Traffick

A few weeks ago, Rachel and I sat in on a viewing of Demand, a documentary on sex trafficking and those who participate in it.  The film, screened by Freedom to Thrive, was a great introduction into the dark world of pimps and prostitution, and the practices we engage in to support it.  Honestly, most of my perspective on "pimps and hos" has been informed by popular culture.  Thanks to the film, my paradigm has begun to shift.  Last week, NPR did a two part story this week on sex trafficking:

Part 1
Part 2

The Magnificat

The Magnificat by Mary the Revolutionary,

"My soul magnifies the Lord,

And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.

For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;

For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.

For He who is mighty has done great things for me,

And holy is His name.

And His mercy is on those who fear Him

From generation to generation.

He has shown strength with His arm;

He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

He has put down the might from their thrones,

And exalted the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things,

And the rich he has sent away empty.

He has helped His servant Israel,

In remembrance of His mercy,

As He spoke to our fathers,

To Abraham to his seed forever."

Luke 1:46-55 (emphasis added)

Eloquent and frightening words from a unwed, pregnant teen/ rural peasant.  Governments have removed the magnificant from state-sponsored Christianity.  When reading it honestly, I must confess I resist it.  Merry Christmas from the mother of Jesus.

Maternity Care and Health Reform

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, or so they say.  According to Jennifer Gunter's (M.D.) editorial in USA Today, every dollar spent on maternity care saves $3-4.50 in pediatric costs.  Here she promotes Parkland's method of care to the indigent population.

We're getting maternity care all wrong

Jesus and the Revolution

Rachel and I have been reading through Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas, a compilation of daily readings offered by various voices, from Thomas Aquinas to C.S. Lewis and from Dietrich Bonhoeffer to Philip Yancey.  Below is a quote from Mennonite theologian John Howard Yoder on The Original Revolution, which met me where I was:

"But for Jesus in his time, and for increasing numbers of us in our time, the basic human problem is seen in less individualistic terms.  The priority agenda for Jesus, and for many of us, is not morality or anxiety, but unrighteousness, injustice.  The need is not for consolation or acceptance but for a new order in which men may live together in love.  In his time, therefore, as in ours, the question of revolution, the judgement of God upon the present order and the imminent promise of another one, is the language in which the gospel must speak.  What most people mean by "revolution," the answer they want, is not the gospel; but the gospel, if it be authentic, must so speak as to answer the question of revolution.  This Jesus did."

On Haiti and Hope

Each semester, UAB School of Public Health Dean Max Michael puts together what he calls "Flash Talks," which brings together experts from various places in the university to discuss a current public health topic.  Last week, the topic for the Flash Talk was Cholera in Haiti, with discussion headed by Mindy Lalor, professor in the School of Engineering, and Craig Wilson, professor of epidemiology and head of the Sparkman Center for Global Health.  The discussion was remarkably disheartening.  Haiti has spent the past 206 dysfunctional years as the slum of the Western Hemisphere.  When the earthquake struck in January, Haiti was already riddled with HIV, TB, poor structural facilities, a corrupt and impotent government and a myriad of other blights.  When the rains came this summer, disaster piled upon disaster which piled upon Haiti's baseline of crisis.  And now cholera, the pathogen perhaps responsible for more deaths in the history of mankind than any other, has decided to get in on the act.

In short, Haiti is in such a state of disarray that even the most organized and well-funded interventions seem to be inadequate.  Even after working to coordinate disaster relief from organizations all over the world, experts are perplexed as to how to even begin fighting the issues faced by Haiti.  One million people remain dislodged from their homes, and sanitation is virtually impossible.

One of the participants in the discussion posed what seems to be a very logical question: "Why do anything?"  Resources are unquestionably being wasted away as more and more dollars are poured into a disaster area that could barely function before the earthquake.  In addition to the geographical, social, political and health issues facing the country, Haitians face the additional challenge of psychological dependence on their aid workers.  Dr. Lalor relayed a story from Tom Corson, executive director at SIFAT, an Alabama-based NGO that works to promote sustainable solutions for the poor in the developing world.  Mr. Corson spent weeks in a Haitian village working to teach villagers how to use a water purification system provided by SIFAT.  Despite being fully competent to maintain the system, villagers contacted him two days after he left, complaining that they no longer had any clean water.  Despite working all over the world, Mr. Corson described this as his first truly disheartening experience with SIFAT.  A man who has dealt with the poor the world over, and Haiti is the place where he loses hope.

Amidst this discussion, which seemed only to deepen the dilemma while failing to provide answers, I too began to lose heart.  I have spent the past few years trying to understand how I can use training in medicine and public health to fight poverty and oppression.  My time in the School of Public Health has been encouraging, and I am beginning to understand how I can use my skills to carve a career that brings the gospel of hope, healing, mercy, justice and salvation to those who most need it.  But this conversation of Haiti leaves me despairing.  Even the help provided to Haiti seems to deepen their problems, and no solutions can be found.

Thankfully, after a few days of despair, my Father graciously reminded me that He is the God of the despairing.  He directed me to Mark's gospel, where Jesus miraculously provided bread to the hungry masses.  After partaking twice in such feedings, the disciples found themselves hungry and worried afloat the Sea of Galilee, having forgotten to bring bread.  And it is here that Christ rebukes them, reminding them of the miracles they had already forgotten.  He teaches that in Him we have left the reign of scarcity under the rule of Egypt and Rome; we are now in the Kingdom of abundance.  For Haiti, the church is not bound to a resource allocation plan, and we are not at the mercy of logic.  The God of the sick and hungry is still the God of miracles, and in His Kingdom there is abundance.

In this, the Church is called to Haiti.  Empowered by abundance of the Kingdom, and we are called to fight for the poor and oppressed, even when there is no hope.  May He fill Haitian baskets.

Developing Community

An interesting post today by Birmingham Is Open, a collaboration of Birmingham, Alabama businesses and community development organizations.  The post is a link to the John & James L. Knight Foundation's Soul of a Community, which identifies the importance of attachment to one's community in regards to community development.  The foundation was surprised to find that despite the location, a homogeneous group of qualities attach individuals to their community: acceptance of diversity, social outlets and aesthetics.  I am curious to see how Birmingham will implement such knowledge in its effort to develop the city.

God Only Knows Where We'd Be Without Soldiers and Jesus

It has been years since my radio dial has spent much time honed into a country music station, but when I am back home with my dad spending a Saturday morning on the ranch, I usually catch a few of the time-tested favorites, from Alan Jackson to Merle Haggard.  Now and again a new song or two will echo through the speakers of an F-350, and thus I have been introduced to Taylor Swift and Lady Antebellum.  On my last trip home, one lyric in particular caught my ear - "God only knows where we'd be without soldiers and Jesus."

James Otto, described as a country music Southern soul man in the mold of Conway Twitty and Ronnie Milsaps, tugs at Americana's heart strings and patriotism with a ballad describing a grandfather's sacrifice in war and likening it to that of Christ.  The song appears on his 2010 release Shake What God Gave Ya'. Apparently Mr. Otto is working double time on incorporating the Godhead into his music.  The theme of "Soldiers and Jesus" is standard in the modern pop-country industry, which works to echo the sentiments of conservative, rural, working class Americans.  Patriotic ballads resonate well with country music fans.  You may remember Toby Keith's thoughtful "Angry American" ("We'll put a boot in your ass, it's the American way.") that debuted shortly after 9/11.  Military allusions are particularly sentimental.  The South is a lush harvesting ground for the US military, and many are veterans or family members thereof.  With numerous friends and classmates having served in the armed forces, I understand the ties one can feel to music linking US military operations with religion.

Yet I must question the simple assumption lying at the root of Mr. Otto's song: that Jesus and US soldiers are on the same team.  A quick review of the gospels fails to often unite soldiers with Jesus, save for that matter of the crucifixion.  But there are notable similarities between the military-government complex of the US military and with that of the Roman Empire.  Both spread across the known world, fighting in conflicts on foreign soil to protect the interests of the state.  I fear that if a middle-eastern man were to lead a raucous mob into a holy city being protected or defended by either military during a holy festival, and that mob were to proclaim his reign as king, either force would take note.  And while crucifixions have never been en vogue for the US military, I do not suppose such a man would be looked upon with trust.  Now suppose that such a man were to reject offers to work with local leaders or the occupying force.  Suppose he proclaimed the coming of a new kingdom - offering hope and inciting unrest.  Do you think that such a man might not find himself the target of a smart bomb or an assassination?

Unfortunately, despite our best intentions to marry patriotism and religion, the two are not entirely compatible.  While our military does sacrifice to provide security and safety to Americans and to defend our interests and values, the Christian Church cannot embrace our government as a friend.  We certainly cannot advocate for more overlap between the two.  In a debate for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, Ron Paul quipped that if fascism were ever to descend on the US, it would arrive carrying a cross and draped in an American flag.  "Soldiers and Jesus" promotes exactly that kind of Christianity, one that unfortunately disregards the very Christ that called us to love our enemies and turn the other cheek - the Jesus that was crucified by soldiers.

Healthcare Reform

Confused about healthcare reform?  Six months after the bill passed, someone has finally turned it into a cartoon.  Schoolhouse Rock Aficionados, enjoy: Kaiser Family Foundation Health Care Reform

For the Bible Tells Me So

In the American evangelical church, no issue ignites emotions more than homosexuality.  At the first mention of the word, good Baptists reach for Leviticus, immediately dismissing any discussion of room for gays within the Church.  While I cannot profess to have many answers about God's perspectives on an openly gay Episcopal bishop, I did take a step of entering into the conversation a few nights ago by turning on For the Bible Tells Me So, a documentary questioning the legitimacy of the anti-gay fervor within the evangelical world.

I can say firstly that I don't get it.  I don't get why a man is attracted sexually to another man.  I can't relate.  It does not make sense in terms of evolutionary survival.  I have heard some promote a concept that "our sexuality is fluid," and whatever that means, I don't think I buy it.  But I do understand attraction, and I know what it is to yearn for lifelong companionship.  Personally, as long as the person you want to take on as your spouse or partner is not my wife (or myself), I am not all too concerned with your choice.  If you are a man and want to marry a man, so be it.  I can't imagine anyone would want to suffer the ridicule and scorn endured by gays and lesbians if he or she did not have at least some legitimate desire for sex with someone of the same gender.

However, in the scope of Christianity, I have always been taught that gay sex is sin.  The documentary did an excellent job of promoting thoughtful and insightful challenges to that belief.  The producers certainly had an agenda, which they well executed.  But it was one of the first times I recognized the struggles endured by gays who earnestly and honestly long for communion with the church.  Whereas before I couldn't even entertain the possibility that a Christian could be a lesbian, now I struggle to entertain why a lesbian would want to be a Christian.  We have been hateful and stubborn to anyone professing both homosexuality and the cross.

While we cloak our condemnations of homosexuality in bible versus, I do believe that our disdain for gays and lesbians is rooted much deeper in our macho psyche and disdain for women than our theology.  I admit that the idea of a man being with another man makes me uncomfortable.  But our faith calls us clearly and definitely to be more so repulsed by the idea of hate-mongers and terrorists who, in the name of Jesus, threaten death to gay Christians.

But what about scripture?  I cannot overlook or dismiss words that seem to specifically warn as God's children of the evils of sexual perversion.  And so I don't know exactly where I stand on all of this.  But I do know this: Christ has called us to stand with the oppressed, to fight for justice and to be vessels of mercy.  And so I will stand up for gays when they are put down, be it by Christians or not.  And I will likewise call gay brothers and lesbian sisters in Christ to live lives of dignity - not given to orgies or random hook-ups - in the same way I call my straight brothers and sisters.  I will continue to ask questions and I will not tolerate hatred in the name of Jesus.

While I cannot find a mention of homosexuality by Jesus, I can certainly find stark condemnations he preaches against the luxuries enjoyed by the American church.  Should we fail to repent of our inhospitality to members of the gay/lesbian/transgender communities, we are indicted "to a fate worse than Sodom."

From the library...

Currently off of the shelf and into my hands, a pair of books:

The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois is one of the seminal works on African-American Studies.  Written in the early years of the previous century, Du Bois focuses on the problems of the "color line" in the US, with particular attention to the South.  Many of the issues that existed at that time have built the foundation for modern racial disparities; Du Bois's famous "Veil" has yet to lift.


Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of Mark's Story of Jesus by Ched Meyers is my first venture into Liberation Theology.  Meyer's book, a Catholic Book Award winner, demands a socio-political reading of the gospel, with particular attention to who was writing (a Jew oppressed by Roman colonialization during the Jewish revolt in 66 A.D), to whom he was writing (other oppressed Jews and Christians) and about whom he was writing (a non-violent, and thus unwelcome, Messiah who demanded a new social order).  The book is heavy and academic, but with a penchant for history and revolution, I have eaten it up thus far.  Reading it as part of a book club, I am eager to discuss it with a group with a variety of theological and political backgrounds.

As the semester's end approaches quickly, I am looking for another book or two to help me through December.  I am considering some writings of Martin Luther King, Jr., and perhaps a long-overdue reunion with my good friend Wendell Berry.  Your suggestions are welcome.

Remember, remember

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,

The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,

I know of no reason

Why the Gunpowder Treason

Should ever be forgot.


A joyous Guy Fawkes Night to everyone.  Hopefully you will celebrate in the revolutionary vein by watching V for Vendetta.

The Third of November

Remember, remember

The Education Manifesto

Outgoing Washington, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty (D) and Michelle Rhees, the Chancellor of Schools in his administration, implemented radical changes in the system's schools during his term in office.  Resistance from unions and old-guard Democrats led to his ouster in a primary election earlier this fall.  Together they authored this article entitled, "The Education Manifesto."  Here's to politicians willing to make good decisions that risk their careers.  Click on the post title to see the article.

On the legality of marriage

Liberation

Liberation Theology.  God favors the oppressed.  The tenet is sound, but scary as hell itself.  For I, white, middle class, American, educated, am not oppressed.  I am not a widow.  I am not an orphan.  I am not an alien. 

The phrase has entered into conversation twice this week.  My conservative, evangelical background shys from anything not mentioned by Augustine or Spurgeon or C. S. Lewis.   In such a moment I rejoice in friends who believe in a God big enough to save heretics.  Some seminaries teach students to start using that word early.  Even hinting threats to the establishment must be dismissed by a powerful label, conjuring up images of the Inquisition or gnostic witchcraft.  Thankfully, ours is a God who fears not the questioning of His character; He is not afraid of heresy.  We are welcome to wonder, even at the cost of doctrinal soundness.  Props to Steve Brown for freeing me to become heretical in my pursuit of God.

In Liberation Theology, we find a discomforting challenge to institutional Christianity.  The established church quivers, be it in the halls of the Vatican or protestant seminary.  But a thorough reading of scripture cautions against siding with almost anything resembling an institution.

Thus I will question.

Given my aforementioned status of being decidedly unoppressed, I meet Liberation Theology with reluctance.  What does such a doctrine imply about my standing with God?  In the Psalter, we meet the God of the brokenhearted, the lonely, the sinner.  In Jesus we find a man who persistently rejects the systematic theology of learned men to touch lepers and women.  James cautions our proclivity to honor the honorable.  These simple truths have been components of my faith for as long as I remember.  But what if these components are, in fact, the center?

So who is oppressed?  Walking the streets of Southside, I see black people, homeless people, gay people and disabled people.  Each of these, according to the social structure of modern day Birmingham, have found some sort of oppression given the mentioned characteristics.

In class this week, the issue of race arose.  Despite the civil rights movement and the 2008 election, I firmly agree with Derrick Bell that racism is a permanent and integral part of American culture.  We are inherently racist, a fate sealed by a myriad of intractable factors, both biological and environmental.  What's more, our generation's politically correct denial of the presence of intrinsic racism is a fertile medium for the perpetuation of implicit, unspoken racism.  What can be done?

Where is the Church?

Rites of passage

Manifesting destiny

Manifesto?  A thought voiced by my wife.  Of course, Marx and Engels come to mind, translated to a pseudo-red blog via text at a late hour.  I'm not a man with grand political/economic theories.  I struggle against cynicism as I ride waves of reaction and intuition and comfort between libertarianism and socialism and anarchy.  But the question is good and perhaps essential.  What do I hope to stand for?  What do I want to stand against?  Where will all this standing happen.  And what about us as a couple?

Here is the foundation: that Jesus changes everything.  Redemption is happening, regardless of where I plant my flag politically, socially, economically or geographically.  My hope is to participate in said redemption, even as it happens in me.  Primum non nocere: First, do no harm.  Unfortunately, I will.  To act is to risk harm, despite intentions.  I will cause harm professionally and personally through accidents, negligence, ignorance, laziness and selfishness.  And yet this is all, in its peculiarity, redemption.

A jaunt onto the information superhighway

And so I enter into the interweb, full of conflicted passions, aware of the injustice around me yet not quite sure what to do with it all.  I don't know if I care for the revolution, but I admire the enthusiasm.  I think I am more enamored with redemption, or at least what I am beginning to see what that means.  Ours is an unjust world, filled with poverty, oppression, violence and sorrow.  These things will not change, not to the degree to which I hope.  They are components of our condition.  May the words on this page, at the least, help me to process what I believe and how I am to respond.  My hope is that you will partake in the process with me, fulfilling what Paulo Friere proclaims to be our human vocation: to name the world.  Viva.

A few books over the last few years that have begun to challenge my paradigms:

Wendell Berry, The Art of the Commonplace

Paul Farmer, Infections and Inequalities

Ronald J. Sider, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger

Paulo Friere, Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Robert D. Lupton, Compassion, Justice and the Christian Life

Jon Lee Anderson, Che Guevarra: A Revolutionary Life

Tracy Kidder, Mountains Beyond Mountains