Author: Pat Liberty

More on Policy 2025: Department of Health and Human Services Goal 3# Promoting Stable and Flourishing Married Families

Pat Liberty

Project 2025 is the conservative agenda for social, political and economic policy. It repeals crucial protections for marginalized populations, slashes social safety net programs and penalizes the poor. The following is an excerpt from the Health and Human Services section of Project 2025.

“Families comprised of a married mother, father, and their children are the foundation of a well-ordered nation and healthy society. Unfortunately, family policies and programs under President Biden’s HHS are fraught with agenda items focusing on “LGBTQ+ equity,” subsidizing single-motherhood, disincentivizing work, and penalizing marriage. These policies should be repealed and replaced by policies that support the formation of stable, married, nuclear families. Working fathers are essential to the well-being and development of their children, but the United States is experiencing a crisis of fatherlessness that is ruining our children’s futures. In the overwhelming number of cases, fathers insulate children from physical and sexual abuse, financial difficulty or poverty, incarceration, teen pregnancy, poor educational outcomes, high school failure, and a host of behavioral and psychological problems. By contrast, homes with non-related “boyfriends” present are among the most dangerous place for a child to be. HHS should prioritize married father engagement in its messaging, health, and welfare policies. In the context of current and emerging reproductive technologies, HHS policies should never place the desires of adults over the right of children to be raised by the biological fathers and mothers who conceive them. In cases involving biological parents who are found by a court to be unfit because of abuse or neglect, the process of adoption should be speedy, certain, and supported generously by HHS.” (Project 2025, Page 453)

Here is the practical translation of what this means for an already marginalized segment of Americans:

  • Hard won civil rights for the LGBTQI+ community are on the chopping block. In Trump’s first reign of error the administration repealed all healthcare regulations that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. As a result, LGBTQIA+ persons can now be denied both public and private health insurance, including Medicaid.
  • Equal marriage may be made unconstitutional. Repealing equal access to marriage has devastating consequences for thousands of families. Family health insurance policies will end. Visitation rights during times of illness will be curtailed because gay partners are not “family.” If same sex marriage survives at all, it will be seen as inferior to heterosexual marriage.
  • The Gender Policy Council (GPC) will be dismantled. This was established by President Biden to advance gender equity and equality at home and abroad. The GPC developed policies addressing economic security, access to healthcare, gender-based violence and education for women and girls with special focus on marginalized communities.
  • The Trump administration will threaten the Biden administration’s expansion of gender and gender identity discrimination protections. Biden’s policies were in alignment with the landmark Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County. This ruling affirmed that LGBTQIA+ individuals are protected under federal nondiscrimination laws. It also recognized gender identity as a protected class of gender.
  • The current administration will erase and criminalize transgender behavior. The broad expression of transgender behavior will be seen as pornographic. By labeling transgender expression as pornography and then outlawing pornography, the trans community’s identity will be erased in the United States.
  • Project 2025 will change the name of the Department of Health and Human Services to the Department of Life. 
  • Funding for gender affirming care for children and adults will be cut or eliminated.
  • Lack of treatment for children with gender dysmorphia will likely lead to increased depression, anxiety and rates of suicide.
  • LGBTQIA+ families will be banned from the Foster Care system. There is already a critical shortage of foster homes. This will exacerbate the problem considerably.
  • Same sex couple adoption will be banned. Same sex couples have higher adoption rates (21%) than different sex couples (3%).
  • Sex education for minors will end.
  • Transgender military service will end.
  • Parental rights regarding how their children are referred to and which pronouns are used will be outlawed.
  • Tax advantages will be extended to ONLY heterosexual married couples.

This is far from an exhaustive list. Those who believe that God’s love extends to all people regardless of age, sexual/gender identity or sexual orientation should rightfully be horrified. The God of the Judeo-Christian tradition is a God of compassion, mercy, justice and love. Hatred and injustice have no place in God’s being and it should have no place in those who claim to be God’s followers.

There is thinly veiled “religious” language throughout the Project 2025 document. It is fundamentalist, socially archaic and spiritually abusive to anyone who is not white, heterosexual and married with children. The guarantee of religious freedom for all people means that those who claim a different, more loving stance toward the human family should have an equal say in the legal process that defines religious expression. Make no mistake, the lines of separation between church and state are becoming dangerously thin. The “religion” that is shaping the state is White Christian Nationalism.

There needs to be a howling pushback to the religiously repressive undertones of Project 2025. Our legislators are hearing far too little from their constituents about the social and political implications of Project 2025. They are hearing even less from people of faith. If you are concerned about your freedom to practice your religion as you see fit, you need to write to you legislators and object on legitimate religious grounds. Our religious rights as well as our social and political rights are on the chopping block.

Period

Pat Liberty

Period

No, it’s not the one that comes at the end of a sentence. It’s the one that comes about every 28 days to women of particular ages. In a post Roe v. Wade world, there is increasing fascination about menstruating people.

This has nothing to do with the health of those menstruating people.

Rather, it is about controlling their bodies. It is about limiting access to abortion and birth control. It is about usurping agency from their own being. A total of 41 states restrict access to abortion in some way. Some states, like Alabama and Arkansas, make no exception for rape or incest. Other states allow abortion under specific circumstances such as fetal viability, gestational duration, or threat of harm/death to the pregnant person. Even in states where there are exceptions for rape or incest, they are essentially meaningless. In order to qualify under the law, the sexual assault must be reported within forty days. Incest must be reported to law enforcement within one hundred and forty days. According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, 63% of rapes are not reported. Only about 12% of child sexual abuse is reported to law enforcement. With such a dismal reporting rate, and the stipulations imposed, the rape/incest exception is useless. Further, even if the criteria for pregnancy termination are met, there is often no one to perform the procedure. This means travelling to another state, which is not an option for many poor pregnant people, who are disproportionately BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color).

In other states, abortion care must happen before six weeks of gestation. Most pregnant people do not even know they are pregnant at that time. It is another “allowance” that is essentially meaningless.

According to http://www.ReproductiveRights.org, Project 2025 outlines a detailed plan to limit access to abortion care and other reproductive services. This includes but is not limited to:

  • Ending access to medications like Mifepristone, which accounts for 63% of all abortions.
  • Allowing hospitals to deny medical care to pregnant persons in crisis.
  • Prosecuting people for shipping or transporting abortion pills and supplies across state lines.
  • Establishing an abortion surveillance system requiring states to report personal data of all patients receiving abortion care.
  • Restricting access to birth control, emergency contraception and other reproductive health services.
  • Tracking pregnant persons who are “at risk of having an abortion” (Missouri).
  • Paying a bounty of $10,000 to individuals who report a person seeking abortion care by crossing state lines (Texas).
  • Tracking pregnant persons through their internet search histories and social media. (Platforms track data using algorithms and selling the data. Setting up a Virtual Private Network (VPN) and using encryption can limit access to search history, but it isn’t foolproof. A public computer is a better choice.)

These tactics are front line ammunition to control menstruating people who may unintentionally get pregnant. They also feed the larger goal of keeping those who give birth subservient to and dependent on men (though there are few consequences for men who do not support the children they create). 

While access to reproductive health services is being severely limited, social safety net programs are being slashed: WIC, SNAP and Early Intervention to name a few. As a result, persons with children, particularly BIPOC people are trapped in a cycle of poverty that is almost impossible to escape.

Sr. Joan Chittister writes, “I do not believe that just because you’re opposed to abortion, that makes you pro-life. In fact, I think in many cases, your morality is deeply lacking if all you want is a child born but not a child fed, not a child educated, not a child housed. And why would I think that you don’t?” Because you don’t’ want any tax money to go there. That’s not pro-life. That’s pro-birth.”

For many conservative evangelicals and white Christian nationalists, all their anti-abortion rhetoric is wrapped in a neat little package, branded with a Jesus sticker and called Christian. In truth, Jesus was unwaveringly concerned about and committed to the poorest and most vulnerable members of society. What was true then is still true…the most vulnerable among us are women and children.

You would think the government has better things to do than peer in the windows of women’s bathrooms and see who is peeing on a stick. But it is all part of the re-entrenchment of a patriarchal society where white, cisgender, heterosexual men are in charge. Whatever progress we have made in dismantling the patriarchy is on the line in Project 2025. And it all begins by trolling your social media.  

An Open Letter to JD Vance

Pat Liberty

February 3, 2025

Vice President JD Vance

The White House

Office of the Vice President

1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Washington, DC 20500

Mr. Vance,

I write to inform you that you are fundamentally wrong in postulating that there is a Christian concept “that you love your family and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens, and then after that, prioritize the rest of the world. A lot of the far left has completely inverted that.”

I beg to differ, sir. It is you who has completely inverted the Christian tradition. Your position reflects a fundamental misunderstanding and ignorance of Scripture. For example, the same story is told in all the synoptic gospels. Matthew 12:46-50, Mark 3:31-35, and Luke 8:19-21. In each of these pericopes Jesus is told that his mother and brothers are waiting to see him. Jesus responds, “Who is my mother and who are my brothers? And pointing to his disciples, he said, here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

Jesus consistently advocated for the poor, the marginalized, the disadvantaged and the disenfranchised. Your distortion of words to a “Christian” concept is blatantly and dangerously false.

I realize you are a fairly new Christian, and have not had years to study scripture and theology as have I. If you would like some remedial Bible study to gain a more accurate understanding of the faith you proclaim, you may reach me at the above address.

Until you are better informed about the Christian faith, you should seek the counsel of wise elders who are well versed in Scripture and tradition. Your false portrayal of Christian faith, which equally naive people will believe is true, distorts the Christian faith. I urge you to cease to speak about that which you know little.

Faithfully,

Rev. Patricia L. Liberty

This Letter was sent to JD Vance on February 3, 2025

Dismantling Democracy

Pat Liberty

Hitler dismantled the democracy of Germany in just 53 days. It began with mass deportation and the dismissal of government officials who opposed him. Number 47 has begun in exactly the same way. Widespread ICE raids are targeting and rounding up immigrants, many of whom are legal citizens and have committed no crimes. The philosophy seems to be “round them all up and we will sort it out later.”

This week he fired a number of officials from the Department of Justice who pursued litigation against him for his illegal behavior. He said he would retaliate against those who opposed him and he is making good on that promise.

He is also challenging birthright citizenship in direct violation of the fourteenth amendment to the constitution. It hinges on a short phrase in the amendment that his right wing justices can interpret any way they choose with virtually no opposition.

Hitler became chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933. We are in a very similar situation to Germany at that time.  It is important to understand some history so we see the parallels to our own time. Hitler did not seize power in a coup. He was not directly elected to power.  Rather a combination of social and economic and political crises conspired to put Hitler into power. The fragile Weimar Republic which came to be in the aftermath of World War I was unable to manage the crises and political divisions that emerged during the late 1920’s and early 30’s. The world-wide Great Depression politically divided Germany and people lost faith in their government’s ability to solve problems and govern.

Radical antidemocratic political groups like the Nazi party grew in popularity, taking advantage of the political and economic chaos. The Nazi party made outlandish promises that captured the attention and the hopes of disgruntled Germans who were suffering in the economic and political chaos.  Things like fixing the economy, making Germany great again, reclaiming territory Germany lost in WW I and restoring a heavy handed rule of law were among the planks in their platform.

If it all sounds familiar, it should. The United States is following a very similar trajectory. The promises 47 made in his campaign are hubris to some extent, but he is making good on his anti-immigrant, anti-trans, anti LGBTQI agenda, much to his followers’ delight. He is also signing Executive Orders, some 300 since taking office. Many of them will go nowhere or will be delayed in endless litigation, but the overall visual is one of 47 taking charge and getting things done.

The American people are largely ho-hum about it. If this doesn’t affect us directly, we tend to not react or respond. We are not immigrants, legal or illegal, so who cares? We can take the hit for increased egg prices, so who cares? The Department of Justice probably needs some housecleaning, so who cares? It isn’t until the chickens come home to roost in ways that directly impact people that they wake up and take action. And often that action is pretty anemic– complaining loudly, kvetching and grousing.

This is the time to be paying attention. In Germany it didn’t begin with gas chambers. It began with mass deportation, dismissal of government employees who saw the danger in the Hitler regime and increasing authoritarian governing. In other words, what is happening here.

If you aren’t writing your senators and representatives weekly; if you are not writing to 47 and expressing your outrage; if you are not supporting the agencies that embody your values; if you are silent in the midst of what is happening; you are like the majority of Germans in 1934 who ignored the gradual hand writing on the wall.

Our democracy is older than Germany’s was at the time. It may mean that we have some resilience that Germany didn’t have, but I am not willing to bet the farm on that. Democracy, while incredibly strong, is always incredibly fragile. The degree of its fragility depends on the engagement of its people in the political process.  Given what I am seeing currently, this does not make me hopeful.

I implore you. Get politically active. Make your voice heard. Even if it doesn’t impact you, even if you don’t see the problem, even if you agree with some of his policies, even if you don’t really give a damn, it’s time to rise up.  Elie Wiesel said, “Silence benefits the oppressor.” The poor disenfranchised and politically powerless will pay the price long before many of us. If we claim to be followers of Jesus in any way, shape or form, our concern for them must rise to the top and our actions must reflect Jesus’ values and behavior. Otherwise, we become like the German church, which became the Reich church and did the bidding of the Nazi’s. Or we become like the confessing church, which ultimately failed because of its cowardice and lack of faith.

For those of you who say faith and politics don’t mix I say bullshit. The gospel is inherently political. It is not partisan, but it is political. Jesus’ ultimate concern was for the poor, the powerless, the disenfranchised, the last, the least and the lost. Embodying his concern for the people of our time who are exploited and beaten down by the system is our moral duty. It’s just that simple.  

Saved?

Pat Liberty

In one of his cockamamie speeches, number 47 said he felt he was” saved by God to make America great.” Of all the vomit-worthy things he says on a regular basis, this one caught my attention.

There are many ways to understand what it means to be “saved.” There are many theologies of salvation. Some believe that salvation comes once and for all in a specific moment. You might hear someone say, “I was saved on July 10th” or whatever date. It is cited as an experience of being born again. Others see it as a lifetime process of continuing to grow in the grace and image of God. They cite no specific moment but believe in the presence of the Holy helping shape and divine their lives. These are just two of the theologies of salvation. Gallons of ink have been spilled defining what it means to be “saved.”

What most of the definitions have in common, however, is this: one is saved for the purposes of God. The life of the faithful disciple is to embody the presence of the holy in one’s daily life. One labors for the things that are central to the message of Scripture. These are care and concern for the poor, marginalized and disenfranchised, working to undo unjust systems that persecute those with less power, creating the realm of God on earth, a realm where justice, peace and enough for all is the norm.

Salvation is never understood for self-aggrandizement. It is not to shore up any political or social system. In fact, God’s realm undoes political and social systems in favor of an equal distribution of goods and services to all people. In God’s realm there is no underclass, there are no second-class citizens and there is no mega-wealth. In ancient times it was believed (and I think they were onto something) that there was limited wealth. If someone was wealthy, it was because someone else was poor. The wealthy literally took the resources from someone else.

We know now that CEO’s make 290 times as much as a typical worker. In 1965, they were paid 21 times as much as a typical worker. And while everyone has been griping about inflation, the truth is that corporations including grocery store chains, department stores like Wal-Mart and petroleum companies have posted record profits for shareholders. Meanwhile their workers qualify for SNAP benefits and their children qualify for reduced price lunches. The minimum wage has not been raised since July of 2009 when it was raised from $6.55 to $7.25. In the intervening years the cost of living has increased by roughly 47%. Do the math. These financial statistics do not embody the values of the gospel and the proposed policies of #47 do not bode well for the poor.

When one is “saved” they embody the fruits of salvation; justice, mercy, compassion, love for others, economic justice, respect for God’s creation and radical welcome. None of that is on #47’s radar. Salvation is an invitation to walk with the Holy One in humility and faithfulness. It is a discipleship journey that lasts a lifetime.

Tax cuts for the wealthy, mass deportation of immigrants, persecution of the LGBTQI community, systematic voter suppression, lack of redress from the legal system, discrimination in employment, housing and lending and the normalization of prejudice, violence and hatred are not gospel values. They do not embody salvation, no matter how you define it or what your theology is.

It is heresy for #47 to claim God as part of his plan to destroy America. God is nowhere to be found in his rhetoric or his actions. Those of us who strive to live into gospel values, whether we are church goers are not, have a responsibility to speak out and speak up to anyone and everyone who will listen.  Part of the reason #47 has been able to spread his MAGA right wing political and religious bullshit is because the theological moderates and liberals have been too long silent about his actions. Take to social media, talk about your faith, your theology and what you are doing to live the gospel. Repost this blog to educate people about the nature and purpose of salvation. Write letters of protest to #47 and tell him you are outraged by his hubris and heretical speech. Organize a demonstration. Put signs on your lawn. Make your revulsion known.

More than 50% of the people may have voted for this ego-maniacal narcissistic excuse of a human being, but we are a strong minority and not a small one at that. His tropes worked to unite the right, now our tropes need to unite the left. Find your voice and speak up.

Just Wondering

Pat Liberty

So, I’m just wondering why the CEO of United Health being shot on a Manhattan Street is an act of terrorism and (another) school shooting is not considered terrorism. Anybody being shot for any reason is a tragedy and there is no way that gun violence can be excused in any setting. Yet we have been dealing with school shootings (83 so far this year) since the 1700’s when four Lenape Native Americans entered present-day Green Castle Pennsylvania, shot and killed schoolmaster Enoch brown, and killed nine or ten children (reports vary). Only two children survived. I’m just wondering if the violence of these Natives was related to yet another example of having their land stolen, their people being senselessly killed and their way of life threatened.

I’m wondering how politicians, in good conscience, can continue to be owned by the NRA, which effectively circumvents any meaningful gun control in the United States.

I’m wondering why the Trans community is the target of such vitriol when they make up less than one percent of the entire population of the country. Twenty-four states have pending legislation to limit access to health care for the trans community. According to the National Institutes of Health, eighty two percent of trans teens have attempted or seriously considered suicide. These numbers are only going to increase as the incoming administration targets the trans community.

I’m wondering how we, as a nation can continue to give carte blanche to Israel to conduct a systematic genocide against the people of Gaza. I wonder where the outcry for the people of Gaza is. I wonder why it is impossible to say anything against Israel without being called antisemitic. The truth is that Israel is guilty of war crimes and needs to be called to accountability in the international community for systematic murder of Gazans in the name of defeating Hamas. Thanks to American technology, Israel has access to weapons that can blow the top off a can of soup, but instead they choose widespread bombing campaigns with high civilian losses.

I’m wondering about the implementation of Project 2025 and what it will mean to poor and marginalized communities. Equal marriage, decades of progress in civil rights, social justice and equity particularly for African Americans are on the chopping block. Social safety net programs like SNAP and Medicaid face drastic cutbacks. I’m wondering how the American people can be so blind to the truth that Project 2025 is going to cause widespread suffering to the poor, those with food insecurity and those at risk for homelessness. I’m wondering if we are so self-centered as to think that as long as we are okay, it really doesn’t have anything to do with us. I’m wondering where the “love your neighbor as yourself” part of the gospel has gone in our corporate American religious life.

I’m wondering what will happen to our planet as hard-won regulatory restrictions against fossil fuels are rolled back. I’m wondering how close we are to the point of no return. Sometimes I wonder if my war on single-use plastics at home is making any difference, if burning wood instead of fossil fuels contributes to the health of the planet, among other things I do to try and live lightly on the earth. I’m wondering if we have forgotten that two and two and fifty make a million, and if we all did what is ours to do we could make a difference.

I’m wondering why everyone blames inflation for high grocery prices when the truth is that grocery chains are posting record profits. I’m wondering if the American people know they were played when political candidates promised to lower grocery prices for hard working middle class families. In reality, unless there are government checks on price gouging, nothing will happen to reduce grocery prices.

I’m wondering why the health care industry is completely owned by insurance companies. Before 1993, insurance companies were not-for-profit. The focus was on providing medical care. Now the focus is on making profits for shareholders. Premiums continue to rise and benefits continue to decrease. Increasingly artificial intelligence algorithms make decisions about the kind and amount of health care one can receive. I’m wondering when the whole system is going to implode, or as seems more likely, health care will be a privilege of the increasingly rich, while the poor will continue to have less access to care and poorer health outcomes.

I’m wondering where our capacity for outrage has gone. As the old saying goes, “If you’re not outraged you’re not paying attention.” I think it is true. We are not paying attention because the changes that are gradually happening have not caused us a sufficient amount of pain. I’m wondering how we became so selfish, so self-involved, so unconcerned for others while still claiming to be followers of Jesus. Incidentally (not really), Jesus was all about the poor and marginalized. I’m wondering how the church of Peter and Paul’s time went from being on the cutting edge of announcing an upside down realm to being the chief holder of the status quo.

Maybe it’s me, but I’m just wondering.

These Uncertain times

Pat Liberty

This sermon was preached at Ledyard Congregational Church in Ledyard, CT on November 10, 2024

My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following your will
does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.

And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road,

though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though
I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.

I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

“The Merton Prayer” from Thoughts in Solitude Copyright © 1956, 1958 by The Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani. Used by permission of Farrar Straus Giroux.

Thomas Merton O.C.S.O. (January 31, 1915 – December 10, 1968) is arguably the most influential American Catholic author of the twentieth century. He wrote over 60 books and hundreds of poems and articles on topics ranging from monastic spirituality to civil rights, nonviolence, and the nuclear arms race. He kept private journals and maintained a voluminous personal correspondence; he also recorded his classroom lectures.

After a rambunctious youth and adolescence, Merton converted to Roman Catholicism while attending Columbia University. On December 10th, 1941, he entered the Abbey of Gethsemani, a community of monks belonging to the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (Trappists), the most ascetic Roman Catholic monastic order.

The 27 years he spent at Gethsemani brought about profound changes in his self-understanding. This ongoing conversion impelled him into the political arena, where he became, according to Fr. Daniel Berrigan, the conscience of the peace movement of the 1960s. Referring to race and peace as the two most urgent issues of our time, Merton was a strong supporter of the nonviolent civil rights movement, which he called “certainly the greatest example of Christian faith in action in the social history of the United States.”

This prayer was written during a time of deep uncertainty in his life as his ongoing conversion was leading him through new and uncharted territory in his life. I find his words quite comforting as we move into these uncertain times.

Uncertainty is one of those things we’re not very good at. We like things mapped out…A leads to B leads to C. We see the end, if not from the beginning, at least from the middle. And while that may be our preferred way of experiencing the world, in my experience that’s not the way it usually works out.

We live with uncertainty about our jobs…will they still be there in six months? There is uncertainty about our health, what it means to live with chronic disease or waiting for a new diagnosis. Our family relationships are, at times tenuous, as we navigate the changes that are inevitable among people who continue to evolve throughout their lives. There is no end to the avenues of uncertainty that haunt our lives. And we don’t like it one bit.

We knew that no matter who won the election we would be moving into uncertain times. Ours is a nation deeply divided and the way forward is anything but certain.

There is a feeling of being unmoored, like a boat that is bobbing around not attached to the ground tackle that holds it in place. After Super Storm Sandy, which Jean and I rode out on our boat, much to our families’ chagrin, we got phone calls from all over the country yelling at us. When we emerged from the companionway, the first thing I saw was a beautiful 38 foot sailboat lying on its side on the rocks two docks behind our boat. It’s hard to describe the sick feeling that came over me as I thought about the owner. A salvage crew was already approaching to lift the boat off the rocks, but it would be weeks before the damages were fully assessed.

I’ve had that same sick feeling in the last few weeks, the uncertainty of what lies ahead and what it will take to bring our nation back together as a safe place for all people.

Uncertainty looks like me, a gay married woman whose marriage may well be made illegal in the next few years.

Uncertainty looks like sky high grocery prices and most of our produce rotting in the fields when we deport half the migrant workers on whom our economy depends.

Uncertainty looks like the roll back of rights for the trans community and the end of gender affirming care. Now you may not understand what it means to be transgender, but that doesn’t mean that you know better than the person who lives in their skin what is right for them.

As an open and affirming church, are we ready to welcome a scared population of LGBTQIA people who are wondering what is ahead for them. Or, as I suspect, are we hiding our light under a bushel because the truth is we are welcoming of that community as long as we look and act straight.

Uncertainty looks like Project 2025, and if you don’t know what that is, you need to. It is impossible to be a responsible American citizen in this day and age without a working knowledge of Project 2025. It is available for free online. It is the blueprint for unprecedented uncertainty for every vulnerable population in this country. Don’t be upset with me for what I am saying unless you have done your due diligence and become familiar with Project 2025.

Uncertainty looks like extreme weather patterns that will continue to increase if we do not pay attention to the degradation of our planet. Sure, it’s amazing to have temperatures in the 70’s during November, but not when you realize why this is true.

Uncertainty lives at the razor’s edge of two things, despair and possibility. When we get to the very edge of all we have ever known and entered unchartered waters we have a choice. We can wring our hands and get immobilized in fear and despair, or we can do as the Psalm 46 suggests…be still and know that God is still God.

This is not a get out of jail free card. This knowledge will save us from nothing. Rather, it will ground us in a certainty that roots our action on the side of what is good and holy and just. God is faithful and calls us to be the same.

 Our tasks are the same now as they have ever been, to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, visit the imprisoned, care for the planet and care for one another.

Our identity as God’s people, people on whom God has laid a claim in our baptism surpasses our identity as citizens, political affiliates, liberals, conservatives, tree huggers or granola groupies.  

What we share is that we are citizens of this country, and this world and God calls us to covenant relationship that puts all other identities second to the one we share in Christ. If we fail in this, we fail in all else.

Whatever the uncertainty in your life, whatever despair creeps around the edges of your peace, whatever fear invades the certainty that, while partly an illusion, you have lived with…be still and know that God is God. Keep digging, deep, down deep, until you get to that bedrock that is the root of all things.

When we stand secure in that place…what is unclear will become clearer, what is uncertain will become more certain, what is fearful will diminish because we will discover that love is stronger than hate, faith is stronger than fear, the call of life surpasses the threat of death. God is still God. We are still God’s beloved. These times will require all the faith, all the love, all the grace and all the courage we can muster. It’s time we put the protest back in protestant.

Values You Can Take to the Polls

Pat Liberty

This sermon was preached at Ledyard Congregational Church in Ledyard, CT on November 3, 2024.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Matthew 22:37-40

“On this hang all the law and the prophets.” You’d think this love business was one of the most important things in the bible. Oh, wait, it is. This command has its roots in Deuteronomy…it is called the Shema.

The words used for love in Hebrew and Greek have nothing to do with our contemporary understanding of love, which focuses on feelings and warm fuzzies. Romantic love dominates the language of love.

The biblical traditions are far richer. In Hebrew the word is hesed. It can mean steadfast love, mercy, lovingkindness and goodness. It also means a covenantal love. It is characterized by great tenderness and consideration towards others. It is fundamentally a love that God has for creatures and one that is embodied in God’s followers

The Greek word is agape. It is considered the highest form of love. It is self-giving, patient, kind and never fails. Agape is the word used in 1 Corinthians 13, the famous chapter on love.

So from both the Judeo and Christian traditions love is held forth as the defining characteristic of God and how God works through humans. Throughout both testaments the central message is God’s enduring love affair with creation and all that is in it. And as God’s followers we strive to embody that love in all we say and do.

This is the cornerstone value that we are to bring to the world. It is a stance that defines everything else. When we come from a place of hesed and agape we are manifesting God’s greatest love.

So, with love as the central value, we are going to look at several scriptures that underscore values that are central to our tradition. Values we can take to the polls.

We begin in Leviticus. Nobody reads Leviticus, it’s like reading the Manhattan Yellow Pages. There are multiple layers of tradition that get sandwiched together and it makes for a tough read. But there are some themes that run through the book and this is one of them from Leviticus 19:33-34. “When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”

This stance is fundamentally one of compassion and care, justice and wellbeing. It means that however we approach the issue of immigration we need to come from a place of compassion for the stranger. We are far more apt to “other” the alien than we are to welcome them.

Now we go to Jeremiah 29:7. This is after the Israelites were exiled to Babylon and Yahweh says through the prophet Jeremiah, “But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” God’s word to the Israelites in exile was to not pout and get on with their lives. When we look at those words in relation to the immigrant community in the United States, they take on a rich meaning.

The immigrants who come to the US are by and large some of the hardest working people you will meet. They clean our hospitals and hotels, pick our vegetables and work in slaughterhouses. Not one of my friends has said, “Gee I lost my job at the slaughterhouse ripping the guts out of chickens because some immigrant came and took my job.” It is the stance of love for the alien that needs to inform our politics. Stance becomes action, so where we start matters.

Next we go to Genesis 2: Not a prophet but a prophetic witness about the creation in which we live. In Genesis 1 the narrative is to have dominion over the earth. This has been interpreted as pillage the earth’s resources, use it as a garbage dump, care nothing for the planet. And we see where that is getting us as we teeter on the edge of climate disaster.

Genesis 2 offers a different image that is not nearly as popular. Till the earth and keep it. We are stewards of this great planet. It is ours to use but not abuse. Our stance toward the earth needs to be one of care and conservation, and that needs to inform our politics. How we live day to day matters. The truth is there is enough for everyone’s need but not everyone’s greed. We are stewards of limited resources…John McCutheon sings, this earth was made a common treasury for everyone to share, all things in common, all people one…

Next we go to the prophet Isaiah. The book of Isaiah as we have it today came together over a period of about eight hundred years. All of those years were marked by war, four major conflicts that drastically altered the landscape of Israel and Judah. And we know that region remains a tinderbox today.

In the second chapter verses 4 and 5 we read, “He shall judge between the nations and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshare and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation neither shall they learn war anymore.”

The stance, the value we are to hold in the world is one of peace. Like war, peace must be waged. Being steeped in a stance of peace informs our political commitments. There is something fundamentally wrong when the best economic times are in post war periods. It says something about how our nation’s resources are prioritized. This is a narrative that needs to change for the sake of the earth and for its people.   

Next we go back to Jeremiah, Chapter 29 vss. 12-13. “Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called repairers of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.” Repairers of the breach…the breach between the rich and the poor…those for whom the system doesn’t work. 135-140 million people live in poverty. It is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. We are repairers of the breach. Our voice and our vote help to repair the breach when we use it with hesed and agape.

We are to use our vote for those who have no vote; we are the voice for those who have no voice. And the reason they have no vote and no voice is because there have been over 1000 bills introduced across the nation that suppress voting rights, mostly of the poor and people of color.

The love that God has for us is the love we are to have for those whom we will never meet…the poor the disenfranchised, those with no health care, those who live on a minimum wage that hasn’t been raised since 2009, when it went from $6.75 to $7.25. In 1965 CEOs were paid 21 times as much as the typical worker. In 2023 CEOs were paid 290 times the typical worker. What might it look like to the poor when we use our voice and our vote on behalf of those who have no voice and whose votes have been suppressed.

We are repairers of the breach when we address what William Barber calls the five interlocking injustices: systemic racism, poverty, environmental degradation, a war economy, denial of health care and the false distorted narrative of religious nationalism.

Jeremiah says we will make the streets fit to live in again when the streets are safe for all people. And that means elimination of unfair labor practices, being generous in feeding the hungry and giving ourselves to the down and out. The streets will be fit to live in again when hesed and agape love for the stranger and outcast are our way of being in the world. We vote our values as God’s people when we vote hesed and agape. Jurgen Moltmann said, “Those who hope in God can no longer put up with the way things are. Hope is a response to suffering that calls people to action in the present to witness to God’s promises in the future.”

Bishop William Barber used these words to close the Inaugural Prayer breakfast…the words of the great American preacher Harry Emerson Fosdick who penned them during the great depression. I invite you to pray them with me.

God of grace and God of glory, on your people pour your power

Crown your ancient church’s story, bring its bud to glorious flower.

Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, for the facing of this hour

Heal your children’s warring madness, bend our pride to your control.

Shame our wanton, selfish gladness, rich in things and poor in soul.

Grant us wisdom, grant us courage lest we miss your kingdom’s goal.

Save us from weak resignation to the evils we deplore.

Let the search for your salvation be our glory evermore

Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, serving you whom we adore, serving you whom we adore. Amen.

The Big Picture

Pat Liberty

An excerpt from my sermon October 27, 2024. Preached at Ledyard Congregational Church, Ledyard CT

“A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, wich are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” Mark 12:42-44

Most of the time a sermon on this text goes something like this.  The temple is the equivalent of the church. Jesus notices the widow gives everything; we should be like the widow and be more generous, trusting that God will bless us and provide for us if we are more generous.    

Except, that is not what the text is really about. As Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza suggests, we need to approach the text with a hermeneutic of suspicion, meaning a willingness to question the assumptions we bring to the text.  Like assuming we know what it says and what it means based on previous hearing and teaching.

This text is so frequently used at church budget time that the interpretation that identifies the widow as a model of faithfulness for us is hard to get past, but let’s take a closer look.

First of all, it’s important to remember that the widow is New Testament code language for the poorest of the poor, those most marginalized by a patriarchal society. Second, there is NOTHING in the text, not one word that suggests that Jesus thinks it’s a good thing that this woman put her last two coins into the temple coffers and goes away destitute. Jesus describes her behavior and comments that she gave all she had, but he doesn’t praise her for her behavior.

If we go back to the beginning of the passage, in most Bibles it is subtitled warnings about the Scribes, which suggests the focus is on the temple leaders and not on the widow.  Verse 38 begins with Jesus warning his followers to be aware of those who put on long robes, receive seats of honor, put on a good show of prayers and devour widows’ houses.” 

The role of scribe was important and honorable in the life of the temple. They were learned men whose job was to copy sacred texts, but they also served as lawyers. They had authority to negotiate contracts. They were also a part of the governing council called the Sanhedrin. They had tremendous power in the temple system. And, the religious rulers were in cahoots with Rome in an unholy alliance. Scribes were appointed to settle the estates of widows, who had no legal right to property, and were regularly exploited by these powerful men. Unscrupulous religious leaders and political officials exploited the vulnerability of widows and there was no place for them to go to seek justice, as they had no voice in religious or social structures. Hold that thought.

Jesus is instructing his followers. This is a field trip of sorts to the Temple, showing things not to do…Jesus would later send his followers out to preach to the people. He cautioned them against accumulating wealth, lest they be distracted from their primary role.  They were to trust in God’s Providence as they did God’s will. Any money they were given was to go to the poor. He also constantly warned his own disciples against seeking honor rather than serving others.  Pointing out the ostentatious clothing of the scribes was a way of illustrating that these religious leaders had ceased to care for God’s people.

The greater condemnation that comes to such leaders is calculated on a simple formula: greater knowledge means greater responsibility.  From the one to whom more is given more is expected.

That the scribes failed to be scandalized by the demands Temple worship made on one who had so little is what raised Jesus’ ire.  He neither praises nor condemns the widow; his judgment is on the injustice of the temple system and the lack of compassion for those in need.

Essentially Jesus takes the entire social, religious, economic and political system and goes “BOOM.” He  blows it right out of the water. In order to evaluate a social system we have to ask who benefits from it. In Jesus’ time it was the Scribes, the lawyers. Who is it in our time? The American oligarchs who don’t pay their fair share of taxes? Or is it the legislators we send to congress, who, for the most part, in the time of their tenure become millionaires? How does that happen? What kind of back-room deals do they need to make with the rich and powerful to line their pockets.

Who is victimized by the system? Single moms who work two jobs and have no health insurance. Single dads who fall behind on their child support payments because they don’t make enough to live on. Older Americans who live on Social Security alone and have to choose between paying their utility bill and buying groceries.

Again and again in the gospels we see that what makes a time, a place and a people holy is caring for the poor, the widow the orphan, and the stranger; those whom the world defines as the last the least and the lost.  And Jesus’ harshest words are reserved for the Scribes, whom he calls whited sepulchers. They look okay on the outside, but inside they are filled with death and destruction.

In the realm Jesus brings, everyone has a place at the table. Everyone is part of the community. All people stand on equal ground, because place is defined by God’s welcome and not having things the world deems important.  Jesus’ vision for the religious community and for the social order included understanding equality as something rooted in God and not in the trappings of the world. And for all of his faithfulness to God’s dream for the creation, Jesus was executed as an enemy of the state because he exposed the wickedness and collusion of religious and political leaders.

Jesus bore witness to a time and place where people would seek God and acknowledge God as the author of all that is. Out of that inner faith, that inner conviction, followers would live in faithful, joyful obedience.  It was not an act of volition, of willpower, of thinking the right way.  The in-breaking of God’s realm was rooted in passion for God’s way of being in the world, in faith that was life changing, a vision of success that was dramatically different from the world’s, nothing short of wholesale embrace of the upside-down values of God’s realm.

Jesus’ judgment on the social, religious, political and economic system of his time exposed the system for what it was: rigged by the rich for the sake of the rich. It was a morally and spiritually bankrupt system that failed those for whom God’s realm was most concerned.

Jesus calls attention to the empty prayers offered for the sake of appearance and balances this against the devouring of widows’ houses.  And this is the razor’s edge…Jesus sees their actions as indicative of their faith. Their failures of mission are an expression of their inner emptiness.

The big picture from this story is Jesus’ creating a social order that is committed to justice for the poor. In truth, Jesus talks more about the poor than he does about any other group.

The stewardship that is at issue here is how the system, the establishment, stewards its resources for the benefit of those it is called to serve. 

Gustavo Gutierrez, the founder of Liberation Theology wrote, “the poverty of the poor is not a call to generous relief action but a demand that we go and build a different social order.”

Our ability to be instruments of God bringing faith, hope, light, pardon and joy is about God in our lives and how we live that out in the world, not just through our charity, but through our social activism and political commitments. Faithful actions and deeds are not the source of our salvation but the fruit of it.   We often get the mphasis on the wrong syllABLE, thinking that our good works are the most important thing.  Don’t get me wrong they are important; they become holy when they are expressions of our faith in God and are followed with action in the social arena that works for justice on behalf of those who have no voice.

Beth Moore writes, “When our story is told a century from now-and it will be- how much of the American church ran after idols and delusions, false christs and conspiracies. History will not only fault the pastors for not confronting us with the truth but the congregations who forbade them to.”

This is a moment when our faith commitments need to inform our social, economic, political and religious actions.

Christ is either at the center of those actions, or not. Amen.

Resources:

Myers, Ched. Binding the Strong Man, a Political Reading of Mark’s Gospel

The New Interpreter’s Bible

An Open Letter to JD Vance

Pat Liberty

Dr. Mr. Vance,

Your recent appearance at the Christian nationalist revival tour of Lance Wallnau was comical at best. In your attempt to make a “theological” defense of the GOP’s controversial immigration policies, you demonstrated your complete lack of knowledge regarding sacred scripture.

I offer these comments for your remedial education. In the event that you would like to be educated in a way that has scholarly integrity, I offer to tutor you in both Old and New Testament history, tradition and theology.

First, you posit that, from a Christian perspective one owes the strongest duty to one’s family. I refer you to Matthew 12:46-50. In this pericope Jesus is speaking to the crowds and is interrupted by someone telling him that his mother and his brothers want to speak with him. “Jesus replied, ‘Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?’ And pointing to his disciples, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.’”

From this scripture it is clear that Jesus’ understanding of family is not primarily about biology but about discipleship. He claims as family those who are united in striving for peace, justice and hastening the realm of God on earth. In that realm, all will have enough, there will be no war, no greed, no hunger, no suffering.

Your immigration policies are rooted in promulgating human suffering. Deporting individuals who have lived in the US for years to countries where they will face certain death and privation is not a policy, it is a debacle. Yes, our immigration system is broken, but what you propose will visit untold pain on millions of people. It is inhuman and deplorable. How you can claim this is consistent with the Judeo-Christian tradition shows the depth of your ignorance and lack of compassion.

Second, in Jeremiah 29 the prophet writes to the Israelites who are exiled in Babylon after the fall of Jerusalem.

“These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent  from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. This was after King Jeroniah, and the queen mother, the court officials, the leaders of  Judah and Jerusalem, the artisans, and the smiths had departed  from Jerusalem. The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah son of  Shaphan and Geramiah son of Hilkiah, whom King Zedekiah of  Judah sent to Babylon to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. It said,  ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles  whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. Build houses  and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take  wives and have sons and daughters, take wives for your sons,  and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and  daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare  of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on  its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.’”

Let me break this down into the simplest of terms so you can understand. The Israelites were exiled to Babylon. Rather than live as an isolated enclave they were encouraged to settle there and work for the welfare of the city to which they were exiled. Surely the immigrants in our midst have worked for the welfare of the American people. They pick our produce, clean our schools and hospitals and hotels. They work in the slaughterhouses that produce our meat and poultry. They often work at the most menial jobs for minimum wage so that we can enjoy our bounteous lifestyle.

I doubt there are many Americans that lament that they were vegetable pickers before the immigrants came.

Immigrants work for the well being of this country in countless ways. They have taken seriously the prophetic words of Jeremiah to seek the welfare of the place where they live. They know that in seeking the welfare of the United States they are also seeking their own welfare.

To see mass deportation as an “immigration policy” is ludicrous. It would be disastrous for our economy, for our food infrastructure and for our communities. We are a nation of immigrants. Unless one is a Native American, they are an immigrant. There are no other options. What you are proposing is making America white again. There is nothing Christian about that.

I suggest that you spend some time learning American history as well as biblical history and theology. It will go a long way toward helping you sound less like the hillbilly you are, though I fear this statement will be seen as an insult to anyone who considers themselves to be a hillbilly.