I saw the film “Lord, Save Us From Your Followers” at the Hollywood Theater this past Monday evening and was surprised to see such a hefty crowd on a week-day night–and all paying the hefty price of $10 to get in.  Judging from conversations I overheard, I concluded that most of the viewers were Christians who were there to learn how to become more effective witnesses to their faith.  I think the film accomplished that goal fairly well.  The problem I have is with the faith itself–that is, the social and theological assumptions of the filmmakers and of the Christian subjects in the film.

Problem #1 is that nowhere do the Christians ever suggest that they do not have the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.  There is a lot of talk about gays and lesbians–even a confessional booth in which Merchant apologizes for being insensitive to homosexuals–but never does any Christian say that homosexual love is every bit as holy as heterosexual love.  No, what we are given is the old, tired, and santimonious position of “love the sin and hate the sinner.”  Near the end of the film, for example, revivalist Tony Campanelo says, “You don’t have to agree with someone’s lifestyle in order to love them.”

This kind of exclusionary thinking, which in fact does condemn homosexuals as “wrong” and “other,” creates the kind of social context which allowed Matthew Shepherd to be hung on a fence and left to die in Laramie, Wyoming.  Anytime you say to someone, “I love you, but you are a sinner, and I hope you change your ways,” you are placing yourself in judgment of another, and finding the other “less than” yourself.  This is manifestly not an act of love.

Problem #2 was illustrated most vividly by the ministry of Christians to the homeless people living under the bridge.  The Christians washed the feet of the homeless people, gave them food, learned their names, and related to them as human beings.  All well and good.  But consider that these same fundamentalist Christians most likely supported George Bush in the last two Presidential elections, and therefore are responsible for more people than ever before living under bridges and on the street and in shelters, all over this country.  I heard the Christians speak of charity, but no one spoke of justice.  Again, the Christians were”one up” on the people they were helping, reaching down to those in need–perhaps failing to see their own part in the ravaging of social services of all kinds in this country.

When will Christians understand that Jesus is a way, not the way?  When will they show some understanding of the other religious traditions of the world?  When will they “get it” that the Bible is not literally true, but a book of spiritual principles written a long, long time ago by people who were limited by time and place, as we all are, in every age?  When will they have the humility to understand that they do not have all the answers and that revelation is constantly unfolding?  When will they show genuine love by first showing genuine respect for others, though those others may believe differently or love differently?

Gas is now over $4 a gallon, and we are promised it will not go lower for a very long time–if ever.  And it may go higher.  For those of us who have good incomes, live close to the heart of the city, are near light rail–well, high gas prices are not going to affect our lives all that much.  So it cost me $48 to fill my car–but I hardly ever have to drive, so I probably won’t have to fill the tank again for a month. 

But if I’m a farm worker driving my old truck to the fields every day, I’m not able to make it–it costs me so much to drive to work that it doesn’t pay me to work.  If I’m a single mom working at a minimum wage job (or two of them) and driving a big old Fairlane Ford to work from my tiny apartment in the suburbs, I know I’m going to have to choose between gas and food, or food and rent.  Nevermind taking the baby to the doctor–can’t afford to drive there, can’t afford to pay the fee, can’t afford the meds.

At the same time, what’s happening to the cost of food?  Pervasive food shortages threaten many parts of the world, and crops this year are getting off to a bad start. Corn and soybeans are drowning in rain in this country, and in Australia drought is devastating the wheat crop.  Farmers are struggling to meet the demand, and millions of acres of land both here and abroad are being brought back into production.  Some of the harvest, of course, will go to power industrial countries, as oil becomes more expensive.  Already there have been food riots in two dozen countries.

As the global food crisis became clear, commodity prices have doubled or tripled.  Speculators are buying up land, fertilizer plants, granaries–continuing to drive up prices for food. 

What we are seeing in these two phenomena is the proverbial tip of the iceberg: too few resources for too many people.  The people who are going to suffer the most and the soonest–as always– are poor people.  The middle class may lose that vacation trip or the pleasure of eating out once a week–poor people will go hungry, will lose their living space, will not get medical care.  And the poorest of the poor abroad will die–they will not have clean water, they will be malnournished and not able to fight off disease, and some will simply starve to death.

Yes, such things have always happened in third-world countries–but more and more countries will become failed states, as they become unable to meet the basic needs of their citizens.  Many more in the U.S. will fall below the poverty line.  The only way to address such massive human suffering, such devastating economic conditions, is through policy change. 

But first we who are at the top of the food chain need to ask ourselves a serious question, “Do we really care?”  If the answer is no, then how do we live with ourselves and what do we tell our children about living an ethical life?  If the answer is yes, then the next question is, “How can we leverage our power to make a difference?”

A Senate committee report that was released yesterday concluded that President Bush and his aides systematically built the case for an invasion in Iraq by exaggerating Iraq’s war-making capability and by purposely conflating the Al Qaeda with Iraq. The administration set out to frighten the American people–and indeed to intimidate Congress–by shouting 9/11 every time someone brought up an alternative to their pre-conceived decision to attack Iraq.

This report has taken 5 years to carry out–way longer than many of us needed to come to the same conclusions.  Where was the Democratic party when the shameful decision was made to unilaterally attack a country that had not attacked us, thus violating international law?  But that is the way of politics.  Perhaps it is surprising that the report came out at all, and was endorsed by all the Democrats on the committee and some of the Republicans, as well.

The NY Times put the article on the report on the front page–the article is continued on p. A11, and ironically enough, it is right next to the Department of Defense announcement of the “Names of the Dead.”  The Department has identified 4,083 American service members who have died since the start of the Iraq war.  The article also confirmed the deaths of Specialist Quincy Green, 26, of El Paso and Pfc. Joshua E. Waltenbaugh, 19, of Ford City, Pa.

Perhaps President Bush and Vice-President Cheney should be required, as a kind of penance, to go to the homes of each of the fallen, and look the parents in the eye and tell them why their precious child is dead.  And then beg their forgiveness.

Barack Obama has been nominated for President by the Democratic party, and with that nomination has come a clear message by the American people–we are healing the racial divisions of the past, which have haunted and too often horrified us. 

Fewer than 150 years ago, blacks were being bought and sold like farm animals in this country.  Fewer than 60 years ago, blacks were being lynched for daring to “get out of their place.”  The progressive Northwest did not escape racism, either: in the 19th century black servants assisted their white families in making the arduous trip from Boston to the Northwest, only to find whites passing laws forbidding blacks to own land.  And still we know there remain a multitude of other discriminatory practices, including policy brutality, which has reared its all-too-ordinary ugly head here in Portland in recent years.

And yet . . . now we have the very real possibility of a black man becoming President of the United States.  That very fact changes everything.  Kwahena Sam-Brew, a 38-year-old immigrant from Ghana, took his American-born daughter Nana to the rally last Tuesday in which Obama was declared the winner of the nomination.  Sam-Brew says he hopes she will remember this moment, but says he will describe it to her: “I will tell her, ‘Tonight is the night that all Americans became one.’”

We cannot overestimate the symbolism to African Americans that one of theirs has risen to become a Presidential candidate.  This means that there is no limit for any black man, woman, youth, or child simply because of color.  All racism is thus challenged, including the internalized racism of the oppressed that encourages them to believe the message of the oppressor.

Is the work of justice-making all done now?  No, of course not.  But note the press photos: we have in the throngs of young people surrounding the smiling Barack Obama the greatest measure of hope that we yet have seen for a nation to live up to the radical principles of equality on which it was founded.

“Did the Devil Make Me Do It?”

Is there a force for evil in the world, countering the force for good? Or are our misdeeds simply the result of ignorance and poor upbringing?