Predestination?

Determinism would argue that because everything has a cause (which is the initial premise), there is no free will. Determinism argues that actions are a type of event, that each event has a cause, and that because there is a cause, there is a necessary effect– there is nothing to ‘choose’ (McFee, 21). Of course, in order to accept this theory, you have to accept the initial premise (that everything has a cause). If we accept determinism, we have no moral responsibility for our actions, because our actions are predetermined by their cause. Calvinism operates on this type of system. Although at first it would seem as though there is little meaning offered in this system, if one is part of the group of 'saved’ individuals, there is nothing to be worried about, because one’s salvation is already set in stone. The problem with theories of determinism, of course, is determining how the cycle of causes somehow begins. If everything has a cause, then one would ask what the cause is of this initial cause. For the sake of our argument, we will leave the determinism argument aside and continue on with the line of reasoning for free will.

Each day we make decisions which may or may not have outcomes that affect us morally. We make evaluations that affect others and ourselves. These can be said to be moral decisions, because their outcomes have some kind of weight to them. We take action and we are responsible for these actions (McFee, 5). The results of these actions, whether good or bad, are our responsibility. Likewise, if there is no free will, it seems as though there is no moral relevance to our lives. The people we are good to, the people we are mean to, the people we completely ignored… it ultimately has no meaning if there is no free will, because without free will, there is no moral relevance to the way we treat others or any of the decisions that we make in our daily lives.

Works Consulted
Bowes, Pratima. Consciousness and Freedom: Three Views. London: Methuen & Co Ltd, 1971.

McFee, Graham. Free Will. London: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2000.

Lucas, J.R. The Freedom of the Will. London: Oxford University Press, 1970.

Luther, Martin. Christian Liberty. Trans. W. A. Lambert. Ed. Harold J. Grimm. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1957.

Ofstad, Harald. An Inquiry into the Freedom of Decision. Norway: Norwegian Universities Press, 1961.

Thomas Moore

"There are two ways to be spiritually secure: One is to attach to a fixed and uncomplicated teaching, leadership, and set of moral standards. Another is to be open to life, ever deepening your understanding and giving up all defensiveness around your convictions. Jesus represents this second approach."
Thomas Moore, Writing in the Sand: Jesus and the Soul of the Gospels

Meditation/Study Noise 4: Ocean Waves

I invite you to meditate for 5 or 10 minutes using the link below.

Ocean Waves

Accurate Depiction of My Relationship With God

awgusteen:

This is the most accurate thing in history

Slavery

The rise of slavery in the United States came despite initial inclinations of colonizers to use white indentured servants (and therefore, hopefully, maintain more racial homogeneity).  In the beginning, enslaved Africans were a minority, but slowly began to make up more and more of the workforce.  They were also increasingly singled out, being denied weapons and considered lifelong slaves.  As servant populations became increasingly opposed to their treatment and began organizing, laws that had previously singled out black populations as being unable to own weapons became reasons for increasing enslavement of Africans in the U.S., since weaponless people are easier to control and less likely to rebel.  It became more "safe" and profitable for people to enslave African Americans (whose children they also entitled themselves to) than use indentured servants of European origin.  Inherent in the treatment and decreasing value and rights afforded African Americans was the idea that, like American Indians, African Americans were a "lesser" race that was inherently less intelligent, hard-working, and beautiful-- Thomas Jefferson was an example of the popular view at the time that it was "nature" (as opposed to environmental factors) which made people of African heritage lesser (which, of course, they were not-- they were being measured by Western standards that did not apply to them).

In today's world, we still hear unfair stereotypes that portray minority populations as lazy, dishonest, and deceptive.  African Americans are often portrayed as criminals (consider coverage of Black Lives Matter movements) and Latinos are often portrayed as "living under the law" as tax-evaders and thieves of "American" jobs, despite a reality in which U.S. government policy has been heavily responsible for conditions which lead Latin Americans to seek livelihoods in the U.S. and policy which often prohibits them from doing so through legal channels.  This blindness to responsibility and mistreatment parallels both treatment of American Indians and African Americans under the institution of slavery.  Additionally, white beauty standards continue to dominate our media and culture in ways that continue to suggest that bodies of color are not as beautiful as white bodies.

Post Civil War Migration of African Americans

African Americans in the South were forced into sharecropping, which kept them in financial bondage. The financial struggles, coupled with continued racism, led many African Americans to pursue work in the North. Many blacks in the south feared violence as well. Additionally, labor shortages due to WWI led factories to recruit in the South, leading to more and more employment of African Americans in industrial sectors, which they had previously been excluded from.

As levels of migration increased, so did white resistance. More and more “black neighborhoods” developed as African Americans faced housing discrimination and were prohibited from renting or purchasing homes in many neighborhoods. As neighborhoods became more and more segregated, living conditions in black neighborhoods deteriorated. Facing a discriminatory housing market, African Americans were forced to pay higher percentages of their earnings for their housing, while landlords let conditions worsen, exacerbated by overcrowding caused by the financial burden of housing in the African American community. The Great Depression worsened the situation for most African Americans, who faced hunger and were forced to turn to public assistance. African Americans faced disproportionate levels of unemployment and therefore, higher levels of enrollment in public assistance. These debilitating circumstances made it very difficult for most African Americans to rise out of poverty-- they faced discrimination at every turn which was worsened by economic conditions that made finding employment difficult, especially for those who were deemed to be at the bottom of the list from the start.

Such conditions created an environment in which African Americans were segregated into substandard housing communities, given fewer opportunities for employment based on the same discriminatory mindsets that refused African Americans affordable housing in well-kept buildings. As the economy worsened, so did prospects of employment and upward mobility. Furthermore, public assistance was not as available to African Americans. These conditions snowballed in a way that created an invisible (to many) hand that served to keep African American communities from rising out of poverty by denying them services, safe living conditions, and employment opportunities. These conditions served to give African Americans a “starting point” which far disadvantaged them and continues to do so today as African Americans continue to face discrimination and unsafe, segregated communities. These conditions make the American Dream unreachable for many black people, who are denied the opportunity to work hard for upward mobility by discrimination in housing, employment, and education.

Regarding Ordination Rights in the RCC

So I wrote this a while ago, but I wanted to repost it in a way that can easily be read.

WHAT I POSTED:

We can get caught up on what one means by “right,” but the matter of fact is that there are women in the Roman Catholic Church who feel called toward the priesthood but are denied the ability to become ordained because of the RCC’s position on female ordination.

While some would argue that the Church “has no choice” because their theological reasoning is for an exclusively male priesthood, such a position isn’t based on the Bible, but instead a certain type of interpretation thereof.  "Jesus didn’t ordain women" is the silliest of arguments because as a matter of fact, Jesus didn’t ordain anyone.  Church hierarchies of “priest, deacon, and bishop” were developed after Christ’s death.  Christ chose 12 male disciples, but also included women.  Their presence in the Bible, especially in important positions, is evidence of how highly the Jesus movement regarded women.  Mere mention was anomalous given the societal disregard for women that existed at the time the New Testament texts were written.  

Apostolic succession was a tool developed by the early church and has to do with a line back to Christ but is not gender based in any way.  In fact, the Bible makes mention of a female apostle, Junia, and the early Christian movement allowed women to preside over the Eucharist and perform the role of deacon and priest, as are evidenced in writings and art work uncovered from as late as the 600s.

Whether or not the church should or shouldn’t reflect prevailing views of the times is beside the point.  No, the Church should not be another manifestation of the Democratic, Republican, or any other party.  They SHOULD, however, stand for biblical values, some of which are resisting “church law” when it is unjust and fighting for the fundamental equality of spiritual value among the children of God.  It is quite clear given the archaeological and textual record that the early church and those whose lives more closely touched that of Jesus allowed women into leadership positions and that a celibate, exclusively male priesthood developed in later years, quite removed from the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.

Ministry should be open to women.  There is no argument for an exclusively male priesthood that can be based in the Bible, at least not without giving preferential treatment to certain passages and a degree of cherry-picking that ultimately must give more weight to inferences of the reader as opposed to quantity or substance of passages defending such positions.

Word.

Meditation/Study Noise #3: Rain on a Tent

I invite you to meditate for 5 or 10 minutes using this noise to help focus your mind.

Rain on a Tent

The Way

lesleylloyd:

quiteyours:

it gets me every time

EVERY. TIME

(Source: howlolcanyougo, via braverymasksfragilelives)

The Journey

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice—
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do—
determined to save
the only life you could save.

What is Canon?

Scriptural canon is the collection of texts sanctioned by the religious governing body.  For the Hebrew Scriptures, different communities accept and organize canon differently.  The Protestant canon is roughly the same as the Hebrew Canon, although the books are divided and ordered differently.  Roman Catholic and Ethiopic canons included additional texts.  The Roman Catholic canon was based off of the Septuagint (the Greek translation) and the Ethiopic canon is the only canon to include the Book of Enoch.

A Thesis: God and Science

Religion is never about facts. Our ancestors knew this, despite their lack of knowledge about so much else. This is apparent in the ways they kept histories. True beauty is seldom derived from fact.

As much as Humanity has learned throughout history, one broad failure is the way we have treated religion. We, as a species, love to learn. (It’s a good thing.) Problems, however, come when we try to defend old “knowledge” in the face of new.

Take any creation myth. While centuries ago, believing a culture’s creation myth to be literally true my not have been so absurd and illogical, it certainly is today. Really, now– even the Pope believes in evolution. The problem arises when we try to make an old system fit into our new paradigm. Creationists who try to use science to defend their theories (which science clearly does not) or who posit that God is trying to fool us in a test of faith (really?) are making silly attempts at defending an illogical belief.

Perhaps what we should be asking ourselves is not how to defend our myths, but how to better understand them. After all, there is little reason to believe the point of any scripture is to establish facts. There is little reason to believe our ancestors took such care in preserving our tradition so that we can know how long it took to form our world. In all reality, knowing the specifics of creation is about as useful as me knowing the name of whoever built my desk– not very.

Why should we get our panties in a bunch about something that wasn’t the point of the story and in the grand scheme of things is rather peripheral? The point of scripture is its meaningful aspects; those aspects cannot be affected by science or history and needn’t be at odds with them. Perhaps we can derive from Genesis a story about how beautiful our natural world is. Perhaps we can see how the increasing diversity in our world is a great pleasure to God. Perhaps we can see that it is impossible to deceive God. Perhaps we can learn that the pursuit of knowledge can be horribly damaging if it’s in defiance of morality. Perhaps we can find that our actions are only ever our own and that placing blame on God or others cannot justify acts of betrayal. Not one of these lessons is derived from the “facts.” They’re from the story. The details of the story are not why it’s been repeated for thousands of years; it’s the lessons that we are supposed to remember. My belief in evolution doesn’t contradict any of these lessons.

What the evolving human mind needs to do is not to suspend logic for fear of displeasing a puppet master god, but to embrace logic and use it to unpack scripture which has provided spiritual sustenance to our species for generations upon generations.

We should approach scripture with the hearts of children and the minds of scholars. We deserve no less.

The Role of Faith in the Struggle for Justice and Human Rights in Palestine

The Role of Faith in the Struggle for Justice and Human Rights in Palestine

Communities of faith have a responsibility to respond to injustice when they encounter it, but some injustices should hold a special place in conversations of faith.  The occupation of Palestine should be one such issue.  The Israeli/Palestinian conflict has touched international politics in a unique way that creates systems of resistance and complicity between many national bodies, not least of which is the United States of America.  As an American Christian, I must be aware of how the politicians who represent me engage in this conflict and whose governments they support.  Furthermore, the conflict is frequently framed within religious terms as a conflict between people of faith in the region of Israel/Palestine, in particular the Abrahamic faiths, which all hold scriptural and traditional relationships with the land.  I must also seek to provide a faithful voice of resistance against the injustices committed in the region against the people and tenets of my faith.  A faithful Christian response must resist violence and oppression in the name of our Abrahamic god by engaging in: biblical hermeneutics which resist oppression and violence, contextual political and economic advocacy, resistance to use of religion and scripture for violence, and solidarity with Christian and non-Christian voices in Palestine.

While there are too many injustices in the world for any single person to actively resist, by virtue of the religious framing of arguments and news reporting regarding Palestine and Israel, the conflict should merit our attention as Christians.  Biblically-justified historical narratives provide the reasoning behind much of Zionist rhetoric surrounding Jewish “return” to Israel.  As fellow “people of the book,” Christians should engage this use of our shared sacred scripture and resist lenses which justify displacement of people and politically-motivated violence.  The stories of Exodus and “promised land” can be read as liberation from an oppressive, violent government upon the people of its land, much like Israeli treatment of Palestinians today.  My readings before our class and experience in Palestine served to prove to me how real that oppression is.  Palestinians lack basic freedoms and rights to basic necessities like employment, land, water, uncensored education, speech, peaceful assembly, mobility, security, and shelter that many of us in the world take for granted.  These inhumane conditions are imposed upon the people by a government that prioritizes Israelis, most of whom are first or second generation immigrants into a land of the people their government oppresses.  

Any discussion of the holy land would be incomplete without mention of the anti-Semitism and genocide of Jewish people throughout the world that resulted in mass migrations to the land.  While we must be sympathetic to the experiences of Jewish people throughout the world and the weight of historical anti-Semitism, we must not understand Israel, as it exists today, as a nation of religious refugees.  Unlike many migrations, in which a people come to a land to share in its securities and resources in cooperation with its inhabitants and respect for their ways of life, the Israeli government does not share the resources or respect the ways of life of the Palestinian people, nor minorities of Reform and Reconstructionist Jews (although their rights and privileges far exceed those of Palestinians).  As people of faith, we must be concerned with “the least of these” (Matt. 25:40); in the case of modern Israel/Palestine, to mix a metaphor, Israel is clearly Goliath.  Freedom for some cannot be at the expense of others.

Christians today are also citizens of a modern world, and as such, we must engage the political realities of which we find ourselves a part.  As a Christian situated in America, I must be aware of and vocal about the kinds of support my political representatives give to Israel and Palestine, as should citizens of other countries of the world.  Since the U.S. supports Israel in both words and deeds, I must give Christian voice to the violence committed against Palestinians with this support by writing my representatives and speaking out against it.  I can try to offset this kind of political spending by being aware of how my personal spending has an impact on the ground.  By avoiding purchasing from Israeli companies and from companies that support Israel, Christians can help offset the massive resources of the Israeli government in its occupation of Palestine.  In encountering Christian voices who encourage national support of Israel, I must also raise up a Christian message against oppression and empire, which can be found in Exodus and on the cross.  

Since my scriptures and the stories they tell originate from this region of the world, I have a responsibility to engage how the scriptures are used to provide justification for violence and occupation.  As Israeli colonists continue to carve more land away from Palestinians and foment further hostilities, they justify such actions by claiming all the land of “Israel” as theirs.  Just as Christians should resist supercessionism, Christians must also resist forms of religious superiority in which scripture or other religious views are used to control populations, most especially when such populations do not hold in common a religious tradition or interpretation of scripture.  Our faith must be a reflection of God’s love for all people, no matter from which tradition or area of the world they come.  If, as Paul says, our faith dissolves boundaries (Gal. 3:28), we are called to recognize both the divinity and humanity in all people of earth, which mandates that we resist the abuses of the Israeli government, including home demolitions, collective punishment, unlawful imprisonment, land confiscation, apartheid walls, discriminatory allocation of resources and services, etc.

 These frequent actions of an occupying government upon a group of people which suffer from categorical oppression cannot be considered actions defending faith nor actions of faith.  Christians should provide a voice of witness against these kinds of human rights abuses and the notion that any biblical claim to land can justify such abuse of God’s creation.  Just as Christ was crucified for resisting an oppressive Roman empire, so today many Palestinians face similarly terrorist tactics in the face of their resistance.  We cannot let God’s children suffer so, especially not in God’s name nor on land we call holy.

While religion should never stand in the way of solidarity with a people who suffer from injustice, in light of how the conflict is often presented as one between Jews and Muslims, and also in light of rising anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in the world, it can be useful to raise up the Christian Palestinian presence and voice in the region.  Through venues like the Kairos Document, Palestinian Christians have asked for Christians throughout the world to hear their cries for justice and witness.  None should equate Israel with Judaism nor Palestinianism with Islam, nor any religion with its most extremist factions.  However, Christians should believe in the spiritual power of Christianity as a force in our lives and protect its people and its presence as a source of hope and liberation in the world.  In so doing, Christians must stand with our Palestinian Christian brothers and sisters who cry out into a seeming wilderness for support in standing against the injustices of the Israeli occupiers and the continuing oppression and dislocation of Palestinians.  As they hang onto God’s hope while enduring hardship that most of us can only imagine, we must be God’s hands and feet in the world, responding to their need and giving voice to their laments. Standing in solidarity with Palestinians asks us to be their voice in circles of faith, in our political systems, and in the media; part of engaging their hope is to continue in that faith and hope that people will hear their cries and their situation will change, despite the reality which suggests such change is in the distant future if it exists at all.

In pursuing solidarity with Palestinian Christians, we must also make sure to engage with Palestinian voices themselves.  Many Palestinians live in diaspora around the world.  In seeking understanding, we should find organizations or individuals who can help us better understand these issues from firsthand perspectives.  It is important to acknowledge that Western voices have been given priority for too long within our tradition; listening to Palestinians themselves is an important part of understanding Western complicity in this region and violence against people of color throughout the world.  Part of breaking down systems of empire and colonialism is to resist systems which prioritize voices of privilege, especially when such voices are tangential to or uninvolved in the realities being discussed.  In addition to our commitment to include Palestinian voices in our learning and conversations around the state of affairs in Palestine, those of us who have the financial, national, and ability privileges that enable us to see these realities firsthand should consider finding ways to arrange encounter with not only people from the land, but also the land itself and its physical realities today.  Many Palestinians encourage folks from outside the region to “see for yourself,” knowing that even the videos, pictures, and testimonies cannot convey first hand experience in the land, both as an experience of the preciousness of the area and its people, and as one of the oppressive nature of life as a Palestinian under occupation.

As people of faith, Christians have a responsibility to respond to injustice, most especially when such injustices are committed in the name of our God.  We must engage our involvement in Israel/Palestine both via the actions of our government representatives and how our personal spending does or can have an effect on the ground; practically, we can do this by writing our local and national politicians and by considering how we might participate in the BDS movement.  As a members of Abrahamic traditions, Christians must also speak out against uses of scripture which support political violence like that of Israel as well as promote biblical interpretations that resist empire and oppressive governments.  Lastly, we must stand in solidarity with Christians who are suffering in the region by lifting up their voices in worship and discussion in an effort to resist violence against Christians and provide a non-violent Christian voice.  The realities on the ground in Palestine speak for themselves.  The people are suffering categorically.  As followers of a man who was crucified for resisting an oppressive government, Christians must speak out against oppression in our world today, especially when it is defended in the name of our God and our scripture.

Genesis 1: Time and Attention

http://seekinguncertainty.tumblr.com/post/126685099566/sermon-from-april-25-2015-based-on-genesis-1

Sermon from April 25, 2015.  Based on Genesis 1.