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Won’t it be incredible to wake up someday and not have all the news centered around one man? Won’t it be great someday to be in a democracy mature enough where truth claims are measured by reason and science and not by whether those making the claim agree or disagree with the ruler?

Neither Gandhi nor MLK were perfect, but it is very hard to become wise is we can only learn from perfect people, so today in our Conversations in Living Class we are looking at the actual checklist MLK used for protestors (the part in quotes). I have added my thoughts (the part in brackets.) Feel free to add your thoughts to the conversation. 

MLK’S CHECKLIST

“I hereby pledge myself — my person and body — to the nonviolent movement. Therefore I will keep the following ten commandments:”

1. “Meditate daily on the teachings and life of Jesus.”

(While this is good advice for Christians, we must now realize that our human family is a rainbow of world views and so each of us must learn a new vocabulary that is universalistic. It is fine for any of us to speak authentically from our own tradition, but we must end the practice of reducing the movement for universal human rights to any one sect. Every noble tradition has a model of gentleness, and so they do not need to convert to Christian vocabulary before they can be members of our movement.) 

2. “Remember always that the nonviolent movement seeks justice and reconciliation — not victory.”

(Gandhi always said that the purpose of resistance is to illumine a principle, not eliminate an opponent.)

3. “Walk and talk in the manner of love, for God is love.”

(Again this kind of talk is fine for theists, but non theists have their own images for love. To require others to convert to our image of love is not very loving.)

4. “Pray daily to be used by God in order that all men might be free.”

(Not everybody prays. Some contemplate, some meditate, some just think about things. And I’m sure if MLK were alive he would be the first to cast out sexist language now. We are working for all PEOPLE to be free.)

5. “Sacrifice personal wishes in order that all men might be free.”

(I believe we have a duty NOT to surrender our agency even to a good cause, but we must harmonize our will to a greater good.)

6. “Observe with both friend and foe the ordinary rules of courtesy.”

(Civility does not mean passivity. This is a checklist for those about to commit civil disobedience. In a time of brutality and lies we must not lose our reason and humanity just because others have lost theirs.) 

7. “Seek to perform regular service for others and for the world.”

8. “Refrain from the violence of fist, tongue, or heart.”

(Even if we believe we have a duty to physically protect others from violence, a demonstration is an attempt to communicate and educate. We cannot awaken a frightened propagandized population by trying to scare them.)

9. “Strive to be in good spiritual and bodily health.”

(Self care is essential for the life of an activist. We mustn’t be violent with ourselves to teach peace to others.)

10. “Follow the directions of the movement and of the captain on a demonstration.”

(Since a demonstration is an effort by organizers to express a message it is helpful for all of us to sing from the same sheet music.)

“I sign this pledge, having seriously considered what I do and with the determination and will to persevere.”

I’ve been thinking about the man in the strange buffalo costume who stormed the Capitol last week. As I understand it, the man is called the “QAnon Shaman.”

The strange blend of adulterated Paganism, Christianity and nationalism we have seen in the Trump era also occurred in Nazi Germany. Hitler hated the forms of Judaism and Christianity that insisted on economic justice and human rights, but he would often praise the apolitical form of religion that served as liturgical toady to state power.

The religion of the Nazis consisted of a very motley crew of “Christians” who were willing to hate in service to the state, “Pagans” who would betray nature in service to the state, and “Atheists” who would affirm the superstitious cosmology of the Nazis in service to the state.

How did this meltdown happen? Germany was perhaps the most sophisticated culture of all time, but I wonder if their high culture and philosophy really addressed the deep and often irrational needs of real people. Whereas many of the most brilliant philosophers in Germany completely refuted the metaphysical claims of German religion, perhaps they unwittingly took away a crutch from some people leaving nothing upon which those people felt they could stand.

It is a noble aspiration to be rational and scientific, but when we say people should be COMPLETELY rational, many face a crisis of identity. How can a mammal be completely rational? At our best we can be wonderful logical, but rationality is an aspiration, not a foundation. When the religious and secular elites of the culture discounted this fact, Hitler was all too eager to take advantage of the vacuum of meaning.

I wonder if much of the strange intolerance in our time is not a crisis of identity. I wonder if some of the dread of foreigners, of myth melting science and even of wearing COVID masks that cover their faces is coming from a people who have lost the sense of who they are. I suspect many feel as if they are thrashing and drowning in the commons.

Nature religions are very good at helping people find their identity in nature and the cosmos. Puberty rights may seem silly, but without some kind of coming of age ritual. many young people may not ever come to feel they have arrived as adults. Some young people may mistake tattoos, or smoking, or getting pregnant as a way to affirm they have arrived into adulthood. But some people may join a group like Q-Anon that gives them an identity and a powerful (though vicious) narrative of meaning.

Perhaps the reason people are clutching flags and ridiculous conspiracy theories is in an attempt to hold up the shards of a broken mirror that once told them who they were.

When the religions of a culture do not answer the question, “Who am I in the cosmos,” and when many secular thinkers dismiss the question as superstition, we should not be surprised when someone like Donald Trump or a “QAnon Shaman” answers the question for them.

DO NOT DESPAIR!
I have a question for you. If you found a time machine and could go back either to the gala victory celebration on the night of Ronald Reagan’s election, or you could go back to sit with Rosa Parks or Martin Luther King on the night of their worst defeat, which would you choose?

I ask that question because I believe most of us would choose a life of dignified suffering rather than one of personal success that served no higher purpose. We all die and so the most important question we can ask ourselves is for what value will we spend our days?

In some ways, the worse times get, the greater our opportunity to do the things that really matter. In this time when some seek to dominate our streets, we have an historic opportunity to work for human liberation. In this time of sickness, we have an historic opportunity to work for universal health care. In this time of brutality and lies, we have an opportunity to express our highest values through those very problems.

For example, there are still brave souls working for some of the issues Martin Luther King died for. “The Poor Peoples Campaign” is a living breathing embodiment of the historic struggle for human dignity in America. If you are looking for a way to get involved, go to their website and explore. But there are also so many wonderful movements right now that could use your help. Instead of choosing despair, why not think about a cause you most care about and find kindred spirits who are doing the work you would find most valuable?

There is a saying that the life of activism only gives two rewards: loving friends and living dreams. It seems to me these are perhaps the greatest treasures of the human heart. Why choose to spend our brief days in despair when, in this dangerous time, we can choose to unleash our souls’ greatness instead?

For the first time in my life, I Googled the word “clergy” and found a majority of the news items were about clergy speaking in resistance to the injustices of our day.

When I was first ordained it was quickly apparent people wanted me to say blessings over the status quo, but not to talk about seeking a fairer world. I could tell that, as clergy, we have to choose between being chaplains to the status quo or prophetic voices for a better world.

There have always been prophetic voices coming from religious leaders, but words cannot express the joy and relief of reading so MANY clergy friends on Facebook who are risking their denominational relationships in order to line up behind Black Lives Matter.

The Pflugerville clergy had an online prayer gathering the other night where we white clergy listened to our Black colleagues calling for us to go beyond our easy prayers and enter into their struggle for liberation.

Last night our Presbytery had a prayer gathering where our General Presbyter Sallie Sampsell Watson broke down reading the names of Black lives lost to police violence. One could feel everyone speaking last night had cast their fate with those on the margins seeking justice.

Episcopal and Catholic clergy are speaking with a moral clarity I don’t remembering hearing in these numbers. Here in Austin, Methodist minister John Elford reports that one of our local Imams, the noble Sheikh Islam Mossaad, took the unbelievably brave stand of refusing to serve as chaplain for the police department so he could clearly be seen to be on the side of the vulnerable and oppressed.

How ironic would it be if the presidency of Donald Trump resulted in transforming clergy from officiants of the capitalist culture to one unified prophetic voice on behalf of all humankind?

SPIRITUALITY AND ACTIVISM

 

These are traumatic times for people whose humanity is still intact.

 

It seems corruption, violence and greed have seized the highest halls of power in our nation. Conservative media pulses with hateful calls to protect white, male, Christian, heterosexual, nationalistic privilege. Liberal voices too often sulk from the outside and speak of “resistance” without seeming to be able to offer a positive alternative.

 

Another way to interpret theses times is that old dominions of power have become visible to an awakening people but we have yet to chart a new course that will set us ALL free.

 

Xenophobia, Sexism and violence have been foundational elements of western culture for eons. It is not a bad thing that we are realizing these truths, but like a formerly drunken man wakening from his stupor, the first thing we may feel is the pain from the devastation we have caused as a result of our former numbness. Hope comes later.

 

This June, I will be doing a workshop at Zephyr Cove Retreat Center at Lake Tahoe on spirituality and activism. In fact, I am using every opportunity to share conversations about ways we can nurture peaceful happy inner lives while we engage fully in the struggle for a better world. I have been fortunate to work with lifelong activists who found ways to strike a balance of inner peace and outer activism.

 

When I use the word “spirituality” I don’t necessarily mean “religion” or even “theism.” I am trying to find a vocabulary for the that deep, intimate, undefinable depth in us all.

 

I am including the blurb for the Zephyr workshop not because I think you can get to Nevada, but as a way of encouraging conversation about how you and I can tread this difficult path ourselves.

 

“In this toxic political environment how can we balance inner peace and outer activism? We will look for direction from some of the great lifelong activists from history: We will learn from Dr. King how to stay focused on what we want and not become fixated on what we hate. We will learn from Thich Nhat Hahn how to look at our spiritual practice as breathing in, and see our activism as natural as breathing out. We will learn from Dorothy Day how to throw our pebble in the pond and trust the ripples to spread. We will learn from Mr. Rogers to remember the strength that comes from looking for the helpers. And finally, we will learn from Emma Goldman the importance of having joy even as we struggle for a better world.”

I’ll tell you what the high and mighty fear, they fear conservatives and liberals will stop hating each other long enough to realize we have more in common with each other than we do with them. They know the moment we stop believing the propaganda of nationalistic hatred and capitalistic greed, their spell over us will be broken, and we will seek freedom and equality together over and against their tyrannies.

As I understand it, Anchorage, Alaska has become the first U.S. city to actually vote on an anti-transgender bathroom bill. That city has made the historic decision to allow people to use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity and not their birth certificate.

There is much about issues of gender fluidity I do not understand; but I do understand the number 28, which is the number of human beings who were murdered last year because they were transgender.

Violence toward this vulnerable population can only be aggravated by a co-ordinated campaign to make Americans afraid of people who are transgender, even though there is not even one example of an actual bathroom assault by someone from that community.

When I was in seminary and still embedded in the homophobic culture I had been taught as a child, I happened to look up at a huge book in a medical library. I approached the book because of its immense size, and was surprised to find the book was about surgical techniques for infants born outside the polarities of “male” and “female.”

I still knew next to nothing on the issue, but I realized I had been taught a lie about the binary nature of sexual morality. If people are born outside our binary human categories, surely it is the categories that must go, not the human beings.

When sexual assault centers all across the nation tell us that our transgender neighbors are not to be feared and are much more likely to be assaulted themselves than to hurt anyone, I believe we should pay attention to the experts and not to vicious politicians and televangelists who regularly use fear of the “other” as their primary fundraising tool.

Let’s make sure that Anchorage is the first step in a movement to overturn the religions and politics of hatred toward gender fluid people who are just looking for a safe harbor in this all too intolerant culture.

FACEBOOK FALLACIES

“Someone who lies and someone who tells the truth are playing on opposite sides, so to speak, in the same game. They both respond to the facts as they understand them, although the response of the one is guided by the authority of the truth, while the response of the other defies that authority and refuses to meet its demands. Bullshitters ignore these demands altogether. They do not reject the authority of the truth, as liars do, and oppose themselves to it. They pay no attention to it at all. By virtue of this, bullshit is a greater enemy of the truth than lies are.”
-Harry G. Frankfurt, professor emeritus of philosophy at Princeton University (Paraphrased to remove gender references)

It is very difficult to communicate in the age of Trump. It behooves us all to learn and teach such basic foundations of communication as recognizing logical fallacies. What follows is a list of common fallacies found every day on Facebook. Feel free to add examples of your own.

1. “We won the election, you lost, get over it!”
This is called the “ad populum” or “appeal to popularity” fallacy. A claim is not necessarily true because it is popular. Few conservatives believed that Obama’s victory proved his principles, few liberals believe that Trump’s victory proved his principles, and they are both right. Political victory is no guarantee of ethical integrity. We must learn to communicate person to person with those with whom we disagree and forget the imaginary crowds in the back of our minds we feel validate our arguments.

2. “Oh, yeah? What about Bill Clinton/George W. Bush”
This is the “tu quoque,” or “you, too” fallacy. This fallacy consists of “refuting” what someone says by producing a bad example from that person’s group. Every group has bad examples. Finding bad apples from someone’s group doesn’t disprove what that individual is saying.

3. “That’s what I would expect a liberal/conservative idiot to say!”
Obviously this is the “ad hominem” attack where, instead of refuting what someone says, you insult the the person speaking. One response to this fallacy would be to say, “even if that were true of me, how would it refute what I said?” If someone is obviously trying to bully you, it might be helpful to point out that they would not need to resort to insults if they really believed they had a strong argument. The point is, shooting your opponent in a chess match is not the same thing as gaining a checkmate, and ridicule is not the same as refutation.

4. “We know the Bible is true because of all the miracles recorded in the Bible that prove it is true.”
This is known as “petitio principil” where speaker appears to be proving a truth claim, but are actually just rephrasing their assumptions in the form of a conclusion. This is known as a circular argument, or “begging the question.”

5. “I think the president knows a little more than you do about this.”
We rely on experts in certain fields to help us navigate through life, but no expert is beyond accountability. The “argumentum ad verecundiam” or appeal to authority attempts to end investigation by appealing to what Popes, generals, or other authority figures say. Always ask how any authority knows what they are claiming.

6. “I think you’ll understand what I’m saying better if I fill your Facebook page with emojis and articles I’ve cut and pasted from dubious sources.”
When someone co-opts a topic or produces irrelevant examples it is known as “ignoratio enlenchi” or a “red herring.” It is sometimes called the “Chewbacca defense” after a South Park episode where a lawyer distracts the jury by continually bringing Chewbacca into the conversation.

7. “Any attempt at gun control is an attack on the brave soldiers who died”/ “Any defense of gun ownership is an attack on the poor students who died”
Painful topics are particularly susceptible to what is called “argumentum ad misericordiam” or appeals to pity. The casualties of an earlier war do not justify the policies behind a war in our own day. While I would love to reduce the number of guns in our country, I know there are many gun owners who are as offended by gun violence as am I. The world is a complicated and painful place and that isn’t the fault of either side of an argument.

8. “You can’t prove that the abominable snowman DOESN’T exist!”
This is the appeal to Ignorance or “argumentum ad ignorantiam.” We are at a real impasse because conservatives and liberals are having trouble finding sources of information both sides can trust. Poking holes in someone else’s theories can be an endless treadmill. At some point we must consider what might be trust worthy sources of information for all sides of the divide. Anyone who is not open to that search for objective criteria is not serious conversation partner.

9. “All our problems began when prayer was taken out of the schools” /”All our problems began when Ted Nuggent wrote “Cat Scratch Fever.”
This fallacy is called “post hoc ergo propter hoc” meaning that just because one event happens after an earlier event does not mean the first event caused the second. It is human nature to look for simple causes, but we must help one another remember that life is never as simple as our human melodramas would pretend.

As I say these are difficult times to communicate, but for that very reason it is invaluable for us to model the kind of reasonable communication for which we aspire.