--posted by Brandon
A few months ago, Fenton was just shy of turning two months, and our house was invaded by box elder beetles. If you live in the Lansing area, you probably know these guys - black and red, long and thin, absolutely harmless but descending in hordes. Fenton thought they were pretty neat, and insisted on calling them "lady beetles." (I guess they do look kind of like ladybugs...)
So one afternoon, we were sitting together on the floor, playing with some of his toys, when a box elder beetle strolled across the carpet. Fenton pointed at it and said, "Lady beetle!" then went to pick it up. I had just gotten a few words out of my mouth about needing to be careful with the lady beetle when it was between his fingers and I heard a quiet "snap." Fenton looked down at it, then handed it to me and said, "Lady beetle broke."
It was a striking moment for me, seeing this child who I considered the most innocent creature on this earth kill something. I've never been a big believer in original sin - of course we're imperfect creatures, of course we all have the capacity to commit horrible acts, but I've never believed that translated into us being sinful from birth. Sin, to me, is an act, not a potential. But watching Fenton unintentionally kill this box elder beetle made me re-examine that notion. I guess I do believe in original sin, even if it looks a little different than traditional Christian doctrine.
Although the box elder beetle might have been the first thing Fenton killed directly, he's been responsible for death since the day he was born, just like all of us. For some of us, the easiest way to see this is in the meat we eat. For others, it's in all of the other resources we use up - the energy that goes to heat our house, the raw materials that built that house, the materials that made the clothes we wear. And even going beyond the materials, we all take up space that used to belong to something else. We live in a city that was carved out of the wilderness, causing countless animals to have their habitats destroyed for us. If we were being really honest with ourselves, we would also look at the way our country destroys lives all around the world to keep our "lifestyle" intact through economic exploitation and brute force.
Some of this violence could be averted if we made different choices, but some of it is inherent to being alive. Each day I'm alive, there are other things that die to sustain me. This has been true since the day I was born, it's been true for Fenton since the day he was born, it's true for all of us. We live off the life force of other creatures.
That's the way the world works, and it means I can only believe all of it is rescued by grace. Grace for all of the creatures who die every day, grace for all of us who are sustained by the life of something else. It's only with grace that any of this makes sense, the grace of a loving God who watches over all of the deaths and all of the lives and loves it all.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Pride
Pride. It means different things.
Pride is, depending upon context, either a high sense of the worth of one's self or one's own or a pleasure taken in the contemplation of these things. One definition of pride in the first sense comes from Augustine: "the love of one's own excellence." [1] In this sense, the opposite of pride is humility. (wikipedia.org).
The term "humility" is derived from the Latin word "humilis", which is translated not only as humble but also alternatively as "low", or "from the earth", and "humus", humid, which in the past it was believed that emotions, diseases, and depressions were caused by imbalances of body waters.[1] Because the concept of humility addresses intrinsic self-worth, it is emphasized in the realm of religious practice and ethics where the notion is often made more precise and extensive. Humility as a religious or spiritual virtue is different from the act of humiliation or shaming though the former may follow as a consequence of the latter. (wikipedia.org.)
Some have considered pride one of the "seven deadly sins" in historical context, and so on the surface it's easy to have a darker connotation to those who would stand against pride in favor of humility.
But today I'm talking about a different Pride. The Pride that some would consider wrong.
Gay Pride. All the colors of the rainbow that represent the human experience in a slightly different framework. I say framework because I want to set a tone of humility, that of being from the earth. No matter who we love we all share this earth. Our children, straight or otherwise, inherit this earth. We all depend on this earth and by extension, each other.
We have black pride. We have Hispanic Pride. we have Asian Pride. We have a Women's History (or herstory, as some prefer to use) Month. We recognize all kinds of other diversity as a good and happy thing, generally. We still have work to do, to be sure, but the simple fact of the matter is that we have a great deal of other groups and titles that claim pride and do so without guilt or shame. We must think of the damage that happens to people who suffer abuse of the spirit. Think of a long term victim of domestic abuse, for instance. Over time, they find themselves at the bottom of the rung and feel themselves to be worthless people.
They need to escape the abuse and re learn how to be human beings again.
So now imagine that you never know who your allies really are. Imagine you have to live in a world where everyone and anyone could decide, outside of who you are, or any legitimate reason:
to deny you visitation of the person you love in the hospital.
(http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=221&topic_id=119230&mesg_id=119230)
To keep you from your children and force you to have a long, horribly drawn out battle for custody just because you are honest with the world about who you are.
(http://www.genderadvocates.org/News/Kantaras%20Decision.html)
To deny you appropriate medical treatment.
(http://www.therevealer.org/archives/today_002272.php)
... or any other of in excess of a thousand rights and/or priveledges that marriage grants.
(http://www.religioustolerance.org/mar_bene.htm)
So what is the problem with Gay Pride? A Religious argument?
How many other religious arguments have we heard in the past? Let's take a trip through history.
Miscegenation? (That's the fancy term for interracial marriage.)
Family Planning? (Yes, contraception was a big social no-no for many years.)
The right of women to vote?
The right of Black Men to vote?
The right to own/buy/sell slaves?
Or, perhaps, going way back, the age old list of what we should do to be strictly biblical.
http://www.uctaa.net/articles/meds/med01/med016.html - (A letter to Dr. Laura, a popular "conservative" commentator.)
Personal Favs from the above list-
Pride is important. Faith is important. Why do they have to be exclusive? I ask this question because the moment that anyone calls out a fundamentalist christian (I use the lowercase here, for obvious reasons, as they are not complete) on any of their practices it is immediately classed as an attack on the freedom of religion and speech. why? No one has used the power of the state to break their family apart. No one has denied them the right to worship freely as they choose. No one challenges the rights they have (assuming a
"straight" family) as listed above. Even to the chagrin of some of the more radical gay rights advocates, they are free to continue what some have called hate speech in Jesus's name unchecked. However, it seems the tide is turning with gay marriage wins in a handful of states, and official legal protection elsewhere in a smattering of localities.
Social Justice is a big part of the United Church of Christ. I feel that Gay Pride is a must, because we are humans without any distinctions to the idea of love and care. If anything, we can try to move these divided boundaries a little bit closer. We need more love and support and more brotherhood (or sisterhood, if you will) in our world.
I ask the question - who would Jesus hate? Not the sin, or the sinner. "Whosoever calls on me shall be saved." Isn't that enough?
See you at Pride!
Pride is, depending upon context, either a high sense of the worth of one's self or one's own or a pleasure taken in the contemplation of these things. One definition of pride in the first sense comes from Augustine: "the love of one's own excellence." [1] In this sense, the opposite of pride is humility. (wikipedia.org).
The term "humility" is derived from the Latin word "humilis", which is translated not only as humble but also alternatively as "low", or "from the earth", and "humus", humid, which in the past it was believed that emotions, diseases, and depressions were caused by imbalances of body waters.[1] Because the concept of humility addresses intrinsic self-worth, it is emphasized in the realm of religious practice and ethics where the notion is often made more precise and extensive. Humility as a religious or spiritual virtue is different from the act of humiliation or shaming though the former may follow as a consequence of the latter. (wikipedia.org.)
Some have considered pride one of the "seven deadly sins" in historical context, and so on the surface it's easy to have a darker connotation to those who would stand against pride in favor of humility.
But today I'm talking about a different Pride. The Pride that some would consider wrong.
Gay Pride. All the colors of the rainbow that represent the human experience in a slightly different framework. I say framework because I want to set a tone of humility, that of being from the earth. No matter who we love we all share this earth. Our children, straight or otherwise, inherit this earth. We all depend on this earth and by extension, each other.
We have black pride. We have Hispanic Pride. we have Asian Pride. We have a Women's History (or herstory, as some prefer to use) Month. We recognize all kinds of other diversity as a good and happy thing, generally. We still have work to do, to be sure, but the simple fact of the matter is that we have a great deal of other groups and titles that claim pride and do so without guilt or shame. We must think of the damage that happens to people who suffer abuse of the spirit. Think of a long term victim of domestic abuse, for instance. Over time, they find themselves at the bottom of the rung and feel themselves to be worthless people.
They need to escape the abuse and re learn how to be human beings again.
So now imagine that you never know who your allies really are. Imagine you have to live in a world where everyone and anyone could decide, outside of who you are, or any legitimate reason:
to deny you visitation of the person you love in the hospital.
(http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=221&topic_id=119230&mesg_id=119230)
To keep you from your children and force you to have a long, horribly drawn out battle for custody just because you are honest with the world about who you are.
(http://www.genderadvocates.org/News/Kantaras%20Decision.html)
To deny you appropriate medical treatment.
(http://www.therevealer.org/archives/today_002272.php)
... or any other of in excess of a thousand rights and/or priveledges that marriage grants.
(http://www.religioustolerance.org/mar_bene.htm)
So what is the problem with Gay Pride? A Religious argument?
How many other religious arguments have we heard in the past? Let's take a trip through history.
Miscegenation? (That's the fancy term for interracial marriage.)
Family Planning? (Yes, contraception was a big social no-no for many years.)
The right of women to vote?
The right of Black Men to vote?
The right to own/buy/sell slaves?
Or, perhaps, going way back, the age old list of what we should do to be strictly biblical.
http://www.uctaa.net/articles/meds/med01/med016.html - (A letter to Dr. Laura, a popular "conservative" commentator.)
Personal Favs from the above list-
- I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself? (Does this include anyone who works a church function for pay??? )
- A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination (Leviticus 11:10), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this?
Pride is important. Faith is important. Why do they have to be exclusive? I ask this question because the moment that anyone calls out a fundamentalist christian (I use the lowercase here, for obvious reasons, as they are not complete) on any of their practices it is immediately classed as an attack on the freedom of religion and speech. why? No one has used the power of the state to break their family apart. No one has denied them the right to worship freely as they choose. No one challenges the rights they have (assuming a
"straight" family) as listed above. Even to the chagrin of some of the more radical gay rights advocates, they are free to continue what some have called hate speech in Jesus's name unchecked. However, it seems the tide is turning with gay marriage wins in a handful of states, and official legal protection elsewhere in a smattering of localities.
Social Justice is a big part of the United Church of Christ. I feel that Gay Pride is a must, because we are humans without any distinctions to the idea of love and care. If anything, we can try to move these divided boundaries a little bit closer. We need more love and support and more brotherhood (or sisterhood, if you will) in our world.
I ask the question - who would Jesus hate? Not the sin, or the sinner. "Whosoever calls on me shall be saved." Isn't that enough?
See you at Pride!
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