FeedBurner在我的雅虎使它容易接受美满的更新! Newsgator、Bloglines和其他新闻读者。
当前饲料内容
-
您正义称什么我？
张贴： 星期五， 15:37 4月25日2008年：25 +0000
颠覆？
呀它是恭维。
与Gandhi比较
或John Wesley
或Martin Luther King
(对一些它虽则听起来更多
象人Fawkes
或Che Guevara
或某人喜欢那)
对我它正义意味
您不准备报名参加
为标准计划。
基本的介绍包裹。我舒适用了悟交换
郊区居民为社区
中产阶级为创造性的类
美国人为Earthian
福音派为基督追随者。
保守性为
自由主义者为
进步为
无所畏惧独立它不是关于谁您读
或您购物的地方
或什么您驾驶
甚至什么您相信
它是关于所有做所有那些事
并且一切
充满意思和激情
并且良心。走，当您可能驾驶
没有，因为它保存您金钱
不由于全球性变暖
不由于交通
但，因为您喜欢花，
并且走的帮助您认为。它从孩子学会
它是和平象树
unmovable，四面八方生长它是缓慢，痛苦的过程
resensitizing。它是奇怪的生活
它使某些人谄媚
但 我们将去谁？作者生物：: 特德在堪萨斯城当前工作作为青年牧师并且通过Nazarene神学院投入他的妻子萨拉。 他们喜欢烤肉和印第安食物。 特德blogs很多和萨拉有时没得到他的诗。
-
耶稣佛教追随者？
张贴： 星期四， 17:19 4月24日2008年：05 +0000
我有认为自己耶稣“佛教追随者的一个朋友”。 Orrin是排序…被刮的头和全部的修士…，但一个进步排序。
我坚信他更比一般的基督徒爱耶稣(人…不仅想法)。 我怀疑许多基督徒非常多不爱耶稣，当他们爱什么他可以为他们做。
在我的生活中我一次说是基督徒是全部大约二件事： 1) 有相信正确的事的转换经验和2)。 这类对基督徒的基本的理解可能容易地促进与耶稣基督的一个无情的关系。 And, strangely enough, can allow you to be considered a “believer of Jesus” without it being assumed that you should also be a “follower of Jesus.” In some circles, it is considered bad-theology to assume that a Christian necessarily MUST be a follower of Jesus. That, after all, is legalism. Nevermind that Jesus’ consistent message was something like “Hey, the Kingdom’s here…so follow me.”
Given my previous understanding of Christianity, my friend Orrin would be “out.” But, interestingly enough, you can be a greedy televangelist, a warmonger president, an apathetic church-goer, or a legalistic non-smoking or-drinking or-movie-watching or-dancing zealot and still be assumed, from an evangelical perspective, to be “in.”
But is being “in Christ” really about a conversion experience and right doctrine?
On the flip side, is it sufficient to say that if you appreciate Jesus and follow his example that you are “in?”
In a recent article, Brian McLaren is quoted as saying: “There are increasing numbers of Muslim followers of Jesus and Hindu followers of Jesus, and they do not want to be identified with the Christian religion…” I like how this insight recognizes that one can follow Jesus authentically without buying into a pre-packaged belief system. It is safe to assume that when the disciples were traveling with Jesus that they were, technically speaking, heretics. I doubt that they understood Jesus’ divinity, affirmed the Trinity, or recognized the universality of the Church.
Why is it that we never start where Jesus did? Instead of inviting people to become followers with us in the way of Jesus, why do we make “discipleship” about doctrinal adherence? And why do we assume that we should always push for a conversion?
What I don’t like about Brian’s quote is that it could easily encourage people to disregard Christianity or validate Hinduism or Islam (or Buddhism). But these systems aren’t the same. And I don’t even believe their cores are the same (except with, perhaps, Buddhism and Hinduism). It is also a bit fishy when folks think they can remain fundamentally within their existing paradigm and then incorporate Jesus into that paradigm. We all know that adding Jesus into our lives as-is often means that Jesus becomes the posterboy for our pre-existing values, virtues, and convictions. One doesn’t need to embrace everything about Christianity to be a follower of Jesus. But at the same time, one cannot remain as they are and be a follower of Jesus.
So, where is the balance? How do we resist the sort of thinking that equates Christianity with a conversion experience and right doctrine while, at the same time, resist the sort of thinking that equates following Jesus with adopting an ethical system (usually focusing on those ethics that we already like about Jesus)?
For that matter, what should it look like to “make disciples” in a way that affirms both the doxis and the praxis of Jesus?
Mark Van Steenwyk is the editor of JesusManifesto.com. He is a Mennonite pastor (Missio Dei in Minneapolis), writer, speaker, and grassroots educator. He and his wife Amy have been married since 1997. They are expecting their first child in April.
-
Soundtrack for Subversion: Suburban Pipedream
Posted: Wed, 23 Apr 2008 02:09:57 +0000
Inspiration for subverting the empire can be found in the darndest places. Take, for instance, my road trip to Dallas a few weeks ago, which included an opportunity to join dozens of people in a basement coffee house for a live show including Ronnie Fauss. Ronnie is straight out of the Republic of Texas, and his music reflects that. But his fan classic, Suburban Pipedream, is an incomparable reflection on the strange bedfellows the American church and culture have become:let’s move out to the suburbs
we could buy ourselves a home
where the floors are made of granite
and the sinks are made of chrome
and our children will play soccer
and we’ll join the PTA
and we’ll never have to deal with democrats
and we’ll never have to deal with gayswe can join up with one of them churches
that looks like a shopping mall
where the wallets are the biggest
and the hearts are so damn small
and we’ll go to lunch on Sundays
in our Lexus SUVs
and the men will compare portfolios
while the women watch the babiesI don’t mean to put you down
or the life you choose to live
God knows that I curse way too much
and take more than I give
but when I’m on my deathbed
and I start to reminisce
tell me there’ll be something more than thismy boy, he’ll play football
whether he wants to or not
and we’ll bug him about his homework
until we drive him to smoking pot
and our daughter will be so pretty
and on Friday she’ll lead cheers
until 11th grade when she gets pregnant
after drinking too many beersmy practice will be the envy
of all my business school friends
we’ll have more debt than you can imagine
but at least you’ll drive a Benz
you will keep my stomach happy
twice a year we will make love
we’ll have everything our parents
have been dreaming ofI don’t mean to put you down
or the life you choose to live
God knows that I drink way too much
and take more than I give
But when I’m on my deathbed
and I start to reminisce
tell me there’ll be something more than thispretty soon we’ll stop talking
when the trying gets too forced
and when the kids go off to college
we can finally get divorced
and our children will do cocaine
and I’ll screw my neighbor’s wife
everything will be perfect
in our Republican… fundamentalist… Christian…
college educated… I know I’m so jaded…
pipedream suburban life
Kimberly Roth is a co-editor for the Jesus Manifesto. She over-thinks and cares way too much, so she rambles on at www.barefootbohemian.blogspot.com.
-
I no longer blog here…
Posted: Tue, 22 Apr 2008 23:06:32 +0000
I blogs here. You see, I’ve decided to start a blog.
You may be thinking: “Wait a second, Mark! You already blog [too much] at Jesus Manifesto!”
By no means. Jesus Manifesto isn’t a blog anymore. Technically, it is a webzine. One that I edit. So technically, I don’t blog at all anymore.
Unfortunately, I have all kinds of family and friends that wish they could skip all that radical Christian junk and just read updates about my ministry, my family, and my life. Slowly, that sort of content has dried up at Jesus Manifesto. It just doesn’t fit to share that stuff anymore.
Thus I am blogging again. Markvans.wordpress.com is my new blogging home. That is where I’ll share updates, cute anecdotes about my baby, rants about how hard ministry is, and the sort of rambling thoughts that simply aren’t appropriate for a webzine.
So add me to your blogroll. And if you already have me in your blogroll but it points to Jesus Manifesto… well, then I suggest you update that info and add Jesus Manifesto elsewhere. Heck, if you want to be REALLY supportive you can add a cool-looking Jesus Manifesto banner image to your site (which you can see on our sidebar).
-
The Faith of Our Fathers
Posted: Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:00:40 +0000
I usually write out of the themes that swirl around my brain for a while. This time is no exception.For some period in my life I have been wondering about where I fall in this thing called “The History of the Church.” Am I a heretic? I’ve been called that. Am I progressive? Conservative? Feminist? Liberal? Anabaptist? Open-Theist? I have been called all of these and called myself all of these at various stages along the way.
Most of these classifications have served to include or exclude me from some group of people that were either preferred or not–depending on the context. These words typically refer to specific views I articulate from time to time. Sadly, I am not often known for what I do.
When I wrestle with the feeling of being a theological bastard–wondering what congregation would ever openly accept me into their community–I am struck by how askew our perspective has become. most church folks I am around want to talk about church backgrounds: “What denomination did you grow up in?” seems to be the question that reigns supreme.
Whatever happened to “you will know a tree by its fruit”?
I think it is important to articulate what I believe about Jesus, the incarnation, God, Trinity, baptism, communion, the body of Christ, Justice/justification/righteousness, and the kingdom of God. I think this is important because in talking it out, I iron out the ethics that I hope to hold as a measure of the fruit of my life. I hope to read the scriptures, the culture, my experience, and the voices of my community with the intent of letting them shape me into a follower of Jesus. In reading all these things, I try to hold Jesus and his message about the kingdom of God at the center.
Too often, these things have been left up to only a few people in the church–most of them white men, with the exception of Augustine who was African (thus the title of the post’s lack of reference to mothers). This is another reason I think theology is important. It is important for us in our rising global context to continue to articulate our faith in shifting situations and with the inclusion of a diversity of voices (on this point I am keenly aware of my status as a white man in usamerica).
So, I hang on to the importance of theology.
At the same time, I am sick of doctrines determining communities of faith. What will it take for us to congregate based on geography instead of on socio-cultural, economic, ethnic, and doctrinal sub-groups? Maybe, once we have sucked the earth dry of oil and our cars are rusting in our driveways and we have to walk everywhere, we will be forced into rethinking our understanding of who our sisters and brothers are in “local” communities.
What if our faith was “articulated” in our actions, our artistic expressions; the fruit of the Spirit playing out in our relationships, economics, ecological impact, and our politics?
What if I don’t label people I don’t agree with theologically, and instead try to come alongside them to work with them in embodying the kingdom of God? What if they don’t believe in the kingdom of God that I articulate? Can I still love them and encourage the areas I see them participating (even unknowingly) in the kingdom life?
As I write this post I think about my own father and mother. These two folks have a very different picture of a lot of the doctrines that I hold as central to the Christian faith. We disagree, yet I see them loving people, living sacrificially, serving with humility, and finding their own ways of articulating their faith. While I don’t always like their articulation, I love the Jesus that shows through their lives.
What if our faith is less our words and more our actions? After all, I don’t think Jesus ever mentioned “wrong” doctrines as keeping anyone out of the life of God’s Kingdom (for that matter, right doctrines don’t seem to get anyone in–though they may help a little along the way).
A couple of days ago I was at an “emergent-ish” conference. I was disappointed when applause followed a clarification about the school I attend. A speaker made note that my school was certainly not affiliated with a more conservative evangelical church of the same name. I appreciated the clarification, as there is always a lot of confusion concerning this topic. But I was appalled that there was a sort of pride in the audience’s response to this declaration. Where was the humility and kindness that we had been articulating throughout the conference?
As we stumble toward different articulations and embodiments of God’s kingdom, I hope that we can maintain integrity between our words and actions. Without this integrity we are simply putting a different face on the same old song and dance that we say we are sick of. What will it mean for us to hold the same openness and humility toward those in the communities we have emerged from as we hold for those who sound a little more like the communities we want to become? Can we have the humility to see everyone, no matter the theological articulation, as siblings?
Aren’t we all, more or less, just messed up daughters and sons of the same God? When Jesus talks about the kingdom as here among us, I don’t think he means among the ones who “get it right theologically.” I think he means, it’s here for, in, around, and through us all. None of us is completely “in” the kingdom. We all need grace to come alive to the rebirth and redemption that God is working on behalf of the entire world. If this sounds a little too “universalist” for some, please don’t judge me by my articulation…
Peace.
-
Jonah on Climate Change
Posted: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:03:09 +0000
I’d really like to know something, please educate me if you can. After leaving Egypt, the Israelites moaned and complained and worshiped false idols, and then spent 40 years wandering around in the desert being miserable.Another time, God sent the world’s-worst-prophet to Nineveh, the ancient capital of Assyria one of the enemies of the God-people. Jonah eventually proceeded to preach destruction on these people, who he really hated.
The first group were the God-people and had seen some pretty amazing things. Locusts, frogs, rivers of blood, water from rocks. The second group weren’t the God-people, presumably knew nothing of the stuff this crazy man was saying (and it is a bit of a surprise they didn’t just kill him on the spot, given he was covered in fish sick) and yet “turned from their evil ways.” What was the difference?
The reason I’m asking is that it seems to me that Global Warming is clearly the most critical issue any of us are likely to face in our lifetimes. To be frank, it scares me. Did you know, for example, that one of the leading climate scientists is now saying that the CO2 target in last year’s IPCC report was a serious overestimate? According to his calculations, the international negotiations are pointless - because they are all assuming that we can reduce the /rate/ of increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, whereas the truth is that we actually have to reduce the /absolute/ amount in the atmosphere. If true, it has massive ramifications. It isn’t good enough to stabilize the current CO2, causing economic growth. We actually have to cut back.
And given that we are within the 10% of the world’s population rich enough to actually read and understand these words, that has implications to the way we live our lives.
Or try this one: did you know that 50% of all food produced by farms in America is wasted before anyone eats it? That, if we somehow had the technology and willpower, all that wasted food in a year could meet half the annual import needs for the entire continent of Africa. That amount is just the wasted food from the UK. Imagine the amount of wasted food from all the developed countries. Think of all the cost of producing that food, only for it to end up in the dustbin.
The problem is not the thousands of people in Egypt fighting over bread or the billions living in absolute poverty, who face an even more uncertain future due to climate change. The problem is the small percentage of rich people who are taking more than their fair share: us.
I know many of us have been banging on about this for a long time. And I know there are some churches which have really grasped the message. But is anyone actually prepared to repent of their wealthy lifestyles and face up to their responsibility for our greed which is causing the climate to change? OK, we might be prepared to change a few light bulbs, but is that honestly going to stop the tsunami that is coming?
This morning in church, I heard something a bit like this from the pulpit - “Climate change is a fact. But thinking about it can paralyze us because of the magnitude of the problem. So I just want you to remember this: don’t panic, God is in control.”
Don’t panic? Millions are dying because of the human greed of a few rich fat people, and the church is telling us “not to panic?” Whilst panicking might not be the best move in the face of a global catastrophe, surely repentance is. Costly repentance. The kind that says actually my lifestyle is totally wrong and I need to change my ways, fast. God being in control in some ways is irrelevant. From my bible knowledge, it seems quite likely to me that we are going to have to live with the consequences of our actions. God being in control does not necessarily offer a Get Out of Jail Free Card for the future. So what does this knowledge mean in our own lives, and how do we get the message out? How do we do better than Moses - with all his multi-media presentations and flashy graphics - and take lessons from the miserable, soaked, sick-smelling Jonah? Is there any point in even trying?
Author Bio:: Joe Turner is an angry 30-something with a bad memory for dates. He is founder of the Freedom Clothing Project - an effort to bring trade to some pretty dark places - a regular contributor to the Celsias climate change blog, a husband, father and ham-fisted user of theology. Blunt and annoying.
-
Expelled: An Opportunity Lost
Posted: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:25:58 +0000
The blogosphere has erupted following the first viewings of the new Ben Stein documentary “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed“. Depending on who you talk to, it is either about:a) censorship and suppression of scientists who voice support for Intelligent Design (ID)
or
b) undermining Darwinian evolutionary thought in an attempt to favour ID.
The first topic sounds worthwhile, until some basic research is done into the cases of claimed censorship or suppression. Expelled Exposed goes into depth on each of the cases to show the fallaciousness of the arguments (to pick a favorite: you can’t be fired by someone you never worked for).
In addition, the recent trial in Dover was debating whether or not ID is within the bounds of science or whether it falls into the territory of philosophy or theology. When even ID supporters admit (as was done in the Dover trial) that expanding the bounds of science to incorporate ID means that other disciplines (such as horoscopes & astrology and other pseudosciences) would then fit the definition of ’science’ as well, it draws an untenable situation. Few parents who are hell-bent on having their children learn creationism ID would want them learning alchemy, kabbalist magic or astrology, but those would all fit under the purview of the new ’science’. With that understanding, it is no surprise then that many scientists, including some who personally believe in a creator God, see the introduction of ID as a threat to their discipline.
Expelled turns the issue, which could be covered gracefully, into a religious war of sorts. Scientific American asked the assistant producer of Expelled, Mark Mathis, why every scientist advocating evolution was an atheist: there are plenty of examples of Christians or other believers who work within and advocate evolutionary biology - why were none in the movie? The response was that this would have confused viewers. Confused meaning the straw man that only atheists believe in evolution would fall apart, exposing a major flaw in the thoughts proposed in the film. To hear a different perspective, here is a lecture from evolutionary biologist and Roman Catholic Ken Miller discussing ID, evolution and the Dover trial.
Finally, Mark C. Chu-Carroll from the Good Math, Bad Math blog writes a devastating critique of the association the film makes between Darwinism and horrors such as the holocaust:
Suppose that it was true that Darwin’s writings about evolution were the primary thing that motivated the Nazi’s genocide against the Jews, the Romany, and all the other “undesirables” that they killed. Forget, for a moment, that the linkage is a crock. Pretend that it’s the truth.
What difference does it make?
Does the truth become less true because some idiot used it to justify something awful?
Science isn’t morality. Science describes what is. Morality defines our understanding of right and wrong. Science doesn’t tell us what’s morally right and wrong. It tells us what is. It can allows us to reason from what we know, to determine the effect of an action, which can allow us to decide whether that action is morally right or wrong. But the science doesn’t tell us what’s moral.
What Stein and friends are doing is trying to say that it’s appropriate to judge science based on what kinds of moral judgements a lunatic can derive from it - and further, they’re basically trying to argue for suppressing the truth when they don’t like the results of trying to infer morality from that truth.
He goes on to describe that you can draw some fairly bizarre ethics from the laws of thermodynamics, but that doesn’t invalidate physics. There may be an argument against evolution, but this isn’t one of them.
In my humble opinion, having followed the making and the build up to this film for some months now, I am disappointed; not so much that it appears to be a crock on par with a Michael Moore pseudo-documentary, but rather because it could have been so much better. A balanced, open discussion over the naturalistic assumptions that the field of science works with and whether there are merits to broadening the discussion of the discipline to exploring other phenomena is a worthwhile discussion. Rather than pulling soundbytes from interviews that people were conned into allowing, a real discussion from bright people on all sides of the issue, arguing pros, cons, and the evidence involved would be a fantastic work that would stimulate discussion and open ears on all sides to hearing that ‘yes, they may disagree with me but they’re not all crazy’.
In the end, I simply do not see anything of merit with the way the film was made; from lying straight out to get interviewees off guard, to stacking ’student’ audiences with extras, to using classic propaganda poses, music and cuts in order to demonize one position and extol another: none of it comes off as loving, Christlike or worthy of attention.
May we learn from this mistake, and rather than playing into the world’s win/lose dichotomy, let us draw people by our willingness to listen to those who disagree with us, even as we hold firm to those things that form our foundations.
Peace to you and yours.
PS: Just for fun, here is a parody of the Expelled trailer, entitled Sexpelled: No Intercourse Allowed.
Author Bio:: Jordan Peacock lives and works in Minnesota with his beautiful wife and daughter. When not playing with technology or music, he’s writing comic books and wrapping up a university education.
-
Interview: Becky Garrison, Satirist
Posted: Fri, 18 Apr 2008 18:01:15 +0000
Becky Garrison is a religious satirist whose books include: The New Atheist Crusaders and Their Unholy Grail, Rising from the Ashes: Rethinking Church, and Red and Blue God, Black and Blue Church. She’s Senior Contributing Writer for The Wittenburg Door and contributes regularly to The Ooze and God’s Politics blog. Also, she’ll be featured in Soularize in a Box 2007 and The Ordinary Radicals documentary. When she’s not smashing religious idols to smithereens, she can be found kayaking, crewing on a historic schooner or fly-fishing. While she frequents a number of emergent and alt. w. communities (with a sprinkling of traditional church added for that occasional bells and smells sensation), it is on the water where she truly worships.How did you become a satirist? What drew you to satire?
Every since my upside down birth, I’ve always seen life from a unique perspective. A quick romp through my dysfunctional family tree reveals that I seem to have been destined to be a satirist from the get-go. I’m a direct descendent from three Pilgrims (John Howland, Priscilla Mullins and John Alden), who set forth for the new world in search of religious freedom only to morph into theological tyrants. Also, I’m the 10th and 11th great-granddaughter of the Rev. Roger Williams, the first American pioneer of religious tolerance, who incidentally was chased out of Rhode Island by my more Puritanical relatives thus setting up a dysfunctional family dynamic that whenever someone in my family gets too uppity they’re given the boot. If Gramps were alive today, he’d be railing both against religious fundamentalist and their secular counterparts who try to impose their mighty meta-narratives upon the huddled masses. Given he wrote books like The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution for the Cause of Conscience (1644), he’d be the perfect Wittenburg Door writer.
Add to it the fact that my late father was an Episcopal priest/college professor who got chased out of his small-town South Carolina church by the KKK circa 1961 because he dared suggest that the town abide by Brown v. the Board of Ed. While I’m a pre-natal Episcopalian (you do the science and the ecclesiology and it sort of makes sense), I’ve spent my whole life hanging around the fringes of the institutional church. Yes, my late grandfather, a noted child psychologist, was spot on in his assessment that my late parents’ ‘60s era activist dreams fueled by a toxic combo of alcohol and drugs with the likes of Timothy Leary and hordes of impressionable college students presented poor models for proper parenting. Still, amidst this psychedelic haze, I learned the catechism of the Episcopal Church, along with the irreverent political humor of Laugh-In and Monty Python the song stylings of Tom Lehrer and the English translations of the German lyrics found on the record “Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is a Dirty Old Man.” How many nine year olds can claim they not only knew all the words to “Plastic Jesus” but could interpret the meaning being this irreverent message?
Given this admitted bizarre family history, no wonder I became a religious satirist. It’s in my genes.
Satire seems to be a lost art…Why do you think that is?
Let me quote the dude who got me into whole wild and whacky world of serving God through my writing, Door Senior Editor Robert Darden. “Mike Yaconelli was the most dangerous man I’ve ever known. He honestly sought to live according to the Gospel. It meant he didn’t care who he ticked off. It meant he didn’t care what you said about him. It meant he didn’t mind looking like a doofus. It meant he would tell you what needed to be said to your face. Brrrrrrr … now that’s dangerous.”
How many satirists do you see pimping themselves out as author/pastor/speakers? Yeah, I note on my website the subjects I can talk about cause there are places like Greenbelt UK and Soularize that have the spiritual stamina to invite a satirist into their midst. But if you’re cutting the Christian cheese, planning a conference so you can strut your progressive poses or faithlessly floundering locked up in your ivory tower, you don’t want some smart ass pantsing you, revealing once and for all that the emperor is indeed buck neekid!
For a more in-depth analysis into the not so subtle art of satire, I’m going to defer to Phyllis Tickle. She wrote the forward to The New Atheists Crusaders and their Unholy Grail and is the smartest person I know, bar none.
How do you respond to those Christians that see satire as something destructive…something with which no good Christian should stain themselves?
When we are living in trying times like these, we need both mystics and satirists - the mystics connect us to the divine to give us hope despite our current despair, while the satirists play the role of the court jester to keep us grounded. To quote Jimmy Buffett, “If we couldn’t laugh we would all go insane.” I’ve had more than my share of dark nights of the soul. But satire keeps me spiritually sane.
Just as there have always been corrupt institutions and churches, there have a few of us crazy enough to take on the ungodly giants. We satirists exist to deconstruct everything and anyone that tries to keep people away from the love of God. Whenever men try to erect God in their own image, I’m right behind them kicking down their prized creations. And right after I’ve smashed these fallen idols to smithereens, for a few brief moments, a calm comes over me. I can see very tiny bits of God shining through the cracks. These fragmentary yet all too fleeting glimpses of the divine keep me from cracking up.
Since your book Red and Blue God, Black and Blue Church came out a couple years ago, the Christian political atmosphere has shifted. It would appear that the grip of the religious right has loosened and a new generation of Christian progressives has emerged. Does this shift give you hope…or is there still need for concern?
Well for starters, the Religious Right may seem to be DOA but they will rise from the dead when you least expect it. Sort of like zombies. For example, while the Moral Majority went the way of the dodo around the time the televangelist scandals hit in the late ‘80s, these fundy fanatics reemerged as the Christian Coalition blasting their way all over the Beltway form 1994 till 2006. These guys are too well funded with an extensive grassroots networking for me to ever think we’ll be rid of them. They’re like Christian kudzu.
Back in 2006, I sounded the alarm that if we’re not careful, we’re going to see the rise of a Progressive Left that’s every bit as odious, obnoxious and obstinate as the Religious Right. The title of this book reminds us that whenever we put partisan politics over following the teachings of Christ, the church takes a beating. Since then, we’ve seen the formation of organizations like Cross Left designed explicitly to organize the Christian Left, progressive Christian leaders choosing to endorse specific candidates on sites such as Faithful Democrats, and other spiritually swarmy moves.
Here’s where it gets a bit sneaky. Some holy hipsters claim they’re speaking only as a private citizen cause after all, their endorsement isn’t on their church or organization’s website. Looks to me like they might be joining forces with Dr. Dobson who also insisted that his political endorsement “comes as a private citizen and does not represent the views of his ministry.” This political doublespeak brings to mind Bubba’s claims that “I did not have sex with that woman.” While technically he did not perform a procreative act, he sure as heck was downright dirty. In the same token, just because you post your endorsement in a manner that doesn’t violate IRS rulings, that doesn’t mean it’s kosher. As I reported on the God’s Politics blog, once you are seen as a published author/pastor/spokesman of any religious enterprise, your words carry weight when uttered in any public forum, be it book or blog. Deal with it.
While “change” and “hope” have become the latest buzz words in the 2008 election, the challenges is how Christians can be prophetic agents of social change without becoming some candidate’s biblical buttboy. Check out Brian McLaren’s Everything Must Change Tour and Shane Claiborne, Chris Haw & Friends Jesus for President if you want to see the real deal in action.
You’ve got your fingers on a lot of the latest “movements” within the church. Where do you see faith in the US headed? We’ve got mainstream evangelicals branding and repackaging every movement for its own use. Mainline denominations have set up special task forces to incorporate emerging ideas in a last-ditch effort to keep their young from falling away. And then you have Emergent Village moving away from building relationships into creating a publishing/speaking empire. Where is all of this headed?
Here again, I’ll defer to Phyllis Tickle cause she’s the expert when it comes to taking our country’s spiritual temperature. When I interviewed her for Rising from the Ashes: Rethinking Church and The Wittenburg Door, she made these astute observations. “Bishop Mark Dwyer has noted, about every 500 years, the Church feels compelled to have a giant rummage sale. During the last Reformation 500 years ago, Protestantism took over hegemony. But Roman Catholicism did not die. It just had to drop back and reconfigure. Each time a rummage sale has happened, whatever was in place simply gets cracked into smaller pieces, and then it picks itself up and reconfigures. I think Diana Butler Bass is absolutely right-on when she says that Progressive Christianity is that part of the established institutions presently in place that’s going to remain in the center, or circle around, the emerging church.”
In my conversations with other forward thinkers like Spencer Burke, Diana Butler Bass and Brian McLaren, it’s clear there’ a global spirit abound that infuses religion, politics and culture at large, transcending organizations and individuals. When I attended Trinity Institute’s annual theological conference, I was particular struck by James H. Cone’s appeal to his fellow academics to do theology that moves out of the academy and impacts the person in the pew. That’s where I want to be where the religious rubber hits the real road cause that’s one heck of a religious rollercoaster ride. I feel blessed to just be there so I capture satirical and spiritual snapshots of what I observe as this transformation unfolds before my eyes.
But the moment you try and market and brand this movement replete with publishing deals, self-appointed spokesmen and generative gatherings, you’ve jumped the shark and the spirit has moved on. For example, I reported on Holy Hip Hop back in 2004 (props to my friend Jahneen Otis for overseeing the first setting of the Episcopal Eucharist hip-hop style). One thing I learned in doing my research was that by the time Saturday Night Fever was released in 1977, these urban pioneers were experimenting with what later became identified as hip-hop. A very similar dynamic seems to be happening with emergent churchTM but this global spirit is definitely alive and kicking.
What movements or groups today bring warmth to your satirical heart? Where are the signs of hope?
I would encourage everyone to check out The Ordinary Radicals when this documentary opens in September. Jamie Moffett, director and co-founder of The Simple Way profiles some amazing ordinary radicals, who are demonstrating that another world is possible if we really put the words of the risen Christ into practice. Over at Anglimergent, I’ve been witnessing ontological proof that the Episcopal Church is indeed rising from the ashes. (If anyone thinks the emergent church is THE church of the 21st century cause the mainline church is a thing of the past, do your historical homework or else I’ll be forced to sic N.T. Wright on you He’ll surprise you with hope that’s for sure. Andrew Jones and Jonny Baker’s blogs guide me to where the spirit is moving throughout the world, while Jon Birch’s cartoons enable me to laugh at my own foibles.
If these groups succeed, will you be out of a job?
No way. No how. It’s human nature of people to seek power like moths to a flame. So, someone has to be armed with a fire extinguisher to put out the fires. And as long as there are gatherings like Greenbelt UK and Soularize, I’ll always have a place to play.
Your hands are all ready covered in the blood of sacred cows; you’ve tackled Church and State, atheism, and the emerging church. What’s next?
Thanks to my buddy Kurt Nielson, author of Urban Iona, I’ve been starting to view travel and life in general through a pilgrim’s eyes. Who knows where the spirit will take me next? But I’m really learning to appreciate the ride no matter how scary and bumpy the road might be at times. So, check out The Ooze, the Wittenburg Door and God’s Politics blog for my latest adventures in idol smashing. Major updates like upcoming books and all that jazz will be posted on my website, www.beckygarrison.com.
Editor’s Note: If you think you have the satirical spirit needed to contribute to The Wittenburg Door, check out the writer’s guidelines at www.wittenburgdoor.com/writers-guidelines and send your submissions to editor@wittenburgdoor.com Meanwhile, sit back and enjoy these pictures from the odd travels of Becky Garrison.
-
Submergent relaunches website
Posted: Fri, 18 Apr 2008 02:17:39 +0000
Submergent.org recently relaunched (www.submergent.org). The old site was having some technical difficulties.
What is Submergent?
Embracing the Anabaptist impulse, Submergent is exploring new ways of embodying the Gospel in our post-modern, post-colonial, post-Christendom world. We are a network of emerging Anabaptist leaders, churches, and organizations from all over the world and from different denominational backgrounds coming together to reimagine what it means to be Anabaptist.
What are the goals of Submergent?
We’re having a gathering of a handful of people from different parts of North America to explore this question. We’re trying hard not to create a closed agenda; we’re discerning the best way of networking all the Anabaptist-flavored pockets engaging the emerging context. These are some basic starting goals:
- We will actively explore ways to embody the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We aren’t interested in mere ideas…we want to live this stuff out.
- We will foster dialog between emerging church movements and the existing Anabaptist movement.
- We will develop partnerships between Anabaptist denominations/organizations and emerging organizations.
If you’d like to be a part of what we’re scheming for the future, contact us. And send us your info…and be sure to mention if you are a part of an organization or community that wants to be listed on the site. If you have a blog, we’ll add that too.
-
The Beginning of One Life, the End of Another
Posted: Thu, 17 Apr 2008 19:27:17 +0000
Friday night I celebrated the birth of my son with a few friends with the traditional smoking of cigars.My friend and fellow Missio Dei community member Josh invited me, my housemate Chad, and our new friend Orin to have a couple beers at the Acadia Cafe. Afterwards we smoked the cigars (which were actually Cuban) to ceremonially celebrate my fatherhood.
Meanwhile, a couple blocks away, a young Somali man was shot and killed. Abdillahi Abdi was 18. He was shot in his car.
Somali youth violence has been increasing in the neighborhood. It made my celebration feel a little hollow. Josh and Chad realized that some of the young men involved in the incident were around last Saturday when we did our weekly “Hospitality Train“outing. There has been a rise of Somali youth violence in the area. The Somali community blames the police for not doing more to curb violence…and at the same time tend to repeatedly deny their young are involved in gangs.
This is all to familiar in our nation’s history; the rise in 2nd generation immigrant violence is a story that has been told in this country before. The parents come here for a better life for their family. They lived enough in their homeland to retain their ethnic identity. But their kids…that’s another story. They are usually cut-off from the homeland. And they don’t quite fit in in this new land. This lack of social identity and its accompanying frustration is the natural breeding ground for the formation of young gangs. Gangs offer social identity and empowerment in a new land where you’re in the margins. This was the story of Italian and Irish youth. And it is the story among 2nd generation immigrants today.
Police don’t seem to be in a hurry to help address the problem of increased violence. They are being reactive rather than proactive. Meanwhile, the parents tend to act like their kids can’t possibly be doing anything wrong. The one youth program geared towards East African youth in the neighborhood is crammed into the same space that everyone has to share…a handful of classrooms and an under-resourced community center.
Many homeowners and business owners in Cedar Riverside assume that the best way to address this problem it to spread things around. If we could tear down the “crack stacks” (the image shown here), then Somali folks won’t be living in a ghetto. They’ll be forced to relocate around the Twin Cities and get absorbed into the larger culture. Meanwhile, new housing and new businesses geared towards hip city-dwellers can come in and revitalize the neighborhood. This is a gospel of gentrification. And the best it can do is push the misery around.
But for us it is a deeply spiritual issue. Missio Dei is grappling with how to embody Christ here in the midst of this neighborhood. Following Christ means that we engage the brokenness and attempt to show a better way. Somali youth violence is just one among a host of issues facing the Cedar Riverside neighborhood. But for us this isn’t an easy task. We’re trying to raise funds for a building that, among other things, could be shared (for free) with local area organizations, like the youth program mentioned earlier. We try to connect with folks through hospitality (and this season we’re launching a neighborhood garden). But with a budget of about $20,000 a year, we’re stretched thin and we’re a long way off from getting a building.
And so, we are a marginal group in a marginal place following a marginal Jesus. And we’re trying to see transformation, one person at a time, as we build relationships…as we try to become a spiritual family with broken people. For us, change happens, at least primarily, across the table. Over bowls of vegan chili. As people become adopted into a family.
And so, I have a new son. Jonas is a delight to his papa. God has entrusted him to his mother and me. He is family. But we also believe God has entrusted us to the Cedar Riverside neighborhood because he wants to see a family grow there. A new shared identity where there was once fragmentation and frustration.
FeedBurner delivers the world's subscriptions wherever they need to go. Publish a feed for text or podcasting?
You should try FeedBurner today.
