Religion tends to prefer and protect the status quo or the supposedly wonderful past, yet what we now see is that religion often simply preserves its own power and privilege. God does not need our protecting.
Richard Rohr
…the problem of the increased social hostility we are witnessing today is first a moral one, and only subsequently an intellectual problem. That is, if we are not to be self-satisfied, self-righteous partisans, unwilling to entertain the possibility of good in other parties, we must develop a certain kind of character. The avoidance of sectarianism is not first and foremost a matter of intellect. It is a question of character. When you see a thorough-going sectarian who always repeats the party-line, you likely are witnessing a coward (because it takes courage to face the back-fire of cognitive dissonance) who lacks integrity (because it takes truthfulness to acknowledge we may be wrong).
Lee Camp
“You are going to feel like hell if you never write the stuff that is tugging on the sleeves of your heart — your stories, visions, memories, visions and songs. Your truth, your version of things, your own voice. That is really all you have to offer us. And that’s also why you were born.”
Anne Lamott
I have been blogging for 12-15 years and at various times I have been afflicted with what I have called “blog slog”. That has been my state for the past few months. Actually, like the quote from Anne Lamott predicts: I’ve been feeling like hell and I am resolved to “write the stuff that is tugging on the sleeves of my heart — my stories, visions, memories, visions and songs. M truth, my version of things, my own voice.”
I realize this is ambitious and will require some intentionality. Fortunately, our two month hiatus to Florida provides a perfect opportunity to get my rhythm back.
Blogging has become a digital dinosaur of sorts. Podcasts have emerged as the next best digital communication, along with Utube and other video media. Of 70 +/- blog links on my feed, there are only a dozen or so currently active. Oh well, what would would one expect from a 76 year old dinosaur? I suppose blogging is my equivalence of a flip phone.
In any case, the journey joyfully continues.
I have recently read David Brooks book “The Path to Character”. The following is an excerpt in which Brooks addresses the idea of engaging moral dilemmas in today’s society.
For his 2011 book Lost in Transition , Christian Smith of Notre Dame studied the moral lives of American college students . He asked them to describe a moral dilemma they had recently faced . Two thirds of the young people either couldn’t describe a moral problem or described problems that are not moral at all . For example , one said his most recent moral dilemma arose when he pulled in to a parking space and didn’t have enough quarters for the meter .
They didn’t understand that a moral dilemma arises when two legitimate moral values clash . Their default position was that moral choices are just a question of what feels right inside , whether it arouses a comfortable emotion . One student uttered this typical response : “ I mean , I guess what makes something right is how I feel about it . But different people feel different ways , so I couldn’t speak on behalf of anyone else as to what’s right and wrong .
If you believe that the ultimate oracle is the True Self inside , then of course you become emotivist — you make moral judgments on the basis of the feelings that burble up . Of course you become a relativist . One True Self has no basis to judge or argue with another True Self . Of course you become an individualist , since the ultimate arbiter is the authentic self within and not any community standard or external horizon of significance without . Of course you lose contact with the moral vocabulary that is needed to think about these questions . Of course the inner life becomes more level — instead of inspiring peaks and despairing abysses , ethical decision making is just gentle rolling foothills , nothing to get too hepped up about .
As I reflected on that citation, I realized how much the last sentance characterized my state of mind as I engage the day to day moral dilemmas in my life. The implications run deep.
This post continues a series entitled intersections. As I reflect on my life’s journey, various intersections along the way come to mind. My ambition was for a straight and narrow path. but, that’s not how life goes.
In the early years of our marriage, our religious experience was mostly characterized by regular church attendance. The demands of small children and irregular shift work impeded the kind of church involvement we had experienced growing up in our respective families.
Moving to Louisville in 1964 we joined (placed membership) the Okolona Church of Christ. Our pattern of regular church attendance and nominal involvement continued until the arrival of a new minister and his family. We were immediately drawn to them and they became our surrogate family. That influence, plus the encouragement of the educational minister, led to some teaching opportunities ( my 2 years of Christian college education was a qualifying factor).
I experienced an emergence of religious fervor fueled, in part by the guilt of youthful indiscretions, abandonment of faithfulness (sins of omission and commission), mixed with a desire to be a good Christian. Also, there was the fear of going to hell.
As a result, I dedicated myself to correcting my life and trying to do everything possible to be a good Christian. Those days were exhilarating. I was a rising religious star.
During that time I was particularly convicted that Jesus calls us to help the poor and disadvantaged. I became aware of a need at the East End Boy’s Club in downtown Louisville. They were in need of coaches for youth football on Saturdays. I signed up and was pleased to find an opportunity for ministry that was also fun and rewarding.
It was on a Saturday while coaching at East End Boy’s Club that I experienced a memorable intersection of life and religion. I remember it with great clarity As I watched those young boys, images of my young, pregnant wife at home with our three energetic boys and no driver’s license, or car for that matter, flooded over me. Their husband and father had abandoned his responsibilities to them so that he could satisfy his religious needs. The voice I heard was clear, “What a fool you are”!
That was the first time I realized the destructive potential of religion. I resigned from that volunteer opportunity and returned home to ‘”coach” our young boys. I would like to say that event marked my transformation from religion to the pursuit of a relationship with Jesus, but it wasn’t. Only years later would I understand the implications of religion to my spiritual journey.