Thursday, January 22, 2009

A reflection on one speech and two prayers

When I first heard that Reverend Rick Warren was going to give the opening prayer at the inauguration, I must admit, I was a bit nervous and upset. My first thought was, what is Obama thinking? I thought we were supposed to be bringing the country together, not grinding salt into wounds. But once again Obama shows his genius. His inclusion of two individuals on opposite ends of the religious spectrum (Revered Rick Warren and Revered Joseph Lowery) in his inauguration ceremony models a best practice for our country. We must reach across the lines of political party, religious belief, race, class, sexual orientation, and ethnic group in order to find a solution to the problems facing our nation and world today.

When I turned on the T.V. Tuesday morning, I was curious to see how the prayers were going to sound- would they be inclusive, or would they push a “Christian” message? I also thought, why are there prayers at a government function, anyway? What about the people who choose not to subscribe to a religious belief? But that is for another discussion…

Overall, the words and message of Revered Warren and Revered Lowery were tasteful ,and kept with Obama’s goal of bringing the nation together. Each prayer highlights our need as a community to work together, despite our differences, to be held responsible for our actions and asks for forgiveness for our collective mistakes and selfishness. Below you will find a few quotes from each prayer that I thought were important to remember as we work together to tackle the issues of today:

“Help us, O God, to remember that we are Americans. United not by race or religion or by blood, but by our commitment to freedom and justice for all…When we presume that our greatness and our prosperity is ours alone, forgive us. When we fail to treat our fellow human beings and all the earth with the respect that they deserve, forgive us. And as we face these difficult days ahead, may we have a new birth of clarity in our aims, responsibility in our actions, humility in our approaches and civility in our attitudes—even when we differ.” ~ Reverend Rick Warren, opening inaugural prayer.

“We thank you for the empowering of thy servant, our 44th president, to inspire our nation to believe that, yes, we can work together to achieve a more perfect union. And while we have sown the seeds of greed—the wind of greed and corruption, and even as we reap the whirlwind of social and economic disruption, we seek forgiveness and we come in a spirit of unity and solidarity to commit our support to our president by our willingness to make sacrifices, to respect your creation, to turn to each other and not on each other. And now, Lord, in the complex arena of human relations, help us to make choices on the side of love, not hate; on the side of inclusion, not exclusion; tolerance, not intolerance. And as we leave this mountaintop, help us hold on to the spirit of fellowship and oneness of family. Let us take that power back to our homes, our workplaces, our churches, our temples, our mosques, or wherever we seek your will.” ~ Reverend Joseph Lowery, benediction inaugural prayer.

To echo Obama’s words, I hope that our nation and community recognize that the patchwork of our heritage is a strength, not a weakness. And that we as a progressive congregation can help hope and virtue flourish even in the winter of our hardship.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Sex and Seminaries: Teaching Justice and Tolerance

Sightings

Sex and Seminaries
By: Martin E. Marty
1/12/2009

Did you know that there is a Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice and Healing? Last Thursday, January 8, the Institute, together with Union Theological Seminary in New York, issued a fifty-two page report, which is a call for North American Theological Seminaries to offer more courses and programs to help prepare ministers, rabbis, priests, and other religious professionals to address issues of sexuality better than they now do.

Through the years I have met with leaders and constituents of the Association of Theological Schools; I have some awareness of how many pressures are on them to add teaching personnel, field-work opportunities, and courses to deal with every kind of ethical and cultural issue of the day: pop culture, science-and-theology, war and peace, dealing with technology, and many more. All this at a time when the schools are under serious budgetary constraints. Seasoned leaders are cautioned against curricular faddism and are conscientious about sustaining integrity in biblical, theological, historical, and practical basics. So they tend to wince or groan when asked to do more and offer more for and with future ministers

But the Institute people do make a good case to be taken seriously in this report. Their two-year study finds that more than ninety percent of the thirty-six leading seminaries surveyed do not require full-semester, sexuality-based courses for graduation, and two-thirds do not offer a course in sexuality issues for religious professionals. A generational issue is involved. Mention, for example, the churches' controversy over same-sex marriage, and in most denominations seniors will observe that it's not much of an issue for the younger generations. They've generally approved it and want to move on to issues they consider more urgent. But for the next thirty years ministers will be dealing with church and synagogue issues where it is still the hottest-button kind of issue, and they need to understand the pros and cons.

As I picture it, the Institute's concern that more seminaries deal with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender studies in a major way will not get a hearing in denominations where there are strictures against positive dealings with church and synagogue members in LGBT camps. Yet it is hard to get around the observation that, overall, sexual issues -- be they biological, theological, or moral – are the most controversial subjects in religion today. For a discussion group on the Trinity or Pelagianism (if you could get one together), you would rent a classroom. For sex and gender debates, you would crowd the field house, because everyone knows that the subject will quicken passions, lead to walk-outs, and give the press much to disseminate.

In this half-century, like it or not, understandings of human sexuality combined with issues of authority – who decides about practices? – concern everybody from Mennonites to Greek Orthodox. Clerical abuse scandals have undercut trust relations in parishes and denominations. The press, understandably, "eats this up," knowing how little anyone knows about how to handle sexual themes and incidents and how hungry elements in the public are for stories about ethical lapses in matters sexual. The Institute's report may not please everyone, but it is an important wake-up call.

For Further Information:

Visit the Institute's website, and request a copy of the report, at www.religiousinstitute.org.

Martin E. Marty's biography, current projects, upcoming events, publications, and contact information can be found at www.illuminos.com.

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