Emergent Church Conference

I am down in Albuquerque at the Emergent conference. I am doing this from my phone.... which is tedious. The speakers are challenging and the conversation at my table has been enlightening. I hope this becomes an annual event.

Quotes from articles I read this week #3

what i really need is a dose of demotivation. a swig of selflessness. a message about how to give up the chase for significance and instead embrace the beauty of obscurity.

i need to be demotivated about accomplishment. and instead be motivated about the unspectacular grandness of the ordinary life lived and breathed in the common days of here and the long, restless nights of now.
How God Messed up My Religion

On a related note, I am excited about the youtube clip going around of some famous guy on Conan O’Brien’s show ranting about the whineyness (or joylessness) of our wealthy culture. I see this all the time during remodel jobs for wealthier people. People can always find some ridiculous little nuance to be unhappy about. Meanwhile, we installed a laminate floor for an elderly woman who seems to live pretty simple and she was the easiest human to work for. Have lots = bitching & whining. Have little = thankful for everything. Go figure.
The Agent B Files

I've read the words of Jesus hundreds of times. And what keeps driving through my brain is this:

Treat each other well. Live according to your highest principles. Trust each other and trust God. Listen to your heart.

I can get that, even when the theological debates excite and confuse me.
Megaloi

During a group discussion at the end of the day, a question arose concerning the pressure we often feel (be it illusory or otherwise) with regards to making sure the children are “learning the right things”. I suppose you could call it a trust issue. Letting a child hear a story from the Bible and giving them the space and means to reflect on it is something we are not inclined to do. My instinct is to tell them what I think the moral, the climax, the conflict, or resolution of the story is in my expert (somebody gag me) opinion. Simply telling them the story and getting out of the way isn’t the model I was given growing up in church. This may be one of the reasons I had little trust in my own ability to make good decisions as I got older. These days, however, I think of the church and children’s Sunday school as a place for discernment rehearsal. It is all we really do when we say we “study” the bible. We are grasping at the wonders and complexities (the mystery) of the bible as a healthy part of our psychological development. Maybe you are already there, but I was struck afresh with the enormity of leading a class full of children through the beginning stages of their spiritual journeys. I want to encourage them to trust their already-holy spirits that have them discerning (and sometimes saying) all manner of amazing things week after week.
Peer Pressure is Forever

To go along with that-is evangelical Christianity in danger? The only real thought that occurred to me here is that this is what happens you spend your resources preaching to the choir.
The New Unitarian Universalist

If public witness mean a fish on the back of your car and wearing an abstinence ring, you might be an Evangelical.

When someone mentions a “sinful lifestyle”, if you automatically think of the sins of drinking, drugs, smoking and sexual impurity, rather than the sins of anger, pride, deceit and the failure to love your neighbor, you might be an evangelical.

If you disparage the Mormons and Mother Teresa for emphasizing good, moral behavior, you might be an evangelical.

If you’ve never read an actual postmodernist author, but know postmodernism is evil because John MacArthur said they don’t believe in truth, you might be an evangelical.

If the words “worship” and “singing” are synonymous in your vocabulary, you might be an Evangelical.
Parchment and Pen

Did Jesus avoid the world? I don’t see how we could possibly construe his actions as anything but rubbing shoulders with people who didn’t even know how much they needed him. And I’ve said it many times before, but his harshest words were for those who thought they were doing God favors!
Theological Musings

Artistocats Next Week

My son and daughter will be in a production of the Aristocats starting next week with the South Jordan Community Theater. Kathryn is the mother cat, Duchess. Jake is part of the dog troop. This is Kathryn's 4th production with the company; Jake is hitting the stage for the first time.

It has been fun for me to watch both my kids so excited and involved in something together. In fact, Jake demonstrated his seriousness about the production. Last week, the director mentioned that the dogs needed to keep their bangs under their hat, or cut their bangs. Jake seemed to only grasp the second part. He didn't believe my wife when she told him keeping his bangs under his hat was enough; so he snuck upstairs and quietly took care of his bangs with scissors.

Utah Legislature and the LDS Church

I live in Utah. Living in Utah means you get to hear A LOT about the Mormon/LDS church. This can annoy a lot of non-LDS folks (and some LDS too). Because of this, I think the LDS get a a lot of undeserved criticism. To some, no matter what the LDS church does, it is wrong.

Not that occasions don't exist when criticism is deserved. An article I read in the Salt Lake Tribune today demonstrated one of those occasions.

Utah has some "quirky" liquor laws. Most prominent among these is a requirement that you be a member of whatever bar at which you would like to order a drink. Just walking into a pub and showing your ID is not sufficient. You have to become a member. It is not overly intrusive, but it is very tedious. Utahns who want to defend these laws often point out that there are other states that have a quirky liquor law or two. I have never considered it a good reason to continue a bad practice simply because someone else also participates in a bad practice.

The Utah legislature is in session right now and one of the items they are considering (thanks to the prompting of our governor) is a removal of the pub membership requirement. There was a meeting about it this week and according to today's Salt Lake Tribune:

Representatives of the House, the Senate, bar owners, restaurants, the governor's office and the LDS Church hammered out the framework during intense closed-door negotiations this week.

Now the teacher in me wants to put forth a multiple choice question.

Class, which group above does not fit in the context of the set? Is it:

A. Representatives of the House

B. State Senators

C. Bar Owners

D. Restaurant owners

E. Representatives from the Governor's Office

F. The LDS Church

Ding-Ding! Time's up, pencils down! If you answered F, you are correct!!

What business does the LDS church have in these meetings? I am particularly interested in the opinions of non-Utahns. I may not recall correctly, but I do not seem to remember officials of the Catholic church being involved in meetings like these back in Michigan. In fact, I would venture a guess that it does not happen in any other state (though Southern states may give a couple seats to a Televangelist or two). :)

I know that the typical defensive response here in Utah is that since the LDS church is so large here, they have a vested interest in decisions like these (Mormons don't even drink). I don't buy this. The vast majority of our state legislature is already Mormon due to their large percentage. The LDS church has voice through its elected representatives... just like everyone else. Injecting themselves at this level is simply inappropriate.

The LDS church members are represented in these meetings by their duly elected representatives; in this, there is an equal playing field. For the LDS church to be given special representation in these meetings (and so many others) it just announces that, in the Utah legislature, the LDS church is more equal than others.

Perhaps the better Watchmen movie was just released

I have lost count of how many times I have read the Watchmen Graphic Novel. If you have never read Watchmen, it is considered by most to be the best graphic novel of all time. I would agree with that assessment.

This Friday, the Watchmen movie is being released. I am looking forward to it, but I know that it will probably fall short in many respects. How does one capture a 12 issue epic in a two and a half hour movie?

With that in mind, I was delighted to see that a "motion comic" was created. Basically, they took the comic frame by frame and animated it with voice-overs and music. I am on the third episode, and I love the work they did. In the end, I would not be surprised to see it beat out this Friday's movie.

Baptizing Children

This is probably not a popular view, but it is one that I hold. I am not rabid about this; I don't go around trying to debate the point with parents who have chosen to do this, but I am pretty opinionated.

I do not think children should be baptized. I don't think there should be a rule about it, but I think it is bad practice.

Why?

Think about it: Baptism is a sign, it is a covenant. You are making a commitment to step out of one way of life and into another. The old man is dying, the new man is rising. You are exchanging one life for another.

How does a child do this? How do they weigh this out? What life are they exchanging?

Can I be honest? Isn't this more about the parent than the child? Isn't it more about the parent feeling safe and affirmed? Kodak moment?

Having taught for 18 years, I have found this to be true: Most children parrot the thoughts and opinions of their parents. Their politics and spirituality are all picked up from their parents' wake. Their is very little personal insight in their worldview.

So then I ask: Does it not cheapen baptism to direct a child into it? Are we not announcing that baptism is not really all that important, if a certain amount of soul searching is not needed in the decision process?

I do not think scripture's silence on this is a clincher for my case, but I believe it does lend some weight. You do not see children being baptized in scripture. I believe that is because the apostles understood that a child simply does not have the faculties or experience to make such a decision.

So how old then? Again, I do not desire hard and fast rules on this but I would ask believers to consider: If you do not think your child is old enough to select a spouse, why would you direct them into a decision of baptism? Is not baptism, in many ways, a more important decision than marriage?

If you haven't seen it yet....

I wish I could say that this is a total spoof; but if you hang in Christian circles at all.... you know someone who thinks like this!!!

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Quotes from articles I read this week #2

Bruce Droppings


Postmodern folks tend to be more skeptical of institutions. They often operate with a hermeneutic of suspicion (a belief that "truth" claims are not as much "true" as they are beneficial for those who benefit from the status quo. For example 150 years ago many Southern churches interpreted the Bible to mean that owning African slaves is OK. Today we wonder how that is possible. This is what Upton Sinclair was getting at when he said, "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon him not understanding it." People bend the "truth" to their own ends). Michael's Blog

What I don’t get is why so often those who claim most loudly to be on the inside track of the deeper christian life are also the ones most likely to be considered asses by everyone else. Kingdom Grace

I want to seek truth, but not condemn someone for being unsure. I’m going to love people just to love them, not to convert them, because God is powerful enough to do that by Himself. Scripture is the main authority I consult, but two people can read the same thing and hear different things. It doesn’t have to mean one doesn’t believe what they read. Emerging Toward Something Redeeming

I consider all confessing Christians to be my brothers and sisters in Christ, but I doubt that feeling is mutual. Echos of a Voice

I did not suffer a failure of belief in God, so much as a loss of faith in those who claim to be His messenger boys. Weary of endless contradictions and conflicts, I found neither consistency nor coherency, either in our time or in history, among the multitudes of learned ones who have felt supremely confident they nailed the truth for time and eternity. Ifs of Og

Playing the God Card

Salt Lake Tribune columnist Paul Rolly had some interesting commentary today. He was quoting a letter written to the Utah legislature by the president of the Eagle Forum ( conservative/LDS lobbying group in Utah).

The Eagle Forum president was concerned about the various gay rights legislation coming up, so she wrote the following to remind the predominately LDS (Mormon) legislature where they should be standing:

"We have never seen a time when the homosexual community has been as aggressive and as committed to an objective as they are now," ...

"Every seat not taken by us in the committee room will be filled by those supporting these radical homosexual bills,"...

"I would like to share some scriptures in the (LDS) Doctrine and Covenants that have great meaning and comfort to me. In section 101 verses 86-95, the Lord gives us some lobbying instructions, starting with local government and working our way up through the state and federal government. We are told after we importune at the feet of our elected officials and they heed not (a righteous message) the Lord will arise and come forth and vex the nation and in His time will cut off those wicked, unfaithful, and unjust stewards, and appoint them their portion among hypocrites, and unbelievers. He also mentions outer darkness, weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth." ...

Underlying message? Fail to vote the way we want and GOD IS GOING TO GET YOU!!

This is a very effective means of controlling many who take their religion seriously (not too dissimilar from how Ben Kenobi directed the minds of the stormtroopers near Mos Eisley).

So did the Eagle Forum president pull the God card because she is Mormon? No, I believe she did it because it was easy; and because she "knows" she is right. Why waste time on reason, persuasion, understanding, or... gulp... compromise - when you can pull the God card. It ends discussion and saves time.

My beliefs regularly get called into question because there is very little that I would be an absolutist about. I don't spend much time with rhetoric about absolute "Truth".

Why?

Because the end of that road leads to Ms. Eagle Forum president. You lose empathy, and your conscience no longer pricks when you try to strong arm people into accepting your view. Forcing someone into your worldview is for their good after all.

I was sharing at a bible study once that I was desiring to navigate a balance in instructing my children about God. I want to educate them about my faith, but I do not want to indoctrinate them. One of my friends said in a confused, but firm, voice "What is wrong with indoctrinating them if you know you are right?"

Notice where absolutism leads? Why bother reasoning with my children, persuading them, living my faith in a way that makes them think well of it.... when I could just strong arm them into it... give them no options.... make them believe GOD WILL GET THEM if they don't share my view.

I finish with a quote from the movie Dogma by Kevin Smith.

Bethany: So you're saying that having beliefs is a bad thing?

Rufus the Apostle: I just think it's better to have an idea. You can change an idea; changing a belief is trickier. People die for it, people kill for it.

Everything is amazing, nobody is happy...

A truly great commentary.