You ever see a baby that never cries? That song is just one example of how we have romanticized and thus taken away some of the power of Jesus’ birth story.

How cool is it that Jesus was the bastard child of an unwed teen mom? How cool is it that Jesus has two daddies? How strange is it that Jesus was poor? That he grew up as an illegal alien? That he spent his formative years in the ghetto? That he pooped his pants as a baby. That Jesus had to be potty trained. Potty trained!

The story of Jesus’ birth is not a romantic pretty story of God coming to meet his subjects. No, it is a story that completely captures the experience of humanity in so many ways. When we dull it over we ruin the reality of the story. We miss the beauty of the gift.

Here’s the Christian birth narrative–

A divorced God* decides the only way to bring hope and restoration back to humanity is to work within it. So he sends himself in Jesus as an unplanned pregnancy to a poor teenage mom. He was a child who had to not only hold the tension of having that stigma but he also held the tension of having two dads, one was Joseph and the other was Yahweh–both fathers, both real, both belonging to him. He was born in a barn ’cause apparently daddy number two wasn’t on good speaking terms with his family in Bethlehem. Their impoverished family soon had to flee to Egypt where he grew up as an illegal alien until he was able to return back home to Nazareth–a place that you NEVER want to live and always want to be leaving. It’s the ghetto, it’s Detroit (sorry Detroit).

We’ve missed the story and I think we’ve missed out because of it. Christmas season should propel us to reorient our lives not only around the ideals of the Kingdom of God but around the manner in which that Kingdom was brought to earth. Single moms in our neighborhoods must be cared for! We can’t give them the ugly eye when their kids act up with the store, we must extend grace! The ghetto can’t be avoided as a place too dangerous for us in the burbs (or wherever you live) because Jesus grew up there. That’s his hood…and I  if I were you I’d try to go where Jesus goes ’cause I think he was on to something. Whatever we think about gay marriage maybe we should have space to honor any two individuals regardless of gender who want to love on a child–Jesus seemed to do alright. Maybe we should be gentle with those who come across our border because like Jesus it’s quite possible they’re running from hell on the other side. Maybe the Christmas story is even more than just a season of giving (though that’s pretty frickin’ important and totally fits the story too) but it’s also a season of reorienting our view of humanity because of how Jesus chose to redeem all of it…even Detroit.

 

* All throughout the Bible a metaphor is used referring to God as a jilted lover. As someone who has given his bride (us) everything only to have us turn our backs on him and demand a divorce. Even though he repeatedly says that he hates divorce (’cause divorce so often sucks. We know that) he, in fact, within the metaphor (and everything when talking about God is in fact a metaphor isn’t it?) is a divorced and hurt groom still waiting for things to be made right. God totally gets divorce and thinks that it sucks.

We're the problem

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I’m not one to say that I think the answers are inside–that if we would only look inside ourselves we’d find what we need or are lacking. I think this mentality doesn’t do honor to the value of others and it doesn’t do value to the idea that we’re intended for and should expect more than what we (including our insides) currently own or possess. But I will say that we’re often too quick to point somewhere else before we’ll look inside ourselves.

I support the Occupy movement. I do. Despite all the sarcastic and snarky postings on facebook that trivialize what those people are attempting to do, I at the very least appreciate their willingness to peacefully stand up for what they think is right even despite the seemingly insurmountable odds that we can fix it. The danger, though, of a movement like Occupy Wall Street is that it will cause is to only point fingers instead of look within ourselves. The problem with our government isn’t that they don’t represent the people, but for a long time they have perfectly represented us! The government in most ways directly represents who we are as a people. We’re debt spenders who find value in being bigger and stronger than others. We revel in excess and we honestly think we can get gain and change without loss and sacrifice. We prefer power without accountability while we also despise those in authority simultaneously as we desperately want people in authority to just take care of things for us.

So if I am the government and the government is I (good grammar?) then the question is…Am I living differently? Am I willing to change? Do I recognize my own brokenness? Can I see through my fog of pride, fear, or arrogance enough to admit that I’m part of the problem? The reality is that as long as I can make it clear to all that you’re a bigger problem than I am then I’m free to continue my broken trajectory as is…and that’s a problem…what I mean is that you’re the problem…I mean, I’m the problem…no wait, we’re the problem…AND THAT’S ACTUALLY OK! If we’re all willing to own it in all its messy glory then there’s no shame in proclaiming boldly its truthiness (yes, spell check let me get away with this one).

OWS has a powerful point and has developed a powerful platform. But change must happen in the 1% and the 99%

Why I Didn't Vote…honestly

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I must confess that I don’t remember the last time I voted. It’s possible that I’ve never voted though I think I remember filling out a ballot once or twice. Many of my non-voting years I’ve felt as though I was given the choice between bad candidate A and bad candidate B (here’s Southpark’s version) and I was so unaware of the ballot measures that my vote would have been uniformed and pointless. Obviously there’s some faulty reasoning in there that could be argued against, but my assumption is that in general many people who don’t vote feel and think a similar way. And if we’re completely honest a big part of it is simply laziness and forgetfulness…if we’re being honest.

I could also make a few different arguments around the idea that by not voting I’m actually casting a condemning vote on the system itself, on its brokenness, and on the fact that I believe that hope for our future is found elsewhere (both as individuals and as a nation). But if I were to be completely honest I’d have to say that laziness and forgetfulness are a larger part of why I never voted.

Honestly…laziness and forgetfulness, that’s really what it’s all about with me.

Well those days are over ’cause I’m officially registered to vote! Ok, maybe I’m making too bold a statement because I have not actually voted for anything yet but at the very least I’m positioned in such a way to be able to vote when the time comes.

To be perfectly honest I’m still feeling very indifferent about national politics (particularly the presidential race) but what has my attention is local politics. Local politics actually affect my neighbors in very real and immediate ways. And the one issue locally that really has my attention has to do with supporting our local public transit. The reality, and its a heavy one, is that if we don’t pass this particular measure 30% of our bus routes will be closed and all bus routes on Sunday will shut down. This is a huge flippin’ deal. This is an issue that will greatly affect the poor of our community, their ability to work and keep jobs and their ability to buy groceries at a grocery store rather than a convenience store among other things. Honestly, this is a very big deal for those that don’t have three cars and enough money to pay for gas to commute 45 minutes to work every day.

So I’ve decided to vote ’cause I want my bus system. Is that odd? Is it odd that after all these years it’s this issue that caused me to (re)register and actually vote? Sometimes I surprise even myself…honestly