hopeful signs

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

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

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 

Agape Love is my standard

Agape Love (active commitment on behalf of "the other") is what Jesus commanded.

Jesus especially taught, commanded and exemplified this love for those who did not "deserve" it, the "least" (most vulnerable among us) and even stranger and enemy (who Jesus defines as "neighbor"  Luke 10:25-37)...

I MUST believe that this Great Commandment is the standard that Jesus wants me to hold on how I live in this world... in fact, Jesus said it is THAT by which others will know I am HIS disciple... not my praise, worship, tithing or outward righteousness... but in that I Agape Love others... and, in fact, it is by how I treat others (especially the "least") that I am judged in the end (Matthew 25:31-46).

We who profess to follow Jesus... who are called by His Name... who claim Him as Savior... who praise and worship Him... are ON NOTICE...

Our attitudes, beliefs, philosophies, behaviors are all held to the Agape Loving Standard...
How we treat others around us, engage in politics and economics, view and act in society are all held to the Agape Loving Standard...

that gives me pause...
it is a tall order...
I will spend the rest of my life learning how to live this Agape Love...
because Jesus did not ever say, "Worship Me" or "Praise Me" or "Tithe Me", but Jesus DID say,
         "follow Me"... "Love the Lord your God... Love your neighbor AS YOURSELF"... "Do not
           judge"... "forgive"... "Repent (change your thinking) and believe in the Good News" - what
           Jesus taught, commanded and exemplified in the Gospels...
    Jesus DID SAY, "If you (Agape) love me, you will keep MY COMMANDMENTS."

Let's start there, shall we?
Pastor Jamie

"for more profit" = Greed= Destruction

It was "for more profit"...

Then...
    that people worked 7 days a week at barely subsistence level wages in the first "gilded age", while millionaires reaped the benefits...
    that their children did not go to school, but worked in the factories, mines and fields as well
    that anyone who talked of strikes was fired, and when strikes occurred, paid thugs started riots and the police dispersed legally assembled crowds, in some cases, the national guard FIRED ON them...
                all "for more profit"...


And then...
    government safeguards for workers and salaries, job security were pushed out (1981 and following)...
    regulations on overuse of natural resources of lumber, fish and other foods, water were thrown out
    regulations on pollution were disregarded and then thrown out
    regulations on destroying our forests, lakes, habitats and lands were thrown out
    safety regulations on drilling, mining, factories...
                all "for more profit" ...

And now...
    wages are below subsistence level again...
    workers' rights are being dismantled... job security is no more...
    people are laid off or fired on a whim...
    jobs are still being shipped overseas...
    schools are more and more privatized, so SOME children can't get or stay in...
    prisons are privatized, so that MORE people need to be locked up...
    government is bought by the wealthy (again)...
    we ignore the pollution of our air, water, land...
    we destroy rainforests and other habitats...
    we waste natural resources...
    we get involved in wars and conflicts because there are financial gains to be had in them...
   
all, "for more profit", not for all or even for most, but for a select FEW, at the expense of the many and the whole planet we live on... the greedy obsession with quick profit drives the greedy to do whatever to whomever or whatever for their own gain...

and somehow... people think this is ok, good or normal...

GREED is IMMORAL.  It destroys life.

Pastor Jamie
   
   

America's soul...

It has been becoming more clear that we have SOLD OUR COLLECTIVE SOULS in America.

Intolerance of others is the symptom of an arrogant hubris that comes out of a desire for prestige and position... being seen as being higher than others... complete with a false sense of entitlement and superiority...

Hatred comes out of fear... the fear of knowing that we view others who are differently with disdain and that they will react badly that we do... fear that others might have within them the same malice toward others that we hold within ourselves... fear that others might do what we THINK of doing - to us... fear of being found out for the horrible intolerance we have for others not like ourselves...

Greed is central to our being... it drives our goals, makes us predators with others for "more", demands our devotion all the time and skews how we look at value - the value of other human beings and their needs put aside... it drives us to get quick and large profit at the expense of others or EVERYONE else... because nothing else matters than what WE want... MORE of everything...

Lust for Power consumes many in our culture... the overwhelming desire to be in control over others and get what we want, in order to gain in wealth or prestige/position, or to get things the way WE want them... even on the backs of others they dominate... power OVER others, rather than self-control in our own lives is the desire, and it makes us into what we have never valued in people who have abused their power or control over us...

Our nation is becoming more mean-spirited, intolerant, hateful, ruthless, greedy, bigoted (i.e. homophobic, sexist, classist, racist) than we have ever been before... it is much more overt now... more verbal... more acted upon... more demonstrated... more legislated... more normative and more accepted than ever before...

and it makes me sad, angry, frustrated... and DETERMINED to put something ELSE out there in the world around me... to expose these ways of darkness and let shine the light of love, grace, peace, justice, truth and civility with others...

Jesus taught me that in word and example.

I will strive to follow Jesus in how I am in the world.

Pastor Jamie

Racism's "New Normal"

   People who have claimed that we live in a "post-racism" age, are either VERY optimistic, delusional or actively trying to get away with their blatant racism.  Since 2008 (yes, THE election), we have seen a RETURN to normalized hatred.  Provoked by the election of a person of color to the Presidency, the racism of some that was once a slow, low burning and thinly covered ember of false entitlement and hatred under the surface, got oxygen and erupted into flames.  Further fueled by the rhetoric of the political "right" and their propaganda machine talking heads, it continues to flame up and threatens to consume the soul of our nation.  What once was almost universally rejected as unacceptable verbiage is now common place again, as people who are emboldened by the radical racists feel comfortable spewing their petty and hateful bile publicly again.  The taking away of public funding for urban poor even as high party officials vomit up their disdain for "those people" (and we all know who "those people" are), has been accepted by both parties in Congress.  Voter suppression efforts have been justified out of the thinly veiled concern over "voter fraud", have been exposed as RACISM, made clear because of its virtual non-existence.
   I live in Georgia, so I am not surprised to see blatant racism demonstrated openly around me.  It is unfortunate, but true.  But it seems that the intolerance of the WHOLE nation has reached a new high (LOW), and the rhetoric, actions and even laws that have been passed are CLEARLY expressions of that.  Rational people knew that "Stand Your Ground" laws were written for gun toting whites in Florida, Georgia and elsewhere.  The ways they have been selectively used in favor of whites surprises none of us.  That they have not been summarily thrown out is beyond us, however, along with the new "carry anywhere in public" laws that a few, backward states have also been passing.  Just when I thought Gerrymandering was the most blatant acceptable form of racial discrimination in elections, then states that had to be monitored because of their history of blatant racism were let "off the hook" by the Supreme Court, and now can use voter suppression laws and ARE using them to guarantee that the party that favors wealthy over poor and middle class, the party that stands for the majority (not of number, but of power) in the nation always being wealthy and white, the party that has consistently, persistently and systematically done all they can to keep people of color down and out gets more control and stays in power. 
   The false sense of entitlement, out of ethnocentrism and xenophobia was provoked by the election of this President.  The obstructionist Congress actively kills efforts to help the economy of the WHOLE nation, help the WHOLE nation with affordable healthcare and improve the life of the WHOLE nation in other ways (ecologically, energy, jobs, organized labor, living wage, etc., etc.) just to punish this President... they hurt EVERYONE to hurt him (the new racism), and people support them out of their own hatreds (the new classism).  Now, the hateful words and actions, even laws regarding their bodies are now being felt more deeply by women in our nation, as even the possibility of Hillary Clinton running is out there (the new sexism).  The anti-gay/lesbian/bi-sexual/transgender rhetoric and actions are being felt and even exported abroad by those on the political and "Christian" right, even as more equal rights have been gained in recent years for them (the new homophobia).  Those who feel threatened by these things expose their hearts of  hatred, intolerance and greed over and over again by their words and actions.  Their words and actions do not demonstrate righteousness or morality, purity of motive or integrity.  They demonstrate the HATRED in their hearts.  That some call themselves "Christians" is truly troubling.  That some of them consider themselves "human" is even dubious.  Can we be fully HUMAN and be so hateful and intolerant of others?  Isn't there some level of arrested (human, moral) development being demonstrated here? 
   Put Love, Joy, Peace, Tolerance, Acceptance, Equality, Equity and Justice out there, my sisters and brothers who would truly follow Jesus or ANY sense of human decency.  I am with you.  Pray and WORK for the day when LOVE conquers HATRED, even more consistently, intentionally and persistently than their efforts.

Pastor Jamie