I must say,
after the radical actions of the ruthless, greedy, hateful in politics and economics...
I see positive signs of people responding and acting to counter the pain caused by them...
recently, I have taken hope in...
numerous states raising their minimum wage, some even to a LIVING WAGE of $15 per hour...
numerous states ending the ban on equality in marriage...
numerous church bodies are standing in solidarity with gay and lesbian folk...
people responding to threats of "suing" our President by giving generously to his party...
people standing up to the loss of buffer zones around family planning clinics by suggesting
that people "get in the face of" conservative folk as they protest...
we need to speak TRUTH to power, especially when it hurts others...
OUT OF LOVE...
OUT OF NECESSITY...
OUT OF CIVILITY...
people are standing up to the insane and extreme gun lobbyist efforts...
people are standing up to the racist hate-mongers in Washington...
people are standing up to the greedy oligarchs who want to buy our government...
people are standing up to the sexists who want women to have no rights, no equal pay...
people are standing up classists who hurt the poor and then blame them for their plight...
people are standing up to those who want to crush organized labor so they can exploit workers...
it is the AGAPE LOVING thing to do...
so, are YOU doing it?
Speak, write, petition, demonstrate, VOTE... out of Agape Love (self-less, unconditional, active commitment on behalf of the other) ... the world will be a better place for it...
Pastor Jamie
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Saturday, June 14, 2014
normalized hatred and our national identity
the extremes are what get noticed
the nation is getting more polarized - certainly economically and politically
also in faith practice and social interaction
and the level of intolerance is on the rise
the level of violence is on the rise... especially shooting deaths
everyone carrying guns is not just an effect of that, but also its cause
an argument at a Waffle House escalated from water being thrown to someone being shot and killed
an argument in traffic ended up with one being followed home and killed
an attack on a courthouse by a single, well armed, individual
the pre-meditated, random murder of off-duty police officers by a couple at a restaurant
arguments over sports, politics, parking, the volume level of one's music, one's choice in music,
wearing ritual garments, wearing certain colors, and just being of a certain ethnicity
now moves quickly to intolerance, words, physical altercation and death
we objectify those different from us,
vilify them, de-humanize them and then feel justified... just because they are not "like us",
to say or do whatever we feel like saying or doing, without thought, conscience or
the consideration of consequences to them and their loved ones, our selves and our society...
impulsive hatred
compulsive hatred
immediate hatred
from deep within, now right on the surface...
normalized hatred
Is that REALLY who we want to be?
Is it REALLY who we think God wants us to be?
Do we REALLY believe we can in ANY WAY be justified in this?
Is it REALLY the world we want to create and then have to live in?
Who will say, "NO! HELL NO!"?
Who will stand up and say, "ENOUGH!"?
Instead of adding fuel to the fire (responses of hatred, more guns, fighting fire with fire), who will try the ALTERNATIVE... teach the ALTERNATIVE... exemplify the ALTERNATIVE... and tolerate, accept, even celebrate the other and live lovingly, graciously and kindly?
Will it be you? Will it be me?
If not us, then who?
Pastor Jamie
the nation is getting more polarized - certainly economically and politically
also in faith practice and social interaction
and the level of intolerance is on the rise
the level of violence is on the rise... especially shooting deaths
everyone carrying guns is not just an effect of that, but also its cause
an argument at a Waffle House escalated from water being thrown to someone being shot and killed
an argument in traffic ended up with one being followed home and killed
an attack on a courthouse by a single, well armed, individual
the pre-meditated, random murder of off-duty police officers by a couple at a restaurant
arguments over sports, politics, parking, the volume level of one's music, one's choice in music,
wearing ritual garments, wearing certain colors, and just being of a certain ethnicity
now moves quickly to intolerance, words, physical altercation and death
we objectify those different from us,
vilify them, de-humanize them and then feel justified... just because they are not "like us",
to say or do whatever we feel like saying or doing, without thought, conscience or
the consideration of consequences to them and their loved ones, our selves and our society...
impulsive hatred
compulsive hatred
immediate hatred
from deep within, now right on the surface...
normalized hatred
Is that REALLY who we want to be?
Is it REALLY who we think God wants us to be?
Do we REALLY believe we can in ANY WAY be justified in this?
Is it REALLY the world we want to create and then have to live in?
Who will say, "NO! HELL NO!"?
Who will stand up and say, "ENOUGH!"?
Instead of adding fuel to the fire (responses of hatred, more guns, fighting fire with fire), who will try the ALTERNATIVE... teach the ALTERNATIVE... exemplify the ALTERNATIVE... and tolerate, accept, even celebrate the other and live lovingly, graciously and kindly?
Will it be you? Will it be me?
If not us, then who?
Pastor Jamie
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Our Arrogant Hubris
On tomorrow, June 2, we will celebrate the 90th Anniversary (1924) of Native Americans being granted citizenship in the U.S.. Yes, you read that correctly. After generations of displacement and genocide, we were KIND ENOUGH to grant the original inhabitants of this land with citizenship in it.
For over 300 years, we bought as "sub-human" property, people who were kidnapped from their lands, and used them for free labor in our economy. We took away their language, names, families and heritage, justifying it with MANY bogus arguments. Eventually granting them "some" civil rights, we continue to systematically, intentionally and ruthlessly hold as many of them down as we can.
In 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo annexed California, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and parts of Wyoming and Colorado from Mexico. We stole it by sending our citizens to populate it illegally, and then starting a war so we could "legally" take it away from them, ending the violence with peace negotiations.
For generations, we BROUGHT Braceros across the border from those stolen lands to work for CHEAP, un-substantial labor in our fields (up North in the Summer and down South in the Winter), so that we can enjoy relatively inexpensive produce. Now, private prisons will be "farming out" their inmates to the fields and factories, charging the farmers and owners for the profit of the executives and stock holders, transforming convicted criminals (some of whom have suffered GROSS injustice with long sentences) into slaves for these plantation owners. Because of that, we are actively DEPORTING those who have worked and lived here for generations. We are done with them.
American companies continue to colonize the world with gated communities for their executives, who hire local laborers on "their" property, but who are locked out of the walled, guarded communities after dark. We plant the flag of not only America, but also the logos of those American companies in foreign nations so that we can benefit from the cheap labor, exploitable national resources and lack of regulations regarding the destruction and pollution of their land, water and air.
Our arrogant sense of hubris is lived out in nationalism, ethnocentrism, xenophobia - all out of a false sense of superiority.
We hate these people as a nation because we OWE these people. We are STILL without penance for the deeds we have done to them. In fact, we now do the same things by more subtle means, through our economic and military power.
We claim that any who hate us, hate us because they hate "freedom" or are just jealous of us. We label any who strike out against us as being villains and "terrorists". We have earned all of it, as a nation.
We hate them because we have WRONGED THEM and we know it, but our arrogant hubris (redundancy intentional) continues to shape our values.
Unconscionable. IMMORAL.
It is time that we truly REPENT (change our thinking so that our behaviors and actions will change).
Pastor Jamie
For over 300 years, we bought as "sub-human" property, people who were kidnapped from their lands, and used them for free labor in our economy. We took away their language, names, families and heritage, justifying it with MANY bogus arguments. Eventually granting them "some" civil rights, we continue to systematically, intentionally and ruthlessly hold as many of them down as we can.
In 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo annexed California, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and parts of Wyoming and Colorado from Mexico. We stole it by sending our citizens to populate it illegally, and then starting a war so we could "legally" take it away from them, ending the violence with peace negotiations.
For generations, we BROUGHT Braceros across the border from those stolen lands to work for CHEAP, un-substantial labor in our fields (up North in the Summer and down South in the Winter), so that we can enjoy relatively inexpensive produce. Now, private prisons will be "farming out" their inmates to the fields and factories, charging the farmers and owners for the profit of the executives and stock holders, transforming convicted criminals (some of whom have suffered GROSS injustice with long sentences) into slaves for these plantation owners. Because of that, we are actively DEPORTING those who have worked and lived here for generations. We are done with them.
American companies continue to colonize the world with gated communities for their executives, who hire local laborers on "their" property, but who are locked out of the walled, guarded communities after dark. We plant the flag of not only America, but also the logos of those American companies in foreign nations so that we can benefit from the cheap labor, exploitable national resources and lack of regulations regarding the destruction and pollution of their land, water and air.
Our arrogant sense of hubris is lived out in nationalism, ethnocentrism, xenophobia - all out of a false sense of superiority.
We hate these people as a nation because we OWE these people. We are STILL without penance for the deeds we have done to them. In fact, we now do the same things by more subtle means, through our economic and military power.
We claim that any who hate us, hate us because they hate "freedom" or are just jealous of us. We label any who strike out against us as being villains and "terrorists". We have earned all of it, as a nation.
We hate them because we have WRONGED THEM and we know it, but our arrogant hubris (redundancy intentional) continues to shape our values.
Unconscionable. IMMORAL.
It is time that we truly REPENT (change our thinking so that our behaviors and actions will change).
Pastor Jamie
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