In yesterday’s post, I completely forgot to include a link to The Civility Project, a grassroots movement comprised of conservatives and liberals and religious and secular individuals who pledge to be civil in their discussions/disagreements/general behavior toward one another.
From the Project’s homepage, you can make your own civility pledge and invite your friends (via email, Facebook, etc.) to do likewise.
A few days ago, prominent church leaders, including the more politically conservative Chuck Colson and more politically liberal Jim Wallis, came together and signed a Civility Covenant. So far, over a hundred leaders of various churches and denominations have signed the Covenant. You can read the full text of the Covenant here.
Among other things, signers of the Covenant pledge:
I have become increasingly disheartened at the lack of civility in our country but even more alarmed at the lack of civility I have found among people I know and love. When you see people in angry mobs on the news shouting racial slurs at their Congressman simply because they disagree with how they voted on a particular piece of legislation, it’s disturbing enough. But, lately, I’ve seen multiple Facebook posts and youtube or email forwards full of hate and vitriol by people I know — and worse, yet, by people who I know claim to love God.
Actual examples of Facebook comments posted by friends of mine or Fred’s this past week alone have included:
Don’t get me started on the youtube forwards (again, sent by people we know) of Hitler idolizing Obama or the one which discusses how Obama has reneged on his campaign promises, so perhaps his moniker should be Reneger (if you don’t catch the intended offensiveness, sound it out in your head).
I have to believe these friends’ words and actions begin with a good motive – perhaps they feel they need to stand up for what is right according to their convictions or perhaps they feel they can’t let the “other guys” walk all over them like a doormat. I truly am at a loss as to how pure hatred by people who claim to love God gets started; though it’s been occurring for centuries, so perhaps I should finally get over that shock.
I will admit to a recent Facebook purge because it is just too difficult for me to continually read these highly offensive comments, though I did respond to the offensive comments and listen back before de-friending. I just am too emotional. I get angry, but I also get sad and shed tears and yell my outrage to Fred (poor Fred). These kind of hateful comments are just too hard for me to handle. So, I took the time to purge by Facebook friends of people who spread hate as well as people whom I never talk to or have never initiated an actual conversation since friending me in the first place. I decided that even my social network friends should be actual friends – people who I share (or have shared) a connection with, who encourage me, or whom I simply like. And in doing so, I decided that my social network of friends did not need to include those I barely know, or those who are “friends” because we were friends of a friend 15 years ago in college, or those who get my blood boiling and make me yell at poor Fred.
So, where do we go from here? My personal response (at least with respect to my Facebook account) seems to be a stick-your-fingers-in-your-ear kind of approach, which doesn’t seem the most mature or effective means of finding common ground through civility. Yelling louder, meaner epithets when we hear something we do not like does not seem to be helping either side of the political divide. So, perhaps it is time we all take a stand. Perhaps it is time for each of us to speak up (Nicely! Civilly!) when others are disrespectful or hateful. Let us encourage one another to a better way of living and loving and co-existing. A way which does not resort to name-calling or any other such nonsense.
We used to know how to stand up for ourselves, argue our positions, disagree passionately, AND be civil, polite, and respectful. For those of you who say you love God: does your love of God hold any place of relevance when it comes to how you view and treat your political enemies? It seems that “the gloves are off” as they say and that a lot of Christians are happy to finally be viewed as the “tough guys.” Yeah, it would suck if we were compared to that loving, peaceful, humble guy with the long hair. What was his name again???
I can’t believe I haven’t talked about this before on the blog, especially since it is a part of my life that I love so much! One of the things that fills some of my days each week is a ministry in our church called the May Street Market. I volunteer as the Volunteer Coordinator of the Market, but I think that title makes my role sound much more important than it actually is. The truth is, the church staff of our Baptist Center, Dan Freemyer and Judi Glover, do all the hard work for this ministry and all the other Baptist Center ministries.
One of the reasons Fred and I fell quickly in love with our church was its commitment to people PERIOD. No conditions at all. They love people – all people, no matter what. Our church is located near downtown Fort Worth and there is a large homeless population as well as a large population of families on welfare or fixed incomes in our church’s neighborhood. As our new pastor, Brent Beasley, said in a sermon not too long ago ~ before coming to Broadway Baptist Church, he would see a homeless man walking the streets downtown and think, “oh, there’s a homeless man,” but after coming to Broadway, he sees a homeless man walking the streets downtown and thinks, “oh, there’s Jerry.” Our church membership is made up of a diverse group of families and I love that sitting next to a homeless person is not an unusual occurrence for us in our church.
Anyway, the May Street Market is one of the many ways our church serves our community. It’s a small grocery store (about 10 aisles) where families from our community can come “shop” for groceries once a month. I say “shop” because there is no charge for any of the items. They are allowed to take a certain number of items from each aisle based on the size of their family. We have upwards of 150 families that come through our Market each month and due to the economy, that number just seems to be growing and growing. What is remarkable to me, though, is the number of people who donate food and money keeps growing and growing, too.
There’s just something about serving others that allows me to see how interconnected we all are, why Love matters, and how real God is.
Dan preached about one of my favorite stories regarding the May Street Market a few months back. The whole sermon is terrific, but the part about the Market starts at the 11:40 mark. You can hear it here (it’s just under 7 minutes long).
I’ve struggled with whether to avoid issues of faith and politics on this blog. I tend to stir things up pretty easily without much effort and usually without any intention. Usually. 
But, I’ve decided that at the very least I need to be as authentic as possible and the reality is that some of these potentially controversial topics are a big part of me. So, here’s what is on my mind these days.
I’m really tired of feeling ashamed to be a Christian. Over the past several years, when I meet people and topics of faith come up, I find myself clamming up, deflecting, or changing the subject. And those who know me will tell you, I’m not the clamming up type of gal. I am not ashamed of my faith nor am I embarrassed to publicly admit that I have chosen to follow Jesus. However, I want to remove myself as much as possible from the Christian identity that seems to have become the de facto identity in our culture today. At times, I get so frustrated with the assumptions as to my identity that I feel like I should wear a sign disclaiming what it means to me to be a Christian:
I love Jesus BUT: I am not a Republican; I do not believe gay people are going to hell and I support gay marriage; I do not secretly take delight when abortion doctors are gunned down or when murderers are put to death by the government – I believe all life is sacred; I believe in separation of church and state, therefore, I do not support prayer in school or government sponsored faith-based programs; I do not check my intelligence at the front door of my church each time I enter; I am not uneducated, uninformed, or naive; and I believe that everyone deserves the respect to find their own way to God if they choose.
See? That would be a pretty big sign to wear around all the time. All these issues, and many more, are issues I might (okay, definitely) feel passionately about, but they are issues that don’t have any relevance to whether I am a follower of Jesus. My love for Jesus is just that – my love for Him, His life, His love, and His teachings. But, I’m tired of non-Christians assuming that if you worship Jesus, you must not be capable of thinking for yourself or you must be one of those extreme right-wing nuts who basically just spouts off incendiary rhetoric to make themselves feel good and others feel small. I’m equally weary of some of my more conservative Christian friends who assume (or insist) that my beliefs on every political, economical, and intellectual issue under the sun must match exactly some pre-ordained List of Christian Beliefs. If you are really a Christian, you must be a stay at home mom, hate health-care reform if sponsored by the Democrats, love health-care reform if sponsored by the Republicans, believe evolution can play no part in the creation story, and on and on. Who exactly penned this list? I don’t remember it being this long 15 years ago. Every few years it seems more and more mundane issues are added as essential characteristics of a true Christian.
I am not casting blame – I mean, who can blame anyone, really? With people like Pat Robertson, Sarah Palin, and Rush Limbaugh being touted either as the voice of Christianity in America or as the voice of how you should think on all political issues if you’re a Christian, it’s no wonder non-Christians might assume I am prone to hating others and being dumb or narrow-minded. However, the faith of these people – regardless of how much they are exalted in the Christian community – is not at all representative of most of the Christians I know, even my ultra-conservative Christian friends. Yet, I am constantly amazed at how many times I hear a Christian friend or colleague quote and defend-to-the-death statements made by these and other public figures as if they are quoting the Bible, which sadly only gives more credence to the belief that we Christians are a bunch of silly things not thinking for ourselves and just repeating what we hear on Fox News.
I actually started this post back in October but stopped here and never quite finished it. I felt uncertain about whether to be so public about these sentiments of mine. This past week, I have found myself repeatedly coming back to this post. Then, today, everything I came across kept reminding me that being a Christian is about loving others, period. In today’s church bulletin, one of the thoughts for reflection was a quotation from Brennan Manning reminding me that the purpose of Jesus is “extravagant, furious love [and] [t]his, my friend, is what it really means to be a Christian.” When I got home from church, one of my friends had simply posted, “They will know we are Christians by our LOVE” on her Facebook status.
I initially came back to these thoughts this week after watching the devastation in Haiti and engaging in conversations with people who identify themselves as Christian but who defended the statements and sentiment of Pat Robertson. This week, I also read this article on Salon.com by a New Yorker who came out of the closet – the Christian closet that is - and finally admitted to her colleagues that she was a Christian. Though, our cultures are very different (hers an environment where Christianity is not the majority; me in one in which it is the majority), I related to a lot of what she wrote, particularly the last two paragraphs.
I have also found myself thinking through these issues because I recently started reading A People’s History of Christianity: The Other Side of the Story by Diana Butler Bass. In her introduction, the author recounts a conversation with a colleague of hers wherein the very educated colleague remarks to the very educated Bass how she is perplexed by Bass’ Christian faith. Bass told her, “I just can’t get away from Jesus. I actually love Jesus and his teachings.” Her colleague responded, “Jesus? I don’t have any trouble with Jesus. It’s all the stuff that’s happened after Jesus that makes me mad.” It’s a sentiment that I relate to very well. I think most people don’t have a problem with Jesus; rather, it’s what is done in the name of Jesus that turns people off. Whether it be how I feel towards divorce, abortion, capital punishment, or homosexual activity, I do not believe that Jesus calls me to politically force my faith beliefs onto someone who, through their own faith and journey, has come to a different belief and who may not believe in God at all.
Honestly, I don’t think Jesus cares AT ALL about whether America should ban the legalization of gay marriage or approve health care reform or whatever. I think He cares only about how we are loving one another – and, sadly, based on most recent political debates, I would venture to guess He’s a tad disappointed.
My faith has taken quite a journey over my lifetime. In my youth, I struggled hard to fit every single issue into a neat, small box. All the non-essentials felt overwhelmingly Essential – Essential with a capital E and exclamation point, Essential! As time passes, I have experienced more life and my heart has mellowed quite a bit. I’m more at peace and I enjoy my faith so much more. This morning at church I recalled my favorite Bible verse when I first became a Christian. It’s the biblical passage that has always resonated the most with me, even in my early, very militant, fundamental years (in my defense, these were my teenage and early 20’s years when we all think we know everything) .
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35.
Throughout the years and despite the vast journey I feel my heart has traveled thus far, this is the passage I have always centered my faith around. It is this message that pulls at my heart strings and speaks to me. Even though my Christian faith looks very different than it did 15 years ago, this passage still defines my purpose as a Christian.
My faith in Jesus may seem childish to some. And you know, I think it is childish in a way. Like a child, my faith makes me feel secure. It provides me with a purpose (say it with me, to LOVE!). I like believing that I am but a small part in this world – that there is something (Someone) bigger than me – that there is a meaning and purpose to our existence. I like believing that we live on after death. Ever the idealist, I love believing that the way I live matters and that collectively, our actions and words can impact the world. And when I read the teachings of Jesus and reflect on His life, it feels like Truth to me. That may sound like Pollyanna-ish drivel to some, but that is what resides in my heart.
So, please don’t assume that just because I love Jesus that I admire Sarah Palin or support gay bashing or think the woman’s place is only in the kitchen. That would make me sad. And, please don’t assume that because I have no admiration for Sarah Palin, support gay rights, and recognize that there are many, many valuable places for a woman inside and outside of the home that I don’t love Jesus, because that would make me really sad, too.