Reflecting on a Dream...

This weekend across the United States - churches, civil organizations and non-profits will provide various opportunities to celebrate and honor the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  Dr. King is a spiritual hero of mine, and having been inducted into the (MLK) Board of Preachers at Morehouse College in 2009 remains a humbling honor and thrilling highlight of my life.  

One of the ways I've traditionally celebrated MLK Day has been to attend the local MLK Celebration at one of the larger African American churches in town.  They hold an annual festival, traditionally broadcasted on local public radio.  It is an all day gospel extravaganza featuring amazing music, speeches and special presentations.  I truly enjoy it.  

However, I am not sure that I'll attend this year.  Due to a flurry of recent events I've begun to reflect even more deeply on Dr. King's Dream and how we celebrate it today.  I recently learned that the minister of the church that puts on this event has been reported to have included anti-gay messages in his sermons.  The news came on the heels of my heavy involvement in posting comments on a series of blogs about the role of the Black Church regarding fight for Equal Rights in the LGBTQ community.  

It all started when my friend Monique Ruffin posted an article on Huffington Post entitled "It's Official, Gay is the New Black."  Needless to say the article caused quite a stir.  I chose to become involved in several comment threads both on the blog site and on Facebook, and what became clear is that the black church community is divided on the issue of Gay Rights/Marriage Equality.  This was not news to me - but rather a topic of sincere curiosity.  

You see, I serve on the board for The Community of Welcoming Congregations and we have experienced a struggle to have any meaningful involvement or support from leaders in the black church community on this very important civil rights issue.  I struggle to understand why.

Now, let me say up front that the generalization of "the black church community" is a difficult one to make.  Across the nation I know African American clergy and church leaders who are on the side of LGBTQ Equality.  I am fortunate enough to call Bishops Carlton D. Pearson and Yvette Flunder among those friends and allies.  But by and large the majority of the "black church community” (by which, I mean traditionally evangelical, Baptist, Pentecostal, Holiness, and Non-denominational African American congregations) do not take a favorable, and in some cases takes an actively adversarial, position on Gay Rights.  

Yet, the NAACP* and the late Coretta Scott King have taken a stand for LGBTQ Equality, deeming it the civil rights issue of our day.   So why then are so many black churches (not all) either silent or adversarial to the cause?

This seems to be the case for (at least) 2 reasons: 

1. Theology - "for the Bible tells me so"... many black churches, just like many white churches - believe that scripture is clear on the subject of homosexuality and that it is a sin.  

This issue is really a “red herring” - I'll address it in a post at the end of the month on Equality Sabbath, Jan. 29th.  For now, I'll refer you to the words of Bishop John S. Spong on this topic in one of my previous posts (Bishop Spong's Manifesto).

 The arguments used here are the same used in all-white churches - or any church that fights (actively or passively) against Marriage Equality.  Assuming we are able to agree to disagree on scriptural interpretation, the issue at hand is that of Civil Rights - not religious ones.

2. Cultural tradition "Don't usurp The Civil Rights Movement!" ... it seems that many are upset at the perceived effort by the gay community to usurp the original intent of the movement thereby diminishing the focus on equality issues that remain in the black community.  Certainly there are still issues of inequity and discrimination which affect the African American community as a whole.  But does the recognition of this fact warrant the apparent silence from the black church when it comes to the discrimination of our LGBTQ brothers and sisters?  (Are they mutually exclusive issues?)  It was Dr. King that taught us that silence in the face of oppression and discrimination is just as much a sin as the behavior of the opressor.  

An argument could be made that "occasion and context informs intent."  Under this lens the Civil Rights movement rose from the extreme inequities and moral injustices facing African Americans and thus the intent of the movement was to right the wrongs of civil injustice.  But Dr. King and those around him did more than seek to right the wrongs of the current conditions.  Dr. King had a Dream.  A dream that we would as a nation “rise up and live out the true meaning of our creed, that all men are created equal.” He called us to the high American moral standards of Equality and Justice for ALL.   And while his message began with boycotts of buses and sit-ins at lunch counters (righting wrong conditions) - his intent clearly expanded over the years to include speaking out on issues of justice for immigrant farm workers, economic injustices and the moral efficacy of the vietnam war.  Yes, Dr. King understood that context gives rise to message - but he also powerfully understood that what emerges from this is Principle.  If a Principle is to have any validity at all - it must transcend the context from which it was uncovered, and be applicable in others.  

There are those who would say, and have done so on the blog threads,  that the plight of the LGBTQ community cannot come under the banner of the Civil Rights Movement because they do not have the history of 300 years of oppression, slavery and discrimination.  There are those who would say, "it is not the same" because black folks can't "blend-in" the way gay folks can.  

But how much discrimination must a people endure to qualify?  How much suffering does it take?  Must the discrimination be visible for all to see?  Isn't hidden racism and discrimination just as insidious as the visible kind?   

Dr. King called on us to transcend labels and understand that at our core we are all human beings, and for that fact alone are deserving of basic rights and equal treatment under the law.   The black church community has traditionally been the champion of both the Civil Rights Movement and the "Keepers of the Dream" of Dr. King.  Now, the LGBTQ community is calling the champions of equality and justice for all to come to their aide.  But rather than pick up the phone and answer the call, many leaders of back church community seem to let the call go straight to voicemail - with an outgoing message that says "we're sorry, we can't take your call right now, our theology won't let us."  

Dr. King taught us that the church, white or black, has a role in the social sector.  That role is to stand up for the oppressed and discriminated and to call on our political leaders to remember the inherent dignity of all human beings when shaping public policy.  

"The church should be the headlights rather than the tail lights on loving first, best and most, all people inclusively.”  - Bishop Carlton D. Pearson

Dr. King’s Dream of Equality has always been a call to action, to rise to the occasion of our most honorable intentions toward one another, whether or not we are in agreement and whether or not we even like one another.  The Dream of equal treatment under the law is not reserved for just one people.  

Dr. King’s Dream is for everyone. 

*

NEWS FLASH: Jesus was "Spiritual but not Religious"

In the last 24 hrs on some of the blogs that I follow and Facebook comment threads, there has been quite the stirring about the phrase "Spiritual but not Religious" aka SBNR. After spending a good portion of the day chatting and commenting, I thought I'd blog about it as well.

It all began with a Facebook post from Chad Holtz (the guy who got in trouble for liking Rob Bell's book). I enjoy the way Chad thinks about things and tend to pay attention to the things he post that are of interest to him.

He posted a link to an article on the United Church of Christ site from The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel, "Spiritual but not Religious? Stop Boring Me." in her post Rev. Lillian shares that she dreads conversations on airplanes with people who identify as SBNR. She dreads it because she seems to find their version of spirituality boring, uninspired and lacking of the real substance that is required for growth (that being the element of community). She further claims that SBNR folks are little more than typical self-centered Americans. Self-Indulgent consumers of their own brand of spirituality, she claims.    An interesting judgement for sure. For those of you who are friends with Chad, we had a wonderful exchange on his comments section of the post.  Chad later posted his own blog entry about the conversation, which is getting some great feedback as well.

Now to Dr. Lillian's credit this article was a mini version of a much longer article posted on the Christian Century site, "You can't make this up: The limits of self-made religion" and as she expressed to me in a personal email, you can say a lot more in 3,000 words than you can in 250.  In the longer article her tone is not as snarky, and her points are better delivered and overall provides some wonderful thoughts for consideration.

Even so, there is still an overall theme that seems to look down upon the classification SBNR as inferior to "religious people."   A judgement that I think naively overlooks the rich history of the SBNR movement.  It makes me wonder if those who criticize the term actually understand what it means?   Do they understand that SBNR is not some mer post-modern cultural fad - but is in fact a deep and enriching part of American culture for over 150 years and has positively impacted nearly every major religious institution for the better?  It makes me wonder if their criticism is balanced with scholarship. Have they read "Spiritual but not Religious" by Robert Fuller  and others like it (which you can find along with other great info on SBNR movement at www.newthoughthistory.org)?

If the answers to these questions were yes, I imagine we'd find a slightly more understanding and tolerant tone.  Perhaps we would discover that those who identify as SBNR often do so as a result of the religious abuse and oppression that they have suffered in the name of God and religious authority.  That more often than not, the SBNR among us do not "reject" religion as much as they reject Dogma.  Dogma that has too often been defended and promoted by organized religion.  Dogma that has oppressed the weakest among us, dogma that has suppressed the Holy and Divine Feminine making it shameful and wrong. Dogma that has made a mockery of scripture by using it to defend racism, homophobia, sexism and classism. Dogma that has the audacity to put conditions on Grace, Love, Mercy and Salvation which Jesus so freely gave to all.  Dogma that helped produce a religious institution so unlike the name and nature of Jesus that the Son of Man himself would be hard pressed to recognize, much less defend it.

So please forgive us, for I too am SBNR.  Forgive us for looking outside of the institution that has far too often failed exemplify the simplest element of it's own creed, to Love thy neighbor.  Forgive us for looking into nature to find God's true Nature.  Forgive us that while on this seemingly self-indulgent path of personal discovery, we in fact discovered Jesus, Buddha, Krishna and The Christ Principle.  And please forgive us if we discovered that this encounter was far more real, authentic and transformative than anything we previously experienced in "church."

And forgive us if we happen to notice that this seems to be the path that Jesus took as well.  Remember, he disappears from the narrative from age 12-30 and when he reappears he is not touting the virtues of religious and spiritual community.  In fact, quite the opposite. He railed against the institutions of his day, their dogma, rules and authoritative judgements over society.  He sought his own personal relationship with God, so personal he called him Abba, Father.  So personal that this connection was not made through a creed, book or Temple, but in fact was closer than his breath and dwelled right within him.

Forgive us for thinking he was not self-indulgent for doing so.   Forgive us for noticing that Jesus was "Spiritual but not Religious"

And while you consider forgiving us for these transgressions, take note of the following;

SBNR people do not deny nor reject the power of being, growing and learning in community. In fact a more loving, inclusive and charitable community that is working toward a world that works for everyone is something that we care deeply about.

Take note that often the loudest voices against Religious Institutions have been voices from the inside. Voices that have been the source of positive and evolutionary change.  Religious voices that have called upon us to be more Spiritual and less Religious.

Rev. Henry Emerson Fosdick

Shall the fundamentalist Win?

Bishop John Shelby Spong

"So it needs to be said clear that the God presence of this Jesus will lead us ultimately beyond every religious definition.  Indeed, it will lead us beyond Jesus himself.  That becomes essential to human development whenever our idolatrous convictions identify the messenger of God with God.  So the Ground of Being will finally be worshiped apart from any system of religious thought.  It is a startling but real insight into the future of worship."  - Why Christianity Must Change or Die, p. 224

 Paul Tillich, Protestant Theologian

"The importance of being a Christian is that we can stand in the insight that it is of no importance. It is the spiritual power of religion that he who is religious can fearlessly look at the vanity of religion. It is the maturest fruit Christian understanding to understand that Christianity, as such, is of no avail." - The New Being, p 19

In other words Christianity is not about Christianity. It is about a new way of Being. When Jesus said "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life" he was not speaking of a religious way of Being, but a spiritual way of Being.

Scripture reminds us that it is the letter of the Law (religion, creeds and dogma) that kills, while the Spirit of the Law gives Life. An to enter the Spirit of the Law, one only need be spiritual, not religious.




And finally Dr. Lillian, do not make haste in your criticism of "self-made religion"

All religion is self made.  Paul Tillich reminds us that "Revelation is God's attempt to reach man. Religion is man's attempt to reach God." All religion stem from the personal Revelation of one individual, who then shares that revelation with others who in turn seek to touch the wisdom of the revelation by way of rituals, customs, rules and traditions that ultimately become...a religion.


In the end Dr. Lillian's point on the importance of community is well taken. We need community.  In community we grow, we are challenged and we change. But the world will not be served by more communities of "us and them."  In fact the world of divisive separation that humanity has created can only be served by the spiritual insight and revelation that there is only One Community. One global community of humanity in which, as Dr. Lillian stated, "[in community] we are stuck with each other"

And, like it or not that this is the way it is... This transformative insight can only come one personal revelation at a time.


Ernest Holmes

"The Church of God"

The Church of God is not built with hands, it is eternal in the heavens; it is not lighted with candles; its dome is heaven and it is lighted by the stars of God's illumined thought, and each member in his separate star "shall draw the thing as he sees it, for the God of things as they are." Here all people recognize the God within their own souls and ask for and see no other God. When you can look upon all creation as the perfect work of a perfect God, you will become a member of this church. I doubt very much if the church universal admits members from the church individual. When you can see in the saint and the sinner one and the same person, when you can realize that the one who kneels before the altar and the one who lies drunk in the street is the same one, when you can love the one as much as you do the other, no doubt you will be able to qualify. As it now is we have too many preachers who do not understand, that have no purpose; too many prayers, too many creeds, too many teachers, that have no message; too many churches, too many "learned" people, and too few thinkers. "The Kingdom of Heaven cometh not by observation." It is the "Still, small voice" within the soul that speaks. The expanded thought will never wish to join or be joined to. Nothing human can contain it. It feels the limitation of form and ceremony and longs for the freedom of the Spirit, the great out of doors, the Great God of the everywhere. Alone in the desert, the forest or by the restless ocean, looking up at the stars, man breathes forth these words, "With only my Maker and me."  

Inclusion Conference 2011

If you or someone you know is intrigued by the expanding consciousness of Oneness and Inclusion and what that means for organized religion, spiritual communities and our individual roles in the human family... then join us in Chicago (July 28-31) for an amazing opportunity to deepen the dialogue and explore the possibilities of Inclusion Consciousness!

Bishop Carlton Pearson, author of God is Not a Christian and the Gospel of Inclusion - and his wife Gina Pearson will host 4 days of amazing speakers, presenters and interactive dialogue on the cutting edge conversations of expanding consciousness in our time.

Among the featured presenters; you'll have the opportunity to hear and be in active dialogue with:

Bishop John Shelby Spong - retired Episcopal Bishop and long time change agent - author of many books including Why Christianity Must Change or Die.

Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith - Founder of Agape International Spiritual Center - a transdenominational and New Thought Spiritual Community and author of Spiritual Liberation.

Pastor D.E. Paulk - born and raised 3rd generation Pentecostal preacher - leader and change agent - Senior pastor of the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Atlanta, GA - and author of The Holy Bible of Inclusion and I Don't Know, the Way of Knowing

Pastor Chad Holtz - Methodist minister who was removed from his post after a facebook post in which he agreed with the premise of Rob Bell's book Love Wins.  Chad's latest writings can be found at: ChadHoltz.net

Randy Potts - the grandson of Oral Roberts.

Gina Pearson will host a special session for women as well.

Of course Leela and I will be there as will many other wonderful contributors to the conversation.

Conference registration is ONLY $189.00 - this is an amazing price!  Where else will you be able to spend time with the speakers and authors listed above for several days and participate in meaningful dialogue that will contribute and shape the evolving consciousness of Oneness on the planet?

It's going to be an amazing experience - spread the word, share the post... hope to see YOU in Chicago.

For the Love of God, All Hell is Breaking Loose!

Pastor Rob Bell

Have you noticed that all of Hell is breaking loose?  No really, it is...and that's a good thing.  Let me explain...

Recently Pastor Rob Bell has made headlines with his new book "Love Wins" in which he explains, as the title suggest, that in the end the Love of God has the final word.  He puts forth that the traditional views of hell and eternal damnation are overbearing and for one to emphasis them over God's Love is to not fully understand or appreciate the power of that Love.  He proposes that believing in Hell and eternal damnation over the transformative Love of God is..well...not very Christian like!   Pastor Bell, a graduate of Wheaton College, has been challenging and expanding the consciousness of his audience for years.  His previous books; 

•  "Velvet Elvis" - Commentary on Christian Culture and the post-modern era.
• "Sex God"- Exploring the endless connection between sexuality and spirituality.
• "Jesus Wants to Save Christians" - A Manifesto for the Church in Exile .

have all served to challenge various aspects of the "status quo" within Christian culture and theology.  Bell's ministry, Mars Hill in Michigan, is one of the fastest growing churches in America.  His sermon series such as "Everything is Spiritual"(a personal favorite of mine) and his short film series NOOMA have become huge hits on the internet.  

Here is Pastor Bell in his own words describing what the book is all about:

I gratefully welcome Bell's voice to the collective conversation.  His ideas are obviously very compatible to a New Thought way of thinking about the same topics of Hell, Spirituality and Love.  It seems that a growing population within the walls of Christianity are ready and hungry for these questions and a new conversation.  In the end Rob Bell is teaching consciousness and Principle.  I may not agree with all of his theological views but such alignment is not necessary.  Bell is shaping a new conversation in which he is asking his readers to think in terms of Principle and consciousness and doing so within the context of his Christian culture story.  The result of which I believe will be a revealed and renewed richness to the depth of the spiritual power, wisdom and transformative quality of the Christian Story.  

Of course Rob's voice is added to a growing chorus of writers who have challenged the status quo; authors like Marcus Borg, Bishop John Shelby Spong, Brian D. McLaren, Bart Erman, Bishop Carlton D. Pearson, Pastor D.E. Paulk and the great 20th Century Theologian Paul Tillich (the list extends all the way back to first century Christianity).  Now, Pastor Rob may not appreciate me adding his name to some of the other listed here - he seems to avoid labels and boxes, he opposes the idea that his writings reflect "universalism" or that he is a part of the "emerging church" movement.  That's fine with me.  After all, when one is teaching consciousness and Principle, one must realize that the teaching itself is that which transcends boxes and labels.  It's not about the label, its about the message and consciousness - a statement I think most of the authors listed above would agree with.  

The list is Growing:

Methodist Pastor Chad Holtz was dismissed from his pulpit for posting a facebook note that was in support of Rob Bell's book and message, namely - Pastor Holtz loosed his belief in a "literal Hell"

So, What's going on here?

One of the chapters in Bishop Carlton D. Pearson's latest book, God is Not a Christian, is titled "Get the Hell Out of my Bible."  It seems that a growing number of faithful not only want it out of their Bible, but also out of their churches and pulpits.  And why?  Of course one reason is that our collective consciousness is growing and the out dated, misguided and divisive notions of "us and them" is no longer serving (if it ever did).  People are waking up to the magnitude of the power of Love.  Even more importantly it seems that we are increasingly being given the opportunity to be the Love of God.  Earthquakes, tsunami's, and economic meltdowns are all providing us with a critical choice; to be driven by Love or to continue fear based "us and them" thinking and behavior.  While our reptilian brain is driven by fear, our higher consciousness is driven by Love.  Our outdated notions of Hell are breaking loose from our consciousness because we've come face to face with the hell (separation) we've created on earth - so much so that it is threatening to our very survival as a human race.  Our biological mandate is "create (express) or perish" and creation is an act of Love.  Quite literally - for the Love of God (choosing our biological mandate over fear), all Hell is breaking loose (falling away).  In other words,  Love Wins.

Bishop Spong's Manifesto

Many of you have been asking me where to get a copy of the full manifesto by Bishop Spong that I referenced on Sunday - so here it is.... this came to me via his weekly emails which you too can sign up to receive at www.johnshelbyspong.com

Thursday October 15, 2009

A Manifesto! The Time Has Come!

I have made a decision. I will no longer debate the issue of homosexuality in the church with anyone. I will no longer engage the biblical ignorance that emanates from so many right-wing Christians about how the Bible condemns homosexuality, as if that point of view still has any credibility. I will no longer discuss with them or listen to them tell me how homosexuality is "an abomination to God," about how homosexuality is a "chosen lifestyle," or about how through prayer and "spiritual counseling" homosexual persons can be "cured." Those arguments are no longer worthy of my time or energy. I will no longer dignify by listening to the thoughts of those who advocate "reparative therapy," as if homosexual persons are somehow broken and need to be repaired. I will no longer talk to those who believe that the unity of the church can or should be achieved by rejecting the presence of, or at least at the expense of, gay and lesbian people. I will no longer take the time to refute the unlearned and undocumentable claims of certain world religious leaders who call homosexuality "deviant." I will no longer listen to that pious sentimentality that certain Christian leaders continue to employ, which suggests some version of that strange and overtly dishonest phrase that "we love the sinner but hate the sin." That statement is, I have concluded, nothing more than a self-serving lie designed to cover the fact that these people hate homosexual persons and fear homosexuality itself, but somehow know that hatred is incompatible with the Christ they claim to profess, so they adopt this face-saving and absolutely false statement. I will no longer temper my understanding of truth in order to pretend that I have even a tiny smidgen of respect for the appalling negativity that continues to emanate from religious circles where the church has for centuries conveniently perfumed its ongoing prejudices against blacks, Jews, women and homosexual persons with what it assumes is "high-sounding, pious rhetoric." The day for that mentality has quite simply come to an end for me. I will personally neither tolerate it nor listen to it any longer. The world has moved on, leaving these elements of the Christian Church that cannot adjust to new knowledge or a new consciousness lost in a sea of their own irrelevance. They no longer talk to anyone but themselves. I will no longer seek to slow down the witness to inclusiveness by pretending that there is some middle ground between prejudice and oppression. There isn't. Justice postponed is justice denied. That can be a resting place no longer for anyone. An old civil rights song proclaimed that the only choice awaiting those who cannot adjust to a new understanding was to "Roll on over or we'll roll on over you!" Time waits for no one.

I will particularly ignore those members of my own Episcopal Church who seek to break away from this body to form a "new church," claiming that this new and bigoted instrument alone now represents the Anglican Communion. Such a new ecclesiastical body is designed to allow these pathetic human beings, who are so deeply locked into a world that no longer exists, to form a community in which they can continue to hate gay people, distort gay people with their hopeless rhetoric and to be part of a religious fellowship in which they can continue to feel justified in their homophobic prejudices for the rest of their tortured lives. Church unity can never be a virtue that is preserved by allowing injustice, oppression and psychological tyranny to go unchallenged.

In my personal life, I will no longer listen to televised debates conducted by "fair-minded" channels that seek to give "both sides" of this issue "equal time." I am aware that these stations no longer give equal time to the advocates of treating women as if they are the property of men or to the advocates of reinstating either segregation or slavery, despite the fact that when these evil institutions were coming to an end the Bible was still being quoted frequently on each of these subjects. It is time for the media to announce that there are no longer two sides to the issue of full humanity for gay and lesbian people. There is no way that justice for homosexual people can be compromised any longer.

I will no longer act as if the Papal office is to be respected if the present occupant of that office is either not willing or not able to inform and educate himself on public issues on which he dares to speak with embarrassing ineptitude. I will no longer be respectful of the leadership of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who seems to believe that rude behavior, intolerance and even killing prejudice is somehow acceptable, so long as it comes from third-world religious leaders, who more than anything else reveal in themselves the price that colonial oppression has required of the minds and hearts of so many of our world's population. I see no way that ignorance and truth can be placed side by side, nor do I believe that evil is somehow less evil if the Bible is quoted to justify it. I will dismiss as unworthy of any more of my attention the wild, false and uninformed opinions of such would-be religious leaders as Pat Robertson, James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Swaggart, Albert Mohler, and Robert Duncan. My country and my church have both already spent too much time, energy and money trying to accommodate these backward points of view when they are no longer even tolerable.

I make these statements because it is time to move on. The battle is over. The victory has been won. There is no reasonable doubt as to what the final outcome of this struggle will be. Homosexual people will be accepted as equal, full human beings, who have a legitimate claim on every right that both church and society have to offer any of us. Homosexual marriages will become legal, recognized by the state and pronounced holy by the church. "Don't ask, don't tell" will be dismantled as the policy of our armed forces. We will and we must learn that equality of citizenship is not something that should ever be submitted to a referendum. Equality under and before the law is a solemn promise conveyed to all our citizens in the Constitution itself. Can any of us imagine having a public referendum on whether slavery should continue, whether segregation should be dismantled, whether voting privileges should be offered to women? The time has come for politicians to stop hiding behind unjust laws that they themselves helped to enact, and to abandon that convenient shield of demanding a vote on the rights of full citizenship because they do not understand the difference between a constitutional democracy, which this nation has, and a "mobocracy," which this nation rejected when it adopted its constitution. We do not put the civil rights of a minority to the vote of a plebiscite.

I will also no longer act as if I need a majority vote of some ecclesiastical body in order to bless, ordain, recognize and celebrate the lives and gifts of gay and lesbian people in the life of the church. No one should ever again be forced to submit the privilege of citizenship in this nation or membership in the Christian Church to the will of a majority vote.

The battle in both our culture and our church to rid our souls of this dying prejudice is finished. A new consciousness has arisen. A decision has quite clearly been made. Inequality for gay and lesbian people is no longer a debatable issue in either church or state. Therefore, I will from this moment on refuse to dignify the continued public expression of ignorant prejudice by engaging it. I do not tolerate racism or sexism any longer. From this moment on, I will no longer tolerate our culture's various forms of homophobia. I do not care who it is who articulates these attitudes or who tries to make them sound holy with religious jargon.

I have been part of this debate for years, but things do get settled and this issue is now settled for me. I do not debate any longer with members of the "Flat Earth Society" either. I do not debate with people who think we should treat epilepsy by casting demons out of the epileptic person; I do not waste time engaging those medical opinions that suggest that bleeding the patient might release the infection. I do not converse with people who think that Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans as punishment for the sin of being the birthplace of Ellen DeGeneres or that the terrorists hit the United Sates on 9/11 because we tolerated homosexual people, abortions, feminism or the American Civil Liberties Union. I am tired of being embarrassed by so much of my church's participation in causes that are quite unworthy of the Christ I serve or the God whose mystery and wonder I appreciate more each day. Indeed I feel the Christian Church should not only apologize, but do public penance for the way we have treated people of color, women, adherents of other religions and those we designated heretics, as well as gay and lesbian people.

Life moves on. As the poet James Russell Lowell once put it more than a century ago: "New occasions teach new duties, Time makes ancient good uncouth." I am ready now to claim the victory. I will from now on assume it and live into it. I am unwilling to argue about it or to discuss it as if there are two equally valid, competing positions any longer. The day for that mentality has simply gone forever.

This is my manifesto and my creed. I proclaim it today. I invite others to join me in this public declaration. I believe that such a public outpouring will help cleanse both the church and this nation of its own distorting past. It will restore integrity and honor to both church and state. It will signal that a new day has dawned and we are ready not just to embrace it, but also to rejoice in it and to celebrate it.

– John Shelby Spong

A New Thought for Easter

As I sit at a desk overlooking the river, moving from meditation to pouring over my resources for Easter, I am moved by the notion that one must really be willing to take on the Easter Journey in consciousness in order for it to have any meaning at all in the 21st Century. In doing so it has profound possibilities for launching us into a new era of Being, not only with ourselves but with each other - with the human family and with all of creation. My prayer is that we, each in our own way, take on this journey and Rise Up to our Highest Potential in this Life. I wish for everyone a powerful Easter experience. I am truly grateful for the inspired work of Bishop John Shelby Spong who has this to say about Easter:

"Easter with is story of the resurrection can also be transformed, I believe, and carried with us into a postexilic future. Yet before that is possible, the miracles of physical resuscitation, the angles who roll stones away from tombs, and the bodies that appear out of nothing and disappear into thin air must be dismissed for the developed legends that they are. But life that transcends every human limit is a powerful portrait. Death, which opens all things to new possibilities; love, which triumphs over hatred; being, which overcomes nonbeing - those are truths to which Easter points, and those are the truths that emerge when God is met on the edges and at the limits of our finite humanity. That is what the stories of the resurrection are all about."

pg. 190 of Why Christianity Must Change or Die by John Shelby Spong

It occurs to me that Easter itself must undergo a trial, crucifixion and ultimately, resurrection for the sake of its salvation.

Thoughts from Bishop John Shelby Spong

Examining Politics in America on our 231st Birthday

As our nation pauses to celebrate its birthday many things vie for our people's attention. There is the drain of human life and treasure in the ill-begotten, mismanaged war in Iraq; the emotional and divisive debate over reforming immigration; the growing gap between the rich and the poor with the top ten per cent of our population controlling the largest share of our nation's wealth in our history; the growing awareness of our environmental crisis after decades of either denial or game-playing empty gestures; the erosion of privacy with unauthorized wiretaps on American citizens, and the embarrassment to our national character seen in the prison camps at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and the secret foreign detention places. People once saw this nation as a shining city on a hill. That has been replaced by resentment at our insensitivity, making us more unpopular than at any previous time in our history.

Our 231st birthday also finds us in a presidential race that will not be decided for sixteen months. Since federal elections serve to define a nation, in today's column I will look briefly at the major candidates to whom our citizens look to address the list of debilitating problems outlined above.

The first thing of note about the Republican candidates is that none of them is seeking President Bush's endorsement. These Republican aspirants know better than anyone else how unpopular this administration is with the American people and how little credibility it has left.

Limiting our discussion to the top candidates according to the latest polls, we begin with the present Republican leader, Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City. For an urban, liberal candidate to be on top of the polls for this party's nomination is a major surprise. Giuliani is pro-abortion, pro-gay and pro-gun control. He is a Roman Catholic, but not an overtly pious man. He has had three wives and has endured a seamy public airing of his marital problems. He has connections with organized crime, as his recommendation of Bernie Kerik for appointment as President Bush's Director of Homeland Security revealed. Yet he was a good mayor. His competence is recognized even by his enemies. He lowered the city's crime rate significantly. He provided strong leadership in the traumatic times of the 9/11 crisis. He is a powerful orator, possesses a winning smile and charms audiences. If nominated most Democrats believe him to be the GOP's strongest vote-getter and would win over many Democratic voters. He would, however, not appeal to his party's base, making a third party on the right, a real possibility.

Second in the polls is former Senator Fred Thompson from Tennessee, now a star in "Law and Order" on NBC Television. He has some health issues, but is seen as an intelligent, consistent conservative with strength of character. While generally respected, he is not yet known among the voters. The religious right would probably be satisfied with him, but no evidence suggests that he elicits their enthusiasm. His appears rather to be an acceptable alternative to a generally unacceptable Republican field. That is not a strong political position.

Senator John McCain of Arizona is third. One year ago he was the presumptive nominee. Today he is struggling to save his candidacy. A conservative voting record combined with a maverick, independent personality, John McCain has never been a George Bush fan since the two competed for the 2000 nomination. He is, however, the only major political voice supporting Bush in Iraq. That is not a winning ticket. I think this man has been an important senator, taking courageous stands against torture and in favor of campaign finance laws. I have the feeling, however, that both his age and his issues are better suited for a run in 2000 than they are in 2008. My experience teaches me that once a candidate begins to fade in the polls like Senator McCain has in the last year, he never recovers. His candidacy appears to me to be mortally wounded. The money is drying up. An early withdrawal would not be a surprise.

Governor Mitt Romney is fourth in the current polls, which means, given the money he has spent, that he has not yet ignited any surge of support. That surprises me, since this man is a person of unquestioned ability. He rescued the Olympics from financial disaster. He was a highly competent Governor of Massachusetts. He lives by high moral standards. His Mormon religion is frequently mentioned as a detriment in his White House bid, but in no way was it a problem during his years as Massachusetts' governor. His ability to abandon the positions he took on abortion and gay rights when running for Governor of Massachusetts to aid his run for the presidency will be a greater problem. People want to know which Romney is soliciting their votes. Basic inconsistency on emotional issues is normally the pathway to political death.

The final poll-ranked Republican candidate is Newt Gingrich who has not yet announced, but surely he is positioning himself to run. Gingrich, a radical conservative reformer, is probably the brightest Republican in the field. James Dobson has conveyed his blessing to a Gingrich candidacy, but that may not be enough to win him the nomination. He carries lots of baggage from his years as Majority Leader of the House, particularly when in a showdown with President Clinton he twice closed down the Federal Government. His public voice and his private life have also never been in sync. When he enters this race the quality of the debate will rise because Gingrich is a big idea candidate. While he is a deeply unpopular and polarizing figure in Democratic circles that might even help him in a polarized electorate. Don't count him out!

Turning now to the major Democratic candidates and again in order of their poll numbers, I will consider only four. Senator Clinton from New York tops the poll charts with a double digit lead over her closest opponent. She has surprised even her critics with the competent way she has represented New York in the Senate. Her 69 percent reelection to a second term was an incredible vote of confidence. She even carried Republican districts in upstate New York. She has impressed her critics with her strong showing in the debates. Positioning herself as a centrist in the party, she has endured the criticism of the Democratic left. Her health care failure in the first Clinton administration still draws fire, but the fact is that when one places each individual proposal of that health care plan before the public, it receives majority approval. It is only when these proposals are packaged together that people have problems. That probably means that she was right, but too early. The fact that she is a woman cuts both ways with her candidacy, but most of that is not rational and is hard to quantify. Her great contribution thus far is that because of her, America can now visualize a female president. That is a new state of consciousness. If Hillary does not make it to the White House, she will have made it much easier for the next woman to do so. It will not be a long wait.

Senator Barack Obama of Illinois is the shooting star of this presidential race. Coming out of nowhere with only two years in the Senate, he has already done better than anyone would have predicted a year ago. Articulate, bright and charismatic, one has the sense that Obama is destined to be President, if not in 2008 then soon. I was in the hall in Boston in 2004 when he key-noted the Democratic National Convention. There is no doubt about his ability to rouse a crowd. Positioning himself slightly to the left of Senator Clinton, he will be a tough adversary. He, like Hillary, has raised the consciousness of the nation for he has made people everywhere imagine for the first time that an African American can be President. The candidacies of Shirley Chisholm, Doug Wilder, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton did not do that. His future is unlimited. Whether that future begins in 2008 is still much in doubt.

Former Senator and Vice Presidential nominee John Edwards of North Carolina is a deeply appealing candidate. He has a flare for the dramatic. He champions the poor when it is not popular to do so. He launched his campaign in New Orleans, the classic example of this nation's forgotten poor. His political instincts are incredible. His marriage and family life are admirable and the way he and his wife have handled her now incurable, but hopefully controllable, cancer is commendable. Edwards provocatively positions himself as a new Franklin D. Roosevelt. Whether he can compete in the battle for campaign money or make what is now essentially a two person Democratic race into a three person race is still in doubt. He deserves to be watched. It is of interest to note that Republican leaders rank him their most formidable opponent with a broad populist appeal that would cut into their Southern religious voters.

The final candidate scoring in the high single digits in the polls is the Governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson. A bi-lingual leader with a Mexican mother, he is the first legitimate Hispanic candidate for the presidency. This man probably has the best resume and is arguably the most qualified person in this crowded field. He has been a seven term congressman, a cabinet Secretary of Energy, Ambassador to the United Nations and an effective governor of a Western State. In each of these positions he has demonstrated great ability. His foreign policy credentials are outstanding. Foreign leaders trust him. With all this going for him, he should be a major force in the campaign. He is not, however, at least not yet, and probably has a better chance to wind up as a vice presidential candidate than he does to win the prize himself. He needs big breaks in both money and endorsements soon and I do not see them coming.

My hopes are that the current political process will do what a campaign is supposed to do, namely debate the real issues, not spin them, and present the country with a clear sense of how to deal with the future. This nation desperately needs that, since we seem to have no real sense of direction at this moment. July 4th, 2007, thus has much hope attached to it.

John Shelby Spong

Thanks "Uncle Jack" as always for your insightful words and courageous ministry. Our world needs you. Peace.