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No More Excuses

11/28/2015

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We’ve all seen that picture.  You know the one, of Obama saying “We must find homes for 10,000 Syrian/Muslim refugees…” followed by a picture of a man lying on the ground with a caption that says “…1 of 50,000 homeless veterans.”  If you haven’t seen it, go look it up for yourself, because frankly I’m sick of seeing it.  The trend lately is whenever we see someone in need, we make excuses for why we can’t help them.  The most common excuse seems to be “Well this other group, (that we’ve never tried to help before, and probably won’t help in the future) needs our aid more.”

As the daughter, niece, and granddaughter of veterans I say no.  You don’t get to ignore the plight of the men and women who fought to keep you safe, until you can use them as an excuse to be selfish and discriminate against Muslims.

The Republican party has voted down at least 8 bills that would have benefited veterans.  If people really cared about homeless veterans, they would have made a huge uproar over those bills being shot down.  But now that veterans can be used as an excuse, as someone to hold up while you say “Look how good and patriotic I am, I put veterans before refugees,” now the uproar is happening.

It doesn’t work like that, for one very important reason.

Let’s ignore for the moment that refugees already go through an extensive vetting process. 
Let’s ignore that refugee camps are the best terrorist recruiting grounds.
Let’s ignore that the refugees are seeking asylum from a war we caused. 
Let’s even ignore the large number of people in this country who haven’t cared about veterans up until now.

Setting aside all of the politics, let’s look at the two things refugees and homeless veterans have in common: They are both human, and they both need our help.

We constantly put labels on ourselves and each other.  We divide ourselves by our politics, our religion, our nationality, our race, our gender, our sexual orientation, our income, and so much more.  But when we tear away all of those labels we find that we are all inherently the same.  We are all simply human.  And if we forget the labels, how can we say one person is more deserving of help than another?  The homeless veteran is in need of food, shelter, a job, medicine, and safety.  The refugee is in need of food, shelter, a job, medicine, and safety.  We don’t have to pick which one we help.  Likewise, we don’t get to use one as an excuse for not helping the other.

The author of Hebrews said “Let mutual love continue.  Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it” (Hebrews 13:1, NRSV).  In the Old Testament, Abraham and Lot are said to have literally entertained angels without knowing.  But this doesn’t mean that some of our house guests are literally angels in disguise.  Remember when Jesus said “just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40, NRSV).  When we serve those in need, we are serving God.  You might think that just means helping the people close to us (like homeless veterans), but it extends beyond that.  Many times in the Torah God commands us to welcome foreigners: “And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt” (Deuteronomy 10:19).  Maybe we weren’t foreigners in Egypt, but remember that 99% of Americans are descended from immigrants.  We haven’t been asked, we have been commanded by God to show hospitality to people in need, both those who are like us, and those who are strangers to us.  When we do so, we are showing hospitality to God, because we are serving God’s children aka, humans.
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Homeless veterans are not an excuse.  If you claim the title of Christian you have an obligation to help refugees and homeless veterans and every other human being who is in need.  We don’t get to decide who is human and who is not.  We don’t get to decide who deserves our aid.  So either stop making excuses, or admit that you just don’t want to follow Christ’s teachings.
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The Image of God

11/13/2015

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I am a feminist* Christian.  No, this is not a contradiction.  This means I believe that God created women and men to be equals, working together as partners, not as master and servant.  Unfortunately throughout the history of Judaism and Christianity, scripture has been used as an excuse to oppress women.  Still today the majority of Christians claim that God has placed men over women.  As a result in many churches women have no voice, and in many homes women are expected to submit, even to abuse.  Many of these churches teach that women cannot work outside the home, and their entire role is to raise children (leaving them unable to support themselves if their husband dies or leaves).

Understandably, in some feminist circles, scripture is rejected.  It is thought that patriarchy and sexism cannot be separated from the Bible.  But I disagree, for one simple reason:

The Bible did not create patriarchy; patriarchy created the Bible.

A few months back I wrote that I believe the Bible to be inspired but not inerrant.  This means I believe the Bible teaches truth, but because it was written down by humans, we cannot just take it at face value.  That’s not to say we can just discard the parts we don’t like, but that we must study the context in which it was written to understand what the authors were talking about.  We must also study scripture as a whole to understand the message God intended for us.  If we take certain verses literally, it would seem that scripture supports an oppressive patriarchy.  But if we delve deeper we can see that God’s plan for the different sexes was equality, not oppression.

As Julie Andrews sang in the Sound of Music, let’s start at the very beginning.  The first two chapters of Genesis contain two different creation stories.**  In the first, we read that humans were created last, together: “So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Gen. 1:27, NRSV).  I often hear people say that God created man in his image, but Genesis tells us here that humans were made in his image.  It doesn’t say just man, it doesn’t say man is more the image of God than woman.  It says he created them in the image of God.  Right from the start, men and women are equal.

Moving on to the second chapter, we find a slightly different story.  First God creates man out of dust, breathing life into him.  But man is incomplete because he is alone.  This is the first time God says something is “not good” (Gen. 2:18).  After creating all the animals and failing to find the perfect partner for man, God creates woman out of man’s rib.  Woman is literally made of the same stuff that man is.  Not only that, it is woman who completes man. 

The word people often zero in on in this passage is helper, or helpmate (Gen. 2:18).  They see it as proof that woman is meant to serve man.  In Hebrew the word is ‘ezer, from the verb ‘azar.  It has multiple meanings, including help, assist, join together, be strong, and make strong.***  It occurs in its various forms over 100 times in the Hebrew Bible.  One of its many uses is in reference to God.  God is a help against adversaries (Deut. 33:7).  God is our help and shield (Psalms 33:20).  God saves those who take refuge in him (Psalms 37:40).  All of these verses use the same word to describe God as is used in Genesis 2 to describe woman’s relationship to man.  If we claim the word means woman is meant to serve man that would mean that God’s purpose is to also serve man.

Through the creation story we see God’s intention for men and women is equality.  Our fallen human nature has caused women throughout history to fall into a subservient role, but this is not how we are made to be.  The effects of gender equality are not simply individual.  By working for equality, particularly in developing countries, the world benefits, bringing economic growth.  In addition their children have better access to food and education, ending the vicious cycle of poverty.  People talk about a desire to end world hunger and poverty.  In order to do that we need end the oppression of half the world’s population.  Christianity’s history of viewing women as being below men has only perpetuated violence and poverty.  We are not called to contribute to the evil of the world, but to work against it.  This begins with the realization that both women and men are made in the image of God, as equals.
 
*I embrace the term feminist despite the negative connotations it has earned.  Feminism is not about man-hating or placing women over men, it is about equality and bringing an end to the discrimination, abuse, and oppression women around the world face every day.

**Even if you do not believe in a literal 6 day creation, you can still find truth in the creation story concerning God and God’s purpose in creating the world.

***Translations from the Concise Dictionary of Classical Hebrew
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Taking Back Pro-Life

11/1/2015

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The average pro-lifer confuses me.  Most* of the ones I have met are against abortion even at the expense of the wellbeing of the mother.  They are often anti-gun control (even in the face of children being shot in school), pro-death penalty, anti-welfare, anti-universal healthcare, anti-livable minimum wage, anti-feminist/women’s equality and anti-immigrant.  It seems as though life begins at conception, and ends at birth, unless the child is a straight, white, Christian, American male.  Despite spouting Bible verses that might possibly support their anti-abortion stance, they ignore the many Bible verses that oppose their other political beliefs.

I consider myself pro-life.  Yes, I am against abortion.  No, I do not protest abortion clinics or shame women.  I believe in supporting women during and after pregnancy.  I recognize that making abortion illegal will only drive women to unsafe abortion clinics.  I believe in providing women with other options.  I believe in supporting poor women and giving them a means to support their families.  I believe in showing them they are beloved by God, no matter what they choose.

But when I say I am pro-life, I refer to so much more than just abortion.  I look to the scriptures and find a God who does not fit the description of the average pro-lifer.  I see a God who values all life.  I see a God who is:
  • Pro-weapon (gun) control: “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’  But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also;” (Matthew 5:38-39, NRSV) “Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.” (Matthew 26:52, NRSV)
  • Anti-death penalty: “they said to him, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery.  Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’  They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’” (John 8:4-7, NRSV)
  • Pro-welfare: “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the alien: I am the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 23:22, NRSV)
  • Pro-universal healthcare: Jesus healed a woman with an evil spirit (Luke 13:10-17), a woman suffering hemorrhages (Matthew 9:20-22), ten men with leprosy (Luke 17:11-19), and many others who were considered unclean and/or outcasts and were rejected by their society.
  • Pro-living minimum wage: “You shall not withhold the wages of poor and needy laborers, whether other Israelites or aliens who reside in your land in one of your towns.  You shall pay them their wages daily before sunset, because they are poor and their livelihood depends on them; otherwise they might cry to the Lord against you, and you would incur guilt.” (Deuteronomy 24:14-15, NRSV).  This verse is meant to protect people who are destitute from being taken advantage of by their employers.
  • Pro-feminism: This one is tricky, and I plan to address it more extensively in the future.  However, for now I would like to direct you to two verses: “So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27, NRSV)  “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28, NRSV) 
  • Pro-immigration: “When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien.  The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 19:33-34, NRSV)

The first president of my alma mater, Asa Mahan, was an abolitionist during the Civil War.  He taught that because we are all created by God, all people have intrinsic worth.  Intrinsic worth means our worth cannot be taken away.  It is an inherent part of who we are, given to us by God.  Many pro-lifers would have us believe that unborn children have intrinsic worth, but the poor, the outcasts, the immigrants, the non-Christians, the non-whites, do not.  Although Mahan used the idea of intrinsic worth to fight slavery, it can be applied apply to any violation of human rights.

Pro-lifers say they support the sanctity of life, but then pick and choose who it applies to.  I think this is a huge contradiction.  I want to take back the term pro-life.  Yes, unborn children have intrinsic worth, but it doesn’t end at birth.  To call oneself pro-life should mean you see the intrinsic worth of ALL people, and follow God’s call to protect ALL life. 
 
*While many of the pro-lifers I have met match this description, I also know others who do not
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    I am a seminary student who loves to study and think about God, Christianity and the Church.  I started this blog as a place to share my thoughts with others.

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