I don't understand why you keep pushing your political views as a pastor. Whatever happened to the separation of church and state?
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This question is a combination of questions I have received lately, both in person and on-line. I'd like to make clear from the outset that I would like nothing better than to take a break from the politics. I was hoping to be done when the election came, and did manage to get a bit of a break as Trump secluded himself from the Press (though not Twitter) in the months that followed.
But in the bare handful of days since he took office, Trump has demanded my attention by being more diametrically opposed to the message of scripture than any President in history, and I do not say that lightly.
People are used to religion in politics being primarily issue driven. The most common example is abortion: churches in general have taken such a loud and heated voice on the issue that in many people's minds a candidates take on the issue determines whether or not they are a Christian candidate. I abhor that kind of thinking, not least because I am personally pro-choice.
If I had been a pastor during GWB's Presidency (alas, I was a mere college student/seminary student/intern during those years) things would have been different. I wouldn't have liked a lot of what he was doing, but it wouldn't have been a matter of everyday concern for me, certainly not the sort of thing I would have gone to war over every day. I disagreed with W on a lot of points, but for the most part they were ideological differences, not the sort of thing I would take to my pulpit because part of being a Presbyterian Pastor is a very strong awareness of our own sinful natures... I am not God, and just because I believe a thing doesn't make it true.
Which is why opposition to Donald Trump and his message of alternative truth, ie, just because he believes a thing means it IS true, is so important, the sort of thing I cannot stand down from, especially when people's lives are threatened by those actions.
Trump is not the first politician to lie, but I have never heard an administration so eager, when caught in a lie, to simply claim that all who disagree with them are the real liars, or to claim a concept such as alternative truth. But he claims the sun shone when it was clearly raining, that millions attended when the Mall was clearly empty, that Mexico will pay for a wall while proposing a tax that will be paid by Americans, and it becomes shockingly clear that truth has no place in the man's mind.
Trump is not the first politician to have a beef with refugees, but his thinly veiled Muslim ban (please don't argue with me on this one. The Ban on refugees affects Majority Muslim countries with the exception of their religious minorities, making it a ban on Muslim refugees.) is built on a claim of threat where the threat is wildly overblown, a boogey man to drive fear. A Christian is called to reject that fear, especially in the service of others.
Trump is not the first politician to have personal failings and skeletons in his closet, but he is the first where those failings are held up as virtues. His dishonest business practices are touted as "savvy," his tax dodging is touted as "smart," his treatment of women touted as "good ol' boy." And as his apparent hatred of Muslims inspires attack after attack of our Muslim population, as a Preacher my role becomes clear.
If Donald Trump ever does a thing that I think is in line with the values I am called to preach, I promise I will give him credit for it. But I have been paying very, very close attention and it hasn't happened yet.
As for separation of Church and State, the law requires that the State not give preference to any religion in it's law making. It doesn't say a darn thing about Pastor's speaking against the State so long as we do not try to make our churches arms of a political party. And I'm not. My opposition to Trump isn't about me being a Liberal or a Democrat, but about opposing behavior and policy so antithetical to everything I believe in.
In the meantime, as a Pastor, I will continue to advocate for minorities, for refugees, for the sick, for the wounded, for the prisoners, and for the downtrodden, as Christ commanded us to do. I will give that message to my people, to my family, and to anyone who will listen.
I get that people weary of the politics. As I said, I am, too. But the dangers posed by the Trump Presidency to the very concept of decency in the United States are clear. And I was hired to preach truth. If you don't want me to preach truth to the best of my ability, then you don't want me as your pastor.
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Tuesday, January 17, 2017
Don't Assume That You're The Hero
Folks who follow me in my various social media endeavors might have noticed that I never quoted Martin Luther King yesterday, nor did I share any memes that did so. There is a very simple reason for that... I don't think he's mine to quote.
I like to believe that, if I had been living and working when he was, that I'd have been an ally for him. But I can't be sure. I am accurately described as a moderate white protestant minister, a demographic frequently condemned by King as far too passive, hand wringing "allies" who were ultimately more hindrance than help to his cause.
It's nice to assume that if we were there when this stuff went down, we'd have been on the right side of history. But we are who we are because of where we stand in history, and looking at my own family in that point in time, I simply cannot assume that I would have seen the need to push for Civil Rights now, even if it came at the expense of public peace. I might have been an idle fretter, wringing my hands and urging people to just "get along."
I'll never know.
It's similar to the sentiment I get in Churches around Easter time, when everyone wants to cast themselves in the role of the allies who were horrified at Christ's death. It's nice to believe, but in the end, it seems far more likely that we'd have been among the ones shouting for him to be crucified.
There is far too much eagerness among white people in general to claim King as Their Hero. In the heated political climate of today, the spirit of King becomes co-opted as a patron saint of "the good Black Protester," with those perpetuating that image unaware of how the very thought is completely and totally racist.
Doctor Martin Luther King was a powerful figure precisely because he wasn't sweet and quiet. He was powerful, provocative, and impossible to ignore. If he were to suddenly be brought to today, if we got to meet, I'd hope he'd see who I am and how I work and consider me a victory of his movement.
If he is my hero, it is not in how he fought for Civil Rights, but rather in how he grabbed comfortable white moderates by the throat and DEMANDED that we stand for Justice, or stop calling ourselves his allies, a kick in the pants that I hope I am a small testimony to, even if the state of rhetoric from ministers today means he didn't entirely overcome old prejudices.
When it comes to Civil Rights, when it comes to how we protest and how minorities make their voices known, he does not belong to me, or any other white person, no matter what side of his battle lines we feel that we stand on. Because it is EASY to assume we'd stand with him.
But if we use him as a reason why others shouldn't stand, or as a metric to show that their standing is wrong, or even worse, to claim that there is no longer a need for people to stand at all... then we are, unequivocally, standing against him. And while that is our right, basic decency would demand that we not quote him as an ally while we do so.
I like to believe that, if I had been living and working when he was, that I'd have been an ally for him. But I can't be sure. I am accurately described as a moderate white protestant minister, a demographic frequently condemned by King as far too passive, hand wringing "allies" who were ultimately more hindrance than help to his cause.
It's nice to assume that if we were there when this stuff went down, we'd have been on the right side of history. But we are who we are because of where we stand in history, and looking at my own family in that point in time, I simply cannot assume that I would have seen the need to push for Civil Rights now, even if it came at the expense of public peace. I might have been an idle fretter, wringing my hands and urging people to just "get along."
I'll never know.
It's similar to the sentiment I get in Churches around Easter time, when everyone wants to cast themselves in the role of the allies who were horrified at Christ's death. It's nice to believe, but in the end, it seems far more likely that we'd have been among the ones shouting for him to be crucified.
There is far too much eagerness among white people in general to claim King as Their Hero. In the heated political climate of today, the spirit of King becomes co-opted as a patron saint of "the good Black Protester," with those perpetuating that image unaware of how the very thought is completely and totally racist.
Doctor Martin Luther King was a powerful figure precisely because he wasn't sweet and quiet. He was powerful, provocative, and impossible to ignore. If he were to suddenly be brought to today, if we got to meet, I'd hope he'd see who I am and how I work and consider me a victory of his movement.
If he is my hero, it is not in how he fought for Civil Rights, but rather in how he grabbed comfortable white moderates by the throat and DEMANDED that we stand for Justice, or stop calling ourselves his allies, a kick in the pants that I hope I am a small testimony to, even if the state of rhetoric from ministers today means he didn't entirely overcome old prejudices.
When it comes to Civil Rights, when it comes to how we protest and how minorities make their voices known, he does not belong to me, or any other white person, no matter what side of his battle lines we feel that we stand on. Because it is EASY to assume we'd stand with him.
But if we use him as a reason why others shouldn't stand, or as a metric to show that their standing is wrong, or even worse, to claim that there is no longer a need for people to stand at all... then we are, unequivocally, standing against him. And while that is our right, basic decency would demand that we not quote him as an ally while we do so.
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Reader Question- So What Do We Do Now?
I have had a small army of people ask that question, in one form or another, ever since the election. I've left them unanswered thus far because I really didn't know, either. There's no precedent for this, no historical guide we can follow. No President in HISTORY has ever been as underqualified as Trump, no President in history has ever been so defined by negativity as Trump, and no President in History has ever been as unPresidential as Trump.
It seems like every day we get new news of Trump's shocking behavior, and then, for those who read between the lines, we see the shocking behavior of Republicans in Congress whom I can only assume are using Trump's antics as a smokescreen. It is disheartening to say the least.
But as President Obama says Goodbye, it's time to move past the stages of grief, and into action, and here is what we do.
1- Ignore Trump. The greatest threats that Donald Trump poses are beyond our ability to control until the next election. This is NOT to say that he is harmless, far from it, but the biggest threat that Donald Trump poses is his amazing ability to command media time in one theater when our attention really should be in another. Trump is a Zaphod Beeblebrox... his job is not to hold power, but rather to distract attention from it.
2- Call your local politicians. Ask for statements. QUOTE those statements. Trump is untouchable to the average voter for four years, but congressmen and some Senators only for two. Let them know that we aren't watching the orange idiot, but rather them, and that when he is behaving like a child, we expect them to act like professionals, or they will be replaced.
3- Find Allies. I KNOW it seems like we're alone, but we're not. We're actually a majority, and more and more Republicans who voted for Trump for reasons beyond thinking he would make a good President are starting to regret those decisions. When you find a sympathetic ear from the other side of the aisle, try not to castigate them, but instead find the common ground (we are all in a terrible, terrible mess,) after all, and try to get them to join their voices to ours. They won't agree with you on many things, or even most things, but if we can agree that we have a calamity of a President and that Congress is behaving poorly behind him, that is enough to start with.
4- Don't waste your energy. We've all been in internet matches with people who wear blinders and sling angry memes rather than engage the conversation. Don't be one of them, and don't allow them to distract you. We can't browbeat people into being allies, and feeding the Trolls just gives them the jollies while wasting our time.
5- If/When the time comes, stand. I've said before that the worst part about Donald Trump, even more than his own crimes and the way he shields other politicians from scrutiny, is his effect on other people. The deplorables who use his election as an excuse to bully, or to sling hate at those they fear. When you see it happening, stand up to it. Defy it. Even if it is done with the flag of our government, defy it.
I hope it never comes to that. I hope the voices of Sanity in the GOP will join the Democrats in protecting Americans regardless of race, creed, or ideology. We just spent eight years under a President who was dedicated to justice, and it was nice. But the executive branch is now, at best, worthless to us.
So if it happens, we will have to stand ourselves.
It seems like every day we get new news of Trump's shocking behavior, and then, for those who read between the lines, we see the shocking behavior of Republicans in Congress whom I can only assume are using Trump's antics as a smokescreen. It is disheartening to say the least.
But as President Obama says Goodbye, it's time to move past the stages of grief, and into action, and here is what we do.
1- Ignore Trump. The greatest threats that Donald Trump poses are beyond our ability to control until the next election. This is NOT to say that he is harmless, far from it, but the biggest threat that Donald Trump poses is his amazing ability to command media time in one theater when our attention really should be in another. Trump is a Zaphod Beeblebrox... his job is not to hold power, but rather to distract attention from it.
2- Call your local politicians. Ask for statements. QUOTE those statements. Trump is untouchable to the average voter for four years, but congressmen and some Senators only for two. Let them know that we aren't watching the orange idiot, but rather them, and that when he is behaving like a child, we expect them to act like professionals, or they will be replaced.
3- Find Allies. I KNOW it seems like we're alone, but we're not. We're actually a majority, and more and more Republicans who voted for Trump for reasons beyond thinking he would make a good President are starting to regret those decisions. When you find a sympathetic ear from the other side of the aisle, try not to castigate them, but instead find the common ground (we are all in a terrible, terrible mess,) after all, and try to get them to join their voices to ours. They won't agree with you on many things, or even most things, but if we can agree that we have a calamity of a President and that Congress is behaving poorly behind him, that is enough to start with.
4- Don't waste your energy. We've all been in internet matches with people who wear blinders and sling angry memes rather than engage the conversation. Don't be one of them, and don't allow them to distract you. We can't browbeat people into being allies, and feeding the Trolls just gives them the jollies while wasting our time.
5- If/When the time comes, stand. I've said before that the worst part about Donald Trump, even more than his own crimes and the way he shields other politicians from scrutiny, is his effect on other people. The deplorables who use his election as an excuse to bully, or to sling hate at those they fear. When you see it happening, stand up to it. Defy it. Even if it is done with the flag of our government, defy it.
I hope it never comes to that. I hope the voices of Sanity in the GOP will join the Democrats in protecting Americans regardless of race, creed, or ideology. We just spent eight years under a President who was dedicated to justice, and it was nice. But the executive branch is now, at best, worthless to us.
So if it happens, we will have to stand ourselves.
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