Jesse F. Tanner - Embracing Plurality, Engaging the Other, Living the Questions

Jesus and Salvation

2012-01-29T11:12:00.000-06:00

This is the second post in a series about Unity and Re-claiming the Christian heritage. In this post I'd like to focus particularly on Christology and Soteriology, or who Jesus is and his role in the process of salvation/liberation.

First of all, I should state up front that there are many Jesus' to be found out there - the variety of portraits of Jesus found in biblical scholarship, Christian theology, church worship and liturgy, and even other religions (recall, for instance, the important and revered role of Jesus as prophet in Islam). Here I'm combining my understanding of biblical studies and Christian theological discourse and history to forward a way to bridge "traditional" approaches to Jesus and salvation with Unity. Or more accurately, I'm trying to forge a way to integrate certain mainline/traditional theological doctrine into a Unity context.

Throughout Church history there have been several different models of understanding who Jesus is. The earliest Christians articulated the following confession: "Iesou Christou Theou Yion Soter -- Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior." Jesus, for them, held the title "Christ" or "Messiah," which means "the annointed one" of God's establishment of the Kingdom of God on Earth. He was also "Son of God," which was a title also often applied to the Roman Emperors. In these early Christian communities, Jesus was seen as God's special Son sent to inaugurate reconciliation with God and redemption. And this liberating, transformative role also speaks to his role as Savior or healer of the individual soul, humanity, and all creation.

Now, there were several early Christian groups who understood Jesus rather differently from one another. For instance, there were the Ebionites, or Judean Christians, who saw him as only human, but still regarded him as the greatest rabbi and prophet who was the Messiah/Christ ushering in God's new Kingdom or rule on Earth. On the other side of the spectrum were Docetic Christians (from "dokeo" meaning "to seem or appear") who asserted that Jesus on appeared human but was, in reality, totally and solely divine or God. And then there were various shades and combinations in between on the spectrum. The eventual "orthodox" perspective claims that Jesus was and is 100% human and 100% divine, totally human and totally God (adds up to 200%, I know, but this is not math but faith experience and reflection). This "fully human, fully God" view has been affirmed by the Fillmores and Unity leaders throughout the years, but then adds that we are like Jesus in this way. We are different from Jesus only by degree or perhaps office/role but not in kind or species.

The central element that I believe Unity has lost or is in the process of losing is the discipleship and devotional elements in regard to Jesus. In normative Unity, especially in Charles Fillmore's writings, Jesus is affirmed as our way-shower, elder brother, and/or great example. I'm wanting to kick this up a notch and show how more explicitly discipleship and devotional understandings of Jesus make sense in Unity and can be brought in to our theological understanding. Concerning discipleship, this involves following Jesus' way of living, the manner of his relationships, the transformative content of his teachings, and learning from his death and resurrection what sacrifice for truth and liberation means. Being a disciple of Jesus simply means claiming Jesus as a/the central figure whose life is worthy of complete emulation due to his transparency to God.

Concerning devotion, this is a bit more controversial in Unity. This is because most Unity folks make a significant distinction between the religion of Jesus and the religion about Jesus, or faith of Jesus versus the faith in Jesus. Many Unity people have given up on the belief that Jesus saves or liberates by virtue of some sacrificial atonement or penal substitution. Well, quite frankly, I count myself in among them. However, this doesn't mean that we must completely discard or discredit faith in Jesus. In redefining and clarifying what this means, faith in Jesus involves embracing the faith of Jesus. There is a devotional tenor here. Devoting our spiritual intention, attention, and energy to aligning our thoughts, words, and actions with the pattern of God's disclosure and expression in and through Jesus' whole life. If he, as is widely asserted in Unity, is the one who has most fully manifested his Christ nature, then it would make perfect sense to put trusting acceptance (faith) in his whole personhood (his teachings, way of life, mindset, relationality, etc.) that fully reveal who and what God is. We may devote our spiritual life and growth to Jesus, looking to his example and thus guidance, and give him thanks in gratefulness for his God-consciousness. And when we devote ourselves this way to Jesus, we become further inspired, awakened, enlightened, and transformed by the impact our relationship with his life has on us. And this is not simply a literary relationship but a dynamic, living relationship with Christ Jesus (the "ascended Jesus," as Charles Fillmore puts it) who is still living in and among us and is available when we call on him in consciousness, in prayer and meditation or in other contemplative practices.

In "traditional" Christianity there has been essentially four distinct soteriological views concerning Jesus. There are four ways of understanding the role of Jesus in the process of liberation or salvation from the human condition, which is sin, "missing the mark," or a sense of estrangement/alienation/separation from God (in Unity this is normally understood to be estrangement from God in consciousness, since we are always one with God).

The first soteriology is often called "Christus Victor." This the belief that Jesus the Christ, in his life, death, and resurrection, has defeated the devil or Satan (however understood) in some kind of cosmic battle. His victory has liberated humanity from the bondage to sin that the devil/Satan has had over us. This particular perspective was very popular in the first few centuries of the early Church and was revived again in the 20th century in the theological work of Gustav Aulen.

Another view may be called "penal substitution." This was most influentially articulated in the 12th century by Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury. This has become the dominant understanding of salvation in Protestantism and Catholicism in the West. The idea here is that all humans owe all possible honor and obedience to God. Through the sin of Adam and Eve, all of humanity has incurred an infinite debt and dishonor to God who is infinite. However, as we are finite creatures, we cannot possibly fulfill this debt. Only God, who is infinite and eternal, can satisfy this debt. Thus, only a being who is both human and God could right this wrong. Enter Jesus Christ, who is understood to be the God-man who took on the punishment that humans deserved and fulfilled the debt obligation to God since he is fully divine. On this view, Jesus accomplishes salvation for humanity by reconciling us to God.

One view of salvation that holds importance in Eastern Orthodox Christianity is what may be termed theosis, or divination. That is, when the eternal Logos/Word became human as Jesus Christ, the human and divine natures were completely united, allowing for the cleansing or purification of humanity through identification with Jesus. By virtue of personal, mystical union with Jesus, the Christian is transformed into greater likeness of him - human and divine. The meaning is often stated: We become by grace what God is by nature. And this is accomplished through conscious identification with Jesus.

The final view is the one most normatively understood in Unity circles. I term it inspirational influence; others call it moral influence theory. This was first explicated most comprehensively by medieval scholastic Peter Abelard. This is essentially the outlook that when the Christian encounters the life of Jesus in scripture and prayer, s/he is inspired, enlightened, transformed in mind, body, and spirit. Jesus' entire life profoundly impacts and influences the person into greater experience and expression of God's Love.

The last two - theosis and inspirational influence - I believe are able to be integrated into a Unity Christian soteriology that, if explained in New Thought language, would be tenable for many or most Unity folks. I like to state it this way: Jesus, as the pinnacle demonstrator of the Christ Spirit within all, reveals and discloses who/what God is for humanity. Most of the time we don't live out our true nature as the Christ/image of God, and so we need a concrete human exemplar that demonstrates the fullness of human potential that we rarely, if ever, witness -- Jesus. Aligning ourselves with and following Jesus (the identification of theosis) as the perfect pattern of human life totally transparent to God and completely imbued with God's Spirit brings liberating, transforming, and "saving" experience. That is, Jesus saves by showing and offering us his life, which allows liberation from a sense of estrangement from God and others and liberation into an awareness and experience of God's immediate presence of Love and Wisdom.

Through this union of traditional teaching and New Thought re-interpretation, I believe it is definitely possible and, indeed, spiritually important to bring Jesus back into the center of the Unity movement. While not everyone will agree with this viewpoint, I think it's one that is viable for the movement, one that not only puts us back in touch with the roots of Unity but also moves us forward into new ways of re-claiming and finding transformational import in and through the most influential spiritual individual person in history.

I look forward to further dialogue and conversation about Jesus and new ways to re-claim him for Unity in the 21st century. Peace!

Blog-Series on Reclaiming Unity's Christian Roots

2011-12-22T11:46:00.003-06:00

There has been an ongoing conversation lately (and it's oftentimes been experienced as outright debate) within the Unity movement concerning the extent to which (or whether or not) this denomination is Christian. Myself a ministerial candidate coming from a perspective within Unity, I've witnessed quite a few changes occurring that are affiliated with this issue. In 2009 Unity World Headquarters and Unity Worldwide Ministries launched a branding research study which suggested that in order to appeal to certain sections of the population who share normative Unity values (inclusivity, progressive spirituality, individuality, etc.), the movement would do well to exclude language about "church," "Jesus," "Christ," "Christianity," "Bible," etc. and instead use language such as "spiritual community," "positive path," and other generic terms. Along with this branding element has been name changing - Unity School of Christianity is now Unity World Headquarters and the Association of Unity Churches is now Unity Worldwide Ministries (note the withdrawal of "Christianity" and "Churches" from both titles). Also, over the past few decades there has been an influx of the New Age movement influencing Unity individuals, churches, and publications, which has moved some sectors of Unity away from more obvious Christian language, ideas, and themes.

All of this seems to me and other ministers, leaders, and students I've spoken with to be evidence of Unity moving away from an explicit Christian identity. And yet, within Unity Institute and Seminary's curricula (the seminary that trains Unity ministers), Unity churches/centers/communities, Silent Unity (the 24-hr Unity prayer ministry), and much published material, Unity nonetheless retains some language that is historically and theologically Christian in many ways. The language of "Christ within," "Jesus our way-shower," "Bible our guidebook," etc. is still quite indicative of a Christian-influenced tradition, not to mention the fact that we meet on Sunday mornings, the sermon/talk is the center of the service, and often use an order of service that comes straight out of Christian (esp. Protestant) worship. In addition, Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, the co-founders of Unity, employed quite explicitly Christian language, terminology, and themes, although with rather free and open re-interpretation. All of this is to say that there is some tension, perhaps straight-up controversy, over whether or not Unity is or should be considered Christian or part of Christianity.

Since this topic of religious identity is an important and intriguing one, as well as being one in which I'm deeply invested as a Unity theologian and minister-in-training, I'm developing a short series of blog-posts dedicated to this issue. I wish to state up front that I consider myself first and foremost a Christian, albeit a rather theologically liberal, pluralistic, and interfaith-minded Christian. I'm a Christian who is part of the Unity movement as a denominational affiliation and community of spiritual fellowship. As such, I come to this issue with a definite Christian perspective and identity. Thus, a sizable part of me would like to see Unity retain, embrace, and promote the elements of our Christian heritage. On the other hand, another part of me would like Unity to be able to remain a progressive, open-minded, interfaith-oriented inclusive denomination that welcomes people wherever they are on their respective spiritual journeys. Are both possible? If so, what might that look like within the movement theologically and in practice? Could Unity somehow both retain a Christian identity throughout the movement and yet be open, receptive, and inclusive of other religious traditions, spiritual practices, the New Age, new philosophical systems, etc.?

I think this is totally possible and feasible, so I'm going to take the rest of the space here to define what I mean by Christian and Christianity in such a way that is in integrity with the wider Christian tradition and would be acceptable, I think, to a majority of Unity and New Thought people. The rest of the series will entail posts about 1) Jesus and soteriology (the meaning and how of "salvation"), 2) ways forward in God-talk or (in Unity language) metaphysics about God, 3) possible new ways of "doing church" (with cues from the Emerging Church), and 4) the spiritual-transformative benefits of re-claiming certain traditional Christian teachings/doctrines.

So, my understanding of what it means to be Christian is pretty straight-forward and can be applied to individuals and communities of fellowship (churches, centers, organizations, etc.). I'm influenced by a range of liberal Christian theologians like Schleiermacher, Kierkegaard, Tillich, Cobb, and, one of my past teachers at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Radford-Reuther when I say that being a Christian must involve Jesus somehow. Without the historical and/or literary presence of this person and his impactful spiritual-social influence on people's lives we wouldn't even have Christianity. (Sidenote: I know there are those in historical Jesus research like J.G. Frazer, G.A. Wells, and more recently Robert Price, who deny a real historical Jesus even existed. Though I take the position of most N.T. scholars that there most likely was a "Jesus of history," even if there wasn't I think the narrative-symbolic impact of Jesus' life, teachings, death, and resurrection have been enough to make his presence unique, remarkable, and central to any understanding of what Christianity is.) Therefore, for something to be called "Christian" means that Jesus is not only present but somehow significant.

Jesus has always been a centerpiece in Unity teaching, beginning with Charles Fillmore who made a statement that was, until recently, printed in Unity Magazine: "Unity is a link in the great educational movement inaugurated by Jesus Christ..." He even pulled Unity out of the International New Thought Alliance because he didn't think they were Christian enough - i.e. stressing the Bible, Jesus, and link with Christianity. Jesus has also been a key piece of the writings of other Unity leaders throughout the years, including L. Fillmore, H.E. Cady, J.D. Freeman, E. Butterworth, P.A. Laughlin, and T. Shepherd. Not only have most Unity leaders and writers included and placed importance on Jesus, most have emphasized that, following the Fillmores, Unity is a Christian religious system, albeit interpreted and lived out differently from the mainstream of Christianities. The teachings on God, Jesus, salvation/liberation, in Unity are understood in a different way (we'll get to some of that in later postings).

Ok, here is my definition of Christianity that I think would be palatable for most people both within Unity churches and in more "traditional" Christian churches: To be Christian is to be a follower of Jesus Christ, such that his life (teachings, actions, death, and resurrection) is spiritually guiding, influential, and thus edifying and transformative in the life of individuals or communities. Christian applies to any person or group of people who takes the person of Jesus seriously and who finds spiritual meaning, value, and personal growth from encountering his life.

I offer this to the public for comment, questioning, critique, and augmentation. It can be grasped and applied in different ways, depending on the particular individual and community, but I forward it as an ecumenical understanding of Christian identity. Hopefully, this can start a conversation that continues the dialogue about Unity and Christian identity. That's it for now. Peace.

Multiple Religious Belonging -- Possible?

2011-07-07T14:29:00.000-05:00

Wow, so it's been a long time since I've posted on this blog. Indeed, I've been swamped with the rigors and time constraints of dissertation writing. And some may be happy to know that I'm finally on the last chapter and almost halfway done with it! It'll definitely be complete by the end of July.

Anyway, as I've been diligently working on my last chapter concerned with Buddhist-Christian dialogue and transformation, there has been one particular issue that, while extremely engaging, isn't something I'm prepared to tackle in the diss itself: multiple religious belonging. That is, during my investigations into people's expressions of how they have learned from other religious traditions and how other religions have influenced their self-understanding as a Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, or whatever, what I've found is that quite a few (especially Christians in the Buddhist-Christian encounters) have described themselves as having been so impacted that they "belong" not only to one tradition but, to some extent, the other tradition as well.

This raises about a million questions: What is meant by "belonging? Is it even possible to truly or honestly claim to be both Christian and Buddhist or some other combination? And how could a situation like this not lead to a kind of misappropriation or misuse of one or more religions or lead to a dispelling of the distinct uniqueness of each tradition? Nonetheless, I want to suggest a different linguistic universe to discuss this and how it might be possible to genuinely and authentically make this kind of claim while not denigrating the richness and uniqueness of any religion or heritage.

Before giving my own basic understanding of the issue, I want to mention that there is a growing amount of scholarship on this very theme. See Many Mansions: Multiple Religious Belonging and Christian Identity (Wipf & Stock, 2002), which is edited by Catherine Cornille and offers a number of Christian perspectives on the complexities of the problems that come with this topic. Also see the academic articles Peter C. Phan, "Multiple Religious Belonging: Opportunities and Challenges for Theology and Church," Theological Studies (2003), which argues for the possibility for multiple religious belonging through an "inclusive pluralism," and Gideon Goosen, "An Empirical Study of Dual Religious Belonging," Journal for Empirical Theology (2007), which presents a rather convincing case that such a phenomenon does, in fact, exist in the world.

My own understanding has been influenced significantly by a German theologian and scholar of religion teaching at the University of Muenster -- Perry Schmidt-Leukel. His work sets out the possibility of multiple religious belonging grounded in an interpretation of religion and religious experience as fundamentally and primarily (though not exclusively) individual. This means that, while we are communal, social beings, our "religiosity" is basically a personal, individual issue. Along with this claim, he maintains a re-conceptualization of the language used to speak of this issue. Rather than speaking of "multiple religious belonging," which suggests that religions are these static, unchanging, institutions to which we adhere and are either "in" or "out," we ought to speak of "multiple religious identity," since it's more a concern about the individual's personal experience and expression of religiosity that is grounded in engagement with the continually developing and dynamically evolving social networks of meaning we call "religions."

With this framework we can speak of one's individual religious identity being composed of religious and spiritual elements experienced from more than one tradition or heritage. Indeed, I'm not only a husband to my wife, but also a brother to my sister and a son to my parents; so my identity is made up of a plurality of relational ingredients. This is also the case concerning individual religious identity. My identity is primarily shaped by the Christian tradition, and also more than one denomination of belief and practice within the Christian tradition (Unity, Episcopal Church, etc.), but my identity is also shaped and influenced by my interactions and exchanges with Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Jews, and others with whom I've come into contact and have found religious elements that I've found to be good, true and beautiful in their worldview. One is able to integrate and incorporate elements from the religious other into one's individual religious identity so that one might truthfully and authentically speak of having a multiple religious identity or worldview.

So it is by virtue of a transformation by integration of religious otherness and difference that a notion of multiple religious identity - not belonging - is possible.

Peace.

Intriguing L&O Question

2011-01-31T13:38:00.000-06:00

Last week I had my first Licensing and Ordination interviews through Unity Worldwide Ministries at Unity Institute. These are interviews aimed at assessing my progress and aptitude in my training toward ministerial leadership in Unity. Essentially, they ask us ministry students a series of questions ranging from personal growth to leadership issues and from metaphysics and theology to our understanding of the Bible.

In one of my interviews I was asked probably the most intriguing and challenging question posed to me, at least in content. The question essentially was as follows: "How do you understand the statement, 'This is neither right nor wrong; it simply is'?" Most of the queries shot at me were behavior-based questions concerning how I have reacted in a certain situation in the past or how I would deal with some hypothetical situation in the future or how I have applied a certain Unity teaching. However, this one caught me off-guard.

At the time, I think I gave some short, reactional answer dealing with affirming the truth of everything "just being" in the Absolute but needing to deem things right or wrong in everyday life, in the relative realm. It seemed to be well-received, but later on in the day the question still plagued me and I realized my answer didn't live up to my own liking. In fact, that night I awoke in the middle of the night with this very quandary on my mind - and couldn't get back to sleep, I might add.

So, as usual, I hashed out my own internal cognitive dissonance in ... the shower. Where else? After much frustrating dialogue with myself, I came to a tentative conclusion about the issue:

I actually have major problems with the statement that nothing is right or wrong, but simply "is". First of all, I believe we live in a morally ordered universe. That is, the universe or God or Ultimate Reality is essentially Good or "for us." This could also be expressed as "God's will" or "karma," both of which are grounded in the belief that there is something inherently moral about Ultimate Reality (however one understands this). And, since we humans are expressions or creations of this eternal, infinite Good, we ourselves are basically good. However, since we have free will (a requisite for any morality or ethical reasoning, by the way), we are able to make decisions that are to a greater or lesser extent aligned with God the Good and which have an impact on our experience and that of others as well. This, to me, means that we are fundamentally and essentially moral beings.

To say that everything simply "is" is a tendency toward an ignoring or downplaying of our moral reasoning, which necessitates using our Judgment/Wisdom spiritual power to discern what is in harmony with God the Good or not, to differentiate between experiences and behaviors that are good or bad, right or wrong, so that we can continually strive to demonstrate God as Love in our lives, relationships, and communities. Are we really going to encounter suffering, injustice, violence, oppression, and hegemony with an attitude and action of "this is neither right nor wrong; it simply 'is'"? To not take a stand with a resounding "no" to such atrocities in our lives, societies, and throughout the world is to neglect what Kant has called the "moral law within' (a la the Categorical Imperative). To not differentiate between right and wrong is to neglect our humanity, and to neglect our humanity is to ignore the divine within humanity. It is only through the discrimination of situations and experiences, informed by God's wisdom within, that we can move toward a world that works for all and that honors the child of God that we each are.

Sure, everything exists, but it is important for us to use our free will, moral reasoning, and spiritual wisdom in faith and understanding to discriminate between manifestations that are aligned with God the Good or ones that aren't so much, but may perhaps be used in the service of moving toward the expression of the Kingdom of God among us.

Peace.

A New Article I Wrote Published in SIS Journal

2011-01-31T12:57:00.000-06:00

A recent article I've written has just been published in the peer-reviewed journal Studies in Spirituality, which approaches the subject of religious spirituality from a scholarly-academic perspective. My article is an outline and critical comparison of the Buddhist "perfection of wisdom" in The Perfection of Wisdom in 8000 Lines and the Christian "righteoused by faith" in Paul's letter to the Romans - both as paradigms of ultimate transformation.

To view abstracts and ordering information, visit here.

Dialogue on Oneness with Fellow Unity Colleague Ogun Holder

2011-01-31T12:02:00.000-06:00

Ogun Holder and I have been exchanging ideas in a dialogue concerning the nature of Oneness. Check out the posts on his blogsite Living in the Question.

Palin Calls Planned Islamic Center Near Ground Zero a 'Provocation'

2010-07-20T13:13:00.000-05:00

For those who aren't yet aware, a new Islamic community center is being built and facilitated near Ground Zero where the Twin Towers used to be. The Cordoba Project, framed and named through inspiration from the YMCA and JCC (Jewish Community Center) formats in these respective traditions and called Cordoba after the Spanish city in the middle ages that fostered fruitful relations between all the Abrahamic faiths, is to be a community center designed to serve the local community and reach out to neighboring religions and cultures in the spirit of dialogue and collaboration toward equality, justice, and peace. It's really about improving Muslim-West relations.

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is the chair of the Cordoba initiative and founded the American Society for Muslim Advancement, which was the first U.S. program focusing on bring together Muslims and non-Muslim through the avenues of academia, policy, current affairs, and culture.

However, though the Cordoba Project is actually a force for good, truth, and justice dedicated to fostering greater understanding across communities, cultures, and religions, Sarah Palin has denounced these efforts as "provocation" and against the "interests of healing" (The Hill, 7/18/10).

I believe Palin has grossly misunderstood the intentions and possibilities of the Cordoba initiative. Rather than spreading rumors and distorted tropes, perhaps she could gain a bit more insight through seeking to better understand and learn from the principles and actions of this very important and peace-making project.

For more, read the whole article by Ben Geman at The Hill.

Serene Jones' Open Letter to Glenn Beck

2010-07-20T13:05:00.000-05:00

Feminist theologian and president of Union Theological Seminary, Serene Jones, has written an open letter to Glenn Beck as a response to Beck's advocacy to his audience to steer clear of churches and synagogues that use the term "social justice" in their communications.

The main gist of the letter is an announcement that Bibles are being sent to Beck with the many references to social justice highlighted in the text and an explanation as to why these Bibles are being sent - to inform him and his audience that human rights and social action are part and parcel of the biblical tradition.

Read Jones' open letter at the Huffington Post.

Conservative Christian Case for Separation of Church-State

2010-07-09T08:16:00.000-05:00

Jimi Jobin, an alumnus of the evangelical Liberty University and pastor of Terra Nova Faith Community in Las Vegas, has written an article giving a very convincing argument as to why conservative Christians should uphold and celebrate our forefathers' constitutional inclusion of religion-government separation.

Jobin makes the overarching point that the American colonists and our founders experienced time after time church-sponsored or run states (e.g. The Holy Commonwealth of Massachussetts - Puritans/Congregationalists, southern states - Anglican, Pennsylvania - Quakers) and the oppression and persecution that this most often elicited. So, they made sure that this wasn't going to occur when they were outlining and formulating the Constitution for the Union and thus included the first clause (no establishment clause) of the 1st Amendment.

It's a very compelling and informed open letter, and shows that there are some conservative Christian brothers and sisters who do recognize the importance of the separation between church and state. We should never keep religion out of public life, but it has no place in our governing structures, for sure.

Read the article at Religion Dispatches.

John Dominic Crossan Speaking in Australia

2010-07-05T12:24:00.000-05:00

For those interested in New Testament studies and historical Jesus scholarship, bible scholar and member of the Jesus Seminar, John Dominic Crossan will be speaking in Carlton, Victoria, Australia from Tuesday August 31 - Friday September 3, 2010. This event is sponsored by the Progressive Christian Network of Victoria.

Dr. Crossan's lectures will address three fundamental questions:

1) What does it mean that, before Jesus ever existed, there was already a human being in that Mediterranean world whose titles were Divine, Son of God, God Incarnate, and God from God?

2) What is the difference in content when Caesar and Christ are both proclaimed as "Savior of the World"--if we have only one world, why two Saviors?

3) Finally, is the God of the Christian Bible violent or non-violent? And, if both, do we conflate those twin visions or--and how--do we decide between them?

Though I won't be able to go, simply the content of these questions to be addressed leads me to believe that these lectures and discussions will be very intriguing and informative concerning early Christian thought, ancient near-eastern culture, and the personalities of Jesus and Paul.

Click here to read more about event details.

Power of Understanding -- Both Intuitive and Intellectual

2010-06-30T13:00:00.000-05:00

On Unity.org's main website, a short article on Spiritual Understanding was recently published by Gail Dobert who is director of Silent Unity's Telephone Ministries. This article is very appropriate and timely since Unity Worldwide Ministries (formerly the Association of Unity Churches Int'l) has declared the month of July as having the theme of understanding -- one of Charles Fillmore's twelve spiritual powers found in each human individual.

In this brief overview of spiritual understanding, Dobert makes the claim that there are essentially two different kinds of understanding -- spiritual/intuitive understanding and intellectual understanding -- and the spiritual/intuitive kind is actually that which reveals true insight into the Divine and is the true source of inspiration and spiritual growth. She sees intellectual understanding as limited and quite inferior to the intuitive type of understanding. She states, "Spiritual Understanding wells up from within through intuition and inspiration. Spiritual Understanding is different from intellectual understanding. While intellectual understanding is important in life, there are things we simply cannot intellectually understand. We must seek to find greater understanding and meaning by seeking Spiritual Understanding."

Though I agree with her when she says that there "is a bittersweet mystery about life" and that we as humans aren't meant to understand everything, this principle must apply to both our intuitive and intellectual natures. Indeed, even our intuition or "gut-feeling" faculty of our being is limited in ways and has certain boundaries. Neither our intuitive nor our intellectual sides are limitless, unbounded, and completely free from mistake or misunderstanding.

With this in mind, through my own personal experience, I believe our intellectual nature is just as insightful and conducive toward spiritual growth and experience of truth as our intuition. In fact, dichotomizing intuition and intellect is failing to take into account the interrelatedness, interdependency of all faculties of human existence. I view our human nature as holistic -- faith and reason, heart and mind, intuition and intellect are cooperatively and harmoniously integrated such that they play off of one another in mutual support. Neither is superior or inferior to the other. They are reciprocally up-building in efficacy and activity.

I've found that some of the most insightful and inspired moments in my spiritual experience about God, Truth, Christ, my Self, etc. have been through intellectual reflection and study. Now, this has most definitely been corroborated and resonated by times of contemplation in the Silence. My point is simply that neither intution nor intellect is necessarily greater than the other and both fall short of fully and totally grasping the eternal, infinite, and ultimate Reality we name God or Truth. We may experience flashes or moments of spiritual insight into the Absolute Nature of Reality or God, but in the end we are individual creations within the Mind of God, part and parcel of God's Mind. In the end, words, concepts, language, categories and understand of any kind falls short of fully experiencing the eternal and infinite Mystery of the Divine in which we live, move, and have our being.

IL State Police Revoke 1st Muslim Chaplain

2010-06-24T14:04:00.000-05:00

This story actually hits very close to home for me, since I live in central Illinois and know quite a few state troopers.

Here's a snippet from Faith in Public Life:

"The Illinois State Police has revoked the appointment of the agency's first Muslim chaplain, citing only information revealed during a background check. A national Muslim advocacy group Wednesday blamed the move on Islamophobia.

Kifah Mustapha, a Chicago-area imam, was appointed the agency's first Muslim chaplain in December. Community groups had praised Mustapha's appointment as a nod to the growing diversity among the agency's nearly 2,000 officers." (FPL, 6/24/10)

I'm certainly glad to see that the IL State Police are interested and seeking a greater diversity in their chaplaincy positions, since, no doubt, the religious diversity of state troopers and IL citizens is ever-increasing. However, I'm a bit disturbed that there are groups like the Washington-based think-tank, the Investigative Project on Terrorism, that seem to be dead-set on suppressing this burgeoning plurality and diversity, couching it in the guise of "terrorist threat."

Now, the details of Mustapha's background haven't been discussed because they're considered confidential by the IL State Police Department. Nonetheless, a thorough background check should be administered, but this shouldn't deter the Department from seeking other imams to serve if Mustapha's turns out to be detrimental. We need to encourage our police departments, fire squads, educational facilities, community centers, and other public services to celebrate and affirm religious diversity and see the positivity in it.

Beyond the God Gap

2010-06-24T13:49:00.000-05:00

A new study by Public Religion Research and Third Way have produced a paper this week entitled "Beyond the God Gap: A New Roadmap for Reaching Religious Americans on Public Policy Issues." It deals with four major Christan religious groupings that dominate U.S. life and how a new but increasing array of diverse progressive religious voices is burgeoning, and how there is a broadening of political agendas among many people of faith.

With this kind of research and the amount of media attention dedicated to this issue, maybe it's time to rethink our assumptions about religious Americans and public policy.

Jim Kessler and Robert P. Jones of the Huffington Post have published a great article that reviews the "Beyond the God Gap" paper and the prominent issues concerning the growing chorus of progressive and liberal religious perspectives in the U.S. and how this affects public policy. Read it here.

Silent Unity Celebrates 120 Years

2010-06-23T13:49:00.000-05:00

This year marks the 120th anniversary of Silent Unity. Literally millions of people have contacted Silent Unity for affirmative prayer, and there are countless extraordinary stories of people's faith being uplifted, health renewed, relationships restored and prosperity realized.

Visit Silent Unity's webpage to learn more.

Watch the celebration video:

Unity World Day of Prayer 2010

2010-06-23T13:45:00.000-05:00

This year's annual Unity World Day of Prayer will be on Thursday, September 9, 2010. With the theme "Living in the Flow," the event will also mark the completion of the Unity Village central fountain restoration, which has been an ongoing project for a couple years now.

The opening ceremony will be live-streamed on the Web from Unity Village on Wednesday evening, September 8, with keynote speaker Rev. Paul Tenaglia from Unity of New York. Spiritus, a vocal ensemble from New York, along with Broadway singer Rosena M. Hill, will perform at the opening. Events on Thursday will include a fountain dedication ceremony, a seminar based on Rev. Eric Butterworth's book In the Flow of Life, and a closing celebration and ceremony.

Visit the World Day of Prayer website for details and information on other events that will be live-streamed.

Unity Seminary Sunday: Funding Our Future

2010-06-23T13:35:00.000-05:00

For those involved in the Unity movement, help pave the way for the next generation of Unity leaders by participating in a new campaign to benefit current and future ministerial students (like myself) -- Unity Seminary Sunday.

Unity churches are invited to choose a Sunday in October 2010 or March 2011 to let congregants know about Unity Institute and up-and-coming Unity ministers, and take a second offering to support them. If you feel so inclined, you may arrange for a ministerial student or faculty member to speak at your church or center on the designated Sunday.

According to Unity and Unity Worldwide Ministries (formerly the Association of Unity Churches, Intl.), this campaign is designed to give congregations an opportunity to join with Unity School and Unity Worldwide Ministries to create a stronger, more vibrant learning community to serve congregants, churches, and the wider Unity movement.

Here's a video about Unity Seminary Sunday:

Evangelical Pastor Tests 1st Amendment

2010-06-22T11:43:00.000-05:00

Evangelical pastor, Rev. H. Wayne Williams, is endorsing from the pulpit conservative Republican gubernatorial candidate Gordon Howie (South Dakota), likely hoping to take this issue all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Now, I don't often make posts concerning issues explicitly related to politics and government, but this activity is a blatant disregard of the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which guarantees the freedom of practicing any (or no) religion that we choose and freedom from any religion being established as a state religion or being favored over others, and I'm a huge advocate in support of this very important Amendment (in line with the advocacy of the Interfaith Alliance).

The issue is this: the Johnson Amendment of 1954 enacted by Congress states that no 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization can make political endorsements. This is because tax-exemption status amounts to a public subsidy since the rest of the tax-payers shoulder more tax burden of this exemption. Congress determined (appropriately and fairly) that such organizations that benefit from tax-payer subsidies shouldn't be able to endorse political candidates.

So, along with Episcopal priest and U.S. religious historian Randall Balmer, I say to these folks who want to have tax-exemption AND the benefit of political endorsement -- if you want to endorse political candidates, fine, but to make it balanced and fair, give up your tax-exempt status and thus your subsidies from the people, the tax-payers.

The no establishment clause of the 1st Amendment is the very reason why religion flourishes in great and rich diversity in the U.S. When freedom of religion and freedom from religion being tied to the government functions as a legislative principle, then religious plurality and variety and fervor burgeons, which is a wonderful thing and which is a great asset to our nation.

Those of us who are religious leaders certainly, as American citizens, have the right to walk our religious path any way we choose (granted it doesn't infringe on the rights of others) and endorse privately as a citizen any candidate we want. But the Johnson Amendment rightly disallows us from endorsing these candidates on behalf of a non-profit tax-exempt organization. And this has been upheld by the Supreme Court for years.

This is definitely a 1st Amendment separation of religion and government issue. To learn more about this issue, read Randall Balmers post on Religion Dispatches, or visit the Interfaith Alliance website. It's and excellent and informed read.

'UN' of Faith Groups Set Roles in Disaster Relief

2010-06-21T18:24:00.000-05:00

For every disaster - be it natural or otherwise - there always comes help from religious groups, setting aside their denominational, doctrinal, and worldview differences to come together and offer physical, emotional, and financial support: food, water, money, and crews of volunteers to come and help out in practical ways.

Tom Breen of the Associated Press writes an article about this often largely unknown hodgepodge of religious communities and their dedication of social action. Read the story here.

New Book on Scripture to Comfort the Sick

2010-06-17T09:28:00.000-05:00

With so much focus in America on health care and health care reform, a new book by Beth Bosserman, Medicine from God: Scripture Verses to Encourage and Comfort the Sick (Pleasant Word, 2010), takes a pastoral care angle by offering a treasury of Bible verses offering strength, encouragement, comfort, and inspiration for those who are ill and for those who minister to the ill.

In the midst of debate, contention, and controversy over the legislation and implementation of new health care models, this book is a rather different and important Christian spiritual angle to address the needs of the sick. This is a side not covered very much in the media and so I'm glad to see it's being addressed in this way.

For more, read the entire story here at RNS.

Christian Science Names New President

2010-06-17T09:12:00.000-05:00

For those New Thought folks out there, Christian Science (the New Thought movement grounded in prayer-healing and founded by Mary Baker Eddy) has just named a new president. Fujiko Signs, a Japanese-born practitioner, will take the annual position as president.

According to the Religion News Service, Ms. Signs says, "...my passion is to communicate the universality of Christian Science."

Since Signs is a woman from Tokyo, this appointment certainly speaks to the global reach of the Christian Science movement, the oldest of the New Thought churches. I wish Ms. Signs well and hope she shines in her role as president, leader and advocate for the power of prayer and of the mind to influence our experiences for the better.

The RNS has the whole story.

Unity Lecture - "2012: Birthing a World of Unity and Compassion"

2010-06-15T10:28:00.000-05:00

On Thursday June 24, 2010 from 7-9pm, Christine Page, M.D. will be giving a lecture at Unity Village about the upcoming and much talked about 2012 prophecies.

Join Christine for what ought to be an exciting lecture, where she'll explore 1) The Mayan prophecy that speaks of a future world of peace and unity; 2) Why it is so important to stay present during these times of change; 3) Why this life, more than any other for the past 26,000 years, is so important for the manifestation our unique soul's destiny; and 4) How to safely surf the waves of change that accompany any birth.

Though I'm not a huge proponent of making too big of a deal of the Mayan calendar and what it might mean, I'm certainly interested in what Dr. Page has to say concerning the hype and oftentimes fear surrounding these "prophecies" and the implications it has for our individual and collective spiritual growth into the future.

Should be interesting. For more info on Dr. Page, the event, and tickets, go to Unity.org's webpage.

New, Intriguing Topics on Interfaith Voices

2010-06-13T15:45:00.001-05:00

For those interested in interfaith issues and aren't aware of the Interfaith Voices radio program, there are some intriguing and stimulating topics recently covered on the show.

1) Last week, host Maureen Fiedler interviewed Stephen Prothero, professor of religion at Boston University, who has just come out with a book called God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World - and Why Their Differences Matter.

This is a very important book and interview. For one, Prothero is a wonderfully clear and interesting speaker and writer. But also, his points are extremely crucial for students, practitioners and leaders of religions and interfaith groups. He argues that there are very significant, very real differences among the world's religions and that we need to start recognizing this.

Indeed, he's right - many of us, especially in the liberal-progressive wings of religions and those involved in interfaith efforts have often been overly focused on the similarities or convergences between faiths. But, we can't ever ignore the beliefs, practices, rituals, myths, and textual traditions that set our religions apart in divergence. Acknowledging and lifting up the similarities is quite necessary for building trust and rapport between religious peoples, but solely focusing on these without recourse to the real distinctions actually does a disservice to the uniqueness and special quality of each religion. This is not to mention the notion that it's the differences that makes each religion so interesting to study, for me. If Confucius was the same as Jesus, if Buddhism was no different than Judaism, if the beliefs of Advaita Vedanta were identical to that of Islam, then studying and engaging the world's religions would be quite boring!

What we need is a good dose of an analogical imagination (to use a term coined by Fr. Dr. David Tracy of University of Chicago Divinity School). That is, rather than the relation between religious perspectives being seen as either totally the same or completely disparate, he suggest the category similarity-in-difference, which is essentially the mode of analogy. Neither a watered-down, lowest-common-denominator kind of sameness, nor an irreconcilable, unrelated disparity, what is needed is a creative, imaginative ability to perceive and understand both simultaneously -- similarity-in-difference.

2) Also, the latest episode is a very controversial topic - don't ask, don't tell and gays in the military. Very provocative stuff. Maureen mediates two opposite positions on the repeal bill in the House currently -- Daniel Blomberg of the Litigation Council of the Alliance Defense Fund (anti-repeal) and Rev. Dr. Welton Gaddy, president of the Interfaith Alliance (pro-repeal). Listen to this show for an excellent crash-course on the topic and to experience religious perspectives on both sides of the issue.

3) And lastly, later in the latest episode there is a brief segment concerned with the 2010 World Religions Summit in Canada, an effort to push the UN to follow through on its commitment to fight poverty, AIDS, and other global difficulties. Maureen interviews Karen Hamilton of the Canadian Council of Churches. She answers tough questions on how to move beyond religious finger-wagging and inspire the UN to get the ball rolling.

All these shows can be streamed and listened to at Interfaith Voices. Check them out!

Forthcoming Unity Book on Christology

2010-06-13T15:05:00.000-05:00

Rev. Dr. Thomas Shepherd, a Unity minister and chair of the Historical and Theological Studies department at Unity Institute, is coming out with a new book this summer that is centered on Christology - the theological term for the study of who Jesus Christ is and his importance for Christians. It is going to be entitled: And He Walks with Me: Jesus 2.1 - Interactive Edition.

This should be a very intriguing and instructive Unity Christological perspective. Here is an excerpt from the beginning of Dr. Tom's book, explaining the rationale for writing such a text:

"Why add to the towering pile of books about Jesus of Nazareth? One might reasonably argue that too much has already been written about him. What possible good can another volume of Jesus-talk do in today’s postmodern, post-911, post-Christian world? Surely, all the great ideas about the man from Galilee have already fought their way into print. What fair wind of change could another discourse on Christology—by yet another self-appointed theologian—add to the hurricane of words blowing through Christendom for the past 2,000 years? People have continued to eat, drink, marry and give in marriage, and they have muddled through quite nicely without the current volume to guide them. Isn’t it obvious that, while making their lives and raising their families, people have successfully managed to make and re-make Jesus Christ based on the needs of each successive era?

"Yet, it is just that observation—the successive re-making of Jesus, vertically through history and horizontally through contemporary cultures—which distinguishes this book from other works of Christology. And He Walks With Me: Jesus 2.1 – Interactive Edition differs takes seriously the creative process by which people have shaped their Jesuses. In fact, I will argue that creative interaction with inherited images and ideas about Jesus constitutes a healthy, positive course of intellectual and spiritual growth, an essential component in any understanding of Jesus Christ and the faith bearing his name."

This excerpt (as well as my familiarity with his past work) leads me to believe that Dr. Tom's treatise will likely be engagingly written, relevant to our present contextual concerns in 21st century America, and well-informed in terms of the primary and secondary sources used in treating biblical and theological problems. It also is a much needed academically sound and intellectually stimulating treatment of Christology to be read in Unity circles, especially for ministerial students like myself.

Check out Dr. Tom's blogsite here for more info.

Social Justice is a Virtue

2010-06-11T14:10:00.000-05:00

Here's a very good article by Cathleen Falsani of Sojourners magazine about the practice of social justice as a rather forgotten but re-surging Christian religious value.

It's an excellent appraisal of how actively working for equality and justice in our societies and communities is part and parcel of ethical uprightness and spiritual growth, grounded in the example and identity of Jesus the Christ.

Check it out!

Building an Interfaith Community in Switzerland

2010-06-11T13:04:00.000-05:00

This July, a seminar at the World Council of Churches' Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, Switzerland will bring together over 30 young adults from the Muslim, Jewish, and Christian traditions to address the question: "How can we affirm our identity as Muslims, Jews and Christians not in separation or against each other but in relation to one another?"

Activities will include spiritual and educational exercises as well as sports, recreational activities, and everyday tasks, done in the spirit of togetherness in diversity.

For more info visit the WCC website.

(Image from WCC website.)

Religious Roots of Liberal - Progressive Values

2010-05-18T21:22:00.000-05:00

John A Buehrens has just written an excellent op-ed article in the Washington Post concerning the comeback of a recognition of the religious roots of liberal and progressive values.

Check it out and celebrate being simultaneously and inextricably religious and progressive!

Tom Shepherd on Unity and Doctrine

2010-05-03T23:47:00.001-05:00

For those interested and aren't aware of Rev. Dr. Tom Shepherd's blog, he has recently written a post about Unity as a way of life rather than a set of prescribed doctrines. I find most everything Dr. Tom writes to be insightful, engaging, and forwarding a lively attitude of progressing Unity principles in new directions while also incorporating important ideas and language from traditional Christianity.

Tom writes about an increasing tendency in Unity to become dogmatic about Unity metaphysical teachings and language, even though we claim to be a movement grounded in openness and inclusivity that isn't bound to any particular set of doctrines or beliefs. This is why he points to Unity being better characterized as more of a way of life or manner of being rather than prescribed beliefs or teachings to follow.

In the end, my thoughts are simply that religion (including Unity) has always been more about experience and doing things founded upon experience rather than believing or adhering to dogma.

Read Dr. Tom's post here.

More on the Texas BOE Curricula Rulings

2010-04-27T15:43:00.000-05:00

"While the impact on the actual writing of textbooks may not be that dire the Texas Board of Education is clearly rewriting history to fit a conservative agenda and a Christian dominant worldview." (Religion Dispatches, 4/27/10)

For those who are following this story about the Texas BOE rulings on reconfiguring curricula that cater to a conservative-evangelical Christian perspective, there is a new article written by Lauri Lebo of Religion Dispatches that comments on the issues at stake here. The Texas BOE has went through with major rewriting and editing of critieria for Texas educational textbooks without even a hint of understanding of the 1st Amendment and the fact of prominent religious plurality and diversity in the U.S.

Check out Lebo's essay here.

New Ex-Offender Program Puts Religion Before State

2010-04-27T15:30:00.000-05:00

"With budgets slashed, corrections officials are struggling to reduce the recidivism rate among ex-offenders. Chuck Colson’s new program steps into the breach, and hopes to bring down the wall separating church and state to help ex-offenders stay out of prison." (Religion Dispatches, 4/25/10)

Religion Dispatches writer, Mark Bergen, covers a story about a new program called Out4Life (part of Prison Fellowship Ministries, an evangelical prison ministry) to assist in getting recidivism rates down, to help offenders stay out of prison through helping them secure a job, go through rehab, and find a church community for support.

There is a bit of controversy about Out4Life because state-run and financially-burdened prisons are increasingly relying upon these religious ex-offender programs, which raises the question about the 1st Amendment issues of the separation of church and state.

Read the whole article at Religion Dispatches to get a fuller idea of the nature and practice of this prison ministry and the surrounding controversial issues.

(Image from Religion Dispatches website courtesy of Prison Fellowship Int'l.)

Sarah Palin and the National Day of Prayer

2010-04-27T15:09:00.000-05:00

Rev. Welton Gaddy, host of the nationally syndicated radio program State of Belief and president of the Interfaith Alliance, has written a very inspiring and instructive essay about Sarah Palin and the National Day of Prayer that he read on last weekend's show and which appears in Religion Dispatches e-magazine.

Rev. Gaddy essentially denounces Palin's empassioned comments concerning a federal judge's ruling on the National Day of Prayer and that the U.S. is a Christian nation that "needs to get back to its Christian roots." He critiques her recent statements as uninformed and a-historical, since the fact that America is not nor has it ever been an officially Christian nation is quite well documented through sources such as statements or treatises formed by presidents Washington and J. Adams, not to mention the 1st Amendment's no establishment clause. Palin's statements were flippant, ignorant of the history of American culture and law, and simply pandering to a significant conservative (and largely evangelical-fundamentalist Christian) audience.

Here's a brief excerpt from Rev. Gaddy's commentary:

"Palin has thrown what we used to call in West Tennessee “a conniption fit” over the federal judge’s decision that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional. While many of us applauded a judge who seems to understand the First Amendment’s religion clauses, some political pontificators and bandwagon religionists rushed to microphones to decry the further moral ruination of the nation. . .

"Palin did get one thing right in her Louisville speech. She said the Founding Fathers were believers. That is a true statement. Many of them were deists, but few of them were Christians by Palin’s narrow evangelical definition. However, the larger truth is that these were people, regardless of their religious identity, who had witnessed the abuse and violence that emerge when institutions of religion and government became entangled. . .

"The American people do not need the President of the United States to tell them when to pray or what to pray for. By definition prayer is personal and volitional. But neither do the American people need Sarah Palin stirring a revolt to get rid of the very principles that have assured efforts to guarantee civil rights to everybody and made our nation great." (Religion Dispatches, 4/22/10)

Read Rev. Gaddy's entire essay here.

Listen to State of Belief where Rev. Gaddy read this on air.

My Blog Article on TCPC eBulletin

2010-04-13T21:10:00.000-05:00

The most recent eBulletin for The Center for Progressive Christianity (TCPC) has published a blog article I wrote about recent findings in evolutionary biology and how these resonate well with religious faith and ethics.

Check out my blog article on my blog page or at TCPC.

Buddha Doc on PBS

2010-04-08T11:09:00.000-05:00

Yesterday a new PBS documentary about the Buddha was shown. Filmmaker David Grubin conveys the story of the life of Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha) which is narrated by Richard Gere (a Buddhist and advocate of Tibet), which I feel is not only relevant for people interested in learning more about this monumentally influential figure in world history but also provides instructive insights addressing our times frought with turbulence, confusion, cultural diversity, and religious ambiguity.

The documentary features interviews with religious scholars on the Buddha and Buddhism as well as with practitioners and adherents of Buddhism (including a few monastic renunciants). Though a bit watered down for time's sake (and I do admit my prejudice as an extra-scrupulous perspective as a religious studies scholar), it's a great historical-cultural overview of the life of the Buddha and the origins of the great Eastern (and increasingly Western) spiritual tradition.

Watch the whole documentary online here.

Jesus in 3-D...

2010-04-06T14:52:00.000-05:00

A new History Channel documentary claims to reveal the "real face of Jesus" by using the same computer technology that produced the big blue aliens in Avatar. Using the Shroud of Turin, a tattered piece of cloth that has the outline of a facial image that many people over the past century have suggested is that of Jesus of Nazareth, the documentarians have produced a three-dimensional moving image of a man based on the structure of the image on the Shroud.

Though I haven't yet watched the documentary, I plan to. Even though I'm doubtful about the Shroud of Turin actually being the burial-wrappings of Jesus, I'm actually interested in the subject matter mainly because of what I'll likely learn about the technology used to create a 3-D image of the man behind the Shroud. If nothing else, this documentary is sure to stimulate our imaginations.

Check out a Religion Dispatches article about the documentary.

Independent Documentary on Military Chaplains

2010-04-05T09:52:00.000-05:00

In recent years there has been an ongoing debate depicted in many media outlets about religion in the military. The question has become: Are U.S. laws preventing soldiers from praying according to their own religious convictions? Or are military officials abusing their power and authority and violating the Constitution by trying to convert soldiers?

This debate indelibly involves millitary chaplains who are providing spiritual service and pastoral care to other soldiers. The question for chaplains is basically are laws preventing them from praying with soldiers according to their own faith tradition, or are chaplains misusing their authority by proselytizing and subverting the Constitution?

These issues and more are addressed in the new independent documentary called "Chaplains Under Fire," which gets behind the media headlines right to the quick of what military chaplains do and the intense church-state/religion-government tensions they actually face on a day-to-day basis.

Check out a review and get more info about the documentary here.

Read more at RNS.

Military Chaplain Influenced By Unity Teachings

2010-04-01T16:31:00.000-05:00

Lysa Allman-Baldwin on Unity.org has recently published a blurb about an Army Chaplain by the name of Michael Beach who, as a Baptist minister, discovered Unity teachings online and became an advocate of Unity principles. He reports that, as a military chaplain, he's called to uphold religious freedom and support those who are in need of spiritual and emotional help. He says that, after reading about Unity and listening regularly to Unity.FM, he's even more able to stay spiritually centered and actually perform his chaplaincy duties even better.

Check out Baldwin's profile of Chaplain Beach at Unity.org.

The Hutaree Militia

2010-04-01T15:46:00.001-05:00

Until the recent news stories broke covering the arrest of the nine members of the Hutaree Militia charged with "seditious conspiracy" (which has a maximum of life in prison, if convicted), I'd totally forgotten about this ultra-conservative, fundamentalist and militant form of Christianity. It seems that I've so surrounded myself in a progressive Christian bubble that, with the exception of the few news stories covered in the media wires I follow, I've been rather blind to these Christian-centric, extra-fervent militia groups.

For those who haven't been able to follow the media coverage, The Christian Soldiers of the Apocalypse (another name for the Hutaree) is an organization that believes that the end of history spoken of in Revelation and elsewhere in the Bible is imminently approaching, along with the appearance of the Anti-Christ who will be the inlet for Satan and the downfall of humanity. Thus, they, as well as all Christians, are obliged to know this and prepare by forming armies for Christ. This is part and parcel of a fear of all government and especially of what has been termed the New World Order, where all nations and peoples are united (and controlled) by a central command (which will eventually be the seat of the aforementioned Anti-Christ). Apparently, their rhetoric and preparation has caught the attention of the U.S. government, which is prepared to crack down this seditious conspiracy to overthrow the current government and establish a purely Christian system of governance, one which harkens back what they call the Colonial Christian Republic before the establishment of the U.S.A. (Source: www.hutaree.com)

This dangerously intolerant and divisive movement is not only an affront and radical distortion and misunderstanding of the teachings of Jesus Christ and the doctrines and values of the Church since the 1st century, but it's also a manifestation of the changing times we're living in. There have always been radicals (sometimes violent and hateful) on both sides of the spectrum, but it seems to have intensified lately due to the turbulent socio-political and economic situation. To me, this militant Christian movement is in the same categorical camp as militant fundamentalists in Islam or Hinduism or any other religion. Fundamentalism, as a reaction against the cultural changes and progression toward greater tolerance, diversity, pluralism, and equality, is grounded psychologically in fear and theologically in a misappropriation and misinterpretation of the inclusive and forbearing messages of the founders/leaders of the various religious traditions.

It's sad to see these violent and hateful movements develop and influence people toward intolerance of differing others, but the most we can do is to become more informed about the groups and issues, promote dialogue with religious and cultural others, and stand up to injustices, inequalities, and hatred wherever we experience them.

For an informative and thought-provoking essay on the Hutaree, apocalypticism, and fundamentalism see Chip Berlet's article at Religion Dispatches.

Above image from Religion Dispatches website.

1st Amendment Rights and Texas SBOE

2010-03-31T13:26:00.000-05:00

As many know by now, this month the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) has voted on a variety of amendments to the state social studies educational curriculum. These amendments will severely mitigate the information Texas students will receive concerning the 1st Amendment rights and and the boundary between religion and government in the U.S.

Furthermore, since Texas is the one of the largest consumers of textbooks in the country, most publishers tend to shape the content in textbooks based on the curriculum standards set by Texas government. Thus, this misguided change in curriculum could potentially affect our children across the nation, not just in Texas. Urgent action is very much needed on this front.

Among the proposed changes to be made in the Texas curriculum, the SBOE voted to: 1) Remove Thomas Jefferson from the world history curriculum of Enlightenment thinkers and replace him with Christian thinkers such as Thomas Aquinas and John Calvin; 2) Require that students explore the right to bear arms as part of the 1st Amendment rights of free expression (but which is already covered in the 2nd Amendment); and 3) Eliminate an amendment that would require students to "examine the reasons the Founding Fathers protected religious freedom in America by barring government from promoting or disfavoring any particulary religion over all others. The amendment didn't pass because many on the SBOE thought it "historically inaccurate." (Source: Interfaith Alliance)

If you are concerned about 1st Amendment rights for the freedom of religion and the separation of religion and government, please take action by sending a letter to 3 major textbook publishers urging them to reject the Texas SBOE's curriculum changes. Let's act to make sure our children's educational curricula are based on historically backed evidence and not on any ideology.

Evolution Favoring Religion?

2010-03-31T12:59:00.000-05:00

A recent post by Mark Vernon of Religion Dispatches traces some findings of David Sloan Wilson who is a biologist researching and suggesting that the so-called "selfish gene" proposed by evolutionary biologists of the past is a fallacy. Instead, Wilson's research has lead him to posit the idea that we haven't, as humans, evolved toward the ends and purposes only of the self but rather more toward the aims and benefit of the groups in which individuals live.

Although I haven't delved very deeply into the findings of Wilson, what he's suggesting is quite exciting to me. The notion that we are genetically geared toward doing what's best for the communities in which we work, play, love, live, etc. just makes sense to me from my own personal experience of the world but also from the perspective of evolutionary theory. That is, the maximum potential for survival and sustainability for individual organisms seems best when the larger group of relationships is taken care of primarily. This is because we are, as most if not all life-forms, social beings and thus need the safety, security, and social identity of the community in order for us to survive and prosper as individuals. In other words, the well-being of the group maximizes the well-being of the individual, and not necessarily the other way around.

This lines up quite nicely with the beliefs and practices of most world religions which emphasize the spiritual importance of the community. In Christianity, the Church as the Body of Christ is the community that mystically participates in the love of Christ, carries the good message of liberation from sin, suffering, and death into the world, and supports each other in spiritual growth and transformation through the Spirit of God dwelling in and among its members. Though some Christian denominations emphasize this aspect of community more than others, it was certainly part and parcel of Jesus' message of the Kingdom of God and has historically always been of central significance in the life of the Christian individual. Without the Church, the individual Christian is somehow unfulfilled in the sense that the community of Christ in the Spirit is an essential aspect of the identity and well-being of the Christian. Through the support, loving relationship, and teaching of truth of the Church, the individual Christian finds a home, a family, an identity that shapes their spiritual life. As Thomas Merton has stated in quoting John Donne, "No [hu]man is an island." Amen to that.

To read the whole article, check it out at Religion Dispatches here.

Chaplains at the 2010 Winter Olympics

2010-02-22T12:13:00.000-06:00

The Salt Lake Tribune has published an article that speaks of the presence of chaplains serving at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The article chronicles the work and feelings of the chaplains for the '10 Games who represent five major religious traditions: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism.

Many people, religious or otherwise, don't realize that there actually are chaplains for the Olympics and wouldn't think of such a need. However, in the wake of the death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, it's quite apparent that chaplaincy at the Games is quite important. The head of the interfaith team of Olympic chaplains, Rev. David Wells, relates what happened after the accident when he had to confirm that Nodar was Eastern Orthodox and then arrange for an Orthodox priest who was accompanying the Russian luge team to compassionately fill in as the spiritual support.

All of this simply goes to show how important the spiritual and emotional support of chaplains is for many arenas of life, even the Olympics. Just being a listening, receptive presence can be the most encouraging, nourishing, and supportive activity that chaplains do. And the response of the Olympic chaplaincy team at Vancouver simply confirms the significance of the work of chaplains.

Read the entire story at Faith in Public Life.

Buddhism and the Dalai Lama on Unity.FM

2010-02-22T11:58:00.000-06:00

Rev. Dr. Tom Shepherd's online radio program "Let's Talk About It" is featuring discussion on the topic of the Dalai Lama and his Buddhist teachings in relation to the Christian season of Lent (which we're currently in).

Here's a short description of the upcoming show:
"His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, the great spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, is known worldwide simply as the Dalai Lama. He has written a grand summation of the most important things in life, which includes these words: 'Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.' Buddhism generally understands love as compassion for all sentient beings and, paradoxically, detachment from desire itself. Christian love is about forgiveness and altruism; there is a self-sacrificial tone to the love of God in Jesus Christ. Yet there is much that Buddhists and Christians share in common. Compassion, kindness, and selflessness. This week Dr. Shepherd looks at what Christians can learn from their Buddhist counterparts as his panel of distinguished guests discusses 'Lenten Lessons From the Dalai Lama.'" (Unity.FM)

As a scholar of Buddhist-Christian dialogue and a participant in interreligious interface, I'm curious to see who Dr. Tom's guests are and where the discussion leads, especially in terms of relating Tibetan Buddhist principles to Christian practice of Lent. Since Lent is normally understood as that time in the Christian liturgical year when we recognize our mistakes and shortcomings and reflect on how we might improve ourselves through anticipating and then sharing in Christ's death and resurrection, which are essentially archetypal symbols for the process of overcoming unsatisfactoriness and distorted relationships and living a new existence characterized by life in Christ. This world-renouncing activity of self-emptying and self-discipline in the Christian practice of Lent resonates quite well with the Buddhist ideas and practices of anatta/anatman (no self/soul) and paticcasamuppada (dependent origination) that tend to emphasize the importance of the interdependency of all phenomena and the resulting ethical implications of compassion and altruism that follow.

Tune in on Friday February 26, 2010 at 4pm CST for what ought to be an exciting and stimulating show on "Let's Talk About It."

Sin and Repentance in Progressive Christianity

2010-02-17T11:01:00.000-06:00

The latest e-bulletin published by the Center for Progressive Christianity is concerned with the concepts/realities of sin and repentance in progressive, liberal Christian circles. Those of us Christians who adhere to a more open and inclusive theological understanding of Christian scripture and tradition have tended to either downplay or outrightly ignore sin and repentance. Sin is often denounced as an outdated, negative notion that is a product of tribal thinking and those in power attempting to control the religious masses through fear and divinely sanctioned legalistic judgment. However, is it possible for progressive Christians to retain sin by re-conceptualizing its function and presence in Christian theology? I'd like to think so.

In my progressive Christian denomination, Unity, we generally begin this reinterpretation through an etymological examination of "sin." "Hamartia" in Greek is the New Testament and Septuagint rendering of "sin," which is an archery term meaning "to miss the mark." As a metaphysically oriented tradition where consciousness is primary, Unity tends to understand sin as not so much an ontological condition in which we exist as humans, but rather actions in thought, word, and deed where we aren't in line or harmonious with the Christ presence within ourselves. That is, we sin when we aren't in conscious awareness of the imago dei of our being. in which we were originally created. The Fall happens in our consciousness, when we start believing in our separation from God, each other, and all creation. And repentance is the process by which we re-align our consciousness with God within and further express Christ's work through our actions of love, equality, and justice.

However, there are a few important aspects to the notions of sin and repentance that I think Unity has missed or at least that haven't been prominent in Unity writings and conversation. Sin not only is actions we do through our thinking, speaking, and acting but can also be thought of in the more traditional Christian idea of the limitations (a bad word in Unity circles, by the way) or boundaries of our existence as human, finite creatures living in a relative, dualistic physical realm. That is, the fact of the matter is that we, as humans, tend to make mistakes, do things to others or ourselves that we regret, and generally fail to always be in harmony with the Christ within. This isn't to say that we can't be, we simply tend to not be. The tendency to "miss the mark" could be said to be a tendency that can be cured through prayer, meditation, and spiritual social action in the process of redemption or being re-born into a new existence in Christ (living out our Christ nature in the world), but it nonetheless is a reality present in our individual and social lives as part of the problems of the human condition.

My favorite statement about sin comes from Dr. Rosemary Radford Reuther, a contemporary Roman Catholic feminist theologian and one of the professors I studied under at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. She states, "What is appropriately called sin belongs to a more specific sphere of human freedom where we have the possibility of either enhancing life or stifling it. It is the realm where competitive hate abounds, and also passive acquiescence to needless victimization . . . the misuse of freedom to exploit other humans and the earth and thus to violate the basic relations that sustain life. Sin lies in the distortion of relationship, the absolutizing of the rights of life and power on one side of a relation against the other parts with which it is, in fact, interdependent." (TCPC) What I love about this description of sin is that relationship is at the center of attention. Sin is, at its core, the distortion of healthy, mutual, loving relationship among humans, with nature, and with God. Unity has the metaphysical understanding down pat, but we could certainly inject the relational component to our conception of sin. Sin is about the misuse of our free will to promote greed, hatred, enmity, ignorance, falsehood, victimization, etc. in the context of being the relational beings that we are as humans.

So, as Lent begins, let's remember the essential, basic meaning of sin and repentence, which is about healing ourselves, mending brokenness in our relationships, and cultivating the love Christ so it abounds in our lives.

To read more about sin and repentance in progressive Christianity visit the Center for Progressive Christianity and Unity.org this Lenten season.

Portrait of Dalai Lama on Interfaith Voices

2010-02-16T11:44:00.001-06:00

Interfaith Voices radio program will be rerunning a conversation with Pico Iyer, a long-time friend of the Dalai Lama, about the life, teachings, and spirituality of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

If you haven't heard this interview with Iyer by host Maureen Fiedler check it out at Interfaith Voices online. It's an excellent portrait of the Dalai Lama's biography (from how and when he was chosen to his issues with the Chinese government as the leader of Tibet) and Lamaism in Tibetan Buddhism.

Sacred Awakening Series

2010-02-15T13:39:00.001-06:00

From Feb. 17 through April 3, 2010 Unity, Gaia Community, Intention Media, Integrative Spirituality, among many others will be sponsoring a teleseminar series called "Sacred Awakening Series: 40 Days with 40 Spiritual Leaders." This teleseminar is free for registration and features such spiritual teachers and leaders as the Association of Unity Churches' own president Rev. James Trapp, Buddhist social activist A.T. Ariyaratne, Hindu gurus Swami Chidanand Saraswati and Dattatreya Siva Baba, Buddhist scholar and teacher Tenzin Robert Thurman, progressive Christians Bishop John Shelby Spong and Matthew Fox, Buddhist monk Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi, Rabbis Lynn Gottlieb and Yehuda Berg, Muslim scholar Abdul Aziz Said, and many more.

I've already signed up for this teleseminar, which should prove to be quite spiritually stimulating. With such a diverse array of spiritual leaders specifically tackling the issue of "how we can live a truly sacred life" participating in this seminar will foster interfaith interaction and learning concerning a central religious issue - spiritual transformation (which is really what living the sacred life is all about). And, for those of us who are part of the Christian heritage, this seminar comes just in time for Lent. Sharing in this interreligious encounter will certainly help engender the spirit of resurrection, rebirth, and renewal of being that the Lenten season is truly, at its core, is all about. I, for one, will be participating in this seminar as a Lenten practice of personal and communal spiritual growth.

Join me in registering for this teleseminar at the online website.

This week on Unity.FM (2.15-19.10)

2010-02-15T13:31:00.000-06:00

This week on Unity.FM radio programming there is going to be a wonderful discussion on Rev. Dr. Tom Shepherd's show "Let's Talk About It." The topic of discussion will be religion and humor. Here is Unity.FM's own description of the upcoming show this Friday:

"What’s your favorite religious joke? (Hopefully, it’s something you could repeat from the pulpit on a Sunday morning!) What is the nature of humor, and what places in the Bible is it found? Does God have a sense of humor, or is there too much tragedy in the world for that question not to be offensive? Can we laugh in the face of disaster without seeming airy-faerie or disconnected with reality? This week Dr. Shepherd’s panel will tell some good ones and discuss the nature of humor as a spiritual discipline."

It should be a thoroughly interesting and comical conversation about theology, God, humor, and the human experience.

Tune in this Friday Feb. 19, 2010 at 4pm CST to listen to "Let's Talk About It" on Unity.FM.

U.S. Military Weapons Inscribed With Secret 'Jesus' Bible Codes

2010-01-27T15:02:00.000-06:00

An ABC news investigation has discovered that some US military high-powered rifles have New Testament Bible verses cited on their sights. Trijicon, a Michigan-based company, has sold the US military these sights that essentially make the shooter see a verse like "2 Cor 4:6" as they're aiming to fire the gun.

This is an enormous breach of the US military's policy of remaining religiously neutral and un-biased. Whether or not the military knew about the verses being on the sights, they are still responsible and need to correct the problem and re-state their very explicit rules about religion equality and freedom.

What makes me shudder the most is that when soldiers are preparing to shoot a gun at other humans in battle, they are ironically doing so through a lens that is obviously promoting Christ and Christianity, which are, on my view, about love, equality, justice, compassion, and healing -- not hate, killing, violence, etc.

I would love to hear other people's reactions to this issue. Please feel free to comment on New Testament verses being put on US soldiers' gun sights.

Joseph Rhee, Tahman Bradley and Brian Ross of ABC news have the story at Faith in Public Life.

Bishop Spong Offers New E-Course

2010-01-15T14:56:00.000-06:00

Bishop John Shelby Spong, a retired bishop in the Episcopal Church and outspoken advocate of progressive interpretations of Christian beliefs and practices, is leading an E-course online through Christ Community Church.

The course will be for three weeks Mon.-Fri. January through February 12, 2010 and will focus on outlining and discussing his newest book Is There an Afterlife: A New Vision Beyond Religion, Beyond Theism, Beyond Heaven and Hell. Here is what the Center for Progressive Christianity has to say about the book and related E-course: "His latest and last book goes beyond religion, beyond heaven and hell, and explores a very different interpretation of what the Christian story and history can mean to a modern mind. It is a refreshingly honest pursuit of truth in the face of life's toughest questions. Combining science and theology, Bishop Spong examines the 3.7 billion year long human journey from a single cell life into the complexities of modern self-consciousness; as well as drawing from his own personal journey."

To learn more about the E-course, book, and Christ Community Church visit the community's website here.

Or sign up directly for the course here.

(Photo from Center for Progressive Christianity website)

Buddhist Violence?

2010-01-14T17:09:00.000-06:00

There is a new book out by Michael Jerryson and Mark Juergensmeyer called Buddhist Warfare (Oxford, 2009).

This book chronicles the history and significance of violence caused by Buddhist practitioners and their reasonings and rationale for engaging in such actions. The notion of violence by Buddhists flies in the face of most Westerners' stereotypes of Buddhism as a thoroughly peaceful and non-violent religion. Indeed, while the principles of Buddhism and the Buddha himself largely advocated for peace and non-violence, nonetheless, in the harsh reality of daily life in the world of samsara violence and aggression have been argued for and engaged in by devout Buddhist practitioners.

I believe this simply goes to show how ambiguous religion (any religion) can be. Religious principles and faith can be used to develop some of the most loving, compassionate, and selfless acts the world has ever seen but can also be used to justify the most heinous of actions causing hatred, suffering, and destruction. Yes, even Buddhism:)

For more info on the new book visit OUPs website.

To read a commentary on the book see Religion Dispatches.

Interfaith Vigil of Prayer, Hope & Action

2010-01-14T17:05:00.000-06:00

"Beginning now and until health-care legislation is signed by President Obama, Christians, Muslims and Jews, across the country will be conducting a Vigil of Prayer, Hope and Action organized by Faithful Reform in Health Care (FRHC), a Cleveland, Ohio-based interfaith coalition." (Faith in Action, 1/13/10)

Read more of the story at Faith in Public Life.

This Week on Unity.FM

2010-01-12T12:21:00.000-06:00

There is going to be some intriguing and important discussion on Unity.FM this week:

On the program "The Universe Responding" there will be conversation about the misunderstanding of the simplicity of the "Law of Attraction." It's not just "think it, then get it"; it's more about thinking being the source and starting place that then influences and impacts actions from the inside out into the world of relationships and society.

On the program "A World That Works" guest Theresa Tolan will speak about her peacework organization called Children's Global Peace Project which uses songs, games, dance, and play to help children understand what prejudice is and to realize their own potential to create equal and compassionate relationships with each other and in larger communities. This is good stuff.

Also, on the new program "Inside Out," guest Kelly Sullivan Walden discusses her foundation called The Dream Project U.N., which is an organization established on the 2015 United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Listen to how this forward-thinking woman and her project are helping to change the situations of many inner city schools.

Go to Unity.FM to listen to these Unity-based programs and more.

Online Teleseminar Series from Integral Enlightenment

2010-01-12T12:13:00.000-06:00

Integral Enlightenment, EnlightenNext, among other sponsors, are hosting a free online teleseminar series called Awakening the Impulse to Evolve. The purpose of these online speakers and interactions will be to explore what it means to consciously participate in the process of evolving and developing ourselves, relationships, the culture, and the world.

Visit the teleconference website to register for free.

It should prove to be a compelling inspiration for spiritual growth, no matter what faith path you might be on.

Peacebuilding Conference @ Notre Dame This Spring

2010-01-12T12:04:00.000-06:00

The Peace and Collaborative Development Network, which specializes in "building bridges, networks and expertise across sectors," has forwarded a call for papers for a student peace conference at Notre Dame.

This Notre Dame Peace Conference is being called "Investing in Peace: Uncovering the Practicality of Peacebuilding" and will be held March 26-28, 2010. The deadline for paper submissions/proposals is February 12.

Though I probably won't have any time to prepare a proposal for presentation at the conference, I will be supporting these efforts through encouraging others invovled in peace movements to participate as much as possible in this much-needed collaboration among thinkers, writers, artists, and practitioners of peacebuilding from a variety of sectors.

For more info on the conference this spring visit the call for papers site at Peace and Collaborative Development Network.

New Thought Orgs Join Together at Parliament of World Religions

2010-01-01T17:03:00.000-06:00

The Parliament of World Religions, which just met Dec. 3-9 this past year in Melbourne, is the largest interfaith gathering in the world. During the Parliament's proceedings, various New Thought organizations (including Unity School of Christianity) came together as a larger movement of spiritual traditions to convey New Thought perspectives on many of the critical social and environmental issues and to present a unified and cohesive identity on the international stage.

Also, as it turned out, there was held a Pre-Parliament Conference where The Association for Global New Thought, The Association of Unity Churches Intl, Unity School of Christianity, Agape International Spiritual Center, Affiliated New Thought Network, The International New Thought, Alliance, and others assembled to exchange ideas and learn from each other.

This shows an incredible move to interact and dialogue within the larger New Thought outlook on the world. It's an effort that shows great interest in developing mutual support and further understanding in the process of spiritual transformation. However, as a caveat, while dialogue among New Thought groups is wonderful we must be sure, as with any dialogue, that each distinct group doesn't get watered down into a generalized lowest-common denominator, doesn't loose its specialness and uniqueness. In other words, lets not emphasize unity at the expense of diversity, but rather promote a unity-in-diversity which recognizes common ground and connectedness while also affirming the differences and plurality of our situation. The Agape Center's beliefs, ideas, practices, and governance are not the same as Unity School of Christianity which is, in turn, not identical to the Association of Global New Thought. While their worldviews maintain many commonalities they are nontheless discrete traditions with differences in belief and practice. (In fact, these principles may also apply to the unity-in-diversity among individual people. More on this at a later time.)

For more information about the pre-Parliament New Thought Delegate Conference, visit www.agnt.org/powr.

Find information on the Parliament of the World's Religions at www.parliamentofreligions.org.

Watch this AGNT video for the 2009 Parliament of the World's Religions.

Video of How Science and Religion Debate is Like Professional Wrestling

2009-12-30T09:20:00.000-06:00

"In this multimedia presentation, McCane and Mathewson reveal how the equally toothless performances of New Atheists like Richard Dawkins and creationists like Ken Ham share more with the garish world of Hulk Hogan and the Iron Sheik than with serious scholarship." (Religion Dispatches)

Watch the video here.

Though I'm not much of a professional wrestling fan, this presentation not only brought me further insight into the science and religion "debate" it also shed a new light on the creativity and artistic quality of professional wrestling that I surely never had thought of before.

New Merton Book Controversial

2009-12-30T09:09:00.000-06:00

Daniel Burke of the Religion News Service has recently written about a new biography by Mark Shaw out entitled Beneath the Mask of Holiness about Thomas Merton, the inspirational contemplative Trappist monk who has been influential to many contemplatives (Christian and beyond) after him. However, this book has brought with it much controversy since it deals with the romantic relationship between Merton and Margie Smith, a student-nurse at a nearby hospital in Louisville, KY. This biography treats this taboo love encounter and chronicles Merton's internal struggles of a life of self-discipline and celibacy with the romance and love he felt with Margie.

It should be an engaging read regardless of your acquaintance with Merton or interest in the religious life.

Read Burke's article at RNS.

"Advent Conspiracy" movement

2009-12-30T08:42:00.000-06:00

Though it is a bit on the late side, my friend and Unity minister, Rev. Thomas Shepherd, over at his "Theo-blog" has notified me of an intriguing new movement among Christians concerning the Christmas season and the meaning behind Jesus' birth. It's called "Advent Conspiracy":

"The story of (Jesus) Christ's birth is a story of promise, hope, and a revolutionary love. So, what happened? What was once a time to celebrate the birth of a savior has somehow turned into a season of stress, traffic jams, and shopping lists. And when it's all over, many of us are left with presents to return, looming debt that will take months to pay off, and this empty feeling of missed purpose. Is this what we really want out of Christmas? What if Christmas became a world-changing event again? Welcome to Advent Conspiracy." (Excerpt from http://www.adventconspiracy.org )

As Rev. Shepherd has stated, though the language of this movement is worded in more "traditional" Christian vocabulary, nonetheless, I believe many Unity and New Thought devotees will be interested and moved by such practices.

The Advent Conspiracy movement is grounded in 4 fundamental ideas that promote the revolution of practicing the Christmas season:

1. Worship fully - Focus on a renewing celebration of God-with-us (Immanuel), which is the underlying message of the birth of Christ.

2. Spend less - Draw back on spending lavishly on expensive gifts. Dial in on the meaningfulness of the gift, the personalization of the gift, rather than how much it costs. Moderation, prudence, and self-discipline is key here, all qualities upheld by Jesus.

3. Give more - Though the gifts may not be expensive, one can still offer more to those in need. Give more time, energy, and service to more people more often.

4. Love all - The greatest gift of all is the gift of paying attention to friends and family. This is really the essence of love and compassion - paying attention to those for whom you care.

If put into practice even moderately, these values could revolutionize the way we understand and draw meaning from Christmas. In fact, I further suggest we practice these principles every day throughout the year as much as we are able.

Peace and blessings!

(Image from Advent Conspiracy website.)

Harvey Cox and Thomas Dyer on Interfaith Voices

2009-12-10T13:36:00.000-06:00

This week's program of Interfaith Voices ("a public radio show promoting religious harmony and interfaith understanding") includes a feature of Harvard theologian, Harvey Cox, and Buddhist military chaplain, Thomas Dyer.

Harvey Cox, Hollis professor of Divinity at Harvard University, looks inside the idea of ‘spritual but not religious’, and discovers that modern believers are abandoning creeds and doctrine for practices that emphasize a direct experience with the divine in his new book The Future of Faith. He speaks of this current development as Christianity, and religion in general, entering the "age of the Spirit." This is an idea that would resonate significantly with Unity ministers, students, and churchgoers of all stripes. One of the central tenets within Unity circles is that creeds, dogmatic statements, and static belief are not the cornerstones of authentic faith. Rather, it is first-hand experience of the Divine or Sacred or Spirit that promotes faith and engenders spiritual growth.

And Thomas Dyer is the first Buddhist military chaplain. A former Southern Baptist minister, Dyer is now a practicing Buddhist that has entered the military as as spiritual guide and counselor for Buddhist and non-Buddhist soldiers alike. With the increasing number of Americans becoming interested in Buddhism it is completely understandable how eventually a representative of the growing American Buddhist traditions would be included in military chaplaincy. Interfaith Voices conducts an intriguing interview with chaplain Dyer.

Check out these features and more at Interfaith Voices.

New Pew Forum Poll on Religious Belief in America

2009-12-10T13:15:00.000-06:00

Americans are widely known now for our rather mix-and-match tendencies in religious approach and identity. Many people attend services of other religions than our own and blend Christianity with other religious practices like Buddhist meditation and New Age techniques.

This is no doubt a prominent approach within my denomination, Unity. We have always drawn inspiration and influence from other religious traditions from the very start when Charles and Myrtle Fillmore were reading about Indian religion and taking metaphysical cues from Emerson and other Transcendentalists. While Unity is not New Age, it is New Thought, which is a tradition that feels free to draw on New Age methods and beliefs to forward people on their spiritual journey, while often retaining much language, scripture, and culture from Christianity.

So this new Pew Forum poll is relevant to all Americans, but Unity occupies a unique place in American religious practice since it stands within the predominant Christian tradition yet draws on and incorporates much from other religions that constitute the rich plurality of religion and culture within the U.S.

The Pew Forum poll generally states that although the U.S. is an overwhelmingly Christian country, significant minorities say they hold beliefs of the sort found at Buddhist temples or New Age gatherings. Twenty-four percent of those surveyed overall and 22 percent of Christians say they believe in reincarnation, the idea that people will be reborn in this world again and again. Also, another piece in the poll relates that 1/4 of Americans say they sometimes attend services of a faith different from their own. (I am part of this 25% since, though I'm a progressive Unity Christian, attend Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Christian services often and I participate in Buddhist temple ceremonies and meditation gatherings from time to time as well.)

Alan Cooperman, associate director for research at the Pew Forum, says, ''It is as much now the norm as it is the exception for Americans to blend multiple religious beliefs and practices." (Faith in Public Life)

This rather new but increasingly present phenomenon of multiple religious belonging is becoming a permanent and interesting feature of the American religious situation. Within Unity circles, multiple religious belonging is probably more common than in other denominations and is very much welcomed, which can be witnessed in public statements of the Association of Unity Churches and Unity Institute as well as local Unity congregational statements.
This is all a testament to the openness and inclusivity of the Unity movement (regardless of the internal disputes about Unity's "identity") and to the influence of the wonderful religious diversity of our current religious context in the U.S.

Morality Not Necessarily Good?

2009-12-10T13:04:00.000-06:00

Philosopher Hans-Georg Moeller has a new book out, The Moral Fool: A Case for Amorality
(Columbia University Press, 2009), that interestingly argues that the language of morality or ethical rectitude distorts and hinders our abilities to address the most fundamentally important social and political issues of our times.

Dr. Moeller answers 10 interesting questions concerning these issues in his book in a recent post on Religion Dispatches. Some of the questions are: What are some of the biggest misconceptions about your topic?; What’s the most important take-home message for readers?; Are you hoping to just inform readers? Give them pleasure? Piss them off?

Check out the entire article at Religion Dispatches.

Evangelicals and Atheists...Good Bedfellows?

2009-11-16T18:27:00.000-06:00

The most recent show topic on Interfaith Voices radio program is entitled "Evangelicals and Atheists...Good Bedfellows?" Maureen Fiedler interviews Frank Schaeffer who has written a book called Patience with God: Faith for People Who Don't Like Religion (Or Atheism).

In the past, Schaeffer helped build up the religious right and was part of this movement until he discovered it was full of fanatics. After leaving the religious right movement he has argued that the religious fundamentalists and the extremist atheists in our culture have a whole lot in common.

Listen to the program at Interfaith Voices.

Parialment of World Religions Names First Muslim Leader

2009-11-12T11:56:00.000-06:00

The Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions elected as its chair Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid, a Chicago Muslim.

Adelle M. Banks has the whole story at RNS.

New Book Explores Relationship Between Ancient Biblical Laws and Contemporary Church Controversies

2009-11-12T11:41:00.000-06:00

One of the Old Testament professors at my alma mater, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, IL, Cheryl Anderson, is publishing a scholarly book called Ancient Laws and Contemporary Controversies: The Need for Inclusive Biblical Interpretation (Oxford, 2009).

The Religion Press Release Service states of Dr. Anderson's book: "Anderson contends that biblical laws, such as one requiring unmarried women to marry their rapist, or those accepting slavery, reflect a privileged male perspective and not necessarily those of everyone in faith communities. She argues that traditional Christian practices and biblical interpretations still exclude voices of women and certain others, including homosexuals and different racial/ethnic groups. She maintains that contemporary controversies in churches - such as homosexuality and the ordination of women - result from these groups expressing their own realities and perspectives on faith. According to Anderson, inclusive biblical viewpoints are consistent with Christian tradition. She bases her conclusions on the Bible (Old and New Testaments) and Protestant reformers (Martin Luther, John Calvin and John Wesley), and parallels them with the U.S. Constitution."

I remember Dr. Anderson as being an intriguing professor for several reasons, but especially because of the way she was able to relate Mosaic, biblical law to contemporary legal issues and legislature due to her background and degree in American law. This especially suits her in writing such a scholarly piece about the relationship between ancient biblical law and current issues in legality. It should be an academically rigorous and provocative work.

Check out a review of the book at RNS.

Happy B-day Baha'u'llah!

2009-11-12T11:31:00.000-06:00

For Baha'is, today is the Birthday of Baha'u'llah, the prophet and founder of the Baha'i Faith and celebrates the rebirth of the world through the love of God. In many ways, it's similar to the Christian celebration of Christmas.

Baha'u'llah was born on Nov. 12, 1817 in Tehran, Iran (Persia). He taught that manifestations of God (such as Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Krishna, Jesus, Muhammad, etc.) have appeared throughout history to help us better know and worship the one God and bring human relationships and societies to a greater, more loving existence.

There are no prescribed rituals for celebrating the Birthday of Baha'u'llah, but its usually marked by abstaining from work (if possible) and having community gatherings where prayers, devotional readings, music, and food are shared. It's a time for rejoicing and affirming the unity of community (something that we in Unity Christianity can note as significance and share with our Baha'i brothers and sisters).

From sunset Nov. 11 to sunset Nov. 12 today, we can each pause and, in ways appropriate to our own religious tradition or spiritual path, send thoughts and actions of love and goodwill toward our Baha'i brothers and sisters as they celebrate the Birth of Baha'u'llah, their prophet and founder.

Peace and blessings!

New Study Shows Vitality of Religious Left

2009-11-03T11:15:00.000-06:00

A new study from the University of Florida dispels some common fictions about the political power and presence of the religiously liberal and progressive in the U.S.

The study essentially states that, despite the lack of religiously liberal voices portrayed in the media, there is a burgeoning leftist religious population in the U.S. and dispels the known "God gap" theory that white Christians are conservative and most likely to vote Republican. Kenneth Wald of the U of Florida states: "We are able to uncover considerable evidence of a religious left among Christians, and the big news is that it matters electorally...Having a strong communitarian view of faith is associated with voting for Democratic candidates. Because of favorable political circumstances, we're in an age where we're likely to see a flowering of the religious left." (U of Florida press release)

Candace Chellew-Hodge says more at Religion Dispatches.

Liberal View of New Hate Crimes Legislation

2009-11-03T10:58:00.000-06:00

For those following the new hate crimes legislation signed by President Obama that expands past federal hate crime laws to make it an offense to attack people because of their sexual orientation, here is an opinion piece in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch by Rev. Dr. Daniel O'Connell that gives a great summary of a liberal or progressive view of this new law and the values of equality and liberty that underpin it.

Some regard the recent law as a success for supporting and affirming the freedom and equality of every person in America, while others see it as having the potential of inhibiting religious speech (even though the law explicitly states that no one can be prosecuted for their belief-system or speech, only actions of violence and hate towards people due to their sexual orientation). As a Christian, my value system is one that rigorously affirms and seeks to enact in relationships and society the inherent dignity and worth of every human being. Most Americans (though, sadly, not all) don't put up with hate crimes against people because of their race, ethnicity, gender, or religion, so why should we also put up with hate crimes against those due to their sexual orientation?

Read Rev. Dr. O'Connell's op ed piece in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch at Faith in Public Life.

Music Topic on Unity.FM: Music as Worship and Theology

2009-11-03T10:34:00.000-06:00

For those who are musically minded like myself, Rev. Dr. Thomas Shepherd's program on Unity.FM called "Let's Talk About It" will host the topic Make a Joyful Noise: Music as Worship, Theology, and Celebration.

This is an excellent topic for theological discussion within and outside of the Unity community. Indeed, music has been a central part of religious life in Christianity and other world religions. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors danced around fires and sang about the success of the hunt and to the Sacred for future successes. Hindu Vedic priests chanted the intricately prescribed Sanskrit words in elaborate rituals believed to appease the gods and bring about favor in human life. In the early Christian churches Christians gathered before dawn and sang hymns with each other to Christ, the Son of God and Savior of humanity.

In medieval Christendom, the Mass as a musical composition became a central component in worship, which not only set the time and organization for the service but also served as an aesthetic masterpiece of expression offered to the God of all creation.

However, music has sometimes become a "going-through-the-motions" with no gusto or spiritual fervor. This malady has been noticed and addressed in recent years with new musical movements that re-capture and re-conceive of music as an elemental part of spiritual expression, worship, and theological discourse. We can see this renaissance occurring not just in New Thought churches (in which it has had a profound impact) but also mainline and evangelical Protestant churches as well as Catholic and Eastern Orthodox congregations.

Check out this week's edition of "Let's Talk About It" on Friday Nov. 6 at 4pm CST at Unity.FM.

Harvard's "Humanist" Chaplain on State of Belief

2009-11-03T10:25:00.000-06:00

As a follow-up to my last post concerning Greg Epstein, Harvard University chaplain, and the notion of "humanistic" or "atheistic" chaplaincy as a viable mode of spiritual service, I'd like to bring to attention Epstein's presence as guest on this past weekend's program of State of Belief.

State of Belief is a radio program hosted by Rev. Welton Gaddy and sponsored by the Interfaith Alliance, an NGO dedicated to the upholding and maintaining of 1st Amendment religious rights and concerns.

Check out last week's program with Greg Epstein as guest here.

Humanist and Atheist Chaplaincy

2009-10-30T14:23:00.000-05:00

"The nonreligious population is exploding, and somebody has to minister to them. Harvard’s humanist chaplain is on the road, sharing a vision of the common good, hoping his message will resonate with theists and atheists alike." (Religion Dispatches, Oct. 30, 2009)

With millions of people identifying as "non-religious" or "non-theist" in the U.S. there is a growing and often unrecognized need for spiritual or emotional counseling of those that fall into this group. Greg Epstein is one who has stepped up. He is a "humanist chaplain" at Harvard University who has recently published a book called Good Without God: What a Billion Non-religious People Do Believe (William Morrow, 2009) which discusses the reality of an atheistic spirituality.

I've been curious about this relatively new distinction people oftentimes make between 'religion' and 'spirituality.' When I ask people about the difference between the meaning of the two terms they usually retort that religion has something to do with institutions, social gathering, doctrine, dogma, etc. whereas spirituality has more to do with a personal, individual pursuit of meaning and truth. Thus, on this distinction, the notion of an atheistic spirituality would make sense, I suppose. Atheists can consider themselves spiritual but not religious; they have a personal quest for meaning and truth but not one that involves a particular institutional affiliation, doctrine, or belief about God, deity, divinity, or the like.

Since atheists do often consider themselves spiritual persons, then it is crucial that the spiritual service of chaplaincy address their particular needs as well. Thus, we must have chaplains that are trained and prepared to meet the emotional and spiritual needs of atheistic worldviews and lives, chaplains that can make that modern/post-modern distincition between religion and spirituality when working with atheist persons.

I like the idea of the work that Greg Epstein is doing. This kind of activity needs more public attention. This is an area of chaplaincy that is not much talked about but is crucial for servicing the spiritual needs of a now significant population of the U.S. and the world.

Read a review article of Epstein's new book at Religion Dispatches.

(Above image from Religion Dispatches.)

Prayers and Meditations of World Religions Course

2009-10-22T10:51:00.001-05:00

I just started teaching/facilitating a class at Unity Church of Peoria, IL called "Prayers and Meditations of the World's Religons." The aim of the course is to introduce church-goers to some of the more prominent and representative contemplative expressions of faith in order to facilitate deeper interreligious understanding and perhaps transform ourseves and our own prayer practices.

Last night the first class met and, while we didn't actually read or pray any prayers yet, it was a wonderful and lively discussion of what prayer and meditation is, the diversity of prayer and contemplation in the various world religions, what mysticism is and its central role in the forming and development of religious traditions, the strengths and weaknesses of language and conceptions, etc.

Anyway, though I've facilitated the class before at other Unity churches, I'm very excited about how this particular incarnation has begun and look forward to the promising fruitful conversation that will come about.

If you happen to be in the central Illinois area come and join us for some stimulating and intriguing discussion and reading of the prayers and meditations of the world's religions. We meet on Wednesday evenings from 7-8:30pm at the Unity Church of Peoria.

Peace.

Common Tables "eLerts"

2009-10-22T10:43:00.000-05:00

Common Tables, an organization that promotes and facilitates grassroots-style interfaith dialogue, has come out with a new feature called the "eLert." It's essentially a mass email list that sends people an email notification that brings attention to significant holidays from all the major world religions as they occur, along with a brief explanation.

Sign up for Common Tables' "eLert" here.

The Conservative Bible Project

2009-10-22T10:08:00.000-05:00

Through the wonderful blogosphere essay forum, Religion Dispatches, I've been made aware of a particular group of conservative Christians called "The Conservative Bible Project." Interestingly, according to this community (founded by Andy Schlafly, also founder of Conservapedia), apparently the English translations of the Bible have become too liberalized and must be re-written, re-translated, and edited so as to free it from its progressive-liberal bias.

Although most scholars and practitioners alike find this project to be a bit of a joke, I somewhat find this to be a fascinating project. I think it lifts up some very pertinent and significant questions about biblical translation and interpretation and the Bible's relation to politics. As Joseph Laycock and Thomas Fabisiak write in their Oct. 21, 2009 essay in Religion Dispatches, "Is Schlafly a profoundly cynical politician, attempting to manipulate religion in a way that would put Machiavelli and Karl Rove to shame? Or does he truly believe that the Bible has been tainted by 'liberalism' for over a thousand years?" They have a point.

I also share Laycock and Fabisiak's connection of this project to The Jefferson Bible. For those who are unaware, America's 3rd president, Thomas Jefferson, felt that the Bible had been abused, corrupted, and misappropriated by Christians for so many years that he set out on a project where he excised all the supernatural passages out of the New Testament, or those that referred to miracles of some kind. After his cut and paste venture, all that was left was largely those pericope's of Jesus' teachings and parables. The connection to Schlafly is striking. The question becomes, "Is Schlafly attempting a conservative version of the Jeffersonian editing enterprise?"

Probably not exactly. Jefferson's pursuit was totally personal and wasn't published until years later, whereas Schlafly's project is aimed at being very public, political and geared toward dispelling a certain category of infestation -- "the liberal."

Check out Laycock and Fabisiak's essay at Religion Dispatches.

There also a write-up of the project by Rachel Weiner in the Huffington Post.

(Image from Religion Dispatches website; it's a section of the Conservative Bible Project's Bible translation, which translates "Pharisee" as "Liberal.")

Comic Book Bible

2009-10-21T14:22:00.000-05:00

Legendary comic book author R. Crumb has put out a comic book version of the book of Genesis. Even though comic books, and R. Crumb's in particular, have largely been considered to be rather irreverent and quick to make jabs, people are saying that this take is rather sensitive to the content of the Bible and not as tasteless as one might expect.

Gabriel Mckee of Religion Dispatches writes a review of the comic, just put out October 19, 2009.

Buddhism's Prominence in America

2009-10-21T14:10:00.000-05:00

A friend turned me on to this article at the Buddhist Channel about Buddhism and its place in today's American society and culture. Andrew Lam briefly outlines the roots of Buddhism in the U.S., its development up to now, and its impact and presence in here in the States. All this from his own Buddhist perspective, of course.

It's a concise but intriguing article. Check it out here.

(Image from Buddhist Channel website.)

A Pagan Republican Comes Out of the Broom Closet

2009-10-16T11:11:00.000-05:00

Interesting story about New York City councilman, Dan Halloran, is a neo-pagan devotee, practicing the beliefs and rituals of the religion of the early people in Northern Europe. Normally, this wouldn't be too big of a deal or make news, but rather than being associated with the political progressive-liberal parties he's a Republican.

Read the story by Sarah Pike at Religion Dispatches.

Image also from Religion Dispatches.

Contemplative Leadership: Realizing Human Potential and Improving the Human Condition

2009-10-16T11:00:00.000-05:00

The Merton Institute for Contemplative Living is holding two contemplative leadership events in January:

"The Merton Institute for Contemplative Living invites leaders from all sectors of society to the Contemplative Leadership Retreat held January 14-16, 2010, and the Contemplative Leadership Conference held January 17-18, 2010, at the Duncan Conference Center in Delray Beach, Florida. Both programs address the leadership crisis found throughout the guiding institutions society

Contemplative leadership evolves from living in right relationship with self, others, nature, and God. These relationships are the source from which a leader's awareness, influence, and vision flow. They serve as guides for a leader's ethical behavior, engender trust within the organization, and provide a platform of meaning and purpose on which the group or organization's mission manifest." (Religion & Ethics Newsweekly)

More information at the Merton Institute's website.

Image from Merton Institute's website.

Barbara Ehrenreich’s Bright-Sided Explores the Dark Side of Positive Thinking

2009-10-14T22:50:00.000-05:00

"A new book reveals the historical roots and conservative uses of the positive thinking movement, showing how it encourages victim-blaming, political complacency, and a culture-wide flight from realism." (Michelle Goldberg, Religion Dispatches)

Bright-Sided: How The Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America is a recently published book by Barbara Ehrenreich that traces the origins, development, and ethically dubious uses of the so-called positive thinking movement. She largely speaks against this movement, arguing that this message has been used to blame completely innocent victims of disasters and diseases, inhibit social and political activism, and, in some instances, exploit people for profit. She takes a hard-nosed look at the darker facet of this movement of positivity that exists in circles from conservative Christians (e.g. Joel Osteen and prosperity gospelers) to New Agers (e.g. The Secret) and corporate America.

The Christian denomination with which I'm affiliated, Unity, finds its historical roots in the New Thought movement, which combined a healthy dose of American Pragmatism with Transcendentalism's spiritual tenor. New Thought is centered firmly in the positive thinking movement, and is in fact where the current movement finds its beginnings. All in all, Ehrenreich does make valid points about the ethical difficulties with some aspects of the positive thinking movement. I don't believe that everyone who gets cancer is solely responsible for contracting that disease due to their "victim" mentality or negative attitude. I don't believe that those who are killed or harmed by tsunamis or hurricanes had it coming to them because of the mental atmosphere that they harbor. I don't think reality is that simple; I believe cause and effect is not just linear but multi-faceted and multi-layered. Of course, in order to enact any real social change it must not stay confined to our inner attitude but become an engaged activity cultivated in relationships and society.

Sure, Ehrenreich makes some good points about the pitfalls of positive thinking. However, I'd argue that any personal or social change that is to be enacted must have its conception and origin in some feeling of optimism or "positivity" of sorts. As reviewer, Michelle Goldberg, states, "How else could Gandhi believe that he could get the British to leave India, or Martin Luther King convince himself and his followers in the possibility of winning racial equality? Barack Obama became president in part by imbuing millions of individuals with the wild hope that they could change the world." (Religion Dispatches) This all requires a seed of optimism and positivity, which is what all good religion has at its heart - a very real and acute sense of hope.

Read Goldberg's review essay at Religion Dispatches.

Patheos Launches Interfaith Dialogue on Religion and Education

2009-10-08T00:16:00.000-05:00

Patheos.com, one of the world's foremost online forums for global dialogue on issues of religion and spirituality, recently launched a "Public Square" examination of the challenges and issues facing religious education from the perspective of the world's seven largest religious traditions.

To read a review of the recent dialogue forum see this article of the Religion News Service.

To find out more go to Patheos.com.

Journal of Inter-religious Dialogue Releases Its Second Issue

2009-10-08T00:08:00.000-05:00

The Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue has just released its second issue of peer-reviewed scholarly articles called "Engaging the Taboo: Gender, Sexuality, and the Body in Our Religious Traditions." This topic is very crucial in today's milieu and is an extremely important issue to be dealt with within and among the religious traditions of the world.

The Journal offers a novel way of establishing long-term dialogue and collaboration between religious communities and individuals with a compelling and scholastic methodology.

The Journal is available to read online in a free web platform.

Is God 'Out There' or Only Found Within?

2009-10-07T23:47:00.000-05:00

This Friday on Unity.FM Rev. Dr. Thomas Shepherd's program "Let's Talk About It" will feature an interesting topic: "Praying to the Ceiling - Is God 'Out There' or Only Found Within?"

"Let's Talk About It" always has interesting themes for its programming, but this one promises to be extra intriguing, in my opinion. As a Unity student in the Unity movement I'm certainly of the belief that God is most certainly found within. The living Christ is fully present within every human being as the Divine Ground of Being, and, as such, is God immanent.

However, since God is not relegated to being present only within one individual, but is present in every individual, God is also found outside of myself in the being and life of others. I can encounter God not only through the Christ innate in myself but also in my interactions and relationships with others. The back-and-forth movement of inter-relatedness discloses God as Being, Life, and Love in my relationships with other human beings.

The Christ in me is fully God, but this presence is not all of God, it doesn't exhaust God's being. This leads me to a decisively panentheistic (all-in-God) viewpoint: God is fully in all creation, but God is also equally beyond creation. God is both immanent and transcendent. Faith in this experiential truth, for me, leads me to claim that I find God "in" myself and also "outside" myself. That is, I experience God as being part and parcel of myself, my own subjective awareness, but also not limited to me as subject -- experienced as object or that-to-which-I-relate.

I'm looking forward to hearing what Rev. Dr. Shepherd and his guests have to say about this fascinating and important topic of theology for the Unity movment.

Listen on Friday Oct. 9, 2009 at 4pm CST to "Let's Talk About It" on Unity.FM.

Unity Leader Mindy Audlin and Voices of Peace

2009-10-02T13:34:00.000-05:00

Mindy Audlin, host of the Unity.FM program The Leading Edge, recently brought together 21 world-renowned spiritual leaders who share a passion for peace-building. The transcripts of these interviews are now available as an e-book with proceeds benefiting organizations such as The Global Peace Project.

Learn more about the Voices of Peace project.

Read a brief essay written by Mindy concerning these efforts at Unity.FM.

Daily Word (9.28.09)

2009-09-28T09:15:00.000-05:00

Forgive:

"I draw on God's love within to forgive." (DW, 9.28.09)

"Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven." (Lk 6:37)

Mei Meditatio:

Connecting to God's presence through prayer, I share in the all-inclusive and all-powerful Love of God through Christ. Participating in this Love, I'm able to forgive myself and others through realizing that all is connected and interdependent through Christ and thus all is well. Releasing past, old thoughts, words, and actions I move into new, fresh experiences that transform my life.

In order to be forgiven I must first forgive, which starts within myself.

In the name and through the power of Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior. Amen.

Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu Receive Awards

2009-09-28T09:06:00.001-05:00

His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu were awarded the Fetzer Institute's Prize for Love and Forgiveness this past Sunday at the 2009 Peace Summit in Vancouver. Each will receive a $100,000 monetary prize to support their work and a handcrafted, inscribed journal.

The Fetzer Institute is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting services that advance the values of love and forgiveness in the world. Their purpose: "The Institute engages with people and programs working to bring the power of love and forgiveness to the center of individual, organizational and community life. We create and support projects that serve as healing forces in a divided world, and that spread knowledge about how individuals everywhere can be more loving and forgiving in daily life."(Fetzer Institute website)

To learn more about the Prize for Love and Forgiveness and to watch a video of the summit go to the Fetzer Institute's website.

Christian and Buddhist faithful focus prayers on value of resolving conflict

2009-09-28T08:59:00.000-05:00

Buddhists and Christians gathered in the Pittsburgh area for a 40-hour prayer and meditation vigil for the purpose of resolving the tension and conflict in the world and in the midst of the G-20 summit.

It was talked about as an event where people aren't talking about peace or discussing resolutions, but are able to simply sit together, connect with each other through prayer and song, and "be peace."

Ann Rodgers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has the entire story at Faith in Public Life.

New Book about Delving into Another Religion

2009-09-28T08:38:00.000-05:00

There's a recent book out by Benyamin Cohen called My Jesus Year: A Rabbi’s Son Wanders the Bible Belt in Search of His Own Faith which details his journey into another faith. Cohen, who is Jewish, took one year and went church-hopping throughout the Bible Belt to learn more about Christianity and perhaps to see how Christianity might influence him as a Jew.

He states, "I want Jesus to make me a better Jew." Interestingly, when he attended these many churches in the South, he went wearing a yarmulke and without any hint of hiding the fact that he was Jewish. Surprisingly, he wasn't driven away with pitchforks or anything. There were certainly interesting conversations that surely involved stereotypes, confusion, and misunderstanding, but this is all part and parcel of interfaith encounter. He ultimately comes to an understanding that people of faith come in all shapes and sizes and that we have much to learn from one another through dialogue and mutual participation in each other's practices.

I think this is a decent model for anyone interested in learning more about another's faith and transforming one's own. It's always good to start with reading about other beliefs, cultures, practices, etc. but we can't stay there. To really delve deep into another faith we must practice with the other, worship with the other, pray and meditate with the other, otherwise we're only scratching the surface of the wisdom and truth that could be disclosed in that encounter.

Read a book review by Benjamin Weiner, "A Jew in Church? No Big Deal."

Image from Religion Dispatches.

Speakers and Programs Announced for the Parliament of the World's Religions in Melbourne

2009-09-28T08:25:00.000-05:00

"Chicago, Illinois (September 24, 2009) -- In its role as a leading force for interreligious harmony, global peace and environmental sustainability, the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions announces over a dozen new speakers at the 2009 Parliament of the World Religions. The Parliament will be held in Melbourne, Australia, December 3 - 9, 2009.
In addition to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, NPR journalist Margo Adler and Obama administration official Dalia Mogahed, newly confirmed presenters include Buddhist teacher, author and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh; Yale Professor Mary Evelyn Tucker; Native American leader Chief Oren Lyons; and Timorese spiritual activist Constantino Pinto." (RNS)

With over 500 speakers, events, and workshops the Parliament of the World's Religions, which gathers every 5 years in a different city, is the largest and most diverse interreligious meeting in the world. The Parliament addresses issues that are of significant concern to humanity and the planet as a whole and seeks to find answers to these problems through dialogue and co-working with each other, recognizing the importance of our religious and spiritual traditions and values in the process of addressing these issues. This particular Parliament in Melbourne seems to have gathered a focus on climate change and how the religious traditions are able to help solve this increasing problem.

To learn more go to Parliament of World Religions website.

Activity Slowing

2009-09-28T08:13:00.000-05:00

Recently, I've realized that the combination of all the different responsibilities that are on my plate these days has left less time for me to blog daily. Previously I was able to carve time out for daily blog activity, with sometimes 3 or 4 entries of interest. However, I've been feeling rather unproductive with my research, so I should spend much more time working on my dissertation, do more preparation for teaching other classes at the Dwight Correctional Center (through Lakeland College), and juggle other miscellaneous stuff dealing with progressing on the ordination path for Unity. Thus, I plan to blog at least once or twice a week, rather than every day, which means the Daily Word meditations will be cut as well -- I'll pick out one's that really resonate with me and share my thoughts on them, but it won't be an everyday activity.

So, blogging activity will be slowing a little, but the purpose, of course, hasn't changed and is just as present in my thoughts and actions as before. Peace and God bless.

New Book on Buddhist-Christian Dialogue and Science

2009-09-24T12:16:00.000-05:00

B. Allan Wallace has written a new book called Mind in the Balance: Meditation in Science, Buddhism and Christianity. Though I haven't had a chance to purchase and read it yet, it looks to be a wonderful scholarly analysis of the inquiry into human consciousness through the meditative techniques of Buddhism and Christianity with the inclusion of modern scientific research into these practices.

"By establishing a dialogue in which the meditative practices of Buddhism and Christianity speak to the theories of modern philosophy and science, B. Alan Wallace reveals the theoretical similarities underlying these disparate disciplines and their unified approach to making sense of the objective world." (Center for Progressive Christianity)

Read the full review of Wallace's book at the Center for Progressive Christianity.

Watch a video of Wallace talking about his book.

Daily Word (9.24.09)

2009-09-24T12:01:00.000-05:00

Hope:

"The light and love of God within me shine brightly." (DW, 9.24.09)

"Your life will be brighter than the noonday; its darkness will be like the morning. And you will have confidence, because there is hope." (Job 11:17-18)

Mei Meditatio:

Hope is not a vain wishing that something will be the case, bereft of any actuality or reality extant in the attitude. Rather, hope is a confident expectation that something will be the case, teeming with a faithful attitude that the essential good in what is hoped for will assuredly come about, or is already always present but simply not yet recognized.

The light and love of God in Christ shine in me and through me now, making the darkness of night into the dawn of morning. New mornings are always occurring in my life, and I have the confidence to recognize and accept these rebirths in the trusting hope of greater glory to God and God's creation.

In the name and through the power of Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior. Amen.

Daily Word (9.23.09)

2009-09-23T11:57:00.000-05:00

Faith:

"My faith is strong. I am confident." (DW, 9.23.09)

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." (2Tim. 4:7)

Mei Meditatio:

With a confident and steadfast faith seeking ever-growing understanding, I press on toward further revelation of God's Truth in Christ in my life.

In the name and through the power of Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior. Amen.

Daily Word (9.22.09)

2009-09-22T11:47:00.000-05:00

A Shift:

"God guides me through seasons of change in my life." (DW, 9.22.09)

"But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, 'You are my God.'" (Psalm 31:14)

Mei Meditatio:

With an understanding faith seeking ever more expansion of wisdom, I trustingly accept God's presence in me through Christ Jesus. I wholeheartedly make room for the change and transformation that God's love has in store for my life.

In the name and through the power of Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior. Amen.

Dalai Lama Featured on Interfaith Voices

2009-09-21T11:16:00.000-05:00

This week on Interfaith Voices radio program, Pico Iyer, who is a journalist for Time magazine, talks about His Holiness the Dalai Lama as a long-time friend. Topics range from how the Dalai Lama was chosen, his childhood, his religious and political leadership of Tibet, and Tibet's relationship to China.

This interview with Pico Iyer is an intriguing and informative piece for those interested in Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama, and/or interreligious understanding.

Listen at Interfaith Voices.

Daily Word (9.21.09)

2009-09-21T11:00:00.000-05:00

World Peace:

"United in divine love, we walk a path of peace." (DW, 9.21.09)

"Jesus said to them again, 'Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." (Jn. 21:21)

Mei Meditatio:

Love is that Reality which lies at the center of all being. As a dynamic force that's activity is unification and harmonization, Love brings people, ideas, emotions, etc. together working toward greater experience and expression of lovingkindness. As the great apostle Paul has said, love is peaceful, patient, kind, unboastful, and not rude. This suggests that participating in the Reality of Love through the power and presence of Christ Jesus is experience of God, which allows for the practical expression of this Love through compassionate and wise service for the good of all.

I am part and parcel of the Love of God in Christ. I demonstrate Christ's Love through tapping into the presence of Love in myself and then letting this peace and equality flow outward into my relationships and work in society.

In the name and through the power of Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior. Amen.

Spiritual Social Action on Unity.org

2009-09-17T11:27:00.001-05:00

A recent short essay entitled "Spiritual Social Action Leads to Unity in the Community" by Jane Simmons has been posted on Unity.org which originally appeared in the Jan. 2009 issue of Contact magazine.

In this brief article Simmons articulates what I've been hoping to see come about in Unity as an over-all movement. I know social action has always been a part of Unity circles and groups, but it has rarely been emphasized as an integral part of Unity metaphysical thought or made a distinct and explicit ministry in the Association of Unity Churches. That is, until recently when the "spiritual social action" group in Unity began formulating a language and spiritual rationale that places importance on social engagement and justice advocacy and this activity's significance for spiritual growth.

Simmons sums up well the communal dimension I've always felt is an integral element of one's spiritual journey. Sometimes Unity people and Unity metaphysical thought are so individualistic that this societal-intersubjective facet is downplayed or not even spoken of or engaged in at all.

No human is an island unto his/her self. Based on the belief and conviction of the interconnectivity of all life grounded in a God often referred to as Oneness or Source or Absolute, it seems that social justice, human rights, and general community action to better others' well being as well as our own would be a foundational ethical principle in Unity. If God in Christ is present equally and fully in each of us and our thought, word, and deed actions substantially affect ourselves and all else around us (based on the principle of Oneness), then our service for others not only physcially and spiritually helps others, it also uplifts ourselves.

The notion of spiritual social action should be integrated into Unity metaphysics. In fact, I'd like to develop a Unity systematic theology wherein the principle of spiritual social action becomes a central theological piece. Social engagement, as an ethic, can be formulated as the organic outgrowth of a mature and effective inner contemplative life -- and the inner contemplative life can be furthered, deepened and expanded through the participation in the service of social action toward the betterment of lives, relationships, and society as a whole.

I like the five points of spiritual social action based on Unity principles that are forwarded by Simmons:

- Empowerment of individuals rather than inviting dependency (which I take to mean a complete dependency on others that dissolves one's sense of worth, uniqueness, and distinction as and individual spiritual being; this is not a negation of the principle of inter-dependence, which refers to the reality of every individual being affected by and in intimate relationship with other individuals)
- Creation of sustainable living, allowing the receiver to give back (that is, when the receiver becomes too reliant on the giver a lack of integrity and equality arises; true social action gives with the intention and implementation of empowering the receiver with resources to become the giver of social service as well)
- Honoring the wholeness of Spirit within all beings, regardless of the outer appearance (no matter what the outer conditions may be, "spiritual" social action recognizes the inner dimension of spiritual integrity and God-presence within all individuals)
- Coming from a consciousness of love and compassion (the intention and attitude with which spiritual social action is done is characterized by love and compassion for humanity, usually grounded in an inner practice of some kind, i.e. prayer, meditation, contemplation)
- Moves us from the role of "benevolent giver, handing down to a needy receiver" to instead, the conscious realization of the privilege to be of service to the divine (in other words, the hierarchy and inequality of relationship inherent in other forms of social service is abrogated in favor of a more humble role of giving to a spiritual equal -- giving from God, through God, to God since God is fully present in every piece of the process).

Read the essay at Unity.org.

Daily Word (9.17.09)

2009-09-17T11:16:00.000-05:00

Gifts:

"I am richly blessed with the gifts of Spirit." (DW, 9.17.09)

"Now there are varieties of gifts . . . but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone." (1Cor. 12:4, 6)

Mei Meditatio:

In my individuality I manifest certain spiritual gifts through my creativity and intuition. Through service to others in the form of teaching and social justic advocacy, and the joyful resonance of musical expression, my time and talent bless and transform relationships and society.

Though each of us possesses and expresses different spiritual gifts it's the same God who activates this bounty. And though there are a variety of spiritual and religious traditions in the world each is an articulation of the same spiritual Ultimate and Absolute that underpins all reality -- that from which all came and that to which all will return in dynamic Oneness.

In the name and through the power of Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior. Amen.

Daily Word (9.16.09)

2009-09-16T11:10:00.000-05:00

Rest:

"Aware of the Christ within, I am at peace." (DW, 9.16.09)

"Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." (Mt. 11:29)

Mei Meditatio:

The living, risen Christ is present in me, working towards the greater goodness and prosperity of myself and those around me. When I bring my awareness to this presence of divine life and love I awaken to contentment and peace of mind, body, and spirit.

In Christ and Christ in me brings about learning, humility, and respite. Life in Christ is Shabbat (rest).

In the name and through the power of Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior. Amen.

A Couple Essays on Government and Religion

2009-09-15T12:40:00.000-05:00

Recently on Religion Dispatches there are two essays that give interesting progressive religious perspectives on the relationship between the state/government and religion/spirituality.

The first is Bruce Ledewitz's report on a panel discussion about the role of religious language in government. "Can government use religious language while remaining neutral in matters of religion?"

The second is Cady, Clarkson, and Ledewitz's article giving a good dialogue dealing with whether to reaffirm a division or separation in the relationship between religion and the state based on the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution or allow some religious language in the public sphere. "Is it time for progressives, religious and nonreligious, to move toward a strategic acceptance of religious language in the public square? Or should efforts be focused on adding bricks to the wall of church/state separation?"

See more articles and essays at Religion Dispatches.

Daily Word (9.15.09)

2009-09-15T12:30:00.000-05:00

Healing:

"I am a whole and holy being, an expression of divine perfection." (DW, 9.15.09)

"Let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ." (Acts 4:10)

Mei Meditatio:

For healing to begin in mind and body we must take the step - the risk - to have faith in God's goodness and perfection and our existence as children of God. As God's children, we inherit goodness, light, and wholeness.

Let us affirm our spiritual inheritance of love and justice in Christ Jesus through prayer, meditation, and social action.

In the name and through the power of Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior. Amen.

Daily Word (9.14.09)

2009-09-14T12:01:00.000-05:00

Back to School:

"I embrace new opportunities to learn and grow." (DW, 9.14.09)

"What you have heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others as well." (1Tim. 2:2)

Mei Meditatio:

Growth and transformation come largely through cultivating the attitude of openness to newness of experience. In order to more fully accept new opportunities it is first crucial to be able to let go of past, old, and un-useful memories and ideas. These can often obscure or get in the way of the growth that will help us lead more contented and health-ful lives in and through the grace of God in Christ.

I am receptive to the ever-changing process of growth in my life. I have a grateful attitude towards accepting new experiences and recognize opportunities to become a better person through the promotion of love, equality, and justice in relationships.

In the name and through the power of Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior. Amen.

Religion and Science: Toward a Postmodern Truce

2009-09-14T11:55:00.000-05:00

In a recent article for Religion Dispatches Philip Clayton argues that, despite the apparent oppositional relationship between religion and science, these two systems searching for truth are actually heading toward a "truce" via our present postmodern sensibilities.

It's an interesting article for those who keep up with the religion and science dialogue. Read the essay at Religion Dispatches.

Mutations and Diversity within Pentecostalism

2009-09-14T11:44:00.000-05:00

Anthea Butler writes an article chronicling the mutations and diversity within the Pentecostal movement. We learn to distinguish among the Prosperity Gospel, Word of Faith, and New Apostolic Movements — and why it matters.

Butler traces the differentiations between the theological approaches of folks like Joel Osteen, C. Peter Wagner, and T.D. Jakes. The article briefly outlines the historical and ideological origins and development of these different movements within the larger Pentecostal movement.

This article is significant because it texturizes and gives nuance to the more fundamentalistic movement in the US, which is often overgeneralized by some religious progressives. It's always good to know the opposing opinions, its plurality and depth, before offering any substantial critiques.

Read the article here.

Daily Word (9.13.09)

2009-09-13T09:45:00.000-05:00

Appreciation:

"I give thanks for the presence of unconditional love." (DW, 9.13.09)

"See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are." (1Jn. 3:1)

Mei Meditatio:

Appreciation is the act of genuinely holding someone or something in an esteem that transcends mere tolerance and moves into real gratefulness. To appreciate is to be grateful for the presence of that person, place, thing, or idea -- and that gratitude is immensely transformative.

I am appreciative of God's presence in Christ of unconditional love, the love that surpasses all rational understanding and exists in the substantial abundance of divine Mystery. I give thanks for the love dynamically present in the eternal relationship of the Father, Son, and Spirit. This infinite Love is immanent in my life and merits great rejoicing.

In the name and through the power of Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior. Amen.