A popular myth

I have yet to find the source text, but here is the gist.

Do not be deceived, brothers and sisters. The invisible hand of the Free Market can be Christ's if we have good Christians running it. Any previous sins committed by the Free Market were the fault of unbelievers. We all know that God has predetermined who will be rich and poor except when regulations cripple the heroic Free Market. True believers are careful stewards of the Free Market, fighting off attempts to require sharing of wealth through salaries and taxes. When good, honest captains of industry have to hide their assets in the Caribbean, then true believers have not done enough to protect the glorious Free Market. As for the poor, tell them to beg from a Christian charity as it should be.

Iraq is back in the news

In October of 2002, a group of prominent Christian leaders wrote that any decision by the American government to attack Iraq would be just in the eyes of God. It served to build public support for the war. However, this prophetic statement about our justifications and intentions turned out to be false. It was the worst use of our nation's military since Vietnam, not to mention one of the longest and most expensive wars in our history.

Now Iraq is descending further into chaos. 

(Reuters) - Iraqi Kurds seized control of the northern oil city of Kirkuk on Thursday, while surging Sunni Islamist rebels advanced towards Baghdad, as the central government's army abandoned its posts in a rapid collapse that has lost it control of the north.

Our "liberation" of Iraq has led to 11 years of sectarian violence. Instead of bringing stability to the region, we undermined it with our aggression. 

It does raise an interesting theological question. When Christian leaders help promote a war that turns out to unjustified and unjust, are they obligated to repent? 

Richard Land and his fellow evangelists for this war have never repented. At best, they could claim they were mislead by our political leaders. That is certainly true. If so, then the ethical response would be to issue a follow-up letter indicating that many of the reasons given to justify this war (e.g. weapons of mass destruction) were not true. Their failure to do so makes a mockery of ethics and morality. It sets a horrible example for fellow Christians. Supposedly, Dr. Land knows something about ethics have been head of the Southern Baptist Convention's ethical committee for a quarter of a century. 

What the Land gang cannot claim is they were led by the Holy Spirit in their advocacy for the war. To say so would be to bear false witness against the Holy Spirit. If you thought you were led by the Holy Spirit but were mistaken, aren't you obligated to make it clear to others? 

I hear a lot of preaching about the need for repentance. It would certainly be nice to see that same fervor for repentance from some of our most distinguished Christian leaders when they fall short. Otherwise, they harm Christ's brand. 

Christian capitalism

Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York is an apologist for capitalism. See his May 22 editorial in the Wall Street Journal, "The Pope's Case for Virtuous Capitalism," in which he blesses the "free market" as the hand of the divine. He relied on the great theologian Lawrence Kudlow to assist with the wording of his opus. There is a a good capitalism, one blushing with purity of heart and desire. When Pope Francis questioned the virtues of capitalism, he really was only talking about the non-Christian kind according to Dolan.

"For many in developing or newly industrialized countries, what passes as capitalism is an exploitative racket for the benefit of the few powerful and wealthy."

Us mature capitalist countries have a more highly developed morality. We resist the temptations of greed, materialism, waste, exploitation, and crushing poverty.

"People, acting justly, compassionately and honestly, are the foundation of good economic or business activity. A just economic order relies on both material wealth and on people's openness to the transformation of their hearts in love and solidarity."

There is an old saying, "you shall know them by their fruit." Here in America we have the highest levels of income and wealth inequality in nearly a century. Everywhere you look, God's creation is being gobbled up or poisoned by some of our largest corporations.  Show me the just treatment of people in Appalachia by the coal industry. You can't do that because it is one filled with coercion, negligent homicide, murder, destruction of streams and mountains, worker exploitation, and bribery. Not a week pauses without another story of shenanigans in the financial sector. We just squeaked out of recession caused by ethically bankrupt bad actors in the Wall Street crowd. The list goes on and on. That is a lot of rotten fruit.

Unless I miss my guess, Dolan was doing his very best to placate wealthy Catholic donors after their delicate sensibilities were wounded by the words of Pope Francis. Like this one. Poor babies.

Thankfully, some folks who know a thing or two about virtue and ethics from a Catholic social teaching perspective took issue with Kudlowian theology. This is my personal favorite.

"Cardinal Dolan misses what Pope Francis sees so clearly," Father Christiansen says. "The growth of inequality everywhere including the U.S. is a result of American-style capitalism and the financialization of the economy."

He continues: 

"Stagnation in wage growth and the trickle-up economy has shrunk the U.S. middle class and hollowed out the economic power of those who remain in it. Pope Francis understands this when he links addressing poverty to reversing inequality.  

For generations, Catholic social teaching has understood and taught that improving the condition of the poor means holding inequality in check. Thanks be to God, that Pope Benedict and Pope Francis have underscored that teaching in the most emphatic ways. 

Unfortunately, too many well-to-do Catholics prefer getting their economic ethics from the Acton Institute rather than the Vatican."

Of course, worship of the "free market" as God can also be found among evangelical Calvinists. David Brat is a good example. He is the economics professor with divinity degrees that just won the Republican nomination for Eric Cantor's soon to be vacant congressional seat. Theologically, Brat describes himself as a “fairly orthodox Calvinist.”

“Capitalist markets and their expansion in China and India have provided more for the common good, more ‘social welfare,’ than any other policy in the past ten years. So, as a seminary student concerned with human welfare, I naturally wanted to learn about these free markets.”

I did have to chuckle at China being held up as a fine example of capitalism in action. Doesn't the Chinese government still frown on religion, including Christianity? I am sure all this new wealth will open their eyes to their need to pay lip service to God.

Here is the money quote:

“I think the main point is that we need to synthesize Christianity and capitalism.”

You do not mix the sacred and the profane. Christ warned about the dangers of thinking you can worship God and Mammon. Brat has a 2011 publication titled, “God and the Advanced Mammon — Can Theological Types Handle Usury and Capitalism?", published in Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology. This is a guy that claims to love God and a virtuous Mammon. It is simply nauseating, not to mention arrogant beyond belief.

For as long as there is human sin or evil, there will be corruption and injustice in our economic systems. You can find it throughout human history. The idea that capitalism is somehow more resistant to those failings is preposterous. So how does one read the New Testament and dare talk about "virtuous capitalism?"

A bit too "church of Laodicea" for my tastes (Revelation 3:15-17):

“I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You’re not cold, you’re not hot—far better to be either cold or hot! You’re stale. You’re stagnant. You make me want to vomit. You brag, ‘I’m rich, I’ve got it made, I need nothing from anyone,’ oblivious that in fact you’re a pitiful, blind beggar, threadbare and homeless.

So what is with all this praise and worship of Mammon by Christian religious and political leaders? 

Archbishop was uncertain if pedophilia was a crime

 Now this is unbelievable.

Archbishop Robert J. Carlson claimed to be uncertain that he knew sexual abuse of a child by a priest constituted a crime when he was auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, according to a deposition released Monday (June 9).

It defies credulity.

During the deposition taken last month, attorney Jeff Anderson asked Carlson whether he knew it was a crime for an adult to engage in sex with a child. 

“I’m not sure whether I knew it was a crime or not,” Carlson replied. “I understand today it’s a crime." 

Anderson went on to ask Carlson whether he knew in 1984, when he was an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, that it was crime for a priest to engage in sex with a child. 

“I’m not sure if I did or didn’t,” Carlson said.

Claiming not to know if it was a crime for an adult in a position of authority to have a sex with a child continues a pattern of moral failure in this church "leader." Adding insult to injury, the Archdiocese of St. Louis defended the Archbishop's blissful agnosticism over whether pedophilia was a crime, but also claimed he never doubted it was a sin. It all fails the smell test. What we have here is complete failure in church leadership.

Archbishop Carlson claimed uncertainty over the legality of sexual abuse 193 times during his deposition. He even suggested his memory might have clouded by cancer treatments. Gosh, if that were true then he would have failed at his other responsibilities as bishop. Having studied memory disorders for more than 30 years, I never encountered deficits so selective and convenient.

Carlson should not be in a position of authority. He needs to resign and don some serious sackcloth and ashes. He has done enormous damage to the reputation of the church.

The Cricket and the Fly

Once upon a time on the magical islands of Hawaii, there lived many families of crickets. The males were known for their song. The Elvis and Frank Sinatra impersonators were the ones that got the girls. The quiet types sat by themselves, oh so sad as they rubbed their wings together in silence.

This was the way of the cricket world until one day an evil fly came to paradise. Trust me when I say this is one nasty beastie. If you have seen the movie Alien, then you know how this fly works its "magic." It lays eggs on the backs of poor unsuspecting crickets. Adding insult to injury, the eggs soon hatch and fly larvae burrow their way into their "host." A week later, a full grown fly climbs out of the empty cricket shell.

Here is the terrible irony. The evil flies have discovered the best way to find a cricket to serve as incubator is to listen for the chirp of male crickets singing for a mate. Before long the quiet type crickets are getting all the girls because the crooners are attracting flies.

Now the fields and forests of Hawaii are quiet. Cricket song has disappeared, replaced by dance in courtship rituals. As for the flies, they are flustered and wonder where all the crickets have gone.

This story just so happens to be true and is a very big deal in the scientific community. The scientists are chirping because there was a rapid shift in the cricket gene pool favoring flat wings which do not make a sound no matter how much they are rubbed together.

The change seems to have been caused by a mutation that altered the shape of their wings, making them incapable of producing the chirping noise. The feat was achieved over less than 20 generations, a mere evolutionary blink of an eye, and, with the crickets living just a few weeks, a very rapid process. By 2003, a study by Marlene Zuk at the University of California Riverside found that up to 95% of male crickets on Kauai were no longer able to chirp. The mutation had erased almost all the wing structures that help to make the sound, leaving the wings flattened but still airworthy. 

Just two years later, in 2005, male crickets on the island of Oahu, 101 kilometres from Kauai also began to fall silent. Today, about half of the males on Oahu are chirpless, Bailey has found.

This is evolution in action. A genetic mutation offers a better chance for survival, allowing a species to adapt to an emerging environmental threat. Then scientists discovered that lightening had struck in two different places at the same time.

In their study, published today in Current Biology, Bailey and his team analysed the genomes of crickets from both islands using a technique that slices DNA into small fragments and then detects hundreds of thousands of genetic markers, or small distinct regions of the genome. The genetic markers associated with the flat wing are very different in the Kauai and Oahu populations. “It means that different mutated portions of the genome cause males to be flatwing in either population,” says Bailey. 

This evidence suggests that the mutations happened independently on both islands, making the Hawaiian silent crickets “an excellent example of convergent evolution”, says evolutionary biologist Richard Harrison of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

I almost feel sorry for people who want to see creation as a static process that ended long ago. Since science undermines their faith, they are unable to see the hand of the Creator still at work in a system that promotes survival of species through dynamic interaction between genes and the environment. Instead of awe they are left with cognitive dissonance. Deliberate ignorance has a price. Claiming this planet is a few thousand years old despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary does not serve God.

Why I love Pentecost

Fifty days after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, his ragtag band of disciples gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate Shavuot, the giving of Torah on Mt. Sinai. In the past seven weeks, each of them had had strange and unsettling encounters with Jesus, risen as he promised. I can only guess what must have been going through their head at the time.

Which brings us to Acts 2:1-4. From The Message:

When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force—no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them.

They were given the gift of being guided by the spirit of God and able to communicate the extraordinary message of love and grace to all hearing their voice. Now that is cool.

The teaming masses in Jerusalem heard the disciples of Jesus and were puzzled. The educated and privileged often spoke several languages, but these Jesus freaks were merely Galilean roustabouts. There was a lot of whispering going on.

Then Peter took the microphone and gave a rocking first sermon (Acts 2:38-42). Talk about your alter calls:

Peter said, “Change your life. Turn to God and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, so your sins are forgiven. Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is targeted to you and your children, but also to all who are far away—whomever, in fact, our Master God invites.”

He went on in this vein for a long time, urging them over and over, “Get out while you can; get out of this sick and stupid culture!”

That day about three thousand took him at his word, were baptized and were signed up. They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers.

The seed of faith planted by Peter sprouted and immediately took root in three thousand. In those days, that was a very big number.

So what happened with this Great Awakening in Jerusalem? The potential for rabble-rousing was there. You know the Roman legions were keeping on a wary eye on those Jesus freaks (Acts 2:43-47).

Everyone around was in awe—all those wonders and signs done through the apostles! And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common. They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person’s need was met.

They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved.

Look at how they lived. In peace and harmony. A true communion of spirit. They pooled their resources "so each person's need was met." No one wanted for anything. They were full of joy and gratitude. After the infusion of the Holy Spirit, the Jesus people attracted attention for all the right reasons.

We could use a bit more of that Pentecostal spirit in this nation with its culture that promotes greed, materialism, violence, vengeance, narcissism, and contempt for the vulnerable. A sick and stupid society if there ever was one.

We Need Better Creationists

Many of the folks I know that call themselves "creationists" reject scientific evidence for biological evolution taking place over a billion years or more. They demand that our children be taught in school that God is the Creator and scientific evidence for evolution is meaningless. It is as if to say, "Listen up heathens, my creation story is far superior to yours."

The funny thing is that many of these self-professed creationists seem unconcerned about protecting God's creation. They seem perfectly content to sit idly by as corporations plunder and poison the handiwork of God in pursuit of ever larger profit margins. Some prominent Christian leaders even declared that humans are not responsible for climate change, climate science cannot be trusted, and all good creationists should pledge allegiance to fossil fuels. Of course, if human activity is absolved of a major role in climate change, then by extension any observed changes have to be God's fault. Careful there, brothers and sisters.

We need better creationists - ones that want to be better stewards of God's creation by preserving this planet's resources for future generations. The first step is to confess our sins and confront the reality that human beings have been doing a lousy job of caring for creation. Here is some of our handiwork.

"Current rates of extinction are about 1000 times the background rate of extinction." Awesome. Too many plants and animals are in the way of large scale agricultural operations.

The oceans are rapidly becoming more acidic thanks to carbon pollution. In fact that current rate of acidification, sliding down the pH scale, is considerably greater than anything in the geological record dating back at least 58 million years. Nothing says respect for creation like drastically changing the chemistry of the oceans. It burns said the starfish to the coral.

And then there is climate chaos. Climate science says we are headed to a 4 degree Celsius rise in global temperatures by the end of this century. What a brave new world we are leaving for future generations!

Yet all is not lost. A new breed of creationist is emerging.

A recent sermon from Pope Francis warns that failure to respect Creation will have dire consequences.

The first lies in the risk of considering ourselves masters of Creation. Creation is not a property, which we can rule over at will; or, even less, is the property of only a few: Creation is a gift, it is a wonderful gift that God has given us, so that we care for it and we use it for the benefit of all, always with great respect and gratitude”. 

And he urged people to nurture and safeguard Creation as God’s greatest gift to us, because while God always forgives, Creation never forgives and – he warned – if we destroy Creation, in the end it will destroy us!

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops demanded action on climate change. The National Catholic Register called "climate change is the church's No. 1 pro-life issue." Amen.

Blessed Tomorrow sprang up a month ago.

Longwood, FL May 7, 2014 – Today marks the launch of Blessed Tomorrow (http://www.blessedtomorrow.org), a new national interfaith coalition of religious leaders committed to inspiring and engaging people of faith to lead on climate solutions in their congregations, communities and homes. 

Blessed Tomorrow brings together some of the nation’s most preeminent religious leaders from the Evangelical, Muslim, Jewish, Catholic and Protestant faiths who are personally dedicated to leading by example on stewardship within their organizations and engaging their faith communities to respond to climate change.

The list of individual religious leaders and partner organizations associated with Blessed Tomorrow is indeed impressive. This could be the start of a lovely chorus of voices from all over theological spectrum.

Blessed Tomorrow partners have been very active in the fight to protect renewable energy in Ohio and remind the governor of Florida what rising temperatures and sea levels will mean for the state.

Nothing like creationism for the 21st century.

Here is a moral dilemma

About 1 of 6 Americans live in poverty. While the cynics bicker over how to define poverty and how much suffering should be required for sympathy, there is no doubt that too many live without hope. We have pockets of poverty that have spanned generations in every part of the country, from the neighborhoods of Chicago to the hollers of Appalachia to government-controlled tribal lands in the Dakotas.

One could ask why the number living in poverty has been steadily climbing in recent years. The federal government's "war on poverty" has not been won after fifty years of program funding. Of course, that funding is for food, shelter, medical care, and job training. The trouble is corporate "job creators" in America have outsourced living wage jobs to cheaper and cheaper and cheaper labor markets. It is difficult to escape poverty if there are too few ladders of economic opportunity. Pretty simple economics.

Let's be honest with ourselves. Living in poverty, even in a rich nation, takes a toll on your physical, psychological, social, and spiritual well-being. You are subjected to a thousand indignities every week. Despair, substance abuse, broken relationships, and violence are all too common. Hope is in very short supply when millions are born, live, and die in poverty. It is not a life that anyone in their right mind would want for themselves.

Our political leaders have developed a nasty habit of disparaging the poor, calling them free-loaders, takers, frauds, thieves, lazy, stupid, and incompetent. It is the narrative they use to justify slashing government programs for the most vulnerable. The large funding cuts over the past four years will add substantially to the woes of people living in poor communities all across the nation. These same politicians are clamoring for even more draconian cuts and will almost certainly succeed.

So, as followers of Christ, as people of faith, what do we do? How do we respond to injustice piled on injustice? Their wounds are hardly hidden.

There is no shortage of Christian leaders expressing their outrage over issues of genital morality, but few take umbrage at the plight of the poor, sick, old, and disabled. Pope Francis is a rare exception. He has taken up the cause of the poor only to be called a socialist, communist, and Marxist for pointing out the deficiencies in capitalism and dangers of idolizing wealth.

Can people of faith succeed where our government and business leaders have failed to help people escape from poverty? Borrowing from Rabbi Hillel, if not us, then who? If not now, then when?

Dr. Mohler has another cow about same-sex relationships

A pastor of great faith spoke from his heart. His name is Pastor Danny Cortez. He asks for space to have a discussion about something weighing on his heart. He is having second thoughts about telling members of his congregation that they must give up ever falling in love if they are attracted to the same sex. He gives a brilliant sermon.




Pastor Cortez was quickly condemned by Dr. Albert Mohler in the name of the Southern Baptist Convention. Here is a taste.

For some time now, it has been increasingly clear that every congregation in this nation will be forced to declare itself openly on this issue. That moment of decision and public declaration will come to every Christian believer, individually. There will be no place to hide, and no place safe from eventual interrogation. The question will be asked, an invitation will be extended, a matter of policy must be decided, and there will be no refuge. (emphasis added) 

There is no third way on this issue. Several years ago, I made that argument and was assailed by many on the left as being “reductionistically binary.” But, the issue is binary. A church will recognize same-sex relationships, or it will not. A congregation will teach a biblical position on the sinfulness of same-sex acts, or it will affirm same-sex behaviors as morally acceptable. Ministers will perform same-sex ceremonies, or they will not.

Christian leaders like Mohler have always made me question my faith. According to these new age Pharisees, as a follower of Jesus I am to mistreat neighbors, co-workers, and fellow Christians in the LGBT community, and do it in the name of Christ. As a heterosexual, I am encouraged to see myself as morally superior to these "unrepentant sinners" and should miss no opportunity to remind them of Hell's all consuming fires if they do not pray away the gay. The trouble is the Christ I know would have none of that.

I can see Christ in the sermon given by Pastor Cortez. It was filled with love and humility. He was patient in learning the historical context of the Apostle Paul's letters. I was able to see those passages in a completely new light thanks to Pastor Danny. In fact, I was given new appreciation for the genius of Paul in creating a narrative.

Perhaps I am blind, but I do not see Christ in the reproach-filled sermon from seminary president Mohler. Even the language is disturbing. "No place to hide." "... eventual interrogation." "... no refuge." Those images conjure up judgment and punishment, like heretics being rounded up and brought before a tribunal.

My question is this. Do I risk disapproval from the Lord if I seek to emulate Pastor Danny and treat all with love, dignity, and respect? I do not believe so. Frankly, all doubt vanished when I read Mohler's diatribe. If this is a binary issue, count me on Team Danny. If I understand the words and examples of Jesus in the gospel accounts, we are to love others as God has loved us. We are to focus on our own sin, not gathering stones to hurl at others. It is always better to err on the side of loving others too much rather than too little. Our time should be spent lessening the suffering of others rather than adding to their burdens.

Brother Albert from his lofty perch sees fit to pronounce Pastor Danny's congregation guilty of having "rejected the clear teachings of Scripture."

There is nothing but heartbreak in this situation. Here we face a church that has rejected the clear teachings of Scripture, the affirmations of its confession of faith, and two millennia of Christian moral wisdom and teaching. But the Convention also faces a test of its own resolve and convictional courage.

There is something horribly wrong with this picture. I just cannot quite put my finger on it.