Clarion: Journal of Spirituality and Justice

Razor Wire and Piggy Back Rides: A Story out of Solitary with Holly Braun

Friends,

Neaners finally got to hold his daughters at his first visit out of solitary confinement last month. Here is the story, as written up by Tierra Nueva staff member Holly Braun, who drove his daughters across Washington State to see him in prison.

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Razor Wire and Piggy Back Rides

by Holly Braun 

I met Neaners just over a year ago. The tattooed homie who first ordained Chris Hoke as “Pastor of Homies” wrote a letter from prison asking me if I would teach him how to farm. By mail. He has a vision for ministry to other kids caught in gangs when he gets out, a vision that includes a small farm.

Dateline Bethlehem: Christ at the Checkpoint -- by Brad Jersak

Brad Jersak has just returned from "Christ at the Checkpoint" —a conference sponsored by Bethlehem Bible College. On assignment for PTM, Brad here files his reactions just as he prepares to leave this volatile region.

This Christ at the Checkpoint report comes as my rich and intense week in Bethlehem winds down. I'm writing while the bombardment of charged experiences, emotional interviews, and eyewitness stimuli churns raw and semi-processed in my heart. Greetings in Jesus' name less than one mile from where our Saviour was born in this not-so-quiet, yet precious town.

The Lord's simple instruction for me was just these words: "surrendered lenses." We all see the world through our own cultural and religious lenses. These often blur our vision of reality, so I pray for Spirit-washed lenses to sharpen my focus and cleanse pre-conceived assumptions about the situation here. I have tried to listen attentively and non-judgmentally to the people's hearts and to find Jesus amidst a cacophony of conflicting narratives. 

For the remainder of this report, click here.

 

 

Praying For Justice In A Contemplative Conundrum by Jeff Imbach

Some Reflections Of Praying For Justice In A Contemplative Conundrum

How do I pray contemplatively the enormous structural implications of our current economic and political realities?  I want to be hopeful and resist cynicism.  I want to be trusting and not be filled with fear about the economically driven political policies and decisions that are becoming almost hard-wired into the system.  I want to walk with you, my Love.

How do I pray contemplatively from my heart and with my actions as I watch the present unfolding of our world?

Psalm 62:8, “O my people, trust in God at all times.  Pour out your heart to the Lord, for God is our refuge.”

OK then Loving One, let me pour out my heart to you. 

Praying For Justice In A Contemplative Conundrum by Jeff Imbach

Some Reflections Of Praying For Justice In A Contemplative Conundrum

How do I pray contemplatively the enormous structural implications of our current economic and political realities?  I want to be hopeful and resist cynicism.  I want to be trusting and not be filled with fear about the economically driven political policies and decisions that are becoming almost hard-wired into the system.  I want to walk with you, my Love.

How do I pray contemplatively from my heart and with my actions as I watch the present unfolding of our world?

Psalm 62:8, “O my people, trust in God at all times.  Pour out your heart to the Lord, for God is our refuge.”

OK then Loving One, let me pour out my heart to you. 

From the Lowest Pit: A Psalm from Solitary - by Neaners, with Chris Hoke

I confess I've always had trouble appreciating the Psalms. Though there's some lines that I cherish, I can get distracted by how the psalm can quickly turn into a rant--against all the enemies and evildoers, cursing them with violence sometimes, touting the singer's own innocence and righteousness. 

My mentor Bob would laugh and give me a hard time about this: "Chris, you're a songwriter and a worship leader--how can you not like the Psalms? They're songs, man, prayers. They're written by sinful people like us crying out, uncensored. It's cool that the Bible welcomes human prayers like ours. Just think of the guys in jail we love so much, how they could relate to the psalmists' raw cries." Bob knew how to bring me back to a text.

So below is a glimpse of one man in the pit Nini--when he was still in solitary confinement--relating to the Bibles' poetry of lament. Then, a sample of his own rap/psalm he sent me last week.

Displaced Childhoods by Partners Relief & Development

Dear Clarion readers,

Partners Relief & Development Canada and Cielo Pictures are proud to present the television debut of Displaced Childhoods airing on CTV Calgary on December 25th at 6-7pm and again on January 2nd at 5-6pm.

 

Displaced Childhoods takes a look at life for families who live in the world's longest currently running civil war. Interviews from men, women and children who have had to flee fighting and systemic human rights abuses in three of Burma's ethnic states share their stories with us and we learn how a small agency, Partners Relief & Development is helping them. 

I hope you will join us for this great and for those outside of Southern Alberta check to see if your cable/satellite package carries CTV Calgary and join us for this amazing story.

*Remember to set your PVR to record this amazing documentary, especially if you are unable to view it at those times over the holidays.

I want to thank you for all your support of our work as we show God's love to the people of Burma and I hope that your holidays are full of family, fun and rest.

Merry Christmas,

Greg Toews

National Director

 

Experiencing (or not) divine encounters in Paris' streets and prisons - Bob Ekblad

It’s been nearly three months now since I’ve been in direct contact with people incarcerated in a jail or prison-- the longest period in over 17 years.  While life and ministry here in Paris is rich, I miss my routine of Thursday and Sunday Bible studies in Skagit County Jail and occasional forays into foreign prisons.  I especially miss the many jailed men I’ve come to know and love, the times of discovery of very Good News of Jesus’ love for them and me, their love and friendship, and times of prayer where the Spirit seems to always move to comfort, heal, awaken hope. 

So one of the first appointments I made here in Paris was with the national director of jail/prison chaplaincy for France of the Service justice et aumônerie des prisons, Aumônier national.”  He warmly welcomed me into his office and suggested that I accompany each of the chaplains of jails and prisons around Paris as they lead Bible studies and visit.  I loved this idea, and immediately sent him a copy of my passport.  I’ve since been waiting for the call, feeling the distance grow and missing connecting with inmates.  In the meantime I’ve found myself greatly challenged by another reality that is much more complicated and too easy to ignore.

Blood Relations -- posted by The Caffeinated Mystic (Deb)

 

Matthew 5:43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

Christ only says what He hears the Father saying. If the letters are in red- we’re hearing the words of the Father.

It appears the people interviewed are not Christians- and they are obeying scripture.

Some christian groups here in the West, say there will be no peace until Christ returns- and argue that to speak about peace is at best- naïve. Others go further and respond harshly to any talk of peace that includes showing compassion to Palestinians. As if to say- loving Palestinians is equal to hating Israel.

That’s ‘Bully’ talk.

There is a chorus being sung against peace that is out of harmony with the ‘song’ being sung by Father. His song expresses His desire for forgiveness and reconciliation between 'enemies'.

dis·so·nant   [dis-uh-nuhnt] adjective

1. disagreeing or harsh in sound; discordant.

2. out of harmony; incongruous; at variance.

3. Music . characterized by dissonance.

Politically- the situation in the ME may appear ‘complicated’, but a strong desire for peace and the willingness to build relationships is evident- if we are willing to see.

The people desire peace. What do we desire?

• Do we believe in reconciliation? If not, why not?
• Have we been 'Bullied'?
• Is our first response to 'peace talk'- repulsion? If so, why is that?
• Are we afraid of appearing to be on the 'wrong side'?
• Are we afraid of disappointing God, by loving those whom we've been told we 'should' hate?

We need a new song. Romans 12:21 "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good"

Open Letter to PM Harper - Omnibus Bill C-10 by Steve Bell

Dear Mr. Harper,

I am deeply concerned about Omnibus Bill C-10.  It is my  wife’s research (as a social-work student at Booth University College in Winnipeg) that has refocused  my attention to the bill. The more I followed her work, the more concerned I have become.

Firstly, I believe there  are some good things in the bill – let me be clear about that. But there are also some alarmingly retrogressive policies that will undoubtably be a black stain on your leadership for decades to come if passed as is. For the love of God and your fellow Canadians, please slow the process of this bill down. Break-up the omnibus to its components and consider each individually and carefully.

Honestly… in the last election I was prepared, for the first time in my life, to vote Conservative. I tend to be a bit left leaning myself, but thought that at this particular juncture perhaps a conservative economic approach trumped other concerns. Also, I live in Conservative MP  Joy Smith’s riding and have deeply appreciated her noble fight against human trafficking. But in the end I could not, by extension, sign my name to a  bill that blanketly criminalizes the ill and the desperate when other measures are proven to be cheaper, more effective and more humane.

Occupy Wall Street/Vancouver and Thomas More/Erasmus by Ron Dart

The Occupy Wall Street/Vancouver (and other cities) has garnered much media attention the last few weeks. The main concerns of the ‘Occupy’ movement have a great deal of legitimacy to them, and emerge from obvious injustices and imbalances of wealth and power. Are such issues new, though, and do they have a perennial ring about them? How have those in the past thought about such issues (that is those who saw them as issues rather than denying or justifying the problem)? Is in the street protest and advocacy politics the only and most responsible way to confront such inequities?

Thomas More was Lord Chancellor of England in the early 16^th century, and he was acutely aware of the disparities of wealth and power in his country. More had a tender and exacting conscience, and he did not flinch from asking and acting on the hard questions. More’s missive, Utopia (1516), pulls no punches nor does it flinch from probing to the core the larger justice and peace issues. More would, in many ways, have a great deal of affinity with the Occupy movement. Book I of Utopia is a must read--there is a poignant and not to be forgotten conversation between More and Raphael that is a keeper. The late 15^th and early 16^th centuries in Europe was a period of time in which many States in Europe were turning to the Americas to establish colonies. The empires were very much at work to extend their global reach.

Occupy Vancouver - by Rod Janz

A friend of mine, Jeff Imbach, was recently interviewed at the Occupy Vancouver protest. I have to admit, I am still trying to get my head around the purpose and desired outcome of this protest. Maybe I need to go down and check it out for myself like Jeff did. You will hear in the interview below that Jeff believes that part of the protest’s success has been to simply raise the general consciousness of society to the idea that corporate institutions supported by governments is an unjust situation.

According to The Huffington Post a group from Occupy Wall Street have come up with a list of demands called the 99PercentDeclaration, but even these are controversial at this point, and aren’t supported by all of the various Occupy protests happening around the world.

For the CBC Radio interview with Jeff and others, see “Occupy Vancouver“

 

M2/W2 and Enemy Love As Core Gospel by Wayne Northey

Our entire ministry in criminal justice is summed up in three words: Love your enemies.  Our website (www.m2w2.com) describes the one-to-one prison visitation (M2/W2), the work with high risk sex offenders (CoSA), and our Thrift Store (Hidden Treasures) as unique expressions of enemy love.  All is done under the rubric of Restorative Justice, on which page by that name you will find lots to think about.  It too turns on an ultimate vision of enemy love.

There are some things in life that one sees, and once seen, one may never look back legitimately, though wilfully one may always violate that seen...  In the 1960’s, I saw this image circulated at our church:

The story is that a picture was taken by a Chinese photographer who was considering Christianity, and who converted to it after having seen this photo developed from one he took of melting snow.  One moment, he saw dark blotches on a white page, the next moment he suddenly saw an image of Jesus jump out at him!  Can you see the face of Jesus?  Many take some time to see!  Many never do.  Once one sees however, no matter how one looks at the image, one never fails again to see Jesus.  Though one can always wilfully suppress or deny it.  One can always claim the true image of Christ is “dark blotches on white”.  Can you see Jesus?

"Lest we forget what?" - Not So Different - Brad Jersak and PartnersWorld.org

Not So Different from Partners Relief & Development on Vimeo.

"Lest we forget" - Brad Jersak

When I read war memorials or attend Remembrance Day services, I am often struck by the phrase, "Lest we forget." I wonder what I am to remember. I do remember my family members whose lives were sacrificed on the altar of freedom. But I also think we're meant to remember to resist evil (with good) before it comes to that. Unfortunately, while we're remembering the past, we can be prone to missing the connection between past injustices and what is happening now in nations where there is no monetary value in being involved. And we forget there are ways of helping other than through military intervention.

Steve Gumaer - Not So Different

Steve Gumaer and PartnersWorld.org help me remember, and they overcoming evil with good in their small way ... which is usually how it happens. We've posted the above video as an example of true remembering and one group's call to help.

You can read more about what Partners and the Free Burma Rangers are doing to help in many of the Partners publications or in Kissing the Leper, by Brad Jersak.

 

Charlie Chaplain and prophetic irony - Brad Jersak

The greatest speech ever made? Really? Some really inspiring rhetoric and near prophetic analysis by our dear comic. His diagnosis, poignant. His prescription? Uh ...

Also some serious delusion historically: the ultimate triumph of human progressivism? fighting for freedom that produces peace? salvation by science? triumph of the human will in the name of democracy?

Yes ... an amazing mixture of truth, but also the new mantras that continue to produce technological goose-steppers. Lampooning the mustache and uniform of Hitler was supposedly ironic, but the images are not. I don't know how much the creator of the video even realizes how much of it demonstrates how Chaplain's very advice has been central to creating the very monstrosities he sought to overcome. From supposedly disparate roots comes similar scenes of tyranny.

Why not feminism? by Helen Dunn

Why are Christians hesitant to call themselves feminists?

I would describe myself as an egalitarian, but more and more I'm wondering, why not a feminist? These are my top three insecurities with making the label change:

1) I don't want to become the stereotype: i.e. a single woman seeking ordination, writing a masters thesis on gender (har har, oh the irony!).

2) It's already hard enough being an egalitarian in the evangelical Christian world, how would being a feminist make it any easier?

3) If I label myself a feminist, what kind of baggage will I have to spend the next decade of my life sorting through to convince myself and my peers that feminism is indeed a Christian ideal?

Perhaps assuming a label of any kind---egalitarian, complementarian, feminist---is the problem to begin with. But in a world where categories seem to necessarily order our lives, I can't help but wonder why I feel uncomfortable with a label that encapsulates so much of what has been good and transformative in my Christian journey; here, two experiences in particular come to mind:

Manhood Is Not Brutality -- by Brian Zahnd

Rage—Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles,
murderous, doomed, that cost the Achaeans countless losses,
hurling down to the House of the Death so many sturdy souls,
great fighters’ souls, but made their bodies carrion,
feasts for the dogs and birds,
and the will of Zeus was moving toward its end.
Begin, Muse, when the two first broke and clashed,
Agamemnon lord of men and brilliant Achilles.
—The Iliad

Western civilization has always had two competing sacred texts: The Iliad and the Bible. We have long pretended we can form a nice synthesis of the two—that Homer’s Achilles and Isaiah’s Immanuel are somehow compatible ideals, but they are not. The rage of Achilles and the peace of Immanuel are fundamentally contradictory visions for the ideal of humanity in general and of manhood in particular. Those who derive their ideal of manhood from the pagan vision personified in Achilles will never be able to reconcile it with the ideal of manhood depicted in Christ. Achilles or Christ? Who is our model of manhood? We must choose. We must choose between the brutal way of Achilles and the peaceable way of Christ. And if you feel compelled to appeal to the whip-wielding Christ in the temple as an attempt to synthesize the two, let me simply say that Christ cleansing the temple is a world away from the violence of The Iliad that dominates imaginations from Homer to Hollywood; i.e. Jesus’ prophetic protest against religious exploitation is no endorsement of a “Walker, Texas Ranger” version of Messiah!

Archbishop Tutu - 'Be the Spark!' by Brad Jersak

    Last night I attended Be the Spark at the Tacoma Dome in Washington State. The event featured a series of breath-taking performances by a variety of inspiring young bands, choirs, dancers, and singers. It also featured two 'talks' -- okay, full-on, no-holds-barred, hope-filled, cage-rattling preaching of the highest calibre -- by two seasoned world-shakers: Craig Keilburger and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. They brought together a message of spirituality and justice that neither I, nor my son Justice (and our friend Werner), shall ever forget.  

    Tutu blew my mind in what will be a truly landmark memory for me, and for 15000 mostly young people sitting on the edges of our seats. Here are a few highlights from that experience that need to be told:

    I need to start with the Archbishop's message because it ties everything together. 

    He started with this idea: When God created the earth, he did it completely without our help. But from the very moment that men and women first arrived on the scene, God did something completely astounding. He chose never again to act in the world without a human partner. He waits and watches and asks for human partners through whom he will do marvellous things.

Divine Justice: American Idol, Cesar Millan and the Death of Osama Bin Laden -- by Brad Jersak

Jesus says, "I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me." (John 14:30-31).

Yesterday morning I was thinking about our image of God as a Judge and what a judge actually does. It all depends on the setting. I thought about the American Idol judges. They are so kind this year, so encouraging. It is never their heart to disqualify... in fact they can't, only the crowds do that. Those judges endeavour to draw out the best in the artists and even their critiques are only a call to become and to succeed at who they truly are. I wonder: What if Jesus is even a better judge than Steven Tyler and Jaylo? I know they have set the bar very, very high as exemplary judges, but when I think of the 'Judgment Seat of Christ,' is it possible that Jesus might even be better than Steven Tyler? More gracious, more compassionate, more redemptive than Jennifer Lopez? Is Jesus up for such an immense challenge?

Last night, I watched the show again (during NHL playoff intermissions). I quote Steve Tyler's comment to one contestant: 'There's nothing to judge. You're just beautiful.'

Local gang shooting and intercessory peacemaking -- Chris Hoke

Part 1

I just got a call that--while I was at a meeting with Presbyterian pastors about a "Gang Initiative" helping involve churches in these very neighborhoods--there was a shooting. Some rival Norteños came through the Cannondale Lane projects where we are spending more time, saw some former Sureño boys hanging out, and opened fire on them.

I don't think anyone was hit. But there has been a year long break from shootings, and this could ignite a series of retaliations. I am on my way to be present with the guys. I don't know what I'll say or do.

Please pray for God's presence and peace on Cannondale Lane in Mount Vernon, WA today. Bless the boys who were shot at (as well as the shooters) that they can process the fear and anger and not turn to the weapons I hear they are already gathering as I write this.

Janus, Terrorism and Peacemaking by Ron Dart

Janus, Terrorism and Peacemaking

For it was a witty and a truthful rejoinder which was given by a pirate to Alexander the Great. The King asked the fellow, ‘What is your idea, in infesting the sea?’ And the pirate answered with uninhibited insolence, ‘The same as yours, as in infesting the earth! But because I do it with a tiny craft, I’m called a pirate: Because you have a mighty navy, you’re called an emperor’.

St. Augustine City of God (Book IV, Chapter IV)

I

Emperors and Pirates

Janus was, in Roman myth, the god who had two faces, one at the front and the other at the back of his head. Janus looked in both directions, and, being able to do so, could not be taken in by a single perspective. The language of terrorism is very much with us these days, and the political use of the term has certainly intensified since 9-11. Janus can very much be a guide for us in this paper, as we ponder how the language of terrorism is employed, who uses it and to what end. In short, it is essential to gaze in all directions as we dissect the functional use of the language of terrorism.

The apt and insightful passage from St. Augustine in City of God mentioned above can, if heeded, clarify some often ignored realities. Terrorists are usually defined as those that threaten and disrupt the national security of the state. This does beg an important and significant question, though. What have been the decisions made by a state, at domestic and foreign policy levels, that threaten national security? The terrorists, like the pirates, are usually seen as the problem, but the state, like Alexander, is exempt from such questioning and scrutiny. And yet, it is often the state, like Alexander, that has much greater capacity to silence opposition and use greater violence against the pirates-terrorists.  Many states often, in domestic and foreign policy, oppress and terrorize others through the use of death squads and the military, but when those who have been terrorized dare to fight back (with fewer arms and less sophisticated technology), they are branded with the terrorist term. Alexander can inflict massive hardships and brutality on people, but because he is emperor, he cannot be defined as a terrorist. The small scale pirates that oppose the emperor are called the terrorists. This simple yet often ignored point must be held front and centre in our understanding of how ‘terrorism’ is used. The large and vicious sharks are not seen as such, but the smaller fish, when they, in their limited sort of way, attack the sharks, are seen as the enemies of state security.  Let me offer a few illustrations of this point.

Amos: the Lion Roars - by Ron Dart

The Jewish Tradition, at its noblest and finest, has bequeathed to the Western Tradition a high and noble ethical vision.   The oral prophets such as Elijah and Elisha never flinched from staring down power when those in power used it in a way that abused the weaker and less fortunate. The minor and major prophets embodied the best of the oral prophetic tradition and left the West a literate and passionate tale of faith and politics. Amos, like Jonah and Hosea, were active in the 8^th century BCE, and they initiated the path and passage of the Minor Prophets. There is no doubt that these Jewish prophets tell us a great deal about their understanding of who God is and the relationship between God, Israel, dominant empires and the social/political/economic/military conditions of the time.

Language of Fire: The Rhetoric of Hate and Violence - Symposium with Archbishop Lazar Puhalo, Ron Dart, and David Goa

A video symposium on religio-political incendiary language from the murder of Hypatia to our current crisis. David Goa asks, 'Is there a way to hold to a serious faith commitment without demonizing those that genuinely disagree with us?'

In this interview, Ron Dart refers to the movie, Agora (starring Rachel Weisz) that recalls the perpetually relevant life and death of Hypatia. Below is the trailer.

Steve Bell's "KIN-DNESS" - Interview / review with Brad Jersak

Steve Bell is a seasoned, Juno Award winning song-writer / musician based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. In recent years, his thoughtful folk messages have caught the notice of symphony crowds with touring performances backed by a variety of city orchestras. But behind and beyond the pristine quality of his musicianship and lyrics, Steve stands in the tradition of Canadian artists with a heart for integrating spirituality and justice (Bruce Cockburn for example). He is involved in humanitarian work both locally and nationally. In a recent interview with Bell, I asked him to share the backstory to his social concern. Two items from his childhood especially caught my attention.

Thomas Merton: Peacemaker by Ron Dart

Thomas Merton: Peacemaker

I think that Thomas Merton could easily be called the greatest spiritual writer and spiritual master of the twentieth century in English speaking America. There is no other person who has such a profound influence on those writing on spiritual topics, not only on Catholics but non-Catholics, as Merton has.

Lawrence Cunningham, Soul Searching: The Journey of Thomas Merton p.183          

With Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton (1915-1968) personified the potential of the Catholic peace tradition in America. Merton stands out as one of the most brilliant peacemakers in the entire Catholic tradition.                               

 Ronald Musto, The Catholic Peace Tradition p. 249

Merton never fully embraced pacifism. Like Thomas More and Erasmus, he believed in the theoretical applicability of the just war. Yet, like the Renaissance Humanists, he looked at the horrors of contemporary warfare and concluded that the just war theory was irrelevant in practice. He was, in fact, one of the first “nuclear pacifists”.                                         

Ronald Musto, The Catholic Peace Tradition  p. 250

 

 I   Merton: War and Peace 

Thomas Merton began his best selling first autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain (1948), with these poignant and telling words:

On the last day of January 1915, under the sign of the Water Bearer, in a year of great war, and down in the shadow of some mountains on the border of Spain, I came into the world.

Merton, indeed, came into the world ‘in a year of great war’.  WW I dominated Europe when Merton was born, he lived through the carnage of WW II, the Korean War, McCarthy-Cold War years and the emergence and devastating nature of the Vietnam War. Merton’s social conscience became more public with the civil rights movement in the late 1950s, the nuclear threat, the rise of ecological consciousness and much American domestic violence in the 1950s-1960s. In short, Merton lived through a period in 20^th century history in which war and violence were the order of the day, and he sought, through a variety of means, to be a moderate and peacemaking voice and presence. How did Merton become the significant peacemaker that he did, and what was Merton’s understanding of peacemaking? This short paper will, in a suggestive and historic way, answer these questions.

Internally Displaced - Partners

On December 6, 2010 in Dooplaya District, Karen State, Burma over 200 people fled from the Burma army with nothing more than what they could carry on their backs. Led to safety, Partners Relief and Development and Free Burma Rangers were able to provide them with supplies, including over 2400 kilos of rice, within 5 days of their arrival.

Internally Displaced: December 6, 2010 from Partners Relief & Development on Vimeo.

Don't worry, Canadian music fans--Big Brother has you covered! by Kevin Miller

Not sure if you Americans are aware, but the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) just banned Dire Straits' song Money for Nothing from Canadian airwaves due to its use of the term faggot.

Never mind that the word is actually spoken by a blue collar character in the song and that its usage was meant tocriticize people who would use such inflammatory terminology in reference to homosexuals. Apparently, the CBSC feels the majority of Canadians are incapable of making this distinction. So they're going by the old adage, "If in doubt, throw it out."

I have no doubt that equally worrisome to the powers that be is the song's chorus, which contains the words "Money for nothing" and "chicks for free." Clearly if Canadian citizens actually started to believe such things, there would be blood in the streets.

Viewed from another angle, it could be that the CBSC feels that Dire Straits' song unfairly characterizes blue collar workers as rampant homophobes. So perhaps in time this will be revealed as nothing more than a publicity stunt orchestrated by the Teamsters.

Next up on the CBSC's hit list: U2's Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own. Apparently, the CBSC has determined that sometimes you CAN make it on your own, and they don't want Canadians to get the wrong idea...

 

 

Battle Hymn of the Republic by Jack Hook / Anton Bosch

The Battle Hymn of the Republic

**After reading this letter please "forward" it to your family and friends who you think might be interested.  If you are a veteran of the military please respond and let me know when and where you served.**  http://www.babylonthegreatisfalling.net 

Greetings,

Last year a dear Christian friend and fellow Vietnam veteran sent me a message containing an audio-visual rendition of The Battle Hymn of the Republic.  Listening to the song was inspiring and to be honest, it choked me up a bit.  The words reminded me of the days when Larry and I were young and served this nation as soldiers.  It also reminded me of the days in America when evoking the name of the Lord and King, as was done in this song, was considered a noble thing by those who professed to be Christians.  But was I being inspired by God’s Spirit or by “another” spirit trying to seduce me with desires for a return to the so-called “good ole days” following the victorious close of World War II? 

Scavengers by Lo Yuk Fai

Submitted by Lo Yuk Fai on Mon, 2010-10-25 01:37

​​​​​​​They turn the needy from the pathway,
and the poor of the land hide themselves together.
​​​​​​​Like wild donkeys in the desert
they go out to their labor,
seeking diligently for food;
the wasteland provides food for them
and for their children.

- Job 24:4-5 [NET]

View the Scavengers photo essay here: Scavengers

 

Aung San Suu Kyi Free -- by Oddny Gumaer

We had been waiting for this day for years.

Prayed for it, talked about it. Now the day was here. Aung San Suu Kyi walked out of her house arrest. It seemed too good to be true. Maybe it is too good to be true.

On Saturday November 13th the Burmese junta released Daw Aung San Suu Kyi from her illegal house arrest. The junta has detained Suu Kyi for 15 of the last 21 years, and continuously since May 30, 2003.

While thousands rejoiced in the streets of Rangoon and millions joined around the world, the military junta continued its offenses in the ethnic areas around the country. For the thousands who were forced to flee from their homes, the day was far from happy.

Movie Review of 'With God on our side" - by Frank Schaeffer

The State of Israel just announced a decision (New York Times, Tuesday Nov 7, 2010) to advance the approval of some 1,000 new housing units in East Jerusalem during a sensitive time in the peace negotiations with the Palestinians. What they didn't mention is that several American Christian Zionist groups have been raising money to help build new illegal settlements on occupied land for years.

The so-called Jewish lobby is supposed to be so powerful that no American president can act without their approval. This is an anti-Semitic slur, a kind of Americanized "lite" version of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion (a forged anti-Semitic screed purporting to describe a Jewish plan to achieve global domination). For one thing most Jewish-Americans aren't part of this lobby, but rather are ordinary American citizens who are just as skeptical of right-wing Jewish Zionist fundamentalist Israelis as other Americans are -- perhaps more so, because they know more about them.

Song of a Jailhouse Chaplain -- a Social-Prophetic Sampling of Chris Hoke

"No Contact":  Here's a sneak peek from the upcoming album by Hollow G (Teddy), produced by local Christian producer Loc Saint (complete lyrics below).

01 No Contact (rough draft)

 

For the last five years, Chris Hoke has gone with Bob Ekblad to the Skagit County Jail in northwest WA where they read the Bible and pray with men of all races and criminal levels. Inmates, especially the young Chicano gang members, have been vocal about how much they appreciate Chris' singing and guitar playing before the dialogical Bible studies. One particular young gang member would sing all the new raps and rhymes he'd write in his solitary confinement cell to Chris when they would have one on one visitations. "One day, Chris," he'd exclaim, "we're gonna record together. You and your white boy guitar with my gangster raps!"

That day has come. Only the song, "No Contact," laments that the original homie who had the idea is still locked up in prison, along with most of the young men Chris has ministered to in the jail and gangs. The vision came to fulfillment with another young survivor of the gang life--who goes by Hollow G--who has grown alongside Chris, the Tierra Nueva community, and the Holy Spirit bringing G into God's family. Hollow G is working on a full album about the life of an American alien growing up into the gang life, "Raised By the Streets." 

Canada's Caesar -- by Brad Jersak

 

Canada's Caesar is Tolerance

Context:

Some of our contributors have written (and preached) on the way that Jesus' Sermon on the Mount confronts Imperial aspects of American culture (nationalism, patriotism, militarism).

These ideals are imbedded so deeply in the Christian culture south of the border that a faithful exposition of Christ's sermon can incite the ire of congregants who live and breathe the red, white and blue of democracy and capitalism as if that was the Kingdom Christ died for.

I joked with these ministers,

Maybe it's because we Canadians are always dabbling in 'socialism', but this Sermon on the Mount stuff actually doesn't get us in real trouble up here. Is that because we didn't join the cigar embargo on Cuba?

 One of these witty fellows replied poignantly,

Brad, maybe you have stumbled upon the Canada Caesars yet. I am sure they are there. When you begin to undermine them, then surely somebody will be bothered. Or maybe you Canadians are just too easy going. Well, easy going in life, but not hockey!

Which got me thinking...

Canada's Caesar is Tolerance

Which means convictions can be dangerous.

We are very tolerant of everyone but totally intolerant of the intolerant.

Which is to say, of Evangelicals ...

who are often seen and experienced as intolerant,

who mistakenly believe they must take a stand against the evils of tolerance.

And our most powerful means of punishing the intolerant is contempt.

Revelation and the Violent "Prize Fighting Jesus" by Greg Boyd

In an interview several years ago for Relevant Magazine, Mark Driscoll (well known pastor of Mars Hill in Seattle) said,

“In Revelation, Jesus is a prize-fighter with a tattoo down His leg, a sword in His hand and the commitment to make someone bleed. That is the guy I can worship. I cannot worship the hippie, diaper, halo Christ because I cannot worship a guy I can beat up.” (You can find the original interview here). 

I frankly have trouble understanding how a follower of Jesus could find himself unable to worship a guy he could “beat up” when he already crucified him. I also fail to see what is so worshipful about someone carrying a sword with “a commitment make someone bleed.”  But this aside, I’m not at all surprised Driscoll believes the book of Revelation portrays Jesus as a “prize fighter.”  This violent picture of Jesus, rooted in a literalistic interpretation of Revelation, is very common among conservative Christians, made especially popular by the remarkably violent Left Behind series.

"Be on the alert" by Bob Ekblad

It's always been hard for me to hear good news in Jesus' parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25:1-13. I've been thinking about it a lot lately, feeling that it's especially important for us now.  I share the following reflections-- inviting you to share yours. 

Jesus’ parable of the ten virgins who went out to meet the bridegroom invites rapprochement with the church as bride waiting the imminent return of Jesus as bridegroom (2 Cor 11:2; Eph 5:25-32; Jn 3:29; Rev 19:7; 21:2, 9, 17.)  The number of virgins and their differentiation between “wise” and “foolish” has always unsettled me, suggesting that individual attitudes and practices matter, and that groups will be distinguished from the whole.   Jesus means to put people into a crisis, inspiring them (and us) to be ready for his return, the subject of the preceding chapter (Matt 24:42-51).  Jesus means to provoke us to ask: “Am I one of the wise, or am I among the foolish, and what’s the difference?” The reader wants more information about what distinguishes the ready from those who risk missing out, and what that might mean for us now?

Call For a Church Apology Vis À Vis Crime and Punishment by Wayne Northey

It is proposed that Western Churches issue an apology to all parties to crime for the past millennium of inappropriate response to crime promulgated by dominant Christendom.

When Anselm of Canterbury wrote Cur Deus Homo (Why God Became Man) in the 11^th century, the Church gradually changed the nature of the understanding of God, salvation, grace, law, sin, and crime. God became increasingly a “sentencing Judge”, salvation became something earned, sin, crime and law became separated from their natural settings of mercy and grace.

Sin was changed into something so terrible, it evoked the most destructive imaginable wrath of God – a promised hell far worse than the direst punishments perpetrated by humanity.

In order to respond to crime, the Church in the 11^th century accorded the State the right to punish severely. It was part of divorcing the secular from the religious, a heresy (false choice) originating from within the Church, growing to fruition in the Enlightenment and modernity. It became a God-given duty to deal with people on the temporal level as God surely would deal with them on the eternal plain. It was the ultimate double jeopardy!

Cambodia Transfigured -- by Bob Ekblad

Last week I spent three unforgettable days with my family in Cambodia.  There we saw signs of Jesus’ Kingdom shining in a land still under the shadow of death.  I now find myself thinking daily what it would look like for the light of Christ to shine even stronger there and here-- so people can really see it.

        Gracie and I were invited by Servants of Asia’s Urban Poor—a team of people from New Zealand, the Philippines, Australia, Japan and Canada called to live and minister in slum communities in Phnom Penh.  The first day I led a short retreat for the staff and Gracie and I prayed for each of them. We visited some of the families in their homes amidst the squalor of the slum communities where they are seeking to live humbly among the poorest of the poor, bringing Jesus’ light.

"Your moralism is killing you" by Brian Zahnd

  I'll never forget the time I was sitting at the Starbucks in downtown Estes Park, Colorado with my friend Brad Jersak and his relating to me how Archbishop Lazar Puhalo of the Orthodox Church of Canada had replied upon being asked, "What message would you have for the evangelical church?" The Archbishop's reply was this:

"Your moralism is killing you."

Wow! That hit me like a ton of bricks. And the line has stuck with me ever since. "Your moralism is killing you." Sometimes it takes the perspective of an outsider to get to the heart of the matter. Orthodoxy has its own issues to contend with, but as far as I'm concerned Archbishop Lazar's diagnosis of the chief malady within evangelicalism is right on target. Our moralism is killing us. But Jesus wants to save us!
Here is another quote from Archbishop Lazar which expounds upon the topic.

"If our faith is primarily a mantra to drive away punishment, our faith isn’t really a faith, it is a fear. We feign faith in order to keep from being punished. When we do that it usually manifests itself as a kind of harsh and brutal moralism. Because in this system it is psychologically comforting to see ourselves as better than other people. Thus trying to hype up our ego leads us to a kind of moralism where we have to denigrate others in order to make ourselves feel better." -Archbishop Lazar

Alright, that's all I wanted to share with you, but if you are interested in more of this conversation you can view theSymposium on Deep Structural Fear with my friends Brad Jersak, Ron Dart and Archbishop Lazar. It will be well worth your time.
Grace and Peace,
BZ
Symposium on Deep Structural Fear from Orthodox Canada on Vimeo.

Jesus and Nonviolence - Podcast by Bob Ekblad

New Podcast: Jesus and Nonviolence

 

How can we as Christians reconcile the apparent violence of Old Testament texts with the self-sacrificing, non-violent life and teachings of Jesus?  Many on both sides of the issue use Scripture to justify their stance on war, the death penalty, and violence in our culture.  This short (1 hour) but informative recording by Bob Ekblad delves into the difficult and often divisive questions surrounding non-violence perspectives and the way of the cross.  Very useful for personal study or small group discussion.

Click here to visit our podcast site and listen to this podcast online.  No special tech knowledge required.

Allen Ginsberg and George Grant: Howl and Lament for a Nation - Excerpt from Ron Dart's 'Spiders and Bees'

Introduction: It's 55 years this year (1955-2010) since Ginsberg's Howl was published, and 45 years (1965-2010) since Grant's Lament was published. This article on Ginsberg's Howl and Grant's Lament appears in print in Ron Dart's Spiders and Bees. In it, Dart brings to the forefront how two different 'jeremiads' are handled.

 It is fifty years this autumn since the Beat Movement was launched at Six Gallery in San Francisco (October 13, 1955). Some of the American Beats from the East Coast (Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg) and the West Coast (Kenneth Rexroth, Gary Snyder, Philip Whalen, Lawrence Ferlinghetti) met and read together at this gathering. John Suiter rightly says, ‘The Six Gallery reading has sometimes been called the first synthesis of the East and West Coast factions of the Beat Generation’ (p.148).

For the Common Good by Brian Zahnd

For the Common Good

posted by Brian Zahnd on June 14, 2010 at 5:50 PM

I have drafted a statement which explains the friendship and cooperation I have with Ahmed El-Sherif (an Arab-American Muslim) and Samuel Nachum (an Israeli-American Jew) as we work together in the Let The Children Play for Peace project. It goes like this:

For the Common Good

We are Jews, Christians and Muslims.
And we are friends.
We seek to follow our respective religions faithfully.
We do not believe all religions are the same.
We recognize the reality of our religious differences.
But we are friends.
We are devout in our faith and respectful of our friendship.
Our faith and friendship need not be mutually exclusive.
We recognize that we share common space—the common space of a shared planet.
For the sake of the common good we seek common ground.
We do not share a common faith, but we share a common humanity.
In our different religions we do not practice the same rituals or pray the same prayers.
But in our shared humanity we hold to a common dream: Shalom, Salaam, Peace.
We hold to the dream that our children may play in peace without fear of violence.
And so...
We pledge not to hate.
We pledge not to dehumanize others.
We pledge to do no harm in the name of God.
As individuals we do not compromise the truth claims of our respective religions—
But we will not use truth claims to fuel hate or justify violence.
We will practice our respective faiths: Judaism, Christianity, Islam.
But we believe our faith can be practiced in the way of peace—
We believe our faith truly practiced need never be at odds with humanitarian ideals.
Our religions share a complex and intertwined history—
A history of interaction that has too often been tumultuous and bloody.
We believe there must be a better way and we seek that better way.
The way of peace.
We are Jews, Christians and Muslims.
And we are friends.
We seek common ground for the common good.
Shalom, Salaam, Peace.

Ahmed El-Sherif
Samuel Nachum
Brian Zahnd

The Enough-ness of Jesus - a jail Bible study by Amy Muia

 ¹After these things there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  ²Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticoes.  ³In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, [waiting for the moving of the waters;  ⁴for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted.]  ⁵A man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.  ⁶When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, "Do you wish to get well?"  ⁷The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me."  ⁸Jesus said to him, “Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.” ⁹Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

On Sunday, Sara and I met with the M&M pod (medical and medium security) in one of the little conference rooms in the Skagit County Jail.  Four women came—two trustees in bright orange uniforms, and two women with medical problems.  One had broken her back and neck in a car accident.  The other, a native woman, was six weeks into a high-risk pregnancy—at thirty years old, she has had five miscarriages, all drug-use and domestic violence related.

The Enough-ness of Jesus - a jail Bible study by Amy Muia

 ¹After these things there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  ²Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticoes.  ³In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, [waiting for the moving of the waters;  ⁴for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted.]  ⁵A man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.  ⁶When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, "Do you wish to get well?"  ⁷The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me."  ⁸Jesus said to him, “Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.” ⁹Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

On Sunday, Sara and I met with the M&M pod (medical and medium security) in one of the little conference rooms in the Skagit County Jail.  Four women came—two trustees in bright orange uniforms, and two women with medical problems.  One had broken her back and neck in a car accident.  The other, a native woman, was six weeks into a high-risk pregnancy—at thirty years old, she has had five miscarriages, all drug-use and domestic violence related.

"Pardon Me?!" by Wayne Northey

“Pardon Me?!”   

      On Good Friday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper telephoned Public Safety Minister Vic Toews to overhaul Canada’s pardon legislation.  He declared “there are some crimes that should never be pardoned.”  On Good Friday!  The Prime Minister, a Christian believer, called Toews the day Christians worldwide celebrate the pardon Jesus’ death offered all humanity including the thief on the cross. 

      Vic Toews, also a believer, now proposes changing the term “pardon” to the blander “record suspension.” Forgiveness, said Toews, “is not the business of government.”   One editorial expressed, “That seems mean-spirited.”  Perhaps a tad unmerciful?  Contradictory even of The Lord’s Prayer that reads?: “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. (Matthew 6:12).”, with Jesus’ commentary: “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins. (verses 14 & 15).”

Clarion Journalist in Thailand: May 20, 2010

I don’t have internet right now, but I’m writing this at 19:11 local time.

             Violence erupted in Bangkok today after several days of increasing tension. It seemed like everything would be alright a week or so ago when the government offered November elections that the Red Shirts tentatively agreed to. Then, the Red Shirts declared the road map was unacceptable and continued their protests. A few days ago shots were fired and things started heating up again. Half of the 10000 protesters left the site in the centre of the city and Red Shirt leaders called for immediate peace talks with the government. The government refused and today moved in with the military, including tanks.

            Last I heard there are a dozen or so dead today, and five foreigners killed in the last three days. However, that was several hours ago. Red Shirt leaders surrendered and called off the protests but the protesters haven’t stopped. The military says its “operations in Bangkok” have ended, but I’ve also heard that they have orders to fire at anyone causing “unrest,” which includes looting and I don’t know what else.

Deuteronomy, Jewish Prophets and the Sermon on the Mount by Ron Dart

Evangelicals have been reading the Sermon on the Mount for centuries with little evident intention of taking the text seriously.

Clark Pinnock, Revolution (1971)

I have taught courses on political philosophy for many years. I tend to highlight both the Jewish and Greek sources of the Western political tradition rather than beginning with Plato and Aristotle and moving fastforward. The course, then, moves onward, after the Greeks and Jewish traditions, to the Roman tradition and into the Christian political tradition of the Patristic Latin West and Greek East. It is rare in a class in political philosophy that Deuteronomy and the Jewish prophetic tradition are taught. This speaks volumes about the secular and liberal prejudices of modernity. But, in the teaching of Deuteronomy, a variety of tensions emerge, and some of the more substantive tensions seem quite irresolvable.  What are these tensions, and why are they a problem? 

Forgiving our fathers by Bob Ekblad

On May 2nd I returned home from a week of teaching on the Island of Leyte in the Philippines.  I took the 16 hours of flights (each way) to help out with the Holy Given Mission School, a two-month induction into the ministry of Jesus.  These schools are designed for grass-roots leaders, bringing them into the bigness of Jesus' vision for the Kingdom of God, and into the intimacy of fellowship with the Holy Spirit.

The Filipino leaders-in-training were mostly under 30: hungry, open, ready to give their lives as pastors & teachers, evangelists, prophets, or apostles.  One morning I felt led to speak on the importance of forgiving our human fathers.  I have been struck by the relevance of the last few verses of the Old Testament, where Malachi writes:

“Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.  and he will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse" (Mal 4:5-6).

The Prophetic Culture of the Kingdom (conclusion and appendixes) by Eric H. Janzen

Conclusion

As I neared the end of writing this book I had coffee with a close friend of mine.  He told me a story about a young man that he had become friends with.  This young man left the Church because his experience of it had been of a surface faith.  He saw people calling themselves Christians, but living their lives as they pleased and caring little for those around them.  Sadly, this led to not only his rejection of Church, but Jesus as well.  He continues to be a spiritual man seeking God and attempting to live a spiritual life, but due to his experience of Church he wants nothing to do with Christians and thus nothing to do with Jesus.  How many of us know people like this?  Too many have encountered Christians not living out the culture of the kingdom and have as a result not encountered Christ.  This story is why I care about the things I have written.  That my friend’s friend was at the gate and walked away because of those within breaks my heart.  It should break your heart as well. 

Simone Weil's Statement of Human Obligation (1943)

Draft for a Statement of Human Obligation

Profession of Faith

There is a reality outside the world, that is to say, outside space and time, outside man's mental universe, outside any sphere whatsoever that is accessible to human faculties.

Corresponding to this reality, at the centre of the human heart, is the longing for an absolute good, a longing which is always there and is never appeased by any object in this world.

Another terrestrial manifestation of this reality lies in the absurd and insoluble contradictions which are always the terminus of human thought when it moves exclusively in this world.

Just as the reality of this world is the sole foundation of facts, so that other reality is the sole foundation of good.

That reality is the unique source of all the good that can exist in this world: that is to say, all beauty, all truth, all justice, all legitimacy, all order, and all human behaviour that is mindful of obligations.

"At the centre of the human heart is the longing for an absolute good, a longing which is always there and is never appeased by any object in this world."

Those minds whose attention and love are turned towards that reality are the sole intermediary through which good can descend from there and come among men.

Although it is beyond the reach of any human faculties, man has the power of turning his attention and love towards it.

John Cleese vs. Extremism

The Prophetic Culture of the Kingdom (pt. 7) by Eric H. Janzen

Chapter Seven

The Prophetic Culture of the Kingdom

The community of Christ is a prophetic community.  The prophetic message of the community is Jesus.  The prophetic message of the community is the Gospel of his kingdom.  The community of Christ is to be the prophetic voice in the desert of the world declaring the truth and hope of the Gospel, declaring the culture of the kingdom and revealing that culture to the world.  This is our prophetic role.  The prophetic is to be a sign of something.  In the previous chapter I spoke of this sign as being a mirror reflecting God’s glory (who he is and what he is like) to the world and being an arrow pointing to Jesus.  This is one way of describing the Church’s identity, its means of being relevant in today’s world.  Our kingdom culture is thus a prophetic culture.  When the community of Christ lives a style of life that is marked by the cultural values of the kingdom it embodies the prophetic message of that culture and the Gospel.  By demonstrating the cultural values of the kingdom in the way that we live we prophetically declare the reality of the kingdom to the world.  In holding true to loving God with all your being and loving your neighbor as yourself we find the pinnacle of prophetic action.  This shows us that love is the foundation of true prophecy and not judgment as some believe.  In Revelation 19:10 we read that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.  It is the message of Jesus to humanity, his testimony, that is the Church’s prophetic message.  The Gospel is the message of Jesus and the Church must hold to that message as its core, its prophetic declaration even if it is a difficult one.