The Osama Spectacle and the Silencing of Dissent

As regular readers of this blog are aware, I am one of a growing number of Americans who have serious doubts regarding the official conspiracy theory of what happened on September 11th, 2001.

I have written about this before and you will find links to those posts and to other resources at the bottom of the sidebar.

I have joined other religious leaders such as David Ray Griffin, John B. Cobb, Walter Wink, Carol P. Christ, and Marvin Ellison, in signing this statement. The above are religious authors who I respect for their theological work and now respect even more for voicing their dissent.

And now Osama bin Laden (we are told) has been killed in Pakistan, his body DNA tested, and buried at sea all before you can say 'media circus'. The bonus is that this all happens after Obama trumps Trump over the "birther" nonsense. Now the "birthers" and the "truthers" can be linked together as tinfoil hat wearing moonbats. If you see no difference between the two, then there is little I can say.

I don't expect, you, my progressive friends, to go there with me. It is a dark place. I have no interest in losing friends and allies surrounding those things we share in common. I don't insist on my views even as occasionally I feel the need to share them.

However, perhaps you have felt a pit in your stomach the past few days. Maybe it is the jubilation. Maybe it's the media frenzy. Maybe it is all of the dead left in our wake the past decade in supposed search of this individual and others in our endless "war on terror". Maybe it is the ongoing feeling of being duped but you aren't sure how or when. Maybe it is the feeling that if you express these feelings and don't chant "USA! USA!" your family members, friends, co-workers, or boss will stuff an American flag in your mouth.

A Tale of Two Tweets

What I find disturbing is the silencing of dissent. I have two stories. Both have to do with tweeting. Yesterday, Jeff Wattrick of MLive.com reported on a tweet by John Conyers III, the son of Congressman John Conyers. The son of the congressman sent the following tweet:

IF YOU BELIEVE THAT OSAMA BIN LADEN WAS SOLELY BEHIND 9/11 AND THE US HAD NO INVOLVEMENT OR KNOWLEDGE. YOU ARE A FOOL.

Wattrick followed up on that contacting not only the congressman's son but the congressman himself. The congressman's office had no comment. This seems reasonable. As embarrassing as it may be for a congressperson, I don't think it is the business of elected officials to be responsible for things their relatives say. Wattrick wrote:

So, why does this matter?

For starters, yeah, it’s big deal when the adult son (with his own leadership aspirations) of a powerful Congressman claims the U.S. government was complicit in the bloodiest foreign attack ever on American soil. Try to imagine Senator Arthur Vandenberg's children claiming FDR had prior knowledge of the Pearl Harbor attack during or after World War II.

And for the record, MLive didn’t go looking for John Conyers III’s opinion. This isn’t “gotcha journalism.” We didn’t ambush him with a tape recorder or camera. He made the decision to broadcast his views on a public social media site for the whole world to see.

Conspiracy theories, particularly Conyers III’s brand, are becoming something more than mere nuisance. Skepticism is virtue, but not at the expense of reason.

What caught my eye were these last two sentences. If they "are becoming more than mere nuisance" then what are they? What are "more than mere nuisance"? Crimes? Is free speech "more than mere nuisance"? What are we to do about these nuisances who exercise their first amendment right? What exactly are you proposing, Mr. Wattrick?

We may not like "conspiracy theories". I certainly am no fan of the government's conspiracy theory. But people do hold them. If they hold them, they have the right to express them and as far as I am concerned, I have an obligation as an American citizen to defend that right.

The second tweet was featured in the sports section of today's Johnson City Press. Rashard Mendenhall, a professional football player for the Pittsburgh Steelers, tweeted:

“We’ll never know what really happened. I just have a hard time believing a plane could take a skyscraper down demolition style.”

I am with you, Mr. Mendenhall, along with nearly 1500 architects and engineers. Apparently, the Steelers felt the need to respond.

On Tuesday, team president Art Rooney II released a statement.

“I have not spoken with Rashard, so it is hard to explain or even comprehend what he meant with his recent Twitter comments. The entire Steelers organization is very proud of the job our military personnel have done and we can only hope this leads to our troops coming home soon.”

What is happening here? Now Mendenhall and his tweets have turned into a media frenzy. Have we come to a period in time when not even sports figures are allowed to express dissent? Do those who fail to cheer the Osama Spectacle dishonor the family members of those who died on September 11th, 2001? Are those who express doubt and dissent regarding the government's storyline no longer Americans?

I hope we are not coming to that, but you might want to read the latest from David Ray Griffin before you decide.

I am thankful today for 911 widow and activist, Kristen Breitweiser and U.S. Military Officers for 9/11 Truth, and the many, many others who are bravely voicing (and tweeting) their dissent.

These are the people who give me hope.

The Father's Imperial Rule? -- A Sermon

The Father’s Imperial Rule?
John Shuck

First Presbyterian Church
Elizabethton, Tennessee
May 1, 2011
Pluralism Sunday

Litany
Billy Collins

You are the bread and the knife,
The crystal goblet and the wine...
-Jacques Crickillon

You are the bread and the knife,
the crystal goblet and the wine.
You are the dew on the morning grass
and the burning wheel of the sun.
You are the white apron of the baker,
and the marsh birds suddenly in flight.

However, you are not the wind in the orchard,
the plums on the counter,
or the house of cards.
And you are certainly not the pine-scented air.
There is just no way that you are the pine-scented air.

It is possible that you are the fish under the bridge,
maybe even the pigeon on the general's head,
but you are not even close
to being the field of cornflowers at dusk.

And a quick look in the mirror will show
that you are neither the boots in the corner
nor the boat asleep in its boathouse.

It might interest you to know,
speaking of the plentiful imagery of the world,
that I am the sound of rain on the roof.

I also happen to be the shooting star,
the evening paper blowing down an alley
and the basket of chestnuts on the kitchen table.

I am also the moon in the trees
and the blind woman's tea cup.
But don't worry, I'm not the bread and the knife.
You are still the bread and the knife.
You will always be the bread and the knife,
not to mention the crystal goblet and--somehow--the wine.
Billy Collins, Nine Horses (New York: Random House, 2003), p. 69-70.


Gospel of Jesus 15:1-11

One time, some members of the Purity Party started to argue with him. To test him, they demanded a sign from heaven. He groaned under his breath and says, “Why does this generation insist on a sign? I swear to God, this generation won’t get any sign!”

And turning his back on them, he got back in the boat and crossed over to the other side.

His disciples said to him, “When will the Father’s imperial rule come?

[He said], “It will not come by watching for it. It will not be said, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘Look, over there!’ Rather, the Father’s imperial rule is spread out upon the earth, and people don’t see it.”

On another occasion Jesus said, “You won’t be able to observe the coming of God’s imperial rule. People are not going to be able to say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘Over there!’ On the contrary, God’s imperial rule is right there in your presence.”

Jesus prayed, “Father, impose your imperial rule.”

Robert Funk and the Jesus Seminar, The Gospel of Jesus (Santa Rosa: Polebridge Press, 1999), p. 83, 84. Mark 8:11-13; Matthew 6:10; 16:1-4; 12:38-40; Luke 11:2, 29-30; 17:20-21; John 2:18; 6:30; Thomas 113:1-4

Today is Pluralism Sunday.

It is not a big day on the church calendar but maybe it should be.

Pluralism Sunday is the dream of Jim Burklo of The Center for Progressive Christianity. Our congregation pays a modest fee once per year to be connected with this movement that is primarily a website. You can find the website at www.tcpc.org. It is money well invested as folks have found our church because they saw us listed there. We also make use of the eight points of progressive Christianity as a helpful signpost of what we value.

Point Two of the Eight points is this:

2. Recognize the faithfulness of other people who have other names for the way to God's realm, and acknowledge that their ways are true for them, as our ways are true for us;

That makes sense to me. It doesn’t seem that radical, really. Yet in some circles even the suggestion that another’s spiritual path is as good as mine is heresy. So, yes, I guess it is a radical notion. Our congregation makes a mission of being radical. According to our mission statement:

[we] Honor our Christian heritage while we explore the knowledge and wisdom of multiple religions, science, philosophy, humanities and psychology to deepen and enrich our spiritual journeys.

The point here is that not only do we recognize the faithfulness of other traditions we explore their knowledge and wisdom because these other traditions may enrich us.

For instance, today, we are having a Beltane celebration. This is a coincidence that it happens to fall on Pluralism Sunday. Elaine organized it without knowing that I was going to emphasize pluralism. In fact, I forgot about the pluralism thing until the last minute. It goes to show that every Sunday is Pluralism Sunday whether we recognize it or not!

The Beltane service will be enriching. It is a Celtic festival that celebrates new growth and fertility. We will celebrate tonight with dancing and dining. It starts at 6 p.m. Bring a dish. Foods for Beltane are dairy or the season’s first produce. If the weather stays nice we will have it outside. Bring ribbons or flowers to decorate the festival site.

We honor our Christian heritage and we explore and celebrate other traditions. Not either/or but both/and. I am not bragging, just stating a value. Pluralism Sunday is a special day to remind us to be intentional about that aspect of our congregation’s mission. Perhaps you know of ways that we could be even more intentional about that.

Revisiting the figure of Jesus is an important part of this work of being intentional. Jesus has served too commonly, unfortunately, as an icon of exclusivity. “Jesus is the only way” and so forth. We all know about that. That is why scholarly work on the origins of Christianity can be a helpful tool in re-shaping the figure of Jesus for the work of peace and justice. That is good work. But it is up to each individual to find her or his own way. We find our own personal Jesus.

My personal Jesus doesn’t have to be boss of the planet. He is happy to share the space.

Here is a song about Jesus for Pluralism Sunday. It is called “I Love You and Buddha Too." I am going to play it for you, but I want to make sure you have the lyrics. It goes like this here:

Oh Jesus, I love You
And I love Buddha too
Ramakrishna, Guru Dev
Tao Te Ching and Mohammed

Why do some people say
That there is just one way
To love You, God, and come to You?
We are all a part of You

You are un-nameable
You are unknowable
All we have is metaphor
That's what time and space are for

Is the universe Your thought?
You are and You are not
You are many, You are one
Ever ending, just begun

And it has a catchy tune to go with it. This is Mason Jennings:




The Jesus that I embrace loves Buddha, too, and Krishna and Mohammad, and the whole gang. My personal Jesus, would, if here today, join us in our Beltane celebration. He would be all about dancing and dining with us.

I think he would be dismayed at the enmity between religions and would inhabit that place that is both beyond and betwixt them. He would be found dancing in our midst and inviting all of us to let go of our exclusive claims and honor the other. He would lightly poke fun at us and make us play together.

And he’d probably get crucified for it again.

But not even that would stop him.

That is why he is more than historical as are other figures and symbols in our spiritual traditions.

Jesus liked to talk about something that is translated “kingdom of God.” It is also translated as “realm of God” or “empire of God” or “the Father’s imperial rule” or even as we said in our communion liturgy last Sunday, the “kin-dom of God”. The way it is translated provides its nuance for you.

Jesus used playful parables, aphorisms, and other examples to point to this image. When people heard the phrase “kingdom of God” they had an association with it as we may have an association with it.

• For some it might have been the apocalyptic and triumphant return of the Israelite monarchy.
• The glory days of David and Solomon.
• Maybe it would be everyone sitting under his or her own fig tree.
• Maybe economic justice with poor rich and the mighty thrown from their thrones.
• For others, it would be the temple where the all the nations would come and worship.
• For others, there would be no temple at all.
  

Imagine the perfect world. What would it be like for you? Take a moment and do that. If all the politicians and world leaders suddenly did what you wanted them to do, what would the world look like? If you were the king or queen of Earth, what would you do? What would the world be like if God’s kingdom were to come on Earth as it is in heaven?

Take a moment and imagine it. Got something?

We all want the world better in some way. We all want the kingdom of God as we imagine it.

Jesus tapped into that desire. He played with that image, the kingdom of God. He toyed with it and told parables and aphorisms about it, because it isn’t something you can really define outside of playing with metaphor.

Folks would ask him, “When is this kingdom of God” this “Father’s imperial rule” that you keep talking about coming? How will we know? Or in the words of George Carlin, “When Will Jesus Bring the Porkchops?”

Jesus would just smile.

I included this poem from Billy Collins because I thought it was a fun, playful poke at that aspect of us that holds tightly to our treasured images. When our metaphors become too airtight, along comes the poet to pop them. When we get a bit too intense with our dreams and images, the poet and the teller of parables asks us,

“Are you sure?”

The poet says:

“You may think of yourself as the bread and the knife, the crystal goblet and the wine. OK. But it is also possible that you are the pigeon on the general’s head. But we’ll let you think you are the crystal goblet.”

The poet prods us about our dreams and visions. The poet says to us:

“In your dream of a perfect world, what if it was so perfect that there was no room in it for you?”

So when his eager followers asked Jesus,

“When will the kingdom come?”

Jesus replied,

“The Father’s imperial rule is spread out upon the earth, and people don’t see it.”

And at other times he said,

“It’s right here in your presence.”

At and other times he prayed,

“Father, impose your imperial rule.”

Still at other times he said it is a woman kneading dough, or a mustard seed out of control, or an empty jar spilling its meal on the road. He compared it to the Good Samaritan, your enemy helping you when you are in trouble.

Perhaps he even said it is the crystal goblet and the wine. If he did, I am sure he followed it up with the thing about the pigeon.

I think, at least my takeaway, is something like this. I think Jesus poked at his friends and he poked at that exclusive aspect within all of us, that part of us that wants the world to be better and wants the world to embrace our religion, our politics, our wisdom.

Maybe my personal Jesus is telling me something like this:

“If you want to change the world, John, that is cool. I do too. But as you go about it, don’t forget to look within. There are others who want to do the same thing. Who knows? They may have something to offer. Oh, and by the way, try not to take yourself too seriously. After all, there is a pigeon on your head.”

Amen.

Equality Minded from DC to Omaha

Two more presbyteries voted on Amendment A.

Two more voted YES!

National Capital continued its strong support for equality by approving the change to G-6.0106b by a vote of 204-80-3.

And Missouri River Valley (Omaha and environs) increased its pro-equality margin and approved A, 52-39-4.

Good, good news.

The tally is now 84-59.

That means only three more YESes to reach 87 and take a big step forward for equality!

This next week will be tough.

But look for surprises in St. Andrew, Middle Tennessee, and Plains and Peaks.

Of course, in every presbytery every time folks can witness for justice an angel gets her wings. So get out the vote and speak up no matter where you are!

It's all good.

On Tuesday, May 10th, we really look to add at least one more number (and hopefully two) to the YES column.

Then...maybe Boise will FLIP and clinch on 5/14?




Oh the drama!
Oh the suspense!




Here is the remaining schedule.

Sunday 5/1
Foothills (34-99) Miracle Flip

Tuesday 5/3
St. Andrew (30-50) Flip

Thursday 5/5
Middle Tennessee (95-139-1) Flip
Peaks (74-136) Miracle Flip

Friday 5/6
Plains and Peaks (41-60) Flip

Tuesday 5/10
Pacific (100-90-3) Hold
Twin Cities (138-54-10) Hold
New Harmony (20-99) Miracle Flip
Prospect Hill (12-63) Miracle Flip
San Gabriel (79-136) Miracle Flip

Saturday 5/14
Boise (25-34) Flip

Click here for the rest of the schedule.

Through the Storm, Through the Night...

The news reports that over 300 people have lost their lives due to storms that have ravaged the South, including ten in Northeast Tennessee, and at least 15 in the Tri-Cities region. Here are reports for Washington County, TN, Johnson County, TN, Greene County, TN, and Washington County, VA.

Here are photos of storm damage in Greene and Washington (TN) Counties. More photos from Washington County Virginia.

Johnson City resident, Tracey Alice Berry, has been posting information on her Facebook page regarding how people can help. Ideas include:

1. RED CROSS:
2. Bloodassurance
3. Samaritan's Purse
4. World Vision
5. Asbury United Methodist Church, Greeneville
6. Camp Creek Donation Drive (Greene County)
   

Snad included this in our church news:

CHATTANOOGA AREA: Red Cross is putting up Emergency Shelters in St. Elmo, Cleveland, Bradley County, Appison, Sequatchee, Ray, Trenton, and Ft. Olgethorpe (areas near Chattanooga). To help volunteer in one of the shelters over the coming weeks please contact Shelly at (423)265-3455.

SW VIRGINIA: An emergency shelter has been set up at Emory & Henry in Emory, VA. For more information call Elaine Smythe at (276) 944-6835.

Red Cross volunteers are providing meals in the affected areas and have established a shelter at the First United Methodist Church in Abingdon. Financial donations are needed to support the operation. To make a donation or to volunteer to assist, call (276) 645-6650.

GREENEVILLE AREA: The Opportunity House shelter in Greeneville, TN is available for folks that may have lost their homes in the storm, and the thrift store will provide a $25 per person voucher for clothes for anyone that needs it. PH# 423-638-4099.

Donations can also be made through the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.

May Day, Beltane, and Pluralism Sunday

I am looking forward to celebrating Pluralism Sunday this first Sunday in May. What is Pluralism Sunday? Read on!

On the first Sunday in May- this year, May 1, 2011 – (or other times during the year) churches around the world dedicate their worship to a celebration of our interfaith world. Progressive Christians thank God for religious diversity! We don’t claim that our religion is superior to all others. We recognize that other religions can be as good for others as ours is for us. We can grow closer to God and deeper in compassion—and we can understand our own traditions better—through a more intimate awareness of the world’s religions. On PLURALISM SUNDAY, churches celebrate elements of other world faiths in their sermons, litanies, and music; many feature speakers and singers from other faith traditions. Some congregations have exchanges with other faith communities, going to each other’s houses of worship.

Here is a sermon from a Pluralism Sunday past. At our place we try to make every Sunday Pluralism Sunday.

For instance, at 6 p.m. on Sunday evening we are having a...

BELTANE CELEBRATION, 6p, May 1st marks the pagan festival of Beltane - "bright fire" or "fire of Bel." Bel was the Celtic sun god who was in his glory during the light half of the year. In the old traditions, this feast day celebrated the new growth and fertility of the land and all of its inhabitants.

The Peacemaking Committee will celebrate with dancing and dining at the church, and will hold the rite outside if weather permits. Bring a dish for the Beltane feast, which will be held in the church dining room and kitchen. Beltane foods traditionally include dairy products or the season's first produce. If you would like to, please also bring ribbons or flowers to decorate our outdoor festival site.

Yeah, that's pretty pluralistic!

Raising Awareness Can Save Our Mountains

Another FPC Elizabethton member wrote this letter to the editor in the Johnson City Press regarding mountain top removal mining. Thanks, Steve!

State Sen. Mike Faulk, R-Kingsport, cast his vote against the Tennessee Scenic Vistas Protection Act, which would protect Tennessee’s virgin ridgelines above 2,000 feet from mountaintop removal coal mining.

This vote took place in the Senate Environment, Conservation and Tourism Committee with the six Republican members voting against and the two Democratic members voting in favor. The effect of the vote was to kill the bill for this session. Tennessee Mining Association lobbyist, Chuck Laine, dominated presentation time. The proceedings are too complicated for this space, but are available for viewing on the state General Assembly website (Senate Bill No. 577).

This part is simple, though. In an unguarded moment, Laine became annoyed with one of his own presenters, Tennessee Mining operator Justin Clear. Laine said Clear represents one of the last of Tennessee’s small mine operators. He then divulged that the big companies who now own the locals are from Texas and West Virginia and they had “big pockets” and stood ready to finance a challenge should the bill pass.

It’s reported the senators were taken aback by the revelation of who really manipulates the Tennessee Mining Association. Apparently it wasn’t enough to cause Faulk and his Republican cohorts to slow the progress toward accommodating the powerful operatives who have Tennessee’s signature ridgelines in their crosshairs.

More voices need to be added to this. They would be our own. Lawmakers should not come away from a vote like this without a challenge from the folks who understand the ramifications of what they’ve done.

STEVE FERGUSON
Johnson City

• Here is where you will find your Tennessee senator.
• Learn more about mountain top removal mining from I Love Mountains.
• Read another letter by Jennie Young to the Kingsport Times-News.
• Write your own?

Who Needs Mountains, Anyway?

Thanks to FPC Elizabethton friend, Jennie Young, for this letter regarding Mountain Top Removal mining that is coming to Tennessee. We have some time to stop this insanity but not much. Thanks, Jennie, for speaking out in the Kingsport Times-News:

Sen. Faulk voted with his party March 14 to kill the Tennessee Scenic Vistas Act. The bill’s purpose was to protect Tennessee’s virgin ridge lines above 2,000 feet from mountaintop removal mining.

Presentation time was dominated by the coal industry, represented by the Tennessee Mining Association’s lobbyist. In attendance and celebrating the failure of the bill was the lobbyist for the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The coal lobbyist informed the committee that few small Tennessee mine operators remain, as the locals have been bought out by big companies from Texas and West Virginia. He then offered what has become a common threat from aggressive big guns. They have deep pockets and stood ready to fund a challenge if the bill passed.

If senators had been unclear about who pulls the strings at the Tennessee Mining Association, they can no longer plead ignorance. Still, they killed the bill designed to protect the most biodiverse region in the world.

Have no illusions. Six Tennessee mountaintops (of the 500 in Central Appalachia) are already blasted away with no topsoil or headwaters left for recovery and reforestation. Mining company promises to reclaim the land for economic development are meaningless, irrefutably demonstrated by the fact that 89 percent of the 500 remain ugly scars with toxic valley fills with no effective mechanism in place to force compliance.

Mr. Faulk owes us an explanation. It’s phony to cite job creation or energy needs. MTR operators bring in explosives, enormous machines, and most of the small labor force required and leave behind their toxic mess, without revealing how much of the coal is slated for the Asian market.

We need a champion here, not party solidarity.

Jennie Young
Elizabethton

Check out the Mountaintop Removal Road Show. Give your TN senators of piece of your mind.

What if the Acts of the Apostles is Fiction?

The Westar Institute, popularly known as the Jesus Seminar held its Spring meeting in Salem, Oregon, March 30th through April 2nd. It was the final meeting of the Acts Seminar. For ten years the Fellows have been sifting through the book of Acts to determine what might be historical about it.

The original plan was to create a color-coded Acts similar to the color-coded gospels in The Five Gospels and The Acts of Jesus. But as they got into it, they realized it wasn't needed.

They discovered that Acts is mostly fiction.

Jesus ascending to heaven? Fiction
Twelve (Male) Apostles? Fiction
Receiving the Spirit at Pentecost? Fiction
Preaching of Peter? Fiction
Conversion of Paul? Fiction
Journeys of Paul? Fiction

The Acts Seminar concluded that Acts is a second century work, perhaps as late as 130 CE. One of the Fellows, Dennis Smith, presented a paper, "Top Ten Accomplishments of the Acts Seminar." Here are those top ten accomplishments:

1. The use of Acts as a source for history needs critical reassessment.

2. Acts was written in the early decades of the second century.

3. The author of Acts used the letters of Paul as one of his sources.

4. Except for the letters of Paul, no other historical source can be definitively identified for Acts.

5. Acts can no longer be considered an independent source for the life and mission of Paul.

6. Contrary to Acts 1-­7, Jerusalem was not the birthplace of Christianity.

7. Acts constructed its story on the model of epic and related literature.

8. The author of Acts created names for characters as a storytelling device.

9. Acts constructed its story to fit ideological goals.

10. As a product of the second century, Acts is a historical resource for understanding second century Christianity.

Dennis Smith concluded his paper:

Comparing the Acts Seminar with the Jesus Seminar only goes so far. While the Jesus Seminar, in sifting through the Jesus tradition, was able to find a credible core set of data about the historical Jesus, the Acts Seminar has not found there to be a core historical story of Christian beginnings in Acts. Acts has emerged instead as a hindrance to the historical reconstruction of Christian beginnings because its story has dominated in the Christian imagination for so long.

We must now rethink how we reconstruct Christian origins in the absence of the Acts default. At the same time, Acts has emerged as a primary resource for early second century Christianity, which has engendered a program of research that is increasingly attracting the attention of a new generation of Acts scholars.

The Acts Seminar has opened the way for new ways to look at Acts and the history of the early Jesus movements. They plan to publish a book on their findings in 2013.

In the meantime, I invite you to check out the work of Richard Pervo. He is one of the Fellows and he has written a couple of important books on Acts, Dating Acts and the more accessible, The Mystery of Acts:

The author of Acts unwittingly committed a near-perfect crime: He told his story so well that all rival accounts vanished with but the faintest of traces. And thus future generations were left with no documents that recount the history of the early Christian tradition—because Acts is not history. According to Richard Pervo, “Acts is a beautiful house that readers may happily admire, but it is not a home in which the historian can responsibly live.” Luke did not even aspire to write history but rather told his story to defend the gentile communities of his day as the legitimate heirs of Israelite religion.

My clergy colleagues may remember being introduced to early Christian writings such as The Acts of Paul and Thecla or The Acts of Andrew. We rightly understood them as legend. The Acts of The Apostles appears to be more like them then not, that is, legend not history.

This is again interesting for us who lead worship. The major holy days of the Christian faith (in order of importance) Easter, Christmas, and Pentecost are all based on fictional narratives.

So, what does a preacher do with that assertion? There are several options:

1) Deny it. Follow the lead of Lee Strobel and other fundamentalists and "prove" that the Gospels and Acts are historical. That is about as much of a dead end as creationism.

2) Ignore it. Just tell the story and assume it happened even though it didn't. Don't look too closely into a gift horse's mouth. Don't want to upset the faithful.

3) Admit it and give it up. Since it isn't historically true it has little value. Leave the church and join the ranks of the "church alumni association".

4) Admit that these fictions are legends and enjoy them. This is similar to option two except that you publicly say that these legends are just that but there is value in them. They can still "preach".

5) Admit that these fictions are legends and challenge them. These fictions serve power interests in the past and in the present that need exposing. Reconstructing history is important liberating work. The church may need a new history of origins. You hold out a willingness to change your views completely even as they go against cherished beliefs including creeds.

Perhaps there are other options or a combination of the above. I tend to combine options 4 and 5. But I admit that I am haunted by the prospect that the church's mojo has been based on options 1 and 2. It has placed its eggs in the historical Easter basket. When the basket gets ripped full of holes, there go the eggs.

It would seem to me for institutional interests (let alone reasons of honesty and integrity) that we explore what would church mean if we admitted that we pretty much made it all up and ask seriously, "Where do we go then from here?"

FAQs About Amendment A

The prospects for Amendment A are good.

That said, no letting up, beloveds.

Get out the vote.

Nevertheless, we are going to get there.

What will change when Amendment A is passed and goes into effect July 11th, 2011? Here is a helpful set of FAQs by the stated clerk of Monmouth Presbytery, Carl Wilton.

I have re-posted a few of them:

2. What does the change in ordination standards mean?
The ordination standards have changed from “to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness” - wording that was added to the Constitution in 1997 - to: “to submit joyfully to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all aspects of life.” This removes a national standard categorically prohibiting the ordination of persons in sexual relationships outside of marriage between a man and a woman.

7. Is the ordination of sexually active gays and lesbians mandated?
No, it is not required, but it is no longer prohibited by specific Constitutional language.

10. May a congregation or presbytery now ordain or install a sexually active homosexual?
Yes, if after a thorough examination, the congregation or presbytery believes the person to be called by God to serve as a Minister of the Word and Sacrament, elder or deacon and not to be living in violation of the PCUSA's ordination standards, its Confessions, or Scripture.

13. Is a presbytery required to receive, by transfer of membership, an ordained sexually active gay or lesbian minister?
No, each presbytery retains its existing right to examination, by which it determines which ministers to receive into its membership.

14. May questions about a candidate’s sexuality be asked or are such questions forbidden?
All questions are allowed during an examination. The acknowledgment of being sexually active outside the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman does not automatically disqualify a person from being ordained.

A good change. And good to see it in print from someone who knows the rules.

Lehigh Holds and Florida FLIPS!

Another great day for Amendment A!

Two presbyteries voted and two voted YES!

Lehigh held on to its support for equality by approving A, 68-48-1.

And Florida?

Flipped! 49-36!




Let's give Florida a FLIPPER!





The Presbytery of Florida is the 17th presbytery to flip from a no to a YES!

Nicely done.

The tally is now 82-59.




We need five more YESes to get to 87 and get rid of that nasty B in our bonnet.



Here is the remaining schedule.

The next two presbyteries to vote on Saturday are Missouri River Valley and National Capital. We are looking to hold them both. So get out the vote (especially in Missouri River Valley!)