justice – Page 3 – Salvaged Faith

#endthedeathpenalty

Posted on September 21, 2011Leave a comment

katiez – for all that we have done… and left undone. for all that we have said… and left unsaid. Lord have mercy. #deathpenalty

hughlh – “You can say they deserve to die, but the key moral question is ‘Do we deserve to kill?'” — Helen Prejean

Mike Oles – Mourning for America tonight. This shouldn’t happen here… And then I saw a slick pr ad for tar sand oil. Climate change or death penalty, it’s time to be organized and start winning all of these struggles.

Thom Dawkins – To (poorly, unfairly) paraphrase an acquaintance: We need mercy always, and tonight, we settled for justice. In the process, we’ve let ourselves become hardened and unjust.

AndAFool – Remember when Amos said “Let executions roll down like waters…”, or Jesus said “I have come to proclaim execution to the captives…”?

julieclawson – Today, on the Intl Day of Peace, the US blocked Palestinian statehood, executed 2 men, arrested Wall Street protestors and bombed Libya.

TerryRamoneSmit – “Only in the USA can you get away with being pro-war AND pro-death penalty and yet call yourself pro-life.” – @hughlh

lcleeland – I love this country, but not so much tonight. #troydavis

EugeneCho – I’m sorry for my vulgarity but if there’s ever an appropriate time to shout “F*ck” and turn tables, this would be the time. #troydavis

thinkprogress – “People who are well represented at trial do not get the death penalty.”– Ruth Bader Ginsburg

rabbijosh – “@thinkprogress: TroyDavis: Another man confessed. 7 eyewitnesses recanted. Police accused of coercing witnesses. No DNA. No murder weapon.”

matthewlkelley – in jesus, god shows that death does not have the last word. state sanction executions are the act of a kingdom whose reign will not last….

tamrenb – There is another Troy Davis in a cell somewhere in America. Pray for him.

megateer – Two men will have been executed tonight. One, very much guilty, another, guilt in much doubt. Even in stark contrast, #deathpenaltyiswrong .

timbrauhn – Restorative justice will someday reign in the America that I know and love. Compassion and truth will guide our path. RIP Troy Davis

nate_nims – Pray for Tory Davis, Georgia, the SCOTUS and true, restorative justice. #wearealltroydavis

godgrrl – #TroyDavis I could throw up. Ashamed.

laurenmroden – Praying for #troydavis, his fam & fam of Officer MacPhail. “To take a life when a life has been lost is revenge, not justice.” Desmond Tutu

NickKristof – When smart people debate whether or not a man should be executed, that’s a good reason not to execute him. #TroyDavis.

PastorBradS – MacPhail family, my heart aches for your lost, but the death of another human being won’t bring you peace. Only Christ can. #toomuchdoubt

amaeryllis – I really don’t understand the eagerness to execute. Justice is served at conviction, beyond that is just a test of our humanity.

tomtomorrow – rt @barryeisler Weird that the same people who don’t trust govt to administer health insurance do trust it to put people to death.

EdgeofSports – “@jeremyscahill: #TroyDavis RT @barryeisler See, there really are death panels in America. We’re watching one tonight in Georgia.”

AfroWonk – RT @KoriHaart: Dear Georgia, It is better to risk saving a guilty man than to condemn an innocent one. -Voltaire

revbrad – “We believe the death penalty denies the power of Christ to redeem, restore, and transform all human beings” -UM Discipline #TroyDavis

alphaleah – #TroyDavis #DeathPenalty : So the man has been lying on a gurney, ready to be wheeled into be killed, for TWO HOURS, while this goes on.
sallykohn – Meanwhile, in Texas, Lawrence Russell Brewer executed at 7:21pm EST for dragging death of James Byrd

UnvirtuousAbbey – Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” #TroyDavis

JesusOfNaz316 – Grace > Justice System

Edpilkington – What’s clear is that we are still in the waiting game. I’m a wreck by now so how mist #TroyDavis be feeling?

fasting in secret, doing justice in the daylight

Posted on March 9, 2011Leave a comment

Last night in Disciple Bible Study, we very timely read the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew.

As a class, we wrestled with the implications of such contradictory phrases: being salt and light, letting the whole world see the witness of our life – vs – praying and fasting and even almsgiving in secret.

How can we be witnesses for the Kingdom of God if everything we do is secret?

I’ve often loved the familiar quote by St. Francis of Assisi – Preach the gospel, use words if necessary.

We are supposed to be salt, flavoring this world for the Kingdom… but do it in secret?

It has always seemed strange to me that as we put ashes on our foreheads on this holy day and walk back into the world, we read the gospel:

And go out into the world to feed the hungry and to weep with those who mourn; to share your bread and to rejoice with others. And do it not for any heavenly reward… but do it because the Lord loves them. And do it because YOU love them too.

Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them (Matthew 6:1)

Yet as we wrestled, clairty started to find us.

We created a distinction between our personal piety: our prayer life, our fasting, our giving and realized that those aspects of our piety have nothing to do with other people. It is not done for others, it is done for God. No one else needs to know what we have given up, what we sacrifice, what time we have spent with the Lord. It is not for them… it is for God.

On the other hand, this same God reminds us that the fast he chooses is a life lived out in public:

Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? ⁷Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? (Isaiah 58:6-7)

These actions have to be done in the world. You can not do them from the quiet of your closet.

God is calling us to both personal and social holiness, public and private repentance, transformation of heart and mind and soul and body.

As a Wesleyan, these two make perfect sense together. Love God, love your neighbor.

Fast and study and pray and worship, not for any reward but just to spend time with your Lord.

Judicial Retention and the Trust Clause of the UMC

Posted on November 4, 20101 Comment

This week in Iowa, three Supreme Court Justices were voted out of office. And I’m a little upset about it.

A huge part of my frustration comes from the fact that they were voted out because of a homophobic reaction to one decision they made during the course of their tenures. In a unanimous ruling by the court, a law that limited marriage between a man and a woman was deemed unconstitutional. The decision itself can be read here. It is extremely well written, and worth the read. One of the first responses our bishop, Bishop Julius C. Trimble, made was that in no way does that decision impact what we do or do not have to do as clergy. We are not being forced to marry those whom our Discipline says we are not allowed to marry. But as far as the state is concerned, as far as the institution that the state is concerned with, the rights should be granted to all.

I realize that folks are of all sorts of different opinion about the issue of same-sex marriage. I respect your beliefs. I hope you will respect mine.

My frustration is with the precedent that this particular retention vote sets for the future of our judiciary. In conversations that I have had with others in the past week, I have become ever more aware of two things.

1) Folks don’t understand the role of the judicial system. There are all sorts of arguments going on saying that a court shouldn’t be making law and shouldn’t be accepting cases of such a highly volitile nature and I have even heard more than once that the courts don’t get to interpret the law – they just need to enforce it. Basic civics lesson – the courts job IS to interpret the law. It is to recieve cases, brought by the people or the state, that bring forth questions of constitutionality. Is a particular law constitutional? The congress can’t decide that, the people can’t decide that, the executive branch can’t decide that… it is the court’s role to interpret the law and hold it against the constitution to deem its worthiness. AND – they issue opinions. That is their role. Their rulings are deemed opinions because they are interpretations in particular times and places. The executive branch enforces the law, the congressional branch makes the law, but the judicial branch interprets. It always has been and always will be its role. The congressional branch is absolutely free to make amendments to the constititution that will then change what that opinion might be in the future… that’s part of the checks and balances system. Instead of being upset with the unanimous decision of the justices, the anger in this case should have been directed towards those who refused to bring an amendment to the table.

2) In a facebook conversation, someone mentioned that folks who voted “no” on retention were afraid to speak up and tell why they did so. “don’t you think the fear of being personally and politically attacked keeps people from having a civilized conversation about this subject or any other for that matter?” I responded, ” ironically, the fear of being personally and politically attacked for an unpopular opinion is exactly why that vote is so damaging to our judiciary system.” The very reason that we moved away from an elected judiciary is so that money could not buy court decisions. The very reason this vote is so troubling is that it will take balls for justices to make unpopular rulings in the future. To always be wondering who you might upset because of your decision takes the unbiased factor out of the judicial system. Now, I’m prone to be naive… but I will admit that there are flaws in the system we have. It was pointed out that each of the justices currently on the court are registered democrats… however, two of those voted out were appointed by a conservative governor. In any case, for the retention vote to be used not as a means of disposing of poor judges, but as a referrendum on one particular issue destroys the objectivity of the court.

Perhaps I am so frustrated by point number two, because I feel like there should be some protections there to enable justices to go against the flow, to rule for what is right and not what is popular, to make a stand for actual justice. I say that because I, myself, like all other pastors, regularly have to make those sorts of decisions.

The very nature of the pastorate means that we have to speak the truth – even when it is not popular. We are called upon to comfort the afflicted… but also to afflict the comfortable. We are called to speak truth to power. We are called to pull at people and challenge them to grow. We are called upon by Christ to turn the values of this world upside down and inside out. And constantly, that means that we are called upon to lift up the concerns of those who have no voice, those who have no power, those who have no hope. The bible tells us to leave our gleanings for the poor and not gather them up for ourselves. The bible tells us to be good to the foreigner in our midst. The bible tells us to forgive, to turn the other cheek, to love our enemies. To preach the gospel often means that we are speaking out on behalf of the minorities in our country. It often means saying unpopular things.

Which is why I am grateful for some protection. If a pastor depended on their popularity to maintain their pulpit – the gospel would never be preached. But in my tradition and in others as well, we have this lovely little thing called the Trust Clause…

Which means… any United Methodist Church belongs to the Church and not the people. Any pastor who serves in said church is accountable to the Church and not the people. That may be a slight oversimplification… but I hope you get the point.

In trust, that said premises shall be used, kept, and maintained as a place of divine worship of the United Methodist ministry and members of The United Methodist Church; subject to the Discipline, usage, and ministerial appointments of said Curch as from time to time authorized and declared by the General Conference and by the annual conference within whose bounds the said premises are situated. This provision is solely for the benefit of the grantee, and the grantor reserves no right or interest in said premises.

John Wesley used something called the “model deed” to protect the security of the places where the Methodists worshipped. It created a sense of conformity… in that those who preached must hold to the doctrines espoused by the church, but it also meant according to one scholor that the preaching houses, “cannot be alienated from their original intent and are not subject to the theological or ecclesiastical fancies of local leadership.”

If you preach against gambling in a community that has just recieved permission to build a new casino – you can’t be kicked out of the church. If you preach tolerance and welcoming of the sojourner in a community frustrated by an influx of migrants – you can’t be kicked out of the church. Just because something is unpopular does not mean that it is grounds for dismissal.

I think part of the reason this retention votes is so disheartening is because I empathize with those who are called sometimes to make unpopular and difficult decisions. I have watched them over the course of this campaign refuse to fight back, refuse to give in, and I have watched them and supporters of the judiciary work to educate the public.

When I am called upon to be prophetic, to speak hard things, it would be easy to argue back when others disagree… but I am inspired by the courage and respect that these three justices in particular showed.

I am lucky enough to be a part of a system that allows me to make tough decisions and I get to keep my job. My heart goes out to those not only for whom that was not the case here in Iowa, but for those across the world who take tough stands every single day and are punished for it, who are ridiculed, who are persecuted, and who die for those decisions. I am more lucky that I realize. And I pray that I might use this gift for good and not squander it.

The Most Effective Witness

Posted on January 13, 2010Leave a comment

For the sake of the mission of Jesus Christ in the world and the most effective witness to the Christian gospel and in consideration of your influence as an ordained minister, are you willing to make a complete dedication of yourself to the highest ideals of the Christian life; and to this end will you agree to exercise responsible self-control by personal habits conducive to physical health, intentional intellectual development, fidelity in marriage and celibacy in singleness, integrity in all personal relationships, social responsibility, and growth in grace and the knowledge and love of God?

Above all, this question is about whether I am committed to not only talking the talk, but also walking the walk. In a word, yes!

I must admit there are times when the weight of this task and calling feels very heavy. I am only human, after all, and I am still on this Christian journey, just like the rest of my brothers and sisters in Christ. What I can do, however, is to embody a healthy and constructive lifestyle to the best of my ability and empower the congregation to do so in their on lives. But where I struggle personally, I must not hide my sin, but I must be honest and ask my congregation to join me as I wrestle to be more faithful.

Our world is torn in two by excess and lack of basic necessities. We see it in dietary illnesses like obesity and anorexia, in the sexual scandals of religious leaders and politicians and sports stars, in the consumerism that runs rampant while children are dying for lack of shelter and medicine. And all of these things we hide or we forget as we rush to make sure the bulletins are printed or the ushers are doing their jobs. Our faithfulness as Christians – our dedication to the highest ideals of the Christian life – come not from these menial tasks, but in how we care for our bodies and the bodies of those around us; how we advocate for our own mental health and that of those around us; how we use and not abuse the soil and the water and the air that surrounds us. All of these must have a place not only in my personal life, but in the worship I share with my congregation and in the witness of our church.

Photo by: “clix”

torture, ethics, and the state

Posted on May 2, 2009Leave a comment

I commented at the end of my last post about a survey which shows Christians are more likely to support torture than non-church goers. Here is what my friend Matt has to say:

The Truth As Best I Know It: The Danger of Supporting Torture: “We can give all the lip-service we want to the name of Jesus, but when we sanction the cruel treatment of God’s children in the defense of the security of the nation-state, we are giving our first loyalty to something that is much less than God. The Bible has a word for that: idolatry. And the two major complaints of the Hebrew prophets were idolatry and injustice. We’re clearly guilty on both counts.”

Usually when I hear people around me who are Christian wanting to support the idea that these tactics were acceptable in the instance of these three people, they are arguing not at all out of their Christian perspective, but rather flip into a consequentialist ethic in which the good which comes out of any particular action is determined not by the individual being harmed, but by how great the good is that can occur. The ends are justified by the means. Sure, torture one person if thousands of lives are saved. In my mind – that is the same ethic that led the Jewish leadership to hand over Jesus to Pilate.

I would be willing to hear of them and would love to find out who they might be, but I am not familiar with hardly any Christian consequentialist thinkers. As I was searching via google, the closest I cam was Neibuhr’s pragmatism – but in articles I explored, even in his pragmatism, the options are arrived at deontologically (or based on our duties and responsibilities – or in the Christian tradition, based upon God’s commands).

Besides the duty based ethics – in which we act ethically and morally when we follow God’s will (as in love your neighbor as yourself, pray for those who persecute you, do not murder), there are virtue ethics. In this ethical strain, it is the character of who we are that determines the ethical action, not the consequences of said action. We ask ourselves, what kind of person do I become if I commit such actions? What kind of nation do we become if we permit such actions? Are we more loving? More just? More faithful? I’m not sure that “safe” is a virtue – but most of the arguments I am hearing is that we are more “safe” because of what we have done. I would argue, we are probably less safe. Yes, particular terrorist actions may have been prevented – but have we bred hatred abroad that will only be fuel for cell recruitment? What was our response when we learned that our own were being tortured? Anger, hatred, resentment.

The last kind of argument I have been hearing is probably more of a deontological ethics than anything else. It claims that the state is given to us by God for a reason and that it is the state’s duty to protect its citizenry. Because that was the state’s duty – it performed these acts of tortuous interrogation in order to protect the people. The Christian response to this is that since the state is there by God, and it is simply performing its duty, we need to support it.

This is where we have to do some careful weighing of our ethical priorities. Because I believe here is where we have ethical principles that conflict. Yes, perhaps in some cases we would want to support the state as it makes its decisions. The bible gives us room to do so. BUT – when what the state is doing conflicts with other ethical principles, like love and justice, then it is our duty AS CHRISTIANS to stand up and speak out against such ethical violations.

Now, I’m not sure at all about prosecution and guilt in this matter. That in many ways is a state issue. But we have to clearly and inequivocally say that what happened was wrong and that it will not happen again. Period. End of story. And as Christians, we need to hold the state fast to those promises.

Christ is Risen! Easter Sunday is Over! Praise the Lord!

Posted on March 26, 2008Leave a comment

Well. Somehow I made it through one of the busiest weeks of my entire life. The irony didn’t escape me that while many friends and siblings and loved ones were on spring break, I felt like i was in the midst of finals.

This past week, I had a funeral, gave the invocation at a banquet, had the neice and nephew over for a sleep over, did Maundy Thursday service, Good Friday service, visited three diferent sets of relatives and had 2 worship services on Sunday morning. *whew!*

Now I’m exhausted. But instead of taking the day off monday and sleeping, I ended up taking my car to the shop. And then found out the repairs would be almost as much as the car itself, that the parts had to be ordered and that I shouldn’t even drive the vehicle until the repairs were finished. So, we dropped the car off at my in-laws, rented a vehicle and then got ready to drive to Des Moines for our School for Ministry.

I’m in the midst of it right now. I thought about blogging my way through, but for right now I’m just going to update as we go. Our faculty is Roberta Bondi, Tex Sample and Lovett Weems. So far- it has been EXCELLENT. Bondi is teaching us about prayer, especially through the desert mothers and fathers. Sample is lecturing about justice – especially corporate domination of government, the inequality of wealth and the increasing economic risk that families face. and Weems tomorrow will begin to talk about church leadership. I am just floored by what we have discussed so far and am SO glad that I am here.