The UNITED States of America: What it means to live in community

I’ve been hearing a lot, and I mean a lot about individual freedom; everywhere I turn, whether it is TV, radio, or print—it’s all the same.  I’m told that a fundamental principle of America is individual freedom and liberty.  I heard it in Mitch Daniel’s response to President Obama’s State of the Union speech and I read it in Wayne Grudem’s Politics According to the Bible; Grudem even asserts that individual liberty is a biblical principle (I’ll leave that for another blog). All this talk about individual liberty got me thinking, how does that coincide with the fact that we live in the United States of America, that the motto of this country at one time was E Pluribus Unum; out of many, one.  Ultimately, the question is, what does it mean to live as a community?

Currently, I live in a small townhome which is part of a four-plex. The walls seem paper thin at times and I can hear far more than I’d like to. As an American with individual freedom I should have to the right to stay up as late as I want, with my music as loud as I want, with as many people over as I want; yet I don’t—because I understand that living in a community—or in this instance a four-plex with thin walls, means being respectful of my neighbors even if it means a loss of my own “rights.”

Something else that reminds me of community? Marriage.  I’ve been married over 7 years, and on the day I was married, I gave up many of my “rights” in order to live in “community” with my wife.  As a young adult male, I should have the right to hit the bars and party it up with my friends whenever I want for as long as I want, I should have the right to sleep with whoever I want, and I should have the right to do whatever I want—life is about individual liberty after all.  Yet, strangely enough, because I have agreed to live in community with my wife, I sacrifice all these “rights.”

Ok, so if you’re not catching my drift, I’ll explain it right out; living in the United States of America is living in a community.  As Americans, we sacrifice many individual rights in order to live together as a part of this nation; after all, that’s what being a community is about—not the one, but the many.  In case you haven’t figured it out by now, being an American, being part of the United States should be about sacrificing one’s own rights for the good of the many.  That means sacrificing some of my money to help others who need it (taxes), that means buying light bulbs that use less energy (a conservative pet peeve) so energy will be more available for all, it means (gasp!) restructuring an economic system so that not just one benefits but rather all benefit. 

If I may pull some biblical support into this, I’d like to suggest the story of the Good Samaritan.  Just before Jesus actually tells this story he is talking with some religious folks of his time about what were the most important religious principles to live by. The answer given first was loving God, and second, loving your neighbor as yourself.   Jesus said this answer was spot on, but seeking to find a loophole, the religious person asked, but who is my neighbor?  This is when Jesus brings in the story of the Good Samaritan.   Jesus understood what it meant to live as part of a community; it meant sacrificing your own “rights” in order to “love your neighbor as yourself.”

So do I have a problem with people asserting their own “individual liberty?” Not necessarily, but I would recommend they go buy an island in the Pacific were they can use whatever kind of light bulbs they want, dump into the ground whatever they want, and use however much energy they want.   Or perhaps we could just go back to the way it was in the Middle Ages, build our own castles and do as we please.  Heck, corporations these days are essentially kingdoms; the CEO is king, the shareholders are the knights, and the employees are just their serfs.  That saying, “freedom isn’t free” is right on, it takes boat loads of money to buy freedom; corporations spend billions each year fighting for their “individual liberty.” Oh, have you forgotten? “Corporations are people my friend” (Mitt Romney) and as such deserve all the rights and freedoms of an individual. These days, freedom isn’t free, and whoever has the most money gets the most freedom.

So for those who constantly want to beat their drum of “individual liberty,” I’d like to ask them what it means to be a part of a community and what it means to be a part of the United States of America. And for Christians who share that same mantra (I’m talking to you Mr. Grudem); I’d like to ask them what it means to love your neighbor as yourself.  

So what does it mean to live in the community of the United States of America? It means sacrificing individual rights for the greater good of all—this is loving your neighbor as yourself.

My Love/Hate relationship with Tim Tebow Part 1: Why I hate Tim Tebow

I’m a fan of the religious magazine Religion Dispatches and in a recent article author Carter Turner writes that in regards to all the Tim Tebow-mania, “there’s an elephant in the room, and it’s not wearing a football jersey.”  Turner tells that the driving issue behind all the Tebow curiosity goes beyond his public displays of religion, “people are watching because for many, his games are about whether or not a God exists who intervenes in human history—even in the mundane, like football.” Turner is definitely onto something here, and goes on to say that  “people are watching The Tebow Show because he’s a second-rate quarterback… and winning games, often against great odds while playing his best at the most opportune times.” Turner points out that a recent poll has found that 43% of those polled thought that God was intervening to help Tebow and the Broncos win. What Turner sees then, is that this elephant in the room is a theological question of whether God intervenes in history and rewards people who have faith.  

While Turner is certainly smarter than me, I don’t think he goes far enough in his critique of conservative Christians and their love affair with Tebow.  As a former conservative and current liberal Christian I see what’s going on; amongst conservative, Evangelical Christians, it’s not a question that God intervenes in history and rewards faith—it’s an indisputable truth.  This Tim Tebow thing is a real-life example of their theological assumption that God rewards faith. It’s similar to the “Prosperity Gospel” way of thinking—if you believe, God will bless you.

Can’t get a job? It’s because you don’t have enough faith God will get you one. Things didn’t work out the way you wanted? It’s because you didn’t spend enough time in prayer.  Lacking the money to pay the bills this month?  If you trusted God, he would have provided.  Tim Tebow is exhibit A for this line of thinking, the “miraculous” wins by Tebow and the Broncos are due to God rewarding Tim’s great faith, just ask Tebow’s dad. 

This is my real problem with Tim Tebow, or rather, the Evangelical Christian takeover of Tim Tebow is that rather than just appreciating his genuine personality and authentic spirituality, Tebow has been made into an example of why we’re not good enough—if we had enough faith, all these good things would be happening to us.  It’s like the convenience of every self-help book; if the program doesn’t work for you it’s because you didn’t follow it/commit to it/ dedicate yourself to it enough.  Just like every self-help guru, God conveniently gets off easy—it’s not God’s fault you don’t have a job, you should have had more faith God would provide, because then he would have.

I’m a Broncos fan, I’m a Tim Tebow fan, and I’m a Christian and I want to enjoy the spectacle of the unexpected happening, admire a guy who isn’t ashamed of who he is, and respect a guy who actually practices what he preaches (whether I agree with it or not).  What I don’t want is for some Christian personality to cram their theology down my throat while also trying to guilt me into thinking that my life would be better if I had the faith of Tim Tebow. Do I hate Tim Tebow, I guess not, what I hate is Christians constructing a Tim Tebow systematic theology. You can believe what you want to believe, but keep your theology off my quarterback.

Oh, and for the record, Tebow himself has blown off the idea that God is “miraculously intervening” on his 

behalf. 

Religious Social Conservatives: Pay up or Shut up.

So there’s this guy I work with, “Brian” I’ll call him, who said something to me the other day that was quite interesting.  Brian’s wife has a pretty serious illness which obviously leads to some ridiculously large medical bills.  In our conversation that day I suggested that since I was likely to be cutting back my hours perhaps he could pick up those hours.   Funny thing, he said that he was actually trying to not work too much (to not make too much money) because if he made too much money his wife would no longer be eligible for Medicare.

Needless to say, that caught me off guard; I’ve heard so much of people “mooching” off the government, “dependent” on the system, and living off “entitlements” and just like so many Republicans have been saying, here right in front of me was someone disregarding his own “personal responsibility” and instead expecting the government to take care of him.  What a lazy bum right?

Brian has several problems which are clearly his fault, and he shouldn’t be expecting Uncle Sam to bail him out. First of all, his full-time job is working for a religious, non-profit organization which pays him basically nothing.  Forget that he totally loves what he does (he talks about it constantly!), that he seems to find fulfillment and meaning in doing it, and that it seems to fit him perfectly.  Brian should have gotten a worthwhile degree and gone out and gotten a private sector job that actually makes money instead of being a drag on society.  Brian’s second problem is that he chose to marry someone with a serious illness; talk about stupid.  Why would anyone want to marry someone who will inevitably rack up huge medical bills? Love, no, that’s not a good enough reason—and don’t tell me they go great together or that she’s a wonderful person—she’s an unproductive member of society who’s taking our tax dollars rather than being responsible enough to pay for her own medical issues.  Sure enough, she’s also dumb enough to work for that same religious non-profit organization.   It should be just like what has been suggested at Republican presidential debates—if someone gets sick and doesn’t have insurance, let them die.

There’s an even bigger problem here, that non-profit religious organization.  What the heck are they doing? Making a difference in kids lives—how much money does that make? Nothing!  Instead of wasting time and resources “ministering” to kids, trying to help them become better people, they should just rent out their facilities to the highest bidder and make some money.   Really, ultimate blame for Bran and his wife should fall on this organization; if it was a legit, productive, money-making business they could pay a good wage so Brian and his wife could pay for their own bills.  What kind of country is this where we allow non-profit, religious organizations like this to exist?

…Now back to the real world…

In reality people do devote their lives to causes that don’t pay well but provide invaluable worth to the people these causes help and also to the lives of the people themselves who work for the cause.  In reality people get sick, through no fault of their own, and often don’t have the money to pay for it.  In reality, people fall in love regardless of “pre-existing conditions” and commit to be there for one another “in sickness and in health.” 

In reality Brian and his wife are fantastic people and I’d be thrilled to be counted by them as a friend.   In reality Brian is a wonderful, loving husband who emits unbelievable faith and courage in spite of the health of his wife.   In reality Brian would do anything he could to take care of his wife.  Far from a “lazy entitlement moocher,” Brian is a great person.

So we have to ask ourselves, what kind of country do we live in?  Or better, what kind of country do we want to live in? Do we want America to be about helping the less fortunate like Brian and his wife? Do we want America to a place where people are cared for and receive the medical attention they need? 

Or do we want America to be a place where it’s everyone for their own interests and no one else?

Yes, there are lazy people in our country, people who do want to simply mooch off the hard work of others, and there are people who receive government assistance who are lazy; but there all also lazy people who are middle-class, lazy people who are upper-class, lazy people who are rich—and all of these lazy people benefit from the government as well.  We must remember, for every “lazy” welfare recipient, there are many, many more people like Brian and his wife who really need the help. 

Oddly enough, I’d bet that nearly everyone involved in Brian’s religious organization will vote Republican—they will vote for an agenda that wants to reduce government assistance that goes to people like Brian and his wife.   So while so many conservative Christians vote Republican because it’s the party of “morals” and “family values,” I have to wonder how anyone who would want to take away funding for the medical care that Brian’s wife so desperately needs could ever consider themselves to be moral.

So if you’re a religious person reading this and you support politicians and policies aimed at ending social programs that truly serve the less fortunate you basically have two options:

      Create a charity to pay for people’s medical expenses (all expenses, not just a token amount)

Or

      Quit whining and pay your taxes so Brian’s wife can get the care she needs thanks to the government

So, it comes down to this, you can pay up (through significant charitable giving or via taxes to support government programs), or you can shut up, but it has to be one or the other, because if you’re going to tell me you support “family values” and a “Judeo-Christian” ethic—you better pay up, or else I’m going to tell you to shut up.

Class Warfare, Calvin Coolidge, and the Great Depression

Sometimes I wonder, are people stupid, or just willfully ignorant?  Many times I’m forced to think it’s the latter; enter author and FoxNews.com correspondent David Pietrusza and his Op-Ed piece for FoxNews.com titled “Class War—The Calvin Coolidge Response”

Of course Pietrusza starts off with a predictable story line, rambling on and on about how Obama has instituted a “war” on the upper class; Pietrusza even says America “no longer enjoys a peacetime economy. I speak not of Iraq or of Afghanistan. I speak of the class warfare economy officially imposed on the nation in Barack Obama’s Osawatomie speech.” He tells that Obama’s policies have been "tried everywhere. And has failed everywhere.  It leads to the guillotine—and, ultimately, back to the poor house.” Well, besides the ridiculously over-the-top suggestion that Obama’s policies will lead to people getting their heads chopped off, I can’t help but wonder how Obama’s policies will lead to the “poor house.”



After getting in his rhetorical cheap shots in on the President, Pietrusza then goes on to explain what a great example President Calvin Coolidge should be to us; Yep, Calvin Coolidge, the 30^th president of the United States, in office from 1923-1929.  Despite being pressured to raise taxes on the rich, Coolidge resisted.  “Coolidge succeeded in lowering income tax rates that had skyrocketed during the wartime Wilson administration. A booming economy resulted. Inflation and unemployment nearly vanished. The budget was balanced. The national debt reduced.” Oh, and there was this “Great Depression” thingy immediately after he left office.

Michael Beschloss and Hugh Sidey, authors of the presidential biographies found on WhiteHouse.gov, tell that “Coolidge demonstrated his determination to preserve the old moral and economic precepts amid the material prosperity which many Americans were enjoying. He refused to use Federal economic power to check the growing boom or to ameliorate the depressed condition of agriculture and certain industries.” Sound like any other former President (Bush) or current Presidential candidates?   

It would be unfair to blame the entire recession on President Bush’s policies (despite the willingness of some to blame it entirely on Obama), yet it is curious that just like Coolidge, who exited the White House just before the Great Depression, that when Bush’s presidency also ended a horrible recession immediately followed.   So, it has me wondering, should we really be praising the economic policy of a President whose term directly preceded the worst economic depression in American history?  Yet this is exactly what conservatives would have us do, continue to keep up the status quo, to continue the practices that Coolidge and Bush both promoted.   It’s hardly a surprise, for just like it was back in the “roaring 20’s,” the wealthy have been incredibly successful over the last 10 years and why would anyone want to change that?

I really, really doubt that David Pietrusza is stupid, I don’t think he’s willfully ignorant, nor do I even think he’s being blinded by his own ideology—I wonder if it’s much simpler.  Pietrusza knows what’s good for him and those like him, and he knows that any changes to the economic policies under which he has benefitted will likely negatively impact his bottom line.  So should we blame a guy for only caring about himself? Well, that up to your standard of morality (last I knew selfishness was immoral), but misappropriating history to support your positions—that’s just not cool.

I received nothing I wanted, I received everything I needed

I wanted strength and received difficulties to make me strong

I wanted wisdom and received problems for me to solve

I wanted prosperity and received brawn and brain to work

I wanted courage and received dangers to overcome

I wanted patience and was placed in situations where I was forced to wait

I wanted love and met troubled people for me to help

I wanted favors and was given opportunities

I received nothing I wanted, I received everything I needed

I now realize what I needed was all I ever wanted

A movement for wholeness in a fragmented world

The Disciples of Christ, the denomination I am a member of, has an unofficial slogan that they are a “movement for wholeness in a fragmented world.”  This saying is quite relevant today, for as humans we are broken and living in a broken world.

Many smart people throughout the centuries have spent time thinking and discussing what it means to be broken.  People like Augustine, John Calvin, and Martin Luther have debated the idea that human beings are inherently flawed, or broken; a concept known as “original sin.” The idea of original sin is that each human being, from  the beginnings of life is predisposed to fail, almost like a built in self-destruct function.  This original sin therefore is the explanation for every failure and mess up of humans, for we are inherently broken.

I think we can all recognize within ourselves and within others, times when we have broken ourselves, times when we have made bad decisions which led to painful consequences.  There are so many times we reap the consequences for our poor actions and we find ourselves crawling around on the floor, trying to pick up the broken, scattered pieces of our lives. Some would say this is simply evidence of our innate problem, our inborn brokenness—we are already ruined, we are just digging the whole deeper.

Yet, I think there’s more to it than that, for as often as we may be the source of our own troubles, there is, more than many religious folks would like to admit, things in this world that simply break us.   I’m sure many of us can understand what it’s like to be broken, whether it be by dept, divorce, depression, discouragement, despondency… we find ourselves shattered in pieces, strewn across the room, through no fault of our own.  Financially we did all the “right” things, but the economy tanked and we lost our job and our home, we committed ourselves to our marriage yet when our partner just walked out the door we found ourselves hurt and alone, and despite reading all the self-help books and following the positive thinking gurus, we find ourselves beat down, depressed, discouraged, and defeated. We are broken all right—but it is this world which has broken us.

For far too long in Christianity “sin” was simply a personal problem, one’s problems were only the result of one’s personal failures.  The thing is, Jesus debunked this idea long ago; when he and his disciples came upon a blind man, the disciples asked him whether the blindness was a result of this man’s sin or the sin of his parents—Jesus said neither.  Unfortunately today, many are just as dense as the disciples; in both religious and non-religious circles, when someone is broken, the standard response is that it is the result of some moral failure on their part, that if they had just taken more “personal responsibility” for themselves or had had a better “devotional life” with God, these things wouldn’t have happened.   Slowly but surely many are beginning to recognize that “sin” can be structural—there are systems and schemes in our world that in the way they function inevitably break people. 

Anyone in America who’s been paying attention surely recognizes that there are many systems which inherently break people—economic systems, social systems, family systems.  What do I mean?  Economically it’s when a mortgage company systematically cheats minorities into bad loans and worse rates (remember Countrywide?).  Socially its strict societal expectations of how people should behave, and when they deviate from that norm—like being gay—they find themselves victims of relentless bullying and end up broken (often permanently from a tragic suicide).   As often as we may be the cause of our own brokenness, there is so much in this world that simply breaks us.

This time of year is what is called “Advent” in the Christian tradition.  Advent celebrates Jesus’ coming to earth as a child while also looking forward to a time when Jesus will return again and right all wrongs.  When Jesus was on earth he talked about what things would be like in “God’s Kingdom;” that when God is in charge, when people do things God’s way the hungry will be fed, the poor will have enough, and  the sick will be well.   So in Advent we celebrate Emmanuel, “God with us” in the form of the baby Jesus—we recognize God’s presence among us here and now loving, caring, and working for the good; true incarnational theology.  Yet Advent is also about a looking forward, with a bit of anxious longing, for a time when God’s kingdom will come, when God’s ways of justice, fairness, and rightness will be the rule of the day—as opposed to the pain and brokenness which is caused so often by the world we live in today.

We are a broken people, and that is why I am glad to be a part of a group that has as its stated mission to bring wholeness to this broken world.  The other day someone asked me what salvation meant, and I’m beginning to think it’s as simple as this, wholeness—for when someone who has been utterly broken begins to find healing and wholeness, that is true salvation.  

A sports fan’s NFL magic carpet ride just came to an end.

Professional sports are the ultimate reality TV show; between the multi-million dollar personalities and the non-stop media coverage, this is as real as it gets.  There’s drama, intrigue, surprise, suspense… often all in one game.  Professional sports is the ultimate live event, for there really is no telling what may happen;  and there is just something special about seeing it live as it happens—in person or on screen—that makes it so entertaining. Sports are one of the few TV programs people watch live anymore; it’s easy to DVR a show or movie, yet watching a game on tape delay just isn’t the same.  Besides just the difficulty of avoiding the results of the game (“earmuffing”), there is the general let-down of fast-fowarding through all the tension filled drama.  There’s the 3-2 pitch with the bases loaded, the 3^rd and goal in the 4^th quarter, the last-second shot attempt, and so on.  What makes sports great is that it happens live, in the moment, and as fans as spectators our heart races, we move to the edge of our seats, and we turn up the volume as we anxiously wait for what will come. Professional sports is a about enjoying the present.

This current NFL season has given sports fans some great moments, from the 13-0 Green Bay Packers to Tim Tebow’s magical ride with the Broncos; these two stories alone are perhaps the best examples of what makes sports great.  As sports fans we long to see greatness, whether it be the Jordan’s ’96 Bulls winning 72 games, the ’98 Yankees winning 125 games and a World Series, or Justin Verlander lighting up the speed gun and in so doing make so many batters whiff.  We watch sports to see greatness happen.  We also watch sports to see the unexpected happen; Villanova shocking Georgetown in the 1985 NCAA final, Boise State pulling the “Statue of Liberty” play to beat Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, and The Dallas Mavericks beating the Miami Heat’s big three of James, Wade, and Bosh in the NBA Finals.   We also watch sports to see the unexpected happen—for as much as we want to see the best at their best, we also love the upset, we love seeing the little guy knock off goliath.  The 2011 NFL season had, up to this point given us both.

The Green Bay Packers were 13-0 entering this Sunday’s game; an offensive juggernaut and a defensive-takeaway machine, the Packers showed no signs of slowing. All talk centered around whether or not the Packers would rest their starters after this weekend’s assumed win over the Chiefs or continue to strive after a perfect season.    The Denver Broncos were 8-5 entering this Sunday’s game, having started the season 1-4 and being left for dead after a week 7 trouncing by the Detroit Lions, the Broncos had somehow managed to win 6 straight games and take over first place in the AFC West due to some Tim Tebow magic, some great defense, and some incredible special teams play. 

This Sunday both of these magic carpet rides came to an end; the Packers shockingly lost to the lowly Kansas City Chiefs, able only to score 14 points against a team which had just fired its head coach. The Broncos meanwhile, after racing out to a 16-7 lead, promptly turned the ball over 3 times in a disastrous second quarter leading to 27 straight points by the Patriots.  It was a disappointing Sunday for myself and any other true sports fan.  Not only did one team trip up when they were so close to true immortality and greatness, another team came up lacking when the big boys came to town.  Rather than getting to see greatness (the Packers) and the unexpected continue to happen (the Broncos), we had to see greatness lose some of its shine and see normalcy return.

All is not lost; the Packers are still incredibly talented and with any luck will use this loss as a springboard into the playoffs and to the Super Bowl, where they will be able to display their greatness for all to see.  The Broncos too still have a stingy defense and a ridiculously competitive quarterback who with a couple more wins can get into the playoffs where once again, we will hope to see the unexpected.  

This is what I want for Christmas as a sports fan:

A dominant run to the Super Bowl by the Packers with a great performance by Aaron Rodgers, accomplishing what Brett Farve for all his greatness could not do—win back to back championships.  What a great sight that would be to see! 

More gut-wrenching, hand-clinging, heart-racing, last minute games and wins by the Broncos and Tim Tebow. At this point I don’t expect them to do much beyond making the playoffs, yet it’s that suspense of knowing that this is a team from which to expect the unexpected which makes this team so exciting to watch!

So while sports fans lost a chance to see a team go 19-0, and another team make yet another improbable win, sports fans will continue to watch, for we know that these teams give us what we really want to see in sports; greatness (Packers) and the unexpected (Broncos).