Author: Pat Liberty

History is written by the winners. There is always a dominant narrative that emerges and becomes the “official” history of any event or epoch. It means that the truths of those who “lost” are often lost to history. In any history, however, there is always a minority report.

It has been said that racism is America’s original sin. The Southern Poverty Law Center states that it is not America’s original sin but America’s origin. Every strand in the warp and woof of our country’s fabric is shot through with slavery and racism. In this election year it is especially important that we take a more honest look at our history because it is influencing our political process in disturbing ways. Over the next few weeks I will explore this in more depth. For this week I begin with some pieces of history that are not well known, but fill in crucial parts of the narrative that paint a more honest picture of who we are as Americans.  Warning: the stories we tell ourselves and the stories we were taught leave out a lot.

Most of us learned in US history in high school that the first slaves were brought to America in 1619 and landed in Jamestown, Virginia. The narrative that is left out is that the brutal slave trade was already thriving in the Americas. Portuguese and Spanish colonists in Central and South America began trafficking enslaved humans in the 1400’s. It is likely that Christopher Columbus transported the first enslaved Africans in the 1490’s to what is now the Dominican Republic.

The Spanish occupation of Florida in the early sixteenth century was the beginning of slavery in what was to become the United States. Linda Heywood and John Thornton of Boston University state that the earliest slaves arrived in 1526.

The reason any of this matters is because what we were taught truncates the narrative. The slave trade has a much broader history than the atrocities of the early colonies. Slavery was global. Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, Peru and Brazil, to name a few, were slave trading and slave holding areas. African people endured centuries of enslavement.

In 1663 a Virginia court set the precedent for generational slavery by declaring a child born to an enslaved mother was also a slave. This law made the slave trade in America unique in the world, a dubious distinction at best.

In 1661 Maryland was the first state to pass anti-miscegenation legislation. In the l960’s twenty-one states still had those laws in place. Alabama was the last state to repeal the ban on interracial marriage in 2000. Let that sink in a moment, just twenty years ago.

The date of 1776 as the date of American independence is celebrated and revered. What is less known is that all references to slaves were removed by Thomas Jefferson, himself a slave owner. Thomas Jefferson had six children by his house slave, Sally Heming. The truth is ugly; this woman endured years of rape and was forced to bear her rapist’s children. As the Southern Poverty Law Center notes, “We enjoy thinking about Thomas Jefferson proclaiming ‘all men are created equal.’ But we are deeply troubled by the prospect of enslaved woman Sally Heming declaring, ‘me too’.”

Eight of the first twelve presidents were slave owners. They had a deeply vested interest in the institution of slavery.

It is commonly believed the southern colonies were the only slave holders. In reality all the colonies held slaves. Massachusetts was the first colony to declare slavery an institution. In Rhode Island a law required the release of slaves after ten years of forced labor. Since the north was first to abolish slavery it is easy to think it never existed. Between 1774 and 1804 all the northern states abolished slavery.

The slave trade continued to grow in the south. The invention of the cotton gin in the late eighteenth century changed the face of the southern economy. Shifting from tobacco and rice crops to cotton was a turning point in the expansion of the slave trade in the south. It is estimated that enslaved people made up one-third of the population in the south. The growth of the colonies, westward territorial expansion and industrial growth were all dependent on the institution of slavery.

High school history teaches that the importing of slaves was outlawed in 1808. What it doesn’t teach is that it made the domestic slave trade boom. A slave was considered three-fifths of a human being. They were bought and sold like cattle at an auction.  

The Civil War was fought over the issue of slavery. The southern states wanted to secede so they could continue the institution of slavery. The northern colonies, having abolished slavery and the growing voices from Quaker and Mennonite communities protesting slavery all set the stage for a bloody and brutal war.

By the late 1800’s the Ku Klux Klan was thriving in the south. After the Civil War and the outlawing of slavery, the backlash to keep white supremacy in place was brutal. To this day the KKK, other hate groups and white supremacy groups keep the shameful legacy of racism alive and well.

In this election year, it is crucial that we learn our history, the whole story. It isn’t pretty but it is who we are. It is clear that the “official” end of slavery and efforts at reconstruction did little to improve the situation of African Americans. Efforts to legally redress discrimination have been minimally successful. In 1964 President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act. In 1965 the Voting Rights Act was passed to correct disparities in voter access.  That law was repealed by a 2013 court ruling.  Let that sink in, too.

A year or so ago I was in high school. Last week I graduated from college. Earlier this year I marked thirty-seven years of ordained ministry. I have just one question. What the hell happened?

How did so much time go by so fast? It’s a question we asked when I was gathered with a group of my friends from high school for the sad occasion of one of our mom’s death. She was like mom to us. We were in and out of each other’s houses at all hours of the day and night. We just showed up, browsed through the fridge if we were hungry and hung out like we lived there.

Most of us are blessed if we have one second home. I am lucky enough to have had four. We have been there for each other through thick and thin for over fifty years.

Over a few glasses of wine we shook our heads and wondered what the hell happened? How did life go flying by so fast?

I’ve had a lot of time to think this past week (it’s not always a good thing, but I’m giving it my best shot anyway), and here’s what’s been rolling around in my head.

I know time is time is time. I also know that my moms were right when they said time goes faster as you get older.

It is humbling to realize more of life has been lived than is yet to be lived.

Time is precious mostly because there is so little of it but also because of the people who make time count and make life worth living.

To have friends for over fifty years is pretty cool.

Wine is a good thing.

Finding a few laughs in the midst of sadness is okay. It’s part of what makes the sadness bearable.

Memory is a great gift. Sure, it makes the losses harder because of all the good times, but it also makes the present tolerable.

Telling stories is a cornerstone of grief and healing.

Tears are a gift when there are no words.

Time is promised to no one, so if you happen to get a bunch of it, be grateful. Even with the aches and pains and creaks and groans and the occasional breaking heart, it is a good thing.

Time is what keeps everything from happening at once. That’s a good thing, too.

One day at a time is good advice. I am discovering it is also about all I can handle.

Loss is inevitable. No one will ever fill the space left in your heart when someone you love dies. Still, loneliness is optional.

You can only do what you can do. Some things just have to go by without being tended to. Having limits is part of being human.

It is humbling and annoying when the limits aren’t as far out ahead as they used to be.

I’m still not sure what the hell happened, but figuring out seems less important than living in the moment and making sure it counts.

And did I mention wine is a good thing?

There are so many misconceptions about abortion. Women feel no loss related to the terminated pregnancy. There are no physical symptoms that accompany the procedure. It is an easy decision to make, like having a hang nail clipped off. Abortion is an acceptable method of birth control. It is a decision a woman will regret for the rest of her life. All religions are universally against a woman’s right to choose. Women who choose to terminate pregnancies have emotional problems for the rest of their lives. Women who have abortions will never have children in the future. Abortion requires her partner’s consent. The list goes on and on. In truth, laws vary from state to state and it is important to get accurate information for the geographic region where the procedure is being considered.

Ever since Roe v. Wade was passed in 1973, our society has defined abortion as something shameful and worthy of judgement.  I hasten to say it is mostly “religious” people who make the judgement.

Many people think the “church” has always believed that life begins at conception. Nothing could be further from the truth. Having accurate historical information is an appropriate place to begin if abortion is going to continue to be used as a political and religious football to control women’s bodies.

There are two major religious groups that dominate the conversation: the Roman Catholic Church and conservative Christian evangelicals.

The Roman Catholic Church has an inconsistent history with women’s reproductive health. In ancient times it was believed that women spontaneously formed a child from withheld menses. When it was discovered that men were half the equation, along with the rise of patriarchal religion, women’s private health care became men’s concern.

In the early Christian church, the Didache asked two questions about abortion: was it being used to conceal fornication or adultery and did the fetus have a rational soul from the moment of conception? The latter debate remains the cornerstone which fuels the anti-abortion movement, although there is no consensus on the answer.

Augustine wrote in the Encridion, that the fetus received its soul at some point in its growth but not at conception. The first official Canon recognized by the Church dates from 1140. It states, in part, that “he is not a murderer who brings about abortion before the soul is in the body.”

It became more complicated as Popes disagreed about the issue. The most consistent lines of reasoning regarding abortion were two fold. First, abortion as contraception was a sin; second, abortion was a sin against marriage. This had more to do with property rights concerning women than with morality. Neither, however, was considered murder.

Other Popes like Sixtus V and Gregory the XIV continued the disagreements back and forth. As late as the 18^th century there was theological agreement that the fetus did not develop a soul at conception, but rather at “quickening” when movement was first felt by the mother.

The argument took a radical turn in 1869 when Pope Pius IX stated that excommunication was required for abortion at any stage of pregnancy and that all abortion was murder. This was in direct opposition to the theological positions that predated that document.

For those who believe in Papal infallibility, it is important to note that this doctrine has as complicated a history as women’s reproductive health. To this day there is lack of consensus throughout the Roman Catholic Church worldwide concerning Papal infallibility.

Jump ahead to 1917 and the revised Church Canon required excommunication not only for women who aborted fetuses, but also for all who participated in the abortion.

Jump ahead again to the Second Vatican Council in 1965. The official church doctrine stated that “life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception; abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes.” This shifted the argument to protecting life. In 1974 the Declaration on Procured Abortion declared that the fetus is a human life from the moment of conception.

So much for the doctrinal purity of the Roman Catholics Church through the centuries.

Protestant Christianity didn’t fare much better, although there was general consensus that abortion was a serious issue. Martin Luther and John Calvin promulgated varying degrees of interpretation regarding the “sin” of abortion. Conservative and fundamental churches held with Roman Catholic doctrine, an irony not lost on church historians.

Given that Protestants don’t agree on much of anything (hence the name Protest-ant), it was not surprising there were multiple views on the nature, purpose and morality of abortion.

What was significant in the Protestant/Evangelical/Fundamentalist debate was that abortion was permissible under certain circumstances. These circumstances included family welfare and social responsibility. “They affirmed that fetal life may have to be abandoned to maintain full and secure family life.”  This was radically different from Roman Catholic Doctrine of the same period.

Mainstream evangelical leaders’ liberal views on abortion shifted in 1968. Christianity Today and the Christian Medical Society hosted a gathering of evangelical leaders to set the “conservative, evangelical position within Protestantism.” Apparently they neglected the fact that they didn’t speak for ALL Protestants, conservative, evangelical or other.

In the ensuing decades multiple conservative Christian voices from seminaries to denominational judicatories weighed in on the abortion issue. There were as many opinions as there were Protestant voices.

The next major anti-abortion movement began when Jerry Falwell confidently declared that conception was the moment when human attributes were given to a fetus. His unparalleled social, theological and political platform gave opportunity for a rallying cry and united much of the conservative Christian movement. Arguing that he spoke the definitive voice on a biblical view of abortion was arrogant. He was also selectively literal in his interpretation of the Bible. Preying on the biblical illiteracy of many people in the United States and using his bully pulpit, he did more to galvanize an anti-abortion movement than any of his contemporaries.

The reason any of this matters is because the “authoritative” voices declaring the way and will of God regarding abortion are selectively biblical and largely politically motivated. The upshot is that men and the women they influence, as well as political affiliations, define the morality of abortion in a singular voice when there are many voices, each with their theological strengths and weaknesses.

For any church, Protestant or Catholic to claim a definitive voice on abortion flies in the face of either tradition’s history. If we are going to argue the “morality” of abortion, let’s at least be honest that the church is inconsistent at best.

It also matters because women carry shame and blame for their unwanted pregnancies and choice for abortion. What is a personal decision for a woman and her health care provider has become a political football used to assert moral superiority and the subjugation of women.

It is time we stopped allowing patriarchal Christianity to define the meaning of abortion for women. The women who have come into my office for pastoral care through the years have, for the most part, drunk the religious Kool-Aid that is all too willing to judge them to hell and back. And it needs to stop.

The only way to stop shaming women for making a perfectly legal choice is for women to shed the shame that is foisted upon them, and the men who impregnate them to take responsibility. When women begin to speak openly about their abortions without shame or self-blame the conversation will begin to change. When women hold men equally responsible for the pregnancies that result from intercourse the conversation will begin to change. When men are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for taking advantage of women who are compromised by drugs or alcohol the conversation will begin to change.

And it is far beyond time for that to happen.

It’s not hard to figure out how we got into this sorry mess of politics and idiocy. It’s nauseating but predictable. To get out of this mess will require skewering a few of our nation’s favorite sacred cows.

History tells the story in the starkest of ways, so let’s take a look back.

The first sacred cow that needs to hit the grill is the racism that is woven into the warp and woof of every shred of our social fabric. Beginning with the wholesale slaughter of Native Americans by the earliest colonists, the undercurrent of wanting a white, Christian America runs deep.

Entrepreneurs came to the new world in search of greater business opportunities. They were exclusively white men and the system they mirrored from the old world was recreated in the new world. It assured they would keep their power.

The portion of settlers who came to escape religious oppression promptly created a similar system of religious oppression in the new world. This too was a system dominated by the authority of white men.

By the time of the Civil War the deep divides in the country around racism were justified on both sides by cherry picking Scripture to support their point. Emotions ran high. The Southern Baptist Church was founded specifically in response to and support of slavery. Once again, using Scripture as their justification they staunchly supported those who believed in the necessity and veracity of slavery. White Evangelical Christians who were politically conservative fought against every inclusive racial effort from abolitionism to affirmative action.

When white Southern Baptists expanded west in search of new entrepreneurial opportunities they brought their theology and politics with them. This created another social and political bloc of conservative voters that has continued through the centuries.

Fast forward to today, the question of how we got into this mess and more importantly, how we get out of it is on the minds of lots of people. The country seems to be on roller skates to hell.

The second sacred cow that needs to hit the grill is the misnomer of “Evangelical Christian.” Every truly Evangelical Christian should be horrified and offended by the loudest voice claiming that moniker. This political and conservatively social voting bloc is neither evangelical nor Christian. They are willing to separate individual moral and religious behavior for the sake of their larger social and political agenda. This is the worst kind of “religion.” From now on I am going to call them the Great White Embarrassment (GWE) and the occupant is their king.

When it comes to the occupant, it means they are willing to overlook the fact that nothing this buffoon does even remotely resembles a life of Christian faithfulness. They are also willing to overlook his dismal representation of the Office of President for the sake of the political agenda he promises.

For example, to date the occupant has confirmed 158 federal judges at various levels of the judiciary. They are predominantly conservative and pretty much a slam dunk for promulgating the priorities of the GWE. It also guarantees that the courts will be changed for years to come, as these are lifetime appointments. If you’re not scared by now you should be.

The third sacred cow that needs to hit the grill is homophobia. More and more states are passing anti-LGBTQ/non-binary legislation which gives individual business people the right to deny services to gay people.

Tennessee just passed an anti-LGBTQ law that prevents any foster care or adoption agency that receives federal funding to allow same sex parents to foster or adopt children. In Florida, charter schools that receive public monies for education are turning away LGBTQ and non-binary children, suggesting their educational needs will be better served “somewhere else.”

The final sacred cow that needs skewering is the ongoing nonsense around Roe v. Wade. It is the law of the land. Get over it. If your religion says you shouldn’t have an abortion, don’t. Just don’t tell every woman in the country that she can’t. You are not the morality police for the whole country.

More and more states are passing restrictive abortion laws, often called heartbeat laws that prohibit termination after a fetal heartbeat is detected. More and more clinics are closing and access to reproductive care is almost impossible for poor women and women of color. The truth is that white women of privilege will always find a way to access reproductive health care. This law unfairly targets the poor and women of color.

While racism has a long tap root into the conservative policies of the GWE, there are numerous other offshoot roots which ultimately have a goal of keeping America white, straight, and dominated by male power.

This social climate promises to continue and increase in the years to come, whether the occupant is re-elected or not. His behavior has given us a glimpse of who America really is, and who we have always been. He has given permission for racist, homophobic, misogynistic and hate filled attitudes toward anyone who is not white, male and straight.

We cannot, however, afford to despair or succumb to a feeling of powerlessness. We are a government of the people, by the people and for the people. It is time the people, those of us who believe in the fundamental equality of all people and civil rights for all people to unite. It is time to establish a modicum of decency as an expectation for human behavior. Write to your legislators. Write to legislators who are not from your state. Tell them to do their jobs and put the country ahead of party loyalty.

We cannot be of the people, by the people and for the people if we do not use our voices to speak for those who have no voice.

Persecution: Noun. Hostility and ill-treatment, especially because of race, political or religious beliefs.

During a speech Sunday at the Holy Trinity Church of God in Christ in Raleigh, Tennessee, Bishop Vincent Matthews, Jr. called the occupant’s side kick “one of the most persecuted Christians” in the United States.

Excuse me, but did I miss something?

Positing that Mr. Pence has suffered because of the media, the Bishop went on to explain that “the biggest criticism that Pence gets all over television and everywhere else is that he actually believes the Bible. They hate him for believing in the Bible.”

I may be mistaken here, but I think it is far more likely that Pence is disliked because he is homophobic, misogynistic and judgmental of anyone who is not his particular version of Christianity. This is not persecution. It is discernment.

Here in the United States (at least before the occupant started erasing the lines between church and state), people were free to worship as they saw fit. This includes any one of 400-900 million  Protestant denominations, multiple Jewish traditions, multiple catholic traditions, as well as Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses and others too numerous to mention. Inasmuch as people are free to worship as they see fit, they are also free to not worship at all. Freedom of religion also means freedom from religion.

The right to worship, or not, is guaranteed in the First Amendment which prohibits the government from making any law “respecting an establishment of religion.” This clause not only forbids the government from establishing an official religion, but also prohibits government actions that unduly favor one religion over another. If Trump’s political base has anything to say about it, we will have a narrowly defined theocracy. The chafing against this has nothing to do with persecution, it is called religious tolerance.

It appears that the cry of persecution has more to do with losing exclusive clout than with actual persecution. Christian persecution is what is faced in other countries where something as simple as distributing a Bible can get one multiple years of hard labor in prison. Persecution is what happens when one professes their Christian faith and is beheaded. Around the world there is real persecution for many people of many faiths, not just Christianity.

One cannot speak of religious persecution without acknowledging the systematic extermination of six million Jews during the Holocaust. In China, the Muslim Uighur minority suffers regular persecution and mistrust for both religious and political reasons. There are religious and cultural genocides happening all over the world. To equate the unspeakable torture and violence some endure for their faith to the verbal criticism leveled at the “religious right” (which is neither religious nor right) is an insult to anyone whose life is endangered for what they believe.

So, it is time for Mr. Pence to put on his big boy pants and realize he is not being persecuted for his faith. He is getting pushback for socially conservative policies hung on the hooks of religious trappings that want to set back gay rights, women’s rights, reproductive rights, safety nets for the poor, equal employment opportunities, and gains toward racial equality. Mr. Pence and Trump’s cronies are indeed free to worship and believe as they choose. They are not free, however, to foist this on the rest of us.

There is a persistent, misinformed notion that the United States was founded as a Christian nation. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our government was secular from its very foundation. Our Founding Forbears were well aware of the caveats of state sponsored religion. The church state- partnerships in Europe sent many to the new world in search of religious freedom. Ironically, those same folks, once in the new world, created the same kind of religious oppression in the early days of our country. The Massachusetts Bay Colony had a state sponsored church. A state tax supported the church and dissenters were imprisoned. Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson were expelled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for refusing to subscribe to the state sponsored church. Other original colonies had a requirement for public office that required candidates to be Trinitarian Protestants.

However, religious pluralism gradually became the norm, and the establishment clause of the first amendment guaranteed religious freedom to all. The Constitution gave government no authority over religion. Article VI, allows that anyone of any religious persuasion or no religious persuasion is eligible for public office and the ratification of the First Amendment created a permanent wall of separation between church and state. That wall has been challenged on occasion, but has always prevailed.

There is, however, a modern assault to the separation of church and state. As recently  as 2018 an article in the New York times reported that then attorney General Jeff Sessions referred to the book of Romans as a justification for separating migrant children from their parents at the border.  As the occupant’s re-election campaign is fully and nauseatingly in play, many of his rallies are being held in churches, a clear violation of the Establishment Clause.

In addition, theologically conservative judges are being appointed in a number of courts, assuring that their religious beliefs will influence their practice of law. The expected neutrality of the court and reliance on the law and the law alone is in serious jeopardy.

Now, more than ever, it is important for us to know our Constitution and know our religious rights. If we aren’t paying attention, they will both continue to fade into the pages of history in favor of a religiously unconstitutional, morally repressive social structure.

As a lifelong Protestant, I don’t have much experience with the rosary. As a kid I joked about people who said the rosary. As an adult, I recognize the value and grounding effect it has for many. Still, it is out of my wheelhouse in the world of prayer.

So, I was surprised when the photo of rosary beads carried by migrants and confiscated at the US border hit me like a sucker punch to the gut. The photo is from several years ago, but it has become a flash symbol of the plight of migrant workers who are detained and put in concentration camps at our border. There are probably thousands of rosary beads that could accompany the ones in this photo.

The photo was taken by Tom Kiefer who was a janitor at a US customs border patrol facility in Azo, Arizona from 2003-2014. According to the Daily Mail, it was his job to dispose of the bags of undocumented migrants’ possessions taken from them at the facility.

He began sorting through the bags in search of food that was unopened, so that he could donate it to the local food pantry. When interviewed by the Daily Mail he said, “I was just expecting to dig through food and trash-legitimate real trash, not people’s personal belongings. Things like belts and shoe laces that could easily be considered potentially harmful, but not a Bible or rosaries or family photographs.”

Gradually he began collecting the personal items, organizing them into categories and photographing them. He hoped the photographs would show the humanity of the migrants, humanity that was largely stripped from them at the border.

The photo of the rosary beads shown here is part of a larger collection of items confiscated from those who arrived at our border in search of a better life. The entire collection can be viewed here. It includes toothpaste, condoms, wallets, cigarette lighters, bibles and family photographs–everyday items from everyday living, life stripped to its bare minimum.

This image of the rosary beads is burned into my being. I cannot get it out of my head or my heart. Sets of rosary beads lined up like so many prayers to God cut off in mid-sentence. It is an act of unspeakable cruelty, a way of robbing the faithful of a toe hold when their life is in mid-avalanche.

The rosary has been around for centuries. Its roots reach back to the Desert Fathers and Mothers who used stones to keep track of praying the 150 psalms. That said, the word rosary did not appear until 1597. It was given official approval by the Roman Catholic Church in 1568.

Many of the world’s religions including Hindus and Buddhists use beads to pray; it is not an original idea to Catholics. The use of beads by other great religious traditions speaks to the value of this as an expression of piety.

Many first world Christians have abandoned the rosary as an archaic expression of faith. However, it continues to be an important ritual for many Christians around the world. This includes the refugees who landed at our border, only to have their rosary beads ripped from their hands.

I am haunted by the photo. Whose hands held these beads? Whose hands folded these beads around the fingers of children, brothers, sisters and other family members they might never see again?  To whom did these beads belong when they were new?  Are they worn smooth from moving between the fingers of the faithful?

I imagine mothers, fathers and children praying prayers together as an act of hope and faith. I imagine the comfort they felt from saying prayers they knew in their bones. Over thousands of miles on a journey no one can imagine, how did these rosary beads strengthen and comfort them? With what hope and confidence were the prayers uttered as these refugees dared hope for a life different than the one they left behind?

I do not understand what threat this ancient symbol of piety posed.   What harm would come by letting people keep their prayer beads? Did the guards who took the rosaries see them as a non-essential item? Was it just about stripping them of all their personal possessions? Was taking this symbol of faith a way of showing who was boss and who was in charge? Was depersonalizing these individuals into an anonymous mass of humanity the goal?

We are a country of immigrants; all of us are here because someone had the courage to leave what was familiar and come to this country in hopes of a better life. The occupant characterizes them as thugs, criminals, and gang members in an effort to shift our attitude toward them.  Don’t let that happen.

These are people, individuals made in the image of the divine. They deserve to be treated with love and respect. They deserve to have their humanity recognized and their plea for a different life heard. To summarily dismiss and deport them is yet another act of cruelty.

The crisis at our border is summarized with no words in this image of prayer and hopefulness wrenched from the hands of the hopeful who come to our border in search of a better life.

May the Holy One have mercy on us.

 

 

 

Dear Mr. Trump:

Happy New Year. In the coming year I continue to hold you in prayer. As the leader of the free world, the pressure of making good decisions for the world is heavy upon your shoulders. There are three prayers I offer for you.

First, I pray you learn the value of listening. All the great spiritual teachers of the world’s religions speak to the power of listening. We have much to learn from others. Always. Mr. Trump, I believe you could learn from climate scientists and others who speak to the need for environmental protections and immediate action to curb emission of greenhouse gases. You can deny climate change is real, but you would do well to listen to those who know a great deal about this important topic. Our planet depends on it.

I also believe you would benefit from listening to humanitarian workers from around the world who work in areas of privation and need as a result of wars we have participated in or begun. I am not commenting on the veracity of those wars, that is a letter for another time. However, as we teeter close to the edge of another war that is of our making, I recommend you listen to those voices sooner rather than later. I am praying you have the wisdom to listen to those who are suffering.

Listening to voices other than those who agree with us opens us to different opinions and understandings. It is crucial to our growth as human beings and our decision making as leaders. We always stand to learn something from those whose views differ from our own. I prayer you will learn to listen.

Second, I pray you will learn the rich truths of the Judeo Christian tradition. These are not the views of the white evangelicals who are the loudest voices around you. They are a political voting block with conservative values that could turn back human rights and women’s rights for decades. You carry water for them as you appoint conservative judges who will do your bidding and make promises in return for their vote. This has nothing to do with Christianity; it is political theater pure and simple.

The teachings of Scripture are grounded in peace, love and justice for all. Sure, there are wars aplenty and lots of violence. Those stories, however, require an understanding of biblical history to interpret faithfully. I am available to tutor you in biblical literacy. I hope you will take me up on my offer. It gives me great joy to open the eyes of others to the richness of Scripture. I depend on a large number of biblical scholars to inform my teaching and assure that I am not only listening to the voices in my own head.

Finally, Mr. Trump, I pray you will strengthen your moral conscience. I don’t believe your moral conscience is the dominant voice of your words and actions, but it can be. Through listening, prayer and study you can be guided by the Spirit to deeds that please God and make the world a better place.

We live in a global society. What we do affects the rest of the world. The United States cannot be an island unto itself. The world desperately needs the United States to put people before profits, oil, border walls and so many other things to which you give your time and energy.

It is time we stopped measuring how well the economy is doing by the wealthiest Americans. The economy is not working for those who have two or three minimum wage jobs and still live with food scarcity. Your proposal to cut SNAP benefits means more Americans will go hungry or live with food scarcity. The ripple effect of such a decision is far beyond what can be stated here. In brief, those ripples will be found in increased health care costs as chronic diseases are aggravated by poor nutrition, increased work absenteeism and more Americans living with food scarcity.

The United States, with its vast resources, is able to alleviate so much human suffering.  As the richest country in the world, where less than ten people control a staggering amount of the world’s wealth, this is morally unacceptable. Instead we contribute to it through these morally bankrupt policies.

Mr. Trump, I pray for you, that you will learn to listen, mine the treasures of the Judeo Christian tradition and strengthen your moral conscience.

Happy New Year! I begin this year with great gratitude to each of you who read and support theirreverentreverend.blog.  By reading and sharing with your friends, subscriptions are growing and Facebook support is increasing. Since having to retire several years ago due to illness, this is now my primary ministry. It is a privilege to share my thoughts with you each week. Thank you for reading.

Your feedback for the daily posts in November and December was heartening. I so enjoyed choosing music and quotes and writing reflections to share with you each day. I wish I could do it all the time! However, that would take me away from some other writing projects; I have a few books I am working on and hope to finish in 2020. Stay tuned, you will be among the first to know when they are finished.

Another highlight of the Advent Season was following the alternative Advent calendar I published early in December. I admit it was not in the most user friendly format, so I will make some changes for next year that will make it more accessible.

Our household gathered a total of $146.20. It will go to the Rhode Island Fuel Assistance Fund, a resource that helps low income families stay warm through the winter when they are unable to pay their heating bills.

Admittedly the two biggest ticket items for me were shoes and books. Both are a tremendous weakness.  I never met a pair of heels I didn’t want to wear or a book I didn’t want to buy. Of course buying a book and reading a book…well, you know.

Another interesting observation from the month long exercise is that I didn’t truly miss the amount of cash I put in each day. I still had money in my wallet to buy food and the few gifts I exchange each year. I am a little embarrassed by this realization. What I intended to be an exercise in giving generously turned out to be a reinforcement of the privilege that is mine simply by the luck of birth and the color of my skin. I still have some serious pondering to do on this one.

There are two examples that highlight my point. First, sports shoes. I have more than one pair of sneakers and I imagine many of you do too.  When production costs began to rise in the United States, factories went overseas. Demand for just wages and benefits sent manufacturers looking for cheaper labor markets.

Several decades ago Taiwan and South Korea led the world’s production of sports shoes. Low wages, non-existent benefits and worker repression assured cheap production costs while high purchase prices for products made for record breaking profits for the companies. When Taiwanese and South Korean labor markets gained strength, multinational corporations shifted production to cheaper labor markets in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and China.

Today China leads the world in production of shoes in general and sports shoes in particular. According to Corporation Watch, China’s mass unemployment, low wages and lack of enforcement of labor laws and standards keep production costs low. The state run All China Federation of Trade Unions supports the collusion of factory management structures and local governments whose interests lie in attracting foreign capital and assuring massive profits.  These colluding forces keep unions out and exploit laborers.

Nike, Asics, Puma and Reebok are only examples of the corporations that participate in what I call the round robin production and exploitation plan. Corporations and governments win. Workers lose.

In a similar way, increasing demand for smart technology changed the face of production several times over the last few decades. Currently, the largest producer of smart technologies is India, with China a close second. In 2014 annual production in India was 3 million. In 2017 it was 11 million.

As demand increases, manufacturers vie for market share by changing production venues and negotiating contracts favorable to profits but not to workers.  Samsung quit Chinese production when contracts expired. LG ceased production in Korea to go to Vietnam where a more “favorable” manufacturing contract was “negotiated.” The abrupt arrival and departure of manufacturing plants creates additional hardship for workers as major sources of employment evaporate.

What both these examples have in common is the commitment to maximum profits and the absence of any social conscience for just working conditions for laborers. Ongoing high demand for products and shifting market nuances keep the production processes circulating through poor countries, entering and exiting as contracts are forged and eventually expire.

The exploitation of labor markets to assure astronomical profit requires trade agreements that depend on government collusion in both production and marketing.

It is more than troubling to see how we unwittingly participate in the global injustice of it all. After all, it’s just a pair of sneakers. After all, I am due for an upgrade on my smart phone.

 

   

Take a moment and count the money from your Advent bank and decide which charity will receive it!

Blessings to you all.

Thank you for making the Advent journey with me.

Click Here to Listen

 

Children run joyfully,

Jesus is born.

Tell all the mountains to sing.

Pray to our father in heaven this day

Thank you for Jesus is born.

Shepherds stood watching

Keeping their sheep

And suddenly angels appeared

Don’t be afraid

We bring you great joy

Your savior is born this night

Children run joyfully

Jesus is born.

Tell all the mountains to sing.

Prayer to our father in heaven this day

Thank you for Jesus is born.

And this will be a sign to you,

a baby will lie in a manger

In the city of David

in Bethlehem

Go now, visit your lord.

Children run joyfully

Jesus is born.

Tell all the mountains sing.

Pray to our father in heaven this day

Thank you for Jesus is born.