Religious Liberalism and Theology: August 2008 Archives

Paul Rasor in his essay "Liberal Theology and the Challenge of Racism" which is his contribution to Soul Work; anti-racist theologies in dialogue argues that deep in liberal theory there is an antipathy toward community.  Community is seen as restricting the individual and their must be an articulation of rights of the individual, in order to protect the individual from the mob of community. Rasor argues that in order to advance our work of deconstructing racism and other forms of oppression we must renew liberalism to recognize that we are primarily social beings, and it is in supportive community that individuals are able to realize their selves. 

"Our efforts to become genuinely anti-racist are hampered by another liberal ambivalence that history helps to make clear.This ambivalence surfaces as we begin to learn the importance of of community in anti racist work.  Liberals want to create a strong and inclusive community, but we often want to do it without giving up anything, with letting down the barriers we erect around ourselves in the name of individual autonomy.  We wade into te waters of community up to our knees, but we're afraid to let go of the dock and plunge in with our whole bodies. . .

"Our deep seated fear of community, when combined with our tendency toward formalism and abstraction, leads to a deep fear of otherness that we have barely begun to recognize and address.  Fear of the other manifests itself in such liberal ideals as autonomy, self-reliance, and the like and prevents us from seeing we are truelly social selves.

"Liberal political and social theory, too often echoed in liberal religion, tends to protect the individual from the community, from true engagement with the other.  This kind of negative freedom tends to produce a constricted sense of self.  But a love-based understanding of the community would extend the individual and expand the self outward toward the other.  This sort of re-conception of community seems essential if we are serious about our anti racism work."

It is often said that becoming an anti racist involves transformation.  In this series of excerpts from her Soul Work essay "A Struggle To Inhabit By Country" Rebecca Parker applies the theological concept of conversion through engaged action to point to the nature of anti racist transformation.

"A person of faith, seeking out of love and desire for life to inhabit his or her country, needs to be engaged in incarnational social action.  Activism returns one to the actual world as participatory citizen and agent of history. Through activism, compliant absence is transformed into engaged presence.

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"This is my country.  Love calls me beyond denial and disassociation.  It is not enough to think of racism as a problem of "human relations" to be cured by me and others like me treating everyone fairly, with respect and without prejudice.  Racism is more.  It is a problem of segregated knowledge, mystification of facts, anesthetization of feeling, exploitation of people and violence against the communion/community of our humanity.

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"The habit of living somewhere else rather than here in a constructed "reality" that minimizes my country's history of both violence and beauty and ignores the present facts, keeps me from effectively engaging in the actual world.  I have the sensation of being a disembodied spectator as structures of racism are recreated before my eyes. But involvement in the steps of conversion -- theological reflection, remedial education, soul work, and engaged action -- moves me from enclosure to openness."

One of the most divisive battles in our country has been the debate between Evolution and Creationism.  Most often this debate is posed between two extreme positions, fundamentalist Christianity versus fundamentalist scientism.  The fundamentalist Christian argues that life on earth and all of the species were created all at once as part  by a transcendent anthropomorphic God in a seven day creation miracle.   The fundamentalist science story argues that life emerged by blind chance for dead matter and that evolution was a violent process of random mutations and natural selection.  If I argue and I do: that intelligence and creativity were and are involved in the ongoing process of creation.  the fundamentalist scientist will assume that you are trying to sneak in a transcendent designer, and see this view as theism by another name.    And the fundamentalist Christian will assume that I am just a godless Darwinist who is fancying up my heathen evolutionism with a little New Age spirituality.  Yet I would argue that most religious people and most scientists are not fundamentalists and take a position that embraces both divine creativity and evolution.  The view that the cosmos is self conscious, creative and self organizing  was a common belief among the indigenous people of this hemisphere and the bed rock understanding of process theology.  

I believe that Unitarian Universalists can play a positive role in the divisive Evolution versus Creationism debate.    We can show that religious communities are not all stubborn fundamentalists that deny the that life forms evolved over time, and we can show that Unitarian Universalists have theological and spiritual understandings of cosmic significance.

In 2004 Micheal Zimmerman initiated The Clergy Letter Project to reach out to clergy and urge them to support the teaching of science.  So far over 14000 clergy have signed the letter.  And in subsequent years congregations have held worship services on the same Sunday to show their support for Evolution within the religious community.   At first, many Unitarian Universalists hesitated to sign because it was "Christian clergy" letter, although many of us signed and wrote Micheal Zimmerman to expand the work to include all clergy.  As a result there was a Jewish Letter, and today the Evolution Sunday projects are inclusive and interfaith.   I urge all Unitarian Universalist congregations to consider standing with others in the faith community in this important initiative.

Our species has evolved on this planet supported nutritive conditions, and abundant resources.  Homo sapiens working together in communities have been able to create cultures that can remember the lessons that we have learned and apply those lessons to finding solutions.  Within those cultures we have erected institutions, complex sets of human relations that continue over time that facillate needed social functions in the areas of governance, production, finance, medicine, education, security, and religion.  But,  it is those very institutions that concentrate our collective power that have endanger us today.

In the last three centuries, beginning in a few countries in the so called industrial revolution, and now embracing the whole world in a global economy based on domination over both people and nature by corporations we are depleting the resources of our planet; most critically its deep, rich agricultural soils, it groundwater stored during from the time of the ice ages and its biodiversity.  

If we continue along this road the world's economic and social structures will collapse.  The leaders of the key institutions of the major nations of this earth appear to be under the illusion that no fundamental change in direction is required, that we can find technological solutions that will allow the corporations to continue business as usual.  

In the past grass roots movements have discovered ways to make changes in the direction of major institutions.  We think of the rise of organized labor, the consumer rights movement, the civil rights movement, the women's movement, and the environmental movement of the past.   While we have seen more and more grass roots movement toward more sustainable economics and agriculture, there is much more to do. 

In the words of the Earth Charter (2000)

We stand at a critical moment in Earth's history, a time when humanity must choose its future. As the world becomes increasingly interdependent and fragile, the future at once holds great peril and great promise. To move forward we must recognize that in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny. We must join together to bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace.

Because of the urgency of this task, I will be developing sermons and themes during the coming year on the Great Turning, the effort to make the turn away from catastrophe and toward earth community.

This was my column for the coming month in Throop Unitarian Universalist Church's newsletter Tidings. 

Wisdom is not like knowledge.   One can read all sorts of books, and take many examinations that test one's aptitude for doing tests, and get degrees from the best Universities and have no wisdom. Wisdom is acquired by practicing balance in a tipsy topsy world and sanity in the face of insanity.  Wise people seek justice  when confronted by inequities and outrages, and become peacemakers in the midst of conflict and violence.

Wisdom is learned by people who take their life work seriously, not because it will look good on a resume, and allow them to be noticed by the movers and shakers, but because this is the work that they have been given, and honest work is an expression of an honest person.

Thoreau said he went to the woods because he wanted to learn what the woods could teach him about living.   But it is important to note, that he went back to society,  he re-engaged in the world.  And when the time came to choose between conformity to an unwise war, or to wisely stand on principle--Thoreau choose to take a stand.  We judge the wise one not by the seeking but by the doing.

Wisdom not knowledge is what we need in our leaders.  I am less interested in how many facts the leader can conjure up, I am more interested in the leaders ability to laugh at themselves. We have seen the consequences of unwise leaders in recent years.  The present incumbent of the oval office has a degree from Yale, and another one from Harvard.  He got good enough grades for all that matters.  He is clearly an accomplished school goer.  Yet,  we hesitate to call him wise.  We have unwise leaders in abundance,  so I can don't have to pick on one party.

Wise leaders do not introduce rapid and violent change into another a society and then seem dumfounded when that society resists their well intended invasion.  Wise leaders do not lie,  and manipulate their constituents,  and then become disappointed when their supporters turn away.  Wise leaders do not demonize their opponents and then wonder why the public thinks that they will do anything to win.

Wisdom is acquired not from experience,  not tenure of doing the same thing over and over. there are many so called experienced functionaries who continue to be fools,  or  unthinking bureaucrats. No wisdom arises not from longevity of activity , but from the awareness brought to practice.

Wisdom is a set of spiritual quality and a spiritual practice, and like all spiritualities it is acquired by conscious practice, such as holding oneself accountable to standards, by doing honest work for the sake of honest work, by caring for the earth and her creatures because the earth and other creatures have cared for you.  Wisdom is recognizing that if we would have change in the world,that we must be the change we seek.