The Bible Says...

"The Bible Says..."
Oh, Really?  What else does it say?

Growing up in and continuing to live in "Southern Baptist-Land" the phrase "the Bible says" is one I have endured my entire life.  The vast majority of the times I heard those words spoken, they were followed with some justification for denigrating, disenfranchising or just denouncing another child of God invariably because of race, gender, gender identity/expression or sexual orientation. (There were also more subtle denunciations due to class, economic standing and the like but it was not considered polite to note such.) Rarely did I hear anything loving and caring after I heard "the Bible says."

One of my heros, John Pavlovitz, has penned one of the best articles about the misuse of what the Bible says that I have ever read.  I urge you to go to Christian, Stop Blaming God for Your LGBTQ-Hatred and read it.

The Bible was used to justify racial segregation... still is, I suspect, if we are honest about it. The proponents of such a position often noted that the Bible did not forbid slavery, for example and was filled with stories about people who were enslaved.  Little if anything negative was associated with being enslaved.  There was little noted in modern usage of the cultural context of slavery in ancient days. The few times I ventured into the alleged Biblical justifications, I could only shake my head and note: “That’s not what that says!”

We finally came to our senses, at least in appearances, when we ended the practice of slavery in the United States.  Yet reality has shown that overt slavery was replaced with a more covert version of the entity in the form of Jim Crow Laws, voter suppression, disenfranchisement and discrimination whether de facto or de jure.  We have not yet redeemed our collective soul over how we continue to treat all racial minorities  in this country.  (If you want your eyes pried wide open, read the book “No One Is Illegal.”  Some salient points seemed to have been left out of the history books when I was taught American History a few decades ago.)

The Bible was also used to justify the subjugation, disenfranchisement and denigration of women.  Vestiges of that remain in some faith communities, namely those that do not allow women to teach males older than a certain age or participate in ordained ministry. I can’t find anything Jesus said or taught that would justify a woman being treated any less in the eyes of God (or humankind) than a man would be treated.  It is clear that Jesus did involve women in His ministry and that much of his financial support came from women.

The closest I could find to Biblical references about the place of women were in writings attributed to Paul.  Yet again, we might want to consider the cultural context of when those "references" were written.  Women were property... the property of men.  Ponder that for a moment.  Ponder the notion that a woman was property not much differently than a slave was property.  It is helpful to also note that these narratives were initially from men who most likely treated women as property.

It has been a very long time since I heard anything in a marriage ceremony about a father "giving" his daughter to her future husband.  I hope we have finally understood that a man's daughter (or son) is not his property to give to anyone, including a future spouse.

Now comes the most recent group to continue to be subjected by some to "what the Bible says" thinking.  It is, sadly, not unusual to hear “the Bible says” to justify discrimination, disenfranchisement, and degradation of LGBTQ+ folks, both in the church and in secular society.  (Ironic that secular society might embrace a bad idea in support of discrimination based on the writings of a particular religious faith.)

I would certainly hope by now that those reading this would know that the "clobber" passages from the Bible are meaningless from having been separated from the culture in which they were written and the full narrative in which they are found.  Knowing intellectually and embracing that within are two different concepts.  Many of us have been so abused by the incorrect use of Scripture that we still, deep, deep down inside still believe some of the garbage to which we have been subjected. I pray for the day when we all truly understand that the God who created us loves us exactly the way we were created.

Isn’t it time that we recaptured the concept of what the Bible says?  The next time someone tries to subject us to "the Bible says..." how about we smile and inquire:  Have you forgotten that Jesus reminded us that the first and great commandment was to love God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength?  Have you forgotten that Jesus then reminded us that the second commandment was like it, that we were to love our neighbor as we love ourselves?  He followed that with a statement that on these two commandments hung all the law and the prophets.  The Bible really says to us to love... not to hate.  So you were about to tell me what the Bible says?

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Bruce Garner, President
Integrity USA: The Episcopal Rainbow

The Virus of Privilege

The initial audience for this posting will be pretty close to “all white” in composition, obviously including me. We share what can be termed a virus. It’s called privilege, white privilege. The majority are probably male. We share a variant of that virus. It’s called white male privilege. Most of the initial readers are also queer. That diminishes the aspects of privilege to some degree, but only when someone knows our sexual orientation. Those among us who are female, whether cisgender or transgender, enjoy a degree of privilege ... if white, of course. More on that later.

As a nation and perhaps somewhat less as a church, we are suffering from the infection by this virus of privilege. The symptoms include the great divisions we are experiencing. Other symptoms include the use of language and terminology that demeans and denigrates those who do not happen to be white. Our immigration policies reflect this virus. We would not have nearly the hand wringing and angst (or nasty language) if those seeking refuge among us had lighter skin tones. We, of course, do not talk much about these issues, but it doesn’t take much to discern that from the words that get used.

Privilege makes us think we are entitled to more than we are based on our skin color and our gender. We have been conditioned (brainwashed?) into thinking that there is some inherent superiority in being white and male. It makes me wonder how much of that type of thinking went into the pictorial depictions of Jesus as having blond hair and blue eyes. Did some folks have a problem relating to a Savior who had the olive skin, brown eyes and black hair of an ethnic Jew from the Middle East? I suspect so. Why else would be create such fantasies?

Is our notion of white privilege what prompts so many to say with some bitterness “ALL lives matter” when brought face to face with the necessity of someone else simply stating that “Black Lives Matter?” Why would we jump to such an impulsive and poorly thought out response if we didn’t somehow believe in such privilege? When a Black woman comes to tears when considering bringing a child into this world, we should open our eyes and take notice. I do not think I have ever heard a white parent speak about having to warn a son about what to wear, how to drive, how to speak, how to carry themselves for fear of being arrested, shot at or even killed because they came across as some racist stereotype of people of color. Dirt poor white parents do not feel a need to have those conversations. Very wealthy Black parents know how necessary such conversations are to survival.

I am painfully aware of how the color of my skin has benefited me in my life. I know that God has indeed blessed my life. At the same time I am keenly aware that some of what I might mistakenly call a blessing are more evidence of the ingrained nature of white (male) privilege.

I am trying to learn how to respond in a Christ like manner when a straight white male tells me how I should or should not feel or react or handle something. The stark reality is that however well intentioned such “advice” might be, it comes from those who have absolutely no clue what being queer is all about AND who have absolutely no authority to tell a queer person anything at all about responding to prejudice, bias, homophobia or the like. At times the best response is to just walk away. Then I have to remind myself that walking away does nothing to correct the ignorance that warranted such “advice” in the first place.

Even though most of my comments have been about males, females are not immune to the virus of white privilege or straight white privilege. My suspicion is that the observations I have made about women is that they are more prone to think before creating a situation where they might find their foot in their mouth up to the knee. However, I’ve also had more than ample evidence to the contrary as well. I have been sorely disappointed when straight white women exhibit the same or similar infection with the virus of white privilege.

We are called to responsibilities in helping insure the creation of the beloved community. We are also called to try and bring some bridges to place across the divides among us. That is the Gospel message. The unfortunate, dare I say tragic, circumstances in our nation make this a more difficult task than it has been in many decades in our nation. Bubbling below the surface has always been the spectre of slavery, Jim Crow, the KKK and all sorts of incarnations of hatred and racism. We find ourselves facing a daunting task, a task for which we are equipped by our faith if we will only speak out. In my part of the country the standard response to these issues has often been: “We don’t talk about such things.” Well it is now time to talk about “such things.” How much further must our moral compass drift before we do engage in such discussions?

What has our privilege done for us today? Hopefully we used it to benefit someone else.

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Bruce Garner, President
Integrity USA: The Episcopal Rainbow

A Voice That Gave Hope - Now a Heavenly Voice

Amazing Grace; Chain, Chain, Chain; Natural Woman; R.E.S.P.E.C.T. - songs associated with one voice: That of Aretha Franklin, The Queen of Soul. Her death this week brought an end to several eras. Her voice uplifted the downtrodden during the civil rights era. Her voice helped us understand the dignity and worth of women. Her voice was part of my years of coming of age in the sixties and early seventies. Her voice was that of the very first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Her voice now enhances the heavenly chorus... and everyone is trying hard to just keep up!

Like so many, especially in the south, her voice came out of singing in a church choir. Her father recognized talent and cultivated it. News stories spoke of the insistent but apparently gentle power she wielded over other musicians and artists during recording sessions and concerts. Invariably, they admitted that whatever she suggested was better than what they had planned. Her musical talents were extraordinary.

Some didn’t actually “get” the significance of what was lost when she died. Some had long ago missed the messages in her songs about freedom, respect and dignity. Some couldn’t grasp her healing voice and the work it had played during the years to revive those who had been knocked down and who some hoped would not stand back up.

The last 22 or so months have been so difficult for so many of us. We struggle to find ways to express ourselves and interact with others who have not felt any negative impact on who they are, their source of income, how they express their gender/identity, the color of their skin or their nation of origin. People have apparently been given some "permission" to say things they would not have said two years ago.

The Attorney General of the United States remarks that the number of foreign born in this country is getting to be too high. It doesn’t take much thought and little imagination to interpret that to mean that there are too many people here with black or brown skin, i.e., not white... like him (and me). Add that to the string of statements made about ridding the military of trans folks, homosexuals, and those living with HIV. Even while a diversion is created in one area, underhanded actions against so many take place in relative secrecy.

Yet... so many still do nothing. It is only necessary for good people to do nothing for evil to triumph. We live in times of evil actions. Dare I say we live in evil times?

I wonder how much money do some folks feel they absolutely have to have? 40 million dollars? A billion dollars? Do I hear a trillion? Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell all he had and join Jesus’ ministry. The young man walked away. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t sell all he had.

How "white" do we need to remain as a nation to satisfy some folks concerns? Jesus was an ethnic Jew from the Middle East most likely with dark brown eyes and black hair. It just isn’t accurate to depict Jesus as a blue-eyed blond haired dude to meet the comfort level of some who still have issues with skin that isn’t white.

What level of abuse of women is considered "acceptable"? Are suggestive jokes to be tolerated? Is unequal pay for the same work simply the way it has to be? Must a woman be expected to just "deal" with gropes and leers in order to keep her job? The list is much longer of what some expect others to tolerate regardless of the consequences.

What limits do some want to place on the human and civil rights of queer folk? Where can we live? Where can we serve our nation? To what professions are we restricted? What are grounds for putting us in detention camps?

Where are those who truly follow Jesus Christ? Sure, we can hold rallies and marches that attract hundreds of thousands all across the country. Where are the others, the other millions who either do not care or do not have the guts to speak out.

I’ve grown weary of others telling me that I have to suck it up if they want to allow their religious beliefs and practices to discriminate against me due to my sexual orientation. It’s not religion. It’s bigotry and prejudice.

We still have a voice my kindred in Christ. We STILL have a voice. Elections are going on right now, leading up to November. So tell me, when did you last challenge the bigoted stance of a candidate running in your area? When did you stand up at a town hall meeting and ask a direct and pointed question? When did you last pick up the telephone, type a text or email or write a plain ordinary letter expressing your views?

If we do nothing we deserve what happens to us. We follow one who sought justice for all. It cost him his life. Is the cost of a call, a text, an email or a postage stamp too great for our freedom? Time will tell. Time will indeed tell.

The Queen sang “Amazing Grace.” What will our song be? One of triumph or a pitiful whine?

Please continue to offer prayers for healing and recovery for our Presiding Bishop as he rests and recuperates from prostate cancer surgery.

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Bruce Garner, President
Integrity USA: The Episcopal Rainbow

Language Matters

Words Have Power

I am beginning to hear discussions about the use of  "expansive language" authorized by our General Convention. Some conversations are "heated" and others more calm.  Some want to retain traditional language, others want to seek words that reflect a different understanding of how we relate to each other and to God.

Those who use Morning Prayer as the source of  their daily prayers know The Jubilate or the 100th Psalm very well. A couple of days ago I felt moved to experiment with language of The Jubilate just to see how a few changes might sound. So in every place where the word “Lord” appeared, I replaced that with God. Every time God was referred to as “he” or “him” or “his” I replaced that with “God” as well.

Then I prayed the psalm. I was not prepared for something I immediately felt:  The intense power those changes created: God was God! The divine power of God came through the psalm in an unexpected way. I realized why. This simple change had removed all characteristics attributed to God that were human in nature. God’s divine nature was not encumbered by the limitations of human language. God was free to be God however I perceived God.

Here is the psalm using more expansive language:

Jubilate (Psalm 100)

Be joyful in God, all you lands; *
serve God with gladness and come before God’s presence with a song.
Know this: God is God; * God has made us, and we are God’s;
we are God’s people and the sheep of God’s pasture.
Enter God’s gates with thanksgiving; go into God’s courts with praise; *
give thanks to God and call upon God’s Name.
For God is good; God’s mercy is everlasting; *
and God’s faithfulness endures from age to age.
Glory to the Holy and undivided Trinity, One God, as it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen

(I looked in the Enriching Our Worship (EOW) series of services to see if this was something I might have seen there. It was not, in so far as I could determine.)

Then I wondered what impact such simple changes might have on others. How often do any of us consider the impact of God always being portrayed as male (and often as a white male) on our kindred? Is the language of a “male God” a source of comfort to a woman who was abused by her father or husband or brother or some other male in her life? I’m not sure how it could be a comforting image in such situations. Similarly, how well could a man who had been beaten, belittled and abused by his father find comfort in God always being referred to as "he?" If there has never been a positive male role model in your life, how can you see God in a positive light if God is always a male?

We are products of the words and language we use. We are shaped by the images conveyed by those words, even if we do not always realize that. Do our words bring comfort or pain? I really don’t think most of us pay much attention to the power of language. When there is a proposal to change language, especially language in our Book of Common Prayer, we often see much resistance. Are we worshiping God or are we worshiping words?

Even Jesus used the symbolism of a mother hen gathering her brood under her wings. Jesus did not use "rooster". He used "hen". He used a feminine image. Surely if Jesus could look beyond the limitations of language, we can do the same. We might even be able to move beyond what we have inherited from our ancestors whose reference points were invariably male for more reasons than can be covered here.

Our language and imagery cannot contain God, no matter how hard we try. Let God be God, however each of us perceives God.

Holy Spirit, expand our hearts, expand our minds, expand our words. Let us see God simply as God. May we experience the divine power that comes when we cast off that with which we have tried to bind God.

Please continue to offer prayers for  healing and recovery for our Presiding Bishop as he rests and recuperates from prostate cancer surgery.

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Bruce Garner, President
Integrity USA: The Episcopal Rainbow

Expansive Language, Expansive Love

I urge you to access the activities of General Convention by going to www.generalconvention.org. Click on “virtual binder” you can view the resolutions on which actions were taken. I think it will be worth your while to explore the resolutions that were passed and see how they might impact your life and that of our church.

An area that is likely to pique interest is that of “expansive language.” Resolution D078 provides for the trial usage in Eucharistic Prayers A, B and D of language that is more expansive in our relationship and references to God and each other. It pulls in some of the language used in the Enriching Our Worship (EOW) series of services. It includes other changes that many congregations have essentially automatically been making in an effort to refer to God in more expansive language.

How many of us have begun prayers with “God be with you” rather than “The Lord be with you?” This resolution authorizes that language. In the opening acclamation for the Eucharist you will now be able to hear: “Blessed be God: most holy, glorious, and undivided Trinity.” To which the people may respond: “And blessed be God’s reign, now and for ever. Amen.”

One of the provisions of this trial usage is that it is authorized for use until the next revision of The Book of Common Prayer. This means we can use it beginning the First Sunday of Advent, 2018 and continue from there. 

Resolution B012 is the one that should allow same sex couples to be married in their own parishes whether the bishop of the diocese approves or not. How that will really play out is still to be resolved.

Resolution D067 calls upon us to use “bias free” language in referring to God and humankind. Most might immediately think that is more gender neutral language but it goes beyond that. The language of some Scripture is almost accusatory in tone. John’s version of the Gospel is sometimes anti-semitic in places. This resolution allows for the use of language that doesn’t automatically convey cultural biases. Hopefully that will allow us to see Scripture with more clarity.

Resolution C054 calls upon the church to be more inclusive of transgender persons and seeks avenues to achieve that.

Resolution D088 calls for the creation of policies for amending church records particularly for transgender people. This should make it easier once someone makes their transition to have some very important records reflect their expressed gender identity. 

I find it ironic that we have to pass resolutions to provide for more “expansive” language. God’s love is beyond expansive and always has been. It is our limited view of both love and God that needs expanding in both language and concept. God is beyond our humanly concocted notions of who God is or how God acts or in truth, anything about God. The Divine is always going to be beyond the ability of our limited minds to conceive.

May we learn to be more expansive about how we relate to each other as children of the Living God. Boundaries are of our creation, not God’s. Love knows no boundaries, despite our attempts otherwise.

Holy Spirit, sustainer of who we are as God’s children, expand our minds to engage with our fears and ignorance to see each other as God sees us. Holy Spirit, expand our hearts to match the boundless heart of God in pure and holy and unconditional love for each other and for the God to whom we turn in faith and trust for all that we are.

Please continue to offer prayers for healing and recovery for our Presiding Bishop as he rests and recuperates from prostate cancer surgery.

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Bruce Garner, President
Integrity USA: The Episcopal Rainbow