Do prayers and fasts for peace matter?

The Religion News Service (RNS) covered an international call for prayer and fasting for peace in the Middle East.

(RNS) While the violence escalates in Israel and Gaza, a movement is taking hold that unites Jews, Muslims and others in a campaign for peace.  

On Tuesday (July 15), a daylong fast is planned as part of a public effort to show unity in the fight against war and violence in the region.  

Using the Twitter hashtag #HungryforPeace, the cause started in Israel and gained strength in England, promoted by Yachad, a U.K.-based pro-Israel, pro-peace group. Last weekend, it was announced in temples, mosques and churches in the U.S.

It is always uplifting when I see instances where the children of God come together in mindfulness of the suffering of others. It is something that should be encouraged.

Efforts like #HungryforPeace are often criticized, especially by those antagonistic to religion, as empty gestures. Many of the comments attached to the RNS story express this sentiment. Their reasoning is that a day of prayers and fasting is a complete waste of time. It is not going to stop the violence.

I beg to differ. If you are truly mindful of the suffering on both sides of the conflict, it plants the seed of empathy and understanding. The interfaith component is also essential to create dialog and build trust. The rockets may continue to explode in Gaza and Israel, which we cannot control, but we can set a better example by coming together in hearts and minds. We can also remind the world that bloodshed does not serve God. That requires loving others. And we need to remind ourselves that we are all equal in the eyes of God.

A little fasting and prayer is not the answer to all injustices, but it is at least a start in the right direction.


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Today I Give Thanks (TIGT) for patches of blue among the clouds.

The unholy mixture of politics and Christianity

It should be apparent that politics is a secular endeavor, riddled with lies, corruption, and greed. The United States is no exception to this rule. There is nothing particularly grand about the shenanigans required to get elected, whether that is smearing your opponent or selling your soul for campaign contributions. There is certainly nothing sacred about it.

Make no mistake - the Lord does not care what candidate or political party you vote for. There is no political scorecard in the eyes of God. Anyone who suggests otherwise is not led by the Holy Spirit.

Some Christian leaders cannot resist the temptation to mix the sacred and the profane. They stand in the house of God and preach the inherent goodness of a political ideology and imply that God will treat your vote as an act of faith. Neither are true.

There is a thoughtful piece by Mark Deymaz in the Christian Post about the issue.

And therein lies the problem: the deep animus between American Evangelicals (or more specifically Evangelicals "...for whom American politics and patriotism are the center of Christianity, at least as communicated in public life") and an otherwise secular society. Sadly the hostility is today harming our collective cause, hurting our witness, and hindering Gospel advance which is, after all, the very real purpose and mission of the Church.

Make no mistake, when winning or losing on one issue or another becomes more important than representing Christ well via social media, demonstrating the fruits of the Spirit in civil discourse, or remembering that we have been called to make disciples of all men (Republicans and Democrats, alike), Christ is not honored. 

To be clear I am not at all suggesting that Evangelicals should refrain from political debate, social engagement, or running for office. I am suggesting that such involvement is more a civil right afforded to us as Americans than a biblical one; and that we should understand it as so. In other words political victories should not be publicly construed as spiritual, or necessarily moral, in a non-theocratic republic. The continued blurring of this line is not leading to more people being saved, but less; not to more people being attracted to our message but repelled by it; not to more people coming into the church but avoiding it altogether. 

It is true. When we wallow in the divisive muck of partisan politics, we stop serving Christ. We are privileged to have the freedom to participate in the process but must remain vigilant to separate the sacred and the profane.

There is also a mindset problem when you believe that "American politics and patriotism are the center of Christianity, at least as communicated in public life." Sorry but Christ is not at the heart of American politics and nationalism. If waging political war is central to Christianity, then the body of Christ will wither.

What is particularly unsettling to me is the sight of Christian leaders singing the praises of politicians that promote greed, materialism, war, vengeance, contempt for the poor, and the desecration of God's creation. Those are from Mammon, not God. You cannot reconcile those attitudes and beliefs with the teachings of Christ. In fact, when I see politicians championing greed, violence, and self-centeredness, I refuse to believe they are Christians. When I see pastors and other Christian leaders telling me it is my sacred duty to support politicians that serve the rich and increase the suffering of the poor, I have to fight the urge to throw up.

The comments to this article were telling. Most defended the mixing of politics and Christianity rather than taking the concerns raised by the author to heart. In their mind, Christians are being forced to do something immoral in our society. For example, the Hobby Lobby case is treated as if good Christians like the Green family were being forced to cover contraceptive methods that they considered immoral. The Greens were not forced to use these forms of contraception; neither were their employees. Imagine if the Greens had raised their concerns about these contraceptives and encouraged their employees not to take them even though they are legal in our secular society rather than fighting a multi-million dollar legal campaign to exempt themselves from the law.

Paraphrasing Deymaz, political victories are not spiritual or even moral victories. We have the luxury to participate fully in our society's political process as Christians. Christ, not political ideology, should be the focus of our concern. When politics become divisive to the body of Christ, then it is time to throw out the politics. Think of it as divorce from unholy matrimony.

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Today I Give Thanks for a reminder of the past uncovered deep from beneath the street. A lot of time and energy went into crafting that old brick storm drain.

As the bloodbath in the Middle East continues

...Some children of God are finding ways to build interfaith trust. The Religion News Service has an excellent example.

Muslim-Jewish iftars are popping up across the nation, bringing together dozens and sometimes hundreds of people for a celebratory Ramadan meal and a chance to forge interfaith friendships. 

This Ramadan, as Jews and Muslims exchange rocket fire in Israel and Gaza, those attending these meals say they are all the more significant, as a way of demonstrating that Jews and Muslims have much in common, and can enjoy each others’ food and company.

They are mindful of the violence and offer prayers for peace and resolution. This is how the children of God should relate to one another.

“Yes, we are in another awful flare-up of violence and both of our communities are suffering. That will be acknowledged at the iftar.” 

- - Rabbi Sarah Bassin

“We will try to figure out how we can deal with the tragedy overseas and move forward. That’s the whole point. There will probably be a lot of prayer.” 

- - Husna Ghani, Council of Muslim Organizations of Greater Chicago 

I cannot help but pray for more examples like this one. 

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Today I Give Thanks (TIGT) for real watermelon candy . . . 

Dear Middle East Leaders

Blessed are the peacemakers . . .
. . . for they shall be called the children of God.


To the leaders of Israel and Palestine:

Cut the crap.

Thanks!

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Just so everyone is on the same page, a few weeks back some wretched human beings kidnapped and murdered three Israeli Jewish teens. A Palestinian teen was then set on fire in retaliation. Before long, both sides are shooting rockets at one another. The spiral of violence is quick. Behold the power of a few truly wicked people in inciting bloodshed.

If you are truly a person of faith, you might want to pay close attention.  Here are the families of the teens killed at the start of this bloodletting in the Middle East.

The families of murdered Israeli teen Naftali Fraenkel and murdered Palestinian teen Mohammed Abu Khdeir are drawing comfort from an unexpected source: each other.

Parents struggling with grief because of senseless acts of violence reach out in strength and grace to one another. This is what it means to remember that we are all the children of God.

Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat took to Facebook on Sunday to write about an “emotional and special telephone conversation between two families that have lost their sons.” He said that during his visit to the Fraenkel family home, he had a chance to speak to Hussein Abu Khdeir, Mohammed’s father, and express pain at the “barbaric” murder of his son.
Barkat then suggested that Abu Khdeir speak to Yishai Fraenkel, the uncle of Naftali Fraenkel who recently told the press that “the life of an Arab is equally precious to that of a Jew. Blood is blood, and murder is murder, whether that murder is Jewish or Arab.” The two men took Barkat’s advice and comforted one another by telephone. 

In a separate visit organized by Rabbi Rafi Ostroff, chair of the religious council of Gush Etzion, Palestinians from the Hebron area showed up at the door of the Fraenkel family, looking to comfort the bereaved. 

Asked why they had come, one Palestinian said, “Things will only get better when we learn to cope with each other’s pain and stop getting angry at each other. Our task is to give strength to the family and also to take a step toward my nation’s liberation. We believe that the way to our liberation is through the hearts of Jews.”

When I see empathy like this, I believe God smiles proudly. When I see bloodthirsty political leaders, I believe God is nowhere to be found. They are not killing for God. No, they are killing to satisfy their political followers and benefactors. Smells like sulfur and evil to me.


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Today I Give Thanks (TIGT) for crosses in unexpected places.

Pockets of poverty grow larger in United States

My dear friends, don’t let public opinion influence how you live out our glorious, Christ-originated faith. If a man enters your church wearing an expensive suit, and a street person wearing rags comes in right after him, and you say to the man in the suit, “Sit here, sir; this is the best seat in the house!” and either ignore the street person or say, “Better sit here in the back row,” haven’t you segregated God’s children and proved that you are judges who can’t be trusted?

James 2:1-4 (The Message)

There is disturbing new data on poverty from the U.S. Census Bureau. These analyses compared poverty statistics between the years 2000 and 2010. Among the key findings is that poverty has become more concentrated in areas where at least 20% of residents live below the income threshold used by the federal government.

In 2010, approximately 14.9 percent of the total U.S. population lived in poverty. However, poverty is not distributed evenly across neighborhoods. There are neighborhoods in every state that have higher than average poverty rates. The U.S. Census Bureau designates any census tract with a poverty rate of 20.0 percent or more as a “poverty area.” In 2010, more than 77 million people lived in poverty areas.

Between 1990 and 2000, the percentage of people living in poverty areas fell from 20.0 percent to 18.1 percent. This trend was reversed in the past decade. Between 2000 and 2010, the percentage of people living in poverty areas grew from 18.1 percent to 25.7 percent. While the overall population grew by 10 percent over the decade, the number of people living in poverty areas grew by about 56 percent.

As noted by Danielle Kurtzleben, the increased concentration of poverty in particular areas is associated with other social, health, and economic problems, all of which make it more difficult for people to ever escape poverty.

All of this matters because living near poverty can carry with it some major problems, Higher crime rates, for example, are associated with higher-poverty areas, as are worse housing conditions, worse public schools and worse health. In addition, economic segregation is correlated with lower economic mobility. If America's poorest are growing more and more concentrated, that could mean lower mobility (though importantly, these associations aren't causal), further entrenching these sorts of economic problems.

People living in pockets of poverty has become particularly prominent in the southern tier of states. As shown in this graphic from the Census Bureau, states in dark blue have the largest concentrations of people living in poverty.

As a follower of Christ, I find these numbers profoundly disturbing in relation to the narrative coming out of many of our Christian leaders. They take to social media and the airwaves to bleat about genital morality, but these same "leaders" are too often silent about the injustices that plague our society. From Genesis to Revelation, there are more than 2000 verses that speak to our obligation as people of faith to lift the burdens of the poor. They trumpet the absolute letter of the law when it comes to matters of sexuality but remain silent on the pain and suffering of the most vulnerable in our society. That smells like a whitewashed tomb to me.

Seeing people suffer fills me with impotent rage when all I can do is offer token gestures. It brings me to prayer, begging for better tools. It is in these times that I feel the presence of the Lord. But it raises a question. It seems to me that if people of faith really care about the poor, then I cannot fathom why so little has been done to create more and better "ladders of opportunity" for those living in resource poor communities. If all the great culture warriors stopped talking about genitals for even a year and started agitating for meaningful solutions, the body of Christ might accomplish something useful to the point of miraculous. Instead we debate religious liberty for corporate executives all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Face-palm. Head-wall. Seriously?

The narrative in this country surrounding poverty is bullshit. Since poverty has not been eradicated in the past fifty years, our political leaders have pronounced the federal "War on Poverty" a failure and  begun slashing the safety net. There was nothing in those federal programs designed to create living wage jobs. That was the responsibility of our corporate leaders who decided to export jobs to cheaper labor markets oversees instead. The War on Poverty was destined to fail unless people could find jobs that lift them out of poverty. D'oh. Me thinks our political leaders fail basic integrity, most especially when they sport their cross lapel pin on the campaign trail.

Government, "closely held" corporations, and non-profits have simply not done a credible job of creating adequate "ladders of opportunity" for the poor. The statistics are there for everyone to see. Given this remarkable cluster of failure, there is an extraordinary need for people of faith to put our heads and hearts together. We need a new paradigm. Instead I have Christian leaders telling me to mistreat my neighbors, co-workers, and fellow congregants if they are involved in same-sex intimate relationships. There is something wrong with this picture.

I always thought "thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" included lifting people out of poverty. We live in an ethically bankrupt political and corporate culture. All they care about is power and wealth so it should come as no surprise that pockets of poverty continue to grow. If the Lord's will be done, then people of faith will have to play a large role. That seems strangely fundamental to me.

Today I Give Thanks (TIGT) for threatening skies that did no harm.

The sin of exploiting the Earth

Pope Francis:

"This is one of the greatest challenges of our time: to convert ourselves to a type of development that knows how to respect creation." 

"When I look at America, also my own homeland (South America), so many forests, all cut, that have become land ... that can no longer give life. This is our sin, exploiting the Earth and not allowing her to her give us what she has within her." 

 I know he speaks truth.

Three of my grandparents came from the coalfields of Kentucky and Virginia. I have hillbilly roots. My kin were active participants in the Hatfield-McCoy dustup. And I love Appalachia. Went to college there. Hiked it. Fought forest fires in it. And it just so happens Appalachia is the perfect set piece for the words of Papa Francis.

To get at a thin vein of coal near the surface of mountaintops, coal companies have destroyed 1.5 million acres of forest, much of it old growth, and dumped rock and other mining debris into 2000 miles of streams and rivers. This lovely practice is known as mountaintop removal mining. Large expanses of an incredibly diverse ecosystem are being dynamited and 'dozered' so a few coal company executives and shareholders can make a quick buck.



Mountaintop removal is back in the news thanks to a new study that shows how the mining process is destroying fish stocks in the region. Here is coverage from the Charleston Gazette:

Appalachian streams affected by mountaintop removal coal mining can have fewer than half as many fish species and a third as many total fish as other regional waterways, according to a new study published this week by researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey. 

Using data from several time periods to track changes in fish diversity and abundance in West Virginia’s Guyandotte River basin, USGS experts observed persistent effects of mountaintop removal associated with water quality degradation and found no evidence that fish communities recovered over time. 

“The Appalachian mountains are a global hotspot for freshwater fish diversity,” said Nathanial Hitt, a USGS research fish biologist and lead author of the study. “Our paper provides some of the first peer-reviewed research to understand how fish communities respond to mountaintop mining in these biologically diverse headwater streams.”

This is corporate sin. This is profit-at-all-costs mentality. It is sacrilege.

But, but, but the coal companies promise to kind of, sort of, restore the land to original contours and reforest. Thou shalt not bear false witness. Standard operating procedure in the coal industry is to declare bankruptcy when a mine is no longer profitable. That is why we have hundreds of thousands of abandoned mining sites all over the country. (Note to frog - scorpions always sting. It is in their nature.) Soon there will be a toxic industrial wasteland covered with a thin layer of soil that cannot support tree root formation. It will be an inglorious monument to greed.

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Today I Give Thanks (TIGT) for this miniature schnauzer, even when he steals low-hanging raspberries:

Destroying the Christ brand

Christian leaders that champion greed, war, and contempt for God's creation damage the Christ brand.  They are encouraging followers of Jesus to join a culture that glorifies materialism, violence, and self-centeredness. We are being told to strip off our robes of spiritual purity and wallow in the mire.

Professed Christians are encouraged to worship at the alter of Mammon. If your concern is with what you have rather than what others do not have, can you legitimately claim to follow Christ? That does not sound particularly born again in the Lord to me. Matthew 25 spells it out in pretty simple terms. You run the risk of being counted among the goats if you neglect the poor, sick, old, and disabled.

I have to come to dislike sharing my faith because I feel like I have to apologize for the actions of my fellow Christians. I have to explain that I believe we are all equal and loved in God's eyes. Growing up, I was taught that I was morally superior because I was male, white, heterosexual, and Christian. I later learned that none of that was true. Not one word. Remind me again who is the father of all lies?

I have to apologize for their obsession with what other people do with their genitals. Paraphrasing Jesus, control your own impulses rather than fret over the impulses of others. It seems like sage advice.

I refuse to mistreat a neighbor, co-worker, or member of my congregation because they are in same-sex relationships. It is a lousy testament to the whole Love Your Neighbor as Yourself thing. Strange how many Christian leaders that demand that I throw rocks at members of the LGBT community are found to have committed sexual sins or covered up sexual abuse by other clergy. I am sure that is merely a coincidence. Only when it happens with regularity do we call it a trend.

I question the sincerity of those that profess to be pro-life when they also oppose contraception. I am not alone.

To be clear: None of the contraceptive methods employers are required to cover under the Affordable Care Act cause abortion, including the specific types of contraception to which Hobby Lobby objects. Instead, these contraceptive methods work by preventing pregnancy (fertilization) from occurring in the first place. For instance, the intrauterine device works primarily by preventing fertilization. Plan B (or the progestin-containing, morning-after pill), along with Ella (ulipristal acetate), delay the release of a woman’s egg from her ovary. The egg does not get fertilized, which means the woman does not become pregnant. 

In fact, long-acting contraceptive methods, such as IUDs and implants, are the most effective forms of contraception for preventing unintended pregnancies. And preventing unintended pregnancy is key for those who identify as pro-life, because almost half of all unintended pregnancies end in abortion.

The whole "blurred lines" thing between religion and limited liability corporations is nauseating. Jonathan Merritt nails it:

“The New Testament never—not one time—applies the ‘Christian’ label to a business or even a government,” he writes. “The tag is applied only to individuals. If the Bible is your ultimate guide, the only organization one might rightly term ‘Christian’ is a church. And this is only because a church in the New Testament is not a building or a business, but a collection of Christian individuals who have repented, believed on Christ, and are pursuing a life of holiness.”

If for-profit corporations have religious rights, can we stone them for their sins? Shouldn't they at least be held to same standards as religious congregations if they are equal to churches?

I have no explanation for their lack of concern for the suffering of others. They are overflowing with concern for the unborn, but cannot seem to muster the same enthusiasm for the already born.

Once upon a time, evangelists appeared on television to proclaim God's love and condemn the evils of communism. Now many praise the virtues of capitalism as if it were somehow immune to sin. This evolution is remarkably unsettling.

What do we call ourselves when the Christ brand takes a hit? More often than not these days, I prefer Jesus Freak. 

Today I Give Thanks (TIGT) for black raspberry season.

On Independence Day

Today is one those days we are supposed to chant "USA! USA! USA!". Fire up the grill, gorge on tubed, ground and slabbed meat, and take in some local fireworks. You know the drill. This year, I find myself left with too many questions about state of our nation.

A bunch of states want a new confederacy. If they had their wish, the union would be dissolved in favor of a confederacy of independent states that come together to promote commerce. The Tea Party movement is filled with state's rights fanatics. Why should I salute a flag that so many Americans say symbolizes nothing more than a marriage of convenience?

As a nation, we celebrate greed and materialism. We cheer violence and vengeance. Our political and business leaders ridicule the poor, sick without insurance, old without a fat pension, and disabled as unworthy of taxpayer support. Look at the hatred on the faces of these Americans for those fleeing violence and corruption in Central America. As a follower of Christ, all of this turns my stomach. Why should I cheer an ethically bankrupt culture?

Adding to my ambivalence is the remarkable number of Christian leaders that serve as apologists for our materialistic, militaristic, and narcissistic culture. Here are some praying over the "invisible hand of the free market." Here are some praying for war. Here are pastors passing out guns. Here are some praying for the desecration of God's creation. Pretending fossil fuels help the poor and honor God is one of the most utterly repulsive instances of blasphemy I have ever seen. And, of course, these same leaders demand control over other people's genitals and the right to stone offenders.

I doubt the sincerity of the head of Southern Baptist ethics when he says things like this:

I think that we must be cultural warriors, if what we mean by culture warriors is an engagement with the outside culture about what we believe and why that's important. I think we must be Christshaped culture warriors, meaning that we don't back down on the issues. We speak with truth. But we speak with a truth that is consistent with the mission that we have to see people reconciled to God. So I believe that the sort of cowardice that would not apply the Gospel to issues that are destroying people and destroying families and destroying communities is not consistent with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

If he is really fighting for Christ then why is he standing with worshippers of Mammon, war, and Almighty Self? He is slick. I will give him that. His cultural indignation is only tweaked when it involves homosexuality, contraception, and abortion. He is pleased as punch to bask in our culture's love for money, guns, and social darwinism. He was giddy when for-profit corporations were granted religious rights. He and others like him preach too much self-centered salvation for my tastes.

I thought Jesus called us to help repair the world, bring about something closer to thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Every time I hear America referred to as a "Christian nation," I cringe and feel like throwing up. Jesus spent his ministry going among the poor, sick, and spiritually broken. His disciplines were taught to share the good news of God's enduring love, grace, and mercy. This same Jesus upbraided the rich and condemned the hypocrisy of religious leaders. He even warned future shepherds not to lead his flock astray or pray they were never born when forced to account for their actions.

This Independence Day I find myself wondering if indeed our best days are behind us as a nation. There is nothing exceptional about a nation that continues to disenfranchise voters and allow the rich to buy elections. At least it  spares me of idolatry when it comes to patriotism.

So today I will eat too much and give thanks for the blessings we do have as a nation. At the end of the day, what gives my life meaning is that rebellious Jew from Nazareth named Jesus.

Today I Give Thanks (TIGT) for the first crop of tomatoes and herbs from the garden. These gifts are about to become a smoked and slow roasted sauce. Very tasty over our daily bread.