On race my faith told me that each of us is of inestimable worth since each is created in the image of God.
Thus this worth is intrinsic and not dependent on such irrelevancies as skin color or ethnicity. Thus it was totally unacceptable, just as a matter of justice, to penalize people about something they could nothing, a given, their ethnicity, their race.
Equally my faith convinced me that it was fundamentally unjust to penalize individuals for their gender and so sexism was as unacceptable as racism ever was.It is being consistent to assert that I cannot condone penalizing someone for something about which she or he can do nothing. It would be bizarre in the extreme for a person to choose to be gay or lesbian in a set-up that is so homophobic.I believe that sexual orientation is as much a given as ethnicity or gender. Thus the same principle would apply that ruled out racism and sexism as unjust.In every instance that we have in the Gospels, Jesus sides with those who are discriminated against, who are persecuted. It seems a bizarre hermeneutics that would assert that in this one case, that of gay and lesbian persons, Jesus would join those who persecute, denigrate and oppress an already persecuted minority. That would be a Jesus I could not worship.
I would aver that the same standards of behaviour should be expected of gay and lesbian persons as apply to those who are sexually heterogeneous -- no promiscuity, fidelity to one partner in the relationship, that is all.Why are we generating so much heat over this issue at a time when the world is groaning under the burden of dehumanizing poverty, when disease -- especially HIV/Aids -- is devastating whole communities, when conflicts are sowing mayhem and carnage?God must be weeping.Posted by Desmond Tutu on February 28, 2007 7:34 AM
The Thoughts and Opinions of a Disciples of Christ pastor and church historian.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Blessed are the Persecuted -- Desmond Tutu
U.S. Change of Heart on Iran and Syria
The first meeting, at the ambassadorial level, will be held next month. Then Rice will sit down at the table with the foreign ministers from Damascus and Tehran at a second meeting in April elsewhere in the region, possibly in Istanbul.
"Better late than never," said Leon E. Panetta, a onetime White House chief of staff who served on the panel, headed by former secretary of state James A. Baker III and former congressman Lee H. Hamilton. Panetta said that the announcement is "an important step in trying to bring stability to Iraq" and that, combined with the recent nuclear agreement with North Korea and renewed efforts by Rice to promote Israeli-Palestinian peace, "the administration is finally recognizing that part of its arsenal is strong diplomacy."
Prizing Holy Ignorance over Religious Certainty

Since then, I have learned to prize holy ignorance more highly than religious certainty and to seek companions who have arrived at the same place. We are a motley crew, distinguished not only by our inability to explain ourselves to those who are more certain of their beliefs than we are but in many cases by our distance from the centers of our faith communities as well. Like campers who have bonded over cook fires far from home, we remain grateful for the provisions that we have brought with us from those cupboards, but we also find them more delicious when we share them with one another under the stars.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Inquiry and Sensitivity
"When Sensationalism and Faith Collide"
So--yippie!--this coming Sunday we've got Cameron's TV documentary, "The Lost Tomb of Jesus," to look forward to. Never mind that, for example, Professor Amos Kloner, the archaeologist who oversaw the work at the tomb in 1980, calls Cameron's claim "completely impossible. It's nonsense." Just ignore the naysayers and savor the excitement, even if you don't watch the show. Jesus' DNA--holy shit! The possibilities! Maybe they'll match it one day with the DNA of Nicole Brown Simpson's real killer! Or, as my priest friend Puck Purnell suggested, maybe the DNA will prove that Jesus was the real father of Anna Nicole Smith's baby!
War in Iran --- "The Bible Tells Me So?"
Ten Propositions on Ecumenism
1. To adapt a famous saying of Emil Brunner, the church exists by ecumenism as fire exists by burning. Church unity is not an optional extra, or AOB on the parish or presbytery agenda, or a responsibility that can be delegated to the ecumaniacs, it is integral to MOAB, the ministry of all believers. Ecumenism is not an ecclesial suggestion, it is a dominical command.2. In the Farewell Discourse in John, Jesus asks the Father to sanctify his disciples in the truth as he sends them into the world. Then he prays: “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may be one. As you, Father, are in me, and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world will believe that you have sent me (John 17:20-21). The ecumenical imperative is inherent in the missionary imperative. How can the church, with integrity, proclaim shalom to the world when we are not a truly catholic koinonia? And our catholicity must be recognisably visible; a merely “spiritual” unity is a form of ecclesial docetism.5. We are called to be one because God is one. But the one God is Trinity: that is why unity cannot mean uniformity. The watchword of ecclesial diversity can sometimes give the impression that it is simply a tactical ploy to appease Christians who value freedom of conscience and fear centralised authority. On the contrary, it issues from the very nature of God. And scholars as denominationally diverse as Ernst Käsemann, James Dunn, and Raymond Brown confirm that “there is not just a narrow stream of faith in Jesus in the New Testament, but a great wide river of many currents” (Jean Mayland). There are, of course, limits to acceptable diversity, but I would suggest that they lie within the parameters of: (a) a common baptism, (b) a Trinitarian confession of faith, and (c) a belief in Christ crucified and risen as Lord and Saviour. All else, I suggest, is adiaphora – particularly matters of polity. Moreover, it would be unreasonable to expect more agreement between our churches than we accept within our churches.9. In my view, perhaps the greatest obstacle to an ecumenical future is the refusal to acknowledge our anti-ecumenical pasts. Catholics have killed Protestants, and Protestants have killed Catholics – indeed Protestants have killed other Protestants. I submit that progress in unity will be a pseudo-progress, a movement in historical denial, unless we engage in specific, collective, and mutual acts of penitence, forgiveness, and pledges of “Never again!” Only with the healing of memories can the church proceed in a pilgrimage of hope and promise. And, of course, repentance, recognition, and reconciliation are only staging posts on the ecumenical journey: there is an elephant in the caravan and its name is Israel. And journey’s end is the whole οίκουμÎνη.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Discerning God's Presence
Gradually I remember what I had known all along, which is that church is not a stopping place but a starting place for discerning God's presence in this world. By offering people a place where they may engage the steady practice of listening to divine words and celebrating divine sacraments, church can help people gain a feel for how God shows up -- not only in Holy Bibles and Holy Communion but also in near neighbors, mysterious strangers, sliced bread, and grocery store wine. That way, when they leave church they no more leave God than God leaves them. They simply carry what they have learned into the wide, wide world, where there is a crying need for people who will recognize the holiness in things and hold them up to God.
What Will the Religious Right Do with the GOP?
The Christian right's consternation over Giuliani, McCain, and Romney is a remarkable turnabout from 2004, when the movement was united behind the re-election of George W. Bush. White evangelicals, who made up roughly a quarter of the electorate in 2004 and 2006, accounted for nearly 4 in every 10 Bush votes. "I don't think any of the three are remotely acceptable, and I don't think I'm an outlier," says Michael Farris, a top Christian activist who organized meetings between Bush and evangelical leaders for his first presidential run. "Giuliani holds the opposite view of the Republican platform on social issues, Romney has held both sides of those issues, and McCain picked fights with us the last time he ran for president." An early February meeting of the Council for National Policy, a club of powerful social conservatives whose members include Focus on the Family founder James Dobson and Left Behind author Tim LaHaye, was thick with fretting over '08. "I've never seen more disillusionment at this point in the election in 30 years," says a source close to the Council for National Policy, which prohibits members from discussing meetings with the media. "There's a revolt out there, a feeling these top three are being pushed on us by Republican leadership in D.C."
If Giuliani winds up harnessing enough moderate Republican support to win the nomination, the GOP will have another problem on its hands: how to get evangelicals to the polls in the general election. "Evangelicals just won't vote" if Giuliani is the nominee, says the Southern Baptist Convention's Richard Land. "He'll lose Ohio, perhaps Tennessee-maybe even Texas." To Christian conservatives, it's a losing formula. But they still have to find a winning formula that includes them.
Obama's Numbers Looking Good
Go Barack!
Thanks to Daily Dish for this.
Resistance to an Iranian War
"Smearing Like 2003" -- E.J. Dionne
It is also, as Dionne suggests, why the Bush administration has lost the respect of the American people:
The fabricate-and-smear cycle illustrated so dramatically during the case of I. Lewis "Scooter'' Libby explains why President Bush is failing to rally support for the latest iteration of his Iraq policy. The administration's willingness at the outset to say anything, no matter how questionable, to justify the war has destroyed its credibility. Its habit of attacking those who
expressed misgivings has destroyed any goodwill it might have enjoyed. Bush and Cheney have lost the benefit of the doubt.
We need a good debate about Iraq and the current verbiage from the White House and its surrogates doesn't portend well. Congress and the American people have been told it's of our business. I'm sorry but last I heard this wasn't a dictatorship, but perhaps George and Dick have forgotten that this is America and that they are accountable to us!
Another Da Vinci Code Mystery?
Picture is from the Toronto Star.
Why So Authoritarian? Conservative Christians
Marty suggests that things may not be as the first appear. But I'll just let you read it for yourself.
Sightings 2/26/07
Baptists, Biblicists, and Beyond-- Martin E. Marty
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The current Religion and Culture Web Forum features "The Earth Charter as a New Covenant for Democracy" by J. Ronald Engel. To read this article, please visit: http://marty-center.uchicago.edu/webforum/index.shtml.
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Sightings comes from the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago Divinity School.
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Sunday, February 25, 2007
America and its Iconic Bible
If the Bible is America's Holy Book, what exactly does that mean? It's true that the Bible is regularly used in a variety of public ceremonies, from swearing in of witnesses to oath-taking by public officials. It's believed that using the Bible in such a way guarantees truthfulness, although there's little evidence that such use prevents either corruption or perjury.
When we talk about the Bible as America's Holy Book, we're not talking about its content; we're talking about its symbolic status. Indeed, that's Prager's point. Therefore, since the Bible is essentially an object of veneration, we dutifully trot it out whenever we deem it appropriate. If necessary, we'll read it selectively in support of our pet projects. Take for instance the Ten Commandments: Many venerate them, but spend little time examining their meaning.
The Bible's iconic value is connected to America's mythical “Judeo-Christian” heritage, something that's apparently now under siege by pluralists and immigrants alike. Reference is often made to the nation's golden age when that heritage is assumed to have reigned supreme. However, a close reading of America's history suggests that the story is much more complicated than that. Besides, there are dark shadows that lay across our nation's religious heritage, from slavery to segregation. (To read the rest of the column, click here)
Saturday, February 24, 2007
First Freedom Project --- A caution from the NCC
NCC suggests Gonzales cast interfaith net on religious freedom plan
New York City, February 22, 2007 – The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA welcomed a new U.S. government initiative on religious discrimination but expressed concern at its narrow, single denominational introduction.
"We are pleased to see the Bush administration focus renewed interest on religious freedom," said the Rev. Bob Edgar, NCC's general secretary, in a statement issued today. Religious liberty is "a topic that has found deep and continuing concern within the National Council of Churches since its founding more than 50 years ago," he said.
Updates on Anglican Conflict
Friday, February 23, 2007
Eucharist -- Giving Thanks
One use of eucharisteo was to give thanks to God for food. Another was to honor deity or to praise leaders of the people. It is the word used in instituting the Lord's supper; and during the early decades of the church's life this word, adapted into English as eucharist, became the most
widely used name for the distinctive act of Christian worship. When this word appears in New Testament passages like the third chapter of Colossians, it is not clear which of these meanings was the most prominent in the mind of the writer or of the hearers. Perhaps all of the meanings were intertwined so that the general meaning of thanksgiving and the specialized meanings of the Lord's supper interpenetrated each other. (Keith Watkins, The Great Thanksgiving: The Eucharistic Norm of Christian Worship, Chalice Press, 1995, pp. 3-4).
First Freedom Project
First announced by Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez at a meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, this is supposedly a Bush Administration effort to combat "religious discrimination." That it's being hailed by the SBC, the Family Research Council, and the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, and questioned by Bob Edgar of the National Council of Churches (they're taking a wait and see and want more information) and Barry Lynn of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State raises some red flags.
The question is who is being discriminated against and how? Is this just some red meat being thrown to the base or is it rectifying a real problem? I'm skeptical, to say the least.
On to Tehran?
Iran is a major player and its major deterrent -- Iraq is in chaos. I'm not sure I buy the whole Iran gambit, but I think we need to be aware of what is going on and to hold our Congressional leaders accountable. The only real way of preventing an attack is to withhold the purse. I hope and pray that Congress will act appropriately to deter any precipitous act.
I found an interesting column that Scott Ritter wrote last year in the Nation about Iran. I think it's worth reading and considering. It's not exactly completely up-to-date, but it does give a sense of his position.
War with Iran can only go badly. Their military is in much better shape and stronger and larger than Iraq's. As Israel discovered in Lebanon, it's likely we would find out there. If anyone is considering a nuclear option, that would only exacerbate a bad situation. I remain optimistic and hopeful, but that's my nature. But it's good to be reminded so we remain watchful.
One thing Scott did say tonight that I take to heart is that this government belongs to We the People, and if out of our own ignorance or apathy we let this happen we can only blame ourselves.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
California's Prisons -- A travesty
Steve Lopez writes in his Column One essay in the LA Times about this problem and offers some possible solutions -- one has to do with dealing with the issue of mental health. With so many inhabiting the prison population suffering from mental illness, and with little effort to resolve these problems, it's no wonder that the prison population continues to rise. Take a look at the column!
Giving Up Lent for Lent
When I gave up Lent for Lent, it become clear that I needed to give up the idea that certain religious disciplines would bring me closer to God. This belief had plagued me since I was an evangelical teenager struggling with my congregation’s expectation for a “daily quiet time.” Never able to maintain this program of spiritual rigor, I felt like a Christian failure. When I finally admitted that I could not do it, I experienced a new freedom in prayer. Giving up led me to a richer and deeper connection of God in prayer, and led me to practice prayer in ways that resonate with who God has made me to be – unique, meaningful, and transformative. Not a program, but a way of being.
Lent tempts Christians to try to fulfill other people’s expectations of what spirituality should look like, usually related to some sort of religious achievement or self-mortification. But Lent is neither success nor punishment. Ultimately, Lent urges us to let go of self-deception and pleasing others. These 40 days ask only one thing of us: to find our truest selves on a journey toward God.
Giving up Lent for Lent meant giving up guilt. Although I have been back to church for Ash Wednesday many times since I gave up Lent for Lent, that year freed me from spiritual tyranny and helped me understand Easter anew. The journey to Easter is not a mournful denial of our humanity. Rather, Lent embraces our humanity – our deepest fears, our doubts, our mistakes and sins, our grief, and our pain. Lent is also about joy, self-discovery, connecting with others, and doing justice. Lent is not morbid church services. It is about being fully human and knowing God’s presence in the crosshairs of blessing and bane. And it is about waiting, waiting in those crosshairs, for resurrection.
Can a religiously defined state be a democracy?
Religion and Presidential Candidates
From the Vail Trail: via: Faith in Public Life Daily News
When politics is a matter of faith
Guest Column
Rich Mayfield
February 21, 2007
Rich Mayfield is former pastor of Lord of the Mountains church.
My Theological Worldview -- What's Yours
![]() | You scored as Emergent/Postmodern. You are Emergent/Postmodern in your theology. You feel alienated from older forms of church, you don't think they connect to modern culture very well. No one knows the whole truth about God, and we have much to learn from each other, and so learning takes place in dialogue. Evangelism should take place in relationships rather than through crusades and altar-calls. People are interested in spirituality and want to ask questions, so the church should help them to do this.
What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com |
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Arab-Israeli-Palestinian Peace: From Crisis to Hope
From Global Ministries:
In December 2006, 35 Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders urged the United States to make peace in the Middle East a top priority. You can help by contacting your Senators and Representative in support of this appeal.
Excerpts follow, full text at www.usccb.org/sdwp/international/nilistatement.htm.
Arab-Israeli-Palestinian Peace: From Crisis to Hope
As Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious leaders, our shared Abrahamic faith compels us to work together for peace with justice for Israelis, Palestinians and all peoples in the Middle East. As Americans, we believe our nation has an inescapable responsibility and an indispensable role to provide creative, determined leadership for building a just peace for all in the Middle East.
The United States must make Arab-Israeli-Palestinian peace an urgent priority. Achieving peace will have positive reverberations in the region and worldwide.
The crisis in and near Gaza and the war in Lebanon and northern Israel remind us that the status quo is unstable and untenable. Military action will not resolve the conflict. The only authentic way forward is a negotiated settlement built on difficult, but realistic, compromises and security arrangements with international guarantees. The path to peace requires a rejection of violence and an embrace of dialogue. Such a path could lead to a future of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace with security and dignity for both peoples and to a future of stability in the region with Israel living in peace and security with its Arab neighbors.
The six page consensus statement by 35 national religious leaders addresses key elements in the Arab-Israeli-Palestinian conflict and calls on the United States to:
• Exercise persistent, determined leadership at the highest levels to secure a comprehensive and just resolution of the Arab-Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on U.N. Security Council Resolutions 242, 338, and 1397.
• Work, in coordination with the Quartet (U.S., European Union, Russia, and the United Nations), to create conditions that bring about serious negotiations for a two-state solution following the lines of the Roadmap, earlier official negotiations, and civil society initiatives, e.g. the Geneva Accord and the People’s Voice:
• Support full implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolutions 1701 and 1559 in relation to Lebanon; and
• Undertake diplomatic efforts to restart Israeli-Syrian and Israeli-Lebanese negotiations for peace.
As religious leaders we commit ourselves to working with the Administration and the Congress to support active, fair and firm U.S. leadership to help Israelis, Palestinians and Arab states achieve a just peace. With God’s help, we are confident that crisis can give way to hope for all God’s children in the Middle East.
January 2007
Believing or Beholding
"I had become an Episcopalian in the first place because the Anglican way cared more for common prayer than for right belief, but under stress even Episcopalians began vetting one another on the virgin birth, the divinity of Jesus, and his physical resurrection fro the dead. Both in Clarkesville and elsewhere, the poets began drifting away from churches as the jurists grew louder and more insistent. I began to feel like a defense attorney for those who could not square their love of God and neighbor with the terms of the Nicene Creed, while my flagging attempt to be all things to all people was turning into a bad case of amnesia about my own Christian identity. My role and my soul were eating each other alive. I wanted out of the belief business and back into the beholding business. I wanted to recover the kind of faith that has nothing to do with being sure what I believe and everything to do with trusting God to catch me though I am not sure of anything." (Leaving Church, p. 111).
Justice rooted in Faith -- William Wilberforce
Most important, he was unafraid to invoke the moral obligations of the Gospel to challenge the consciences of slavers and their supporters in Parliament. In his "Letter on the Abolition of the Slave Trade," published in January 1807, Wilberforce placed the brutish facts of human trafficking against the backdrop of Christian compassion and divine justice. "We must believe," he warned, "that a continued course of wickedness, oppression and cruelty, obstinately maintained in spite of the fullest knowledge and the loudest warnings, must infallibly bring down upon us the heaviest judgments of the Almighty." A month later, on Feb. 23, the House of Commons voted 283 to 16 to abolish the slave trade.
Ash Wednesday Reflections
Faith in the Public Square
Lompoc Record
Time of Reflection Marked with Ash
Sin isn't just the act of the individual; it can just as easily be corporate and systemic. The actions and choices of societies and nations can have a lasting impact on history. People ask: why should I take responsibility for things I didn't do? I didn't enslave anyone nor did I imprison Japanese-Americans, force the Cherokee to take the Trail of Tears, massacre Vietnamese women and children at My Lai, or abuse prisoners at Abu Graib. My lack of participation doesn't mean that I'm immune from their consequences to our nation's soul. To ignore or forget them is to deny their place in the collective conscience of our nation. There is an American myth of innocence that often keeps us from accepting responsibility for our nation's actions, a myth that causes us to be blind to our own propensity to self-interest, hypocrisy, and destructive actions (torture in the name of security?). So, just as the Germans must never forget the Holocaust, we must never forget our own nation's dark secrets. Why? If we refuse to learn the lessons of the past, we are destined to repeat them.
This is a season marked by prayer and acts of sacrifice, like forgoing something enjoyable and delicious as a reminder that we are not self-sufficient. I admit to a lack of consistency in my Lenten observances, but the point is well taken. To give up something I enjoy, is to take the focus off me and place it where it belongs, on God and the needs of my neighbor.
We live in a land of abundance, a land seemingly “flowing with milk and honey.” This reality has drawn generations of immigrants from across the globe to these shores in search of new opportunities. But, today American society seems beholden to a cult of narcissism. We cry out: America first, California first, Lompoc first, my neighborhood first, my family first, and finally, and most importantly, me first! Ash Wednesday is an enigma to a society that values appearances above all else. And so, on Ash Wednesday this ideology is challenged as we allow our faces to be disfigured by soot and hear calls to grieve our misdeeds, poor choices, and self-centeredness.
February 26, 2006
Find this article at: http://www.lompocrecord.com/articles/2006/02/26/opinions/022606c.txt
What effect -- Christian Community? -- Bonhoeffer

“Every day brings to the Christian many hours in which he will be alone in an unchristian environment. These are the times of testing. This is the test of true meditation and true Christian community. Has the fellowship served to make the individual free, strong, and mature, or has it made him weak and dependant? Has it taken him by the hand for a while in order that he may learn again to walk by himself, or has it made him uneasy and unsure? This is one of the most searching and critical questions that can be put to any Christian fellowship.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, (SCM Press), 67
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
The Eucharist and Mithraism
Mike asked about the Eucharist and its possible relationship to Mithraism. I have to be honest up front and say, I don’t have a lot of information on this question. But I’ll share my thoughts about the alleged connection. If you look at the web you’ll find many sites making claims that Christianity, and especially its practice of the Eucharist, originated in Mithraism. There is no denying the seeming parallels between these two religions, as well as with other Greek and Roman mysteries. Both grew to prominence within Imperial Roman culture at about the same time. It is also quite likely that the December 25th date for Christmas comes from Mithraism – Mithra was apparently born on December 25th from a rock. Ironically Mithraism essentially became the religion of the Empire (Sol Invictus) on the eve of Christianity’s ascendancy in the Roman Empire.
Mithraism was a Roman mystery religion with long roots in Ind-Aryan culture, and most especially in Iran, where it competed with Zoroastrianism. As a Roman religion, it was especially prominent among soldiers and even had a military like structure and initiated only males. Christianity, at least prior to Constantine, wasn’t popular with the military, and if you read closely the New Testament, this was a faith for both women and men.
Although there are parallels, I fail to see any real evidence of direct influence, especially regarding the New Testament descriptions of the Eucharist. Besides, there are sufficient resources within Judaism to explain the Eucharist, which in the New Testament is rooted in the Passover celebration and Jesus’ practice of table fellowship. That the mystery religions created a fertile soil for Christianity’s eventual success, is undeniable. It’s also possible that some later liturgical developments were influenced by a confluence of ideas with Mithraism. But I think you’ll find even greater foundations within Platonic and Aristotelian philosophy – especially regarding the church’s eventual understanding of the real presence.
So, did the Eucharist originate in Mithraism, I find that possibility to be quite unlikely. For, the differences are even greater than the similarities (I don’t think you’ll find any sacrifices of bulls or immersion in the blood of a bull in any of the Christian initiation rites).
Reference: Helmut Koester, Introduction to the New Testament: History, Culture, and Religion of the Hellenistic Age, (Fortress Press, 1982), 1: 372-374.
Anglicans Haven't Split -- Yet!
What does this mean for the future? I guess it means a divided Anglican communion, but in reality it's already divided. The Via Media is no longer a middle way, if it ever really was such an entity. This is unfortunate, but hopefully in time the schism will heal. They have done so in the past, but it's always easier to split than to reconcile.
Of course I comment on this as an interested by-stander, one who was once an Episcopalian, but no longer am. Still, I remain interested and concerned for the church of my childhood.
Time to Play Ball -- Giants Spring Training 2007

As a die hard and life long San Francisco Giants fan -- I remember listening on the radio to games in the day of Mays, McCovey, Bobby Bonds, Gaylord Perry, and Juan Marichal. I can remember a late inning home run by Bobby Bonds to beat the Dodgers and more. I got to attend a game during the 1989 World Series at Candlestick and a grieved when the Giants seemed on the verge of taking their first World Series in 48 years (2002).
But as they say, there's always next year and next year has arrived, as position players arrive at Spring Training in Scottsdale, AZ. This is a big year, after two losing seasons, for the beloved Giants. There is a new manager -- Bruce Bochy and with Barry Zito and Matt Cain, the Giants have a star and a star in the making anchoring their pitching rotation. And yes, I'm excited about that! The starting rotation is definitely the strong suit of the team (especially if Matt Morris, Noah Lowry, and Russ Ortiz return to form.
But of course everyone knows who will be the centerpiece of the Giant's 2007 season. Though the All Star Game will be held at AT&T Park, the focus of this coming year will be Barry Bonds' attempt to eclipse Hank Aaron's home run mark. He is, I believe just 21 short of the record. Having hit 26 last year at less than peak condition that mark will likely fall, to the great chagrin to "purists." Whatever the case regarding Bonds and his use of "enhancers," the mark will likely fall and he will make this one last tour with the Giants. But the true heart of this club looks to be it's rotation -- which has another star in the wings -- Tim Linecum.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Public Christian or Public Church?
Martin Luther King spoke the language of faith, informed by the gospel, and connected it powerfully to a call for the reform of public life. he did so in very public ways. Christians must learn again to stand in the tradition of King.
Being A Radical Christian -- Simon Barrow
What is radical about Christianity? -Feb 19, 2007 -- by Simon Barrow.
My experience of being a Christian is that of a surprising, continual and contested process of reformation and rediscovery. In the events and narratives concerning Jesus, which remain central to my life, everything I thought I knew about the world, myself, God and humanity turns out to be nothing like what I expected, and indeed finds itself in need of ongoing transformation.
By radical (radix, from the Latin) I mean something like ‘rooted-to-be-routed’ – a personal, communal and intellectual re-exploration and re-expression of a deep tradition of reading, reasoning and responding to the world which propels us to its most risky frontiers. That is what is at the heart of Christianity.
This is the journey I am on, and it is shaped and sustained not just by a company of the like-minded but by companions from other walks of life (people of faith, or just ‘good faith’), who remind me that isolation and guarantees of ‘correctness’ are not on. (click here to continue reading).
Ethical Implications of the Lord's Table
1. [P]eople may not be barred from participating in the Lord's supper because they are members of the wrong race, age, class, ethnic group, or denomination, or have the wrong sexual orientation. In the Lord's supper we share in God's gracious gift to us and practice the open hospitality of Jesus, welcoming the stranger. It is self-contradictory to allow such forms of discrimination to rule our social, political, and economic arrangements in "the world" or in the church.
2. [W]e cannot be content with "spiritually" feeding the hunger of the soul, while allowing people to suffer from physical hunger, as though such hunger were not itself deeply spiritual. We must not forget that a major feature of Jesus' ministry was feeding the hungry, and that our earliest testimony to the eucharist shows that it was not a symbolic supper but the "full meal deal." We who celebrate the breaking of bread must see to feeding the hungry.
Mitt Romney's Religion -- Martin Marty's Perspective
Sightings 2/19/07 Romney's Religion-- Martin E. Marty
We who began "sighting" religion in American public life a half-century ago had to open a file on "religion and presidential candidates" when "Ike" ran against "Adlai." Presidents Roosevelt and Truman were very religious, but Roosevelt's form of mainstream Protestantism was seen as inoffensive, and Truman disdained the "use" of religion in political contention. Then came Adlai Stevenson, who was controversial because he was a Unitarian -- and, of course, he was utterly dismissed by religious conservatives (pre-Reagan) because he had been divorced. Dwight Eisenhower ushered in the new era with what a critic called his "very fervent faith in a very vague religion." In 1960 religion came to the fore in the Kennedy-as-Catholic campaign, and it has stayed there ever since. One has to marvel at the naiveté or historical short-sightedness of communicators and analysts today who think that controversial religious identifications among candidates are new. The cast of characters changes; the stage is the same.
So the files bulge fatly and prematurely in this too-long campaign. Not a single candidate is discussed apart from her or his religious commitments. We can save comment on other candidates for future seasons until November 2008. First off, meanwhile, we have the Mormon context and involvement of new candidate Mitt Romney of Massachusetts. There is no hiding his Latter Day Saint identification, nor does he try to hide it. He did his three-year missionary stint, and is by all signs wholly engaged with his faith community. And that is controversial. We are told that though he is working his way into acceptability on hot-button issues among religious conservatives, they have more reservations than do other Americans about his being a Mormon.
References: "Mormon President? No Problem: Have Faith," by Richard Lyman Bushman (New Republic, January 29, 2007), can be read by subscribers online at: http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20070129&s=bushman012907.
Martin E. Marty's biography, current projects, upcoming events, publications, and contact information can be found at http://www2.blogger.com/.
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The current Religion and Culture Web Forum features "The Earth Charter as a New Covenant for Democracy" by J. Ronald Engel. To read this article, please visit: http://marty-center.uchicago.edu/webforum/index.shtml.
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Sightings comes from the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago Divinity School.
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Sunday, February 18, 2007
Islam in America
The LA Times today runs a review by Marjorie Gellhorn Sa'adah of Paul M. Barrett's American Islam: The Struggle for the Soul of a Religion (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2006). I've not read the book, though I've thumbed through it on several occasions at Borders. From the review we learn that Paul Barrett tells the story of seven Muslims who range from a fundamentalist activist to a feminist writer. It appears that this new book will help shatter our stereotypes and perhaps help us build toward a greater understanding of one another.
The reviewer helps us understand the complexity of patriotic America:
What, for any of us, is patriotism?
In a Yuba City parking lot, a group of Muslims debates Fourth of July fireworks. One wants the bottle rockets and fireworks that would launch into a canopy of red, white and blue.
"Fireworks on Independence Day, yes, but not at mosque," disagrees another."Mosque is prayer, Quran," adds a Pakistani farmer.
One of the Muslim men turns to Barrett and asks, "Paul, what do you think? … Do churches have fireworks at the church?"Barrett's reply? "I said I was Jewish," he writes, "but for what it was worth, my mother always warned that fireworks could put your eye out."
"American Islam" does a lot to suspend the red, white and blue pyrotechnics that have, since Sept. 11, tended to put our eyes out. These seven lives, and all the others they represent, heighten my sense that we should be practicing a more complicated patriotism, one with a pluralistic gaze. What better way to see, then — as the Koran says — that "[w]herever you turn, there is the face of God." •