Author: Pat Liberty

This is personal. I don’t usually speak of things in such personal ways, but this book hit me right between the eyes. I have been a church rat my whole life. There was never a time in my life when I was not a member and regular attendee at church. I was ordained to the Christian ministry six weeks before my twenty-fifth birthday and have labored on behalf of the church ever since.  As the words of the old hymn go, “I love thy church O God: her walls before Thee stand, dear as the apple of thine eye and graven on thy hand. For her my tears shall fall, for her my prayers ascend; to her my cares and toils be given, ‘til toils and cares shall end.” (Words by Timothy Dwight)

Reading this book was painful. Learning of the inextricable ties between American Christianity and white supremacy was a sucker punch to the gut. With painstaking research, accuracy and articulation, Jones sketches the indelible lines that connect American Christianity, white supremacy and racism.

Jones begins with the founding of the Southern Baptist Convention, and its dovetailing with the Civil War. He notes that “Secessionist religion survived even though the south lost the war. Its powerful role as a religious institution that sacralized white supremacy allowed the Southern Baptist Convention to spread its roots during the 19^th century to dominate southern culture. By the 20^th century the Southern Baptist Convention ultimately evolved into the single largest Christian denomination in the country, setting the tone for American Christianity overall and Christianity’s influence on public life.” He goes on to say that in the north, Christian convictions about the evils of slavery didn’t translate into black equality and a tacit shared commitment to white supremacy emerged.

A theologically backed assertion about the superiority of the white race and Protestant Christianity undergirded a century of sanctioned terrorism. White Protestant Christians saw no disconnect between going to church on Sunday morning and attending a public lynching over a picnic lunch in the afternoon.

A troubling assertion is how white theology molded itself around the glaring injustice of racism and slavery in such a way as to see no conflict between the two. White churches were both compliant and complicit for constructing and sustaining a project to protect white superiority and resist black equality. It continues to this day, not just in the south but among mainline Protestant denominations and Roman Catholics as well.

Two basic tenets contributed to the theological morphing around white supremacy. First was the notion of personal piety and a personal relationship with Jesus. Faith was seen as a primarily personal affair between the divine and the individual. Second, this personal focus on religious piety encouraged a lack of concern about social issues, justice concerns and the issues of “the world.”  This let the average white Christian off the hook for the sin of white supremacy and racism.

Jones lays out a careful argument that ends with the dismal observation that white Christian identity embodies the norms of white supremacy far beyond any conscious level of awareness. Further, he notes that white Christians stand out in their negative attitudes about racial/ethnic and religious minorities, the unequal treatment of African Americans by police and the criminal justice system. Underpinning it all is a longing for a past time when white Protestantism was the undisputed cultural power. The typical profile of a white supremacist in the United States is a white Christian, culturally European, who feel their privileged position in the west is threatened by racial minorities and non-Christians. By the early 2040’s the number of white births will be in the minority in the United States. It adds urgency to the fears and arguments that fan the flames of racism.

White supremacy is about much more than the KKK, Proud Boys and other hate groups. At its most basic level it is how a society organizes itself, and what and whom it chooses to value. By narrowing it to specific groups it lets the average white person off the hook and the thornier issues of white supremacy remain defanged.

Throughout the south mainline Protestant denominations wielded social and theological power to maintain the systems, structures and processes that protected white supremacy. It was all varnished with ample amounts of bad theology. These white religious institutions were widely understood to be the glue that held the entire Jim Crow system of laws together.

The National Council of Churches and some Roman Catholic archbishops were supportive of civil rights, but those views were not reflected in the local clergy or in the pews. Declarations on racial justice from national denominational offices were routinely ignored by local churches in both the north and the south.

The daunting task of disentangling white supremacy and Christianity is made even harder by the lack of commitment to the task. There are perks and privileges that come with being white and in the dominant religious tradition. These privileges have been enjoyed by Americans for almost 400 years. They will not go away quietly, and we are seeing they will not go away without a fight. Those fights will escalate in the years to come.

Jones writes, “Confronting a theology built for white supremacy would be a critical first step for white Christians who want to recover a connection not just to our fellow African American Christians, but also to our own identity and, more importantly, our humanity.” (page 106)

This book should come with a warning: once you know this, you will never be able to un-know it.

Bravo President Biden, bravo! Reversing the previous administration’s decision banning transgender persons from serving in the military is absolutely the right thing to do. Transgender women and men have the same desire to serve their country in uniform as everyone else in the military. Lifting the ban and allowing them to serve is a commendable decision. There is, however, cause for concern.

First, the military has a problem with white supremacists. The recent surge in hate groups in the United States is reflected in the military. It is a long standing problem and the military has yet to find a way to root it out. Most hate groups are deeply sexist, homophobic and transphobic in addition to being racist. This has implications for transgender service members who may be assigned to the same unit with white supremacists. It can affect unit cohesion and readiness for deployment as well as performance while deployed. It is not known how extensive the problem of white supremacy is in the military, since it flies under the radar. What is known is that it has increased under the former occupant’s reign of error.

Second, transgender service members do not have the same protections as gay, lesbian and bi-sexual personnel in military regulations. When “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” was repealed by President Obama in 2011 it left out transgender soldiers. This leaves them in a kind of in-between place where their complaints have a difficult time finding their way up the chain of command. In addition, the language pertaining to transgender soldiers does not match the language of the DSM V. This is the “bible” of mental health diagnoses and serves as the gatekeeper to all mental health services. The practical implication is that soldiers with gender dysphoria (severe distress in those whose gender identity differs from their sex assigned at birth) may be unable to access mental health services which include therapy, medication and possible gender alignment surgery. Language congruence in military regulation and DSM V is needed to correct this problem.

Finally, the military has a lousy record of dealing with sexual assault and harassment. Kudos to new Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for signing what amounts to an executive order to address the problem. In his Sunday memorandum he told “Pentagon senior leaders, commanders, defense agency and Department of Defense field activity directors to speed up efforts to get a handle on the situation.” Since institutions move glacially, this doesn’t offer much hope. Patriarchal institutions move even slower. The military is the quintessential “good old boy’s network” and changing attitudes from the top down is a daunting challenge.

Reading documents from military papers leads one to believe the problem of sexual assault is well in hand, and that complaints are taken seriously and resolved justly. Survivors of sexual assault and harassment tell a very different story. Protect our Defenders is a national human rights organization dedicated to ending sexual violence in the military. Their data show that in fiscal year 2018 there were over 20,500 sexual assaults. Women represented 13,000 and men 7,500.  This is up 40% from fiscal year 2016-2017. These numbers were very different from the numbers reported by the military. Protect our Defenders reported that 76.1% of assaults were not reported within the chain of command.

The major barrier to reporting is fear of retaliation. Since 59% of women reporting penetrative assault noted that it was someone from a higher rank and 24% reported it was someone in their chain of command, it is easy to understand the unwillingness to report. In fact 66% of women reported retaliation and 73% of that retaliation was from within their chain of command. One third of survivors were discharged within 7 months of reporting and 24% were released with a less than honorable discharge.

At this point, there is little hope for justice for survivors in the military. Convictions in 2015 fell 60% despite a 22% increase in reporting. Only 6.4% were tried in a court martial and 2.4% were convicted. That leaves a lot of women (and more than a few men) without the justice they deserve.

 While the military is breaking its arm patting itself on the back for lifting the ban, 38% of women and 4% of men report some type of military sexual trauma. It is second only to combat related post-traumatic stress disorder. The number is likely much higher given the reticence to report.

Lifting the ban on transgender soldiers is absolutely the right thing to do. It affirms the inherent worth and dignity of all people. The question is, “Is the military ready?” Sometimes those who are the object of an institution’s best intentions end up paying the highest cost.

God of all love and justice, we pray for our nation on this day of change and hope.

We pray that:

            Righteousness is our every action.

            Justice is our rallying cry.

            Our nation heals in the fullness of time.

            Accountability is not divorced from compassion.

            Enmity is diminished and civility restored.

            Our grief for a million people worldwide

                        is mobilized into care for hearts broken and lives shattered.

            We remain grounded in what we value,

                        undeterred from doing the right thing just because it is hard.

Give us courage to speak in moments when it is easier to remain silent. Grant us the passion to care for our democracy in ways that lead to action. Teach us to be good citizens and ancestors. May we deal with our “isms” and brokenness with clear eyes and steely determination to see all people as equal.

May we be partners with you in restoration and healing. Amen.

Be sure to check out the new hymn post: For the Healing of the Nations

January 19, 2021 has been set aside as a national day of mourning for the nearly one million people around the world who have died from COVID-19. Churches are asked to ring their bells at some point during the day. All of us are asked to remember and offer our prayers on their behalf.

This is a ritual that can be done individually or in a small group/household setting.

Begin with a few minutes of silence. Focus on your breath. Gently inhale and exhale. Don’t change your breathing; just be aware of its rhythm. Relax into the silence.

You may light a candle.

Begin to ponder the number, one million. Consider the enormity of the number. Sit with that for a few minutes.

Think about the losses in your own life. Feel the sadness and grief that is so familiar to you. Know that the sadness and grief you feel is the grief of millions. The sadness you release into the universe is the sadness of millions–tears and sighs too deep for words.

In the way your sadness is released into the universe, allow your empathy and care to be released.

Gently breathe in and out and imagine your breath as the vehicle for sending your love and care into the universe. If tears come, let them be; they are another gift to the sadness of the universe.

Just be.

When you are ready, you may offer this prayer:

O God, whose breath brings forth life,

receive the prayer we offer this day.

We open ourselves before you in these quiet moments.

The numbers are staggering.

We remember those whose names and stories

we will never know.

We trust they are known to you.

We trust they are held in your tender embrace.

We remember them in your presence.

There are millions

whose hearts are heavy with grief,

having lost loved ones to the rampage of COVID-19.

Let our care for those whose hearts are breaking

flow from our breath into your world.

Remind us, for ourselves and for others,

that there is no pain, no grief, no sadness

that is beyond the embrace of your love and healing.

Sustain our empathy and compassion that we

may continue to offer our prayers and care

for the sake of your world.

Amen.

The gospel is political. Get over it. If you hear your pastor preaching “politics” from the pulpit, thank her/him for speaking a prophetic word to this time of social, political and economic unrest. If members of your community are bent out of shape because “they don’t come to church to hear politics” tell them to get over themselves. In short, kwitcherbitchin’.

The American church stands at a critical crossroad. It can embrace the moment and speak a prophetic word, or it can remain an institution that maintains the status quo. And that status quo gets scarier by the day.

Doing nothing means we will repeat history. In the Germany of the 1920’s, 30’s and 40’s the Christian church was essentially missing in action. There were a few notable exceptions and I’ll say more about that later.

In the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Pius XII failed to condemn Nazism although he had credible knowledge of the slaughter of Jews early on. The library of Pius XII was briefly opened in February of 2020 and documents show that a US diplomat gave the Vatican a secret report on the mass murder of Jews from the Warsaw ghetto. Despite corroborating documents, the Vatican report to the diplomat was that the report could not be confirmed. Following the war, the Roman Catholic Church (with covert assistance from the United States) helped former Nazi leaders flee to South America. It is worth noting that Pius XII is a candidate for canonization.

Lest we think the Protestant Church fared much better, churches throughout Germany and Europe were largely silent. Victoria J. Bennet, in an article for the Anti-Defamation League, notes the failure to respond was not due to ignorance, it was a “lapse in vision and determination.” 

Barnett goes on to say, “In any examination of the German churches statements from this era, what is most striking is their painstaking attempt to say, publicly, neither too much or too little about what was happening around them. Needless to say, this ruled out any consistent or emphatic response to the Nazi’s persecution of Jews and others. And institutional inaction gave individual Christians throughout Germany an alibi for passivity.”

The actions of German churches were primarily based on institutional interests that were narrowly defined and desperately short sighted. Barnett notes there was institutional introspection “to the point of near numbness.” While innocent victims throughout Europe were being brutally murdered, Christian leaders were debating what points of doctrine and policy were tenable. As the old saying goes, “the church fiddles with her skirts while Rome burns.”

Most notably, the German Christian Movement actively embraced Nazism and tried to Nazify Christianity by suppressing the Old Testament, revising liturgies and hymns and promoting Jesus (a brown skinned Middle Eastern man) as an Aryan hero who embodied the ideals of the new Germany. It doesn’t take a genius to connect the dots between the German Christian Movement and much of American Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism. White supremacy has long found a home in certain expressions of “Christianity.” It makes true evangelicals, and the Church as a whole, look very bad.

The Christian Church in the United States faces similar challenges and opportunities. Similar to the challenges of the Weimar Republic (the German government between 1918 and the beginning of Nazi Germany in 1933), the United States is facing an unprecedented time of social, political and economic unrest.

A global pandemic, the great political divide, an insurrection (with threats of future violence), an economic system that is untenable for millions of Americans and a health care system that is on the brink of collapse present an opportunity for the American Christian church to step up to the plate and be the Church.

If this opportunity is missed, the church will continue to be on the cutting edge of obsolescence. And it will deserve it.

Being the church in these days means being courageous. It means finding our voice and speaking up, as persons of faith, against the actions of white supremacists who wrap their hatred in a thin veil of “Christianity.” Every pulpit in the country should be educating and preaching the truth that ours is a God of love and justice and restoration. Every pulpit in the country should be actively denouncing the actions of those who stormed the Capitol as having nothing to do with the God of the Judeo-Christian tradition.

Every single House Member and Senator who tried to derail the Electoral Vote count should be forced to resign. Your voice, your letter, your phone call or e-mail is crucial. The list is here https://www.vox.com/2021/1/6/22218058/republicans-objections-election-results. Take the time. Yes, we are all busy. But nothing less than the integrity of the church’s witness and the future of our Republic are at stake.

If your Senators or Representatives favored the removal or impeachment of the occupant, please call, write or e-mail and thank them. You know they are getting volumes of hate mail; be a voice of reason and gratitude.

Be the notable exception I referenced earlier. During the Nazi reign of terror there were Christians who sheltered Jews, clerics who preached the gospel and people of faith who protested against the Nazis. Be those people in this time. Martin Niemoller, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and ten thousand other priests, monks and ministers went to the death camps for the sake of the Gospel. Two hundred thousand Christians were behind the barbed wire of the death camps by the second year of Hitler’s reign.

I hope it doesn’t come to that for those of us who profess the name of Christ. At the very least, let us speak truth to power, which is the true definition of prophecy, and refuse to back down because some find it unpopular or offensive. Stand on the right side of history. Silence is complicity. Silence sides with the oppressor.

As Martin Niemoller wrote:

“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out-

because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out-

because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out-

because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me-

and there was no one left to speak for me.”

Donald Trump is a fascist. He will abuse and misuse his authority to get what he wants. He will incite violence to advance his nationalistic goals. If we don’t get that by now, we never will. We should have seen it coming, but we (and a lot of other people) were asleep at the switch. The result is a train wreck of stunning proportion.

Every time the occupant engaged in some outrageous behavior we commented, “This must be the worst he can do.” Then he would go on and do something more outrageous and we would be surprised yet again. And while we were surprised, we (and a lot of other people) were largely silent, with the exception of our griping to sympathetic friends and family.

It amounts to appeasing the fascists. And appeasing fascists never works. Lack of accountability and the absence of social push back are green lights for fascist behavior. We saw the result of all our green lights on Wednesday. Green light number one: failing to impeach. The cowardly actions of the occupant’s republican cronies missed a critical opportunity to put a stake in the heart of his fascist behavior. Green light number two: armed protesters in Michigan who threatened to kidnap the governor, all because of COVID 19 restrictions. Green light number three: the occupant’s failure to accept the results of the election.

His increasingly violent rhetoric about baseless claims of election fraud incited his supporters who are largely white supremacists and politically motivated evangelicals. His inflammatory rhetoric at Wednesday’s rally was gasoline on the flames of white supremacy already burning strong and hot.

Make no mistake; the main participants in this growing fascist movement are white supremacists, conspiracy theorists and far-right political groups. The Proud Boys’ major tenet is chauvinism. Organizers of the Jericho marches encouraged church members to organize, protest and pray for the defeated president. Oath Keepers is one of the largest radical anti-government groups in the US today, according to the Southern Poverty Law Centre. The Three Percenters is a paramilitary militia style group with anti-Muslim, anti-government views. Many members of these far right groups are also church members.

What all these groups have in common is that they have co-opted Christian symbols into their platforms, logos and propaganda. This poses an urgent question for people of faith. Will we continue to be asleep at the switch, or will we finally address the hideous intertwining of Christianity and white supremacy? It is the biggest cultural accommodation of Christianity. Racism is a pillar in the very structure that supports American Christianity and our country.

Robert P. Jones in his book, White too Long, writes “Most white Christian churches have protected white supremacy by dressing it in theological garb, giving it a home in a respected institution and calibrating it to local sensibilities.”

He goes on to note that two theological constructs contribute. First, sin as an individual matter completely ignores larger issues of institutional racism and second, an emphasis on a personal relationship with Jesus contributes to protecting the status quo.

How did the radical movement of justice started by Jesus morph into an institution that maintains the status quo?

Many will protest, “Our church isn’t racist.” That is a lie. Black and Brown people are the exception and not the rule in most white churches. People fall all over themselves to welcome people of color when they visit, but continue to ignore the systemic and personal expressions of racism that permeate the church.

Jim Wallis of the Sojourners community notes that “nothing less than the very centrality of biblical truth is at stake here.” Racism is a biblical abomination. White nationalism is a co-opting of the faith that distorts the heart of the gospel.

The deafening silence of people of faith in the face of white nationalism and fascism is one assurance it will continue to grow. Nothing is more important than hearing from pulpits everywhere that this is wrong and we need to deal with it. If we fail in this task the church loses all moral, theological and social authority to speak about anything.

It does not all rest with church leadership and preachers, though they are instrumental in moving the conversation forward. Each of us must do our own personal work with racism. It lives in us, we need to discover where and how. Layla F. Saad’s book, Me and White Supremacy (which I reviewed here) is a good place to start.

An attempted coup by white supremacists must be our wake up call. Unsuccessful coups are often the prelude to successful ones. It is high time the church and its people found the moral courage to do the work the gospel commands, to preach and teach and live lives of justice and love for all people. We can no longer pay lip service to these tenets; we must dig deep and find the pockets of fear and racism that live within us all.

We can no longer afford to be asleep at the switch.

When Christmas is safely put away until next year, Epiphany appears. It is the Twelfth Day of Christmas without the drummers drumming, the lords a-leaping and strange women milking cows in your living room.

Traditionally it marks the time when the Wise Men showed up. In a broader sense it is the day that marks the appearing of the Christ child to the Gentiles. I like to think of it as a day that celebrates those who show up late and bring strange gifts. If there is room for them in the manger and if the Holy can appear to these mercurial characters from far away, there is hope for the rest of us.

“Epiphany” means appearing. The online Miriam Webster Dictionary defines it as “a sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something” or “an intuitive grasp of reality through something such as an event, usually simple and striking.”

This is a hopeful thing.

At the end of Christmas, tacked on almost as an afterthought, is the promise that if we missed finding the Holy in all the hoopla that usually attends the season, there is hope for us. For those of us who look for burning bushes to show God’s presence and instead find glowing twigs, this holiday is for us.

This odd little holiday is the promise of finding the Holy in the ordinariness of life. It is the promise of being surprised by the graciousness of God in the predictable work-a-day world that defines most of our lives. We stumble through our days, either expecting a burning bush or not expecting anything at all, and instead we are surprised by something simple that we suddenly see as extraordinary.

It is the cardinal that lights on the bird feeder and brightens the dull winter sky. It is the gentle snow shower that coats the trees and reminds us of winter’s beauty. It is the moment when an act of kindness, an unexpected compliment, or a smile reminds us that in the midst of all the jerks that inhabit this world there are more kind people, more loving people, more gracious people than we usually think.

It’s easy to give too much air to all that is negative and fan the flames of cynicism and discouragement. Epiphany is the invitation to open our eyes to the simple, profound appearances of the holy that surround us every day.

If, as the Psalmist tells us, “the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof…” then anything can occasion the holy in our days. It is a matter of training our awareness to see with different eyes. The glowing twigs are as much an occasion of the holy as are the burning bushes. Their appearing is an invitation to discover (literally to “uncover”) the holy in the midst of the ordinary.

Cultivating such a discipline is also a way to ground us in what is most important. The greatest meaning of life is not found in the occasional spectacular moments, but the everyday moments that surprise and remind us of the Holy in the midst of our everyday lives.

There is never an appearance of the Holy that does not point toward God’s greater purposes and dreams for our world and all that is in it. In other words, there is a justice and righteousness component to God’s appearing.   These every day revelations of the Divine are a reminder that God has an agenda for us as people of faith. These glowing twigs are the reminder that we are part of a larger conspiracy of wholeness and justice for the world and for its people.

It begins in us when we are surprised, even astonished, by the beauty of the holy in the homeless person panhandling on the corner; you know the one you look away from so your eyes don’t meet. That person is a beloved child of God, a face of the Holy waiting to astonish us into the truth that we are one human family.

The cardinal that lands on the bird feeder is the herald that we are stewards of this great creation.  The dusting of snow is the harbinger of either a season of drought or abundance; each reminds us that global climate change is real. We cannot enjoy the bounty of the earth without being reminded that we are its caregivers and stewards.

Happy Epiphany. May your days be filled with glowing twigs and surprising appearances of the Holy.

The root canal fairy is visiting.

Blessings to each of you in the new year.

Thank you for your support of my blog. I am very grateful.