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An Open Letter From Desmond Tutu

On By J. Barrett LeeIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

This is an open letter from Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu to the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Reblogged from Derrick McQueen at Union in Dialogue.

Dear Brother in Christ,

I am writing you with the request that you share these thoughts with my brothers and sisters in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.):

It is incumbent upon all of God’s children to speak out against injustice. It is sometimes equally important to speak in solidarity when justice has been done. For that reason I am writing to affirm my belief that in making room in your constitution for gay and lesbian Christians to be ordained as church leaders, you have accomplished an act of justice.

I realize that among your ecumenical partners, some voices are claiming that you have done the wrong thing, and I know that you rightly value your relationship with Christians in other parts of the world. Sadly, it is not always popular to do justice, but it is always right. People will say that the ones you are now willing to ordain are sinners. I have come to believe, through the reality shared with me by my scientist and medical friends, and confirmed to me by many who are gay, that being gay is not a choice. Like skin color or left-handedness, sexual orientation is just another feature of our diversity as a human family. How wonderful that God has made us with so much diversity, yet all in God’s image! Salvation means being called out of our narrow bonds into a broad place of welcome to all.

You are undoubtedly aware that in some countries the church has been complicit in the legal persecution of lesbians and gays. Individuals are being arrested and jailed simply because they are different in one respect from the majority. By making it possible for those in same-gender relationships to be ordained as pastors, preachers, elders, and deacons, you are being a witness to your ecumenical partners that you believe in the wideness of God’s merciful love.

For freedom Christ has set us free. In Christ we are not bound by old, narrow prejudice, but free to embrace the full humanity of our brothers and sisters in all our glorious differences. May God bless you as you live into this reality, and may you know that there are many Christians in the world who continue to stand by your side.

God bless you.

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu (Cape Town, South Africa)

(Just for fun, I’ll add this video -Barrett)

Sanity Within Disagreement

On By J. Barrett LeeIn Uncategorized1 Comment

I’d like to share this sound bite from a fellow Christian with whom I deeply disagree on the issue of LGBT equality in church.  Tony Campolo calls himself a “conservative”, which I guess makes me a “liberal” (whatever that means).

The bottom line is that I believe a loving and committed relationship between two people of the same gender is blessed by God and should be supported by the church.  Tony does not agree with me on this.  He believes that “same-sex erotic behavior” is inherently inconsistent with Christian morality.

However, in spite of our disagreement, I offer this clip from an interview with Tony because I so deeply respect his generosity of heart and mind.  I also appreciate his willingness to leave room in church and society for those who see things differently than he does.

It’s worth noting that he also leaves room for disagreement in his own home and heart: Peggy, his wife of over 50 years, is an active and outspoken advocate for LGBT equality in churches.  The two of them debate publicly on the issue and still manage to live together.  I could learn something from them…

I offer this video to my LGBT friends and fellow “liberal” Christians as living proof that not all “conservative” evangelicals and catholics are ignorant bigots.  Many of them (like Tony Campolo) are willing to speak out and fight for civil rights.

I offer this video to those on the “conservative” end of the spectrum as living proof that having an open heart and open mind toward others does not necessarily entail the sacrifice of one’s personal convictions.

Tony himself said it best in the video:

“I don’t care where you are on the theological spectrum or what your attitudes are on this issue.  When we generate fear and hatred of a group, I think we need to take a good look at ourselves.”

This is what respect in the midst of disagreement looks like.

Charity vs. Justice

On By J. Barrett LeeIn Uncategorized2 Comments

Thanks to Brooke Newell (Central New York PPG Advocacy Ministries Coordinator) for this image.

It reminds me of another story about the difference between charity and justice:

Two friends are sitting by a river one day when they notice an abandoned baby floating downstream.  They immediately jump in to rescue the child.  Before they get back to shore, they notice another baby, and then another, and another.  Soon, the babies are floating by so fast that the two friends can’t possibly save them all.

Suddenly, one of them climbs onto the bank and starts running away.

“Hey,” the friend in the water says, “where do you think you’re going?!  You’ve got to come back here and help me!”

“I’m going upstream,” the friend on shore says, “to find out who is throwing babies in the river!”

Charity and justice…

Prayer In School

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Politically correct disclaimer:

This is not an endorsement of the dark arts.

Neither is it a slight to my Wiccan/Asatruar friends.

It is a simultaneously amusing and thought-provoking image I found on Doug Barr’s Facebook page.  That being said, I am a also firm believer that advocacy for people of other faiths leads to greater freedom for my own.

Have a nice day.

Make A Declaration Of Inter-Dependence

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Here is my Labor Day article from last Sunday’s Rome Sentinel.

One of my favorite growing-up memories is of a time when my father took me to hear the President of the United States speak in my hometown of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Walking away from the event, Dad repeated a single sentence from the President’s speech: “We must learn to treat one another as indispensible partners and not disposable parts.”

I’m not surprised that this phrase stood out to him. My father’s family moved to New York from Puerto Rico when he was a small child. He grew up facing the dual pressures of prejudice and poverty. My grandmother and her seven children lived in a one-bedroom trailer with no furniture. My father worked his way through college as a janitor.

Dad knows firsthand what it feels like to be treated like a “disposable part” because of one’s ethnicity or blue-collar status. Nobody cares about learning what the janitor’s name is until he misses a spot! Years later, he eventually worked his way out of poverty and made a comfortable life for my siblings and me. However, he never forgot what it felt like to be treated like a “nobody” at the bottom of the pile. He raised me to respect the humanity in all people, especially those who work in occupations that receive less prestige than doctors and lawyers.

This is an important value to remember as we celebrate the Labor Day holiday. We cannot afford to hold onto the myth of the “self-made individual” any longer. We all depend on one another for community stability. We couldn’t even order lunch or gas up the car if weren’t for the labors of others. This Labor Day, it’s time for us to make a Declaration of Inter-dependence. We need each other. Our future depends on it.

So, when you’re ordering lunch at the diner, make a habit of looking up from your menu and looking the server in the eye. Remember his or her name. Say “thank you” and take a moment to honor your common humanity and mutual inter-dependence.

You Are Accepted

On By J. Barrett LeeIn Uncategorized2 Comments

This is my favorite passage from theologian Paul Tillich.  It is taken from a sermon in his book The Shaking of the Foundations.

This is one of those precious few texts I repeatedly return to when I need to remind myself of what it means to be a “Christian”.

Do we know what it means to be struck by grace? It does not mean that we suddenly believe that God exists, or that Jesus is the Saviour, or that the Bible contains the truth. To believe that something is, is almost contrary to the meaning of grace. Furthermore, grace does not mean simply that we are making progress in our moral self-control, in our fight against special faults, and in our relationships to men and to society. Moral progress may be a fruit of grace; but it is not grace itself, and it can even prevent us from receiving grace. For there is too often a graceless acceptance of Christian doctrines and a graceless battle against the structures of evil in our personalities. Such a graceless relation to God may lead us by necessity either to arrogance or to despair. It would be better to refuse God and the Christ and the Bible than to accept them without grace. For if we accept without grace, we do so in the state of separation, and can only succeed in deepening the separation. We cannot transform our lives, unless we allow them to be transformed by that stroke of grace. It happens; or it does not happen. And certainly it does not happen if we try to force it upon ourselves, just as it shall not happen so long as we think, in our self-complacency, that we have no need of it. Grace strikes us when we are in great pain and restlessness. It strikes us when we walk through the dark valley of a meaningless and empty life. It strikes us when we feel that our separation is deeper than usual, because we have violated another life, a life which we loved, or from which we were estranged. It strikes us when our disgust for our own being, our indifference, our weakness, our hostility, and our lack of direction and composure have become intolerable to us. It strikes us when, year after year, the longed-for perfection of life does not appear, when the old compulsions reign within us as they have for decades, when despair destroys all joy and courage. Sometimes at that moment a wave of light breaks into our darkness, and it is as though a voice were saying: “You are accepted. You are accepted, accepted by that which is greater than you, and the name of which you do not know. Do not ask for the name now; perhaps you will find it later. Do not try to do anything now; perhaps later you will do much. Do not seek for anything; do not perform anything; do not intend anything. Simply accept the fact that you are accepted!” If that happens to us, we experience grace. After such an experience we may not be better than before, and we may not believe more than before. But everything is transformed. In that moment, grace conquers sin, and reconciliation bridges the gulf of estrangement. And nothing is demanded of this experience, no religious or moral or intellectual presupposition, nothing but acceptance.