I Long for this Kind of Christian Discipleship to Awaken

I have my own disagreements with John McCain, which are rather different than Donald Trump’s quarrels with him. However, I would have to say that Trump’s threatening response to McCain’s foreign policy comments suggests he does not understand the line from Kris Kristofferson’s song Me and Bobby McGee. “Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose.” McCain’s terminal awareness makes him immune to threats to his career or reputation. Trump is powerless to take anything that matters to McCain from him. Thus McCain knows he has “faced tougher adversaries.”

That sort of awareness is why the Roman Empire considered the early (pre-Constantinian) Christians so dangerous. Confident of the resurrection to eternal life in Jesus Christ, they could not be threatened, intimidated, tortured, coerced, or coopted by human power structures. Throughout history, this is why totalitarian regimes and even seemingly benign power structures (economic and social as well as political) are so hostile to such disciples of Jesus. This is why power structures are comfortable with Christendom and its “Christian nation” heirs. They can manage and manipulate diluted religion.

With the turmoil that characterizes the US and the world in our time, I am hearing and seeing a lot of people express yearnings for the security of the cultural landmarks of Christianity or at least religion. I, however, am longing for the awakening of Christian disciples who are so confident in Jesus, the resurrection to eternal life, and the Kingdom (Reign) of God that the principalities and powers will be unable to coerce or coopt us into this world that is passing away.

No Political Hay to be Made from Sexual Misconduct

No one should be making political hay out of the seemingly endless stream of sexual misconduct scandals. Harvey Weinstein and Tim Murphy are recent examples of this coming from the left and the right. Republicans and Democrats are both vulnerable. Religious identification is no protection either. While not limited to power people, I strongly suspect that power and prominence increase the propensity for such behavior. I also suspect that Donald Trump was at least partly right when he said that when you are a star they let you do it. Or at least those who think they are stars want to believe their victims let them do it. All of this is not new. Donald Trump is hardly the first serial adulterer in the White House. Because of my pastoral career, I have seen several unfortunate experiences of serious sexual misconduct by a number of clergy colleagues: some good friends, some prominent and highly respected. Since my “retirement” I have been writing fiction to work through how many of my pastoral experiences and relationships have shaped me. I am currently working on a novel built around the profound impacts of clergy sexual misconduct. Please, please never use these tragic moral failures as political or ecclesiastical weapons. Mourn and be vigilant. Pray diligently for all in positions of leadership: business, political, religious. 

A Modest Proposal for which I Have Almost No Hope

The Las Vegas mass shooting and the Texas Tech student shooting of the campus police officer have reawakened the gun rights and gun control activists hurling invectives at each other. To me the slogans and clichés seem to be ways of avoiding addressing the issues of violence in our society, gun and otherwise. As tragic and evil as mass shootings are, they account for a very small portion of the gun deaths and injuries in this country. Accidents (including children playing with and finding guns), suicide, domestic violence account for far more gun deaths and injuries than mass shootings. Attitudes as well as services for people with mental health needs is essential.  Yes, then there is intentional crime as well. And yes, the violence of our society is not at all limited to guns, though their effective morbidity makes them an understandable focus.

My proposal is that all presuppositions and preconditions be excluded from public dialog about violence and the various means of violence in our society. What we have now can’t even be called a debate. It is more like spoiled, frightened children screaming insults at each other. Can we agree that the violence that comes in so many forms is not healthy for our society and devote ourselves to working together to find effectively ways to reduce it? Though changes in laws and the legal system may be included, I’m talking about a drastic change in our social consensus that makes all such violence unacceptable and treats all implements of violence with extreme respect and caution. Of course, some people won’t comply. Plenty of drivers, businesses, private citizens already operate outside both laws and social norms, but that doesn’t mean we don’t need laws and community consensus for social cohesion. Those who suggest that we can’t or must have total compliance or results before doing anything only prevent us from doing what we can to be better.

One of the huge barriers to this kind of dialog and hard work is our human propensity to locate problems outside of ourselves and put blame on others. The sorts of “we don’t have a gun problem, we have a heart problem” does exactly that. Those who spread such clichés presume that their hearts are ok, and other people have a problem with their hearts.  Similarly, blaming the NRA is a cop out that results in paralysis. I suggest Jesus’ approach of taking the logs out of our own eyes first would go a long way toward addressing this gigantic, lethal stalemate in our society. (Matthew 7:3-5) As long as we refuse to move our positions off dead center until someone else moves, we will be hopelessly trapped in this death spiral.