Nader on the deep need for citizen action…
“The empowerment and widespread exercise of citizenship is a pre-requisite for a sound, democratic society. Leadership that empowers more people, that reduces the severe concentration of power and information, and that lifts a nation into missions of accomplishment which will increase justice, happiness, and opportunity- that is the leadership citizens must demand by involving themselves in a national political campaign. So too, the media should rise to their higher responsibility to report the White House and not just mimeograph its rhetoric.
Our history has demonstrated that the well-being of society springs from the growth of daily, active citizenship that provides an enabling environment for good leaders to come forth. Every significant social movement in this century has sprung from active citizens fighting for their cause- women’s suffrage, worker’s rights, civil rights, environmental and consumer protection, peace. Put in today’s terms, citizens in our country need to spend more time being citizens. That is the bottom line.”
Nader, pg 91, “The Corporate State and the Corporatizing of America,” in The Ralph Nader Reader
To put it bluntly, turn off or drastically reduce the amount of hyper-reality shows we watch and time-consuming thoughtless games on the Internet (e.g. Farmville, Mafia Wars, Bejeweled) and on video game platforms, and choose to express basic concern for our neighbor by joining citizen groups and volunteer organizations and lobbying policy-makers…and even *gasp* taking the simple step of spending time with, writing letters to, and calling those we need to invest in relationship with.
All of these activities start rebuilding the web of relationships that every successful society needs in order to seek justice, transparency, honesty, and the common good.
Who’s Ralph talking about?
“So extreme is the President’s corporatism that he is finding more genuine conservative groups taking sharp issue with his policies. In a little reported evolution that may change the future complexion of American politics, organizations that call themselves conservative populists are teaming up with their progressive counterparts to oppose corporate bailouts. Last year this coalition defeated the breeder reactor boondoggle- a high _________ priority. In _____, it nearly defeated the legislation regarding the Alaska gas pipeline that would coerce consumers into paying for the pipeline even if the project isn’t completed and consumers did not receive any natural gas. The synfuel industry’s welfare project is under similar pressure, though its predicted mismanagement and awful economics appear to be self-dismantling. This new coalition put up a strong fight against the _______-ite bailout of the big U.S. banks that made such imprudent loans at skyhigh interest rates to foreign countries. ________, who spent years lecturing around the country from General Electric on the virtues of sink or swim free enterprise, has become the most prominent advocate of big business bailouts in American history.
If this all goes against his philosophic grain, it demonstrates the contrary power of giant business over his government. His formerly strong belief in states’ rights is surrendered when companies want his backing for a weaker federal law replacing the adaptable common law in the fifty states that gives people injured by dangerous products rights to sue and recover compensation from manufacturers. It is surrendered when the banks demand that his agencies preempt stronger state regulations designed to protect depositors and borrowers. It is surrendered again when the nuclear industry wants him to strip state and local governments of their police power over the transportation of radioactive materials through their communities. Corporatizing the ex-conservative _________ __________ is a routine matter these days, even when Wall Street’s economic and tax policy demands result in placing Main Street, with its small businesses, at a comparative disadvantage.”
Ralph Nader ”On the corporate state and the corporatizing of America”
Morning thoughts on Wednesday, Nov 18th
PSALM 147:1-11
Praise the Lord!
How good it is to sing praises to our God;
for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting.
The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
He heals the brokenhearted,
and binds up their wounds.
He determines the number of the stars;
he gives to all of them their names.
Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
his understanding is beyond measure.
The Lord lifts up the downtrodden;
he casts the wicked to the ground.Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
make melody to our God on the lyre.
He covers the heavens with clouds,
prepares rain for the earth,
makes grass grow on the hills.
He gives to the animals their food,
and to the young ravens when they cry.His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner;
but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who hope in his steadfast love.
As I heard these words from the daily lectionary in our house morning prayers, my mind immediately shifted to a couple key issues I am often occupied with these days. The first is my ever-expanding understanding of God’s purposes with His creation, and the second is the role I am to play in participating in God’s purposes.
So, first things first. This Psalm stands among many other testaments to God’s care in the Scriptures. While the Psalms are prayers and not necessarily theologically correct or truthful to the purposes of God all the time, their poetry and artistic beauty illustrates the truth through a different method than simple statements.
Psalm 147 has become one of my favorites.
The Psalm begins with God’s intimate care for His people. He binds up the broken-hearted, lovingly cares for their wounds.
The Psalm progresses immediately to the big-picture; that this intimate God also created the stars, those massive heavenly bodies in this expansive universe. ”Great is the Lord, and abundant in power.”
The Psalm swings back to the intimate, communicating God’s care for the downtrodden; He is aware of their circumstance, and is not ok with the status quo of oppression. This powerful God who created all things is not an American liberal in the sky; hating that things happen outside his plan, yet unwilling to do much more than wring his hands or carry a protest sign. This God will destroy the wicked; they will face consequences at some point. He is intolerant to wickedness, and working to bring healing and dignity.
Then the Psalm deals with the big picture and the intimate at the same time. He prepare rain, makes grass grow, gives food to His creation, not just creating but sustaining it. And this powerful God is not impressed foremost with the power and strength of His creation, whether it be the rippling muscles and raw power of the horse or the swiftness of the human runner. No, the Lord foremost takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in his steadfast love. I find this distinction to be powerful to reflect on.
This God is all-powerful, wants us to aspire after and imitate His character, yet wants us to “know our place” as well. There is a great tension in the Scriptures on this point; we are to shape our world the way God wants, yet we are to do it as radically humble, non-violent, suffering-love people. God reserves the right to break the wicked, but we love them and give our lives for them unconditionally; even as we long for justice to be done. Spoken of negatively, we could say, “How hard this task is, and seemingly impossible!” Spoken of positively, we could say, “How worthy a goal to devote our lives to, how all-embracing and all-consuming a task!” To speak then of conversion as a one-time experience, or to use terminology like “got saved” as a past-tense event is to do a great disservice to the life of returning to God and being a responsible, joy-filled disciple of Jesus.
…and it is on this matter that I shift to the second issue I’m occupied with these days, which is the meaning our role as human beings to participate well in God’s creation. We touched on this point specifically in our house church gathering on Sunday, and God’s people run into this point nearly every time they gather, discuss, and consider questions of larger significance. It is the unacknowledged elephant in the room almost every gathering I’ve been a part of. Most times it’s expressed as this;
“God has a plan and a purpose for his creation that he will carry out, and it’s my responsibility to be ok with that, to stop striving and let myself be a part of God’s plan that He’s going to carry out anyways.” Does anyone else hear that basic message in their gatherings?
We human beings are good at striving; we strive for possessions, we strive for comfort, we strive for power, we strive for emotional highs (whether from drugs or experiences), we strive for intimacy yet strive for it elsewhere when it becomes inconvenient. Most of what human beings strive for is not a positive thing. It seems that persons aware of this problem often live in reaction to this, and propose that the solution is to cease striving and accept. To quit chafing at the bit and be content. And like all over-reactions, there is some truth in this; we should spend time accepting, seeking contentment, and resting. But what is the net result of the overreaction? A people are created who believe striving itself is bad, who think the utmost of spirituality is to submit, to embrace. I used to think this too, and with good reason. Religious leaders would highlight verses like the above in Psalm 147 that “(God’s) understanding is beyond measure” or Isaiah 55 and “My ways are not your ways, and my thoughts are not your thoughts,” or the book of Job, which is a testament to the limits of human understanding. The basic sense of the book is expressed in Job 40 and the interplay between God and Job,
The LORD said to Job:
“Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?
Let him who accuses God answer him!”Then Job answered the LORD :
“I am unworthy—how can I reply to you?
I put my hand over my mouth.
I spoke once, but I have no answer—
twice, but I will say no more.”
All of these Biblical passages are important. They remind us that we are not God, that we are not free to do whatever we wish, that the journey to healthy humanity begins with submission and obedience to a Being much more powerful than we who has sovereignty over our lives.
Yet the religious leaders of my life either outright lived in ignorance of passages with different variations or were aware of them and chose to mute their voice. In doing this, they removed them from my knowing unless I was willing to read and ask questions of the Scriptures myself, which I was not willing to do at that point.
But over time, I got to know passages like Genesis 18, where Abraham negotiates with God to respond in certain ways according to the actions of the people of Sodom. He does this by appealing to God’s righteous character that may be besmirched among humanity by their observing his devastating action. I got to know about characters like Elijah and Jeremiah and Isaiah and Ezekiel who, instead of simply ceasing to strive when in relationship with God, simply cast their striving in a different direction. They altered their goals and dreams to fit those of their Creator and found their world shifting around them; whether they found success or became unwanted persons because they didn’t fit in anymore with their old groups. I looked at the wider context of the above-quoted Isaiah passage and found that the teaching there is for the wicked and the evil to abandon their old thoughts and embrace new ones, worthy ones, and that abundant life would flow from such a commitment. So far from God wanting us to passively accept what we think are His ways, He wants to be invest the totality of who we are in something different.
And maybe the capstone of this much different perspective comes in Exodus 32 when Moses comes down off the mountain and observes that the people of Israel had grown impatient and begun worshiping a golden calf. The interplay between himself and God is interesting;
“I have seen these people,” the LORD said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”
But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God. “O LORD,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’ “
Then the LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.”
It seems like when God’s creation lives in depraved rebellion, God (acting alone because no one will join Him) shoots a little loose from the hip, so to speak. God is more willing to use the destructive qualities He possesses to awaken his creation to the destructiveness of their ways. But when someone choose to join Him, not just becoming mindless obeyers but really entering into relationship with Him, God alters His ways to be more relational, more healing, more patient.
What I’m saying is this; It seems that God has built into his purposes that He will act in direct relationship with the human beings He has made in his image. When these humans forsake that calling and actively oppose Him, He will strike us down (whether in the short or long term). When these humans cease striving against Him, even if we become benign persons who see our primary role as persons who just nod at what happens and say, “That is God at work in ways I don’t understand,” God kind of prefers that, though the lack of an all-encompassing desire leads to lukewarmness (either with the person or succeeding generations). Passivity will be a midpoint from active rebellion to active obedience. But God’s highest purpose is that we would trade in our former, darkened, depraved strivings for new, enlightened, redeemed strivings. And that when we transcend striving against and benign obedience into active justice-seeking, He will reward our efforts by more actively working through us to redeem His creation.
What kind of spirituality is in your community? By and large, I think, most communities I know advocate the passive acceptance of “God’s will” as the proper sort of spirituality to seek after in this life. But I just don’t see passive acceptance of the ways things are to be the primary method of the righteous in the Bible. I see active pursuit of the true, the just, and the right. And that pathway involves agitating against the present order to transform it into its intended state.
And that pathway even includes questioning and cajoling God, which God not only doesn’t reject, but in fact embraces, appreciates, and acts in response to. He may need to punch us in the mouth from time to time when we get too uppity and forget who we are, but He loves the activity, the striving, the justice-seeking.
“The LORD takes pleasure in those who fear Him,
in those who hope in his steadfast love.”
A worthy pursuit. This God has me in His grip, and is beginning to consume me, leading me to place every thought and action captive to the grand question of whether it fits the vision of His kingdom coming and His will being done on earth as it is in heaven.
Please, please…
Please, please, on days like Veteran’s Day, quote Eisenhower, or Churchill, or Patton, or JFK, or whoever.
But please don’t quote Jesus’ teaching, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” The second half of that thought is, “And you are my friends if you do what I command.” And Jesus commanded his disciples to love their enemies and give their lives for them.
I respect the willingness of veterans to give their lives for a cause they believe in, but don’t quote the one who gave his life for his enemies to support destroying enemies. It sickened me to hear Jesus quoted in the context of Veteran’s Day today on the radio.
An open letter on behalf of my brothers and sisters at Coal River Mountain
I wrote this letter this morning to policy-makers as a part of my responsibility as a citizen to participate in our governance. Massey Energy has begun blasting on Coal River Mountain, a furtherance of their immoral crusade to make a tremendous amount of money at the expense of the people of the Coal River area, the ecosystem, wise industrial policy, our society, and the world at large.
Ancient Jewish teachers often reminded us that the actions of one are intimately connected to us all through sayings like, “Those who save one life, save the world.” In Massey’s case, it is, “Those who destroy one life, destroy the world.” Help Massey emerge from their sickness through writing persons with the power to make this stop. Join me by clicking this link to access the form letter to send to the EPA, Office of the Interior, Army Corps of Engineers, and the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Feel free to use some of the ways I personalized the letter so the recipients could know I care about specifics beyond the form letter.
Secs. Jackson and Salazar, Director Sutley, and the leadership of the Army Corps of Engineers,
I, and many friends, are writing to ask that you put a stop to mountaintop removal coal mining operations on Coal River Mountain in southern West Virginia, the area’s last mountain untouched by mountaintop removal.
The blasting not only threatens communities in the vicinity, it will also destroy a project that had rallied local residents as a prime opportunity to create permanent jobs and renewable energy. Coal River Mountain has enough wind potential to house a 328-megawatt wind farm. Every blast reduces the existing potential for clean energy, permanent jobs, and a stronger and more diverse regional economy.
President Obama spoke forcefully during his campaign of the deep need for us to invest in a sustainable future; both in energy generation (connected with energy independence) and, more generally, a way of doing industry that unites communities with good jobs and a more healthy environment over the long-term. It is a reminder that each of us is “our brother’s keeper.”
Furthermore, the blasting is occurring near the Brushy Fork slurry impoundment, which holds 8.2 billion gallons of toxic coal slurry. Should the blasting cause the impoundment to fail, nearby residents would have just minutes to evacuate before they were overtaken by a 50-foot wall of coal slurry that could cost more than 1,000 lives. Not only does blasting near this unlined impoundment increase the risk of failure, but it will almost certainly cause more of the toxic coal slurry to enter the groundwater. In nearby Prenter Hollow, dozens of residents have become ill from drinking water contaminated with coal slurry.
Mr. Salazar, Mrs. Sutley, and Mrs. Jackson specifically, you have the power to direct your agencies to work together to halt the blasting, defend the safety of the nation’s citizens, and preserve some of Appalachia’s most valuable resources. I anticipate at least hearing back from your offices to know this is a concern for you, because my brothers and sisters in West Virginia don’t have the luxury to wait this one out. “We the people” of the United States need policies that are forward-looking, sustainable, and wise in shaping the nation. Please step up to the plate on this issue.
Thank you,
Nathan Myers
My letter to Senators Voinovich and Brown
Our country is in desperate need of citizens who rise from the malaise of work and mindless television to play an active role in shaping the future of our society. We are cynical, jaded people about the problems of the world primarily because we haven’t had a way modeled for us to find joy and meaning in working together for common goals that contribute to the common good. And when we have been riled up by perceived problems in the system, it’s primarily been led by buffoons like Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, and the like who don’t shape us to be wise citizens, but knee-jerk sheep obeying their command. I’m struggling to leave that prior life of the cycle of work and distraction to contribute to my society in a meaningful way, and this is one way I’m working to shape our society..
The following is a simple letter I wrote to my Senators from Ohio. The second half of the letter is a form letter set up by the ilovemountains staff, but the first half is my own construction. I’ve heard from groups that form letters, while better than nothing, have less effect because the congressmembers know you haven’t spent time to sit down and thoughtfully engage the issue at hand. I am engaged, learning, and wanting to act.
Senators Voinovich and Brown,
My name is Nathan Myers, a relatively recent resident of Ohio, but already a proud one! I am writing you for two reasons.
First, and most important, there is a region in West Virginia known as Coal River Mountain which has become an area where big business, sustainable industry and energy, the needs of the common person, and environmental concern are smashing together to create a terrible situation. Big business, specifically Massey Energy, is concerned exclusively with the coal seams under the area that can feed their bottom line. This is their overriding concern. In terms of sustainable energy, this is a prime spot for a different form of energy generation for America’s future; a wind farm. In terms of the common citizen, the actions of Massey and other coal giants are shredding their way of life and utterly destroying the area for sustainable, healthy human habitations for centuries to come. And in terms of environmental concern, the destruction of these mountains, resulting coal dust, slurry impoundments, valley fill, and toxic chemicals and metals that will be released into the ecosystem, will have an effect not only on living things in the immediate area, but areas further down the watershed from Coal River Mountain.
Please stand up and be counted as a leader willing to combine a concern for industry with a concern for people and environmental issues.
Second, I am writing to ask you to become a co-sponsor of the Cardin-Alexander “Appalachian Restoration Act” (S 696). This bill is critical for protecting Appalachia’s waters from being polluted and buried by waste created during mountaintop removal coal mining.
Mountaintop removal mining involves clear-cutting native hardwood forests, blowing up entire mountaintops, and dumping millions of tons of debris into nearby streams in order to get at coal seams that lie deep beneath the surface. Already, more than 2,000 miles of Appalachian streams have been destroyed by mountaintop removal mining operations. For 25 years, the Clean Water Act (CWA) allowed for the granting of permits to place “fill material” into waters of the United States, provided that the primary purpose of the “filling” was not for waste disposal. As such, the CWA prohibited mountaintop removal operations from using the nation’s waterways as waste disposal sites. That changed in 2002, when the Army Corps of Engineers, under the direction of the Bush administration and without congressional approval, altered its longstanding definition of “fill material” to include mining waste. This change accelerated the devastating practice of mountaintop removal coal mining and the destruction of more than 2,000 miles of Appalachian streams.
To stop this devastation of the nation’s waterways, Senators Cardin (D-MD) and Alexander (R-TN) have introduced the Appalachia Restoration Act (S 696)—a simple piece of legislation that restores the original intent of the Clean Water Act to clarify that mountaintop removal mining waste can not be dumped into streams. Passing this legislation would help end the destruction of the Appalachian Mountains, home to our nation’s most diverse forests and streams, the headwaters of the drinking water supply of many eastern cities, and a unique and valuable American culture that has endured for generations. Please sponsor the Appalachia Restoration Act (S 696). Thank you for your attention to this important issue.
Yours,
Cincinnati resident Nathan Myers
Save America’s most endangered mountain
A call to action from the good people at http://www.ilovemountains.org/ . Please at least read to understand their perspective, let it affect you, and if you feel comfortable, take action through calling or emailing your elected representative. I share this information not as a disinterested individual, but as a Christian obeying the command to care for God’s creation. The situation is dire. As Will Samson writes in his book Enough: Contentment in an Age of Excess,
“Men and women are stuck with a coal economy that is devastating their job base and leaving little hope for their future. Children are leaving Appalachia in record numbers, crushing families, some of whom have lived in that area for more than two hundred years. Throughout the coal-mining areas of Appalachia, in almost biblical proportions, neighbor is pitted against neighbor, friend against friend (Isaiah 19:2). One family fights to preserve ancestral lands from being take and blown up to get at the coal seams below, while another enjoys ATVs and a new widescreen TV.” (36)
Massey Energy has begun blasting on Coal River Mountain in southern West Virginia. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has stated that the mining operation on the mountain is “actively moving coal.” Workers have been seen moving heavy equipment up to the mining zones, and blasting and plumes of smoke were seen and heard near the Brushy Fork coal slurry impoundment.
he Brushy Fork impoundment is an enormous retention pond holding 8.2 billion gallons of toxic coal slurry waste. If the impoundment were to fail due to the blasting, hundreds of lives will be lost and thousands more will be in jeopardy from an enormous slurry flood.
A 2006 study confirmed that Coal River Mountain—the highest peaks ever slated for mining in the state—is an ideal location for developing utility-scale wind power. Local residents have rallied around this proposal as a symbol of hope, a promise of a new and cleaner energy future, but that hope may be destroyed unless quick and decisive action is taken right now.
6,000 Acres To Be Destroyed
Massey’s plans for the mountaintop removal operation would destroy over 6,000 acres of Coal River Mountain and create 18 different valley fills, devastating the Clear Fork watershed. Over 10 square miles of the most bio-diverse ecosystem in the United States will be destroyed forever, affecting the lives of the local residents by destroying their homeland and polluting their air and water.
Wind on Coal River
A wind assessment study conducted by Coal River Mountain Watch and Downstream Stategies revealed that Coal River Mountain has enough wind potential to provide electricity for over 150,000 homes and create stable, well-paying jobs—forever.
The proposed wind farm would help diversify the local economy in an area historically dependent upon sparse, temporary coal mining jobs, pumping $20 million per year in direct local spending during construction and $2 million per year thereafter. Destroying the mountain will also be destroying one of the best wind power sites in West Virginia.
This opportunity, however, depends upon the mountain being left intact. If blasting continues on Coal River Mountain, the wind potential—and the jobs—will be lost forever.
And thank you for helping to preserve Coal River Mountain for generations to come.
Contact your district Representative. Contact your Senator.
And if your Senator is Mitch McConnell, tell him to stop whoring himself out to Big Coal. It’s unsightly to see supposed leaders be such a puppet and lapdog of big business (Nathan’s words here, not the folks at ilovemountains).
Reflections from CCDA Cincinnati Day 1
For those unaware of CCDA, the letters stand for Christian Community Development Association, an organization 20 years young. The organization grew out of the reconciliation work of John Perkins, a long-time faithful, courageous disciple of Jesus whose work for racial justice began in the 1960s and has continued long beyond when “civil rights” didn’t carry quite the sexy feel that it did in the 60’s. In that sense, then, Perkins is a persistent prophet and practitioner of God’s justice who, because of his persistence, has shaped a generation of people to God’s deep concern for reconciliation.
I’m volunteering at CCDA in a variety of roles while being limited by my work schedule, but each night from 7-9 is a public session of music and teaching open to all. Last night, I was on video camera #2 in that public session, where Barbara Williams-Skinner and Soon Chong Rah were the main speakers.
Barbara was the first speaker, and I found great wisdom in her sharing. She spoke of Moses speaking to the people of Israel from Sinai, exhorting them and encouraging them to consider where they came from and to focus on where they were going. She spoke of the temptation to “remain in Egypt” in their minds while neglecting God’s providence and protection to get them where they were. She spoke of the temptation in our day to neglect the deeper call to reconciliation, to settle for what little progress has taken place in the area of racial reconciliation. It’s progress, but “we” (primarily whites and blacks) can’t say we love each other unless we’re spending time with one another. Her words shaped for me the larger question; “How can brothers and sisters in Christ from different races be creative to be ‘with’ one another to show the world unity rather than fragmentation? How do we overcome settling for institutional segregation to love one another and be leaders in the challenge of reconciliation?”
The next speaker was Choong Song Rah, a professor at North Park University in Chicago. Prof Rah offered his perspective on how the church can pursue reconciliation, primarily by emphasizing the issue of power. He challenged those of us in positions of relative power (usually white, middle to upper-middle class) to seek God’s justice through putting ourselves in the position to give up power. It was here that Rah was most convicting, especially given his statistics that showed that Christianity has already undergone a huge demographic shift over the last hundred years. Meanwhile, while this shift has been taking place, we’ve maintained a theology and leadership that remains largely Western and white to this day. We must change our leadership structures and ways of relating to represent this change! One of Rah’s provocative statements was this,
“I’m for the commitment to caring for the environment, for creation care, for being stewards of God’s earth. But because this has become the ‘in vogue’ thing to care about in the larger evangelical movement (mostly white churches), everyone cares about it. But what I find interesting about that is that caring for the environment, instead of seeking racial reconciliation, allows people to seek justice without giving up power. They don’t have to radically humble themselves with others. So the creation care movement can be pursued in a way that ignores other, more challenging aspects of social justice.”
Now, granted, I’m paraphrasing Rah there because I didn’t record his message, but I think I struck at the heart of it. And that’s a powerful statement that strikes me as wise. There’s a deep temptation in humanity, even those of us who serve the God of justice, to take the path of least resistance; the path that requires the least energy for the maximum amount of recognition of our good work. And it is true that the cause of environmental justice requires less interpersonal giving up of power. It’s extremely tough to seek true, deep humility, and to give up power once attained. I want to live with that challenge. I would add, though, that seeking environmental justice requires a very real and very deep self-emptying and self-sacrifice. It is a giving up of the idol of my individuality (comfort, and decision-making centered on self) to the greater communal good, which God is much more concerned about. But that’s just me working out some of the specifics that follow Rah’s proclamation.
Another strong statement by Rah was this; “If you, as a white person, want to move into an urban setting and do ministry, and you don’t have any non-white mentors, you’re not a missionary, you’re a colonialist.”
That statement hurts, but it rings true to me. Can we truly be reconcilers without our lives living and breathing reconciliation? Can we teach reconciliation if we are not modeling it? In that sense Rah’s comment reflects Skinner’s earlier comment that we need to be with one another in order to love one another. We cannot deeply love others by remaining at a distance from them, especially if we live next door. By submitting ourselves to the mentoring of persons of different races and cultures, we are forced out of our own cultural lenses to see the world from their shoes. And that’s essential. ESSENTIAL.
Rah placed these strong statement in the wider context of God’s grace for broken people. It was Rah’s shaping of the wider context that saddened me, however. Rah’s emphasis was the same most evangelicals emphasize, which is “It’s not about human works, it’s about God’s grace.” There are other variations on the same theme; “Human striving doesn’t accomplish anything unless God’s power is present,” “We all fall short, so God’s forgiveness is what matters,” etc etc. I am saddened by this line of thought because the deeper I travel into the Scriptures, the more I find the dignity of human striving. Not a striving to achieve salvation (which, by the way, isn’t a Biblical concern, but is an evangelical concern), but a striving to be obedient to our Creator (which is salvation, as I explain from my perspective in another place).It seems clear in the Bible that God wants people to be obedient to what they were created for, and when we do so, we find joy and meaning and fulfillment. God clearly knows we have shortcomings, and reveals himself to be grace-filled and deeply forgiving, but that aspect of His character doesn’t negate the central call to obedience.
And it’s that last sentence that leads me to be saddened and disappointed when people keep making the main issue of Christian faith a works/grace issue. Clearly, when we are aware of the call to total obedience, we have a strong temptation to “make lists,” as Rah highlighted through his personal story. And it is true that God doesn’t stand over us, waiting to punch us in the mouth or make us feel like hell when we fall short. Yet isn’t it also true, Biblically, that when we are aware of our shortcomings, we have a strong temptation to make life all about grace in a way that completely de-emphasizes our strivings for faithfulness? What I’m saying is this. Can’t we shape a message for God’s people that holds together God’s great grace with God’s great expectation of obedience? And when we take this message seriously, won’t that dignify human effort and put it in its proper place as the natural response to the call of our Creator? And when we dignify human effort, we might find some scales fall off our minds to see that salvation, Biblically understood, is centered on being saved from rebellion and saved to humble obedience. That includes life after death, but is centered on God redeeming humans to be faithful today. It is that message, and not Rah’s, that gives me ultimate hope, that gives me a life worth throwing myself into.
So I’m grateful for Rah’s willingness to speak courageously and boldly, but I’m saddened that he placed his comments in an, ultimately, unhelpful context. Just some reflections from Day 1.
Pray for Glenn Beck
I received a letter from Sojourners today that I found very wise, and deeply rooted in the lives of the average person. The picture and text above are my work and not Sojourners, so they don’t have to take responsibility for my own input. I quote the letter in full following;
Dear Nathan,
Tell Glenn Beck to tell the truth about health-care reform.
Glenn Beck has received a lot of attention for his inflammatory rhetoric lately. Recently, he shared a personal story about his daughter who has cerebral palsy, which gets to the heart of his fears about health-care reform:
They [the government] will say exactly what doctors said about my 21-year-old daughter: “She may not really have a quality of life. She may not walk or talk or feed herself. But then again miracles happen.” The “then again, miracles happen” part of that will be left out of the conversation. And I will not be able to see my daughter’s 21st birthday, where I can reflect with her how miracles do happen. Because really, as I was told at the beginning of her life: Well, what kind of quality of life is she going to really have? I don’t know, but that’s for God to decide, not the government. -The Glenn Beck Program, 8/6/2009
His predictions that health-care reform would lead to government bureaucrats euthanizing people like his daughter are dead wrong, but we agree with Glenn on this point: God is the giver of life. However, what Glenn fails to realize is that lack of affordable, accessible health care is one of the reasons that people choose to terminate difficult pregnancies.
Consider two very close friends of the Sojourners family who recently found out that their unborn baby daughter has a brain tumor. To protect their privacy, we’ll call her Milagro – meaning “Miracle” – or Mila, for short.
The tumor is the same size as her brain and is causing a build-up of fluid and the enlargement of her head. Significant brain damage is near certain. She’s been given a 15 percent chance of survival and then only with a severely impaired quality of life. And yet, they’ve been told what Glenn’s doctors told him: “miracles happen.”
Mila will likely be delivered in December. With their current coverage, premiums, deductibles, and out-of-pocket costs for a complicated pregnancy will cost 20 percent of their modest income. But if their total bills exceed $250,000, they must pay all additional expenses. It’s unclear how likely this is, but multiple brain surgeries and the additional care Mila may need could spell deep financial trouble.
But their worries don’t stop there. Our friends receive their insurance through the mother’s university. After she completes her Ph.D. this spring, her coverage will end in August. After that, with the possibility of Mila’s severe pre-existing conditions, they may not be able to get any coverage at all.
Our friends do not fear a future where a government bureaucracy forces them to kill their child. Doctors in the current system have already suggested abortion. Their fear is much more immediate: If by some miracle their child survives beyond the womb, will they be able to afford the care she’ll need once the insurance coverage ends?
Contrary to Glenn’s fears, nothing in any of the proposed legislation would take away the right of a parent to carry her child to term. Nothing in any of the current legislation would deny life-saving treatment to anyone in need.
Those painful decisions would still be left to the families, and ultimately, yes, to God – just like the choices Beck had with his daughter Mary. It’s our current system that does not ensure that families have all the care they need – before or after the birth of a child.
All of the reform proposals being debated include provisions to cap out-of-pocket expenses, end exclusions for pre-existing conditions, and eliminate limits like our friends’ annual $250,000 cap on coverage – removing the financial pressures that currently lead many families to terminate difficult pregnancies.
Tell Glenn Beck that health-care reform is pro-life – consistently pro-life.
Lately, Glenn has repeatedly asked his listeners for prayer:
I’m fighting for you and me, my children, your children. I would ask you for one thing. Please, keep me in your prayers, keep my staff in your prayers, for safety, for wisdom, please. -The Glenn Beck Program, 9/8/2009
It should be no surprise that we strongly disagree with many of Glenn’s views, but we too believe in a God far greater than all of us. So on this point, let’s take Glenn at his word and pray for him to have wisdom as he speaks out on these issues.
Tell Glenn you’re praying for him – that he’ll choose hope over fear.
Pray that stories like Mila’s will help convince Glenn that his fears of a government takeover are dangerous distractions compared to the real-life suffering that Americans are experiencing right now. Campaigns by other groups have shown that targeting Glenn’s advertisers gets real results, so we’re including them in this message in order to hold him accountable for his words.
And please pray for our friends’ unborn daughter – that Mila, like Glenn’s now 21-year-old daughter Mary, will grow up to be a miracle who lives a long and blessed life, regardless of what happens with health-care reform.
Shalom,
Ryan, Duane, Elizabeth, and the Sojourners
