Truth and Meaning: Bigotry

Truth and Meaning: Bigotry

I grew up watching the television show All in the Family. Viewers learned firsthand about bigotry by listening to outrageous statements from Archie Bunker. Public figures are once again making similar statements. Sadly, these are not shock media pundits, but elected officials. Surprisingly, they are shocked when they are subsequently called bigots.

A bigot is a person who regards members of a group with hatred and intolerance based on unproven prejudices. So, with apologies to Jeff Foxworthy, I offer the following list as a possible guide to our politicians.

• If you believe that a person’s inherent capacity for intelligence, productivity, or violence is connected to their skin color, then you might be a bigot.
• If you suppose that the current gender gap in salaries simply reflects free market economics, then you might be a bigot.
• If you think that legalizing same-sex marriage has a logical connection to beastiality, then you might be a bigot.
• If you believe that any one specific religion has a monopoly on morality, then you might be a bigot.
• If you consider another group’s culture as subhuman and inherently inferior to your own, then you might be a bigot.
• If you believe that rape is acceptable, justified, or deserved in any imaginable situation, then you might be a bigot.
• If you automatically connect homosexuality with pedophilia, then you might be a bigot.
• If you believe that you have the right to make medical decisions for other people based on your personal religious beliefs, then you might be a bigot.
• If you imagine that anyone chooses to be homeless, or addicted, or poor, or a victim of abuse, then you might be a bigot.

There is nothing wrong with having convictions. What is wrong is to choose to remain ignorant to facts, scientific research, and reason and in using your convictions to judge other people, to support laws and practices that restrict others’ rights, and to presume that your unsubstantiated personal truth must be applied to others. Bigotry is not terminal. It is a treatable condition. To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, Bigotry is the disease of Ignorance and education is the antidote.

Truth and Meaning: Greatness

Truth and Meaning: Greatness

America is a great nation. America embodies important principles of freedom, democracy and humanity uniquely and often with enormous success. The American people present an entrepreneurial spirit that is less complicated and certainly less refined than previous world empires. We are a determined people unaccustomed to anything but success and dominance.

And yet, like a dream team that fails to win the gold medal, our spirit does not always translate into a winning performance. Our educational system ranks 16th in reading, 31st in math and 22nd in science among leading nations. While our gross national product per capita puts us in the top 10 globally, our income disparity is among the worst. The United States ranks 36th in combating poverty, 40th in infant mortality and 40th in life expectancy.

On the other hand, we are No. 1 in prison incarceration, divorce, gun ownership and rapes. And, of course, we are first — far and away from the rest of the world — in military expenditures. These are not the rankings of a great nation. These are the numbers of a nation that values global conquest rather than caring for its own; punishment over prevention; and immediate gratification over investment in its future.

As a minister, I meet people struggling to find jobs and raise children, coping with disease and addiction, and desperately searching for love and meaning in life. I meet people with no health insurance; people fired from jobs for being gay or lesbian; and people who followed all the rules and are still denied the American dream. They are denied the American dream because of student loans, greedy banks, prejudice and discrimination, and because of systemic inequality that no amount of grit and determination can overcome.

I constantly meet the casualties of our various wars across the globe — our own people starving for resources. I am tired of funding wars that give us record stock prices and leave veterans homeless and suicidal. So let’s declare a new war … on ourselves. I want America to declare war on injustice, assaults on freedom, and corruption within its own borders — to win the hearts and minds of the American people. We need to stop bickering over unimportant differences and join together to build the great nation that America can be. We need to embrace each other — black or white, gay or straight, citizen or immigrant, man or woman.

A great nation should have no homelessness, no hunger, no untreated illnesses and no unemployment. A great nation should not tolerate violations of the inherent worth and dignity especially of its own people. We can be a great nation if we all come together.

Truth and Meaning: A Sacred Season

Truth and Meaning: A Sacred Season

We are in the midst of an exciting time of the year for many people of faith. My Christian colleagues are celebrating the Holy Week leading up to Easter. My Jewish friends are completing their Passover observances. And my Pagan neighbors recently observed Ostara, the vernal equinox. It is a time rich with symbolism and metaphor. From the resurrection to the exodus to the hare and egg, this spring season ushers in thoughts of new beginnings and rebirth, of light and warmth, of the cycle of our lives.

Whatever your faith tradition, this season is one of reflection — of self-examination and reaffirmation of core values and beliefs. In particular, core values of these religious observations emerge as critical in our lives. Easter gives us the unconditional love Jesus felt for everyone — a love unfettered by judgment or prejudice. Easter gives us the love for humanity and the goal of creating the beloved community among all men and women. Passover gives us the courage of people enduring hardships and suffering to persevere. Passover reminds us that faith and conviction are always rewarded with self-determination and freedom. And Ostara gives us confidence that our love and conviction will live on if we care for our children and for our earth. Ostara reminds us that life is about change and growth and that we are meant to never stop evolving toward more enlightened selves.

Acceptance of each other regardless of our differences, mutual courage and perseverance despite any obstacle, and love for all and commitment to their well being — these are core values to which we can all agree. Whatever you call your god, your higher power, or the eternal mysteries of our universe, we can come together in acceptance, courage and love. Whatever your appearance, your identity or your heritage, we can come together if we try.

But in order to do this, we must also embody other meanings of these holidays. Easter teaches us the need to sacrifice. Passover teaches us the need to have faith. And Ostara teaches us the need to live in balance with our world. Can we do this? Can we join — as people of all beliefs, all walks of life, all attributes — in sacrifice, faith, and balance? I believe that we can.

Start today. Put aside your differences and seek out common ground. Look for solutions that benefit all parties and do not simply gratify your own needs. Try to understand those unlike yourself — walk in their shoes before making assumptions. With acceptance and sacrifice, courage and faith, love and balance, there is nothing we cannot do.

Truth and Meaning: A Special Spring

Truth and Meaning: A Special Spring

Truth and Meaning: Religious Liberty

Truth and Meaning: Religious Liberty

Truth and Meaning: Religious Connection

Truth and Meaning: Religious Connection

Truth and Meaning: Real Men

This week on Valentine’s Day, February 14, I will join women and men across the globe as we stand and dance as part of the One Billion Rising event. I will be at Delta College in the morning and then at the Tridge in Midland at 5:30 p.m. to rise up against the global pandemic of violence against women.

But, what happens on February 15? I believe that until men reclaim their manhood and define a useful and productive masculinity, then our mothers, daughters, sisters, and wives will continue to live in fear. So, I propose a Men’s Manifesto to do just that. I hope that men everywhere will read this and sign on to this redefinition of our gender.

I will be Strong, applying my body, my character, and my will to productive pursuits. I will care for my body through exercise and diet; my character through moral commitment; and my will through a proper balance of purposeful action, creative expression, and intentional relaxation.

I will be Wise, using not just my body but my mind to resolve conflicts nonviolently, solve problems creatively, and build upon the world left to me by my fathers.

I will be Responsible, caring for others, especially those in need. I will own my actions and do everything I can so that others do not suffer because of my choices.

I will be Visionary, looking beyond my own immediate needs and gratification. I will strive each day to think beyond that day, toward building something greater in my own life and in the lives of others.

I will be Forceful, working with purpose, but forsaking violence. I will teach my children and mentor for others the power of ethical reasoning, controlled energy, and the proportional application of my abilities to any problem.

I will be Honorable, keeping my word when given and holding others to their commitments. I will live with integrity, obeying the rules of my societies, while living according to my personal moral code.

I will be Passionate, unafraid to show my love openly and in healthy ways. I will work tirelessly, giving my time, energy, and commitment to causes I believe in.

To this end, I vow never:

• To take what is not mine;
• To strike another person in anger;
• To intimidate through the threat of violence; or
• To abuse others through my position, control, or influence