The Bully Pulpit

~ Deb ~ 1 Comment

My dad knew Jim Jones.  Well, not really knew him; just sort of in a passing acquaintance kind of way.  After the Jonestown tragedy in Guyana 30 years ago where 900 of “Rev.” Jones followers committed mass suicide by drinking poison-laced Kool-Aid on his command, my dad told me the story.  They had both been young preachers in Indianapolis in the late 60s before Jones moved his congregation to California and then ultimately to South America.   Apparently there had been some sort of monthly interdenominational prayer breakfast thingy for ministers and it was there my dad met Jim Jones.  According to my memory of what my dad told me all those years ago, Rev. Jones was a dynamic, charismatic, revered and well-loved member of the ministerial community.

My dad was a dynamic, charismatic, revered and well-loved minister as well.  He left the ministry in 1978 under a bit of a scandal which is not the subject of today’s blog.   I once had the opportunity to talk with a woman who had been a member of my dad’s church a few years before.  She said, “When I found out about your dad, I almost left the church completely.”

Now, it makes me no nevermind whether people leave a church or stay in it.  I’m not especially fond of organized religion in general.  But, the bigger point to me was that someone’s faith, their very spiritual compass, would be so completely contained in one other person.  My dad didn’t become a paranoid, megalomaniacal, murdering lunatic like Jim Jones, but there were several people who pretty much considered him the assistant Messiah.   There is an inherent danger in living from a pulpit.  People start to believe anything you say as the direct word of God, . . . and then sometimes you start to believe it yourself.

With the recent passage of Proposition 8 in California which banned gay marriage, I’ve heard something a lot recently which I’ve heard at least a jillion times before.  “I’m against gay marriage because the bible says marriage is between a man and a woman.”  Like a hit song on the radio that you’ve hummed with a thousand times and then that thousand and first time you hear a lyric you’d never really heard before, it suddenly dawned on me just this week . . . no, it doesn’t.  The bible doesn’t say that.  The bible says a few things about marriage (including Paul’s admonition that it’s better not to marry at all and Jesus’ prophesy that one day there would be no marriage), but it never says that marriages are to be restricted to only those between a man and a woman.   It just simply doesn’t say that.

Jerry Falwell has said it.  Pat Robertson has said it.  James Dobson has said it.  Rick Warren has said it.  But I have yet to see any of their books included in the scriptural canon.   So, I’m skipping right past my old argument of “Who cares what the bible says; this is a civil issue” and pressing right on to my new one, “If you care what the bible says, then take the time to know what the bible says . . . and doesn’t say.”  And be sure to draw a clear line between what your Holy Scriptures say and what your preacher says they say.

Ministers have an immense amount of power.  The fact that 900 people would drink Kool-Aid they knew had poison in it is an extreme example.  But, people drink the Kool-Aid every day.  And they are poisoned by half-truths, misinformation, and downright lies.  Jesus didn’t have to stretch the “facts” to draw 5,000 listeners at the Sermon on the Mount.  He just spoke Truth and blessed everybody: the poor in spirit, the meek, and the merciful.

He also said these words that day: “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.”

Or because they somehow think he wants them to.

More Sweet than Bitter, but still Bittersweet

~ Deb ~ 2 Comments

I love exit polls.  You know, those breakdowns of who votes how.  Long after Barack Obama gave the “speech heard ’round the world,” I was still up into the wee hours analyzing the exit poll data on CNN.com.   I was particularly interested in details of that heartbreaking California Proposition 8 result.  Since the yes/no breakdown is sometimes confusing (yes, I want gay marriage? yes, I don’t want gay marriage?), I will delineate based on a for/against basis, as in for gay marriage or against gay marriage.   Here are the bullet points:

Many breakdowns were very close to a 50/50 vote, not surprising since the result we have is about 52% against and 48% for.  Men and women both were close to 50/50, maybe 51/49 or 48/52, but still in the generally-split catagory.

Hispanics and Asians were also close to 50/50 with the Asians being slightly more for and the Hispanics being slightly against, but still about 50/50.

People with more education tended to be more for and people with less education tended to be more against.  Not surprising.  The more educated the person is, the more they recognize the wisdom in equality for all. (Generally speaking, of course.  Obviously, there are always exceptions to every rule, so don’t send me a zinger if you’re an open-minded, equality-minded high school drop-out.)

People of higher incomes tended to be more for; people with lower incomes tended to be more against.  But, people who make more money tend to be better educated, so refer to the above.

The only two demographic areas with an overwhelming majority against were evangelical Christians (not a surprise) and African-Americans, who went about 70% against.

So, the question I have is this: Shouldn’t a group which understands oppression as well as any in our society stand on the side of expanding rights for others rather than denying them?  I’m not asking anyone to forego their personal beliefs or their particular version of morality.  I’m not even asking anyone to understand.  Whether you “get” homosexuality or not, wouldn’t a person who has felt the pain of second-class citizen status take the position of “erring” on the side of giving rights rather than “erring” on the side of withholding them?

Anyone who knows me knows how passionate I have been for years about eradicating racism.  And that certainly won’t ever change.  My strong desire for equality is not a tit-for-tat proposition.  But, I can’t help but ponder the fact that if the African-American population of California had stood up for the right of gays and lesbians to marry to the same degree that gays and lesbians voted for Barack Obama, . . . equality would have won.

I Hope They Have CNN in Heaven

~ Deb ~ 2 Comments

I have been contemplating for days now just how I would achieve some semblance of balance once this election is over.  This blog was intended to be far more high-minded than a daily discussion of mere politics.  But I believe that everything has a bearing on the spiritual journey.  Our evolution doesn’t happen in a vacuum.  I assumed that my 12-step program for this political addiction would begin on Wednesday (with step one, a belief in a Higher Office).

And then Toot died.

I heard it this afternoon right as the news broke on MSNBC.  Barack Obama’s ailing grandmother had passed away in Hawaii.  I thought about what a difficult day this must be for him, but I also thought about my own grandmother who passed away 22 years ago.  Sometimes I still talk to her, especially on a starry night when I have a lot on my mind.  I certainly still feel her energy and remember her spirit.  How intensely must Toot’s presence be felt in Senator Obama’s private moments on this night.

It seemed impossible to surpass the profound symbolism of Obama’s Democratic National Convention speech taking place on the 45th anniversary of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Yet, this feels bigger somehow.  The people who raise children, be they parents or grandparents or other loving adults, pour more than money and time and expectation into them; they imbue them with their own spiritual stuff, strength of character, and internal compass.

It seems immensely sad that Madelyn Dunham did not live to hear a news anchor say, “We can now safely declare that Senator Barack Obama of Illinois will be the 44th President of the United States of America.”  But, perhaps Toot just wanted to make sure she had the best seat in the house for this show tomorrow.

And on starry nights when there is much on his mind, I feel certain that Barack Obama will feel her all around him and seek her counsel once again.