The War on Women Comes to Michigan

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This morning, I drove to Lansing in the hopes of speaking in opposition to an anti-abortion omnibus of bills that are being rushed through the Michgian House.  They are House Bills 5711, 5712, and 5713, and Planned Parenthood is calling them “the biggest assault on women’s health in our state’s history.”

The House Health Policy Committee met this morning to hear testimony and vote on recommending the bills for consideration by the House.  After the three sponsors’ voices were heard, only three supporters and three opponents were allowed to speak (in spite of the fact that many dozens of others came to speak against the bills).  I was privileged to be selected as one of the speakers and I hope I did justice for my sister allies across the state.  Here is the text of my comments.
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As a person of faith, I strongly oppose the proposed legislation for several reasons. There is no evidence to support the assertion that human personhood beginsat conception or even in the first trimester. Until the unborn child loses its prehensile tail and displays independent mental capacity, it is merely a potential human being. Until that time, the decision to continue or discontinue the pregnancy should lie with the mother who, in the end, is the person most affected by the decision, morally and medically.

At a time when millions of unwanted children are hungry and unable to get proper medical care, when millions of families are joining the ranks of the homeless while bankers profit off their misery, while we murder innocent children in endless wars in foreign lands while laying off teachers and closing schools, you have far more important work to do than further oppressing women and their doctors from making informed choices in the best interests of the woman.

And, to require a woman who is the victim of rape or incest to carry to term the enduring burden of that heinous violence is nothing short of cruel and abusive behavior. I cannot even begin to imagine how it feels for a stranger – or even worse, a trusted relative – to violate my most private and personal core being; and then to be prevented by my elected officials from getting the medical treatment I want from physicians willing to provide it? I cannot even begin to imagine the feeling of that invasion for nine long months, all the time risking my health and increasing my lifelong risk of a myriad of diseases? If you justify this proposed legislation on religious beliefs, only a convoluted interpretation of the scriptures of any religion would ascribe such a scenario as desirable by a loving god.

Until you pass laws making birth control widely available and comprehensive sex education mandatory, you have no moral right to legislate the consequences of their absence. If you truly care about children, then feed the boys and girls we already have. Give them the medical care they deserve. Provide them with schools and education so that they don’t ever need to make the decision regarding terminating a pregnancy. Find jobs for their parents, so their families can stay healthy and strong.

People of faith stand on the side of love. And loving means giving people the resources and the opportunity to make their own informed choices, not imposing government-sanctioned moral codes. People who believe that a fertilized egg has a soul have the option to reject abortion. Every woman deserves the opportunity to make that choice based on her own personal theology. This proposed legislation is a violation of our time-honored separation of church and state and I urge you to reject its continuation.
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On of the legislators asked if I opposed the provisions of the bills supposedly aimed at improving the quality of women’s health care provider sites.  I replied that safe and high quality abortion services should be available to all women in the state, regardless of where they live, their economic status, or color.  Another followed up, asking me if I thought his tax dollars should be allowed to pay for something he was morally opposed to.  I responded that my tax dollars are paying for murder in Afghanistan. 

Of course, in the end, supporters of the bills had more than enough support, and they will go before the House soon.  The War on Women has opened a new front in Michigan and the battle will be quickly lost if we do not mobilize quickly.

Atheist Ministers

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Recently, the story of Teresa MacBain – the United Methodist minister who “came out” as an atheist at the American Atheists Conference in March 2012 – went viral.  Welcome to the fold, Teresa.  As a fellow member of this very small association, let me offer some advice as you face your new life.

In the coming weeks and months, your relationship with the people around you will change drastically.  You will be ignored, shunned, and hated, sometimes by people you considered colleagues, friends, even loved ones.  You will hold out a hand only to have people turn away.  You will be pitied, almost like an unfortunate object incapable of both rational thought and compassion.  But, you will find not only allies, but legions of people out there desperately searching for the spiritual guidance that you can offer.

Once the excitement surrounding your announcement subsides, you may find yourself feeling very alone.  And, in a sense, you are doubly alone.  You will lose not only many people in your life, but you have also lost the enormous comfort that a belief in a supernatural father provides.  You will grieve these losses.  But, you have obviously felt this calling for a long time.  Our journey is rarely a flash of light on the road to Damascus.  The path of the atheist minister is not for the faint of heart.  You will have little support and your beliefs will be questioned every day.

Every time you meet a new person, you will be calculating what words to use when the topic eventually arises.  You will hear every stereotype.  And you will learn that we are the least trusted minority in this country.

But, you have tools that most people think are not available to us.  The articles about you all talk about how you “lost your faith” or how you “lost your belief.”  These are inaccurate portrayals.  The only thing you have lost is the delusion that the mythology of god provides answers to anything beyond our primitive fears of death, long winters, lightning, and monsters in the night.  You have only lost a narrative, not your faith.  You have only lost one story, not your beliefs.

In fact, I believe atheist ministers possess more faith and belief than any of our colleagues.  We have more faith and belief because these things are not handed to us for the small price of the suspension of our critical thinking and our innate curiosity and exploring spirit.  When we decide to walk the path of Jesus, Buddha, Lao Tse, Gandhi, or Martin Luther King, Jr., we do it having analyzed their teachings intellectually, reflected on their deeds emotionally, and experienced their lives spiritually.

For they were the true prophets, whatever cosmology lay behind their belief systems or whatever shape they viewed the awe and mystery of all existence. They taught that Love is the only force in the universe that should drive the construction of our laws and the design of our societies. They taught that the only fulfilling way to live was with justice, acceptance, and equality.  They taught that morality is not proclaimed from above, but must be found within each of us.

The atheist minister has faith that humanity will someday accept this message.  The atheist minister believes in the beloved community, a world with peace, social justice, economic fairness, and freedom.  The atheist minister knows that someday, we will build a world in which every child is fed, everyone has a home, all illness is treated, and each person is free to pursue their path in life and proclaim their own identity.

As John Lennon sang, “you may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.  I hope some day you’ll join us and the world will live as one.”  Welcome, Teresa, to the covenant of dreamers.

A Saunter Through the Dictionary

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A significant problem with using the label “atheist” is this.  No matter how you couch the term, or clarify its meaning for yourself, others see it in a massively negative light.  Part of this negative image is earned – many very public atheists have been and are still today obnoxious and so belligerently opposed to religion that they would put off any variety of theist.  Our bad image also comes from the core assumption by others that atheism is, in and of itself, not a philosophy – it is simply the rejection of a belief – without any apparent replacement upon which to based one’s moral system or ethical code.

So, as a lover of word origins, I though I would explore some alternative terms that I might use to label my personal theology for others.  Here are some candidates:

  • Ambitheism – A belief that one can construct a life philosophy flexible enough to function whether or not god exists; an ambitheist might deal with conflicting emotions about the existence of god, and so develops a belief system capable of adapting to either truth.
  • Amitheism – A belief that god is literally the love we show our neighbors with whom we live in community; an amitheist places the Golden Rule above all else and lives a fully nonviolent life.
  • Endotheism – A belief that god is not separate, but within each of us; an endotheist would value all of creation as god is within every subatomic particle – perhaps god is every subatomic particle.
  • Isotheism – A belief that god is not “above” or “greater” that us, but part of us and our environment; and isotheist would likely resemble a pantheist, but with no sense of the divine or sacred, since everything is divine and sacred.
  • Omnitheism – A belief that god is not separate, but simply represents the totality of all power, energy, knowledge, and truth; an omnitheist would concentrate on enhancing one’s awareness of and connection with the “godness” of everyone and everything.
  • Syntheisim – A belief that would extend omnitheism to include the time continuum; a syntheist would seek to become more aware of and connect with the “godness” and everyone and everything in every time and place as a single synchronistic existence.
  • Veratheism – A belief that god is truth, for only out of truth can love and goodness emerge; a veratheist would seek complete honesty in all relations, removing all masks, and resolving all conflict and falsehood.

One plus to any, or all, of these concepts is that they emphasize the positive attributes that I believe most atheists possess.  They focus on core values of love, truth, peace, and wisdom, and not simply on the rejection of a perceived flaw in human thinking.

Redefining Modern Anarchism

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At recent Occupy the Tri General Assemblies, we held some passionate discussions about a logo and the subject of a clenched fist arose (similar to that used by the New York OWS group).  Some felt the power of the symbol reflected our frustration with the way things are and represented our resolve to fight for change.  Others were concerned that the symbol failed to reflect our primary commitment to nonviolence.

We eventually agreed on a design that I believe reflects our most important guiding principle – our need to love for and care about each other on a deep primal level.  Even this wonderful design presents a challenge.  The design continues to incorporate traditional symbols of resistance and peace.  But the centerpiece shows us joining together, devoted to a more loving world. 

We live in a society where branding is deeply ingrained behavior.  We all know golden arches, and sneaker swirls.  We tend to know corporate symbols better than even basic rules of language and etiquette.  So it will take time for our new logo to catch on with the public.  It will definitely take time for our principles of love and nonviolence to capture the public spirit.

Similarly, I have been reconsidering another traditional symbol of resistance and revolution, the anarchist Circle A.  This symbol is certainly not as widely known as countless others in our society, and this particular symbol has been used in wildly different contexts and for differing purposes.  I imagine for a lot of people, the Circle A represents  violent bombers or punk rockers, carrying a heavily negative connotation.

But, I believe it time to revisit this historical association of the symbol with the violent overthrow of governments.  Gandhi, perhaps humankind’s leading proponent of nonviolence and proponent of the overthrow of oppressive order once wrote:

“The ideally non-violent state will be an ordered anarchy. That State is the best governed which is governed the least.”

Anarchy India has an excellent blog posting on how Gandhi’s vision of anarchy would be applied.  Gandhi felt that the State represents violence in a concentrated and organised form – a soulless machine that can never be weaned from the violence to which it owes its existence.  Is Gandhi’s ideal of a non-violent state of enlightened anarchy where social life would remain self-regulated a pipe dream – an impossible utopia?  I have no idea who said it first, but many noteworthy people have expressed the sentiment.

“The impossible is what nobody can do until somebody does”

So, while I know the Circle-A symbol has some well-deserved baggage (perhaps no more or less than many other commonly accepted images), I think it has value and deserves to be reclaimed.  The anarchy symbol is a direct and obvious statement that an existing order is dysfunctional and must be replaced.  For those of you who are into the origins of words, the word “anarchy” comes from the ancient Greek ἀναρχία, anarchia, meaning “absence of a leader.”  Well, isn’t that at the heart of the Occupy Wall Street movement?

Anarchy can be nonviolent.  Society can exist with laws but without corrupt government.  It will not be easy – in fact it may be very nearly impossible – but we can build a human society based on love.  We’ve spent millennia building one based on fear and hate, so how hard can it be if we put the same energy into positive emotions?

I’m Back

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I haven’t posted to this blog for many weeks.  My absence has not been for lack of desire to communicate with you, dear reader.  Rather, I have been wandering – wandering in my mind for words worth writing, for messages worth reading, for feelings worth expressing.

When I wander, I allow life to speak to me.  I open myself to whatever the universe is saying and then I seek meaning in the messages.  I envy those who can sit in lotus poses and meditate for hours on end to access the voices of the cosmos.  I fear that my puppy mind has long grown past the point of such discipline.  So, I search for sustenance by random grazing.  My process is wholly unpredictable, even chaotic.  But, when my beautiful muse speaks to me, she injects me with an understanding beyond all knowing and a joy no drug can match.

Last Friday, I took a day off and drove to Frankenmuth, a little tourist town of quirky shops and manufactured cuteness.  I strolled through an enormous bead shop, admired faerie art, turned a music store clerk onto European goth rock, and sped through a soul-sucking Christmas store.  My only purchases were a bag of specialty popcorn and some random candy from bygone days.  I bought them thinking that I would savor them over the coming weeks, enjoying the occasional taste of toffee and sugar.

But, last night, I sat in my living room resting, flipping among the cable channels mindlessly.  Beside me was the now empty bag of popcorn and a few remaining pieces of the candy.  In just a few days, I had not been able to resist the repeated narcotic allure of the promise of instant gratification.  Whether I had actually enjoyed the consumption had no meaning – I had simply wanted to consume and could not resist the urge.

This morning, I was besieged by a wave of synchronous voices – a Facebook link to an article about why our young people are leaving churches in waves; a heart-wrenching biography of a young woman struggling to survive economically without selling her soul or losing her way; and a finely crafted essay on capitalism calling for us to seek a new model for living and being together as humans.

For the past few years, I have traveled this road largely alone.  Oh, I have friends – dear and treasured friends – many of whom are treading similar paths.  But I have lived alone within a sea of humanity.  I have preached of love, of the agape of religious community.  I have spoken promoting pacifism and nonviolence, of how we must learn to love ourselves and others equally.  And when the Occupy Wall Street movement began, I jumped at the opportunity to try to shape all of that frustration and anger into a constructive and positive force for change.

But, the pull of my old life is hard.  Financial debt constantly reminds me of the need to seek monetary compensation for my labor, even though I would gladly do this work for free.  The privileges earned only through the circumstances of my birth tempt me with their serene siren song of comfort.  And I mourn the loss of my family elders, my first mentors, now all dead and kept alive only in my memories.

I know in my mind that we must change – that my old life is not sustainable.  I know that I cannot, as they say, only talk the talk.  I must walk the walk.  I am trying, dear friends, oh I am trying.  But resisting that candy takes so much effort.  Taking risks and having the courage to reach out, to be vulnerable, frightens me.  And, in allowing myself to be vulnerable, do I risk losing my capacity to lead, to help effect the changes I deem necessary in our society?

In recent months, I have watched helplessly as people lost hope in causes.  I have struggled as comrades, consumed by doubts and fears, dropped out of activities and organizations.  Perhaps such attrition, while regrettable, is inevitable.  But, is the flame of our hope flickering on the verge of evanescence?

As we emerge from winter, thankfully a gentle and easy winter, perhaps the time for a new dawn has come.  Maybe this time, we will subvert the dominant paradigm.  Can we build a new Racovia, a new Hopedale?  Can we envision and bring about a new model of being together as humans?

I do so fervently hope so.  And I invite you to join me in the journey.

Fear and Everyday Courage

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This morning, as I drove to my Fellowship, an SUV flew by me in an active school zone going at least 45 MPH.  I watched him pass two more vehicles and pull into a gym parking lot.  I am still replaying the next 60 seconds in my mind.

I debated whether to act upon this opportunity and decided after a couple of seconds of deliberation that it was my duty to do so.  There were no children present and even the crossing guard had left.  But, that is not the point.  What if a child, late for school, had darted across the road?

So, I pulled into the parking lot and behind his vehicle.  As he got out, a large muscular fellow dressed in work out clothes, I rolled down my window and told him calmly that school zone speed limits exist for a reason.  He responded with a string of obscenities and moved threateningly toward me.  He obviously wanted to instigate a physical confrontation and intimidate me. I drove away.

As I came around to exit the parking lot, he stood in front of the car, again calling me names and picking a fight.  I felt I had made the point, drove around him and left.

I hate confrontation.  I guess to be more honest, I fear confrontation.  I suppose most reasonable people do.  That is why bullies are so often successful in getting their way regardless of the consequences or whatever rationale they have for their actions, if any.  Sitting here in the safety and security of my study, I’m not sure how I could have handled those 60 seconds any differently and still lived my principles.

I was afraid this morning. I am still shaking a little as I type this message.  But, if we all stand up to the bullies in our lives, who knows what good can come out of our actions down the road.  I talk and preach about Unitarian Universalism being a religion that emphasizes courage from my pulpit all of the time.  I also preach about nonviolence and peaceful conflict resolution every chance I get.

So, to that nameless driver this morning, I bear you no ill will and hope that whatever caused you to ignore our laws this morning in your haste will resolve itself.  Yes, you succeeded in making me feel afraid.  I left not only out of fear of the physical pain you seemed intent on dealing to me, but because it was apparent that any additional dialogue at that moment would be fruitless.  I can only hope that the next time you drive that road, you hesitate before putting a few seconds of your valuable time ahead of the safety of innocent children.  Staying to confront you further would have only provided you a destructive outlet for your anger.  I hope your gym work out provided a more constructive outlet.

Can We Build a Utopia?

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Pundits want to know what Occupy Wall Streets protesters want.  I believe that Occupiers want what the 99% – deep down – all want.  We want utopia.  Here is my vision of utopia.

  • Guarantee that everyone receives free and reasonable access to a basic core program of health care.
  • Guarantee that no one goes hungry or homeless; no child or elderly person gets left behind for lack of our caring.
  • Guarantee that everyone receives free and reasonable access to education from birth to at least high school plus two years of technical education or upper-level college prep.
  • Guarantee that everyone who wants to work gets a job that pays at least a living wage.
  • Restructure our system of employment so that everyone who works receives compensation commensurate with the value of the work performed – this includes everything from service workers to politicians to corporate CEO’s.
  • Guarantee that every citizen receives the free and unencumbered right to vote; no person or entity can donate more than $100 to any political campaign and all details on all campaign finances must be available to the public.
  • Redirect the criminal justice system at every level toward the goal of rehabilitation and the dispensing of just and equal punishment, not the production of profit or mistreatment.
  • Require every citizen to provide at least two years of public service, broadly defined as including service in local or national peace forces, community development, aid to developing countries, or other forms of human assistance.
  • Rethink and re-engineer every element of society to function in closer concert with our environment, from food production to sustainable energy to manufacturing outputs.
  • Afford every reasonable effort to promote the creative and imaginative efforts of our people, from arts grants to business start-up funds to financial assistance to organizations or industries seeking to upgrade their technology and operations.  The ultimate goal is to retain and maximize the fullest measure of human potential and productivity of our people.
  • Eliminate every law that discriminates on the basis of any identity, including but not limited to sex, gender, age, race, ethnicity, nationality, sexuality, ability, religion, political views, or socio-economic status.

Now, the big question – how do we get there?  The biggest challenge is funding, so here are my suggestions.

  • Eliminate the current Department of Defense and all associated military forces and replace them with a scaled-down Department of Peace and forces whose sole purpose is to protect this nation and support the development and maintenance of human rights of all people in the world.  The majority of efforts directed toward the production of military equipment should be retooled to the production of supplies needed for rebuilding communities after natural disasters, improving the nation’s infrastructure, and deterring the development of war technologies throughout the world.
  • The current structure of 50 separate state governments is an historical anachronism that has long lost any purpose or meaning.  We eliminate the current structure and replace it with 5-10 regional governments to serve a similar purpose.
  • At the local level, similarly eliminate thousands of separate civic entities and school districts, seeking to reach a basic critical mass level of size for towns/cities and for educational entities.
  • Conduct a comprehensive review of all government, eliminating all bureaucracies and entities that can be replaced by better resource allocation and more equitable distribution mechanisms.  Government should always retain strict oversight responsibility (with severe penalties for corruption), but private industry should be encouraged to replace inefficient public programs and historical leftovers, such as toll roads and bridges, the proliferation of public fees, and many separate taxes.
  • Conduct a comprehensive review of all law enforcement codes with a goal of decriminalizing a significant proportion of current actions and significantly reducing the current level of frivolous legal actions, thus relieving an enormous burden on our justice system and getting government out of the business of enforcing morality.
  • Show the world the nature of true leadership by cooperating at the highest level with world organizations and creating true partnerships with other nations.  Our goal as a nation should always be to seek the most mutually advantageous relationship with other nations, which will in the end provide the greatest return and encourage the same from other nations.
  • Conduct a comprehensive review of all areas of business enterprise and reinstitute a new area of monopoly-busting, starting with the unhealthy current situation involving our nation’s media enterprises.
  • Stop trying to motivate action through fear-mongering and instead inspire our people with messages and actions of hope and love.

Can it work?  Every great accomplishment of human civilization derived from a vision that, at the time, seemed impossible.  Let us dream of the impossible.

Occupy Church – Christmas Day Sermon

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Occupy Church
Christmas Day Sermon, December 25, 2011
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Midland
Rev. Jeff Liebmann

Chalice Lighting

We light this chalice as the flame within us,
But also as the beacon light for seekers,
The hearth flame for the homeless and hopeless,
And as the torch to engulf injustice

Opening Words
From “The Mood of Christmas” by Howard Thurman

When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and the princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flocks,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among brothers,
To make music in the heart.

Time for All Ages – Jericho Road

Throughout his ministry, learned people questioned Jesus, testing his knowledge of Hebrew law and his understanding of the Kingdom promised to the Jewish people. On one of these occasions, a lawyer asked Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus replied (one might imagine in a slightly condescending tone), “What is written in the law? What do you read there?…You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”

Now, perhaps the lawyer saw this as an opportunity to trip up the young rabbi, for Jesus gave what might be considered a stock answer, quoting Leviticus 19:18 “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” So, the lawyer asks a seemingly innocent question, “And who is my neighbor?” In his usual fashion, Jesus replied with this story, but with a somewhat shocking twist.

A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. Now, any listener of the day knew that this road was notoriously dangerous and difficult. The Jericho Road was known as the “Way of Blood” for all the victims that had fallen to attacking thieves on its winding curves that were perfect for ambushes. Jesus continued, explaining that the man indeed fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.

Jesus continues, saying that a priest (possible a Jewish Pharisee) was going down that road; and when he saw the prone victim, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite (who in this context is likely meant to portray a Jewish politician), when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. Now, we must be careful here. Our quick temptation would be to assume that Jesus is skewering Jewish religious and political leaders – which may well have been his intent. However, on the Jericho Road, one’s likely first assumption might well be that this situation may well be a trap and that a stopping traveler would himself be ambushed. Also, strict purity rules applied to priests and Levites that could well have prevented them from touching an apparently dead body.

Now, here comes the big twist. A Samaritan while travelling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.”

Now, the people of Samaria were not Jews. In fact, Samaritans were hated by Jesus’ audience. The Samaritans in turn hated the Jews. Tensions were particularly high in the early decades of the first century because Samaritans had desecrated the Jewish Temple at Passover with human bones.

So, when Jesus asks the lawyer, “Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” the lawyer likely grudgingly says not “The Samaritan,” but rather, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

This important parable is only one of many times when Jesus clearly articulates that his message was not meant for only one people, but for all.

Reading
From “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence,” by Rev. Martin Luther King
(Speech delivered on April 4, 1967, at a meeting of Clergy and Laity Concerned at Riverside Church in New York City)

A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. On the one hand we are called to play the good Samaritan on life’s roadside; but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life’s highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth…

The Western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them is not just. A true revolution of values will lay hands on the world order and say of war: “This way of settling differences is not just.” …A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death…

America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values. There is nothing, except a tragic death wish, to prevent us from reordering our priorities, so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war. There is nothing to keep us from molding a recalcitrant status quo with bruised hands until we have fashioned it into a brotherhood….

A genuine revolution of values means in the final analysis that our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies.

Sermon – Occupy Church

When I tell people that I am a Unitarian Universalist minister, their faces usually assume a quizzical gesture that often does not go away even after I explain what that means. Sometimes, people have actually heard of us, even attended one of our congregations.

The reactions differ significantly when I attend a gathering of clergy. Non-Christians – rabbis, imams, Buddhist priests – almost universally welcome me into the group. Among the Christians, the reactions can vary across the widest spectrum. Some smile broadly, and share discussions of their participation in social action projects with Unitarian Universalist ministers. Others simply turn away.

Then there are the rare few who do little to hide their disdain, but stay to engage in theological debate. These ministers often dismiss my assertion that there are many Unitarian Universalists who consider themselves Christian. And when they learn that I consider myself a religious atheist, the intensity of the debate kicks up several notches. It is not uncommon to be grilled regarding my definition of words like “prayer,” “religion,” and other reverential terms.

When I have the opportunity, I ask them to describe to me the God they worship. Interestingly, they often articulate an essential, universal mystery that they are surprised to learn that I believe in, too. Often, the only real stumbling block arises over the nature of the man Jesus.

I explain that I believe that Jesus (or an amalgamation of concurrent prophets preaching the same message) existed. I agree with the essential teachings. I simply do not believe in his purported resurrection from the dead, the actual details of which the four canonical gospels wildly disagree.

But, that is enough. For these clergy, that one dogmatic assertion is all that matters to turn me into one of “them.” And this is such a shame. Because right now, at this critical juncture of our history, the great teachings of all the world’s religions have come together in common purpose.

For every major world philosophy and religion teaches against the pursuit of unbridled wealth, against greed, and against failing to care for your brothers and sisters as you would care for yourself. Charity is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. In the Mahabharata, Bhishma, one of Hinduism’s great yogis, names greed as the source out of which all other evil arises: “Covetousness alone is a great destroyer of merit and goodness. From covetousness proceeds sin. It is from this source that sin and irreligiousness flow, together with great misery. This covetousness is the spring also of all the cunning and hypocrisy in the world.”

The Tao Teh Ching tells us that, “There is no crime greater than greed.  No disaster greater than discontentment. No fault greater than avarice.” The Adi Granth, the holy book of the Sikhs, asks: “Where there is greed, what love can there be?” The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism teach us that enlightenment cannot be achieved so long as we suffer, and that suffering is caused by desire. Greed, hate, and ignorance are the Three Poisons that bind us to desire.

From the commandments against stealing and covetousness, to countless citations against greed, the Hebrew Bible abounds with warnings against the love of money. And, as one of the seven deadly sins (arguably the most important), Christian texts have spoken against greed for centuries.

But, let us return to the focus of this day. The four canonical Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John generally portray Jesus as a relatively even-tempered, if passionate, person. When is the one time in all four accounts that he completely loses his temper? When he enters the Temple in Jerusalem, the holiest place of his faith, and sees people buying and selling animals and changing money. He overturns the tables, and chases them away, even using a whip of cords in John’s account. One must find it interesting that even Jesus, the Prince of Peace and avowed opponent of taking up the sword, was moved to violence when the house of prayer was corrupted and perverted by those pursuing money.

My clerical colleagues and I often have very different concepts of “God,” of that unifying principle of life. Whatever form that force takes, however, we can all strive to tap into its power. Our Universalist ancestors preached this message by simply saying that “God is Love.” Even a nonbeliever, whether you are non-religious, agnostic, even atheist, can develop a willingness to accept that simple definition. We engage with the wonder and mystery of our universe, of all existence simply by loving each other. And if it helps some people to call that “God” so be it.

I know that many people struggle with that concept – not just the “God” label, but implications of accepting that God is Love. How do I love a stranger? How do I love my nameless neighbor, the co-worker I barely know, that clerk that makes my coffee in the morning? We start by caring. We start by stopping on the road and helping the beaten and robbed – by being as concerned for the well-being of everyone as for our own well-being.

Dr. King described this beginning in his speech: “This call for a world-wide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one’s tribe, race, class and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all…This oft misunderstood and misinterpreted concept – so readily dismissed by the Nietzsches of the world as a weak and cowardly force – has now become an absolute necessity for the survival of [humankind]. When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality. This Hindu-Moslem-Christian-Jewish-Buddhist belief about ultimate reality is beautifully summed up in the first epistle of Saint John:
Let us love one another; for love is God and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love. If we love one another God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.”

But, this is just the beginning. The next step is to tear up the Jericho Road we have paved with unchecked greed, corrupted oversight, and indifference. We must rip up that pavement and lay a new surface. We must root out the hiding places of the bandits, lining the highway with inviting paths and resting points. We must remove the tollbooths restricting access to free travel. We must straighten out the dangerous curves and widen the road so that all can walk together, side by side.

This work may be back-breaking. We will not always agree on the direction of the road, or how to traverse obstacles that arise. At times we may find ourselves laboring over a lonely stretch with no end in sight. And, let’s be realistic. We will not want for nay-sayers, people with money and power wishing to stop us in our quest, and for masses too consumed with their own lives to help us wield the picks and shovels.

But, this is the real work of Christmas – not pageants and concerts; not mangers and myth; and certainly not layaways and credit cards. The real work of Christmas is the message of Jesus, not the details of his birth – but rather to find the lost, to feed the hungry, to release the prisoner, and to rebuild the nations.

On several occasions during his ministry, Jesus articulated the roadmap for creating this new highway, the Kingdom he foresaw. The Beatitudes were blessings Jesus bestowed on all the people as a blueprint, a design for this new world that included Jews and Samaritans, priests and paupers, politicians and prostitutes.

Today, in the 21st century, we who are working in the here and now, striving to create a human world of equality and justice, can learn from these teachings. We can adapt them to our own actions in this life.

  • Blessed are the dispirited: for they most understand and welcome necessary changes to our broken and corrupted economic, political, and social systems.
  • Blessed are they that mourn: for they help others comprehend the depths of sorrow created by war, hate, greed, and ignorance.
  • Blessed are the nonviolent: for they shall model a better way to those who equate force with power and killing with justice.
  • Blessed are the searchers, the questioners: for they shall be open to new experiences and to finding new answers to our problems.
  • Blessed are the merciful: for every act of love and caring is returned to us one hundred-fold. A universal law of every human philosophy teaches us to love our neighbor as we would ourselves be loved.
  • Blessed are the sincere and innocent: for they understand that the business of humankind is not profit, but is humankind itself.
  • Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall lay the way to common purpose and understanding in society and in concert with our planet.
  • Blessed are those persecuted in the name of justice: for their sacrifice motivates us all to act and to have faith in the power of commitment and love.

When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and the princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flocks,
The work of Christmas begins.

Prayerful Reflection

Spirit of life and love that we know by many names, be with us as we enter an attitude of reflection, meditation, and prayer.

Dr. King continued: Now let us begin. Now let us rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter — but beautiful — struggle for a new world. This is the calling of the sons of God, and our brothers wait eagerly for our response. Shall we say the odds are too great? Shall we tell them the struggle is too hard? Will our message be that the forces of American life militate against their arrival as full men, and we send our deepest regrets? Or will there be another message, of longing, of hope, of solidarity with their yearnings, of commitment to their cause, whatever the cost? The choice is ours, and though we might prefer it otherwise we must choose in this crucial moment of human history.  Let it be so.

Extinguishing the Chalice/Closing Words

At the end of his speech, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. quoted Unitarian poet James Russell Lowell:
Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of truth and falsehood, for the good or evil side;
Some great cause, God’s new Messiah, off’ring each the bloom or blight,
And the choice goes by forever twixt that darkness and that light.
Though the cause of evil prosper, yet ’tis truth alone is strong;
Though her portion be the scaffold, and upon the throne be wrong:
Yet that scaffold sways the future, and behind the dim unknown,
Standeth God within the shadow keeping watch above his own.

Two Historic Tuesday Speeches

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Yesterday certainly wasn’t a boring Tuesday.  Two important speeches with the potential for enormous long-term impact were delivered.  President Obama fully embraced the language and message of the Occupy Wall Street movement in his economic speech in Osawatomie, Kansas.  Not only is this one of the few times a politician has even recognized the economic forces behind OWS, this speech is a major public policy affirmation of the need for America to take serious aim at addressing the causes of our current financial woes.  He frequently cited statistics that Occupiers have referenced, decrying the disparity of wealth in this country and the increasing inability of hard working Americans to pursue dreams available to other recent generations.

As if this speech weren’t noteworthy enough, another speech by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton easily topped it for global import and potential impact.  Secretary Clinton was speaking before the United Nations in recognition of International Human Rights Day at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.  Her remarks laid before the world community in words clear and strong that the rights of LGBT people are human rights.  She articulated in no uncertain terms that all nations should address LGBT rights with the same diligence that has been given since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to women, to indigenous people, to children, to people with disabilities, and other marginalized groups.

In years to come, these two speeches may be remembered as watershed moments in these two movements.  Both give the progressive community great reason for hope.

Chesna, the Chalica Chipmunk

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This is a Time for All Ages story I wrote for this coming Sunday’s Chalica Eve service.
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There once was a chipmunk named Chesna.  She lived above the ceiling in the roof of a Unitarian Universalist church. Chesna was very quiet and no one in the congregation knew about her.  Sometimes, the minister thought he heard tiny footsteps.  And after a potluck dinner, someone might notice that a cookie or two went missing.

But most of the time, Chesna stayed out of sight in the rafters where no one could find her.  The church was a great home for Chesna during most of the week.  Other than a few church staff, and people who came to some evening meetings, Chesna had the building all to herself.

She had the church all to herself except, that is, on Sundays.  Sunday was the most dangerous day because all the people came for services.  And though Chesna worried that the people may see her, or that she might scare the children, she still loved Sundays.

Chesna loved Sundays, because she loved worship services.  She loved the singing and the sermons, she loved listening to musicians and readers.  And she especially loved the Time for All Ages for the children. When the adults sang the children out, Chesna skittered along the roof beams to listen to their lessons. Chesna learned all about the seven principles, about the lives of famous Unitarian Universalists, and how to be kind and sure of herself.

Now, on the first Sunday of every month, this church held an additional worship service in the evening. Chesna loved these Sunday night services most of all.  In the evening, the songs sounded even more lovely and the prayers seemed even more important.  The Sunday night services were definitely Chesna’s favorite.

One year, right after Thanksgiving, the weather grew terribly cold.  The temperature dropped so low that Chesna snuck into the church closet and took some of the small candles.  She scattered them around her in the ceiling so she could stay warm if the cold grew too great.

On the first Sunday of that December, Chesna sat waiting for the evening service.  It was snowing outside and ice was forming on the tree branches.  The people entered and sat in the sanctuary and the service began.

Suddenly, in the middle of the worship, the lights went out! Ice had formed on the power lines outside until they grew so heavy that they snapped and fell.  The sanctuary was now plunged in darkness.  The younger children started to grow scared and the adults tried to calm them.

All of a sudden, right in front of the pulpit, there stood Chesna holding a stack of candles.  She trembled because she was carrying as much as she could.  Even more, though, she was scared that people might chase her out of the building and into the snow storm.

Everyone immediately hushed to silence.  Then, a small child stepped forward, took one of Chesna’s candles and lit it with the chalice light.  Another child stepped forward, and then another until seven children had lit the seven candles Chesna had carried from the rafters.  Now there was plenty of light in the sanctuary and the worship continued.

The people were so grateful to Chesna that they built a little home for her right next to the pulpit.  During that whole week, people came in with food for Chesna and material for bedding.  And each night, they lit a candle so that Chesna could stay warm.

From that year on, the church celebrated the first week of December as Chalica.  People lit a candle on each of the seven nights, one for each of our seven principles.  And, Chesna the Chalica Chipmunk lived there in the church and was part of every worship service for many years.