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CONGOblog A weblog of The Congregational Church of Manhasset (UCC) Archives--March 2006
| 3.29.06 | The New UCC Commercial--Banned From the Airwaves Again |
Our denomination, The United Church of Christ, is beginning another round of its great "God is Still Speaking Campaign." Like last time, the major broadcast TV networks (ABC, CBS and NBC) are refusing to air the commercials, although cable networks will be showing them. (See the NY Times article on the ad campaign.)
The new ad is called "Ejector Pew" and shows a traditional-looking white family looking derisively at people in the church pews around them who do not look as they do. The other people (a black woman with a crying baby, a homeless-looking woman, a gay couple, and elderly person, etc.) are ejected one by one, as if by an ejector seat, from the church. The tag line is "God doesn't reject people. Neither do we."
The networks' refusal to air the ads is ridiculous. They claim the ads are "advocacy advertising" and therefore too controversial. I guess a church being radically inclusive of people is controversial--at least when you consider how hostile and exclusive many churches can be. But let's be honest here, what is controversial is not a church welcoming different people--at least not people who are non-white or poor or old. What is controversial is the idea of a church welcoming gay people.
The position of the networks belongs in the same category of racist and sexist policies practiced by broadcast networks in the past. Clearly they are on the wrong side of history and morality.
The position of the networks is also hypocritical. Rare is the TV show that does not at least make some sort of attempt to support equality in terms of race, gender and sexual orientation. Furthermore, given the fact that these networks allow their affiliates to broadcast paid programming by the likes of Pat Robertson that spews hatred and prejudice, their decision not to air this commercial is just plain laughable--that is if it wasn't so tragic.
I am proud to be a part of the UCC. It's commitment to radical inclusion of all people is why I chose to serve as a minister in this denomination. I'm proud of this campaign and I'm proud of its message. I believe the time is right for a group of Christians to speak boldly and loudly that God really is still speaking a word of welcome and acceptance to all who would come.
Peace,
Chase
| 3.24.06 | The Onion Article on Bibles for Starving Africans |
Do you ever read a piece of satire and feel like its almost too close to reality to be funny?
I got that feeling when I read an article in the satirical newspaper The Onion that parodies the efforts of many American Christians that ignore the physical needs of people in favor of proselytization.
Peace,
Chase
| 3.24.06 | Bishop Roger Mahoney on the Christian Duty to Help People in Need (even if they are illegal immigrants) |
On 3.3.06, I posted about Catholic Bishop Roger Mahoney of Los Angeles and his Ash Wednesday message opposing potential new laws cracking down on anyone aiding an illegal immigrant. In Wednesday's NY Times, there is an op-ed from Mahoney further stating his views in an articulate and I think convincing manner.
Peace,
Chase
| 3.24.06 | NY Times Article on Girls Adopted from China |
In the recent life of our church, we have had several families join that have daughters adopted from China. We are so blessed to have them as a part of our church! Therefore, I saw an article that is relevant to the wonderful families that are a part of our church.
Thursday's NY Times had a great article on three girls adopted from China and their separate struggles over identity growing up in different parts of America. The Times web site also has an interesting multimedia presentation to go along with the story.
Peace,
Chase
| 3.24.06 | The Persecution of Abdul Rahman |
This week the case of Abdul Rahman rose to prominence as the Bush administration took new measures to help the convert to Christianity in Afghanistan. Rahman converted to Christianity around 15 years ago, but upon returning to his native country was involved in a custody case over his children and was turned over to authorities by family members. Rahman reportedly could face the death penalty for being an apostate. The issue of who judges Rahman and what punishment should be meted out in Afghanistan is very much still up in the air.
It's worth noting that CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, one of the leading Islamic groups in our country has denounced the imprisonment of Rahman and rejects any punishment for converting from Islam. The Fiqh Council of North America, the leading group of Islamic scholars in America supports this view.
Organizations as diverse as Amnesty International, The Council on American-Islamic Relations, and Concerned Women for America have protested the imprisonment and punishment of Rahman.
This case is one more example of the blessing of freedom of religion we have in our country, and a reminder of the steps we in the religious majority must take to prevent the oppression of religious minorities here in our country. Pray for Rahman and stay tuned here at the CONGOblog. When I find a way to protest, write a letter, etc. for Rahman, I'll post it here.
Peace,
Chase
| 3.24.06 | The NY Times Puts Money Above Morality |
Unbelievably, last Sunday the NY Times published an 8-page advertising supplement made by the government of Sudan that portrays Sudan as "peaceful," "prosperous," and "democratic." The tragic irony, of course, is that this is from a government that has been carrying out a genocide against its own people. The ad brought the Times over $1 million.
What is so immoral about this deal is that the Times more than any other media outlet has publicized the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan, mainly through the columns and reporting of Nicholas Kristof. Kristof's columns were what prompted me to get involved working to stop the genocide in my own small way (as I've written about in earlier posts: 2.12.06, 2.15.06, 2.20.06, 3.3.06, 11.05, 10.05, 5.05, 3.05. 1.05, etc.) I've heard that the Times stance on taking this money is that it is a free speech issue--ridiculous! I would call it putting money over morals.
The Save Darfur Coalition web site has a page that allows you to write a letter to the editor of the Times electronically expressing your disapproval of the Times actions towards Sudan. Here's the letter I sent via the site:
Dear Editor,
I was dismayed and astonished to hear that the Times had accepted a
million dollars from the Sudanese government to run an 8-page
advertizing supplement promoting the Sudanese government. The Times'
action is so tragically ironic, because it was in the Times that I
first heard about the genocide in Darfur thanks to Nicholas Kristof's
columns. It was while reading one of Mr. Kristof's columns and viewing
the photographs of genocide victims that the Times had the courage to
publish that I first became involved in the movement to stop the
genocide in Darfur. It makes no sense to me, therefore that the same
paper that has done more to report on this modern-day evil perpetrated
by the Sudanese government would then accept such a large sum of money
from that same government to publish its propaganda.
Although I believe in free speech, I think that any person or entity that believes in common morality must draw the line at taking money from a perpetrator of mass killings, rapes and displacement of thousands. Would the Times have taken money from the apartheid-era South Africa, Milosovic's Serbia, or Pol Pot's Cambodia? What about Hitler's Germany? The Times' action seems beyond the pale!
I urge you therefore
to take the profit from this ad supplement and donate the money to a
humanitarian relief agency working to help the people of Darfur. I
will remain a loyal Times reader, but unless the Times rids itself of
this blood money, I will never be able to trust it in the same way
again.
Chase Peeples
I hope that whoever you are reading this blog will take a moment and go to the Save Darfur Coalition site and write a letter to the Times editor. 2600 letters went out in the first 24 hours of the effort. Darfur needs all the help it can get. The genocide continues.
The Washington Post ran an editorial today detailing that the recent interest shown by the Bush administration in working with the UN to stop the genocide in Sudan has run into resistance from the Sudanese government--big surprise.
Peace,
Chase
| 3.22.06 | The McPassion |
Terry Mattingly, columnist for the Scripps-Howard News Service, has a recent article about a new short film that satirizes the merchandizing and marketing of Christian films and products. The film is called The McPassion, and it is produced and directed by a Christian who was offended by the marketing of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ done by and to evangelical churches (see my sermons on Gibson's film). The film depicts families and children enjoying Happy Meal--type toys and surprises that tastelessly relate to the suffering of Jesus, including a miniature cat-o'-nine tails, a hammer with real sound effects, and stigmata temporary tattoos.
BEWARE: those without a sense of irony should not see this film. As the message boards on the web site attest, many Christians are offended by it, although some--myself included--find it to be no less over-the-top than the kind of junk one finds in the average Christian book store. For me, it falls into the "it hurts to laugh because it's too close to reality--but I'm still laughing anyway" category.
The real challenge the tacky and tasteless marketing of and by Christians is what is the alternative? How do Christian products fit into our culture's marketplace? Is the idea of a "Christian" product an oxymoron anyway? How do Christian artists, writers and entertainers fit into the rest of society?
I'll contemplate this as I munch on some Eucharist-shaped fries.
NOTE: The McPassion is only available for viewing on-line until mid-April.
Peace,
Chase
| 3.15.06 | The Death of a Peace Activist |
In today's Charlotte Observer there was an op-ed by Cal Thomas about the death of Christian peacemaker Tom Fox. Fox was taken hostage and then killed by an extremist group in Iraq. Several other members of his team remain as hostages. Thomas' column is typically critical and dismissive of Fox's work and any benefit his life and death may have in Iraq. Thomas' "realism" regarding the support of war, the use of violence to confront evil and the complete rejection of peaceful methodology and prayer is unfortunate, because it flies in the face of the example of Jesus Christ.
Fox is a part of a group called Christian Peacemaking Teams, which is supported by the historic "peace churches"--Mennonite Church USA, Mennonite Church in Canada, the Church of the Brethren and the Society of Friends (Quakers). CPT volunteers travel around the world working to find non-violent means to end conflict, overcome ethnic and political hostility and confront oppressive governments. Their fundamental motivating question is: What would happen if Christians devoted the same discipline and self-sacrifice to nonviolent peacemaking that armies devote to war? Their work has built bridges between Christians in the West and people of other religions around the world, especially in the Islamic world.
Thomas asserts that peace activists like Fox come out of the woodwork only to oppose the American government's opposition to evil: "Strange thing about these peace movements: They rarely mobilize to oppose the killing, torture and imprisonment practiced by dictators. It is only when their own country attempts to end the oppression that the activists become active against America, not the initiators of evil."
Thomas, like so many pundits who make their living castigating people they disagree with rather than actually seeking to understand them, is just plain wrong about "Fox and the CPT. Sure, there are plenty of peace activists who only protest war but offer no other viable solutions to the use of military violence. (The utter failure of the peace movement to have any kind of significant impact on the debate over the Iraq war is proof of their incompetence.) Yet, the CPT are no naive idealists but actual people willing to risk their lives around the world to work for peace on the ground, to face persecution at home and to resist practices the dehumanize others. Fox, himself, wrote before going to Iraq about his awareness of the dangers involved, but he also noted that if young men and women could go risk their lives in the military, then he could risk his life to work for peace.
A quick look around the CPT web site reveals all the places the CPT are working to resist evil enacted by oppressive governments--they do much more than simply popping up to annoy the American government. Do I agree with every stance the CPT takes or every one of its tactics? No. But I do believe that they offer a real and true critique of our nation's foreign policy based upon the Christian belief in the worth of each individual and Jesus' call for us to resist policies and practices that strip human beings of this worth.
Fox wrote the following in his journal the day before he was abducted. It seems to me like a fair epitaph for his life:
|
It seems as if the
first step down the road to violence is taken when I dehumanize a
person. That violence might stay within my thoughts or find its
way into the outer world and become expressed verbally,
psychologically, structurally or physically. As soon as I rob a
fellow human being of his or her humanity by sticking a
dehumanizing label on them, I begin the process that can have, as
an end result, torture, injury and death.
"Why are we here?" We are here to root out all aspects of dehumanization that exist within us. We are here to stand with those being dehumanized by oppressors and stand firm against that dehumanization. We are here to stop people, including ourselves, from dehumanizing any of God's children, no matter how much they dehumanize their own souls. |
Peace,
Chase
| 3.13.06 | Questioning How We Worship |
I'm still down in Charlotte for my family's adoption--no baby yet, but hopefully she'll be here soon. While we're waiting, I went to church yesterday. I visited a new church in Charlotte called Mosaic. Friends who live here had told me about it and I read an article in the Charlotte Observer about it as well.
Mosaic is a new church that began meeting in January. They are an offshoot of a church in Charleston, SC, and in an amazing show of dedication around 60 members of the Charleston church moved to Charlotte to found the new one. Currently, they're meeting in a large mall movie theatre and are running around 400 people each Sunday morning. The place was packed when I went.
Let's just say the service was a little different than the one that we offer in Manhasset. Instead of traditional hymns, organ music and classical choral pieces, Mosaic offered drums, electric guitars, keyboards and a light show. In presentation it resembled a night club more than a traditional service. The pastor spoke a simple message on the prodigal son and how some people attending this new church had found their way back to Christ like the wayward son returning to his father. He noted that there are others attending who have never led a prodigal lifestyle and have remained in church all their lives but like the elder brother of Jesus' parable they have not experienced the joy of living within God's grace.
I didn't feel particularly moved by the service--but then I'm pretty sure the service was not for me. The service was geared towards those who have had some exposure to church but for which the faith has not made a significant impact in their lives. The music was relevant and so was the sermon.
This church has done a great job marketing itself and targeting the people it wants to reach. The crowd was overwhelmingly young and urban/suburban--a good fit for a college town like Charlotte. I was excited to see that although the congregation was majority Caucasian there were a lot more people of other ethnicities than in your average church worship service on a Sunday morning in America. The pastor himself is from Pakistan. Although the theology of the church might be a bit more conservative than my own, there was nothing about it that I found off-putting or offensive to my sensibilities. I have to say that I loved going to church in jeans and a t-shirt and having nobody look at me twice!
What it got me thinking about was the way different churches choose to market themselves. Marketing is a business term, and the church is not a business, but churches still benefit from deciding their own "brand identity" and who they are trying to reach (e.g. target market). The goal, of course, for a church is not financial profit (although fiscal health is a plus) but spiritual profit--i.e. people living lives in relationship with God.
What type of "brand" does our church have? What do we do to "market" ourselves?
These questions raise other questions as well, like what do our choices of music, dress, message and general worship attitude say about us? This is not to say that what we offer is somehow wrong, but rather have we actually thought through what we do and who we are trying to appeal to. More questions naturally arise over what happens when our methods and our audience do not coincide?
I'm not suggesting that we break out the electric guitars and drums (although after the church talent show, who can say?). I think there's plenty of room for churches that sing modern rock and churches that sing Mozart to co-exist. After all, the world is full of people in need of a real experience of God's love--people who may like Mozart, Audioslave, Garth Brooks, Mel Torme, etc.
Music, however, is just a very visible way of noting the differences in churches. (In fact, disagreement over music style is the top source of church conflict in America.) There are plenty of other differences too, not the least of which are theological or doctrinal--not to mention wardrobe, building design, educational programs, etc.
Asking questions about who we are as a church is a good thing. It means that we actually care about what we are doing--we actually care if we are being authentic and true to ourselves and most importantly, true to who God would have us be.
So, here's to the questions!
Peace,
Chase
| 3.9.06 | There Goes the Neighborhood? |
Last Sunday, Jimmy preached on Jesus' temptation in the wilderness (an appropriate topic for the beginning of Lent--40 days and all). In it, Jimmy mentioned that I had found a racist flier posted across the street from the church on a post at the entrance to Americana. This is true. Last week for me included a trip to the 6th Precinct to give a statement to a police detective and to get fingerprinted (because they were hoping to get prints off of the flier and wanted to eliminate mine). Not the usual event for my line of work, but it is a scary reminder that racism is alive and well on the North Shore of Long Island.
The flier looked like a missing child flier, but it actually said that the future of white children was threatened by special interest groups, immigrants and non-white ethnic groups. It also contained an address and web site for one of the leading white supremacist organizations in the country. It's difficult to know whether or not this is a lone individual, a sick prank by someone, part of an organized effort, someone from the community or someone from outside the community. No matter who posted it, the flier is bad news.
As the parent of one bi-racial child and the soon-to-be parent of an African-American child (hopefully), I get especially concerned by this sort of event. As a part of the ethnic majority, my first instinct is to disregard this sort of thing, but as the parent of a child that is not Caucasian, I get a little scared that there are people out there who judge people solely by the color of their skin--that such racism is not just something relegated to the past but something in the present.
That is why, for me, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is just as needed today as it ever was, when it comes to racism (and plenty of other things). Despite the way, Christianity has been used to justify racism and prejudice (the current oppression of gays and lesbians comes to mind), the Gospel of Jesus Christ inspired the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement to risk death to fight for the end of racist politics like segregation, Jim Crow laws, etc. Jesus' message of reaching beyond ethnic and religious boundaries to share the love of God is still necessary today. When I read Paul's message in Galatians 3:23: "There is neither Greek nor Jew, slave nor free, male nor female, for we are all one in Christ Jesus," I marvel at the ability of the Spirit of God to erase the boundaries that we humans set up between one another.
Perhaps, in a strange way, we should be thankful that the flier was posted across the street from our church. It reminds us that our work as Christians is far from done when it comes to working towards the full equality of all people.
Peace,
Chase
| 3.3.06 | Darfur finally makes the front page! |
It's been a busy week around the old CONGOblog national headquarters, so I haven't posted a lot. Here's an attempt to catch up with some things in the media and news this week.
The NY Times on Tuesday ran a front page story on the genocide in Darfur. Although the story was about how the refugee crisis that has arisen as a result of the Sudan government-sponsored genocide is now spilling over into the neighboring country of Chad, it's still press coverage and that's more than this horrible tragedy has gotten in some time. Other than Nicholas Kristof's columns, the Times has given no more notice to Darfur than any other paper. There was a follow-up story on Wednesday about the Sudanese government's resistance to UN peacekeepers being deployed. Let's hope that at least the Times may start to give regular updates on this genocide.
Speaking of Nicholas Kristof and Darfur, I caught Real Time With Bill Mahr last weekend and Kristof was interviewed on the show. It was fun--if fun is the right word when you're talking about media coverage of Darfur. I am ambivalent about Mahr, but at least in the case of Darfur, he's on the "why isn't our government doing anything to stop a genocide" side of things.
Also, Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, the great PBS series that does just about the best job of covering religion out there, had an interesting story about how African-American churches are leading the charge against the genocide in Darfur.
Peace,
Chase
| 3.3.06 | Immigration: Illegal, Legal and Otherwise |
Cardinal Roger Mahoney of Los Angeles, in his Ash Wednesday message, spoke out against a new bill in the House that outlaws aid to illegal immigrants in a dangerously broad manner. If the NY Times editorial is correct, the bill in its current form could outlaw any aid given to an illegal immigrant, theoretically including feeding an illegal alien at a soup kitchen, babysitting for a friend or neighbor who is illegally in the US or giving an illegal alien a ride. Cardinal Mahoney let it be known that if such a law becomes law, he would instruct his parishioners and priests to disobey the law. Mahoney said, "As his disciples, we are called to attend to the last, littlest, lowest and least in society and in the church." Amen to that.
The Times also ran an editorial last Saturday on the illegal immigration debate and how disconnected Washington is from the on the ground problems local governments have to face. Certainly this has been the case on Long Island, especially in Suffolk County. The editorial specifically mentions what the village of Greenport is trying to do to help everyone--illegal and legal--in their area. Here's that the Times had to say about it.
|
Other areas are bucking the nativist trend. The mayor of
Greenport, N.Y., a tiny village on Long Island, has opened his
arms to all residents and proposes to survey them, the legal and
the illegal, to better determine what services they need. The
mayor, David Kapell, considers it a calculated provocation — a
gesture of solidarity with his poorest neighbors and a cry of
protest at federal inaction.
Mr. Kapell's complaint is absolutely justified. Local officials like him live and work in the real world, and while they wait for the federal government to do its job, the task of restoring order has fallen to them. It is not their place to become the immigration police or to crack down on policies that Washington has shown no interest in fixing or enforcing. They need to keep streets safe, protect public health and ensure that their communities are decent places for everyone who lives there. To do that, they should start small. They should help, not hinder, the nonprofit groups and outreach centers that have sprung up in response to the influx. They should offer resources to set up day-labor hiring sites to supplant the ad hoc congregations of anxious would-be workers, gatherings that so often become neighborhood flashpoints of anarchy and anger. Immigration measures that rely only on punishment and deterrence are unenforceable, in no small part because the public rejects their cruelty. They are also almost inevitably counterproductive. Laws that make it a crime to help illegal immigrants find work will make outlaws out of local leaders whose only crime is to want to live in orderly, humane communities. Setting up a hiring site with bare-bones amenities like benches and bathrooms is not an indulgence of lawlessness. It is a common-sense tactic to help prevent the exploitation of workers, to rein in unscrupulous contractors and to impose some order on the chaos. It is smarter and more humane than the cruelty of harassing legislation that hopes, somehow, to make all those men and women disappear. |
Back in January, after worship on Martin Luther King Jr. Sunday, a group of us gathered to discuss race relations in our area. One of the things we talked about was the tension on Long Island over the rising number of low-wage Hispanic workers. Issues of housing, safety, economic exploitation, etc. came to mind. Several folks wondered if the men working on their lawns each week were being exploited. We also took note of the many man who wait for work each day outside of local paint and hardware stores.
Illegal immigration is a difficult topic, one that Washington seems ill-equipped to handle other than for the sake of sound bytes for campaign commercials. Certainly there are issues of national security, drug smuggling, crime, housing and zoning laws, and more to be considered. Yet, among these frightening concerns there exist people in our community that simply want a better economic opportunity than they had in their own countries. Like it or not, our local economy is dependent upon this labor force. One look around at low-paying jobs will reveal who is taking them--they are not jobs held by white suburban kids or even white blue-collar workers.
Amidst the complexity of the political issues, there is a spiritual one. As Cardinal Mahoney noted, we are called as Christians by the one we call Lord, Jesus Christ, to care for those who are most powerless in our society, those who have no voice. We are also called by Jesus to offer food, clothing and comfort to people in need. He made no mention of checking immigration papers before doing so. Jesus' words raise the question of what exactly we will do as members of our church for these Hispanic workers (legal and illegal) who are in our midst.
Peace,
Chase
| 3.3.06 | A Profile and Interview With Anne Lamott |
Religion and Ethics Newsweekly had a nice profile and interview with Anne Lamott, one of my favorite authors. On the REN site, you can read, watch or listen to the story/interview. It deals nicely with the way Lamott seems to make believers and unbelievers, those on the right and the left, uncomfortable. Yet obviously there are those of us in the middle who connect with her writing, because she keeps ending up on the bestseller lists. Like Lamott, I also believe that if Jesus doesn't have a sense of humor, I'm doomed!
Peace,
Chase