Results tagged “progressive Christianity” from the prodigal sheep

For God so loved the world that she gave her one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

It's not an easy scripture to inclusify which is why I balanced the 2000 years of God's male image by affirming the divine female. Kinda gets our attention hearing it differently.

Scripture contains many gender neutral metaphors for God such as shepherd, rock, or Holy One. The rediscovery of the complementary female and male metaphors in the Bible and the literature of the early church encourages Christians not to settle for literary poverty in the midst of literary riches.

Inclusive language is far more than an aesthetic matter of male and female imagery; it is a fundamental issue of social justice.  Language that is truly inclusive affirms sexuality, racial and ethnic background, stages of maturity, and degrees of limiting conditions.  It shows respect for all people.  Scripture proclaims the world is created, redeemed, and sustained by the Word of God, and the church attests to the power of language and words, recognizing that words have the power to exploit and exclude as well as affirm and liberate.

A fundamentalist pastor, Vincent Fields, was invited to give the opening-day invocation before the New Jersey Senate on December 14.

But instead of giving a standard nondenominational blessing he belched forth invective about lawmakers who would dare to show support for same-sex marriage: "We curse the spirit that would come to bring about same-sex marriage. We ask you to just look over this place today, cause them to be shaken in their very heart in uprightness, Lord, to do what is right before you."

Fields said that he did not intend to speak of “gay-marriage” in his invocation.  Initially he started out praying for wisdom and understanding for the lawmakers.  Then, he says, “The Holy Spirit took over, and I had to pray what he said.”  Fields’ wife said to him afterwards, “You were being nice and tiptoeing and all of a sudden, Boom!”

Fields’ invocation caused quite a stir around the Senate.  Invocations are not supposed to be political or divisive according to Senate President Richard Codey.

Codey said that Fields had overstepped boundaries in his invocation and would not be invited back to offer an invocation in the future.

The right-wing Christian Post, whose motto is (interestingly and somewhat ironically) “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32) jumps to Fields’ defense by comparing him to a long line of ‘godly ministers’ extending all the way back to John the Baptist and the Hebrew prophets.

In his article, Mark Creech draws a connection between Fields and historic religious leaders who ‘made a cultural and religious impact’ by improving the plight of women and slaves, protecting defenseless children and providing humane treatment for prisoners and the poor (early Christian martyrs); by opposing indentured servitude, slavery, prisoner abuse and inequity in healthcare and education (John Wesley); and by working to raise the age of consent for women (William Booth).

Well, knock me down! The mean spirited attempts by Fields, Creech and co. to block equal civil protections for GLBT families seems a far cry from the progressive political engagement they claim as their supposed spiritual heritage. If they are the spiritual heirs of Wesley then I'm Barbara Streisand's love-child. Liberal mainstream Christianity, not the religious right, is the heir to the progressive spiritual tradition of the early evangelicals. Where do you see conservative evangelicals working today for universal healthcare, prison reform or women's rights?

Gay-obsessed right-wing activist Peter LaBarbera also jumped in with lavish praise for Fields. (You know you have arrived at a very special place indeed when you have LaBarbera's support.)

Many of us are intimidated against speaking out on God’s behalf, but the “gay” lobby is quite willing to fill the void — “preaching” at us with its slick but morally bankrupt message that “being gay” is naturally “who they are,” and demonizing Christians as “haters.” They can redefine words all they want, but homosexual behavior will always be wrong, and “gay pride” is direct rebellion against God.

In New Jersey, it’s easy to despair as homosexual activists claim yet another court-assisted victory, and all we have for inspiration is Rev. Fields’ Holy Spirit-led prayer. But the faithful pastor actually points the way back for our nation. Secular studies and catchy sound-bites will not bring a return of God’s blessing, but spiritual revival and repentance will — by bringing about godly humility and a desire to obey His moral laws, and creating a newfound wonder at His marvelous creation, including marriage and the family.

There he goes, pointing out the speck of pride in another’s eye while ignoring the veritable lumberyard in his own. And all in the name of ‘godly humility’.

Thus we bask in the self-congratulatory glow of a right wing media that mistakenly equates ignorance and discrimination with godliness and arrogance with humility.

I am not Episcopal, but I find the Episcopal daily office lectionary a wonderful resource for reading and meditating on scripture. Lowell Grisham's blog provides each day's readings together with his personal commentary. Lowell is an astute observer of religion and public life and I highly recommend his insights.

Yesterday's and today's Hebrew scripture readings are from Micah 1 and 2. The prophet Micah warns here of God's impending judgment upon the cities of Jerusalem and Samaria, the twin political and religious centers of ancient Judah and Israel. Like many modern centers of power both cities had become, in Micah's eyes, corrupted at the core through their political and religious 'prostitution' and their abuse of wealth and power.

He rails against powerful interests who snatch property from the poor and evict families from their homes, against political leaders who raise extortionate taxes on the poor whilst inflicting unnecessary wars upon their people.

As Lowell observes,

Much of the complaint of the prophets was directed at the abuse of power by the wealthy and the politically connected. The prophets accuse the powerful of using their power to expand their own economic interests, often at the expense of the peasants and smaller landowners. There was lying, arrogance and corruption in the high places, particularly the seat of government. God detests such behavior, says Micah and the prophets. Such behavior brings God's judgment.

This stuff reads like today's headlines. When you read the 8th century prophets it is like reading a contemporary newspaper or watching TV news -- just substitute Washington for Samaria and Jerusalem. The 8th century BCE was a time when Israel was wealthy and politically powerful. It was also a time of increasing economic contrasts. The wealthy were concentrating much of the wealth and power into the hands of the elite, a circumstance guaranteed to draw the ire of the prophetic tradition.

Lowell goes on to note that the prescription against such abuse is summed up in Micah's famous prophetic demans, that the Israelites learn again 'to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.'

Such an injunction is appropriate given the times we live in. We may not be facing fire and brimstone from heaven, but there is plenty of evidence to suggest a callousness in public and private life equivalent to that prophesied against by Micah.

Given that an election is looming in the US, the Christian Alliance for Progress is timely in releasing its Christian Voters Values Guide 2006, a welcome counterpoint to the almost deafening posturing on 'values' by the religious right.

On several key points, the Voters Values Guide echos the concerns of Micah:

• Forsaking brute power - seeking peace, not war
• Caring for the earth - responsible environmental stewardship
• Rejectig bigotry, embracing dignity - equality for all
  
• Extending healing to all - health care for all

God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It

by Jim Wallis

I got word that Jim Wallis and Sojourners will be launching the God's Politics Blog next Monday. The first week will feature an online debate between Jim Wallis and Ralph Reed, so that should be interesting.

Jim is a progressive evangelical who has spoken out on the way in which the religious right has hijacked the Christian message. How the right has replaced that message with a narrow political agenda that has little to do with the gospel of Jesus Christ, and in fact often contradicts Christ's own teaching and example.

Jim's New York Times bestseller, God's Politics, has been characterized as the "book that changed the conversation" on faith and politics in the U.S.

Jim believes it's time for the monologue of the Religious Right to end and for a real dialogue to begin. And I agree. So visit the new blog and read daily posts by Jim and a host of other noted commentators on progressive faith and politics, including Amy Sullivan, Brian McLaren, Obery Hendricks, and Tony Campolo.

And if you haven't read the book, get a copy of that too.

A Council of Bishops, Elders and Christian Leaders committed to equal rights and inclusion for all will meet in Dallas beginning September 10 to address religious discrimination against LGBT people, and how to counter it.

Over 30 faith leaders from across the United States will assemble as part of the three-day event to worship, pray and strategize on how to remove homophobia and hate from our churches, and replace them with hospitality, justice and equality for all.

The gathering will be hosted by DignityUSA, The Fellowship, Institute for Welcoming Resources and the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC). Goals of the meeting will include:

• Form a Council of Christian churches that are dedicated to reclaiming their faith based on the Gospel of inclusion, justice and love.
• Make public statements on Marriage Equality; Parental Adoption and Foster Rights for LGBT families; and address other pressing social justice issues for LGBT families such as peace, immigration and the Iraq war.
• Develop a collaborative coordinated strategy for moving LGBT rights forward within our Christian traditions - through growing the number and strength of "welcoming and affirming" congregations, reaching out to those rejected and alienated by churches, planting new churches, and creating "fellowships" of supportive congregations and clergy.

Rev. Rebecca Voelkel, one of the lead organizers of the Council, is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ:

Certain religious groups have aggressively sought to define their agenda in the public's mind, through publicity and lobbying, as the Christian agenda. On the contrary, there is a growing movement of Christian clergy who reject this agenda, for whom bigotry and exclusion have no place in the Church.

It might be more appropriate (and more inclusive) to say that a growing movement of Christian laity reject the religious right's agenda. What excites me is that initiatives like this reflect not only the view of a handful of religious leaders, but are indicative of a groundswell of grassroots support — not only in the mainline liberal churches but increasingly within the evangelical movement.