Wednesday, March 31, 2004
If you read nothing else about same-sex marriage...
Timothy Stewart-Winter, PhD student at The University of Chicago, has recently written a fascinating "manifesto" on the myths and realities of gay marriage. Wherever you fall on the issue, it's worth a read. I'm particularly impressed by the attempt to save same-sex marriage from BOTH the far right and the far left.
Sunday, March 28, 2004
On Paintball Guns, Terrorism, and Religious Discrimination
An article from Findlaw's commentary discusses the cases of several men convicted under the Neutrality Act, for advocating India's withdrawal from Kashmir. Is this evidence of religious descrimination against Muslims?
Saturday, March 27, 2004
Great Shorts-Day in Central Park!
Today spring really really arrived in NYC! In barely-breezy 50° weather, Kev and I enjoyed a leisurely stroll around the Lake at Central Park. As many of you know, I wear shorts as much as possible, and today was the first day for shorts outside. While I have steadfastly resisted "New York is the center of the universe" syndrome, particularly in deference to Chicago, even I have to admit that Central Park is definitely as magical as Ravinia or the lakeshore. Turtles in the pond, boaters on the lake, kids in the Belvedere "castle," frisbee and soccer and roller-blading and roller-blade-dancing...all in all a perfect day!
Friday, March 26, 2004
IN MEMORIAM KARL JOACHIM WEINTRAUB
Karl Joachim Weintraub, beloved history professor at The University of Chicago, died on Thursday, March 25, at age 79.
The University of Chicago lost one of its greatest members yesterday, a man who spent over two-thirds of his life as a student and teacher at Chicago. My good friend BRG has always said that, at Mr. Weintraub's passing, a whole era of the University's history will have ended as well. That "Weintraub" (as many of us who would never presume to call him "Jock" called him), along with Mrs. Weintraub, persisted in teaching "History of Western Civ" in the core when their their colleagues ended the course adds poignance to exactly what has passed with him.
The University's official announcement conveys the salient outline of the life, though of course few words could capture the essence of the man and the teacher (the two were the same).
Weintraub was my first interviewer for the Fundamentals program, and he spared me little room for the arrogance and imprecision of a first-year in The College. I'll never forget the musty office with its myriad piles of books and memories of pipe-smoke, and the professor hunched over his dimly-lit desk engrossed in a book. I hope there's never again in my life so great a disjunct between what I thought I knew entering his office and what I knew I did not as I left.
"Western Civ" was the delight and bane of generations of Chicago students. Though in many ways I too wonder whether "The West" is the best construct for teaching history, the course as Weintraub taught it was precisely what a Core civilization course should be. Not an indoctrination into the current methodologies and schools of historical analysis. Not a taking-on of huge chunks of data and dates. Rather, the course used the documents of the historical record as a means into the minds and hearts and bodies and spirits of those who have lived in very particular times and places of the past.
Weintraub's "Western Civ" was not about history, but about humanity. It was about understanding how the documents from which history is made were also the best places to practice that old maxim, championed and embodied by Weintraub himself - COLAMUS HUMANITATEM - let us cultivate all that makes human life worth living at all!
(And maybe we could remember Hugh Miller as well.)
In nearly 70 years, only 8 people have been awarded the University's top teaching honor, the Quantrell Award, twice. Karl J. Weintraub was one of them, and had one of the longest spans between his first and award and his second (1960 and 1986). That students - and a university - in such different times could honor his teaching is perhaps one of the best signs of how much he had to offer.
Mr. Leon Kass captures the man and his spirit very well, in words that show the best way to honor him in death - to hold alive the vision of liberal education for which he stood and lived: "For me and many of my contemporaries, Jock Weintraub has stood for decades as the shining exemplar of everything admirable about the University and the intellectual life: love of books, wide curiosity, immense learning, intellectual probity and courage, respect for each individual, dedication to the university, and, above all, magisterial devotion to his subject and his students. As long as Jock Weintraub was on our faculty, one could be sure that this was still The University of Chicago. We shall not see his likes again."
May future years show that, even after his passing, the University is still the one that Weintraub would recognize.
Keep Katy O'Brien Weintraub in your remembrance as she faces a new time in her life.
The University of Chicago lost one of its greatest members yesterday, a man who spent over two-thirds of his life as a student and teacher at Chicago. My good friend BRG has always said that, at Mr. Weintraub's passing, a whole era of the University's history will have ended as well. That "Weintraub" (as many of us who would never presume to call him "Jock" called him), along with Mrs. Weintraub, persisted in teaching "History of Western Civ" in the core when their their colleagues ended the course adds poignance to exactly what has passed with him.
The University's official announcement conveys the salient outline of the life, though of course few words could capture the essence of the man and the teacher (the two were the same).
Weintraub was my first interviewer for the Fundamentals program, and he spared me little room for the arrogance and imprecision of a first-year in The College. I'll never forget the musty office with its myriad piles of books and memories of pipe-smoke, and the professor hunched over his dimly-lit desk engrossed in a book. I hope there's never again in my life so great a disjunct between what I thought I knew entering his office and what I knew I did not as I left.
"Western Civ" was the delight and bane of generations of Chicago students. Though in many ways I too wonder whether "The West" is the best construct for teaching history, the course as Weintraub taught it was precisely what a Core civilization course should be. Not an indoctrination into the current methodologies and schools of historical analysis. Not a taking-on of huge chunks of data and dates. Rather, the course used the documents of the historical record as a means into the minds and hearts and bodies and spirits of those who have lived in very particular times and places of the past.
Weintraub's "Western Civ" was not about history, but about humanity. It was about understanding how the documents from which history is made were also the best places to practice that old maxim, championed and embodied by Weintraub himself - COLAMUS HUMANITATEM - let us cultivate all that makes human life worth living at all!
(And maybe we could remember Hugh Miller as well.)
In nearly 70 years, only 8 people have been awarded the University's top teaching honor, the Quantrell Award, twice. Karl J. Weintraub was one of them, and had one of the longest spans between his first and award and his second (1960 and 1986). That students - and a university - in such different times could honor his teaching is perhaps one of the best signs of how much he had to offer.
Mr. Leon Kass captures the man and his spirit very well, in words that show the best way to honor him in death - to hold alive the vision of liberal education for which he stood and lived: "For me and many of my contemporaries, Jock Weintraub has stood for decades as the shining exemplar of everything admirable about the University and the intellectual life: love of books, wide curiosity, immense learning, intellectual probity and courage, respect for each individual, dedication to the university, and, above all, magisterial devotion to his subject and his students. As long as Jock Weintraub was on our faculty, one could be sure that this was still The University of Chicago. We shall not see his likes again."
May future years show that, even after his passing, the University is still the one that Weintraub would recognize.
Keep Katy O'Brien Weintraub in your remembrance as she faces a new time in her life.
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
Selected for Seminary Summer!
I received news over the weekend that I will be one of the participants in this program, sponsored by the National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice and the AFL-CIO! See March 9 for background. I will know my site placement (probably NYC or CHI) within the next month, so look back for more details.
Saturday, March 20, 2004
Go Methodists!
May this provide an example - along with the consent and consecration of Episcopalian Bishop V. Gene Robinson - for the ELCA!
FULL STORY: "Jury Finds Lesbian Pastor in Bothell Church Not Guilty"
By Janet I. Tu and Marsha King
Seattle Times staff reporters
A jury of 13 Methodist pastors returned a verdict of not guilty today in the case of the Rev. Karen Dammann, finding that while Dammann engaged in homosexual practices, the church's Book of Discipline does not state clearly enough that such practice is incompatible with Christian teachings.
In returning their verdict around 3:30 p.m. 11 voted not guilty and the other two were undecided.
"The church did not present sufficient, clear and convincing evidence to sustain the charge" against Dammann, according to one juror, the Rev. Karla Fredericksen.
The 47-year-old Dammann was ordained a minister in the United Methodist Church in 1991, serving as pastor of Seattle's Woodland Park United Methodist Church from 1996 to 1999.
In 2001, in a letter seeking another church appointment, she disclosed to her bishop that she is a practicing homosexual in a committed relationship. Her disclosure triggered official church charges that she was engaging in "practices declared by the United Methodist Church to be incompatible with Christian teaching" as set forth in the Book of Discipline, which lays out church laws and social principles.
Today's verdict is consistent with trial testimony from a defense witness, the retired Bishop Jack Tuell of Des Moines, a leading expert on church law.
He told jurors that after an exhaustive study of the Book of Discipline, he wasn't sure if the United Methodist Church had ever really declared that the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with church teaching. Jurors reached a similar conclusion, Fredericksen saying today they could not find a "firm and clear enough declaration" to that effect.
Though Dammann could have appealed a guilty verdict, the church cannot appeal today's acquittal.
Had jurors come back with a guilty verdict, Dammann could have been removed from the church, stripped of her ministry, suspended or reprimanded, Tuell said earlier.
The outcome will be felt not just within the United Methodist Church — the third-largest Christian church in the country — but is certain to draw scrutiny from other Christian denominations that also are wrestling with issues regarding homosexuals in the ministry.
Yesterday, the Rev. James Finkbeiner, who represented the church in Dammann's trial, said the ruling will have "tremendous ramifications" on the United Methodist legislative body, which meets next month. "It will create pressures of fear and anxiety and confusion, particularly if she's innocent. But, if she's guilty as well."
The general conference meets every four years and revises the Book of Discipline, A big question, Finkbeiner said, is whether the verdict might "ultimately threaten the church in terms of can we hold it together."
Closing arguments in the trial were made yesterday.
"This is a trial about Karen Dammann. The law of the church is not on trial. This may make your decision more painful to reach," Finkbeiner said. "However, by ordination, we have agreed here to make these hard decisions."
In contrast, Dammann's counsel urged jurors to be faithful to the Book of Discipline in its entirety, not just to a few paragraphs on homosexuality. The document champions inclusiveness and justice, said the Rev. Robert Ward.
"Make love practical, make love plain and do what is right."
He also reminded the jurors to be careful about making rules that exclude people. "You do know, don't you, that there is always the temptation of the powerful to blame the victim," he said.
Soon after, the jurors left the fellowship hall of Bothell United Methodist Church, which since the trial began on Wednesday has been filled with observers and members of the media seated on folding chairs. The room has been fashioned to look like a courtroom with a witness stand and somber backdrop on the wall.
Before they began deliberating, jurors were urged to decide how they will explain their verdict when the time comes, and whether they speak as individuals or simply issue a statement.
"Whatever your verdict is, the church will learn not only what it is, but why it is," said the presiding officer, Bishop William Boyd Grove of Charleston, W.Va.
The eight women and five men, along with two alternates, were chosen from a pool of about 50 United Methodist ministers from across Washington and Northern Idaho.
Church rules require that the jury be appropriately balanced in gender and race. Some have been out of seminary just a few years; others are retirees in their 60s and 70s. All have served in a variety of churches.
"This will not be easy," said the Rev. Flora Bowers, a district supervisor from Spokane who knows many of the jurors. But these are people of integrity who will listen to each other, she said.
Across the country, other mainline Protestant denominations also are deeply divided over issues of homosexuality.
The consecration last year of openly gay Bishop V. Gene Robinson in the Episcopal Church led to the formation of a network of conservative Episcopal churches. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which allows its clergy to perform same-sex holy unions but prohibits ordaining noncelibate gays and lesbians, will likely vote on the latter issue in June.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is studying whether to ordain those in committed, same-sex relationships — something it may vote on in 2005.
Within Judaism, Conservative Jews are debating whether to ordain gay and lesbian rabbis. Reform Judaism ordains gays and lesbians. Orthodox Judaism does not.
Copyright (c) 2003 The Seattle Times Company
FULL STORY: "Jury Finds Lesbian Pastor in Bothell Church Not Guilty"
By Janet I. Tu and Marsha King
Seattle Times staff reporters
A jury of 13 Methodist pastors returned a verdict of not guilty today in the case of the Rev. Karen Dammann, finding that while Dammann engaged in homosexual practices, the church's Book of Discipline does not state clearly enough that such practice is incompatible with Christian teachings.
In returning their verdict around 3:30 p.m. 11 voted not guilty and the other two were undecided.
"The church did not present sufficient, clear and convincing evidence to sustain the charge" against Dammann, according to one juror, the Rev. Karla Fredericksen.
The 47-year-old Dammann was ordained a minister in the United Methodist Church in 1991, serving as pastor of Seattle's Woodland Park United Methodist Church from 1996 to 1999.
In 2001, in a letter seeking another church appointment, she disclosed to her bishop that she is a practicing homosexual in a committed relationship. Her disclosure triggered official church charges that she was engaging in "practices declared by the United Methodist Church to be incompatible with Christian teaching" as set forth in the Book of Discipline, which lays out church laws and social principles.
Today's verdict is consistent with trial testimony from a defense witness, the retired Bishop Jack Tuell of Des Moines, a leading expert on church law.
He told jurors that after an exhaustive study of the Book of Discipline, he wasn't sure if the United Methodist Church had ever really declared that the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with church teaching. Jurors reached a similar conclusion, Fredericksen saying today they could not find a "firm and clear enough declaration" to that effect.
Though Dammann could have appealed a guilty verdict, the church cannot appeal today's acquittal.
Had jurors come back with a guilty verdict, Dammann could have been removed from the church, stripped of her ministry, suspended or reprimanded, Tuell said earlier.
The outcome will be felt not just within the United Methodist Church — the third-largest Christian church in the country — but is certain to draw scrutiny from other Christian denominations that also are wrestling with issues regarding homosexuals in the ministry.
Yesterday, the Rev. James Finkbeiner, who represented the church in Dammann's trial, said the ruling will have "tremendous ramifications" on the United Methodist legislative body, which meets next month. "It will create pressures of fear and anxiety and confusion, particularly if she's innocent. But, if she's guilty as well."
The general conference meets every four years and revises the Book of Discipline, A big question, Finkbeiner said, is whether the verdict might "ultimately threaten the church in terms of can we hold it together."
Closing arguments in the trial were made yesterday.
"This is a trial about Karen Dammann. The law of the church is not on trial. This may make your decision more painful to reach," Finkbeiner said. "However, by ordination, we have agreed here to make these hard decisions."
In contrast, Dammann's counsel urged jurors to be faithful to the Book of Discipline in its entirety, not just to a few paragraphs on homosexuality. The document champions inclusiveness and justice, said the Rev. Robert Ward.
"Make love practical, make love plain and do what is right."
He also reminded the jurors to be careful about making rules that exclude people. "You do know, don't you, that there is always the temptation of the powerful to blame the victim," he said.
Soon after, the jurors left the fellowship hall of Bothell United Methodist Church, which since the trial began on Wednesday has been filled with observers and members of the media seated on folding chairs. The room has been fashioned to look like a courtroom with a witness stand and somber backdrop on the wall.
Before they began deliberating, jurors were urged to decide how they will explain their verdict when the time comes, and whether they speak as individuals or simply issue a statement.
"Whatever your verdict is, the church will learn not only what it is, but why it is," said the presiding officer, Bishop William Boyd Grove of Charleston, W.Va.
The eight women and five men, along with two alternates, were chosen from a pool of about 50 United Methodist ministers from across Washington and Northern Idaho.
Church rules require that the jury be appropriately balanced in gender and race. Some have been out of seminary just a few years; others are retirees in their 60s and 70s. All have served in a variety of churches.
"This will not be easy," said the Rev. Flora Bowers, a district supervisor from Spokane who knows many of the jurors. But these are people of integrity who will listen to each other, she said.
Across the country, other mainline Protestant denominations also are deeply divided over issues of homosexuality.
The consecration last year of openly gay Bishop V. Gene Robinson in the Episcopal Church led to the formation of a network of conservative Episcopal churches. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which allows its clergy to perform same-sex holy unions but prohibits ordaining noncelibate gays and lesbians, will likely vote on the latter issue in June.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is studying whether to ordain those in committed, same-sex relationships — something it may vote on in 2005.
Within Judaism, Conservative Jews are debating whether to ordain gay and lesbian rabbis. Reform Judaism ordains gays and lesbians. Orthodox Judaism does not.
Copyright (c) 2003 The Seattle Times Company
Friday, March 19, 2004
Rhea County, Tennesse
"We need to keep them out of here."
News from the home of the Scopes Monkey Trial - which doesn't seem so far away when you read these articles.
"Tennessee County Seeks to Bar Gays" (March 18)
"Tennessee County Reverses Ban" (March 19)
I think George Chauncey needs to mail them 9 copies of Lawrence v. Texas.
News from the home of the Scopes Monkey Trial - which doesn't seem so far away when you read these articles.
"Tennessee County Seeks to Bar Gays" (March 18)
"Tennessee County Reverses Ban" (March 19)
I think George Chauncey needs to mail them 9 copies of Lawrence v. Texas.
A Prayer:
One Year Since Invasion
We pray to you, O Author of Peace;
We pray to you, O Presence of Love;
We pray to you, O Demander of Justice:
Humble us in our pretense to dominion;
Haunt us with the cries of those slain - at our own hands and others';
Hear us when we do not trust your dream of peace;
Heal us through a spirit of repentance:
That this world may reflect your creative fullness,
And not our emptiness of freedom through power.
Amen.
We pray to you, O Author of Peace;
We pray to you, O Presence of Love;
We pray to you, O Demander of Justice:
Humble us in our pretense to dominion;
Haunt us with the cries of those slain - at our own hands and others';
Hear us when we do not trust your dream of peace;
Heal us through a spirit of repentance:
That this world may reflect your creative fullness,
And not our emptiness of freedom through power.
Amen.
Spring Break!
This week, Union is on Spring Break - and I have very special plans. As we speak, I have returned to Washington State to attend and participate in my nephew Ethan's baptism! Ethan is a delightful 2-month-old, and almost our whole family will be gathered to celebrate this occasion with him.
Monday, March 15, 2004
MUST READ: Breathing Space
Probably the fastest way to introduce the pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Heidi Neumark, is by introducing you to her book, Breathing Space. Even the publisher's brief description should make it clear why I and Trinity are entirely blessed to work with Heidi as our pastor.
Reforming the World: Through the Eyes of Children
While I will be writing much about Trinity in subsequent posts, the children of Trinity are the church's best speakers.
Last October, for Reformation Sunday, I printed red half-sheets on which I asked the kids to write about what they would reform in the world. The following appeared on nearly each sheet:
"No more guns."
"No more shooting."
"No more hunger."
"More food."
"No more drinking."
"More homes for everyone."
"No more hitting."
"More love."
At the same time, the most wonderful things were what they wanted to create at our church:
"More musical instruments and singing."
"More arts and crafts."
"More fun things for kids to do."
"More food."
"Put up signs welcoming everyone."
"More dancing."
I pray that people of goodwill everywhere would always remember this vision for regime change.
Last October, for Reformation Sunday, I printed red half-sheets on which I asked the kids to write about what they would reform in the world. The following appeared on nearly each sheet:
"No more guns."
"No more shooting."
"No more hunger."
"More food."
"No more drinking."
"More homes for everyone."
"No more hitting."
"More love."
At the same time, the most wonderful things were what they wanted to create at our church:
"More musical instruments and singing."
"More arts and crafts."
"More fun things for kids to do."
"More food."
"Put up signs welcoming everyone."
"More dancing."
I pray that people of goodwill everywhere would always remember this vision for regime change.
Life at Trinity Lutheran Church
In September, just a few days after I moved into Union, I met with Pastor Heidi Neumark and agreed to make Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church of Manhattan (whimsically called "TELCOM" by some) my church-home-away-from-home while I am in NYC. Trinity had gone through several years of challenges as a congregation, and was ready to embark on new growth. One of the most pressing needs was to get the children's programming up and running, and my own role has been as Sunday School Director.
I have grown to love the kids of Trinity. Most of them live in the projects around the church, and walk - on a bitter Winter day, Sunday School attendance is always much lower. Pastor Heidi commented once on the fact that most of our children are not brought by a parent, but come because they simply want to be here. No small feat when you're five or seven or nine years old and undernourished, facing sub-zero weather on a Sunday morning.
Some small space of peace, safety, and love for these children is all we need to do at Trinity to make it something worth believing in.
I have grown to love the kids of Trinity. Most of them live in the projects around the church, and walk - on a bitter Winter day, Sunday School attendance is always much lower. Pastor Heidi commented once on the fact that most of our children are not brought by a parent, but come because they simply want to be here. No small feat when you're five or seven or nine years old and undernourished, facing sub-zero weather on a Sunday morning.
Some small space of peace, safety, and love for these children is all we need to do at Trinity to make it something worth believing in.
Sunday, March 14, 2004
KEVIN STAYING IN NYC!
It's a little bit strange, but Kev and I were glad to receive news this afternoon that he was NOT accepted into the internship program for which he applied, which would have likely required him to move to Washington, DC. The capital is, of course, a wonderful place to live, it's just several hours' distance from Union, Trinity, and the other things Kev has come to love about this place. Fortunately, NYC provides just about every opportunity to continue an already extraordinary social work career.
Economist challenges notions about economic justice
The cover-articles of this week's Economist question conventional "liberal" notions about the pursuit of economic justice. Expounding primarily on the idea that wealth among nations is NOT a zero-sum game - and that therefore rich countries need not get poorer in order for poor countries to get richer - The Economist stimulates good thinking for anyone who cares about social progress. Whether you agree with the assumptions or conclusions, it's worth the read.
Comments on The Passion of the Christ, Part II.
I have previously posted my initial response to Mel Gibson's The Passion. In the midst of much discussion of the movie at Union Theological Seminary, I have come to articulate my significant concerns about the movie in response to a particularly disturbing post on a Union email list. What follows is a more robust critique of the movie's flaws. Perhaps my words below show just how much Union has allowed me to refine my own voice for justice that I began to find during SummerLinks summer after my first year at UChicago.
--
From long experience, the only email-list discussions I usually enter are those that pertain to planning when to meet, and even then I am wary.
Now, however, I cannot remain silent.
I wish I could sympathize with those who were moved by the film, but I must protest. As a queer of color and of faith - equally as a Christian concerned with justice - maybe I could have been moved by Gibson's Passion like may have been. EXCEPT that the movie was racist, sexist, colonialist, and anti-queer, aside from its inducements towards (if not blatant representations of) anti-Semitism. Beyond this, of course, is the fact that Jesus' death is almost entirely de-contextualized from either life or resurrection; what little context is given supports the film's oppressive ideologies. And unfortunately, many viewers do not seek to RESIST these faults, but rather to view the film on its most superficial level. To the degree that opinions such as these are not interrogated by folks here at Union [and elsewhere], then our community [and society] itself buys into the film's multiple oppressions.
While I delineate my significant lines of critique below, my BOTTOM LINE is this: Mel Gibson's Passion is a dangerous basis for continued Christian oppression. It seeks to perpetuate the violence done on women, queers, people of color, Jews, and many other groups in the name of Jesus. More fundamentally, the film uncritically viewed betrays any hope for an interpretation of Jesus' death that liberates the Bible from historical complexes of oppression. ULTIMATELY, the film through this lens removes any chance that Jesus - in life, death, and life beyond death - can be a meaningful basis for justice-driven life-praxis.
AN ANTI-SALVATION FILM.
Many reviews (in concord with a vast tradition) have celebrated the film's idea of taking on all suffering because that's the "cross we must bear" because Jesus suffered so much. Frankly, I don't want a Jesus who was MERELY a victim who suffered - I don't NEED Jesus' suffering to get me through my own. What I NEED is the hope that points to a reality BEYOND suffering, a sense that there is a way of life and a life beyond death that make suffering NOT the final answer. I WANT A REDEEMER, NOT A FELLOW SUFFERING-ADDICT!
Markedly absent in the film is the ABSOLUTE UNNECESSITY of the violence and an ABSOLUTE INDIGNATION against structures that perpetrate such violence. THE POINT is not to feel better about suffering so that you can go on suffering: the point is to know that the causes of suffering are structures of sin - and that RESISTANCE to these structures is the way of God in this world.
A RACIST FILM.
The "good" Jews (ie, Mary the Mother and Mary Magdalene) are as obviously European as the "sympathetic" Nordic-like Romans, while the "bad" Jews (priests and crowds) are protrayed to follow the crudest stereotypes of Semitic peoples. To crown this whitewashing, Jesus is played by a solidly European James Caviezel. Given these choices of actors, Jesus' death visually appears primarily as the interruption of the "normal," "reasonable" (Latin) relations between white bodies by the "exotic," "corrupting" (Aramaic) influence of the non-white bodies.
A SEXIST FILM.
To put it simply: agency is contained within male bodies, in addition to white bodies. Women's roles are primarily to observe, support, or else helplessly follow. The most poignant actions by women are those of serving men: Mary wiping up Jesus' blood, Veronica (presumably) wiping Jesus' face.
"But that's what the Gospels themselves contain," one hears the defense. That, however, is neither a nuanced biblical interpretation NOR an adequate biblical application. The question of how the Gospels treat relations between men and women is PRECISELY the point of reading the Bible in the light of gender. And insofar as the Gospels DO reflect the patriarchy of THEIR historical contexts, it is responsible biblical praxis to challenge the Gospels so that they don't read their patriarchy onto OUR context.
A COLONIALIST FILM.
Gibson does not even attempt to relate Jesus' death to the complex relationship of occupying Rome and occupied Judea/Galilee. Instead, Jesus and Pilate, the refined Latin speakers, must simply play their parts under the manipulative whims of the "savage natives."
Moreover, in Roman times, the cross was a universal sign of punishment and the power of empire. Gibson (and Cave), however, turn the cross into a unique experience of Jesus. This has the effect of removing the heavily political, anti-imperial meanings of Jesus' (life and) death. Rome is not the perpetrator and empire is not the problem: the Romans merely got tragically mixed up in the internal problem of the Jews. Sounds like an interpretation worth 30 pieces of argentum.
As Brigitte Kahl asks her classes pointedly: how does the film serve to reinforce present-day US ideologies of justifiable empire in the guise of a "war against terror" and the proliferation of "peace and democracy"?
AN ANTI-QUEER FILM.
The film is obssessed with the most literal understanding of Jesus' death (and resurrection, in one tiny cameo). The presentation of Jesus' bodily torture - drawn out beyond all standards of artistic necessity or license - serves to reinforce the exclusive focus on Jesus' death as a body being violated.
The problem with this is that the film assigns no moral value to the violation of the body, and combined with the length of time portraying the violence, actually celebrates the violation of the body for its own sake. The violence wasn't SUPPOSED to happen - Pilate only wanted Jesus' beaten enough to give a good show. The Roman floggers, however, gave free rein to their most sadistic impulses, making Jesus into simply an object for rage.
How is this anti-queer? To the film's aforementioned patriarchy, this representation of violence justifies ideas of sexuality that are (1) exploitative and (2) turn the body into a site for violence rather than a source of deep being. Being queer, if it means anything in Christian theological terms, means resurrecting the body from various assaults in the name of God - it means proclaiming the truth that God comes to this world in a body, and in our bodies. The queer theological witness means celebrating all that bodies offer as revelations of - and resources to reach - the fullness of God's being. Everything in the film that (1) demeans and degrades the body, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY (2) celebrates such degradation, runs counter to everything queers should fight to remain in the Church for in the first place.
Jesus death ought never be portrayed in such a way that glorifies, necessitates, justifies, or excuses the violation of the body. Yes, Jesus died an agonizing death. But portraying his death ought always point to the fact that degradation of the human person - in body, mind, or spirit - was not in God's will for Jesus and is never in God's will for human beings.
--
From long experience, the only email-list discussions I usually enter are those that pertain to planning when to meet, and even then I am wary.
Now, however, I cannot remain silent.
I wish I could sympathize with those who were moved by the film, but I must protest. As a queer of color and of faith - equally as a Christian concerned with justice - maybe I could have been moved by Gibson's Passion like may have been. EXCEPT that the movie was racist, sexist, colonialist, and anti-queer, aside from its inducements towards (if not blatant representations of) anti-Semitism. Beyond this, of course, is the fact that Jesus' death is almost entirely de-contextualized from either life or resurrection; what little context is given supports the film's oppressive ideologies. And unfortunately, many viewers do not seek to RESIST these faults, but rather to view the film on its most superficial level. To the degree that opinions such as these are not interrogated by folks here at Union [and elsewhere], then our community [and society] itself buys into the film's multiple oppressions.
While I delineate my significant lines of critique below, my BOTTOM LINE is this: Mel Gibson's Passion is a dangerous basis for continued Christian oppression. It seeks to perpetuate the violence done on women, queers, people of color, Jews, and many other groups in the name of Jesus. More fundamentally, the film uncritically viewed betrays any hope for an interpretation of Jesus' death that liberates the Bible from historical complexes of oppression. ULTIMATELY, the film through this lens removes any chance that Jesus - in life, death, and life beyond death - can be a meaningful basis for justice-driven life-praxis.
AN ANTI-SALVATION FILM.
Many reviews (in concord with a vast tradition) have celebrated the film's idea of taking on all suffering because that's the "cross we must bear" because Jesus suffered so much. Frankly, I don't want a Jesus who was MERELY a victim who suffered - I don't NEED Jesus' suffering to get me through my own. What I NEED is the hope that points to a reality BEYOND suffering, a sense that there is a way of life and a life beyond death that make suffering NOT the final answer. I WANT A REDEEMER, NOT A FELLOW SUFFERING-ADDICT!
Markedly absent in the film is the ABSOLUTE UNNECESSITY of the violence and an ABSOLUTE INDIGNATION against structures that perpetrate such violence. THE POINT is not to feel better about suffering so that you can go on suffering: the point is to know that the causes of suffering are structures of sin - and that RESISTANCE to these structures is the way of God in this world.
A RACIST FILM.
The "good" Jews (ie, Mary the Mother and Mary Magdalene) are as obviously European as the "sympathetic" Nordic-like Romans, while the "bad" Jews (priests and crowds) are protrayed to follow the crudest stereotypes of Semitic peoples. To crown this whitewashing, Jesus is played by a solidly European James Caviezel. Given these choices of actors, Jesus' death visually appears primarily as the interruption of the "normal," "reasonable" (Latin) relations between white bodies by the "exotic," "corrupting" (Aramaic) influence of the non-white bodies.
A SEXIST FILM.
To put it simply: agency is contained within male bodies, in addition to white bodies. Women's roles are primarily to observe, support, or else helplessly follow. The most poignant actions by women are those of serving men: Mary wiping up Jesus' blood, Veronica (presumably) wiping Jesus' face.
"But that's what the Gospels themselves contain," one hears the defense. That, however, is neither a nuanced biblical interpretation NOR an adequate biblical application. The question of how the Gospels treat relations between men and women is PRECISELY the point of reading the Bible in the light of gender. And insofar as the Gospels DO reflect the patriarchy of THEIR historical contexts, it is responsible biblical praxis to challenge the Gospels so that they don't read their patriarchy onto OUR context.
A COLONIALIST FILM.
Gibson does not even attempt to relate Jesus' death to the complex relationship of occupying Rome and occupied Judea/Galilee. Instead, Jesus and Pilate, the refined Latin speakers, must simply play their parts under the manipulative whims of the "savage natives."
Moreover, in Roman times, the cross was a universal sign of punishment and the power of empire. Gibson (and Cave), however, turn the cross into a unique experience of Jesus. This has the effect of removing the heavily political, anti-imperial meanings of Jesus' (life and) death. Rome is not the perpetrator and empire is not the problem: the Romans merely got tragically mixed up in the internal problem of the Jews. Sounds like an interpretation worth 30 pieces of argentum.
As Brigitte Kahl asks her classes pointedly: how does the film serve to reinforce present-day US ideologies of justifiable empire in the guise of a "war against terror" and the proliferation of "peace and democracy"?
AN ANTI-QUEER FILM.
The film is obssessed with the most literal understanding of Jesus' death (and resurrection, in one tiny cameo). The presentation of Jesus' bodily torture - drawn out beyond all standards of artistic necessity or license - serves to reinforce the exclusive focus on Jesus' death as a body being violated.
The problem with this is that the film assigns no moral value to the violation of the body, and combined with the length of time portraying the violence, actually celebrates the violation of the body for its own sake. The violence wasn't SUPPOSED to happen - Pilate only wanted Jesus' beaten enough to give a good show. The Roman floggers, however, gave free rein to their most sadistic impulses, making Jesus into simply an object for rage.
How is this anti-queer? To the film's aforementioned patriarchy, this representation of violence justifies ideas of sexuality that are (1) exploitative and (2) turn the body into a site for violence rather than a source of deep being. Being queer, if it means anything in Christian theological terms, means resurrecting the body from various assaults in the name of God - it means proclaiming the truth that God comes to this world in a body, and in our bodies. The queer theological witness means celebrating all that bodies offer as revelations of - and resources to reach - the fullness of God's being. Everything in the film that (1) demeans and degrades the body, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY (2) celebrates such degradation, runs counter to everything queers should fight to remain in the Church for in the first place.
Jesus death ought never be portrayed in such a way that glorifies, necessitates, justifies, or excuses the violation of the body. Yes, Jesus died an agonizing death. But portraying his death ought always point to the fact that degradation of the human person - in body, mind, or spirit - was not in God's will for Jesus and is never in God's will for human beings.
Saturday, March 13, 2004
New York Choral Society @ Carnegie Hall
Friday night, Kevin and I attended a performance by the New York Choral Society at Carnegie Hall. Larry Rasmussen - good Lutheran bass singer, pillar (with his wife, Nyla) of Trinity Lutheran Church, and Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics at UTS - was kind enough to secure tickets for us. The program featured three symphonic-choral works by Antonin Dvorak, from three different periods of his life: Te Deum (1892), Mass in D (1887), and The Heirs of White Mountain (1873). If you've never listened to Heirs, then do - it's quite a musical romp, and the poetry is beautiful, if a bit over the patriotic top. Many thanks to Larry for inviting us to a wonderful treat!
Tuesday, March 9, 2004
Interview for Seminary Summer Internship Program
Today I interviewed with Joy Heine of the National Interfaith Council for Worker Justice (NICWJ) for a spot in the 2004 Seminary Summer internship program (see flyer pdf). If accepted (I'll know next week), I will spend 10 weeks doing labor-organizing to build partnerships between local unions and religious communities. I'm UTTERLY excited by this program because worker justice is one of the ways in which I believe congregations should be most active: it means entering the struggle for economic justice in the most fundamental way. Seminary Summer promises to exhaust its participants - it seems very similar to SummerLinks at UChicago, which makes it even more alluring.
I'll keep you posted as this develops.
I'll keep you posted as this develops.
Sunday, March 7, 2004
Celebrating 6 Months with Kevin!
Today marks six months that Kevin and I have been together, and it's been a wonderful, challenging, growthful time. It's not so common that first dates begin by going to church together, but ours did. Perhaps what was nicest is that neither of us understood ourselves fully to be on a date until we'd already finished lunch and didn't want to say goodbye. Funny thing is, we had both made plans to return to work after a quick, polite lunch (actually, Kevin had lunch waiting in case things didn't develop that far). Suffice it to say, we enjoyed an afternoon at the park instead of work - which is always the right choice - and haven't stopped talking since. Life is, indeed, what happens when you're busy making other plans.
(If you INSIST on learning more about Kevin, here's a short, selective bio. It's not too mushy.)
(If you INSIST on learning more about Kevin, here's a short, selective bio. It's not too mushy.)
Vespers at Corpus Christi Church
Tonight the Union Theological Seminary choir sang as guests of Corpus Christi Catholic Church (121st St, just down from Broadway; Thomas Merton was baptized there). I was the cantor for the Psalms, per Penna's (our director's) request. The service was beautiful, though more high-church than is my own preference: I did cough a little when the priest released incense right in front of where I was singing! The sanctuary, though, is beautiful, much more of the Greek cross' square than the Latin cross' length. Acoustics were wonderful - they much more than my own singing ability ensured that I didn't sound too bad.
Prof. Barbara Lundblad's sermon was perfect. Too many great points to recap the whole here - but let this suffice. In the face of Gibson's Passion, Barbara was unafraid to remind us that too long and too much Christians rely on the idea of a bloodthirsty, vengeful God in understanding the death of Jesus, rather than (in Barbara's words) "a God who refuses to make victims of anyone" and is not afraid to enter this life on account of suffering.
I wish every Christian service would end with the words Barbara related from a congregational anecdote: "Go in peace; SAVE the Lord."
Go in peace. And if you can ever make it to Corpus Christ Church, for music or merely meditation, go there as well.
Prof. Barbara Lundblad's sermon was perfect. Too many great points to recap the whole here - but let this suffice. In the face of Gibson's Passion, Barbara was unafraid to remind us that too long and too much Christians rely on the idea of a bloodthirsty, vengeful God in understanding the death of Jesus, rather than (in Barbara's words) "a God who refuses to make victims of anyone" and is not afraid to enter this life on account of suffering.
I wish every Christian service would end with the words Barbara related from a congregational anecdote: "Go in peace; SAVE the Lord."
Go in peace. And if you can ever make it to Corpus Christ Church, for music or merely meditation, go there as well.
Saturday, March 6, 2004
Comments on Mel Gibson's Passion.
In class the other day, my New Testament professor powerfully reminded us that, as people who choose to do theology publicly, we have a professional responsibility to see and respond critically to Mel Gibson's much-touted and much-reviled Passion. Though I ONLY advise adults to see the movie so that they can judge for themselves - and otherwise discourage seeing it on account of its own merits - I couldn't agree more with my teacher.
I went this past Wednesday with my friend FXB, who was good enough to sit through it a second time. I was thoroughly disappointed - not so much by what it evoked in me, as by the fact that it didn't evoke much in me at all. The film's mass of violence has no context whatsoever in the life of Jesus. Gibson too easily reads Jesus as a helpless victim of an unthinking mob manipulated by a conniving religious establishment; missing is any sense of what exactly would have made Jesus worth following to cause such a commotion in the first place. Totally absent was any presentation of the kind of LIFE Jesus lived, which is absolutely essential and integral to make meaning out of Jesus' death.
This, of course, is to say NOTHING of the immense factual problems with the film. Gibson could never have attempted to make a film that stays true to the Gospel texts - the film would last all of the 45 minutes (max) a Passion reading lasts in church, not the full two hours in the theater. Jesus speaking Latin? Come on - only the desire to make Pilate more sympathetic could have occasioned that!
I can relate, though, one positive consequence of watching the film, and I doubt it was among Gibson's intentions. It made me consider just how callously and freely Christians invoke images of violence when talking about the faith. So easily Christians glide into speaking of Jesus' violation on the assumption that it was necessary for our salvation. The result is to support a world-view in which violence is not the offence it should be to our sense of justice, but rather the occasion for God's wondrous saving of lost human beings.
Jesus' death by crucifixion should always bring Christians to greater devotion to non-violent means to seek justice. Jesus' death is a willingness to risk violence itself with retaliating with violence - but NOT to the glory of one's own suffering, but the sure knowledge that violence (of individuals and of structures) is not the last word. If resurrection means anything, it means that LIFE is always God's final word to and for humankind.
I went this past Wednesday with my friend FXB, who was good enough to sit through it a second time. I was thoroughly disappointed - not so much by what it evoked in me, as by the fact that it didn't evoke much in me at all. The film's mass of violence has no context whatsoever in the life of Jesus. Gibson too easily reads Jesus as a helpless victim of an unthinking mob manipulated by a conniving religious establishment; missing is any sense of what exactly would have made Jesus worth following to cause such a commotion in the first place. Totally absent was any presentation of the kind of LIFE Jesus lived, which is absolutely essential and integral to make meaning out of Jesus' death.
This, of course, is to say NOTHING of the immense factual problems with the film. Gibson could never have attempted to make a film that stays true to the Gospel texts - the film would last all of the 45 minutes (max) a Passion reading lasts in church, not the full two hours in the theater. Jesus speaking Latin? Come on - only the desire to make Pilate more sympathetic could have occasioned that!
I can relate, though, one positive consequence of watching the film, and I doubt it was among Gibson's intentions. It made me consider just how callously and freely Christians invoke images of violence when talking about the faith. So easily Christians glide into speaking of Jesus' violation on the assumption that it was necessary for our salvation. The result is to support a world-view in which violence is not the offence it should be to our sense of justice, but rather the occasion for God's wondrous saving of lost human beings.
Jesus' death by crucifixion should always bring Christians to greater devotion to non-violent means to seek justice. Jesus' death is a willingness to risk violence itself with retaliating with violence - but NOT to the glory of one's own suffering, but the sure knowledge that violence (of individuals and of structures) is not the last word. If resurrection means anything, it means that LIFE is always God's final word to and for humankind.
Challenging Coursework for Spring Semester!
If at least one of these doesn't whet your intellectual appetite, the only hope left for you is law school.
INTRODUCTION TO PREACHING AND WORSHIP, PART II:
Janet Walton, Barabara Lundblad, Troy Messenger.
The second semester of a GREAT course, which pursues an integrated approach to liturgy and preaching. The course is intense (twice a week at 8AM), and the small size makes for a strong sense of community among the class. Easily ranks with HBC (A. Kass), Legal Reasoning (D. Hutchinson), Soc (D.S. Allen), War and Peace (E. Wasiolek), Niebuhr (F. Gamwell), Plato and Descartes (L. Kass), or Photons to Consciousness (E. Schwartz) as a life-changing, intellectually formative experience.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFER:
Larry Rasmussen.
"Which Bonhoeffer did you come to meet?" Rasmussen asks at the outset of his last course before retirement. "Bonhoeffer the Poet? the Patriot? the Pastor? the Plotter? the Partner?" Who, indeed. I'm finding that I like Bonhoeffer more AND less the more I learn about him and read his works. Rasmussen's insight into Bonhoeffer's ethical system is matched only but fully by his passion for teaching.
INTRODUCTION TO ISLAM:
Asma Sayeed, visiting fellow from Princeton University
A VERY important topic for everyone to be studying, but especially in the context of religious communities. The instructor's strong background is at times frustrated by the general nature of the course, but Sayeed is pedagogically sound in knowing that her first task is to clear up the immense misconsceptions that even graduate students in the US have.
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE:
Brigitte Kahl with Davina Lopez
A far cry from the frustrations of last semester's Introduction to New Testament, the course is my first close-reading one at Union. I feel back in my UofC / Fundamentals stride, and I'm really digging Luke. Best thoughts so far during class: Luke's creation of "counterspace" and "countertime," particularly his connection of the wilderness and the womb as "counterspaces" for Jesus' ministry. It's a true gift to have this class in the season of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ.
DEPTH PSYCHOLOGY AND THEOLOGY:
Ann Belford Ulanov.
Just as massive as the title sounds, this course stretches across so many disciplines and schools that one needs a little academic therapy after each Monday night session. The course's central concern is breaking down the barrier of two systems that each purport and attempt to make sense of the most basic human self-understanding. "What is a religious experience? What is psychic reality? How do the two relate? Are they in fact separate?"
INTRODUCTION TO PREACHING AND WORSHIP, PART II:
Janet Walton, Barabara Lundblad, Troy Messenger.
The second semester of a GREAT course, which pursues an integrated approach to liturgy and preaching. The course is intense (twice a week at 8AM), and the small size makes for a strong sense of community among the class. Easily ranks with HBC (A. Kass), Legal Reasoning (D. Hutchinson), Soc (D.S. Allen), War and Peace (E. Wasiolek), Niebuhr (F. Gamwell), Plato and Descartes (L. Kass), or Photons to Consciousness (E. Schwartz) as a life-changing, intellectually formative experience.
DIETRICH BONHOEFFER:
Larry Rasmussen.
"Which Bonhoeffer did you come to meet?" Rasmussen asks at the outset of his last course before retirement. "Bonhoeffer the Poet? the Patriot? the Pastor? the Plotter? the Partner?" Who, indeed. I'm finding that I like Bonhoeffer more AND less the more I learn about him and read his works. Rasmussen's insight into Bonhoeffer's ethical system is matched only but fully by his passion for teaching.
INTRODUCTION TO ISLAM:
Asma Sayeed, visiting fellow from Princeton University
A VERY important topic for everyone to be studying, but especially in the context of religious communities. The instructor's strong background is at times frustrated by the general nature of the course, but Sayeed is pedagogically sound in knowing that her first task is to clear up the immense misconsceptions that even graduate students in the US have.
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE:
Brigitte Kahl with Davina Lopez
A far cry from the frustrations of last semester's Introduction to New Testament, the course is my first close-reading one at Union. I feel back in my UofC / Fundamentals stride, and I'm really digging Luke. Best thoughts so far during class: Luke's creation of "counterspace" and "countertime," particularly his connection of the wilderness and the womb as "counterspaces" for Jesus' ministry. It's a true gift to have this class in the season of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ.
DEPTH PSYCHOLOGY AND THEOLOGY:
Ann Belford Ulanov.
Just as massive as the title sounds, this course stretches across so many disciplines and schools that one needs a little academic therapy after each Monday night session. The course's central concern is breaking down the barrier of two systems that each purport and attempt to make sense of the most basic human self-understanding. "What is a religious experience? What is psychic reality? How do the two relate? Are they in fact separate?"
Friday, March 5, 2004
An Open Letter to Friends, Family, and Mentors
About the Blog...
Dear All:
A blog (or weblog) can be put to many uses, but all taking advantage from the chronological accumulation of writing. While some blogs are narcissistically dedicated to navel-gazing or some other precise art, and others are closer to online columns for commentary, I have started this blog specifically as a means for those about whom I care and who care about me to know what's going on in my life.
The blog allows me to avoid cramming your email inboxes with every new announcement, and gives you the chance to follow as closely or distantly as you like. I will perhaps once a month send an email with recent "headlines" and links to the blog, so that you can either take the headlines on their own or follow-up with the blog pieces.
Adjunct to my hopes of keeping you all updated, I intend for the blog to give me an excuse to publish more of my internal ruminations in a decently coherent, aspiringly articulate way. Again, you'll be free to read what interests you.
Finally, to the degree that those who come upon this blog and find it edifying or interesting; and to the degree that by maintaining a blog I participate in the massive economy of ordinary human strivings and ideas that is the Internet, I am glad to contribute.
Should you ever wish to respond, you may of course do so by my email address. It is my policy never to real names except when the name is publicly known and available in the given posting's context. Moreover, I commit never to write anything concerning another that, so far as I am strenuously able to ascertain, she or he does or would not want shared. Such are my commitments to those with whom I've privileged to share this journey.
Come when you want, read when you like, take only what matters to you.
-Jeremy
Dear All:
A blog (or weblog) can be put to many uses, but all taking advantage from the chronological accumulation of writing. While some blogs are narcissistically dedicated to navel-gazing or some other precise art, and others are closer to online columns for commentary, I have started this blog specifically as a means for those about whom I care and who care about me to know what's going on in my life.
The blog allows me to avoid cramming your email inboxes with every new announcement, and gives you the chance to follow as closely or distantly as you like. I will perhaps once a month send an email with recent "headlines" and links to the blog, so that you can either take the headlines on their own or follow-up with the blog pieces.
Adjunct to my hopes of keeping you all updated, I intend for the blog to give me an excuse to publish more of my internal ruminations in a decently coherent, aspiringly articulate way. Again, you'll be free to read what interests you.
Finally, to the degree that those who come upon this blog and find it edifying or interesting; and to the degree that by maintaining a blog I participate in the massive economy of ordinary human strivings and ideas that is the Internet, I am glad to contribute.
Should you ever wish to respond, you may of course do so by my email address. It is my policy never to real names except when the name is publicly known and available in the given posting's context. Moreover, I commit never to write anything concerning another that, so far as I am strenuously able to ascertain, she or he does or would not want shared. Such are my commitments to those with whom I've privileged to share this journey.
Come when you want, read when you like, take only what matters to you.
-Jeremy
Starting Off...
So...here goes my first attempt at a blog. Primarily this is to post on my life-happenings for friends and family members. Also, naturally, as a way to share random thoughts, unsolicited commentary, interesting links, etc.
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