45 (34) is Problematic

 Personal sharing (views not necessarily reflective of anyone else or any group or organization). 

An unpopular, intellectually stifled, morally bankrupt, one-term president who lost pop vote by almost 3 million votes & 4 years later lost by 7 million votes, refused to concede, incited a brutal insurrection in an attempt to overturn election results, twice impeached, boycotted the swearing-in of his successor, first former president to be indicted, 34 felony convictions, adjudicated rapist...

and that's beside "grab 'em by the pxxxy", shithole countries, Mexico will pay, his tragic mishandling of covid, birtherism, "lock her up", tax cuts for billionaires, the apology he owes the Exonerated 5, & packing scotus with antichoice liars who said under oath they considered Roe settled law...

& all that's beside collusion with Russia, tax evasion, draft dodging, less job growth than his  predecessor & his successor, gassing peaceful protestors, & saying he wants to be dictator for a day.

My God! Who, with any sort of conscience, or memory, would even consider voting for him? How much must one hate immigrants, refugees, LGBTQ, women, BIPOC, the Academy, the environment, civil rights, & general prosperity to vote for him over almost anyone with a brain & a soul?

I'm sad, scared, disgusted, & furious that he has any chance at all. He wasn't a good president & you'd have to look hard to find many people who are worse humans. 

Speaking only for myself, a voting citizen & no one else, I distrust anyone who finds him even remotely acceptable. I expect to have room for about 10 new friends after this, but seriously. WTAF? Darth Vader, Jabba, Hannibal Lector (his hero!), Dracula, Satan, & Mussolini can't be on the ballot so he is the sociopaths' booby prize? 

How is it even necessary or controversial to point out that he's a gadomn narcissistic criminal menace unfit for leadership? It makes no sense for any decent person to support him to any degree.

This isn't about party but about naming a racist felonious grifter & trying to protect my country from him. There are people from more than one party who share this sentiment (though I am not claiming to speak for them). This is from ME to whom it may concern.

That's all. Please register to vote. Please vote. Every time.

#deplorables

(dw)

The Strange Mixture of Anxiety and Hope

I’m worried. I’m worried about Christian Nationalism, which is really white nationalism, it has nothing to do with jesus.

 

I’m worried about rights being rolled back. The right to support gay and trans kids, the right to talk about LGBTQ families in public spaces, a woman’s right to bodily autonomy, the right to vote,

 

the right to learn history as it occurred even if some of it is ugly, the right to hold even the most powerful accountable for their abuse of power…

 

I’m worried for those who have known discrimination and who are being told they will know more of it if certain agendas are enforced.

 

I’m worried, but not hopeless. Because for now, we can vote. We still have a say in how our future will unfold.

 

Democracy is from the Greek, Demokratia meaning “power of the people.” If we don’t use our power, it will be taken from us, and then democracy gives way to something far removed from Jesus’ dream of a divine kin-dom.  

 

Instead of leaving our fears unchallenged, let’s take Jesus’ advice and seek God’s kin-dom, that realm of peace and justice-love where the last are first and the first are last, where even a widow’s mite is meaningful,

 

where hunger isn’t allowed, where the elderly are safe and children are encouraged and people are never demonized for their love and where the sacred value of all people is recognized.

 

The kin-dom of God is in our hands. We can reject Christian empire and embrace instead God’s kin-dom, the non-kingdom, the anti-empire.

 

I’m asking people of faith to dare to dream Jesus’ dream of God’s universal family making sure that no one is oppressed, forgotten, or left out, and then let that dream inform your participation in our democracy, which if we are as Christian as we claim to be, will look more like Jesus’ dream, and less like empire.

 

May the divine kin-dom come and the divine will be done. Amen.

My Not Very Lefty Attitude Toward Bush 41

My possibly controversial attitude toward the passing of President Bush. 

Full disclosure (and unless we met 10 minutes ago, you know this already): I am not a member of the Republican Party. I have never voted for a GOP candidate who was running opposed by a Democrat. I have only voted for Democratic presidential candidates (so far). I believe we need and deserve and can afford a strong social safety net. I believe war should be avoided whenever possible. I believe the government should try to protect the environment. I believe health care is a right, and higher education should be affordable. No person who works full time should ever be living below the poverty line. I am pro-choice (realizing that even “choice” implies privilege that not everyone has).  I am a person of faith and cherish the freedom of religion, AND, I am furious that “religious freedom” is misapplied and intentionally misunderstood to protect and promote a variety of prejudices and injustices. Reasonable gun safety legislation is desperately needed. I hold the radical view that LGBTQ citizens are entitled to equal protection and equal opportunity and are, in fact, fully human. And, the Reagan-era silence and apparent apathy in the face of AIDS was almost unforgivable, and certainly cost many lives. Had the sufferers not been largely gay folk, I honestly believe the response would have been swifter and more compassionate. So...you know, a hard right winger I ain’t. 

That being said, my own health and sanity depend on a level of grace, a measure of forgiveness, a need to see more than misdeeds when evaluating a human life, especially a life that was dedicated (in whatever flawed way) to public service. 

I do NOT share the ever so popular view that Reagan was a great leader. He was charming and patriotic and eloquent, and often, wrong. 

At this point in my life, I can say absolutely nothing positive about Donald Trump. I hope I grow to a point where I can one day say something good about him, but I find him to be the least qualified, least moral, and most dangerous person to occupy the WH in my lifetime. But I tire of hating him, and I do pray that I am or will evolve to the point of being able to pity him, forgive him (and those who enable him), and look to a future filled with hope.

I am more gracious when it comes to Bush 41. I did NOT vote for him. I AM aware of a series of things that I think he could have done better. I am also aware of things he did well. I believe his intention was to serve honorably. I am not excusing his mistakes or misjudgments, I’m simply not reducing his life to them. I know many of my friends and fellow liberals are outraged by him, but I’m so tired of hatred and rage and despair and regret...I am NOT chastising anyone who feels entitled to such feelings or who feels that such feelings are the only feelings available to them, but I am saying that for me, for my peace of mind, I have to be able to honor his service and let him depart this world with dignity and peace. No one has to share my view, but I hope those who don’t will understand that it is also a legitimate path. Our complex world offers very few all right vs. all wrong answers...we’re all just to trying our best to make meaning in the midst of chaos. 

I have personally been hurt, betrayed, insulted, deceived by people, and anger is natural. Trust is sometimes destroyed forever. But eventually, I find myself being willing to be willing to forgive...if only because the anger is too exhausting and I’m getting too old to haul it around all the time. If I can forgive, or try to forgive, or be willing to allow forgiveness to overtake me when it comes to people in my life who proved untrustworthy, then I can probably forgive well meaning, flawed, sometimes myopic political leaders who deal with pressures, challenges, and choices I will never face. That’s not a pass to all A-holes, but it is a declaration that at some point, I have to let the A-holes go so that they don’t continue to hurt me because I am keeping them active in my own head. 

I voted for Dukakis. I voted for Clinton. Bush 41 wasn’t my candidate, but he was my president.  And so to President Bush I can say, “Rest in peace.”  And that actually gives me some peace.

Memorial Day and Summoning our Better Angels

Memorial Day Weekend: a time to remember & honor those who gave their lives defending a nation that promises life, liberty & pursuit of happiness, that pledges justice for all, that guarantees freedoms of peaceful assembly, of press and political speech, of (& from) religion. To honor their sacrifices let’s not allow the values and hopes they died defending be trampled on. It’s so truly time to summon those better angels that Lincoln mentioned.

Calling People Animals: A Bible Lesson

Calling People Animals

by Durrell Watkins, DMin

“Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Matthew 15.27

When a woman from an ethnic group that Jesus' community had long held in disdain and with suspicion approached Jesus to help her suffering daughter, Jesus responded in a perplexing manner. He basically called the woman a dog, or perhaps "dog" was an ethnic slur sometimes used against people of her heritage. Tradition and certain readings of ancient texts would have justified Jesus' seeming dismissal of this woman and her pain, but she challenged Jesus. She basically says, "Even if I were a dog, you'd show me some compassion. You'd give me table scraps, scratch my head, speak to me in a gentle voice. How about you treat me as well as you would treat a dog?!" And Jesus then had a change of heart, praised her faith, and blessed her daughter.

If Donald Trump really believes hurting communities are "animals" (another of his famous and frequent insults), then that is a matter for his conscience to wrestle with and hopefully he will experience a breakthrough; but in the mean time, could he maybe show such people the kindness and generosity that we would expect people to show toward animals? We work to rescue, feed, medicate, and shelter animals. It's ugly enough to call people animals, but uglier still to treat people with less kindess than we tend to show animals.

There is so much animosity and hatred in the world right now. Let us pray for healing, and let us be the answers to our own prayers. And when anyone, no matter who he or she might be, dehumanizes an entire community, let us not be silent but rush to affirm the dignity and sacred value of all people.

I Can Say Something Good About Most Presidents, but Not Trump

PRESIDENT’S DAY
Today I reflect on President Ford trying to bring healing and normalcy after Watergate. 
I recall President Carter as one of the most moral and decent presidents in U.S. history. 
I remember President Reagan appointing the first woman to the Supreme Court. 
I remember President Bush organizing (with James Baker) a global coalition that quickly and decisively liberated Kuwait from Iraq. I also remember him signing the Americans with Disabilities Act. 
I remember the charm and erudition of President Clinton (and the strong economy he presided over).
I remember the 2nd President Bush appointing the first African American Secretary of State and the first woman National Security Advisor (who later became the first Black woman Secretary of State). 
I remember President Obama being an orator, a diplomat, and a constitutional scholar as well as the first African American president, appointing the most diverse cabinet ever, appointing the first Latina Supreme Court Justice, and overseeing the most gains for LGBTQ Americans in US history. 
I recall Hillary Clinton being the first FLOTUS to hold elected office and being the first woman to  head a major party presidential ticket (and making history by winning the poplar vote in that election - “the people’s president”). 

I can say at least one good thing about every president in my lifetime (I was too young to remember Johnson, who did increase the safety net making life better for may Americans, and I barely remember Nixon); from Ford on, there was something admirable about each president. Until now. 
Without being partisan or petty or intentionally mean, I honestly cannot say one good thing about the current president’s skill, intellect, character, motives, or achievements. 

On this President’s Day I celebrate the good that was done by all the presidents of my lifetime (choosing to not focus on mistakes or philosophies and policies I might have disagreed with)...except the current one. And that, truly, makes me sad (and more than a little nervous). Nevertheless, may our nation find healing and reclaim its potential and promise.

Barbra Streisand Calls us to move forward, not back

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barbra-streisand/obama-vs-romney-a-clear-c_b_1894001.html

from the article by Barbra Streisand (for full text clink link above)

"Obama has been more fiscally conservative than any other president in recent history, with the exception of President Bill Clinton.

"President Obama has been far better at creating jobs than President George W. Bush. During the 7 years and 8 months of George Bush's presidency, before the financial crash, only 2.6 million new private sector jobs were created. In the final month of George Bush's presidency, the country lost 800,000 jobs, and in the last six months of the Bush Administration, the country lost over 3.5 million jobs.

"However, in the last 30 months under President Obama's leadership, nearly 4.6 million new private sector jobs were created (averaging about 150,000 new jobs per month). In President Obama's last 2 ½ years in office, 40% more jobs were created than in nearly all of President Bush's eight years in office.

"The last President who was elected amidst a severe economic crisis and high unemployment was Franklin D. Roosevelt. His policies strengthened government so that it would protect the people (creating Glass-Steagall to regulate the banks, the FDIC to insure bank depositors, the Securities and Exchange Commission to regulate the stock market, and Social Security to help people build a safety net for their retirement). FDR's strategy to spend money to create jobs and stimulate the economy is what ultimately helped pull the country out of a depression.

"Even though the country's most respected economists have agreed on what history has already proven -- that MORE federal spending, not austerity, is necessary to stimulate the economy and create jobs, today's Republicans categorically reject this strategy. They are running on a platform of further deregulation and cutting spending to the bone, so that those earning millions will get more tax cuts, even though it means Americans who need a safety net won't have it.

"Unlike Mitt Romney, President Obama believes we need to invest in education, energy, innovation and infrastructure and reform our tax system to create good jobs, grow our economy and pay down the debt in a reasoned way. He believes in an inclusive country where all people deserve equal protection and treatment under the law, as well as equal opportunity, whether they are gay, straight, black, brown, white, religious, atheist, old or young.

"The choice is clear. Would you vote for a person who pays his taxes or someone who wiggles his way out of them? Do you want a President who has gained the respect of the world community or someone who on a recent diplomatic trip abroad provoked the ire and ridicule of other world leaders? Do we want a country where everyone is fending for themselves or where everyone is pitching in and working together? Do we want to go backward with Mitt Romney or move forward with President Obama?"

More Than One Way to be Religious

More Than One Way to be Religious

WRITTEN BY REV. DR. DURRELL WATKINS

“Prophet” Cindy Jacobs recently declared that weather hazards and ecological problems are the result of divine wrath in response to presidential decisions. And without offering specifics, she prognosticated that more calamities are on the way. Of course, it’s a safe bet that something unhappy will happen somewhere. It doesn’t take a great psychic gift to make that guess!

Before this embarrassing statement suggesting that weather is caused by the gods and “bad” weather is the result of divine displeasure I had never heard of Ms. Jacobs, but I’ve heard her kind of blame, shame, and scare theology all too often.

I spend my life building religious community. I offer a message of hope and healing to help people navigate the chances and challenges of life. I try to affirm the sacred value of all people. I work to get people to stand up and speak out for peace, diversity, equality, and justice. That is, in my view, is religion's high purpose.

Religion gives us language and space to celebrate joys, face difficulties, and form human bonds that prove to be the cure for loneliness. Religion is not meant to increase our fears, strengthen our prejudices, or give us enemies to blame for the uncertainties of life.

Hurricanes, earthquakes, heat-waves, blizzards, and even terrorist attacks have all been blamed on liberals, pro-choice politicians, same-gender loving people, and whoever else rightwing extremists might name as the reason for misfortune that they insist is Heaven sent.

I remember at the beginning of the AIDS crisis some preachers claiming that the disease was God’s punishment against people who Christian fundamentalists found to be unworthy of respect or even tolerance. Almost as reprehensibly, many other clergy remained silent as people continued to suffer and die from the then little understood but clearly devastating disease.

I don’t know why anyone would choose to embrace an understanding of spirituality that suggests a deity will send disease or any disaster. Such petty instance that everything unpleasant is proof that a supreme being hates all the people they hate makes religion seem irrelevant and oppressive; it also makes representatives of religion seem more committed to hatred and bigotry than to enlightenment and progress.

As a representative of religion (progressive religion, but religion nevertheless), I very much resent that religion is so often misused and I wish to offer a better, kinder, more reasonable, and more useful understanding of faith.

It is the worst sort of opportunism to use tragedies as a means of promoting hatred and intolerance. The appropriate response to tragedy is compassion, not blame. The best use of religion in times of trouble is to offer comfort, not condemnation. And if we listen to the “better angels of our nature” we will affirm human dignity in the face of chaos rather than using chaos as a weapon to further dehumanize those we may not understand or like.

We are each entitled to our own understanding of the Sacred, of course. But I, as a religious person, will have no deity that would not bless same-gender love, that would send storms to punish many just to torment a few, or that would send rather than heal disease.

But thankfully, there are other understandings of the ultimate reality that many of us call “God.” Some of us believe, teach, and experience the divine as a comforting presence, an urge to do good, the capacity to love, forgive, and share, and a deep desire to bring peace, hope, and healing to all people.

We are each entitled to our own understandings, but I for one will always choose those that build up rather than tear down, that heal rather than hurt, and that affirm diversity rather than demand division. I just wanted another religious voice to be heard today.

Durrell Watkins holds sociology and theatre degrees from Henderson State University and Goddard College, respectively, as well as a Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry degree from the Episcopal Divinity School. He is the author of Wrestling with God without Getting Pinned: Old Stories, New Thoughts, & Progressive Spirituality (Outskirts Press, available at Amazon.com), and is the Senior Pastor of the Sunshine Cathedral in Fort Lauderdale (www.sunshinecathedral.org).

government for the least of these...

"King Josiah [aka the government] defended the cause of the poor and the needy, and so all went well." Jeremiah 22.16 That's just in case the "bible based believers" who want small government (just big enough to bully women, gays, and immigrants) and no social programs (except for THEIR social security & medicare when the time comes for it) were interested in a "biblical perspective" on government's responsibility to those without power and privilege.

They're Running for President of the United States, Not President of the Southern Baptist Convention!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2104575/Reverend-Franklin-Graham-says-Obama-faking-Christianity-Romney-isnt-Christian.html

OMG, I wish a Druid or a Hindu would run for president, win, and do an amazing job as world leader just to put this question of who is and isn't "Christian" to bed once and for all. Christianity, by Graham's or anyone else's definition, is NOT a requirement for public office in this country. Remember?!?!