Tag: Social Justice

Sermon: A Mighty River

We’re all in this together, which is a good thing. We all have a stake in the outcome, which means we all have a role in the solution; and there is a solution.  Amos teaches that God’s plan is for us to work together: caring for the poor, the hungry, the destitute, and the land; looking for the good, and rejecting the evil.

Amos and Dr. Martin Luther King present salvation in a way we don’t normally think about  … for them salvation is communal, not individual.  We cannot achieve salvation for ourselves if we allow our community, our nation, and its people, and our world, to suffer and die.

Please join me in prayer.  Lord God, may your peace and Holy Spirit fill this place. Open your scriptures to us, and may I clearly communicate that which you intend us to receive. May your Word take root and flourish within each and every one of us. And through it may we be strengthened and transformed by your unconditional, living, and limitless love for all of your Creation.

In Jesus Name, Amen.

The other day, my son and I saw a truck driving on Route 2. It was what is known as a stake body truck (I had to look that one up!): it has a flat bed with metal rails on each side, mounted on stakes.  It had a tailgate on the back, which is little unusual.  It was very old and had seen hard use: battered, bald tires. It was driven by an equally ancient man.  (As my son would say, he was even older than I am.)  The truck was filled with what looked to me like a huge pile of random tools, equipment, mysterious bags and boxes.

The bed of the truck tilted to one side at an alarming angle.  The broken tailgate was held on by a single ancient strap fastened across the back, tied to the rails on each side – which was a good thing because otherwise they would have collapsed into the road.

The driver had trouble keeping his truck in the lane.  I shudder to think of what would have happened in a sudden stop.  I could not believe he dared to drive it, let alone at highway speeds.  What was so important that he felt such a risk with all of his mysterious cargo was worth it?

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Thoughts on Gaza and the Israel/Palestine Conflict

Jesus taught that we must love The Other – no prerequisites, no limitations, no exceptions. That’s a very, very hard thing to do – especially in times like this. Yet, we must.

I have Jewish friends whom I deeply value and respect, just as I have Palestinian friends whom I equally value and respect. Many of these folks are friends and co-workers with each other, deeply committed to affirming the value of all human beings; regardless of nationality, race, creed, or political convictions.

The events of the past several months have been deeply troubling to my friends, as they have been to me.

They are appalled and deeply troubled by Hamas’s slaughter of innocent Jews and Palestinians in the October 7th attacks. Many of the dead, wounded, and missing are their own friends, families, and co-workers. People they knew. People they loved across the divisions and strife their own leaders and governments continue to nurture in the name of maintaining and expanding their own power.

But equally, they are angered by the Jewish Government & IDF’s response to that attack. Few deny that Israel has the right to defend itself, and that a forceful response to the Hamas attack is reasonable. But many question, as do I, the ferocity and breadth of that response. They are angered, as am I, by Israel’s willingness to sacrifice tens of thousands of innocent lives in its campaign to extinguish Hamas. …A fruitless and self-defeating endeavor I might add, as such violence and contempt will create more new militants and new enemies than it kills. People who will dedicate their lives to making Israel pay for what it has done, just as Israel is punishing all Palestinians for what Hamas has done.

The grievances and pain both sides have experienced both before and since October 7th is real and cannot be denied. I know people on both sides of that fence. They are deeply wounded by the decades of conflicts and injustice they’ve suffered, wounds they will never fully be healed-of.

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Sermon: “We Shall Overcome”

“…Our role is one of support, not leadership. We are not here to solve the problem, but to help make sure it is solved; not set aside, not weakened, not forgotten. We are not the light that chases away the shadows within which injustice thrives. We are a lens others use to focus and strengthen that light. We are here to be take part in the journey, not lead it.”

A Meditation on the “Great March on Washington” of August 28, 1963

Sermon Video:

Before I begin, I must thank Rev Gail Wright and her son, Peter Wright, for stepping in at the last minute once they knew of my need to isolate due to COVID exposure.  

I particularly wish to thank the Rev. Sarah Hubbell: Last week, while describing my struggles and thoughts as I prepared for this service, I mentioned that I’d found the materials my Father had saved from his witnessing of Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech at the finale of the Great March on Washington DC on August 28, 1963.

She pointed out that this month is the 60th Anniversary of that event.  So, now you know how the theme of today’s service came about. The music, hymns, scripture readings, and sermon are all connected with the events of that day.

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Starman Dreams

Our current economic and social imbalances rob people of their dreams, and it is dreams that we need to have hope for the future.  Our dreams embody our hopes; but if there is no hope then all we have is our nightmares.

The “Starman Tesla” we’ve all heard about in the news has caused quite a stir.  Elon Musk’s launching of his own personal Red Tesla Roadster into space with “Starman” – a Spacesuit-clad dummy – at the wheel has captured the imaginations of many, producing innumerable new internet memes.

On the other hand, a fair number of Progressives and those involved in social justice have pointed to this as a prime example of the imbalances in today’s economy and society.  They say that Billionaires like Elon Musk are throwing away money when they do things like this.  They feel that this is another example of how out of balance our society is – too much money at the top, and not enough for people to meet basic needs, even for many who once saw themselves as “middle class.”  And yet, going too far down that path can lead to error – as it did with Judas the Betrayer of Jesus.

Even so, they have a point: our society is out of balance.

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Going Too Far

Some thoughts regarding the push to get advertisers to drop sponsorship of Megan Kelly’s new show in advance of her first broadcast tonight, in which she interviews a conspiracy theorist who’s said some really vile things about Sandy Hook and its victims…

In a Huffingtonpost article, Emily Peck says…

“We unleashed this monster, and sometimes it’s a great weapon for social justice and sometimes it’s people censoring and sometimes it’s both.”

I know people who were very close to some of the Sandy Hook victims, and others who were deeply involved in ministering to the survivors. And so, I know that conspiracy theorists like the crass and hate-spewing blabbermouth Ms. Kelly interviewed (to be broadcast this evening) should not be given a chance by anyone, let alone competent journalists (of any political stripe) to spread their hateful and hurtful poison.

But I think the author of this article is right. Trying to shut down the broadcast of something, because we have PREJUDGED it to be abhorrent is censorship, and will ultimately do more harm than good. We don’t yet know how she will portray this guy or his message.

We can go too far, and this is such a case.

Political Reality

I’ve said this before, and it needs to be said again and again:

Some aspects of the GOP’s agenda, particularly with regards to economic policy and governance, have merit: reducing government bloat and overregulation are good goals; as is strengthening our manufacturing base and increasing our economic competitiveness.
 
I may disagree with some aspects of these goals, especially certain proposed implementations, but the basic ideas are sound. Making progress on these issues would be welcomed by many moderate Democrats and non-aligned voters, especially if implemented with some effort at building a common consensus with those outside the party. And many within the GOP, such as Senator McCain and even Dick Cheney have said exactly this.
 
However, the GOP’s blind spot is their assumption that they have been given a mandate to promote their social agenda and a pass on ignoring the influence of dark money and corruption in politics.  If they continue pushing on rolling back social reform and ignore the corruption issues (as they are actively doing), they’ll have a really tough time in the next election cycle – despite their extensive attempts at voter suppression and gerrymandering.
 
But Democrats be warned: American voters are determined to have a government that is focused on improving the situation of the middle class and the poor, and they see “dark money” and influence-buying as key obstacles to making that happen. I think it likely we’ll continue to see increasingly large, wild and ultimately destructive swings every few years from one party being given control to the other until both parties recognize this and do something about it.  Case in point: the current regime.

And let’s be perfectly clear on this: those of us who are devoted to the cause of social justice can never ignore the fact that people vote first with their wallets.  If we don’t provide the majority of people within this country with realistic hope for a stable and prosperous future, they will be adamant in their refusal to support any expansion of social justice that could be construed as taking away what little stability and hope they already have.  It doesn’t matter to them how right or just a particular cause may be: what matters is whether they have a roof over their own heads and food on the table for their own children.

That’s reality: deal with it.

– Pastor Allen

Copyright (c) 2017, Allen Vander Meulen III.
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A Message for All Ages: “Blue”

In this message, I showed this two minute video: “Blue” by Tech Insider.

The video shows us that a word for the color “Blue” usually develops much later in most languages than do words for “Black,” “White,” “Red,” “Green” or “Yellow.”  So, the question is “Can people without a word for ‘Blue’ in their language actually see the color we know as ‘Blue’?”  The video answers this question by presenting convincing evidence that people have great difficulty in distinguishing Blue from other colors when they have no word for Blue in their language.

This suggests several things – any one of which would be sufficient for a brief “Message for All Ages” – pick the one that suits your situation best…

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Hateful Speech vs. Hate Speech

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Bloomington
Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Bloomington, Illinois, March 13, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Young

There are two things of note in a recent article in the the LA Times about Students successfully rallying to Stop Trump’s recent scheduled appearance at the University of Illinois in Chicago.

The first is regarding the angry assertions of Trump and his supporters that their rights to “Free Speech” were violated because the rally was shut down. (Which, by the way, is despite Trump stating at the time that he agreed the rally had to be cancelled because safety must come first.)

We need to remember that there is a difference between “Hateful Speech” or “Angry Speech” and “Hate Speech.”

I may see someone’s stances on various issues as “hateful”, but that is my own opinion, based on how I see that particular issue. And, it is the Other’s right to have that opinion, a right I will defend on their behalf even though I may strongly disagree with their position. The same goes for “Angry Speech”: Anger is a valid emotion, and must be given space to be expressed. That it is present in a dialog is important: the Other’s anger must be acknowledged and appreciated as real and important.

It is important for such speech to be heard, even if we disagree with it. It is part of the fabric of a healthy Democracy.

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“Listen” (A Meditation on Anger and #BlackLivesMatter)

#BlackLivesMatter helps us see a universal truth: that unless we start treating all people as human beings, we will all loose our humanity. We may not die, but we will no longer live. … We must invest in each other if we are to succeed. Defeating those who oppose us only means we’ve defeated ourselves. The battle is within us, not against us, and not against them. To overcome the challenges we all face requires that we all change.

Bonito - MS - Foto: Pedro Serra - Leia mais em www.blogsemdestino.com
Statue of Michael Jackson in the favela of Santa Marta, on the outskirts of Rio De Janeiro; where Michael filmed the video for “They Don’t Care About Us” (directed by Spike Lee) in 1996.

There was anger in our Centering Music this morning (“They Don’t Care About Us” by Michael Jackson), a lot of anger.

Michael Jackson filmed that video in the slums surrounding Rio De Janiero; communities of the extreme poor, trapped there for generations with nowhere to go, no escape.

For decades the Brazilian government refused to extend utilities, sanitation, roads or even law enforcement into these slums. Ultimately, they moved their Capitol elsewhere, escaping the angry vigilance of the poor looking down upon them from the hills above. They are still there: filled with suffering and the anger of a people left behind, cast aside as worthless. We see in the video that their anger is powerful.

At this point in time, Michael Jackson was the object of tabloid ridicule and accusations of child molestation, strange behavior and weird habits. He’d been sued; arrested; strip searched. I am sure he identified with the people in these slums because he felt abandoned and alone, he was struggling to not die, just like them. But, not dying is not the same thing as living. Life is more than merely existence continued.

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Kim Davis and George Wallace

12002911_10153667860574255_5030704171055636376_nThe comparison made here to Jeffrey Dahmer is inappropriate and inflammatory in my mind, but one commenter on The Daily KOS’s Facebook post of this meme suggests that Davis is more like James Blake: the man who refused to drive the bus if Rosa Parks did not move- and who said of that event years later: “I wasn’t trying to do anything to that Parks woman except do my job. She was in violation of the city codes, so what was I supposed to do? That damn bus was full and she wouldn’t move back. I had my orders.”  He never repented, apparently.

According to the Wikipedia Bio of Gov. Wallace, what’s really interesting is that years later Wallace apologized to the Black Community, saying he was wrong to stand in that doorway to fight for segregation – that it had been born out of his lust for political power and influence, and that because of his conversion to Born Again Christianity later on (in the late 70’s), he now saw how wrong segregation is.

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Women Going Topless In Public???

I admire those who are pushing for equality in this area. It does make me feel uncomfortable, but that’s OK: change tends to make all of us uncomfortable. But we’ll survive, and we’ll adapt. Things will be just fine, and our society will once again prove itself to be much more resilient and adaptable and compassionate than we imagined.

topless_300This issue (as well as occasional pushes to legalize going entirely naked in public) has been in the news off and on for quite a while.

Now, intellectually, I recognize that going topless should not be an issue, regardless of gender, gender orientation or gender expression – and frankly, treating two groups of people differently because of something they have no control over always disturbs me: it just isn’t right.

On the other hand, this is a society that sexualizes women’s breasts; and – from an emotional perspective – the prudish old fogey in me recoils at the idea of actually seeing a woman’s bared breasts in public.

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Islam’s Real Face to Me

Yes. I have a number of Muslim friends as well. Once we come to know “The Other”, we often realize that the Evil Caricature we’ve painted of them portrays not the Evil within them, but the Evil within us.