Unfundamentalist

Above All, Love

On Christian Culture Wars: Making Room at the Table

by Sarah Anderson in Christian Spirituality

In one of the very last chapters in the very last book of the Christian Bible, Revelation, after pages of confusing imagery and uncertain meanings, after plagues and beasts, after horsemen and scrolls, you find mention of a feast. But not just any meal. A wedding meal. An image that brings to mind long tables full of satisfying food, of rosy cheeks and emptying bottles of wine, of hearty laughs and settled hearts. It is—John, the writer of this cryptic book says—the wedding feast of the Lamb.

Something happens over a shared table. A bond over food is not a bond easily broken. As believers, we know the meaning goes as far back as 2,000 years ago, when a Jewish rabbi gathered His closest friends together, washed their feet, insisted on His certain death, and commissioned them to love another, to serve one another, as He had done them—over bread representing His body, over wine signifying His blood.

Food at the table has always meant more than a necessity. It is a tie, a connectedness that transcends the physical and becomes spiritual. 

In Acts chapter 10, Peter’s vision for the expanding church is one that includes a change in diet. In his dream he sees food—previously excluded to faithful Jews, as said by the God who led that wandering tribe—now suddenly, permitted, reveled in, and all that food represents, including the people behind it, the lifestyles surrounding it, the background emerging from it.

They’re in, God assures. Go, take this glorious… [Read more…] about On Christian Culture Wars: Making Room at the Table

Let Love Reign! Never Trump-ism!

by Chuck Queen in Current Events

“Love is patient, love is kind … it is not rude, it is not self-seeking … Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices in the truth” (1 Cor. 13:4-6). Let love reign! Never Trump-ism!

Forgiveness for injustice does not mean support for injustice. Let love reign! Never Trump-ism!

“Love is the most durable power in the world. This creative force, so beautifully exemplified in the life of our Christ, is the most potent instrument available in mankind’s quest for peace and security.” (King, Jr.) Let love reign! Never Trump-ism!

“Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8). Let love reign! Never Trump-ism!

God saves humanity through humanity. Time to get to work! Let love reign! Never Trump-ism!

“My patriotism is not an exclusive thing. It is all embracing and I should reject that patriotism which sought to mount upon the distress of the exploitation of other nationalities. The conception of my patriotism is nothing if is not always, in every case, without exception, consistent with the broadest good of humanity at large.” (Gandhi) Let love reign! Never Trump-ism!

So, what’s this about? My plan is to begin my daily postings on my… [Read more…] about Let Love Reign! Never Trump-ism!

Crying out in the Wilderness: A Lamentation

by Matthew Distefano in Current Events

Here we are, as a species, teetering on the edge of ruin. We’ve flattened Syria with our implements of death. We’re obliterating each other all throughout Africa, the Middle East, in Southeast Asia, and so very many other places. North Koreans are living in a dystopian society that looks akin to something George Orwell dreamt up. Women are oppressed far and wide. So too are folks who identify as LGBTQ. So too are racial and religious minorities. Stock markets are volatile. So too are the world’s currencies. Our answer to violence, continually and overwhelmingly, is more violence. And when that violence doesn’t work, like the warmongers that we are, we try yet more.

On and on this “sacred” cycle goes. Why? Because, like Heraclitus aptly said, violence is the [false] structuring principle of reality and war is the father and king of all (Fragments 53 and 80).

Are we not all then just a bunch of damn hypocrites?

I believe we are.

Because, for one, we are all made in God’s image, and God is emphatically nonviolent. Hence, our true Self is emphatically nonviolent. So all this retributive, religious, and state-sponsored, sacrificial sacred violence that humanity engages in comes from a different source, namely, the satan, or, in other words, us. How hypocritical! And yes, that especially includes us Christians, for we should know better, considering our God’s commitment to nonviolence was such that he allowed himself to become stapled to a… [Read more…] about Crying out in the Wilderness: A Lamentation

Three Things I’m Asking from Church Leaders and Prophetic Voices

by Jesse Birkey in Current Events

I’m 34 years old and I’ve never seen the nation as fractured and divided as it is now. Maybe some of you have, and there might be a few of you who have experienced worse. Perhaps one of my closest friends was right when he said that the most fractured periods were in every single moment leading up to this one. It’s just that the division is getting attention on a large scale.

Maybe one of the benefits in all of this is that we are finally being forced to look at the filth, the sewage that keeps us from truly loving each other. But it’s only beneficial to notice the junk if there’s a plan to do something about it. Information alone does nothing to bring change to anyone or anything. It’s application, the courage to move, that brings transformation.

And that’s what I’m calling for here. This is my voice, my desires, but I hope it echoes the cry of many other hearts because we are the ambassadors of Christ. We are the laborers in the field with tools designed to cultivate love, honor, respect, and unity. Reflecting the perfect love of God to the world is an assignment that has been given to each person claiming that Yeshua is their Lord and Savior, that he is their friend.

It’s a love that heals, restores, and unifies. It draws people in and elevates relationship to the top of the priority list. It’s no wonder that this kind of love is the central theme in the two greatest commandments ever given: Love the Lord your God and Love your neighbor as yourself (Matt… [Read more…] about Three Things I’m Asking from Church Leaders and Prophetic Voices

For Those Who Are Not Ok

by Holly Love in Current Events

Well.

Donald Trump has been elected the next president of the United States.

How is that sitting with you today?

I teach English as a Second Language (ESL) to 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders at an “inner city” elementary school in Atlanta. All but one of my 45 students are Latino, primarily 2nd generation Mexican-Americans. And this week has been, by far, the worst since I began teaching seven years ago.

I’m not sure which was the worst moment this week:

On Wednesday, when 2nd graders who can barely speak English asked me why Donald Trump and other white people in America don’t like them, and one boy said brightly, “Mrs. Love, I’m white too, look!” as he held his arm up next to mine to compare our skin colors.
On Wednesday, when my 5th graders asked me very detailed questions about when and how their parents (and possibly they themselves) would be deported. “How do we get papers for our parents? Is it too late now?” “What do we do when the police come to our house? Do we try to hide or…?”
When I tried to offer reassurance that everything would be ok, these same students said, “You keep saying it’s going to be ok but it won’t be. It will be ok for you, but not for us.” And they are right.
On Thursday, when multiple 4th graders told me their families were planning to preemptively move back to Mexico or Honduras before January 2oth. These are places these children have never known except through brief visits, if that.

As a reminder if you’ve been living… [Read more…] about For Those Who Are Not Ok

Trumpeting the Call: What lies ahead for this "great, Christian" nation?

by Matthew Distefano in Current Events

“Make America Great Again.”

We all know the line. And we all know who coined it. But what does it mean? More specifically, what does it mean according to Evangelical Christianity, considering it is they who had the biggest hand in electing Mr. Trump as our next President?

Well, I guess over the next 4 years at least, we are going to find out.

We will find out if the United States of America focuses on what are considered traditionally “Christian” issues. We will find out if we turn our attention to the “least of these,” something Jesus himself emphasized and is, in fact, precisely how he states that the nations are judged (Matt 25:31–46). To that end, a great Christian nation will feed the hungry and welcome in strangers (Matt 25:35), will clothe the naked and care for prisoners (Matt 25:36).

We shall see if this happens.

A great Christian nation will also refrain from lording over others (Matt 20:25). Rather, it will be great by not expecting to be served, but by serving (Matt 20:28). This is the cup of those proclaiming to be “Christian” (Matt 20:23), and so it too is the cup of a “Christian” nation. That cup is about servitude and enemy forgiveness. That cup is what Jesus drank the night before uttering forgiveness for all from a Roman cross. It is also the cup the early Christians drank, as they collectively offered forgiveness to their persecutors. So will this “great Christian nation” drink the same cup?

Again, we shall see.

A great Christian nation will… [Read more…] about Trumpeting the Call: What lies ahead for this "great, Christian" nation?

How Can You Be Christian and Vote for a Pro-Choice Candidate?

by in Christian Issues

We’re often asked how people can be Christian and vote for a pro-choice candidate. In answering that question, these are some important points to consider:

How likely is it that Roe vs. Wade will ever be overturned? Chief Justice John Roberts, who is conservative, believes that Roe is a settled matter. It seems to most reasonable people that appointees to the court should be non-partisan. They should be objective. Appointing ideological people to the court does not serve Justice. It does not serve the Constitution.

How much does the pro-life movement do to prevent unwanted pregnancy? That’s where the real problem lies and where the real efforts should be made: prevention.

The reality is that many of us who were once active participants in the pro-life movement realized that the answer to this question is: not very much. If Roe was suddenly overturned tomorrow, what would change? We’d still have women getting pregnant who didn’t want to be. We can prevent that with education and contraceptives quite effectively.

But instead, the pro-life movement tends to support abstinence-only education and tries to block age-appropriate sex education.

They tend to oppose access to and information about contraceptives.

They have actively lobbied against things like coverage for contraceptives in healthcare reform and have gone so far as to conflate several forms of birth control with abortion itself.

All of these things are terribly counterproductive and… [Read more…] about How Can You Be Christian and Vote for a Pro-Choice Candidate?

Thou Shalt Desire: A Primer on the Mimetic Theory of René Girard

by Matthew Distefano in Christian Issues

In this article, I am delivering on the promise I made in my previous entry that I would explore the mimetic theory of René Girard.

The reason I’m doing this is simple: Girard’s theory is paramount in addressing the violence that grips our world and, at a time such as this–when bombs and bullets have become the paradoxical default answers for solving the problem of bombs and bullets–we need a better solution. In medicine, a disease can’t be properly treated without the correct diagnosis. Likewise, we can’t begin to address the problem of violence unless we understand its root cause.

So, let’s get started, shall we?

The key to unlocking our problem of violence is to understand that our desires are non-consciously derived from the desires of others–and vice-versa. I’m oversimplifying, but we are all copycats of each other, modeling for one another what objects should be deemed the most desirable. This might be hard to accept here in the West, where autonomy is king, but it is nevertheless true. If our desires were not influenced by the desires of others, and were instead fixed and static, they would simply be a form of instinct (Girard, I See Satan Fall like Lightning, 15). Hopefully we recognize that we are beings who possess something more than mere instinct–that we have a free will of sorts, even if that will does suffer from enslavement.

This enslavement is evident throughout our world. Pay attention to the fashion industry, which uses celebrities and other… [Read more…] about Thou Shalt Desire: A Primer on the Mimetic Theory of René Girard

Relig-ish: Soulful Living in a Spiritual-But-Not-Religious World

by in Book Reviews

According to data from the Pew Research Center, Americans are becoming less religious, but, simultaneously, more spiritual. Often described as “nones,” these individuals have rejected the trappings of institutional religion, yet still feel “a deep sense of spiritual peace and well-being as well as a deep sense of wonder about the universe.”

But, as so many people resoundingly reject the hypocrisy, hate, homophobia, and misogyny of the Christian church, they also often leave behind the spiritually nurturing aspects of religious life and find themselves adrift in a post-church world.

For those who have left the church behind, but don’t want to entirely abandon spiritual practice, and also for those who were never a part of the church, but are still seeking to foster meaningful spiritual development, Rachelle Mee-Chapman’s new book, Relig-ish: Soulful Living in a Spiritual-But-Not-Religious World (Chalice Press, $14.99), serves as a practical guide to negotiating the waters of spirituality that lie just beyond the shores of traditional religion.

Mee-Chapman has traversed these waters herself, having spent thirty years in the Christian church, much of that time as an ordained minister, before moving on in her spiritual journey. Her pastoral sensitivity and spiritual wisdom permeate this small but potent book, and she is adamant that there is fertile ground to be found “between secularism and the religious institutions of Christianity” (1).

Relig-ish affirms… [Read more…] about Relig-ish: Soulful Living in a Spiritual-But-Not-Religious World

Things We Don't Talk About: DAPL and the Doctrine of Discovery

by Christina Krost in Current Events

I recently heard Mark Charles, a Navajo speaker, writer, and advocate, give a lecture on the Doctrine of Discovery. The Doctrine of Discovery was when the Church in Europe, through a series of Papal Bulls from 1452-1493, instructed the nations of Europe to go and conquer lands and people not ruled by Christian rulers. These indigenous people were considered less than human, and their sacred lands were for the taking.

This attitude extends through our nation’s history as reflected in the treatment of Native Americans from Columbus to the present day, and is hiding in plain sight in our revered historical documents like The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution. And its modern-day effects are being seen in the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) opposition in North Dakota.

If this is news to you, I am sorry. I am sorry our educational system has not undertaken this difficult topic, and instead of using it as a starting point for healing it’s been buried and forbidden. Many would prefer not to talk or think about it, proclaiming, “What does the past have to do with me? What am I supposed to do about it?” Many are ashamed of this part of our history, but by not working through it we may be doomed to repeat it. What we need is lament and reconciliation to our land and our native peoples.

One could argue that we live in a time where the question is not whether we are racist or not, but whether our racism is explicit or implicit. We are all racist, some of us are just… [Read more…] about Things We Don't Talk About: DAPL and the Doctrine of Discovery