Truth and Meaning: The Call for Moral Dissent

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As you read this, my wife and I are driving back to Midland from Raleigh, N.C.. Why did I preach my sermon via Internet video and not from my pulpit this morning? I preached from the road this morning because my predecessors did. Because I can. And because I must.

For centuries, Unitarian Universalist ministers stood at the forefront of change movements: abolishing slavery; developing public education and public health systems; securing civil rights for racial and ethnic minorities, women, LGBT folk and other marginalized people; defending our religious liberties; promoting peace and disarmament; and protecting our representative democracy. I stand on the shoulders of great men and women who have struggled, sacrificed and even died defending our belief in the inherent worth and dignity of every person. And I have the tremendous good fortune to serve a congregation in Midland that supports my work. It is my duty to carry on our legacy of activism.

As a financially secure, straight, white male in a society that privileges all of these things, I can march and be noticed, speak and be heard, protest and be acknowledged. I went to Raleigh because of the injustices taking place in North Carolina affecting our most vulnerable citizens. I went to Raleigh because of the young black man in prison serving time that a white man does not; because of the woman living in a domestic violence shelter with no car, no time off from work and inadequate child care; because of the students in school with no voice and no political influence regarding their future. I went to Raleigh because I can be in Raleigh and they cannot. It is my duty to march, to speak and to protest on their behalf.

When the call from the North Carolina NAACP went out for clergy to come to Raleigh, I remembered a similar call that was answered by the Rev. James Reeb and 100 other Unitarian Universalist ministers 40 years ago when the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called for us to stand with him in Selma. Reeb was later killed by racist cowards on the streets of Selma. The circumstances have changed, but the issues very certainly remain the same. I went to Raleigh because I must do whatever I can to stand with my brothers and sisters in justice, equity and compassion, and in defense of the democratic process we hold sacred.

The situation in Michigan today is no less serious. Our legislature continues its war against women by cutting their access to medical treatment and ignoring their voices in Lansing. Our government continues attacking LGBT folk by sanctioning discrimination and limiting the civil rights of loving gay couples. People with inordinate wealth are funding efforts to destroy organized labor and maintain a permanent and growing underclass by suppressing wages and cutting necessary benefits. Gerrymandering and emergency managers have stripped voting power away from half of our state’s African Americans.

Michigan is better than this. We are better than those who would turn our state into a feudal theocracy. We are better than this because true people of faith love their neighbors without regard to their race, creed, identity or gender. True people of faith care about the poor, the sick, the prisoner, the helpless and the hopeless. True people of faith will unite to overcome greed and power lust. We will unite fearlessly, hand in hand, to live in peace because the truth will set us free. And, until that time, those of us who can will rise in moral dissent against injustice wherever it arises. We will march because moral dissent is our calling.

Truth and Meaning: Pete Seeger Matters

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Truth and Meaning: Pete Seeger Matters

Folk singer Pete Seeger died this week at the age of 94. He was a lifelong advocate for peace and justice, a tireless defender of the oppressed and a Unitarian Universalist. Responsible for so many great songs, including “If I Had a Hammer,” “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” and “Turn, Turn, Turn,” Seeger also helped popularize “We Shall Overcome” as a theme song for the Civil Rights movement. Most of all, he was a musical and social revolutionary who envisioned a better world for everyone.

Here are 20 reasons why Pete Seeger matters.

  1. Because the wealthiest nation in the world cuts food stamps.
  2. Because the most violent nation in the world uses war to impose peace.
  3. Because of voter restriction and campaign finance laws.
  4. Because of minimum wages and women’s wages.
  5. Because music changes lives.
  6. Because of “right-to-work” laws.
  7. Because of the National Rifle Association.
  8. Because of Freedom Industries.
  9. Because no human being is illegal.
  10. Because “this machine surrounds hate and forces it to surrender.”
  11. Because our government monitors what books we read.
  12. Because education is not job training (watch “What Did You Learn in School Today?”).
  13. Because we are still fighting for reproductive justice.
  14. Because corporations are not people.
  15. Because freedom marches to its own beat.
  16. Because of violence against women, people of color, GLBT folk and the poor.
  17. Because one child in America is homeless, hungry, ill and hopeless.
  18. Because religion should be about Truth, Understanding and Love.
  19. Because we need to keep overcoming.
  20. Because this land was made for you and me.

(Adapted with gratitude from an article posted by Adam Weinstein on Gawker this week.)

Truth and Meaning: Memes

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Truth and Meaning: Memes

Richard Dawkins first coined the word “meme” in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene. Dawkins wrote that just as evolution depends on self-replicating genes as the biological unit of transmission in species, the meme represents the cultural evolutionary vehicle humans use to transmit ideas. Memes can include a clip of music, a fashion trend, or an image. Facebook users recognize memes as images and words that spread through the Internet, sometimes like a brush fire. The more poignant and memorable the idea, the stronger the meme.

I probably see hundreds of memes each week online. Often memes will employ cute imagery, such as kittens, or stark drawings of dinosaurs.  Memes sometimes seek to be pithy and philosophical, such as “Whatever doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger…except bears. Bears will just kill you.” And some memes are noteworthy because of their irony, like this one — a young woman sitting in bed holding her head, saying “I just had a terrible nightmare. It was 1912 and I had to listen to a bunch of old men debate the morality of women accessing birth control.”

This past week, one particular meme caught my attention. It read simply, “If Al Qaeda had poisoned the water supply of 300K people, we’d have already invaded the wrong country. Since it’s a corporation, carry on.” For me, such memes are the most powerful because they point out to us the raw truth of the absurd and incredibly harmful acts we commit as a society, often because of our conflicting goals and ethical dishonesty. This meme carries the tragic weight of truth. If the chemical spill in West Virginia had been perpetrated by a terrorist, our nation would have already sent troops somewhere to kill someone for the act. But, in all likelihood, no charges will ever be filed against anyone responsible; the already dissolving company will pay little or no restitution; and in all likelihood nothing will be done to prevent the circumstances from happening again.

A meme such as this one carries particular strength because it highlights two social flaws in the modern United States. First, our out-of-control militarism has already bankrupted our economy for decades and continually threatens to put the lives of our young people in peril through illegal incursions. Our unjustified invasion of Iraq has left that country crippled and embroiled in civil unrest. And we will eventually leave Afghanistan having no lasting positive impact on that region, but creating another generation of men and women struggling with physical injuries and PTSD with an inadequate veterans’ support system. The war mongers in Washington are now licking their chops at the chance to engage in Syria, North Korea and Iran.

Second, our elevation of corporations to the status of persons has provided these soulless entities with all of the privileges of humanity and none of the responsibility. Our capitalist system can only work if the participants engage with good intention and a commitment to establishing and maintaining a high quality standard of living for all Americans. But corporations and their CEO’s now have no incentive to act as responsible agents for anyone but their wealthy stockholders. As a result, our government has been corrupted by exorbitant campaign finances, our economy has been pillaged by criminals with no fear of indictment or conviction, and our environment continues to be raped by polluters whose sole guiding principle is the fiscal bottom line.

People of faith need to consider the impacts of these trends on the moral fiber of our nation. Unbridled militarism defines us as a violent nation of usurpers and conquerors, not liberators. Unchecked corporatism defines us as worshipers of golden idols and not builders of a spiritual kingdom of love and light. People of faith need to not only bandage those wounded by the twin marauders of militarism and corporatism. People of faith need to stand up to those allied with these destroyers, hold politicians accountable as public servants, and engage in noncooperation with the power hungry, the greedy, and the violent people in our society.

Truth and Meaning: The Legacy of Nonviolence

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With today being Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I remember once again the massive work remaining before us to achieve King’s vision of Beloved Community. Last week, I spoke to sophomores at Meridian High School about pacifism and the failure of the institution of war to ever resolve any problem without creating new ones. War in the 20th century was a colossal failure of human interaction with more than 100 million war-related deaths, and even greater misery and destruction. The scale of human conflict may be declining, but our capacity to kill and to cause harm only increases.

How long will it be before someone poisons our water, our air, our food to the point of near extinction of the species? How long will it be before fundamentalists push everyone to the brink because of their intolerance? How long will it be before oppressed peoples rise up out of frustration against modern day imperialists and tear down everything humanity has built?

Were he alive today, Dr. King would advocate for peace; he would advocate for acceptance and understanding; he would advocate for a sharing of the earth’s bounty equally and fairly among all people. But, most of all, Dr. King would remind us that peace begins not at tables of nations, not in legislative halls, not in town meetings, but in our own hearts. Dr. King would tell us that peace begins when we live and love with peace in our own lives every day.

The Beloved Community is a dream, but it is an achievable dream. And the price of admission is really quite small — we simply must adapt and accept new ways of thinking.

  • We must accept that any good derived from violence is far offset by the damage. We must, therefore, forsake violence forever.
  • We must accept that all roads to enlightenment and salvation are valid. We must, therefore, forsake religious intolerance forever.
  • We must accept that we are divine creatures full of the capacity for love. We must, therefore, recognize and embrace love in all of its forms.
  • We must accept that money is also violence; greed is a slave owner to which we bind ourselves. We must, therefore, bridge the chasms of economic disparity that create poverty and inequality.
  • We must accept that tyrants will take whatever we give them and that they cannot succeed if we take charge of our lives and our communities. We must, therefore, empower ourselves to change the world and to conquer the forces of ignorance and hate.

Dr. King would tell us that if you see an injustice, speak out. If you see an act of oppression, support the oppressed. If you see an act of violence, stand up against it. Live and love with peace in your heart.

Truth and Meaning: As goes Utah …

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Truth and Meaning: As goes Utah …

If you follow the news related to the removal of bans on same-sex marriage, you should be watching the events playing out in Utah. That is because the same series of events may happen in Michigan in just a few weeks. On Tuesday, Feb. 25, Judge Friedman of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan will hear arguments in a court case regarding adoption and marriage equality in Michigan. The judge may deliver his ruling that same day. One of the possible outcomes is that the judge will rule Michigan’s ban on same-sex marriages unconstitutional, opening a window for a wave of same-gender marriages in the days following the ruling.

Equality Michigan is maintaining a database of clergy who will be available to perform marriages. At this point, I am the only minister in Midland on the list, and one of only four in Mid-Michigan. The anticipation of the joy I feel for that day cannot be measured.

Now, if the idea of legalizing same-sex marriage still sends you into a tizzy, let me challenge your thinking.

1. Legalizing marriage between partners of the same sex does absolutely NOTHING to hurt marriages between straight people. Those who argue for the “sanctity” of marriage should look to the real factors destroying the institution of marriage in this country, such as infidelity, domestic violence, income inequality, and the lack of necessary health care and family support services. And if you argue that marriage is only intended to support procreation, then why not ban marriages of infertile couples, the elderly, or those choosing to remain childless?

2. The fact that the ban in Michigan arose from a voter referendum is of ZERO relevance. A basic human right is exactly that – an inalienable right – and cannot be “voted” on by anyone. Two consenting adults committed to each other and bound in love have the basic human right to have their union recognized and respected. They deserve the same rights as married heterosexual couples.

3. Keeping gay people from marrying IS discrimination. Hundreds of laws make life extremely difficult for people whose partnerships are not recognized by governments. These exclusions are cruel, punitive, and inhuman, and they serve no social good.

4. The Bible contains nothing barring loving couples from joining in marriage. You don’t get to pick and choose from Leviticus unless you are willing to adopt ALL of its laws (no shellfish or meat cooked rare, no mixing of cloths, no tattoos or shaving, and hundreds of other common modern practices). Sodom and Gomorrah were not destroyed for allowing gays to marry. They were destroyed because they threatened the violent gang rape of strangers. And Paul was talking about depravity in general – not committed relationships between loving partners who wished to join in marriage.

5. Research shows conclusively that children reared by same-sex couples fare just as well as those raised by different-sex couples. And if you still think that homosexuality is a lifestyle choice, then you need to read the scientific research before forcing your uninformed opinion on others.

If you are a gay or lesbian couple looking forward to getting married in Michigan, get ready. If Judge Friedman rules in our favor, the window of opportunity may indeed be short. The Midland County Clerk’s Office is prepared to offer licenses, and I would be thrilled to officiate at your ceremony!

Truth and Meaning: Prophesy

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Truth and Meaning: Prophesy

Last week, I posted some predictions for the coming year. I do not consider this a trivial task, or a casual posting to pique the interest of the reader. Through the ages, to prophesy has meant conducting the act of revelation, giving an inspired message from god or the gods or a divine source. Usually a prophecy is associated with foretelling the future, but it can also include messages of inspiration or admonishment towards a particular people or even an individual.

Grammar plays an important role in determining the use of the term “to prophesy.” In its transitive form, the act of prophesying implies that the message originates from a deity (“The minister prophesied rewards for the faithful and punishment for the wicked.”). In its intransitive form, prophesying derives from the human speaker (“The minister prophesied possible futures in the Sunday morning sermon.”) In its intransitive form, therefore, anyone is capable of prophesying — to teach, to predict, or simply to make observations.

In this broader view, any oration in a religious venue can be viewed as an act of prophesying. Ordained clergy, who have generally received extensive instruction in religious matters and gone through a discernment process to prepare them for ordination, might be expected to regularly prophesy as part of the practice of homiletics (delivering sermons aimed at the spiritual needs, capacities and conditions of a congregation). When viewed as a profession, prophesying might be considered an act expected of ministers to offer insight, inspiration and instruction through preaching.

I don’t believe that I need to stand behind a podium in order to prophesy. And because I consider everything I do to be religious in nature, prophesying is any act of speaking or writing to make observations, to inspire or to teach others. This is my purpose in this blog, a purpose I will continue in the coming year. Consider that the last of my New Year’s predictions.

Truth and Meaning: New Year’s Predictions

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Truth and Meaning: New Year’s Predictions

On Christmas Eve, I cited Isaiah from the Jewish Bible. A prophet of ancient Israel, Isaiah foretold many things, including the birth of a baby that would lead the people to a world of perfect peace. As a seer of future events, many people consider Isaiah’s predictions remarkably accurate.

Of course, there have been many prophets over the centuries. Far more predictions have been dismal failures than have hit anywhere close to their intended mark. For every Isaiah, history has forgotten countless others who dared to foretell future events.

So, at the risk of joining the thousands on the trash heap of history, I offer my predictions for 2014. And, perhaps like Isaiah, I offer these predictions not so much in the spirit of clinical accuracy, but in the desire to instill hope in a people whose faith could use a boost.

  • In 2014, the trend of electing mental midgets, corporate tools and special interest pawns will decline.
  • In 2014, the federal government will heed the overwhelming will of the people and pass comprehensive legislation creating mandatory background checks for all gun purchases.
  • In 2014, the kinks in the Affordable Care Act will slowly disappear, silencing its critics into well-deserved irrelevancy.
  • In 2014, the voices of women will grow until even the most hard-of-hearing legislators are forced to listen.
  • In 2014, long overdue immigration reform will provide a reasonable path to citizenship for millions of future Americans.
  • In 2014, progressive leaders and thinking will sprout from the dunghill of reactionary, no-nothingism that has strangled our nation for too long.
  • In 2014, Michigan will join the growing list of states removing restrictions barring same-sex marriage.
  • In 2014, we will look less for the differences that separate us, and more for the common bonds that unite us. 

I profess no special gift for prophecy — only the spirit of hope for this nation that we will lift ourselves from the doldrums of complacency and fear. I believe in America and I believe in the American people. And I believe that we are destined to be better than we have been in recent years as a nation, as a people and as individuals.

Truth and Meaning: Peace

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Truth and Meaning: Peace

As we prepare to celebrate a holiday proclaiming peace on earth and good will to all, let us take a moment to ask ourselves a question. When Jesus taught us that peacemakers are blessed, what exactly did he mean by making peace?

For nations, peace means the absence of war. Peace silences military conflicts, disarms combatants and finds long-term resolutions to differences. So, making peace requires first a willingness to avoid combat, the rejection of physical violence as a solution to disagreements. Second, a peacemaker must actively seek ways to eliminate the causes of war. Therefore, making peace requires us to seek a fair distribution of the world’s resources, so that no nation feels compelled to invade another out of need or deprivation. Making peace calls on us to understand and respect other cultures, and to find common ground that spans our gaps in perspective. Making peace means honoring the sovereign rights of all nations and defending those rights, when necessary, as nations united by common core principles.

In our communities, peace means the absence of crime. Making peace means supporting the laws of the community that define peaceful behavior. But, beyond mere policing, making peace requires us to build a healthy network of cities and towns, and maintain the balance between the interests of the people and those of the private sector. Only by maintaining this balance can industry be assured of an educated, healthy and motivated workforce and consumer base. Only by maintaining this balance can the people sustain the social infrastructure and capitalize on economies of scale for the provision of services and products. Only by maintaining this balance can industry thrive and the people earn the due rewards of their labor. The job of government is to ensure that the people and the private sector honor their social contract of mutual assistance, and fill the gaps when the system falters and leaves either individuals or businesses without a safety net.

 
For individual persons, peace means harmony and seeking to attain a state of enlightenment. Making peace means loving others — all others — as you would have yourself loved. For only by sending out love into the world can the world generate enough love to echo back to each and every person. But in order to send out love into the world, you must first love yourself. Making peace means loving yourself so that you may become an engine of love production for others, for communities and for the world.

How do I do that, you ask? How do I learn to love myself? Here are some suggestions — my Christmas gift to you:

  • Make peace with your present self — You may be a creation of God, but you are not a god. You are a wonderful and amazing … and flawed human being. To love yourself, stop trying to be Superman and just be the most super man or woman you can be. Forgive your feet of clay so long as they are walking in the right direction.
  • Make peace with your past self — Whatever lies in history is done. To love yourself, take responsibility where it is yours and ask for forgiveness. And if the blame lies with someone else, then leave it to them. You cannot control the feelings of others, you only have control over your own feelings.
  • Make peace with your future self — Goals are great and we should all have them. But life is chaos. Life is unpredictable. We never really know where the next day will lead. To love yourself, make plans, but live your life. Live boldly, fearlessly, sometimes even recklessly. Only by living can you love.
  • Make peace with your eternal self — Death is inevitable. However you view what happens after death, your spirit will live on through your actions here and now. And since none of us can know what happens after death, stop worrying about it and focus on the here and now. To love yourself, embrace your spirit and treasure the gift you are to the world. Love yourself by being the most ‘you’ that you can be. Love yourself by letting the flower of your life blossom.

Let there be peace on earth this holiday season and all the year round. And let peace begin with each and every one of us.

Truth and Meaning: Christmas is for Children

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Truth and Meaning: Christmas is for Children

In a few days, people around the earth will celebrate the birth of a child — a child who changed the world forever. Christmas celebrates the miracle of birth, the miracle of children in our lives. Christmas is a time of wonder and magic, of mystery and anticipation. In the deepest cold of winter and the longest nights of darkness, Christmas reminds us of joy and light, of laughter and love.

But this year, families across the country will remember this season for another reason. They will remember today, Dec. 14, as the day that a man with a gun stole a child away forever from their family. Twenty families will remember children killed in Newtown, Conn. one year ago today. As they remember the birth of a baby in a manger, they will also remember their own birth and raising a child. They will remember sending their child to school, to the safety of friends and committed teachers. And they will remember that they will never see that child alive again.

They will pray for guidance. They will cry and mourn and ask “Why?” Perhaps they will find answers. Perhaps the wisdom to cope with such devastating loss will be delivered to them. Perhaps the grace to forgive the executioner will be granted. Perhaps their faith will sustain them in the absence of any rational reason for the meaningless death of 20 children.

They will pray in silence. Many of us will join in silent remembrance as well, connecting perhaps through our own pains of grief and loss. We will weep silently and feel the dread cold of the eternal night surrounding us all, but which came far too early for these 20 lives.

But, the question, “Why?” must not be asked silently. The question “Why?” should be shouted from every home, at every legislative office, in every hall of government. Why do we allow people to access guns freely without background checks? Why are we incapable of passing one law controlling the sale of guns when the overwhelming majority of Americans desire it? Why do we do nothing as our children continue to die?

Jesus taught the ways of peace. The babe born on Christmas Day commanded his disciples to sheathe their swords, saying that those who take up the sword will die by the sword. America has taken up and embraced guns with the caress that should be reserved only for infants. And we are paying the price for nurturing a gun culture with the blood of our children.

So when you go to your church to honor the babe, pray silently for the 20 lost children, who will never know another Christmas with their families. But come home and scream, “Why?” Go forth and demand that America put down the sword and pass sensible gun legislation. Shout until your voice cracks and your throat grows hoarse so that no family must endure this pain again. Let there be no more silence — let us send out the call for remembrance and resolve.

Truth and Meaning: The War on Women Continues …

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Truth and Meaning: The War on Women Continues …

Michigan legislators are considering acting on a petition that will clearly reveal their level of callous disregard for women. The petition calls for a ban on abortion coverage as part of Michigan health insurance policies. Instead, to get this coverage, women would be required to buy a separate abortion insurance rider policy.This action would make access to comprehensive health care nearly impossible to obtain for many women around our state. This proposal singles out women and denies them health care coverage for life-saving health care services with no exception for rape, incest or the life and health of the mother.

Now, let’s be clear. The proposal does absolutely nothing to eliminate abortion in Michigan. The action only increases the cost of abortion to women. So the only undeniable impact of this proposal is that a legal medical procedure will now cost a specific, targeted population of citizens more money — money that many of these citizens do not have. This proposal singles out women, forcing them to pay more money for medical treatment to which they have a legal right.

But let’s concentrate on what this proposed action does for the rest of us. If enacted, the proposal will do nothing to make us better men. It will not make us more responsible sexual partners. It will not make us better husbands or fathers. But if we choose to rape, it will make it more likely that our victim will be forced to carry a resulting pregnancy to term and to live with the consequences of our rape for the rest of their lives.

So the real impact of this proposal is to facilitate economic and physical violence against poor women. A woman with enough money will still have access to abortion. But a woman lacking financial resources will now have to play Russian roulette with their health care. A woman suffering a life-threatening pregnancy will now bear an even greater financial burden in order to live. And victims of incest or rape will face one more hurdle to restoring their health and well being.

I urge legislators to reject this ill-conceived and offensive proposal. And if they feel that they must proceed, then stop playing political games and put the matter to a vote of ALL the people — not just the small handful required for submitting such a petition. If legislators truly consider themselves “pro-life,” then they should do the right things to reduce unwanted pregnancies: mandate comprehensive sex education for all children and youth; make birth control widely available and affordable; hold men accountable for violence and sexual assault against women; and provide universal, affordable health care, better child care services, equal wages for women, and quality public education for all of our children. If they are unwilling to support these causes, then they should stop calling themselves “pro-life” and call themselves what they really are — “anti-woman.”