The Rage Diaries

Oh, my God

On a quiet Sunday morning in June, as worshippers settled into the pews at Allen Baptist Church in southwestern Michigan, Pastor Jason Burrick grabbed his cellphone and dialed 911. When a dispatcher answered, the preacher said a former congregant was in the sanctuary. "And we need to, um, have her out A.S.A.P."

Half an hour later, 71-year-old Karolyn Caskey, a church member for nearly 50 years who had taught Sunday school and regularly donated 10% of her pension, was led out by a state trooper and a county sheriff's officer. One held her purse and Bible. The other put her in handcuffs. (Listen to the 911 call )The charge was trespassing, but Mrs. Caskey's real offense, in her pastor's view, was spiritual. Several months earlier, when she had questioned his authority, he'd charged her with spreading "a spirit of cancer and discord" and expelled her from the congregation.

-- "Banned from Church," WSJ, Jan 18, 08

By the way, Mrs. Caskey questioned the pastor's authority by asking him to adhere to the church's charter.

The whole article is on how some Protestant churches are reviving the art of "church discipline," which basically amounts to kicking someone out of a congregation for anything from adultery to asking for the church's financial records. Frankly, I find this deeply disturbing. As any one of a number of recent scandals have shown, the people who run churches are only all too human. Being told to submit to their authority as a stand-in for God makes me very uneasy about the potential for abuse.

The cost of community

"The Sy Empire" (NYT Mag, Oct 14, 07) was a fascinating read, and I recommend it to anyone who has ever wrestled with questions regarding one's faith, family and community.

In a nutshell, the piece is about the Syrian Jewish community in Brooklyn, and how that community is shaped by a marital edict: community members may not marry converted Jews or non-Jewish people. And to ensure that converts don't somehow sneak in, any prospective fiancees or fiances are investigated to ensure that at least three generations are bona fide Jewish; this must be certified by an Orthodox rabbi.

As the story reports:

“Never accept a convert or a child born of a convert,” [chief rabbi Jakie] Kassin told me by phone, summarizing the message. “Push them away with strong hands from our community. Why? Because we don’t want gentile characteristics.”

As someone who was born and raised in a non-Jewish tradition, I can only look at this with an outsider's perspective. It's the people who elect to leave who intrigue me. How do you turn your back on that? What are you turning toward?

Years of practice and (intelligent) design

Laney Homan, 30, drew excited murmurs with her talk on meal planning, complete with a recipe for a surefire "freezer pleaser" -- a triple batch of meatloaf (secret ingredient: oatmeal). Thanks to a computerized system for generating grocery lists, Homan said, "I've actually trained my husband to shop for me."

Laughing, she threw her palms toward the heavens and added: "Praise Jesus!"

For the rest of the nearly three-hour class, guest lecturer Ashley Smith, the wife of a theology professor, laid out the biblical basis for what she calls "the glorious inequalities of life."

Smith, 30, confided that she sometimes resents her husband for advancing his career "while I'm changing diapers and getting poop all over me."

But then she quoted from Ephesians: "Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord." And from Genesis: God created Eve to be a "suitable helper" for Adam.

"If we love the Scripture, we must do it," said Smith, who gave up her dreams of a career when her husband said it was time to have children. "We must fit into this role. It's so much more important than our own personal happiness."

-- "They Love to Do Their Homework," LAT, Oct 11, 07

One of the great things about the Bible is that you can find scriptural justification for nearly everything -- avoiding seafood (Leviticus 11:9-10), killing your prospective son-in-law (Genesis 34:1-25), selling off your daughter as a sex slave (Exodus 21:7-11).

That little point aside ... this is where I make real enemies by pointing out that while housework may be time- or labor-intensive, it's rarely rocket science. It is no more difficult to learn how to pan-fry a steak than it is to learn how to change a tire -- and you don't see boys taking a curricula derived from Popular Mechanics' "25 Skills Every Man Should Know." Having critical thinking skills comes in handy when grocery shopping, yes, but that's not the same as parsing the numbers for your hedge fund.

I'm just sort of baffled by the have-it-both-ways approach here. On the one hand, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is promoting this really traditional gender role. On the other, they're trying to give it heft and legitimacy in a modern world by cloaking it in the guise of a college-level education. I can't figure out if this is good news or bad news for those of us who don't share Ashley Smith's specific outlook.

Oh, to sneak a peek at the Catholic PR playbook

In Southern California, where the Roman Catholic Church has agreed to pay victims of pedophile priests $660 million, the archdiocese is ordering nuns out of convents so the buildings can be sold to fund the out-of-court settlement.

Here in Santa Barbara, the sins of the fathers are being visited on the Sisters of Bethany. The three nuns living in a modest building on Nopal Street received an eviction notice last month ordering them to be out by Dec. 31. Earlier "would be acceptable as well," the letter said.

Among those being forced to move is Sister Angela Escalera, 69, who, diabetic and able to get around only with a walker, had hoped to live out her days in the Santa Barbara convent. "This is how the archdiocese is going about getting the money to pay off the victims," said her younger sister, Rosemary Escalera Gutierrez, 64, a former nun in the order.

-- "Nuns' Evictions Pose Perception Problem for Catholic Church," WaPo, Oct 4, 07

If you read further in the story, you see that none of the male clergy are getting evicted. Nice. After all, it's not like it was the priests or the cardinal who created this whole situation or anything.

(By the way, the nuns are now under a gag order from the church they gave their lives to. If you'd like a look at how the Los Angeles archdiocese is handling this whole thing, read "The Priest Sex-Abuse Scandal Claims Some New, Elderly Victims" in today's Slate.)

High tech, skepticism and the nation under God

When I read "Worship Goes Big-Screen and Hi-Fi, With Direct-Deposit Tithing" (WaPo, Sep 25, 07), I have to admit my first reaction after this:

[A]t McLean Bible Church in Northern Virginia, fancy lighting, rock music and occasional applause spice up spirited sermons.

was to sigh a little and think fondly to the folk choir in my childhood parish of St. Jerome's.

But then, I recalled the Easter mass where the folk choir came down the aisle while singing Godspell's "Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord" -- and how my dad, who grew up in the pre-Vatican II church would roll his eyes at hippie nonsense like strumming guitars to the psalms or saying the Mass in English. And really, what stands out about this piece is how new ways of delivering a message demonstrate the fluidity of a religion that many often wield as justification for "traditional" practices and mores.

Right after that, I read the Barna Group's press release "A New Generation Expresses its Skepticism and Frustration with Christianity." Of note:

Even among young Christians, many of the negative images generated significant traction. Half of young churchgoers said they perceive Christianity to be judgmental, hypocritical, and too political. One-third said it was old-fashioned and out of touch with reality.

[...]

When young people were asked to identify their impressions of Christianity, one of the common themes was "Christianity is changed from what it used to be" and "Christianity in today’s society no longer looks like Jesus." These comments were the most frequent unprompted images that young people called to mind, mentioned by one-quarter of both young non-Christians (23%) and born again Christians (22%).

Kinnaman explained, "That’s where the term 'unChristian' came from. Young people are very candid. In our interviews, we kept encountering young people - both those inside the church and outside of it - who said that something was broken in the present-day expression of Christianity. Their perceptions about Christianity were not always accurate, but what surprised me was not only the severity of their frustration with Christians, but also how frequently young born again Christians expressed some of the very same comments as young non-Christians."

The entire release is worth cogitating on; I feel as though it reflects much of the rhetoric coming out of evangelical publications like Christianity Today, and will likely cause more.

But the larger point here is that again, we're looking at a religion that's proven to be very adaptable to social shifts (despite often positioning itself as being direct opposition to them), so I am curious to see whether the changing nature of face-to-face worship and congregant outreach will be part of the next big shift in Christianity's social focus.

 

"Unless they're stopped, they'll destroy American democracy."

The advances of anti-democratic forces, many of them grouped within the Christian right, is made a little clearer to me because I spent the most part of twenty years outside the United States. When I graduated divinity school, I went to El Salvador to cover the war. At the time, these people were on the fringes of American society. When I returned from the war, they were in the centers of political power, in the legislative, executive, and now increasingly in the judicial branches of government.

Unless they're stopped, they'll destroy American democracy. And they're quite up-front about it. They're up-front about their vision for a theocratic Christian state, and it doesn't include a place for most of us.

-- Chris Hedges, in Powells.com Interviews Chris Hedges.

The entire interview is a must-read. Hedges is a divinity school graduate-turned-war reporter, and his insights into how civilized societies can crumble beneath fascism are chilling enough. However, the thesis in his new book American Fascists -- that the radical religious right is intent on replacing America's current government with a Dominionist theocracy -- is the really frightening prospect.

Two points he made really struck home with me:

We're the only industrialized nation in the world that argues about the validity of evolution. It is about the destruction of dispassionate, honest, scientific and intellectual inquiry, and replacing it with an ideological system where everything comes filtered through that ideological lens so that the only valid scientists are Creation scientists. This is no different from what the Nazis did with eugenics, a pseudo-science based on skull sizes and cheekbones and the distance between your eyes, to determine the pure, Aryan, and of course supreme race.

And:

Why are we debating with people who call for the extermination of homosexuals? I don't understand what the debate is. Any kind of debate or discussion can only begin when there is mutual respect, when there is a belief that other ways to be offer legitimacy and should be heard. They don't offer that.

Frankly, in a week where I can read SFChron's resident innumerate Debra J. Saunders argue that because climatologists debunk bad science, they're not engaged in honest debate -- thereby demonstrating a stunning ignorance of how science work AND Ted Haggard's coming-out as a born-again heterosexual, I can certainly see where we look a little nutso to other, civilized countries.

I should also point out that Christianity Today ran an  editorial in Nov 06, "Theocracy, Anyone?" that predicted:

Neither evangelicals, the Religious Right, nor any sizable Christian movement is in any position to seize the reins of government. It is far more likely that evangelicals will respond to recent criticism by retreating from political life and emphasizing personal piety. There are already indications of this in several of the "insider" books criticizing the Religious Right. Likewise, a popular song on Christian radio stations right now declares, "You ask me what I think of the war. … My only position is kneeling."

We shall see who is ultimately right.

Have a blue Christmas

Somber Blue Christmas services are being held at many churches around the country this year, in recognition of what psychologists have long known: that the contrived good cheer of the holiday season can actually make some people who are dealing with heartbreak feel worse. The Blue Christmas services confront feelings of grief and loss head-on.

"Holidays in our culture are often about families, and families are not always happy institutions," said O'Dwyer Randall, who once worked as a grief counselor. "I think that particularly if you're facing a death or a divorce, the 'empty chair syndrome' becomes very real at this time of year."

-- "Somber Services Mark 'Blue Christmas,'" AP, Dec 20, 06

This is, I think, a wonderful example of ministering to the needs of the people.

Save us from Your followers?

The last week has seemed to feature a great many articles examining the ways organized religion is transforming current American society.

The NYT's Pulitzer-bait series pretty much confirms that religious institutions are pretty canny at working the First Amendment to their advantage. Real estate zoning laws? Not applicable to religious institions. ("As Exemptions Grow, Religion Outweighs Regulation," Oct 8, 06) Workers' rights or workplace safety regulations? Not applicable to religious workplaces. ("Where Faith Abides, Employees Have Few Rights," Oct 9, 06) Doing business? Only the godless have to pay a serious tax load. ("Religious Programs Expand, So Do Tax Breaks," Oct 10, 06) ("Religion-Based Tax Breaks: Housing to Paychecks to Books," Oct 11, 06)

Frankly, this series is enough to make me want to open my own ministry, since doing so apparently exempts me from many of the obligations of citizenship. Alternately, the NYT may have stumbled on the most effective recruiting tool for the capitalist-pig set ever: "Surrender your life to Christ and see a 20% cut in your taxes!"

Speaking of the capitalist-pig set, another hair-raising article was the Oct 9, 06, WSJ one, "Managing by the Good Book," in which the trend of devout execs bringing their beliefs to the job was tagged to this anecdote:

(A)n executive raised a question that shows how difficult it can get. Whom should he choose as operations chief, the executive asked, the devout Christian who's less apt at the business, or the strong manager who's not very religious?

Rarely has Ephesians 2:8-9 ( "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith ...  not by (your) works") seemed so relevant in the office.

The article also goes on to note:

Complaints to the EEOC of workplace religious discrimination -- mostly claims that employers didn't accommodate religious requests -- rose to 2,340 in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2005, from 1,581 in 1995. In contrast, complaints to the EEOC about workplace discrimination on the basis of race and sex each declined by more than 10% during the same period.

For those not doing the math at home, that's a 48% rise in complaints in re: a lack of religious accomodation. What I would be tremendously curious about is if any of those claims sprang from religious workplaces.

Here's the series I'm paying closest attention to: Christianity Today's articles on its 50th aniversary. The articles on what evangelicals want to do for the next 50 years bear looking at.

If God had wanted you to drive an energy-efficient car, He would have made Priuses grow on trees

Activities that produce carbon dioxide—such as "breathing, building a fire to cook or keep warm, driving a car or tractor, or burning coal to produce electricity … [are] morally good and necessary activities that God intended for us," said Wayne Grudem, research professor of Bible and theology at Phoenix Seminary. "It seems very unlikely to me that God would have set up the earth to work in such a way that these good and necessary activities would actually destroy the earth."

-- "Cool on Climate Change," Christianity Today, Aug 26, 06

Can't ... type ... refutation ... brain ... collapsing ... into ... vaccuum ... total ... lack ... of ... logic ... created.

*

The main gist of the article is that the Interfaith Stewardship Alliance says fighting global warming will hurt the poor more than if we keep on with the God-given right to waste fossil fuels with impunity. They have issues with the Evangelical Climate Initiative's recent "Climate Change: An Evangelical Call to Action." The ISA claims many of the issues are scientific. However, all of their arguments are rooted in the premises outlined in this document, which include:

Many people mistakenly view humans as principally consumers and polluters rather than producers and stewards. [...] Humanity alone of all the created order is capable of developing other resources and can thus enrich creation, so it can properly be said that the human person is the most valuable resource on earth. Human life, therefore, must be cherished and allowed to flourish.[...] Some unfounded or undue (environmental) concerns include fears of destructive manmade global warming, overpopulation, and rampant species loss.

In other words, the people who buy into this creed see no moral imperative whatsoever to preserve any of God's species save man. "Stewardship" just a euphemism for "self-preservation."

Frankly, using the poor as a human shield is a foul move, especially since the poor really are the people most likely to be affected by global warming. Alleging that Jesus would have seen nothing wrong in driving a gas-guzzling vehicle and smugly asserting that there's nothing immoral about wiping out other species? Well, those are just bonuses.

Whatsoever you do for the least of my brothers ...

A homemaker active in her children’s schools, Mrs. Dobrich said she had asked the board to develop policies that would leave no one feeling excluded because of faith. People booed and rattled signs that read “Jesus Saves,” she recalled. Her son had written a short statement, but he felt so intimidated that his sister read it for him. In his statement, Alex, who was 11 then, said: “I feel bad when kids in my class call me ‘Jew boy.’ I do not want to move away from the house I have lived in forever.”

Later, another speaker turned to Mrs. Dobrich and said, according to several witnesses, “If you want people to stop calling him ‘Jew boy,’ you tell him to give his heart to Jesus.”

-- "Families Challenging Religious Influence in Delaware Schools," NYT, Jul 29, 06

Jesus answered, ‘The first is, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; ³⁰you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” ³¹The second is this, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’

-- Mark 12:29-31