Response to "Mother" Emanuel Shooting in Charlotte

Let's do be clear...America suffered another terrorist attack on *Wednesday from an illegitimate, rogue nation: the Confederate States of America in exile...and that illegal, terrorist organization has terrorized this country since 1861. Those of us who live in the Southern UNITED STATES must finally, passionately, nonviolently stand up to the sickness of white supremacy (first of all by not denying its troubling existence), including its white privileging laws and racist code language and venerated symbols of oppression. Yes Right Wingers, religious people are in danger in this country...not for hating gays, but for praying while Black. Surely all decent people are heartsick this week and are ready to tackle our country's racist toxins once and for all. 

*Referring to a white gunman opening fire and killing 9 worshipers at a midweek bible study gathering at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston.

The Cross Didn't Work

"The cross didn’t work. The cross wasn’t the result of God requiring human torture; the cross is a reminder that God is greater than human injustice. The cross doesn’t represent God’s plan; it represents Oppression’s failure. It didn’t silence Jesus' message nor did it destroy the movement he inspired. The vision and the hope of God’s kin-dom survived.

Sadly, the vision hasn’t been fully realized yet, but the vision still lives...Jesus’ dream of a world that looks like God would have it is still in us. And we can continue to work together to give greater expression to that dream. We can be the dreamers that dream the dream into reality, or at least, usher the reality closer than it’s ever been.

Jesus lived for that dream. He died for that dream. And the stories of resurrection tell us that the dream could not be killed. We are now Christ in the world, the resurrected and returned body of Christ, and our job is to keep dreaming of and hoping for and working toward God’s kin-dom: a world of peace and plenty, joy and justice, hope and healing.

Will you dream Jesus’ dream with me?" 

Durrell Watkins, from June 14, 2015 sermon, 

"Jesus' Dream" at Sunshine Cathedral 

Being Christian Without Obsessing on Sin or Salvation

I have a high anthropology (you are God's miracle and not God's mistake; or, if you are in the undecided column about a universal Power/Presence, then I would say you are a person of innate dignity and unlimited potential) and a low Christology (you can dig Jesus without seeing him as being uniquely divine...you can see him as a good and noble person inspiring others to live into their potential, or you can see him as letting the divine spark that is in all life shine through him - an Example rather than Exception).

Why should you care about my liberal brand of Christianity that abhors atonement theologies? Well, maybe you don't; but, if you also have difficulties with the idea that people are innately bad and can only be "fixed" (or "saved") by believing that Jesus being tortured to death was part of a divine plan to satisfy a deity who could think of no better way to be in relationship with his (sic) creation, then I do want you to know there are other faithful ways of exploring the Christian faith (without condemning any other spiritual tradition).

I honestly do not believe that Anselm (middle ages aristocrat who gave us the "Satisfaction" theory, i.e., Jesus was tortured to death to satisfy God's warped sense of righteousness) and liberation can be presented at the same time. Jesus died by crucifixion at the hands of a cruel empire; his death was brutal, unjust, unnecessary, and, as Theologian Delores Williams so wisely said, "There was nothing of God in the blood of the cross." YMMV, but that is 100% my view. Jesus died because mean people killed him, not because a "loving" deity demanded it. But, his death didn't end his purpose, his mission, his message, or his community (Resurrection!).

The miracle of Christianity isn't that Jesus (like so many other dissidents) was executed; the miracle is that his execution was meant to silence his message and end his movement and it failed. The miracle of the cross is that it didn't work. That is a message I can embrace and share. Any notion that Jesus died for me (or needed to) is not one that I could ever embrace or share. There is more than one way to be Christian. This is the good news.

Musings of a Gay Man in His Late 40s

The 80s and 90s were a difficult time for gay men. We lost so many beautiful, talented people to AIDS. Other communities suffering from other diseases would have been offered compassion. We were largely offered blame, shame, vilification, and rejection. It was a lonely, scary, and exciting and oddly hopeful time (when hope, even unreasonable hope, is all you have, you cling to it fiercely).

Now, HIV is largely treatable if detected in time (and if one can afford the treatment) and we know how to prevent its spread and we continue to hope for a cure. More people of influence are "out" as same-gender loving (or as allies to same-gender loving people). Marriage equality is a reality in many places and is an open discussion everywhere. Somehow, we changed the world; and some of us were lucky enough to survive while doing it. Today, I remember those who lost their lives in the struggle. I honor them. And I give thanks for the progress we've made even as I remain aware that there is still so much to do.

Durrell Watkins

The Oppressed See Revolution; The Oppressors See Riots

To the holders of privilege and keepers of power,
the American Revolution was terrorist, guerrilla warfare;
the Boston Tea Party was a thuggish riot destroying property;
the first students of color integrating southern high schools and universities were trouble makers;
and Stonewall was a bunch of violent, gender-bending freakish reprobates rioting in the streets and threatening the police.
Those who benefit from the status quo are often quicken to demonize those who have been harmed by the status quo when the harmed finally say "enough" in the only way they can be heard.

Let There Be Peace

So much swirling through my mind today: concern for the people of Nepal, hope for peace in war torn areas, sadness for the turmoil in Baltimore, awareness of perpetual injustice that leads to protests than grow into riots, optimism for nationwide marriage equality, caution about new attempts at discrimination that will likely follow. With so much going on in the world, I offer this prayer from the Buddhist tradition for the whole world: "May we be filled with loving-kindness; may we be well. May we be peaceful and at ease; may we be happy" and this prayer by Masahisa Goi: "May peace prevail on earth." Amen.

Another prayer for Marriage Equality

All-inclusive, unconditional, divine Love,

Eternal Mother, Father, and Friend,

Goddess of justice/Lord of liberty,

Source of peace, hope, and joy,

Omnipresent spirit of life,

Heartbeat of all people,

Field of all possibilities,

Song of the universe,

Pure consciousness,

Infinite compassion,

Inward light,

Over-soul,

All-in-all,

We pray today for marriage equality in the United States. It exists in many states, and in some nations, and now we dare to hope that it will be a reality throughout this country.

We pray that all loving, adult couples who wish to marry will have the opportunity to do so, that they may love and care for each other within legally recognized unions.

The US Supreme Court will hear a case and in the weeks or months that follow will make a decision that could make marriage be an equal right rather than a heterosexual privilege. And if they do so, that will be very good news for same-gender loving people all over the world.

It might inspire other countries to legalize marriage regardless of the gender identities of people in love.

It might give LBGT people hope and courage as they struggle for safety and equality in their various homelands.

And it will send a message to same-gender loving people of all ages throughout the US that the blessings and responsibilities, security and opportunities of marriage can be theirs, complete with every legal protection they deserve.

We stand at the threshold of a great, new day.

Let the sacred value of all people be affirmed.

Let the dignity of every person be recognized.

Let the goodness of mutual love be celebrated.

Let there be liberty and justice for ALL.

In the names of lovers and healers, justice workers and peacemakers,

in the names of those who have been vilified, marginalized, persecuted or oppressed simply because they were gay or lesbian,

in the names of all who have dared to speak out in favor of justice-love and equality,

in the names of all who have “come out”,

in the names of those who longed to “come out” but somehow could not,

in the names of those who refused to give up religion even when religion seemed to give up on them,

in the names of every loving couple who formed a spiritual marriage even though the state would not recognize it,

in the names of those who never gave up hope that marriage equality would come to pass and that love would prevail,

in the names of all helpers of humanity we pray.

Amen.