Prophets Who Create By Reforming

Well, it’s certainly true that all great religions deal with the same conflicts of politics and violence, and the struggle to reconcile with the realities of a changing, evolving and modern world. I think there’s this misunderstanding, among most people of faith, that prophets sort of grow up in some kind of cultural or religious vacuum. That a prophet is somebody that just plopped down to earth from heaven, and with a ready-made message, in which they found a brand-new religion. But prophets don’t invent religions. Prophets are reformers of the religions that they themselves grow up in. Jesus did not invent Christianity. Jesus was a Jew. He was reforming Judaism. The Buddha did not invent Buddhism. The Buddha was a Hindu. He was reforming Hinduism.

- Reza Aslan,

taken from Krista Tippet's book, Becoming Wise

Christians Who Understand Christianity Better Than Christ Did and America Better Than Our Founding Fathers

Without the support of the "abortion is murder" people, Trump would have lost. These people pretend to understand Christianity better than Christ and America better than our founding fathers. They don't.

In the first four gospels, the poor are mentioned 24 times and the rich 29. In Luke 18:24-25, for instance, Christ said,

Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

In Luke  14:13-14 he told a host,

when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. 

He left little doubt about his disdain for wealth and love for the poor and he expected his followers to have a similar ambivalence about wealth and compassion for the poor. There is no doubt about this.

In the first four gospels, abortion is not mentioned once. (Actually, it's mentioned nowhere in the Bible.) You might argue that abortions had not become as easy or common in his time as ours but keep in mind that Jesus's authority comes in no small part because he saw to the end of time and preached about all that would matter until then.

Evangelicals gave Trump the presidency. Without their vote, he would have lost. The central reason they voted for Trump is that these people believe that life starts at the exact instant that a sperm and egg collide and are appalled that Roe vs. Wade lets women follow their individual conscience about when that transformation occurs. To be clear, their belief is not based on anything Christ said. This is their own idea, one they've slapped the label of Christianity onto.

Many Christians don't share this belief. The Christians who see abortion as murder are less remarkable for their affection for Christ's teaching (again, this isn't even something he taught) than their personalities: these are the people who cannot tolerate ambiguity or gray areas. They need clear black and white boundaries and saying that life starts at a particular instant is very appealing to them. Such a belief is less product of soul searching than the compulsion of a particular personality type.

Nobody is arguing that we should kill babies. Nobody is arguing that we should protect the "lives" of sperm or egg cells. The argument is about when sperm and egg - the jetsam and flotsam of life - become a baby - the essence of life.

When does a child become an adult? 12 seems compelling. Until just a few centuries ago, every community around the world treated 12 as the legal age of consent, an age when young girls were commonly married off. Theaters and amusement parks still seem to believe a 12 year old is no longer a child. Or you might argue for 16, the age when we trust teens to have the cognitive capacity to drive, to stay focused on the road in ways that don't endanger the rest of us. 18 is old enough to let them vote or go off to war. 21 is when we trust them to drink to console themselves for the trauma of war or to celebrate the victory of the candidate they backed.

Most people can accept that the definition of when a child becomes an adult is fuzzy and might even depend on the context. Reasonable people disagree about when a child becomes an adult. Reasonable people also disagree about when a sperm and egg become a baby.

Our founding fathers gave us a government that provided freedom of religion and freedom from religion. What could not be proven through science or a vote - things that could be seen and verified objectively by other people - could be held as personal conviction but not imposed on anyone else. People were free to live according to their own conscience.

There are people who have a religious belief that the instant a sperm and egg collide those two tiny little cells too small for the eye to see are no different from a baby that you can't ignore. It's key to clarify two things. One, this is a belief, no different than the belief that the rich should sell what they own and give it to the poor or that when Venus intercepts Jupiter it is a good time to start a new relationship. And - this is really important so pay attention to the next few words - this religious belief about when life starts has nothing to do with Jesus's teaching. Like the guy in Times Square selling $12 Rolex watches, people have slapped Christ's name onto the "abortion is murder" belief but it did not come from Jesus's words. They made this up.

Force is central to this issue. Sex can be one of the most wonderful experiences of a woman's life and rape - sex forced on her - one of the worst. When force or chance terminates a woman's pregnancy it can be one of the most emotionally heavy experiences of her life; when she chooses to terminate a pregnancy it can yield one of her biggest reliefs. Sex and having a child can be radically different experiences depending on whether they are forced upon her or embraced by her.

Again, there is no way that Trump would have won without the vote of people who now believe that their definition of when life starts is God-given and true and that this revelation ought to be the basis for law. The truth? This definition of when life starts has nothing to do with Christ's teaching and even if it did, it wouldn't matter in a country based on religious freedom.

How do I know that it wouldn't matter? Because while Christ said nothing about abortion he was clear that divorce and re-marriage was adultery, a sin. Because of religious freedom, in this country a person is free to divorce and re-marry, as Trump has twice. The abortion is murder people seemingly want to live in a theocracy where religious beliefs are imposed on other people but it's essential to point out that the beliefs they want to impose are not based on Jesus' teaching. All theocracy is bad; theirs is a counterfeit theocracy.

Abortion is murder is a religious belief but not a Christian one. Like any Christian or non-Christian religious belief, it is something that people are free to embrace but not free to impose on others. It should not be the basis for law in this country. Unless of course you trust people who understand Christianity better than Christ and freedom of religion better than our founding fathers. I don't. Not any more than I trust Trump.

Medieval Relics, From Baby Jesus to Hitler

In the medieval world, miracles were still common and religious symbolism was not symbolic.  Wilsnack is today a tiny town of about 2,000, halfway between Berlin and Hamburg and yet because of reports that during a fire the Host – the holy bread used for communion – not only survived but bled, it was the fourth most popular destination for pilgrims (Rome and Jerusalem being first and second on that list). [1]  Monasteries attracted pilgrims with claims that they items like pieces of the crown Christ wore on the cross, his baby teeth, or umbilical cord (a double relic, of both Jesus and Mary).

The statue of St Longinus byGianlorenzo Bernini sits
above the relic in St Peter's Basilica

Even the pope’s own treasury of relics included the holy prepuce cut away when baby Jesus was circumcised. “Saint Catherine was often painted with Jesus putting a ring on her finger in a mystical marriage, but she said in letter after letter that the true marriage with Jesus was sealed with the ring of his circumcised flesh on the spouse’s fingers.” [2]

These beliefs did not die quickly. To give some appreciation of the degree to which Hitler tried to turn back time, after he had invaded Austria, Hitler quickly stole the Spear of Destiny. This was the spear reportedly used to pierce Christ’s side when he was on the cross. Since the time of Charlemagne, leaders of the Holy Roman Empire had held this spear with the apparent belief that possessing it gave one power to rule. (In their defense, they presided over an empire that lasted – in various forms – for roughly 1,000 years, from 800 to 1803.)  It was a relic that held magic that Hitler trusted, and this less than a century ago.

---

[1] Gary Willis, Why Priests? A Failed Tradition (Viking, New York, NY, 2013) p. 35.

[2] Gary Willis, Why Priests? A Failed Tradition (Viking, New York, NY, 2013) p. 39.

Jesus is Bored

As I commute to and from my current client, I drive under an overpass where a truck and trailer is parked with the message,
"Jesus is Lord."

I'd like to plant a truck at the next overpass with the message,
"Jesus is Bored. 
Just once you might do something wildly out of character, speak truth to power, commit an act of inexcusable generosity, or do something that terrifies you. Reward him for paying attention: be interesting."

Of course the fine print might be too much to absorb for someone already driving 65 mph while texting.

The Pathology of Mythology

Maybe the difference between myth and science is that myth feels right, in spite of the evidence. It falls into the category of something we wish were true. If science depends on empirical proof, then myth depends on psychological proof – emotional resonance.

A myth that feels right can eventually obstruct movement towards what is right. The notion that the sun revolves around the earth gets in the way of a real understanding of the universe.

Which brings me to the modern myth we’ve yet to acknowledge has essentially replaced the religious myths: the myth of Hollywood.

The average American spends hours more per week in theaters or in front of the TV than he does in any house of worship. No one has a firmer grip on the formation of what constitutes emotional truth than does Hollywood. And it largely puts the psyche at odds with the reality of the modern world.

The reality is, we are the products of systems. Systems as personal and hard to define as the one produced by the interactions of a family or the interactions of a family with its community. Or systems as well documented and closely studied as the ecosystem or economy we depend on for our daily life. Anyone who does not believe that we’re product of systems has only to look at the probability of one becoming a millionaire in the US vs. Sierra Leone, or the probability of becoming a Muslim in Afghanistan (99% for those of you keeping score) vs. Sweden.

And yet Hollywood’s persistent myth is that the individual knows better than the system and is able to transcend it. Personally, I love this myth. It resonates with me. I love the notion of Jesus challenging the Jews and Romans – the religious and political elites of his day - and claiming that in the kingdom to come, compassion for the poor and weak would matter more than power and wealth. I love the idea of a band of thinkers enthused with passion for Enlightenment principles who would take on – and defeat – the largest Empire in history to create the United States. It is a myth worth keeping alive. It is also a myth that is bound to come true only rarely and, for purposes of narrative arc, overlooks so much of what actually changes a system.

Perhaps the mythos of Hollywood has infected me as well, because I really do believe that the real proof of progress throughout Western history is the fact that systems are increasingly adapted to the reality and goals of the individual.

But the reason that Socrates and Jesus were heroes is because they changed the system – in spite of their first and apparent defeat by it. They were not heroes because they lived outside the system. That would have just made them hermits. The reason we tend to deify past heroes is because they have changed the system that we now live in.

The point is not to live outside the system – although one can hardly blame people for trying. The point is to change the systems we live in. And the real heroes aren’t the Hollywood heroes who prove the system wrong and conquer the bad guy in spite of the system (it is hard to think a character who better epitomizes this than Bruce Willis’ character in the Die Hard movies). The real heroes don’t work outside the system – they find the leverage point for changing it. It was not enough that Socrates was a brilliant man – he helped to begin philosophical inquiry in the West. It was not enough that Jesus was spiritual – he helped to begin a new religion.
The good news is that we’ve figured out how to avoid the dangers of communism. The bad news is that we’ve yet to figure out how to avoid the dangers of capitalism. Our economic system needs changing. The same can be said of our industrial systems that are at odds with our ecosystem and our political systems that still tilt madly on the side of big money interests. Education and health care systems continue to defy changes. At the risk of mouthing cliches, our future depends on our ability to change the systems we depend on and live in.

Although their life stories are so much less exciting than that of renegades, it is also true that people who change systems are the ones our progress depends on. We somehow need to make that story our new modern myth. Because it is this story that really can translate into something other than escapism.

Some of My Favorite Quotes on Possibility, Potential, and Perspective

“When we are born, we are a mass of potentials, possibilities waiting to be developed. We are not born into an environment that is completely neutral about our potentials, though, nor into one that will try to develop all our potentials. … As soon as we are born, the culture, primarily through the agency of the parents, begins to pick and choose among our potentials. … Becoming 'normal,' becoming a full-fledged member of your culture, involves a selective shaping, a development of approved ('natural,' 'godly,' 'polite,' 'civil') potentials, an inhibition of disapproved ('evil,' 'criminal,' 'delinquent,' 'disrespectful') ones."
- Charles Tart

“I feel that you probably have the chance to change your whole life like a thousand times a day….But the way we live we’re so shut down that our sensors don’t (pick up) the stuff anymore. Because we’re scared or we’re not sensitive enough to realize, or we’re not flexible enough to say yes or no, we just don’t see it.”
- Franka Potente

"If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you."
- Attributed to Jesus from the Gospel of Thomas

“People’s kind of being thus demands that any attempt to get at that being constantly has the character of doing violence. Whether to the claims of the everyday interpretation or to its complacency and its tranquilized obviousness.”
- Martin Heidegger

"It’s daunting how many possibilities there are in life for everyone of us. But rather than face that I might be a failure or success – I think both of them are terrifying – people find diversions.”
- Tim Allen

“Act always as if the future of the universe depended on what you did, while laughing at yourself for thinking that whatever you do makes any difference.”
- Buddhist proverb