The Day Christ Died

James Tabor is author of The Jesus Dynasty and one of the chief proponents of the idea that the tomb of the family of Jesus may have been found: the Talpiot Tomb. Here is his blog post for Holy Thursday:

The subject heading is the title of a most famous book by Jim Bishop, The Day Christ Died, published in 1957 by Harper Collins with an official Imprimatur by the famous Archbishop of New York Francis Cardinal Spellman–guaranteeing it “free of doctrinal or moral error.” The book is still available in reprint editions. I highly recommend it for a kind of retrospective history reading. I remember devouring this book when it came out. I was eleven years old. It captivated me utterly, I could not put it down.

Fifty years later I write this post on a Thursday night, on the eve of “Good Friday,” that happens this year to also be the night of Purim as well as the Vernal Equinox–a kind of triple package of markers and observances. Today is Thursday. I have been absolutely convinced for several years now, as I explain in my book, The Jesus Dynasty, that Jesus died on Nisan 14th, which in the year A.D. 30, fell on a Thursday not a Friday. So this is indeed, the “day Christ died.” He was put in the temporary rock hewn tomb just before sunset, and Friday, the following day, was the first day of Passover. This means the Passover meal or Seder was eaten that Thursday night, just as the Gospel of John records (John 13:1; 18:28). The next day, Friday, was indeed a “Sabbath,” but not Saturday, the weekly Sabbath, but rather one of the seven “annual” Sabbaths of the Jewish festival cycle (see Leviticus 23:7). This means there were two Sabbaths, back to back, Friday and Saturday, that year. Sunday morning, when Mary Magdalene went early to the tomb and found it empty, it was indeed “three days and three nights” that Jesus had laid in that tomb (Thurs, Friday, Saturday nights), which comports with the tradition that Matthew has received (Matthew 12:40). Surely a million Sunday schools kids over the years have asked, not to mention adults, how can you get three nights, from Friday to Sunday morning. It simply will not work.

Modern astronomical programs completely confirm this chronology of the Spring of A.D. 30. I have had quite a few dozens of readers write me to point out that the Jewish calendar never allows the 14th of Nisan to fall on a Thursday. But this adjustment in the calendar, based on what are called “postponements,” was not instituted until well into the 2nd century. In the time of Jesus the month of Nisan was set by the new moon, and that particular year, A.D. 30, the 14th day of the first month (14 days after the new moon) fell on a Thursday. The “last supper,” that Jesus ate with his disciples the night before, a Wednesday evening, was not the Passover Seder, but a messianic banquet or Eucharist of “bread and wine,” such as mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Didache. One way of putting it is that Jesus did not eat the Passover, he was the Passover, at least as understood by the Gospel of John and by Paul (1 Corinthians 5:7). According to Josephus it was between 3pm and sundown the Passover sacrifices were made, just as the 14th of Nisan ended and the 15th, an annual Sabbath, began. Christians subsequently saw great symbolism in this chronology.

Tabor is one of those rare progressive biblical scholars who thinks there is a fair amount of historical accuracy to be found in the details of the gospel stories, including the Gospel of John, and he puts it all together in a readable and fascinating way in his book. This post is a good example; he thinks the Gospel of John has the right chronology on Jesus' last supper. The last supper wasn't a Passover meal, which, Tabor says, would have been celebrated by Jesus with his extended family and disciples. The last supper was in essence a strategy meal (from his book) with the disciples to lay out his plans for the next day, and to say goodbye.

Jesus was killed on Thursday and buried in a temporary tomb by Thursday night. The women, who had watched the crucifixion from a distance also followed to see where he was buried. Mary Magdalene went on Sunday morning after the Sabbath to find the tomb and the tomb was empty. And the rest was history.

Or faith. Reading Tabor is like reading a good historic novel. Plenty of well-researched historic details and lots of imaginative speculation filling in the unknown gaps. But in his defense, every biblical scholar does the same. There is much that we don't know about the details and chronology of Jesus' life and death.

Tabor, by the way, is in Jerusalem participating in an archeological dig.

Good Friday Storm

The view out the back window this morning. With mid-40's forecast for next week it will all be gone in a few days.

Shoe-Polishing Bishops

A different take on foot-washing:

The Bishops of Birmingham and Leicester and the Dean of Peterborough are among senior clergy preparing to roll up their sleeves and cassocks today to clean and polish the shoes of dozens of office workers in towns and cities across the country.

The church figures are getting ready to buff the footwear of passers-by in a symbolic act echoing Jesus’ washing of his disciples’ feet on the night of the Last Supper, before his trial and crucifixion which are commemorated on Good Friday.

The Bishop of Birmingham, the Rt Rev David Urquhart, said: “The shoe shine is just a small demonstration that people who follow Jesus are prepared to roll up their sleeves and serve their communities.

Asking Jesus into Your Heart

Among evangelicals, it's a frequently used summary of what is required to become Christian. And it's completely un-biblical. So says a conservative Biblical scholar:

How did language that is not biblical become the most important language for doing evangelism? Jesus never even comes close to saying, "Invite me into your heart so you can go to heaven." Nor does the rest of the New Testament. (Concerning the misguided focus on going to heaven, see my blog for March 17.) If people really knew what it meant for Christ to take over the controlling center of their being, that would be one thing, but they do not. Jesus does not seek people to make a decision, but people who become disciples, who follow him, and who are attached to him.

If we think we can retreat to Paul, we are in for a surprise. Paul rarely speaks of Christ in us—at most six times, but at least 164 times he has the Greek expression en Christō* or its equivalent, which can express a variety of ideas. Clearly though, being in Christ is a much more powerful image than Christ being in us. Faith is not merely a mental activity. As Sanday and Headlam’s old ICC commentary on Romans put it, faith involves "enthusiastic adhesion" (p. 34). Faith is that which attaches you to Jesus. Nothing less is saving faith.

John’s language focuses too on attachment to Jesus. While he speaks both of Christ being in us and our being in him, he expresses both ideas with the word menein, "to remain." Christians are people so attached to Jesus that he remains in them and they remain in him.

Interestingly, nearly all the 263 occurrences of the noun mathētēs, the word for "disciple" are in the Gospels and Acts. The same is true for the verb akolouthein ("to follow") and its cognates. How do we make sure that the focus on following, being attached to Jesus, is not lost when we turn to speak also of the risen Lord? Asking Jesus into your heart does not cut it.

The other obvious thing about discipleship that should be said, especially from Luke 9:57-62 and 14:15-33, is that the biggest obstacles for discipleship—and the biggest opportunities—are our family and our money. Ouch!

Take up the cross, follow after, be a disciple. It isn't about asking Jesus into your heart or about correct belief but about practice, practice, practice.

Spring

It is the first day of Spring. It's a beautiful spring day in Minnesota - for Minnesota. But we are under a winter storm watch for tonight with heavy wet snow possible.

Maundy Thursday

From the Gospel of John:

Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. ²The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper ³Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, ⁴got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. ⁵Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. ⁶He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” ⁷Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” ⁸Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” ⁹Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” ¹⁰Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” ¹¹For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.” ¹²After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? ¹³You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. ¹⁴So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. ¹⁶Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. ¹⁷If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

"Before the festival of the Passover." In the Gospel of John the Last Supper is not a Passover meal.

5 Years in Iraq

With no end in sight. Nearly 4000 American troops lost. More than 150,000 Iraqis lost. Depending on who is counting between 1 and 4 trillion dollars will be added to the national debt before it is all over. Still no political reconciliation in sight.

There have been two major wars in my lifetime: Vietnam and Iraq. Both wars were launched and justified based on deceit by Presidents and cowardice on behalf of a Congress afraid to exercise its Constitutional duties. Both divided the nation and left us weaker at home and in the world.

Can it be too much to ask that we say we will never again allow a President to launch an unprovoked war?

Obama's Speech

I thought it was excellent. (Transcript here) It didn't have the awesome oratory of his campaign speeches, but it shouldn't have either. He addressed the controversy of his former pastor's incendiary statements by putting those comments in the context of the history of racism in American and the way it has bred resentment and despair for both blacks and whites. And most importantly he didn't distance himself from the man who performed his wedding and baptized his children and with whom he has had a 20 year relationship.

I have read criticism already (here) about his likening his pastor to his white grandmother, who occasionally made racist comments. Both of them, Obama said, were family. The criticism I have read and heard is that it's a bad analogy; he could leave his church; the pastor is not blood. This criticism misses the point. First, of all, he could leave his family if he wanted. People do it; it doesn't mean you stop being related but you can certainly stop having contact. In neither case could Obama dream of doing that. Why? The statements are expressions of fear and pain; this doesn't excuse them; they are still wrong. But they are windows into a wounded soul. But they are also a tiny slice of a whole person whose life and legacy is much more and much better than those few statements.

Will his speech put an end to the character assassinations of his pastor, and through guilt by association Obama? Even Obama had to say that he didn't know the answer to that. If the electorate wants to follow the right-wing noise machine down this rat-hole then we will see an endless stream of these quips popping up and this is what the talking-heads on CNN, et al., will keep talking about. And Obama's campaign will be lost. But more importantly, so will the opportunity to turn a page from the politics of personal assassination so we can address real issues.

I will happily vote for Hillary if she is the nominee; she could make a good President. But Obama has an opportunity to be a transformational President.

It Must Be True

Fred Plummer is the president of The Center for Progressive Christianity (TCPC.org). Open Circle is a member church. Fred has his Easter sermon online. He tells the story of a minister colleague who reasoned that the resurrection of Jesus must be true because the church wouldn't have survived 2000 years if it wasn't. Fred says:

But it seems to me that if we use the same test for a truth in religion we have a bit of a problem. For there are at least five or six major religions active in the world today like, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Taoism, and Shintoism, that are older than Christianity. Are they therefore "more true" according to my friend's test of truth I wondered? I realized that the followers of those ancient traditions probably do not think too highly of the traditional Christian idea that Christ is the one and only way.

If you grow up in Christian-dominated culture - as I did in rural Pennsylvania - where you never have contact with any other religions, there is virtually no reason to even give a second thought to the ultimate truth claims of Christianity. They must be true. Its all you know. And it's ancient.

It's difficult to imagine that there are people growing up in other parts of the world who think the same way about their faith tradition, and some of those faith traditions are far older than Christianity. They must be true too. Right?

There is more than one way up the mountain.

Trouble in Tibet

The crackdown continues in Tibet. The New York Times gives some background today on the long-simmering dispute:

But to many Tibetans and their sympathizers, the weeklong uprising against Chinese rule in Lhasa reflects years of simmering resentment over Beijing’s interference in Buddhist religious rites, its tightened political control and the destruction of the environment across the Himalayan territory the Tibetans consider sacred. If there is a surprise, it may be that Beijing has managed to keep things stable for so long.

Since the last big anti-Chinese riots in Tibet two decades ago, Beijing has sought to smother Tibetan separatism by sparking economic development and by inserting itself into the metaphysics of Tibetan Buddhism. But an influx of Han Chinese to Tibet, and a growing sense among Tibetans that China is irreparably altering their way of life, produced a backlash when Communist Party leaders most needed stability there, analysts say...

The Communist Party, atheistic by doctrine, has insisted that it has the sole authority to approve incarnations — the divine process by which a “living Buddha” is chosen in boyhood. Beijing had already selected a boy as its own Panchen Lama, the second ranking figure in Tibetan Buddhism, and reportedly jailed a boy chosen by the Dalai Lama.

Last November, the Dalai Lama countered with his own surprise. He proposed that instead of waiting for senior religious figures to search out his incarnation following his death, he might choose his own reincarnation — a possibility that has enraged Beijing. The Dalai Lama proposed a referendum among Tibetan Buddhists on whether to change the current reincarnation practice, in a way that could allow him influence in picking his own successor.

Meanwhile, Beijing has steadily been taking a tougher line on religious practices and cultural expressions of Tibetan pride. In November 2005, Zhang Qingli was appointed Communist Party secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Region. Mr. Zhang came from the Communist Youth League organization, part of the political stronghold of Mr. Hu. Mr. Zhang has made no attempt to disguise his paternal attitude toward his charges.

“The Communist Party is like the parent to the Tibetan people, and it is always considerate about what the children need,” Mr. Zhang said last year. He later added: “The Central Party Committee is the real Buddha for Tibetans.”

One can imagine how it would be received in this country if an American president said that the American government was the real Jesus for Christians.

Spring Cleaning & Spiritual Health Month

People in the Simplicity Circle at Liberalchurch discussed dealing with these issues and how this process of cleaning is quite difficult for many of us. I'm at the top of the list! (Just ask my spouse.) I think this meditation will be helpful for me. I thought I would share it on the blog in case it might be helpful for others.

Meditation: Get that 'Spring Cleaning' Feeling
By Rev. Laurie Sue Brockway


"Spring cleaning" is as much a metaphor for spiritual life as it is an annual chore-ridden project. In this meditation, clearing out, cleaning up, and deeply cleansing are seen through spiritual eyes, as ways to welcome space, light, and energy into your life and home.


Transcript


Breathe in a fresh breath of spring.
Exhale old, stale energy.

Breathe in clarity.
Exhale mental clutter.

Breathe in calm.
Exhale emotional disarray.

Breathe in new possibilities.
Exhale that which stands in the way of true love.
As your lungs fill with fresh air,
and you exhale tensions and stress,
feel yourself coming into a state of relaxation
where your heart, mind and soul are aligned.

From this place, there is no conflict or worry.

And you know that letting go of things you are attached to
is sometimes the best thing you can do
to free your heart for love...
And clear your space for a new relationship.
It is time to recognize that you hold the key to transforming your love life...

It could be the same key that opens your front door.

Now, see yourself at the door to your home.

Step in...it is filled with sunshine and brightness...and a sense of hope.

Feel your heart and spirit is lift as your walk through the door.

There is a special pair of glasses waiting for you, and when you put them on you can see clearly through your spiritual eyes.

Use those glasses to know what items
in your home and life
support your journey toward love...
and which are holding you back in history.

Recognizing these items is the first step
to clearing stale, or negative, relationship energy from your space.

Now breathe in the sunshine and fresh air...as you scan the room...and allow your spiritual eyes to focus on an item that is calling for your attention.
As you identify it, ask yourself:

What does this item mean to me?
How does it make me feel when I look at it?
Is it holding me inappropriately to my past?
If the answer is yes, step up to the item or hold it in you hand and:

Thank it.
Bless it.
Prepare yourself to let it go.

There is a beautiful, big box in the center of the room. It's surrounded by a halo of yellow sunshine.

The inside is lined with healing, welcoming green color.

It has a beautiful pink lid that represents the heart.

It is a special box for items you like and love...but know you must release.

When you are ready, take the item, big or small, and place in the box. It is large enough and expands as needed.

How do you feel once you have let it go?


Liberated and free?
Sad but relieved?
Or Remorseful?
If you feel remorseful, it could be you are not ready to let it go. It is okay to put it back in its place.

But if you are ready, walk over to the box, close the big lid, and as you do...feel a fresh breath of spring rushing all around you. Cleansing you and setting you free.

Feel the warmth of the sun streaming in from the open window.

Congratulate yourself for your willingness to move on. Take a deep breath, and let it out with sigh with relief.




Do this exercise over and over again, with any items in your home that call to you for your attention.

They each have stories to tell about your life...and carry energy that may not be right for the new love life you've chosen.

You can invite in a fresh breath of spring to help you along...any time of year.

Spitzer Woes

Eliot Spitzer being caught with a female prostitute is like Ted Haggard being caught with a gay prostitute. They are not to be faulted for their human frailty, but their rank hypocrisy. Hopefully Spitzer can repair things with his family, but his political life is probably over.

Prayer for Today

Discourse on Lovingkindness


Let your love flow outward through the universe,
To its height, its depth, its broad extent,
A limitless love, without hatred or enmity.
Then as you stand or walk,
Sit or lie down,
As long as you are awake,
Strive for this with a one-pointed mind;
Your life will bring heaven to earth.


- The Buddha

Buddhist; appropriate for many faiths
source: Sutta Nipata as posted on the Beliefnet's Prayer for Today.

GM vs. Toyota

General Motors, once the world's largest seller of vehicles by a long-shot, has been losing market share to foreign car makers for years and will likely soon slip into second place behind Toyota. Today's business section in the Star Tribune provides us with a piece of evidence about why this is happening. The Strib talked to representatives of the big five automakers who are in town for the Greater St. Paul & Minneapolis International Auto Show. Here is how the GM and a Toyota representatives answered the question about the future of ethanol":

Given the food vs. fuel debate, are E85 and biodiesel ideas who've time have come and gone? Or do federal mandates pave the way for a long ethanol future, but as a 10 percent blend at the pump, not E85?

GM: We do not think so and maintain our commitment to E85. We believe E85 still has a big large role to play. The new Renewable Fuel Standard (36 million gallons of ethanol produced in the United States annually by 2022) will require use of greater concentrations of ethanol than just E10. The food vs. fuel debate is a bit of a red herring. Some animal feeds have gone up in price in part due to rising prices for corn. But there is ample corn to feed people and make fuel. Growing demand for food in nations like India and China have a big role in the demand for food and short harvests in other nations (i.e. Australia and New Zealand) have as much or more to do with the issue as corn-based ethanol. Also, as previously mentioned, the real potential lies with cellulosic ethanol.

TOYOTA: There is a place for ethanol, but many, many challenges ahead. More important than food vs fuel is the issue of water availability challenges.

GM is betting the farm on a technology that is widely recognized as bad for the environment, not to mention reeking havoc on global food prices. Toyota is not. Who do you think will be better positioned for the future?

Two Men and a Computer

That is what we call the Taxpayers League of Minnesota, the anti-tax group that generates lots of publicity about the evils of taxation in MN, but has only a couple of names attached to its endless stream of press releases and its website.

I mention them because in Neal St. Anthony's column in today's Star Tribune, he comments on the fact that the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, which recently backed the first gas tax increase in 20 years in the state, has taken little flack from its members for its sensible stance that it is time to put an end to the traffic gridlock that is hurting Minnesota businesses. How many resignations did the chamber receive? St. Anthony tells us:

Mike Wigley, the founder of the decade-old Taxpayers League of Minnesota, a vocal anti-tax lobby, this week encouraged like-minded folks to drop their chamber memberships in retaliation for the organization's helping write legislation that includes a 5-cent-per-gallon gas tax hike by the end of this year and 8.5 cents by 2013.

Chamber CEO David Olson said that he's aware of two cancellations from the 2,400-member group.

Two men with their computer.

Thinking Spring

About yesterday I began to think it was time for spring to arrive. Maybe it was being in Los Angeles for a couple of days last week. Or maybe it's just March and since the days are getting longer it seems like it ought to be getting warmer but instead we are getting snow and colder weather this week. I am beginning to think about gardening and grilling but the weather isn't cooperating.

Even though we are still white and frozen here, there are signs of spring. In my backyard the House Finches and Mourning Doves have arrived from their winter habitat and are visiting the feeders. When I get the paper in the mornings male Cardinals and Chicadees are singing their mating songs. I have seen a couple of Robins.

And then there is this opossum. Since the middle of January he, or she, has been a regular visiter at our feeders. Isn't he pretty? Not very, but he is fascinating to watch and it is pretty unusual to see one of these normally nocturnal marcupials on a regular basis during the daylight. He obviously must be hungry.

It won't be long before it is warm and green. But there is wonder and beauty to be seen and heard right now. If we have eyes to see and ears to hear.

Please Make a Phone Call Today!!

Today, you can build on the legacy of the late Senator Paul Wellstone (and his family).

Please call your U.S. Representative today and ask them to support the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act.

Why is the Wellstone Act important? Because this bill will end discrimination against people with mental illness and addiction by prohibiting insurers from putting different limits or financial requirements on treatment for mental health and substance abuse than other medical benefits. Simply put, it makes sure that people are treated equally.

The bipartisan Wellstone Act is coming up for a vote today and we need your help. Please call your U.S. Representative and urge them to support the Paul Wellstone Mental Health Act.

(Note: This is a paraphrased e-mail from the Chair of the MN DFL Party sent out today. If you don't have information on how to reach your U.S. Representative, I will look up the toll free switchboard number at the U.S. Capitol, add it as a comment to this post.)

It's Primary Day in Ohio. Who would Alex P. Keaton Vote For?

One family at Liberalchurch refers to their son as an "Alex P. Keaton".

Today's New York Times has a column by the creator of the 80s hit sit-com Family Ties, Gary David Goldberg, in which he responds to the burning question: "Who would Alex P. Keaton vote for in today's Ohio primary election?" (The Keaton family--as you may recall if you watched as much t.v. in the 80s as I did--lived somewhere in suburban Cleveland, Ohio. Ohio's primary for those who are totally politically disenfranchised is today along with Texas and others.)

Would Alex cast his vote for Clinton, Obama, McCain, Huckabee, or Paul? Post your guess in the comments, then read this clever piece by GDG. It is also hilarious to note that the actor who played Alex (Michael J. Fox) and Alex's creator Goldberg differ on what Alex would be doing today. I agree with Fox's interpretation of MPK's life since the 80's. Along with Fox, I believe that MPK listened to the Gordon Gecko speech by Michael Douglass in the movie Wall Street one too many times back in his formative years. He's probably about to exit a minimum security prison term following a guilty plea for an insider trading scheme gone bad. Or maybe it was junk bonds? Or pension plan looting? Write it whatever way you'd like and watch the classic reruns of the Keaton clan when you can!

UCC Legal Defense Fund

Here's an update on preparations the UCC is making for a legal defense fund. Doesn't matter that this challenge to their tax exempt status due to Sen. Obama's speach at a denominaional conference is spurrious, it will still cost money to defend against it!


Dear members and friends,

As of this morning, UCC members and friends have contributed $59,564 to support the UCC Legal Fund. We are so grateful for the generous support that so many have provided since we were notified that the IRS had initiated a church tax inquiry due to a speech given by U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, a UCC member, at our 2007 General Synod.

Because of the overwhelming response from so many, we feel it is necessary, at least momentarily, to suspend additional requests for gifts to this important fund.
Today, we are announcing that WilmerHale, a prestigious Washington, D.C.-based firm, has been retained to represent the church.

Seth P. Waxman, former Solicitor General of the United States (1997 to 2001), will lead WilmerHale's top-notch team of attorneys working on our behalf. Read more.

As a sign of its strong support for the position taken by our church and the First Amendment issues inherent in this case, the WilmerHale firm also has graciously said it will not charge us for its attorneys' time.

While we know there will be other significant expenses associated with our defense, we are profoundly grateful to WilmerHale for offering its time without the customary hourly fees.

Therefore, at this point, thanks to the immediate and generous outpouring from our members and supporters, we feel it's best to suspend additional fundraising and to wait to determine, in the weeks to come, if additional money will be needed. We will keep a careful accounting of our costs, and we will ensure that the intent of our donors is honored. Questions about giving can be directed to our Financial Development Office at giving@ucc.org.

Again, the response over the past week has been incredible. Thank you!


The Rev. John H. Thomas
General Minister and President
United Church of Christ

Religious Leaders Losing Clout with Young in Iraq

This is a hopeful sign:

In two months of interviews with 40 young people in five Iraqi cities, a pattern of disenchantment emerged, in which young Iraqis, both poor and middle class, blamed clerics for the violence and the restrictions that have narrowed their lives.

“I hate Islam and all the clerics because they limit our freedom every day and their instruction became heavy over us,” said Sara, a high school student in Basra. “Most of the girls in my high school hate that Islamic people control the authority because they don’t deserve to be rulers.”

Atheer, a 19-year-old from a poor, heavily Shiite neighborhood in southern Baghdad, said: “The religion men are liars. Young people don’t believe them. Guys my age are not interested in religion anymore.”

The shift in Iraq runs counter to trends of rising religious practice among young people across much of the Middle East, where religion has replaced nationalism as a unifying ideology.

While religious extremists are admired by a number of young people in other parts of the Arab world, Iraq offers a test case of what could happen when extremist theories are applied. Fingers caught in the act of smoking were broken. Long hair was cut and force-fed to its wearer. In that laboratory, disillusionment with Islamic leaders took hold.

There is nothing more dangerous than a religious person who believes that their "truth" is the only truth, unless they also have political power. The Iraqi young are learning this first-hand, and if it leads to a healthy dose of skepticism about the authority of religious leaders and their confidence that they are ruling in the name of God then perhaps something good will come out of this awful war.

More on Spiritual Health Month

In celebration of Spiritual Health Month, here's a little quiz to take from a spiritual health website I found to start your week. Peace!

March is Spiritual Health Month--here's a "unique" church challenge.

While reading an e-mail from our local Girl Scout Council this afternoon I discovered that March is, among other things, Spiritual Health Month. So I thought I'd GoodSearch this topic to find who might be celebrating this and what type of activities/events would be the focus.

Well, that little Girl Scout calendar note led me to a very interesting article about a church in Florida that is pushing the spiritual health envelope--as well as generating a whole bunch of national attention--with a challenge to their members and others who are (pun intended) "up for it".

I must say, it was an ingenious idea on the part of the pastor to gather attention for the congregation! Read about the Revelant Church's challenge in this article from the St. Petersburg Times.

It's a "free day"--are you taking advantage of it?!

Leapin' Lizards! Today, Leap Day, only happens once every 4 years.

When you woke up this morning did you ask yourself something like, "I've got an extra 24 hours--what should I do with it?"

Or was what you said to yourself more like, "Crap, another day I have to get through--as if 365 weren't enough!"

If you are like me, your answer could vary depending upon your life situation and mental state.

My hope/prayer is that you are enjoying your free day and that you have the opportunity to do something fun that you wouldn't normally do to mark this "unusual" day!

Evangelical Politics Looking Different

For a time David Kuo headed President Bush's White House effort on faith-based initiatives. He sees a shift underway in the politics of evangelicals. They are becoming more progressive and less political:

...For all the talk about evangelicals moving to the Democratic Party, early evidence of this is scarce. Poll after poll has shown extreme evangelical distaste for Clinton, and there is scant statistical evidence to suggest that evangelicals are rushing to Obama.

Times may be changing, however, with younger evangelicals leading the way across the aisle. When a recent poll by Relevant, a magazine targeting evangelicals under 25, asked respondents who they believed "Jesus would vote for," a plurality said Obama. They also said they thought that Bill Clinton was a better president than George W. Bush has been and that illegal immigration was the most important issue facing the next president. "Young Christians simply don't seem to feel a connection to the traditional religious right," says Cameron Strang, the magazine's founder and publisher. "Many differ strongly on domestic policy issues - namely issues that affect the poor - and are dissatisfied with America's foreign policy and the war."

The new movement is likely to be more spiritually cautious and politically shrewd. As Bush's presidency has foundered, evangelicals have started to take spiritual stock of their passionate support for their evangelical pastor in chief. First came the retreat. A review of Federal Elections Commission data from last fall revealed that only 30 percent of those who gave campaign money in 2004 contributed this time around to the campaigns of McCain, Huckabee, Romney, Giuliani or any of the other GOP candidates.

More significantly, preachers galore started telling their congregations to just say no to partisan politics. At the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colo., the pastor who succeeded the uber-political Ted Haggard has declared his pulpit "politics free." In Minnesota, evangelical mega-church pastor Greg Boyd preaches that the radical life of a Christian doesn't include politics. Meanwhile, evangelicalism's biggest star, Rick Warren, is decidedly absent from domestic politics, preferring to spend his time working on HIV/AIDS in Africa.

Big Brother is Watching Your Church/Denomination!

I received this letter from the chair of our local UCC Conference (I subscribe to their e-mail list) this morning. It is quite disturbing to me! What about to you?

Will Liberalchurch at some point be an IRS target? I've been waiting for a letter like this to arrive in our mailbox for the past 4 years!

______________________________________________________________________



Dear Colleagues in Ministry,

Yesterday we received word that the Internal Revenue Service has sent the United Church of Christ a letter with 23 questions about Senator Barack Obama’s speaking to the General Synod as a part of Synod in the City in Hartford on June 23, 2007. While this investigation is clearly disturbing, we are confident that once the church has the opportunity to present the facts and clear up any misperceptions, the IRS will determine that we did nothing improper, nothing illegal.

As your Conference Minister, I want you to know that our national offices went to great lengths to assure that nothing was improper about Senator Obama’s presence at Synod. He was one of more than 60 presenters invited – an invitation that was extended a year before he announced his candidacy – to speak about the impact of their faith on their work and vocation. Other persons represented the arts, academia, media, business, science, and technology.

From the beginning, the UCC clearly stated that this was not a campaign-related event, but an opportunity for Senator Obama, as an active member of the UCC and a leader in government, to speak about his faith. It was announced and enforced that any campaign activities, such as leafleting, canvassing, or displaying posters or placards, would not be tolerated. Obama campaign volunteers were not allowed access to the Hartford Civic Center. And, although some Obama supporters did congregate on the sidewalk outside the Civic Center, they were not allowed access to the Civic Center. Their activity was restricted to the public sidewalk. Only registered Synod delegates and visitors were allowed to attend.

I want to share with you a few words that Connecticut’s Conference Minister, Rev. David Foy Crabtree, shared with those in the host conference for our 50th anniversary General Synod: “Theologically, we are a church that from our very beginning in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, has borne a particular care for the public sphere. Service and leadership in government have always been exalted among us. We have historically encouraged our members to run for office in order to exert an influence on the character of the nation. A part of our faith practice over the centuries has been dialogue with members of our Church who are in office about the nature of their leadership and their commitments. For us that faith practice is intrinsic to our identity as a church.”

The United Church of Christ has chosen to release this information because we are not the kind of Church that hides from public view. We are instead a Church that believes that open and civil dialogue in the full light of God’s shining countenance is the best contribution we can make to a civil democracy. I am sending this email alert to this breaking news because it has begun to appear in newspapers and other media. Indeed, my morning email included a piece from the Wall Street Journal. The February 20 IRS letter to the UCC and the video and written text of Senator Obama’s speech to General Synod can be found at: http://www.ucc.org/news/obama-speech-in-2007-prompts-1.html

Presently this is only an inquiry and we have great confidence this will be resolved in our favor. Meanwhile, I ask that you hold our national officers and our national attorneys in prayer as they work diligently to respond to the twenty-three questions within the fifteen day deadline.

Rev. Dr. Karen Smith Sellers
Conference Minister

Switching Faiths, Dropping Out

A Pew survey inerviews 35,000 individuals and finds that the religious marketplace is highly fluid, with the biggest gains going to the church of the unaffilatied. From CNN:

The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey estimates the United States is 78 percent Christian and about to lose its status as a majority Protestant nation, at 51 percent and slipping.

More than one-quarter of American adults have left the faith of their childhood for another religion or no religion at all, the survey found. Factoring in moves from one stream or denomination of Protestantism to another, the number rises to 44 percent.

One in four adults ages 18 to 29 claim no affiliation with a religious institution.

"In the past, certain religions had a real holding power, where people from one generation to the next would stay," said Penn State University sociologist Roger Finke, who consulted in the survey planning. "Right now, there is a dropping confidence in organized religion, especially in the traditional religious forms."

Lugo said the 44 percent figure is "a very conservative estimate," and more research is planned to determine the causes.

"It does seem in keeping with the high tolerance among Americans for change," Lugo said. "People move a lot, people change jobs a lot. It's a very fluid society."

The religious demographic benefiting the most from this religious churn is those who claim no religious affiliation. People moving into that category outnumber those moving out of it by a three-to-one margin.

The majority of the unaffiliated -- 12 percent of the overall population -- describe their religion as "nothing in particular," and about half of those say faith is at least somewhat important to them. Atheists or agnostics account for 4 percent of the total population.

The Roman Catholic Church has lost more members than any faith tradition because of affiliation swapping, the survey found. While nearly one in three Americans were raised Catholic, fewer than one in four say they're Catholic today. That means roughly 10 percent of all Americans are ex-Catholics.

The share of the population that identifies as Catholic, however, has remained fairly stable in recent decades thanks to an influx of immigrant Catholics, mostly from Latin America. Nearly half of all Catholics under 30 are Hispanic, the survey found.

On the Protestant side, changes in affiliation are swelling the ranks of nondenominational churches, while Baptist and Methodist traditions are showing net losses.

Many Americans have vague denominational ties at best. People who call themselves "just a Protestant," in fact, account for nearly 10 percent of all Protestants.

Although evangelical churches strive to win new Christian believers from the "unchurched," the survey found most converts to evangelical churches were raised Protestant.

Hallelujah!

The MN House just voted to override the Governor's veto of a major transportation bill:

A $6.6 billion transportation bill is on the verge of becoming law after the Minnesota House voted for the first time to override a veto from Governor Tim Pawlenty. Six House Republicans broke with the governor to make the 90 votes needed to override. The final tally was 91-41.

The Senate already had a veto-proof majority. Finally, courage on the part of legislators to see the big picture needs of the state, not be cowed by our no-new taxes governor who is hoping to be VP candidate (and this may sink that chance), and create the good-paying jobs needed to build a better transportation system.

The Meaning of Progressive

Over on the VOS listserve (Voices for an Open Spirit, a progressive Church of the Brethren forum) naturally open to all voices a conservative asked for a definition of progressive Christian. here is the reply of one progressive, Ernie Barr:

1. What does "progressive" mean as applied to Christians? To me, the "progressive position" is in contrast to the "conservative" or "fundamentalist" point of view. Conservatives or fundamentalists generally hold to the literal interpretation of scripture. As a progressive, I understand the Bible, to a large extent, to be metaphorical. That is to say that even though the Bible sets a historical context, much of the detail is not factually true. For example, there is good evidence that Jesus was not born in Bethlehem, but actually in Nazareth. Prophets foretold that Jesus was to be born in Bethlehem and so the New Testament writers wrote it that way "in order that the scriptures might be fulfilled". It is no discredit to the Gospel writers that they took liberties with fact; they had a purpose in writing and a particular readership, so they wrote it that way. That surely sound heretical to many readers of this list, but one has to ask exactly what about the divinity of Christ is compromised by saying that he was born in Nazareth? One might ask what about the veracity of the Bible is lost in this example? Actually nothing, when it is realized that the Bible is written by humans for an express purpose to particular readers. The Bible is not, in my understanding, the literal word of God. This view makes the Bible more real and intelligible than to have to fit all the literal geographical and time sequences into place. There are many other examples I could cite.

2. To what are progressives progressing? My answer is a clearer understanding of the Bible's message. I would contend that the message of the Bible is seldom found in the literal understanding of the words, but the words of metaphor or figurative expression. For example: I believe that Jesus was born in the same way that each of us was born--he had a human father and a human mother. For reasons that others may know, Jesus was in such close relationship to God that he is rightfully referred to as "the Son of God". That appellation, I fully accept, but it is metaphorical. To say that "God sent Jesus into the world" is another such metaphor, because when one sees and experiences such a person as Jesus, how can one express that realization--a realization that is in fact inexpressible otherwise? There are many situations in the Bible where figurative expressions are used in an attempt to express inexpressible truth.

3. What will you find when you get there? How will you know when you get there? and IS there an end point? Let me try to speak to all three in one reply. We never "get there". What one finds is a glimpse of truth here and there--an insight that fits with other insights (As an aside: Pilate asked, "What is truth?" To me, "truth" is what agrees with other truths you have found--that is, does it all fit together under the most rigorous examination your beliefs.) There is no "end point" to our search for truth.

Let me add: What is really important to me is the words of Jesus, when answering the lawyer who came to him asking what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." Olden Mitchell pointed out to me that the admonition to "love the Lord your God will all your mind" is Jesus' addition to the original law (Deut. 6:5). This would suggest to me that, as Marcus Borg says on the first page of the preface to his book The Heart of Christianity (which I heartily recommend!) "The sacrifice that Christianity asks of us is not ultimately a sacrifice of the intellect."

Very Nice.

A Sad Man

Ralph Nader is running again. I suspect that any progressives who voted for him before have sufficiently learned their lesson and that this time around his influence will be miniscule. But it is sad to see a once fierce fighter for consumer protections now completely lost in his own ego.

Why We Will Get a Single-Payer Health Care System

Eventually. Because of doctors like Dick Adair, a 65-year-old physician, who talked to Minnesota Monitor:

"The financial burden of caring for uninsured people is driving some doctors out of primary care and into better-paying specialties, at a time when we need more primary care doctors," he said.

In his years as a physician, he has seen a sharp change in how physicians look at health care. "Having lunch with other doctors used to mean listening to conservatives griping about the government. Now lunchroom talk is that single payer would be a good idea," said Adair.

The Monitor reports that a recent survey of physicians in the state showed that 64% support moving to a single-payer system. Only 12% support the current managed care mess. Physicians were a driving force in sinking Hillary's ill-fated reform efforts during Bill's first term. Now they are coming around to seeing what another doctor quoted in the article says is the real driving force behind the insurance industry's grip on the healthcare system: "...their ultimate goal is to deny claims and save money."

Moderation on Abortion Position Key To Reaching Evangelical Dems

Amy Sullivan says in the Washington Post that the Democrat's willingness to work with conservatives on reducing abortions - while still remaining pro-choice - is one key that has encouraged evangelical and Catholic Democrats to move back into the fold this election season:

Full-throated support of abortion rights has been sacrosanct to the Democrats for most of the 35 years since Roe v. Wade. In the 2004 campaign, all the Democratic primary candidates pledged their opposition to a ban on so-called partial-birth abortion at the annual NARAL Pro-Choice America dinner, a position then favored by only 20 percent of Americans. ("Keep your rosaries off my ovaries," went the liberal slogan.) That November, Bush won a third of the pro-abortion rights vote, while Kerry picked up only 24 percent of antiabortion voters.

That was it for Catholic Democrats. It was bad enough that they felt pressured to vote for abortion legislation that made them uncomfortable, then had to endure threats from angry church leaders. But if the result was a Democratic Party so marginalized that its inability to appeal to antiabortion voters cost one of their own the White House, what was the point?

So they set out to defuse the abortion issue themselves. In the fall of 2006, two Catholic Democrats in the House of Representatives, the antiabortion Tim Ryan and the pro-abortion rights Rosa DeLauro, introduced legislation to reduce abortion rates by preventing unwanted pregnancies and providing support to pregnant women and new parents. That same fall, an antiabortion Catholic Democrat, Bill Ritter, won the Colorado governorship after convincing his party's activists and donors that a pro-life politician need not be actively anti-choice. In a few states, pro-choice Democratic candidates sat down with evangelical and Catholic leaders to talk about abortion. They didn't back down from defending women's right to choose, but they won with support levels from Catholics and evangelicals that were 10 to 15 points above the party's national average in the midterm elections.

Marginalizing and locking out anti-abortion Dems was always a really dumb move. First of all, a progressive party should have nothing to fear from a diversity of positions on issues. Secondly, it is possible to be fully supportive of a women's right to have an abortion and agree that we ought to be providing a full range of health, legal, and financial services for women with the goal being to bring down the rate of abortions. Bill Clinton's line that abortions should be "safe, legal, and rare" is still the right approach. All sorts of Democrats ought to be able to support candidates and policies that embrace this goal.

The Calling of Liberalchurch

If the calling of liberalchurch is to minister to the GLBT population south of the river, then why did only 2 members maintain a faithful witness at the monthly P-Flag meetings that liberalchurch hosted? (And one of them was a hetromember with 3 gay sons and the other a hetro mother of 2 children with no GLBT family members?)

While I think Liberalchurch is inclusive and accepting of all people, I personally think that it is understating things to say that providing a safe place of worship for GLBT persons is the "calling" of Liberalchurch.

Those who are already GLBT members of Liberalchurch seem to want, for the most part, to forget about the fact that they are a member of a sexual minority. They come to Open Circle precisely because they do not want to be defined by their sexuality.

It seems to me that the larger calling of Liberalchurch is to be a witness for Progressive Christianity to people in the Twin Cities Metro area -- regardless of their sexuality. Providing a safe place of worship to GLBT persons is just one aspect of a much larger calling!

Friday with Sampson and Sadie

It was 10 below on Wednesday morning when I took this picture on my way out to Bible Study. But the sun was shining in the window and the cats were enjoying its warmth.

BTW, own a cat and live longer. From the Star Tribune today:

Here, kitty kitty ... .
A new study suggests cat owners are less likely to die of a heart attack or stroke than people who, well, don't own cats. And
no, dogs don't do the same trick. The study, by researchers at the University of Minnesota, found that feline-less people were 30 to 40 percent likelier to die of cardiovascular disease than those with cats.

Hillary's Experience

Here is George Wills' commentary on her constant reference to her experience vs. Obama's:

The president who came to office with the most glittering array of experiences had served 10 years in the House of Representatives, then became minister to Russia, then served 10 years in the Senate, then four years as secretary of state (during a war that enlarged the nation by 33 percent), then was minister to Britain. Then, in 1856, James Buchanan was elected president and in just one term secured a strong claim to being ranked as America's worst president. Abraham Lincoln, the inexperienced former one-term congressman, had an easy act to follow.

Holy Dirt

In Chimayo, N.M., how a religious legend is born:

On a chilly February morning, Rosa and Ben Salazar of nearby San Pedro, both 78, visited the Santuario to pray and replenish their supplies of holy water and dirt.

“We’ve had miracles here,” Mrs. Salazar said. They have stepped up their visits since her husband was found to have cancer. “He has spots on his lungs, and the doctor originally said he would have to have chemotherapy,” she said.

“We come here all the time to pray,” she said, and at home they rub the dirt on her husband’s chest and feet. And, lo, after his latest CAT scan, Mrs. Salazar said, the doctor told them that he looked better and that chemotherapy might not be needed after all.

Father Roca believes in miracles, too, but, he said, “They are the work of the Good Lord.”

“I always tell people that I have no faith in the dirt, I have faith in the Lord,” he said. “But people can believe what they want.”

Father Roca prefers to direct attention to the six-foot-tall wooden crucifix above the main altar, and he happily recounts its fabled history.

On a dark Good Friday in 1810, according to legend, men from the secretive Penitente Brotherhood were engaged in rites on a hill above Chimayo — whether self-flagellation, a crucifixion of a chosen member or just prolonged prayer is not clear. One of them, Don Bernardo Abeyta, saw a strange light shining upward from the valley.

When the men went down to investigate, the light disappeared but at its source they discovered a half-buried wooden crucifix. They sent for the nearest priest, 10 miles away in Santa Cruz, who had the crucifix taken in a happy procession to his parish church. But the next morning it was gone and had reappeared at the spot where the men initially found it.

This happened three times, the legend goes, before everyone got the message. Don Abeyta built a small chapel for the crucifix at the discovery site in the valley, which, historians note, had been a sacred area for Pueblo Indians. Soon, word began to spread that this was a place for the lame and the blind to be healed. Today’s dirt hole is said to be on the spot where the crucifix was found, accounting for its supposed
power and the continued faith of visitors even if they know the dirt is brought in from outside.

Father Roca said there was evidence that the crucifix had been brought to the area originally by a Guatemalan priest and from early on, it was called Our Lord of Esquipulas, after a major shrine in Guatemala.

As for the dirt, the best-known attraction of his busy little church, he said: “I don’t like to think about it. People come here not for the crucifix but for the dirt, and some people even sell it.”

Mrs. Salazar, the believer in its healing power, said she knew nothing of Father Roca’s vexation. “I think the dirt gets blessed by the priests, doesn’t it?” she asked.

Photo by Michael Stravato for The New York Times

Why are Some People Gay?

Conservative Star Tribune columnist Katherine Kersten had a blog post yesterday on the science of sexual orientation. It began like this:

Is sexual orientation biologically based? Most gay rights proponents will answer with an emphatic “yes,” and deny there is any legitimate argument to the contrary. Grounding sexual behavior in this way creates some natural advantages for the gay rights argument. If sexual orientation is as immutable as, say, skin color, then it fits more neatly into the framework of traditional anti-discrimination law.

But Gary Greenberg, writing in the left-leaning Mother Jones, is not so sure this conventional wisdom will hold up. Greenberg, a practicing psychotherapist and gay rights advocate, believes that proponents of the biological explanation for sexual orientation are ignoring complexities in our sexual make-up — complexities that may eventually undercut the current foundation of the gay rights movement.

She has several quotes from the Mother Jones article which seem to suggest that the genetic argument about sexual orientation isn't black and white. Particularly among women there is movement back and forth "across customary sexual orientation barriers."

Kersten wonders, then, if gay rights cannot be grounded in clear biological science, on what legs does it stand? She quotes Jon Davidson, legal director of Lambda Legal, who argues that sexual orientation is an identity issue akin to religious persuasion. Whether we are born with or raised into or choose a religious identity, that identity is protected under the law. Discrimination is not legal. Sexual identity ought to be thought of, and treated in, the same way. Kersten ends her article by asking the question: "Is there a solid foundation for gay rights in a right for people to “believe whatever they want”—something analogous to the right to religious belief?"

It is an interesting post coming from her. And it elicited a very good response from Andy Birkey, who writes for the Minnesota Monitor. He begins by noting that Kersten ignored what the Mother Jones article had to say about recent scientific findings of differences in brain anatomy and gene sequencing between gay and straight men. There are biological correlations that suggest, but don't yet prove, there is biology involved in sexual orientation.

But Birkey goes on:

If a lack of biological evidence undercuts the foundation of the gay rights movement, then that foundation has been undercut for quite some time. There have been no conclusive studies demonstrating a genetic cause for sexual orientation. Kersten says that gay activists respond with an emphatic "yes" to the question of a genetic cause. But that's not quite true. Most gay activists would answer the question, "Are gays born that way?" with a subjective "yes." For us, we feel that we were born gay.

None of us would answer a question about the biological determination of our sexual orientation with, "Of course! It's the genetic marker, Xq28, on the X chromosome, silly!" We don't know the biology of why we are gay or lesbian or bisexual or straight, but we know we are those things. We feel it, and we have felt it all our lives.

The lack of a genetic marker doesn't mean that our desires, relationships and communities are merely a "choice" to be changed by the Lord or by discredited therapists. It does not mean we don't believe that our sexual orientation is a fixed, innate characteristic. We have faith that we are living our lives as we were created to live them. It doesn't matter that we have no conclusive biological proof of the innateness of our gayness; we are on the side of righteousness...

Can we draw an analogy between sexual orientation and religious belief? There is a body of scientific evidence that suggests a biological factor, but mostly, gays and lesbians are asking their fellow Americans to take a leap of faith and trust us when we say we love who we love, that we have found the relationships that mean the most to us, and we have created the families that make sense for us. And, for almost all of us, that's not something we can change.

If, Birkey says, Katherine Kersten is making this kind of analogy, then he has found something on which they can agree. Personally I have my doubts that this is where she is taking this thought process.

I have known some women who have moved back and forth between being straight and lesbian; I have not known any men who have done the same. (I have known many men and women who tried to be straight, got married, had kids, pretended... until it didn't work.) I have wondered if there might be some difference between men and women on the biology of sexual orientation.

But I have known far more gays and lesbians who have personally anguished over their feelings and attractions and who, at moments in their lives because of church or family or school friends wished it were not so. Whatever the science eventually sorts out on the whys of sexual orientation (and I suspect it will be mostly genetic/biological), I celebrate the ability of these folks to come to terms with who God made them to be - gay and lesbian -and support their dreams and their right to be married, raise children, have legal protections, be ordained as clergy, and be recognized with the exact same level of emotion and commotion that those of us who are straight get when we fall in love and find a partner to share our life with.

Invisibility Cloak

Harry Potter has one. And soon, maybe, we can too. From the Washington Post:

...The nascent invisibility cloak now being tested, for example, is made of a material that bends light rays "backward," a weird phenomenon thought to be impossible just a few years ago. Known as transformation optics, the phenomenon compels some wavelengths of light to flow around an object like water around a stone. As a result, things behind the object become visible while the object itself disappears from view.

"Cloaking is just the tip of the iceberg," said Vladimir Shalaev, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue University and an expert in the fledgling field. With transformation optics you can do many other tricks," perhaps including making things appear to be located where they are not and focusing massive amounts of energy on microscopic spots.

Other researchers are testing material that absorbs "99.955 percent of the light that hits it," making it by far the darkest material known. Very cool.

Christianity in Nigeria

In the last century Christianity has seen explosive growth in Nigeria, so much so that by the middle of this century the global heartland of Christianity will be in northern Nigeria. Eliza Grizwold, whose father was once Presiding Anglican Bishop in America, has an interesting and mostly disheartening look at the state of Nigeria's Christianity in the new issue of Atlantic Monthly (subscription only).

The population of Nigeria is evenly divided between Muslims and Christians. In the last decade violence has flared and attrocities have been committed by both sides. In addition there is plenty of inter-religious conflict between different brands of Christians and different brands of Muslims. On the Christian side Grizwold identifies two powerful, and sorry, players. The first is the now well-known Archbishop Peter Akinola. Akinola is best known in this country for his hostile views towards homosexuality. Conservative Anglican churches in the US are attempting to have him be their presiding bishop rather than the liberal American alternatives. But in Nigeria, Akinola is probably better known as the past president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, an umbrella organization founded in the 1970s to give Christians a collective and unified voice as strong as that of Muslims.

Grizwold tells the story of one Christian-Muslim conflict in the town of Yelwa, where in 2004 a group of Muslims brutally attacked and killed members of a Church of Christ who were meeting for worship. Members of the Christian Association of Nigeria responded:

According to Human Rights Watch, 660 Muslims were massacred over the course of the next two days, including the patients in the Al-Amin clinic. Twelve mosques and 300 houses went up in flames. Young girls were marched to a nearby Christian town and forced to eat pork and drink alcohol. Many were raped, and 50 were killed...

During the Christian attack, ...two young women took shelter in an elder’s guarded home. On the second day, the Christian militia arrived at the house. They were covered in red and blue paint and were wearing those numbered white name tags. The Christians first killed the guards, then chose among the women. With others, the two young women were marched toward the Christian village. “They were killing children on the road,” Danladi said. Outside the elementary school, her abductor grabbed hold of two Muslim boys she knew, 9 and 10 years old. Along with other men, he took a machete to them until they were in pieces, then wrapped the pieces in a rubber tire and set it on fire.

When Danladi and Ibrahim reached their captors’ village, they were forced to drink alcohol and to eat pork and dog meat. Although she was obviously pregnant, Danladi’s abductor repeatedly raped her during the next four days...

Here is Akinola's response to questions about this episode of violence by Christians against Muslims:

When asked if those wearing name tags that read “Christian Association of Nigeria” had been sent to the Muslim part of Yelwa, the archbishop grinned. “No comment,” he said. “No Christian would pray for violence, but it would be utterly naive to sweep this issue of Islam under the carpet.” He went on, “I’m not out to combat anybody. I’m only doing what the Holy Spirit tells me to do. I’m living my faith, practicing and preaching that Jesus Christ is the one and only way to God, and they respect me for it. They know where we stand. I’ve said before: let no Muslim think they have the monopoly on violence.”

The violence is appalling on both sides, but it is particularly disturbing to hear a Christian leader condone - no - support it. (It is also somewhat amazing to me that there are "pacifist" Brethren I know who like this guy; anyone who is anti-gay is our friend, I guess.)

Then there are the Pentecostals who are thriving by preaching a prosperity gospel. Pentecostalism stepped into the vacuum created by the collapse of the oil boom in the 1970's. Since then the Pentecostal Gospel of Prosperity, and the African Initiated Churches, or AICs, have converted millions to the prosperity gospel version of Christianity:

...Today, AIC members account for one-quarter of Africa’s 417 million Christians.

One bustling Pentecostal hub, Canaanland, the 565-acre headquarters of the Living Faith Church, has three banks, a bakery, and its own university, Covenant, which is the sister school of Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Canaanland is about an hour and a half north of Lagos, which has an estimated population of 12 million and is projected to become the world’s 12th-largest city by 2020. With 300,000 people worshipping at a single service at the Canaanland headquarters alone and 300 branches across the country, Living Faith is one of Nigeria’s megachurches, and the dapper Bishop David Oyedepo is its prophet. The bishop, whose bald pate glistens above deep-set eyes and dazzling teeth, never wanted to be pastor: he had no interest in being poor, he told me. “When God made me a pastor, I wept. I hated poverty in the Church—how can the children of God live as rats?”

Bishop Oyedepo built Canaanland to preach the Gospel of Prosperity. As he said, “If God is truly a father, there is no father that wants his children to be beggars. He wants them to prosper.” In the parking lot at Canaanland, beyond the massive complex of unusually clean toilets, flapping banners promise: Whatsoever you ask in my name, he shall give you, and By his stripes he gives us blessings...

“God isn’t against wealth,” Professor Famous (a convert from Muslim) said. “Revelations talks about streets paved with gold.” He added, “Look at how Jesus dressed.” When I appeared baffled, he patiently explained that since the soldiers cast lots for Christ’s clothes, they were clearly expensive. In Canaanland, clothes matter: the pastors wear flashy ones and they drive fast cars as a sign of God’s favor. They draw their salaries from sizable weekly contributions. On Sundays at some Nigerian Pentecostal churches, armored bank trucks reportedly idle in church parking lots, while during the service, believers hand over cash, cell phones, cars—all with the belief that if they give to God, God will make them rich. It’s said that if the Christian Prosperity churches disappeared, the banks of Nigeria would collapse.

In fairness, part of their recipe for success is the way they foster discipline and hard work, which is all very good but not the same as the message of Jesus. Jesus had expensive clothes?

There are bright spots, like Pastor James Movel Wuye and Imam Muhammad Nurayn Ashafa, friends turned enemies turned friends again:

At a Christian conference in Nigeria sponsored by Pat Robertson—one of the most anti-Muslim preachers in the world—a fellow pastor pulled James aside and said, in almost the same words as the Sufi hermit, “You can’t preach Jesus with hate in your heart.” James said, “That was my real turning point. I came back totally de­programmed. I know Pat Robertson might have had another agenda, but I was truly changed.”

For more than a decade now, James and Ashafa have traveled to Nigerian cities and to other countries where Christians and Muslims are fighting. They tell their stories of how they manipulated religious texts to get young people into the streets to shed blood. Both still adhere strictly to the scripture; they just read it more deeply and emphasize different verses...

...As Pastor James told me at his office, Peace Hall, in Kaduna, he still believes strongly in absolute and exclusive salvation mandated by the gospel: “Jesus said, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life.’” He still challenges Christians to rely on the strict and literal word, and he’s still uncompromising on fundamental issues of Christianity. “We see same-sex marriages in the United States as signs of end times: it’s Sodom and Gomorrah,” he told me. “But I also want to say you can believe what you want to believe. We have to find a space for coexistence.”

Like many conservative Christians, he is misreading the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. But at least he understands the need to coexist. Let's hope that the views of more Nigerian Christians and Muslims evolve to this point.

Praying for God to Bring Destruction on Enemies

That's what Southern Baptist Pastor Wiley Drake is doing in response to an IRS investigation prompted by a complaint from Americans United for Separation of Church and State:

Last August, Americans United filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service about Drake’s use of church letterhead and a church-based radio program to endorse presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. Federal tax law forbids tax-exempt groups from endorsing or opposing candidates for public office.

In a Feb. 5 letter, the IRS notified Drake that his First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park is being investigated.

In response, Drake issued a Feb. 14 e-mail appeal to followers to engage in “imprecatory prayers” (curses) against Americans United and three of its staff members.

Said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, “We deplore Pastor Drake’s reckless and repugnant antics. Introducing this kind of religious extremism into American life is reprehensible.

“We have asked the IRS to investigate what we believe to be Drake’s violation of federal tax law,” Lynn continued. “If Drake thinks he is innocent, he has more than adequate legal representation, and there is ample opportunity to make his case.

“Trying to turn God into some sort of heavenly hit man is repugnant,” Lynn concluded. “There is more than a whiff of the Taliban in this action”

Wrote Drake, “In light of the recent attack from the enemies of God I ask the children of God to go into action with Imprecatory Prayer. Especially against Americans United for Separation of Church and State…. Specifically target Joe Conn or Jeremy Learing [sic] and their leader Rev. Barry Lynn. They are those who lead the attack.”

Drake directed his followers to Psalms 109 (as well as Psalms 55, 58, 68, 69 and 83) for examples of imprecatory prayers. Verses from those texts ask God to bring death and destruction to those targeted.

It just continues to amaze me that there are people who believe in a God who can or would do something like this, and that this kind of action has the remotest connection to the life and message of Jesus.

Castro Steps Down

For nearly 50 years, a thorn in the flesh for US Presidents, Florida politicians, and US-Cuba relations, Fidel Castro is officially stepping down as Cuba's President. A chance for two new Presidents to take us in a new direction.

Elections in Pakistan

Veiled women showed their identification cards in Karachi. As the country is facing a growing insurgency by the Taliban and Al Qaeda, rising prices and escalating violence, the nationwide vote will now serve as a kind of referendum on President Pervez Musharraf, who has grown deeply unpopular.

Photo: Akhtar Soomro for The New York Times

Musharraf's party gets trounced. How will the military respond? What does it mean for US-Pakistani relations? Is this election good news or bad news for the Taliban and Al Qaeda? An election brings big changes and big questions.

Martha, Martha

This is actually a post about Mary, but it references a scripture verse from Luke about Mary and Martha:

38 Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. ³⁹She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. ⁴⁰But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’ ⁴¹But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; ⁴²there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’ (Luke 10:38-42, Oremus Bible Browser)

I was struck today by a post by biblical scholar James Talbot on The Jesus Dynasty Blog:

**Wendy Pond just pointed out to me that the text actually says that “Martha welcomed Jesus into her house,” when “they,” namely the Jesus entourage, came to a certain village. It does not say that Mary lived there, but just that Martha had a sister called Mary. It is possible that this “Mary” has been traveling with the group, suggests they stop at her sister’s house for a meal and rest, and she has developed the practice of gathering and sitting with the men. Even though Luke introduces these women as if they are “new” to the story, it is clear from the way Jesus speaks to them in the core tradition that he knows them both well. The “good portion” that Mary has chosen appears to be her desire to hear and learn the words of the Teacher.

The particular wording of this passage never struck me before. It doesn't say Jesus came to the house of Mary and Martha. It could be that Mary was part of Jesus' traveling entourage. We don't know exactly how she relates to the other Marys - it gets quite confusing.

I am up to my eye-balls in Mary readings right now. Martha, Martha...

Progressive Brethren Summit

It has been officially announced:

A "Progressive Brethren Summit" has been announced for Nov. 7-9 in Indianapolis, on the theme, "Faithful and Just: Progressive Brethren Speak." The event is sponsored jointly by Voices for an Open Spirit (VOS); the Brethren Mennonite Council for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Interests (BMC); Womaen's Caucus; Christian Community; and a number of congregations and individuals; and will be hosted by Northview Church of the Brethren. It is planned as "a first general gathering of those who see themselves as 'progressive' and currently, or formerly, participate in the Church of the Brethren," according to an announcement. It begins Friday evening with worship and speakers addressing the difficulties facing progressive Christians in "A Challenged Church"; Saturday includes a plenary session on being "A Jesus Church," break-out groups with presenters on a variety of topics, afternoon workshops, evening worship and speakers focusing on "A Welcoming Church," and a concert by Mutual Kumquat and others; Sunday will present several models of progressive Bible studies, with worship and celebration of "A Courageous Church." Cost is estimated at around $80, plus housing. Details and registration will be available around March 1 at www.voicesforanopenspirit.org and www.bmclgbt.org. For more information contact Ken Kline Smeltzer at bksmeltz@comcast.net or Carol Wise at cwise@bmclgbt.org.

UCC is clear on Science

Seeking an end to millenniums-old feud, UCC announces advertising outreach to
scientists


Written by J. Bennett Guess, United Church of Christ
January 29, 2008


With hopes of mending a millenniums-old feud between religion and science, the UCC has launched a new web-based advertising campaign geared toward the scientific and technological communities. "Our hope is to begin to move the church to the place where its public image, public witness and public identity is one of a community of faith that is eager to engage science and to welcome and honor scientists," said the Rev. John H. Thomas, the UCC's general minister and president.

The UCC has purchased ads on more than 30 popular science-oriented blogs during the
month of February. The ads seek to promote both a pro-science, pro-faith message.
The science campaign, according to Thomas, is a significant next step for the UCC's
"God is still speaking" identity effort, a multi-million-dollar initiative that has included national TV, radio, web and print advertising. The web-based ads will link to an expanded "faith and science" section on the UCC's website dubbed "not mutually-exclusive", as well as provide directions on how visitors can locate UCC congregations.

"Through our Stillspeaking Initiative, the United Church of Christ has been intentional about seeking out groups of people that have been marginalized by the church, either intentionally or unintentionally," Thomas said. "And, frankly, when it comes to persons engaged in scientific inquiry — geneticists, mathematicians, chemists, engineers, science teachers and students — the church has a history of communicating disinterest, distrust and even hostility."

The advertising effort is being propelled by the release of a meaty Pastoral Letter on Science and Technology — authored by Thomas and a nine-member working group of scientists and theologians — that calls the church to "open ourselves
and our theology to the momentous conceptual changes of our times."
"Many today are hungering for an authentic spirituality that is intellectually honest and at home in a scientific era," the pastoral letter states. "They are searching for a new kind of wisdom to live by, one that is scientifically sophisticated, technologically advanced, morally just, ecologically sustainable, and spiritually alive."

The 2,400-word pastoral letter, titled "A New Voice Arising," is being distributed in February to each of the UCC's 5,700 local churches. Accompanying materials suggest how churches can host opportunities for further study and sciencerelated
group sharing. The UCC's blog will devote the first week of February to posts and discussions about religion, science and technology. The UCC also is hosting a sermon-writing contest on science and technology for pastors and seminarians, with two $500 top prizes, and the denomination is asking local churches to honor persons working in science-related professions during worship services on Sunday, May 18.
The UCC's pastoral letter has received endorsements from prominent scientific leaders. Alan I. Leshner, chief executive of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, said the UCC's effort is a
"clear support for science." "In the same way that UCC states that it cannot ignore the context in which it functions, neither can the scientific community
ignore its societal context," Leshner said. "For this reason, we see a dialogue between science and religion as vital."

Charles Townes, a UCC member who has received both the Nobel and Templeton prizes for physics, called the pastoral letter "a thoughtful, knowledgeable and perceptive discussion of science and religion and growth of their helpful interaction."

Ian G. Barbour, a physicist and theologian who won the 1999 Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, said, "This is a wonderfully clear summary of the serious challenges and exciting opportunities when traditional religious beliefs encounter
recent discoveries in a range of sciences — from cosmology to evolution, brain research and genetics. It is truly a 'pastoral' letter in addressing personal questions in the lives of laypersons today rather than the more abstract debates
common among theologians or philosophers." "A New Voice Arising: A Pastoral Letter on Faith Engaging Science and Technology," as well as information about the
UCC's science-related advertising effort, is available at ucc.org/not-mutually-exclusive.
------------------------------------------------

The UCC is a step ahead of other Protestant denominations when it comes to wooing Progressive Christians fed up with the non-inclusiveness and antiquated theological interpretations of other mainstream denominations.

Clearly the UCC is working toward a Progressive Christian witness that will be appealing to those who still find organized religion and faith communities to be relevant and useful in their lives. While other denominations will be shrinking, this one stands to grow.

New York Times columnist Jennifer Warner writes in her column today about a topic near and dear to my heart and mind--the presumed overmedication of the American Public.

Those of us who are taking daily medications for anxiety and depression are alternately championed and scorned by our family and friends in our attempt to improve our quality of life. One day they love us, the next day they tell us we are a drone in the Generation Rx. Many of us continue this wenching debate of whether we are saints or sinners with ourselves every morning when we swallow this day's daily dose.

Warner's own anecdotal research and common sense have led her--and me too--to the understanding that psychic pain has existed since the beginning of time and since someone has been around to experience it. With that pain humans have developed various ways to escape it. We have struggled on how to regulate (or not) various forms of self-medication some of which is harmful to ourselves and others around us.

Given the alternatives, I'm happy to pop my *legally prescribed* pills on a daily basis if they make me a more joyful, productive, and loving person who can turn around and provide help and sustainance to those around me. Swallow on!

Another reason to lose the Weight!

I have always said that if a heart attack doesn't kill me/you, some form of cancer will. Here's more proof! Here's more good motivation to lose those extra pounds--or in my case dozens of pounds. One day at a time!

Loving Kindness Guided Meditation

From the Beliefnet website, here's a guided meditation for Valentine's Day on loving kindness conducted by Sharon Salzberg.

Pursing the White Stag

From Reuters news service...


A mythical and ghostly creature has appeared in the wilds of the Scottish Highlands -- and has been caught on camera.

The rare white stag, from the red deer species, is believed to be among just a tiny handful living in Britain, according to a conservation group.

The John Muir Trust is now keeping the stag's location secret for fear of poachers.

"To see him amongst the other stags was truly thrilling because he does look like a ghost: you do a double-take," Trust Partnership Manager Fran Lockhart, who filmed the stag, told Reuters.

White stags are seen as a magical and powerful force in many mythologies.

The animal's ghostly glow comes from a recessive gene which causes leucism, a condition which reduces the normal brown coloring in hair and skin. They are not albinos, which have red eyes due to lack of pigment.

In Celtic traditions, white stags represent messengers from the afterlife. Arthurian legend has it that the creature can never be caught -- King Arthur's pursuit of the animal represents mankind's spiritual quest.

It is also said that for those who set eyes on the animal, a momentous moment is near.

"They say their appearance is meant to herald some profound change in life for those who encounter them -- but I am still waiting," said Lockhart.

Her dog, though, stood transfixed for 45 minutes watching the white stag, instead of his usual scampering around.

Lockhart believes the Scottish Highlands' white stag is between 6 and 7 years old. She said he is maturing well, with a good set of antlers.

The last official recording of a white red stag in Britain, not to be confused with the more common white fallow deer, was last October when the body of one was found decapitated on the moors between Devon and Cornwall.

(Reporting by Georgina Cooper)

Happy Valentine's Day

Love Is...


Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.


- Corinthians 13:4-7

Detours by Sheryl Crow

I was in need of some new music to play so I got the new Sheryl Crow CD the other day. I loved her first hit "All I Want To Do" back in the 90s. After a few tough years which have included a failed relationship with cyclist turned motivational speaker and cancer spokesperson Lance Armstrong, and also a bout with breast cancer, she's hit her singer/songwriter stride again!

Here's some lyrics from one of the songs titled "Out of Our Heads"

Every man is his own prophet
Oh every prophet is just a man
I say all the women stand up, say yes to themselves
Teach your children the best you can

Let every man bow to the best in himself
We're not killing any more
We're the wisest ones, everybody listen
'cause you can't fight this feeling any more, oh anymore

If we could only get out of our heads, out of our heads,
And into our hearts
Chlidren of Abraham lay down your fears, swallow your
tears and look into your hearts

COB Church Member Profile Data

I'm a relatively new subscriber to Messenger. As someone not born and raised in a Brethren household, I have few ties to this denomination. So receiving this monthly publication has been enlightening--when I read it. I read with interest the article in the February issue by Walt Wiltschek who is editor of Messenger and interviewed Brethren sociologist Carl Bowman about the results of a recent Church Member Profile he conducted and presented to the COB General Board. He really hit all the "hot button" topics in his survey.

I particularly liked his comment as it has echoed my thoughts over the past 3 + years trying to contemplate what it means to me to now identify myself as a member of the Church of the Brethren denomination.

In the interview Bowman was asked a question about what the results of the study say for the identity of the denomination. Bowman's response was: "Interestingly, Brethren still really value their identity as Brethren. The question is, what does that mean?...Our identity today is so diffuse."

Personally I too have found this to be true. The little research I have done to explore and learn about polity and process within the COB denomination leads me to believe that this trend will continue. While this is not unique to the COB denomination, it seems that other denominations are more "polity and process oriented" on how the differences get resolved.

Perhaps for the denomination to grow, it must first shrink during the process of redefining it's identity for the 21st century?