Your regular dose of my own personal takes on matters of faith, social justice and popular culture along with other miscellaneous life-inspired musings. Basically it is my personal 'social commentary' intermingled with some life journaling.
Mom and I - circa mid 1970’s It’s about as important of a question as they come. Who is my family? It seems synonymous to another question: Where do I belong? Apparently Jesus instinctively paired them together as recorded in the twelfth chapter of Mathew, verses forty-six through fifty.While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”damn, jesus, that’s cold!I’ve written elsewhere about my close connection with my mother. While it is not universally true, there does seem to be a special connection between mothers and their sons just as there often is between fathers and their daughters. I can certainly attest to both. When it comes to the former, that is what makes these supposed words of Jesus all the more shocking. Certainly by all biblical accounts, Mary and Jesus did not have a cold and distant relationship. Mary is portrayed as having both a warm affection and subtle reverence for her son as a young child (Luke 2:19). And Jesus, even while in the deepest of agony while he hung on the cross, was so committed to his mother that he took time to appoint a disciple to care for her in view of his immanent death (John 19:25-27).And yet on another occasion when informed that his mom, along with his brothers, were waiting outside and wanted to speak to him, Jesus basically told the crowd that his gang of often clueless disciples were more family than the woman who gave birth to him and raised him! I mean, damn, Jesus, that’s cold! He goes on to clarify that what qualifies someone as a member of his family is if they do “the will of the Father”. But wasn’t the very fact that she was his mother based on an angelic declaration of God’s favor on her life (Luke 1:30)? Isn’t it fair to assume that said favor is based, at least in part, on a fair amount of effort on Mary’s part to follow a righteous path? But none of that mattered now in this moment for Jesus and Mary. On that day, Mary and her other children wouldn’t receive from Jesus even the attention commonly provided to distant relatives.the loss of familyWhat caused Jesus to be so harsh? Well we get a hint in another passage in the book of Mark (3:21), where we learn that apparently the fever pitch of Jesus’ self-ascribing Messianic talk had gotten too extreme for the family, even though Mary was given plenty of advance warning about Jesus’ unique, God-ordained mission (Luke 1:32-33). According to Mark, Mary and Jesus’ brothers thought he was “out of his mind”. Well I am NO Jesus, believe you me! But in this story I find some sense of a shared experience and therefore some fellowship with this man from nearly 2,000 years ago. The last few years have been very hard because I have grieved the loss of so many loved ones, not from physical death but by a separation of conscience and will. This has included literal blood relatives along with those who I had thought were fellow ‘brothers and sisters’ in God’s family, the Church. Having grown up in a devout Christian home, these two families were very intertwined. I recall singing both in my house and at church on Sundays the Bill and Gloria Gaither contemporary hymn, Family of God. The chorus goes like this…I'm so glad I'm a part of the Family of God,I've been washed in the fountain, cleansed by His blood!Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod,For I'm part of the family,The Family of God.But now many in both my literal and my supposedly spiritual family seem estranged. I look at them and think, ‘I don’t even know who you are!’ And to be fair, I know they are thinking the same. The cause of this divorce? We have a shockingly different understanding of ‘the will of the Father’. I am convinced that many of them think that God’s will is synonymous with the idols of which I have previously written about. Their patriarch and prophet is now Donald Trump. In contrast, I had one of my former pastors say that my conclusions about evangelicalism were either “brilliant or crazy”, and it was clear by the tone of the conversation that he was strongly leaning towards crazy. Either way, the end result is the same: we’ve drifted apart as we pursue two diametrically opposed agendas.finding new familyAnd yet among the loss, I have much to celebrate! For I have found new family members I never knew existed. Or perhaps I knew they existed but they were, you know, ‘those people’ that needed the saving. Curiously it turns out that they are more eagerly practicing the kind of unconditional love I was told was supposed to be a central conviction and way of life with my former family. So my new ‘brothers and sisters’ are the likes of liberal atheists, members of the LGBT community, and Muslim refugees, whether they live next door or half a world away. To them I say thank you. I am cherishing our new fellowship and growing every day as I am inspired by your courage and strength. And above all, I am exceedingly honored to be called your ‘brother’. Holding a ‘nephew’, a precious Syrian baby in a refugee camp in Lebanon (2015)
So we've looked at why evangelicals might consider a financial boycott of their church (Part 1) along with certain 'Christian' media companies and schools (Part 2). In the conclusion of this series, we turn our attention to two more evangelical industries that you might want to take a second look at when it comes to doling out your dollars.CHRISTIAN BUSINESSES (other than media)You've got to love the not-so-secretive code sign: the Jesus fish! Ah yes, just subtlety slap that baby on your company truck, business card, or website, and your prospective evangelical customer is sure to get the message. "Have us mow your lawn, do that kitchen remodel, or cater that wedding (so long as your not gay!), and you can be sure that your money isn't going to support some pagan business that is probably operating unethically because the owner doesn't have Jesus in his or her heart." But don't make the mistake of assuming that the sell of religiously superior ethics is the only thing in mind when it comes to most evangelical leaders in the market place. No, there is a far greater cause that has been cemented into the psyche of many Christian business men and women. Make sure you check out a previous article I wrote that looks at the evangelical idol of power. The piece includes an especially revealing video made to inspire Christians to "take back" the seven mountains of culture. In it, there is a particular emphasis on Christians reclaiming leadership in the domain of business so as to effectively resource the effort to return America to its Christian heritage. Whether stated explicitly or not, this is one of the chief visions fueling this call to join the cadre of Christian capitalists, perhaps only eclipsed by stories of saving lost souls through a God-style economy. You can find 'fellowship' in this effort through one of any number of Christian business associations, like The Christian Business Network, Christian Business Fellowship, or Convene. The fact that the old religious right's culture war narrative is lurking not to far below the surface of these networks of success-hungry crusaders is made pretty obvious when the home page of the Northern Californian Christian Business Directory features a video promoting the Genesis Apologetics App. This mobile tool will equip your good Christian teens to pretend like they know what they are talking about in the fight against public school teachers and their evil doctrine of evolution. But let's get back to ethics, where I am sure that the Bible has something to say about things like fair wages (Jeremiah 22:13 and James 5:4) or that Jesus taught his disciples to not embrace violence (Matthew 5:38-45). Among a list of household name companies that are owned by the devout, most of them evangelical Christians, there are some interesting practices that makes you wonder if the Scriptures are their 'final rule for faith and practice'.Like Chick-Fil-A Chairman and CEO, Dan Cathy, who has a net worth of 3.8 billion dollars. And yet according to Glassdoor, his average entry level employee makes eight to nine dollars an hour and a store general manager pulls in just $49,500 annually! That's paycheck to paycheck and public benefits territory.Or take the maker of rifle scopes, Trijicon, whose revenue, by the way, comes in part from supplying the U.S. military. It made some news awhile back when it came out that Bible verses were subtly inscribed on their products. Yes, now you can "love your enemies" by blowing a whole in their head through the sight of your high-quality, Scripture-emblazoned Trijicon scope.These, and a myriad of other hypocrisy ridden companies that are supposed to be built on the bedrock principles of God's Word, are in my opinion not worthy of your business.CHRISTIAN HUMANITARIAN ORGANIZATIONSLets turn to safer territory, literally. What about Evangelical humanitarian organizations who are often seeking to undue the effects of greed and war? As most of you are aware, I previously worked for World Relief, an organization that serves as the humanitarian arm of the National Association of Evangelicals. They, along with many other evangelical relief and development organizations, are chalked full of amazingly compassionate and creative people who are daily evidencing a true love of neighbors. But that doesn't mean these institutions are not infected with the idols of evangelicalism and therefore in need of substantial reform. And as we said in part one, economic withdrawal is the most effective way to achieve this kind of change. So I suggest that evangelical Christians who are grieved by the same things that I am may want to reconsider their generous contributions to some of these organizations.I'll give two examples of grievous practices that warrant a retraction of financial support.Proselytizing: Among many if not all of these organizations is some level of exploitation of uniquely vulnerable people for the purpose of winning converts. This is something I previously covered in a piece entitled Evangelical Ambulance Chasing.Intolerant Hiring Practices: It was indeed a sad day when one of the largest global evangelical humanitarian organizations, World Vision, folded under the threat of economic withdrawal by the religious right and reversed what would have been a morally courageous decision to openly hire members of the LGBTQ community. Or in my time at World Relief, I found it to be a violation of the Character of Christ and an embrace of the paranoia of conservative evangelicals to, as a matter of policy, deny Muslims the opportunity to work with the organization even though it was tasked with serving predominantly Muslim refugees. I also feel that while currently legally allowable, this is a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. You can find more of my thoughts on this in the two-part series on The Public Subsidization of Religion.As you consider supporting humanitarian organizations with an evangelical affiliation, you have every right to investigate whether these and other policies and practices born of ignorance or bigotry are present before you write that next check. final thoughtAs we conclude, remember that just because you have chosen to not personally support a local, national, or international evangelical non-profit, whether humanitarian or educational, you may be indirectly resourcing them through your church. So make sure your congregation has thoroughly vetted it's ministry partners. You may find that you are indirectly resourcing an organization that is violating values that are important to you. For example, if you are here in Sacramento you may be attending one of the over one-hundred churches that financially support William Jessup University, which as we discussed previously is a school whose leadership is blatantly embracing the idols of power and superiority. If that is the case, it's yet another reason to reduce or withhold your tithe.In the end, the congregation, like Congress, holds the 'power of the purse'. Individually and collectively, exercise your rights and responsibilities as true principled disciples. Give only to that in which you truly believe.
In Part 1 of Boycotting Bad Religion, we talked about the justification for evangelicals to withhold their 'tithes and offerings' from their local church. Again, if you are a part of another Christian denomination or an entirely different faith all together, I leave it up to you to decide whether this is necessary. But for those who are choosing to stick with the evangelical tribe and who want to employ economic withdrawal as an instrument of reform within evangelical institutions, you will have to focus on more than your local church. There is the world of so-called 'para-church ministries' that I would argue have in some ways caused even more damage to true faith as they aligned with the religious right's despotic march towards the gospel of America. So put on your Robin Hood hats as we look at the first two of four evangelical industries that should be starved of our 'offerings' until they fully reject their idols or perhaps more ideally just go away (we will cover the last two in Part 3).'Christian' EducationAs Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go, (and) even when he is old he will not depart from it." Well that's all good...unless you are training them to embrace ignorance and intolerance. And so goes the first golden calf of conservative evangelicalism--that being, private Christian education. Aside from taking over the Supreme Court, evangelical schools is their most cherished bulwark against the liberal hordes who dare threaten their ethno-religious dominance.Fighting against the LGBTQ community has been a particular hallmark of their bellwether educational institutions, the term 'bellwether' being oh so fitting given that it originates with the image of a castrated ram leading a bunch of sheep. Their 'stand' on 'the sanctity of marriage' and 'biblical sexuality' is a great way to narrow down your list of where NOT to send your children and your money. Simply locate a list of schools claiming Title IX exemption and you'll find my alma mater, Multnomah University, or a college just a short drive from my house, William Jessup University, among many, MANY others. The majority of the list is a veritable who's who of evangelical academia.What is particularly maddening is that even if you choose to not support these schools by contributing to your son's or daughter's tuition or through other charitable gifts, you are still supporting them through paying taxes, thanks again to that wonderful legal loophole of Title IX exemptions. If you would like to learn more about that injustice and what public policies would set things right, make sure to check out my two-part series, Church $ State: The Public Subsidization of Religion.In the meantime, let's make sure they don't have one more penny than that which we are legally required to give them.'Christian' MediaIn the same way that Billy Graham had previously figured out that television and radio would be essential tools in his evangelistic efforts, the religious right knew they needed to leverage these modern mediums to indoctrinate the evangelical masses on their paranoid and politically power-hungry world view. And so was born outlets like the Christian Broadcast Network, started in 1960 by a godfather of the religious right, Pat Robertson, followed in the 70's by the Trinity Broadcasting Network. The latter has become notorious for controversies. Staying in the charismatic wing of the evangelical mad house, there is print media like Charisma Magazine, which I once heard described as 'Breitbart in Pentecostal drag' as it continues to spew out one Trump puff piece after another.Then you have massive media conglomerates like the Salem Media Group. Print, web, radio...hey, there is no tool they won't use to vomit up either lies or hypocrisies! Their 'Christian News and Talk' stations, most of them either called "The Answer" or "The Patriot", are my personal favorites (sarcasm!).And here is the thing my evangelical friends: when it comes to so-called 'Christian' TV and radio, you don't have to even send them money to pay for their idol-making machines. All you have to do is listen. That's all it takes to get their ratings up which in turn attracts more advertising dollars which begets more lies and hypocrisies. teaming upNow what is really fun is when these two--Christian media and education--team up! I'll use a local example to make my case--that being the glorious marriage of 1380 The Answer and William Jessup University. It was the height of hypocrisy when in 2017 John Jackson, the President of William Jessup University, gave a cowardly back-door rebuke of myself and other local evangelical leaders. In a video calling for 'unity' in the Church, he claimed without conveniently naming names that me and my friends were placing our Democratic or progressive causes ahead of the cause of Christ. "If you are not a Christian first and a Republican" or "Democrat" or "progressive second, third, fourth or tenth," then we are entering into demonic "deception". Meanwhile, both before and after the video was made, his University, in partnership with 1380 The Answer, was trodding out one partisan event after the other, such as...a Republican rally held a few weeks before the 2016 election called "Doomsday or Redemption Day" with an image of Hillary Clinton under 'Doomsday' and Donald Trump under 'Redemption Day'. or in October 2017 they joined forces to host a stop on "The Fake News Tour" featuring conservative talk show hosts Larry Elder and former Republican Congressman Joe Walsh, with the event description declaring, "President Trump and Conservative talk radio have outed the liberal biased media and their fake news!" or more recently they co-hosted former Press Secretary Sean Spicer's book tour! Yes sure John, you certainly have moral credibility on your ability to stay above the political fray!in part 3Well, that's enough for this installment of Faith v Religion. Do you have other examples of specific Christian media and educational organizations that you think should be boycotted? Make sure to share them in the comments below.In the conclusion of this series (Part 3), I'll share with those remaining on the evangelical Titanic two more classes of institutions that you should consider denying access to your bank account.click here to go to part 3
click on these links to read or listen to part 1 and part 2 of this seriesGod, I love the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off. If you haven't seen it, then you are just wrong. Rent it online or go to your local used DVD store and pick it up. For those of us who are 'children of the 80's', this film--directed by an honorary philosopher and poet of our generation, John Hughes--was practically a right of passage. Into what, I'm still not sure. But damn it, it gets you there!One of the iconic moments of the movie is barely over a minute long and yet it effectively launched Ben Stein's career in entertainment. In it he brilliantly portrays the droning, high-school history teacher that we have all had in various manifestations. As he blathers on about the Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act, the students boredom-induced responses run the range from one girl's threatening death stares to another guy waking up in a puddle of his own saliva. Recalling this moment in the film got me thinking. As much as I wish that life was like ditching school, stealing a Ferrari from your best friend's dad, joy-riding it all over Chicago on a perfectly sunny day, and pulling of an epic lip-syncing of Twist and Shout surrounded by a half-dozen beautiful women and thousands of parade-goers, more often than not...it's not.couldn't leave well enough aloneSo several months ago I wrote a two part series that sought to define what I believe to be the mutually exclusive terms of 'faith' and 'religion'. I thought I was done. But then, like in Hollywood, I couldn't leave well enough alone. I felt compelled to make The Dark Knight Rises...or hopefully something better, like Toy Story 3. OK, no more movie references! Let me get on with it and share two more defining characteristics, one each for faith and religion, which will hopefully serve as either encouragement or a warning sign as we tarry on in our spiritual journey."Are you not entertained?"OK, I lied. One more movie reference! Remember the classic scene in Gladiator where Russel Crowe's character, Maximus, fights his first match in a literal theater made for human barbarism? After slicing and dicing his way through an initial barrage of competitors, the reluctant warrior screams at his blood-thirsty audience, "Are you not entertained!?" This isn't done to join with the crowd in celebrating another good show, but rather to shame them for sinking to such depths of depravity. DreamWork's/Universal Studios' Gladiator (2000) You see, there are two forms of entertainment: one that engages and inspires change and impact and another that simply passes the time and numbs us to responsibility by appealing to our shallowest of desires. When it comes to the latter, I cannot think of a finer example than that of the modern American 'worship' experience.welcome to the show!Chairs are important. Got to have the newest, thickly-padded chairs. And when it comes to worship as a "living sacrifice" as the Apostle Paul described it, we all know that lighting is the key to achieving true transformation. Red and magenta are sure-fire winners. Oh, and if you can add a fog machine! Boom! You are almost guaranteed to enter the Holy of Holies...every...single...time. Mix in the most charismatic and least-offensive preacher you can find and keep the whole show...I mean service...to ideally seventy-five minutes or less, and someone on Yelp is bound to declare that this church has 'a great worship service'.Think this sarcastic rant is an unfair characterization? Ask pastors what percentage of their congregants participate in other activities of the church that happen outside of Sunday morning. Quickest way to shrink your attendance? Announce an all-prayer meeting or service project. Want a cult-like following and status as the newest 'must see' church in town? Hire a rock star 'worship leader' who previously scored and occasionally still moonlights as a professional recording artist in the half a billion dollar Christian music industry. I've personally heard former colleagues in 'the ministry' say that if you can't "knock it out of the park" on Sunday morning, your church is as good as dead.And don't make the mistake of assuming that this is a new development. Religion has always rallied to supposedly sacred ceremony as the pinnacle of worship, thereby reducing faith to a form of holy entertainment. Even the ancient practice of the Eucharist--which in the end entails stuffing and slurping down our gullets some Costco sample-sized bread and juice--is declared in Catholicism as "the source and summit of the Christian life." Human nature, being what it is, will always gravitate to the least amount of pain and boredom it can conjure up. Religion just keeps coming up with new and creative ways to 'give the audience what it wants.'faith is...In contrast, faith is boooor-iiiiing! Seriously, the best word I found for it is 'mundane'. As an edjective, the word means, "dull and ordinary" and "relating to ordinary life on earth rather than to spiritual things." That's perfect! Faith is inherently worldly. The words 'faith' and 'spirituality' are actually antonyms. We are always trying to connect faith to a grand eternal plan, when the real essence of faith is grounded in the common now. It's found in somehow rallying the will to be loving to my cat when it has yet again desecrated my front porch with the partial remains of some poor, unfortunate rodent. Faith is seen in working when I don't want to work. It's helping out some jack-ass who forgot to put gas in his car. I could go on, but I think you get the point. Faith is loving when you are tired of doing it and you see absolutely no light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe the light is you surprising yourself that you somehow managed to put up with life without being a total dick in the end.the high call of exploring boredomI actually feel excited about exploring ordinary boredom as the supreme act and pinnacle of faith, like a student who is 'expecting God to show up' as he or she faithfully sits through an annoying presentation on voodoo economics. It just feels like there is real depth there in contrast to the more aesthetically pleasing presentation that passes for 'worship' these days. Who knows!? Perhaps by mowing my lawn along with trimming my neighbors overgrown weed garden on Sunday morning, I've actually been engaged in worship more than lifting my hands in exaltation to the almighty projector screen. Warner Bros' The Matrix (1999) But perhaps you would rather "take the blue pill". If that's the case, then let me conclude by sharing with you something I would like to call, 'The Honest Benediction'. You are free to pass it on to your pastor or priest next time you see him or her, or to use it yourself if you are professional clergy. It goes like this...As we leave this house of worship, may you quickly forget all that was said and sung but for the general, warm feeling of non-committal contentment.May your 'constructive criticism' on how to improve the service, which you inscribed anonymously on the back of a connection card, be well received by the spiritual leaders to whom the care of your soul is entrusted. May you be endowed with Divine patience and an open checkbook as they seek to find a better Worship Leader and a more entertaining children's ministry Director.May God's favor lead you to the best parking space and the shortest line at your favorite post-service restaurant.And may God's blessings but not his commandments be present with all of us each day, until we meet again.Amen.
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