Not Surprised!

Why am I not surprised?

In our first crisis, the Revolution, a good chunk of the "nation" chose to stay with Great Britain.

In our second crisis, the Civil War, a good chunk of the nation wanted to undo it, in order to keep slavery.

In our third crisis, the Great Depression, a good chunk of the nation hated FDR, hated SS, hated everything and anything government did for the people.

Now, in our fourth crisis, a good chunk of the nation still wants a king, desperately wants to keep POC in "their place," and despises the government doing anything for anyone - except the rich and white evangelicals.

I'm not surprised ...

But it's very disappointing!

That in all the 400 years we've been in formation, we've not moved beyond this division, that a good chunk of the nation is still more than happy to undo the nation in order to create their version of a "free land" - harsh, violent, white, evangelical, non-cooperative, militaristic, and aggressive.

Not surprising, but so very disappointing.

Some Early Morning Thoughts

Some early morning thoughts ...

The fog lays a gentle hand on the land.
There's quietness afoot.

.......

I've never seen a herd of lemmings
heading toward the cliff.
Must be fascinating.
Every horrifying.

No, I've never seen lemmings doing this.
But I've watched the
American People,
As of late.

.....

Heck, who can blame the 1% for resisting social change?
Who can blame the English Aristocracy for telling
Everyone that the way things were was
God's design.

With a household full of servants.
Grounds tended by gardeners.
Carriages managed by those in liveried finest.
Nannies, cooks, and sycophants.

And much of the Church of England in their corner.
"Thus saith the LORD ..."
And all that poppycock.
Intoned so richly.

Church Advertising

Driving by a non-denominational church the other day, with its typical slogans of “welcome” and “enjoy,” “casual and contemporary,” “a church for people who don’t have a church,” it occurred to me that “non-denominational” churches have to advertise, and all advertising has to appeal to the worst within us - our self-serving instincts.

Places like Willow Creek (at least in the past) refused to advertise, relying only on word of mouth and the personal lives of its members.

In the past, denominational churches didn’t have to advertise, either. Yet, here we can say, they relied on “cultural connections” as much as on word-of-mouth and the personal lives of their members.

Whatever the situation, how much better if all churches quit advertising, other than a name out front, and perhaps a simple word of hope or praise. 

The church in America has to cease appealing to the worst instincts of self-help, self-aggrandizement, self-love and America’s endless quest for personal satisfaction, achievement, youth, beautiful hair and shiny white teeth. 

Infantile at best, demonic at worst, these instincts can never produce a healthy Christian, but only those who claim the name of Jesus for their own personal journey, to maximize the gains of this life and to finally get to heaven when it’s all done, leaving behind an changed world, a world that has been shopped and used, but never loved, and never once given the care mandated by Genesis 1 & 2 and Genesis 12 … not to mention the call of the prophets for justice, kindness and humility. 

Southern Religion - Some Unpleasant Observations

Having lived and pastored in W.Va and in Ok, I'm well aware of the "violent pulpit" - the cajoling, the threatening, the hellfire and brimstone, the laws and the punishments.


 It enters into the air folks breath and the water they drink ... along with the lack of unions and good pay, the terrible racism that still plagues so many areas, poor public education, too many private schools, and home-schooling, a love of the military and guns, too many young girls having too many children (no birth control and no abortion), a male sexual ethic out of whack and subservient women, a god-controls-all-things mentality that shrinks human responsibility, a punishing god who's going to kill the enemy and send 'em all packing to hell, forever; and a religion that's all about being saved, baptized and going to heaven, with a god who killed his own son for the sake of something good. Sorry to go on and on, but Southern religion is, for me, mostly a dysfunction.


This note was written into some questions raised about a recent assessment of the most violent states in America - click HERE to read.