There are reasons we do what we do here.
I have heard it, from time to time, that people don’t like it that I talk about politics or about race in America. I know that many people think that religion ought never to talk about anything but Jesus.
But the Jesus I have studied was a participant in and a critic of the political system in which he lived. Jesus got in trouble, and ultimately lost his life, because he dared challenge the injustice the political system propagated.
Liberation theology has its basis in interpreting the Bible as a book which supported justice, but many people reject that interpretation. Were we to put James Cone and Glenn Beck in the same room to talk about liberation theology and its validity, fireworks would fly.
There are so many ways to interpret important documents, and that is a problem. Those who are oppressed interpret both the Bible and the United States Constitution, for example, far differently from those of the privileged class. Heterosexuals interpret the Bible differently than do homosexuals; men interpret the Bible differently than do women, and the Constitution, it seems, is consistently interpreted in a way which supports people in power.
At the end of the day, though, we all have to go inside ourselves and ask God to reveal God’s self to us. Is God on the side of the downtrodden and oppressed, or is that just someone’s opinion? Did God ordain the American brand of slavery, and did God intend for black people to be mistreated by nearly everyone who is not black? Is God good all the time, to and for all people, or is God snob, liking some people better than others because of their skin color or social class?
When another way of looking at scriptures is presented, many people get offended and say that said interpretation is “revisionist,” yet, surely God knew that His people would interpret the words in that sacred text to fit themselves. We humans are always trying to say God is on our side, instead of living our lives so that God can clearly see that we are on His side.
As long as there is injustice in this world based on class and color and sexual orientation and ethnicity and any other reason, I will continue to preach that it is not right, not of God or from God. At the end of the day, you see, I believe in a loving, yet stern God who makes us accountable for how we treat each other. I have ingested the words that Jesus said, “How can you say you love God, whom you have not seen, when you do not love your brother, whom you do see?”
I believe that God, the Father, and Jesus, his son, are against oppression in any shape, way or form. I believe that God the Father, and Jesus, his son, want us to practice loving those whom we don’t necessarily like, and practicing forgiveness, no matter how difficult. There may be many ways of interpreting the Bible, but in the end, there seems to me a theme that runs throughout the Bible, and that is, “all have fallen short of the glory of God.” This God, it seems, loves “all” whom he has created, and we are to do the same.
I may be wrong. We may all be. There really might be just ONE way to interpret the Bible, and we’ve all missed it. God may be shaking his head at everything that everyone is saying, has said, and is teaching, but I have no way of knowing that. I know that I incline my ear toward God and I give what I believe God tells me – as does everyone else who teaches and preaches.
So, in this house, you’ll keep getting these lessons of and from the Bible from a perspective which may be different from the perspective you’ve had before. I hope that in spite of the difference there is room for you to grow and to get closer to God than you ever have before.
Have a good week!
Pastor Smith
Monday, February 7, 2011
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Kasich a Reminder
There is a cost to those who can least afford it when we do not exercise our right to vote.
We didn’t always have the right. People died getting us the right, and when we, I mean, African Americans, do not exercise that right – for whatever reason- it bugs me.
But bigger than how it affects me, it affects our quality of life. When we do not vote, we leave the way open for people who do not particularly care about “the least of these” to get into office and make policies which do not work in our favor.
John Kasich, our new governor, showed his colors this week when he said “I don’t need you people” when challenged by Ohio State Congresswoman Nina Turner about his cabinet. As of this writing, the governor has not appointed a single person of color. When Sen. Turner challenged him on it, citing the value of diversity, Mr. Kasich said, “I don’t need you people.”
Excuse me?
Mr. Kasich later said what he meant was that he didn’t need Democrats. OK, so we’ll be stupid today. Sen. Turner wasn’t talking about having Democrats in his cabinet. She was talking about him not having any person of color in his cabinet. Mr. Kasich reverted to the oft-repeated excuse that he could not find any qualified people of color. He then said the whole discussion was about quotas, and, he said, quotas are “so yesterday.”
Excuse me again. Quotas? No, we’re not talking about quotas. We’re talking about being representative of the people of Ohio. Like it or not, Mr. Kasich is duty-bound to represent us all, red and yellow, black and white, Christian, Jewish and Catholic. That mandate, that responsibility, seems lost to Mr. Kasich, who didn’t even want the media to cover his inauguration.
Excuse me?
But …we brought this on ourselves. Just a few more of us going to the polls might have made a big difference. Mr. Kasich did not win by a big margin. He just won. And now, he is in the seat of power and I shudder to think what his policies will mean for “the least of these.”
The move has been on since President Obama got elected to make sure he is a one term president. Trust and believe that the machinations to make him lose in Ohio are in motion. What will we do? Will we wring our hands, or get to work?
The Bible says that all things work together for good for those who love the Lord, and who are called according to his purposes. We are called, by the blood and suffering of our ancestors, to vote, not less, but more, always more. We are called to get people hyped up and moving for a big victory.
Otherwise, what Mr. Kasich is showing us will be nothing. I am not sure of the shenanigans that will be put in place to make it more difficult for people to vote in the 2012 election, but I know to expect it. I read that some lawmakers are trying to make it mandatory for every voter to have a picture ID so they can control and reduce voter fraud.
I think that if the powers that want to be want to play hardball, then we ought to enter the game. We ought to be proactive and not reactive. I truly believe that we might have a different song to sing as far as Ohio had more of us turned out to vote, but that is water under the bridge.
We need to gird up and work as our ancestors did, to work with the passion of Fannie Lou Hamer who risked her life to get herself and others the right to vote. It was she who said, “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.”
Me too, Mrs. Hamer. Me,too.
Pastor Smith
We didn’t always have the right. People died getting us the right, and when we, I mean, African Americans, do not exercise that right – for whatever reason- it bugs me.
But bigger than how it affects me, it affects our quality of life. When we do not vote, we leave the way open for people who do not particularly care about “the least of these” to get into office and make policies which do not work in our favor.
John Kasich, our new governor, showed his colors this week when he said “I don’t need you people” when challenged by Ohio State Congresswoman Nina Turner about his cabinet. As of this writing, the governor has not appointed a single person of color. When Sen. Turner challenged him on it, citing the value of diversity, Mr. Kasich said, “I don’t need you people.”
Excuse me?
Mr. Kasich later said what he meant was that he didn’t need Democrats. OK, so we’ll be stupid today. Sen. Turner wasn’t talking about having Democrats in his cabinet. She was talking about him not having any person of color in his cabinet. Mr. Kasich reverted to the oft-repeated excuse that he could not find any qualified people of color. He then said the whole discussion was about quotas, and, he said, quotas are “so yesterday.”
Excuse me again. Quotas? No, we’re not talking about quotas. We’re talking about being representative of the people of Ohio. Like it or not, Mr. Kasich is duty-bound to represent us all, red and yellow, black and white, Christian, Jewish and Catholic. That mandate, that responsibility, seems lost to Mr. Kasich, who didn’t even want the media to cover his inauguration.
Excuse me?
But …we brought this on ourselves. Just a few more of us going to the polls might have made a big difference. Mr. Kasich did not win by a big margin. He just won. And now, he is in the seat of power and I shudder to think what his policies will mean for “the least of these.”
The move has been on since President Obama got elected to make sure he is a one term president. Trust and believe that the machinations to make him lose in Ohio are in motion. What will we do? Will we wring our hands, or get to work?
The Bible says that all things work together for good for those who love the Lord, and who are called according to his purposes. We are called, by the blood and suffering of our ancestors, to vote, not less, but more, always more. We are called to get people hyped up and moving for a big victory.
Otherwise, what Mr. Kasich is showing us will be nothing. I am not sure of the shenanigans that will be put in place to make it more difficult for people to vote in the 2012 election, but I know to expect it. I read that some lawmakers are trying to make it mandatory for every voter to have a picture ID so they can control and reduce voter fraud.
I think that if the powers that want to be want to play hardball, then we ought to enter the game. We ought to be proactive and not reactive. I truly believe that we might have a different song to sing as far as Ohio had more of us turned out to vote, but that is water under the bridge.
We need to gird up and work as our ancestors did, to work with the passion of Fannie Lou Hamer who risked her life to get herself and others the right to vote. It was she who said, “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.”
Me too, Mrs. Hamer. Me,too.
Pastor Smith
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