What would make a young boy hang himself? Or another teenage boy shoot himself in a closet? Or another one jump to his death from the George Washington Bridge?
Bullying. Taunting. Distributing a secret video recording via the internet showing a young male violinist having sex with another man.
The stories are mounting in the media, and people are scratching their heads, holding back tears as they try to make sense out of the senseless deaths of four young people, all male and all either declared or rumored to be gay. Sex advice columnist Dan Savage has started a campaign to counteract the nagging negative inner voices that loop in the minds of most kids who are struggling with their sexual identities. "It gets better," promises Savage, and many others who have posted their stories on his YouTube channel. The message: tough out middle and high school because you have much more to live for than to die for.
I agree with Dan Savage. As I've said, I am one who stood on the edge of that abyss and by the grace of God and with the timely help of human intervention by a school chaplain... I'm alive. If you can make it out of those turbulent teenage years, you will be in a much better place and able to silence the negative voices inside your head.
But what about those on the outside of your being? The ones who are fueling the fire of negativity in your brain and are hell-bent on crushing your spirit... if not your skull? Folks are rightly angry that more isn't being done to stop the bullying that goes on in schools. Shouldn't bullies be stopped and made to suffer consequences of picking on other children?
Well, you would think that's true. But then how can we hold our schools and children to a standard that the rest of polite society refuses to obey? In Michigan, an assistant attorney general is hounding and using cyber bullying tactics on the openly-gay student body president Chris Armstrong at the University of Michigan. This legal cretin has a blog where he has posted the young man's picture with a rainbow flag and a swastika. His beratement and over-fascination for this UM student is bullying. And yet Andrew Shirvell's boss, the AG for the state of Michigan, refuses to fire this guy! Even though he is a lawyer... and breaking the law by harassing a citizen. Is that different than the kid who defaces a classmate's locker?
Or how 'bout if we consider Archbishop Rowan Williams' statements to the Times, where he says that the issue of inclusion of gay and lesbian people in the episcopate of the church has become "a wound in the whole ministry." "The cost to the Church overall has been too great," according to Williams. This is the titular head of the Anglican Communion which includes lots and lots of LGBT people! As I have noted HERE and HERE on this blog, the more that a person of Williams' office makes statements that belittle LGBT people, the more he is aiding and abetting the rampant homophobia that feeds the lust for bullying blood on the streets of the U.S.A., Europe and, especially, Africa. How is what the Archbishop doing really that different than the pug-nosed thug hurling insults at a gay kid on campus?
Or what of the voters of states such as Florida? Sixty-one percent decided in 2008 to add a definition of marriage into our state's constitution that had one purpose in mind: ban LGBT people from seeking a marriage license or the substantial equivalent thereof. When more than half the people stick it to a single class of people, what message does that send to those kids who realize that they are part of the ranks of the second-class citizenry. And what did that vote do? Did the bullies not then immediately file to challenge Gainesville's human rights ordinance on the ballot?! Thankfully, the voters there didn't join in on the bullying. But it was another campaign, another opportunity for our opponents to dehumanize us in advertisements. Is that really so different from videotaping your roommate having intimate relations... and disseminating the images over the internet?
Of course, there are differences. But my point is that all of these acts that we find offensive have deeper roots in our society that send the message that all people are created equal... except for "those people". The fact that these others are allowed to exist sends a subtle endorsement to the bullies to keep it up 'cuz they'll help rid the schools, the church, the society of "those people". One suicide at a time.
***********************************************************************************
For an excellent commentary on Rowan Williams' statements this week, please read Rev. Canon Susan Russell's blog HERE.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Archbishop Puts His Foot In It... Again
I received in my inbox the commentary from Integrity's Executive Director Max Niedzwiecki on the latest round of "Rowan, Would You Please Shut Up." The Archbishop is quoted in The Times as saying...
Niedzwiecki points out the obvious double-standard the Archbishop has set in this statement. Rowan Williams has a particular choice of life, a partnership, with Mrs. Williams. But that relationship isn't questioned because... well, y'know... it's heterosexual... and approved of by the majority. There is something deeply disturbing to me about people who will require the vocation of celibacy of other people, but not put on that burden themselves. Really, Archbishop: how can you be so un-Christlike?
I have talked about reposting my entry, Uniquely Eunuch, from last November. Now would seem to be a good time:
His disciples said to him, "If such such is the case for a man and his wife it is better not to marry." But he said to them, "Not everyone can accept this teaching, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of Heaven. Let anyone accept this who can."--Matthew 19: 9-12
This passage was in yesterday's gospel, and raises an interesting point for me. Eunuchs, who were in many ways "the other" in the First Century world, were the ones who were not to marry but rather to serve as attendants to a harem. They may have been people with same-sex attraction; they may have been people who were asexual. But, as noted above, Jesus' discussion of eunuchs indicates that some were "born that way", some were made eunuchs by others (possibly a physical castration done in war or by force) and then there were those who chose not to marry "for the sake of the kingdom of Heaven" and thus remained celibate. In any case, there are some who see this mention as Jesus talking about the existence of lesbian and gay people and they note that he doesn't dismiss them. I would take this another step to say that Jesus not only observes the existence of lesbian and gays, but this may also be noting the presence of the transgender community of this Greco-Roman world.
All that aside, my attention to this passage was on the last type of eunuch, the one who is celibate, done so for "the sake of the kingdom of Heaven." I suppose this is where the Roman Catholic Church has gotten the idea that priests need to abstain from sexual relations. And in some quarters of the Episcopal Church, this same demand is made on lesbian and gay people in the priesthood. The rationale given for this demand is that we queer people, if we are going to serve God and the People of God, must remain chaste, celibate, asexual, "other-worldly" beings because sexual relations are only permissible within the bonds of a "Christian marriage". And since in some places (Florida!) marriage is now constitutionally-barred by the state, any gay person called to the priesthood must also take a vow of celibacy. And in the eyes of the Church, and lots of other heterosexual human beings, the only way to know that a gay person is celibate is for them to remain single. No living with another person of the same gender or nothing. Single. Alone.
I recently read the thinking of a Presbyterian minister who, after much praying, has come to realize that this effort in his own church to subvert God's will of having gay people in the pulpit is, well, un-Godly. He made a great observation about the beginning of time... aka Genesis... and what was happening in the second version of the creation story. Yes, God made Adam and Eve. And that's been a favorite of all homophobes in the church. But the reason God made Eve was because of a recognition that no human should live alone. God starts by trying to give Adam animals and birds of the air etc., but none of them were quite the partner that Adam needed. And so we get Eve. But the point this man was making is that to expect human beings to live alone without a partner in this world is cruel. God will always be with us to the end of the age, but humans need companionship on earth as well as in heaven! And given the demands placed upon priests and ministers, having a partner in life may be the one thing that helps keep them centered.
To become a eunuch "for the sake of the kingdom of Heaven", from what I read in Christ's words, is a special vocation. So, does that mean that the only gay people God will call to the priesthood are these uniquely eunuch people? I somehow doubt that. I somehow doubt that the same God, who chose a con man like Jacob and whose son claims his lineage to be that of King David, the adulterer, and who had prostitutes saving scores of people from death and destruction in the Old Testament would only pick the "purest of the pure" the "spotless and without blemish" of the LGBT community to become leaders. Certainly, if a person can and is willing to be celibate, that's great and it certainly would make all the straight people much happier. And isn't that what the celibacy demand is all about? Making straight people comfortable?
"[T]here's no problem about a gay person who's a bishop. It's about the fact that there are traditionally, historically, standards that the clergy are expected to observe." According to the Archbishop, gay and lesbian people are just fine – but unless they abstain from sex with members of their own sex, they should not be bishops.The Archbishop goes on to say that "The question about gay people is not about their dignity or the respect they deserve as gay people, it's a question about a particular choice of life, a partnership, and what the church has to say about that.”
Niedzwiecki points out the obvious double-standard the Archbishop has set in this statement. Rowan Williams has a particular choice of life, a partnership, with Mrs. Williams. But that relationship isn't questioned because... well, y'know... it's heterosexual... and approved of by the majority. There is something deeply disturbing to me about people who will require the vocation of celibacy of other people, but not put on that burden themselves. Really, Archbishop: how can you be so un-Christlike?
I have talked about reposting my entry, Uniquely Eunuch, from last November. Now would seem to be a good time:
His disciples said to him, "If such such is the case for a man and his wife it is better not to marry." But he said to them, "Not everyone can accept this teaching, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of Heaven. Let anyone accept this who can."--Matthew 19: 9-12
This passage was in yesterday's gospel, and raises an interesting point for me. Eunuchs, who were in many ways "the other" in the First Century world, were the ones who were not to marry but rather to serve as attendants to a harem. They may have been people with same-sex attraction; they may have been people who were asexual. But, as noted above, Jesus' discussion of eunuchs indicates that some were "born that way", some were made eunuchs by others (possibly a physical castration done in war or by force) and then there were those who chose not to marry "for the sake of the kingdom of Heaven" and thus remained celibate. In any case, there are some who see this mention as Jesus talking about the existence of lesbian and gay people and they note that he doesn't dismiss them. I would take this another step to say that Jesus not only observes the existence of lesbian and gays, but this may also be noting the presence of the transgender community of this Greco-Roman world.
All that aside, my attention to this passage was on the last type of eunuch, the one who is celibate, done so for "the sake of the kingdom of Heaven." I suppose this is where the Roman Catholic Church has gotten the idea that priests need to abstain from sexual relations. And in some quarters of the Episcopal Church, this same demand is made on lesbian and gay people in the priesthood. The rationale given for this demand is that we queer people, if we are going to serve God and the People of God, must remain chaste, celibate, asexual, "other-worldly" beings because sexual relations are only permissible within the bonds of a "Christian marriage". And since in some places (Florida!) marriage is now constitutionally-barred by the state, any gay person called to the priesthood must also take a vow of celibacy. And in the eyes of the Church, and lots of other heterosexual human beings, the only way to know that a gay person is celibate is for them to remain single. No living with another person of the same gender or nothing. Single. Alone.
I recently read the thinking of a Presbyterian minister who, after much praying, has come to realize that this effort in his own church to subvert God's will of having gay people in the pulpit is, well, un-Godly. He made a great observation about the beginning of time... aka Genesis... and what was happening in the second version of the creation story. Yes, God made Adam and Eve. And that's been a favorite of all homophobes in the church. But the reason God made Eve was because of a recognition that no human should live alone. God starts by trying to give Adam animals and birds of the air etc., but none of them were quite the partner that Adam needed. And so we get Eve. But the point this man was making is that to expect human beings to live alone without a partner in this world is cruel. God will always be with us to the end of the age, but humans need companionship on earth as well as in heaven! And given the demands placed upon priests and ministers, having a partner in life may be the one thing that helps keep them centered.
To become a eunuch "for the sake of the kingdom of Heaven", from what I read in Christ's words, is a special vocation. So, does that mean that the only gay people God will call to the priesthood are these uniquely eunuch people? I somehow doubt that. I somehow doubt that the same God, who chose a con man like Jacob and whose son claims his lineage to be that of King David, the adulterer, and who had prostitutes saving scores of people from death and destruction in the Old Testament would only pick the "purest of the pure" the "spotless and without blemish" of the LGBT community to become leaders. Certainly, if a person can and is willing to be celibate, that's great and it certainly would make all the straight people much happier. And isn't that what the celibacy demand is all about? Making straight people comfortable?
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Does Reading the Bible Lead to Atheism?
An article in today's New York Times about the public's collective ignorance about religion has a quote from Dave Silverman of American Atheists, a group started by Madalyn Murray O'Hair. Atheists and agnostics scored best on this Pew survey about religion, which Silverman said should come as no big surprise:
The quote is funny, but I disagree. If Mr. Silverman gave his daughter a Bible and said, "G'wan now. Read it!" then, to be blunt, he's an idiot. Have you ever tried to read the Bible? The Old Testament is a mish-mash of multiple takes on the same incidents (I mean, there are two creation stories... two flood stories...) and the gospels are like reading midrash of the Old Testament, and letters that people attributed to Paul weren't really Paul's in some cases... in other words, it's not the best cold read in the world.
I think what the survey really shows is how woefully ignorant people are of their own religious history, and how happy the Church has been to keep them that way. When I was a child growing up in the Episcopal Church, there was no encouragement from clergy to ask questions. If I did ask a question, I was told I was asking "the wrong question." (whatever that meant!) Bishop Gene Robinson, before he became part of the episcopate, was an exception. He delighted in being asked by this punkish teenager, "Where did God come from?" Answer: "I don't know, but I believe any way."
Now, as an adult, I ask lots of questions. And nobody's afraid to have the questions asked. And more of the priests readily say, "I don't know." There seems to be more encouragement, at least within the Episcopal Church, for people to learn and engage their brains in theology. I think that's why programs such as Education for Ministry have such a great following: in-depth study of what lies behind the writings of the Old and New Testament, the growing pains and sibling rivalries of church history, and the thinking and crafting of doctrine and philosophy of the church. If Pew had surveyed a student of EfM, I think they would have been pleasantly surprised at what these Christians know about Christianity... not to mention other religions of the world.
Probably more important to the church is not necessarily that people know that Martin Luther's writings fired up the Protestant Reformation. If they do know that, do they know what it was in those writings that led to him breaking away from Roman Catholicism's doctrine? That might be more important. And, as Christians, do they understand the call of Jesus to "love one another as I have loved you"? Do they know how far and wide that reach extends in all directions from their being? Do they know the taste of freedom that comes through the resurrection of Christ, and not just the pains of the nails at crucifixion? Those are concepts and ideas that seem to me far more important for your average self-identified Christian to know than factoids about the religious identification of Mother Teresa.
Perhaps if atheists met a few more Christians who lived closer to the source of their faith and responded to the world from that place of faith, then atheism might not seem so "rad" after all. It's not the Bible that makes people atheists: it's the hypocrisy of so-called Christians that does that!
“Atheism is an effect of that knowledge, not a lack of knowledge. I gave a Bible to my daughter. That’s how you make atheists.”
The quote is funny, but I disagree. If Mr. Silverman gave his daughter a Bible and said, "G'wan now. Read it!" then, to be blunt, he's an idiot. Have you ever tried to read the Bible? The Old Testament is a mish-mash of multiple takes on the same incidents (I mean, there are two creation stories... two flood stories...) and the gospels are like reading midrash of the Old Testament, and letters that people attributed to Paul weren't really Paul's in some cases... in other words, it's not the best cold read in the world.
I think what the survey really shows is how woefully ignorant people are of their own religious history, and how happy the Church has been to keep them that way. When I was a child growing up in the Episcopal Church, there was no encouragement from clergy to ask questions. If I did ask a question, I was told I was asking "the wrong question." (whatever that meant!) Bishop Gene Robinson, before he became part of the episcopate, was an exception. He delighted in being asked by this punkish teenager, "Where did God come from?" Answer: "I don't know, but I believe any way."
Now, as an adult, I ask lots of questions. And nobody's afraid to have the questions asked. And more of the priests readily say, "I don't know." There seems to be more encouragement, at least within the Episcopal Church, for people to learn and engage their brains in theology. I think that's why programs such as Education for Ministry have such a great following: in-depth study of what lies behind the writings of the Old and New Testament, the growing pains and sibling rivalries of church history, and the thinking and crafting of doctrine and philosophy of the church. If Pew had surveyed a student of EfM, I think they would have been pleasantly surprised at what these Christians know about Christianity... not to mention other religions of the world.
Probably more important to the church is not necessarily that people know that Martin Luther's writings fired up the Protestant Reformation. If they do know that, do they know what it was in those writings that led to him breaking away from Roman Catholicism's doctrine? That might be more important. And, as Christians, do they understand the call of Jesus to "love one another as I have loved you"? Do they know how far and wide that reach extends in all directions from their being? Do they know the taste of freedom that comes through the resurrection of Christ, and not just the pains of the nails at crucifixion? Those are concepts and ideas that seem to me far more important for your average self-identified Christian to know than factoids about the religious identification of Mother Teresa.
Perhaps if atheists met a few more Christians who lived closer to the source of their faith and responded to the world from that place of faith, then atheism might not seem so "rad" after all. It's not the Bible that makes people atheists: it's the hypocrisy of so-called Christians that does that!
Monday, September 27, 2010
Communion with Cuba
St. John's, like all the diocese of Florida, offers prayers each week for our companion diocese in Cuba. So it was a treat to have the Bishop Coadjutor present and assisting with us during our services yesterday. Rt. Rev. Griselda Delgado Del Carpio spoke through an interpreter during the announcements and offered a post-communion blessing to a parish that regularly sends a team of people each summer to do mission work with San Pedro Apostal in Zorilla, Cuba. She is a rarity in the Latin world; there only five women in priestly orders in the Episcopal Church of Cuba to the 26 men. The purpose of her visit was to strengthen ties between the church here and there
. It was an honor to serve at the altar with her yesterday. And (check it out) our Mother Phoebe is back from Down Under. So the women were definitely visible during yesterday's services.The additional plus was that the Tallahassee Democrat sent a reporter and a photographer to the 9am service; thus landing St. John's on the front page of the newspaper with some positive press for a change! Naturally, the knuckledraggers who post comments on the Democrat's website are all aghast at the idea of a woman bishop, women priests, women with brains, women in general. Good thing our guest of honor doesn't get the Democrat!
Sunday, September 26, 2010
It DOES Get Better
I have always been an introvert. And I have always been gay. But I struggled against that identity when I was attending Governor Dummer Academy in the mid-1980s. Being gay at a New England prep school of only 360 students was too risky, and would have resulted in ostracism. But it didn't matter. Even though I wasn't out, other students could read the signs on my being and I became a target for comments, and crab apples being hurled at me as I walked on campus. It didn't take long for that abuse, coupled with my innate quiet nature and other external factors, to feed into creating the dark cavernous space in my psyche of suicide. Death seemed the only answer. As I wrote at that time:
When living means nothing
And there is no escape from the misery,
You have to take your life
Into your own hands.
I survived that void, thanks to an act of God and the kindness of a school chaplain. Not every kid is so lucky.
And so hats off to Dan Savage for a brilliant and necessary YouTube campaign to help save LGBT teen-agers from taking their own lives.
Savage is calling on adults who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender to take a few moments with a video camera and let the next generation know that they remember the difficulties and trauma of being different in middle and high school... and they lived to get to where they are today,a place infinitely bigger, brighter and better than those troublesome teen aged years. Savage, a newspaper columnist and gay activist, was inspired to start this online video campaign because of the report of yet-another 15-year-old, Billy Lucas in Indiana, committing suicide because of relentless taunting and harassment from his classmates. As a student at Billy's school told one of the local TV stations:
"They said stuff like 'you're a piece of crap' and 'you don't deserve to live'. Different things like that. Talked about how he was gay or whatever."
Yeah, whatever!
The frustration for those of us who are adults, and have (thankfully!) left high school behind, is that we know there are hundreds of Billy Lucas' out there who just need to have an intervention... like my school chaplain... who will be there when they feel that the light of their lives needs to be snuffed out in order to deal with their difference. Sadly, unless we have a personal stake (read: parent), our motivations for approaching the schools are suspect (read: molestation.... or ye ol' 'conversion' argument, a favorite of homophobes). But the internet, and YouTube, gives us an avenue to reach kids in communities both local and international to let them see us, hear us, know our story, and see that we're still standing... and able to go back to our 25th high school reunions! (If we care to see those folks again!)
Here is Dan Savage with his husband, Terry, discussing their story. Please share this information using the "Share" buttons at the bottom of this blog. And if you have a video camera, grab it, and film your story of survival of the truly fittest and grittiest... and let a kid know, "It Gets Better!"
When living means nothing
And there is no escape from the misery,
You have to take your life
Into your own hands.
I survived that void, thanks to an act of God and the kindness of a school chaplain. Not every kid is so lucky.
And so hats off to Dan Savage for a brilliant and necessary YouTube campaign to help save LGBT teen-agers from taking their own lives.
Savage is calling on adults who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender to take a few moments with a video camera and let the next generation know that they remember the difficulties and trauma of being different in middle and high school... and they lived to get to where they are today,a place infinitely bigger, brighter and better than those troublesome teen aged years. Savage, a newspaper columnist and gay activist, was inspired to start this online video campaign because of the report of yet-another 15-year-old, Billy Lucas in Indiana, committing suicide because of relentless taunting and harassment from his classmates. As a student at Billy's school told one of the local TV stations:
"They said stuff like 'you're a piece of crap' and 'you don't deserve to live'. Different things like that. Talked about how he was gay or whatever."
Yeah, whatever!
The frustration for those of us who are adults, and have (thankfully!) left high school behind, is that we know there are hundreds of Billy Lucas' out there who just need to have an intervention... like my school chaplain... who will be there when they feel that the light of their lives needs to be snuffed out in order to deal with their difference. Sadly, unless we have a personal stake (read: parent), our motivations for approaching the schools are suspect (read: molestation.... or ye ol' 'conversion' argument, a favorite of homophobes). But the internet, and YouTube, gives us an avenue to reach kids in communities both local and international to let them see us, hear us, know our story, and see that we're still standing... and able to go back to our 25th high school reunions! (If we care to see those folks again!)
Here is Dan Savage with his husband, Terry, discussing their story. Please share this information using the "Share" buttons at the bottom of this blog. And if you have a video camera, grab it, and film your story of survival of the truly fittest and grittiest... and let a kid know, "It Gets Better!"
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Wealthy Expectations
If you are of the "have" set, you might get a little uncomfortable with this next bit from Luke's gospel and on the menu for most Anglican and Catholic churches tomorrow morning.
"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Laz'arus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man's table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Laz'arus by his side. He called out, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Laz'arus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.' But Abraham said, "Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Laz'arus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.'--Luke 16:19-27a
This is not the end of the gospel reading, but I'm going to interrupt here. There is the obvious message here about the rich vs. the poor... or as I started with framing this discussion: the haves versus' the have-nots. But as I read the parable of the rich man and poor Lazarus, I see in our current world even more than just the rich being willfully oblivious to the poor people sitting at the edge of their gated communities. "Poor" people today could be more than the homeless; the middle and working classes are increasingly falling behind. To me, this parable is also speaking to how those with any kind of privilege can become so attached to their comfort that they are unable to see the disparities and the suffering of those around them. That blindness leads to taking it for granted that everyone has the same access to the perks. Certainly, I have run into this with straight friends who don't understand such simple truths of my life such as my lack of health insurance. "Your partner works for the state. Can't you be on her plan?" Ummm... no, because the state refuses to recognize our relationship so the insurance companies don't either!
Ahh... but I've interrupted this gospel lesson... let's see what else the rich man asks of Abraham and Laz'arus...
He said, "Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father's house-- for I have five brothers--that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.' Abraham replied, "They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.' He said, "No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' He said to him, "If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'"--Luke 16: 27b-31
Ouch!!! If they wouldn't listen to Moses and the prophets of old... do you think they'll listen and hear the warnings issued by one who rises from the dead (in the story, that would be Laz'arus... but this would also seem to reference Jesus)? Moral of the story: if you are of the "have" set, there is no time like the present to get with the program and share what you have with those who have not!
"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Laz'arus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man's table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Laz'arus by his side. He called out, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Laz'arus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.' But Abraham said, "Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Laz'arus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.'--Luke 16:19-27a
This is not the end of the gospel reading, but I'm going to interrupt here. There is the obvious message here about the rich vs. the poor... or as I started with framing this discussion: the haves versus' the have-nots. But as I read the parable of the rich man and poor Lazarus, I see in our current world even more than just the rich being willfully oblivious to the poor people sitting at the edge of their gated communities. "Poor" people today could be more than the homeless; the middle and working classes are increasingly falling behind. To me, this parable is also speaking to how those with any kind of privilege can become so attached to their comfort that they are unable to see the disparities and the suffering of those around them. That blindness leads to taking it for granted that everyone has the same access to the perks. Certainly, I have run into this with straight friends who don't understand such simple truths of my life such as my lack of health insurance. "Your partner works for the state. Can't you be on her plan?" Ummm... no, because the state refuses to recognize our relationship so the insurance companies don't either!
Ahh... but I've interrupted this gospel lesson... let's see what else the rich man asks of Abraham and Laz'arus...
He said, "Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father's house-- for I have five brothers--that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.' Abraham replied, "They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.' He said, "No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' He said to him, "If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'"--Luke 16: 27b-31
Ouch!!! If they wouldn't listen to Moses and the prophets of old... do you think they'll listen and hear the warnings issued by one who rises from the dead (in the story, that would be Laz'arus... but this would also seem to reference Jesus)? Moral of the story: if you are of the "have" set, there is no time like the present to get with the program and share what you have with those who have not!
Expand that out: if you are in a class of people who currently enjoy power, clout, wealth of any kind... how are you using that wealth you have? Are you keeping it for yourself and storing up more and more here on this earth? Or are you using what you have to effect real change for the betterment of all people?
Paul notes in his letter to Timothy:
...there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.--1 Timothy 6: 6-10
Pains that, according to the gospel, can lead to eternal thirst and life on the perpetual hot seat! I am not trying to glorify the poor: being a have-not of any kind is a crappy place to be, and I think it is wrongheaded to read these words from Scripture as "Don't worry, you poor and downtrodden masses. You'll get your reward when you're dead and singing with the Heavenly chorus." I don't think the message is for the poor. It is for the rich. Your wealth comes with an expectation, and there is a price for being oblivious. So, stewards of wealth, what are you going to do with all that you have?
Paul notes in his letter to Timothy:
...there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.--1 Timothy 6: 6-10
Pains that, according to the gospel, can lead to eternal thirst and life on the perpetual hot seat! I am not trying to glorify the poor: being a have-not of any kind is a crappy place to be, and I think it is wrongheaded to read these words from Scripture as "Don't worry, you poor and downtrodden masses. You'll get your reward when you're dead and singing with the Heavenly chorus." I don't think the message is for the poor. It is for the rich. Your wealth comes with an expectation, and there is a price for being oblivious. So, stewards of wealth, what are you going to do with all that you have?
More on the Adoption Ruling
This is an article from the view point of Frank Gill, one-half of the couple that has been raising two foster boys and wanting to adopt them. Have the Kleenex handy!
State officials in Florida are still weighing what they will do now that the Third District Court of Appeals in Miami has upheld the lower court ruling. Governor Charlie Crist doesn't want to fight this case any more. The state Department of Children and Families, while still mulling over the options, has already issued a memo to all its offices to no longer ask about the sexual orientation of a prospective adoptive parent. Newspaper blogs and editorials are celebrating the thought that Florida has taken a step toward the 21st Century. It would seem that if Attorney General Bill McCollum is listening to his client, the client is sending signals that clearly state: "Enough!"
Meanwhile, Republicans such as gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott are denouncing the court ruling. Scott doesn't believe in "single sex adoption". And Republican members of the state legislature are expressing their displeasure with the court as well. Will they attempt to pass a constitutional amendment drawn to a stricter standard than just a simple blanket ban on gays adopting kids?
I hope not!
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