American Civil Religion

I offer this LONG blog like every other blog, not to be critical for its own sake, but to critically THINK as a follower of Jesus on what it means to faithfully follow Jesus.  I pray that it will help you think about what it means to follow Jesus in your life, as a community of faith and as a nation.

You have heard folk talk about this being a "Christian nation", or a nation founded on "Christian" principles.  At the time of the Revolutionary War, 17% of the nation identified with a church body and all but 13% of the founding fathers were deists, who believed that God exists but does not actively intervene in the world.  Yet, since the year 2000, 62% of Americans identify as "Christian".

But what brand of "Christianity" do we see?  In the face of our recent election and over the eight years prior to it, we have heard lots of claims of people being Christian and having their faith inform their politics, economics and life in society, but much of what we have seen has been ANYTHING but Christ-like in rhetoric and behavior.  What is "American Christianity"?  My fear is that for many in our nation, it has become AMERICAN CIVIL RELIGION.

American Civil Religion has its origins in the 15th Century Document of Discovery, initiated by the church, which sanctioned the discovery of new lands and the subjugation of the inhabitants of those lands "for King and the Kingdom of God."  So, upon the "discovery" of this land inhabited by millions of original "Americans", it was the right of European explorers and then colonists to take from them what they wanted, according to the Church of Jesus Christ.  And they did so, and the genocide of native residents extended into the mid- 19th Century guided by our sense of "Manifest Destiny" - that God wanted us to have all the lands West of the original colonies and territories, so we pushed out and killed the inhabitants and took what we wanted, much like the Hebrew slaves did when entering the land of Canaan.  Then, in the early 1900's we squatted on and took lands from a sovereign nation named Mexico, bought Alaska and Hawaii, fought the Spanish and took Guam, the Philippines and Puerto Rico.  People resisted.  The Filipinos resisted enough that we "gave them" their sovereignty back.  Then we turned our attention to Panama, paid mercenaries to fight the Columbians for control and took it to build the canal that would now serve our economic imperialist desires.  It was the belief that God had chosen these people to discover and subdue these places, to take what we wanted because we were chosen by God to have it all. 

And the church not only sanctioned this, but praised God for the wonderful bounty that God was providing through our ruthless means.  The church prayed to God for further increase and favor, evermore.  Revivalists then modeled evangelism on free market economic principles being developed in the country.  The shows were well received.  Their product was finely honed and people bought what they were selling, and America the Conquerors became America the Profiteers, and God sanctioned it all.  God was the God of America's Empire.

We fought a Civil War, mostly over the evils of slavery, and much of the fervor over it was that it was economically sound as a business principle, and people had no right to take away the right of others to enslave whoever they wanted, for profit.  God sanctioned it.  It was in the Bible, after all.  Who were abolitionists to tell others that their interpretation of the Bible that justified this was dubious?  It was their right, sanctioned by God to do so, as God's White, Protestant elect in America. 

The industrial revolution once again showed us that God favored Americans as being "exceptional."
The barons of industry built their wealth on the subjugation of immigrants and cheap labor, making their millions on the backs of others, now paid badly and worked to death for the gain of a few.  The achievements were astounding, however and much of the world marveled at the accomplishments of America.  Now, the economic empire was building.  The Gilded Age had begun. 

Walter Rauschenbusch preached about the Social Gospel of Jesus, the need for love as the center of our Christianity, and the need to treat others with generosity, kindness, equal justice and equality for all.  His words fell in relative obscurity, as the powerful and wealthy in the nation binged.  Many preachers saw all the gain in power and wealth as a sign of God's continued favor, rather than see the ruthlessness of means by which we got it.

We were dragged into World War I, and out of necessity our Military Industrial Complex was born, manufacturing what was needed to supply a War Machine.  God showed favor in our "Exceptionalism" again by allowing us to win the war along with other, smaller players.  Our wealth as a nation was building also on the backs of poor laborers, so God was blessing us with economic growth as a nation of exceptional and chosen people.

The Roaring Twenties gave way to the Great Depression after the de-regulation of our economic system by the robber barons of industry and the dustbowl challenges across our land.  The stock market crashed, and the nation suffered the hangover of the over-indulgence of those captains of industry who made millions.  Many went to church during this time, because the idea of unlimited growth as God's nation of favored and blessed, exceptional people was thrown into question.  FDR brought us out of it, calling the nation to move back to compassion and pull together as a people.

We stayed out of World War II as long as we could.  We had too much to lose.  For years we ignored the plight of many who were being exterminated, the taking of nations by a European Autocrat and the threat to allies we swore to protect, until we were attacked.  Once again, the military industrial complex geared up for action and we sent our young men and women overseas.  Once again, American "exceptionalism" was seen worldwide, this time on the grandest scale.  Nazi Storm Troopers, who had "Gott Mitt Uns" on their belt buckles, were defeated by the TRULY chosen of God.  Once again, it was God who proved that we were the chosen, the blessed and highly favored, the nation of God.

Our economy blossomed.  The threat of the Soviet Union loomed large, along with the threat of utter annihilation through atomic war.  Billy Graham, "America's Preacher", preached about the evils in America at his revivals.  He did not address our corporate sins of greed that drove us to exploit many for cheap labor or abuses of power and injustice regarding our own citizens of color.  He preached about individual salvation and sin - mostly sexual sins, use of drugs and alcohol and entertainment not fitting wholesomeness.  People ate it up.  Communism, an economic system, was addressed as evil and godless, while "Western culture" was God's culture.  Capitalism was of God.  Jesus loved Democracy and Capitalism and hated Socialism and Communism, clearly.  Jesus loved the upper, middle-class, straight, white, Protestant, male dominated, Capitalist American Way of Life.  Anything else was ungodly, un-American or uncivilized.  He called for prayerful repentance to THAT vision of America in the face of the threat of destruction.  Those things marked our morality.

This view of morality, that ignored greed, abuses of power and self-promotion but embraced all sexual "sins" was perfected during the period of the 80's that I call "The Desolating Sacrilege".  This was marked by the Religious "Right"/"Moral" Majority of Jerry Falwell getting in bed with the Political "Right"/Laissez-Faire Capitalists of Ronald Reagan.  They were a force to be reckoned with.  The legislation of sexual morality became an issue, and the de-regulation of greedy business practices became mainstream.  Greed was good.  Sex was evil.  God sanctioned it by providing a fine, upstanding "moral" man of God to work with America's Grandpa in the White House.  The economic and political corruption that followed took the nation years to recover from, but still some harken back to those years and the 50's as "the good ole days".  The middle class was gutted, the environment destroyed and wasted, the poor blamed for their victimization at the hands of the new robber barons, government was bought by corporations, liberals were vilified and everyone was blamed for the nation's decline except those who orchestrated it for their own profit, at the expense of the rest of the nation.  But we finally beat the Russians, and people believed that God was pleased by all of this.  1981 to 1992, the "Desolating Sacrilege" was the duping of America into believing that laissez-faire Capitalism was Democracy, America's military might was God's tool and we were a "Christian" nation.  Jesus is a Capitalist and favors Oligarchy.  It was in this period that the church largely abandoned the plight of those living in the cities economically, and developed more fully a Theology of Prosperity and Church Growth that would go along with the Capitalistic American "Exceptionalism" of the day.  Ignoring what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled in the Gospels,
our American Civil Religion came into its fullest expression.  Anyone who was not a true believer in this was un-American, un-Christian and unacceptable.

The 2016 Campaigns have shown us the underlying racism, classism, homophobia, misogyny and religious intolerance of those who have fully embraced American Civil Religion.   Their belief in white supremacy and God's favor on laissez-faire Capitalism and Oligarchy, the evangelical and fundamentalist Protestant faith, the superiority of men and the inherent morality of being straight have shown themselves time and time again.  Those at the top of the economic ladder, mostly white and Protestant, have exploited the masses by pitting them against each other along these lines.  The "Make American Great Again" crowds see themselves as trying to regain their dominance in a culture that has been moving toward ethnic, gender, sexual orientation, religious and economic justice and equality.  The New Gilded Age has begun, with the new Robber Barons at the helm, gutting the power of organized labor and fighting the raising of wages for workers.  The New Jim Crow has begun regarding our black and brown sisters and brothers, women of all ethnicities, our LGBT sisters and brothers and people of other faiths who have been gaining rights and safeguards from discrimination.  Greed, abuses of Power and self-centeredness are no longer seen as immoral, but normal and sanctioned by God.  Love outside of marriage, abortion, homosexuality, liberalism and the practice of other faiths are the only "moral" concerns of those blinded by this renewed faith in the God of America.

MY FEAR is that we are headed for another Great Depression.  That is also MY HOPE. 
It is not until these beliefs in God's blessing and favor of ruthlessness, intolerance and exploitation
out of our Greed, Lust for Power and Self-Indulgence are challenged that we will finally embrace a faith in Jesus' Good News of Agape Love (active commitment on behalf of the other) in Grace as Americans.  Until we understand that God is the God of ALL PEOPLE and not just Americans or the wealthy or powerful, we will continue down this path of a people who "will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, will accumulate for (our)selves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away into myths."  II Timothy 4:3,4

It will be a GREAT PRICE to pay.  I believe it is our only hope, along with people of sound faith and mind standing up and speaking up against words and actions that are anti-Christ.  People are NOW being hurt in our own nation and across the world by our American Civil Religion, that had its origins 500+ years ago and has grown and been perfected over that time to benefit a few at the cost of the many.  It is time, IN THE NAME OF JESUS, to stop this false belief and idolatry.  Every Civil Religion practiced in world history has fallen.  Israel fell.  Rome fell AFTER making Christianity the religion of the Empire and adapting it to be an institution.  The Holy Roman Empire fell.  The 3rd Reich fell.  Their versions of "the true faith" were false.  American Civil Religion that elides a false vision of God, Country, Capitalism and Democracy that is more Oligarchy, white, straight, male dominated, Evangelical Fundamentalist Protestant as blessing and sanction to exclude, exploit, discriminate against, enslave, exterminate, hurt and marginalize all others in the world must go.  It is time to recognize that it was not God who gave us this, but our ruthlessness in Greed, lust for Power and self-promotion through the subjugation of others that got us this.  It is time to find a more loving, just, peaceful, gracious and inclusive way.  It is time to follow Jesus' Way.

Toward that end... LIVE what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us in the Good News.

Pastor Jamie

Why it matters... and it does matter...

I have heard numerous folk who claim Jesus' name and call themselves "Christians" say that who they vote for has nothing to do with their faith or that it doesn't matter.  I have seen and heard many folks who claim Jesus' name support ideologies of this kind or that, without regard to how their faith may inform them regarding their stance on social issues.  I have also heard and seen many folk of late who, while claiming Jesus as their reason, support doing horrible things to others even IN THE NAME OF JESUS.  It does matter.  It matters.

The business executives or employees and even small business owners who sit in the padded seats or pews week after week, breathing in the sanctuary air and listening to their pastors or bishops preach the Word of God, inspired by the music and other aspects of worship, make decisions during the week that have EVERYTHING to do with their faith and what they profess as people who claim the name of Jesus.  It matters.

The politicians, local, state and national who run campaigns on being people of faith and how that informs them in their policy-making for the whole population, effect the lives of EVERYONE who lives in areas they represent and that has EVERYTHING to do with their faith and who they profess to follow.  It matters.

Our neighbors and community acquaintances who attend public meetings with us, send their children to school with our children and co-exist on the same streets as everyone else in our community, affect the decisions enacted that affect the lives of everyone in the community, and that has EVERYTHING to do with their faith and in whom they profess to believe,  It matters.

When we disassociate our professed faith in Jesus with how we live our lives, we are not following Jesus.  How I am as a follower of Jesus has EVERYTHING to do with how I am in the world around me - what I say and what I do.  Jesus' Good News, as we have that in the Gospels, is less about "Pie in the sky when we die" than it is about how we live right here and now, in THIS PART of God's Kingdom.  The question is, as people who confess Jesus as LORD, are we living what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us or are we not?  It matters.

I will put this VERY clearly, directly and simply for you -

You cannot support deporting millions of resident aliens AND follow Jesus.
    Matthew 25:31-46 (Deuteronomy 15:7-11; 24:17-22)
You cannot support taking away the affordable healthcare of millions AND follow Jesus.
    Matthew 10:8-15; 25:31-46
You cannot support legislation that is intolerant of Muslims AND follow Jesus.
    Good Samaritan Luke 10; Luke 4:22-30; Matthew 15:21-28; John 4:7-30; 10:11-18
You cannot be in favor of the rich getting more off the backs of the poor AND follow Jesus.
    Luke 16:1-31; 19:1-10; Mark 10:17-27; Matthew 19:23-26
You cannot be in favor of going to war, except in circumstances that leave us no choice AND
      follow Jesus.   Luke 6:27-36
You cannot actively work to discriminate against people of color AND follow Jesus.  Luke 4:14-21
You cannot believe in the religious right to discriminate against LGBT folk AND follow Jesus.
      Jesus, fulfiller of the Law and Prophets said NOTHING about it being a sin, but DID
          say, "Do not judge, and you will not be judged... for the measure you give will be the
                   measure you get back."  Luke 6:37, 38
You cannot believe that some children deserve a better education than other children AND  
     follow Jesus.       Matthew 18:1-7
You cannot advocate lower paid folk getting less so that wealthy folk can get more AND follow
     Jesus.  Matthew 25:31-46 (Lev. 23:22; Deut. 24:17-22); Matthew 20:1-16

In short, you cannot Love Money, Power or Self above all else AND follow Jesus. 
     Matthew 13:22; Luke 12:13-21; Luke 16:13
And you cannot Hate, Be Intolerant of or Treat others shamefully AND follow Jesus.
     Matthew 5:43-48... and WHO is your neighbor?  Stranger, Enemy - Luke 10:25-37

I am not addressing those who do what they do and do not profess to be "Christian" here.  I trust that those on other paths know the truth of their way with God.  And I expect the lost to act like the lost.
I am addressing folk who claim Jesus as Redeemer, Savior and Lord, and who refuse to follow what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled in their lives.  You cannot have Jesus as Savior and NOT as Lord of your life.  You cannot have Jesus as Lord and NOT recognize Jesus as fulfiller of the Law and Prophets and our Authority as Judge of the World based on God's Will and Kingdom Values.

Here is the thing.  Jesus is judge.  And Jesus' words give us a clear vision of His judgment and upon what it will be based in Matthew 25:31-46.
Jesus is judge, and Jesus claims that not all who profess His name, worship Him and even do powerful and miraculous acts in His name will be saved - Luke 13:22-30; Matthew 7:21-23
Jesus does not only value Worship and Praise with Offerings (Matthew 15:8,9), but demands that we live what He taught, commanded and modeled for us, as His followers.

So, in the FIRST public message of Jesus in the FIRST written Gospel's FIRST Chapter (Mark 1:15), Jesus commands (Imperative Mood statement) that we REPENT (change our thinking so that our words and actions change) and BELIEVE in THE GOOD NEWS - what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled as God's Will and Kingdom Values, the way God wants us to live in THIS PART of God's Kingdom.  At the center of His Good News is the Command to love God with all we have and love neighbor as self (Matthew 22:34-40), upon which hang ALL the Law and Prophets.  Indeed, for Jesus it is personal regarding us being His followers and if we indeed do or do not live what He taught, commanded and modeled in HIS Good News - Matthew 28:20; John 14:15; 15:7-10; Matthew 7:24; 24:35; Luke 6:47.

So, Jesus asks those who profess His name yet today, "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord', and do not do what I tell you?" (Luke 6:46)

When it comes to how we live in THIS PART of God's Kingdom, here and now, Jesus offered that "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:21).  What is in our hearts will be reflected in how we live.  We will show, indeed, what we truly value by how we live.

And when it comes to who we support in the world - politics, economics, churches, ideologies or philosophies - and false prophets, Jesus offers insight with "You will know them by their fruits." (Matthew 7:20).  It matters who and what we support in this life, here and now, at least for any who profess to be followers of Jesus.

It matters.  It truly matters.

Pastor Jamie

you know... Jesus...

So what we learn from Jesus regarding possessions is that "where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Matthew 6:19-21)

What we treasure is what is in our hearts, it is what we value, and how we live reflects what we treasure.

So, our billionaire President-elect has shown us what he treasures - himself.  His narcissism has served him well in business as he has produced clothing overseas, bought Chinese steel for his buildings, gone bankrupt rather than pay his creditors (numerous times) and refused to pay his taxes.  Now, after promising to have the backs of the working class, who he provoked with hatred, scapegoating others in our nation, he is showing all signs of showing what he treasures in his governance...

Wall Street de-regulation will allow the wealthy class like him to benefit at the expense of the rest of us.  As we have already seen, it will mean the destruction of lives and futures financially for the public, but great profit for the few. 

He will ship jobs overseas, encourage lay-offs and buy from foreign companies.

He will kill the rest of the 24 states' unions so that workers have no rights, no security, no recourse if they are mistreated or fired, worse salaries and now no healthcare benefits because their sub-par wages won't allow the exorbitant premiums for healthcare that we return to after Affordable Care is abandoned and 22 million people are kicked off of it.  Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid will be no more, so that the insurance industry can flourish.  The Department of Labor and Health and Human Services folk are being considered at this moment so that their buddies in medicine, pharmaceuticals and insurance can make a killing - literally - for profit.

The "for profit" schools will only be available to those who can pay, but the children will be able to work in the factories and on farms because labor laws will be relaxed, and the "for profit" prisons and debtors' prisons will be bursting at the seams, providing cheap labor to the local farms and factories - the new slavery.  The government officials being considered for Education and Criminal Justice will see to it.

The environment will be a non-concern, so fracking, burning coal, spilling oil and polluting our water, air and land while wasting resources and destroying the planet will be commonplace - all for the profit of the few.  Already government heads are being considered for the Department of the Interior, Natural Resources, Energy and others from among corporate heads in oil, lumber and other industries.

We will send our young people off to fight and die in war for the profit of the Military Industrial Complex.  This is not new.  Ask Dick Cheney how his Halliburton stocks have been going for the last 10 years!

The housing bubble, bank defaults, fraud, companies stealing pensions and other unchecked practices because of de-regulation that put us into the Great Recession that we were FINALLY digging ourselves out of (in spite of Republican obstructionists in Congress), will have a very happy rebound as the new Securities and Exchange Commissioner and appointees do as they are told.

Government will be auctioned off to the highest bidders - corporate sponsors - so that the Oligarchy can continue in unchecked plutocratic splendor, while the serfs in the street work until they die, not for a better life or the better life of their children, but just to survive the day.  Citizens United and the killing of Dodd/Frank are just the tip of the iceberg here, folks.

I guess the good, "Christian" folk who supported this President overlooked the pesky passages regarding Greed in the Gospels, especially Jesus' very clear statement, "You cannot serve God and wealth." (Matthew 6:24), when they picked this guy as their candidate of choice.

Jesus also said, "You will know them by their fruits", regarding false prophets. (Matthew 7:16)  He was referring to folk who appear to be sheep-like, but are wolves underneath - false prophets.  This refers to pastors, to be sure, who say they love Jesus but bear fruits of greed, lust for power and prestige, rather than the fruit of the Spirit.  It also refers to politicians who appear to be reasonable and seem to care for the poor, privileged and entitled majority (in culture) who have not gotten their way for a while, and who are afraid no one will anymore recognize their "superiority" or "supremacy" in the nation, and who have stirred up their hatred out of their fear in order to dupe them into giving them power.  The predictable outcome is always that folk get hurt -

Millions of sojourners in the land who God loves (Deuteronomy 10:17-19; Matthew 25:31-46) will be deported, many on Trumped-up charges.

Muslims will be victimized by the white supremacist vigilantes (some of them good, muriKKKan "Christians"), profiled and deported, refugees whose lives are in danger refused entrance.

Women will lose their right to choose, regardless of circumstances or danger to themselves in this land of liberty, due to the misogynistic American Taliban.

Our LGBT sisters and brothers will lose not only their rights, but the protections of anti-LGBT discrimination laws, so that good "Christians" (muriKKKan Taliban) can have the liberty to discriminate, while white supremacist thugs brutalize folk.

Anyone not evangelical and fundamentalist "Christian" will be marginalized at the very least.

Voter suppression will not only continue, but be expanded and be normalized in the law again, the trend having started even before this election, and Gerrymandering will assure the Reprobate control over many states and federal government for decades to come...

The intellectuals, especially scientists, will be discredited and silenced.

The news media will be reduced to propaganda machines like Faux News.

When folk said they wanted this candidate to do as he said and "drain the swamp", they had no idea what cold-blooded reptilian practices he would institute instead, filling the swamp with the ruthlessly carnivorous power mongers that he has already shown he will appoint.

They will bear fruit off the backs of the exploited - the masses - at our expense.  And the false prophets who backed them, the ones who stayed silent and the ones who did not care will hear Jesus say, "I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers", (Matthew 7:21-24) even though they prophesied in his name, cast out demons and did many works of power, because they have born BAD FRUIT.

"By their fruits you will know them."  Jesus

I hope that you who claim to be "Christian" learn to live what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled, for THAT is faithfulness to God's Will - Kingdom Values.  What we have seen in this election, and what we are seeing after it and what we will see from this administration has NOTHING to do with Christ Jesus.  Though I will suffer along with most, especially with many I love who do not look like me, I will do so with a clear conscience knowing that I supported the most Christ-like platform in this election, until the primary was rigged.  As you who voted in this administration suffer along with us, I pray that your conscience will be eased at some point, if you have one and do not try to blame everyone but yourselves for this.  Repent (change your thinking so that your words and actions will change), and we will talk.

Pastor Jamie

Shalom

The Old Testament concept of Shalom goes far beyond peace as the absence of war.  Shalom refers to completeness, wholeness, well-being and peace.

If a person or a people do not have completeness or wholeness as a condition, they cannot have peace.  If a person or a people do not have a sense of well-being, they cannot have peace.

If a nation's people do not ALL have completeness or wholeness, there is no Shalom.
If a nation's people do not ALL have a sense of well-being, there is no Shalom.

In order for a nation to HAVE Shalom, it must make sure that ALL of its people have completeness, wholeness and a sense of well-being.  The nation itself cannot have Shalom or evidently salvation, unless even "the least of these" have Shalom.  (Matthew 25:31-46)

People claim peace, and they usually mean that there is a lack of war, but that does not mean that there is Shalom in the land, and it probably means that conflict is just under the surface.  That is what prompted the prophet Jeremiah to lament, because the greedy sought unjust gain on the backs of the poor - they exploited them - and did not treat them well, and the lack of well-being that they suffered over it was treated carelessly, so they said, "Peace, peace... when there is no peace."  They treated them abominably and shamefully and were not ashamed of it.  (Jeremiah 6:13-15)  It was so bad, the conditions so horrendously unjust, that it is repeated (Jeremiah 8:10-12).  There could be no Shalom, because there was no well-being for all in the nation.  They stripped the well-being of many of their citizens, the most vulnerable ones, away from them and now the nation faced exile because of it - the whole nation.  And false prophets like Hananiah told them that it was alright and that God favored them.  The King believed that God favored them.  By all accounts, their power and wealth made it seem that God favored them, but there was no Shalom in the nation, because they exploited and hurt the most vulnerable for their own gain, and they were conquered and exiled BECAUSE GOD LOVED THEM.  These were God's people and God loved them, but they had to learn the hard way what it means to live by God's Kingdom values.

Jesus gave comfort after His last Pesach (John 13:18 - 14:31) and after expose Judas as the betrayer.  The handwriting was on the wall and they needed comfort.  He admonished them, "If you AGAPE me, you will keep MY commandments."  Agape was at the center of HIS commandments, in which is fulfilled ALL the Law and Prophets, according to the fulfiller of them.  Again, he said, "Those who Agape me will keep MY word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.  Whoever does not Agape me does not keep MY words (The Good News - what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us); and the word that you hear is NOT mine, but is FROM THE FATHER who sent me."  Jesus taught, commanded and modeled Kingdom Values, God's Will for how we are to live in THIS PART of God's Kingdom.  Then Jesus promised the Holy Spirit and said, "Shalom I leave with you; my Shalom I give to you.  I do not give to you as the world gives."  Jesus' Shalom is in the living of His commanded Agape Love (active commitment on behalf of the other - not self - even stranger and enemy - Luke 10:25-37).  The world gives a weak peace, considers itself doing well if there is no open war.  The world gives a fleeting peace, a fickle peace, a peace that has no real depth because it is not deep down, well-being, completeness and wholeness that is lived from within out into the world.  Jesus' Agape, when lived, makes sure that neighbor (even stranger and enemy) is taken care of as much as self.  Jesus makes sure that we avoid the "Peace.  Peace.  When there is no peace."  Jesus' Agape brings about no lack of justice, but rather an abundance of it because ALL have well-being, completeness and wholeness.  It happens because we make sure it happens.  There is not supernatural intervention in this, it is the commanded living of the Agape that makes for Shalom.  And it works to bring about Shalom.

The first Century believers followed what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled, and for a brief time in history there was Shalom because of it.  They eliminated poverty because they held all things in common, practicing radical sharing and ownership in Agape (Acts 2:43-47; 4:32-37).  They healed and made people complete and whole by their radical availability in Agape (5:12-16).  They included those who were ethnically different and from a different faith tradition, even into the leadership of the believers out of radical inclusion in Agape (6:1-7), and extended that radical inclusion out of Agape to those who were ethnically and sexually different and therefore excluded by the Law of Moses (8:26-40).  They went further and included their enemies who were not of their faith, even allowing them to continue their strange dietary practices (10:9-48).  Out of Agape they practiced radical advocacy and liberation, the inclusion of women among the esteemed leaders and the sharing of what they had with strangers through Agape Meals in their worship at home and even through offerings sent to those in need who were miles and miles away.  There was Shalom among them, and as people noticed how differently they lived many came to be a part of this wonderful community.  It was the finest time for the followers of Jesus in many ways because they lived Agape love as Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for them to do.   Even though they were still an occupied and persecuted people, within that struggle they saw a glimpse of Shalom.

Paul picked it up on Romans (14:10-23) regarding the need to not pass judgment on each other or put any hindrance or stumbling block up before others.  He was talking about life codes that separate folk and the need to be gracious with one another regarding our differences.  He then says, "Let us then pursue what makes for Shalom and for mutual up-building."  We must meet our diversity with Agape if we are to have Shalom.  We treat one another with respect and lift one another up, rather than tear one another down, if we want Shalom.  If we are to have Shalom, we must pursue the things that MAKE FOR Shalom - the well-being of all, completeness and wholeness for ALL, justice for ALL, equal treatment for ALL, even in our differences, or ESPECIALLY in our differences.  If we, as a people want to have Shalom, we will pursue the things that MAKE FOR Shalom.  If not, we will not have it.

Our nation does not have Shalom.  We have not had it for a long time.  We have NEVER had it.  That may explain why we have all these wars and conflicts (James 4:1-6).  Our ruthless Greed, lust for Power and desire for Self-Centered Indulgence have convinced us that some are "superior" to others and so our racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, ethnocentrism, xenophobia, and intolerance of other faiths creates an environment lacking in the things that make for Shalom.  Rather than live in humility, in all hubris we have treated others shamefully and many within our own nation since before it was a nation.  We have exploited our own, killed, enslaved, held down, back and out, marginalized, dehumanized, vilified, scapegoated, labeled, discriminated against and disenfranchised millions of our own people and have done what we could to waste, pollute and destroy our own planet so that a few could have more gain.  This is NOT a Shalom-rich environment.  And some say, "Peace" when there is no "Peace", because we do not have a Peace like Jesus' Peace, based on Agape Love for God and one another.  We have not pursued the things that make for Peace.  All in our land do not have Shalom, so none of us have Shalom.  You can try to insulate yourself with your money and isolate yourself in communities of folk just like you, but there is no Shalom.  The lack of well-being, completeness and wholeness will reach you and there will be no peace.

It is time that we as a nation pursue the things that make for Shalom.  It is time for the people who claim to follow Jesus to follow Jesus' Way - what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled, and live Agape Love, teach Agape Love, demand Agape Love.  It is time that we demand justice for ALL, the equitable treatment of ALL, equal opportunities for ALL, equal rights for ALL and respect for ALL.  Those are the things that will make for Shalom.  Anything else is superficial, fickle, fleeting and a sham.  It is a false peace.  Until we have those things for everyone in the land, people will try to say "Peace, peace... when there is no peace", and we will have Shalom for no one.  Pursue what makes for Shalom.

Pastor Jamie

THIS ELECTION, THE COUNTRY AND MY GRIEF November 9, 201

I am grieving, and I know grief.  It is with that that I help others.  I went through anticipatory grief when Bernie was the victim of the Dems’ primary election rigging.  I still return to anger over that at times, and despair.  But I am now grieving not the loss of an election, but the loss of our civility, the loss of rationality, the loss of Democracy and tolerance and compassion.  I am grieving the death of the soul of our nation.

At first, I was in DENIAL.  I denied that it could happen, even right up until 2am election night.  The denial was short-lived, though and I went to bed in disgust.

So then, it was ANGER.  Yes, I returned to the anger over Dems primary rigging and the claims that Bernie was not electable because he is a Democratic Socialist but Hillary was , ignoring the rampant racism experienced with President Obama and the obstructionism that came with it and the VERY apparent misogyny that Hillary was already facing.  I was angry that she claimed she could get things done with the Reprobates, even while they were talking about putting her in prison.  I am angry because for one, brief and shining moment we had the chance to reverse our trending toward Oligarchy and that chance was killed by DEMOCRATS.  I am angry because some could not be bothered to vote and others wrote in non-candidates, even people who will be directly hurt by the outcome of this election and its consequences.  I am angry because so many hypocritically claimed some religious moral high ground and voted for a guy whose only god is himself, who is the poster boy for IMMORAL Greed, abuses of Power and the licentiousness (fundies love that word) that those on the religious “right” say they abhor.  I am angry because some among them will gloat over this election victory as if it is a sign of God’s blessing, just like the Confederates who enslaved other human beings did in order to make money for themselves off their backs, and as the Nazi SS soldiers did with their “Gott Mitt Uns” belt buckles.  I am angry because, truly they claim the name of Jesus, who I love, but the REAL gods of their devotion are Mammon, Mars and Bacchus.  I am angry because of the blatant hatefulness, bigotry, intolerance and lies that people ignored with him all the while denying their own and how he resonated with them because of it.  I am angry because of family members and "friends"who allow their deep-seeded bigotry and fear to guide them to irrational and intolerant behaviors.  I am angry because the Oligarchs have succeeded in duping the gullible into blaming immigrants, Muslims, people of color and the poor for the plight that poor and working class white folk struggle in BECAUSE OF THOSE OLIGARCHS that they serve and idolize.  I am angry because everyone knows or should know by now that when Reprobates control the economy they consistently destroy it with their trickle down that doesn’t, so that the wealthy and ruthless gain by exploiting the serfs under them in their “New Gilded Age” vision.  I am angry because STUPIDITY and HATRED are the ONLY winners here.

I briefly go through bouts of BARGAINING.  I hear some saying, “maybe it won’t be as bad as we think” and that the great Orange Menace reached out in his victory speech, even that maybe I will wake up from this dream or somehow be able to see it reversed magically.  That is my desperate need to somehow change this reality that I can no longer deny.

I am solidly in DESPAIR.  I am saddened for people who I love who do not look like me.  I am saddened that 20 million plus will lose their medical benefits.  I am sad that my LGBT sisters and brothers will lose their marriage rights and anti-discriminatory laws, and that the violent intolerance and exclusion of them will become a new norm yet again.  I am sad that my brown and black sisters and brothers will be profiled and held down, back and out even more blatantly because those emboldened by this election believe it is their right to do so.  I am sad that they will lose voter rights again (even more-so), and that gerrymandering will cut them/us out of whatever small amount of influence we had in elections, while corporations enjoy unlimited influence over our politicians.  I am very sad and scared because this “police state candidate” will allow the genocide of young, black males and females and “justify” it.  This wall builder will deport millions.  This “business tycoon” will destroy our economy by de-regulation, plunging us into more crises like the last Reprobate’s administration did and he and his cronies will blame the poor, taking away what little they have had to sustain them, lower the wages of workers and maximize the profits of the “job creators” who ship jobs overseas to HIS companies and lay millions off in the process.  And then they will again/still dupe the gullible into scapegoating minorities and the poor for their losses.  I am deeply saddened that our poor youth will not be able to attend the “for profit” schools, but will be rounded up to be farmed out to farms and factories for free labor from the “for profit” prisons.  I am afraid and saddened by the looming return to “The Gilded Age” and “New Jim Crow” years, the claims that small government with a higher concentration of power for fewer leaders means less government interference regarding ruthless profiteering, but the legislation of peoples’ love lives and women’s bodies.   I am deeply saddened and troubled that their Supreme Court appointees will oversee the end of Roe v. Wade, voter rights, equality, LGBT rights and other civil liberties, all under the false guise of being “moral” and “upright” or “safe”, while enhancing open carry laws and “stand your ground” laws, designed to keep people in fear.  I am saddened for the de-valuing of intelligence, intellectual pursuits, rational and reasonable debate and discussion, civility, science and the environment, that will cause great harm to the planet we live on (pollution, waste, destruction) for the profit of a very few, and ultimately kill us all.  I am saddened and frightened for anyone not straight, white, “evangelical fundy” and conservative.  I lament that we will be laughed at by much of the world and hated by the rest of it as “America the Hateful and Stupid”.  I weep over the certainty that we will send more of our young people off to die in more wars for the profit of a very few.

Normally, DESPAIR is the worst stage of grieving and comes before ACCEPTANCE.  For me and perhaps us, I believe that the only thing WORSE in this grief than ANGER or DESPAIR is the ACCEPTANCE of this “New Norm” of hatefulness, violence, Greed, abuses of Power, Narcissistic Nationalism, Racism, Classism, Ethnocentrism, Sexism, Homophobia and Religious Intolerance. 

So, it looks like I will be grieving for a long time, at LEAST four years, and probably decades as we work to unbury ourselves from the losses we will suffer.  I will, no doubt, return most to my ANGER and DESPAIR and get stuck in them, because I NEVER want to come to the ACCEPTANCE of THIS as our NEW NORMAL.

Rev. Jamie Kaufman   

The Election and New Norm in America

What we have seen is a new norm arising in America.  Fueled by abject Greed and lust for Power and Position/Prestige, those who have that and want more have become very effective at putting the rest of us at odds with one another so that they can continue to get more for themselves.

The old, old story of pitting poor white folk against minorities out of frustration that they are not living the American dream of prosperity and power has worked.  Those who are "wannabes" and who are held down, out and back by those in power and wealth, have been fed the lie that it is because of "illegal" immigrants and black folk and the poor that they are not prospering like the wealthy.  All the while, these "job creators" send their jobs overseas so that they can make a better profit, and right wing politicians try to blame other politicians for doing so, though their pockets are also lined with the profits gained by their friends in corporate offices.

The newer story of claiming morality on only sexual terms has worked very well for the same folk in power and with wealth.  Claiming some religious purity and holiness, family values and moral uprightness, they pit people against each other over issues like homosexuality and abortion, sometimes adding pseudo-Christian ideologies concerning prosperity and the need for "lazy" or "unblessed" folk to get with their program.  At election time, the rhetoric flies freely by these politicians who represent those they have propped up with wealth and power, and they stay in their positions because the battle lines have been set over these divisive issues.  It has happened time and time again since 1981, because it has been their political strategy since 1981.

What this has done is to legitimize the vitriolic hatred of many in America.  They have felt disenfranchised in recent decades because much of the rest of America has been making strides toward inclusion, acceptance and even celebration of LGBT sisters and brothers, the poor, resident aliens in our country, intellectuals (scientists), people of color and those who practice faiths other than evangelical, Protestant Christianity.  They have had some of their wealth, prestige and power taken away by the Reprobate politicians who have given it to their cronies and who have scapegoated others for it, which straight, white evangelicals have been duped into believing.  They see others being treated better and they see themselves having less influence and relative wealth compared to the others, and they are angry.  They were not as visible or verbal before because they knew that America was becoming more tolerant of those they were taught and goaded to hate, and they heard about it if they shared their bigoted thoughts.

Now, under the guise of "religious liberty" (which has really been an attempt to legitimize religious intolerance and even legislate it) and "patriotism" (which is really straight, white evangelical intolerance of anyone different, and supporting an economic system with no limits so that those with the wealth can keep holding it), people have been EMBOLDENED to be publicly hateful, while claiming persecution of themselves.  Folk who claim they want less government regulation and influence on the citizenry actively work to get legislation written to control women's bodies, what religious symbols are put in the public realm, and who someone can love or with whom they can cohabitate or marry.  People who want a "hands off" business approach by government with no controls or regulation are the first in line for tax breaks and corporate entitlements (welfare), while blaming poor families who receive public assistance for using the system.  The wealthy blaming the poor for our nation's deficits, though they pay no taxes while the rest of the nation does.  Reprobate politicians blaming those on the other side of the aisle for our woes, while it was them that got the nation into the economic, security, educational, ecological, military and employment hole that we are in, all the while obstructing efforts to get us out of it because they hate our black President.  It would be laughable if it were not so frightening.  Americans have learned well how to be intolerant, and the people in power and with wealth have kept the flames of hatred burning brightly because it helps them keep what they have ruthlessly obtained on our backs, at our expense.

It is out of fear that hatred is born.  This fear is deep-seeded and has been nurtured along by Reprobate politicians who want to keep power and wealth for themselves and those just like them.  Old, white men have been the norm in politics for a LONG time, and seeing more women, more people of color, more LGBT folk and people of various faiths get elected was scary for the old white men.  Straight, white evangelical Protestants have been the "majority" of power and influence in the nation for a long time.  Seeing on TV and on the streets (if they have not yet moved far enough away to insolate themselves from seeing it) people who are different from them normally living their lives without fear and without acknowledging their "superiority" publicly, is frightening to them, because it means they may be losing their footing on their necks.

And fear begets fear.  When churches are burned and open carry laws allow folk to stand with a gun anywhere, including a polling place, and unarmed young men and women of color are murdered by the "legitimate" authorities with no consequences, the message is very clear.  When people of other faiths have their gathering houses vandalized, shot at and picketed and LGBT folk and religious minorities are beaten, the message is clear.  When politicians whose norm used to be to energetically debate one another while acknowledging their collegial relationship and position of service, now call one another liars and worse in public, and the message is clear.  When implications of a "rigged" election and then threats of violence over election results are subtly shared by those who encourage open carry and "stand your ground", the message is clear.

The new norm in America is becoming INTOLERANCE, HATRED and VIOLENCE.  The new norm in America is dangerously close to becoming FASCIST.  Authoritarian, autocratic power is being more highly valued than the democratic process.  The entitlement and privilege of the "right" people and intolerance of "those people" is not only the value, but the goal of many. 

So, people are afraid of these things and demonstrate, speak, write and vote, I hope.  They stand together against the rising tide of intolerance and hatred, I pray.  They let go of their differences out of the living of their faith and love for God (not the twisted version that allows intolerance in the name of gods - "Christian" and other) and out of their love for Democracy (not the false, Oligarchic and Plutocratic -even fascist and false, laissez-faire version that allows unchecked abject Greed and lust for Power to rule).  They say "Hell No!" to the intolerant America that is the vision of a verbal and visual minority, and say "Yes, Yes!" to the America of Freedom and Liberty for ALL, and America in which ALL are truly Equal and where ALL truly have the SAME OPPORTUNITIES because NONE have been held down, back or out.

So, how will you fare in this New Norm?
How will all of the people you love be affected by it?
If you love God and Neighbor, love Democracy, civility, justice, equality, equitable treatment of all and peace-
   What will YOU say?
   What will YOU do?

I suggest that you answer those questions NOW, for silence in the face of injustice and oppression, is compliance with injustice and oppression.

Pastor Jamie