A Better Way to Live

We usually live in the tension between hostility and hospitality. This is true of us all. It is true of nations as well. 

In her latest book, Grounded, Author Diana Butler Bass astutely observes that the “tension between hostility and hospitality remains the central conflict underlying the worst episodes of human hatred, oppression, terrorism, and war.” 

In other words we humans, even as enlightened and sophisticated as we may think we are in the West, have been unable to successfully resolve this persistent tension. Quoting one of my favorite spiritual writers from the 1970s Bass continues:

"Our society seems to be increasingly full of fearful, defensive, aggressive people anxiously clinging to their property and inclined to look at their surrounding world with suspicion, always expecting an enemy to suddenly appear or do harm" (Henri Nouwen).

Yet Bass offers what might be a solution to help us resolve the tension between hostility and hospitality. She points us to the ancient story of Abraham that offers some clues as to how we ourselves might better resolve this complex tension.

Abraham, formerly known as Abram, is the father of three major world religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He lived in one of the most pivotal periods of human development and history. 

Abraham was the first, according to the Hebrew tradition, to recognize and serve one universal God. This was a huge development among ancient peoples of his time, whose gods were at best local tribal deities. Suddenly the idea of one universal God entered into the human experience. This idea was seismic.

Abraham’s God became the one true God of the whole world. The essence of God’s call of Abraham was to spread the word (blessing) of this one universal God. In other words, through Abraham (somewhere around 1200 CE) God would reveal himself as the God of one people who learned to live peacefully in God’s kingdom.

As we read the Biblical account of Abraham’s story we immediately see that hospitality would become the glue that would hold humanity together within this peaceful kingdom. 

Okay, that’s the ideal and we all know that making the ideal reality is never so easy. Throughout history we humans have chosen hostility over hospitality due to fear, a lack of vision for a better world, or the result of just plain ignorance.

Hubris always seems to be the fly in the ointment. Human pride coupled with fear seems to lie behind any meaningful attempt to practice a global hospitality that would lead to a more peaceful world.

Truth is we still think in tribal ways. We still cling to our own tight little niches in which we all look alike and think alike. I would suggest that this ancient tribal spirit is what lies behind any attempt to practice hospitality rather than hostility.

Yet Diana Butler Bass offers us a way to ignite the spirit of hospitality not only within our own individual neighborhoods but also on a global scale as well. This will require a good deal of humility that unfortunately is in short supply among those leaders today that could really make a difference in this world.

According to Bass we might learn to exhibit more “empathy” towards those who are not like us, or don't think like us, or who look different from us, or come from a different place. 

There’s an old saying that helps define empathy for us: “Don’t criticize another until you have walked a mile in his or her shoes.”

Look, I see the world through a lens that is much different from the vast majority of most people in the world, especially those who are scratching out an existence in developing countries or those living in poverty in my own country. 

I look at my world through the lens of an educated privileged white middle class male who was born American. I know that this can skew the way I see others not from my own world.

I confess this as my reality. I own my biases. I am not ashamed of this privilege but I recognize that it powerfully influences the way I see others and the rest of the world. 

Empathy, as simple as it may sound, is the learned ability to see as others see, feel what others feel, know what others know, from their particular station in life. It’s a learned ability to step outside of my own white middle class American tribe long enough perhaps to get a glimpse at how others live, what they feel, what concerns them, and what drives them.

I realize practicing empathy is not easy. But it is what God did for us in Christ: He became one of us in order to identify with us on our level. Christ gave up his privileged heavenly status and put on the sandals of a first century Jewish peasant in order to walk with us through a very dangerous and hostile world. 

One might say that Jesus came to the ghetto to raise us all to a better standard of living. He definitely entered the neighborhood and became a member of the HOA (this is how I would see it from my perspective).

This is hospitality at its finest; a hospitality empowered by Divine empathy. 

Empathy is our world’s best hope for survival. Hostility may indeed continue to be the modus operandi of the world, but it will sadly be our ultimate undoing.

President Jimmy Carter is a man whose faith is demonstrated by the way he lives and by the way he thinks about life. 

He will not be remembered as the greatest President we have ever had. He certainly was not the worse. He made mistakes like any other sitting president. His presidency was overtaken by events such as the Iranian hostage affair.

But fortunately this is not what Jimmy Carter will be remembered for in the years to come. He should and will be remembered as a man of deep faith whose spirituality had feet and hands.

In other words he walked the walk and talked the talk. 

His role in helping build the popular Habitat for Humanity into a national success is well documented. Teaching Sunday school in his home church well after he left office speaks of his commitment to Christian education. Serving as a deacon in his home church speaks to his commitment to serve.

Carter disassociated himself from the Southern Baptists over the issue of women not being allowed to serve as pastors. His stance against any kind of exclusion spoke of his own commitment to an inclusionary Gospel.

There is so much more to this man than the political microscope was ever able to capture or just his four years in the oval office.

Yet I think by far his greatest contribution to humanity just might be his views on war and peace. Jimmy Carter is a man of peace. He makes no bones about his position on the future of our country(or the world) if its leaders do not find more peaceful ways to resolve global conflict.

Here is a man whose finger was not far from the infamous button politicians refer to today. A man who had the potential power to incinerate the world in nuclear holocaust. Such power often corrupts. Sometimes, as in Carter’s case, it leads to humility. Thank God.

Carter recently hosted a forum on human rights at the Carter Center in Atlanta (Washington Post) at which 60 global activists attended and warned that the world is at a “turning point in history” and nations need to create more peaceful ways to deal with global conflict or the future of the world will be in question.

Jimmy Carter is what gives me hope for a better America. It is folks like this humble Georgia gentleman who will make America greater than she's ever been. It is the spirit of service for the sake of others and the love for all of humanity that will create a more holistic and viable vision for a better America and a better world.

We humans have been using warfare to solve one conflict after another for as long as any of us can remember and strange as it may seem, nothing has been accomplished. The world is as dangerous now as it ever has been, yet we continue to arm ourselves to the teeth believing that there is some kind of redemption in “State supported violence” (Jimmy Carter).

I pray for more Jimmy Carters to emerge on the political scene. America is a great nation already. There is no “again” in that silly mantra. We are a blessed people to be sure and it is people like Jimmy Carter that reminds us that America isn’t here for us but rather we are here for America.

We live in a global village and the way we learn to live together in spite of our differences will be  critical for our survival.

Together we can make the world better; we can make America better but only as we discover our own capacity to give more than we get.

So thank you Jimmy Carter for reminding us what really is important in this country. Perhaps with men and women such as you leading us we will regain some since of civility and statesmanship in a nation whose political apparatus has gone awry and a country that has become deeply divided.

God help us all.

It's a Safety Issue!

My parents bought me a BB gun for Christmas when I was twelve years old. Shortly thereafter I shot a little sparrow that was chirping peacefully on a tree limb. I hit my target and the little bird fell lifeless from the tree. 

I had made my first kill shot! 

I should have been thrilled.

Instead I was devastated. I grabbed the dead little bird and ran into the house crying like a little baby. That was the last bird I ever took aim at with that BB gun. 

A few years later my parents gave me a 410 single shot shotgun for Christmas. My father took me squirrel hunting with it. I didn’t kill any squirrels that day but my dad did with his 12-gauge shotgun. I was glad I didn’t shoot that squirrel. I would have never admitted that to my dad.

Then life got real serious for me. I joined the United States Air Force and while in basic training was taught how to shoot rifle, not to kill little birds or squirrels mind you, but rather to kill people.

Thankfully I never had to use that rifle. I never shot another one during my four years in the Air Force.

Years later while serving as a Navy Chaplain and serving with the United States Marines Corps I qualified with the 9 mm service pistol. It was more of an ego thing than it was of necessity since I was a non-combatant. I would have never been allowed to use that weapon even in war, which would have violated the rules of the Geneva Convention.

By the way, that 410 single shot shotgun my parents gave me, I gave it away later in life. Never saw the need for having it in my home, especially around my two young sons.

So my history with guns might be considered rather puny by the more experienced gun advocates. I’ve never thought it was necessary for me to own a personal weapon of any kind, for protection or for safety. Since I didn’t care for hunting what would be the point? I have friends who think otherwise and that’s okay by me. I even have a pastor friend and seminary classmate who carries a .38 revolver in his glove compartment. I suppose it gives him a sense of security.

Personally I have never cared for guns. Please understand, this is a personal thing with me. I don’t begrudge anyone the right to own a gun or even several guns if that helps them sleep better at night—arm yourself to the teeth if that makes you feel safe and secure or gives you some pleasure. 

A former Navy Chaplain colleague of mine owned a weapons arsenal in his home and he was proud of it. His daughters’ boyfriends were not so pleased. He even carried (illegally?) an unloaded AK-47 in the backseat of his car while driving around Los Angeles. He had a full clip nearby in the front seat if needed. 

Now to be fair, this Chaplain loved sports shooting. He spent hours at gun ranges perfecting the art of shooting. He used to joke with me that I liked hitting golf balls downrange while he enjoyed sending 9 mm rounds down range. Okay I get it.

The gun debate in this country is a dead end street. We live in a gun culture in which people are passionate about gun ownership. Yes it is a matter of personal preference. I get that. I prefer not to own a gun or guns. I just don’t care for them. That’s a personal preference and I own it. But that’s me. 

I’m also for responsible safe gun ownership. My friends mentioned previously are responsible gun owners.

But here is what really concerns me. The issue of gun ownership in our country needs to be separated from politics. Politics simply exacerbates the issue by creating an “us against them” mentality. The national conversation about what ought to be done to curb gun violence in this country cannot be held hostage by a political agenda, whether conservative or liberal. It’s much larger than this and much more serious. 

The superficial clichés used to defend gun ownership are also well worn and tired: “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” Or, “the only thing that will stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” Or, “you can’t pass laws to stop those who are intent on killing with a gun from killing with a gun.” These clichés are simplistic and without nuance. We must have a more compelling conversation than what we have on most Facebook posts.

I remember when laws were first being considered to protect citizens from drunk drivers. Similar clichés were often used. People simply do not like being told what they can or cannot do. It took some really mad mothers to force legislators to pass strict DUI laws—and none too soon.

When was the last time you used air travel as a mode of transportation? Are there significant differences in security procedures from a pre- to a post-9/11 world? When was the last time you were allowed to pass through security with your shoes on? Have you been body searched or had your luggage searched? Are these measures a violation of your rights as an American to move about freely and unhindered?

When was the last time you drove anywhere without your seatbelt being fastened? What would happen if the police caught you driving without your seatbelt? Isn’t that a violation of a law intended to  protect us?

The fact is the general public needs protection even when it seems like an infringement on our personal rights. Saying that improved gun laws won’t work is the same as saying we don’t need laws to protect us from DUI offenders or from terrorists boarding our plane. 

I don’t believe we have even scratched the surface on what can possibly be done to provide a safer world when it comes to guns. Gun control is just as much a hot potato today as DUI legislation was a generation ago. It’s eventually going to happen. It has to happen or we will simply allow ourselves to be sucked down that rabbit hole of senseless violence and mass shootings.

So please. Spare me the overly simplistic clichés and shallow memes. If you want to own a gun or fifty guns I don’t really care any more than I care whether you wear your seat belt or not. That's your choice. What I do care about is that our lawmakers become really serious over reforming gun legislation that will help protect the innocent folks of our country.  

It’s not gun owners that need protection. It’s not the right to bear arms that needs protecting. It is society in general that needs protection. We should expect our government to pass laws that offer maximum safety for its citizens. This should be their priority, not protecting the rights of people to purchase and military grade weapons.

Before you put on that Red Baseball Cap . . .

Why are those wearing those red baseball hats so angry?

Look, it's a fair question.

What lies behind all this anger anyway? Is it legitimate anger? Who and what have ticked off the people in the red baseball hats?

What has compelled those who claim to love America and want what’s best for our country to fall in line behind Donald Trump, whose entire political platform has been built upon the exploitation of this anger (which has often turned into violence)?

How can supposedly educated, enlightened twenty-first century men like Paul Ryan (who certainly reads books and has a sense of history) cave in to this racist misogynist unstable bully who has done nothing but incite anger everywhere he goes?

Has Paul Ryan sold the GOP soul to the devil for a bowl of pottage? Has he compromised the grand old Party’s historic integrity by throwing his red baseball cap into Trump’s ring?

During the rise to power in the 1930s much of the German Church did not speak out against Adolf Hitler and the government’s attempt to Nazify the German Protestant Church. Hitler is now considered one of history’s worse racists who engineered the deaths of over 6 million Jews, not to mention those whose bloodlines were not pure Arian (white). 

Church leaders and pastors caved in to this mad man whose agenda was to make Germany great again by creating a thousand year Reich. 

I’ve asked myself a thousand times: “Would I as a pastor have stood up against Hitler?” I’ve wondered privately to myself: “Would I have been brave enough to oppose Hitler from my pulpit based on my commitment to Christ and his teachings?”

Quite honestly I am not sure what I would have done.

Yet there were those brave souls within the German Protestant Church (which became the State Church of the Nazi government) that went underground and worked to derail Hitler and the Nazis. Their movement became known as the “Confessing Church” (Bekennende Kirche) or more properly the “Confessional Church.”

The German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was hanged by the Nazis, was a member of this Confessing Church—the only voice of protest against Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.

So why are we not hearing a similar voice of protest coming from American pulpits today—voices crying out against the resurgence of racism, misogynism, and bigotry that is feeding the anger of those in the red baseball hats? 

Why aren’t more preachers, priests, and pastors crying from the rooftops against what this man and his movement represent? We in this country have worked so hard and long to create a nation in which everyone is valued; that the color of one’s skin or one’s ethnic heritage or one’s religious affiliation or one’s sexual preference is not a disqualifier from being a good American citizen—or even a Federal judge for that matter.

Look, I understand the politics, I really do. I no longer actively serve a church, so it’s far easier for me to write a piece such as this without fear of losing my job. I do expect to get angry responses from some of my readers. That’s okay but don’t expect me to change my opinion of Donald trump. 

But there comes a point when the voices of the leaders of faith communities need to speak out. There comes a time for us to abandon the comforts of our privileged positions and pulpits and take on the mantle of a Jeremiah or an Amos.

Claiming that Trump is the lesser of two evils is a pitiful excuse for supporting this dangerously toxic and unstable individual. Personally I don’t see any way on earth that Donald Trump is going to change (I don’t care how many so-called “good people” he surrounds himself with), even if he is elected President. He will remain a Clear and Present Danger to the United States of America. The only way that this man will change his true stripes would be if God Almighty were to intervene.

In fact there is precedent for such a thing happening. Saul of Tarsus was a very dangerous man. He hunted down and killed followers of the Way (who later became known as Christians). He was a vicious man whose moral conscience was tainted by his own political zeal.

But while on a mission to track down more followers of the Way Christ appeared to him, knocking him from his horse and temporarily blinding him. It seems that this was the only way to get Saul’s attention. Saul later became the Apostle Paul, the great defender of the Christian faith.

Short of another Damascus Road experience I see no hope of Donald Trump changing for the better. 

So I encourage you to think long and hard before you start wearing one of those red baseball hats. If you are wearing one then I suggest you take a very, very hard look at the man who gave you that red hat.

Let history be your guide. This isn’t the first time a guy like Donald Trump has captured the imagination of so many angry people. 

It won’t be the last time but I sure do pray that enough good people will wake up and throw their red baseball hats where they belong: in the trash!

A Tribute to a Great Athlete!

I was saddened this morning to hear the news of the passing of  Muhammad Ali, one of the greatest if not the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. Born Cassius Clay he later became a convert to the Nation of Islam thus changing his name to Muhammad Ali.  

There is no doubt in my mind that Ali was one of the greatest athletes to step inside of a boxing ring. There were others who punched harder and were bigger, but none seemed to possess the athletic skills of the man from Louisville, Kentucky. 

I will never forget those epic battles with Smoking Joe Frazier or that brutal slugfest with George Foreman. Muhammad Ali was a living highlight reel. 

He lived up to his own mantra: "I am the greatest!"

Yet like so many I had a love-hate relationship with Ali. 

I loved to watch him box but I always rooted against him. When he refused to be drafted and fight in the Vietnam War my dislike for the man became increasingly intense. 

I considered him a traitor; one who enjoyed the benefits of living in America yet was unwilling to fight for his country. His antiwar position became public as I was serving my country in the United States Air Force, so as you can imagine his antiwar protest didn’t set right with me. 

I just couldn’t harmonize his being against the Vietnam War while at the same time pound another person senseless in the ring. At the time I simply could not reconcile this assumed contradiction. It made no sense to me.

But people change.

I have changed and I pray for the better. I am not the same person I was during those tumultuous days of the 1960s and the Vietnam War.

From where I sit now I am far less judgmental of Ali’s antiwar stance. I am now able to recognize the courage it took for him to stick by his convictions even though it cost him his heavyweight title and almost his career as a boxer.

The news of Muhammad Ali’s death this morning has given me pause to reflect on that long journey I have been on since the 1960s. I can’t speak for Ali as to why he protested the Vietnam War. I am sure it was not cowardice since a coward would have never climbed in the ring with the ferocious Sonny Liston or the mammoth George Foreman.

Perhaps Ali was perceptive enough to realize that Vietnam was a war fought for deeply flawed political reasons. As of now we do not know for sure what motivated this man with regards to Vietnam.

But I have let Muhammad Ali off the hook as it were. I no longer harbor ill feelings toward this great athlete for his antiwar protest. I forgave him years ago.

Why?

What has changed?

The sort answer is: “Me!” 

I’ve changed.

I now believe he was right to protest that tragic war. 

I believe he was right because I now believe the political reasons behind the war were deeply flawed.

He may not have understood all the political nuances surrounding the reasons for that war; a war that took the lives of over 58,000 cherished American souls and caused irreparable damage to so many that survived it. God bless them all. We must honor them still.

In the words of the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, war is a “sickness unto death.” The untold pain and suffering that our American wars have caused is immeasurable. The overall costs of war in terms of both dollars and human suffering is almost incalculable. 

I realize that there are many Christians who embrace a so-called “Just War” theory. I do not. Besides the wars we have been engaged in as a nation since World War II have not risen to the level of satisfying the criteria for a Just War.

The motives behind Muhammad Ali’s war protest may have been different from my own antiwar protests today but our goal seems to have been the same: Preserve life!

War never solves the problem of human conflict. If anything it exasperates conflict and intensifies human alienation from one another. World War II ended some seventy years ago and there are many Americans today who are angered with President Obama for visiting Hiroshima and acknowledging our part in that war. Consider the latent hostility in the hearts of so many Southerners over the American Civil War that ended in 1865.

Yes today is a sad day. An American icon has left us. You may not agree with the man’s religion or his politics but you cannot dismiss his courage. He took a stand and paid the price for it.

RIP Ali!

I pray that I would be so strong in my convictions about the futility of war—all wars. I pray that I will remain steadfast even in the face of criticism from friends and family concerning my position on war.

I pray for the peace of America. I pray for the peace of the world. But I also pray that we humans will wake up and realize before it’s too late that war is not the way to peace, rather it is the way unto death. God help us all.

Hell is One Hell of a Belief!

In response to a comment I made about my reluctance to believe in hell as traditionally taught, a young man responded by saying: 

“Well I too would be reluctant to believe in hell if it weren’t for that passage about the sheep and the goats.” 

The parable of the sheep and the goats is found only in Matthew 25:31-48. In context we find Jesus judging the nations. The parable’s punch line is the young man's point: 

“And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Now there are some things we need to consider about this parable.

First, it’s a parable and not to be taken literally. 

To read the parable of the sheep and goats with such literalness is to read it in a way that would have been unfamiliar to its original listeners. This is important.

Second, the main topic of this passage is the judgment of all the nations and not the salvation or lack thereof of individuals. 

It is important when we interpret the meaning of this passage that we understand why Jesus is judging the sheep (on his right) and the goats (on his left). He is separating out those who have faithfully seen God's presence in the faces of the unfortunate ones in life from those who have not recognized it.

Third, he is not teaching concerning what happens to saved and unsaved folks.

I can’t tell you how many times I have heard evangelists and preachers use this text as a tool to frighten people into making a decision for Christ. This simply is not a text concerning our personal salvation. It’s not an evangelism text. 

It’s a text on how to faithfully live out one’s faith in relationship with the unfortunate ones in life.

Fourth, we will be judged by our ability to recognize the presence of God in the faces and lives of the poor, the hungry, the strangers, the sick, and the imprisoned.

This is a parable whose central theme is recognizing the presence of God in all people, particularly the unfortunate ones in life.

Quite frankly this parable is not about dying and going to heaven or hell based on one’s decision to accept Christ as Savior in this life. To read such a meaning into this text is irresponsible. Those who first heard it would not have understood it in such a way; they would not have understood Jesus teaching a doctrine of eternal torment in this parable. That is something that was imposed on this text much later in the history of the church. It was not this parable’s original intent.

There is more to consider: 

Jesus was reported to have made some pretty outlandish statements in all of the Gospels. For emphasis Jesus often resorted to hyperbole and excessive exaggeration. This was a common  teaching technique for first century Rabbis.

Consider for example the following teaching found in Matthew 5:

“Let’s not pretend this is easier than it really is. If you want to live a morally pure life, here’s what you have to do: You have to blind your right eye the moment you catch it in a lustful leer. You have to choose to live one-eyed or else be dumped on a moral trash pile. And you have to chop off your right hand the moment you notice it raised threateningly. Better a bloody stump than your entire being discarded for good in the dump” (The Message).

Fortunately his listeners would have immediately picked up on the intended hyperbole and exaggeration, otherwise most of them would have died with less than one hand or maybe two and certainly with less than the two eyes allotted to them. I say this knowing human nature as I do.

Hell is one hell of a belief. 

I personally can find no Biblical support for such a horrible doctrine. I don’t apologize for rejecting the doctrine as hell, traditionally understood that is. It serves little purpose in reflecting the presence of God’s unconditional love. It does little to nothing in reflecting the grace of God towards all humans. 

To claim that God loves the whole world yet is willing to consign billions of humans to everlasting torment because of a bad decision in this life, or no decision at all, just does not accord well with the God Jesus revealed.

Finally, I have heard it said so often that Jesus taught more on hell than any other topic. 

Well, this is simply not true. 

In fact, a careful and responsible reading of the Gospels will reveal that Jesus taught much, much more on how to live in this life than he did about the afterlife. Check it out for yourself. 

Hell is one hell of a belief. 

It needs to be dispensed with once and for all. It does nothing to grow God’s kingdom here on earth. It serves no value in enticing people to accept Jesus. It simply serves to satisfy our human need for  justice, which is far different from God's justice.

 Hell is one belief we all can do without, or at least I can do without it.