Welcome!

I’m glad you dropped by and look forward to a positive encounter. If you have the time, please join me and others at our virtual coffee house, The New 12th Gate. This week we introduce the “indie” folk work of Peter Mulvey.

What does the LORD require of you but to do justice,and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6)

Advent Resources – The Thrill of Hope

If you think you know the Emory campus, but have not been around here for a couple of years, you may be very surprised and a little bit lost. Bishop Hall (Candler School of Theology) is gone and in its place is the first of two new state of the art buildings. Cannon chapel is still the center of the community, but Pitts Library will move in a year or so into the second building. The former library building will then house the Emory University Religion Department.

As part of the new construction, Candler received a wonderful grant to purchase 50 paintings and prints by John August Swanson that now decorate the new diggs. This is the largest collection in the world housing Swanson’s work and I am delighted that I have a chance to visit often.

In that context, I want to introduce you to an amazing new resource coming from Candler School of Theology. Our Sunday School class began using it yesterday.

A Thrill of Hope: The Christmas Story in Word and Art, is a new DVD production designed for use in Sunday School classes, Bible studies, and other church group gatherings. There is a great discussion guide that goes with it.

The 50-minute DVD presents the familiar story of Christmas as told in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew. Each passage of scripture is illustrated and interpreted by the stunning artwork of John August Swanson along with commentary by members of Candler’s esteemed faculty, including Michael Brown, Luke Timothy Johnson, Steve Kraftchick, Tom Long, Carol Newsom, and Gail O’Day.

The video and five guides cost $30 per set - additional guides are available for $5 each. To order A Thrill of Hope, download the order form.

The video is divided into six 8-minute sections, each one featuring a passage of scripture from the Christmas story: The Annunciation to Mary, The Nativity, The Shepherds, Epiphany, The Presentation in the Temple, and the Flight into Egypt. I have included the introduction to the DVD.

Conversations With Scripture – Borg on Mark

I really wish that I had Marcus Borg’s ability to write for a  lay audience. That may be, even more than the insights he shares, the key reason that I delight in his latest book,  published as part of the Anglican Association of Biblical Scholars Study Series, Conversation About Scripture.

The Gospel of Mark is by my count the seventh book published in that series which also includes work on John, Parables, the Law, 2nd Isaiah, Acts and Revelation. I didn’t immediately find much in Borg’s new book that was particularly new – he has already written some 22 books and leads workshops across the continent in a variety of local congregations. But it is nice, especially as my ongoing study focus is Taking a Second Look at Mark, to have it all in one place.

Following what for me is a very well written introduction to post-modern Biblical study and his particular approach, Borg looks at the Gospel in five successive chapters. Rejecting the false choices between fundamentalist literalism on the one hand and the popular put down of more metaphorical readings of scripture as “less than” worthy on the other, Borg reiterates his work with Metaphorical (Parabolic) Narratives in the text, an approach that looks instead for that which is “more than” the historical, literal events related.

While Borg slogs through the text beginning with what he calls the “overture,” his chapter divisions are less grounded in the actual flow of the narrative, but serve as stopping places to explore particular elements. Gospel chapters 1-3, as the overture, function to set the stage playing key recurring themes. In particular, Borg focuses like many scholars also do on the notion of “the way” as Mark’s central paradigm.

Chapter 2 in the study focuses on Mark 4-5 exploring the topics of parabolic teaching first and then miracles examined less as actual events and more as truth-filled stories, many grounded in the Christian Old Testament.

Let me take a brief tangent, simply thanking Borg for sensitivity to some of the more damaging images of the relationships between Jews and Christians that even today hang around especially in local congregations but unfortunately in some pulpits as well. His choice to speak of the Jewish Scriptures and the “Christian Old Testament” is a point in kind, although I wish he would not simply skip over the fact that these two books are distinctly different books. However, he makes a helpful start here. In his discussion of the Final Week (chapter five  Mark 9-16), he clearly reminds readers that the corruption of the nation’s ruling elites is not the corruption of the Jewish people.

Borg’s third chapter (Mark 6:1-8:21) returns to the theme of miracles, this time nature miracles and their echo in the Jewish creation tradition, particularly the stilling of the storm. He then also explores the growing rejection, not so much by the crowds, but by authorities and the predictable conflicts being foreshadowed in the text.

Chapter Four (Mark 8:22-10:52) explores what scholar John Donahue spoke of as the top of the arch, the story of the journey from the Galilee to Judea (finally Jerusalem). Borg rightly points out that this segment of the text begins with the story of the healing of the blind man in Bethsaida and ends with a second miracle of restoring sight of one in Jericho. In between (inside this sandwich), Borg looks at the three teachings of Jesus about the Son of Man and what is to happen to him. He also discusses in each associated pericope the misunderstanding at stake and the renewed call to follow “the way.”

In this chapter, Borg  also speaks to the issue of understanding the crucifixion and resurrection beyond the fundamentalist queion of whether these events really occurred – a misinformed, misplaced question that distracts from encountering the real meat of the narrative.

Then, Borg  wrestles briefly with other stories that emerge in these texts including the transfiguration and the disturbing questions of Jesus’ attitude to wealth.

While I find this book helpful, it seems to me that as this book and the related Gospel are studied in a local parish, some scholarly consultation might be helpful. For Borg is not the last word (and I certainly don’t think he intends to be) but this study is better imaged as a “first word” that raises a whole series of issues that can be explored in the uture. This is why I do understand the rationale behind no footnotes (actually only five), the fact that there are only sixs other sources identified in what looks to be a bibliography seems to me to be less than helpful. So for example, Borg speaks of the event of the tearing of the curtain in the temple as the ripping of the cloth separating the holy of holies, but someone like Raymond Brown would beg to differ noting that there are probably several curtains. Or again, Borg’s statement that there is no historical precedent for the Barrabbas amnesty is frankly wrong.

Theologically, I find his point blank affirmation of what is called the “Messianic Secret” simplistic and his failure to distinguish between the Judean Messianic tradition and the Galilean Son of Man perspective problematic. Still, especially if a study group has access to additional perspectives, this is certainly a book that I would recommend.

Borg’s final chapter examines the week in Jerusalem culminating in crucifixion and resurrection and he is quite honest that he draws much of the summary material from his book written with Crossan, The Final Week. I might add that I love that book, so if I had a study group looking first at this resource, the next place I would take the group might well be to the fuller discussion in that book. Having said that, B0rg does extract important insights including the fact that on so-called Palm Sunday (not really a Sunday) there were two parades.

In that context, we are not surprised to find Borg’s work with empire (what he and Crossan call the “domination system”) mentioned throughout the commentary. Borg’s clear break with notions of Substitutionary Atonement are certainly there as well and may be more forcefully stated than in other settings. I’ve still got to work a bit on his suggestion of an alternative notion of  “participatory atonements.” Of course, Borg rehearses his, what for me is a helpful distinction between Faith (belief) as subscribing to a check list of  formal propositions and Faith (belief) as loyalty and trust. This description of paradign shift is found in a couple of his earlier books and often is the recurring subject of his seminars.

Without losing his perspective on Mark, I did find his regular comments as to how Matthew (less Luke and John) edited what Mark had first written. This features opens the door to further study of the larger Gospel tradition and its evolution.

As a part of the series, Borg’s commentary is followed by several pages of study questions and curriculum suggestions that offer a lot of  ways a group might take the study consistent with the actual membership. The author of these questions is not identified, but it is someone other than Borg. However, in his writing Borg also periodically stops the commentary and asks a series of questions as well.
This is helpful too and Borg is frank enough to say that he is puzzled at certain texts and honest enough to point out that scholars disagree at some places.

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Well that’s the review.

Here is the commercial! Many of you are aware that for the last several months I have bee writing initial commentaries on Mark as well. This project started on the old 7 Village site, but has now in the process of being moved to my new journal site, Logos 2.0.

My study, Taking a Second Look at Mark, is still under construction, but in the meantime, I would love to put you on my mail list for when it starts again. In the meantime, please check out some of the previous posts.

Lord, Save Us From Your Followers

This past Friday a new documentary has been released in public theatres, available in only a few markets.There is a DVD that has been out for some time now as well as a book.  I first became aware of the movie through a Christianity Today review that a friend sent me. Having discovered that it was showing just down the street, I attended. The following comments are very first draft reflections.

It is no surprise that this documentary has won award after award. Dan Merchant has created a remarkable cinematic effort. He has woven together disparate elements into an intriguing montage that engages, fascinates and delights those who watch. Merchant uses  media clips, talking heads, and several recurring interviews with the likes of Tony Compola, Rick Santorum, Rick Warren, Bono and even Al Franken. He has extended narrative episodes including mission trips to Mississippi after Katrina, World Vision tours of Ethiopia, culture wars confrontations in San Francisco, borrowed TV game show experiments, much more.

All of this is held together with transitions that make my power point fades look childish and the suit that turns Merchant into a walking bumper sticker occasioning short “on the street” encounters is brilliant.

The one place it could have worked better has been noted by reviewers, while very interesting, the awkward animations format just didn’t quite fit.

USA Today suggested that what we had was a cross between Monty Python and Michael Moore – an apt description. The movie is packed full, but Merchant’s wit and honesty keeps it moving forward far better than the absurdity of Python or the cynicism of Moore. It is time well spent.

For a teaser, do check out the preview on the following site – Lord, save Us From Your Followers.

Dan Merchant is disturbed by the intensity of dissonance experienced between the political left and religious right on a variety of related public issues. The sub-title of the movie, Why is the Gospel of Love dividing America, may ring more true than the main title.

I am reminded that this is particularly an American issue. Anglican evangelical theologian NT Wright, in his recent collaboration with Marcus Borg, speaks about how the public discourse in our country contrasts with almost everywhere else. Everyone wants to choose sides and marginalize the other. We seek a false victory where one side wins, but in a sense everybody loses.

Tony Campola notes in one interview segment, “Do you realize what you are doing when you frame the discussion in such an antagonistic, polarizing, hateful manner? A movement can exist without a god, but never without a devil, there has to be an enemy to be destroyed.”

In contrast, as one reviewer noted “the central thrust [of the documentary] is looking at how the Church and Christianity [might] be viewed [by others] if they did one simple thing, act like Jesus.”

Now Dan Merchant is certainly not a pacifist in the so-called culture wars? But I think it is fair to say that he might see the present conflict between Christian believers and post-modern (post-Christian) cultures as failing to meet “just war” criteria and thus behoove us to look for other patterns of engagement. While his documentary does not directly broach the issue in those terms, Merchant is certainly seeking an alternative approach to the constant conflict that seems to create more chaos than widely promote the gospel

Again, I want to be careful as I am using categories to analyze themes in the movie that Merchant does not use. Nowhere is just war criteria mentioned, but I don’t think it is inappropriate to reflect on some of the values they represent in a time of conflict.

While the documentary speaks a lot about confrontation, actually many of the episodes deal indirectly with that issue. But early on, Merchant travels to San Francisco for the Battle Cry gathering of youth and young adults founded by evangelist Ron Luce. The Battle Cry movement seeks to recruit new warriors for the cultural war. Luce preaches that our country is in trouble, Mass media culture, so influential in the lives of our young people, has transformed our once honored understanding of ourselves as a Christian nation into a culture that opposes Christianity. I’ll leave the debate about whether we were a Christian nation to others.

Luce argues that the time has come to make a stand and in fact, a group of young people tried to give witness by staging a protest event on the steps of the San Francisco City Hall.

There is disturbing footage of the confrontation between counter-demonstrators, citizens who in many ways consider City Hall, the site of numerous gay marriages, sacred space and Luce’s “youth for Christ.”

“Christians go home,” the crowd chanted. Not cowed, Luce brought his followers back for a second year.

Merchant does an extended interview with Sister Mary Timothy Simplicity, a cross-dressing nun, a member of the infamous Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. The steps of the city hall building carry special meaning for Sister Mary Timothy for she witnesses that two years prior to this fractious encounter, he and her husband exchanged vows of marriage. What struck me in the interview was that in addition to the pride expressed in the passion behind the counter-demonstration, he found herself also appalled that “they were yelling at CHILDREN.” I am reminded of the statement dating from Vietnam era that the village was destroyed in order to save it.

Just War ethics require that collateral damage be avoided as much as possible even if the cause itself is moral. The consequences of the culture wars seems to me to harm our most vulnerable. Maybe, Christians should not participate.

Tangent: Some attending the movie might find the Sisters outrageous. They are – San Francisco is an outrageous place. Nevertheless, you might find the following statement from their website informative.

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence® is a leading-edge Order of queer nuns. Since our first appearance in San Francisco on Easter Sunday, 1979, the Sisters have devoted ourselves to community service, ministry and outreach to those on the edges, and to promoting human rights, respect for diversity and spiritual enlightenment. We believe all people have a right to express their unique joy and beauty and we use humor and irreverent wit to expose the forces of bigotry, complacency and guilt that chain the human spirit.

Not surprising, in a movie about the “culture wars” the division over GLBTQ issues comes up more than once in the documentary. In terms of collateral damage, Tony Compola tells a heart rendering story from his high school years. In his class, there was a young man who Tony indicates was “outed” and became the subject of constant bullying. Compola tells of the day when five of the young man’s fellow students dragged the youth into the corner of the showers and urinated on their victim. Tony was not present. That evening, the young man hanged himself seeking release from the constant terror. Tony talks about how he wished that he were there and that some how he could have been a friend.

In terms of this issue, public bickering leads so easy to unintended collateral damage. Statistics are frightening at how vulnerable our GLTBQ youth are and how at risk they are of suicide.

Proportionality is another just war value. Merchant has a distinct sense of wit that has the capacity to put things in perspective. In an episode, shot in St. Paul, MN he explores events surrounding the removal of the Easter Bunny from public space.

Oh, we are under attack! Attack back.

With a certain delight, Merchant tells not of angry demonstrations, but a kind of “do it yourself” shrine that grew up at the place where the Easter Bunny previously stood. One morning a box of “Peeps” appeared. First one, then another and so forth. The point had been made.

In a conversation with one of the more strident proponents of a secularized public square, Merchant pointed out that they should also change the city’s name – I mean St. Paul is named after St. Paul, right. Then in a dance around absurdity, the conversation moves to St. Louis, St. Charles, St. Augustine, you get the point. Are our tactics proportional to the real enemy? Perhaps, as Christians, we have met the enemy, and it is us.

Merchant’s jumpsuit covered with bumper stickers and car magnets becomes a lesson in point. First, we have the traditional Christian fish, with the Greek letters standing for Jesus, Christ , Son of God. Of course, that morphed into a fish with stubbie legs touting not Christ, but Darwin. A fish emblazoned with the word “truth,” was then produced eating Darwin. But of course, along came a dinosaur that swallowed the “truth.”

Speaking of Jesus as the Son of God becomes the basis of a tale told by Al Franken. Apparently at one event recently, he was asked whether he believed that Jesus was the Son of God. Franken, a practicing Jew answered that he did not believe that Christian doctrine. About 10 folks gathered around anxiously awaiting the next step in the conversation and perhaps some comedy. Franken then spoke about how, if we might understand that people can see God in all of us, them it might be appropriate to then talk about us all as  Sons (and daughters) of God. Franken witnesses that most of the group nodded their heads saying that that is an interesting take on the notion. However, one man walked away stridently telling him that he was going to hell.

Not sure this is the best of theology, but the encounter may indicate that if we listen to each other rather than beat each other over the head with slogans, we might find that the “culture wars” are not as real as some make them out to be.

In a reflective essay like this, I can only touch on a small part of what can be found in the movie.   In his documentary, Merchant’s work begins to evolve beyond reporting on the conflict defined by one reviewer as the “absence of real dialogue, real listening and real conversation among those who claim to be followers of Jesus and his message of healing love and forgiveness.” The ensuing message (and from my point of view Merchant’s vision of hope)  then changes from conflict to looking at how (as mentioned above) the Church and Christianity might be viewed if they did one simple thing, act like Jesus.” [my emphasis]

Merchant gives us several examples.of what this might look like as he closes his movie. There is the report documenting various mission trips helping with recovery efforts in Mississippi after Katrina. There are the deeply moving scenes of ordinary Christians sharing their lives with homeless people in Portland. I was stunned by the discussion of “foot washing” and the recognition of the vulnerability that must be shared between the one who is washing and the one whose feet are washed. There are allusions to Nelson Mandela and the South African efforts at reconciliation.

In what for many might be seen as the most provocative episode in the movie, (Yes, there are provocative scenes!)  a confession booth is set up as part of the Portland Pride event. We should note that to encourage the curious one sign by the booth asks people to be in a movie. But the booth is recognizable for what it is. The tactic is not original, but borrowed from the book, Blue Like Jazz and comes from a similar effort first done at Reed College.

Once inside the confession booth, the process is turned upside down and Merchant speaks first, apologizing for the church’s homophobia, its silence, its hate, and most importantly his personal participation. I should add that this doesn’t come from some other planet, for one of the earlier news clips celebrates the ministry of Pope John the 23^rd and the Vatican Council where he apologized for the church’s participation in the Shoah.

Though the confessional has a wall, the wall falls. Disparate worlds are no longer seen as camps to defend, but places to learn from each other and in that context perhaps understand the gospel better.

Obviously, I found the movie helpful, deeply inspiring and when possible a conversation starter.
The audience at the showing I attended was essentially me and a church group from down the street. Folloowing the movie, the church group adjourned to Starbucks to continue the discussion. I regret that I did not have to courage to invite myself to their conversation.

Having said that, it is a conversation starter not the end of the discussion. A recent commentator on the health care debate urged that we, all of us, must learn to see that those we disagree with are not the enemy. But because we all live in our own bubbles, it is sometimes very difficult to see the larger world in which we all exist. Now there are fringe elements who still fight, turn small issues into big concerns, cause much too much collateral damage. I’m reminded of the old phrase from the 60s, “what if someone gave a a war, and the Christians on both sides simply didn’t come.”

Sometimes, we might find that even though those who do not identify themselves as Christians still share common concerns. There is wonderful footage of World Vision projects in Ethiopia where those who think they live in different bubbles find a unity that was always there if we listened to each other, a unity found less in words but in shared tasks like whisking flies out of refugee children’s eyes.

Nevertheless, I did not see myself in the movie. The map of the battle lines only shows a portion of the larger territory. This is a movie about Evangelicals and how they might not divide America. I’m not sure that there are many hard core atheists in the cast of characters. There are lots of Christians who have left because they could not stand the hypocrisy. There are lots who have found the invitation not really inviting and so they wait for something more. There are some who have been forced out and have had to find their own safe space, for there was none in the local congregations that they left.

How might the Church and Christianity be viewed if they did one simple thing, act like Jesus?

But again, I am not in this cast of characters and the places I am tempted to marginalize people are different. I am not an evangelical, never was tempted to be one. All of our faith traditions are found under a much bigger tent than we imagine. I’m not saying that personal change is not important, but the focus of my faith journey is traditionally on social change. There is no General Board of Church and Society in this movie. For me, while visits to homelsss people on the streets is important, conferences with Senators and Representatives are important as well.

These are thorny issues. Tony Compola may feel called to build relationships with his gay fellow students, but for me Tony has not taken the steps necessary to build social structures that guarantee social change beyond individual relationships. It’s Tony’s wife who has it right on means of inclusion. In similar fashion, Rick Santorum and Rick Warren who come off in this movie as holding reasonable points of view occasion skepticism for me – we have got a lot of talking to do. The issue of abortion rights is noticeably absent.

In the movie, Al Franken is the token Jew. There are no Hindu, Muslims, Mormans, Buddhists, Native Americans. But these are people who I must learn to relate to every day.

Given the ugly misstatements by culture war commanders like Tony Perkins concerning last Fridays Muslim time of prayer on the Capitol grounds, these questions loom even larger than the movie suggests. Sadly, I’m not sure that the 50,000 worshipers got much attention in the news. Issues of Multi-faith dialogue are not addressed by Merchant.

I loved the movie! We have a lot of talking to do. It deserves all the awards it got, but more importantly this movie gives us some clues about how to carry out that much needed conversation.

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Looking for some fun – Drop in to our virtual coffee house – The New 12th Gate

In Memory of Beth Rickey

In the midst of the current health care debate (if you can call it that), researchers from Harvard have published a new study suggesting that almost 45,000 unnecessary deaths per year can be associated with the lack of health insurance.

The study, conducted at Harvard Medical School and Cambridge Health Alliance, found that uninsured, working-age Americans have a 40 percent higher risk of death than their privately insured counterparts, up from a 25 percent excess death rate found in 1993.

“The uninsured have a higher risk of death when compared to the privately insured, even after taking into account socioeconomics, health behaviors, and baseline health,” said lead author Andrew Wilper M.D., who currently teaches at the University of Washington School of Medicine.. “We doctors have many new ways to prevent deaths from hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease — but only if patients can get into our offices and afford their medications.”

CNN’s  reporting about the release of this study notes not surprisingly that there have been questions raised about  the findings

Two authors of the Harvard study, Himmelstein and Dr. Steffie Woolhandler are co-founders of the Physicians for a National Health Program, which supports government-backed “single-payer” health coverage.

The National Center for Policy Analysis, which backs “free-market” health care reform, calls the Harvard research flawed.

“The findings in this research are based on faulty methodology and the death risk is significantly overstated,” said John C. Goodman, the president of the NCPA in a statement. But Goodman did note there is “a genuine crisis of the uninsured in this country.” [my emphasis]

At this point, I will let others sort out the fine points of methodology and research perspectives. Nevertheless, it is so easy to get caught up in the theory and miss the point that this is about real people. I found the CNN article helpful in that regard as it begins with the story of the death of actual persons.

“A freelance cameraman’s appendix ruptured and by the time he was admitted to surgery, it was too late. A self-employed mother of two is found dead in bed from undiagnosed heart disease. A 26-year-old aspiring fashion designer collapsed in her bathroom after feeling unusually fatigued for days.”

This issue was brought closer home to me this week as I received a letter from my friend and colleague Pat Rickey Tuecke about the passing of her cousin, Debbie Rickey in a cheap motel in Sante Fe. Beth Rickey was a sad casualty of a broken health care system. Having fought a mysterious immune system collapse first begun after she returned from a mission trip to Mexico thirteen years ago, her condition was made worse by the development of Crohn’s Disease. Unable to work because of the debilitating symptoms and now uninsurable because of a “preexisting condition,” Rickey used up all of her personal financial resources purchasing exorbitantly expensive medications and treatments. While family and friends had sought to help over the years, she died essentially destitute and homeless. It is a deeply troubling story.

Even more so, Rickey’s story represents a provocative sense of irony. In the midst of raucous “tea party” demonstrations where fringe forces parade absurd signs portraying the “current occupant of the white house” as a reincarnation of Hitler, where confused marchers spout interchangeable slogans saying that our nation is on the verge of socialism, or is it communism, or is it fascism. (Isn’t it all the same?), where we read blog posts that mistakenly argue that libertarianism and capitalism are identical, the vitriolic public discussions tempt us all to despair.

Our faith leaders rightly encourage alternative approaches to dialogue, yet they are maligned for making such calls

Beth Rickey grew up in a time when one could tell the difference between the vision of honest conservatism and the rhetoric of ultra right wing pundits. No more today – all one has to do is listen to Glenn Beck or Lou Dobbs.

Some know Rickey’s history and about her moment of fame. Rickey was a staunch Republican activist from the state of Louisiana. She served on the party’s central state committee. She voted for Goldwater and worked in Ronald Reagan’s campaigns. She strongly supported the civil rights movement and from reports of her family, she was proud to be the niece of former baseball commissioner, Branch Rickey, who opened the door for Jackie Robinson to play in the major leagues.

Rickey knew what real racism looked like and she understood real fascism, for in the late 80s and the early 90s when David Duke ran for the governor of the state, she almost single-handedly led the opposition to his candidacy. While Duke suggested that he had put his association with the KKK behind himself, that he was not anti-Semitic, she did the research to back up the truth of Duke’s prejudices, his real commitments to Nazi principles and his deep racism.

In time, others followed her lead and eventually Duke was defeated.

In honor of Beth Rickey’s committed life and final struggle, perhaps it might be appropriate to seek the truth beyond the cynical partisan bickering we now experience and find a solution to the disastrous consequences of our broken systems. It might make a difference in as many as 45,000 lives.

Links for further information:

Quin Hillyer’s obituary in The Washington Times is touching, and highly recommended.

Kenneth Stern writes in Forward, the Jewish Daily

It’s Complicated!

My youngest son teases me a lot because when it comes to how I choose to describe my relationships on my Facebook profile, I have chosen to write “It’s Complicated.”

Frankly, I’m not sure what the question is after in the first place – if it is about orientation, I am straight. If it is about whether I am presently seeking intimacy, I am probably more a monk nowadays than anything else. Dating – Getting re-married. I’ve been there – I’ve done that…and it is complicated.

I am somewhat amazed at how easy it is to find ourselves longing for simple, either/or answers to difficult issues. Most scripture discussions is the “blogosphere” include the familiar but silly statement that if a particular story found in the Bible is seen to be more a parable than a historical account, then the Bible is completely worthless. Really?

But of course, it is not simple, even though we all like to sing that song that says – East is East and West is West….

Yada, yada, yada. Sometimes direction depends on where one is standing.

Some of us have been following the sensationalist and despicable news around the recent world record setting performance of young South African runner, Caster Semenya. Despite the traditional expectation of confidentiality about matters of gender identity and testing until careful conclusions have been reached, talk show pundits and news outlets looking for lurid ways to attract even more lurid audiences have spread vicious rumors, twisted misinformation, and ugly lies, certainly exposing this young 18 year old competitor – standing in the best African tradition of sports excellence – to unearned ridicule and undeserved embarrassment.

Now the headlines in the last couple of days spout reports, not confirmed, and not authorized that suggests that there is some evidence (only obvious in tests) that what is at stake has to do with intersex realities.

Time will tell. Unfortunately, until time tells, Caster will find herself subject to unwanted public display. Even if the story is true, she will not be asked to relinquish her crown. There is no evidence of doping which might disqualify her.

The verification of sexual identity in sports is complicated. As many of you know, our family has been deeply involved in the sport of swimming. These are not new questions. In 1996, when the Olympics and Paralympics were held here in Atlanta, this question of guidelines to define sexuality came up about a certain swimmer. It is complicated.

Last week, writing in the New York Times, Alice Dreger who is professor of clinical medical humanities and bioethics in the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University addressed the complexity of the question by asking “Where is the rule book?”

She concludes her essay noting that [officials] “should — finally — come up with a clear set of rules for sex typing, one open to scientific review, one that will allow athletes like Semenya, in the privacy of their doctors’ offices, to find out, before publicly competing, whether they will be allowed to win in the crazy sport of sex. I bet that’s a sport no one ever told Semenya she would have to play.”

So if gender identity is so complicated, could the question of sexual orientation at least correlate one on one with gender – of course not, it is a completely different set of polarities. So it is very complicated.

Sadly what strikes me in these matters is the fact that many in our church still argue that east is east and west is west. When we do, we dishonor our GLBTQ friends, children and colleagues. We deny the God given talents of our GLBTQ friends, children and colleagues. We continue to deny our own homophobia confusing love with acting nice instead of seeking justice. We would rather refuse to celebrate the sanctity of their committed relationships than admit that sexuality is complicated.

I remain amazed that my GLBTQ friends, sons and daughters, and colleagues patiently affirm the reality of grace and continue to forgive our sin.

Would you join me in prayer for Caster, her family, the athletes on her team, her nation in these coming difficult days?

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Cross-posted at UMCommunities

Integrity Still Counts

I am sure there is some Bible verse somewhere that I could quote – something about giving up to temptation. But, I will pass.

Michael Phelps has been in the news again lately – his first world competition since his amazing performance on the global stage in the Beijing Olympics and since the lifting of his suspension from competition for being photographed with a Bong.

The headlines have taunted Michael’s loss in the 200 freestyle to young German swimmer, Paul Biedermann who Phelps had beaten by 4 seconds in China. “Is this a sign of Phelp’s inevitable decline?” the stories asked. I think not – instead it is a sign of character, and I am grateful in a world of sports where doping and other questionable practices are rampant, that Michael demonstrated an important lesson in integrity.

Over the years, my youngest has had the opportunity to swim against Michael. Matt almost even beat him when they were 10 years old. I’ve had the chance to watch Michael mature in those years and I have always respected him for his kindness, humor and resolve. Matt had the chance to watch Michael as well over the years, watch him grow and grow, not just in height, but in wing span. Adolescence brought Matt all the way to 5′8″. He has a great kick, but every flip turn leaves him half a body length behind. Two years ago, after finishing his college career, he became a coach. a pretty good one I hear.

Of course, the story behind the story of Michael’s loss, not just a race, but a record had to do with the suit that Biedermann (and several others) wore. These new suits are made with polyurethane and provide special buoyancy that enhances speed. These newfangled  suits have torn the sport of swimming apart, with the international governing body FINA promising that they will be banned shortly in the next year. However, at this year’s world championships being held in Rome at the Foro Italico outdoor pool, records are regularly falling. One of the decisions that FINA will have to make is whether these new world records should have an asterick next to the published times.

Swim suits are strange. Most parents of male swimmers remember nervously back to the first time their son tried on a Speedo, a suit that they themselves would have never been caught dead in! Over the years came jammers, knee length suits that nowadays avoid the embarassment of young kids being so exposed. Of course, there are different versions of the full-body suit that have been around for years.

Michael generally wears the Speedo  LZR racer and part of why I speak of the intergrity of his decision has to do with staying with his sponsor company. It is reported that other swimmers chose to wear the new suits, but then covered-up the logo. Speedo has certainly been good to Michael. After his performance in Beijing, Michael got a million dollar bonus. Still, it seems to me, that his decision to stay with Speedo represents not just an unwillingness to compromise simply based his own narrow self-interest, but a kind of affirmation of loyalty that is hard to come by these days.

But, it seems to me that there is more. The NYT article missed the point by reporting that Michael switched suits for the 200 fly. However, he still wore a LZR racer, just one that kept his upper body free. That is not uncommon for the butterfly races. I might add that latest reports note that Michael not only won that particular race but set a new world record.

Michael’s coach, Bob Bowman, concerned about the questionable new records, had threatened that Michael will not compete in international competition until these issues are resolved. Bowman and I have argued on deck more than once, but I think he is absolutely right this time around. Apparently the threat has shaken up more than a few international officials and my guess is that this will be resolved sooner than later.

It is at this point that the real question of integrity emerges. Swimming is a great sport. Now my boys did play little league and my older son Tim ran cross country. But I have always loved swimming. First, because it is co-ed and before adolescence sets in, the girls generally beat the boys – kind of a humbling lesson that I believe has stayed with my sons occasioning a sort of respect for gender differences not necessarily taught in other sports.

Second, because swimming is not a contact sport, i.e. as long as you stay in your own lane, your true competition is yourself. Coaches repeatedly set goals that don’t have to do with winning, but have to do with beating your personal best time. Everybody can be a winner at swimming.

In our county summer league championships, for the last couple of years, the opening heat in the first race has been reserved for several of the kids who compete in spite of  their disabilities. None of these kids could make the qualifying times to swim in the regular heats. but as the race finishes, the cheers are deafening, the crowd is on its feet recognizing that in their own way these kids have accomplished just as much as Michael did in Beijing.

There used to be a Coke commercial – I think it was Coke – after all I am in Atlanta. It said, “be all that you can be.” Frankly, I thnk that John Wesley would have found it an interesting slogan – something to do with sanctification and going on to perfection – perfection not only in your loving relationship to the neighbor, but also in how one loves one’s own self.

I think the new swim suits cross the line – so did Michael. He is reported to have said to Biedermann that he looks forward to a rematch next year in jammers! The temptation here is not to be all that you can be, but be more that you are able to be.

One last story. My older son, Timothy broke the 11-12 year old state record for the 50 back stroke several years ago. It was a record that had stayed around in Georgia for some 15 years. This was Tim’s last meet swimming in that age group. Two days later, he had graduated to the 13-14 year old classification. In the next meet, Tim’s training partner, Peter Marshall who was one month younger than Tim and eventually has held several world records broke Tim’s new record by .01 of a second! Tim never got his name in the record book.

That was disappointing, but what I remember most vividly was the fact that as Peter finished the race and started to climb out of the pool, Tim was there shaking his hand and congratulating him.

Being the best that you can be – now that’s something and Michael has my respect not because of all of his medals, but because of his integrity.

Breaking News: Today NYT is reporting that FINA has ruled that polyurethane suits will be banned as of Janurary 1, 2010. There will also be restrictions on how much of the swimmer’s body can be covered. (July 31, 2009)

Photo: New York Times – Lars Baron/Bongarts, via Getty Images