About the Refugees....

Articles, memes and opinions about the refugee crisis have been lighting up my facebook for the past few weeks. A lot of the stuff is clearly….bullshit….and is based more on knee jerk reactions than truth. Some of the links, though, lead to insightful, informative and thoughtful articles. Some of the opinions are balanced and not hateful. I am going to post some of the diamonds I found in the dung heap.

Two articles that might be helpful for Christian trying to make heads or tails of the situation were, of all places, on the Desiring God website. That is John Piper’s website. I’m really not all that fond of Piper or his Calvinist theology. He didn't write either of them. One of the articles was written by D. Glenn; the other by David Crabb.

In Building His Church in a Refugee Crisis by David Crabb, he asks…..

We shut ourselves off so that we only hear voices from a narrow slice of the political spectrum, and then we listen to these voices day after day and week after week, so that they begin to shape our thinking in profound ways. 

How would we view Muslims if we were steeped in God’s words so that we were thinking his thoughts after him? What would be our perspective on the refugee crisis if the Bible, and not our favorite news channel, was guiding our thoughts and directing our behavior?

Good question…..

The article by D. Glenn ponders Eight Words from Jesus in a World with Refugees

Reminders of what Jesus actually said and how we might apply it to orphans, widows, sojourners, foreigners and enemies.

And I found the following comments in a short post written by Harry Monroe on his Facebook wall....

However, while I agree with those that insist ad nauseum that compassion is not the final word, I wonder why they don't acknowledge that it must be at least part of the equation. The fact that the second great commandment requires thought with regard to present realities does not mean it can be ignored: it only means that we must wrestle with realities in light of our convictions. God's Word is intended for the place where the rubber hits the road. Christian thinking must be both hard nosed and warm hearted in facing a depraved world as a redeemed people.

Remember Jonah? He didn't want to go to Nineveh, because he FEARED God's MERCY. God might be so merciful that he would have the audacity to hear the Assyrians' repentance and forgive them. Jonah didn't want that to happen. And, for all his faults, he was honest enough that he admitted he preferred that the Ninevites be damned. I read many of my friends essentially saying the same thing,

Me, too. There are people who post the most hateful messages about Muslims....all Muslims....and about their go to "love to hate" guy....Obama.

And another article I happened upon on FB….written by Scott Hicks, an immigration attorney (and UMC pastor)….details the vetting process for refugees. It is a realistic look at what the requirements and time frame for the process really are. He explains the interview process for refugees with very little documentation. It is rigorous and repetitive. Families are interviewed multiple times, together and separately, by trained investigators. He also talks about the much easier and quicker ways to gain entrance to our country if you are bent on destruction and terrorist acts.

Frankly, there is more screening of refugees than ever happens to get on an airplane. Of course, yes, no system can be 100% foolproof. But if that is your standard, then you better shut down the entire airline industry, close the borders, and stop all international commerce and shipping. Every one of those has been the source of entry of people and are much easier ways to gain access to the U.S. Only upon passing all of these checks (which involve basically every agency of the government involved in terrorist identification) can the person actually be approved to travel.

And check out the comments. While most were overwhelmingly positive, there were a few “Obama is a liar” ssdd remarks and some have even tried to get his post removed from Facebook. If the Facebook link does not work, you can read his comments within a blog post on Patheos.  

I am still sorting and pondering. The authors of these articles are all Christians. They write from a Christian perspective. I think as Christians we have to remember that we are not merely citizens of an earthly kingdom...but also of a heavenly kingdom that holds us to a higher standard of love and compassion.

‘There are many more peace mongers than warmongers"

According to Rueters on February 21st

More than 1000 Muslims formed a human shield around Oslo's synagogue on Saturday, offering symbolic protection for the city's Jewish community and condemning an attack on a synagogue in neighboring Denmark last weekend.

And this act of solidarity was not a “CYA” kind of thing. The number of Jews is tiny compared to the number of Muslims in Norway.

Norway’s Jewish community is one of the continent’s smallest, numbering only 1000. The Muslim population numbers 150,000 to 200,000 and is growing.  

"There are many more peace mongers than warmongers," Abdullah said as organizers and Jewish community leaders stood side by side. "There's still hope for humanity, for peace and love, across religious differences and backgrounds.

I love stories like this. Perhaps these isolated incidents of peace on earth, goodwill to men could be the leaven that starts to affect the whole lump.

“Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened” (Matthew 13:33).

Check out some of the coverage and photos of the gathering here and here and here and here…..

What is Interfaith?

A weekend or so ago, on our way to the airport for a quick Saturday morning look at the last of the fall foliage...from 4000 feet in the air, Keith and I got into a discussion about the Muslim prayer service held at National Cathedral in Washington, DC. That morning I watched a video of the woman who stood up during the prayer service, disrupting everything, pointing to what must have been a picture of Jesus….declaring him Lord of Lords, King of Kings as she proclaimed the Christian way as the right way...the only way….THE way.

Keith sided with the woman and commended her for standing up for what she truly believed. I sided against the women, pointing out she should not have disrupted the service. He didn't think the prayer service should have been in the church to begin with. I thought it was perfectly fine and an example of what “interfaith” looks like. But the more I think about it, the more I question whether it really was such a good idea to hold a Muslim prayer service in an Episcopal church.

Now I am all into interfaith, inclusion, pluralism. I love the Co-exist picture that shows the symbols for many faiths. I truly believe that there is a TRUTH that is higher and more profound than the truth that is found in separate religions. There are truths in all religions. There are untruths in all religions. But THE TRUTH supersedes every religion.

My own personal “finger pointing at the moon” is Christianity. Sometimes the loud ramblings of some of the far right fundamentalists make me a bit reluctant to voluntarily place myself in the same religious category they claim to belong to. Things like Fred Hamm’s Creation Museum, theocracy and the War on Christmas campaign are just….embarrassing….. to, in any way, associate myself with. But then, Jesus associates himself with the far right fundamentalist Christians so who am I to get all uppity and on my high horse? Besides, I don’t fit in any other category. I truly believe that Jesus was the clearest image of the invisible God. Emmanuel, God with us, name above all names….blessed redeemer…..living word.

I do wonder sometimes if the far right understands the things he said and commanded and proclaimed. Their world view seems so far from the example he set in words, deeds and beliefs. His teachings are pretty clear and straightforward….and just in case we don’t get it the first time when we read the book of Matthew, there are three more gospels that proclaim his sayings and doings. Why the redundancy? So we clearly see HIM from the perspective of four different gospel writers? So we get the point? So we can’t be all wishy washy and unclear on what he said and did...and where he came and went….and the outcasts and sinners he associated with? I think so. Some of his sayings, which are often ignored by so many of his followers are clear cut and unambiguous.

Oh sure, since scripture is like an onion, layer upon layer, there are nuances and depths and meanings hidden beneath (contained within?) the plain meaning. I saw a bumper sticker once that said, “When Jesus said to love your enemies, I’m pretty sure he meant don’t kill them.” Love your enemies. Forgive 7 times 70. Go the extra mile….give them your cape too...don’t murder in your heart or commit adultery in your thoughts, don’t be all judgy or you will be judged. Do I have these things all down pat? Hell, no. I don’t even really like it that he said some of these things that totally go against my instincts. But I don’t deny they are there and “yes, but” and talk around them and make excuses about them or explain them away. I’m a work in progress, I guess….and I am a Christian who is gung ho for the interfaith movement.

So getting back to the subject of this post…lf the local mosque had burned to the ground or was in some way unusable then, yes, it could be considered a gracious, generous move to allow that “congregation” to worship in a local Christian church on a Friday night. But that was not the case and I don’t think it was the brightest or purest idea to hold a Muslim prayer service in an Episcopal church. This was an overkill moment in interfaith, a showy, staged demonstration of pluralism. Except that it wasn't. It was not inclusive but rather exclusive….focusing only on the Muslim faith (a faith I have NO problem with...other than those radical extremists bent on killing the infidel and waging jihad) If the service had been all faiths, worshiping together….a rabbi, a priest, a preacher and an imam leading the service in solidarity and blending the sacred from all of those faith traditions, that is my version of interfaith.

Realizing that we all see through a glass darkly and holding fast to our beliefs while respectfully giving others the same courtesy is interfaith. Focusing on our similarities instead of our differences while raising our voices in praise to the most high God is interfaith. Discussing, mulling, pondering and considering other views...that is interfaith.

A while back I saw pictures of several examples that moved me and demonstrate the true spirit of interfaith. Christians formed a human chain around praying Muslims and Muslims returning the favor by protecting a church during Mass. Links to the original articles and some of the pictures follow….

Here, Here, Here and Here.....

Max and Anne - Views on Prayer

While scrolling down through my Facebook feed, I came upon a snippet of an interview on the 700 Club with Max Lucado. Max is my all-time favorite Christian author. His book, He Still Moves Stones, was one of the first Christian books I ever read. I love his writing style….I love how clearly he expresses the love of God for his children. 

They talked about two things in the interview:

His support of Husain Abdullah in a recent USA editorial where he said:

Which is why the sight of Abdullah, a Muslim who sat out the 2012 season to go on a pilgrimage, being penalized was hard to watch. Tim Tebow brought gridiron prayer to the forefront with his iconic kneeling in gratitude. And countless other professional football players have been seen kneeling in an end zone prayer. 

For decades competitors have bowed their heads, crossed their hearts, kissed their rosaries and lifted their eyes to heaven as they sought favor on the fields of competition. Is a little petition or gratitude so bad? If the act is sincere toward God as opposed to insincere, for show, what is the harm?

Indeed, what is the harm? And while so many evangelical Christians got themselves all worked up at Tebow’s critics, where was the outrage about Abdullah’s fifteen yard penalty? Oh yeah…..he was bowing to the “wrong” God.  I think it was quite gutsy of Max to come out in support of Abdullah.   
         

And anyway, the story had a happy ending because the NFL apologized and said the official was wrong and that players can, indeed, pray.

The other topic of the interview was his new book, Before Amen. Max admits to being a prayer wimp. He’s mentioned his difficulties with prayer in other books he's written. He said “doing something for God” comes more naturally to him that “praying to God.” (That is a paraphrase, by the way) Through the years he’s developed what he refers to as the pocket prayer. He studied all the prayers in the Bible and summed them up into six short sentences.

Father, You are good. I need help. So do they. Thank you. In Jesus' name, amen.

I love it. He succinctly sums it all up in those short sentences.

I rarely say a traditional prayer. I truly believe I always have God’s ear. I feel like he is paying attention as I go about my day….typing reports, checking my email, eating lunch, going to the bathroom.  Doesn’t “pray without ceasing” mean that I thank him for small blessings throughout the day, tell him I love him, ask his to watch over my children or let him know I am quite miffed at the way he is allowing some things to play out.

Anne Lamott (another of my favorites) also has a book out about prayer. In my next post (no, not an empty promise) I’ll talk about “Help, Thanks, Wow: The ThreeEssential Prayers” by Anne Lamott.  

OH MY GOD, the movie....2

This afternoon, Keith and I watched the movie I mentioned in my last post.  Oh My God.  It was a documentary....just like it advertised itself to be.  I was intrigued by the far flung and diverse opinions of God expressed by the folks around the globe....from many walks of life.....believers of many different religions. It included the opinion of a devout fundamentalist evangelical Christian (Tim LaHaye) and the almost carbon copy, other side of the same coin.....devout fundamentalist kill the infidel Muslim (who both were quick to express their belief that anyone from another faith system...other than theirs, of course....were going straight to hell. 

Another part of the movie that intrigued/repulsed me was the sacrifice of a live goat....snapping the bones....skinning it.  Pretty much what you might have seen if you stepped back into the pages of the Old Testament when blood sacrifice was rampant.  The group was an African tribe...who had converted to Christianity but still believed sacrifices were necessary. 

It showed one particularly unlikely pair of friends walking hand in hand....arm in arm.  A rabbi and a Muslim cleric....outside of Palestine....where Jews and Muslims are not supposed to be friends. 

If you get a chance it's worth the 90 minutes it takes to watch the movie.  It doesn't give definitive answers...but stimulates questions that just might lead us a bit closer to our own answers to the question the movie revolved around....."what is God?"

The Atrocities in Norway….some of my musings…

This morning I’ve been reading about what happened in Norway…looking at pictures of the small Island where a bunch of young adults (kids as young as 15) were having youth camp. Their parents were members of the ruling party in Norway….the Labor Party and they were young party activists. The shooter, not an Islamic terrorist as originally suspected, but a home grown, disgruntled, angry Norwegian.  Pissed off about Muslims taking over Europe, immigration policies, political Marxists. 

He uploaded a 4 part You Tube video shortly before the attacks..and a 1500 page manifesto…outlining his beefs, his beliefs and political opinions…and even included his trial and error bomb making escapades (because before the shooting rampage, he also bombed the Oslo political district) The manifesto covered a two year period…he had planned this for a long, long time.  

And just an FYI for all those who downplay the very real, very dangerous influence of the hate rhetoric of zealous anti-Islamist bloggers….

Breivik’s manifesto, entitled “2083: A European Declaration of Independence” was filled with comments from the cyber pages of their blogs.  Notably, Atlas Shrugs, JihadWatch, The Gates of Vienna.

The title was chosen because of his target date for the triumph of Christian forces in the European civil war he called for in order to drive out Islamic influence.  Oh…yes….Breivik was a Christian.  According to his comments on a very conservative (radical ) anti Islamic website called Document.no…..

I myself am a Protestant and baptized / confirmed by my own free will when I was 15.

I visited a site this morning named  “Islam Versus Europe – Where Islam Spreads, Freedom Dies" (catchy little tag line, no?) Obviously an anti Islamic website with comments from other anti Islamists…including one by 1389AD….associated with another charming blog called 1389 Blog – Counterjihad!.  And in keeping with the line of reasoning that even a broken watch is right two times a day, he/she does say something dripping with truth….

Whoever shot up the youth camp wasn't a Christian despite what he (or others) might claim.  That isn't something that a Christian would do.  

The “whoever” reference alludes to the most recent post on the 1389 blog which was rambling on about the possibility that Breivik might not be the actual perp….even though he claimed responsibility (but added he was not guilty) and that he posted the You Tube thing…and the manifesto he’d labored away at for over two years.  I can only spend so long on a site like that before I have to come up for a breath of fresh air.  I’ve included the link to both sites if you want to take a look see. 

Oh…and he also used quotes from the Unabomber’s writings.


But anyway….. 


All three of my kids are in the same age group as the victims on the island. It evokes a horrified disbelief, an empathetic sadness….sorrow for the victims whose lives stretched before them like an unopened book.  Lives, snuffed out, stolen from them. Their bodies littered the shore of the Island…and the water.  Like the victims in the Twin Towers…escape by whatever means seemed the only option. Many of the victims tried to swim to the mainland.  Some of them drowned, others, he shot.  

He dressed as a policeman and for 90 minutes he meticulously picked off the teenagers….shooting and killing at least 85 of them…and wounding 97 others.  At last count.  Some are still missing. These were teenagers!  Kids as young as 15. It was reported that he laughed and joked as he searched them out…cajoling…come out, don’t be afraid, I’m a cop.  Don’t be shy. 
He said his acts were atrocious but necessary. 

"Once you decide to strike, it is better to kill too many than not enough, or you risk reducing the desired ideological impact of the strike."

According to Wiki:

It is also reported that the shooter used hollow-point bullets or frangible bullets to cause as much damage as possible. The gunshot wounds are hard to treat, as there is only an entry-wound and no exit-wound, nor any large fragments inside the body.

And Breivik was a frequent poster on another anti Islamist/conservative/anti internationalist website called Document.no.  I read through a lot of comments (thanks to Google Translate) he wrote….from 2009 to as late as October of 2010.  
He echoes many of the same anti Islamic comments I have read all over the internet, mirror copies of comments made by American bloggers, commentators and commenters, e-list members etc. etc. etc. 

They are taking over. You are not safe.  Your children are not safe. Your country is not safe. 

Just google it…the websites with transcripts of his ramblings abound.  A few of the comments that I took note of below …

  The truth is so ugly that it has the potential to scare many moderate cultural conservatives back into apathy.

We were honest once but Marx and Mohammed have forced us to become more like them, unfortunately.

He comments on the November 2009 terrorist train attack in Russia that left 39 dead….  

I do not understand why CNN mentions the extreme right and the national Socialists. I have never ever heard of a right extreme or national Socialist terrorist attack of importance on European soil. This sounds like wishful thinking.

And finally this…again proving that even a broken watch is right twice a day….

 For me it is very hypocritical to treat Muslims, Nazis and Marxists different. They are all supporters of hate-ideologies.

    Islam (ism) has historically led to 300 million deaths
  Communism has historically led to 100 million deaths
  Nazism has historically led to 6-20 million deaths

Not sure where he gets his figures…or some of the other figures he uses in his comments.  Some seem skewed and inflated….purposely misleading (or was HE misled?) But he sums it up by saying….

    ALL hate ideologies should be treated equally.

Who can argue with that? 


Whether the hate ideology resides in the minds of Islamic terrorists who vow jihad against western culture (and yes, I freely acknowledge they exist) or from the pages of history…in Nazi Germany and the atrocities executed against the Jews….or the Christian Crusades….or the witch hunts…the dark ages….the genocide in the Old Testament….and yes….even now…on the cyberpages of the far right wing bloggers who espouse sweeping prejudice and hatred against any group of people. 


All hate ideologies should be treated equally.  Let’s call a spade a spade….hate mongering is hate mongering….whether the target group is a different religion, a different race, a different political persuasion or a different sexual orientation. 


And now…. few quotes on hate….thrown in “free of charge”  :)

Fear of something is at the root of hate for others, and hate within will eventually destroy the hater.
George Washington Carver


I shall allow no man to belittle my soul by making me hate him.
Booker T. Washington


Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that,

 I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Hate crimes are the scariest thing in the world because these people really believe what they're doing is right.
Cher

If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn't part of ourselves doesn't disturb us.
Hermann Hesse


Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first.
Charles de Gaulle


We have enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.
Jonathan Swift

PS....The formatting is off on this post.  Not sure why...copying and pasting etc. and I've dinked around with it for a while this morning trying to correct the gaping holes...and places where the margins are erratic....and where the paragraphs are all scrunched up together....to no avail.  So....I am leaving it as is and getting ready for work.....even though it bugs the hell out of me.  

The Will of God

During this whole "living at the hospital" ordeal there have been times, events and circumstances that have been exercises in total frustration. When I went back last weekend to visit, she was doing much better after the second actual surgery to drain fluid and blood from both of her lungs and chest cavity.  When I say surgery I mean under total, deep anesthesia.  There were many, many procedures that required a lighter level of anesthesia....and some of the nasty things they did to her "didn't require" any at all.  She had three PICC lines put in with great, great difficulty (and total lack of functionality)....a pacemaker (that caused bleeding into the cavity around her heart and collapsed her lung...main reason for the second surgery) numerous scope things....down the throat...another round on the ventilator…so many unpleasant, frightening ordeals. Yet when I went back this weekend she was quite calm.  In a good mood actually. It was almost as if God held her there in the fire (hospital) until she stopped struggling.  And I am learning some lessons about struggling too. 

“A man’s mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps”(Proverbs 16:9)

Lest anyone think I've joined the total determinism gang, I haven't.  I do believe however that we are not totally free and there will be situations we get stuck in no matter how much we struggle.  No matter how much squawking and bitching and moaning we do, we are going to be held in the fire (a place or situation where we don’t want to be) until we stop struggling.  That is the essence of my car seat analogy.

When my kids were little they always...always… rode in their car seats the whole time the car was in motion. No exceptions.  Protesting…kicking, screaming, fighting made no difference whatsoever to the final outcome. The car seat was non negotiable. One way or another they were going in the car seat and they were staying there until we reached our destination.  Fortunately, they never put up much of a fuss and getting them into their car seat was no big deal but I’ve seen some life and death struggles going on in other vehicles…parent pitted against a 20 lb child.

Some of the situations God puts us in are also non negotiable (and for our good) and we cannot get out of them...no how...no way. Sometimes the only thing we can choose is our attitude.  My attitude throughout this hospital ordeal was pretty good.  Could have been better but I know my mom appreciated me being there. Looking through the “retrospectascope” I realize I should have struggled less and accepted more and I would have saved myself a lot of stress and frustration. The whole thing was a “carseat moment.” 

Reminds me of two similar thoughts about making plans.  One from the Qu'ran...the other from the book of James.  Both pretty much say the same thing...and remind me that I need to seek his will and way first.  To do otherwise is a bit like beating my head against a brick wall.  And you know the saying about how good it feels when you stop....

 SHAKIR 18:23/24 And do not say of anything: Surely I will do it tomorrow, Unless Allah pleases; and remember your Lord when you forget and say: Maybe my Lord will guide me to a nearer course to the right than this.

James 4:13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

So I spent all weekend hanging out in her hospital room.  She is feeling a lot better (and at this writing is actually in the rehab part of the hospital working on the final phase of her recovery) A lot of the time she dozed in the chair…and I sat quietly reading…making use of their guest wifi.  At one point, late on Sunday afternoon she asked me the same question she asked shortly after her surgery.....

"This was a wasted day wasn't it?"

"For who?"

"You....me.....both of us" she replied.

Ahhhhhh......but it didn’t feel like a wasted day.  And after all, in God's economy, nothing is wasted.  Eventually, all things work together for good, don't they?  I don’t think any of the time either of us spent in the “carseat” was wasted. Some of the lessons are yet to be revealed…but they are there, contained in the experience.  The tricky part is figuring it all out. 

My husband, Keith wrote a post about some of his struggles during this same period of time…from his perspective.  Check it out HERE.

Lesley Hazleton on the Quran….

I came across this video on the FB page of Ahmed Rehab.  The video is described as:

TED: An Agnostic Jew explores the Koran and finds much that is quite different from what is commonly reported

She is delightful to listen to…the author of many religious books…British accent, seemingly quite eccentric.  An avid pilot (she “flew away” her life savings and never regretted a cent of it) who lives on a houseboat in Seattle. Well studied and very sensible in her assessment in this 9 minute video.  One quote about the Quran that I particularly liked:

Yet the fact that so few people actually do read the Quran is precisely why it is so easy to quote, that is, to misquote.  Phrases and snippets taken out of context in what I call the "highlighter version" which is the one favored by both Muslim Fundamentalists and anti Muslim Islamaphobes. 

I find this same preference for the “highlighter version” when it comes to the Bible. Both Christian Fundamentalists and atheists take a very literal view of the Bible…usually out of context. Atheists use it to discredit the Bible and “prove” that its contradictions render it as nothing more than a fairy tale.  Christian Fundamentalists make themselves look ridiculous trying to defend each and every word as literal fact from the “mouth” of God.

She is quoted in the blog post

“The danger is one-dimensional thinking”

I can’t disagree with that.  Take 9 or so minutes and listen to this delightful lady…and take note of what she has to say.  She knows of what she speaks….