Letter to Editor About PFLAG Tri-Cities

Thanks to Stacey Williams for this letter in today's Johnson City Press. Nicely put, Stacey!

Humanity at PFLAG meeting

On April 17, I attended the inaugural Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays meeting. I was so moved by the humanity in the meeting room that I feel compelled to write a brief letter in response.

Those who were in attendance are everyday people who believe in supporting gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning persons and their families. I found the acceptance and sense of connectedness in that meeting room to be palpable. As I looked around the room that night at the crowd of people — strangers to each other — who came together for this common cause it became evident just how much this group has been needed in the Tri-Cities. I walked away from the meeting not only grateful I had been there but inspired to be an active member.

There will be much good done by this chapter of PFLAG — for GLBTQ people, families, as well as the community. We as a community are incredibly fortunate to have this organized group of people who care deeply about people regardless of sexual orientation or identity.

STACEY WILLIAMS
Johnson City

For the Bible Tells Me So at Milligan College

Milligan College (Elizabethton, TN) is going to show the film, For the Bible Tells Me So, this Wednesday evening. Here is the news from Andy Olivo, a Milligan Student, who blogs at Fides Quaerens Intellectum, a key player in making this happen. It must have taken some effort, but kudos to Andy and others for pulling it off:

Our President and Dean of Students approved our showing of the documentary, and we have four wonderful faculty on board to lead the post movie discussion. We will be showing it at 7pm in Wilson Auditorium on the Milligan College campus this Wednesday, April 23rd.

Here is the synopis of the film:

Can the love between two people ever be an abomination? Is the chasm separating gays and lesbians and Christianity too wide to cross? Is the Bible an excuse to hate? Through the experiences of five very normal, very Christian, very American families -- including those of former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt and Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson -- we discover how insightful people of faith handle the realization of having a gay child. Informed by such respected voices as Bishop Desmond Tutu,Harvard's Peter Gomes, Orthodox Rabbi Steve Greenberg and Reverend Jimmy Creech, FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO offers healing, clarity and understanding to anyone caught in the crosshairs of scripture and sexual identity.

Here is the trailer:

Ever helpful, Andy even included directions:

Directions to Wilson Auditorium:

• When turning into the main entrance of campus take main road up and park in large parking lot on the right in front of Hardin Hall and across from the Welshimer Library.
• Take the stairs up to the front of Hardin Hall and the Wilson Auditorium is in Hardin Hall through the double doors on the left of the building.
• If all else fails, find a student and ask them where the hell Wilson Auditorium is!

So get the word out and I hope to see you Wednesday!

Expelled Exposed

Michael Zimmerman of the Clergy Letter Project sent this e-mail:

"As many of you know, Ben Stein’s anti-evolution and anti-intellectual movie, Expelled, was released yesterday. One of the main points the movie makes is that accepting evolution leads directly to atheism. This ridiculous claim is one of many that numerous reviews have attempted to dismiss.

"More often than not, I’m delighted to say, the evidence used is the existence of The Clergy Letter. The fact that more than 11,100 clergy members from across the United States have signed a statement in support of evolution is making a big difference in countering this claim. Indeed, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the nation’s largest scientific organization released a statement condemning the film yesterday.

"The statement begins by saying,

“For more than a decade, the nonprofit American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has been working to build a constructive bridge between scientific and religious communities through its Dialogue on Science, Ethics and Religion and other programs. There also have been many efforts by religious leaders to accomplish the same goal. For example, more than 11,000 clergy have signed an open letter supporting the view that faith and science should be seen as complementary, not competing.” The statement goes on to say that, “We were therefore especially disappointed to learn that the producers of an intelligent design propaganda movie called ‘Expelled’ are inappropriately pitting science against religion.”

"Obviously our efforts are being noticed and are making a difference.

"I urge you to read the full AAAS statement (at the link above) and to explore a web site set up by the National Center for Science Education entitled Expelled Exposed if you want to learn more about this movie.

"Because of the increased attention The Clergy Letter Project is receiving, this would be a great time to increase the number of clergy who have signed The Clergy Letter, to increase the number of scientists willing to serve as consultants to The Clergy Letter Project and to increase the number of participants in Evolution Weekend 2009 (13-15 February 2009). Please help!!

"If your congregation is willing to participate in Evolution Weekend 2009, please let me know. Although it is about 10 months before the event, we already have more than 70 congregations representing 36 states and four countries on board. I’ll post the full list of participants soon, but I’d like for all states to represented when I do that. So please sign up now. And please think about circulating the flyer I’ve created for the event to friends and colleagues and on any listserve to which you might subscribe.

"Please help spread the word to clergy and scientists and encourage the former to sign The Letter and the letter to enroll as consultants. As you do so, watch our numbers swell and watch our message that religion and science need not be at war take root around the globe.

"Because of your efforts to date, we have much to be proud of. Thank you! Unfortunately, there is still a very real need for our message to be heard."

Michael

Michael Zimmerman
Office of the Dean
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Butler University
Indianapolis, IN 46208

Tel: 317.940.9224
Fax: 317.940.8815
e-mail
---

Thanks, Michael! You rock!

First Pres., Elizabethton has already signed on for Evolution Sunday, 2009. Join us!

I just wish every Sunday were Evolution Sunday.

He's a Duck! Therefore, a witch!

H/T to Evangelical Right for this one:

"Pastor Byrd says the sign is not meant to be racial or political but rather to make people think. "His name is so close to Osama I have a feeling he might be Islamic therefore he doesn't recognize Christ," Pastor Byrd said."

Poaching Pastors

Snad alerted me to this article in the Savannah, GA Morning News: Presbyterians May Punish Poaching Pastors. I do like the title!

In February, the Savannah Presbytery created a new policy that prohibits pastors from performing weddings, baptisms, funerals and counseling services for members of their former congregations, except at the invitation of the new pastor.

The policy also limits how ministers can respond to those requests.

Punishment for violating that policy may result in removal of ordination.

The "Separation Ethics" policy is still a proposal under the Savannah Presbytery, the governing body over 42 Presbyterian (USA) churches in southeast Georgia, said Interim Executive Presbyter Greg A. Garis. Leaders are expected to vote on the policy May 20.

It is unfortunate that the presbytery has to go to this length to keep ministers from interfering in the lives of their former church members. Whenever we have to make a rule in the book, trouble must have been a-brewing.

I am grateful that I have never had this hassle (yet) either from former pastors who meddle or meddling myself. I tend to move across the continent on each move so it makes it tough for me to meddle. Frankly, I have enough to do without stepping on the toes of the clergy who follow me. I deeply respect boundaries. Meddling is not providing pastoral care to the hurting. It is meddling. It creates divisiveness and it keeps the congregation and the new pastor from building relationships.

Yet, most of the time, we handle this without a rule in the book. There are ways in which new pastors can include the ministry of predecessors who live in the community. It requires ongoing conversation and shared guidelines between the former and current pastors.

I am curious as to how my colleagues have experienced this (as well as parishioners).

Sunday's Sermon, Nahum v. Jonah

Nahum vs. Jonah
John Shuck
First Presbyterian Church
Elizabethton, Tennessee
April 20, 2008

An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.
A jealous and avenging God is the Lord,
the Lord is avenging and wrathful;
the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries
and rages against his enemies.
The Lord is slow to anger but great in power,
and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty.
--Nahum 1:1-3

When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.

4²But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord and said, ‘O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing.

Jonah 3:10-4:2

I have been thinking about God this past week. I am happy to report that I have it all figured out. Here is the answer.

It is kind of silly, isn’t it? What I mean is, the idea that we can figure out what God is all about. Even more foolish it seems to me, is to make any claim that we can speak for God.

Yet people do it all of the time. You may hear people say, “This is God’s will. This is what God wants; this is what God says.” Usually, folks are not quite that obvious. Some Christians who claim to speak for God usually settle for what they think the Bible says. We hear phrases such as, “The Bible says” or my personal favorite, “These are biblical values.” In this sense, the Bible serves a cipher for God.

Preachers who talk with certainty about what God says and what the Bible says are a dime a dozen. What I find odd, frightening really, is how many people go along with that. People who are intelligent and capable of making their own decisions will give that power away. They voluntary hand over their own authority and autonomy to some preacher who tells them how God wants them to act, think, and feel.

What is that about? Is there a psychological need or a social need that is met by doing that?

• Perhaps making their own decisions is frightening and they need an authority to tell them what to do.
• Perhaps they are afraid of being alienated from family and friends and they need to belong.
• Perhaps fear of eternal punishment has been so ingrained that free-thinking has not been a viable option.
• Perhaps preconceived notions about what is right and wrong, good and bad, need to be reinforced by an external authority.

Whatever it is that external authorities do for us in the short term, they are ultimately fallible. The sign of their fallibility is their claim to infallibility.

The Pope didn’t become infallible (that is without error) until the 19^th century. Protestant fundamentalism which gifted us with the infallibility of the Bible, did not develop until the 19^th century. What happened in the 19^th century? Science came of age. Biblical criticism came of age. Ludwig Feurbach showed us that the gods we create and worship are projections of our internal needs, fears, and desires.

These doctrines of the infallibility of religious authorities developed as a defense against modern thought. That was the 19^th century. Here we are in 2008 and the gods of authoritarianism are still working their voodoo in attempt to keep human beings from thinking for themselves.

I raised the ire of some of my more conservative colleagues when I wrote something on my blog a few months ago. It is still quoted by them, however only partially and out of context. Just this past Friday, our executive presbyter, Rich Fifield, forwarded me an e-mail from an irate person.

“Do you know what John Shuck writes on his blog? He is a disgrace!” He then quoted part of this blog entry that I am going to read to you.

Rich and I have a little ritual. He responded to this person as he responds to all of them: “Yes, I am aware of John Shuck’s blog. Why don’t you contact John Shuck with your concern?” Of course, they never do. They want someone else to punish me. Rich then sends me a copy of the e-mail. I save it to my computer and write back thanking him for keeping me posted. I am getting quite a collection. If I am not careful I am going to start thinking that I am a big deal.

That whole authoritarian mindset is what I am talking about. Someone must punish. Someone must silence any threat to this authority. When someone dares to speak out of his or her own authority, the entire house of cards is threatened.

This past Thursday over 50 people gathered in room #503 of Warf-Pickel on the ETSU campus for our first PFLAG meeting. PFLAG stands for Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. It also includes Bisexual and Transgender persons. It was a far larger group than I had anticipated. It was a moving experience for me. Person after person said how glad they were that they could meet in a safe place and know that they weren’t going to be judged and instead would be affirmed and that their loved ones would also be affirmed.

PFLAG is a national organization that exists for support, education and advocacy on behalf of sexual and gender minorities and their families. We have begun a local chapter, PFLAG Tri-Cities for our area. The context for all of this is that we live in a religious culture that says, “It is not OK to be gay and we have the Bible to back it up.”

In other words, the religious culture in which we live says that denying sexual and gender minorities equal rights makes the baby Jesus happy. Many folks, including religious folks do not agree. Science, the medical and mental health professions, and academia tell us that we are wonderfully diverse and that there is nothing wrong with being gay anymore than there is anything wrong with being left-handed.

We don’t even need the authority of science. We really just need to talk to people.

The religious community has yet to catch up. The Bible seems to be the sticking point. We hear about what the Bible says and about biblical values and the authority of the Word of God and so forth.

One of the solutions to what we think the Bible says is to actually read the Bible. It is no easy task. The Bible has a lot words on many topics. It contains varying views on the same topic.

Today I read passages from Nahum and Jonah. After reading them, what is your conclusion? Is God vengeful or forgiving? Nahum votes for vengeance. Jonah, against his wishes, concedes forgiving.

It depends what we are looking for, I suppose. If we want God to clobber our enemies, read Nahum. If we want our enemies to forgive us, read Jonah.

In the end, the Bible doesn’t say anything. We only think it says something because we interact with it and desire it to speak to us. But it is, in the end, a book.

I was looking for a quote that I heard years ago about the dangers of reading one book. I couldn’t find the quote in my internet search, but I did find this other quote in a book entitled The Purity of Blood by Arturo Perez Reverte. It is the story of a thirteen year-old who is held in the dungeons of Toledo during the Spanish Inquisition. The main character, speaking for the author, says:

Later, with time, I learned that although all men are capable of good and evil, the worst among them are those who, when they commit evil, do so by shielding themselves in the authority of others, in their subordination, or in the excuse of following orders. And even worse are those who believe they are justified by their God. Because in the secret dungeons of Toledo, nearly at the cost of my life, I learned that there is nothing more despicable or more dangerous than the malevolent individual who goes to sleep every night with a clear conscience. That is true evil. Especially when paired with ignorance, superstition, stupidity, or power, all of which often travel together.

And worst of all is the person who acts as exegete of The Word—whether it be from the Talmud, the Bible, the Koran, or any other book already written or yet to come. I am not fond of giving advice—no one can pound opinions into another’s head—but here is a piece that costs you nothing: Never trust a man who reads only one book.

http://acorn.nationalinterest.in/2008/02/24/never-trust-a-man-who-reads-only-one-book/

So the Bible supposedly contains a few verses against homosexuals that in turn supposedly sums up the truth of the universe and of the great Creator, YHWH himself and his only son, Jesus, regarding how we are treat other people in the present. If they are gay, condemn them. Thus sayeth the Lord.

If we look to the Bible as authority on whether or not we are OK or not OK or someone else is OK or not OK, we will find that for which we are looking. The Bible is a mirror. It, like any unexamined external authority, mirrors our preconceived ideas.

I do appreciate my moderate and liberal colleagues who examine the passages and painstakingly parse Greek verbs and show that these passages are not as bad as they seem. They work hard. They want to defend the Bible and to defend gays. That is good to do as far as it goes. It is an intermediate step in my view. People who still need the Bible to tell them that they are OK are served by that for awhile.

(Until some conservative publishes a thick book that shows that the Bible really is homophobic and misogynistic and all the other things that some of us deplore and others apparently celebrate).

I have come to the point in which I no longer need to bother. It still plays into the “I am not OK unless an external authority says I am OK.” It keeps me from focusing on the real thing, our shared humanity. If I want to know about you, I don’t need to go to the Bible and look for a passage that tells me about you. I really need to talk to you.

This is why I wrote that provocative post that gets a lot of attention on the internet. At the risk of vanity by quoting myself, here goes:

‘And the bottom line for me is I really don't care what the Bible or Reformed Theology says about this or that or if its opinion on this or that is presumptuous enough to tell me how to live my life. I can make my own decisions.

This means that...

* if even 500 verses of the Bible and

* if Jesus himself proclaimed it on the Mount of Transfiguration and

* if Jesus appeared to me on my back deck in the glory of his resuscitated corpse and

stated to me as clearly as the four p.m. sun is hot…that if I support gays and lesbians in their relationships I would join them in the fires of hell, I would look him in his piercing eyes and say (if I had the courage of my convictions):

"Fine then. Send me to your hell. You are wrong, Jesus."

Why? Because I know Tony and Mike. (Tony and Mike are a couple for whom I officiated at a commitment ceremony). Why do I dare say Jesus would be wrong? Because I know dozens of other couples and individuals and I know who they are and that what they do is as good and sacred as what anyone else does.

When I read the Bible I don't see an external authority telling me what is true or how to behave. Something is not true because an authority says it is true. Authority is earned by the truth it tells. The Bible is a mixed bag.' http://shuckandjive.blogspot.com/2007/08/authority-and-truth.html

I don’t go to the Bible to tell me about dinosaurs or the age of Earth or how to do geometry. Nor do I go there to learn the truth regarding human sexuality.

Now of course, I don’t think Jesus would have condemned gays either, but even he did, I wouldn’t care. That is the point. Eventually, we come to a point in which we do not need an external authority to justify our existence.

The Buddhists have a saying. If you see the Buddha on the road, kill him. The Buddhists are lot more provocative than me, I tell you. The reason you kill the Buddha is because if you see the Buddha outside of yourself, you are projecting reality externally rather than realizing you are the Buddha.

I have heard from others and to some extent have experienced it myself. That is, to move along life’s path, to grow spiritually, if you like, one needs to kill the gods that are in the way. We outgrow them. They become fake. They become idols. Not idols in the sense of sacred statues that are vehicles for devotion, but fake, phony, and false.

It is a loss to do that. It is frightening. It is hard letting go of our gods, even fake ones. No one can tell you how or when to do it. You know it when you know it. It often happens around an issue that we cannot resolve. Bishop John Shelby Spong began his popular book, Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism with the line: “Sex drove me to the Bible.” It was the Church’s backward and hurtful attitudes toward sexuality that moved him to question other things, including religious authority itself.

I began this sermon by saying that I have been thinking about God this past week. I sure have. I am still trying to figure out how people come up with their various ideas about God and why these ideas are so hard to let go.

Now, we don’t have to let these ideas go. If our concepts of God are making us more loving, hopeful, and aware human beings, then that is good.

I overheard someone say that this congregation is BYOG—Bring Your Own God. I like that. You can conceive of God however you want. You have the authority.

I should say something more. Listening to God, I think, is a good thing. We do that in meditation, prayer, ritual, walking a labyrinth, reading more than one book, and so forth.

Speaking to God is a good thing as well. Articulating our thoughts, needs, fears, joys, and so forth is an important exercise in self-awareness.

It would be good if the church focused on those activities. That is helping people to listen attentively and to speak honestly. Listening to God and speaking to God, I think are helpful things.

It is the speaking for God that makes us dangerous.

Expose the IRD

It is time to get the word out. The following announcement has been sent to all United Methodist clergy in the area. I will get it to the Presbyterians and the Episcopalians. If you are near our mountain, I hope to see you next Sunday evening.

First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton will be showing the film, Renewal or Ruin? on Sunday, April 27th at 7 p.m. The film focuses on the the Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD) and its attack on mainline churches. Since its beginning in 1982, the IRD has continuously undermined the United Methodist Church and other mainline Protestant denominations by attacking the character of church leaders.

This organization, funded by some of the world's most powerful foundations, seeks to move three denominations, the PCUSA, the United Methodist Church, and the Episcopal Church toward rigid doctrine, silence their social witness and undermine the witness of the church by fueling controversy to its own benefit.

Renewal or Ruin? exposes the IRD's tactics and sources of its funding. In the film, researchers, church leaders and others talk about their findings and experiences with this Washington, DC organization that foments dissension in the body of Christ.

The producer of the film, Holston’s (United Methodist Church) own Rev. Steven D. Martin, will be present to answer questions and talk about why he felt the need to produce this film. From the United Methodist Reporter on April 16, 2007:

Rev. Martin chose to tackle the Washington, D.C.-based IRD after he noticed last summer that a divisive resolution introduced at his Holston Annual Conference meeting had been lifted word-for-word from the IRD's Web site….When he later wrote about his experience on a Web site, he says the IRD staff attempted to intimidate him. He'd heard about those kind of tactics, but hadn't experienced it for himself. Until then. “That's when I decided it was my problem, and it was time to take action,” Mr. Martin said. “hearing about this kind of hardball was an eye-opener. I want people to know about it. If Holston's no longer safe, no place is.”

Please plan to attend this presentation of this eye-opening film. Questions may be directed to Rev. John Shuck at First Presbyterian Church. First Presbyterian Church is located at 119 West F Street, Elizabethton, TN 37643. The film will be screened in Martin Hall, on the ground level.

Final Weekend for Creating a Culture of Peace

This is the final weekend for Creating a Culture of Peace. Over the three weekends, we had over 60 participants learn and practice the principles of non-violence for personal and social change. I would recommend it to your congregation. Get in touch with Janet Chisolm to work out the arrangements.

We had good newspaper coverage from the Johnson City Press and The Elizabethton Star, including an opinion peace by Sandra Garrett.


Our facilitators were awesome.



Josie Setzler led the first week by herself, when the other presenter, Tim Pluta, became ill.




She then teamed with Jim Bailey for the second weekend.





Ted and Christy Gordon were our hosts for weekend number three.






Special thanks to Nancy Barrigar for organizing this event and the First Presbyterian Peacemaking Committee for hosting as volunteers.



And, of course, many thanks to our sponsors!


At the end of each weekend, folks broke into groups to pursue a common interest.



At some point in the near future we will have a reunion of the participants to check in on our progress.



Creating a Culture of Peace is a great way to build community and to spread the light of peace.

Day of Silence

I posted this over at the PFLAG Tri-Cities blog. We had 50 people including high school students at our first meeting last night!

The Day of Silence is April 25th.

The National Day of Silence brings attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools. This year’s event will be held in memory of Lawrence King, a California 8th-grader who was shot and killed Feb. 12 by a classmate because of his sexual orientation and gender expression. Hundreds of thousands of students will come together on April 25 to encourage schools and classmates to address the problem of anti-LGBT behavior.

You can read the latest updates on the Day of Silence Blog.

A couple of high school students attended our PFLAG Tri-Cities meeting last night and shared a bit about the harassment lgbtq students experience. The Day of Silence is a good day for straight allies to speak out by not saying a thing.

Find ways to get involved by going to the Day of Silence website.

Check out this public service announcement:

"These Are Our Mountains, Too"

What an incredible evening. Fifty people crowded around a classroom table at ETSU for our first PFLAG Tri-Cities meeting. I didn't expect the large turnout and was moved many times by what was said there. We respect confidentiality and so do not share who was at the meeting, but I can say that it was a time of healing.

We heard about the experience of rejection. We heard about the pain of alienation from family and faith communities. We heard about reconciliation and courage and a shared commitment to end the hurt and to make our community safe for all people. There were tears and laughter.

One person said that it was easier being gay when he lived in California. But his home is East Tennessee. "These are our mountains, too," he reminded us.

Yes.

We heard the story of how this chapter started, with several people individually sensing the need for PFLAG and coming together. Now we are here.

Some folks come for support. Some are ready for advocacy and activism. All are welcome. Our next meeting will be May 15th somewhere on the ETSU campus. We will need a larger space. More to come about the location and our next steps.

Visit our website for information. Visit our weblog for news updates. E-mail us to receive e-mail updates.

On the way home, I happened to hear this song that a family member had left in the car stereo. It sums up this evening pretty well, as well as what PFLAG is about, as I see it.

It is Celtic Woman, One World.