Category Archives: politics

  • salt and light

    The Christian’s Role in Society

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    Perhaps it’s inevitable, but the older I get, the more radical I seem to be becoming. It all comes from thinking that Jesus really meant all those crazy things he said and, you know, actually wants us to do them. I mean a lot of effort has gone into trying to put the Jesus stamp of approval on the comfortable American dream and a lot of people are happy with the result. But the red letters are still there in the bible. And all it takes is to try to follow a few of them for a person to be changed and their American dream to be upended – or for them to end up with a really screwed up life if you’d rather see it that way. I’m not sure exactly why we are so convinced that a good and comfortable life is what we get when we follow in the footsteps of a man who was tortured, killed, betrayed, abandoned and mocked. It’s a bit of a disconnect to be sure. But then again, who wants a screwed up life? Better to just sign up for your “get out of hell free” card and sit tight ’till you kick the bucket, I suppose.

    But anyways, what I was saying – or meant to be saying – was that I’ve become more of a radical as I’ve gotten older. And part of being a radical is that you’re prone to being rather unrealistic. Like maybe you embrace pacifism. Or you decide that you shouldn’t have sex with anyone you’re not in a permanent, covenant relationship with. Or you’re going to take what you need to exist on from your paycheck and turn the rest over to people in need. Or you’re going to forgive and be in relationship with the man who murdered your daughter. Being a radical makes you a bit of a lunatic, really.

    Part of the way you protect yourself from becoming a radical is to point out the obvious; if we embrace pacifism, then people who are violent and evil will be able to run amok. And people aren’t going to stop having sex outside of marriage – especially when the average person doesn’t get married until their mid 20s – if at all. And if some people work and give away their earnings willy-nilly, some people won’t work and will just take advantage of them. And some things are just unforgivable – the damage can never be undone and some people will never repent. Which are all good, rational reasons not to be a radical and to continue on your merry way with your comfortable American dream. After all, surely Jesus was talking about spiritual truths, not things you’d actually do for real in real life, eh?

    But I realized something not too long ago which has been making it hard for me not to lean towards being radical. It’s about salt and light:

        “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.

    “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.” ~ Matthew 5:13-15

    Now, clearly Jesus is using salt and light as metaphors. My family already objects to finding my hair in their food. I don’t think they would appreciate me adding skin flakes a la Rebecca to season their dinner. And my husband doesn’t use me to read by at night in bed. Metaphors do have their limitations. But let’s look a little closer at this one.

    First, a couple of questions; when was the last time you tucked into a nice, big plate of salt for dinner? Or set a room on fire to read by? See, most Christians start with the assumption that we’re supposed to be bending the culture such that everyone conforms to the teachings of Christianity. By the force of law, if need be. And if everyone’s not going to conform or if everyone conforming would cause its own problems, well then either the culture is hopelessly degenerate or the teaching needs to be turned into a merely spiritual one which demands nothing of anyone in practice.

    But it’s a bit like when I scold one of my children for hitting and she responds by telling me all about what the other person did wrong. The response is always the same – “Who are you responsible for?” If we claim to follow Jesus and our faith teaches us to behave in certain ways, then that’s our responsibility. What other people do or don’t do is neither here nor there.

    So yeah – some of Jesus’ teachings are unrealistic and have little chance of being universally embraced – at least right now. But the metaphor Jesus used to describe his followers are salt and light. It only takes a sprinkling of salt to season the dish. And one lamp to light a room. The fact that a plate full of salt is unappetizing and a room lit on fire is dangerous is completely besides the point.

    It’s also why I’m not in the least bit concerned about the apparent decline of the church. Who cares if the herd’s being sorted and it turns out that there are more goats than sheep? Jesus started with the disciples and the women – probably two dozen really devoted followers. Those radical instructions are for those of us who claim to follow Jesus. They are our sacrifices to make. And it’s our privilege to make them.And by doing these things, we change everything around us. Our flavor will seep into every bite of the dish and our light will illuminate those sitting in the dark. It’s the purpose we are called for. But what do I know? My life’s pretty damned screwed up. You might not want to take advice from the likes of me!

  • Sound Doctrine

    About Those Tickled Ears

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    “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.” – 2 Timothy 4:3-4

    As a general rule I do my best to adhere to the policy that one ought to promote what one loves rather than bashing what one opposes. But today, I feel the need to warn y’all about the ear ticklers. “Have their ears tickled” was something of an idiom in ancient Rome which meant that a person was listening for things which were pleasing to them rather than the truth. What people looking to have their ears tickled really had a preference for were ideas which were new or novel. Paul warned young Timothy that the day would come when ear ticklers would be all the rage in Christian circles. And people being people, the accusation of tickling ears has probably been thrown around among Christians who disagree with each other ever since.

    Now, I must be upfront and let y’all know that I have myself been accused of being an ear tickler on more than one occasion. If you can believe it. And I’ve noticed that whenever I’ve encountered someone warning about ear ticklers, the underlying assumption is always that ear tickling starts with rejecting a wrathful, condemning, harsh God. For some reason these people seem to be under the impression that it is a common problem that human beings would desire a nice, squishy God whose motto is “I’m OK, you’re OK.” Only I’ve yet to see any evidence of any such thing. Just the opposite, in fact.

    Any clear headed assessment of the evidence would lead one to conclude that there’s nothing more common, more universally accepted and more fervently defended than angry, wrathful deities. You can’t throw a stone in a history book or at a map without hitting a religion or teacher which says that God is good and pissed all the time – especially at those guys over there – and that to be faithful to him, one must be a good rule follower, willing to be belligerent, rude and  unbending in dealings with others – sometimes even to the point of violence. This isn’t just a Christian thing either. You see it in Islam, in Judaism, Hinduism, some tribal religions, and believe it or not, even among some Buddhists in central Asia.

    On the other hand, spiritual teachers have been trying to convince us that the most important things are love, compassion, mercy, forgiveness and humility since time immemorial. Clearly that message has struggled mightily to really take hold, although I think we’re making progress. So, based on the evidence, I think that it’s reasonable to assume that the ear ticklers probably aren’t those who err on the side of grace and love over condemnation and judgment. Rather. there seems to be something very deep in the human psyche which is drawn to wrath and condemnation and fear. And I think that the people Paul is warning Timothy about are those who appeal to this darker, uglier side of human nature.

    In fact, Paul specifically says that these teachers and their adherent will not tolerate sound doctrine, but prefer to substitute myths. Like say, the teaching of eternal hell. Or horror story sermons like “Sinners in the hands of an angry God”. Or the rapture. Or the entire Left Behind series. None of those are sound doctrine, but rather depend on myth, folk tales and 15th century poetry and the like. All of them appeal to humanity’s deep seated desire to believe in whoop-ass deities. And tellingly, all of them are Johnny-come-lately teachings. In fact, the very idea of the Rapture is less than 150 years old! Even the teaching of eternal hell took 6 centuries to gain traction in the church. But try telling someone of the ancient teaching of universal reconciliation or that the new heaven and new earth and going to be part of the normal development of life on this planet or that God’s not going to come down and stomp the place to bits while throwing fireballs and you are quite likely to garner an accusation that you’re just an ear tickler.

    The truth is that while only a fool would say that God is happy for us to be as self-indulgent and undisciplined as we want – such things being destructive in and of themselves. But beyond that, it is actually impossible for us silly, wicked humans to exaggerate just how loving, kind, compassionate, forgiving and good God is. And that’s the sound doctrine which many people simply can’t endure. The God who would pay the lay-about hired just before quitting time the same as the man who worked all day. The God who would praise the man who stole from his master and then ingratiated himself to the community rather than relying on more money to save himself when he was caught. The God who would praise a prostitute for accosting him with public acts of indecency. The God who isn’t going to throw masses of humanity into the fires of hell for all eternity. We humans can be an evil, wicked lot and so simply cannot endure a God and a universe which works like that rather than according to the myths of wrath and destruction we consistently turn to over and over again.

    In the chapter prior to his warning about ear ticklers, Paul describes the sort of people who lead others astray. And it’s not the sinners or the social justice types or the soft hearted and squishy brained Paul warns of. Instead it’s quite a different sort of person Paul warns against. A sadly familiar sort of person, I’m afraid:

    “lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.”

    Doesn’t that read like a list of traits which many people would attribute to Christians? People who are more concerned about making sure they get what they think they have a right to than about another’s suffering. People who are clearly unloving, yet cannot be brought to repentance because they have redefined love to suit their own desires. People who believe that their cause is important enough to justify reviling another or gossip or dishonesty. People with short tempers who turn on their own fallen and wounded and will not be reconciled to them due to their supposed virtue. People who are not grateful to practice their faith without threat of death, violence and destitution yet somehow think they are being persecuted and oppressed when they can’t get their way. People who would rather consign masses of children to fatherlessness and families to destruction than teach self-denial. People who resent being forced to provide for the poor through the government more than they care that some people don’t have enough to live without help from the government. In short, people who look and behave nothing like the Christ they claim to follow.

    Paul goes on to say that these people have “a form of godliness, although they have denied its power”. Like, for example, claiming that Jesus is savior and Lord and yet does not have the power to save the majority of humanity from eternal suffering. Or who claim that God can be kept out of places where forced prayer is not allowed. Or that scientific discoveries can discredit God and must be denied and fought.

    Like I said at the outset, I general avoid pointing to the darkness in favor of reveling in the light. But I regularly hear from people who are struggling to come out of legalistic, harsh and condemning environments. Good people who love God and want to follow his ways. And a continual stumbling block which for them is the idea that maybe God really is angry all the time. Maybe humanity really is that bad. Maybe they just aren’t strong and faithful enough to cut it among the “true believers” and they are taking the easy way out. So for all those who are finding their way out of the darkness and into the light, let me assure you – there are ear ticklers in this world. They have enjoyed their power and influence by appealing to the worst of human nature and calling it of God. But here’s sound doctrine: God is good. Better than you can imagine. In him there is no dark. There is no suffering. All has been forgiven and paid for on the cross. There is no fear in his presence. There is nothing that can threaten him. He doesn’t need our protection. He is love. If you want to follow him, learn how to love. No matter the cost. Over and over. And his kingdom will come. That’s the truth as it was at the beginning, is now and ever shall be to the age of the ages. No ear tickling needed.

  • hands-holding-baby

    Why I don’t consider abortion when voting

    November 3, 2012

    15 Comments

    Let me be clear up-front: I do not support a right to abortion on demand. In fact, if I were made ruler of the universe, I would make abortions enormously difficult to get. Because I’m a mean and cruel woman. No, not really – I’m actually very kind and empathetic. But I am in agreement with Mother Theresa: “it is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live”. I don’t think abortion is an answer to what is really a societal failure. I don’t only oppose abortion from a pro-life perspective. I think abortion is bad for women, worse for relations between men and women and displays a level of animosity towards women as they are – people whose bodies can start new life – which is evil and vile. If we have a society where the normal functioning of a woman’s body regularly ruins women’s lives, we’re doing it wrong. And abortion doesn’t do anything to fix that – it simply enables it. Nearly 60% of abortions are influenced by pressure from fathers, husbands, boyfriends or others with power in a woman’s life. That’s not empowering. Nor has ready access to abortion resulted in a world where people who shouldn’t have children don’t as abortion proponents used to argue. Far from it. And yet . . . the issue of abortion has nothing to do with how I vote.

    Yes Democrats not only support abortion rights, but celebrate them the way most of us celebrate Grandpa’s 90th birthday. But despite using the abortion issue to garner votes for the last 30 or 40 years, Republicans haven’t and won’t do anything to stop abortion either. Sure, they’ll fiddle around the edges and I’d much rather live in a country where doctors don’t deliver a baby up to its neck before suctioning its brains, crushing its head and completing delivery. But show me one child who is alive today because we banned “intact dilation and extraction”. It’s a symbolic victory at best. The reality is that for all their rhetoric, the Republicans have shown no more willingness to do something about Roe v Wade than their Democratic opponents. If anything, I can at least give the Democrats credit for being honest about their support of abortion as birth control. But voting for someone simply because they claim to be pro-life does nothing what-so-ever to advance pro-life policies. It’s just giving my vote to the person who has set their dog-whistle to the right pitch.

    Another reason abortion isn’t a factor in my voting is that abortion is only marginally a legal issue. 1.2 million women have abortions each year. By some estimates, one in three women will have an abortion in her lifetime. Including a good number of women who are Christian, pro-lifers. That’s a social problem. You don’t fix social problems with laws. Social problems get fixed with people. Continue reading »

  • faces-vase

    “What is truth?”

    October 25, 2012

    7 Comments

    So, are you sick of the arguments yet? You know the arguments – Romney vs Obama. “Job Creators” vs Inequality. Creationism vs Evolution. Pro-Choice vs Pro-Life. Old Fashioned vs New Fangled. Text Speak vs Grammar Nazi’s. Toilet Seat Up vs Toilet Seat Down. Whatever it is, if we can figure out two ways of looking at an issue to divide ourselves into, we do it. And then we argue and argue and argue. We refine our arguments and wonder what the hell is wrong with the people who don’t agree with us. But aren’t you sick of it?

    I remember years ago an older, wiser friend told me, “arguments don’t work. You never change someone’s mind through arguments.” At the time I was a bit flabbergasted. If we didn’t argue, how would the other person know they were wrong? And if we can’t get everyone pretty much on board, how do we keep the world from going to hell in a hand basket? I mean, what was the alternative?

    Of course, today we have reams of research and endless gigabytes of internet conversations to prove that what my friend told me was true: arguments don’t work. They rarely change anyone’s mind. And I think all but the most die-hard believers are starting to get sick of them.

    So what is the alternative to argument? Do we just agree to disagree – you have your opinions and I’ll have mine? And what about truth? Aren’t some things just true and shouldn’t we stand up for and advocate for them? If we can’t argue and persuade our way into some consensus about what’s true how can we function together to get anything done? The live and let live concept sounds fine until we need policies to get the economy going or fix serious social problems. Then what? Continue reading »

  • cwo_mercy

    Most Christian’s Opinions Aren’t Worth Two Dead Flies – But That Can Change

    October 5, 2012

    4 Comments

    I like to say that I grew up in the “Easy Listening” phase of American Roman Catholicism. We sang “On Eagle’s Wings” with a guitar accompanist and hung felt banners around the sanctuary. My cousins attended a church that had alter girls and interpretive dancers. An opera singer who attended our church was sometimes allowed to lead songs and children regularly got smacked in the back of the head for giggling when she stretched to hit really high, screechy notes. Which was better than when her nightclub singer daughter sang and made us all feel like we should go home and shower after watching her squirm around singing about God and love in breathy tones.

    Some of my sisters feel strongly that they were damaged by being forced to attend mass each week at this retro-grade institution. But honestly, my memory is of sermons that could basically be summed up as, “kids, listen to your parents and don’t fight with your siblings. And every one needs to stop trying to run each other over in the parking lot after mass.” For me it was about as benign an introduction to Christianity as you could hope for.

    Which isn’t to say that it was entirely content free. Like all good Catholic kiddies, I attended catechism classes every Wednesday night for an hour all through grade school. I have an amazing capacity to completely tune out anything that doesn’t catch my interest, so I don’t have any idea what we did each week. But what I do recall is having to memorize things. We memorized prayers like the Our Father, the Nicene Creed and the prayer for confession. We memorized the 10 commandments, the beatitudes and the various works of mercy. It is entirely possible that we actually talked about what these things we were memorizing meant, but again, I wasn’t really paying attention.

    The end result was that I couldn’t have told you why Jesus lived and died, but I did know that he told us to love each other and serve those in need. And as much as I love me some good theology, I’d say I got a better religious education than other kids who could explain penal substitution and use “Roman’s Road” to explain (their version of) the gospel. Continue reading »

  • culture-warrior-clay-bennett

    Our Faithless Culture Wars

    July 31, 2012

    13 Comments

    A while ago, I finally realized that I needed to take Jesus’ teachings much more literally. He said, “don’t judge” and I said, “I’m not judging, but clearly some things are wrong. It’s not judging to say that.” He said, “love, pray for and serve your enemies” and I heard, “love the sinner, hate the sin.” He said, “do not resist the evil man” and I signed petitions against groups and politicians in order to protect Jesus’ values. Jesus said, “so do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’” and I wonder if we should make plans to attend the financial planning series the church is holding on Thursday nights. Jesus said, “the first shall be last and the last shall be first” and I work really hard to be at least in the top quintile in everything I do. See the problem here?

    So, haltingly and stumblingly and often failingly, I have tried to unlearn the ways we do things here in the world and adopt the Kingdom way of doing things. What I have learned in the process is that what we see as “standing up for Jesus” or “hate the sin, love the sinner” is really a form of faithlessness. We don’t trust God enough to be able to work things out according to the ways that Jesus told us to do them. We fight and opine and advocate because we are convinced that without our help, God won’t get his way. We think that all that talk about not judging and not resisting and not worrying are good – so far as they go. But there are important issues at play here. If we don’t stand up and fight, we could lose! We could be eating cat food in retirement. “God doesn’t get what it’s like down here” is what I’ve sometimes told myself. Only that’s ridiculous – God made “down here.” He came down here and suffered the worst we could throw at him. And God wins. Always, everywhere. Period. Amen. The reality is that every time I judge or fight or worry or try to keep my position, I’m throwing my lot in with the losing side. Really. Think about that and then think about our culture wars and you can start to see why “the church” has failed so miserably in fighting them. And even more alarmingly, how breathtakingly faithless we are. Continue reading »

  • deficit

    Birth Control, The Catholic Church and HHS

    February 8, 2012

    1 Comment

    This is the least frightening picture I've ever seen of General Palpatine, I mean Pope Benedict

    Perhaps you have heard that the Obama administration has decided that they have the duty to force religiously affiliated employers to provide their employees with insurance coverage which includes birth control, the abortion poll and sterilization.  The Catholic Church is preparing for a massive show-down on the matter.  Now, before you say, “they should provide birth control! What right does the church have to force their employees to follow church teachings on such matters”, stop.  Let me make a few points:

    1. Not having insurance coverage for birth control DOES NOT deny anyone access to birth control.  I know, I’ve gone without insurance coverage repeatedly and not once did that have an impact on my ability to procure birth control.  Is it easier when I have insurance coverage? Sure - it means not making a trip to a county clinic or Planned Parenthood (which I thought we were providing tax payer money to in order to meet such needs, but any ways).  But I’d also like insurance coverage with no deductibles which would cover dental.  Dental is a real issue.  Millions of people cannot afford to see a dentist.  I promise you, despite all the “easier access to birth control” rhetoric, there is not a single piece of research which has found that an inability to get birth control is leading to more unplanned pregnancies.  An inability to use it properly, well that’s a whole other matter.  It’s an idea which makes intuitive sense to people who don’t have to deal with such things themselves, but there’s no data to back it up.  There is zero evidence that this is a real problem with serious consequences being attacked here, just an ideological hammer looking for a nail.

    2. Catholic Charities is one of the largest provider of medical and social services in this country (the largest in the world).  Um, maybe we outta say “Thank you” rather than forcing them to shut down just to make a point?  It doesn’t matter if you agree with them Continue reading »

  • Why conservatives should have voted for Kerry

    January 24, 2012

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    I’m about to break one of my family of origin’s cardinal rules: I’m going to tell you who I voted for long, long ago in the aughts. 

    I grew up among very upstanding people who did not break rules and we all know the rules: no talking about religion, money or politics.  (They added in sex as well.  I think a lot of people did.)  And since those were the rules, they didn’t talk about those things.  And on the rare occasions that someone did mention politics, religion or money, they seemed to think that since they were already going to be breaking the rules, they might as well be rude about it.  Which meant that talking about such things seemed very rude indeed.  I never found our family gatherings to be very interesting.

    So, I felt very extra brave when I decided to openly campaign for John Kerry in 2004.  (The qxh asked me not to put out lawn signs or window signs.)  I bravely wore my John Kerry for President button to the Y for the kid’s homeschool gym and swim class.  I talked with friends who were confused and frankly a bit appalled at me.  I live in a bedroom community in far Western Wisconsin.  I am a Christian.  I homeschooled.  I am pro-life.  I have too many kids.  I voted for Bush in 2000 and would do it again just so we would be spared the trauma of having to listen to the sound of Al Gore’s voice in the days after 9-11.  (Think heartbroken, angry country, smoking ruins, a megaphone and Al Gore. It makes me shudder.)  I was personally insulted by things my fellow campaigners said thinking that everyone there was of a like mind.  But I felt that strongly about it and it wasn’t about hating Bush.  For me it was far more fundamental than that.  It was about expectations; what do we have a right to expect from our government?  Me, I expect the government to make plans to secure weapons in their own war zone. Continue reading »

  • A Recovering Political Junkie’s Advice for Campaign 2012

    January 4, 2012

    5 Comments

    Donuts. . . Mmmmmm

    This may come as a shock to people who thought I was a rational human, but I have a confession to make: I was a political junkie.  It’s true.  I followed every twist and turn of our democratic system at play.  Cuz a properly functioning democracy relies on a well informed electorate.  Your granddad used to read the paper front to back every day.  There were psa’s in the middle of my sitcoms telling me to “be informed” when I was growing up.  What can I say? 

    For those of you who don’t get the political junkie thing, let me tell you a dirty secret: politics is pretty much just like celebrity watching – only for putatively smart people.  Who’s doing what outrageous thing now?  What’s the strategy going to be on this next vote?  How will the electorate react?  What the hell is wrong with Nebraska?  And above all, what’s your opinion and why? 

    But here’s the thing: my opinion doesn’t mean squat.  Continue reading »

  • deficit

    Apparently My Week Has 8 Days In It

    November 28, 2011

    1 Comment

    I started to do these “Best of the Week” posts a few weeks ago and it seems that my week is consistently 8 days long.  Which I have no doubt that people who have to deal with me would agree is pretty much how I work!  But hey – it’s my blog and it’s free!  (Although you can make a donati0n to support the site using that tip jar over there.)

    So, here’s what I’ve found interesting in the past week:

    Seriously – why is any man in the USA so powerful that he can assign people to hunt down every word said about him and have them go after a high school senior with 65 followers for cracking wise about him on twitter? This is what power being abused looks like. Good for this smart-alecky teen for not giving in!

    Here’s my politics for the week:

    I love neuroscience.  And it’s absolutely fascinating what scientists are starting to parse out from DNA in regards to questions like what makes us human and how our biology influences our thinking and behavior.  Here are two interesting articles on the subject:

    Neanderthal Neuroscience and Neuroscience and Free Will

    I enjoyed this blog post on God or the Bible at Overweights of Joy:

    “Eternal life is to know God and Jesus Christ personally” (John 17:3). We have perhaps defined eternal life as living eternally in heaven. But that was not how Jesus defined it. Eternal life has nothing to do with going to heaven or escaping hell. It has to do with knowing the Lord. To know God intimately and personally has been the passion of my life and the burden of my heart.

    And:

    If Bible knowledge could produce holiness, we should be having the godliest people in history living today. But we don’t. Satan himself would have been holy if Bible knowledge could produce holiness – for no one knows the Bible as well as he does.

    Back into the realm of the scientific: But I Raised Them Right! – What Your Child’s DNA Can Tell You About Parenting.  I am 100% certain that  my two boys have the genetic variant that is associated with not being able to learn from one’s mistakes and negative experiences.

    And on that note, let me just share my parenting thought for the week.  When a family has children with a wide range of ages, it is often observed that parents seem to become less active and more lax than one might expect with the last child.  This is usually attributed to the parents being tired and worn out.  I am here to report that this is not, generally, the problem.  What happens is that by the time you get to your last child, the limits of your ability to shape another human being – even your own child – have become amply clear.